#this has been stuck in my folder for way too long and forgot to post it I think- | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sunseteyes · 4 years

Text

“mahal kita” — i love you

ㅤㅤ ↪︎ STARRING: café bartender!shinsuke kita; student!gn!reader

ㅤㅤ ↪︎ THEMES: fluff, hints of bullying

ㅤㅤ ↪︎ WORD COUNT: 4.2k words

ㅤㅤ ↪︎ SYNOPSIS: shinsuke kita was your first love, and even if it was unusual of you to do so, you were willing to say it to him, despite the circumstances that you two were in.

ㅤㅤ ↪︎ INTERMISSION: finally!!! i’ve been planning this since december and this actually has a second part! the second part will have kita’s pov mostly so do look forward for that~ it will be posted next week !! also, “mahal kita” is a filipino phrase and it translates to “i love you.” the reader is not filipino but if you want to think if it that way, you could, though the reason why i wanted to incorporate my language here is because i just felt like,,, i had to? hahaha anw, enjoy !! i worked hard for this one :D

the bright light blinds you despite having your eyes closed and as you have an arm covering them. indeed, even the sun was beckoning you to listen to the beaming sound of your alarm that plays on the background like a broken cassette tape, urging you to wake up now or else your schedule would get cut off. you wouldn’t want that, especially during a weekday like today.

groaning as you forced yourself to sit up and rub your hand over your eyes to make the world seem a little bit clearer. you then welcomed the sight of the room that had the sunlight illuminate its four corners, a familiar sight that you see everyday.

and you were growing tired of it, to be honest.

your daily routine had never been that much different as it has always been; getting up, getting dressed, going to school. really, there was nothing else that seemed to have been enough to make your eyes brighten up in excitement, since everything just happens on repeat.

every. single. day.

bringing your hand up to cover your eyes from the blazing sun, you wished you hadn’t forgotten to bring your sunglasses from your dorm as you crossed down the road, cautious with the cars that passed by the street. your gaze drops down to your wristwatch, your feet fastening its pace as you catch sight of your university literally only a few blocks away.

there’s nothing really special with your life; just a normal graduating college student hoping to establish a normal working life with a normal family in the future. the latter seemed quite impossible these days, especially with the constant repeat of your relationships throughout the years. still, there’s nothing wrong in expecting you’d have a good future, right?

maybe, maybe not.

“you’re late again.” you panted as you turned to the person sitting beside you, fixing your things and yourself in the process.

“what did i miss?”

“not much, but the professor is strict with attendance.” tobio eyes you before glancing back to the front of the room, feigning his focus upon the topic the professor was talking about.

“yeah, yeah i know.” you whisper back, doing the same thing as you forced yourself to digest the information that was being spoken of, even if you’re not particularly interested in any of it.

“oi,” your senses came about and it was tobio’s face whom you’d seen first, already standing upright in front of your seat, his bag slung to his shoulders-

“huh?” you look around and see everyone doing the same, looking tired just from one discussion. and it seems you have dozed off while awake all throughout the entire time.

“are you just going to sit here all day or not?”

you then gathered your things and followed suit, heading to the cafeteria but not before stopping by the vending machine to get your regular coffee and tobio’s dairy.

“you sure do like milk a lot, tobio.” you’d tease all the time, and he’d respond with,

“for someone who has trouble sleeping, you still haven’t quite enough of coffee, idiot.”

your friendship with tobio started ever since you were kindergarten, and you believe you two were simply drawn to each other because of how silent you two could be, only leaning into a conversation when it is needed. despite having met each other for so long, you two only began to stick to each other when high school came, after being reunited and seeing a familiar face after such a long time. it was that time that you and him realized how far alike to each other you were, deciding to have a bond that neither expected. plus, he likes watching volleyball matches just as you do. simply put, you found someone who was not much different from you, and you realized how comfortable you were with that—the usual things.

the fear of change and difference was what kept you stuck in the same town, at the same school, at the same status, and at the same way of living. people kept on emphasizing how important it is to look outside the box, but no matter how much you wanted to take a peek outside, you couldn’t, didn’t want to. you were fully convinced that if you dream big, there are just bigger consequences to life than how it usually gives.

“who’s that?”

the whispers and murmurs ripped you from your mind, your attention turning to your classmates who were talking about a certain person, making you involuntarily glance at where they were looking. it was a man—an unfamiliar man inside the university premises. who was he, perhaps? it was the same question as what your peers kept on inquiring to each other.

“you must be the new guidance counsellor!” now came a familiar voice, beaming like a sunshine as how he usually is, his hand extending to the said man with the new face, a certain kind of change that you never expected.

“guidance counsellor? where’s takeda-san?” a series of murmurs emerged again until one eventually said that the previous counsellor had taken a break since his wife had finally given birth to their child. you were never close to him but the casual greetings you and tobio received from the man was enough to call him as a kind person. you will surely miss that now that he’s gone temporarily. just from looking over and observing the new counsellor, you were quite sure that this one is far different from takeda.

you sooner found it out when you were called by one of your professors, specifically one that you knew so well that you were close to saying you had been fed-up in seeing his face all over again.

“(y/n), could you pass this to ojiro-san, you know him, right? the new guidance counsellor.” professor koushi sugawara hands you over an unlabeled folder, about two of them, barely glancing your way as he continues to type with his keyboard, eyes trained over the computer screen in such an intense focus. you often see him like this, but you were too irritated to want to even follow his orders as soon as possible, the frown on your face deepening the more you stare at the man’s figure.

“i’m not your maid here, by the way.” you say to him lowly, and it was a good thing that no one else was near him or you two would be embarrassing yourselves for causing such a scene in a school faculty.

this time, you met koushi’s eyes and you felt yourself bite your own tongue when you saw the familiar bags under his eyes, the rim of his glasses barely covering them and the exhausted look on the way he was gazing at you. you knew how tired he often gets because of his work and you do try to help him out, but he just called you out of a class—the only class that you were enjoying and he just wanted you to deliver a couple of papers to the new guy? you’re not someone he can call for errands that easily, not without some words that needed to be discussed.

“yes, you’re right. sorry about that, my pretty younger sibling.” he still teased you, and you only let out a huff before turning away and heading towards the guidance, not without telling your brother to eat his lunch or else you’ll stop making bento for him—it’s not as if you will but the threat always works because he hates waking up earlier than he should to prepare food.

having a professor as your sibling is kind of weird, especially the first few days of when people have found out about it, but the feeling eventually fades away for it’s very much like when you two were still going to the same school during elementary and high school, and like everything else, you’ve gotten used to it.

“oh, this is from sugawara-san?” ojiro, the new guidance counsellor, looked kind and welcoming, very much like the previous one, takeda. you’re not that much fun of change, but if adjustment is needed, then you have no choice but to abide by it. something about this new counsellor makes you somewhat comfortable with him, and it’s in a good way, you hope.

“thank you, uh-” he drops his gaze to your identification card and like any other who suddenly notices your surname, his eyes widen by a little bit, a wave of realization hitting them in his mind.

then he smiles, warm and friendly. “thank you, (y/n)-san. is it alright to call you by your first name?”

“i don’t mind.” you shrug, inwardly smiling, “thank you, ojiro-san.”

“you met the new counsellor already?” tobio questioned by the time you two were walking home, or rather to the cafe you two usually drop by at before really going home. it was one of the things that you and tobio bond on still, apparently. milk and coffee really are the things that tobio and you love—despite its difference, there was a certain middle ground where both the likes meet.

“yeah, he seems nice.” you say, not paying much attention to what tobio was saying for your eyes were set at the counter of the cafe almost immediately as you both entered the transparent doors, the same head of silver hair with darkened tips standing there, beholding an apron that matched any other worker in the room.

you must have forgot to mention earlier; there are times when excitement runs through you like a battery, powering up every vessel and cell inside of you.

there he is. shinsuke, the most beautiful man you’d ever seen your whole life. and yes, you only knew of his name because it’s on his name badge.

you could hear tobio scoff beside you but you merely brushed him off as per usual, heading straight to the lane of the man that still serves a customer by asking their own orders. tobio, on the other hand, walks to the other line where there were basically no other customers.

“good afternoon,” he greeted by the time it was your turn, and in an instant, there came a smile by your lips, one that you rarely ever give to anybody, to any other time, really. this man just gives you a rush of serotonin in your system that it was difficult for you to not react that way.

“chocolate-chip frappe, like usual?” he offered his own kind smile, and your heart combusted again, like it does whenever he looks at you like that, talks to you like that. you knew it was technically his job to build rapport to customers, but it seems as if there’s no escaping for you to escape this kind of fate.

you like him. if you were given a chance to get to know him more, that might even develop into something more.

“yes, please.” you responded, sounding ever so pleased and joyful than how you’ve acted for the rest of the day early on.

“perhaps you would like to purchase our new year’s special drink?” he says as he points at the small poster from beside him, the image of the drink catching your attention, and if you were asked, even if the poster was that colorful, you doubt that it would tear away your focus from the man on the opposite of you.

“uh-”

“it comes with green tea,” he cuts you off, if he knew you were about to respond. “but i admit you don't seem like the type to order a drink like that, do correct me if i’m wrong.”

“how did you know?”

“you only ever ordered the same drink most of the time,” he says with a straight face, as if calculating in the inside of his mind while looking you in the eye “and whenever i offered you our specials, you only like those that taste sweet or those that fit well with coffee.”

it took you a couple of seconds to reply, and it’s with how you were amazed by his observational skills, a soft and short chuckle leaving your system. “you’re really good. yeah, i actually don’t enjoy my tea when it’s cold.”

he types in your order with a small smirk on his face, and you had to control yourself from not getting flustered by how you were getting to have the chance to see this side of him—one that is far from his formalities as a worker to a customer. it gives you the opportunity to witness and to feel how close he was as a person, like you, sort of like a middle ground. like how milk and coffees are to tobio and you.

“you look like you just won a billion yen.”

you giggled as you sat down in front of tobio, not even trying to hide the giddy, fuzzy feeling you were feeling on the inside now that you were quite far away from the subject of affection.

“maybe i just did.” you say, the scenes of earlier playing by your mind.

this change, this sort of change; you didn’t mind it. him talking to you, you convinced yourself it was a good kind of change that you would gladly adjust upon.

once again, the day passes by in a blur, and tomorrow comes again.

“(y/n)-san!”

your name being called early in the morning by a voice is one thing that you did not expect when you went out of your shared apartment with your brother, and are now walking your way to school.

“ojiro-san,” you acknowledged the call, “good morning.”

“ah, yeah good morning as well.” he greets, finally catching up on your form while slightly panting from jogging towards your way.

“uhm,” you interjected, brows furrowed together as you twiddled upon the earbud that you had to unplug from your ear the moment you heard the counsellor’s call. “-is there something you needed to tell me?” it took a whole lot from you not to act irritated than you usually do whenever you are enjoying a peaceful walk to class, but it’s not as if you expected to have an early conversation with someone as well. it’s not like there’s a lot of people who like having your company other than tobio—you’re not even sure if he enjoys being with you. you’re not really the talkative type either so it’s a win-win situation for everyone. the only times you’d actually like having to initiate a conversation is with the barista at your current favorite cafe.

“ah, nothing much, but could you give this to your brother and tell him that i already found someone for him? oh wait, do you know about it?” he says as he hands you over the same folders that you handed to him early on yesterday. at first, it took you awhile to process his vague question until it finally hit you.

oh right, the very big change coming up for your life.

you nod, tucking the folders by your side. and just when you were about to speak, the sound of the bell rang over your heads that you had to exchange a quick goodbye or else you’re going to be late on your first subject again.

“thanks, (y/n).” koushi smiles brightly at you, despite his quite opposite state, as per usual. apparently, your brother thinks he’s such a great pretender, especially towards you. although you understand his intentions as well and that’s to be positive in front of you to not burden you with his own problems. how did you know? well, he is your brother, you not only knew him because you had been together ever since, but you have some of his bad habits as well, including this.

when you handed him the folders, you watched as he opened them, but you already knew what’s its contents, that's why you didn’t bother to look. leaving the faculty room, you never knew there would come a day where you’d miss going there often.

though before you could even go back peacefully to your classroom and grab both your bag and tobio, the moment you turned to a corner and there, you bumped into someone.

“watch where you’re going, fatass.”

“hey, ain’t you the kid from elementary? wow, you never changed, have ya?”

your whole body ran cold that you froze there, in the middle of the now-empty hallway, unable to breathe properly than you should. scenarios of the past then came like a film at the back of your mind, playing ever so carelessly as they indulge such negative emotions that now rushes through your veins.

a touch was all it took to bring you back to reality, and you heard a familiar voice that probably kept calling you all this time.

brown eyes—the person in front of you had such as his voice chants your name like a prayer, a plea to make you stay sane.

“are you alright? (y/n)-san?” wait… you know that voice.

you just know you had to save yourself from drowning—or was he the one who’s pulling you out?

“shinsuke?” you stuttered; hesitant, unsure. after all, how could someone like him come here at your school? is he delivering orders now?

“are you doing okay? you look pale… do you want me to take you to the clinic? just guide me where and i’ll help you, do you want me to carry you? he barged you with so many questions that your still-hazed mind failed to cope up with most of them. the only thing in your mind is him and how he seemed to have come at such a perfect timing.

“uh-no, it’s alright, i’m alright.” you tried to convince him, but it’s not like you were lying anyway. the moment you saw him, everything else have faded away—at least you tried them to be.

“maybe i should take you outside. come on, you look like you’re in need of some fresh air.” he didn’t ask you furthermore and took you gently by the wrist, ushering you to follow his lead, as if he was the one who had been on these school grounds for years and not you. you doubt he even knew his way around and was just trying to calm you down in some way.

you liked it though. you liked how his warm hand touches your skin, how his mere presence drowns away every other negative thought as if they were dust, too miniscule to even worry about. you liked his soft eyes and how they expressed his concern for you in his own way of doing so. and you liked how his comforting voice soothed over your tensed muscles, as if they massaged their way through just to ease up the bundles of tension in them.

perhaps what you feel towards this man, shinsuke, is more than just a simple admiration that lasted for months. you haven’t given much thought over it in fear that you might not be able to move on and get over, but they were growing day by day, little by little, and now you’re beginning to scold yourself for only realizing it now when it’s too late,

“shinsuke-san,”

you urged the both of you to halt, the murmurs and whispers that you passed by dissipated into faded echoes now that he is looking at you by his ever-so-soft stare, gazing at you with one that you could never fathom what he’s thinking about as he does so. he’s just mysterious, but it’s what makes him too exciting and thrilling to unfold; to see the layers that lay underneath that shell of his, like a crab, protecting its delicious contents, or a pearl inside a seashell. you were sure he’s beautiful inside and out.

that’s why you can’t just shut your mouth about it. you just have to get it out, it’s now or never.

because you’ve never felt like this to anyone, and you sure doubt you’d ever again.

“i love you.” you say, the words slipping out smoothly, rolling by your tongue easier than you ever thought it would. and the moment you realized you were able to let them out, a wave of relief washes over you, it was like your own body and mind was telling you to go and say it, beckoning you to open your heart, no matter what change may come your way.

the look he gave you showed a reaction you’ve never seen from him; furrowed brows, halted expression, it was clear that he was baffled with your sudden confession and that in no way would you have a chance of getting a happy ending today--not that it mattered much. your intention was merely to get it out of your chest.

and you’ve got no regret about that.

“what are-you’re supposed to prioritize yourself first. come on, let me take you to the clinic.” he continued to pull you away, as if that was what he intends to do with your feelings and supposedly-hidden desires for him that are now out in the open. it’s not as if that was what he was doing, but for you, it probably was what he’d do if he took your confession seriously.

“have you eaten your lunch yet, sugawara-san? i mean, (y/n), would you prefer to be called that way instead?” the nurse inquires as she tries to see if there was anything wrong with you aside from the claim of shinsuke’s description of you being pale and quite unresponsive since he apparently spent about a minute or two trying to bring you back to reality. you think he’s just over exaggerating, but you wouldn’t be surprised if that was hailed as the truth by the heavens. after all, there is a very good reason for that to happen anyway.

“uhm, i think i ate a piece of brea, or two.” you say, pondering over it for a moment, trying to recall the happenings before you suddenly remembered to deliver to your brother the folders that the counsellor asked you to do so. “and i don’t mind either way, but i do think it would be best to call my by (y/n) instead.”

by the end, the nurse only gave you an advice to eat more and drink water whilst also giving you some vitamin that you forgot what’s it’s called because you were too busy admiring shinsuke who’s from the side, trying to discuss with the nurse with regards to what could have possibly happened to you.

“thank you, by the way.” you say as you and him walk side by side, on the way towards the exit of the premises since you insisted that you take him there in return to accompanying you at the clinic earlier. “you shouldn’t have done it, but you still did. i’m grateful for that.”

shinsuke looks at you in the eye and your heart starts to beat faster again without your permission.

“there’s no need to thank me, but you should take care of yourself. you can never be full with just a loaf of bread.”

you nervously chuckled, your fingers twiddling as you averted your gaze to the ground. “i had to do something so i got up and abandoned my food, sorry about that.”

“don’t say sorry to me, you should apologize to yourself.”

now you didn’t know he was this naggy, but it surprisingly doesn’t irritate you more than how it should be for most people. it might have been because of your own feelings, but it doesn’t matter, it shouldn’t, anyway.

“still, thank you.” you say, a cheeky smile on your face, one you think you’ve never shown to just anyone, a look that even your brother or tobio would be surprised at because you rarely display it for them either. for shinsuke, it seems that all your insecurities are thrown away, as if your breathing is not withheld and you’re not drowning anymore. no matter how you’ve looked at it, the way shinsuke’s presence makes you more comfortable than you would to anyone else is unusual for you, but you’re on the borderline of being comfortable and not in the situation. if you were asked, you’re kind of.. calm.

“are you coming by at the cafe later? i’d treat you to a cinnamon bun if you’d lie. that’s your favorite, right?”

if you looked flustered, you didn’t have much time to hide them for you were already beaming like the sun from his words, the combination of his offer and your feelings mixing well together to form how you’d react to such a question.

“are you asking me for a date?” a sudden burst of confidence, one might say, but you’re having fun with it, in spite of the newness of the situation and circumstance, urging you to come out of your comfort zone, and shinsuke’s indulging you a bit more.

“as long as you eat, then you may call it that way.”

oh how you’d want to repeat that moment over and over, never changing until the end of time, even if it’s obviously not going to happen.

not when your future is about to change.

#kita x reader #haikyuu x reader #shinsuke kita #haikyuu x you #kita x you

83 notes · View notes

jadekitty777 · 3 years

Text

Fic Writer Questions

Tagged by @victorious1956 (I kind of forgot you tagged me for like, ever, lol). These stats are from 9-1-21.

How many works do you have on AO3?

Currently 79!

What’s your total AO3 wordcount?

411,393. Jesus, when did that happen?

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Mostly RWBY, though I have 2 Undertale fanfics up as well.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Sick Leave (485)

2. A Bit of Luck (324)

3. The Hero’s Road (253)

4. Transmission Error (214)

5. Temptation (187)

4 out of 5 of these are Qrow/Clover fanfics and of those, two of them are drabbles.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yes, always. My philosophy has always been that if someone took the time to comment, then I can take the time to show my appreciation for it. (It can also sometimes lead to friends!)

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Ooo… Hm. I tend to like happy endings since I write mostly romance. So, Luck of the Draw probably wins by a mile, especially considering it was a vent fic.

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve ever written?

Yes, I have. Or, well, kind of? Not in so much that the characters of two shows tend to collide, but moreso AUs using that idea of the show.

Absolutely the Miraculous Ladybug/RWBY AU is the weirdest one I’ve got.

Though I DID at one point want to do a Voltron/RWBY story and actually use Voltron and RWBY characters together as a more traditional crossover. Never did get around to it.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Eeh, yes. Like twice on Ao3 and twice on fanfiction.net. While I can remember what all of them were about, the one that super stuck with me is the very first one I ever got – but that was because it was from my friends at the time and I was like 12 or 13?

Might be why I tend to be nervous posting stuff or showing friends my work.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do on occasion. I used to a lot more consistently when I was younger but anymore I tend to find keeping the, ah, “groove” to be difficult. I have about 3 up and a LOT more in my folder that never got… *snorts* completed.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, or at least, not outright.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don’t believe so.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Oh yeah, many times. Most of my Kingdom Hearts fanfiction days were all cowritten as well as some really old Final Fantasy 7 stories.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Hurm, “all time” huh? God I always was terrible at this “ultimate favorite” thing.

Honestly, I don’t know. One of the ones that probably stuck with me the longest was Sora/Riku because Sora is my favorite KH character and Riku is, well.

…He’s pretty lol.

In general, I tend to gravitate towards the optimistic characters and then pair them with someone they have good chemistry with, which often is someone they are friends with – though, not always. I tend to like that emotional connection though as it tends to jive well with my own personal lifestyle (as in, I’m demisexual lol).

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Probably the Dragon AU idea I had for Taiqrow – Bound to the Sky with You. I always intended to cycle back to it, but with my waning motivation for RWBY, I don’t see it happening.

What are your writing strengths?

I’d say for the type of stories I write – single character pieces and romance are where I do my best work. I tend to favor a small cast; it’s easier to maintain and keep focus when I’m only juggling a handful of people. Character pieces tend to be things where I want to explore something about the character that I have an extreme interest in (I.E. Tai’s depression or Qrow’s alcoholism).

As for what works best in my writing itself, probably dialogue and paragraph flow. With the former, I mean I’m pretty confidant my dialogue for characters sounds natural, both for what the characters would potentially say in canon as well as just authentic to a conversation actual people might have. For the latter, I tend to think a lot about how and where to put my sentences and how to construct the breaks in the story so it all provides the best impact.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Long writing, 1000000%. I struggle very much with doing a piece that is longer than a chapter or two – partially because I tend to lose interest or want to jump into another project but mostly becaaaaaaause- I am slow as fucking molasses. I have never been good at ‘freeforming’ my writing. This is mainly because I put too much pressure on myself to get things right the first time or, sometimes, will spend minutes searching a thesaurus to find the right word. I’ve tried many recommended techniques to try and speed up my writing process and leave the more time-consuming stuff for the editing process, but the habit is what it is.

Probably also goes without saying that, since I’m good with smaller casts, of course larger casts are also a bit of an issue for me. It’s hard to balance like, nine people for example. Which, when I wrote One Piece fanfiction was…. Yeah, kind of an issue LOL.

I’m also a bit weirdly OCD about not reusing a certain word too many times or even a character’s name too many times. I don’t like things to sound repetitive; though ironically, it’s probably not even something most readers would even notice.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I mean. I did an entire fanfic with ASL in it soooo…

More seriously though? I think it’s fine, but research is often necessary if it’s going to be a huge staple for the story. Not only do language and culture go hand-in-hand, it’s important to think why the character knows certain languages and what environment they grew up in to learn it and how that might influence them in general.

Also, providing translations for what’s being said has to be carefully considered, because the best way to do it is in text, but it can be hard to do so and not break the flow of your writing.

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

Ha, don’t laugh. Dragonball Z. You will never find them though – I purged them back in high school.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Terribly, I love a lot of my fanfics and am proud of many. Also, I’m still terrible at picking favorites. But, okay – I Found My Heart in San Francisco is almost always the first Taiqrow fanfic I will recommend. I poured so much love and research into that piece and I really enjoyed how it came out, even if it could have been stronger. If the person isn’t looking for a romance piece though, I would probably recommend The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus One. That one is a Qrow-centric character piece, exploring his journey from young child to adult and the things he learns along the way thanks to the influence of certain people in his life.

Given the chance though, I would name half my folder just out of pride lol. It’s important to love what you do, and I do cherish the stuff I write.

Tagging: @spectralscathath, @aerislei and @raybyanothername (if you guys want to/haven’t already done it, of course)

7 notes · View notes

swarmkeepers · 4 years

Text

Concept: post-canon epistolary/multimedia look into Cheese’s Trapper Keeper

He’s got spells in there, sure, but there are also a bunch of letters and other notes. It’s one of the only things he took with him when he left Cannon Court (he wasn’t necessarily planning for that to be the last time he was in that house, but he’s also not going back).

A part of him knows he owns a ship now, or at least has his name on a bunch of Ramble paperwork, and he does keep some stuff in his quarters in the crow’s nest on the Harvest Moon. But the important stuff is still kept in something he can pick up and run with, just in case—old habits die hard.

Cheese hasn’t been able to actually talk to Spaulding since the pool in the Sternwood, so he writes letters to him every day on their mission—he wants to give them all to him, like a big bundle of journal entries, if they find him. When they find him.

He feels like he’s a totally different person from the one that Spaulding knew when he left, and sure these brothers always crit on insight checks on each other but it’s all the little things, all the little parts of life Spaulding missed.

He starts really trying to write one note to Spaulding every day the first day that the Harvest Moon sets off for the shores of Sylvare—“we’re gonna bring you back, buddy, you’re gonna be okay when we find you, and I have a ship now and you’re gonna get to sail like you always wanted to, and I’m gonna get to learn magic with you, and we’re gonna go on adventures together just you and me! And my crew! I have a crew now! Love, Cheese”

Cheese was a paper hoarder when he lived in Cannon Court and so there end up being a lot of scraps of the rest of the crew’s stuff that they abandon stuffed in that binder too

(Bob scribbling down songs in gorgeous cursive, Myrtle scrawling out mixed drink recipes and leaving wet splotches all over the paper from dripping on it, crumpled up paper from Marcid’s accounting, a copy of a map that Jack’s shared with Cheese for captainly decisionmaking. At one point Sunny signs a page in Cheese’s binder like it’s a middle school yearbook, a big “HAGS” in loopy letters for “Have a great sea voyage!”)

More feelings and friendship under the cut!

There’s a night when there’s just an absolute ton of other people’s crap stuck into Cheese’s spellbook and there’s no entry to Spaulding from that night. The next day’s says “I’m so sorry I forgot, we just had a whole day, and we sacked an outpost and had a bonfire on the beach!! I wish you were here but it was so fun, Jack and Bob had a sea shanty sing-off and Sunny looted some of the bodies of guys we, uh, killed, and we’ve got some maps and we’re on our way!!! Love, Cheese”

There are also nights when there are no entries to Spaulding because they’re bad days. They get attacked by merfolk which makes Myrtle pissed, and a couple of their hurled tridents have splintered open holes in the hull that are filling the lower decks with bilgewater, so now Cheese has to spend the whole night methodically casting Mending over and over again.

(His Trapper Keeper got soaked with seawater and Cheese has to rewrite a bunch of spells into it. A few of them were the really old ones he knew, with notes in Spaulding’s handwriting from back when they were learning magic together before his brother ever left on pilgrimage. Marcid finds Cheese curled into a ball and sniffling sitting against the mast, hand shaking too much to rewrite the spell, and just picks him up into a big hug when he does. Cheese tells himself that they’re going to find Spaulding soon, and there will be more spells they can write together.)

Cheese doesn’t know Sending yet so he writes letters to Ayda, sending them back on other Leviathan-bound ships when they meet in port or just using them as reminders to himself about what to ask her about when she occasionally and randomly teleports and appears on the Harvest Moon’s deck for a chat.

Their letters are all long strings of bullet points trailing off into spirals of subpoints nested under subpoints under subpoints, explaining their tangents in minute detail because it’s so cool and interesting even when they maybe forget what the original conversation was about. Bullet points are how Ayda’s brain works and Cheese also finds a whole bunch of gel pens he shares with Sunny to color-code them to make them work for his brain too.

Cheese peruses his brand new spellbook but he’s still copying spells into his Trapper Keeper because that’s his and it’s safe. Ayda’s also very intrigued by what she calls Cheese’s “use of alternative vernacular verbal components” and teleports to the Harvest Moon for long interested chats about it. They start writing papers about it, casting Magic Missile/Baby You’re A Firework/Missile of Magic?/Sparkle Darts off the side of the ship into the night to test out different names for it to see if they work the same. Cheese carefully tucks a copy of the draft into the folder he’s using for his letters to Spaulding, “I think you’d wanna see this! Love, Cheese”

It’s a long few months of sailing from outpost to outpost, filling the hold of the Harvest Moon with treasure that makes Jack and Marcid nod approvingly and Myrtle mix a martini to toast. Cheese keeps learning, keeps writing, never forgets that this is a mission for something more important than just treasure, never gives up on finding it.

The last entry he writes for Spaulding says, “I think this is the one, we’ve raided a lot of outposts but this feels like the one they sang songs about when they came back. We can see some warehouses and a couple of small boats and we’re gonna go in tomorrow night. See you soon!! Love you, Cheese.”

#pirol spoilers #pirates of leviathan #dimension 20 #pirol #cheese #sola said #sometimes you start trying to write a fic with lots of html multimedia elements and lots of feelings and dialogue and banter #but then it just works better as a tumblr post idek??#long post #that being said if anyone wants to riff on this idea and write this PLEASE do #smth abt gnome wizard loving the tactility and personalness of rewriting every spell for yourself in your own binder and renaming them #like a cool synthesis of leviathan's chaotic spoken storytelling tradition and cheese's wish to be a soft clever wizard boy #sola ficced #reposted and then edited this like 10 times but hopefully it shows up in the tags now?

61 notes · View notes

ravenforce · 4 years

Text

Stark Legacy III

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Carol Danvers x Wanda Maximoff x Maria Hill x Reader

Word Count: 2869

A/N: Oh gosh. I’m so sorry I haven’t been updated a lot of fics recently. There’s no excuse except that Animal Crossing New Horizon is taking up so much of my time but I am working on being more productive. Also, it doesn’t help that somehow I can’t seem to come to terms with this chapter. I feel like everything I write is shit. That’s why I’m trying to let the creative energy blockage to pass. I hope you guys like this chapter. Stay safe. xx

Parts: 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6

***

After a week of poking and prodding at the Avengers compound, Fury finally agreed to let you stay off-site. Not that he has any say on your decision, anyway. He’s not the boss of you. You knew it will only cause more valuable time to be wasted if you resist, you compromised by letting Happy be assigned to you. The same way he was assigned to the handle Spider-man before. You felt like a child, it was ridiculous.

“Are you sure you don’t want to take back your position in the office?” Pepper asked as she enters the living room where you’ve been watching the city from its floor-to-ceiling windows. Happy drove you directly to Stark Tower, which Pepper handed the keys back to you. It’s now the Avengers Tower but technically it is still owned by Stark Industries. Thus, still owned by you, Pepper and Morgan.

You took a minute looking out the view before turning back towards your sister-in-law. You walked towards her at the centre of the room and gave her arms a squeeze. “Stark Industries is better off in your hands, P.”

She smiled at you before pulling you into a hug for the nth time since she found out that you’re alive.

“What are you gonna do?” Before you can answer, the door to the penthouse and came walking in is Happy with a beautiful little girl in tow.

“Hey,” Happy greeted. “Sorry, we’re a bit late. Someone made one too many stops at the labs.”

Pepper beckoned the girl over, and immediately she took her mother’s hand. “Morgan, I’d like you to meet somebody.” Morgan took one look at you. A look of recognition passes on her face before she let go of Pepper’s hand to run towards you. She came barreling to your leg.

“Hey,” you greeted while running your hand over her soft hair. You look at Pepper with a questioning look.

“Morgan, do you know who this is?” Morgan pulled away from where she’s perched on your leg and look back at Pepper.

“Yes, mom. She’s Y/N Stark. Daddy’s baby sister.” She turned back to you with a smile.

You crouched down in front of her. You offered her your hand to shake but Morgan had another idea. She threw her arms around your neck and nearly tackled you down in a tight hug. You chuckled. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Morgan Stark.”

She giggled and pulled away. “You’re a silly humanoid.”

Everyone stopped and stared at the little girl. Pepper recovered first. “Sweetheart, how’d you know that word?” She asked. Morgan only looked at you before running her hand over where your ball-joints are connected.

“Dad told me everything.” You rolled your eyes internally at your brother, wherever he is. “I’m not sure how it worked but Dad said you’re the best sister ever, and that when you wake up, you’ll be the best aunt too.”

That got you down on your ass on the floor. You can’t cry, not really but at that moment, had you been human, you would’ve been crying your eyes out. Suddenly, sitting there on the floor with your brother’s offspring in front of you, you were overcome with so much grief. Life wasn’t fair.

Why did your brother have to die, and you, survive? He had more to live for than you. He has a wife. He has a daughter. He was happy. He deserved to live, too.

Morgan cupped your face. She must have seen through your robotic face. “It’s okay Y/N. We’ll be okay.”

You blinked twice at her before nodding. She’s an intuitive, emphatic kid. She is really Pepper and Tony’s daughter. No question about that. Then Morgan started chewing at her bottom lip.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just…” she paused. She looked unsure of what to ask or how to ask her question. So, you run your hand through her hair and assured her that she could ask you anything. “…uhm. I just want to know how your body is operating? Is F.R.I.D.A.Y installed in your core? Or was it J.A.R.V.I.S?”

“Morgan!” Pepper admonished, and for Morgan’s part, she looked sheepish. You can only gape at your eight-years-old niece for a minute. She truly is a Stark and one that hanged out with her dad too much, apparently.

“Well, right now there’s no AI installed in this body but I’m planning to put one on my own. Maybe you could help me name it when it’s done?”

Morgan grinned before launching in a barrage of questions, only child geniuses could ask at that age.

“Excuse me, Y/N.” Pepper cut in through your nerd conversation with Morgan. “Do you mind if I use the kitchen to make us dinner? I don’t think the little one would want to leave soon.”

“Knock yourself out. Happy stocked up before we arrived.” That’s all the answer Pepper got before you and Morgan moved from the floor to your new bedroom to continue geeking out about your robotics.

Happy sidled up to the blonde as they watch you two happily chatting. “It’s a match made in heaven,” Happy teased; earning a soft chuckle from Pepper.

“Yeah. Finally, someone who can keep up with her.”

Morgan and Pepper are really close but Pepper suspects that Morgan misses having someone geeky in the house that can talk to her about engineering, robotics, science, history, etc.

***

Morgan and Pepper stayed for two nights in the tower. You wished they could have stayed longer but Morgan has school but Pepper promised they’ll be back every weekend. Without Morgan in the house, it’s far too quiet even with Happy around. Speaking of the man, you found him after your shower, lounging at the bar over some S.H.I.E.L.D folders.

“Busy?” you asked as you went to the coffee machine by instinct. Happy watched you freeze for a moment but he didn’t say anything. He understood that you’re still coping with your new normal.

“Nope. Why?” He closed all his open folders but left them on the counter.

You turned towards him with a smile. “Great. I need your help.”

When you said you needed his help. He thought maybe you needed help where he can use his talents as an agent but instead he found himself dusting around Tony’s old on-site lab. It looks exactly the same as the last time Tony used it. Not a single furniture and equipment out of place. It was nostalgic and bittersweet to be there again.

“Ugh!” He groaned after putting one more box in the storage room. You looked at your friend as he sweats through his shirt and stretches his back.

“Tired already?” You asked in a teasing voice.

“My back is killing me, and aren’t you?” You laughed and he turned to look at you. For a minute he forgot you are not exactly human anymore. A few nights ago you mentioned, post-human, and he thought it was quite a fitting classification. He decided that’s what he’s gonna use from then on.

“Actually, I can do this all day.” Happy rolled his eyes at you before giving you the finger. You laughed hard before you walked towards him.

“Sit down. Let the one who can’t get backaches do the heavy lifting.” He can hear the joy in your voice as you continue to tease him of his fragility. You handed him your new tablet, while you started carrying the rest of the boxes into storage.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

You stopped and chuckled. You pulled out a folded paper from your pocket. It’s a list of equipment and materials. “Please, purchase everything on that list. You can find most of them from Stark Industries. The rest you can outsource on Amazon.”

Happy looked at the list and started putting everything in your cart. “Are you building something?”

You dusted your hand and locked the storage room. You plopped down on Tony’s couch and looked at Happy as he concentrates on finding the right items with the right specs for you.

“Yes.” When no other word from you was forthcoming, he looked up at you. You can see the question in his eyes but before he can voice it out, you threw him a rolled-up parchment. He barely caught it and he glared at you. When he opened it, his eyes almost popped out of its socket.

“Y/N.” He pause to consider what this little project means.

“You’re not?” he broke off in the middle.

“I am.”

***

The dream team is spending their much deserved weekend off after being away for a month-long mission in Hungary. Usually, they would spend their weekend at home after long missions but they’ve been coup up in the safe house for a month and had only been going out on surveillance twice in every week. So, to change things up a little bit, they found themselves out on a bustling Saturday night. The plan was simple: have dinner on Wanda and Carol’s restaurant of choice, and maybe a walk along the park to aid their digestion.

“Oh, this is so good,” Carol nearly moaned after taking her first bite on the strawberry shortcake they ordered for dessert.

“I’m really glad we’re able to do this.” They all smiled at Wanda before Nat reached out and wipe the icing that stuck on the side of her lips. Wanda blushed. After all this time, Natasha still makes her flush like crazy, and it doesn’t help that she’s the smoothest out of all of them. Except with you, that is.

It’s an observation she gathered from the handful of times they’ve interacted with you in the HQ. Even Carol and Maria agrees that Nat is uncharacteristically a mess whenever you’re around. It’s a topic they have yet the time, and the energy to breach with the redhead.

“To us.” Maria raised her glass and everybody promptly clinked their glasses together. Not a minute after, the sound of sirens was heard along the street. They looked at each other before pulling out their phones, and they were shocked to see multiple miscalls from HQ.

“Shit.” They groaned collectively but before they can even think to stand and bolt, another restaurant patron yelled.

“Missile!”

It’s like time stood still. Even with years of work and training, they were rendered frozen and rooted in place, waiting for the inevitable to hit. After Thanos, they all had to undergo mandatory therapy for PTSD. Nat and Wanda went because losing Clint and Vision still haunts their dreams, Maria for being dusted herself, and Carol for stress management.

***

“Ms Stark that missile is heading straight for Agent Hill, Danvers, Romanoff, and Maximoff.”

“What?” You yelled at your newly developed AI before putting more speed to catch the missile. You can see the four idiots just standing there frozen. You caught glimpse of the missile timer, and you thought you’re not gonna make it into the stratosphere before it explodes. So, you raced ahead of it and triggered one of your suit’s new feature: electromagnet shield before it exploded in your chest.

***

Maria squinted as they watch the missile approached their location. Something else is flying towards them. Something she can’t put a finger on but oh so familiar.

“Is that - ” She wasn’t able to finish the question before Carol and Natasha were tackling her and Wanda on the ground. Then the missile exploded.

***

For a minute, there’s a ringing in their ear, and they were severely disoriented. Carol and Natasha rolled away from their girlfriends and laid their back, feeling the cold, concrete floor. They tried to blink rapidly to clear the white spots that are floating around their vision. Maria was the first to sit up, followed by Carol, then Natasha and Wanda. They looked at each other, making sure everyone was unharmed.

“What just happened?” Carol asked, with her hand outstretched to help everyone up.

Wanda was quiet for a moment before she was running towards the balcony, where a few customers are gathered around the mouth of the restaurant, hovering around something. Before they could question her what’s up, she just jumped out of the balcony instead of using the stairs like a normal person.

“Shit. What now?” Nat followed Wanda over the balcony and landed gracefully at the sidewalk. Carol floated down on her Captain Marvel suit, while Maria exited the establishment through the front door. She walked towards the crowd and whipped out her badge to clear the bystanders. Carol, Nat, and Wanda helped to make a perimeter, so their girlfriend can assess the situation.

When they saw what it is, they were frozen for the second time around that night.

“Who is that? Is that RESCUE? Is she gonna be okay?”

An onslaught of questions was thrown to them but they have absolutely no clue how to answer. The suit does look a little like Pepper’s RESCUE but instead of blue and white, this one is pure black. The helmet is unmistakably Iron Man’s original design.

“It’s Y/N,” Wanda whispered as she and Carol crowd over your body to shield you from everyone’s view. Maria is frantically typing on her phone, asking for a pickup team on their location ASAP. Nat’s crouched down and poking at your helmet.

“The blast must have knocked her out.” Another poke to the helmet.

“Stop poking me, Agent Romanoff. It’s a rude way to say thanks.” She startled when she heard your voice before the lights on your helmet came back on. She stood up and sidled with Maria. Captain Marvel offered her hand and you took it.

“Thank you.”

“No, thank you for saving us back there.” You opted to nod at the Captain since she can’t see you smile and you don’t want to retract your helmet and expose yourself. You hovered over the ground and looked behind them.

Nat caught the action, as small as it. “We’re attracting too much attention. Meet us back at the HQ.”

“The tower is closer.” They all turned to Maria for consent and she freely gave it.

Before you can fly off, a young boy yelled. “Hey! Are you RESCUE?”

You hovered back down and crouched in front of him. “No, I’m not but we’re friends.”

“What’s your name then?”

“I’m Phantom.” You pinched the boy’s cheeks before flying back to the tower. You looked back and saw him smiling and waving at you.

283 notes · View notes

anonniemousefics · 4 years

Text

My Dearest Inej | Chapter Twenty

Chapter Masterlist

Originally posted on AO3

Rating: Teen And Up

Synopsis: A series of letters kept among the personal belongings of Captain Inej Ghafa.

Dear Inej,

Thank you for always being so nice to me even if I didn’t do much to deserve it. Thank you especially for the nice, warm clothes and the good soup. My Aunt Millie makes good soup, too, but it’s not as good as yours. But that’s okay. I think I’m going to like Leflin anyway.

Thank you for all you’ve done for kids like me. I think there are lots of us who would try harder to do the right thing if there were more people like you.

I hope Mr. Brekker feels better soon.

Love,

Artie

---------------------------------------------------------------------

(Marked at the top: “Jesper: Please read to Wylan”)

Dear Wylan,

I’ve had some time to think and look back on the events of the last month or so, and I began to feel like something was strangely out of balance. It took awhile to recognize what it was – perhaps someone a little kinder might have realized it sooner. It was this: you have not been given enough credit.

Don’t let Jesper not read this bit to you. His ego can handle a few minutes on the sidelines. Wylan, I think it might have actually been you who saved my life.

I’ve heard every angle, and I’ve pieced together the whole scenario. I’ve well-aware that it was a collaborative effort to haul me out of Ketterdam for treatment. But it was you who was stuck with the perhaps insurmountable task of keeping me sane.

(And Ambroos, too. Let’s be honest: he did most of the work.)

So, I thought you should know that I saw it and I won’t forget it. I won’t forget that when I was half-awake and confused and disoriented, it was you who kept reminding me where we were. I won’t forget that when none of my limbs were working quite right, you were the one assuming the unfortunate responsibility of helping me drink. You were the one walking the ward with me. You were the one playing along with endless card tricks. You were the one trying to get me to laugh when the aggravation and the frustration started to swallow me whole.

You’re a good man, Wylan Van Eck, and an even better friend. One of the best. You have been fearless and determined and self-sacrificing, and for all that and more, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Sincerely,

K. Brekker

(an addition at the bottom)

No. Still too sentimental. DISCARD.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

(in the folder marked: “Nina”)

Dear Nina,

I’m writing you today from outside a little café in Shriftport, and I’m realizing I had the opportunity to give you all of my letters and I FORGOT. Honestly, how are we so bad at this? Of course, we were all a little preoccupied, what with the jailbreak and the escape and the chaos of locating Artie while outrunning Stadwatch, and then gorging ourselves on inordinate amounts of award-winning cake. BUT STILL. I hate to think you might be thinking that I’m not writing you. I am writing you everything.

Now that we are in Shriftport, I’ve paid to have The Wraith dry-docked for maintenance for the next couple of months, and the crew has been given pay and leave to explore Novyi Zem to their hearts’ content. Kaz and I are about to embark on the same; although, we’ve been saying this for about three days now and haven’t made it out of the city limits. There’s just a lot of sleeping and eating to be done first. I think all the excitement finally caught up to us, and, Nina, I am exhausted. And because of that, there’s not been much of a plan formed, but for once, I think that’s okay. And I think Kaz agrees. We know it may be a couple months until all the buzz dies down in Ketterdam and it’s safe to dock again. Not much to do until then.

Right now, we are taking each day as it comes. He is alive and recovering, and that is all that I need for now. We’ve been staying in a little room at an inn that overlooks the port. Whenever I fall asleep, it’s to the sound of the gentle tides and far off seagulls. And Kaz’s heartbeat. I haven’t quite shaken what it was like to count them in the dark and worry that each one could be the last. I suppose, as with all things, that fear will pass with time. (And, if I’ve I started to get too worried, at least he still grinds his teeth.)

So, for now, I’m going to eat my weight in sweet rolls. We’re going to take some long, slow walks through town. I’m going to hold his hand, and I’m going to imagine we have all the time in the world. I’m going to make the most of what we do have.

As I will with you, darling Nina, when you’re back in Ketterdam again.

All my love,

Inej

---------------------------------------------------------------

My darling Kaz, treasure of my heart,

Will you still write me letters sometimes? I’m starting to miss them.

Love,

Inej

-------------------------------------------------------------

My dearest, weirdest Inej,

I am literally two feet next to you.

- Kaz

----------------------------------------------------------------

My dearest and nearest Kaz,

But I miss them. You have a way with words on paper that I hold very dear. At least write to me what you’re thinking right now.

Love,

Inej

-------------------------------------------------------------------

My captain, my queen, my Saint,

Whatever you require. I am yours to command.

I am thinking of Ambroos, and how I wish I could write him a letter. I’m also thinking we ought to find a shadier spot on this beach, unless you’d like to see me fry.

Signed,

The very pale fellow on your left

--------------------------------------------------------------------

My dearest pale fellow,

How about now? Are you still thinking of Ambroos now?

Yours,

Inej

(in Kaz’s handwriting)

No.

(in Inej’s handwriting)

Tell me what you are thinking now.

No. Write it down.

Write it down so I can read it again when this is over.

My dearest Inej,

So, you require a bit of prose for posterity. You want to remember this day, this moment, and I can’t fault you for that. It’s a nearly perfect one. For you, I will attempt to make it memorable.

What am I thinking right now, you’ve asked? Surprisingly, not much. It’s a welcome reprieve, believe me. At present, I am taken by the sea breeze in your hair. I’m mad for how it spreads out around you when you’re in the sand. I’m thinking about wrapping my fingers in it, maybe tugging it while I kiss you, but I’m also thinking there are quite a few people around, and maybe you wouldn’t like that so much. Maybe later.

I am thinking about what you’ve written here – about wanting something to read when this is over, and I think I haven’t made myself clear. I intend to make this a habit, Inej, as long as you will. Facing down death always does have a way of clarifying things. I know you have the same sense of duty to the sea as I feel toward Ketterdam, but that hardly means this is something we should only do once. Don’t you agree? Isn’t that what you what you wrote to me of, that long night in the warehouse district – a chance to try to rethink the life we’re each leading?

I don’t really know what I’m proposing, if I’m being honest. More, I suppose? That sounds about right. That sounds like me. More of you. More of us. Whatever that looks like. More of me at sea? More of you in Ketterdam? Some complicated combination of both? Logistical nightmares don’t scare me; you should know that by now. If there is a deal to strike here, then I’m open for negotiation.

Though if we’re really shedding the armor, Inej, I’ll put all my cards on the table. This is all I’ve ever wanted. Just you. Just this.

So, name your terms. My heart is already yours. It has always been yours.

Kaz

(in Inej’s handwriting)

Prepare yourself. I’m about to kiss you in front of all these people.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

(accompanying a small bouquet of dried geraniums)

Good morning, Mrs. Brekker,

I stepped out to hunt down an acceptable breakfast. Don’t get up. I’ll be back with sweet rolls in 10 minutes.

And, for gods' sake, don't get dressed.

Yours,

Kaz

THE END

#six of crows #soc #crooked kingdom #grishaverse #leigh bardugo #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #nina zenik #jesper fahey #wylan van eck #dregs #ketterdam #kaz brekker x inej ghafa #kaz x inej #kanej #kanej fanfic #kanej fanfiction #fanfiction #soc fanfic

42 notes · View notes

mlek13 · 3 years

Text

My job has kept me insanely busy this summer, but now I’m finally on break and I’ve been doing some simming.

Before the summer session started I played though most of my merchant class. It sounds like other people on here have been having similar struggles with figuring out how the different classes should work. My merchants mostly sell items from the catalogue (because who has time to run a business and do all the crafting) and my peasants do very little to contribute. They’re just living their lives. I tried to make things more connected by requiring sims to go to the marketplace to buy food instead of ordering, but it kind of bothered me, the last time I played my kingdom, that the food they buy doesn’t come from anywhere. I could send them there to socialize, but that doesn’t happen because usually my sims are starving before I realize they need more food and the other sims on the lot just browse and don’t socialize.

So anyway, I started thinking about trying again to run a neighborhood that starts with the bare minimum, sims have to work their way up into positions, and with a more closed economy. I’ve tried this a few times before. I even had a second neighborhood in with my kingdom neighborhood where I had set up a family and apparently played them long enough that they had toddlers.

I tried to resist the idea of starting a new neighborhood, because usually whenever I start something new, the previous neighborhood I was playing gets abandoned. Eventually, when I needed a break from thinking about work things, I gave in and started a new neighborhood. It might just be temporary. I’m still planning on going back to my kingdom at some point now that things have slowed down and maybe I can try to implement some things I am doing here in the kingdom too.

I made a new The Sims 2 folder so I could use different mods, but it did take some time to get all of the necessary cc copied over and I’m still trying to adjust autonomy on items. It’s an ongoing process to figure out what I need and what my neighborhood is missing.

I started with 16 sims, combining a household of 8 women with a household of 8 men. I gave them a variety of genetics and aspirations (though I did go a little heavier on the family sims.) They all have fairly short simple names that start with different letters of the alphabet. (I accidentally ended up with two “L”s since I set up the households on different days and forgot all of the names I used.)

This is the lot they started with. It has lots of berry bushes and fruit trees. There is a pond for catching fish to eat that rarely gets used. I gave them the necessities for preparing food (an empty fridge, counters, and fire pit stove.) They have waterfall showers, squat anywhere invisible toilets, leaf beds to sleep on, stumps to sit on, and a photo booth for baby making (beds require privacy that this lot doesn’t have and my sims tend to get stuck in hot tubs).

They spent their first hours on the lot getting to know each other. Already preferences are developing about who they like

and who they don’t like.

Then, once they work up an appetite, it’s time to forage for berries.

I discovered if I remove the berry snacks from their inventory, they can eat them directly. The larger baskets have to get stocked in the fridge and somehow are used to make hotdogs. It’s too difficult to keep track of whose food is whose, so everything is shared. I empty everyone’s berry snacks on to the lot and it’s first come, first served (with lots of baskets littering the lot). I try to have them stock the same number of berry baskets into the fridge each, but as time goes on it’s harder to keep track.

At night time, most of the sims find leaf beds to sleep on.

The next day, they discover the photo booth and it sees a lot of action. I tried to cover up the photo booth with some rock textured walls to make it less conspicuous. I also took pictures of all the couples that used it the first few days as I was keeping track of who was pairing with whom, but I will spare you from uploading them all.

All of the women ended up pregnant fairly early on and have had at least one child and all but two of them men (Jay and Lou) have fathered children. (That’s so far. I have played up to the point that the first born sims are teenagers now.) I am not using any miscarriage mods in this neighborhood, so all pregnancies make it to term no matter how rough it gets.

We have our first engagement between Tawny and Sam! I decided to have them get engaged based on their wants and then wait a few days to see if the engagements last before having them get married. (This engagement did not last.)

The first baby born to the tribe belongs to Noelle and Wade.

We barely have time to welcome baby Nate when a fire breaks out

and half of the tribe goes into aspiration failure.

Lots of babies are born. I started out naming the babies with the first letter of their mother’s name and then for later children I eventually started used the first letter of the father’s name. (It’s easier to know who the mother is when birth occurs.) Gia and (I think) Vaughn (pale skin, red haired male) have Gianni.

Lani and Roy (I think. I know that’s Roy holding the baby) have Lori and Lynn.

It took me awhile to get autonomous wood chopping to work. (It turns out I had two copies of the same file in my downloads folder. I’m still trying to get crafting tables to work with more autonomy.) But once my sims started gathering wood, I started trading it for building items.

I knew once the babies were born I would need some walls, otherwise no one would be getting any sleep. I decided to keep it simple, each stack of wood equals one wall section, one roof section, or one door. Taking a little bit of wood from the inventories of anyone that had wood, allowed me to build a little hut for the babies.

I also traded a stack of wood for each crib. Now everyone can get some sleep.

I could go on, but I think I might stop the post here and post more about this later, if anyone is interested.

#the sims #the sims 2 #sims 2 #simming from scratch challenge #tribal sims challenge #not sure how I want to tag this yet

3 notes · View notes

missdreamsalot · 4 years

Text

The Queen’s Guard- Ch.1

A/N: Hello, everyone! This is my first attempt at a Fanfic and I’m both nervous and excited about finally posting the very first chapter. I’m still quite new to this platform and haven’t been quite active up until now but I love Choices and want to be a little more lively here. Thank you, and I hope you guys like this!

Book: The Royal Romance

Main Pairings: Leo x OC, Liam x OC.

Future Pairings: Maxwell x OC, Bastien x OC, Drake x Olivia

Summary: A rotten apple in the family threatens their lives and there is only one way to get rid of bad blood.

Masterlist

Warnings: Violence, Language, Sexual Content, Angst, Dark Situations, Character Death

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of The Royal Romance, or Rules of Engagement; they belong to Pixelberry. I only own my OC’s.

Enjoy~ *ヽ(◕ヮ◕ヽ)

CH 1: Ghosts

In the Ramsford Estate, Elle sat quietly at the vanity of the room she occupied for the past summer. She stared blankly at her reflection in the mirror. Her long, brown hair had dulled, olive skin had paled, and the light of her green eyes had been extinguished.

A month had passed since the day of the Coronation, 30 days since the man she loved broke her heart, and the 720 hours of self-loathing had crippled her at last.

A broken cry escaped her lips as she hugged herself tight. How could she had been so foolish to think that it could work? He had his place and she had hers – a place that she hid from everyone in order to protect them, to protect him.

She knew she couldn’t stay much longer, no matter how much she wanted to fight for him, it simply wouldn’t be possible. Her enemies would only continue to draw them apart. The pictures that were published was only the tip of the iceberg and from there it would only spiral into darker depths, unleashing more suffering and heartbreak.

‘It’s over’, she thought.

Out on the patio that same evening, the night air danced through Elle’s hair as she stared up at the sky. She returned her eyes to Maxwell’s face that had dropped into sadness upon her declaration of leaving and returning home.

“I want to fight with you on this” the younger Beaumont brother started, “and I want to say to give it a little more time, that things will get better, but-“ he sighed, rubbing his face in frustration, “I don’t know when or if it will. I blame myself for putting you in this position, and I’m sorry-“

“Maxwell,” Elle placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. None of us could’ve predicted this. It’s out of our control.” It truly was. The capacity of which they can change things was out of their hands.

Suddenly the world swayed, she grabbed the front of her dress as her stomach churned and she groaned miserably.

Maxwell perked up in alarm as the color drained from her face. “What’s wrong?”

Elle waited until it passed while contemplating if she should express the truth to Maxwell-A truth that even herself could not come to terms with.

She shook her head, “Nothing, I just-”

“Forgot to take your iron?” Maxwell finished.

Her eyes met his and she smiled faintly. “Yes,” was all she could muster. A few moments later he returned with a glass of orange juice and an iron pill.

“Don’t tell me you forgot you were anemic?” Maxwell stated lightheartedly as he handed her the supplement first. “You need to take better care of yourself!”

“I do,” she spoke softly. After gulping down the last drop of juice, she gave the glass back to him and again her eyes found their way back to the starry sky. For an instant, she found herself drifting away and, instead of the stars, there were two of the brightest eyes looking down at her- tender, iridescent, and blue…” but I can’t do that here.” She continued, “Thank you for being there for me, Maxwell. You’re such a great friend. Honorable at that...”

“You make it sound like I’m never gonna see you again,” Maxwell pouted. She blinked away the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.

“I-AH!”

He wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tightly against him. “Don’t worry! If you ever need anything, I’ll always be here for you!”

“Okay, okay!” she exclaimed, patting his shoulder soothingly. “I’ll keep that in mind…”

Before they knew it, Elle was walking the tarmac to the plane that would whisk her way. She looked back, giving one last wave to the Beaumont brothers, Maxwell waving enthusiastically, while Bertrand stared as intensely as ever, giving her a final nod of acknowledgement.

As she took her seat, the tears finally spilled and her eyes never burned so painfully.

The jet began its departure, rising into the brilliance of the clear, blue sky and leaving behind a man who could only dream to be with the woman he loved.

6 Months Later /// Present Day: Cordonia ///

Liam sat at his desk hunched over a flood of papers. He was in the middle of finalizing a public statement when there was a knock at his door. “You may enter.” He called out; his attention glued to the paper in front of him. With a dramatic swirl, he signed the parchment in satisfaction.

“Hello, baby brother.”

Liam looked up with a smile that didn’t quite reach his once lively blue eyes. “Leo.” He stood up and they shared a hug before parting. “How are you doing?” He began rustling through the documents, piling them haphazardly until they were neat enough that he placed his main piece front and center; ready to go.

“Well, if you checked your phone every now and then you would know.” Leo teased, wandering over to the drink cart.

“Sorry, it’s been a bit hectic lately,” Liam grabbed his coat draped over the back of his chair and dug into the inside pocket. As he pulled his phone out, his keys fell out and hit the floor. He bent down to pick them up and gazed over them for a moment, his eyes settling on a particular keychain. He ran his thumb over the miniature statue of liberty before placing the keys back.

His older brother chuckled, “I was only messing with you. No need to apologize.”

Liam turned to face his brother who was already holding out a glass of bourbon for him. “Thanks.”

“My life is viewed as a bit of a train wreck but,” Leo shrugged with a gulp of his drink, “it’s a wanted one.”

“Always the devil may care attitude huh, Leo?”

“You’re surprised?”

Liam shook his head as his lips quirked up in a grin while he scrolled indifferently through his phone.

Leo peered at him over the rim of his glass, taking note of how exhausted he looked. His once-tamed blonde hair was disheveled due to the many times of running his hands through it, and he was hunched forward with an unseen weight on his shoulders.

“Li?”

“Hm?” Liam met his brother’s gaze, his phone closing with a click.

“You know I’m here for you, right?”

Liam chuckled, but it was an empty one. “What brought this on?”

“You look like shit for one.”

Liam opened his mouth to retort, but what escaped was only a breath of air. He gazed somberly at the dancing flames in the fireplace. The door to the study opened then and Queen Mother Regina walked in. She smiled softly upon seeing her stepsons.

“Well, I’m glad to see us all here.” She took the couch in between them, setting a thin folder down on the low table. “What was it you wanted to discuss, Liam?”

“Hello to you too, Regina. I’m okay thanks for asking.” Leo interjected nonchalantly.

“I thought you would appreciate me getting straight to the point. I’m sure your itching to get out of here.” Regina stated. “You look well though. I see the divorce holds no ill will for you among other things.”

Leo rolled his eyes. “Still giving me shit for that? Of course, you are.”

“I warnedyou about her and looked what happened.”

Liam shifted uncomfortably.

“Right, I’m sure you predicted that she would cheat on me with the bartender. I appreciate you looking out for me.” Leo uttered with contempt.

“I’m leaving.” He blurted out. Both parties turned to Liam at his announcement.

Regina was first to respond, her eyes glimmering with concern. “What do you mean by ‘leaving’?”

“On a break of sorts.”

The Queen Mother relaxed internally. For a moment she thought he was abdicating the throne and that would not have boded well for the kingdom. “First and foremost, Liam...” she started. “Have you spoken to Madeleine about this?”

“No. I wanted to disclose it with you two first.”

“She’s your wife. I think she holds precedence.”

Liam exhaled sharply. “Regardless, I plan on leaving in two days. I’ve already scheduled a press conference for tomorrow morning.

Regina remained silent for a moment, considering his words. “I suppose I should’ve seen this coming. You’ve been opting out of important social events and avoiding the press. Your absence has already become noticed by the people. However, do you know how this is going to look? The people will question ‘why all of a sudden’. So, why now, Liam?”

Liam stared at the now empty tumbler in his hands. “There is nothing to it. I simply need some time to myself. They’ll understand. A lot has happened.”

Leo’s heart bled for him as he looked at the shadows that settled underneath his brother’s eyes. He didn’t know the particular details about what happened following the events of the social season, only that the woman that had captured his little brother’s heart left without a word, taking a bit of it, if not the entire thing with her. Leo knew better than to allow Liam to deal with it on his own, but he couldn’t quite find the right words to say without it awakening a considerable amount of pain. He had approached Drake about it and Leo was only met with a biting remark from the snarky man.

“Maybe if you stuck around long enough, you’d know...”

Leo knew better than to fire back, taking into account that it was situation that made Drake react the way he did and that, well… his words stung more than Leo would like to admit.

When the scandal had surfaced at night of the Coronation, Leo knew that it was nothing but a despicable ruse to get the foreign woman out of the running. If it was one thing he regretted the most it was leaving his little brother to endure it on his own. Liam had his close companions, yes, but there was a bond between the brothers no one else can reciprocate. In the end, Leo had selfishly decided to leave, having had enough of the royal crowd. He had taken advantage of his brother’s selflessness asking Liam if he wanted him to stay knowing well enough the he wouldn’t allow him to do that. Liam knew of his distaste towards the royal lifestyle and its overbearing rules. He had insisted that it was alright and was quite determined to figure it out and that, more importantly, he didn’t want Leo to miss out on the motocross tour that was starting in the following days. In turn, Leo did not hesitate to pack his bags and leave.

Leo remembered him saying, ‘Everything will be fine.’ He would only find out later that it would turn out not to be.

Regina sighed before continuing. “Liam, I understand the pain of losing someone you love. Go on, take the time you require to heal your heart. Nevertheless, don’t forget, what is important. Following your father’s death, the Cordonian people need you right now. You cannot abandon them for long. It is your duty to represent our kingdom, bestow strength and trust within our people, but they are beginning to lose faith in you as a king. You need to prioritize their needs and reestablish stability,” Regina paused for a breath, carefully thinking about her next words. “But you needn’t do it alone...Liam, you have your queen and now it is time to consider other things…”

Dread seeped through the blood in Liam’s veins. He knew he couldn’t delay the inevitable much longer. He understood his duties as ruler for a country he loved dearly, but the past 7 months had been hard on him and his father’s death only added to the unrelenting agony in his chest.

“…an heir will bring on tremendous rapture…a flourishing kingdom…”

Liam stopped listening as her words continued. They trailed off in echoes and swirls inside his head with no grasp.

Liam wanted her. The woman that visited his dreams every night. He dreamt of a life with her. There was love, laughter, and endless bliss. That’s how he pictured his future once and thinking about it now made his heart ache much more. He felt like he was suffocating. His chest was tight and his eyes burned from the swelling of unshed tears.

Liam swallowed his anguish and forced out his next words, “I will…proceed with such circumstances when I return.”

“Liam-” Leo began, but when Liam looked up at him with sadness his gaze and half a smile, he realized there was nothing he could say that would make him feel better. He slumped in his seat.

A heavy silence descended them until Regina cleared her throat. “Is there anything else you wanted to address, Liam?”

Liam shook his head. “I have said everything that needed to be said. Thank you for your time. You may be on your way now.”

Regina gave a curt nod. She reached over for the folder on the table and opened it. Removing an article, she stood and faced Leo.

She handed him a pastel green envelope. “I received a correspondence from Evangeline, your mother, several days ago and it’s addressed to you…”

Leo stunned, didn’t know what to say. He grabbed the letter with uncertainty.

“What you decide to do is up to you.”

“Thank you, Regina.”

The Queen Mother gave him a sympathetic smile. “I am sorry about earlier. You didn’t deserve that. I just don’t like seeing you get hurt- either of you. Life is not an easy tread…” She looked over at Liam for a brief moment. Although he was hunched over fiddling with his wedding band, his gaze was a million miles away. “you simply have to do the best you can. Anyways, I’ll leave you boys to it.” She exited the room, leaving her sons with their thoughts.

Leo flipped the letter around in his hands contemplating what to do. Why contact him after all these years? She never made an effort to contact him before. Did he really want to reconnect with the woman that abandoned him? The one that left him feeling alone and unloved? His gaze shifted, descending thoughtfully on the bright flames crackling in the fireplace. He stood up and sauntered over to bring the letter above the blaze.

“Leo!” Liam gasped. He felt his brother’s hand enclose his. “Think about this.”

Against the illumination, Leo could make out the scribbles of black ink etched across the paper- her handwriting. He sighed heavily, his heart and mind in a battle of emotions-anger, hope, sadness, or elation. He didn’t know what to feel.

“At least read what she has to say.”

Leo withdrew. “You’re right, I suppose.”

“’You’re right, as always’ is what you meant to say.” Liam added humorously. Leo shoved him playfully, packing the letter in his jacket.

“You’re not going to read it now?”

“I’ll do it on my own time. I need to process this.” Leo poured himself another much-needed drink and immediately chugged it down.

Liam’s phone began to buzz in his pocket. He peered at it inquisitively as it flashed the familiar unknown number. This was the third one from the mysterious caller this past week. He answered the call. “Hello?”

Silence.

“Hello? May I ask who’s calling?” Leo locked eyes with Liam, brows raised in curiosity. Liam shook his head. There was nothing but white noise at the other end. “Hel-” The call ended abruptly with a ding.

“That was strange.” Leo commented.

“It wouldn’t be the first peculiar occurrence. I’ve been getting them randomly over the past three months.”

“Have you had Bastien look into it?”

“My King.”

The two men turned as the head of the king’s guard made his presence known.

“What is it, Bastien?” Liam inquired. He sensed something was wrong.

“It seems there has been a breach in security. An intruder-a woman. We have her contained if you would like to see her.”

Leo whistled, “This day just keeps getting rather interesting.”

Bastien looked grim,

“She says she is here to kill the King of Cordonia.”

#choices #choices leo #choices liam x oc #choices liam #choices leo x oc #trr leo #leo rys #prince leo #king liam #choices trr #trr fanfic #choices the royal romance #trr #pixelberry #the royal romance #trr liam

49 notes · View notes

ghostsreadingghosts · 3 years

Text

The Specialist

Synopsis: Welcome to the Institute - a business slotted into the space between worlds. Here, strange things aren’t so abnormal, but should still be feared. Follow Ellis, a Data Specialist, as she fulfills her tasks in the archives and perhaps finds more than what she was meant to in the process.

Data Specialist. Data. Specialist. Such a vague title, though Ellis thought it was probably fitting. She felt like a vague member of her company, just an almost faceless little job puppet that flitted from work load to work load without ever leaving much of an impression on anyone. She wasn’t closely tied with any person here - wasn’t even close enough that most of them knew her name. But she knew them, or at least, observed them.

Amilia was head analyst for the Institute, meaning she was the one who assigned everyone’s work load in their department. She was a petite, intelligent woman who’d never worked anywhere other than the Institute for her entire life and, honestly, was probably born there. No one was really sure where she came from. She just sort of appeared one day working in the archive vault and no one questioned it. It was one of those things that was best not to question, Ellis had learned.

Charlie, on the other end of the employment ladder, was a junior analyst, having been hired right off of his college internship, meaning he’d already been working there for a year so it was easier than putting up another job posting and training in someone else. It also meant he’d probably stick around for awhile because he had no “real world” experience yet outside of an internship and he was just poor enough that he couldn’t afford to quit without another job lined up. Which was unlikely in the near future, given the experience garnered at the Institute was a very specific kind.

Then there was Darius, who was one of the Analysts and field workers. They were always running on too much caffeine and too little sleep, but so was everyone else in the Institute aside from Upper Management. They’d been a runaway at one point in their life, but by now would simply describe it as having a ‘no contact relationship’ with their parents. Only Ben tried to ask about them once and Darius had stonewalled him at every turn. So much for a “close knit workspace,” as Ben liked to call it.

Ben was the secretary and the liaison between Upper Management and the Data & Records department where Ellis worked. He was the perfect creature of poised charm and warm smiles - all grins and business talk with nothing really much deeper. It made Ellis’ skin crawl. He looked like one of the Office Drones from the top floor. Those strange little eldritch beings peeled off of the Beyond and stuck into expressionless skins, milling about on the upper floors in jerky, uncoordinated movements as they fulfilled the tasks of their masters until they could be released back into the Beyond again were the primary menial workforce of the Institute, though Ellis couldn’t imagine why. Their faces never moved right, their skin and clothes never settling quite into a perfect facsimile of humanity. Instead it was always just off enough to cause discomfort and Ellis had long learned to steer clear of them when they made their rare appearances on the lower floors to deliver packages or run office errands. It did make Ellis wonder how other offices worked, though.

She had never really had work outside of the Institute, as far as she could recall. Maybe a job when she was teenager babysitting or cutting grass, but she couldn’t remember. Her life was full of long days and boring evenings, so it’s not as though there was anything particularly worth remembering if her life had always looked the way it did now. But she heard stories from time to time from other people about work outside of the Institute and it always made her mind twist about in strange ways.

She’d gone on a date once with a man named Garrett who, when Ellis asked about his work, laughed and said he was just an office drone. He’d been very confused when Ellis’ color drained from her face and she excused herself to pay her tab and leave. Ingrid, Ellis’ roommate and a woman who worked in marketing, stated that he was just making a joke and that Office Drones were different outside of the Institute. Ellis wasn’t sure what to make of that, but wasn’t particularly keen to go out with someone who referred to themselves as a lifeless husk with nothing but a squirming, wriggling mass of inhuman tentacles and teeth inside.

But was it really any better than her job, when she thought about it? Data Specialist. Did that mean she specialized in data? Or that she dealt with specialist data? Perhaps both. She did have to sign a rather lengthy NDA when she was hired, or at least she thought she remembered signing an NDA. It was so long ago now.

She frowned as she climbed up onto a ladder in the archives, putting a rather temperamental file back onto the top shelf. As she completed the task, she shuffled through her notes and found the form she was looking for just as Ben rounded the corner.

“There you are, Ellis,” he said, never looking up from his clipboard. Ben was one of the only people there who actually remembered her name and Ellis was fairly certain that it was only because he worked with Upper Management and thus was required to know any and everyone who entered the building. “You’re so quiet now. I was wondering if you had the -” he lifted the pages on his clipboard and flicked through a few before Ellis cleared her throat.

“Here.”

“Ah, excellent.” Ben took the yellowed sheet she had stuck in his face, the heading printed in dark gothic lettering, and slid it into the papers on his clipboard. “And the -”

“On the table.” Ellis motioned to the work table where a thick manilla folder sat.

Ben followed the gesture of her hand and spotted the envelope. “Splendid,” he purred through a toothy smile. The air hissed through his teeth unpleasantly as he did so. “I’m not sure how we managed before you, Miss Ellis.”

Ellis wasn’t sure how to take that, but the statement almost sounded like a threat. She wasn’t entirely sure how it could be a threat, but it definitely felt like one.

Before she could respond to his question, the man was gone, the clip of his hard leather soles reverberating through the cramped archive halls. Ellis sighed through her nose and collected her papers into her soft leather briefcase before sliding haphazardly down the ladder to land with a neat plop on the floor. One of the files about halfway up the shelf - far out of reach from the ground level - spat a paper out at her and Ellis caught it with her fingertips as it drifted towards the floor.

“Thank you!” She waved up at the shelf and saw the edge of the file rustling back and forth in response.

“That’s a neat trick. I don’t think the archives behave that well for anyone else here.”

Ellis jumped when she heard the voice behind her and turned to see Francis resting against one of the shelves, his arms crossed against his chest and his dark eyes blinking at her in the dim archive light. Francis had always reminded her of a spider, somehow. Perhaps it was all of the eye tattoos on his arms or his long, spindly fingers that always seemed to be able to grasp things just beyond their reach. Whatever it was, he was as unnerving as he was beautiful and Ellis did not like that she was alone with him in the archive of all places. He technically was the head of Human Resources, so never really needed to come down to the archives except in very specific circumstances.

Ellis didn’t like Very Specific Circumstances. She swallowed and wiggled her fingers in a nervous ‘hello’ towards the man who was technically her superior but was still in a completely different department.

“Ah, I forgot about the silence thing. It has been a while since we’ve seen each other, hasn’t it?” he mused. He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture before Ellis could answer. “It doesn’t matter. I was hoping you’d be able to find something for me and bring it down to the mail center. I’d bring it myself, but, well - you are the Data Specialist for a reason and even I can’t crawl my way through these archives the way you can.” Francis bared his teeth in a strange mimic of a smile which Ellis couldn’t bring herself to return. She cleared her throat to ask what Francis needed, but the suit-clad HR manager simply began speaking again.

“It’s actually a few somethings - if you don’t mind. It’s for the Guillespe case. You know the one, I’m sure. The gentleman with the unfortunate bog hound?” Francis pulled a sheet of paper from his breast pocket, folded long ways down the center and handed it off to Ellis. “I was hoping it was an isolated incident, but Hellen thinks otherwise. She gave me a list of call numbers for you to look up. Just put them all in an envelope for me and bring them down to the mail room. They’ll make sure it gets to me in the morning.”

Ellis tugged on the tarnished chain hooked to her belt and pulled out her pocket watch to check the time. If he wanted this by morning, it meant a late night for her. And it was supposed to snow as it was. She frowned.

“Any questions?” Francis asked and Ellis looked up at him.

“I don’t think -”

“Good. Have a good night, Ellis. I’ll try to remember to swing by more often. It’s such a lovely little hovel you’ve carved out for yourself down here.” With that, the man scurried up the shelf and back into one of his tunnels in the ceiling, disappearing into the black void without another word. Ellis let out an exasperated sigh and unfolded the paper in her hands, scanning the call numbers and already forming the most efficient way to look for the articles and files that Francis wanted her to dig up. It would take her awhile, but she could manage it if she worked quickly and the archive decided to be helpful.

She made her way determinedly through the sprawling catacombs of the archive, taking long-familiar turns and winding her way on sure feet through the space, sometimes pausing and glancing up at the shelves to verify the call sections again. The struggle in compiling already collected data for the people at the Institute wasn’t so much that it was difficult to find, but rather that it was difficult to get to. Shelves were sometimes fathoms deep and some files were particularly cantankerous, whereas other organizational units and shelves were high enough that just getting up the ladder took several minutes, let alone climbing up on the shelf to then finish the journey. The information was easy enough to find, but collecting was a wholly different matter.

But Ellis knew the archives. She knew every shortcut, every switchback and wrong turn, every ladder and high shelf and soothing song to play for the files and the creatures that lived with them. She knew where to go and how to get it and where other people could become lost in the endless hallways and cramped corridors, Eliis could always find her way. It was a pity that so few remembered she was here to congratulate her on her hard work.

Oh well. She couldn’t have everything.

It was a long trek to collect all of the data for Francis and by the time she had it all, it was well past closing time for the Institute. The mail room would still be open since they sorted mail at all hours to make sure they kept deadlines, but most everyone else would have gone home or be in their Institute Approved cabinets by now. She’d be lucky if she wasn’t locked in.

The hallway to the mailroom was long and narrow and steep, almost more of a chute than a hallway and it was always a struggle to get back out again. Ellis had once slipped and wound up falling into a mail bin and was almost put in the paper shredder since non-addressed living organisms couldn’t be accepted. She’d gotten out of that by quickly writing “To: Archives” on the back of her hand, making her an addressed living organism and thus mailable. It had taken half an hour, but she eventually was deposited back at the archive door and only had to spend a few minutes getting the mailroom label off of her forehead. Ever since then she’d been more careful and always made sure to keep a new felt-tip pen on her when she went to the mailroom just in case. She tucked the files into an inter-office folder and wrote “Human Resources: Francis” on the front before dropping it into the open maw of the mailroom and scurrying her way back up the hallway to safety.

To her dismay, it wasn’t the locked doors that were keeping her in the Institute when she finally reached the entrance, but the foot and a half of snow piled up on the ground. Ellis groaned as she looked out at the fat snowflakes the clouds hurled down at the earth. She couldn’t see more than five feet out the door, which meant she’d almost certainly get lost before she made it to the bus stop. If the buses were even running in this weather, which they probably weren’t.

She eventually turned back into the Institute entryway to see if she might be able to snag a guest cabinet for the night. It was no use trying to find alternatives outside. She would sleep in the archives, but that wasn’t the best idea. She knew what was there when she was awake, but even Ellis, who knew the archives better than anyone, didn’t trust them while she was sleeping.

Twenty minutes and several flights of stairs leading to nowhere in particular later, Ellis found herself at a very odd door that she didn’t remember seeing before. It wasn’t as though the door was odd in any way. It was simply an office door - brown with blinds covering the window and a round handle with a lock in it. It looked much like any other door Ellis had seen in the Institute before, but Ellis was certain - certain! - that it had not been there before. Or, at least, she was sure that she’d never seen it there before. So then why did something just seem so familiar about this one?

Ellis had always been a curious person and on instinct, her hand began to reach out towards the handle.

“Don’t open in,” a part of her whispered in her ear and her hand paused. “You know something bad will happen if you do.”

“Open it,” another part replied. “Who knows what might be behind it? It could be different this time.”

This time? But Ellis hadn’t ever seen this door before. Or, at least she thought she hadn’t. Had she? No, wait, that wasn’t right. Something was… wrong.

Ellis dug the heels of her palms into her eyes and scrubbed until she saw stars. She felt a headache coming on.

But she wanted to know what was behind the door. And besides, Upper Management went to bed when the Institute closed for the night. And Francis - dealing only in Human Resources - was probably out schmoozing their next Human Resource, so it’s not as though he was there to get angry with her. What harm could it really do? She placed her ear to the door and listened. If there was no sound coming from inside, then it was probably just a storage room and she wouldn’t bother going in, she decided. But she did hear something. A little mechanical whirring noise, followed by a pause, then more whirring.

Hesitantly, Ellis reached out and tried the handle of the door. It was unlocked. Ellis felt her heart thrumming loudly in her chest and she swallowed before swinging the door open and looking inside.

Ben looked up from a desk. Bright pink readers perched precariously on the end of his thin nose and his eyes narrowed as he saw who was standing in his doorway.

“Ah, Ellis. I’d hoped you’d gone home for the evening.”

In front of the man was what looked to be a rather ancient sewing machine all in black with an electric lamp attached to it that had clearly been added at a later date. Ben appeared to have been using it and now he picked up a seam ripper from the desk and clipped the threads connecting his project to the machine.

“Rather unfortunate, that. I had hoped you’d remember what happened last time. But I suppose it can’t be helped. They did a little too good of a job when making you a Data Specialist.”

Ellis’ eyebrows furrowed and she tried to open her mouth to speak.

“Ah, ah, no. You’ll tear your stitches, dear Ellis.” Ben rose from his seat and crossed to her. Ellis noticed for the first time just how tall he was. And that he wasn’t wearing his suit jacket. Without the suit jacket, the sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled up to reveal the thousands of little threads running up and down his arms. All his Connections. It was a little frightening how many he had. Ellis looked up at him in confusion and Ben simply motioned to her left.

In the mirror was a woman - unkempt dark, curly hair and large eyes that looked like black marbles. Her long, thin form was covered by dusty, ragged clothes and her soft leather briefcase hung at her side like a satchel. But her mouth -

Her mouth had been sewn shut.

“I suppose you won’t remember. I had hoped-” Ben paused behind her and looked over her reflection. His face held the imitation of a frown and for a flash of a second he almost looked sad. Almost. “Well, in the end t was Upper Management’s decision, not mine. Though, I did ask to do the the stitching myself. I thought the blue silk suited you. It really stands out with your eyes.”

Ellis blinked at Ben’s reflection in a panic, her heart racing faster than before.

“Oh, now, now, Ellis, don’t worry,” Ben spoke reassuringly as he pulled several long threads from his arms. He held them up to his lamplight, squinting and checking the threads against each other before choosing one and threading it on a needle.. “We’ll just start again like last time, little puppet.”

Ellis watched as Ben lifted the limp form from his sewing machine up, holding it out like a dress for her to appreciate.

“What do you think?” he asked.

It was a skin. A skin that looked like her. Ellis felt herself go stiff with fear as Ben laid the skin out carefully on the work desk and walked over to her, brandishing his seam ripper.

“Now, hold very, very still.”

#writing #short story #horror #writers on tumblr #original fiction

1 note · View note

keichanz · 5 years

Text

Working Hard

NOTE: TITLE CHANGE. previously titled Workin’ Hot

anyway, i totally meant to post this in the morning but when i finished it last night i forgot to send it to myself so i could post it at work. oops lol. and hey lookie that, just in time for Valentine’s day too! it’s not at all Valentine’s related, but it’s inukag and that’s all that matters amiright ahahha.

moving on tagging my ladies because if i don’t they’ll maul me in my sleep: @clearwillow @sssuperbartola @lemonlushff @tsukinohimeusagi @dangerouspompadour @meggz0rz @cammysansstuff @britonell @eternalnight8806-3 @bearpluscat @morikothehalfangel @hinezumi @ideasthatbuildcities @thunderpot @fantastiqueparfait @umacaking

sorry if i forgot anybody <3

also please note this is entirely unedited so beware the typos and other errors haha.

lol totally forgot to add this but here is a layout of Kagome’s office to get a better perspective.

“Damn dog’s working you to the bone today, eh, missy? When’s the last time you had a break?”

Kagome smiled, however she didn’t look up from the huge printer as she continued to feed invoices and purchase orders into the tray to be copied. The stupid thing kept jamming on her whenever she looked away for even a second and she was already behind schedule as it is. As it was, she’d have to stay at least until seven now instead of five like she’d originally planned, but that was because the maintenance guy had failed to show up at the allotted time of two pm to fix the malfunctioning air conditioner. He’d called and said he would be late, but hadn’t mentioned how late, and now Kagome was stuck after hours in a stifling hot office with no AC and with a million and one things she still needed to do. She was tired, and hot, and hungry, and she just wanted to go home, but she couldn’t leave until the damn AC guy showed up and she had no idea when that would be.

Her job sucked sometimes, but at least the people she worked with made up for that.

“Hi, Bob,” Kagome greeted one of their driver’s and only looked up once the last PO had gone through the copier. She sighed and collected the copies, stacking the purchase orders in a neat pile on the desk to be received later before taking the originals and filing back where they belong. She left the invoices on Sango’s desk to be done first thing in the morning; she knew her friend would appreciate the help, little as it may be.

“You know as well as I do that Tai has nothing to do with me still being here,” she said, walking barefoot to the filing cabinets; she’d kicked off her heels long before since it was just her in the office and Tai always locked the front door after he and Sesshomaru left for the day.

“I volunteered, and there’s too much to do to take a break. With Kagura on maternity leave and Ayame out sick, it’s only me, Sango, and Shiori to pick up the slack, but because Shiori’s still in training there’s only so much she can do.”

Sliding the last PO into the appropriate folder, Kagome shut the drawer with another sigh and finally turned to face her friend and favorite driver of Taisho Metal Finishing. Rotund, bearded, and with a perpetual flush on his face, Bob treated her like his own daughter and she in turn saw him as a sort of father. Though he constantly harassed and teased her, always stealing her keys and pretending to hide them somewhere in the plant, he also always asked how she was doing and made sure she wasn’t overworking herself. She adored him for it, and usually she would take the time to sit down and chat for a few minutes if she ended up staying late, but right now she simply didn’t have the time.

“It’s hot as balls in here,” he grunted and whipped a hand over his sweaty brow. “Drinking enough, at least?”

Smiling, Kagome ambled over to her desk and lifted up her cold water bottle in answer before taking a swig.

Bob nodded, satisfied, and finally allowed a grin to stretch his tanned face. “That damned AC guy still not here?”

Kagome wrinkled her nose and shook her head, taking another sip of her water before setting it back down and ambling over to the back table to grab the incoming PO’s. Back over to the printer, she fed them into the copy tray and poked around on the screen to get the settings she wanted.

“No,” she muttered and the annoyance was obvious in her tone. “He hasn’t called since the first time when he said he was going to be late, I don’t even know if he’s on his way, and—”

The printer whirred, beeped obnoxiously at her for several seconds, then flashed an error message at her on the screen.

“—and this stupid thing keeps jamming on me!”

Scowling, Kagome refrained from kicking it in sheer frustration – her bare and unprotected toes would not appreciate that act – and huffed out a harsh exhale before angrily jabbing her finger onto the screen to clear the message and start over.

Unable to keep from chuckling despite her obvious frustration, Bob shuffled over and patted her shoulder, squeezing once.

“Take a break, missy,” he told her gently and guided her over to her desk chair. Kagome gave in easily, thinking that perhaps he was right and it was time she took a break. “You’ve earned it. Now, if I leave to go unload my truck, will the printer still be in once piece tomorrow?”

“Oh, shut up,” Kagome laughed and swatted his arm. Bob released a hearty laugh, patted her back, ruffled her hair, and retreated back to the even hotter floor where his truck sat at the dock waiting to be unloaded.

Kagome watched him go with a fond smile. Bob had always been able to lift her spirits and make her day a little brighter and she was grateful to him.

Sitting back in her chair, Kagome grimaced when her clothes stuck to her sweaty skin uncomfortably and she sat back up, fanning her flushed face with her hand and blowing out her cheeks in another sigh. Of course the AC just had to go on one of the hottest days of the summer; it had to be at least eighty in the office, and it was probably reaching one hundred out on the floor where all the hot water tanks, ovens, and machinery were. She couldn’t imagine how the floor employees had faired today. The drivers at least had the reprieve of leaving to pick up and drop off orders in their nice air-conditioned trucks.

Wrinkling her nose, Kagome glared down at her blouse, bit her lip, and gave a mental “to hell with it” before unbuttoning it and shrugging it off. It was only her in the office anyway and she didn’t care if any of the drivers saw her in just a skirt and her camisole. Hell, they were probably walking around without shirts out there since the bosses were gone. No one to yell at them for it.

Feeling better already without her blouse sticking to her skin, Kagome splashed some cool water into her hands via water bottle and dabbed at her face and neck, sighing as the chilly water cooled her heated skin. It was a brief reprieve, but welcomed none the less. It was hot, dammit. She fished around in her desk for a hair tie and bundled her hair up into a loose bun, wondering why she hadn’t had the smarts to do this in the first place.

“Much better,” she sighed, feeling better already. “Alright, now back to—”

The door that led out into the plant opened up and an unfamiliar male voice called out, “Hello? I was called to fix a faulty air conditioner unit. Someone sent me up here to talk to a…Kagome?”

“Oh, thank god,” Kagome muttered to herself and then said louder, “Yes, hello! Just a moment please, wait right there and I’ll come show you where it is.”

Using her feet to drag heels out from under her desk, Kagome slipped them back on and stood from her chair, taking a moment to smooth out her skirt and make sure her hair wasn’t a complete mess. Hoping she looked at least halfway presentable, Kagome stepped out from behind her desk and—

“Oh!”

Either impatient or he simply hadn’t heard her, the repair man had followed her voice from the lobby into the office where only employees were permitted. Wearing stained coveralls with the repair company’s logo on the left breast, the man had black, greasy looking air that fell down his back in unkempt waves and leering red eyes that sent not so pleasant shivers crawling along the length of her spin. He grinned at her and Kagome took an involuntary step back, feeling a chill course through her entire body despite the stifling heat. The man set a heavy looking toolbox on the ground and advanced toward her, his scarlet gaze unabashedly dropping to ogle the cleavage bared by her clingy camisole.

“Um, s-sir,” Kagome stuttered and took another step back. “Y-you’re not allowed back here. Please, the—the AC is upstairs…if you’ll follow me—”

“Kagome,” the man murmured and his smirk had a sinister lilt to it. “Was it you I spoke on the phone with earlier? It was, wasn’t it,” he continued without waiting for an answer. “You’re even lovelier than you sound.”

Kagome paled. Oh god.

“Ah, sir, p-please,” she squeaked and hated how her voice wavered, “This isn’t—the…the air conditioner—”

“Can wait a few more minutes,” he murmured, his voice like a serrated knife cloaked in velvet; malice hidden behind purring tones and slick words. “I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Naraku. Pleasure to meet you, Kagome.”

The way he said her name had a sick, heavy feeling settling in her stomach and she swallowed several times through a throat tight with sudden anxiety. She offered a strained smile and backed up again. He followed her, seemingly either uncaring he was making her so uncomfortable, and completely oblivious.

Kagome suspected it was the former and it made her heart race.

“W-well, Naraku,” she said and licked her dry lips. His eyes followed the movement and she shivered in a mix of fear and disgust. “It’s…nice to meet you, too.” Lie. LIE. “I, uh, I can’t leave until you’re gone, so…if you could…go upstairs, down the hall, and to your left, you’ll find the room where the AC is.”

There was no way in hell she was going to be alone with this man for any length of time now. He can go find the damn AC by his own creepy self. And maybe she’d run out and grab Bob to keep her company in case he came back downstairs for whatever reason. She knew he’d keep her safe. Or maybe even Sha—

“Really?” he drawled and the grin he gave her stretched his mouth, ruby eyes glinting with fiendish delight.

Oooh shit. Maybe she shouldn’t have mentioned that.

“I-I mean—th-the drivers, they—one of them could come in any minute and I won’t be alone and—”

Oh god, she was rambling and not making any sense and he was getting closer and Kagome felt the first tendrils of panic skitter across her skin like thousands of needles—

“Hey, asshole. The fuck you think you’re doing?”

While Kagome gasped and caught herself on the back table behind her as relief surged through her entire body, Naraku paused inches before her and looked over his shoulder to level a carefully neutral look at whoever interrupted them.

Standing behind the reception desk, a six foot wall of solid muscle donned in ripped jeans and a black ball cap, Kagome’s inadvertent savior only spared her a brief glance to assure she was alright before pinning her tormentor under the weight of his unwavering amber gaze. To his credit Naraku seemed unaffected and merely stared back, not moving away from her, but not getting any closer either.

When still the asshat didn’t move away from the clearly uncomfortable woman, dark brows snapped low over his eyes and a deep growl echoed in his throat. Fucker apparently had more balls than brains, but at least he had enough sense to not ignore his presence. A wise decision; if he hadn’t, Inuyasha would have been forced t use a much more physical means to intervene, and he was positive neither his dad nor Sesshomaru would appreciate that.

“Maybe you didn’t hear me,” he started, voice low, gaze narrowing just the slightest. “Or maybe you’re just stupid, but I asked you what the fuck you think you’re doing. This area is off limits to anyone but employees, asshole. Beat it.”

He gestured behind him with a jerk of his head, indicating the lobby where he should get the hell out of his sight, and fast.

Once more Naraku proved that he was below average intelligence when he again refused to move away from Kagome and instead merely half-turned and pegged the half-demon with a narrow-eyed stare.

“The lady and I,” he began, either not noticing or ignore as the lady in question subtly inched away from him, “are having a conversation. One you quite rudely interrupted, I might add.”

“Conversation’s over,” Inuyasha told him firmly and his tone brooked no room for argument. “Now I suggest you leave the lady alone, get the fuck outta my sight, and go do what you were specifically hired to do. And in case your sense of direction is as shitty as your hearing, that would be up the stairs, down the hall, and to your left. Door’s labeled ‘Employees Only.’ Can’t miss it.”

Naraku pegged him with a sinister glare that time and Inuyasha didn’t miss the way his hands clenched into tight fists. His gaze sharpened and he tensed, but didn’t move.

“Kagome was just about to show me herself,” the repair man claimed and swung twin pools of unnerving ruby red said woman’s way. Kagome froze in her gradual bid to escape and Naraku smiled. It was not a nice smile.

“Weren’t you, Kagome?”

Wide brown eyes cut to his and beneath his ballcap Inuyasha’s ears pinned against his head as another growl welled in his throat.

“Tough shit,” Inuyasha snapped and watched as the asshole visibly tensed before once more turning his head to level him with a murderous glare. “I don’t give a rat’s ass if she promised to give you a goddamn tour of France, dickhead. Kagome is busy, I have shit to do other than waste my time standing here talking to someone who clearly forgot his helmet at home and licks windows in his spare time, so do us both a favor, grab your shit, and go do your fucking job.”

Maybe it was the low, ominous growl that even Kagome could hear now, the sudden ring of the company phone that shattered the tense silence that followed, or perhaps it was Kagome driving to go answer it, but whatever it was evidently Naraku finally decided to heed the hanyou’s request. He pursed his lips, glowered balefully at the silver-haired figure for several charged seconds, then wordlessly picked up his tools and stomped by him toward the stairs.

Kagome hunt up the phone, looked over her shoulder, then gratefully sank down into her chair with a loud, relieved sigh. She pressed a hand over her heart and closed her eyes, taking a moment to breathe as she willed her tense muscles to relaxed. She heard him approach and when she opened her eyes again, her water bottle was being held before her by a clawed hand.

“I can’t thank you enough, Sha,” Kagome said and grabbed her drink with a grateful smile. “You have some pretty incredible timing.”

Leaning back against the printer and crossing his arms again, Inuyasha studied her quietly for a moment as she took several deep gulps of the cool liquid before replying.

“Bob asked me to check in on you,” he revealed and Kagome blinked in surprise. “Said he looked pretty sketchy and got a weird feeling about him when he asked where to go.” He cocked a brow. “Suppose he was right.”

Kagome sighed. “And how,” she muttered, setting her drink on her desk. God, if Sha hadn’t intervened when he did…

“Any idea how long it’s gonna take?” he asked and nodded his head toward the ceiling.

“No,” she answered, wrinkling her nose. “And I can’t leave until he’s gone.” She didn’t sound very happy about that and he couldn’t blame her.

Inuyasha frowned. “Are you staying late because of him?”

Kagome shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. You weren’t exactly lying earlier; I really am busy. I still have quotes to send, tags to make—oh! Those are yours, by the way,” she said and pointed to a colorful stack of papers – the aforementioned product tags – on the table. “Then I need to file invoices, finish some receiving, update pricing…the list goes on.”

Inuyasha whistled low, mentally wincing in sympathy. “Damn. Sounds like you’ll be just as busy as me. That idiot Houjo dropped an entire fucking skid of Horschel – an entire skid – from the forklift earlier and it’s giant goddamn mess.”

Kagome’s eyebrows rose and despite herself her lips twitched. “Was that what I heard a few hours ago? That huge crash?”

He grunted and Kagome took that as her answer.

“Oh, man,” she said and her smile was sympathetic. “I hope it wasn’t expedited.”

Inuyasha winced.

Kagome’s mouth dropped. “No.”

He groaned that time and Kagome had to bite her lip to stop from giggling. She really did feel bad; the Horschel brothers were not going to be happy when they hear their entire order had been destroyed.

“Oh…I am so sorry,” she said sincerely. “That’s just…damn.”

“Yeah,” he rumbled, dragging a hand down his face. “Looks like neither of us will be leaving any time before seven, I’d wager.”

“Well,” Kagome piped up, ever the optimist. “At least it’s Friday?”

Inuyasha’s ear flicked beneath his cap and the corner of his lips flickered with the beginnings of a grin.

“Good night for pizza and Netflix.”

“And breadsticks. And—oh! Chicken wings. Hot chicken wings.”

“You absolute mad woman.”

“I know.”

Inuyasha snickered while Kagome dissolved into giggles and as he watched her laughing, face flushed, dark eyes bright and raven hair piled up into a messy bun, the urge slammed into him so hard he didn’t even think to resist. And if he was being honest with himself, it was something he’d been wanting to do for quite some time, and well…no time like the present, right?

“Listen,” Inuyasha began and Kagome cocked her head, curious, but before he could continue, the phone on his belt chose that moment to ring and he released a muttered curse. Sighing, he rolled his eyes, gave Kagome an apologetic look, and when all she did was smile and wave a dismissive hand, he unhooked the annoying device and pressed the call button.

“The hell do you want, I’m busy.”

While Inuyasha talked on the phone with who was probably one of his drivers, Kagome’s smile lingered on her face as she watched him, unabashed taking the opportunity to really get a good look at him while he was distracted.

Good lord, but the man was…mmm. Donned in the light blue company uniform shirt paired with dark jeans and scuffed up shitkickers, Kagome would be lying if she said he didn’t look utterly delicious. Most likely in deference to the heat, he had the top half of the shirt’s buttons unfastened and the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. His skin glistened with a fine sheen of sweat since it was much hotter out on the floor than in the office, and the white ribbed tank top be wore beneath his shirt clung to his chest very enticingly. His long hair was tied into a low ponytail and he had a five o’clock shadow that attractively darkened a strong jaw.

Inuyasha Taisho – or Sha, as most people called him – was the shipping manager and in charge of the drivers that worked for the company. The son of the CEO and half-brother to the president, he didn’t let his relation to the big bosses make him any different from the other employees. He didn’t receive any special treatment either, which was fine with him anyway. He was a hard worker, and though Kagome didn’t work with him much and saw him even less, she knew he was also a valued part of the company and made sure his drivers were on time with both deliveries and pick-ups.

He spent most of his time out on the floor if not in a truck himself, but when she did see him in the office, he always treated the office ladies with respect and was never rude or impatient if he came to them with an issue with the paperwork. Kagome genuinely liked him and had to admit she was a little disappointed she couldn’t work with him more often, but knew his presences was required out on the floor so she didn’t complain.

…Much.

Oh, who was she kidding? For a while now Kagome had been wanting to know far more about him and not just the surface knowledge a coworker was privileged to. She wanted to know his favorite food or if he was a coffee drinker. Was he an early bird or a night owl? Cats or dogs? McDonald’s or Burger King? She wanted to know his quirks, the little details, and okay fine, yes she was crushing. Big time.

But while Kagome was over her with moon eyes and a dopey smile, he hadn’t so much as spared her a second glance so she’d never approached him like she truly wanted.

“Keep your dick in your pants, I’ll be there in a minute,” Inuyasha drawled and promptly stopped the insistent whining in his ear by hanging up the phone. He grumbled and shook his head, clipping the device back on his belt. Christ, he leaves for ten goddamn minutes and the entire floor is having a fucking conniption because he’s not there.

“Do your people need you?” Kagome asked with a teasing smile.

Inuyasha snorted. “My people are idiots and can’t do a damn thing for themselves apparently.”

Shaking his head, he sighed, studied her thoughtfully for a moment, and decided he’d ask her later, after McCreepy Fuck was gone. She had work to do anyway and he didn’t want to distract her more than he already had.

“I’ll stick around,” he said and flicked a brief glance toward the ceiling in explanation. She beamed at him and his heart skipped a beat. Christ he was done for. “Anything happens, you call me. I’ll hear it. I promise.”

He could see it as she visibly relaxed and he was obvious it meant a great deal to her that he was willing to hang around so she wouldn’t have to be alone with him.

“Thank you, Sha,” she breathed, truly grateful. “It…means a lot to me. Really.”

Inuyasha nodded, expression softening. “No problem,” he murmured just as his phone rang again. Kagome giggled as he tipped his head back with an exaggerated sigh, rolling his eyes heavenward.

He quirked a grin, tipped his hat at her – relishing in her quiet laugh – then grabbed the tags she’d already created before turning around to head back toward the floor, unclipping his phone and answering it with a barked, “What, Miroku? I told you I’d—no, dammit, don’t let him on the forklift again—!”

The door to the plant slammed shut and Kagome was once again left alone. Or as alone as she could be given the circumstances, but she decided not to dwell on that, standing up and getting back to work to distract herself. Let’s see, first she’d finish filing the invoices, then the receiving, and after that get those quotes sent she wasn’t able to send earlier…

It was perhaps two or so hours later that Kagome had just hit send on the last quote when she heard the AC unit kick on with a stuttered whirr, some clicking sounds, and then smooth out into its usual background buzzing noise.

“Finally,” she muttered and closed out of Gmail before shutting down her computer. She was honesty a little surprised that Naraku had actually stayed upstairs, but then again, he probably didn’t want to get on a certain half-demon’s bad side if he bothered her. Inuyasha had indeed popped in several times to give updates on the goings on of his drivers and to also just see how she was doing. She liked that he took her discomfort about the repair man seriously and loved that he seemed so protective of her. It gave her all the nice warm and fuzzies.

Warm and fuzzies that had abruptly traveled southward at an embarrassingly fast rate when Inuyasha, sans his uniform shirt, had at one point during a brief chat unconsciously grabbed the hem of his tank top and pulled it up to wipe the sweat from his face. Kagome had gotten a very nice view of his toned abdomen and the line of silver hair that disappeared into his jeans which in turn pointed out the enticing V of his hips. Kagome’s face had gone very red, and when she’d finally managed to life her gaze, she was met with the sight of a cocked brow and a knowing smirk.

Needless to say, she hadn’t been able to look at him again after that without turning five shades of red and she could still hear his little chuckle as he all but swaggered away.

Cocky bastard. Damned if she didn’t absolutely love it.

Standing from her chair and glancing at the clock on the wall that read 6:32 pm, Kagome sighed, stretched, and went about tidying up the workspace to be ready for Monday morning. The plant had gone quiet about forty-five minutes ago, signaling that most of the warehouse workers had gone home and it was just the drivers now unloading their trucks and putting away product in its required bay. She knew Inuyasha was still here, though Bob was gone, having left about half an hour ago.

Kagome wiped clean the day’s notes and messages from the dry erase board on the back wall and tided up the table, humming under her breath as she placed pens and markers in their appropriate place. She shut down Shiori’s computer because she forgot to again, turned around—

And screamed.

Naraku raised his brows as scarlet eyes glinted in amusement.

“My apologies,” he murmured, a smirk curling his lips. “I did not mean to startle you, Kagome.”

Hand pressed against her rapidly beating heart, Kagome recovered quickly and put more distance between them with a few steps backward. Jeez, he was quiet; she hadn’t even heard him come down the stairs! She also highly doubted he hadn’t meant to startle her because if that were true, why hadn’t he said anything and just stood there like a creeper?

“It’s, uh, fine.” It wasn’t. “All finished?” As discreetly as she could she inched toward her desk. It wasn’t much, but if she could just get to the pepper spray in her purse…

“It’s running,” he murmured, his eyes half-lidded as he blatantly stared at her chest. “Replaced some wires. Took longer than expected…”

He trailed off and Kagome frowned, deliberately crossing her arms over her chest, her back to her desk now. His gaze flashed back to hers and he adopted a look of nonchalance as if she hadn’t just caught him ogling her and Kagome had to bite back a snort. God, this guy was all kinds of sleaze and she couldn’t wait to get rid of him.

“Good,” she said with a nod. “You can put the invoice on the reception desk on your way out. Thank you for your service. Have a good weekend.”

An obvious dismissal delivered in a clipped, firm tone that suggested he’d do well to heed it.

Imagine her surprise when he didn’t and instead reached out too fast for her to react and snatched her wrist.

“I think I’d rather stay a while,” Naraku purred and his smile dripped with ill-intent.

Kagome gasped and yanked at her hand, her neutral expression falling to be replaced by an outraged scowl.

“Don’t touch me,” she hissed, gritting her teeth as she struggled to escape his grip, but he was surprisingly strong, tightening his fingers around her wrist to the point of pain. Kagome winced at clawed at his hand with the nails of her free hand, digging into his skin, but he barely noticed, his smile broadening as a chuckle escaped his lips.

“My dear,” he chuckled, tugging her closer and ignoring her attempts to free herself. “You don’t have to pretend anymore. I know you didn’t want that half-breed to interrupt us earlier.”

Kagome gaped at him. He couldn’t be serious.

“Don’t be shy, now,” he purred and oh good god, he was serious. “It’s only you and I here, after all. Your eyes were begging me to touch you, to bring you the pleasure that no vile half-breed could ever—”

Before he could finish his disgusting monologue that was making Kagome want to hurl in his face – or punch him in his face, which ever came first – Naraku was suddenly yanked away from her and the grip around her wrist vanished. Kagome stumbled backward, rubbing the abused flesh and watching with great satisfaction as the creep was bodily slammed face-first against the filing cabinets.

Roughly cranking the fucker’s arm behind his back and shoving his weight against it to put strain on the shoulder, Inuyasha reveled in the hiss of pain that reached his ears as Naraku struggled against his hold. He only tightened his grip, claws digging into his arm, and when Naraku tried to headbutt him by throwing his head back, Inuyasha retaliated by slamming his face into the cold metal of the cabinets in front of him.

“Alright, you demented fuck, listen up,” Inuyasha growled in the bastard’s ear, unwilling to let him get away with the stunt he’d just pulled. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re on that makes you think it’s okay to touch her, but my fist is begging to make nice with your face, so unless you wanna be nothing but a bloody fucking smear on the wall, you have three seconds to get the fuck outta my sight after I let you go. We clear?”

Naraku grumbled something and Inuyasha pulled on his arm. The fucker paled, gasped, and then nodded, and satisfied Inuyasha gave him one last shove against the cabinets before releasing him and stepping back. He purposely placed himself in front of Kagome and crossed his arms, fierce scowl on his face and fangs bared as a steady growl echoed in his throat.

To his credit, though he looked mightily pissed, Naraku didn’t even spare the two of them a glance as he grabbed his toolbox and hightailed it out of there. Seconds later the door slammed closed and Kagome was able to breathe easily again.

“Ugh,” Kagome muttered and leaned back against her desk, her knees feeling weak. “If I never see him again, it’ll be too soon.”

Inuyasha only relaxed fully when he heard the sound of a motor starting up and then fading away as the asshole left the premises and he turned to face her, eyes immediately zeroing in on the reddened skin of her wrist. He frowned and gestured toward it with a nod of his head.

“You alright?” he asked, wanting to take her delicate wrist and massage away the soreness while at the same time removing the fucker’s stench from her skin. God, he hated that he touched her.

Kagome smiled at him and he was happy to note that it was genuine, her eyes soft as she regarded him fondly and with something else that made his heart rate kick up a notch. Did she…?

“I’m fine,” she answered, rubbing the skin for a moment before bracing both of her hands on the desk, fingers curling around the edge. “Thank you, Sha. Once again you proved to have some pretty impeccable timing. Any later and you probably would have witnessed me decking him in his stupid face.”

He snorted. “What I wouldn’t give to see that,” Inuyasha remarked and moved so he was leaning against Sango’s desk, arms and ankles crossed as he faced her. “You’re welcome, but this time I actually had an ulterior motive for showing up. I wanted to ask you before, but it didn’t feel like the right time.”

Kagome’s eyes lit up and her smile was hopeful. “Oh? Ask me what?”

Inuyasha studied her for a moment, golden eyes heavy-lidded and intense as they searched her face. Kagome held her breath, biting down on her bottom lip as her heart raced in her chest, butterflies rioting in her belly.

“Sha?” she breathed when still all he did was stare at her.

Something in his expression shifted as his gaze locked with hers and Kagome felt goosebumps ignite on her skin that had nothing to do with the significantly cooler air in the office courtesy of the now working AC.

“Call me Inuyasha,” he rumbled as he pushed away from the desk and closed the scant distance between them. Kagome didn’t move, didn’t stop him as he grabbed her hips and lifted her into the desk, nudging himself between her thighs as hands first slid along the solid muscles of his arms before slipping her own around his neck.

Kagome sighed and closed her eyes as he blazed a trail of soft kisses along her neck.

“Inuyasha,” she murmured and was rewarded by a gentle nip to her ear. “What did you…”

“Do I really need to ask?” he whispered in her ear and kissed along the line of her jaw.

“Mmm.” Kagome turned her head, nuzzled his temple, and breathed, “So, Netflix and chill?”

Inuyasha laughed, Kagome giggled, but then the sound was promptly silenced by his mouth as he kissed her with a slow but passionate thoroughness that left Kagome whimpering and pressing herself against him. She eagerly returned his kiss and she felt his pleased growl in some very nice places. Her blood heated, her stomach fluttered as arousal sparked a flame deep in the pit of her belly, and when his hand dropped to nudge her forward into the cradle of his hips, she gasped at the feel of him, thick and ready for a long night of hard—

“Fuck,” Inuyasha cursed against her mouth and he felt her lips curl into an impish smile. Despite himself he chuckled and nipped her lip before soothing the brief sting with a swipe of his tongue.

“My place?” he groaned and closed his eyes, tilting his head and letting his little vixen lavish his neck with nips and kisses of her own as her hands slid beneath his shirt to run her fingers over his stomach. He shuddered and moved his hand to grab her thigh, shoving her skirt up to feel the soft flesh beneath his palm.

“On one condition,” Kagome purred and curled her hand around his neck to tug him back down for another hot kiss. He indulged her with a heated growl, slicking his tongue along hers, fangs nipping soft flesh, relishing in her sweet taste.

“Name it,” he growled, willing to give her anything she wanted as long as she kept kissing him like that because fuck.

“Pizza and wings afterwards. You’re buying.”

Inuyasha laughed. God, he was already half-way in fucking love with this wonderful woman.

“Deal,” he rumbled and with a wicked grin, he stole her mouth in another kiss that Kagome happily returned, hands diving into his hair while he pushed her back and then she let him do some very unprofessional things to her on the surface of her desk.

Hardly Working

#working hard #inukag #inuyasha #kagome #oneshot #keizfanfiction #fanfiction

206 notes · View notes

yume-fanfare · 4 years

Note

hi i am that anon from like 29th Dec (last dang year) who said i read ur tsuki no hime and loved it and that u understand Aizou. i have read more of ur stuff since then and now i NEED to ask you for writing advice, on both characterization and general writing tips since I didnt mention it before. Sorry about that! i just forgot i sent an ask and i do not get notifs at all (or does anon asks not get notifs?) Also, ART STUDENT! That's why the nice art and art leaning!! I feel smart for sensing it

oh yup, tumblr doesn't send notifs for anon asks! but i'm glad you did see the answer anyway

this post is hideously long, so answer under the cut!

so, on characterization: it is mostly a matter of what would they say, rather than what you want them to say. the joke about "the characters do what they want to" instead of what the writer wants is pretty much true if you want them to be in character lol (that's why sometimes a little bit of OoC isn't too bad)

checking the source material is the most important thing: look at prior similar interactions the characters have had and how they reacted

this is kind of hard with LIPxLIP, as there aren't that many translated texts about them but with honeyworks the most canon and reliable thing to use as reference are the mvs. the mvs are drawn in a way that can pretty much be understood even if you don't have the lyrics, and sometimes it's even better if you can't read them, to properly focus on the images better

look at their expressions closely: while aizou is always explosive in his anger, yuujirou often has a more indifferent expression. so, when they fight, aizou is probably the one to blow up first while yuujirou maintains his composure better. it's kind of the classic "this was only a brief passing panel but i am going to expand on it" www

but the thing about fanfiction is that it's always a bit of a character analysis in itself. you don't start writing having already a color-coded folder of possible situations and reactions a character would have for each setting. you just throw the characters in a scenario and then think from there onwards, and eventually you'll be able to have the folder of situations and what you think their reactions would be like. (though, this links back to the prior point, if the characters have gone through a similar situation in canon, use that as guide! plus, finding little references to canon when reading is always fun)

for general writing, i'm going to mostly talk about my own experiences and process! i'm in no way a professional though

the basic is reading a lot. not just books but also fanfic. in fact, since you're writing fanfic, i Encourage you to read fanfic. even if your story ends up novel length, the way of treating the story is different from that of an actual novel. for example, because you're working under the premise that everyone knows the characters already. the general style of fics is different as well.

in fact, the style is the main reason i'm saying this slfkslfkslkf

read a lot of stuff and find a style you like. think of it as sewing together pieces from here and there to make a frankenstein amalgamation: this person's metaphors, the comparisons from here, the descriptions from there

personally, i adore the "long one-shot with a long title formatted (like this)" fics that are mostly feelings and descriptions and as little dialogue as possible, and some that occasionally play with the "show don't tell" rule, and some months ago i read a book whose descriptions amazed me because you could feel what the character was focusing on the most, rather than being general descriptions of the situation (i actually have a lot of thoughts about descriptions but that's a post for another day). but also i really like dialogue and plot-driven stories, descriptions can get boring and before trying to break rules, you have to be really good at following them

but, let's go step by step: developing an idea

for this i'm going to mostly reference the multichap i finished a while ago as an example

i started with just a few vague concepts in mind: non-idol au with aizou who does some sport and likes music but is insecure about his singing and yuujirou who does some music related thing and encourages him to sing in a way that's somehow related to the hozier song to noisemaking (sing), because it's what inspired me to write in the first place

then, from then onwards i wrote down what would happen in the first chapter of the story bullet-point-list-style, including things like the roommates part or the clubs the boys were in (at first yuujirou was in the choir club lol the change was a last second decision that idk why i took) and then bits of dialogue here and there that would be The Turning Points. those first dialogues were for the fight at the end of ch 1, the apology-date in ch 3 and then some vaguely unused ones for the "yuujirou encourages aizou" part, as those were the first key moments i thought of

because, since it's enemies to friends to lovers, an important aspect was character development

not all fics have character development bc not all of them are long enough (if you're aiming for short and sweet then there's no need). but if they do, i recommend you write down how the character was at the beginning of the story and then how they were at the end and then fill in the middle later, think of what those key turning points that made the character change were (the more little things you add, the more gradual it'll be)

samishigariya illustrates this very nicely: the song starts and finishes with the same lines, but the ending ones feel more light-hearted. the beginning has pre-arisa ken and pre-getting-along-with-yuujirou aizou, when they were the lonely people the title mentioned, and the ending, when they're not lonely anymore. the in between can be seen in depth during the other songs: ken before arisa was a playboy who didn't take love seriously, but after meeting her he realized that games were not all there was to love; and aizou used to be quite cranky and high-key a loner, but then he "meets precious things and knows of love". i will not elaborate on that because this isn't an aiyuu post but Oh You Know

for the fic, aizou would go through that same process, more or less: someone who doesn't really form meaningful connections with people but who, in the end, would end up having quite a bunch of people who care about him as his relationship with yuujirou advances too

since the relationship was the main focus, i wrote a very simple outline for how it would develop throughout 5 hypothetical chapters that was just: 1. civil w each other but mostly bad > 2. bad > 3. half friends > 4. pining > 5. date

and then with that in mind and the bullet point list, the final basic outline ended up like this:

there were scraped ideas and ideas that made it in later, but i believe having a simple outline, a bare skeleton to add things to, is important. stories need continuity, development requires a prior buildup

it's especially important in multichapter fics where you post as you write, you need to have a more or less clear idea of what's going to happen because you can't ignore scenes you've already posted

shorter stories don't need it as much, you can think as you go, but it's still helpful to know where you're going with things to avoid getting stuck

and, on getting stuck: don't be afraid of deleting things. if you can't figure out how to continue things, then delete the situation and start again. it might feel like you'd be wasting time but in the end, it is so much better than being stuck on the same scene for weeks

in fact, you don't have to write in order. jump to the next scene and you'll figure it out later. you Can write the scene you want to write and then build everything else around it

it's normal to write a scene and then realize it would make more sense later in the story, or that it would be better if you added another scene earlier, or sometimes you just find it easier to jump from one part of the story to another. rely on your outline to keep track of what you've written, what you have left to write and what's the best way to arrange your story. make your story understandable

which bring us to editing

there's a lot of much better posts on editing stories, but yeah ctrl+f is your best friend: don't repeat yourself too much. and be sure to vary sentence and paragraph length, as well as sentence structure, to give dynamism to the writing

now, i've mentioned before the show, don't tell rule, but i'm going to talk a bit more about it because it's quite important

once again there's a lot of posts that explain more in depth what it is, so i'm not going to expand too much on that, but, very basically, try to avoid things like "then some time passed and they became friends". explain it: what happened exactly? how did they become friends? if it's important, show it to us, instead of summarizing

since things like these make the story longer, it also gives room for more development and proper explanation for things that happen

for example, the fic was originally going to start with them already in the room, and the whole situation would have been explained in a single paragraph somewhere, but by actually adding the scene where they first arrive to the dorms and argue with the lady at the main desk, the story flows better and it let me actually describe their first meeting

and uuuhhh i think that's all? this took super long to write i hope i didn't forget any super basic stuff lol

i want to add that for enemies to lovers i greatly recommend this post bc it's super good but yeah i think that's basically it, if you have any more specific questions just shoot me an ask

#god this is so long #how should i tag this #tutorials #i guess #anonymous #preguntas

9 notes · View notes

kiarcheo · 4 years

Text

Golden Crown and the Pink Menace

Catherine had known, intellectually, that her nemesis was a teenager, but it didn’t really sink in until the day their school called because her number was the only one on their emergency contact list.

Once again it’s almost 3500 words, so it’s easier, you can read it on ao3

A/N: I wrote this months ago and then forgot about it. I had some notes and plans to write more, but I don't think it's gonna happen anymore. I felt bad just leaving it in my folder forever so I decided to post it anyway. Hope you like it.

Heavily inspired by bethanythemartian's interpretation of this writing prompt

Catherine had known that she was young. Her so-called nemesis. Maybe it was some of her most athletic feats while escaping. How she was more active during holidays periods. The recklessness, which reminded her of her past nemesis, Green Phantom, and a time where Catherine had been younger too.

Now. That had been a true nemesis. Green Phantom had seemed to have two cornerstones in their villain career: environmental causes (hence the green part of the name) and antagonising Catherine’s heroic alter-ego. From making her look like a fool every time she failed to catch them (Catherine and everyone else, to her defence, hence the Phantom part) to leaving cheeky messages on the crime scenes, Green Phantom had been a pain in her ass up until the moment they suddenly disappeared.

Pink Menace was quite different. Catherine had not even realised there was a new player in the game, to be honest. Until some corporate bigwig had gone on a rant on live television questioning why the supposed protector of the city wasn’t doing anything to stop ‘this pink menace’. Next day everyone and their cousin was talking about the recent spree of attacks to very different types of businesses, the only common link being the perpetrator, who always seemed to wear some pink in her attire. And Catherine says ‘her’ because they have met and fought multiple times and she recognises a girl when she sees one, even in mask and costume, and not because of some kind of gender-stereotyping colours crap. Not that they were particularly good either. Good enough to hide her identity? Sure. But nothing more. She supposes that villains don’t really get sponsorships for that kind of thing.

So yes. Next day everyone was talking about Pink Menace and why Golden Crown wasn’t stopping her. Catherine isn’t sure what it is with monikers and colours. Not the name she would have chosen for herself but in their business you either proclaim your chosen name first or you’ll get stuck with whatever the media and the public decide to call you. And it seemed like both her and her nemesis made the same mistake. To be fair, Catherine knows she could have gotten something much worse, and a golden crown made a good symbol for merchandise at the very least. She was happy she hadn’t gotten stuck with some kind of animal, or worse, insect. Also she knows how to pick her battles, she made a career – a real life, no masks involved one – out of it. So she agreed with the sponsors. Yeah. It’s not a free for all, those things are regulated, you know? Not everyone can be a hero™. But some accountability in exchange for insurance (you never know when you’ll end up destroying something), financial support and protection of her anonymity seemed fair. Naturally she made sure that anything she signed was absolutely watertight.

Anyway. Back to the point. Pink Menace was obviously young. But Catherine thought she was college age at the very least. Maybe recently moved away from home. Surely her parents would have realised she was out all night doing crimes. Well, maybe not the crime part, but they would have known their child was staying out all night, right? Also, as mentioned before, more activity during holidays pointed towards her being a student.

So Catherine took it easy on her. Pulled her blows most of the time. Not to say that Pink Menace wasn’t good, she definitely could put up a fight. Catherine had more experience, but in a full-out fight? She wouldn’t be overly confident about winning. But they never came down to that.

So maybe Catherine let her go away easily, hesitated just that fraction of a second before making the jump, stopped to make sure that everyone else was fine (they always were) before continuing the pursuit and by then, Pink Menace had disappeared. And if she caught a flash of pink hair around the corner or up the fire exit stairs…nobody would know (but she kept thinking that she should really tell her to secure her hair better, because that’s a sure way to get identified and caught).

And if she was a bit laxer when Pink Menace’s target was one of Henry Tudor’s properties? Well, that just happened. Surely it wouldn’t hurt too much a man who called himself ‘the King’ (with the public going along with it). And it’s not like Golden Crown has personal matters to settle with him…now, Catherine might be a different story, but thank God for secret identities.

Of course, she couldn’t just let things go all the time. Accountability, like she said. Catherine thinks Pink Menace knows that too. So sometimes she’d escape abandoning her haul as if Golden Crown had stopped her. Catherine has her suspicions that they are mostly useless things and Pink Menace still kept whatever she actually broke into the buildings for. But she has no way to prove it nor any wish to do so. And Henry never publicly complained about it. Which on one side raised alarm bells, along with the fact that she has seen Pink Menace getting away with things that had not been included in the official report (perks of her real-life job). Why not admit that something had been stolen unless you shouldn’t have had it in the first place? On the other side, it was good for her because it left her good reputation intact…which is everything in the hero-ing business.

Also it’s not like Pink Menace was actually evil. Catherine would have classified her as a criminal rather than a villain. She always tried not to hurt people. Didn’t seem to have any grand plan besides robbing or destroying properties, mostly owned by Henry (or connected to him, she’d discover later). Media and public painted it as a rivalry, hailed Pink Menace as Golden Crown’s new nemesis after Green Phantom’s disappearance. And they got along with it. It was publicity and publicity brings money. For Golden Crown at least. It only made things harder for Pink Menace, but it’s not like they ask for the villain’s opinions in these cases. Still they had an unspoken agreement that it was for show. They both pulled their blows. Went easy on the other.

But, again, that’s not the point. The point is that Pink Menace was a villainess and Golden Crown’s nemesis. According to the press it was an all-consuming rivalry. In real life, Catherine didn’t exactly spend a lot of time thinking about it. She had a busy life. A busy double life. Superheroing doesn’t make you the big bucks. And while her real-life job gave her flexibility and freedom and, yes, money, it also gave her loads of responsibilities. In short, she got stuff going on.

So you can imagine the surprise when she got a call from a school. Saying that her ‘child’ had been taken to the hospital, nothing life-threatening, but needed to be picked up. The name they used was one of her identities. Yes, she has more than ones. Some more legal than others. She had her name changed…legally. She has a couple of identities associated with heroing…wouldn’t call them exactly legal, but they are sanctioned. But the one they called? Not connected to Golden Crown at all. She hasn’t used it in ages and she had almost forgot that she had even made it (that’s not to say that it wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny…she is nothing but careful and meticulous in what she does, always had been…with one big glaring exceptions that she tries not to think of). Anyway, she might have forgotten about it, but she was absolutely sure that she didn’t have any minor associated with it. And she certainly didn’t have a child in real life. It’s not like something you can forget until someone reminds you and you go ‘oh, yeah, I used to have one’.

She considered the possibility of it being a trap. But the identity was not associated to her hero alter-ego. Or to her real job, which also made her a fair share of enemies. The hospital seemed a weird location anyway.

So she went.

She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, considering the call she had gotten, but she was still surprised when she was shown to a room where a young girl, a teenager actually, immediately started to apologise as soon as she saw her. Saying that she had told them not to call her. A nurse interrupted the girl, explaining, probably not for the first time from the tone, that they couldn’t let her leave without her guardian signing her out.

It didn’t take long for Catherine to realise who the girl was. She didn’t know many teenagers, and those eyes were familiar. Perhaps surprising that she noticed that first as the pink hair were a dead giveaway.

As she was explained what happened and what medication and care the girl would need, all Catherine could think about was that she had hit a teenager. Less often and not as hard as she could have, but she still did it.

Catherine had a lot of questions, but she knew the hospital wasn’t the place to talk. So she signed her out. She had been prepared for a variety of scenarios, from being recognized and asked why she was using a fake name to being asked why she was picking up a random kid…but she didn’t need any of it. Apparently if you share the same last name and look old enough to be her mother (albeit a young one, Catherine would like to think), nobody asks questions.

They got out, Katherine trailing meekly behind her. Got in the car and started driving. The car was silent. Catherine was trying to reconcile the fact that not too long ago they were fighting on a roof and now she had her ‘nemesis’ in her car after springing her out from the hospital…her very teenage girl nemesis. Someone who had been a child not too long ago.

She found a spot and parked. She didn’t want to have the conversation while driving. She checked around. She wanted to be sure that they’d have privacy, but she didn’t want to come across as creepy…let’s take the teenager to a secluded spot and ‘talk’ kind of creepy.

‘So…Katherine, right?’ Catherine had been surprised that a supposed mother-daughter duo sharing a name, well, almost, didn’t raise any eyebrow…but better for her.

The girl nods.

Questions whirred around her head, but she settled on the two main ones. How did she know that name? And why did she give it?

‘I’m pretty good with computer stuff,’ the first words Katherine had uttered besides the panicky apologies at the hospital were soft-spoken. ‘And I needed an emergency contact for school.’ She chanced a glance at Catherine. ‘You’re, like, good. You’re a hero. And you’re a good person even in real life.’

Right, she knows about her identity because she is good with computers. Catherine would worry about that later, but she had a more pressing question. ‘What about your parents? Family?’ She’d understand if she had gotten hurt while out as Pink Menace, not wanting them to know about her…uhm, mostly nocturnal activities. But she got hurt at school. Surely that would make more sense.

She almost wished she hadn’t asked as Katherine unravelled her tale. How she had been the youngest of ten children, with her mom dying when she was around 5 and her father never really caring much for her. How when she was 13 her siblings’ music teacher offered to teach her too. Her dad didn’t want because he didn’t deem her worthy of spending money on but caved when Henry Mannox said he didn’t have to pay. So she started taking music lessons and she loved them…until she discovered that her dad didn’t have to pay, but she did…and not with money. How she went to her father and was told she was ungrateful and lying, an attention-seeking brat. How she was sent away and the same thing happened with her step-grandma’s secretary, and once again she was not believed. She was told she had been asking for it. Katherine had protested, saying she wasn’t. That she’d never ask for a man’s attention because she was a lesbian. She was kicked out. Her dad hadn’t wanted to do anything with her, her siblings following suit.

Catherine would have been worried about the strangely unemotional way she was telling her story (maybe the meds she was on were making her a bit loopy?), but she was too busy trying to remind herself that she couldn’t kill people. Both her lives depended on her reputation as one of the good ones, and good ones don’t kill, even child-abusive, homophobic assholes (or do they?). And how could anyone ever think that she could be a villain, the same girl admitting that she would feel guilty at pickpocketing and stealing even if she needed it to survive because she was 14 and homeless??

Katherine went on, seemingly ignoring Catherine’s turmoil. Talking about how she realised she didn’t feel as guilty if she was stealing from assholes. How she escalated from pickpocketing those who were rude to waitresses and homeless people to following those of them who were obviously rich to their houses and breaking in. How she got quite good with lock picking and acrobatics and security systems.

And then through her school, because yes, she still had that going on too, she got an internship at one of Henry Tudor’s firms. She thought it was the occasion of a lifetime. A chance to change ‘career’, to stop stealing because she would get some money while getting experience that would hopefully help her getting a job after school. Except he was just like the others.

‘How old were you?’ Catherine croaked out. She didn’t know why she was asking. She had seen the date of birth when she signed the girl out. There was no good answer. Every time she thought Henry couldn’t get any worse, he always managed to surpass even her worst expectations.

‘Almost 16.’

That was also around the time Pink Menace appeared. Katherine nodded. She couldn’t speak up. She knew that. If her own family didn’t believe her, what chances did she have against ‘the king’ of the city? He would completely destroy her and any hope for a better future that she still held. But she could get revenge. In a way. Do something, at least. During her internship she heard things. People would talk…and well, she was just a stupid pretty little thing, wasn’t she?

Catherine ended up driving Katherine home. If you could call that so. The girl could see it written on her face, apparently, because as they climbed the stairs, and wow, Catherine didn’t even want to start thinking about what was on the walls, on the steps, on the…well, everything. She just made sure to avoid even brushing against anything at all. No questions nor documents asked costed, Katherine calmly stated, while Catherine was playing a ‘everything is lava’ extreme version game.

‘What about your…extra-curricular activities?’

Katherine locked the door before answering. It was not like she could sell Henry’s secrets. Well. She could, obviously. But who could tell her that they wouldn’t end up in even worse hands? Not for the first time Catherine wondered exactly what he was involved with, because Katherine made it sound way bigger and way worse than just industrial secrets. And that would mean the dark net, Katherine continued, and there was always an element of danger in it, even more with what she would be dealing with, and she had enough to deal with at the moment, thank you very much. She was trying to graduate school, save the world and trying not to die in the process.

So yeah, what little money she actually made was mostly for rent. Food.

‘Can I offer you something? I have,’ Katherine opened the fridge. ‘Water, and-,’ she sniffed the milk, grimaced, and threw it out. ‘Water. Sorry.’

Not a lot of it, from the pitiful state of her fridge.

‘Don’t take it wrong, but what are you doing?’ Catherine interrupted her. ‘Why are telling me all of this?’

‘I was hoping that you also wouldn’t want to let Henry get away with it, because, you know…’ Right. The girl knows her real identity too. ‘I can give you what I have on him so while I’m in jail-’

‘Wait, jail? You took me to your place thinking I would send you to jail?!? What kind of person do you think– you know what? Don’t answer that.’ Catherine looked at the girl. At the bare flat. At the hard drives that she had taken out from what had seemed an empty cupboard. ‘I’m not taking you to the police…but I’m taking you home with me.’

‘What?’

‘You heard what the doctors said. How would you even do some of that by yourself?’ Some of the instructions definitely required a second pair of hands.

‘Like I did before.’ Kat shrugs, absolutely unfazed.

As if Catherine needed a reminder, thank you very much. She hadn’t stopped thinking about it. Like that time that she knew for sure she was hurt, because she had been slower in evading her hits, and she had stumbled away rather than the usually graceful exit…Henry had boosted the next day about his security team having managed to hit ‘the Pink Menace that was hassling him’. She couldn’t stop imagining her crawling to this hole, dealing with her injuries alone. And all the times her own blows landed? She had hit a 16-year-old girl?!? That will be forever on her conscience.

‘You don’t need to now. I want to help.’

Suspicion was clear on Katherine’s face. Like she was trying to figure out why Catherine would want to help her. Fair enough, considering her experience with adults. Which made her accepting all the more important. Half-hearted protests finally petered out, a sliver of relief that someone was willing to take care of her shining through despite Katherine’s best efforts to keep a neutral face.

Catherine could help being touched by the trust Katherine was showing her, as the girl collected what she wanted to bring with her. Some clothes. School stuff. Technology…quite impressive, but ‘Can’t hack or do corporate espionage on school computers!’.

‘Is this…?’ Catherine was trying to give her some privacy, but her eyes had fallen upon a familiar choker.

‘Voice modifier? Yeah. I had just started when I stumbled upon a…hideout? It was full of gadget and stuff, and well, I took some.’ Catherine knew it reminded her of something! Green Phantom also wore a choker, albeit it was…well, green and not pink. ‘I left most of the weapons. No need to make an enemy out of the owner, you know. Also I never really wanted to hurt anybody, so…’

‘Is this everything?’

It wasn’t much, but Katherine nodded. ‘I don’t need much.’ She didn’t have much. ‘And I will be back soon anyway.’

Not if Catherine had a say in it. All the times she thought she didn’t have maternal instinct? Sure, she might have wished for children during her marriage, but she had been so happy not to have had them and she never revisited the topic after. So she thought that maybe she had ‘wanted’ them because it was expected. Because it was what she needed to have a perfect family. To keep him. But maybe she never actually wanted them. Maybe she just wasn’t made to be a parent.

Maybe she was wrong, Catherine mused weeks later watching Katherine setting up a veritable workstation in a corner of her home office. The girl had agreed to remain with her even after her injuries had healed. She also agreed that Pink Menace would take a backseat while she focused on school. With her previous ‘nemesis’ turned tech support, Golden Crown’s life was definitely easier and less busy. Which meant more time to devote to taking ‘the king’ down. And once he would be dealt with, Catherine would move onto every single person who had ever hurt Katherine.

So yeah. Maybe she was wrong. Because Catherine is pretty sure that she had basically adopted a teenager and it had been the best decision she had ever made in her life.

#catherine and katherine #six the musical #six the musical fanfiction #six fic #six catherine of aragon #six katherine howard #soft catherine of aragon #six fanfiction #six the musical fic #six writing #my six posts #mywork #six fanfic #six the musical fanfic #my ideas #my posts #six au #six the musical au #superhero au

12 notes · View notes

kwanisms · 5 years

Text

English is My Favorite Subject - 1

⤑ genre: smut, college au, enemies to lovers ⤑ pairing: Chan x Reader (female) ⤑ warning: *ahem* smut, S I N, soft dom!Chan, rough sex, phone sex, sexting, slight degradation, mention of alcohol, foul language ⤑ summary: After taking the English tutoring position at your university, hell comes to you in the form of Lee Chan. He needs help passing his exams and tutoring is his only option. As your time with him passes, you come to realize that maybe he’s not the cocky and arrogant asshole you previously assumed. ⤑ word count: 19.2k (lmao I’M SORRY. This got out of hand)

⤑ {01} | 02 | 03

a/n: I’ve been sitting on this WIP for literally M O N T H S. So I’m finally posting it because Chan is hot asf (despite being 6 years his senior). And most importantly he’s legal What was supposed to be one part has morphed into something else entirely and it’s now going to be three parts (kill me lmao) so here, enjoy! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. IF YOU CAN, READ THIS ON DESKTOP. The tumblr app has been screwing up and getting rid of my read more lines. ~K♡

You would have never taken this position if you knew beforehand that he needed a tutor. You would have been content not taking the job but unfortunately, you needed the money and it looked great on your resume. The moment he walked into the room provided by the university, your worst nightmare began; being stuck in a room with Lee Chan for two hours, twice a day every week.

You cursed whatever deity deemed it necessary to send this demon your way.

It wasn’t that you didn’t like Lee Chan; you hated him. Your disdained was mirrored when Chan entered the room and saw you sitting there and immediately swore under his breath. Or maybe it was because he hadn’t seen or spoken to you since the party where you threw a drink in his face and called him a tasteless asshat.

He leaned up against the wall, his backpack slung over one shoulder and narrowed his eyes at you. “Tell me this isn’t real,” he said, his voice deeper than you remembered. He’d grown over the few years since you’d last spoken. He wasn’t the baby faced freshman you remembered. You shook your head.

“Unfortunately, it is. I’m your tutor, and seeing as you already paid for your lessons, we might as well get this over with. The sooner we finish, the sooner we don’t have to see each other,” you said as you straightened up your side of the table.

Chan sat across from you, dropping his bag on the floor with a desolate thud. “Alright, teach, what are we learning?” he asked dropping his previous demeanor for a pleasant one. The cheerful tone took you by surprise and you decided to shake it from your head. “Well, looking at your grades, we clearly-” you began before Chan interjected.

“Wait, you have my grades?!” he snapped and you stared at him. “Uh, yes? I’m your tutor. Your professor sent your grades over so I knew what exactly you needed help with?” you said in a harsh tone, making it painfully obvious. Chan clicked his tongue and looked away at the wall littered with flyers. “Fine,” he said, his jaw clenched before he turned back to you.

He was pissed. You could see it in his eyes and if you weren’t the same person you were now, you might have coward in fear, but luckily, you weren’t shy and intimidated easily. You stared back with as much ferocity as you could muster, staring him down as if you were an alpha wolf beating a lower one into submission with your gaze. Chan eventually gave in and looked down.

Pleased with your show of dominance you continued. “As per your grades, it seems as if you need the most help with grammar. Your professor noted that your comprehension of the language and vocabulary is excellent which is great. Less for us to work on. You just need to focus on the grammar section,” you said as you flipped through the file you had made.

“You sound awfully glad about that,” Chan said with a sneer and you sighed, rolling your eyes. “It means we have to spend less time together. If you needed help with everything, we would be meeting everyday from now until your exams. Instead, twice a week, two hours a day until the week before your exam is sufficient enough. The week of, however, we will have to up it to an hour everyday until the day before. This is the only reasonable schedule I see,” you said.

Chan huffed, crossing his arms. “So do I get to pick the days?” he asked and you nodded. “Yes. I know you have extracurricular activities, as do I, so we will have to work together to make the schedule work. I don’t like this any more than you do, but this is where we are and we better make the best of this until we can go back to our lives without seeing each other,” you said watching him as he clenched his jaw. After a few moments, he nodded silently.

“Alright, just because I have to pass this class. I need to, for baseball,” he said and you nodded. “Of course,” you said shifting in your seat and opening his folder to a page labeled “schedule” in all capital letters. “Let’s get this schedule figured out and then we can go. I won’t make you start today,” you said with a grimace. Chan nodded and leaned forward to look at the paper.

The two of you had agreed to meet on Wednesdays before dinner and Sundays around 9:30 in the morning. You jotted the schedule down as well as Chan’s number since you would need it in case something came up and you needed to contact him. After finalizing the schedule, Chan sat back in his chair. “Can I go now?” he asked and you nodded without looking up.

You heard the chair feet scrape against the tiled floor as he stood up and bent over to grab his bag. “So,” he said and you looked up. “See you Wednesday?” he asked and you nodded. “Yup, Wednesday,” you said and he turned without a word and opened the door, hesitating in the doorway. He turned to look at you and you waited for him to speak. Instead he shook his head and called out a, “later,” before leaving you in the small room alone.

You could tell this was going to be a rough six weeks.

The following Sunday, you woke up early, rolling out of bed to head for your bathroom and shower. After cleaning and drying off, you got ready for the day, dressing in some comfortable clothes as you would be spending two hours sitting at a table, helping the person you couldn’t stand the most learn the language he hated the most. After leaving the warmth and safety of your dorm, you braved the cool, dreary morning to head for the student center.

It had rained the night before, leaving behind little puddles on the streets and sidewalks. As you neared your destination, the promise of coffee and a muffin in your mind, you pulled open the door and stepped in. Your phone buzzed in your sweatpants pocket, alerting you to a new text. Pulling it out, you opened the texting app. It was from Chan.

[2019/09/29] L.Chan [09:20]: Hey, I’m gonna be like 10 minutes late.

Letting out a sigh, you typed in a quick response before getting in the nearly nonexistent line for your morning refreshments.

You [09:21]: K

With that taken care of, you turned your attention toward the barista behind the counter as he graced you with a warm smile, the dimples in his cheeks growing. “Hey (Y/N),” he greeted you cheerfully. You returned the smile and replied with a, “I don’t know how you’re so cheerful all the time, Namjoon. It’s so admirable.” He smiled wider, dropping his gaze before fixing his eyes on you again.

“What’s the point in being miserable and grumpy all the time? If I’m positive and upbeat, maybe I can pass that off to other students stopping by to get their coffee,” he said with a shrug. You didn’t need to peruse the menu on the chalkboard behind him. You always got the same thing.

“So, are you going to switch it up on me,” he asked pressing on the screen in front of him. “Or are you going to be as predictable as always and get your usual?” he asked and you placed your hand on your chest. “You wound me with your words. It’s not my fault you make the best caramel macchiato and serve the most delicious banana nut muffins. This is your doing,” you playfully accused him as he rang up your order with a chuckle. He gave you his employee discount, something he did occasionally.

“Your total is $5.32,” he said and you handed over the change. Namjoon cashed you out and started on your coffee. “I forgot to ask,” he said turning to you. “Did you want that iced or hot?” he asked and you smiled. “Make it iced today,” you said before pulling out your phone to check your texts. You had a couple from your best friend, Jeongguk, and another from Chan.

[2019/09/29] Kookie [09:24]: are you awake? Kookie [09:24]: I want to go get pancakes Kookie [09:24]: and you’re the only person who will go with me Kookie [09:25]: ): pls be awake. I really want pancakes. You laughed before typing in your reply. You [09:25]: Sorry Gguk. I have a tutor lesson this morning. Raincheck?

His reply was instant.

Kookie [09:25]: UUUGGGHHHHH U SUCK ):< Kookie [09:25]: I’ll just go alone and order your favorite pancakes and eat them all! Kookie [09:26]: that’ll show you! You [09:26]: well, you’ll be paying for them lol I would hope you eat them Kookie [09:27]: …i did not think this through. ): how long is the lesson? You [09:27]: two hours… kill me. Kookie [09:27]: …I hate you D:< I’ll just go with Tae and Jimin You [09:28]: D: but pancakes are our thing!! Kookie [09:28]: NOT ANYMORE ):< You [09:29]: y must u hurt me like this? 💔 Kookie [09:29]: because u won’t go get pancakes with me 😤 You [09:29]: I have a lesson! Kookie [09:29]: E X C U S E S You rolled your eyes and left him on read to open Chan’s message. L.Chan [09:24]: Are you already at the student center? You [09:29]: yes. I’m here.

Namjoon’s voice brought you out of your thoughts and you pocketed your cell phone before stepping forward to grab your order. “Have a good day, (Y/N),” he said with a pleasant smile, one you returned. “You too, Namjoon!” you said before heading for the tutor room. You unlocked it with the key you were given by administration and set up your space. You unpacked your bag that contained an english book, the accompanying workbook, Chan’s file, as well as a small array of pencils, pens, highlighters, and whiteout. You opened your bag and pulled out the muffin before digging in.

Your phone buzzed on the table and you checked the notification. It was Chan.

[2019/09/29] L.Chan [09:30]: I don’t think I can make it.

You felt your blood boil and set your muffin down to type in your answer.

You [09:31]: and why not?

His reply came quickly.

L.Chan [09:31]: I’m not feeling well.

You narrowed your eyes before shooting a text to Jeongguk.

[2019/09/29] You [09:32]: hey, can I ask you something? Kookie [09:32]: that depends, are you going to cancel your lesson and come get pancakes with us? Kookie [09:32]: [image1279.jpg] You [09:32]: 1. Who tf took that picture?? You [09:33]: 2. 🙄 I’m serious, Gguk Kookie [09:33]: fiiiiine. what’s up? You [09:33]: was there a party last night? Kookie [09:34]: uhhh, not that I attended, why? You [09:34]: trying to catch someone in a lie Kookie [09:35]: ask Mingyu. I know you have his number and he’ll tell you anything. You [09:36]: ...shit u rite. Thanks. Kookie [09:36]: CANCEL YOUR LESSON AND COME GET PANCAKES. Tae misses you ): Kookie [09:36]: I MISS U (Y/N) - Tae You [09:37]: gimme a sex You [09:37]: SEC* gdi Kookie [09:37]: I’ll give you all the sex 😉 - Jimin You [09:38]:

Kookie [09:38]: D: - Jimin

You closed the thread with Jeongguk and opened Mingyu’s texts.

[2019/09/29] You [09:39]: Hey Gyu, are you awake?

Waiting for his response seemed to take forever but it was only a few minutes before he replied.

[2019/09/29] K.Mingyu [09:41]: yeah, what’s up? You [09:41]: was there a party last night? K.Mingyu [09:42]: yeah. It was at the Iota Nu Delta house. K.Mingyu [09:42]: The baseball team usually has their parties there after we win a game. You [09:42]: was the whole team there? K.Mingyu [09:43]: yeah! We all always go! We never miss an after game party! K.Mingyu [09:43]: why? You [09:43]: trying to catch someone in a lie. Thank you~ K.Mingyu [09:44]: …oh no. Am I in trouble? 😰 You [09:45]: not at all! ☺ you helped me. I’ll bring your fave to your next lesson~ K.Mingyu [09:46]: …ur the best tutor ever. ilysm 😍

You returned to Chan’s text.

[2019/09/29] You [09:47]: make sure to take some medicine for your hangover. I heard the party last night was a rager L.Chan [09:47]: i didn’t go to a party last night. You [09:48]: don’t lie to me. I expect to see you early on Wednesday or you can kiss your precious championship goodbye because i will not help you with your English course. L.Chan [09:48]: has anyone ever told you that you’re a vindictive bitch? You [09:49]: And make that three hours on Wednesday to make up for today. You [09:50]: have a good day~ 🤗

You closed his messages and got up, grabbing your things and packing them away before slinging your bag over your shoulder and sending a text to Jeongguk.

[2019/09/29] You [09:51]: wait for me. I’m coming for pancakes.

You got a notification for a new message and opened it.

[2019/09/29] [PANCAKE SQUAD] Kookie [09:52]: hello buttermilk bitches. Taehyungie [09:52]: ...don’t ever fucking call us that again. Minnie [09:53]: yeah that was weird. You [09:53]: G R O S S 🤢🤮 Minnie [09:53]: (Y/N)!! My baby~😍 Taehyungie [09:54]: she’s not ur baby Kookie [09:54]: N E WAY. Pancakes. Let’s get some. You [09:55]: I just gotta drop off my bag and I’ll be ready. Minnie [09:55]: cool, I’ll swing by on my way to pick the losers up. Taehyungie [09:56]: I live with you tho Kookie [09:56]: u better not pick (Y/N) up and forget us Jimin, istg Taehyungie [09:56]: I'm literally your roommate Minnie [09:56]: on my way (Y/N)~ Taehyungie [09:57]: JIMIN U ASS WAIT FOR ME You [09:57]: Okay!~

Your walk back to your dorm took no time at all and you were able to stash your bag and grab your wallet before heading back down to meet Jimin outside your building. Taehyung sat in the backseat with his arms crossed. He didn’t look happy. You made your way to Jimin’s car when he rolled the window down. “You’re up here with me, gorgeous!” he said and you opened the front passenger door to get in.

Jimin pulled out of the parking lot and made his way to Jeongguk’s building. “Why do you look like a mad owl, Tae?” you asked peering over your shoulder at him as he sulked. “He literally yelled at me when I tried to get in the front seat. ‘YOU CAN’T SIT THERE!’ ‘(Y/N) IS SITTING THERE!’ he was so mean. Like, I’m your roommate, does that mean nothing to you?” he asked looking at Jimin in the rear view mirror. Jimin laughed as he made the turn onto Jeongguk’s street.

“It does. But you aren’t a beautiful woman,” he said glancing up at the mirror. Taehyung huffed and sank lower in his seat. “You are a handsome man though,” you said looking back at Taehyung who smiled at you. “Thanks (Y/N),” he said as Jimin pulled to a stop and honked the horn. Jeongguk appeared moments later, running down the steps to the curb where the car waited.

He got in behind you and leaned forward to hug you against the seat. “I missed you,” he said, his face smashed against the back of your headrest muffling his voice. You laughed as you patted his arm. “You saw me two days ago,” you reminded him. “I know, but I’m used to seeing you everyday!” he said peering around the headrest at you.

The car ride was boisterous with the three of them yelling at each other and Jimin turning the music up on the stereo loud enough to drown out Taehyung and Jeongguk as they bickered. Jimin pulled into a space at the local breakfast cafe and the four of you hopped out. Jeongguk immediately rested his arm around your shoulder as he led the way into the cafe, Jimin and Taehyung brought up the rear.

This cafe had been your go to spot on Sunday mornings. It was a little off the beaten path so it was never hit with the post church crowd, especially when you went while services were going on. The hostess smiled at you as you entered. “Just four?” she asked and Jeongguk nodded while she grabbed four settings. “Booth, if possible!” Jimin added and she nodded, acknowledging his request.

She led the four of you through the cafe to the back corner to the only corner booth in the whole restaurant. You slid in, Jeongguk on the outside and Jimin next to you, Taehyung on the other side. The hostess set the menus down in front of you and told you that your server would be with you soon.

You looked over the menu, browsing the different pancake options. You usually got the same thing so you weren’t sure why you bothered looking at the menu. “What are you getting?” Jeongguk asked as you set your menu down. “The same thing I always get,” you said as the server arrived and asked for your drink orders. She left and returned moments later with an array of coffee, water, and juice.

You added sugar and cream to your coffee as she wrote down everyone’s orders and left to put them in. “So, who were you supposed to tutor this morning?” Jeongguk asked taking a sip of his banana milk. “Lee Chan,” you said taking a sip of your coffee. Jimin snorted into his own coffee. “On the baseball team?” he asked and you nodded. “He needs a tutor?” he asked stifling his laughter.

“As I recall, Jimin,” Jeongguk said glancing up at his friend. “You needed a tutor last year for math and had it not been for our very own (Y/N), you would have failed your exams. She didn’t even charge you for your lessons,” he added. Jimin’s ears turned red as he blushed and avoided his friends’ gazes. “Yeah, she charged me for my lessons!” Taehyung said leaning forward and glaring at you.

“She did charge me!” Jimin insisted and you agreed with a nod. “I did charge him for his lessons though. Not all of them, but I did that for you too,” you said looking at Taehyung. “I charged you for like 80 percent of them. Same with you,” you said as you looked over at Jeongguk. “So you charged us for only 80 percent of our lessons?” he asked and you nodded. “And it’s not even full price. Mingyu and Chan pay full price. I didn’t give a discount to anyone else,” you said taking another sip of coffee.

“That’s not true,” Taehyung said smirking at you and your heart sank. If he was about to call you out and reveal what you thought he was, you would never hear the end of it. “Who else did she give a discount to?” Jeongguk asked looking up at his friend. Taehyung’s smirk widened before he opened his mouth and said the two words that were certain to seal your fate and condemn you. “Kwon Soonyoung.”

“Really? Why Soonyoung?” Jeongguk asked looking at you. Taehyung chuckled before condemning you even further. “She has a crush on him.” Jimin whipped around to look at Taehyung before rounding on you. “Really?? Kwon Soonyoung?!” Jimin asked and you shushed him, peering anxiously around the cafe. “Yes. I had a crush on him. That was last semester!” you said quickly.

Taehyung snorted and shook his head. “Liar. I saw you fawning over him last week,” he said and you shot daggers at him with your eyes. If looks could kill. “Awww, our widdle (Y/N) is growing up so fast~!” Jeongguk said in a cooing voice as he pinched your cheek. You slapped his hand away and shot him a disgruntled look. He laughed and picked up his glass. “I’m just teasing, (Y/N),” he added.

Jimin took your hand and pressed it against his chest. “Feel that?” he asked and you looked from your hand against his shirt up to his face. The pained expression on his face present as he said dramatically, “that’s my heart breaking.” You scoffed and pulled your hand away. “Stop teasing me, guys,” you said and saw the server returning with your food. You had never been so happy to see a server in your life.

Once the food arrived, the boys couldn’t tease you anymore. You dug into your pancakes happily and ignored any questions hurled your way about Soonyoung and your obvious crush. “I just want to eat in peace,” you said looking at Jimin and Taehyung, the latter cackling softly as he cut up his pancakes into bite size pieces. The four of you continued to eat, speaking and joking occasionally.

When the bill came, the boys played Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who would pay for breakfast. Jeongguk lost and had to pay for everyone. After paying the bill, the four of you made your way out of the building and towards the car where something, rather someone, caught your eye.

Lee Chan was getting out of a black sedan a few spaces behind Jimin’s car and with him was a strikingly beautiful woman. She had long straight black hair, very round eyes, a slim figure, and long legs. She wore a cute light pink dress with long sleeves, her legs painted in the espresso color of her tights and ankle high boots on her feet, giving her a much taller appearance. Chan’s eyes locked with yours and you felt your blood boil. First he cancels his appointment because he’s hungover and now this?

A smirk made an appearance on his face as he passed, cocking an eyebrow as if to say, ‘what?’ You narrowed your eyes and turned sharply from him to press yourself against Jeongguk, who had his arm around your shoulders. “Let’s get out of here,” you said to your friends, opening the back passenger door and getting in with Jeongguk. Jimin got into the driver’s seat and looked back to pout at you.

“You don’t want to sit up here with me?” he asked as Taehyung got in and you smiled. “I already rode up front. It’s someone else’s turn,” you said and Jimin glared at Taehyung who in turn gave him his big boxy smile before the ignition started and Jimin drove out of the parking lot. He headed back toward your dorm. “You sure you don’t wanna watch us practice?” Taehyung asked and you shook your head.

“I should study. Pretty sure my calculus professor is planning a pop quiz next class, so I want to be prepared,” you said and Jimin sighed loudly. “I just want you to come to one practice!” he said and you laughed, shaking your head. “Sorry, Minnie. I’ll be at the game though. I wouldn’t miss that for anything,” you added and when the car pulled to a stop you unbuckled your seatbelt.

“I’ll see you guys later.” You got out and waved as your friends pulled away before heading back up to your room to wrap yourself in a blanket and study. Seeing Chan had made you pretty mad. He was so damn smug and it irked you to no end. Who gave him the right? You were definitely not looking forward to his lesson next Wednesday.

The following Monday, you had stopped by to get your usual coffee and muffin. “(Y/N)!” What a surprise! What brings you here?” Namjoon asked jokingly and you rolled your eyes. “I came to see my favorite barista, of course!” you said as you approached the counter and Namjoon put your order in. You paid him and stepped aside to let the next person order, bumping into someone behind you.

You spun around, apologizing profusely when the breath was stripped from your lungs. You had run into Kwon Soonyoung, the same crush your friends had teased you about on Sunday. He smiled down at you, stunning you. God he was so handsome.

“Hey, (Y/N)!” he said and you saw Chan’s face appear from behind Soonyoung. Of course they were together, you thought. They’re best friends. Chan rolled his eyes and looked away uninterestedly. “Sorry, Soonyoung,” you said breathlessly and he waved his hand, dismissing your apology. “Don’t be. I’m fine,” he said with a wink.

A small nervous giggle escaped your lips but Soonyoung didn’t seem to notice. Chan, however, definitely noticed. His eyes turned upon you, his eyebrow raised and the corner of his lips twitched as your cheeks flushed light pink. He finally join in the conversation. “You know (Y/N)?” he asked his friend, feigning interest. Soonyoung nodded smiling at you.

“(Y/N) was my tutor last semester. She helped my pass my English exams. She’s amazing,” he said, his praise causing you to choke on your own saliva. “I’m n-not. I just wanted to help,” you stammered. Again, either he didn’t notice or didn’t care, Soonyoung just smiled at you. Chan knew. He could see it in your face and your body language. You were really dreading his next lesson.

Wednesday came and passed and soon it was 5:45 pm. You sat in the tutor room and the door opened. Chan entered and you were glad he was at least on time. He sat down across from you and dropped his bag on the desk, not looking up from his phone. “Let’s get this over with,” he said popping a piece of gum. “Put your phone down, then,” you said and his eyes snapped up to yours.

They had a darkness to them but he did as you said and set his phone face down on the table surface. “So, what are we learning?” he asked and you nodded pulling out the work book. You pushed it toward him. “Let’s get started,” you said and Chan sighed before opening the workbook while you went over the key grammar points of the language. You tested his vocabulary and were pleased when he did well.

An hour passed by quickly in this form and you stopped for a bathroom break. “So,” Chan said as you walked down the hall of the student center toward the restrooms. “Does Soonyoung know you have a huge crush on him?” he asked and you nearly stumbled. “W-what?” you asked incredulously. “I do not,” you insisted and Chan laughed loudly. “I may be failing English, but I’m not stupid. I saw you. You like him,” he said with a smirk and you shook your head. “No,” you said adamantly.

“You definitely do. I can tell that much,” he said and you ignored him, heading for the safety of the women’s bathroom. He laughed as you hurried away and into the confines of the tiled room, the door swung shut behind you. You were mad at yourself for slipping up in front of Soonyoung, but you were more mad at Chan for teasing you about it. How dare he?

You did your business and washed your hands. Outside the bathroom, Chan was waiting for you, leaning against the wall while he typed on his phone. You froze as you watched him. He had a smirk on his face, looking at the screen. What was he doing? Was he telling Soonyoung right now? You would never be able to face Soonyoung again if Chan told him.

You stormed up to him and stopped a few feet from him. Chan looked up and his expression shifted, his smirk dropping immediately. “What?” he asked and you glared at him. “Don’t tell him anything or I swear I will make your lessons hell,” you said and the smirk returned. “Oh? What makes you think I haven’t already told him?” he asked crossing his arms, tucking his phone close to him.

Your heart leapt into your throat at the idea that he may have. “D-did you?” you asked and Chan laughed standing up straight and opening his messages before showing you his texts with Soonyoung. “No, I haven’t. But maybe I will,” he said and your fingers curled, balling your hands into fists. “Do it and I will up your lessons to three times a week, four hours each,” you threatened and Chan’s smirk fell again.

“You wouldn’t,” he said softly and this time a smirk crossed your features as you leaned in, looking at him. “Try me,” you dared and he gulped. “Fine. I won’t say anything,” he said and put his phone in his pocket. You stood straight before nodding once and making your way back to the room, Chan in tow.

The rest of the lesson passed easily, Chan falling into line and doing as you asked. At the end, when you were packing up he turned toward you as he reached the door. “(Y/N)?” he asked and you looked up. “Yes?” you asked and he hesitated. “Nothing,” he said and shook his head. “See you Sunday,” he called as he left you sitting in the room, confused as hell. What the hell was that?

“That’s so stupid! It makes no sense!” Chan shouted throwing his pencil down and you groaned, dropping your head into your hands. Two weeks has passed since these forsaken lessons began and at every instance, Chan was getting on your last nerve. He was either stubborn or just plain stupid if he had this much trouble grasping the concept.

“It’s how it’s supposed to be said!” you said, as equally frustrated. “Why?” he asked and you groaned. Not this again. “I don’t know! That’s just the rules!” you said angrily. “What rules?! English has no rules! It beats other languages up in dark alleys, then rifles through their pockets for loose grammar and spare vocabulary!” Chan shouted and you paused, staring at him.

“What?!” he yelled and before you could think, you burst into laughter. Chan stared at you bewildered. “What the hell is so funny?” he asked and you pointed at him. “What you just said!” you said in between laughs. His angry facade dropped as he broke into a smile and started laughing along with you. “Well it’s true!” he said and you wiped a tear from your eye. “I mean, yeah it is,” you agreed before looking down at the worksheet and then at your watch. “Let’s stop here,” you said looking up at him.

“What?” he asked. “Why?” he leaned forward. “We’ve been at his nearly two hours and I didn’t get to eat lunch earlier since I was running late,” you said as you began packing up your things. Chan watched as you stacked your papers and put them away. “Well, let’s go get something to eat,” he said beginning to pack his things up. You froze, staring at him. “Let’s?” you asked and Chan looked up from his bag.

“Yeah, I’ll buy,” he said as he zipped up his bag and got to his feet. You stuffed your things in your bag and slung the strap over your shoulder, standing up slowly. “You don’t have to do that,” you said softly. “I was just going to go back to my room to eat,” you admitted and Chan scoffed.

“And what? Eat some instant ramen?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. You glared at him. “I’m offering to buy you real food, so come on,” he said and waved you to follow him. After a few minutes of hesitation, he poked his head around the door frame. “I’m not going to wait all day, come on,” he said and disappeared again.

You hurried out of the room after him. You followed him out of the student center and headed out to the parking lot. He led you over to a black sedan and you looked at him as he pulled the keys out and unlocked the doors. “Get in,” he said nodding at the car. You followed suit, opening the passenger door and sliding into the black interior of the car.

Clicking your seatbelt into place, Chan started the car and pulled out of the parking space. He drove out of the lot, heading for a side street instead of the main road. “Where are we going?” you asked looking around at the residential area he drove through.

“I found this quiet little diner in this neighborhood while I was on a run one day. I decided to come back and check it out later that week and fell in love with it. It’s definitely off the beaten path but it’s well worth it,” he said as he made a right turn and a small strip of business nestled in between houses came into view. Chan pulled around back into one of the handful of parking spaces and cut the engine.

You got out, leaving your bag in the car. Chan led you to the door and pulled it open, letting you go in before him. Once inside the building, you could see why he liked the place so much. It was small and cozy. Like a little cafe. There were only five tables in the whole restaurant.

Chan led you to one in the corner and the two of you took your seats. Moments later, a young waitress appeared, roughly about your age. She smiled at the two of you as she pulled a pad of paper and pen out of her apron.

“What can I get you two to drink?” she asked and you looked over the small menu in front of you. “Water,” Chan said smiling at her. You looked over the beverages before ordering the same. She walked away to get your drinks while you looked over the menu again.

“I always get the same thing here,” he said and let you look over the menu. When the server returned with a glass pitcher full of ice water which she then set on the table before holding her pad ready to write down your orders. “What can I get for you?” she asked.

“I just want the Mac and cheese with chicken,” Chan said without touching the menu. The server nodded, scribbling that down before turning to you. “Uh, just the chicken Florentine,” you said setting the menu back on the table. She jotted that down and turned to put your orders in, leaving you in silence. Chan looked out the window across the room from your table.

You took the time to look around the room, taking in the decor. The walls were a medium to dark brown wood, matching the wood on the floor. The small round tables seated four people at most and were covered in white table cloths. Each table had a small arrangement in the center, a little collection of tealights and a slender vase with a couple white flowers sticking out of the top. Crystal goblets with silver rims sat upside down on the tables not in use.

The chairs were adorned with white gauze that tied into simple knots in the back before draping down toward the floor. Huge windows faced the street, letting in as much natural light as allowed, the rest of the light came from the strings of warm white lights that crisscrossed overhead across the restaurant. Sconces on the walls added more warm light to the room. Two large ceiling fans spun at a medium speed above the string lights keeping the room nice and cool.

Chan cleared his throat softly and snapped you out of your trance as you lowered your eyes from the ceiling down to him. “It’s nice, isn’t it?” he asked and you nodded, uncertain of what to say at this point. You hadn’t expected this to be such an intimate setting and you certainly hadn’t expected Chan to bring you to it of all people. He surprised you and you weren’t sure if you like it.

“Yeah,” you replied softly looking away from him. You felt the tension between you rise but it was broken when the server returned with your food. The two of you thanked her for the food but you were more grateful that you had something to keep you occupied. The food was definitely delicious and you were extremely surprised by the place. You would have to remember how to get here in the future.

When you had eaten as much as you could, you set your utensils down as Chan finished his bowl of mac and cheese. He looked at your plate and then up at you. “Do you want to take that with you?” he asked nodding at your leftovers as he pulled his wallet out. “Oh,” you said and looked down at the plate, nodding. “Yeah,” you said quietly as the server came to drop off the bill. “Could we get a to-go box?” he asked, handing her his card and she nodded.

You bit your bottom lip and looked out the window at the darkening street. You turned your head back and saw Chan watching you. Warmth grew in your cheeks and you looked away again. The server returned with Chan’s card and a box which she handed to you. Thanking her, you took the box and started to dump your leftovers in the box, shutting it and setting your plate down.

Chan signed the slip and put his card back in his wallet before pulling out a couple bills and setting them on the table. He turned to you. “Are you ready?” he asked and caught you off guard. It seemed like he was treating this like a date and you didn’t know how to proceed, so you just nodded and stood quickly, grabbing the box with your food in it. Chan led you out of the restaurant and out to the car parked in the back. You got in, setting your food in your lap and buckled your seatbelt quickly.

Without a word, Chan started the car and pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street, taking a familiar route back to the campus. Silence surrounded you, bathing you in it as a tension rose between you again. The air was thick with it as neither one of you said a word. Chan pulled onto a street on campus. “Where is your dorm?” he asked and you looked over at him. “Oh, I live in Ha Rin Hall,” you said looking over at him. “You live in Unicorn Hall?” he asked with a smirk.

“Hey, it has suites! I don’t have to share my room,” you snapped and Chan held up a hand. “I’m not judging!” he said and you rolled your eyes. “Whatever,” you said looking out your window. The drive took only a few minutes and before you knew it, he had pulled up outside your dorm hall entrance. “Here,” he said and you looked up before turning to him as you unbuckled your seatbelt. “Thanks, for dinner,” you said as you grabbed your things. He nodded. “Sure thing,” he said.

You got out of the car and shut the door. Chan rolled the window down. “See you Sunday!” he called and you turned back as you headed up the sidewalk. The look in his eyes caught you off guard and you stumbled over your words.

“Y-yeah. S-Sunday!” you agreed before turning back toward your building and racing up to the door and punching in the code. You rushed inside and to the elevator, pressing the button several times. When the doors opened, you launched yourself inside and pressed the button for your floor.

Your heart hammered against your ribs and you weren’t sure if it was from running inside or the look Chan had given you when he called out to you from inside his car. You opted for the former, refusing to acknowledge the look. It didn’t happen, so forget it.

Once on your floor, you passed your common room and unlocked your door to your room, shutting and locking it behind you before depositing your things in your chair. You put your leftovers in the mini fridge and shook your head. It was nothing. Stop thinking about it!

You got ready for bed, determined to just pretend like the whole night was normal. You changed into your pj's, brushed your teeth and made sure your alarm was set. You climbed into your bed and pulled the covers up, sleep soon taking you over.

The next morning, you woke before your alarm did and decided to get up anyway, despite having 20 minutes left. You showered and dried off, getting ready for your first class of the day. After leaving your dorm, you stopped by the student center to grab a coffee and a muffin before your first lecture.

You had just reached the end of the line when you heard your name. Looking up, you saw Chan and Soonyoung standing near the pickup counter, Soonyoung waving at you. Chan eyed him suspiciously but ultimately looked away from his friend to nod at you. The two walked over after getting their coffee.

“Hey,” you said smiling at Soonyoung. “Chan told me how his lessons are going,” he said looking at his friend who immediately looked at him wide eyed. “Oh?” you asked nervously. Soonyoung nodded. “He told me I was right and that you are a good teacher,” Soonyoung said. You glanced at Chan to see his cheeks a soft pink. “Did he now?” you asked, slightly smug.

Soonyoung nodded. “Yeah,” he said patting his friend on the back. “Aren’t you also tutoring Jeon Jeongguk? He’s spoken quite highly of you,” Soonyoung said and you nodded. “Yeah. He’s my best friend, but I tutor him on Tuesdays and Fridays,” you said.

A feeling of uneasiness washed over you. The look Chan was giving you burned through your body. His expression was blank but it was unmistakable. He was livid. You didn’t know what his problem was. “Hey, aren’t you taking her lessons, too?” Soonyoung asked looking at his friend. Chan forced a smile and nodded. “Yeah, Sundays and Wednesdays,” he said.

“You’re a pretty popular tutor!” Soonyoung said winking. “Chan on Sundays and Wednesdays, Jeongguk on Tuesdays and Fridays, and Mingyu on Thursdays and Saturdays! You’re a pretty busy girl!” Soonyoung said with a laugh. You chuckled, still feeling unnerved by the look Chan was giving you.

“Well, we won’t keep you, see you around (Y/N)!” Soonyoung said before pulling Chan along, no doubt heading for an early morning practice for baseball. You sighed a breath of relief before approaching the counter to place your order. “Iced caramel macchiato and a banana nut muffin?” the blonde haired barista smiled. You chuckled and nodded. “Pretty predictable, huh?” you asked as you fished your wallet out. “It’s nice to have a semblance of continuity,” he said as he rang you up.

“I won’t charge you for the muffin,” he added. “Just don’t tell anyone,” he added in a whisper. “Your secret’s safe with me,” you replied in a whisper. “Thanks Namjoon,” you added. He smiled as you paid for your coffee and stepped aside to wait for it. Your phone buzzed in your pocket and you pulled it out. It was a text from Chan.

[2019/10/10] L.Chan [06:41]: how many students do you tutor? You [06:42]: like 4 or 5. Why? L.Chan [06:42]: … L.Chan [06:43]: why didn’t you say you were tutoring more students? You [06:44]: does it matter? L.Chan [06:44]: no L.Chan [06:45]: nvm. Forget i said anything. See you Sunday.

You stared at your phone in confusion before Namjoon’s voice pulled you out of your thoughts. He held out your coffee and a paper bag. “Thanks,” you said with a smile. “Have a good day, (Y/N). See you tomorrow!” You headed for your class and ate your muffin on the way.

Your first lecture passed quickly but your phone kept buzzing in your pocket so you turned the vibration off. Upon leaving you checked your phone. You had 10 missed texts. Two were from Mingyu explaining he couldn’t make his lesson for the day. You shot back a text that his workload would double on Saturday and he better not skip. He replied instantly.

[2019/10/10] K.Mingyu [08:03]: I’ll be there I promise! My mom has her follow up for her test today and I really wanted to be there for her. I’m sorry I had to cancel. You [08:03]: I’m only jesting, Gyu. Take care of your mom. I hope everything goes well. Let me know how she’s doing. I’ll see you next Thursday. Take Saturday off to be with her. K.Mingyu [08:05]: you are literally the best. Thank you so much, (Y/N)!

You turned your attention to the eight other missed texts. They were all from Chan.

[2019/10/10] L.Chan [07:21]: who else are you tutoring? L.Chan [07:23]: me, Mingyu, Jeongguk, who else? L.Chan [07:25]: Not that it matters. I’m just curious L.Chan [07:31]: Have any of them taken you to dinner?? L.Chan [07:32]: wait nvm don’t answer that. L.Chan [07:40]: … actually, answer that. L.Chan [07:44]: why the hell aren’t you answering me?? L.Chan [07:56]: shit. You’re in class. Duh. i’m stupid. Ignore me.

You stared in disbelief at your phone until the ellipsis at the bottom of the screen appeared indicating he was typing. You panicked and closed your texting app and locked your screen before shoving your phone deep in your bag. You didn’t want to know what he said.

Instead you headed for the student center to take advantage of the quiet room to finish going over your homework to make sure it was finished. You had just sat down when you heard footsteps approaching and you looked up to see it was Chan. He stopped right in front of you before he grabbed your bag and started rifling through it. “Hey!” you whisper yelled trying to take your bag back. He pulled your phone out and shoved it at you. You stared at him for a few moments. He nodded at your phone, indicating you to look at it. You rolled your eyes and opened it, checking his message.

[2019/10/10] L.Chan [08:07]: where are you? L.Chan [08:10]: I know you read my messages which means you’re out of class. I know you have a free period. I want to talk. L.Chan [08:12]: why are you ignoring me?

Chan snatched your phone out of your hand and look at the screen. You angrily snatched your phone back and grabbed your bag before pointing to the exit and led the way, Chan following closely behind you. Once exiting the quiet room, Chan grabbed your arm and led you away from the crowded court of the student center and away toward an empty classroom.

“What are you doing?” you hissed as he opened the door and shoved you in, shutting the door behind you. “I wanted to talk to you!” he said and leaned against the door, arms crossed in front of him. “Well, then talk!” you snapped and he narrowed his eyes.

“What is your problem?” he asked and you scoffed. “My problem? What is your problem? All those texts? Following me to the quiet room and looking through my bag? Taking my phone? Why are you acting like some jealous boyfriend?!” you snapped and Chan froze.

He regained his composure before slipping into a cool facade. “I am not. I just forgot that you were in a lecture, that’s all.” You crossed your arms. “Okay, then why are you asking me about my other tutor students like it’s somehow your business?” you asked and he shrugged. “I told you, I was curious,” he reiterated. You narrowed your eyes at him. “Right, sure,” you said.

“I’m not jealous. I just didn’t realize your schedule was so full,” he said and you nodded slowly. “So, can I go now? I need to finish going over my homework. It’s due my next class,” you said and Chan nodded but didn’t move. You waited patiently for him to stand up but he didn’t. You groaned and moved forward, determined to push him out of the way if you had to.

Upon reaching the door, Chan grabbed you by the arm and spun, pushing you against the door and pining you there. You let out a small yelp as he did. He stood there, his body pressing yours against the door, his hands pressed against the door on either side of your head. “What are you doing?” you whispered, your heart racing and finding it hard to breathe.

Chan stared at you, his head lowering until his lips were mere inches from yours. A loud crack of thunder sounded across the campus catching you, and thankfully, Chan off guard. He jumped and this allowed you enough of a window to open the door and race out of the room and as far away from him as possible. You took refuge in the ladies bathroom, ignoring the chime of the clock tower as eight thirty hit.

You were late for your class but you knew your professor would grant you a pass for turning in your assignment late. She loved having you in class. You hid in the bathrooms for nearly twenty minutes before braving the halls and heading back to your dorm, deciding to skip your classes and submit your homework from the safety of your room instead.

You made it back without instance and once you were locked in your room, you submitted the rest of your homework virtually and tucked yourself away in your bed. You were glad that Mingyu had decided to cancel his lessons for the day as you were a mess.

What the hell had gotten into Chan? What gave him the right to behave like that? What did he think you were to him? He took you to dinner one time and he thought you suddenly belonged to him? Bullshit. You wouldn’t stand for it. You would set him straight the next lesson.

You decided to order food instead of go out and interact with anyone. You sat in your room, eating your pizza when the first text came in.

[2019/10/10] L.Chan [18:22]: Look, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. L.Chan [18:23]: You’re my tutor and I shouldn’t have done that. Let’s just forget this and put it behind us. I’ll see you on Sunday? You [18:25]: Sunday. Consider it forgotten.

You threw your phone on your sheets and laid back, groaning when you felt the vibration near your foot. You reached down to grab the device and read the message.

L.Chan [18:26]: K

You threw your phone back down on the blanket and pulled the edge over your head and screamed into your pillow. He was a confusing asshole and you needed to put all of this out of your mind if you were going to get through the rest of his lessons without anymore incident.

Safe to say, you were dreading Chan’s Sunday lessons as they drew closer. Jeongguk noticed you seemed a little more tense that usual on Friday. “What’s wrong?” he asked, placing his hand on yours as you fiddled with your pencil. You shook your head. “Just class,” you lied and he squeezed your hand softly. Looking up, you were met with his warm eyes. You sighed, knowing he saw right through your lies.

“It’s these lessons with Chan. He’s such an asshole!” you said in a whisper yell. Jeongguk laughed as he sat back. “What’s new? He’s always been a brat,” he said and you glared at him. “Not helping,” you said and he shrugged. “What do you want me to say?” he asked and you shook your head.

“I just don’t get him. First he’s an asshole and teasing me about my crush on his best friend, and then he’s all sweet and takes me out to eat, and then-” you spilled out but Jeongguk held his hands up to stop you. “Whoa, wait a second. He did what?!” he asked and you covered your mouth when you realized you had forgotten to tell Jeongguk about Wednesday. “He took you out to eat?” he asked incredulously and you nodded slowly.

“When the hell were you gonna tell me this?” he demanded angrily and you shrugged. “Sorry,” you whispered. Jeongguk shook his head and gestured for you to continue your rant. You launched back into it. “And then,” you said and gulped, knowing the next part would set your best friend off again.

“And then, what?” he asked and you hesitated, looking at Jeongguk. His arms were crossed, his expression unreadable but his eyes told you all you needed to know. He was waiting patiently for you to continue. You took a deep breath and spoke again. “Then he found out I’m tutoring people other than him and he got… upset? He asked why I didn’t tell him I was tutoring other people. I told him it didn’t matter but he was still mad, so when I tried to leave, he pinned me against the wall and almost kissed me,” you finished and Jeongguk leaned forward. “What the fuck?” he hissed.

“You should have told me this! I would have knocked his lights out!” he added and you looked down at the table to avoid his gaze. The two of you were silent until he finally broke it. “I’m calling an emergency and cancelling this lesson,” he said and you looked up at him. “We’re going out. You need a night out,” he said and you shook your head. “You can’t cancel lessons,” you chuckled and he stuffed his things in his bag and started packing your things up.

“Jeongguk! Only I can cancel lessons!” you said before he grabbed your hand and pulled you up to your feet. You let out a little squeal and erupted into giggles as he dragged you to your dorm room from your floor’s common room. “You’re going in there and you’re going to change. It’s Friday night, you seem stressed so as your best friend, I’m taking you out tonight, we’re going to get drunk and then you can sleep in tomorrow since Mingyu cancelled!” he said as he pushed you toward your door.

“You can’t make that decision!” you laughed and Jeongguk shook his head. “I’m not listening until you change into something that gets the blood flowing!” he said over you. Rolling your eyes, you unlocked the door and stepped inside, Jeongguk following behind you. He sat on your bed as you entered your bathroom and shut the door. He was right. You needed a break and what better way than to drink and let loose. You started to pull stuff out of your closet, trying them on before showing him.

“That top, yes, those bottoms? No,” he said, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “Don’t you have any clubbing dresses or something?” he asked and you shook your head. “I’m not wearing that again, I told you already!” you said and Jeongguk hopped up, pushing his way into your closet to search for the dress you were both talking about. He found it crumpled on the floor and picked it up, shaking it and holding it up.

"You’re wearing this,” he said and you shook your head. “No, the fuck I’m not!” you shouted and he raised an eyebrow. “Either you’re going to put this on yourself, or I will strip you and put it on you myself,” he threatened. You snatched the dress from him and shoved him out of your bathroom, shutting the door and locking it. You stripped down to your bra and panties and pulled the dress on.

“I need you to zip it up,” you called through the door. You unlocked it, letting Jeongguk in. He zipped the back of the dress up for you and whistled when you turned around. “Goddamn, if you weren’t like a sister to me, I’d totally take you home with me tonight,” he said with a wink. You pushed him out and gagged. “Disgusting. You’re disgusting!” Jeongguk laughed as you searched for a pair of shoes to go with the dress. Once dressed, your hair done, and makeup on, you looked at yourself in the mirror.

“I hate you so much,” you said as you fished your ID and debit card out of your bag and handed them to Jeongguk. He tucked them in his wallet for safekeeping before checking his watch. “Come on, Cinderella, or we’ll be late for the ball,” he said jokingly as you took one last glance in the mirror.

The dress was a stunning black velvet with an off the shoulder sweetheart neckline and sleeves the extended down just past your wrists. The tulip skirt stopped about mid-thigh, hugging your hips snugly. Under the dress you wore your favorite black lace bra and gray panties. The heels you chose were the same ones you had worn for a New Year’s party. Gold faded into black with red bottoms.

You grabbed your phone off the desk and followed Jeongguk out of your room. He led you to the elevator which you took down to the lobby and caught an Uber to the club Jeongguk frequented. “I can’t believe you haven’t gone out since that night,” Jeongguk said shaking his head. He was speaking, of course, about the same night you threw a drink in Chan’s face at a frat party.

“Oh, can it, Gguk,” you said as the car pulled to a stop at the curb. Jeongguk got out, helping you out after him. He took your hand and led you to the end of the line. In no time, you reached the doors. While waiting, a particularly loud group of guys exited the club and you recognized them. It was Chan and his friends from the baseball team, Soonyoung, Jihoon, Jeonghan, and their captain, Seungcheol.

Your heart skipped a beat when you saw Soonyoung. A huge smile on his face as he and his friends left the club. He looked particularly stunning in the tight black jeans he was wearing with small rips on his upper thighs and again at his knees. The black bomber jacket he wore open showed off the plain white tee shirt underneath. Your breath stunted as he brought a hand up to brush his hair back, showing off his forehead. A simple gesture, but something that still made your knees weak. God he looks good.

As the group passed by, Soonyoung caught sight of you and called out. “Hey, (Y/N)!” he said and Chan’s attention snapped to you as the group stopped. He was wearing a bright red hoodie under a black jacket with black jeans. He looked surprised to see you. You said hello to the guys why Jeongguk handed the bouncer both your IDs. “Holy shit,” Soonyoung said as he looked you over. Your heart beat faster while your stomach did somersaults at his reaction.

“Damn, why the hell are we leaving?” he asked, turning to look at Seungcheol who laughed and waved at you. “Because we’re not even supposed to drink the night before a game,” he said with a smile. Chan’s eyes were glued to you as he looked you up and down. Jeongguk placed a hand on your lower back to get your attention.

“Let’s go,” he said softly and both Soonyoung and Chan looked at him, startled as if they hadn’t noticed him standing next to you the whole time.. “Oh! Jeon!” Soonyoung said smiling brightly at him. “You’re a lucky guy!” Jeonghan said nodding toward you with a wink. Jeongguk laughed and shook his head. “No, it’s not like that. We’re just friends. We have been for some time,” he said and you nodded, avoiding Chan’s gaze.

“It’s a damn shame we have to leave,” Jihoon said also giving you the once over and a smirk. Your cheeks burned pink with embarrassment. “I’m going to strangle you in your sleep,” you said to Jeongguk. “I made her wear this,” he said nodding at your ensemble. “Good choice,” Jeonghan said, nodding in approval. Your cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink and when your eyes met Chan’s you felt something stir deep in your stomach. The way he was looking at you was so… primal.

You looked away quickly as the group began to depart. “Have a good night!” Soonyoung called as he grabbed Chan and pulled the younger man away. When you peered over your shoulder, you saw Chan look back at you before Jeongguk led you into the club. Inside was loud, hot, and packed. Strobe lights blinded you as Jeongguk made his way through the crowd, pulling you along as he headed for the bar.

He ordered both of you two shots each and a drink for you. He was determined to get you drunk. Once you were three shots in, he pulled you onto the dance floor. “You’re going to have fun whether you like it or not!” he said in your ear over the bass as he pulled you into him and started moving to the beat. If he had been any other guy, you would have pushed him away, possibly even slapped him.

You had known Jeongguk for so long that you felt the most comfortable dancing with him because you knew he would never take it too far. The heat of the bodies around you mixed with the alcohol made your head swim and you leaned into Jeongguk, asking him to get you some water. He nodded and left the dance floor to get you some. A very bad move.

A few moments later, you felt two hands on your hips. Assuming it was Jeongguk you leaned into the frame behind you. “Did you get my water?” you asked over the music. You felt his lips near your ear but the voice that spoke wasn’t Jeongguk’s. “Are you thirsty?”

You spun around and were met face to face with Chan. His hands held your hips in place. “What are you doing?” you asked and he smiled, pulling you into him. “Do you want me to stop?” he asked and you gulped. If you said no, things would progress and you knew they would go too far. If you said yes however he would leave and you didn’t want that.

Luckily, you didn’t have to answer. Jeongguk returned with your water and pulled you out of Chan’s grip. “Don’t you have a baseball game tomorrow you should be getting rest for?” he asked over the music. Chan shrugged. “It’s still pretty early and the game isn’t until tomorrow evening.” Jeongguk handed you the water, keeping a protective hold around your waist as you took a huge gulp of water.

“Regardless, I brought her here and I’m responsible for her,” he said. Chan laughed, rolling his eyes. “Do you honestly think I would do anything to hurt her? I’m not that kind of guy and you know it, Jeon!” Chan said over the bass. Jeongguk still didn’t release you. “Unless she tells me to buzz off, I’m not letting her out of my sight,” he said as you finished your water. “Jeongguk,” you said with your head a little clearer.

He looked down at you. “I think one dance is okay,” you said to him. Jeongguk looked from you to Chan. “Just one,” you added, pointing at Chan. He nodded in agreement and Jeongguk reluctantly let go of you. He slipped between the crowd, no doubt going to keep watch somewhere. Chan took your hand and pulled you into him. “Once dance, Chan, I mean it,” you said and he smirked at you.

“After once dance, you’ll want another, and then another,” he said and you rolled your eyes, lightly slapping him on the shoulder. “No I won’t,” you said as he held your hips and turned you so you were facing away from him. His lips brushed against your cheek before he whispered, “one dance and you’ll want to come home with me.” Your heart leapt in your chest as you tried to control your breathing. Get it together, (Y/N), you told yourself. This is Chan, not Soonyoung.

Without warning, Chan pulled your hips back against his and you nearly moaned at the feeling of his obvious erection pressing against your backside. His lips trailed up your neck before stopping by your ear, his breath hot against your skin. “Do you see what you do to me? Do you feel what you do to my body?” he breathed rolling his hips against you. A small moan left your lips and Chan wrapped an arm around your waist.

“Come back with me. You know you want to,” he hissed and you shook your head. “I can’t,” you whimpered. He chuckled lowly in your ear, one of his hands sliding down and around to grab your hip, his fingers sinking into the soft flesh. “Come on,” he said, pulling your hips back against his crotch again, causing another hot moan leaving your throat. “God you sound so good,” he whispered.

His hand on your hip slid to your stomach to hold you against him again. “Come back with me. Let me take care of you,” he said as you continued to sway to the music, your ass grinding against his hips. “Let me taste you, (Y/N). I’ll make you feel so good, baby,” he said, nipping at your neck. “Please, Chan. I can’t,” you breathed.

He stopped, turning you so you were facing him. “Can’t or won’t?” he asked and you shook your head. “I can’t, Chan,” you repeated. Chan scoffed, letting go of your hips as he backed away. You looked into his eyes hooded with lust before cocked his head. “One last chance,” he offered and when you hesitated, he turned and walked away leaving you on the dance floor and taking your breath with him.

Jeongguk must have seen because he was by your side in seconds. “Let’s get you home,” he said and led you off the dance floor and toward the door. “He’s such an L.Chan,” you hissed as Jeongguk led you out into the cool night air. “What?” Jeongguk asked as he pulled his phone out and requested an Uber pick up. You fell silent and when the car arrived, Jeongguk didn’t ask anymore questions.

He took you back to your dorm to drop you off, making sure you made it safely before he left and headed back to his building. You unzipped your dress and slid it off, replacing it with your pajamas. When you threw your dress in your hamper, you heard your phone go off. You walked over to check it. A text from Chan.

L.Chan [00:13]: why wouldn’t you just come back with me? Do you know how much I want you? You [00:14]: I couldn’t just leave Gguk L.Chan [00:14]: so you left with Jeon?? L.Chan [00:14]: Did you go back to his place? L.Chan [00:15]: Are you gonna fuck him?? You [00:15]: i told you, Jeongguk is my FRIEND. I’m not interested in him like that. L.Chan [00:16]: so are you in your room right now? You [00:16]: yes. L.Chan [00:17]: alone?? You [00:17]: yes, goddamn L.Chan [00:18]: prove it. Prove it to me.

You took a picture of you laying in your bed and sent that in the text with the caption, “would i send this if i wasn’t alone?”

L.Chan [00:19]:...are you teasing me?? You [0019]: and what if I am?

It was a moment before he responded and when he did, he sent an image. Upon opening it, you saw it was the outline of his erection through his boxers, his blanket pushed just below it.

L.Chan [00:19]: you did this, now come and fix it. You [00:20]: make me~ L.Chan [00:20]: I’m coming over, let me in You [00:20]: you have a game tomorrow L.Chan [00:21]: i don’t give a shit. I’m coming over and i’m gonna fuck you You [00:22]: no you’re not. L.Chan [00:23]: why the hell not? 😠 You [00:23]: because I said so. L.Chan [00:24]: then send me a picture. Help a guy out 😣

You scoffed and threw your phone on your bed. He has some nerve. You weren’t normally the kind of girl to send provocative pictures, but in your drunken state, it was tempting. Your thoughts were interrupted but a vibration on your mattress which caught your attention. Chan had sent you a picture.

You opened it much too quickly. In the picture, Chan had pulled himself out of his underwear and your jaw dropped. He was much larger than you thought. You felt your phone buzz again.

L.Chan [00:25]: you like the picture? 😉 L.Chan [00:25]: Come over and let me fuck you. L.Chan [00:25]: At least let me taste you. L.Chan [00:25]: Bury my face between those gorgeous thighs of yours and make you come all over my 👅

The temptation was there. You would be lying if you said you didn’t want to. Instead, you sat up, taking off your shirt before lying back and pushing your shorts off, throwing them on the floor. You took another picture in the semi darkness of your room. You sent it to Chan.

You [00:26]: I’m too drunk to come over. 🤪

He answered quicker than he had in the past.

L.Chan [00:27]: fuck you’re beautiful. I want to come all over that lace bra 💦 You [00:27]: keep saying that and I’ll up your lesson plan 🙅🏻‍♀️ L.Chan [00:28]: goddammit, i want to bend you over the table in that stupid room L.Chan [00:28]: fuck you until you can’t walk in the morning. You [00:30]: … you can’t do that. Not in there L.Chan [00:30]: why not? L.Chan [00:30]: don’t want everyone to know what a dirty slut you are? 😏 You [00:31]: i’m not the one sending dick pics to his tutor L.Chan [00:32]: pics of a dick you want to choke on 🍆 You [00:33]: bold of you to presume that L.Chan [00:33]: send me another picture. This time, no bra You [00:33]: so demanding 🙄 L.Chan [00:33]: shut up and just do it. I want to see you You [00:36]: what do i get in return? 🤷🏻‍♀️ L.Chan [00:36]: gimme a sex L.Chan [00:36]: sec* lol

A few moments later, a video clip appeared in the thread. You clicked on it. Chan’s hand was wrapped around the shaft of his cock, slowly moving up and down. You heard him hiss in the background. “I wish this was your mouth instead of my hand,” he whispered.

Your walls clenched around nothing and you immediately got up, walking over to your full length mirror, you wrapped an arm under your breasts, pushing them up and snapped a picture, the strap of your bra slipping down your shoulder. His reply was instantaneous.

L.Chan [00:39]: ugh stop teasing me baby 😫

A giggle escaped you as you slid your panties down your thighs before undoing your bra and slipping that off. You raised a finger out in front of you, covering your breasts and sex all at once before snapping another picture and sending it to Chan. Might as well make him suffer.

L.Chan [00:39]: fucking hell 😳😍 You [00:40]: are you still touching yourself? 👀 L.Chan [00:40]: yesss You [00:41]: you want to Facetime? 😘 L.Chan [00:42]: fuck. Yes. 😍

Your phone lit up with an incoming call. You hopped into your bed before answering it. Half expecting to be met with Chan’s dick, you were surprised to see his face instead. “I wish you would have just let me come over,” he said in a breathy voice. “Sorry~,” you said in a sweet voice. “Don’t lie to me,” he said, a small moan leaving his lips.

“I’m not. I am sorry. I’m being responsible, Chan. I’m your tutor,” you said and he groaned. “Only in that room. Outside of it, you’re my peer. Peers can fuck. So let me fuck you,” he said, his breath speeding up. “Are you close?” you asked and he nodded. “Keep going,” you said softly, watching the way his eyes fluttered shut and he bit his bottom lip to keep quiet.

“Do you have a roommate?” you asked and he shook his head. “Then don’t hold back. Let me hear you,” you said, your hand wandering to your already wet core. “Are you touching yourself to this?” Chan asked and you smiled before nodded. “I am,” you replied feeling the wetness seeping between your folds. “Let me see,” Chan said and you tapped to switch to rear facing camera where it was pointed at your hand disappearing between your thighs.

“Fuck that’s so hot,” Chan’s voice said and you returned to front facing camera. “I want to taste you so bad, (Y/N),” he whimpered. Your walls clenched when he let out a moan. Your fingers worked against your clit, teasing yourself as you brought yourself closer and closer to the edge. “Keep going, keep touching yourself,” he said when a small moan slipped between your lips. “Fuck, what I wouldn’t give to hear that in person.”

“Do you want my cock, baby?” he asked and you nodded, slipping a finger inside your wet heat. “God, I want you inside me so bad,” you whined. “Should have let me come over,” he said with a smirk. You groaned, curling your fingers to hit your sweet spot. “Fuck baby, do that again. Let me see what you’re doing,” he demanded. You turned the camera and continued to fuck yourself with your fingers.

“How many fingers are you using?” he asked. “Two,” you replied. “Add another, that’s how many I would use to get your ready to take me,” he said and you complied, adding a third finger, enjoying the slight sting as your stretched yourself. “I bet you’re nice and wet, perfect for me to slide right in. God I want to fuck you so bad. Pound into you. I want you to scream my name.”

You whimpered at his words, speeding up your pace. “Would you like that, baby? My hard cock in your tight hole?” he asked and you nodded. “Yes, I want your hard cock inside me, Chan,” you moaned. He chuckled lowly. “Such a good little slut for me. You’re a good girl, aren’t you?” he asked. “Yes,” you breathed feeling your orgasm draw closer. “Yes what?” he asked. “Yes, I’m a good girl,” you breathed.

“Are you close?” he asked, his breathing shallow as he neared his climax. You nodded with a whimper as you bit your lip. “Good, keep going baby. Come for me all over your fingers like a good slut,” he said as he sped up. “Only if you come all over yourself,” you breathed and Chan chuckled again. “Okay baby. I’ll do that. Now don’t stop until you come. Tell me how good you feel,” he said and you moaned.

Your orgasm approached rapidly, your toes curling in bliss as you continued to pleasure yourself at his words. “Does it feel good, babygirl?” Chan asked you. “Yes, yes,” you moaned. “I’m so close,” you whined. “Keep going, baby. Be a good girl and come for me,” Chan whispered, barely audible. Your high hit you and you came with a whimper and a moan of Chan’s name as you continued to ride out your climax.

“Fucking shit, baby,” Chan groaned as he released on his end with a low moan. He shuddered on camera, eyes shut as he came down from his orgasm. The two of you sat there in your beds silent as you both basked in the afterglow of your orgasms. “God damnit (Y/N). Next time just let me come over and fuck you,” Chan said, panting. You let out a shaky laugh. “Next time,” you murmured.

“Get some sleep, Chan. You have a game in the morning,” you said as you sat up. “What are you going to do?” he asked, his face squished against the pillows on his bed. “I’m taking a shower and then going to bed,” you answered. Chan smiled and nodded. “Okay. You do that. I’ll text you tomorrow,” he said and you shook your head. “You don’t have to do that,” you answered. He merely shrugged, with a smile and said, “I want to. Goodnight, (Y/N).” He hung up before you had a chance to answer. “Night, Chan.”

The next morning you awoke to knocking on your door. You groaned as you opened your eyes and looked around. Your floor was littered with your clothing from the night before. You had fallen asleep naked. Your head throbbed as the knocking continued. A small whimper left your lips as you rolled over and wrapped the blankets around you. You slid off the bed, making sure you were covered before you unlocked and cracked the door. Jeongguk was on the other side.

“I come bearing gifts,” he said holding up a paper sack and a coffee. “I also brought Tylenol,” he added and you opened the door, hiding behind it so no one would see you wrapped in your blanket. Jeongguk entered the room and whistled when he looked around. You shut the door and padded over to your bed. “Who did you fuck last night?” he asked as he handed you the coffee and bag.

You shook your head and hid in your wrap as you opened the bag. Inside were two breakfast burritos and a small side of hash browns. You whispered a blessing upon Jeongguk as you unwrapped a burrito and dug in. Jeongguk looked at your clothes on the floor again. “If you didn’t fuck anyone last night, why are your clothes everywhere?” You looked up at him, mouth full of burrito.

“Cause I was drunk and too lazy to put my clothes away?” you answered and Jeongguk laughed. “Or to put clothes on I see,” he said nodding at your bare shoulders and collar. “Fuck off,” you said before taking another bite of burrito. Jeongguk stood up and made his way into your closet. “Jeongguk, get out of my closet you pervert!” you called in a groggy voice. You lifted the coffee to your lips and took a sip, sighing at the sweet taste of the sugar and creamer.

Jeongguk returned moments later with clean underwear, a tee shirt, sweatpants, and a hoodie. “Get dressed, loser. I’m taking you to the baseball game,” he said throwing your clothes on the bed. You glared at him, narrowing your eyes. Jeongguk laughed again and turned away so you could put your clothes on. You pulled on the sports bra and underwear before sliding off the bed and into your sweats. The shirt he had chosen was your the shirt you had gotten with your university acceptance package.

You rolled your eyes before pulling on your hoodie and taking a look in the mirror. You whistled and told Jeongguk to give you five minutes to make yourself presentable. Jeongguk grabbed the unopened burrito and sat on your bed. “I’ll just eat this,” he said and you pouted before going into the bathroom to wash your face and apply some sunscreen and BB cream. You weren’t focused on grabbing any attention, you just wanted to not look hungover or sick.

After that you pulled your hair up into a messy ponytail and returned to your bed to finish your burrito and hash browns. “Let’s go idiot,” you said to Jeongguk and he rolled out of your bed. The two of you made your way out of your room and down to the lobby. Jeongguk told you about his night after he dropped you off at your dorm. Apparently he had run into an old friend and they ended up hooking up.

“That wasn’t stupid, right? Cause she gives some really good head,” he said as you walked toward the baseball stadium. You rolled your eyes at him. “It’s not stupid, just so long as you are on the same page,” you said. You reached the field in no time and Jeongguk bought your tickets before leading you down toward the dugout. He liked to sit front row at the games since his basketball team always attended the baseball team’s games.

You sat down next to him in literally the front row, looking out at the field over the fence. The two teams were warming up, the visiting team on the other side of the field. You were talking to Jeongguk when you noticed Chan out on the field warming up with Seungcheol. “Hey, (Y/N)!” you heard and looked down to see Soonyoung had just emerged from the dugout with Jihoon. You smiled and waved back at them.

Soonyoung ran over and you scooted forward in your seat to rest your arms on the fence. “What are you doing here?” he asked smiling up at you. “Jeongguk brought me,” you said nodding back at your best friend. Soonyoung greeted Jeongguk with a nod. “So, what position are you?” you asked drawing Soonyoung’s attention. “Shortstop! Jihoon is catcher.”

Jihoon looked up at you, giving you a smile which you returned. “Seokmin,” Soonyoung said looking behind him and pointing to another member on the team, one with reddish curly hair. “He’s our pitcher. Minghao is first baseman,” Soonyoung pointed to tall and slender member with longer black hair and glasses who was practicing with another member with short blonde hair, “and he’s practicing with our second baseman, Junhui.”

Seungcheol is right field, Jeonghan is left field, and Joshua is center field,” Soonyoung added pointing out the three respectively. “Chan is our third baseman. In the dugout we have Wonwoo our relief pitcher, Seungkwan is one of our utility infielders along with Mingyu but he’s out today, and Vernon is our pinch runner.” Soonyoung continued, naming the rest of the team in the dugout.

“Then there’s also our closing pitcher Minhyuk, our LOOGY Changkyun, Hyunwoo is backup catcher, Mark is first baseman relief, Jinyoung is second baseman relief, and Kihyun is third baseman relief. Jooheon takes over for me if I need the break, Hoseok is our pinch hitter, Yugyeom is our Designated hitter for Seokmin, and Jackson is equipment manager. Bambam and Hyungwon are also utility outfielders while Youngjae and Jaebum are utility infielders.”

You nodded slowly and Jeongguk laughed leaning forward. “She has no idea what you just said,” he laughed. Jihoon chuckled and readjusted his hat. “I catch, Seokmin and Wonwoo throw, Minghao, Junhui, and Chan stay on the bases, Joshua, Jeonghan, and Seungcheol catch balls in the outfield, Soonyoung gets to run all over infield, and everyone else subs,” Jihoon explained.

“Yeah, that speaks more my level of baseball knowledge,” you said. Soonyoung laughed, the sound drawing Chan’s attention. He squinted and noticed you before tossing a ball back to Minghao. One of the coaches called Jihoon over and he excused himself. “So, what are you doing tonight?” Soonyoung asked when Jeongguk sat back in his seat.

You shrugged. “I have no idea. I was supposed to have a tutor lesson with Mingyu, but like you said, he’s out today and had to cancel,” you admitted. Soonyoung perked up. “So you have no plans?” he asked and you nodded. “Then, how about this? Whenever we win a game, there’s always a party at the Iota Nu Delta house. If we win today, be my date?” he asked and your cheeks turned pink.

“O-okay,” you said and Soonyoung broke into a huge grin. “Okay, I’ll be on the field all game, so cheer for me, okay?” he asked and you nodded before he took off when the coaches called him over. Chan looked from Soonyoung to you before turning back to his teammates.

The game would be starting soon. You sat back in your seat and looked at Jeongguk. “Did Soonyoung ask you on a date~?” he asked not looking up from his phone and you nodded. “Yeah, I guess he did,” you admitted. Jeongguk gave you a sly smirk and you slapped his shoulder. “Can it, Gguk!” you giggled before you heard someone call your name. You looked back at the field and saw Soonyoung wave at you. Your face turning red, you returned his wave and slid down in your seat.

You missed the way Chan glared at his friend in favor for the start of the game. The announcer came on the intercom and started the beginning of the game. He announced the teams and the players on each team, taking extra care to mention the key players on the home team. When each of their names were announced, the players stepped forward and waved and posed to a torrent of screams and cheers.

After announcing the players, the first pitch was thrown by the home team with Seokmin as starting pitcher. You watched the field as Jeongguk explained the mechanics of the game to you in between plays. The home team, your university’s team, was amazing. The guys were fast, catching hits and throwing them to the bases or back to Jihoon behind the home plate. They didn’t even let the visiting team score. When they were up to bat, you had never seen anything like it.

The fastest members were probably Minghao or Chan. They zoomed around the bases like little bees. They scored left and right, running the bases. Jeongguk explained how every time the teams swapped, the inning changed. Right now he said they were in the bottom of the fourth ending. “Bottom?” you asked and Jeongguk smiled and leaned forward.

“So when an inning starts, it’s called the top of the inning when one team is batting. When three outs are made, the teams switch so the fielding team will be up to bat, which will then be the bottom of the inning. The inning ends when the second batting team gets three outs.” You looked from Jeongguk to the field. “Okay! That makes sense!” you said nodding.

As the game progressed you noticed Chan watching you more and more from third base. You tried to ignore the look he gave you and focus on the game. By the top of the ninth inning, you were totally invested in the game cheering and encouraging the team. They were on the field with two outs. “I’ve never seen you get this much into sports,” Jeongguk laughed and you looked back at him with a wide grin. “I never realized I liked baseball so much!” you admitted. The home team caught the third out and the teams switched, signaling the start of the bottom of the ninth inning.

First up to bat was Changkyun. He was one of the only left handed batters on the team and also being the left handed pitcher. He hit the ball toward the bases and took off for first, making it before the opposing team even scooped the ball up. His teammates erupted into applause while he mocked bowing before taking his stance on the base.

Up next was Hyunwoo. He was a guy you’d seen around campus before usually with his best friends Hoseok and Kihyun. Hyunwoo was a particularly well built guy with broad shoulders, tall and muscular. He filled out his uniform well as he took his stance on home plate, swinging the bat a couple times before he stood ready to swing. The opposing team’s pitcher threw hard but Hyunwoo swung right, his aim true and he hit the ball into the outfield before the players had time to catch up. He made it to first, Changkyun on second.

Next to bat was Yugyeom stepped up to the plate. He was, as Soonyoung said earlier, designated hitter for the pitcher, Seokmin. Yugyeom also hit toward the bases and made it to first, the other two rotating around so each base had a member on it. The coach of the opposing team swapped out the pitcher for a new guy and Jeongguk sat closer to the edge of his seat. “They’re trying to switch it up, catch our guys with a new pitcher. They’re gonna try to get a triple play,” he said resting his arms on the fence.

You turned your attention to the practice section for the next batter and saw it was Jeonghan but the manager ran up to him and said something. Jeonghan looked over at the dugout as another member came out ready to bat. Jeonghan nodded and swapped places with the new guy. “Fuck yes,” Jeongguk exclaimed softly and you looked at him. “The pinch hitter,” he said and you looked back at the guy stepping up to the plate. It was Lee Hoseok. If Hyunwoo was built, then Hoseok was ripped.

They guy adjusted his gloves and tapped the bottom of his shoe with his bat before taking his stance and swinging the bat three times before holding it steady. He smirked at the new pitcher and waited. The first ball thrown was called foul, giving the opposing team one out. The second ball was also foul, giving for another out. You grabbed Jeongguk’s hand and he laughed. “You’re worried for nothing,” he said as the pitcher geared up to throw a third ball. Hoseok swung so fast and hard that all you heard was the crack of the ball making contact with his bat before he dropped it and took off.

Changkyun crossed the plate first, followed by Hyunwoo, then Yugyeom. Cheers erupted from around the stadium and the dugout as the ball crossed over the far barrier and Hoseok brought up the rear laughing as his teammates rushed out to jump on him. “What?” you looked at Jeongguk. “Told you not to worry,” he laughed. You looked over as the team celebrated their victory. You cheered along side the rest of the stadium before Jeongguk finally pulled you out of your seat. “Come on! They’re gonna celebrate with a party later, let’s go so you can get changed,” he said and you followed him and his basketball teammates up the steps.

It took some time to get out of the stadium and into the parking lot where the rest of Jeongguk’s friends piled into cars, you sitting in the front seat of Seokjin’s car. Jeongguk was squashed in the back with Jimin and Taehyung. Seokjin pulled up outside your building and you promised to be quick. You rushed up to your room to change and get ready to go to a house party. You hadn’t been to one in years so you decided to put a little effort into your appearance.

Once satisfied with your look, you headed out to the elevator. You pressed the button taking it down to the lobby. Your phone buzzed in your hand and you opened it to find two messages waiting. One from Soonyoung and the other from Chan.

[2019/10/12] Soonyoung [21:06]: you’re still coming to the party, right? (: You [21:06]: I’m on my way now!

You checked Chan’s text and froze, your heart pounding.

L.Chan [21:05]: So there’s a party at the Iota Nu Delta house, if you wanted to come. Hopefully I’ll see you there? You [21:08]: yeah, i’m heading there now actually. Soonyoung invited me L.Chan [21:08]: oh. cool. See you soon

Soonyoung had sent you another text and you opened it.

Soonyoung [21:08]: you are going to dance with me, aren’t you? ;) You [21:09]: we’ll see haha

You made it back out to the car and got in the front seat again. “Ah! We’re ready!” Seokjin announced before starting the car. He pulled out of your building’s parking lot and turned right, driving through the campus as he made his way toward the Iota Nu Delta house. Seokjin parked on the street behind Yoongi’s car and you followed the guys up the lawn toward the front door.

Upon entering, you saw that the party was fully underway and you grabbed Jeongguk’s arm. “Please don’t leave me alone!” you whispered at him and he nodded, following Taehyung and Jimin further into the house. Once entering the kitchen at the back of the house, you found a large group gathered around a pong table. Jeongguk led you past the group to get drinks and a familiar face caught your eye.

Soonyoung smiled at you from the crowd before pushing his way through to reach you. “Hey!” he said breathlessly as Jeongguk poured some soda into a cup and handed you a slice of pizza from one of the many boxes on the counter. “Eat, then drink!” he said and the nodded at Soonyoung.

You took the slice and bit off a piece. Jeongguk handed you the cup with soda in it. “Drink that. Pizza and soda before you get alcohol!” You rolled your eyes and turned to Soonyoung who reached across the island to grab a slice of pizza.

Jeongguk smiled at a girl who passed him before turning to Jimin and Taehyung. He said something to them and then leaned toward you. “I gotta go do something, stay with Jimin and Taehyung. They’ll keep an eye on you. Well, Taehyung will,” he said and you nodded before he took off, handing a drink he made for you to Tae and pointed at you. Taehyung took his spot at the counter, standing behind you and keeping his eye on the crowd. He turned to Jimin to say something, nodding at the crowd.

“So, you going to come dance with me at least once?” Soonyoung asked as you finished your slice of pizza and downed the rest of your soda. You took the cup Taehyung held and took a sip. “Maybe, you gonna convince me?” you asked. Soonyoung laughed and bit his bottom lip.

“I can always try,” he said with a wink. Your stomach did little flips but it wasn’t Soonyoung’s words. Instead it was Chan appearing in your line of vision. You turned to Taehyung. “I’m gonna go dance with Soonyoung,” you said over the loud music. Taehyung nodded and told you he would be right there when you got back.

You turned to Soonyoung, taking another gulp of your drink before handing it to Taehyung. Soonyoung took your hand and led you out of the kitchen and into the living area of the downstairs, right past Chan. You tried to ignore the way his eyes followed you as you passed him with his best friend. Or the way his jaw clenched as Soonyoung immediately pulled you into him, his hand on the small of your back. You moved your hips against Soonyoung’s to the beat of the music, not really caring about the people around you.

Soonyoung lowered his head, whispering in your ear, “I feel like the luckiest guy in the room.” You smiled, pink tinting your cheeks before you responded. “Why is that?” you asked. “Look at you. You’re stunning. I kind of regret not asking you out a lot sooner,” he whispered in your ear, his breath tickling your neck. You giggled, pressing a hand to his chest.

“Really? Well, what about now? Are you going to ask me out?” you asked and Soonyoung smiled against your cheek. “Didn’t I already, asking you to be my date tonight?” You sighed when his lips pressed softly against your cheek. “I’m not going to lie, (Y/N). You know that’s not really my style. But I’ve actually wanted to ask you out ever since I ran into you the other day.” His hands held your hips in place while he spoke.

“You have?” you asked breathlessly and Soonyoung smiled, nodding his head. “I have. I’ve just been too shy until now,” he muttered and you let out another sigh when his lips met your jawline. He would have continued had Jeongguk not interrupted. “Sorry, Soonyoung, I need to steal (Y/N) for a second,” he said over the music and grabbed you by the wrist, pulling you from Soonyoung’s grasp.

Jeongguk led you to the kitchen and towered over you. “I told you to stay with Taehyung!” he said and you groaned. “Gguk!! I like Soonyoung! He’s a really nice guy! And you heard him ask me out earlier!” you said exasperatedly. He was essentially cockblocking you. He shook his head. “I don’t like it. Something is off,” he said and you groaned. “What about Chan?” he asked and you shrugged. “What about him?” you asked. Jeongguk looked around before leaning in.

“Are you forgetting about last night?” You rolled your eyes. “That happened because we were both horny and intoxicated. It was nothing,” you said shrugging. Jeongguk eyed you suspiciously. “Does he feel the same way?” he asked and you nodded. You were sure that Chan felt that it meant nothing to him, too.

“I’m not so sure,” Jeongguk said and you shook your head. “It’s fine, Gguk!” you repeated. You waved him off and went back to Soonyoung who was waiting in the same spot as before. Once you were back in earshot, he asked, “what was that about?” You shook your head. “Just my best friend being cautious and protective as usual!” you said in his ear as his hands rested on your hips.

Soonyoung pulled you in closer as the song changed to something slower and more sensual. It wasn’t until you felt someone bump into you that you stopped moving to look around. Chan was making his way up the stairs, his eyes locking with yours when you looked up. He was leading a random girl up the steps. Your heart leapt in your throat and you turned your attention away from him.

You felt Soonyoung’s lips against your cheek before he whispered in your ear, “something wrong?” You shook your head and allowed him to direct your hips again. “No. Nothing,” you said. You felt him smile against your skin before his lips trailed down to your neck.

A tiny gasp left your lips, eyes snapping open when you realized you were still in the living room, surrounded by a ton of your peers. You pulled back slightly and Soonyoung gave you a quizzical look before he looked around and understood.

He nodded his head, jerking it up toward the upper floor and you nodded, biting your bottom lip. Soonyoung took your hand and pulled you toward the base of the stairs and began leading you up, passing people who were standing there watching the crowd. Upstairs in the hallway, Soonyoung led you through the people waiting for the bathroom and those who hadn’t made it to a bedroom yet and were making out against the wall.

Soonyoung grabbed the handle of a door near the end of the hall and turned it. The unlocked door opened and inside a half naked girl with wavy short brown hair was straddling- “Oh shit! Sorry Chan!” Soonyoung laughed. Upon hearing his name, Chan looked up at the door and saw you standing there with his best friend, your hand in his.

You turned and stepped out of the room while Soonyoung backed out and shut the door before taking your hand again and leading you to another room which was thankfully empty. Soonyoung shut and locked the door behind him before pulling you into him, a smile on his face.

“Alone at last, he whispered, his free hand cupping your cheek before his lips brushed against yours, testing the waters before taking the plunge and pressing them against yours. You felt dizzy, like his kiss took your breath away. The hand that wasn’t cupping your cheek snaked around your waist, pulling you in closer. Your hands felt like putty against Soonyoung’s chest.

Without breaking the kiss, he walked you backwards until your legs hit something soft. A bed. Your heart began racing and your stomach twisted with what you assumed were nerves. Soonyoung broke the kiss and pulled away before studying your face, a lopsided grin on his face. “God you’re gorgeous,” he said brushing a few stray strands of hair out of your face. Pink tinted your cheeks and you looked down.

“If I’m moving too fast, tell me,” he said and put his finger under your chin, lifting your head so your eyes met his. “I don’t want to do anything to make you uncomfortable,” he said and you nodded. He sat you down on the bed and as you scooted back toward the center, climbed on, hovering over you before dipping down to kiss you again. His lips parted yours, allowing his tongue to slip between.

One hand was on your hip while he used his elbow to keep from weighing down on you. A soft whimper left your lips when he pressed his hips against yours, pressing his erection into your core. “Ah, that was cute,” he whispered against your lips and repeated the action, earning a deeper moan from you. You felt him smile. Soonyoung moved from your lips to your neck, kissing down to the collar of your shirt before nipping at the skin. You moaned, arching into him.

He sat back up, kneeling between your thighs before pulling his sweater off over his head, leaving him in a white tee shirt. Soonyoung leaned back down, kissing you with more vigor, his hands roaming until they found the buttons of your blouse. He undid the first two buttons, lips leaving yours again to press against your now exposed collarbone. His hand continued to make quick work of your shirt.

He pushed the fabric aside before sitting up to admire your black lace bra. His fingers skimmed over the material before he smiled up at you. He laid between your thighs, leaving kisses along your collar and down your chest, passing between your breasts as he moved lower and lower until he reached the waistband of your jeans. He slowly undid the button and zipper before pulling them down your thighs and discarding them.

Your heart was hammering in your chest, your breathing ragged and your head spinning still. Soonyoung placed soft, wet kisses along the inside of your thigh before your stomach twisted again and this time you knew it wasn’t nerves. It was nausea.

“Stop,” you said hoarsely. At first, Soonyoung didn’t hear you so you cleared your throat and repeated yourself. Soonyoung sat up quickly, looking at you as you sat up and began buttoning your shirt. “Did I do something wrong?” he asked and you shook your head.

“No, I just feel nauseous,” you said in a low grumble. Your head was pounding. Soonyoung hopped up and retrieved your pants, helping you into them before kneeling by the bed and putting your shoes on for you. He helped you stand up, grabbing his sweater and pulling you toward the door.

He led you back down the stairs and into the kitchen where Jeongguk, Taehyung and Jimin stood. Taehyung noticed you first and nodded. Jeongguk spun around and immediately rushed to your side before rounding on Soonyoung. “What happened?” he demanded. “She said she feels nauseous so I brought her to you. She needs to go home and sleep this off,” he said. Jeongguk eyed him suspiciously.

“You didn’t do anything to her, did you?” he asked and Soonyoung shook his head. “Absolutely not. We were upstairs making out and then she said she wasn’t feeling well,” he said and Jeongguk relaxed as he took you from Soonyoung, wrapping an arm around your shoulders.

“Thanks, we’ll take it from here,” he said. Soonyoung nodded before looked back at you. “Text me when you wake up, okay?” he asked and you nodded, getting wobblier by the minute. “I’ll text you when we get her back to her dorm,” Jeongguk promised and Soonyoung thanked him.

Jeongguk led you out onto the deck out back where you were met with the cold night air. “Seokjin!” Jeongguk called and his friend turned to look at him. “We need to take her home. She doesn’t feel good,” he said and Seokjin turned to say goodnight to his conversation partner. He led the way out of the house and to the car where Taehyung and Jeongguk helped you into the car.

Seokjin pulled out and took the familiar route back to your dorm building. “Did she take a drink from anyone?” Seokjin asked and Jeongguk shook his head. “Not that I saw, and I trust Soonyoung didn’t give her anything,” he said. “Maybe she just drank too much too fast?” Jimin asked from the front passenger seat. “Yeah, maybe,” Jeongguk said.

They reached your dorm with ease. It took Jeongguk and Taehyung to get you out of the car and up to your room. Jeongguk sent Taehyung out while he attended to you. “Do you need to throw up?” he asked and you shook your head. “I think being out of that house helped a lot,” you admitted. “I feel much better now,” you added. Jeongguk sat next to you on the bed and rubbed your back.

“Did Soonyoung do anything?” he asked and you shook your head. “No, he was a gentleman.” Jeongguk nodded, watching you sober up a little. “Well, do you need me to stay here?” he asked and you smiled. “I’ll be okay,” you admitted. “But go ahead and send up Jimin. I could use his cuddles,” you joked and Jeongguk scoffed. “I’m offended you think his cuddles are better than mine,” he said, pretending to be hurt. You giggled and leaned into him. “I’ll be fine, Gguk. Thank you.”

Jeongguk got to his feet and made his way to your door. “Anytime, (Y/N),” he said with a smile and left. You felt your phone buzz in your pocket and you pulled it out. It was from Soonyoung.

[2019/10/12] Soonyoung [23:05]: you make it home, alright? You [23:05]: yeah. Sorry i ran out like that :/ Soonyoung [23:06]: don’t be sorry! I’m just glad you’re home safe! Don’t worry about me. I would rather you be okay. We can always go get a cup of coffee some time. My treat of course (: You [23:07]: i would like that (: Soonyoung [23:07]: then it’s a date ;)

Another text came in while you were texting Soonyoung. You opened it to see it was from Chan.

[2019/10/12] L.Chan [23:08]: hope you have fun. You [23:08]: you too.

You weren’t sure when you fell asleep but you woke up to your alarm blaring at 8:45 am. You groggily pulled yourself out of bed, your head swimming before stripping and getting into the shower. After cleaning yourself up, you got dressed and headed out with your bag for Chan’s lesson.

Upon reaching the student center, you were greeted with a sign that informed you the center was closed for maintenance. You groaned, fishing your phone out of your bag to shoot Chan a text.

[2019/10/13] You [09:19]: the student center is closed so no lesson today. See you on Wednesday.

After sending the text you head back to your dorm, determined to go back to bed and get an extra hour to sleep off your pounding headache. You had just walked in your door when your phone buzzed and you checked it. Jeongguk had texted you.

[2019/10/13] Kookie [09:47]: good morning my little croissant~! How did you sleep?? You [09:47]: ugghhhhh i got up to go to Chan’s lesson and the student center is closed. Now i’m back in my room and i’m going back to bed. My head hurts 😫 Kookie [09:48]: Soonyoung texted me last night to make sure you got home safe. Please date him. He seems like a hella nice guy and actually seems to care about you. You [09:48]: we’ll see. For now, sleep~ 😴

You kicked off your shoes and got into your bed, pulling the covers over your head and shutting your eyes. A vibration made you open them to check your phone.

[2019/10/13] Soonyoung [09:50]: morning, beautiful. You’re probably still sleeping but I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were feeling okay. Text me later~

You smiled and set your phone aside, more determined than ever to get some sleep. It came to you quickly and you slipped into slumber, awakening hours later to a setting sun. It was nearly 5 pm. You sat up and stretched. Your head felt much better but you were really thirsty now.

You got up from your bed and opened your mini fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and chugging half of it before searching for your phone in the recesses of your blankets. Your fingers brushed the smooth screen of the device and your grabbed it before bringing it up to look at it.

You had two missed calls and several missed texts.

[2019/10/13] Kookie [10:08]: i know you said you were going to sleep but can you wake up? I’m bored 😞 Kookie [11:36]: pls? Jimin and Taehyung are still sleeping too ): Kookie [13:27]: ugh this sucks. I wanna talk~ Kookie [14:03]: Soonyoung asked me if you were okay. I told him the truth that you were hibernating because you’re a fucking bear, not a human girl. Kookie [16:32]: wake up grizzly 🐻

You shook your head, taking another sip of water before opening the next set of messages.

[2019/10/13] Soonyoung [11:09]: are you awake yet? Soonyoung [12:01]: you really sleep a long time, don’t you? Soonyoung [13:42]: i was hoping we could get coffee today but you must still be sleeping ☹ Soonyoung [14:06]: i texted Jeongguk. I just wanted to make sure you were okay Soonyoung [14:09]: he says you channel your inner grizzly and hibernate on the weekends 🐻🐻 Soonyoung [14:12]: ngl that’s really cute :3 Soonyoung [15:35]: I’m not gonna keep blowing up your phone so just message me when you wake up

[2019/10/13] L.Chan [13:05]: Sorry i didn’t answer earlier. I had a LONG night lol

You answered Jeongguk’s text first.

You [16:54]: grizzly 🐻 is awake. Winter is over ❄☃️

You sent Soonyoung a reply next.

You [16:55]: yeah haha i sleep a lot. It’s a bad habit and the reason why i usually miss things ):

Finally you answered Chan.

You [16:56]: Don’t worry about it.👍🏻

The first to respond was surprisingly Chan.

[2019/10/13] L.Chan [16:58]: i was up pretty late lol You [16:59]: ...okay L.Chan [16:59]: Did you have a good night? You [17:00]: it was good. L.Chan [17:00]: ...just good? Mine was great. I wonder why you didn’t have as good of a night? You [17:01]: … 😒 L.Chan [17:02]: well, I mean, did you see Mina? I think it’s pretty obvious why I had such a great night lol

You scoffed and tossed your phone as another text from him came in but you ignored it. When your phone buzzed again, you checked it. Soonyoung had replied. You opened his messages quickly.

[2019/10/13] Soonyoung [17:05]: THERE you are! I was getting worried ☺ You [17:06]: yeah haha here i am Soonyoung [17:07]: awwww you should have let me come over Soonyoung [17:07]: We could have napped together :3 You [17:07]: that actually sounds wonderful. Raincheck?

While you waited for Soonyoung to answer, you checked Jeongguk’s text that came in.

[2019/10/13] Kookie [17:01]: well goddamn it’s about time! You [17:08]: yeah, yeah I know. Grizzly 🐻 and all that 🙄 Kookie [17:09]: more importantly how are you feeling? You [17:09]: much better than last night Kookie [17:10]: good but go back to sleep now. Get plenty of rest for tomorrow (:

You returned to Soonyoung’s text, ignoring the other text that came in from Chan.

[2019/10/13] Soonyoung [17:09]: of course! (: maybe next week? You [17:11]: that sounds perfect (: Soonyoung [17:12]: your place or mine? ;) You [17:12]: we can iron out the details later (: Soonyoung [17:13]: sounds good to me (: look I gotta run. I have some errands to do, I’ll text you later (: You [17:13]: okay! Have fun and be safe~! Soonyoung [17:14]:

Soonyoung [17:14]: ugh 😫 how are you so sweet? You [17:15]: 😚

After sending Soonyoung a text, you decided to open Chan’s messages as he kept sending them.

[2019/10/13] L.Chan [17:03]: she’s got these killer legs. I’m sure you saw L.Chan [17:03]: and her lips? God she could kill a man L.Chan [17:04]: she almost killed me 🍆👀 L.Chan [17:04]: she could make a guy fall in love 😍 L.Chan [17:05]: she knows exactly how to drive a guy crazy L.Chan [17:05]: and she’s such a tease lol L.Chan [17:07]: i’m meeting her again tonight. L.Chan [17:09]: should i bring her back to my room? L.Chan [17:11]: I think I will 😏 L.Chan [17:14]: what are you up to tonight? L.Chan [17:14]: staying in i bet? L.Chan [17:14]: why not invite Soonyoung over?? 😜 L.Chan [17:15]: I’m sure he’d love to see you again.

You turned his notifications off as your blood ran cold. Something about his wording wasn’t right. Like he was trying to make you jealous. What is his deal anyway??

P.S: WOOOOOW That was long. This is only part one!! If I had left this one piece, it would have been a behemoth. I’m really glad I split it up. I hope you guys enjoyed this! Leave any comments, keyboard smashes, or send me some asks or messages! I love talking to you guys (: Thank you so much for reading! ~K♡

2K notes · View notes