#pan colours my beloved <3

[oathkeeper-of-tarth]

More voice line posting! Because I like digging them up and I always want to see/hear more of Isobel.

At some point you were able to have Isobel join your camp by herself even after letting Shadowheart kill Aylin - a game state that's no longer possible, as Aylin's death means Last Light falls, too. But all the voice lines and dialogue trees are still there. I haven't had a chance to try, but manually messing around with the "SHA_Nightsong_State_PermaDefeated" flag might be able to get these lines to trigger.

Here are some highlights (and transcripts) from the Moonrise reunion and the camp conversation that we now only see the "take care of my angel" branch of.

Isobel: You did it. I knew you would. Player: Yet you don't seem glad. Isobel: Oh, I am. It's a momentous day. I suppose I need to catch my breath or the momentum will outpace me.

Player: What will you do now that your father's gone? Isobel: Oh, I don't know. Change my hair colour. Buy a horse. [Curse was lifted] Isobel: In seriousness, I intend to help you fight the Absolute - what lies behind the Absolute, that is. Isobel: None of us will be safe until that looming horror is defeated. When the time comes, I'll fight at your side.

[Curse wasn't lifted] Isobel: In seriousness, my home needs me. It's still enveloped in Shar's horrific curse. If it can be cleansed, I'll find a way. Isobel: But I admit that plays second fiddle to helping you. None of us will be safe until the horror behind 'the Absolute' is defeated. When the time comes, I'll fight at your side.

Player: Why wait? Isobel: To be perfectly frank, I'm exhausted. It feels a bit as though I've been dropped into another dimension. Isobel: A little time to rest and reflect, and I'll be ready to go at it anew. What say you? Player: It's not over yet. A nautiloid is on its way to Baldur's Gate. Isobel: Gods. One day, you go to sleep and everything's square. Then you wake up, and it's a dodecahedron. With tentacles.

-

You could also talk about Aylin specifically. If you were feeling particularly horrible, you could lie and convince Isobel she could still find and save her beloved. Presumably, however you played this, she would leave your camp either hating you or trying to save Aylin - which is a bit similar to how the Act 3 Lorroakan betrayal pans out.

Player: Aylin - do you mean Nightsong? Isobel: Nightsong? What do you mean?

Player: Ketheric captured her and was using her to fuel his invulnerability. She was called the 'Nightsong'. Isobel: She... what?! Does this mean she's still alive? I've got to find her - set her free! Tell me everything you know. Please.

Player: It's too late for that. She was dead when I found her. [Roll Deception] [Roll succeeded] Isobel: My father said she was gone. I'd tried to make peace with it. But... she was so special. So very dear. Isobel: When we met, it was like a lightning strike. My father wasn't sure about us - she was immortal, after all - but I never doubted. [Roll failed] Isobel: Liar. Wicked, wicked liar. Murderer.

Player: Give me your map. I'll show you where she's being kept. [Roll Performance] [Roll failed] Isobel: You're lying. She can't be saved, can she? My father told me she was... gone. It's true, isn't it? Isobel: Why would you lie? What's the matter with you? [Roll succeeded] Isobel: Thank you - thank you so much. I'll gather some supplies and head out shortly. Aylin... I can't believe she's alive. Before the day's end, I'll have her in my arms. Incredible.

Isobel: I hope Aylin's alright. I can't wait to have her in my arms again.

Player: Never mind. Isobel: As I was saying, I fell in love with Aylin swiftly. It was as easy as breathing.

Player: That's what Ketheric and his chums called her. Killed her myself. / It's too late for that. I killed her. Isobel: You what?! But she was immortal. How could she... how could you...? She is the Moonmaiden's daughter. And you call yourself a Selûnite?!

Player: It was the only way to make Ketheric vulnerable. Isobel: Was it? Was it truly? I don't believe that. Not for a second.

Player: Shar got the better of me. It won't happen again. Isobel: Oh it won't? Then I suppose we'll just forget this little misstep, file it under 'lessons learned'?

Player: It was a mistake. One I bitterly regret. Isobel: I should hope so. I can't imagine what insane course of thought led you to murder someone so dear. Isobel: Get out of my sight before I do something you'll regret.

Player: When the Lady of Loss speaks, her faithful act on her behalf. Isobel: You're disgusting. You've killed someone so precious, so good. I knew Shar was wicked. But I'd hoped for better from you.

Player: I couldn't hold my companion back. She had a mission to fulfil. Isobel: A mission? A mission?! That Sharran murderer destroyed someone so precious, so good...

[akalikestodraw]

Hi this will kinda serve as my introductory post

(p.s if anyone who knows me irl reads this please don't be a bully or queer phobic about it or tell other people irl about this I'm being serious if you do I'll block you and don't expect me to be happy to see you >:[ /srs/vneg)

Names:Aka

Coco,Rusty, Riptide and Moss are other names you can use too(names of kintypes but idc)

My legal name is a big ol' no no >:(

(But if we're moots feel free to come up with some silly nicknames for me :3)

Im a black artist

Important addition + another one

Might have undiagnosed autism + adhd

Orientation: Omni/pan, polyamarous, autospec and aroace-spec

Gender: agender transmasc

Otherkin info and stuff :p

bear cladotherian

husky therian

Forest dragon therian

Coastal sea wolf otherlink

Domestic cat hearttype

Plushkin

ii lightbulb fictionkin

ii goo fictionkin

Pronouns:cub/pup/it/fae(<- high pref for these rn)/xe/they/he/any(except she/her) :3

Nationality:LiSwati🇸🇿

Timezone:Central African Time(CAT)

Bday:Dec 15

Im multi fandom :]

Fandoms im in include:

The osc,tadc,bee and puppy cat,hilda,kipo and a bunch of other cartoons and stuff

My interests include: crocheting,drawing, animation and playing games(mostly video games) :p

Fav colours are purple ,blue and orange

Also forgot to add this but Im a minor so lets keep thing sfw on here

Dtiys to celebrate 700+ followers🎉

Dni list:

Nsfw blogs,racists,homophobes,terfs,ableists,zoos, Zionists,pro Israel,comship,darkship proshippers,anticopinglink/funlink,antitherians,antifurries and any other not morally good people

Thin ice:

Ppl over the age of 25(don't be creeps is all I ask of yall) and those under 13 unless we're moots

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

Art reqs are open :3

But they might take a while so be patient

My artfight

My toyhouse :3

P.s any hearts(<3) and variations of ily I send are meant platonically

Dragon designs and ocs under the cut

Lightbulb's dragon design

Baseball's dragon design

Knife's dragon design

Salt and pepper's dragon designs

Pickle's dragon design

Balloon's dragon design

Yinyang's dragon design

Paper's dragon design

Nickel's dragon design

Mic's dragon design

Painty's dragon design

Mp4's dragon design

Candle's dragon design

Floory's dragon design

@pebiejeebies and @lyeistired are my beloved internet siblings :3c

Sona refs

Fursonas

[frida-kahl-of-the-rocky-horror]

I saw this back when I used to use Reddit (for animal crossing and trans+ stuff mostly), and I felt so honoured that they used my Florida flag redesign in this that I screenshotted it. But when I looked to find the original poster, they had deleted the post (likely because of negative replies, vexillology Reddit is scary).

They recreated the state flags to be more about symbolism and individuality rather than about aesthetics (which is the problem I see with a lot of over simplified state flags). All while keeping the flags that actually carry deep meaning and are beloved by the residents.

I’m not the biggest fan of Nebraska’s, Virginia’s, and Wisconsin’s, but all the others are wonderful (especially Florida’s… I will not apologize for being biased lol)

The original Reddit person’s caption:

“I kept some flags which I believe are currently great. Most of them are all over State merchandise, and people of these states carry a lot of state pride for these flags. They are:

1. Alabama

2. Alaska

3. Arizona

4. Arkansas

5. California

6. Colorado

7. lowa

8. Maryland

9. Mississippi

10. Missouri

11. New Mexico

12. Ohio, my home state! [not mine, OPs]

13. Rhode Island

14. South Carolina

15. Tennessee

16. Texas

17. Utah

18. Wyoming

19. District of Columbia [I believe you mean the Douglass Commonwealth]

20. Guam

21. The Northern Mariana Islands

22. Puerto Rico

I've switched some State’s boring Seal on a Bedsheet flags into their more popular historical ones. They are:

23. Conecticut ~ New England Flag

24. Hawaii ~ Kanaka Maoli

25. Maine ~ Original State Flag

26. Vermont ~ Green Mountain Boys Flag

27. Virginia ~ Gadsden Flag

28. West Virginia ~ Original State Flag

I've made a few tweaks to some existing flags so they look more unique / are more easily recognizable. They are:

29. Indiana ~ Golden Frame

30. New Jersey ~ Added Stripes

31. North Carolina ~ Un-Tex-ified

32. Oklahoma ~ Added Stripes

33. American Samoa ~ Added Southern Cross

I designed some using the Pan Cascade colours for the Pacific Northwest (BC will have the tree one). They are:

34. Idaho

35. Oregon

36. Washington

I borrowed some other designs which I found on here which I found beautiful. I mostly looked for flags which were designed by locals from the states that they are redesigning or included state symbols on their old flags. They are:

37. Florida [omg they chose mine!!!]

38. Georgia

39. Kansas

40. Kentucky

41. Louisiana

42. Michigan

43. Montana

44. Nevada

45. New Hampshire

46. New York

47. North Dakota [I prefer my communist flag better wajajaja]

48. Pennsylvania

49. South Dakota

50. Wisconsin

51. Virgin Islands

I left the flags currently in the process of a redesign blank, for, given the recent track record, any new flags are probably going to look amazing like Utah’s and Mississippi’s. They are:

52. Illinois [this is your reminder to vote for your new state flag if you’re from this state!!!]

53. Massachusetts [this is your reminder to vote for your new state flag if you’re from this state!!!]

54. Minnesota [this is your reminder to vote for your new state flag if you’re from this state!!!]

I kept one Seal on a Bedsheet flag to honour this horrid time in American vexillological history. That is:

55. Delaware

And lastly

56. Nebraska (idk)”

While I agree with most of the OP’s opinions, I think Nebraska’s flag would look better if it looked something like this:

Better designed of course, I made this on Pic Collage in like 5 minutes

Im not sure about Wisconsin and Virginia, I just know I’m not the biggest fan of either (since Virginia’s flag has a separate meaning and Wisconsin’s is just bland.

Let me know what you think!

And if you’re the OP of this, please let me know, I like your choices!!

[tealmaskmybeloved]

PART 3 BABYYYYYYYYY!!!!:

Part 3: The End of the beginning.

In a purple void filled with chains, Kieran woke up, but he realised he could not move. The chains are now fully immobilizing him, Dokutaro showed up and asked:

"Now...what was it your ancestor told me all those years ago?

...

Ah yes... 'It ends, NOW!' " That was the last thing Kieran heard before his vision was plunged into darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Florian and Juliana (yes, I decided it's both of them, and they are twins) and the rest were stunned and in horror by what they've seen. Kieran's clothes, hair and eyes all began to change. To a sickly black, purple and pink colouration. 2 chains shot out of his back that look eerily similar to the Lousy Three's chains, but the thing that was worse, was Kieran's constant screams of agony. Carmine wanting to help, immediately rushed over: "Kiki, hang on I'm coming!" But before that happens, the screams stop but 'Kieran's' hand scratched Carmine, leaving a gash in her. 'Kieran' soon eerily voiced out: "Kieran's NOT HERE." The voice was nothing of Kieran's, rather something else. 'Kieran' stood up, revealing his full appearance (1st stage design), before sounding out: "Hm...definitely better than the last one, oh well it doesn't matter," With a malicious grin, "The Metamorphosis...HAS BEGUN!"

Everyone was shocked by what they have seen, The twins were in shock and horror, Penny was undeniably in horror as well, saying that 'this is another movie trope thing'. Arevn immediately recoiled. Even Nemona's attitude shifted to one of seriousness and horror. Crispin grimaced as he lifted his pan in defense, Amarys's stone cold expression shifted to one of pain and horror, Lacey was couldn't even move a muscle from fear and Drayton...well, his laid back demeanor has changed to one of seriousness, horror and regret. But Carmine was the worst, she was practically hyperventilating, her beloved younger brother, the one who looked up to her the most, is now nothing more but a monster.

'Kieran' taunted the entire the group after seeing their expressions, "Aww~ all of you look a little scared. Well don't be. I'm not gonna kill you all...YET. I'm gonna have some fun playing with you midgets before I end your little lives..." Of course, everyone had the same thought: Kieran, no...this thing is gonna kill them?! In a fit of rage, Carmine yelled out, "WHO ARE YOU?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH KIKI?!"

"Ah ah ah, temper temper! You don't want to have another incident like earlier right...Carmine?" Carmine stood back, in shock of whatever this thing is, knows her name and the fact that it would end her with no hesitation. "But also, *laughing tauntingly* *points at her* You're gonna have to pay for what that traitor a man you call your ancestor did to me, all those years ago..." This piqued everyone's interest. Carmine's ancestor had beef with whatever's possessing Kieran? But what happened? However, they didn't have time to think before 'Kieran' continued as he turned around and pointed at the twins, "You two, on the other hand...I've heard stories about the both of you, you two accomplished many things and defeated lots of creatures, some like myself! Defeating the AI professor and shutting down the Time Machine, Defeating and Capturing the Treasures of Ruin, Showed the true folktale in Kitakami, Capturing and Defeating The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero and going to the Crystal Pool to...initiate events!" The twins were shocked, how did this thing know their accomplishments? How?! Some of them were even kept a secret! Everyone's interest were also piqued at the mention before 'Kieran' continued: "I must say, I am beyond impressed! So, how's it we make a deal? If you're able to catch me before the entrance, than I'll end all this madness and free Kieran, fail, then you will perish by MY hand. How's about it?" Florain and Juliana thought for a while with the others, eventually they agreed. "Very well! Let the game begin!" And so, 'Kieran' sped off, noticeably being much quicker than an ordinary human would be able to.

Wasting no time, the twins released their Paradox Cyclizars and the others rode on as well, they quickly closed in the distance however, several pokemon knocked them off-balance, they all had purple eyes and a toxic chain added to them, the same ones as those lousy three. The Paldea Gang and Carmine all volunteered to leave so that they could handle the pokemon. The rest reluctantly agreed, and moved on. Through the hallways, it was too cramped for Koraidon and Miraidon so they all had to run on foot. Suddenly, many students were battling other students and staff members for no reason, When Lacey asked Cyrano, he said that all these students came from the hospital wing and that they suddenly had purple eyes and battled anyone they saw, they even tried to claw other students and faculty members, like zombies. After noting it, the rest moved on, being quicker to avoid the zombies, just as they reached the entrance, a horde of students from the league club blocked their way, Drayton immediately took charge and in a hurry, told the elite 4 to handle the trainers while telling the twins to catch 'Kieran', the twins hurried off, before Drayton joined the fight, muttering to himself, "Come on Kieran, please come back to us...Florian, Juliana, I'm trusting you to end this. The twins eventually reached the entrance of BB academy, where Kieran was already there, just standing there, menacingly. The twins rushed to catch him, before the chains from Kieran's neck unshackled and wrapped around the twins, 'Kieran' casually opened a pokeball, but it was purple and had a chain symbol, and released a...bird pokemon? It looked like Kieran's Shiftry, but a bird? It was huge and had a chain around its neck, the twins struggled to breathe before hearing what 'Kieran' said, "Pity, I thought you'd be quicker, oh well, you still lost the game, which means, YOU'LL DIE!!!" Before the chains fully consumed the twins, a flash of light was in the chains, before they unravelled, revealing nothing left, Floria and Juliana, were gone. 'Kieran', feeling satisfied, hopped onto Shiftry and thought to himself: '2 down, 18 more to go...'

Aftermath:

Eventaully the toxins wore off, and the rest were ok, however, Florian and Juliana were missing. No where to be found. And so begins:

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Worthless Treasure.

Part 1: The Magenta Fragments

Finally answering this (SO sorry for this being late, I was super busy and tired as all hell)

Okay so here's my thoughts (Apologies if some doesn't make sense and sorry if there's any spelling errors, I am incredibly tired as of writing this)

1. Dokutaro being the evil manioukative bastard as usual and I love him for that

2. I like how Carmine was willing to throw hands with Dokutaro to get Kieran back, which, understandable. If my sibling was possessed by an evil Pokémon, I'd fight tooth and nail to get them back.

3. Aight well the students at BB Academy are zombies, surely this can't go wrong!

4. And Florian and Juliana are gone. Either Dokutaro has plans to add them to his hivemimd or they're dead. I'm gonna assume the former.

Also tf does Dokutaro mean with '18 more to go'?! How many potential threats are there?!

[artistic-scribbles]

life is but a dream for the dead...

!! IF I HAVE TO LEAVE THIS HELLSITE, YOU CAN FIND ME AT https://artisticscribblez.neocities.org/ !!

hey, my name is Moss, but you can also call me Toby, Xenon or any nicknames you think of :33 i'm a minor, so please don't be weird! i'm from canada, and i also know french ^_^ i'm pan and nonbinary!! (i think - resultz inconclusive lolz) my pronouns are they/he/star/vamp/meow :3 my favourite colours are purple, red and black! i like to write fanfiction, as well as make kandi and play the guitar XD i'm not religious (and would much prefer to stay that way /neu) this an mcr blog! i also post updates for my fics on here, and i occaisionally post about homestuck :3

killjoy name: Moss Murder (it’s a play on words of mass murder :3)

i <3 my vampire husband greyson (@gay4way)

i'm too tired to list all the bandz i like but my airbuds is moss.murder if you wanna check that out :333

sideblogz:

@things-frank-iero-would-say

@moss-is-a-silly-bitch (art blog)

tagz:

#greyson my beloved /platonic - self-explanatory

#moss's thoughts - original posts

#diary of a lost soul - heavier stuff. viewer discretion advised

#boys in the band - bandom shizz x3 (mcr, fob, all that good stuff)

#>:? - homestuck.

DNI:

-if you make fun of someone (non-jokingly) for something they can't change

-if you're an msi fan who supports their actions (if you just listen to the music and not the people, that's fine :3)

-if you wanna kidnap me or sell my organs (i need my organs, okay?)

-if you're just a bad person in general (ie, racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, et cetera)

extras:

-i am a homestuck. rawr

-i use tone tags when necessary :3

-if i say or do anything that's bad and harms society, please tell me!

-my ao3 account

-my pronouns page

-i have a spacehey! it's got my face on it tho so if you want it you'll have to dm me :P

obligatory blinkie section under the cut:

last blinkie matching with @gay4way <3333

blinkies made here :3

that's all, bye!

[thetragicallynerdy]

Rules: tag 20 some people you want to get to know better.

I got tagged in this so very long ago by @dragonmuse, @yerbamansa, and @yourlocal-charlatan! Thanks for the tag pals, sorry it took me an age!

Relationship status: single as a pringle my dudes

Favourite colour: really deep red, specifically the red of a watercolour paint i have when it's still wet. Also all shades of blue-green are very beloved. (honestly this is silly but i just really love the vibrancy of wet paint, in any colours, so that would be my favourite colour if it could be)

Song stuck in my head: Cool About It by boygenius. Their new album y'all. It's uh. So fucking good but also ruining me just a lil (in a good way??)

Last song I listened to: Leonard Cohen, also by boygenius. Have I mentioned I'm listening to the album on repeat?

Three favourite foods: I have a difficult time picking favourites, because I have too many. But top contenders include this dessert my mother makes called Sex In A Pan, fresh raspberries (bonus points if they're black raspberries), and fried chicken.

Oh also Tim Hortons Blueberry Glazed old fashioned style donuts. (They are sold at exactly one Tim Hortons that I know of, which is about 1.5 hours away from of my house) (for context there are probably close to 40 Tim Hortons in my city. None of them have this donut. It's a tragedy.)

Last thing I googled searched: "wolf beside coyote" for shifter au related reasons (the comedy of coyote jim beside big wolves who are the rest of the crew)

Dream trip: I would kill for a cottage up North for a week tbh. Sit on a dock and drink non-alcoholic IPAs and watch loons dive in the water. I would also kill to go on a canoe trip in Algonquin, but moreso to have the capacity to go on a canoe trip in Algonquin.

Anything I want right now: Ah, man. This feels like a bit of a loaded question for me right now. Too many things, lets just leave it at that.

On a much sillier note: I want my hamster to stop building a nest under my couch anytime I let her out to run XD

Tagging: @nyxisadyke, @alfalfairy, @draculafemme, @garlicenthusiasm, @ukulelegodparent, @barelyherestillqueer, @skollwolf, @coffeequaffingunicorn, @ladythmpr, @noodlebutts , @thou-art-of-the-stars, @wall-e-gorl, @bringinghometherain, @frrenchie, and anyone who sees this and wants to do it!

(For those tagged, only if you want to of course!! And if you don't want to do it pls know I am giving u a lil kiss on your noggin or waving hello instead :3)

[ebiemidnightlibrarian]

Tagged by my beloved @raemoriendi, thanks 💜💜

1. Are you named after anyone?

Not that I know of, my parents chose my name for its meaning in Hebrew, it's a variation of "Eloim", which literally means God. I used to not like my name very much, but I've learned to get along with it.

2. When was the last time you cried?

A couple of weeks ago I guess, it was mid an anxiety attack.

3. Do you have kids?

No, but at the moment I plan to have one child in the future, but I don't know, I might change my mind at some point.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

YES, much more than I should actually…

5. What sports do you play/have you played?

I did basketball for a while in middle school, haven't done anything since.

6. What's the first thing you notice about other people?

My psychologist told me I'm an "empath" because I have an ease in understanding how people feel. So I guess is their vibe and their moods.

7. What's your eye colour?

I have a pair of myopic dark browns, depending on the light they're a bit cinnamon-like

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

I'm not the biggest fan of happy endings, I'm a fan of tragic endings lol so I think that puts me in the pan of horror movies, I particularly love them.

9. Any special talents?

I really don't know lol, I think maybe whistling, being able to identify a bass/baritone/tenor/countertenor voice just listening to it once and I think an eidetic memory…? I don't know if these things really count lol

10. Where were you born?

I was born in northeastern Brazil in a state called Pernambuco, and I am an advocate that it is the best state in the country ;)

11. What are your hobbies?

Writing fictional works (endless wips :,D), organizing lists of various types, making playlists with a very specific vibe, reading, being dragged into binge watching a whole show that i've just started, obsessing over something and only resting after having consumed EVERYTHING I could about.

12. Do you have any pets?

Four dogs that are the light of my life, Luna, Lucy, Branca and Cindy

13. How tall are you?

I'm a 5′5″ unhinged gremlin

14. Favorite subject in school?

I've always been very good at Portuguese (Grammar) and Writing, but Literature, English and Sociology have always been my favorites, it's not surprising I'm going to college to become an English teacher, and to have a Phd in Gothic literature (or Symbolist I'm still deciding)

15. Dream job?

I think I'm already chasing my dream one way or another, I've always liked teaching, but I've always wanted to teach at a college.

If it weren't for the money, I think I would have worked in a bookstore as a full-time librarian, I really loved that job, but the salary was barely enough to pay the rent. I think being a writer, like REALLY a writer, is a dream too… Maybe if I had some talent and didn't have stage fright being an actress might be cool as well lmao

15 mutuals:

non-pressure tags 💜

@chronic-ghost @aflockofbees @everythingbutresolved @girlwiththenegantattoo @apbajs @mysoftboybensolo @littleredwritingcat @womanhoodchronicles @charismat1c-megafauna @scuttle-buttle @purplelupins @spookyconsultingcriminal @ashton-slashton and if you saw this consider yourself tagged 💙

[doctor-whu]

Tina Cohen-Chang + Pan Colours x x x x x x

@gleeful-paintbox-project week 18: Prom Queen

[dribs-and-drabbles]

Vice Versa ep 9

As I said in the tags for last week's post, at this point I don't really have much to interpret...it's more that I'm *shaking you vigorously* saying 'hey look at this isn't it cool!'. It's clear the show is using pairs of colours (red/blue, black/white, yellow/green) - with most likely red/pink for Puen and blue for Talay - as well as brown to reflect seriousness and orange for playfulness. Yellow and green seem to show up more often with the Friend Credits group rather than Tess' friends but often all these colours are used in varying amounts in different scenes.

However, in ep 9, I think only the below scene had all the colour-pairs plus brown...so I wonder if this means this is the start of the end of their friendship (as they know it). (btw, I think Up must have multiple pairs of the same socks rather than just five that he cycles through…surely!...since he wears the same ones so often. Rainbow socks my beloved).

What this ep did do is utilise shades of pink/red and blue/purple together with Puen and Talay's scenes...perhaps indicating the shift to them as a couple and their imminent return to their own universe. The first being right at the beginning in the amazing office location, with the black table wall/shelves, red chairs, pink/purple wall behind, and pink furniture. I loved how the camera started on Mek but then gradually panned round to Puen and Talay and the colour.

Then, when Puen is describing the scene between Pitch and Toey, the background is a deep red behind him in his dark blue top (and with the black wall). I can't wait to see this morning scene between them for real... (JUST LOOK AT JIMMY'S FACE!)

And I'm going to jump to the end for a moment because this ep is bookended with the pink and blue colours.

The other time it's used is in Pakorn's home, first just before the birthday celebration, when the painting is lit blue alongside the pastel peach of the wall further away, and then later when the painting is lit pink and the area above the sink is blue.

I had wondered if the abundance of pink/red might have been because the ep included Puen's birthday and Talay going to Pang to find out more about Puen...and of course there is red and pink in the scene for Puen's birthday as well as a lot of brown, and with Talay in a minty/sea green (I come back to this colour again later)…

And of course all those pink...sofas?...in the office for the conversation about Puen's life in their own universe. (Note the blue globe which wasn't in the office scene earlier in the ep - creating the red/blue pair with the seats).

Interestingly, after the above scene, pink and red were pretty much non-existent during Puen and Talay's estrangement - basically for the whole of part 3. First, we got the second vet scene, where I waited with bated breath to see what was on Fuse's t-shirt...and squealed when there was NOTHING. On one hand, it could be because it was a uniform - both he and Aou changed clothes after meeting Mix - but on the other hand it could also be because Fuse is 'changing' under Aou's influence...and therefore will drop the slogans from his shirts...as I mentioned in last week's post.

I'm going to jump forward here to mention that in the preview for ep 10, Fuse is also wearing a shirt without a slogan on...but then again, Aou also has no vest and Up is not wearing a hat... I'm wondering, therefore, if it means that they're all changing. Or that they've kind of homogenised since the two friend groups have obviously joined together. They all have similar colours and styles at a time when they're all together for potentially the first time, so maybe it's just showing how they're all 'growing up'... (It's going to be so weird when Tess and Pakorn return to their own universe and into this friendship group - maybe the talk of them supposedly being together will trigger Tess' 'oh' moment and he and Pakorn will get together!)

Going back to Aou and Fuse...of course when I first saw Fuse in this week's ep I got excited about what his t-shirt would say... Is the "almost" because he almost gave Aou his hand? He almost showed obedience? Is it because they're almost becoming friends...or even a couple? Crumbs. We got crumbs I tell you and I lapped up every one.

After the second vet scene, Talay goes to meet Up in the cafe...and I don't have much more to say about this other than it's aesthetically FANTASTIC.

Also the black/white and blue/yellow connects back to the earlier scene in the cinema foyer (where the clothes complement the set as it did in ep 7). Of course, when Up arrives he's in green (to pair with the yellow...and the oishi drink!) and he also has his mustard yellow socks...which match Aou's t-shirt - an interesting choice when they're joking about Aou and Up being another couple!

So, following the beach scene where Puen and Talay reconcile (again!), pink returns in the lights of the bus (with the blue). Aou is also in a pink and blue striped top with a blue vest (and brown trousers as usual) and Puen is wearing a red sleeveless top and blue jeans. I think this might be the first ep that I've noticed this kind of repetition and connection of colours throughout the whole ep...

Anyway, I couldn't also not mention the crisps (chips) advert at the end and I love the uniform use of red, blue, and yellow in the whole scene. But this is yet more evidence to make me think the shows designers took the product placements and based the colour schemes off the colours of the packaging 😂 (i.e. the minty green of the crisp packet along with the red and yellow).

But on to next week...and I'm not sure I can make a prediction of what colour we might get. The preview has a couple of instances of bright pink and deep red...so it might be the long-awaited red ep...but there's also a lot of neutral colours which makes me think it might be something like beige or sand (we haven't really had a 'brown' ep either) - I keep trying to think of colour names to go with sunrises, or daybreaks, or dawns...to follow the theme of time passing/endings and beginnings that the past few eps have set up - sunset orange, cloudy grey, midnight black etc). I've also been wondering if the last three eps might even be a red, a green, and a blue (although which order I don't know). Ah, it's too unknown! I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

[Ep 1] [Ep 2] [Ep 3] [Ep 4] [Ep 5] [Ep 6] [Ep 7] [Ep 8] [Ep 9] [Ep 10] [Ep 11] [Ep 12]

[mmvalentine]

The Pianist pt 3 | Jurdan

Modern AU. Part 1 part 2 part 4

Jude scooped her hat off the ground and bolted.

She knew full well that she wasn't as good as the Juilliard students, but it was something else entirely to hear Nicasia laugh her head off as she strode off. To hear Valerian mimicking her as his voice replaced hers to echo around the subway station.

To see Cardan turn away from her and walk away like he couldn't even stand to look at her.

It wasn’t that she thought she thought she was something special. Not like the Juilliard students, with their showcases and enormous posters. It was just that Jude's voice was the only thing she had left of her mother. She didn't fancy herself any kind of super talent, but she had been told that she sounded just like her mom. And that was enough for Jude to love to sing.

The anger pooled in her gut, and soothed the heated shame from her cheeks. Fuck those guys. She hadn't marched onto the stage at their beloved school. She hadn't asked them to come see her. Up the road there was some guy playing the spoons; you could busk anything in New York and she didn't need their permission.

Still. The fifty dollar tip from yesterday didn't seem to mean as much now. A small voice that Jude despised whole heartedly wondered if it had been pity money.

She slowed down, sighed, and rounded the corner. May as well turn back home.

It was then she heard the pounding footsteps behind her.

"Jude!"

She turned, and was surprised to see Locke standing there, panting. Jude narrowed her eyes.

"What," she spat, "did you follow me down the block to keep taunting me?"

"No!" Locke said quickly. He shook his fox coloured head. "No, not at all. Hey, sorry about my friends. They're assholes and they can't sing anyway."

Jude didn't bite. He hadn't stopped them at the time.

"Really," Locke pressed. "They just think they can get a rise out of you. They don't actually think you're bad, or anything."

Jude rolled her eyes, and kept walking. "Sure, whatever," she said.

"No wait!" Locke ran out in front of her. "I'm Locke," he told her.

"So?" Jude shot out.

"So, I'm producing this musical at one of my father's playhouses next month, and I think you have just the perfect voice for my lead role. You should come be part of it."

"No," Jude said, and tried to walk on. Locke stopped her again.

"I'm serious!" Locke said. "You have a gorgeous voice, and you could get a lot of attention for performing with us. My dad's a Broadway producer, you know."

"I couldn't give two shits who your dad is," Jude hissed, and Locke sighed.

"Okay look," he said. "I get it, you've been waiting our table for four years and you have no reason to trust me as far as you can throw me. I know, alright? But... give me a chance."

Jude stared at him skeptically, but didn't walk away. Locke pulled a business card out of his pocket.

"I'm having a party this weekend. Come meet the crew. If you like us, come sing with us. If not, I won't bother you again. Okay?"

"Don't you have to be like thirty and in a suit to carry business cards?" Jude asked. But took it anyway. Locke laughed.

"You're funny Jude," he said as he turned away. "I like you."

"Yeah well the jury's still out for you," Jude grumbled, but Locke was already disappearing through the crowd.

/////

Nicasia sat down in Cardan's lap, and he almost spilled his drink.

"What do you want, Nicasia?" he asked, irritated.

"What do you mean, darling?" Nicasia purred, twining her arms around his neck. She wore a shiny green dress that rode up high on her thighs, and seemed to shove her cleavage under his chin. Subtle as a frying pan to the head, was Nicasia.

"You know what I mean."

Nicasia wriggled in his lap. "I want you, silly." She tugged his earlobe between her teeth.

"Since when?" Cardan asked, pulling away. Nicasia stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Since always, babe."

"Oh yeah? And where were you when I called you and told you I was stressed about my parents coming through?"

Nicasia rolled her eyes. "You're always stressed."

"What about how you've been hooking up with Locke for the past three months?"

"Babe you know we're not exclusive."

"Well then don't call me babe."

Nicasia frowned. "What's gotten into you?" she asked. "You’re always so fucking cranky these days.”

"Nothing," Cardan said, and pushed her out of his lap. "I'm just sick of this. Don't come round to my place anymore."

"Cardan!"

But Cardan didn't come back.

To be fair to Nicasia, she was right. They had dated in high school but since they got into Juilliard, they had agreed to see other people. And then they sort of drifted apart, and now it seemed that Nicasia only came round when she needed sex and there was nothing better on offer. They hadn't slept together now in months, and honestly, Cardan had no desire to anymore. He couldn't have said when exactly it had started, but lately when he was around Nicasia, he just felt... bored. And sometimes, when he looked too hard at her face, he could swear that she was bored, too.

At any rate, Cardan was fairly sure him calling it off would actually make very little difference to their relationship.

He wandered through the party, walking up the stairs and nodding at people who clapped him on the shoulder or called out his name. He recognised barely any of them.

And then he heard it.

Heard Jude's voice, he was sure of it. But how could that be? Why would she be at one of Locke's parties?

Cardan followed the sound until there she was, standing on a table, her mahogany hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun, and wearing a tight black dress with long sleeves and a high neckline. She was curved like a cello, and she laughed as she sang and she looked magnificent.

"Jude?"

Around her, a small crowd of people sang along. Her voice carried above the others, and she looked so natural in the centre there that for a second, it didn't seem strange that she was here at a Juilliard party at all.

Jude looked up when he called her name, and to his surprise, she smiled wider.

"Cardan!" she cried. "The cruel prince of Juilliard himself!" She gave a mock bow. "I should have known I'd run into you here."

"That's Cardan," someone whispered, loud and drunk. "Do you think he's really as good as they say, or is it all just hype?"

Jude heard it too, and her eyes sparkled. Cardan hated them all. He rolled his eyes, and left the room.

"Wait up!" Jude slid down from the table, and followed him. He stopped at a landing that looked over the living room.

"What are you doing here?" Cardan asked her.

"Your friend Locke invited me," she said. He smelled whiskey on her breath. "Something about wanting me to sing in his musical."

"Oh." Cardan blinked. "Well. You should."

Jude leaned on the railing. "I don't know," she said. "Locke seems like kind of a dick."

"He is," Cardan agreed. Suddenly he felt way too sober. "But he's connected, and you may as well use him if he's offering."

Jude gave an exaggerated groan. "Ugh I just don't want to have to kiss Locke's ass in order to get ahead," she said.

"So don't," Cardan said. "Just go and be amazing, and let your voice do the talking. Er, figuratively."

Jude appeared to consider it. Cardan put his forearms on the railing next to her. "Or what? You're gonna sing in subway tunnels the rest of your life? You're too good for that Jude," he said.

Honestly, the words were coming out of their own accord. He definitely needed another drink. Or eight. Cardan was just considering leaving Jude and finding a bottle when she leaned forward suddenly, and kissed him on the mouth.

For a moment, Cardan just froze.

Then his eyes slid closed and he cradled her jaw gently in his hand, and kissed her back softly. She tasted like scotch and caramel, and something very hot was just waking in his stomach when she pulled away as abruptly as she had come in.

Jude shook her head as if dazed. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I shouldn't..."

She didn't finish the sentence, just slipped through the crowd and left him cold by the railing.

****

Oh noooo my babies 🥺🥺🥺

JURDAN MASTERLIST

TAGLIST: @asteria-of-mars @swankii-art-teacher @loosingdreams @feysand-loml @cityofbookish @story-scribbler

[gstqaobc]

Our dear Queen: never alone THE MONARCHIST LEAGUE OF CANADA 🍁🇨🇦

FOR TOMORROW, OUR QUEEN'S ACTUAL BIRTHDAY,,,We invite members to respond by return email by completing one of the following sentences in no more than 25 words  of which we will publish an assortment of the most interesting tomorrow. You never know what might happen if yours is judged best.  NB: this challenge is not  the place to express condolences to The Queen or refer to her recent loss, which we each will do in our own way, with a full heart and no interest in publicity or reward. 1) I find The Queen's most endearing trait to be... 2) If I could ask HM one question, it would be... 3) If I were asked to give one piece of loyal advice to our Sovereign, I would say...   LEAGUE POETRY COMPETITION ON THE NINETY-FIFTH BIRTHDAY OF THE QUEEN THREE WINNING POEMSWe were surprised and delighted by the number of entries in this first poetry competition of the League. But then, given its subject, perhaps we should not have been taken aback. The sentiments were universally heartfelt and the loyalty clear.   We are therefore awarding three prizes. Two were written in English and one in French: naturally, we are not translating them! The first is a subtle evocation of The Queen’s sense of duty and her love of horses - the poet’s reference to giving up riding was of course an allusion to HM’s ceasing to ride at Trooping the Colour - she enjoys riding as relaxation to this day!  The second is true to the spirit of Holst’s stirring melody, known to many as “I Vow to Thee, My Country.”  And the third, the winner, explores HM’s Realms whimsically with a touch of gravity by means of their national foods.  The poems could not be more different - which is as it should be. Our thanks to all who entered the competition!  SECOND PRIZE TIED by Tom MacGregor, Ottawa ON QUEEN ELIZABETH’S 95th BIRTHDAY                On her ninety-fifth birthday,                I think of the Statue on Parliament Hill                Of her confidently seated                On a horse named Centennial                Given to her by                The Royal Canadian Mounted Police.                The small woman unveiled it                In 1991 after she had given up riding.                Still, she carried on                More than 60 years as Queen                And 95 of service.   FIRST PRIZE by an anonymous member who is donating  the value of the prize to supply a food treat to the homeless today in honour of The Queen’s birthday QUEEN OF THE SIXTEEN REALMS On the 95th birthday of Elizabeth II   PROLOGUE Elizabeth, to your Realms grandmother, sister, friend and Queen: How can we embrace you, and today let you know That we would your sorrow share, wish you could lean On our sixteen hearts, like the drums, beating slow. We look back as you must on Philip’s decades: Your strength and stay during storm and fair days. We gaze also to our future wish: grief ‘midst memories fades To joy of life full-lived, walked on the fields of praise.               So follows our birthday wish, from Realms richly diverse, Who now tune their heart-strings to the happier times Which will follow, dear Ma’am, as sure as sunrise: A great truth of life, which we need not more rehearse, But, rather, assure you: north, west, east, southern climes Gather round to uphold you, dear Queen - loving and wise!                   ~ ~ ~   ~ ~ ~    ~ ~ ~ Elizabeth, our Queen and friend, the nations’ joy and pride, Her 95th today is hailed through Realms both far and wide; And since all share in most fond wish to serve special birthday treat - These lines some local fare suggest - loyal banquet so replete!         In ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA, small islands to be sure, But big in heart and loyalty - FUNGIE ‘tis special allure: Polenta-based and spicy hot, with pepperpot ‘tis served, A treat for their beloved Queen, one surely well deserved!         Down Under,  AUSTRALIAN mates present their VEGEMITE: This brewers’ yeast extract not yet the world’s delight! But served on toast throughout the land, a tribute singular - quite - Antipodean Queen finds on Aussie plate a most distinct delight.           THE BAHAMAS offers special dish: folk there pluck CONCH from sea: And dressed with lime and vegetables - ‘tis rich in Vitamin C!  Bahamian Sovereign will enjoy devouring “Queen Conch” recipe, Dressed with fruit, offered with love and Island loyalty         BARBADOS, amidst disloyal dance, bakes up its famed RUM CAKE On which Monarch’s pain at such dalliance might well her sweet tooth slake; Since toothsome confection is topped up with frequent rum infusion: EIIR hopes (though’d never say) “Drink deep: to republican confusion!”                 BELIZE proffers its BOIL UP, reminiscent of the pie in rhyme: No blackbirds for its Queen today, but fish, eggs, veggies: good time! Tis topped with broth and dough, then baked - a treat fit for a princess, The Central American domain diverse could offer her no less!         CANADA may indeed be home to most loyal Maple Throne: Thus on this day POUTINE shall stand in prominence, alone: Like the Dominion, flavours many, with toppings beyond measure - As each in own way toasts our Queen, the True North’s splendid treasure!                     GRENADA’s OIL DOWN, savoury-sweet, a one pot dish of stew, With coconut leaching flavours out to make each casserole new To taste - and variegated ever for all this island nation. Which prospers under Reign of she whose birthday brings elation!             Next in our roll of Realms, JAMAICA, island, of many peoples, blest To keep cool ‘neath tropical sun with ACKEE AND SALTFISH zest: Its spices mirror nation’s mix, from planters to Bobsled team; And dread-locked Rasta men, who share deepest love of Queen.                 PAVLOVA is NEW ZEALAND’s gift to the arts culinary, Its Kiwi, cream, meringue mix cherished by settlers as by Maori; Whether Hobbits share such taste, brave Frodo first and foremost, We know not - but all in the island realm drink to EIIR a toast!               If MUMU you were offered while exploring  PAPUA NEW GUINEA shore, Polyglot island lines hot coals with leaves - adds meats, fruit, veg and more, To make a stew from ground oven of savour nonpareil, Thus honouring their Queen and friend with two Hemispheres’ “hooray.”         SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS to birthday brings STEWED SALTFISH, which they blend With coconut dumplings and plantains for feasting without end, As no close they ever sight in good Queen’s service to tiniest sovereign state In Hemisphere - large  they be in duty, love - thus this day they fete!       SAINT LUCIA pairs fish and fig, GREEN FIG AND SALTED COD! Antilles population takes a week to give the nod To stew that melds, as island does two seas, Atlantic and Caribbean, And mix a Bounty cocktail to raise their glass to Queen!               A BREADFRUIT ROASTED in iron pot, add fried jackfish for great repast,   Is SAINT VINCENT & THE GRENADINES’ entrée, not easily surpassed: Its thirty-two islands celebrate their Monarch’s special day, Sing “...Land, so Beautiful” to big drum, calypso, steel pan and reggae!             Now Taro roots make sticky POI, SOLOMON ISLANDS’ favorite food, The wise old King lends his name to 900-strong island brood; Thus Melanesian Queen presides, with Governor-General elected: Their birthday bouquet beauteous, as from 200 orchid strains selected!                     TUVALU brings to feast PULAKA, swamp taro cooked for hours: Raising ocean discourages cultivation - ‘tis time for Commonwealth powers To use their world wide fellowship to save this crop essential: Their Queen fears global warming looms, Polynesian threat potential.               The UNITED KINGDOM is Elizabeth’s home, of sixteen Realms The Queen: No longer a colonial power, but from Empire’s legacy yet seen: Its “national dish” CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA now claims pride of place, Transcending old-style differences of climate, Raj and race!       ~! ~ ~   ~ ~ ~   ~ ~ ~ EPILOGUESo, all hail, dear Queen, gracious Lady: your true realms lie deep within, Not geographic, to be sure, but values kingly. gracious, human; Constant Commonwealth care for its nations great and small, Reflects deep-reciprocal, hailed to your heart, one voice echoed by all!     So here’s to Elizabeth - long may she reign, long live our monarch so great! Here’s to her courage in fair weather or foul, duty done, chosen not - happy fate! Here’s to the faith ever kept, beyond clamour of sectarian creeds; Here’s to the hope she brings all, so nourishing humankind’s needs; Here’s to her ninety-fifth birthday, her years’ gift to us, thus today we proclaim:God willing, all your Realms do their duty And each subject in turn do the same! 

GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿

[caffrey-coffee]

Tag Game

I was tagged by @dulcesiabits <3

(or well.. at least i assume you meant to tag me jfjf 😅)

favorite colors: any shade of blue, ranging into purple and green too. peacock colours basically

currently reading: a court of frost and starlight by sarah j maas, and Snuff by Terry Pratchett

last song: Pan by Nightwish

last series: the new season of kny

last movie: Howls moving castle

savory, spicy or sweet: preferably all three together in form of some spicy/sweet meat dish

craving: cream sauce spaghetti, my beloved comfort food

currently working on: keeping my apartment clean i guess? fnfnf

i tag: @vanitasbf @notgreengardens @cloudsaremadeofdreams @thefebruaryfriday

<3

(don’t feel pressured tho fjfj)

[lennydaisy]

SWAN SONG || The Walking Dead AU

‘You have to trust that every friendship has no end, that a communion of saints exists among all those, living and dead, who have truly loved God and one another.

You know from experience how real this is. Those you have loved deeply and who have died live on in you, not just as memories but as real presences.’

HENRI NOUWEN

                         The Walking Dead.

        Season 1-?

                                         FEM OC! and ?

This is the prologue for a Walking dead AU that I wrote ages ago, and I feel like its too good to waste. So here it is :))

‘Now to John, who's live at the scene. John, what's happening there?'

'I'm here at Central Atlanta Hospital where there has been a reported disturbance within the wards. Patients allegedly have gone rogue, biting and scratching the doctors and each other.'

'If we pan to our left here, you can see the hallways are overflowing with newly found patients from the attacks.'

Glancing up at the ancient box TV perched in the top corner of the room, eyebrows frowned as I take another bite of my bland chicken sandwich.

The screen displays a lit yellow Hospital hallway with beds and chairs cluttering the space. With no room to breathe, the patients packed together like a tin of sardines.

The camera zooms into one patient in particular, who judging by their attire is a nurse themselves. A sickly colour of unnatural grey washed over their face, a layer of sweat glistening under the cheap lights and her veins protruding from her neck as though she's struggling to keep herself calm.

'Miss, would you be able to explain how your feeling?'

I can't help but scoff at the reporter's request. She is clearly in no condition to answer any of his questions and it's downright ignorant to shove a microphone in the face of a woman who has clearly seen better days.

The women slowly turned to face the reporter, her eyes appearing to lack any colour with bags drooping down to her jaw, and glares with all she can muster. Despite clearly being exhausted from whatever is happening to her body, she has no problem expressing her aggravation towards the man.

'Not responsive I see. Well no mind, as the viewers at home can see, Central Hospital is in desperate need of doctors and nurses. So I'm here to announce that if there is anyone-'

I don't know how to describe what I just saw. Just know that it was revolting enough to put me off chicken sandwiches forever.

In the midst of the reporter's announcement, a pair of hands slowly made their way around his body. Their nails were bitten down to stumps, their fingers a troubled colour of blue as though clogged with blood. The sickly hands, lazily but purposefully, claw at the reports button-up shirt from behind. Tugging on the attachments like grips, the women who the reporter was previously questioning is now sinking her teeth into the man's neck. Trails of blood dripping from her lips as she pulls her jaw roughly away from his neck taking a clump of him with her.

The look of pure horror wash over the man's faces, and mines in probably mimicking his. I've never seen anyone's eyes pop so far from their head. The face of sheer panic and terror covering his visuals as he opens his mouth to let out what I can only assume to be a deafening scream but before a sound is made the camera quickly cuts back to the studio, where the two anchors are now shaking at the sight they just witnessed live.

'We'll be back after this quick intermission,' squeaked out the anchor, eyes still wide, never leaving the screen off camera.

'Were you recently involved in an accident?',  the convenient ad was interrupted by the television being turned off. Snapping my head to my right, only to be met by the sheepish face of Darcy, the department receptionist. Smiling weakly at me from her desk, "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

Nothing to worry about. "Were we just watching the same clip," I breathe baffled at the idea of not worrying about what we just witnessed, "That man just had his neck bitten into but some Wednesday Adams looking women," I laughed, struggling myself to understand what just happened.

"I'm sure he's fine," she waves her hand in my direction before quickly standing up as I did seconds before, " What are you doing?" She questions as I grab my hat off my peg.

Rolling my eyes as I make the reach for my keys, "My job," my fingers scraping the keys before they are snatched out of my reach. Looking up at the elderly women with bored eyes, I hold my hands out waiting for her to cave.

"No, half the department is already helping the city, we need you here in Kings County," she argues quickly running back to her desk, sliding into her roller chair. Out of my vision but not hearing, I hear the clashing of keys, the slamming of metal and the sound of a lock.

She locked my keys in her desk.

"Darcy- " I begin only to be interrupted.

"No" she heaves, hands crossed over her chest tightly, "It's bad enough those two are God knows where doing God knows what, I can't allow the only deputy left in the building to leave."

I would be annoyed and honestly, I am, the woman isn't not letting me do my job, but with just a simple look in her eyes I can see why she doesn't want me to leave, "You're scared," I point out pulling my chair over to the front of her desk, sitting my hat on the table.

Refusing to meet my eyes answered my assumption. She was scared and she had every right to be. What we just watched on the news isn't normal but it's not the first we've heard of this 'infection'. It's been going on for weeks, especially in the city. Residents reporting sights of people staggering through the streets, grabbing and biting anything they can get their hands on. Honestly sounds like a typical weekend in the city in my opinion, after a couple of drinks, you'd be surprised what some people turn into. I haven't seen any of these things personally but that news clip just made everything people have been bustling about all too real.

"These things are apparently migrating. It's not just a city virus, they're making their away out into places like this," her hands brushing the nonexistent lint off the top of my hat, her voice so soft, if you didn't listen closely enough you'd miss it.

"I'm not going to fill you with false hope because honestly, I have no idea what is happening but I will say this if I know you at all, something like a little virus isn't going to be the end to the bombshell that is Darcy Peters."

A small smile begins to creep onto her face, "You should have seen me in my youth," flipping her white shoulder-length hair.  Shaking my head with a giggle, I lean over her desk and turn her desktop towards me looking at the set back of work left for her to complete. Moving the mouse to the bottom of the screen I log her off, " Take the rest of the day off."

Knowing fine well she would say no, I left her no room for arguments as I hastily grabbed her coat passing it to her, "Don't tell me no Peters, Deputies orders," I said with authority behind my voice but eventually broke out into a smile at the delightful women before me.

"But what about-" she points at the computer addressing the work she still had to do. Grabbing the women's hands as I begin to drag her out the door, "Don't worry I'll handle it but you need to go home and chill out," snatching her car keys as I begin walking with her hand in hand to her beloved mustard Ford Fiesta.

Opening the driver's door, "M'lady," I bow holding the door. Shaking her head at my act, she wraps her arms around my shoulders, brings me in for a hug, slightly shocked but I hug her back none less, "Thank you, Macy," she laughs in my ear before pulling away, cupping my face like an affectionate grandmother.

Slapping my cheeks lightly she points her finger timidly at my face, "Now no running off play superhero, you're needed here," her eyes never leaving mine as though to challenge me to say otherwise. Well, I like a challenge, "No promises."

A dead look in her eyes causes me to laugh once more, "Okay, I promise I won't run off, I'll stay put. Now beat it, tell Richard I say hi," closing the door behind the women before stepping away from her car.

Just before she was about to drive off, she rolls down her window, "Oh before I forget, here's the key to the desk. Also there's something for Officer Friendly in there you won't miss it," see spoke throwing the flimsy key my way. Nodding my head towards the women, I mockingly salute her off, catching a glimpse of her rolling her eyes smiling.

Tossing the small, rusted key between my hands, I make my way back to Darcy's desk. After a couple of shakes and jiggles, the lock to the drawer eventually clicks. Pulling open the drawer, I grab my car keys stuffing them in my back pocket. That's when my eyes catch a shine reflecting out of the space. Reaching my hand in my finger brush across metal embroidery.

A Sheriff badge.

Unable to help the smile that made its way to my face as I stare down at the achievement of my friend. 'Officer Friendly's going to flip. So will someone else but for a different reason.' Shaking the thought from my head, I quickly run round to the desk of the newly found Sheriff. Going to place the shining badge on the desk, a note stops me;

Gone for a quick lapse of the county. If I'm not back by finish, I'll see you tomorrow, Officer Friendly.

Still sitting the badge on his desk, hoping that he at least makes it back in an hour, his face will be priceless. Snatching the remote from the floor, I flick the television back on, wanting to see if there are any updates on the situation.

'Government officials have requested that everyone stays inside their homes, only leaving unless extremely necessary. Until this is contained, please be cautious. This has been channel 5's news.'

Drowning out the rambling of the adverts, I absorb myself I'm my phone. 7 texts, damn I'm popular.

From Corey. Hey, can you drop me off :) Sent 07:39

From Corey. Oft okay never mind then I know I broke 3 of your car window, but that doesn't forbid access does it?? Fine two can play at that game, I'll walk. Ummmm that's when you're supposed to be the super big sister and say 'no sweet little sister, don't walk and ruin your BRAND NEW BOOTS, I'll happily drop you off' Boo you, you suck :(( Sent at 07:57

From Corey. Hey, can you pick me up ;) Sent at 17:12

This girl, I swear.

To Corey. I'll think about it :)) Sent Now.

Collecting my things, preparing myself for my leave. All too quickly trying to rush out the door, I skid to a halt and turn round to a certain desk in particular. Contemplating my options, I decided to take the newly found badge with me. For one; it is past shift time and I really want to witness his face when he gets promoted.' I'll just give it to him tomorrow when everyone's here', I thought.

Now I'm well aware that my car isn't exactly the best site for sore eyes, I'll be the first to admit that, but it was my dream car and it was the first real big purchase I ever made as an adult. My glorious, yellow Volkswagen Beetle. She's seen better days that for sure, but she means a lot to me and a couple of bumps and scratches isn't going to make me trade her in. Ever.

I grew up in Mormont, Georgia. A small county that no one has heard of and when people ask where I'm from I'm always met with the same look. In Mormont everybody knows everybody. It's a tight-knit community with no secrets. When word got out the resident widow had adopted 3 girls from the now shut down orphanage, the community was sent into a frenzy.

The same woman who was framed for burning down her old farmhouse that her husband happened to be still asleep in, was now going to be a mother of 3 very different daughters.

Without my mom I wouldn't even be here today, I would be how I am today. Mom adopted me when I was 4 years old, and even at a young age, I know that something about me was different from the other kids at kindergarten. Kids would come and leave joyfully holding the hands of their parents whitest they rambled on about what we did that day. I would leave on a bus with a woman who didn't really care enough to remember my name, looking after me in the centre was just a 9 to 5 for her and she got to go home to her family without a care in the world. I will never forget the day I was called down to the main office.

Believing that I had done something wrong, I reluctantly climbed down the creaking bunk beds steps. Looking around the room, I'm met with many stares, some glaring, some shaking their heads. I was in a room surround by judgemental toddlers.

I've never been called down to the office before. I've seen others been called down and they never come back. Tommy told me that Glenda, the houses mistress, feeds them to the two-headed man in the attic. I never believed him, knowing that he only wanted to scare me but now I'm not so sure. 'I don't want to be eaten', I thought.

One step at a time, I slowly make my way down the wooden steps that despite my lightweight still shriek under my shoes. Before I reach the bottom of the stairs, I'm met by the glorious Glenda. Her lopsided, spectacles clawed eyes boring down at me, 'Come,' she said before spinning around and heading to the room she just walked out from, 'There's someone here to see you."

'Someones here to see me? But I don't know anybody' I thought to myself as I follow behind the women with a newfound spring in my step.

"Mason this is Charlotte, she'd like to adopt you."

I guess you could say that's when I knew. When I first land my eyes on hers, I felt something that then in my short 4 years of life had never felt before, safe. Fast forward 22 years and that feeling had never left. Like the light of an eternal flame, that shine behind my mom's eyes never left, never even flickered. It's a constant reminder, I knew it when I was 4 years old and I still know it now at 26, that home isn't found in a physical building but instead found in those you surround yourself with.

No matter how hard I try, I will never be able to fully express my gratitude towards my mother. She gave me a chance and took me into her home with open arms. She says 'Thats what mothers do' and that might be true but she didn't have too. That's just the type of person she is. A heart of gold, a heart that is far too big for this world. She might not be my birth mother but in my opinion no one could do better, I don't know what I did in a past life to deserve the right to call her my mother, all I know is that I'm forever thankful for that.

Cora, or Corey, my sweet baby sister. The best way to describe her would be prissy. A real drama queen but strong-minded. When it comes to Corey no mountain is too high. Basically it's Corey's world and we're all just live in it. I take deep pride in telling her that she was an ugly baby and I'm not telling any lies. One look at her baby pictures sends a shiver down your spine.

She's your basic stressed college student who believes that the world will end if she fails to hand in one essay on time, but has no problem with partying the night before a big exam. Beginning to understand what type of person Corey is?

Then there's Ally. The big sister, my big sister. I remember growing up and always wanting to be like her when I grew up, I thought she was the coolest person in the world. She shaved off her hair when she was 18 and me and my 8-year-old self desired to do the same. Mom was mortified and kids at school did laugh at me for a while but I didn't care, I wanted to be like my sister, buzz cut and all.

As I grew up however I realised something, Ally had a darkness inside her. When I was younger I never noticed, I always saw her acts for rebellion as inspiration for my own mischief but as I got older and matured, she never. She always stayed the same. It some cases that's a good thing if you're a good person that is. I never believed my sister to be a bad person, more troubled than anything. I think why you get to the age of 36 and still rebel against your mother like an edgy teenager somethings not right.

Ally thinks the world is constantly against her, that the whole world is testing her, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I was the first to know she was pregnant, she didn't tell me herself but the positive stick sitting in the bathroom bunker was a big give away. I've seen her anger a handful of times and more often than not it consumes her, her anger is her own worse enemy and that day I meet the worst of it. There was a lot of screaming and hitting, and things being thrown in my direction. Luckily enough no one else was home when all this happened, but it was quite hard to explain why I had a black eye and Ally had burst knuckles. I lied, that's what I did.

'I got jumped,' it was the best I could come up with at the time. I made up a story of me being mugged and Ally saving the day. Mom barked up a storm, ask question after question, and I was slowly running out of ideas for my action sequence. That was until Ally spoke up,

'I'm going away for a while,' she said placing her fork down on her barely touched the plate, 'Work,' she replied to the looks that were sent her way. I refused to meet her eyes but I knew fine well that she was staring at me in particular, that didn't stop me from listening though.

'Oh, well for how long?,' Mom asked swirling around her glass of wine, 'A couple of months.'

'And what work relate thing causes you to be away for a couple of months?' Corey spoke up, her eyes never leaving Ally's as though to challenge her, 'The companies looking for a new manager, I thought I would try and run for it. It is more money,' she spoke trying to convince not only Cora but our reluctant mother too. Reluctant and our mom isn't two words that I would put together, she's a keen believer of 'if you want it, go and get it', but not when it comes to Ally.

'It seems like a good opportunity,' mother said honestly, nodding her head at her oldest daughter, 'seems like bullshit,' I muttered under my breath causing my mom to kick my shin from under the table, only to be faced with the stern stare of my mom.

'Language Mason' sternly spoke our mom making Cora laugh slightly at the use of my full real name.

'I'm just saying, she seems to go on a lot of these trips and comes back empty-handed every time, sorry for having some doubt.'

'That's enough Cora,' Mom said not breaking eye contact with her youngest who is sitting across the dinner table from her, 'yeah whatever, can I be excused?' Before she could get an answer she was already on her feet marching out the room.

Nodding sadly, mom looked around the table at the remaining 2, 'Macy, darling,  you've barely touched your dinner.'

Meeting her eyes, 'I had a big lunch,' the lies pouring out my mouth at this point.

The rest of the dinner that night was filled with awkward silence. The sound of the chair next to me scraping against the old hardwood floor breaks my concentrated gaze on my plate. Ally's hard duty boots marching out of the room and storming up the stairs.

My mom let out a sigh and placed her fork on her now empty plate, looking up at the only remaining daughter at the table. Flashing my mom a small smile, taking a sip of my now lukewarm water, "You make good spaghetti mom"

"Go check on her for me please," she practical begged, her voice suggesting nothing but defeat, "She never talks to me anymore."

'I'm probably the last person she wants to see," is what I wanted to say to my mom, but looking at my mother with her head in her hands at the thought of my troubled older sister broke my heart.

Before taking the dreaded walk up the stairs and to the door at the end of the hall, I placed a hand on my mom's shoulder, squeezing in reassurance.

'Everything will be okay.' I thought to myself.

Knocking on the door, only to receive no reply, 'I know you're in there,' I said continuously knocking on the oak door. Getting bored with being ignored, I did the brave and open the forbidden door, Ally's bedroom door.

Ally's bedroom is something, I don't know what that something is but it screams Ally. It's dishevelled yet bland, perfect for Ally I guess. Nothing but a set of drawers with half the handles missing, piles of dirty washing sitting in the corner of her room that will probably stay there for weeks, and a chipped dark wood bed. And then there's Ally, who is currently packing a bag.

'There is no business trip is there?' I asked even though I fine well knew the answer already. Throwing the last of her clothes in the bag, she stares me dead in the eye from her position at the bottom of her bed, 'I have to get out of here.'

Walking further into her room as she walks back to her drawers closing them loudly, 'Promise me one thing,' I asked looking out the window at the deserted street. Hearing no noise for behind me I continued, 'That we'll get to meet them one day,'

'I can't promise you that,' turning round to stare at her in confusion, 'what you're never coming back?' I asked softly shaking my head at the idea of her leave and never returning. Ally goes away a lot but she always comes back. We might not be as close as we use to be when I was younger but it's a comfort to know that she's here with us.

She just looked at me not speaking yet her glances spoke a thousand words. I didn't know silence could get any quieter but I was proven wrong in that moment. It was as though the whole world stopped spinning, it was like the world ended right and then. Shaking my head at my sister mentality, my heartbreaking even at the thought of what she wanted to do, 'Oh,' was the only response I muster up as I move to sit at the edge of the bed, my legs suddenly feeling like jello.

Rubbing my hands over my eyes and tugging at my hair, trying to get all my thoughts to settle down. The feel of a hand softly holding my shoulder caught my attention. Looking down at me was my sister, my big sister, that I wanted with every fibre of my being to be like when I grew up. But people change, and Ally surely did. That moment made me realise something, Ally never changed. No, she was always the same. It was me who changed, I was just too young to realise.

The day that Ally left, a part of myself left with her, and that necessarily wasn't a bad thing. No, she took the naive part with her. The sense that everything was okay now, that everything was perfect now because I had a family. Sometimes families go through rough patches and for some reason ours was never-ending.

Shaking my head, snapping myself out of my thoughts, focussing once more on my journey home. I love county lanes, there the best to drive on. You can go as fast as you want and when you go over a little hill you get those silly butterflies in the pit of your stomach. My family hates driving with me on these roads. Apparently I'm too careless when it comes to driving, I argue that I'm not careless I'm just used to acting like I'm in the Fast and Furious movies.

Speaking of radical driving, I hit the breaks slowly once I spot what's up ahead. A car parked sporadically in the middle of the lane, but that's not what's got me confused. There are people, a headcount of about ten, all banging their hands lazily on the windows of the car, smearing their faces over the glass.

Cutting the engine, leaning over to the car pocket reaching for my emergency gun, I slowly stalk my way out of the car. Holding the gun with both hands at the ground, the safety still on as I make my way closer but not too close.

"Hey, what are you guys doing, what's the problem-" my voice slowly losing its confidence as the figures around the car turn to face me and begin to walk drunkenly towards me. The noise they make doesn't sound too good, the air now filled with grunts and groans, the sounds of pain. I noticed a couple not paying me any mind, to busy eating something. Oh.

Realising exactly what I'm witnessing. Those are the sick people that has the world on edge. A group of them a coming right towards me. Raising my gun and flipping the safety off, I take aim, "Don't come any closer, I'll shoot," I announce not really wanting to have to shoot them. I might as well not have spoken, they just keep pushing, stumbling over one another as they inch closer.

Lining up, setting my sights on one, in particular, a middle-aged man, a civilian, I shoot one shot into his left leg. Nothing. A slight knockback at most but he's still alive. Trying again, I aim for his chest and the same happened again. Lastly shooting the head, that's what does it. He's down.

That one alone took up to much time, I have another 8 headed my way and I only have a limited amount of bullets. The odds were not in my favour, that much was clear. Making a dash for my car, hastily ripping my keys from my pocket. Silence.

"Come on don't fail me now!" I said through gritted teeth. Shoving the keys into the engine once more and twisting. Sounds of my struggle echo throughout the car as I feel the nonexistent sweat beginning to build as my breath becomes hot with frustration. Now as good a point as any to point out that I have 3 broken windows, no thanks to Cora. Not broken as in they don't go down, oh no, they don't go up. I mean how one single girl breaks 3 windows is beyond me. Honestly, it didn't bother me that much to begin with, it gives my car character. Right now though it's a different story.

If my internal panic with my car not starts wasn't enough, then maybe those things reaching their grimy hands in my car are. Before I knew it my car was surrounded by the creatures, some toppling over the bonnet of my car, others pushing their hands through my half-cracked down windows. I feel the lazy touch of the fingers brushing against my shoulders and hair causing my entire body to shiver.

"Please" I beg over the sounds of the deathly groans and screams. Turning the key again with my sweaty hands, my body shaking in fear of what's to come. As though Jumpstarted, my car roars to life. The sound of my own engine has never sounded so delightful and I should honestly appreciate it more.

Not caring for speed limits, I push the pedal to the metal. The shrieking of my tires scraping on the hard concrete leaving evidence of my wheels spinning. Pushing through the moss pit of things before my car wasn't as hard as it sounds, even though they look like dead weight, they are quite easy to redirect.

Speeding my car a distance away for the scene, next to the car they were previously attacking, before I slow to a stop again, looking in my rearview mirror. They're following me. Looking to my left, I see the beaten car. Curdling blood dripping from the passenger seat window with loose pieces of straggling hair stuck to the wing mirror. Leaning over slightly I see a few fingers laying on the ground. Holding back my gag, I look back up into the car, only to be met with a figure. A hard to distinguish figure. Completely devoured and unrecognisable. Those rabid animals shredded these poor souls face to shreds with any features now ruined.

Shaking my head at the sounds of the things coming closer to my car again, I slowing start moving, only to hit the breaks instantly as a thought came to my head. Looking in my rearview mirror again at the car, tears begin to build in my eyes. A mustard Ford Fiesta. That's the car. That's her car. My cheeks slightly soaked, my hands shaking once again as I roughly grab the roots of my hair. Having enough, I swat away the tears that are trailing down my cheeks, nose scrunched up as I try my hardest not to look back again. I didn't.

Driving down that road, the road that usually fills me with overwhelming joy, felt different this time around. It felt darker. The road that I knew ultimately leads me to home is beginning to feel like a drag. It's a road that I never want to drive down again because the only thought that I can think of now is: it's my fault.

[sambinnie]

1. On bank holiday Monday I woke two of the housemates at 4.15am, and we made a pan of hot chocolate and opened the door to hear the dawn chorus. One of them sensibly remained on a chair in the garden, insulated against the early May morning with a duvet and blanket and thick onesie; the other walked out with me, into the dark, and we tramped the streets together, along the silent pavements, towards the river and fields.

We discovered that a large ivy-covered tree is home to a bat colony, members of which flapped silently about our heads in their haste to return before full dawn. A cuckoo was audible across the water. A starling clicked its beak and jittered up and down the branch. The housemate called me a boomer.

Of all the odd things I miss from last year, it’s the silence of the roads that is the greatest loss. At 6 o’clock in the morning there would be almost no traffic at all; now the birds are almost drowned out by the constant roar, even some distance away. Whether it’s hormones or poor emotional processing or a rational reaction to a damaged world, I feel angry at the traffic. I’m not saying it would necessarily be a 100% smooth process, but I do wish the world could be run by peri-menopausal, menopausal and post-menopausal women for a year or two. Just to see.

2. I am still obsessed with Orlando Wood’s short book Lemon (I was banging on about it back in February), and am so grateful to have so many people in my life who care about those same ideas. We’re in a left-brain cycle of culture at the moment, he explains: the left brain has a tendency to “isolate parts from the whole and to see them in the abstract… It likes to break things up into smaller parts, to categorise, and therefore favours the familiar, consistency, repeatability and predictability”. It also “prefers to see things in terms of simple and linear cause and effect. It prizes utility, power and control, and its ability to abstract and isolate things from their context enables it to manipulate the world”. What’s that you say? Wider cultural discourse and rights of individual groups, inability to have dialogues about, you say? Mmm. 

My favourite part of the book is when Wood breaks down two adverts: Heineken’s ‘Water in Majorca’ from 1985, and GoDaddy’s 2018 ‘Make Your Own Way’ ad. Remember that? No, me neither. ‘Make Your Own Way’ is full of colourful images, isolated people, or tiled with images of themselves to make a ‘conveyer belt’ effect, and clean-face words which could be applied to almost any product or company (watch it to cure your insomnia/trigger a panic attack); everything is buzzword-y, inspirational, keynote, statement, unilateral, and utterly, utterly devoid of humour, humanity, or engagement. 

One of the most striking things about Wood’s ad breakdown is that, once you’ve read it, you can’t stop noticing how in, say, three ad breaks within an hour-long programme, there might be one advert at most which doesn’t fit this left-brain pattern. Adverts for products as diverse as cars, period reusables, white goods, clothing catalogues, insurance, snack food, and supermarkets all, to some extent or another, fit the mould: bright images, little human connection, bland Instagram visuals, large slogans, spoken-wordlessness (better for the global market), a vague puff of do-gooding, and absolutely no wit at all. The only one I’ve seen recently attempting anything different is Maltesers, about a breastfeeding mother and her mother-in-law, which I admired for the milk-leak and loathed for the Hahahaha, aren’t women awful to each other?.

It’s draining to imagine the flat meetings and endless audience segmentation that enabled this ad trend: this sector engages on social media in the evenings and this demographic prefers a friendly looking home and our audience here is more about food as a pleasure. I’m loathe to break it to them, but for all that laser-focused research you are all making the same ads. And as Wood exposes so brilliantly, those ad campaigns are costing more and more to receive less and less engagement. Congrats, lads. 

3. Speaking of left- and right-brain world views, as so often happens this episode of Hidden Brain popped up serendipitously, with the wonderful host Shankar Vedantam interviewing Iain McGilchrist about his 2010 book The Master and His Emissary. It’s just over 45 minutes and is worth every second — McGilchrist is so clear and insightful about how to tell what type of brain is leading at any given time, what we lose in a left-brain society, and what we need to do about it. (I went back and checked and only then saw the book is in Lemon’s bibliography. Bliss.) 

4. For various reasons, a small toilet room here has been stuffed with balloons for the last week. It’s absolutely staggering both how not one of us thought to remove the balloons, instead bobbling through them to reach the facilities at any given hour of night or day, and also how immensely relaxing it is to go in there since they’ve been removed and humanely destroyed (I assume). It’s A Squash and a Squeeze in action, a life philosophy I cling to pretty robustly and find pays dividends. A housemate pointed out recently that whenever they are travelling in my car, they play a game to see if they can ever see another car in worse condition, and they say they never, ever can. It’s the Squash and a Squeeze philosophy that, in part, enables me to drive the dented, rusting, bubbled, scratched, lichen-furred, beloved piece of garbage I do, having previously had no driving license for almost two years after my seizure. It’s such a delight to drive any car at all. 

5. We’re rewatching Ghosts, which of course I recommend, and I suddenly realised that the Captain (Ben Willbond) is the speaker of possibly my favourite newspaper-based gag in the entire run of The Thick of It. Please watch all of Ghosts and all of The Thick of It, then perhaps The Death of Stalin? All thoroughly excellent, and the latter two contain my favourite kind of Muriel’s Wedding-type comedy, where I am tearfully wheezing with laughter one moment, then gaping with discomfited horror the next. 

6. I made Nigel Slater’s cardamom-spiced rice pudding this weekend, (although I times everything by 1.5 except the rice, which I up to 200g) and it was as good as always, if I say so myself. Cardamom, like capers, coriander, and pistachios, is an ingredient I’ve only come to love as an adult — I often long to make cardamom buns but am in such an emotionally entangled relationship with my sourdough starter that I never have yeast in the house, so have to rely on my favourite local coffee shop for a hit every now and again. If someone wedges themselves against the fridge door this weekend, I might attempt these. 

[ichigolden]

Pity Party HanaNene

Let's just say that Nene had envisioned her first week at university a bit differently. She had also expected to be run over by princely figures. At her first party as a university student, she doesn't find a prince, but a wolf instead.

University AU

In the first week of her first semester at university Nene Yashiro put up with a lot. She moved into the dorm that she shared with her best friend, Aoi Akane. She also endured the many love confessions said best friend would receive every day. And she suffered through the disappointment of not having found a boyfriend yet. It has always been her dream to find a prince-like boyfriend who would adore her and care for her - not that it was that realistic, she's been told. Apparently a girlfriend with swollen ankles - it's what she told people nowadays, her ankles have always been fat - wasn't exactly on everyone's bucket list. Nene liked to think it didn't bother her so much anymore and that her self-worth should come from her achievements, but she still ended up looking at herself in the mirror and wondering whether white knee-high socks made her ankles look fatter than black socks. She was pondering exactly that when Aoi knocked on her door and entered without waiting for Nene to ask her to. "Nene-chan! Did you hear, there- are you looking at your ankles again?" Aoi stopped dead in her tracks on her way over to her self-conscious friend. Nene turned around and sheepishly scratched the back of her head. "Yeah... I guess I am. I just can't help it, Aoi-chan. I wish I had slender legs like you", she sighed. Of course Nene was envious of her friend's nice legs. Aoi had been the most popular girl at school and it didn't look like that status would change at university, either. "Oh, Nene-chan... You have plenty of other really good features about you." Aoi walked over to her friend in front of the mirror. She stood behind her and lifted Nene's hair. Then she let it fall and it glided through her fingers in a grey and teal wave. She also gently lifted Nene's arms to show her what slender arms she had. "Look at you, Nene-chan. You have gorgeous hair, a great figure, and an adorable face. Why would you dwell on an insult from a pubescent boy who's been looking at too many porn magazines?" Nene giggled and turned to Aoi. With her gentle hands she went to hug her friend. "Yeah... yeah, you're right. Thanks, Aoi-chan" Both looked at each other and Nene wanted to say something sentimental but Aoi was a second faster. "Right! I almost forgot why I even came here!", she yelled and pulled at her purple locks, "There's a party tonight! It's gonna be full of other students. Maybe even prince-like boys?" Nene looked at her as if she had just hit her with a pan. "Aoi, no. This week was crazy and now you want me to attend a party? People will laugh about my ankles!", she cried and sat on her nicely made bed. Aoi sighed, moved a bunch of plush figures aside and sat next to her hopeless friend. "Okay, look. Akane and Lemon really wanna go, and I kinda wanna go too. I don't think I'd be okay if he and Yamabuki decided to get together for real this time", she muttered and looked at her nails. "Eh? Aoi-chan, could it be? Are you jealous?", Nene giggled with a knowing expression on her face. In an instant, Aoi's face became a dark red colour which struck Nene as a) proof of her feelings for Akane, and b) unhealthy. "I can't marry him! I can't be Aoi Aoi, that's stupid!", Aoi burst out, slamming one of Nene's beloved plush figures on the bed. She looked darkly at Nene who had started giggling before she began laughing at her friend. "I think", Nene gasped for air, "You should take it slow and see how it goes." "Ugh, whatever! Come on, let's get all dolled up for tonight!"

Hours went by. Everyone who passed the girls' room heard the happiest giggling they'd ever hear in a student dorm. The girls spent their evening painting each other's nails and fixing their hair. In the end, both of them looked way too good for a freshman party. When Akane and Lemon knocked on their door, they started yelling in panic before Nene jumped on her feet and ripped open the door. Both boys looked at her, looked at each other, shrugged, and greeted her. "Hi Nene! You look nice!", Lemon said and lifted his hand. Nene blushed a bit and beamed at them while she thanked Lemon and let them in. "Ah, Aoi! Please go out with me!" When she turned she saw Akane kneeling in front of a blushing Aoi who sprayed some hairspray on her hair. She was dressed in a black ruffled skirt and a pink blouse that complimented the blush on her face perfectly. She sharply inhaled the hairspray when she noticed Akane to her feet and promptly started coughing. "Yeah, how about we just go?", Lemon said and facepalmed.

When the group arrived at the party, Nene was massively done with her life. Akane was even worse than usual. Because there would be many rivals, as he put it, he'd have to keep an especially close eye on Aoi. Lemon just tagged along wherever Akane went who went wherever Aoi went. Nene sighed, this would be a very long evening if she couldn't find anyone to talk to. Aoi seemed to be very preoccupied and she wanted to give her the chance to maybe give Akane a chance. After all, she had been rooting for him and his undying love for her. She thought it was very romantic and charming, and wished someone would love her like that, too. Deep in her thoughts she stumbled along to the definitely spiked punch. She took one of the prefilled glasses and turned to make space for the next person. The next person happened to stand exactly where Nene was going and she walked right into his chest. Startled she backed away and almost walked into yet another person. The boy in front of her grabbed her hand and pulled her a step closer so she wouldn't actually hit another. "Ah, I'm so sorry!", she said quickly, not daring to look at the boy, "And also, thank you!" She wanted to quickly flee and drink more than just that one glass to forget her embarrassing first party at university. Nene had only taken a step when the mysterious stranger stood in her way again. "Can I have your name before you go?", she heard him say with a melodious voice. Finally she dared to look up. The boy in front of her was a bit taller than she was in her heels. His black hair was tousled and looked a bit like a bed head. "Eh?", she only said and blankly stared at him. This guy was so not her type. "Ah, sorry! I'm Amane Yugi", he quickly added and grinned at her. Oh well, Nene thought. She wanted company, anyone would do, right? "I'm Nene Yashiro", she smiled back at him. He gestured for them to make space for others and led her to the wall where many people were standing and talking. "Are you a freshman, too?", Nene tried to feed the conversation. Small talk has never been a strength of hers. The boy looked blankly at her before breaking out yet another grin. She had a feeling she'd see many of his grins this evening. Somehow she really didn't mind, he seemed to be quite upbeat, at least. Nothing could be worse than a killjoy at her first party at university. "Yeah, actually I am. My major is aerospace engineering", Amane said happily while pointing to the NASA print on his shirt. He looked really proud of himself for making that connection. Nene couldn't help but smile. "I'm a literature major", she offered, a bit offended that he didn't ask her himself. Oh well, he probably forgot? He seemed like the type of guy to forget manners. "Did you come here with friends?", she asked. The grin on his face faded. "Um, I came with my twin brother, but he left me, like, 3 hours ago. I was scared I'd have to spend the evening alone so I'm super glad I found you!", he answered. The smile crept back on his face as he looked at her. He was intrigued by her. Her hair glistened in the weirdly coloured light and her red eyes dared him to try and come closer. He was pretty sure she wasn't as docile as she tried to appear. Her skirt was short and tight and her heels were the tiniest bit too high for him to think of her as docile and quiet. "Aw", she sighed, " I can relate! I came with my friends from school but since my best friend is a men magnet I kind of lost them. I thought I could go and drown my sorrow in alcohol but luckily I bumped into you!" Nene took a sip to give her words a truth factor but the punch was more like straight vodka with a bit of punch flavour and she made a face. Amane looked at his drink, took a sip, and shrugged. "Here", he offered and exchanged her glass with his, "I think you got a prefilled one there. I saw them mess up the alcohol ratio. Mine isn't as strong. If you don't mind indirect kisses." He grinned at her and she felt like she was looking at a wolf in sheep's clothing. Oh, how smooth, how actually nice of him. Blushing, she took a sip from Amane's glass and looked at him. Sheepishly he looked away with a hand in his neck. She wasn't sure whether he was blushing really hard as well or if it was this coloured light tinting the whole room in a soft red. He turned back to her and leaned onto the wall. She actually took his bait. Wow. She definitely wasn't as much of a good girl as she tried to look like. Her eyes sparkled, a bit unsure maybe, but defiant and strong. He couldn't help his heart skip a beat when he looked into her eyes. "How nice of you, Yugi-kun", she cooed with a sly grin on her face. Well, maybe he wasn't her type, but who cares, right? She couldn't deny the attraction she felt towards him. Nene had only known him for a few minutes but she was sure she'd be thinking about him all night and possibly all of the nights she had left. She took a look at him again. He was leaning on the wall and she admired his broad shoulders. When he caught her staring he winked at her, a flash of gold and sunset in her mind. Nene gasped and leaned closer to him. "You have really pretty eyes!", she blurted out and grabbed his arm to tug his head lower so she could take a closer look. Amane blushed the deepest red that definitely wasn't caused by the reddish lighting. "My, Nene-chan, have you already found your prince?" Aoi was standing in front of them, holding onto Akane's arm. Lemon was nowhere to be seen. Embarrassed, Nene backed away from Amane and let him go. "Aoi-chan! What a coincidence to see you here!", she laughed hysterically and waved with her free arm. Aoi's sly face was scaring her a bit. "Ah, right, may I introduce you to A-Amane Yugi?", she half yelled and pointed at him, "His major is aerospace engineering! Isn't that cool? Aoi-chan?" Nene's rambling ended and she looked between all of them frantically. Oh, how embarrassing. Couldn't they have butted in when they were talking normally? No, of course not, it was just Nene's luck. Next to her Amane stirred and waved to greet her friends. "Hey everyone. I guess you're her friends?", he said, smiling a very docile smile. Oh, she thought, he is quite the actor. No one would see him for the wolf he is. "Yeah, I'm Aoi, this is Akane", Aoi said, slowly turning away from the beet red Nene, who would've loved to hide her face. Akane nodded at Amane who returned the gesture. "We actually went to fetch Nene so we could play some truth or dare. Care to tag along?" Nene didn't miss the mischievous sparkle in her friend's eyes. Please, she thought, say no, Amane. Don't get caught up in her games. But Amane shrugged. "Sure, if you don't mind me?" Oh my god, Nene yelled inside. Amane didn't notice her inner turmoil and grinned at her. Yeah, Nene thought, what else would he do but grin at her?

They were all sitting in a circle on the floor, avoiding the little puddles of spilled punch. Aoi had made sure that Amane sat across from Nene. Amane tried looking at Nene to encourage her but eye contact seemed to fluster her even more, so he gave up. Nene was using up as little space as she could and clutched her drink between both hands. Aoi sat right next to her, a mean sparkle in her eyes. Of course Aoi loved Nene like a sister but she couldn't resist teasing her when it came to boys. "Alright, next!", someone yelled and spun the bottle. Because Nene has never had any luck, the bottle stopped pointing at her. Aoi let out a delighted squeal. "Truth or dare?", she cooed and looked intently at Nene. "Tru-", Nene started, hoping to avoid the worst, but was rudely interrupted by Aoi. "Dare? Okay. I dare you to...", she began, scanning the circle of playing students until her eyes landed on Amane. A sinsiter smile spread on her lovely face which sent shivers down Nene's spine. "I dare you", Aoi repeated all high and mighty, "to spend seven minutes in the closet with Yugi-kun!" In one gulp, Nene downed her drink and slammed the glass on the floor. She couldn't look at Amane, who received encouraging pats on his back accompanied by jealous looks. He had a sheepish and shy expression and did his best to keep it that way. Amane tried to look as relaxed as he could as he got up and opened the door to the tiniest (and fullest!) closet he has ever seen. Just his luck, getting to be super close to the cute girl he had just met. He was high-fiving himself mentally. Nene was horrified and also got up, trudging in his direction. Aoi dared to give her a slap on the butt and make a kissy face. Nene's look could have killed an army instantly and Aoi sat back down cautiously. She made the mistake of looking at Amane who was holding open the door for her to enter first. His eyes had taken on the colour of molten gold and she didn't miss how strongly he gripped the door. Ah well, she thought, that means I'm not the only one who's nervous. But in fact, Amane wasn't only nervous, but exhilarated as well. The door closed after them and Nene fumbled to find the light switch. Her fingers found  a shoulder, a neck, and a head before they finally grasped the cord switch. The instant she could see him, she pulled at the cord to make it dark again. They were standing chest to chest, encircled by beverage crates. If she looked straight ahead she was met with the upper half of the NASA print on Amane's shirt just a few inches away from her face. Amane chuckled and she could almost feel his chest rise against hers. "What was that?", he asked, still gently laughing. His fingers slid up her arm, found her hand, and tugged at it to turn on the light again. Nene was looking away, blushing furiously. In this light he could actually see the blush for what it was. It was a bit like waking up for him, to be able to see her in real colours and not tinted in red light. Nene murmured something, too quiet for him to hear. "What did you say?", he asked and leaned closer without thinking. Nene turned to repeat herself but stopped when their noses almost met. Abruptly Amane straightened and looked away. Okay, alright, he thought, he sure got into quite the dangerous situation here. Nene cleared her throat. "I'm sorry", she repeated as composed as she could, "It's my fault. Aoi goes crazy when it's about a boy and me. Sorry to ruin your night like this, Yugi-kun." Amane turned back to her. "Amane." "Huh?" "Please call me Amane, okay?", he said, and added after a second: "I mean, I've never been so close to a girl before so it would be stupid if she called me by my last name, don't you think?" Nene nodded. "Then call me Nene, okay?", she beamed up at him and he returned the smile. "Oi!", someone - definitely Aoi, Nene thought - banged their fist on the door and yelled: "I don't hear anything but talking! I'm gonna reset the clock to seven minutes again!" "Oh my god", Nene sighed and hid her face in her hands, "I'm so sorry!" Amane started laughing softly, set his arm on a crate next to him and rested his head on his hand. "I have a feeling it's not gonna get boring with you. I like that." Nene looked at him. Her bashful expression made him melt a bit. She fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "We don't have to, you know, do anything", he told her with a small smile on his face. "Yeah, I guess... I mean we already indirectly kissed so what's the deal, right", she rambled hysterically. "Oh, if that's the case", he said with a blank expression and leaned closer to her again. "On second thought!", she burst out and he started laughing. "It was a joke", he reassured her, but didn't miss the second of disappointment on her face. His expression grew soft and Nene couldn't help but stare at the everchanging colour of his eyes. "You're totally my type", he confessed and grinned at her sheepish expression. "Well, you", Nene started and took a deep breath, "You are kinda my type too..." Amane had meant to tease Nene, but somehow he played himself. He was torn inside. On one hand, he really wanted to kiss her, but on the other hand, he didn't so she wouldn't think of him as a player or someone shallow. "By the way", he tried changing the topic, "I thought it was hilarious how you downed that drink back there. I'll get you a new one later, okay? I somehow feel responsible." Nene giggled. Oh right, she had done that earlier. "Oh well, I couldn't help it", she said, slightly bouncing on her feet. She was swinging around, coming closer to Amane and then moving away again. It was driving him insane. How yould she move so much in a space as small as this godforsaken closet? She bounced especially lively against a tower of crates that started wobbling dangerously. Amane slapped a hand on the crates to keep them from falling on both of them, leaning over Nene to secure the crates again. She sunk down and made herself as small as she could, but Amane had to strain and push himself up with one hand next to her head. When he was done he settled back on his feet and noticed how red Nene's face was. "Sorry", he whispered. She looked up at him and shook her head. "Thank you! I don't think a bruise would've made my first week of university that much better", she grinned up at him. He returned her smile. "Yeah, I guess that's true", he said, and added: "Do you maybe wanna get some coffee together?" A date? This would be her first date ever. She shyly nodded. "Awesome" When she looked at him, he had that wolfish expression again. "I'd really like to kiss you", he suddenly said, surprising himself. He told himself it was definitely the alcohol he had taken from Nene earlier. She blushed a deep red and couldn't quite believe her ears. This guy, who was kinda her type, whom she had known about an hour now, was flirting with her. His face was dusted pink, just like her's, when they heard Aoi yell: "You've got a minute left!" Nene flinched and, before her brain could take back the command, threw her arms around Amane's neck. "It's gonna be my first kiss, though", Nene confessed and tugged him a bit closer. Amane's heart did a somersault and he leaned down, carefully setting his hands around her waist. "That's okay", he whispered, his face barely an inch from her's, "You're my first kiss, too." And with that their lips met for a sweet and gentle kiss. Amane didn't know what to do with his hands so he linked them at the small of her back. His brain didn't really work and he was sure it wasn't just the alcohol. He was also sure that somehow he must've been the luckiest guy on earth, getting to spend fourteen minutes in the tiniest closet with the cutest girl ever. And apparently, she liked him, too. She definitely wasn't your typical good girl, he was sure of it now. Nene felt his terribly soft hair under her fingers and couldn't resist playing with it a bit. She could feel him relax into her touch and she felt him tug her closer, making them stand with their chests touching. It was like a dream for her. Maybe this wasn't the prince-like boyfriend she had waited for. Maybe she wasn't Cinderella, waiting for a prince. Maybe she was Red Riding Hood, falling in love with the wolf. They parted and Amane rested his forehead on hers. They looked at each other, both clearly embarrassed but smiling nontheless. "I think I just fell in love", Amane confessed and chuckled. "Wait 'till you get to know her for real before you go telling her that", they heard someone speak. Nene and Amane burst apart with a start, nearly knocking down a bunch of crates. She was hiding her face in her hands to avoid seeing Aoi and the others. Lemon, who apparently was the one who had opened the door, grinned at them. Aoi was making joyful leaps, hugging Akane in delight. Amane took a look at the people outside, then at Nene, who was looking at him through her fingers. Then he grinned at Lemon and the others, grabbed the handle of the door and pulled it shut again. Hysteric squealing and cheering could be heard from outside, but Amane stroked Nene's hair away from her face. She was still blushing like crazy but couldn't help the big smile that was creeping onto her face. "I'd rather stay in here with you", he confessed, grinning that wolf in sheep's clothing grin she had come to love. "Yeah, me too", she smiled sweetly and pulled him down for another kiss.

If you liked it, please leave a comment on archiveofourown <3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22818097

[jimlingss]

Chess of Ice 3 [Finale]

Read the Original 

Read the Sequel

➜ Words: 14.9k

➜ Genres: 70% Fluff, 30% Angst, Sports!AU

➜ Summary: Jeon Jungkook is a star, aka. a valued member of one of the best mixed curling teams in the world. He has everything he could’ve ever asked for and more — a family in the sport that he’s grown to love, his beloved girlfriend whom he adores, and the fact that made it. He’s finally here at the Olympics. All his dreams have been fulfilled. But when he comes face to face with the people of the past, he comes to question if this what he imagined his dreams to be like.

➜ Warnings: implied smut

He keeps himself going.   The roars pierce through his muffled hearing, the audience going wild. The coldness of the ice wafts over, making the air frigid. His breath is seen each time he exhales, cheeks becoming rosy in the cold. He can’t feel anything, not his hands or the tip of his nose. The edges of his fingers tingle, mind tickling pleasantly. This is where he’s meant to be, where he worked so hard to get to.   The neon lights are flashing, reminding him of strobe lights at a club and it blinds his vision completely, but Jungkook welcomes it. The cheers are loud in the stadium, echoing in every corner and leaving no space untouched with sound. The music is deafening as well and he feels like a world famous superstar stepping out like this. There’s so much going on that Jungkook can barely focus, but he forces himself to keep walking and not freeze up on television like some idiot.   He can’t believe he’s here.   “Oh my god.” Yoonji is rapidly blinking, rendered speechless and it’s not like her to be like this.   Taehyung’s mouth has dropped to the floor, welcoming flies on the palette of his tongue. “This is amazing.”   “Wave, you guys!” You’re chirpy, grinning and jumping on the spot. The camera pans over, announcing your country over the intercom and everyone gives big waves. Yoonji jumps on top of Taehyung like she’s tackling him and she looks the happiest she’s ever been. Everyone’s laughing and waving their arms over their heads, bubbling with excitement and as eager as Jungkook is, he muses how cute everyone else is being.   The parade continues. The ice-skaters ahead are holding the country’s flag, letting the fabric flutter in the air. Jungkook keeps walking, trying to let it sink in that this was indeed the opening ceremony, that he was in Beijing, that this was the Olympics.   He knocks his head back, staring up at the stars that are almost drowned out by the lights, how there are millions of people surrounding him, how he can’t seem them all individually. Their screams are passionate, full of vigor, and everything is breathtaking. But for a moment, something catches in Jungkook’s peripheral vision, a group of guys that are familiar, that he used to know well, standing a few meters away. He looks away in a millisecond, afraid to confirm his suspicions.   Instead, Jungkook focuses on you.   “I can’t believe we’re here.”   “I know, it’s amazing, isn’t it?”   The boy has the urge to kiss your soft lips, wrap his arms around your waist, lean you back till you’re on a single foot and grabbing onto him not to fall, and he’s smothering your yelp, relishing how tightly you’d latch onto him. But he resists and reaches over to hold your hand instead.   Your palm immediately welcomes his, fingers lacing together as normal and you squeeze, coming to stand with your country.   Namjoon and Adora are standing by as well, equally enthusiastic and bursting with awe. All of you are only able to stand here after two years of top performance, shedding blood, sweat and tears. It was through hard work that you scrapped a victory at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships, coming out as the winner.    It wasn’t easy in the least bit and unfortunately, the men’s and women’s curling team got cut a few months beforehand. Another group outside of Namjoon and Adora’s coaching was representing the country instead in those categories. But they still rooted for you, some at home and others here sitting in the stadium. There was a lot of pressure to give it your best shot and while Jungkook was excited, he was scared.   Only by standing next to you are his nerves eased.   “Take a look at that,” Taehyung’s leaning over to shout above the ear-piercing music. No one can hear well, but he points to a lean figure skater from Finland standing ahead of you.   “What?” Yoonji screams above the celebratory music and building snare drum. “I can’t hear you!”   “I said take a look at that!”   “Take a load of what?!”   “Take a load of that! Wait- no, take a look!” Taehyung’s throat is straining in blood-curdling shouts, veins popping out as his face reddens. “She’s hot!”   “You’re feeling hot?! You have a fever?!” Instead of being concerned, Yoonji is pissed off like his potential illness will inhibit the team’s performance. “What the fuck!”   “No!”   Adora leans over. “Can you guys shut up?!”   Namjoon who’s standing right beside her turns his head towards her. “What?”   “I said shut up!”   “What?!”   “Shut up!” The female coach is shrieking and the ski jumpers look over at the ruckus.   “What?” This time, Namjoon accidentally lets his grin slip, making it known that he’s purposely playing dumb. Adora stands back, rolling her eyes and probably mumbling a thousand curses. In the meanwhile, Yoonji and Taehyung are still confused and Jungkook exchanges an expression with you. The pair of you burst into laughter.   Once the parade is over, everybody takes their seats and the performances continue. It’s definitely entertainment, watching skaters glide on the ice, dancing to songs while mascots coming out to greet everyone. When it’s time for the fireworks, Jungkook slings an arm around your shoulders and you cuddle into him, watching the magnificent show.   He’s proud, content. All of you finally made it.   //   It’s an unusually relaxed atmosphere. It’s simple to assume that everyone would be at their most tense, surrounded in their competitors, so close yet too far from their victory. But it’s not like that at all — for most athletes that’ve had intense lifestyles up to this point, hours of practice and restricted diets. The Olympic village is the most freedom they get.    No reporters. No family. No prying eyes.   It’s Disneyland and summer camp combined into one.   Athletes can roam however they choose without many constraints. Everyone made it this far after all, they deserve to relish in every bit of it. And it’s not like much practice can be done once you’re here. Even Adora and Namjoon are at ease, savouring this moment of paradise.    You and Yoonji take the liberty of wandering around and checking out all the facilities that are available in the village. There’s shopping centers, stores, a beauty salon and a million condom dispenser machines— “You gotta cover your stump before you hump,” Yoonji passingly comments and when you make a disgusted expression, she scoffs. “Don’t act like you and Jeon don’t go at it.”   You mumble how it’s not anyone’s business what your private relationship’s like and she gives you a look of disbelief as you enter the grand dining hall. Quickly, your attention is brought back to your surroundings and you’re amazed once more.    Yoonji, on the other hand, has eyes for something else. “Oh lord, would you take a look at that hunk over there.”   She’s not even whispering, openly ogling and she has to suck back in her saliva pooling in her mouth. Yoonji’s staring directly at the male Chinese bobsleigh team like a tigress about to pounce on a group of antelopes. They’re gathered in a group by a cafeteria table, laughing and goofing off like a normal bunch of guys, but testosterone is practically emanating off their muscular biceps, aura amplified by ten when they’re together. Everyone who likes a little dick is staring at them with half-lidded eyes, nearly bumping into pillars and chairs.    “Yoonji,” you roughly mutter her name in embarrassment. “We’re not here to window shop for guys.”   “Damn straight we’re not.” She rolls up the sleeves of her black tracksuit jacket to her elbow as if she’s about to do some laborious work. “I’m about to make a purchase.”   You ignore her. “Yoonji.”   She crosses her arms and turns to you with a scoff. “Don’t act like you’re so innocent, Miss. how-many-times-can-you-have-sex-in-a-day.”   Your entire face heats like a furnace. “I’m never letting you google anything on my phone again.”   “You should learn how to erase your history, it might help.” Yoonji is amused, wearing an endeared and humoured expression much to your dismay. But she doesn’t allow the topic to change and nudges you. “C’mon. You gotta admit there’re hunks everywhere. And you know they’re in great shape and got great bodies underneath all that clothes too.”   It’s not a myth that a lot of sexual intercourse happens at the Olympics — you’ve heard your fair share of stories and it seemed like some people were already getting a head start on it. It’s obvious with the way some are pulling others along and there are a handful who have stopped by the free condom dispenser.   “I guess….that guy seems nice.”   Yoonji follows your line of sight towards a snowboarder who caught your eye earlier at the parade. He’s lean and tall, cute face with big, doe eyes. “You got a type, don’t you, Y/N?” she muses with a smirk and scans him from his head to his toes. “But I can appreciate this. What is he? Six feet two? And what are those colours? Sweden? Damn. I bet he has a big coc—”   “What’s going on?”   The two of you are interrupted by your boyfriend who slings an arm around your shoulders.   “Hey.” Your entire face unintentionally lights up at the sight of him and he grins. Jungkook’s chest feels warm and instead of responding to you in words, he leans in to plant a chaste kiss in your lips as a greeting. It’s soft and fast, saving any real intimacy for later.   Yoonji’s nose wrinkles and she looks like she bit into a lemon. “Ugh, right in front of my salad?”   The pair of you ignore her and Jungkook looks straight ahead to see what you were both intently staring at. “What were you talking about?”   “Y/N was just saying how hot that Swedish snowboarder is.” Her chin motions to the poor, unsuspecting athlete who’s just picking out some chicken breasts at the buffet table to snack on.   “I didn’t say he was cute!” you defend. “I said he was….nice.”   “He’s a whole damn meal, you got that right.” She slyly smirks and nudges you again. “You should go talk to him.”   “What?” You’re shy, directing your vision away from the snowboarder wearing his blue and yellow tracksuit that seems all too tight in all the right places. “I’m not going to talk to him, Yoonji.”   Her brows lift. “Why not?”   Jungkook clears his throat obnoxiously loud and pulls you closer, arm still on your shoulder and now the side of your body pressing into his comfortingly. “Excuse me, I think you’re forgetting I’m standing right here.”   “No one cares about your possessiveness, Jeon. Let your girlfriend play a little. This is the Olympics for god sakes. What happens here stays here. Better yet, if you want to join in the fun so badly, just have a threesome. Don’t you want to be a little more adventurous in your relationship?”   “No, thanks,” you interrupt.   “We have all the adventure we need.” With his free arm, his hand slips into his jacket pocket and out comes two condoms between his fingers as if he’s revealing his secret weapon. Jungkook glances at you and winks, making you sheepish.   Yoonji is not impressed. “Ew, can you guys be gross somewhere else?”   “Fine by me. We’re going back to the apartment then.” Jungkook lets you lead the way, cutting through the ginormous dining hall and while he holds you close and a few seconds pass, Yoonji hears him mumble, “You really thought that dude was cute?”   Your voice is fading off but Yoonji sees your smile. “I think you’re cuter.”   Yoonji scoffs. If there was anyone disgustingly cute, it was the two of you.   Of course the both of you were too oblivious to notice how a handful of girls around are openly disappointed when they find that Jungkook has a girlfriend, and how that snowboarder you commented on was staring at you from the corner of his eye before Jungkook came along.    The female curler pushes away her jealousy and psychs herself up before sauntering to the bobsled team she chose earlier.   //   “What are you doing here?”    She is not entertained whatsoever and her spitting image scoffs. “What do you mean ‘what am I doing here’? What do you think I’m here for?”   “I don’t know. Speed skating.”   “I’m here to support my lovely sister.”   “Bullshit. You’re here to pick up chicks.”   In the midst of their banter, Taehyung’s mind is boggling as he looks back and forth between the two. They’re so similar, almost like they’re the same person or like they’re talking to their own reflection. More importantly, the intimidating aura emanates in the air and sends goosebumps all over his arms. “Hey...I think the match is starting.”   They ignore him.    You approach, clad in your uniform, tracksuit jacket in the color of your country and matching the others. “Hey, Yoongi.” You smile at him and he greets you. “How was the fight?”   “Crowded, but not bad. I’m staying at a nearby hotel.” He points off in the distance as if the walls aren’t blocking the view. “So I’ll be able to catch all your matches. Since my parents couldn’t come, I have to be the Min family representative, right?”   Yoonji scowls. “Nobody asked.”    You smile, glad she has some outside support here for her. Your own parents and Jungkook’s, as well as Taehyung’s family and his entire extended family with his millions of cousins, are probably up at the stands. Namjoon and Adora are on the lower, ready to cheer you all on.   You wonder how Yoongi managed to wander into this restricted area or if he smooth talked his way in. But there’s no time to dwell as you look off at her. “You ready?”   “Course I’m ready.”   “Let’s do this then.” Taehyung bounces on spot. “Figure skating starts in two hours and I wanna make it!”   The three of you and Jungkook step out onto the ice. Seven trials in four days, two games per day, and going against seven other teams representing their country was not going to be easy. The first game was versus Norway and luckily, they were a friendly bunch who chatted about the games last time in Seoul and how the sheet seemed bumpier than usual then.   But as nice as the atmosphere was, the pressure was still on as people cheered on passionately. It wasn’t like any other game. The stakes were much higher. And these were fans that truly cared about the sport, intense. Yoongi was also rooting loudly in the stadium, voice heard all over and making people turn around to stare. His husky voice moves up to shrill screams, sounding as if he’s being murdered, taking full advantage of the situation to embarrass his sister. It’s to the point where the cameraman has to walk over and politely ask him to be quieter.   It starts off with guard shots and they also place their own guard shots, blocking a clear direct path towards the house. “Right up! Right up! Okay. Right off!”   Yoonji and Jungkook stop sweeping. The stone bumps one of the opponents off the house and cheers erupt from the stands, applause and screams, the flag lifted in the air. “That was really good, Taehyung.”   He grins, prouder of getting a compliment from you, the skip, than from spectators. “Thanks.”   He and Jungkook switch places and you exchange a serious expression with your boyfriend, gathering close to strategize. The other team goes, doing a takeout of your stone and getting their own cheers. It’s a close match. But you and Jungkook decide to continue on your defensive strategy, and to organize a draw shot.   He gets down onto one knee, positions himself and with a deep inhale, throws the rock straight towards the target. You’re low, next to him, eyes narrowed in. “Hard! Hard! Harder!”   “C’mon, Taehyung,” Yoonji encourages.   “Got this,” he mutters back, sweeping hard with the broom and putting muscle into it. It reaches the house and you scream for them to stop. The stone halts right on the button.   There’s a whole wave of cheers and you and Jungkook exchange grins.   After eight ends, the match finishes and it’s a victory for all four of you.   Finland shakes your hand, acknowledging that it was a good play.   //   “We were so good,” Yoonji emphasizes.   Taehyung adds on, “We crushed it.”   “Yeah.” Her expanding grin dies at once, lips pursing in a tight line and her eyes drooping to be half-lidded. “So I don’t get why we have to go to the gym.”   “Just cause we won a game doesn’t mean we can let our guard down.” You drop the ten pound dumbbells back onto the rack. It doesn’t help that she’s complaining incessantly when you’re trying to do some reps. Your best friend is the opposite of a motivator. “We gotta keep in shape. And haven’t you noticed? Namjoon and Adora’s been side-eyeing the two of you for piling fried chicken on your plates during dinner.”   Taehyung pouts. “It just tastes so delicious, I can’t help myself.”   “This is supposed to be paradise.” Her little body is sweating already, bob-haircut gathered into a tiny low ponytail. She’s using three pounds, grunting as she curls her arms, on her first set of them. “N-not hell. Not everyone’s like your muscle rabbit boyfriend.”   “What?”   Jungkook’s busy doing pull ups on the nearby equipment and he lands on his feet swiftly, not even breaking a sweat yet on his count of thirty four. Taehyung and Yoonji glare at him for making them look bad.   He’s a gym rat, probably the only curler with actual abs and muscular arms. It’s his hobby to workout and he relishes how exhausted his body feels after — Yoonji just says he’s a masochist who thrives on pain and a freak of nature. But you don’t mind. It’s cute how much he likes to work out and you like it if he likes it.    “Jungkook?”   The four of you are suddenly interrupted by three tall, lean males. They’re in tight tank tops and Yoonji’s brows lift. Jungkook, on the other hand, visibly pales. He turns like a robot, cranky and stiff, swallowing hard only to find his mouth dry. “J-Junmyeon?”   “Oh, dude.” Without thinking twice, he reaches over to give a half-hug and then lets go, fist-bumping Jungkook. “Thought that was you!”   “How’s it going, man? Jeez, it’s been a while.”   “I know. I’m good.” He laughs tensely and goes over to do an elaborate handshake with one of them that makes Taehyung offended and jealous that they don’t have their own special handshake. “How about you?”   “Busy, I guess.” The princely male has a sharp nose and eyebrows, but a rather kind smile.   The puppy-like boy beside the stranger has brown, ruffled hair, but a leery gaze as he scans you up and down, making you uncomfortable. “And this is…?”   “Oh, this is my curling team. Taehyung, Yoonji, and Y/N.” It’s an awkward introduction and he never thought his new world and old world would be colliding in such a way. “And these are some of my old hockey teammates I used to play with. Junmyeon, Sehun, and Baekhyun.”   “Why so formal, Jeon?” Sehun barks with laughter, rather handsome with his distinct features and dark hair, but his loud voice startles you. He throws an arm over Jungkook’s shoulder. “When was the last time we called him Junmyeon? Might as well call him Mr. Kim.”   The one in question is unamused. “Can you please stop calling me Suho? I’m not going to sue any hoes.”   He wears a shit-eating grin. “You’re not, but they’re going to sue you.”   “I thought that joke was dead.” Jungkook laughs and looks off at you three who are completely confused. He explains the joke, “He...uh...went out with a girl named Irene once and she threatened to sue him after he dumped her. Got a court order and everything. It was crazy.”   “She wasn’t just a girl.” Sehun corrects, “She was a psycho hoe.”   It’s easy to talk to them. For a second, Jungkook doesn’t know why he was so afraid of confronting his old teammates. When he speaks to them now, it’s like no time has passed.   Like nothing has changed.   “Okay, okay.” Baekhyun tries to placate the other, but he still wears a mischievous grin. “Don’t get our captain mad.”   Jungkook stands straighter, put on alert as he looks at his old friend. “Oh, you’re captain now?”   “Yeah.” Junmyeon’s smile softens, maybe even sadly. “You should come watch us at the preliminaries. We have one tomorrow at three.”   “I’ll see what I can do. But I think...uh...I have practice that day.”   Yoonji exchanges a knowing look with Taehyung at Jungkook’s remark.   “Okay, enough talk about hoes.” Sehun’s hasn’t moved on, still hung up on the other topic. He leans down slightly to whisper, as if you, Yoonji and Taehyung aren’t awkwardly standing there. “Have you seen the chicks around here, Jeon? They’re thirsty for some good dick after spending their entire lives practicing. They’ll hop on you and bend over whenever, wherever.”   “Can you guys not?” Junmyeon is once again not impressed.   He rolls his eyes. “Don’t act like you didn't break the back of that figure skater, dude. She was so fucking loud last night, I thought you were killing her.”   “Killing her with his dick, if anything,” Baekhyun snickers and then muses, “great choice though. That ass was nice. Aren’t those skaters flexible too?”   “I..ummm….” Jungkook glances at you. He doesn’t want to say anything or announce you’re his girlfriend — for one, it’s nobody's business and he doesn’t want them to call him a pussy or whipped or for them to stare at you and bombard you with a million questions. Then again, Jungkook has nothing to hide and he’s not ashamed to be in a committed relationship with you…...but the pressure gets to him and he decides playing along is just easier. “....yeah.”   You wear an impassive expression, but Yoonji’s left eye twitches.   “I know someone you’d really like,” Sehun mentions with roaring laughter. “Super cute, a little timid and innocent. Your type, right? More importantly, she got those double Ds.”   “I...I’m good.”   “What?” He smirks. “Don’t act like you don’t like that, Jeon. We saw you with Lee Soongyu.”   “She had a great body,” Baekhyun agrees. “Too bad she was clingy, huh?”   “You don’t even know. You wish you had a piece of that ass.” It tumbles out of his mouth on instinct, making the others baffled. Jungkook’s slowly getting into the flow of it again, remembering how he used to respond to these things.   Baekhyun grins, making a jab back, “At least I wouldn’t hit up her younger sister the day after. That’s just cold. Should’ve just convinced them both to go at it at the same time.”   Jungkook begins sweating, not sure how to respond to that one. At the remainder of his past self, he shifts in discomfort, feeling gross. Luckily, Junmyeon saves him. “You’re disgusting, dude. No wonder Nayeon dumped you and slapped you in front of the entire team.”   Junmyeon glances at him with a smile and Jungkook grins.   Baekhyun bites back, “At least I don’t get threatened with court orders by crazies. Listen, you gotta have some fun, Jungkook. Before—”   “C’mon.” The captain interrupts while checking his phone. “We have practice to get to.”   “Alright, alright. See you around, Jeon.”   “Bye.” He waves as they walk away and disappear after turning the corner to the men’s locker room.   There’s silence.   “I didn’t know you were in a frat, Jeon,” Yoonji enunciates his name sharply and then struts past him, making sure to purposely bump into his shoulder.   “I’m not.” He turns, voice following after her. “They’re just my old hockey team.”   You feel distant from him, disconnected, like he’s universes away and you don’t understand who it is that’s standing beside you. But once they’re gone, Jungkook’s back. He’s looking at you, lost, and you smile at him, opening your hand for him to take. “C’mon. I’ll spot you if you need me to.”   Jungkook sheepishly smiles, happily holding your hand. “Okay.”   //   The arena is cold, ice far away, but still making the air frigid.    The frost lightly nips at Jungkook’s nose as he sits on the bench. Rarely does he get to observe or be a mere spectator, but tickets were nabbed by Namjoon and Adora who are also watching and writing down jot notes on strategies. It helps to take an outside point of view and watch other people’s skills to improve his own. The men’s curling game was impressive too, people getting wrapped up in it, cheering, clapping, shouts echoing.   It would be a great game to watch….if Jungkook wasn’t so uncomfortable.   Yoonji's plopped herself beside him and made you sit next to her brother, who only came for fun. But while she blocked him from being with you and had made a visible effort to sit beside him as if she had something important to say, she wasn’t speaking whatsoever. Instead, Yoonji was giving Jungkook the cold shoulder, pouting, frowning.   “Hey, if there’s an issue, can you just tell me?”   He’s annoyed. He didn’t do anything to piss her off and yet he feels like he’s been put in timeout.    “You wanna know what the issue is, Jungkook?” Yoonji uses his full first name for once and turns to look at him, arms crossed, keeping her voice low so no one else can hear in the midst of the roars. “It’s the fact that you’re a completely different person when you’re with those guys.”   He connects the dots. “How?”   “You’re an ass.”    She’s blunt and straightforward, sinking her words that have sharp talons into his skin. Yoonji continues while he’s speechless, “When you’re with them, you’re everything I thought you were. A prick, an asshole, a fuckboy. Thought you proved me wrong, but guess not.”   Jungkook scoffs. “I didn’t even do anything.”    “Exactly,” she spits out with narrowed pupils boring into his own. “You didn’t defend Y/N when you should’ve. You didn’t even mention her. You acted like you weren’t in a long-term serious relationship, that you haven’t been dating her for a goddamn year now. Talking about fucking bitches too.” She rolls her eyes, making him feel small. “Are you kidding me?”   “I didn’t talk about that,” he defends. “They did.”   “And you didn’t stop them.”   “What did you want me to do?” His voice is moving up octaves, increasing in volume but you don’t notice, preoccupied with Yoongi. “To tell them to fuck off?”   “Yes!”   “They’re old friends that I haven’t seen in a long time and…” He’s at a loss, stressing, “It’s not that simple.”   “Obviously. You didn’t want to go to their game.” She softens around the edges and sighs. “Look, Jeon. I don’t know what your issue is with them, with having to pretend like you’re someone you’re clearly not, with having to lie about practice, but don’t be an idiot and hurt Y/N.”   “I won’t,” he mumbles.   “And don’t be an ass. It doesn’t suit you. Makes you uglier.”   There’s a moment of serene quietness. But Taehyung leans over with the bucket of popcorn in his lap almost spilling out. “Is everything okay?”   In the meanwhile, Yoongi is watching the game and chatting with you. “—tickets were cheaper than the other events and I wanted to see another curling game, so I can actually gauge how good you guys are. Yoonji keeps telling me you guys are the best.”   “Well, I don’t know about the best….” Your voice trails off. It’s nice to talk to Yoongi like this. It’s normal and you’re no longer nervous. The two of you are good friends and that fact puts you at ease, enough to turn and say, “Hey, Yoongi. Can I ask you something?”   “Depends on what it is.”   “D-Do guys prefer double Ds?”   The dark-haired man whips his head around, no longer watching the match. “What?”   “N-nevermind.” A long sigh squeezes out of your lungs. Yoongi doesn’t push, but he tells you that you can talk to him about anything if you want, that it’s okay. With that in mind, you nod and brace yourself. “Do you….ever….get….bored in the bedroom?”   Yoongi’s doubtful Jungkook would ever say that to you. So, he doesn’t know where this is coming from, but he still chooses his words carefully, “Sometimes. When I was dating, of course things became pretty regular after a while. I think that happens to everyone at some point and it’s not a bad thing. We kept things exciting by changing them up every once in a while.”   “Changing...things up?” You wait patiently for him to elaborate. The last thing you wanted to discuss with Yoongi was this, but you figured he had the most experience out of all people you knew.    You just want to keep up with Jungkook. It might be petty and dumb, but you have a desire to be better than his past relationships and be the best.   “Yeah.” He nods awkwardly and leaves it a bit vague. “Sometimes we introduced toys, different positions, or someone took charge. Made things more fun.”   There’s a long pause as the both of you watch the curling game, how the Switzerland team does a smooth takeout of the opponent's stone. For a moment, you forget about the conversation, cheering with everyone else. But once it dies down, you look back at him. “How...how does one take charge?”   Yoongi smirks, the corner of his mouth tugging as he realizes he could give you any advice, but he decides to play nice and be real, “You just gotta be bold. Take what you want. Don’t think twice about it.”   “And...that’s not weird?”   “Nope.” Yoongi shakes his head. “Jungkook would probably like it. Or you could always ask him to make sure.”   You’re flustered, but you nod. “Thanks, Yoongi.”   He hums a note to acknowledge your gratitude, acting casual, but he makes a mental note that Jungkook owes him one for the fun he’s about to have.   //   His feet are flat on the pedals, riding the bike forward, but he stops for a moment, letting the built momentum carry himself forward. It’s sunny, the warmth of the rays kissing his cheeks, cool breeze carding through his hair. He hums a song underneath his breath, enjoying the surroundings.   “So slow, Kook.” Taehyung grins, riding past and disrupting the peace when he puts his arms in the air and hollers, waking up the entire block. “Can’t remember the last time I did this!”   “You should be careful,” Jungkook shouts above the wind. “If you get hurt, Coach and Yoonji will kill you.”   He looks over his shoulder, giving a cheesy smile. “You’re beginning to sound like Y/N.”   “Well, she’s always right so…”   They both ride downhill, moving past a group of female cross-country skiers walking together and Taehyung winks at one of them, making her swoon. Jungkook scoffs with a grin.   It was nice to be out with his best friend, renting bikes and cycling through the village. It was like the pleasantville universe was encapsulated in one tiny space, contained by these walls and kept safe from the chaotic world. Jungkook could spend the rest of his life like this. Everything was perfect here.    Until….he makes it down a block and spots two figures walking side by side.    Jungkook slows down and spots you in an instant. “Y/N?” And you’re with someone else that he recognizes.   He stops meters ahead, delayed and he turns around. Taehyung ahead has noticed too and halted. “Jeon!” Junmyeon is grinning, lightly jogging up to him. “I see you’re enjoying yourself.”   “Yeah...ummm…” The boy glances at you and then his old friend.   “I was looking for you and I ran into him,” you explain, “He was just telling me some stories about you.”   It’s strange and he stares at his old friend skeptically. “What...kind of stories?”   “Nothing bad, I promise,” he laughs. “Just how you used to sign hockey pucks and toss them over the glass barrier to kids, even though coach told you not to. Oh, also that time you fell on your ass on the ice and bruised your tailbone and you had to sit on one of those donut pillows for like five months—”   “That hurt, you know,” he exhales in defeat. Taehyung approaches with his bike at his side, grinning from the story.   Junmyeon smiles. “You guys should come watch us at the hockey quarter-finals. It’s happening later today.”   “You guys passed the preliminaries?”   His grin widens. “By a landslide.”   “C-Congratulations.” Jungkook genuinely means it, slightly surprised but mostly proud.   His old friend’s smile softens and he repeats, “You should come to the quarter-finals, Jeon. I could get you tickets no problem. It would be nice to have you there...for old times’ sake.”   “Oh, we have practice.” Jungkook looks at Taehyung who slowly nods, deciding to back up his claim while you don’t say anything at all. “So I don’t know if we can make it…”   “Then you should come to the after party,” he suggests. “It might be a celebration or a pity party, but either way, it’ll be nice to have you there. The team actually misses you a lot and they’ve been hounding me to invite you. So if you guys have time, you should swing by.”   It takes a delayed second for him to nod and when he doesn’t say anything, you step in. “Good luck. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”   “Thanks.”   “We’re rooting for you,” Taehyung cheers and starts singing the national anthem much to the hockey captain’s amusement who ends up joining the sing-along.    There are a few more words exchanged before Jungkook makes an excuse to go. Taehyung rides off while Jungkook convinces you to get onto the back of his bike on the rear seat. With your legs lifted on the side and your arms wrap around his abdomen, Jungkook rides off, leaving Junmyeon in the dust.   He won’t go.   Jungkook doesn’t want to. Yoonji’s words ring inside his mind. And he doesn’t like himself very much when he’s with them either. If his memory hasn’t failed him, he was indeed an ass and he doesn’t need that in his life. It’s all in the past and should be left there. Plus, he much prefers hanging out with Taehyung in the gaming lounge.   The two of them end up winding down with controllers in hand. “Go, go….”   Jungkook is quiet, concentrated, brows furrowed and even more serious than when he curls. Taehyung, on the other hand, is louder, shouting and getting wrapped up in it. He’s making a ruckus that’ll probably warrant someone stomping in and telling them to shut up. But for now, the round ends and with the loading screen, he leans back, giving his vocal cords a slight rest.   “You know, I wouldn’t be mad if you ditched me to go,” Taehyung mumbles.   He sips on his banana milk that he found in the vending machine. “Go where?”   “To the party.”   Jungkook glances over and their eyes meet. “I wouldn’t ditch you go to a dumb party, Tae.”   “But you should.”   He frowns. “Why?”   Taehyung shrugs. “You and I always hang out. When do you ever get a chance to hang out with those guys anymore?”   “I don’t want to hang out with them,” he mutters and spams the buttons on his controller. For some reason, the loading screen is taking excruciatingly long. “Goddammit…” Jungkook ends up sliding off his beanbag chair and he pounds his fist at the top of the console. He considers resetting it, but doesn’t for the sake of not losing all progress made.    “I still think you should go, Kook.” It’s out of the blue and he’s being oddly insistent. “They used to be your friends, right? If it were me and I hadn’t seen you in a long time, I’d want you to come.”   The dark-haired boy remains quiet and Taehyung continues, “Just saying, we always hang out. A chance to go to a party doesn’t come often. Should take advantage of it. You know, so you won't regret it later on. At least check it out.”   “I know what those parties are like. It’s nothing exciting.”   “Then there’s no harm in going,” the brunette points out. “We’ll have many times like this again. Trust me, Kook, I have lots of plans of crashing your apartment and raiding your fridge and couch surfing and playing video games with you till early morning and our eyes are burning.”   The corner of his mouth threatens to tug. “I’m not letting you in.”   “Too bad, I’ll get you a copy of your key. I know you keep the spare in the potted plant.”   Jungkook scoffs and turns around to face his friend instead of trying to run away again. “Why don’t you come with me then?”   “Nah, I don’t know those guys like you do. Plus, I’ve made some friends with a few short track kids. I’ll be fine.”   A small smile plastered on his face. “Are you trying to ditch me so you can go hang out with your new friends?”   “Don’t expose me,” Taehyung quips mischievously.    Jungkook takes a deep breath. He wants to stay, but another part of him tells him to go….so he braces himself and gets up, deciding to just give it a good ten minutes. He can always come back here and play for the rest of the night.   The curler ends up marching across the village to a different apartment area where loud music is already beginning to rumble the ground and the walls. It’s deafening and there are a bunch of people he doesn’t recognize around, girls and guys from every nation giggling and leaning against each other.   It’s déjà vu.   It feels like he’s stepping in a time machine, going back years ago when he didn’t know much, when he didn’t know loss or pain, only passion and hard work and this….   “Holy fuck! Is that Jeon Jungkook?!”   There’s howling and roaring from the team as he steps into the room and immediately, a grin spreads into his face. He’s bombarded and body slammed. “Fuck, Chanyeol. Chill, dude.”   “Thought I’d never see you again!”   Yixing approaches, shoving Chanyeol out of the way to engulf Jungkook an in a drunken hug, slurring something barely coherent, “—disappeared off the face of the fucking earth. I missed you so much, bro.”   “I- uh...missed you too.”   “I’m glad you could come.” Junmyeon pushes himself out of the dancing crowd, holding his red cup in hand, wearing a smile towards him.   “Glad I could make it,” he responds with his own smile.   “Hey! Someone go get Jongin, he’s gonna cry when he sees Jeon!”   “Someone get this man a drink,” Minseok shouts above the crowds.   “On it!” Jongdae holds his red solo cup over his head, cutting through the masses. There are a bunch of eyes pinned on Jungkook, wondering who he is for this many to be catering to him. There are girls interested in him too, coming closer, but he doesn’t notice them, focusing solely on his friends.   There’s barely time to breathe, much less to allow anyone to chat him up. Jungkook drinks, plays a few rounds of beer pong and takes the shots shoved into his hands. And he’s passed around from buddy to buddy, having never been touched so much. Literally. They’re handsy when they drink and sentimental. Jungkook is pulled into half-hugs, full-hugs, fist bumps, rough pats on the back, fancy handshakes he barely remembers and obnoxious team cheers.    It’s a whirlwind. He stays longer than intended. But it’s fun.   Jungkook forgot it was like this and he doesn’t know why he was so afraid of this atmosphere, afraid of confronting his old teammates. In fact, he misses it. Then Jungkook remembers that he never chose to leave this, never voluntary. It was ripped away from him, by the injury he caused himself...   There’s finally some peace when Baekhyun decides to do keg stands and Sehun holds him up while the rest of the idiots cheer them on. Kyungsoo is leaning against the wall, wearing a poker face as he drinks. It’s quiet and nice, allowing Jungkok to regain his energy. “You’ve been doing….curling?”   “Yeah. It’s cool.”   “Heard you were good.”   “Really?” He’s pleasantly surprised. “From who?”   Kyungsoo shrugs. “Just around. You like it?”   “I do.”   He hums, wearing a kind and small smile. “I’m glad you’re doing something, Jungkook.”   “I would never leave the ice for the world,” he says and they exchange knowing smiles.   “Coach was right.” Kyungsoo sips his vodka-mixed drink and their private conversation isn’t tense or wistful, but filled with the shorter male’s admiration. “No matter what you do, you’d be good at it. There’s no one else who can survive like you can.”   “That’s not true.”   “You don’t think so?” His cup motions over to the group. “If Baekhyun or Yixing ever went through what you did, I doubt they’d be able to cope. Probably would be laying in bed somewhere, wasting their lives away...not that they already aren’t wasting their lives away.”   But Jungkook doesn’t feel powerful, resilient, or strong.   Once he’s overcome his fear of confronting his teammates, he’s filled with sadness.   He’s getting glimpses back into the life that should’ve been his.   Jungkook drinks and drinks, doing shots, taking anything Jongin gives him, what Minseok passes into his hands. He takes it in to smother the emotions in the pits of his stomach, to drown them away.    Eventually, when the party dies down, some of the members go off with girls and others pass out on the floor. He, on the other hand, waves his hand and rejects the offer of sleeping on the couch.   Instead, Jungkook stumbles around Olympic village at two in the morning.   He feels like singing, but keeps quiet with his mission in mind. There’s something he wants to do badly, someone he wants to see.    Jungkook’s vision warps and he leans on the wall for leverage, heavy breaths drawing out of his lungs. He barely remembers going into the apartment and up the elevator, but here he is, staggering down the hall.   He finds the door and begins to pound his fist on it, letting the sound boom down the corridor. From the deepest part of his voice, Jungkook shouts your name. “Y/N! Y/N!”    He’s not sure how long he does it for, but soon, the surface his fist is smashing against moves away from him. The hinges creak and he greets the dark room. You’re clad in your pajamas, bed-head and all, sleepiness making it hard to muster the energy to be angry. “Jungkook? What are you doing here? Yoongi’s asleep! Are you drunk?”   The boy doesn’t say anything and you don’t need a verbal answer when he reeks of alcohol.   But you’re unable to say any more when he falls forward, arms wrapping around your shoulders, abruptly hugging your body. His own frame overtakes yours, covering you fully like a shield. Jungkook holds you tightly as if he’s too afraid to let you go and while you’re caught off guard, you ease into his grasps. Your own hands lift up to his back, patting him gently as he squeezes you.   Jungkook’s black mop of hair shags down over his red eyes, downcast head slumped onto your shoulder and he whispers, “I missed you.”   You smile softly, feet bare on the carpet and not ready to greet the cold temperature in the hall, but you’re warm from his embrace. “We saw each other a few hours ago.”   You underestimate Jungkook’s current state, not aware of how emotional he’s feeling. So it’s another surprise when he suddenly begins to cry into your shoulder.    Soft sobs break out of Jungkook’s body, making your pajamas wet, but you hold onto him, letting him quietly cry into you. You pat him gently, soothing him and listening to his soft, drunken sobs as he lets it all out.    “I...I miss hockey.” Broken words tear out of his constricting throat and you realize he’s not just hugging you, but you’re cradling him in your arms, providing him comfort and security that he’s desperately seeking.   “I know,” you murmur back.    The pair of you stand there for a long moment, halfway between the bright hallway and the dark room. It’s quiet with people sleeping in their quarters, peaceful as you hold Jungkook, bodies pressed together, and he drunkenly cries on you. You can hear his heartbeat and the way he eventually quiets and hiccups. But even when he finishes, Jungkook doesn’t want to let go.    You’re not just his teddy bear. You’re his person.   Someone who stays by his side through thick and thin, someone that is not said but promised, the human being that is closest to him of all human beings, unconditional. You go beyond being a best friend for Jungkook, beyond a mere girlfriend or partner. You are everything that really matters and that fact won’t ever change no matter what form your relationship takes.   “C-can I come in?”   “You have to be quiet, alright?”   “Okay.” He nods and you let go while still holding his hands, shutting the door and helping him slip off his shoes. You lead the drunken boy into your room with Yoonji on the other side meters away, curled up in her lump of blankets, snoring and oblivious to what’s happening.    You bring your boyfriend to your bed, not letting him stumble into the furniture and you tuck him in, pulling his blankets up. But he still tugs you into him, cuddling your body, nuzzling into your hair and the pair of you fall asleep with arms and legs tangled together.   //   Morning comes with blinding sunlight, stirring him awake to a massive headache. You’re still asleep, so Jungkook carefully crawls over you, rolling his way to the washroom. He grabs the new toothbrush that the accommodation gave, tearing the plastic to open it and he squeezes out your toothpaste……….all while Yoonji is glaring at him in the mirror, standing next to him at the sink.   He’s not allowed in here and thus, when she woke up and saw him across the room, Yoonji was not amused. But Jungkook doesn’t particularly care that she’s glaring with him. He’s too busy nursing a hangover and that’s not even the worst part — he remembers how he used you and cried on you pathetically without providing much context, also nearly waking up the entire goddamn apartment building.    Yoonji spits out her toothpaste, rinses her mouth and splashes water on her face. She brushes her hair roughly while Jungkook finishes up himself. “You guys didn’t have sex when I was sleeping a foot away, right?”   “No,” he answers honestly.   “Good.” Relief overtakes the female curler. “I don’t want to be involved with you freaks in any shape or form.”   It’s true that he didn’t do anything to that extent, but the bar is set low. He still showed up unannounced banging on your door. If he had woken up Yoonji, he probably wouldn’t be alive anymore. But even if that didn’t happen and the only punishment he has for last night’s bad decisions is a hangover, he still feels like an ass — for irresponsibly going out drinking and making you take care of him afterwards, for treating you the way he did in front of those guys, for not talking much these days or telling you what��s wrong with him. Not to mention, he hasn’t been out on a date with you in the recent weeks leading up to getting here.   So he slips out before you’re awake, going down to the shopping center for overpriced flowers.    Jungkook’s stared at by many, wondering who he was buying them for, overhearing that it’s a sweet gesture no matter who it could be, but he knows it’s not enough to make up for these past few days. Yet somehow, you still grin when he hands them to you and it’s infectious enough to make him smile too.   “What are these for?”   “It’s Valentine’s today.”   “It is?” Your surprise morphs into dread. “I...didn’t get you anything!”   “It’s okay.” Jungkook laughs. “We agreed we weren’t going to do it this year, so it’s okay. You didn’t forget anything.”   “Then what are these for?” You dig your nose into the bouquet, smelling the pink tulips.   “It’s just something I got when I was thinking about you.”   Your smile is sweet, but eyes have a glimmer of mischief. “Not as a thank you because I let you in last night instead of kicking you to the curb?” You don’t mention the crying part as if it’s too intimate to poke fun at and make him embarrassed about.   “No.” He pouts. “But maybe that too.”   “If Adora or Namjoon saw me sneaking you in after hours, he’d give us another earful. Remember last time when we were at WMDCC?”   “It’s not like the others aren’t doing it.” He plops down, sitting on the edge of your bed that still hasn’t been made, sheets ruffled with your nice scent clinging onto them. Jungkook watches as you put the bouquet down on the nightstand, propped up against the lamp. “Taehyung banished me from the room. He’s off with some figure skater he met in the dining hall.”   You hum. “Yoonji’s having fun with some cross-country skier, I think. So...we have the room to ourselves.”   He smiles, nose wrinkling slightly, teeth shown. “What are you insinuating?”   “That we celebrate Valentine’s properly.” You shove Jungkook’s shoulder and he falls back onto the mattress, allowing you to come up and straddle his hips. His smile wipes off, brows lifting, entertained at the new change of pace.   “I don’t have a cond—”   “It’s okay. I have some. Took them from the dispenser machine.” You sit right where his cock is hardening, letting your weight sink onto his bulge and he chokes on air, hands coming up to hold your waist. It’s supposed to be him making it up to you and rather than feeling guilt, he’s beginning to feel more rewarded.   “Is everything okay?” Jungkook has to ask, too curious for his own good. Usually you’re more coy, but he doesn’t mind as long as it’s you.   It’s a question you should be asking him, but it seems like an afternoon where things are happening the other way around.   “Why?” You’re on slight alert, apprehensive and watching his reaction. “Is this weird?”   You’ve taken Yoongi’s advice, trying to be bolder, but deep down you’re still self-conscious. Thankfully, he shakes his head. “No. I like it. I like you. It’s just different.”   “Y-yeah.” Your fingers tremble as they play with the hem of his shirt, lifting it slowly like you’re trying to steal a peek and as if it’s not already meant for only your eyes in the first place. “Just wanted to try something...different.”   “Different isn’t bad,” he comments and you reach down to kiss him. Jungkook grabs the back of your neck, deepening the kiss until it’s wet and warm and good enough to make your toes curl. His kisses aren’t as shy as they used to be — it’s more comfortable and practiced, knowing you well enough to eagerly welcome you on his tongue.   And once you break apart, your lips are swollen and red in the same shade. “I wanna be better than those girls,” you admit thoughtlessly in a whisper, playing with the zipper on his jeans and wanting something underneath it.   “What girls?”   Jungkook blinks, sincerely having no idea what you mean. In the meanwhile, you continue to fumble with pants again, a bit more nervous. “No one. Never mind.”   “I love you,” he confesses quietly. Those words have only been said a handful of times before, so he means it. Jungkook’s past relationships were derived from peer pressure, reckless and immature. It’s so much nicer to be with someone, to touch someone when there’s that emotional intensity. And as he mulls over such thoughts, he pulls you down to kiss you again, gentler this time. “You know that.”   “I do.” You smile once you pull away. “And I love you back.”   Jungkook’s grin could make his cheeks burst. “Good.”   His declaration makes you happier than you’d like to admit. And once you rip off Jungkook’s pants once and for all, he’s also happier than he’d like to admit.   //   “Alright, gather up!” Namjoon’s voice roars in the empty space, sound echoing loudly even when all four of you are standing just meters away. Adora is placed beside her partner in crime, hands on her hips as she wears a stern expression. “We realized recently that we’ve been too lax with you guys here. There’s been too much slacking.”   “Oh, please.” Yoonji rolls her eyes. “You don’t need to lie to motivate us. We know we’re the best team you guys have — that’s why we’re the only ones here, right?”   Adora points her clipboard at the female. “That kind of arrogant talk will make you get bronze.”   She gasps, wholly offended by the idea. “Bronze? I’d rather get nothing.”   “At this rate, you’ll get nothing,” Namjoon interrupts with a sigh. “We might have passed all seven trial games, but we need to focus for the semi-finals. We’re going up against the Beijing team. This is their home turf, so we can’t let our guard down. Got that, Yoonji?”   She mumbles with a pout, “Yes…”   “There’s just a few pointers we need to go through. Remember to take advantage of the free guard zone.” All of you have watched videos of the opponents, taking notes on their techniques and strategies, and they have it down solid. “They’re good. We should make it tough for them. Make them play pressure shots. And if we get the hammer shot, then aim to get multiple points. But sometimes, it’s okay to take the single.”   He continues to elaborate as you listen and then Adora steps in. “You guys already make eighty five percent of your intended shots. Majority of the shots are made and as much as we go over strategies, it’s difficult since decisions have to be made in the moment. So for today, I think we should practice some takeout shots and do a defensive play and make sure we get that fifteen percent that you guys are missing.”   “Aye-aye, captain!” Taehyung grins, saluting the coach much to her dismay.   Yoonji goes first as usual.   She gets down, feet a few inches apart with her slider foot slightly forward and her weight put on the hack foot. Her shoulders and hips are level and she feels the weight of the stone, pulling it back to the toe of her hack foot. She moves her slider foot straight back, weight transferred onto it and her hips raise. The weight moves back and she pushes out, releasing the stone in a smooth motion.   It curls down the sheet, heading closer to the button of the house. Your eyes narrow and you begin to shout encouragements. Jungkook and Taehyung both begin to brush, arms working fast and once they stop, the stone halts right on the button…   ….   The crowd erupts in cheers.   The team members on the opponent side grin, nodding and talking amongst themselves, obviously impressed with the play.   The semi-finals should be nerve-racking.   Your body should be slick with sweat, hands trembling, mind numb as you consider this is one of the most important games of your entire career. But instead, you find yourself having a lot of fun. While the opponents have tricks up their sleeves, surprising you every so often, you have your own.   The crowd also hypes the players up. Their howling, cheering, chanting sets the perfect mood for the game. It’s hard to find people as passionate about curling as you are, but here, everyone cares about the sport wholeheartedly and their applause is music to your ears.    Taehyung swaps with Yoonji and they high-five each other as they pass.   “You got this, Taehyung,” you encourage him, glad that practice went well enough to give him more confidence. It was going exactly as planned.   He smirks, arrogantly even and you muse how Yoonji must be rubbing off of him. “I know.”   The brunette makes you scoff, but his remark is well deserved when he manages a double takeout of the opponent’s stone. It’s still a close game, but Taehyung’s following plays remove their stones from the house and Jungkook sets up the perfect draw shots for you.   In the heat of the moment, you decide to take on a bold tactic, continuing to score despite inadvertently giving them the hammer. It’s risky, but you’re still ahead. And with eight ends finishing and only one more, your breath is bated, watching as their last stone takes only one of your own out.   It’s a steal in your end.   The people around the stadium stand in cheers, sound erupting. Jungkook runs over, nearly tumbling on the ice but he catches balance and engulfs you in a hug, swinging you up and squeezing laughter out of your lungs. Namjoon and Adora are losing their minds, grabbing their hair and mouths dropped in disbelief. Taehyung and Yoonji are in a similar state, screaming with their arms in the air. The China team claps, having tried their best and giving you a minute before they go over and shake your hands.   The four of you are going to the finals, taking silver or gold home.    Either way, you’re guaranteed winners.   //   “You think my dad would like this shirt?”   You hold up the white sleeveless tee with the brown bear mascot printed on it. It’s horribly obnoxious and makes Jungkook grin. “No. But if you bought it for him, he’d still wear it. He’d wear anything you buy him.”   “Yeah, but he’d secretly hate it and I’d feel bad.” You smile, putting it back on the rack properly.   The two of you are walking through the shopping center aisles together, looking at knick-knacks and souvenirs to bring home. Jungkook’s following along — and you muse that you’re not the only one who steals clothes from him. He’s wearing your oversized pink hoodie, three sizes too large for you that fits him perfectly. It’s a bright, cute colour that makes him soft and you have to resist the urge to hug him; lest Yoonji somehow show up and mutter something about how gross you two are.   “Hey, what do you think about this?”   “About what?”   Jungkook gingerly plops a headband on your head and you turn to glance in the mirror, finding yourself with bear ears. When you turn back to Jungkook, he’s wearing the cheesiest smile, endeared by you. “It’s cute.”   You grab another headband on the shelf, reaching up to put it on his own head. “You’re cuter.”   “I doubt it.” Jungkook pulls you in to share a discreet kiss between the shopping aisles. It’s short, but enough to make your toes tingle and he smiles against your mouth before pulling away. A group of girls walking past and peeking down the aisle are disappointed, having been using him as eye candy.   You continue walking with him, wearing the headband and deciding to buy them before you leave. “Hey, Jungkook…”   “Hmm?”   “You know I’ll support you in whatever you want, right? That includes if you want to continue curling or try hockey again.” You turn to him, serious, lips fallen into a straight line.   “I...I can’t—”   “You haven’t tried yet,” you tell him. “We both know there are athletes out there who come back after injuries that are supposed to end their careers. I know there’s not a lot of them out there and chances are slim. But if there’s anyone who can do it, it’s you.”   There’s suddenly heavy pressure placed upon his shoulders.   Jungkook begins to break out into a sweat. He doesn’t know what he wants anymore. And his lips part to say something, but you continue, beating him to the punch.   “If you give up curling, that doesn’t mean you’re losing me. I’m mutually exclusive from it. You know that, right? That it doesn’t matter to me — curling or hockey or anything else. Even if you wanted to retire from sports. You’d still be my best friend.”   He smiles softly. “What about being your boyfriend?”   “That too.” You continue walking with him alongside you. “If you miss the ice, we can learn how to skate together again. If you want. But one thing’s for sure, you can’t be as bad as I am.”   “You’re not that bad.”   “Really?” Your expression is overcome with disbelief and it makes him laugh which in turn causes a smile to pull up into your cheeks. “I want you to be happy.”   He assures you, “I am happy.”   “Happier, then. I want to help you achieve whatever you want.”   Jungkook’s heart feels warm. It goes quiet for a few minutes, you checking out the snow globes while he’s leaning against the shelves, staring. It makes you self-conscious, palms clammy and you’re about to ask him to stop looking at you like that, but this time, he’s the one to speak first.   “Do you want to come with me? I...heard the hockey team has their semis tonight.”   You smile, elated at the invitation. “I’d be happy to.”   The promising words that draw out of your lips might not seem much to you, but for Jungkook, it provides him relief that you’re here to stay — a constant in his life.   //   It’s crowded.   There are more people here than in curling games, understandable considering hockey is a popular sport, but it’s a whole nother category of passion. There are people wearing the player’s jerseys, faces painted in their nation’s colours, carrying signs with them and even holding hockey trading cards.   A few people recognize Jungkook, gasping when they see him, and he smiles meekly, mumbling a few ‘hellos’ as he shuffles past. The roaring music and cheers make goosebumps run up his arms. He has an urge to turn around and book it out of the stadium, but with you by his side, he’s able to muster enough courage to keep going.   Jungkook expects to sit there, watch the game and then leave when it’s over. But what he doesn’t anticipate is to run into a familiar man on his way up the stands. “J-Jungkook?”   “Coach...”   “Oh my god.” The old man’s mouth has fallen open and then he chuckles deep within his chest, grinning and coming over to hug Jungkook, wrinkling his own suit in the process. “They really weren’t lying. I didn’t know I’d see you here. I...I can’t believe it.”   The boy laughs as he’s being let go. “Well, believe it, old man.”    “You made it. You’re at the Olympics.” He pats him on the back, radiating pride. “I knew you could make it, Jeon.”   Jungkook grins. “Thanks for believing in me.”   Coach looks over to you. “This is….?”   “Y/N.” The boy happily announces, “My girlfriend.”   The older male shakes your hand firmly. “Nice to meet you.”    “This is my old coach,” Jungkook introduces to you.   “The one and only.” He smiles before looking at the former hockey player. “You should come say hi to the team.”   “Oh…” Jungkook glances at you who encourages him to go. But, he still hesitates. “Aren’t they going out soon?”   “In a little bit, but I think seeing you will help motivate them.”   He nods and while you go up to the stands to save your seats, Jungkook goes to the back locker rooms. The other members greet him with hugs and fist bumps while he wishes them good luck. They end up dragging him to do the usual chant, huddled up together, heads down, jumping in a circle as they hype each other up. It’s nostalgic. The smiles are infectious too but as they go out one by one, Jungkook’s left behind.   After a moment, their backsides disappear beyond the doorway and he strolls back to join you at the stands. It’s a good spot, overseeing the entire rink. Jungkook’s also comforted that you’re here and he’s not alone. But before the game officially begins, the national anthem plays and the players skate around, exchanging hand shakes with their opponents. Jungkook takes the time to teach you the game.   “So the line in the middle is called the centerline and the blue lines divide the rink into three zones. There’s the neutral zone in the middle and two end zones, and the red lines at the end are the goal lines. The dots are the face off spots—”   “I know,” you laugh, saving him from having to explain the rules. “I’ve been to hockey games a couple times before.”   “You have?”   “Yeah. I watched you play before.”   “You have?” Jungkook’s more surprised than before, not knowing that you actually saw him.   “I...was your fan actually,” you admit sheepishly.   “Well, I knew that.”   It’s your turn to be shocked. “How?”   The boy in the blue toque and red mittens shrugs playfully. “Just a feeling. But I didn’t know you actually came to my game. Why didn’t you ever approach me or talk to me?”   “Why?” You giggle, the answer obvious. “You didn’t know who I was and I doubt you would’ve given me the time of day.”   Part of Jungkook wants to say that you two could’ve started your relationship sooner instead of meeting you for the first time when he joined curling. But then again, he was an ass back then — exactly what Yoonji had initially assumed about him. He played around a lot, but he’s certain that…   “I still would’ve liked you.”   You smile, appreciating his sentiment.    The game begins and the two of you watch intently — three periods that are twenty minutes each and two intermissions where you and Jungkook stretch your limbs, waiting. But during that time, he ends up getting caught up in some fans who knew him, signing someone’s jersey and taking a few pictures. It’s cute...until a stranger asks him for his number and that’s when you make your appearance, scaring her off much to Jungkook’s amusement who considers you too adorable to actually frighten someone.    Jungkook feels like a retired celebrity and he channels his cockiness which makes you roll your eyes. The game eventually continues and he loses his annoying persona.   It goes twenty minutes into overtime until Junmyeon scores straight into the opponent’s net.   Everyone watching in the stadium stands on their feet, cheering, hollering and clapping. Your boyfriend screams out his friend’s name loud enough that the hockey planner actually spots him and waves.    It’s strange. Jungkook doesn’t feel burdened or jealous. He’s proud.   //   The stadium slowly files out, people leaving one by one.   You’re off, meeting with Yoonji and Taehyung down the street for the hockey team’s after party that all you were invited too, but Jungkook stays behind. Just for a moment to himself. And he finds himself walking down closer to the rink until he’s leaning on the railing, staring at the surface that’s no longer smooth, intricate grooves and designs made from the skates.   He looks up, allowing the bright lights to shine into his eyes and burns his vision. Jungkook imagines the stadium filled with people again. In his fantasy, this time it’s him who’s skating on the ice. He can still remember when he was the one to shoot the winning goal, how his friends piled on top of him and his coach stood proud amongst the crowd, his parents clapping at the stands while people screamed his name.   It’s different now — but also very much the same.   There’s still people clapping, shouting his name, parents and coaches cheering for him. He’s still on the ice with the lights shining down and his friends always pile on top of him in hugs of victory….   “Hey, you alright?” Junmyeon exits the locker room, clad in his dark tracksuit, and he drops his duffle bag on the floor, throwing the towel from his shoulder down to join him.   “Congratulations, dude.” They both fist bump and half hug each other, patting one another on the back.   “Thanks.” The shorter male grins. “You looked like you were deep in thought. What’s up?”   “Nah. It was nothing. Maybe just considering that you were great on the ice. It was a good game and fun to watch. I never got many chances to just watch back in the day.” Jungkook musters up the courage to deliver the words he’s been thinking, “You deserve to be captain, Junmyeon.”   He smiles softly and they both lean on the railing, looking out to the rink, cheeks cooling down from the cold temperature. “I don’t know about that, Jeon. I had big shoes to fill. I still do.”   Jungkook smiles. “That’s not true.”   “It is. You’d be surprised.” The hockey player glances at him. “When you left, it was a huge loss. It was hard for us and we couldn’t even imagine how you were feeling. I’m glad you’re doing well, Kook.”   The curler takes the words in somberly. “I’m sorry I avoided you guys. I….didn’t want to see you or talk and I ended up shutting you all out.”   “Hey, man…” It’s an awkward heart to heart, but Junmyeon sympathizes and pats him on the back before retracting his arm. “...that’s understandable….”   “I was scared of coming today, you know that?” Jungkook knocks his head back to stare at the fluorescent lights again. They don’t seem so dazzling right now. “Of watching a game. Of that stupid party. I was scared of all of this….scared that I would miss it. Of missing hockey.”   “Do you?”   “Yeah,” Jungkook answers after a second of consideration and he looks at his friend. “I was mad, you know. I was angry and upset about that injury that I caused myself.”   “You didn’t cause it yourself—”   “I was the one who pushed myself. I should’ve….” There’s so many things he should’ve done differently, he doesn’t know what to start with. Jungkook wonders at what point he started to harbour so many regrets. “Should’ve known better.”   It’s one thing to retire. It’s another for it to be taken away from him.   It’s so goddamn unfair. Jungkook wants to cry again.   “Don’t blame yourself. It was us who should’ve helped you. We’re a team,” Junmyeon says with his brows furrowed, “But we don’t act like it.”   He sighs, running a hand over his face, other arm dropping over the railing as he leans over with his entire body weight. “I don’t feel like a survivor, Jun. Everyone has so many expectations for me, even now. It’s a miracle that I’m here...that I made it in another sport. But I don’t feel like I’ve beat the odds or that I’m some kind of genius golden boy who’s good at everything he does.”   “You are a survivor.” Junmyeon grins, looking at his friend. “I know people’s expectations might seem a lot to handle, but you still made it, dude. Your injury was supposed to stop your hockey career, but here you are. Anyone else who was in your position, they’d be broken.”   “I was broken. I was lost.”    “But you’re standing at the Olympics. You did it through hard work, not just luck or natural skill. Or by some miracle. You worked your ass off to learn a new sport, to keep the name you had for yourself. You deserve the praise. You’re fucking amazing.”   “I’m not.”   “Just take the fucking compliment.” He laughs quietly. “It doesn’t have to be that deep. If you’re feeling pressured about expectations and how people see you, then stop giving a shit.”   He scoffs. “Easy for you to say.”   The hockey player smiles. “You might not be a hockey golden boy anymore, Jungkook. But you’re still an incredible person. You’re still you with or without hockey. Nothing was lost.”   Jungkook scoffs again, but this time his vision is blurred with tears. He rubs his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket and if Junmyeon notices then he doesn’t say anything.   He continues, “You know, I’ve noticed something about you these days, Kook. You seem a lot happier. I don’t know about you, but the days leading up to your injury, everyone was worried. The pressure was real, but you were especially tense and stressed. I know how it can get when you’re captain, trust me, I know now. It feels like everyone’s riding on your shoulders. But back then, I could tell it was getting to you and the entire team...we were all drifting apart and growing distant from each other. But you seem a lot better now. Healthier. Happier. Back to your old self.” Junmyeon smiles. “If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought that you willingly retired from hockey because you it got too easy for you and you told the rest of us to fuck off.”   Jungkook laughs, sound ringing from his chest. “I’d never do that.”   “I’m not so sure.” Junmyeon stands straighter. “You were real intense back in the day and man, could you imagine the media outlets freaking out that one of the best players said the sport sucked? That would’ve been a real power move. Big dick energy right there. Like Albert Einstein saying physics is for idiots. Damn. Would’ve made the rest of us look like fools.”   He grins, finished wiping his eyes. “Do I really seem happier than before?”   “A hundred percent,” he responds without a beat of hesitation. “That’s what Kyungsoo told me too. That injury should’ve ruined your life but here you are, riding bikes and shopping and you learnt a whole fucking sport in two years and made it to the Olympics. You came out on top with a smile. Happier than before. Fuck. If I didn’t know you, I’d be freaked out. You’re a beast.”   “You’re not just saying this shit to make me feel better, right?”   “No. I fucking suck ass at comforting people, you know that. I speak only truths.”   Jungkook smiles again and then he exhales softly. “Well...it’s not like I can change what happened to my injury.” The road to acceptance is long and instead of running away like he’s been doing, he’s slowly coming to terms with it. Even if it’s painful. “I had to make do with what I had.”   “And this is where you are. Better than before, I might argue.” There’s an extended moment of quiet, both looking out to the rink. Junmyeon pipes up, breaking the silence, “If there’s one thing I learnt ever since stepping up as captain — it’s that it’s not about the sport, Jungkook. It’s about the people too.”   “Are you still listening to those podcasts trying to be woke?”   “A little,” he admits with a grin. “But I’m serious. Don’t get me wrong, those guys on the hockey team are hard workers and they’re great, but they’re also a toxic wasteland. It’s easy to be swept up in their idiocy. The pressure gets to you sometimes and you know that best.”   “Yeah….” Jungkook hums a note, feeling oddly introspective. “That was actually something I had to get used to when I joined this new team. They’re not like us, Jun.”   “Not like a frat house on fire?”   Jungkook laughs and nods. “They’re family.”   Men’s, Women’s, Mixed — everyone greeted and welcomed him warmly. Maybe because they’re older folks that are wiser, knowing what’s important in life and not concerned with partying or status. Jungkook always felt like they were dependable people. People who wouldn’t judge him wrongfully. Who saw him as one of their own, a son, a friend, not someone to be competed with.    It’s joining the curling team that Jungkook learnt what teamwork meant and knew what it’s like when everyone truly cares for each other.   “Wow,” Junmyeon exhales. “Are you trying to make me envious right now? I told you I was already intimidated by your hard work, okay? No need to make me jealous too.”   He lightly scoffs. “I’m not.”   The conversation simmers down and the curler takes a deep breath, tiny smile placed on his features as he stares out at the ice, less bitter than he was before. It was nice to talk like this, to have someone know his predicaments and not only lend a listening ear, but comforting words.   Jungkook thought that it would be hard to go to a game, to see his old friends again. But it wasn’t. Not at all. It was easy even. Sure, it brought up bad memories he wanted to run from, made him feel nostalgic and regretful and sad, but Jungkook also realizes that it wasn’t as great and grand as he had previously remembered.   He wasn’t that happy in the face of fame, of intensive struggle with people who encouraged and fueled his bad behaviour. It was only when he got away did it occur to him that he didn’t like the person he was and the person that he was becoming.   And it was only coming to this game did Jungkook realize that things weren’t so different now. He was still drowning in a sport he loved. He was still playing. He was still in a team. He was still under the fluorescent lights with people cheering him on. He was still on the ice.   “She’s a good fit for you, y’know,” the hockey player suddenly pipes up, interrupting his train of thought. “Y/N. She’s a nice girl.”   “I know.” Jungkook’s smile to himself softens.   “The moment I got a chance to talk to her, I thought ‘fucking hell, Jeon has it all, doesn’t he? He finally has his perfect girlfriend too.’”   “Perfect girlfriend?” The curler’s brow lift, tone less threatening and more mischievous.   “Perfect for you,” the hockey player clarifies with a grin, trying not to step on his friend’s toes by coming onto his girlfriend, “not for me.”   “How’d you know she’s my girlfriend?”   Junmyeon shrugs. “I just knew. Seemed like your type and you both looked happy as shit when you saw each other. It was actually pretty obvious. Damn. Now I’m really jealous of you. You’re just oozing with joy and happiness, aren’t you? Fucking rubbing it in all our faces that you’re better off without us.”   Jungkook bursts out laughing and pats him on the back. “I’m sure Irene would take you back.”   “Fuck no! Are you crazy?! I’d rather date car-keyer Jisoo than her again!” He visibly shivers and the Jungkook laughs again.   “You guys should come watch me curl,” he invites. “We’re having the finals in two days. And it’s not as dumb as some people might think. The sport’s pretty intense actually.”   “I heard.” Junmyeon smiles. “I heard you were good too. That true or just another rumour about the Great Jeon?”   “You have to come check out for yourself.”   //   The stadium is roaring.    People are stomping twice and then clapping once, letting the beat echo as they create their own music and drown out the commentators on the intercom. He can barely hear his own thoughts and Adora is wearing earplugs while Namjoon is relishing it, pretending he’s the king of this sport.    There are flags swirling, held up by people. Singing, cheering, hollering, blood-curdling screams, there’s everything. It feels more like an MMA fight than a curling game. And it’s scaring all four of you. Taehyung is shocked, mouth dropped wide open. But more importantly, the colour of red and white fills the crowd.   “Damn Canadians,” Yoonji mutters, knowing full well how crazy Canada is about curling.   “It’s kind of fun, huh,” you muse with a laugh, smiling towards the Canadian team that nod in acknowledgment.    Taehyung comes over, flinging his arm over your shoulder and Yoonji’s. “Well, let’s make the best of it. Either way we’re leaving with gold or silver.”    “If we win gold, what if they riot?” Yoonji asks with raised brows.   “Nah, they wouldn’t. Canadians are too nice for that.”   “You haven’t been to a hockey game in Canada,” Jungkook comments before catching someone up on the stands.    It’s his old coach and the rest of the hockey team, sitting awkwardly at the center of the stands, all too out of place. The visual makes Jungkook grin. “Is it always this crowded?” Minseok leans over to ask Junmyeon as if he knows.   Yoongi, beside them, turns his head. “You have a lot to learn around here.”   “This is a legit sport, huh?” Jongin is amazed, blinking twice as he gawks.    “Course it is. What did you expect?”   “I don’t….know.”   Chanyeol leans over to Sehun, shouting when the music begins again. “I don’t think any of our hockey games had this many people!”   “Oh shit!” Baekhyun is screaming, looking down at the curling sheet as players begin to move. “What’s happening?!”   “It’s a coin toss,” Yoongi says loudly, unimpressed by their stupidity. “Winner goes first.”   “Jeon’s going!” Yixing yells and then all of them stand up, screaming from deep in the pits of their stomach. Their competitive fire ignites inside of them, trying to beat the Canadian spectators in their cheers.   “Let’s go, Jeon!” — “Get that fucking coin toss!” — “Beat them, JK! You fucking got this man!”   The group is so loud that Jungkook notices in the midst of the noise and turns, waving to them with a ginormous grin. Junmyeon laughs his head off as the spectators in the stands continue to cheer, audience going wild.   The coldness of the ice wafts over, making the air frigid. His breath is seen every time he exhales, cheeks becoming rosy in the cold. He can’t feel anything, not his hands or the tip of his nose. The edges of his fingers tingle, mind tickling pleasantly. This is where he’s meant to be, where he worked so hard to get to.   The moment is perfect.   Taehyung and Yoonji are by his side, holding their brooms. More importantly, you’re here too, giving him a firm nod to go ahead. And Jungkook flips the coin, tossing it in the air and letting the surface shine against the bright lights.   The game ensues.

[Epilogue]   The door opens.   You barely have time to take off your shoes, running towards the tiny fenced area in the living room. “Where’s my baby?”   Jungkook enters, flicking on the lights in the foyer to shed the darkness away. In the meanwhile, you’re reaching down, arms holding his tiny body to Jungkook’s slight amusement. You’re cooing at it, apologizing for going out for dinner and leaving it alone for so long.   “We’re not going to keep the bunny, Y/N.”   “Why not?”   “Because we found him in front of our apartment and he could have rabies.”   “That’s why I set up a vet appointment on the weekend. And he’s not a wild rabbit. He’s a domesticated bunny that was in a cardboard box. Can you really let this fella go?”    Suddenly, the rabbit is shoved in his face. It’s ears are perked in the air, rounded eyes completely black, nose vibrating as it sniffs his scent. It’s a furry brown thing. Kind of cute. But he won’t let himself be swayed.   “Yes, I can.”    Jungkook moves away from the rabbit, stepping to the side, preferring to stare at you.   Your love for animals since childhood extended into adulthood and now you had enough money and independence to build your own zoo in the apartment without your mother saying ‘no’. On the bright side, at least capable of taking care of them. Jungkook still doesn’t like the bunny though.   It had to go.   “But it looks just like you. It’s adorable.” You’re squealing, gazing at the rodent with endearment that leaves Jungkook speechless. “I can’t let him go and risk Yoonji finding him and throwing him on a barbecue.”   “That was a joke,” he reminds and muses that Yoonji’s dark sense of humour finally matched with his own.    You’ve been spending so much time with that damn rabbit. More than him. At this point, Jungkook can’t help but look at the animal and think that it knows exactly what it’s doing. He wouldn’t be surprised if one day the damn animal was cause for you to kick him to the curb.    Mr. Steal Your Girl was very real and it came in the form of a disgustingly cute bunny.   “You know I don’t appreciate that joke.”   He sheds his taupe coat off and you put the bunny down in his large fenced area, petting him once before allowing Jungkook to help take off your own coat to hang up on the rack. “Who’s gonna watch it when we’re on our honeymoon?”   “Since when are we having a honeymoon?” You move to the fridge, looking for the celery. “You’re going to need to propose to me first before that happens. And if it ever happens—”   “When it happens,” he corrects.   “—Taehyung can watch him for us.”   “Taehyung can’t wipe his own ass.”   “Hey,” you twist around to defend your friend. “That only happened once because the men’s washroom ran out of toilet paper. What else was he supposed to do?”   “That’s what he says.” Jungkook grins, nose wrinkling. “I think he just forgot to wipe.”   You tottle over with celery in hand, leaning over the fence to feed the rabbit. At the same time, Jungkook’s phone lights up and he looks over the screen. “Namjoon just texted the group chat. He wants us to meet him at the rink.”   “But we just got home.” You pet the rabbit before leaving it alone, standing straight to pout at your boyfriend. Then, your expression lights up and a new idea spills from your lips— “Should we ditch?”   “Little Miss. Goody Two Shoes wants to ditch?” Jungkook grins and throws his phone on the couch, abandoning it to circle his arms around your waist. “Unheard of.”   “Only cause I’d rather go to bed and cuddle with you right now.”   “Sounds like a plan.” But before anyone moves, Jungkook can’t resist the urge to kiss you. He leans down, softly sealing your lips with his, gentle and saving more for later. It subtly takes like that vanilla ice-cream you two had for dessert and your smile against his mouth. Jungkook eventually pulls away and in the quietness of your shared apartment, except for the damn animal a few meters away still nibbling on a celery stalk, he whispers, “I’m so glad….”   “For what?”   “I don’t know. That I got to meet you. That you decided to actually talk to me instead of ignoring me.”   “I already apologized for that,” you sulk. “And it was because you were so insistent on getting to know me.”   He laughs and sighs softly, leaning his forehead on yours. “I’m just...happy to be here.”   There’s a pause. “You’re not proposing to me right now, are you?”   “No…” Jungkook moves away, knowing he’s treading on dangerous territory. He’s uncertain as he reads your expression. “...unless I should be….”   You giggle, poking his chest and he lets go of you. “You probably need a ring first. And please don’t bring Taehyung or Yoonji when you go ring shopping. She’d make you get something outrageous just to see you go broke, and don’t tell Taehyung but he...kind of has bad tastes.”   “What do you mean? I love that vase he got us during our housewarming party.” The pair of you look over to the coffee table where the flesh colour vase is. It’s a swirly shape, slightly curved and reminiscent to an erect dick — that’s what art is apparently. “I mean...the vase he made us.”   You tear your eyes away from the show stealer of the room, going back to the main conversation at hand. “Bring Junmyeon. He’s sensible and reasonable and he’d follow the budget. Or maybe Yoongi. I feel like he’d have a solid opinion.”   “Okay. But who says I don’t already have it?”   You step back in surprise, eyes wide. “Really?”   The phone abruptly rings. The sound is loud, interrupting the intimate moment. One glance at the screen and you two find Adora calling, probably angry that you’re ignoring the messages.   “We should probably go before she gets mad. Unless...you were serious about ditching.”   “No. Yoonji or Taehyung might end up breaking down our door. C’mon.” As tempting as it is to just curl up in bed with Jungkook, you have tomorrow and the next day and the next day after that to be with him. Years and years, in fact. So you muster up energy, walking over and tossing him his jacket. “Let’s go.”   Jungkook walks out the door, fingers laced together, holding your hand tightly. You leave together, perhaps to prepare for another competition, another match, another game. No matter what it is, he feels at ease that you’re here — chest warm, the regrets harboured no longer important.   Jungkook could take on anything.   Before the front door shuts, the lights in the hallway catch the display case by the television.    The two gold medals inside glimmer.