#replying to prev (hello by the way!! :D)

[glitcheslikeslego]

Show Me Your Moves! (Chapter 1)

heya! this fic is on my ao3 and currently has 10 chapters! i want to post this story on here, so don’t mind me, i’m just catching up here :D

AO3 STORY

Chapter 1: Helping Hand

Helping Hand is an increased priority move that will increase the damage done by the users ally this turn by 50%.  

Being dropped into the world of LEGO Monkie Kid would have been a dream come true to you. 

If you were significantly younger. 

But no, you, a young adult who has adult things to do tomorrow, had no time for this. 

To make matters worse, you were still in your pyjamas. So now you’re walking around Megapolis in nothing but a housecoat, PAC-Man inspired shirt and pants, and red slippers like Peter Parker from Homecoming walking around in his pyjamas. 

Everyone was also giving you looks as you passed, with variations of concern, worry, confusion and passiveness. Someone even looked at you in disgust, which honestly, hella rude. 

You had no idea where you were going, but the only idea you had so far was to simply find Sandy’s houseboat. Out of all the characters, he’s probably the only one who’d let you into his home with minimal issue. 

Only problem is that Megapolis was so huge you couldn’t find your way. So you just ended up wandering in the opposite direction. 

And for every down the universe gives you, there is an up. 

And by up, it probably means MK, whose distracted self ended up bumping into you, almost topping both of you over if you hadn’t caught yourselves. 

“Ohmigosh! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” He asked worriedly, pulling your arm to help straighten yourself out. 

“I’m fine. No harm done.” You replied. All you got was probably a bump on the shoulder, so there weren’t any worries of injury yet. 

“Uh, sorry again. Are you lost? You’re kinda…” ever the empathetic protagonist, MK gestured to your outfit, if you could end em call it that, with an expression of worry. 

“I’m… looking for the seaport? Water docks? Whatever. I’m visiting a friend and kinda got lost…” you bullshit your way through, adding sad gestures to add to your sad effectiveness. 

And it worked. 

“Oh, yeah! You’re totally going the wrong way! You’re gonna wanna go that way,” MK pointed in the opposite direction, then jabbed a Lego claw thumb to his right, “then turn right on Seaside Street and keep going straight.” 

You smiled gratefully. “Thank you, em… uh…” you almost slipped up, about to say his name, but then remembered that he never introduced himself to you, so for now, he was simply a kind stranger. 

MK took that as you wanting to know his name, and said, “Name’s MK.”

“Thanks MK.”

“No problemo stranger! Nice meeting ya!” And with that, he walked off, putting his headphones on. You had no idea if this was the start of the special, or if this happened before. 

Instead of thinking hard about it, you follow MK’s directions, and after a long 10 minutes, you finally make your way to Sandy’s houseboat. 

Taking a deep breath to steel your nerves, you lightly rapped your fist on the door. It was answered within seconds, and Sandy’s hulking figure was honestly quite intimidating to see, even though he’s the definition of a gentle giant. 

You were sure that if you looked that term up in the dictionary, his picture would be right next to it. 

“Hello? Can I help you?”

~~~ <PREV ~ NEXT>

[skitskatdacat63]

thinking so hard about . when exactly in the martian timeline they hated and loved eachother can u help me .. cause after turkey 2010 they had their love moments as well and even in 2012 they had their buddy buddy moments so idk !!! they’re confusing

OH MY GOD IM SO SORRY I MEANT TO REPLY TO THIS AND THEN I JUST COMPLETELY FORGOT, SO: hello :D

This is something I think about often as well. Teammates are a weird dynamic in F1 because you're forced to compete for the same resources and against each other in the WDC, but at the same time have to still think combined for the team, for the WCC. I think teammate relationships are like being siblings or like being in a marriage(actually I think Mark has said this before haha.) You can never fully hate or separate from each other, even if you go through rough patches, because you're stuck together and have had the same experiences, for good or for worse.

Turkey 2010 is funny because I think that was one of their first bad moments as teammates, right? And I love that RBR made them take that couples therapy, "us in our get-along shirt", picture. That's what I mean by going through the same experiences, like yeah they were probably pissed at each other but were also probably bonding over the hilarity/awkwardness of RBR making them do damage control.

I just think it's probably difficult to stay upset with someone consistently when you're constantly working with them, and you've also experienced the highest highs and lowest lows with each other. I think I referenced this in my Martian champagne pics post but it's kinda funny when you look through all of those shared podiums that Mark always seemed to be way more willing to spray Seb and smile at him when Mark was the one who won(Literally 3/4 of the pics from that post when they were both at RBR were from Mark's wins.) Like it was such a "I can't stay mad at you 🤭" relationship with them. Like with Mark in particular, it feels like whenever he got a better result, he was mostly like "I shall forgive your transgressions." But then 2013 was kind of the last straw for him, with Multi-21, and especially since he really was getting crushed by Seb and not even getting any wins like in the prev years. But then, by removing himself from it all when retiring, he was able to take a step back and see what it was like to not be in constant, direct competition anymore.

Idk if I'm the best person to ask as I don't think I'm in any measures a great Martian scholar. But these are my thoughts :D I just think being teammates in such a competitive environment can result in such love-hate relationships and that Martian is one of the greatest examples of how it fluctuates. I think it'd be really difficult to try and parse when exactly they were on good or bad terms. For me, tbh I think it kinda correlates with Mark's results because I think with just that whole situation, where they were in as teammates directly competing at the very top, it was a lot easier for Mark, rather than Seb, to start feeling resentment as he was generally drawing the shorter straw most of the time.

Basically, teammates(Martian especially) are bonded through triumph and trauma

[neoelysium]

OtLWD: Fate, Up Against Your Will

A/N: Part 3, baby! Since this has turned into an ongoing series of sorts, I’ve named this saga “On the Long Way Down”, and have updated post titles to reflect this. Part 4 in progress! It’s gonna be a real change of pace. :D

PREV. PARTS: PART 1 | PART 2

Vanity sat on the balcony of Gen’s apartment, leaning against the railing, legs, augmented from the knees down, dangling free in the open air below; it looked exceptionally dangerous, although there wasn’t nearly enough space between the rails for her to fall through. She stared at the skyline of Downtown in the distance, vision still blurred from the intoxication — it was gaudy, cluttered with advertisements and flying vehicles passing through.

She sighed, focusing hard. “Call Mags.”

The communicator rang out, Vanity’s leg shaking worse and worse with each passing ring. After six or so rings, Mags accepted the call.

“Van-Van,” Mags yawned. “What’s got you up so late?”

“I-I, um,” Vanity stammered. “I need some help. Got myself, and Magellan, into a messy situation… had this contract with TriSec to destroy this microchip — a chip that Miss Eve Bishop also wanted, because the universe is a real fuckin’ comedian like that,” she explained further. “Gen tells her someone in the Reaper’s Disciples breaks in and smashes the chip, which he says she didn’t seem to believe.”

“I see… and what exactly would you like me to do about it?”

“I don’t know, pick one of the Disciples and pin it on them, or something?”

“That target on your back grows larger by the day, sister,” Mags replied.

“Rather it be the Reapers than Bishop.”

“No shit. Lovely woman, Miss Bishop, but don’t cross her… I’ll start creating that misinformation immediately — but you understand this is going to generate some heat, right?”

“I’m well aware.”

────────────

Gen jolted awake suddenly — he’d slept in too late for his own liking, the clock reading 12:19 PM. Dragging himself out of bed, he examined his apartment; Vanity was fast asleep, curled up on his couch. He shook his head, unable to think about anything but the previous night, throwing on a jacket before heading out to grab some lunch.

“Hello.”

“Look, I really don’t feel like doing this right now, okay?”

“Your former lover formulated a plan last night, we heard the entire exchange. It would be in your best interest to listen.”

“My former lover? Not exactly what I’d call it.”

“Then what would you call it, Genesis?”

“I don’t know… a couple of momentary lapses of judgment, I suppose.”

“Such an explanation seems absurd — unlikely, at best. The likelihood of repeated—”

“Hey, can you assholes stop exploring my mind like it’s a goddamn ghost-town-tourist-attraction?”

“It is, in a sense, a ghost town. A graveyard for mere moments in the passage of time.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever. Just stay out of there while I’m stuck with you… seems like the only shred of the human experience any one of you in there retained is being an obnoxious dickhead.”

“We are curious. We seek understanding.”

“Seek it elsewhere. So… you said Vanity had a plan?”

“She and Mags Martinez are going to place the blame on a specific Disciple.”

“And bring them to my fuckin’ doorstep, naturally.”

“We believe it is the optimal path forward.”

Gen exploded into uproarious laughter at MINDEYE’s response. “Alright then…”

He entered a little ramen shop, about a mile down the road from the apartment complex, sitting down at a table near the back. He scrolled through a small menu kiosk on the table, ordering a bowl of ramen and a cup of tea.

He watched as pedestrians passed by outside as he waited for his food, already planning for trouble with the Reapers. It wouldn’t have been the first time, of course — pretty much all mercenaries in Neo-Elysium had their run-ins with the gang from time to time. This, however, felt like it had the potential to spiral into something else entirely. A full-blown war with the Reapers was less than enticing, even with the probability of adequate backup. Nonetheless, it was preferable to any level of conflict with Bishop.

Behind Bishop’s charming, polite demeanor slept a more ominous, stern side. In the decade he’d been associated with her, Gen had seen just about all of it — his mind always conjured up images of his first major assignment for her; he had been paired with an arrogant hacker, whose name he failed to remember, who decided to push their luck, demanding a higher fee from Bishop in exchange for the data the pair had just nabbed. Within seconds, the hacker was surrounded by her subordinates, forcibly restrained, and connected to the Web. Unable to fight back, the hacker’s consciousness was uploaded to the Breach — without assistance, a move that was irreversible. A grim moment, one that was instrumental in teaching Gen that Eve Bishop was not to be trifled with.

“Despite your initial concerns, it seems your past has now reminded you that this outcome is most desirable.”

“As it stands, it’s unavoidable — conflict. No one’s gonna back me, or Vanity, if we bring a fight to Bishop’s doorstep… but the Disciples…”

“The aid is all around,” MINDEYE replied.

Gen nodded, sipping at the steaming cup of tea that had just been sat in front of him, along with his bowl of ramen. He briefly enjoyed his meal in silence, sighing in defeat as his communicator rang out. He attempted to ignore it, continuing to enjoy his lunch, finally giving the call enough attention to be answered.

“Mr. Magellan,” Eve’s voice greeted him from the other side.

“Miss Bishop. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I have some news you might be interested in.”

“Hit me,” Gen responded, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

“Kharon Wiles. Name sound familiar?”

“Reaper. Top enforcer. Long tenured.”

“So, you do know him… Connections received word that he’s been boasting all around the city about breaking that chip.”

“Figures,” he replied. He couldn’t believe Vanity and Mags’ lied had worked so easily.

“You want the other half of that payment?” Her tone sounded promising, convincing.

“To take out Wiles? Would love to help, Miss Bishop, but I’m afraid—”

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice. You set this madness into motion, and you will fix it, Mr. Magellan.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“That’s more like it.”

────────────

Vanity’s eyes slowly opened, taking time to adjust to the brightness of the sun, gleaming through the apartment’s windows. She stretched her arms, yawning, unsure of exactly how she wound up in Gen’s apartment — her head was still buzzing, the events of the night before a total blur.

“Must have brought me here from Astro’s,” she grumbled to herself, clearing the sleep from her eyes. She sat upright, checking her communicator for messages; one sat in her inbox, from Mags, reading ‘all set in motion, good luck’.

All of a sudden, the apartment’s front door swung open. Vanity jumped in surprise, her eyes darting towards the doorway; it was only Gen, takeout container in hand, a complete look of neutrality painted on his face.

“Oh, you’re up. I went for lunch, didn’t want to disturb you… Hope you still like yakisoba, extra peppers.”

“Still my usual… it’s not like I’m a totally different person or something, Gen.”

“Tastes change. Just ask bot-brain. Lectured me the whole time about how I might have picked the wrong dish. Oh, and, speaking of…”

“It’s temporary, chill out,” Vanity waved her hand, as if dismissing the discussion.

“Yeah? How about you? Direct line at all times? You on TriSec payroll now?”

Vanity’s eyes shot wide open, staring him down in shock. “Me? Ya joking?”

“Stranger, more baffling things have happened,” Gen shrugged, “bot-brain’s already confirmed that you have been working for them.”

“Just the one job,” she explained, “been connected to the bot for almost two months now. Month and a half of recon, plus the actual payoff last night. Connection is fading as we speak.”

“Wonderful. They must be absolutely fuckin’ dandy about this whole thing, right about now.”

“Oh, please, drama king. They’re not monitoring our usage of the bot.”

“Incorrect,” MINDEYE chimed in. Gen raised his eyebrow at Vanity.

“Okay, so they are… but not in any meaningful capacity.”

“Correct,” MINDEYE replied. “We are connected to many users simultaneously. It is neither worth the effort, nor the cost, for them to track each and every one of your movements and actions.”

“Really comforting,” Gen retorted, voice drenched in sarcasm.

“So,” Vanity began, clearing her throat, “I heard Mags found a fall guy…”

“Yeah, and she really went for it, too. Kharon Wiles. Know ‘im?”

“Heard of him. Big shit in their ranks, if memory serves me right.”

“You’d be correct — their top enforcer, actually. Eve says I gotta scrap his ass.”

“Need some help with that, babes?”

“Seeing as you got me into this mess? Yeah, I’d love that.”

“It wasn’t personal.”

“Wasn’t doin’ me a favor, either.”

“Oh, really? Because I don’t see Stalker anywhere around this apartment, and they could have easily sicced him on your ass like it wasn’t shit.”

“Oh how I wish they would.”

[archivedmunson]

dealer’s choice pt. 2 /no! i just think i’m two steps nearer to my grave

pairing: eddie munson/oc (cynthia moose) fandom: stranger things wc: 3.3k note: this took for-fuckin-ever, im so sorry. here they are! warnings: swearing, smoking, mentions of drugs and alcohol,

Hopper leaned down, taking his sunglasses off and asked, “where are you two coming from?"

Eddie got nervous, he wanted to say something but this wasn’t his situation and he didn’t want to get Moose in trouble for his weed run. But he was stunned even more by how she replied to the cop.

“Skull Rock.”

PREV: here

READ ON: ao3 ✰   wattpad  ✰   ff.net ✰   quotev

February 1985, Cherry Lane

3:17 pm. The dungeons and dragons curse, she liked to call it. Whenever someone brought D&D up to her in any capacity, no matter if her sister was around or not, she would be roped into babysitting a bunch of smelly pre-teens. (This time it was an offhand comment made by Jeff in her sixth period science class)

“Cyn, please?” Bethany pleaded for the third time this hour. “Mike’s dad doesn’t want us over there for another session, and we have the only area big enough.”

“You mean we have less supervision here. Since mom went back to work.”

Bethany shrugged as her sister sighed and turned the tv off, “please?”

“It’s my only day off this week.” Cynthia muttered to herself. “Fine. But you have to clean whatever mess you guys make down there.”

Not even thirty minutes later, Cynthia’s car was filled by three boys, two girls and they had just finished descending their madness upon Bradley’s Big Buy to get snacks and pizza for the weekend. They were loud and caused a ruckus in the store and she was just glad to get out of there with her dignity.

After piling the kids into the car, she almost turned the wrong way and they all let her know about it, “We gotta get Will!”

As they pulled up to the Byers’ place, she put the car in park and looked at the kids in silence, no one was getting out. “Are you guys serious? Go get him.”

“You have to talk to Joyce.” Mike informed the older teen.

She grumbled as she got out of the car, and walked up to the front door. She put on a small smile as she knocked twice.

“Cynthia, hi.” Joyce greeted, opening the door.

“Hey, I came to get Will, if that’s alright.” She gestured to the car where the five kids could be seen arguing animatedly, “Beth is hosting for their session this weekend, something about Mr. Wheeler wanting them to get out of the house?”

Before Joyce could even respond, Will went zipping between them and jumped into the car, clearly an overfilled backpack swinging onto his back.

“That’s fine, is your mom home?”

“No,” Cynthia drew out. “But I don’t have to work until four tomorrow and if they run extra long, I’m sure Tim could watch them.”

“Okay, I’ll have Jonathan drop by after he gets off work to see if Will needs anything, is that alright?”

“Yeah, that’s cool. They probably wanna get outta here, I’ll see you around.”

Five hours later and they were starting to drive her crazy, they’ve gone through half their snacks and had three pizzas already. She heard another set of screams from the basement and she got up and padded to the kitchen landline and flipped open the phonebook.

Finding the number, she typed it in and held the phone to her ear, listening to the ring for a minute before a man’s voice came over the speaker, “Hello?”

“Hey, is this Eddie?”

“Yeah?” The other line sounded skeptical, “who’s this?”

“Cynthia.”

It was quiet for a moment. “Oh, Moose. What’s going on?”

“Okay,” she chuckled, “not to be a sob story but I’m fuckin stranded at my house with a gaggle of middle schoolers and I really need a smoke. If it’s not too inconvenient, could you run me a bag?”

“Sure, what did you want?”

“I got… ten bucks. So, what? A quarter?” She answered.

“Alright,” He answered, she heard keys shuffling on his end, “Cherry Lane, right?”

“Yeah, thanks, dude.”

“See you in a bit.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Cynthia replied, hanging up the phone before going back to her bedroom.

Twenty minutes later, Cynthia was in the middle of her Blondie cassette when she saw a pair of headlights flash through her window, signaling that someone just pulled into the driveway. She rolled out of bed and grabbed one of her dad’s sweaters and went out to the living room.

Expecting Eddie to be outside, she was surprised when she opened the door to see Jonathan Byers. “Hey, I forgot you were dropping by.”

“I was late.” He muttered.

She widened the door for him to come in and she spotted Nancy coming up the walkway with a smile.

“Hi, Cynthia.”

“Hey, Nance,” Shutting the door behind the couple, she continued, “the kids are in the basement. The last door on the right in the hall will have the stairs.”

✰✰✰

Eddie pulled up to the Moose’s house, Jeff in his passenger seat. They both spotted an extra car parked in front of the house. “Weird,” he shrugged to his friend and bandmate before trying to get out of the van.

Jeff laughed in response before stopping and grabbing the older boy’s arm, “I think she’s coming out.”

Settling back down, he watched Cynthia walk between the parked cars and approach the window he just rolled down.

Leaning against the van, she laid her forearms over the opening, “hey guys, thanks for comin’ out.” She quickly held out a bill between her fingers.

“It’s no big deal. Jeff needed a ride home anyways.” Eddie shrugged once again, passing a baggy into her hand that was still resting in the van. “Actually, Moose, I heard some shit about you today.”

“Oh shit.” She laughed, keeping one hand on the van as she leaned away and put her weed away. Fumbling with something else in her pocket, she tried to change the subject, “do you want some candy?”

“Don’t try to change the subject.” Eddie smiled at her as she leaned back against the van, defeated.

“Fuck,” she groaned. “First, what did you hear?”

“Apparently Hopper chased you down for being… ‘drunk and disorderly’ out on Kerley last night.” He explained as Jeff laughed in the other seat, the younger boy knew the actual story, hearing it from Cynthia in their shared class.

The girl hung her head in shame.

“It’s all good, Moose. It’s happened to the best of us.” That made Jeff laugh even more.

“Sucks you believe that, Munson.” She finally responded, “I wasn’t drunk and disorderly, alright? I was walking home, extremely sober, from the Wheelers’ after Nancy’s mom snitched on me.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, it was past curfew so he had to pick me up. That and I’ve been out of the house since Sunday.”

“You’re not home a whole lot, are you?” Eddie asked, slightly concerned.

Cynthia deflected with a laugh and a shrug, “do you want some candy? Last offer.”

“I’ll have some.” Jeff spoke up, holding his hand out.

Reaching over Eddie and handing their friend a small candy bar, Cynthia turned her attention back to the metalhead, “What about you, Eddie? Want some candy?”

“Yeah, of course. Got any chocolate?”

“You’re shit outta luck, dude, I got a sucker or sweethearts.” She laughed, fiddling around in her pocket once again.

Defeated, Eddie set out his hand, “I’ll take the sucker.”

“A sucker for a sucker.” Cynthia laughed, handing him a red, heart-shaped sucker. “See you guys around.”

They watched as she walked back up to the house before turning the van back on. “What’d you get?” Eddie asked his friend when he heard him eating the candy he just received.

“Laffy Taffy.”

Nodding, he didn’t believe his friend. “Sure. Taffy? Jeff, you have braces.”

“I can indulge.” He lied, trying to stop the older boy from wrestling his hand open to find the wrapper.

Eddie was victorious, “a snickers? Jeffrey, I think Moose is playing favorites.”

June 1985 Forest Hills Trailer Park

2:43 pm. Eddie trudged out to his van in the late June heat. He was currently thankful for his KISS shirt that he cropped so the edge of it sat right above the waistline of his jean shorts. After he got in, keeping the door open, he took some time to dig through his cassettes. Ultimately deciding on Blizzard of Ozz before sticking a cigarette between his lips and starting his van to limp to the more experienced mechanics.

Speeding up the road, he spotted a familiar station wagon turn onto the road. Slowing down to let the car pass on the narrow street, he was met with Moose. Wallace had told him the day before that she was asking about him. Eddie’s friend seemed exasperated about the topic.

Setting the cigarette down, he cranked his window open as the driver of the opposite car slowed down by him, “What’s up, Moose?” He leaned out of his van, disregarding the heat.

She seemed unprepared as she shuffled to mirror the older boy, “I heard from Wally that you were back in town and I was out today so I wanted to drop by to see if you had any?”

The boy laughed and ran a hand through his messy bangs, “yeah, I have to go see my guy and get some. Could you give me a ride?”

“Um, I— yeah, that’s cool.”

“You sure?” he asked, she nodded, “meet me at Bell’s Auto on Pine? I have to bring this beast in.”  He patted the door for good measure.

“Sure thing.”

✰✰✰

Eddie slowly pulled into Bell’s right in front of the garage doors and was surprised to see Moose already there, moving bags from the front seat and setting them into the back. When did she pass him up?

He got out and watched as she pushed a cooler onto the back seat, “How’d you get here so fast?”

She jumped in surprise, somehow not noticing Eddie behind her, with a laugh she replied, “you took an odd turn, I just went up Main.”

“My way’s faster.” He defended his ‘odd’ turn. He felt a bloom in his chest as she laughed at what he said. It was then he noticed that their outfits were nearly similar.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Munson.”

The drive was nearly silent, only the wind and the occasional puff of a cigarette occupied the car.

Cynthia pulled her hand in from the outside and glanced at the boy next to her, “there’s a box under your seat, it has some of my tunes in it. Find something you like.”

“You gonna have anything my speed?” He half-joked. He grew hopeful when he looked over at her, a smile on her face and AC/DC on her tee.

“Don’t start, Eddie.”

It took him a couple minutes of picking up a case and looking to see what it was before he found one that was clearly made at home and the cover just said Summer ‘82 (KISS, Crüe, Blondie, Whitney). Popping it into the radio, he waited, listening, until the beginning notes of Sure Know Something started.

“Where did you find that?”

He thought he did something wrong for a second before she turned up the music and started bobbing her head. “It was at the bottom of the box.”

“Good pick.” She complimented, taking a puff of the cigarette between her fingers.

Another 20 minutes down the road, Eddie instructed her to pull over to a small, shaded path, “wait here, I’ll walk the rest of the way and be back in a bit.”

“Okay,” she sighed, relenting. Cynthia wanted to just drive him up but he told her that his guy didn’t like people knowing where he lived. “See you in a bit.”

For the fifteen minutes that Eddie was gone, Cynthia mindlessly flipped through one of her sister’s old wrestling newsletters in between killing the odd mosquito that made its way into the warm car.

The current summer air reminded her of the days that her dad would take her and Beth to swim out at Jordan Lake in east Hawkins. She could feel the sadness building in her chest as she reminisced about days that were long gone; melting down onto the leather bench, she tried to breathe, pushing away tears that were about to spill out.

When she finally calmed herself down, she opened her eyes. They were blurry and when she looked up and out of the passenger window by her feet, she saw a blurry figure. She flinched hard, “son of a bitch.” She gasped as she wiped her eyes and saw Eddie, smiling with concern in his eyes.

Reaching forward, she pulled the lock up and let Eddie in, “scared the hell outta me, man.”

“I could tell.” He snickered, “takin’ a nap, Moose? Am I that boring?”

She laughed as she scooched back into the driver seat, “You’re thrilling, bud. I was resting my eyes.”

“Okay.” He relented, settling into the seat, he put a bag onto the floor by his feet as he watched the girl next to him lay her head on the steering wheel. “You alright?”

When she didn’t respond, Eddie hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder, “hey.”

She peered over at him from behind the hair that curtained her in like a shield, “I’m alright.”

Eddie pulled his hand away as she leaned back against the seat as she gathered her hair into her hands.

Giving a small smile, Cynthia actually looked over at him. “I’m good. Long day.” Tying her long, dark hair into a bun before she started the car, “let’s get outta here, yeah?”

On the way back, Eddie had pointed her to a left turn and continued in the winding woods, he insisted continuing around the lake would be quicker to get back into town.

“So what happened to your van?”

Eddie picked at his rings, “I just got back from Saginaw, fucked up my tires pretty bad on the way back. Also just general wear and tear.”

“You do drive like a mad-man.” Cynthia laughed.

“I’d call it efficient.”

“Whatever you say, Munson,” she playfully rolled her eyes. “What were you doing in Michigan, if you don’t mind me asking?”

He pulled his eyes from the road and watched as they sped through the trees, he rubbed at his slightly tanned arms nervously before he eventually answered, “I went to visit my mom.”

“Oh,” Cynthia readjusted her grip on the wheel and took a glimpse at the boy in her passenger seat, “how’d that go?”

“Alright.” Eddie shrugged, shrinking into himself. “Yeah, I had to break the news to her that I got held back. Again.”

“Shit, man. I’m sorry.” It was silent in the van for what seemed like forever, only the radio playing between them. She didn’t really know how to respond. “At least now you get to finish it out with Jeff and Wallace.” Maybe not the right thing to say but it could be comforting.

He gave a small laugh, “Yeah, stupid might cancel out somehow.”

She peeked at the boy to her right and gave him a nudge on the shoulder. “Trust me, it does. How do you think we got Tim outta there?”

“Oh, yeah. Henderson.”

“Yeah,” Cynthia was caught off guard by his response. “What happened with you guys? He says you were his first friend when he moved to town.”

“I guess. Then he went full dark side on us.”

Cynthia felt bad laughing, knowing it would egg Eddie on in his incoming rant. “Dark side? Wow.”

“Yeah! We were cool at first when school started then he just dropped us.” He started waving his hands as he talked. “Then he started sports and hanging around guys like Bull and Tommy B. We tried to be cool but—“

“How long has that truck been behind us?” She interrupted, looking in the rearview mirror.

“I don’t know, but it does look like a—” He tried to turn around to look properly before Cynthia laid a hand on his arm, making him sit forward.

“Oh fuck, it’s fucking Hopper. Oh shit.”

“Are you sure?” He leaned over, looking in the mirror on his side of the car while shuffling his bag further under the seat.

“Yes, I’m sure. The fuck is he doing out here?”

“He’s a cop, Moose, isn’t it kinda his job to be out here?”

Running a hand through her hair, she kept her speed moderate. “I guess. Shouldn’t he be dealing with shitbirds over at the mall?” She didn’t have another moment to chill out before the blue and red light started flashing on the truck behind them. “I can handle this, just sit there and look pretty,” she tried to crack a quick joke.

Eddie nodded with a quick laugh as they pulled into the dirt and waited for the cops to walk up the car.

“What’s goin’ on, rat-stache?” Cynthia nodded at Callahan as he appeared at her passenger window.

“Really?” We pulled you over and you’re gonna under—” The younger cop was cut off.

“Cynthia Moose.” Hopper greeted, setting his hat on the top of her car. “And,” he leaned down, getting a better glimpse at the guest in her car, “Eddie Munson, didn’t know you were back in town.”

“Yeah, just last night.”

Hopper scanned the odd pair and waited for a smart remark from the Moose girl akin to the one Callahan received. When she didn’t speak up, he said, “Your mom called the station today. Wanna tell me why?”

“I don’t know, man.” Cynthia was genuinely taken aback. “She knows I have the car, I have work tonight.”

“I need something better than that, last time we got a call like this, we found you out by the Pinelli’s up in Merrick Park after six days.” He was losing his patience with the girl.

“Dude, I—“ She was getting frustrated, there was really no reason for this. “I don’t know. I brought Beth to her softball game at noon and that’s it.”

“That’s it?” Hopper leaned down, taking his sunglasses off and asked, “where are you two coming from?”

“Can we keep this between us? She’s not gonna be happy with me,” Cynthia rambled on, “I just got my shit together, my mom can’t know about this. Please, Hopper?”

Jim Hopper sighed and, with a stern nod, told Callahan to go back to the truck.

Eddie got nervous, he wanted to say something but this wasn’t really his situation and he didn’t want to get Moose in trouble for his weed run. But he was stunned even more by how she replied to the cop.

“Skull Rock.”

The cop was taken aback, repeating, “Skull Rock?” to the teens in the car incredulously.

“Yeah, man,” Cynthia replied, becoming more confident in her lie, “why do you think we got a cooler and blankets back there? We had a picnic and.. Hung out.”

“Okay.” Hopper nodded; not really believing the pair but knowing Cynthia’s past boyfriend, he took it into consideration as he peeked behind them into the back of the wagon. “This true, Munson?”

Eddie looked beyond Moose’s dark, pleading eyes and straight at the Chief, “Yes.”

He didn’t want to deal with this, but he found that it was better to deal with Elaine Moose’s calls regarding her oldest sooner rather than later. Sighing, wiping sweat from his brow, “Get back to town, go see your mother. I won’t mention this.”

Cynthia let out a deep breath, “holy shit, thank you.”

“Yeah,” Hopper grabbed his hat and stepped away from the car, “get outta here.”

Eddie also let out a breath as he heard the engine turn over and they started rolling.

“Holy shit, holy shit.” The girl basically chanted as they picked up speed, heading back to town.

“Hey, Moose?” It was his turn to interrupt as he leaned his head back against the car. “If it’s alright, I’m never riding with you anywhere ever again.”

Letting out a quick laugh before she pushed a cassette into the radio, she replied, “Understandable.”

[marauderundercover]

Taking Chances Chapter Seven: Trying for Normal (Gifts)

Prev

AO3

“You can not honestly tell me you are thinking of announcing that girl as your daughter.” Damian says, his scowl deeper than Dick had seen it in a while.

“‘That girl’ has a name, Little D. Plus she’s your sister.” Dick says, resisting the urge to nudge him. They had gotten to the point where a small nudge wasn’t a death sentence, but Damian was on edge. And a small nudge would probably not be appreciated.

“I do not care what her name is, Grayson. Since coming to Gotham she has been involved in two separate Rogue attacks. She is suspicious at best, and a nuisance at worst.” He replies, crossing his arms.

“Enough, Damian. Marinette is not a nuisance. She simply has bad luck.” Bruce says, obviously trying to defend his daughter.

“And poor self-preservation skills. Talking back to the Joker? Snarking the Riddler? For an individual with no combat training, she gets much too involved in attacks. It is idiotic.” Damian argues, shaking his head.

“It might have something to do with the Paris situation. She said she’s been at attacks before, so she must have some experience with villains. And from what I read on the Ladyblog, none of the damage in Paris lasts. She just may not realize how dangerous it is for her to do here what she would do in Paris. We just need to warn her, or, at least remind her, that Gotham is a dangerous place.” Dick says, thinking back to her reaction to the Riddler and the Joker. She was definitely more tense with the Joker, despite the fact that both villains had arrived with armed goons. Maybe she thought the Riddler was less likely to kill someone, not true. Or maybe she- Dick frowns as he remembers a key difference between the attacks.

“I just realized something.” He says with a frown.

“Care to share with the rest of the room, Dickiebird?” Jason asks, strolling in and flopping onto a chair.

“She was more tense at the attack with the Joker, she seemed to understand that it was a dangerous situation. Sure, she talked back to him, but she didn’t try to fight back or anything. But at the attack with the Riddler, he wasn’t even targeting her at first. He was targeting the boy she’d been talking to. And she was more reckless, and then she fought back. She fought well, but it was still super dangerous.” Dick rambles, pacing as he explains the predicament.

“Is there a point to this? I feel like I walked in at the wrong time.” Jason calls out from his chair, feet propped up on the table in front of him.

“My point, Jay, is that Marinette has a crush.” Dick says, shuddering at the word like it’s something disgusting. (It is, his sister is too young for crushes and boyfriends).

“Is that why she ran off with him right after the attack?” Jason asks with a smirk. Dick feels his eyes practically shoot out of his head.

“She what!?” He yells, running over to the Batcomputer to look at the security footage from the wax museum. Spots that were targeted frequently, like the wax museum, had their security footage directly linked to the Batcave. Just in case of an emergency or in case an attack happened and they needed an extra set of eyes.

“I’m sure she didn’t do anything that you wouldn’t do.” Jason teases, and Dick pales.

“Shut up, Jason!” He moans, his typing turning frantic as he scrolls through the day’s footage. He stops when he gets to the moments after the battle. When the phones of the French students had all gone off. Frowning, he watches as his sister runs up to the boy and grabs his hand, leaning in and whispering to each other before the two run out of the room. Towards the bathrooms. Oh hell no. Dick scrolls forwards, frowning when they don’t come out in five minutes. Or ten minutes. Huffing, he switches to the cameras aimed at the exits. Surely one of the cameras had to catch the pair leaving the museum. He rewinds it and watches, but...there’s nothing. They don’t leave the bathrooms and they don’t leave the museum. For the rest of the day.

“Has anyone been in contact with her since the attack?” Bruce asks from right beside him, making him jump out of his seat with a yelp.

“I don’t even have her number.” Dick says, resisting the urge to glare at his adoptive father. He might’ve had Marinette’s number had Bruce actually acted like he wanted her to be there for dinner the other day. Instead, he practically ignored her and she left. And now she was missing. Definitely missing, because she never came out of the bathroom at the museum.

“Hello, Marinette? Yes, I apologize for calling so suddenly. I was- yes. Yes, I did hear about the attack….yes, that was part of the reason I was calling. I was wondering if you would like to come to dinner at the manor. You could bring your friend, Adrien Agreste, I believe was his name. Of course. Yes. Oh no, I’ll send a car. No, no I assure you it- Marinette please. Taxis aren’t always safe after dark. Thank you. Yes, I- we’ll see you then. Goodbye.” Bruce hangs up, and Dick looks at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Just gonna suddenly invite her and her boy toy to dinner, B? What’re you gonna do, interrogate them?” He asks frowning.

“That’s the second time that Marinette has ran off after that alarm. I’ve seen videos of the situation in Paris and I’m concerned. Now go upstairs and act normal. I want all of you on your best behaviors at dinner. Damian, better than best please. No weapons.” Bruce directs before leaving the room, presumably to ask Alfred to pick up Marinette. Dick sighs and looks at his brothers.

“Well this isn’t going to be a disaster or anything.” He says. --- “Tikki this is going to be a disaster!” Marinette whines, throwing herself face first onto the bed. She tries to ignore Tikki’s amused giggle. This was not funny. This was dinner with her family that she hadn’t made a great impression on the first time. And Adrien was invited, and she wasn’t sure where the two stood but she was sure that if Dick was at dinner, he would just push Adrien farther away from her.

“I could practically hear your suffering from Adrien’s room, pigtails.” Plagg says, making Marinette sit up and glare at the Kwami.

“Are you just here to mock me?” She asks, pouting. He snorts.

“No, I’m here to tell you the kid’s on his way over here. I told him you were panicking and he practically ran out his door.” Plagg says with a chuckle. Rapid knocking on the door makes him laugh more before dropping onto the bed next to Tikki. Marinette sighs, rolling off the bed and pulling the door open, jumping forward in time to catch Adrien before he completely falls to the ground.

“Are you okay? Plagg said you were panicking, did something happen?” He asks quickly, looking her up and down. Marinette blinks, slightly taken aback by his sudden concern. It was nice, but still a lot all at once. Shaking her head, she gestures for him to come in and shuts the door behind him. Walking back over to the bed, she once again face plants and groans.

“She’s nervous because Mr. Wayne invited the two of you to dinner.” Tikki chirps, giggling when Marinette lifts her head up enough to glare at her.

“Traitor.” She says, dropping her head back down.

“If you don’t want me to go with Marinette, I won’t.” Adrien says. Marinette immediately jumps up, shaking her head rapidly.

“No, no that’s not what I meant. I just- I’m nervous about actually sitting through a dinner with them. And I’m pretty sure Dick will try and sit between us and glare at you like he did at the museum.” She admits, cursing the way her cheeks heat up. Adrien raises an eyebrow.

“He was glaring at me?” He asks, utter confusion on his face. Marinette groans, dropping her head into her hands.

“Sometimes your obliviousness is cute-”

“You think I’m cute!”

“But right now, it’s kinda making me want to scream into my pillow.” Marinette admits, giving him her signature “not amused” look. A look she usually saves for when Chat Noir is making a pun.

“Wait, why wouldn’t Dick like me?” Adrien asks, thankfully stuck on that now instead of the fact that she thinks he’s cute.

“Um, maybe because we were holding hands? Did you really not notice how he kept standing in between us the entire time we were at the museum?” Marinette asks, suddenly unsure if she’d imagined the whole thing.

“Oh no, I did. I just didn’t think it meant he didn’t like me. I’ve never really dealt with siblings before. I mean, I’ve met Nino’s little brother but...that’s about it.” Adrien says, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. Marinette sighs, grinning softly.

“I don’t really have a lot of experience either, so maybe I was just imagining things.” She admits. Adrien’s shoulders instantly relax and she smiles. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

“So, did you want me to come with?” He asks after a moment of silence. Marinette nods, agreeing immediately.

“Please. I don’t think I can go back there alone, not yet anyway.”

“Of course, Mari. Now, what’re you wearing?” --- The ride to Wayne Manor wasn’t as quiet as her first, with Adrien making quiet jokes and saying things to try and help keep Marinette out of her head. She was thankful that he had come with, because she was definitely going to need the emotional support to get through dinner. The car stops and Marinette sucks in a deep breath. Smoothing out her skirt nervously, Marinette glances at the small, neatly wrapped package sitting between her and Adrien. It was something she had started back when she first found out she was adopted. And that her parents didn’t know her bio dad. A scrapbook with copies of everything important from her life: baby pictures, school pictures, birth announcement, report cards, clippings from newspapers where she had won or placed in contests, pictures of her early designs and recent designs, pictures of certificates and trophies from various competitions and activities. Basically a road map of her life to be given to her bio dad so that he could get to know her. She’d written her name on the front page, with the words “daughter of Bruce Wayne and Bridgette Le” underneath. A sort of amendment to her birth announcement which listed her as the daughter of Tom and Sabine Dupain Cheng. And while she definitely was their daughter, she also wanted Mr. Wayne to know that she wanted to be his daughter too. Not just by blood, which isn’t the important part. No, she wanted to get to know him and for him to get to know her. Pushing down the intruding thoughts insisting that it was too soon and that he didn’t want her in the first place, she opens the car door and steps out, clutching the package to her chest like a safety blanket.

“Would you like me to take that for you, Miss Marinette?” Alfred asks, glancing at the package.

“Oh, no thank you Alfred. It’s for my da- er, um, Mr. Wayne. I can hang onto it.” She says with a bright smile. She could do this. Sure, it didn’t go great the last time she was here. And she was pretty sure Mr. Wayne’s youngest son could kill her and wanted to kill her. But it was fine. Everything is fine. Walking through the front door, her shoulders relax slightly when she sees Dick is the only one standing there waiting for them.

“Marinette! He cheers, rushing forward and picking her up in a hug. As in, legitimately picking her up. Okay then.

“Good to see you too.” She says, trying not to show that he’s literally suffocating her with the hug.

“Good to see you again, Dick!” Adrien says cheerfully. Marinette feels Dick tense before setting her down, his smile less bright as he looks at Adrien.

“And you. Adrien, right?” He asks, sticking his hand out for a handshake.

“Yup!” Adrien says cheerfully. Marinette watches cautiously, noticing that Dick seems to be squeezing a little too hard….and then Adrien appears to match his strength, if the look on Dick’s face is anything to go by. Marinette coughs to hide a snort, her face heating up as both boys turn to look at her.

“Uh, is it just you and Mr. Wayne tonight?” Marinette asks, choosing to ignore their awkward handshake.

“Nope! It’s me and Bruce and Alfred, of course, and Jay and Tim and Damian and Cass. Steph’s not in town and Babs is having dinner with her dad.” Dick says, and Marinette’s eyes widen. There were a lot more people in her bio dad’s family than she thought. She knew about the boys, but she hadn’t seen anything about Cass, Steph or ‘Babs’.

“I didn’t realize I had sisters too.” She says instead of voicing her insecurities. Before she only had the boys to measure up against, now she had three girls too?

“Well, the only official sister is Cass. Steph used to date Tim and she just kinda stuck around. She’s practically family at this point. And Babs and I used to date, but again, she stuck around after and now she’s practically family.” Dick explains with a grin and a shrug. Cause having your exes around isn’t awkward. Or, maybe it isn’t. She doesn’t have any exes to compare it to. Just as she starts to get lost in her thoughts, she feels Adrien brush against her gently. Reminding her that he’s there, for her, giving her the strength she needs to follow Dick into the living room. Where everyone else was sitting. Oh boy.

“Marinette, so glad you could join us. And Mr. Agreste, nice to see you again.” Bruce says, standing from his spot and moving to shake Adrien’s hand.

“You as well, M. Wayne. And please, call me Adrien. Mr. Agreste is my father.” He says, and Marinette can just barely see his wince. His father always had been his least favorite subject, no matter how much or how little they spoke of him.

“Thanks for inviting us.” Marinette says, moving the package so that she’s no longer clutching it like a lifeline. Holding it out to Mr. Wayne, she laughs at his confused face. “It’s a present.” She adds.

“Oh, well, thank you.” He says, his face unreadable. Marinette shifts her weight, glancing between him and the package, waiting for him to open it. Or properly introduce her to the rest of the family. Either option would work at this point. Glancing at Dick, she sighs in relief when he claps. At least someone was going to make the first move.

“Right, so I don’t think you got the chance to meet Jason and Damian properly when you were here the other day.” Dick says, tugging her around a still frozen Bruce in front of the two boys from the other day.

“No, I didn’t. Hi, I’m Marinette.” She says, smiling and holding out a hand to Damian first. He tuts and turns away, making Marinette’s smile fall slightly before she turns to Jason. Jason grins and shakes her hand.

“Welcome to the family, kid.” He says, before whistling. “You didn’t get B’s height, that’s for sure.” He teases, Marinette snorts, her smile turning into a teasing smirk.

“Hey, don’t count me out for my height. Ever heard the phrase, small but mighty?” She asks, crossing her arms. Jason snorts, reaching out and messing up her hair.

“Whatever you say, Pixie Pop.” He replies. She rolls her eyes and turns to the other two siblings she hadn’t met.

“Hi, you must be Tim and Cass.” She says, smiling at both of them. Tim nods, his hand twitching towards his pocket. Marinette tries not to laugh, having seen Max do the same thing when he had to socialize for any amount of time. The boy was always far more comfortable with his phone in his hand, even if he wasn’t actually looking at it. Cass smiles, and Marinette notices her hands moving. “Sorry, could you repeat that, I wasn’t watching closely.” She says. Cass’ smile widens and she nods before starting over.

“Welcome to family. Nice to meet you.” Cass signs, making Marinette beam.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” She says, eyes widening when she realizes she left Adrien alone with a frozen Mr. Wayne. Whirling around, she moved back to Adrien and tugged him forward, rolling her eyes at his surprised yelp. Honestly, he should expect this by now.

“Geeze, Princess. Give a man a warning.” He says, adjusting his shirt that she’d accidentally messed up.

“Sorry k- Adrien. Sorry. Anyway, uh, everyone this is my friend Adrien Agreste. Adrien this is Jason, Damian, Tim, Cass and you already know Dick.” Marinette introduces, gesturing to each of her new siblings. Adrien shoots a wide smile, not quite his model smile but also not quite a real one.

“Nice to meet you all.” He says.

“Marinette, I apologize. Did you want me to open this now?” Mr. Wayne asks suddenly. She turns and raises an eyebrow at his unreadable expression and the way he holds onto the present like he doesn’t know what to expect. Which is fair, considering they’d only met in person the day before.

“Oh, um, if you want to. It’s nothing big.” She says, watching nervously as he nods and unwraps it. His eyebrows twitch together as he looks at the book, obviously not yet understanding.

“Open it, B.” Dick whispers, clearly understanding the gift more than their father. Mr. Wayne nods and opens it, his unreadable expression falling into one that she...still can’t read. But it’s not emotionless anymore. As he flips through the book, a small smile creeps its way onto his face and Marinette almost cheers. That’s the most sincere look she’d ever seen on the man.

“Did you put all this together?” He asks, glancing up from the book to look at her. Marinette nods.

“When I found out I was adopted, I wanted to have something to give my bio dad. So that even if he didn’t want to see me in person, he could get to know me. When I found out you’re my, um, dad, I added some personal touches.” She says.

“And I can keep this?” He asks, and Marinette’s shocked that he sounds almost scared. As if he thinks she’ll say no and take everything back. She smiles.

“Of course. My Maman and Papa already have those pictures. These are all yours.” She says.

“Thank you, Marinette. I- This is an amazing gift.” He says. Marinette’s smile widens and her shoulders sag in relief. Maybe tonight wouldn’t be a disaster after all.

Next

Tag list: @maribat-bdbwm @vixen-uchiha @stainedglassm @liquid-luck-00 @jayjayspixiepop @jjmjjktth @mizzy-pop @trippingovermyfeet @queenz-z @thepaceperson @iloontjeboontje @waiting247 @laurcad123 @toodaloo-kangaroo @ritacrow-blog @deathssilentapproach-blog @kittenmywaythrulife @imarivers8 @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks

[welcome2tmblrbestie]

Hello! I'm a relatively new user (despite a decent amount of past anon-ing), & have found your blog very helpful in learning how to directly engage! However, I would like to ask about whatever hierarchy there may be for communication. Like, if I were to try and discuss a point a fandom post made, which means is most appropriate? Tag essays, replies, or reblog additions? Also, is there any way to see if a post is reblogged from my reblog (for the sake of knowing whether my point was seen)? Thank you for making this blog!

I mean honestly you can do it however you want, but as a rule of thumb I'd say a reblog would be good for that.

Personally I only do replies if it's something I don't necessarily want to be reblogging (on all my blogs I'm kinda specific about the kind of stuff I like to reblog), or if I'm replying to someone else's comment

Tags are good for those kind of aside comments. They're the equivalent of going to the theater and making a comment about the movie to the people next to you.

And then reblogs are good for all else - if you're actually contributing to the discussion, arguing a point, etc. If it's substantial, I'd say to go for a reblog. Or hell, even share your trivial thoughts if you want.

If you're not sure whether to put something in the actual reblog text or a tag, just remember that if you reblog, on some level you're inviting people to respond. Tags are better for things that you want to say but don't want anyone to turn into a conversation (like quick reactions or afterthoughts or whatever). Although be warned that sometimes people will respond anyway, either using a #prev tag or by straight up screenshotting your tag/s.

As far as seeing if a post got reblogged from your reblog...so if you reblog it directly from you, then you'll be notified, but not any further down the chain.

So basically if a post is like:

Blogger A makes a post

Blogger B reblogs it, shares their thoughts

Blogger C reblogs it from Blogger B's blog

Blogger D reblogs it from Blogger C's blog

Then Blogger A will get notifications for ALL the reblogs since they're the OP, but Blogger B will only get a notification for Blogger C's reblog, not Blogger D's. To my knowledge there's no real way to go in and find out about Blogger D's reblog unless it comes back to you somehow.

(I mean, I guess that if you're blogger B and remember that Blogger C reblogged your post, you could potentially skim through the original post's reblogs to see if anyone reblogged it from Blogger C directly. But you'd still have to skim through the whole list (no filtering), this won't be helpful if, say, Blogger E reblogs it from Blogger D, so I wouldn't recommend this technique.)

This means that it is entirely possible that there's a whole thread of responses to something you reblogged without you knowing. Although if it becomes big enough, there's a nonzero chance you'll get clued in because some people may see the chain but decide to reblog it specifically from you and not the folks who came after.

This may seem like poor functionality initially (and I'm not saying that it's not), but I do honestly think it's helpful because it contributes to Tumblr's culture of relative anonymity and obscurity, and it's part of what deters major brands and would-be influencers from the platform.

[jaedore]

BINDING BONDS | 2

< prev | next >

parings: jung jaehyun x reader

genre: ceo!au, arranged marriage!au, consumption of alcohol, asshole/player Jaehyun, swearing

[ ☽ smut | ◇ angst ]

note: BB deals with themes of mental and physical abuse, which can be upsetting for some readers. If you feel uncomfortable reading these types of plots, you are advised to not continue

[ 6.4 k words ]

You stood appalled at what you just heard. What. The. Fuck. You thought to yourself as you saw Jaehyun driving off to who knows where. He really had the nerve to say that huh? 

You stomped to your car and drove off back to your place. You just wanted to be alone, process through everything. Haewon wanted to go shopping but the meeting drained you. You came back home, changed into sweats, laid back in bed, and turned the television on. 

It stayed like that for the next two weeks, you woke up, went to work, came back to your apartment, and laid in bed while the tv in the background. After you told Haewon the news, she would usually drop by to give you some positive energy, but she knew that whenever you were going through something hard, you needed to be alone. 

One weekend, you heard a knock at your door. You weren’t expecting anyone so you wondered who was at your door. You peeked through the peephole and your eyes widened as you shot away from the door. 

What? Nooo, why is he here?? Maybe if I don’t say anything, he’ll think that I’m not home and he’ll leave. 

“Y/n, open the door, I know you’re home,” Jaehyun knocked again. 

Silence. 

“My parents told me to come,” He commented. 

You paused a bit before opening the door, “what do you want?” you narrowed your eyes as he walked past you into your apartment, welcoming himself. 

“My parents told me to help you pack,” he turned towards you, “we’re moving into the apartment soon.” 

There wasn’t a way to run away anymore. This was it. You sighed and told him to follow you to your room. You grabbed the boxes that your mom gave you a few days ago and started putting clothes in them. You gave a box to Jaehyun and told him to start boxing up all the small things. He narrowed his eyes at you, he hated being bossed around, but he knew he had to or you’d snitch on him. The last thing he wanted was to deal with his temperamental father. 

The two of you went on throughout the day without speaking to each other, there wasn’t anything to say. He still made you angry by the way he spoke to you outside of your house two weeks ago. Jaehyun was also angry, but it was because he blamed you for everything. 

“I’m ordering pizza, you gonna eat?” Jaehyun asked from outside your bedroom. 

You looked at your clock and realized that it’s suddenly 7:30, “no I’m okay,” you replied, folding your clothes. 

“Suit yourself,” Jaehyun mumbled walking away to your living room. 

Soon, the pizza delivery guy came and your apartment smelled so good. You walked to see Jaehyun sitting on the floor, eating a slice as he scrolled through his phone. He seemed to notice you looking.

“I asked if you were hungry and you said you weren’t so…” Jaehyun replied. 

“Whatever,” you whispered and sat down across him. 

He was in your apartment. Jaehyun didn’t have the right to refuse you anything, no matter if he asked if you wanted to eat before or not. 

“What do you think you’re d-” Jaehyun spoke, but you interrupted him with your actions. 

You took a slice, instantly taking a bite and savoring it. You were so busy packing the entire day, you forgot to eat. Jaehyun kept his gaze on you as you kept eating, you knew he wasn’t admiring you, he was boring his irritation into you. Sensing it, it made you uncomfortable. You immediately felt small under his dark aura, so after one piece you stood up and walked to your bedroom.

“I’m not hungry anymore, have the rest,” you said, not turning back as you shut the door. 

“Y/n, wake up,” you felt the blankets rip off of you. 

“What the heck???” You yelled. You scooted back until your back hit the headrest, “what are you doing?” 

“I slept here, you fell asleep on the floor last night, so I put you in bed and slept on the couch.” Jaehyun explained pointing behind him. 

He put me in bed? He didn’t-you looked down and saw your clothes from yesterday were still on. You sighed in relief. 

“Why didn’t you just go home? This is my apartment and I don’t remember telling you that you could stay,” you retorted. 

“What if I wanted to spend some time with my lovely wife?” Jaehyun got on top of your bed and started crawling towards you. 

“Fiance.” You corrected him, narrowing your eyes. You were scooting back from his proximity. 

Soon, he was in front of your folded legs, “w-what are you doing?” you quietly murmured. 

“What do you want me to do?” Jaehyun’s face was inches from yours, you could smell his cologne. 

You sat still in your place, as much as you wanted to move, you were paralyzed in the position. 

Jaehyun’s arms rose above you, gripping the headrest and trapping you, “maybe I’ll just do whatever I want to do then,” he smirked down at you. 

“Get off,” you pushed him away, finally snapped out of whatever trance you were in. You ran to the bathroom to shower and get some air. 

Jaehyun sat on the edge of your bed and chuckled to himself. He found a little muse in provoking you. Since you were gone, he couldn’t help but look and walk around your room. He stopped at a drawer of pictures of your childhood pictures. He found amusement in the picture of you crying when you were sitting on Santa's lap when you were a toddler. He walked to the box of pictures and the one that caught his eye was the one of your college graduation. You were holding your diploma proudly and your smile shined brighter than the sun. Jaehyun dropped the picture back into the box, not wanting to see anymore of your pictures before he started to feel any different. 

“Hey! Be careful with that, that’s my college graduation picture!” You scolded him as you picked up the frame, checking if there were any cracks. 

“Relax princess,” Jaehyun side-eyed you. 

Jaehyun watched as you checked the picture frame. You had your towel wrapped around yourself and your wet hair fell onto your shoulders. You smelt like clean cotton and coconut. Jaehyun averted his eyes and walked into the living room. 

“I’m heading home, meet me at our new apartment in an hour,” Jaehyun said. 

You ignored him as he walked out of your apartment. When you heard him shut the door to your apartment, you sighed and slumped onto the rug. It took awhile for you to finally get up and get yourself dressed. 

You walked to the kitchen to make yourself something before you had to leave. As you walked past the living room, you groaned in annoyance, “he didn’t even clean up after himself.”

Of course you cleaned up the mess Jaehyun made. You mumbled to yourself how much of a teenage pig he acted like. He annoyed you so much you just wanted to pull out all of his hair. Once you were done, you made your way to your new shared apartment. Jaehyun was already there, one hand in his pocket, and the other holding onto his phone. 

“About time,” he mumbled when you walked up to his side. 

You ignored him and walked ahead towards the landlord. Your patience with him was running thin and you didn’t know if you could survive this with him. 

“Hello, you must be y/n and Jaehyun,” he greeted. 

“Hi,” you shortly greeted back. 

The landlord showed the two of you the new apartment. There were two bedrooms across from each other and two bathrooms. Both of the bedrooms were upstairs, the master bedroom taking up one bathroom while the other remained as the main one on the main level. Instead of a hallway, there was a platform to walk across to enjoy the view while the staircase sat in the middle. 

The windows in the living room and bedrooms stretched from the floor to the ceiling, bringing in natural light. The kitchen and bathrooms were the perfect size for the both of you. As much as you hated to admit it, you were excited to move into the apartment, it was perfect because it met your expectations. 

“When is the expected move-in date?” the landlord asked. 

“Next weekend,” you replied, checking out the closet. 

A while after the landlord left, you stood with your hands shoved in your pockets as you peered out the living room window, admiring the view. Jaehyun walked up beside you in the same stance. 

“There’s no way in hell we’re going to be sharing bedrooms. Sharing an apartment with you is already hard enough,” he sighed, not sparing you a glance. 

“Glad we could finally agree on something,” you replied. 

You no longer wanted to be around him, he drained everything out of you, so you left. When you got to your own place, you fell back onto your bed. As you were going to close your eyes, your mother called. 

“Yes, mother?” You greeted. 

“Did you go see the apartment with Jaehyun today?” she curiously asked. 

“Yeah, I just got back,” you replied. 

“Oh great! Did you two like it?” 

“Yeah, it’s great mother,” you tiredly replied. 

“Take this week off to pack all your things. There’s not a lot to do, so I’ll handle it,” your mother offered. 

“Really? No, it’s okay mother I can come in,” you persisted. 

“Y/n, don’t worry about it, take care of yourself,” she said caringly. 

You spent the week packing up all your things, Haewon usually came over to help. It was fun when she did, she always brought soju and you two would always look through memory books of you two and laugh. You wouldn’t get any packing done, so you told her to stop bringing soju whenever she came to help. Fortunately for you, Jaehyun never came back to your place. 

While you were packing every night, Jaehyun was out partying at Taeyong’s nightclub those nights. It was the same routine, him getting wasted, kissing different girls every night, and Taeyong ending up taking Jaehyun to his home. Since Jaehyun’s place was empty. 

“Jae, you can’t keep going on like this, especially when you move in with y/n,” he carried his drunk friend into his place. 

“Whatever, I don’t care,” Jaehyun slurred as Taeyong gently laid him down on his bed. 

“You really don’t want to move in with her huh?” Taeyong shook his head. 

“Nope” Jaehyun responded, popping the last syllable, “I can’t stand her,” 

“And why is that?” Taeyong tucked his friend under the covers. 

“She bosses me around like she owns the place. I hate those kinds of people. They think the world revolves around them. She probably uses mommy and daddy’s money,” Jaehyun spat. 

“And that’s any different from you?” Taeyong laughed at Jaehyun’s unreasonable reasons. 

“Yes, I hate my parents and they hate me,” Jaehyun started to cry. 

“Okay okay, I think it’s time for you to get to bed,” Taeyong cooed his friend. 

“Can you please stay? I might throw up,” Jaehyun wiped the tears that stained his cheek to see his friend nodding. 

The next morning, Jaehyun woke up with a throbbing headache. He looked at his phone seeing that he received a text from Taeyong. 

[ Tae: I made sure you were okay before I left for work this morning. Take some medicine after you eat something. ]

Jaehyun turned his phone off and stripped down to take a shower. The smell from last night caused him to be nauseous, which resulted in him hurling into the toilet. He flushed the sight in front of him and rubbed his temple, hoping the headache would dissipate. Today was the day the two of you would be moving in together and he wasn’t ready for it. He wasn’t ready to share his space and time, he was going to go insane. 

As soon as he got out of the shower, he received an angry voice message from his father, “you fool, where are you? Get over here right now!!” 

Jaehyun frustratedly sighed, he held a complicated relationship with him. Sure, his father was respectful in public and to others, but it was all part of a show. His father was ruthless to Jaehyun, he was lucky that his mother was treated somewhat decently. Nights when Jaehyun’s dad came back wasted, were the worst. He would thrash his anger on Jaehyun, leaving physical and mental scars.

Jaehyun knew what his father meant when he called. Jaehyun was supposed to be at the new apartment this morning, but instead, he woke up at noon with a hangover. He locked the door to Taeyong’s apartment and took a cab to his new apartment. From the looks of it, you were already there, your parents were there, and so were his. 

You saw him walk through the door with his head hung low, his eyes were puffy and his face was swollen like before when he and his parents were at your parents place. 

“Jae, you’re here,” his mother walked up to him. 

“Yeah,” Jaehyun softly spoke. 

“Well it’s about time,” Mr. Jung looked at his son’s appearance, sighing in what sounded like disappointment , “we were just discussing the rooms.” 

“Yes, I think it’s best if you two share the bed,” your mom commented. 

“Mother,” your tone signified that you wanted her to stop. 

“Just- just hear us out. We want you guys to just get comfortable with each other,” she finished. 

You paused for a bit before bluntly replying, “fine.” 

Once your parents left along with Jaehyun's, it was now the two of you. You looked out the window of your living room, looking down at little specks of people below you. You would do anything to be them. You would do anything to be out of this position and to be in the apartment stuck with him. 

“There’s no way we’re sharing rooms,” Jaehyun said behind you. 

“I know, I only said it because I wanted them to stop talking about it,” you said sipping onto the glass of wine you held. 

“Movers will be here tomorrow to bring my bed in. You can sleep on the couch,” Jaehyun said. He turned around and headed up to the master bedroom and shut the door behind him. 

You narrowed your eyes as you watched him go up to the master bedroom. What a gentleman. You scoffed. 

It was 6pm and he still had not come out. As you sat on the couch, watching whatever was playing on the screen, you held your nth glass of wine. You paid no attention to it because you were too busy engulfed in your feelings. The anger you held was engulfing you, angry at yourself, at him, you couldn’t stand him. How were you supposed to marry him? 

Your intoxication took over your actions as you saw him finally walk out the master bedroom. You walked up to him and grabbed his arm, turning him around. 

“You’re sleeping on the couch tonight, not me,” you bored your gaze into his. 

“Not happening,” he shoved you away and continued making his way to the kitchen. You were losing your cool so you followed him into the kitchen. You felt like a hot-headed teenager.

Like a child, you shouted, “suck my dick, Jung Jae-” 

Before you could finish your sentence, he swiftly managed to turn around and backed you against the kitchen counter, trapping you underneath him. You immediately regretted your choice of words. 

“Why don’t you?” Jaehyun smirked down at you. 

What the hell? Enraged with his response, you didn’t notice it when the swing of your hand met his cheek. Your eyes widen in shock, scared of what his reaction would be. 

Jaehyun chuckled then narrowed his eyes at you, “don’t you ever...EVER fucking touch me again.” his voice boomed at you.

You twitched when he shouted at you. You could only calm down when he turned around to make his food. That’s when you thought of the perfect idea. He never turned back to face you, so you made a run for it. You quietly ran up to the second level and into the master bedroom and shut the door behind you, locking it. 

Jaehyun seemed to have heard you shut the door, so he ran up too. 

“Y/n, open the damn door!!” Jaehyun pounded on the door. 

You ignored his yelling for the next couple of minutes. His string of sentences were stained with curses and names that would usually tear your sober-self down. Throughout the next hour or two, you stood before the door as you heard him trying to pick the lock. Every time he successfully did, you locked it again. 

“Bitch,” you heard Jaehyun mumble before giving up. 

“Asshole,” you spat back, his words were hurtful. As immature as it was, you cursed him back. 

You hoped that was his last attempt in trying to break in, so you washed yourself up and propped yourself into bed. The sheets smelt like Jaehyun. 

How come he smells so good, but his personality is shit? You thought to yourself. 

You stared at the ceiling wondering what tomorrow, next week, next month, or the next years would hold for you. At this point, you were crying. You just wanted to be alone, back in your apartment, in your own space of comfort and warmth. 

The next morning, you woke up to the smell of food being made. Curiously, you walked downstairs to see if Jaehyun was cooking. And he was, but you soon found out he only made it for himself once you saw there weren't any leftovers. 

“You didn’t think to leave me some?” You whispered, staring at the empty pan. 

Jaehyun heard you, he just chose to ignore you. He quickly finished his plate and set it in the sink, walking off. 

You knew he was going upstairs, but his movers were coming in with his bed today, so you just shrugged it off, the master bedroom was going to be yours anyways. You managed to make yourself some toast and a side of fruits. You were thankful that both parents bought some food, so you two didn’t have to go out to buy them for the first few days. 

You spent the afternoon straightening things up and making minor adjustments to the decoration of the apartment. When you finished, you made your way to the couch to get a headstart on some documents for work. You were so focused that you didn’t even hear the movers coming in. 

“I want the master bedroom, can you move the bed that’s already in there to the smaller bedroom? Then set my bed in the master bedroom, I’ll pay you extra,” Jaehyun instructed. 

“No, hey!! Leave the bed in the master bedroom, it’ll be easier for them if you just set yours up in the smaller bedroom,” you walked up to Jaehyun. 

“No, I’m taking the master bedroom. I already told them I’d pay them extra,” he callously responded. 

“Jae-” 

“End of discussion,” he interrupted. 

“You can’t just shut me up like that! I live here too!” You shouted as he walked away.

Once again, Jaehyun ignored you. You could feel frustration build up inside you. You couldn’t stand being in the same place as him. Everything he said, everything he did infuriated you, so you grabbed your keys and walked out. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Jaehyun voiced behind you. 

You were the one to ignore him this time and kept going down the hall, eventually exiting the apartment building. Fuck this. Fuck Jung Jaehyun. Fuck this marriage. You slammed your car door shut and took a deep breath. 

You tried calming yourself down, you didn’t want to let him control your emotions. You drove out of the garage and made your way to the pier. You needed to clear your head and that was the one place you could go without anyone bothering you. 

The wind took control of your hair as soon as you stepped onto the pier. As you made it to the end, you gazed at the horizon where the sky met the sea. Sighing, you dropped your head into the support of your palms. 

“Not the best day, huh?” a voice asked. 

“No,” you chuckled. 

“This is where I come too,” the voice commented. 

You lifted your head and saw a cute boy. He had high cheekbones and big eyes, his black hair danced with the wind as he looked out to the sea. 

“Me too,” you responded, “I’m y/n.” 

“I know who you are, I’m Mark,” he smiled. 

You shot him a curious look.

“You’re the daughter of the CEO who owns Audace,” he smiled, “my dad is the CEO of Lee Technology,” he whispered. 

“I’m sorry, I should’ve known,” you apologized, rubbing your forehead. 

“No, it’s okay!” he waved his hands in front of his chest, “you looked like you had a lot on your mind.” 

“It’s...something like that,” 

“Penny for your thoughts?” he carefully asked, “I mean, if you’re okay with it.” 

You chuckled at his awkwardness, “I just met you,” you shifted your head to the side. 

“That’s okay! We can just watch the sunset from here,” he chuckled before turning his attention back to the horizon. 

The two of you sat on the bench and exchanged stories and minor details about yourself. Turns out, you two are the same age. Mark was a little more goofy and usually you would wave it off as immaturity, but for some reason his personality seemed to make you feel a lot better.  

Darkness was starting to paint the sky and you figured it was time to probably get back. You exchanged numbers with Mark before getting in your car and driving off. You couldn’t help but laugh when you remembered the things you two talked about. 

When you shut the door to your apartment, you walked up to your new room, the smaller bedroom. It was on the other side of the hallway from Jaehyun’s. As you were making your way, you could hear noises coming from Jaehyun’s room. You tiptoed your way closer to his door and stopped when you heard what you heard. 

It was his grunts mixed with a woman’s moans. Your breath hitched, wishing you weren’t curious enough to find out. 

“Oh shit,” you heard the woman pant. 

“You like that? You like that, huh? Like my big cock in your tight pussy, you desperate slut,” he grunted. 

You could tell the pace of him pick up when you heard his headboard hit against the wall quickly. You wanted to move, but you couldn’t. You stood your ground until you heard both of them finish. 

You could hear the door to his room opening, but you still didn’t move. Jaehyun came out, half dressed, he looked deadpan at you as the woman he just banged yelled after him. You were so shocked at what just happened that you couldn’t comprehend a word she said. Jaehyun walked up to you, drilling his gaze into you. He didn’t say anything, the two of you just stood in front of each other for minutes until he walked past you. 

You scoffed in disbelief. It's the second day of moving in and he has already fucked someone. The nerve of this guy. You turned towards your room. Grabbing your pajamas, you made your way to the bathroom. The small bathroom didn’t have a room of its own like the master bedroom, so you had to use the main bathroom. You made sure Jaehyun wasn’t anywhere to be seen before you went.

You quickly showered, letting the hot water trickle down on you, drowning in the heat. You sighed as you quickly dried yourself up and walked back to your room. As you did, Jaehyun and the woman were at round two, or probably round three. You ran into your room, not wanting to hear anything anymore, and slammed it shut. 

How can he be so careless? There are probably dozens of people who know him. You two weren’t married, yet, but you were engaged. The media hasn’t published an article yet but as soon as they do, you two will already be married and when women find out that they had hooked up with him, a married man, it’ll reflect horribly on the two of you and your businesses. Especially when you inherit the CEO position of Audace and Jaehyun, Jung Corporation.  

No. You thought to yourself. He will ruin this himself. Let him. It’s going to be on him. You had to remind yourself from overthinking. Everything will be fine on your part. You took a deep breath and put on your headphones. You needed to block out the sexual noises somehow. 

As you laid in bed, you stared at the ceiling waiting for your body to feel tired. Although, half an hour later, you didn’t feel anything. You picked up your phone and dialed a number. It took two rings before the person on the other line picked up. 

“Hello?” his voice was coated with interest, wondering who was calling him this late at night. 

“Hey, Mark. It’s me, y/n.” 

“Hey, I was wondering when you’d call!” He excitedly said. 

You chuckled at his adorable remark. That night, the two of you talked for hours. You two just met earlier today, but you felt like you knew him since you were children. 

“It’s getting late, you should go to bed,” Mark yawned. 

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll talk to you later. Night, Mark,” you smiled, hanging up the phone. 

If it wasn’t for Jaehyun’s door shutting, you wouldn’t have woken up. You slipped out of bed to see if it was the woman from last night. As you cracked the door open, you saw her rush out the door with her blond hair falling apart from its bun, her dress halfway zipped, and her heels hanging by her finger. 

“You going to stand there all morning?” Jaehyun asked. 

“You should’ve kept it down, I heard you two the entire night,” you said. 

“We had to block out your laughter last night,” Jaehyun shrugged, making his way downstairs. 

You mocked him for his comment. You slammed the door and waited until you heard him go back to his room. You needed to get ready for work, but he was taking his time. 

Screw it. You walked out to get yourself ready. As you came downstairs to get breakfast, you could feel him watching you from behind. 

“What do you want?” you asked him, without turning around. 

“Don’t come back home tonight,” Jaehyun commanded. 

“Good luck with that, I live here,” you scoffed at his attempt to boss you around. 

“Unless you want to hear-” 

“You can’t keep bringing in women every night for pleasure,” you began, “when the media releases the news of us getting married, those women who you’ve screwed will realize that they’ve been banging a married man.” 

“Why do you care?” Jaehyun picked at his breakfast. 

“Because it reflects badly on us and our businesses could lose millions, Jaehyun,” you replied, you didn’t know how else to respond.  

“You sound like my father,” Jaehyun abruptly stood from his chair, “and I hate that you do. So do me a favor, mind your own business and I’ll mind mine.” and with that, he left to go back up to his room. 

With your jaw clenched, you slammed the door shut to the shared apartment. Jaehyun made things super hard for you at home, so you hoped that work would be a little easier on you. Turns out, it was going to be a busy week. 

“Mother, I thought you said there wasn’t a lot to do,” you dropped your purse. There were so many files piled up on your desk that there wasn’t any room for your hands to type on the computer. 

“I’m sorry honey, but those are from this past weekend. We’re launching a new collection and departments solely need your approval,” you mother looked up from the papers in front of you. 

You instantly felt bad because she had as many files as you did piled on her desk. There were so many files you didn’t even know where to begin. The Marketing, Finance, Management, Trading, Design Departments all needed the files done as soon as possible. 

Throughout the morning, you ended up finishing one pile. You skipped lunch with your mother, so she brought you some sushi when she came back. 

“Sweetie, you should take a break,” 

“No, the Finance Department team needs the approvals for these accounts, so I have to get it to them as soon as possible,” you huffed, completing the file and opening the next. 

Your mother knew how stubborn you were, you got it from her, so she didn’t bother you any longer. You worked and ate simultaneously as you did the files. That’s how the rest of the day went, at the end of your shift you weren’t close to finishing, so you stayed later. You bid your mother goodbye as she told you to give Jaehyun a call to let him know you were going to be late. 

“Honestly, he didn’t even want me to come back home tonight,” you said to yourself. 

Getting back to work, you knew it was going to be a long night. The Finance Department was demanding, but it was understandable. They were one of the pillars of Audace. 

It was almost 10pm and you weren’t home yet, Jaehyun wondered where you could’ve gone off to, but at the same time he wasn’t that worried because he told you not to come back. Tonight Chaeyoung was coming over again and he wanted to spend more time with her. 

He and Chaeyoung went to highschool together. Before Jaehyun started sleeping around in his college years and after, he was loyal and dedicated to his relationship with Chaeyoung. She came from a rich family who owned an automobile enterprise, but that’s not the path she wanted to take. He fell in love with her the way she fell in love with fashion designing. Jaehyun fell in love with her because she was different from all the other girls his parents forced him to meet. She was like the fresh air on a spring day. 

Their relationship ended when the two graduated, they both went their separate ways. Jaehyun went to business school, while Chaeyoung moved to the states for fashion design. After years of studying, Chaeyoung finally came back and reached out to Jaehyun. She looked different, but still beautiful in Jaehyun’s eyes. Her hair was dyed blond and her face matured. 

That was last night you came back from the pier, Chaeyoung was over while you were just coming back. He cursed himself when he saw you standing out his door, he swore to himself to make sure it never happened again. That’s why he told you not to come back, so he was slightly hoping just this once, you’d listen to him. 

Back at your office, you finished with the Finance Department and managed to start on the Marketing’s files. You packed your bags and headed towards the elevators with the Finance Department’s files. 

After you dropped off the files, you sat in your car contemplating if you should go to the apartment or listen to Jaehyun and go somewhere else. 

“I’m going home, I live there too,” you mumbled to yourself driving off. 

You managed to make it back quietly, while Jaehyun and whoever was in there with him were doing their business, you stepped into your room and fell on top of your bed. You were way too tired to get undressed and shower, you figured you could just do that early in the morning before they both wake up. 

And that’s how it went throughout the week, you came home late and left early, managing to avoid Jaehyun. You didn’t know if it was the same girl or different ones every night, but either way, you avoided her too. 

It was finally Friday and you had one last department to finish. The Designing Department’s files weren’t as heavy loaded as the other departments, so you knew you would finish early and get to go home. 

You sat at your desk, looking through the designs of each set of the portfolio. You were so focused that you didn’t even hear your phone go off. 

“Hey Haewon,” you supported your phone between your shoulder and head. 

“It’s Friday! Let’s go to the club!!” She excitedly yelled through the phone. 

“I...I don’t know,” you sighed, you were pretty burnt out.

“But y/n” she whined, “people are talking about the hottest club in town, we have to go!!” she said through the phone. 

Haewon was always the party goer. You liked to party too, but most of the time you put your priorities above that. Her personality balanced your friendship, that’s how it’s lasted so long. 

“Okay, fine.” 

“Great! You can bring that Mark boy you’ve been talking about too!” Haewon laughed as she hung up. 

You thought about it for a bit, I guess it has been awhile since I’ve seen or talked to him. You gave him a quick call asking if he was busy tonight and turns out he wasn’t. 

With a smile walked to drop off the Designing Department’s files. Mark was coming to the club with you and Haewon, he was going to bring a couple of friends. You felt like a teenager again with a crush on him. 

This isn’t wrong though...right? You contemplated. Jaehyun’s hooking up with girls anyways...you brushed off the thought knowing it’d ruin your mood. 

“Good afternoon, Ms y/l, what brings you here?” A woman walked up to you. 

“I’ve approved the designs on these, so start when you guys can,” you said, handing the girl your files. 

You furrowed your eyebrows, you’ve never seen her before so you wondered if she was new. Maybe she’s an intern?

You called yourself off the rest of the day and went to the apartment. You wanted to take a nap, but the moment you stepped in, you saw Jaehyun and wanted to walk out. 

Jaehyun was surprised to see you, you’ve avoided him the entire week so he didn’t see you once. He knew you came home after work, he heard you shutting doors and taking showers, but didn’t bother with it. As long as Chaeyoung didn’t see you. Jaehyun saw how worn out you looked and figured it wouldn’t be worth it to pick a fight with you. You two looked at each other without saying anything. You were the first to turn away and walk upstairs. 

“I’m not coming home tonight,” you said, not turning your back. 

“Me neither,” he replied. 

“Where are you going?” curiosity sparked your question. 

“None of your business. I didn’t ask you where you were going,” he shrugged. 

“Fine,” you whispered and shut the door to your room. You desperately needed to take a nap, you stripped off your clothes before you slipped into bed. 

The sound and vibrations of the club could be felt as Haewon parked the car. There were several people lining up outside of the club and you wondered if this was a newer one. You two walked into the club, VIP because apparently Haewon “had her ways”. You tugged on the tight black dress that hugged your body. Ever since you’ve moved out, you never got a chance to shop so you borrowed whatever Haewon thought looked good on you. 

The club was dark, other than the fact that there were blinding colored lights from time to time, and the music pounded through your body. The dance floor was filled with several tipsy individuals who fell into their own lust. 

“Hey, isn’t that Mark?” Haewon pointed to a man sitting in one of the booths. 

“Yes!” You excitedly walked towards him. 

“Hey! You look great!” Mark stood up, offering you to sit, “do you want anything to drink?” 

“Um,” you thought for a bit. You did have a long, hard week so you deserved to have fun, “just get me something strong.” you smiled. 

Soon, you were tipsy to the point Mark had to slightly support you. You and him were on the dance floor, his arms gripped your waist as your back met his chest. The music moved through Mark’s hands, guiding your hips side to side against him. 

“You know, I never told you, but you look really pretty tonight,” Mark whispered closely to your ear. 

“Thanks,” you smiled, resting your head back on his shoulder. 

Mark could sense that the alcohol was starting to take a toll on you as you shut your eyes, “I’m going to get you some water, meet me at the booth in a bit,” he smiled as he walked away. 

“Okay” as soon as you could say that, something caught your attention. Or you could say someone.

“What the hell?” 

It was Jaehyun. There was a girl next to him who had her arms wrapped around his, blond, skinny, and tall. From afar, you knew it was the girl from the other night that ran out of your shared place. You didn’t know if you were jealous or it was because you were tipsy, but before you could stop yourself you were already making your way towards him. 

Jaehyun could spot you from a mile away, he spotted you on the dance floor and for some reason, he couldn’t rip his gaze from you. He hated to admit it, but you looked beautiful when you weren’t constantly in your work attire. You were the only one who stole his eyes on the dance floor, not because of how you danced, but because of you brightly you smiled. He hasn’t seen you so happy except for when he saw your graduation picture. 

That was until you two made eye contact. Jaehyun noticed you coming towards his way, he was in a hurry to walk away, but you were already in front of him before he could. And before he knows it, you were grabbing the collar of his shirt and pressing your lips against his.  

[mini-moongi]

R E D || eighteen

The bell at the top of the cafe’s door rings, and you walk inside. The familiar sweet coffee aroma wafts in the air, and you smile when you see Namjoon sitting at one of the tables. “Hey,” you greet.

He says hello, and you notice that he’s dyed his hair an earthy brown, although it’s hidden underneath a black baseball cap. “I’ve already ordered, but I’ll wait for you so we can eat together.” They’re very simple words, but your heart pangs in your chest. You nod and scurry off to order your usual.

Hoseok is working the register today, and he smiles at the sight of you. “Hey Hobi,” you beam back at him. He has the shop’s black apron tied loosely over his bright orange hoodie, and the little pin that reads ‘Jung Hoseok.’ “I’ll have what I usually get,” you quirk your brow,” that is, unless you’ve forgotten?”

“How could I forget a face like that?” He chuckles. He recites your go-to drink and you tack on a small pastry afterwards. “That’ll be $10.50, baby.” (note: I’m a USD kinda gal, but you can read it as any currency you’re comfortable with!) 

You watch Taehyung get started on your order without even as much as a glance towards you. You know he has his own issues to work out, so you settle with a small smile his way. Before you can pull out your wallet, Jin comes out of the back doors. He’s clocking in for a shift as he ties the apron around his waist. 

“Hey Hot Stuff,” you wink and call out to him. “Care to throw in your number and a discount to my order?”

Jin quirks his eyebrow with a smile on his lips. ”You already have my number,” he says,” but if you can get me the number of your impeccably attractive friend over there, I’ll make yours and his order free.”

You gasp. “I’ll do you one better, baby. If you bring my order over to my table, I’ll introduce you AND give you his number.”

“Deal.”

You walk away from the counter feeling like an absolute champion. You’re out on a lunch date setting up the biggest collab of the year, and you get your order free of charge. “Namjoon, guess who just got both of our orders for free?” You gesture to yourself as you sit down across from him.

He looks at you bewildered. “...but I already paid for mine?”

“Consider it unpaid.” You reply, and that was that. He mouths a ‘wow’ in amazement and happily bites into the tiramisu he ordered. You wait for a couple of minutes before you see Jin stepping out with your things. “Big boss man is coming in hot; Be cool.” You whisper to Namjoon. He looks panicked and was about to ask you a question, but Jin was already looming over you two.

"Y/n,” Jin heaves an exasperated sigh,” please tell me that I have the bigger meat stick between Taehyung, Hobi, and I.” 

You look up at him in confusion. “What the heck? Taehyung probably, but I haven’t seen Hoseok’s fuckin’ uh-- ding dong or whatever.”

“Huh?” Namjoon looks at you, and suddenly you realize how weird this must look to everyone else in the room. 

As if Jin forgot about him, he takes notice of the tall boy’s presence. “Damn, what’s your dick size??” He calls out.

Namjoon tenses up, a furious blush of both recognition and shock is overwhelming him. You freeze on the spot too, remembering the hilarious quote tattooed on Namjoon’s wrist. To be quite honest, you should’ve seen this one coming; only Jin could say such absurd lines to a stranger.

“.....Big?” was all he could manage due to the intense surprise factor of his soulmate being a man. Namjoon was an open-minded guy, but up until this very interaction, he thought he was (at least personally) straight.

“Wait, I may be going on a limb here but,” Jin pauses. “...are we soulmates?”

“I.... I guess so?” Namjoon chuckles in astonishment. You just witnessed, first hand, a person meeting their soulmate. You’re a bit shaken up though; you’re now going to have to live with the fact that your funny boss friend’s soulmate is actually a world famous celebrity. 

Jin slips his number onto the table before he gets called over for customer support. The rest of your lunch date went smoothly, albeit the aftershock that comes with meeting your other half was still taking its toll. Before you know it, lunch ended.

────── ☽. ✧₊∘ ──────

[Soulmate! AU]

Yoongi is a famous artist trying to rekindle a childhood memory, but your dumbass doesn’t remember him at all; except as a fan ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

R E D masterlist

A/N: these next couple of chapters are gonna be hefty,,

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Taglist (is open!):

@just-call-me-trash-can​

@kaitswrld​

[woo-san-shine]

Our Way

ateez college au

Premise: You and your best friend from high school move away to a university 3 hours away from your small hometown. You find yourself meeting a strange cast of characters along the way that will help you find your way throughout your freshman year.    

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: Slight language 

Author’s Note: A work in progress!!! Mostly just for fun

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Chapter 4 

"Does he really think that sprinting up three flights of stairs is going to be faster than the elevator?" Sooyoung asks, turning to Mingi who was pressing the number 11 button on the keypad.

"Jongho like to display his athletic abilities at every chance he gets," Mingi answers while sweeping his hair over to the side. "Pretty soon he'll be asking you to arm wrestle."

The elevator dings and opens on the 11th floor. It looked almost identical to the 7th, except for a smiling Jongho who was leaning against the doorframe of a room about halfway down the hall.

"I found their room!" He shouts to us, gesturing his thumb towards the door he was leaning against.

"Dude! How the hell did you beat us?!" Mingi yells back. He then proceeds to sprint out of the elevator toward Jongho. He's not a very graceful runner, arms slightly flailing at his sides. This makes Jongho immediately burst out laughing.

Sooyoung and I exchange a skeptical glance as we follow Mingi down the hallway at a normal pace. They're certainly acting a little goofier than they were before. We arrive at the still laughing pair. I clear my throat to get their attention. Mingi quickly snaps out of his laughing fit and straightens up, trying his best to look composed.

"Uh, yeah sorry about that," Jongho says while trying his best to stifle in his laughter towards Mingi. "This is their room," he says, pointing to the door again. There is another whiteboard on this door too with the names 'Kim Hongjoong' and 'Park Seonghwa' written on it. He reaches down to turn the doorknob, but it appears to be locked.

"Should you knock?" I ask.

Mingi knocks twice, waits a few seconds, and knocks again. No answer. He proceeds to press his ear up to the door, eyebrows furrowed. Sooyoung follows this action putting her ear up to the door as well. Mingi is so tall that Sooyoung practically stands directly under him without so much at the top of her head reaching the middle of his chest.

"It sounds like someone is... vacuuming?" she says, slightly confused.

"Typical," Mingi says while rolling his eyes.

Jongho steps forward and proceeds to bang on the door with enough force that surely the door should have split in half. A few seconds pass before the door finally swings open to reveal a boy holding a vacuum in one hand and a bottle of all-purpose cleaner in the other.

"Hey there, Mars. Doing some deep cleaning are you?" Mingi asks smirking at the boy with the vacuum.

The boy, 'Mars', cracks half a smile at the sight of his friends.

"We've been here for how long and you're already cleaning?" Jongho asks.

"They said that these rooms would be cleaned before we moved in, but there was at least an inch of dust inside the closet and the carpets..."

Before the boy can finish, Jongho brings him in for a hug that lifts him off his feet, vacuum and all. This makes Mingi bust out laughing again. From over Jonhgo's shoulder, vacuum boy finally sees Sooyoung and I both just awkwardly standing there.

"Well hello there," the boy says, slightly strained. This is probably due to Jonhgo's death grip around his waist.

At this, Jongho sets him down. "Oh sorry, this is Kim Jaemin and Choi Sooyoung," Jongho says, pointing to each of us. "I met Jaemin earlier today while we were moving in, and Sooyoung is her roommate. We all live on the same floor."

The boy politely bows to Sooyoung and I and we each return the bow. "Park Seonghwa," he says. He shakes both of our hands.

Seonghwa is also fairly tall, but not as tall as Mingi. He has jet-black hair that was short in the back, but his bangs are long and sweep across on side of his forehead. His eyes are a greenish color and slightly hooded, making his expression seem almost... sultry? It was the first word that came to my mind. He had very striking features. He wasn't built like Jungho either, being slightly more in the thinner side. His legs were long and his shoulders were very broad.

"They're both from three hours north of here, and they don't have any friends yet," Mingi states.

"Hey!" Sooyoung says while shooting Mingi a glare. Mingi clearly had no idea he said anything wrong and looked slightly confused at Sooyoung's retort.

"I mean, he's not wrong," I say shrugging.

"Anyway," Jongho says while rolling his eyes. "Can we come in?"

"Oh, yeah of course," Seonghwa says, gesturing his hand holding the vacuum into the room.

Sooyoung and I follow Mingi and Jongho into the room as Seonghwa places the vacuum and all-purpose cleaner next to what I assume is his desk. The room is set up the exact same as mine and Sooyoung's. However, each side of the room is drastically different. Seonghwa's side of the room is neatly organized with a muted color pallet. Everything on his desk has a specific place and his bed is perfectly made. The other side of the room is almost overflowing with decorations, books, and posters strewn about the wall. Various clothes, hats, scarves, and other accessories hang from the bed frame due to the fact that there was no room in the overflowing closet. Atop the desk sits a keyboard and a giant computer monitor. In front of the monitor sit a boy wearing a giant pair of headphones. He doesn't seem to have noticed that he has guests.

Mingi begins to tiptoe over to the occupied desk. He turns back to the rest of us, puts a finger to his lips and goes "shhhhh." He then grabs the boy’s headphones and snaps them once against his head. This causes the boy to whip around in his chair so fast that he almost falls off. Jongho and Mingi start laughing and Seonghwa lets out a little chuckle while rolling his eyes.

"What the hell?!" the boy shouts while simultaneously grabbing ahold of one side of his lofted bed to steady himself. He looks angry at first, but at the sight of a still laughing Jongho and a smirking Mingi, his face breaks out into a wide smile.

"Joonie, always so easy to scare," Mingi says, sticking his arm out to help the boy out of his chair.

"That's a lot, coming from someone who's afraid of his own shadow!" the boy replies, finally taking off his headphones. "I figured we'd see you two eventually, but you could've texted us," he says to Mingi and Jongho. His eyes finally rest upon Sooyoung and I.

"We wanted it to be a surprise! And we brought some new friends," Jongho says gesturing towards the pair of us. "This is Kim Jaemin," he points to me. "I met her this morning during move-in.  And this is her roommate, Choi Sooyoung. They live on the 7th floor with us."

The boy immediately steps forward to shake both of our hands. "Kim Hongjoong," he says, clasping my hand with both of his. He does the same to Sooyoung.

Hongjoong had a very unique look about him. He was shorter and smaller than the rest of the guys in the room, but there was something about made him stand out. His hair was a light-brown that was long in the back, reaching the base of his neck. His eyes were large, his nose was small, and his smile was big. His ears were full of different piercings, and the shirt he was wearing looked like it had been drawn and written all over.

"It's nice to meet you both," he says.

"You too," I say shyly. Today had been a little overwhelming in itself, even outside meeting all of these new people. I could tell even Sooyoung was feeling a little out of place due to the fact that she was being fairly quiet.

"Please, everyone have a seat," Seonghwa said. He pulled out the two desk chairs for Sooyoung and I. Jongho and Hongjoong sat down on the floor leaning their backs against the closet, Seonghwa sat himself in a cushioned chair that was next to his desk, and Mingi hurridly climbed up the ladder onto Seonghwa's freshly-made bed. I could see Seonghwa wince slightly as he watched Mingi untuck his comforter.

The four boys were now just staring at the pair of us. I felt a little insecure.

"Urm, how exactly did you meet again?" Hongjoong asked

Sooyoung and I exchanged a quick uncomfortable glance. Maybe we shouldn't have come. I did feel like we were slightly intruding on something.

"Oh, I'm not trying to be rude!" Hongjoong quickly interjected, sensing our discomfort. He looked a little worried.

"Like I said, I met Jaemin this morning during move-in," Jongho said, easing the awkwardness that had fallen over the room.

He flashed me a smile. I instantly felt a little more confident. "Yeah," I added. "I was looking for one of those carts to carry your stuff on, you know? But there were none left. Until Jongho offered to give my family his cart. And then my mom somehow roped him into carrying boxes for us."

"Ooooh how polite our Maknae is," Seonghwa said, giving a side-eye in Jungho's direction.

"Wait, Maknae? Youngest?" Sooyoung questioned.

"Well, out of our group of friends, Jungho is the youngest," Hongjoong explained.

"Little baby isn't even eighteen yet," Mingi cooed. He took one of Seonghwa's many throw pillows that were on his bed and threw it at him. Jongho easily caught it and whipped it back at Mingi, hitting him square in the face. This caused the whole room to start laughing, except for Seonghwa.

"It hasn't even been one day," I heard him say under his breath.

"Wait wait wait," Sooyoung said interrupting the laughs. "How are you only 17 and at University?"

"Ah, well, I was so far ahead on the growth chart during elementary school placement that everyone thought I was older than I was. So I think I technically skipped a grade," Jongho said. He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, looking a little embarrassed.

"Yeah, so much for your height though," Mingi teased again. Even Seonghwa laughed at this one.  Hongjoong was basically rolling on the floor doubled over in laughter.

"At least I don't walk around like a fucking baby giraffe," Jungho calmy said, staring up at Mingi from the floor. This caused both Seonghwa and Hongjoong to start tearing up from laughs and Mingi to bury his face into one of the pillows.

Sooyoung and I laughed too. I enjoyed watching them joke together and I could tell this was something that happened often.

"Anyway," Hongjoong finally said after he composed himself. "You two are roommates right?" He pointed back and forth between Sooyoung and I.

We both nodded.

"How do you know each other?"

"We went to high school together," Sooyoung answered. "We're from three hours north of here, so we thought it would just be convenient to live together when we both decided to come here for school."

"Yeah, seeing as we don't really know anyone from around here," I added.

"Must have been pretty hard to leave your homes, right?" Hongjoong asked?

"Oh yeah, I loved it back at home," Sooyoung replies.  “I almost had a breakdown this morning while leaving.” 

I shrug. "Eh, I was ready to leave," I say. "Of course I'll miss my parents, but I'm excited for a change." I catch Sooyoung furrowing her brows at me out of the corner of my eye, but the rest of the boys are smiling at the pair of us.

"What are you guys studying?" Seonghwa asks.

"I'm going into Engineering," Sooyoung answers boastfully. She absolutely loved talking about her future academic plans, how difficult it was to even get into Engineering at this University, and especially about her scholarship.

"Oh whoa, now way," Mingi said, immediately straightening up in bed to look at Sooyoung. "That's what I'm studying too." 

Sooyoung looked thrilled to hear this.  "Really? What's your classed schedule like?" The two start eagerly comparing class schedules.

"And you, Jaemin?" Hongjoong asks me.

"College of Art, specifically Graphic Design."

"Oh cool!" He sounded genuinely excited. "I'm minoring in Fine Arts with a double major in Music Production and Composing."

That was really impressive.  Two majors and a minor?  The keyboard on his desk suddenly made sense.  "Wow, that'll be really interesting to study," I say.

"Yeah, I'm so excited to start classes on Monday," He gives me a big smile.

"Me too," I say to him.  I pause slightly.  “I.. like music and thought about doing something with it but... I don’t know.” 

“Do you sing?” he asks. 

“Oh god no,” I hurriedly say.  “I play guitar.”

“Ahh, I wish I could play guitar, that’s awesome.” 

“He can do pretty much anything else, though,” Seonghwa chimes in. 

Hongjoong blushes a little and waves his hand in the air, dismissing Seonghwa’s compliment.  

“What about you?" I ask Seonghwa.

"I'm in the College of Business, but haven't picked a specialty yet," he answers.

"Fancy boy just likes the idea of getting to wear suits to class," Jongho jokes.

We spend the rest of the evening talking about our intended majors and what we'd like to do once we actually graduate.  Sooyoung and I share more about what life was like in our small town, and the boys continue to joke with one another making everyone in the room almost tear up from laughter multiple times.  I was really enjoying myself and felt much more comfortable around them than I had when I first entered the room.

Seonghwa gets out of his chair, stretches, and checks his phone. "We should probably be kicking you guys out soon.  It's almost midnight."

I hadn't even realized it had gotten so late, the conversation had just been constantly flowing that I wasn't keeping track of the time.

"Yeah," Hongjoong adds, getting up from the floor.  "Didn't we all promise to help the others move in tomorrow?"

Mingi groaned. "Do we have to?"

"It'll be the nice thing to do," Hongjoong said to Mingi giving him a stern look.

This made Mingi groan even more as he slowly climbed down from Seonghwa's bed.

"Well, it was very nice to meet you two," Seonghwa said to Sooyoung and I.  He shook both of our hand again.

"Likewise," I said.

"Of course we'll see you both around again, right" Hongjoong said.

Would we? I hadn't really thought that far ahead. I smile to him and give a slight nod.

"Oooh maybe once everyone is all settled we could all meet up and celebrate finally being all together again," he says to the others.

"Joon, it's only been like a week since we've all hung out," Mingi said.

"You know what I mean!" Hongjoong says back. "Finally all being at College together. We've all worked hard to get here."

"Yeah, that actually could be fun," Seonghwa said thoughtfully while fixing the pillows in his bed that Mingi has left strewn about.

"You two could come too, of course," Hongjoong said, looking to Sooyoung and I.

"Really?" Sooyoung questioned.

"Of course, ya get to meet the rest of the group," Mingi said, winking in Sooyoung's direction. This immediately made her blush.

"Let's let these two get to bed, Mars is yawning over there," Jongho said, gesturing towards Seonghwa who was indeed letting lose a rather large yawn. He looked embarrassed when he noticed us all staring at him.

We all said goodbye to Hongjoong and Seonghwa, left the room, and got in the elevator to head back down to the 7th floor.

"They were really nice," I say to no one in particular.

"Yeah, Hongjoong is great with people and Seonghwa can just stand there and people usually fawn over him," Jongho said to me.

Both boys walked us to our room, which I thought was incredibly nice.

"Goodnight ladies," Mingi said with a smile.

"Maybe we'll see you tomorrow?" Jongho asked.

"Yeah maybe, we'll see," I say, not really knowing how to respond.

"Yeah, feel free to stop by anytime," Sooyoung said, but mostly to Mingi.

We head back into our room and start getting ready for bed. I finally climb into my bed and the tiredness that I had been starting to feel all day hits me.

"I had fun talking with them," I say to Sooyoung who was already in bed.

"Yeah I guess. It was lucky that you meet Jongho this morning."

"Mhhhm," I sigh, feeling my eyes starting to get heavy.

"What was with that comment back there, though?."

"What do you mean?" I ask, sitting up in bed to look at Sooyoung in the darkness.

"The whole ‘ready for a change’ thing,"

"When?" I was racking my brain to try and remember what she could possibly be talking about.

"You said you were ready for a change, made it sound like you don’t appreciate our hometown and all our friends back home."

I pause.  “I mean... you know things were a little weird right before we left.” 

“Do you mean the whole Jihoon thing?” 

Jihoon was my ex of three years.  We had basically been together most of high school.  He had been friends with Sooyoung for a while, and she was the one who had introduced us.  He was an overall nice guy, plain and simple.  Our friend groups all hung out together and it was really nice for awhile 

But things started to get stagnant.  I felt like the relationship wasn’t going anywhere.  I eventually ended things about a month before leaving for university.  He was staying at home to work for his parent’s business and spent most of the last year of our relationship trying to convince me to stay too.  He was utterly shocked when I told him I was planning on moving away for university, let alone three hours away.  He accused me of being selfish and not thinking about what was best for us.  It was hard, but I was doing this for me.  I rarely ever thought of myself first, and I still feel guilty about it.         

“Yeah, I guess..” I say, trailing off.  

“Hmph,” I hear her say in the darkness.  Sooyoung had been very against me ending the relationship, mostly because it made things very awkward in our friend group.  

“But did you see the way Mingi was looking at you all night?” I ask her, hoping to distract her from talking about Jihoon any further.  

“Really?” I hear her giggle slightly.  

“Oh for sure, he couldn’t keep his eyes off you.” 

"Hmmm you think so?"

"Definitely."

She hums happily.  Easily distracted, Sooyoung promptly drifted off to sleep with me following shortly after.

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[livingthroughchoices-blog]

The Marshmallow Chronicles (Ch. 15: The Brothers Beaumont)

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Author’s notes: Sorry this took so long! This is such an important chapter I was pretty nervous about writing it. I really hope it lives up to everyone’s expectations!

Thanks to everyone who likes, reblogs and/or comments. It truly means a lot! And especially to @starstruckzonkoperatorbat, @notoriouscs, @simplyaiden-blog, @snyggflicka, @asprankle, @speedyoperarascalparty, @mirivalencia, @mymandrake, @asobigokoro2018, @krisnicjack and @fabi-en-ciel for asking me to tag them! Please let me know if you want to be tagged or untagged (:

I love y'all!

Rating: T

Pairing: Drake x MC

Words: 6,903

Although he’d intended to stay up all night, Drake eventually fell into a fitful sleep from which he awoke with a start. He’d slept for longer than he would’ve thought; judging by how tired he felt, he would’ve guessed he’d slept maybe 4 hours, yet it had been more than twice that long.

Despite the fact that he could barely open his bleary eyes, he was glad for the late hour, as he was sure to avoid Riley. She had undoubtedly been woken up by Maxwell at an ungodly hour, and had possibly even made it to the Beaumonts’ estate by now. 

He, along with Liam and Bastien, would not be making their way there until the next day. He was glad for one more day at the manor, knowing he would not be seeing Riley. Or worse, Riley and Liam together.

He tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes, but in closing them only succeeded in making himself sleepier. 

Cold shower it is, then. 

He hopped in and let out a gasp full of regret as soon as the freezing water hit his back, not just because of how unpleasant it was, but also because being more awake only meant more inner turmoil.

What the hell happened last night? Addams, she... the things she said... Could she actually feel the same way?

The arguing little voice was back.

Don’t be ridiculous. We’ve been through this. Her other choice is Liam. It’s cute that the thought even crossed your mind. Or maybe just pathetic.

He shook his head, washing his body at a furious speed, eager to be out of the shower and drown his thoughts out somehow.

One thing is clear, he thought as he wrapped a towel around his waist, I can’t trust myself around her. I have to avoid her until this crush goes away or until... she’s engaged to Liam, then I’ll have no choice but to accept it. 

Seems like half the court’s gonna be heartbroken. 

He gave a wry smile at that. 

Hell, even Tariq! 

He was grateful when that train of thought led him back to Riley’s odd door. He thought it was probably nothing, but he’d rather be safe than sorry. Moreover, reporting it to Bastien gave him something to do, other than agonizing over a crush like a dumb teenager.

He found Bastien at the manor’s small archery range, practicing. As he came into view, he loosed an arrow, which flew wildly over the target. Bastien threw his bow down to the dirt in frustration and kicked at it.

“Whoa, what’s that poor bow done to you? It’s not its fault you suck.”

Bastien wheeled around with a glare so fierce, Drake put his hands up and backtracked, “Hey, hey, you know I’m kidding! Besides, who would I be to say that? I’m the worst at archery.”

“That you are,” replied Bastien drily, turning around to pick his bow up. 

“Bastien, I have to tell you something.”

The man only grunted in response, already nocking another arrow.

Someone’s cooperative.

 Drake cleared his throat and moved closer, determined to make himself heard.

“Right. So last night, I was in Addam’s room–”

He cut himself off as Bastien let the arrow go, hitting the target square in the middle. He whistled, impressed.

“That was one hell of a shot. I definitely take back what I said earlier.”

A tense silence followed and somehow, although Bastien still had his back to him, he could tell he’d arched a judgmental eyebrow.

“What?” Drake said defensively. “I had a good reason to be there, okay? I’m not gonna get into it but I did...”

The silence continued until he could no longer bear it.

“Look! Whatever, okay?! Nothing happened so you can stop with the third degree!”

Bastien scoffed softly at that and finally turned to look at him, a small smile on his face. 

“All right, I’ll stop. You were saying? You were in Lady Riley’s room and then what happened?”

“Nothing happened!” he exploded. Bastien looked strangely at him and Drake felt his neck grow hot. “Oh, uh, you meant what did I want to tell you,” he said in a smaller voice.

Bastien nodded.

“There was no lock on her door.”

There was another silence and then Bastien shrugged.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Drake asked, incensed at not being taken seriously.

“It means I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Drake had reached the same conclusion on his own from the start, but he was so irritated by Bastien’s nonchalance about the whole thing that he was suddenly arguing passionately; it was almost involuntary.

“How the hell do you figure? Hers was the only door without a lock, okay? Don’t you think that’s weird?!”

Bastien shrugged again and Drake resisted the urge to shove him.

“Evidently, that is not how it should be and I’ll bring it to the staff’s attention, but I’m certain it’s not important. Come to think of it, they remodeled the manor recently, they might have simply forgotten to change that door handle.”

Bastien’s reasonable tone penetrated Drake’s layers of annoyance and calmed him. But he wasn’t going down without a fight.

“I still think you should check on it.”

“Drake, you know I will,” said Bastien, picking up his bow and arrow. Once again, his shot missed by a wide margin.

Drake snorted.

“Well, then, I’ll let you get back to practice. You clearly need it.”

He narrowly avoided being whacked by the bow Bastien swung at him and, still chuckling, he strolled back to the manor. A whole Riley-free and thus, jealousy-free day stretched ahead of him and he didn’t yet know what to do with it. He felt a twinge of sadness at the prospect of not seeing her today and mentally smacked himself.

So you’re upset if your see her, upset if you don’t? Stop whining, idiot. Maybe you could find Lady Kiara and pick up where you left off...

With more of a destination in mind – even if it was a person rather than a place – he strode towards the manor. Almost at the threshold, his phone went off in his pocket. He picked it out and saw “Maxwell” on the screen. He groaned.

“Dude. I get one day to rest from you. One. D–”

“Drake! Shut up for a second!”

He was so shocked that Maxwell had told him to shut up, that he did.

“Didn’t you get my texts? I need you, it’s an emergency!”

Drake pinched his forehead. “Maxwell, if this is in any way party related–”

“It’s not! I mean, it is, but it’s important, I promise!” 

“Well, spit it out!”

He heard Maxwell sigh on the other end. “The... the caterers quit on us. The whole staff, in fact.”

Drake gaped at his phone. “Shit. Is it, um, because of the money thing?”

Maxwell took a second to answer, “Yes.”

“Damn, Maxwell, I’m sorry. So how many people have you recruited?”

His question was met with more silence.

“I’m the only one, huh?”

“Yeah, I asked Tariq and a couple of other guys but...”

Maxwell sounded sick with worry and Drake felt hot anger rise in his throat. 

Those fucking nobles. Won’t move a finger to help even one of their own.

Perhaps sensing what Drake’s reaction would be, Maxwell hurried to say, “It’s okay, though, don’t worry! I’m confident we’ll get this done between you, Riley and I! We’ll be unstoppable! We just need a team name and–”

“If you say secret identities I won’t go.”

“Right. I’ll see you here then? There’s a whiskey with your name on it!”

He hadn’t really needed the whiskey to convince him – his friend needed help and that was enough for him – but it was a nice bonus. 

“Yeah, be there in like 2 hours.”

“Thank youuuu! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“I’m gonna hang up now.”

He did so and raced up the stairs. Halfway to his room, a realization stopped him short. 

Just me, Maxwell and Addams. Shit. Goddamn it. If nobles weren’t the fucking worst I wouldn’t have to go, but I can’t leave Maxwell hanging. 

He threw all his stuff into his bag and hurried to one of the Jeeps that were always available for the royal family and its inner circle. 

Before backing out of the manor, he quickly texted Liam, “Heading down today. Tell Bastien”

He knew Liam would be too busy to reply any time soon, so he put his phone down and sped to House Beaumont. He blasted music all the way there, hoping to quiet his conflicting thoughts, torn between excitement and dread.

He parked outside the magnificent estate and was going to text Maxwell that he had arrived, when the doors swung open. Bertrand stood there with his arms crossed and beckoned him with a move of his head.

At your service, he thought, rolling his eyes. He slammed the door of the Jeep and sauntered over to Bertrand, taking his time once he noticed the noble tapping his foot impatiently.

“Drake,” he said curtly, making a decent attempt at hiding his irritation.

Drake had been about to answer with a short, “Bertrand,” until he noticed the dark shadows under Bertrand’s eyes. His face looked pale and drawn; it was obvious he was under a lot of stress. 

Okay, okay, I’ll throw him a bone.

“Duke Ramsford,” he bowed his head. He thought he caught a glimpse of Bertrand looking pleasantly surprised before he rearranged his features into a neutral – if exhausted – expression. 

“Thank you for coming. Truly. I hope we can trust you to be discreet.”

Drake’s nostrils flared. 

Who does he think I am? A noble?

He answered, “Of course,” and pushed his way into the house before he lost his temper.

He went straight into the kitchen, the setting for many a drunken midnight snack with Liam and Maxwell during the latter’s legendary parties. He pushed the door open calling, “Hello? Anyone in here?”

Riley looked up from the counter, where she’d been arranging ingredients and exclaimed, “Drake!” her eyes shining.

Drake’s heart leapt to his throat. 

Holy shit, she still looks happy to see me. 

The fact was, after last night’s events he hadn’t been sure how she would react. Would she regret everything? Was it just a moment of temporary vulnerability?

Maxwell, meanwhile, and to no one’s surprise, was chanting, “Drake! Drake! Drake! You came!”

Warmth swelled in his chest but he played it down, “Yeah, yeah. Calm down, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“Yes, it is! We are friends!” Maxwell bounded up to him and crushed him in hug.

Cheek to cheek, Drake groaned, “You promised me whiskey.”

“Friendship whiskey!”

Maxwell finally let him go and got him a glass of whiskey, which Drake waved away for the moment.

From the counter, Riley said, “Drake, you made it!”

I wish she’d stop sounding so excited. It’s almost enough to make me think...  

He raised his eyebrows, “Yeah, yeah, behold your knight in shining armor. Alright, I’m here now. What needs to be done?”

“Riley and I are plating some fancy appetizers,” explained Maxwell, gesturing to a row of neatly plated hors d’oeuvres. “Come join us...”

Avoiding Riley’s gaze, he went to stand next to Maxwell, who quickly demonstrated the steps to prepare their invention. After making a few, Drake went into autopilot. Knowing his mind would drift to places he’d rather not visit, he resorted to something he normally despised: small talk.

“So how was the jamboree yesterday?”

“So fun!” provided Maxwell. 

Thank God you can always count on good ol’ Maxwell for a distraction.

Not needing much prompting at all, Maxwell had launched into a full and detailed account of his previous day. 

“–so close to winning! But then Liam was called away because of the reporter, so I went with him. Still, my apple-bobbing skills are unrivaled.”

Drake whipped around to look at Maxwell. “What did you say?”

“Oh, come on, Drake, you know you could never beat me! I’m amazing at bobbing–”

“No, before that.”

“Oh, a guard came looking for Liam to tell him about the reporter who snuck in.”

“That’s impossible. No one ever sneaks in!”

“I know! It would have been more impressive if she hadn’t been caught and thrown out though...”

Drake’s mind was reeling. How had a reporter snuck in? Even more importantly, why hadn’t Bastien told him when he’d talked to him this morning? He always informed him of these things.

His thoughts were interrupted by Maxwell’s delighted, “Oooh, these are shaping up! I think we need a good name for these though. Maybe ‘Jewels of the Sea’...”

He looked at their creations lovingly.

“Why not name it the Charade of the Season?” jumped in Riley.

"Heh,” Drake couldn’t help chuckling at that. 

Such a dork.

"Oh, snarky. I like it.” Maxwell nodded his approval and took their full trays to the fridge.

He dusted off his hands. “There, that should be enough to get us started. Now then, on to the main course!”

Drake raised a skeptical eyebrow, “Do you even know how to cook from scratch?”

“Well...” Maxwell stalled. His hand suddenly went to his pocket and he checked his phone. He let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, thank heavens. Bertrand found another company to handle the main courses. Let me tell you, nobody would’ve wanted the science experiments I was about to produce.”

Drake wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead, “Dodged a bullet there.”

“What’s next on the ‘We’re in Panic Mode’ list?” asked Riley, hands on her hips.

Maxwell scratched his chin, “Hmm... I should stay here and clean the kitchen, but Bertrand might need help in the main hall. Last I saw of him, he was looking for cleaning supplies...”

“Oh boy.” Riley tried to make eye contact with Drake, presumably so they could make fun of Bertrand’s helplessness together, but he refused. In fact, this was the perfect opportunity to make sure they didn’t spend more time together than was strictly necessary.

“I’ll stay here and help Maxwell. We’ll come find you once we finish down here.”

Riley’s shoulders slumped, but she nodded and left the kitchen.

Drake and Maxwell got to work in – I can’t believe this! – silence. He couldn’t remember the last time Maxwell had been quiet for this long... not counting chewing time, and even then, not always.

He looked at his friend more closely and saw shadows under his eyes deeper even than his high-strung brother’s. His brow furrowed.

“Hey, man, you okay?”

“Of course! Why do you ask?”

“Well, for one thing, you look like shit.” Maxwell glared daggers at him. Drake shrugged and carried on, “For another, you’ve been wiping that spotless cabinet for the last 5 minutes.”

Maxwell looked down at his circling hand, only now becoming aware of it. He stopped, put the rag over his shoulder and sighed. 

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. It’s funny; we really are in a tight spot money-wise, but I’m more worried about Bertrand.”

“I can see why; he looks like shit, too.”

Maxwell snapped his rag at him, barely brushing his back just enough to sting.

“Ow! You dick! What was that for?”

“Beaumonts never look like shit.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, you’re right! Us commoners look like shit; you nobles look like feces. Is that better?”

Judging by Maxwell chasing him around trying to hit him again, it wasn’t. Drake was embarrassed by how much he enjoyed just being a guy, doing stupid guy things with his friend. Of course, it took them twice as long as it should have to clean the kitchen, between fits of laughter and rag snapping battles, but they eventually got it done.

"Bertrand just texted me to go help Riley dust a few things. He says you should go to the ballroom and start setting the tables.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” grumbled Drake. 

As before, the work was not distracting enough and he was dangerously close to thinking about a certain someone, wearing a certain undergarment. He didn’t think he’d ever been thankful for Bertrand’s presence before. As soon as he stepped into the ballroom, he inspected his work, nitpicked a few things here and there, and chided him for not going fast enough. It was just was Drake needed.

For the next 20 minutes, he worked diligently under Bertrand’s watchful eyes; he couldn’t have spared a moment to think about Riley if he’d wanted to. 

That is, until, “It’s looking great!”

The doors opened and in stepped Riley and Maxwell. Drake felt his face muscles twitch and fought the stupid smile that seemed to accompany her into every room she entered. 

Dammit, it’s like I forget how beautiful she is and then every time it hits me like sucker punch.

He busied himself with the floral arrangement he was working on when they’d arrived and distantly heard Bertrand assigning activities.

“Lady Riley, if you could assist Drake?”

No!

“Sure!” Riley said brightly and headed over to his table.

She admired his arrangement and teased, “Why, Drake, I never knew you had such flair with peonies...”

Drake shook his head “The things I do for you people...”

He thought of Maxwell’s tired face and decided to voice his concern. 

Well, since we’re stuck together, I might as well ask her opinion. Plus it gives us something harmless to talk about.

He lowered his voice. “Hey... anything about any of this seem off to you?”

“Huh?”

From across the ballroom, they heard the brothers arguing.

“What I don’t get is that the money was in our account yesterday!” Bertrand was whisper-shouting.

“I... I don’t know anything about our finances, Bertrand! You know that!” 

Maxwell’s eyes were glued to his feet as Bertrand continued to rail on him, “You might not know anything, but you’re still causing me problems! You’re the only other person with access to that account!”

“I...” Maxwell stammered.

“This better not be to pay off one of your idiotic credit card purchases. Last month you said you spent three thousand on a jet ski. What is it this time?”

“I told you, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Maxwell looked like he was barely holding it together. 

You have to feel for the guy.

“You’re lucky I don’t have time to deal with you right now,” huffed Bertrand, then turned on his heel and left. Maxwell stood, dazed and alone for a second, before following Bertrand out.

Drake raised an eyebrow at Riley. “Well? Doesn’t it seem like something weird is going on?”

She pursed her lips. “It seemed like there’s something suspicious going on in House Beaumont.”

“Exactly.”

“I wonder what’s actually going on with their money issues...” Her lips were still pursed and her brow furrowed. He’d never seen her look so pensive.

Thank God! Something to focus on! 

“I’m going to find out what it is. Besides, it sounds like Maxwell might be in over his head this time. I think he really needs my help... But knowing him, he’d never ask.”

Riley stared, confused, “I didn’t realize you and Maxwell were that close.”

“After all the time I’ve spent with him in the past weeks, I’m starting to find him less annoying,” he smiled.

“High praise,” she replied sarcastically.

“Besides, we scrubbed the kitchen cabinets together. I think I’m invested now.”

Okay, this is fine. We can have silly, meaningless conversations like this. Yes. It’s gonna be fine.

Riley chuckled, “Sure...” Her face abruptly sobered and he noticed she was wringing her hands. She licked her lips and mumbled, “Actually, Drake... there’s something else we should talk about. About last night...”

Nope. No no no, we’re not doing this. I mean, come on, she has to realize how wrong this is, right? I have to give her an out.

He chose to play dumb, “Last night?”

Riley licked her lips once again and spoke so softly, Drake had to strain to hear what she said, “What you said... about how you feel...”

“Riley,” he cut her off, using her first name so she’d know he was serious, “I don’t think we should talk about this here.”

“Then somewhere private?” She looked at him, crushing hope in her eyes.

He swallowed, shaking his head frantically, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?” she looked so hurt, self-hatred rose up like lava inside him.

He ran a hand down his face. “The way you look at me sometimes, Addams...” His voice caught. 

It’s now or never. Tell the truth for once, if only so you won’t hurt her. 

“If we’re alone again together, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop myself from doing something stupid.”

And I would never forgive myself. Liam deserves better.

“Drake...” 

She moved her hand towards his on the table when, “Drake! Riley!”

She was so startled, when she put her hand down she knocked her fingers against the table.

“Eep! Er, I mean, yes?”

“Why are you two standing around chatting like ladies at an afternoon tea?” barked Bertrand. “You both said you’d help, so help!”

Drake was torn between relief at having been interrupted and wanting to bite Bertrand’s pompous head off. 

What a prick.

“Right away, Duke Ramsford,” said Drake with disdain.

“Yeah. Of course.”

Okay, that’s it. I didn’t come here to be cornered by Addams or to be ordered around by Bertrand. I’m gonna find out what the hell is going on.

He waited for Bertrand to leave the room and the slinked off to where he knew the study was. 

He had just started rummaging through a drawer when Riley crept in and asked, “Drake, what are you doing back here?”

He managed to refrain from jumping, but he did shut the drawer closed immediately, scared it might be one of the brothers.

He turned to her. “Addams! So, you followed me, huh?” At this point Drake felt like maybe he was literally turning into two people, as he hadn’t been able to have only one feeling at a time all day. Right now, he was pleased she had followed him and worried about the conversation that might ensue.

He gestured around the room. “This is the Beaumont study.”

“How’d you even know this was here?”

“I used to come to this house a lot, back in the day. We ran in the same circles, being friends with Liam and all that...” explained Drake. 

“My sister, Savannah,” goddamn, it’s hard to talk about her, “used to think the Beaumont brothers were the epitome of courtly life. She practically worshipped them.” He rolled his eyes.

“And you didn’t,” said Riley knowingly, moving closer.

Drake allowed himself a small smile. “I found them to be more of an acquired taste.”

“You mean they both annoyed the hell out of you,” laughed Riley.

“Yup. Pretty much,” he chuckled. “Whenever I got tired of their antics, I’d sneak off and come here to their study.”

“So you were the life of the party even back then?” she elbowed him.

“Ha ha. Whenever Savannah found me here, she would try to get me to join in on the fun.” He smiled more, reminiscing about the girl his little sister had been, always eager to see the best in people, to get along with everyone; the exact opposite of him, basically. He sighed. “I don’t even know where she is now.”

“You don’t have any way of finding her?” Riley’s voice was thick with concern.

He shook his head. “She stopped answering my calls and deleted all of her social media. Wherever she is... all I know is that she doesn’t want to be found. Even by me. And you know what?” 

He swallowed against the knot in his throat and spoke what he knew to be true, “I don’t blame her. I failed her. I don’t even know how, but I know that I failed her. I didn’t protect her from... from whatever it was that made her leave.”

He gripped the back of a chair until his knuckles were white, willing himself to get it together. He felt a hand rubbing soothing circles on his back. He didn’t think it would make him feel as much better as it did.

Riley murmured, “Drake, maybe she just needs to deal with this on her own.”

“Maybe. But she’s my little sister...” His voice cracked, “I helped her learn how to tie her shoes. It kills me to think there’s something she didn’t think she could trust me with.”

“Do you have any idea what it was about?”

Again, he shook his head. 

There’s so much I don’t know. 

“She was so happy... and then one day, after one of these Beaumont parties, she wasn’t. She locked herself in her room, and I could hear her crying. A couple days later, all of her things were packed, and she was just... gone.” His eyes felt dangerously wet, so he decided that was plenty of soul-baring for today. “But... that’s enough about that...”

He unclenched his hands and straightened up. Riley dropped her hand. There was an uncomfortable silence. The first time he hadn’t enjoyed a quiet moment with her. There was too much unspoken on his side; trying to make small talk with her would be like swimming through molasses.

Luckily, Riley didn’t seem to feel that way. “So, this is the Beaumont study...” She looked around. “I expected more party hats. I mean, Maxwell lives here, so I figured...” she trailed off.

Drake knew his best bet was to follow this innocent lane of conversation. “It is more on the serious side, isn’t it? I don’t think they changed it after their father passed away. The former Duke Ramsford made it a point to decorate it with the family’s accomplishments.” 

He pointed at the walls, covered as they were in first place ribbons and photos of beaming teams holding trophies; and the shelves, which could not have borne the weight of another trophy or medal.

“As you can see, the Beaumont family has a lot to brag about.” He nodded to a prominent picture of Maxwell and Bertrand on horseback.

“I guess Bertrand and Maxwell had a habit of winning.”

“A family tradition.”

Riley grimaced, “I can see why Bertrand is always so worried about upholding the Beaumont name.”

“Their house goes back a long way. I could never pity a rich kid like Bertrand, but I come very close to it sometimes,” Drake agreed. “He’s got a lot of pressure on him. I think his parents gave him a lot of talks about his heritage and Cordonia... And it’s not like Maxwell’s much help with anything.”

“Maxwell tries,” Riley defended him. “Sometimes.”

“Heh. Maxwell’s always been more interested in having fun. He couldn’t care less about prestige and honor. That’s one of the things I like about him, actually.” He smiled at that and forgot about his resolve to avoid eye contact.

Once he made that fatal mistake, he couldn’t tear his eyes from her. 

Oh God, I missed the fucking sight of her! I’ve reached peak pathetic.

He was so busy berating himself, he hadn’t registered that her gaze was lingering just as much. When he did, he found it was more than he could bear and he looked down.

She stretched out her hand and touched his arm. He kept his eyes fixed on the hardwood floor.

“Drake, we need to talk about ‘us,’” she said, nervous but firm.

Still staring down, Drake answered in monotone, “There is no ‘us.’”

It felt like someone was squeezing his heart. He knew that, but saying it out loud somehow made it more real... and final.

“I don’t think you mean that,” she near-whispered.

Drake finally looked at her and steeled himself to say everything that had been churning in his head for months. All his guilt, his resentment, his jealousy, his love, all of it. 

“The truth is that my best friend is head over heels for you. So it doesn’t really matter how I feel. Because that’s where it has to end. Liam is the only one who’s ever looked out for me. The only one who gave a damn about me after my dad... After he was gone,” his voice trembled embarrassingly. 

He took a deep breath and held on to his anger instead, “The rest of the court was ready to cast us out, never mind that he died protecting the royal family.”

Riley’s hand was still on his arm. When he paused she caressed him soothingly, “Drake... I’m sorry. That’s terrible.”

“I didn’t care much,” he shrugged, “but my mom and Savannah... it would’ve devastated them. Liam made sure we had a place at the palace as long as we wanted one. I could never betray him by falling for his girl.” 

A little late for that. But I could never do something about it.

“So that’s what it all comes down to, Addams.” He moved away from her and her warm touch. “Whatever I feel... it doesn’t matter.” 

The corners of his mouth pulled down and he rubbed his hand against it, hoping to at least get through this with his dignity.

Riley stepped close to him once more. 

Damn, she’s stubborn. 

“Drake, what about how I feel?”

Drake inhaled so sharply it was almost a gasp. 

How she–? Can she mean–?

He couldn’t form coherent thoughts so he wasn’t sure why he decided speaking would be any better. “How you feel... of course I care how you feel. I just didn’t think... I mean... what are you saying, Addams?”

She looked him straight in the eyes and with merely hint of her previous nervousness, said, “I’m saying, I want you.”

Drake’s heart had already been beating faster than usual, but at those words it positively hammered in his chest.

What the fuck do I do? How do I resist that?

He balled his fists and clamped his jaw, trying to force himself to become ice.

“Oh, Addams...” he groaned through his clenched jaw, “you shouldn’t have said that.”

Her eyes were so intense that his jaw went slack. His fists still closed, he took in a ragged breath; every fiber of his being in contradiction between not moving a muscle, or closing the short distance between them now. 

“Drake...”

As it turned out, his internal battle was useless; he’d forgotten to take one very important thing into account: Riley did whatever she wanted. Before he could so much as take a breath, she was standing closer than she’d ever been.

And then she was even closer, impossibly so. He could have counted her eyelashes. It took him an instant to understand she was standing on her tiptoes. Then she pressed her lips to his softly and he knew he was lost.

He was too startled to kiss her back, so she withdrew and searched his face, obviously worried that he hadn’t wanted to kiss her. Looking back, Drake would find that absolutely hilarious.

He raised his hand – his fists seemed to have loosened of their own accord – and traced her jawline with his thumb. 

He uttered the only word he could possibly think of, “Addams...”

“Yes?” she smiled up at him and the tiny part of his defense that was still up, crumbled then and there.

He let himself want her the way his whole being had been urging him to since practically the day they met.

“I’ve wanted this for so long...” He could barely get the words out through the surge of desire that rushed through him. 

She was still standing close, but now that she’d kissed him, he didn’t think anything would be close enough. He pulled her to him tightly and kissed her hungrily, blessedly not thinking for the first time in months. 

Her mouth opened and then her tongue was on his and he was so far gone. His hands roamed her back before settling on her hips, which he gripped hard. She’d been running her hands through his hair but now she moved them to his chest. She grabbed and bunched up the fabric of his shirt, trying to get him closer than physics would allow.

Drake broke the kiss, feeling like he had to come up for air. He was breathing as heavily as if he’d just run a marathon.

Riley touched his cheek tenderly. “Drake...”

He had never loved his name more than when he heard it coming out of her swollen lips. Swollen from kissing him.

He leaned down, his lips brushing her ear – he noted with pleasure that she shivered – and whispered, “I didn’t think this would ever be more than a fantasy...”

She looked up again and their lips were almost brushing. With a smile, she asked, “Are you saying that you’ve thought about this before?”

If it hadn’t been for fear of ruining the moment, Drake would have laughed, “More than I’d like to admit.”

He kissed her again, only by now, his thoughts had had time to catch up to him. 

This is the last time you ever do this, asshole, so make it count.

He kissed her with the desperate certainty that comes with wanting something you definitely cannot and should not have. He gripped the back of her head tightly, crashing their mouths together. Then he pulled back and held her at arm’s length.

Her eyebrows knitted together. “What’s wrong?”

Where do I start?

“Someone could come in here... One of them might come looking for us... We shouldn’t just...”

It was clear his thoughts hadn’t completely come back to him.

He shook his head. “Even without a drop of whiskey, why do I feel drunk when I’m around you, Addams?”

The kind of drunk you get addicted to. You are fucking intoxicating.

A slow smile spread on her face and there was so much affection in her eyes as she said, “Drake...” and started stepping forward again.

Drake stopped her and then dropped his arms. “Don’t smile at me like that. I don’t deserve it. We shouldn’t be doing this. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

He rubbed his face roughly, as if that could wipe out what he’d done. His mind, in the meantime, was chanting, You’re a piece of shit, you’re a piece of shit, over and over again.

Riley chewed on her cheek, her eyes downcast. “Should we leave?”

He stared at her, only this time she was the one who would not meet his eye. 

Can you blame her? You blew her off seconds after betraying your best friend. Why wouldn’t she want to leave?

Fuck. I have to tell Liam.

Perhaps wanting to delay that moment, he remembered the reason why he’d originally come into the study. “Soon... but we came in here with a mission, didn’t we?”

She raised her eyes, still avoiding his and gave a hesitant smile. “Something about searching for clues to the Beaumont mystery, I think?”

“Right.”

She turned to the drawers Drake had been inspecting when she’d arrived, while Drake searched through the papers on a smaller desk. He felt it before he saw it: a thick envelope. 

“Whoa!” he let out once he’d thumbed through the contents.

“What is it?”

“If I’m not mistaken, this is a fat envelope full of cash!”

He showed it to Riley, whose eyes widened as she saw the stack of bills inside it.

“That’s... that’s what that is, all right. But why is it just here in the study?”

Drake turned it over. “There’s an address on the back... a French address! It looks like someone was going to mail this today.”

She grabbed his arm with urgency. He tried to suppress his body’s ridiculous reactions to her touch. “Drake... This has got to be the missing money that Bertrand was talking about! We’ve got to take it to Maxwell.”

He turned to her, surprised. “Really? You want to trust Maxwell Beaumont with an envelope of cash?”

“Let’s just say I trust him more than I trust Bertrand right now. I’ll text him to meet us here.”

It only took Maxwell a few seconds to burst into the room; he must have been nearby. His face was full of unease.

“What’s up? Your text sounded serious.”

“This is serious,” Riley said. “Drake and I were in here, and we found this envelope full of cash!”

Maxwell’s mouth fell open. “Oh, uh, wow! That... that must be the money that Bertrand was looking for. Thank you. You guys saved my life. Bertrand was ready to kill me over this.”

“No problem.”

Riley shoved the envelope into Maxwell’s hands, which were trembling.

“I think it’s too late to get the staff back, but at least we found it!” His voice sounded more high-pitched than usual.

Riley frowned. “But... how do you think the money ended up here?”

Maxwell gave an elaborate shrug. “Oh, you know, it’s been so crazy lately... Bertrand probably put it here to give to the staff and then forgot about it or something.”

Bullshit. What the hell.

“I don’t think that Bertrand would forget something like that...” He narrowed his eyes at Maxwell who was studiously ignoring his stare.

“Yeah, I’ll have to talk to him about it.”

Drake reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

“You know, you can always tell us if you’re in some kind of trouble.”

“Oh, no more than usual.” He started backing out of the room. “Anyway, thanks for finding it! I owe you guys! But now we better get back to work before Bertrand realizes we’ve stopped cleaning!”

He pocketed the envelope and hurried out of the room.

Drake immediately turned to Riley- “Something is off. You getting that feeling too?”

She had that thoughtful look on her face again, the one that made him want to kiss her. 

Well, to be fair, that’s just her face in general. 

“Yeah... It seems like Maxwell might be hiding something.”

“And I want to know what it is.”

“Maybe we’ll find more clues while we’re prepping the house?”

“We’ll see. Keep an eye out, but try not to be obvious about it.” He was already going to the door as he said this. He couldn’t be alone with her again.

He heard a faint, “Right,” as he left.

He found Bertrand polishing the banisters. He assigned Drake to one of dining room’s – never mind that they wouldn’t be using it tomorrow. He was glad for the distraction anyway. For the next couple of hours, all he was focused on was getting everything to look immaculate.

He was occasionally interrupted by thoughts of Liam; how he would react when he told him what he did tomorrow, whether it was their end of their friendship...

Every time that happened he threw himself into the work even more vehemently so that by the time he was done, the two rooms he’d tackled looked new.

He thought he’d earned himself a rest – though in his current state it was unlikely to be restful – so he headed to his room.

He’d only just begun his downward spiral with despairing thoughts about himself and his loyalty as he walked down the hallway, when he heard two male voices in Maxwell’s room.

He stopped, trying to decide if the second voice belonged to whom he thought it did. He knocked and opened the door to find Liam talking to Maxwell.

“Liam? What the–?”

“Drake! I got your text, I’m sorry I forgot to respond to it.”

Drake waved his apology off. “S’okay. What are you doing here?” Before Liam could answer, he continued, “Actually, can I speak to you in private?”

“Of course. I was just arranging for Maxwell’s help, but I believe we’re all set?”

“Yep! I will be your waiter for this evening, Your Majesty.” Maxwell gave Liam a sweeping bow.

“Wait, what? Waiter? What do you mean?” Drake looked from one man to the other, totally nonplussed.

Liam gave him a radiant smile and explained, “Oh, Maxwell is being kind enough to help me on my date with Riley tonight. He’ll be our waiter.”

“On your... date?” Drake choked.

“Yes. I realized we’d skipped that part of courting, so I came here early to ask her and she said yes!” Liam’s smile was only getting bigger.

“You already asked her and everything. Cool. Very cool, so fun! Well, I’m gonna go to my room now.”

Liam tilted his head. “Didn’t you want to talk about something Drake?”

“Right. Er, no, not anymore. As it turns out, it’s not as important as I thought it was.”

He hastened off to his room and slammed the door. He threw himself down on his bed.

You coward. 

I’m not a coward!

Yeah, right. You know you should have told Liam.

What for?! He’d only be hurt and it’s not worth it! It’s clear Addams is choosing him anyway; why else would she be going on dates? Maybe she was bored and she didn’t think she’d be seeing Liam until tomorrow. Whatever it was, let’s face it: it was only a kiss to her. I’m not going to ruin my friendship with Liam and their relationship just ‘cause it meant more to me.

Fuck this.

[winkonium]

Misdial (03)

→  In which you intended to call your friend but you entered the wrong number. →  fluff, attempted crack → word count: 2087 words

⟵ prev   03   next →

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"Are you still not over your high score?" Jennie nudged you at your waist with her elbow, distracting you from scrolling down your phone. You weren't playing color switch, though. You were on google searching for J-Hope or Hoseok, whatever his real name is.

You heard your friend gasp and you looked at her to find her eyes glued to your phone and then back at you with big, round eyes.

"No way!" She just saw you scrolling through google! With Jung Hoseok on the search bar! Of course she would be in shock. You never gave a damn about BTS; you just listened to her and nod. When she asks for suggestions for her Taekook fan fiction, you would tell her something but you never googled them. Never in your life. Up until you ended up dialing the wrong number and Factimed with the one and only Hoseok, the rapper and main dancer of BTS according to the information you've gathered.

"Your eyes could pop out in a second." You rolled your eyes while closing your phone.

"So, did you listen to them or something? Did you watch their dance practices?" She asked so eagerly, leaning towards you and then gasped dramatically. "You watched their bombs, didn't you?! You watched Let's Speak English that's why you're googling J-Hope!"

"Can you keep it down?!" You whisper shouted, looking around and seeing that everyone has their eyes on you both. The library isn't exactly the right place to fangirl on. "No, I did not watch anything." You answered her.

"Then what?" She raised a brow.

"Nothing. When can I Facetime you again?" You shook your head and changed the subject immediately before you could tell her about Hoseok.

Speaking of Hoseok, his voice kept running through your head. "Don't tell anyone my number. Very dangerous." You wanted to tell Jennie. She'd die for that Korean Boy Band as much as you'd die to beat your own high score in color switch. But you're also the considerate, promise-keeping person that Hoseok expects you to be. You were torn between Jennie and Hoseok but a promise is a promise. And as a human being who knows how to respect other people especially Hoseok considering he’s an international k-pop sensation, you would never risk his privacy. Also you don’t want to get sued.

"Did you hear me?" Jennie gently slapped your cheek.

You shook your head with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I spaced out."

She rolled her eyes but talked anyway. "I said I plan on doing a Taekook AU where it's like Kimi No Nawa with a little bit of Poppy Hill." She kept talking about Taekook and her love for Japanese Animé films, mostly Studio Ghibli films. You spent the entire time talking about it, giving her some ideas every now and then just so you could show her you're listening. The more she talked about Taekook, the more she talked about BTS, rarely mentioning Hoseok, the one you're most curious about.

Why did he pick up? Why does he have the number of your country? Maybe they're in your country, you're just not fully aware of it?

When Jennie was done, you both headed home. When you reached home, you felt ecstatic to have Hoseok Facetime you again but before you run to your bedroom, your mom called you, telling you to take out the trash and clean the kitchen for her.

"Moooom!" You practically whined and she gave you a death glare. "Fine." You muttered and did your best to do everything so fast before the clock struck at the time you and Hoseok Facetimed. Something about it motivated you and it was definitely your curiosity.

"I'm done!" You walked in to your mom who was at the living room, watching TV. She gave you a grin that told you she has something that you would love. "Then you can take the cake from the fridge."

Your heart jumped with joy and you tried to remain calm but then your phone vibrated. You looked at it and it was an unregistered number Facetimimg you. Hoseok. "Thanks, mom! I'll eat it tomorrow." You said then ran upstairs to your room to answer it.

"Hello." Hoseok chirped gladly when you answered it. You were lying down on your bed, stomach faced down while he was sitting at the couch he was sitting on last night. "You look.. Tired."

You looked at yourself on the small screen and saw that your hair was still all over the place. "I cleaned the kitchen. I'm a good child." You grinned and he did, too. "Mind if I change clothes for a bit?"

He looked flustered when you said that and you laughed.

"You're not going to watch me." You said and then put the phone down, the screen facing the bed so that he won't see anything but darkness. You washed up, brushed your hair and pulled out a random shirt and short to put on, doing everything in just 5 minutes or less, you don't know but it was quick. You crashed yourself on the bed and then saw Hoseok still there, patiently waiting. "I'm done!"

"I see." He smiled with a little nod. "What is your age?" You squinted your eyes but it was not because you thought he's a kidnapper but it was because you were supposed to be the one asking questions.

"I'm 19." You said and maybe, just maybe, you heard him sigh in relief.

"I thought you are younger than Jungkookie. Very bad if yes." He clenched his chest a little with a grin still on his face. "I'm 24."

"Korean age?" You asked with a hint of smirk on your face. He moved a little bit, looking like he was crossing his legs then he rested his elbow on his leg then his chin on his hand then nodded at you. "So you're 23?"

"How did you know I'm Korean?"

You rolled your eyes. "I googled you, right? You're an idol from Bangtan Sonyeondan which, I know for a fact, is like the biggest k-pop group in the world." You said as if you know them by heart. But maybe if you consider everything Jennie told you about them, maybe you do know them by heart.

He softly laughed. "I appreciate that." He wiggled his brows. "But.. Can you.. Slow down?"

You nodded. Maybe he's not as good at english as you thought he was. "I was curious. Also.. Like.. Why do you trust strangers when you're in the biggest k-pop group?" You asked. It was weird of you to ask him these kinds of questions when one, he's older than you; and two, you don't know each other that much. You didn't think if he'd get offended or what not.

"I don't normally trust strangers. It's just you." He said and you asked why. "You seem good people and you seem funny."

You tried to hide you smile by making a wacky face that made him laugh to the point that he was slapping his knee. "Listen. My friend is a fan of your group."

He stopped laughing and had his eyes so wide. He leaned closer to the screen. "D-did you tell her?" You shook your head dozens of times right away and he sighed out of relief.

"I would never—I mean, this is your personal space. I invaded you—accidentally." You mocked his smirk and the wiggle of eyebrows.

"You are very kind." He gave a small bow. "How was your day, by the way?"

"It was bland. We didn't do much. We just hang in the library and I googled your name. That's pretty much it." You casually said as if you knew him way better. It's like you were just talking to Jennie. "What about yours?"

"Tiring." You saw him let his leg down and lazily lied down the couch. "We're practicing for our next tour and at the same time, we're learning English."

"But you're pretty good at it, though."

He beamed a smile, probably glad at your compliment. "Really?" You nodded at him. Though he's 24 years old, his smile makes him look like he's only 14. "Namjoon is the best among the seven of us. He teaches us most of the time but he focuses on Taehyung."

Your eyes lighted up at the sound of Taehyung. He's the one you always hear from Jennie, second to him is Jungkook.

"Taehyung is V." He added and you nodded, acting like you just knew the information now.

"Hobi, come here!" You heard from the other line and Hoseok looked away, frowning a little bit. He yelled back a Korean word you don't know and it became an exchange of Korean sentences that you can't relate to but you're sure that Hoseok was annoyed due to the frown.

He sighed once again then turned to the phone. "I need to go. I wish I could talk to you more."

"Tomorrow's good. I don't have classes." The words slipped out of your mouth unconsciously, you sounded like you were really talking to a long time friend.

He beamed a smile at what you said, standing up from the couch. "Okay. I'll call you again, yeah?" You nodded at him. "Annyeong!" He did a small bow before waving and hanging up. You found yourself smiling at his child-like gesture and tone. You were starting to get fond of him, loosening up to a random Korean Superstar.

You stood up from the bed to get yourself ready for dinner and before you could open the door, your phone vibrated. You looked at your phone and saw that Hoseok left you a message via iMessage.

Jung Hoseok: I will message you if I get the time before calling you :)

You blinked a few times, processing that he just texted you. He wants to Facetime for the third time. What was he up to these days, Facetiming with a stranger he met only here accidentally? Is he that kind?

Your phone vibrated again.

Jung Hoseok: RM called me. I teach him steps.

The three dots were still bouncing and you anticipated his replies while your hands were on the door knob, forgetting that you were going down to have dinner.

Jung Hoseok: Sorry. Jung Hoseok: I hope I have time tomorrow.

You: It's cool. I'll talk to you when you have the time. :)

Jung Hoseok: 잘자 애인 ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

You smiled even though you don't understand a single thing at the last text he sent but you find the emoticon cute. You shoved your phone at your short's pocket and quickly went down to find your mother already fixing the plate which was your task for the rest of your life.

"I assume you fell asleep that's why you almost forgot about dinner." She looked up at you and frowned as she saw your face. "Why are you smiling like that?"

You blinked a few times before it occurred to you that you were grinning goofily. The grin came from the text and that was literally 4 minutes ago but you clearly haven't gotten over it yet. You muttered a sorry to your mom before she shrugged it off, slightly laughing at you.

You had dinner with her and of course, being the typical mom, she asked you how your day was and you answered her, leaving out the part that you Facetimed with a Korean Idol because she would go ape shit if she finds out. After dinner, you washed the dishes and headed straight to your room and then your phone vibrated again but this time, it was Jennie.

Jennie: Wanna hang out at my place tomorrow?

You considered doing so but then you remembered Hoseok. You were supposed to Facetime each other tomorrow but it was unsure due to his schedule.

You: Not sure.

As Hoseok crossed your mind, you remembered his last text as well and you thought Jennie might help you out. Going to Hoseok's text window, you copied his last text and pasted it then sent it to your friend since she knows a thing or two.

You: 잘자 애인 ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ You: What does this mean?

Jennie: I think Jennie: It means Jennie: Good night, baby Jennie: The first word means good night and I'm pretty sure the second one is an endearment Jennie: You have a boyfriend ?????? Jennie: You fucker

You: shut up i dont i saw it online

And then Jennie just left you in read.