#that the way i ramble is too annoying or how dramatic i am is too much

[saturnsuv]

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[noxtivagus]

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[thestarsarebrightertonight]

Hi I love ur “imgonnagethimback” and I was wondering if I could request a enemies to lovers kind of thing like in that story, the fem slytherin reader and Mattheo riddle secretly love each other, they don’t show it but are flirty to each other and they start fake dating to make one of their ex’s jealous and end up daiting for real in the end like a happy ending

obsessed with ur ex // mattheo riddle x fem slytherin reader

playlist : obsessed - olivia rodrigo

summary : you and mattheo constantly have forced proximity being in the same friendgroup , which you hated just as much as you hate him. so its kinda weird the boy that hates you was so eager to help make your ex boyfriend jealous?

y/n used , slytherin fem reader , swearing, not proof read

thank you for the request! i did my best to fit the whole plot into one part i hope you like it

masterlist

"blaise are you nearly done with the potions book , everyone else needs to read it too?!" pansy asked impatiently , sitting across from an unbothered blaise in the library.

your whole group had decided to study together in the library , including mattheo -sadly- , meaning the arguements over books and copying eachothers work had been going on for about an hour now.

"no , im not done. pansy." blaise said plainly , knowing it would only annoy the imaptient girl more.

"blaise!-" she started shouting before being cut off by you grabbing her arm and sliding a book towards her.

"panse...we had another copy the whole time." you said quietly , not wanting to recieve her wrath.

"well why didnt you tell me that 5 minutes ago!" pansy seethed as you avoided eye contact .

"yeah y/n , it such a shame you brain isnt as high quality as your looks." mattheo winked at you from across the table as you sneered at him , quickly replacing pansys anger with your own.

"shut up riddle , i am currently holding a very heavy book and i dont think your brain would like if it came hurtling at your head!" you rambled out quickly in anger , only amusing mattheo more as he grinned at you.

you let out a defeated sigh and slouched into your chair , looking away from the boy and at the table across the library that was emtpy a few minutes ago. but not anymore. now two people sat at it - your ex boyfriend cedric and-...CHO?!

you bolted up from your chair upon seeing them , sitting forward and staring with a shocked expression.

"whats wrong baby , you look like youve seen a ghost!" mattheo laughed at you until pansy shot him a glare and put a hand on your shoulder , having seen cedric and cho aswell.

"y/n just ignore him , he was always a shitty guy-was that not obvious?" pansy tried to comfort you , eventhough it had no effect on your shattered heart.

you and cedric broke up last week , and he was already cuddling with cho in the library?! you didnt think it was even possible to move on that fast.

by this point mattheo had turned to peer at what you stared at to , spotting cedric and scowling.

"dickhead." he muttered to himself , lorenzo having heard it smirked at him.

"i-..." you started , "i want to be sad about it but i....still like cedric."

the whole group gaped at you , shocked by your sudden confessions as theodore broke the silence, "how can you still like that thing?! he broke your heart y/n."

"we were together for ages theo , its not something i can get over in a week." you replied , arguing for your emotions.

"yeah well he clearly didnt show any signs of struggle," mattheo scoffed as you glared at him, firey-eyed.

"fuck you riddle! read the room!" you said quickly with anger before getting up out of your seat , scraping it harshly along the floor before running out of the library.

"way to go mattheo mate," lorenzo said , rolling his eyes.

"they were together for 6 months not a fucking century , shes just being dramatic." mattheo argued back with a shrug.

"its different for girls mate." blaise added , suprisingly deciding to defend you rather than joining in on the teasing.

"very different , remember in second year when you cried for weeks over you 2 day ravenclaw boyfriend panse-?" draco started before being cut off by a flushed pansy.

"shut up draco!" she exclaimed as the whole group laughed at her , asides from mattheo who had long since got up and left the library.

----

"sorry." mattheo said quietly to your curled up frame once he found you in an empty corridor , sat on the floor with you head hung low.

"piss off riddle im not in the mood." you muttered , your voice breaking slightly.

there was a short break of silence as mattheo searched his thoughts for what to do in order to help you.

"lets date." mattheo said confindantly , breaking the heavy silence.

you head snapped up at this , allowing him to see your tear stained face and shocked expression look up at him.

"what?!"

"lets date." mattheo said before panicking , "not-not real date! lets fake date make-.....cedric....jealous"

the bitter way he said cedrics name made you cringe as you replayed his words in your head , "youd...do that for me-?"

"yes!" he cut you off with zero hesititation.

you slowly got up from the ground , dusting off your uniform and walking towards an increasingly nervous mattheo riddle, "thank you mattheo. id love to fake date you"

mattheos whole body heated up as you said his name , he was so used to being called 'riddle' , you saying his name felt like a blessing from the great divine.

"y-youre...youre welcome" he stuttered out as you smiled at the boy , a genuine smile.

"wait outside my dorm tomorrow morning , we can walk to breakfast together!" you grinned happily , deciding not to question your own excitement.

-----

"hi mattheo!" you said happily as you stepped out of your dorm , finding the boy nervously stood outside the door.

"hi," he said quietly , avoiding your eye until you grabbed his face and forced him to look at you.

"you need to look at me if you want people to believe us, babe." you said with a smirk as mattheo turned bright red clearing his throat and pulling your hand off his face.

"right - youre right. lets go." he said before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away from you.

"stop!" you called out to him as he sighed and turned back around , waiting as you walked towards him.

once you were finally infront of him, you placed your bag from your shoulder to his , "boyfriends carry their girlfriends bags".

he scoffed , ready to argue back before you grabbed his wrist and pulled a green bracelet out of your pocket , along with a hair tie.

"and they wear matching bracelets!" you grinned as you slipped the accessories onto his wrist and help up your own wrist , showing him the purple bracelet that you also wore , the same as his but just a different colour.

mattheo blushed deeply , staring down at the bracelet and hair tie , "did-..was this cedrics?"

you looked at him , confused and slightly offended , "no? of course not! i made these last night!"

you pointed at your bracelet that had a letter M charm on it , shining brightly and making mattheos icy persona melt to a poodle of chilling love.

"oh-..thanks." he said awkwardly , holding back a smile.

"dont mention it! lets go." you said before intertweining your hand with his and dragging a flustered mattheo down the corridor and towards the great hall.

---

you whole journey to the great hall had been accompanied by whisperes and points towards the two of you , people gasping at your hand in mattheos and your bag on his shoulder.

"i wonder if cedric will notice." you whispered to mattheo as you walked through the doors of the great hall.

you didnt realise that mattheos grip on your hand had tightened after hearing your words , his body stiffening at the sudden memory of what all this was for. you didnt actually like him. and he hated that.

or atleast he didnt think you liked him.

---

"i still can believe it." pansy said as you both laid on your beds , gossiping in your dorm.

its been two weeks of you 'fake dating' mattheo and it had been going well , cedric seems to be acknowledging you more and your whole group had noticed the increased amount of times mattheo smiled a day. and it had increased a lot.

"panse , whats so hard to believe , he offered a way to get cedric jealous and i took it!" you said , matter of factly.

"yeah but why mattheo! i thought you would reject him and do it with like - enzo instead!" pansy rambeled as you turned and looked at her , laughing.

"pansy it isnt that serious!"

"are you sure about that...seriously y/n i never seen you two so happy before..." pansy said softly , confronting you.

you couldnt deny that you were happy ,so happy that it made you realise it was never cedric you deeply cared about. you accepeted mattheos offer because it was mattheo. but you just werent ready to admit that to him yet.

"i-...i think i like mattheo. theres no use denying it to you - you can read me like a book."

"yay! im so glad youve admmited it , now go confess!" pansy squealed , getting up to try and drag you off your bed.

"pansy im in my pajamas and its 11:50pm , it can wait!" you laughed as pansy sighed and let go off your legs , stumbling back to her bed.

"okay fair enough. but you need to confess soon lover girlll!" pansy teased as you giggled and threw a pillow at her.

----

"i like you y/n."

okay a little bit of context.

you were just sat at your table in the great hall ,resting your head on mattheos shoulder when a deep voice from behind you interupted the group. and thats how we got here! with cedric diggory stood infront of you confessing he 'likes you' in front of all your gobsmacked friends. not to mention your furious boyfr- fake. boyfriend..

"what-" you started before being cut off by mattheos lips on yours.

all of your friends gasped loudly as you froze completely , he continued to kiss you softly , giving you time before you eventually kissed back.

it felt like forever had passed by before panys tense voice cut you and mattheo apart, "guys hes gone please - PLEASE STOP!"

you both quickly moved back , your eyes awkwardly scanning you friends, landing on pansy who covered her eyes and looked down with disgust.

"well thats put me off my food." draco stated , dropping his fork with frustration as you turned bright red.

you turned to mattheo , who only looked at you, searching your expression for a single glimpse of happiness about the kiss. just when he thought he wouldnt find it you abtruptly stood from the table and ran out of the hall , to the nearest abandoned corridor.

you paced back and forth replaying what had happened until the loud sound of running distracted you , mattheo running to stand infront of you and stop your pace.

"y/n-" he started before you cut ihm off , finally making eye contact.

"why would you do that mattheo?!" you asked in pure confusion.

"i know i know- the whole point was to get diggory to like you and i blew it - im so sorry-" he stuttered.

"i love you!" you shouted over him.

the long break of silence that followed nearly made you burst into tears of humiliation.

your realisation for the love you held for mattheo came on the night you talked with pansy , you asumed he liked you back but the tense atmosphere you currently stood in made you heart break with every passing minute.

"i love you too...i-i love you so much and i have for ages-" he started before being cut off by your lips harshly on his again, the kiss holding more passion and meaning than the last.

after a while you pulled away and wrapped your arm around his neck ,smiling up at the flushed boy.

"it was never really about diggory , i was upset sure; but i only accepted your offer because i- i wanted to date you" you whispered with hot cheeks as mattheo smiled down at you adoringly.

"good because im yours," you both laughed lightly as he brushed a hand through your hair, "be my real girlfriends y/n y/l/n?"

"i thought youd never ask!"

a/n : this is lowkey kinda ass sorry LMAO

[asahicore]

all i see is gold - pjs (m)

this work contains smut - minors please do not interact

pairing. jay x fem!reader

synopsis. Pretending to be your number one's rival girlfriend to please his parents isn't how you would usually spend a Thursday night, but you really owe Jay a big one this time. You'd sworn this was just a one-time thing - and yet when his parents ask you to come again, the word 'yes' is out before you can stop it. Before you know it and much to your dismay, your feelings for Jay start to change, and you're in too deep to backtrack.

genre. college au, academic rivals to lovers, fake dating au, rich rich millionaire ceo's son jay x poor ass scholarship part-time job reader

warnings. heeseung is a mega asshole sorry to this man, slight violence like the girls are fighting, these two are pathetically in love w each other it's laughable actually, rich people being annoying slightly and also y/n's friends having way too much knowledge about fanfiction tropes... i like my fourth walls broken

word count. 27.1k

a/n. hi sisters user asahicore is back with another repost because she can't be asked to come up with anything original... sorry! i did add a new scene to this fic for.. character development. hope you guys enjoy it, as always let me know your thoughts otherwise i will find you and hold you at gunpoint, have fun love you stay healthy keep slaying bye bye!

“Actually, I think what you just said is complete bull.”

Jay rolled his eyes for the thousandth time in an hour and a few sniggers were heard around the room.

Your tutor sighed and, in an exhausted tone, asked you to “keep it polite, please. This is still a classroom setting.”

“Right, sorry.” You cleared your throat and sat up straighter. “I completely disagree with your statement, Jongseong. Just because a movie has young teenage girls as its target audience doesn’t mean it is completely insipid and has no value, like you’re insinuating. If you look at Mean Girls, for example-”

Jay scoffed. “Oh please, you’re not actually going to use Mean Gir-”

“Ah, would you look at the time? Class is over,” your tutor interrupted. “You can all go home and ponder the riveting discussion Jay and Y/N led today.” 

You were pretty sure you heard a general sigh of relief from your classmates. After all, you couldn’t really blame them: it was only the first tutorial of the semester for that course and Jay and you were already at each other’s throats, having something to say about every idea the other put forward, no matter how small.

“Oh, and Jay, I do have to side with Y/N here. There’s a surprising amount of things that can be said about that film,” your tutor admitted with an apologetic smile. You, however, were harboring a triumphant expression. Nothing better than having the tutor agree with you against Jay. 

As you packed your stuff away, mentally patting yourself on the back, Jay approached you, looking visibly annoyed. “Seriously, Y/N? Symbolism in Modern Cinema? Since where do you even care about movies?”

You gasped dramatically and put your hand over your heart, feigning shock. “Why, I’m offended that you think you’re the only one who’s allowed to love cinema, Jongseong.”

“Yeah, it’s my thing!” he whined like a child, and you gave him a look that hopefully made him reflect on what he’d just said.

You started walking out of the room and he followed, a step behind you. “I mean, there’s no way you didn’t know I was taking this class. Are you like, obsessed with me or something?”

“Yes, Jongseong, that’s exactly the case. I’m sooooo obsessed with you, I took this class just to see you.”

You were obviously joking, but he looked at you with a smirk and said, “I wouldn’t put it past you. I wouldn’t put it past anyone, to be honest; I mean I am the most good-looking, smartest, richest guy on camp- Ouch! That hurts!”

You had just punched him in the shoulder, not wanting to listen to his self-indulgent ramblings. “Get your head out of your ass, Park. I just thought it would be an interesting class. Why are you even taking it, anyway? I don’t think a cinema course is gonna teach you much on how to run daddy’s company,” you asked him, a smirk teasing your lips.

He rolled his eyes (you thought they might stay stuck at the back of his head, with how often he did that) and took a tone one might use to speak to a child. “You see, Y/N, I also major in Visual Studies. I’m not a single honors Econ major like you. Loser.”

He’d added the last word with a playful smile on his face, purposefully trying to rile you up. You were about to reply with an equally petty remark when you heard your name being called out. 

“Y/N! Wait up!”

You could recognize that voice anywhere. Your heart started beating a thousand times a minute and you felt your hands get clammy. As you turned around, you forced a relaxed smile and told yourself to stay calm, but as soon as you made eye contact with the boy, all rational thought left your brain.

“H-hi, Heeseung.” You heard Jay snort behind you but were too entranced by Heeseung’s presence to tell him off.

Clearly enjoying your nervousness, Heeseung smiled at you and bent down so that he came directly face to face with you. “It was nice seeing you last Friday. You should come to our parties more often, not many people can set fire to the dance floor like you did.”

Your cheeks had already turned bright red when he’d called your name, but now you probably looked as crimson as a fire extinguisher. Over the weekend, you’d tried so hard to forget about that party where you had gotten black-out drunk and made a fool of yourself on the dance floor. Sure, you’d had a lot of fun, but when you remembered that Heeseung literally lived in the frat house that had hosted the pre-start of term gathering, you’d felt so embarrassed and wanted to never have to face him ever again. Yet here he was, and he had obviously seen you.

“O-oh, right, haha. Um, I was pretty drunk, but, yeah, um, it was f-fun.” You cringed at yourself. Where was the Y/N that had torn down Jay’s every argument just moments prior? You were usually self-assured and confident, but whenever you were around Heeseung, you didn’t know how to act.

Heeseung stood up straighter and patted your head. You thanked yourself for having washed your hair that morning. He chuckled and said, “That’s good to hear. Guess I’ll see you around, then?”

“Yeah!” you replied with a tad too much enthusiasm. 

“Great.” As he walked past you, you didn’t need to turn around to see the nasty looks exchanged between Heeseung and Jay. 

“Jongseong.”

“Heeseung.”

The venom with which they had spat the other’s name would’ve sent a chill down your spine any other time, but right now, you were too busy mooning over what had just happened. Like many girls on campus, you’d had a crush on him since freshman year; but unlike most, you’d never actually tried to do anything about it. Realistically, you could probably bag him - Heeseung could be seen with a different girl at every party and didn’t seem to be too picky about who he finished the night with. But you also couldn’t stand the idea of being just another drunk fuck to him. So, you’d never revealed your feelings to him, although he could most definitely see the effect he had on you.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Jay burst into laughter. You turned around and looked at him, arms crossed, waiting for him to be done with an impatient look on your face. When he finally caught his breath, he had tears pooling at his eyes and was holding onto his belly.

“H-hi, Heeseung,” he breathed, trying to imitate you by making his voice higher in pitch but laughing too hard for it to come out properly.

“There’s nothing funny about this, Jongseong.”

“Oh, but there is, Y/N. And you know what the worst part is? You could do so, so much better than that guy. I mean, he’s a Business major, for fuck’s sake.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” you asked hotly, starting to get defensive.

“You’re studying Econ, Y/N. Dating a Business major, that’s like, the highest betrayal possible.”

You rolled your eyes at his stupid values and started walking towards the exit of the building, bumping into his shoulder on the way. He started following you again and added, “It’s not even just about that, Y/N. You know his reputation, he’s clearly bad news. There’s no point in liking a guy like that.”

Because you knew how much he hated it, you always made sure to call him Jongseong instead of Jay. But right now, you didn’t feel like joking around. You turned around abruptly, Jay almost bumping into you, and looked at him pointedly. “Look, Jay, I know you and Heeseung have this weird competition between the two of you of whose dad can make more money. But that doesn’t give you the right to tell me I shouldn’t like him.” And with a mumble, you added, “I can’t help liking him, okay?”

You went on your way again and Jay caught up with you so that the two of you were now walking side by side. Sighing, he said, “Whatever. When he inevitably hurts you, though, I’ll say I told you so.”

—

After flipping off Jay as your way of saying goodbye, you joined your friends in the cafeteria. You told them about your encounter with Heeseung, and as much as they wanted to support you, they couldn’t help but think your behavior at the party on Friday was hilarious. 

“I wasn’t gonna show this to anyone, but I can’t hold it in anymore…” Sunoo said, pulling out his phone.

It wasn’t hard to guess what he might be hiding in there, so you quickly protested, “It’s been three days, Sunoo. I’m sure you can hold in whatever it is longer than that.”

He looked at you with a sheepish smile and said, as if he didn’t have a choice but to show everyone, “It’s so funny though.”

Sieun and Keeho were urging him to show them, so you just hung your head as Sunoo pressed play. You didn’t even need to look at the video to know what it was: even in his drunken state, Sunoo had had the foresight to film you as you danced like there was no tomorrow, knowing this was a special occasion. Your friends tried to reassure you that you didn’t look that bad and you just seemed to be having fun, but the sniggers they tried to hold back in vain told you otherwise.

Keeho seemed to take pity on you when seeing your defeated expression. “Y/N, I promise you it’s not that bad. You were very obviously drunk, and so was everyone else. If anybody remembers this, they’re probably thinking that you were fucking awesome. Can’t you see how everyone is cheering you on in the video?”

With an exasperated sigh, you replied, “I don’t care that everybody saw me. I care that Heeseung did. I only started drinking that much because I thought it’d help me relax and talk to him. I didn’t think I’d go wild on the dance floor.”

Your friends exchanged a look and immediately burst into laughter. You wanted to get mad at them, but even you had to admit the whole situation was pretty funny. You let them make as much fun of you as their hearts desired, then, to change the subject, told them about the tutorial you had in the morning with Jay and how much fun it had been arguing with him.

Sieun was looking at you thoughtfully, until she said, “You know, I think it’s…” she paused for a second, trying to find the right word, “interesting, how much effort you put into getting into the same class as Jay when you could’ve directed that energy towards getting into one of Heeseung’s class.”

The sudden statement took you aback. “Well, I wouldn’t say I put that much effort into it…” you stammered in an attempt to defend yourself.

“Y/N,” Keeho started, an accusatory tone to his words, “you literally asked Jake to tell you what courses he was taking this semester and when his tutorials were, and when you somehow managed to be enrolled in a class that’s supposed to be reserved for Visual Studies students, you emailed the tutor to make sure you’d be in the same group as Jay. I’d say that requires some effort.”

You huffed, mildly offended. “I- Well- I just thought it’d be fun to argue with him about something else than economics, you know. There’s only so much to say about that.” Your friends didn’t look very convinced. “Plus, there are no classes that Heeseung’s taking that seemed interesting, and even if they were and I managed to get into them, I just would’ve stuttered trying to answer easy questions. At least if I’m in a class with Jay, I know it’ll be fun.”

After that last sentence, Sieun looked at you like you had proven her point. What a smartass, you thought. What was she even trying to prove? 

“Is no one gonna say it?” Sunoo asked, bewildered, looking around at your friends. “It sounds like you like him, Y/N.”

Oh.

Your automatic response was to go, “Pfffft,” but when Sieun and Keeho didn’t disagree with Sunoo, you looked at them, wide-eyed. “Are you guys serious? I don’t like Park Jongseong, that’s ridiculous.”

Sure, you liked arguing with Jay, that wasn’t a secret. That didn’t mean you liked him, or anything like that. Just the thought made you shiver. Dating Jay had never even occurred to you; as soon as you’d met, you had taken on a rival-like relationship, arguing about everything and anything. Sure, he was smart, and not too bad-looking, and he was really rich, and when he wanted he could actually be quite nice - but that was not the point! Most of the time, he was just annoying and argued with you for no reason other than to rile you up, and had the most unreasonable opinions you’d ever heard. He took his wealth for granted and sometimes came across as so privileged it made you want to puke.

Sieun took your hands in hers and tried to convince you with her eyes, her eyebrows furrowing slightly. “But think about it, Y/N. It’s the enemies to lovers trope!”

You snatched your hands out from her grip and gave her a pointed look. “This isn’t Wattpad, Sieun, this is real life. And Jay and I aren’t enemies, we’re merely rivals.”

“Even better!” she exclaimed.

“I completely agree with Sieun,” Sunoo said. “Y/N, you’re such a rivals to lovers type of gal.” You rolled your eyes, but Keeho was fervently nodding his head in agreement.

“By the way, did you guys hear about his parents’ company throwing a fundraiser?” Keeho said. This piqued your interest, but after your friends’ accusations, you couldn’t look too excited about anything Jay-related, so you nonchalantly asked him to go on. “It’s for some charity, they’ve invited all the big names, and apparently it’s gonna be huge so they need some people to waiter. I’m thinking of applying. It pays really well and it’s gonna be so fancy. It’s not like I’ve got much else to do that night anyway.”

“When is it?” you asked, still trying not to sound too interested.

“Friday in two weeks.”

“Well, if it’s a Friday, I’ll be getting wasted, so count me out,” Sunoo replied.

“I’d come, but the idea of serving rich people as they give out ten thousand dollars when they could give a million and it wouldn’t even affect them in the slightest, not to mention having to do it with a smile on my face, makes my skin crawl, so no thanks,” Sieun said. She wasn’t wrong, but this was also Jay’s parents you were talking about. Not only would Jay be there, and your presence would surely piss him off, but his dad’s company was one of the top of the country and being introduced to their world, maybe even getting to know some people there, even just as a waitress, could really benefit you in the long-term. You’d never admit it to him, but you’d been dreaming of working there ever since you’d first heard of it. Nothing might come out of this, but it was worth trying.

“What about you, Y/N? You in?”

You looked at Keeho and said, “Yeah, let’s do it.”

—

The next time you saw Jay was for your Economics of Cities and Regions lecture a couple days later. As appropriate of the top students, you two always sat at the very front row along with only a few other brave students. Keeho was always bugging you to sit with him at the back, but you liked being able to look the professor in the eye so they could see how much attention you were paying to them. You listened carefully to the whole lecture, and when it ended, you turned to Jay and called his name in a sickly sweet voice, smiling as warmly as you could. He turned to you with a horrified look on his face.

“Please never do that again.”

Your smile instantly dropped. You should’ve known there was no point trying to be nice to him. “So, I’ve heard about your dad’s firm’s fundraiser…”

Before you could even finish your sentence, he interrupted you. “No. No way. You’re not working there. Nope. Not happening.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because this is an important night for me to make myself known as the CEO in line and I can’t have you distracting me.”

You didn’t question why he considered you a distraction and just pressed further. “C’mon! I promise I won’t be in your way.” He looked at you as if to say I don’t believe you. “I need the money.”

“Then get a part-time job.”

“I already have one! And it doesn’t pay very well.”

He looked at you and crossed his arms over his chest. No, you didn’t notice how his shirt tightened around his biceps. Shut up. Exasperated, he asked, “Do you even know what this fundraiser is for?”

That hadn’t even crossed your mind. Why did you need to know what it was for? All you needed was to work there and make some money. You just shrugged “No.”

He rolled his eyes at you. “You’re unbelievable. It’s to help students in need of scholarships. You know how my parents sometimes pay for students’ tuition fees? Well,” he sighed, and started to pack up his stuff. “This is to encourage CEOs of other companies to do the same. They’ve invited a few students to talk about why scholarships are important for them.”

Interesting, you thought. It’d have been nice to be one of those students, but being a waitress was already good enough. You’d have to be quicker to get the role next time. “I’ll be part of the waitering team, so I won’t embarrass you, don’t worry.”

After a beat, Jay asked, “Why are you even telling me this? I can say no all I want, I’m not the one deciding on the staff. I’d just really, really appreciate it if you didn’t come.”

You eyed him for a second until realization hit you. Right. It wasn’t like Jay had any say in this, so why were you trying to get him to agree? It had just seemed natural to you that you’d talk to him about this.

You shook your head and said, “Well, I’m gonna go anyway. I just thought I should let you know. That way you know you’re gonna need to bring your best game to impress me.”

You noticed Keeho waving his arm impatiently at you, waiting for you to leave the lecture theater. Jay watched you walk away, and he couldn’t stop the smile spreading on his face. 

—

“So… Y/N will probably be working at the fundraiser,” Jay said, looking down at his notes. As on most days, Jake and Sunghoon were over at his place, half-studying, half-messing around.

The two boys in front of him groaned in unison. He raised his head and added defensively, “What? I’ve barely said anything yet.”

“Yeah, but you’re talking about Y/N. Again,” Jake said, as if stating the obvious.

“You know, I’m actually surprised he’s managed to not mention her for that long. It’s been what, fifteen minutes since we got here?” Sunghoon half-joked.

Used to his friends’ teasing, Jay ignored them and continued. “On any other occasion, I’d be more than happy to have her around” - cue another groan from Jake and Sunghoon - “but I really have to impress my parents and all the guests that evening. If I don’t, I’m gonna have to work twice as hard.”

Indulging his friend’s rant, Jake asked, “What’s wrong with her being there? She’s not gonna go around and tell everyone you’re a little shit as she hands them champagne glasses.”

Jay rolled his eyes. “No, of course not, but I’m gonna be hyper-aware of her presence and I don’t want it to distract me.” A third groan. “Plus, I don’t like the idea of her being there as a waitress. She should be with the students who talk to the guests, she deserves it more than anybody I know.”

After a beat, Sunghoon, with gracious subtlety and tact as always, added, “You know, if you had just manned up and asked her out in freshman year when you still had the chance, maybe you could’ve taken her to the fundraiser as your girlfriend and not have her go there as a waitress. Just saying.”

“It’s 2022, Sunghoon, nobody says things like ‘man up’ anymore.”

“You dumbass, is that all you’re hearing from what I just said-”

“What I think Sunghoon is trying to say,” Jake cut in, “is that this could have been avoided had you had the guts to tell her how you feel. But rest assured, my friend, it can still happen. No such thing as too late.”

“You always say that, but how the fuck am I supposed to ask her out when she’s only ever seen me as her rival? Plus, she’s head over heels for that prick.”

Sensing that Sunghoon was getting ready to deliver another one of his punchlines, Jake quickly replied. “Who cares about Heeseung? It wouldn’t be hard to make her see what an asshole he is. And once that’s done, you can just give her the Park charm,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Sunghoon fake gagged at the thought of his friend trying to flirt, and even Jay had to admit he hated how Jake had formulated his sentence. “That’s all I do though. As soon as we met, we got into arguing, and that’s just how we communicate now. She wants competition, so I give her competition. I don’t know what else to do.”

His friends sighed, unsure what to tell him after having had the same conversation hundreds of times. “Did you ask her why she took that cinema course? I thought it was weird she asked me for all that info. She wanted me to keep hush-hush about it, too,” Jake asked.

Jay thought for a second, then answered, “I did ask her if she was obsessed with me.” A fourth, deserved, groan. “She just said she thought the class seemed interesting. She didn’t even know I was a double major, by the way.”

Jake and Sunghoon chuckled, both thinking but not daring to say that, indeed, no one knew Jay also majored in Visual Studies. The three boys continued chatting for a while until they fell into silence and finally started getting some work done.

Jay managed to get you out of his head for a couple hours, but when his friends left and he was alone, his thoughts immediately drifted back to you. When the two of you first met in freshman year, you had become instant rivals, both top of your class, and always disagreeing on everything. He hadn’t minded the dynamic at first: he thought your ideas and the conversations that stemmed from them were always interesting, and he had a lot of respect for you. He wanted to know why you thought that way or what made you say certain things, and soon enough he wanted to know everything about you. He’d noticed things like how you chewed on your pen when you were in deep reflection, or how you’d look intently at anyone who was talking, as if you were making mental bullet points of their arguments only to break them down afterwards. When he finally realized his feelings for you (not without help from Jake and Sunghoon, who thought he couldn’t get any more obvious), he felt like your rivalry-almost-turned-friendship had gone too far, and you’d think he was stupid for liking you. It didn’t help that your confident attitude always broke down in front of his arch nemesis Lee Heeseung, making it painfully clear that you had a crush on him.

That night, he kept tossing and turning in his bed, trying to fall asleep. He hated the idea of you having to be there as a waitress, handing out drinks and mini toasts to entitled guests who probably wouldn’t even look at you. There had to be a few strings he could pull, right?

—

In all twenty years of your life, you had never been to a place like this. As soon as you’d entered the lobby of the building in which the fundraiser took place, you’d been overwhelmed by the sheer extravagance of the room. Every surface was shiny marble, the ceilings were at least fifteen meters high and the whole place was lit up by tiny wall lamps. You were almost scared to see what the actual ballroom would look like.

The fundraiser started at 8:00 p.m. but the staff had been advised to come earlier to prepare everything. You went further in, and now that you had somehow acclimated to your surroundings, you noticed how busy everyone was. People were running around, going from the kitchen to the back room to the main hall in quick strides. You tried getting one woman’s attention, hoping she could direct you to where you were supposed to go.

“Sorry, hi, where do the wai-”

She stopped dead in her tracks and barely looked at you as she whipped out a sheet of paper from her blouse pocket and asked for your name.

“Um, Y/N-”

She checked something off and looked up at you and smiled. “Great, follow me.” You had no time to ask anything else before she swiveled on her heels again and marched towards another room, you in tow behind her. “We’ve got a script ready for you. You just need to learn it in time for tonight and then use your charm on the guests. Oh, and don’t worry about your outfit and all that, we’ve got it covered. Good luck!” And with that, she was off. 

Script? Outfit? What was all this about? You panic-texted Keeho, telling him some lady had dragged you somewhere and told you to learn a whole script. When he didn’t answer after five minutes, you assumed he must be busy helping out, but it made you panic even more. You looked around the room and noticed a girl you thought you recognized from one of your classes. You walked up to her, and after saying hi, asked her what the hell was going on here.

She looked at you a bit oddly, as if it didn’t make sense you didn’t know where you were, but clarified things nonetheless. “Basically, the six of us are going to be wearing these tags so that the guests know who we are, and we’re gonna give them a pity story about how we’re so poor but also so smart and able to change the world if only they give us money. That’s what the script is for, it just makes it a bit nicer.” Right, that’s what Jay had told you. But why were you here when you had signed up to be a waitress? It was what you had wished for, but it made no sense whatsoever.

Registering your still confused expression, the girl went on, “They’re also gonna give us nice outfits and make us look more presentable. But not too much, you know, cause a thousand dollar gown wouldn’t really fit with the scholarship kid aesthetic.” You laughed with her. You had to admit the whole situation was a bit ridiculous, but if it could help you out, you would take it. You had needed to take out a loan when you started studying, and the enormous debt you would be in as soon as you stepped out of college already stressed you out.

You learned your script, which was actually just more like detailed examples of the things you should say and what direction your conversations with the guests should take, until somebody called out your name, telling you it was time to get you ready. You were led to another room which was full of clothing racks holding fancy dresses and suits. Your immediate thought was that the clothes in this one room were probably worth more than your entire house. 

You could only admire the room for a few moments before a stylist threw a dress in your arms and practically pushed you into a dressing room. You took a good look at black dress before putting it on. It wasn’t overly fancy; the girl you had talked to was right, it wouldn’t make sense for you to look like you were the richest person there. With its modest cleavage and mid-thigh length, it was what you assumed to be formal enough for this type of event, and surprisingly fit you like a glove. It made you look put-together and accentuated your features in the subtlest way. 

When you walked out of the dressing room, the stylist eyed you up and down, adjusting the dress here and there, then stepped back and mumbled absent-mindedly, as if thinking out loud, “Wow, he does have good taste.”

You didn’t have the time to ask her what she meant as she had already turned away, looking for jewelry to finish off your outfit. The earrings, necklace and ring she gave you weren’t huge 20 carat diamonds, but you’d never worn such delicate jewelry before, you were almost too scared to move with them on you in fear of breaking them. The stylist, however, didn’t seem too fussed, and as soon as she was done, said, “Well, that’s all for me. Off you go to hair and makeup now!”

Hair and makeup? You were going to get your hair and makeup done by professionals? You felt like a celebrity. Your whole life, your mom had cut your hair, and you bought your makeup at the drugstore. 

While they didn’t make you look like a Hunger Games Capitol citizen, when they were done with you, the reflection that looked back at you in the mirror was uncanny. You were still you, there was no doubt about that, but you looked like a perfect version of yourself, which only makeup expertly applied could create. Although they’d never seen you before, the makeup artist had managed to accentuate or make disappear lines you had never noticed on your face before, and the hair stylist had done your hair in a simple but very flattering manner, letting it cascade naturally down your shoulders.

The stylists let you admire yourself for a few moments, knowing you probably weren’t used to such pampering, but soon ushered you out to the ballroom; the fundraiser was just about to start, and you needed to be there for the beginning of it. You were made to sit at a table with the other students at the front, close to the stage. An organizer came to see you and explained how the evening was going to go down. Most of the evening would be spent standing, chatting to the guests and persuading them to donate, except when the main course was served. There was no fixed seating chart, so you could go with whomever invited you to sit with them. All in all, your goal was to be as likable as possible, and get guests to understand why scholarships were important without sounding desperate, just like the script indicated.

Tapping your foot nervously, you watched as more people trickled in, each looking richer than the previous. Soon enough, the whole room was seated, and a man you recognized as Jay’s dad arrived on the stage, welcomed by polite applause. You listened intently to his welcome speech, and you could see Jay’s presence and charisma in him; every word of his seemed to be thought out and to have purpose. He did a spectacular job at kicking off the fundraiser, and you were clapping enthusiastically when he was done, not expecting what he was about to do. 

With an extended hand, he pointed at you and the five students you were sitting with. “Of course, this wouldn’t be possible without these six brilliant students whom we have the honor of welcoming tonight. Would you all come up on stage with me?” he asked warmly, although you knew it wasn’t really a question. You all looked at each other bemusedly, but you didn’t have much of a choice, so you all got up and walked up the stairs to the stage.

You hadn’t realized how many people were attending until you were standing right in front of them. The bright spots lighting the stage made it hard to distinguish anyone’s face in the crowd, which only made your position more intimidating to you. Thankfully, you didn’t have to introduce yourself; Jay’s dad did it for you, and after a few minutes, you were free to walk off the stage and start mingling with the guests. Whew.

As soon as the six of you stepped off the stage, guests started approaching you, engaging you in conversation right away. You were a bit taken aback, but remembering you needed to be perfect tonight, you put on the most genuine smile you could muster. Them coming to you was better than having to chase after them. 

An hour and a half passed, and you had been engrossed in so many conversations that you hadn’t noticed so much time had already gone. The only time your attention had been pulled out was when Keeho came to your group, offering you toasts of caviar and bubbly champagne, and discreetly (or at least as discreetly as Keeho could be, which wasn’t very) gave you a wide-eyed look, which you returned. You had no idea why you weren’t working like him either. 

When somebody announced the main course would soon be served, a lot of guests went to sit down, so you were now stuck with the most pretentious man you had ever talked to. All the other guests, no matter how rich or famous or successful they were, had managed to stay somewhat humble and not flaunt how much higher they were in society than you, but it seemed that it was all this man knew how to do. You knew you needed to stay polite even in front of scum like him, but it was hard giving him your undivided attention when he was going on and on about basic economic principles you had learned in your first year of college. Your eyes started drifting around the room, until they fell on a certain someone.

Lee Heeseung was here. Of course he was; his parents, although they were rivals to the Park family, were still huge names in your country’s economy, and they couldn’t not be here tonight. Heeseung’s presence wasn’t required, but you imagined it couldn’t hurt his image to be seen by many adults at a gathering like this one. He was standing by the bar, talking to a girl who was clearly trying to flirt with him, but he didn’t seem to be into her. You hadn’t meant to stare, but his eyes soon met yours. You immediately felt heat rise to your cheeks. He didn’t break eye contact, even when he replied to whatever the girl was saying. His eyes started drifting down from your face to your body, as if he was undressing you with his gaze. You opened your mouth and let out a small gasp at the sheer indecency of the way he was looking at you. The sound you made made you snap out of your daze, and you turned your attention back to the man in front of you, who hadn’t even noticed you weren’t listening to him anymore, so enthralled he was by his own conversation.

You excused yourself, not wanting to be in Heeseung’s sight anymore. You weren’t sure what to make of the interaction - you loved the idea of Heeseung paying so much attention to you, but there was something about the setting and the fact that he was talking with another girl the whole time which made you a bit uncomfortable. Disheveled, you sat down at the nearest table, not paying much attention to who was there.

“Everything alright, miss Y/N?”

That voice was too familiar. Of course, you just had to sit next to Jay’s dad, a.k.a. one of the richest CEOs in the country, a.k.a. the man behind this fundraiser. You changed your expression from distressed to spirited, not wanting him to think you weren’t handling tonight well. Before you could say anything to reassure him, he added, “Not easy, is it, entertaining so many people? I’m sure you’ll get used to it.”

Relief immediately washed over you. You looked down and said, “It hasn’t been too bad, just depends on the person you’re talking to.”

He chuckled. “I thought I saw you talking to CEO Jung. Or rather, CEO Jung talking at you. Sorry about him, he’s just the kind of person you have to learn to deal with.”

You continued talking to Mr Park, and he even invited you to stay at his table when the main course was served. He was surprisingly easy to converse with; he intently listened to you, even though he probably met infinitely more interesting people than you every day, and bounced off of your words naturally. You wondered how such an easy-going man could give birth to an argumentative boy like Jay.

You suddenly wondered where Jay was. You hadn’t seen him all evening, and he wasn’t sitting at his dad’s table either. You assumed he’d be busy with other people, but you couldn’t help being curious about his whereabouts. Not wanting to look around the room searching for him and appear disinterested in his dad, you just asked him directly if he knew where his son was.

Mr Park quirked an eyebrow and asked, “Oh, you know my son?”

“Yes, we’ve had a lot of classes together since freshman year,” you explained.

He seemed deep in thought for a second, until he started slowly nodding his head as if he’d just figured something out. “Of course, you’re Y/N. I knew that name was familiar.”

Why would your name be familiar to Jay’s dad? “Oh, did Jay mention me or some-”

Before you could finish your sentence, Mr Park said, “Ah, there he is,” gaze directed behind your shoulder. And indeed, as you turned around, you saw Jay coming towards your table.

 “Dad, mind if I steal Y/N for a second?”

“She’s all yours,” he replied, sending a wink his son’s way. You looked at Jay and he seemed just as confused about his dad’s words as you. But then his eyes found yours and he motioned for you to get up and follow him with a tilt of his head.

“It was really nice talking to you, Mr Park, thank you so much for your time.”

“Of course. It was lovely meeting you, Y/N. I’m sure we’ll see each other soon enough,” he said with a knowing smile. 

You didn’t even try figuring out what he meant, and just walked with Jay as he took you to a quieter area of the ballroom. Most people had finished eating and had stood up again, so you’d needed to weave through them, and Jay put a hand on your lower back to guide you better. You ignored the warmth that spread on your skin where he touched you, blaming it on the glasses of champagne you’d had. 

When you’d reached a spot where you could talk easily, he turned towards you with a smirk. “I can’t believe you’re already charming your way up to my dad. You’re definitely ambitious, Y/N.”

You rolled your eyes but then remembered where you were and thought it might be best to not give in to Jay’s taunts here, so you kept your voice low when you replied. “I didn’t even do it on purpose. I just sat there, and he happened to already be at the table.”

His smirk only grew wider. “Right.” Then he stepped back a bit, and took a good look at you. Unlike Heeseung’s gaze earlier, the way Jay looked at you in that moment, like you were the only thing worth looking at in this beautiful ballroom, made butterflies erupt in your stomach. God, you really had had too much champagne. “I knew that dress would look good on you.”

You should’ve been flustered by the compliment, but you were too confused by Jay’s words: how could he have known about this? Why did he make it sound like he had chosen the dress? The stylist’s words from earlier suddenly pop up in your mind: “he does have good taste.” There was also the fact that you had applied to work as a waitress tonight but ended up as one of the scholarship students. Slowly, things started piecing together in your mind, and you looked up at the well-dressed, smirking boy in front of you in disbelief.

“Jay. Did you do this?”

“Do what?” he said, an innocent tone to his voice, but a mischievous look in his eyes.

Your eyes widened and you lightly slapped his arm. “You did! I- You- Ugh. Thanks, I guess,” you muttered, looking down at your shoes. You were beyond grateful, but your ego stopped you from being too showy about it.

He smiled at you, and you ignored how much you loved it. “It was no big deal. Just had to change your name from the waitering group to the student reps. Took me two seconds,” he said, following your gaze down, bashfully admitting to helping you out.

“Why’d you do it?”

Because you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met and the world should know about it, was his immediate thought. But of course, he’d never say that out loud, so he opted for, “I just felt bad for you, really. I know you like to think of us as rivals, so I thought the least I could do was to put us on equal footing tonight.”

Although you had a feeling he wasn’t telling you everything, you weren’t going to press any further. You chatted for a bit longer, the both of you enjoying a relaxed conversation after hours on being on your best behavior, and your ability of talking normally to Jay and not wanting to claw his eyes out surprised you, not to mention the fact that you were… enjoying yourself.

“Anyway, I’m doing the closing speech soon. I’m gonna be awesome, so look closely, yeah?” You knew he wanted to look cool, but you thought he sounded like an excited kid who was about to put on a show for his family. How cute, you thought, and immediately chased that thought away from your brain. That damn champagne must’ve been laced with something.

You both went back into the crowd, and quickly your name was called out by someone you had talked to earlier who wanted to introduce you to someone else. You quickly waved goodbye at Jay, a smile on your face. If anybody had seen him, they would’ve noticed how his cheeks fired up and how he waved excitedly back at you.

And indeed, he had been seen.

His dad had been talking with one of his business partners, but tried to keep some of his attention on you and Jay. He couldn’t help but be curious as to why his son, who had previously never expressed any romantic interest in anyone, was suddenly making sure you attended the fundraiser as a student rep and not a waitress, and why he’d even gone the extra mile and chosen your dress for you. He hadn’t missed the way his son’s face lit up when he was talking to you, and how his gaze lingered on you as you walked away. But he also hadn’t missed how you’d followed Jay without hesitation, and how relaxed you’d looked talking to him. He thought the both of you acted as if it was just you two in a room full to the brim with people. When his wife joined him at the table, he’d told her about their son’s unusual behavior, and she said that she had noticed him looking around as if searching for someone a few times during the evening. They exchanged a knowing smile.

Heeseung had also noticed Jay leading you away from the crowd, and had intently watched your interaction, not even trying to make the girl he was talking to think he was still paying attention to her. He knew you had a crush on him; you couldn’t make it any more obvious. But he also knew how comfortable, how yourself you were around Jay; he’d seen the two of you banter around campus, always arguing about something, whether it was the new law that was being put into place or whether pineapple belongs on pizza or not. Heeseung wasn’t stupid, he’d seen enough rom-coms to know that the girl always ended up with the friend she joked around with and not the hot popular guy that made her feel nervous.

Jay and him had been rivals since he could remember, and not rivals like you and Jay, but proper rivals, who actually had to fight for something. Well, technically, it was their fathers who were competing as CEOs of some of the top firms in the country, but since they were bound to take their place at some point, it had felt like their competition as well. Nothing was off-limits when it came to their rivalry, and you were most definitely not an exception, not to Heeseung. He couldn’t stand seeing Jay have something he didn’t. At that moment, he made up his mind.

Heeseung had to have you.

But before that, Jay needed to give his closing speech. As soon as he’d stepped on the stage, the chatter started to quiet down, and everyone turned their attention to him. Much like you earlier, he hadn’t realized how bright the lights were when standing onstage. He could only see over a hundred people staring right at him, and his confident demeanor from moments ago crumbled at his feet. He scanned the crowd for your face, desperately needing something, or rather someone, to anchor him. When his eyes finally found yours, he felt strength regaining his body. His mother followed his gaze and found you looking right at her son, sending a reassuring smile and thumbs-up his way.

Jay’s speech went very smoothly, and everybody congratulated him for it as they left the room.

—

Back home after a stressful but rewarding evening, all Jay wanted to do was take a shower and pass out in bed. But his parents had other plans.

“So…” started his mother, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“So?” Jay asked, already fearing whatever his mom was about to say.

“Y/N’s a nice girl,” she simply stated, hoping Jay’s reaction would give her more to go on.

And oh boy did it. He immediately started blushing and stuttering at the sudden mention of your name. He knew you’d spoken with his father at the fundraiser, but he hadn’t thought his mom would bring you up.

“Y-Y/N? Yeah, I guess. But what about her?” he said, looking away and trying to sound uninterested, but blatantly failing.

His parents exchanged a look. “C’mon, son,” his dad picked up, “you don’t need to hide something like that from us. We’re very happy that you’ve found a nice girlfriend like Y/N.”

A nice… girlfriend? Had Jay heard that correctly? His parents thought you two were… dating? 

As he stared at them wide-eyed and mouth agape, they just chuckled softly at him. “It’s okay, Jay, really. She made a dazzling impression on all of the guests tonight, and on us. She’s exactly the kind of person you should be dating, so don’t worry about us getting in your way of anything. We approve of your relationship.”

Jay started laughing in disbelief, and his parents just took it as a sign of his relief. If only they knew. “Right,” he said between chuckles, “thanks, guys.”

Why he didn’t deny what his parents were saying was beyond him. A part of him didn’t want to disappoint them by telling them the truth - his mother had always urged him to get a girlfriend, saying he wouldn’t have the time for dating later on in his career, that he should enjoy his college years as much as he could. Another part of him loved the idea of dating you, and it hurt him too much to shatter that thought.

So he just nodded along, saying he was glad they liked you.

“We really did,” said his father. “In fact, you should bring her over for dinner sometime this week. It’d be nice getting to know her in a less formal setting, don’t you think? Ask her what she likes, I’ll ask the chef to cook it specially for her.”

“S-sure,” Jay said, already panicking - he’d either have to come up with an excuse as to why you couldn’t come to dinner, or with ways to convince you to be his pretend-girlfriend for a night. If he actually did ask you, he’d have to be very careful about it, otherwise it’d end up with you trying to pull his hair out.

What the hell had he gotten himself into?

—

At 10:43 a.m. the next day, you were waiting for Jay in front of the library. Right when you were about to turn your bedside lamp off, you’d received a text from him, asking to meet. Apparently, there was something he needed to tell you, and whatever it was, you were absolutely dreading it. Jay always had a lot of things to say, but he’d never felt the need before to warn you in advance that he needed to tell you something. Those kinds of messages were never very pleasant, and even less so when they came from Park Jongseong. Rereading the messages, you really couldn’t figure out what was so important that required you to take a break from your weekly Saturday morning study sessions.

00:44 archnemesis: Hey Y/N

00:44 archnemesis: Are you still up?

00:44 you: do NOT fuckboy text me jongseong

00:44 archnemesis: Sorry

00:45 you: go away im trying to sleep

00:45 archnemesis: Not trying hard enough obviously

00:45 you: shut up

00:45 you: what do u want

00:45 archnemesis: I need to tell you something.

00:45 archnemesis: Can we meet up tomorrow morning?

00:46 you: wtf

00:46 you: what is it ???

00:47 you: cant u just tell me now??

00:49 you: jay ???

00:49 archnemesis: Um.

00:49 archnemesis: I’ll tell you tomorrow!

00:49 archnemesis: :D

0:49 archnemesis: library 10:45?

0:50 you: ughhhhh

00:50 you: yeah whatever

00:50 you: this better be worth it istg

00:51 archnemesis: Good night Y/N &lt;3

00:51 you: EWWWW

You’d stayed awake for a while after that, trying to figure out whatever it was he needed to tell you, but the only thing you were sure about was that it had something to do with the fundraiser, since he’d texted you after it. Had he finally realized how superior in every aspect you were to him and would finally bow down to you? That seemed pretty unlikely. Did one of the guests there really like you and had spontaneously decided to pay for your studies and offer you an internship at their company? Were they impressed by your intellect and wanted you to become their kids’ private tutor? Possible. Or even better, maybe it was Jay’s parents whose attention you had particularly caught, and they wanted to reward you in some way. Maybe they thought you were amazing and that you’d be a perfect girlfriend for their son, and Jay, ever the daddy’s boy, would now shower you with gifts and attention in order to capture your heart.

Ha, as if, you thought, laughing to yourself. It was a lot less funny when Jay told you about the little misunderstanding.

You were sitting at the library café with Jay, who’d wanted to postpone delivering the news as much as possible and had bribed you with the promise of free hot coffee. Well, free for you, at least. Not that a coffee would create much of a dent in his bank account. After five minutes of chit-chatting, you were getting annoyed with him and didn’t understand why he was being so uncharacteristically awkward and asked him to cut straight to the chase. When he told you his parents thought you were his girlfriend and wanted to have you over for dinner this week, it took all you had to not spit the coffee right in his face. Not only was it ridiculous, it was practically exactly what you had imagined.

“Are you kidding me, Jongseong? I can barely pretend to be your friend, how the hell am I gonna pretend to be your girlfriend?”

Your words were like bullets piercing right through his body, but he had to ignore the pain, telling himself you were just shocked by the sudden news. “I’m sorry, Y/N, I just- I panicked, and I didn’t know how to tell them the truth. They seemed so happy,” he said, head hung low. You knew he was genuinely sorry, because he’d almost never actually said those words to you, so he had to mean them. The only other time you could think of was when he’d dropped his water bottle all over your laptop. The next day, he’d offered you a brand new MacBook with all of his notes already downloaded on it.

You sighed, unsure what to make of the whole situation. At any other time, your first reaction would’ve been to flip Jay off and tell him to get out of his own mess, but you felt like you owed him after what he’d done for you at the fundraiser. Even though he made it seem like no big deal, it still meant a lot to you that you’d gotten to spend the evening making yourself known to the guests and not serving them smoked salmon toasts, and that was all thanks to him.

“I guess I do owe you one, Jongseong.” His head snapped up and he looked at you with the most hopeful eyes you’d ever seen. “But before you get carried away,” you warned, “this is a one-time thing. Find an excuse, say we broke up or whatever. Fake dating is like, the most predictable trope ever,” you said, remembering all the heated discussions you’d had on the topic with Sieun.

But Jay paid no attention to that last sentence - he leapt up from his chair and came over to your side, engulfing you in a surprisingly warm hug. He muttered thank you over and over into your hair before realizing hugging wasn’t something you guys did and he might have just made things way worse. To his relief, when he took a sudden step back, you didn’t look upset at all, but rather amused at his sudden burst of excitement. 

He returned to his seat and cleared his throat. “Right. Thanks a lot, Y/N. My dad likes to have family dinners on Thursdays, so it’ll probably be then. I’ll, uh, I’ll take you there, so don’t worry about that.”

You chuckled at him. “You know I’ll never let you live this down, right?”

He sighed and shook his head, saying, “I know. But I’d rather have that than disappoint my parents, to be honest.” He smiled at you as if to take away some of the gravity of what he’d just said. You thought it wasn’t something he wanted to delve into, so you took a sip of your coffee and brought up the topic of this week’s tutorial for your cinema class, knowing it was a surefire way to start an argument with him. 

—

On Monday at lunch, you were sitting at the cafeteria with your friends. Keeho was telling them how fancy you’d looked and how you’d managed to charm everyone.

“I feel like I should be jealous, but what you did looked a lot more tiring than what I did, to be honest. When you’re a waiter at that kind of event, those rich people don’t even register your presence, so they just say the wildest shit in front of you. Apparently, CEO Cha is having an affair with CEO Liu’s wife, whoever they are.”

You chuckled at your friend, feeling even more thankful towards Jay that you didn’t have to spend your evening like that. The four of you continued chatting, which mainly consisted of complaining about how you already had so much work only two weeks into the semester. You were intently listening to the niche topic Sieun was learning about in her Bio class when someone dropped a bag on the table right next to your tray. The letters ‘Gucci’ were written on it in the iconic but simple font.

Your gaze went from the bag to the person holding it, and of course, it was none other than Park Jongseong himself.

“Hey, Y/N. Hey, guys,” he said, giving your friends a simple nod. They all replied with a confused hi. You were just staring at Jay, wondering what he was doing here.

“I got you something for Thursday night,” he explained. “Gotta wow the parents, you know?” he added with a wink.

“Uh-huh” was your very clever reply. You could feel your friends’ gaze ping-ponging between you and Jay.

Jay looked around the table, an awkward silence spreading between everyone. He cleared his throat. “Well, let me know if it fits or not. See you around.” And with that, he was gone as quickly as he’d arrived. You turned back to your friends, and their confused faces echoed your own. 

“What are you waiting for?” Sunoo nudged your arm. “Take a look inside!”

You took the bag on your lap and pulled out a magnificent green satin dress that was a lot more elegant than the one you’d worn at the fundraiser. You guessed Jay really did want for you to make a good impression on his parents. It seemed to be quite long and to not show too much skin, which you appreciated. You could only hope it would look as good on you as it did seeing it like this.

As soon as you’d taken it out, you’d heard your friends gasp. 

“Oh.”

“My.”

“God,” they’d said in turn, obviously mesmerized by the gift. 

You handed the dress to Sieun, who clearly wanted to admire it up close, and looked into the bag in case there was anything else. You were maybe hoping for a pair of earrings or a necklace, but it was wishful thinking. Instead, you found a sticky note signed Jay, which read, Wear the accessories and shoes from last week. I can’t spoil you too much just yet.

You hadn’t even noticed Sunoo was reading the note over your shoulder until he put his hand over yours in what seemed to be a confidential manner and said, with all the seriousness in the world, “Y/N, be honest with us. Is Park Jay your sugar daddy?”

Sieun and Keeho’s head snapped up and they stared at you expectantly. “What the hell? Why is that the first place your mind goes to?” you said, almost laughing in disbelief.

Bewildered, Sunoo replied, “How can it not? The wink, the Gucci gift, the note? It screams sugar daddy!”

“Wait - didn’t he say something about his parents? I’m not an expert, but I don’t think meeting the folks is sugar daddy etiquette,” Keeho mused, taking this way too seriously.

You took a deep breath. There was no point in not telling your friends what had happened, so you explained the events of the past few days to them, from Jay changing your role at the fundraiser, to his parents thinking you were dating, to dinner with them on Thursday.

When you were done bringing them up to date, they all looked at you with incredulous looks. After a moment, Sieun broke the silence: “Y/N, you’ve become a real walking rom-com. I’m so proud of you.” 

Keeho was tearing his bread apart, throwing chunks into his mouth. “I don’t know. Fake dating is kinda boring, to be honest.” Sieun let out an offended gasp and Sunoo nodded in agreement. 

“We’re not gonna be fake dating. Just for this one evening, I’ll pretend to be his girlfriend, and it’ll be over as quickly as it started,” you said, hoping that’d be the end of this conversation, but your friends wouldn’t back down so easily. 

“Y/N, that’s literally the whole concept of fake dating. You’ll think it’s only that one time, and before you know it, you’ll be married with three children, and it won’t be fake anymore,” Sieun warned, but you just shook your head and laughed, stealing Keeho’s other piece of bread from his tray.

“You guys are blowing this way out of proportion.”

“And you’ll be blowing something else soon…” Sunoo muttered, just loud enough for your table to hear. You let out an offended gasp but Keeho and Sieun just burst into laughter.

“Sunoo!”

“What?!” he replied, imitating your outraged tone but sporting an amused smile. “Your whole rivalry thing is too cute, I can’t take it seriously. You won’t admit it to yourself, but you clearly like Jay a lot more than you do Heeseung,” he said with a shrug, as if it was all so obvious. You tried to find support in Keeho or Sieun’s eyes, but they avoided your gaze, guilty expressions on their faces.

“Guys, come on, you can’t be serious. Jongseong and I are just- we’re just-” Rivals? Friends? Soon-to-be fake boyfriend and girlfriend? Who knew anymore. You took a deep breath. “It’s not like that.”

“Whatever you say,” Sunoo sighed, but to your relief that was the end of the conversation. Your friends quickly moved on to another topic, but their words gnawed at the back of your mind like rabid bunnies. Either they were completely insane, or you had gravely misjudged Jay this whole time. 

—

When Jay rang your doorbell at 7:00 p.m. sharp on Thursday, you were just done applying a thin layer of gloss on your lips. That morning, he’d texted you to ask for your address and tell you to be ready at seven. You took a good look at yourself in the mirror and headed down the stairs to get the door, but your mother had beat you to it. 

Not used to keeping secrets from her, you’d told her everything. She’d looked at you curiously the whole time, a slight smirk on her face as if she knew something you didn’t. And sure enough, when you were finished talking, she’d said, “I knew there was something between you and that Jay boy. You talk way too much about him.”

Not her too, you thought, but you didn’t need to encourage her delusions by telling her your friends thought the same, so you’d tried to defend yourself. “Mom! I just told you, I’m only pretending, I’m not actually his girlfriend. If I did like him, you’d be the first to know.”

She looked at you with a knowing smile that moms loved to wear. “I do know. You’re the one who doesn’t.” You’d dismissed her with a roll of your eyes. Everybody around me’s going crazy, you thought.

When she opened the door, it revealed a very smartly-dressed Jay (but when was he not?), bouquet in hand. He immediately handed them to her and introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs Kim. I’m-”

“Jay, I know. Y/N’s mentioned you.”

“Has she?” he asked, a genuine grin blooming on his lips. You ignored how the glint of surprise and - hopefulness? - in his eyes tug at your heartstrings.

“Just once or twice, and never positively,” you interrupted, appearing next to your mom. Taking your appearance in, she nodded at you approvingly, but Jay just stood there, mouth agape, seemingly transfixed by you. He only snapped out of his daze when you called out his name.

“You ready to go?” you asked, and hoped that the heat that had traveled to your face was hidden by your makeup.

“Uh, yeah, yeah. Let’s go. It was nice meeting you, Mrs Kim.”

“You too, Jay. Thanks for the flowers. I hope Y/N will be a good fake girlfriend to you tonight.”

“Oh, you told her?” Jay asked you, looking somewhat disappointed. 

“I wasn’t gonna lie to my mom about my boyfriend,” you said, nudging him out of the door. “Bye, mom!”

You ignored her reply (“Don’t have too much fun!”) and walked speedily towards Jay’s car, which looked far too expensive for this neighborhood. As you got closer, he took a few quick steps in front of you and opened the passenger door for you. You rolled your eyes, not wanting to let on how the gesture made your stomach flip. “No need to go that far, Jongseong. Don’t try to woo me.”

He hurried to the driver’s seat, looked at you with a grin and said, “Might as well get into character now.” His gaze lingered on you for a second too long, and you started feeling self-conscious when his eyes moved up and down over your body. When you coughed, he suddenly turned his attention back to the front and gulped, then started the car. He looked taken aback himself, as if he hadn’t even noticed he was staring at you. After a few seconds of silence, he said, “I really do have good fashion taste.” 

Although he was technically complimenting himself, you caught yourself hoping he also meant you looked good in the dress he’d chosen for you. “You could have included shoes and jewelry, you know. I wouldn’t have taken it the wrong way,” you said with a playful tone. 

“Sounds like you’re already getting used to a lavish lifestyle,” he retorted, making you smile sheepishly. 

“I’m just not used to dressing up nicely like this. It’s nice,” you said truthfully. You weren’t sure where the honesty was coming from, but something about being in a car with Jay made you feel like you could say anything - it felt safe, like whatever you could tell him would stay between the two of you. What happens in Jay’s car, stays in Jay’s car, or something along those lines. 

Jay wanted to tell you that if you gave him a chance, you could do this anytime you wanted. He’d buy you all the dresses you could dream of, and give you a taste of his world, which he so often found bland and shallow, but that he was sure you could light up in the blink of an eye. But he couldn’t say that, so instead, he said, “Yeah, I noticed. I don’t think anything you’ve ever done or said offended me more than that one time you showed up to class wearing a ‘where the hell have you been, loca?’ t-shirt.”

“Shut up, that shirt is amazing!”

“Maybe, but the movie it’s quoting is an absolute trashfire of a film, if you can even call it that,” he claimed, knowing it’d get a reaction out of you.

“Don’t talk shit about Twilight, Jongseong, or I’ll mess tonight up and your parents will think you’re dating a psycho.”

He turned to you with a smirk. “I’d like to see you try.”

You’d always known Jay was a confident man. It’s obvious in the way he holds his head high whenever he enters a room, or how he manages to stay calm and collected during an argument with someone who’s practically shouting at him (you, usually). And while he was always self-assured during your debates, seeing him act like this to practically flirt - could you describe it like that? - with you rendered you speechless. And you hated being speechless.

So you crossed your arms with a hmph and looked out the window, turning away so he couldn’t catch your fluttered state. 

You finally arrived at his parents’ house after a half-an-hour drive (“You live so far away, do you seriously drive to campus and back everyday?” “Yes, Jay, not all of us can live in a three-bedroom flat in the middle of the city”). As soon as you walked in, his mother greeted you with a warm hug, telling you how pretty you looked, and his father clasped your hand tightly, the lines around his eyes showing as he smiled at you. By the looks of it, you wouldn’t need to do much for them to like you.

You could tell Mr Park was a businessman by the way he didn’t beat around the bush when talking to you. As soon as you’d sat down in the (or at least one of the) living rooms for drinks and small appetizers, he asked, “So, Y/N, tell us about yourself.”

Having anticipated such a question, you started, “Well, I’m an Econ major-”

“Yes, but I know there’s more to you than just academics,” Jay’s dad interrupted with a well-intentioned smile.

You looked at Jay, hoping he could help you out. He just looked back at you as if he was waiting for your answer as much as his dad was. “Right. Um. Where should I begin?” you said with an awkward chuckle. You felt a bit put on the spot, but there was only genuine curiosity in all three pairs of eyes looking at you, so you felt comfortable enough to go on.

“I’ve always lived here. Or, technically, in the suburbs. Since I spend most of my time either studying, working at my part-time job or commuting back and forth between school and home, I don’t have much time for hobbies. I just use my free time to spend time with my friends or my family.” You looked at the three people in front of you, wondering if you’d said enough. After a beat, you added, “Sorry, was that too depressing?”

Mr and Mrs Park chuckled at you, and he instantly reassured you, saying, “No, no, not at all. Tell us about your family.”

You were expecting that one too. “Well, it’s just my mother, my little sister and me. But she’s at boarding school right now, so I only see her during the holidays.”

“Boarding school - that’s pretty impressive,” commented Jay’s mom.

You smiled fondly at the thought of your little sister. “Yeah, she’s a smart cookie. Got there on a scholarship and everything. She likes it most of the time but she does complain about how the people there are all-”

You stopped yourself before your tongue could slip up and potentially offend Jay’s parents. But to your surprise, they smiled and, in turn, said, “Rich and self-centered?” 

“Little kids who think they run the place when they’re only fourteen?”

A chuckle escaped you, not expecting them to share that kind of opinion with you and your sister. An amused tone in your voice, you nodded your head and said, “Yeah, exactly.”

“Yeah, I know all about those. Your boyfriend here might have been born into wealth,” he started, and you tried not to choke on your drink at Jay being referred to as your boyfriend, “but my father’s company, the one I’m in charge of now, only started being successful when I was in high school. My dad worked his way up from the ground, so he and I both know what it’s like to not be well-off. I’ve tried to not turn Jay into one of those rich kids who think they’ll rule the world just cause they have money, and… well, I hope I did a good job.”

You looked at Jay with a grin. He looked right back at you as if to say, I dare you to tell my dad he’s wrong. If this was anyone else in any other situation, you definitely would’ve told them Jay is one of the most privileged people you’ve ever met. You thought for another second - yes, Jay was definitely privileged, but there was a sort of innocence about him. He’d never used his wealth to make you feel inferior to him or anything of the sort. When he’d bought you that MacBook, it was to apologize, not to show off. It was as normal for him to have his meals cooked and laundry washed as it was for you to sigh in defeat every time the price of milk went up, even by just a cent or two.

So, still looking at him, you replied, “Yeah, I’d say you did a pretty good job.”

The way Jay’s eyes looked in that moment, fond and soft, made you want to never look away. But you didn’t want to make it awkward, so you turned back to his parents, who were watching the two of you with affection. Maybe Jay and you were a little bit too good at this whole fake-dating thing.

A maid came into the room to announce dinner was ready, and you all headed to the dining room. When plates of your favorite food arrived, you looked at Jay, astonishment written all over your face.

“How did you know?”

“You might’ve mentioned it here and there…” he sheepishly answered, knowing fully well that he’d gotten the information from a tweet you’d made eight months ago.

As conversation picked up again and you exchanged with his parents over a bunch of different topics, from childhood memories to that weird new Netflix show that’s strangely addicting, you tried to ignore Jay’s stare that was burning into the side of your face. 

“What about your dad?” he suddenly asked, catching everybody in the room off guard. Noticing your confused look, he continued, “Earlier. You said it was just you, your sister and your mom. What about your dad?”

His mom furrowed her eyebrows at him and said, “Jongseong, leave her be. If she hasn’t told you, she probably doesn’t want to talk about it.”

You took a deep breath. “No, it’s alright. I don’t mind talking about it, I just don’t usually bring it up cause it makes people think of me differently? Like they start to pity me just because my dad’s out of the picture, when, really, it hasn’t affected me that much. I’ve never known him, my mom has always raised the two of us on her own.” You looked down at your hands. You hadn’t even realized you’d been fiddling your fingers. “It just seems too cliché, the poor girl who lives in the suburbs and is on a scholarship and doesn’t have a dad and redeems herself by having good grades. Which is why I like to usually keep it to myself.”

You looked back up at them and were relieved when you found understanding and not pity in their eyes. If there was one thing you didn’t want to happen, was for them to think you were leeching off of Jay or trying to get his money. Even though you weren’t actually dating, it would’ve still damaged your ego if they had seen you that way.

A few hours later, dessert was finished, and you could tell everyone was starting to tire (or had had too many glasses of wine) by the way the conversation was starting to make less and less sense. Jay was looking at the three of you in amusement, stone cold sober, as he knew he’d have to drive you home later.

“Well, Y/N, son, we’re not going to hold you hostage here any longer. You still have classes tomorrow,” Jay’s dad said.

His parents led the two of you to the door as you gathered your coat and bag. “It was so lovely getting to know you more, Y/N. You truly are a sweet girl, and we can tell you’re making our Jay very happy,” his mother said, pulling you into a hug.

“You better treat her well, son,” said Mr Park. Jay looked over at you, and there was something in his eyes you couldn’t quite explain; all you knew was that it sent shivers straight down your spine. “I will,” he simply said, but with so much honesty, it made you wonder if he actually did mean it.

“Oh, and Y/N, there’s an event this Saturday. It won’t be as fun as ours last week, but I’m sure you could find a way to enjoy it. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt for people to see what a nice, hardworking girlfriend Jay has,” his father said, beaming down at you.

Jay and you exchanged a look, and the panic at the sudden invitation made you say, “Yes, I’d love to attend!” instead of finding a palatable excuse.

You exchanged final goodbyes with his parents, and as soon as you were in the car, you let out a hearty groan.

“My God, what’s wrong with me? Why did I have to say yes to that?”

Jay started the car. “I’m surprised too. If you had given me three seconds, I could’ve come up with an excuse for you. But I mean, I’m not gonna complain.”

You turned your head towards him, a pout on your face. “What do you mean?”

Jay kept his eyes straight on the road as he answered. “Well, like he said, it won’t be a bad look for me to have you on my arm. As much as it pains me to admit, you’re charming and intelligent, and,” he glanced quickly towards you, “I have good fashion taste, so you don’t look like an absolute fool in that department either.”

You snorted at his coyness. “Just say I’m pretty and move on, Jongseong.”

“Is that what I said, though?” he asked, a devilish grin on his face. 

You gasped dramatically, trying to appear as offended as possible. “Your dad literally just told you to treat me well, I’ll have you know.”

“They really fell for it, didn’t they?,” he said with a sigh. “I have to say, you did a pretty good job tonight. Almost got me wondering if you’re not used to being people’s fake date for the night.”

“Yeah, it’s my side job actually.” You smiled at each other, and when the eye contact lasted a second too long, you both quickly turned your head to the road. “So, what’s Saturday night about?” you asked, wanting to break the silence.

“Oh, it’s probably just another boring event where the grown-ups go to socialize and flaunt their wealth or their children’s prowess.”

“Wow, look at you being all critical. I thought you lived and breathed that kind of stuff.”

“I like it when it has a purpose. Like a fundraiser, or a company opening, or whatever. But this is just another excuse for people to show themselves off. You don’t have to come, you know. I can probably find a way out for you.”

Once again, without thinking, you immediately answered, “I’ll come.”

Jay glanced at you quickly, an eyebrow raised. “Wh- Really?”

You shrugged, trying to stay casual. “I mean, I don’t have anything on Saturdays. Might as well keep you company. Turns out you’re not always insufferable.” You’d lowered your voice for that last sentence, only half-heartedly admitting it. But of course, Jay wasn’t going to let you go with it.

“Huh? What was that? I don’t think I heard you,” he teased, leaning slightly towards you.

You gently nudged his shoulder, saying, “Shut up, you heard me. Just because I tolerate you slightly more doesn’t mean you’ve stopped being my number one rival.”

You’d never seen Jay smile that much. You sometimes caught glimpses of it when he was with his friends, but with you, he usually had an arrogant smirk, so seeing his genuine grin made your heart swell with joy you couldn’t explain. 

“Of course not. I wouldn’t assume anything else.”

He dropped you off at your house and made sure you were inside before driving away. When you told your mom about your night, she watched you with a smile, that knowing glint in her eyes still there. When she tried hinting at you having feelings for the boy, you’d gotten off your chair and shouted good night! before heading to bed. 

—

Saturday quickly rolled around the corner, and you were in your room with Sieun, trying on the two dresses Jay had given you to pick from. “They’re both good, I just wanted to see if you’d choose the best one,” he’d said. This time, he’d also included a new pair of shoes and a set of matching jewelry. Your friends kept teasing you about him being your sugar daddy (“you can’t deny it anymore, Y/N”), and you had to admit you were starting to feel a bit like that, even though you weren’t really giving him any sugar. He was just spoiling you like it was his day job.

He was right; both dresses were gorgeous. They were both black, but one of them was body-fitting with an open back, while the other cinched in at the waist and had puffy sleeves. You couldn’t deny that you looked good in the first one; Sieun had let out the loudest gap when she’d seen you in it. But you both agreed that it was on the riskier side, and it was probably more appropriate to wear the second dress.

You were laying on your bed, talking about this and that. It’d been a while since it was just the two of you, and it was nice catching up with her.

“So…” she’d started, an impish tone to her voice. You knew immediately what she wanted to talk about and let out a loud groan, but that didn’t deter her. “Wanna tell me about Jay?”

It was obvious what she was trying to get at, but you weren’t going to give her what she wanted. “Well, he’s rich and has a huge house. Not surprising. He drives well. He’s not half as annoying when he’s in front of his parents. Probably not trying to be as much of a smartass. He seems to think he’s all that. He-”

“Okay, okay, I get it!” she said, laughing. “What I mean is, has anything changed between you two? Have you finally come to your senses about the boy?”

You thought about it for a second. Something had definitely shifted in your perception of Jay. You felt it in the pit of your stomach every time he smiled at you. But it was scary: this wasn’t you and Jay. You and Jay argued, and riled each other up, and got on each other’s nerves. You didn’t crack jokes so you’d hear the other laugh, or agree without thinking when they asked you for a favor. It was confusing, so instead of voicing out those concerns, you lied. “No. Not really.”

But your friend wasn’t buying it. “C’mon. The guy buys you dresses, gets your mom flowers, drives you to his parents’ for dinner. I know it’s not for realsies, and you’ve got integrity or whatever, but you can’t completely be indifferent to it, Y/N. Even you’ve got to admit Jay’s hot.”

You laughed at your friend’s reasoning. “Fine. Maybe he’s not just someone to beat anymore. I guess that’s what fake dating will do to you. But that doesn’t mean I have to say he’s hot.”

She turned to fully face you. “Not even when he’s all dressed up? Or when he hands you a bag that has contents worth thousands?”

Her eyes were telling you that you had to agree with her. You tried to suppress a smile, still not wanting to admit anything. Just because you and Jay had been rivals since you’d met didn’t mean you went blind every time you saw him. Of course, you knew how attractive he was. But you had conditioned yourself to never see him that way, so letting on that you didn’t think he was completely repulsive felt like betraying yourself. 

Sieun laughed at your reaction. “C’mon! Say it!”

You pursed your lips together, suppressing a smile, and shook your head. The tilt to Sieun’s head and the devilish glint in her eyes told you your friend was up to no good - and indeed, a second later, she was on you, tickling your sides and asking you to “say it! Say it!”

“Fine, fine!” you said between breathless giggles. She finally relented. “I think Jay’s hot.”

“Do you, now?”

The sudden male voice made you and Sieun shriek. You sat up in your bed and found its owner - sure enough, Jay was standing in your doorway, leaning against the wall and clearly liking what he’d just heard. Your mother soon appeared behind him, explaining that he’d knocked and she let him in, telling him to go up to your room. She mouthed sorry and quickly scurried down the hall.

“I’m not sure why it took you so long, but I’m glad you’ve finally opened your eyes, Y/N.”

Sieun’s eyes were going back and forth between the two of you, until she stood up and said, “Well, I guess that’s my cue to go. Have fun you two, and tell me all about it on Monday, Y/N!”

Before you could protest, she had already left your room, sending Jay a wink as she passed by him. It was silent for a few seconds as you sat there in embarrassment, cursing the Gods for your awful timing. He walked in and sat down at the edge of your bed, comfortable and keeping his distance at once. The sentence there’s something perfect about him flashed in your mind but you were quick to brush it away. “So, which dress did you choose?”

“The one with the puffy sleeves,” you replied, unable to look him in the eye.

He tutted, shaking his head disapprovingly. “Wrong choice.” You rolled your eyes. “Show me?”

This made you look at him. His smile was taunting, but his eyes were soft. With the way he looked right now, you thought he could ask you anything and you’d say yes. You hadn’t imagined that him sitting on your bed would make you stammer like a schoolgirl in front of her teacher crush, but here you were, almost rendered speechless by the mere sight of him. The fact that he was manspreading and leaning back on his hands, the top buttons of his shirt undone and his trousers stretching against his thighs, wasn’t particularly helping. More shyly than you intended, you told him to turn around and close his eyes, then quickly put the dress on. You were thankful for its lack of zipper - you don’t know if you could have handled Jay zipping your dress up for you.

“Okay. You can turn around now.”

This was already the third time Jay was seeing you all dressed up, but his gaze managed to make the heat rise to your cheeks every time. The corners of his lips rose slightly. “Wrong choice,” he repeated, “but you still look really good, Y/N.”

You couldn’t stop the smile spreading on your face as you coyly replied, tugging at the hem of your dress, “Why thank you, Jay.���

“You gonna be ready to go soon?” he asked, checking the time on his phone.

“Yeah, just need to put on jewelry and shoes, and I’m good. Sieun did my makeup for me earlier.” You put on the thin silver earrings and ring Jay had gotten for you and checked your reflection in the mirror. You put a hand to your collarbone, thinking the area looked a bit empty without a necklace.

“Should I wear the necklace from last time? It looks a bit weird without anything right now,” you asked Jay, keeping your gaze on the mirror. 

“Um, I’ve got something, actually. I forgot to give it to you with the rest of the things.” He fished a small box out of his bag and got up to stand behind you. He took out the necklace and put it around your neck, asking you to hold your hair up. You complied, looking at his reflection in the mirror. His hands slightly brushed the back of your neck as he locked the necklace, and you had to keep yourself from visibly shivering at his touch. This was infinitely worse (or better) than him zipping up your dress.

He absent-mindedly let his hands slide along your shoulders until they came to a halt on the sides of your arms. His eyes met yours in the mirror, and with a smile, he said, “All done.”

—

Nothing, not even the fundraiser of the previous week, could’ve prepared you for how lavish this party was. Whereas the fundraiser has been in an 18th century ballroom, in the old part of your city where most of the architecture was traditional, this event was taking place in the newer, richer part of the city where skyscrapers constituted most of the area. You were at the top of one of those skyscrapers, and from the huge windows that made up two of the four walls of the spacious room, you could see the whole city laid out right in front of you, as if it was yours to take. If having money meant seeing this everyday, you thought you could understand why rich people got addicted to it. 

As Jay and his dad had warned, the atmosphere that evening was very different from that of the fundraiser. Instead of gathering for a cause, this just felt like an excuse to get drunk and eat tiny, tiny appetizers that probably cost a hundred dollars each, all while looking rich and fashionable. The room was quite dark, only the moon outside and the small LED lamps on every table bringing light in. You’d never seen such an impressive collection of alcohol (to be fair, you’d only ever been to frat parties where most of the alcohol was cheap beer and dodgy brands of vodka), and you were really going to have to restrain yourself from trying out every cocktail the barman offered. Although most of the people there were in their forties to sixties, and the younger people were only there thanks to their parents, the dress code wasn’t as formal as you’d have imagined it to be, and Jay’s assessment of your dress as the “wrong choice” now made more sense. The women wore dresses that showed quite some skin, or didn’t leave much to the imagination, and the men had left their suit blazer behind and hadn’t buttoned their shirt all the way up.

It was all a bit mind-boggling at first, but you soon got used to it, and Jay’s warm hand on your lower back reassured you. At first, the two of you walked around together, talking to different people, and hoping you were making your “relationship” clear to them. You were glad Heeseung or anyone that would’ve recognized you wasn’t there: you could handle pretending to be Jay’s girlfriend in front of his parents and other random people, but in front of the whole school, that would’ve been a whole other level of fake dating.

Watching people slowly slip into a drunk state as the hours passed was just about the only source of entertainment you got that night. The two cocktails you’d tried out were way too strong to your liking, so you didn’t feel like drinking anymore, and Jay couldn’t because he was driving you home later on. When most guests were beyond the point of being able to hold a coherent conversation, you and Jay took it as your cue to leave. You found his parents among the crowd to tell them goodbye, and you could tell they weren’t completely sober by the way they kept telling you you were amazing and made you promise three times you’d attend more of these events. Guess you couldn’t back out now.

And indeed, as weeks passed, it became a normal thing for you to accompany Jay every time he had an event to attend. Your wardrobe was going to burst from all the outfits he kept buying you, but you weren’t going to complain. Jake and Sunghoon, as sons of CEOs of smaller but still important companies, were sometimes present. They usually ditched these types of events, and you couldn’t blame them, but they still made the effort from time to time. You were already friends with Jake before; the two of you had lived in the same dorm building and kept finding each other in the study room late at night, then started to bond over insolvable questions and watered-down instant coffee. Sunghoon, on the other hand, you hadn’t had many chances to talk to, and you couldn’t lie, judging by his appearance alone, you had first thought he was even more self-centered than Jay. But after talking to him for just a minute, you found that that cold facade quickly broke down and he was easy to talk to and very funny - in his own way, but funny nonetheless.

Heeseung wasn’t always at these events, but whenever he was, you couldn’t miss him. He always garnered attention, especially from the female guests, but he always kept his eyes trained on you. In all your three years of liking him, he’d barely spoken a word to you, so why the sudden interest? Usually, you’d have craved his attention; but for some reason, at those parties, you felt indifferent towards it. You hated how he was always with a different girl and never approached you, yet wasn’t trying to keep his glances towards you discreet at all. Jay noticed it too, and a couple times you’d even had to stop him from going up to Heeseung and asking him what the hell he wanted. 

Since you didn’t have money to bedazzle people with, you always tried to make a good impression with your conversation and intellect, but some nights you just weren’t up to it and spent most of the time laughing with Jake and Sunghoon, as Jay was often too busy talking to someone else. Tonight was one of those nights; half an hour into the party, an important businessman approached Jay and started talking to him, completely ignoring you. He always ended up apologizing later on, but you didn’t reproach him for it - you knew he had a reputation to uphold and that these events were important for him. Plus, it wasn’t like he owed you anything - you weren’t his girlfriend after all, even if the line between real and fake had started to blur more and more often as of late. 

Feeling out of place, you looked around the room and found Jake and Sunghoon at the bar, six shots lined up in front of them. You had never gotten drunk at any of these events, not wanting to risk embarrassing Jay or his parents, but tonight seemed like it was gonna be the most boring one as of yet. So you gestured to Jay that you were leaving and joined the two boys.

“Room for one more?” you asked when you reached them. They turned around and smiled at you; this was clearly not their first drink of the night. 

“Of course!” replied Jake excitedly, beaming at you. You could tell he already had a few drinks in his system. Without further ado, you each took a shot glass in your hand, clinked them and brought them to your lips, dipping your heads back. The burning of the alcohol as it glided down your throat was both repulsive and intoxicating, and you were soon reaching for the second one. The boys cheered you on and quickly mirrored you. 

Although you’d promised Jay you’d always be on your best behavior, as the evening went on, you never refused a drink that the servers approached you with or the boys offered you. Without Jay to make snide remarks about the snouty guests with, the evening was a lot less fun, so you couldn’t help but down every glass of alcohol that came near you; since Jake and Sunghoon were doing the exact same thing, none of you were realizing exactly how drunk you three were getting. At least, you weren’t going around the room, mumbling drunkenly to everyone; you were staying at a table in the corner, mumbling drunkenly to each other.

Jay was observing you from afar, trying not to worry and stay focus on the conversation (no matter how mind-numbing) he was having; but when he saw you almost fall out of your chair and burst into laughter right away instead of regaining your senses, he thought it was time to come check on you. He couldn’t help but feel guilty for having left you alone for most of the night, and he knew Jake and Sunghoon never stayed sober through these events, but in his defense, he didn’t think any of you would go that far.

He took a seat in the chair next to you, leaning close to you so you could hear him over the music and chatter of the guests. He asked you how you felt, and you gave him a lopsided smile in response. “Me? I feel great. This place is awesome once you’ve had-” you hiccuped, “a few drinks.”

Jay sighed but had an affectionate look on his face. “Right. I think it’s time to get you home.” He saw you open your mouth in what was probably going to be protest, so before you could say anything, he added, “And don’t even argue with me. I’m taking you home, let me just go let my parents know first. You two figure it out on your own,” he told Jake and Sunghoon, who had already started to doze off on their chairs.

He got up and headed towards his parents, and you watched him walk away with a pout on your face. Your vision was blurry from the alcohol and you could barely make out any faces, but you waved in what you hoped was the general direction of his parents. 

“She just keeps getting better, doesn’t she? Even when she’s drunk, she doesn’t embarrass herself,” said Mr Park when Jay announced your departure. “I’m glad you have her, son.” Jay was glad for the dimness of the room, which meant his dad wouldn’t notice how hard he was blushing. Even if it was all an act, thanks to his parents, he had gotten closer to you than he thought he ever would.

He bid goodbye to his parents and a few other guests, including Jake’s and Sunghoon’s parents, making them aware of their kids’ state, then went back to get you. The trek to the car wasn’t the easiest as tiredness had started to hit you and your body grew heavier against your will. You fell asleep as soon as your head hit the back of the passenger seat and Jay couldn’t help but think you were the cutest thing in the world. He then realized how far gone he must be to think you still looked precious in your current state.

The car ride was silent, your quiet snores and the soft chatter of the radio the only sounds filling up the space. Jay thought you were dead asleep as you didn’t wake up when he fished your keys out of your bag and carried you bridal style out of the car and to the door, but really, you just didn’t wanna have to walk. When he got to the door, though, you thought it would’ve been unfair to make him struggle that much, so you opened your eyes and quietly told him to let you on the ground. He walked you to your room, tucked you in bed and even got a wet wipe to take your makeup off for you. 

As he gently swiped it over your eyes, trying not to hurt you, your drunken state got the best of you and you asked, voice barely over a whisper, “Why are you doing all this?”

He didn’t say anything for a minute, and you thought he might not have heard you, until he replied, “Because I want to.” You were too tired to press the matter any further, although you desperately wanted to. You’d have to wait until you were sober - if you’d have the courage to bring the subject up then.

When he was done and got up from your bed, the sudden absence of his presence around you made you panic, so you called out, “Jay?”

“Yeah?” he said, and you hoped you weren’t imagining how expectant he’d sounded.

“Will you stay?”

Your eyes were too heavy to even open, so you couldn’t see his reaction. After a second that felt like an eternity, he answered, “Of course.”

You heard him steal a pillow and lay down on the carpeted floor next to your bed. Maybe it was the remnants of alcohol in your system, or the fact that spending so much time together, especially as his girlfriend - fake girlfriend - had made you see him in a new light, or the fact that you felt like your whole world would collapse if you didn’t have him next to you at that moment, or all three of those things. All you knew was that something beyond your control made you whisper “come here” in the quiet of your room, and, when he got under the covers with you but kept his distance, made you wrap your arms around him and cling onto his shirt as if he would disappear.

You slept like a baby that night, but Jay barely got a wink of sleep, the sound of his own heart beating uncontrollably keeping him awake.

—

You woke up that Sunday morning with a ringing headache, an upset stomach and a thirst you knew you wouldn’t be able to quench no matter how much water you drank. Your bed was empty, and the only thing that reminded you Jay sleeping overnight wasn’t a fever dream was his scent lingering on your pillow. The pang in your heart at his absence was hard to ignore - you were definitely curious about what it’d be like to wake up in Jay’s arms. 

The busy chatter coming from the kitchen forced you out of your bed, although you would’ve rather stayed there all day. As soon as you opened your bedroom door, the smell of pancakes and sizzling bacon attacked your nose, and you hurried downstairs.

The sight of Jay cooking breakfast for you and your mother alone was enough to cure your hangover. You sneakily watched from the staircase as he expertly flipped pancakes and cooked eggs at the same time, all while holding a conversation with your mom. You walked into the kitchen and poured yourself a cup of coffee before taking a seat next to your mom, trying to but failing to suppress a smile. “I didn’t know you were also a housewife, Jongseong,” you said, voice still groggy with sleep.

“I thought it was the least I could do after making you attend such an awful event,” he answered, and you had the suspicion he was only being nice because your mom was there, even though she knew you two weren’t actually dating. 

He kept that energy all throughout breakfast, making your mom laugh, and you watched him play his charm on her, glad you didn’t need to participate in the conversation. Any mom would be lucky to have him as a step-son, you caught yourself thinking.

Your mother hugged him when he left, and turned to you with a smile as soon as she’d closed the door. “Y/N, there’s no way in hell you don’t wanna date that boy. Hell, if he wasn’t half my age, I probably would.”

You took a cold water bottle from the fridge and said, “We’re not talking about this,” then headed up the stairs to your room. You ignored her calling after you and laid down in bed. Last night had given you a lot to think about.

—

You never got as drunk as that night again, not wanting to repeat that situation. Your relationship with Jay had already changed so much in so little time, but now, there was a lingering tension that always kept you on edge, and it wasn’t due to the constant arguing. It was due to the way you couldn’t get his scent on your sheets out of your head and the way he couldn’t forget how you had held onto him that night. You two had always said whatever was on your mind to each other, especially if it was something that would annoy the other, but now unspoken words constantly lingered between the two of you.

Your friends saw right through you; even though you tried to play it cool, it was painfully obvious that Jay was much more than just competition to you now. You hadn’t told them about the time he’d slept over and made you breakfast, knowing you’d never hear the end of it; but they didn’t need to know about that to see something had changed. It was clear in the way you talked about him, which had gone from irritated to excited, or how you never mentioned Heeseung anymore. One time, you’d even said “dating Jay” instead of “fake-dating,” and Sunoo had immediately picked up on it.

“That-that’s what I meant!” you’d exclaimed defensively, but they’d all looked at you with teasing smiles.

Jay hadn’t been very discreet when he’d given you bags of designer clothes all over campus, like in the cafeteria, in a random hallway, or in a lecture hall, and given his immense popularity (you know, being handsome and rich and all that), a few rumors about you two dating were being spread around. But they hadn’t really blown up, since the both of you always denied them whenever someone asked you if they were true, because you didn’t need to keep the pretense at uni. 

The pretense - because that’s all it was, of course. Play pretend. Fake dating, keyword fake. But everything with Jay felt too real - the laughter in his car on the way to and fro the events, the smiles you exchanged from across the room, his hand brushing against yours when you sit next to each other during lectures. It wasn’t enough to have his arm around your waist once or twice a week, and it drove you crazy that you had him in bed right next to you but that you’d let him go. You needed to have him close, and for it to be real.

It was a sunny March afternoon when you realized this. Your week was surprisingly unbusy - along with the preparation for your lectures and tutorials, you only had two small online quizzes to complete, and all your bigger deadlines were so far away that even you didn’t see the point in starting on them already. So, armed with your favorite book and plenty of snacks, you’d decided to head to the park next to campus and spend a relaxing afternoon in the sun. It went as planned for about an hour, when an all too familiar voice called out your name - a voice that used to make you sigh in annoyance and roll your eyes automatically, but that now made your heart skip a beat in nervousness, you realized with some alarm.

“Hey! What are you doing here?” He sat down next to you on your picnic blanket, beaming at you like you were his good old friend he’d just run into. He had a professional-looking camera with him, something you’d never seen him carry around. You were so taken aback by his excitement at seeing you that no words formed in your mind, and you just raised your book and waved it stupidly.

Jay chuckled when he saw what you were reading. “Twilight, of course. And that’s the last one, isn’t it?” He shook his head in mock-disappointment at you. “I can’t believe you would put yourself through the torture of reading four of those books, Y/N.”

You just mumbled something about them being fun to read, turning your gaze back to the cover of the book you were holding. What the hell was wrong with you?! Usually, you’d be quick to shoot an answer back at Jay, either defending yourself or attacking him on one of his own weird preferences (you’ll never forget the day they had corn at the cafeteria and Jay had scarfed down at least five cobs in one sitting). But right now, Jay’s presence next to you turned your insides to liquid and rendered you unable to think properly. You hated it.

But then you noticed something on the book cover - “Jay, how do you know this is the last one?” From the corner of your eye, you saw Jay’s head snap up while you turned the book in your hands. “There’s no number on it.”

“O-oh,” he started, and judging from the growing blush on his face, you knew you’d caught him. This brought some of your usual confidence back to you. “Isn’t it common knowledge that Breaking Dawn is the last book in the series?”

You giggled at that. “Absolutely not.” His guilty expression only made you want to press further, and you added, “That’s something you’d only know if you’d watched all the movies and made the effort to remember the separate titles.”

He looked away, letting out a small hum as he found sudden interest in his camera. You were still smiling at him in disbelief. “Jongseong, have you seen all five Twilight movies?”

He furrowed his eyebrows and kept avoiding your gaze. “Pffft. No.”

“Jongseong.”

At the sound of his name, he abruptly turned his head in your direction, and his glare only made you smile even more. “You’ve actually seen all five movies, I can’t believe this,” you said, almost laughing. Jay’s eyes softened slightly, just enough for you to notice. He turned his attention back to his camera, but he was smiling down at it as he spoke this time.

“It’s just that you’ve mentioned them so often, I thought I should check at least the first one out. Turns out they’re pretty addictive,” he admitted sheepishly.

“So you watched them for me?” you asked, and your voice was more admirative than you’d had intended it to be - you wanted to tease him, not let him know that what he’d just said actually touched you.

“I watched them for… research purposes,” he conceded. Your eyes met. Your cheeks were starting to hurt from all the intense smiling this conversation was bringing you, but you couldn’t help it. This time, you were the one to look away.

“Research purposes, of course.” A short silence ensued, the sort of silence you should’ve been used to with Jay by now but that always made you feel giddy - the sort that’s awkward in a lighthearted way, the sort where you’re repeating all the words that have just been said in your head and committing them to memory. The sort where you hope the other is feeling all the things you’re feeling.

You broke it first. “What about you, what are you doing here?”

Jay raised his head, looking like he’d just remembered he had come here for another purpose than just talking to you. “Right. I have a project for this elective I’m taking, so I need to film some stuff and I thought it’d be nice to do it here,” he explained, shrugging.

“Sounds cool,” you said, and you hoped he knew you actually meant it. He looked at you again, and he seemed surprised. “Tell me more,” you added, and from the way his features lit up, you could tell you had said the right thing. You positioned yourself more comfortably on the blanket as you listened to him.

“Oh, well, our professor’s a bit of a romantic so the project is all about finding beauty in the small things, the happiness around us, love…” 

Your gazes locked the moment he said that word, but it only lasted a second. Jay was quick to clear his throat and go back to his explanation, but it took you a few more seconds until you could focus on his words again. When you snapped out of it, he was showing you some films he’d already taken. They were all very short, just three or four seconds long, but a peacefulness emitted from each of them. An encouraging message scribbled into a lecture hall table, a cat laying on a windowsill, enjoying the sun, an old couple walking slowly hand-in-hand, teenage girls celebrating a birthday at an ice cream parlor, the metro passing quickly through the frame as the sunset paints the sky orange in the background. All beautiful moments that make up life, but that you never take the time to fully appreciate.

“This… this is beautiful, Jay,” you breathe, mesmerized by what he’d manage to capture.

“Yeah? Not too cheesy?” he asked, a small smile on his lips.

“Not at all. I think your professor will love this, you completely grasped the subject.”

He let out a shaky breath of relief, his smile getting wider. “Nice,” he said under his breath. Then he suddenly turned his head to look at you, an intensity in his gaze you hadn’t expected. “Would you mind if I took a video of you? Add you to the film?”

“W-what, like here? Right now?”

“Yeah,” Jay said, and when he smiled at you like that, who were you to say no?

“Okay, sure.” You tried to shrug, play it cool, but something about Jay looking at you through his lens and adding a video of you to all those beautiful ones he’d just shown you made your heartbeat speed dangerously.

“Great,” he beamed. “Just read your book. Pretend I’m not here,” he instructed. As if you could be anything less than hyper-aware of his presence, you thought.

Thankfully, the video was shot in just a few minutes as Jay searched for the best angle to take it from. Before you knew it, he was already back next to you, mirroring your position on the blanket as he laid on his stomach. You tried to ignore how his shoulder brushed against yours as he leaned on his forearms, showing you the video. You had to admit, it looked really nice - from this angle, the sun shone down on you perfectly, and you could see the wind blowing through the tree leaves in the background. It fit perfectly with the other videos.

“Beautiful,” Jay whispered, looking at the film with nothing but fondness in his eyes.

You didn’t linger on his words too long, just took the chance to tease him: “Are you complimenting me or your videography skills?”

The look in his eyes didn’t change as he turned his head and gazed down at you. “You, of course.”

A smirk tugged the corners of his lips up as he took in your flustered expression, your incoherent mumbles. “Whatever,” you mumbled when you regained the ability to speak. 

Another comfortable silence settled between the two of you as Jay busied himself with his camera while you read the same paragraph over and over, unable to concentrate on the words. You desperately wanted to say something, but had no idea what, so you were grateful when Jay broke the silence.

“Just need to edit this all together on my laptop, and then I’m all done. Thanks for your help, Y/N.”

“I didn’t do anything, though,” you said with a small smile. His compliment from earlier was still ringing in your ears.

“But you did. I think that shot of you will end the film perfectly.” 

Sure, Jay had gotten nicer and nicer to you as time passed - but today, he was really laying it on thick. He was making it hard to breathe properly. All you could do to save yourself was change the subject.

“So, this is for the Visual Studies part of your degree, right?”

For the second time today, Jay’s expression went from surprise to delight - you remembered, he thought. “It is, yeah,” he replied, with a wide grin he couldn’t control. He seemed to hesitate for a bit, as if deliberating whether he should say whatever it was he wanted to say or not. You were happy to see he opted for telling you. “If it was up to me, it’s the only thing I’d have done.”

You studied him for a bit. With just this simple sentence, you realized Jay’s life wasn’t as simple as you’d always imagined it to be. “But it’s not up to you, I’m guessing.”

He smiled sadly, and you had to resist the urge to take him in your arms. All these things you had been feeling for him, they weren’t supposed to be there, and you were getting really tired of fighting them back.

“It isn’t, no.” He turned over to lay on his back, and you imitated him, so that you were now both staring up at the sky. He sighed before speaking again. “My father isn’t a particularly conservative man, but he does like tradition. He wants to keep the company in the family, and as his only child, I’m the one the responsibility falls upon. He’s never even asked me if this was what I wanted to do, just assumed I’d be happy with it.”

In your three years of knowing Jay, you’d thought how unfair it was that he wouldn’t have to go through the hoops of job applications and job interviews. He already had a top position waiting for him as soon as he got out of college. But now you realized that he was completely trapped in the position - all of the decisions you’d taken academics- and career-wise had been your own, while Jay’s had been chosen for him in advance.

“I picked up photography as a hobby to get away from it all and ended up really falling in love with it. I have control over my camera even if I have zero control over anything else in my life,” he explained with a defeated chuckle.

You let your head fall to the side and looked at him. “I had no idea about any of this.”

Jay met your eyes and smiled. The sun was right behind you, so he had to shield his eyes from it to look at you. “Of course not. I never mentioned it.”

“I feel like I should’ve known, for some reason.”

His smile got wider. You looked away. “Why?”

“Just ‘cause. Maybe I would’ve gone easier on you if I knew you were also struggling.”

“I wouldn’t have let you.” He bumped your shoulder with his, making you let out a chuckle.

A beat passed before you spoke again. “Guess we both have a lot of pressure on our shoulders, huh? Even if they’re different kinds.”

“Guess we do.”

“Then we’re more similar than I’d thought,” you said, and looked at him again.

“Guess we are.”

A smile bloomed on your lips, and Jay’s eyes drifted down to it. That simple action made you panic, and you suddenly sat up. He didn’t have time to ask if everything’s alright, you were already throwing your stuff back in your bag and mumbling something about the time and having to go. You stood, and turned to Jay before scurrying off. “I’ll see you around.”

Jay chuckled, slightly confused, but let you go. It wasn’t until he left himself that he’d realized you’d left without your picnic blanket.

— 

After that afternoon, you tried to pretend nothing happened, and that you hadn’t run away just because of Jay glancing down at your lips. You were already getting worked up over things you shouldn’t even be thinking about when it came to him - you didn’t need to have Jay kissing you on your mind.

Thankfully, Jay didn’t bother you about it, and you got back into your routine of arguing by class and pretending to be a couple by night. Everything was fine.

That is, until Mr Park happened.

You had waited all week, hell, all month for this: Jay’s dad was about to give a special talk for the School of Business on how to get a company started and efficiently run it, but most importantly, he would announce how to apply for a summer internship at his firm. You’d made sure to get there early so you could get a good seat. He noticed you when you walked in the amphitheater, and motioned to you to come see him.

“Y/N! Lovely to see you, thanks for coming,” he greeted, beaming down at you. It always surprised you just how similar his smile was to his son’s.

“Of course, Mr Park! I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Come and see me after the talk, yeah? There’s something I want to tell you.”

God, what was it with Park father and son to announce things like that? Why not just say it straight away? You kept those thoughts to yourself and nodded, then sat down at a seat in the front.

You listened intently the whole time and took down rigorous notes. When it was over, you had to wait another twenty minutes as people asked him questions, until he finally announced that was all he had time for today. You headed down towards the stage, and complimented him on his talk. Most people in the room had started trickling out, but there were still a few students waiting at the doors, hoping to catch him before he left.

“Oh, thank you, thank you,” he said with a chuckle, before taking a deep breath. “I realize now what I said earlier might have made you nervous, but don’t worry, you’re not in trouble.” 

You released a breath you didn’t know you were holding. Good. “I just wanted to thank you for being such a good girlfriend to Jay. I’ve always been proud of him, but I know he has a lot on his shoulders, so it’s nice to see that he has someone like you to rely on.”

You smiled at Mr Park, saying it was nothing, but you felt guilty. He truly believed in you and Jay, when the two of you were only pretending. Even though it didn’t always feel that way anymore. 

“Oh, and for the internship, I’m sure you’ll understand that it wouldn’t look too good if I gave it to you. But don’t worry, I’ll put in a good word for you wherever you decide to apply.”

A second passed. Then another, and another, until your lack of answer was becoming weird, and you had to say something. “Oh. Right. Of course, I understand,” you replied, hoping the disappointment in your voice wasn’t too obvious. You exchanged a few more words until you said you needed to get back to studying.

As you turned around to exit the room, you noticed everybody who had been waiting for Mr Park was staring right at you, wide-eyed. You tried to ignore them and get to the doors, but a girl stopped you. “So the rumors are true, you really are dating Jay?”

You’d never seen her in your life and were a bit shocked that a stranger could demand information about your love life, but you nonetheless shook your head and started to say, “What? No.”

“Why are you lying? We just heard everything,” said another voice.

“Yeah, it doesn’t matter anyway, just don’t lie.”

You turned your gaze away from the students to look behind you at Mr Park. Or more precisely, at the lecturer mic wrapped around his waist. From where you were, you could make out a tiny red light on the mic, signaling it was still on.

Crap.

—

As soon as you were outside, you called Jay. He picked up after a few rings, groaning, “What? I’m at the library.” Ah, there was the Jay you knew.

“I’ll be here in two, come outside.”

“But-”

“Right now,” you said sharply and hung up. 

Jay had wanted to scold you for disturbing him like that, but as soon as he saw you, eyebrows furrowed and biting your lip nervously, worry overcame him. “Hey. You okay?” he asked gently, placing his hands on your forearms.

“Yeah. I’m fine, but, um, everybody knows. »

He looked at you questioningly, and when you wouldn’t explain further, he asked, “Knows what?”

“You. Me. That we’re dating. Well, they think we’re dating.”

“What? How do they know?”

“Your dad. We talked after his presentation, and he thanked me for being a good girlfriend, except his mic was on. So everybody heard. And you know how gossip travels here, so everybody’ll know by tonight,” you said, sighing in exasperation.

Jay thought for a while. “Well, who cares if they know? We don’t have to change the way we act with each other. That’d be more suspicious, if anything. We’ll just have to not deny it when people ask if we’re dating.” 

Your frustration got the best of you and you scoffed, giving Jay a harsher look than you wanted to. His hands left your forearms. “How far is this gonna go, Jay?! How much longer do we have to-” You realized how loud your voice was, and switched to whisper-shouting instead of just shouting. “To pretend? I can let you parade me around those CEOs and whatnot, but I don’t wanna have to keep the charade up on campus, too.”

Jay’s law locked. He looked like you’d just punched him. But he didn’t say anything, so you dropped it. “Anyway, that’s not even the bad part. Your dad told me I wouldn’t get the internship.  And it’s fine, I guess I can get one somewhere else. But I wasn’t expecting it, and I was really looking forward to working at your dad’s firm.”

Again, he was silent for a small while, until he muttered, “Right.”

You looked up at him, and he was avoiding your gaze. Why wasn’t he surprised, or angry? Why wasn’t he reacting?

“Did… did you know?” you asked, unable to keep your voice from shaking.

Nothing.

“Jay. Did you know?” you repeated, tone harsher, more impatient.

“Um. Yeah, I knew,” he mumbled. He still wouldn’t look you in the eye. 

You shut your eyes for a few seconds, trying to grasp the situation. “Wh- you knew? And you didn’t say anything?” 

“Sorry,” he said, eyes trained on his shoes.

“Sorry? That’s it?” You shook your head in disbelief. You almost wanted to laugh. “How long have you known?”

“Since the beginning, really. My dad’s not the type to do favors, and he wants to keep up that image. So if you’re my girlfriend, he wouldn’t give you the internship.”

You couldn’t say anything. Not getting the internship was one thing. You could get over it. But Jay knowing from the start and keeping it from you, that was what really hurt you. You could feel tears forming in your eyes, but you walked away before Jay could see just how much he’d upset you.

“Y/N!” he called after you. He grabbed your wrist, making you stop in your tracks and turn around. The sight of you, teary eyes and staring at him with fury in your eyes, and knowing he was the reason behind it, made him indescribably angry at himself.

“Whatever it is you have to say, I don’t wanna hear it, Jongseong.” He tightened his grip on your wrist before you could snatch it away from him.

“I’m so sorry, Y/N. I didn’t know you wanted that internship. If I did-”

“If you did? Then what? You wouldn’t have asked me to be your pretend girlfriend? You would’ve let me have a chance at the internship?” You shook your head. “Of course not. So save it.”

You managed to get out of his grip and continued walking away, ignoring him as he called out your name again. When you were a few meters away, you turned around and said, venom only in your voice, “I hope you realize how selfish you are, Jay.”

That’s when his heart broke.

—

Jay had been right when he said people wouldn’t care about the two of you ‘dating.’ However, the people who did care, your friends, were more confused than anything: you had gone from bickering non stop, to denying couple rumors, to not talking to each other. It’d been a week since your argument with Jay, and you still didn’t want to hear him out. You didn’t want to have anything to do with him: you straight-up ignored him every time he tried to get you to talk to him, had blocked his number and shut down your friends and mom whenever they mentioned him.

You missed him; you missed his stupid arguments, and his stupid jokes, and his stupid face, and how it had started to feel like he genuinely cared for you. Or at least, that’s what he’d made you think. And he’d made you think it so well, that you thought you might have been starting to genuinely care for him as well. Which only made his betrayal a hundred times worse.

You’d decided to drown your sorrows in textbooks, and spent most of your time at the library. On Thursday, you were searching for the week’s essential reading in the Econ section, and as you took out the book in question, you saw a pair of eyes staring right at you. You tried not to shriek but you felt like your soul had left your body. You’d barely had time to gather your spirits when the culprit had come round to your side of the bookshelf, and of course, it was none other than Lee Heeseung. God, you thought, could that boy get any weirder?

“Trouble in paradise, or so I’ve heard?” he asked in lieu of a normal greeting. Whatever happened to hello?

“That’s none of your business, Heeseung,” you replied curtly, opening the book.

He tried not to be taken too aback by your attitude. He was used to stammering and blushing Y/N, not you-better-not-give-me-any-shit Y/N. He wouldn’t say he disliked the change.

“I’m not sure why you thought dating a guy like Jay was a good idea in the first place, anyway. You could do a lot better, you know,” he said, and you couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony of it all. When you didn’t answer, he went on. “You know, we’ve missed you at the frat parties. I know you’ve been going to all those boring company events, but don’t you think it’d be more fun to let loose with us? Tomorrow night?”

This made you look up at him. He had that gaze again, the one you’d seen all those times, and you remembered why you’d liked him for so long. Something about his eyes, about the way he was waiting for you to say yes, made you reply, “I’ll think about it.” You returned his smile and headed back to your seat. You did think going to his party would be fun, and you definitely needed some of that right now.

Plus, you had the perfect dress for the occasion.

—

So here you were, standing in front of the frat house’s door, Sieun, Sunoo and Keeho at your sides, in the tight black dress Jay had given you but you hadn’t chosen for that one event. They were all used to this kind of party, but you’d only been a few times, and although they’d all hyped you up for it, you suddenly felt yourself deflate. 

“Guys, what if I just embarrass myself like last time? I don’t think I could live with that-”

“Nope! We’re not having this conversation again!” Sieun exclaimed, already pushing you inside. “You look hot as fuck, and tonight you’re gonna have so much fun and forget all about Jay.”

Keeho and Sunoo gave her a stern look. “Sorry,” she quickly apologized, but you barely heard her over the bass of the booming music. It was 11 p.m. and the party was well into motion. People were drunkenly dancing on the designated dance floor, and you tried to not conjure up memories of that last party. There were people everywhere you looked: on the staircase, in the backyard, in the kitchen. 

Your friends and you headed first to the mini-bar and shot down some vodka for liquid courage. As you started chatting, trying to see who was there, Heeseung approached you.

“Y/N! You came! And you look really good,” he said, taking in your figure. He pulled you into a hug which you returned warmly. The vodka was already having its effects on you, apparently.

“Can I get you guys a drink?” he asked you and Sieun. Keeho and Sunoo had already disappeared to the dance floor. 

“Sure,” you said, smiling up at Heeseung.

Sieun looked between the two of you, and said, “Actually, I’ll join the others. Come dance with us soon, Y/N!” And like that, she was gone, giving you no time to protest. She thought she was being slick, that one.

You and Heeseung chuckled. He got you a red cup and you watched him as he expertly poured different juices and liquors in it. “So, what made you decide to come?” he asked, handing you your drink. You took a sip of it and nodded approvingly.

“I just needed a good party. To let loose, like you said. Plus, who am I to deny an invitation from the great Lee Heeseung?”

Neither of you was sure where all the confidence was coming from. As soon as you’d said that, you looked down at your cup and smiled shyly. Heeseung looked at you curiously, but he couldn’t help but grin as well. You chatted a bit more, drinking one, two, three cups of the heavenly concoction Heeseung made for you. 

“Wanna dance?” he suddenly offered, extending his hand. Right at that moment, you saw Jay enter the house with Jake and Sunghoon. You saw him look around the room until his eyes zeroed in on you and the boy in front of you. Perfect, you thought. You smiled at Heeseung and took his hand, letting him lead you to the dance floor.

Somebody had dimmed down the lights and Lost in the Fire by The Weeknd was playing loudly, creating a sensual atmosphere in the whole room. Your body started swaying to the music, and you were thankful for the alcohol in your system, ridding your mind of any negative or self-conscious thought; you were just enjoying yourself, exactly like you’d wanted to do tonight.

You were getting lost in the music, when a pair of hands on the sides of your waist brought you back to reality. Heeseung got so close to you, you could feel his lips on your ear as they moved to whisper, “Having fun, princess?” 

You nodded fervently, leaning your head back on his shoulder, closing whatever gap there was between your two bodies. His hands traveled from your waist to your hips and you could feel his broad chest against your back as you two moved to the rhythm of the music. From where you were, you had a view of the living room. Jay was sitting there, a girl sitting so close she might as well have been on his lap, but he was staring right at you. You knew never hooked up with random girls at parties, so he had to be doing this to get a reaction out of you. You hated that it worked, that it only made the fire in you burn harder - so as a response, you started grinding your ass against Heeseung.

When the girl actually sat on Jay’s lap, you couldn’t look anymore, so you turned around and put your arms around Heeseung’s neck and faced him. His eyes had glossed over and he was looking at you with a hunger you’d never seen before. Well, that wasn’t true - you’d seen him look at other girls that way, and you always knew what happened after that, but you chased the thought out of your mind, forgetting all about that promise you’d made to yourself of never becoming another one of his drunk fucks. Now that his attention was on you and you only, you felt yourself wanting more. His hands traveled further down your body as he grabbed at your ass, bringing your hips closer to his. He bent down to press wet kisses up your neck until he reached your ear. 

“Wanna take this upstairs?” he asked. It sent shivers down your spine, but you couldn’t tell whether they were good shivers or not. You willed away your hesitation, smiling at him as he took your hand once again, this time leading you to what you assumed was his bedroom. As you walked up the stairs, you scanned the room and sure enough, found Jay sitting on a couch, staring right at you. You thought the beer can in his hand might explode, he was holding it so tight. Feeling you slow down, Heeseung tugged at your hand, and you detached your gaze from Jay’s, trying to drown out the feeling of guilt that was creeping up inside you.

As soon as he’d closed the door behind you, Heeseung wasted no time in pressing you up against the wall and kissing you hungrily. You hadn’t been kissed many times before, and surely not with such energy, but you were sure it was supposed to feel better. Heeseung was in no measure a bad kisser, he seemed to have the technique down to a T and kept a perfect rhythm. But you felt no fireworks, no butterflies, no light-headedness you’d always hoped would come with a good kiss. There was just no passion to it.

After a few minutes of making out, when you were starting to hope he’d get on with it, he said, breath irregular, “What would Jay say if he saw this, huh? Probably hates the idea of me kissing his precious girlfriend, don’t you think?”

The mention of Jay hit you like a ton of bricks. “Wh-what?” you stammered, not letting Heeseung kiss you when he leaned in again.

“Jay? Your boyfriend?” he repeated, looking at you bemusedly.

You chuckled once. Then twice. Then you just started laughing. “Oh, Jay? We’re not actually dating,” you revealed, your filter completely gone because of all the alcohol.

“What?” Heeseung took a sudden step back from you. His confused gaze had turned cold.

“We’re not dating, I said. It’s all fake, it was to make his parents happy,” you explained, yourself confused by Heeseung’s sudden attitude change. 

It was his turn to laugh. “Wow. That’s impressive. You managed to fool me.” His smile dropped. “Now get the fuck out.”

“Excuse me?” you said, crossing your arms over your chest. Who the hell did this guy think he was?

“You heard me. Get the fuck out. There’s no point in fucking you if you’re not Jay’s girlfriend. You’re just a random loser.”

You stared at him for a few seconds, until you started laughing. It only seemed to make him angry. “What the fuck are you laughing about? I told you to get out.”

You sighed amusedly as if Heeseung was just joking around. “I just think it’s funny that you won’t fuck me because I’m not actually Jay’s girlfriend, when that’s not stopped you from getting with a different girl every single weekend. Whore,” you said, adding that last part in a whisper. You didn’t actually care that Heeseung slept around, not anymore, at least, but you wanted to get a reaction from him after the way he’d treated you.

But perhaps you went too far, because Heeseung’s eyes turned even angrier, and he pushed one of your shoulders harshly, making you almost hit the wall. “I’ll tell you one last time. Get out, you pathetic little bitch.” 

Just at that moment, the door burst open, revealing a very angry Jay. 

“What the fuck did you just call her?” he growled, heading straight for Heeseung and grabbing him by the collar. The other boy didn’t seem fazed, a smile back on his face, as if this whole situation was funny.

“Aw, Jongseong is mad I’m not being nice to his little fake girlfriend?” You guessed Jay must’ve looked confused, because Heeseung continued, “Yeah, she told me. To be fair, I should’ve known even you wouldn’t date a fucking beggar like her.”

You weren’t quick enough to stop Jay from bringing his fist up to Heeseung’s nose. You swore you heard something crack. But as soon as you saw him get ready for another punch, you ran to him and held his arm, shouting, “He’s not worth it, Jay!” and God, you almost wanted him to punch you because of how cliché that had sounded, but you truly thought Heeseung wasn’t worth losing any energy over.

Your voice seemed to make Jay snap out of his fury, and he looked at you, worry written all over his face. However, that only lasted a second, as his expression then shifted to something you’d never seen on his face before, and he grabbed your wrist, leading you out of the room. The commotion had gathered some attention, and you left the house under a bunch of people’s curious looks and chatter.

What was it with men grabbing you and leading you wherever tonight? You were tired of it, so as soon as you’d reached the front yard, you got your wrist out of his grasp, and demanded to know where he thought he was taking you. He grabbed your wrist again, and said, “To my place. We need to talk.” 

The tone in his voice told you it was better not to test him, so you got in his car. Jay was always a safe driver, but this time, he sped through the whole city, even burning some red lights, reaching his apartment on the other side of town in a matter of minutes. You quickly texted your friends your whereabouts so they wouldn’t have to worry. The whole car ride had been silent but you could feel him fuming next to you, and you had no idea what to expect when you entered his apartment.

His place was exactly like you’d imagined it: modern, spacious, and way more organized that any other university student’s flat would be, but also had a lot of personal touches. It was very Jay, and if it hadn’t been for the tension between the two of you, you’d have immediately felt at ease there.

Jay walked through the dark apartment to the kitchen, where he turned on a single light. You followed him, unsure what else to do. He leaned against his hands on the island counter, head hung low, and you went to stand on the other side of the counter, waiting for his next move. When his head snapped up and he peered straight at you, you could barely decipher the look in his eyes, but thought it contained a mixture of jealousy, anger, and… hunger. He’d never looked at you that way before, and his gaze itself created a ball in the pit of your stomach. You told yourself it really wasn’t the moment, but you couldn’t help but feel desperately attracted to him.

“What the fuck were you doing with Heeseung?” he asked, finally breaking the silence.

You scoffed. “What the fuck were you doing with that random girl?” 

“I wanted to make you jealous.” He hadn’t hesitated a second before answering, and his confidence destabilized you. You’d guessed that had been his plan, but hearing him say it made you feel weirdly shy. “Now answer me. What the fuck were you doing with Heeseung?” 

You couldn’t hold eye contact anymore, so you looked down at the counter, and replied, “I um, I was drunk, and I… I wanted to make you jealous too, I guess.” You looked back up at him, wanting to gauge his reaction. He was now wearing a smug look, like he’d won something over you. He slowly walked over to your side of the counter, and when he reached you, he put his hands on the counter on each side of you, making you lean back against it. You gulped at the way he towered over you

“And why did you want to make me jealous?” He was so close to you now that when he uttered those words, voice barely over a whisper, you felt his breath fan over your face. As much as you tried to keep eye contact, your gaze fell down to his lips, and you saw him smirk. He caught your chin between his index finger and thumb, nudging your head up. “Eyes up here, doll.”

Your eyes met his again. He was looking at you so intently, you thought your knees might buckle under you. He cocked an eyebrow, patiently waiting for your reply. “Because I…” 

It was so obvious, but you hadn’t been able to bring yourself to say it, or even let yourself think it, before. But it needed to be put out there, once and for all. There was no point in fighting it anymore. “Because I like you, Jongseong.”

To your surprise, his smirk turned into a cheeky grin. It made some of the tension dissipate, but not enough for you to breathe properly again. “I like you too, Y/N.” You sighed out of relief at his words and mirrored his smile. 

“Can I kiss you?” he said, the thumb that had been holding your chin caressing your bottom lip.

“I thought you’d never ask,” you breathed, and he leaned in, your lips meeting delicately. It stayed that way for a few minutes, until the pent-up feelings that had been threatening to come out finally did, and hunger and passion took over the kiss. Jay was kissing you like a man starved, and all you could do was return everything he was giving you. This was nothing like you’d imagined it; it was infinitely better. Talk about fireworks, or butterflies, or light-headedness, you felt like you were on another plane of existence, like a kiss that felt this good and was this freeing wasn’t humanly possible. 

Your hands slipped under his shirt and the sudden contact of your cold hands against his warm skin made him shiver. You were glad to see you had as much effect on him as he had on you. Never breaking the kiss, he led you to his bedroom and sat down on his bed, gesturing for you to straddle his lap. Your dress rode up your calves a little bit, and he used this opportunity to pull it further up until it bundled up around your hips, leaving your lower half almost naked. You could feel how hard he was getting underneath your clothed core, and as the kiss grew needier, you started grinding against him, getting the both of you off. When you heard him groan against your lips, something snapped in you, and you wanted to hear that sound over and over, so you doubled down on your actions. 

His hands, which had been resting on your ass, came up to the nape of your neck, and he grabbed you by the hair, exposing your neck to him. He started pressing down eager kisses along your jawline, throat, and collarbones. When he found a spot in the crook of your neck you particularly liked, he started attacking it like crazy, sucking at the skin and turning you into a moaning mess. One of his hands came to cup your breast and he was very glad to find you were not wearing a bra. Your nipple had hardened through the fabric, and he started playing with it. That, as well the feeling of him in your neck and against your core, was overwhelming, and you felt like you were about to pass out because of how good it all felt. You didn’t know what to do with your hands so you alternated between running them over his arms and tugging at his hair.

As your lips met again, teeth almost clashing because of the intensity, you started unbuttoning his shirt. When it was off, you couldn’t not stare at him. You’d had an idea already, but you still couldn’t believe how toned his arms, chest and abs were. You thought to yourself, God, he’s so hot, and hadn’t realized you’d actually said it out loud until he jokingly said, “Yeah?”, looking up at you with the biggest smile. His hands ran over your calves, your thighs and your ass, sending shivers along the way, and he said, “You’re not too bad yourself, doll.” He kissed you with much more gentleness than before. “In fact, you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

You kissed him so he wouldn’t see the blush spreading on your face. He put his hand on your lower back, and guided you down on the bed until you were laying on your back, him hovering over you. He pulled your dress all the way up, helping you get rid of it. You were now left in only panties in front of him, and you would’ve imagined that to be intimidating, but his gaze was truly making you feel like a goddess. Nonetheless, you didn’t want to be the only one naked, so you tucked your fingers under his trousers’ waistband, gesturing for him to take them off. He chuckled but immediately obliged, getting rid of them in a matter of seconds. You had an even better view of his now fully-hard cock, and its size made you gulp. Your mind was quickly off of that, though, as he started trailing kisses all the way down to your breasts, taking one of your nipples in his mouth as his hand came up to the other. Your back arched at the sensation, and you only wanted more, more, more. Your fingers tugged at his hair and you breathed out his name between moans. 

After a few minutes, he traveled further down your body, until he was face to face with your dripping core. He hooked his fingers under your panties, looking up at you and asking you if this was okay. You nodded impatiently and he chuckled at your reaction. How could you be so cute even in this moment? He took your panties off excruciatingly slowly. You wanted to take your time, but you also wanted him where you needed him the most.

You did feel a bit shy when he stared at your sex with the utmost wonder, musing to himself, “So pretty.” He slid a finger between your folds, making you moan in relief and pleasure, and added, “So wet, too.”

You had lifted your body onto your forearms so you could take a good look at him. He peered up at you and, with a small smile, asked gently, “Tell me if it feels good, okay?”

“Okay,” you replied, nodding fervently.

Without wasting another second, he licked a stripe up your core, making you moan again, louder this time. He took that as confirmation to go on and continued exploring your pussy with his tongue. You practically screamed out in pleasure when he found your clit, and by the time he started sucking on it, your thighs were shaking like crazy. You didn’t have any strength left in your body and your forearms gave out under you, so you just lied down on your back, fingers still tangled in and pulling his hair. You hadn’t been able to actually tell him it felt good, but you were sure he understood that much.

One of his fingers, and then a second, entered you, filling you up. “Shit, doll, you’re so tight. How are you gonna handle my cock?”

He curled his fingers inside you and they hit a certain spot that made you see stars, and you were coming all over his fingers and tongue in a matter of seconds, screaming out his name and a string of blasphemies. You had to physically lift his head from your core, telling him it was too much, otherwise he would’ve kept going. He gave you a sheepish smile and you couldn’t believe the boy grinning at you was the same one who’d just said and done all those lewd things to you. He pressed a small kiss on your inner thigh, then lay down next to you on the bed, taking in your flushed cheeks and blown-over eyes. He couldn’t believe he got to have you like this, in your most vulnerable state, all to himself. 

When you’d calmed down from your high, you managed to say, “That was amazing, Jay.”

He let out a soft chuckle and kissed your forehead, then trapped your lips with his own. You could taste yourself on his tongue, but you didn’t mind. After a few minutes of lazily making out, you threw your leg over his to position yourself over his hips, and started pressing feather-like kisses down his neck. He’d made you feel so good, and you intended to return the favor.

You felt him sigh at your touch, but before you could go too far down, he stopped you by bringing his hands to both sides of your face, making you look up at him.

“Did I do something wrong?” you immediately asked, worry laced in your voice.

“No, no. God, no, you’re perfect.” he replied. “I just… I still feel so guilty for what I did, and I feel like I don’t deserve you right now.”

“Jay…”

He hid his face in the crook of your neck and held your waist tightly. “I’m so sorry, Y/N. You’re right, I was being selfish. I should’ve known you wanted that internship, and I knew you wouldn’t get it if my dad thought we were dating, but… I’ve wanted to be with you for such a long time, and when I had the chance to have you, even if it was just pretend, even if it meant lying to you, I couldn’t bring myself to not take that chance. I’m so sorry.”

You had completely forgotten the events of that week, and of that night. Your argument with Jay and Heeseung’s words seemed light-years away. “How long have you liked me?” you couldn’t help but ask. You should’ve been surprised by Jay’s confession, but for some reason, it made sense - what didn’t make sense was how you hadn’t noticed it, or how you’d thought it wasn’t possible that you might like him, too.

“Since we met,” he admitted shyly. “I would’ve told you, but you seemed to enjoy arguing with me so much, I was scared you’d just make fun of me.”

Since you’d met… so, three years? And he’d never said anything? “To be honest, I probably would’ve made fun of you at first,” you agreed light-heartedly. “But I also think it would’ve made me realize what an amazing person you are earlier. I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“That’s okay. I would’ve waited my whole life if it meant I could have you at the end.” Butterflies erupted all over your stomach at his words. You kissed him like you’d stop breathing if you didn’t.

Now that Jay had gotten what he wanted to say off his chest, you’d hoped you could continue your previous actions, and started pressing kisses down his neck, but he soon stopped you again.

“I’m getting the feeling you don’t want me to go down on you,” you said, half-joking.

He grinned and closed his eyes, as if fighting himself back. “I do, I promise you, I do.” When he opened his eyes again, they were full of affection. “But we’ve got so much time for that later. I just want to feel you around me right now. Would that be okay?” he asked, voice soft.

Your core pulsed at the thought of Jay inside you, and you nodded, breath growing erratic again. Jay gently lay you on your back, and took off his black boxers so that the two of you were finally completely naked, revealing his throbbing cock. He was right, how were you going to handle it? He rummaged around in his bedside drawer for a condom, and put it on with nervous hands. 

He lined his tip at your entrance, pressing soft kisses all over your face and neck before pushing in as if to get you to relax. He kissed you gently on the lips. “Tell me if it hurts, and I’ll stop right away.”

He waited for you to nod again, and finally entered you. It immediately stretched you out like never before. The sound of you taking a sharp breath in made Jay stop in his tracks. You wrapped your hands around his biceps for support, then, letting out a deep sigh, told him to go on. He pushed in inch by inch until he finally bottomed out. You both let out a hearty moan at the feeling. It was so perfect.

He didn’t move for a few minutes, letting you adjust to his size. You had your eyes closed and were focused on relaxing, until all at once the pain of the stretch turned into pleasure, and you breathed out, “Please, move.” He obeyed and started rocking in and out of you, making you feel each inch of his length inside you. The sensation was intoxicating. You couldn’t stop any of the moans escaping your throat, and Jay took that as a green light to go gradually faster. Your bodies were moving at the exact same pace and you thought the two of you molded together perfectly, as if this was what you had been meant to do your whole life. His fingers were tightly gripping your hips as he thrusted into you harder and harder, making you moan so loud you were practically screaming in pleasure.

“You feel so fucking good, Y/N,” he said, throwing his head back and letting out a deep moan himself. Your hands roamed all over his body, unable to stay in one place at a time. He suddenly changed the angle of his hips and started hitting that spot inside you he had found earlier with his fingers, making your mind go hay-wire. 

“Fuck, right there, Jay!” you screamed out, as he brought your hips down to his faster than you thought was humanly possible. Soon, you were coming again, and the feeling of you clenching down around him made him shoot his release into the condom. He fell on top of you, unable to carry his weight on his arms anymore. He only had enough strength to pull out and discard the condom, before nestling his head between your breasts. Tiredness seeped through your bones, and you both fell asleep in seconds, completely naked and arms around each other.

Jay woke up a few hours later, a cramp in his arm because of how you were laying down on it - the two of you had apparently switched positions at some point during the night. He softly pulled his arm away, trying not to wake you up. He checked his phone; it was 4:29 a.m. He looked down at you, admiring how soft you looked when you were sleeping. He still couldn’t believe his luck, it all felt like a dream to him. But then you shifted slightly, letting out a small whimper, probably because of a dream, and Jay knew this was happening for sure. He hugged you tightly, breathing in the scent of your hair, and, knowing you were fast asleep, murmured, “I love you.”

—

The sunlight peeking through the curtains and hitting your face softly was what woke you up the next morning. You were relieved to feel Jay’s arms around your waist as he hugged you from behind. You gently turned around, curious about what he looked like in the morning.

As expected, he was perfect.

You observed him for a while until his eyes fluttered open. “Good morning, handsome,” you whispered, pushing away the hair that had fallen in front of his eyes.

“Good morning,” he replied, smiling sleepily. “Creep.”

Quietly, you gasped dramatically and said, “Is a girl a creep for looking at her boyfriend as he sleeps in the morning?”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Boyfriend, huh?” he teased.

You grinned at him. “Yeah.”

“Well,” he said, returning your grin and tightening his grip around your waist, “my girlfriend can look at me all she wants.”

You’d technically been dating Jay for over three months now, but knowing it was finally real and not just pretend made you giddy. You buried your face in the crook of his neck and kissed him there, trying to hide your shy smile. 

He took your head and lifted it to place a delicate kiss on your lips, which you returned like it was second nature. When you pulled away, you jokingly said, “Mh. Morning breath,” but Jay’s eyes opened wide and he immediately put his hand over his mouth, asking, “Seriously?”

You laughed at him and pulled his hands down, going back in for a kiss. It soon escalated, and you were reminded of the fact that neither of you had clothes on when you could feel Jay’s hardness pressing against your thigh. He apologized shyly, but you told him it was fine, and that you’d take care of it. 

This time, when you two made love, it was much slower and light-hearted than the previous night, as if the two of you had finally realized that you had all the time in the world and could enjoy every single second. It was the perfect thing to wake up to.

You two lazied in bed, alternating between slowly making out and daydreaming together, until his stomach rumbled loudly and you really needed to pee. When you joined him in the kitchen, he was heating up waffles on the stove. You hooked your arms around his waist, pressing your chest to his back, and he hummed softly.

“Jay?” you whispered, lips just millimeters away from his ear.

“Yes, doll?”

“I love you too.”

permanent taglist: @k-ingzo @bbujiikseu @sunghoonmybeloved @lalalalawon @sd211 @w3bqrl (ask to be removed/added!) © asahicore on tumblr, 2023. please do not repost, translate or plagiarize my works. feedback and reblogs are always appreciated!

[raainberry]

Trainer Sana

« Silly Series - 15 »

Sana x gn!reader

Fluff

synopsis - who would have thought you could include your girlfriend in that beloved Pokémon collection of yours

wordcount - 1.2K

A/N - a genius requested this combo, everyone say thank you🗣️

“Do you have this one?”

“No.”

“And this one?”

“No.”

“What about this one?”

You looked up yet again from the deck of cards in your hands to look at the one Sana was showing you. It was pretty, like all the ones she showed you before. It seemed to be the only criteria for a card to get her attention ever since you walked in the small game store you liked to go to every once in a while.

They have a fair Pokémon card collection you buy from to grow your own, and it’s Sana’s first time there since you started dating.

She didn’t get any of those collections, series, hidden cards you rambled to her about, but she loved listening to you and looking at them whenever you showed it to her. So much so it somehow made her fall for you somewhere along the way.

Your collection is humble in number, but in her eyes its an impressive one. You only purchase the ones you truly care about, like a Pokémon you used to train religiously as a kid, or ones that looked cool or cute enough and you grew attached to for some reason.

The nostalgia of it all is your favorite part, and Sana understands that. Though it didn’t keep her from asking you about every single one she found pretty and remotely old school looking.

The latest was an old Ditto from way back when. You giggled at the sight, its clueless and carefree expression never failed to put a smile on your face.

“I do have that one actually.” You said and she smiled, looking back at the card.

“I had a feeling” She nodded to herself before putting it back to where it came from.

“Are you gonna ask me everyt—” You started only to get cut off (and startled) by a pretty dramatic sigh on her part. “What?” You wondered, slightly nervous until she showed you the new card she held. It was a Trainer card, one of the popular yet uncommon ones from its Series, and when you laid eyes on it, her reaction made all the sense in the world.

It was none other than Trainer Sana.

“We have the same name!” She said excitedly, making you smile as you reached for it.

“And you look alike too.” You pointed out, holding it side by side with her face. The melodious giggles you fell for suddenly resonated in the small shop when she realized what you were doing.

“Stop it,” She whined and you could only laugh with her as she pulled the card out of your hands. “Do you have it already?” She asked, curious, and you shook your head in response.

“No. I didn’t even know about it.” You admitted. As much as you liked Pokémon, you weren’t exactly as incollable as she thought.

“How dare you.” She gasped. “You know everything there is to know about these, how come you don’t know about a Sana one?”

“I don’t know everything, Sana, who do you think I am?”

“I don’t know, you just sound so smart and passionate, it just seems logical for you to know about a card with your girlfriend’s name on it.” She shrugged innocently.

You couldn’t help but smile at her behavior; the one where she showed you how much she liked you and wanted you to think about her the same way she does you. It’s always so unsubtly subtle, and her charm somehow made it ever so endearing.

“Well, I did know about her character if that makes you feel better.” You teased. “Besides there’s only one Sana in my eyes and you’re her. Thinking of any other Sana would just be crazy.”

You watched with a playful smile on your face as she rolled her eyes at you. “Hmmm, nice save.” she nodded as her fingers fiddled with the card “So are you gonna get it?”

“I am.” You said, your smile persistent until she scoffed, nearly slamming the card down on the counter.

“Wrong!”

“What?” You chuckled, and she gave you an annoyed look that made it very hard not to burts out laughing.

“I thought I was the only one for you?” She questioned.

“Well yeah, but it reminds me of you.” You argued as you grabbed the card from her hand.

“You’ve known about it for like five minutes.”

“Are you getting jealous of a card right now?” You teased again, making her pout.

Sana’s jealousy wasn’t news to you, and although you teased her for it, you secretly liked it. That’s why you found it easy to deal with, especially when it manifested in such harmless conditions.

“I’m not.” She mumbled and you put down the card before grabbing the small card binder she’d found it in. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t collect this series, Sana. If you don’t want me to take it, I won’t.” You smiled at her, and she almost teared up. She suddenly felt bad about playing around with you like that.

“Don’t put it back, I’ll get it for you.” She said, making you look at her.

“You don’t have to—”

“I want to, Y/n.” She cut off and closed the binder. Nearly missed your fingers, but that was only a detail. “Do you really think I’d get upset over a card?” She giggled, her grin easing one out of you.

“I mean, it did seem a little surreal. But yeah, I kind of did.” You admitted.

“Then you don’t know me at all.” She accused, causing a gasp to escape your lungs.

Sure, it’s only been a few months since you started dating, but how dare she even insinuate that idea after all those years of friendship beforehand.

“Yeah, well I’m trying!” You pouted, and the effect of your words caught her off guard, melting the heart you’d slowly been filling with that sweet love of yours.

“Apparently not hard enough.” She teased through the blush creeping on her cheeks. “Is there any card named after you? That way we could match.”

You snickered at her question, “You want a Pokémon couple item?”

“I mean, it could be fun and cute. Don’t you think?” She said, lifting her eyes from the deck she’d stole from you in order to cool down the heat in her face. “Or do you not want that?”

“No, yeah totally. I’d love that.” You grinned and she smiled before focusing back on the cards.

It was cute, and truthfully it rocked that she looked on this silly hobby of yours with such a kind and open heart. It wasn’t necessarily the case in your previous relationships…

One of your arms found her waist, pulling her closer in order to push your lips against her temple before speaking up.

“There isn’t any character named after me, but there is a Pokémon my friends tease me about because we look alike.”

“Which one?” Her eyes lit up and you kind of regretted that sudden confession. You just knew she was going to tease you too.

“I don’t know if they have the card.” You tried to get away from the hole you’d dug yourself, but it was too late.

“Who cares about the card, look it up and show me.” She urged with a smile you didn’t like the aura of one bit.

“Okay, but you have to promise not to laugh.” You pleaded, taking your phone out.

She did laugh. For a long while. And she probably won’t ever stop until either of you gets old enough to forget about it.

Thankfully the shop really didn’t have the card, but you had no doubt she’d get her hands on it.

You wouldn’t be surprised if you somehow got it under the next christmas tree. If not, you’d probably gift it to her for her birthday after eventually getting over yourself.

The idea of walking around with matching Pokémon cards in the back of your phones was enough to outweigh the endless teasing.

[for-ests]

Suffocation: Gojo Satoru x Reader

Suffocation MLIST Summary: Time spent apart from Gojo means time spent with the students. That is, until your powers awaken. ps,, new chapter leaks?? we are so back!!! <3 Wc: 6, 500

The two of you, in fact, never got the chance to talk about it. You had fallen asleep on the couch, this time without him but with the students and your brother. As Gojo passed the common room on his way out, he thought about waking you to say goodbye. But you looked so peaceful leaning against the armrest, with Yuji curled beside you like a kitten. 

The fact that Nobara, let alone Megumi, felt comfortable enough to do the same made Gojo's heart swell. All of them leaned against each other until it fell on you, your arms once spread wide but now curling into your chest, a peaceful smile spreading across your dream-filled face. 

All he could do was pull out his phone and snap a picture, hoping he would get close enough with you to show it someday. To really make you understand that you were the missing piece in all of their lives. You would be a great mother. You would be a fantastic wife. You were everything and more.

Time did not matter; only the impact did. And what a crater you would leave behind. 

What was this feeling? 

Gojo allowed himself to steal one more look at you before returning to the duties he dreaded. It was convenient to be the most powerful sorcerer for once, as he deliberately teleported back to leave a present on your vanity, praying you would miss him as much as he would miss you in the next few days. Hoping you would understand. 

When you woke, Gojo was already gone. And as you checked your phone later in the morning, you found his message. 

Annoying ass teacher guy:> Will be back in a few days. Don't miss me too much, princess. 

He imagined that since you were around the students, you would try to hide your blush as well as you could before typing back a witty reply with ease. 

Yuji’s sister </3:> And if I miss you too much? 

Annoying ass teacher guy:> I don't want you to be sad, but that might make what i'll do to you even more special ;) 

Yuji’s sister </3:> you flirt 

Annoying ass teacher guy:> check your desk 

"Ugh!! Nanamiiiinnn!" Gojo sighed dramatically, flinging himself next to Nanami on the couch. It was idiotic with how anxious he was for your reply. 

"What Gojo?" he grumbled, tersely flipping the page of his book. 

"I won't see her for three days!" he whined. "Will she remember who I am?" 

"The fact that she texted you back should be your answer," Nanami sighed, dismissing his friend's behavior as another joke. He didn't even know who Gojo was talking about, as he had already tuned out the teasing and nonchalance all morning. "Keep in mind we are here for work." 

"We're done with work for the day, so you dont have an excuse to not listen to me." 

Nanami put his book down, heaving a sigh. "Fine, spit it out." 

A long silence passed as Gojo gathered his thoughts, deciding to start from the beginning. He didn't know if Yuji had said anything to Nanami yet about your arrival, but it didn't matter. Gojo wanted to talk about you; hell, he needed to. Just to think about something else, anything to get your face out of his mind. Talking about it had to help, right? His emotions were always bottled up, but this feeling… this one, was unlike any other. 

Plus, Nanami had always been good with women. Advice shouldn't hurt, even if he was seeking it out from the person who would be harshest with him. It was needed. 

And so, Gojo decided to ramble as he described your arrival, abilities, relation to Yuji, and what the two of you had already gone through in a week. The last thing he added was your beauty, which was definitely worth asseverating. 

"She's all I can think about," he repined. 

Nanami deadpanned. "You've only known her for a week," he said without thinking, but then really reflected on how Gojo was acting, how he talked about you, and how he said your name. There was a deep yearning, carefully covered with humor and dramatics. Had he ever seriously cared for a woman this much before? Nanami couldn't think of a time. Gojo was his usual, over-dramatic self, but Nanami noticed the differences. It was in the way Gojo moved, the slight uncertainty in his eyes, and how relieved his body language became once he finished his tangent. 

Even just the description of you intrigued Nanami. Yes, it was astonishing to hear that Yuji had a sister and even more surprising to discover you had unique, undocumented cursed energy. 

"You think the flowers were too much?" 

"You bought a woman flowers?" Nanami's cold demeanor cracked into one of surprise. Then, he awkwardly cleared his throat to cover. "Absolutely not; flowers are a very safe choice." 

"Seriously, is it that surprising?" Gojo sighed in defeat. "Why is everyone so surprised? I went on dates all the time, I know how to please a woman!"

"Not that you couldn't do it, but chose to." 

That caused Gojo to fall silent. How his friend was able to read him so clearly was astonishing in itself. He was right, and that's what bothered Gojo. He had walked through life expecting never to feel this way, as he didn't have the time or energy to keep a woman by his side long enough for it to be worth it, let alone labeled. But with you, he wanted to. All he needed was for you to say yes. 

Watching Gojo's eyebrows furrow, the realization spreading across his face, Nanami continued. "I know you've been with women before, but it actually seems like you deeply care for her. In the decade I've known you, I've never seen you like this." 

"There's just something about her." Gojo twirled his phone between his fingers. Staring off into the distance. "I don't know what to do." 

"Why wouldn't you know what to do?" 

Part of Gojo was still determining whether he should allow himself to entertain the thought of you. Was this smart? Was he being fooled in a way he never thought possible? It was hard to trust, but you had never made him uneasy. Sometimes, you only need to look at a person to understand their intentions. And yours were pure. 

But Gojo had been fooled before. All that distrust came flooding back as he thought of your unique ability. You somehow slipped past his infinity, and it frustrated him. He had let his guard down around you without realizing it. It was as simple as breathing when you were near. You weren't just beautiful and kind; you were also powerful. A road that could prove treacherous if he didn't play his cards right, not just for him but for everyone who relied on him, too. 

"I've never felt this way before." 

"And why are you making that seem like a bad thing?" 

"Have you ever pictured me with a woman by my side?" 

"I sure hoped and prayed that there was someone who could put you in your place." 

Reluctantly, Gojo finally asked the question that mattered most. "What if I hurt her?" 

"You probably will, but that's just how relationships go sometimes. Especially with a life as complicated as ours. Whether she can handle it or not, is up to her." 

Gojo soaked in Nanami's words, ultimately concluding that he was worrying too much. If it was meant to be, it would. Right? 

Everything eventually worked itself out, and he hoped that it could end in you being his alone. What wishful thinking. 

"You know what Nanamin?" Gojo glanced over at his friend and coworker. "You're right." 

And once Nanami saw that mischievous smile spread back across Gojo's face, he knew everything was back to normal. He shook his head, the slightest smile threatening to grace his lips. But Gojo knew he was hiding it when the corners of his eyes crinkled. 

"Why do you look so smug?" 

"I just can't believe that someone is willing to date you." 

"You are so mean!" Gojo whined again, standing up from the couch and walking sluggishly to the exit as if he had been physically wounded. "I'll prove you wrong, Nanamin. Next time we meet she'll be in love with me." 

And then, his phone pinged a message from you. 

Y/N<3:> I love it, Satoru. 

Curious, you wandered back into your room after breakfast. His message had left you operating at half capacity from the anticipation of it all. As soon as you opened the door, your eyes darted to your desk, where you found a bouquet of roses. The most beautiful bundle you'd ever seen. 

There was a vase with a note attached. Picking it up with one hand, the other thumbed over the soft, ruby petals. As you finished the note, a permanent smile spread across your face for the rest of the day. 

Keep the vase beautiful. As long as you're here, you won't go a week without flowers. - Satoru 

One day turned into two, and you couldn't configure why it made you sad. It really shouldn't. Gojo's absence should be acceptable to you, but the longing in your chest told you otherwise. 

Yuji claimed he was just on an emergency assignment and assured you it was normal. None of the students or staff seemed to bat an eye at his absence either. It allowed you to settle in without distractions and gave you more free time to befriend Yuji and the students. They trained with you, taught you what they knew, and refused to leave you alone for over an hour. In fact, they made your apartment their new hangout spot. They claimed it was cozy and smelled good, and you were too nice to refuse their company. 

A gigantic beanbag had been brought in, and they were taking advantage of your Nintendo Switch games while you skimmed through a textbook peacefully on your bed. The campus library was a perfect resource, filled with specific literary curse techniques you couldn’t find elsewhere. You were learning so much, not just about jujutsu but also about yourself and your abilities. If only you could uncover the link between them all. 

The sound effects of Mario Kart and the focused grunts of the students filled the room. The race ended, and Yuji sighed in defeat. “Are you sure you don’t wanna get in on this, Y/N?” he asked, head falling to the beanbag as he stared at you upside down. 

“I need to study!” you chuckled. “Maybe next time?” 

“Gojo should be back tonight, maybe he’ll join.” Megumi shrugged, already forcing the three of them into another tournament. You couldn’t help but perk up slightly at the mention of the white-haired sorcerer. He hadn’t told you when he’d return, and you couldn’t deny how badly you wanted to talk with him. 

“But he always wins!” Yuji groaned. 

“Oh?” you snorted. “So you only want me to join so you can beat me?”

Yuji snapped his head up, laughing nervously. “No I promise!” 

Sticking your tongue out, your eyes returned to the textbook in your lap. 

Nobara watched you closely before the match started, and your reaction to the mention of her Sensei confirmed her suspicions. Your sudden smile was also a dead giveaway. 

“I bet Y/N would join if Gojo was here~” she teased, snickering to herself. 

That definitely interrupted your train of thought, and you immediately became flustered. At least one person noticed something was going on.

“What makes you say that?” you squeaked, mentally smacking yourself for how obvious you sounded, cheeks already beginning to burn. There was no reason for you to be nervous about it. Yes, Gojo was their teacher… but you were an adult and had no previous affiliation with him to make it scandalous. A relationship with Gojo might only be weird if Yuji was uncomfortable. Would he be? Were you thinking way too much about it?

You were definitely jumping to conclusions. Gojo probably didn’t feel the same way about you. Gifts could only get him so far. His nickname for you and how he touched you didn’t necessarily mean he wanted what you did. 

Then you remembered what he did to you before he left. And your anxiety spiked once again. 

“You like him, do you not?” Nobara pried through a lighthearted laugh, even if she couldn’t understand. The thought made her want to barf. You were way too good for him. But her Sensei had his perks, and maybe, just maybe, he deserved someone like you in his life.  

Fuck. You really wished Gojo was there to do the talking, to make it seem like a joke, to deflect the accusation with his ridiculous and ambiguous humor. You were so unsure about everything, but especially Gojo. You didn’t know him well enough yet, you didn’t know the students well enough to put a label on anything. “I mean…” you trailed off, trying to sound nonchalant. “What's not to like?” 

Megumi facepalmed, knowing what was about to happen. 

“You like-like Gojo Sensei?” Yuji asked in confusion, almost dropping the switch remote. 

Your hands shot up in defense, growing frantic and flustered when all three students craned their heads to stare at you. “I dont know?” 

“Oh my God,” Megumi sighed in defeat. “She does.” 

“Really?” Yuji blinked multiple times, glancing at his friends and then back to you, wondering if he’d been too oblivious to realize. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” 

“You both are so dumb sometimes.” Nobara pinched her nose. “Who do you think got her those roses on her desk?” 

They all turned their heads to look at your desk, which, in fact, still displayed the flamboyant bouquet of red roses placed neatly in a glass vase. It was so obvious. Of course, Nobara would notice something like that. 

“It’s not what it looks like…” you tittered, wanting to run into your closet and hide from the embarrassment of it all. 

“I assumed it was just a friendly welcoming gift!” Yuji fussed in response to being called dumb. 

“Red is the color of love, idiot,” Megumi sighed. 

Yuji slumped further into the bean bag, releasing an even more exasperated sigh than Megumi. He wasn’t upset about it, only frustrated that he wasn’t the first to notice and ask you about it. Days passed, and nobody said a word about something so important. Gojo liked you? Like that? 

“Have you kissed?” Nobara pried further, desperate to hear the gossip. 

You didn’t reply, trying to hide the bashful smile that threatened to spread across your face by biting down on your lip. You did more than just kiss, but you would keep that to yourself. Even if you didn’t say anything, what you felt was displayed in your expression. Why were you so bad at lying? 

Nobara threw her head back with a cackle, nudging Yuji in his side. “How do you feel Yuji? Gojo likes your sister!” 

Your brother seemed to ponder for a minute longer than you hoped for, but all he did was shrug and admit, “I’m surprised,” he said, but then smiled at you with kindness and understanding in his eyes. “If that’s what you want Y/N. I’m okay with it.” 

“Really?” Your mouth dropped open. “It's not weird?” you asked none of them in particular. 

“I don’t think it's weird,” Megumi finally butted in. “Gojo can be a good person when he wants to be.” 

“Yeah!” Yuji beamed at you, thinking it funny that you would consider his feelings in the matter. “You don’t need to worry about how I would feel. You’re my sister, but only as of recently. You deserve to be with who you want!” 

What a gentle, kind, and loving soul your brother was. How could he be so sweet at such a young age? It had taken you far longer to open yourself up, to trust, and seek happiness. He made it seem easy, as if he hadn’t endured his own trauma of death and separation. 

“Thanks, Yuji.” You smiled back at him, relaxing back to your previous, unbothered demeanor. “I’ll take that into consideration.” 

“That’s it?” Nobara sighed. “No more details?” 

“No more details.” You scrunched your face at her teasingly. “Once I figure it out, you’ll be the first to know.” 

“Boooooo,” she jeered, picking up a remote and leaning back toward Yuji. “At least we have something to blackmail Gojo with now,” she whispered loud enough for you to hear. 

Yuji chuckled at that, and so did Megumi. They all continued to play their game, and you went back to reading your book. You smiled as you scanned through the lines and jotted down notes about domain expansions. According to Gojo, they were a rare occurrence, but it was wise to be as prepared as possible. You remembered as much as you could about his—how awakened and alive you felt. A cursed spirit would be a different story, though. And you preferred to not think more about it just yet. You only hoped you would never be trapped in one. 

About to turn another page, you felt that all too familiar rush of dread. 

No…not right now. It was too soon. 

A gasp left your lips, and you went rigid. Before you could even think to warn Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara of what they were about to witness, the upper portion of your body violently snapped back into the bed. 

The headboard smacked against the wall loud enough to alert the students. One breath was all you could take before a sudden coldness infected every portion of your body. Then, you began to cease, all control of your body vanishing. 

“Y/N?” Yuji immediately shot up from the beanbag, followed by his duo. They all rushed to your bed as if sensing the pressure in the room change. The candle you had burning blew out as Yuji scooped his hands under your head, trying his best to cradle you. “What’s wrong?” 

“Is she okay?” Megumi barked, eyes wide in concern. Nobara’s eyes shot to the now-smoking candle. 

A few more spasms ricocheted through your body, and you grit your teeth in an attempt to relax. All you needed to speak was a few strained sentences. Your body was so stiff, and you could feel your hands clench. Your eyes started to droop before you could stop them. 

“N…Notebook…” you stuttered, trying to gesture to the only one sitting on your desk. “And quill!” you forced out. It clicked without further explaining for Megumi, and he snatched them and brought them to you. 

Yuji, on the other hand, was frantic, shouting your name over and over again. Nobara was reaching for her cell phone, yelling about calling an ambulance. 

“Normal!” you cried out, shaking uncontrollably. “It's normal…” You went limp in Yuji’s arms and were finally able to rush out what you needed. “Don’t call anyone–”  you strained. 

It wasn’t a typical seizure; you knew it. Your body contorted in ways that looked painful and unnatural, and you knew you were scaring them. This was the first time you were losing control in front of others. Tears started gathering in the corner of your eyes from the fear of it all, from the judgment and the embarrassment. 

Then, your eyes rolled into the back of your head as you ceased again. It would continue to happen until you picked up that stupid quill. You felt helpless, not just for yourself but for your poor brother, who was now about to witness just how strange you really were. 

The last thing you felt was Megumi sliding the quill into your enclosed grip. 

Gojo felt the shift before he opened your door, the gifts he brought back for you and the students falling to the floor as he burst through it, freezing as his eyes settled on your contorted body. You were utterly still, the only part of you moving was your hand, metal tip scribbling against the paper. The sound of it was abhorrent as if every etch foretold destruction. Invisible dread hung in the air, undoubtedly coming from whatever prophecy you were weaving.

But your eyes were what scared him. They were completely rolled back into your head, so much so that the blood vessels looked as if they were going to burst. You suddenly began to twitch violently, making Yuji gasp with concern, making Gojo rush to your side, dancing along a frantic line. 

“Gojo Sensei!” Megumi turned to him with wide eyes. “What’s happening?” 

“It's okay!” He approached you as if he was in a trance, and the students moved aside. He didn’t know if you were okay if this was normal or expected. You had only summarized these episodes briefly. 

Once he was at your side, his knees gave out. He felt almost paralyzed, gazing at you in such apparent pain and unable to think of a way to fix it. This was an undiscovered form of cursed energy. He tried desperately to scan through his memories for one instance of something similar but came up with nothing. 

“She was fine just a second ago,” Nobara muttered in shock, glancing around as if she could solve it and relieve your predicament. 

“Did she say anything before?” Gojo asked, eyebrows knitting with worry. 

“T-That it was normal,” Yuji said, standing behind Gojo with a worried, distraught expression, noticing how his Sensei’s eyebrows furrowed as if he, too, was at a loss for what to do. Yuji couldn’t recall a time when Gojo was confused, let alone displayed such concern. 

Gojo relaxed slightly but still reached out and adjusted your pillow to support your neck. At that point, he didn’t care if his students watched him reach out and caress your cheek. He was so worried. It didn’t matter if you had warned him about something like this. The way you twitched and gasped and the tears that still poured from the corners of your eyes made him furious. 

Glancing at the notebook that your quill was scratching erratically on, Gojo still found it blank even as he used his six eyes. “I saw her last prophecy. But I can't see anything yet. I think she has to finish,” he whispered, grasping your other hand to let you know he was there for you. 

Faintly, your pinky finger twitched against his palm, curving around his own finger before going limp again. Then, you twitched, a loud gasp heaving from your throat. 

“Something is coming,” was all you said, eyes still rolled back before you shot up into a sitting position. It seemed impossible, but you began to scratch faster as your cursed energy burst to life, almost engulfing the entire room. All-consuming was the green aura, and the surprise of it all caused Gojo to jolt back. Nobara yelped in fright. 

When everyone glanced back at you, they realized the notebook was floating, so were you and the loose items around you. And now, your eyes were glowing. Your aura was so unique, so rare. It was calming when it should be everything but. 

The quill left the paper and began to brush more fluidly, calmly, and peacefully into the open space around you. Trying to focus, Gojo started to understand what you were actually doing. As beautiful as it was, the Kanji began to flow together to cast a spell. An ancient one, not a prophecy. 

It felt like a mirage, as if Gojo was stepping through a rainbow. Beautiful colors, your beautiful face. The depths of your soul. The parts of you he craved to know. He saw flashes of you, moments that hadn't happened yet but felt like they were meant to. Your smile, your kindness, loyalty, and trust. Love was what it was. And he had so much of it to give. He would die for you in a heartbeat; he would do anything to keep that pretty smile on your face. He imagined himself holding you, imagined how amazing it would feel to call you his wife—he saw himself getting down on one knee, that expensive ring sparkling from inside a black velvet box. With tears streaming down your face, you nodded furiously. “I love you so much, Satoru.” 

“Gojo what are you doing?” Megumi’s voice interrupted his vision, tinged with panic and warning. 

The promised future vanished as quickly as it came, as Gojo realized he was holding your face, and you were holding his. No, not just his face; the fingers of your left hand were curled around his blindfold, and your right hand had begun to tug at the knot. You had almost slipped past the infinity that protected his soul. And you would have done it with ease. 

Surprised, Gojo tugged his head back. And at the loss of contact, you gasped. A cry left your lips as the cursed energy you released shot back inside of you, snapping your body back to the bed. The silence that followed was deafening, and all anyone could hear was the sound of their pounding hearts, trying desperately to clear their minds of the haze your aura commanded. 

The students and teacher all glanced at each other with dazed expressions. Glossy eyes and opened mouths proved that all of them had seen something, not just Gojo. 

“What did you see Yuji?” Gojo asked, snapping back to reality faster than them. He knew you were okay by the steadiness of your breathing but was still cautious to get too close again. 

Your brother blinked, still trying to comprehend what he’d seen. It felt so genuine and authentic like it had happened before. “I was sitting next to Y/N at a large dinner table. We all were…toasting to something. I don’t know what, but I was so happy. She told me how proud she was to be my sister. There were others there too but I couldn’t see their faces. You were on the other side of her, Sensei.” 

Gojo’s eyes snapped to the others, taking note of Yuji’s explanation. A different vision, but similar to his—both of their visions highlight a relationship to you. 

Megumi could feel Gojo’s gaze on him, knowing he’d been asked a question, but couldn’t muster a response. He knew he looked like a deer in the headlights, sort of how Yuji and Nobara both did. But instead of being able to explain what flashed through his mind, Megumi just swallowed hard in hopes of distracting himself from the pang in his chest.

There was no way, just no way. What had he even seen? Was it the future? Was it something he wanted and didn’t even know? All he knew was that the mirage had cracked the second he called you mom. Megumi had called you mom. There were no words to describe the feeling that constricted at his throat and prevented him from speaking. What he saw was you resting under a tree, nestled between his demon dogs and reading a book. They had grown a liking to you, just as he had. 

“I need them for training, mom,” Megumi called over, rolling his eyes. 

“But I’m so comfy!” you whined, and the dogs snorted in agreement. 

“When you’re done, please let me know.” 

What did that even mean? How did that happen?  Regardless, the gaping hole of belongingness cracked open further. And as Megumi ruminated over what he’d seen, he was left even more confused. 

“We were shopping for…clothes…” Nobara finally said, but stopped before finishing. She intentionally broke her Sensei's focus after noticing the turmoil and confusion in Megumi’s eyes. The unanticipated vision was confusing her, too. The two of you had been shopping for baby clothes. And as she thought harder, she realized you had a slight baby bump poking through your sundress. The floppy summer hat you wore could not conceal the happiness in your eyes as you looked at her, wondering which outfit she thought was the cutest. After she gave her advice, you replied, “You’re gonna be the best auntie ever.” 

Was this a glimpse of the future? And if so, did the others have a similar premonition like hers? 

Dazed, you finally opened your eyes. The overhead light blinded you, only for a moment, before you remembered where you were and who you were surrounded with. Tears slipped past your eyelids before you could stop them. There were so many emotions and questions racing through your entire body that it would be impossible to properly formulate them. You were shaking still, feeling like you were being chased out of an incredible high. A high that reached its peak and was crashing down, leaving you distraught and fatigued. 

“I’m sorry!” you choked out between gasps, feeling like you were suffocating, sitting up to see all of them staring at you with apprehensive eyes. “I-I’m sorry—”

“It’s okay,” Gojo immediately rushed back to your side, grasping your failing hands and pressing them softly into your lap. “Take a deep breath. It’s okay.” 

Nodding furiously with tears streaming down your face, you inhaled sharply, his touch instantly soothing you. 

“Slower.” Gojo nodded. “It’s okay.” 

Feeling the pounding in your ears start to fade, you swallowed, mustering a sad smile as you glanced at him. He looked so worried from what you could see on his face, and it made a peculiar hollowness reside within your thoughts, realizing you had ruined his arrival. Your surroundings were different, too. Your books and supplies were strewn across the floor, along with presents at the entrance to your room. Had Gojo brought home gifts? 

“I don’t know what happened. That’s never happened before.” 

Your expression of paranoia explained enough to the white-haired sorcerer. Was that look in your eyes one of guilt? What could you possibly feel guilty for? Were you afraid he wouldn't believe you? 

“I believe you,” Gojo whispered, releasing his hands from covering yours. He hesitated, wanting to comfort you more, but relented. You probably needed your space anyway. There was no clear answer for what just happened, and you were nonplussed, looking to him for answers he couldn’t give you. At least, not immediately, but he would try his best. 

“Are you okay, Y/N?” Yuji questioned as he crossed the room, taking the opportunity to comfort you now that Gojo backed away. “Are you hurt?” 

Remaining silent as Yuji gave you a hug, Gojo watched the two of you interact, mostly Yuji fussing over you, asking over and over again if you were okay. “No, no, I’m fine.” You tried your best to smile at your brother.

“Are you sure?” Gojo pressed further, recognizing the uncertainty in your eyes. This was a shock to everyone, Gojo especially, unsure how to feel about the glimpse into his future. Was it wise for him to know something that important? His feelings for you were already passional, and he was undeniably infatuated with you. A seer with comparable powers hadn’t been born in centuries, so the validity of your visions was unknown. But, visions were more tangible and easier to understand than prophecies. Was this a promise or a hint? Could it be changed based on the choices he made? 

“Do you remember what happened?” Gojo finally asked after a stretch of silence. 

Shaking your head, you looked over at the notebook beside you. The energy was palpable, and it was coming from it. You pushed it across the bed and nodded at him to take it. Part of you was scared to read its contents, from the impartial images that flashed through your mind, from the inexplicability of it all and the lack of understanding. What scared you the most, though, was that you were certain. What you saw was going to happen eventually. You didn’t know when or how it would happen, but it would. None of your predictions ever failed to come true. 

Scanning the words, Gojo sat down on the bed next to you. He seemed calmer than you, acting like what he witnessed was an everyday experience. Somehow, it helped settle your thoughts. If he wasn't worried, there was no reason for you to be either. The trust you were developing for him only resonated deeper. 

The students huddled around Gojo, trying to peak over his shoulder for a glimpse of the cursed energy. 

“Let me see it!” Yuji whined. 

That managed to make you laugh through your nose. 

As soon as the sky is colored green, 

The chosen one will realize their blindness

Souls will clash and die, but love will blossom

Children of clans from old fight demons that seek redemption, 

The day the king returns, all hope will be lost until she aw—a. A. Awake. Awaken—अहं भाषा वदामि। त्मरक्षा एव वास्तविकशक्ति

संरक्षण-संरक्षण-आह्वानम्-नरके मृत्योः च मुक्तं अवगच्छन्त

रक्षणार्थं आह्वानम्-नरकेभ्यः मृत्योः च मुक्तम्

Death rebirths life

You saw what you'd written, the look of bewilderment on their faces, and the deafening silence that followed. Snatching the journal from Gojo, you brought it closer to get a better look. 

“What language is that?” Nobara asked with furrowed eyebrows. 

“It’s sanskrit,” Gojo replied lowly, confusion lacing his tone. Something odd was definitely happening. Only the oldest spells were written in that dead language, long before humans gained a proper understanding of what jujutsu entailed. He couldn’t understand all the words, only bits and pieces, referencing the oldest spells recorded in history. 

“I-I don’t understand.” Your eyes glossed over with worry. “I don’t know Sanskrit.” 

“I think only a few people do,” Megumi added. 

“It looks like something hijacked your prophecy.” Gojo pointed out, noticing the green color fade from your cursed energy into something black and ancient. He pointed at one symbol. “This means I create.” He moved down the line. “And this means protection.” 

“A protection spell?” Nobara muttered. 

This felt too familiar, and the revelation was on the tip of Gojo’s tongue. Long ago, there was a clan of witches comprised entirely of women. Remnants of their bloodline still remained, but it had been hundreds of years since they were in power. Most of their history remained undocumented, but they specialized in prophecy and ancestral magic. Gojo skimmed through his memory, trying to recall the last written prophecy from the supreme. 

Gojo looked at you, and it clicked into place. 

A low, sinking feeling settled in your stomach. 

“I need to speak with Y/N alone,” Gojo said to the students, not leaving room for debate. His tone was so firm that they reluctantly scrambled for the exit without protest. 

Yuji glanced back at you hesitantly. Concern was engraved in his expression. He mouthed, text me before shutting the door behind him. You and Gojo listened to their footsteps scurrying down the hall, and he didn’t turn toward you until he heard all of their doors click shut. The scarcity they left behind was apparent, and you were growing nervous about what he would say.  

“Do you know anything about your family history?” 

All you could do was shake your head. 

“I had my suspicions that you were more powerful, but now I’m suspecting you’ve been chosen as a conduit. What happened during your episode is called an emergence.” 

Your demeanor stiffened. “What does that mean?” 

“It could mean a lot of things. There hasn’t been a seer of your potential for centuries. There’s definitely a mix of bloodlines happening, as Yuji is Sukuna’s vessel and can remain in control of his body. You on the other hand, the eldest daughter, might be a descendant of a long-defunct clan that hasn’t been in power since Sukuna’s defeat, which they helped aid in. You are clearly vulnerable when you’re recording your prophecies, and I believe the Sanskrit was one of your ancestors taking that opening. I only know that it could be a protection spell, but we should have it translated just to make sure.” He paused. "

“How do you know this?” 

“It’s only a theory so far. But the gift of prophecy is yours alone. The words you wrote… Will come true, all things considered,” Gojo trailed off, losing his train of thought. He wanted to tell you what you’d shown him and that the students had clearly seen something. But he didn't move; he barely even breathed. Ruminating over how beautiful you looked in that vision almost stopped his heart. He wasn't trying to be funny or flirty. He looked just as concerned and embarrassed as you, wishing he had the answers as always. But it seemed that only more questions arose when it came to you. 

Gojo’s body language seemed conflicted. Maybe you were more spot-on than you assumed. 

“Won't they?” he pried. 

“I hope not.” You glanced away, only remembering the words of demise, scribbled over and over again before a dead language emerged, further adding to the confusion of your connection to this life. If Gojo's prediction was correct, it would strengthen the hopeless feeling rising in your chest that your entire life was a lie. How you now looked at yourself was anything but satisfactory, unaware of the promise of a better future that Gojo glimpsed. 

A gift, like he said, but also a curse that you would never wish upon another. Every day that passed made you question if foresight really was a blessing. 

All Gojo could configure was how tired you looked. A lifetime of information had been dumped on you within an hour. Instead of being hard on you like he initially promised in that bar, he wanted to comfort you. But that defeated look in your eyes spoke volumes of what you really needed. 

There was no rush. At least, not yet. 

"Why don't you get some rest,” he whispered, standing up to peel the covers back for you. “I’ll find a translator later.” 

Sighing deeply, you glanced up at him before relenting, letting him pull the covers over your body. You watched Gojo as he stacked your books on your bedside table, tidying up what had been misplaced. 

A part of you wished he would stay. And perhaps he would have if you asked, but the second your head snuggled into your pillow, the world started to fade away. 

"Thank you, Satoru," you whispered faintly. 

"For what, princess?" 

"Everything." Was all you mustered in your enervated state. You really wanted to thank him for his willingness to help you, for not abandoning you or being afraid. For taking care of your brother, for not giving up, and for making you feel butterflies in a world of darkness and despair. 

Turning off the lamp on your bedside table, Gojo watched your eyes flutter shut. He leaned down and pressed a kiss against your forehead. You hummed in response, the corners of your lips upturning sleepily. 

He wondered if you saw the future as he did, speculating whether or not you wished for his presence the way he did yours. Regardless, he failed to express that you could rely on him no matter what and that you would never have to suffer alone again.

That may be the most potent form of love he could provide.

∘∙∘☾𖤓∘∙∘

Tags :) @aetrimis @ihatethisbye @that-one-enthusiast @ti-mame @torusmochi @azgucci @getosfavmonkeyy @allisonbaelfire @gojoslefttoenail

[cummin-n-cryin]

could we get like a floyd version of the jade camping trip? like similar themes but just floyd?

~Thank you for your request!

The Camping Trip - Part 2

MINORS/BLANK BLOGS DO NOT INTERACT!

Floyd Leech x gn!reader

Tw: Dubcon, Nsfw, drugging/aphrodisiac, yandere???, reader gets injured, there's blood, lemme know if I missed anything!

Wordcount: 6,423

Side Note: OMG I'm so sry for taking forever to write things! I ended up getting into a really bad writing slump but I'm feeling a lot better now and I'm gonna try writing a whole lot more. Sry if this sucks!

You had been wanting to spend some time alone.

The craziness of NRC was slowly getting to you and you just really needed a break. It took you awhile to rack your brain for ideas on how exactly you could take such a break. It wasn't until you had listened to Ruggie tell you about the plants and herbs he likes to collect from the mountains that you suddenly came up with an idea.

There was only one problem with your idea.

Headmage Crowley.

"I will not allow you to go camping in the woods all by yourself!" Crowley said with a huff. You crossed your arms looking annoyed at the masked man, "Why not? I'm perfectly capable of surviving out there! Or are you just upset that you won't have someone to do all your work for you for a week?"

Crowley huffed in annoyance, his feathers seemingly ruffled. "I'm sure you are very capable and I am not at all upset!" Crowley said defensively. "I just cannot allow you to go out on your own. You are magicless and what if you hurt yourself? Ah! I feel faint just imagining all the terrible things that could happen to you out there!" Crowley said while dramatically leaning back in his chair.

You sighed as you decided it'd be better to just leave at this point. "At least take one person with you!" Crowley yelled as you shut the door to his office.

Well, he didn't say you couldn't go on your camping trip. Though, while you hate to admit it, the Headmage was kind of right. What if you did get hurt? How would you get help? Yeah, you have your phone but who knows if anyone will actually answer in time or if the reception will even work out there.

You slowly made your way back to Ramshackle. On the way you thought of who you should bring with you.

Obviously, you weren't bringing Ace, Deuce or Grim. Those three are partly the reason you need a break in the first place!

Sebek wasn't a bad choice but you'd rather not listen to him ramble on about Malleus. After thinking of a couple more people, you eventually decided on either Jack or Ruggie.

Ruggie was good for his knowledge on the mountain plants and cooking but Leona almost always has Ruggie running around doing things for him so, he probably wouldn't agree to go with you.

Jack, on the other hand, seemed like a much better option. He's strong and reliable and unlike some people, he wouldn't do anything stupid.

You're quickly thrown out of your thoughts when you accidently walk into someone. You quickly try to apologize only to be interrupted by a loud drawn out, "Shrimpy~!"

He hugged you tightly, a bit too tightly. "Ha- Floyd," you wheeze out. Floyd laughed a bit before releasing you, "So, what's got ya so distracted, hm?"

You question whether you should really tell him but quickly decide there's no real harm in telling him the truth. With a sigh, you tell him how you convinced Crowley to let you go camping out in the woods for a week however, you have to bring at least one person with you.

"Ooooh sounds fun~ Who do you plan on bringing with you?" Floyd asks with a lazy smile on his lips. You take a moment to think, "Well, I'm thinking of bringing Jack-"

"Jack?" Floyd interrupts sounding surprised.

"Uh, yeah Jack," you say cautiously. Floyd suddenly grabs your shoulders, "No bring me! I wanna go, I wanna go! You gotta bring me with you!" he bursts out.

Out of all the people you could bring, Floyd was definitely on the lower end of the list.

Ever since that one time you met him in alchemy class, you've tried your best to avoid him but when you really think about it, out of everyone, he's the one most likely to just up and leave if he gets bored enough and well, Crowley can't make a fuss because technically you did bring someone with you. He didn't mention anything about that person actually staying with you.

So, it was decided. "Yeah, I guess you can come along then."

"Yay!" Floyd says with a large grin on his face. "Oh, I gotta go tell Azul," he suddenly says before running off. "Bye, bye shrimpy!" He waved while running to what you assumed was the direction of the Mostro Lounge.

You shook your head, "What a weirdo."

Walking in the woods with Floyd was quite the troublesome experience. He'd frequently say he was too tired of carrying his stuff and just give it to you to carry while he ran off somewhere, or he'd try dragging you somewhere off the path with him to go and explore whatever it is that caught his eye.

It was annoying to repeatedly tell Floyd that he can go exploring later after you two have set up the camp.

When you eventually found a good spot to set up you let out a sigh of relief. Finally, you can relax.

Except Floyd has run off again leaving you to set up the camp all by yourself. It's kind of nice to see Floyd so excited to run around and explore but he could at least help you a little bit!

As you're busy regretting your decision to bring Floyd with you, you hear a rustling noise and what sounds like footsteps behind you. Oh great, Floyd's come back to bother you again. Instead of turning to greet him, you try to focus on hammering the stupid tent into the ground.

But something feels off.

You grow nervous. Floyd would have said something dumb by now. You turn around only to see...

.

.

Nothing.

Looking around, you found you were completely alone. You walked around the area trying to see if Floyd was nearby but no matter where you looked you didn't see any trace of him.

You started to question if it was even Floyd at all. It could've just been an animal, would've been some heavy footsteps for an animal though. Or it was Floyd and you just didn't hear him run off back into the woods?

Deciding that figuring this out wasn't worth your time, you turn to go back to the tents. That is until you suddenly feel a hand on your shoulder.

"AHHH!" you screamed before quickly turning around to hit whatever just grabbed your shoulder.

"Ahaha!" Floyd laughed as he quickly caught your hand.

"Shrimpy, what's got you so riled up, huh?" he asked while leaning close to your face. You quickly pulled your arm out of his grip, "Floyd! Don't scare me like that."

He laughed, "Sorry shrimpy but I got you a gift~" he said while holding his "gift" up for you to see.

"Put that down!" you yell.

Floyd pouts, "Awww, shrimpy doesn't like my gift?" he says while the rabbit he's holding tries to escape his grip. "No, I don't! Put them back where you found them!"

With a sigh, Floyd relents and drops the poor rabbit watching it run off into the woods. You go back to working on the tents as Floyd either watches you work or runs off somewhere again.

Once the tents are finished you look up to the sky. You got plenty of daylight left to mess around and you tell Floyd. With a sharp-toothed grin, Floyd grabs your hand and runs off into the woods with you.

Floyd shows you some of the cool things he found while you were busy. Mostly it's stuff he thinks would be cool to climb or interesting looking plants before he suddenly darts off in a random direction.

You try to follow him but he's fast and you quickly lose track of him. You keep running in the direction you thought he went only to stumble upon a lake.

Looking around, you don't see him anywhere nearby. You kick rocks around as you follow the edge of the lake. It's a nice view that's for sure.

Bending down, you pick up a small rock. It has a semi smooth surface and you decide out of boredom to throw it into the lake. The small splashing noise is satisfying to hear but then you hear a much louder splashing sound coming from somewhere in the lake.

You turn to look at where you think the splashing noise is coming from only to get drenched in water.

A loud boisterous laugh echoes in your ears as you try to get the lake water out of your eyes. You look down to see Floyd in his merform. He's still giggling as you look down at him in irritation. While it's not the first time you've seen him in his more eel-like form, it's still a bit of a surprise whenever you do get to see it.

"Hehehe~ I got you a better gift this time shrimpy," Floyd says holding up a fairly large fish. "And what do you expect me to do with it?" you ask while hesitantly touching the fish to see if it was still alive.

He looks at you blankly, "Uhh, cook it?" You huff a laugh, "You want me to cook it after you left me to set up the entire camp by myself?" Floyd grins up at you, "Ah, shrimpy you're not mad at me, are you?"

"Maybe I am," you say as you turn to leave. You hear him flounder for something to say before feeling a hand grab the back of your shirt. You're pulled backwards and you thrash around as the cold water seeps through your clothes. You feel Floyd's chest pressing into your back as he hugs you tightly.

"Let me go, the water's cold!" you yell as you thrash around in his grip. His grip only tightens in response, "Aha~ shrimpy, if you keep moving around so much, I might just drag you to the deepest part of this lake and leave you there."

His threat made you still your movement. It became oddly quiet after that and in the silence you became very aware of not only the sounds of the water around you but of how Floyd was holding you.

You became far too aware of the feeling of his chest pressing into your back each time he breathed. You could feel his arms just slightly loosen around you, seemingly knowing that you had no plans of escaping any time soon. You weren't sure why of all times now he had to get all touchy with you and if you could complain you would, but you don't.

While Floyd seemed to be having a good time holding you in his arms, you just wanted to get it over with. You were only growing colder and in his eel form he didn't produce much body heat.

Suddenly, he moves his head near yours. You can feel his breath ghost over your ear as he whispers from behind you, "You're so small shrimpy~"

You let out an annoyed sigh, "Pretty much everyone's small compared to you Floyd." He lets out a light laugh in response as he finally lets you go.

You quickly crawl out of the cold water. Looking back, you see Floyd gazing up at the sky seemingly lost in thought. "I'm heading back to camp. Have fun doing whatever you're doing," you say before leaving.

Thankfully, it's not too long of a walk before you end up back at the camp. You go into your tent and quickly change your clothes.

You don't sit around and wait for Floyd, instead you busy yourself with making a campfire and fixing up things around the camp.

It's not until the sun begins to set that you see Floyd again.

"Shrimpy!" you hear Floyd yell. You turn and see him running up to you with a fish in his hand. You recognize it as his "gift" to you or maybe it's a different fish, you can't really tell.

Floyd surprisingly helps to cook the fish with very little fuss or complaint. While you both wait for the fish to cook, you snack on random things you brought with you and Floyd ends up pulling out a couple books from his backpack.

"Ugh, Jade kept botherin' me with these stupid books," Floyd says, briefly opening the books only to toss them on the ground next to him. Curiously looking over at the books, you see that they're nothing too special, just some basic hiking safety books along with some books about flora and fauna.

"You know, they are useful," you say before gazing back at the campfire. "Are they?" he asks, picking one of the books off the ground and flipping through the pages.

You grow quiet as you get lost in your thoughts.

"Ow!" you yell as something hits your back. You turn to see Floyd had thrown the book at you. Before you say anything, Floyd asks, "Are you trying to bore me?" he looks at you blankly, making it hard to tell what he's feeling.

You aren't sure what to say. He isn't wrong. You did invite him because you knew that out of everyone he's the one who would ditch you the fastest if he got bored enough but were you really going to tell him that? Maybe telling him that would be a good idea? Maybe he'd finally go away so you can actually relax for once.

"Yeah, I was hoping you'd eventually go away so I could relax." you didn't intend to sound so harsh but you felt it was kind of justified considering his behavior so far.

Floyd doesn't respond, instead he stares at the fire. You slowly grow concerned at his lack of a response. Did you make him upset? Was he mad at you?

You become more worried as each second passes and when he stands up you almost believe that he was about to make his threat at the lake a reality.

"Alright," Floyd says before walking off.

"Wha- Where are you going?" you ask confused. "I'm leaving so you can relax," he responds simply before disappearing into the woods.

You make no move to stop him. He didn't appear to be upset or angry at least. You then look up gazing at the stars above you before looking back into the direction he walked off. You know he's capable of defending himself but still...

You couldn't help but worry a little bit about him.

Two days pass and still there's no sign of Floyd.

You're glad that you can finally spend time by yourself but you're also worried about where Floyd had gone. You hope that he just went back to NRC but you can never be sure with someone like him.

It doesn't help that only yesterday you found out just how bad the reception was out here. Which was only made worse when it started to rain. Thankfully, it was just a light drizzle but still, you'd have to be much more careful walking around and exploring now that everything was wet.

Wandering around the woods after it had rained was nice. The smell of the tree's wet bark along with the other plant life was strong and the wind was crisp. It was refreshing.

You end up walking on a particularly thin trail. It wasn't hard to navigate but considering that to your left there was a steep drop off, you'd have to be careful walking. You wouldn't die by any means but it'd be quite the tumble if you did fall down. With all the rocks and trees around you could really hurt yourself.

Trying your best to be careful, you take slow and cautious steps. Out of everything, the leaves on the ground were currently your worst enemy. You've already slipped a few times from those damn wet leaves. It seems no matter how careful you are these leaves were planning your demise.

You were snapped out of your thoughts when you heard crunching sounds near you. Looking around, you don't see anything. You quickly assume it was probably just an animal or something. Shaking your head, you go back to walking.

.

.

.

It feels like your heart just stopped beating.

You're breath is caught in your throat and you can feel your hair standing on end.

You feel a pair of hands resting on your shoulders.

Suddenly, the hands harshly grip you and before you can turn around or react, they roughly shove you to the left.

You roll down the steep slope of the mountain. As you roll down, just briefly, you swear you could see something blue.

Desperately, you try to grab onto anything around you to stop yourself from tumbling. Your fingers dig into the ground yet it does little to stop you. You panic as you quickly lose your sense of direction.

Colliding roughly into a rock, you wheeze as your breath is harshly knocked out of you. You try to regain your breathing only to find it extremely painful to do so. The right side of your ribs throb painfully with each little breath you take. You attempt to move your body but you find that the only thing you can move without being in pain is your left arm. Carefully, you touch your ribs and shakily move your hand to your eyes, you see blood.

You grunt as you place your arm back on the ground. You decide it's best to stop moving at all as with each movement you just feel worse and worse. You briefly close your eyes.

Each time you open your eyes you find it more and more difficult to do so. You can hear the sound of crunching leaves nearby and as the darkness consumes your vision, you swear you see a glimpse of familiar turquoise hair.

You wake sluggishly.

As you slowly open your eyes, you almost instantly recognize your surroundings. You're in your tent. But, how?

You try to sit up only to feel a searing pain in your ribs. Okay, well you're definitely not getting up any time soon.

Carefully, you try to observe what parts of you that you can. You find that your arms are covered in bandages. You make an attempt to observe the rest of your body and through a bit of slight painful maneuvering, you finally get the blanket off of you. Much like your arms, your legs have bandages on them as well and of course your ribs have been wrapped in bandages.

Unfortunately, you also discover that apart from the blanket covering you, the only other thing covering you was your underwear.

You gently place the blanket back over yourself. You wanted to thank whoever had helped you but couldn't they have at least put your shirt back on?

You wonder if the person who helped you was someone you knew or not. There's a lot of people who go wandering around the woods so who knows, it could be a random passerby or it could be someone from the college. Well, whoever it may be they seem to be quite experienced in wrapping injuries.

The pain in your ribs knocks you out of your thoughts and you wonder if the person who helped you will come back or not. You let out a shaky sigh and decide to rest up a bit more.

Closing your eyes you slowly fall asleep.

.

.

.

You feel like you just closed your eyes as you suddenly wake again.

The crunching of leaves can be heard outside your tent. You grow nervous as you hear the footsteps approach your tent.

You're suddenly blinded by the bright light from outside. You rub your eyes and you finally see the person who helped you.

"Goddamn it," you grumble out.

"Wakey, wakey little shrimpy~" Floyd says, peering down at your disheveled form.

He approaches you, kneeling down next to you he shoves a bowl of... something in your face. It appears to be some kind of soup. You look up questioningly at Floyd, all he does is smile at you as you cautiously grab the bowl.

You won't lie, the soup does smell quite good but knowing Floyd, you can't ever trust him with these kinds of things.

"What is it?" you ask as you imagine all the terrible things he could have put in this mysterious soup.

"Soup!" he responds simply, still giving you the same bright smile. You roll your eyes, "Yeah I can see that but what kind of soup is it?" Floyd shrugs, "I dunno. I just put a bunch of good stuff in it."

Of course. You sigh and place the bowl next to you; you'll eat it later...

"Oh! I need to check your injuries now," Floyd says before trying to pull the blanket off of you. "Hey!" you yell as you try to pull it back on you. Floyd grabs the blanket while giving you an annoyed look, "Let me see."

You can't keep pulling the blanket towards you as your rib starts throbbing in pain. You're embarrassed to let him see you in your underwear but you'd rather not be in pain so, you finally relent and let him pull the blanket off of you.

Floyd's face is blank as he looks over the bandages. He touches here and there, occasionally causing you to hiss in pain. When he gets to your ribs, he seems to really take his time.

You almost feel like he's caressing your ribs with the way he seems to be so slowly running his fingers over the bandages. You don't say anything as you just want to get it over with but when his hand slowly makes its way from your ribs to your stomach, you can't hold your tongue.

"Your hands are cold," you grumble. Floyd quickly moves his hand back to your ribs, "Aha~ sorry shrimpy."

"Are you done touching me?" you ask annoyed. Floyd pouts, "Aww, I thought for a moment shrimpy liked me touching them like this."

You feel your face heat up at his words, "Wha- No I don't! Why are you even touching my ribs so much for, huh?!"

Floyd looks at you irritated, "I was just tryin' to see if it was broken!"

You huff a laugh, "Oh sure~ Was it really for no other reason?" you say tauntingly.

You see a light blush settle on his cheeks as he looks away from you. You hate to admit it but he honestly looks kind of cute when he's flustered. It almost makes you forget that this man likes to beat people up for fun.

"Well thanks for bandaging me I guess," you mutter. His mood quickly changes, "Oh, I didn't fix you up," he says nonchalantly.

What?

"Then who-"Anyway!" Floyd interrupts you. "Seems like you're fine." He stands up, "Make sure to eat your soup, it'll make ya feel better!" he says before leaving your tent.

You're at a loss for words but decide that you don't actually care all that much. Whatever, he can keep his secrets. You're way too tired and in pain to care about it.

Looking over, you see the bowl of soup. It looks okay and it smells okay so.. it can't be that bad, right?

Against your better judgement you take a sip.

Oh! It actually tastes good?

It kind of tastes like a regular chicken soup, just a little more... earthy? There's definitely a couple of ingredients you don't recognize but, it tastes good so you won't complain.

When you awake the next day you feel much better.

Though you do feel a bit hot but it could just be the weather. At least you're able to breathe a bit easier and you can move a bit more but you're still careful not to move too much.

You remember that Floyd had to change your bandages last night. Dark purple and blue bruises were scattered around your body along with scrapes and cuts from your fall.

Your torso however, was quite a sight. The skin on the right side of your rib cage looked almost black and if you didn't know any better, you'd think your rib was broken or shattered. Thankfully, Floyd reassured you that as far as he can tell it's only the worst bruise you've probably ever had in your entire life.

Looking down at your newer bandages you can see how rushed they look compared to when you first woke up. If he really was telling the truth about someone else wrapping you up then...

You sigh to yourself. It's not that important, you're alive and getting better, that's what matters. Though you still wished he'd give you a shirt or at least something else other than the blanket to cover yourself with.

Thinking back to Floyd, you grow a bit worried about him. So far, he has only entered your tent to give you soup to eat and the occasional random snack. What you were really concerned about was how he seemed to be growing more and more nervous around you. He would often glance to the side or clench and unclench his hands, it worried you to see him like this.

It was dusk when Floyd walked into your tent with a bag of snacks in hand, he handed them to you. You thanked him before asking, "Floyd, are you alright?"

He paused for a moment before laughing, "Aww~ Is shrimpy worried about me? Don't worry about me I'm okay~"

"Your hands are shaking," you say pointedly. Indeed, his hands were shaking. You see his eyes widen briefly, "Ah- Well, we're going back to the college tomorrow."

Oh, you didn't even realize so many days had passed. So much for a relaxing trip. At least your injury will take some time to fully heal so, hopefully you'll get a small break.

"That doesn't explain why you seem so nervous," you say. Floyd's fingers twitch and he seems to bite his lip. He finally sighs before sitting down next to you. After a brief moment of silence, he giggles, "I want you."

"What?" you ask stunned.

You grow nervous as he continues, "Ever since I met you that one time in alchemy class, I've been thinking about you so much. I always see you hanging out with Crab and Mackerel and I just- I wanna squeeze 'em so bad aha~"

He puts his head in his hands, "I really like spending time with you even if we're not really doing anything interesting. I just feel so happy being around you~"

Floyd sighs as he looks up to the roof of the tent, "For a long time I couldn't figure out why I was like this around ya. I had a couple of ideas but when we were at the lake, I finally realized..."

He turns and looks at you with a sickly sweet smile and dark hooded eyes, "I'm in love with you."

.

.

You're at a loss for words.

"It's okay shrimpy, you don't gotta say nothin', it doesn't matter much anyway," he laughs.

You're confused and even more so when you realize just how warm your skin feels. Floyd nears you and your breath catches in your throat.

He reaches out and gingerly touches your shoulder. His touch is as light as a feather yet it sends your mind spiraling and you shudder. Unsure of what to do, you tightly grab his arm.

You're stuck between wanting to push him away and wanting to bring him closer. Deep down you know you should push him away but you also want to place his hand against your heated skin, to lean forward and brush your lips against his.

"What are you doing to me?" you whisper breathlessly as you gaze into his mismatched eyes. Floyd laughs, "Hmm, I dunno~ Maybe this?"

He carefully moves his hand from your shoulder and with a gentleness you didn't think he was capable of, he lightly grips your jaw. He leans towards you; you can feel his breath ghost over your lips before he finally kisses you. Anything left of your resolve shatters as you desperately kiss him back. His lips are soft against your own but you want more, so much more.

Much to your dismay, he pulls away only to roughly push you down forcing you to lay back on the ground. You wheeze a bit as your rib throbs in pain from the sudden movement.

"Sorry shrimpy. I'll try to be more careful," he says before leaning towards you again but he doesn't kiss you, instead, you feel his breath against your ear as he whispers, "I can't make any promises though~" His voice sends a shiver down your spine and you can't tell whether it's from anticipation or fear.

Floyd quickly kisses you again, much rougher this time. You run your hands through his soft turquoise locks as you pull him closer to you. You gingerly open your lips and he greedily accepts your invitation, shoving his tongue into your mouth.

It's strange, you don't know why you feel so strongly for him all of a sudden. All you've ever felt towards him was annoyance.

Annoyance at how loud he was, at how he would change moods at the bat of an eye, and annoyance at how he would always try to interact with you.

Whenever you crossed paths with him he would always try to touch you in some way whether it be trying to hold your hand, hug you, or just glide his fingers across your shoulder in passing while inviting you to come visit him at the Mostro Lounge.

"I got a special seat saved just for you shrimpy~" he'd say while giving you a wink. It annoyed you greatly back then. Though, you'd be lying to yourself if you said you didn't feel something for him.

You'd always push the feeling away, never wanting to acknowledge even the slightest possibility that maybe, just maybe, you were slowly falling in love with him.

But now?

Pulling away from the kiss you look at him.

A light blush has settled on Floyd's face, his hair and clothes are disheveled, his lips are wet and his mismatched eyes gaze back at you questioningly. Your heart lurches in your chest at the sight and you can't stop yourself from speaking.

"I love you Floyd," you whisper.

Perhaps it was the heat that was slowly taking over your mind or perhaps it was something else that made the words spill from your mouth so easily but it felt like the truth when you said it.

Floyd's eyes widen, "Really?" You let out a light laugh as you place your hand against his cheek, "Yeah, really."

He looks off to the side nervously, "So, I didn't need to drug your soup then?"

For a moment you snap out of your lustful haze, "What?"

He suddenly grabs your face forcing you to look at him, "Forget it shrimpy. It's not important. Just focus on me." Your mind goes blank as he quickly kisses you again.

The kiss is brief and as he pulls away you reach out to pull him back but he pushes your hands away as he sits up. You realize why as he grabs the bottom of his shirt and pulls it up and off of him.

Your heart races in your chest and you can feel your face grow hotter as you openly stare at his body. It's easy for you to forget just how well defined his body is as the loose-fitting clothing he regularly wears easily conceals his physique.

You take in a shaky breath as his hand caresses your cheek before gently moving down to your neck. His fingers lightly graze your collar bone before resting there. You can't tell exactly what he's thinking but he seems almost... hesitant to continue. You decide to try and help him out.

Carefully, you reach out and grasp the hem of his pants, lightly tugging them down. Floyd lets out a breathless laugh, "Gettin' impatient, huh shrimpy? That's okay, so am I~" He grabs his pants and pulls them down. You can see his arousal practically begging to be let out of his boxers.

Before he can even think of trying to stop you, you quickly slip your hand into his boxers. Floyd gasps and almost falls on top of you as you lightly squeeze his semi-hard cock.

"Ah! You're so mean shrimpy~!" he whines out as your hand lightly squeezes around his girth. You gently stroke him, feeling his cock throb in your hand as he becomes more aroused. He hisses, biting his bottom lip as he tries to stop himself from thrusting into your hand. His eyes close and his breaths grow heavy as you continue to touch him.

Suddenly he pulls your hand off of him. You recoil thinking that perhaps you went too far if the annoyed expression on his face was anything to go by. You then gasp in surprise as he grabs your underwear and tries to tear it off of you. Embarrassed, you try to close your legs but Floyd tightly grips your thighs forcing your legs open.

Almost instantly, his annoyed expression is replaced with a lazy smirk as he gazes down at you. You feel his fingers graze your entrance, "Do ya really want me that bad shrimpy~?" he asks.

You hold your breath as you feel him push a finger into you. "Y-yes," you moan out as you feel him add another finger. He scissors your insides and you groan for more. He merely laughs at your desperation as he leans over you. You can feel his chest press against yours as he places gentle kisses against your neck. He's so close, so close to giving you what you want. His fingers aren't enough and you tell him as much.

He sighs, "Okaaay~ Just for you," he says as he pulls his fingers out of your slick hole.

Reaching down, he grasps his cock. He strokes himself, spreading your slick/slickness/wetness(?) across his length before lining himself up with your entrance. You both moan as his cock finally slips inside you. The feeling of your wet hot walls being stretched to accommodate his cock made your eyes roll.

Slowly, he thrusts into you trying his best not to hurt you. Each movement making his cock sink deeper and deeper inside you. He presses featherlight kisses against your neck, occasionally nipping your skin with his sharp teeth. You wrap your legs around his waist in an attempt to get more comfortable.

With your desperate moans encouraging him to continue, it doesn't take too long for you to hit the base of his shaft. Still, Floyd is careful. Slowly thrusting in and out of you as you moan at the feeling of his thick cock filling you up with each agonizingly slow thrust.

While you're glad he's trying to make sure you're comfortable, you're slowly growing impatient. You sharply thrust your hips into his to show him as much and he suddenly stills. He looks down at you with a knowing grin. "Ha~ You should be more careful shrimpy. I might not be able to hold myself back~" he warns.

"Unless, that's what you want?" he asks, licking his lips as he gazes at you with a strange look in his eyes. "Maybe I do," you whisper as you pull him towards you and kiss him, lightly biting his lip.

He pulls away from the kiss with a soft laugh and his grip on you suddenly tightens. Almost instantly, Floyd wraps his arms around you, tightly pulling you into his chest. It almost feels as if you're being constricted.

You feel him breathing against your neck as his hips snap into you, you loudly cry out as he begins a brutal pace. Your nails dig into his back and your legs tighten around his waist pulling him deeper inside you. The feeling of being practically crushed against Floyd as he thrusted into you, like it was the last time he'd ever fuck you, made your head spin.

As he continued to ram himself into you, pleasure wasn't the only thing you felt. A slow throbbing pain was slowly building in the right side of your ribs.

His harsh thrusts and the way he was squeezing you so tightly against himself was greatly irritating to your badly bruised ribs.

"Floyd-" you gasp out as the pain intensifies, digging your nails even deeper into his back to try and get his attention. He doesn't seem to notice, far too focused on the feeling of your warm walls squeezing around him.

Despite the growing pain, you can feel yourself nearing your climax. Pain and pleasure becoming blurred in your mind as Floyd continues his bruising pace.

You feel tears in your eyes as you tighten around his cock and after a few more particularly harsh thrusts, you cum. You cry out as you reach your climax and your legs tighten around Floyd as you arch your back into him.

Floyd's breathing is shaky and his thrusts quickly become uneven as you squeeze around him. You can tell he's nearing his own end and just when you're glad he'll finally let you go he suddenly bites you... hard.

Your mouth hangs open in a silent scream as his sharp teeth sink into the flesh of your shoulder. He lets out a deep guttural moan as he finally spills inside you.

Hot tears run down your face as you try to push him off of you, the pain becoming far too much for you. Floyd pulls away from your shoulder, shakily holding himself up. You watch as he licks your blood from his lips.

He gently cups your cheek with his hand, thumbing away your tears, he leans down and places a delicate kiss upon your lips. You can taste your blood.

As he pulls away he looks down at you with a large grin, "You're so cute shrimpy and you taste so nice too~" You only mumble in response, closing your eyes.

You're far too exhausted to entertain him in conversation. Being basically crushed by him and then being bitten like that wasn't something you were quite prepared for.

Floyd lets out an annoyed sigh, "Fine, you can sleep but when you wake up again you better be ready for me~♡"

[claudemblems]

"I Have a Crush on YOU!" ft. Ace + Leona | Twisted Wonderland

"All you talk about is your crush! Why don't you just go tell him how you feel already?!" "Fine, I like you!" "???"

Summary: Tired of listening to you going on and on about your mystery crush, Ace and Leona suggest that you should just confess your feelings already, and so you do...

They just weren't expecting that your crush would be on them.

Content: Fem!Reader. Slight angst (arguments) with a hint of fluff. Ace and Leona are oblivious fools (they're trying their best)

Notes: I officially started playing Twisted Wonderland not too long ago (I'd been watching playthroughs on YouTube) and I've had so much fun with the game :3 I love my TWST boys so much

ACE TRAPPOLA

Ace wasn't sure how much more of your "girl talk" he could take before he finally lost his sanity.

For the past 15 minutes, you'd dramatically fawned over your unnamed crush without ceasing, taking every opportunity to highlight his good traits, his charming personality, even commenting on how his borderline idiotic tendencies still managed to somehow look endearing in your eyes.  Honestly, the more you talked about this guy, the more Ace began to wonder what in Twisted Wonderland you actually found attractive about him. He almost felt inclined to inform the headmage about your concerning mental state, but then he remembered Crowley had a knack for making every situation even worse.

So Ace had endured and endured until he couldn't anymore, desperate to finally put your incessant ramblings to a rest.

"He's so oblivious but also so sweet in his own way. I just like everything about him! I don’t think any of his flaws could make think of him any less—”

"Okay, Prefect! I get it, alright? You like him!"

You stopped midway through your sentence, brows furrowing at Ace’s sudden outburst. "I'm sorry?"

"You talk about this guy day and night! Don't you ever get tired of listening to yourself say the same thing?"

"What? Does talking about my crush annoy you that much?"

Ace groaned, letting his body flop back against the couch in protest. "That's not what I said. I'm just tired of coming over to Ramshackle only to listen to you gush about some guy I don't even know! How am I supposed to have a conversation with you if it's so one-sided?"

The room grew quiet for several moments, Ace hoping that the silence meant you were thinking of another topic to discuss. But little did he know that the conflict he'd simply wanted to resolve had just turned into an ominous storm.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for letting you know I like 'some guy.' I thought you'd be interested because you're my friend."

Ace's irritation grew increasingly by the minute, and he could barely stop the barrage of heated words falling off his own tongue. "Friends get tired of hearing the same thing every day!" 

"Friends care about what each other have to say, unlike you!"

"Would you stop throwing a tantrum like a child?"

"Would you stop being such a jerk?"

"How about this: if you like this guy so much, why don't you just tell him?!"

"You know what? Fine. I like you, Ace Trappola, for better, or obviously, for much worse!"

As soon as the words reached his ears, Ace's heart skipped in his chest, the reality of the situation finally dawning on him. He then bolted upright, staring at you with pupils blown wide. "Wait, what did you just say?"

Unfortunately, he didn't receive an answer. You'd already marched your way over to the front door, ignoring the sound of Ace scrambling to his feet behind you.

"Prefect, wait!"

The only answer Ace received was a door slamming shut in his face, leaving him in a thick and almost unbearable silence. He could only watch through the windows as you hurried away from the dormitory grounds, no doubt going out to seek some peace and quiet.

“I like you, Ace Trappola.”

He had to be dreaming…right?

"I know you're an idiot,” a voice piped up next him, clicking their tongue in disapproval, “but I didn't expect you to screw up this badly.”

Ace turned to see Grim floating beside him, shaking his head and loudly sighing. "I told her she was going to end up getting hurt falling for you of all people."

"I don't wanna hear sass from you, tanuki."

"Well, was I wrong?"

He wasn't, and that was a hard pill for Ace to swallow.

You'd liked him, him of all the boys in that school, of all the boys in Twisted Wonderland, and of your own world, too. You saw something in him that made you so, so happy….

So happy that you'd spent every day gushing about how much you liked him. 

And what had he done in return? Minimized your feelings and asked you to shut up already.

Screwing stuff up was just the Ace way of doing things, but he couldn't allow himself to continue on this way, not when his stupid actions ended up hurting you.

Especially because he liked you just as much, maybe even more. 

At first, he'd tried to push his feelings away, likening them to puppy love or a phase that he'd grow out of in the next week or so. But he found that every time he looked at you, his breath would catch in his throat, his heart would drum fast beats against his chest, and all he could think of was how much he wanted to hold you close and finally admit that he was mesmerized by you—every single part of you—and that no one had ever managed to make him feel that way before. But he might have just blown his chance at confessing with the shameful words he'd thrown your way. 

No...he couldn't give up. At least, not before he tried to set things right.

"Grim," Ace began, already formulating a foolproof plan in his head, "if I said I already had 10 cans of tuna with your name on them, would you be willing to be my wingman for the day?"

LEONA KINGSCHOLAR

Were all herbivores this insufferable when it came to being in love?

You were one of the few people Leona genuinely liked. Most people he tolerated, a select few he couldn't stand to be in the same room with (sorry Malleus), but you intrigued him, challenged him in his thinking and his own perception of himself. It annoyed him to no end, but it also left him wanting to know more about you. Plus, you were a lady, and he'd been raised to respect any woman he had the pleasure of meeting.

But keeping his composure was an impossible task when you couldn't spare him a mere five minutes of silence. 

"My friends don't understand what I see in him. I'd probably think the same if the roles were reversed. But maybe I just see good things about him that they don't. If only they knew what a kind person he really is deep down, maybe they'd—"

"Hey, herbivore, are you gonna keep torturing me with your sappy love stories, or are you gonna let me finally get some sleep?"

"Uh...I..."

Leona briefly opened an eye at you as he took in your confused expression, shifting around on his bed as made himself more comfortable. "I don't know why you'd talk about that sort of stuff to me of all people. You've got those Heartslabyul guys to gossip to, don't you? They'd be interested in hearing your woes."

"I didn't know talking about my crush made you so irritated," you said, face falling in shame and embarrassment.

"It's just irritating when I'm trying to get a nap in,” he yawned as if to further prove his point. “I don't know what you're trying to accomplish by telling me all this anyways."

"I'm telling you because you're my friend..."

"And friends get tired of each other sometimes and need their own space, and you refuse to give me any."

His words carried a bite to them, and you’d nearly shot back at him in your anger. But you held your tongue, reserving your energy for a better cause.

"...You're right. I'm sorry for disturbing you. It seems that you don't return my feelings at all anyways, so I won't talk about them again."

Leona's eyes shot open at your admission, and suddenly a weight felt as if it had fallen onto his chest. You liked him? He was this mystery person you'd been praising nonstop every time you came over to the dorm?

He was a massive idiot, even more so than those two Heartslabyul boys who'd nearly been expelled on the first day of classes.

And Leona actually admitting that to himself said a lot.

"I'll be going now."

"Herbivore, wait." Leona reached out to grab your wrist, but you'd veered out of his way, hurrying out of the botanical gardens. Just as soon as you'd confessed, you were gone, and Leona was left to ruminate on all of his mistakes he’d made in a matter of seconds.

He was a prince with all the money and power in the world he could ever want, but none of it could help him figure out how to undo this mess and make things right.

If only you knew he cared for you, too, more than he wanted to admit. His naps weren't the same without you there beside him, and the dorm felt empty without your presence. You livened up the atmosphere with your warm smiles and laughter, and night after night, your face would be the last thing he envisioned before finally succumbing to a restful sleep.

As much as he'd tried to push down those pesky feelings building in his heart, he'd eventually come to realize they were there to stay. And, truthfully, all the more glad for it. He’d never imagined falling for someone, afraid that no one would want a second-rate prince, yet there he was, yearning for the chance to love and be loved by you.

Now he was left with two choices: letting you go, or picking up the scattered pieces of your heart and piecing them back together as best as he could.

And letting you go was an option he couldn’t even think to consider.

“Well, I guess it's time to finally be honest about my feelings for once,” Leona said to himself, rising to his feet with a newfound confidence. “And if everything goes well…” a small smile formed on his face at the picture that came to life in his mind, “then there’ll be one more person to add to my pride."

[kruven]

— Ace never understood the impact you had on him. (Gn reader, 2nd pov)

words : 599

warnings : none, fluffy angsty, takes place after Ace's departure, minor character from One Piece Episode A spoilers, Ace is an idiot who doesn't understand his feelings that's it.

Ace never understood the impact you had on him. He was so used to you annoying him with something that he didn't really want to know. Or the way you plagued his thoughts at night. Or the 'girly' games you forced him to play with Sabo and Luffy when you were kids. Such as house, tea parties, kitchen and office.

(He enjoyed playing office as he got to play the boss, but he will never admit it. Though he hated playing kitchen the most)

He hated it.

He hated the fact that you always got your way.

He hated the ache in his heart that came when he was alone. And by god, it always disappeared when you'd be around.

Everything about you tormented him. (It was in a good way. He is just dramatic)

And someone noticed it.

Deuce knows something is bothering his captain. He looked as if he had been kicked in the face and was defeated by some five year old kid. Almost like a puppy, but he would never say that to his hot-headed and short-tempered but loveable captain's face. Deuce likes his face the way it is.

Deuce knows about Ace's drunken ramblings of his little brother Luffy. He can recite Luffy's childhood and information he didn't need to know word to word because of his captain. Hell, maybe the other crewmates could do that, too.

But when his captain is drinking alone and away from the rambunctious party (surprisingly), Deuce sees the way he gets weird. It's almost as if he is missing something. He wonders if it's one of the girls from the islands they had visited. Did one of them catch his attention? Though he was always dismissive of them.

Maybe it was a man? Or was he just missing his brother?

But when he seemed so melancholic, he talked about someone who wasn't his brother.

Ace doesn't know who or what you really are to him. You aren't his sibling, nor are you his crewmate. You are close to him but not in the same way Luffy is or as Sabo was. Or the way Deuce is close to him.

He thinks you are his friend, but his heart says that's not right. He can not pinpoint the feelings he has regarding you.

There are no relations between you and him, but he feels something weird.

And it burns. Like an uncontrollable wildfire, his heart hurts and soothes. Like a storm that demands attention, whether he likes it or not.

He remembers every word you ever said to him.

"Don't you forget it, Portgas D. Ace, whatever happens, don't get scared. No matter what anyone says, I'll wait for you."

Ace doesn't get scared. He isn't afraid of death. (He thinks death to him is better), but a part of him believes you. That you would truly wait for him and all the years he spent with you were not a cruel joke or a dream he made up.

He doesn't understand what you do to his heart.

He remembers that he once asked you if you would still be friends with him if he was a monster.

"Ace is Ace just like how I am me and how Sabo is Sabo and Luffy is Luffy."

And his heart burns again.

He thinks he knows what you do to him, and then he doesn't understand it.

Yet, he laughs as if he knows. And a part of him knows.

He thinks he would like to play house with you again, and this time, he wants to be the husband.

[hampink]

Kingohger G Rosso Show #3 Summary (1/2/24 & 1/3/24)

i went to see the g rosso show with @valentinezlove! recap/summary on the whole show + my thoughts below~ ❤️🤍 (warning: spoilers, really long)

SPOILERS AHEAD for basically the whole plot of the g rosso show (though i left some stuff out) i believe this show is going to be livestreamed at some point so pls be aware if you're going to watch that and don't wanna be spoiled!

also, despite seeing this show TWICE i am so bad at remembering things and get distracted way too easily. i left out details and scenes im not confident in my memory abt😭 also this recap is a personal account so its probably jeramie heavy and there Will be giramie ramblings from my annoying ass

THE SHOW

the show starts with kamejim scheming evilly, as kamejim does. he calls forth grodie (!) to do his thing, and he appears as a recording on the big screen. grodie begrudgingly brings some dead sanagims back to life and he's like “ok go crazy/好きにして” and then kamejim orders them to go forth and destroy humanity/the whole planet. the sanagim are about to attack the audience on the front row when suddenly we hear giras WAHAHAHA and the five kings, gira, himeno, yanma, rita and kaguragi descend onto the stage!!

cue really epic fight

at this point i was like ah i see i guess jeramies coming in the middle of the show… but then NUH UH. SUDDENLY RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY EYES A SPIDER DROPS DOWN FROM THE CEILING ON HIS WEB IN THE AUDIENCE!!

the first time we saw the show on the yan/hime/gira day, our seats were a bit further back so when jeramie came down it was in a perfectly clear view in front of us!!! i SRSLY GOT JUMPSCARED I THOUGHT I HAD A HEART ATTACKK on the 3rd we were sitting really close to the front so i kept looking behind us in anticipation when i knew jeramie was going to make his appearance eheehe..

also when jeramie appeared he said “otto! dont forget about me!” and gira was the first to go “jeramie! you came!” 🥺

anyway they finish beating up the zombie sanagims and kamejims all like fufufufu i am cooking up an evil evil plan to destroy this planet Best Beware u silly kings and then disappears

after the fight the kings convene and discuss what they should do abt kamejim and the new super villain threat that is the galactinsect king and the jesters. but how could they ever beat them? what power is possibly strong enough?? wherever will we find a source of such power?

suddenly kaguragi goes aha! and he begins to recount to everyone an old myth he’s heard about a village back in toufu

apparently theres a 2000 yr old legend that a comet once fell near a village and it left behind an object the village ppl called the "star drop" (星の雫), which looks like a magical orb

the village ppl have kept the star drop for generations and legend has it that the orb has mysterious powers to grant anyone a wish, perhaps we can use it to defeat kamejim

upon hearing the wish part the kings all go WHAT!! and lean in with interest except gira who doesnt react and just kinda stands there (he doesnt seem that interested …?)

the spotlight goes onto yanma and we hear him monologuing abt how he wants to use the wish to make his super computer (i think its hilarious he never gives up on this)

the spotlights goes on himeno and she says she wants a cure all that can cure any wound (🥺)

the spotlights on rita and they wish for a super deluxe limited edition something something moffun 

the spotlights on jeramie and he says, in a very dramatic voice, この2000年生きる語り部が知らない伝説なんて、気に入らない、気に入らないぞ！💀 (a myth that I, this 2000 yr old storyteller has never heard of? i don't like that!)

we dont get to see what gira thinks regarding his wish 0_0 and technically jeramie too bc THAT WASNT A WISH KHGDDDH and also kaguragi because obviously we can never look into his mind hes sussy! (more on dat later tho….)

unbeknownst to the kings, kamejim was hiding and listening in to their conversation the whole time. an orb that can grant any wish…? interesting…

cut to the team arriving at the secluded, very hidden away village. its full of old looking tombs and temples overgrown with vines and such

suddenly from the audience a bunch of people come in parading one of those long dragon puppets and doing a festival-like chant. apparently this dragon is a symbol of the village spirit/guardian born from the comet myth. i think???? i cant remember this part really well because Both times i saw the show i was ALWAYS distracted by gira playing with the dragon really cutely in the background (he’d ruffle its hair or pat its head and the actor would hit gira on his head not to touch it and he would bow in apology😭 🙏)

also upon arriving the village jeramie says "in all my 2000 yrs of living, even i never knew about this place" (i love how they bring up his thousands of years wandering as a cryptid and how much he loves chikyuu and knows it so well,,)

they meet the village elder, whom kaguragi greets but instead of welcoming his king the elder yells at all of them to go home, you shouldnt be here and theres no such thing as the star drop here!! leave us be!! the myth that theres a power that grants wishes here is just that, a myth!

and the teams like zamnnn so we went all the way out here for nothing…? yanmas like kaguragi im gonna beat the shit out of u and in the end everyones like Welp i guess we should go home and everyone except jera start to exit the stage. gira is like wait guys are u sure!?! and watches them go off one by one. in the end jeramies like come on now and either drags gira away or on the show i saw on jan 2nd he casually gently pushes gira on the chest (?) WOULD BE BETTER IF I DREW IT TO EXPLAIN BUT IT WAS CUTE😭)

and then jeramie leaves the stage too but then a few seconds later he walks backward and reappears from the curtain and goes な~んてね (just kidding/as if)

he says “honestly, those kings really cant read between the lines huh? this village is obviously hiding something they dont want us to know”

and so jeramie alone walks in the other direction and leaves to the right of the stage

~the middle of the night~

the village elder is sneaking about, two other village men join him, theyre all whispering very discreetly

the elder is like “are they gone yet?”

“sir yessir theyve gone.”

elder says smth like “good! we cant let any of them get their hands on the village treasure that weve guarded for generations''

the elder decides to go to the tomb to ensure the star drop is safe

cut to jeramie sneaking around trying to find where theyre keeping this dang orb. while he’s looking for it he suddenly hears footsteps, turns out its yanma and himeno who ALSO came back to sneakily look for the orb themselves , jeramies like oh crap seems like theyve caught on as well, he goes to hide behind a platform and this part is absolutely ridiculous like whats wronggg w him tbh

like at first when jeramie goes to hide he lies on his side and had his whole one leg up before belatedly putting it down. yanma and himeno are fighting above him and each time they get closer jeramie would flinch dramatically and at some point hes just striking different poses 😭😭😭 also the one i saw on january 3rd when yanma and himeno get way too close to jeramie, yanmas actor accidentally hits jeramie with his sword probably bc he didnt know what improvised pose he’d be in lol…

we cut back to the elder at the tomb, he says some spell in an unknown language and the tomb opens up and reveals the orb (sitting on a pedestal) he goes to take it but doesnt realize that rita was standing there the whole time

the elders like “what are u doing here!!” rita says something abt how they can tell when ppl are guilty of hiding something/lying 👁👁

then suddenly gira waltzes in and is all like “wooow the stars are so pretty…. wait rita? and elder? hi!! man the stars are just so pretty out here i that i got lost wandering around, can u show me the way back? wait a minute whats that youre holding? :0” (note: GIRA WHO LOVES STARGAZING REALLLL)

elders like NONE OF U CAN HAVE IT!! BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN IF THIS FALLS INTO THE WRONG HANDS! 

ritas like anyway whatever give me that orb, and lunges at the elder to grab it

at this point himeno and yanma arrive to the scene and himenos like that orb is MINE!! and they all fight over it 

rita ends up getting it and IMMEDIATELY they wish for “moffuns warmth” and then moffun actually appears fr on stage 😭😭 while rita is busy going crazy over moffun and hugging it the elder chants another incantation which appears to have reversed the wish and moffun goes away.  yanma gets a hold of the orb next but right at that moment jeramie swings by on a cord and snatches it from him!! 

jeramie lands on the ground, orb in hand all pleased with himself but then.. someone sneaks up from the shadows behind him and its kaguragi!!! and he has his sword to jeramies neck while hes backed against a wall and jeramie goes otto~ (it was sexy as hell tbh)

so kaguragi has the orb now and hes like “so it seems the myth is true. thank you everyone for confirming this for me”

everyones like kaguragi... could it be…? u were just using us to get the star drop yourself this whole time!!!??

and kaguragis like maa maa dont worry abt it (FORGETTING A LOT OF DETAILS HERE but something abt how if a village in his country has been keeping an object so powerful it only makes sense it should be in his hands or something , maybe?)

but anyway no one wins this round because THEN suddenly kamejim appears and takes the hot potato orb from kaguragi 

and hes like ufufufu and then uses the star drop to make his super evil plan to destroy the planet come true, and when he says his wish suddenly the orb starts going crazy with an immense dark force , its glowing purple and its all crackly like a thunderstorm is inside it, the ground shakes and everything around them starts falling apart

the elders like nooooo and tries to take the orb back but kamejim flings him away and the elder is knocked unconscious

in the end, gira manages to get a hold of the star drop but he struggles to keep it still in his hands bc of the wild dark energy, gira tries to repeat the incantation he heard the elder say earlier but it isnt working, then gira is like “i have no other choice!” and it looks like gira holds the orb close to his chest and the stage goes dark as he screams and then a few moments later he reemerges as…… ~Dark Gira~ 

Gira is silent for a moment but then he growls in a rlly low voice “i am the tyrant king… and i will destroy this planet!”  and starts blindly attacking everyone

evil gira doesnt do the classic evil laugh at all… hes eerily silent and mostly growls and groans a lot. he moves creepily like hes possessed, sometimes he crouches rlly low as if hes on all fours like a wild beast, he pounces on kaguragi and pins him to the ground like a predator 😱 (it was scarYyyy). his evil voice is also super super deep (huge win for the actual!evil tyrant gira enthusiasts…)

everyones like gira whats wrong with you!! gira snap out of it!! dont you recognize us?!?! but it seems gira has completely taken in the dark energy of the orb into himself

giras so powerful in this state that he defeats all the other kings. jeramie was the last to try and fight gira and smth ppl pointed out that Indeed i noticed was true on my rewatch is that evil gira mercilessly went for jeramies bugnarak arm 😭(AAAA)

in the end everyone can only lay defeated on the ground. jeramies dramatic ass says “ah, is this how the story ends? what a tragedy..” 

the curtain slowly closes on evil gira standing alone center stage as he once again yells “i will destroy this world…!”

later, kaguragi, yanma, and rita gather together to reassess their plan. himeno joins in late, she just got done treating the elders wounds. he should be fine, and jeramie is looking after him now.

(note: i was internally screaming at this. ever since ep 42 when himeno was taking a look at injured racles and went “jeramie” and jeramie immediately knew to Web up his wounds i was like oh… theyve done this before. himeno and jeramie have been spending time tgt treating ppl/himeno has been teaching jeramie things and vice versa OOUGH MY BELOVED HIMENO AND JERAMIE FRIENDSHIP. JERAMIE NURSE IN TRAINING REAL) (also fuel for my 1677282 different headcanons regarding jeramie and how he deals with his own injuries... himeno getting mad at this 2000 yr old spider w 2000 yr old habits and teaching him how to take care of himself..)

rita is like no wonder the village ppl guarded the star drop so fiercely… 

its a great, dangerous power that no one person should wield..

ah… so the myth is actually a burden/responsibility kaguragi let his ppl carry for 2000 yrs…. kaguragi wanted to help his own ppl, not selfishly use the wish for himself..

yanma deduces that the orb takes on the intense feelings of whoever makes a wish, and to cancel out the dark energy in gira right now, they need a feeling thats more powerful than That

but what?? from where and how?? 

then suddenly, evil gira reappears, still possessed by the dark energy

himenos like i know!! surely his feelings for us kings/our memories together as his friends are stronger!!

(the kings look at the audience)

OF COURSE!! we’ll use the power of everyones emotions here!! everyone, lend us your help, at the count of three, everybody shout gira’s name!!

whenever the audience shouted giraaaa, he gets hit with a sparkly effect, its working!! yanma goes hypeman cheerleader mode and is like CMON IS THAT ALL YOUVE GOT!! SAY IT LOUDERR

and we shout gira a couple times and finally we shout the incantation (it was rlly cute and sweet sobs)

a transition, gira is back to normal. the orb is also back in one piece

jeramie conveniently comes in after the whole thing all “ah, is gira back to normal already?” 💀💀 tuxedo man meme ass…

anyway now that they have the star drop again hot potato is BACK on and they fight kamejim for it one final time.

gira chases after kamejim and theres a funny bit during the chase where kamejim goes into the audience and gives the orb to one of the audience members and hes like “that persons holding it” and giras like oh sorry excuse me! could u please give me that orb? KHAHSHSJSN

then FINALLY once they got the orb back, they manage to actually destroy it for real so that smth like this never happens again. and thus the kings save the village from ruin! the elder is thankful to kaguragi and the others for saving them but ah… now this village no longer has a legend of its own. but then jeramie says “but we have rewritten it by creating a new legend! the story of the six heroes who saved this village!” our 思い (feelings) will be a new legend~

jeramie has this long winded ass curtain closing speech, going on abt probably the power of friendship and 思い and stories that we have to 心に刻まないとね♡ (carve it into our hearts) . i didnt see it on the show i saw but yes, this is where the infamous giramie hug happened :') the one i saw on the 2nd, jeramie said this while putting his hand on giras shoulder and leaning into him, on the 3rd he put a hand to his heart and looked into giras eyes…or visor. he titled his head all cutely and shit too ARGGGHH

and of course jeramie finishes the entire show by going …とさっ♡ (or so the story goes) and since gira and jeramie are standing next to each other center stage the curtain frames the both of them right before the show ends... aaa...

END!

G ROSSO WAS SO GOOD AND FUN AND CUTE, HIGHLY RECOMMEND! if you can, def tune into the livestream theyre doing at some point which is gonna feature the non suit actors in the show!!!

thanks again @valentinezlove for going to see both days w me~ because these days had the special stage greeting from the actors (and thats a WHOLE NOTHER THING IVE MADE SEPARATE POSTS ABOUT), there was no after show handshake with the suit actors but i still got to shake kuwagata-ohgers hand walking into the venue ;7; i will never emotionally recover...

(also i pulled jeramies trading card twice thank you shugods for looking out for me ahsjkd!!!)

[onceonafullmoon]

Dreams of the Past and Coffee in the Morning

Dazai x Fem! Reader

Just a short lil drabble I typed up, dedicated to @shadyteacup for trying to help me with recovering my past fics, thanks Minnie! No warnings! Reader has prophetic(sorta?) dreams, but is unaware of it. Dazai is a little shit, as always. Slightly suggestive.

You don’t know if you want to punch him or just leave the cafe. Briefly, you consider the third option of just pouring your remaining coffee on him, but decide against it, caring too much about your precious coffee to spill it.

“You know, I had a dream about you last night.” You remark casually, taking an idle sip from your cup.

“Definitely needs more sugar.” You think.

He seems to perk up at this, leaning in to what would be too close for comfort had he been anyone else, and then waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

“Oh? And what sort of naughty things were you dreaming up?” He says a smirk playing on his lips.

You roll your eyes at his antics, ignoring the slight blush you feel rising up and reach for a sugar packet.

“Not like that, and not ever.” You say glaring at him, tearing your packet open a bit more viciously than necessary. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”

He leans back pouting. 

“Not ever?”

You decide to ignore him in favor of killing your own embarrassment, and continue on with your original topic, stirring in your sugar whilst you think back on your dream.

“Anyways, it seemed weirdly realistic, like that dream I had about that tiger. Like the same feeling of witnessing something while lucid.”

“...Yeah? What happened?”

“Nothing too crazy, it was just you at a bar talking to a man with auburn colored hair and a stubble… you guys seemed close. The bar seemed cozy, dimly lit, and you were drinking… whiskey? I think. You had bandages on your face and you were wearing a black coat.”

You pause, unaware of the way the man next to you stiffened at your words, continuing to stir your coffee rather absentmindedly.

“Actually come to think of it, I thought it was strange that the stubbled man was wearing your coat… but that’s neither here nor there.”

You ramble.

“I couldn’t make out what the conversation was, but you guys seemed happy. Well the auburn haired man and you were. There was another one, he had glasses and black hair, looked annoyed with you both… but… I think he was happy too deep down.”

“That so?” Dazai mutters, seemingly lost in thought.

“I’m not sure why… I just got the feeling that you were all very close. Like it was some precious moment to be cherished.” 

You pause again, taking a sip of your coffee. 

Just right.

“I dunno, I guess that’s why I felt like I had to tell you. Because it seemed so important, even if it was just a dream.” You finish, turning over to him, only to see a strange look on his face.

Nostalgic maybe? Almost pained, if you didn’t know any better.

You give him a slightly concerned look. 

“...Uh, are you okay?”

Dazai lowers his head, making you feel even more concerned.

“Okay…” He murmurs, making you furrow your eyebrows in worry.

Worried, at least, until he dramatically throws his head back, making you jerk in surprise.

“Okay?! How could I possibly be okay? A cute girl dreams of me and she’s only focused on other men?!”

…

“What.”

“Tell me, (Name), what am I lacking? What can I do to make you only see me?!” He practically begs, clasping your free hand in both of his, making the waitress glance over at you both amusedly.

You don’t know if you want to punch him or just leave the cafe.

Briefly, you consider the third option of just pouring your remaining coffee on him, but decide against it, caring too much about your precious coffee to spill it.

“Stop that!” You hiss, pulling your hand back from his grasp. “I’ve already made it clear that I’ll never dream of you like that anyways.”

“Oh-“ Dazai slumps into his seat, a hand over his heart. “The sting of rejection… but every beautiful rose has its thorns.”

“Then don’t pick the damn flowers.” You snap.

“But that’s the allure isn’t it?” He whines.

“You’re hopeless.” You sigh.

“Be my hope then?”

“Go fuck yourself.”

He opens his mouth to respond, but you cut him off.

“One more crude joke and I’m out.”

He whines incoherently, but you just roll your eyes and take another sip of your coffee, hiding the small, begrudging, smile on your lips.

Just another typical Monday morning, but somehow you wouldn’t have it any other way.

[junee-e]

A NEW PENUMBRA EPISODE HAS RISEN!!!! TIME TO THROW MY THOUGHTS INTO THE ABYSS!!!! random thoughts and ramblings follow :D

I AM SO READY FOR DETECTIVE RITA YOU HAVE NO IDEA

OH SHIT WILL SHE BE NARRATING PLEASE TELL ME SHES NARRATING

HER DETECTIVE VOICE IS SO FUN IM SO DEAD

why is she better at this than juno this is going so much better than his attempt

‘WATCH THIS’ * keyboard tapping noises* (i love her)

of course she gets paid in cereal i dont know what i expected

oh ok no junos still narrating

‘THE MAN I LOVED WAS ON THE LINE’ (this will never get old for me)

‘my name is juno steel and *usually* im the private eye’ i am enjoying this way too much

ok why do i love skipper they’re so fun?

‘he just ruins the *peaceful vibes*’ so real so real

HE TOOK THE FUCKING FLOWERS I SWEAR TO GOD

rita. had. dinner with them. oh my god. she is the best.

the mother speaking for the grandfather in like such an annoyed voice and then being so calm with ‘or so father says’ is so funny to me

skippers so dramatic i love them

‘SHUT UP DEAREST’ LMAOO

ooooooo did skipper help nureyev?? wait no thats too obvious….or it is just obvious enough to be right????…..no its isnt….or is it???? (im going insane)

‘he makes friends or.. more than friends and he uses those connections to his advantage’ OH SHIT (skipper???? skipper?? skipper kinda makes sense???) (but like yknow…obvious option)

‘watch skippers reaction in particular’ AHAHA!

OOOO ARE WE GONNA GET RITA NUREYEV INTERACTIONS PLEASE OH MY GOD

‘mostly i was thinking about nureyev’ *cue me falling off my chair at the instant romantic soundtrack that apparently follows nureyev’s name everywhere now*

roomantiic moonoolougueee tiimmee

GRIMMS MASK EPISDOE CALL BACK OH I AM NOT READY

‘another love’ ITS FOR HIS JOB ISNT IT ISTG

OH ITS FOR FUCKING HYPERION CITY OHHHHH SHIT

why does this remind me of the monolouge at the end of final resting place (end of the first season)

‘it wasnt a very nice city but hell im not a very nice lady’ vs ‘this is my city. im not proud of it but that doesnt mean its not worth saving’

there are so many things this season that are setting up to be broken (probably not the right word) but like so many things that have potential for a really sad/angsty pay off. like nureyev and slip or juno telling nureyev he’ll keep following him untl he says he doesnt want him to. or juno and missing hyperion city. i’m so scared.

oh ritas so dramatic its making me so happy

HE TOOK THE ORCHIDS !!!!!

ITS THE MOTHER????

of course she had an inflatable couch in her hideout spot

ooooo its juno detective-ing explain-ing time

juno obsessing over detective stuff is so fun

a CoNfEsSiOn

‘im tired of you people…and also just tired’ skipper being way too relatable

OH SHIT NUREYEV DIDNT TAKE THE FLOWERS???

SOMEONE TOOK THE FLOWERS FOR NUREYEV WHAT IS THIS????

OH IT WAS THE GRANDFATHER WHAT???

‘he sent me up to bed early’ ma’am, you are a probably-around-40-or-something-year-old woman

the gibberish is still funny

WHAT HE WAS FUCKING IN LOVE WITH NUREYEV HUH WHAT THATS SO FUNNY

‘we know how this theif operates he grabs you by your heartstrings and never lets go’ yeah rita would know about that with all the agnsty monolouges

WHAT THE FUCK HES TALKING????

WHO SAID HE LOVED HIM??? NUREYEV???? WHAT???

OH FUCK OH SHIT OH NO OH GOD ‘he said hed come back for me he said we’d run away together’ OHHHH NO NO NO NO NO. NO LONGER FUNNY

‘well it looks like my work here…is done’ *very fast tapping of rita walking away*

OH WAIT SHE CAME BACK TO ACTUALLY HELP JUNO LMAOO

awwww they’re all back together!

A TRACKER A TRACKER HE GOT IT ON NUREYEV AHAHAHA

THEY KNOW WHERE THE DOKANA GROUP IS LETS GO

oh ok fuck i thought we were done how foolish of me there hadnt been a sad speech yet

‘i knew he hadnt done the same to me’ OH THANK GOD OKOK

‘he meant the promises he made me’ AWW YAY

wait no its sad oh god oh no

‘problems for another day, i thought’ best coping method fr fr

‘the rest we’d just have to figure out together’ yay ok happy-ish ending :D

okok so alot of thoughts. i’m so scared of all the set-ups for angst and honestly i’m kinda just waiting for the episode that it all comes crashing down and everyones really sad. but also! hopefullness! juno saying that he’ll figure it out with nureyev! yay! i honestly don’t know how the big climax finally thing with jupeter and slip and the dokana group and everything is going to go i’m just really hoping for an eventual happy ending with happy jupeter (and rita there too :D)

anyway! loved this episode can’t wait for the next one with (i’m assuming) stuff with the Dokana group!!

[onebedtorulethemall]

Okay, as you know I just finished Bad Omens, and it was probably the funniest fic I've ever read. THANK YOU for writing this masterpiece.

I adore your sense of humour. Can I ask what inspires, feeds, or fuels it? Because if there is a movie, book, or show you can recommend with more of these vibes, I'm RUNNING to it. I need more of this humour in my life. pronto.

Wishing you well <3

Oh no. You've asked about my favorite topic, I fear. (For anyone else who wants a rambling response from me, feel free to drop the words "Bad Omens" in my ask box.)

Unfunnily, I came by my sense of humor the old-fashioned way—by being fairly ignored as a child. I had a whole comedic routine I'd launch into any time I thought an adult might be about to pay attention. This behavior generally results in either wildly famous adults or extremely annoying ones. I am lucky I have writing to channel it into because I lack basically all the skills to become any sort of performer.

Ok. Obviously, the humor in this fic was mainly inspired by Good Omens. I dissected the book before and during writing to try to get as close as possible to the feel of the original (limited, of course, by the fact that I'm not Neil or Terry). I looked at sentence structure, joke setup and payoff, how and when those narrative asides were used... I remember being amazed by how much of the humor relied on clever adverb usage. Mainly, though, it's the dramatic irony doing the heavy lifting. You swap a muggle for a witch (or the Antichrist for Baby B) and tell the reader you did it, and they're already doing half the work for you. They're ready to laugh. They're bought in. They're spinning up hilarious scenarios in their mind before I've even told the joke (I know this because my comments are full of them).

That's a very long way of saying: I love anything that says "we've set up this absurd scenario, now let's watch it unfold." (Although I don't like when it gets too stressful. That's why the Bad Omens narrator was there to hold your hand through it.)

What We Do in the Shadows is the absolute best for this. Plus classics like In Bruges and Hot Fuzz, both of which I've been casually trying to find a way to adapt into a Dramione for a year now. It's not really the same humor, but I have cried laughing at Veep.

Darker comedies: Fargo and my favorite, Barry. There's an episode in season 2 (ronny/lily) that veers straight off the cliff into surrealism. It's FANTASTIC, and I was absolutely thinking about it when writing the Bad Omens war date. I looooove that feeling of "what the actual fuck am I reading/watching right now?"

And on that note: The Locked Tomb series. Just, please go read it. Join the cult. It's kept me in a book hangover for about two years and I think the only way out is to pass it on to someone else, The Ring-style.

I'll cut myself off here. Thank you for the ask, and for reading and loving my silly little fic. I am first and foremost its #1 fan, and it's just fun to get to talk about it.

(stealth edit because omgggg I can't believe I forgot O Brother, Where Art Thou? Comedic PERFECTION. Couldn't be a Dramione. Snakes buddy comedy, maybe?)

[targaryenluvs]

congrats on your milestone!! i absolutely adore your writing 🤍 i’d love a ship with the pjo characters, if that’s okay.

my name is emma, or em for short. i’m 5’1 with long dark brown hair and deep brown eyes. i’m incredibly loyal to my friends and the first to defend them and always ready to fight for them. i’m also a huge flirt because it’s just fun to flirt with people, even if i’m rarely serious about it. i’m a libra after all. and i’m an extrovert, i love philosophy and writing poetry, i love a good debate, and i love meddling in my friend’s love lives. i can be a bit over dramatic sometimes but i really just want to make people smile and laugh and keep their attention. because it makes me feel good about myself when i can hold someone’s attention.

i hope this is enough information. or the right information. and i’m so dreadfully sorry if it’s not.

i hope you have a lovely day/night whenever this finds you. 🤍

hello emma! thank you so much, i hope you have a great day ❤️

i personally see you with percy himself!

on the depressing side the two of you are able to bond at times over senses of attention. percy wasn’t exactly popular amongst his peers so being able to hold someone’s attention let alone making a friend is amazing to him, and being able to hold your attention??

it sends him into a spiral. finally being able to be friends with someone he really does like certainly makes him shy in all honesty. you’d been with him in the hermes cabin, one of your best friends being a child of hermes meant you loved to spend your time around them. at first you’d kept your distance since percy seemed pretty jumpy but then again, maybe he just needed a friend.

so you decided to talk to him, and it ended being your best decision.

the two of you loved to geek out over philosophy and at times annoyed the other campers by your talk. before dating the two of you did become a bit of a dynamic duo, sarcasm was your speciality. you loved to joke around together all the time.

whilst you both couldn’t work up the nerve to tell eachother about your feelings you were both extremely protective of eachother. even when people asked you out you always seemed to turn them down. unwavering loyalty at all times.

the first time percy realised just how much you really did care for him was when you defended him against clarisse.

-

“back off, seriously.” emma stood in front of percy with her arms crossed whilst clarisse laughed, “or what?” she tilted her head to the side as emma took a step forwards, “i don’t care about being labelled a snitch, i don’t mind telling mr d. and i sure as hell don’t mind telling everyone where our flag is next game.”

“you little—” she was quick to shove her into the floor before grabbing percy’s hand and running, “did you just push clarisse!?” percy yelled as she giggled, “yes! we may as well have some fun before she kills us.” the two of you ended up in the strawberry fields.

“i hope she likes dirt.” percy joked as you smiled, “are you okay perce?” emma was probably the only person he’d ever let call him that, “i am, thank you. em, you really didn’t have to do that.” she shrugged her shoulders before taking a step forwards, “anything for you, really. you’re.. my best friend perce.” emma didn’t miss the way his eyes seemed to dull at the name.

“just a friend?” emma sat on the floor as percy joined her, “why, you wanna be something more?” emma flirted as percy’s cheeks heated up, “maybe.” it was mumbled, but she still heard him, “you’re kidding.”

“no, i’m not. you’ve been there for me since day one, no matter what. i love how you laugh, i love how you put up with my rambling, i love how selfless you are. i really love you.” she couldn’t help the tears in her eyes as she placed her hand over his.

“i might just like you too percy jackson.”

[laufeyson-barnes]

Date At The Carnival

Robin Buckley x Female reader

Warning: nothing just fluff. Thus is very gay

Summary: Robin decided to take you to the carnival on your date.

You and Robin had been going out for awhile. She hasn't asked you to be her girlfriend yet. But you really liked her. I mean really liked her. I rambled about her all the time to Eddie. He thinks it's adorable but annoying. I was laying in bed reading my book when my pink phone rang loudly. I rolled over a bit and picked it up.

"Harrington residence" I said closing my book. No one replied. "Listen if you're calling for Steve he isn't home right now. I can take a massage if-" I started but someone finally replied. "Hey y/n. Are you busy tonight?" Ribins voice echoed through the phone. I immediately blushed.

"No I'm not. Why?" I asked smiling hoping she'd take me out. My hand found the cord and twisted it with my finger. "Can I take you out tonight?" She said nervously. "I mean you don't have to say yes. I understand. I just had this crazy idea for a date and I figured you would like to go out tonight since Steve isn't home. I'm rambling alot right now. I'm sorry-" I listened to her ramble for awhile before I finally cut her off.

"Robin. I'd love to go out with you tonight. Where are we going?" I asked smiling while sitting up. "I figured id do something super cheesy like taking you to the carnival. We can eat a bunch of food that's absolutely horrible for us." She said laughing nervously. "That sounds so amazing. I can't wait." I said giggling. "Perfect. I'll pick you up in two hours" she said nervously. Her raspy voice giving me butterflies.

"Okay bye beautiful" I said knowing it would make her flustered. She gasped before hanging up. I hung up my phone and chuckled. I practically jumped up off my bed to get ready. I'm so nervous. What if she decides tonight that she doesn't want to see me again? Or what if she kisses me?

Robin was just as nervous as you were. She was nervous to make the call to ask you. What if you don't like the date? What if you hate the way she rambles. What if you think her breath stinks when she trys to kiss you? But you called her beautiful? What am I going to wear? Shit!

The two girls scrambled to get ready. Y/n was worrying about what to wear and Robin was worried about how she would ask y/n out. Finally the time came and Robin got in her moms car. She drove to the Harrington house and knocked on the door. Y/n opened it. She looks stunning. Her hair was sitting just right and her eyes lit up when she saw Robin was standing there with a flower. She blushed.

"Hi robin" she said quietly. "Hey. Uh..this is for you" she said handing her the flower. "Aww its so beautiful" The flustered girl took it from her and dragged Robin inside. Y/n took out a glass and put water in it. She placed the beautiful flower in it and smelled it. Robin checked her out multiple times and couldn't understand how she got more beautiful everytime she saw her. Y/ns face turned bright red.

"Robin that is so cute. I didn't know you thought I was beautiful everytime you saw me" y/n said towards Robin as she put a peice of hair behind her ear. "Did I say...uh did I say that out loud?" Robin asked turning pink. The other girl nodded. "It's okay Robin. I think you look beautiful too. everytime I see you I can't stop thinking about how beautiful you are. And how I can't belive that I'm going out with you." Y/n rambled a bit and Robin smiled widely. Both girls laughed.

"We should go" Robin said checking her watch. Y/n nodded and they went. Robin opened y/ns door and gestured for her to get it. They listened to some music on the way to the carnival. Both girls singing towards each other over dramatically. When they got there y/ns eyes wondered. Her eyes were practically in heart shapes. "Okay I'm gonna he honest. I've never been to a fair" She said to Robin. Robin looked shocked.

"What!!! Okay now this has to be a perfect date!" She said laughing. The girls bought there wrist bands and looked around. "So Robin what are we doing first?" Y/n asked smiling at the blonde girl. "I was thinking we could ride some rides first. Then play some games. Or we could get food after the rides and then play games" Robin explained. Y/n smiled wider at Robin who seemed overly excited about eating the food here. Robin's blue eyes peered down at her and they locked eyes. Both girls slowly smiled at one another before someone bumped into them.

They were knocked out of there trance and Robin took y/ns hand. They walked around before they found a chair swing ride. Both girls waited in line before they could get on. They both let the man lock them in. As he went around the girls nervously sat. "Robin I'm scared" the younger girl admitted. Robin smiled nervously. "Me too. But once we get up there it'll be so worth it. Trust me. Hey is that steve?" Robin said laughing. Y/n turned her head around.

"Harrington!" Robin yelled and steve looked straight."Oh hey guys!" He said smiling the person next to him looked up. Dustin. "Hi!!!" Dustin yelled. "Hi dustin!" Y/n said smiling. A sound went off and the girls turned around. Y/ns smile dropped and Robin took notice of the girls pale face. She reached over and took ahold of her hand. "Hey..it'll be okay. I promise. And if you hated it after I'll buy you a fried oreo" Robin said in a lower voice. Y/n nodded smiling slightly. The ride started.

They girls spun around and around before they got lifted into the air. At first it was scary but Robin's laugh made y/n laugh. She wasn't scared anymore. You could see the whole town from up here. Y/n threw her arms back to let the wind hit her face. Robin smiled at the girl while holding the chains. They didn't even notice the flash that went off behind them. Dustin had snapped a photo of the girls wanting them to have it when he got it.

The ride ended after awhile and when the girls got down they were giggling like crazy. "That was so much fun!" Y/n exclaimed and Robin smiled at her. "See I told you. What ride do you want to do next?" She asked y/n. Y/n looked around before pointing at the scrambler. Robin nodded and let y/n drag her over. They again waited in line talking with one another before it was there turn eventually. They sat next to eachother obviously.

The grabbed eachothers hand while it flung them around. The girls screamed and laughed the entire night. Riding every single ride they could. After a couple hours of riding all the rides the girls needed a break from the adrenaline. They were starving. Robin bought nachos, pretzels, two sodas, chips, and fries. Of course y/n offered to pay but robin insisted. She only insisted because she had worked at scoops a long time and now the video store.

"This looks like a heart attack waiting to happen" a voice said behind them. Steve. Y/ns older brother. She scoffed jokingly before taking a fry. "So are you two here on a...date?" Steve asked quietly. I nodded happily and robin nodded nervously. "You two would be really cute together." Dustin said smiling. They both blushed. "Thanks dustin." Robin said laughing. They all talked for a bit before Steve had to find the rest of his children.

The girls shared the food and laughed at joked the other told. They talked for what felt like forever. Robin choked on her drink when y/n tried to shove a handful of chips in her mouth. After they had calmed down they finished there food and talked a little bit longer. Robin looked up at y/n who was looking around. Y/n wasn't oblivious to Robin's staring so she made that known.

"You're staring buckley. Take a picture it'll last longer." She jokingly said. "Trust me. If I had a camera I would. But not in the creepy way you know. In the cute way" She said nervously laughing. "So you like what you see?" Y/n asked turning her head to look Robin in the eyes. Robin shook her head yes nervously.

"Good. Cause I like what I see too." She whispered to Robin. Robin blushed profusely. They had locked eyes and were both smiling softly. A bell had went off on a game near by and it broke the two out of the trance again.

"Let's go play some games. Shall we my lady?" Robin said throwing the trash away and offering y/n her hand. She took Robin's hand and they were off. They walked around and found a ring toss game. Y/n had made it a competition to see who could get more points. Robin won and had gotten abunch of tickets. Y/n only got a few and pouted about it. "It's okay love. Next game I'm sure you'll beat me" Robin reassured the pouting girl.

Sure enough y/n did beat Robin at the strength game. The girls won games back and forth. They had to get a bag for there tickets. They saw a fun house and y/n pointed excitedly. They waited in line talking about who was gonna have more tickets before the night ended. It was finally there turn and they went inside. The held hands walking through the fun house.

"Robin thanks for taking me out tonight. I'm having a really good time" y/n said softly smiling up at the short haired girl. Robin blushed but y/n couldn't see because of the lights. "Your welcome. I was nervous you wouldn't have fun and that you'd think it was cliche." Robin confessed. "What. No I love this date. It's been so perfect. I've loved every second of the date you planned. I was scared you were gonna ghost me" She confessed. Robin turned to her.

"I'd never. I really like you y/n. I've never felt this way about anyone. I mean I get nervous just thinking about you. I ramble about you to everyone all the time. When we were in school I can't stop staring at you. I can't stop wanting to talk to you. And when we lock eyes it's like my heart stops. No it's like everything around us slows down and it's only us. I mean it sounds cliche but it's true. I love the way your eyes light up when you get overly excited. And how when you read your nose scrunches. Or...or when you laugh it isn't a fake ha ha it's a real laugh. A belly laugh. You snort when you laugh to hard. It's absolutely adorable. Eveytime i see you staring at me i get butterflies in my stomach. And your voice when i hear you talk i get so nervous. I really like you y/n. Ive liked you since freshman year when you were dating that one guy with the curly red hair. I was so jealous because i wanted to be the one you looked at like that. I wanted to hold your hand when we walked down the halls. I wanted to kiss you every time i saw you. I wanted to hold you late at night when you snuck in or if i snuck in. I wanted to take you out on dates. I wanted you to be my girl. I still do." Robin explained as they went though crazy halls.

Y/n stopped walking and tears filled her eyes. Robin continued walking until they lose touch. There hands falling out of eachothers. Robin stopped and turned. Her face dropped. "Oh no. Did I do something. Say something. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" Robin started as she walking towards y/n. Y/n waved her off.

"No no. You didn't say anything. I mean I'm crying cause of what you said. No one has ever said anything like that. Robin I...I felt the same way freshman year. I thought I liked both guys and girls but I was so wrong. The first day I saw you I was so jealous. You were so carefree and so gorgeous. I mean drop dead. I really liked you Robin. I still do of course. I just. I didn't think you liked me as much as I liked you." Y/n said as Robin wiped her tears away.

"Of course I like you as much as you like me. Possible even more. I was so happy when you and him broke up by the way. Cause that's when me and you met fully." She said smiling. Y/n smiled back and both girls started to walk again. They finally started to pay attention around them. Creepy clown music played and y/n held tighter onto Robin's arm. "You okay?" She asked softly. "Mhm. You know some people have fears of spiders and darkness. Mine is clowns. I fucking hate them. There so fucking creepy with their bright red noses and painted in smile." Y/n explained hiding her face into Robin's shoulder. Robin wrapped her arms around the girl stopping them.

"Hey look at me. It'll be okay. You have me. I'll protect you from any pervy ass clowns in here. Okay?" She reassured and y/n nodded smiling softly. They walked through the doorway and a clowns popped out of the wall. Y/n jumped behind Robin screaming and Robin threw a punch. The thing broke off the wall and the girls gasped.

"Told you I'd protect you" Robin said shaking her hand off. Y/n laughed slightly and grabbed the girls hand as they walked again. Moving bouncy clowns had come up and Robin wrapped her arms around y/n. She practically rushed her out of the room. The next room was the mirror maze. Y/n was cautiously walking the two through it.

"Hey is that the exit?" Y/n asked. As she said that a kid ran past them and towards the exit said. Slam! He fell onto the floor and started crying. The dad picked him up and walked him out of the room. "I'm glad I didn't do that" Robin joked and y/n let out a loud laugh. The next room was filled with smoke. The lights were changing colors. Robin thought it would be a perfect time to kiss y/n. They were alone again. Robin had stopped and y/n walked forward looking around during a bit before turning to Robin.

Robin pulled her closer and they locked eyes. The music in the room was blasting a random song. Y/n gulped and both girls leaned into one another. There lips were about to touch when a group of football boys came running through. They jumped apart out of fear. One boy grabbed y/n and shook her while yelling in her face. He was drunk. Both girls could smell the alcohol on them. The ran out of the room and both girls left the fun house in a bit of a nervous mood.

Robin was slightly angry. They were about to kiss when those jock assholes ruined it. Y/n was a bit sad. She thought the date was over. She thought that they'd never have there first kiss.

"Want to cash in our tickets?" Robin asked smiling at the shorter girl. Y/n nodded smiling a bit still in a sour mood. "We can both get the other something" y/n said quietly. Robin took it as a challenge. They were going to meet each other by the Farris wheel. Y/n went to a prize booth and gave the women her tickets. The lady counted them as y/n saw Steve. He was walked towards the girl. The lady pointed at a section of prizes the girl could have.

"Hey Steve. Which one do you think Robin might like?" Y/n asked nervously. Steve pointed to the medium sized white rabbit. "But she'd like anything YOU got her. Cause it's coming from YOU!" Steve said smiling down at her. She pointed at it and the lady asked if y/n wanted to put something special on it. She nodded asking like what. She explained it to y/n and y/n said okay. She did her thing with it and Steve had left y/n to do something.

The prize lady gave her the bunny and y/n smiled. The white bunny had a locket on it that y/n was going to give Robin at the end of the night. She gave the lady a picture of them on their first date that she had in her wallet. She put it in the locket.

Meanwhile...

Robin was frantically asking people if she could have their ticket. She found the party who were all earing food. "Hey kids. Do any of you guys really need your tickets?" She asked frantic. "Why?" Lucas asked. You see Robin had came out to the party her senior year. They were all getting used to it but they all loved her either way. "I want to get a big bear for y/n. I want to make this Daye really special. You see I was going to get her this bear so when we go on the ferris wheel I can ask her out like the cliche movies you know?" She explained nervously. Max gushed at the nervous teen.

"Aww that's so freaking cute Robin! You can have mine and Jane's tickets." Max said handing them to her. She thanked her. Mike, will, and Dustin gave her half of their tickets. Lucas gave her 34 of his but only cause max smacked his shoulder. Steve walked over with a huge handful of tickets. "This is the best I could do Robin. I don't know if it's enough. But eddie is running around. In all honesty I think he's stealing them or giving people free drugs for em." Steve said giving them to Robin. Robin made the party help count how many she had.

They all added the total and she was 300 tickets away. She was freaking out until eddie ran over with the hellfire kids and threw tickets all on the picnic table. Steve said he wanted to see how y/n was doing so he left. Eddie counted them and he had 900 tickets. More than enough. She thanked them all and ran to the large prize booth. She handed them her tickets and they pointed at what she could get. She pointed at the bear and saw she could sew a heart on its chest with a name on it.

She let the man sew it on for the extra tickets and let the man sew there ship name on it. The ship name Dustin came up with. The man gave Robin the bear and she thanked him. The party gave Robin a bunch of thumbs up before she ran to the ferris wheel. Y/n was standing looking around nervously. Until she locked eyes with Robin.

"Here I got you this" Robin said smiling. "Woah now I feel bad cause my gift is tiny." Y/n said pouting. "What no. Yours is wonderful. I love it!" She said smiling. Y/n hugged the huge bear. Robin hugged the bunny.

"Do you want to ride the ferris wheel?" Robin asked. Y/n nodded shyly. They showed there bands and since tbe basket for them to sit in hold four people they put there stuffed animals on one side. Robin was talking to the girl running the ferris wheel. Without y/n noticing she slipped the girl a 20 dollar bill. The girl nodded at Robin and Robin sat with y/n. The ride stared and they went around 5 times. Before it slowly stopped while the girls were at the top.

The looked around before y/n spoke. "Did you see the locket?" She asked. Robin moved to grab for it. She opened it and turned red. "This is so cute. Put it on me please" Robin said handing it to y/n. Y/n did. Robin turned around and they locked eyes. Finally their moment. They both leaned in and kissed. There lips met. Robin's hand went to y/ns cheek pulling her deeper into the kiss. Y/ns right hand fell as Robin's waist as her left softly placed its self on her neck.

Both girls felt fireworks go off. Then real life fireworks went off and it scared the girls. They pulled away and looked at the lit up sky. The two laughed and looked at each other again. The kissed again this time shorter. "Will you be my girlfriend?" They both asked eachother as they pulled away. It caused them both to laugh again. "Yes" the said again at the same time. They kissed again and Robin held up a fist. The ride moved again and they pulled away.

"That was so romantic" y/n said. "I mightve planned that" Robin said smiling. Y/n kissed Robin again smiling into the kiss. The party was waiting for them to get off and when they did they were bombarded with questions. The girls smiled at eachother. "We are officially dating!" Y/n yelled cheerfully. Everyone cheered with her and Robin was red. Steve congratulated them and so did eddie.

Robin drove y/n home shortly after that. Both girls talking about how nervous they were about the date and how it was better than they ever could've dreamed. Robin walked y/n up to her door and kissed her like in the movies.

"Thank you for the best date night ever" y/n said kissing Robin again. "Mm. Thank you for being the best most beautiful date ever love" Robin said flirtatiously back to the shorter girl. They kissed one more time before y/n went inside with her bear. Y/n leaned against her fromt door and robin leaned against the other side of the door happily.

"Best date ever" both girls whispered touching their lips.

Y/n ran to her room excitedly. She changed into her pj's and put the bear on her bed. She looked at her wrist band and carefully took it off. She put it in her jewelry box shutting it carefully. She laid in bed that night snuggling the bear tightly before she noticed the heart.

She gushed about how cute Robin was that night. Robin drove home thinking about y/n the entire way there. When Robin got home she rushed to her room and changed. She tore off her band and pined it to her board of photos of all her friends. She played with the locket all night until she fell asleep.

[science-lings]

idk if I'm going to ever write for it so I'm gonna put it here, my reborn Yatagarasu AU. I guess if I get a little encouragement I'll want to write it more but I have to get some thoughts out or I will explode.

It started because I thought Beanix and Kay should meet and do crimes together. I think they should fight corruption and be overly dramatic while annoying Edgeworth. I mean, think about it, in the first game, Phoenix's whole thing was exposing notorious blackmailers and corrupted officials and generally being unafraid of facing mob families when everyone else is kinda scared to take any action.

before the cut to so much rambling, I need to get one question out of the way so...

anyway, lore below, I just didn't want to put that under the cut where no one will read far enough to see it lol

That and he also has experience with eccentric thieves. Also, they're both named after mythical birds and named specifically to be silly with their dialogue ('Mr. Wright, right?' "Kay 'kay?'). I also just want a reason for them to pose as father and daughter and be able to pull it off perfectly.

Now for actual plot stuff, I am of the opinion that Phoenix has acquired some weird-ass skills that he uses in weird-ass ways, I mean in canon he has a talent for bluffing and he uses it to absolutely dominate at poker. So I'm thinking this guy, who hasn't risked his life in over a year, fresh out of leads to fight the case with his disbarment, needs enrichment. This comes in the form of Kay investigating him out of interest as his role of 'that man' and discovering that he's pretty neat actually. She looks at his case files and finds him silly enough to recruit for a new project.

The re-emergence of the Yatagarasu is directly correlated to the dark age of the law and the increasing corruption practically everywhere. The law makers and law keepers of Japalifornia ignore the truth for their own self interest and that is Not Good. Kay recruits Ema, who is interning at the police department and on her way to becoming a detective turned forensic investigator. She is also stem girl extraordinaire who wants to use her tech for good and not to help the police. Funded by Franziska (because the best use of Manfred's fuck you money is actively fighting the corruption he was a part of) the Yatagarasu plan to expose as much corporate and legal filth as possible. Because to build a new legal system, the other one must be destroyed a bit.

In comes Phoenix, who through past cases and his work at the Borsht Bowl, just happens to have a pretty good amount of criminal connections. He's inconspicuous, already kind of undercover, and he knows how to get people to talk. He's disillusioned with the law and settled into a character that requires him to convincingly act at all times. Also his daughter is a magician and I think it would be really funny for him to learn a little sleight of hand and how to use throwing knives only for him to turn around and use those skills for Crime.

In return for info and his help with the Yatagarasu project, Phoenix gets more assistance in his investigation into Kristoph, which makes it easier to keep him and Trucy safe. Also in this AU Kristoph is worse and more invasive and more willing to cause problems if he catches Phoenix learning too much. Every one of their shared dinners consists of Kris poisoning Phoenix's wine and them switching it until they're both confused and Phoenix ends up drinking it but survives anyway.

Another part of this AU that I would want to touch upon would be Phoenix's reputation outside of being a fallen famous lawyer. I think that his work getting multiple mob members, prosecutors, a police chief, and generally terrifyingly powerful people incarcerated would get him noticed by people. I like to think that he's trying his best to look pathetic and depressed but the whispers around him make him sound kind of terrifying and it's only because of that that he feels secure enough to take Trucy along with him to the bowl for poker matches. He also is trying to learn her perceiving power, which he can't do but he does get really good at silently communicating with Trucy to the point that they become a kind of terrifying duo.

I just... weird girl crime group (Maya is not allowed, she'll just get falsely accused of murder again)