#she can't stop it from happening and she doesn't know what could possibly ease that pain if it did happen

[mmikmmik2]

Owl House season one Mediocre Parent Eda Clawthorne is so real and so underrated. She does so much child endangerment. She has multiple "oh whoops, yeah, I guess I haven't actually been teaching you anything" moments with Luz. When Eda misses the bell ringing in Understanding Willow, Luz says "yeah... she is not super reliable". Eda called King her roommate. He's based his entire self-image on the outright lies she's been telling him about his past for years. Eda loves King and Luz, she takes care of them, she's good for them, she wouldn't actually let them (or any kid, I think) get seriously hurt, but it takes her time to step up as a really great parent and that's not where she's at throughout most of S1.

This is way more interesting and complicated than Eda being a good parent all along who just got a little more openly affectionate over time. Eda talking about how much Luz improved her life in Agony of a Witch and Separate Tides wasn't just lip service - Eda had serious problems. There's a lot going on with how she kept pushing people away and refusing to admit that anyone is important to her. And I mean, no wonder - as soon as she let herself acknowledge that she's a mother in Eda's Requiem, she opened herself up to all the pain and fear of possibly losing those relationships.

[h0ney-mochi]

a little kunikuzushi brainrot from the anon who sent the kissing scara ask ...... i just NEED someone to talk to about this ughh

okay. he's, of course, innocent as ever, so this one time when he comes across a ✨spicy✨ moment in some book he'd been reading, kuni doesn't understand what's happening in that scene. so he comes to you for help!

when he asks about it, you chuckle awkwardly and try to avoid explaining it to him, but kuni's eager to learn and doesn't want to give up easily. he's so cute omg

my brain has a limit, so what would you do?

(also, you seem like a pretty cool person! can i be 🧋 anon?)

Kunikuzushi x reader ;; readers pronouns not mentioned

SUGGESTIVE CONTENT (it's mainly sfw, but at the end it gets a little suggestive)

Summary: Kunikuzushi spends some of his time reading. His pure, innocent self comes across a.. scene, which he doesn't really understand, but from the sentences it's good..? So he comes to you, asking for your help on it. How could you deny him when he's so eager to know..?

A/n: WELCOME 🧋 ANON <33 Thank u sm for the ask!! I like to think I'm pretty alright :)) I don't think I wrote this well ahh.... 🙌

This made me think, a little hard to write on the explaining, so that part is a little messy.. but ahhh, explaining to lil innocent kuni what the scene is... his flushed reaction... aah~ the possibilities?!

Minor writer, dni if uncomfortable!

You're just relaxing in your room, writing some things down on a small paper. That's when you heard footsteps and the door open. You turn around and see that it's Kunikuzushi. You noticed that he had a book in hand. You greet him, asking what brings him to you, while you go back to your paper.

He walks next to you and sits down on the chair next to the desk. "Well I- there's this scene in the book and I don't understand.. it..?" He quickly opens up the book again and you put your pen down. Kuni shows you and you take it in your hands, reading. It takes you a moment to realize you're reading one of those spicy scenes. You stop reading as you widen your eyes, looking at him, back at the words and then back at him.

You put the book back in front of him, awkwardly laughing. "Well, that's- It's not really important, so you can just continue in the book," you say, smiling slightly at him, "It's not the the end, is it?" He nods, but continues to speak, "Well, yeah, but I want to know. She describes it as-" "I very well read what she described it as, Kuni," you chuckle, tapping your fingers against the desk, "But it's something you can learn later in life, you know-?"

"Why can't you just tell me?" He stares with a confused look, "Is it really that bad? The author certainly doesn't write it like that-" You let out a sigh, thinking, staring at the book. He leans down to meet your gaze, "Please?" You look at him. Is it really worth telling this pure soul what he just read? Well, his curiosity is adorable.. Oh dear. He won't back away that easily, so might as well just get over it, no?

"Alright, um," you start, clearing your throat, "Give me the book again." Kuni gives it to you and you head to the page. You read through the start of the scene and then a bit after, quickly grasping on what exactly you're about to explain to him. You're not sure if he genuinely does not know anything or maybe he knows something, just a little.. you hope he does, would ease your mind..

You start speaking, asking 'simple' questions first, such as how much does he know about anything related, and all that jazz. You're regretting everything as you're proven again that no, he does not know.

And so you explain. Bit by bit, you try your best to tell him that yes, that's seggs, and yes, a man has his dick inside a woman in the scene. And yes that they both receive pleasure. You tried your best, yet you had no idea what the fuck were you trying to say. But the more you tried to explain, the more you noticed his face getting hotter. He asks questions, you answer them.

At some point you shut up completely, seeing Kunikuzushi put his hands on his face for a moment. "Are you okay?? I know this is a very awkward topic, I don't know if I'm even telling you something," you chuckle a little. He takes his hands away and swallows. Kuni looks back at you, shifting in his seat, "..And how do they- how does that feel?" You blink. Thinking for a moment, you respond, "Well, it usually feels good, the author wrote it as.. well, we both read it."

"Have you done it?" His gaze is unfocused. You shake your head, "No, but I've read of it, maybe seen it, and few of my friends speak of it." It's silent, Kuni being lost in thought. Then he whispers an "Could we try it?" Your eyes widen at that. He looks at you with a pleading look, "Pleaase? I want to know how that is.." "Kuni, this is something you should really think about first-" You quickly respond, but he interrupts you.

"Please?"

..You can't say no to that, can you?

So with few more sentences, and him being eager to have you show him, you and him were on the bed. Your hand held his face as you told him how to kiss, Kuni immediately pressing his lips against yours when you stop talking.

Then you had him part his lips, so you could show him more how a kiss can be. Your hand on his cheeks, the other at his waist. In between kisses, he's telling you how he's feeling weirder and hotter. Each of your soft touch on his body was making him shudder and make noise in your mouth.

"Are you sure?" You ask again, hand tracing his arm. He nods quickly, "Yes, yes, please." So you continued. You laid down while telling Kuni what to do, telling him that yes, you can touch that, yeah you can touch that as well. It seemed like he couldn't focus though, too much information, too much of your touch, your words, you. His hands were a little shaky, he was flushed and his eyes always went from your eyes to your body. After a moment, he just mumbled out an 'It's too much..'

You nodded, saying it's completely fine. You understand. You laid him down and got on top, indulging him another kiss. His hands went on your shoulders, moaning in the kiss when your hand trailed down his stomach. Kuni pulls away, bucking his hips, "Lower.. please, touch me-" So you did. And his head falls back as a whine comes through. You press a kiss to his cheek, "I'll show you what they did, alright?"

[i4bellingham]

hi! if you are taking requests:

could i ask for an angst of jude and the reader getting into a fight which results in the reader leaving the house? but jude gets worried about them?

thank you!!!

i also love your fics so much

I LOVE YOU, I’M SORRY : jude bellingham x reader

cw: cussing, misunderstandings, jude being an asshole in the first half but don’t worry because he redeems himself :P

i need to recover from my writer's block some more, i am not a fan of how this piece turned out 😭

You're not sure if Jude fully understands your argument, or if he does, there is a possibility that he deems it unnecessary to recognize the weight of your worries because he just do not give a single fuck about it.

Instead of trying to see from where you're coming from, he does the opposite and tries to divert the entire conversation happening in a different direction. Point-blank counters, shifting blames and the refusal to look into the bigger picture of what's happening around him becomes his defense mechanism.

Worst of it all? This has been going on for two weeks now, and he's never once acknowledged your worries let alone ease them down. And quite frankly, you're just tired of it all.

You love Jude, that's an irrefutable fact but just because you love him doesn't mean you'll continue staying with him unless something changes. Especially how he treats your current concern in the relationship.

“You’re being ridiculous. She’s part of the team, she treats everybody like that.” Here goes his usual counter attack, rapidly shrugging off your uneasiness just as fast as you've voiced them out.

An exasperated sigh leaves your lips, you know this conversation with him will end in the same way it had just like yesterday; unresolved and thrown out of the window.

“‘She treats everybody like that’? So she goes to wipe every player’s sweat off their bodies too Jude? Is that it?” You sarcastically ask. “Funny how I’ve never seen her do it once or did she do it in time when she knew I’d arrive?”

Jude looks like he's trying to hold himself from screaming at you to understand his point; a pointless argument one both of you can't win unfortunately, as he too grits his teeth and the inevitable shutting of the television off is drawn as he stands up from the couch.

“I’m done here. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” He says before making his way towards the stairs.

“You never want to talk about anything if it comes to her. I don’t know why but you're awfully protective of her Jude.” Your own words bring a sting to your chest. You know you're just pushing him to his limit at this point but recalling all those times since last week that he's evaded any talk about her or your worries that she's crossing a professional line with him, you yourself is barely hanging on a thread from snapping.

Jude stops and whips his entire body to face you. There is a tight frown on his face, brows pulling in a scrunch before a scoff leaves him. He walks back on the first level of the stairs, crossed arms and frowning face.

“Are ya hearin’ yourself right now?” He incredulously asks you. “You’re soundin’ ridiculous with thisㅡ this accusations that you have-”

You stand up from sitting on the couch. “They’re not accusations Jude. Merely something that I noticed since you've refused to talk to her about setting boundaries especially in a professional setting like that.”

“It’s weird to talk about it with her considerin’ she’s not doing anything wrong-”

“Oh so invading my boyfriend’s personal space, being a complete bitch when I’m there and being awfully comfortable with touching you is not wrong!?” You cut him off, the rise and fall of your chest apparent as you spoke from your voice raising. “I’m not even asking you for something big Jude, all I want is for you to settle a boundary with her because as your girlfriend I feel disrespected by her and her actionsㅡ and you're not making me feel any better by taking her fucking side every time we talk. I’m so tired of having this conversation all the time just for my worries to remain unresolved, I’m just so fucking tired of you Jude...”

Swiping off your phone and car keys from the table, you left a stunned Jude at the bottom of the stairs as you drove off and away from your so called home. If he can't get a grip and start acting like how a boyfriend should, then you don't have anything to stay for in this relationship. Not even the love he proclaims he have for you.

ㅡ

You don’t know how long you've been sitting here. With your phone completely shut off and the silence inside the car being your only company, there was nothing else for you to do but wallow in self-pity and self-hatred.

You don't understand why it was so difficult for Jude to have the talk that you've asked him for since last week. Why he was so bothered by the idea of setting a professional boundary with one of the team’s new athletic trainers was beyond you.

He had always hit you with the same lines that she wasn't doing anything wrong, that she's part of the team and that it was awkward to have that kind of talk with her yada yada. Honest to God if you didn't have this much trust on Jude, you're near to thinking and convincing yourself that he's probably cheating, and that thought alone makes you wanna hurl the content of your stomach from tonight's dinner.

You've had countless of talks about him and setting boundaries, you've had multiple fights because of her but never once were your worries ever acknowledged by your own boyfriend. And it pains you more than anything to go through such a situation where you feel like your feelings are being invalidated in the relationship that you try so hard to understand and have patience for.

It wasn't a huge request. You didn't ask him to move the moon for you, fix the climate change or explore the entire ocean floor but to merely establish a limit and an extent to where she can act out in her comfort. But unfortunately things just doesn't work in the way you wanted them too so now you're here, sat inside your car with the heater blasting on in the outskirts of the city alone.

And you stay there for a few more hours just until the sliver of sun peek through in between the mountain ranges. You think you may have dozed off in your seat at some point during the entire night you were there but you don't dwell on the thought for too long, not when you have to drive all the way back in the city to face another dreaded day with the possibility of yet another fight happening.

You purse your lips, recalling the last time that either you or Jude went home and there was no worries for things like this. It seems almost so long ago when the both of you were reveling in each other's presence, finding comfort in one another as you do the most mundane task in existence.

It just feels so nostalgic, almost like you have completely lost whatever comfort you found in your relationship once when it's being challenged right now by factors that shouldn't even be treated as a major threat to your relationship right now. Only if Jude knows how to listen and acknowledge and you to be more patient and level-headed.

You stop by a local cafè where you and Jude used to stop by during the early mornings before, only halting the visits when he gifted you a coffeemaker for Christmas last year. You got yourself yours and Jude’s usual drinks before purchasing a few pastries and treats before you're driving back to your shared home.

You were in the process of locking your car door when the door to your house opened, and came rushing out was Jude still in his pajamas, phone in hand before he's wrapping you in his embrace.

“Where have you been? Do you know how worried I am? I’ve called your phone a million times and you weren't answering. I called your friends thinking you were there with them but they told me that you haven't gone by to visit for an entire week. I drove in the city looking for you for hours and I couldn't find youㅡ Do you know how worried sick I am? Where have you been the entire night Y/N?” He continues, reprimanding you as he guided you back inside the house with a grip over your shoulders. “Have you got your phone with you? You've got it with you haven't you? Why didn't you answer any of my calls-?”

“It was turned off the entire night Jude.”

Jude scoffs at your passive tone of voice, watching as you drop the bag of pastries over the kitchen counter along with his coffee before your walking up the stairs with an obvious sag on your shoulders.

“You could have called me and told me you were safe no? I was worried sick about you.” Jude follows you to your bedroom as you went inside the en suite bathroom to wash up. “Seriously Y/N you should've at least texted me.”

“Right. Apologies, won’t happen next time.” He hears you reply just before the door to the bathroom shut close.

Alone in your shared room, Jude becomes heavily aware of your nonchalance, the thick wall of ice separating you both. He noticed that you never once look him in the eye upon arriving home, opting to fix your gaze on the monochrome walls of the house than to look at his face entirely.

You never pushed him away from touching you, but by the slight adjustments you made while being in his hold, Jude knew he fucked up big time. He knew that he did even last night, the moment you told him that you were tired of him.

Jude isn't sure if you realized the words to leave your lips last night but nonetheless, Jude knows he deserves them. Heck he doesn't even deserve to be in the same house as you right now let alone be in the presence of your tempering patience especially with how badly he had acted for the last two weeks.

He doesn't know where you get the patience for him from but he knows he needs to change and make some adjustments. In order to keep you from walking away from his life, Jude knows he needs to change some things in himself in order to not make the same mistakes again. God knows what will happen to him if he loses you, he doesn't even want to know.

Jude waits patiently as you wash up, picking up some undergarments from your wardrobe before lining it over the bed with one of his oversized jumpers and shorts. He sits by the bed, resting his back against the wooden headboard as he waits for you to finish, fiddling with his phone as he sends a last text to someone before chucking the device on the pillows.

You leave the bathroom with a steamy smoke from your shower, pausing on the doorway to stare at the clothes all laid out for you on the bed and the (most likely) perpetrator of it who sat awkwardly on your side of the bed, mouth slightly open as he softly snored with his arms crossed over his chest.

You took the clothes he prepped for you, turning to change in the bathroom before throwing away your dirtied clothes in the hamper.

You give one last glance at Jude before gently closing the bedroom door behind you as you walk downstairs and into the kitchen. You'd rather be here just in case Jude wakes up on the bed, it would be awkward and a little difficult for you to be in the same room as him right now with no clarity or any sort of proper conversation happening in between the two of you.

You’re not by any means raising your pride up in the ceiling but you certainly are a bit hesitant at the thought of letting Jude talk to you just easy as that after the way he treated you. You'll talk to him yes but he'll have to earn the rights again after being a complete ass for more than two days.

Fetching your pastries and the remaining of your drink, you began munching on your food as you scrolled through your phone. You know you should be taking some rest and sleeping after an entire night out but you couldn't bring yourself to sleep. You think it's not exactly the time for you to sleep when you have your head filled with a magnitude of thoughts about where you'll be picking up your relationship with Jude. You yourself know you'll get zero to none wink of sleep even if you lay down on the soft cushioned couch you have in your living room, you know even that won't suffice and you normally are able to sleep there after a few minutes of laying down. That alone says something.

Speaking of Jude, your boyfriend walks down the stairs with a small frown on his face. He silently takes the stool next to you, letting you have some peace and silent that lasted shortly after you've gotten it.

“Y/N... Love, can we talk?”

You continue scrolling through your phone, not once passing him a glance.

“Oh? I thought you don’t want to talk? You told me that just last night if I recall correctly-”

“I’m sorry, I didn't mean it.”

“Didn’t you?” You scoff.

Jude heaves a deep breath in, trying to calm his nerves from the nonchalance and passiveness that's coming from you. “Can we talk? Please?”

You didn't respond. Not immediately, at least.

You let him sit there beside you with nothing but the sounds coming from your phone serve as the only source of noise from your sudden silence. You let the silence drag on until Jude himself couldn't take it anymore.

“Okay... you don't have to say anything but please listen to me okay?” Still no response. Jude sighs yet again before bracing himself for his explanation. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I acted like a complete arse to you and disregarded your worries in our relationship. As your boyfriend I shouldn't have done what I did, I should've been better. I should've listened to you and done exactly what you asked of me because I don’t want you to worry about anything in this relationship. And I failed to do that. I’ve been a shitty boyfriend to you and you don't deserve that. You don't deserve to be treated in the way that I treated you and I know I can't take back what fuck-ups I did but all I can do now is to make up for it. If you can give me another chance to be a better boyfriend to you, I’ll be better. I will try to be better, for you.”

Jude takes one of your hand, noticing you staring blankly at the screen of your phone and fingers paused midway from scrolling through another tiktok.

“I’m so sorry love, I promise to better. Please forgive me...”

You close your phone off, gaze landing on the apologetic gaze Jude had as he held your hand against his cheek.

“I’m not entirely forgiving you. You hurt me too much-”

“I know love I know, and I'll take what you can give me... If I have to work for your forgiveness I will.”

You slowly nod your head with a soft exhale, watching how Jude’s lips pull up into a smile as he thanks you underneath his breath for countless of times.

Jude takes his phone from his pockets before he slides the device to you, and in the screen is a conversation he's had with the girl whom you're not really fond of. He’s just basically asked her to fuck off of text from the chain of messages she's sent him, and by his rather rude way of wording in his texts which you were about to point out, Jude chimes in.

“I’m planning on talking to her during training too.” He tells you sheepishly as you scroll through the one-sided conversation of his messages with her. “And I want you to be there... as much of an arse move that is, I want you to witness the conversation with her.”

“Jude I just want you to set boundaries with her-”

“And I will.” Jude interrupts you. “I will love, but I just don't want you to overthink things so I want you to be there when I do. This is just one step of me asking for your forgiveness. I still have a long way to go and I’m gonna do them in my own pace to not mess things up but I will work on them, and I will show you that forgiving me won’t be for nothing.”

You wrap both your arms around his neck, burying your face on the crook of his neck as Jude pulls you close to him.

“I’m so sorry again love, for everything.”

“You’re not entirely forgiven but at least you're a step in being forgiven.”

Jude chuckles against your hair, planting a kiss on your temple.

“I know... I know, just wanted you to know how sorry I am. I love you, and I’m really sorry.”

[petit-naldo]

JEALOUSY

Charles had never experienced jealousy. When you were Charles Leclerc, there were very few things you had a reason to be jealous of. Don’t get me wrong, he had his fair share of tragedies. But when it came to petty jealousy, he was kind of immune.

He had the prettiest girls, the best clothes, the best cars, the best team.

He had the prettiest girls, the best clothes, the best cars, the best team.

So it takes him a moment to realize what that burning feeling in his chest stands for.

It happens, for example, when Carlos is holding Lando's hand AND looking at him for what feels like an eternity in the hallway before the sprint. And this strange feeling makes him uncomfortable and angry, so he tries to intervene. And he does it in the stupidest way possible.

He puts his hand on their handshake. Because he's getting angrier by the second.

He just wants them to stop touching.

Of course, there are cameras capturing his stupid move.

He doesn't really know why he did it.

 He's known for a very long time that Carlos and Lando are really good friends, it never bothered him more than that. But lately they seemed to have some kind of renewed spark, giggling and hugging on the podium.

Even though Carlos said they're his two favorite teammates.

It still bothers him.

 Yeah, right. It's the fourth year, Carlos, and we've been laughing every damn day, why can't you say I'm your favorite teammate?

Maybe something changed last week in Monaco. In fact, if Charles is honest with himself, he knows exactly what ignited a little fireball in his belly. It was right after the Monte Carlo Masters final. He was talking to George and Carmen in the VIP hospitality area. George was a good friend of Lando's. Of course, because Lando was so charming. Lando sitting with a pretty blonde across the court. And George, always the first with gossip, smiled and raised his eyebrows.

"So, he’s back to girls...," Carmen laughs as if she perfectly understands what it means. And Charles frowns.

"What do you mean?"

"You know," answers George, moving his face in a suggestive way.

"Mmh, ah yeah," answers Charles, who really DOESN’T know but can’t really imagine anything besides one thing. Is Lando bi ?

He can’t keep this idea out of his head. So one night in Shanghai, while he and Carlos are sat on boxes outside the Ferrari garage, softly chit-chatting and the dusk is wrapping them in blue and purple and the frogs are starting to wake up, he tries to bring up the subject as casually as he can.

He first pushes the direction of the conversation towards the tournament.

"Weren’t you a bit disappointed? I think the semi-finals were more interesting matches."

Carlos answers and says it’s okay, but what he’d really like to do is go to Roland Garros. Watch Nadal's final game. Shit. Charles prompts again, redirecting.

"Were you with Lando?"

"No, he was with a girl." Jackpooot. He switches with what he hopes is the most casual tone he could adopt.

"Oh yeah, it’s true... by the way, ahah, George told me he was surprised because… well, he said Lando used to… date boys."

"Ah, George, such a nosy bitch," Carlos says, looking at his phone without bothering to respond any further.

Charles bites his lip. He wants his answer. He NEEDS his answer to ease the ball of fire he feels growing in his chest. Charles doesn’t know how to be subtle.

"So, Lando is bi?" he blushes because really, it’s nowhere near subtle.

"Why do you care?" asks Carlos, suddenly looking at him intensely.

Charles falters, luckily, the night is fully set upon them because his face might be close to crimson, and he blurts out the first excuse he can think of.

"A gay friend of mine has a crush on him."

He never panicked so hard, it’s weird, he’s usually a chill dude. But his heart is at the edge of his lips. A wave of heat floods him, and his breath shortens.

"Who?" Carlos asks, frowning. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

"You don’t know him. From Monaco." He clings to this thread. Fortunately, his overheated mind found this excuse because Charles has no friends who know Lando and that Carlos doesn’t know, and if Carlos had realized that, it would have made the rest of the conversation very uncomfortable.

Luckily, after what feels like suffocating seconds, Carlos lets it go with a grunt and shakes his shoulders.

"Yeah, he is… well, if you consider showing up with a girl once every blue moon, being bi."

SO LANDO IS GAY???

He feels that sting, that crazy sting clouding his mind, making him act like a foolish fool and he watches himself open his mouth again to utter, "Oh...I didn’t know, if you knew."

"Ha…," scoffs Carlos, shaking his head, letting his eyes gaze into the faraway... "oh believe me, I know."

Charles knows he should shut the fuck up. But he can't because this sentence alone and the tone with which Carlos said it, stir up a thousand more questions. He should leave before it's too late. He’s already asked too much.

He isn’t close enough with Lando to keep pushing, for his curiosity to make sense.

But nonetheless he asks.

"How did you find out?"

"Mmh… " Carlos looks at him a bit surprised by his questions. Usually Charles isn't the kind to ask personal questions. "I’m not really comfortable sharing his personal stuff, Charles."

The "Charles" should be his cue to fucking stop pushing. Because Carlos said it in a way that doesn’t offer contradiction.

But he is stupid. He is the most stupid man to ever exist. So he fakes a laugh.

"Come on, Cahrlos, tell me, I’m your favorite teammate " He tries to be playful, but he so desperately needs to know that it must be really obvious in his tone. He feels cringe and shameful and immature and he wants to burry himself into the ground.

But he also wants the answer.

"Why," laughs Carlos, "your friend wants to know?"

And Charles backs down. He isn't brave enough.

"You’re right, I shouldn’t gossip like that, damn George really rubs off on me."

They keep chatting about tennis. He tries to focus on Carlos deep voice to avoid getting lost on thoughts about Lando.

But that night, as he lies in bed, the overthinking starts.

He keeps replaying the conversation, trying to extract from it every bit of info he can.

"Oh yes, believe me I know" - why this tone, why this almost tragic tone, melancholic.

Ideas start to swirl.

Did Carlos stumble upon Lando being with a boy? Did Lando make a move on Carlos? Did Carlos make a move on him? Could Carlos have done something with… no, no, no, Charles, come back to your senses.

He lies awake.

The little ball of fire starts swelling in his chest at the thought of Lando being near Carlos.

But that’s stupid.

Because Carlos is straight.

And Carlos is only friend with Lando.

He is.

Is he?

Isn’t it weird though how close and touchy they are?

Well, Carlos is a touchy guy.

But especially with Lando.

And him.

No, but it’s not the same.

Charles is straight.

Maybe after an exhausting sim session back when they were teammates he and Lando could have…

NO !

Carlos is straight.

S t r a i g h t.

But maybe he tried.

Or maybe one day he will.

Lando is not ugly.

Not as pretty as Charles, but…

Charles shakes his head.

C’mon, is he really judging other drivers’ looks now?

But then, the weekend happens and he notices Carlos staying glued to Teto.

And Carlos makes a joke about Teto being his WAG on Instagram.

Carlos is way too comfortable with every other boy around.

Charles tries to reassures himself about what ? he doesn't know.

He says to himself that it’s okay.

Because there is no one else’s waist Carlos puts his hand on while he walks.

And it was a real close hug during the shell event. No ?

What?

Jesus Christ, Charles, get your shit together. He’d really like to take some time to acknowledge what the fuck is going on inside his mind. What are his feelings for Carlos, does he really have a crush on him. That would be a very bad idea. And he is straight. As Carlos. Supposedly.

Anyway, he can’t because 90% of his brain is focused on the race and the ten other % are literally occupied by… okay, he wanted to call that rage ? But it’s that burning itch making him want to punch every man too close to Carlos. Making him want to act like an imbecile just so Carlos would look at him.

It takes up too much space in his mind to let anything else in. He scooches alongside the Spaniard anytime he can. He develops weird strategies to be sure he’s next to him during the parade.

He keeps an eye on Lando at all times. He scrolls down Teto’s Instagram and re-watches the Don’t Blink on YouTube. Clenching his teeth at the winter one. Carlos lifting him like that, like a feather.

Teto acting exactly like a wag, getting along with Sainz Sr, sitting near Carlos in restaurants,

Teto, who is actually very pretty. Shiny golden hair. Big eyes.

When Charles sees him leaning against a railing above one of the numerous ponds of the Shanghai paddock, he has the urge to throw him overboard.

Maybe a crocodile could eat him. Are there crocodiles in Shanghai ?

That way, he would never again hold Carlos’s shoulder while laughing.

Then the weekend is over.

He looks through the window of the plane. Today he flies back to Monaco. He has been a nightmare to deal with, yelling at everybody. He feels restless and irritated.

Yet the weekend has been good. Everything ran smoothly. Carlos had even congratulated him for the third place, gave him a hug. But after, at the corner of his eyes, he had seen him hugging Lando, holding him by the neck. Diving into one of their secret conversations.

And just a few hours later. He had heard they were flying back together on the same plane.

TOWARDS MONACO.

He goes to Monaco too!!! He is Monegasque! Why can’t Carlos ask him to fly with HIM? Why Lando? Always Lando! Insufferable, childish, giggly, never-won-a-race Lando!

HE is il predestinato, HE is Ferrari’s sacred child! He is nice, and every girl are at his feet.

He slides a hand over his face. He feels like he's going crazy. What is this fury burning in his chest for days?

But he doesn’t need to think about it for long.

It’s pretty obvious.

It is well…

Jealousy.

[nukaberries]

How do you think your top three New Vegas companions (or all if you want to) react to a courier admitting that they have chronic migraines from their head injury that chems can’t dull? (Arcade ready with a whole lecture on chem addiction and courier’s like ‘I just want my brain to stop screaming at me… Both kinds of literally :( )

I FEEL LIKE MY TOP 3 ARE SO BORING but they're also safe choices i think?? rex is definitely top 3 but i don't think he'd be a particularly interesting option, so i hope you don't mind arcade, boone and cass <3

//

New Vegas Companions React to a Courier with Chronic Migraines (Contains: Arcade Gannon, Boone and Cass)

Arcade Gannon We already know he's gonna be giving the courier a lecture on the effects of chem addiction, that goes without saying. He's been in Freeside long enough to see how addiction has affected others around him and he's actually grown to like the courier, so there's no way he's going to watch the same thing happen to them. He knows he can't stop the migraines altogether, but he's willing to be patient with the courier when they do come around and make sure his friend gets the best care possible. He'll likely suggest that the courier lets the Followers try and treat them, since that's probably the best medical care they could get, but if they don't want to go with that option, he won't push.

Craig Boone While his own issues with head pain are nothing compared to the courier's, Boone's suffered from his fair share of stress migraines, with everything that's happened in the past few years. He can sympathise better than the courier may expect and surprisingly enough, he's actually very understanding if Six needs more time to rest up or can't do something on a day where their migraines are worse than usual. He knows the pain and the idea of having to deal with that consistently is a terrifying thought to him, so he can't begin to imagine how the courier managed to keep it together for so long. Boon knows his presence alone can't stop the migraines, but he hopes that it's at least a comfort for the courier.

Cass Any headaches she's suffered from have always been cured by a bottle of whiskey to knock her out for the night, which is the first thing she suggests to Six. Although, when they explain that it's not just your average headache and not even chems are helping anymore, she realises it might take more than alcohol to ease the courier's pain. She finds it quit frustrating at first, when she wants to get back on the road and the courier can hardly lift their head off the ground, but she'd never voice her irritation - it's not like Six can help it. Over time, she becomes more understanding and used to the idea that some days, it's easier on the courier to take a break and try to rest up, she doesn't have the best bedside manner, but she tries to do what she can and it's the thought that counts.

[kolyubov]

MR KRAAAAAABS I HAVE AN IDEAAA 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️😇😇😇 plspls may i request a part 2 of reader faking her emotions, that reader x nikolai one shot yk 🦍🦍 bit unfortunately we get the bad ending ☹️☹️ she just snaps one day, grabs a rope and 😭 (i have a cinematic trauma since most of my favorite characters hanged themselves) (ily sayori<3)

Feel completely free to ignore this 🙏 and if ur accepting it take your time 😇🙏

tw suicide attempt. please, do not keep reading if this kind of content triggers you.

Nikolai with a reader who archives his goals. (p2? bad ending lmao)

✧ pairing: Nikolai Gogol x Fem!Reader

✧ word count: 1.3k

✧ contents: sfw, angst?, obsessive and controlling Nikolai, slight manipulation, reader is referred to as "princess" once. (if I missed anything, please tell me)

✧ author's note: idk if this is as good as the first one :(( spoiler: I didn't write the reader dying, close, but no,,, hope u still enjoy it either way<3 btw, you mean sayori from dokidoki, right? I never played dokidoki, but I like Monika…….🧎‍♀️ sayori seems nice though! she's cute 🫶

Nikolai has been very clingy after what happened— He was always near you, touching you; holding your hand, having an arm around your waist, wrapping his hand around the back of your neck and rubbing circles on your skin, or hugging you from behind.

His hands needed to be on you, afraid that the second he's not watching, you'll disappear from his life.

When he's not physically there, your phone vibrates almost every five minutes with a message from him asking how are you doing, what class are in you right now, if you have eaten— Stuff like that.

There wasn't any second you could be alone, and it was becoming more and more overwhelming.

Of course, you understand that he's worried and that he doesn't want to lose you; but this is borderline obsessive, and as much as a part of you likes being taken care of, another part of you is afraid that this might get even worse.

He was trying to tie you with him; sinking you deeper into the darkness of the cage that was holding you back. The cage of your emotions.

You didn't know it, but he even has a location tracker that shows him on his phone exactly where you are— It eases his mind because what if, after knowing that there wasn’t a way out, you try to be free by other methods?

Nikolai knows you won't dare to kill him like he is was planning to do with Fyodor; There was no possible scenario in which you would stab him to death or poison his food. Plus, he could easily see through your intentions and it won't be easy to kill someone like him.

But you could hurt yourself.

If it wasn't him, then the only way to be free was by shutting down your whole system. By ending your life.

Of course, he was not going to let it happen. He's going to be watching your every move until he's sure you won't do something risky like that.

For now, he is taking good care of you.

“Whatcha doing? I'm about to go home. I want to make a quick stop to buy you snacks.”

You giggle on the other side of the phone and that's enough to make Nikolai excited. He wanted to be in your arms, smooching your face, feeling your warmth, hearing you laugh. God, his heart is beating too fast right now.

“I'm just… doing nothing.” You walk around the apartment as you speak with him, trying to sound excited.

“I miss you, baby. Can't wait to cuddle with you today…”

Ah, you hated how inevitably you felt warm and fuzzy inside.

“You love me, right, dove?”

Yes, you do. You love him so much that it's suffocating you. Nikolai is suffocating you. But you can't help but need more of him, his attention, his love, his touch. All of that awakens a bunch of emotions that you wish to get rid of so badly.

“Mhm… I do.” You whisper, and you can hear him giggle through the speaker.

“Wait for me, love.” He smooches the screen of his phone before ending the call, then, you throw your phone to the couch.

It seems like Nikolai didn't notice.

Suddenly, Tears rolled down your cheeks. You place your hand over your mouth to muffle your sobs as the crying intensifies to the point where your chest hurts and your knees buckle, making you fall to the floor. You curse under your breath for being so fragile.

God. Why this fucking feelings don't stop even before your last breath? Why do they only get worse? Love, anger, sadness, disgust. It's all so overwhelming that you're starting to feel dizzy and nauseous.

Slowly, you stand up, still trembling and with small steps you walk to your room, finding the rope you placed on the bed a few minutes ago before Nikolai called. A small breathy chuckle leaves your lips, but it sounds more like a broken whimper.

You stand before the bed, grabbing the rope with trembling hands, caressing the material— The image of Nikolai's face after he comes home, opening the door of the room to meet with your lifeless body, is stuck in your mind.

How his eyes would widen, how he would desperately pull you out of the rope and hold you in his arms, close to his chest as he cries and curses himself for not being able to do something to stop you. His knuckles would caress your cheeks while his tears fell to your face.

The thought of it hurts your heart.

A part of you wants to stay, to keep enjoying your time with him, however, the pit in your stomach was becoming unbearable.

You felt pity for Nikolai.

But you'll finally enjoy that freedom you wished so much, you'll finally get rid of these emotions that consume your very soul, you—

“Think you can escape me, huh?”

A deep voice tickles your ear, and the second you turn around you find Nikolai smiling, as if the sight in front of him was amusing. You instinctively take a step back, letting out a yelp as you fall to the bed.

“Darling, you know that is not the way to cope with your temporary problems.”

How did he get here so quickly when a few minutes ago you were on a call with him?

Right. Nikolai has his coat. Probably he ended up noticing your fake excitement and decided to go home to check on you first instead of going to a supermarket and buying you snacks.

He crawls to the bed, taking the rope from your hands and throwing it away.

“I told you, didn't I? You won't leave me.”

Nikolai's voice gets deeper as he speaks. He seizes your jaw a bit too harshly. Glaring down at you with a serious expression only to lean down and kiss your lips, then the tip of your nose, and finally your forehead.

“It hurts me… that you want to leave me so badly…” He snorts, looking away from you and biting his lower lip, holding back from something that you weren't exactly sure.

You look away as well, feeling ashamed, among many other emotions that curse your body right now.

What if Nikolai hates you now?

That was even worse— If the only human being that cares about you hates you, you wouldn't bear the pain that'll come along with that.

As your brain keeps creating possible scenarios that might happen after this incident, tears spill from your eyes down your cheeks and you hide your face with your hands; palms muffling the small sobs that escape your lips like before.

Suddenly, you feel a weight on top of you.

You peek through the gap of your fingers and meet with Nikolai’s face nuzzling against your chest; his nose tickling your collarbone. Large and strong arms that had carried you like a princess before, are now wrapped tightly around your waist.

“Don't leave me… I love you so much, please…” He whines against your skin, almost as if he wants to sink inside you and be enveloped in your embrace. “Please, dove, pleasepleaseplease…”

Another sob leaves your mouth— Nikolai's fingers clutch around your ribs, nails almost digging desperately into you.

Slowly, you slide your hands to his back, rubbing it in small circles as you keep crying against the top of his head, his white locks feel soft against your cheek.

Instead of comforting you, he was the one being comforted.

“You're not going anywhere, are you?” He looks up at you. It didn’t sound like a threat, but you knew it actually was.

You shook your head; it's not like you have an alternative.

Nikolai sighs, nuzzling back against you and closing his eyes. After noticing you stopped caressing his back, he nudges your side as an indication to keep doing it.

“…Dove, you’re mine… If anything, I should be the one to take your life away from you…” He mumbles, giggling as your breath hitches at his words.

You can't escape him anymore.

© 2024 pinklacydovey

[hellcat8908]

Bonds Part Two

You splash cold water on your face as you try to wrap your head around all of this. There's a soft knock on the door, "I'll be out in a minute." You calmly tell Azriel. "Take you're time, I have a meeting with Rhys, so I'm headed out. Just make yourself at home, and I'll be back soon. Do you need me to bring you anything?" He tells you. "Umm...could you bring me a change of clothes please." You ask. "Of course, anything else?" He replies. "No, I think I'm ok otherwise." You answer. "I'll see you in a bit." He says before you hear his footsteps retreating. You peek out the door to find you're alone. Your mind takes over flooding with all the what-ifs and possible outcomes. You wonder if Azriel knew about the bond already. If he hadn't, how would he react. What would this do to the friendship between Azriel and Cassian, let alone Cassian and the inner circle once they find out about him sleeping with Nesta. Suddenly, you're overwhelmed with all your thoughts. You walk over to Azriels desk and find some blank paper and a pen to try to organize your thoughts and help process your feelings.

Meanwhile, at the House of Wind...

Azriel is in the middle of his meeting with Rhys when the door bursts open. Cassian storms in, "Why are you keeping y/n from seeing me?!" He practically yells. "I'm not keeping her from anything, she is a grown woman and can make her own choices." He says, keeping his voice calm. "What is going on?" Rhys asks, interrupting Cass and Az. "I cheated on y/n with Nesta the night of Starfall." Cassian admits. "You what?!" Rhys says with shock and anger lacing his voice, "you really fucked up." Cassian's shoulders sag as his wings touch the floor, "I know I did. She didn't deserve to be put through any of this." He admits. "I'd hate to be you when Feyre and Mor find out." Azriel says.

"When Feyre and Mor find out what?" Feyre says as her and Mor walk in. "When you find out that I cheated on y/n with your sister." He says unable to look at her or Mor. "I'm sorry it sounds like you said you cheated on y/n." Feyre says in disbelief. Mor looks murderous as she glares at Cassian. "How could you? And with Nesta of all people?" She practically yells. "It's not like I meant for it to happen! The last thing I wanted to do was hurt y/n! But everything just happened so fast." Feyre turns her attention to Rhys, "where is y/n now?" She asks with a worried tone. "She is staying at my cabin for the time being." Azriel says more protectively than he intends. "You're more than welcome to stop by if you'd like, but I can't promise she'll want company." He says. "Thank you, if you'll excuse me I'm going to have a chat with my sister." Feyre says as her voice turns cold.

Her and Mor make their leave before Rhys tells Cassian to go back to his duties. He shuts the door behind him as he walks out. After a few moments of silence Rhys asks, "how are you doing with all of this?" Azriel runs his fingers through his hair, "honestly I have no clue what I'm doing." Rhys pulls a bottle and two glasses out before pouring you and him a drink. "I know how hard it was watching my mate go through her situation with Tamlin, but I can't imagine what you're going through because it's Cass." Azriel gives him a smirk, "of course you would know." He says before taking a drink. "After hiding mine from Feyre I know all the tricks, plus you basically announced it with the whole she's staying at my cabin."

Rhys grins. "I guess I did, now I just need the bond to snap for her." Azriel says. "Hopefully she doesn't have to find from someone else, been there and it's not fun."

Azriel laughs at how pissed Feyre was at Rhys. "Go home and check on her." Rhys says.

Back at the cabin...

You're body aches after sitting on the floor with your papers strewn about the coffee table. You decide to soak in a hot bath to hopefully ease your muscles. You fill the massive tub with hot water before undressing. The steam already making you feel better. You step into the tub and lower yourself in, the water coming up to your neck. You rest your head against the edge as you let the hot water relax your body. Once the water cools you step out and get dressed in another one of Azriel's shirts. You walk into the living room, surprised to see Azriel sitting on the couch. Panic sets in as you realize you left your jumbled mess of papers on the coffee table. You quickly move to pick them up and move them, hoping Azriel hadn't seen what was written on them.

You feel the gentle touch of one of his shadows, "calm down sweetheart, I can practically hear your mind from here." He says as his shadow gently tugs you towards the couch. "I didn't snoop if that's what you're worried about." He says softly. You sit next him tucking your feet under you. "It's not snooping if it's your house, plus I did leave it on the coffee table." You say while playing with the hem of the shirt your wearing. "You have a right to privacy regardless of those conditions." He replies as he brushes a strand of hair out of your face. "How was your meeting with Rhys?" You ask wanting to talk about anything else.

"It was going well until Cassian stormed in." He says as he gages your reaction. "How bad was it?" You ask. "It was just a bunch of yelling, Rhys, Feyre, and Mor know though." He answers as he gently takes your hand. Your cheeks heat with embarrassment, "It was only a matter of time before everyone found out anyway." You say as you look away. "Feyre and Mor are worried about you, they may stop by at some point but it's up to you if you want to see them or not." You just nod as his thumb gently strokes the back of your hand. You sit in silences as a few moments pass. "Azriel there's something I need to talk to you about." You say softly. "What's that, sweetheart?"

"This morning when I ran into the bathroom, it's because I felt it." You tell him barely loud enough for him to hear. His thumb stops moving but he doesn't let go of your hand. "Felt what?" He asks, not wanting to jump to conclusions. You take a deep breath, "the bond between us." You answer. You see a faint smile before his face goes back to serious, "how does that make you feel?" He asks softly, his voice sounding hopeful. "Confused, anxious, and a little scared to be honest." He takes in your words before asking you to try to elaborate. "Confused as to why now of all times, anxious because of how you're going to react, and a little scared because what happens now." You answer him. He gives you a genuine smile, "I don't have an answer for why now, but I wish I did. As for my reaction, I've known for awhile now, but I didn't want to ruin your happiness, so I've been handling it in my own way. As for what happens now, nothing happens unless you want it to. Nothing has to change between us, you are in full control." He says as he tries to reassure you and make you comfortable. "I think you need some time to yourself and don't think you should be rushing into anything right now." He says as he stroke the back of your hand again.

You look into his eyes, "I'm sorry that you had to watch me be with someone else all this time knowing what I was to you." You say as you move closer to him. "I do want to be with you, but I do think you're right about me needing time." You tell him as your lips move closer to his. "I've waited all this time. What's a little while longer." He says softly. You close the distance and press your lips to his, letting him deepen it. You pull away and break the kiss, "Promise you'll wait til I'm ready?" You ask him. "I promise." He says, pulling you close and wrapping a wing around you. You feel the familiar sting of the tattoo on your wrist as a matching one appears on Azriels.

[blucassiopeia]

Contrast

"A prelude spin-off for an upcoming fic"

warnings: afab!reader, reader being 5 years older, 8.6k LONG

A Sakusa Kiyoomi x reader oneshot

a/n: solid clue on this; sorry for the delayyy, a lengthy one to compromiseee

"What do you want? I still haveー"

"C'mon, Kiyo. You just got back here from Osaka."

"Then, speak. Stop hitting around the bush. You know I don't like hospitals."

"She's gonna be here any moment. Just be patient, son."

Kiyoomi grunted as he sat back on his dad's office couch. The office was rather modern, his dad desperately riding Kiyoomi's generation. Though, it has their big family portrait just right off his humungous desk that he remembered was from Barcelona. His desktop was coated with orange fluffy cloth siders, probably a gift of Sara's, Kiyoomi's 4-yr-old nieceーand it was paired with a keyboard and mouse of the same shade. It practically throws off the white and classy vibe of the place. He smiled at the thought.. but this is all till in a hospital's vicinity. Kiyoomi's stomach started stirring.

"So, how's your team? Are you fitting nicely?" His father asked as Kiyoomi fiddled with his phone, huffing through his black mask, very anxious to leave.

"Sort of. We have the leagues next three months."

"Oh fuck off. The chief resident asked you, not me."

"Please."

The door flung open and revealed you in your scrub suit and gown, tongue mockingly out to someone behind the door. You, then, slid inside the office and closing the door, your eyes fell on Kiyoomi first, and then to his father. Kiyoomi has to inch the distance more from the smell his nose registered. Where would she had been? Germs. Germs. Germs.

"You called for me, Sirーah, Doc?"

Kiyoomi didn't spare you a glance, still fiddling at his phone, maybe trying to give his volleyball team captain a text or two of any nonsense to keep him visually busy. He just wants to get out of that place. His system is screaming already. He might want an alcohol bath, uh, that's too much. How does his family doing it likeー

"That's my youngest right there, Kiyoomi." The chairman of the hospital gestured to the curly black-haired man sitting dejectively on the couch, trying his hardest to ignore your presence. You perked a brow.

You leaned to the chairman, in the attempt to whisper. "And? I don't babysit teenagers, Doc. Too busy in becoming the medical director that I promised you."

Kiyoomi happened to glance at your direction when his father laughed lightly at whatever you whispered to him. He noticed your pout as you straightened your back, your gown's fabric crinkling at the movement. What were you even whispering to an old, married man? His nose scrunched up behind his mask, returning his attention to his phone.

"Take him to dinner, Y/n."

Both of your heads snapped at Sakusa Takashi that's already beaming at you, clearly pleased at what he said.

"Whー" Kiyoomi started to retort but you raced him to it first.

"I'm still comfortable in third-wheeling with Dai or with Katana-nee, Doc. Are they whining over me already?" Your feet stomp at your every word, whining like a child.

Kiyoomi wondered how did you even know his brother, or his cousin. Are you acquainted with the rest of his family? He doesn't recognize you from the numerous family occasions, or in any business functions where you could possibly be but remained unnoticed to him. Ugh. He knows where this is going. This also happened to his sister, that she somehow liked after years. He shivered at the thought.

He can't take the atmosphere of the office anymore so he stood up and said, "I'm going home."

"And he's this rude, Doc?" You smirked at Kiyoomi's direction, the ChairmanーKiyoomi's fatherーmirroring you, teasing his youngest son.

Huh. Is this a challenge?, Kiyoomi thought as he stared straight at his dad, black eyes hardly pass your figure. He scoffed at his father that mouthed 'Just once.' And he bored his eyes on yours and sighed.

You clasped your hands together, easing the tension Kiyoomi was giving you. "So, gimme an hour or two and I'd be ready, Kiyo. Orrrー" You faced the chairman and winked at him, knowing fully well that he knew what you're going to do with his beloved son. "ーbe with me in my rounds."

When you turned back to face Kiyoomi, you were greeted by his twitching eyes behind those round and delicate thin rimmed glasses. You returned them with a sly grin.

Kiyoomi found himself trudging after you to wherever. He actively convinces himself that this is better than waiting on that area where various people flocksーthe germ and virus infested waiting area at the lobby. This is better than staying on his dad's office where he'll just not hear the end of a discussion he doesn't want to associate with. Being with you is better. Yes, being with you is better.

You rounded to a hallway and he lifted his eyes from your back when he heard a familiar voice in the nearby nurse stationーto which you're heading to.

"The patient in 302 has to have his rehabilitations in 3 hours. Is the facility ready?"

"Yes, Doc."

"Dai, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

You heard Kiyoomi groaned at your back as Daisuke and Katana spotted you approaching with their Kiyoomi. Their eyes are on him, round with bewilderment and surprise. You snorted. They are the culprits, the nerve of them. But eitherway, it's turning out well. Hopefully.

"Kiyoomi?"

"Is that their volleyball player?"

"Doc Takashi's youngest! Sakusa Kiyoomi!"

"He's so tall!"

"So hot lookーI mean, good looking!"

"He looks like a rougher version of Doc Dai."

Daisuke was the first one to approach his brother. Kiyoomi took a few steps back from him to which he chuckled. He glared at his brother through his glasses, daring him to approach further. Daisuke's tied black curls swayed as he moves his head to face you, hands in either sides of his waist, his gown pushed back revealing his branded slacks and dress shirt. Yeah, Kiyoomi's a rougher version alright.

"Ah, thanks Y/n, but how did you do this?"

His soft and genuinely amused laughs filled the hallways, followed by Katana's. The other fellows, nurses and residents nearby turned to the sound. You mentally noted that if Kiyoomi hasn't been wearing his mask, you'll see how red his cheeks were. Daisuke and Katana are sure to know how to tease him. You pursed your lips, not knowing whether to laugh with them or sympathize with his agony.

"Rounds." It was dangerously low that it had stuttered Daisuke's laughs. Kiyoomi's head was facing you, dark eyes demanding.

"Rounds, Y/n? With Kiyo?" Katana asked with pure curiosity as she motioned herself closer to you, her eyes on Kiyoomi.

"Who's with Sara right now?"

"Toya."

"Yeah, we have to have dinner by 6:30pm so he can go home early." Both of your fellow doctors turned wide-eyed to you from what you have just said. You rolled your eyes at them. "You whined at Sir Kashi about me third-wheeling on your respective dates. Can't believe you."

The two are still dumbstruck when you turned to Kiyoomi who's getting grumpier by the second. "Let's go?" You, next, called out to the interns at the back of the nurse station. "Those who wants to come with me for reports, let's go."

Katana rushed to the nurse station and opened a drawer hastily and went back in a matter of seconds, handing something to Kiyoomi. You peered at her extended hand and found two cute plastic vials of sanitizers, to which he gladly accepted. You heard stories of Kiyoomi from his siblings and cousins and how he hates crowds so much, anti-social.. and a germaphobe. You were even surprised he followed you to your rounds.

"Take care of my brother, Y/n." You didn't miss the dazed and stuttering tone of Daisuke as he patted your shoulder. He also placed a hand on Kiyoomi's shoulder as the latter carefully lather some of the sanitizer in his hands and sniffed it. Daisuke gave a squeeze at his shoulder before patting it twice. "Kiyo."

The interns and a nurse came filing up behind you, ready for the rounds. You took the walk to the ward when Katana called out, "Kiyo, be kind, okay?" Kiyoomi grumbled at your side to which you giggled. He shot a glance at you and furrowed his brows. You playfully turned your eyes away from him and stuffed your hands on your gown's pockets.

"Dai? Dinner? Seriously?"

"Dad. It's Dad."

Kiyoomi felt like running when he first stepped into the first ward you picked to do your rounds. He overheard your conversation with the one girl intern that you have two patients here. He took a deep breath and followed you inside.

"Mommyy~ how's the stitches? Is it still painful and itchy? How are you feeling?"

"Jii-saaaan~ how is the therapy? Are your movements doing fine? No reactions?"

"Baby~" He heard you cooed at that one kid on the second ward you lot went in. You sat in his bed and carefully patted his head. "Why are you crying? Does it still hurt?"

Kiyoomi has to turn his eyes away from your figure and unintentionally coughed. He mumbled a low sorry, thankfully of which you didn't hear.

"Tall curly man." His eyes turned back to the crying kid. The kid's eyes were on Kiyoomi as you looked with him with soft eyes. Kiyoomi thought he might be 6 or 7 years old. So young to be in a hospital. His eyes steeled and cold as he remembered something of which he shouldn't.

"I'm gonna wait outside."

You looked at Kiyoomi with concern and nodded. "One more room upstairs and we're off." Kiyoomi nodded as he took the exit of the ward. He can still hear the kid's cries from here so he distanced himself more, enough that he can see you walk out of the room anytime.

The ride was silent. Very uncharacteristic of you. Kiyoomi was silent, well he always is. You wanna ask about that cough and walking out a while ago but you thought that he maybe just be too grossed out at the patients. You suddenly felt guilty of making him accompany you in your rounds. You bit your lip as your hand knuckled up on the stirring wheel.

You badly want to break silence so, "Where should we eat?"

"Wherever you wish."

You glanced at him and found him staring at the view of bustling nightlife of Tokyo. You sighed and drove to your med friends' go-to fine dining. Well, you're assuming Kiyoomi would like it considering he's from a well-off family.

He waited for you to round up to him from the driver's side, you fixing your blouse as you approach him. Kiyoomi never got a good look of you in the hospital but now, amidst the glowing dim light of the restaurant and the parking lot's lamp post nearby, he sees you clearly and radiantly. It took him over a minute to stop his intrusive thoughts while you were still fixing your blouse and hair, unaware of his eyes, and so he motioned to the entrance of the restaurant.

"You're not allergic to anything?" He shook his head in response as he opened the door for you, to which your brows perked for a millisecond.

You ordered directly after being seated. The modern Japanese style fine-dining restaurant that you're in has a romantic ambience. Candles are lit and it's a bit dark, with just a low and very dimly-lit chandelier on each section of the space. Your friends would often take you here when they have to have a relaxing dinner after a toxic shift. And it is relaxing. You wonder if Kiyoomi's feeling the same.

He's exuding a laid back expression with a glint of disapproval to the whole situation you're both in. You're not dumb as to not know what the Chairman wants to happen with the both of you. You sighed. Just try, huh. Okay.

"So, Kiyo" You started, and his eyes darted to you from his phone, the candle giving it an unfathomable impression. You gulped. "When's the start of the season?"

He sighed and his gaze fell back to his phone. "In three months."

"MSBY, right? Of Osaka?" He nodded, eyes still on his phone. You chewed your cheek as your lashes kept fluttering on his direction, brows visibly furrowed at his loss of interest.

"How's Inunaki?"

Kiyoomi's brows were the first to react. It shot up, dragging his eyes with it, and then his head till you have his full attention, phone already discarded at the table.

He obscurely coughed, "You know him?"

You nodded, remembering the days when you dated the sweet libero. He was cute, but then you broke up with him to focus on your profession. It was a clean break though. No more strings attached. You were just reminded by him because the gentleman right in front of you is on the same team as your ex-boyfriend.

Kiyoomi was running his tongue on the backs of his teeth as he studied your face. You knew their team's libero. And your facial expression now was just like when he saw you talking with Daisuke earlier.

"He's fine. He's staying with our captain in their house just off Kita District. He might be off to Osaka next week with him." You hummed softly and it sent shivers on him, it made his thighs pop anxiously underneath the table.

He knows what's happening. Fuck, he knows what's happening. Can't believe it's actually happening at this certain point in his life. He remembered those incessant talks with his friends on his volleyball batch, especially talks with Atsumu and Kenji. He tilted his head as he stares at the spot on the table directly in front of you, not daring to look you in the eye.

"Howー" He was cutted off when the food arrived at your table. Thankfully. He didn't know what's gotten into him that he was about to ask something he shouldn't. He bit his lip behind his mask as he watched the food getting arranged in the table.

You're still dazed at how Kiyoomi suddenly poured you a bit of his attention by just mentioning Shion when suddenly, he got rid of his mask so casually you didn't have time to brace yourself. You found yourself staring at his features as a whole. His nose perfectly fitted his handsome face, thin-lipped, smooth cheeks and sharp jawline. You found your eyes trailing to every nook of his face and found his eyes in the process, staring back at you.

"Wow. You're handsomer without the mask, Kiyo."

Kiyoomi raised a brow as he placed a plate full of sushi and sashimi in front of you. "And you're saying that so casually, thanks." You didn't miss the little quiver of his bottom lip as he spoke, red ears still evident within the orange light from the candles.

You smiled while prepping your chopsticks. "Well, we're already grown-ups so no need to shy away about saying those kind of things." You trailed your eyes at his face, now focused on what dish to try first. But no, Kiyoomi's attention is on your voice. He's desperately trying to act normal, and yes, controlling himself and his tongue.

"Try the sashimi first, they taste good. Or do the Gyoza." You suggested and he picked the sashimi first, nodding as the dish reached his tongue. You have to distract yourself with eating your own food served in front of you.

The dinner was fine, casual queries and talks were exchanged but you concluded that someone not daring enough can't get any info out of Kiyoomi. And you're not daring enough. All queries were just public info, you-can-know stuffs.

You stared at the mirror of the restroom after you briefly excused yourself after taking two glasses of wine just to get out of that situation. You're questioning yourself, and can't believe you're feeling insecure with how you look. You fixed your hair, your lip tint. Are you that old for Kiyoomi? Are you not pretty for him?

You groaned as you repeatedly muttered, "Just try. If it doesn't work, then okay. It's okay." You exited that restroom with a newfound determination.

"Shall we go? Dai-nii said you both have to prepare for a surgery 6 hours prior." You stuttered as it was the first sentence Kiyoomi gave you after you sat back from the restroom. You whisked your wrist for your watch and rolled your eyes. It's still 7:30pm, the surgery is 5am. Seriously, Daisuke?

Grumpiness sat in you as you drove back to the hospital, still basking on Kiyoomi's silence. Or which you thought.

"Can we go to your favorite alley of yakitori?" Your wide-eyed gaze found his popping thighs and you didn't dare to look further to his face. But he noticed your surprised expression to which he turned away with a steeled expression and a click out of his tongue.

Why is he frustrated? He can't be that frustrated. He doesn't care about you. He closed his eyes for the rest of the ride.

"Kiyo, what are we doing here?"

He just hummed as he collect himself out of your car and out to the alley, clearly looking for a certain stall, his mask already back on his face, sanitized hands on his pockets. You scampered after him to which he sighed and turned back to you. He saw you still taking a few steps closer to him as you fixed your hair and glistening eyes locking to a stall farther back. He can't miss the brief parting of your lips and a bob on your throat. He followed your gaze and briskly walked to that direction.

"Hey! Wait!"

Where are you dining? She likes the yakitori on her favorite streetfood alley.

Kiyoomi, she has to prepare for our surgery 6 hours prior. Take her back to the hospital right after dinner.

Where are you now? Are you on your way back? Don't reply if you're driving. Be careful.

Daisuke's texts kept ringing on his ears as he heaves two trays full of yakitori, with you following him in bewilderment. You both were walking to the previous nurse station Kiyoomi saw his brother. And he's really there now and waiting. Kiyoomi furrowed his brows as he saw his brother perked up on your sight.

Kiyoomi was silent as he placed the trays on the station and informing them that it's on the house. He quickly took the paperbag with some yakitoris too and handed it to you, ignoring the stares of Daisuke on his side.

"Kiー"

"You shouldn't be considerate with others when we say Wherever you want. It was supposed to be your choice." You were startled when he said that to your face, the others hearing it. "Anyways, thanks for driving and for the dinner."

Your jaw dropped, cheeks burning, as your eyes followed his hovering figure walking away from you. Kiyoomi was clearly annoyed with whatever and you had no idea why that is. You turned to face Daisuke who was already staring at you, and he huffed, big strides following Kiyoomi.

"Doc Dai was already frustrated with something, Doc Y/n."

You turned to the nurse who spoke, gesturing her to go on with what's she's saying. "Maybe something about his dad?"

Hm. Maybe because of the run-down of the department's allowance., you thought as you ran your fingers through the paperbag with five yakitoris. You smiled at the thought of Kiyoomi. Well, he can be sweet while being grumpy and mean.

"Kiyo!"

Kiyoomi rolled his eyes as he detestfully punched in the buttons of the elevator. He quickly pulled out the sanitizer Katana gave her and lather some on his hands. Daisuke found his space on his brother's side, huffing whileーKiyoomi doesn't knowーlooking so annoyed with something? He smirked.

"You didn't go eat at her favorite stall?" Daisuke asked as the elevator dinged and opened for the both of the men. Thankfully, it's empty so they piled in.

"We're already eating when you texted." Kiyoomi deadpanned, just staring at the elevator door while his brother's body is on his direction, eyes somewhat blazing with whatever. Kiyoomi's not dumb, and he's mad at it.

"And you bought her yakitori after the dinner? What's with the trays?"

"For you, guys. Trying to be friendly, considering Katana-nee-san asked me to be kind."

He walked out of the elevator as soon as it reached the basement parking lot of the hospital building, Daisuke following behind with more questions he's not gonna answer due to an impending blow on his part that he's afraid to burst.

"It just took a few hours for you huh."

Kiyoomi faced his brother, full height and pride seeping through his veins, face scrunched up with his now discarded mask tucked on his chin.

"Dai. Nii. Chan. Why are you dating someone else when you're clearly in love with her?" There goes the blow.

When Daisuke didn't answer because of utter shock, Kiyoomi dragged his feet to his car far out left of the parking lot leaving his brother behind and frozen.

But he didn't know why he found himself on the same hospital again a week after that fateful one-time dinner. His fingers are tapping on his steering wheel as he was parking. His niece mused as how she's going to see Daisuke and Katana, Motoya cradling her in the passenger seat. No one knew of the conversation he had with Daisuke, and Daisuke hadn't been talking to him the past week, clearly left unguarded with Kiyoomi's blow. Irritating. As irritating as how you got stuck in his mind since that dinner night.

"Yoomi!" Sara leaned to Kiyoomi as they got out of the car. Kiyoomi carried her in one arm and eyed Motoya for her orange mask.

"Matchy." Motoya snickered as he hooked Sara's mask on her ears and quickly got his phone to take a picture of his grumpy cousin and Sara, both wearing orange kiddie masks. Motoya was surprised when Kiyoomi kissed Sara's head through his mask, completely ready for the shot. And he might've sent it to their GC, or maybe even posted online that you'll be seeing a few hours later and keel about.

Sara is loved by many nurses and doctors in the hospital for her talkativeness and cuteness, their future cutie doctor. But you gravely prayed she'll never be like her uncle Kiyoomi that yes, a kind gentleman but also and absolutely yes to being rude and grumpy.

Your irises immediately dilated when you saw her in Kiyoomi's arm, and how cute of Sara to make Kiyoomi wear her signature orange stuffs. You chuckled at the thought as you approached them.

"Ah, Y/n-san!" You ruffled Motoya's hair as you saw him bounding past Kiyoomi with Sara's orange bag.

"Y/n-chaan~" Sara mused as she leaned for you to carry her. But Kiyoomi held her away from you.

"She still has germs, Sara." Eventhough it was a mumble, you can't help but to hear it considering the distance between you. "Later, okay?" Kiyoomi kissed Sara's cheek still with mask on.

Sara lovingly put her hand on Kiyoomi's cheek, nudging the bottom of his glasses up, "But I like her, Yoomi. Won't care if she has germs or none. You shouldn't too. You like her, right?"

Motoya snorted at your back, while you and Kiyoomi unmistakenly blushed at Sara's words.

"Baby, Iー" Kiyoomi glanced at you, your hand on your mouth and face still burning, eyes still wide on him from shock. "I don't.. like.. her."

Kiyoomi's words rang in your ears and it has been an hour since then. You're in the middle of your rounds, clearly distracted that she had to let the interns take notes of what she said and had to read them afterwards for double checking. You tilted your head to let the thought die, and ran your fingers through your hair.

You jumped at a low cough on your side, and your head turned to face Kiyoomi, head low and fiddling fingers together, eyes unfocused. "Yes, Kiyoomi?"

His eyes shot at you on his name, uncomfortable without the nickname you once gave him. And you didn't know why, searching on your depths why didn't you used that. He'll probably worry about that, but very unlikely. He doesn't like you.

"Sara wants you to be with us out for dinner."

"Okay." You nodded in a heartbeat still wondering why doesn't he like you.

And Kiyoomi is uncomfortable with the looks you're giving him as you walk with him, Sara still in his arms refusing to walk because of her uncle's big paces. She is still talking with you and you converse with her, your eyes still burning on Kiyoomi from time to time. And Kiyoomi doesn't like how out-of-place is he with the little girl talk.

You rode passenger in his car, Sara on your lap after Kiyoomi told you it's now okay. But on what grounds are you okay? You can't understand that side of him, and you want to ask him to understand. You want to understand him. You want to understand whyー

You shifted on your seat, arms wrapping on Sara's little waist as she sings songs from Kiyoomi's nursery rhymes, and you sang with her too through the familiar lyrics. And it was proper music for Kiyoomi and he scoffed inaudibly, so amused with the scene he wished he can record it.

His mind was unintentionally wandering far off the future, where you could be with your own little girl in your lap, still with him in the driver's seat, both of you all dressed up according to the little girl's wishes. And it will be blissful and peaceful and no Daiー

He felt himself knuckled up at his steering wheel and you took notice, stammering mid-singing, thinking he doesn't want you singing, thinking how bad your voice is. You gulped hard, eyes straight to the dash and onto the highway he's cruising through.

"Don't you want me here, Kiyoomi?" You tilted your head, chin resting on your palms as Kiyoomi's eyes were on his niece playing on the makeshift playground of the kiddie fastfood chain. Kids on her age are there too. Ugh germs. He might want Sara to take a bath when they get home later.

It's Kiyo for you, Y/n. It's Kiyo. He wanted to say that he caught himself. He doesn't want to be misunderstood, though he himself doesn't understand himself either.

"Motoya's with Dad on a business meeting about his share. And I'm sorry if I can't stop Sara from whining for you to go with us." You hummed and his thigh started popping anxiously at instinct to the sound.

"Kiyoomi. Look at me for a second." Why do you want him to look at you? Why are you even asking him to look at you? His thoughts were battling inside his head and he willfully silenced it just for a moment, and without a thought, looked at you straight to your dilated orbs. He never found such beautiful eyes like yours, beautiful orbs beyond those long lashes. He blinked.

"Why?"

"Oh, nothing." You smiled and you found what you were looking for. A deductive confirmation, an incomplete assessment to whatever situation you have with him. You suddenly wanna go back to the hospital, or just anywhere away from his scalding gaze also searching.

The food was already served when Sara got back from the indoor playground, already holding her mask out of her face like Kiyoomi now. Kiyoomi turned her little figure around and got her scrunchie to tie her long big-curled black hair. And you reveled at the sight.

"D'you want me to feed you or you wanna be a big girl for today?"

"With Y/n-chan, Yoomi."

You felt like your heart skipped a beat when Sara lipped on your direction. Oh how cute is she, a bead of sweat still trickles down her temple and forehead. You reached for her hand and sat her on your lap to which she happily obliged, swaying her legs against yours as she smiles to her uncle across the table.

"Her towel, Yoomi." You deadpanned at Kiyoomi, trying hard not to smile when you imitated Sara's nickname for him, trying hard not to smile when you saw him blush upon hearing it slip out of your lips. And he tried too hard not to dwell on it. Try harder, Kiyoomi.

"Baby, you have to feed yourself because she also has to eat, okay?"

"But I want to be fed by Y/n-chan, Yoomi." Sara's pouts were Kiyoomi's weakness. He closed his eyes in exasperation, keeping in mind that he is the adult here and with the authority.

"Yeah, Yoomi, I can feed her while eating just fine. Let's eat."

And you tried your hardest too, to make it sound so natural and not veiled with awkwardness. And Kiyoomi regretted finding that Kiyo on you earlier that day. This is way worst than it, this will drive him to his grave. He bit his lip in annoyance to his giddiness.

The dinner with Sara went fine with you feeding her. Kiyoomi helped through the process, feeding her alternately while you eat, too. And maybe a bit too awkward, because some eyes inside the food chain were on you three, murmuring about how good-looking of a family you are with Kiyoomi and Sara. You should put some blush-on next time when you're with him, just to hide the natural blush you had been wearing throughout the time.

"Thank you for your time, Y/n."

"Anytime." You winked at him and debated with yourself between saying more, or just go straight to anywhere away from him. That was enough indulgence for today for Kiyoomi doesn't like you. You have to remind yourself.

But you softly patted the head of the sleeping figure in Kiyoomi's arms, and Kiyoomi stiffened on the closeness. He can smell your fragrance and something else. He nibbled his cheek and turned his eyes straight, to where he found Daisuke staring at them, smiling. Kiyoomi was confused for a moment.

"Take her home now. Drive safely, Yoomi." You patted his wide and bulky shoulder softly, trying not to wake Sara up. Kiyoomi hummed as he stared back on his brother, clearly pertrubed over something in his mind he dare not say. And you were oblivious of the tension. He's so glad you were.

You waved Kiyoomi bye and went to Daisuke, slithering your body towards him before grasping both his cheeks with one hand. All the while, Daisuke was still smiling to Kiyoomi before he dropped his eyes on you and messed your hair. Kiyoomi had to quickly turn away and go straight home, also oblivious that the following morning will change the course of the situation.

You were pacing back and forth outside the halls for the doctors' offices, a hard flush on your cheeks visible. Kiyoomi had asked you out of nowhere for a lunch date of sorts.

These past two months was too confusing for you. Because the Kiyoomi that doesn't like you keep poking out of nowhere, taking a portion of your time of day. May it be another dinner with Sara, or just with him, or being with you on your rounds, recently and suprisingly mask down and talking with your patients. He may have even memorized your sched like the back of his hand for the untimely timing of his visits.

These past two months was like a typhoon for you. Kiyoomi was the typhoon. And you can't brace yourself enough. Maybe because you were used to him being rude and grumpy, well, he still is, but something changed in him.

"Good luck, Y/n. HAHAHA!"

Motoya replied once when you asked him about why Kiyoomi was doing things he usually won't do. What's the good luck for? The toothpaste in the tube had bursted out and grimed on your fingers in annoyance to Motoya's reply.

"No comment LOL!"

And Daisuke, too. He's becoming normal for youーin a sense that he won't joke about his feelings for you anymore, or he isn't as clingy as before, and less time with you. You remembered pouting when you read his reply after you asked him too about Kiyoomi's actions, and that you threw your phone across your bed in frustration.

But now, you were smiling calmly in the back of your mind, reminding yourself that Kiyoomi doesn't like you. Yeah, he doesn't like you.

"Okay. Pick me up? Text me if you're here already."

"Can we take pictures Y/n?"

Like hell. You tried not to notice him taking stolen pictures of you when you're not looking. But never with him. You nodded and took his phone and snapped a pic with himーor maybe four with wacky poses. A nurse also took one with you on your scrub suit and gown, his hand surprisingly ghosting on your waist to which you nearly flinched.

"What's with the pictures?" You asked him during your lunch with him in your favorite yakitori stall.

"I'm going back to Osaka this weekend. Leagues are in a month and we still have to condition ourselves." You poked on your katsudon as you pouted on his answer.

"Had to show how you are doing to Inunaki-san. You're friends, right?"

He placed a slice of meat on your bowl that you acknowledged by placing a yakitori on his plate. You hummed at his statement, to which his thighs popped and you placed a hand on it to relax him and grinned, a habit you have when you hummed and he'll grow anxious by it. You tapped his thigh once before continuing on your meal.

"You're going back to Osaka. Can I come see your games some time if I'm free?" You're pushing your luck, no way he'll agree toー

"Sure. Any vacant time. Just be sure it'll not disrupt your shifts. I'll text you the time and venues of every game we'll have 3 days prior."

You smiled through kneading with your food with your chopsticks. "Glad to hear." And maybe you should know sometime soon, that even if moments like these are to be captured, it won't do any justice to Kiyoomi.

"Can I go see you off this weekend then?"

Both of you are already back from the lunch date when you asked him. He's still sipping from his milktea, one hand on the plastic with 2 large trays of yakitori, biceps flexing against his fitted black shirt, his jacket discarded on his car. You're also carrying two batch containers of milktea, all for the residents and nurses in the station.

"No. I might not be present in the games if you do see me off."

It is still the Kiyoomi that doesn't like you.

"See you soon." And your heart skipped a beatーokay, maybe twoー when he leaned in to kiss your forehead swiftly as he can to put his mask back on to conceal his reddening cheeks.

You tried to stay calm as you smiled at him. "Take care, Yoomi."

He hummed and patted your head. "I'll come see you soon."

And before you even realized it, he's walking away from you, and it might hurt just one bit of this figure of him being away. You pursed your lips as your mind registered what had happened. But you rolled your eyes as you were not the first one to reactーmore like, squeal.

"Stop it, Katana-nee!" You can't help but giggle as more of the nurses joined Katana's teasing and squealing. "Yoomi doesn't like me."

Katana scoffed mid-giggling. "What nonsense is that? He clearly likes you, Y/n!"

"He said so himself." You shrugged, still smiling as you took a sip of the milktea you and Kiyoomi bought.

"And you?" Your eyes darted to her, Katana's scrutinizing gaze boring at you. "How are you feeling about this?"

You stared at her, fumbling with your thoughts in your mind on how to answer that that it won't be misunderstood. Though, one phrase stood out. You bit your lip and hang your head low, fiddled with the straw of your milktea.

"I don't want to fall in love alone, Nee-san."

"Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Nov 24, 5:30pm. Let me know if you could come so I can reserve you a seat near the court."

You smiled, staring at his text from 3 days ago. You have replied then, even videocalled him after that, and the day after, like the ones you had a few weeks ago whenever he was free, or when you are free. It has been barely two months and the leagues has already started last month. You had watched his matches that you can't see live on your phone, or on Youtube. And you call each other at the end of each game, just talking about anything like how was the day going for both of you, or how was the game,or how did you enjoy watching him play. You smiled at how he wants you to be involved in his field of interest. But Y/n, he doesn't like you.

"Y/n, Chairman called for you in his office."

You turned to face Doc Akaashi and his hoarse voice. Your brows furrowed at it. "You okay, Doc?"

"I'm okay. Just stressed with my son."

"Oooh, Keiji?"

He nodded, running a hand on the back of his neck. "Yeah, but he's okay now, thanks to his friendsーyour Yoomi included." He snorted at his tease. You pouted as he patted your shoulder and walked away after gesturing you to the Chairman's office.

You checked the timeーstill 9:30amーwhile walking through the long hallway to the Chairman's office. You still have to pick up Sara by 3pm because she has literally begged you yesterday to take her to her Jii-chan Yoomi's games. And it will be a secret, she said. You chuckled at the thought of her. That kid really adores Kiyoomi.

You knocked before going into the office. You were entranced by a golden haired young man with glasses and a dark-grayish green haired young man on the couch, sitting and looking at you walking in the room.

"ーCoz Doc, I can't."

You turned to the Chairman's direction and you saw a golden-haired young lady sitting in front of the Chairman and rambling about something. Is she a patient?

"Sit first, Y/n." You heard the chairman as he paused to look at you, with the golden-haired lady's eyes on you too. She smiled at you briefly and turned again to the Chairman. You sat down across the men, well as you look closely they might still be in highschool. They're just tall-lookingーor really maybe tall.

"I am okay, really."

The golden haired boy snorted. "Doc, she slapped someone real hard hardly two hours ago. Twice."

The girl turned to the direction of the boy who spoke. "Shut up, Kei! She needs it! Who would wake her up other than her bestest girl-friend she'll ever have, huh?"

"You hate her." It was the other boy now that had spoken, and you were out of place already, trying to understand the situation.

She pouted, "I don't, and she knows it."

"Okay. Okay, Ran. Just do the oximeter for now. Will that calm you three?"

The Chairman took the pulse oximeter and latched it on Ran(?)'s pointer finger. And you had no idea why you're here. You leaned back on the couch while waiting for anything.

"I told you to just stay at Fukurodani while we send them off! Now Aki-nii knew about this!"

"And who texted him huh? Was itー"

And the unspeakable happen. The door of the office bursted open and you might've been excited for this for months now, but no. He stormed to Ran and pulled her up to stand.

"I told you not to go here to see my dad!"

It was Kiyoomi, already in his jersey under his MSBY track jacket, his black eyes furious and mask disregarded somewhere in his pockets. It stirred something in you, of which you thought you won't feel towards him. It scared you.

"Omi-san!" Ran yelped at Kiyoomi's grip. And you felt concerned for her as you jumped up from the couch. You can see his grip digging on her flesh.

"Kiyoomi!" The Chairman had also risen up from his seat, trying to get in between the two.

"I told you, Ran, did I? I told you to go find another doctor to take you! I told you why!"

"Kiyoomi-san!"

"Ran!"

"Omi-san, it hurts!"

"Kiyoomi!"

And you saw it in his eyes that's not leaving Ran's, a flicker of concern as he saw tears trickling down from hers. "Leave. Now."

The amber-eyed boy collected Ran that's now glaring at Kiyoomi, still with tears in her eyes. "Hope you fall in your butt, Kiyoomi!" And she was dragged by her waist out of the office.

Kiyoomi snapped a look at the dazed face of the Chairman, and he groaned. "How could you do that to her?" The chairman whispered in his strangled breaths.

"This is exactly why!"

"She did nothing to us! To you! To me!"

"SHE DID! She has her mother's face that you can't even forget after all these years!"

"It's..not her fault Kiyoomi.."

"Assign her to another doctor Dad, or I'll take the matters to my own hands."

"You know I can't."

Kiyoomi dialed in his phone and took a look at you, he sighed, just registering that you had witnessed something you shouldn't and he mouthed Sorry, to which you nodded, hesitant and still wide-eyed at the course of events happened in a matter of minutes.

"Daisuke. Where are you?ーCan you come up here at Dad's?ーYes, right now. ASAP."

It was achingly quiet for a few minutes when Daisuke barged in, breathless, still in his gown and a steth dangling around his neck. "Saw Ran-chan outside as I'm running up here. What happened?"

But Kiyoomi ignored him and turned to you. "Come with me, Y/n?" His voice is hoarse from yelling, but calmer now.

You followed his hurried paces and he was searching the halls of the hospital and you know who's he searching for. And you are, too. If Ran's a patient, then she should be in aー

Kiyoomi suddenly rushed to a nearby bench just off the indoor café of the hospital. There you saw three figures seating, the same people that are just in the office moments ago. Kiyoomi squatted in front of Ran and peeked on her face. She was doubled over on her knees, the two not daring to touch her. You decide to observe at a distance on earshot, but Kiyoomi looked back at you, wanting you near him, and you stood closer, a few steps away from the golden haired boy who bowed to acknowledge your presence.

"I'm sorry." Kiyoomi was about to touch Ran's head when the amber eyed boy on the other side of the bench cleared his throat.

"Don't touch her yet, Kiyoomi-san."

You saw Kiyoomi sheepishly smile at Ran when there's a slight movement of her head, and you heard Ran groan.

"Don't peekーDon't peek on me like that." A few struggled breaths from her and you hear an exasperated sigh from the golden haired boy beside you. "Up, Omi-san."

The golden-haired boy looked up at you. "Is she the one you're talking about Kiyoomi-san?" Kiyoomi hummed, now on his feet looking down at Ran's position. Are they talking about you? No way.

"Do you have a pulse oximeter? Chairman's was dropped in the office." The question disrupted your impending thoughts of how these boys knew about you. You have to ask Kiyoomi later.

You patted your pockets and thankfully, you have one. It was the hospital's protocol though, for doctors and nurses to bring an oximeter everywhere within the vicinity.

"She's still in high-sensitivity. Hold it first, Kei."

There was silence after, except for Ran's groans and whimpers from time to time. You stared at Kiyoomi that was statue-like, staring at Ran's figure on the bench. A few wild assumptions came to mind at his actions, and how this day showed you another side, well two, of Kiyoomi. You tilted your head as he huffed and looked at you, a silent apology on his eyes. You smiled at him, reassuring him anything you can offer to him eventhough you're unsure of yourself too.

"Told you I can't pick another doctor other than your Dad, Omi-san. I warned you." Ran's eyes were full of fury you can't help but to turn away and flash a grin on the wall.

Kiyoomi rolled his eyes upon hearing her words. "Told you you have to do plastic surgery or something. I hate your face."

"I know I'm pretty." And Ran happened to glance at you and almost immediately, wide-eyed and rounded her lips in surprise, much to your confusion. "And she's prettier up close, Omi-san!"

"Thank you?" You raised a brow at Kiyoomi while you feel your cheeks burn on the compliment, to which he groaned, pulling his phone from his pocket. "Umー"

"I'm Tadashi. This is Ran and Kei. Nice to finally meet you, Y/n-san." Your eyes flew from Kiyoomi to the amber eyed boy that's now standing and bowing briefly to you, flickering a teasing gaze on Kiyoomi. Your confusion grew more, it's achingly pressed to your bones.

"Stop it, Tadashi." Kiyoomi snapped at Tadashi who just grinned and took back his seat.

Ran groaned. "Please don't make me laugh." And to which Tadashi and Kei laughed.

You saw Kiyoomi rolled his eyes, cheeks were also beet red as he turned to you, and you giddily smiled back at him. "Are you still watching the game later?"

"I still can't move. Please, Omi-san, go flirt with her somewhere else, far enough that I can't hear."

"I really want to throw you off the grid, Ran." Kiyoomi deadpanned and you wanna laugh hard at it. Kiyoomi's gonna flirt with who now?

"Thankful that you love me." Ran paused and winked at you. "As a friend, Y/n-san. This irritating guy is all yours."

"You shouldn't tease Kiyoomi-san like that, Ran."

"Whyyy? That's called revenge!"

"But Kiyoomi-san's less grumpy around her, don't you think Kei?"

"Stop it. Don't make me laugh."

All your senses came back when you heard Kiyoomi unintelligently mumbled in his breaths, still in the moment where he's dragging you away from the teasing trio. You finally became aware that every pair of eyes across the lobby, and that those eyes were staring at both of you. You nibbled at your lip as you also became aware of his strong hands gentle but tugging at your wrist to somewhere. You can't help but smile as you fixed your eyes on his curly black hair, swaying as he bounds to the direction of the ER, not surprised that Kiyoomi knows where you have your shift in this time of this specific day of the week.

"You'll flirt with me in the ER, Yoomーah!" You bumped into his shoulder as he halted suddenly, a hall away from the doors of the ER. He turned to you, surprisingly still blushing. "Geez, Yoomi." You half-heartedly took back your tease as you brushed your hand on the spot where his shoulder made contact on your head.

"Yーyou're still coming to the game later, right?" His eyes were unfocused, darting anywhere but in your direction and you find it too cute and amusing.

You hummed, placed both your hands on his shoulders as you tiptoed to kiss his red cheek. "Won't miss it this time. See you later okay?"

You slid a hand on his chest to tap it twice against his MSBY jersey and went off to the ER, grinning at your action and to Kiyoomi's reaction. Flirting with a Kiyoomi that doesn't like you feels like you were shot to as far as Jupiter, far past the clouds.

But you thought you knew what you did to Kiyoomi. You have no idea. As he watches your gown getting winded up as you walked to the doors of the ER after you kissed his burning cheek, he stopped breathing for a moment, replaying the moment in his mind numerous times for a short while. He leaned back on the wall as he catch his breath, licking his dry lips.

"Want a check-up, lovestruck man?" He turned to his smug brother smirking in front of him.

"You already diagnosed me two months ago. Don't need a check-up." Daisuke laughed as he remembered what he said to Kiyoomi months ago.

"Kiyo, okay, listen."

"No."

"Listen, please."

Kiyoomi paused halfway the stairs to their rooms. He sighed and waited for Daisuke to speak up.

"I loved her. Before. Yes. But it doesn't matter now, is it?"

"I don't wanna date someone you loved, Daisuke."

"But you're already falling for her." That surprised Kiyo to the bone. How could Daisuke say things like that so casually? And no, he's not in love with you.

"Don't deny it. I hereby diagnose you as that. And please, don't be considerate of me. Go move on her if you want to. I will support you."

"Y/n-chaan~ Yoomi?" You looked down at Sara that's tightly gripping your hand, afraid to get lost in the crowd of Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. She's wearing Kiyoomi's merch jersey as you were wearing his jersey too, but not from the merch store. You blushed again behind your orange mask at the thought.

"Want me to carry you, Sara-chan?" She nodded, her curls bobbing with her head as she goes. You picked her up and realized she's not that heavy as you gripped her up around her orange shorts. "Yoomi's somewhere inside. Let's go find him."

But you didn't find him, instead you found someone else.

"Oh. So it's true." You turned to face Inunaki Shion and you smiled at him. "Sakusa Kiyoomi, huh?" You felt Sara squirmed in your arms to face the stranger in front of you.

"I'm Sakusa Sara, nice to meet you sir."

"You already have a kid with him?" Huh?

"What business do you have with my mommy, sir?"

"IーHuh?"

Shion was also as wide eyed and stuttering as you, him, clearly assuming something, and you, clearly confused and surprised with Sara's words. You were about to clear things with him when Shion's eyes fell somewhere far on your back.

You turned to that direction and there, you saw Kiyoomi taking big paces towards you. Sara squealed but your attention was on Kiyoomi and his intense gaze on you.

"Yoomi."

"Sara, close your eyes."

"Haiii~"

You didn't notice the way Sara grinned while closing her eyes, to the way the crowd turned their attention on the three of you, and to how the voices muffled, making it seem like it was buried away deep below.

One thing that you were sure was happening was this: Kiyoomi's hands cupping your cheeks and leaning his face towards yours, staring at your dilated orbs and smiled before tilting his head and closing the gap of his lips and yours.

You had to close your eyes because of the intense feeling he's giving you, kissing him back with equal fervor, too frustrated you can't wrap your arms around his neck so you tightly cradled Sara's waist instead, and still too dumbstruck of why Kiyoomi is kissing you right now.

He leaned his forehead on yours, giving you both chances to catch your breaths. You smiled at him, about to ask him the question when, "Can you be my girlfriend, Y/n?"

And you chuckled at the question that confirmed your past deduction.

"But, Yoomi, Dai said you have to ask first before kissing." And you can't help but laugh at how Sara responded for you, you kissed her cheek in adoration.

"What she said, Yoomi."

"Is it always like that?" He pouted as you turned around to Shion, giving Sara to him to which the little girl understood and even gave you a thumbs-up.

Kiyoomi was baffled at how Shion carried Sara and was about to retort when you pulled him into you and kissed him again, this time wrapping your arms in his neck, him hugging you close by your waist and kissing you back.

And yeah, maybe it's true that Kiyoomi doesn't like you.

Because he was already truly, madly, and deeply in love with you.

"You don't have a girlfriend, sir."

"I will have soon, you know. Behave before I put you down and leave you."

"Should we stop them? The warm-ups will start at 5 minutes."

"Oh, don't be an ass, Meian."

"Someone take a picture of them."

"I feel so single."

Semi Eita | Sugawara Koushi | Kuroo Tetsurou | Akaashi Keiji | Kageyama Tobio | Oikawa Tooru | Miya Osamu

@rudecopper on twt for the icon

Reblogs and interactions are appreciated. Theories will be entertained. Cassie 2023.

[wonwoosthetic]

Amour Haine & Co. | Chapter 16 |

series masterlist

word count - 13.3k

warnings - cursing, alcohol consumption, mentions of non-consensual sex, prostitution; this might be a kinda heavy chapter for some, so please do read with caution! I will never ever write a scene where any of the mentioned trigger warnings are actively happening to the reader, but there are mentions of it in this chapter

a/n: none of the things happening in this story are things that I put into relation to the real people that exist in this story! I also want to send every single one of you an immensely huge thank you!! For your patience, for your love, and for your support! I'm getting back into writing more frequently and hope to give you weekly updates from now on ˙ᵕ˙ I also hope that you of course enjoy this chapter and do not worry, there is so much more to come for this story! We're not getting towards the end of the story in the next few chapters.

I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT GUYS🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

"You're not gonna be able to walk away from this conversation forever, just so you know."

"Is this even legal?"

Your leg hadn't stopped shaking ever since you had stepped foot into the modern law firm. In the elevator, the air started feeling restricted again, just like it did back in the car that you had to share with Wonwoo. Only Wonwoo. Wonwoo and you.

His head snapped towards you, looking slightly down at your frame, hidden underneath the oversized clothing you were wearing, "What?" His eyebrows were scrunched, and you could tell his head was somewhere else, his thoughts were not in the room with you.

"This," you pointed towards the envelope, holding the possibly most important papers of your career in his hand. "What we're doing here. Is this legal?"

With pure confusion written all across his face, he kept his gaze interlocked with yours. "Are you seriously asking me if talking to our lawyer is illegal?"

"No," you rolled your eyes, a soft sigh escaping from your lips, "You know exactly what I mean. These are confidential, and I'm just not sure if... you know... we're allowed to use them to get an advantage in court."

Your eyes fell to Wonwoo's chest rising and dropping again heavily as he took a deep breath, adjusting his jacket.

"We got this information legally. We didn't steal it," he explained sternly, making sure that you were listening to him, "Sehun came to you, gave you this and that's it. It's an important part that we can't leave out when explaining it to the judge, but I'm gonna leave that to Jihoon. We'll see what he says." You nodded in understanding. Fidgeting with your fingers didn't help ease the nerves, but the CEO's words seemed to do a good enough job - at least a little bit.

It didn't feel right. The whole situation felt off. First, Sehun just showing up in your office and then just dropping such heavy info onto you, giving you everything you could possibly need to take down the worst enemy you had ever had to face in your entire life: Park Chanyeol. You trusted Sehun, there was no doubt of that. Whether that was a good thing or not, you didn't know just yet. Maybe you had been too forgiving too quickly and you were sure that Wonwoo would remind you of exactly that again, once you were back at the office. As if his rant back at his apartment wasn't already enough. Oh god,... that apartment. Too much had already happened there, and more shit just keeps piling up.

-

“Can I help you?”

The squeaky clean voice of the beautiful woman in front of you kept echoing in your brain. Beautiful doesn't even cover it. Gorgeous. Breathtaking. That's it. Breathtaking. Because that's exactly what she did to you.

The rain that had drenched your hair suddenly added so much more weight onto your head, making even the clothes on your body feel too tight. When did taking a breath become so difficult?

The raise of her eyebrows along with a tilt of her head brought you back as you just stared into her light-brown eyes, beautiful like soft caramel. Even her skin seemed too perfect to be true. Out of which fucking magazine did that woman just jump out? With that oversized sweatshirt hanging loosely on her body, it would most likely have been more of a YA novel rather than a magazine, but such a face could decorate the covers of each Vogue magazine across the world, and no one would question it.

You shook your head hesitantly, "S...Sorry," gulping hurt, "I- ehm-" Thank God, another voice interrupted you because who knows what would've come out of your mouth if you had continued.

"Jesus, Yeri, I told you not-" Wonwoo came to a sudden halt once his gaze stopped at your figure, standing in the hallway like a lost puppy. "Y/N? Why aren't you at the office?" Taking in your heavy breathing, and the wet clothes sticking onto your body, his eyes quickly found yours, "What happened?", immediately realising what was about to happen when you started shaking your head.

"Nothing," you quietly spoke, not trusting your voice to be any louder, "I... I'll get going... See ya," turning around, ready to make your way back to the elevator, back to the office building, back to your normal work day, or as normal as you could be after what had just happened. Not even two hours ago, this man was standing in front of you, his fingers tracing over your chin, desperately wanting to pull you closer and intertwine your souls. Even his ghost of a touch was still imprinted on your skin, making you want to scream. Not even eight hours ago, he was sitting down, looking up at you with those big brown eyes, almost begging at you. Admitting to his feelings, revealing the deepest of his feelings towards you. And now, not even ten seconds ago, he let it all fall. Every word he said, every sentence he spoke just evaporated into thin air.

Before you could let the tears in your eyes dwell up, a harsh yet soft tug at your wrist made you stop and turn back around, immediately faced with the body of the man you had become so familiar with, whether you liked it or not - this position didn't feel all too foreign to you.

"What's going on?"

His low voice mixed with his touch sent an electric wave through your body, yet you avoided his eyes, knowing exactly it would hurt too much. You rather kept your head down, looking at his hand wrapped around your wrist, shaking free from his grip.

"Nothing, forget it, I'll tell you later-"

"No," he stopped you, "Come on," and nodded towards his apartment since you were still not looking at him, he repeated the action you dreaded so much as his fingers found their place on your chin again to tap it, making you look up and move away from his touch. "Let's go inside."

You gulped, hugging the envelope closer to your chest, "No, it's fine, you seem-"

"Busy?" There was something teasing, yet slightly concerned, in the raise of his eyebrows. "She's my cousin."

"Hm?" You met his eyes quickly after the last word left his lips, which have slowly but surely curled up.

"Mh," he nodded, "Yeri's my cousin." He didn't let you intervene as you opened your mouth but just kept on talking, "My mum called her over to spend some time with her. On the way here, it started raining, so I gave her something warm to wear. They were just about leave, that's why she was close to the door and opened it even though I told her not to open it to anyone that doesn't use the bell downstairs, but oh well." He turned towards the open door, raising his voice slightly, "It's not like it's her first time here."

The female voice shouted a soft, "Sorry!" back, making him shake his head with a sigh, before catching your gaze again. You held your mouth tightly shut. Oh.

Locking eyes with him seemed too intense, explaining your drifting glances around the hallway that slowly fell to the floor, looking down at your shoes.

"You didn't have to explain that to me," you raised her head again, "I-... It's none of my business... you know..."

An almost chuckle escaped Wonwoo's mouth, just almost, with that stupid smirk still plastered proudly on his face. "Sure." Sharing a quick one-second glance at each other before he took the word again. "Would you like to come in now and explain what's going on?" So soft, so gentle. As if the person in front of you had just found out about the vulnerable side of you and was trying to speak as softly as possible to you.

You nodded, rushing past him without sending him another look, just praying to forget this scene had ever happened.

Chaewon was surprised to see you back at the apartment, but she got the message after a quick explanation that you and Wonwoo had to have an important discussion - 'business stuff' as he put it without even knowing the exact reason for your sudden appearance. 

After the two women had left, you took a seat at the dining table, putting the envelope down, expecting the CEO to sit down across from you when he suddenly disappeared.

"Wonwoo?" Your voice echoed through the apartment.

"Yeah? What?" He exited his bedroom and came back into the living space.

"What are you doing?" You wondered, nervously tapping your nails on the glass of the table.

He put the sweat-set he had carried from the room over to you onto the surface, nodding towards it, "Getting you something warm to wear."

You were quick to shake your head, "No, don't worry, it's fine," and pushed the envelope towards it, the sound of it scraping over the table scratching your ear, "You should see this."

"And you should put something on that's not drenched in water. Go change." You opened your mouth to protest, but he beat you to it, "I'll take a look, but you go. Now." With a sigh, you gathered the clothing into your grip as he mumbled, "I don't need you calling in sick to work tomorrow."

You rolled your eyes and were about to make your way to the bathroom when a comment tickled your tongue that you just couldn't let go. "You really enjoy giving away your clothes, huh?"

A deep sound that could be counted as a chuckle came from Wonwoo as he reached for the letters you had brought along. Once you were a few more feet away from him, he sighed, eyeing your figure disappearing in the bathroom, "To people I care about." Before you closed the door, a small smile appearing on your face.

-

You decided to leave your pants on as they were spared by the rain, unlike your top, but happily accepted the soft sweater Wonwoo had offered you, the name of his past university on wide display across your chest. Once you were back in the open living space, your eyes drifted to the dining table, expecting the CEO, but coming to sight with empty chairs. The pieces of paper were spread all over the glass, clearly only hastily looked at.

You were about to call out for Wonwoo, when his voice caught your attention, "Jesus Christ, Jihoon, pick up." Low and angered, just like you used to hear it all the time. Before. Before... all of this. It almost seemed unfamiliar to you, that's how long it must have been.

Turning to walk to the kitchen after hanging your wet clothing over one of the empty chairs and the sweatpants on the seat, you found said CEO leaning against the countertop. What caught your eyes though was the glass he had put up to his lips, throwing the brown liquid down his throat.

"Wonwoo, it's 9 am!" You called out, catching his attention. He threw his phone to the side with a clearly annoyed sigh and put the glass down, right next to the Whiskey Decanter.

Ignoring your exclaim, he raised his hand, gripping the pieces of paper tightly, wrinkling them harshly, "Are those real?"

The stern tone of his voice made you take a deep breath and reach forward in a hopefully somewhat calming manner, "Can I explain?" But that didn't calm him at all. Not in the slightest. He rushed past you.

"Yes, in the car. Put your shoes on."

"What?" You turned around, watching him hastily compiling all the evidence and stuffing everything into the brown envelope. He brushed past you once again, back into the kitchen to grab his phone before getting to the front door and slipping into his shoes.

"Jihoo's not picking up his fucking phone, so we're gonna go visit him. Come on," he nodded for you to come closer. You knew it wasn't the right time to ask any questions and just followed his order, right until he reached for his car keys. A slap on his hand made him flinch back.

"Are you insane? I just saw you jugging down Whiskey! You really think I'm gonna jump into a car with you now?" He was quick to shake his head, trying to get some sense back.

"Right, right... sorry," he opened the door, "You got your keys?"

You nodded, "Yeah, let's go," with a calm voice you pushed him out, praying this was gonna go at least somehow the way you expected it to go.

-

The elevator doors opened, bringing you back to the present as you thought back to the car ride where you had tried to explain everything that had happened in your office. Wonwoo had 'only' interrupted you about twenty times with 'what the fuck was he doing there?', 'Are you being for real right now?', 'you're fucking with me, right?', 'I'm gonna fire Jisoo, for fuck's sake'. A separate argument had started on behalf of that last statement of his as you tried to talk him out of that thought, but at that point, you had already reached Jihoon's law firm building, and everything was forgotten again as you stepped into the elevator and let silence overcome the two of you.

Just as you were about to step onto the designated floor, Wonwoo's call made you stop, "Y/N."

You turn around with a hum.

"Who did you think Yeri was?" Was that why he had been so quiet the entire elevator ride? Was he really gonna ask that now?

"What?" You scrunched your eyebrows, slightly shaking your head, "N-No one."

As the door wanted to close again, the CEO stepped forward, putting himself in between.

His eyes never left yours and you couldn't get yourself to break the intense stare you two shared.

"You still don't believe me?"

You shrugged softly, "Believe what?" There were more important things to discuss, was he really not gonna let this go?

"You thought Yeri was some girl I slept with. Be honest."

...

Yes. Yes, you did. Alright? And you hated it. Every fucking second of it.

"So what, Wonwoo," you barely whispered, "Can we go now?" Motioning towards the hallway. You didn't wait for an answer but just stepped forward, stopping at the extended arm suddenly in front of you.

"I meant what I said. Last night." Again, his eyes were still trained on you. Even with your gaze straight, you could feel his burning the side of your face, making you turn your head.

You nodded, your eyes drifting down to the floor, "I know. I did too." Your comment seemed to have calmed him as you could see his eyebrows relaxing and his eyes softening.

"But still, you..." You could tell, he himself wasn't sure where this was supposed to go, so you stopped him with your palm up.

"Can we talk about this later?"

Wonwoo nodded with a heavy breath leaving his nose. You were ready to walk forward, but his finger pointing at you made you stop once again.

"You're not gonna be able to walk away from this conversation forever, just so you know." With a roll of your eyes, you pushed his hand aside and walked past him, waiting for him in the hallway to show you the way.

Similar to your office building, you stepped through glass doors but came to a halt at what seemed to be like a reception.

"Oh, Mister Jeon," the voice of the woman behind the desk rushed through your ear, "Do you have an appointment with-"

"I'm sorry, but I need to see him now," he interrupted her quickly.

"He has a client in there, and I don't think he's free until-"

"No," he stopped her again, "I didn't ask. I want to see him. Now."

She nodded, "I understand, but I can't interrupt-"

"If you can't, I will," his tone grew more and more serious with every word falling from his lips, making you step closer to him, your soft hand finding its way to his shoulder.

"It's fine," you said out loud, everyone knowing it was more directed towards Wonwoo than to anyone else, "We can wait."

He shrugged off your touch, "No, we can't," and turned around without another sound, crossing the floor with quick steps, and running down the hallway as he definitely already knew the way to Jihoon's office.

"Wonwoo!"

"Mister Jeon!" The two of you that had stayed behind called out, before you looked at the woman with a gentle smile, "I'm sorry," but still went to rush after him. 

You caught up just as he opened the door to an office.

"Jihoon!" With a quick look inside, you were met with the surprised eyes of the man you were looking for and a second pair sitting right across from him, gazing at you in shock and confusion.

"Get out," Wonwoo motioned to the stranger to get up, "Come on."

"Wonwoo, I-" the lawyer tried to stop him, but the man in front of him was already standing up, clearly intimidated by the stature of the CEO. He almost bumped shoulders with you with the rush he was in, excusing himself quickly, not even daring to cross gazes with you.

"We have to talk," he sternly told Jihoon, throwing the envelope onto his desk.

The smaller man sighed, "And that can't wait?"

"No."

-

Wonwoo and you had taken a seat across from Jihoon, each in their own seat as your eyes were fixed on the man in front of you. You had wanted to start picking at your nail polish, but once you realised that it truly was all gone, your fingers found new entertainment by playing with the leather of the chairs. While you could practically hear and feel your heartbeat slowly coming up to your throat, your foot twitching out of nervosity, Wonwoo next to you seemed to be doing just fine. A deep breath would leave his lips every now and then as his gaze drifted around the room, taking in the decor on Jihoon's shelves and the big windows showing you the skyline of the city. After that became too boring for him, he stood up and started pacing around the room, clearly getting impatient by how long the lawyer was taking, which you could definitely relate to. One quick look at the digital clock on his desk though let you know that it had only been four minutes. Four long fucking minutes.

"So?" Wonwoo was the first to break the silence, making his friend sigh, look up and lean back in his chair. His eyes first fell on Wonwoo, but then travelled to you, suddenly a confused look written across his face.

"You went to Seoultech?"

"Hm?" You wondered, copying his facial expression before you lowered your head to where his gaze was fixed on. The sweatshirt. You forgot. "Oh, no," you stuttered, "I-It-"

"It's mine, not important," the CEO finished the explanation quickly, not wanting to dive further into the reason why you were wearing it, making Jihoon's eyebrows jump up in surprise. His change in expression went uncommented. "So, what do you say?" Wonwoo steadied his figure by placing his hands on the backrest of the chair he had sat in only a minute ago, not looking anywhere else but at the man whose opinion mattered the most at that very second.

"I think you know what I'm gonna say," he answered calmly.

"Well, I wanna hear it," Wonwoo argued back.

The lawyer sighed, "It's great evidence. Amazing even."

"Exactly," the younger man nodded with somewhat of a proud grin on his lips.

"But," Jihoon started again, catching both of your attention suddenly.

"But?" The CEO and you questioned in chorus. That was never a good start.

He gathered the papers together in his hands, waving them gently, "It's too good. And too much."

"What the fuck do you mean, too much?" Wonwoo didn't seem as confident anymore as before, annoyed by what he had to be confronted with. "That asshole did all of this, how could it be too much?!" You didn't miss the slight raise in his voice, neither did Jihoon, but he seemed unfazed by it.

"I mean it's too much." He stated once again. "You bring this amount of evidence to a judge out of nowhere, they're gonna start questioning it. All of it."

"So? Let them question it."

The shake of his head, made Wonwoo stop in his tracks. "That would give Chanyeol just more time to come up with something to fight this. Because he WILL find out that everything's getting delayed because of a sudden appearance of evidence the court needs to look through."

"Fuck that," the CEO shook his head with a deep mumble, followed by a sigh.

"How did you even get this?" Jihoon wondered, his eyes flicking between you two, waiting for an answer.

You lifted your head to find Wonwoo's gaze already on you. The soft nod towards the lawyer along with a gentle, "That's your story to tell," made you take a deep breath.

With your fingers holding on tightly to the sleeves of the sweater, you started, "Sehun came into the office today."

"Oh Sehun? Park's guy?" To which you nodded, but Jihoon had more questions, "Why? You know him too?"

"Yeah... he..." you tried finding the right words, "He used to be one of my best friends before... Chanyeol and I became a thing. So- I don't know, he just was there, sitting in my office with that envelope and told me to use it for the lawsuit."

"Just like that?"

"He feels really guilty for what they did," as much as you didn't want to defend him, since you knew the other party was still in the wrong, you couldn't help but let your feelings play into it, "He wants to be better than that them-"

"That sounds pretty sketchy to me, not gonna lie," Jihoon sighed, crossing his arms over his chest as he stood up. Wonwoo was back to sitting down next to you, his eyes never leaving your side profile.

"It's not," you argued, "I trust him. Kinda..."

"Kinda?"

"I know that it's hard to believe, but if you knew him like I do, you'd trust him too. Of course, I don't want to put all of my trust into him and into this," you pointed at the papers on his desk, "But I do believe he meant what he said. He wants to take down Chanyeol just as much as we do. He's done with his bullshit."

"Alright," Jihoon nodded, "I'll take your word for that," and took a few steps closer to his desk again, suddenly separating the papers into two piles, "This," he pointed to the left one, "We can use. I'll get that to the judge as quickly as possible." Then turned to the right one, "But this. We can't use it like that."

You sat up straighter, trying to get a glimpse at what pieces of evidence he was talking about when you found the statements of the women Sehun had told you about.

"What?" You called out, "What do you mean, we can't use that? Are you kidding me? You just wanna throw that away?!" Your voice got louder with each sentence, desperation and shock lacing every word. Frustration started building up in your body like a slow fire spreading.

"Listen, we-"

"These women deserve to be heard! They had the courage to talk about what happened to them, and now you don't even want to use it?! You can't be serious right now..." The rough hand gently covering yours on the armrest of your chair made you take a deep breath. You didn't need to look down to feel the intensity.

"Jihoon," Wonwoo spoke up, much calmer than you, "Their statements are just as much evidence as that other shit-"

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is-"

"Not, it's not, Wonwoo!" Jihoon was the last person to raise their voice in the room, but it had to happen at some point. Before either of you could interfere, he continued, his tone much lower but not any less strict, "We know what law enforcement is like these days. You out of all us should know it the best," he pointed at the CEO, who shifted in his seat and his grip on your hand tightened. He hit a nerve with that. "What they're gonna do once they read through these is give that Park idiot a warning and those women some money because they think it's gonna make them feel better and forget everything that happened. This is their way of handling these types of situations these days, and it's not gonna benefit us in any way or bring Park down."

The three of you sat in silence. You understood now. Wonwoo did too. And Jihoon was right. When it comes to sexual assault cases, law enforcement was the worst to deal with it and whatever the outcome would be, it never benefited the women on the lower end.

"There's a big difference between the raid videos and the statements," the lawyer started again, sitting down opposite of you, "Here with have video evidence, which is VITAL in a case like this. Yes, videos can always be edited, but these idiots forgot that you have a watermark on all of your security camera footage, like smart people would." His comment almost made you chuckle, but it certainly made Wonwoo smile. "Statements won't get us far, that's the problem. They can be faked easily. They can even say we bribed these women to say bad shit about Park." You nodded in understanding. "But."

"Can you stop with these 'buts' and get to the fucking point?" Wonwoo started becoming impatient again, never breaking the cold demeanour you had become so used to.

Jihoon took the right pile of paper into his grasp, "Did you read through them?"

"Not all of them, why?" The CEO shook his head.

The smaller man sighed, "I figured," earning himself an unamused facial expression from his friend, "Some of these women stated that the sexual harassment happened at the workplace. There's no way we're getting camera footage from their office unless Sehun helps us with that, but that again could get us into some deep trouble as well," he explained, knowing he had both of your full attention. "But not all of them talk about their workplace. Some of them mention a club."

Wonwoo stared at him in confusion as he noticed the slightly smug look on the lawyer's face, "What club?"

Not giving him a verbal answer, Jihoon pushed the papers towards the two of you, making Wonwoo's hand lift from yours, leaving a cold empty space. It was only then that you noticed for how long his warm palm was covering your entire hand. The man next to you got a hold of the papers, reading through them quickly until his eyes stopped and what he was looking for.

"The Monbebe..."

"The Monbebe," Jihoon nodded with a smirk, a pen of his now in between his fingers as he played with it.

Wonwoo shook his head in slight annoyance or disappointment, you weren't sure, "Fuck..."

Your eyes switched between the two men, hoping someone would explain what had just happened, but since neither of them continued, you decided to speak up, "What's the Monbebe?"

Wonwoo was quick to answer, "A club downtown."

"And part of our past," the lawyer continued, a subtle smirk daring to escape on his face.

"Jihoon. Don't." The CEO looked up, glaring at his friend. But he just rolled his eyes.

You didn't miss the sudden change in the atmosphere that ran across the room, the tension that had started to build up again, and you couldn't help but let your curiosity win over, "W-What do you mean?" Eyes on Jihoon first, but when he pointed towards Wonwoo, you switched to look at him, "What does he mean?"

The man next to you shook his head as he threw the papers back onto the table with a huff, "Nothing, it's not important."

"Oh, it is VERY important," Jihoon contended.

"No, it's not, you fucking know I don't want to have anything to do-"

"You can't run from your past, Wonwoo!" The two men started to argue. You stayed seated, watching the heat in both of their eyes as they took a trip down memory lane, to a memory that Wonwoo seemed to want to forget.

The CEO stood up with an angry breath leaving his lips, "That was never supposed to be my past! Or any of our pasts! You forgot about that?! Oh sorry, my bad, just because it got deleted from your record, you're just gonna pretend like it was fine what happened back then?!"

"Don't start with that," Jihoon, now also standing as a defence mechanism, pointed a finger at his friend, "I'm not the one trying to erase everything that happened. Yes, it wasn't okay, but like I said, it's in the past, Wonwoo." He shook his head with a sigh, "Jesus Christ... I'm not saying you should go back there and become their best fucking friend."

"Then what exactly are you trying to say, Sir lawyer?!" Wonwoo spat those words at his face, almost sounding like he was holding them against said lawyer.

"Will you let me finish for once?"

The CEO raised his arms in defence and motioned for the other to continue talking. You just hoped to soon get out of this misery of the unknown.

Jihoon took a deep breath, taking a look out of the window before turning his attention back to you, "I told you. The security camera footage that Sehun brought you won't be a problem. That's good evidence. But the statements are not enough-"

"You already said that," Wonwoo interrupted him, earning him a glare from both you and Jihoon, receiving an annoyed sigh in return.

"BUT, we know that the Monbebe has security cameras all over that freaking place, and those also have a watermark, meaning that the judge and everyone else would look through, but they wouldn't question the sincerity of the footage. Because those are harder, if not, impossible to fake in the period ever since it happened to now."

"And... how do we get to this security footage?" You had started picking on the fabric of the chair again, still not feeling an ounce of casualty or calmness yet.

Jihoon dared to look at his friend from across the room for a split second before answering, "That's why I mentioned our past," looking at his shoes and meeting your eyes again, "We-"

"She doesn't have to know everything," Wonwoo stopped him sternly, taking the last piece of patience you had with those final words. You shot up from your seat and turned your entire body towards him,

"I'm in this shit as much as you are! So yes, I do in fact have to know everything, are you kidding me?! While you two have been fighting over God knows what shitty past you have, I've been sitting here and just listening to this, not knowing what the fuck is going on. So you better start telling me about this right now! I've had to tell you everything about Chanyeol as well-"

"That's not the same!" With a few quick steps, Wonwoo got dangerously closer to you, "Your fuckhead of ex-boyfriend is suing our company, so I think I'm damn well entitled to know who the fuck he is and why he's doing that!"

"Yes, and now this is also part of that whole fucking trial, that I'm in as well, so stop arguing and start fucking talking," you had lowered your voice, remembering that there was still another person in the room with you and you were in fact in an official law firm, holding multiple other lawyers that worked next to yours.

Wonwoo couldn't tear his eyes off you, but the same went for you. He captivated you once again. So easily. And he didn't even try.

"The owners of the club are old friends of ours," Jihoon spoke up, making you turned towards him, but you still caught the sigh escaping the other man's lips as he shook his head,

"Friends..."

"They were." The lawyer repeated, much sterner this time and definitely directed at Wonwoo.

"Exactly, there WERE."

"But they'd still help you," Jihoon argued, "If they saw you at the Monbebe, you don't think they'd want to talk?"

The CEO nodded with a smirk, "OH, I know they'd want to talk, but I wouldn't let them finish whatever the fuck they're gonna say."

"Well then, you're gonna have to learn to in order to get those security camera videos."

You switched your weight from one leg to the other as you crossed your arms, "You think they're just gonna give us that footage?"

Jihoon motioned you a clear 'no' with his head, "No, not just like that. But if that idiot over there could get the stick out of his ass, I'm sure they'd be more willing to do it... Maybe bring Mingyu along too. They always got along with him the best."

Your gazes switched between the annoyed CEO and the calm but smug-looking lawyer, while you stood in the middle, unsure of what was to come next. Wonwoo was for sure not going to take the next word as his friend's last sentence was still running through his mind. You decided to take the initiative to get out of this situation as quickly as possible.

"So...?" Eyeing the two men, "What are we gonna do?"

Jihoon took a seat behind the desk again, leaning back in the chair, looking straight at you, "You might want to go shopping."

"What?" You scrunched your eyebrows in confusion, "Why?"

 A quick glance at Wonwoo made the smile on his face only go wider, "The Monbebe is... how would you put it, Wonwoo?"

"Don't." The other man growled, catching you off guard, but Jihoon chuckled.

"It's... a very special kind of club. With... a very special audience."

But that only fed into your confusion.

-

"You’re kidding.” You stated matter-of-factly, rather than as a question, gazing at Wonwoo with raised eyebrows. Your eyes travelled to the dress he held by the hanger. Scratch that. Piece of cloth, that’s what it was. You could not call that a dress or any type of clothing, just something that should represent a form of shorts? Undergarment? A small little cover of some sort with a top not wider than a headband.

“Underwear has more fabric than that.” Your comment made him chuckle, followed by a roll of his eyes.

“You wanted to find out what the Monbebe was all about. And I hate to break it to you, but this is exactly what women that go to that club would wear. Although this here is already very modest for that kind of club.” He put it back on the clothing line and continued walking behind you as you passed multiple other racks filled with not much different attire than he had just held in his hands.

“I don’t want to find out what that club is like, especially after what you told me, but if Jihoon thinks we could get the security footage by talking to them, or with you talking to them, then I’d say let’s give it a try,” you explained while continuing your search of something appropriate to wear.

He swallowed the ball that had formed his throat, "You know if you'd just stay at home like I proposed-"

"No," you turned around too quickly for him to react, catching him off-guard as you pressed your fingers into his chest, "Don't even start with that shit again. We're in this mess because of me." Before you could continue, Wonwoo wrapped his much bigger hand over yours, releasing your finger from touching him, but keeping you just as close as he leaned down.

"And you don't even start with THAT. We're in this because your ex is a fucking moron. This could've happened to anyone he wanted to fucked over."

You shared two more seconds of silence, just gazing into each other's eyes before a voice tear you apart again.

"Hi," she screeched into your ear, "Can I help you find something?"

"N-"

"Yeah, we're looking for something for her to wear to the Monbebe," Wonwoo answered for you, earning himself a quick glare from you that just made him nudge you towards the direction the over-motivated lady was heading.

"Oooh! Special night, I see, I see," she rushed over to a corner you didn't even dare to look at, already sensing the 'not my style' vibes from miles away. "Well," she picked out the first outfit, as skimpy as it could get, "You can never go wrong with a classic black bodysuit."

"That- That's not really what I was going for, you know?"

She shoved it back on the rack, nodding quickly, "Alright, alright, well then, what exactly were you looking for?" Her big caramel eyes were digging holes into your soul, almost making you want to give in and just go with whatever fabric would cover the most important parts of your body. What a great selling strategy...

"Something...." you started motioning around your body, trying to think of the right way to say out loud what was going on in your head, "that maybe looks a little bit more like... clothing?"

The questioning tilt of her head made you sigh in frustration, but Wonwoo was quick to come to the rescue.

"Maybe more coverage. More fabric."

You nodded, holding in a deep breath, "Yeah... that would be great," looking back at the woman, who just stared blankly at you, blinking with her big eyelashes.

"More coverage? For the Monbebe?"

"I already explained that to her, but... yeah," the CEO nodded in defeat.

The sales assistant seemed to think for a few seconds before clapping her hands, "Okay okay, I think I may have a few pieces, but I'm gonna have to check the back. How about you go take a seat in the changing rooms, and I'll get back to you once I've got something."

The two of you went off on your own, trying to find the changing rooms that were on their individual floor, where you were welcomed by two other women, who just couldn't keep their eyes off the man by your side. You'd like to say it didn't bother you, that you didn't even notice the way their eyes basically undressed him before they turned to each other only to start whispering and giggling like little school girls. Oh, what you'd do to be able to think like that. But that was not the case. You didn't like their gazes on him. You couldn't help but try to stay as close to him as possible. He must've noticed at that point. And that thought made you want to crawl into a hole and never come out again. You prayed he couldn't tell how your heart had started speeding up anytime he had more or less accidentally touched you. You begged he didn't notice the chill running down your spine, making the hair on your body spike up when he would bend down to whisper something in your ear. 

But he did. He observed you like homework. He wanted to be able to read you better than anyone else. And he wasn't going to be subtle about it - why should he? He had already confessed almost on his knees to you, what else was there to lose? You already held his heart and his dignity in your soft hands, whether you knew about that yet, he wasn't sure, but he was going to find out. There was no doubt about that.

You had taken a seat in one of the dressing rooms, the curtain still open, giving you a perfect view of Wonwoo, who was sitting right in front of you, making himself comfortable on the soft cushions in the middle of the room, probably specifically made for the boyfriends to wait for their girlfriends. Or rather sugar daddies that would wait for their sugar babies to put on a show for them in the dress they would be getting just for them.

"Sooo...," you wanted to break the stillness and tension that had started building up, "What exactly is the dress code for the Monbebe?"

He leaned back slightly, the upwards shift of his hips didn't go unnoticed by you, making you take a deep breath in. "You want mine or the official one?" Wonwoo had his head turned to the side, leaving you to stare at the sharp line of his jaw.

"What?"

He looked at you. Gazed at you.

"Come as you are. Be and feel free. Don't hide. That's how they word it."

"And yours...?"

A sigh tumbled from his lips, "Skimpy. As less as possible to give us easy access."

You scrunched your eyebrows at his comment, "Us?"

He met your eyes with a guilty look, "Men." You nodded. Right... you remembered the explanation of him in the car. What the Monbebe club was. A whorehouse basically. The more known and official designation was 'Gentlemen Club' but everyone knew what it really was. You felt the sick feeling in your stomach come back when your mind brought you back to that part of your conversation.

"So, prostitution?"

"Pretty much," Wonwoo had looked out of the window the entire ride, not even sending you a quick glance.

"But," you swallowed at the hard fact that was reality, "I mean, it's definitely not legal, but the police doesn't care about it, right? They just seem to turn blind when it comes to that. Those women know what they're doing, so... why do Jihoon and you talk so bad about it?"

"Because they don't." You stopped at a red light and turned to face him, answering him with a questioning hum, hoping to get his attention. He did change his line of sight but kept his head straight ahead, still not meeting your eyes. "It's not consensual prostitution."

Oh.

"I mean," he cleared his throat uncomfortably, "In a way, it is because they're the ones who come to Monsta X to start working there, but... their... clients... and visitors... they can do whatever the fuck they want with those women. And they can cry as loud as they want... it doesn't bother those pigs. If anything, it only turns them on even more."

You had heard enough.

Disguised as a club with a bar, but in the back was where the 'fun' for the visitors truly was at. Wonwoo had also mentioned something about a fighting/boxing business even further down into the basement, but he didn't want to go into further detail about that area of the entire building, hoping that he'd be able to keep the two of you as far from it as possible.

"But I'm not working there," you told the CEO as he crossed his arms, watching your legs that you crossed, "Why should I dress the same as the women that do?"

"Do you think they care? The people that go there do not give a fuck about who officially works there and who doesn't. They just try to get their hands on anyone that's available and the Monstas need to uphold their honour in the industry." He explained. You could tell he didn't enjoy talking about this which seemed to have been a part of his past at some point. It scared you. He hadn't told you how he had gotten involved with them just yet, but you were terrified to find out. Scared of what side of him would be revealed to you. It seemed like such an unlikely place for a man like him to be, for any of his friends that you had met so far, so you were curious to find out more.

"But...," the start to your question made him look up, "If they're so infamous for such things, how did you guys-"

"Alright!" The familiar voice of the saleswoman rang through your ear, making you stand up. With four steps, you were out of the dressing room, only to stop right next to Wonwoo, but with your eyes on the lady, or rather the stuff hanging on her arm. The questionable things hanging on her arm. Your eyes caught some glitter, some pearls, and... chains?! "I know, I know, some of it might not look THAT good at first, but just try it on and trust me, okay?" She beamed the brightest possible smile at you, her bleached teeth blinding you as you unsurely nodded, opening your arms to get the pieces of clothing handed over. She brushed past you and hung everything on the hangers on the wall before stepping out again,

"I'm gonna leave you two to it, but if you need anything else you can just ring that bell over there," and pointed towards what looked like a light switch. With one last, what you presumed to be, fake smile, she left you two to have the entire floor to yourself.

"Wonwoo...," you gasp-whispered as your gaze travelled across the fabric hanging on the wall.

The CEO shot up from his seat, with one big step closer to the dressing room, pretty much standing inside of it with you, "What? What's wrong?" You didn't notice the slight worry in his voice as you were still trying to calm yourself from the embarrassment you were about to experience as soon as you would put on any of these things.

"What?" He repeated.

You shook your head, "I-I don't know..."

"What do you mean?" He kept on digging for a proper answer from you, but you just stared at him with a blank expression.

"This. This dress. All of them. No." The words fell quickly from your lips before you could even think of properly forming sentences.

"Y/N...," he spoke softly, "You haven't even tried any of them on-"

"Look at them!" 

"I am," he calmly answered you.

You motioned at them wildly with your hands, "Well then, you should see the problem."

"Look," the man sighed once again, "I told you, it's their fucking dress code, if I could change it, I would. Trust me."

"I knowww," you whined, a defeated breath of air leaving your lips. Wonwoo was patient with you. Too patient. But at some point, it had to be over.

"You know, I can still do this on my own-"

"On it," you were quick to interfere, pushing him out of the dressing room, making him fake gasp,

"I don't even get the full show?" You revealed your face from behind the curtain with a scolding expression.

"Watch your mouth, mister." Leaving him with a smirk on his lips to fall back onto the cushioned seats.

Two minutes later, the curtain was pulled back again as your head out, finding his eyes immediately. Before he could even open his mouth, you started,

"I look ridiculous."

He couldn't help but grin at you, "I highly doubt that." Wonwoo couldn't lie, his position was making him excited. The thought of what the clothing this particular store was selling would look like on your body made his own react in ways he wished it wouldn't.

You shook your head, the blush evidently on your cheeks, "You can't see me like this." But that only made him chuckle as he leaned forward, letting his forearms rest on his upper thighs.

"I think we've crossed that boundary a few times already, don't you?" He teased. You knew the answer. But you kept your mouth shut and just motioned him 'no' once again.

"Still."

"Come on," you tilted his head, but you stood your ground, sending him a blank facial expression, "What? You're getting shy now? It's too late for that."

With a sigh, you disappeared again, mumbling a loud enough, "I hate you," for him to hear, making him grin. 

That smirk got wiped off his face as you surprised him by stepping out of the dressing room fully, standing in a skimpy little black lingerie dress in front of him. A dress that pushed your boobs up so much, they almost quelled out of the cups, and your boobs had never been THAT big.

Wonwoo whistled, "Well, hello," his eyes were clearly not on your face.

"Stoooop," you whined, hands coming up to clasp your breasts in defence, hoping to hide a little bit.

He chuckled, "What? I said hello," raising his arms in defence.

You squinted your eyes at him, "I know who you said hello to," hands still on your boobs. The chuckling continued. He couldn't help it. He couldn't hide it.

"And what were you so worried about?" Wongoo genuinely wondered as he kept eyeing you up and down, he really tried to stop but it was almost as if his eyes moved on their own.

You sighed and turned back to take a look in the mirror, your backside now facing him, not making it any better for the poor man in the chair. He decided to stand up to not have your ass on perfect eye level and was only graced with the beauty of your reflection.

Your hands caressed the dress, trying to get every single crease out of it. "I mean-," you breathed out in frustration, "just look at it! The fabric is way too thin, my boobs are on the verge of falling out and one wrong move and I'm flashing my ass to everyone."

"I'm not complaining," he grinned, hoping to get a similar reaction from you, which you gave him, but it quickly changed to a shake of your head.

"Clearly." Wonwoo didn't like the tone of your voice. He knew it all too well. It reminded him of his mother. All the times she would check her reflection in any passing mirror, trying to fix every hair that was possibly laying wrongly on her head. Any tiny smudge of her makeup had to get corrected, and every inch of her body had to either be hidden or look fit and young.

The comments of his father rang through his memory. The words he had thrown at his mother as she, slowly but surely, aged like beautiful fine wine, much to the dismay of his father, who had looked like the molerat he had always been. He hated the way his mum saw herself. Just because that asshole couldn't keep his mouth shut. Wonwoo promised himself to never make that same mistake.

"Well," he wanted to touch you, oh so badly, but he kept his hands to himself. For now. "If my opinion is of any importance to you, I think you look beautiful. But so did you in my old ass university sweater, so I don't know how much of help I really am."

You raised your head, meeting his gaze in the mirror, sending him a shy and tight smile as you grasped the seem of the dress tightly. God... why was he doing this to you. Well, you knew it. He had told you. He told you exactly what he was thinking, so, you knew. But what were you going to do with that information?

"Thank you," you softly told him, to which he just nodded. "But I still don't feel comfortable in this."

"Then let's try to find something you at least find somewhat comfortable to wear," he suggested kindly, sitting back down as you went back into the dressing room, pulling the curtain close before you released a heavy breath.

-

"They can't be serious about this," you commented as you stepped out in your now fifth dress. ...Dress? If you could call it that. It was much rather just a bunch of chains that were intertwined with each other, creating something you could throw over your upper body.

Wonwoo looked up from his phone, putting it back into his pocket immediately. 

"Why are you wearing underwear with that?" He exclaimed, getting a wide-eyed stare from you in return.

You stuttered, "Wh- Am I- Am I supposed to just go bare?!"

"Well, with this, clearly," he stated like it was the most obvious answer possible.

You crossed your arms, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" He didn't answer you verbally but just shrugged, making you roll your eyes with a chuckle.

"But this is actually something that a woman would wear to the Monbebe," he quickly added before you could disappear again.

"This?" You pointed to yourself, "Without underwear? Seriously?"

Wonwoo kept quiet for a few seconds, eyes interlocked with yours, before sighing, "I know, you don't actually want me to answer that." You nodded.

With the curtain closed, you started to get undressed again.

"You know," the CEO stated, "The more time we spent here and the more dresses you try on, the less I enjoy the idea of you coming along," he decided to just throw out the facts as they were. He didn't like it at all. He was almost terrified. Almost.

"Well, too bad," you got the dress off and put it back on the wall, "Because you're not getting rid of me now." You could hear the quiet mumble from outside but couldn't make out what he said. But you knew better than to ask him and just decided to let it pass.

Standing half naked in front of the dresses, you realised that the fifth one had been the last, and now you were left in your underwear, gazing at the clothing in desperation.

"You okay?" Wonwoo had gotten up and walked towards the curtain, his voice now closer than before.

You sighed, "That was the last one. Last dress."

"So then? Which one is it gonna be?" He wondered, only adding to your frustration.

"I don't know," you soughed, running a hand through your hair, "No fucking idea..."

"What about that third one," the CEO suddenly suggested, "You said that wasn't too bad, right? I think it was the best out of all of them."

You reached out to look for the mentioned piece of clothing, getting it out and hanging it at the front once you had found it, studying it with your arms crossed.

"But you said it had too much fabric on it," you argued.

"Mh, guess why it was my favourite," he commented back, almost getting a chuckle out of you. "Do you need help?" His question made you grin.

"No!" You shouted back, "Don't you dare come in here." Looking at the curtain as it started moving, you found fingers creeping in and grasping the seem of the hanging fabric, making you jump forward and slap it before poking your head out.

"Won-" you hisses but stopped as soon as you realised just how close you were all of a sudden. This position felt familiar with him. Too familiar. You could feel his breath on your lips, and you did not mind at all. It was too close and yet not close enough.

"Are you sure, you don't need any help?" He whispered.

The breath that left your lips was clearly shaky, yet you hoped he didn't notice. Although... maybe it wouldn't be too bad if he did notice it... right?

You smiled shyly, "Yes... thank you."

Wonwoo copied your facial expression, "Look how considered I am."

"Mh," you hummed with a nod, "May I go back and change now?"

"I'm not stopping you," he stated, smirking, knowing damn well what he was doing. Without another noise, you were about to close the curtain fully again. "Y/N," but his soft voice stopped you and made you look back at him. Why did he still have to be so close?

"This morning," he started, "What did you want to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"In the kitchen. Before we got interrupted." He didn't take his eyes off of yours, but you couldn't help but to lower your gaze, feeling intimated by his question. The gentle touch of his finger made you lift your head again, "I think there's something we need to catch up on." The almost kiss. Before Binna ruined your pretty much perfect morning. Was he so caught up on that? The memory made you grin. Oh how bad you wanted to kiss him. You still wanted to. Damn you Wonwoo...

"You really want to do this here?"

"A beautiful woman is half-naked in front of me. What more could I ask for?" His comment received a soft chuckle from you, "But I want you to do it. Because you want to, not because you feel like you have to."

"Wonwoo...," another whisper escaped your lips as you could feel yourself leaning more into him, now only millimetres away from his lips. He noticed it too.

"I just need to know that you want to," he copied your tone, his hand coming up to brush your hair on the side of your face.

You would've trusted your heart to stop right then and there. It was beating so hard, it had to be close to exploding. Your breathing had quickened, the adrenaline rushing through your body just like you had missed it.

You nodded so very gently, someone could've missed it, "I want to." Earning an even wider grin from Wonwoo.

"Well then," he just answered, not moving from his position, waiting for you to continue. You knew what you had to do. And yes God, it didn't matter how much of a mistake this maybe was, you were about to do it. Just one last time, you dared to look down at the man's lips, before meeting his gaze again. That was the last thing you saw as you closed your eyes and finally closed the small gap between the two of you. Finally. It had been way too long. Well, at least it felt like it. The soft moans coming from both of you just emphasized that. Finally, you felt his lips move against yours again. His hand held your cheek, his thumb brushing smoothly over your skin, trying to pull you in closer while you had a tight grasp on the curtain, hiding your body from the chest down. It didn't matter that you were in the middle of a clothing store. You could not give less of a fuck. What mattered was the man in front of you with his lips on yours, keeping you as close as he possibly could. The lips you had found so much comfort in.

Whatever this was... it was complicated, yes. But you were so ready to find out what exactly it was and how you could make it work. Finally ready. 

You pulled back before it could get any more heated, out of breath, your eyes met again. You bit down on your lip as he opened his mouth.

"I meant what I said last night."

You looked down with a soft grin, "How often are you gonna say that?"

"Until you believe me," he stated, finding your hand that was still choking the fabric of the curtain. 

Your gazes met. His once cold and dark eyes had turned so soft. The face you had once wanted to avoid at all cost had become so warm and comforting to you. You felt seen. You felt safe.

The subtle nod of his head brought you out of your trance, "Go change, we gotta get ready for later."

You turned around, careful to not let go of the curtain, taking the clothing hanger with the 'dress' into your hands, "Okay, take that for a second, we still gotta pay for that. I'll-"

"Alright done." He grasped the dress and took a few steps back to give you some space again.

"What?" Your question made him look up, "When?"

"I gave them my card and told them which dress you're gonna take," Wonwoo got a hold of his phone, just shrugging his shoulders, looking as comfortable as ever while you were still desperately hiding your body behind a curtain.

You squinted, "How did you know which dress I was gonna pick?"

He stared at you with his soft gaze, "You really think I would've let you pick any of the others?"

-

Already out of breath, you kept running through your apartment, trying to find the pieces of accessories you were looking for, groaning when they weren't in the bathroom, or your bedroom. You rushed into the living room, hoping you had maybe left them on the coffee table, but no luck. You had been looking for your earrings for at least ten minutes. Ten long minutes. After showering and literally shaving every single inch of your body, you had taken the time to do your makeup better than ever before, but now the problem was something else. Fucking earrings.

The shoes you should wear were already waiting for you in the hallway, along with the little black bag you had decided on. With one last groan, you chose to forget about the accessory and went back into the bedroom to finally put on the dress as you were sure Wonwoo would be here in no less than five minutes.

You took it out of its cover, revealing the beautiful stitch it had, along with the chains and pendant attached to it. It was gorgeous. Hot. Nothing you'd ever wear anywhere outside, not even a nightclub - and you had been to clubs before.

Putting in on seemed easier back at the store, you realized as you tried to close the last hook in the back. God dammit... why did expensive clothing also have to be so extra.

The ringing of your phone caught you off guard, making you have to walk into the living room again, where it had sat on the sofa. Wonwoo's name lit up the phone screen as you accepted the call, still trying to somehow get that freaking dress to close.

"Hello?"

"Hey, you can come down, we're here."

"Ehm...," you thought about it for a good second before continuing, "Could you maybe come up?"

"Why?" His voice was laced with confusion, and a little bit of worry, "Are you okay?"

You quickly assured him, "Yeah yeah yeah, I just... I need help with this dress, I ca-"

"On my way."

"Thank you," a gentle smile crept its way onto your face, "Fourth floor, ap-"

"I know." Were you ever going to be able to finish sentences with that man around? Who knew.

Not even two minutes later, there was a knock on your door, letting you know he had arrived. With your hands still behind your back, you entered the hallway, opening the door just a little to make sure that it, in fact, was who you were waiting for.

"Hi," you beamed brightly at him.

"Hey," your facial expression made him chuckle. He was about to ask you something else, but the sight of your entire figure in front of him made him stop, "Wow..."

You rolled your eyes as you felt the heat in your cheeks come up, "Don't."

"What? Am I not allowed to compliment a beautiful-looking woman." You didn't know what to say. What do you answer to a comment like that just being thrown at you? Multiple of those comments as a matter of fact. 

Wonwoo's eyes fell on your hands that were holding onto the piece of clothing in the back. He took a step forward to get closer to you, making you almost breathe out at the sudden close distance when he put his hands on your shoulders to turn you around. His hands replaced yours. "You're gonna have to get used to me complimenting you."

You shrugged, "I just don't know how to react."

"Then you're gonna learn," he placed his palm on your lower back, "Done." You turned back around to meet his gaze.

"What if I don't want to?" The teasing question even surprised you, but for some reason, it felt fitting. And God did it feel good.

He grinned, his eyes running down your hair, his fingers followed, "You'll have to." Making you roll your eyes with a shy smile,

"You don't look too bad yourself, Mister Jeon." You brushed an invisible piece of lint off his suit jacket. Seeing him in suits every day at work didn't change the excitement that crept up your stomach at the sight of him in this clearly much more expensive anorak. All black.

"Shoes on." You nodded at the demand and brushed past him to bend down, forgetting how short your dress actually was. Only when you felt the sudden wash of cold over your clothed core, you shot up again, taking the shoes to the little stool you had placed in the hallway. Wonwoo waited patiently for you, watching you put on one shoe when he bent down onto one knee, taking the other shoe into his hand before moving to put it on your foot.

"Thank you," you told him, watching his fingers move so gently and skillfully over your skin, trying to make sure he tied the strings of the heels just the same way you did with the other one.

With a pat on your leg, he let you know he was finished, looking up to smile at you. If you hadn't been sitting down, you for sure would've melted to the floor at the look on his face. When had the cold-hearted bachelor turned so soft?

"Ready?"

You shifted in your seat, sitting up straighter, moving closer to him unknowingly as you put your hands underneath your thighs, trapping them between skin and cushion.

"I don't know," you let him know in full honesty, shaking your head in the process.

"As long as you stay next to me, you'll be fine. Alright?" He tried to find your eyes as you looked away, not being able to shake the unweary feeling you had about this whole situation you were about to run into. "I won't let anyone there touch you. I promise." His hand on your knee assured you even more of his statement. He promised. You knew he meant it.

With a nod, you agreed, "I know."

For a few more seconds the two of you stayed in your positions, sharing gazes as you watched his eyes go from concerned to reassuring to... something you couldn't quite put your finger on. So much had happened over the past few months for you to sit right there with the man in front on his knees. Just like he told you... 

"What?" His question brought you back, making you shake your head,

"Nothing, let's go." You stood up to walk past him, but his hand on your naked leg stopped you when he stood back up, only to let it travel up slowly, knowing damn well what it did to you when he caught your eyes again, and your lips slightly parted.

"What was that look on your face?" Again, he tried to dig deeper. You shook your head. But you knew there was no escape from him. If he wanted something, he'd get it.

His fingers grasped your chin to make you look at him. You were quick to wrap your hands around his wrist, ready to pull back whenever you wanted to. If you ever wanted to. 

The raise of his eyebrows let you know that he wouldn't move until you answered his question in proper words, so you took a slightly deeper breath.

"I was just trying to read you."

You saw his eyes falling to your lips before meeting your gaze again. "You don't have to try to read me. Just ask me."

A quick look down at your shoes got you the small amount of confidence that would hopefully be enough for what you were about to do.

"Can I ask you something?" You whispered.

He nodded, "Everything," lowering his voice to match yours.

You swallowed, tightening your grip on his wrist, as your heartbeat quickened, "Can you kiss me?"

He grinned right away and didn't waste a second to pull you in, only stopping when your lips brushed against each other before he whispered, "You don't have to ask for that."

You could've cried if you wanted to. The emotions had been building up for too long, and there were oh so close to spilling out of you.

The passion his lips wrote all over yours let the tingle in your stomach errupt. The butterflies were finally freed from their cage, letting an exciting chill run across your entire body. God... it felt so good. Too good. His warmth made you feel finally safe again. You felt... loved. Truly loved. Cared for. Anything you could ask for. Right there in front of you.

But all good must come to an end, and so did this kiss.

Wonwoo smiled all so gently at you again, his thumb caressing the faded touch of his lips left on yours, almost making you moan.

"Ready?"

But even in your dizzy state, you were able to hear him. You saw him. You felt him.

You answered him with a nod, followed by a soft, "Yeah."

-

In the car, driven by Hongseok, on the way to the club, the two of you had fallen into a comfortable small-talk-like conversation. Wonwoo let you know about the day in the office run by Mingyu as the two of you had been busy. He also informed you that the co-CEO would not be joining you that evening since he "never wants to ever put another foot into the cursed, run by the devils themselves, building", as he had worded it apparently.

The man's rough hand was on your naked thigh throughout the entire drive. It wasn't uncomfortable. Not at all. It didn't even make you nervous. It just made you feel safe. But you couldn't hide the shaky breath tumbling from your lips whenever he'd start moving that freaking thumb over your skin. Fucking tease.

Before you knew it, Hongseok notified you of your arrival, making the breath get stuck in your throat. You were about to enter a lion's den. A literal hell, just like Mingyu had put it. If it wasn't for the CEO next to you, you would've already had the worst nervous breakdown of your life, but his presence assured you. He wouldn't let anything happen to you. He promised.

The driver opened the door for you and you were greeted with a mix of blue, red, and purple light blinding your eyes once you stepped out, Wonwoo's hand right there to help and steady you before his moved to the small of your back, leading you forward. You two thanked Hongseok and wished him a good evening before he disappeared again, but not without sending you a warm smile.

You walked ahead, stopping a few feet away from the bouncer in front of the big, fancy-decorated doors. There was no line, which surprised you, but they probably wouldn't want to catch too much attention, you explained to yourself.

"Jeon," the big man suddenly exclaimed, making you jump at the tone of his voice. Not welcoming, that was for sure. "The fuck are you doing here?"

"Good to see you too Sidae," Wonwoo nodded at him, changing the placement of his hand as it was suddenly in front of you, making you pause in your tracks.

"Why are you here?" The man was not about to let you two off easily, you could tell. His eyes came to you, running up and down your body, sending an uncomfortable chill down your spine.

The CEO closed the button on his jacket, "I need to talk to them."

The doorman was quick to shake his head, crossing his arms in front of his massive chest. "They're gonna talk to you."

"And how would you know that?" Wonwoo argued back, earning himself a growl from the man in front of you to which your arms snaked over his, trying to keep close to him. His hand immediately found yours, hoping to give you some form of comfort.

"Do I have to remind you of what happened the last time you and your friends were here? The mess you idiots left." His comment made you scrunch your eyebrows in question. Wonwoo hadn't told you everything. He didn't want you to know the entire story of this part of his past. But slowly more and more was coming to the surface, whether he wanted to or not.

The CEO looked around, "Am I here with my friends? I don't see them anywhere," annoying the bouncer just a tad bit more, "Just me. And I just want to talk."

The big man in front of you nodded towards you, "And her?"

"You really think she's gonna start something?"

"I don't trust any bitches you bring along," he commented, earning a warning glare from Wonwoo.

"Careful with your words, man. I'd better shut my mouth if I were you." Even though the man was double Wonwoo's size, he didn't seem intimidated in the slightest. The past they shared together must add to that.

The bouncer sighed, before turning to the barricade, opening it and motioning for you two to go through. The man on your arm took a step first, making you follow. You didn't get far though as the doorman stopped you by grabbing Wonwoo harshly by the arm.

"If I hear anything about you starting God knows what shit, it's over for you, Jeon." If you hadn't gotten the message before, you sure as hell got it now. You gulped. Wonwoo just nodded relaxed, opening the door to let you go in first, but he was still hot on your step.

Immediately, loud music and darkness, only lit up by the same colour as outside surrounded you. While the entrance was empty, only men lined up next to each other, one bigger than the one next to them - must've been bouncers too - the open space, functioning as a dance floor was FILLED. You didn't think another person could fit into the mass. The bar to the side was fairly empty too, with only a few men sitting there, waiting for one of the women that walked through the room to stop by their side.

Your eyes widened when you saw the outfits. That's what Wonwoo meant... Those were rarely clothes... not even underwear... you guess they were supposed to be covers, but they hardly covered anything. There were a few women in another corner that were wearing slightly more, but still not enough for a normal nightclub in your opinion. You felt out of place. Wildly out of place.

Wonwoo was next to you again within a second, taking your hand and taking it to loop your arm with his.

"Just follow me, okay?" He shouted over the loud music, to which you nodded.

He took you to the right and right before you passed the bar, he brought you in front of him, his hands securely on your hips as he lead you straight forward, past all of the men on the side and women on the other. It was bigger than you expected. From the outside, it looked like a smaller nightclub but just could tell that that was just an illusion.

One more turn around the corner and through deep black curtains, you found yourself in front stairs but waited for Wonwoo to continue. He noticed you hesitating and stepped forward, taking the first step down. He turned around again, extending his hand for you to take and leading you down.

Black stone surrounded you, and the temperature dropped a significant amount as you were now in a basement - still lit up by blue, red, and purple lights.

Arrived on the lower floor, two signs let you know where everything was. With one look to the right and left, you also found multiple doors, leading to more rooms. You could guess what was going on behind those doors. Wonwoo had told you, and you didn't want to imagine what those men were possibly doing with the women that worked there.

You were dragged towards the 'lounge', passing all those doors. You didn't question anything, you knew this was the moment to shut your mouth. If you had any questions, you could ask those later.

The two of you came to a stop at the end of the hallway, one bright red door right in front of you. Your eyes fell to Wonwoo to your left, watching his chest rise before falling again. Maybe he wasn't as relaxed as he pretended to be. You squeezed his hand a little tighter, just to let him know that you were also still there. He wasn't about to do this alone. He copied your action, followed by a gentle shake of your hands.

He brought his other hand up to the door, knocking hard against it three times. Not even trying to open it, he knew only seconds later it would open up just like it was supposed to. His hand dropped yours the moment a beam of light came from the other room. You looked to your side, hoping to catch his attention as you didn't expect the sudden action. He sent you an assuring smile, tapping your palm with his finger before looking straight ahead again, walking in first to keep you secure behind him.

You were about to follow him when the sight in front of you made you stop in your tracks. A lounge with a big U-sofa, massive even. But more importantly, were the people on the couches. You found three men, sitting with their legs wide apart, surrounded by multiple women, one dressed skimpier than the other, all over those men. Their lips and hands running all over their bodies and all you could do was stare blankly.

The one in the middle caught your attention first as he saw you walk in. A bright smile, that you could only describe as creepy, brightened up his face.

"Jeon Wonwoo!" He shouted, pushing the women off him while gaining the attention of the other men left and right who had turned to look at the two of you. "A face I never thought I'd ever see again." With a slight tilt of his head, he also met you. A wink was sent your way making you quickly walk up right behind the CEO. The door behind you closed. Turning around you found two security men on either side of it. Those people here really care for their safety apparently. "To what do we owe the pleasure? And tell me why I shouldn't tell my men to pop your eyes out of your skull immediately."

You wrapped your arms around your torso in comfort as you started to feel the chill coming down your spine once again. He maybe didn't look as scary. But he sure as hell sounded terrifying.

Wonwoo sighed, putting his hands in his pockets, "Good to see you too, Shownu. And that would just make a terrible mess, don't you think?"

The man on the sofa looked to his left and right, sharing glances with his colleagues before gifting you his attention again.

"Well," he smirked, "Can't be worst than last time, right?"

Can’t even explain how nervous I was finally releasing this bc I haven’t written in so long, I hope I haven’t lost my spark… thank you for taking your time to continue reading this series🤍

Taglist: @nctxtrash @leicy0756 @hoe4wonwoo @jeonwonhi @nothingbutadeadesceane @smileywoo @angelarin @onewoowonderboy @goodforgyu @kavvs @sugarmilkchan @sweetheart-gs @wonforgyu @lilactangerine @meltinghershey @wonw00t @soonchanshua @jayswifeuwu @allorysayshi @shaurenlaw @drama-1998-girl @yoonren07 @malakasae @sseuyeon @venusprada @jeminiepabo @billboard-singer @safsaf1980 @monmarguerite @ji-jii-visha @renjunphile @haogyuslut @destinyg237 @taestrwbrry @renkkuri @travelleratheart101 @love-svt @sunshinein17 @morklee02 @wonuziex @pwwarkjisung @hokuuu @clvudisan @awyunh @restlesswritings @woohaosworld @everyw0nu @woo8hao

[allfortzu]

What if... Ashortfluffjeongconsolinganupsettzu 😳

istilllovehowyourequestthings!!! this took way longer than it had to, i simply couldn't think of anything tzu would've been upset about without making it painfully angsty 😭 but an idea suddenly came to me yesterday! i hope you enjoy this, thank you again for requesting, truly, you are single handedly fueling all the jeongtzu content from this blog, i love you 🫶

hopelessly in love

-- jeongyeon / tzuyu. 981, fluff. MEN DNI

jeongyeon lives by one rule: happy tzuyu, happy life.

jeongyeon tries not to get too worried about the clanking and crashing of pots and pans in her kitchen.

if not for peanut in her lap, she would've been off the couch in seconds, desperately in need of easing her fears.

she hears a yelp, and god – she hopes her girlfriend is okay.

tzuyu had told her she would be in charge of dinner today, herself. she'd effectively banned jeongyeon from her own kitchen.

“i can do this,” tzuyu said, face set and adamant. “let me take care of you!”

ah, i’m too weak for this.

it was one thing to be taken care of, and it was another to be told of it so innocently like that.

“you’re sure?” jeongyeon asked a second time, but they both knew she was already halfway into giving in. “i love cooking for you, you know that, right?”

“i know,” tzuyu assured, placing both her hands on jeongyeon’s shoulders. “but it’ll make me happy knowing i can do it for you, too.”

really, there was little jeongyeon could do in the face of tzuyu’s soothing voice and gentle puppy eyes.

jeongyeon sighed.

“okay, tell me if you need help?”

tzuyu’s grin was enough to tell her that no matter what happens, it would all worth it.

“got it; love you!”

with that, she was shooed out of the kitchen, still reluctant but ultimately succumbing because… well, she loved tzuyu far too much to ever say no.

also, in a way, she understands tzuyu’s sentiments.

jeongyeon's always the one doing the cooking, after all, this was simply tzuyu's way of showing her gratitude.

but, she still can't help worrying.

she keeps her mouth shut, though, because the least she could do was have faith in tzuyu.

so far, it seems promising.

there’s the tell-tale aroma of caramelised onions and fried garlic, and she can hear tzuyu cooing every time she feeds kaya or butter a piece of whatever she’s cooking.

jeongyeon allows herself to relax then, somewhat giddy at the prospect of tzuyu cooking for her, and the rightfully proud smile tzuyu will sport for the rest of the day after.

at some point, she realises that the kitchen has gone oddly silent.

the stove is out and the ventilator is turned off, and there is no longer the smell of cooking.

kaya and butter have found their way to the living room, which means tzuyu has stopped feeding them.

“tzuyu?” jeongyeon calls.

she nudges peanut off her lap and pads to the kitchen, heart heavy when she only hears soft whimpers coming from behind the counter.

“love?” jeongyeon calls again, turning the corner.

tzuyu is sitting on the ground, hugging her own knees.

in front of her, a perfectly cooked salmon. though, it's on the floor instead of a plate.

jeongyeon let's out a sigh of relief.

it's not an ideal sight, but she's mostly grateful nothing worse happened.

she kneels down next to tzuyu, and tzuyu automatically leans into her shoulder. jeongyeon would normally laugh, but now it pains her more to see her girlfriend so sad about it.

“you okay? are you hurt?”

“no,” tzuyu mumbles. “not hurt but not okay.”

jeongyeon can't help but pout a little at tzuyu's dispassionate tone.

she pats tzuyu's head softly. “hey, it's just one salmon. let's clean this up and we can start again, right?”

tzuyu doesn't seem very convinced, but she lifts her head to let jeongyeon stand up anyway.

jeongyeon cleans it up as quickly as possible – tossed, washed, wiped.

then, she's back to kneeling in front of tzuyu.

tzuyu's eyes are watery and her lips are downturned. jeongyeon can tell she's trying her best not to cry.

“you wanna start over?” jeongyeon asks, gentle.

tzuyu's voice comes out shaky. “we don't have anymore salmon.”

“oh, then we can eat something else, hm?”

she's willing to eat anything if it means tzuyu would be just a bit happier than before, really.

“but you like salmon.”

at this point, tzuyu is truly on the verge of tears, brows furrowed and choking up on the syllables and jeongyeon thinks she'd rather die than ever have to see tzuyu like that again.

she gathers tzuyu's reddening cheeks in her palms, rubbing away the few drops of tears that have escaped.

“i like whatever you make, trust me. we don't have to eat salmon, you could serve me shin ramen and i would love it, because you made it.”

she kisses the tip of tzuyu's nose, then her forehead, as gently as she possibly can, and tzuyu swallows a sob.

“i wanted to actually cook, though.”

“you did!” jeongyeon assures, lighting up. “i could tell the salmon was cooked from all the way over here! i would've eaten it off the floor, really – that's how perfectly cooked it was. i think fate made the salmon fall on the ground because i probably would've ascended to heaven if i’d eaten it, and you'll never have seen me again.”

tzuyu lets out a laugh, still teary at the edges but much less disappointed now.

she punches jeongyeon's shoulder playfully, chastising, “stop exaggerating.”

frankly, the punch hurt more than it looked, but jeongyeon’s just glad to hear her laughter.

“i’m not! when have i ever exaggerated in my life?”

tzuyu rolls her eyes, her lips tugging upwards uncontrollably – jeongyeon knows a happy tzuyu when she sees it.

“you still wanna cook?” she asks. they could get takeout for all she cares, as long as tzuyu wants it.

tzuyu is silent for a moment, thinking.

“yeah,” she finally says.

“but… can you help this time? i only know how to make salmon.”

jeongyeon laughs, and tzuyu punches her again.

she kisses her girlfriend's pouty lips, tasting salt on from her dried tears, kissing them away as a form of apology, but also because – god, she's terribly in love with tzuyu's smile.

personally, i am very bad at comforting people, so idk if this came through in the fic but know that in my mind, jeong is great at offering comfort! if you had to take one thing away from this fic, please let it be that, and not my poor attempt at writing effective words of comfort 😭

thank you for the request!! thank you for reading and interacting and all of that, and thank you for waiting! thank you!

[multifandomsimagine]

Best of Intentions [Poly!Bill Weasley x Reader x Fleur Delacour]

Summary: The results for the exam are in but they are not what you were hoping for

Warnings: N/A

Word Count: 1000

Author's Note: Ravenclaw!Reader cause this is a comfort piece for me. This was originally going to be a gif imagine but as I was writing it and using it as a place to vent, it kind of got out of hand 😓

You hear the jingle of keys being inserted into the front door's lock and the door opening a few seconds later as you hear your partners return from their trip to the grocery store. "Mon cœur, we're back" Fleur called out, nudging the door open and walking in with Bill close on her heels. They both come in with grocery bags in hand. Setting them down on the counter, they turn around to greet you. They spot the mail first right on the dining table where you had placed them when you came in with them. They then see the open envelope a few inches away from you with the logo of the Ministry clear as day before they see you with papers in hand.

"Oh!" Fleur claps in delight as she makes her way toward you. "Are those your results? How did you do?"

"Do I need to start referring to you as Professor [Last Name]?" Bill teases, moving to stand behind your chair in an effort to read the letter.

They're both taken aback when you burst into tears. They aren't able to look at the results as you quickly flip it over but they could infer that what was written wasn't anything good.

"Love / Ma chérie!" They kneel by your side and look at you. "What happened?"

"I know it's not a big deal," You tell them, wiping your eyes with the sleeves of your sweaters. You don't meet their gaze though as you stare down at your lap and look at the facedown results. "I can take this exam again; I just have to pay and submit my material again but I'm just so disappointed in myself! I was a Ravenclaw. I've never failed a test before; the lowest grade I've ever gotten was an 'Exceeds Expectations.' I studied so hard for this test and it was the last thing I needed in order to become a professor but I got a 'Dreadful.'" At the revelation of your grade, your voice wavers.

Squeezing your eyes shut, you grab the paper and clench your hands into tight fists, trying to make the results as small as possible. You wipe your face again, to clear it from your tears and runny nose but it's no use as you can't stop yourself from crying and you just continue your speech. "The exam cost so much to take and now I have to pay that again. What did I do wrong? Does this mean that I'll be a terrible professor? Am I just going to fail the students? How am I supposed to be able to teach them what they need to know when I can't even prove that I'm qualified to be a professor? I'm just a failure." Your breathing becomes quicker as you tell Bill and Fleur what you're thinking. You try to hold back the next sob but you're shaking too much to succeed as your crying gets worse; your tears going from pooling in your eyes to streaming down your face.

You cover your face with your sleeves as you avoid looking at your partners who have stayed quiet and let you finish your rant. They must think you're so foolish for crying over a bad grade. Bad grades are a regular occurrence in people's lives and they're able to move on with their life. And yet here you are acting like it's the end of the world. You're too embarrassed to look at either of them and you're gathering up the energy to leave the room and lock yourself in the bathroom until you can calm yourself down when you feel a hand on your knee and another gently uncurling your first to grab the results.

"Mon amour, this test doesn't define you," Fleur speaks first, making a point to show you the paper in her hands and folding it up until it's just a tiny rectangle before placing it on the floor. "Bill and I know firsthand how incredibly smart and what an amazing teacher you are. I've seen you teach Gabrielle things that I have trouble understanding with such ease. She's told me just how much she prefers you teaching her than me." At this, she gives your nose a little tap which makes you smile. "You explain things better than I do she says."

Bill nods. "I second that statement. Without you, there would have been no way that I pass Arithmancy and Ancient Runes in my third year. The exam doesn't show how much the impact you have on your students. Only that you were able to say what they wanted to hear." Taking your hand in his own, he intertwined your fingers together. "I know how hard you worked planning out those lessons for your students. You took into account all of their needs and the support they needed and taught a wonderful lesson. Didn't you tell us how much your students enjoyed the lesson?"

With a sniffle, you nod your head. "Yea, Tomás participated in the activity and KC told me how much she liked that day's lesson."

"You see, you're a wonderful teacher." Fleur kisses your forehead as she runs a hand through your hair. "And don't worry about the money. We have enough of it for you to take the test hundreds of times. But we know it won't take that long cause you're amazing."

Bill stands up from his kneeling position and gives you a hug. "And Fleur and I will help you in whatever way we can. So don't pay this grade any more thought. We love you and we're here for you. No grade will change our mind on this."

"Thank you, you two." You say as you take the napkin Bill was offering you. Wiping your eyes from any rogue tears still left, you used it to blow your nose. "For being here with me and always helping me feel better. I'm going to pass this next attempt. I know I can."

[befuddled-calico-whump]

Hand in Hand (part four)

@whumptober Alt. 10: Shaking + Alt. 06: Playing Cards

cw: aftermath of whump

prev ///// au masterlist ///// next

~ ~ ~

When they're done with Wes, when his body is limp and trembling, they unchain Dan and drag him out of the cell. He asks them to let him check on the unconscious man, in a voice hoarse from screaming for them to stop, but they ignore him. He knows they're taking him to Swift.

Dan doesn't realize how cold the cell is until he's taken out of it, the warmer air of the hallway easing some of the tension out of him, though it's not enough to make a difference. Even with the men supporting him on either side, walking is difficult. His head throbs, and his legs shake with every step, threatening to give out. He's gone longer without food, longer without sleep, taken harder hits, but the combination of the three is hell on his body. It's a miracle he's still on his feet.

Mercury Swift is sitting at a table when they reach her, a pack of playing cards in hand. She doesn't even glance up as the men push Dan into the chair across from her, not bothering to restrain him before leaving the room. He knows why. All the assurance they need that he won't try anything is back in the cell.

"Are you ready to tell me your terms?" he asks once they're alone, but Swift acts as if she didn't hear, idly shuffling the cards from hand to hand. The movement looks bizarre; Dan never took her for the type of person who likes having fun.

At last her hands are still, and her gaze slides across the table to land on him. The look in her eyes is one of appraisal. Is she taking in the fresh bruises? The way he's gripping the table to stay upright?

"Do you play rummy?" she asks.

"Some," he replies, easing his forearms onto the table and leaning heavily on them. Better support. Less swaying. "What happens if I lose?"

"I'm not a gambler, Mr. Melchior," she says with a heavy sigh. "I only wanted some company. Maybe a challenge, if you're any good."

He won't let himself believe her. It'll be so much worse if he goes in expecting mercy; better to brace himself for the worst outcome. But he isn't going to turn down the game either, not when the alternative is probably returning to the cell for another twenty-four hours. "Then let's play."

Dan takes deep breaths through his nose as she begins to deal the cards. His head feels like it's full of gravel, and the rest of him... well, the rest of him feels like it just took a beating. Still, he needs to try and stay sharp. He can't let the waiting game go on forever; he needs to figure out what she wants.

They play a few rounds in silence before he tries. His hands shake as he sorts his cards, and he isn't sure if it's nerves or exhaustion.

"If all you wanted was a partner for cards, you could've asked," Dan says, laying a three-of-a-kind onto the table.

"Mm. Isn't that what I just did?"

"Without torturing my friend," he adds, trying to make the accusation sound light. Friendly.

"You admit you're friends then?" She lays down a sequence of her own. "He isn't insignificant?"

Dan clenches his jaw, wincing as the movement spikes pain through his bruised cheek. "I know the stakes," he says, drawing a card. "I swear, I'll do what you want if you stop hurting him."

"Why, I haven't lain a finger on him."

"You give the orders. Or do you mean to imply you don't have control over your new army?"

Her eyes darken as she looks up from her cards. "Careful, Mr. Melchior, that's hardly polite."

"My apologies," Dan mutters, letting the silence draw out as she considers her next play. So far, even her responses have just been another way to toy with him. He needs to be more direct. "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing," she says.

"Nothing," he repeats. There's no way. Why keep him alive at all, if she wants nothing? Why force him to listen to Wes scream, if she wants nothing?

Swift finally lays out a sequence of cards. "What could you possibly give me?"

Dan makes his own play immediately. "You're the one who came to me," he says. It was months ago, but that changes nothing. Before that day, he'd never once heard the name Mercury Swift. He wishes that were still true. "You're the one who wanted to meet with me."

"And now I have what I want. My new army." She pulls apart the sequence he's played, adding it to her own.

"Then why am I still breathing?"

"Maybe I thought you'd entertain me."

No. No, that can't be it. He knows she's a schemer, she must have some bigger plan than breaking them both for her own amusement. She let Wes live, let Dan know he's alive. She wants his compliance with something.

"Maybe," he says. "But I think you need me. You need my image." That has to be it. Physically, he's only one man, hardly enough to make a difference in the grand scheme of things. Strategically, she can't trust him. But if she truly wants to take over the known universe, she'll need more than pure strength. She'll need support from those of a similar mindset.

"If the world sees me agreeing with your cause, willingly conceding leadership to you, don't you think they'll take you more seriously?" He's almost certain his hands are shaking from nerves now. He's holding his cards with both, digging his elbows into the table to try and keep Swift from noticing the tremors.

But she smiles at his words, not looking up from her own cards. "Now you're speaking reason."

Dan lets out a shaky breath. At least he's made some sort of progress. At least he's less in the dark, but he can't rest yet. "Alright," he says. "If that's what you want. I can play your loyal dog."

"Play?" Swift draws a card. "Hardly. I want you to become it. Convince me it's your true nature."

"I will," he says. He has to, doesn't he? "If you let my friend go."

When Swift lets out a short laugh, he knows she won't. He already knew it wouldn't be so simple, but he had to try.

"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to take you at your word? A good leader ensures they can trust their underlings. A smart leader has collateral."

Dan clutches his cards tighter. "So he stays. Fine. But if you hurt him--"

"I will hurt him," Swift cuts him off. "Every time you step out of line, he will pay the price. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

He did. "Mercury--"

"It's your turn."

Dan lets his shoulders drop, leans heavier on the table. He plays one card, adding it onto an existing sequence. "Will you at least give me a show of good faith?" he says, his voice quiet.

"Good faith?"

He swallows. "Unchain him. Let him rest, give him food and water. Please. You have nothing to lose by treating him humanely." At this point, it's all he can hope for. He can wait. Play her game. He just needs to keep Wes alive until he can come up with a way to outsmart her.

"Hm. I'll think about it," she says, and lays down the last of her cards. "I suppose a dog is better controlled if the leash is maintained."

~ ~ ~

@kira-the-whump-enthusiast @kixngiggles @shywhumpauthor

[berryz-writes]

Completely fine

Summary: You've been injured and Grayson is pisses, not at you but at himself for leaving you

Grayson Hawthorne x reader

Was it my fault? Not entirely. I mean if Avery hadn't convinced me to come to their skiing resort I would never have injured my ankle and I would currently not be sat in the cosy living room waiting for my boyfriend to appear.

Avery stood pacing the room, looking out the floor to ceiling window every few minutes "I bet he's going to be so angry"

I shook my head trying to ease her nerves. He wouldn't be angry at her, he'd be angry at himself.

"He won't be, trust me."

She paused her constant walking and stopped in front of me, eyebrows drawn together in concern "Are you sure it doesn't hurt too much? I've heard elevating your leg helps with-"

"I'm completely fine. Also, isn't elevating your leg for a broken leg and not a twisted ankle?"

She sighed and sat down next to me, as much as her worry for me was cute it was slightly over bearing. I was fine. Mostly.

"Go and ski with Jamie, I'll be fine"

She looked outraged and what I had just said "I'm not leaving you here!"

I rolled my eyes and placed my hand on her arm "I am completely fine. It's not as if I was good at skiing anyways. Enjoy your time here, it's for you to destress"

She bit her lip and contemplated her options before finally standing up "Your sure?"

I nodded my head urging her to enjoy her time here. She cast me one more worried glance before heading outside to one of the ski slopes. As soon as she left it was as if Grayson had heard and had appeared out of nowhere.

"What happened?" His large strides ate up the space between the front door and where I was sat as he stood in front of me, concern and anger clear on his expression.

I shrugged and gave him a small smile "I kind of-fell. And twisted my ankle while falling"

His jaw clenched again, whether it was at my stupidity I didn't know. He came to sit next to me and lightly ran his hand over my ankle "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Gray. It's nothing too serious"

He stopped inspecting my injury and turned to face me "It is that serious. When I got a call from Avery saying you were hurt I was thinking of the worst possible scenarios and they all ended without you by my side"

He paused for a moment before adding quietly "Do you know how terrifying it is not knowing what's happened to the person you love?"

I wrapped my hand around his, hoping my warmth would soften his fear and to show him I was ok.

"I'm fine. I'm right here with you"

He looked at me for another moment as if making sure for himself if I was actually fine and then shifted himself, so his arm was around my waist.

"Are you sure? That your ok? We can get you to a hospital in under twenty minutes, or we could call someone here. I don't mind getting the helicopter-"

"Grayson. I. am. fine. Ok? Stop worrying"

He placed a kiss on my head "I can't. Not when your hurt" He whispered. My heart melted at the soft words and the realisation of how much he loved me.

"I promise if my ankle hurts at all I'll tell you"

We sat in silence but I could tell Grayson was still pissed at something.

I looked up at him and sure enough he was grinding his teeth together, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.

"What's wrong? And don't say nothing"

I smiled because he had opened his mouth and was about to say what he usually did "Nothing".

"I wasn't there to protect you Y/n. That's what's wrong. I should have come with you. I'm sorry. Your in pain because of me"

"What? It's not your fault. I'm the one who went down the slope knowing full well I'm shit at skiing"

He pressed another kiss to my cheek "I'll teach you how to ski, sweetheart. Maybe then you won't injure yourself as much"

I rolled my eyes "Just because your the best at everything"

"I am. I'm also the best at falling in love with the most gorgeous people"

I blushed at the compliment and snuggled closer to his warmth.

"What was it you were saying before? Something about Christmas movies?"

I grinned at him and at how well he knew me.

[ga-yuu]

I Love You, Even If You Forget Me Part 2 Kurama Story Summary

I wanted to translate this event but saw that I won't have time so I'm writing the summary because I love writing summaries and its more quicker.

Story starts with our beloved Yoshino going to the woods to pick up some medicinal herbs. Due to her bad luck, he encounters an almost dying low-level demon. The demon sees her, says something weird, breaks and disappears. At that moment, Yoshino also loses her consiciousness.

Now the story is in Kurama's POV. Kurama heard that Yoshino was found unconscious in the forest and was brought back to the Rebels' mansion. In her room, when she wakes up, Kurama approached her but Yoshino yells at him in fear when she saw his wings. Kurama was confused.

A few moments later, Kurama was looking pissed. Like super pissed. Seeing Yoshino trembling in fear made him even more furious. He grabs her by the neck and tells her to stop faking it. But Yoshino doesn't seem understand what he meant. Kurama started tracing the magic on her and understood what's happening. The reason Yoshino lost her memories was because she encountered a demon that can eat people's memories. But in this case, the demon was dying, so in its dying breath the demon casted a powerful spell on her so it can live. But it died anyways so it didn't matter. If the demon lived then killing it would have maybe led Yoshino to regain her memories. But that's not possible now.

Anyways, he looks...I mean GLARES at Yoshino as if he wants to kill her but he gets up and leaves without saying anything and Yoshino was left alone looking confused.

Later he goes to his room. A few moments later Benkei comes in to check on him. Kurama angrily asked why Benkei came to his room rather than staying with Yoshino. Apparently, after leaving Yoshino's room, Kurama went and told Benkei to check on Yoshino because he thought Yoshino would feel at ease when she's with someone like Benkei because you know, Benkei has kind personality. Benkei tells Kurama that he did have small chat with Yoshino and she told him that she doesn't remember anything about Kurama or their relationship. She also only vaguely remembers about her relationship with the other members of the Rebels. Kurama at this point could not contain his anger any more. Benkei realised what Kurama was feeling. He tells Kurama that what Kurama is feeling is not actual anger, but deep sadness. Sad because Kurama can't do anything about it. Up until now, Kurama thought that Yoshino's inevitable death would be the only thing that would separate them. But now, Kurama is sad because Yoshino doesn't have a part of him inside her heart.

Benkei tries to cheer him up by saying that as a friend he will help Kurama by fighting with him. He tells him that by fighting he can get rid of his bloodlust that's about to burst out. At that very moment, Yoshitsune enters Kurama's room and told him that he just now learned about Yoshino's situation and that he too wants to help Kurama get rid of his bloodlust by fighting because Kurama is his dear friend. Soon after that, both Yoichi and Sueharu also enters and says the same. Yoichi says that he will attack Kurama from the roof with his bow because he values his life and Sueharu says that he wouldn't fight but instead will set up a counter for lemonade. Seeing the Rebel members coming to comfort him, Kurama was feeling warm and fuzzy. Usually, he would tell them to get out and that he didn't need comfort because 'comfort' are for weaklings. But tonight he couldn't tell them to get out because he wanted that comfort desperately. They're so cute, I wish I had friends like that!

Next day, the first thing Kurama does is go to Yoshino's room. Yoshino was still distant from him but she was accepting him a little bit, which made Kurama feel at ease. Kurama was no longer feeling the bloodlust because he was able to get rid of it by fighting with his friends all night, who right now, are sleeping like dead people in their rooms.

Yoshino tries talking to Kurama to find anything about her lost memories. While talking, Kurama felt like something was off. He then realizes that he didn't see Yoshino's smile since last night. He now looks at the confused Yoshino in front of him and orders her to smile. Yoshino complains that she can't laugh just because he ordered her to, so Kurama thought of an idea. He picks her up without her permission and they fly into the sky.

Yoshino was clinging onto Kurama, but Kurama reassured her that he isn't going to drop her. Yoshino, feeling reassured, opens her eyes and sees her surroundings. Her eyes were sparkling in delight and she had a big smile on her face. Seeing that made Kurama irresistibly happy and he smiled too. When Yoshino shyly thanks him, Kurama gets turned on because he finds her cute shy face alluring. Now he wants to bang her.

They both land on a big tree branch and he made Yoshino sit on his lap. He starts to kiss her. Yoshino was, of course, confused and pushed him away. She asks why he was kissing her and Kurama told her that she is his girlfriend and its only natural for them to kiss. Yoshino looked surprised and started blushing. Then Kurama realized that maybe Benkei didn't explain their relationship to her. Kurama tells her that they are actually lovers but Yoshino was finding it hard to accept that she's dating a tyrant like Kurama. Kurama proceeds to kiss her again. During their tongue action, Kurama felt a painful sting, and he pulls away. Yoshino's face was super red and she scolds Kurama to not kiss her out of nowhere. Seeing her like that only made Kurama chuckle and he was relieved to find out that even though she lost her memories, she is still the same Yoshino.

Pouting Yoshino, then asks him to share some of their memories together, or take her to a place that is special only to them. Kurama starts to think back the places they have went together while poking and pinching Yoshino's soft cheeks. Kurama didn't know which place to say. For him, whether its a dark alley where they had sex or a hallway in the mansion where they cuddle every night, every place is special to him. Then a place comes to his mind. Kurama looks at her and tells her that there is a place in the Otherworld.

Kurama and Yoshino both fly around the demon world. Yoshino was anxious and was also feeling nauseous from the air of the Otherworld. Kurama takes her to their special place-----A small hill top under a huge cherry blossom tree. Yoshino was mesmerized by the sight. She looked around happily while catching the petals that was falling from the cherry blossom tree. Seeing her like that only made Kurama fall in love with her even more. For Kurama, Yoshino's memories were like these cherry blossoms, because they fall and never comes back.

Kurama couldn't contain his sadness anymore and pulls her closely. He tells her that, only her death could break them apart. He thought that it was the only big thing he would have to suffer, until then he promised to make her happy every moment. So in her short life, he doesn't want her to forget about him. Hearing that Yoshino's eyes widened and her voice started shaking.

Yoshino looks at him and tells him that even though she feels sad, hearing Kurama say those words made her happy. With a tearful gaze, she says she has come to adore Kurama. They start kissing again and this time Yoshino was more accepting. Kurama wanted to share his warmth that they share every night. While kissing, Yoshino started remembering small fragments of their memories together and in no time she got her memories back.

When she tearfully looked up at Kurama, he realized that she got her memories back and they hug each other tightly. Kurama was so happy that he couldn't help but actually smile. Yoshino cries and thanks Kurama for not letting her go. Kurama tells her not be sorry and instead started kissing her neck and ears and also undoing her kimono. Yoshino was like "Right here!?" but Kurama could see the anticipation in her eyes.

[sunnysideprincess]

Mind the tags | TW: language, dubcon (something that's kind of already engraved into the soulmate trope), self harm, blood, gore

Hell, If It Glitters

He stares at the mangled piece of tech on the ground, contemplating pressing the panic button and calling for help—that generally means whoever's haunting the compound for the night. His three options are limited to Rhodey, Vision and/or Nat, though she goes by Elena these days, wears sweater vests of all things, thick glasses and a blond mop of hair that does not suit her at all. He hopes it's Vision tonight. Because whoever did that to the patrol drones could very easily squish two humans, specially when one of them is still recovering from his physical therapy. Vision, though not infallible, is much more durable.

A noise to his left alerts him to the possible intruder and Tony makes sure to clutch the empty needle tighter in his hold. More than ever, he wishes he wasn't so openly vulnerable—wearing threadbare hospital jammies and a bandage around his neck to hide his gruesome attempt at ridding himself from the bond.

He walks around the gurney and parts curtain, only to get jumped by one of the drones, sparking and squeaking pitiably in soft beeps and boops.

Tony coos at it for a while, doting soothing caresses on its metal hide as it floats by his head, no doubt scared of whatever attacked his brothers and sisters. He vaguely recalls Peter naming it Ider and smiles to himself.

"Come on, let's go find the ghost."

The ghost is waiting for him in the hallway and Tony has a half formed thought that the world wasn't wrong to call him a ghost story.

Barnes stays still as a statue while Tony taps a message on the drone. A clue left behind for his compatriots if and when it's needed.

"Come here to finish the job?"

A soft exhale, something he shouldn't be able to pick up makes him shudder and take a step back. Then a voice he listens to in the familiarity of his mind's darkest corners chides him for being a coward. Barnes can't hurt him. Or at least will not get away with hurting him. There are people who would avenge his absence. His death. If it were to happen tonight.

Besides—Tony isn't going down without a fight. He doesn't even care if the scratched out name on his neck burns with every breath.

One of the hallway lights flickers out, just as the drone falls to the ground. And for a single second, Tony doesn't understand what's happened. At least not until he sees the leak in the temperature regulation.

Barnes shot the fucking thing and Tony couldn't even see him move. That's-

"No way the serum can make him do that," he worries out loud before gasping at the empty hallway.

"Shit. Shit, shit-fuck."

It hurts to think about salvaging Pete's favorite, but Tony knows a lost game when he sees one. It's a desperate attempt at best. He picks up the drone and rips out the miniature reactor, before hurling the sad remains of Ider towards the wall. It takes him a second to rig a makeshift grenade. Then it's his turn to go for a hunt.

He doesn't find Barnes.

No.

What he finds is worse.

"What the hell," he whispers to the endless supply of emptied bags of blood and a bunch of ripped out limbs strewn about on the floor.

He wrinkles his nose in disgust when his bare foot squelches on a puddle of blood and hastily takes a step away from some poor nurse's arm, while almost dropping the bomb on himself.

"What in the name of Asgardian gods and shit is this?"

"Stevie said a lot of things," a voice coos next to his ear and Tony swings his left fist blindly towards the source. "But he never told me you had sea legs, sweetheart."

A cold, metal limb stops his swing with ease, then reels him in. Too late, Tony doesn't realise there's another arm going for the bomb and then he's watching it blowing up the wall.

Ears ringing, Tony struggles in his assailant's hold while Barnes doesn't waver in his silent assessment. His heart, weak after receiving the dual super soldier beat down and then the subsequent attempt at removing his soul bond, is a battering ram against his chest.

"Let me go you fucking-"

Fingers, long and gentle scrape against the bandage on his neck and it's like his body's on fire. Tony chokes on a cry as Barnes rips it off, uncaring of the pain it causes Tony, ucaring that Tony doesn't want it—doesn't want the name of his mother's killer on his skin, on his soul.

"No, no-no-no fuck you, Barnes."

Barnes laughs. He laughs and Tony feels his breath on his neck, his tongue on the cut.

So easy, it's so easy to fall without his suit. But more than that it's easy to fall when it's his own body rebelling against his free will.

Fuck soulmate science.

"You're mine. You have been since Stevie decided to let you go. Since I decided to have you instead." Their eyes meet and it's then something clicks.

"You're not-" Human. Super soldier. Innocent. A helpless prisoner.

"Hydra was relentless, y'know. Why stop at one Winter Soldier when we can have five more? Why stop at one failed experiment when we can have ten more. You think Maximoff was the only one to volunteer? Sure-"

Barnes grins, dripping blood from his lips. Tony's blood. His mind is repulsed by the sight of it. But his body-his mark has decided otherwise. A soft moan slips past his lips when Barnes pushes him up against the wall.

"Some of us were forced to meddle with the scepter. But hey-"

His head is yanked to the side as Barnes licks and nips at his jaw, groaning like he is seeing heaven already.

"Nothing compares to this- not even sex."

Tony feels the sharp burn of teeth, the sting of a pull. The numbness settles soon after. But it's the force of arousal that brings tears to his eyes.

"Then again," Barnes whispers while pulling away, wiping a thumb over Tony's lips. A move that rips his entire being into two warring sides. "Everything's different when it belongs to you, right?"

"No. I'm not-Never," he chokes on his own words. Because he is. He is bonded to his worst nightmare.

Barnes smiles, his nose wrinkled like they were friends.

Like they were lovers.

"Never say never, sweetheart."

[cburambles]

Righteous & Cynical leadership in FF7

It only just landed on me that the scene with Barret trying to ease the counscious of his Avalanche comrades mirror the one with Tseng trying to do the same with the Turks.

Barret boost the morale & keep them focused on the moment by telling them a speech full of idealism & that he's going to shoulder all their sins.

Barret's style of leadership is passionate while also making a good job at rousing & keeping his comrades in line momentarily. It works but also doesn't give much room for his comrades to speak up as we see Tifa & Jessie will still feels an immense amount of guilt right until she the latter is on the brink of death. Tifa reveal to Cloud she feels guilt for the casualties & that she feels trapped. Jessie takes the initiative & end up planning a solo mission in the hopes to reduce the effects of the next explosion without telling anyone except Cloud.

There's also the other flaws that comes with Barret's leadership is his lack of foresight, need to put his methods in question & in the way he isolated his cell from the other ones. If they kept tabs on what the other cells did, Jessie & co wouldn't have taken as much risks to get a new explosive agent bcos they would have coordinated together. Nao's cell was also aware that Platefall would happen way before Barret's one & there would have likely been even less casualties if both groups had organized together & engage in new tactics to fight Shinra.

Meanwhile Tseng has to take multiple approaches. It's deflective, cynical & but remain inconvincing. No amount of R & R will make Reno feels better about this situation.

Rude hope at least something will be done for Sector 7. He is also the one who end up speaking up despite being known for being a bit of taciturn. & Tseng tell him the hard truth.

" Someone else would have completed the task, we're giving back what's due to the Planet..."

Tseng portrays it as a necessary sacrifice but everyone in that office knows that no, it wasn't worth it & what might follow is the possibility of even more deaths afterwards. Reno & Rude would also have still been burdened with the thought that they could have stopped it if someone else did it for them.

Tseng is also unconvincing because they likely knows from his past in BC that he actually cares about the possibility of lives being wasted & that he was willing to go far to save their mentor & Zack. He has feelings for Aerith, someone who represents life itself & it's implied he might have really believed or maybe even now still believe that they can lead them to the Promised Land & was a good friend to someoe as optimistic guy as Zack.

He however as the chief of the Turks as to suppress that inner kindness & compassion, as it also got him in trouble & it tooks the direction of Veld & Rufus to save him & his men.

Tseng gives room for his men to express themselves but it's done in a manner that is cold & cynical, which results in them doubting him because Rude & Reno are still humans. He fails to give them something worthy to fight for & will likely affect how they conduct themselves on missions in the future despite the huge hints that he's aware of Rufus's plans to replace his father. But it's also likely he thinks the attitude of the company towards civilians won't change much if Rufus takes the throne so he doesn't bother.

Barret's failure as a leader is about his tendencies to not question how his plans might affect them in the long run due to his righteousness, Tseng's own is caused by his cynicism. They can't just get rid of the guilt their subordinates feels with some pep talks, whether they believe in a cause or not.