#the outline i have for this is v fun and im very attached to this au

[rattkachuk]

🌹

a mceichel snippet from an au where jack and connor grow up together, but connor is in an accident as a teen that ends his hockey career before it even starts

“Hey, mind if I use the other half of the ice?” A voice speaks in the small quiet moment of Connor's wallowing, just as the tears freeze to Connor’s cheeks. Connor sniffs and blames the cold before turning around to face the newcomer. It’s Jack. He knows Jack, they’ve played hockey on the same teams since Jack moved here. When they were both just eight years old. That’s seven years. Seven years of playing the ice together, sharing jersey colours, team dinners together after tournaments and road trips on the same buses, playing road hockey in the summer and swearing they were going to play together in the NHL someday. Together. Musings of children that had no idea what life was like outside of the sport they were committing themselves to.

send me a 🌹 for a random bit of a wip <3

[suddencolds]

sending u a star!! ⭐️ sorry i wanted to go thru and pick a specific fic but im too sleepy lol but any yvescent piece u had thoughts on :D

[from Fanfic Writers - Director's Cut]

hello!!! THANK YOU N, IT MADE ME REALLY HAPPY TO RECEIVE THIS 🥹🥹🥹

I also realize am responding to this like 2 months late :') I thought for a long time on which fic to comment on, and now that I've posted Atypical Occurrence pt. 2, I thought I might as well write out my thoughts on it while they're still fresh and bc it's close to my heart (I hope that's okay hehe)

—

⚠️❗️ Warning that I will be attaching snippets from my deleted drafts below!! Please read the published installment before you proceed to read this post. This is a little embarrassing... all I can say is that those drafts were deleted for a reason 🥴

—

There’s a grocery store that’s a ten minute drive from Vincent’s apartment. 

I rewrote this scene... 3 or 4 times? It gave me sooo much trouble 😭 I think in the first draft Vincent actually tears up tasting Yves's cooking. (I know, Vincent, I want Yves to cook for me too 😭❗️)

Terrible (ugh 😭) first draft screenshot under the cut (screenshot = old draft, indented quote = current draft):

(Yves pulling up a chair at the end... you can tell he is totally at a loss on what to do 😭 and I, too, was at a loss on what to do)

I wrote this ^, and I was like... this moment just feels unearned? I personally despise outlining + I love going in (mostly) blind. Sometimes the first draft works out of the box, and in this case, the first draft (and the second draft, and the third draft) were all soooo bad that I literally had to take a month-long break to regain my confidence 😭

Anyways! I knew right away that Y was going to cook something for V (it's mentioned here and there throughout the series that he is a really good cook 😭 And in part 3 of Fool Me Twice, Yves promises to make Vincent something more ambitious than hot chocolate. He's finally kept his promise now, 12 installments later 🙇‍♀️ )

From draft 2, there was only one scene which I was sure I was going to include in the final draft, aka, spared from the recycling bin. (But I just checked the final draft and it's nowhere to be seen?? Interesting.)

I would have managed fine on my own.

On this (deleted) scene, and more broadly: I think it's important to me that Yves recognizes that Vincent is self-sufficient in many ways: when Vincent says he will be fine alone, he is telling the truth. Yves doesn't have to stay—he recognizes this too, when he heads for the door in the published draft.

Still, Yves stays, of course—initially, because he insists, and later, because Vincent asks :)

“…You won’t leave unless I eat, then,” Vincent says. He says it evenly enough that it barely registers as a question. Yves smiles at him. It’s not a wrong conclusion. “Exactly,” he says.

It was really, really fun writing the differences between caretaker!Vincent (in Fool Me Twice pt. 5) and caretaker!Yves 😊 I usually don't like to say too much on the end of character analysis, bc I like my work to be interpreted as it is: the text is canon, and everything I'm saying here is just me yapping on about my headcanons. (I have been roasted for saying this by a dear friend of mine, probably rightfully so:)

With that disclaimer: Vincent to me (I can only speculate, etc) is a very no-bullshit caretaker (he likes to enforce whatever will lead most directly to the person's recovery; he actually worries a lot, but his worry often manifests as frustration/snappishness), whereas Yves is a lot more permissive and, for the most part, manages his stress—he is the eldest sibling, after all! I think he does what he can to make it a more tolerable experience :)

“So this is just a Yves thing.” “What? Showing consideration for my friends?”  “Showing consideration is one thing,” Vincent answers. “You could have left after dropping off the files. You would still have been showing your consideration.” “I guess that’s true. But at that point, I was already here,” Yves says, with a shrug. “It seemed logical to check up on you.” “Well, now you’ve checked up on me,” Vincent says. “So you can go.” Yves supposes this is true.

Vincent takes things very literally (and I think he's actually quite aware of the social niceties around these kinds of things, which is in part why he is so skeptical to assume that Yves means anything more.)

There’s a hand on his sleeve, tugging. Yves goes very still. When Vincent notices what he’s done, alarm flashes through his expression, and he pulls his hand away as if he’s burned.  “Sorry,” he murmurs, again. And just like that, he’s back to how he always is—his expression perfectly, carefully neutral, in a way that can only be constructed. “I’m sorry.” But Yves doesn’t forget what he’s seen. “You can go.”

This scene means a lot to me!! It took a loooot of editing to hammer into place (the doc I wrote it on is titled "fixing this scene would FIX ME" haha). I think this is the first time Vincent has actively sought out Yves's comfort 😭 And he regrets it almost as soon as he's said it, because he does not do things without a good justification, and wanting something—even wanting it badly—does not feel like a sufficient justification to him. But give Yves an inch and he will take a mile!! He will take a hundred miles!! That is just the kind of person that Yves is.

I was talking with some friends previously about how I wanted to write Vincent reaching out for Yves. How I wanted Vincent to, through the haze of fever, cross a line that he'd previously not allowed himself to cross :') I think it is a time-old trope to have someone, in their feverish delirium, utter something embarrassing and utterly uncharacteristic of them, or divulge something that has been difficult for them to say.

This whole time drafting, I was thinking, how can I set up a moment like that and have it feel earned? How badly would he have to be feeling? What kind of setup would justify getting past his 590859 mental defenses? (I do not like to outline, but sometimes I do have an emotional beat that I have in mind, and then I have to work backwards to figure out the setup. This took SO much working back from, and I really thought about it for very long). I was almost sure that Vincent would regret it immediately after too 😭

Yves opens his arms out in offering, tries on a smile. “I’ve been told I give good hugs. Good enough to cure all ailments, obviously.”

Ahh, so Y offering V a hug is inspired by a fic I read 6 years ago, where a character offers another a hug as a joke and then the other character surprises them by taking it. Yves is really offering here, but I think he recognizes that joking about it will make it easier for Vincent to accept 😭

Yves has hugged a fair share of people in his life. He doesn’t think he’d be able to list them all if he were asked to. It’s different, though, being so close to Vincent��so close that Yves can reach out and let his hair fall through his fingertips. He can lift up his palm and feel the rigid line of his spine, the slope of his shoulders; he could reach out and trace the dip of his wrist, the form of his hand. Vincent’s chin digs slightly into his left shoulder. His nose is turned slightly into Yves’s neck—like this, he is almost perfectly still. Yves can feel the warm brush of air against his neck whenever Vincent exhales. He is so close that Yves is afraid, for a moment, that he might hear how badly his heart is racing.

I have nothing to say about this paragraph except that I edited it for like 40 minutes straight.

Last thing!!

“We had a habit of keeping the heat off, in the winters, and closing the windows.”

The scene near the end (where Vincent tells Yves about his childhood) is actually the scene which came the most easily to me. I also did not write it last; I jumped around. It took me around 1.5 hours. (By comparison, simply editing the scene before it took 11 😵‍💫)

I did always intend for Vincent to disclose... well, /something/ about himself. (You can tell that when I plan, that's really as far as I plan LOL)

Anyways, when Vincent wakes Yves up (after Yves falls asleep at his desk), I initially wrote it so that Yves wakes Vincent from a nightmare.

But (as direct a link to vulnerability as that might have been,) Vincent would not talk about his nightmare 😭 So I switched gears.

I also specifically wanted to write about Vincent's experience being cared for growing up. I think something that's culturally resonant with me (as an Asian American, and the eldest daughter to immigrant parents) is like, the ways families can and cannot say I love you—the quiet things that are done in place of a more direct expression of it. The way that while unspoken consideration can speak volumes, it can just as easily be invisible. But even now, writing this post, I feel like it's difficult for me to untangle the feelings and experiences I've had into something that feels sufficiently multifaceted.

Vincent has a different childhood from I do (it is probably worth noting that I do not project onto any of my characters, nor do I use them as a vessel to get my own experiences across). I think I'm just drawn to writing tricky/non-straightforward expressions of love, in general :) Sometimes that is the kind of love that resonates with me most.

[thewatercolours]

1. That ficlet of rippling consequences where no1 and no2 are bantering outside graham’s bedroom door is so lovely and warm and soft. They care so much. And anything you’ve written for frostburn ever - you nailed frosted graham’s character so completely and im just. In awe. I cannot compare.

3. Your interpretation of my blorbo graham is lovely - strong and capable and persevering even in moments of weakness. Always reaching for the light. Fills me with joy and is v inspiring when i mostly just knock him down

4. i love the way you write neese and graham’s relationship - they’re the most adorable couple. Couple goals. I wish to squish them. Loving and supportive and chaotic and sharp. You breathe so much warmth and life into them.

6. Ohhh that scene in GG where manny is telling graham to stay in the dark and the cold - and he doesn’t. He reaches for the light. I love that. I love him. I need more moments like that in my fics lbr

8. How very much like canon it feels. Seriously im jealous, it has the same mental palette as the game itself. I tend to just wander off in the reeds and im just in awe of your prowess. Are you sure you’re not a member of TOG’s team in disguise?

9. Goblin graham goblin graham goblin graham - especially more of my boy ashdown, im surprisingly attached to him. Goblin graham actually makes me anxious with how good it is, i have to steel myself in order to read it, its scary

12. I keep coming back to that stargazers fic, filled with hope and wishes for the future. I adore so very much and i need that.

Oh no - I forgot to reply to this, and it absolutely made my day when I read it! Honestly this warmed my heart like a cookie in an oven.

It's so kind of you to mention that guard scene! I don't often attempt putting more than one guard in a scene, because there's a certain magic to their dynamics that can be difficult to capture (some of you are pros at it, though!) I look at that scene and see room for growth, so it's encouraging that on some level I was on the right track! As for Frostburn - what can I say? You captured my imagination with your lovely writing in that AU, enough that I got over my tentativeness about writing in another person's fanon. You did that icy king so well I couldn't help but want to give it a try myself.

I love how we all have slightly different focuses in how we experiment with the same character. None of us have a formula. We're always breaking and expanding our own patterns. But we all have approaches we love, and yes, I do love sticking Graham in trouble but making sure there's always some small thing he can try (what can I say? I came to this game through the reboot, where there's always a way forward, not the classic era where you really should have picked up that one object during the 5 second window of time, and if you didn't, you are bound to wander that forest indefinitely with no way past the witch. My Graham always has options, even if said option is just climbing up and and down chains in an anachronistic elevator. Your Graham approach is awesome too - sometimes he has options, but he doesn't always have options, which is true to life and is an opportunity to explore from important ideas. He makes me feel tremendously, and think about how that's often the way in life - we can't make it on our own, and have to rely on our friends and loved ones and unmerited moments of grace to make it through. And when your Graham triumphs in the end, that ending is so marvelous and a great relief and it feels earned.

Ha, at first I wasn't going to write that scene with Manny, because it was in the embarrassed, concise outline, but in the end the prospect of writing it felt fun, so I went for it. It's the only GG scene thus far that's from the POV of those watching the mirror rather than someone in the scene, which also was fun to play with.

Uh oh, someone's finally on to me. Fine, you caught me. I am indeed a dev with the Odd Gentlemen. I'm the one who decided we wouldn't follow up on the dragon in the final chapters, designed the log decorating game and the "I'm going on an adventure" game, wrote all the wonderful quips about participation awards and messenger pigeons in Chapter Four, and saved you from having to play the scenes with Whisper and Acorn in Chapter Two. You're welcome - I aim to please. ;-)

Thanks for all the kind words. I haven't finished writing mine for everyone yet - I should do that!

[leoxxii]

fic writer interview

tagged by - @frill-shark !! I WAS TAGGED IN JANUARY BUT I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO DO IT SO UM. OOPS AKDBKABRWJ

name - hi hello im leo!! i also go by hawk & spooky! hawk is my fursona's name and i used to use spooky a lot while playing among us and got attached to the nickname :o

fandoms - uhh usually i don't write for that many fandoms bc my hyperfixations come and go akbflabrkw but currently i write a lot of subnautica and warrior cats! i also used to write a bit of dbh but uh. my interest in that game dropped HARD i cant even force myself to play it let alone write it anymore so akrhkavrkwhr

where you post - just ao3 😔✊ i usually post links to my writings on tumblr but other than that yeah just a03 :o

most popular oneshot - a jerry-centric dbh thing i wrote like 3 years ago now? it has about 500 hits! its the oldest thing on my ao3 besides my warriors stuff and a03 is not a v popular source of warriors content akfnksbrowbr

most popular multi-chapter - my subnautica: survivors au! first thing since my wattpad days that ive felt genuinely happy with and im glad that other ppl enjoyed my niche little au so much!!

fics you were nervous to post - LITERALLY ALL OF THEM TBH. im always kinda nervous to post content but ive gotten a lot better at being less concerned with it recently! although if i had to choose one uneven odds brought me a lot of trouble bc its That specifically catered to myself. i rewrote it like 3 times just to try to get rid of all the embarrassing parts and i refuse to re-read at all KABDOABROABE

how do you choose your titles - i dont i just close my eyes and spin a roulette wheel and see what happens. FR THOUGH i dont rlly know i just kinda.. choose a phrase or word i like (survivors, the last warriors) or sometimes i use song lyrics (uneven odds, a world alone)

do you outline - yes but im awful at it sjfblavrowvriw. i write very VERY vague outlines that are half shitposty and completely useless as an outline to anybody except for me. i often stray wayyy off the outline too and the story almost always ends up no longer following the outline and i free-write by like half way through 😔✊

favorite story ive written so far - as i mentioned above, red survivors!! the entire series is currently at over 125k words altogether and its been so much fun to write and talk about with its readers. its the first multi-chap fic ive finished in YEARS and im so happy ive stuck with it bc it means so much to me, these characters and their world and interactions make me so emo all the time

complete - out of the 6 i have on a03, 4 are finished! granted 3 of those 4 are oneshots bc im typically not that good at finishing multi-chaptered ones. and this number only includes the fics ive finished enough to get a single chap at least out so um. LABDKABDKBA

in progress - i usually only work on 1 fic at a time so i don't forget about one over the other so im only rlly working on a world alone rn! i am planning a remake of my old warriors story so that's technically in progress ive just been really really slow with it,,, oops

coming soon - ok ok actually i have another subnautica themed thing planned where its like a collection of one-shots of characters on the aurora! i rlly want to further explore and expand the survivors au characters and ive been thinking of a few different scenarios that i could write about,,, might never get finished but im hoping to start writing it once awa is completed! sometime this year if all goes well 👀

prompts - i used to take prompts all the time omg, now i never rlly get any :( but i mean hey, ill try to do something for most prompts if anyone is interested… 👀👀

tagging - uhhh idk how many ppl i know are writers buttttt lets see um @ryttu3k @io-wall @stellar-starryy @flamefoxcat @warriorofkungfu !! no pressure to actually do this tho y'all!!!! i honestly have no idea if some of u write at all but ur all cool ass ppl so yeah!! thabk you for reading ilu all have a good day im embarressed over talking so much byeee !!!!

[mvlcolms]

*clears throat*  is  this  thing  on  ?  hi  friends  im  mella  !  i  go  by  feminine  pronouns  n  am  19  yrs  of  achy  joints  and  random  migraines  .  basically  19  going  on  107  .  i’m  here  to  introduce  u  to  malcolm  .  fair  warning  tho  ..  he  is  the  worst  .  so  if  u  dont  hate  both  of  us  by  the  end  of  this  ,  feel  free  to  like  this  or  hmu  so  we  can  plot  smth  ? 

❛ welcome  to  new  york  ,  malcolm  hansen  .  your  resemblance  to  herman  tommeraas  is  absolutely  uncanny  .  by  the  looks  of  your  tesla  roadster  ,  we’re  thinking  you’ll  fit  right  in  .  according  to  tmz  ,  you  just  had  your  twenty  second  birthday  bash  .  your  chances  of  making  it  in  the  city  are  dicey  since  you’re  unscrupulous  ,  but  being  captivating  gives  you  an  advantage  .  (  cismale  &  he/him  ) 

SO  let  me  introduce  u  to  malcolm  richard  hansen  iii  ,  but  if  u  call  him  anything  other  than  mac  ,  he  prob  will  throw  hands  .  he  comes  from  olllllld  money  ,  nobody  rly  knows  how  the  family  got  rich  initially  but  his  grandpa  (  the  og  malcolm  )  made  even  more  money  by  creating  a  very  successful  record  label  thats  now  rly  dominant  in  the  music  industry  .  his  grandpa  is  currently  79  yrs  old  n  just  recently  stepped  out  as  the  ceo  but  is  still  has   a  lot  of  influence  in  the  company  and  obviously  in  the  family  .  this  might  sound  irrelevant  but  it  will  be  important  later  on  i  promise  .

ok  so  mac  was  born  to  mac  jr  and  a  former  singer  named  tara  michaels  .  they  met  when  she  was  in  the  record  label  building  , for  a  meeting  in  regards  to  a  possible  contract  and  the  rest  was  history  ?  grandpa  hated  tara  and  made  no  secret  of  his  opinions  abt  her  .  basically  he  thought  she  was  a  golddigger  (  she  was  )  and  his  son  was  stupid  (  also  true  )  ,  and  even  refused  to  attend  their  wedding ceremony .  needless  to  say  ,  as  soon  as  they  got  married  ,  the  couple  left  sunny  california  n  settled  down  in  chicago  .

mac  was  his  first  male  grandchild  tho  ,  n  even  if  he  hated  his  mother  n  resented  his  dads  stupidity  ,  mac  was  kinda  like  his  golden  child  .  so  senior  kinda  stole  his  grandson  ?  not  rly  but  he  did  keep  him  in  la  every  summer  n  holidays  ,  when  he  wasnt  in  school  in  chicago  .

so  mac  rly  looked  up  to  his  grandpa  growing  up  even  if  he  also  thought  he  was  an  asshole  ?  they  werent  super  close  but  had  a  lot  of  respect  for  each  other  ,  n  mac  much  preferred  spending  his  time  with  og  mac  than  with  mac  jr  n  his  ma   (  oh  boy  this  is  bound  to  get  confusing  )  .  but  yea  ,  his  grandpa  was  a  huge  influence  on him  while  growing  up  ,  which  was  mayhaps  not  a  good  idea  .

once  he  graduated  high  school  ,  his  grandpa  told  him  that  he  wanted  him  to  run  the  company  in  his  dads  place  bc  he  wasnt  leaving  a  multibillion  dollar  company  for  that  doofus  ,  but  sneaky  old  mac  told  him  that  there  were  terms  to  this  development  .  mac  would  get  the  company  once  he  retired  ,  but  since  his  father  had  been  such  a  dumb  fuck  ,  he  would  only  get  the  company  n  his  money  ,  if  he  married  a  woman  approved  by  the  senior  before  he  kicked  the  bucket  .  mac  threw  an  absolute  fit  ,  but  eventually  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he’d  rather  marry  someone  for  convenience  than  be  poor  for  the  rest  of  his  life  .  which  tbh  so  would  i  .

ENTER  ARRANGED  FIANCÉE  .  they’ve  been  engaged  for  about  two  yrs  now  but  no  one  is  in  any  rush  for  the  actual  marriage  .  the  deal  was  that  they  only  had  to  do  it  before  senior  died  ,  n  since  he’s  in  pretty  much  perfect  help  ,  the  duo  is  just  biding  their  time  .  mac  moved  to  nyc  to  live  w/  the  fiancée  ,  but  as  of  now  ,  they  r  pretty  much  just  roommates  atm  .  so  yeah  basically  thats  how  mac  ended  up  in  this  moment  in  his  life  lmao  . 

in  regards  to  his  personality  ,  mac  is  pretty  much  a  mini  version  of  malcolm  senior  .  he’s  v  confident  (  cocky  )  n  has  a  LOT  of  trouble  trying  to  view  life  by  any  other  point  of  view  than  his  own  .  very  selfish  and  honestly  not  a  guy  u  can  put  ur  trust  in  ?  he’s  not  like  a  super  asshole  or  anything  ,  is  in  fact  rly  charming  n  can  be  a  great  person  to  hang  out  w/  but  if  you’re  his  best  friend  n  he  feels  like  he  can  get  away  w/  hooking  up  w  your  mom  ? 12/10  will  do  it  .

is  mad  into  parties  ?  always  hanging  out  in  the  hottest  spots  w  all  different  kinds  of  ppl  until  the  sun  is  comin  up  .  he  has  weird  views  when  it  comes  to  dating  which  is  lowkey  for  is  kinda  an  asshole  who  gives  no  fucks  n  usually  ends  up  being  hated  by  his  exes  .

but  he’s  also  a  super  fun  guy  to  be  around  !!  will  always  be  down  for  a  good  time  n  do  his  best  to  cheer  u  everyone  around  him  .  u  r  always  going  to  be  entertained  around  him  there  isnt  even  a  choice  .

he  works  on/off  for  the  record  label  ,  mostly  monitoring  bigger  artists  n  such  because  we  love  nepotism  around  here  friends  ,  but  he  also  does  music  every  once  in  a  while  ?  its  not  frequent  ,  n  he  mostly  writes  songs  for  other  artists  , but  he  has  previously  released  an  album  n  scored  a  couple  of  #1s  .  i  pretty  much  think  of  his  vc  n  style  as  bazzi’s  ,  but  he’s  definitely  not  super  active  as  a  singer .

so  far  this  is  pretty  much  it  for  mac  .  i’m  still  working  on  him  a   little  ,  but  this  is  an  alright  outline  of  his  for  now  .  i’m  gonna  list  some  possible  connections  but  those  are  gonna  be  pretty  basic  .  feel  free  to  hmu  in  my  ims  or  on  discord   (  mella is lost #1597  )  where  i  am  p  much  all  the  time  so  we  can  come  up  w  some  bomb  ideas ?

someone  whos  signed  to  the  label  n  they  connected  through  it  ?  could be  all  kinds  of  stuff  actually  .  

best  friends  bc  even  demons  need  those  every  once  in  a  while  .

exes  ,  all  kinds  of  them  but  mostly  bad  terms  bc  mac  is  the  worst  .

pretty  much  all  the  fwbs  no  strings   attached  things  specially  if  they  come  w/  angst   . 

hype  friends  who  r  always  there  to  have  a  good  time  w  each  other  .

first  love  type  of  thing  ?

skinny  love  that  will  never  work  ?

i  cant  think  of  anything  else  ?  pls  dont  give  up  on  me  tho  n  like  this  thing  or hmu  for plots  bye !!!

[hoyoungy]

001. Sanctioned | Jun

genre: comedy, mentions of sex, college/roommates au, friends with benefits au | jun x fem!reader summary: dating does not come easy to apartment 417. sex is even worse. well, maybe it was just you. it seems like everyone you know is able to get laid, get a date - hell, even a hug! you look sad and desperate as you wallow in your dry spell, so when your roommates soonyoung, mingyu, and minghao try to be your wingmen on a saturday night, you end up signing a no-strings-attached contract with a very familiar, but very much willing face word count: 2839 a/n: .... i know i literally just said i didn’t want to post this soon...... yet here i am..... im sorry..... warnings include swearing, alcohol, mentions of sex, dialogue-heavy, and platonic relationships

part 002

“I think I’m gonna be celibate,” you said as you plopped down on the couch next to Soonyoung. You just wasted the past couple of days talking to this guy on Tinder and you just found out he was about to graduate… high school. You would think college would be the prime time for you to find a hookup through a free dating app, but boy, were you wrong. Probably because people your age were being competent adults who didn’t need an app to talk to someone.

“You said that last week,” Soonyoung said, not looking up from his textbook on the coffee table. He knew this routine all too well.

“But I mean it this time.”

“Didn’t you also say that last week?”

“I’m sure I did.”

“Did something happen to that Felix guy on Tinder?”

“He was so young it felt illegal,” you groaned.

“Like, Chan young?”

“Younger.”

“Jesus Christ, you cradle-robber.”

“Shut up, I know, ok! It’s not my fault, he totally lied about his age!”

“I don’t know, _____, you’re not getting any younger. Who knows, maybe young guys could be your new thing? It seems to be working. I know a few people! For example, Mingyu -”

“Soonyoung, I will not begin my cradle-robbing career with Mingyu, of all people.”

“Did someone say cradle-robbing and my name in the same sentence? Is there an older woman in need?” you both heard Mingyu say as he walked through the front door. He tossed his backpack near the collection of shoes in the corner before grabbing a snack in the kitchen like he always did when he came home.

“Ugh, I can just feel my panties drying up every time you speak.”

“Words can hurt, you know.”

“Are we making fun of Mingyu again?” Minghao said as he left his room to join you all.

“I literally just got home, can’t I have a snack first?” he pouted.

“Guys, it’s 4:00 PM, which means it’s my hour to complain! If we aren’t going to follow the schedule, then this is anarchy.” You referred to the poorly-drawn clock on the dry erase board that hung in the kitchen. Every hour that struck 11 or 4, AM or PM, was your time to complain about anything and everything, and the rest of the time was divided amongst the rest of the roommates. Your complaining got so out of hand that the boys decided to punish you by giving you set hours in a day and you were sure to use up every damn second.

“Sorry, Mingyu just makes it so easy,” Minghao snorted. “So what’s up?”

“What’s up is that I haven’t had sex in six months.”

“I am eating, you penis-repellant,” Mingyu scolded with cheeks full of food.

“My God, six months? I thought six days was bad… What happened with that Sungjin guy you brought home a couple of months ago?” Soonyoung asked.

“He ended up, um… Crying…”

“About what!?”

“Bro, I don’t even know, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Yikes, ok. How about Sehun from Accounting?”

“Passed out when we got home.”

“Jin from the bar?”

“Strictly a cuddler.”

“Uh, Gymhead Youngjae?”

“Pulled a muscle before the foreplay started.”

“Steven the exchange student!?”

“See, it was going well, but the language barrier was kind of a big thing -”

“Good lord, you really are a penis repellant,” Soonyoung sighed. “You’re hopeless.”

“Couldn’t even get with Steven the exchange student,” Mingyu tisked.

“Guys, what do I do ~ !?” You threw your face into the nearest pillow. The years of your youth were dwindling down with each passing second and all you wanted to do was to have some fun, but these past six months have amounted to nothing.

You couldn’t blame anyone else but yourself, though. You’ve been single your entire college career - like, never had a boyfriend, but have gone on dates and had hookups and it was all by choice. These were the best, stressless four years of your entire life. You didn’t wanted to bother with your never-ending fear of commitment, but it was starting to take a real toll on your needs. If you just sucked it up and got a boyfriend, you wouldn’t be looking like a desperate mess.

“Let’s go out tonight,” Mingyu suggested. “It’s a Saturday night, midterms are over, we’ll be each other’s wingman, and I heard Jun’s throwing a banger ~”

“Jun!?” you screeched. “Isn’t his place like, super nice?”

“Yeah, his rent is ridiculous, but that’s how all foreign exchange students are.” All at once, you, Mingyu, and Soonyoung glared at a cowering Minghao who wore his Gucci slip ons. “C’mon, we’ll get all gussied up and have fun and - oh! Let’s all match!”

“Why…”

“Uh, because we’re a squad? Duh?”

“Fine, but I only wear black when I go out. It’s slimming.”

“Agreed, it makes my cheeks look not as squishy,” Soonyoung said.

“And it makes my orange hair stick out,” Minghao nodded.

“Ugh, you’re all so boring. Black it is. And we’re leaving promptly at 10:30 PM or his infamous concoction of Moon Juice, trademark is gonna run out.”

“Guys, can you be real with me and judge my outfit?” you asked as you stepped out from your room. The other three were ready to go, sitting in the living room. They all looked in your direction with wide eyes when you came out in an all black outfit that looked too hard to breathe in. “Be honest, does this scream ‘I’m desperate, please have sex with me’ ?”

“Your shoes sort of whisper ‘I’m both desperate and old’, but the outfit is yelling into a microphone saying ‘I am ready to drop to my knees any second’,” Minghao nodded as a matter-of-factly.

“That has to be the nicest thing you have ever said to me,” you smiled. “Ok, let’s get drunk and get laid ~!”

“We sound so sad right now,” Soonyoung sighed, closing the door behind him.

“So what’s the game plan? Is there an outline? An itinerary? Syllabus, maybe? Examples from previous students last semester?”

“All I know is Mingyu’s in charge.”

“Hell yeah, I’m in charge. And the plan is that there is no plan.”

“What, how could there be no plan?” you asked.

“You can’t make plans to get laid, that takes the whole fun out of the equation! See, we’re probably going to be, like, the best looking people there, and that means we have to be the ones playing hard to get.”

“That’s the exact opposite of what I’m trying to be.”

“Lucky for you, you won’t have to try hard because you kind of make yourself hard to get already when your standards are impossibly high.”

“They are not impossibly high!”

“Didn’t you turn down a guy because he wore man-flops?”

“Yeah, but -”

“And that one guy who wore really low v-necks?” Minghao chimed.

“Ok, well -”

“Can’t forget the one guy in our Stats class who wrote with 1.0 mm pens and pencils -”

“That is a completely valid reason, Soonyoung, and you know it! No one older than ten writes with such a large diameter!” you pouted. “Ok, I get it, I’m hard to get, but why is it when I’m trying to be easy to get, I still end up in bed alone?”

“Because you go for the guys who are also naturally hard to get! That’s the number one biggest mistake we beautiful people make all the time.”

“So you want her to bring home some ugly dude whose standards are as low as a sex doll with a fleshlight installed?” Soonyoung snorted.

“No, she just has to learn to play smart and pick out the guys like us - guys that only look like we’re playing hard to get.”

“Translation, Mingyu wants to have sex with you.”

“That is also true, but we signed a No Conflict-of-Interest contract, so I begrudgingly abide by it.”

“I almost forgot about that one. We have way too many contracts.” You sighed as the four of you arrived in front of Jun’s apartment - no, loft. If it was on the very top floor of a high-rise, you’d consider it a penthouse, it was that big. The door was tall and wide, made of some steel maybe? Iron? It was the most beautiful door you’ve ever seen, like it came out of a dream apartment catalog under the industrial themed homes, right next to the rustic section.

When Mingyu opened the door, there were so many people inside that even Mingyu couldn’t see past two rows of people.

“What the hell, it’s only 10:45! Why are there so many people here!? Minghao, call him ~!”

“Way ahead of you - yah, Hyung, we just got here!” Minghao yelled over the phone. “We’ll try to get to the windows. Bring four cups of juice while you’re at it!”

The four of you squeezed through the tight crowd with Minghao taking the lead. You took the opportunity to look at potential targets, but there was way too much going on to even focus on that. Jun had lots of plants and neon signs in his loft that you felt like you were in a music video set in California by some Soundcloud DJ. They really added to his cool, rich boy ambiance, except for the one guy taking a piss in one of the plant pots.

“See anyone you like yet?” Soonyoung asked once the four of you found an empty space to chill out in.

“I feel like I don’t eat enough avocado toast and arugula to get with anyone here…” you groaned. “Also, I don’t think my prescription is bad enough? This isn’t the pregame to a poetry slam, is it?”

“Why do you always ruin everything?”

“It’s the cynicism in me.”

“Found you!” Jun slipped through in front of you pinching four red cups filled with pink liquid. After handing each of you a cup, he casually wrapped his arm around your shoulder, pressing his cheek to the top of your head. “Ah, I missed you guys ~”

“Are you drunk?” you teased.

“No, I’m drunk.”

“Good lord…”

“The host isn’t supposed to be drunk!” Minghao scolded. “You do this every time and regret it because your place gets trashed!”

“It’s fine, I scheduled the cleaning crew to come at six tomorrow morning!” Jun giggled, squeezing your shoulders tightly. “I am having a great time, are you having a great time, _____?”

“I always have a good time drinking Moon Juice.” The drink touched your lips and you immediately cringed, regretting taking such a large gulp. It tasted much stronger than the first time he ever made it when you all were eighteen - was it supposed to burn this badly going down? “Holy shit, Jun, what’s in this!?”

“Lots of Everclear. I thought the new recipe was appropriate.”

“Good, she needs more of it.” Mingyu tilted your cup upwards, forcing you to gulp more down. “C’mon, you need more liquid courage before we start.”

“Start what?”

“Our hunt. It’ll end up being a scavenge if we continue at this pace.”

“Ooh, a hunt! I want to participate,”

“Wow, ok I am definitely feeling it,” you muttered, trying not to spit out the liquid heat. “I am feel - ing it…”

“Good, now go talk to that guy over there who’s been eyeing you since you walked in.” Mingyu gently shoved you towards a shy-smiling stranger across the way and you could feel your flirty instincts mix with the alcohol.

Let the hunt begin.

“Four hours,” you sighed. “I flirted for four hours and I got nothing!”

You were the only one left in Jun’s apartment, ‘helping’ him by drinking the rest of the Moon Juice so that it doesn’t go to waste and fueling your self-hatred. The guys left earlier, walking away much luckier than you and leaving you here to rot in your misery. Jun sat beside you with a cup of his own in his hands, listening to you rant for the last thirty minutes.

“I mean, I know I’m not the sexiest woman in the world, but I like to think that I’m kind of up there on the looker-scale, you know? Am I wrong, Jun?”

“Honestly, those guys are blind, _____.”

“Thank you!”

“Both theoretically and literally. Some of them are legally blind.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah…”

You sighed loudly again, kicking an empty cup that was on the floor in front of your feet. You tilted your head roughly to face Jun who only scowled at the mess everyone made. It was probably the alcohol talking, but in all your years of knowing Jun, you never previously appreciated how handsome he was as much as you are right now. His bone structure was so perfect and skin so clear and hair ends so kept together that you hated him for it.

“Stop looking at me like that, it’s embarrassing,” he chuckled.

“You’re just so damn perfect and I hate you.”

“See, if you were this charming earlier, you might have had someone to take home tonight! Why are you trying so hard, anyways?”

“Don’t laugh at me, ok?”

“No promises.”

“I haven’t had sex in six months.”

“Oh… Wow…” he whistled quietly, holding in his laugh. “I’m so sorry… Are you ok? Is there, like, something wrong with you, like did you have surgery or something -”

“Don’t pity me!”

“I’m not, I’m genuinely concerned for you! Do you at least play with yourself -”

“Shut up, for the love of God, don’t finish that sentence -”

“- or use toys, because if you don’t, I know a guy that sells customized ones and the quality is amazing -”

“If you don’t shut up, I’m going to scream.”

“Ok, ok,” he grinned. He playfully ruffled your hair when you kept the pout on your face. “Glad to see you’re still the same cute orientation leader that I met my sophomore year.”

“And you’re still the same reckless foreign exchange student that breaks the hearts of hundreds of young girls.”

“You flatter me too much.”

In the span of that short banter you and Jun shared, the two of you ended up with little-to-no space between each other on the couch. Your head fit comfortably on his broad shoulder and his soft hand felt warm as it rubbed your bare inner-thigh affectionately. His hand travelled a little higher with each stroke, sparking your interest and your core.

You knew exactly where this was headed.

“So, Jun…” you began awkwardly. “You wanna, like… you know ~”

“Good lord, is this how you’ve been asking guys to have sex with you this whole time!?” he asked. “No wonder they’ve all said no.”

“No…! I was totally cool about it when I asked…!”

“Prove it,” Jun challenged, sitting up to face you properly. “Show me how you ask to have sex.”

“Can’t you just be normal and carry me bridal-style to your room and, like, ruin me? Why do you have to test me!?”

“C’mon, _____, you know I’m not normal. I’m also trying to help you for future encounters. What if this is where your problem starts! Are you willing to risk that possibility?” Jun chuckled as you vigorously shook your head. “Good. Now show me how you ask, or we’re not doing it.”

“Ugh, you’re so weird!” you groaned, preparing your game-face reluctantly. “Ok, fine. Jun, will you ~ do the… do… with me.”

“Oh, my God, you are hopeless.”

“I am completely hopeless!” You buried your crying face into Jun’s strong, toned, and unexplainably exposed chest as he rubbed your back sincerely. “I need help!”

“Yeah, you do.”

“Jun, you need to help me.”

“Absolutely not -”

“Please, you are literally my only hope! Everyone in the apartment has done nothing to help me!”

“I’d much rather take your previous offer by just having sex with you instead,” he declared

“I mean, I assumed we were doing that anyways, but it’s not like you and I are going to keep it up after that.”

“Why not?” Jun’s smirking face leaned in close to yours so that the tips of your noses almost touched. “I wouldn’t mind.”

“Are you proposing what I think you’re proposing? Because I don’t play games when it comes to deals, especially of this kind, Jun, so you better not be joking -”

“Holy shit, _____, you talk too much.”

After cutting you off, he aggressively pressed his lips to yours. He showed you that he wasn’t going to hold back tonight by shoving his tongue in your mouth and crawling on top of you on the couch. Even though you saw this coming, it didn’t stop your skin from feeling like fire wherever his hands touched you. The both of you were definitely still drunk and you both knew it when your hands messily explored each other’s bodies and struggled to remove each other’s clothes.

“Should we go to your room?” you asked breathlessly as Jun nibbled on the sensitive spot on your neck.

“Mm, no,” he muttered between kisses. “I don’t think I could wait that long.”