#my two wrists and my right elbow got badly scratched and it still hurts. very tragic on my end

[crescentmp3]

fell today. i am literally a 2cm tall little guy and i am being met with such hard challenges

[springalwayscomes]

Not even a gift

Plot: Since the moment Jungkook saw your ass he swore he never saw something that beautiful. But then you turned around, and well, that was a total different thing. The poor man couldn’t even stand beside you without embarassing himself or embarassing you, and evey time seems to get worse and worse and...worse. 

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Genre: Dancer AU, Fluff, Humor, Smut, One Shot

Wordcount: 30k

Content Warning: Jungkook can’t stop embarassing himself, swearing, sexual innuendo, sexual tension, awkard situations, masturbation, sexual fantasies, a lot - a lot - of fluff, Reader with stress issues, overwhelming parents, trust issues

A/N: I wrote this when I was just joining the fandom, last year for Kookie’s birthday. I remember wanting to pst this so badly but it stayed in my drafts because I wasn’t sure it was good enough and I was a little insecure about the ending. I told to myself that someday I’d rewrite a new ending and post this, but knowing myself and how I work with my writing, I know that that day will never come because even if did so, I’ll probably end up with not liking my style of writing anymore and editit all out, leave it like this or delate it. So I told myself that I’d rather prefer to publish it. cause at the end this story was incredibly funny to write - sometimes I would laugh all alone like an idiot while writing it - and to be honest I think it’s pretty good. It’s the very first fanfiction I wrote about BTS so it’s also very meaningful for me. For reasons as the ones I already mentioned I decided to not edit this, so you might find some grammatical errors, please understand that this was the first time I wrote something from scratch in english. If you’d like to read it in episodes I’m going to publish it on youtube as a series too, where you’ll be able to live the full experience of the story since there you can visualize it too, as for the story it’s exactly the same as here. Enjoy reading this one, I know you’ll have fun!

Watch the first episode on Youtube

Since the moment Jungkook saw your ass he swore he never saw something that beautiful. It wasn’t just fit and solid, it was the way you were moving it on the beat, making it look like something he’d die to touch, squeeze, hold.

That was the very first thing he noticed about you.

He couldn’t help but fantasize how you’re face would look, watching your back from the doorframe of the ballroom. He imagined you sweat, little drops forming on your forehead caused by the the movements. He tried to focus his attention on the other dancers, fixating his gaze on the girl beside you making the exact same moves as you, but something about your presence kept on calling him like you were a mermaid and he was a poor sailor.

His dark doe-eyes ended again on your body, being in the last row it was hard for him to find your reflection in the mirror, other bodies moving endlessly making him grimace. He was running out of time, the poor man got stuck in traffic on his way here, already twenty minutes late, and god knows why he stopped looking at you dancing.

He shook his head when even after the music stopped your back was still facing him, not that he minded, but he was really dying to know how your face would look like.

Someone must have been both incredibly hungry and in love with him, cause a second later, you were bending over, resting your elbows on your thighs and giving him an even more beautiful view of your ass while trying to catch your breath. 

Breath stuck in his lungs, Jungkook gulped hard, making his adam’s apple jump up and down.

The girl next to you said something that made you laugh, back invaded by the spasms of your laughter, something he couldn’t hear because of all the talking that was going on in the room. He wished he could. He imagined your voice, soft and sweet, and soon enough is mind was already wondering about your features.

Snorting and getting out of his trance, he remembered himself he had to practice. Ready to take the first step away from the ballroom which he didn’t belong to, he shook his head a second time and turned, ready to leave his thoughts about you in that room and never meet them again.

But a second song started. And this time, he recognized the beat. Holding his breath again, he faced the entrance with a speed that got him shocked by himself.

Your hips were moving again, slowly and sensually, hands drawing abstract shapes in the air, hair attached to your skin. Your sweat shorts were doing nothing to hide your skin from his dark eyes, all he could think about was the way it seemed to shine under the lights of the room and the way your sweat would make it look even more glowing.

He hissed through his teeth, trying to push away the though of his hands against your skin, the way he’d like to trace your thighs with his fingers, leave pecks against your body and mark your hips with his lips. He brought his gaze back on your ass, sinful eyes burning against your skin and jaw clenching, Jungkook licked his lips and watched you arch your back before bringing your left leg to your head, holding it with your hands as you tiptoed your right foot.

«How long have you been here?»

He literally jumped, locking his gaze with whoever gave him a heart attack. Standing beside him, looking at him with his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes wide were Yoongi.

«I-»

«You know this is the wrong room, right?» he looked at him with a blank expression, trying to understand what Jungkook was actually doing standing at the doorframe of a different studio, without even caring about the fact he should be practicing with him and the others.

«I know, I was just... looking around.» he managed to let out, before taking a deep breath and stepping towards Yoongi.

The moment he realized he was rocking a half-hard just by his previous sight, he clenched his jaw and gulped again. If Yoongi had already noticed his situation then he wouldn’t know cause his face was no longer on him, neck turned to peek into the room that stole the maknae’s attention before. The youngest one used that moment to bring his bag in front of him, and then headed to their dance class trying not to draw too much attention.

That was the first time he saw you.

Jungkook dropped his bag to the ground as soon as he entered his bedroom, removing his sneakers and his socks he headed to his bathroom in a matter of seconds, begging to feel the cold drops of water wash away all the sweat on his skin and the heat of his body, even though the last one wasn’t because of the workout.

His cock was aching, so damn hard and throbbing against his sweat pants.

He wished they finished their practice just a few seconds sooner. Dancing was a pain in the ass today, all he wanted to do was head back to your doorframe and peek at you, loose his gaze on your body, trying to steal a glance of your face.

But still, it didn’t happen. He couldn’t help but think about how’d you look during the three hours of rehearsals, he thought about it so much that now he had a clear image of you in his mind. And it was pretty platonic, almost inaccessible.

He removed his shirt and his pants, letting them fall on the ground, and then turned on the water, already hooking his fingers under the elastic band of his boxers. He was so hard that it ached.

Jungkook took a deep breath and palmed himself through the material, immediately hissing at the touch. Deciding it was not enough he let the cloth slowly fall to the ground, creating a wall around his ankles that he surpassed in a second getting in the shower.

He didn’t waste time on lathering, he just shut the glass door and closed his eyes while bringing his hand to his shaft. The fingertip of his thumb collected the precum leaking out of his slit, moving over his head and making him clench his jaw shut, breath already uneven.

He though about the way you moved your hips, he’d like to hold them tight and down on the bed while fucking into you. He’d take such a good care of you. He’d fuck you so good, making you whimper and moan every time he’d hit your g-spot, he’d squeeze your ass in his big hands, leaving marks as a reminder of his touch. He’d kiss your skin, he’d kiss your neck and he wouldn’t even mind tasting the sweat caused by your rehearsals today, but in his mind, that’d be caused by what you two are doing.

Jungkook groaned and stroked himself, bringing his hand now to his base and tightening his grip around his girth. Throbbing, pulsating cock begging to release all his seed.

His movements were firm and clear, his fist moving so fast that his wrist was hurting, head falling back, mouth agape and eyebrows knitted together. The sound of his movements blended with the clatter of the water, his shoulders raising from time to time because of the heavy breathing, hips bucking against his hand. He wished it was you, the only part he’d seen of you, he desperately wished he was fucking your ass, so, so hard he’d make you whine and cry in pleasure. He imagined the sounds you’d made, and even though he didn’t even know how your voice sounded or how you looked, he already knew that it’d be his new favorite sound.

«Fuck» he groaned, fucking his cock in his hand even harder, moving his hips and meeting his hand halfway. He bit his lower lip, flesh aching and almost bleeding under his teeth, bringing his free hand to his heavy balls and massaging them. His pace fastened even more if it’s possible, his hips were snapping so hard into his hand picturing your ass in its place, he was so close he could taste it. He pictured your body bent over his bed, taking him so nicely, moaning out loud and clenching around his greedy cock, so needy and so damn wet for him.

«God, fuck» he growled, shoving fast into his hand. He wished he knew your face, he’d like to picture you taking his big cock in your lips. He already know they’d look so damn beautiful around his girth, gagging and drooling for him, he’d hold your head still and fuck himself into your pretty lips so good, letting you eat all of his seed.

That, that was what brung him to his apex. Abs contracting and rough breath, muscles tightening and eyes squinting, lips open letting out low groans.

«Fucking hell»

Hot white spatters stained his hand and chest as he rode his orgasm, keep shoving himself into his hand. The water washed away his seed, it disappeared so fast he didn’t even see it, and when he opened his eyes he took some time to catch his breath leaning against the wall behind him.

His mind went blank, for just a little. He couldn’t think of anything else than the idyllic orgasm he just had, just the thought of it made his cheeks flash red.

Then, the thoughts hit him. He didn’t even know your name, and here he was, masturbating over you. He was going to change that.

The second time Jungkook saw you he did  not rush out of his house thirty minutes earlier than he was supposed to. He couldn’t help but ask to himself what was going on with him, he certainly knew he never felt the need to see someone he didn’t even know. God, you didn’t even noticed him. Standing at the doorframe of your rehearsals room, looking at you move your body in such a charming way he swore he never see someone dance like that. Why were you in the last row? You deserved to be in the first one, that wasn’t fair. But, in that way he couldn’t see you, so he stored the information at the back of his mind. When you stopped your movements and you suddenly disappeared into the crowd, he again remembered to himself that he didn’t even know what he was doing.

Come on, was he really going to stand there for about other ten minutes and watch  you dance without doing nothing? He desperately wanted to know how your face looked, by now he could say he had a perfect picture of you in his head. And if he was right, you were probably the best thing he ever seen. 

Just the thought made him lick his lips, taking a deep nervous breath. He needed to talk to you. But what would he say? “Hi, I’ve been watching you dance”? Ew, definitely no. He tried to come up with other possibilities but his mind was totally blank, panic making his way through his thoughts and taking every part of him, leaving him only with sweaty hands and an adam’s apple gulping in his throat.

«Jungkook»

A voice made him turn, his gaze suddenly traveled to his right side.

«Oh, hey» he blurted out, Taehyung was staring at him with an arched eyebrow and inquisitive eyes.

«What were you doing?» the oldest one got closer, his hands in his pockets and a slight smile forming on his lips. Jungkook shook his head.

«Mh- I- waiting» he stuttered. His friend knitted his eyebrows looking at him for just a few seconds, then his gaze met the ballroom in front of them, where Jungkook’s was again scanning bodies, trying to find yours.

«Are you looking for someone?» Teahyung asked, receiving just a shake with his head from the youngest. But he knew better than that, he knew Jungkook well, maybe too much, he couldn’t even try to hide something from him.

When his eyes finally found you again, Teahyung knew it was you, he could just tell by the way he opened his lips, forming a little “oh”, his eyes never leaving your body.

«So you were waiting, uh?» he scoffed.

«Yes?» the maknae wanted to punch himself in the face, that was not supposed to come out as a question.

«Do you know her name?» Taehyung asked. He turned away in the blink of an eye, staring at him with wide eyes. It took him a few seconds to understand he’s been caught, but eventually he decided to just sigh and shake his head again. «Well, I know it» he shrugged like he had just said nothing. Jungkook looked at him with an unreadable expression, trying to understand if what he just heard was real or if he just imagined it. He studied Taehyung’s face like he was some kind of poem, carefully and thoughtfully, wisely looking for a hint to tell him he was just playing with him, but he really seemed serious.

«I can introduce her to you?» he turned to look at him, the youngest was playing with his fingers, eyes staring at the floor, all of his confidence seemed to fade away.

«Why?» he asked.

«What do you mean why?» Taehyung almost laughed at the maknae’s words, and he almost felt guilty. Almost.

«I- I don’t know...» he sighed. Why was he even acting like this? He wanted to talk to you, desperately wanted to know how your face looked like, his imagination was sending him crazy. How did he even ended up like this? He just saw you dance and his mind wasn’t his anymore, constantly wondering about your face. There was just something about you that was making him insanely curious.

«Oh, come on!» unexpectedly, the hyung grabbed him by his arm, making him almost loose his balance while dragging him into the room, taking big steps towards you. No one seemed to notice what was happening externally or inside of Jungkook, heart beating a mad pace, slippy hands like he just dipped them in the water, mind shocked and freaking out attempting to find anything, literally anything that could’ve helped him. Anything would’ve been good, anything for saving him from who knows what his mind was thinking, neither he could understand himself. He never felt more afraid to speak to someone in his life, he swore. Why was he even freaking out? He couldn’t find an answer in those few seconds that divided you from him, and he ended up behind you sooner than he realized. His body instantly tensed.

Teahyung, like the amazing friend he was, tapped your right shoulder, making sure to keep his grip tight on Jungkook’s arm, afraid he would’ve run away at the first opportunity. And he would’ve.

«Yes?» turning, you met the hyung gaze, two deep dark eyes staring at you, breath held in his throat. Damn, you were beautiful.

Oh, God.

That was the first thought that passed Jungkook’s mind when he finally saw your face, all of his fantasies immediately falling to the ground, breaking into a million pieces. He didn’t even know someone that beautiful could exist. His eyes staring at your face like some kind of piece of art. He definitely did not expect you to look like this, he did not see it coming. He thought you were beautiful, but God, not like this.

«Bye» that was the first and last word Taehyung blurted out, finally releasing Jungkook’s arm. Then, he simply walked away, like he did not just leave you two alone, like nothing. You raised your eyebrows, stunned by what just happened looking at the man head to the door and then simply disappear in the hallway. When you realized you were left with someone you couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable, shifting your gaze from the corridor to the man in front of you.

In that moment, Jungkook’s heart started beating even faster, if that was possible. His dark doe-eyes stared into yours for a few moments, not even blinking, mouth agape and breath caught in his throat. He looked like he just saw something... something really-

«Am I that ugly?» you blurted out.

When he realized you were actually talking to him, he felt the need to hide, run away, he wanted the earth to open under his feet and engulf him in. His cheeks flashed red, eyes finally starting to blink.

«No I-» his throat was dry, so he swallowed hard and tried to get a little bit of his nerve back.

«I-I just didn’t expect you to be like t-this»

What? Now he really wanted to hide, what the hell was he thinking? Nothing, his mind was totally blank. He didn’t even remember how to create an actually real sentence.

«Sorry?» you asked. Only then, he realized how your voice sounded, definitely lower than he thought. And he loved it.

«Uh- Oh God. I’m sorry»

And that was it, the end of your first conversation. Jungkook looked at your face for just a second more, than his legs did the job for him, he wasn’t even thinking straight, mind totally blown away and panic invading every rational part of him. He simply turned and started running away, disappearing in the hallway just like his friend did a matter of seconds before.

You grimaced, left standing in the rehearsals room, eyes following his tall and muscled figure until you were left with nothing but confusion.

What had just happened?

That was the second time Jungkook saw you.

He was drawing again, eyes fixated on the sheet in front of him, colors over colors over colors, sketches and shapes that apparently didn’t have any meaning. It was just a mess, overlapped lines with circles and circles with blurred shapes that he didn’t even know could exist.

He was desperately trying to take his mind off of what he had done, but it didn’t seem to work.

Probably, he was just taking everything too much to heart, and he knew that. He knew he was making a big deal of something stupid but he couldn’t help the way he was feeling.

Why did he have to act like that? Why did he walk away in that way? You possibly thought he was just some jerk playing around, and only that thought made him clench his jaw. But that was his last problem. Not only he did made you think he was an idiot, but he made you feel uncomfortable without even trying. The words you said and the sound of your voice kept on echoing in his mind like one of those stupid songs you can’t seem to send away.

Were you joking? Probably? Did he really made you think he was looking at you in that way cause you were ugly? God, you were way too far from that for him.

And above all of that, why did he even say something like that?

“I didn’t expect you to be like this”, God, what was he thinking about? And what did you think of that stupid sentence? Jungkook let out a low groan, the thoughts invading his head were making it impossible to focus on the drawing.

What the hell did Taehyung do? He said he was going introduce you to him, why did he left like that?

When Jungkook entered their rehearsal room the hyung simply smiled at him and winked in his way, like he had just made some kind of magic happen between you too. Well, it didn’t happen. Everything was just a fucking mess, and the biggest thing heaving on Jungkook’s shoulders was that that was the first time you ever saw him, the first impression you had about him. Now it was gonna be three times harder for him to even talk to you, let alone make a move on you. Jungkook didn’t even answer Tae’s wink, only wanting to end the rehearsals already and go straight home to drown into sleep. But it was late, and he certainly wasn’t sleeping.

Jungkook huffed letting his pencil hit the wooden table.

Was he going to try to change what happened or was he going to leave everything like that? Sure as hell, he wanted to know you. But he just couldn’t help himself, he never felt more frightened in his life to talk to a girl as now, and that feeling made him feel helplessly under pressure. What was he even going to say if every time he opened his mouth, all that was coming out were awkward words? Your face added to the sound of your voice made him look like a poor moron, and he knew deep inside of him that that was your effect on him. It was going to happen again, he knew it. He needed to find a way to not ridicule himself and not make you uncomfortable every time he opened his mouth.

«What?» Yoongi’s eyes have never been wider than now looking at Jungkook. Now, the maknae was desperately looking for advices, and he knew that Jimin and Yoongi were the right persons for this kind of situation.

«You really did that?» Jimin let his mouth hang open, eyebrows raised.

«Yes» Jungkook sighed «I don’t know what’s wrong with me, God.» Yoongi and Jimin looked at each other, both of their expressions stuttered by what the youngest had just told them. «How can I fix this? I mean I-»

«First, stop dwelling.» Yoongi interrupted his endless rambling, firm tone and eyes pointing directly in his. Jimin nodded. «You’re thinking too much. I mean, do you even think she noticed all of this? Are there any chances she probably already forgot your face?» his words made the maknae feel better for just a bunch of seconds. Maybe you already forgot him. It was a good thing, right?

«You think so?» why did he sound disappointed? Yoongi raised his eyebrows and nodded.

«And if she remembers you, all you need to do is go and talk to her, you can fix this Kookie» Jimin smiled at his friend.

«And say what?» his voice came out louder than he thought, almost breaking in the middle. He was just not that positive. He messed up, and there was something inside him telling him that that was not goin to be the last time.

«Anything?» Jimin made it seem so simple «I mean, anything is better than what you said» he added. Jungkook shook his head. «Sitting here is not gonna fix this» he said again, then taking a sip from his hot coffee.

«I can’t-» his voice suddenly stopped working, his throat holding the words in. His eyes shifted from the wall he was staring to to you, walking into the cafe on your high heels, jeans sticking to your legs like they were handmade just for you, a little bit of messy hair because of the wind running through the streets of the city, hanging from your shoulders. Eyes moving into the cafe like you were desperately looking for something, maybe someone.

«What? It’s her?» Jimin whispered, slightly stretching on the table to get the maknae’s attention. Yoongi simply avoided asking, he knew he wasn’t going to get any answer. So he just turned around looking for your figure in the crowded little shop. When he finally found you, he knew it was you. He had already saw you the other day, and he saw Jungkook’s pants too, but he kept it to himself.

Smirking, he stood up, eventually bringing back Jungkook from his own world. He watched his friend take long steps and cross the room, and his hands started to sweat again, even more than the day before. Yoongi surpassed you just a step before you were in line for the bar, almost making you step on him.

Rude.

Jungkook could already feel himself going crazy, him and Jimin staring at the scene in silence dying to know what Yoongi had in mind. He saw you stretch over his shoulder trying to take a look at the pastry, in the meantime Yoongi stepped towards when another client left the line. Time seemed to slow down for how much it was taking for every single client to order, Jungkook’s agitation growing bigger every second.

When Yoongi’s turn arrived he still couldn’t understand what was going to happen, watching him through the crowd and shifting his gaze from him to you from time to time was definitely not working. He caught Yoongi talking to the employee and a second later he was paying and turning around with who the hell knows what in his big paper cup. Keeping his eyes on the floor and faking distraction, he stepped on your foot and when he raised his head all he did was giving you a shocked look.

Then he did it, making the maknae line wide their eyes like they were four lighthouses, Jungkook literally hold his breath for what it seemed to be like years. His drink was on your clothes, soaking you, your drenched black shirt dripping on the floor. Your face shattered when you realized you were actually soggy, Yoongi gave you an apologetic smile and then he walked out of the cafe as if nothing had just happened. He really hoped Jungkook would understand it was his turn. Well, again, he didn’t. He just stared at you, your face still in shock and your moth forming the shape of an “o”, people surpassing you on the line without even glancing at you. Jimin shook him awake from his trance making him grimace and pushing him from his chair.

«Go, go, go!» he silently screamed moving his hands in the air. “Oh, lord” was all he could think while looking at you standing still and a scared Jungkook walking uncertain.

You stepped to the side when you noticed people kept on surpassing you giving you upset looks since you wouldn’t move from the line, it only took you a few steps to the side to rush into someone. Your shoulder hit his chest and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. It was just not your day.

«I- I’m sorry?» the voice came from beside you, the man standing still against your right shoulder without even moving. What was supposed to be a statement came out as a question and Jungkook wanted to punch himself again. You had to back away to create a little bit of distance before lifting your gaze to him.

When you saw him, it took you nothing to remember him.

«You? Again?» you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. You were not this rude usually, you just weren’t that type. But today definitely wasn’t your day. First, someone surpassed you, you just said nothing because you weren’t the type to argue for something so stupid, you even justified him thinking maybe he didn’t notice you. Then he spilled his tea on you, and without even helping you he just ran off as if nothing had happened. Now, him. Was this some kind of joke?

Jungkook couldn’t help but frown at your words, silently and slowly making their way through his body until they reached his intestine and tangled every part of his guts together.

«I- I’m sorry?» he said again. What? You locked eyes with him, cocking a brow at him.

«What are you even sorry for?» you sighed, bending over the table in front of you and grabbing a tissue from the plastic container. He brought his gaze to his friend, eyes still wide and throat completely dried. Jimin showed him a thumb up and suddenly shifted his gaze, in a second he turned around with his cheeks now red. When Jungkook turned again he hissed through his teeth, you did not just caught them and you weren’t staring at him with an even more confused look.

«I- I can buy you some coffee?» he blurted out, his voice cracking in the middle of the question making it almost seem like a prayer. Your lips formed an “o” again, suddenly looking down at your clothes and rushing to clean them with that little tissue. You were just thankful it wasn’t hot, whatever thing it was. Jungkook stood there still like a rock, scared of moving and making everything even worse.

«No, but thank you.» you sighed at the sight of your drenched black shirt, drops on your jeans. What were you going to do now? You had to go to work in thirty minutes, you didn’t have time to go back home and change into something else, your boss was already going crazy with all the work he had to, his reaction at your delay wasn’t something you wanted to experience.

«Please?» Jungkook’s voice seemed to light something in you, lifting your eyes and locking them again with his. That was the moment you really noticed his beauty. And he was just that beautiful. In the meantime, he was really trying not to break out and scream, his tongue was just moving by itself. His mind was totally blank and his hands were so sweaty that they would probably as wet as the shirt you were wearing.

«I don’t have time for coffee now, but thank you.» you declined again, trying to bring a smile on your lips but failing. You sighed and turned, making your way out of the cafe in a matter of seconds. Jungkook stood there with his eyes still wide, watching you walk away and trying to catch just that little bit of air enough to make him survive. It was only when Jimin’s face appeared in front of him that he seemed to realize you weren’t there anymore, and in a second his legs made the work for him again, running out of the cafe like a mad man. What was he even doing? What the hell?

Jimin followed him rolling his eyes, all his hopes that his friend had made it hitting the ground. He had never seen Jungkook like that, not even when he dated that girl he had a crush on for a year. Jungkook had always been charming, he never had that much problems with a girl, there had been times he was more shy, but he had always found a way of breaking his barriers.

This time there was just something different.

When he saw you on the sidewalk his legs fastened even more and he only stopped when he was behind you, quickly grabbing at your wrist and turning you around in an abrupt yank that got Jimin to stuck on place and grimace. He even heard you squint from where he was, and he certainly didn’t miss the smack of your hand on his face once you turned and faced him.

Jungkook’s face heated up, suddenly loosening his grip on your skin and blinking a few times, staring into your eyes, his features unreadable. Silence suddenly seemed to fill the crowded street while you two looked at each other, your face looking regretful the second you realized it was him and not someone who was trying to steal your purse or rape you during full day.

Jungkook was at a loss of words, and when he realized now he had to say something, he panicked again.

«I’m sorry?» that was not happening again, he wanted to scream.

«You’re sorry?» you erupted like a volcano, your arm still in the air even thought his grip was no longer on it. Jungkook’s head slowly shook up and down, gulping harshly.

«What are you sorry for?» your question made him knit his eyebrows. Was it really so hard for him to form a real sentence? The answer was yes. His brain just didn’t seem to work.

«About the coffe?» now, he really wanted to scream and tear his hair out.

He had just scared you and hurt you and all he managed to say was “about the coffee”? What was that even supposed to mean?

«The coffee?» you narrowed your eyes at him, he brung his hand to the back of his neck scratching it.

«The drink?» he said again. For god sake.

«Uh?» you just couldn’t understand. What was he even trying to do? He was sorry? Everything was just so confusing, and if last night you thought just a little bit about what happened yesterday with him, you were sure this was going to be in your head for the rest of the day.

«The drink Yoongi spilled on you?» why was every single one of his sentences a question?

«Who is Yoongi?» you whined without even thinking, but then you grasped it. The rude man was someone he knew. Was something wrong with his friends? First that one yesterday, now this Yoongi.

«Yoongi is-» Jungkook seemed to realize what he had just done and he stopped talking, letting out a tremulous breath. He just told you he knew the man who basically ruined your day. Great job.

«So, are your friends all like this?» you didn’t even know what you were doing, but the stress was just too much to handle at that moment. The man stared at you again, eyes shifting to every feature of your face.

«Uh? Wha- what?» he babbled. Jungkook was loosing it. And Jimin could see it from a block away. He wished he could do something to help him, anything to save the situation, but he just couldn’t. What would he even say, anyway? “Sorry, he just likes you so much that he doesn’t even remember how a normal human acts”? That wasn’t going to work.

«Are you friend with this Yoongi?» you asked. Jungkook nodded slowly, almost uncertain of what he was doing.

«And the one from yesterday was also your friend?» you asked again. This time he frowned, making you narrow your eyes.

«Taehyung?» he wondered, confusion blinking in his eyes.

«I don’t know, maybe? Was it his name? The one that poked me and ran away?» you sighed.

«But he- Oh. I can’t-» Reality hit him, and he had to take a deep breath to stop his dwelling.

«What?»

«I’m- I’m sorry?» there he was again. Was he kidding you? Just when he seemed to know other words, they were there again.

«You already said it, even though it doesn’t seem like you are.» you were really going crazy. Late for work, drenched, without your breakfast and with a charming guy talking nonsense in front of you.

«I am» his voice came out louder than expected, making you unconsciously squint and ward off a little bit.

«Well, thank you, I guess?» you glanced at the sidewalk, then again bringing your gaze to his face. The way the light of the sun hit his eyes made yours stare deep into them, the black pupils and irises almost fading with each other, the little sparkles of the light reflecting in them made them seem like one of the darkest nights, but with the brightest stars you’ve ever seen.

Your mouth ran dry when your gaze met his lips, a soft glow making them look even more captivating, you wondered if he was wearing a lip balm, a part of your mind wondering how it’d taste.

«I’m gonna be late for work» you mumbled. Jungkook shook his head.

«Okay» What? Are you serious, Jungkook? Okay? He visually grimaced at his own words, and for god knows why the corners of your lips raised up just the slightest at his awkwardness.

«I should go now» you gave him a little gentle smile and then turned, finally heading to your car. You had just taken a few steps on the sidewalk across the street when you turned away and realized he was standing still, eyes still fixated on you, but he wasn’t alone anymore. Maybe a friend of his? You hoped he wouldn’t hit you in the head, given the others. You crossed the street again, walking back towards the man and glancing at the ground feeling your cheeks reddening under his sight. 

You stopped a few steps away from him, raising your head and finally facing him. «I’m sorry too» you said, slightly smiling. «You know, for the slap» his lips formed an “o” but he quickly managed to smile, for the first time. And lord, what a smile he had. You swore you never saw something that beautiful. Your breath got stuck in your throat, heart madly beating in your chest, threatening to come out. And you didn’t even noticed, but your smile became a real one, wide and shining with its own light and reaching your eyes. Jungkook’s heart skipped a few beats just at the sight, his legs shaking under his body and a sudden feeling of warmth invading his chest, it was like his guts were back in place.

A drop of rain hit your forehead and in that moment you realized you really had to go, rain wasn’t something you could deal with now, not with your already soaked shirt and your delay. So you just turned again and walked away.

That was the first time you and Jungkook actually spoke to each other, kind of, I guess you could say.

«Didn’t you two talk?» Yoongi asked running a hand in his blonde locks. There they were again, but this time, thankfully Jungkook would say, they were in his house. He really didn’t know how to handle another one of his friends’ mishaps in your presence, not that he would’ve met you anyway, but here he felt more comfortable. It was normal for them to meet at someone’s place on a Friday night, it’s something they’ve always been doing for a long time that now it was like a tradition. Every Friday they would met and talk, even though they’ve been seeing each other almost every day. And now, it was no difference. Or maybe just one. You. Jungkook wasn’t talking about how much he was excited to perform or how much he loved the new choreography, he was talking about how embarrassing that moment was. Wait, those moments. Thanks to Taehyung, Yoongi and himself, now he had collected a few moments that really made everything seem awkward.

«We did but...» he groaned «Why did you have to spill your drink on her?»

«For you to go help her?» Yoongi made it seem so simple.

«How could I have helped her with her soaked shirt? She had to go to work and you ruined her morning. And if it wasn’t enough now she knows I know you! And you!» Jungkook’s voice cracked in the middle while pointing his accusing index finger towards Yoongi and Taehyung.

«What? How?» Yoongi couldn’t believe his ears. He gave him a chance and he let it slip through his hands like it was a cool chunk of ice.

«He told her» Jimin got in the conversation briefly glancing at his youngest friend. Jungkook was really going crazy.

«And? What’s the end? Tell me you got her number?» Jin rested his forearms on his knees, waiting for an answer that just wasn’t meant to come out.

«You don’t even know her name, do you?» the maknae brung is gaze to Taehyung, his dark eyes almost seemed to surrender in front of all the mess of the situation. The friend sighed, guilt already invading his throat. When he pushed Jungkook in that situation, he thought he was gonna handle it, to him he just needed a little bit of motivation. He didn’t think it would’ve ended like this. He shook his head.

«Great.» Jungkook stood up, unreadable features and body tense.

«But at the end it was good, she smiled at you» Jimin helplessly tried to bring back a little bit of positivity.

«Yes, after I made everything uncomfortable and awkward. How am I even supposed to make a move after what happened? First Teahyung, then Yoongi. Then me!» he bursted out. «The first time was already hideous, but this? I hurt her, let her know that basically all my friends are weird and when she said “I’m gonna be late for work” my answer was “okay”. Who am I even kidding? I-»

«Oh, come on!» Joonie decided to open his mouth, his loud tone made Jungkook shut up, everyone now looking at him. «This is all in your head, Kookie. Stop it. You need to take a deep breath and face this in a different way. Clearly, shutting your mind off and letting your body do the work it’s not what you need.» he raised his eyebrows at him. Jungkook had started pacing, he really wanted to fix things, but every time it seemed to get worse and worse and worse and... worse.

«It’s so frustrating, I swear! It never happened to me, never. I can’t control it, my brain just doesn’t work when I’m with her» he groaned locking his dark locks in his fist and pulling a little.

«Oh, cheesy» Hobi wrinkled his nose receiving in exchange a death stare from Jungkook.

«So you don’t even know her name?» Jin seemed to realize his words only now, eyes wide and moth hanging open. Jungkook clenched his jaw before letting his body falling to the couch. Not even the soft material of the cushions seemed to make him feel better, not even the slightest.

«I don’t know her name» he answered, saying those words more to himself than to his hyung. All of this seemed so stupid.

«Then start from it. Give to this beautiful woman a beautiful name, you can’t keep rambling about someone for about an hour without even knowing their name.» Namjoon’s tone was firm, making its way through the maknae’s ears, his words seemed like playing with him. He was right, he didn’t even knew your name, how the hell was that possible? He had the biggest crush and didn’t know the basics.

What Jungkook didn’t know and never could imagine was that you were thinking about him in the same moment as he was talking about you to his friends. What happened that morning was still replaying in your mind like a short film, from the moment that Yoongi spilled what you figured out was tea on your clothes to the moment you headed to your car. There was something about that awkward meeting that you just couldn’t seem to shake off. That man was so awkward and charming at the same time that the match sounded both weird and interesting.

Still, you couldn’t hide your annoyance towards him that morning. You couldn’t quite discern if he was just playing with you or if there was a meaning behind his actions and words, I mean, he apologized for his friend so much but he didn’t really act different than him, he yanked you. And apparently without any meaning. He already apologized for Yoongi before, so why follow someone you don’t even know to do it again?

Remembering your slap against his cheek you unconsciously squint your eyes, drowning in the dark. You really wouldn’t have punched him if you knew it was him, but the moment you felt someone’s touch against your skin you panicked. Not that he didn’t deserve it, well, actually he didn’t, but you don’t usually punch people like that, you really thought someone wanted to steal your purse or rape you, You puffed.

You just wished to not bump into him or his friends again, or at least to not be the main character of their misfortunes again.

Summer was finally coming to an end, and with the end of a season comes the beginning of a new wardrobe, at least for you. You already had clothes for the imminent autumn but with all the money you had saved you could squander a little bit and reward yourself, you worked hard and didn’t even leave for the holidays this year, sad but true. So now you were lowly humming in the street without even realizing it, the music invading all of your senses, the melody taking control of your body like it was made of a thin sheet of glass that could be broken anytime with the slightest pressure.

You entered the shop and removed an earphone, slowly making your way through the crowd and getting ready to buy something as a reward for all of your sacrifices. The sight of the soft fabric of a white dress made your eyes sparkle and your feet started moving towards the mannequin like they were apart from your body, bringing your hand to the cloth you touched the smooth material.

There was no way you were not buying it.

The shape seemed perfect for your body, you could already see yourself wearing it so you were quick to cross the room, ready to grab your hanger. Apparently, not quick enough, but you didn’t notice right away.

Looking through the dresses for your size made you frown, everyone of them either too big or too small. You were almost giving up when your gaze met the tag you were looking for, eyes widening and happiness already creeping up in your body.

Then, a hand came in the way. You watched it grab the crutch, dark ink marking the light golden skin, long fingers closing around the hook. Your breath got stuck in your throat and you really felt all your hopes falling to the ground now. Sure you were not gonna argue with whoever just took away your dream dress, you didn’t even have the right to do it, you should have been quicker before rather than staring at it with dreamy eyes. You were already starting to turn and look for something else with a knot in your throat but you couldn’t help your eyes and followed the arm of the stranger, the skin almost glowing under the light of the shop. You met two broad shoulders, the cleavage of the light shirt he was wearing showing his collar bones and making your fingers tingle at the sight, but if you knew who was waiting for you at the end of that neck you would have already ran away.

The previous night after his friends left Jungkook had spent at least three hours trying to find a way to make a third impression on you, if that was possible, this time preferably good, and he figured out nothing. Eventually he felt asleep all tensed and annoyed, remembering the next morning he had to buy something for Namjoon’s birthday coming in exactly two weeks.

When he woke up today and headed to the shop three blocks away from his house he did not expect to find you there. From the moment he saw you at least a hundred of different emotions had run through his body, starting from worship and ending up with panic, but this time his mind didn’t switch off, or maybe not at all. Listlessly choosing something for Namjoon, Jungkook came up with a plan, and it was apparently clear: buy you a dress and give it to you as both a present and an apology for everything that happened the day before, from Yoongi’s drink on you to the way he kept on making things awkward, and maybe finally ask you out.

So when he saw you staring at that dress with dreamy eyes he instantly walked towards its reproductions, sure as hell that now he had something to work with in his hands. But it was only when you approached the same counter as him that he realized he didn’t have any clue about your clothing size. I mean, he could have guessed it, but it wouldn’t have been the same. He was supposed to ask you and tell you something like “let me offer this to you for making up for yesterday’s mess” and “would you like to hang out sometimes?” but when he tried to speak his voice got stuck in his throat, his hands badly sweating. So he tried to understand what you were looking for, careful not to get caught, and possibly keeping it in mind for buying you something else, and it all worked until he saw your eyes full of that joyful light again. In that moment, his heart skipped a beat as he understood you had found what you wanted.

As I said, this time his brain didn’t stop working, he knew he couldn’t grab the dress practically from your hands, that would’ve been the worst third impression of all times. He just needed to remember the measures printed on that little tag and look for something else. He knew but his hands moved by themselves and Jungkook felt himself stiffening again.

When you locked eyes with him you couldn’t help but snort. What was going on with the universe? You were sure you didn’t do anything that bad to deserve this. And why was he involved in all of your misadventures? Him, him, him, him and him again, couldn’t at least the gods send someone else once in a while to punish you? The fact that it was him made the knot in your throat grow even bigger and you instantly felt a flame of anger burning in your chest. If he was someone else you would’ve probably let go, but not with him and not when he was holding the dress you wanted to buy after long days and late nights of work, stress and a little bit of panic too.

So you did the first thing that came to your mind, you grabbed at the hanger he was holding in his other hand and immediately walked away leaving him with his mouth agape and his gaze digging holes in your body.

You turned the corner and went straight to the changing room, desperately trying to keep yourself from bursting out in the middle of the shop. You closed the curtain behind you and finally took a look at what you were holding. A men’s hoodie. You were going to buy it, wether you liked it or not. Not a big deal, you already had men’s clothes in your wardrobe, right?

Taking a deep breath you sat on the little couch in the fitting room, you were really starting to think he was playing with you. That had to be it. He was just enjoying himself, having fun with making you feel like an idiot. Unintentionally, some tears streamed down you cheeks, all the accumulated stress from work and from the rehearsals you were having almost every day, all the sleepless nights you had in the last three months trying to save money, some days even working your ass off until the first lights of the morning would appear, all the times you felt like you didn’t belong; everything was coming out in the shape of little drops. You hadn’t been crying for a long time and stopping now seemed like light years away, so you got up and went out of the dressing room heading to the checkout without even glancing around.

Jungkook was still in the same place you had left him, and when he saw your cheeks sparkling just in time before you could wipe the tears away he knew it wasn’t because of the sweat this time. His heart broke, features screaming nothing but regret. If only you had turned around you would have seen it even from there.

But instead, you paid your new hoodie and went out, ready to burst out once again you’d be surrounded by the safe walls of your apartment.

«God, I can’t believe it» Jungkook groaned again for about the tenth time since the beginning of the phone call.

Jimin and Namjoon had been meticulously chosen for today’s vent, and this time he was sure he had something real to ramble on about, it wasn’t all in his head anymore. He had made you cry.

«It was the worst third impression of all times! My plan was good, damn, why do I have to be like this around her? Every single time, it happens every damn time» he hissed through his teeth. On the other line, Jimin was staring at his white ceiling with his eyebrows furrowed and his lips pursed, trying to help his friend as best as he could, but he knew there was nothing he could do. Jungkook had to fix this, again. And Namjoon felt the same way as he took a sip of his coffee, his hair still messy from the long sleep he had just awakened from.

«I know you don’t need to hear it, but you’re the worst suitor on earth» he blurted out rubbing his face with his hands. «How can you expect to be more to her than an awkward weirdo if you can’t even talk or act normally in her presence? At least did you get her name?» Namjoon knew his words were doing nothing but emphasizing the horrible situation but he just couldn’t contain himself anymore. Jungkook didn’t need to be pitied, it would have led him nowhere. The maknae grunted in frustration. That was the only answer Joonie needed.

«Stop everything you’re doing» his words made Jungkook frown.

«What?»

«I said stop everything you’re doing» he repeated again, then taking another sip from his coffee. The youngest stared at the screen in disbelief.

«I am doing nothing!» his high-pitched tone made Jimin squint his eyes.

«Okay, then come to my place for lunch and bring that freaking dress with you» he ordered, now getting up and putting his mug in the sink.

«Can I-»

«Yes, Jimin, no need to ask» the hyung interrupted his friend already expecting his question.

«I’m gonna shower, but please be careful with that dress Kook» Namjoon’s tone softened and his words almost sounded like a prayer, Jungkook couldn’t help but glance at the piece of cloth laying on his couch with a worried face. That was not the right place for it.

«Okay, I got it, I got it» he said more to himself than to his friend.

«See you later» Namjoon got off the phone in a second, already on his way to the bathroom.

«Kookie, I know you can do it, okay? We can’t do more than what we are already doing, we can’t fix this for you, you have to fix it. But we’re here to support you.» Jimin’s words gave birth to a bittersweet smile on Jungkook’s face and he internally thanked God for his friends.

«Thank you Chimin»

They talked for another ten minutes before finally getting off the phone, Kookie’s eyes shifting again to what was supposed to be your dress now and shutting down.

He needed to fix this, again.

«So?» Jimin patted his fingers on the wooden table moving his gaze between his three friends. Unexpectedly Taehyung had knocked on Namjoon’s door just before they were about to sit down and have lunch with an expression that promised nothing but bad news.

«I wanted to buy you something for making up for what happened yesterday and the day before, but apparently I screwed up again. This is for you.» Jungkook repeated for the fourth time, then reached his hand out on the table, his chopsticks holding an amount of chicken noodles not even possible to put in his mouth. Namjoon opened his all of a sudden and gobbled them in just one gulp, making Jungkook frown.

«You just ate her dress!» Jimin bursted out laughing at the scene in front of his eyes, the corners wrinkling, his melodious laugh even took over Taehyng’s brooding face, the hyung smiled like a baby.

«I’m hungry and it was the third time he was doing that! He practically saw it coming!» he claimed, already taking with his chopsticks another amount of inhumanly impossible food to eat.

«You have yours!» the maknae tried to sound as serious as he could but his smile fooled him.

«Don’t bother me, I’m feeding you and giving you advices, this is the least you could do in return.» he mocked him with a new beaming smile on his face, Kook shook his head and took a bite of his meal.

«I think it could work?» Jimin brung the conversation back to where it was supposed to be, glancing at Tae and Joonie.

«Just try to stick to that» Taehyung said nodding «and don’t forget to breathe. And please, don’t panic again.» he added. Kookie nodded, this time had to be good. «You think you can do that?»

«I have to» he sighed, already feeling under pressure. Jimin and Namjoon smiled at him, trying to reassure him.

«Alright, now Taehyung could you tell us what’s wrong?» the hyung suddenly shifted his gaze to the other maknae seated next to Kook, who raised his eyebrows and shook his head faking a smile. «Come on, we can see it. Tell your favorite therapists what’s wrong and let us help you.» Jimin nodded at his words.

«Alright, I...» Taehyung took a deep breath, his long slender fingers ran through his hair and fisted a dark strand, slightly tugging it.

«Oh my God, this is so hard to say out loud» he groaned. Now, if there was a tiny possibility that they’re friends weren’t worried about him, his words certainly did their job.

«TaeTae, come on» Jimin widened his eyes.

«Alright. Do you all remember Gillyflower?» his words only brung more confusion to their faces. «The girl with pink hair?» he tried again, and this time a bunch of “ooh” and “yes” made him nod. He took another deep breath. 

«Well, I asked her out and she was about to answer when Tannie suddenly started barking and puling at the leash. I tried to mke him stop but he kept getting worse to the point he yanked me. I- I stumbled and trying to grab onto something I...» he harshly gulped, silence invaded the room.

«What did you do? It can’t be worse than what I did, right?» Jungkook’s doe-eyes were staring at his friend’s face trying to catch a hint of his actions.

«I don’t know, it’s the first time something like this awkward happens between of us, but it’s just...» he puffed letting his shoulders fall and then again shaking his head.

«What?» Namjoon were desperate to know now.

«I groped her breasts. But I was just trying to hold onto something and- Oh my God this is the worst thing I could have ever done» he groaned and hid his face behind his hands trying to cover his cheeks flashing red. Jungkook’s eyes considerably widened, Jimin’s lips formed the perfect shape of an “o” and Joonie shut his eyes , almost forgetting how to swallow. Almost.

«What did you do after that? Tell me you apologized, tell me you did it?» Chimin’s gaze was basically begging him.

«Of course I did, but I was still shocked and... I may have left my hands on her for too much time» his voice was muffled by his hands, still covering his reddish face.

«Oh, God» Jimin let out, tilting his head back. «What the hell is happening to us?» he whined, earning a death stare from Namjoon.

«You mean what the hell is happening to you? This things don’t happen to me, luckily.» he stated.

«Oh, please Joon, your face is dirty for all the eggs you have on it. You know you have your bag stuffed with blunders» Jimin whined again and Namjoon pointed his index towards him.

«That wasn’t supposed to come out!» he argued.

«It didn’t! But I’ll blurt out all of your secrets if you don’t admit you can be a weirdo too!» the hyung puffed.

«Please, everyone knows I’m an oddball, there’s no need to argue on that. But my blunders are far beneath theirs!» he pointed at Jungkook and Teahyung the youngest was now trying not burst out laughing for his high-pitched tone. Jimin groaned.

«What was her answer?» Jungkook asked, carefully looking at TaeTae. He gulped.

«She started laughing and I apologized myself again before entering home. I thought she was making fun of me but I realized it was an uncomfortable laugh just after I shut the door. Now every time I see her in the hallway I hide behind the corners and avoid her. She must think I’m an idiot.» Teahyung’s words made Jungkook feel slightly better, maybe it was selfish but he felt less lonely.

«You need to talk to her» Namjoon mumbled with his mouth stuffed of noodles.

«We’ll make up a speech for you too after lunch, alright?» Tae shook his head.

«No need for it, I can handle it. I think» he sighed for the hundredth time.

The Sunday that followed got Jungkook incredibly frustrated. In two days it was gonna be his birthday and he and his friends had all agreed to take a day off from the devastating rehearsals to celebrate it together, so now there he was,  meticulously watching his figure dancing in the mirror. He hadn’t slept well and his eyes were praying for just a bunch of minutes of rest, body already tired only after an hour of movement. When the music stopped he thanked Jin with a grateful smile before approaching the bench on the side of the room to grab his towel and gather his sweat.

«I think this-»

«Kookie!» Jimin shouted with his eyes wide, his voice echoed in every single corner of the room and in a second Jungkook realized why. He didn’t really do it, please.He let his hand fall at his side, and yes, there it was. Your dress in his hand, now moist and clammy.

His voice burst in the loudest tone he’ve ever used: «Who the hell pulled it out of my bag?!»

The group immediately got closer to take a look at what he was talking about, Namjoon and Taehyung held their breath when the maknae opened the folded cloth revealing the white peace of dressing he had carefully putted in his bag just in case he’d met you here, even though it was quite impossible being Sunday.

«Oh my God, I thought it was a towel and-» Jin started explain himself but got interrupted again by Jungkook’s low groan.

«I am screwed, I give up.» his chest swelled like a balloon and his shoulder raised almost to his ears just to heavily fall a second later. «If this isn’t fate then I don’t know what it is» he complained letting his body go limp after he seated on the bench. And as if what had just happened wasn’t enough his eyes caught your figure in the hallway, your body managing to move graciously on your high heels even though at a speed that seemed almost impossible for you not to fall, your hair swinging with every step.

«Bad luck?» Hobi kneeled in front of him and Jungkook scoffed, shifting his gaze on his muscled legs once you disappeared behind the corner, his dark locks creating a curtain to hide him from the rest of the world while he rested his elbows on his knees.

«Bad luck? This is a tragedy. And not just because of the dress. Everything I did until now is a tragedy. This is just the cherry on top of it all. Maybe this is just not meant to happen and that’s why I keep messing things up.» he grumbled with raspy voice. And he really believed that for a moment, maybe he was right. Everything, every single thing he had done so far had just messed things up more, even though he was desperately trying to do the opposite. He still didn’t know your name but had however already managed to made you feel uncomfortable, hurt you and made you cry. What a charming suitor he was. At this point he could’ve-

«If thinking about it like this makes you feel better.» Namjoon spoke with his gaze on the maknae. He licked his lips and waited for Kookie to raise his head, but it didn’t happen. «You don’t have the dress, who cares? It’s a peace of cloth, Kook. Your apologies are more important and you still have your speech. You can do it.» he kneeled in front of him beside Hobi, finally catching his gaze. What he didn’t expect was to actually find his eyes shining because of the stressed tears he was desperate to hold.

«He’s right, Kookie. Come on, you’re the golden maknae. And if it goes wrong we’ll have finally found something you’re not good at» Jin smiled at his youngest friend, his words made him lightly giggle, Yoongi nudged him.

«Just try again, okay?» Hobi smiled at him and Jungkook had to take a few moments for himself to finally answer.

Probably, no, wait, sure as hell the easiest thing was to give up. You already had a clear picture of him by now, there was no way you were changing your mind with just an apology. He had already apologized for at least five times the other day, and he had made you cry the day right after. So the possible answers now were two: yes or no. Such a big difference between them but such a thin line for him, especially now that he had lost the only thing that maybe would’ve helped him. He didn’t want lie to himself, he knew it was easier to give up and go back to being a normal acting human, not embarrassing himself anymore and feeling like an idiot all the time. But it was too easy like that, and just the thought made him frown. He couldn’t explain what it was to himself, but there was something about you that made him fatally, hopelessly curious. Since the very first moment he saw you, something turned on inside him, and I’m not just talking about his cock.

«Okay» he whispered to himself, the air of his breath fanning the golden skin of his hands. He took a deep breath and stood up.

«What?» Yoongi asked looking at him. Jungkook nodded.

«Okay, but you promise me you won’t do anything?» he pointed his finger against Yoongi’s face and then moved it back and forth pointing at everyone of them. When they all nodded Jungkook knew it was the moment to leave the room. 

Jimin pursued his lips when he saw him walking towards the door and quickly sided him. «Wait, you’re doing it now? Is she here? It’s Sunday!» he spoke so fast and his tone changed so many times that Kook turned to face him with an amused smile, almost forgetting about what he was about to do. «Do you remember the speech?» he asked again. When Kookie nodded and finally left the room Chimin stayed still with his gaze on him, acting like a mummy leaving her little child for the first time to the kindergarten.

«He can do it» Yoongi patted his shoulder.

You weren’t supposed to be there, not on a Sunday morning when all you wanted to do was drown in your bed and never let go of your sheets without the clock pointing at least at eleven. But you didn’t have any choice when you realized what day it was. It wasn’t just an usual Sunday, your family was coming at your place for lunch in about two hours from now, and you had promised them to cook something special, or at least to try your best. You were already feeling under pressure and your parents weren’t exactly the definition of easy-going people, always ready to judge everything you would do and every step you’d take. No wonder why you’ve grown to be their total opposite, never daring to judge anyone, and you knew they hated it. But you didn’t care and kept doing your thing, without worrying too much. Luckily, distance had made everything so much easier, until this kind of moments. The stress was running through your blood like it was part of your body, you were practically on the edge. You really didn’t want to hear them complaining about your stupid passion and how you should stop chasing your dreams just to find an even more steady job than the one you already had, so you had quickly decided to bring your gym bag here. You had grabbed everything you could find in your house that could have led their thoughts to your athletic side and just stuffed all in the bag now hanging from your shoulder, from your pointe shoes to your sweat shorts.

The lockers were safe and you knew it because you had already done this at least five or six times, so you simply opened the steel door and placed your bag in it with loose motions before shutting it and locking it with you keys. You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. The stress of your job, the rehearsals, all the money you wanted to save to buy your house and what happened in the last days were hovering on your mind so much that you knew you would have bursted out if you had to worry about your parents too. So this was the easiest way.

Heading to the door you fastened you pace until you got out, the sun made your skin burn and you harshly puffed, already wishing the winter to come.

At the same time, Jungkook was looking for you in the whole building, he even took the stairs and went to second floor once he figured out you weren’t in your usual rehearsal room. He thought you’d be in the changing rooms but he couldn’t afford himself to the risk of finding you half naked, even though the picture of you he had in mind was making his mouth drier every second more while taking the stairs again. It was when he distractedly looked out of the window that he saw you crossing the street. His feet never ran faster than that moment, praying for you to stay on the main street so that he’d found you more easily. He crossed the hallway and made his friend’s heads turn when he rushed in front of their door, that stupid speech replaying in his head over and over again like a prayer.

«Oh man» Namjoon covered his eyes with his right hand at the sight.

Once the maknae was out of the building he welcomed the light of the sun by squinting his eyes, his already sweating body heated up even more while desperately trying to get to you. The street was not that crowded at this time of the morning with the sun almost at his highest spot and the hot breeze threatening whoever was out, so he thought he could make it. Then, he saw you stopping on the sidewalk. Maybe you noticed him? Impossible.

A second later you were opening the door of a taxi and he didn’t know if rather laugh about his bad luck or cry. He could’ve just let go and talk to you the next day, you were definitely going to rehearsal on Monday, or maybe even on Tuesday. But it’s Jungkook we’re talking about, and by now we all know a part of his brain seemed to switch off when it comes to you. Or maybe this time, it turned on. The stress he felt those days had built up so much that he just wanted to burst out once and for all. He was tired of dwelling about his clumsiness and weirdness when he was beside you and didn’t want to feel guilty for making you feel uncomfortable anymore. So he sped up, his legs almost gave in for the big gap he wanted to close in a matter of seconds. 

But he made it. He knocked at your window with his fist, hands sweating and chest raising desperately gasping for air. When you turned and squinted your eyes because of the light of the sun he again swore he had never seen something, someone that beautiful in his life, the rays of sunshine painting little sparkling stars in your pupils and your skin gleaming.

You knitted your eyebrows at the sight, the charming but odd man staring at you as if he had just seen who knows what. What did he want now? You didn’t have time for his teasing, not with all of the things you had to do before the hurricane that your parents were would show up and take over you for the next hours.

«Please» he managed to say, or at least he mouthed it, and a part of him thanked your shut window for not giving him away, but just a little part. If hearing the lack of his voice would’ve made you listen then he would’ve talked with his hands.

With everything he did he was not really expecting you to listen to him, not when he was making things awkward once again, not in this situation. He was hoping it with all of his heart, but he knew it was not going to happen. Indeed, it didn’t happen.

The taxi started and you fixated your gaze on the street without a second thought, already brushing away the weird feeling that his gaze made you feel. You checked your phone screen: 11.34. Great. You were praying every god in heaven to save you from your parents’ likely early arrive when a thump made you both frown and hit the backrest with your head harshly enough to wince. You realized your taxi just hit the one in front of him in a second. Someone was definitely mad at you.

That was Jungkook’s moment. He widened his eyes at the sight and rushed on the sidewalk before he quickly approached your cab. His heart was beating so fast that for a moment he feared for his life. He opened your door without a second thought, you were hissing through your breath, eyes shut and pursued lips. While he took in the sight you felt a gentle hot breeze on your skin. Opening your eyes you gasped when you saw him standing there. Definitely really, really mad.

«I can’t do this» you bursted out loud, more to yourself than to the men that now were both staring at you.

«It’ll only take ten minutes» the cab driver gently smiled at you. The poor man then brung his gaze to the other standing at your door, holding it so tight with his hand that his knuckles were white. You tried to fake a smile as best as you could.

«I’m sorry but I’m running out of time, I’m gonna make it on foot.» you claimed. Before waiting for any answer you shifted your gaze back to the man who was blocking you into the car, his body stiff and not giving you hits of movement. You waited for something, anything, but he just kept staring at you making you feel like a fish out of water and you didn’t have time to deal with his awkward behavior now, you were really late. So you stood up anyway, almost stepping on his toes, and you held your breath while making your way through his body and the car. The way he kept his dark doe-eyes into yours without any sign of backing off made you shiver.

Jungkook harshly gulped when your body slightly touched his, his skin tickled at the feeling, the lightest of touches creating the strongest of the addictions. «I- I can give you a- a ride?» he stuttered, finally removing his hands from the door of the car. You started walking without even turning at his words, too much overwhelmed by the awful morning you were having. Kook was staring at you still in the same place as before, mouth agape and eyes sparkling at the way you were moving your hips, but when he realized you were already on the sidewalk he forced himself to follow you.

«I’ll give you a ride?» why did he keep doing that? That was supposed to sound more sure, more like a statement maybe? You snorted.

«Please, stop it» his presence beside made you even more nervous, what did he want? Why was he doing that again?

«I- I can drive, I can ride you-» what the hell was that? God, he kept making things worse without even trying. Your face immediately shot up, eyebrows knitted together and blood boiling in your veins.

«What I meant is-» he stopped talking again, his feet did the same and for a moment he considered letting you walk away and just give up. With how fast you were walking you were already disappearing into the crowd. But he sided you again.

«Look, I don’t have time for your teasing now, you can do it tomorrow.» you didn’t need to shift your gaze from the sidewalk to know that he was again there.

«What? I- No, I want to do it now!»

Did he really said that? Turn on your damn brain, Jungkook.

You rolled your eyes. «I can’t belie-»

«Can I just give you a ride?» he suddenly blocked your way with his body, arms outstretched and dark eyes praying yours. «Not in that way» he added, desperately trying to fix his stupid mistakes.

You couldn’t understand what the hell he was doing, standing there in front of you, in the middle of the crowd, praying to give you a ride after everything that he had done in just... three times you met? 

«No.» you shook your head and quickly got over him. «In both ways» you added, slightly smirking at yourself for your words. Jungkook sneered too, following you again like a puppy.

«You’d get there faster, please. Just- just a ride?» his continue pleads made you whine and stopping your steps you turned to face him, realizing just now how much he was taller than you.

«I don’t even know your name» you stated, ready to claim your victory. Jungkook let his mouth fall agape while looking at you standing so close to him, not that it was that close, but the rays of the sun were making everything too much to handle for him.

«Jeon Jun- Jungkook?» he managed to say, to ask, voice cracking in the middle.

«You don’t sound so sure of that» strangely, you smirked. Jungkook’s heart almost stopped right there and then.

«I’m Jungkook» he repeated trying as best as he could to smile without showing his nerves on the edge. You took in the sight squinting your eyes at him.

«Okay, Jungkook. I still don’t know you, so the answer is still no» you smiled at him and were about to start walking again but he got in the way a second time. His brain panicked again when he realized he had to say something now, eyes widened and throat dry. Mind blank, totally blank.

«I wanted to buy you something for making up for what happened yesterday and the day before- oh, shit not yesterday. I mean, yesterday and the day before but the day before that too.» he lowly groaned and shut his eyes, already feeling his face heating up. He watched your features change from annoyance to curiosity and then slightly smirking, but he couldn’t quite define if you were just having fun seeing him struggle or if you were actually smiling for his words.

You can do this, Jungkook. You can do this. Just go on.

«Apparently I screwed up again. This is for you.» the only sentence he wasn’t supposed to say came out like it had its own life and the maknae’s eyes widened even more while staring at your unreadable expression.

«So?» you asked folding your arms.

«I- i can’t- oh God» Jungkook wanted the earth to swallow him in. The embarrassment was eating him alive. «I can’t give it to you» he blurted out without even trying anymore to contain his voice.

«Jungkook, I really, really, don’t have the time to deal with this now. My parents are coming over for lunch and I still have to cook, they’re gonna start a-» you started blabbering but stopped when you figured out you were saying too much. «I don’t have time.»

«I can cook.» he claimed «I can cook, I’m- I’m good at it and I’m fast» His face has never been more red than in that moment, not even when he asked her first crush ever out. Never than when he was with you.

«What are you trying to say?» you sighed, again checking your phone, the bold characters of the time made you whine.

«I can- help you with the lunch?» he tried again.«You can trust me. I swear- my friend is a chef. He-»

«Are you serious?» you interrupted his endless speech with a hint in your voice that neither the both of you quite get. Your question didn’t sound like an annoyed one, it sounded more like... Surprised? Kinda. Desperate? Oh, hell yes.

Jungkook nodded, and in a second your wheels brain worked like crazy. It was almost 12.00 and you knew that your parents wouldn’t arrive at the established time, they were probably already in the car looking forward to the moment you were going to open the door and ready to start complaining about how late you were for everything, how your life wasn’t good for you, how you should’ve been more like them. No, you weren’t playing they’re game, not today.

Going to your apartment now would’ve meant arrive in twenty minutes, then you had to make sure everything was in place and absolutely remember to lock your bedroom, your mother had this weird habit to always pry and snoop in your drawers as if you were still a teenager, you hated it. You had to cook and set the table too.

Oh, lord. You couldn’t believe you were really thinking about this.

«I’m Y/N» you sighed, locking eyes with Jungkook. The information you had just given him seemed to make his features even more shocked. 

Y/N, he repeated to himself, finally having a name for your breathtaking face. You had really told him? After all he had done so far?

«Are you really serious? Cause please, I don’t really have time for your teasing.» now it was you the one almost begging.

Jungkook’s eyes widened so much that they almost fell out as he forced himself to nod. «Yes, I- I’m serious. I can help you?» his voice was shaking.

«If you promise your friend won’t set fire to my kitchen?»

Jungkook’s features lost all their hope in a blink hearing your words. He really thought you were letting him in your place to help you considering all the awkwardness between you two? Well, he hoped it. It would’ve been a good way to prove you he wasn’t a jerk and maybe get to know you a little better. It wasn’t fair to be that much head over heels for someone you don’t even know. But that thought vanished in an instant. It took him a few seconds to understand he had to call Jin.

Please, please. He hoped the rehearsals were over and that he had already taken a shower.

«I promise, I swear he won’t do it» Jungkook’s sweaty hands went in his pockets and grabbed the phone. «I- I’ll call him»

You let yourself sigh when he brung the phone to his ear. This was all too overwhelming, the nervousness was eating you alive and the fact that now you had to worry about his friend too made you hold another sigh. Please, tell me he’s not teasing me again. This was your prayer, the words echoing through your mind like a mantra while the man talked to his phone taking a few steps to distance himself from you.

«Jin, please. You own me this for the dress. And I promise I- I will do whatever you want me to do. Just, please do this for me» he prayed lowering his voice and staring at you.

«You’re lucky I just changed. Alright.» Jin nodded on the other side of the line, everyone was staring at him waiting to know what happened.

«Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you» 

«I know, how can’t someone love me?» he scoffed «Where are you?»

«A few block away from the studio, in front of the crossroad, but please hurry up. Really, she’s running out of time»

«Alright, alright. I’m on my way. Don’t say or do awkward things.» that was the last sentence he left him with.

Jungkook stared at you for a little bit before putting his phone back in his pockets, studying the way you were biting your lips and snorting from time to time, fingers playing with each other in nervous movements. He couldn’t help but ask himself why you were so nervous. Your parents were coming over, shouldn’t you be happy to spend some time with your family?

You were desperate, totally overwhelmed from your parents’s judgement, still thinking about their faces when they would see you hired a chief just for a stupid lunch. “Couldn’t you do this on your own?”, “This is ridiculous.”, their voices were already playing in your mind.

You turned to look at Jungkook, his gaze immediately leaving your face and his cheeks flashing red. You approached him in a second.

«He’s coming» he let out a deep breath, and so did you. You didn’t have to worry about lunch anymore, thanks God. «I- why... Can I ask you why are you so nerv- nervous?» his question made your mouth fall agape. Was it that obvious? 

«I’m not»

«Oh» he puffed «O-okay. I’m sorry» you frowned.

«Why do you keep saying that?» Jungkook gulped harshly.

«I- I shouldn’t have asked.» and now he was looking like a puppy for the first time in front of your eyes. For a moment he didn’t seem the charming awkward man that had made you feel uncomfortable anymore. The silence filled the air even though the streets were chaotic. 

Seeing him like that made you speak: «You won’t tease?»

«Wha-What? Why?» Kook thought the conversation was already over, so when you asked him he really didn’t had his brain working. «I mean, why should I t-tease you?» doe-eyes staring directly into yours.

«You always do it» you shrugged. In that moment, Jungkook really felt awful. You really thought all he had done was because he was teasing you?

«I don’t»

«Yes, you do»

«No, I don’t» his voice sounded firm for the first time. Your eyes left his.

«Then this is you? You usually act like... you acted yesterday? And the day before? And the-»

«No, I- I don’t» he sighed «but I’m not teasing you. I never wanted to?»

«Why are you asking me?»

«I’m not! It’s just-» he let the sentence disappear like a speck of dust blown off by the window. «I won’t tease» his voice made you look back into his eyes and the silence filled the space between you two again, your face lost his brightness.

«My parents are not easy-going people. It’s just that.» Jungkook raised his eyebrows.

«Yes, but a chief?» he let out without even thinking, the second he saw your features changing he wanted to slap himself.

«I know, it’s desperate» he held his breath, the guilt already sneaking in his body for letting you think he thought that.

«No!» his voice came out louder than expected «I-It’s not. I was just curious. Maybe I should hire Seokjin too when my parents come to my place. He cooks better than me» you scoffed and his heart sped up like crazy. Finally, he thought. He was dying to hear that sound escape your lips, and now that he was the cause of it he wanted to hear it more.

«Jungkook!» Jin’s voice remembered him what you were really doing and he couldn’t help but feel disappointed when he turned to watch him get closer with each step. Your mouth hanging open at the sight. Tall, broad shoulders and a charming face. Was it a thing running in his group?

«I’m Kim Seokjin, but call me Jin. I’m your chief for today.» he introduced himself once he stood in front of you.

«I’m Y/N. Thank you for doing this, I’m aware I didn’t give you time to-»

«Don’t worry, really. It’s not a problem.» he smiled. You nodded and gulped nervously before glancing at Jungkook, who was standing there shifting his gaze between you and his friend, praying everything would work out fine.

«Let’s go, you can tell me about what you’d like to eat while we get to your place»

And with that, you nodded at him and gave a smile to the maknae. Jungkook’s heart skipped a few beats.

«I swear, she has the worst parents ever.» Jin claimed, eyes wide and shocked features. «They really aren’t easy-going people.»

«Did they complain about the food?» Namjoon asked, the hyung raised his eyebrows.

«They didn’t dare, luckily for them,» he scoffed. «but from what I heard from the kitchen that woman really has the strongest self-control ever»

«What happened?» Hobi sat beside him on the couch.

«You mean what didn’t happen. First, when they came in they didn’t even greet her, they just gave her their coats and ran past her like nothing.» he raised his index finger while shaking his head. Jungkook’s eyes widened.

«Then they started complaining about her apartment. “I don’t really know how you like this place so much”, “it’s so small”, “do you even have a second bathroom in here?”, “you should move”. I mean, let her breathe!» he imitated your parents’s voices, an high-pitched tone for your mother and a weird twang for you father. His middle finger went up.

«After that, her mother tried to break into her room as if she’s a fifteen years old teenager. What the hell was that? She even locked it before they came in, I saw her.» and now his ring finger too.

«What?» Yoongi couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and neither the others. Everyone’s expression was only screaming shock, staring at their friend like he was telling them a crime novel. Jungkook had his eyebrows knitted together, mouth agape and an emotion neither he could quite get running through his blood.

«I swear I’m not making this up! They’re the worst!» Jin shook his head. «When they saw me serving the plates her mother raised her eyebrows and waited for me to go into the kitchen before she started spitting out all her venom. “Couldn’t you do this on your own? Of course not. You’re still trying to dance, right? That’s why you don’t even have time to learn how to cook”, “your mother is right, you should start to act like an adult, Y/N. I think it’s time for you to stop with that”. It was like being in hell, and I was in my heaven, you know I love standing in front of the stove. I honestly don’t know how she managed to stay calm.»

«Oh, God. She must feel so much pressure» Hobi muttered, Yoongi and Taehyung nodded.

«I know. I could see it in her eyes when I left, she was acting like nothing happened but she really seemed wrecked. She insisted to pay me but I refused her money, I told her she’s fine since is your “friend”» Jin looked at Jungkook, who weakly smiled as a thank you for his actions. He already knew that your parents were not that easy from your words and the way you acted that morning, but God, he never though they’d be like this. How did you even manage to not burst out at them?

Your pillow was doing nothing to muffle your sobs, they could be heard even with the sound of the TV on and the sheets hiding you from the light light of the screen. Useless to say, you were feeling like shit. You always tried your best but always fail with them. You were used to it, so why were you crying? Again? You wished your parents were different, more amenable, you even wished you were different, the daughter they expected you to be. But you weren’t, and all you were left with was hope, every time. Maybe the next time will be better, that was what you usually told to yourself, and that was probably why you ended up crying this time too. You needed to stop it and face the fact that it was not going to be better. You weren’t the problem, and deep inside you you knew it.

You simply needed to face it.

Finally, here comes today. It’s weird for you to think this, but you actually want to meet Jungkook, to thank him. The awful night you had made you think of how hard you try with your parents even though you keep telling yourself it’s not true. After having a chief cooking for you, the only thing you can do is cope with it. You can’t deny you were being anxious for the whole time, still skeptical about the situation, afraid that Jungkook was maybe teasing you again and his friend was no one but a someone looking for fun him too. But he wasn’t, he’s been nice for the entire time, always smiling and trying to make you feel comfortable, he sure knows how to marvel a new client. You saw him blinking a few times because of your parents’s words, but you’re grateful he didn’t tell you anything. He was professional and friendly, and you feel so sorry about not paying him and making him deal with the awkward lunch of you and your parents.

Thus, you are now walking in the studio hoping to find Jungkook or maybe one of his friends, not sure of what exactly are his schedules. You look for him until you realize you’re already five minutes late for your rehearsals so you decide to rush back in your room. What you didn’t expect is to find him at your doorframe, eyes shifting from person to person. His figure makes you hold your breath, his features taken by whoever his looking for, lips pursued, tall and muscled body wrapped in a pair of black jeans and a gray shirt.

«Jungkook?» you call. Jungkook’s heart drops when he realizes it’s your voice, then in a second the embarrassment is there again, making his ears and cheeks flashing red.

«H-hi?» he slowly moves his stare until it’s on your face.

«Were you looking for me?» his eyes wide, he weakly raises his eyebrows and now his lips are slightly parted in a pout.

«N-no? Yes, I mean no, I- fuck» he mutters, shutting his eyes at the end of the uncommon answer and hissing under his breath. You knit your eyebrows. Once he opens his eyes again you can’t help but smirk, just a little bit. With the half-gone sensation of him teasing at you it’s more easy to do it.

«I- what was the question?» he really doesn’t know how to answer you. You scoff and shake your head.

«Never mind, I was looking for you but now I really can’t talk. Do you have some time later?» your uncertain tone makes you cringe, again feeling weird in front of him. You can’t help it, it’s just something that happens every time in his presence.

His brain stops working again. «Oh, yes? Y-yeah»

«What- what time do you get off?»

«I- well, I- uhm... Yoongi!» he suddenly screams, panicking and widening his eyes when he shifts them from you to his friend, his tone radiates nothing but frustration.

Thanks God, he thinks, but a second later he’s already regretting it. You quickly turn to see his friend approaching you in heavy footsteps, and when you link his face to his name another wave of uncomfortableness sneaks in your body.

Yoongi looks at you only when he sides his friend, gulping harshly and trying to fake a smile as best as he can. «Hi, I’m Yoongi?»Why do they all speak like this? 

He shifts his eyes from you to Jungkook and viceversa, hoping someone to talk and tell him what the hell is he doing there with you two. When Jungkook finally speaks his voice his shaking. «What dime do- do we get o-off?» his eyes are basically praying Yoongi to answer.

«I think at seven?»

«Oh» he lets out, lowering his gaze on you again. You try to shrug off the mix of emotions his dark eyes give you.

«Okay, I... I’ll wait for you? I guess, if you tell me-»

«13» Yoongi interrupts your blabbering seeing that the maknae’s face is as blank as a white sheet paper, still in shock from what’s happening, he probably wouldn’t have known how to answer you.

«Thank you. See you later then» you try to smile without letting your uneasiness creep in and quickly enter the rehearsal room, letting out a deep breath.

«You know you’ll have to talk to her later, right? And what was she talking about?» Yoongi asks as soon as you can’t hear him. Jungkook shrugs.

«She- she wants to talk? I’m gonna die in the awkwardness, I know it. I’m gonna embarrass myself so much I won’t even be able to breathe, fuck.»

«Y/N?» Jungkook stares at your reflection in the mirror, his movements suddenly stop nd Hobi frowns at him.

«Jungkook, what are you doing?» he screams over the music. The maknae blinks a few times before he understands you’re looking at him and he’ll make everything more awkward if he keeps standing still like this with his eyes on you. Thus, he takes a deep - deep - breath and  counts the time again before catching up with the moves.

His body makes you hold your breath, his movements are clean and outright, his style is impactful, even the small details incredibly focused and accurate. His muscles twitch under the clothes, and you can outline the muscles of his legs even without even trying. Only the sight makes you shudder. His body is something you really didn’t dwell on, too much taken aback from the way he usually acts around you, but having a show like this in front of your eyes is something you can’t really turn away to. The way he moves his hips in a particular move has you clenching around nothing, and you suddenly blush at the thought of how he’d move them in a different situation, your heart beats faster.

Jungkook tries to not let your presence influence his rehearsals but he can’t help to steal a few glances at you while he moves on the rhythm. When he sees you blushing and glancing down his body he can’t help but smirk a little bit, even though his heart beats louder with every second. He glances away again when you eventually raise your eyes to his face, body stiffening in an second.

When the music finally stops and you seem to wake up from your trance you find yourself looking at the others, realizing only now that you probably should have asked before coming in the room like this, so you stand up and go out in a second.

Yoongi suddenly runs behind you.

«Y/N? Right?» you have no chance but to turn and nod.

«I’m sorry, I sho-»

«You can stay.» he smiles at you «And I’m sorry for the tea, the other day»

«Are you sure?»

«About the tea? I’m really sorry» he bits the inside of his cheek.

«No, I mean are you sure I-»

«Oh, yes. Jungkook would like it if you stayed» he suddenly points his thumb to Jungkook, who’s staring at the two of you with his lips parted and apparently in trance like you were just a few seconds ago. When your eyes lock with his you shrug to hide the weird shiver sneaking into your back.

«Okay, then» you smile at Yoongi and head back to the bench at the side of the room. 

You spend at least twenty five minutes staring at Jungkook, your eyes rarely meet the figures of his friends, completely taken by the way he moves and the emotions he makes you feel with every song. At the beginning the maknae feels his cheeks heating up and his body as stiff as a trunk, but with the time passing by and the seconds becoming minutes he slowly gains a little bit of confidence, and when you see him even more free and secure you can’t help but take in the sight releasing a deep breath you didn’t know you were holding. He’s like a magnet, some weird kind of energy attracts you to him, maybe it’s the way he speaks with his face or the way his eyes seem even darker and deeper when he sometimes glances at you and immediately glances back. Time seems to run and before you know it the music stops again and the group is lets out uneven breaths, heading to the bench you’re sitting on to grab their towels.

You feel your cheeks heat up when you notice almost every one of them glance at you with a look you can’t really read. Jungkook is still in front of the mirror, eyes completely focused on the way his body moves and repeating movements like a mantra. When he finally stops and turns around his gaze locks with yours, his heart pounds in his chest, palms sweaty all of a sudden.

«Kook, here!» one of his friends throws him a bottle of water and the man quickly catches it bringing it to his lips and taking a few sips. You watch the way his adam’s apple moves from your seat. He closes the bottle and finally heads to the bench, he feels so nervous he’d do something awkward and make you both feel uncomfortable that he almost thinks of running away. The others seem to quickly disappear to go to change and when he finally stands beside you you don’t really know how to act. The silence fills the room and makes you wince, your tongue comes out to wet the petals of your lips, Jungkook holds his breath.

«I like your style of dancing, the way you move» you blurt out. The maknae seems almost shocked at your words.

«I- I like it too» and here we go again. «I mean, I like yours too?»

«You watched me dancing?»

Jungkook groans. «I- oh, ye- yes?» he quickly gives up on lying «I watched you»

«Oh, I didn’t notice» you nervously smile. «Thank you, then»

Jungkook brings his white towel to his neck, wiping the sweat from his skin. That stupid action hits you like a wrecking ball.

«I’m- I’m sorry for everything that happened,» he speaks without thinking «I- I never wanted to tease you. I’m really sorry it- it came out like that. Really sorry.» his tone is shaky and he still can’t believe he managed to let out a full sentence without embarrassing himself or you. For some kind of reason his words make your gaze deepen in his, the weight of your irises almost crashing down Jungkook’s mind.

 You shake your head. «You apologize every time» a smile breaks through your mask.

«I don’t want to... make you feel uncomfortable? It’s just... I’m really so- sorry if it came out in the wrong way. I always end up embarrassing myself but I wanted to make a good impression, it’s just-» he suddenly stops talking, feeling all of a sudden even more nervous to say the words he was almost spilling out, he scraps at the back of his neck.

«You make me nervous» he really said it. 

His words hit you like a train, fast enough to make you doubt you really heard them and hard enough to stun you. «I make you nervous? Oh, I’m sorry I-»

«No, no, no, no» he quickly complaints «In a good way, I- I guess?» 

«What do you mean?»

Jungkook opens his mouth to speak a few times but always fails and closes it, before putting the towel on the bench and harshly gulping. «I- Can we talk about something else? Please?» he almost whines, making a weird smile form on your lips.

«Do you want to go to the cafe?»

He nods at your proposal, lifting his index finger. «Just give me a minute to change and-» he lowers to grab at all his stuff on the bench but unintentionally hits the bottle of water which falls to the ground. He lets out a deep shaky breath, the words I’m so bad at this echoing in his mind. You manage to bend over and grab it but at the same time he takes a step towards it to do the same, stopping when he sees your hands holding the bottle. When you raise back, the view you meet with makes you hold your breath and your cheeks red like peppers, Jungkook is not quick enough to rush back, and you can’t help but feel uncomfortable again, but this time there’s a different emotion too that you’re not quick enough to grasp.

It happens in a matter of seconds, but it seems like minutes when you glance at him, standing tall and looking at you bewitched by the sight of you like this. And he needs to remember himself you’re actually here to hold back the dirty thoughts that are already filling his head. You gulp hard, your eyes scanning his beautiful features and saving the breathtaking sight, his crotch almost touching your cheek because of the lack of distance. And you can’t deny, your thoughts take you to a different dimension that makes you fucking throb.

«Just- give me- give me a minute?» Jungkook stutters with a deep low voice, heavy breath and cheeks heating up.

«This are the kind of things that makes me think of you teasing me» you don’t even know where your words came out from, how’d you manage to make a full sentence still watching him from the same position.

«I swear, I didn’t want to-»

«It’s okay» you unintentionally lick your lips and he finds it even harder to keep a clear head, his cock already hardening. «Go?»

He slowly nods waking up from his trance, and manages to rush back into the fitting room with fast steps and heavy breathing, hoping that the others are not there. Not now that with every steps he takes he feels harder with the image of your eyes looking at him from down.

«Fuck» he hisses letting his bag fall to the bench. Luckily, no one’s here anymore and he’s only left with his boner. What is he supposed to do now? He can’t just change and go out, you’d see it, definitely.

Fuck.

Jungkook quickly heads to the door of the bathroom and takes a deep breath before locking it, lowering his sweat pants and his boxers on his thighs. The second the material doesn’t hug him anymore his cock jumps to his stomach, tip already red and dripping with precum. How do you manage to get him this hard without even trying?

His hand immediately wraps around his shaft, squeezing himself a little bit, just enough to make his head fall back and his lips part letting out a strangled whine. 

«Fuck» he hisses before he starts moving his hand, his mind going back at you and how damn good you looked before at the height of his cock. The first time he masturbated thinking about you sucking him dry he didn’t really think he would ever have a picture of you to accompany his actions to. And now that he has it, he can’t seem to get enough of it. You’d look so fucking good giving him the blowjob of his life, hollowing your cheeks and wrapping him in your mouth, he’d fuck it so good you’d be drooling and gagging for him. His thumb slowly caresses his frenulum and he twitches under his hand, stroking himself faster and harder. He doesn’t even realize it but the image of you he has in mind is making him louder than he usually is, panting and hissing, begging to explode.

«Oh my god, fuck.» he groans.

You can’t hear him from where you are, but your tights are tightening anyway. What happened just a few moments ago is replaying in your mind over and over again. The view he gave you of him staring directly into your eyes while you were basically facing his cock it’s making you go out of your mind. You can’t deny he’s charming, with features that make you feel dizzy, but this was too much to handle even for you. Your mind can’t help but fantasize how he’d fist your hair while you’d lick him, and just the thought makes you clench around nothing, the wetness between your folds already soaking your knickers. You try to push the image away, but the way you’re desperately squeezing your thighs for some kind of friction tells a total different story.

Jungkook bites his lips, his abdomen twitching and his shoulders heavily raising.

«Y/N» he whines, picturing you on your knees for him. In his mind, your hands are one on his inner thigh and the other playing with his nipple, twirling it between your index and thumb and making him even more sensible.

«Shit, so good» his voice is husky, sure as hell it would make you shudder and fall on your knees if you’d only hear it. His movements become more sloppy, the knot in his stomach almost about to burst. He groans and speeds up even more, hips practically hitting his hand with every stroke. He imagines your thighs tightened, the wetness in your folds, the way you’d taste, and he feels even closer.

«So fucking good»

Jungkook spits in his hand. His breath stutters more, and he suddenly doesn’t remember how to breathe anymore as he strokes himself harder, the lewd sound of him shoving in his fist becomes louder, the only sound feeling the bathroom and the fitting room.

The thought of you cupping his balls and massaging it makes him do the same thing, he pictures your tongue licking and swirling around the head of his cock. That is the last chunk he needs to come undone in his palm, spatters of white hitting his chest as he fucks himself through his orgasm until he’s too sensitive to even make one more stroke, letting his head resting on the door behind him. Eyes closed, heavy breath and mouth completely dry, Jungkook takes some time to recover from the heavenly climax he just reached.

God, what he’d give to know that he had the exact effect you had on him, but you’re just too shy to do something about it here. If you were home, well that would be a different thing. You’d help yourself with your vibrator, fucking it into you like it was him. But now, now you’re just trying to contain your thoughts, waiting for him to come out and go to the cafe.

When you realize it’s been a while since he disappeared you decide it’s better to go and see if everything’s okay. Standing up you unsurely walk to the door of the fitting room, the structure of the building being always the same makes finding the way easier. You knock at the door.

«Jungkook? Are you okay?»

«I- uhm, I’m coming, give me a second!» he answers back with a high-pitched tone, so you nod and go back to your bench, waiting for him. It takes him another three minutes to finally come out, his hair are a little bit messy and you think he must’ve ran his hands through them a few times.

«Are we- are we still going?» he asks. With your worries at the door of the fitting room he thought you might have heard him before, but when you nod and smile he lets his previous thoughts fade.

You head out of the studio and to the cafe, trying to ignore the way your panties practically slips against your folds. Jungkook tries to think about what to say and how to begin a safe conversation for the both of you without feeling uncomfortable or awkward but he just can’t seem to find nothing else than the question he asks.

«You wanted to talk?» lowering his gaze to his side he looks at you walking in silence. You quickly nod.

«I wanted to thank you, actually» you turn to smile at him, the butterflies in in stomach invading every part of his body.,«You know, for Jin.»

«Oh, no- no problem» he smiles back, his eyes sparkling and you can’t deny the sudden warmth you feel in your chest. «It’s the least I could do, for what happened?» his sentence sounds again like a question, but by now you’re kinda used to it. You scoff.

«Let’s say I forgive you for the dress and the awkward meeting» you tease. His eyes squint and he wrinkles his nose.

«That wasn’t my fault» he murmurs.

«Your friend?»

He nods. «Teahyung»

«Well, then I forgive Teahyung and you for the dress» you smile again, his heart is beating like crazy.

«How much do I have to embarrass my-myself for the drink Yoongi spilled on you?» he’d like to giggle but he feels so freaking nervous that all he can do is let out a puff.

«I don’t know, you’re pretty good at that. I’d end up enjoying the show eventually and it wouldn’t be fair, I’d let you go on» you tease again. Jungkook’s cheeks heat up. His brain trying to understand if you’d say something like this because you like the way he acts around you or just for the fun of teasing him. The truth is, neither you know it now.

«It’s the thing I seem to be better at» your giggle makes him feel lighter.

«I was kidding» you stop your steps and he realizes you’re already in front of the cafe.

«You’re forgiven, more than forgiven. I actually feel like I owe you something now» you explain looking directly in his dark eyes, and damn, he’s really beautiful.

«Oh- no, no! Don’t, please» he shakes his head. «I- I wanted to make it up to you, you don’t owe me anything»

«Well, let me get you a coffee or something you’d like at least?» you point at the shop behind you. Jungkook licks his lips and takes another deep breath before nodding, following you in and trying to look elsewhere but the way you swing your hips with every step. You’re gonna be the death of him, and he’s slowly falling even more with every word you say.

Thanks to the time the cafe is almost empty, only two or three clients are sit on the chairs at the counter. Nevertheless, you sit at your favorite table, the one in the corner always forgotten by practically everyone. There’s something about this table that makes you feel safe, maybe it’s because no one seems to look at it, sometimes even the waitress forgets it.

«I’ll get a tea» you announce without even glancing at the menu, Jungkook tilts his head to the side and hides his head behind it. You wait for him to choose what he wants and when he’s done you raise your hand to the waitress behind the counter. The woman quickly walks to you, giving you a gentle smile.

«What can I serve you?»

«A tea for me»

«I’ll have a Red Velvet latte» Jungkook says, leaving you amused by his choice. The waitress quickly nods and leaves you with another smile.

«Red Velvet?» you ask «I’ve always wanted to try it but I always end up with tea or coffe» you reveal, Kook raises his eyebrows.

«I like- I like it. Maybe you want a sip?»

«Don’t worry, I’ll get it the next time»

«We can switch drinks if you want» he says as the same time as you.

«Really, Jungkook, don’t worry» you smile at him.

«Anyway, I really am thankful for Jin yesterday. He helped me a lot, without him I’d probably end up having a breakdown» you scoff at the end of your sentence even though it’s true. Jungkook watches you as you speak, completely taken by your words and the way you move your lips, your voice seems to be the only thing catching his ears now, not even one of his favorite songs playing in the background gets him.

«Thank you for being so nice and help me, Jungkook. It was Sunday and-»

«Hey, no problem» he cuts off your rumbling with his hand on yours, and the second he realizes what he has just done he takes it away with wide eyes. The only trace he leaves on your skin is the dampness of his sweaty palms.

«I’m- I’m sorry»

«Stop it, please» you almost whine and his features instantly sadden, afraid he just made another mistake. He tries to hide his expression but fails, and the guilt sneaks into you making you shake your head.

«I mean, stop being so stiff. Tell me, what is it?» you ask.

«What?»

«What do I do to make you this nervous?» you ask again. «I can try and-»

«It’s not you.» he cuts you off again. «I- I mean it is you, but it’s me. I-» he stutters.

«I can try to hide my face if you want» youironically propose as you grab the menu and cover your face with it. Jungkook frowns but immediately smiles at your silliness. «Does it work?»

«It- It’s not making any difference» he holds back a laugh.

«Are you sure?» you giggle. He shakes his head.

«I am, just- please, look at me» his words play a strange trick on your mind, making you harshly gulp as your heart skips a few beats. It’s noy like he had just said something that important, but your mind goes blank for a second.

«Y/N?» he calls, eyes fixated on the menu you’re holding. He stretches his arm out and grabs at the paper, slowly lowering it from your face. Your eyes, your nose, your lips. Jungkook stares at every feature of your face taking in the sight in front of him, the power you have on him is fucking scary, and he’s realizing it for the first time now looking in your eyes.

«What happened?» he lets out in a whisper, not really certain of his voice at the moment. You gulp and shake your head. You don’t even know what happened, how are you supposed to explain him?

«There you go, your tea and your Red Velvet» the waitress comes in the way, and you thank her in your mind for saving you from the awkward situation you just putted yourself into. However, the interruption is fast and she leaves in a matter of seconds leaving you with your drinks.

You can’t help but glance at his glass, the crimson color of the drink intrigues you and the chocolate chips on top are the perfect frame. Jungkook lifts it from the table and stretches his arm again towards you, putting the drink basically under your nose.

«Try it» he manages to say holding his breath. He doesn’t even know where he gained all of this boldness, he just did it without thinking. And now that you stare at him he’s beginning to think he’s making things awkward again.

Your hands cover his, giving birth to another session of butterflies in his stomach and a shudder running down your spine. Jungkook understands he has to remove his hand from the glass to make you drink and he slips away like he just got burn by a blazing fire.

Taking a sip you let yourself taste the sweetness of the latte and the chocolate chips before giving him his drink again, deciding this will definitely be your next order at this place.

«It’s so good» you whine, Jungkook smiles.

«It’s one of my favorite drinks, Jin- he always tries new things and likes to feed us like babies. He introduced me to this»

«I really like it» you bring your cup of tea to your lips, taking a sip. «My tea is so boring now» his smile widens.

«We can really switch drinks if you-»

«No, don’t worry, really»

He nods, taking the first sip of his Red Velvet.

«So Jin is kinda like the mama of the group?» Jungkook smiles at your comment.

«He is the oldest» he nods. «He likes to take care of us and we like to eat» you giggle at his words.

«His cooking is really good, I haven’t eaten that good in months. I should have insisted more on paying him» you take another sip from your tea.

«Trust me, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it» Jungkook smiles at you, and it’s a matter of seconds before he finally noticed he’s not stuttering anymore. In fact, he feels more comfortable. «He was happy to help»

«Oh, trust me, he helped me a lot»

You try to think what would’ve happen yesterday if it wasn’t for him, the result would have been even worse than it already is. Jungkook’s heart warms up knowing he was really able to help you, he made something right. The smile you have on your face makes him want to work even more to create a brand new one.

«What about Yoongi? Does he spill his drinks on everyone?»

«No, he doesn’t» Jungkook scoffs and avoids telling you the reason why he actually spilled it. «He’s the second hyung. Actually, he’s usually very quiet. His stage name is Suga»

«I heard about him» you raise your eyebrows. «Someone told me he injured his shoulder fighting over a first prize but I didn’t think it was him they were talking about, and honestly I didn’t know if it was true» 

The maknae shakes his head. «It’s not true. He actually got injured while working, he had to find a job to pay for his dance lessons and eventually he started a delivering job. He got hit by a car.» Jungkook stares at the wooden table «People often say that or that he tried to beat one of the judges and got kicked in his ass. I don’t get why they like to make up something so stupid» an heavy sigh leaves his lips.

«Last year I broke my uncle because I was pushing myself too hard for a contest and eventually I didn’t perform. I heard people say I couldn’t ‘cause I was pregnant» you tell him, the memory still makes you wrinkle your nose. Jungkook’s eyes widens before he opens his mouth.

«I hate rumors» he mumbles. «Who- who do you want to know about now?» he stutters a little bit, deciding to bring back the conversation to a positive vibe.

«Taehyung? Was it his name?» you squint your eyes.

«Yes» he nods. «Taehyung is the second maknae and a fashion icon in the group, we always try to look as cool as him but he just has that something that makes you give up and stay in your sweat pants.» you giggle at his comment and he can’t help but smile at your sparkling eyes.

«He doesn’t usually act like the first time we met, he’s pretty confidential.» Jungkook takes the last sip of his Red Velvet and you do the same with your now almost cold tea while you take in all the informations.

«Namjoon is the dad of the group, he’s always willing to give you advices but at the same time able to give you a good shake. He and Jimin are my go to when I need to talk to someone, but the others are pretty good at listening too. Jimin is the third maknae»

«Who’s the first?»

Jungkook puckers his lips. «Me» 

«How old are you?»

«I’m twenty two» he answers, remembering this is the last day he gets to say it. For a little moment he thinks of you at his birthday, but he forces himself to push the picture away, it would be weird to invite you when you’re talking fr the first time.

«I’m older than you!» you can’t help but exclaim, Jungkook licks his lips.

«Really?»

You nod.«I’m twenty four»

«How- how should I call you then?» he bits his lips, a little bit of nervousness sneaks again into him, worried you don’t like the way he has been talking to you.

«Oh, please don’t call me noona!» you shake your head and smile at him.

«Are you sure?»

«Yes, Jungkook. Don’t change the way you were talking to me, I liked it. It was natural» you smile at him, your heart beats faster when a smile shines on his face and lights up his features. Jungkook is trying to be as natural as he can, trying to speak without blubbering still stunned by your presence in front of him, and hearing those words make him less tense.

«Hoseok is the only one left. He’s a ray of sunshine, always able to make you smile and laugh. His stage name is J-Hope. He’s a spring, his movements are as fluid as water. Oh, and he can’t hide his expressions whenever he’s angry, even though it’s difficult to annoy him. His face goes like this» Jungkook’s try to emulate his friend is quickly cut off by your bursting laugh because of his expression, and he can’t hold back his giggles at the sound of your happiness.

«Sounds like a beautiful group» you say when you finally stop laughing, your cheeks are hurting while you take a look inside your mug, realizing only now it’s empty.

«It is, they’re my family» the tone he uses makes a knot built up in your throat, smiling melancholic. And who the hell knows why, Jungkook notices it. 

«Is- is something wrong? Did I say-»

«No, no, no. It’s fine, I’m fine» you quickly say smiling again. He would like to ask you what’s wrong again until you’d probably end up answering him but he thinks he’d invade your personal space and annoying you.

«Are you sure? I- I know I ask this a lot but-»

«I’m sure, thank you for asking» you interrupt him with another gentle smile. Jungkook knows it’s not true, but he nods anyway, bringing his gaze to his empty glass. His action makes you bring yours to your phone, unlocking the screen and realizing only now it’s almost eight and a half.

«I should go now»

He raises his glance, the feeling in his chest it’s telling him to not let you go but he can’t do that.

«I’ll see you tomorrow at the studio?» you ask him while getting up from your chair, rummaging through your purse looking for the wallet. Jungkook is about to say yes when he remembers tomorrow it’s their free day.

«No, not tomorrow» he smiles at you getting up and producing a shrill sound with his chair against the floor, his cheeks heat up for the fiftieth time only in an hour.

«Oh, I guess I’ll see you on Wednesday then? Or whenever we-»

«Could you give me your number?»

If he thought his heart already risked a heart attack many times with you, then now he should be dead from the way it’s beating. Blood running through his body so fast that he can hear it his in his ears, the tip of them and his cheeks flashing red, palms sweating more than before. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked you.

You stare at him for a few seconds, completely stuttered by his question as you gulp harshly and blink a few times.

«You- you promise you won’t send me nudes?» you joke, and this time you are the one who’s left with her mouth agape, wondering where the hell that just came out from. «Oh my-»

«If you don’t ask for them I won’t» Jungkook scoffs, the fact you just said something like that is making him feel lighter. You raise your eyebrows at him.

«I won’t, I surely won’t» you quickly rebut but you’re afraid he might be offended so you keep adding words making everything worse. «I mean- not that I wouldn’t like them, it’s just-»

«Y/N» he interrupts your dwelling. «I- I won’t send or ask for nudes» he laughs at his own words at the end of the sentence, making you grimace.

«I’m- I’m sorry, I don’t know why I said that»

«It’s okay» he smiles at you and you let out a shaky breath before putting ten bucks on the table and heading to the door with him.

Jungkook dials your number on his phone and quickly sends you a message to let you save his, still freaking out in his mind for what happened in just an hour of being with you.

The afraid of being awkward he felt at the beginning is still there, but he feels more comfortable now that he knows a little bit about you. He’s still nervous, palms still sweaty and heart still beating like crazy, gaze still trying to lock with yours just to shudder and blush under it. He likes the way his nervousness shaded with the comfortableness you made him feel talking to you, his chest both threatening to explode because of the tension but still tasting the sweetness of the naturalness and ease, the combo is one of the weirdest to ever exist, but it’s true.

«Goodbye, Jungkook» you smile at him after putting your phone back in your purse. You think about your actions for a moment before quickly tiptoeing and leaving a soft peck on his cheek that makes him almost feel dizzy. The way your soft lips touched his skin will haunt him even in his dreams tonight. He’s not rapid enough to smile at you while you turn and walk away, too shocked by your actions, but he smiles anyway.

This is the first time Jungkook realizes he just had a bite of the cake, and now he wants to eat it all.

«Are you kidding?» Taehyung’s deep voice resonates through the stairwell and Jungkook can hear it even by pulling his phone away from his ear.

«I’m not, Tae» he rushes to the door and hangs up before opening it sure that his friend is already there. In fact, he is. Standing still in front of him in his Gucci palazzo trousers looking like a model.

«Happy birthday, Kookie» he smiles at him and hugs him tight making Jungkook chuckle.

«You just said it on the phone»

«I know» he pats his shoulder. «Where are the others?»

«They’re coming» Jungkook takes a look to his lounge, the table is already set and the food is almost ready, Jin will be proud of him.

«Is she coming too?» Taehyung asks, Jungkook turns like top.

«What? No»

«Why not?»

«I don’t know... we don’t have that much of intimacy. And with you?» he knits his eyebrows thinking of the possible ending of doing something like that. «She’d probably feel like a fish out of water and you’re gonna embarrass me if I’m not the one doing it» he shakes his head.

The bell rings and Kook rushes to the door to welcome his friends, Hobi and Jin are standing there with the biggest smiles on their faces and hands full of envelopes, smiles as bright as the sun.

«There will be a day when you’ll be old and people will make fun of you, and it’s coming! Happy birthday!» Jin hugs the maknae laughing for his own words and Jungkook does the same. Hobi joins the hug, making Tae grimace and run to them.

«I feel alone» he mumbles before wrapping his arms around the three of them, Jungkook in the middle is almost dying, being the burger in the middle of the bread.

«Happy birthday!» Hobi screams, his voice echoing in the hallways remembers Jungkook the door is still open.

«Okay, now set me free» he laughs. «Where are the others?» their grip on him loosen and he finally closes the door.

«They went to buy you a cake, Seokjin made you one but Joon ate it last night without knowing it was yours» Hobi burst out laughing.

«It was obvious! He should’ve known it!» Jin screams frustrated with his eyes wide.

«Look at that!» Jimin points at the cake through the glass, his eyes sparkling at the sight and his mouth begging to taste the sweetness of the sponge cake. He looks like a baby.

«Ugh, Chimin! It’s for Jungkook, not you!» Namjoon scolds him making the corners of his mouth drop.

«I know what he likes!» he says back. Yoongi shuts his eyes, they’ve been in here for almost ten minutes now, fighting over which cake they could buy and not really getting anything.

«Do you-»

«He’ll like that» Yoongi cuts off Joonie’s words and point at the cake nodding to the pastry chef behind the counter who quickly smiles at him.

«Could you write “Jungkook” on top of it?» Jimin asks with a kind smile, the baker nods and he raises his eyebrows at Namjoon.

«See? It’s gonna be perfect, you need to listen to me!»

Namjoon sighs and shakes his head, taking a glance out of the shop to see his girlfriend still in the car waiting for them, eyes fixated on her phone.

Your parents had decided to ring your doorbell without telling you they were coming over. Luckily - or unfortunately - it’s Tuesday, and on Tuesday you’re usually home for lunch, but when the doorbell squeaked you didn’t really think it was them. Maybe the postman or a neighbor, but not your parents.

«Surprise!» they both screamed. It was the worst surprise ever. You didn’t know they were coming so you didn’t make lunch for them, didn’t tidy up properly, didn’t hide your things and didn’t lock your door. Plus, you weren’t prepared for another mental breakdown, not so soon after they gave you one just two days ago. And you still aren’t now, listening to them talking while you eat your salad.

«Your mother decided to come visit Ailiseu for a few days and September is already here so we decided not to wait until next month, it’ll be too cold» your father explains, his smile going from ear to ear. You instantly pray for the mental health of your cousin knowing how your parents can be, she’s gonna go out of her mind.

«Exactly! And we’re staying at her place, since she has a big house. Sorry honey, we would’ve asked you but we thought we’d be too much in here.»

«No problem» you try to sound as kind as possible. This is the good side of having a small house, at least.

«How long will you stay?»

«Three days» your father says «but we’re going to Ailiseu for dinner, we’d like to spend today with you»

«Take a day off of work.» your mother points her index finger at you. «We’ll have fun! We could go to the mall and buy some clothes, I really don’t like the shirt you’re wearing»

You stop eating fixing your gaze on your meal and trying to stay calm. This is a nightmare. How are you supposed to not go to work when they saw you were fine this morning? And notify them in half an hour? Your boss is going to go out of his mind and kill you. You won’t even be able to rehearsal today, obviously.

«Mom, I-»

«Please?» your father cuts you off.

You give up. It’s scientifically proven that you can’t beat them at this game without bursting out, that would definitely lead to an argument and you really are not in the mood for it. So you nod and finish your lunch listening to all their stories, your mother complaining about everything: the broken electric hand dryer at the gas station they stopped in, the way your father drives, your shirt - again -, your salad, your house and again your job. All of her words only make you wish to end this day as soon as possible but against your desire, time only seems to slow down while you wait for your her to come out of the bathroom.

You’re ready to go to the mall, you already called your boss and told him you had a setback and couldn’t go back to work this afternoon, and like you predicted before he didn’t sound happy at all, groaning things you couldn’t understand and quickly hanging up. Your mother is been in the bathroom for twenty minutes now making you frown and sink in your couch. When she finally comes out you head to the door in a second.

«Let’s go shopping!»

Your feet are hurting, if they could talk their exact words would be “fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck” at every step you take. You’ve been in here for almost six hours now, dragged from a shop to another, from a salon to a shoe store and you’re pretty sure that by now you entered all the shops in the mall.

«What’s the time?» your mother finally stops walking at your father’s question, taking a glance at her golden watch.

«It’s almost eight,» she answers raising her eyes to you «we should probably go. Do you mind giving us a ride to Ailiseu’s place?»

You try to fake a small and force yourself to nod despite your tiredness, all you’d like to do now is lay down and sleep. Your brain health is being put to serious danger today, with all your parents endless rumblings and complaints, your mother even tried to buy you a shirt just for you to go change the one you have on in the public restrooms.

You head to your car with big strides and yawning, your parents’ words behind you about how beautiful your cousin’s house is  and how much their parents must be proud of her are making your chest heavy and your head pound.

You hope not to stay stuck in traffic once you get in your car and get out of the parking lot. You only make it to a few blocks before your wishes and hopes totally fade away, the cars blocking the street and the sounds of the honking filling your ears.

«We’re gonna be late, Ailiseu is waiting for us» your father sighs.

«Can’t you take a different road?»

«How am I supposed to take a different road now? There are cars behind me» you huff at your mother’s words.

«Then honk!»

«It’s not gonna change a thing, everyone is doing that!» you claim. Your dad shakes his head.

You wait at least five minutes before you move again, the silence only filled with your mother’s huffs and annoyed muttering. When you think you finally made it and you’re gonna be home soon, a loud thud makes you shudder and not even a second later you’re being pushed against the wheel because of the swing of your car, hitting your forehead against the glass of the windshield.

It takes you a few moments to realize you just got hit and before you know it you’re already putting on your hazards and heading out of your car. How is it even possible to witness to accidents in just a few days? 

You take a look to your parents while they do the same as you and when you see they’re fine you let out a sigh of relief that lasts as quickly as it came out. Your car is devastated at the back and there is no way you can walk home without shedding parts along your way, you only feel grateful that you and your parents are not hurt.

The man in the car behind you approaches you with fast steps and a worried face, tired eyes and shaky voice.

«I’m so sorry, I should’ve been more careful»

You don’t even understand how he managed to make such a mess to your car with the traffic on the streets now, he probably came out from one of the small roads where there weren’t cars and you were the lucky one to welcome him in the jam.

The man leaves you his number telling you to call him once you know how much this is going to cost you and quickly leaves, you end up calling a taxi for your parents and a tow truck for your car, trying to stay as awake as possible. After forty five minutes of waiting you’re so tired that you could lay down and sleep in the middle of the road if it wasn’t for the cars threatening your life, but apparently someone is hearing your prayers and the tow truck comes to rescue you. Your car is brought to the mechanic and you say goodbye to another one hundred bucks for the tow truck. You’re left alone in the middle of the jam, so you move to the sidewalk ready to call a cab. You had the worst day and you’re already thinking of how much you’ll have to work to get all the money you just lost back.

«Y/N?»

You’re being caught off guard when someone calls you while you’re bringing the phone to your ear. When you turn and find Jin smiling at you you quickly hang up.

«Jin, hi»

«What are you doing here?» he looks down at you as if he’s the Eiffel Tower and you’re the grass.

«Uhm, my car broke, I was going to call a taxi»

«If you want I can give you a ride? Can you wait a little bit? Just the time to sing happy birthday to Jungkook and give him the gifts, we’re looking forward to embarrass him» he laughs.

«Oh, it’s Jungkook’s birthday?» Jin nods realizing only now that Kook probably didn’t tell you. «I don’t know... I don’t want to bother, I wasn’t invited and I don’t have a gift and-»

«I think you’re thinking too much» he quickly cuts you off. «I don’t think it will be a problem for Jungkook or the others, he’ll be happy to see you»

You sigh. You could call a taxi and wait for it, spend another fifty bucks and head home. Or you could wait a little bit and spend the time you’d spend waiting on the street with them and maybe have a little bit of fun after this awful day, maybe. If things won’t get awkward again. It’d save you money you could use for the groceries, after all.

«Lead the way» you end up saying thanking him with a warm smile. He nods and soon you’re in the elevator waiting for the doors to open, hoping not to look as awful as you feel right now. You still feel sorry to break into his birthday party without an invitation, a gift or even a little bit of more intimacy between you two, so when the doors open and you hear the laughters coming from one of the apartments you think of getting back outside and call a cab. But it’s too late, one of his friends already holds the door open for Jin, glancing over his shoulder with curious eyes and widening them at you.

«Jimin, this is Y/N» Jin introduces you to his friend gesturing with his hands an impossible language for you to understand, not that it does have meaning, he’s just trying to tell him to contain his expressions.

«Y/N, hi!» his voice is soft and it makes you smile without an apparent reason. You link him to Jungkook’s words yesterday, the third maknae and apparently, the friend he often chooses to ramble on to.

«Jungkook!» he screams over the laughters coming from the other room, eyes still fixated on you.

«Teahyung won’t let me come!» At the sound of how happy is voice sounds, laughing and cracking in the middle you can’t avoid the warmth in your chest.

«Come in» Jimin steps aside and lets you and Jin in the house. «You can give your coat to me»

You thank him and give him your coat before you’re following Jin in the other room where the others are. Their laughters stop in a second when they glance at you, now filling the place just with silence. Jungkook’s heart stops beating for a moment, totally shocked and overwhelmed by your presence, mouth agape and eyes widened. He wasn’t prepared to see you, he totally wasn’t. He stares at blankly as if he just saw a ghost and not even when Taehyung finally sets him free from his hold he’s able to say something. Your cheeks are burning like fire under all their gazes.

«I’m Taehyung» the guy who was holding him smiles at you and takes a few steps before reaching out his hand. «I’m sorry about the awkward meeting»

«Oh, don’t worry» you shrug at the memory.

«Jungkook?» a deep voice seems to wake him up from his trance, Namjoon is telling him to do something with his eyes.

«I’m Namjoon»

Soon enough all of them gather around you and shake your hand welcoming you into the house with bright smiles and kind words. The only girl in the group tells you to call her Kitty and tells you she’s the Namjoon’s girlfriend, she seems pretty nice and you end up talking for at least twenty minutes, all of your tiredness seems to disappear. The only one you still didn’t talk to is Jungkook, and you’re afraid he’s annoyed by your presence. The thought makes your head throb, but you wouldn’t blame him after all. It’s his birthday and sure he’d like to spend it with the people he loves, not with you that he doesn’t know much and weren’t even invited.

«You should go talk to her» Namjoon whispers in Kookie’s ear.

As if he hasn’t thought about it already. Jungkook knows he should talk to you, but as I said before, he really isn’t prepared for this. And seeing you talking with his friends and smiling makes the feeling in his chest even more uncontainable. You’re smiling and you seem at ease with them, sipping from your glass from time to time and laughing at Jin’s jokes. He likes this picture, you in his house, all bright and happy. He could get used to it. And all of this, only makes his anxiety grow until it’s skyrocketing.

«I’m gonna say or act awkward and ruin things again, I’m not-»

«And do you think that staying here won’t? She’s in your house, it’s your birthday and you didn’t even greet her. It surely...» he trails off when you take a few steps towards them. Jungkook bits the petal of his lower lip feeling the usual but still new mixture of emotions rushing through his blood until it reaches his chest and totally takes over him. Namjoon pats at his shoulder and glance at you with a kind smile before standing up from the couch with Hobi and heading to the kitchen. Jungkook stares at you for the millionth time, wishing to say something, anything, but the words are caught in his throat.

«Happy birthday» you stop in front of him, glancing down at the pillows beside him. «Can I?»

 He raises his eyebrows and opens his mouth even more before nervously nodding.

«I’m sorry,» you say softly after sitting on the couch «I didn’t want to break in and annoy you, my car broke and Jin offered me a ride home and-»

«You didn’t annoy me, you don’t annoy me. Never- you never annoy me» he blurts out. «You- you can stay as much as you want» his cheeks are heating up, and you don’t even know why but you suddenly smile like a baby, his words make you feel more at ease.

«I don’t have a gift»

«It doesn’t matter» he smiles at you, your heart both stuttering when you lock eyes.

«If I’m being honest, I-» he stops talking, eyes shifting from yours to meet the ground.

«What?»

Jungkook stays silent for a moment, thinking about what he wants to say over and over again, trying not to make it sound as cheesy as it sounds in his head, but the truth is that there aren’t other words to express it.

«I like you here»

«What?»

«I-» he gulps «I like you here, with us?» he wants to slap himself. Why did he even think about telling you something like this?

«You seem happy?»

You squint your eyes at him, something about this conversation is making you more nervous than usual.

«I think I am?» why are you asking him?

Jungkook scoffs at your tone, it comes out so naturally that it makes your heart flutter. «You don’t sound so sure about that» he quotes your words, a bright smile creeping upon your face.

«Everyone is so nice and easy-going, and they made me feel comfortable even though I wasn’t meant to be here» you shrug. «You weren’t joking when you talked about them»

«Actually...» he clears his throat «I though of invating you yesterday but I- I didn’t cause I though it would be weird? I mean-»

«Jungkook, you don’t need to explain me why you didn’t invite me. Don’t justify yourself»

«I’m not» he replies fast enough to make you knit your eyebrows.

«But I’m happy you’re here now» the sound of those words are like sugar to your hypoglycemic heart, hearing them makes you feel something you never experienced, something that you missed since you were a little girl. The simple act of being happy to have someone near you and not expect anything from them is something you never witnessed, neither from your parents, even though they love you under those cold masks they wear. People always seemed to expect something from you, always. Jungkook is not telling those words without meaning them, he’s not expecting a thing from you. Not even a gift.

«Jungkook!» Hobi screams from the kitchen, tone breaking into a laughter and soon joined by others too. Jungkook shuts his eyes for a moment and then smiles before standing up from the couch. With boldness he didn’t think he has, he stretches his hand out for you to grab it, waiting with held breath and unsure dark doe-eyes staring directly into yours.

It’s a matter of seconds before you loose up and reach out to his hand, fingers intertwining with each other’s and a shudder running down your spine.

Jungkook stands still for a moment, his hand is limp against yours, he didn’t really think you’d grab his hand, not in this way. You’re not holding it to help you stand up, you’re intertwining your fingers with him. It’s different. The heat rising in your cheeks makes you feel like a teenager with her first crush and only now you realize that that’s why your heart is pounding and your brain is overthinking more than usual. You’re about to split away since he doesn’t tightens his grip on you, mentally slapping yourself for doing something like this. You’re fingers leave his and Jungkook’s chest feels suddenly more heavy. Reaching out again, he grabs your hand, fingers intertwine with yours and this time in a tight and sicure grip. His hands are a little bit sweaty for the nervousness, but so are yours. Your heart stutters, breath held as if you were free diving.

Both of you stand still for a moment before turning to look at each other, not even the time to say something that Hoseok is calling again from the kitchen.

«Jungkookie!»

«Happy birthday!» the screams fill the apartment, Jungkook’s features are priceless with his eyes squinted and his cheeks flashing red, trying as best as he can not to die under everyone’s affections.

«Blow out the candles!» Jimin shouts «I’m the one who choose the cake!»

The happiness and the intimacy in the room is so overwhelming that you feel out of place for a moment, but Taehyung grabs you by your arm and brings you closer to the group.

«Come here, embarrass him with us» he winks making you laugh. Jungkook shakes his head, he’s still at ease for the happy birthday song but he can’t fight the big bunny smile taking over his face. And when he sees you laughing with Teahyung, it takes him just a second to let go of the uncomfortable feeling in his chest only to be left with the desire of the sweet taste of the cake, and not the one on the wooden table.

Taking a deep breath he blows out the candles, eyes fixated over you making your heart skip a few beats. He doesn’t even think of a wish, all he wants it’s here tonight; the warmth of his friends, the love they feel for each other, maybe the new beginning of something, anything.

The candles die out, leaving the room in the dark for a few seconds before someone finally turns the lights on.

«Time for the presents!» Namjoon screams.

«Oh, please!» Jungkook whines and the laughters of his friends grow even more. Yoongi disappears to bring all the bags with the presents in and everyone except from Jungkook and Hoseok seats on the carpet in front of the couch even though it’s empty, you guess it’s one of their habits.

«I’m gonna cut the cake» Hobi announces turning around to face the table and start his task while Jungkook makes his way through the bodies of his friends, apparently towards you. He stops in front of you, still standing still a little bit out of place.

«You wanna sit on the couch?» he points at the sofa and you end up asking yourself why you didn’t do it sooner. You sit on the cushions, eyes fixated in front of you even when he follows you and sits beside you under everyone’s gaze, his friends staring at him before gazing away.

«Here comes the cake!» Hobi is a ray of sunshine with his bright smile while he distributes the dishes to everyone and soon enough you’re closing your eyes and letting out a whine at the taste of the sponge cake.

«It’s so good» you let out with your mouth full, words almost puzzling. Jungkook bursts out laughing and you need to gulp trying not to choke.

«Ah! See?» Jimin points at Namjoon «I choose it!» he turns to you with bright eyes and a big smile reaching his eyes.

«My taste buds are thanking you» 

Yoongi enters the room with his hands full of bags and places them beside Jungkook.

«Alright, let’s begin» he sits in front of the couch. Jungkook takes a deep breath and turns to grab the first bag.

«This is from?»

«Ugh, I forgot to write it again» Hobi murmurs making everyone laugh. Jungkook opens all the gifts, every single one of them makes you know him a little more, a little better, a little deeper. From the sweater of Hoseok to the set of products for his skincare by Jimin, they all tell you something about him. It’s Jin’s turn when he suddenly gets up from the carpet and shakes his head in the jumpiest of ways.

«Wait, wait, wait!» he almost screams. When he realizes what he’s doing he try to fake a smile. «I need to talk to you»

«What?»

«I need to talk to you» he repeats.

«Now?»

«Jungkook ya! Yes, now!» Jin looks at him with eyes widened almost as if he’s trying to communicate with him but Jungkook can’t really understand what is happening, so he just wakes up and follows Jin in another room, not a second later the hyung comes back just to bring his presence for Kookie with him.

«Alright, I’m gonna take another piece of cake» Namjoon says, her girlfriend gets up from the carpet with him to do the same. Taehyung smiles at you from the ground and quickly gets up, sitting next to you. You end up talking for at least ten minutes, conversation as fluid as the water and a comfortable feeling of naturalness you haven’t been feeling for a long time. You think you’d like to hang out with them more, they make you feel good with their positivity.

Jungkook finally comes back in the room after fifteen minutes, gaze and smile that now you can identify as nervous. He sits on the couch beside you grabbing Jin’s present again, digging in the bag until he finds it. Ripping the paper off, the new set of kitchen tools lights up his eyes. Now that the presents are all discarded, Jin looks at you.

«Do you want to go home now?»

Would that be wrong or weird if your answer was no? You glance at Jungkook, his eyes already on you.

«Wait, wait!» he bursts out, now standing up and heading out of the room. Your expression is blank until he comes back, wondering what just happened. Jin seems to smile when he see his friend rushing back with a bag in his left hand.

«Come ou- out, please?» Jungkook asks. You nod still uncertain and you follow him to the balcony, he makes sure to close the door behind you so that nobody can hear you.

Silence fills the air just for a little bit, the only sound that can be heard is the night, so peaceful and quiet, the light whistle of the wind. Jungkook is again repeating to himself that he can talk without embarrassing himself or making you feel awkward, he did it until now, kinda. He clears his throat and raises his gaze, hand scratching his neck. This can’t go worst than the first times you met, after all. It’s a simple action.

«I-» he stops without even starting.

«Am I making you nervous again?»

His expression changes, eyes widening and mouth hanging agape as he starts to shake his head.

«No, I- I mean...» he trails off and you don’t know why, but you feel the need to reassure him. So you smile at him, one of those warm smiles that makes his heart stutter and wonder if he’ll ever get to see another one, if this one doesn’t kill him. He gathers all his strength to talk through the smile that wants to take over his features.

«I’ve got your dress» he lifts his hand.

«What?»

«I’ve- I’ve got your dress. This is your dress, the dress you wanted» his cheeks are burning.

«It-it’s not my dress, it’s yours»

«I-» his eyes widen at the thought of the explanation he has to give you, so many words he wants to groan.

«I saw you liked the dress and-»

«You saw I liked the dress?»

«Yes, I mean- I was in the shop when you came in.» he claims. «I saw you looking at the dress and I thought you’d like it as an apology gift? So I- I was trying to understand the size you were looking for and praying that there was on- only one or that you’d let me buy it for you.» he quickly blurts out.

«There was, but you had already found it and I- I should’ve just walk away but I didn’t and-» he stops again.

«You know the end»

He had already told you what happened but you really didn’t think it was this, with the little details it sounds totally different. The silence makes his way again and Jungkook feels like he’s about to explode for the way his cheeks are heating up, so he’s quick to place the bag in your hands.

«I- I wanted to give it to you and I took it at the rehearsals. Jin- he mistook it for a towel and- this- this is a new one don’t worry. I tried to search for it online but apparently they only sell it in his store and Jin found it today and-»

«Thank you» you cut him off, your warm smile reaching your eyes and now setting on fire his. He’s sure he’s gonna burn by the end of this.

Opening the bag and raising your hands to look at the cloth you realize that you couldn’t care less now. It’s beautiful, but it’s just a piece of cloth. It’s the action behind it that you find more beautiful, even though you would’ve never think about it this way just a few days ago. Jungkook searched for it online, and he grabbed it from you because he wanted to buy it for you. Well, maybe he should learn how to contain himself, but it doesn’t matter. He never wanted to tease you or make you feel uncomfortable, it’s just a consequence of him being around you. And that’s exactly why he acted like that.

«I’m sorry»

«We need to stop to say that» you scoff. «I don’t care anymore, not now that I know what happened»

«So- you- you’re not mad at me?» 

«Why should I be?» you frown at him «Jungkook, I’m not. Honestly, I-» you stop talking to glance at him. And the only thing you can feel is your heartbeat raising until it’s skyrocketing, you can feel it in your ears. An insolite warmth, a weird sense of happiness you never got to really feel. And something inside you is telling you to fucking let go of your armor, break it apart and take a risk for once, just one and just now. Damn, how much you would like to know what’s the taste of his lips, of him. If only you were more bold.

«Trust me, I’m not mad at you» you almost whisper, so low you’re not even sure he heard it.

Jungkook shifts his gaze from you to the dress in your hands, and before he can stop himself the words are already leaving his mouth. 

«Do- do you want to wear it?» he wants to slap his face again.

«Now?»

«You’re right, do- don’t. I mean, if you want to wear it I-»

«Jungkook, stop talking»

You look into his dark doe-eyes fighting the urge to drown in them, but it’s just a matter of understanding it, you already are breathless and desperately swimming to get to the surface.

«I don’t think it’s the right dress code for tonight and Jin is probably waiting for me»

«I- I can give you a ride if you want? I mean, you can stay more, you know that?»

«I wouldn’t like to both-»

«You don’t.» he states, eyes never leaving yours.

«Please, stay? Just a little more. Or let me take you home?» he’s almost imploring for a little bit more of your presence, but he doesn’t care anymore, not now. There’s something inside him that doesn’t want to do anything else than let you know the effect you have on him, what a strong power.

«Alright» you breath out. «I’ll stay, but tomorrow I have to wake up at six, I’ll probably have to go in a little bit»

Jungkook nods and feels the guilt sneaking in at the same time.

«Oh, I didn’t know it. You- you can go»

«Jungkook, I’ll stay for a little bit more. Don’t worry.» you lightly scoff, his worrying for you causes a weird feeling in your chest. «I’d be happy to eat another piece of cake.» you smile.

«Plus, I like being with you» 

Jungkook feels his chest warming, the thought of him making you feel good almost sends him dizzy. He knows that he can’t answer you now, he’d just say or blubber something without any sense, so he just smiles. One of those smiles that you really don’t know what they do to you, but you can feel it.

You end up talking for another five minutes before he goes in to bring a piece of cake to share and to tell Jin he doesn’t have to leave now to take you home, you didn’t tell him if he can give you a ride, but Jin usually leaves pretty late, so it’s not a problem for him.

When he comes back again he’s sure he has never seen someone as beautiful as you. The way the light of the moon lights up your features and the shadows of the night make them look even more charming, the way the light breeze makes you hair swing.

Jungkook sits beside the table and you do the same, body facing the city lights that make you feel a little more small.

«Here» he gives you a spoon. You eat the cake, air filled with light laughters from time to time and light conversation. His presence really seems to make you feel good, lightweight. Like you haven’t felt in months. The end of the time you gave yourself quickly arrives and you end up standing up and ask him for the bathroom before you go home.

The tiredness is taking over you again, but you’re not regretting staying more, not even a little bit. Placing your phone and your purse on the washbasin you start to think of how fast things can change in just the slightest amount of time. Just a couple of days ago you thought he was trying to make fun of you with his friends, and now you’re enjoying their presence and wishing the night would last just a couple of house more, so that you could go to sleep later. But it’s not possible, so you quickly grab your purse and rush back where Jin is waiting for you. You told him before you would be leaving with him, even thought the thought of Jungkook giving you a ride home was screaming to come out, you don’t want to ruin the party by bringing away the birthday boy. Saying goodbye to everyone is like a promise of seeing each other again and you end up sharing your numbers with Namjoon’s girlfriend and with Teahyung, telling each other you’d like to hang out together.

When it’s Jungkook’s turn he hands you your bag with your dress in it knowing you left it on the balcony to go to the bathroom.

«I’ll see you tomorrow?» he asks with a low tone as if it’s a secret.

Thinking about what happened today with your car, you’re not quite sure if you’ll make it to the rehearsals tomorrow, you have to work until midday and if your boss lets you, you’d like to work overtime to save more money, you already spent a bunch of them for the tow truck and you still have to fix your car. You’re just glad your mechanic is a friend of yours and will probably give you a discount.

«I’m not sure I’ll make it, I’ll probably work overtime» you grimace. Jungkook‘s features fall a little bit but he’s quick not to show you and nods. You’re about to tiptoe and leave two pecks on his cheeks like you did with everyone when his hand reaches yours and your heart do cartwheels. Your fingers intertwine for the second time tonight and you can feel your cheeks heating up with his.

Jungkook keeps telling himself to not make you feel uncomfortable, this is a bad idea, but he really doesn’t understand you feel everything but uncomfortable right now. The warmth of his body is so close to yours that you’d like to crush in his arms without any hesitation. Looking up at him, he stares at your face, marveled by the way you make him feel before quickly tilting his head. The action is so fast you don’t have time to understand what’s happening, and in a second his lips are pressed against your forehead, gente and dangerously soft that you’d die to feel them on yours.

Without even realizing it your arm wraps around his back and he feels himself stiffening at the contact, he wasn’t expecting it, and neither his cock, now throbbing in his jeans and remembering him that its better if he lets you go. So he does so, trying to smile as best as he can and ignore the reddish of his cheeks. Thanks to God no one is watching you, or he’d be dead by now.

«Good night, Jungkook. And happy birthday.»

And so you smile at him and turn around to head to the door with Jin.

What a birthday.

It’s only the next day you realize you don’t have your phone. You want to yell at yourself for adding another piece to the puzzle of your stress. You did nothing but run like crazy for the whole morning at work and you thought that at least you could relax during your lunch break but apparently, it’s not possible. You have two free hours and you don’t have any idea about what you’re going to eat for lunch, but you repeat to yourself it doesn’t matter. You’re just praying you told the right address to the cab driver and hoping that he is home. You’re going to Jungkook’s, and the thought alone makes a fluttering sensation rush through your chest, and now you’re even more nervous. You usually wouldn’t break in people’s house like this but it’s the only way, you really need your phone today considering your car is at the mechanic’s and your parents are in the same city as you. You can’t wait until tomorrow and hope he’ll bring it to the studio, this is the only way.

When you find yourself opening the car door and taking a glance to the building in front of you it’s safe to say you feel relieved. At least the address is the right one. Your steps are smooth and you make it to the entrance door without any problem, but when you search for his name on the intercoms you suddenly feel stuck in place, your heart beating faster than usual. Repeating to yourself you need your phone, you press the button and wait for him to answer. A few seconds pass by and you’re already losing hope when finally a bzz signals that the entrance door is just being open. You expected him to ask you who you were but he simply quitted so you stare at the name on the button wondering if you should press it again. Your fingers move faster than your thoughts and a second later you’re waiting for him to answer to tell it’s you, but Jungkook seems to have a different idea and again, he just re opens the entrance door. Sighing gently and giving up, you enter the apartments and get in the elevator.

The thought of being here again is making your chest warm, so warm it feels like a summer day. Last night since the moment your head touched your pillow you thought about him shamelessly, trying to understand the way he made you feel and to categorize it in some kind of way. You found no answer, you don’t even understand yourself when you’re with him. Yesterday has been one of the worst days ever but it took him nothing to make it better for you, even with his stuttering and nervousness, he was able to make you feel... mattered? Since the moment you met him for the first time Jungkook screwed up almost every time you talked, but he always found a way of making it up, maybe with a little bit of unease and already on his way to screw up one more time, but he did. And just the simple fact he cares enough to try even though he knows you so little makes you smile and worry at the same time. You’re not used to all this attention, you’re usually the one who’s always trying to hard, at his place.

The doors open and and you have to go out to let the person in front of you get in the elevator, so you end up staring at his door.

«I’m going now!» a yell comes from inside, you don’t have time to understand whose voice it is or what it’s happening that Jimin is already standing in front of you with his eyebrow raised and a smile forming on his lips.

«Hi, Y/N»

«Jimin, stop teasing me!» Jungkook screams from inside. Jimin widens his eyes and then his lips in a shocked expression as you smile at him.

«Hi, Jimin»

Just the sound of your voice and the maknae is losing it all, rushing to the door to see if his mind played a trick on him. Apparently it didn’t, since you’re staring at him with your mouth open and your breath stuck in your throat, and Jimin has pretty much the same expression.

Why are you... Oh-

«Fuck, I’m sorry» his cheeks heat up and Jimin shuts his eyes as Jungkook realizes he’s not wearing his shirt, fast enough to run to his bedroom that he could challenge the wind. His friend shakes his head.

«I should go, see you» he holds the door open for you to enter and then goes out with a warm smile. The second he shuts it you’re left in a house that now seems ten times bigger than yesterday night, maybe for the lack of people, maybe for the silence. Or maybe because you feel so little in this moment you wouldn’t be surprised if someone stepped on you.

«I’m sorry to break in your apartment like this» you speak out loud, not sure if he hears you. Jungkook bites his lips.

«I forgot my phone and-»

«Here» he shows up from the corner of the short hallway, your phone in his hand.

«Thank you» you grab it and put it in your purse.

«I charged it for you yesterday night»

«Oh, really?» he nods. You smile as another thank you and Jungkook opens his mouth to speak when a low grr fills the air and this time it’s you the one with your cheeks reddening.

«Are- are you hungry?» What a stupid question, of course you are. «I made some pasta if you want it»

«I should be back to work in an hour and a half and I’m not sure I have the time to eat, I have to wait for a cab too»

«I- I can take you? If you want?» he licks his lips. «It’d save you time and the pasta is ready»

He’s right, and your stomach is dying to be filled.

«Alright» you nod and he smiles triumphant, the way his eyes seem to smile at your words makes you wonder.

«Why are you so kind to me?»

Jungkook’s smile turns into a slight pout that makes you want to peck his lips as he raises his eyebrows.

«What do you mean?»

You struggle to find the right words. «I- You... you always try to help me or worry about me, even for little things like when we went to the cafe and you kept on asking me if I wanted to switch drinks. When things become awkward it’s because you try to make a good impression and fail, but you’re always trying.» the tone you’re using makes Jungkook grimace. He can tell you’re not used to this from the way you’re shifting your weight from foot to foot as you speak.

How can he explain it to you? How can he tell you he’s so head over heels for you he can’t even think of stop trying? Jungkook bites the petal of his lips furiously as his mind tries to find the right answer, but there is not and he lets out a strangled groan as he realizes it.

« I... I- I really like you» 

Your expression is blank, totally. His words almost seem not to touch you as he studies every part of your face for a reaction.

«You’re not used to this, ri- right?» he scratches the back of his neck.

«I’m really not» you breath out. Jungkook knits his brows together.

«Do you- you want me stop it?»

«I-» you shake your head «I don’t think so? I’m really not used to it, Jungkook. It may sound incredibly stupid but I never had someone who asked me if I wanted to switch drinks just because he wanted me to taste the best one and not to actually steal it from me.»

«Well, now you have me» his words are firm, so incredibly firm it makes you clench your jaw, and his eyes are the same.

«I- I charged your phone because I was worried you would need it today and couldn’t use it. I’m offering you a ride because I like spending time with you, I don’t want something in return other than you, your time.» his voice his calm and his shoulders seem to loose with every word he says as if he’s letting go of a heavy weight.

It’s all striking you in a second, and the hit is so hard you end up holding your breath. It’s not really the fact he likes you that makes you this stunned, it’s the fact he actually cares. Your parents never showed their affection to you without expecting you to give them something back, wether it was a high grade or a good impression on your neighbors, and when you stopped trying to always give back something their affections towards you had simply stopped, replaced by fake “honey” and other nice words just to cover the fact they didn’t really believe in you enough to show it. And with your friends and coworkers is pretty much the same, always waiting for something in return.

The sudden realization makes your eyes tingle and you vision blurry.

«I’m sorry»

Jungkoook shakes his head and gets closer, the thought that no one ever cared enough to show you how much you matter or acted just for the simple intent of doing something for you and not actually for them wrecks him apart. His mind flies back to when Seokjin told him about your parents and how they acted or spoke to you, he can clearly see the weight of every single word of them in your shiny eyes now, hurting you and making you question his good actions just because you’re used to the most selfish ones. It makes him want to bury you with attention, show you that people can do something for others too and not just to feed their egoistic side.

«Come here» it’s as low as a whisper, but you don’t hesitate a second to let his arms wrap around you, hiding your face on his shirt and soaking it with the tears that are now streaming down your face. His grip is tight and you can hear the stuttering of his heart against your ear, one of his hands gets to your hair and starts to softly, sweetly stroking at them to make you calm down just a little bit, head tilted over yours. His heart is aching seeing you like this.

«I’m sorry»

«Shh, stop saying that. We apologize too much» he holds you even tighter as you fist his shirt in your hands. Jungkook leaves a soft kiss in your hair and your heart skips a beat at the intimacy of the action. It’s only then that you realize you’re really letting someone see this side of you, the one you always try to hide because it’s to fragile to break, the one you hide even from yourself.

Slightly tilting your head upwards to lock eyes with him, Jungkook tries as best as he can to smile at you, even though his chest is has heavy as yours. His hands cup your cheeks, his thumbs caress your skin and wipe your tears away.

«Jungkook»

«Yes?»

«Please, kiss me»

His lips crush onto yours, Jungkook groans at the feeling and you instantly bring one of your hand in his locks as he tastes the salty taste left by the tears. As you lightly bite the petal of his lower lips Jungkook feels like he’s dreaming, and he prays not to wake up. His tongue slides in your mouth, wet and warm against yours, tracing and exploring each other and making you slightly tug at his locks, he moans in your mouth and brings one of his hands to your waist, bringing you closer to his body. The kiss is passionate, so damn needy, but not only in a sexual way. You need love, affection. Jungkook is more than welcome to help you with that, letting you waste all of your insecurities and frustrations on him until you feel completely dried, left with nothing but the realization of his taste on your lips, his hands against your skin, his embrace around you, him. And you need to push away to take it in, letting his forehead hover over yours and his heavy breath crush down on your face. His eyes are looking into yours and they make you feel things you now are able to categorize as humanly impossible, so dark and deep but so bright at the same time, lips still brushing against yours as you both take deep breaths. The frustration in your body is gone, your tears are dried, the only thing left is the need you feel to have him again on you, the desperate desire to taste him again. His mind prepares to the thought of a possible rejection, the idea you begged for him to kiss you just to drift your thoughts away storms his mind but he repeats to himself that whatever thing will come, this was definitely worth it. He’ll just have to face the fact that he just got only one bite of the cake. How can he even believe in it? Your lips are addicting, and he’s already craving for more.

«I could get used to this» you whisper. Jungkook never felt so relieved in all his life than now, letting out a shaky breath heavier than the others.

«Please, do it» he whines making you giggle and bring your lips on his again. This kiss is different from the other, more slow, more sweet, more intimate in a different way cause it’s just about you two. There aren’t emotions to run away from and to waste on the other, the only emotions are the ones you feel for each other. His lips move cautiously on yours as if he wants to taste every single part of you and imprint in his mind, your hand leaves his hair just to reach his neck and then his cheek, resting on his jaw. When you move away he rests his forehead again on yours and tilts down just to leave a few more sweet pecks on your lips, totally addicted to your taste. As you look at him you think this man we’ll send you out of your mind, if he didn’t already.

«Could you get used to me caring about you too?» he breathes. Your smile is bittersweet.

«It might take me a little bit» you answer. Jungkook strokes your cheek with his thumb, showing his bunny smile and making your chest a warmer and happier place.

«Then we’ll practice together, uh?»

«I’d like that»

[thefanficmonster]

Tell Me It’s Not Too Late

(Sequel to Switchblade)

Corpse Husband x Reader (Female)

Warnings: Heartbreak, Swearing

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Summary: When is it considered ‘too late’ when it comes to expressing feelings? Is there even a time limit? Is the chance only momentary - is it a second that passes you by with no possibility of returning? All Corpse can do is hope that’s not the case. Cause if it is.....he’d rather not think about that.

Requested - sort of, but not in a typical way. Thank you to all the readers of ‘Switchblade’ that wanted to see the story have an ending that’d lead to a new start. Here it is, guys! Hope it lives up to what you expected. Love you all to the moon and back. 💖💖💖

I end my stream after almost three hours of constant scares. I sigh, slipping the headset off my ears so it’s hanging around my neck. I don’t feel that fulfilling feeling that I’m always met with upon ending a stream. I look at the countless scratches and little holes on the surface of my desk - evidence of the fear and frustration I experience while playing certain games. Not all of them are caused by that, however - Coming home after possibly the most humiliating night of my life, that desk and a few other pieces of furniture suffered my wrath and are now decorated with stab wounds that were a result of uncontrollable rage, hurt, self-hatred and self-pity. It took me a while to put an end to my hazardous, switchblade wielding rampage throughout my house, but the tears didn’t stop until the early morning hours.

I didn’t care that my feelings weren’t reciprocated. That was and is the least of my troubles. The most amount of hurt comes from the fact that I ruined something wonderful for myself. Corpse is the only person I’ve felt this close to all my life and now, due to my own poor decision making, I no longer have him. He no longer wants to be a part of the shit-show that is my life. Especially not now that he knows how messy things get when I show my forever-hidden feelings. I can’t blame him. I know I’d be running for the hills if I were him. He deserves a person who knows what’s going on in their life. Who has themselves and their surroundings figured out. Not someone who has an irregular streaming schedule and catches feelings for her best friend, ruining the friendship altogether in the process.

As I stand up from my chair, accidentally hitting the handle of the switchblade on the edge of my desk. I look down at it and how tightly I’m holding it. I seem to not be able to let go of it. Almost like I see it as my last bit of link to Corpse. The remnants of the connection I felt between us.

Maybe I should return it.

No, that’d be weird. I’d either have to go over there and give it back or send it via mail which is worse. It just feels like a harsh gesture - mailing something so meaningful as though it’s as worthless as the bills people get in the mail. I can’t send it through others, I don’t want anyone else getting involved. The more people know, the more real it is.

I’m aware I’m being both overdramatic and irrational, but you have to understand how much pain I’m in. I can’t guarantee the pain will go away or even lessen if I let this switchblade go, but it’s the only thing I haven’t tried.

Only problem is - I can’t let it go. I can’t find it in me to destroy it or throw it away. A part of me is willing to take the suffering of keeping it just cause it wants to hold on to that little connection it resembles. It’s evidence it existed to begin with. I believe it’s worth the pain. The hurt will go away eventually, but the memories are forever. I’ll look back at the time I had an amazing person such as Corpse to call ‘best friend’ and I’ll have something to prove to myself that it wasn’t a fever dream.

“Oh for fuck’s sake.“ I mumble as I finally uncurl my fingers from around the damn thing and put in down on my desk.

I take the headset off and proceed to head out onto the balcony to light what I call a ‘stress cigarette’. I’m not a regular smoker, but when everything just caves, I prefer to resort to a quick puff rather than grabbing a drink. I can say no to a second cigarette but not to a second drink. That second will then turn into a third and so on. And I don’t trust myself when drunk. I don’t personally know, but I’ve been told I’m rather unpredictable.

For the first few seconds while I’m standing there I don’t notice the pouring rain by some strange miracle. I can only focus on the chill of the breeze and the fresh breath that’s finally entering my lungs. I take a moment to breathe in the cool air before I start mixing it with the cigarette smoke. 

With my eyes closed, I hear more than I feel the rain on me. Storm noises always distract me from the actual storm, they calm me down. However, the sudden loud thunder causes me to open my eyes in a matter of milliseconds. I frown, slightly upset that I didn’t catch glimpse of the lightning that the thunder probably followed.

I’m not upset for too long, though. A lightning flashes right opposite me, creating the most mesmerizing of pattern you can see in the night sky during a storm. It’s so bright, it allows me to see my whole, usually unlit garden perfectly in that second or two it graces the sky. 

Wait

My balcony has a clear view of my entire front yard and all it takes a glance to the left to be able to see the front doorstep. 

Don’t freak yourself out, it’s just a trick of the light

I stay quiet and as still as a statue as I await another flash of lightning, my heart speeding past the point of a healthy pulse and into the realm of a near heart attack. The storm seems to be on my side because maybe a minute later another lightning bolt cuts through the black of the night. 

Sure enough, there’s a person standing outside my front door.

Fuck, what do I do?!

The person doesn’t appear to be moving. They are standing just as still as I am, facing towards the house.

I thank the universe the lights inside the house are off. I turned them off cause I wanted the ultimate scary experience playing that game. The only light is the faint glow of my computer screen which is, thankfully, barely visible. I slowly start backing up towards the sliding glass door, never taking my eyes off the figure that I can just barely make out now that my surroundings have fallen into darkness again. If it weren’t for the lightning I would’ve never been able to see them.

I manage to get back inside, soaked as though I just got out of a pool, without making a single sound. Just to be safe, I shut my monitor off. I grab my phone to use as a flashlight in one hand and the switchblade just finds its way into the other, my fingers curling around it tightly, more on instinct than to use as a weapon. I know I probably won’t be able to stab whoever’s out there.

I tiptoe my way down the stairs where all the lights are also off. I flick the blade out as I hesitantly and shakily make my way to the door to look through the peephole. I let out an unsteady exhale as I look at the the figure who is now standing further away and seems to have one arm in the air, curled at the elbow.

Just as I’m about to pull away from the door to dial 911 another flash of lightning illuminates the yard, the figure along with it. 

Can we go back to it being an intruder?

It’s no intruder, surprisingly - to my dismay. 

I turn my phone’s flash off and reach for the switch next to the door, flicking the light on before opening the door and walking out. 

“I NEARLY STABBED YOU WITH YOUR OWN BLADE!“ I yell in a desperate attempt to be heard over the waterfall of rain.

I can finally see him properly thanks to the light in my hallway. He looks like he hasn’t slept in years. He has his hood up but his black locks are sticking out in every direction from under the soaked material, not being protected from the droplets whatsoever. I read the shock in his eyes, almost like he didn’t know I lived there. He doesn’t make an attempt to approach or walk away from me so we just stand there, in the rain, staring at each other as though it’s the first time we’ve seen one another.

I snap out of the trance he has put me in, shaking my head at the ridiculousness of the situation as I step towards him, grabbing onto his wrist, “Come on, we look like drowned rats.” I don’t give him time to react as I drag him inside, closing the door once we enter. “OK, from the top now: Why were you embracing your inner serial killer on my front porch?” I keep blabbering, diverting my gaze to anything but him. “Fucking hell, I could’ve stabbed you! You could’ve gotten really badly hurt! I -...”

“You know, I wish you stabbed me.“ He finally puts an end to my sorry excuse for frustration, I’m aware I look and sound miserable. His voice drags my eyes straight to his, fixing them there. “I know you can’t kill a cockroach on your own, and I know you most definitely wouldn’t even scratch a person, but I wish you had hurt me. Inflict fifty stab wounds on me and you still won’t hurt me as much as I hurt you.“ His hand swiftly pushes the hood off his head, grabbing onto his drenched locks as an expression of pain paints itself on his face. He’s the one diverting his gaze now, “I know what you mistook my silence for and I want you to get that out of your head.“

I wince at the pang in my chest, barely restraining my hand from flying up to rest over my heart, “Don’t humor me, Corpse! I’m not a child and this is not a game!”

“I’m not humoring you. I’m telling you...“ he makes a step towards me, grabbing hold of my ice cold hands, “I’m telling you I’m an asshole that freezes up when it’s least acceptable. I’m telling you I’m the worst at expressing how I feel. I’m telling you I can’t open foil. But you already knew all that. And you still liked me.“ He breaths in, refilling his lungs before continuing his rant, “I know you can be very chaotic. A real handful. A fucking tornado. But I love you. I love you as every natural disaster you represent. And if you could humor me...“ One of his hands releases mine, coming up to push a strand of hair away from my face, resting his hand on my cheek. “...by giving me one more chance. You always let me try multiple times when I stumble over what I’m trying to say. Can you do that, for me? For us?“

I let out a dramatic sigh, rolling my eyes. “If I say yes will you stop showing up like that on my doorstep?“ Of course, my primal instinct is to act tough and cool when my heart rate is once again going at the speed from back at the balcony. The skin of face and neck is red and burning hot. My eyes are rimmed with tears, I hope he doesn’t notice.

“Yeah. I’ll start coming in through the chimney instead.“ He visibly relaxes, a smile dancing at the corner of his lips. He lifts the hand that’s still holding the switchblade, prying it out of my grasp. “No sharp objects, please.”

He drops it in the pocket of his hoodie, finally leaning down to erase any last bit of doubt I have left. This kiss teaches me a lot of things.

Love isn’t linear - nothing about it is linear. Not falling in nor falling out of it. Feelings aren’t digital or binary - it’s not always as black and white as we might want to believe. Feelings don’t just come and go. They are always present, but it depends on us weather they’re suppressed or expressed. We fear the latter cause we fear vulnerability and change. But we also crave the positive outcome we have a 50% chance of getting. It’s a fifty-fifty game, but here’s the thing: if you never express your feelings it’s a zero-a hundred chance that you won’t receive the outcome you’d like.

I took the fifty over the zero chance and regretted it for a day or two. It gave me closure if nothing more. It let me stand under the spotlight and carry my pride on my shoulders despite the tears in my eyes.

My feelings being reciprocated is just another benefit. But no longer being able to call Corpse ‘best friend’ cause he’s now got a bigger and better title is the positive outcome I have been dreaming of. 

He makes it all worth it. He is worth all of it. 

And if I had to go through all that again, you can bet your ass I would.

@susceptible-but-siriusexual  @simonsbluee  @save-the-sky  @hacker-ghost  @itsminniekat  @bi-andready-tocry  @imtiredaffff  @jazzkaurtheglorious  @hereforbeebo  @fandomgirl17  @chrysanthykios  @maehemscorpyus  @loraleiix  @letsloveimagines  @annshit  @i-cant-choose-a-username-help  @enigmaticmaze @divine-artemis

[after-witch]

A Private Cell (Yandere FF7 Reno x Reader)

Title: A Private Cell (Yandere Reno x Reader)

Synopsis:  @damtoti​ said: Can I request FF7 Reno with reader as his prisoner? 

Word Count: 1600ish

notes: yandere, violence

The handcuffs bite into your wrists so tightly that you think you’re losing feeling in your hands. You can't tell if they lack circulation or if the tingling feeling is just a by-product of your hands being tightly kept behind your back for hours and hours. There's no mirror in whatever room he dragged you into, but you know there's a bruise blooming on your jaw. You can still move it, so it's not broken, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt like hell.

You've never been arrested before. You never even got in trouble at school. Though, you realize, you weren't exactly arrested. You weren't taken into custody during daylight hours by officials who escorted you into a precinct or tossed you in a jail cell stuffed with offenders. 

You were grabbed after you locked up the shop, after you stepped into the alley on the way home.  You struggled and screamed at your attacker, all flashes of red and white and black, but a good sucker punch and a bag over your head took care of things as your vision went fuzzy and finally black.

The next thing you remember, well: you're here. Sitting on a wobbly metal chair with your hands tightly cuffed behind your back. The room is dimly lit by overhead lights and the only thing remarkable about it are the occasional dots of rusty looking stains that make you shiver.

You don't contemplate these stains for much longer, because the metal door to the room screeches open and in saunters the man who punched you in the jaw. His vibrant red hair stands out even in the dim light of the room, but it's his clothing that stands out the most. It looks... expensive. Not flashy-expensive, not gold chains and black market furs, but tailored. Professional. It makes your stomach twist into knots. You've heard of... special forces, before, of groups that do the dirty work for Shinra and do it very well. You don't know if he's part of that, but he's part of something. What the hell does something like this want with you, of all people?

He grabs a chair from the corner and pulls it--the scraping of metal-on-concrete has never been so loud--until it's a few feet away from you. He flips it around and sits himself down, leaning his elbow casually on the back of the chair.

"Hope you're comfy." It's sarcasm, but the way he says it so conversationally makes you wish you could throw a punch. "Let's get this out of the way. You're... you. You're (Y/N). I'm Reno, and that's all you need to know for now."

You lick your lips, dry from the cold air, and start to ask a question--How do you know my name?--but he raises a partially gloved hand to silence you. 

"Up-up, I'll do the talkin' for now. Lemme be straight with you, (Y/N), because I don't have time for games and I can tell you’re a real honest person, right? Fess up, and I'll put in a good word for ya. Be stubborn and, well." He scratches his chin and shrugs, as if he really doesn't want to consider the idea of you being "stubborn," whatever that meant. “Best to be honest.”

He rests his chin back in his hands and stares at you. You don’t like his gaze.  You don’t like the way his gaze seems... familiar, like he’s seen you before and knows what you might say.

But he just keeps staring and it’s your turn to talk, you guess.

"I..." your voice is unavoidably scratchy, and you do your best to clear it before you continue. "I don't understand what's going on. I didn't do anything."

He stares at you. And then he yawns. Slow, deliberate and annoyingly condescending. 

"Yeah yeah, I've heard that one before." He shakes his head and the acting is so good that you might almost believe that he feels sorry for you. "I'm offerin' you a great deal here, (Y/N). We don't usually do that, y'know?"

You can feel tears beginning to well up. Your hands are buzzing in numb, brittle pain and even the slightest shift of your wrist sends bolts of sharp pain up to your elbows. You’re in way over your head, and you don’t even know why.

"Listen, Reno," you say his name, then wonder if you should have said it from the way his face seems to animate at your words. Whether or not he's mad or surprised is difficult to gauge, and you don't have the mental energy to try. "I swear I don't know what you think I did. I'm not... I'm not that type of person, I don't get into trouble like this."

He stands up and in a swift sudden movement, pivots the chair around. The noise makes you jerk and you can only stare as he pulls the chair closer, this time leaning in towards you. It's an uncomfortable mixture of intimate and intimidating, and he seems to know it. He has a soft smile on his face, almost friendly, almost kind. He wants you to trust him so badly. 

"The boss doesn't have me pick up randos for no reason. C'mon, just own up to it, and this'll be over soon." He opens his arms up, a placating gesture. You stare at his hands, palm-up, and wonder if he's killed people with them. If he'll kill you.

When you don't speak up--you can't, you reason, you really can't when you have nothing to confess--he sighs, languid and deceptively mundane. He pulls something out of his pocket and whips it to the side. It's a baton. You imagine him bashing it into your skull and your heart starts to race. He presses a button, and it sizzles. Ah, it's a taser, too. You don't have experience with being electrocuted but that doesn't stop your entire body from trembling. Pain shoots up your elbows as your wrists shake of their own volition.

He steps closer, and you wince instinctively and all you can think about is how much this is going to hurt. He presses that button again but before he can swing, you cry out: "Wait! Wait!"

He pauses. Mercifully. The crackling electricity is gone as he slings the baton, resting it on his shoulder. He raises his eyebrows. Well?

You feel your shoulders slump. You have to tell him something. Something that will make him think you're admitting... whatever it is they think you did. They must have the wrong person. You can sort that out later, though, when you're not being threatened with a weapon and an electrical current.

"I--I sometimes sell things." He stares. You continue. "I mean, I sometimes sell things... under the table? Things I shouldn't be selling?"

He slowly sits himself back down on the chair and it's all you can do not to cry in relief. He resumes a casual stance that would feel less intimidating if you weren’t tied up and fighting back tears. 

"Tell me more, (Y/N). Who do you sell to?"

You are a terrible liar. You know this, and he might be able to see it. So you half-close your eyes and glance to the side and try your best to look ashamed.

"They... said they work out of Wall Market."

"Ohh." Reno lifts his chin back a little, as if he's realized what type of person you are and what you do, and now you feel real shame heating your cheeks. You would never associate with Wall Market, not if you could help it. You were luckier than most to be able to avoid blackmail and seedy deals.

"So," he says, leaning forward with determination. "Tell me their name."

You freeze. You don't have a name to give. You can't give a fake name. And you can't give a real name, either, because then you'll be implicated and if it ever got back to the real person, you can bet they won't be merciful for you ratting them out. Especially ratting them out for a fake black market transaction that never happened.

"I..." You swallow. Your throat feels prickly. “I can’t say.” 

Wrong answer, you think. Wrong wrong answer. He shakes his head and tuts and slaps a hand on his thigh before standing up. He towers over you and you brace yourself for the baton and the electricity and wonder if you should just shout out a name before he can get a good whack at you.

Instead, he walks behind you and fiddles with your too-tight handcuffs. They fall off your wrists and their sudden loss returns the circulation with an agonizing rush. You cry out and he begins massaging your tortured wrists. The gesture feels strangely intimate and you can’t help but think of his baton and the taser and the bruise on your jaw.

"Yeah, that'll happen if they’re on too long." You don't have time to think of a reply before he continues, still softly massaging your aching wrists. "Tell you what. We'll continue our little... discussion tomorrow, yeah? And in the meantime.."

He tightens a different pair of cuffs around your wrists. They're snug and firm but lined with something that keeps them from making you wince, at least.

"I don't trust these other guys to be alone with a... pretty thing like you, y'know? I took you in, so I’m responsible for you until you ‘fess up everything."

He pushes you forward as the metal door is opened from the outside. You glance at the guards on either side of the door, but you know they wouldn’t help you. Especially when you’re flanked by someone who is probably their superior.

“Where… are we going?” You ask. Your voice echoes a little in the poorly lit hallway, muffled by two pairs of footsteps as you’re shuffled along, an unwilling prisoner. 

“Told ya,” he says, winding one of his arms around your bound elbows and tugging you closer to his back. “You’re in my custody now.”

[lettheladylead]

Not Your Aunt

Chapter 2: Della [ao3 link]

She didn’t trust the lady. Not for one second. Not for one teeny tiny eenie meenie little extra small second!

Not when Uncle Scrooge would always come home looking like he wanted to cry or scream and he’d mutter Goldie’s name under his breath and then lock himself in his room for the rest of the day. Visiting him was supposed to be exciting and cool and fun and if they had the terrible timing of coming by right after Goldie, then the trip was basically pointless.

Not that she wasn’t also sad to see her uncle sad! That also sucked a lot.

Last time they’d seen Goldie, she’d stolen their map and left them behind in some woods in the middle of Iraq. Sure, she’d oddly left them a clue to help get into the ziggurat safely, but that didn’t make up for the betrayal of stealing their stuff! And Donald was so sour about it for days and days. He really thought it was his fault, as if Miss O’Gilt wasn’t always stealing and leaving. It was pretty much her whole thing.

She tried to convince him that but he just grumbled and sighed about it. He was really hung up on how he called her “Aunt Goldie” when she’d told him not to. So what? They always did things adults told them not to do. It didn’t usually make them run away like little babies. And Della was confident that that wasn’t the reason why Goldie left them behind - not like the lady needed a reason, she clearly just did it for fun - so she knew she’d have to convince Donald of that so he’d stop being so mopey.

Conveniently, Goldie visited the manor again only a few months later. They were at the dinner table with Duckworth when they heard a suspicious sound coming from upstairs. Uncle Scrooge and Duckworth made eye contact and then started walking towards the stairs, so Della and Donald followed out of curiosity.

As they reached the source of the sound, which started as some kind of stomping but had turned into maybe a sliding? And Della could’ve sworn she heard a groan? Anyway, Duckworth opened the door and Uncle Scrooge peeked into the room for a half-second before suddenly shouting “GOLDIE?!” and running in.

Duckworth followed him, but Donald and Della stayed at the door and just looked inside. They could see Goldie was on the floor and Scrooge was some mixture of tending to her and yelling at her because, and Della wasn’t yet an expert on this but she’d had some experiences, there was definitely a pool of blood underneath her. Goldie muttered something and Scrooge muttered something back but neither she nor Donald could understand what they were talking about.

The twins made eye contact, silently agreeing to head inside, when Duckworth suddenly exited the room and closed the door behind him, leaving them out.

“You two should go finish your dinner.”

“What? But what about…” Della motioned towards the door.

“Ah, he’s right, Della,” Donald muttered softly, accepting defeat too easily for Della’s liking. “It’s not like we can help.” He started to walk away, looking just as bummed as he had been for the past few weeks.

Della pouted and thought about how she was hoping to improve Donald’s mood when Goldie returned, but of course the old lady had to make it more complicated than it needed to be. As Duckworth gently pushed them towards the stairs, she turned her head and looked up at him. “Is Aunt Goldie okay?”

Duckworth raised an eyebrow at her and decided not to comment on the name. “Goldie O’Gilt is harder to kill than a cockroach. She’ll be just fine.”

The kids chuckled at his comparison and rushed back down to eat. As soon as the kids were gone, Duckworth sighed and walked towards the bathroom, knowing he could find one of their First Aid kits in there.

-

The rest of their meal was quick, both kids just wanted to finish so they could go back upstairs and find out what happened to Goldie.

“I’ll bet she was fighting a sea serpent over a single gold doubloon and it just completely tore her arm off!”

“No way! She probably got into a back alley knife fight when she tried to rob a guy that was too tough to rob.”

“Oooh, or maybe she was making her way through an ancient tomb when all the traps went off and she’s just got a ton of arrows poking out of her, leaking her blood all over the floor and the side of the mansion while she climbed up the wall!”

“Ew, Dumbella! That’s so gross!”

“How is that grosser than her arm getting torn off?!”

“I dunno, it just is!”

They argued over Goldie’s potential source of injury for a few minutes as they finished their food. As they agreed to head upstairs, Uncle Scrooge came down and plopped himself and his cane right in the entranceway so they couldn’t leave.

“Kids. I’m sure you saw that Goldie’s here.”

“Yeah, kinda hard to miss,” Della said with an eyeroll. “Did she steal anything from you yet?”

Scrooge blew out some air and tapped his fingers at the top of his cane. “Not yet. And yes, she probably will. But...it might be a few days.”

Donald and Della looked at each other incredulously. “Days? Like...more than one?”

“Probably at least a week.”

“Wait, what?” Donald stepped towards his uncle, looking concerned. “Is she, like...actually really badly hurt? What happened?”

Scrooge looked up towards the second floor when he thought he heard a noise before sighing and looking back down at the kids. “She hasn’t given me all the details, but she’s...she’s not in the best shape. She’ll need a few days to recover.”

Della was already thinking back to her guesses for Goldie’s injuries. She’d been kidding before, but maybe she wasn’t too far off?

“You two don’t need to do anything, Duckworth and I can take care of her just fine,” Scrooge said softly. “But we might need to postpone our trip to Svalbard until she’s better.”

“Boo!” Della whined. “Aunt Goldie ruins yet another adventure! Can’t we just leave her here with Duckworth?”

Scrooge’s eyes widened and he sputtered a bit at her words. “I-I, um...no, she’s...what?”

“C’mon, Della, it’s just another week,” Donald commented, not noticing his uncle’s discomfort. “Uncle Scrooge probably wants to make sure she doesn’t steal anything while we’re gone.”

“Um...right,” Scrooge muttered, still not over what he just heard. He remembered Donald referring to her as ‘aunt’ the last time they’d seen her, but he kind of thought that was just an odd little one-time thing. Now if Della started doing it, too, then he didn’t know how to handle that. Goldie would absolutely lose her mind if she found out. “You two shouldn’t bother her so just stay away from the guest room two doors down from mine.”

The kids shared a look before looking back up at their uncle simultaneously. “Okay, Uncle Scrooge!”

As Scrooge nodded and walked away, seemingly headed towards his office, Della and Donald quickly rushed towards the stairs so they could go bother their new houseguest.

They peeked into the room together and saw the mess of blonde hair strewn across the pillows. Goldie definitely looked like she was asleep, which was very disappointing, but they decided to walk into the room anyway and see if she was just faking.

She didn’t react to them coming closer. Della leaned towards her brother and whispered, “She’s sneaky and sharp, right? So she probably knows we’re here even if she’s asleep!”

“That doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Donald whispered back. “Look at her arm! She’s probably just really tired and hurt.”

Della followed his pointer finger and saw that there were bandages all over Goldie’s right arm - from her wrist up past her elbow. Clearly she’d been pretty badly hurt from something and Della desperately wanted to know what it was. She took a deep breath and walked the rest of the way towards her bed, ignoring Donald’s shocked protest behind her.

“...are you awake?” Della asked quietly, not sure how she should approach this.

Goldie didn’t respond, which just made Della pout.

“Aunt Goldie!” she said suddenly, at slightly-higher-than-normal volume. “What happened to your arm?!”

That time, Goldie’s eyes were wide open, but she was simply staring up at the ceiling and taking deep breaths. Donald noticed and joined his sister at the older woman’s bedside.

Another few seconds passed and Goldie closed her eyes again. Della wondered if she thought they were just a nightmare she was having. Well, that wouldn’t do.

“Aunt Gooooldie!” Della smacked her little hands against the top of the bed. “Did you get bitten by a shark? Or stabbed by a guy on the street? Or shot by a laser?”

“Or did you fall from a tower in the sky and land on your arm and it got all gross and beat up?” Donald added, feeling his sister’s contagious enthusiasm.

Goldie groaned and opened her eyes again, clearly wishing the kids weren’t really there. “Is there any way for me to get you two to go away?”

They just smiled at her innocently.

“...if I tell you what happened, will you let me sleep in peace?”

This time they nodded, completely in-sync. Goldie would’ve felt a little creeped out if she wasn’t used to them mirroring one another.

She turned back towards the ceiling and sighed. “I got burned. Badly.”

“Burned?” Della and Donald said together. Neither of them expected that. “Then what was with all the blood?”

“I wasn’t careful enough on my way here,” she said casually. “Burns got scratched up, started to bleed. Hurt like hell.”

Della climbed onto the bed, plopping herself down far enough from Goldie that the bed didn’t shake but close enough to get a better look at the bandages. They were definitely a little red and her arm looked inflamed. “So how’d you get burned? A dragon?”

Donald leaned onto the bed. “A flamethrower?”

“It was some kind of magic.”

“Oohh,” Della crooned. “Did you meet Magica De Spell? Uncle Scrooge complains about her sometimes.”

“She sounds scary.”

Goldie closed her eyes for a second before looking over at the kids. “It wasn’t my first time crossing paths with her, but yes. She had some stupid fancy magical artifact with her and caught me off guard and now I’m stuck here ‘til I can remember if that healing spring was in Caladrion or some other dimension that starts with C!” She started to move her arm and then hissed in pain before setting it back down. “I’ve got enough vicodin in my system to keep me from remembering the name but not enough to stop my arm from hurting. Great.”

Della and Donald looked at each other again. “...Aunt Goldie?”

“Please for the love of God, stop calling me that,” Goldie groaned, closing her eyes once again. “What do you want now?”

Donald took his sister’s hand and tugged her off the bed. “Do you want any tea or anything?”

Goldie froze momentarily before turning to look at the kids again, seeing surprisingly innocent looks on their faces. She almost felt bad for snapping, but god was she tired. “...no. I just want to go to sleep.”

“Okay,” Donald said quietly. “We’ll leave you alone now. Right, Della?”

Della nodded. “Yeah, okay. Sleep tight, Aunt Goldie!”

They headed out the door as Goldie groaned one last time and tried to get back to sleep. Donald shut the door behind them and glared at his sister. “She said to stop calling her that!”

“Yeah, but I wanted to get a reaction outta her!” Della responded, putting her hands on her hips. “You said it made her run away last time, but this time she’s still here!”

“She doesn’t exactly have a choice,” Donald muttered, crossed his arms over his chest. “I bet she’d be running if she could!”

“Nah-uh!”

“Yeah-huh!”

“Nah-”

“Della, Donald.”

The twins turned to see Duckworth standing at the end of the hallway, giving them a suspicious stare.

“Miss O’Gilt is trying to get some sleep so she can recover faster. Perhaps the two of you could continue this argument somewhere else?”

The kids nodded sheepishly and rushed past Duckworth on their way to another room to argue and play in. Duckworth watched them over his shoulder for a few moments before turning back towards the room that housed their current uninvited guest. He thought back to the last time Goldie O’Gilt had stayed in the mansion and how Mr. McDuck’s mood was lifted and then subsequently crushed when she inevitably left in the middle of the night.

Though he thought this time would probably be no different, having the kids around would make her stay a bit more interesting, he was sure of that.

[littleoddwriter]

You're Alright (Part 2) | Roman Sionis x Male!Reader

A vent fic, again, or rather the continuation of one. I started writing this in the morning and wasn't gonna write on it for another day or two, but Uhhh, shit went down just now before going to bed, courtesy of my mom this time, so I decided to quickly add that to the fic and upload it before finally going to sleep. Anyway, there y'all go.

Summary; Your wounded arms are only getting worse, Roman says something hurtful without meaning it, but it's okay quickly.

Notes; TW // Contamination OCD; Injury; Open Wounds (nothing explicit, but obviously there); Mentions of doctors. Male!Reader; Emotional Hurt/Comfort; Bad reaction to a hand lotion; also a bad reaction from Roman.

Part 2

The morning after you had taken care of your wounds in the best possible way, you woke up with even more. It was very frustrating and it hurt a lot. You didn't tell Roman that, though, when he asked if it had helped at all. You just shrugged and said you couldn't tell yet.

Then after another night's sleep, you had even more new open wounds. That morning your inner forearm was itching like all hell, too, so you scratched it, like you always did. You found yourself regretting that about half an hour later, when you noticed that your arm now had an open wound too, which went unevenly from your wrist and almost all the way up to the crook of your elbow. It hurt a lot. You couldn't make a secret of it either, since you were forced to wear a t-shirt, so as not to get lint in any of your wounds again. It was really bad.

You were in a constant state of pain. Every little movement of your fingers, hands and arms was filled with agony. You couldn't remember it being this bad ever since it has started.

Roman noticed it soon enough, when he finally had a free minute that day. He sat down on his armchair in the living area and patted his thighs. Without another word, you settled on them, leaning back against his chest, as his arms wrapped around you. Then he shifted you around a little to make it more comfortable for him. Sighing, you relaxed into him. His warmth and presence was always so comforting to you.

Keeping one arm wrapped around your middle, he used the other one to lift your heavily wounded one to look at it.

"Sweetheart, you really should have a doctor take a look at this," he rasped, as he raised your arm all the way to his masked face and nudged his mouth's zipper against your forearm, careful not to actually touch your wounds with it. You shuddered.

"I don't wanna see a doctor. Roman, please," you whined, trying to pull your arm out of his grip to no avail. You were so ashamed.

"I'm concerned, my sweet boy. What if it's getting infected, hm? What then?" He didn't let go of your arm, speaking against it, which tickled a little, making you squirm in his lap.

"Wouldn't be the first time," you muttered, looking away.

"Exactly. And was that pleasant? Do you want to repeat that?"

"Not really, no."

"That's what I thought. You know I trust my doctor not to hurt you in any way, right?" You nodded. "Then let me call him, alright, sweetheart?"

You thought about it for a few moments. In the back of your mind, you knew that Roman would call and force that doctor on you, even if you refused; he was only asking to make you feel like you had a choice at all, which you kind of appreciated.

So, eventually you relented, turning your head to look at him again, and sighed deeply, "Okay, you can call him. But can we wait until tomorrow with the appointment? Please?"

"Why's that?"

"I'm really not in the right mental state for that. Just one more day, so I can prepare for it?"

Roman nodded, "Alright, tomorrow it is then. I don't care if you feel up to it then, or not, you're going to see him, Y/N."

"Yeah, okay." You leaned your face into his, kissing the - now lukewarm - zipper of his mask, as he finally let go of your arm. "I'm sorry for- all of that," you murmured against the metal.

"Don't, my sweet boy."

When you had seen the doctor, he couldn't really help you. He at least determined that none of your wounds were infected yet, but other than that he told you to continue trying out different lotions and applying them multiple times a day and not just at night, like you were prone to be doing.

A couple of nights later, you were getting ready for bed, following your usual routine, which ended in applying lotion on your hands, wrists and forearms. That night, you tried one out again that you remembered having before, but stopped using. You couldn't remember why, but you thought that maybe it just stopped helping like it happened so very often.

Not even a minute after you had rubbed it into your skin, you remembered exactly why you hadn't used it anymore. It was burning so fucking badly!

Roman had paid for all your lotions, and you also didn't want to waste it, and sometimes it burned first and then subsided anyway; so you shook your hands repeatedly, trying to get the overwhelming sensation out of you and just suck it up.

It didn't help. The burning sensation only got worse. It truly started to hurt. And apparently, your hands were very fucking red, as Roman saw your hands and immediately exclaimed, "Why are your hands so red? What the fuck have you done?"

"I just put on lotion, it's okay. It's probably from rubbing it in," you said, trying not to let him know how badly it was hurting you actually.

"It's usually not that bad. Your hands and wrists are purely red, they normally don't look like this when you rubbed in your lotion. What is it?"

"It's nothing, Roman, calm down."

"Sweetheart," he said in that kind of warning tone he sometimes got when he really wasn't in the mood to argue with you.

"The lotion might be burning a little, but it's okay. Maybe it just takes some time," you explained quietly, looking away.

"It shouldn't be burning. What the hell have you done?"

"It's not my fault!" You exclaimed, feeling a little hurt by the accusatory tone.

"Yes, it is!" He shot right back in a venomous tone of voice.

Your heart clenched painfully at that, as you immediately lowered your head and blinked back tears that immediately started burning your eyes.

"Which lotion did you use?" Roman asked, his voice softer again.

"The one that starts with a C," you mumbled, not raising your head.

"That's the one you said you've had before, right?" You nodded. "Alright then. I suppose now we know why you stopped using it. Wash it off, sweet boy, come on." He stirred you towards the bathroom with a gentle hand on your back.

Your eyes were still burning with tears that tried to make their way out, but you continued to blink them back and swallow them down. Just like your eyes, your hands were still burning immensely. You continued to shake them repeatedly, unconsciously. You might have done it during the entire conversation, too.

Under Roman's watchful, but hidden, gaze, you washed your hands twice, trying to really get rid of the lotion.

"Do you have to watch me?" You asked after a few moments.

"Yes," Roman just replied, taking one of the other lotions he's bought you in his hands. One you've used before that hasn't burned so far. "Use this for tonight then, alright, sweetheart?"

You nodded, as you carefully dried your hands with your towel, wincing in pain as it touched your wounds. The burning of your skin hasn't completely subsided yet, and your wounds started to itch, but you tried your best to not give in and make everything even worse.

When your hands were dry, you turned to Roman and took the little tube from him, squirting a rather big dollop of lotion onto your one hand, rubbing it over the wounded backs, wrists and forearms.

"Better?" Roman asked after a few moments, in which he kept watching you like a hawk.

"Yeah, I think so. Thank you."

Then suddenly, Roman's arms wrapped around you, pulling you into him. Your head rested against his chest, hearing his heart beat rather rapidly, as his arms tightened and released around you periodically. Carefully, you also embraced him, trying to keep your lotioned arms from his clothes.

"I didn't mean it the way it came out, before," Roman murmured into your hair, "I was just a little overwhelmed with concern. It was a bit of a shock to see your hands like this. Alright, my sweet boy?"

You just nodded against his chest. While you believed that he really was just worried and shocked, it still hurt. You didn't choose for your skin to react so badly. You didn't choose to have your hands turn so stark red that it even startled the man that had to live with his face being fused to a wooden mask.

With gentle hands, Roman cupped your face in his hands and lifted your head, looking at you. Then he leaned forward to nudge his masked face against yours in a mock kiss, like always. You smiled slightly and kissed the zipper affectionately.

You still felt hurt and it might last until the next day, but you knew he really cared about you.

[jihyuncompass]

Do You Feel It Too?

A soulmate AU counts as Fate right? Shhh let’s just act like it is. 

Jihyun Week 2020 Day Three ( @mysme-events​ )

Fate

Jihyun Kim x MC 

Word Count: 5k

Summary: Your entire life you’ve felt your soulmate’s pain. Every bump, scratch, headache. Never knowing who. 

The first time you remember feeling it, you were five years old. You’d been sitting at home when a sharp pain hit your knee. Like you had just fallen, you had cried out and pulled up your pant leg to try and see what happened. Only to find nothing, not a bruise or a scratch. 

It would happen occasionally, you’d feel a sting on your arms, your legs, or a headache. All things with no discernible cause and no physical impact. Almost like a sort of phantom. 

After a few months you had heard one of your relatives talk about it, how they met their soulmate because they felt the same pain. You had listened to them with rapt attention coming to the realization that the strange feelings you felt were the same sensations someone else in the world was feeling too. 

The thought stuck in your mind as you grew older. Mentally you would keep track of the types of pains you’d feel, as if it could give clues as to who your soulmate could be. For years all you felt was the occasional bump or papercut, some headaches here and there. Once or twice a year your body would ache like they had a fever. Nothing very out of the ordinary. 

It also became a strange experience for you to get hurt. On one hand you hated experiencing pain, but now you had the weight of knowing that someone else in the world was feeling that same thing you were. Every injury led to you silently apologizing to your soulmate hoping they somehow could hear you. 

For years the types of things you’d feel were typical, the normal types of injuries and pain that most people would get into. However, it started to change when you turned sixteen. 

It’d been the middle of the night when you woke up feeling agonizingly hot, it felt like every inch of your skin was burning. Your lungs ached and struggled to take in air, you twisted around your bed rubbing at your skin to try and soothe the sensations to no effect. You ran from your bedroom into the bathroom and sat in the bathtub submerged under cold water, sobbing as the burning only got worse and worse. 

You’d layed there for hours, so distracted you couldn’t even think about what your soul mate could be going through to cause them to feel something like this. Eventually the water in the bathtub grew lukewarm and you fell into a fitful sleep once you’d run out of tears to cry. 

In the days following you figured that your soulmate must have been in a fire. The way the burning had felt that’s all it could possibly be in your mind. You spent the next two days doing research seeing if you could find any leads to who your soulmate could be. Only to find nothing. With time the memory of the burning started to seep into the back of your head, becoming more and more distant. 

The second worst experience happened eight years later. You had been watching a storm rage from your window. Watching the rain come down and the lightning strike, you had felt a few things from your soulmate recently. Some strange stings in your chest and on your arms. A sprain in their ankle a few months ago. Nothing seemed to be too major. 

One minute you were watching the storm and the next your back and elbows started to ache, taken aback from the feeling you winced and looked away from the window. 

Then the worst of it began, your vision went red as a slashing pain tore across your face. Clutching your eyes you collapsed to the floor, it felt as if they were being gouged out. You fumbled around unable to see a single thing. Screaming out you crawled your way to the bathroom to try and wash your face, but nothing seemed to help. You knew like the fire you would have to just ride out the pain until it was over. So completely blind you fell onto your couch and put pressure on your eyes to try and relieve it. 

What could be happening to your soulmate right now? How could their eyes hurt so badly? You screamed and cried in agony for several hours until the feelings had turned into a dull aches. Which remained for weeks, even after your vision returned to you. 

Like the fire you spent weeks researching to see if you could find any news reports of an accident, anything having to deal with an eye injury. All to no avail. Beyond the usual crime the only thing that caught your eye was the apparent suicide of the fiance of a famous photographer, but beyond skimming the article you moved on. Accepting that you probably weren’t going to find anything. 

Over time you’d watched the people around you slowly find their soulmates, some were childhood friends who learned pretty quickly. Others found each other at jobs, school, walking down the street. You weren’t one of those people, and as years passed you started to wonder if you’d ever find them. 

While you searched for your soulmate, life hadn’t been kind to you. Money was frequently tight and finding a place to live even harder. So the mysterious text you received one afternoon couldn’t have come at a better time. 

Under any other circumstances you would have said no to the stranger offering you room and board in exchange of playtesting a game for him. It sounded sketchy, but the eviction notice on your front door and your dwindling bank account made the decision for you. 

The man you’d spoken to on the phone, Ray was strange in person. He was more than polite but gave you a strange feeling when you looked in his eyes too much. When you stood in front of him you couldn’t help yourself from noticing the strange clothing he wore, how it was strangely dated and odd for a game developer. His eyes also had dark bags under them and he appeared to be so thin, his skin a sickly pale color. Even if you couldn’t place why. There was something off about him and the way he spoke. 

Still, you stayed, and you played his game. You found yourself growing more and more attached to each one. The more you talked to them this feeling started to bloom in your gut, that something wasn’t right. The way they talked was too realistic, too human even for an advanced AI. 

The first time you heard V’s voice was the first time you truly started to doubt what Ray told you. He answered you with such kind words. His voice held such a warmth to it that you couldn’t imagine it coming from anything other than a real human being. But when you expressed any doubt or hesitation, Ray would be there to reassure you they were AIs. Only highly advanced and specially designed to seem realistic. 

Yet, there was still a doubt. 

“Have you made your choice?” Ray asked you on the fourth day. You’d just barely left the chatroom when Ray entered. The weight of the decision weighed on your mind, you knew he’d come to ask but you weren’t ready, and you weren’t even sure what you’re agreeing too. 

“I. I’m not sure yet.” You told him. Ray sat down next to you on the bed. 

“This place is wonderful, I hope you chose to stay with us.” Ray said. You glanced at your phone next to you. The screen just turned off, the RFA messenger still open if you turned it back on. 

“Ray, what is this place?” You asked him. His face didn’t give off any expression, he didn’t even seem to let the question sink in. 

“I can’t tell you now, but I promise once you go through your ceremony you’ll know everything.” 

Your ceremony? Those words made fear grip your heart. There was something off about this place. Something that made your stomach churn, and even though you were being offered a choice. There was something in you that told you really didn’t have a choice in this matter. 

Ray returned a few hours later, finally asking for your final decision. 

“I’ll return as soon as the game is over.” You told him. Despite the gut feeling that your choice didn’t matter. You wanted your stance to be clear. Ray’s face fell, clearly disappointed. 

He rubbed his wrists. “Ah… I see. If that is what you wish.” He glanced back up at you, stepped towards you. “But I worked so hard to make my preparations. So… could you at least take a look at what I have for you? Please?” 

This was a bad idea. You knew that, there was no way for this to go well. However, you also knew you couldn’t refuse him. 

He led you down winding hallways. The hugeness of the building finally dawned on you. You had seen it from the exterior when you were in the garden but now it was a whole different feeling. 

After several minutes of walking you came to Ray’s room. A dark room that looked to both be large but crowded with computer monitors and desktop computers. You had to squint to see clearly, the room really only primarily being lit by the light from the computers. Behind you Ray closed and locked the door. 

The feeling of unease in your chest was getting worse and worse. You realized he’d locked the door, trapping you inside. The heat from the computers made the room uncomfortably warm. Ray was talking to you, but you aren’t really paying attention at this point. Thinking more of potential exit routes. 

“There’s no need for a signature for this contract. You only have to take a special elixir developed at this place… as a promise that you’ll stay here.” Ray explained. Turning to face him you saw him holding a glass bottle in his hand. The contents an unnatural blue color. 

He continued to talk, but you weren’t listening. Your panic rising in your throat. Ray grabbed your hand. His grip is gentle yet firm, not letting you step away from him. He talked of paradise, a loss of pain, of happiness with him. The more he spoke the more you wanted to run away from him. Obviously this place wasn’t safe, and the more you worried about what the true nature of this place was. 

A sharp knock on the door pulled you out of your thoughts, and cut Ray’s sentence off. You both stared at the door, Ray with a look of confusion and you with a look of hope. Ray hesitated before dropping your hand and walking towards the door. You whispered silent prayers to yourself, for anything that could let you run out of the room and out of this place. 

A hooded figure stood outside, their head bowed to hide their face. 

“We have a problem with the server room. This is an emergency.” The hooded figure said, listening to the stranger you couldn’t help but feel their voice was familiar somehow. 

“What? Of all the times.” Ray muttered. Then he looked back to the hooded figure, his brows knit together. “Hang on, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before.” The hooded figure spoke before Ray could continue his train of thought. 

“The Savior is also there. You must go now, Mr. Ray.” 

“Wait, this voice.” You held your breath, Ray tried to lean down to see the figure’s face but he lowered his hood further. 

You spoke up quickly. “This isn’t the time to be suspicious! You should hurry up and go Ray!” Ray turned back to look at you, then back at the bottle of elixir, then at the hooded figure again. Your heart raced in your chest, hoping that maybe he would actually leave. 

“I should. But before that.” He looked right into the hooded figure’s obscured face. “Take off your hood.” After a pause he nodded and reached up, but instead of pulling off the hood he pushed Ray back, the glass elixir bottle falling from his hands and shattering on the floor. 

The rest happened in slow motion, the figure yanked off his hood revealing a strikingly familiar face. Bright blue eyes stared right at you, the exact image of the RFA’s mysterious leader V. 

Still, you couldn’t help but ask who he was when he called to you. 

“It’s V! Jihyun!” He yelled. You gasped, eyes turning to Ray who was now standing up. This meant that the gut feeling you had was right. The RFA weren’t AI’s and Ray wasn’t a game developer, and looking back to V you realized he was your only way out of this place. 

Your thoughts were stopped by Ray who had begun yelling, other hooded figures began to appear as Ray pointed to V calling him an intruder. 

This was your chance, this was the only chance you had to escape this place. You ran forward reaching out to grab V’s hand, to run from this place to get out. From beside you, Ray was screaming and within seconds he’d grabbed your other arm twisting it behind you and pulling you away from V. 

A sharp pain shot through your arm and shoulder as Ray pulled back on the arm he’d twisted behind you and looking at V-

Had he just cringed? 

Was it because you did? Was it because of seeing Ray grab you, or? 

Ray’s screaming in your ear stopped you from going further. He was screaming at V now. Claiming that he’d never let V take you away, calling for guards, for anything. Your arm was aching behind you as V apologized to you. 

“I’m sorry, I’ll come back for you. I promise.” While Ray screamed at him you nodded back, watching V run from the room. 

Once Ray calmed down he let you go. Stumbling forward you held your injured arm, rubbing it to soothe the small ache. Your mind raced with thoughts of all kinds. The RFA was real, this wasn’t a game, this place was dangerous, and the thought that emerged to the front of your consciousness. Was it possible that V actually felt the same pain you had, without being touched? 

Ray left you alone in his computer room as he sought out the “Savior” leaving you with your swirling thoughts. You hadn’t even thought of taking your phone with you when Ray came to you. So you sat in silence, only the sound of the computer fans to keep you present and grounded.  

Twenty minutes after Ray left a brief sharp feeling hit your leg. You held the spot, was it even possible that it could be V? You’d assumed that Rika had been his soulmate, since they were going to be married. 

No, there was no way. It was just a coincidence. 

The next few days were some of the scariest. You had Ray, who was still trying to convince you to stay. Telling you repeatedly how V was a liar. Then V who asked you to say very little and keep a low profile while he figured out how to get you out. Then, before you could do much V had been captured by the Savior. Who you had learned was actually Rika, the creator of the RFA who had supposedly committed suicide six months before. 

Sitting in the Savior’s room you tried to keep your body language clear. You didn’t want to show her any sign of fear or hesitation, even though both of those things was gripping your throat tightly. If Rika could feel this fear coming from you, she didn’t say a word about it. Which somehow made you feel even worse. 

Sitting there a strange itchy feeling started in your throat. Like burning, you swallowed to try and get rid of the ache but found it did nothing. This pain must have been what your soulmate was feeling right now. Pondering this the uncomfortable feeling spread to your head, your vision blurred. Lightheadedness taking over, your limbs started to throb.  

You closed your eyes to try and make it look like maybe you were resting, trying to think of what your soulmate might be going through. The pain made your thoughts hazy. It was all you could focus on. The miserable feeling spread to your entire body, you weren’t even sure if you could stand on your own if you needed to. Cracking your eye open you saw Rika speaking to a believer. Despite Rika’s assurance that you wouldn’t be harmed you didn’t feel safe showing her any level of weakness. Afraid of her taking advantage of you in that state. 

After the sun had fallen over the horizon Rika approached you. Like Ray did days ago, she offered you a choice and decided to show you something. 

Clutching the wall you kept yourself upright. Your head was dizzy and your knees threatened to give out at any second. You kept yourself up at this point on pure adrenaline. Descending down a staircase your surroundings changed to what can only be described as a dungeon, like one from a film or book. 

Your heart nearly stopped seeing V. He laid crumpled on the hard stone floor, his face twisting in pain. His eyes completely glazed over. He looked to be in so much pain, you held yourself back from running to him. Rika was watching him, a look in her eyes that held nothing but disdain and disgust for him. 

“Ray gave you more than I wanted him too. I was hoping we could still chat.” Rika said. V’s eyes moved around the room, searching for the voice that was speaking to him. His eyes locked on you, his face looked relieved to see you. Thought it quickly twisted back in pain. 

Your brain was taken over by worry for V. He was clearly not in a good condition and by the way Rika was declining neither was she. And with how angry she was with V you worried about his safety. 

Staying still, both from fear and pain you heard a voice from behind you. 

“Shh! Quiet.” A familiar voice said. “You’re the coordinator right? Don’t answer. I said be quiet! We’re getting out of here.” Seven’s voice whispered in your ear. This was it, you were going to get out of this place. Watching V and Rika closely you watched as Rika turned away from V, now screaming into the wall. “Pick him up. Now, so that she wouldn’t notice.” Regardless of your aching body and dizziness you reached down for V, his arms holding onto your shoulders as you helped him to stand. Leaning on each other for support. 

One eye on Rika and the other of Seven beckoning you forward you left the dungeon and snuck out of the building. Breaking into a run once you were a safe distance away, Seven carrying V on his back you stumbled following them. 

Every step felt agonizing, still you tried to hide it. Right now V was the one in pain, and whatever you were feeling was just from your soulmate. V was far more important right now. 

The hours that followed were a blur, the three of you had hidden out in a safehouse Seven knew of. V was tucked into bed to rest and Seven told you he had called someone who could help him.  While Seven was working in the corner of the room you sat curled up in a chair with your head between your knees. The pain you felt was still so intense, and now that the adrenaline was leaving your body you realized just how bad it truly was. Your body felt like it was being torn limb from limb. Your head felt light while your arms felt like rocks and your head throbbed from behind your eyes. 

Seven’s friend, his maid? His coworker? Whoever Vanderwood was arrived not long after you did to the hideout. As soon as they was inside they started getting to work on giving V medicine and trying to assess his condition. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Vanderwood asked you once they were finished with V. Who was awake now, but still dully staring at everyone. You lifted your head, the pain was less intense now but still lingering in your body. 

“I’m okay.” You said. Vanderwood however didn’t look very convinced. 

“Did they drug you too? You look like he does.” Vanderwood pointed to V who was watching you now. Even Seven who had been working on his computer was taking a closer look at you. 

“No.” You said. “They didn’t drug me.” 

“Then why are you-” Vanderwood stopped and looked between you. “Wait, are you two soulmates?” Your head snapped up and looked at Vanderwood, and then at V who was staring at you with wide eyes now. 

You stuttered. “No, there’s no way we are.” Vanderwood glanced between you again. 

“Look at that wall for a second.” Vanderwood instructed you. Crossing your arms you turned your eyes away. You heard shuffling then a twinge of pain in your arm. Grabbing it you looked back to Vanderwood. Who was pinching V’s arm while V stared in confusion and slight horror. 

“Wait.” Seven stood up. “V, you always told us Rika was your soulmate.” 

“I-” V coughed, as he did you felt burning in your lungs. Seven waited for a second for V’s response but then shook his head. 

“You know what. Now isn’t the time.” Seven sat back down. “There are other things to worry about.” Seven picked up his computer setup. “I’m going to go to the other room to try and figure out this hacker situation. V, get some rest.” V nodded, a pained look on his face. Vanderwood sighed and followed Seven into the other room. Likely to grill him about what was going on, away from the two of you listening in.  

Even without looking you knew V was looking at you. Rubbing your arms you stayed quiet, under any other circumstance you likely would be happy to know you’ve met your soulmate. But looking at V, laying in that bed, and knowing about Rika, you felt nothing but worry, and a small bit of guilt. 

“I’m sorry.” V whispered to you. You shook your head, eyes closed.

“You don’t need to apologize to me V.” You said. “Just focus on getting better. For both of our sakes.” V stared at you a moment longer, his eyes full of something you couldn’t quite place. Something between longing and grief. Leaning back in your own seat you watched V drift to sleep. A million thoughts still swirling in your head. 

Recovery was slow, but you could feel V slowly gaining his strength back. You encouraged him. Especially during the moments he proclaimed his desire to return to Rika. You had tried to tell him that nothing good would come from going back. That him returning to Magenta wasn’t going to stop her. Even if he didn’t seem to agree something told you he was listening to you honestly. 

Neither of you talked about what you both knew about your soulmate status. Rika was still too fresh a wound and you were still trying to process it all. Still, you saw some of the looks V would give you when you weren’t looking. Or the way Seven and Vanderwood chose their words extremely carefully around the two of you.  

You never discussed it until the two of you went for a walk. Jihyun held onto you to keep himself steady. You both walked down the mountain trail letting yourselves be swallowed up by the trees surrounding the beaten path.  

“I feel that I’ve been unfair to you.” V said once you’d stopped for a moment. 

“What do you mean?” You asked him. 

“Our situation, it’s very complicated. And I know my relationship with Rika has only made it worse.” V said. You stared at the ground. 

“Did you think Rika was your soulmate?” You asked. You knew sometimes that could be the case with people, and based on V’s words. You couldn’t help but wonder. 

V sighed. “Once maybe. But perhaps I just wanted her to be. But, once my eyes were hurt I...” He shook his head trailing off his sentence. 

“I remember that.” You whispered, your hand touching under your eyes. “That was six months ago, right before Rika disappeared?” V sucked in a harsh breath. 

“Yes.” Hearing that, you couldn’t keep yourself from stepping forward and embracing  him. Pressing your face into his chest. You could still remember the agonizing pain from months ago, and seeing him in the flesh made that memory all the more painful.  

“I’m sorry.” You said. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” V was quiet, you almost pulled away to look at him. To make sure he was okay. 

V was quiet for a moment, your words seemingly not reaching him. His voice cracked when he spoke up again. “So this is what it feels like to be embraced by someone.” 

“Has no one ever held you before?” 

“No, Rika always needed to be held. The only person who wanted to hold me was…” He trailed off for a second. “Was my mother, before she passed.” You hugged him tighter, V hadn’t ever mentioned his mother to you before. 

You talked for a while longer. V talked of his mother, Rika. Even Jumin. As he spoke you could feel all the things he’d been holding in for years. Years of trauma and fear that he’d done everything in his power to disguise. After a while emotion choked him up, especially when he spoke of his mother. 

“I’m sorry.” He started. “It’s been a long time since I talked about her. My mother that is..” He wiped his eyes and sniffled. “If you don’t mind, I think I need a moment alone. To gather myself.”

“Will you be okay?” You asked him. He nodded. 

“I’ll be okay, be careful going back.” You nodded walking away slowly back down the mountain trail to the safehouse. Your thoughts kept your mind busy, thinking back to your conversation with V. In the time in the safehouse you’d never thought about your feelings for him. Everything had been so stressful, you’d never stopped to consider that maybe, you had fallen in love with him. Even if just the tiniest bit. 

The sight of the safehouse came into view, you were preparing to walk through the door. When a feeling came into your stomach, something painful and shocking. You gasped and fell to your knees squeezing your eyes shut. Something was wrong, very wrong. 

V was hurt. 

Your memories of what happened next are fuzzy, the pain had taken over every one of your senses, every once of your mind. Vaguely, you remember running. Screaming for Seven, looking for V. You remember how your heart sunk when you saw him, bleeding on the ground.

However you don’t remember the car journey, or even arriving at the hospital. Your memory only cleared while you sat in V’s room. Waiting for him in surgery,  then you remember talking with Jumin and watching V be returned to his room to recover. 

The best moment besides seeing his face, was feeling the pain subside from your stomach. Knowing he wasn’t hurting at all. 

As V recovered you knew Seven and Jumin were taking care of everything in the background. You heard bits of pieces from them as to what was happening, that Ray was only continuing to attack until he stopped. Rika had been in the chatroom, until she had stopped. However your mind was focused entirely on V during that time.  

One the day of the party was cancelled, Magenta was blown up, Ray inside. While that thought weighed on you and V. You couldn’t deny the sense of finality it had in your heart. Finally, this horrible saga seemed to have come to an end. Only recovery from here on out. 

“I’m going to have my eyes operated on soon.” V told you, you were sitting next to him. Focused on the news of Rika’s arrival at the party venue. “Turns out Jumin already scheduled an operation for me.” 

You laughed gently. “Sounds like Jumin.” He smiled at you. 

“I hoped that I could start my new life after my eyes are cured but, it’ll take time to fully free myself from Rika.” You nodded. “I care for you, very much but.” He looked at you, holding to your hand. “I want to be a complete person, I want to find what is precious within me.” 

You smiled, although your heart ached you held that positive look. As you looked into his eyes you saw something you’d never seen in him before. You could have sworn you saw hope. 

“Take all the time you need.” You said, speaking honestly. 

The first time you remember feeling your soulmate's pain was when you were five years old. You’d been sitting at home when a sharp pain hit your knee. Now, you stood at the airport, watching the plane V was in as it was about to take off. You weren’t sure when he’d come back, only knowing that he would someday. 

Tears filled your eyes as you waited with Jumin and Seven next to you. The plane started down the runway and lifted into the air raising higher and higher, you watched it until it disappeared out of sight and into the clouds above. 

“Ouch!” You said grabbing your arm, it felt like someone had just pinched you but looking at Jumin who was standing next to you his hands in his pockets there was no way it was him who had done it. 

A smile grew on your face as you realized. Going for you other arm, you smiled as you pinched your own arm. Knowing V on that plane felt it too. 

[haro-whumps]

This is a crossover fanfic between my boy Galo and @whumping-every-day 's character Mutt (and Trev, sort of)

--

Galo wasn't entirely sure of the series of events that had led him here. Auntie Maggie's step-son from her first marriage had a friend who had a slave and the friend and his sister had gotten pulled away on an emergency and needed someone to watch after the slave while they were gone, and their usual dog sitter wasn't "emotionally suitable."

Galo's cousin (was that the right word? They only barely counted as relatives) had moved away but had given the friend, Trev, Galo's phone number and, admittedly, he was only a few hours' drive away. Nyla could take care of them all for an evening, but the other guy, "Mutt," was not so stable as all that, and Galo liked long car rides.

He liked having someone to commiserate with, too, for all that Trev and he seemed to operate on fundamentally different wavelengths. Someone who got the "holy shit walking on eggshells" thing. Also the "ah, I have a surprisingly evil dead relative" thing. Being that Trev was from across state lines, and that his state apparently had different safety constraints and standards of living for slaves, Trev had it worse than Galo. Sorry for that guy.

Well sorry for Mutt first and foremost. Absolutely sorry for Mutt FIRST and foremost.

God, his name was "Mutt" how fucked up was that. But Galo got the situation, more or less, and had Trev text him the dietary restrictions and routine so Galo had somewhere to reference it. Galo pulled to a halt in front of the farm house, wheels churning over the gravel, and shot Trev a text letting him know he'd arrived.

Galo opened the screen door with a creak, letting himself into what was effectively a complete stranger's home, in the middle of nowhere, entirely alone. Galo was aware that if this was a horror movie, he'd be the opening chump, but he also weighed over two hundred pounds of unnecessarily tall bone and thick muscle, so.

He let out a friendly whistle and three sets of paws bounded through the house, and Galo laughed as he held out his loosely curled fists for sniffing and licking. "Hey pretties!" he greeted, not shouting but loud in a way that would carry through the building, letting Mutt hear him, hear him being friendly and in a good mood. "Okay, outside. Outside for pretty dogs," he said and held open the screen door, and two bolted past. The third wagged its tail and shuffle-shuffle-stepped before sitting down, panting up at Galo with tail a-wagging.

"Hi there," Galo said with an arched eyebrow, smiling at the dog. It pat-pat-patted it's feet again the floor and shuffled a little closer on its rump, then rolled its head back with a awoowoo and a chuff.

"Am I not giving you enough immediate attention?" Galo asked, using his heel to keep the door open and reaching down to pet the dog, who tried very hard to lick Galo's face. Seemingly satisfied, the dog eventually bolted out to join the other two, and Galo let the door close with a smile.

"Mutt?" Galo called gently, moving into the kitchen and setting his computer bag down on a clear spot of counter. Trev and his sister had clearly not been expecting guests, but that was sort of implied with the whole "emergency" coming up bit. A flicker of motion caught Galo's eye.

"Hey," Galo greeted softly, voice pitched down low and quiet. "There's the shining star. Did Trev let you know I was coming?" Galo asked. He knew for a fact that Trev had, that the only reason he'd left before Galo got there was because, well, emergency, but it was a gentle way to prompt Mutt into remembering that Galo was supposed to be there.

Mutt nodded, arms crossed at the wrist in front of his chest, and Galo slowly crouched down onto his haunches. "Good. Good boy."

Mutt perked. Galo's smile turned a little more genuine. "Yeah, I've heard all about how good you are. Do you wanna come a little closer or do you feel like personal space is a good way to start?" Galo asked, careful to phrase it so both options seemed positive. He would, ideally, create less stress over the "right choice" and prompt Mutt to choose a more honest one.

Mutt shuffled a little, lips parting, and Galo kicked himself mentally. "Oh, you can speak," he added, voice still carefully gentle. "Talking is good; I like hearing what others have to say."

"Um, can, can, can I--cl, closer s-sir?"

"Yeah," Galo said with a smile, pleased Mutt had chosen that one. He held out a hand in a loose fist, like he had for the dogs, and slid his fingers together in an almost-snap. "C'mere, kitten."

It was a gamble, Galo knew, but hopefully the "wrong" nickname would disorient Mutt just enough to set him off balance and cut through the fear. It seemed to work, Mutt looking surprised as he stumbled forward and slid down onto his knees near Galo. He cautiously rubbed the loose backs of his fingers over Mutt's shorn hair, thumbing gently at a scar on his scalp, and Mutt...

It was a very, very gradual process, but Mutt melted. He leaned into Galo's hand, and Galo tugged him just a little closer, and he melted into that, so Galo pulled him closer, and after three quarters of an hour of careful coaxing Mutt was puddled up against Galo's side, Galo seated on the kitchen tile and scratching his hair with one hand and petting his back with the other.

He was gonna have friction-red palms from the hair and shirt but oh it was so worth it.

"There's a good boy," Galo murmured for the hundredth time. "You settled right on in, didn't you?"

Mutt made a contented little noise and Galo debated whether it was worth it to try and wrestle his phone out of his pocket to send a picture to Trev. Then one of the dogs started barking to be let back in and Mutt startled, badly, Galo getting an elbow right in the diaphragm. Fortunately, Mutt was very small and weak. Unfortunately, a slave had just hurt Galo and he was already feeling a little deja vu.

"S-s-sooor-I'm sorry! I'm sorry, please, please, not the barn please no no I'll be good don't punish me--"

"Oh I'm not allowed to do that," Galo said as casually as he could manage, and it worked. The idea that Galo, a very large free person, wasn't "allowed" something shocked Mutt right out of his panicked babbling, and Galo mentally fistpumped. Crisis more or less averted. "You're not mine, kitten. Trev asked me to come make sure you and the dogs get fed and taken care of; I don't have permission to punish you."

Galo stood, Mutt's wide eyes following him, utterly gobsmacked. "Besides," he said, stretching out his lower back because oof, floor, "I know you didn't mean it. You're still good."

Galo opened the door and the three hounds came bounding in, Galo giving them pets and scritches, performative with how fine and content he was. No big deal. Nothing that was happening was a big deal.

"Hey, kitten," he said idly, grabbing his laptop bag off the counter, "can you show me where the living room and bathroom are? Don't wanna go around snooping or anything."

Mutt did, and Galo told him he was good along with a friendly, easy-to-see-coming pat on the head. Galo settled onto the couch and was immediately joined by a large German Shepherd mix.

"Oof."

The dog was unrepentant.

"Hey there," Galo said, manhandling the dog off of him so its snout was on his thigh, its big doggy body on the couch cushions, and he gave it a friendly pet. Galo caught Mutt standing anxiously, wringing his hands, and Galo nodded to him. "You can talk, it's okay."

"Z-Zan isn't a-a-allowed on the f-furniture."

Ah. One of those houses. Galo rolled his eyes. "Well that's a stupid rule."

Mutt looked, once again, shocked, and Galo thought it over. He didn't seem the conspiratory type, but who didn't love being in on it?

"Hey," Galo said, low and mischievous, leaning forward towards Mutt with an elbow on his knee, "if I keep letting Zan be on the couch with me, will you promise not to tell?"

Mutt's eyes got somehow wider, and so did Galo's grin.

"I--I--I--" Mutt stuttered, before he finally snapped his mouth closed and nodded.

"Great!" Galo cheered, leaning back on the couch and giving Zan some ear scritches, making his tail thump thump thump thump. "We'll brush the fur off before I leave, nobody has to find out." Galo cast a sidelong glance at Mutt. "Y'know, Mutt, kittens can be on the furniture too, while I'm here." Galo slung his free arm over the back of the couch, his other hand still idle in Zan's fur.

Mutt didn't move for a very long moment, and Galo didn't push. Just pet Zan and got his computer queued up for a podcast he'd heard good things about. It was only about halfway through the introduction sequence, the podcaster's voice a pleasant, melodious sort, that Galo caught Mutt take a tentative step forward in the corner of his eye.

"You can come; it's alright," he repeated, still looking at his computer screen lest the direct attention make Mutt lock up. Slowly, like he thought Galo had set some sort of trap, Mutt sat gingerly on the very edge of the couch cushion, body taut as a strung bow.

"Good boy," Galo praised.

Like in the kitchen, it was the work of a lot of time and very little increase, but Galo got Mutt curled back up against his side, knees tucked up under Mutt's chin, the other two dogs piled in at Mutt's side and on top of Zan, by the midpoint of the second episode. Galo kept his arm around Mutt, and almost felt bad for letting the dogs up on the couch with them. It meant he couldn't take a photo this time, either, when Mutt inevitably fell asleep.

[belovedstill]

Prompt 33 with MC and Gavin but MC is the one whose bleeding? Thanks in advance ✨

of blood and bandages (ao3) | mlqc | gavin & mc | 3.8k

cw: mentions of blood, hospitals, and guns, described panic attack, shock, guilt

thank you for this prompt, nonnie 💞 i hope you like this! (expect chapter 2 someday *hugs*)

After what seemed to be hours of scuffle, screams, and gunshots, suddenly all that was left was—silence. Ringing, painful, burning silence, it seemed to clutch at MC’s body and squeeze cold, aching numbness into it.

“Got ‘em,” a gruff voice crackled through a portable radio attached to Gavin’s holster. “Taking them to the station now.”

“Got it. Good job, everyone.”

Don’t cry.

She had no right to, after all; it was her own fault she was here in the first place. A long-hunted gang gone off the police radar had sounded nearly impossible in Gavin’s frustrated voice last time she’d caught him skipping sleep in lieu of more work again, but had become very much real when she’d accidentally stumbled upon two members of it earlier that night.

“You okay?”

(Imagine the report I could write, she’d thought as she’d ducked behind some bushes and listened on. The materials I could gather. My company, trending on the Internet for helping to close this case.)

Stupid. Don’t cry. Do not cry.

At least she’d managed to text Gavin before she’d dropped her phone when they’d noticed her.

“MC?”

She snapped her head up at the sound of his voice, so much closer now, so much clearer. The ringing in her ears slowly dulled to nothing.

“I’m fine,” she said purely on instinct.

Except she wasn’t. Her heart pounded in her chest and her lungs refused to take in enough air. Breathing hurt. For some reason, her side burned even when she was still.

“Hey… Look at me.” When she didn’t, Gavin gently took her face in his hands and leveled their eyes. “Focus on me. You’re in shock right now but you’re safe. It’s over.” He stroked her cheeks with his thumbs and she could almost feel it despite the numbness. “We’re going home now.”

These days, home was split between two places, two apartments in different parts of the city evenly filled with both of their clothes, hygiene products, and favourite snacks. (Impractical, their coworkers called it— and maybe they were right, but it was comfortable for now; just right.)

“Let’s get you up.”

Gentle fingers moved down her arms when she stayed silent. The touch disappeared somewhere past her elbows.

“I can’t feel my hands,” she mumbled with a frown.

Gavin paused for a moment, then nodded to himself. “That happens sometimes.” His voice sounded soothing to her ears, even more so than usual, and perhaps that was why she could hear it clearly despite the scattered mist of her mind. He let go of her hands and instead reached for her waist. “I’m going to pull you up now,” he said.

His fingers brushed against a particularly aching spot. Before she realised what was happening, pure white flashed in her eyes.

She screamed and clutched to Gavin’s jacket, and when her body tensing only burned more, she pushed against him and tried to get away. In the corner of her eye, she caught Gavin’s eyes growing wide with fear. His lips were moving but she couldn’t hear any sound through the sheer amount of pain—pain that, for a moment, grew even worse.

One moment, all touch was gone from her body; in the next, an arm wrapped around her shoulders and another slipped underneath her knees.

The world turned. Something scratched harshly against her side and then disappeared; the fabric of her shirt ripped against it.

It burned—yet felt freezing at the same time.

Gavin’s hand felt slick on her arm; when she looked, his fingers were coated in red.

Her heart seemed to stop.

Oh no.

“G-Gavin?” she mumbled. Her vision blurred, eyes zeroed on the red smudges his fingertips were leaving on her skin. Hot, stinging tears made her squeeze her eyes. Her fault. It was all her fault. “Is that—blood?”

Gavin said—something, she couldn’t hear it over the blood pulsing in her ears.

Only when she felt wind on her tear-soaked face did she realise they were in the air.

I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.

“Shh, Pumpkin.”

She sobbed. Her side burned with her muscles contracting; she gasped and bit her lips.

“You’ll be okay.” Gavin’s voice sounded off. He tried to be soothing but instead he sounded panicked. “I’m taking you to the hospital, it’ll all be okay soon.”

“No,” she called on instinct, fingers clutching at Gavin’s jacket. Only after she did, did she realise what exactly he had said. “...Why?”

Gavin, shooting her a concerned look, clenched his jaw as his eyes flickered down for a moment and then back up, focused again on their flight. “You’re bleeding.”

What?

“It’s—it’s mine?” She took a shuddering breath and looked at Gavin’s face for the first time since the frightful moments back in the alley. “It’s not yours…?”

It was an interesting mix of feelings that took over her heart in that moment; relief, calm, and near contentment almost immediately followed by unease, a sense of fright, and sickness pushing emptily at the insides of her chest. The dreadful realisation crawled from her stomach up her throat like bile until she choked on it; she couldn’t breathe.

Hospital meant people in white coats. Hard beds. Needles.

Lips trembling and body growing cold, she mumbled, “No hospital.”

Unclear, distant—unknown—childhood memories resurfaced from the depth of her subconsciousness. They brought back a discordant beep beep beep of a heart rate monitor; the sound grew louder and faster along with her quickly increasing heartbeat, swallowing the ambience of the city below her in an all-consuming high-pitched noise.

“What?” Gavin’s fingers grew a little bit firmer on her body. “They need to treat your— “

“No hospital,” she managed to yelp on not enough air. Her fingers curled tight on the collar of Gavin’s jacket; she couldn’t have let go even if she tried. “Gavin—please, not now, I don’t—I can’t, I don’t want to, I— “

“Hey— “

She clenched her eyes shut and pressed her face against Gavin’s shoulder, shaking her head. “Not ready,” she blabbered as her chest heaved and her lungs refused to breathe properly. “Don’t want to—Not yet—Not now— ”

At some point, the world seemed to freeze. The wind stopped enveloping their bodies with cold breeze; now it seemed to stand still.

Gavin adjusted his hold on MC. He held her even closer to his chest now. “Shhh,” he whispered soothingly against her hair, pressing slow, gentle kisses wherever he could reach.

She clung even closer, all pain be damned. “I— “

“We’re not going. Okay?” he kept murmuring. “We’re not going.”

Finally, the invisible blockade in her lungs disappeared. She gulped in the air, trembling all the while and holding fast onto any part of Gavin—of comfort—she could get her hands on. Only then did she realise it wasn’t the world that froze, but them; they were suspended as one in the dark of the night above a badly lit park, no life to be found anywhere near.

“I’ll take care of you tonight,” Gavin said in a soothing tone and pressed another warm kiss on her temple, “but we’ll go tomorrow. Okay?”

She didn’t even have the energy to protest; her body was awfully slowly relearning how to function off the adrenaline rush from earlier. She closed her eyes and gave a small nod against Gavin’s neck. Realistically, she knew that throughout the night she would have the time necessary to mentally prepare herself for the hospital visit—as much as she could, anyway. For now, she still wanted to give into her flight instinct.

She wouldn’t have noticed they arrived at Gavin’s place—at home—if it hadn’t been for the leftover smell of the scented candles she’d bought him the other day. They were meant to help with relaxation; Gavin desperately needed some of that, she’d claimed.

The cooled-down smell of lavender stirred in the air when Gavin’s presence disturbed it. He didn’t even bother with getting into the apartment through the front door—instead, he landed on the balcony and pushed the glass door open with his shoulder, still holding MC close to his body.

“You didn’t close it?” she asked through pain-clenched teeth.

Gavin barely reacted, his focus clear and running on autopilot now. He gently put MC on the bed, eyebrows furrowing with deep concern at her every distressed and pained gasp and how she tried to hold them back, and reached for the hem of her shirt.

Now, finally, it seemed, he could get a good look at where the blood was coming from.

“A towel,” MC mumbled, pushing at his hands, but he only grabbed her wrists and stared at her questioningly. “The bedsheets will— “

“Don’t think about the bedsheets,” Gavin cut her off with a short breath and pulled his hands away. He reached for the shirt once more but she stopped him again. He let out a frustrated huff and, for the first time in a long time, leveled her with a serious look. “MC. Let me take care of you.” His voice was harsher than she’d heard it in a while.

Her breath hitched.

His eyes grew gentler again. “Please,” he said, softer now, “Let me take care of you… I need to take care of you.”

MC bit her lip and looked away. As Gavin ever-so-gently worked on her clothes, she glued her eyes to the dark world outside the window. The stars twinkled back at her as though they wished to offer the comfort she desperately wanted—yet didn’t deserve.

“When did this happen?” Gavin’s voice sounded strained as he finally got a good look at the wound. “It’s not a bullet wound—otherwise I would’ve taken you to the hospital no matter what you said.”

Bullet.

Her heart clenched with guilt.

“Did they stab you before I got there?” he asked.

She sniffled and shook her head. “They barely touched me.” She tried to think back to those moments back in the alley—dark, cold, and painful—and shuddered. It only seemed to distress her side even more.

“Careful,” Gavin murmured—to her or to himself, she couldn’t tell—his thumbs brushing soothingly over the unhurt skin on her stomach. His voice took on a far-away tone then as he looked closely at the wound.  “Must have fallen on something sharp… Something in the wall…?”

MC’s eyes widened and grew blank; everything around her faded into fog, any sounds turned into static.

Something sharp. In the wall.

A vague, fear-blurred image of herself emerged slowly, colours and lights of the dark alley dulled like on an old photograph. A man in his 40s pulling out a firearm. Gavin pushing her away just before the cry of a gunshot. Her stumbling over her feet and falling to her knees against a wall. Sudden sharp pain in her side. A weak, illogical thought of I’m going to fall running through her mind. Dark cloud growing in her vision. I’m going to— 

“Here, darling.”

Back in the room, her eyes snapped to Gavin. His police jacket was gone, his sleeves rolled up. In his hand, he held a small bottle of orange juice with a flexible straw stuck in the opening.

“Drink this,” he told her. “It’ll help you feel better.” As she took it, a shine of relief came about his face. “That’s my girl. I’ll be right back.”

Only when she brought the bottle to her lips and took a tentative sip did Gavin excuse himself to the bathroom, a quick peck on MC’s head and one more concerned look thrown her way before he disappeared behind the door. She could hear running water, some clatter, and his soft curses, then more clattering. Finally, he emerged back with a first-aid kit in one hand, a bowl of water in the other, and a towel flung over his shoulder. He set everything on the bed and on the bedside table and sat at MC’s side.

Her heart pounded in her chest, knowing very well what was coming next. She put the now-empty bottle on the nightstand.

“It’s not bleeding as much anymore,” Gavin said, quite possibly more to himself than to her, as he grabbed a clean bandage. MC refused to look at her stomach. “I’m going to put some pressure on it to stop the rest of it, okay?”

It didn’t matter whether she agreed or not, she knew he’d have to do it regardless of her answer, but she still gave him a shaky nod.

Even with the warning—or perhaps because of it—her body jerked on the bed the moment the cloth as much as touched her skin, even before the actual pain sank in. She looked down just in time to see Gavin’s hand gently pressing her uninjured side to keep her hips flush against the bed.

“Don’t move.”

She took a shaky breath and curled her fingers in the bedsheets.

I’m sorry.

That one thought spread through her mind like venom. It fed on each and every single doubt and fear, no matter how tiny and insignificant; now, they were pulled violently into the spotlight of her mind and broadcast throughout her whole body, reaching every muscle, every limb, rushing through her veins, hot with shame.

She could have lost so much that night. She nearly had.

So when the slowed-down images and noises of recollection bit into every corner of her consciousness, MC clenched her eyes and let them.

Gavin’s voice continued on; he told her everything he was going to do and waited for her nod or hum of agreement, no matter how absent-minded it was to her. Soon, the bleeding stopped completely and she was half-aware of being moved and carried.

A click of a light switch.

A cock of a gun.

A door bumping against the washing machine.

Shot. Fired.

The shower being turned on.

The loud ringing in her ears that followed.

“Gavin—!“

“GAVIN!”

“Shhh, I’m here. I’m here.”

She clung onto him, the brightest source of comfort in her life. Warmth caressed her body wherever it could reach; it breathed against her face and pressed kisses on her forehead. The pure magic of it slowly, gradually enveloped her in a numbing cloak, enough that the gunshots echoing in the walls of her mind slowly, slowly died down.

“—rinse it now, hold on tight.”

She didn’t let go even for a second.

When she opened her eyes next time, they were back in the bedroom. Gavin had put on disposable gloves at one point—she hadn’t even noticed when. By now, her body felt drained of any and all energy; the dull ache of her wound, now rinsed clean, throbbed with every pulse of her heartbeat. Uncomfortable, but not as horrendously painful anymore.

She rolled her head to the side, nuzzling softly against the pillow that smelled of Gavin as she let her eyes naturally drift to the starry sky. Gavin’s soft voice lulled her senses; it seemed to wrap the comfiest wool around her thoughts even when all he told her was what he was going to do next.

Despite being prepared for it, her body twitched as Gavin delicately dabbed her side clean.

“Stay still,” he said, pausing for a second to let her adjust to the sensation again.

She tensed and clenched her jaw, breathing in through her nose. “I’m sorry. I’m trying.”

“I know you are,” Gavin stroked her unharmed hipbone; each brush served as a soothing reminder she was in good hands. “I hate that it’s causing you pain but we have to treat it before I get to bandage it for the night. It won’t take long, okay?”

Her hand found his, she covered his fingers and clung to them for dear life. In turn, he shifted his hand palm up, slotting their fingers together without stopping his ministrations.

The words “treat the wound” swirled in her mind among half-forgotten memories of scratched knees and disinfecting liquids ‘to let it heal faster’; the phantom sting tightly curled her fingers over Gavin’s as soon as he reached into the first-aid kit.

“Will it hurt?” she asked in a voice so small she wouldn’t have been surprised if Gavin didn’t hear her.

Goodness, did she feel like a child…

Gavin’s thumb stroked soft circles over her no-doubt pale knuckles. “I’m not going to disinfect it, if that’s what you’re asking,” he said softly. Once her grip relaxed just a little, he showed her a tube of some kind. “To wounds like this one, you apply an antibiotic.”

She blinked up at him. “That’s all?”

Gavin lifted their joined hands and kissed her hand. “That’s all.” With the reassurance given, he uncorked the tube. “It might still hurt just a little at my touch but it shouldn’t be as bad as an antiseptic.” Before he touched the antibiotic to her skin, though, he leveled her with a serious look. “If anything stings too much and doesn’t stop or starts to burn, tell me at once.”

A nod from her was all that was needed for Gavin to start spreading the ointment over her harmed side. He was right, it didn’t hurt nearly as much as her childhood memories warned her it might—but her body still tensed and her breath hitched at each single brush against her wound.

“I tried out your candle today,” Gavin spoke suddenly, voice sounding suspiciously calmer than earlier. She stared at him in confusion. “It smelled nice.”

Lost for any coherent words, MC only made a noise. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to expect her to answer him because he continued talking.

“When you were at work, I did the groceries, too. The old cashier lady asked why my fiance wasn’t with me.”

An image of the smiling older woman who always commented on what a lovely young couple they were popped into MC’s mind. Even though they’d only done grocery shopping together two or three times at that specific store, the woman had basically adopted them as her favourite customers.

Through the discomfort flaring at Gavin’s every touch, MC asked, “Did you tell her we’re not engaged?”

Did you tell her we’re not engaged yet? was what she’d meant to ask—but cowardly stopped herself several words in.

Gavin hummed a negative. His fingers, if possible, grew even gentler for a moment. “I think she’s aware it’s just a matter of time.”

MC’s heart jumped in her chest for a completely different reason than the pain in her side. She brushed her thumb against Gavin’s hand still holding hers and continued looking at the dark sky outside the window. The sparkling stars swam in the tears gathering in her eyes.

For a long moment, none of them said anything; Gavin worked in silence, eventually discarding the gloves. With expertise that made MC’s heart sting with worry, he covered the wound with a bandage and secured it in place in record time.

His soft sigh drew her eyes back to him. There were no distractions now, nothing to focus on but them and what had happened—

—and what had almost happened.

“I’m sorry,” MC gasped, the words tumbling out, down, down, like puppets with their strings suddenly cut loose.

Gavin’s face crumbled a little and soon he was lying right next to her, his arms carefully drawing her in. Along with the warmth of his embrace came the comfort of a blanket drawn over her body.

“I’m really—really sorry, I—“

“You keep saying that,” Gavin murmured into her hair. His eyebrows pinched together in a way she never saw them do while he was in his Officer Gavin mode. “You have nothing to apologise for. If anybody does, it’s me.”

Her eyes grew wide—it was ridiculous; what was Gavin even supposed to feel guilty about?

It was her who disrupted his day off. Her who put herself in danger. Her who—who put Gavin in danger.

“They shot at you,” she whispered, teeth biting on her lower lip as she stubbornly kept her eyes fixed on Gavin’s chin.

Gavin sighed, stroking her hair, and said, matter-of-factly, “Not the first time.”

She barely managed not to flinch. Of course she knew Gavin’s job was important but perilous, that was exactly why he never wanted her to follow him into the field when criminals were involved. Even aware, though, she’d seemed to subconsciously ignore the extent of on-duty risks.

Now that she’d experienced it first-hand, however… Gavin’s harsh everyday reality stung more than any disinfectant ever could have.

He must have heard the shaky hitch in her breath because in the very next moment, his hand was cradling her cheek. He guided her face to look at him and made sure her eyes wouldn’t dart away before he murmured, “I’m safe.”

“You always say that.”

“I’m safe.”

“But they almost—“

“But they didn’t,” Gavin interrupted her and kissed her forehead. “And now, they won’t ever get a chance to try again.” At MC’s small shake of head, he breathed out and looked at her again. “You helped us today; as much as I hate that you were in danger, I need you to know that.”

“Why do I feel so guilty, then?”

Gavin let out a pained chuckle. “Because you worried me sick, Pumpkin.”

Oh.

Chin nearly trembling and eyebrows bowing under the weight of leftover guilt, MC took in a shaky breath. “I’m really— “

He kissed her lips before she got a chance to repeat the words.

“I guess that makes us even,” he whispered and she could taste the words when she breathed in. “But please, don’t ever risk your safety ever again. Promise?”

Goodness, I love him so much.

She sniffled and nodded her head. “I promise.”

Gavin’s eyes softened with clear relief. His next kiss was slow and sweet; it brushed feeling back into her lips, chasing away the leftover numbness.

Finally, her heart began to relearn its calm, rhythmic beat as it followed the clear instructions Gavin’s heart whispered under MC’s palm.

Perhaps her breathing betrayed her since the very next second Gavin broke their kiss and searched her face for something. Curiosity turned into a loving smile the moment he caught on. “That’s my good girl.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle through the tears once again collecting in her eyes.

Don’t cry, she thought as she cuddled up to Gavin, smiling all the while. Don’t cry, silly.

He was alright. They were alright. And as long as they were together, nothing would ever change that.

[eliniei]

Those Hard Days - Chapter 28

Summary: Rae’s brother always made sure she was tough as nails. But when her father flips her world upside down, will she find that there’s a limit on how strong she can be?

Warnings: Rape/Non-con (non-graphic, fade-to-black), child abuse, underage drinking, underage smoking, drug use, violence, major character death

AO3: here Fanfiction.net: here

Masterlist

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Chapter 28 - Visit

"Don't be gone too long," Dally said, leaning into the open passenger side window of Two-Bit’s car. His sister nodded.

“Just wanna see how he’s doin’.” He stood up straight. Rae noticed he watched until they were out of his line of sight. 

It didn’t take too long to get to Shepard territory when driving, but Two-Bit wanted to stop at the Dingo first.

"Let's get something to eat first, huh, kid?" Two-Bit asked.

"Are you a bottomless pit or somethin’?” she asked, lifting an eyebrow. “We just ate lunch.”

“Hey, I’m a growin’ boy. I gotta eat more than just a little turkey on some bread.”

"Alright, fine," she started. “But I wanna take a couple of shakes over to Tim and Curly and you’re payin’.” 

When they got there, she sat across the table from him, occasionally stealing a fry or two. 

"So, I-I gotta tell ya somethin’ Two-Bit," she said after swallowing a sip of Coke. He lowered his burger from his face for a second. “And you can’t tell Dally. I don’t think his anger’ll do any good. It’d prob’ly just make it worse. But it’s weighin’ on my mind and I gotta tell someone.”

“Alright,” he confirmed, and then took a bite. 

"I don’t know how he found out- but that kid I fought. The one from the roller rink,” She bit her lip and started picking at the hair ties at her wrist. “He knew.”

"He knew?” Two-Bit said, incredulously, dropping his burger onto the foil wrap. “And you don’t want to tell Dally? Are you out of your mind?”

“No- please, chill-”

“That kid’s a Soc, Rae. And he’s got it out for you.”

“I know, I know, but-”

“He could go to the fuzz at any time.”

"I know. But, he’s waitin’ for somethin’. He knows, yeah, but he ain’t turned us in yet. If we tell Dally- and Dally kicks the shit outta him- don’t you think he’d do it for revenge?”

"I don't know," he replied, scratching at his sideburns. “We need to talk to my mom real soon.” Rae blew out a deep breath.

“Just...finish your food. I’m gonna go get the shakes. We can talk about it later.”

"Alright, fine," Two-Bit sighed, but she could tell his appetite had disappeared. She got up and went back to the counter. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her friend staring out the window, picking at the skin on his bottom lip. 

The rest of the ride over to the Shepard’s was virtually silent. She couldn’t tell if he was angry at her- but she thought he was more nervous than angry. When he’d stopped on the curb outside the house, she got out and stood on the sidewalk while waiting for him to come around. 

She felt a sudden pain in her shoulder as someone bumped her elbow from behind. She hissed and watched as two kids a couple years younger than her walked past. 

"Sorry," the kid mumbled under his breath as he kept walking.

"Mark," his friend whispered. "You have to watch where you're goin’."

"Hey!" Two-Bit yelled from her other side, milkshakes in hand. The two boys stopped and looked back at him.

"What?" Mark asked.

"Don't ‘what’ me, you little shit. Get back here and apologize right. You hurt her," her friend demanded.

"I said, 'sorry' already.” The kid looked at his friend, who gave him a look. Finally, he sighed and walked back up to Rae.

"I'm sorry for running into you," he said, angrily, his face going red. She shrugged with her good arm and he went back to the other boy. The two turned and started back in their own direction, talking quietly. "See, Bryon? She didn't even care."

"You didn't have to do that, you know," she said to Two-Bit, who shrugged.

"Brat needs to learn some manners.” 

"Look what the cat dragged in," Tim’s voice came from behind them. They both turned to see him leaning in the open doorway of his house. “Thought I heard ya’ll out here. Come on in.” Rae took a good look at him while they made their way up the front steps. He looked pretty okay- didn’t get beat up too badly, she supposed, but he was always real good in a fight. Experience, probably, although she was always curious how he ended up with that long-ass scar down the side of his face but never had the courage to ask. 

"Is Curly here?" she inquired as he led them through to the kitchen. 

"Back in his room. Prob’ly got a concussion," he said and accepted one of the shakes from Two-Bit. “Thanks, man.” He sucked in a mouthful through the straw. “Here, I’ll take you to him.” 

“Sure, thanks.” He led her down a short hallway, to the last door on the left and knocked.

"Hey, shitface, you got some visitors," Tim said through the wood. “Now, don’t be shocked. He ain’t got a lick of grease in his hair.” She stifled a giggle. A muffled “come in” came from the other side and he opened the door to let her in. Curly sat lounging against his headboard, copies of The Avengers sitting in his lap, his long, dark hair light and fluffy, combed and tied back so it wasn’t in his face. Tim took Two-Bit and went back out to the front room.

"Didn’t peg you as a comic book reader," Rae said as she sat down on the edge of his bed and handed over the milkshake. “Dally used to read comics when we were kids.”

“Don’t got nothin’ else to do," he said and smiled. He inspected her face. "Don’t look like you got beat up too bad.” She shrugged out of her jacket. His eyes widened in alarm when he saw the sling. “What happened?”

“You don’t remember? You were there.”

“Nah, don’t remember much. That kick to the head must’ve been worse than I thought.”

“That Soc shoved a knife blade into my arm.”

“Hope you beat this shit outta him for it. Is it deep?”

“Tim had my back. Broke his nose. And yeah- went all the way through. Steve’s girlfriend came and stitched it up for me, though.” She jerked her head in his direction. “You look like shit, yourself. Lose any teeth?”

"Nah," he answered. "Just a little ache in the ol’ noggin.” She rolled her eyes.

“I’m surprised. Your mouth was all red when you smiled at me last night.”

“Whatever. I think you prob’ly win the ‘worst injury’ award.” Curly shook his head. “Don’t know why I’m surprised. Those fucks break the rules all the time.”

"Don’t worry about it. Just make sure you get better quick-like, got it?" she demanded. He reached out and threaded his fingers in hers for a moment and smiled. She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. “We’d better get goin’. Just wanted to see how you were holdin’ up. Make sure you weren’t in a coma or some shit.” He squeezed her hand, then let go of it and opened one of the comics in his lap.

“Alright. I got some very important readin’ to do, anyway.” He smirked, which made her giggle. 

“Get you a pair of glasses and you’ll look like a real nerd.” 

“Yeah, too bad I’m dumb as shit.” With a loud laugh, Rae grabbed her jacket and made her way to the front room. 

“Ready to go?” Two-Bit asked her, looking up from the TV. 

“Think so,” she replied, a smile still on his face. He got up and slung her jacket over her shoulders.

“Leavin’ already?” Tim asked, poking his head out from the kitchen. “Ya’ll could stay for dinner if you wanted- mom ain’t home, so I’ll be cookin’.”

“Nah- Dally wanted me back home early. Thanks, though,” she said with a smile. “I didn’t know you could cook too.”  He shrugged.

“It ain’t nothin’ special, but it's edible.” When Two-Bit headed out the door to get his car started, Tim came around the corner, wiping his hands on a dishrag. 

“Look, kid,” he started, walking up to her. “I’m sure Curly prob’ly told ya that we threw Angel into a rehab center.”

“Yeah, he might’a mentioned it.”

“I just wanted to tell ya that I’m, well, sorry.” Her eyebrows shot up. The day she figured she’d get any kind of apology from the Tim Shepard for any reason, hell would’ve frozen over.

“You feelin’ okay?”

“Look, Dally’s my buddy and all and even if she is my sister- what she did ain’t right. For what it’s worth- I think she’s sorry, but I can never tell with that girl.” 

“Well, I-I’m sorry that it had to happen the way that it did. But, it means a lot, comin’ from you.” She smiled at him. “So, thanks. Maybe she and I can have a chat when she comes home, yeah?”

“You’re alright, kid,” he said with a smile and clapped her on the good shoulder. “Get that arm healed up quick.” She nodded.

“Good as new in no time,” she confirmed and turned to head back to the car. “Later.”

[ohmytheon]

#65 and #96 With kacchako? I already had an idea, but I wanted to hear yours 😊

Uuuuh, I don’t know if I met the standards for this. The prompts were “It’s not you, it’s me” and “Scars”. I highly doubt I did anything like what you had in mind. This is close to domestic fluff with a tinge of angst.

Katsuki had one more hour before he had to get ready for his shift and he planned on using every last minute of it in bed with Ochako. They weren’t afforded the time very often to be lazy like this. To be honest, he very rarely allowed it to happen even when they did have it. He didn’t understand the concept of not doing something, forcing himself to go at one hundred at all times, if not more. She liked to joke that he even power slept somehow, although once he was out, there was next to no chance in getting him to move.

He had woken up before his alarm clock went off though and had decided to take advantage of the extra time. Ochako might not have appreciated being woken up at first, but once he’d nibbling on her ear and slid his warm hands under her shirt, she hadn’t complained. Unlike normal, he had taken his time with her, knowing exactly how much time he had, until she was sighing breathlessly next to him and tucked against him, her breath hot against his bare chest. She didn’t have work today and he had no doubt that she’d go back to sleep once he left. He couldn’t get mad about that. He’d only done his job after all.

Running his thumb over a scar just below her right elbow, Katsuki asked, “Where did you get this?”

“Fell out of a tree when I was six,” Ochako told him, nuzzling further into him.

Katsuki snorted. “You can float yourself.”

“I floated myself up the tree,” Ochako admonished. “I’d never used it on myself before, so I puked and fell. I hadn’t known my quirk was much more taxing when I used it like that.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“You can’t tell me that you never hurt yourself with your quirk when you were young.”

He ran his palm over the smooth skin of her arm, raising goosebumps in the wake of his touch. She could feel the calluses on his palms, the results of hardening his skin after using his quirk repeatedly. The rest of his skin was smooth, but his hands were something different. “A few times, I guess.”

“‘A few times,’ he says,” Ochako half-mocked. “It’s bound to happen when figuring our quirks out.”

Katsuki picked out a different scar, one on the side of her ribcage. “This one?”

Ochako pulled her head away from his chest, laying it on her pillow, and hummed thoughtfully as she tried to recall. “Second year at U.A. during a hero training class. Deku threw a huge concrete block at you and you exploded it before it could hit you. I was struck by the debris.”

That one threw him for a loop and he propped himself up on his elbow, staring down at her with an incredulous look. “What?” He furrowed his brow. “I didn’t know you got hurt.”

“It wasn’t that bad.” Ochako frowned at him, as if she didn’t understand why he was so upset. He wasn’t, but… He would’ve liked to have known that he left a permanent mark on her. That had been four years ago and he was just now finding out that he’d injured her enough to leave a scar to remember him by. “We couldn’t go to Recovery Girl’s office every time we got a minor injury. It was just a little scratch.”

“Yeah, a scratch that scarred you,” Katsuki shot back. He paused, thinking over her words. Every time they got a minor injury – which implied that there had been other times that she had forgone going to Recovery Girl’s office. “Are there other ones?”

“Other scars?”

“Yeah,” Katsuki ground out, “made by me.”

Sighing to herself, as if she was already tired of the conversation, Ochako pushed herself up into the sitting position and Katsuki mirrored her. She pulled their sheet up, tucking it under her arms, so that her chest wasn’t exposed. Not that he had never seen it before. She had a strange sense of modesty sometimes the second they were out of the moment. He stared at her hard as she looked like she was trying to figure out where to start.

“Here,” Ochako said, sliding her left leg out from underneath the sheet and pointing at a mark on her left calf. “You let off a massive explosion. I floated myself out of most of the blast, but not entirely. It was in our third year.” As if that wasn’t enough, she showed off her left wrist. Unlike the others, this one he could tell was still new and his heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. “This was a few months ago when we teamed up. Your hand was still super hot and when you grabbed me to launch me at the villain, it burned through my costume.”

“Fuck, Ochako.” Katsuki leaned away from her and ran his fingers through his already messy hair. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know if there was anything he could say. Being a pro hero meant that their lives were written in scars. He hadn’t cared about that. What he did care about was the fact that half the scars that decorated her body had been created by him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Ochako folded her arms across her chest over top the sheet. “It wasn’t like you did them on purpose. Accidents happen.”

“I hurt you,” Katsuki stressed. “All those times people told you that I’d do nothing but bring you pain… It pissed me the hell off and you always laughed at them and shut them down.” Very few things had angered him more than people insinuating that he would hurt her when the two of them had finally got together in their third year. As if he would ever do that. She’d try to kick his ass if he ever tried. He was an asshole, but he wasn’t that. “But I did those things. I scarred you and didn’t even realize it. How self-absorbed can I get?”

Had they been right? Had he been unhealthy for her this whole time?

“You helped me,” Ochako countered hotly, glaring at him. “Each of these scars represents a moment when I grew and improved. Don’t you dare take that away from me.” Katsuki choked on any words he had left. She was good at taking them right out of his mouth. She leaned forward to cup his face and pressed a hard kiss against his lips. “This one’s on me. I should’ve told you, but I never thought badly of them. They’re a part of who I am and what makes me a hero.”

And damn if that didn’t set him right off again. She was really good at that too.

[poor-sickies]

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while - it’s a tiny sequel to a wonderful one shot by @outtacommission

For any of you who might have not read that one, I totally recomend, it’s about Lance breaking his arm quite badly on his longboard, ending up calling Hunk to the rescue, while the sequel deals with the aftermath. Hope you like it!

“Hunk!”

Hunk looks up from his lap to see Keith running to the waiting room with rushed steps. Keith stops in front of him, doubling down with his hands on his knees, his breathing ragged and labored.

“I came- as fast…as I could.” He pants, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. Hunk pats his shoulder and motions at him to sit down, which he does with a sigh.

“How is he?” Keith looks at Hunk, his face twisted in concern. It’s pretty obvious Keith is beating himself up for not being there with Lance when he got hurt. And especially for not being available when Lance had called him.

Hunk sighs. “He’s still in surgery,” he explains, “compound fracture.”

Lance had been taken to the operating room almost forty five minutes ago, and Hunk had had time to calm himself down. Now he’s thankful he’s collected enough to be there for Lance, as soon as he can see him.

“Compound fracture?!” Keith gasps, a hand flying to cover his mouth in shock. He’s already sweaty from the heat and from sprinting all the way from the park, but he suddenly feels a whole new wave of cold sweat forming. Lance has had broken bones before, too many for Keith’s liking, in fact, but a compound fracture sounds a whole lot more serious.

“Yeah,” Hunk nods, “he messed up his arm pretty badly when he fell.”

Hunk then looks at Keith’s face and realizes he does not sound comforting at all, and Keith is looking downright panicked.

“B-But, you know,” his voice goes up a couple of octaves, “they’re fixing him right up! Soon he’ll be out of the OR and ready to go home! So, uh, relax, it’s gonna be okay.”

Keith doesn’t seem much more comforted, but he takes a deep breath and tries to stop his hands from shaking. He looks like he’s about to say something to Hunk, when a nurse approaches them.

Hunk recognizes the nurse that lead him to the waiting room when he arrived with Lance. She had been especially nice to him, and he was glad she was there again, which probably meant they were about to receive an update on Lance’s condition.

“Lance McClain?” She asks, looking at the two of them. They nod quickly. “Follow me.”

Keith and Hunk get up, and the nurse leads them to one of the recovery rooms. As she opens the door, they take a look around.

There’s only one bed, in which Lance is lying. There are nurses moving around him. One is hooking is good arm into an IV pole on his left, while the other is placing the broken arm on a large pillow. The other nurse leaves the room, and the doctor introduces himself, shaking Hunk’s and Keith’s hands. “You probably want to know about your friend’s condition.”

Keith turns his head to the side to take a look at Lance. He looks small and frail on the bed, shirtless, with a white blanket pulled up to his waist. He doesn’t look completely conscious, and his features are slightly twisted in a pained expression. Keith can see traces of road rash on the right side of his face, as well as some scratches on his chin, and winces when he notices there’s much worse road rash starting at his ribs and disappearing into his hips, hidden by the blanket. There are blue and purple bruises on his collarbone and the part of his shoulder that is visible. The broken arm is in a bulky cast that extends from his shoulder all the way down to his fingers, bending at the elbow.

Keith walks to Lance’s side and sits on a chair next to the bed, placing his hand on Lance’s good one. Hunk gets closer too, and puts a comforting hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“The surgery went well,” the doctor explains, “Lance came in with a compound fracture on his humerus bone, and his wrist is also broken. We had to attach a couple of pins on the bone, to make sure it heals correctly, and the wrist should heal fine in the cast.” He glances at Lance’s chart briefly. “In eight, possibly a couple more weeks, the cast can come off, but he’ll most likely need some physical therapy to regain full motion.”

“When can he go home?” Hunk asks.

The doctor places Lance’s chart on the desk back again. “We need to monitor his vitals for a while, but since we only gave him local anesthesia, he can probably be discharged in a couple of hours. He should be waking up soon.”

The doctor turns around to leave, and Hunk pulls a chair and sits next to Keith.

“Hey,” he starts, voice low and shaky, “I know it looks bad…but it’s just a broken arm…well, an awfully broken arm. But Lance will be fine. He will.”

Keith nods, silent, stroking circles on the back of Lance’s hand.

When Lance finally wakes up, the sun is already down. He blinks a couple of times, before scrunching his eyes shut and tightening his lips. His eyes open halfway, dazed and pained.

“Keith,” he says, the ghost of a smile playing on his lips, “you’re here.”

“I am.” Keith squeezes his hand. Part of him had wanted to yell at Lance for getting hurt, for not wearing more clothing, for taking that shortcut in his longboard. But right now, all he wants to do is hold him and never let go. He sighs. Lance doesn’t look too comfortable, but it’s definitely a relief seeing him awake. “You’re okay.”

Hunk leans closer. “How do you feel, buddy?”

Lance swallows and closes his eyes again. “Kinda sick.”

Hunk turns to Keith. “It’s probably from the painkillers.”

Lance exhales, almost like a laugh. “Painkillers?! My arm hurts like hell…” Lance tries rotating his shoulder, but the pain is too much, and he lets out a whimper.

“Stop!” Keith exclaims, pressing down on his good shoulder. “You’re gonna hurt yourself if you do that.” Lance groans, as he observes the enormous cast that covers almost his whole arm.

“What did they do?” He asks, his good hand protectively holding his casted forearm.

“You broke your arm real bad,” Hunk explains, “bad enough that you needed surgery.”

Lance appears shocked suddenly. He looks at Keith for confirmation and takes a shaky breath. “Surgery…?” Tears start forming in his eyes, and he quickly covers his face with his good hand.

“Lance!” Keith gets up, moving as close to Lance as he possibly can. “What’s going on? Are you in pain?”

“Hey, Lance, just talk to us,” Hunk pleads, as he moves to the other side of the bed. Soon, the two of them are hugging Lance, as much as they can, very carefully, not wanting to hurt him further.

Lance sniffles and wipes his cheeks. “I’m sorry,” he says, “my arm hurts… I wanna go home.”

Keith takes Lance’s hand in his and strokes soft circles, trying to make him relax a little. “Just a while more,” he says softly, “doctor says you can go home tonight.”

“Yeah buddy,” Hunk adds, “they should be letting you outta here real soon.”

Lance nods, closing his eyes. The sick feeling lingers, and hes more aware of the scrapes and bruises now than he was earlier. He can tell he won’t have a well rested night, especially seeing as it’s already so late.

They sign the discharge papers fast, and one of the nurses wheels him to Keith’s car, who doesn’t waste any time handing the keys to Hunk, quickly climbing into the back seat to help Lance in.

“Come on, easy does it,” Keith encourages, his hand supporting Lance’s back as he maneuvers himself to get inside the car. Lance bites his lip, as bending himself to get in the car is terribly painful in his bruised back, and the sling they put his arm in presses uncomfortably in his shoulder and neck. He feels like a walking bruise.

When he’s finally in the backseat, and Hunk has started the car, Lance drags himself slowly to Keith’s side. Keith wasn’t too close, trying to avoid bumping into Lance’s arm, afraid he would hurt him further, but Lance is clearly asking for comfort, his good hand moving to hold Keith’s chest and his head leaning against Keith’s shoulder. Keith kisses his forehead lightly, and carefully wraps an arm around Lance, rubbing his good shoulder affectionately. It doesn’t take Lance long to doze off.

It breaks Keith’s heart having to wake him when they get home, the way his face twists up in pain as he comes back to consciousness, and especially the way he tries to hide it as he steps out of the car.

“You wanna stay the night?” Hunk asks Keith, Lance already tucked in bed, “he’s gonna want you here.”

“Of course,” Keith says, and maybe the bed is a bit too small, and the room a little too hot, and Keith definitely misses his AC back in his apartment, but he’d never leave Lance on his own like this.

When he wakes up in the morning, he’s glad he stayed.

Lance wakes up during the night at least twice, gasping in pain after rolling over his bruises or putting weight on his broken arm, and Keith only hopes Lance doesn’t remember falling asleep with tears streaming down his face.

It’s already ten in the morning when Lance wakes up, head turning over with a groan. Keith looks up from where he’s sitting, puts his laptop aside and sits on the edge of Lance’s mattress.

“Hey,” he caresses lances hair back, “how are you feeling?”

Lance takes a deep breath, looking down. “Honestly? I feel like I was ran over by a truck,” he moans, his body slowly curling on his side.

“I’m sorry,” Keith says, “you must be in pain. I can get you something to eat.”

“I could use some breakfast,” Lance agrees, but not very enthusuastic. He’s about to sit up, when Keith stops him.

“Stay there. I’ll get you breakfast.”

He comes back five minutes later, with a tray of food, that undoubtedly Hunk had helped with. A bowl of watermelon, cut up in small cubes, two pieces of toast with nutella, and a glass of orange juice. Keith places the tray on the bedside table, before helping Lance sit up and lean against a pillow. Lance picks up the tray and puts it in his lap.

“Good thing these are already cut,” he motions at the watermelon with the fork in his left hand, “seeing as I can’t eat food like a normal person for a while.”

“Yeah,” Keith sighs, before sitting down beside Lance, back against the headboard, “sucks that it was your right arm.”

He watches Lance eat in silence for a bit, relaxing with the warm temperature and the sunlight hitting his skin from the windows.

“I’m gonna be like this the whole summer.”

Lance is hunched over next to him, looking sadly at his cast, fork momentarily forgotten amidst the plates.

Oh no.

Keith looks between the tray and Lance’s face. He’s at a loss of what to do. Because it’s true. If they’re hoping for a normal recovery, Lance’s arm would be in a cast until September at least. And that was before the physical therapy. “I - I’m sorry… I can’t… I know it’s-”

“It’s okay… It…could have been worse,” Lance forces a chuckle, and looks up at Keith. “You’re gonna stay with me, right? When I can’t go to the beach, or skate, or… I’m not ordering you not to go, but - you’ll spend time with me…right?”

“Of course,” Keith answers, taking Lance’s good hand in his, “I don’t even like the beach that much…of course I’ll stay with you.”

Lance smiles, and catches Keith off guard when he leans to the side, resting his head on Keith’s shoulder. He doesn’t wince when Keith hugs him back. “I love you.”

[neversatisfiedswitch]

So this would’ve been done sooner, but a power surge went through my neighborhood and all of my work on this was lost. Whoops.

Anyway. The lovely @eleniel221b asked me to write a story featuring my OCs Myarel and Colton with the prompt “Do your worst!” from this post! I love these 2 so much, they’re literally like my favorite OCs to write about/with, sdkljflk.

Warning for language, but prrrrobably not as bad as last time. My boys curse like sailors. :P Also just a tiny bit of Colton-related angst bc I love that shit.

Summary: No matter how many times Myarel has seen Colton’s metal limbs, he’s never been able to figure out if the places where they were attached are sensitive or not. Colton really should’ve known not to take a challenge from him, because he never plays fair...

Words: 1590 (bc everything I write becomes a novel)

There’s never been a good time to ask Colton about his limbs-- because in doing so, you’d be asking about his dad, too. It had taken him years to open up to anyone besides his adoptive mother, Rowan, about any of it-- and it wasn’t because she could read his mind. It had just come spilling out while she was cleaning his wounds, the years of fear and the pure terror that washed over him when he woke up to see that his own father was the one who’d hurt him like this becoming too much for him to keep inside--

And she’d listened. She’d held him like he was a child, despite him being fifteen and far too large to fit in her lap, and she’d calmed him. Every night until he’d left to live with Lyn, she’d done this, and eventually he’d been able to get over the sight of the shining metal attached to his body without wanting to saw the limbs off. Now he was... he wouldn’t say “comfortable”, but at least he could stand the sight of them.

Usually he didn’t have an audience when he polished his limbs-- he did it twice a day, to keep them from rusting-- but Myarel sat down next to him this time, and honestly, he didn’t really mind. They bickered and messed with each other, but he enjoyed the demon’s presence, choosing to lean against the older man’s shoulder as he rubbed the rag across his arm.

“Hey...” Myarel rested his chin on the younger man’s shoulder, watching him as he carefully cleaned the crease in his elbow, the place where flesh and metal melded together. He noticed the small shiver in Colton’s shoulders as he did so, and at first he decided against asking his question-- but considering Colton let him get this close, it had to mean something, right?

“Can I see your arm?” Colton looked over to the white-haired man, blinking confusedly as he held out his left arm to him. Myarel snorted, moving his head from the blond’s shoulder. “Not that one, your other one.”

Raising a brow in slight confusion, Colton shifted, turning to face Myarel. He’d already rolled up his pant legs and removed his shoes and socks, revealing the same shining metal that made up his legs from the knee down-- though his feet were facing the floor, Myarel had seen them enough times to know they weren’t like his legs, they were still skin, meshed with metal like the crook of Colton’s elbow and his knees.

Placing the rag on the coffee table, Colton held out his metal arm to Myarel, and the older man gently took it, holding the arm by the back of the forearm. The cool metal was intriguing, but it wasn’t what he was looking for. He looked at Colton’s face, a grin on his lips. “Close your eyes. I’m not gonna do anything to you, you know me.”

The reassurance was unnecessary-- the two had been close for a long time, and they trusted each other immensely, so it took no time for Colton’s eyes to slip shut. Myarel took his fingers and laid them on the metal wrist, gently trailing them up Colton’s arm. At first, there was no reaction, but as his fingers brushed over the tiny crease on the inside of Colton’s elbow-- scar tissue-- the blond’s reaction was immediate. He jumped slightly, fingers twitching as he pulled lightly at his arm. Myarel traced the scar with his fingers, unable to stop himself from chuckling when Colton began to giggle, his nose scrunching up as he pulled Myarel’s wrist away.

“What was that fohor?” Colton was still giggling as he rubbed the tingling sensations from his elbow, and Myarel snickered. “Just testing something... are your knees ticklish, too?”

He didn’t wait for a reply, fingers gentle as he reached behind one of Colton’s knees and ran his fingers across the skin-- again, he got the reaction he was hoping for, but this time his laughter was louder, and the reaction was quicker. He almost got a foot to the chest, but thankfully he was able to teleport to the other side of the living room before the bone-breaking kick reached him.

“Holy fuck, Colton-- you’re ticklish all over, aren’t you?” He wasn’t as concerned as his friend about what could’ve happened, Colton’s laughter having stopped as he stood to be sure the other was okay. “Hey-- shut up! I could’ve hurt you!” But Myarel wasn’t listening. He wasn’t keen on getting kicked again, but he did want to mess with Colton a bit.

“I’ve got a challenge for you.” Colton’s brows raised, and he made room for Myarel to sit down as the demon continued. “If I tickle your knees and you don’t tap out before I stop, then you win.” There was no winning condition-- with any competition between them, there never was. It was friendly competition at its finest, even if it was something as silly as this.

At first, it didn’t seem as though Colton wanted to take the challenge-- and if he didn’t, Myarel wouldn’t force him. But the cyborg spread his legs out so his knees were across the other man’s lap, and he crossed his arms over his chest, gunmetal blues piercing sapphires with their gaze.

“Do your worst.” Myarel placed his hands on the backs of Colton’s knees, and the smallest movement of his fingers was enough to make the younger man tense up like before-- this time his whole body was tense, laughter already pouring from his lips with the barest touch. And yet, he only gripped his shirt with both hands, ducking his head as a blush rose across his cheeks. Myarel kept his knees from bending by sliding one leg over both of Colton’s, making it so the backs of his thighs were against his legs and his knees were over open air. Really, he felt almost like an annoying older brother, tormenting Colton like this-- but he knew the kid well enough to know he enjoyed this kind of attention.

However... like most brothers, he didn’t think Colton was laughing hard enough, or that he actually wanted him to win. So while he kept one hand behind Colton’s knees, he pushed the blond’s shirt up, tickling first around his waist and one of his hips. A loud gasp left Colton’s lips before his laughter kicked up a notch-- surprisingly, he was able to get a few words out before it got worse.

“N-nohoho! Thahat’s cheheheatihihing!” He shrieked as Myarel’s finger trailed across his tummy, jumping as the digit swirled around his belly button-- but he still kept his grip on his shirt, determined to outlast the torment, no matter how much of a cheating bastard his friend was.

“I never said I wouldn’t tickle you anywhere else... you did tell me to do my worst, and this is it.” He wiggled his finger inside Colton’s belly button as he spoke, causing the poor boy to shriek again before falling into silent laughter. Having tickled Colton before, he knew his limits-- and while he was near them, he wasn’t quite close enough. On a hunch, he looked toward Colton’s feet, which were attempting to flail despite his legs being trapped. All it took was a single finger gently running up the sole of his foot, and Colton let out a wheezy screech of laughter, his fist pounding against the couch-- finally tapping out despite how badly he didn’t want to.

Myarel released Colton’s legs, chuckling when the other curled up into a ball, rubbing a hand against his belly to rid himself of the tingly feelings on his skin, giggles still escaping him. “Better luck next time.” The words were said in a gentle, amused tone, and it was clear there was fondness behind them as Myarel ran his fingers through Colton’s hair, lightly scratching at the back of his scalp as his eyes fluttered shut. He pulled his hand away after a few moments, however, not wanting to make Colton fall asleep on the couch.

“You want me to leave you alone? I could get your arm, if you want.” As Myarel picked up the polishing rag, Colton lifted his head to glare at him. “No tickling, or I’ll really kick you.”

Snorting, Myarel moved to sit on Colton’s right side, resting it across his crossed legs and beginning to lightly wipe it down, avoiding the crease of Colton’s elbow as to not make him jump. “You know me better than that.”

As Colton started to polish one of his legs, Myarel finally noticed what the bottoms of his feet looked like-- the very centers of his soles matched the rest of his skin, but nearer to the sides of his feet, they were grayish, though still the texture of his skin. “I didn’t... hurt you when I touched your foot, did I?”

Colton looked up at his friend, shaking his head with a bright smile on his face. “Nah, you’d know if you did. My feet are sensitive, but they don’t hurt unless you dig in. But,” he elbowed Myarel’s ribcage, getting a soft snort in return, “don’t get any ideas.”

Shaking his head, Myarel gently turned Colton’s arm over to polish the other side. “No ideas here.”

They continued their work in a comfortable silence.

[thereisnoyellinginfantasycostco]

“All That Lives Must Die” Part 9

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8]

When Lup got the call from Taako, she could’ve cried from relief. While she knew that Kravitz could never let Taako die forever, Lup had thought herself into circles about what could’ve gone wrong. Thought about her never hearing from her brother again, him cutting her off because she killed him. Thought about her and her heart’s relationship being irreparable broken like his and Lucretia’s was. But nothing could be wrong when her brother (her twin her heart) sounds so normal and happy, happy to hear her to talk to her.

“Hey, Lu-Lu, almost all of the birds are here. We’re having a little get together shindig and well we can’t really have a Bird Party without all the birds now can we?” He laughed and she laughed with him. He wants her at her house, he wants her over and wants to talk with her.

“Right, okay. I just gotta finish up this one bounty for RQ and then I’ll be over to you and Kravitz’s, kay?” Lup twirled her scythe in her hand as she cut a portal to her next bounty.

“ ‘Kay. Can’t wait to see you.” The line went dead, leaving Lup with a feeling of unease that didn’t go away. There was a tone underlying his voice that set something off in her. Some genetic feature within her blood that thrummed with warning as she heard his words.

The feeling was still there when she was knocking on Taako’s door two days later, and only increased when the door opened.

Her brother was there, and he looked...normal. Healthy skin (not pale from death), ears flicked up (not down, not scared he’s not scared of her), and a bright smile. But there was something off with his face, as if everything was slightly to the left of where it should be.

But that’s ridiculous. Ridiculous and she needs to stop doubting her brother. If anything, he should be the one doubting her. She killed him, she hurt him so badly. Lup should definitely be grateful-

There was a thrumming in her blood again, a pulse of warning, of screaming in her ears that something was so very wrong.

Lup’s lips twisted as she pushed the pulse away, this was her brother after all. “Hey, Koko.” She opened her arms to embrace him in a hug.

He grinned at her, bright and perfect (wrong wrong wrong wrong), “Hey Lulu.” Taako moved forwards, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her close to his chest.

Over his shoulder, Lup looked into his house and more of the warning thrummed within her. Sitting inside, were two groups of people.

On one couch were Lucretia, Kravitz, and Angus. Each holding a cup of some tea who’s smell made her ears draw back in some primal instinct that tells her when things are so very very wrong. They were making small talk between each other, every so often trying to attract the others on the other couch to join them.

On the other couch, looking decidedly very uncomfortable, were Magnus and Merle. They didn’t hold tea cups, and didn’t really interact with anyone on the other couch. For this reason (no tea no wrongness), Lup decided to sit with them. They made room for her in the middle of them and she sat down.

Taako didn’t seem to notice the atmosphere, and merely clapped his hands together, “Fantastic, almost all the birds are here! Just one more to go!”

Lup looked around, and furrowed her brow, “We’re down two, Koko. Where’s Barry?”

“Yeah, Taako,” Magnus’s gruff voice held an edge to it, “Where’s Barry?”

With a flick of his hand, Taako dismissed them and took a seat in his chair, “Oh, he’s downstairs looking at some books Krav brought back from one of his bounties.”

“When you were talking to him, you said that it was a sciencey thing.” Magnus’s grip tightened on the arm of the sofa that they were sitting on.

“Right..right. They’re books on science, and they’re in a language Krav here can’t read, so I decided to let him try his hand at it. He’s probably...sucked into his work right now, but whatever. I’ll go get Jort man whenever Davenport gets here.”

“Why don’t you go get him now so his lover can talk to him?”

Lup scowled, and elbowed Magnus. Even with the wrongness that looking at Taako gives her, Lup felt tired of hearing Magnus needled her twin, “Calm down, Mags, I know Barry. If you rip him away from his work when he’s neck deep in it, he’ll be distracted all night.”

“Thank you, Lulu.” Taako grinned, and Lup had to avert her eyes from his face.

“Yeah, no problem, Koko.” Lup grinned, though it was weak.

Taako didn’t seem to notice as he reached for the teapot and a teacup, “Would you like a cup of tea?”

“No!” Lup shouted, her ears drawing back. A flush rose to her cheeks as she realized how weird she must’ve looked, “I mean, no. I’m fine right now, thanks for offering.” Gripping Magnus’s bicep (her hand couldn’t even go all the way around it), she tugged at him, “Hey, Mags, can I talk with you...in private?”

Magnus met her gaze and gave her a very slight nod, “Of course, I know just the place.” Rising to his feet, Magnus led her to Angus’s room.

Lup shut the door behind them, flicking her wrist to lock it, “What has happened to my brother?”

Magnus scratched at the back of his neck, “We don’t...know, exactly. The kid had a theory-”

“Angus? Which reminds me, what’s wrong with Lucy, Krav, and Ango?”

“Taako charmed them, we’re almost positive. I’m not sure how much you could see, but for Merle and I? Their eyes are tinted purple: Krav’s entire iris and pupil are solid purple and we think that’s because he’s been charmed the longest, Lucy’s, uhh, the white parts of her eyes are purple, and she got got last night. The kid’s...the kid’s the same as Lucy.” He sighed, dropping down onto Angus’s bed and making it groan with the unfamiliar weight.

“Taako...charmed them? Why would he do that?”

“We don’t know, but there’s some sort of corruption that’s been overtaking him since he came back to life.”

Lup’s face paled, and she gasped, covering her mouth with a hand, “Since he came back to life? That was almost a week ago, Burnsides!” The ends of her hair began to light up in her fury, “Why didn’t you tell me the second you knew.” She rushed forwards, grapping him by the collar of his shirt.

Magnus’s eyes went wide and he raised his hands in surrender, “Angus told us not to!”

“And you took the advice of a child?” Her elvish form was slowly losing it’s composure, and Magnus could see brief flashes of her skull.

“Yeah! We trust him! Look-” Magnus gently took Lup’s hands off of his collar, “We need to be objective about this.”

“Objective about what? About the fact that I could’ve seriously fucked up my own brother?”

“Lup don’t blame yourself. See, this is why we didn’t call you!” Magnus sighed, and was silent for a few moments as he reassembled his thoughts, “We need to be objective on how to save him…and what we’re saving him from.”

“You don’t even know?”

“I told you! The kid had a theory and he got got before he could tell us.”

Lup paced in the small child’s bedroom (small not only in the sense that it belongs to a tiny child, but because the poster lined wall and galaxy painted ceiling felt like they were boxing Lup in), ears downturned as she wrung her hands, “Shit...shit.” Her eyes were wide, small flames flickered in her irises as she kept pacing. Her paces got smaller and smaller until she was barely taking a step before turning. Her chest began to heave, pupils growing smaller as her ears raised only to flatten against her head.

“Lup.” Magnus’s voice was soft, but it was enough to startle Lup out of the spiral that she worked herself in. She looked up, eyes still wide. Lup’s teeth were still half bared in a snarl with her ears flat against the sides of her head, but some of the fire went out of her eyes, and Magnus took that as a cue to continue, “Lup, we’re going to save him. He’s Taako from TV!”

The nickname, familiar and not at the same time, drew a laugh from her. Muted and subdued though it was, he found it was another small victory. It was all about small victories with her, he had found over their century-long road trip through the planar system. A twist of the lip here, maybe a snort there, but there were always cues for him to continue, and cues for him to stop.

“He’s Taako, and he’s your brother, and my best friend...and whatever Merle thinks of him. And we’re not going to fucking abandon him.”

Lup’s grin turned slightly more forceful, slightly more wide, “You’re goddamn right, Mags. You’re goddamn right.” With that, she turned around. Her red cloak whirled around her, the very edges of it caught fire, and Magnus knew the cue. So he stopped.

When she entered the living room, the only cue she gave Merle that she was in on the truth was a glance out of the corner of her eye. This was completely disregarded by the way that Lup took her brother by the arm and said, “Hey, Koko. Can I talk to you in the kitchen for a quick second?”

He grinned, and nodded, pretending not to notice the flinch as he touched his twin’s elbow to lead her into the kitchen.

The last thing that the birds saw (the birds conscious enough to see it for real) was the flash of Lup’s red cloak and how she gripped the handle of her wand. Merle and Magnus shared a worried look, this wouldn’t end well.

[Part 10]

[littleoddwriter]

You’re Alright (Part 3) | Roman Sionis x Male!Reader

I’ve had a terrible day and an even worse evening, so I finally got around to write the third part of this vent fic/series that I’ve been meaning to write since the Holidays, lol. I hope those, who actually read it, enjoy it!  Part 1; Part 2.

summary; You’ve been having a terrible day and your shower made it a whole lot worse. 

notes; TW // Contamination OCD; BPD; Intrusive Thoughts; Thoughts of Self-Harm; Description of Injuries/Wounds that reader has (open wounds, which are bleeding and oozing puss). Male!Reader; Hurt/Comfort; Fluff; Roman is trying y’all; Feeling extremely bad and overwhelmed by it; Being taken care of.

Part 3

All day long, you've been feeling awful. You were in physical pain, due to a headache and the wounds that not only littered your hands and wrists, but your forearms up to the elbows, by then. Because of that, you were also in an emotional state of distress. It was tiring and as soon as you had woken up, you couldn't wait for this day to just fucking end. Naturally, when you finally decided to go for your daily shower, it all got even worse. Over the past week and a half, a lot more wounds had appeared on your hands and wrists especially, making them stark red and bleed and ooze puss constantly. It was upsetting and nothing helped. Yet, you tried to just keep going despite the utter pain and helplessness you felt. By then your chest had also started to get wounded, which you thought had healed again, because that was a spot you've been dealing with for years, so you knew what to do and how to help it. For some reason, it didn't work out quite as well. After your shower, when you had dried yourself, you took a peak at your chest, just to check if you had to apply any products to it again, before dressing. When you looked down, you choked. There was blood. Wounds that haven't bled before now have. At the same time, you also saw your wrists, angry red and oozing puss and blood and hurting so badly. It was incredibly upsetting. Immediately, you averted your eyes and turned your head to the side and up to the ceiling. You breathed in and out deeply, a pathetic whine stuck in your throat. The distress was overwhelming, the urge to cry and harm yourself startled you, choked you, made your chest feel tight and heavy. Without realising it, you have started to shake your arms and hands, flapping them to try and make way for the emotions, to make them pass. At the same time, you wiggled your legs, bouncing up and down, and back and fourth. You just wanted to stop feeling like that. You didn't want to give into the urges, the thoughts that plagued your mind now. You just wanted it to fucking stop! It only got worse each fucking day. It only got more and more painful, more exhausting, more frustrating. You had no idea what to do. You were a burden to Roman. Of all things that upset you about your situation, this might actually have been the thing you felt most distraught about. The knowledge that Roman saw how it progressively got worse each day. That he knew how much it upset you, how much it put you in an emotional low each and every day, and how it was only getting worse. The fact that he couldn't do anything annoyed him, you knew that. It made you feel bad. You wanted to get better. You wanted it so much. Yet, you kept scratching yourself open. You kept waking up to new wounds. You kept making new ones during the day. He's tried to stop you from scratching several times, verbally and physically. It didn't help. It only made you angry. So he stopped. When you had calmed down enough, you quickly put on your shirt, breathing heavily. You got dressed in record time and finished your routine just as fast. Afterwards, you finally left the bathroom, still trapped in the prison that was your own mind. On one hand, you were glad that it was already in the late evening, but on the other hand you cursed that because you were feeling in such utter distress now that you weren't sure as to how you were supposed to be able to sleep later on. At the same time, your elbows were itching and burning so badly, so that you couldn't help yourself and started scratching them until you bled and they felt like they were on fire. You startled, when suddenly two strong arms wrapped around you, pulling you against a warm, solid body. Closing your eyes for a moment and just inhaling his scent, you relaxed a little into Roman's embrace. You loosely grasped onto his shirt with your hands, making sure your wrists stayed away from it, as you were still oozing whatever it was now and you didn't want to ruin his shirt with it, of course. "Are you alright, my sweet boy?" Roman asked, pressing his masked face into your wet hair, as he stroked your back gently. "Not really, no," you mumbled into his chest. "Is it the usual? Did anything happen?" "Yes, and hmmm, kind of? I don't know. It's just... Nevermind, it doesn't matter. Sorry. It's nothing new." You squeezed your eyes shut, willing down the urge to cry once more. "If you don't want to talk, that's fine, I don't mind that, but don't hold back just because you don't think it's worth hearing, alright?" Roman spoke so gently. He was so patient with you, it made your breath stutter. You couldn't possibly understand what you've done to deserve his patience and understanding, his love, of all things, when everyone else always just received his utter disdain and rage. "It's just... Well, I've kinda been shocked after my shower? My chest was all bloody and gross, just like my wrists and stuff. And now I've scratched open my elbows, too. I'm just frustrated, really. And in pain. Always in pain," you chuckled self-deprecatingly at the end. "Aw, my sweet boy. Frankly, I don't know what to do anymore. We've tried so much now. This is really frustrating, you're right. Is there at least anything we can try to ease your mind a little, hm?" "I don't know, I'm sorry. I'm just so tired, you know? I kind of just... want to disappear, really." "Don't say that, sweetheart. If you'd rather just go to sleep, we can do that. Alright? I'll just get myself ready for bed and we can go, eh?" "Yeah, okay, sounds good. Thank you, Roman, so much." In answer, he squeezed you tightly for a moment and then let go of you to vanish into the bathroom himself. Meanwhile, you lay down on the bed and pulled up the blanket to your chin. You were hurting, your wounds were throbbing, stabbing, burning and itching. It was hell on your skin. It was terribly hard to resist to make it worse, too. You were baffled by your mind as it saw making it all worse as the only logical solution to relieve yourself of the pain. It was bullshit. Yet, it seemed so very tempting. Not much later, Roman finally came back and lay down beside you, as he got under the blanket with you. He wrapped one of his arms around your shoulders, as you cuddled into his side, putting your arms around his middle and laying your head on his chest. "I hope this is going to find an end soon, sweetheart," Roman whispered, while stroking over your back gently. "Thank you, me too. And I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble with it, I---" "Ssshhh, no. You're not. So don't apologise, alright? It's fine. You're alright, my sweet boy. You know I could easily just... not care. I could just get rid of you. But I'm not doing that, now am I?" "No, you're not. I don't understand why, but I'll take it." "Trust me, for a huge part, I don't really understand it either. I just know that I care a lot more than I'd like to, or am used to, really," he said, pressing his masked face against your hair again, in mock of a gentle kiss. It made you smile and you proceeded to kiss his chest in turn. "Try to sleep now, hm? I'm here and if you should need anything or not be able to sleep, we'll find something." Yawning, you nodded, squeezing Roman tightly. "Thank you. I love you, Roman. Good night," you mumbled sleepily, the exhaustion of the day and especially night suddenly catching up with you. "I adore you too, my sweet boy. Good night," Roman replied, stroking your hair gently, while your breaths slowly evened out.

[lubdubsworld]

Fibonacci ( yoongi x Jamie Park 15and )

Chapter 5

"Hyung , I want to ask her out." Taehyung says hesitantly and Yoongi peers at the boy. He's talking to Seokjin but all of them can hear. Namjoon looks like a swelling bullfrog while Hoseok looks completely flabbergasted. Jung Kook laughs nervously while Jimin looks ready to kill.

"I'm asking her out." Jimin says loudly and Yoongi finds the whole thing tiring and a bit annoying really.

"You guys do realize she isn't the only woman on the planet?" Seokjin says, the voice of reason in a room full of crazies. Yoongi thinks logic and reason are lost on Jimin and Taehyung. He knows that its stopped being about Jamie Park and is essentially two handsome boys with Ego's bigger than their fanbase, each unwilling to compromise. He thinks its a pity that Jamie Park is caught in the middle. She seems like a nice girl and certainly doesn't deserve these two bloodhounds on her trail.

"It's all immaterial. she's underage. No one's asking her out." Rapmon says firmly. Yoongi blinks. Wow, was she underage? He'd assumed she was twenty one at least.

"How old is she?" He finally asks when no one says anything.

"Nineteen." Both Jimin and Taehyung answer at the same time and it would all be so hilarious if Yoongi weren't sure that this might mess things up for the group.

"Both of you should get over her and move on. Don't screw things up for the rest of us because you're too pigheaded to face reality." Yoongi says firmly and Taehyung looks angry .

"Some of us have actual feelings hyung." He says with a glare and Yoongi is slightly taken aback. He wants to defend himself. He does have feelings. He just prefers pouring them out in the form of chart-topping songs rather than on his bandmates. But he understands that Taehyung may have a point. Yoongi doesn't really believe in rosy emotions or the true-love's kiss. His idea of love is acceptance and interest in each other. And maybe a little sexual chemistry to keep things interesting.  

"Personally, I think it's a little complicated. You're talking about an underage girl who happens to be a solo artist. She's really talented and honestly, you guys shouldn't be distracting her. This is a time when she should be working hard." Hoseok reminds them and Yoongi agrees, She is young and talented. Suddenly he wants to make sure Taehyung and jimin stay the hell away from her.

"You guys...Hoseok is right. You're not going anywhere near her." He says firmly, standing up and they all look rather surprised.

"You can't decide..."

"Oh, watch me. If any of you try to get to her, I'll ground your asses into next year." He warns and Seokjin smiles mysteriously under his breath.

Both Jimin and Taehyung storm out of the practice room in a huff and Hoseok and Jung Kook sigh before following them.

"That's very considerate of you." He says with a grin and Yoongi feels like he's missing something.

"Yes. I think Yoongi hyung finally caught on." Rapmon shakes his head and Yoongi just stares back and forth because..what?

"Oh, come on hyung. Stop looking so befuddled. You've obviously caught on to the fact that she likes you!" He says impatiently and Yoongi is so thrown he just gapes at them.

"Are you honestly that oblivious?" Jin shakes his head in wonderment and Yoongi is certain everyone's gone mad.

"You guys, you're just... She doesn't even talk to me!" He protests.

"Precisely. Jamie talks to everyone hyung. Everyone." Jin says meaningfully and Yoongi is trying to get the bigger picture but he feels like he's missing a crucial puzzle piece.

"And?" He says stupidly. It's too early for this, he thinks tiredly. He still has to work on his mix-tape and the MV was due to be shot and he's got his group promotions to do as well and honestly he's too f*cking tired to talk to his asinine bandmates in code language.

"She has a crush on you. She's infatuated with you." Rapmon spells it out and he's so surprised he sits up .

"You guys are crazy." He says, disbelief coursing through him. He's exceptionally anrgy at Rapmon who happens to be a close friend. Yoongi loves his bandmates but he's not close to all of them. Only Rapmon and Hoseok know his struggles and issues and he is hurt that his supposed friend is teasing him about an issue that he's usually quite sensitive about.

Yoongi knows that he's bad at picking up social cues. He doesn't really notice body language or expressions. It's one of the reasons he stays away from the maknaes. Jimin, Kookie and Tae are all sensitive young kids who get easily hurt by his sharp tongue. Worse, he could hurt them and not even notice. He hates being the reason behind awkward silences and avoided glances and he knows that if he's that bad with guys he's probably going to be a billion times worse with a girl. Sighing, he glares at them and makes to move away but Jin reaches out and grabs his wrist.

"We're not making fun of you, Yoongi. You should know because she's a nice kid. Don't lead her on nintentionally." He says softly and Yoongi nods brusquely. They're both being idiots as far as he's concerned. Yoongi does not attract girls like Jamie Park. He's okay for one night stands and backstage quickies with intoxicated fans. He's not really the sort of guy who would appeal to someone nice and kind like Jamie Park. He gets out of the room and moves to the small fireescape on the corner of the hallway. He doesn't have to worry about anyone following him here. Rapmon and Jin know that sometimes he needs to sort out his shit by himself.

He wants a drink. Badly.

But he's quit all that a long time ago and he settles for leaning on the fireescape, pulling out his headphones and turning on some of his songs. He wants to scream he thinks with trembling fingers. It's one of those moments when he can't move beyond what just happened. He stares out into the landscape and he wonders where it all went wrong. He's not supposed to be worrying about hurting people and leading underage girls on. He's supposed to be making music he loves. He's a rapper, for f*cks sake. He's designed to be alone and selfish.

He thinks about Jamie Park and the familiar headache starts.

He curses out his bandmates and turns up the volume in his phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fuck, Jin and Rapmon are idiots. Jamie Park is quite possibly the friendliest girl on the planet and thanks to the two crazies planting thoughts in his head, he can't look at her without going hot around the collar.

 It's stupid really. She calls him oppa and talks to him the same way she talks to the rest of them and everything's fine.

Until he spots Jimin leaning over her, his elbow resting right on the wall over her head as she leaned against it. The entire scene looks so disturbingly intimate that he's half tempted to look away. Sighing he considers walking over and dragging Jimin away but settles for just sauntering over and smiling at her. She looks a little surprised but returns his smile.

"You speak very good English." He says hesitantly, because he can't think of anything else. She smiles wide and he blinks when she pushes away from the wall and steps closer to him, subtly cutting Jimin off from the conversation. He blinks and glances at Jimin who is just as surprised, looking between him and her with suspicion.

Oh , f*ck no.

He starts to make up reasons to get away but she reaches out and lightly grabs the tips of his fingers. Her touch is soft and fragile yet it weighs like a boulder on his heart.

"Oppa, I think you might like this..." She says with a smile and leads him away and he resists the urge to glance at Jimin. He's not sure he can cope with whatever death glare the younger's sending his way.

She stops in front of one of the albums arranged on set and he blinks. It's one of his favorite artists, signed.

"Wow. That's a pretty rare thing. Where'd you guys get it?" He asks enviously.

"Don't mind that. I spoke to the producer. You can have it after the show gets over." She grins in delight and he's completely stumped for words.

"Oh..wow, Um... Thanks." The words seems stupid and inadequate but she looks happy nonetheless. She chatters a bit more about how she's trying not to be too clumsy because she doesn't want him to get hurt because of her again. Yoongi finds himself smiling along because she has a nice voice. Soothing. The kind you could fall asleep too.

He blinks at that errant thought.

Where had that come from?

Oh, yeah. Jimin had mentioned that the first time they'd googled her.

When was that?

"Are you free for the weekend?" She smiles wide and he's confused and a bit disoriented really.

"Not really. I've got to practise and...."

"Oh, I'll come visit you then. I'm planning on picking up some makchang from my friend's place and she's like this huge fan of BTS. She'll love to make portions for all of you. You guys deserve a treat for agreeing to come on our show so often." She grins and he marvels that she's no longer awkwardly shy in front of him anymore. He's not sure he's happy. He kind of misses shy Jamie. Everyone gets the bubbly , funny Jamie.

Shy, hesitant Jamie had been exclusively his.

His?

What the hell is wrong with him?

"I'm sure Jimin and Taehyung will like it if you bring them food. They're gluttons, both of them." He says with a wide smile and she sort of blinks at him.

"Oppa...you're smile...It's really dangerous." She says mischievously and he shuts his mouth quickly, embarrassed.

He stays quiet because he doesn't know if she's teasing him. He thinks his smile makes him a little too funny.

"I'm serious. Your eye smile is really..." She stops suddenly and he feels it too. Something changes and the air is no longer just friendly. Instead it feels oxygen deprived and he scratches his head nervously. The flirtatious undertones are suddenly really evident and he knows that this isn't right. She's too young.

"I..I should go.." He says quickly, eager to end the embarrassment for both of them. She blinks and bows awkwardly.

Suddenly shy, nervous Jamie is back and Yoongi is charmed and nonsensically jubilant. He loves it when she's nervous around him he realizes. That's a warning if there ever was one.

But it's too late and his body is on auto pilot as he leans in towards her.

He can't resist the urge to tease and leans over, lightly brushing her bangs off her forehead. His fingertip lightly touches her skin and it's like touching a soft bit of cloud. She goes red and then white , her words catching in her throat as she squeaks out a farewell and hightails it out of there. He grins after her in disbelief.

She makes him feel oddly powerful. It feels good, knowing he has that effect on the otherwise cool as a cucumber Jamie Park.

As she leaves, he turns around to find both Tae and Jimin glaring at him.

F*ck having to be the good guy.

He sighs in defeat.