#thinking about the symbolic gesture of kissing someone’s ring | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ilikekidsshows · 3 years

Note

Hi! I loved the Adrinette analysis you made...do you think you could make a similar one for Ladybug and Chat Noir over seasons 1 to 3?

I knew I was leaving myself open for this ask, and I kinda dreaded it, because 80% of Ladynoir screen time is dedicated to defeating an Akuma, meaning the characters have something else to focus on rather than progressing their relationship, and most the relationship stuff is just Marinette being really stubborn and refusing to properly look at her partner. In other words, there's significantly more screen time, but also proportionally less stuff going on in Ladynoir than in Adrinette because the characters are superheroes on the job and one party is actively resisting any development happening. It's also a very different kind of arc and relationship to Adrinette where the goal is just the two of them getting closer and more comfortable with each other. Ladynoir has that as well as all the trust issues and superhero team dynamics. Basically, this post is definitive proof that Miraculous has had plot development before season four, and it has had a lot of it. I got almost dizzy with it while compiling this.

Once again, I’m trying to go in a somewhat chronological order to properly track the relationship.

In 'Origins', we only get one-sided Ladynoir stuff. Marinette is new on the job and completely focused on solving the Akuma problem and nothing else. Meanwhile, Adrien actually takes note of his partner. He sees her flounder but ultimately put together a clever plan. He sees her lose faith but ultimately pick herself up and deliver a really badass speech at Hawk Moth. It's really no wonder he fell in love. The number one thing he learned about Ladybug is that she can fail and the second thing was that she could pick herself up again and grab the win anyway. I've brought up earlier in the Top Adrinette Scene discussion that Adrien is very scared of failing, because his father does not forgive failure, so Ladybug being someone who can turn a failure into a win understandably makes his heart go pitter-patter.

Meanwhile, Marinette barely noticed her partner. As I said, she was fully focused on solving the problem, but she was also getting distracted by her own insecurities. Marinette's first experience with Cat Noir was that he was kinda smooth and seemed to be much more confident than Marinette. Her second experience was that he tended to leap before he looked, but was perfectly willing to listen to her say-so. We have a very brief attempt at flirtation from Cat Noir, that Ladybug barely seems to even notice.

In 'Bubbler', Cat Noir actually gets to flirt with his Lady. He's clearly intent on getting her to notice what he's getting at, but Ladybug seems mostly exasperated with him. At this point their partnership is new and Marinette is most likely thinking back to their first case, when Cat Noir was so patient and supportive and not this...much. She still doesn't tell him to quit it, though, meaning she’s trying to accept him being a lot.

'Stormy Weather' has Cat Noir continuing in his attempts to get Ladybug to notice him and this time she responds playfully when they're not right in the middle of a tense situation. She's getting used to this being Cat's way of interacting with her and keeping the mood light.

'Lady Wifi' has the pair discussing the secrecy between them, with Adrien actively making the decision that honoring Ladybug's wishes concerning keeping their secret identities is more important than knowing the identity of the girl he's in love with, that doing so is the proper way to love her. 'Lady Wifi' is also the first time Marinette panics at the idea of something romantic being suggested about her and Cat Noir, when Alya says Adrien might be Cat Noir, that Cat Noir might be the boy she's repeatedly told Alya she's in love with.

'Copycat' shows us for a fact that Ladybug has no idea that Cat Noir's flirtations with her are genuine, and Cat Noir is growing tired of his feelings going entirely unnoticed.

Because of his growing frustration over not being able to communicate his feelings to Ladybug in a manner that she'd take seriously, Adrien goes the extra mile to write her a love poem in 'Dark Cupid'. When he receives a response that appeared with no sender, just a ladybug, he entertains the thought that Ladybug answered his poem and does in fact return his feelings (not realizing that Ladybug would need to know his identity to deliver such a note to him specifically, but Adrien does generally worry less about secret identities than Marinette). 'Dark Cupid' is also the first occasion of Marinette's by-now patented plan "Pretend to be in Love with Cat Noir" to solve problems, except that she was absolutely certain that a True Love's Kiss could occur between them, so there isn't even much room for pretending, but Marinette's denial is so powerful, she'll try.

In 'The Mime' we see Cat Noir actually testing Ladybug's receptiveness to a date, by suggesting that they could have gone to the play together if they didn't have to detransform. Ladybug replies that she has other plans before zipping away, and Cat Noir merely smiles after her. His feelings are growing, and he might still be remembering the love note he got. In fact, this is probably why he says "We are meant to be," in 'Gamer'.

In 'Animan' Ladybug actually does some of her own flirting with Cat Noir by giving him chin scritches. We also see a very straightforward gesture of affection from Cat Noir to Ladybug, when he hugs her in relief after the battle. Ladybug smiles softly at him, seeing that her partner cares about her well-being, while Cat Noir jumps back, embarrassed over his own reaction, or perhaps even afraid of censure. Adrien isn't the type of person to suddenly grab people in a hug, most likely because such "overly emotional" displays are discouraged in the Agreste household. This is the first occasion of Adrien projecting his father's supposed reaction to a thing he does on Ladybug, so he runs away from her.

In 'Simon Says', Cat Noir clings to Ladybug when faced with Gabriel looking at him weirdly (he's trying to figure out if he's Adrien, but Adrien himself never realizes his father was suspicious of his identity). At this point, Ladybug has started to become something of a security symbol to Adrien specifically against his father.

'Reflekta' is the episode where Cat Noir reminds Ladybug that he doesn't just deliver quips and he is actually a hero in his own right, even with diminished capabilities, in response to Marinette almost leaving him behind because he couldn't use his Cat Noir powers, because he'd "just slow (her) down", and then it turns out she couldn't have won without him. However, with the scene of Cat Noir taking the hit, Ladybug also starts on the process of realizing exactly how important her partner is to her success. Noticeably, it's while they're plotting together that Ladybug responds to his flirtation by flirting back, even if not very well (protip, Marinette, demeaning someone isn't funny to anyone but the person doing the demeaning, the other person is not suddenly lacking a sense of humor). Cat Noir is also a bit softer with his overtures in this episode, his cheeky flirtation gaining a bit more intimacy.

In 'Antibug', we can see the lessons Ladybug learned in 'Reflekta' sticking, with Ladybug listening to and valuing Cat Noir's input, unlike how the last time he tried to give her advice in a Chloé situation in 'Evillustrator', when she acknowledged he was right but couldn't bring herself to follow his advice. She also flirts with Cat Noir of her own volition, when she rings his bell. Cat Noir also keeps showing genuine warmth towards Ladybug instead of being just cheeky, when Ladybug compliments him. They affirm their bond after taking down Antibug.

The events of 'Reflekta' and 'Antibug' together influence what happens in 'Volpina', where Marinette is very suspicious of a new superhero showing up, without ever suspecting she could have been an Akuma in disguise. Cat Noir is her partner, and Cat Noir is her only partner. She’s not only learned his value, but has grown possessive over him. There's no need for any outsider. This jealousy over Cat Noir is actually something Marinette doesn't get over during the first three seasons the way she learns to deal with her jealousy over Adrien.

By the time 'The Collector' happens, Adrien has developed enough trust in his partner to ultimately believe her over her suspicions about Gabriel being Hawk Moth. This episode also has the first time Marinette voices concern over Cat Noir's emotional well-being instead of merely physical, who, of course, can't tell her what's wrong because it would break the secret identity clause.

'Prime Queen' has some very nice mutual Ladynoir flirting at the start of the interview. However, they're both mortified when Nadja comes out with the pictures. Cat Noir is confused, because he had no idea that their relationship could even give that impression, he must have been feeling like he hasn't been making much progress in getting closer to Ladybug. Meanwhile, Marinette goes defensive for the first time since 'Lady Wifi' only, this time, even more so. She even runs out on Cat Noir when he, very understandably, wants an explanation why he head to learn from a reporter that she'd planted one on him instead of from her. The episode confirms that Marinette will refuse to, in any way, discuss anything romance-related in relation to Cat Noir, even when there's an innocent explanation, like breaking an Akuma's spell. She's so defensive it's suspicious.

We also have another occasion of Marinette "pretending" to be in love with Cat Noir to solve a problem. While Cat Noir purrs either over the confession, having her close, or both. Marinette also jumped at the chance to "pretend" to confess her love so eagerly, that it left Prime Queen unimpressed. Still, Marinette refused to commit to the "ruse" enough to kiss Cat Noir while he's actually conscious and aware of it, because then she'd have to deal with the aftermath of kissing him.

'Dark Owl' has the first true test of faith between Ladybug and Cat Noir, when both of them have to trust the other not to look while they have to recharge. Although, considering 'The Collector', this is actually the first test only for Ladybug. At the end of the episode, Adrien also genuinely asks Ladybug out on a date for the very first time when they unexpectedly have free time from Owl-sitting, but Marinette preferred to skip off to spend time with Alya since she hadn’t gotten to see her while being so busy with The Owl's antics for so long.

'Glaciator' has Cat Noir planning an actual outing for Ladybug. The thing is, before 'Glaciator', Marinette's response to Cat Noir asking her out has always been that she has other plans, no can do. However, in 'Glaciator', she specifically says: "We'll see," and then she ends up ghosting him because she forgot to even send him a message that she didn't feel like going anywhere. At the same time, Gabriel purposefully stands him up for dinner, causing Adrien to project onto the Ladybug situation so hard that he doesn't think Ladybug even sees him as a real friend. Considering Adrien was under the same impression about Marinette in 'Puppeteer 2', it is typical for Marinette to send these kinds of mixed signals (which is fitting, considering how clear communication seems to be the biggest bullet point in her character development agenda).

On the upside, Cat Noir's compromised emotional state led to him being more frank about his feelings to first Marinette and later to Ladybug, finally making Marinette understand that Cat Noir is actually in love with her and how sensitive her partner can really be and that she can hurt his feelings. Notably, in this episode, Marinette particularly enjoys employing her "Pretend to be in love with Cat Noir" gambit, this time even going as far as kissing him, after finding out he's actually in love with her. Indeed, at the end of the episode, her rejection to Cat Noir is entirely focused on her having feelings for someone else (as well). She never once said she doesn't love him, and, in fact, never claims so in the English dub.

In 'Sapotis' we also see a brief glimpse of Marinette's jealousy over Cat Noir when he welcomes Alya onto the team so warmly but, because Rena Rouge was a teammate Marinette herself chose and trusts, she doesn't feel threatened enough to express it more than by merely keeping an eye on their interaction. 'Sapotis' also starts the arc of Cat Noir starting to lose faith in Ladybug having his best interest in mind when Rena Rouge appears out of nowhere and he's expected to just accept that no-questions-asked.

'Gorizilla' notably has Marinette repeatedly voicing her belief that Cat Noir will show up, something Adrien appreciates a great deal, going as far as blushing over something so simple. He's astounded by the fact that his Lady has faith in him, but it seems he still believes it despite the notion being strange to him.

'Frightningale' really drives home the arc going on in this season. 'Riposte' was the first time we saw Ladybug and Cat Noir seamlessly working together to neutralize an Akuma, but in this episode, they move in perfect synch while fighting Frightningale while handcuffed together. Cat Noir and Ladybug's teamwork has reached phenomenal levels.

I've repeatedly said that 'Syren' is less about Cat Noir and Ladybug's relationship and more about Fu's relationships with his two chosen. Still, this is the episode where Marinette gets put on the spot and comes through for her partner and Cat Noir learns that Ladybug keeping secrets from him wasn't of her own volition, but because of Fu, restoring his faith in her completely.

It's most likely because of the trust Ladybug showed towards him in 'Gorizilla' and their perfectly synchronized teamwork in 'Frightningale' that Cat Noir tries to confess to Ladybug again in 'Frozer'. These two episodes could give Cat Noir hope that he might be winning Ladybug over, especially since, as I said before, Ladybug has not said she doesn't have feelings for him. But she, of course, rejects him, although it's notably with more wistfulness than the last time, especially when she comments how she doesn't think it's possible for the "other boy" to not be a concern. 'Frozer' takes place during the arc in season two that covers Marinette's growing frustration at her inability to progress with Adrien the way she wants to and the discontent shows in her interaction with Cat Noir as well.

The change in how Marinette regards Cat Noir's input in fights between season one and two is especially noticeable in 'Style Queen' and 'Maledictator'. Both times Cat Noir is absent in a fight and this influences how Marinette approaches fighting the Akumas. In 'Style Queen' Marinette tries to play it sneaky but also needs to be saved by Plagg's intervention in his holder's absence. In 'Maledictator', Marinette's plan involved siccing the brainwashed Cat Noir on the Akuma's goons. Cat Noir has become necessary to Marinette, which is why he's able to galvanize her during 'Heroes' Day' by reminding her that the two of them against the world is what's always worked.

Season three as a whole revolves around Adrien losing faith that Ladybug could ever return his feelings the way he wishes and Marinette getting several warning signs about how she could lose Cat Noir. I might even go as far as saying that this season has negative Ladynoir development (in that their relationship grows more frayed and brittle instead of stronger).

A big reason for this new development direction is 'Reflekdoll', which, according to the production codes, happens early in the season. In this episode, Ladybug and Cat Noir learn the worst possible (false) lessons about themselves and each other and they carry those lessons for the rest of the season. In my 'Reflekdoll' conflict analysis, I wrote that Ladybug basically "learns" that Cat Noir is fae-like in that he isn't bothered by mortal things like stress or heartbreak. Cat Noir, meanwhile, "learns" that, while it doesn't matter if Ladybug makes a mistake because she can always fix it, him making a mistake makes him fundamentally less worthy as a hero and a person, so he could never be as valuable as Ladybug even as a person and not only strategically.

'Weredad', meanwhile, is the quintessential evidence episode for Marinette being both possessive and in denial about Cat Noir. She's literally pretending to be in love with him to him, while totally denying to herself that she feels anything for him, all the while she's feeling jealous over him seemingly moving on from her to be in love with her. The reason it's so important that no one but Marinette herself and Tikki know what went down in this episode is that Marinette's denial would never last if someone actually questioned this whole mess.

This is also an episode where we can clearly see the aftermath of what 'Reflekdoll' did to Cat Noir. He's once again projecting his situation with his father onto someone else (this time Tom), but he's also blatantly refusing to fight Tom at full strength, because he feels that it's his fault he got Akumatized, allowing himself to get hurt severely because he feels he's not that important, that he might even deserve it.

'Oblivio' has Ladybug once again do the whole: "How dare you say I'm in love with Cat Noir I am quitting this conversation right now!" routine. Cat Noir also got actual confirmation that something about him made his Lady want to kiss him when their memories had been wiped.

'Desperada' has the semi-infamous scene of Ladybug saying she doesn't need Cat Noir and, while she learns the valuable lesson that yes she flipping does, this is also the episode where Adrien repeatedly fails to use the Snake Miraculous correctly, having to give it up to someone else, feeling like an undeserving failure *turns to look at 'Weredad' and then at ‘Reflekdoll*.

'Kwamibuster' is an episode where everyone keeps telling Ladybug not to trust Cat Noir and she believes it to the degree that she sees him as a bigger threat than a Kwami-targeting Akuma. In other words, Cat Noir being treated like a part-time hero again in season four is because of 'Kwamibuster'.

'Gamer 2.0' is actually an important episode for the Ladynoir dynamic. This is the episode where Marinette takes on way too much responsibility (voluntarily) and is really stressed about it, while Cat Noir dismantles that stress with his good humor and positive outlook. This episode enforces the lesson that was stated outright in 'Reflekdoll': "Everyone has their role", and Cat Noir's role is to be the jokester who makes Ladybug feel better. Also, Cat Noir doesn’t even hesitate to make a sacrifice play for his Lady, because he’s less important.

'Timetagger' foreshadows that Marinette's words of affirmation are losing their effect. She repeatedly says things like "I trust Cat Noir", "You're irreplaceable", "You know you're the best", but she doesn't know how to express her regard to Cat Noir in actions. And it's important to note that Adrien was raised among liars and manipulators. Even if he doesn't doubt Ladybug's intentions, he might doubt the depth and truth of her feelings for him. Because Ladybug is so nice, she might lie about valuing him to make him feel better. Words aren't enough when words are the only thing between you and your insecurities. This is also an episode that feeds into Cat Noir's worthlessness arc, with Bunnyx repeatedly insisting that Ladybug in the future is just awesome, while Cat Noir broke her Miraculous. Even Ladybug shoots him down at the end of the episode when he tries to ask for extra affirmation, claiming he "already knows he's great".

In 'Puppeteer 2', Cat Noir's hope from 'Oblivio' that Ladybug might be starting to be won over by him comes back to bite him when the wax Ladybug gets close to him by pretending to be coming onto him. He only realized she was a fake because she smelled wrong, something that comes back to haunt him in 'Ladybug', when he's faced with a perfect copy, whose only difference to the original is that she's apparently in love with him. The villains clearly know he’s so in love with Ladybug it sometimes blinds him.

With the villains using this clear weakness as an in, it's no wonder that Cat Noir finally makes the decision to move on from Ladybug in 'Heart Hunter'. He tries one more time to test her interest to see if she'd be jealous of him dating and, when she's merely overjoyed, he decides to finally move on to Kagami. However, when faced with the actual reality of Cat Noir giving his attention to someone else instead of her (instead of in addition to her), Ladybug actually finds herself hurt and questions the lack of "My Lady" in Cat Noir addressing her, but she instantly denies it when Cat Noir notices. Denial denial denial...

Aaaaaand that's a wrap! Putting this together made me realize just how interconnected the show really is but no one notices because there aren’t any secret identities being revealed, people getting together or lore being revealed. Even something that seems like a breather episode like 'Gamer 2.0' has a larger role in the arc of developing the relationship between our main heroes.

#miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous ladybug #ladynoir #lovesquare #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #ml meta #long post #REALLY long

409 notes · View notes

soobmint · 4 years

Text

voices | choi beomgyu [f] soulmates! au, 14.2k words

s u m m a r y : after seeing your soulmate for the first time (whether in passing or by actually meeting them), you are able to hear their voice in your head—but only when they are singing. you have never been very interested in finding love, and choi beomgyu has lost all interest in singing. what happens when the two of you begin to change one another’s minds about the things you wish to avoid more than anything else?

c o n t e n t s : soulmates au, strangers to sorta enemies to lovers, guitarist! gyu, freckle gyu, college au, yeonjun is your best friend, gyu is a brat but a cute brat, very fluffy, a tiny bit of light angst

t a g l i s t : @hyuckworld @chanluster @honeyju @magicalstellar @yeonjuniper (if you’d like to be added to the taglist for future oneshots, please let me know!)

n o t e : this was requested by my dear friend alice, and i hope i did the request justice! the lyrics used in the oneshot are from genius’ english translation of “runaway.” i hope you guys enjoy the oneshot, and do kindly leave a like, comment, or reblog if you enjoyed it! that would mean the world!

YOU MET CHOI BEOMGYU THE DAY YOU SWORE TO NEVER FALL IN LOVE.

As dramatic as it sounded, the day hadn’t been quite so terrible. You were sitting cross-legged in the floor of one of the many practice rooms in your university’s music department with a bag of popcorn in your lap, your head leaned back against the wall as you stifled back a yawn. Your best friend, Yeonjun, was going on and on about his most recent breakup, but the story was so similar to all the other breakups he had gone through in the past two years that you were having a difficult time staying focused. The afternoon sunlight trickled in through the windows, reflecting off the symbols of the drum set that rested in the far corner. You scooted to the side a bit so that the light wouldn’t shine in your eyes anymore as Yeonjun paced back and forth in front of you.

“And then she just stopped talking to me,” He said, running his hands through his hair. “Out of nowhere too! Things had been going so well, but then it was weird. Next thing I know, she’s breaking up with me—get this—over text.”

You tossed a piece of popcorn into your mouth. “Tragic.”

“I know you’re being sarcastic, but yes, it was tragic.” He finally stopped pacing and collapsed to the ground beside of you, leaning his head against your shoulder. “Love is so hard. You meet someone, you think it’s going to work and that you’ll spend a long, happy life together. Next thing you know, you’re single and stuck with your best friend in a stinky music room, waiting for some club meeting to start—or whatever it is we’re in here for.”

“We’re here because we are in charge of organizing the music and theater departments’ performance at the open house next month,” You corrected, flicking his forehead. “And didn’t you only date this girl for like, a week?”

He sighed, sitting up to glare at you. “Love knows not the boundaries of time, my dear friend. You’ll understand once you find it for yourself.”

“Calm down, Shakespeare. I am not falling in love.”

“Unfortunately for you, I don’t think you have any control over that,” He said with a teasing smile. “But why wouldn’t you want to?”

You scoffed, turning to stare at him. “Well, for starters, you haven’t exactly given me a good idea of what ‘love’ is supposed to be, seeing as you’re crying about another ‘true-love-gone-wrong’ every three weeks. Why on earth would I want that for myself?”

“Hey, love is different for everyone,” He said. “Just because my love life is vibrant and exciting and full of various names and faces doesn’t mean the same will happen for you.”

“How do you predict my love life will go, then?”

He hummed, tapping his finger against his chin in thought. “Well, you’re pretty boring, so you’ll probably be the kind of person that waits until they find their soulmate, then you’ll settle down and live a long, safe and uneventful life with them.”

“Shut up,” you said as you shoved him, but you couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out of you. “I think my soulmate is out of the question, though.”

Yeonjun frowned. “You still haven’t heard him since back then?”

You sighed, shaking your head as you leaned back against the wall. “Not a thing.”

It was quiet then as the two of you thought about what this meant. It wasn’t the first time you had been faced with the reality of your situation, but it still felt like a punch to the stomach every time.

In a world where people waited years, decades even, to hear the voice of their soulmate singing in their head, you had been considered extremely lucky to have heard the gentle voice of a boy in your mind at the age of thirteen. You knew that you had to have met him somewhere—at least in passing—in order to hear him, but you had no clue who he was.

Yet, in a way, it felt like you did. He sang often—so often you wondered if singing was as necessary as breathing to him. It wasn’t a bother to you though; in fact, it was quite the opposite. The songs he sang always told a story; some spoke of love and joy, others off loss and heartache. You felt like each song he sang held a piece of him, and that piece was something that was shared just between the two of you.

Until his voice was gone.

It was rare for him to go a day without singing. Yet suddenly, in your sophomore year of college, days and weeks went by without a single note, and you had yet to hear his voice since.

Your soulmate had stopped singing, and it was difficult to not imagine that the worst had happened.

Yeonjun must have noticed the solemn look that came over your face, because he leaned over and gave your shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t be so gloomy,” he said. “He could still be out there.”

You smiled the best you could, although the pit in your stomach remained. “Yeah, I guess he could.” You tossed the popcorn to Yeonjun and stood to your feet, wiping the crumbs from your hands. “Wait here, okay? The other guy that’s supposed to be helping us is—” You paused to glance at the time on your phone, “—ten minutes late. I’m gonna make sure he knows where to come or see if he’s lost or something.”

Yeonjun nodded, helping himself to what was left of your snack. “Who is the other guy, anyway?”

You sighed, picking up the piece of paper that the department head gave to you when she asked you to organize the showcase, claiming that it would be a great deal of experience for you to acquire in your senior year of university.

You were mostly doing it for the extra credit points.

You began to read the names of the seniors that were in charge of organizing the project listed at the top of the paper. “From the drama department, Choi Yeonjun and Kang Taehyun.”

“Taehyun had an appointment,” Yeonjun said through a mouthful of popcorn. “He’ll be here tomorrow.”

You nodded, tracing your finger along the page, stopping beneath the next pair of names. “From the music department, Y/N and Choi Beomgyu.” You looked up from the paper, tapping your forefinger against your chin. “Choi Beomgyu? Do you know him?”

Yeonjun pondered for a moment before snapping his fingers. “Ah—that guy!” You weren’t surprised; Yeonjun seemed to know everyone in the performing arts programs at your school. “He’s one of the top guitar students, if I’m remembering correctly. Have you not heard of him?”

You shook your head, looking back down at his name. Choi Beomgyu. It did sound familiar, but no images or information came along with the words printed on the page. It was nothing more than a tugging feeling in your stomach that made you feel like you knew him from somewhere.

You began walking towards the door, still staring down at the paper. Just as the tips of your fingers brushed across the metal handle, the door swung open, and you barely had time to glance up and see a head of fluffy black hair and big brown eyes before the door crashed into your forehead so hard you fell backwards to the tile floor.

With a hiss, you brought your hand up to your forehead, relieved to find a lack of blood there. Your eyes were blurred with tears, but through the fog you were able to see the same round doe eyes you had caught a glimpse of before you hit the ground.

“Are you okay?” It was a guy’s voice, clear and ringing in your ears. You rubbed your eyes to clear some of the moisture and were then able to get a better look at the boy in front of you. Curly black bangs hung over his brows, brushing just over the tops of his wide chocolate eyes. His sun-kissed skin was sprinkled with a light spatter of freckles across his nose and lightly flushed cheeks.

You blinked several times before responding. “Y-yeah, I’m okay.” You accepted his hand when he offered to help you stand back up, and soon, you were on your feet once more.

“Sorry about that,” he said, brushing a hand through his already tousled hair. He leaned forward a bit, tapping his finger against your forehead. “Just got a tiny bump, though. You’ll be okay.”

You backed away from his touch, but he didn’t seem to notice as he had caught sight of Yeonjun. Your best friend was quite literally on the edge of his seat, perched on the ledge of the desk while shoveling the last crumbs of popcorn into his mouth as if this were some movie unfolding before his eyes. If you had been close enough, you would have hit him.

“Yeonjun?” Door Boy’s face lit up, and he strode over to give your pink-haired friend a high five. “I haven’t seen you in ages!”

“Hey, man,” Yeonjun said with a grin, ruffling Door Boy’s curly hair with his fingers. “I know, it’s been way too long.”

“I’m sorry, who’s this?” You asked, still a bit dazed from your unexpected collision with the door.

Yeonjun looked back at you, gesturing to the newcomer. “Oh, this is—”

“Choi Beomgyu,” he finished the introduction himself, giving you an overdramatic bow as he said his name. “And you must be Y/N?”

Things were beginning to click together in your head: Door Boy was Choi Beomgyu. In other words, Door Boy was your assigned partner—the one you would be spending the next four weeks trying to plan a performance with.

For some reason, the fact that you had met one another by him slamming a door into your face didn’t leave the best feeling in your chest.

“I look forward to working with you, Y/N.” He gave you a big, lopsided grin, one that any other person would likely find heartwarming.

You forced a smile in return, rubbing your hand across the bump on your forehead. “Same here, Choi Beomgyu.”

PERHAPS IT HAD A BIT TO DO WITH HOW POORLY YOUR FIRST MEETING WENT, BUT SOMETHING ABOUT BEOMGYU REALLY GOT UNDER YOUR SKIN.

The day after you had first met one another, Yeonjun had asked everyone to meet up in the coffee shop inside the campus library. This time, Taehyun from the drama department was also able to be there. You had gotten to know him pretty well over the past four years because of how close he and Yeonjun had become, so the three of you hung out often.

In fact, for the first fifteen minutes of the meeting, it was just the three of you sitting there. You pushed your tongue against the inside of your cheek in agitation before taking another sip of your coffee. “Does this Beomgyu guy have a thing for being late?”

“Relax, Y/N,” Yeonjun said absently from across the table, his attention focused primarily on his cell phone screen. “Not everyone’s a time freak like you.”

“Time freak—What does that even mean?” You crumpled up the wrapper from Taehyun’s straw and threw it at Yeonjun. “Unlike you, I actually care about getting these extra credit points and would like to organize this event properly.”

“Hey! I care!” Yeonjun placed a hand over his heart, as though he had been wounded.

You and Taehyun exchanged a side glance with one another, eyebrows raised.

“Stop looking at each other like that! I do care!”

Before the point could be argued any further, a messy-haired boy crashed into the seat beside of you, out of breath, his backpack falling from his shoulder and onto the ground from the impact. You stared at him for a moment before realizing that it was Beomgyu.

“Sorry—I’m late,” he said in between deep breaths. “On my way here—saw one of the campus cats—got distracted.”

You stared at him again, almost laughing at how ridiculous of an excuse that was. However, considering what little you knew of Beomgyu, the thought of him being fifteen minutes late to a meeting because he got distracted by a cat didn’t seem all that unlikely. With a sigh, you slid a blank piece of notebook paper towards him and set a pen on top of it. “It’s all good. Mind taking notes?”

He nodded—a bit too enthusiastically, if you were to say so yourself. “Sure. Can I grab a coffee real quick?”

You were about to suggest that he should wait until after the meeting, since the three of you had been there for such a long time already, but Taehyun chimed in before you could say anything with, “Of course. We’ve got nowhere else to be.”

It took everything within you to not roll your eyes. You were usually on the same page as Taehyun, but of course, this situation had to be an exception, because Choi Beomgyu was there.

The slacker was rummaging around his backpack, searching for something. He pouted, looking up from his bag. “I forgot my wallet.”

“No worries! Y/N doesn’t eat breakfast, so she always has an extra swipe on her meal card,” Yeonjun said from across the table. Your mouth fell open, eyes wide as saucers. “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind letting you use it. Right, Y/N?”

You weren’t quite sure that you did want Beomgyu to use your meal card, but what kind of jerk would you be if you said no? With gritted teeth and a glare at your best friend, you fished your meal card out of your wallet and placed it into Beomgyu’s open palm.

The pout left his lips instantly, a big grin taking its place. “Thanks. I’ll return the favor sometime soon.”

Doubt it, you thought, watching him rush towards the counter to order. You’ll probably forget you said that by the time you get your drink.

Soon he was back at the table, caramel latte in hand, your meal card back in your possession. You cleared your throat, shifting in your seat. “If everyone’s ready, we can go ahead and get started. I met with my professor yesterday—she’s also the head of the classical music department. She’s technically our ‘overseer,’ but all the responsibility of planning the performance is on us. We’ll only have about forty minutes total to showcase the drama and music departments, so we need to choose our sets wisely.”

“Yeonjun and I were talking a bit about this earlier,” Taehyun said. “We’ve been preparing for our winter show since the beginning of the summer, so we figured we could just perform a scene from the play.”

You nodded, liking the idea. “That sounds perfect. What’s the play?”

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

“Right, I knew that. Could you guys work on finding a scene around ten or fifteen minutes long to perform for the open house, then?”

Yeonjun and Taehyun both nodded. You smiled, glad that you were finally starting to get some things together for the event.

When you glanced at Beomgyu to make sure he had written that down, the smile left as quickly as it had come when you saw that he was doodling tiny flowers and hearts all over the page rather than taking notes.

He must have felt your eyes on him, because he glanced up and caught your gaze. Seemingly unbothered, he simply smiled and said, “Don’t worry. I was just about to write it down.”

Your fingers itched to reach over and take the pen and paper from him so you could just do it yourself, but you kept your composure. “Beomgyu. Any ideas for what the music department could do?”

He finished writing down Drama Department—Scene from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” before looking at you again. He shrugged, another nonchalant smile spreading across his face. “Not really. I’m down for whatever it is you decide to do.”

“Wow, helpful. Truly.” Your eyes went wide when you realized you had said those words out loud after Yeonjun and Taehyun began to snicker beside you. Your face flushed with embarrassment, but Beomgyu seemed unphased, that careless lopsided grin of his still on full display.

You sighed, brushing a piece of hair behind your ear. “Well, I was thinking about having the orchestra do a piece, and then having one of the student bands do a piece. That way we have something classical and something more contemporary. Thoughts?”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Taehyun said. “If we do our scene first, the orchestra could kind of act as a bridge between Shakespeare and more modern art.”

“I agree,” Yeonjun said. “And since Y/N is in the orchestra, she can get in touch with the director and have them prepare something. Oh, and Beomgyu!” The curly-haired boy looked up from his doodling when his name was called. “You know a few different bands, right? Think you could piece together a group of performers?”

“Definitely,” Beomgyu said. When he noticed your eyes on him, he quickly scribbled down Orchestra—Y/N. Band—Beomgyu Me.

“Well, since we all have our first tasks, I guess that’s all for today.” You were happy that the meeting was over; you were ready to get back to your dorm so you could get to work and actually get things done.

“Wait!” Beomgyu said as you stood up, slinging your bag over your shoulder.

Now you have something to say. You raised a brow at him expectantly.

“We should exchange phone numbers, right?” He smiled, standing up and holding his phone out towards you. “I have the others’ numbers, but I figure I should be able to contact my partner from the music department.”

You hesitated, but knew there was no logical reason why you shouldn’t give him your number. You were going to be working together for the next several weeks, after all.

After putting your number in, he took his phone back and grinned at you again, eyes scrunching up into crescent moons. “Perfect! I’ll try not to bother you too much, but I make no promises.” He reached forward and ruffled your hair, and you were too caught off guard by the sudden touch to back away, or to even react at all. He then waved at all three of you, throwing his backpack over his shoulder. “See you guys tomorrow then.” He turned towards you again, throwing you a casual wink that still managed to have you flustered. “I’ll be in touch, partner.”

You turned to watch him leave, face warm as you brushed through your hair with your fingers, trying to undo the damage your “partner” had done.

Something told you that he wouldn’t be keeping his promise about trying not to bother you anytime soon.

OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, BEOMGYU PROVED HIMSELF TO BE ONE OF THE MOST BOTHERSOME PEOPLE YOU HAD COME ACROSS IN A LONG, LONG TIME.

The worst part was the fact that he didn’t do anything blatantly wrong. He did everything he was asked to do when it came to preparing for the showcase. The first week of work consisted of the two of you gathering all the students who would be participating in the performances, along with Yeonjun and Taehyun preparing those from the drama department. Beomgyu performed all of his tasks just as he was asked to do, so it wasn’t as if he was bothering you by being unhelpful.

It was just something about the way he held himself that seemed to get under your skin for no apparent reason.

For the past week, your “partner” had basically been a tagalong—he would stand beside of you and do what he was asked without contributing much to the creative process of planning. You found it hard to criticize him up front, as he just did as he was told.

However, that was all he did. When the four of you would all sit down together to discuss plans or ideas, Beomgyu’s role never changed: he would sit beside all of you, jot down anything you told him to in his nearly-full composition notebook, and crack an occasional joke that would always send Yeonjun and Taehyun into fits of laughter, but only earned a stiff, forced smile from you.

You were starting to wonder why your professor had assigned him to your team. After all, putting on this open house was your last shot at making a lasting impression on the higher ups in your department. Everything needed to be perfect; mediocracy was not an option.

In other words, Choi Beomgyu needed to step up his game, and he needed to do it quickly.

You thought about this on the day of your first rehearsal, where all of the students who would be participating in the performances had gathered in the main auditorium of the music building.

Drama students were scattered in all directions, occupying the space around them with dramatic line readings and critiques for their classmates as they practiced their roles. Yeonjun and Taehyun were busy taking charge of the drama students, making sure everything was running smoothly amongst them. You watched as Kai, one of the freshman students Yeonjun had taken under his wing, followed your friends around like a baby penguin waddling after its parents, and you couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

Music students were spread across the stage, the orchestra setting up instruments and covering stands with sheets filled by notes and lyrics while the band tuned their guitars and plugged up their mics. Soobin, a tall, blue-haired student from the same year as you, waved at you from stage with his mic in hand. You waved back, happy that you had been able to snag him as the main vocalist for the band’s performance—his voice was angelic, able to captivate any listener.

“Hey.” You turned at the sound of the voice you had begun to grow quite accustomed to, whether that was for better or for worse. Beomgyu was standing beside of you, brushing a hand through the curly black bangs that hung just above his eyes. The tip of his nose was flushed pink, a sign that he had likely just been out in the biting cold that had begun to creep up as fall quickly approached. He had his backpack slung over one shoulder and his guitar case held in one hand.

“Running a little late, aren’t we?” You asked, glancing at the time on your phone with no attempt at hiding your frown. “Is this going to be a trend with you, Choi Beomgyu?”

He laughed, nudging his shoulder against yours. You wanted to be more irritated with him than you were, but he had the kind of laugh that put everyone around him at ease; the kind of laugh that filled one’s chest with warmth, as if you had been directly touched by a ray of sunlight reaching down from the sky.

So you settled with being only slightly irritated, pursing your lips to keep your expression in check as he responded with, “What fun would it be if everyone was on time?”

“It’s not about fun, it’s about making sure this whole thing runs smoothly,” you said as you turned to face him. “Speaking of which, since you didn’t have any suggestions, I went ahead and helped the band choose a setlist. They’ll only have time for two songs, but the ones I picked are really diverse and should be—”

“Ah!” He cut you off, snapping his fingers in front of your face, causing you to flinch back in surprise. “I knew there was something I forgot to tell you.”

“What?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, grinning as he shifted a bit closer to you. You could smell his cologne—a misty citrus scent that was so light you could barely tell it was there. “Well, it’s kind of embarrassing, but the professor actually wanted the band to perform one of the songs I wrote. If that’s okay with you, of course—you’re the boss, after all.”

“You—you write songs?” You asked, trying not to get irritated at the sudden disruption of what you had planned. He had been complacent this entire time, so of course, the time he actually had something to contribute, he would be messing up what you had already set in place.

“Well, if it’s a suggestion from the professor, I can’t just deny you permission, can I?” You said with a forced laugh. “Do you have the—”

“Sheet music?” He finished your sentence, shaking a stack of papers in front of you. “Right here, partner. Want me to go tell the band?”

You sighed, crossing your arms over your chest. “Sure. Just tell them to switch the second song I had picked out with this one.”

He smiled at you again, ruffling your hair with the same hand he held the papers in. “You’re a saint. I’ll talk to you in a bit then?”

You had no time to respond before he was setting off towards the stage to talk to the band, papers and guitar in hand. You huffed through pursed lips, mumbling under your breath as you tried to put your hair back in place.

“What was that all about?” You dropped your hands to your sides when Yeonjun approached you, eyebrow quirked. Half of his cotton-candy colored hair was pulled into a ponytail, and he had on a pair of big round glasses with what you knew to be fake lenses—a fashion statement rather than a necessity.

“I don’t think Beomgyu knows much about personal boundaries or personal responsibility,” you mumbled, allowing Yeonjun to come up and finish fixing your hair with his fingers. “He decided to just now tell me that our professor wanted the band to use one of his songs in the performance.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing’s wrong with it, I just—” You hesitated, unsure of how to respond without sounding like a jerk. “I just wish he would have told me about it sooner. That’s all.”

“Y/N, you need to cut the guy some slack,” Yeonjun said, stepping back once he was finished fixing up your hair. “You act as though you have a personal vendetta against him or something.”

“I do not,” You argued, feeling you defenses flare up at his words. “Why would you say that?”

“I don’t know, maybe because every time he walks in the room you start to grimace, and every time he talks to you I can literally feel the amount of energy it takes for you to not roll your eyes.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“If you say so.” He put his hand on your shoulder, giving you a stern look that did, in fact, make you roll your eyes. “Give him a chance, Y/N. You may end up liking him more than you’d expect.”

You scoffed as your best friend walked away from you, returning to work on his previous tasks with Taehyun. A vendetta? Was it really that obvious to the people around you that Beomgyu got under your skin?

Perhaps Yeonjun was right—you did have a tendency to be extra sensitive when it came to your academic responsibilities. Maybe you were being too hard on Beomgyu; his goal was the same as yours, even if his methods differed drastically from yours.

You looked up to the stage to see Beomgyu laughing as he said something to Soobin, the rest of the band analyzing the sheets of music in their hands—Beomgyu’s song, if you had to guess. His skin glowed like honey beneath the stage lights, and you noticed that when he laughed, he laughed with his entire body; his eyes disappeared into crescents, his shoulders shook, he clapped his hands together and even stomped his feet a bit. You smiled slightly at the sight, before a pang of guilt hit you.

He did seem like a nice guy. It was time you gave him a chance to be seen as such in your eyes.

ANY PATIENCE YOU HAD DESPERATELY TRIED TO HOLD WITH BEOMGYU WAS WEARING THIN, AND IT HAD ONLY BEEN AN HOUR SINCE YOU DECIDED TO GIVE HIM A CHANCE.

You had both stayed behind with Yeonjun and Taehyun to clean up the auditorium after the practice. “I think that we’re done, don’t you?” You asked everyone after picking up a few discarded sheets of paper left behind by the drama students.

“Almost,” Beomgyu said from the stage. You looked up at him to see him pointing at two large music stands left behind by the orchestra. “Someone left these behind.”

“Can’t we just leave them there?” Yeonjun asked.

Taehyun shook his head. “No, we were given specific instructions to not leave anything behind.” He glanced at his phone. “They’re about to close the building for the night, so we should hurry and put them up.”

“I know which room they came from, so I can take them back,” Beomgyu offered.

“They’re pretty heavy, Beomgyu. Are you sure you can carry them on your own?” Taehyun asked.

“Yeah, it’s fine—”

“No, no, someone should definitely help you. You have to carry your guitar too,” Yeonjun interjected, a mischievous glint in your eyes that sent sirens blaring in your head. The feelings of disdain only grew when Yeonjun made eye contact with you directly, seeming to give you a sweet smile, but you knew the expression was laced with ulterior motives. “Y/N, why don’t you carry one while Beomgyu carries the other?”

You wanted to smack him, but that wouldn’t have been a good look for you, considering that everyone already thought you hated Beomgyu anyways. You glanced up at him on the stage to see that he had already picked one of the stands up, his guitar in the other hand. He gave you a big grin, eyes sparkling like freshly fallen snow. “What do you say, partner? Care to give me a hand?”

You pushed your tongue against the inside of your cheek, knowing that there was no way you were getting out of this one. “Sure,” You said through your teeth, glaring daggers at Yeonjun before making your way up the steps to the stage. The music stand wasn’t too heavy, so you almost dared to ask Beomgyu to try carrying them both in one hand, but decided against it.

“We’ll go ahead and leave then,” Yeonjun said, throwing a taunting wink your way. “You two have fun.”

You hate to bite your tongue to keep from cursing at him as Yeonjun and Taehyun left the auditorium, leaving you alone with Beomgyu for the first time. You glanced his way, noticing that he already had his eyes on you. Instead of averting his gaze when yours met his, he just smiled wider, gesturing towards the door with his head. “Shall we?”

You forced another smile. “Lead the way, partner.”

You followed him out the doors and up the stairs to the first floor, where the orchestra’s practice room was located. You were very familiar with the area, being a violinist yourself. When the two of you reached the room, you rushed forward to open the door, as Beomgyu’s hands were full. He thanked you and stepped inside first, and you followed suit, letting the heavy door swing shut behind you.

“Where should we set them?” He asked.

You nodded to the far corner of the room. “Over there.”

The two of you set the stands down, and you instantly turned back towards the door, ready to get back to your dorm for some alone time after such a taxing day.

“In a rush?” Beomgyu asked from behind you.

You turned to look over your shoulder at him as your hand grasped the doorknob. “Nah, just tired. Aren’t you?”

He shrugged, shifting his guitar case from one hand to the other. “Not really.”

“Lucky you,” You mumbled, turning back towards the door. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow—”

You stopped mid-sentence, heart dropping to your toes. When you tried to turn the knob, it wouldn’t move. After a moment of shock, you tried again, and then again, violently shaking the knob, trying to get the door to open.

“No, no, no,” You said, shaking the handle desperately. “Come on, this can’t be happening!”

“What is it?” Beomgyu asked, setting his guitar on the floor before rushing to your side.

“The door won’t open.” You shook the knob more frantically than ever, the entire door shaking from the force.

“Woah, easy there, partner,” Beomgyu said, gently placing his hand on your arm. “Why don’t you let me try to—”

“What exactly do you think you’re going to be able to do differently?” You snapped, snatching your arm away from him. His mouth hung open, eyes wide with what you assumed to be shock. “We’re stuck in here, Beomgyu. We’re stuck, and we’re not going to get out for god knows how long, and with you as my ‘partner,’ I’m one hundred percent certain we’re not going to be able to find a way out of here on our own.”

You could tell that your words struck a nerve with him by the way his shoulders tensed and how his eyes went narrow. Looking back, you wished you could reel the words back in, but they had already done their damage.

“Why do you hate me so much?” He asked, his voice low and thick with irritation.

It was your turn to be shocked. “What?”

“I said, why do you hate me so much?”

You blinked rapidly, feeling exposed and vulnerable now that he was confronting you. “I don’t—I don’t hate you, Beomgyu.”

He scoffed, pulling his bottom lip under his teeth. “Come on, I’m not that much of an idiot. This entire time, from the moment we first met, you’ve been cold and snippy with me. You can barely hide how much you dislike me with your facial expressions. I thought maybe we just got off on the wrong foot, so I’ve been brushing it off and treating you kindly. But you still treat me like I’m some annoying fly that you can’t quite get rid of, and I want to know why.”

“That’s not—I don’t hate you,” You repeated, jumbling your words together as you struggled to figure out what to say.

“Well, what’s the issue then?”

“You don’t take anything seriously!” Your voice wasn’t quite a shout, but it was almost there. Beomgyu took a step back, arms dropping to his sides.

“You’re treating this entire thing like it’s an elementary school play,” You continued, your voice getting louder and your words coming out more and more rushed the more you spoke. “You don’t contribute in the meetings, you show up late, and you barely do the things I ask you to do. I understand it may not be anything special to you, but this is my last chance to do something memorable here. I’m graduating in the spring, and up until this point, I’ve been nothing but another violinist tossed in the orchestra. I don’t stand out to my professors, or to scouts, to anyone.”

Hot tears began to well in the corners of your eyes as thoughts of your mother surfaced. Every word she had ever said about your pursuit of music being a waste of time, of how little a chance you had of making it, how your only hope was to stand out in the department, which, of course, she highly doubted you would be capable of doing.

“I have to do this, and I have to do it right.” Your voice wavered as you swiped at your cheeks, where a few tears had fallen. “If I don’t, then I’ll—I’ll—”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Beomgyu’s voice was gentle, in stark contrast to the razor-sharp tone he had held just seconds before. You looked at him through your teary eyes to see that his own eyes were wide, this time with concern rather than anger. “You don’t have to explain, I understand, okay? I’m sorry, Y/N.”

You sniffed, more tears gliding down your cheeks as you did so. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” He repeated, looking as though he were about to start crying himself. “I had no idea that’s how I was coming across. I’m really, really sorry.”

You stared at him, dumbfounded. How were you supposed to respond to that? The last thing you expected to hear from him was an apology, especially since, now that you had yelled at him, you realized how unfair you were being towards him. You shook your head, wiping furiously at your eyes. “No, you don’t have to apologize Beomgyu. I should be apologizing—I’m the one being irrational, not to mention I’m also the one that locked us in here—”

“How about we just call it even then, hm?” He cut you off, looking around before he spotted a box of tissues on the front desk. He grabbed one and made his way back over to you, gently wiping the tears from your face, being careful to not touch you directly. “We’ve both apologized for something that the other person doesn’t think requires an apology. The grounds are neutral now.”

You laughed, gently taking the tissue from his hand so you could wipe your eyes on your own. He stepped back when you did so, smiling nervously at your sudden laughter.

“Thank you, Beomgyu,” You said quietly, wadding the tissue up in your hand.

He rubbed the back of his neck, rocking back and forth on his feet. “No need to thank me, Y/N.” He paused, seeming to be in deep thought. It was quiet for a moment before he stuck his hand out towards you, expression cautiously hopeful. “Now that we both understand each other a little better, do you think we could start over?”

You smiled, wrapping your hand around his to give it a firm shake. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

THE WORLD ALWAYS SEEMED COLDER WHEN YOU WERE ALONE.

Of course, it could have felt cold because you were alone in a hotel parking lot, sitting on the cool pavement in the late hours of the night. You hadn’t brought a jacket with you, and your dress was sleeveless and made of thin fabric that didn’t do much to protect you from the wind that sent strands of hair flying across your face.

However, you were certain that if your mother or father had been sitting beside of you that early winter’s night, you would barely even notice the bite of the wind or the goosebumps that prickled up all over your bare arms. Even the stars had denied you their company; the sky was pitch black, void of any trace of light.

Lower lip trembling, you sighed as you kept your gaze on the sky above, thinking that maybe, if you kept looking, you’d find a single star shining amidst the darkness. Tears filled your eyes, but you wiped them away before they could fall.

“You’re a strong girl, Y/N,” Your mother would say if she were to catch you crying. “Strong girls don’t cry, do they?”

“No,” You whispered, even though she wasn’t there to hear you. “Strong girls don’t cry.”

“What do you mean?”

You jumped at the sudden voice, placing your hand over your heart before you turned your head to see a boy sitting on the pavement beside you. He had curly black hair that stuck out from beneath a beanie, covering the top of his eyes, and a big jacket on over his clothes. He seemed to be the same age as you, but of course, you couldn’t be sure.

“W-what?” You spoke through shaking lips, pulling your arms around yourself in an attempt to stay warm.

“You said that strong girls don’t cry,” He said, eyeing you with curiosity. “What do you mean by that?”

“Oh,” you whispered, looking down at your shoes—a pair of black flats with scuff marks all over the toes. “It’s nothing— just something my mom says.”

He hummed, leaning back on the palms of his hands. “Well, I think she’s wrong. Everyone cries, even the strongest people alive. If someone tells you they don’t cry, then they’re lying.” He turned towards you, a big grin on his face. “You don’t seem like a liar to me.”

You sniffled, wiping your hand across your cheeks to catch the few tears that had managed to slip down. “Thanks, I think.”

“It was definitely meant as a compliment.” He sat up straight then, narrowing his eyes at you. You shrunk back a bit, shoulders shaking as the wind only seemed to get stronger by the second.

A moment later, he was sitting right beside of you, so close that his arm brushed against yours as he slipped his coat off, revealing an oversized hoodie beneath it. He wrapped the coat around your shoulders, and zipped it up, trapping your arms inside. He smiled again and sat back, but he was still close to you, so close that your shoulders were pressed together and his pinky was resting on top of yours.

Eyes wide, you slowly shook your head and slipped your arms through the sleeves so you could reach the zipper. “No, I’m okay—”

“Hey, keep it on, please,” He interrupted, placing his hand on top of yours to stop you from unzipping the coat. “It’s freezing out here, and you don’t even have any sleeves.”

You hesitated, not wanting to be a bother to this unexpectedly kind stranger, but you would have been lying if you had said that the cold wasn’t starting to bother you. Not wanting your lips to turn blue, you nodded, pulling your arms back into the coat to keep them extra warm.

“Thank you,” you said quietly. “What are you doing out here, by the way?”

“Me? Oh, I was just sneaking out to the indoor pool.” He pointed over his shoulder at the building with a large dome roof made of glass. “My parents are already asleep and didn’t notice me leave. You?”

“Ah, well, my family is staying here for the night. My parents and I are going out for dinner to celebrate my birthday.”

“It’s your birthday?” He asked, eyes growing wide. You nodded sheepishly and his smile grew bigger before he reached over to ruffle your hair with his hand. “Happy birthday!”

You giggled, smoothing your hair back down when he pulled his hand away. Your eyes met his, which seemed to sparkle with the light of billions of galaxies, paired perfectly with his beaming smile, and you realized that maybe you didn’t need the stars that night after all, because he alone shined brightly enough.

He looked around then, eyebrows furrowed. “But, where are your parents? Shouldn’t you guys get going before all the restaurants close?”

Your smile faded just as quickly as it had appeared. You swallowed, your eyes drifting towards a car that sat a few yards away from the two of you. The car was running and the lights inside were on, casting a yellow glow onto the two occupants seated in the front: your parents. Although you couldn’t hear what they were saying, you knew that they were yelling by the way they pointed their fingers at each other, and by the expressions on their faces, and the intensity with which their lips were moving.

The boy followed your gaze, his mouth parting slightly in surprise when he caught sight of your parents in the heat of their dispute. He glanced sideways at you before moving to sit in front of you, blocking your view of your parents.

“Why don’t you sneak to the pool with me?” He asked.

You shook your head immediately, a slight smile returning to your face. It was clear that he was trying to distract you, and you were grateful. That didn’t mean you were willing to sneak away from your parents, especially when the tension among your family was already sky high.

“Why not?” He whined, sticking his bottom lip out in a pout.

“Because I’m not supposed to move from this spot,” You said.

“And I wasn’t supposed to leave my hotel room, yet here I am.” He shrugged nonchalantly, brushing his bangs out of his eyes only for them to fall right back into place. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

There were a lot of really terrible things that could happen as a result of you sneaking away to go night swimming with a boy you didn’t know while your parents fought in the middle of a hotel parking lot. You could probably list ten off the top of your head. However, when you looked into the starry eyes of the boy in front of you, his lips spread in an encouraging grin that made you feel warm inside despite the cold, you hesitated.

What was the worst thing that could happen? The list seemed to be erased from your head as quickly as it appeared.

He tilted his head to the side, a playful glint sparkling in his eyes. He stood up and stretched his hand out to you, his fingers trembling from the cold.

“Should we run away?”

Your fingers twitched, urging to reach out touch his own. You bit the inside of your cheek, trying to find the balance between being rational and following where your heart was leading. These two things did not seem to be lining up.

Before you could do anything, however, you heard a car door slamming shut. You jumped to your feet just in time to see your mother stepping away from the vehicle before your father drove off, leaving her alone in the parking lot. Eyes wide with worry, you watched as your mother brushed her hand across her cheeks before taking a deep breath and making her way towards you.

“Y/N,” she said when she reached you, not even glancing at the boy beside of you as she took your face in her hands. “Your dad is going to come pick us up in the morning. How about we just have a girl’s night to celebrate your birthday instead?”

With your heart dropping to your toes, you felt the tears welling in your eyes once again, but you refused to let them fall. You smiled and nodded, wrapping your hand around your mother’s. “Yeah. That sounds fine.”

You turned towards the boy to see that his face was full of concern. Forcing the best smile you could, you unzipped his coat and slipped it off your shoulders before placing it back in his outstretched hands.

“Thank you,” you said quietly. Before he could say anything back, you had turned away and began walking back towards the entrance, arm-in-arm with your mother.

“I was thinking we could order a pizza and rent your favorite movies,” she said, straining to keep the emotion out of your voice. “I’ll order the food once we get back to the room, okay?”

You nodded slowly, halting your footsteps just before the automatic doors that led inside.

But when you turned your head to catch one last look at the boy who shined brighter than the stars, he was already gone.

IN THE HAZY PLACE BETWEEN SLEEPING AND WAKING, YOU COULD HAVE SWORN YOU HEARD HIM SINGING.

With your eyes still closed, the sound rang through your head, clear as day. It was comforting, as if you had heard it before. Yet it wasn’t a sound that only echoed around you. This voice, so gentle and sweet that it seemed to drip with sugar and honey, filled all of your senses to the brim. You weren’t just hearing it, you were feeling it.

“In moments like those, when tears fill your eyes, hold my hand tight. Should we run away?”

You sighed, swept away by the sound and the words that the voice sang. You felt as though you had heard it before, but you couldn’t quite think of where. Snuggling closer to whatever it was that you were leaning against, you allowed the faintest of smiles to trace its way across your lips.

The singing stopped. “Y/N?”

“Hmm?” You pressed your face closer against the warmth you were leaning into, frowning at the sudden absence of the soothing voice.

“Are you awake?”

“Yeah,” you mumbled, slowly forcing your eyes open.

You weren’t quite sure where exactly you expected to be when you opened your eyes, but it definitely was not on the floor of the orchestra practice room with your head in Choi Beomgyu’s lap. Beomgyu was smiling down at you, black curls hanging over his eyes, freckles illuminated by the faint moonlight that spilled through the windows.

You sat up quickly, trying to fix your messy hair as you felt your face grow warm. You didn’t remember falling asleep, but you were incredibly embarrassed that you had.

“How—how long was I asleep?” You asked, your voice hoarse.

“Just an hour or so. I think you got so stressed out after trying to call so many people that you just passed out,” Beomgyu said. He reached his hands toward you and helped you straighten up your hair, which only served to make your face even warmer than before.

“Sorry,” you said, gesturing to his lap. “For . . . that.”

He waved his hand at you before folding his hands behind his head. “Don’t apologize. Seems like you needed the sleep—you were dreaming pretty intensely.”

“I was? Did I say anything weird in my sleep? What did I say? Was it embarrassing?” You grabbed his sleeve, eyes wide as you bombarded him with questions.

He laughed, shaking his head in reassurance. “Don’t worry, it was nothing embarrassing. But you were talking.”

“What did I say?”

“Hmm, something about it being your birthday?” He placed a finger against his chin, eyes narrowed. “I’m not sure exactly what else. It was all kinda random.”

You squeezed your eyes shut, biting the inside of your cheek as you let go of his sleeve. You remembered every bit of the dream you had—well, it wasn’t really a dream as much as it was a memory. It was embarrassing to think that Beomgyu had heard any part of the memory, but you tried not to think about it too much.

“Beomgyu,” You said, opening your eyes once more to look at him. “Were you singing just now? Before I woke up?”

He didn’t say anything at first, his expression blank. Then, he smiled, nudging your shoulder with his. “Of course not—you know I don’t sing. Why?”

“Actually, for the record, I did not know that,” You corrected. “And I don’t know, I just . . . thought I heard someone.”

“Maybe it was your soulmate,” Beomgyu said, moving his eyebrows up and down.

You sighed, looking down at your feet. “I wish it was. I haven’t heard from him in two years.”

The smile fell from Beomgyu’s face right away. “Ah, sorry, I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to apologize.”

“Do you . . . know what happened to him?”

You shook your head, staring at the moon through the window. “No. I don’t even know who he was.”

“Hey, why are you speaking in the past tense?” He turned towards you and grabbed your shoulders, forcing you to face him. “Think positively, Y/N. He could still be out there. When did you first hear him?”

“When I was thirteen,” You answered. “But he stopped singing two years ago.”

“And you haven’t heard anything since then?”

You hesitated, thinking back over the past two years and all the sleepless nights you had spent waiting and hoping to hear any trace of a note ringing in your ears, the faintest hint of a voice. Sometimes, when you were just about to close your eyes, you would’ve sworn that you could hear his voice for the briefest of moments before you drifted off, but you would always blame it on being sleep deprived.

“No,” you said quietly. “I haven’t heard anything. He used to sing all the time, too. I would wake up to the sound of his voice, and it would carry me throughout each and every day. I know it sounds weird to say this about someone I don’t remember meeting, but I felt . . . connected to him, if that makes sense?”

Beomgyu didn’t say anything, so you continued. “He’s actually the reason why I picked up the violin. I got so used to his voice, I would go around humming all day. I guess my mom got tired of hearing me, because soon after I started hearing him, my mom signed me up for violin lessons. And, well, now I’m here.”

You looked over to see Beomgyu smiling softly, but his eyes didn’t meet yours. “Do you have any idea of who it might be?”

You were quiet for a moment. The image of the boy from the hotel parking lot with his star-struck eyes and diamond smile came to your mind, as always.

“No. But I have someone I hope it is.”

You looked over at him again, and this time, his eyes met yours. The silvery light of the moon highlighted the right side of his face and the bridge of his nose, casting a stark shadow across the other side. He was neither smiling nor frowning as his eyes searched yours. What exactly he was looking for you couldn’t be sure of, however, you liked the eye contact well enough to let it go on for a moment longer before you cleared your throat, looking back towards the window.

“Did you try calling Yeonjun again?”

“Yep. No answer.”

“Taehyun?”

“Nothing.”

“The professor?”

“Didn’t pick up—I left a message though.”

You sighed, allowing the back of your head to hit the wall behind you. “We’ll be stuck here all night at this rate.”

“Well, now that you’ve had a little nap, we may as well use this time to be productive,” Beomgyu said, standing to his feet and stretching his arms above his head as he did so.

You crossed your arms, raising a brow as you watched him pull his guitar out of the case. “What’s this? Choi Beomgyu taking initiative?”

“Hey, we said we were starting over.”

You laughed as he sat on the edge of the desk in front of where you were sitting on the floor. He pulled the strap over his shoulder and began tuning his guitar by ear, something you always struggled to do with your violin.

“What are you doing?” You asked.

He strummed through all the strings, nodding when he was satisfied with the sounds. Glancing down at you, he smiled. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m going to show you the song I wrote.”

Interest piqued, you sat up straighter and smiled back at him. “I was hoping that’s what you’d say.”

He laughed, adjusting his position on the desk before his fingers found their place on the neck of the guitar. You listened attentively as he began to pick the first notes, watching the way his fingers moved deliberately across the frets, yet, his movements never lost their grace. At first, he kept his eyes focused on his hands. But as the song went on, his eyes slowly closed, and he played without seeing, relying solely on the sound of the notes he was creating and the feeling of the strings that pressed into his calloused fingertips.

Awestruck would have been an understatement for the way you felt as you watched him play. The way he became one with the sounds he created, the way his wrist twisted to strum and how his fingertips slid across the length of the instrument as if it was the very thing they had been created to do. You were hypnotized, allowing the music to seep into your heart and make it thump against your chest like a caged bird begging to be set free.

If you had to put a word to how he looked in that moment, “beautiful” was the closest you would be able to get.

He opened his eyes as he strummed the last note, a gentle grin on his lips. You noticed how his eyes sparkled in the darkness, despite his back being towards the moonlight rather than his face.

“What do you think?” He asked, his voice sounding sharp as it pierced through the thick silence that had settled over the room.

“It was—”

“It was real pretty, kid.”

You yelped in surprise at the sudden voice, jumping up to your feet as Beomgyu practically fell off the desk, nearly dropping his guitar in the process. You helped steady him, and together, you looked towards the door to see that it was wide open, fluorescent light from the hallway spilling into the room as the janitor stood in the entry way, arms crossed over his chest as he blew a bubble with the gum in his mouth.

“If you’re done serenading your girlfriend, would you mind leaving so I can clean up and go home? This building closed an hour ago, but if you both leave now I’ll keep quiet.”

Your cheeks went hot, and you struggled to form words as Beomgyu scrambled to put his guitar back in its case. “Girl—girlfriend? No, we’re not—I mean, I’m not his—we just got stuck and—”

“Thank you, sir. We’re really sorry.” Beomgyu cut you off as he picked up his guitar case with one hand and wrapped his free arm around your shoulders, pulling you into his side. You gasped, but were too stunned to do anything but follow Beomgyu’s lead as he pulled you out of the room.

“What was that about?” You asked once the two of you had safely made it out of the building. “You were not serenading me.”

Beomgyu shrugged, letting his arm fall from your shoulders. Your mouth fell open at his lack of a denial. “Choi Beomgyu! Stop messing around.”

“Who said I was messing around?” He teased, winking at you as he began to walk towards his dorm building, which was on the other side of campus from yours.

You scoffed but said nothing as you watched his back while he walked away from you, trying to piece together what had just happened.

“See you tomorrow, Y/N!” He shouted, turning around as he walked so he could wave goodbye.

You gave him a weak-hearted wave in return, pressing your hands against your flushed cheeks as you slowly began to tread back to your own dorm room.

How strange it was that just that morning, you would have given almost anything to avoid seeing Beomgyu.

But now, you found yourself counting down the minutes left until the next day so you could see him again.

WHEN YOU GOT BACK TO YOUR DORM FROM REHEARSAL THE NEXT EVENING, YOU HAD A TEXT.

Beomgyu: I know we said we were starting over, but I can’t forget that I still owe you a coffee. Meet me at the library in 15?

You felt like an idiot, but you couldn’t stop the grin from taking over your face. Slipping your shoes back on, you typed out a quick reply before slipping out the door.

You: Make it 5. I’ll be waiting.

When you arrived at the library, you were surprised to see that Beomgyu was already there. The line for coffee was very short, as most students had settled into their dorms for the night. Only a few stray overachievers and those that were desperately trying to cram for exams were there, and Beomgyu had claimed a place in line amongst them. He held his guitar in one hand, as per usual, and you wondered if there would ever come a time in which you would see him without it.

“How is it that you demanded to meet me ten minutes earlier than I planned, and I still got here before you?” He asked once you had reached him.

“First of all, I did not demand anything from you,” You said, pushing your fist against his shoulder. “Secondly, that is so unfair, because you know that your dorm is way closer to the library than mine is.”

“Sounds like an excuse to me, but okay. Ah, it’s our turn.” He placed his hand on the small of your back and pulled you closer to the counter. Your stomach flipped, but for some reason, you didn’t mind.

After the two of had gotten your coffees, Beomgyu told you to follow him up the stairs. You expected to stop at the second floor, but to your surprise, he kept leading you. He took you through a door in the back that you didn’t even know existed, where there was another flight of stairs. At the end of these stairs was another door. You stepped outside and found yourself on the rooftop, with a great view of the campus below.

“Are you sure we’re allowed to be up here?” You asked.

“Well, no. But I’ve come up here a lot and never gotten in trouble, so what’s the harm?”

“That does not make me feel any better.”

“Come on, Y/N.” He took your hand in his and brought you over to the wide ledge, big enough for the two of you to sit on without the fear of falling off. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

You paused, eyes growing wide. He stared back at you as he hoisted himself up on the ledge. He took a sip of his coffee before asking, “Why are you staring at me like that?”

You shook your head, setting your coffee beside of him before bringing yourself up to sit on the ledge yourself.

“Nothing,” You said. “You just reminded me of someone.”

“Ah.” He stared at you for a moment longer before he slipped his jacket off and wrapped it around your shoulders. You opened your mouth to protest, but he placed his finger against your parted lips, which was more than enough to shut you up.

“Just accept an act of kindness, would you?” He said, zipping his jacket up over you. You watched him as he did so, noticing the way his chocolate eyes sparkled in the midst of the cloudy night.

You swallowed, averting your gaze. “Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

It was quiet then, but not in an uncomfortable way. You enjoyed sitting beside of him in the silence, watching the lights of campus below you, feeling the warmth from his jacket spread over your chilled skin.

“Actually, Y/N, there’s something that’s been bothering me,” Beomgyu said, breaking the silence.

You turned to face him, curious. “What is it?”

For the first time since you had met him, Beomgyu looked nervous. He picked at the skin around his nails, doing everything he could to keep his eyes from meeting yours.

“Remember how you asked me if I sang? When we were locked in the orchestra room?” His voice was a bit quieter than it had been before.

“Yeah, you said you didn’t.”

“Right. Well, that—that was a lie,” He blurted, seeming to regret his words the second they had left his mouth. “Well, not a blatant lie, because I don’t sing anymore. But I used to.”

You were a bit confused, but seeing how nervous he was, you decided not to ask him why he would lie about such a seemingly trivial topic.

“What made you stop?” You asked carefully, not wanting to upset him.

He hesitated, wringing his hands together. After taking a deep breath, he spoke again.

“My father and I used to sing together,” He began. “I taught myself how to play the guitar, but he was the one who taught me how to sing. He loved to sing, more than anything else, and he always told me that I had a brilliant voice. He said it would be a shame to keep such a voice to myself.”

He smiled fondly as he spoke of his father, and you couldn’t help but smile as well. The joy slowly faded from his expression, however, as he began to speak again.

“I lost him two years ago,” He said quietly, voice thick with emotions that caused your heart to clench. “He was in a bad car accident. I was doing really well here, in vocals and guitar. But when I lost him, I just . . . I couldn’t sing anymore. I tried, I really did. I just couldn’t do it.”

“Oh, Beomgyu,” You whispered, gently placing your hand over his trembling one.

“It’s pathetic, isn’t it?” He sniffed, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “Singing was the one thing he wanted me to do, and now that he’s gone, I’m failing at it.”

“No, Beomgyu,” You said, your voice firm as you squeezed his hand. “It’s not pathetic at all. You’re doing the best you can, and you’re still here. And most importantly, you tried. That’s what matters.”

He brought his eyes back to yours then, glistening with moisture in the moonless, starless night. He smiled at you then, and you smiled back.

“Y/N.”

“Hm?”

“Have I told you yet that you’re really, really beautiful?”

Your breath caught in your throat, and you froze, feeling the blood rush to your cheeks. You were frozen for a moment before you scoffed, pulling your hand away from his and tucking it into your lap.

“I thought you were going to start being more serious,” You mumbled, refusing to look at him. “Stop messing around.”

Then, he moved closer to you, placing one arm behind you while he brought the other to rest against your cheek, gently turning your face towards his. He leaned in, so close that his breath brushed against your skin. He smelled of citrus and vanilla, and you found yourself leaning closer to him.

He glanced at your lips, then met your eyes once again.

“What makes you think I’m not being serious?”

His lips were soft when they pressed against yours, and it felt as though your heart would burst right out of your chest. You allowed your eyes to fall shut as he gently moved his mouth against yours, slowly tucking a piece of hair behind your ear as he did so, before allowing his fingers to gently trace their way along your cheek, then your jaw, until he rested his hand against your neck, pulling you a tiny bit closer to him.

He broke the kiss for a fleeting moment, just to open his eyes so he could look into yours. You liked the flecks of light that beamed in his irises, as though his eyes were made of starlight. He smiled, allowing his nose to brush against yours as his eyes moved back down to your lips. Once again, he closed the distance between you, capturing your lips with his for the second time. He tasted like coffee and cheap cherry chap-stick—and odd combination, but you didn’t mind as you brought your arms around his neck and shifted closer to him, twisting your head to the side as you moved your lips in time with his.

The moment was unexpected, to say the least. But perhaps that was what made it feel that much more magical.

At least, it was magical until you felt scalding hot liquid splash all over the side of your leg, seeping through the fabric of your jeans to burn your skin.

You gasped against Beomgyu’s lips before pulling away, staring wide eyed at your jeans that were now stained with coffee. Your cup, which had been sitting between the two of you, was now knocked on its side, the contents drained.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Y/N,” Beomgyu said frantically. His lips were shining from the aftermath of your kiss, his freckled cheeks and nose red as a cherry. He gently pressed his hands against your leg, pulling them back when you winced from the impact. “Oh god—I’m sorry, I forgot that it was there and I was leaning in and I knocked it over and—”

You laughed at how flustered he had become, amused by this side of him that you hadn’t seen before. You grabbed his face and pulled him towards you, pressing your lips against his in a swift kiss, effectively shutting him up.

“It’s okay, Beomgyu,” You said once you pulled away, letting your hands fall from his face. “I guess you just owe me another coffee.”

The goofy lopsided grin you had grown accustomed to took place of the frightened expression he had worn just moments before. He hopped off the ledge, extending his hand towards you to help you down.

“Come on, partner. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

IT WAS THE DAY OF THE OPEN HOUSE, AND YOU WERE SLIGHTLY UNNERVED BY HOW WELL THINGS WERE GOING.

You had hoped that everything would go smoothly. The past few weeks, you had spent all your time and energy making sure that the event would be as close to perfect as possible.

Well, you had also spent a bit of time with Beomgyu, but only when you had the time to spare, of course.

The performers were all setting up; the drama department was working on setting up the stage props, as they would be going first, and they were busy rehearsing with the orchestra for how they could effectively move the props to make room for the instruments in a timely fashion. Yeonjun was rushing about, directing them with the grace and efficiency only he could pull off.

Everything was going perfectly. You should have just been happy about that, but for some reason, it felt as though you were just waiting for something to go terribly wrong.

“Y/N.” You turned at the sound of Beomgyu’s voice, smiling as he walked towards you. He was dressed in a white button up shirt that he tucked into a pair of black jeans. His sleeves were pushed up a bit, exposing his forearms.

“Everything okay?” You asked once he had reached you. You glanced at the members of the band, who were talking in hushed voices right behind Beomgyu. Your eyes narrowed when you noticed that something was amiss. “Where’s Soobin? Is he on his way?”

Beomgyu sighed, running a hand through his already messy curls. “That’s what I was coming to talk to you about. He’s sick—he won’t be able to make it. I just got a text from him.”

You blinked slowly, trying to process what you had just been told. Soobin was the main vocalist for the band. Without him, or someone to fill his position, there would be no performance.

You quickly walked over to the band, desperately trying to think of something to fix the situation, and Beomgyu was following right behind you.

“Can any of you do lead vocals in Soobin’s place?” You asked.

“No,” the main guitarist said, looking just as stressed out as you were. “We’d have to change the entire key for it to fit my range, and even if we had time to do that—which we don’t—we wouldn’t have any backup vocals.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose, squeezing your eyes shut. “There’s got to be something we can do to replace him. We can’t just take the band performance out.”

“How about Beomgyu?”

Your eyes flew open at the sound of Yeonjun’s voice, and you whirled around to see him standing behind you.

“When did you get there?” You asked.

“A minute or so ago,” He said, striding forward so that he stood on the other side of you. “But seriously, everyone knows Beomgyu can sing. He used to do it all the time. Why not have him take Soobin’s place?”

“It would make sense,” the guitarist said, his face lighting up with a glint of hope. “He’s been here for all the practices—I mean, he even wrote the song!”

You turned your eyes towards Beomgyu, worry overtaking you in an instant when you saw his expression. All the color had drained from his face, his lips pulled between his teeth. His hands were trembling, and he refused to meet your gaze.

“Beomgyu,” You said quietly, taking his shaky hand in your steady one. “You don’t have to. We can figure something else out—”

“I’ll think about it,” He said, eyes finally finding yours. He did his best to force a smile, but it was so strained, your worry only grew at the sight. “Just . . . can you give me a little while?”

You nodded, squeezing his hand. “Of course.”

He slipped away from you then, disappearing behind the stage. Your eyes followed him until you couldn’t see him any longer, worry creasing your brows.

“What was that about?” Yeonjun asked, stepping a bit closer to you. “I understand not wanting to force anyone to do something last minute, but we don’t really have many options.”

“There’s more to it than that,” You said quietly. “Just trust me, okay? And if he says he can’t do it, he can’t. We are not going to force him to do this.”

Yeonjun still looked confused, but he simply shrugged. “Whatever you say, captain. But just so you know, if he can’t do it, you’re gonna be the one singing in Soobin’s place. And trust me, no one wants to hear that.”

You fought the urge to flip him off as he walked away, wondering why on earth you still kept him around as your best friend.

The rest of the preparations went on, and soon, the audience had begun to fill the auditorium. You hadn’t seen Beomgyu since that moment during rehearsals, and you were beginning to grow worried.

You stood in the right wing of the stage as the show began with the drama department. You tried to focus on the performance—it was amazing, of course, especially since Yeonjun played a lead role in the scene they had chosen. Everyone knew he was an amazing actor. However, rather than being able to enjoy the show, you could only think about where Beomgyu was and wonder if he was doing alright, your stomach twisting itself into knots as the seconds ticked by.

By the time the drama students were finished, the audience standing to clap for their flawless performance, you had bitten your nails down to nubs as you grew increasingly worried. Yeonjun rushed over to you when he left the stage, smiling widely as he stretched his arms out to his sides. “How’d we do?”

“Hm?” You snapped out of your daze, shaking your head as you gave him two thumbs up. “Oh—wonderful. You guys were great. Hey, will you make sure everything goes well with the orchestra? I have to go find Beomgyu.”

“Well why don’t you stay here and I’ll go find him—”

“Nope, I’ve got it! Thanks best friend, you’re the greatest!” You gave him a quick hug before he could say anything else, quickly rushing out of the auditorium. You made your way down a few hallways, taking a couple of turns until you had reached one of the dressing rooms. You knew this was where Beomgyu had been getting ready because his guitar case was propped against the wall outside of it, so you hoped he was still inside.

You knocked on the door. “Beomgyu? Are you in there?”

It was silent, but you heard someone sniffle from behind the door. You sighed, leaning against the wood. “You don’t have to say anything, okay? But just hear me out.”

There was no response, but you could have sworn you felt someone leaning against the door from the other side.

“I know you may feel like you have to pressure yourself to do this, but you don’t,” You said gently. “Nobody is going to be disappointed if you can’t get up there to sing. Not me, not Yeonjun, not the band.”

You paused, biting your lip before you continued. “Your father wouldn’t be upset either, Beomgyu. The fact that you’re willing to even think about doing something this hard just to help out shows just how great of a person you are. He would be so, so proud of you. I’m proud of you, too. Whether or not you get up there and sing tonight, I’m proud of you. Okay?”

You stayed there, waiting in silence for a moment longer before you pushed away from the door, walking back towards the auditorium.

The orchestra was almost finished with their set by the time you returned to the wing. Yeonjun and the band were waiting with anticipation when you returned, eyes wide and searching behind you, probably hoping that Beomgyu was close behind.

“Is he coming?” Yeonjun asked.

You sighed, shaking your head slowly. “I don’t think so. We’ll just have to call off the band’s performance, but it’ll be okay—”

“That won’t be necessary.”

You turned at the sound of Beomgyu’s voice, unable to help the big smile that overtook your face. You hurried towards him, grabbing both his hands in your own.

“Are you sure?” You asked. “You know you don’t have to—”

“I know I don’t,” he said with a smile. “But I want to.”

He leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss against your forehead. “Thank you. For everything.”

He went up to talk to the band after that, leaving you a blushing mess. The orchestra had just finished their set and were busy making way for the band. Yeonjun walked to your side as Beomgyu and the rest of the band took their places on the stage.

“Did he just kiss you?” Your best friend asked. For some reason, he didn’t sound surprised.

Dumbfounded, you brought your hand to your forehead and nodded, unable to speak. Yeonjun laughed at you, causing you to snap out of your daze so you could punch him lightly in the shoulder.

Once the band had finished getting ready, Beomgyu cleared his throat, tapping the mic before leaning forward to speak into it.

“Hello everyone, thanks for coming out tonight. My name is Choi Beomgyu, and these lovely people surrounding me are some of the many talented musicians in our music department.” He paused when the audience clapped, waiting until the applause died down before he spoke again. “To wrap up this showcase, we’ll be performing a song I wrote myself. I wrote this about someone I met a long, long time ago.”

He turned his head to the side then, making eye contact with you from the stage. He smiled, not taking his gaze away from yours. He looked heavenly in the light cast from the spotlight, strands of his black hair seeming to turn silver beneath the glow, his golden skin shining brighter than ever. You were sure that if you were close enough, you would see the star-like sparkles in his eyes that you had grown to adore.

“I hope she remembers me, even after all this time.”

“Is he talking about you?” Yeonjun whispered into your ear, noticing the direction of Beomgyu’s stare. “You guys just met like, a month ago.”

You were just as confused as your best friend, so in response, you simply shrugged, unsure of what was going on. He was definitely talking to you, but you had no idea what he was referring to.

“I hope she remembers me, even after all this time.”

You racked your brain, trying desperately to think of what he could mean. Had you met him before? Did he remember you from somewhere, from a memory that had somehow slipped your mind?

The music began to play, and you took a step closer to the stage, eyes narrowed, ready to focus on the lyrics, wanting more than anything to remember what Beomgyu was talking about.

“In moments like those, when tears fill your eyes, hold my hand tight. Should we run away?”

Your eyes went wide. You stumbled back, reaching up to hold your head in your hands.

“Y/N?” Yeonjun’s voice was distant, overpowered by the sound of the honey sweet voice that filled the air. “Y/N, what’s wrong?”

You gasped, hands tangling in your hair as the singing continued.

“Be my forever, call my name. Run away, run away, run away with me.”

Your head was ringing. Not only were these words the same ones you had heard in your head the night you were locked in the classroom with Beomgyu, but the voice—Beomgyu’s voice—was the same one you had heard day and night while growing up.

It was your soulmates voice.

You knew it was, not just because of the lyrics or the familiarity of the voice. You knew it was your soulmate because you didn’t just hear the words and the notes of the song, you felt them. Every inch of your being felt as though it had been struck by lightning. The voice filled up all of your senses, overpowering you in the most beautiful way imaginable.

But it was too much. His voice coming through the loudspeakers paired with it ringing inside your head built up so much pressure that it caused your vision to blur. You quickly stumbled out of the auditorium, fumbling your way through the front doors that led outside.

You sat down on the pavement, taking deep breaths as your mind began to calm down. No longer overwhelmed by all that was going on around you, you closed your eyes, listening to Beomgyu’s voice as it filled your mind.

“Don’t wanna stay, now we can go. Take me now to the magic named ‘us.’”

With those words, the voice died down, and you were surrounded by silence.

You simply sat there for several moments, your eyes remaining closed as you tried to understand everything that had just happened to you.

Beomgyu was your soulmate.

Beomgyu was your soulmate, and he was alive.

Bit by bit, you started to piece things together. The night of your thirteenth birthday, the day before you heard his voice for the first time. You had met the boy with sparkling eyes and a lopsided grin in the hotel parking lot. He had offered you his coat, and then his hand.

“I hope she remembers me,” Beomgyu had said.

You smiled to yourself, placing your hand over your heart as it beat fiercely against your chest.

“Yes, Beomgyu. I do remember you.”

“Y/N!”

Your eyes flew open at the sound of the door being thrown open behind you. You turned to see Beomgyu barreling towards you, practically collapsing to the ground in front of you. He took your face in his hands, eyes frantically searching yours.

“Are you okay?” He asked, his fingers gently running along the length of your cheeks.

You nodded, smiling even though tears began to pool in your eyes. “Beomgyu,” You said quietly, lifting your hands to hold his wrists. “You knew, didn’t you?”

“Knew what?”

“That you’re my soulmate.”

He paused, the worry in his face slowly being replaced by a wide, sparkling smile.

“So you finally figured it out, huh?” He said, brushing a strand of your hair back behind your ear. “If you didn’t figure it out after tonight, I wasn’t sure how else I was supposed to show you.”

You laughed, a tear slipping down your cheek as you tightened your grip on his wrists. His expression changed once again, brows knit with concern. “Are—are you crying? What’s wrong?”

“No, nothing, it’s fine,” You assured him, resting your forehead against his. “I’m just happy. I’m so, so happy, Beomgyu.”

He sighed with relief, wrapping his arms around you in a hug, pulling you snugly into his chest. His chin rested on top of your head as you slipped your arms around his middle, pulling him even closer than he already was.

“I was a little worried that you’d be disappointed when you found out it was me,” He said with a light laugh.

You shook your head against his chest, snuggling even closer to him. “Of course not. You’re exactly who I hoped it would be, Choi Beomgyu.”

The two of you stayed like that for a bit longer before Beomgyu pulled away and stood up in front of you.

The boy with stars for eyes and a smile that outshone the moon stretched his hand out towards you, fingers shaking from the cold, cheeks flushed from your embrace.

“Should we run away?” He asked.

This time, you placed your hand in his and let him pull you to your feet.

2K notes · View notes

lezziemanville · 2 years

Note

Fic Prompt: Barbara x Melissa (of course! They are my new obsession and you are the absolute best at writing them)

"Forgive me Father, for I have sinned" vs "Sorry daddy, I've been bad" Barbara tries to pray the gay away because the sexual tension between her and Melissa has gotten out of control. Melissa overhears her prayers as she passes by Barb's room to leave for the day, and gives her something else to thank God for. First kiss/ makeout fic

*Bonus if one or more of their colleagues walks in on them*

(You’re so sweet! This prompt is kind of amazing?? And I don’t know that I’ve done it justice but I hope it’s enjoyable just the same!)

To say that Barbara is on edge these days is an understatement. Her feelings for Melissa have begun to consume her waking hours. Sure, it’s been years since she began having stirrings but they’d always been manageable, something she could tuck away into a near little cubby with the children’s school supplies and toys.

Now it seems like every time she’s around the woman, she’s regressed to puberty — all damp palms and stuttering and fidgety fingers. She wonders if Melissa’s noticed, hopes to God she hasn’t.

That’s another thing — God. She’s never believed that having feelings for someone of the same-sex is wrong, nor a sin. She never gave credence to religious values she found outdated and subjective. She considers herself open-minded and open-hearted. But she’s a married woman.

She took a vow to honor her husband and she’s fairly certain that lusting after another person is not part of that promise. She’s been married for twenty years and a lot can happen in that time. People change, grow apart, learn things about themselves that don’t quite fit the box they’d settled in. He’s a good man, treats her well. He’s always been understanding and supportive. It’s hard to break up with someone who’s so consistently kind to you.

Still she’s never felt for Gerald the way she feels for Melissa. Doesn’t think about him every moment of every day. Has never dreamed about him, awakened and fervently chased the memory of it; Doesn’t say things just to see him smile.

The bell rings and Melissa waits in her classroom for each parent to pick up their child. She walks others to the pick up meeting area at the school’s entrance and helps them into their parent’s cars. It’s a lot of smiling and accepting compliments, a lot of touting children’s accomplishments and ‘see you tomorrow’.

At the end of it she returns to her empty classroom. She straightens the desks, one by one. Tucks a few stray crayons into the appropriate supply boxes, folds the small square blankets on the nap time rug. She glances down at the symbol on the rug, thinks of Melissa using her connections and wits to make miracles happen.

She looks around assuring she’s alone before lowering herself to her knees on the stadium carpet, ghosting her fingertips over the pile. Even that small gesture, on something as innocuous as a carpet makes her stomach flutter.

She drops her head, clasps her hands together. It’s less a prayer and more a plea, whispered and wrought with torment, “Lord, may I find it within myself to resist temptation for my best friend.”

She suddenly feels a hand at her shoulder and it startles her, cheeks aflame from being caught in such a private confession.

Melissa lowers herself to the carpet beside Barbara, reaches a hand up to cup Barbara’s face. It looks as though she’s attempting to find the right words but Melissa settles on leaning into her, drawing their lips together in a slow, savory kiss.

It’s the proverbial last straw. All hope for any resisting temptation completely lost. Barbara takes charge then, easing Melissa on to her back on the rug beneath her. She straddles her hips, watches as Melissa’s eyelashes sink low across her eyes and her head rolls back with a gasp.

They’re so lost in the moment that neither hears the door open and close again. Nor do they see Janine down the hall, smiling giddily into one of the film crew’s cameras.

“And what has you so happy?” The crewman asks, boom operator lowering his mic into her speaking range.

“I have two moms!”

#abbott elementary #melissa schemmenti #melissa x barbara #barbara howard #work wives #my fic

36 notes · View notes

naturallytom · 3 years

Text

Mending a Broken Heart (Tom Holland x reader, alternative part)

a/n: me? writing? unheard of. jk im tryin to get back into the groove!! this is an alternate version to Mending a Broken Heart, so some parts are the same and some I’ve edited or added some things! hope u enjoy!!

warnings: language, angst, mentions of cheating

please reblog/leave feedback!!

picture not mine!

You had noticed it for months. Tom has been pulling away, spending more time out with the boys than at home with you. His kisses became forced and the words ‘love you’ slowly stopped falling from his lips.

Most days he would leave for work before you woke up and on the rare occasion you were up when he left, he would mumble a ‘goodbye’ before walking out the door. Sometimes, if you were lucky, he would press a gentle kiss to your forehead. Most times, though, he would just leave.

You did your best to keep the love alive, you were still madly in love with him. The wedding band that sat tightly on your ring finger mocked you. A symbol of what was love has turned into one sided love. Hell, you weren’t sure if Tom wore his wedding ring anymore.

A quick glance to his left hand would reveal that he didn’t.

You spent your nights wondering if it was something you did. Were you too clingy when he left to film? Was he just tired of you after four years of marriage? Did he find someone else?

No. You shook your head to yourself one night as you laid in the bed by yourself, the space usually occupied by Tom cold. If he found someone else and if he cheated, that’s on him. Not on you.

Still, the thought plagued your mind. Did he meet someone else? Was she prettier than you? Is that where he was when he said he was out with the boys? Was she able to give him something you couldn’t give him?

The door opening and shutting alerted you that Tom was home. You sighed, knowing it’d be another night of sleeping on opposite sides of the bed.

The door to the bedroom opened and in came Tom, Tessa jumping up to greet him.

“Hey girl, hey love, how are you, hm?” He whispered, petting Tessa as his eyes flickering over to you, who was visibly awake. “Thought you’d be asleep by now. ‘S late.”

“Couldn’t sleep.” You replied simply. “Hey so I was thinking, we haven’t had a date night in a while, maybe you wanted to go out to see the Halloween decorations around town and get dinner tomorrow night?”

“Can’t,” He shook his head as he got ready for bed. “Harrison wants to watch the game. Told him I’d go.”

“Didn’t you just see Harrison tonight?”

“Yeah, and?”

“Nothing.” You sighed, obviously upset. “Nothing, Tom. Goodnight.”

“Night.” He responded, turning out the light and climbing into bed, falling asleep with his back toward you.

The next day, you were surprised to see Tom already awake and waiting in the kitchen, sipping on a cup of tea when you got downstairs.

“Good morning.” You smiled softly.

“We need to talk.” He told you. You felt your heart drop and your palms get sweaty, but you wiped them on your pajama pants in an effort to seem totally calm and not panicked.

“A-About what?” You asked, your voice coming out shaky.

“I think,” Tom started. “I think we should get divorced.”

It was then, at 8:30 am that your world came crashing down.

“W-What?” You whimpered out, your voice weaker than before. “Why?”

“I’m not happy with you anymore.” He said simply. Your eyes flickered to his left hand, noticing the absence of the golden wedding band, making your heart ache.

“We can try couples’ therapy. We can go on dates like we used to, Tom, please! We can fight for this, Tom. Fight for us.” You cried, your heart shattering into a million tiny pieces, each one puncturing your lungs as you struggled to keep your breath under control.

“No,” He shook his head. “My mind is made up. I’m sorry, y/n. Um, I found a lawyer at a firm, they have a lot of other lawyers there you can contact. I’ll just, uh, leave their card here.”

“So that’s it? Three years of dating and four years of marriage down the drain?” You sobbed, holding your knees to your chest as you sat on the kitchen floor.

“I’m sorry, y/n. Truly, I am.”

He placed the small business card on the counter, grabbing the bags you didn’t even notice, mumbling an ‘I’ll be staying with Haz,’ before walking out the front door, like he did every other day. This time, though, you had the sinking feeling he was leaving for good.

It was only three weeks that your lawyer came over to meet with you, joined by Tom and his lawyer. You kept your eyes focused on the table as you signed the paperwork, wanting to get this done as soon as possible.

As soon as everyone left, you shut the door, slid down the back of it, and cried.

Nearly two months after the worst day of your life and it was time for a self care night. The ring that once sat on your left hand was buried away in your jewelry box somewhere and you were finally starting to feel free and somewhat happy again after crying yourself to sleep and wondering where it all went wrong for months.

After the divorce you buried yourself in work, using it as a distraction from going home to an empty house. You also moved out of the house you once called home. Not only was it too painful to go home to an empty house, but it was too painful to go home to a house that held so many happy and loving memories. You took the necessities along with some things you wanted with you and set yourself up in a hotel room for the time being. You treated it as a vacation. Except only a few people knew where you were. Your family knew, along with your friends, including Harrison, on the condition he didn’t tell Tom where you were. You started making time for yourself in your little hotel room and you became happier.

Tonight, after a long day of work, you ordered your favorite Chinese food, played your favorite songs, and ran yourself a bath with a vanilla scented bath bomb. You were enjoying a glass of wine, the hot water of the bath soothing you when the music playing from your phone was interrupted by a call coming in.

To your surprise, it was Tom. You contemplated answering it, but instead, let it go to voicemail. However, you were curious as to why he called, though you were also 99% positive it was a pocket dial. So you played the voicemail, the familiar voice ringing throughout the bathroom.

“Hey y/n, um, I hope you’re doing well. I just called because I wanted to tell you something. I um, I miss you. A lot. And I know I don’t get to feel that way but I do and I just wanted to tell you that and I guess ask if there was any possibility of meeting to talk? Uh, call me back if...if you want. I don’t blame you if you hate me. Bye. Love y-”

You turned off the voicemail before the phrase could be finished. Millions of thoughts filled your mind, ranging from happy ones to ones that made your heart ache and tears fill your eyes.

You decided to ignore it, pretend it never happened, and enjoy your self care night.

When Tom pulled up to his former house with flowers in his car and a pit of nerves in his stomach, he expected to see your car in the driveway and at least one light to be on. He was greeted with an empty driveway and a dark house, which confused him. It was the weekend, so you weren’t work. Maybe you had to run an errand?

But after 20 minutes, he gave up hope that you were home and tried to call you, which to no surprise, you didn’t pick up again. He instead called Harrison in an effort to try and find out if he knew where you were.

“What do you want?” Harrison answered, half concentrating on what Tom was about to say and half concentrating on the game in front of him.

“Do, uh, do you know where y/n is?” Tom asked, taking Harrison by surprise.

“y/n?” Harrison paused the game, suddenly not able to concentrate on it. “Why d’you want to know where y/n is?”

“I just want to talk to her.” He mumbled.

“If I knew that’s where you were going I wouldn’t have let you go.” Harrison sighed. “Listen she made me swear that I wouldn’t tell you-”

“Please Harrison? You’ve seen how much of a mess I’ve been. I just want to see if I have a shot.” Tom begged, making his friend cave.

“Fine but if she moves again I won’t be telling you shit.”

The next day you were enjoying a cup of tea and reading your book, getting some relaxation in before your week began when a knock on the door interrupted you. Confusion filled your body, you weren’t expecting anyone to pop by.

Looking out the peephole, you froze at the sight that greeted you. Tom was standing outside your door, a bouquet of your favorite flowers in his hands.

“Hi.” He breathed out, his nose and the tips of his ears red from the harsh winter air.

“How the hell did you find me?” You asked, keeping your eyes focused on the ground.

“Harrison. I begged him to tell me.” He answered.

“I’m gonna kill him.” You muttered. “What do you want?”

“Can..Can I come in?” He asked.

You wanted to say no, that he could say what he wanted to say outside or just not let him speak at all. But you wanted to be courteous to the other people on your floor and part of you was curious as to what he was going to say. So you wordlessly opened the door slightly, letting him in and closing the door behind him.

“Now what do you want?”

“Did you get my voicemail?” He responded, hope filling his eyes when you nodded. “Um, I brought these for you. I was hoping we could talk.”

“I don’t want your flowers. Why should I talk to you? We’re divorced, just like you wanted.” Tom winced at the words. “Nothing to change.”

“Actually, we’re not.” He corrected. “I called the office the other day. Um, it’s not official yet.”

“Well then they should make it official. Maybe I can call them and make it happen as my very last Christmas present to you. Just what you wanted.” You snapped.

“No, this isn’t what I want, can I speak, please?” He pleaded, his eyes resembling those of a puppy.

“You’re speaking already.” You answered, gesturing for him to continue nonetheless.

“I- How have you been? I stopped by the house-”

“Tom I’m not gonna listen to your small talk. Say what you have to say and leave.” You told him. His heart broke but he couldn’t blame you.

“Um, so I thought I wasn’t happy with you but um, as time went on, I realized how much I miss having you in my life.” He began, visibly nervous. “I was just looking through our pictures and how happy you looked and I just, I guess I realized I wanted to be the one to make you that happy again.”

“You haven’t made me happy in months, Tom.”

“I know.” His heart clenched. “I know and I’m so sorry, y/n. I really am.”

“Was there someone else? Did you cheat on me?” You asked.

“No, no absolutely not, y/n.” He answered before adding; “I went on a date with someone after we split up but it didn’t work out. I realized she wasn’t what I want.”

“Of course she wasn’t.” You scoffed.

“I want you, y/n. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy again.” He told you, tears filling your eyes. “Is there..is there any possibility you could love me again?”

“Again?” You seethed. “Tom I never fell out of love with you! I never stopped loving you! That was all you! You stopped loving me and you wanted this stupid fucking divorce!”

“I..I don’t think I ever stopped loving you either.” He whispered, tears falling down his rosy cheeks. “Please, y/n, if there’s even the tiniest chance..”

“Of what, Tom? Of going right back to being married? Of you making me happy? I don’t know, Tom! I don’t know anything except that I hate you right now.” You sobbed, crying into your knees while Tom let out quiet sobs of his own, his heart clenching at the lack of wedding band on your left hand and the lack of love in your voice, but especially your eyes. Your eyes, which once held so much love and adoration for him were now full of anger and resentment.

“Of..anything, y/n. Please, I just want a second chance to show you how much you mean to me, to make you happy again. I will do anything to save us, anything you want. And...and if it’s not working or you just really hate me, I wouldn’t blame you. Not at all.” He begged, his eyes puffy and red.

“I tried to save us, Tom. Don’t you remember? I begged and pleaded with you to do couples therapy to go on dates when you were breaking my heart into a million tiny pieces. I begged you to try and fight for us, for our marriage, but you just walked out the god damn door!” You spit through gritted teeth.

“I fucked up, I know. I fucked up so badly.” He cried, wiping his tears away.

“And if leaving me wasn’t enough, you took Tessa too! I was left completely alone in that big fucking house that was haunted by you. I couldn’t stand it.” You sobbed.

“I’m..I’m sorry, y/n. So so fucking sorry. What do you want me to do?”

“I want...I want you to hurt. I want you to hurt the way you hurt me. I want you to know how this fucking feels.” You said, your voice getting louder with each word that fell from your lips.

Tom could only cry. This was ripping him apart, he couldn’t even imagine what the whole thing felt like to you.

“I’m gonna need time to think, Tom.” You finally mumbled, Tom nodding in response.

“I’ll give you all the time you need. I promise you-”

“Don’t. Don’t promise me anything.” You spoke, your voice low. “You won’t be able to keep it. You promised you’d love me forever four years ago and look what happened.”

“y/n pl-”

“You don’t get to do this. You-you don’t get to just waltz right back in here and ask for a second chance to fight for us when I didn’t even get a first chance. How do I know this won’t end like it did before?”

“y/n, I swear to you, if this isn’t working out, you can leave me. I...I just want a chance to prove myself to you.” He begged.

“God, Tom. You don’t get it! I’m not going through this again. Do you realize how much you broke me the first time? Fuck, you had a chance, Tom. And you threw it away.” You muttered quietly.

“I regret that every day. Every god damn day.” He told you honestly.

“I don’t know, Tom.” You sighed.

“Talk to me?” He tried, knowing you were hiding something deeper than an ‘I don’t know.’

“Don’t know what else there is to say.” You mumbled. “I don’t trust you, I-I can’t trust you. I hate you.”

“Why’d you get a hotel room?” Tom sniffled, changing the subject.

“I told you. I hated being in that house. Hated being surrounded by the happy pictures and memories of us.” You told him honestly. “I want to start over.”

“What?”

“I want to start over. I can’t go back to being emotionally married to you even if we’ll still be married legally. I’m talking starting from scratch, as if we were meeting for the first time, the whole deal.” You told him.

“That sounds perfect, y/n. Thank y-”

“Get out, Tom. Please. I just want to be alone and not with you right now. I’m still not happy with you.”

“Okay.” He breathed out, hope filling him once again. “You won’t regret this, I promise.”

“What did I just say about promises?” You asked tearily.

“I know, I know. I’m determined to keep this promise, though.” He told you.

“Fine. Whatever. Just please leave for now.” You whimpered, watching as he walked out the door, just like he did when he broke your heart.

You decided you needed another self care night. Another bath was run, another vanilla scented bath bomb was used, more wine was consumed.

Tom texted you right as you got out of the bath.

Tom: hey y/n, it’s tom, just incase you don’t have my number saved anymore. I just wanted to say thank you for the second chance. I really am grateful. I hope you have a relaxing night, you deserve it.

You rolled your eyes and tossed your phone gently on your bed, though you could feel your heart rate pick up and butterflies fill your stomach.

Tom began texting you sweet little things each morning, whether it was to let you know that he’s been thinking of you or to tell you that he hopes you have a great day. At first you ignored them, but then you began responding in short answers of one or two words until the two of you were texting every day, like when you met for the first time seven years ago.

Over a month after you started texting again, Tom took you on a first date. Pulling up to your hotel, Tom felt the nerves fill his body as he walked up to your door and knocked, another bouquet of your favorite flowers in his hand.

He felt all the air leave his lungs as you opened the door. You looked absolute stunning. You were wearing a navy blue dress that reached down to just above your knees, one Tom bought you one year.

“Wow, hi.” He breathed. “You look stunning.”

“Thank you.” You smiled, accepting the flowers he handed you. “I’ll be right back.”

Tom took you to your favorite restaurant that night, one that the two of you frequented when you (formerly) went on dates.

When he took you back to your hotel, he walked you up to the door, where he nervously asked if he could kiss you.

You said yes, and that was all Tom needed to press a soft kiss to your lips. The kiss was magical, both of you felt the sparks between the two of you.

“God I missed doing that.” Tom mumbled as he pulled away to breathe.

“Then do it again.”

A couple months after that, Tom moved back in with you. You had gone back to the house every now and then, to slowly acclimate yourself to being back in the once happy house, only fully moving back when Tom moved back as well. The pictures of the two of you were dusted off, making your heart race instead of hurt at the sight of the happy memories.

Finally, after a year, Tom proposed to you (again). You hesitated a little bit, still scared it would end in heartbreak again, which broke Tom’s heart, but said you yes in the end.

The two of you renewed your vows, putting on the golden bands that were once again a symbol of the love the two of you shared.

You had a small party back at your house after the ceremony, your families joining to celebrate. You found Tom alone in the kitchen, grabbing a beer for him and Harry.

“Hey.” You greeted, fiddling with your fingers as tears of happiness filled your eyes.

“Hey, what’s wrong, my love?” Tom asked, concerned as soon he saw the tears filling your eyes.

“Nothing, nothing. I, um,” You started, wiping your tears away and wrapping your arms around Tom’s neck. “I’m really glad we made it back to this.”

“Me too, lovey. I love you so much.” He whispered, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead.

“Hey, Tommy?”

“Yeah?”

“You kept your promise.” You smiled softly, making Tom’s heart ache at the memory of you not being able to trust him.

“I told you I would.”

Your moment was interrupted by Harrison, who entered the kitchen, smiling at his two best friends happily in love once again.

“Aren’t you so glad I told him where you were staying?” He joked, making you roll your eyes.

“Shut up, Harrison.” You smiled. As your eyes flickered between Tom and Harrison, though, you knew you wouldn’t have been in this position if Harrison didn’t spill the beans to Tom.

“Hey Haz?” You called, as Harrison went to leave the kitchen in fake offense. He turned at the sound of his name, knowing what was coming.

“Thank you.” Tom nodded in agreement, his arm slipping around your waist.

Harrison just smiled even bigger, all three of you knowing everything would be okay from now on.

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #tom holland angst #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland fanfic #tom holland fic #tom holland imagine #tom holland x fem!reader #tom holland x female!reader

112 notes · View notes

saintchrollo · 3 years

Text

ten million jenny: spring, night 26.

date nights make the heart grow fonder. date nights bring the family closer. moonlight softens all the rough edges of a relationship. nsfw content ahead. minors and ageless blogs dni.

calendar | earlier that day

For someone who claims to despise talking to people, Chrollo is quite good at it. Upon arriving at the relatively busy restaurant, Chrollo immediately took to the déjà-vu-inducing host. After a brief conversation, the restaurant cleared itself out and the two of you sat in a booth across from each other. The only other table which remained occupied was by a young child in a kimono, who was diligently completing their foreign language homework, large headphones over their head and computer in front of them.

Your attention is focused on Kuroro, however. He’s calmly looking over the menu, taking in each of the lines and corresponding photos. Earlier, upon choosing the restaurant, he had ignored your offering of the menu from your phone.

“Baby, can I ask you something?” You ask, tapping his leg under the table.

“Hm?” Chrollo doesn’t take his gaze away from the menu.

“And I mean it nicely.” You tack on.

“Ah.” Chrollo closes the menu and sets it aside. He smiles softly at you, expectant. It’s easy to envision the way his eyebrow slowly raises, preparing himself for whatever comment you were about to make. “With peace and love, I’m sure.”

“Of course. With peace and love.”

You look over Kuroro, taking in his openness, the curve of his collarbone. “How come you got a tattoo on your forehead?”

There’s a brief moment, one where Chrollo’s face turns from open to taken aback. He chuckles.

“How long have you been waiting to ask me that, darling?”

You bite your lip as you smile. “Since I met you.”

“Ah. I’m surprised you’ve waited this long.”

“I feel secure in our relationship right now.”

Privately, Chrollo congratulates himself on a job well done. He reaches a hand across the table for yours, admiring your rings, your nails, your hands. Unable to help himself, he leaves a few kisses on your fingertips.

It’s impossible to forget the way his heart thudded in his chest the first time you saw the tattoo. Pure, unadulterated surprise. The way he worried you’d feel his pulse under your fingertips, gliding across the symbol of devotion. He even worried you’d decide that there would be no more dates, no more walks through museums and botanical gardens.

“You never fail to amuse me, my love.”

“No?”

Kuroro shakes his head. What a gift love is.

The arrival of a waiter ruins the moment. Kuroro withdraws to relay your order. While you move to pull away, Kuroro’s fingers squeeze slightly to keep you still.

A bashful smile creeps across your face, as your heart swells.

Once the waiter disappears with the order, Kuroro turns back to you. His thumb rubs across your knuckles, first and second, pushing your rings about. A few moments pass.

“If you don’t want to talk about it though…” You trail off. “That’s alright.”

“But you’re curious,” Kuroro finishes as the waiter brings over the wine.

“Well, duh. I’m starting to think you’re in the mafia or something.”

Kuroro’s eyes widen, his stomach drops slightly. “You think I’d get involved in organized crime like that?”

You return the favor, mimicking Chrollo’s movements.

“For the record, I would be in the yakuza, not the mafia, and they don’t allow facial tattoos,” Chrollo elaborates. He holds his hand up. “I have sticky fingers, you know I would have less than ten by this point.”

“Have you tried?”

“Tried what?” Chrollo asks, feigning dumb. “Cutting off my fingers for respect?”

You roll your eyes.

“Tell me what you think of the wine, my love.”

Kuroro gestures to the untouched glass of wine in front of you.

“You’re so deflective,” You point out, picking up your glass and swirling it. The wine is light, airy, and almost too easy to drink.

“It’s one of my talents,” Chrollo agrees.

“I’m taking this as a yes, just so you know,” You say with a hum.

“Don’t tell anyone, you’ll have to keep it a secret.”

“So, you tried out for the yakuza and it didn’t work out? What happened?”

Chrollo swirls his wine about his glass. He contemplates, you can watch the gears turn in his head. In your waiting, the waiter deposits summer rolls to your table.

Once the waiter has disappeared, Chrollo gives you a rather cheeky smile. “I slept with the mother of a hitman.”

“You dated people before me?” You ask, pretending to be taken aback. ‘Pretending’ to be a key word: Even though you had previous partners and the same went for Kuroro, an irrational pang of jealousy shoots through you.

Chrollo shakes his head with a chuckle. “I forgot them all the moment I met you.”

Your heart warms at that. “Love you, angel. Whole lot.”

“I fill my journals with poetry about you.”

“You gonna woo me with it, baby?”

“Haven’t I already?”

“You don’t need to stop.”

Chrollo chuckles at that. “I didn’t think I had. I actually have something for you. It’s not poetry, but it will have to do.”

“Oh?”

Chrollo nods, producing a dark green velvet box. He slides it across the table, and you easily catch it. Picking it up, you look to Kuroro for permission to open it. He gives a gentle nod.

“Is it naughty?” You whisper with a grin, opening the case slowly.

“No, that one comes next week, this one is just for you.” Chrollo’s expression remains neutral, yet his eyes betray him with that tell-tale spark of mischief.

You can’t help but be amused at the response. Knowing both of your habits, there was a laundry list of things it could be. The case sets open with a firm snap, revealing a set of earrings. Dangling butterflies made of metal and little crystals as wings.

“Angel, these are so gorgeous,” You say, glancing back up at your boyfriend. “Will you swap them for me?”

“Of course,” Kuroro says, standing up and coming to your side. Deft fingers come by your ears. He undoes the backings and slides out the earrings, fingers gazing along your neck.

“You’re so pretty.” It slips out in a breath, soft and uneven.

You grin. “Am I?”

Kuroro nods, sliding in the new earrings. His thumb slides shell to earlobe. “Absolutely. I adore you, darling.”

“Love you more.”

“I find that hard to believe.” Chrollo presses a kiss to your temple. He tilts your jaw up by your chin and takes in your beauty. The earrings graze against your collarbones and your neck. “Perhaps I gifted these to you too early, I’m going to be distracted.”

You lower your own gaze to his belt, then back to his face. A smirk worms its way across your face, teasing and challenging.

Kuroro’s face turns dark at your expression. “Don’t do that here.”

“Or what?” You raise your eyebrow in challenge.

Kuroro only responds with a small smile and a kiss to your forehead. His fingers trail along your neck for a brief moment, filling the space between your flesh and the dangling metal.

He then sits, and scoots his chair up under him.

“Baby,” You tap your shoe against his shin with a cheeky smile. “C’mon baby. Or what?”

“I’m sure the servers here don’t get paid enough to overhear your antics.”

Your jaw drops. “What antics?”

After holding Kuroro’s gaze for a few moments before you smile and pick up a summer roll. “I’ll stop, only because you’re pretty and stressed. Work, still?”

Chrollo wants to talk about anything but work. He’d much rather keep playing. He watches you for a few moments, eyes tracking your fingers, your bracelets, your collarbones. “Very,” He admits, clearing his throat. “There’s actually discussion of getting relocated.”

“For you?” You ask, immediately intrigued. “Where to?”

“Kakin,” Chrollo says.

Freezing, you stare at Chrollo. “Kakin is on the other side of the world.”

Chrollo nods.

“No,” You say resolutely.

“No?”

You shake your head. “No. I’m not job hunting anymore.”

“Is that all you're worried about?” Chrollo asks with a curious frown.

“Uh.” You take a bite of food and shrug.

“You think about it,” Chrollo says. “If it’s work that worries you, you wouldn’t have to work. Anymore. At all. You could do whatever you want with your days.”

“Where are you in all of this?” You ask. Instinctively, one of your hands goes to play with your new earrings.

“I’d have to work more,” Chrollo admits.

“Would you be home as much as you are now?” You ask, furrowing your brow slightly.

“Are you pleased with now?”

You lick your bottom lip, thinking it over. “As long as you’re nicer to me when there are spiders in the shower.”

Chrollo chuckles through his guilt. He reaches for your hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. “I promise. But I’d have work trips again.”

You hum. “Let me think about it.”

“That’s all I want you to do.”

“I do like having you around so much more. I miss you when you leave. I hate not being able to feel you near me.”

Your fingers intertwine with his.

Perhaps this is one of the things Chrollo has loved about you for so long. The way you lay your heart out, beating and simple, for him to dissect so easily.

“Feel me?” Chrollo asks, tilting his head in interest.

“Well, yes, of course,” You say, slightly patronizing, connecting the dots for Chrollo. He didn’t, doesn’t, won’t, ever mind. You move your hands to trace out his aura. “You’re purple and grey, baby. My lucky number thirteen.”

“Which one is that? Death?”

You nod with a smile. It’s always so considerate when Chrollo takes interest in your own. If anything, he’s better than you are when it comes to knowing the tarot meanings. Only he sounds like he’s reading from a wikipedia article. It’s better than any of your prior relationships have done for you.

“Yes,” You smile softly. “Perfect, angel.”

Chrollo’s heart swells at the praise. The kiss you blow to him lands, spreading a light pink across his cheekbones. He looks so handsome, in the warm light dancing across clear skin. To your delight, Chrollo regards you with just as much admiration. It’s enough to turn your stomach into warm jelly.

☘︎

Chrollo’s fingers deftly move to roll the cigarette between his fingers. He sits on the one chair offered, legs splayed wide. You lean against the balcony, watching him with a lazy, happy gaze.

Only dressed in the slip that you had worn under your outfit that night, the warm breeze is slightly chilling against your shoulders.

“Why don’t you sit down, sweetheart?” Chrollo asks, lighting his cigarette and taking a drag. He pats his thigh for you. Exhales.

“I'm enjoying my view,” You say, crossing your legs in front of you at the ankle. “It’s very nice.”

“Is it?”

You nod, stretching your body along the railing. Kuroro’s eyes follow the way your breasts threaten to spill. Catching his gaze, you arch your back more, extending your legs so the curve of your ass follows the stretch of your thigh. On cue, his eyes adjust, flicking across your body before back to your face.

“I’ve been thinking since dinner,” you say, trailing your fingers along the railing, glancing over at your boyfriend. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

There’s a silence where Chrollo waits for the second half of the sentence.

“That’s all. I haven’t decided anything else.”

Chuckling, Chrollo stands. You slink back to an upright position, quickly and smoothly to meet Kuroro’s lips as they press against yours. Eyes shut, you focus on how smooth Chrollo’s lips are against yours, how gentle his breath is, swooping in and stealing yours.

The smell of cigarettes mingles between you both, cologne long since melded with your own. Your tongue slides over his, able to taste the mint he stole from your mixed drink earlier.

There is something about Chrollo that makes every kiss feel like the first one. It makes your head fuzzy, warmth flooding your stomach.

Chrollo breaks the kiss. You whine, lips chasing after his.

Slowly, your eyes flutter open. Chrollo’s gaze is nothing short of adoring. Smoke rises, forgotten, from the cigarette.

“Coucou,” you whisper, gazing up at him.

“Coucou,” Kuroro repeats, a smile pulling at his lips.

You giggle, taking Kuroro’s chin in your fingers, holding him still. His stubble is faint, barely there against the soft pads of your fingers.

“Je veux plus,” You murmur, pulling him back for a kiss.

Chrollo obliges, closing the distance between the two of you again. You lose yourself in the kiss, pressing close to rest yourself against him. You hum into the kiss, swiping your tongue across his bottom lip.

He opens his mouth for you once more, hand cupping the back of your head to deepen the kiss. A warmth begins to fill in your stomach, rolling and comfortable as Kuroro’s knee slides between your thighs.

Unfortunately, Chrollo pulls away. He takes a long drag of his cigarette, blowing the smoke away from your face. You make a kissy sound, eyes flitting over to the cigarette and then back to Kuroro’s eyes, wide and hopeful.

A brief peck to your lips before the filter is placed at them. You only take a little puff, sliding your hands under Kuroro’s shirt and pulling it out from his pants. His stomach flexes under your fingers, and amusement glints in his eyes. Your fingers drop with gravity, hooking on his trousers, barely grazing his boxers.

Chrollo puts his cigarette out on the balcony behind you. “Do you want to go inside, darling?”

With a nod, lips immediately moving against his once more. His hands to your thighs, digging into the backs for a grip. Taking the hint, you jump up into his embrace, arms winding around his neck as he lifts you up to carry you inside.

Of course you want to go inside, of course you want to be laid out across the sheets, of course you want to never have Chrollo’s lips leave yours. Do you want to go inside… The prettiest boys always ask the silliest questions.

A low hum comes from Chrollo as he drags his hands up your sides, sitting back on his knees to admire you. His lips are pink from the kisses, his eyes lidded too.

“No more clothes for you,” You say, pressing your toes against his chest before resting your ankle on his shoulder. “If I don’t get to see your chest soon I might die.”

“Die?” Chrollo raises an eyebrow as he starts to unbutton his shirt. “I doubt you’ll die, you look plenty alive to me.”

His unbuttoning stops at his sternum and you want to scream. He takes your ankle in one hand, keeping your legs open while the other drags across the wetness of your panties. “Feel plenty alive too.”

Your breath catches.

Kuroro leans forwards, pushing your leg flesh against your chest to whisper in your ear.

“I can feel your heartbeat right here.” Deft fingers slide under the wetness to circle at your clit. He presses, ever so lightly. You whine, rolling your hips slightly.

“Kuroro,” your voice has a needy lilt to it, which Chrollo practically revels in.

“Yes, darling?” Kuroro asks, brows furrowing together in mock confusion.

Your fingers slowly undo the rest of his shirt buttons, smoothing your hands across his shoulder blades. Thumbs press against the thick muscles of his trapezius, humming in delight.

“You’re so muscley,” You murmur, using your thumb to urge his head back, exposing his neck for your lips to find.

Chrollo groans. His arms wrap around your waist, holding you close. His pulse beats firmly under the laving motions of your tongue. Before you can leave a little love bruise on his skin, Chrollo slides a hand up your chest, closing around the base of your throat and pushing you off him.

Whining, you fix Kuroro with a pout. He raises an eyebrow at you, his cool demeanor barely hiding his breathlessness.

“You know better,” Chrollo says, eyes caught on your lips.

“I just wanna leave one,” You plead, eyes big and hands roving across his chest. “Just one, angel. Pretty please? I’ll leave it where no one can see.”

Chrollo just shakes his head and dips down for a kiss. A passionate kiss, one where your leg slides off his shoulder and into the crook of his elbow, and his hand grabs the meat of your thigh and squeezes.

You can grab my ass, you want to remind him, remembering how long it took for him to originally feel comfortable with possessive grips over your body.

Instead, Chrollo crawls his way down your body, gently spreading your legs apart. Mind racing ahead of his actions, you let out an early moan.

Chrollo’s eyebrow raises, but he doesn’t say anything as he admires your pussy. His thumb slides across your lips, spreading them apart to match your thighs. Your hole twitches, he watches throw lidded lashes your pussy practically speaks to him.

“Darling,” he chides, shaking his head while lowering himself. He makes eye contact with you while his lips ghost over your pussy. “Darling, darling, darling.”

“Baby, don’t tease me.”

Chrollo raises his head. “You didn’t let me finish.” His tongue slides across your mound midway, where his lips connected and he gently began to suck and lick across the area. His eyes slip shut. “I was going to tell you…” He sits back, smoothing his thumb over the area. “How gorgeous you are, begging for me to ruin you. If I had a mirror, you could see. I’m watching your pussy pulse for me, watching your pretty, little, hole wonder where my cock is…”

Each word is punctuated by his thumb, which presses against your entrance. His brows furrowed slightly. “Concerned I won’t take you? Concerned I won’t make you mine?” His lip pouts as he meets your eyes once more. You can barely think, chest heaving as you grip to the sheets. It’s embarrassing, the way Chrollo prods with each question. Makes your brain go scrambled, makes your stomach roll with warmth.

Chrollo smiles, giving you a cheeky wink as his lips hovered in front of your pussy. It’s always such a treat to see you like this, bashful and dripping before him. “How dare you worry about that with me.”

Kuroro absolutely devours you, precisely and sloppily smearing you across his face. His hands grip your thighs, spreading you wide so he had nothing in the way between him, and making you feel good. A finger slides between your wet folds, pressing against your begging hole.

You roll your hips down, desperate for the feeling of Kuroro’s long fingers stroking inside of you. Preemptively, you moan, thinking about three fingers inside you, gently pushing in and out, curling and prodding—

“Come back to me, darling,” Kuroro urges, slowly sliding the one finger in. He rises up your body, tilting your chin towards him. As your eyes start to defog, Chrollo smiles proudly. “There she is. There’s my angel.”

You bite your bottom lip at the praise, and It’s quickly captured between Chrollo’s teeth instead. You taste yourself, sharp and feminine, on his lips.

“Can tonight be one of those nights?” Kuroro whispers as he pulls away from you, eyes wide and hopeful. His thumb slides alongside your lower lip, dragging it down.

“Orgasam-hoarder,” You whisper back, and a smile pulls across both of your lips. Kuroro, for all of his seriousness between the sheets, chuckles and nods. “They’re yours anyways.”

The smile slides off of Chrollo’s face as he stares at you. “Say it again.”

“Say what?” You breathe, trying to steady your heartbeat. His fingers twitch with his eyebrow. Mock sympathy pinches your brows together, makes your lips pout, turns your voice silky-sweet. One hand slides up, cupping Chrollo’s cheek, rubbing your thumb over his soft skin. “Want me to tell you every one of orgasams is yours? You already know that, silly boy. You know my pussy belongs to you. You like the way I sound?”

Kuroro licks his bottom lip, leaning into your touch as he nods. His eyes cut across yours, shining in the dim of the hotel room.

“I adore the way you sound.” To prove his point, one of his digits slides into your sensitive heat, wet and throbbing and slick. Your breath hitches, a keen breaking through. His next words are as breathless as you, “I adore you.”

Another finger slides through your folds to join the other, to slowly coax those little, breathy pitches out. The steady sucking of your walls around his fingers overwhelms Chrollo for a moment, he places his face right into your chest. Quickly, his lips begin to kiss against the soft of your breast, tongue swirling around the hardening bud.

His eyes flash up, catching your own staring gaze. His fingers curl, and your head tosses back, hands flying to grab his hair but landing on his shoulders. His tongue is gone as quickly as it was warm on your nipple.

Kuroro sits back, out of your grasp so he can watch the way you arch away from the bed while he rubs his thumb against your clit. Your hips chase his hand as he withdraws it from you.

“Kuroro,” You whine, watching with betrayal as he slides his fingers in his own mouth. It’s obscene, the way his lips adjust for his knuckles.

“Princess,” He coos back, sliding his hand up your tummy, between your breasts to rest at the base of your throat. “Just sit there for a moment.”

He slides off the bed and resumes the forgotten task of unbutton in his shirt.

“I’m actually laying down,” You say, eyes roaming appreciatively over his figure while your hand lazily drags around your breast.

Chrollo merely responds by snapping his dress shirt in your direction.

It’s not until he has you fucked out, gripping the pillows and eyes rolling back into your head does Chrollo start to feel bad. You’re so pretty for him, face down in inky pools of silk sheets. Each stroke of cock pulsing in your dripping pussy pushes a new moan out of your lips. Each pap pap pap of his hips against your thighs is echoed by a muffled moan.

He slows himself, feeling your legs begin to shake. The cool air causes his cock to twitch as he slides out of you. It’s tempting, to slide back in, you’re warm and creamy, warm and safe.

You turn your head and pout, reaching your arm behind you for him. One of Kuroro’s hands laces with yours, the other using your hips to flip you onto your back. His hair hangs around his face, his cross dangles in your face, his member slides through your folds. Your eyes flutter, Chrollo smiles at the white of them.

Sitting back, Chrollo repeats the tantalizingly slow motions, letting his head catch on your clit with each pass.

“I was so close,” You whine. “Could feel you in my throat, angel.”

Kuroro groans, pressing his forehead against yours. Your leg wraps around his waist, heel in his lower back to urge him to slide in already. Large hand on your thigh to steady himself, Kuroro dips his head to suck against your pulse point as he slides his member back into you. By this point, Kuroro doesn’t think he has much longer before he’s cumming.

Once fully sheathed again, Chrollo grips your hips and lets out a deep exhale. It takes a few moments— your pulsing around him. He lifts your hips, grinding you against his own.

Reaching for him, Kuroro gets the hint and takes your hand, pulling you up and into his lap. Your thighs tremble around him, and your arms wrap around his shoulders, nails digging into the muscle.

Both of you sit there and breathe for a few moments, until you start rolling your hips. Gentle and easy. The familiar warmth begins to build up inside of you, spreading like warm honey through your veins. Kuroro groans in your ear, hand slipping down to swirl your clit.

“Fuck, oh, Kuroro, I’m gonna, go slo—“

“I know, I know you’re about to cum,” Chrollo whispers. A smile lilts at his voice. “That’s the point, darling. That’s the whole point.”

Whining, you roll your hips over and over, trying to get as close to his fingers as possible. It’s less riding him and more so humping, but every movement causes you to see stars, chasing the feeling of lava flowing through you.

You moan into his neck, tongue grazing over his pulse.

A strained fuck leaves Chrollo’s lips, and your thighs tighten around his waist immediately.

“I’m so close, I’m so close, I’m so— I’m so—“

Your statement is cut off by a shuddering moan. Kuroro’s hand on your hips moving against his own, heat coating his cock and dripping down the shaft. He pulls you close as he cums, deep and long inside of you. You slide your fingers through his hair, shaking in pleasure.

Delayed orgasams bring drowsiness, everytime. You slump against Chrollo, bodies still twitching with the after effects of the orgasam. Chrollo glances behind him before leaning back. He sighs, hands sliding up and down your sides, gripping your ass and your thighs absentmindedly.

You’re already half asleep by the time Kuroro emerges back from the bathroom with a towel. Your eyes open dopily, a lazy smile coming across your face upon seeing him.

“Coucou, mon prince,” You coo at him, shifting your legs against the sheets.

“Hello, princess,” Chrollo responds, bed dipping under him as he sits next to you. He rubs his hand up your side, settling on your thigh. “Can I see your pretty pussy again?”

Grinning, you slide your legs apart for him. Instead of using the towel, Kuroro lowers his head, tongue laving through the leaking mess of your pussy. Immediately, you groan, hand flying to his hair.

“I’m still sensitive-- oh.” Your moan gets cut off by Kuroro humming I know against your clit. Your legs clamp around his head, twitching as he continues to lick through the wetness, making more of a mess than he was cleaning up.

His tongue slid over your puffy clit, receiving a whine of pleasure-pain, your nails digging into his hair. Pulling away, Chrollo presses a few kisses to your lips and hole. The warmth of the washcloth replaces the warmth of his lips.

Kuroro’s gaze lifts over your body, taking in the bruises his hands left on your hips. Pride bubbles in his chest. Chrollo licks his lips to quell the smirk about to form.

“How are you feeling, darling?” Chrollo asks, desperate to drag himself out of his own thoughts.

Your blissed-out smile is all the answer he needs. “Good. ‘M sleepy now, though.”

“I can tell,” Kuroro chuckles, softness overtaking his pride. Once he deems you cleaned, he presses a kiss to your temple. “Was I too rough?”

You move the fluffy pillow enough to fix one of your eyes upon your boyfriend. “No, you goobie.”

Kuroro frowns at the childish pet name. You laugh at his disheartened expression, sitting up to cup his face and press a big kiss to his cheek. “Oh, angel,” You coo, feeling his cheeks rise in a smile under your lips. “I love you.”

“Cara mia,” Chrollo murmurs in response, capturing your lips for a brief kiss. He’s slow to withdraw from the bed, deliberate in the way his hands slide up under your knees and your lower back. Without hesitation, you wrap your arms around his neck to be carried away to the bathroom.

With your skincare routine done and any UTIs properly avoided, you and Kuroro bask in each other’s presence in bed. His bicep acts as your pillow, your hand runs across his chest. In return, he doesn’t speak, simply watching as you enjoy yourself.

Chrollo bides his time as you are easily coaxed to sleep. It’s flattering, the way you can barely stay awake after a good, long round. Once your breathing evens out, he slides his arm from under your head and lets out a hiss as blood begins to flow into his hand once more. When you don’t stir, Chrollo slips out of the bed and pulls the covers up again.

You’re out like a light, not even Chrollo’s lips against your temple or the blankets being tucked in around you causes you to stir.

In the darkness, Chrollo redresses himself. Tucks in his shirt, tucks away his emotions. He makes no sound as he exits the hotel room, door locking shut behind him. The lights in the hallway are bright, and Chrollo finds himself squinting as he makes his way down to the lobby.

Behind the desk, Shalnark is fixated on the gaming device in his hands. He doesn’t look up to acknowledge Chrollo, brow furrowed and attention focused on the device.

“Everyone’s outside,” The blonde says, his normal peppiness replaced with strain.

“Thank you,” Chrollo says, easily not taking the ignorance personally. The door sweeps open and Chrollo makes his way through the warm night air towards his accomplices.

Phinks, Feitan, and Machi all stand in the darkness. Feitan bums his cigarette over to a hopeful looking Phinks. Machi turns her bored gaze to Chrollo.

“Do we have to worry about...?” Machi points behind her to the hotel where the quartet stands outside.

“No,” Chrollo says as he pulls his leather gloves on. “She’s asleep and we’ll be fast. And you’ll be here with her.”

“Excuse me.” Machi crosses her arms.

“I trust you the most. And you have the best bedside manner out of the four of us,” Chrollo says. “Shalnark is here. You won’t be here by yourself.”

“Shalnark’s bedside manner is fine,” Machi protests.

“Do you truly believe his bedside manner is fine?”

Machi sighs. She shakes her head, before sighing and resigning herself to her fate. “Fine. Don’t come back with any cuts.”

Without leaving time for a response, Machi walks away from the trio, heading back into the hotel lobby.

“You don’t think my bedside manner is any good, boss?” Phinks asks as they begin to walk away.

“I think your bedside manner might be a little too nice.”

Feitan lets out a huff. “Not his type. Phinks likes goths.”

“Hey!” Phinks yells, only to be kicked in the knee by Feitan.

“Close your mouth, loudass,” Feitan mumbles.

Chrollo ignores them both, prioritizing his own sanity instead. Smoothing a hand down his turtleneck, Chrollo can feel his heartbeat in his chest, all the way down to the pit of his stomach. It was fine, this would be fine.

“Did you enjoy working for the Yusawas?” Chrollo asks Phinks. “I’ve heard interesting things about them.”

“Yeah, it’s been nice,” Phinks responds with a shrug. “It’ll be nice to be finished with them, though. I’m starting to get bored.”

“Oh?”

“I think I look good in a tux and all, but everyday? It’s at the point where they don’t pay me tux money.” Phinks pulls a pack of gum out of his pocket and places a piece in his mouth, not offering any to his companions.

The walk through the cold, dark streets is sharper than it was only six hours earlier. You had been holding onto his arm, wine wisped from you to him, gifting him with a sort of second-hand influence. Or, perhaps, it was some sort of giddy joy he had felt. Normally, annoyance is his most common emotion upon being in close proximity with others, especially when he was being touched. Was it normal for that to change as one aged? Late twenties were barely aged. If anything, he was supposed to be youthful, spry, top of his life.

Alas, perhaps it was his soul which had aged. Perhaps his brain had been smoothed by wealth, of both paper and of soul.

Chollo’s walk is halted by Feitan grabbing his elbow, almost too tight. They’re stopped in front of a large villa door, massive and painted a rich brown. A shame, for the honor of the oak wood underneath.

Feitan’s gaze burns into the side of Chrollo’s head. Eventually, Chrollo digs up the courage to look at him, meeting the sharp, familiar gaze.

“Welcome to my crib,” Phinks whispers to his comrades while he punches in the code for the villa. The joke breaks the weight of Feitan’s gaze. The lock opens with a heavy click.

For show, Phinks pushes his shoulder against the door to open it and holds it open for the other two.

Once inside the gravel filled courtyard, Chrollo taps Phinks on the arm, catching his attention. After you, he signs.

Phinks nods and walks quickly through the courtyard, the rocks rolling against each other under designer sneakers. The winding curve through the villa seems purposeful, as if built to confuse anyone who dare enter the home. However, the misleading paths were finely decorated, with lost goods and oil lamps.

A large, double door is their destination. Fetain’s excitement is palpable— Chrollo wonders if it’s weaved into the dreams of the Yusawas.

“Here we are.” Phinks statement is a poor excuse for a whisper.

Chrollo opens the door, and Feitan is quick to slip under his arm into the dark room.

“Phinks, do me a favor. Downstairs, there was a painting which caught my eye. Will you grab it for me? You know the one.”

The blonde’s chance to respond is cut off by the door firmly shutting, and the sound of a muffled scream.

“You know the one,” Phinks mocks to himself. “I’m not a mind reader.”

While no mind reader, Phinks does know the one Chrollo speaks of. Once upon a time, a very weird boy with fluffy black hair accompanied by a weirder boy with even fluffier hair around a campfire mentioned wanting a Kahlo in his kitchen, despite all the odds stacked against him of ever even owning a bed.

—

Drowsiness courses through your body as you stretch yourself awake. Disoriented, you try to adjust to being in a hotel, instead of in your bed at home. Last night comes coursing back through you, as a familiar soreness between your legs. Your comfort melts into discomfort when you realize the bed is devoid of your own, personal heater.

No wonder your feet were cold. You had nowhere to shove them anymore.

Sitting up, you rub a hand over your eye and yawn, disgruntled by the fresh chill in the air. Or is it stagnant?

Upon seeing the bathroom light on, you let out a soft sigh of relief. You lay back down for a few moments, pulling the thick duvet up so it covers you fully once more.

The childhood sound of a grandfather clock ticks from the back of your mind, helping you to pass the time while you wait for Kuroro to return.

After a few moments, or perhaps minutes, hours, pass with no sign of Kuroro’s return, you take things into your own hands. Sliding out of bed, you pad towards the glowing light, naked.

“Kuroro? You doing okay, angel?”

Approaching the open door, you’re greeted with Kuroro, fresh from the shower. He wears one of the hotel’s robes, which will no doubt join the growing collection that he already had stolen. His eyes appreciately rove over your body as he applies your moisturizing cream to his face, in a dollop that cost nearly a hundred jenny.

“Yeah,” He replies, a bit breathless.

You raise an eyebrow at him, briefly, before you remember you love the man standing before you, and they furrow into worry.

“Did you have a nightmare again?”

There’s a brief pause in Kuroro’s movements, where he stares through the steamy mirror at his blurred reflection. You rest your head against the doorframe, sleep catching up to you.

“You don’t have to tell me about it,” You tack on softly. “Do you want company?”

“I’ll be back in a moment,” Kuroro eventually promises. He doesn’t move towards you, however. He doesn’t move at all.

You nod in understanding. Another yawn bubbles up. “D’ccord. I’ll be…” Your voice trails off and you gesture to the bed.

All Kuroro offers is a nod, and you leave him be. The bed still feels cold upon your crawl back into it. Closing your eyes, you try and listen for Kuroro, but only hear him murmuring in his native tongue, which you still can’t speak and he refuses to teach you. Something about his childhood. Something about it not being real.

Sleep finds you before Chrollo makes his way back to bed.

#chrollo x reader #ophelia.fic #pov you’re watching ophelia go insane #i like to think he and the reader joke around all the time about how sketchy he can be sometimes 🖤#i daydream about them teehee 🖤#reader def thinks he’s like. some big shot stocks guy LMAO #how long are fic chapters supposed to be #is it too late to start over …….#i Will Finish This Fic #it’ll be the first one i ever finish HEHE #my queue isn’t working so bonk! teehee ill just rb in the morning

96 notes · View notes

lcksndkys · 3 years

Text

Title: Red Tulips

Pairing: Namjoon x reader

Rating: SFW

Genre: f2?, fluff, mild angst

Word count: 1,486

A/N: I hope ya’lls like cheese! This lil piece was written as part of the btsghostiewriters net drabble marathon with the prompt of themes: ‘language of flowers’. Keep an eye out for more drabbles coming! And shout out to my hype team @jinpanman and @wwilloww for the encouragement!!

Summary: Namjoon has been gifting you flowers for years. As a good friend, he brings yet another offering to spruce up your new apartment. Tonight, he brings you tulips and the promise of change.

When you open the door of your new apartment, you’re not surprised when you see Namjoon on the other side holding a delicate bouquet of flowers. As a flower shop owner and lover of nature he has been avidly gifting you with his personal creations for years.

Lavender roses (enchantment) when you finished grad school.

Asters (take care of yourself for me) when you left home for your first big job opportunity.

Blue violets (faithfulness) when you landed your dream job and subsequently returned to your hometown.

Yellow acacias (secret love) when you accepted a promotion last month ensuring a permanent residence.

“Joonie, you know you didn't have to bring me anything!” you laugh as you accept his offering with eager hands.

Holding the flowers in one hand, you use your remaining arm to wrap around his waist. Rising to your toes, you plant a chaste kiss to his dimpled cheek. Heat creeps up his neck at your affection, and Namjoon silently prays you won’t notice. You never have.

“Th-they’re tulips,” he breathes quietly into your crown as he wraps both arms around you. He breathes in your lightly floral scent and wills his heart not to race. Your hand runs up and down the broad planes of his back and you note that he has filled out with more muscle while you’ve been gone.

You welcome him in to join the rest of your friends who have come to celebrate your move back to the city. Namjoon greets your mutual friends and chooses a seat next to his best friend Yoongi.

Namjoon’s magnetic gaze is drawn to your every smile, every move. But in your pleasantly inebriated state, you grin back at your long time friend without noting the rosy, amorous tint in his eyes.

Beside him, Yoongi peers over at his two friends in exasperation and rolls his eyes. He’s too sober to watch Namjoon make googly eyes at you all night. He has seen Namjoon silently pine for you over the years, too fearful of your rejection to make a move. Now that you’re finally back home, Yoongi hopes that your relationship might bloom like the buds that Namjoon carefully tends to.

Drinks and laughter are plentiful as the night progresses. The evening blurs with the warmth of friendship, alcohol, and good company. The last few years have been full of professional growth and development, but you’ve missed the familiarity of your home and loved ones.

As time wears on, people start heading home, but Namjoon and Yoongi linger to help a still happily buzzed you clean up.

“I’ll take out the trash,” Joon offers, leaving you and Yoongi to finish cleaning up. In the kitchen, he haphazardly puts glassware back into your cabinets as you wipe down the countertops.

“Those are romantic” Yoongi drawls, gesturing to the flowers by the sink.

“Nah, they’re from Joon” you laugh, dismissing his comment entirely with a wave of your hand.

“Exactly”

There’s a beat of silence as Yoongi quirks a brow at you. Crossing his arms, he leans against the freshly cleaned countertop assessing your reaction.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” you ask, looking from Yoongi to the tulips and back again.

“Maybe you should ask Namjoon” is the cryptic reply you recieve.

Outside, Namjoon is pacing back and forth. He thinks back to his pep talk with Yoongi earlier in the day.

“You gotta tell her, man” Yoongi encourages. “She’s finally home, she’s single, and you’re gonna regret it if someone else sweeps her off her feet before you’ve had the chance to confess.”

“I don’t know if I can do it. I- I don’t think I could handle her rejection,” Namjoon sighs.

“Ok, but if you don’t, you’re gonna lose her for good. Which can you live with?”

There’s no way he could bear watching you fall in love with someone else again. Going through it once was bad enough. Seeing your eyes ignite for another man is going to kill him. He’s sure of it.

Light suddenly floods the patio as you swing open the door to let Yoongi take his leave.

“There you are! I thought you might have left without saying goodbye” you pout from the doorway. You watch as Yoongi pulls Namjoon in for a bro hug and briefly whispers something to the younger man before climbing into his car and driving off.

Namjoon steels himself. It’s now or never, he decides.

“I, um, I have to talk to you about something,” he says, leading the two of you back inside.

You take a seat on the arm of the couch and curl a leg under you to watch him continue his nervous pacing.

“Joon-bug, you’re scaring me,” you chuckle, hoping to break through some of the tension. Your mild buzz is quickly evaporating.

“You know you can tell me anything right?” you say quietly. You approach him slowly as you would a frightened animal, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

With you so close to him, Namjoon needs to tilt his head down to make eye contact. He can feel your warm breath on his chin, your skin on his. There’s the familiar pull of your gaze and his heart races with fear and love. He’s drowning, but finds that he doesn’t want to be saved.

Before he knows it, he’s craning down further and pressing an urgent kiss to your lips. When you don’t immediately pull away, he brings both hands up to cradle your face, tilting you for a better angle. His thumbs brush tenderly along the apples of your cheeks breaking you out of your shock.

You jerk back a couple of steps, eyes round in surprise and completely missing the way Namjoon’s face crumbles with defeat.

“Wha-”

“Irresistible love,” he blurts out.

Your eyebrows pinch in confusion.

“What?”

“The red tulips. They symbolize irresistible love,” Namjoon repeats. “I’ve been trying to tell you with all the flowers,” he pauses to take a deep calming breath. “That I’m in love with you.”

Love.

Your ears ring in alarm.

“No- you aren’t. You can’t be'' you stutter in bewilderment.

“I can, and I am. I have loved you for years.” Namjoon finds that once he starts, he can’t stop. “I’ve been waiting for you to notice me. But now I’m afraid that I’ll lose out on a chance with you. That I’ll always wonder what if. I can’t hold back anymore.”

You can only stare mutely at him for several heart pounding moments.

“I’m just confused,” you whisper, mind whirling with a montage of memories. You try to inspect them under a more careful lens in light of his confession.

“Tell me if I should apologize for kissing you, or give me permission to do it again”

He takes your silence as confirmation of your rejection.

Your conflicted gaze meets his anguished expression.

“I’m sorry for kissing you. It won’t happen again” comes his clipped response.

“Just hold on- wait” you plead, panicking when you feel him pull away and head for the door. Your heart wrenches in it’s cage at the possibility of losing Namjoon.

You catch onto his wrist effectively halting his escape. Fleetingly, his eyes dart to your fingers wrapped around him and nods once at your request. Even now, heartbroken, he cannot deny you.

He gently pulls from your grasp, making for the couch to put some distance between you. He takes a seat on the armrest that you had previously been perched. His eyes are trained on the floor where he feels like his heart has been dropped.

“I didn't realize,” you say.

Namjoon scoffs. “Are you really so surprised? I literally cannot hide the way my body reacts to you.”

He beckons to you. He needs you to approach him on your own will.

Once you’re close enough, he grasps your hand in his much larger one. You let him trail your fingertips along his forearm and you watch in wonder as goosebumps flare in the wake of your touch. He continues a path towards his chest, just left of center, where you can feel the rapid thrumming of the powerful organ hidden beneath clothes and skin and bone. Pulling you closer, Namjoon presses your palm into his chest and you feel the sudden uptick in the beating of his heart as you look into his eyes.

“Could you give me a chance?”

Your heart seizes, enchanted by the man standing in front of you. Your friend, your confidant. Your lover?

Namjoon is a good man. He is handsome, smart, gentle, and patient. He’s everything you want. Your eyes widen at the startling realization.

Namjoon is giving you his love, and you’d be a fool not to accept.

“Kiss me again, Joonie” you ask shyly.

The euphoric smile on his face is the last thing you see before your eyes flutter shut.

#namjoon scenario #namjoon fanfic #namjoon x reader #bts fanfic #namjoon fluff #btsghostiemarathon #kim namjoon

180 notes · View notes

sewrb · 3 years

Text

Enjoy some Christmas Klausper :D

Klaus didn't exactly understand what happened over the few years but he wasn't too concerned with the results. Not too long ago he was spending Christmas alone, spending the years alone, and spending the rest of his life alone. After his Lydia passed he promised himself that he would never love anyone again, at least not like his wife. But there he was, sitting next to another person, a man no less. Their fingers intertwined as they watched the fire crack in the night.

Klaus was a bit worried with himself, letting his own feelings go in between him and Lydia. Sure, she's been gone for years, but he still loved her. He will never stop loving her, but maybe it was his time to feel love. It was a silly thought but, what could go wrong with him loving again. He knew Jesper cared about him, and Klaus cared about the other. Klaus sight lightly turning his head and looked down at Jesper, the other leaned his head against Klaus's broad shoulder. His eyes closed as he just listened to their soft breathing. This was nice, comforting really.

Klaus leaned down and kissed the top of jespers head, smiling softly as the other male looked up "I think it's time for bed, dear" his voice was soft, just enough for jesper to hear. The blond male nodded "I think you're right, honey" he then got up and held his hand out to help Klaus up.

Klaus smiled and appreciated the help, he wasn't too old but with the passing years he's noticed how his body changed. It never bothered him, but jesper started to notice. Of course with their age difference, Jesper knew Klaus wouldn't live long, so he made sure to help Klaus any time he needed to. Even if Klaus was fine. Klaus enjoyed this, even if he complained about it, deep down he appreciated jesper so much.

"So, do you have any plans for tomorrow , old man? " Jesper snickered and held Klaus's hand as they walked through the halls to the bedroom. Klaus smiled and looked down at their hands then soon at jesper "just spending another Christmas with my love" he smiled watching jespers face turn red as a tomato.

"Ugh.. Sometimes I can't deal with you. ``Jesper covered his face with his free hand. Klaus understood his joke and just kissed his face "I love you too, Jes" he smiled and ruffled jespers hair. The two soon got into their large bed, letting the covers smother the both of them. During Christmas time it tends to get so much colder than what they are used to. The good news is their body heat tends to keep them from freezing to death.

"Good night jesper.. Sleep well" Klaus gently kissed the other's nose, smiling softly as they faced each other "g'night Klaus.. " he muttered tiredly, both of them slowly slipping into sleep.

Later in the night Klaus slowly awoke, he looked over and noticed how exhausted jesper was, and how asleep his lover was. He smiled and slowly moved out of the bed, soon covering the other back up and kissing him on the forehead. A soft smile resting on jespers face. Klaus slowly turned and quietly made his way to the room, closing the door softly.

He walked back to the living room and walked over to his workshop area, soon removing a pile of wood just to uncover a nicely wrapped gift, just for his jesper. Klaus smiled and sat it under their decorated tree. Within the morning he'll be able to surprise his love with a gift, a good enough gift to hopefully make his jesper feel more comfortable. Klaus moved over to the fire and stared at their stocking, jespers name softly stitched into the fabric of the sock. Klaus smiled remembering the first time he taught jesper how to stitch. His hands were covered in bandages, so many problems.

Even with the issues, Jesper was so proud of himself for stitching his name, even if it was crooked. Klaus chuckled softly, before turning to the stairs, there stood jesper covered in their thick blanket. Klaus just couldn't get away from the other, the male always wanted attention and to be around Klaus, and he wasn't complaining in the slightest.

"You alright, dear? " Klaus walked over and smiled up at jesper, the other nodded and laid his head onto Klaus's chest "yeah i am, but are you? You left me.. " jesper closed his eyes and listened to the other heart beat.

"Of course I'm alright, I just had to do something real quick.. Don't worry. " Klaus cupped jespers cheek "let's go back to bed.. It's late" he smiled and picked up jesper. Jesper grummbed then looked at Klaus "okay.. But you can't leave me. You need to stay in bed. " he huffed

"Alright alright your Highness" he chuckled, opening their door.

In the morning he'll be able to surprise jesper, he'll be able to make his love happy even just a bit.

When morning came, Klaus and jesper sat near the fire and looked at the gifts, there were only 2 but that was enough for them. A small box and a larger box, Klaus knew what was in the larger box, but the smaller box he had no clue. Klaus himself was just as excited as the other. Jesper sat up on his knees and grabbed the gifts "could I open my gift first " he smiled, his grin big and full of joy.

Klaus nodded softly "of course you can, and I hope you like what I got.. I wanted to get you something nice.. Something that would make you more comfortable" he watched jesper open the box, the males eyes widened "is this what I think it is" jespers voice a bit higher than it normally is.

"Yup, I thought this gift would make sleeping a lot more easier and comfortable for you" jesper pulled out the silk sheets and rubbed them on his cheek "oh my gosh… this is the good silk… how.. How did you get this.. This is worth so much" jesper looked at Klaus

"Well.." Klaus paused for a moment " I wanted to get the best for you so I reached out to your father.. Had him get me the best sheets for you, it wasn't to big of an issue, he was a lot nicer about it and didn't charge me for it" Klaus smiled "I'm glad you like the gift"

Jesper sat the sheets down "I don't like them, I love them! " be pounced on Klaus and kissed him softly, wrapping his arms around the others neck. Klaus soon followed, setting jesper on his lap "Okay okay your turn " jesper almost looked giddy, waiting for Klaus to open his gift.

The male chuckled and shook his head, this is the reason why he fell for jesper, the male was always so happy about so many small things. It really did make Klaus appreciate all the little things in their relationship. Klaus opened the small box and looked at jesper, the other hardly being able to control his excitement. He then looked down and saw 2 rings, one that was normal sized and one largely different from the other. Klaus then looked over at jesper "okay listen I know you don't wanna get married again, and I understand that, but what's the next best thing? Well promise rings" jesper smiled

"Promise rings? " Klaus was slightly confused, he didn't really understand what jesper was getting at. Klaus watched as jesper picked up each ring "yeah! Promise rings, basically what we could do is make a promise to each other, whatever that may be, and this ring could be a symbol of what we protect" jesper grinned

This was such a sweet gesture and Klaus didn't understand how he deserved someone like jesper. The other took his hand and slowly put the ring on Klaus finger, he then spoke "I, jesper johansson, promise to love you and keep you comfortable till the day we part and the day we meet up again in another life." Jesper smiled and gently rubbed his finger over the ring, kissing it softly as to seal the promise.

Klaus looked at Jesper and smiled his heart full, he then took jespers ring and slowly put it on his finger "well.. I, Klaus, promise to keep you safe and happy till our parting days and beyond." Klaus kissed his lovers and before looking up at the other. They were both happy and nothing was going to change that. They both cared for each other and no one was gonna keep them apart.

#klausper #klaus 2019 #dead fandom #fanfiction

68 notes · View notes

zuffer-weird-girl · 3 years

Text

Over.

For those who dont know here is the link for the first part of this lil thing :3

You exhaled with a smile at seeing the new look on your apartment. It came with a generous amount of space on both living room and bedroom. Some of the Hassaikai members helped you with all the mobile and some boxes you still had to look over to put things back in order.

Humming to a song that was stuck in your head (and he wadled away wadle wadle) you kneeled on the ground to open a tiny box to start, but you soon frowned at seeing the contents of it...

It was a tiny little glass box, with a carnation safetly placed inside of it... along, it came a bit of your treasures you savored.. a pair of white yet with tiny little delicate detailsyou knrw he knew you love it; a tiny necklace, simple yet elegant, pingent of a heart attached to it; earings with the symbol of the hassaikai and others that were little white wings...

You soon took notice of the drops of tears that were falling down on your lap and inside the boz as you picked the earrings of the Hassaikai... Chisaki gave you this when you both started dating... it was the first ever gift he gave to you along with the carnation...

'I am by far one of the most normal men considering of what the society sees me... but I hope you that you have the patience to bear with me until I give you a life and a clean world to live in until there my dear.'

The words repeated on your head as sobs started to rip from your tgroat as you clenched the earing to the point they pierced your skin enough to hurt as you curped yourself on the floor in misery...

You wanted to forgive him. You wanted to forget what happened on that disgrace if a day...

But you just couldn't. You couldn't forget thhe warth yet neither that murderous gaze Kai had on you. You couldn't forget how his rough hands that usually touched you like you were made out of glass instead grabbed roughly on your arm to the point you cried in pain.

You couldn't forget how he used his quirk on you out of anger.

"Thank you." He muttered monotonously as he grabbed the bouquet full of roses, safetly wrapped up so it couldn't come in contact with him as he exuted the shop.

Ever since the accident, he hadn't been able to get sleep without having night terrors of the terrified look you had... the screams for him to get away from you, to not wven rouch you with a single finger...

He felt worse than the dirt his shoes collected while walking on the dirty streets of where he lived.

He stared at one single rouse out of all in the bouquet he just paid for it, sighing as he adjusted a petal that was a tad bit out of place only for him to accidentaly rip it from the poor flower.

He stopped at that, watching the petal dance while falling into the ground... his eyebrows frowned as he merely sighed after closing his eyes.

"It seems everything I do I end it up ruining it on a way or another..." he whispered to himself, lowering both arms in defeat.

In others it would be seen as childish for him to get all depressed over a simple petal falling from the bouquet... but not for him.

He was the one that was abandoned on the streets to starve; he was the one whose only brought problems more than pride to the man whose took care of him as his only son... he was the one that hurt and traumatized the one he loved over a anger tantrum...

What was wrong with him..? He though, bringing his free hand ro rub his face and sigh deepely.

Although, his ears peeked up at a sound of laughter. Your laughter. His precious angel's laughter which he hadn't heard from months... he swear he felt like crying in glee as he started to almost run towards that beautiful sound he oh missed so dearly.

What wasn't he expecting was get right in front of a scene that left his heart immediately dropping to his stomach... you were indeed laughing of course.

But in the arms of another man.

On the other side of the street he saw how the taller male bear hugged you and lifted you up off the ground and twirles you around as you squealed. Scrunching up your nose at him kissing hard on your cheek.

He slowly lowered down his hand where it held the bouquet as he stared at the scene that completely torn his insodes out as his eyes carried sadness and heartache...

Despite all of those feelings, he still found himself smiling as a tear ran down his face... it was better this way. You could have a normal life, not surrounded by body guards, not have to worry about constant magging of getting clean or sickness... having someone that could give you what you deserved...

He turned his back to walk away... but what wasn't him expecting was that you had noticed him. Walking away. You furrowed your eyebrows, and against your better judgment, you started to run toawrds him, not seing the open signal neither the car that was coming...

"Ka-Chisaki!" He heard you and let out a confused sound before turning and widening his eyes in horror and dropping the amount of flowers he had at the sign of a car coming and honking.

His feet moved before his mind could, his gloves already dissapeared as he shouted foe you or the car, he didn't know anymore, to stop.

Your eyes widened at the sound of honking and before could let out a sound you were engulfed in muscular arm, bringing you close to his chest as he almosy broke his wrist when making contact with the car and overhauling it in a question of seconds.

The screams were gone for a minute and all you could hear was your and Kai's heartbeat at top speed and his uncrotoled shorts of breath.

A half of the citizens clapped their hands while others immediately left the local as the owner of the car, a young man, finally recovered from the state of panic and got down angry yelling at both of you.

"You stupid bitch! Couldn't see a damn sign that I WAS THE ONE TO GO?! AND YOU TOO YOU DICK! You conpletely destroyed my car you asshole!" The male shouted as Kai put you back on your feet as he glared daggers at the short man.

"If a car cost more than a life so there-" the car was back in shape as soons as he destroyed "You can have it. But just for you to know I am not just an 'asshole' as you reffered me." He growled between teeh as you tensed... you knew that tone of voicw way too well...

"Pff-! Yeah whatever old man-" Chisaki grabbed the hem of the shit of the man and stared dead in his eye "H-Hey! Let go basta-"

"You're bold enough ti call the leader of the yakusa a bastard, arent you?" He growled, and the life of the brunnete seemes to fade away from his eyes as he heard those words.

Before you could say something the scared male face was brought to you as Kai growled and overhauled just a tad bit of yhe hem of his shirt to prove his point.

"This you rascal. Is not a bitch. She is a woman. One that deserves respects and was almost killed by you driving at an unforgible speed you irresponsible germ. So before I lose my patience, say your apologies. Now."

The man stuttered some apologies as your eyes widened at Chisaki before he let go of the brunnete to dall on his knees qs Kai glared at him.

"Get out of my sign before I change my kind on cutting your fingers off."

You stared dumbfounded at the zpeed the little man had to enter his car and get the hell out of thwre becore you gasped at seing Chisaki starting to walk away from you once again.

"H-Hey! Chisaki!" You called but he only stopped and crouched down "You're seriously not gonna say-" you stopped when he got up and turnes to you with a brojen face as he stared at the absolute destroyed bouquet... the majority of them were sprawled on the ground and somewere broken and petals lost and sprawled on the ground and on the street.

"I'm sorry," He mumbled as you stared confusely until he spoke on a sadder tone "Those were meant for you.." you hesitantly grabbed and stared in pity yet a tad bit of ahocked at the warmth you felt on your chest.

"You.. didn't had to." He sinply blinked at your astonished expression.

"I know. But is the least I could do." He muttered before a bit of awkward silence was in the air as you stared at the white roses in your hand, threatening to appear a smile on your lips until the man just sighed and turned midway away from you.

"Have a good afternoon." You eyes widened and before you could even mutter the words wait, he just left. Hands stuffed on his pockets and head hung low.

You furrowed your eyebrows before your eyes dropped to the ground where a mess of white petals and broken roaes were sprawled...

You buffed before looking at a meteo station and walking on the direction of your new apartment.

"You know," he heard the old male's voice ring from the door way as he tried to listen to some calm music layed on his bed and documments on hand "You could take a break now at then Chisaki, maybe some tea to help calm those nervs boy." He stopped reading for a moment as he sighed, looking at Pops unamused.

"Thank you for the offer. But I shall decline."

"Son you camt expect to just succumb into depression like that and think I would allow it." The words of the epder shocked him to some instant before he hesitantly locked eyes with grey ones "I bet you havent triies to verbally apologize to them even once, am I wrong?" Pops croased his arms as he stared at the man dressed in black.

"... try saying sorry for breaking a cup. The word itself wont make the cup return to its original form, it will still be broken." He sighed as he placed the papers on the desn after getting up "This is the same situation. Is not like I deserve or neither knows how to love someone anyway."

"So you just will accept (Y/n) to walk out, end things and be like that?" The elder gesture with his hand at Chisaki "You want to end things with the one you claimed to lo-"

"I didn't want it too, OKAY?!" he banged his fist on the desk as he droppes his head with closed eyes as Pops frowned "I didn't... I.. I cant take the thought of (Y/n) leaving me... but at the same time.." the elder widened hsi eyes at the drop of water that fell on the papers, staining a bit.

"I cant take the thought..of hurting such an angel like I did again... I wouldn't forgive myself." He spoke through teeth in hopes a sob wouldn't escaped until he felt the hand of his mentor pulling him into a firm hug.

"And you say you dont know how to love, huh?" Pops muttered with a smile whipe putting all of his force on the hug as Chisaki's tears deopped silently "Idiot boy, you are just as worth to love someone as anyone else. A mistake wont lwt you stop you if you do know you were on the wrong of it and want to be better." His hand patter the brown hair of Kai much as he did inumerous times as when he was just a child.

He pushed Kai away and sadly smirked at seeing the face of Chisaki all stained with dry tears but no traces of redness... just a broken look.

"When you act like this. Like a man. Is the times I am most proud of you, my son." His breath hitched at the male's words "i will get some herbal tea wether you want it or not. And believe me boy, things are going to get better soon or later."

"... sounds impossible." He muttered as soon as the elder left the room and closed the door.

It was his birthday. Tommorow was his birthday.

You frowned before inhaling sharply. It would complete almost three months since you just stopped talking with him. You were better. But you continually beated yourself up for craving that man's touch or just for hearing some word out of him.

The tiny little presents had stopped when you read a card where he apologized to seen like a stalker and would leave you alone for you to move on. One day after the day you almost got run over by a car and he had saved you and even defended your moral from that asshole that almost shitted his pants at only knowing Chisaki was from the yakusa.

You sighed... this was the first of a ever time Kai had hurted you... and this seemed like it did not only affected you. You sure was hoping for Kai to get possesive or even threatening you to come back to him like many cases you saw on the T.v. But you should have know that by now, Kai was different.

Despite how much he denied, he was a old and gentleman at heart, always looking for ways to please you through gifts since he hadn't has any form of touching in his lifetime that he didn't saw as sick...

... that was it. You had decided over fighting with yourself over three weeks by now.

You were going to give Chisaki. Your Kai Chisaki, another chance.

Packing your purse and everything you could carry on your suitcase, you locked the door of your apartment and left on destination of the house of the Shie Hassaikai.

The gates openes coincdentaly when a black car entered and you took the chance to sneak in. Tip toeing to your once shared bedroom and letting your things over there before you jumped with a squeal at a soind of cough.

"Is such a pleasure to have you back here my dear." You smiled at the old man's face and immediately hugged him, catching the elder in surprise before he chuckled and returned your hug "Care if I may ask why are you back out of the sudden?"

"I... I missed your son. So much." You spoke in embarrassment as the elder smiled and showed with his hand the hallway.

"I guess he is on a room reading something, go text your luck." You nodded, bowing with gratitide as you hesitantly walked and indeed found Kai sitting on a sofa, leg crossed over another as he read a book.

"'The only thing we never get enough of, is love; and the only thing we dont give enough of is also love.' Tsk... not a tad bit wrong Miller sir.." you heard your boyfriend mumbling to himself as he closed the book with a sigh to rub between hsi eyebrows.

You took careful steps while arms crosses behind your back as you looked at his hunched over form and messy dark brow hair.

"I never took you the type to read love quotes." You speak quietly, giggling at how Chisaki flinched and opened his eyes wide at seeing you just mere feet away from him "Hi."

"(Y/n)?" He spoke almost in disbelief as he stood up , hope on his eye swith a fraction of second before returning to that hollow look "What.. what brings you here?"

You rubbed your arm while taking carefull steps towards him, seeing how tense he was.

"I.. think we should at least had talked.. before all of this happened at least."

"You dont have too." He immediatly replied with a stoic look "Is all clear. And I dont take your reasons away from you. You have the right to have a life of your own." You furrowed your eyebrows and honestly being hurt by his words.

"What? So.. so you are okay with this? W-With.. is all this about us?" You pointed at the two of you as sadness overtook his features.

"... I juust know is for the best. For your happiness and safety at least. You dont have to make excuses to make me feel better. I know what I did. And believe, I regret it and hate myself with every piece of my soul."

"Well... I sure cant just pat your head and tell that 'aw baby it was nothing you want a cookie?'-" you saw how he cringed at your words and looked down at his feet "But... but I can say other things." He arched an eyebrows before his breath hitched when he felt your arma circle his chest as you rested your cheek where you could hear his heartbeat...

He stood there with hands on the air in both fear of hurring you and conoekte shock until you spoke something that completely broke him.

"I forgive you Kai... we can still be together... if you want of course."

The sobs ripped from his theoat without warning as his arms came down to gently hold you as he buries his face in your for the sake of his pride.

You felt tears of your own fall as well, staining Kai black social shirt, which he wa completely hot on it, as you clinged for dear life on him, after months finally feeling secure on his arms like you used to do...

"I'm so sorry..." he mumblex, swallowing a hiccup as he rested his chin on your head as you closed your eyes to let the tears fall.

"I know..." you mumbled before parting away from hin as you both stared at eachother until you smiled sadly as he wiped your tears away as you mirrored his actions. "Who would have thought.. a simple quirkless girl making the big bad yakusa cry like a child." You giggled as you saw the hint of tiny smirk beneath that mask.

You saw how he pushed down the said article to reveap his whole handsome face as he stares back at you.

"Should we start all over then?" You offered as his eyebrows quirked up.

"What about that guy you were talking with before... the almost acvident if you could say."

"... my friend thhat was telling me about his wedding in the next month you mean?" You asked with a tiny laugh as his face dropped in realization. "Y-You thought I was dating him?!"

"Well..." he sighed, looking away from you " You had your reasons to."

He widened his eyes at the sudden touch of your hands on his jaw and almost gasped when you pulled him to crush your lips with his... finaly registering what was happening he allowed himself to close his eyes and just... enjoy the moment.

"My jelly bean." You whispered with foreheads conected as Kai scoffed with a smile.

"Dont start with the stupid nicknames now." You smiled at him before he hesitamtly put his hands on your waist "so.. about what happened-" you shushed him gently before ppacing a more sweet kiss on his lips.

"Hush, is over now. In the past. I know you didn't meaant it, and I forgive you. Dont overthinking about it okay? Is over now my love." You nuzzled on his neck as he leg out a watery chuckle and engulfing you on his arms.

".. I guess.. I guess is over." He smiled as he closed his eyes and breathe din the svent he so desperately craved for months.

#overhaul x reader #chisaki kai x reader #kai chisaki x reader #bnha villains x reader #bnha villains #overhaul #chisaki kai #it ended in fluffy as promised!#bnha fanfictions #bnha fanfics #zuffer writings

121 notes · View notes