#said school is two towns over. 30 mins each way. this is another hour in which i am not sleeping

[parkitaco]

the world is determined not to let me take a nap today i can’t continue like this

[maraudersmap123]

This Little Town - James Potter

summery - James Potters best friend from childhood realises she loves him. requested by anon "Can you write a friends to lovers james potter fic? I loved regret and the way you want, i seriously cant get enough of your james fics"

warning - none i don't think, this hasn't been edited yet so read with caution.

word count - 5,656

Reading time - 27 mins 30 seconds

***

James Potter had been nothing short of heartbroken when he found out at eleven years old that his lifelong best friend wasn't to be joining him at Hogwarts in September but instead was going to school somewhere in France, which would have been fine had it not been miles away from where he would be. He forgot about his heartbreak however when he got to Hogwarts and met his three best friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew along side who he was sure was the love of his life, Lily Evans.

He got to spend time with his childhood best friend during every holiday that he didn't stay at Hogwarts. But these meetings were always short lived and therefore after awhile their friendship wasn't as strong as it had been in earlier years. The letters went from daily, to weekly, to monthly, then eventually to nearly nothing at all.

However when they met again each Christmas and summer at the old tree house that was in the forest behind their neighbouring houses it was as though they had never been apart at all.

This summer was slightly different as one of James' school friends had joined him. He was called Sirius Black and y/n being from a respectable pure blood family recognised the name immediately and was rather apprehensive of the tall brunette boy but quickly learned to like him, realising he was nothing like the other Black family members she had met.

On top of this she needed to tell James something. She was waiting until the end of summer to tell him, hoping for a moment alone with him to break the news.

This moment came when the group of three had climbed the hill across from their town and gotten to the top in less than half an hour. Sirius had decided he was going to head home earlier than the other two, claiming that he needed to pack for Hogwarts because he didn't want to leave it last minute like he did the year before.

When the two had been left alone they collapsed onto the ground, laying next to one another on the grass, staring up at the sky which was starting to grow darker. It wasn't as warm as it had been a few weeks ago as September quickly approached however it was far from cold, a light breeze dusting over them.

She made a small sound of complaint at the feeling of the harsh ground under her head and he quickly lifted his arm, she leaned her head against his shoulder and looked up at him, meeting his eye and smiling.

"It's been a good summer" Said the girl quietly, looking back up at the sky, stars starting to reveal themselves after hours of hiding.

"One of the best" James quickly agreed, playing with her fingers which were sat right beside his.

"Sirius is great. I'm really happy you have him, he seems like a great friend" She told him and he grinned at the news that she liked him. He had worried before they met that they wouldn't get on because had that been the case he'd have no idea what to do.

"I'm glad you like him, I was worried you wouldn't get on. Next summer i'll try and have the other boys over so you can meet them. You'd love them too, especially Remus. You and Remus would make great friends you are so similar" James said excitedly.

Y/n decided this would be the perfect time to tell him. If he was so excited for her to meet his friends then surely he would be happy about what she has to tell him

"About that, I have something I need to tell you" She began and he frowned, looking down at her through his eyelashes.

"Is everything okay?" He asked her, his hand slipping from hers to her upper arm

"It's better than okay" She assured him "with everything going on with that dark wizards mum and dad want me closer to home in case something happens and they need me back. They don't feel comfortable with me still going to Beauxbatons anymore" Before she could finish her sentence he sat up quickly, her following suit.

"If you're away to tell me-" He started excitedly, trailing off as she smiled at him

"I'll be joining you on Monday" she confirmed and he jumped up. pulling her up with him and spinning her around.

"You're coming to Hogwarts!" he yelled and she laughed at his excitement "this is the best news ever" He started running down the hill towards Sirius, who was just a little dot at the bottom walking in the opposite direction.

"Padfoot wait up, you'll never believe it" She heard him yell after the boy who finally stopped walking and turned towards him. Y/n sat back down, looking over the small village in Devon and pulled her knees to her chest. For the first time since she has began school she was actually excited for summer to end.

***

James had been right about her forming a friendship with Remus. They were very very similar people and had hit it off as soon as she had entered the compartment on the train alongside James and Sirius and once again when she sat down at the Gryffindor table after the sorting. When she was sorted into Gryffindor James has cheered the loudest, followed closely by Sirius.

However something that James hadn’t accounted for was the friendships she would make with her roommates, who happened to be Lily, Marlene and Alice. Y/n knew who Lily was and when she found out they were to be roommates she had worried that the red head would hate her due to her friendship with James. However that didn’t happen, the two girls got on very well and became quick friends.

One Friday afternoon, y/n found herself walking along the corridor with Lily, making their way back to the common room after their final class of the week ended. She had been at Hogwarts for 3 months and had had more fun than she did in 5 years in France.

“How long have you and James been friends” Lily asked her curiously as they passed a group of Hufflepuffs who smiled at them.

Smiling back she told her that they had been friends since they were born pretty much and had been inseparable until they turned 11 and went to different school.

“He really likes you, you know” Y/n told the ginger girl beside her to which all she received was a scoff. “I’m serious Lils, he talked about you all the time before i came here. In fact he still does”

“He doesn’t really he just thinks he does” Lily responded. 

“You and I are very similar. I think he came here and missed you so he deflected his feelings onto someone who reminded him of you. That person just so happened to be me” Lily grinned to which Y/n’s eyes widened, she couldn’t believe Lily really thought something so far fetched. Y/n went to reply when she hard footsteps quickly approaching them from behind and an arm was wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her into someones side

“Look who it is, my favourite girls” James said, looking down at his best friend who he was much taller than, having had a massive growth spurt only last year, and squeezing her shoulder. Remus appeared at the other side of Lily and the pair shared a look as they observed the two in front of them. Y/n caught this interaction after she smiled back at James and it occurred to her then that Lily wasn't the only one who thought James felt something more for her. 

She felt a funny feeling in her tummy at both the feeling of him close to her and knowing what some of their friends thought. She had never felt anything like that before. 

***

Y/n and James had both gone home during the Christmas holidays, this time without Sirius. He had decided to stay at school to keep Marlene company as she was to be staying. When they got home they never seen each other for a few days, having been busy visiting other family members and just doing holiday things. When they did next see each other it was relatively late on Christmas eve and James had climbed into her bedroom window.

“James why can't you just use the door” She laughed as he tumbled in, falling onto her bed. She was sat at her desk, writing out her last few Christmas cards before she would send them, along side the presents she had bought, with her owl to her old bauxbatons friend.

“I need your opinion on something” He told her, ignoring her question. She hummed in acknowledgement, encouraging him to carry on. 

“Well you’re a girl” He began apprehensively

“I’m glad you’ve noticed” She said back in a slightly impatient manner, turning to look at the boy sat on her bed with raised eyebrows only now noticing the two bottles in his hand.

“Which do you recon Lily would like best” She felt a sharp pain in her chest when she heard the question and cringed at herself for feeling at all jealous. 

“How would I know, me and lily aren’t the same person you know” she answered, reaching out and taking the bottles that he handed her.

“You’d might as well be” he answered, watching her as she smelled the first bottle. She took notice of the fact that he did acknowledge that his best friend of 16 years was remarkably similar to that of who he claimed was the love of his life. She doubted James had ever had any feelings for her like lily said, however she found a part of herself wishing he did. For she had realised when Lily had told her what she thought about James’ feelings that she was actually the one who had the hidden crush. 

She assumed that it had started because he had become part of her everyday life again, and having him around her so much had just sparked something she hadn’t experienced with him during their short periods of time together during holidays where the end of their time was always in the near future.

She realised she had zoned out when the boy sat on her bed cleared his throat and when she finally looked at him he had furrowed his eyebrows and was looking at her in concern.

“What’s wrong” He asked her

“Nothing, just tired” He seemed to accept the answer with little hesitation and nodded back to the two bottles in her hands that she had now smelt. She cleared her throat awkwardly and handed them both back to him

“I’d say the second one, she already has one very similar to the first and she rarely uses it” She told him, turning back to the small stack of Christmas cards on her desk and beginning to put them into their envelopes.

She could feel James’ stare bore into her back and she straightened up in her chair slightly, feeling awkward.

She considered for a moment telling James that she had accepted a date to hogsmade on the first weekend back but decided not to, having a bad feeling that he wouldn’t take the news well. Knowing he would find out eventually she decided to handle the situation in another way.

"I've been thinking, now that I'm friends with lily I could try and talk to her about going on a date with you" Giving her owl the last package and giving it a small treat she opening the window to let the bird out and opted to watching it fly away rather than looking back to James.

"You're kidding" He exclaimed. She forced herself to laugh at his excitement, pretending it never hurt at all. She was the one to propose the idea.

"Not one bit, She is coming over for a movie night tomorrow and I'll talk to her about it then. I can be very persuasive when I want to be"

"If I ever take you for granted again y/n just remind me of this moment" He told her, jumping up from her bed and giving her a quick hug before he climbed back through her window and into her back garden.

"Merry Christmas James" She yelled after him, when she checked her watch and realised it was 12:03.

"Merry Christmas Y/n" He yelled back before disappearing behind the trees that separated their gardens.

***

The holidays had come and gone and the snow that blanketed the grounds of Hogwarts started to melt, indicating the beginning of spring and the approach of the first hogmades weekend of the year. Lily had agreed to go out with James after lots of explaining and begging. James of course had been ecstatic about the news and didn't seem to care about what it had taken or why his best friend had done so much to make it happen, too busy in his bubble of happiness to care.

"I still think you should tell him y/n" Lily mumbled as they walked towards their table at the back of the library. All of the girls knew about her date and has done nothing but attempt to persuade her to tell James for over a week now.

"You know what he's like Lils, he's why too protective to be happy about it. or even mutual for that matter" She responded for what felt like the hundredth time.

"And you still haven't stopped to think about why he's so protective" lily questioned with a smirk.

"Oh don't start. He views me as a sister, it's not that serious. its just how we are"

"Just how you are my arse. He loves you and deep down you know it. I don't get why you can't just accept it and go on a date with him yourself instead of forcing me to do so" The red head complained, finally reaching their seats and taking out their work.

"It's just not like that, honestly" She couldn't think of anything worse than admitting her feelings so anyone out loud.

The more she thought about telling Lily or Remus the more she realised it was simply a terrible idea. Remus would undoubtedly tell James which would swiftly end their friendship and she couldn't help but think that deep down Lily did have feelings for James, and that the news of her friends feelings would cause a drift in their friendship.

"Whatever you say" Lily replied with a laugh "Anyway what are you wearing for your date with Abbot"

***

It took little effort to sneak out of the castle without James or any of his friends seeing her and her date Henry Abbot. Henry was a Hufflepuff that she shared a few classes with, when he had asked her out she has been ecstatic and agreed instantly. But now most of that excitement was gone and the feeling of stress and guilt about going behind her friends back took over.

By the time they had made it to Hogwarts the pair had already discussed most of what they had in common, which was very little, but they carried on as thought it hadn't started to grow awkward and he acted like he hadn't noticed her looking over her shoulder constantly.

"Why don't we head to the three broomsticks, hopefully it will be a bit warmer than it is out here" He smiled down at her and y/n nodded with a polite smile.

"That sounds great" As they made their way to the crooked stone building at the corner of town they fell into a somewhat comfortable silence and she let herself look around more, raising her eyebrows in surprise when he slipped her hand into his.

Just to her luck it was at this moment that she spotted James, who it seemed had seen her long along. Lily was stood beside him trying to act was though she was enjoying herself and James looked as though he had seen red. She could see now that her plan to distract James to the point of not caring that she had a date would not work and she also realised that her date with Henry was not in any way going to diminish her feelings for James.

"You fancy him" Came a voice from beside her that caught her of guard though she quickly realised it was Henry who had a rather amused look on his face

"I don't know what you're talking about" She mumbled as she pulled her eyes away from James and pulled her date towards the three broomsticks.

"Potter, you fancy him" He repeated with a laugh. "It's fine, I'm not offended"

"I do not fancy James" She told him firmly.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, it happens to most girls at this school at some point or another. they either fall for Potter or Black" He told her grinning and she just rolled her eyes and laughed.

"He's my best friend, and lily is a good friend of mine also" She responded "As soon as she realises his feelings for her they will be happy together"

"My friends don't think he actually likes her you know" He told her as they entered the three broomsticks at last, the feeling of his James trailing after her finally lifting. "What would you like"

"A butter beer please" She answered with a small smile and he nodded, telling her to go find a table and he'd be right over

She left his side and looked around her, finding a table in the back under a window. Making her way over to it she slipped onto one of the rather uncomfortable seats and waited for Henry to return.

"What are you doing" She heard the familiar voice of James asking as he sat down on the seat in front of her without waiting for an invitation.

"I should be asking you that question" She answered sarcastically, look up at him with narrowed eyes before look back to the bar to see what was taking Henry so long, only to find he was being somewhat harassed by Sirius.

"Well you're obviously on a date, I was more asking why you never told me" He bit back, pulling her attention back to him.

"What do you want James, you're not my father. And where's Lily" She said calmly, thought feeling anything but. All she had wanted was to be left alone for an afternoon and get to know someone knew, but apparently that was too much to ask when it came to James.

"I want you to tell your date that it didn't work out and that you'd best be going" He told her to which she laughed "And Lily is waiting outside"

"Why would I do that, it is working out and I don't want to leave. You have a date with the girl of your dreams and you're leaving her outside on her own to pester me about something that is none of your business" She told, having lost her patience and growing tired of his behaviour.

"The dates just not what I expected is all" He responded with an agitated expression.

"Well that's not my fault, Maybe now you can move on and find someone who actually wants you" Y/n snapped, not thinking about her words or how they could hurt him.

At long last Henry had managed to get away from Sirius and stood in front of the table with raised eyebrows, two butter beers in his hand.

"Everything alright mate" He asked James who looked up at him with a face of disgust. Sirius quickly appeared behind Henry and shot Y/n an apologetic look.

"Maybe we should leave Prongs. Lily is probably getting bored out there" Sirius told James to which he got an eye roll in response.

"I don't care mate" For some reason James' response had Y/n more angry at the boy than she had ever been before.

"Why do you always do this James, why can't you let me be happy" She mumbled, standing up and grabbing Henrys hand. "Talk to me when you decide you are going to act your age and stop being such an arsehole" At that she left the pub with Henrys hand firmly held in her. On their way out they seen Lily sat on the wall across from the pub and she gave a sorry smile when she spotted the pair

"I'm sorry Y/n, I tried to stop him" She said quickly and Y/n just shook her head

"It's not your fault Lily, I'll see you back at the castle" She smiled as she made her way to the exit of Hogsmade.

"It seems my friends where right about his feelings then" Henry joked as they made their way back in silence to the castle

"Maybe they were" She agreed with a small laugh "I'm sorry it went so badly at the end, I've had a good day"

"It's been good, though I do think we are better of as friends. You are clearly very involve with Mr Jealousy and if i'm not wrong he's most definitely in love with you" Henry said with a chuckle, causing Y/ns head to drop in guilt.

"Ok you're right but he doesn't love me back, he's to busy loving Lily" She mumbled and he shook his head quickly

"He left her outside a pub in the Scottish highlands march weather to come and persuade you not to date me, a boy he doesn't even know so doesn't have any grudge against. You can't really think he actually loves her. And she certainly doesn't love him"

***

James hadn't talked to Y/n since the incident at the three broom sticks and she certainly didn't opposed the silence she got from him. She was annoyed at him for trying to ruin what could have been a successful date and for treating lily the way he did even though the red head had assured her many times that she didn't care and had only agreed to the date for her sake anyway, not because she fancied him.

James on the other hand had no idea why he was as annoyed at he was and neither did hid friends. He hadn't the right to be annoyed at her for going on a date with another boy because they were just friends. It didn't take his friends long to catch on to what the issue actually was and that he did in fact fancy her. Him no longer pursuing Lily was just the cherry on top that confirmed their assumptions.

"Maybe you should talk to him" Lily urged as they sat at a table in the common room with Marlene and Alice, a pile of books and parchment sat in front of them each as exams came closer and the work load got heavier

"No" Y/n mumbled as she scribbled down the last few sentences of one of her paragraphs in her potions essay which was due the next day.

"Come on, it's been over a month. I get you're both mad at one another, god knows what he's so mad over, but regardless it's time you talked about it" Marlene said, grabbing the scroll from her hand. Earning an eye roll and a glare.

"I agree with them y/n, it's gone on way too long. It's getting weird to be honest"

"If he wants to talk he can find me, he's the one hiding from me not the other way around" As if on cue the portrait swung open and in walked the marauders.

At the sight of the girls sat at the table Remus and Sirius made a B line towards them, being trailed awkwardly by James and Peter, an out of place position for the confident James Potter.

"What you up to ladies" Sirius asked as he perched himself on the arm of the sofa that was sat in front of the desk they were occupying.

"Studying Sirius, and if you had any sense you would be too. Exams are in almost a month" Y/n responded, grabbing her quill back from lily and carrying on with her essay, not looking at James once.

"Woah, what's with the hostile tone" He joked "Maybe we will join you" He carried on, a loud groan coming from the 4 girls.

"So much enthusiasm" He laughed but was cut off by James.

"I'm going to head to bed actually, very tired" He said and Y/n finally let herself look at him, finding him to already have his eyes firmly trained on her.

"Alright mate, we'll see you later" Remus responded after a few seconds of silent and James finally looked away, turning away from them and disappearing up the stairs.

"Will you please talk to him. He's way to stubborn to talk to you first but he knows he's in the wrong, trust me he talks about it and you every second of everyday" Remus begged and Y/n just scoffed and continued on yet again with her essay, at this rate she'd never finish it she thought.

"Y/n please, he's been a real mess. He's gotten so moody I'm struggling to live with him honestly" Sirius added

"Always the drama queen Sirius, always a drama queen" Lily joked "Anyway we've been telling her to talk to him for weeks, she just won't listen"

"What's the worst that could happen" Peter added for the first time.

She thought about it for a second and realised there really wasn't anything to loose. They would become friends again at some point because they always did find their way back to one another so what was really the point in ignoring him. If Sirius was being true and he did know he was wrong what good was she doing dragging it out?

"Fine" She finally agreed drawing a gasp from lily.

"Really, gosh I didn't think that would work" Marlene expressed her surprise.

"I can't promise we make up, If he doesn't stop being an arse he's getting the silent treatment for another month at least, and I mean it" Making her way up the boys stairs, ignoring the laughter that erupted at the table from her parting statement she tried to walk as slowly as she could, cursing Hogwarts for giving them a dorm so close to the entry.

She stood outside their dorm room and contemplated what she was going to say, but gave up after a few minuets realising that no matter how much she planned she never ended up saying what she had planned to say.

She knocked once before slowly opening the door, stepping in and closing it behind her. She quickly spied James who was lay face forward on his bed, his back facing her. She waited a second before saying anything and even considered leaving though knew he already knew someone had entered the room.

"James, I think we need to talk" At the sound if her voice his head had shot up and he had scuffled into a sitting position, staring at her as though she had returned from the dead.

"Ye" Was all he managed as she made her way over and sat down beside him on his bed.

“I don't want us to be fallen out anymore. You're my best friend and I don't like things as much without you. Not to mention I really don't like seeing you in the way I do right now" She rambled and he grinned half-heartedly down at her.

"Well its sorted then, we're fine" He confirmed and she was about to agree when she decided she would push the cause of the argument a little more to find out what he was thinking.

"Why didn't you like the date with Lily, James?" She asked quietly, knowing it was possibly a sensitive subject.

"It just wasn't what I expected was all" He told her simply and she nodded slightly.

"What did you expect then" She asked, leaning back against the bed frame, watching him as he fiddled with his hands.

"I dunno, I just expected it to be different" He said bluntly "I guess I expected it to be with her like it is with you, but it wasn't" he admitted guiltily, she mumbled a quiet 'oh' in response and looked away from him quickly.

Though she too had grown suspicious of his behaviour towards her she hadn't expected him to ever admit anything out loud, especially not to her.

"Were you jealous of Henry" James had scoffed quite quickly when he heard his name and Y/n simply rolled her eyes at his response "Don't be a dick about it James, he's a nice boy"

"He's an arsehole is what he is" he snarked back.

"Says the boy who interrupted my date and publicly argued with me over something that was none of his business" She responded quickly, his sigh was proof enough to her that he did know that he was wrong.

"I'm sorry" He told her softly.

"Ye I know"

"I love you" She smiled at him and leaned into his arms gently, hugging him.

"I know" she repeated.

"No I mean I love you, like how I thought I loved Lily" He mumbled against her shoulder. He felt her stiffen slightly against him and sighed at the response, taking the dragging silence as a rejection. she pulled away eventually placing her hands on either side of his jaw.

"You mean it" She whispered and he nodded.

A smile broke out on her face as she wasted no time in leaning in and finally pushing her lips against his after what felt like years of waiting. He quickly responded by moving his hand up to her face, hers falling down to his shoulder. He didn't mean to do it but before he could control himself he started laughing. She pulled away from him, looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"Really James" She asked, his laughter growing louder.

"How on earth did it take us this long to realise" He asked her after calming down.

"Speak for yourself I realised after my first month at this school, Lily and Remus pointed it out about you first but I didn't believe them" He raised his eyebrows at this

"They what" He asked.

"They said that you actually love me and and that you projected your feelings for me onto Lily in first year because you couldn't have me anymore" She told him and he laughed loudly once again.

"You know what, I think they might actually have been onto something" He mumbled before leaning in once again and kissing her.

***

5 Years Later

Y/n had always known that weddings were stressful. Being a Bridesmaid at Lilys wedding only further showed her this fact. After graduating Hogwarts there had been a war that seemed for awhile never ending. But it had ended and with it brought many weddings. James assumed that the burst in weddings was people trying to distract themselves from the horrors they faced in the aftermath of the war but Y/n believed it to be a lot more romantic than that.

She believed that so many were marrying because they knew that the only thing that beats hatred is love, and after surviving a time filled with so much hate what better way to celebrate than to do so with love. It made perfect sense to her because it had been the reason she had said yes to James when he had asked the question only two months ago.

The wedding had started to die down slightly, and after wishing farewells too a few of her high school acquaintances, including Henry Abbot who attended with his pregnant girlfriend and their two year old son.

It was here that she realises she hadn't seen James in awhile and she decided she would look for him. the wedding had been held in James and Y/ns town, Lilys now husband having been a friend of theirs who they had introduced to Lily in the summer after 6th year.

As she exited the large tent in the middle of the field she spied the silhouette of her fiancé up on the hill that looked over the village, the hill that she had told him she was be coming to Hogwarts atop of all those years ago. She started to make her way up the hill towards him and when he finally spotted her he smiled down waiting patiently for her to reach him.

"What are you doing up here love" She asked him as she made her way over to sit beside him on the grass, looking out ahead of them at their childhood homes in the distance, the houses that neither family occupied any longer.

"Just needed some air" he told her gently, reaching out and wrapping his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side.

"You're the best thing that ever happened to me Y/n L/n, and it all started in this little town" he said and she tilted her chin to look up at him, smiling brightly at the glimmer in his eye.

"You're the best thing that ever happened to me as well James Potter" she returned and he just chuckled, leaning down and kissing her forehead.

"We should get married here too. The forest behind our old house has that clearing in the middle, It's big enough and would work I think" he expressed and she raised to her knees and connected her lips to his, earning a quiet groan from him

"It sounds perfect James, absolutely perfect" she whispered into his mouth, his hand gripping at her waist as he admired her and the life he had managed to make with her.

[teeztheflag]

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W h o c a t c h e s t h e a l p h a ?

⋆ pairing : alpha!hong joong x werewolf!reader

⋆ genre: werewolf, angst, fluff, suggestive

⋆ warnings: alcohol, cussing words

⋆ words: 5,500

⋆ „You don’t want to break the rules, am I right?“

─────────────────────

Right now exactly one day until your birthday. That’s 24 hours, 1440 minutes and 86400 seconds. Then you would be able to meet your mate. Your soulmate. Your destined other half. The love of your life.

You were currently stuck in the nearby town with your two friends to find a cute outfit for the festival tomorrow. It has been pretty hot the last days and you were relived to be in the shopping center that had an air conditioning system.

„When was the exact time you were born?“

„3.06 pm and 54 seconds.“

„Oh okay then let’s go the festival by 4 pm?“

„Yes, I think that’s good.“

You went into many boutiques searching through one clothes rack after another.

„Y/N! Look at this one!“ Jisoo showed you a pretty two-piece set.

„Mh, that should work!“ You smirked at her and took the fabric making your way to the changing room. After stepping out both girls gasped at your sight.

„Hong Joong will love this!“ Your smile faltered and you ushered to her clasping a hand onto her mouth.

„Are you crazy?!“ You gave her a judging look and let go to examine yourself in the mirror.

„It was just a joke, ok?“

„She’s right, Lisa. He‘s our alpha. If the pack clan finds out about your loose tongue...“

„What? Those cocky bastards? If you ask me they are still kids! I am not lying! Last week I saw Jong Ho and Min Gi betting on how many apples he could break in under 30 seconds.“

Well, Jong Ho was pretty strong even without his wolf form. Of course Hong Joong inherited the alpha genes from his father taking him to another level.

Thinking about the black colored wolf. He acted like biggest dick you knew at the moment. Being all cocky and arrogant after becoming the new alpha. You knew him since elementary school. Made sense because of your pack living in a separated town just for werewolves so technically everyone knew everyone.

Since your childhood you and Hong Joong were inseparable. You remember the time both of playing in your wolf forms he led you to a secret part of the forest with a little bay. There he snuggled into your side with his wet nose and promised you that he wanted you to become his mate, his luna. He wanted to convince you that he had a feeling it would happen. You laughed at him and tackled him down not wanting him to realize that his statement made your heart flutter.

„Well, we have to wait until my 20th birthday, right?“

Your dad has been a member of the old pack clan and still was good friends with Hong Joong‘s father. You remember two years ago when Hong Joong suddenly went up to you saying he wouldn’t have much time for you from now on. He and the other boys trained and learned all the affairs for working together as the new pack clan. And you understood. Really. But all the times he declined to just meet for a few minutes made you sad.

One day you couldn’t believe your eyes while being out with your girls in a club when Hong Joong and a girl from your pack named Yeri entered it hand in hand. You quickly learned they were dating and the new popular couple in the pack.

That evening your were devastated.

Having built up a deep crush on Hong Joong over all those years made your heart break at the sight. You didn’t understand why he was doing this. But at this time you knew to never believe in his promises again. So you started to ignore the boy. Wherever you saw him you turned another way or occupied yourself with others. If he entered the pack house you would be on your way to the exit. If your family visited his one you made up other plans. Alone the sight of him made you suffer. So you didn’t look at him and slowly his face vanished out of your mind to be remembered.

Unfortunately one day he had to become the alpha. And you couldn’t ignore him anymore. Listening to him at pack meetings or bow to him everytime he passed your way. On his side still the beautiful Yeri. Her white fur caused the male wolves to fall on their knees. One point for her.

But she wasn’t a good fighter. One point for you. Because after Hong Joong didn’t talk to you anymore you spent a huge amount of your time on the training battlefield for distraction. And that’s where you grew close with Jeong Yun Ho. A big fluffy ball of happiness.

Hong Joong found out about the two of you when Yun Ho came back one day with all your scent over him. As soon as the boy entered their pack clan house Hong Joong thought you just entered his place and got so excited he emerged down the stairs but instead of being met with your person Yun Ho grinned at him. The boy carefully sneaked back into his own room leaving Hong Joong in front of the entry.

Did you sleep with Yun Ho? Were you giving away your precious virginity before finding your mate?! He felt himself heating up at the thought of you mating with someone else than him and ran outside to change into his wolf form and running a long time until his anger vanished.

Hong Joong was a really proud boy. And not to talk about his wolf. Ever since he knew he was to become the new alpha a strong pressure weighed down on his shoulders. Always wanting to be good enough for his pack and strong and admirable.

When you were back in school Hong Joong already knew he totally fell in love with you over the years. Everyone knew you couldn’t choose your mate but there was this strong feeling whenever you were around him.

One time made his love for you waver so much it changed something in him. He overheard you talking to a friend that was nagging you about him. How you were totally into the little alpha and when you would tell him. That’s when you snapped and declined your love for him. You said you could never be into him and didn’t wanted to be burdened with all the tasks a luna had to carry. Hong Joong didn’t know your real thoughts about being scared of not suiting him. There were indeed prettier, stronger and more intelligent girls in your pack. You understood your love for him was a dream and it would be quite embarrassing too if someone found out about your feelings.

If the two of you had just had talked with eachother about your feelings.

„Anyways, leave the comments you snake. I hope Yun Ho likes my outfit!“

You giggled a last time at your sight and got back into the changing room. Lisa and Jisoo watched you being excited for your boyfriend seeing you in your cute outfit.

When you were back in the pack town you got a message from Yun Ho asking if you wanted to join them for a barbecue evening.

Being in a relationship with the brown haired beauty brought along the unpleasant case of seeing Hong Joong from time to time. Yun Ho and the others didn’t know about your feelings for each other back then. Woo Young was the only one that caught a moment between you and Hong Jong back when you were young where it was obvious the alpha was into you. Nevertheless Hong Joong pleaded with him to not tell anyone. Nowadays being the alpha he just could use his predominance to shut up anybody even if it was a good friend. So Woo Young stayed silent and watched Hong Joong forced a smile on his face whenever Yeri plastered him with kisses.

You quickly texted him a ‚yes‘ and waited for the evening when he picked you up. It was a little bit chillier outside this night and when you entered their big clan house you were already met with the now well known testosterone. Alpha, beta and pack clan scents lingered in every corner. You pushed yourself into Yun Ho‘s side sniffing in only his alluring boyfriend scent to blank out the dominating alpha odor.

„Oh, cool you are here, Y/N!“ San embraced you in a big hug and you laughed at Jong Ho pouting behind him for not letting you go. Soon the boy made space and gave Jong Ho and the others a chance to greet you, too.

Last one having Min Gi to hug you from behind and shake you from side to side.

„Y/Nah, let’s take a run after we’ve eaten! I bet my wolf is quicker than you now! I trained a lot with Woo Young!“

„Maybe, if you let me go I will think about it!“ You laughed at him when Yun Ho pulled the equally tall boy back by his ear.

„Everybody wanna‘ steel my girl! Come on baby.“ You smirked at him and gave him a quick peck when he pouted at you.

Yun Ho mad himself comfortable on the outdoor couches and you snuggled into his lap. Soon you were into a big discussion about the worst movies ever with the other boys when the alpha and his girlfriend finally arrived in the garden.

You stood up and bowed halfheartedly to quickly sit back into Yun Ho‘s lap and continue to enjoy the atmosphere. Hong Joong took a peek at your form being cuddled by Yun Ho and ignored the urge to roll with his eyes.

Disgusting.

He took Yeri‘s hand into his and lead her to the table and sat down.

You greeted Yeri with a small smile to which she sent you one in return. You were not close with her despite being the only girls in this circle. Yeri had a bunch of popular girls around her and back in school she wasn’t the nicest, too.

But now you could see she was definitely in love with the alpha and they looked really good together. You repeated that quote everytime you came into temptation to take a look at Hong Joong.

It was obvious to everyone who was the more likable couple at the table. It just happened to be that you and Yun Ho were a funny constellation. Hong Joong always seemed tense when you were around joining conversations not as often then. No one really recognized accept of Woo Young and yourself and to Hong Joong‘s dismay Yun Ho, too.

But he kept his mouth shut. He knew you were good friends back in school and once heard you had a big fight after that. Although Hong Joong was his alpha he had to accept that you were his girlfriend. So he didn’t gave the topic more attention than needed.

After the barbecue you went for some cocktails and beer to enjoy the rest of the evening. You didn’t forget Min Gi‘s request and remembered him before the two of you became too intoxicated.

After an hour chasing eachother through the woods you changed back and joined the others again a few of them quite drunk by now.

„Baby! Who won?“

„I don’t know if I should feel insulted by this question.“

„Everyone knows Y/N is the quickest out of the girls!“ San wiggled with his eyebrows while being occupied by finishing a bag of chips.

„I hope so. I’ve not trained her for nothing.“ Yeo Sang smirked at you and stealed the chips out of San‘s grip earning a glare from the boy.

„Is that so?“

Hong Joong shot you an interested look and you decided you would stand the challenge.

„Sangie‘s just exaggerating. But thanks to him, I could improve my skills.“

You weren’t looking away. Why was he suddenly talking to you? He technically didn’t for years. He found it funny you didn’t budge down from his gaze. So he used some of his alpha power to show you who’s in charge.

You saw his eyes turning darker and knew he wanted you to submit back. When his power finally reached a point to feel your wolf nudge you to show respect you sat back down next to Yun Ho and looked away. Hong Joong being satisfied with his work took a sip from his beer and smirked to himself. So he was still having an effect on you.

„Y/N, tomorrow is a big day for you, right?“

„Oh, Jong Ho please stop...“

„Wait, what is tomorrow?“

„Mingi, first the festival is tomorrow. And second, Y/N is going to turn 20...“

San clapped into his hands. All of them being still unmated making you a potential partner. Because only girls held the ability to inflame the mate bond.

„Yah, you thirsty boys better stay away from my girl! If she ends up with someone of you I will literally throw up!“ Yun Ho laughed out loud at this and the others joined him except of Hong Joong and Woo Young.

Yun Ho knew there wasn’t a high chance of you two being mates but there was hope. And if it turned out you were to be with one of his pack clan members so be it.

As soon as someone finds their mate all their romantic feelings for another being vanish. It was just how nature wanted it. So he had to be patient and wait for the outcome of tomorrow.

You took Yun Ho‘s hand feeling his discomfort because of the statement and kissed it bringing him out of his thoughts. He smiled at you and pecked your cheek.

But even you had your doubts Yun Ho would be the one and you couldn’t put your hand on what let you feel this way.

The final day came soner as you wished and Jennie, Rosé, Lisa, Jisoo and you prepared for the festival. After everyone finished the last details you went down to the kitchen being greeted by your family. You mum baked a cake for you with a big ‚20‘ on the top and your dad and brother watched a soccer game in the TV. The only one freaking out were the girls but you knew your dad was nervous as fuck, too. Your brother being grumpy all day because he didn’t want you to love someone more than your big brother.

„So, honey. When do you plan on meeting Yun Ho today?“

„Mh, we want to meet at the festival.“

„At the festival? But isn’t this a little... you know... unromantic?“

You cringed at her words. Of course it wasn’t as romantic as other potential mates did it. But if it turned out he wasn’t the one than you both could spend some time for yourself with your friends.

„Don’t worry Mrs. Y/L/N! We will take care of her even if she doesn’t find her mate today!“

„And if he finds her first?“

You looked at Jennie with widened eyes because her comment made you blush. Of course, she already found her mate just like Jisoo and Rosé.

Your thoughts were a mess searching for all the unmated boys of your pack in your head. Shit, it literally could be anyone. Jisoo seemed to noric your panick mode and ushered to your side.

„Everything will be alright! The moon goddess always chooses wisely.“

Ah, yes. The ball of stone knows what it does.

„5 minutes left!“ Lisa shouted to your dad and brother and they turned down the TV to join you in the kitchen.

After a moment they counted down the time and you officially became a 20 year old girl. You blew out the candles and wished for Yun Ho to be your mate. One after another gave you their birthday wishes and hugged you.

„Ah, finally a woman my little baby!“ You mother had tears in her eyes and took of a photo of every moment.

„So, do you feel different?“

„I remember to have a displeasing feeling in my stomach. But it was just the pasta we ate the day before haha!“ You glared at Jennie at your side.

„I-I feel nothing. I mean no change...“

It was quiet in the kitchen. The atmosphere a little bit awkward but Rosé took you arm and suggested to make a toast. While the others prepared the champagne you looked at your phone to finde a message from Yun Ho saying ‚Happy birthday princess <3 can’t wait to see ya‘.

You smiled at his text and butterflies emerged in your tummy. Maybe this was a good sign?

After some time finishing five bottles of champagne you made your way to the festival.

This was a mistake.

All of you turned into a giggling mess while stomping over to the middle of the town. Everything was decorated in a pretty way. Laterns and fairy lights hanging from the houses and turning the town into a cozy place. Children played an giggled everywhere and the elder sitting by benches and talking. Boys and girls going on their first date and groups of young people trying to test their limits and enjoying the free atmosphere.

And five girls being drunk on their way to the opening ment.

„There are so many boys here. How am I supposed to find the one I am searching for?“

Jisoo turns to you while walking down a street and bops your nose grinning from ear to ear.

„Waeee, oh. I understand.“

You smell him. To be exact, you are able to smell your mate‘s scent. People say your mate smells like your favorite perfume and their odor pulls you in like a magical weave.

So you poked out your nose starting to sniff the air.

Nothing.

The fresh air did good things to you drunk girls and when you neared the big town court you first grabbed something to eat. After looking around and greeting some people you managed to make out quite a number of male wolves that were checking you out looking if your scent gave something off. But everytime you waited for something to happen it didn’t.

No goosebumps or alluring scent. It was quite disappointing but made you happy nevertheless. Your chances of having Yun Ho as your mate grew with each unmated boy you passed.

A bell rang and you and the others went further to the stage where soon the pack clan would hold their opening ment. Your hand suddenly became very sweaty and you waited for Yun Ho ho to appear on the stage. People started to clap when someone pulled at your skirt.

„Wh-Eun Hee? What are you doing here?“ A little girl you babysitted from time to time looked up at you from her little form.

„Noona, I cannot find my mama!“ She had tears in her eyes. You weren’t realizing the pack clan already emerged onto the stage and Yun Ho‘s eyes started to search for yours.

„Oh, don’t be afraid little one! I will find your mum!“

She couldn’t get too far by the way. While scanning the crowd a light scent of richness took in your nostrils. You were trying to concentrate on the people when you luckily saw Eun Hee‘s mother only a few meters away from you.

„Mrs. Kim! Here!“ You waved at her holding Eun Hee‘s small hand in yours and giving her an encouraging smile when her mother discovered you and made her way through the crowd.

Suddenly your ears were infiltrated with a melodic sound of the most beautiful voice you’ve ever heard in your life. You followed it‘s source onto the stage when your breath got stuck in you lungs.

Your gaze landed on Yun Ho. But he wasn’t the one talking. You saw him finding your form and your eyes that were filling with tears. Yun Ho‘s brows furrowed but he understood it sooner as you would’ve thought.

He wasn’t your mate.

By the time Mrs. Kim picked up her daughter your gaze stopped at your real mate. Your soulmate. Chosen by the moon goddess.

It felt like seeing the most beautiful man on earth for the first time. You were happy. Your wolf howled at you and filled your head with thoughts about going to him and marking my as yours.

But your smile faltered when he took a hand in his that wasn’t yours. Jealousy immediately engulfed you and your eyes went dark at the sight.

„Y/N?! Is it Yun Ho or not?“

All the girls were looking at you now waiting for an answer. But you only felt your wolf becoming angrier by each second your mate was with another girl on the stage for everyone to see.

„Don’t touch me. I have to go.“ You gritted out with clenched teeth and a shaking form. The girls new you were just about to change in front of the whole town and let you fight your way through the crowd.

Hong Joong smelled it, too. He was confused why the odor was the best he every was met with. It was intoxicating.

Mate...

His wolf pushed him to the find the source of the scent.

He frantically searched the crowd for the girl the scent belonged to. His wolf growing impatient by each second passing that he couldn’t make out where you were.

He totally forgot about the girl on his side by now when he finally found you rushing out of the place into the direction of the woods.

Don’t let her go!

He left the audience in shock when he jumped down the stage and followed you leaving his pack dumbstruck by his actions.

„Ehm, our alpha will be back in a few seconds.“

Yun Ho watched Hong Joong following your form with teary eyes and as soon as he turned around a corner he stomped from the stage into another direction. Out of all people why was it him to be your mate.

As soon as you entered the forest you got out of your clothes and changed into your wolf running away like an army was chasing you.

Whimpers and cries left you from time to time and your wolf asked again and again why you were not defending your mate and claiming him for yourself.

You went to the secret bay Hong Joong showed you back then knowing no one would find you here. You stopped in front of the water taking in your black reflection. Your wolf managed to get a quite loud howl out of you to which you panicked someone could have heard. And to your personal dismay a large equally black wolf emerged from behind a tree.

You immediately knew it was Hong Joong because of the new undeniable attraction you felt for his figure. You shook away the thought and got into a fighting position showing your fangs and snarling at him.

He stopped in his tracks being confused by your hostility. He rounded you changing the angle of his head from time to time. He took in your form and licked his snout at your scent.

One moment of you being distracted was enough for him to near your butt and smell your scent where it was the strongest next to your neck and it caused him to heckle at the alluring potion.

You flinched away from him and snapped at him earning a warning growl from the much bigger wolf.

You took the chance an started to run away from him.

Oh, she wants to play! Let us catch her Joong!

He never felt this excited before to run after your beautiful wolf. But as it was a play for him and you were dead serious on the other side. This asshole wasn’t going to get you, mark you and all the other stuff he was wishing for.

You were running as fast as you could him being dead on your track the whole time.

She’s really pretty fast! Enough playing, let’s get her now.

You jumped over fallen trees, stones and little water banks when you thought not hearing his paws hitting the ground behind you anymore. When you were sure he stopped chasing after you you slowed down your running until you came to a halt in front of a wide meadow. Time has passed and the sun started to set into a beautiful purple and pink colored sky. You sneaked over the meadow to reach the other side where your territory was slowly ending. It was prohibited to go further in your wolf form but fuck the rules at this moment.

Y/N, I want to be with our mate!

Ah, stupid bond.

After a few minutes you found yourself in front of the end of the meadow going further with careful steps. As soon as you set feet onto the foreign land someone crushed out of a bush into your side pinning you down under him.

As you came back to your senses you made out the black wolf on top of you even seeing his smirk in this form.

„You don’t want to break the rules, am I right?“

„Let me go!“

„I am not. You are my mate!“

You squirmed under him only causing to arouse his inner wolf. He leaned into you fury neck and sniffled you scent and rubbed himself on the point.

„Mate..“

He purred into your form making your wolf nearly fall into unconsciousness at the overwhelming pleasure his movements were causing you.

„N-no... Please... Let go!“

You had no choice against his much larger form on you and were surprised when he changed back into his naked form sweat on his forehead and still holding you in place like you were a puppet.

„Change.“

What?! Was he dumb or something?!

„I said change!“

He used his alpha aura to intimidate you into submission and you felt your wolf quiver at his dominance in a welcoming way.

You changed back and were now lying naked under a also naked Hong Joong somewhere on a meadow. That indeed felt strange.

Hong Joong smirked at your obedience and his wolf was proud you obeyed him.

„Look at me.“

You followed his order and took in his face the first time since years. You wouldn’t thought he could become more beautiful than in the past but how wrong you have been. His features were soft, lips opened a little bit and his hair messed up because of the running.

You didn’t know how long you layed there him straddling you holding your arms in place next to your head and taking in your features like it was the first time.

„My luna.“

As soon as the words left his mouth your brows furrowed. You remembered all that has happened the last years and thought back to Yun Ho.

„No.“

Hong Joong was irritated by the simple word. He grinned at you.

„No? What are you saying there my love. Do you want to make me suffer?“

„S-stop talking to me like this! I am not your mate and I won’t be your luna! This isn’t right! The moon goddess made a mistake!“

Hong Joong backed away from you a little bit because of the outburst.

What does she mean? Doesn’t she want to be our mate? But we love her! We did since we knew her!

„You-you are not meaning this, right?“

„I do!“

Y/N no! Look at him! He’s starting to cry because of what you are saying! Don’t lie to him!

He let go of you fully and sat beside you looking into the distance. Instantly guilt feelings rushed though your system seeing your mate sad because of you.

„Look, I didn’t mean it...“

„I-I am just saying this has to be a mistake! I mean you’re in a relationship with Yeri and I am not suited for you and becoming the luna!“

„What the fuck are you saying?! Why shouldn’t you be suited for me? Heck, I’ve always wanted you to be it! I told you! You were always perfect for me and the position...“

What? He thought you were perfect for him? You wolf teared up at his confession and you blushed hard at his statement.

„Buf Yeri, she’s prettier than me and very intelligent... She would be a better luna!“

He turned towards you tears streaming down his cheeks.

„You are and always were the prettiest, funniest most intelligent girl for me! You are the one that I wanted since high school! Why don’t you understand that!“

You were afraid your heart would burst out of your chest at that moment. You never knew he thought about that way.

„But...you were the one that wanted nothing to do with me anymore!“

„Because I heard you talking about never going to love me and only seeing me as a friend!“

Oh shut up... He heard that crap back in school!

„I-that was a lie...“

You looked down to the ground too ashamed that you weren’t the only one causing the misunderstandings.

„A lie?“

„Yes, because I was so insecure of my love for you. I was afraid the others would laugh at me and especially you...“

After that a long pause came. Neither of you saying something and you still blocking your breast with your arms from his sight.

Suddenly Hong Joong started laughing next to you causing you to join him because the situation was just strange.

Hong Joong carefully took your hand and watched your reaction to be sure you wouldn’t shy away from him.

„Y/N, I am sorry for how everything went the past years. I know I can not make it up to you in one day but I will give everything to convince you that you are perfect for me. I want you to believe in yourself. You are such a pure soul I know you will be the greatest luna ever. I promise you I will stand by your side the whole time and love you unconditionally. That is... if you give me the chance and want to accept me as your mate.“

You saw his eyes literally sparkle while saying these wonderful things to you. You thought back to Yun Ho for a moment being sorry for everything. But you knew that one day he would meet his mate, too. And then he would forget about his romantic feelings for you like you did the moment your eyes landed on your new found mate. And the things you felt for him were real.

So you decided to be brave.

„After all the problems we had gone through... I think I wouldn’t want to be separated from you any other minute!“

Hong Jong‘s eyes lit up and he engulfed you into a big embrace breathing in your scent of your neck again and peppering kisses all the way upwards until it landed on the side of your moth leaving you a giggling mess.

His eyes turned black again and you seductively bit your lip at the excitement you were feeling. He slowly made his way to your lips and kissed you in a slow and passionate style. You moaned into the kiss feeling your two souls emerging into one at the contact. Your whole body felt like spacing out into another dimension at the feeling of your mate’s heat.

After some time relaxing into eachother you both became aware of still being naked somewhere in the nature. You changed into your wolf forms to make your way back home.

„By the way... I know it will be a little bit awkward with Yun Ho... But I cannot wait to wash off his scent from you. Like I can literally not wait to leave my mark onto your form.“

You tensed at his declaration. What did he me with wash off his scent from you?

„Ehm, okay. I hope we can take things slow... It will be my first time, you know?“

Hong Joong stopped in his tracks. He eyed you a with swift shake of his head. Suddenly his tail began to wiggle.

„Y-you mean your are still a virgin?“

„Yes, I wanted to wait for my mate...“

You shyly looked to the ground and not understood why he was so excited about the fact.

„Did you sleep with Yeri?“

„Nope. Same reason like you.“

Your wolf approved of this new information and you liked the thought, too.

You both continued your way back to the town sometimes playing with eachother like chasing the tails or nudging the significant other.

Just as you reached the beginning of the town you stopped in your tracks. A new life would being for you today. And you couldn’t hide the fact that you were indeed a little bit scared. But as you watched Hong Joong from behind you were happy. Happy to have found your mate. Your soulmate. Your destined other half. The love of your life.

„What’s wrong my love?“

He gave you a reassuring smile. Coming back to you and licking your ears and cheeks. You purred at the new feeling of contact and cuddled into his side to smell his wonderful scent.

„Nothing. Now everything’s finally perfect.“

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[caught-in-a-seesaw-stigma]

Map of the Soul, Chapter Three

For the @btswritingcafe​‘s Map of the Soul: 7 Workshop

Pairings: OT7 x reader (kinda); Taehyung x reader, Yoongi x reader

Series Summary: If you give a piece of yourself to everyone you love, at some point, there will be nothing left for yourself. While feeling lost and alone in your adult life, a strange box falls onto your head in your own closet, and you take an unexpected walk down memory lane wondering where everything went wrong.  Was it the romances that fizzled out, the friends & loved ones you left behind, the “what could’ve been” moments, the brush with Fate that never quite connected? Could the strange map you find have the answers you are looking for?  Determined to feel complete once again, you embark on a journey to reclaim the missing pieces of your soul.

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Just a Smidgen of Smut

Word Count: 6k+

Warnings: cursing & vulgar language, sexual innuendos, mentions of previous sexual encounters, nerdy soulmate things, mentions of suicide, mentions of depression

Chapter Three: The Beautiful Music We Used to Make

March 19th, 6:27pm

“Tae, I need an opinion,” you shouted from the bowels of your closet. “Can you come here a minute?”

You were digging through your unbelievably small collection of cocktail dresses trying to pick out something professional, but still flattering. There was no way you were going to attend this event without looking your absolute best. You already had the most gorgeous plus one ever, but it would take more than the great Kim Taehyung to make you feel confident in the presence of your ex-fiancé.

Min Yoongi.

You tried in vain for many years to forget about your failed engagement to him, but it haunted you nonetheless. Case in point, this fancy university function to honor Min Yoongi for his recent contributions to the Music and Performing Arts Department. Because of his generous donations, they were able to purchase a new grand piano and upgrade the stage and orchestra pit in the auditorium.

I guess becoming a successful musician is worth ending a five year relationship after all.

You swallowed the bitter thoughts and pulled another dress off the rack. Taehyung popped into your closet and actually felt the angst seeping out of your pores, and it aggravated him to no end. The breakup with Yoongi almost broke you, and Taehyung did his best to keep you in one piece. It was difficult from afar, but he managed to keep you focused on school and other things until you were healed enough to move on.

He hated that Yoongi kept slipping back into your life, and he wasn’t about to let this opportunity to confront the guy pass him by. He’d insisted on accompanying you to the event, and he intended to put every other man in the room to shame with his charm and good looks, including Min fucking Yoongi.

Taehyung took in the desperation mounting on your face and he decided to step in and help the damsel in distress before him.

Prince Taehyung to the rescue!

“Ttalgi,” he said softly. “Get your shoes on. We aren’t going to find what you need here. For an event like this, you need something special. Come on, let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” you pouted. “It’s already 6:30, Tae. Where could we possibly go at this hour to find clothes?”

“Omela’s, of course,” he grinned. “Where else?”

March 19th, 7:07pm

“That one,” Taehyung breathed out sharply. “It’s perfect.”

You glanced down at the glittering black gown you were wearing and you pursed your lips doubtfully. You’d tried on at least three other dresses, but for some reason, Taehyung was convinced this dress was the winner.

It was beautiful, you had to admit. The slinky material was accented with delicate beadwork and sequined appliques which wrapped up one side of your body and dipped down the other. The slit across your thigh was just revealing enough to still be in good taste. The halter top was a little dated, but Taehyung argued that vintage looks never go out of style.

You turned back around to face the mirror and your gaze met Taehyung’s in the reflection. The confidence etched across his features calmed your anxiety little by little. You twisted back and forth to inspect the different angles of your body and you had to admit, the dress looked pretty good on you.

“Oh, you look gorgeous, honey,” a sweet voice piped up from the racks. “Absolutely beautiful.”

You and Taehyung looked out across the cozy vintage stores and saw a lilac bun of hair bobbing between the aisles of clothing. Omela’s was a jewel of a store located just beyond the hustle and bustle of downtown. The big display windows housed a hodgepodge of mannequins adorned with eclectic vintage clothing from many different decades.

Ms. Omela herself was the very definition of eclectic, always dressed in mismatched clothing from various different styles. She just wore whatever made her happy, and Taehyung absolutely adored her. You stopped in when you could, if only to say hello to the bouncing ball of sweetness that was Ms. Omela. She emerged from between two racks of clothing carrying two more dresses, but when she saw you, she set them aside.

“Now that’s the one, isn’t it?” Ms. Omela sighed happily. “Oh, Taehyungie, isn’t she just a vision?”

“She certainly is, 아줌마 (ajumma/auntie),” Taehyung breathed out, his eyes boring into yours in the reflection.

“Thank you, Ms. Omela,” you replied sweetly. “I’m so glad you were still open. I didn’t realize I needed something this fancy until this afternoon. Bless you.”

“You know I’m always here, honey,” she cooed. “Besides, it’s always a treat when I get to see my favorite customer.”

She leaned over to pinch Taehyung’s cheeks and he blushed under her praise. The old woman had a soft spot for him, and he worshiped her. His love of vintage clothing was kindled in this very store on one of his visits to see you when you were both still in college. He’d seen a shirt in the window and once he got to the second rack in the store, he was hooked. They’d become fast friends and she never hesitated to set items aside for him, knowing that he’d love whatever she found.

“By the way, Taehyungie,” she remembered. “I have a few things you should look at.”

She disappeared through another set of clothing racks and made her way to the back of the store, and Taehyung stepped forward to pull you into a back hug. You both looked at each other in the long mirror and you leaned your head against his broad chest.

“So this dress, huh?” you murmured. “You really think this is the one?”

“Totally,” he replied while placing a kiss on your exposed shoulder. “You look stunning, babe. I can’t wait to see his face when you step in the room.”

“I’m not ready to see him,” you whined slightly. “It’s been almost 10 years, Tae.”

“I’ll be right there with you,” he assured you with a kiss to your temple. “Don’t worry. We just need to figure out which item is his.”

“It’s probably the kazoo,” you scoffed. “You know Yoongi and his musical instruments.”

Ms. Omela waddled back in with a large duffel bag. Taehyung stepped forward to take it from her and she patted his cheek lovingly. You smiled and stepped back into the dressing room to change out of the dress. By the time you exited, Taehyung was already in the room next to yours trying on the clothes she’d brought him.

“I can’t believe you still have this shop open, Ms. Omela,” you grinned. “How do you manage to collect all this amazing clothing?”

“My son, gods bless him, is to thank for my success,” Ms. Omela frowned. “Sometimes I think that he suffers through his terrible corporate job just to keep me happy. Ever since his father died, he’s made every effort to keep the shop open for me. I keep telling him that we should just walk away and let it close, but he refuses to let my utopia die.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” you said. “You’re lucky to have such a devoted son.”

“I really am,” she sighed sadly. “Thank you for saying so, sweetheart. You know, Taehyung reminds me of him so much. Maybe that’s why I love to see his smiling face.”

You smiled earnestly at her and thought of the joy Taehyung brought into other people’s worlds. There really was no limit to the golden effect he had on them.

“Ms. Omela, I think I’m going to take this dress,” you told her. “Do you have any accessories that would go with it?”

“Of course, dear,” she squealed. “I always have accessories for every occasion.”

She wandered off to gather up some items for you to peruse. You could see her small hands reaching up and pulling items from shelves and baskets throughout the store, and you couldn’t resist smiling at her enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Taehyung emerged from the dressing room in a deep green suit with golden accents. The matching silk shirt underneath made his caramel skin glow in the shop’s soft lighting.

“Wow,” you gasped. “You look amazing, Tae.”

Taehyung struck a pose and flipped his hair out of his eyes dramatically. When he shifted his eyes to meet your own, he smirked and lifted a flirty eyebrow at you. You rolled your eyes in faux annoyance and smiled at him. The man could probably make an old paper bag look good.

“Oh, Taehyungie,” Ms. Omela cried out from somewhere in the shop. “You look divine, my love.”

“Thank you, ajumma,” he called out. “You always know what will look good on me.”

She emerged from behind a large rack of coats with a small basket full of glittering goodies, which she handed to you before stepping forward to get a better look at Taehyung.

“I knew that suit was for you,” she breathed out happily. “The moment it came in, I set it aside, knowing you’d come back in for it. I’m so happy you like it, sweetheart.”

After selecting a beaded clutch and matching jewelry, you and Taehyung bid Ms. Omela goodbye, promising to stop back into the shop before he left town. You noted that Taehyung was also sporting a few more bracelets on his wrist that weren’t there before. The woman spoiled him rotten.

Spoiled brat. Gotta love him though.

March 20th, 5:47pm

“Stop messing with your dress, ttalgi,” Taehyung commanded. “You’re going to ruin the beading if you keep twisting it like that.”

You couldn’t help it. You’d only been in the university ballroom for ten minutes, and you were already a nervous wreck. Everyone was automatically charmed by Taehyung, and you were happy that the attention was on him and not you. You just couldn’t get your mind off of Yoongi and his imminent arrival.

This was a bad idea.

You had strategically placed the five unclaimed items in your clutch along with your wallet, phone, and lipstick. It was an odd assortment, but you had a feeling that you would be leaving without one of the items tonight. The conversation in the room suddenly rose in volume and your heart dropped in the opposite direction.

“There he is,” you whispered unknowingly at Taehyung, who immediately scowled at the entrance.

“Min fucking Yoongi,” he growled. “I should wipe that fucking smile off his face.”

You released a shaky exhale as you took in the overall appearance of your ex-fiancé. He looked glorious in his crisp black suit and silky ash gray hair. He was accompanied by a bodyguard and his manager, and he made his way through the room shaking hands with the administration and meeting other important figures from the university.

“Damn,” you muttered sharply. “Why does he have to look so good?”

“You look better,” Taehyung insisted. “No one can compare to you right now, babe.”

You nodded at his comment, but it lacked conviction. You were entranced by Yoongi’s subtle grace and the enigmatic smile he gave everyone in the room. It wasn’t a big smile, just a slight pull on the corners of his lips. It was his polite smile, his professional smile. Only a few people ever saw his real smile.

I used to be one of those people.

The president of the university stepped up to the podium and properly introduced Yoongi, citing all of the wonderful contributions he’d made to the university over the years. Yoongi stepped forward and spoke a few words to the crowd, but his composure slipped slightly when he locked eyes with you from across the room. Taehyung must have noticed because he chose that moment to slip his arms around your waist and lean his chin on your bare shoulder.

“Yeah, he saw you,” Taehyung gloated, while kissing your shoulder. “How could he not when you look this incredible, babe?”

“Tae,” you hissed quietly. “Stop.”

“No way, babe,” he chuckled darkly. “If you want to talk to him, this is the best way to get his attention.”

The speech ended, the applause resounded, and everyone was encouraged to enjoy the open bar and hor d’oeuvres.

“I’ll be right back,” Taehyung suddenly announced. “Meet me on the balcony in a few minutes. I want to take in that amazing view with my lovely soulmate before we head out for the night.”

With that, Taehyung wandered off, leaving you alone at the table. You grabbed your drink and made your way onto the large balcony overlooking the city. The twinkling lights were indeed breathtaking, and you released an airy sigh as you focused on the horizon point between the city and the night sky.

You leaned on the ornate metal railing and swept your gaze across the dazzling view. From this perspective, you saw beyond the subdued university buildings and the monotonous drone of academia. The landscape dipped and revealed the lush wooded area surrounding the university grounds. Just past the trees, the horizon was speckled with multicolored lights from the rest of the town. Your entire field of vision was consumed by the twinkling lights, resembling an intricate galaxy of stars.

The gentle breeze whisked across the balcony, ruffling your curls away from your shoulders. You closed your eyes and leaned into the calming zephyr, hoping it would sweep away the anxiety building in your gut. You couldn’t understand how the tension on the balcony felt stifling, but it was steadily growing with each passing moment.

“Hey, stranger,” said a deep voice behind you. “Long time, no see.”

Yoongi.

That voice was unmistakable. The gravelly rumble, the delicate timbre, the playful bounce of his words crushing you under a mountain of anxiety. What exactly do you say to someone you once saw as your happily ever after?

He pulled up on the railing next to you and let out a breath full of an emotion you couldn’t quite place. You turned slightly to look at him and immediately regretted that decision. As soon as his eyes caught your own, he unleashed a devastating gummy smile which made your knees weak.

How does he do that every time?

“Can I just say that you look amazing in that dress?” he grinned. “I don’t know where you got it, but it suits you perfectly.”

“Thanks,” you grumbled. “Taehyung picked it out.”

His expression shifted to annoyed at the mention of your soulmate. The two of them never really got along, but they put up with each other for your sake. Now that you and Yoongi weren’t together, there was no hiding the displeasure in either of their eyes.

“Ah, yes,” Yoongi scoffed, scrunching his nose slightly. “The infamous soulmate. I remember. I guess it makes sense that you ended up together. I never could compete with that asshole.”

“Yoongi,” you admonished. “It was never a competition. Tae and I aren’t together like that. We never have been.”

“So you say,” he muttered coolly. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little jealous right now.”

“Of what?” you snapped. “You have nothing to be jealous of, Yoongi.”

He nodded at that, then turned to look out across the landscape. After a few moments of awkward silence, you decided to broach the topic of the evening.

“So,” you started simply. “How have you been, Yoongi? I know you’re doing well career-wise, obviously. But what about everything else?”

He smiled softly and let out a sigh.

“Always concerned about me,” he chuckled. “I always loved that about you. You never hesitated to think about my well-being.”

“Someone had to,” you challenged. “You were always so focused on music, you would forget to take care of yourself. I worried about you. I still do, if I’m being honest.”

“You do?” quipped playfully. “Why is that, pretty girl?”

You buckled slightly under the pet name he used to call you, but you were determined to address the issue at hand before you lost your nerve.

“Because despite everything that happened between us, I still care about you, Yoongi,” you admitted freely. “I will always care about you, even if you don’t feel the same way.”

His grin evaporated at that, and he furrowed his brows slightly. With a huff, he reached over and put his hand on your waist to pull you closer. Your breath caught in your throat at the proximity, and you released a small gasp as he leaned forward to rub his nose against yours.

“It was never about that,” Yoongi murmured quietly. “I always cared about you. I still do. I just couldn’t give you what you wanted, what you deserved.”

You trembled slightly as his fingertips wandered up and down your sides tracing over the curve of your hip and then up to the swell of your breast. Your resolve was weakening under his expert touch, and why wouldn’t it? The man knew every inch of your body and knew exactly what buttons to push to turn you into a whimpering mess.

“Yoongi,” you whined softly. “Please don’t do this to me.”

“Do what?” he teased lightly. “I’m not doing anything to you...yet.”

You reached up and stopped his hand from moving any further. You couldn’t allow Yoongi to ruin you yet again with his touches. You’d come too far and there was no way you were regressing back into the mess you used to be.

That’s over for me now. I’ve moved on.

“I can’t let you do this to me again, Yoongi,” you explained firmly. “The last time I did, it almost broke me completely. I won’t put myself through that hell again.”

His face softened and he nodded in understanding. He reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear and noted the glossiness of your eyes. He winced slightly and you saw him gulp in response.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I really am. I wish I could be the man you want me to be. I just can’t. Not when I’ve come this far.”

“I know,” you replied softly, reaching out to hold onto one of his belt loops. “I’m really proud of you, you know? You’ve done some amazing things with your music.”

“Thank you,” he smiled genuinely. “That means a lot coming from you.”

You hesitated, but felt like you needed to say one more thing before you lost your nerve.

“He’d be proud too, y’know,” you ventured. “If he was still here, he’d be over the moon for your music.”

Yoongi stiffened against you and let out a huff of warm air. He knew what you were talking about, but you couldn’t tell whether he was comfortable talking about it. He pulled away slightly and your heart broke when you saw his glistening eyes.

Oh no. I’ve gone too far.

While you were both still in college and still figuring out what your futures would be, Yoongi’s best friend was involved in a horrible car accident which left him partially paralyzed from the neck down. They’d both been music performance/production majors: Yoongi, the pianist and his best friend Dae, the percussionist. After the accident, Dae fell into a deep depression knowing he’d never be able to play an instrument properly again. He tried to regain his strength through physical therapy, but in the end, his desire to make music just died along with his desire to live. After a year of despair, frustration, and overwhelming anger, Yoongi found Dae in bed, overdosed on his own sleeping pills.

Needless to say, the whole thing wrecked Yoongi. You stayed by his side, trying to ease the pain of his loss, but it didn’t do any good. Yoongi withdrew into his work, determined to succeed at music, no matter the cost.

You suddenly remembered what Yoongi was always telling you when you begged him to take a break.

I can’t take a break right now, pretty girl. I don’t have a second to waste. I need to do this before I can’t anymore.

Yoongi cleared his throat and shook off the discomfort at the mention of Dae. You thought Yoongi might be retreating again, which you couldn’t blame him for. Dae would always be a tender point of discussion, and you felt bad for even bringing him up. You started to pull away, but he reached forward and grabbed your hand, entwining his fingers with your own. He pulled your hand closer to his lips and placed a gentle kiss against it.

“You’re right,” he sighed heavily. “Dae would probably be talking shit about the stuff I’m writing now, but he’d still like it. He was a bastard sometimes, but a supportive bastard nonetheless.”

You both chuckled at that, and then you settled into another moment of silence. Yoongi was one to break the silence this time.

“I’m sorry,” he pouted. “I was fucking horrible to you after Dae passed. You didn’t deserve that, especially from me. I couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was slipping away from me. There was just this big black shadow following me around and it didn’t matter where I went or who I was with, I couldn’t get rid of it.”

“It’s ok, Yoongi,” you soothed. “You were in a lot of pain. I just wanted to be there for you.”

“I know,” he admitted sheepishly. “But it was definitely not ok. You were so patient and loving and I treated you like shit. I neglected the one person who was trying to make me happy in the midst of all that pain and angst. We just kept going back and forth and I figured it was better to stop everything before I ruined your life completely. It was a shitty thing to do, and I should’ve been a better person for you.”

“You’re better now,” you reminded him. “Are you happy with your life, Yoongi?”

He looked you in the eye and gave you a lopsided smile. You knew that smile. It was the smile he gave people when he wanted them to believe that he was fine when he really wasn’t. You weren’t falling for it, and he knew it. He rolled his eyes at you, knowing that you were calling his bluff.

“I’m not unhappy,” he admitted. “I love my job, and I love the freedom that comes along with it. It does get a little lonely sometimes, but I deal. The hardest part is dealing with writer’s block. I’m actually in the middle of a block right now.”

“You? Blocked?” you teased. “The unstoppable writing machine is blocked? How is that possible?”

“Don’t tease me,” he whined cutely. “It’s a serious condition. I have a deadline coming up and I’m just stuck. Nothing sounds right and my mind just goes blank when I try to put beats together. It’s so frustrating.”

“I know,” you agreed. “Remember what Dae would do when you got stuck? He’d start banging on everything in the studio trying to inspire you. A random smack of a chair or the reverb off of the cabinets would catch your attention and then you were off and running like a madman.”

You both cracked up at the memory. Yoongi flashed another gummy smile at you and you felt blessed to be in its presence.

“I remember,” he chortled. “There was even that stupid purple kazoo he brought in once. He swore that even though he didn’t play a wind instrument, he could still outplay everyone in the building.”

You froze as he guffawed at the ridiculousness.

Purple kazoo!

Yoongi caught on to your sudden stiff posture and the panicked look in your eyes.

“Hey, what’s wrong, pretty girl?” he asked, eyes full of concern. “Was it something I said?”

You flashed him a look and tried to swallow, but your throat was inexplicably dry. You gulped down the rest of your drink and set the glass aside on a side table on the patio.

“Stay here,” you pleaded. “I have to show you something, but it’s in my purse. I’ll be right back.”

“Ok, I’ll wait right here,” he agreed, although still concerned about your shift in demeanor. “Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Yes, I promise,” you replied shakily. “Just wait, give me a minute.”

You rushed back inside and grabbed your clutch. Taehyung was talking up your friend Gina in the corner, so you dashed back to the balcony without a second thought. Once you reached Yoongi, you thought it prudent to explain yourself.

“So, I have absolutely no way of explaining this, so please don’t freak out,” you prompted. “I found this in a box in my apartment, and I didn’t know it belonged to you until just now.”

You opened your purse and pulled out the purple kazoo. Yoongi’s eyes lit up with recognition and his jaw dropped.

“What the,” he sputtered. “Why do you have Dae’s kazoo? Do you have any idea how long I’ve been looking for that?!”

“I don’t know,” you admitted. “Like I said, I have absolutely no idea where it came from or how it came to be in my possession, but here it is.”

You handed him the kazoo and he took it gingerly from your fingers and just held it, his face full of wonder and disbelief. His eyes watered as he looked at it, and you tried to soothe him by rubbing his arms.

“This is the last thing Dae ever gave me,” Yoongi explained. “He’d left it in my studio and I took it to his apartment the night before he...the night before he-”

The words caught in his throat and he took a deep breath to combat the onslaught of tears pushing at the back of his eyes. You pulled him into a gentle hug, hoping to assuage his grief, if even a little.

“We talked for hours that night,” Yoongi croaked into your shoulder. “He even played on this stupid thing for me. Before I left, he handed it over and said I should record some kazoo for my next track. He said it would be the next big thing in hip hop.”

You continued to rub soothing circles on his back, but Yoongi just kept trembling in your arms. If you’d known how emotional this whole thing was going to be, you would’ve waited until you weren’t around crowds of people to unveil this sensitive information. Yoongi took a deep shaking breath and shuddered against you. He clutched at your back briefly and then slowly pulled away from your grasp. He pulled the silver pocket square out of his lapel and wiped the tears from his face.

“I’m sorry, Yoongi,” you murmured softly. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I just realized what it was when you mentioned it, and I thought you would want it.”

“I do,” he sniffled. “I don’t know why you ended up with it, but I’m glad you were able to bring it back to me. Thank you, pretty girl.”

“Don’t mention it,” you smiled. “I’m happy to help.”

“I just wish I had something to give you in return,” he sighed. “But I don’t have any-”

Yoongi suddenly paused and cocked his head sideways at you with a perplexed look on his face. He pulled up his sleeve and undid the cuff links holding his shirt together. He unveiled a bracelet of red silk thread woven around a silver eternity symbol. He pulled the adjustable strings to loosen it and then slid it off his wrist.

“I found this in my accessories collection the other day and I’ve been compelled to wear it every day,” he told you. “I don’t know where it came from, but every time I look at it, I’ve thought about you. It’s the strangest thing.”

He pulled your wrist up and adjusted the strings so the bracelet fit snugly against your wrist. He grinned at the sight and pulled your wrist to his lips.

“It suits you,” he murmured against your wrist. “It’s like it was made for you, pretty girl.”

Your cheeks were dusted pink at his words, but you returned his smile anyway. His eyes traced over your face as though searching for the answer to a question he had yet to ask.

“I can never apologize enough for what happened between us,” he proclaimed. “But just know that there is not one day that goes by where I don’t think about you. I know I made my music career a priority, but that was only because I was afraid of losing it like Dae. If the tables had been turned and I was the one who had ended up in his position, I don’t know if I would’ve survived either. Music is everything to me, and the thought of losing that terrifies me, even now.”

“I understand,” you sighed out sadly. “I just wish that losing me scared you just as much. Our relationship suffered because of that fear. I was ready to spend the rest of my life with you, Yoongi. It just sucks that you didn’t want the same thing with me.”

His hand twitched against yours and he seemed to hesitate for some reason. He suddenly released a huff of breath and licked his lips.

“Fuck it,” he whispered.

Yoongi leaned forward and captured your lips with his own. The Universe stood still for a moment and you melted against his chest. The kiss wasn’t harsh, but just firm enough to give you butterflies and make your knees weak. You leaned into the kiss and pushed back just enough to elicit a needy hum from Yoongi.

You parted your lips and you felt Yoongi’s tongue sprint forward into your mouth, taking complete control of the kiss. The heat levels increased between you, and your mind flailed uselessly against the magnetic pull of Min Yoongi. Awash in a torrent of longing and nostalgia, the two of you sunk into an all too familiar passionate embrace. He pulled away from your lips, too soon, and leaned his forehead against your own.

“Music may be my first love,” he admitted openly while sinking his fingers into your hair possessively. “But I swear you will always be my last. No one will ever compare to you, pretty girl. Many have tried, but none of them even come close to you. If I couldn’t make a relationship work with you, then there is absolutely no hope for anyone else. I would rather go the rest of my life loving you from afar than trying to fake it with someone else.”

“Yoongi,” you gasped. “Please don’t say that. That sounds so lonely. I don’t want to think about you being all alone. It hurts my heart to hear that.”

“I’m not alone, pretty girl,” he assured you. “I have my music, and let’s be honest. With my busy schedule, a relationship isn’t going to be a real possibility for a very long time. I have no intention of slowing down any time soon. I’ll worry about that when the time comes. Until then, I have my memories of you to keep me smiling every day.”

He reached down and pulled your wrist up to run his fingers across the infinity bracelet. You watched as he traced out the never ending loop over and over again.

“That’s what this is, pretty girl,” Yoongi murmured softly. “Let this be a reminder that no matter what, my love for you is infinite. The memories of what we shared will always be a comfort to me, even when darkness falls.”

“How can that be enough?” you insisted. “They’re just memories, Yoongi.”

“Hey,” he said while reaching up to hold your face between his glorious hands. “Just knowing that you don’t hate me and that you still care about me is more than enough for now. I promise that if I ever need more than that, I will be giving you a call. Not as an ex, but as a friend. Before anything else, we were friends. I’d like that to still be true, if you’re willing.”

“Of course,” you breathed out in relief. “I would love that.”

You wrapped your arms around Yoongi’s neck and he returned your tender embrace. You both sighed out happily, and then you heard approaching footsteps menacing across the balcony.

“Well, well, well,” Taehyung drawled. “If it isn’t Min fucking Yoongi, my old nemesis.”

“Kim Elizabeth Taehyung,” Yoongi gloated cheekily as he turned to face him. “Still with a flair for the dramatic, I see.”

“Hey,” Taehyung shot back angrily as he pointed a long finger at you. “Only she gets to call me by that name. That is a soulmate trademarked nickname.”

“Ah yes, how could I forget?” Yoongi teased. “My pretty girl and her annoying soulmate, always joined at the hip, even from far, far away.”

“She isn’t your pretty girl anymore,” Taehyung reminded him. “You lost those privileges a long time ago, or don’t you remember breaking that pretty girl’s heart into a thousand pieces?”

Yoongi winced at that, but you rubbed his arm reassuringly. You glared at Taehyung who only smirked back at you triumphantly. He noticed your sudden tenderness toward Yoongi and his smirk morphed into a confused pout.

“That’s enough, Tae,” you announced. “Yoongi is not my enemy, nor is he yours. Back off.”

Taehyung recoiled slightly and ruffled his hair, trying to shake the confusion out of his curling tendrils. He shifted his weight to his other leg and looked Yoongi up and down, as if to assess any changes or hidden transformations he’d missed earlier. With narrowed eyes and a brief lift of his chin, Taehyung glanced back to your softened gaze.

“We don’t hate him anymore?” Taehyung questioned carefully. “Are you sure?”

You leaned over to kiss Yoongi on the cheek, drawing a flash of red across his cheeks and ears. You grinned at his embarrassment and shook your head at Taehyung as his jaw literally dropped in astonishment.

“No, we don’t hate him anymore, Tae,” you continued. “We’re good.”

“Oh, thank the gods,” Taehyung breathed. “Finally.”

Much to your surprise, Taehyung stepped forward and took Yoongi’s hand in his own. Taehyung’s boxy grin made an appearance as he shook Yoongi’s hand and started talking a mile a minute. Yoongi went into mini panic mode with Taehyung’s abrupt advance into his personal space and he shot you a questioning look. You just shrugged.

“Can I just say that your last album was fucking incredible?” Taehyung blabbed. “I mean, your beats are fire, man, and don’t even get me started on those lyrics you write.”

“U-umm, thanks, man,” Yoongi stuttered. “I worked really hard on them.”

“We totally need to hang out sometime and just shoot the shit, y’know?” Taehyung persisted. “I would love to sit down and just watch you work. I bet it’s amazing.”

A deep voice broke up the love fest erupting all over Yoongi.

“Mr. Min,” his bodyguard announced unceremoniously. “It’s time to go. We have that flight in the morning, sir.”

“Yeah, ok, I’m going,” Yoongi assured him. “Just give me a second.”

You and Taehyung both looked at Yoongi and giggled at the awkward tension that dispersed now that the guard had intruded on Taehyung's moment of fawning over your ex.

“I gotta go,” Yoongi shrugged, while handing both you and Taehyung his business card. “But let’s catch up when I get back. I have to do a small promo tour over the next few weeks, but I’d love to get dinner with you guys when I get back.”

“Oh, I can’t,” Taehyung pouted. “I don’t actually live here right now. But hey, if you ever need a new marketing guy, let me know. I would quit my job in a second to work with you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Kim,” Yoongi chuckled, shaking Taehyung’s hand again. “Do me a favor and take care of this pretty girl for me. I know she’ll be in good hands if she’s with you.”

“Of course,” Taehyung breathed out. “It’s my mission in life to keep her safe and happy.”

“Then she’s lucky to have you,” Yoongi said with a grin. “Very lucky, indeed.”

He turned to face you and you couldn’t resist the puppy dog look on his face. You leaned over and offered him one last kiss on his pouty lips.

“I’ll be fine,” you told him sweetly. “We’re fine. Go on and break through that mental block of yours. I’m sure you’ll figure it out before you know it.”

He pulled the kazoo out of his pocket and unleashed yet another gummy smile.

“Now that I have this,” he mused. “I’m sure something will come to me. Thank you. I mean it.”

After giving you one last gummy smile, he turned away and walked over to his bodyguard, leaving both you and Taehyung on the balcony. Taehyung put his arm around you and leaned his head on yours, deep in thought.

“Everything went well, I’m assuming,” Taehyung casually commented. “You both seem to be in a good place now, better than you were before at least.”

“Yeah,” you agreed. “Better than you anyway. What was with that full blown fanboy you busted out on him? Stan much, Tae-bear?”

“Come on, ttalgi,” he retorted. “The man is a musical genius. You cannot deny the man’s talent. I would be remiss not to recognize and respect the full power of Min fucking Yoongi.”

“Are you ever going to stop calling him that?” you giggled.

“Never,” he proclaimed. “That will always and forever be his name. Now, I say we take this party elsewhere. You look too damn good in that dress to waste away in your apartment.”

“Fine,” you sighed. “What did you have in mind?”

“Bar?” he suggested. “With karaoke? I’m buying.”

“Who could say no to that?” you gushed. “Lead the way, Elizabeth.”

You linked your arm in Taehyung’s and made your way out of the ballroom, your steps a little lighter than they were before.

Another successful exchange, Universe. Keep them coming.

Author’s Note: Man, I love me some Min fucking Yoongi. This was a shorter chapter, but it doesn’t diminish the impact on the rest of the story. We’re getting into the heart of the adventure, y’all. I hope everyone is ready to jump into the next chapter. KARAOKE WITH TAE!! Let me know how you’re liking the story so far. Until next time!

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Chapter Two: Soulmates are a Forever Kind of Thing

NEXT CHAPTER

Chapter Four: Just Filter Out the Bad, Keep the Good

MAP OF THE SOUL MASTERLIST

@caught-in-a-seesaw-stigma​‘s MASTERLIST

[softstraykids]

christmas for two

member: han jisung genre: fluff & more fluff summary: fuckboy au! christmas au! enemies to lovers au! you were spending christmas alone with only a family friend’s son to keep you company who you’ve never met or knew anything about. then han jisung; ultimate fuckboy, ex best friend and current enemy shows up at your doorstep. you know you’re in for a ride. requested: yes and it’s a secret santa gift for @geminijimini!!

“bye sweetie!! we’re going now, don’t forget the Hans’ son is coming soon!!” 

your mum calls out to you 

you shout back “I know!! make sure grandma’s okay!”

the door closes with a click and you breathe out a sigh 

your parents were going out of town because your grandma had suffered a heart attack

apparently she was in good health but your parents still wanted to check on how she was

and as selfish as it was you wish they could be back in time for christmas but you know it’d be a week before they came back

it was around 3 days before christmas and you already knew you were going to be alone for christmas

well

not alone 

the Hans’ son was staying with you for the next week because his parents had won a cruise trip for two at Christmas time

and all the tickets were sold out so they couldn’t get an extra spot for their son 

so he was staying with you because the Hans and your parents didn’t want you two to be alone during Christmas

the thing is

you’ve never met the Hans’ son because he was never there when your families met up

well you weren’t there much either but when they came over to your house you’d say hello 

but you knew he was your age 

that's it

a thought suddenly popped into your head

what if their son is han jisung

you actually laughed out loud

yeah right

fate wouldn’t be that cruel to make you spend christmas with jisung

absolutely not you thought 

there was no way

han jisung was the one person you could say you hated on this planet

he was the most popular guy in your grade

perfect grades

goofball and class clown

part of like a lot of sports teams

on the student council 

and fuckboy extraordinaire 

he went through girls like someone with a runny nose would with tissues

but even with all of his fuckboy ways you and jisung used to be really good friends 

like texted each other to early morning

went on late night fast food runs

had like hundreds of inside jokes

and always would sit in class with each other

you two never met your families though

but as best friends

your only condition was not to fuck around with your friends

but he eventually did when you got a boyfriend 

he became distant, fucked around with your ex best friend’s feelings

then you two had a huge falling out and you haven’t talked since

and you became distant with your best friend too 

but ever since then he's become the only person you hate

in the midst of your thoughts you heard the doorbell ring 

“COMING” you shout as you race down the stairs 

you open the door

and the automatic thought you had was 

fuck you fate

because there he was

han jisung

in all his handsome fuckboy glory 

he was leaning against the wall with a duffel bag in his hand swung over his shoulder

you couldn’t deny it 

he looked good with his messy hair, grey sweatpants and a black hoodie

when he saw you

the corner of his mouth curved up and his gaze got even more intense 

he looked you up and down appreciatively 

and he smirked at you looking at you directly in the eye 

“nice legs, sweetheart” he said his voice oozing with cockiness and smoothness

you then just realised you were wearing a huge t shirt with tiny shorts which barely covered your butt 

you just rolled your eyes at him and just as he opened his mouth to say something

you slammed the door in his face

the keep reading thing finally got fixed sorry for the troubles with the rest of my fics

“HEY! REALLY Y/N??” he shouts through the door

and this time you’re the one smirking 

but without you noticing your heart skipped a beat when he said your name with the same familiarity he used to say it with

you slowly make your way upstairs to change enjoying jisung’s shouts to let him in

when you open the door again 

he just dryly says “really?” as he looks what you’re wearing

you had baggy sweatpants on, a hoodie and a parka 

“what? i need to protect my purity. you’re the pervert here.” you say innocently 

he scoffs “purity my ass” as he walks past you into the house

you swear under your breath as you close the door

this was going to be a long 2 weeks

you show jisung to the guest room and wait at the doorway

as he puts his duffel bag down 

before you even register what was happening 

he just takes his jumper off and

he. doesn’t. have. a. shirt. on.

suddenly you could hear your heartbeat getting faster 

and you feel like the room just got a lot hotter

you can’t help but think how unfair it is that he’s THAT hot

his 6 pack was perfect, you could see the definition of his arm muscles and his shoulders were broader then you remembered 

as he chucks the jumper onto the bed

he gives you a side glance and a quick wink

“liking the view i see” he says cockily

and you could literally see his already massive ego growing 

“you bloody wish. put a bloody shirt on jisung” you say as calmly as possible

trying to hide your bright red cheeks

and praying that he doesn’t literally hear your heart going at million miles an hour

jisung chuckles and your heart just kinda melted right there and then

“you were never that good at hiding your thoughts from me. some things never change. i missed you y/n” he says with his signature bright smile

then he puts on a black t shirt he got from his bag

and you just stand there speechless 

as the words of “i missed you y/n” repeats in your head over and over

‘you’re just saying that you don’t mean it just like all the flirting you do” you mutter trying to convince yourself that was the truth

“maybe, maybe not” jisung cryptically says not looking at you 

you could cut the tension in the room with a knife

“i’ll be down stairs getting dinner ready” you say trying to avoid the subject and him

but you could feel the intense gaze of jisung on your back as you leave

jisung couldn’t believe his luck

he was initially stumped at the fact he couldn’t join his parents on their cruise 

but spending christmas with you and hopefully making up with you was the best present he could’ve ever wished for 

gosh he’s  missed you so much and he was such an idiot for letting you go 

he’s had a crush on you for years now since you two first met in high school

you two became really good friends but it was just that 

just friends 

to distract jisung from his feelings he went from one girl after another

but once you got a boyfriend 

the jealously creeped in and he couldn’t help but get distant with you

your best friend let jisung rant to her about his feelings for you 

but she started to fall for him 

then once she confessed and he rejected her

she pettily told you lies about how he fucked around with her feelings

then you two had a huge falling out because jisung couldn’t tell you the real reason why your best friend was lying

but now he had a chance to fix everything 

you didn’t have a boyfriend and your old best friend and you weren’t even friends anymore 

and school wasn't there to get in the way 

he just needed to soften your heart so you would give him a chance

jisung smiled to himself as he thought about you 

“DINNER’S READY” you called out from downstairs

jisung came down as you set down the plates of food down on the coffee table in front of the tv

before he could utter a word you said 

“since we have to live with each other for the next 2 weeks, please don’t piss me off and i’ll act civil towards you if you do.”

“sounds good to me” jisung said shrugging grabbing his plate of food and sitting on the couch 

you turn netflix on and put on a movie you and jisung both liked

no words were exchanged as you guys ate and enjoyed the movie 

but somewhere in the middle of it jisung ended up lying down on your lap

and you didn’t want to make a big deal of it since you didn’t have the energy to bicker with him

plus a bit of you liked it

liked it a lot 

by the next movie you two watched 

your instincts kicked in and you started playing with his hair

and internally you knew you were playing a dangerous game with your feelings

jisung was a fuckboy and has been with more girls than you could count

but he always treated you right said that annoying voice in your head

and already your walls were crumbling

your heart wanted to give in 

what happened was a year ago 

you weren’t even friends with your old best friend 

she kinda just ghosted on you after jisung and her story always seemed off

you just didn’t push it 

and you knew even if you tried to deny it

you missed jisung

a lot

“goddamnit han jisung” you accidentally mutter under your breath

“what?” jisung groggily says rubbing his eyes and turning his head so he was looking straight up at you 

and your heart melted right there and then

seeing him all sleepy, his hair all messy and lying down on your lap

just did something to your insides

“let me just get some snacks” you say trying to not look at him

“oh sorry” jisung says softly sitting up and rubbing his eyes sleepily 

you try and steady your beating heart as you go to the kitchen and get some snacks for you and jisung

you come back and jisung’s face lightens up as he sees you struggling as your arms are full of popcorn, chocolate, candy and ice cream

“holy shit i love you y/n” he says without thinking

you completely freeze up and his eyes widen comically

“ummmm u-uhhh i-i didn’t mean that w-well i kinda did b-but ANYWAYS let me help you with that” jisung says stumbling adorably over his words 

and you’re in shock at the fact he didn’t completely outright deny what he said

and the fact han jisung the smoothest talker you know was a blushing fidgety mess 

seeing this sort of side to him you couldn’t help but get all soft

after setting down all the food the awkward atmosphere lessened 

you plop down on the couch pretty close to jisung and play the movie

after 30 minutes you felt super sleepy and instinctively you put your head on jisung’s shoulder 

before you could even realise what you did 

jisung automatically puts his arm around you letting you snuggle into him comfortably

you thought to yourself 

fuck it what would just a little bit of cuddling change

you got your answer as you were about to fall asleep still cuddling with jisung

“i’m really sorry for everything y/n” jisung says into your hair muffling his words slightly

but you could hear the sincerity of his words

and you just gave in

you wanted your best friend back

“it’s okay i forgive you ‘sung” you mumble back still super sleepy

you couldn’t see but jisung’s smile while looking down at you was just pure happiness and love

and he hesitated a bit before he kissed you on the forehead

jisung leans his head on yours and his eyes droopily close

and that’s how you two fell asleep

with the tv still on 

the fireplace still crackling

and the snacks all eaten 

with you two all snuggled up on the couch with a huge warm woolen blanket wrapped around you two 

you woke up groggily yawning then you felt just like a solid body that you were leaning on 

and you looked up and you saw jisung

you automatically jump out of the snuggling position you were in 

then you see jisung open his eyes slightly 

as you put your hands all over your body in panic and sigh in relief as you realise you have all your clothes on

you didn't realise that jisung was fully awake until he burst out laughing

between his laughs he spluttered out “y-you r-really thought w-we slept-t together?” 

you angrily pout at him crossing your arms “well i’m sorry that was my first reaction when i see that we slept on the couch all night” 

jisung can’t help but think how adorable you as you try to be angry

“well i’m glad you think of us like that” he says suggestively wigging his eyebrows 

“HAN JISUNG” you shout hitting him with a pillow 

“ow ow ow i’m sorryyyyy” he cutely says

you huff out “get up it’s already noon and i need to do some last minute christmas shopping” 

“is that an invitation for me to join?” jisung sneakily asks

“no. it is an invitation for you to clean up this mess though” you say pointing to the rubbish on the coffee table from last night’s snacks

you get ready to go shopping and you say you’re going as jisung was still washing the dishes

you knew that you needed time to sort out all the feelings which you still haven’t processed at all

even though you already knew what they all meant

last night you forgave jisung 

and now you two were back to how you used to be

but something new was in the mix

and you knew exactly what it was 

but what scared you was the fact you liked the fact that feeling was there

the feeling of liking han jisung 

and it was as if fate hated you even more

because just as you tried to turn on your engine

you could hear it rattle rumble then die

you cursed loudly knowing you need to ask jisung for his car

his answer “only if i drive”

“why can’t you just let me borrow it” you whine

“would you trust me driving your car” he snorts and retorts sassily

you then grudgingly agree he has a point and he gets ready to go out

it was a few hours into christmas shopping and you two were having a ball 

but you could see jisung eyeing a hoodie and you went over to him

you instantly loved it too and couldn’t help but say 

“damn that’s a really cute hoodie”

“i know right i have an amazing taste” jisung says cheekily as you just shake your head and laugh

“yeah yeah sure whatever you say”

unknowingly to jisung 

you bought it while he was off in the toilet 

jisung insisted on carrying all your bags 

and buying lunch too 

you felt like a princess 

but you couldn’t help but try to be cautious

he’s a fuckboy y/n he does this to all girls not just you 

you told yourself

but you knew that wasn’t the truth you’ve seen jisung interact with other girls

and he was never this nice or patient and he would’ve definitely made a move by now

you were a complete mess by the end of your shopping trip 

your thoughts and feelings were all conflicted

and as jisung was driving and both of you were belting out christmas songs

and he was doing an impression of mariah carey’s all i want for christmas is you 

you were dying of laughter as you forgot how funny jisung was

that was when you knew

you were completely fucked

this definitely wasn’t the first time you had a crush jisung

you think you had one about 3 times when you were friends with jisung

but did nothing about it because he never seemed to be interested in you like that

though now it was completely different 

he was acting even more romantic and more boyfriend material than ever 

and you were struggling real hard to keep your walls up

you were making pumpkin soup for dinner and you were so concentrated on stirring the pot you didn’t hear jisung’s footsteps

just don’t question why someone would be concentrated on stirring 

you suddenly feel two arms wrap around you waist

and jisung’s chin leans on your shoulder as he asks 

“whatcha making?” 

your heart basically had a heart attack as he did it 

“pumpkin soup” you say spinning around to face him and at the same time putting the wooden spoon into his mouth

you laugh super hard as jisung’s eyes are wide and half of the wooden spoon is in his mouth

as you take the spoon of his mouth 

he splutters out “y-you” trying to formulate words

you laugh even harder

“dinner’s ready” you say between your laughs 

you guys again sat on the couch with your soup as you put on a tv show

jisung spilled a bit of his soup

and you two bickered back and forth as he cleaned it up

during the bickering you couldn’t help but think 

you two were acting like an old married couple

“i did the dishes this morning so you should clean it up”

“uM EXCUSE ME you’re the one WHO SPILLED IT”

once jisung cleaned up and finished his soup

without hesitation he lied down on your lap

you played with his hair the whole time 

at one point you two ended up cuddling 

then you both fell asleep like that again 

“we really gotta stop falling asleep on the couch like this” says jisung as you wake up

you look up at him and squeak because of how close he is

he laughs softly at your reaction “morning sweetheart” he says

“morning” you say with a yawn

it was christmas eve and you two spent the whole day in your pjs

first wrapping the presents

which was a lot of trying to run into each other’s room to see what the other person has gotten 

both of you failed 

you two went outside to make a snowman 

which didn’t happen and just ended up being a snowball fight

after you two dried up you made hot chocolate for the both of you 

to warm you guys cuddled up on the couch right next to the fire place and talked for an hour or so 

you two also baked gingerbread and made gingerbread houses

that took like 3-4 hours because you two were playing around so much

then you two spent the whole evening cooking your favourite christmas foods for dinner 

the whole day was amazing

christmas carols were playing, you two had at least 2 more cups of hot chocolate, the christmas tree lights were twinkling and the bright smiles never left each other’s faces

constant flirting, teasing, banter and suggestive remarks never left your conversations

nor did the constant affection

like the sneaky forehead kisses, cuddles, and hugs 

and both of you knew what was going on but didn’t mention it

neither of you wanted to ruin it

but at the back of your mind you wanted an explanation 

the reason you two stopped being friends 

the one jisung refused to tell you when you two had your huge fallout

but for the time being you wanted to forget about it until the time was right to ask him about it 

after you two had your christmas dinner and both were extremely full 

you suggested something 

“hey i know it’s pretty cold but it’s a clear night do you wanna go up to the treehouse and give our presents up there?” 

“sounds good let’s go thirty minutes before 12?”

so after you two watched another christmas movie

which was like the 10th you’ve watched in the last 3 days

you guys went to your treehouse, with hot chocolate in thermo flasks, a picnic blanket and a bunch of woolen blankets 

and of course your wrapped presents 

after you guys got all comfy and cozy 

resting your backs on the wall of the tree house with the blankets wrapped around you two

you had soft christmas music playing from your phone

and as it turned 12 you both shout 

“MERRY CHRISTMAS!!” 

you two handed your presents to each other at the same time

and both of you ripped the wrapping off 

you two burst out laughing as you both held up the same hoodie you both saw when you were doing christmas shopping 

“i told you i had great taste” jisung says while laughing

you both put your matching hoodies 

“we look pretty damn cute” jisung says appreciatively 

and you couldn’t deny it 

the hoodies looked good on both of you and the whole matching thing really worked for you two 

“you look adorable with your sweater paws” jisung chuckles out

you put your two hands to your face which was hidden in the sleeves of your hoodie posing for him

jisung takes a few photos of you

“my new background” he casually mentions as your cheeks go bright red

you two snuggle up and star gaze

talking about the constellations 

and then all your past christmases 

jisung says a few cheesy pick up lines which you laugh at 

“there’s a million stars in the universe but the only one i need is you” he’d say overly romantically 

as you’d just laugh, cover his mouth with you hand and say “oh my gosh stop”

once you two settle down and a comfortable silence falls upon you two 

you suddenly ask 

“hey jisung can you tell me why we stopped being friends” you softly say looking up at him

he softly smiles down at you 

“it’s cause i liked you”

then your brain kinda just freezes and doesn’t work anymore 

you move so there’s space between you two and you’re looking straight at him making sure he’s telling the truth 

“your best friend let me rant to her about my feelings for you but she fell for me and once she confessed i rejected her. she was bitter and told you all those bullshit lies” 

you felt like shit 

you should’ve known there was a good reason 

and your best friend’s story always sounded really off 

before you could apologies jisung clearly tells you

“don’t feel bad please it’s on me i’ve liked you for years now and i never had the guts to tell you until now” 

jisung says sweetly looking at you with so much adoration

you just melted into a puddle

“now?” you softly whisper

he chuckles softly and says with affection filling his voice

“i like you y/n. i like you a lot”

without any notice jisung grabbed the strings of your hoodie and pulled you close his lips were only a few centimetres from yours

then suddenly you felt his lips on yours

he was soft and hesitant at first waiting for you to pull away

but once you reciprocated the kiss

you could feel him smile as you kissed him back

and your heart warmed as he smiled

then he suddenly deepened the kiss 

and you just melted into his body

all the sexual tension, the unspoken feelings, all of it just exploded

jisung smoothly lifted you into his lap

his hands were on your lower back and his arms were around your waist bringing you as close as possible

not even a paper could slip through the space between you two

you had your arms around his neck and you were running your fingers through his hair

jisung kissed you passionately, your heavy french makeout was extremely steamy and as you two finally you parted for air

you both were breathing heavily and jisung had the most attractive smirk on his face

you breathlessly say with a sweet smile on your face

“i like you too jisung”

my gif use w creds!!

this scenario was an utter mess it combined a shit ton of aus and i wrote it in a rush BUT it was very fluffy and christmassy. i hope all of my readers had a very merry christmas!! be on the lookout in the next 2 days for my seungmin fic (which hopefully be better quality), which i just need to edit before it’ll be up!!

i always love to hear feedback and what you guys thought so please don’t be afraid to send me a message, anon or request!!

@geminijimini MERRY CHRISTMAS RAYA!!!! i am so sorry i didn’t reply to your asks the last month or so i was on a mini hiatus. but i hope you liked this, i know it wasn’t exactly what i said but i tried to add the whole winter theme to it and at the very end a mention of star gazing. it was very fluffy though so i really hope you like it!! please message me to tell me if you enjoyed it or not and let’s stay in touch!! lots of love your secret santa, dain ❤️ 

thank you @skzsecretsanta for setting this whole thing up and for providing me an amazing present giver (hehe i loved my ss gift) and receiver!!

[chrysaliseuro2019]

Monopoli 1

We got to Monopoli around 3.30 with various stops and the fun commenced of looking for somewhere to stay. We had a couple of booking.com leads but wanted to check them out first. It’s always difficult when you get varying reports or in fact consistent ones but they say the same good things eg host very helpful and friendly but say nothing too much about the room eg might say clean and tidy but leave out “small”. You tend to look for what they may not have said rather than what they have said. Photographs of rooms a bit like photos of houses for sale always look a bit more glamorous and larger than they are in real life. So we approach this with a healthy level of dubiousness.

We had one lead in particular and after driving around the back streets for 20 mins or so trying to get close to it, with no luck, we parked up in what seemed like a residential area but 50 metres or so from the start of the old town. I stayed with the car as no parking signs and no markings on the street which could be a good or bad thing. Monopoli is one of those towns that has a residents only section by car and we were unsure if we were in it. Fines can be hefty if you transgress.

Liz headed off using google maps to locate the B&B. They were not responding to the phone. While she was gone I kept looking at booking.com and located another good possibility not far away from place 1. Liz called feeling very frustrated. Even on foot it was difficult to find. She was though very euphoric about the town saying how pretty it was. Luckily place No2 responded via phone and I arranged for the host to meet Liz at the property. Probably 45 mins has gone by by now. I am now in regular phone exchange with the guy (alessandro). They met up, Liz liked the property and 15 mins later they both rolled up at the car on foot. All in all probably an hour and half has gone by but we are in.

Property is in the old town. A small one with three units in it. We trundled the cases around there probably a good 10-12 minute walk with Alessandro’s help. Temperature was early 30s but felt like late 30s and we were glad to arrive. Really quite modern and spacious room. A bit more than we would like to pay but Alessandro told us where to free park so that saved some dosh. Also smack bang in the action perhaps about 200 metres from the main piazza though we face out to sea so quite quiet. From our window we can see the local fishing boats in the little harbour. Very pretty and tranquil.

We immediately took to Monopoli and decided to stay another day so booked for two. He did ask if we would like to book for 3 but we weren’t sure as time in Italy slipping away. It didn’t take too long though for us to feel convinced and later that evening we decided to make it a third night. Alessandro gave us a variety of eating recommendations for seafood, meat, varied cuisine and pizza. The ones we went to turned out well.

After showering we headed into town to explore. Didn’t get too far as we found a nice little outdoor bar looking out to sea just around the corner and planted ourselves. In one of those bizarre coincidences the couple sitting just behind us in the bar with a son aged around 11 were Aussies. Very interesting lifestyle, they live in Warsaw and he is a chef and previously had worked as a chef at M on the Bund restaurant in Shanghai owned by Melbournite Michelle Garnaut. They have been out of Australia for quite a while in fact their son was born in Shanghai. She is a marketing executive at the international school in Warsaw and previously was the same in Shanghai. Just when you think most Aussies live the same sort of lifestyle as you. We had a pleasant chat about Poland, China, Australia and holidays amongst other things. He also recommended a restaurant which they had been to where they had enjoyed the seafood. We decided we had to go there he was a chef after all.

We wandered around town for a while and booked the chef’ s recommendation for Wednesday night (it was closed on Tuesday) and also Alessandro’s seafood restaurant recommendation (Il Guazetto) for the following night. Funnily enough the Aussies were eating there as we booked. It looked like we were stalking them.

Just had to sort out tonight. We looked at a few places and were thinking Pizza. After drawing a blank at one of Alessandro’s recommendations, as we did not want to sit inside on a hot night and all outside tables taken, we went to another - Ai Portici. Pretty solid without being gourmet. Also thought that we are pretty spoiled for good pizza in Melbourne especially around Carlton/Fitzroy way.

A really pleasant evening and we had a stroll around soaking up the atmosphere. It’s one of those pinch yourself locations. Nowhere near as frenetic as some of the places we have been though plenty of people floating about. We were also to come to think that this must be one of the most difficult places to navigate on foot. Only locals can drive in the old city but it is a veritable maze of narrow streets. They often lead into cul de sac little squares where the locals might be sitting out on the steps or chairs nattering to each other. You get the impression that they would prefer we didn’t intrude. They never really offer a greeting first or ask you if you are lost ( I guess that’s obvious). They just look at you as you beat a retreat and carry on with their natter. Don’t blame them really. One thing we came to think was that this place would change over the coming years and we were glad we were here now.

Next day was a very relaxed start. Our accommodation is a large one bedroom apartment though with kitchen facilities and eating area downstairs shared with the other two apartments (kitchen - what’s that? - we didn’t trouble the facilities). Breakfast is included in the tariff. That is available at the restaurant right outside our front door which is in a small piazza. We really liked the guys who ran it. They had helped Liz located the premises on Day 1 and were good fun to chat to and very pleasant. One of them had lived in Sydney for 11 years but was now back home to run the restaurant with his brothers. He had retained his permanent residency though and wasn’t ruling out returning. He confirmed our suspicions that the town was undergoing rapid change with more and more people seeking to rent out their homes which obviously diminished progressively the number of residents. Get here quick was the message.

Breakfast was a relatively humble affair. One cup of tea, freshly squeezed orange juice and one croissant or toast with jam. None of the larger spreads which B&Bs and hotels offer even though we were paying a reasonably high price by our standards. Still I found the croissant which was crammed with jam v filling and Liz in the end resorted to the Vegemite on toast which we had packed much to the amusement of the Aussie guy. The Vegemite fascinate the other waiters at the restaurant and Liz persuaded two of them to try it. One kept a straight face and the other almost managed to, the grimace was mostly suppressed. He said he preferred Nutella.

Liz had one goal - to get to the beach. I also had one. We had spotted a barbers shop in town and I headed for the long awaited haircut. The barber was typical no doubt of a myriad of Italian barbers shops around the world. I was the only one in there. He spoke virtually no English but we conversed in the language of the barbers shop. Essentially though the message was make it short. He clipped and snipped away at great pace using the scissors and comb. Just when I thought that looks pretty right perhaps just a bit more off that one section there (which I pointed to) he got a new lease of life and out came the electric clippers and basically he gave me a number 2. Looking at all my futures in the space of 60 seconds. I liked it though though not sure what the missus will think (she liked it too or said she did). Certainly it’s tidy but there seems to be a lot of head.

That was really the first stanza over. He stuck the electric clippers in both ears to move that irritating hair growth. Sounded like a combine harvester in each ear and not just because of the crop growing there. Finished that off with the scissors. Got out a little electric contraption which he stuck up each nostril to remove the hair from there. Yuk I know! Then immediately used the same contraption to trim my eyebrows. This was good but I sat there wondering whether there had been any transference of matter from nostril to eyebrow and people would look at me with a what the heck’s that hanging down off your eyebrow. I hear it’s fashionable.

This was all done at frenetic pace. Next was the cutthroat razor which he applied to trim up bits of hair here and there and shave the neck. Absolutely fantastic. 10 euros about $17/18. I want to take him to Melbourne. Perhaps I can persuade Liz to work on nostril and ear hair.

Liz meanwhile had gone beach exploring and plumped for the town beach. This was a little cove with a very small amount of coarse sand but Liz had managed to find a handy nook up against the craggy retaining wall which provide us with shade. With our foam beach mats we could also sit upright leaning against it so we were very comfy. No umbrellas other than a few private ones that people had stuck in the sand here. Not that that matters too much to the locals. They bask in the sun in a way that Aussies are nervous about these days. No wonder so many are very brown.

I joined her post haircut and we whiled away the day not doing too much other than reading, blogging, sleeping, a bit of swimming etc. It was also fun to watch the locals go about their beach business. I had a bit of a reconnoitre in mid afternoon and duly got lost again wandering around the city but that was half the fun.

After a long afternoon on the beach we headed home for showers etc around 6.30 and post that for dinner. This was to Alessandro’s fish restaurant recommendation. Guazetto It was superb. I had baked sea bream in a crust of potato and zucchini which the waiter suggested as a local delicacy. It was sumptuous as Rick Stein would say. Liz had langoustine which was equally good but a bit on the low side volume wise. She got 6 fairly small ones though laid out very decoratively with their large shells. The paucity was exaggerated when she kindly offered me a bite and I thought she was offering me the whole item. This was not received well and I spent the rest of dinner trying to make up with bits of sea bream. As I write this blog Liz has had a whinge again so it resonated. Must say it did taste nice though.

Liz had not been able to get a drink she could handle at the restaurant so this was a good excuse to head to the city square and have a couple of drinks as the throng paraded past. Lovely temperature. Very relaxed atmosphere. What could be better. Washed down with a couple of gelatis as well. It had been a good day.

[fantasticcats]

In which I go to London for 3 days: Fantasticcats attends the Professional Development Course from Punchdrunk.

A few ground rules, and the rest will be under a cut for the spoiler averse and because it is long as hell.

Things I can do: Describe what we did and show you photos of what my team created in two of the blank canvass spaces. Things I can’t do: Give you photos of the fully dressed Fallow Cross village. You can find some via this article though so you have an idea of what is there. Things I won’t do: Draw you a map and tell you how to get there or go into detail about the children’s programs they’ve created in the space.

London was having one of those snow storms I thought only people in Portland freaked out about, and after navigating cancelled flights and summoning the will to travel into a mess, I made it on time to the Saturday 1 day Design Masterclass with Punchdrunk Creatives. The email we’d been given noted that this was to be the last design class (ever? This year? I don’t know.) and we were given a copy of the short story The Lottery to read prior to arrival.

After standing outside with a bunch of equally confused and possibly lost folk, I found myself lead into an old classroom. It was that pale blue color of old public elementary schools everywhere and there was a nice skeleton hanging out in the corner. We sat facing our two hosts (which I’m also not going to name because: privacy) and introduced ourselves, revealing a variety of people whose interest in the workshop ranged from professional: museum exhibit designers to actors and video game designers to “because they really liked Punchdrunk!” I fell into an abstract category- being the only person who had come from ridiculously far away and also because I am curious how their design process might work with the art I’ve been creating for a few years now as well as my own home’s aesthetic.

We began by looking over photos of various Punchdrunk sets, and speaking about their use of repetition, scale, and creating tension. They told us that they like to create levels of tension and have spaces that are like breaks for the audience. They like to put the places that will have the most tension in the middle of spaces or floors, and have the breaks on the outside- like a sandwich. Think about your favorite Punchdrunk show and about the spaces and what happens in them and see if you can find this strategy. I definitely can with SNM NYC.

They also talked about how they are different from a lot of theater companies in that they can’t create a lot of the props because when you touched them in the show you’d realize they weren’t real, so the set creators spend a lot of time shopping to fill a space. DREAM JOB!

After the chat it was time to see Fallow Cross. They walked us through how the school children who had visited had the space revealed to them, and then recreated that moment for us. We knew what was coming, but I am pretty sure if I was a child and had that happen I’d lose my goddamn mind.

Some thoughts about being in the space: It’s bigger than it looks, with secret rooms, pass throughs, and second floors to discover. My favorite places were the candle maker’s shop, the church, and the optometrist (or was it an ophthalmologist?.....let’s go with eye doctor.) I loved the tones and Fulton-esque vibe of the eye doctor’s office, and the church had little hidden back rooms that gave it depth beyond it’s welcoming pews. We got to walk around unmasked for a while with the full lighting effects and Punchdrunk drone soundtrack we all know and love. I do feel like smells were missing, but it is also a lot colder in there due to the weather so that might have been part of it. When we chatted about the space later, it made me smile how many people found the mayors house- that was full of taxidermy- scary, or how they felt like people might jump out at them in other spaces.

They’ve said Fallow will never house a full show, and I think one reason for that is the density of the set design. The doll house maker’s shop has hundreds of dolls and doll parts crammed into shelves. The bric-a-brac shop looks like every small town antique shop you’ve ever been in. The candle maker store is like a more organized Hecate’s apothecary with lots of real candles and a tiny store room full of glass containers. Basically, a full audience would destroy this place in an hour. Maybe it was this sensory overload (or lack of a mask) that made me reluctant to touch or really interact with anything, but I loved every second of walking through the buildings and seeing what was around every corner.

After the space exploration, it was time for the first practical exercise. We were shown to a far corner of a village and three dwellings whose doors had been locked during our walk around. Our hosts divided us into 3 teams and assigned each a house. We were given a plastic bin containing big rolls of white paper, some string, some markers, a staple gun, a few chairs, scissors, and push pins, and told that we could staple and paper to our hearts content in the spaces. On the door of each space was an envelope containing a scene we had to create using only the items in the bucket.

We were given 10 minutes.

If you watch any competitive cooking or design reality shows and have ever played along with what you would do in the allotted time, you can imagine what this was like. Now imagine you’re in a Punchdrunk space with Punchdrunk creatives watching you and the combination of howfuckingcoolisthisomg and oh holy hell I have to work with strangers and also omg now I only have 9:30 min left. So yeah, it was like that.

Our team was assigned the creation of a train carriage. We knew that once people from the other teams walked through that they would have to identify our space, but we were a little foggy on how much story we needed to get in the scene. We set our scene fairly simply, but I did make all One Way tickets and a sign that only had departing times and then they placed candles on the seats. A lighting tech came in with an iPad and asked how we wanted the scene lit, and adjusted things for us directly on his pad. And that’s another thing about Fallow Cross- despite looking like a quaint little town, it is wired in ways you don’t expect. One space is even completely soundproof, but you’d never know by looking at.

The time flew by. Once it was over, we were given time to tour the other spaces, and then we got together to guess at what we’d seen and if we got it right. While we didn’t have a very high intensity scene, everyone knew what it was, and someone did mention my one way train tickets, so I was happy about that.

The next practical exercise was my favorite, but I wasn’t allowed to photograph it. We were sent back into the main village where the street was filled with more giant bins, each containing detail pieces. Imagine files, photos, clothing, books, cards, trinkets, and basically anything you’d expect to find when looking through the drawers in someone’s house if were the kind of creeper that did that in the real world and not just Punchdrunk sets.

We were assigned a partner and a space in the village. I was paired with a person and sent to the eye doctor’s store. Our task was to read the description placed inside the envelope they’d tacked to the door, and use detail pieces to convey that description. I think we had 15 minutes this time.

As someone who has been deeply influenced by Punchdrunk’s set design for 5 years, I cannot begin to explain the joy this was for me to do. Short of actually working for them someday this was the best possible thing I could be doing.

AND OH MAN. I couldn’t think of anything more me than what we got: The optometrist is unhappy with the local church. They are drawn to the Pagan religion in a neighboring village and have been visiting there in secret.

I grabbed a screen in the room to create a barrier between the main office and the desk. After that I used playing cards laid out as tarot cards, found a great book called The Devil, and my partner went to work creating little notes with runes and sigils on them. After we had the desk set up we covered half of the scene with a cloth, turned the chair on its side like they’d rushed out, and I semi-trashed the office space in that “I don’t have the energy to manage my business with these assholes” kind of way I’d imagine it would be.

Our space seemed to be a success. Many people totally got what we’d done, and the facilitators liked how we’d split the room to make people want to walk behind the screen to check out what was there.

I also really enjoyed what other teams had done. One example was the bartender in the pub had a crush on the preacher’s daughter, and the bar was set up totally normally…..but if you went behind the bar you saw they’d set up a shrine to this woman. So perfect.

After that it was lunchtime. Time had sped by, and it was difficult walking from the lovely darkness of Fallow Cross into the chilly daylight.

Following  lunch was last practical exercise. We were taken back to the blank canvass homes again and handed back our buckets of paper and office supplies. This time, however, in the outside seating area, was a large bin of stones. It was time for our Lottery scene.

Three teams again, and each of the houses got a character from The Lottery. If you don’t feel like reading the story, I suggest this super quick short film so you get the general idea of who was who.

We got Old Man Warner, the cranky guy who bragged about how many lotteries he’d survived. Our team got to work pretty fast in the small home we were given. We were told not to invent a new story but to try to draw on what we knew about him and infer things. Other things they wanted us to consider was if our house was before, during, or after the lottery, and what effect would that have on the level of intensity in the space. We asked each other questions such as “Is his home neat? What is he reading? What are his other interests?” It forced us to really dig into what kind of man we thought Warner was.

We decided he definitely lived alone now, but had surely lost a loved one to the Lottery- and his determination to keep it alive was so they wouldn’t have died in vein. We set up a little memorial to the deceased (his wife) next to his bed. If anyone picked up the envelope under the shrine they’d find the ominous slip of paper with the black dot inside of it.

Next, we created 77 slips of paper and tacked them to a board to display, with a single chair and spotlight facing them in the dim lit room. We used the paper to create a wall, so that people walking through the door would want to look around the corner to see this set up.

Elsewhere in the room we put things we thought he’d be interested in: almanacs, newspaper articles about crops, and a giant sign that said 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon,' happily displayed for all to see. Outside of the building we created a paper garden with a sign to remember the lottery!

We had a bit longer on this project—I think maybe an hour? So we were able to really get in as much details as our material afforded us. Using only paper and string to create a full scene, especially when you’ve been in a Punchdrunk space all afternoon, takes your imagination and ability to make something from nothing to a new level. Once the time was up we toured other spaces, and after downloading the story into my brain for a week straight it was actually kind of unsettling to see it realized. The other two spaces were Mr. Summer’s house and the Hutchinson house.

One thing that really struck me was in the Hutchinson home, where it seemed to be set while the lottery was taking place—they’d created a dining room table and each place setting had a stone with the family member’s name on it. It was a powerful image.

After we finished visiting and critiquing the spaces, we gathered for tea & an informal Q&A in The Siren—the pub in Fallow Cross, before leaving. The day had flown by so fast, but I felt inspired and armed with practical strategies and a deeper sense of how putting the right effort into a process can capture attention, inspire a sense of mystery, and guide an audience.

I can’t speak for the entire class but those I did talk with seemed to have a really positive experience and were really happy they were there. While I know it’s totally nuts that I flew to London for 72 hours just to do this, I was happy I was able to make it happen and if they ever offered more design/creative based classes I would go again in a heartbeat.

This is already insanely long so I’ll just thank you all for reading. If you’re curious about the spaces other teams created I am happy to tell you all about them.

[alexisbundy1-blog]

#13. Road Trippin’

Over the spring break, my father and I spent eight days (unnecessarily) visiting an assortment of colleges on the East Coast. We covered ground from New Hampshire down to North Carolina, which gave me a chance to visit new places and rediscover old ones. It was also a really nice chance to bond with my dad, who has been in and out of the country for the past few months. I’ve decided to summarize my trip to each state to give insight into what I experienced throughout the eight days.

BOSTON, MA: When I first visited Boston over the summer, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It was hot and sticky, I was with a group of people I didn’t really know, and I also had a ~slightly traumatic~ experience. However, when I re-visited the city with my dad, I began to understand the real appeal: great sports town, great community, great college town, tremendous amount of history, and there’s a lot happening. Though it was quite cold, the sun still shone from a relatively clear sky; at least there was no snow. It also didn’t hurt that the first hour of being in Boston was spent shopping on Newbury Street. I’d give Boston an 8/10. Keep doing you, Boston.

HANOVER, NH: First of all, Hanover was cold as heck. It actually snowed (what in tarnation) during my <24 hours in the town, and come 9am, it was 22°. Um, no thanks. But cold weather aside, you can instantly feel the tight-knit, small town atmosphere of Hanover the second you enter. As my dad and I explored the one mile radius of what is downtown Hanover, we came across a small poster/record/memorabilia shop where I received an unsolicited, but not really unwelcome, explanation of how to finesse my way into Dartmouth (even though I will not be applying there until maybe my second year of college, and most likely for a semester abroad). For me, Hanover was lovely, but it was a little isolated for me. I’ll give it a 6/10. (That’s also because of the weather)

NEW HAVEN, CT: After spending three weeks this summer confined to specific areas of New Haven, I felt pretty comfortable walking around the town, reminiscing on lunch dates at the nearby Shake Shack and all of the terrible mistakes I made at summer camp. I have to say, though, New Haven has the best pizza in the US, and I am more than ready to defend my statement if need be. New Haven’s also great because it’s an hour from Boston and an hour from New York; you can get the best of both worlds either way. Plus, I got to spend some time with Casti alum/one of my idols Lea Sparkman!!! But I didn’t get to see my one true idol, Paige Vermeer. RIP. Because I’m a little biased towards it, I’ll give the Dirty Have an 8/10.

NEW YORK CITY, NY: Literally five seconds upon my arrival, I was smothered by one of my best friends, who lives on the Lower East Side, and was whisked away from my hotel in Midtown to Times Square. One of my favourite rituals with said friend is to window shop at expensive department stores (Barney’s, Saks, Bergdorf Goodman in this case) and drop our jaws at the ridiculous pricing of the ridiculous clothing. I mean, a Fendi t-shirt for $875? A shirt that you could buy at Urban Outfitters for $30? Come on, now. But New York is always a treat, shoddy weather or not. New York will always get a 9/10 from me.

NEWARK, NJ: Because my father hails from NJ, we always make a visit to my uncle, who lives in Roselle Park, and spend time with my family. Prior to, we drove through the town of Princeton, and my father pointed out numerous places that held special places in his heart. For example: an intersection on a highway in which my mother and he were rear-ended. When we returned to my uncle’s neighbourhood - about an hour away from Princeton - we headed to the town where my father and he grew up and were treated to a good old-fashioned Italian meal at the local restaurant. After saying our goodbyes, Dad and I headed to our airport hotel, where it turned out that our booking hadn’t gone through, and my father’s true Jersey roots came into play. Jersey is Jersey, so I’ll give it a 6/10 (It would be a 5, but I have sentimental feelings towards NJ)

CHAPEL HILL, NC: I’ve always wanted to visit North Carolina, and honestly I was not disappointed. We were greeted with 80° (!!!) weather - a welcome change from a high of 51° - and Southern hospitality. Chapel Hill is such a beautiful area; I was blown away by it all. Everything was great until we ate dinner at a nearby restaurant. It wasn’t that the food was bad, but I found myself not being a fan of Southern food. Very heavy stuff. Regardless, though, NC had a really warm atmosphere that honestly surprised me. I’m ready to go back now. 9/10.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA: Okay so we didn’t actually spend more than 30 mins in Charlottesville. I know I have some friends here who are from Charlottesville, so I won’t diss their former town. But my trip through the state of Virginia was nothing less than...eye-opening. I’ve told this story about 923994 times already but it still leaves me in slight disbelief. After leaving NC and being in VA for all of five minutes, Dad and I were greeted with a 50-ft tall, 100-ft wide Confederate flag that hung from a 300-ft flagpole. I think what bewildered me the most is that it actually stood in existence; we all hear of Confederate statues and whatnot, but seeing a Confederate flag proudly blowing in the breeze before you is a sight you can’t unsee. Fast forward two hours, fried catfish sandwiches (that we most definitely didn’t eat) and all, we found ourselves yearning to get to the hotel. As it turns out, our hotel was not on campus, as advertised, but instead a mile out. My dad was so horrified by its dilapidated state that he made the executive decision to make another two-and-a-half hour trip to Arlington. Guys, I’m so sorry, but I’m going to have to give Charlottesville/the southern part of Virginia a 3/10. I hope my former Cvillians won’t hate me and will see my outsider’s perspective.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: I love Washington, D.C. very much. It didn’t hurt that my middle school trip to the nation’s capital was wonderful, and it also didn’t hurt that we happened to be visiting on a beautiful day. I mean, need I really say anymore? D.C. is awesome. It’s a city that, to quote my dad, “makes you proud to be an American.” If you take out all of the political corruption. D.C. gets a 9.5/10. Go you, D.C. 

And so concludes my rather exhausting trip. I am now sick and recovering from a virus that I picked up along the way, but I wouldn’t trade that trip for the world. Shoutout to my father for being the best driver and for having the stamina to do such an extensive, ambitious trip. And also for booking it to Arlington with no complaints. 

I’m sad that I won’t be attending college in the States for the first year (at least), but hey, transfers and semesters abroad exist. I don’t think the American college system has seen the last of Lexi Bundy just yet ;)

[jessiewre]

Day 31

Tues 4th Feb

Two spanish omelettes were consumed in record time as we aimed for our agreed meeting time of 8:45am at Soft Power.

Leaving our camp at 8:42 was a bad start.

Thankfully we found a boda straight away and we were only 4 minutes late and Agre was chilled, getting himself a rollex for breakfast. He took us into the office for a brief intro to other staff, tried (unsuccessfully) to locate a pen for us to sign the paperwork, and then we walked round to the local pre-school we would spend the morning. The school had 3-6 year olds and there were normally about 90 a day but Agre explained that the holidays had just finished and many kids were still in ‘holiday mode’ so just hadn't turned up. Wouldn’t mind taking on that approach whenever I got back from a holiday, ‘Sorry boss, I’m still in holiday mode so I’ll see you when I’m ready yeah’.

As it was many of the children's first day at school, there were some kids who looked rather apprehensive and teary. Same as in the UK then! However, I have to say that the parents looked extremely chilled out and relaxed about the whole thing - maybe slightly different on that side of things.

There was one kid called Caesar who looked like the world was ending. 

And as soon as one would cry, another one would remember that they were sad too and start crying. The kids had to remove shoes before going inside and Caesar stood balling his eyes out while two of us tried to get his shoes off. It was comedic and heart-wrenching at the same time, and Agre told us that in between his tears, Caesar was saying in the local llanguage 'I WANA GO TO SCHOOL! I WANA GO TO SCHOOL!'. Which made no sense at all.

All the kids were told to wash their hands using an ingenious contraption of an old container tied up with a hole in, then tied to a stick on the floor to create a sort of pedal to tip the water out, and all the toilets were hole in the ground cubicles. Proper toilets with seats are a unnecessary luxury I guess.

The lessons were quite casual as it was still only the 2nd day of term and first up, the teacher got a box of toys and emptied them onto the floor for some play. Most of the toys were basic plastic Happy Meal rejects as far as I could see, with the odd doll in there. Lots of the toys were broken so didn't even work properly. But the 45 kids all took something and played, no arguments about who had what or what was available. I sweat there was not a whiff of a spoilt child here.

Lots of the kids played with their friends and some of them were keen to play with us so we got involved while trying to involve and distract some of the sad kids. Phil had Caesar looking extremely glum sat next to him, crying on and off throughout as he forgot he was sad and then remembered again. 

After this was playtime outside and the kids went WILD. There was a slide that the kids FLEW down at high speed and sometimes they would land so awkwardly in the dry mud that I was sure they'd cry - but no. Honestly they are so much tougher than muzungu kids! From what we have seen, they seem to be brought up with a lot more freedom with no mollycoddling meaning they seem stronger and more independent. They are way more physically confident and tough - naturally this means it takes more for them to complain. I'm not saying it's definitely better, but its interesting as the kids are so different. I’m generalising massively and only talking about our own experiences, but we have not seen one African child have a tantrum since we got to Africa, and there are children EVERYWHERE you look. The only children we've seen having a tantrum have been muzungu and it stuck out like a sore thumb. 

I am only sharing what I am observing and I am not saying that I won't also have a tantruming muzungu child. Obviously I will. It's going to be a little twat I'm sure. But I like to think that these experiences will serve as a constant reminder to us that spoiling children is actually spoiling children, and that we must let children fall over in the mud without immediately scooping them up & encouraging tears. Let them see if it even hurts before we tell them it should. Its not about saying you need to like in a shed in poverty to have nice children, but spoiling children does them absolutely no favours at all. And also, kids want the simple things and can make fun out of ANYTHING if given the chance. If they are used to getting whatever they want whenever they want, they will probably be twats when they grow up, and who wants a twat kid? I certainly don’t. Mum & Dad if you are reading this and wondering how you ended up with 3 twat kids then I really don’t know what to say apart from I’m sorry 😂😂😂.

We went down the slide with some of the younger kids a few times and Phil went to the swings. Even Caesar had a go, though it was hard to tell if he was enjoying himself or not. 

In the final class, the teacher asked the children if anyone wanted to start off a song for the visitors. Quite a few kids put their hand up, then the teacher would choose one who would stand up shyly and look at us, then begin to sing. The class would join in and it was sooooo cute. Then everyone sang songs with the teacher about numbers. Everytime someone did something good, they would stand up and put their hands on their hips while dancing side to side and everyone would sing together ‘Lovely, lovely and nice!’. Ok its probably hard to imagine it, but hopefully we got a video of it somewhere and I’ll share it! It was too cute.

One child found the whole thing all too overwhelming and I saw that she was completely falling asleep while sat up cross legged. I told one of the teachers who grabbed her a little mat and let her sleep at the back of the room. First day at school is tough eh.

Some of the children were so keen to sit with us and a little clingy that I worried about us leaving at the end and them feeling abandoned the next day. But I needn’t have worried as most of them walked straight off when the day finished at 12:30, not even a glance behind them. One kid was putting his shoes on all fine, but the moment he spotted his sister at the gate he remembered he was sad and began to cry and try to put his shoes on super fast, which did not work.

It was only 3 hours and we didn’t really do much to help compared to what other volunteers would have achieved with the charity, but we donated $30 each and will definitely donate more in the future. I could really see where the money was going and how much had been achieved already. If anyone has any doubts about giving money to charity, then give to this one as I can vouch for it!

We got a boda back to the hotel as the rain was due any minute and agreed to meet at 3pm to head to another site for another few hours of volunteering.

We were meant to pack up our things ready for check out but luckily the hotel said we could eat before packing up our room - so we went to Black Lantern for tomato soup with garlic bun, and cheese tomato toasties. The rain went crazy and we called Agre who confirmed that it would be too tricky to get to the volunteering ‪at 3pm‬. But as our money was super low (mysteriously), Phil had to go and get our dollars and bumped into Jimi on the way. They returned to BL and Phil was like Wait till you hear this Jess. 

Jimi then told me what had happened to him the night before when he'd left us. 

He was walking home and was not far when he heard a strange noise. He moved closer to the noise and it sounded like crying. He then found a BABY less than a year old in a sheet, abandoned on the side of the road near a bush. He took it to a police station and they took it in. The next morning, he heard about a lady in the village who was shouting that her baby was missing and was desperately searching. He went to find her and they went to the police station and then the hospital together and she was reunited with her baby girl, Alice. Turns out there was a robbery in her home and they took lots of stuff and the baby too but then just left it on the roadside. 

Jimi was a little in shock you could tell. Such a crazy story. 

We went back to the our camp to finally check out of our room ‪at 4pm‬ oops and Phil was straight into the pool, where a frog soon joined him for a swim.

We got bodas into town with Jimi and I told him we wanted to go a sports shop. We’d learnt from him that he had started a youth coaching club himself called Castillo. Castillo was partly set up also by Jimi’s late brother Abel who tragically passed away from cancer a few years ago and the aim was to help vulnerable children and give them more purpose, strength and confidence.

So we offered to buy some items to help out.

We definitely got overcharged cos we is muzungus init,  but we bought this lot for about £40:

- Two goalkeeper gloves

- A full set of team socks 

- 4 ref whistles 

- Set of ref cards

- 10 training cones 

Jimi was super grateful and we celebrated with a trip to Java Cafe - Jimi needed one final burger from us of course. I managed to speak to Emily on the phone and we accidentally ordered a chicken curry (was delicious dammit) plus had an apple, cashew, carrot salad...with masala fries.

Our bodas cut across the highway onto the central reservation then to the correct side of the road (!) and we got to the bus station on time, hoping that it was not super delayed travelling from Kampala. Ended up being 45 mins delayed but in that time we were able to achieve many things:

- Phil enjoyed more beers with Jimi and at one point buggered off to a bar while I sat with all the bags wondering where they were

- Jimi fixed my sexy walking boot with some superglue

- Jimi fixed his own flip flop with superglue

- Jimi fixed Phil’s trainer with superglue

- Jimi recorded a video message for Buj & Jenni

- We pee’ed before the bus in some MANKY toilets (essential)

- We bought water before the bus (ESSENTIAL ALSO)

Phil - the man, the athlete, the legend - had only gone and booked us VIP seats on the bus that were approximately DOUBLE the size of the other seats what an absolute win, so we had no seats in front of us & leg stretching was 100% available. Phil tried to pie me off with the aisle seat but I managed to swerve it and nab the window seat obvs and the journey was pretty comfortable. At least for me.

We were at the Kenyan border by midnight and our East Africa visa made it easy to enter.

Annoying that they charge you to use the loo though, and Phil argued with them about it saying he had no cash yet and just went and pee’d without paying. He then walked straight up to the guy selling snacks to see what was available AWKWARD. When the man offered us some Shitcake I decided I wasn’t hungry. On closer inspection, I believe he was referring to the shortcake.

[gsmatthews95]

the animal house

Hola all.

I'm very sorry about the black out I havent been in a blogging mood recently for some reason. but today, with half an hour till our bus to Macedonia I thought I can't continue this and be a whole country behind, that, would have been a large mountain to climb. I am also sorry I have just remembered I forgot to post my Kosovo blog, I Was too bust having fun and that. Worry not I am back and unsure of whether I will post one or two blogs and if I do 2 how will I split them up. Life's unanswered questions.

So our start in Albania was eventful, shockingly because of the buses. You may have noticed the running theme here guys, the buses are crap meaning I got my wish for more adventure but it has meant they've been more expensive and tiring than wed hoped to be honest. But yes, we were at the terminal having speed walked cause we were late in time for the bus. We asked where it left from and were pointed to a corner outside the station... OK, so an international bus is leaving from that corner? Sure. We got there and another man was waiting for the same bus, this helped our nerves. Then he came to speak to us to tell us the bus wasn't coming into the city but was leaving from a restaurant out of town and we had to share a taxi there, cheers for that. Oo i be just realised I wrote about this in the last piece. Oops sorry. Ok moving on.

So Tirana is the Albanian capital city. Not the most exciting place in the world but it had a good feel to it with some pretty buildings, a big Pyongyang esque square and a rich history of empires and communism. One thing that must be noted about Tirana is its abundance of bus stations... It has 3 or 4 just to add to the confusion, amazing, wicked, falaminderit. But yes. Our first stop in Tirana, get George a tattoo yay. I've wanted one for ages and having finally found a design and place for it, it was just a matter of getting the tat. 50 dollars? Fine. And now a few weeks later its not infected, its peeled and looks sick. Everyone meet wei ling my new panda. The next day we were up for an early free walking tour, which was banging followed by a trip to the biggest of Hoxha's communist rule. Side note: he was so paranoid of soviet and us nuclear attacks over a few years he made (I think) 188,000 bunkers, put of an intended 370,000 (I think) to prepare for war with both the us and the soviets. The irony is that the president didn't even know Albania existed, lol. The one we visited tho was huge and never used. At times it was 5 stories underground and even had a huge meeting room/theatre. I stress, it, and none of the others, were used. Wow. On The day we planned to leave for berat we planned a day trip to kruja, the stronghold and home of our great Albanian hero skanderbeu the liberator and saviour of the Albanian people. This was cute. It was a town in the mountains with a pretty old town with cobbled streets and stores and a big omnipotent looking castle. We had a nice lunch up there and wandered the walls before heading back for our bus. This is when the next bus saga began.

This one ranks high in our list of bus grievances second the one in Kosovo and one ahead of the one we're in as I write... So we got back and walked to our hostel, 30 mins. We got our stuff and walked to the station with our bags in the rain. Remember there are three bus stations. We walked to the one we thought was it. Oh no its the one just along this road on the left by the big statue. Ok we can do that. This was maybe another km. We are tired and demotivated. As we get to the station we see a bus to beret leaving around the roundabout. We dont panic, there'll be another we're not in a rush. We ask a guy who works there... That was the last bus, great. So we have to get a bus towards fier and get off at a roundabout to get a taxi. As the sun was setting. Then when we got to beret the street name had changed so the one we gave people was the new one and everyone only knew the old ones so we couldn't find the apartment. This was until a nice man made it his mission to get us there so he called the number five times rill he picked and and the host picked us up. This was a very long day.

Beret however, was a pretty old ottoman city. Another UNESCO site (again) god were getting bored of these now just get me a beach and a city. He he he. Speaking of which we've seen two  more since lol. OK yeah so there's lots of white ottoman houses up the hills with big windows, very photogenic and pretty. There was also a big castle on the hill over the town. This was big, not just a castle but now there are restaurants and hostels up there too along with a mosque and church. Much more than we anticipated. Good exercise, good views and some good history, good cricket. (That was for you dad). Berat was nice but we were done with towns so it was on to the coast and one of our favorite little spits on the trip, vuno....

So I've now decided how to split this piece. I was going to put this in the second one and Split them between cities and beaches but having had such an action packed day yesterday I think I may ramble a bit too much so putting vuno in this piece may be preferable for both my brain and your sanity. I hope y'all agree with me, much love. So vuno. This was a funny stop, wed heard about it from a girl in Montenegro who recommended it to us a a hostel that was converted from a school in a tiny old town near the sea. Cool, the clincher tho was when she said there were animals just wandering around all the time. Score, result, as two big animal lovers vuno was placed on our itinerary immediately. So getting there wasn't easy, shock another bus situation. This one was long and hot. Firstly there was the intracity bus, simple. Then the minibus thru the mountains which was long, over two hours. The driver was also the most sane driver we've ever seen, he drove so carefully and slowly it was refreshing although it did mean the journey was super long. Bring back my crazy drivers please. So we were in vlore. Fine, one more bus and we're there. Only issue, there was no bus station. WHAT?! Omg. Yep we were dropped on the street and told to go to a street corner. We went there and spoke to three taxi drivers who told us we needed a three euro taxi, shock. Not having that thanks. So we spoke to a bus driver who told us to go stand by the road 50m away and hail down a bus that passes. Lord Almighty. Ok. Oh yeah by the way it was like 30 plus degrees. We waited then I asked another woman in a bus company shop and she says there is one leaving from outside her shop in 20 minutes... Convenient... We also only have half the money she asked for and she accepts it. We were very suspicious. Waiting in the road again but this time with a ticket the stakes were high.... We jumped at every bus that came until finally we got it. Easy. We got on and calmed down knowing the worst was done. How wrong we were. This journey, supposed to take an hour by car, took three hours and was unbearably hot. Urgh. It was a big one. But we made it to vuno and when walked to the hostel went a windy way to find a shop. There was no shop. We ended up walking down a narrow downhill path, thru rubble and rocks and eventually thru a construction site as some workers had to let us thru their underground piping operation. Safe to say we felt we deserved a beach day the next day. So the skholla hostel was nice, well done up and had all the amenities apart from, when we first arrived although it got fixed, running water... We were camping so it was also very cheap. The next day we went to a buff beach near by. It was an hour and a half walk to get there thru olive groves, over little farmers walls and down a cliff. It was very nice and provided some exercise before an inevitable day of beach lounging, eating food and swimming. Tick tick tick. A lush day on a lush beach with barely any people because it was getting to late in august. The only problem... The walk home... Up hill... We also manager to get lost... It was very hot and sweaty and we missed our trail sign, grrrrrr. Luckily we had the maps app and we ran into some shepherds who pointed us right. This also led us thru a scenic... Bee farm... The randomness of this trip never fails to disappoint hahahaha. A good day nonetheless. The other day and a half we spent at another beach near by that we could hitchhike to. Again very nice but more busy because its easily accessible and closer to the big town himare. As eluded to earlier the true attraction of the hostel was the wandering animals. Firstly the house cat was an aggressive scavenger, literally eating off your plate and would even come back after he'd been thrown away. Next came the "stray dogs" its hard to say if there stray tho or just have very lax owners. They were all starved of love and affection tho. Lucky they came to the right place, two affection craving humans here, form an orderly line please while we pet all of you in turn. Ok next. We showered them with love and they loved it. I miss Rowland 😞. Next came the heard of goats that fame straight thru the hostel every day. I say thru the hostel the hostel in built on one aide of the road and campsite is on the other. This is the main road to vuno town.. It was wide enough for one Car... But somehow seemed to have constant traffic running thru it, bazar really. The goat heard tho was hilarious, many if them equipped with bells so their imminent arrival was anticipated they would all trot thru, maybe 100 of them, grazing around our tent climbing down walls and generally just chilling, they were jokes and their procession was generally a highlight of our day. Lastly was the wandering mules. Lol. Mules. Run you mule. There were three but apparently there were up to 15 that just wandered freely all day erday. They arrived as we were all eating dinner, how convenient... And as I was trying to chow down on my pasta I had two mule heads, one on each shoulder, also trying to get a bite. They were very persistent, they're big and strong so it was a tricky one to stop them from getting at my food. We pushed them. They didn't budge. We clapped. They flinched. Them eventually our Peruvian friend got them away and then it was just the cat to contend with. An eventful dinner time at the animal house but all very funny and enjoyable.I'll leave y'all here and write the next chapter of our tale in half an hour or so, my head needs a wee rest, as does my stomach. This bus is like a furnace and is weaving round mountains, bleurgh.Falaminderit, ciao. G.

[haggertyadventuretime]

Ha Long Bay, Sa Pa and more

Turns out, Northern Vietnam is as hauntingly beautiful as everyone said!

We arrived in Ha Long Bay via a soft-seater bus (as opposed to a hard seater or a sleeper). It was our first time having a bus driver (or driver in general) in Vietnam, which made us feel very powerful, since the unofficial rules of the road in Vietnam dictate that larger vehicals get the right of way/you get out of their way. This was an organized tour, which meant that we had to endure the well-meaning but very cheesy remarks from our first “guide,” who was just someone who sits on your transport bus for you. We reached the bay and our guide told us that he would pray to ancestors that we have a sunny day which seemed a little extreme to me but nice, and we were transferred to the next guide, Luke. We were in a giant tourist transfer station, but you could just see the looming rocks of the bay in the distance.

We got on a transfer boat, and finally made it to the Imperial Legend Cruise, a three-story “junk boat” whose third level was a sun deck. After checking in (and making smuggled cocktails of Hanoian moonshine and Fanta because we heard the alcohol on the ship wasn’t included and was very pricy, which it was), we started heading out towards the rocky bay. We had lunch (we were fortunate enough to be seated with vegetarian Germans, which meant we had twice the food of the other tables) and started passing by the famous limestone islands. It was very beautiful, but unfortunately pretty “cloudy” and smoggy. 5,000 boats go through there every day, and they run entirely on fuel. The water is heavily polluted from the boats and Ha Long City, and there’s a lot of trash in the murkey water. We were taken to our first activity, which turned out to be a bust. It was advertised as hiking and swimming, but it’s an island that every boat goes to. The “hike” is a steep staircase that took 30 mins to ascend and descend due to the giant tourist traffic jam it held going all the way up, although the view was pretty amazing (once you got through the crowd of 40 Chinese tourists taking selfies in different orders). We didn’t dare swim in that water, it looked dirtier than Lake Ontario in 1993 (or for Bostonians’ sakes, the old version of the Charles). We got back to the boat, and five minutes later were told that we could enjoy kayaking next, which we opted out of so we could watch the sun set behind the giant rocks on the sun roof. That night we tried squid fishing, and although our guide caught one earlier, the only thing we caught were massive pieces of trash flows and glimpses of scary green water.

The next morning we transferred to a boat to go to Cat Ba Island, which is a little ways out to sea, but situated in its own bay of limestone islands. Our guide was right, the bay and islands of Cat Ba blew Ha Long out of the water. We had to cross open ocean to get there, and once we started floating into the bay it was clear that the area was not polluted at all like Ha Long. Far fewer Junk Boats were around, we could only see one or two at a time as opposed to 30-60 at a time in Ha Long. There were floating villages of fishing communities, quite the sight! Many fishing boats with children who wave to you, and women and men in row boats delivering kitchen supplies and snacks to boat kitchens. The limestone islands are closer together in this area, which makes it much more impressive. We made it to our bungalows, which were on a gorgeous sandy beach overlooking a quiet area with one giant limestone island only yards away, not to mention that we were staying on one ourselves.

I found our bungalow to be pretty much perfect. There were almost no boats coming by, it was entirely silent. No boat motors, no busses, NO MOTORBIKES, no airplanes, no sound but the ocean and a friendly (but competitive) game of volleyball, USA vs everyone else (go figure). I took out a kayak and paddles around the island nearby, the water was crystal clear and smooth. There were some pieces of trash floating on the water, so I made it my goal to pick up every piece I could find in our little bay area. I ended up getting five large pieces of styrofoam, two water bottles, a beer can, a flip flop, and a sponge in my half hour time on the water... Pretty much all the trash in the water we could see from our bungalow. While I was paddling around, one of the local people who lives in a floating village nearby passed by on his kayak, only he was paddling with a shovel. I waved to him and once again confirmed in my mind that the Vietnamese are badass. We spent the rest of the day napping and finishing off our snuggled Hanoi moonshine (mixed with Coca Cola this time), and I later received word that my sister is engaged. Yay!

In the morning we jetted off, quite early (about 8am, I thought we would leave at 9:30), and returned to the Imperial Legend, and then to the main land. We sat on a soft seat bus for another 3 hour journey to Ha Noi, this time manned by a bus driver who had less concern about safety when it came to his driving. It still wasn’t the horror story I’ve heard from other travelers who were dumb enough to not pay an extra $2 for a “westserner bus,” though, so I consider myself lucky. Vietnamese bus drivers in the North are notorious for their extremely reckless driving, even with a loaded bus while crossing mountain passes with hairpin turns. Do yourself a favor and NEVER google “North Vietnam bus crash,” it will give you nightmares, especially if you are about to go on a Northern Vietnamese bus😱. We made it home after a bumpy ride, and prepared to be picked up by another bus, this time a sleeper bus (SaPa Express) at the hotel that we had been staying in before we had made the trip to Ha Long Bay. By preparation, I mean that we went out for Bia Hois in the Old Quarter at our favorite spot, and realized at 9:05 that the bus was arriving at the hotel at 9:30 and it was a 20 minute walk through clogged streets and we each had [a few] beers. We barely made it with time to spare for a potty break in the hotel lobby, then got on our sleeper for the 5.5 hour drive north to Sa Pa.

Sleeper busses are pretty cool, by the way! The chairs are actually declined seats, there are two levels on the bus, and there are actual seat belts to hold you in (a rarity in Vietnam).

We arrived in Sa Pa, the coldest and poorest region of Vietnam. Northern Vietnam is populated mostly by hill tribes of indigenous “enthusiasts minorities,” many of whom were nomadic tribes in Mongolia that settled in the late 1800s in Vietnam and Northern Laos. Since it is the coldest region of Vietnam (high altitude + being far north), there is only one rice harvest (rather than the two that all other regions have), and the hill tribes maximize their rice growing capabilities by carving rice terraces into all the sunny mountainsides that they can. The first paddies were made when they settled, but bad weather and mudslides cause them to regularly need maintenance and rebuilding, and there are no roads that a tractor or car can access or pass, so all farm work is done the same way it was done for centuries: a water buffalo, a yolk, and a hand made wooden plow with a person on the other side. It’s incredibly hard work.

There are many different tribes in the area, and one of the popular tourist activities is trekking (hiking) and doing a homestay with a member of one of the local tribes. We set up just that with SaPa O’Chau, the first company run by a member of a local tribe, whose profits go directly to helping ethnic minority villagers receive education, direct money flow, and build schools for their children. Our guide (whose name none of us could pronounce) is a member of the Red Dao. She is 32, and has two children. Our group was us and three Germans.

We hiked 15k the first day through breathtaking rice terraces and many villages, mainly Red Dao and Black Hmong (google it, the costumes are great). It was pretty cool walking through and seeing so many people wearing exactly the same costume. The women of the tribes almost always wear their traditional clothes, all of which are sewn and embroidered themselves. They call it “handicraft,” and children (make and female) are taught the traditional embroidery at a very young age (I saw a 3 year old sewing a stuffed animal in town). They also do it any time they have a spare moment in the daylight: The moment our guide stopped to rest, she pulled a needle and thread out and started embroidering whatever project she was on. When you buy their handicrafts, apparently you look for the snazziest dressed woman, because clearly she knows what she’s doing with a needle and thread.

During the hike we learned about foraging for plants and medicinal herbs, and made our hands black-blue by rolling freshly picked indigo leaves in our hands. When we arrived at the homestay (not someone’s real house, but a traditional Dao-style building with a separate outhouse building with running water) we we enjoyed traditional Dao medicinal hot baths (infused with foraged plants that had been boiled for hours to release relaxing qualities) in the cool twilight. That night they killed a chicken and cooked every part of it, and treated us to a feast with the whole family. Apparently it’s great when tours happen, because the family gets to eat much better than usual. It was the best chicken I’ve ever had, cooked over an open flame. There were several rounds of rice wine, basically a home made rice moonshine with the breadiness of an unfiltered sake and the smoothness and texture of Everclear. We slept under mosquito nets, cuddled in the completely uninsulated building (but under very thick comforters) as the thermometer dropped to probably 40F, startling after a hike in 75 degree weather the same day. Altitude! Science!

In the morning, B and I were the only people to choose rice over pancakes, which meant a delicious meal of leftovers and steamed rice. So glad we got to taste that chicken twice! We walked back, a much less strenuous walk this time, and I ended up chilling in the back of the group with our guide during our last hour (we were just walking down a road at this point to a well known highway, no guide Fe necessary). We chatted about family and she asked a lot of questions about what is like to live in our country... Do we swim in rivers? How do we farm? When will you have a family? Apparently her generation is the first to have access to birth control, which is great, they seem to have everything that we have back in the states and it definitely helps them financially. The average income of Sa Pa villagers is around $20/month, I cannot imagine spreading that around a family with 5+ children in an area without ambulances or year-round fresh food. She is one of 7 girls and 1 boy to her parents, although she told me about a tragedy that took one of her sisters nine years ago, who had been planting crops with two of [the sister’s] children on a mountainside, when a land slide came and killed all three of them. After expressing my condolences, I asked what it is they do when that happens. Apparently, if it’s a bad landslide (too big) like this one was, they have to call the government to send people to help them dig out the bodies and build the area back up so it can be re-farmed. They then wash and dress the bodies and carry them up the mountain (which is damn tall and steep) and build a pyre. There were a few moments of silence as I once again realized how tough Vietnamese people are.

After some silence we also talked about other things they do that are more lighthearted, for example, they also climb Mt Fanispan (3,000 meter altitude) to plant and harvest cardamom. Apparently it only takes them 2-3 hours to climb it because they “go fast, and straight up!” They have also found a great revenue selling orchid plants for the Tet festival (lunar new year, biggest holiday in Vietnam).

Our hike came to an end, we thanked our guide and said our goodbyes, and B and I booked a hotel room for one more night in Sa Pa, which turned out to not be the best idea. Sa Pa doesn’t have much going on in terms of city food culture, and the only local culture there is, is local minority women and children peddling their handicraft into the early morning hours. You really feel bad for them, because you know that they have to walk back home upwards of 10km in the dead of night with all of their wares.

In the morning I went out shopping, because I wanted at least one hand-pounded silver jewelry piece, and something embroidered. I went to a market and picked up a pretty cheap embroidered purse from a Rainbow Hmong woman, and then started looking at earrings from a Black Hmong woman. As soon as you enter the market, people surround you with wares, saying, “Hallo, buy sometheeeng?! You buy from heeer, now you buy from meee!” I wanted one of the beautiful and rustic earrings, but quickly realized that I was dealing with indigenous earring sizes, and I don’t have gauged ears. Once resigning myself to the fact that there was no way any of them would fit my (comparatively) small earring holes, I looked at the nice lady trying to sell them to me (she looked about 75, so she was probably actually 100+), pointed to my ears and said, “too small!” The ladies looked with surprise at my ears, as if they had never seen such a thing. The lady with the earrings said something in her language to the others and they started laughing, then looked at me, pointed to my ears, and then the safety pin on her shirt, clearly offering to fix the problem (😱😱😱). I laughed, we all laughed, and I politely declined with a slightly horrified “nooooooooo!” I did end up getting a silver hand pounded bracelet from a lady that wouldn’t leave my booth at a beer bar later that day. They are persistent, and I refused to buy it until she lowered it to a price that I felt too bad to refuse. Hey, she got some cash, and I got something pretty for $4! She must have told all her friends that there was a sucker at that outdoor bar though, because we were suddenly propositioned by all of her friends and had to leave. Brendan would have bought a pretty cool mouth harp off a lady with only 7 fingers (whose embroidery was still surprisingly on point) but we didn’t have enough cash on us to ask what the price was (because once you ask, you have to buy it).

Got on another sleeper bus, this time during the afternoon (yay afternoon post-daydrinking nap!), made it back to Ha Noi where we stayed in the cheapest looking (and priced) hotel yet, but with the nicest bathroom and bed, Kangaroo Hostel. The next day we picked up some souvenirs, said goodbye to Vietnam by eating a ton of cheap tamarind clams and crab fried rice, and went to the airport to fly to Laos!

We arrived yesterday around 8pm in Luang Prabang. Totally freaked out at the airport because we didn’t have enough cash for the visa and there were no ATMs flight side at either airport, but luckily Laos immigration doesn’t give a flying fuck. The very nice immigration officer seemed much more interested in going home, so he casually instructed us to bypass all security and customs booths, to leave the airport terminal and go to an ATM outside where someone was “observing us,” and he just took our passports to start printing the visas. Okay... We do that and literally no one follows us, the only “official” we had guiding us was a taxi driver telling us what to do because apparently this happens often. Then, we went BACK THROUGH the SECURITY GATES THE WRONG WAY, back past customs, where we were hurried through with a smile and a wave, as well as a $1 “surcharge” for getting the visa pay when the guards like to be gone. If we were in the US and tried that, we would have been arrested and shot probably 6 times over, plus a vacation at Guantanamo, probably. We figured that since we had been sitting for three weeks, we could just walk the pretty straightforward (and reportedly safe) 5k from the airport to the hotel. Luang Prabang has almost no animal life in the city save for the ubiquitous southeast Asian wild dogs and cats, is spared from UXO and is fully paved, so we walked a refreshing 35ish minutes to our very cozy hotel at Mano Temple House. En route, we DEFINITELY didn’t cross over the scariest walking bridge ever/yet over the Mekong, that was only made of three planks of wood at a time, nailed into a rickety steel structure with the occasional broken plank, while holding our phones as flashlights in one hand and grasping for our lives on the handrail with the other hand because there are very few street lights in Luang Prabang and we were weighed down with our backpacks. That definitely didn’t happen at all, so sleep easy, moms! 😵. HAHAHA NEVER AGAIN. We are taking a tuktuk next time over the highway.

Right now we have done some sightseeing in Luang Prabang this morning, and are chilling at a western bar called Utopia which has a gorgeous outlook of the connecting river to the Mekong with sleeper cots under an overhang, and 640ml bottles of local beer for 15,000 kip (a little under $2). Tomorrow morning we plan on getting up before dawn to check out the alms ceremony, when all the monks leave the temples for alms! Laos is beautiful and far more peaceful than Vietnam. You can see the stars from the city, because there are so few lights!

Ok, this was a long one, hope you enjoyed!

[chefbstrikesagain]

MY PARENTS IN MALAYSIA

I feel like a shell of the human I used to be after a marathon of a week with my parents. Desperate for some sort of routine and 2 years of sleep I'm slowly adjusting back to life without them. What I didn't realize was how exhausting entertaining for a week would be. Explaining and translating a new language, ordering food, figuring out suitable accommodations, talking about my future, and so so so much driving are just the beginning of the trip. However, that being said, it was such a fun time showing them around my home for the last 8 months in the country that i've grown to know and love despite its abundance of geckos and lack of western toilets. I'll give you an idea of what our days looked like but remember, this are only a small glimpse into what actually happened. Documenting cultural exchange, moments of appreciation for life back home, or a new developed sense of understanding are all things hard to explain in words so you'll have to ask my parents about it!

DAY 1: The date was August 31 and it was brutally sunny and humid, yet again, in good ole' Malaysia. I made my way to the airport feeling oddly nervous to see my parents after the last 8 months of being apart. Fortunately, the airport in the city is fairly small (with only 2 terminals) which makes it really easy to park and pick people up at their gates like you see in movies! I had a 50/50 shot of getting the right gate and was unfortunately waiting at the wrong one. After just 10 short minutes I bee bopped to the other gate and there they were! Luggage in tow and surprisingly looking great. I imagined them in a rough state after their 18 hours of travel but I think the adrenaline took over and they seemed ready to explore a new country on the other side of the world. We loaded up the bags in the car and my dad went to get in (but opened the wrong door) I think they forgot about driving on the opposite side of the road here- and they marvelled at the Nissan Almera. Just kidding, but they were surprised how much room the car had for having a sewing machine for an engine. We made our way out of the parking lot to the hotel which was just a short 15 min drive.

We listened to Malaysian radio on the way back from the airport and took the scenic route along the waterfront. Malaysian and Sabah flags flew proudly everywhere as the day they flew in was 'Merdeka Day' aka Freedom day which lasts for one month in Malaysia. I told them to keep their expectations low for this vacation, as on their last vacation, they were in 3 giant cities in Spain. This was definitely going to be a more rugged, change of pace than walking around Park Guell in Spain with a glass of wine. We changed in the hotel room into our bathing suits and made our way down to the pool. Mom and Dad were surprised at how nice the Hotel was... We stayed at the Hyatt in Kota Kinabalu and it was one of the only 5 star hotels in the area. At the pool we played catch up and Dan Moore started yelling about drinks. About an hour in, my parents realized how strong the equatorial sun really is as they were both burned. It's not like going to the beach in New England where you can stay all day no problem. We left the pool, showered, and got ready to grab an early dinner. We went to El Centro, one of my favorite places, for pizza and margaritas. Afterwards, we headed to a rooftop to watch the sunset sink down into the South China Sea. Dmoore was falling asleep in his chair watching the sunset and he ended up sleeping at 7:30pm.

Day 2: We woke up really early on day 2, mostly due to the fact that dmoore was up and impatiently bopping around the room. I wanted to take them to my favourite curry restaurant for traditional food- but realized everything in town was closed! It was second raya or Eid which meant that it was a public holiday and everyone was at home celebrating with family. We walked to the waterfront where dmoore leaped across a storm drain gap (approx. 3 feet) where his legs gave out from underneath him. He coined the nickname DJ reckless for the rest of the trip and certainly lived up to the name with the hospital trip...something I'll get to later. We walked back to the hotel for breakfast where we had an incredible buffet full of noodles and even some western food. Mom and dad both tried mee hoon soup with vegetables and dad also had nasi lemak- the national dish of Malaysia. We changed into our bathing suits and booked island tours off the coast of Kota Kinabalu. It was another great day for island hopping and we spent about 4 hours total on 2 separate islands. We stood in the water, which was pretty much empty, as all the Korean and Chinese tourists were staying to stay out of the sun to stay pale and beautiful. After a few hours of lounging we grabbed lunch and took the boat back to our hotel. We changed quickly and I took mom and Dad to the City Mosque.

The mosque is a giant floating structure that overlooks the ocean. It's coloured with cobalt blue tiles and is entirely white- definitely a sight for sore eyes. In order for my mom to enter, she had to cover completely, which meant renting a tundong (Malay word for Hijab). Check out the pictures- she certainly rocked the outfit! We didn't spend too much time at the mosque as prayer was happening soon so we left and headed towards the mall. We grabbed sushi for dinner which was incredible. I force-fed mom and made her try the smallest bite of sushi which she openly protested but in the end I think she liked it.... My dad was shocked at the cost of the whole dinner which came out to be 12USD or 4USD per person. In the US, that much sushi would have easily been $60. This was a theme for the rest of the trip. Every meal was converted and my parents faces would light up when they realized they spent 4USD to feed the three of us as well as 1 of my friends.

Later that night, my mom and I explored the hotel and found the hidden gym and then grabbed drinks while DJ reckless had a business call to make at 8:30. Joey joined us for drinks around 10:30 and we stayed up until midnight which was late for them.

Day 3: We checked out of the hotel around 9:30am and made the 3 hour drive up to The Tip of Borneo where we would stay for 2 nights. We listened to a bunch of podcasts and made easy conversation about things we passed along the way including cows, stray dogs, and why the gas stations were always so full. When we finally reached our destination, called 9 Huts on a Hill, we pulled in and were surrounded by geese, chickens, and bamboo huts. The cutest little woman greeted us at check-in and had us sit down while she offered us some water. Mom broke out into a laughing attack from trying to take in everything (chickens and bamboo huts) and had to put her sunglasses on to conceal her tears. It looked like she was having a nervous breakdown. I understand because it was definitely a downgrade from the 5 star hotel but the accommodations turned out way better than the first impression.

The huts were pretty much open air concept as the front wall could be broken down. There was a queen sized bed with a mosquito net over the top and an A/C unit and fan to keep you cool at night. Each hut had its own bathroom and shower which was a huge plus (not a squatty potty) so Cathy was happy. After settling in we ate dinner and explored the complex. We were on a big hill right above the ocean, complete with a giant yoga platform, a kitchen, and a 'chill zone' that had a bunch of hammocks to hangout in. We dragged a fan out from a room and drank beers and finished a bottle of wine while watching the sunset. Pretty great first night. We turned in around 10pm for some much needed rest in our comfortable beds.

Day 4: We woke early (around 7:30) no surprise there...and headed into town for our first Malay breakfast!!! I ordered mom and dad roti tulur (egg bread with curry) and tea tarik which is tea mixed with condensed milk. They loved it so much they each ordered 2 glasses of tea. They were also pleasantly surprised with the roti they had for breakfast. We paid (3 USD) for breakfast and made our way to my friend Robbie's beach at the secret place. We spent the whole day drinking at Robbies in the water and marvelling at the beauty and just how untouched the land was. I'll let them describe to you how amazing this place was because I talk about it all the time- but ask them!

We grabbed dinner again at the curry house after we showered and said goodbye to Robbie and his family. We finished the second bottle of wine that night under the yoga platform where it monsooned shortly after sunset for the rest of the night. Definitely a recipe for a great nights sleep which we needed to prepare for the marathon days we were going to have in Ranau and the rest of the trip.

Day 5: We checked out of 9 huts and made the dangerous drive from the Tip of Borneo to my small town in Ranau. It's dangerous because we were driving up and down mountains, some roads were non-existent, and landslides were everywhere. The signs said the hills were on average 16% grade either going up or down - if that means anything to you. Despite the dangerous drive it made for incredible views. You could see so far and just how mountainous the area I live in really is. We arrived to my house around 2pm where 40 of my students greeted my Mom and Dad! They were so excited to meet them and of course, take selfies. After about 5 hours of small talk and pictures, we left the open house with two of my students and grabbed some food in town at restaurant Muslim. We talked about ghost stories, possessions, and how the street I live on is haunted- just normal dinner conversation. We dropped off the students around 9:30pm and headed back to my street where we parted ways for 9 hours until the next morning when we had school.

Day 6: If you've made it this far into the blog post, congratulations! I'm exhausted and distracted just from writing this so if you're still reading one thing is sure- you definitely don't have ADD! Wahooo. Anyways, Tuesday morning, day 6, was probably the craziest day my parents had while in Malaysia and they were such troopers the entire time. We woke up around 7am to get to school by 8 which was my first class. My class is with form 1 and 2 girls (ages 12/13) and who all live at the school. They don't have good English at all so we usually do some sort of art as a medium to communicate with one another. My parents brought sidewalk chalk to school and we drew the city of Boston's skyline. This was a great medium and the art turned out beautiful. My mom even had some of the girls lay down on the ground holding hands and she traced them all. She told them that when I was little she would trace me and I would colour in my body with clothes and hair and a face. Dmoore wasn’t as approachable and some of the girls told me in Malay that he’s so serious. It’s tough to communicate with young children when you don’t know the language. Their shyness can be misinterpreted as disinterest, which is usually the farthest thing from what they actually want. After saying goodbye, we had class with 4 Bersih- which is one of my favourite classes. These students are older and already have a good foundation in English which means I can teach more intricate lessons that go deeper than colors or numbers. I split the class up into 4 groups and gave them all category titles. Seasons, Food, Sports, and Slang all having to do with Boston. The students then had to interview my parents to get the necessary information and do a short, creative presentation on what they learned. They all did a great job and some of the presentations were hilarious - especially the Boston Slang.

After school, we left and grabbed lunch before our paragliding session! I convinced them both to jump off a mountain which I never thought would happen....After paragliding we went to a fish farm where you stick your feet in a river and a bunch of fish swim over and supposedly suck the dead skin off of your feet. Mom was freaking out the whole time and barely put one toe in the water. Afterwards, we grabbed dinner at the Sabah Tea plantation where we overlooked vast green tea fields and Asian mountains. Mom and Dad ordered more Tea Tarik and achieved a new level of sugar high before we had to leave for our next event. After a dinner of butter chicken and vegetables we made our way back to our house to shower and get ready for drinks out on the town. We had about an hour to relax before I picked them up and made our way to the 'Kolam'. In the middle of the jungle there is a fish pond place where you can order lots of food and drinks. My parents were shocked that there was any sort of habitable life that far in the jungle and not one mosquito. They were able to try Lihing, which is the local traditional rice wine, and they seemed to really like it. Doreen got them a cake that said ‘Welcome to Ranau Mr. and Mrs. Moore’ which was really nice of her. After eating some quick we decided that we should leave as the drinking was really starting to go downhill.

Day 7: After waking up tired and hungover we made our way to school for the last day. My first class on Wednesday’s is arguably the best class of the week with the special needs students. They always get so excited to see me and just all around have great energy. My parents had a warm welcome by the Teachers and worked with a small group of students on practicing the letters ‘I’ and the letter ‘S’. While working with the students the teachers were setting up for a small breakfast in the kitchen. They had coffee and small finger food, known as quey, for my parents to try. It was so nice of them to organize this- I had no idea they were going to do that! After making small talk about our trip and what life was like in America we said our thank yous and goodbyes. We left class and then headed to my next class with form 4 amanah which we were a little late for. The students are all crazy, in the best way possible, and I talked with them before about teaching my parents a traditional dance that we do in Sabah called the Sumazau. The students moved the desks and led my parents to the center of the dance floor where they instructed them how to dance while I blasted the music. I got some great videos on my go-pro and will be sure to post some pictures. We left that class after giving out some chocolate coins, and headed to a form 6 class who are all pre-university and about 18 years old. This class was harder to plan for as they are less willing to be really outgoing, so we did a lesson on Malaysia where they taught my parents about the major Holidays observed. This class sort of dragged on and I could tell my parents were getting tired so we ended class early and with a giant selfie.

After school, we grabbed a quick lunch of martabak sayur and headed to the famous Poring Hot Springs. We enjoyed a butterfly garden, tree-top canopy walkways, and a short hike to a 50 foot waterfall! Poring was great but it was such a hot and humid day we were just ready to relax. We headed home and I got to nap for 2 hours before Doreen asked us to dinner. When we showed up to dinner I just expected Doreen and maybe her husband to be there. I was not prepared for 10 teachers including the principal to show up. There was a big buffet and mom couldn’t stop talking about the pumpkin soup. All in all, Doreen really pulled out all of the stops while they were here- I really appreciate everything she did. Shortly after dinner, when all of the muslims left, we drove to a bar down the street with Ravi, Rose, Zeddy, and the three of us started drinking Tiger. Ravi kept ordering set after set  and him and my dad were really getting along. Two kindred spirits for sure. After making a deal with Ravi that we could leave when all the beers were done, and no more sets to be ordered, we escaped and said our goodbyes to everyone as that was the last time my parents would see them. We laughed on the drive home about how funny the night was and were all looking forward to sleeping in the next morning.

Day 8: Dan Moore woke up super early, no surprise there, and was itching for me to connect my phone to his so he could browse the internet. With tired eyes and an attitude, I quickly connected our phones and closed my eyes for another much needed hour of sleep. We woke up and headed to the sports complex where we got ready to rent ATV’s. The paths the guide was taking us on were super overgrown, bumpy, and on the side of a mountain. All of these factors made it really hard to control the ATV. Dmoore was driving like an absolute savage and the guide and I kept exchanging worried looks when he would slam the gas instead of the break and narrowly avoided hitting one of us. Inevitably, something went wrong and we found ourselves in the emergency room for DJ reckless. In hindsight, it’s all really funny now but at the time I was nervous how this was going to impact our plans - especially if his ankle was broken! The hospital did an x-ray and said they didn’t think it was broken… but they would need an MRI to be sure about any other injuries. We asked for crutches and they told us that they were ‘finished’ no more crutches left.

We left Ranau with DJ reckless in the backseat and headed towards Kota Belud for a Proboscis river monkey tour and to grab lunch with my friends Janna and Kelsey. We found crutches at a Pharmacy in their town which really saved the day and made dmoore much more mobile and less hoppy. We ate lunch on a lake about a 10 minute drive from the ocean where we talked about the future, my parents trip, and the elephant in the room - dmoore’s swollen ankle. After lunch we went to my friend Jessi’s house where she lives with a Malay family and had tea and quey while we waited to go on the river monkey tour. We boarded a small boat and set off down a muddy river surrounded by jungle on all sides. We saw a giant monitor lizard, mud crabs, and the monkeys! It was hard to see the monkeys because they were so far but it was great to see them in the wild and in their natural habitat vs. a Zoo. The tour was really cool but I was really looking forward to firefly tour which we had to cancel because it was getting late and would be hard to fit dinner in with Claire later on. After saying goodbye to Jessi we grabbed a quick dinner with Claire before continuing the trek on into the city. We arrived at our hotel and we got ice for DJ recklesses ankle and gave into our craving for Western food and ordered pizza hut. Mom and Dad were so happy to be back in a clean, air-conditioned hotel room, while I was trying to live up the last few days before going back to reality (dirty water and fried rice). Mom and I went souvenir shopping and then we all turned in early that night.

Day 9: The last dayyyyy. We were able to sleep in until 9! We gathered our tired and sore bodies and headed to the hotel breakfast. The buffet overlooked the ocean and you could see all the small ferry boats shuttling people from island island to island like scurrying ants. We took extra coffee and tea from the buffet and brought it to the rooftop where we sat in the shade and tried to digest everything we’ve done over the last week. This inevitably led to DJ reckless ordering a healthy drink (coconut and cucumber juice) with a twist - just add vodka. We spent pretty much the whole day at the rooftop pool in and out of the water and shade ordering food and drinks. Dan and Cathy needed to get as much sun as possible as this is ‘it’ until next summer. Live music began around 7pm and was this awesome band doing covers of really mellow music- Maroon 5, The Carpenters, etc to give you the vibe. With an ocean breeze ruffling our hair, drinks in hand, and soft music in the background I knew we did good and was so happy everyone made it through the week alive. We definitely had some close calls with DJ reckless but nonetheless, a great time. Mom had been craving frozen yogurt all day and used our drunkenness to get us down to the first floor of the hotel where the mall connected to the hotel. Dmoore and I ordered tea in the piano lounge where a performer was just wrapping up playing. I waited until he was well out of earshot and began to play- it had been over a year! We ended with a really choppy version of Billy Joel’s piano man while dmoore was on vocals singing into his frozen yogurt like a microphone.

Overall, the week long trip felt like an eternity but also I blinked and then it was over. I feel so grateful that Mom and Dad flew all the way across the world to see me. It really validates my whole experience here and I know when I go home I can talk about it and someone will understand what I mean, or be able to relate past ‘oh that sounds cool’. I have really made a home for myself here and integrated myself into the community and it will not be easy to leave- especially with my students. I am also so happy they were able to come with open minds and hearts and experience a Muslim country in a time where it is unsafe to practice Islam in America. I hope they can help be a voice for the misunderstood and an ally against discrimination where it has become so normalised in the media to highlight a minority for their issues. Malaysia has become apart of me over this past year and I’m so happy the people that are closest to me are able to understand how this country and culture has shaped me.