#though i can't promise what i'll come up with for these scenarios will be quick either

[zh-lele]

12-7 ROOM (part one)

Surviving a week to Donghyuck's charms and jokes can't be so hard... Worst case scenario, you end up completely falling for your brother's best friend.

▪︎Pairing: brother's best friend!Hyuck x fem reader

▪︎Genres: poor attempt at rom com, fluff

▪︎Warnings: alcohol consumption, profanity suggestive jokes

▪︎Word count (part 1): 6613 words

playlist | extra content: mc's IG stories

Author's note: Hi every1!!! The fluffy Hyuck fic is here, finally. I decided I'll be posting it in two parts because it ended up being way longer than I planned, and since it's written in the format of timestamps. It barely has any conflict, so I was afraid it would get boring or tedious if I posted everything in just one go. So, yeah, part 2 coming next week. Also, I changed Hyuck's major (it's physics now) for plot purposes lol I figured it would be easier for me to write him if we share majors. Also !! I didn´t proof read it but I will during the week lol sorry. Okay, tysm for all the support on the preview !!! enjoy the fic bye !!!!

Tuesday, 10:34 p.m.

Mark moves around the small apartment urgently cleaning up. He makes sure to pick up and throw into the garbage bag between his hands every empty Red Bull can that his roommate has left lying around. On the old sofa rests his guitar, and on the little table in the living room his lyrics notebooks and Donghyuck's physics notes.

"Mark," Donghyuck calls for him, to which the older one only responds with a small sound, indicating that he has his attention—partially, as he's still concentrating on his duty of getting all ready for your arrival—, "Your food is getting cold."

Mark lets out an exasperated sigh while getting all his belongings inside his backpack and his guitar in the case. "I'll just order something once I'm at the studio."

"Wait, you're leaving?"

"Yeah, I need to get some work done with TY. And y/n's arriving at any time so this place has to be tidy and clean and–" Mark stops all motions of arranging the mattress you're going to sleep on on the living room floor, to fix his eyes on his friend. "Hyuck, could you like, put on a t-shirt or something?"

Small drops of water fall from Donghyuck's wet hair onto his naked torso, fresh from the warm shower he just took. The young man does nothing but questions his best friend with a lopsided smile as he finishes his bowl of ramen, sitting at the counter in front of Mark's—that remains full and cold by now.

"What, you think y/n's gonna be scared of all this handsomeness?"

Mark's face is expressionless while looking at Donghyuck, who's feeling himself to add to the point. And Mark has missed you a lot, but he thinks that the faster he gets a break from his chaotic roommate, the better; he can't wait to have a week free of the jokes and headaches Donghyuck causes him because Donghyuck will have you to annoy. Even when he will still be working, to Mark, that sounds pretty much like a vacation.

"Nah, dude. It's fucking cold, you'll get sick."

"You will get sick if you don't get anything to eat as soon as you make it to work," Donghyuck answers back as he gets up from his chair and puts his favorite Michael Jackson t-shirt on. "Promise me you'll order."

"Yeah, I promise," Mark sounds sincere. After a quick hug and a few pats on each other's back, Mark is opening the front door ready to leave for a late-night music session. "Please receive y/n well for me–

"Y/n!"

Screams and laughs from both you and your brother fill the little apartment, as you greet and hug him after almost four months without seeing each other. Just in time, is what Donghyuck thinks while observing the cute interaction, and gently caressing his belly from underneath the t-shirt because, well, he is confident but—even though he has known you for years and you've shared many situations—, he's not confident enough around you to show himself with nothing on like that. At least not yet.

His face lights up as soon as he sees you extend your arms in his direction, and Donghyuck manages to squeeze you into a warm hug and spin you in the air while the both of you laugh.

Your brother says his goodbyes, and Donghyuck tells him there's a chance they could meet up at Johnny's later, in case he wants to join in after work.

"Alright, I'll get there with Taeyong later then."

He waves to both of you and closes the front door, leaving you alone with his roommate.

"Take a relax, bro," he offers you to sit at the counter and you laugh after hearing the famous line after months. You observe him filling a cup with water and placing it in front of you before speaking again. "Want some ramen?"

"Hell yeah. I'm starving."

"Let me heat it for you."

But he was already on it even before you answered. Donghyuck knows well he's very good at turning the simple dish into a delicious meal, and that it's one of your favorite things to share since you two met.

You wouldn't say it was love at first sight, but maybe adoration since the first encounter. Only weeks after your brother moved to start studying, he invited you over because he was missing home too much. And Donghyuck wouldn't be his apartment buddy until a year after, but they already frequented the same group of friends. The two of you were standing awkwardly in a corner at Taeyong's birthday party, and ended up at your brother's because you were hungry, eating ramen together: his secret recipe (that wasn't mysterious at all) that included tomatoes and scrambled eggs and that he only made for 'real special situations'.

Donghyuck sets the bowl in front of you, the tomato scrambled noodles and eggs making your mouth water and curve in a smile. A ray of sunshine gets on the chair beside you even though it's almost midnight, and makes you feel at home, warming you even though it's freezing outside.

"So, how's school?" You start talking with a mouth full of ramen, lips moisturized with its sauce that makes Donghyuck smile when he sets his eyes on them. His look makes you blush, but you blame it on the spiciness of the Hot Chicken Spicy x2 package of noodles that he prepared for you. "Hyuck, this is burning my mouth."

"Well, don't put so many noodles in your mouth at once!" Donghyuck brings the glass of water to your hands and you accept it immediately. Its freshness somehow makes you forget the mess that Hyuck's eyes on your filthy ramen lips could have caused. 

Maybe surviving a week living with the guy you like (who is your brother's best friend, which makes things a lot more complicated) will be harder than you thought.

"School's been kicking my ass," the boy continues and you nod your head, sadly sharing the sentiment. "I started my winter break last Friday, but I have to take a final in two weeks so I'll be studying. And Mark doesn't get a winter break."

"Motherfucking TY, won't let him rest."

"That's what I say!" He agrees with you, his eyes widening and sighing in exasperation. "Both of them are workaholics. Won't stop working on their music even for a week."

"Yeah. And knowing Mark, he'll try to make the most of his time since he doesn't have to teach at school for two weeks."

You knew in advance that your brother wouldn't be home much despite your visit, however extraordinary it may be. He warned you about it, that he would be focusing 100% on Taeyong's album, but that he would definitely try to take advantage of the free time to go out with you, or just chill together at home. On the other hand, Mark assured you that Donghyuck would be very happy to spend the time he wouldn't be there with you. The idea gave you butterflies in your stomach when your brother texted it to you; some emojis of a mischievous smile followed the message but you didn't know how to interpret it, since Mark is terrible at texting and pretty much a boomer.

"But don't worry!" Donghyuck speaks after a brief pause. "I'll study early in the mornings while you sleep, then we'll have the afternoons to hang out, and Mark can join whenever he's free. He'll make time for it, I'm sure."

Somehow, the thought of Donghyuck getting up early during his break to have the afternoons free to spend time with you makes your heart melt a little. You lower your head, trying to hide the inevitable smile on your lips, but you fail wildly. You decide to adhere to Donghyuck's plan, nodding and showing the tight-lipped smile that spreads to his face.

"Good." He nods as well. "So, you wanna go to Johnny's later?" Donghyuck asks, his thumb pointing in the direction of the door.

"Yeah, sure." You get up from the kitchen table to start doing your dishes at the sink. "I'm excited to see the boys after so long."

"And we have some new additions to the group."

Donghyuck's voice reaches your ears from behind. You're quickly cleaning the single bowl and glass you used, so you finish and turn around to keep listening to him face-to-face. Donghyuck picks up on his monologue. 

"There's Jungwoo. He's living with Jaehyun and Doyoung and he's about to finish doing vet in college. And it's funny, because he really looks and acts like a doggie, and he's doing vet," Donghyuck finishes the sentence, looking at you with an expression that suggests 'Can you believe that?'.

His silliness makes you laugh, which encourages Donghyuck to continue sharing his first impressions of his new friends. "Then there's Yuta. He came from Japan and opened a café on the first floor of the building where Johnny and Taeyong live, and that's how they met. He's a little cold with me," Donghyuck shrugs at it, yet you can tell in his expression how he gets discouraged when he thinks about that situation. "But he's not cold with Mark. And Mark is, I don't know, he's obsessed with Yuta." There is a brief silence in which Donghyuck only looks into your eyes with a super serious face. "I hate that."

And you burst into laughter. You don't need to ask Donghyuck if he's jealous, because you know for a fact that he very much is. As soon as he doesn't get all the attention, he gets annoying. Don't you dare not answer one of the silly cat reels he sends on Instagram or he will start texting you things like "Pay attention to me" or "Answer or I'll get sad." So you know how it can be. He doesn't get annoyed over the Baekhyun posts he shares with you because you always reply to them. Donghyuck might get jealous of Baekhyun too, but he won't show that to you.

"Don't worry, Hyuck." You circle the island to stand next to him and try to comfort him, one of your hands caressing circles on his back. He quickly seeks comfort by resting his head on your shoulder, and you can notice his slightly wet hair smells like green apple and cinnamon, like baby shampoo. "You're Mark's best friend. The things you've been through together, he won't get through again with anyone else. That's what's special about you two."

"You're right, y/n," he agrees while getting his head off your shoulder. "None of them will ever know Mark ran out of toilet paper at a party once and he sacrificed a sock to clean his-"

"Oh my fucking God" you cut him off before he can finish, not wanting to hear any of it. "Gross! Some things are better kept as a secret, Hyuck! I'll go change."

"But we are like a family!" he screams as you get out of the kitchen and into Donghyuck and Mark's room to get ready for Johnny's house. "Sharing those things helps us get closer!"

The walls are thin, so you don't bother answering Donghyuck from the room. "Honestly, Hyuck, I don't really care where my brother's butt has been or whatever. Let's get closer by sharing some drinks at Johnny's."

Wednesday, 01:47 a.m.

"So, how did you two meet?" Yuta asks, taking up the free space next to you on the couch and passing you two cans of beer. Exactly what you need after three rounds of karaoke with Johnny and Doyoung that are inexhaustible.

They're still going off strong in front of the TV, waiting for Mark to get back and join them in their madness.

"Oh, we're not together."

"Oh, that's for sure. I know you're not pulling any bitches, Hyuck."

Donghyuck laughs dryly at the Japanese boy, putting on his best expression of annoyance; tongue poking at his inside cheek and rolling his eyes, and he replies, "That's not true. I can pull anyone I want."

"Prove it," Yuta pushes him because he knows that Donghyuck is an easy-going person, and always a good target for a challenge.

Donghyuck quickly scans the room while you busy yourself taking a sip of your can, not wanting to get involved in Yuta's teasing, until he lands eyes on Jaehyun. He knows the boy loves him and is almost always up for some of his affection.

"Jaehyun's not an option," Yuta adds, the always good observant, and Donghyuck sighs very audibly before throwing his head back on the couch.

But he composes himself quickly to ask, turning slightly to you with his arm still firm around your shoulders. "Would you get with me? Hypothetically?"

“Are you asking me because I’m the only girl in the room?” you question him with a raise of your brows.

“Nah, you’re my first option,” he replies with a subtle smile, eyes closing slightly into the shape of two crescent moons.

You like to think he truly has no idea the effect his words have on you, and that he's just messing with Yuta, trying to prove a point. Yet, you can't help feel the heat rise to your cheeks. A deep breath is all it takes you to ignore the intern butterflies and follow the conversation, as if you're not already imagining the thousand scenarios where you and Donghyuck are an established couple living with two dogs (you would like a cat but he's allergic) and a hamster.

“But I thought your first option was Jaehyun–”

“Just answer the question, y/n.”

“Alright, jeez…”

You roll your eyes and give yourself a moment to think. Would you get together with Hyuck, hypothetically? Considering the four-year crush you've had on your brother's best friend since the moment you met him, no, you wouldn't.

You would get with him for real. All of your friends back home said it's time you brave up and just confess to him. You better come back with the signed marriage papers, your best friend’s voice resonates in your head.

"I mean… Yes?" you answer by looking at Yuta, trying to avoid Donghyuck's eyes that you know are set on the blushed skin of your face. "I guess Hyuck is not a bad match," you finish with a shy shrug, sinking yourself deeper on the couch and taking another long drink.

Donghyuck smiles contentedly at your answer, his chest filling with confidence, and kisses you wet with beer on the forehead that gets you squeezed up to his body for a second. By the time he's done, you rest your head on his shoulder to return the affection, trying not to throw up all the butterflies and not noticing Yuta's knowing stare.

"Keyword: hypothetically. And I said 'Prove it.'" Yuta pushes a little more.

"Bro, you're so annoying." Donghyuck gets up from the couch exasperated, and almost makes you spill all your beer while trying to get you up with him. "What, you want us to make out?"

Yuta nods, crossing his arms and spreading his legs on the couch that he has all for himself now, challenging the younger boy.

"Sorry dude, we're not into exhibitionism."

Donghyuck takes your hand to drag you away from the living room, but you can still hear Yuta's laugh and the words the two you would end up choosing to ignore for the rest of the night.

"This is not how you're getting some, Hyuck! Don't say I didn't try to help you!"

Donghyuck's hand holding yours (or rather dragging you into the kitchen) feels embarrassingly good. Worth blushing and having your heart fastening inside your chest. Damn Donghyuck for making you feel like a teenager who had just exchanged looks with their highschool crush. And just when you needed a break from that ridiculous wave of emotions…

“What are you wearing!?” You hear Johnny’s voice coming out of the speakers, as he’s still holding the mic to his mouth while the instrumentals of his most iconic karaoke performance play on the back, A Flying Butterfly by YB.

Mark and Taeyong have arrived at the apartment and they have caught everyone's attention because Taeyong is wearing an inflatable T-Rex costume. Jungwoo is the first one to get to Taeyong with his mouth open in astonishment, an expressión that is quickly replaced with amusement as soon as he gets to hug and squeeze the dinosaur in his hands.

“Jungwoo, stop squeezing my butt!” Taeyong’s voice comes a little distorted from inside the costume, but it’s clear enough for everyone to laugh at his comment. “You're going to make it deflate!”

Jungwoo keeps looking at Taeyong in the costume as if he was a kid who just saw Santa; hugging the dinosaur and saying it feels perfect for cuddling. This is the moment you understand what Donghyuck meant when he said Jungwoo looks just like an excited doggie.

“Taeyong saw it online and got it because it was on sale a couple weeks ago,” Mark starts explaining to no one in particular. “But then he ordered it and we completely forgot about it, until it arrived at the studio tonight.”

“I put it on inside the elevator so I could surprise you guys,” Taeyong adds with a happy smile, unzipping the costume just for his head to come out of it, somehow making it look all more ridiculous. Now the T-Rex looks like he has a floating head right above his stomach.

“Yeah… We had to stop the elevator for some more time because getting it inflated was way harder than I thought,” your brother says as he watches Taeyong and Jungwoo struggle with each other, because Jungwoo desperately wants to get inside the costume too but Taeyong doesn’t want to stop wearing it just yet.

Yuta only judges them from where he’s still sitting on the couch, arms crossed while shaking his head. “I can’t believe you really spent money on this.” Yet his comment is followed by a laugh. It’s not as intense as Doyoung and Taeil’s, though, who have been laughing since Taeyong crossed the door, and haven’t missed the chance to film and take pictures of  him (and Jungwoo who still wouldn’t leave his side.)

"Alright so," Johnny says into the mic to attract everyone's attention. "Karaoke?"

The guys start to team up; some out of affinity or fun, others because they know they will definitely win the most points if they are grouped with certain people who hit all the notes on any song. Donghyuck, however, doesn't team up with anyone right away. He just stands in the middle of Johnny's and Taeyong's living room, watching Mark immediately cling to Yuta (who already had Jungwoo clinging to his other side.) He gestures towards your brother with arms crossed and a roll of his eyes. So, noticing his jealousy over your brother's recent preferences—jealousy that wasn't that hard to notice, he made it pretty obvious—and taking pity on your friend, you offer to team up with him.

"Wanna kick some ass together?" And you observe him playing hard to get. You're not a bad match for karaoke; you might not sing as well as Taeil or Doyoung, but you don't suck at it, and Donghyuck knows that very well. So when he starts doubting over his answer, you know he just wants to mess with you.

Suddenly Taeil is standing in front of the two of you, and Donghyuck, with an incredibly exaggerated face of astonishment, asks him:

"You wanna team up with us?!"

See, you knew he wasn't going to leave you out of his team.

Taeil only shrugs, as relaxed as always. "Sure."

Donghyuck squeezes his older friend in a hug that only gets a groan out of Taeil (and a little smile) before throwing an arm each on your shoulders, and screams to the rest. "Everybody, we got Moon Taeil!"

A punch from your fist to his ribs. A little groan followed by a laugh coming out of his mouth and a gentle squeeze on your shoulder. He's quick to correct himself.

"I got Moon Taeil and y/n! And we're gonna kick your butts!"

Thursday, 6:22 p.m.

It's been a long time since Donghyuck has had a girl in his room.

It's not like Yuta was right when he said he can't pull anyone, Donghyuck just hasn't had the time nor the energy. His break and free time to do whatever he wants just started. Even when Mark's not home most of the nights, it doesn't feel quite right to him to bring girls over to his shared bedroom when his roommate could come back at any time. And even if he had wished to bring any girls home during his break, he knew you would be here, so he didn't wanna do that either. (Not that he's bothered that he can't bring girls home because of you. Actually he'd rather have you inside his bedroom than anyone else.)

So when he's watching you laying on his bed, reading a silly high-school novel you got from your brother's library and quietly keeping him company while he studies, his heart-rate fastens and he feels his cheeks rise its temperature. He grows embarrassed when, after seeing you smile so sweetly at him when you catch his eyes on you, the only thing he can think of is leaving those stupid Relativity notes behind, running over to your spot and stealing a kiss from your lips.

Yet Donghyuck remains motionless at his desk. He inwardly curses when you get up and start walking toward him, and wishes you wouldn't ask why he's so red because he can't blame it on the weather—it's the middle of winter.

To his surprise, you're curious about a totally different thing.

"What are you doing with all these comics?" you ask, picking up one of his Flash comics and opening it to a spot that Donghyuck has marked with a post it.

"I'm taking a class about Quantum Physics and Relativity and catching up on some work," he starts explaining, all his romantic fantasies put on pause to focus on the second thing (after you) that occupies his mind the most these days: college.

He watches your eyes grow with interest after hearing the name of his class, and he can't deny he gets all excited thinking about the possibilities: of having a girlfriend that would hear him talk about what he's most passionate about all he wanted. Knowing how much you've always enjoyed hearing the new things he's learned and about his most recent investigations, and noticing his feelings for you have only increased since you came back, Donghyuck's mind wonders.

"You know in the comics Flash supposedly travels at speeds close to light, right?" He watches you nod. "And he throws this infinite mass punch… Well, in one of the comics Flash punches this villain, and his fist is so powerful the villain will fly all over the ocean and land in another continent," he keeps explaining. "What are the chances of this actually happening, analyzing it from the relativistic perspective? That's what I'm looking into."

"And have you arrived to any conclusions?"

"Yeah, I have actually." He stars searching for a specific piece of paper which displays a bunch of calculations and formulas that you don't understand at all, but they look awesome.

Donghyuck doesn't wait for a specific reaction, yet your response cracks him up a little.

"Could you explain this for me? Dummy level?" you ask wrinkling your nose. Donghyuck wants to kiss the confusion off your face.

Honestly, he might be looking for any excuses to kiss you at this point. But, to be fair, he's liked you since that first time he cooked ramen for you the night you met—that was like four years ago. The only reason he has never made a move on you is because you're his friend's sister.

"Yeah, yeah I can do that." He lets out a breathy laugh, shaking these ideas out of his head once more. "Basically, that the mass of his punch is 'infinite' is a consequence of the relativistic effects of travelling at speeds near to light." He points at a calculation on the paper. "And if Flash punches you on the face he won't send you flying to another continent."

This time, Donghyuck watches the disappointment take over your features; smile and shoulders dropping at the same time. "He won't?"

Donghyuck denies with his head. "You would disintegrate in an instant. The energy of his punch is 750,000 times greater than the energy released by an atomic bomb exploding in your face."

You're not saying anything. You're just looking right into his eyes and it's making Donghyuck considerably nervous. Thankfully, he's been sitting all this time, because considering how close you're standing in front of him he's sure his knees would've given up on him a while ago.

He gulps. "I did the maths."

"You're a fucking genious."

Donghyuck melts hearing you praise his work.

“Okay. I’m ready,” Mark says as he waits for you at the room’s door.

Right, you and your brother were scheduled to have dinner together.

Donghyuck doesn't want you to go just yet, he doesn't want to stop chatting with you about irrelevant-to-the-society stuff like this, but he understands this is one of the few moments you’ll get to hang out with Mark alone, so he doesn’t tag alone when Mark offers him to.

“I’ll just have a light dinner and study a little bit more,” he politely declines. Then, he’s looking into your eyes once again. “Wanna chill together when you’re done with your brother?”

“You wanna watch Oppenheimer?”

Does he want to spend three hours watching a movie about an international bunch of nerds who just argue for more than two thirds of the plot, and some awfully awkward scenes of Mr. Oppenheimer flirting using physics that he definitely didn’t think of replicating with you? Again?

Donghyuck thinks you might be the love of his life. 

“Of-fucking-course I wanna watch Oppenheimer.” He thinks this might be a better answer, rather than confessing his undying love to you (in front of his best friend) (that is your brother.)

“Nobody’s gonna ask me if I want to watch Oppenheimer?” Mark questions with arms crossed and narrowed eyes.

“Mark, you were snoring inside the movie theater when we went to watch it together.”

“I had a long day, dude!”

“You literally came out of the theater and said ‘this was fucking boring for a World War Two movie’!”

“Well, I mean yeah–” Mark starts trying to defend himself but gets interrupted by you, when you start pushing him towards the door saying you’re hungry, and reminding him how most of the times they argue he can never win against Donghyuck. “But you gotta accept it was missing a little action, man.”

Donghyuck throws his head back, and then looks at your brother with his eyes squinted and a fake smile. “They were scientists, Mark, not soldiers–”

“Whatever!” you say when you’ve managed to get your brother out of the room. “We’re leaving. Hyuck–” Donghyuck notices his eyebrows relax, and the frown he had while arguing with Mark is gone as soon as you’re calling his name with a smile on your lips. “Looking forward to movie night.”

“I’ll get some beers for us,” Donghyuck adds, to which you agree excitedly.

Mark sighs once you’re on your way out of the apartment. “I swear to God,” he starts. “You two are like made for each other.”

You just punch his shoulder as a defense mechanism, not knowing how to react or manage your emotions when it comes to Donghyuck. And you definitely don't know Donghyuck catches a glimpse of your smile and your reddened cheeks before you close the front door.

That simple thing, maybe gives Donghyuck a little hope.

Friday, 11:13 a.m.

You can't believe you're jealous of a dog.

You watch the video play over and over on your phone screen. Donghyuck was literally rubbing his face on the little fur ball, using it as some kind of cotton pad, then showering the dog with kisses all over her little face.

Chenle's friends with the boys and he recently got a dog that he named Daegal. Today, Chenle and Mark were going to be working together since early and Chenle didn't want to leave the dog alone. Apparently, Donghyuck and Daegal love each other, and that's the reason why you're currently at Chenle's, at fucking eleven in the morning during your break.

Donghyuck and you were the designated babysitters of the dog.

You wonder over the video on your phone a little more, thinking of what to put as a caption to share it on your story. Maybe some emojis? Some angry emojis because Donghyuck won't even look at you now that he's with the doggie? Maybe cute emojis… Something like a sun, a heart, and a dog. Maybe the caption boyfriend material, or something in the lines of pay attention to me followed by some exclamation points.

You decide to post it with the text 'taking good care of the baby' and tagging Donghyuck and Chenle's account. It doesn't take long for two notifications to arrive. One is from Donghyuck, who just re-uploaded your story, and the other is a reply from Chenle. 'Who's the baby? Donghyuck or Daegal?' followed by a cracking up emoji.

A smile takes over your face reading it, and it stays there when you get your head up and your eyes meet Donghyuck, who's laying relaxed on the couch with the little fur ball on top of his belly. He has his cute transparent glasses on, and he's wearing some comfy pants and a hoodie that makes him look incredibly cozy and huggable.

His eyes find yours, and an arm extends in your direction, inviting you to join him on the couch with a pat besides his spot. His body radiates an enveloping heat that makes you forget it's winter, but it seems that it's not enough for Donghyuck, who grabs one of the soft blankets laying around the couch and puts it over the three of you.

The characteristic sound of Netflix reaches your ears and then Donghyuck is looking for the drama that you started watching together a couple of weeks ago, from your homes and when you both had some free time through Netflix Party. The third episode of My First True Love starts playing on the TV screen while you wait for the food you ordered earlier, and you feel content. Everything about the situation is too domestic and feels familiar, and you're not surprised when you think that you wouldn't mind getting used to this.

What is a surprise is when Donghyuck puts his arm over your head and offers you to get closer to him, resting a little more on his body.

"This is nice." You hear him say, almost in a whisper. The midday sun illuminates almost as much as his smile when you look up at him.

"It is," you agree, focusing once again at the TV (because looking at him was making you melt inside.)

"We could do it more often."

And by the increasing rate of his heart and the soft caresses in your hair, you knew he didn't mean just babysitting Daegal.

(Still) Friday, 04:02 p.m.

Donghyuck wakes up from his nap on the couch to the smell of coffee and missing the warmth from his two personal heaters, Daegal and you, who he remembers were still with him before he fell asleep. He sits and stretches in his place before moving towards the kitchen, where he already visualized your figure in front of the counter, with your back to him. You don't seem to notice him, so as he walks into the kitchen, he makes sure to greet you with a little hello.

You just look over your right shoulder at him, but you have to raise your head because Donghyuck is closer than expected. You greet him in the same way, but with a sweet smile on your face. "Hi, Hyuck."

Now that Donghyuck is so close, he can notice that the smell of coffee is coming from the machine in front of you that is filling two mugs with particular writings: one says 'best dad in the world', and the other says 'MARK' in big colorful letters (someone also took it upon themselves to print a photo of Mark holding a watermelon on it.)

"Chenle's mugs are fucking weird, don't you think?"

Donghyuck laughs hearing your question and decides to explain. "These are part of an inside joke. Chenle always says someone like Mark would be his ideal son, so your brother got these made for Chenle for last year's fathers' day." He finishes standing against the counter by your side, and thanks you when you handle him a warm home-made latte.

Donghyuck can't take coffee so well since most of the time it makes his stomach hurt, and you know this.

"You don't have to drink it. I remember you're not good with coffee," you tell him, but it's too late when Donghyuck's already sipping the first drink.

Yeah, he might have to use Chenle's bathroom later, but he's willing to face a shit rather than miss out on the opportunity to share a coffee made by you, on a winter afternoon where it's just the two of you and the sun filtering through the kitchen window falling on your face.

"I just thought it would've been disrespectful not making you one too."

You finish your sentence but smile watching him enjoying the coffee anyway, and Donghyuck thinks that maybe, just maybe, he's a little in love with you.

So he takes a deep breath, takes a lot of courage, and sets out to do what works best for him when it comes to you: pretend he's joking when in reality he's only on the verge of confessing his feelings. "Do I have something in my lips?"

"You do, actually," you answer his question pointing at your own upper lip with your finger to make him understand. "A little bit of foam around here–"

"Please do the Secret Garden scene."

"What?"

He's not hesitant to repeat it. Donghyuck internally questions himself though, wondering where all this confidence has come from. Because, yes, Donghyuck is very confident, naturally. But not when it comes to you. His knees go weak and his stomach starts to ache with nerves when he thinks of things like kissing you. In that sense, he will not waste this sudden confidence-rush.

"Please do the Secret Garden with me."

And this time around he can confirm you understood 100% what he means because your laugh and your punch on his arm indicate it. He notices it might be a reflex act of yours—punching people in the arm when you get nervous or don't know what to retort. He's glad he won't have to worry about punching mean guys when he makes you his girlfriend, though; you'll probably take care of that yourself.

Donghyuck still catches you staring at his lips the moment he gets rid of the foam with his tongue. And when you snap out of your trance, your eyes meet Donghyuck's and his eyebrows that move up and down, just to tease you a little more. A mischievous smile is also adorning his face.

He only watches you shake your head while your cheeks grow red, even when you try to hide it behind that big mug with the picture of your brother holding the watermelon.

"Anyway," he decides it will be better to change subjects. "Where's Daegal?"

"I thought she was sleeping with you?" You ask before you start looking around the place for the little fur ball.

"I mean, she was as long as I remember." Donghyuck watches you leave the kitchen and move around the living room, checking every corner for the dog you two were supposed to sacrifice your life for if needed (that's how Chenle described the seriousness of the duty). "You were too…" But you're far enough not to hear the disappointment in Donghyuck's voice after waking up all alone.

"She wasn't here when you woke up?" you ask, standing in front of the couch.

Donghyuck shakes his head no. You start picking up the tangle of blankets and throwing them in the direction of Donghyuck, who hardly catches them in his arms. It's confirmed that Daegal hasn't been trapped under the blankets and at least she hasn't suffocated to death. Although that doesn't give any of you any comfort; the doggie still is nowhere around.

"Oh my fucking god," you say, trapping your head in your hands. "We lost Chenle's dog."

"She has to be somewhere around."

"We lost Chenle's dog and we didn't even go out with her," he hears you repeat all the way from Chenle's bedroom, where Donghyuck checks if the little dog is hiding. He looks under the bed, inside the closet, and inside the bathroom, only to find nothing. "We must be the dumbest babysitters in the world," you finish when he's back in the living room.

He looks down at the watch on his wrist and notices it's almost four thirty, which makes him start to sweat from the nerves. "Chenle's about to come back. We need to find this dog right now."

"Chenle's gonna kill us."

"y/n, just look for the dog."

"He will find out and probably hire a contract killer to deal with us for losing his baby." Donghyuck sees your desperation and calls your name once more, but you don't listen to him. "I'll never see Baekhyun live again!"

And the doorbell rings, followed by a knock on the door and Chenle's screams coming from outside, telling you to let him in.

"Fuck my life," Donghyuck mutters and goes to open the door.

"Hyuck!" you hiss while following him closely. "What are you gonna tell him?"

He silences you, looking back at you and placing his index finger over his lips. Donghyuck takes a deep breath, puts his hand on the handle, sweats a little more despite fighting to calm his nerves, and finally opens the door. Mark is the first to enter, anyway, and he doesn't greet any of you; he simply calls for Daegal, and Donghyuck knows that this is the moment where he should start begging Chenle to let him keep his life and promise him that he will find another dog that looks exactly like–

"Daegal!"

Like the little white ball of fur in your brother's arms.

Donghyuck looks back at you once more, his eyes and mouth wide open in astonishment, and you return an equally astonished look.

"Thanks guys for taking good care of the baby," Chenle says once he's done greeting his dog, who appeared literally out of nowhere and left you and Donghyuck stressed enough for probably three or four months. "She didn't give you any problem, right?"

"Oh, no. Definitely, no." Donghyuck and you are quick to deny at the same time, which might sound a little suspicious as Chenle looks at both of you with narrowed eyes.

Then, he's moving his head to focus his gaze on the mess you left behind when you were rummaging through the couch and the blankets, looking for the dog. "Alright, lovebirds. Then I hope that disaster isn't because you two fucked on my couch while I was gone."

part two coming next week !

taglist: @matchahyuck @sundamariis @thesunsfullmoon @babyjenono @chenfleur @bettyschwallocksyee @sundhaelatte @injunier @justalildumpling @lanadreamie @dhyucktopia @143rachafm

[hifuminnn]

hello!! can i request scenario or hc (which ever is easier for you!!) of ichiro with a super clingy f!s/o?? like constantly wanting to hold hands or lean on him and would get a little whiny if he had to leave etc. thank you sm :3

this is so cute!! i hope you like it anon :,)

Ichiro x super clingy f!so

"Baby..." Ichiro looked down at his girlfriend who had wrapped her arms around his waist as he tried to leave the house. "I know you'll miss me but I have to leave for this delivery or they'll cut my pay...you know that," he sighed. You pouted, looking up at him with puppy-dog eyes, "Can I come along? I promise I won't get in your way." With a tired sigh, he smiled softly at you and shook his head. "I know you want to come along baby but you know I can't do that, the client would probably hate that." Your pout deepened as you whined, "But you promised to stay at home with me today..." Ichiro placed both hands on your shoulders and pushed you away gently, leaning in to give you a soft kiss on your forehead, "I'll be back real soon okay? In the meantime, you can hug Ichiteddy." He gestured at something on the couch.

You followed your boyfriend's line of sight, landing on the teddy bear that lay on the couch in the living room. Ichiteddy had been a birthday present from Ichiro. Being the clingy girlfriend that you were, he knew that he would never hear the end of it whenever he tried to leave the house and hence decided to get a quick "body double" to keep you company instead. After all, he was kind of tired of sneaking out of the house when you were asleep or busy. You've loved it ever since, sometimes even making it a point to give Ichiteddy all your kisses even though your boyfriend was right next to you. Making him jealous never really worked, however, because you loved your boyfriend too much to not jump into his arms and pepper him with kisses. Occasionally, you would spray Ichiro's cologne onto Ichiteddy, hugging it whenever you felt down or alone.

You sighed, pursing your lips. Dragging your feet over to the couch, you plopped down onto it unceremoniously as you picked up Ichiteddy. Holding it close to your heart, you made a sad wave at Ichiro who was now frowning at you. "I'm sorry my love...I know I made a promise to be with you and everything..." He walked over to where you were sitting, sitting down beside you and leaning in to give you a kiss on the forehead. That dragged out a delightful giggle from your lips and he grinned, happy to see such a smile on his beloved girlfriend's face. "Well...you better be back soon okay?" You muttered, intertwining your fingers with his, "I'll be waiting." He nodded, bringing his lips in close to yours as he gave you a quick peck on the lips, "I know."

Extra HCs:

He loves the attention honestly, Ichiro's also a very clingy boyfriend so he'd be more happy to indulge in your requests to kiss him and hold his hand

Physical touch is one of his love languages so no matter what he always finds a way to put his arm around you

He ABSOLUTELY loves giving you forehead kisses because he thinks it's the most intimate thing ever and he loves it when you give him cheek kisses

Cuddles all the way

Sometimes has a Yamada family + you group hug with Saburo and Jiro as well because he wants his brothers to like their future sister-in-law (you)

[polvillodecanela]

For later - Something something Hob can see the dead something something.

Like all stories, this one started with a garden. But it wasn't the first garden ever or a garden in a nice house in Tadfield. This story begins with a garden in a now demolished house, in Varsovia.

The year is 1939, Dream of the Endless has been imprisoned for all the first great war and the pandemic that went after it. Death of the Endless has had the most busy time since the Roman wars and, let's face it, she's awfully overworked. That's why Destiny of the Endless managed to pull that especific scenario out of his book to reality.

Captain Howard (Hob) Gallen, medical soldier, actual inmortal, flies up the air as one of the bombs destroys what little left of said garden. He knows he won't die, it will hurt of course but he will heal. The ones with him though?

He falls right on his ass, wincing. A leg is broken, maybe some ribs, definitely his shoulder is dislocated. his head is a mess of scrambled brains, but he is concious and that is a blessing. beside him, a poor corporate falls on his back, Hob hears the breaking of bones, spinal bones. This lad is over. maybe the head too but Hob has some ringing in his ears from the explotion.

He crawls the few centimeters and tries to hold the poor lad's hand.

"Hey, John, buddy", he says trying for a smile "Hey, you are alright, yu hear me? I'll help you out"

"Sir", the poor fellow almost whines, there's a whistle in his breathing. Bad signal. "Sir, please, I don't want to die."

"Me neither, son, we got this. Please resist for me, yeah? be a good buddy and resist for me"

Hob knows is futile. But he is obsessed with living and that includes all the people surrounding him. Hknows in his heart of hearts that the lad is going to die. maybe he is already halfway.

"Sir, I know. I am not going to make it. I need a favor of you, sir"

"Whatever you want, son"

The lad takes a photo of his pocket. A beautiful lady, a fragile sweet thing made of lithe bones and wavy hair.

"She is Esme. We were going to marry. I want you to tell her... that I was no coward"

"She will know, son. You fought bravely"

Hob has just enough time to mutter his promise before he felt another impact. He felt his body coming apart and how one of his legs just ... disapeared. he wont die but, God, sometimes he wish he did.

Death of the Endless wasn't far but in someting that could only be described as "being so overworked you can't literally see" she doesn't feel the tug of Poor John's soul, calling for her. She keeps collecting, smiling kindly, offering comfort. She keeps doing whatever she can. She is tired and Destiny is almost smiling.

Captain Howard Gallen wakes up two weeks later on a Military Hospital. He has his leg back and all his cuts, if painful, are almost healed. He survived. He, also, is watching poor John standing by the foot of his bed. He looks angry but also hopeful.

The sound hob makes is so undignified that it doesnt deserve quoting here, understandable as it is since John looks exactly how someone would look if they were reached by two - not one -bombs and survived.

"You are awake finally! quick, I feel a pull that is eating me. Off to Esme we go"

And, honestly, he is way past his 600 years, he must know some thing or two about the supernatural. This still takes him by surprise.

[rinwellisathing]

Further untitled writings regarding Jaina Thalassia:

Jaina hummed to herself as she carefully drew the summoning circle in the dirt. It had taken conferring with Gale, Karlach, and Octavia, but she finally felt she had an idea of how this particular one should work.

Before the finishing touch, she reached into a small reagent pouch at her hip and drew a handful of seasalt, sprinkling it around the circle, singing quietly to herself. "His hair it hangs in ringlets, his eyes as black as coals, my happiness attend him until he sails home. From Rivington to Reithwin, I'll wander weep and moan all for my Jolly Sailor until he sails home..."

She hummed a bit more as she finished her circle and tossed a bloodied coin into the center, standing back with her arms folded across her chest, blue eyes cast toward the center.

"Really, Wyll, I would think that you....oh....you're not him. Interesting." Red eyes stared back at her as the taller woman sized the young tiefling up. "Mmm and I suppose you think you're clever using blessed salts, do you?"

"No, not really. I'm not as fond of patting myself on the back for cheap shots at easy targets as you seem to be." Jaina replied, examining her nails. "Actually I just wanted to talk."

"Then why the precautions, little girl?" Mizora smirked, matching Jaina's flippant stance.

"I wanted you to stay and listen, to believe me when I tell you that you're playing a losing game. I'm quite persistent, after all, and I made Wyll a promise." Her stare was intense, but there was a calculating coldness to it.

"Oh really? It will just crush his heart when you can't keep it. But then again, I suppose after his little altercation with his father, he's used to being betrayed by people he loves." The Cambion sighed, the very picture of bored and unimpressed.

"Good. Keep underestimating me. Father always said it's better that way." Jaina paced around the circle, tail raised and tip flicking as she did. Her expression never changing from that icy gaze. She needed to find her winning scenario, an upper hand. But none was forthcoming.

Mizora's mocking gaze didn't bother her, not really. Jaina was used to it from coworkers and the parents of her students alike. She was used to being underestimated. She only wished her brother was here with her, maybe Tibs' practical, strategic mind would see something she couldn't, but she had managed without her twin before and she could do it again.

Without an apparent weakness, she was aware she would need to wait until she had something Mizora wanted, or better something she needed. But that time would come, Jaina knew she could count on that, and when it did there were none better at bartering than Pirates and Jaina had learned at the feet of the best before she was old enough to walk.

"Well, this has been pleasant, but if I wanted to watch some plain girl posturing, I would simply visit any tavern in Baldur's Gate." Mizora feigned a yawn. "Sweep away that salt so I can return home."

Jaina smirked, wide enough for a quick gap toothed grin. "Sure, right away, ma'am. " and Mizora would find herself splashed with a wave of sea water just before she would be able to teleport home to Avernus. "Whoops... how clumsy of me, good thing hell fire is great for drying off...though I guess that would, in fairness, constitute a cheap shot at an easy target...oh well ."

"Hey soldier. What smells like wet cat?" Karlach yawned sleepily, wandering up beside Jaina and looking around.

"Something the owlbear cub dragged in. Don't worry about it." Jaina waved off the question. "Want to have a drink? Shadowheart made the mistake of showing me where her wine is.

"Alright, but if she catches us, I'm not taking the fall." The taller tiefling laughed.

"Oh, and you'd let tiny, innocent me take the blame?" Jaina stuck out her lower lip and gave Karlach a wide eyed look of betrayal.

"I've seen you pull that for a discount on enough merchants, Jaina, no way am I falling for it." She clapped the smaller woman on the back and chuckled good naturedly. "Nice try though. "

"Well, it was worth a shot." Jaina rolled her eyes and then motioned for Karlach to follow her. "Now how would you feel about helping me help Wyll and knowing that as a bonus we would be screwing Mizora over...."

[aetheternity]

Draken, Chifuyu, Mitsuya, the Kawata twins and Kazutora in:

When they see you with your ex.

Disclaimer: E/N means Ex's name. The ex changes gender for each one to be more exclusive I'm sorry if it feels confusing. Kazutora's has mild angst but otherwise this is really sfw.

🌟 Draken

☆ He'd kinda crashed Mikey and Emma's day out. You'd told him you had something to do this weekend so what else was he supposed to do with his free time? The three of them had stopped to eat on the outdoor patio at a nice restaurant and while Emma and Mikey chatted away about something school related. Draken sat quietly sipping his tea.

☆ You'd been kinda weird when he'd asked why the two of you couldn't hang out today. You didn't even tell him what it was you were doing instead. And you always told him literally everything about your life. Sometimes unprompted.

• "Hey, isn't that Name?" Emma's voice suddenly caught his attention.

• "Who's the guy?" Mikey questioned in between bites of his food.

☆ Draken's head shot in the direction Emma had pointed in. Sure enough there you were, talking with a guy who was about the same height as Draken. Weirdly enough Draken felt like he'd seen this guy somewhere before.

• "Is that?.. E/N?"

☆ Draken squinted still staring at the two of you talking. You didn't exactly look happy but you and your ex were standing way too close. He felt a little pang in his heart.

• "Maybe she just.." Emma cut herself off. Your arm came up to wrap around your ex's neck. Pulling him in for a hug which he just as soon reciprocated.

• "Let's just go." Draken said and Emma seemed to immediately agree. As soon as Draken and Emma squeezed back into the open doors of the restaurant Mikey hightailed it in the opposite direction.

• "Dammit Mikey!"

• "Mikey!" Emma called but it was definitely too late for that.

☆ Mikey ran up behind you tapping your shoulder as Emma and Draken made their way down to the scene that was now forming.

• "Are you cheating on Ken chin?" Mikey questioned with zero hesitation. His face stern and his shoulders bared.

• "Mikey.." You said

• "I would've preferred to do this later." Draken grit. Though Mikey didn't even spare him a glance.

• "This is.. your new boyfriend right?" E/N asked

• "Name." Emma began "I know you wouldn't cheat on Draken.."

☆ You sighed putting some space between Mikey who looked two seconds away from punching someone and your ex whose confusion seemed to grow the longer this went on.

• "I'm not, I would never.." You sighed before continuing on. "He's dating my friend now and since we had some bad blood between us.. I figured I should try to get along with him since he's staying in my life. But I'm so sorry Ken Ken, I should've told you yesterday when you asked."

☆ Mikey stepped to the side as you held out your hand for Draken to take. He wasted no time pulling you into his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of your forehead.

• "Don't ever do this again."

• "Go out with my ex without explaining myself? Or get caught going out with my ex without explaining myself?"

• "All of it." Mikey interjected, hands placed in his pocket but his normal smile was starting to reappear.

• "Go home you two. I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon with these two."

• "Oh? Is it because you're worried something will happen?" You asked Draken laced your finger tips slipping your hand into his pocket.

• "I was never worried, I just wanted to spend time with you." He explained

☆ Definitely should've just invited him in the first place because within a couple hours your ex and Draken have become better friends than the two of you were supposed to be.

🌟 Chifuyu

☆ Him and Takemichi decided to spend the afternoon in Chifuyu's favorite manga shop since sitting at home had become tiresome.

☆ Takemichi had organized a small pile of books around his body like a nest while Chifuyu just searched the aisles aimlessly. He didn't have a book in mind before coming here so he figured he'd pick one out from his favorite section once they got there.

• "Hey Chifuyu?" Takemichi looked up as Chifuyu flipped through one book while he held another in his hand.

• "I can't buy both of these. Takemichi which one do you think is better?"

• "Isn't that Name?" Takemichi pointed over the stack of books on his left sure enough just outside the aisle was you with a girl chatting away.

• "Who's the girl Name's talking with?" Takemichi asked looking up at Chifuyu, though Chifuyu had already ducked his way behind the bookshelf peering out of the aisle at the current scenario.

• "What the hell are you doing?" He asked coming over.

• "That's Name's ex."

• Takemichi fell in line next to Chifuyu peering over his head, "I didn't know Name dated girls too.."

• "Yeah.. it's not a big deal.." Chifuyu said as the two of you giggled about something a couple feet away.

• "If it's not a big deal why are we hiding?"

• "Shh!" Chifuyu ducked back as you and your ex walked a little ways away. "Come on let's follow them."

• "Why don't we just go talk to them?" Takemichi followed reluctantly.

• "I don't want Name to think I came here because I was stalking-"

☆ Just as Chifuyu had made it to the next aisle he tripped over a snag in the carpet causing an oblivious Takemichi to bump into him. A loud oof from both of them alerting you and your ex of their presence.

• "Chi?" You called annndd now you were coming over. "Hey Chi, what are you doing here?"

• "This is my favorite manga place." Chifuyu answered with a grunt, stepping into the aisle.

• "I know.. I just thought you and Takemichi would be at your place."

• "What's going on?.. This is what you were busy with?" He gestured between the two of you.

• "Chi." You stepped forward and Chifuyu took one step back. "You know how me and, E/N are childhood best friends and how my grandmother is sick right now? My grandmother is basically a second mother to her so she invited me out to take my mind and her's off things, She suggested we come in here and I said ok but it wasn't right of me to not tell you, I'm sorry baby."

☆ Chifuyu looked between you and your ex his eyes slowly beginning to soften.

• "I'm not mad love. It was just weird you don't normally do underhanded things like this." He pulled you into his chest for a hug and you wrapped your arms around his waist.

• "You should come with us." E/N said pointing to Chifuyu and Takemichi. "Name won't stop talking about how wonderful you are as a boyfriend anyway."

☆ A bright pink flutters over both you and Chifuyu's cheeks as Takemichi snickers behind you both.

• "Next time you can bring Hina and we can make this into an outing." Chifuyu said, poking Takemichi in his side with his elbow before wrapping his arm around your midsection.

☆ You guys probably end up staying in the store for a couple more hours honestly because if there's anything you and Chifuyu have in common it's your love for manga.

🌟 Mitsuya

☆ He'd been running errands for his mother all morning so by the time he reached the supermarket he was completely exhausted. He pushed his shopping cart through the aisles with a long sigh, checking off items as he went.

☆ He rounded the last corner glad that his day was nearly over and already thinking about what he was going to prepare for dinner when the sound of your voice caught his attention.

☆ His first assumption was that he was so tired he was imagining it but the airy ring of your laugh soon validated his suspicions. You'd told him you were hanging out with friends today after all.

☆ He grabbed the last thing on his list deciding to go say hi. He wheeled the cart directly into the next aisle walking up as you and a person he didn't recognize were having a chat with an elderly woman.

• "You two are so cute together." The woman gestured with a small smile.

• "Oh.. no we're exes and friends." E/N explained

• "Aw I'm sorry things didn't work out for you two." The woman nodded

☆ You opened your mouth to respond but Mitsuya's warm gaze caught your attention first.

• "Suya, hey!" You greeted, walking over to greet your boyfriend with a small hug.

• "That's the actual boyfriend." Your ex explained to the woman.

• "This is the friend you told me about yesterday?" Mitsuya asked looking at your ex with a blank expression.

☆ The tension in the aisle could be sliced with a knife and the lady from before quickly walked away to another side of the store.

• "We are just friends now I promise. There's nothing going on between us and they're having a party tonight that's why we're here." You gestured to your ex who awkwardly waved back. "I was going to invite you later so that you could sneak out when Luna and Mana are asleep."

• Mitsuya nodded his expression softening as he reached up to cup your cheek, "I wish you had just explained that earlier, next time just tell me I won't be angry."

• "I will, I promise." You gave him a quick peck which he reciprocated. "I'm going to head with Suya but I'll see you at the party later?" You asked turning to your ex.

• "Yeah, I'll see you then." They replied as they left.

☆ And yeah sure Mitsuya said he was cool with it but you two ended up skipping the party and after dinner you both stayed in bed all night.. (Do with that what you will. 🙃)

🌟 Nahoya/Smiley

☆ You'd only been dating Nahoya for a month and everyday you two met up at the same place after school.

☆ Sometimes (like today) he'd grab Souya/Angry and head out to meet you. Today the three of you were just supposed to grab a quick bite to eat before heading to the Toman meeting.

☆ The second the two of them had stopped their bikes Souya pointed you out where you were holding a box and talking to some stranger.

• "Who's that guy?" Nahoya's grin tightened as he watched the way the guy yapped away while you just silently listened.

• "He looks like somebody." Souya pondered for a second before his gaze fell on his brother. "I recognize his face he was in some picture on Name's wall."

☆ Nahoya didn't wait another second to storm over to the situation Souya trotting along behind with his teeth grit.

• "What the hell is this?" Nahoya grunted though his smile never wavered. The indent of anger extremely noticeable on his forehead.

• "Hoya, this is E/N he-"

• "E/N as in your ex?" Souya chimed up before you could finish.

• "You invited your ex here when you knew I was coming? What kind of shit are you pulling here Name?"

☆ His smile began to dip at the edges but it was obvious he was trying to keep up his natural facade. His fists clenching at his side, book bag carefully slipped into Souya's arms behind him.

• "I just needed my stuff back, I promise." You tried to explain, shaking the box in your possession for Nahoya to see.

• "I didn't mean to intrude on your-"

• "You shut the fuck up!"

• "Hoya!"

• "So you thought you should invite him on our date? Are you trying to piss me off?"

• You stomped your foot exasperation slowly starting to take over in your face and tone. "Hoya, I didn't invite him! I told him I was here and he's gonna be on vacation for three weeks but I needed my camera back." You hold up the camera that you'd fished from the box, Desperation thick in your voice. "So he decided to drop my stuff off with me and you just happened to get here before he could leave." You rest your fingertips on the bridge of your nose. Glad for the silence that soon arises.

• "I should go." Your ex whispers doing a little scoot around Nahoya who still hadn't completely cooled off.

• "Hey, stop it." Nahoya grips your chin pulling your shaky form closer to himself. "You should've just asked me to get your shit for you."

• You muster a little giggle, sniffling and wiping your face with the back of your hand. "You would've kicked his ass then brought me my stuff."

• "He would've deserved it."

☆ You pull Nahoya closer though he's still a little hesitant to return your affection.

• "Let me make it up to you please? You and Souya." You turn to Souya who's still holding both his and Nahoya's backpacks.

• "You're paying for lunch today." Nahoya replies pulling you into his side. He lowers his voice leaning into your ear as Souya walks ahead to his bike. "And if I ever see that jackass again I'll break his jaw."

🌟 Kazutora

☆ Baji and him had spent the day riding their motorcycles until they decided to take a break not too far away from the shrine where Toman meetings were always held.

☆ They soon found themselves parking their bikes and skipping stones by the riverbed.

• "So, why is it that you're hanging out with me instead of your partner today?" Baji asked as his stone plopped into the water.

• "They said they had something going on." Kazutora replied

• "If I was with someone that gorgeous I'd be willing to go with them but whatever."

• "Maybe you should have someone before you start dishing out relationship advice."

☆ Baji grinned wide throwing a soft punch which Kazutora caught with a snicker pretending to right hook him. It soon lead into a chase with Baji dodging all of Kazutora's playful jabs walking backwards and making sound effects to go along with each swipe of his fists.

☆ Baji grabbed both of Kazutora's fists pushing him back until he nearly tumbled onto his ass. His laugh unbridled in its volume.

• "Come here Kazutora I'll show you how to throw a real punch."

• "What the fuck.." Kazutora's gaze followed two people walking along the path that went just overhead.

☆ Baji's head whipped around to track Kazutora's gaze stopping on the two people walking side by side almost out of sight at this point.

• "Is that-" Kazutora was nearly gone by the time Baji had processed the words. "Hey!" He called out running to catch up but Kazutora had already sprinted to the top of the bank, jogging along to catch up to the people they'd spotted.

• "Name!" His voice boomed closing the distance scarily quick.

☆ You'd stopped dead in your tracks, turning to face the chilling look in your boyfriend's eyes as he stood before you. Baji right behind and practically out of breath.

• "Who is that?" Kazutora pointed

• "Tora.. baby don't freak out.."

☆ His earring clinked against his face as he stared into your eyes.

• "Are you leaving me now? Is that it?"

• "Tora!" You huff, putting your hands out.

• "Kazutora.." Baji called out already sensing the weight of the situation.

• "She's my ex but listen-"

• "So you are cheating on me.." Kazutora's jaw locks and when you reach out for his sleeves with pleas of his name he just slaps your arms away.

☆ When he leaves he runs for his bike. His leg anchored over the side already gripping the handle bars tightly when Baji's loud scream of his name rips through the air.

☆ He's got his bike out of park but just as he starts to drive away you dash out from nowhere and yank his handle bar.

• "Dammit Tora listen to me!!" You beg, he can clearly see the beginnings of tears stinging the corners of your eyes as you hold onto the hand still clutching his handlebars.

• "What could you possibly say? That it didn't mean anything? That you love me?!"

• "Yes! I do love you! You mean everything to me! I needed to be with E/N today because her mom went missing a couple days ago! The woman that took me in and loved me all my life is out there somewhere and no one knows anything about it so dammit Kazutora if you love me even half as much as I love you, don't leave me right now!"

☆ You latched onto his jacket letting your loud sobs fill the now quiet air.

• "You told me.. You love me.." His whispered tone barely reaches your ears as you continue to choke on your own tears.

• "I.. love you.. Tora.." You hiccuped

☆ His arms wrapped gently around your waist, face deep in the crook of your neck as you slowly began to relax.

• "I'm sorry." You felt him tremble as he held you closer than he ever had before. "I love you.." He reciprocated. "I'm here.."

🌟 Souya/Angry

☆ Souya tended to listen more than you realized. Like when you go on and on about a band you absolutely adore to the point where he stays up until almost 12 am to snag tickets for the two of you to go see them on the weekend. And this was that weekend.

☆ He'd been nearly bursting with excitement over it and now he could finally surprise you with the news after holding it in for a solid week.

☆ He parked his bike across the street from your house, reaching into his jacket pocket for the umpteenth time to check that both tickets were there. After a few more minutes of preparing, blowing into his hand to check his breath, smoothing his sweaty hands over his jacket. He rung your doorbell. The heel of his toe tapping against the floor as he waited for you to answer.

☆ When the door finally opened a person much taller than Souya answered.

• "Yup." The person pursed their lips one hand on the tool belt wrapped around their waist. For a second Souya pondered if he'd somehow rung the wrong doorbell until he looked at the number in plain view embellished on your door front.

• "Who are you?" It definitely came off more aggressive thanks to Angry's naturally violent resting face.

☆ Before the person could answer you came bounding down the stairs, pulling the door open wider.

• "Why the hell would you answer my door?" You spit at the person standing beside you as you pull your boyfriend inside, shutting the door behind him.

• "I think you mean thank you."

• "Fuck off." You tell the person who was already walking back to the kitchen.

☆ The naturally angry imprint on Souya's face seems to deepen as he makes eye contact with you.

• "I wish you had called." You sighed, tugging Souya into the living room by his jacket sleeves.

• "Who the hell is that?"

• "You remember how I said my ex is in the remodeling business.."

• "That's your ex?"

• "Yes but listen! If I work with him I can get a discount, I just want that wall taken out to open up the space a bit more." You gesture to the kitchen where your ex is currently examining the wall. "I would've told you sooner but between my friend coaxing me into doing this remodel and that drunk night with you and Nahoya it was hard to find time."

☆ Souya dipped his hands into his pockets, staring blankly into the distance. His brow furrowed deeper than normal and his foot tapped against the hardwood.

• "If you're uncomfortable with this I'll get someone else.."

• "Get someone else."

• "Wait before you answer." You scoot closer to your still ticked boyfriend and he makes eye contact with you again. "This kind of remodel normally costs way more than the bargain I'm getting with them."

☆ Souya blinked blankly at you.

• "Sou plllleeeeaaasssee, you can be here whenever they are." You gesture to the kitchen.

• "No I can't I have a job."

• "Fine.. I'll call you the entire time." He sighed with a roll of his eyes. And you rubbed both his arms with a long groan of his name. "How about this, I bring you and them to dinner. Once you see how disinterested I am you might be more for it."

• "Not worried about you, I'm worried about them." His forehead rubbed against yours and you giggled.

• "I promise I only love you."

• "Would you love me more if I got tickets to your favorite band for today?"

• "I'm never leaving you." You proclaim wrapping your arms tightly around Souya's midsection. "That's a proposal by the way we're engaged now. I don't make the rules."

• "E/N I'm engaged now!" You yell towards the kitchen.

• "I heard, congrats!" They yelled back

☆ Souya just scoffed but his cheeks bloomed into the deepest shade of red as he walked upstairs with you to your bedroom to help you pick out an outfit for the concert.

[animeomegas]

Hi monarch! I hope you’re feeling better🥺 the latest pup headcanons have been so cute my heart😩😩 I saw your new mini event and when you said that they’d have the emotional state of a child I couldn’t stop thinking about Sasuke and how he would sort of use this opportunity to just be openly sad and crying (even tho it’d embarrass him so much in the future) and it just akshaksnaosjson

(Yes, I'm feeling much better today! Oooh, this is good, I like this!!! Child Sasuke is still hesitant to show emotion because he gets embarrassed, but a child isn't good at keeping their emotions hidden, so he doesn't really get a choice 😉 Enjoy this little scenario! @queenondeezmatatas)

Warnings: Sasuke has a panic attack

Looking down at your now significantly younger mate, two thoughts were running through your head: One, how could one child possibly be so adorable? And two, it was a good job he was so adorable, because he was also one of the most annoying children you'd ever had the displeasure of meeting.

He refused to let you pick him up, he would judge every idea you gave him for entertainment, and he was also extremely jealous over your attention.

As much as this whole experience was a very good opportunity for adorable pictures and blackmail, you really hoped this jutsu wore off sooner rather than later.

"Sasuke," you took a deep breath to try and keep your patience. "I've already told you, I don't think we have any paper, and if we do, I can't find any."

Sasuke huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, looking at you like a disappointed boss even though he was under two feet tall right now.

"Then look harder," he demanded in the little high pitched voice you'd grown sick of hearing.

"I can't make paper magically appear, Sasuke."

Sasuke huffed again, turning his head away from you.

"I'll look for it then!" he declared before immediately stomping down the hall away from you. Rolling your eyes, you reluctantly followed behind him to make sure he didn't get into anything he shouldn't, but you still gave him some distance to avoiding him reprimanding you for treating him like the child he currently was.

You followed him up the stairs, but waited there and let him go on alone in his futile search for the mythical paper you didn't have.

For a few minutes you listened to Sasuke ransack the rooms, huffing in displeasure when he had to leave empty handed, but then all of a sudden, everything was quiet. Suspiciously quiet.

"Sasuke?" you called out hesitantly, stepping further into the landing. "Are you okay?"

No response.

"Sasuke?" you called again, this time with a panicked edge to your voice as you peaked into each room trying to find him. "This isn't funny, Sasuke."

At that moment, quiet, quick breathing hit your ears, coming from the inside of the hall cupboard.

"Sasuke?" you hurried your steps towards the cupboard and wrenched the door open, hoping he hadn't managed to hurt himself somehow.

Sasuke was there, thankfully unharmed, but that didn't mean he was okay. His small shoulders were shaking as he clutched something in his hands that you couldn't see in the shadows.

Tentatively, you put a hand on his back, feeling the tremors running through him.

"Hey, sweetheart, what happened? Did you get scared of the dark?" you tried to get through to him, but your words didn't seem to make an impact on him.

You realised why when you finally caught a glimpse of what he was holding in his hands.

It was one of Itachi's old clothes from before the massacre. Sasuke, for all his promises of revenge, had never damaged or destroyed any of Itachi's belongings, he'd only ever shoved them into the back of a cupboard and never opened it. This cupboard.

Sasuke's relationship with Itachi was almost impossible for Sasuke to process and deal with then he was an adult, but as a child? His mind had just shut down.

"C'mon, Sasuke," you firmly pulled him out of the cupboard, trying to remove him from the cupboard. Sasuke struggled against you, but ultimately, he was no match for you in this form, so you easily tugged him out and into your embrace. "It's alright, you're okay, Sasuke, you're okay."

"Itachi," Sasuke whimpered, fist firmly clenched on the shirt. "I can't-"

"Let go of this," you pulled the shirt out of his grip and let it fall to the floor while you picked Sasuke up. "That's it, good boy, I've got you."

Sasuke sobbed incoherently against your shoulder, his tiny body still shaking. Your heart clenched in your chest as you watched, helpless. It only hurt you more to realise that all of this was still present in his adult form. That your mate had been carrying all of this around with him and never letting anyone know.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-" Sasuke sobbed.

You hummed a lullaby while you walked back downstairs, Sasuke held firmly in your embrace. There wasn't anything you could say to comfort him, so you just rocked him back and forth, humming a lullaby all the while.

You hummed until your voice hurt, but you refused to stop. He needed you, he needed you to be strong for him now more than ever.

After about an hour and a half, Sasuke cried himself to sleep. His blotchy face was smushed into your shoulder and he hanged limply, exhausted.

Gingerly, and without jostling Sasuke too much, you pulled every blanket and pillow you owned onto the sofa. You wanted him to wake up feeling safe and warm and protected, so you sat in the corner, holding Sasuke securely on your lap as you built an impromptu pillow fort around him until you were both warm and obscured from the rest of the house.

"You're okay, Sasuke," you whispered gently, running your hands through his hair. He was so small and weak like this, and everything had obviously come flooding into his small brain in a way he couldn't cope. In a way, you were glad that he'd been able to have some emotional catharsis. You knew the way he bottled everything up wasn't good for him, but that still didn't mean you liked watching him fall apart.

You relaxed against the back of the couch, making sure to keep your hands locked firmly around Sasuke. You needed to get some rest too, so you were alert and ready to help him when he woke up.

"Goodnight, Sasuke," you whispered. "Goodnight."

[hajimesh]

𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁

⥅ eren jaeger / 1.8k words

warnings. manga spoilers, fluff and angst, gender neutral reader

a/n. my entry for anilysium's collab, don't forget to check the masterlist !! thank u sm temi for the beta ♡ @thefairywalker

hope is what makes someone hold onto a promise. and that hope it's worse than the broken promise itself.

—

845.

an autumn-like breeze cooled down the summer afternoon, and with the sky barren of any clouds, it was easier for the sun rays to land on those familiar blond strands.

"over there!"

eren's small hand—even though it was big enough to cover yours—wrapped around your wrist before it tugged you through the crowd. your rapid breaths were all you could hear while you mentally prayed to make it on time, just a couple more steps and you would be within reach, already staring at armin’s frightened face which caused your heart to jump. but what finally managed to send you in a state of despair was the sight of eren shoving the bigger kid away.

“what do you think you’re doing, yeager?!”

“are you hurt?” tears gathered at the corners of your eyes while you helped armin up on his feet, you didn’t have to turn around to know eren had received a punch, his pained wail making you flinch.

armin took your hand and together faced the scene before your eyes, holding onto each other's hands while tears dampened your cheeks.

“leave him alone!” the tremble in your voice was obvious, even after multiple fights with those kids it always ended up the same way. armin and you crying in fear for eren and mikasa's safety.

only this time mikasa was nowhere to be seen.

“shut up!” 

“don’t talk to them like that!” with a kick on the shin, eren managed to keep the bully out of commission for a few seconds. but that was enough for your saviour to arrive.

“leave before i call the garrison.”

relief began to relax your tense stance, you all knew that it wasn’t the moment to be wasting their time in a kid’s fight, the shortage of food seemed to worsen each day and keeping the people on a tight leash became harder as the days went by.

the kid seemed to finally realize he wouldn't win this time, so with a scoff he took a couple of steps back, "this isn't over," his annoyed gaze traveled from eren to you, "and try not to piss your pants next time."

the three of you watched him run away while the rush of adrenaline began to wear out on your bodies and gave in to the tiredness. had mikasa not intervened, the outcome would've been way worse.

"hey," eren was the first one to break the silence, turning towards you and landing a hand on your shoulder. unfortunately, the softness in his voice was your catalyst and soon you allowed the distress to overcome you, "oh no, don't cry!"

it was useless to try to get your tears to stop, falling one after another as your chest racked with broken sobs, "i-i'm sorry i couldn't be o-of help!"

armin watched in worry as eren tried and failed to get you to calm down. he could tell you were scared when you confronted the bully, your hold on his hand so tight he feared you would end up hurting yourselves. but even so, you had pulled through your fear and stood your ground, something he admired from you.

with a tug on your shirt, mikasa signaled you to start walking, her impassive yet reassuring gaze letting you know she was there for you.

"let's go home."

—

the warm steam that blew onto your blotchy face felt soothing, the taste of mrs. yeager's freshly brewed tea successfully relaxing the tightness in your chest as it ran down your throat.

you could already feel the tiredness hitting you all at once, begging you to lie down and close your eyes so you could rest your mind after the afternoon's occurrences. but with eren's eyes observing you, you knew you weren't off the hook yet.

"better?"

not trusting your voice, you hummed and smiled behind the cup resting on your lips, sniffling slightly when a flashback of eren being punched on the face appeared on your mind.

however, he didn't seem to be done with the topic.

"why did you stand up to him if you were so scared? you were lucky he didn't go for you." 

"'cause i didn't want him to keep punching you."

"i don't need your help," his tone gave you the wrong impression. were you bothering him? a frown pulled your lips in a wobbly pout but he was quick to realize his error, "i mean, we should focus on armin, right? he's the one always in trouble."

you rocked your feet back and forth, watching them dangle from the chair as you mulled over his words. he wasn't lying, it was armin who often ended up as the victim of those bullies. at least when neither of you were around to aid him.

"i have a plan!" eren suddenly perked up, eyes brimming with excitement and pride as he obviously found his plan a good one, "dad always says that it's his duty to protect mom because they're married. so, if we get married, i can protect you and we can protect armin—together!"

you couldn't help but gasp, "married?! but we are too little!"

"not now, dummy. when we grow up!"

"what if i cry again and can't protect armin?" you voiced out your biggest worry as you pushed the cup away and made room on the table for your arm, resting your chin on top of it after yawning.

"i'll protect all of us," he didn't even hesitate, “and we have mikasa too.”

the silly promise made so much sense to your 10-year-old brain, which is why you held onto the hope and safety it gave you and agreed.

carla yeager squealed the news to her husband once eren and you had fallen asleep.

—

850.

there wasn't a day where you didn't regret not going with them.

the lively days soon became dull without eren and armin’s excited voices as they discussed the fire and icy lands in armin’s book, mikasa’s reassuring presence gone as well. but you knew you wouldn’t make it through the strenuous military training—or at least that was what you had told yourself.

truthfully, you wondered how were they not scared of continuing with their suicide mission of joining the legion, all those sacrifices just to see what was outside the walls. why couldn’t they be happy with what you already had? it wasn’t much, but you had each other, which was more than what most people could say.

with shiganshina gone, you became one of the refugees that lurked in the streets of trost. the conditions to live growing harsher, food and shelter becoming escarse and a luxury, but eren’s promise gave you enough strength to go on with your days until you landed a job as a waitress at a pub. 

you missed them, all of them.

their names flew from the mouths of the military police and other higher ups that passed by, making you wonder what they were up to. however, when news spread about eren’s abilities to shift into one of those creatures, that old sense of worry shook you to your very core.

was he hurt? mikasa wouldn't let anyone lay a finger on him, but what if they separated them?

multiple scenarios ran through your head, many of them not so pleasing and only worsening your nerves. but if their names kept coming up in the authorities’ conversations after each and every mission, then it meant they were still alive.

unfortunately, all you could do was pray for their well-being and silently beg them to return.

—

854.

after years of not hearing his voice, it took you several seconds to recognize it.

“where– where are we? why–”

“you’ve changed,” his tone was soft yet hints of curiosity sept through as he marveled at you, “you look older..." prettier, he wanted to say.

having spent so many years without the intensity of his gaze, you realized you had grown unused to it, “you’ve changed too.”

it seemed like everyone had disappeared, except for you and him. dunes of fine sand slithered under your feet and a bright light illuminated the starry sky, converging by the horizon and causing his green eyes to shine in a way you had never seen before.

“eren… what’s all this?”

one moment you were surrounded by chaos, people screaming while an army of colossal titans walked south and eren declared war against the rest of the world; and the next it all had gone quiet, a man—eren—standing next to you while holding your hand.

"they will pay, and then we will be free," his thumb rubbed the skin on the back of your hand gently.

you caught the way his gaze hardened for a second, rage clear in his features but what confused you the most was the amount of hurt swirling in his eyes.

​​what did he mean by 'they'? you were aware of marley's feelings towards the eldians but was it truly that bad? there were so many questions you wanted to ask, but something told you that you didn’t have enough time so you chose to stick to the most important ones. 

“how's mikasa? armin... is it true? he’s the colossal now?”

eren pulled you closer to him by tugging on your hand, cradling the side of your face with his free hand as a smile took over his lips.

"mikasa's busy kicking everyone's asses," he joked and you couldn't help but laugh, relieved at the sudden lightness in his voice. your eyes closed briefly when he leaned forward and rested his forehead against yours, licking his lips before continuing, "armin... yeah, he's the colossal. looks like i need to find another excuse to marry you, hm?” 

you found it unfair how after almost a decade, he could still hold such a power over your heart, the butterflies in your stomach feeling worse than what you recalled.

“you remember?”

he didn't miss the hope in your tone, his own heart aching at the thought of you assuming he had forgotten about your existence. there wasn't a day where he hadn't wondered about your well-being, were you safe? had a titan stole your life just like they had done with his mom? it was armin and mikasa who consoled him whenever the intrusive thoughts became too much to his already stressed mind.

“i never forgot.”

it was subtle, the way that kids promise evolved into a lifetime vow—but neither of you minded.

“i need you to promise me one more thing," he murmured, his breath fanning over your lips while your own faltered at his proximity.

“you’re leaving again,” it wasn't a question.

“i have to.”

it pained him to no end, but it had to be done. the warmth of his lips touched your forehead, your cheeks, and lips; staying longer on the latter while your hearts synchronized for a moment, sharing years worth of affection.

"stay here, on the island. find somewhere safe to stay until it all ends.”

a mere murmur on your lips, that was all it took to harm your hopeful soul.

"and don't wait for me."

[yandereaffections]

So a scenario for my baby boy (Agapito): how would he handle a darling that has feelings for him but their logic keeps getting in the way and they keep their distance due to power dynamic, trauma with drugs/cigarettes and seeing red flags

Scenario Commissions asked by Agapitos Pet

Picking up another ramen packet from the grocery store that's currently filled with shoppers for breakfast wasn't particularly the best way to start off your day, no different from any of the other mornings this week but it was simply the best thing you could afford. Sighing out with a small curse underneath your breath one of the frequent passer bys in the same aisle you're about to leave took notice. The faint smell of smoke instantly made you aware of just who happened to find you, hand resting on your back as he hovers above you looking at your selection before scoffing “you're seriously going to eat that crap?”

As much as this man can get on your nerves you can't help but smile a bit, not hesitating on speaking back “Well if it isn't Agapito, I don't know why but I could never imagine you in a place as busy as this”, this definitely is not the first time he's suddenly appeared besides you, there was plenty of other times Agapito found you no matter how out of place it was for him, you'd start to think he was keeping track of you if it wasn't for the part of your brain that didn't want to analyze him as anything more than a flirtatious boy that has a mere crush on you. Agapitos expression reflects his natural untroubled aura anyone could identify from a mile away at your comment

“I'm simply here to save you from eating pre-packaged shit, here come with me-” quickly tossing what was originally going to be your breakfast back onto the shelf Agapito replaced the cup of noodles with his hand, dragging you off to the other side of the store where there lies a deli with a moderate line to it “It’ll be on me, save the little money to your name for something nice” All his actions left you unable to think, did he really just do that? All to have you at the end of this line of people who are chatting amongst themselves and tapping on the phones they have their heads buried in. Minutes pass before you actually process what he said “how did you know i didn't have much money?” a second of silence followed, the gears in his head clearly struggling to turn “well you're buying ramen, it's the cheapest thing in the store” Agapitos quick save obviously didn't convince you though a new concern popped up in your thoughts

This man is already shady as fuck, theres no way this is all just to be nice even if he does have a crush on you, crossing your arms spitting out “you're just doing this so ill owe you later, back off, manipulation tactics won't work on me-” “do you want a good breakfast for once or not?” whatever tension that was growing between the two of you instantly faded with the sound of your stomach growling, light blush warming up your cheeks. As you cursed your stomach under your breath Agapito’s cocky smile came back to his lips, making a compromise for the two of you. “Fine you can keep your 15 cent ramen, but at least let me cook dinner for you, I'll give you my address and everything” offering you an actual meal, when was the last time you've had something like that again?

“Ugh your home probably smells more of smoke than you do” before you could even think those words came out of your mouth, too slow for your hands to cover over your lips before Agapito laughed a bit, looking away sheepishly, a simple “I’ll clear it out for you, no smell of cigarettes or weed, promise.” “wait i didn't know about the weed” in return he swiftly managed a “oh, that's not important” to follow your comment, the faint tone of regret in that sentence was very clear to you, yet nevertheless it didn't seem like a completely bad idea despite all the red flags you just identified, after all a date with this tempting cocky man isn't the worst possibility that could happen tonight right?

[ming-yu-hao]

Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder | Chapter 1

Pairing: fratboy!mingyu x female reader

Word Count: 3.1k

Synopsis: When you transferred to a different university, you and Wonwoo promised that you would make long distance work. But distance proves to be more difficult than you both originally thought.

This Chapter’s Tags: some angst ig, light cheating? (not really lol), mingyu is just flirty, female masturbation, mentions of alcohol and weed

Warning: THIS SERIES IS ABOUT CHEATING. DO NOT READ IF IT MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE!

A/N: it’s gonna get spicy soon just trust me ;)

Chapters: Next | Masterlist

30 minutes. That's how long you had spent anxiously perched in front of your computer, waiting for the familiar ring of the video call to echo through the speakers. You cycled between scrolling through social media, checking your reflection in the camera, and debating on whether or not to text Wonwoo. You understood that he was busy; it wasn't unusual for either of you to call a few minutes later than you had originally planned. But Wonwoo had never left you hanging for this long without an explanation. Normally, your mind would begin to fixate on the worst case scenario, but Wonwoo had already cancelled on you the past two weeks because he was busy working.

The loud vibration of your phone against your desk drew you out of your thoughts, and you hurriedly picked it up and saw Wonwoo's name glowing across the screen. "Hello?" You answered quickly.

"Hey," Wonwoo's deep voice sounded through the phone. "You're gonna hate me," He chuckled.

"I could never," You replied. You already knew the next words that were going to come out of his mouth.

"I can't FaceTime tonight." He explained. Even though you saw it coming, you couldn't help the feeling of disappointment that weighed heavy on your chest.

Your eyes met with the reflection displayed on the laptop screen. It taunted you, reminding you that Wonwoo's face wouldn't be there to replace it once again. "Well, I would be a lot happier right now if you told me that half an hour ago," You laughed bitterly. Running a hand through your hair, you quietly sighed.

"I know. I'm sorry." Wonwoo apologized. His voice was laced with genuine sorrow; you could clearly picture the frown that lined his lips right now. He added after a moment of silence, "I don't wanna keep doing this to you, so I think we should change our date day. I've been working more Fridays lately."

You nodded despite him not being able to see you and hummed in agreement. "What day then?" You asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I still have to figure out my schedule. Just text me what works for you and I'll let you know soon, okay?" He sighed.

"Oh, okay... yeah." Your lips drew into a tighter line with each word he spoke.

"Okay, I have to get to get back to work right now. I'm sorry again." He continued quickly. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The three tones signaled the end of the call, and slowly you pulled the phone away from your ear. Your tired reflection stared back at you. Finally, you shut the computer for the third Friday in a row.

The remainder of the weekend passed and you had barely heard anything from Wonwoo except for the usual good morning and goodnight texts. By the time Wednesday came around, the both of you finally agreed that Saturday could be your new set day for FaceTime dates. You powered through the rest of the week, and on Saturday you excitedly set aside all the work from your classes and waited patiently for Wonwoo to call.

You really missed him. It'd been just over two months now since you last saw him in person, when you moved into your dorm at a university three hours away from the one where you and Wonwoo met. He stayed behind while you transferred to a college with a renowned journalism program. At first, you were hesitant to leave him, but Wonwoo refused to let you give up such a great opportunity just to stay close to him. That was what you loved about him: he wanted to see you be happy and successful.

Situating yourself comfortably on the bed, you pulled up some random Netflix series to entertain yourself while waiting for Wonwoo. You only half paid attention, glancing between the computer screen and your Instagram feed on your phone. Time crawled, and slowly you sunk deeper into the softness of the mattress below.

Cold, small hands shook you awake. You rubbed your eyes and sat up, disoriented. The series you were watching was still playing quietly. Your roommate, Jisoo, stood next to your bed with her arms crossed over her chest. She stared at you with a raised eyebrow. "You're passed out by 7 on a Saturday night?" A teasing smile was displayed across her face as she shut your laptop.

You suddenly realized that it was an hour past the time that Wonwoo had promised to FaceTime you. Your heart sunk in your chest as you thought about how you probably missed his call without an explanation. You picked up your phone, but quickly noticed the notification for a missed phone call from him, followed by a text that said: I'm so sorry, something came up I promise I'll call you tomorrow.

Jisoo surveyed you for a moment; a more serious expression began to cross her features. She sat down at the bottom of your bed. "Did something happen?"

You rolled your eyes and looked down at your hands. "Wonwoo cancelled on me again," You sighed, "But I shouldn't be mad at him for it. It's not his fault he's busy."

Jisoo tsked and patted your leg through the sheets. "Of course you can be upset! How many times has it been now?"

"This entire month. And he always cancels super late."

She scoffed, "See! That's shitty. If this was the first time it wouldn't have been a big deal. But four times?" She stood up quickly and opened up her wardrobe. "If he wants long distance to work, he needs to have better communication."

"Yeah, I guess." You replied. Jisoo held a black top up to her figure, observing herself in the mirror. "Where are you going?" You inquired.

"A party at the SVT frat. You know any of them?" She explained while changing her outfit.

You had heard of the frat before, but you racked your brain for any of their names and couldn't remember one. "I don't think so."

Jisoo faced you again and smiled. "Well, let's go."

You chuckled, "No way."

She pouted. "Come on. You haven't gone out with me I'm so long. You're in college!" Jisoo begged. "Just this once. You'll have fun."

Jisoo had a point. You really had nothing else better to do besides sit around and mope over Wonwoo ditching you. You let out an exhasperated sigh of defeat, "Fine, I'll go."

"Yes! Go get all cute and dressed up." She cheered.

You emerged from your bed and strolled over to your own closet. "Alright, I'll be quick."

You and Jisoo walked into the party hand in hand. Immediately, the stench of weed and sweat overwhelmed you. Loud music vibrated through the walls of the house and clashed with the sounds of people cheering and yelling. An intense game of beer pong captured the attention of most people in the main room, but you could see a separate crowd gathered in the kitchen too.

"Who do you know here again?" You shouted over the music at Jisoo, not seeing a single person you recognized so far.

She leaned closer to you so you could hear. "Choi Seungcheol. I have a chemistry class with him." She scanned the room and suddenly perked up. "Oh, there he is!" She called his name and pulled you along with her towards him.

He stood against the wall with a red cup in his hand, talking with another tall boy. At the call of his name, he looked over at the two of you and smiled brightly. "Jisoo! I'm so happy you made it." He exclaimed while wrapping his arm around her lower back. Seungcheol watched you with kind eyes as you approached him. "And who is this?" He asked Jisoo.

"This is my roommate, Y/N. Y/N, this is Seungcheol." She introduced you both and you smiled and gave a small wave to the two boys.

The other boy flashed you a sweet smile that caused his eyes to form into crescents. "I'm Seokmin. I live here with Cheol." He explained.

All four of you continued to converse casually until Seungcheol pointed to you and Seokmin and said, "Hey, why don't you two go get some drinks? We'll wait here." You swore you saw a gleam of mischief in his eyes, and you quickly glanced at Jisoo to see if she noticed it too, but her expression remained neutral. This was exactly why you strayed away from parties. You wanted to avoid any encounters with flirty, drunk frat boys. But Jisoo, who was basically a mind reader, didn't react, so maybe you were just being overly paranoid.

You nodded and walked over to the kitchen, Seokmin following close behind, and watched as he began to mix some drinks together for the four of you. He let out a frustrated sigh as one of the bottles of liquor reached its end. Seokmin peeked over his shoulder and shouted, "Mingyu! Can you get me the other bottle of vodka?" You perked up at the familiar-sounding name, but couldn't remember where you had heard it before.

A moment later a presence approached you and Seokmin from behind and set the bottle down on the counter. "Now you have to make me one too," The deep voice joked. You turned around and immediately recognized the tall figure.

"Mingyu?" You called out in surprise.

His eyes dragged over and met yours. His face lit up instantly as he recognized you. "Y/N! What are you doing here?" Mingyu laughed.

Seokmin turned around and handed a cup to Mingyu with a raised eyebrow. "You guys know each other?" He questioned.

You grabbed your own cup and took a sip of the bittersweet mixture. "Yeah, we have a digital media class together." You said before smirking at Mingyu. "I didn't think you were the frat boy type."

Mingyu rested his right hand on the counter beside you, almost trapping you in between the wood and his body. "I guess I'm just full of surprises," He replied.

You felt your heart flutter in your chest at his flirty response. This was a whole new side of him that you had never seen before in class. Granted, he was most likely tipsy and maybe even a bit high, but in class he was usually polite and reserved. He cracked jokes with you sometimes, but you never expected him to be so bold. On top of that, he always had his hair styled back neatly. Now, his dark hair fell over his forehead in messy curls. His skin was sheathed in a light layer of sweat, and the muscles in his arms and chest were suddenly more prominent under his white tee in the dim light of the house. You had to admit, he was ridiculously attractive.

"I'm gonna go give this to Cheol and Jisoo," Seokmin interrupted before leaving the kitchen with both cups in his hands.

Silently, you started behind him and Mingyu walked with you. "So what are you doing here?" He asked again as the two of you rounded the corner and entered the living room.

"My roommate was invited and made me go with her," You told him. You continued to sip your drink, basking in the warm feeling that the alcohol left in your chest.

"Makes sense. I didn't expect you to be a party girl." He teased. His arm slowly snaked around your waist and squeezed your hip lightly. Your skin tingled beneath his touch but you didn't give him any physical reaction, opting to just ignore the grip he had on you.

Your jaw dropped in a fake gasp. "You think I'm boring or something?" You narrowed your eyes at him and he chuckled.

"I never said that," He responded with a smirk on his lips.

Seungcheol and Jisoo had migrated from the spot where they previously stood, so you scanned the crowded room for the long haired girl. Finally you noticed her sitting close to Seungcheol on the couch. You could see they were laughing about something and considering Seokmin wasn't hovering near them anymore either, you decided to leave them be.

Mingyu noticed where you were looking and raised his eyebrows at you when you turned back to look at him. "Well, I guess my roommate is busy," You rolled your eyes.

You had forgotten about Mingyu's hand on your waist until he squeezed it again. "Good thing you have me then," He bantered. Your skin flushed; you slightly leaned into his touch. It had been so long since you felt someone else's hands roam across your body. You missed the feeling.

Mingyu slowly pulled your body closer to his until your chest was centimeters away. You gulped and dragged your eyes up to meet his. He stared at you intensely, his other hand coming up to caress your cheek. Your breathing hitched as he ran his thumb over your bottom lip. "You're so pretty," He muttered. It felt like fire had lit up your entire body. Your nerves tingled and your brain felt fuzzy and you hated to admit it but you could feel arousal growing between your legs. Somehow Mingyu pulled you even closer than before and you felt his hard cock brush against your thigh through his jeans. His tongue darted out against his lips and he inched his face towards yours. "Can I kiss you?" He whispered just inches away from you lips.

Guilt imprisoned you as soon as he said those words. They reminded you of where you were, and what you were planning on doing. You closed your eyes and pulled yourself out of his grasp. "I have a boyfriend," You admitted briskly.

Mingyu stared at you in confusion. "What?"

Shame overtook you. Wonwoo had trusted you to remain loyal, and here you were at a frat party, leading on some poor boy from your class.

Mingyu lightly grabbed your wrist. "Hey, I'm sorry. I should've asked-" He started, but you quickly cut him off.

"No, I'm sorry. This is my fault." You apologized and pulled your wrist out of his grasp. You looked at him; he stared at you with a sorrowful gaze. The regret on your face was evident and he knew that he had helped in bringing this guilt upon you.

"I- I have to go do something," You added before turning around and darting towards the door. You didn't bother to turn around or look for Jisoo, you just needed to get out of there as fast as possible. Once you were outside, you inhaled a sharp breath and pulled out your phone to call for an Uber. You waited near the street, sending a text to Jisoo to let her know that you felt sick and went home while you waited.

Eventually the Uber pulled up and you hurriedly sat down and told the driver where to go. You breathed a sigh of relief as they finally pulled away from the frat.

The drive was short, but you spent every one of those few minutes replaying the night's events in your mind. Your flesh still tingled in the places where Mingyu had touched you. Guilt haunted you, but you attempted to lessen that burden by reasoning with yourself. You missed Wonwoo. A lot. You missed hearing his voice and seeing his face and of course feeling his touch against your skin. You hadn't been fucked in over two months now, so it was no wonder that any bit of physical affection would have such a strong effect on you. What mattered is that you stopped it before anything happened. You could live with that, you decided. All you had to do now was just clear up things with Mingyu next week, deal with any awkwardness between you two, and focus on Wonwoo.

When you arrived at your dorm, you quickly changed your clothes, cleansing yourself of the faint smell of weed and the remnants of Mingyu's touch. Not long after, exhaustion began to take over your body. You laid down on the bed, not even bothering to check your phone before closing your eyes and letting sleep overcome you.

You weren't sure what time you fell asleep, but you awoke some time later and glanced at the clock. 11:54 PM. You stretched your arms behind your head and yawned as you scanned the room. Jisoo was still gone. You closed your eyes again and tried to fall back asleep, but your mind began to race.

You could clearly picture Mingyu's lust-filled eyes staring down at you, his hands running over your waist and pulling you towards the heat of his body. The glow of his skin, the messy curls hanging over his forehead, the fullness of his lips as he asked in his husky voice if he could kiss you—the images and sensations swirled around in your thoughts.

In a half asleep daze, you rubbed your thighs together. Friction built between your legs. You groaned quietly as your mind revisited how you felt when Mingyu's hands were on your body. More arousal began to pool in your heat, your underwear clinging to your wetness.

Languidly, you ran your hand down your stomach and toyed with the hem of your underwear before slowly pulling the fabric down your legs. You imagined Mingyu's sharp eyes staring at you from between your thighs as you ran your fingers through your slick folds. Arousal coated your fingers and you began to rub your clit in slow circles. You pretended that Mingyu's thick fingers were the ones teasing your clit, making your legs jolt each time you pressed the right spot.

You moaned quietly and began to grope your own breast. You squeezed and flicked your nipple, causing a quiet gasp to fall from your lips. You pulled your hand away from your clit and slowly pushed two fingers into your dripping heat. "Mmh, Mingyu," You groaned under your breath. You imagined his deep voice saying the dirtiest things to you as he pumped and curled his fingers into your pussy.

You gasped as you hit a particular spot that made you arch your lower back. You continued pumping your fingers at a fast pace until the knot building in your lower stomach snapped. Your eyes rolled back and you let out a sharp whine as an intense feeling of euphoria washed over your body.

Your body relaxed against the sheets as your heart rate began to slow and exhaustion overtook you once again. You sighed contently and wrapped yourself in your blankets, allowing yourself to drift off to sleep.

You promised yourself that you would never do that again.

[luvlyrv]

Duel | Seulgi x F!Reader | Knight!AU

Request: Okay so I have a request 👀 you don’t have to write it if you want want to, but the idea came to my head and I thought why not request it from one of my favourite writers! 🥺

SO, knight!seulgi. Or basically Seulgi with a sword and being bad ass 🥴 maybe a small bit of enemies to lovers, who knows? But just Seulgi. With a sword. 😳🥵

Word Count: 2.3k

A/N: i hope you like it! i'm not big on action scenes so they were kind of rushed, sorry :( also sorry that it took so long my dear!! hope you're doing well <3

Date: 4/11/21

You uncomfortably roll your shoulders back, a phantom pain gradually enveloping your body. Somehow the mere sight of Seulgi was enough to send shudders down your spine as your body recounts the sensations of the many fights you've had with her. Maybe defeat has already etched itself into your muscle memory.

You let out a quiet breath as you observe her sparring session with a fellow damoiseau, a knight-in-training. Your mind feels a bit torn by the sight in front of you. On one hand you are entranced by the fluid motions and contortions that Seulgi managed to make her body do. On the other hand you struggle to not make an obviously unsettled face. Your mood sours at the disappointment you feel when reminded of the fact that despite how much you try to observe and study her, you have never bested her in a duel.

Besting the people around you had always come easy. You've enjoyed the pain of your training, knowing that it would be proven a worthy investment of your time when you see a pitiful body laying on the floor in front of you. When you get to see the face of defeat, hear the admittance of it. For all you know you are the perfect warrior. A noble knight worthy to serve the monarch.

You're better than everyone. You know it. Except for her.

What was it? What did you she have that you didn't? Every time she bested you in a duel it dealt a bastardly blow to your ego. The words 'second best' would make your eye want to twitch. For all your strength and endurance, your familiarity with the motions of battle, Seulgi just seemed to understand it more.

You recount the many times your body would strain itself after being dealt with many sharp thwacks. The throbbing pains from falling and rolling, again and again. The sense of hope and excitement as you pushed yourself to take on a stance and seemingly deal a final blow, only for Seulgi to easily and gracefully step away, just to kick you back to the ground.

You hate her. You hate the weaklings underneath you too. You swear you can hear them snicker when you lose to her, that treacherous woman.

You stop your thoughts when you suddenly hear the booming voice of your master calling for you. Your grip strengthens around your training sword as you slowly make way towards Seulgi. It's time for the two of you to repeat the process. This time though, you are determined to win. Certain of it. Seulgi, the best apprentice in your regiment, would not longer make a mockery of you.

Your jaw hurts as clench, barely containing your anger. You try to calm down and refocus on the situation at hand. You look at Seulgi as she stands in her own battle-ready stance in front of you. You wonder how her blows deal so much power when her frame looks so delicate.

Focusing on calming down your breathing, you slowly advance forward. Your opponent does the same and soon enough you're circling around each other. It's the same story again. The same beginnings.

You want to end things quickly and dive in for the first blow. One blow should be all you need, you think to yourself. You force yourself to go as quickly as possible, everything around you a blur except for your target herself. All of a sudden though, she disappears and suddenly you feel your training sword facing resistance, threatening to escape your grasp.

You grunt in frustration and reorient yourself to find Seulgi. You spot her and balance yourself waiting for another opening. She is always on the defensive it seems, but you are never one to wait. As the seconds go by you deem it the right time to go for a slash. It feels as if your body is moving through molasses as you watch Seulgi glide out of your weapon's way in horror. You see her sword and a painful thwack is given.

It's the same story again. The same middle.

You repeat and repeat these motions. You going in for a hit only to be countered. Sometimes you'd get one in, but like you your opponent is hardy and gets back up. After a brutal pummeling you must resign yourself to defeat, as much as your heart hates it. The same ending as always.

This time though you can't seem to hold your tongue back.

You storm up closer to Seulgi and roughly hold onto the collar of her training attire. "What the hell is it? What's your secret?" You shake the woman a bit until her hands come up to your wrist. She pushes them down and you decide to let go. "Rematch tonight. I'll prove my worth." The words come out viciously but quietly. They were a promise both to her and yourself.

The crowd of spectators around you stay quiet after your outburst, and Seulgi doesn't say anything either. Not bothering to look at anyone's faces you leave the grounds to change clothes. They stuck to you with sweat and the gritty dirt that covered it bothered you

You can't think much for the rest of the day. The thoughts of your failure prevents you from enjoying training or beating other people. Soon enough you find yourself looking at a bowl of measly soup and bread in the mess hall all by yourself.

The warm soup makes you feel marginally better, but you don't pay much attention to it. Instead you take in your surroundings. This scenario is routine. You sit by yourself somewhere among the crowds of people interacting and enjoying their meal together. Even if people were nearby you simply would not speak. Why waste your breath on them?

In contrast to you though, you notice how hordes of people flock around the number one apprentice. Vying for her attention. Are you jealous? You can't tell. You just wonder if people would act that way towards you if you were the best.

Soon enough you hear the familiar yelling of a commander telling you all to return to your bunks. You quickly put away your bowl and utensils before hanging back from the line of people walking back towards the measly barracks that housed you all. Through the large body of people you see the crowd finally thin out as people their respective barracks. As you get closer to yours you finally spot Seulgi towards the entrance of the building. Coming up behind her you speak out.

"You didn't forget, did you?" She takes a moment to think before huffing.

"I suppose I should humor you after all."

You turn without letting her speak further. There's a silence between the two of you as you go to retrieve your training swords. You'd expect to hear loud padded footsteps behind you, but surprisingly Seulgi's footsteps sound faint. Nearly nonexistent.

The night sky of course makes it hard to see things, but your years of training has ingrained the layout of the entire area into your heart. It also helps that the moonlight allows you to see just enough as well. You make it to your destination with ease, picking up your weapon you watch as Seulgi grabs hers too.

"Where are we going to fight?" She questions you tiredly.

"Out in the field." Your answer is curt as you once again lead Seulgi, this time to the middle of the field you had fought in earlier in the day. When you arrive you distance yourself farther away from her and take your stance.

"You ready?" You ask her as you plant your feet into the ground and focus on your breathing.

"Mhm." Seulgi, unlike you, decides to stand there. She seems uncommitted, like she doesn't care about the fight. How dare she do that when your pride is on the line? When you're taking this so seriously?

Frustration builds up inside of you as you take her attitude as disrespect. You move in to give her a quick jab. Extending your arm, you feel your weapon graze her before she moves out of the way. A popping noise fills the air as she strikes down near the hilt of your weapon, trying to make you loosen your grip. It almost works but you quickly readjust your hands. You force up your sword in retaliation, breaking away the contact between your two swords.

With your sword so high up you decide to go for a horizontal swing towards Seulgi's body. In the early moments of your swing though, Seulgi ducks down and gives you an upwards jab towards your chest.

You heave as air forcefully leaves your lungs, a pain exploding around your chest.

"God!" You wheeze out loudly. Seulgi stands in front of you while she lowers her sword. You get down to your knees and look at the ground. Your breathing normalizes quickly but you try to get your bearings before rising again.

"I still... don't get it." As quickly as your breathing returned to its normal state, your voice quivered as your eyes felt hot. The disappointment that you seemingly always felt around Seulgi had made its reappearance. This time it hit harder than normal. Hard enough to make you start crying.

As your breathing began to become more uneven you finally raise your head and stand up. The form of your opponent gets closer to you. The only sounds between the two of you is the noises escaping your throat as you broke down again.

"How can you manage to fight like that?" You notice Seulgi has put both of her hands out to you. Your hesitance to take them spurs her to speak.

"I'll show you." Her voice touches you somehow. How have you never noticed how angelic she sounded? How gentle she was being with you right now? "Just take them."

You allow her to take your hands. She carefully clasps her similarly calloused hands around yours and begins to move. Her body sways, you don't quite understand why but you try to follow suit.

"I don't get it." You say as you try to mirror her movements. You fumble in embarrassment as Seulgi moves with confidence and grace. You're like a fawn who hasn't learned how to walk next to her.

"I'm a dancer, don't you see?" She momentarily lets go of your hands and walks backwards. You miss the feeling of her hands but you're entranced by the short show she puts on.

She performs for you, the dance itself was beautiful as she created curves and angles with her body. The moonlight enhances it, bouncing off her body and allowing her to glow.

Why have you never noticed how delicate her features looked? How it looked as if she was hand sculpted by the gods?

She returns back to you, taking your hands in hers and leads you back to dancing. You focus harder on trying to mimic her correctly. Eventually the both of you are gracefully dancing across the vast field. You're calmer now, happy even.

"See?" Seulgi says after a while of silent dancing. "The battlefield is my dancefloor, and I'm simply dancing around your blade."

"You're an incredible dancer, Seulgi." Seulgi has brought the two of you closer now. You notice how her lips tug up a bit as you pay her a compliment. That was the first time you've complimented her, perhaps even anyone here. It was the first time you said something without malice to her.

"I try." She laughs a bit. "I wanted to be a professional dancer at first actually. My family wanted me to go into a more noble field though, for the sake of our reputation. I protested at first of course. As I thought more though I decided I wouldn't mind protecting people. I still try to dance everyday though."

"Oh." Shock is laced through your voice. Listening to Seulgi was a humbling experience to say the least. You had wanted to become a knight for your own honor, to attain glory and recognition. You hadn't paid much thought towards protecting other people.

It was also strange to see Seulgi treat you like this. Her kindness was unprecedented. Was your hatred and spite one-sided all along?

"Hm?" Seulgi is curious to your shock as she quirks her eyebrow.

"Sorry."

"For what?"

"I've..." It hurts you a bit to say sorry, let alone apologize correctly. You force yourself to do it though. Maybe, just maybe, you need to change. "I've certainly acted coldly towards you and others. My actions have been... conceited." You here a soft giggle before Seulgi speaks again.

"You're cuter when you're not being awful, you know?" You're glad that the sun has set and that Seulgi can't see the embarrassment on your face. Seulgi hums a tune as you continue dancing together.

"Try smiling more and scowling less. You'd be more approachable that way, along with some attitude changes of course. Aren't you lonely?" She tries to advise you, and normally you'd lash out if anyone made comments about your behavior, but you can't help but to listen to the soothing voice of Seulgi.

"...I can try." You whisper. "I think, if I may speak frankly, I would be okay with being second best under you." Seulgi laughs again.

"Oh? Was dancing with you all it took to make you earn some humility?"

"Maybe... can we dance again another time?" You ask with hesitance before you quickly elaborate. "To get better at fighting, like you! Of course. Only if you want to."

"If this would effectively make you learn your lesson, then sure."

This was the first time you could talk to someone like this, and you like it.

"Thank you, Seulgi, for your patience."

You understand why she's the best apprentice out of all of you. Why people flock around her. Who wouldn't want to be near the giving soul of Seulgi?

[sleepysnk]

hello guys! this wasn't a request, but it is a small gift for @kwnblack ! i decided to make a third and final part for the two previous Zeke scenarios i wrote! i hope you enjoy :).

Zeke x Fem!Reader: I Promise

Warnings: slight manga spoilers and slight angst

Part 1 Part 2

It had been about a month or so since Zeke had his last encounter with (Y/N). After that night, he left the island, and (Y/N) had no idea. She woke up the next morning, and notice he was gone. It confused her that day. Where the hell did he go?

She spent that whole day after searching for him. She went around Marley, but she never found him.

As the weeks went on, (Y/N) began to not feel like herself. She felt sick all the time, and she was very tired. She always blamed it on stress, but a few of her friends were concerned with her behavior. They didn't like the way she was acting. (Y/N) never looked good either.

After some arguments with friends, she decided to just finally go see the doctor. She explained to the doctor about her symptoms, he was concerned with how sick she was, and how she was fatigued most of the time.

"I'm going to run a few tests (Y/N), we should figure out what's going on" he said.

(Y/N) had multiple tests run on her, and what the doctor told her was shocking.

"Congratulations! Your expecting a baby"

Those words made her whole world stop.

She was pregnant? She never imagined in her entire life she would get pregnant, even with how young she was. (Y/N) knew who the dad was, it was Zeke for sure. She was the only man she was intimate with, but where was he?

The doctor explained her options. He explained that if she wanted to terminate it he could, but she insisted that she wanted to keep the baby. (Y/N) didn't want to let the opportunity slide, so she decided to keep it.

Her friends were extremely supportive of her and the baby. Thing was, they weren't exactly happy with who the dad was. They all shamed Zeke for leaving, in a way, her friends made it seem like Zeke only wanted to have sex with her. Nothing more than a one-night stand.

This made (Y/N) extremely emotional.

Many questions ran through her head during that month. Did Zeke only want her for one thing and one thing only? Did he lie about how he felt about her? So many questions with little answers.

Zeke on the other hand, had no idea she was pregnant. The time that they met fell at an unfortunate time, he had to head back to Paradis to obtain Eren. (Y/N) had no idea about these plans, and it sort of slipped Zeke's mind. His intention was to never leave her like that, he didn't have a choice.

She had some support from her best friend Mia (random name). Mia helped a lot with anything that she needed, and (Y/N) was extremely grateful for her. Without Mia, (Y/N) probably would have been so lonely.

"Imagine if it's a girl (Y/N)! A little you running around" Mia said.

Mia had been more excited than (Y/N) was for this baby. She dreamt about her best friend having a baby, and becoming an aunt or a God-parent.

As much as (Y/N) was excited, she couldn't help but feel those dark thoughts sometimes. She always thinks about Zeke, and she feels so much sadness run through her whenever she does.

"Are you thinking about him again?" Mia asked and looked at her.

(Y/N) nodded. "No! I'm fine, I just feel really moody right now. This pregnancy has made my hormones go all over the place" she replied and tried to seem convincing.

Mia had to deal with so much when it came to her best friend being pregnant. The mood swings, cravings, constantly peeing, and constant sleep. (Y/N) was thankful though, without Mia, she would have been stressed out to the max.

"I'll rip his damn head off (Y/N). You know I'm capable of that" she said and looked at her friend.

(Y/N) chuckled. "You won't need to do that. I think I want to nap being honest, so you can go if you'd like" she said and smiled.

Mia stood up. "Alright, well you know where I'm at if you need me" she said and made her way towards the door.

She watched as Mia exited. (Y/N) felt a sad wave hit her all at once, the emotions she felt were the usual. She felt tears fall down her cheeks as she thought about Zeke again. Was she really just a one-night stand to him? A woman who he got in bed just for one night?

(Y/N) went to her bed and began to sob. Her emotions running wild, and coming out once again. She's had countless days where she'd cry about it, who could blame her? The woman was pregnant and all she had was her friends.

All she had was the memory of him.

As the weeks went on, she began to feel a bit better. She actually put on a genuine smile, and she wasn't faking it. Her friends told her to not stress, it wasn't good for the baby. She had to take that in. (Y/N) was feeling better about herself, she went out with Mia and looked at different baby items that would be needed.

She had gotten a few items. (Y/N) was quite prepared for her baby, and she was very careful. Even being only about 2 or 3 months along.

But she was in for quite the situation.

(Y/N) stood looking outside her window. It was a warm and sunny day, she missed the summer breeze. It always reminded her of how beautiful the world was. She noticed some people beginning to run in the same direction.

"They're back!"

"Do you think they got him?"

(Y/N) was confused as to who was being talked about. She began to follow the people, and she noticed a pretty large crowd formed.

She noticed Mia was there. "What's going on?" (Y/N) asked.

She looked back at her. "I'm not sure... I'm just as curious as you are" Mia replied.

That's when she felt time stop.

Zeke was standing there with Reiner badly wounded. What the hell happened? As much as she wanted to run up to him, she knew she couldn't. Reiner and Zeke looked horrible.

"Where is Eren!?"

"Yeah! You promised to bring back the founding titan!"

Zeke just stood there quiet. The mission was a failure. Bertholdt was dead, and Paradis now had his power.

His eyes scanned the area as he noticed a familiar (h/c) haired girl standing there. (Y/N). Zeke noticed how upset she looked, he wasn't sure why, but he wanted to know.

"Let's go (Y/N)" Mia said and grabbed her arm.

She lead her away from the crowd. "Mia, what the hell happened? Who is Eren? What do they want with him?" she asked.

Mia sighed. "Couldn't tell you, all I heard was that they went with each other" she replied. "I guess we know where Zeke went after all this time..." she added.

(Y/N) looked down and stood by her friend. She didn't want to face him right now, it would be too much for her.

Zeke had been taken to the infirmary along with Reiner. Both were injured and needed to be checked on.

"Your injuries are minor, but it'll take you awhile to heal.." the nurse said and looked at Zeke.

He nodded. "May I request a visitor?" he asked.

The nurse furrowed her brows. "Are you sure about that? I can get someone to do that" she asked.

Zeke ran a hand through his hair. "Yes I'm sure, please get me (Y/N) (L/N) please" he replied.

She nodded. "Very well, I'll be right back" she said and exited the room.

Zeke waited as his heart began to race, he wanted to explain everything to her about the mission. She never knew about it, he didn't want her to worry that day, so he kept what he was doing out of it.

"Zeke?" The nurse said and entered the room.

He looked up and noticed she wasn't with the nurse. "Where is she?" he asked.

She sighed. "I'm not sure why but (Y/N) refused to see you. I can't force her, I'm sorry" she replied.

What the hell was up with her? She was avoiding him now? He knew leaving her so fast was kind of not a good idea. Zeke needed to talk to her as soon as possible.

Three days had gone by, and he hadn't seen (Y/N) around Marley. She had been a ghost. He wasn't sure where she could be, but he wanted to know.

(Y/N) did her best to avoid him. She did her shopping at odd hours, or she would make Mia do things for her. Mia completely understood, but she didn't want her to run away forever.

Mia sat in a bar by herself. She wanted (Y/N) to come for some company, but she was having morning sickness, so that was a huge no.

She noticed Pieck enter the bar. She had her crutch with her, since she spent so much time in her titan form, she forgot how to actually walk like a human.

"You look like you've seen better days" Pieck said and sat next to her.

Mia looked over. "Same to you" she replied and took a sip of her drink.

Pieck never knew Mia well. "Well.. when your mission becomes a total failure, you feel like shit so" she said and shrugged.

Mia laughed a little. "Hm... it can't be as bad as your best friend being a pregnant hormonal mess" she said.

The dark haired girl nodded. "Ah pregnancy huh? Why bring a child into this world" she said and leaned against the table.

"Not sure but it happened, (Y/N) deserves better though" Mia said and shrugged.

Pieck stopped. (Y/N)? She had heard Zeke talking about her during the mission, and pretty recently. Was that the girl he was trying to speak to? She heard his constant rant about this woman ignoring him.

"Excuse me.. I need to leave" Pieck said and began to make her way to find Zeke.

Mia found it odd how quickly the girl left. She shrugged and kept drinking. Pieck rushed as quickly as she could to find him.

"Zeke!" she yelled as she saw him talking with Reiner.

He furrowed his brows noticing her quick pace. "Something wrong Pieck?" he asked.

She looked at him. "Do you know (Y/N)?" she asked.

Zeke looked at Reiner and back at Pieck. "Yes... why?" he asked.

She nodded. "Did you know she was pregnant?" she asked.

His mind totally stopped when those words came out of Pieck. She was pregnant!? Maybe that's why she was avoiding him.

"I had no idea... excuse me, I need to go" Zeke said and began to make his way to her house.

(Y/N) sat in her home exhausted. Her morning sickness was horrible, so she spent most of the day in her bed and napping. She heard a knock at her front door. She assumed that it was Mia.

"Mia I-" she opened the door and saw Zeke standing there.

She stood there for a moment in shock. "(Y/N)... can we talk please?" he asked.

She sighed. "Come in.." she replied and moved so he could come in.

Zeke entered her home and watched as she shut the door. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

She furrowed her brows. "About what? What is there to talk about!?" she asked.

He rolled his eyes. "That you're pregnant!? What else?!" he replied.

Silence flooded the room between the two. "So you do know.." she said and sat down on her couch.

"I don't understand why you never told me. I've been here for days" he said.

She felt anger rushing through her. "Tell you? Why would I? You left me that day. You left me after we had SEX Zeke! You know how that made me feel? You made me feel like I was a one-night stand. I never knew you were going to leave like that" she yelled.

Zeke looked at her. "I'm sorry (Y/N). I should have told you that I had to go, I didn't want to worry you. Everything was at the wrong time" he replied.

She crossed her arms and shook her head. "You worried me 10x more when you left me that day, again" she said.

He felt horrible in the moment. "I know... I wanted to tell you" he said.

(Y/N) ran a hand down to her belly which was slowly getting bigger. "So why are you here?" she asked.

He looked up confused. "What? That's a stupid question. I'm here because I know I got you pregnant, who the fuck do you think I am (Y/N)? Some guy who bangs a girl, gets them pregnant, and then leaves? I care about you that's why I'm here. I want to be here for OUR child. If I didn't give a shit, I wouldn't have bothered showing up here" he replied.

She fell silent as he spoke, she didn't know what to say. "I'm about 3 months.." she said and looked down.

Zeke nodded and stood up. "I'm sorry for leaving you that day. Please forgive me" he said and held her hand.

She bit her lip and looked around. "I can forgive you Zeke, but how do I know you're gonna leave again?" she asked.

"I'll be more honest with you. This mission came fast and there wasn't much I could do to stop it" he replied.

(Y/N) nodded. "I see..." she said and looked at him.

He ran his hand down to her belly. "May I?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Yes" she replied and lifted her shirt a bit.

Zeke looked at how big her belly had gotten, it wasn't huge, but it was noticeable that she was bigger. He lied his head on her belly, and pulled her hips closer to him. The sight alone made her heart flutter. She ran her fingers through his hair.

"I can't wait to meet them, I don't have much time left" he said and looked down.

She nodded. "What do you mean?" she asked and furrowed her brows.

Zeke felt a bit emotional in the moment. "Curse of Ymir remember? I don't have much time left (Y/N).. I want to make it worth it for you and them" he said and stood up.

She noticed the tears in his eyes. "Zeke.. don't worry. I'll make sure it's worth it for you and the baby" she said and smiled a bit.

He wiped his eyes a bit. "I'd love that (Y/N), I promise I won't leave you ever again" he replied and hugged her.

She put her head on his chest. "Promise?" she asked.

He smiled. "I promise" he replied.

[a-crimson-dawn]

Content Warning: Again, Mereoleona being Mereoleona and nudity, but nothing sexual. I was gonna say that this is probably the last time this kind of content warning will need to be used, but then I remembered I actually haven't finished writing the other scenarios, so no promises, sorry. It's probably the second or third last time...

"Well, I did warn you it would be cold outside..."

"You never said how col- achoo!" She let out a grumpy sound of annoyance after the sneezing had passed. "And anyway, just because it's cold doesn't mean I'm going to get the flu."

He chuckled somewhat, though at the same time, he couldn't but feel a little concerned. "But you did."

"You don't know that," Mereoleona grumbled stubbornly and sneezed again. "And you're not my mother..."

'Maybe not,' he thought to himself, frowning 'but I still can't help but worry that you're ill right now.' Looking over her soaked form, he decided they'd best head upstairs so she could have a warm bath and put some dry clothing on first. "Come on, I'll run you a bath and then I can call for one of the girls to help you if you need any assistance," he suggested.

She pursed her lips, none too pleased about being mothered, but seeming won over by the idea of a warm bath. It was the closest thing available to a dip in the hot springs after all, so he supposed it made sense she'd be up for it.

Leading her to one of the bathrooms connected to one of the guest rooms saved for high-ranking officials and diplomats for other countries that arrived from other kingdoms, he stopped short of the bathroom, and instead, he'd gestured for her to sit down on the bed in the adjoining bedroom. She didn't normally stick around the Golden Dawn base, but considering her state, it was better she stayed here than traveling all the way to the Vermillion household. And she might as well stay in one of the more comfortable rooms that had managed to survive the reincarnation event fairly well.

"Alright, I'll get your bath ready, and then I'll call for one of the girls," he remarked as he readied the bathroom. Hearing shifting outside, he was quick to prepare the room, before turning around and stepping out the room. "Would you rather-"

He halted in his steps and words when he realised that before him now stood a very, er... naked... Mereoelona.

"Ah- wh- I..."

"What, have you never seen a naked woman before? Do you expect me to bathe fully clothed, Vangeance?" for a sick woman she sure had plenty of strength to sass back.

He on the other hand was unable to say much.

"..." So he just closed his mouth and turned away, suddenly very interested in the patterns on the wall behind him. Yep, walls were nice, walls were good...

When he heard her head for the bathroom, he headed off to get some clothes for her and then call for one of his female squad members. The latter of which turned out harder than he'd thought. He was sure he'd only sent about half of them out somewhere, so he had no idea where the rest could be (training, perhaps, but where, he didn't know). Not very convenient right now. He did manage to find some clothing in her size though and returned to the room to put it on the bed.

A little concerned about how Mereoleona might be doing in her state without supervision, he knocked on the door of the bathroom. "Everything alright in there?" he asked, finding his voice a little shaky, as he grew flustered at the memory of seeing her naked just moments ago. Good to know that his mind was cooperating with him. Not.

"Hmm... you wouldn't be able to wash my back, would you, Vangeance?"

He tensed. "Ah- wait a moment, I'll get a -"

"I believe I asked you, not one of your squad members," she cut him off.

He sighed. While it was flattering that she trusted him of all people to help her wash, he really wasn't sure how this would work out. But at least this way he could keep a closer eye on her.

"Besides, I imagine it would be faster if you did it," she reasoned, her voice seeming more tired this time.

If she was ill, then it would make sense that she would want to get this over and done with and then get some rest. So, he headed over to the bathroom, trying to keep focused on the task. "Alright," he reached out for a sponge, "do you also want me to wash your hair, or will you be fine doing that yourself?"

"...Mmm... that would be nice..." she did sound and appear quite tired on closer inspection. But that could have just been from the mission too.

As he washed her back, he noticed she was quite relaxed against him. "I-Is your throat or head sore, by the way?" he asked, partly to check on her condition and partly to distract himself a little.

"Throat? A little. Head... not so much..." She leaned into him and let out a satisfied sigh as he continued to wash her, and he blushed at the realisation.

"Then I'll get you something for that later," he assured her, before moving on to her hair.

First soaking her hair he went through any other possible things that might have been ailing her. It seemed though that outside of a little bit of coughing and sneezing, a sore throat, and what might have been a fever, but he would have to check, she didn't display many other symptoms of sickness... which was reassuring. Even with Fuegoleon, he couldn't 100% say the man wouldn't try to kill him if something serious happened to his sister.

Applying the shampoo, he could swear he heard her make a sound that was a little akin to a cat's purr and smiled slightly. It was a pleasant sound and assuming it meant she was as content as she seemed, it was a good thing to hear.

Once he'd rinsed it out, he pulled away. "Is that all?"

"Yes," she said, adding something under her breath that he couldn't catch and didn't ask about since she'd likely not be in the mood to answer any questions. "Mind helping me up?"

Trying to avoid showing his flushed face, he uttered a quiet "yes", before taking a towel and helping her out of the bath. He only turned redder when he heard her laugh a bit. "What, don't like the view?" she teased him.

"I- i-it's not that you are u-unattractive Mereoleona..." he stammered out.

"I'm only teasing you," she said, as she took the towel and William stepped aside as she dried herself.

All too eager to disappear before it became even more apparent just how much Mereoleona's presence flustered him, he made the excuse that he needed to get some things and went to make tea, taking some of the medicine from the kitchen too.

---

Returning he found Mereoleona already sleeping on the bed, only half-dressed, but clearly either too tired or too unbothered about nudity to have dressed fully. Still, she seemed at peace in her sleep, and with a hint of a smile on her face, she even looked quite... adorable.

Setting the tea and the painkillers aside, he placed a cover over her, figuring she would need to be as warm as possible to help get the possible fever down.

He couldn't help but smile himself, seeing her. Asleep the lioness looked about as harmless and as cuddly as a housecat, even though it would be foolish to think even a domestic cat was entirely unthreatening.

"Vangeance..." he heard her murmur in her sleep, and found himself shivering a little. "Stay..." Already he'd decided to oblige when she added, surprisingly enough, "please".

He frowned a little when he placed a hand on her forehead to find the temperature had risen. But despite the fact that he couldn't be sure whether she simply wanted him around because she was sick, or because she liked having him around - as unlikely as that was - he didn't want to leave the room either.

After all... someone had to keep an eye on her.

And, well...

He'd be lying if he said that he didn't care about her.

"Am I to take this as a sign that you wish to be mothered after all?" he teased her.

"Shut up, Vangeance..." came the sleepy response.

[emiliangnl]

Promise • Zenitsu x Reader •

This is just a short shot, I've had this on my mind for awhile so i decided to write it ^^;

this thing is all over the place so, Sorry about that-

| Fluff with Zenitsu, OOC Zenitsu? |

You were currently outside the butterfly mansion, it was currently nighttime, even though Aoi had told you and the others to be better off sleeping early at night, you still can't help but go abide the 'rule' Aoi had set up.

You sneakily get to a spot in the mansion where you could get a better look at the night sky, until your eyes lighten up a bit to see a familiar fly.

A smile slowly carved onto your lips to see a firefly come by to you, it's been awhile since you've seen a firefly, since all of the fireflies you would see were dead. It's a nice scene to see a live firefly "Fireflies don't really have a long life span, but even so, they still light up even if they're fighting between life and death." you mutter lightly, the smile on your face slowly becoming a frown until you've saw, in the corner of your eye a pile of fireflies near the pond.

You started to walk towards the pond, as the pile of fireflies group up near the pond, more did their light become more brighter which made your eyes glimmer in awe. Like the one in fairytales, your surroundings was covered with the light of the fireflies. Their small light is pretty enough to be mesmorized by it, the peaceful sighting was suddenly disrupted by some foot steps you're starting to hear making you very wary of your surrounding.

"(Y-Y/N)-chan? What are you doing out here, late at night?" The familiar voice called out for you, as you giggled lightly to yourself "Were you worried, Zenitsu?" You asked outloud not bothered to look at him as you could feel him flinch lightly like he was caught, as you heard a sigh as he slowly came closer to you. Wrapping his arms on your waist, still behind you, as he put his chin over your shoulder, as you could only make out a smile.

Not many had known about this, even the kamado gang, but you and Zenitsu have been hitting it off at the sidelines of the two of you being demon slayers. Being inlove/in a relationship with someone while trying to slay demons isn't the most favorable thing to do, since sometimes the two will have no time in doing lovey dovey stuff if they're always busy with training and slaying demons.

Even after with those circumstances, you and Zenitsu just decided to just get together, no matter how busy you or Zenitsu might be. You have fallen for him and he had fallen for you, and there's no way that the two of you will let this opportunity of having a life even in the demon corps.

"Ne, Zenitsu, The fireflies look pretty dont they?" You said, as you felt Zenitsu smile a little "They do, but they aren't as pretty as you (Y/N)-Chan" Zenitsu said as you giggled lightly "typical of you." You muttered as he laughed lightly, his hold of you getting slightly tighter "You know (Y/N)-Chan, there are times in our missions that sometimes, I feel like I wont be able to live another day.." Zenitsu muttered as you held onto his hands that are currently wrapped on your waist "But, I often remind myself that. I still need to live so we both can have a life together..." Zenitsu said as you listened, being in the demon slayer corps can often times cost your life in the process.

So, often times, you would understand why; would Zenitsu try and find a wife even if they don't like him or they just knew him just a second ago. Zenitsu wanted a life even in the demon slayer corps, that even if he dies, he atleast have some memories for himself to remember. You understood him, and that's what you would often want to bring him out into some quick dates here and there to make memories with.

Memories to remember, even in a life and death scenario.

The two of you stood for awhile enjoying eachothers company, listening in on the sound of croaking of frogs and enjoying the light the fireflies make "I love you Zenitsu, even if I would die, slaying demons with you and the others." You said while having your eyes closed, you suddenly opened your eyes when Zenitsu slowly twirled you so he could hug you in the front "Dont say that! I don't want to lose you, I promise to protect you myself." He exclaimed as you had to shush him a little not wanting to wake up the others.

"Calm down Zenitsu, Im still here okay? I only want to remind you that I will always love you." You said calmly, your head resting onto his chest as his hand patted you on your head "I promise you, (Y/N)-Chan. I'll protect you, both of us will live and have a good life together." He said patting your head making feel relaxed and also a little sleepy "You dont really need to make promises Zenitsuu...I know you're always going to protect me..." You said trailing off slightly here and there, slowly feeling sleepy.

"W-well! I just want you to know it (Y/N)-Chan, Ill be always here to protect you" Zenitsu exclaimed as you nodded lightly as you wrapped your arms around Zenitsu as he looked at you "feeling sleepy?" He asked as you responded with a hum, after that the two of you started to go back to the room.

Zenitsu tucking you to bed, kissing your forehead "Goodnight (Y/N)-Chan, I love you" He muttered as he went to his bed.

[your-daily-biaswrecking]

Serva me, Servabo te

save me and I will save you

pairing: photographer!Taehyung x f.reader

genre: angst, smut, slight enemies to lovers

word count: 8.5k | reading time: 45 min

chapter summary: Taehyung and you can't stop bickering, even after what happened. But something brings you closer.

warnings: Dom!Tae, sub!reader, protected vaginal sex, super tiny blowjob ig, slight chocking, dirty talk,

All chapters  |   Masterlist  |  Read on AO3

Chapter 6: Behind closed doors

Sometimes, you're having such an amazing dream that you don't want to wake up. Not even when you can feel the wakeful consciousness prying the images from your brain with force, when things start to make less and less sense, and events are repeated in an attempt to keep dreaming. And you have started to be aware of the sounds around the room, the position your body is in, the way your eyelids are heavily closed, and you're not sure if you simply don't want to move, or if you are unable to.

But just as you're wishing to remember the dream and all of its details, the moment you open your eyes, you have already forgotten it.

You were confused for a second as to why you were in your room. Or perhaps the confusion came from why you were in your room, alone- having already gotten used to some company. Then the memories from the previous night presented themselves; the way you had almost fallen asleep in Taehyung's arms and he had helped you walk upstairs and tucked you under the covers. You think the dream that you were failing to recall now might have been what your subconscious guessed -or hoped- could have happened next. If he hadn't left you alone.

But he wasn't there with you; perhaps his presence could have distracted you enough not to think about the consequences of your actions. But you were all alone and free to overthink, regret, agonize. It all felt like the worst hangover, and you weren't even drunk. Like Taehyung was some type of drug you got hooked on from the very first night; you craved him and would do anything to have him at the moment, then could only pull yourself together after it was all over. And you feared leaving now would result in you experiencing withdrawal.

Your phone buzzed -it was plugged in to charge even though you know it wasn't you who did that- and you realized it was that same sound that had slowly woken you up. You found the strength to roll over and grab it. A couple of missed calls; a couple of texts. Yoonji, obviously. You sighed, thinking about how you weren't ready to face reality yet and especially not to deal with your roommate, but when you read the most recent text you jumped off the bed.

"WE NEED TO TALK ! !"

Oh, no. Not all caps. Not two exclamation points, with spaces, too. There was no more time to dwell on anything, you were out the door before you could even blink. And you ran downstairs, looking around all the empty rooms.

"Taehyung!" you shouted but got no reply. He was nowhere, yet again. You dashed back upstairs to look into his room, that one empty, too, but heard noises when you passed by the bathroom door. "Taehyung?" You called again, and after a moment of silence, he answered.

"Yeah?" His voice was coming from inside, and you almost acted out from instinct to open the door. Luckily you stopped yourself, exhaled heavily through your nose while shaking your head and biting your cheek.

"Did you tell Jimin what happened?" you snarled.

"What?" he called, sounding confused.

"Did you- oh, jeez!" You quickly averted your gaze when the bathroom door swung open and a naked Taehyung was standing behind it.

"What are you talking about?" he simply asked, very casual. So casual it made your eyes follow his voice, ever so briefly, and out of the corner, you noticed he wasn't actually completely naked. You hesitantly turned your head back forward, still avoiding looking at him directly because of the way it made your face catch on fire.

Taehyung was standing by the door with a towel wrapped around his lower half. His dark hair appeared even darker due to the water dripping from his locks, down his shoulders. And everything else was exposed; his sharp collarbones, his soft tummy, the small trail of hair in the middle of his chest and right before the towel began. You lost your train of thought altogether. Flustered and awkward, mumbling your words but saying nothing.

Taehyung enjoyed your blushing state for a moment, rubbing his chest with a palm, mostly to draw your attention on him again, before he decided to help you out. "Tell Jimin what?"

Oh, right. "Uh- what... happened." He kept looking at you as if he didn't know what you were talking about. "Last night," you continued, but he still just raised his eyebrows at you, as if he wanted you to say it out loud. You rolled your eyes and took a breath to find the courage. "Did you tell Jimin that we made out last night?"

He chuckled, clearly amused by the way you had described it; like you hadn't done much more than that. "No," he finally humored you and you sighed in relief. "Why did you think I did?"

You shrugged. "Yoonji was all dramatic about wanting to tell me something and I just thought..."

"Hm, well, you thought wrong," he said matter-of-factly. And he looked at you with such a stare, you suddenly didn't know what to do with yourself. You felt bad for the possibility even crossing your mind.

Your eyes down on the floor, you pushed a strand of hair behind your ear and cleared your throat. "And... you're not going to tell him, right?"

"Do you want me to?" You shook your head at his question and he raised an eyebrow fleetingly. "Then I won't." He agreed, but you still felt like he was judging you. You felt like you were doing something so, so wrong and you couldn't even wrap your head around what it was. What could be worse than what you had already done?

"Alright, then..." you murmured, biting your lip and avoiding his direct eye contact once again. "Can we both make a promise? What happens in this Manor, stays in this Manor."

You noticed the corner of his mouth lift up, and he leaned in closer. "Sure. Everything that happened, and everything that will happen the next few days, it's all forgotten the moment we step out of the door," he whispered with a smirk. Then turned his head to force you to look into his eyes. "Is that what you want?"

You could see the satisfaction in having gotten you flustered again written all over his face. The implication alone of his -and your- words had your skin running cold. And perhaps you wanted to scoff at him, put him in his place; tell him nothing else would be happening. But it was more likely you'd be lying. It was more likely you didn't want to make such a promise.

So you avoided responding completely. "I'm going to go take a shower," you announced, turning away.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" he called after you before you had managed to disappear from his sight.

You paused and glanced at him through your shoulder. "No."

"I'll make something, then."

You offered him a quick nod and got in your room. And finally, you could breathe. It was the awkwardness of your first day there all over again, but so different, and so much worse. At least at the beginning, he was pretending not to remember anything; now there was no such comforting thought anymore. Not only did he know, he probably knew more than you; as in he could read your thoughts better than you could interpret them yourself. When you didn't even want to admit how much you liked his lips on yours, he definitely could tell.

And now what? You couldn't understand from your brief interaction what was supposed to happen next. Would you continue your days normally like nothing happened, or would it only get worse from now on? You had a hunch he would go for the second choice. But you didn't know what you wished for.

Your phone had no signal again; you couldn't even see what your drama queen of a roommate wanted to talk about. With the reassurance that it was (probably) nothing that you had done, however, you could go take that shower you had promised. Well, your mind was still being tortured with unneeded worries and scenarios, but at least Yoonji was one thing less to worry about. It's not like you would ever be truly free from Taehyung, anyway. Especially not after the image you had seen earlier.

Damn, he looked like a whole snack. No matter how much of an ass he was, you could never lie about that.

Your bed was made when you got back in that room, sheets smelling fresh. This time you thought about the housekeepers, not the man. Even though you had still never seen anyone else in that house, and it was eerie, to say the least, how they managed to avoid you so perfectly every time, but you just had to believe there was someone there. You had to, otherwise, you didn't know what you'd believe.

You could smell the fried bacon even when you were still upstairs. Taehyung really didn't have to go so hard every time he did anything; you would be fine with just something light, for a change. But no, he had to make a whole meal every day, didn't he? What was he trying to prove? It wouldn't change your mind about him. Or maybe it did, a little bit, when you decided to wear again the cleaned dress he had complimented you on. Like you craved his approval.

"What's all of this?" you said once you walked into the kitchen and the table was full. Two eggs, sunny side up, on each plate with a couple of bacon stripes next to them, fried white cheese, and sliced tomatoes. Just on the plates. Then there was what looked like oatmeal on an extra bowl topped with nuts and fruit, slices of bread accompanied by honey and butter, freshly squeezed orange juice, and filter coffee. "This is a whole hotel buffet!" It definitely overshadowed your pudding.

Taehyung flashed you a grin before pushing his still wet hair back and setting the final touch, the cutlery, on the table. "I thought you'd be hungry." He didn't finish the sentence, which would clearly go something like "after I made you pass out last night."

You chewed on your lip, hating that he was so obviously right, you couldn't even try to hide it. But you still kept your head high as you sat down. "You know, I often skip breakfast, anyway. All of this is really unnecessary."

He pointed at you with a scowl. "Unacceptable! You should never, ever skip breakfast." Then he sat down diagonally from you.

You rolled your eyes at him. "Whatever. This isn't breakfast, this is what I eat in a day."

He cocked his head to the side, a smile being suppressed on his lips, as he picked his fork up to dig in first. "I can't say I didn't warn you about my cooking skills and the effort I put in the next day."

Gosh, he made you so mad. You were this close to telling him to go back to pretending he didn't even know you; so much better than having to listen to him brag about you like you were just another conquest. And the worse part is that you willingly let that happen. And that you're still not in your car, driving back home. Maybe you're just all talk and no action. You keep saying how much you hate him, but really, why don't you act like it?

"You don't have to try so hard to make me fall for you, though," you answered eventually, starting to eat one of the eggs.

"Is that because you have already fallen for me?"

You shot him a glare. "I thought I already made it pretty clear how I feel about you."

Taehyung snorted loudly with his eyes wide. "Right, crystal clear. Absolutely no mixed signals at all!"

You let your hand drop on the table with a thud. "You're insufferable."

He took another bite and smiled at you smugly. "If I am so, you could always leave."

Your mouth dropped right as a deep frown settled on your features. You had definitely thought about doing exactly that, many, many times already. But there was no way you'd do it now that he had said it. No way you would give him the satisfaction. Although, for the moment, you did get up since you didn't want to stay there with him another second. You got up, with a pout, ready to storm out, but...

"I said," Taehyung growled, giving you a stern look through his lashes. "You should never skip breakfast."

You had never seen him so serious. Sure, you wanted to go against him, but it felt almost impossible. Maybe it was just how hungry you were and even you didn't really want to leave with an empty stomach. Your body, as if it was on auto-pilot, obeyed his words and you sat back down. You held your fork and knife in a bruising grip, glaring at him, while you contemplated whether you should pick the plate up and leave, or if that would be kind of crossing the line. Even for you. But before you could escape, the photographer dragged his chair until it was right next to yours. He picked up a bit of bacon from your food with his own fork and brought it to your mouth.

"You don't need to feed me!" you complained, immediately turning your head to the side.

But Taehyung held you from the chin until you faced him again. "I clearly do, since you're being a baby," he said, his expression still very serious. It almost felt like you were being punished. "Now, open up."

"I'm not a baby!"

"I'll believe it when you stop being so immature. Open."

His hand still on your jaw and his tough gaze now on your lips, you finally obliged him and let him feed you. What the hell was Taehyung fascination with feeding people? You had seen it happen more times than what one would consider normal. He fed you two more bites before you finally managed to pull away, convincing him you wouldn't just bolt. You wouldn't disobey. But he still didn't go back to his old spot, simply brought his own plate right next to yours and started eating with you. So close, your elbows were bumping with every move.

"I'm not immature," you spat out at some point, his words still bothering you.

He argued the opposite without even pausing or looking at you. "Says the girl who can't even kiss another adult without worrying so much about people finding out."

Well, the two of you had clearly moved from the phase where everything was secret and mysterious and implicit, to the phase where he could just say everything that crossed his mind out loud, no shame about it. And you -to no one's surprise- hated it.

"I wouldn't call having standards immature," you replied with a rise of your eyebrows and the last sip of your juice. The exact moment you lowered that glass, however, your vision was blocked and your lips were occupied again before you could even grasp what was happening. Taehyung gave you one quick peck and then was gone just as fast. You just widened your eyes to the maximum as you turned to look at him in an attempt to understand what he had done, and why. Where that kiss had come from. If looks could talk, you were sure his would be saying: "yes, I did that; what are you going to do about it?" He was mocking you. Because you didn't want your friends to know you liked kissing him, he was doing it even more. He had the audacity to do whatever he wanted now, absolutely no reservation. And he decided to taunt and punish you.

"Standards..." he scoffed, getting back to his food.

If you had any of those you would have stopped him already. Is that what he was trying to say? You were fuming. Got up once and for all -the food was over anyway- while you pushed the chair back so aggressively it almost fell to the ground. You didn't need to sit here and take this- this- humiliation. But as you turned to leave, you were stopped by a hand wrapped around your wrist.

"I see you're wearing that pretty, fairy dress of yours again," Taehyung mumbled, his eyes raking up and down your form. "I hope you're not planning on going out- it's going to rain."

You tugged your hand away. Now he was telling you what you could and what you couldn't do, too? "Since when did you become my dad?" you spat. Well, that was obviously supposed to be a bash at his controlling and authoritative manners, but it certainly didn't come out as such. And you were wondering why he was calling you immature?

"Well..." he chuckled, giving you another scan with a smirk on his lips, and you knew exactly what he was thinking about.

You groaned. "No! Stop that! Don't even say it. You're disgusting," you quickly accused him with a pointed finger and left the room.

Of course, your first thought was to go out. Just because he had said no. But even you could tell there was a storm coming from the looks of the sky, and getting caught in it while in the woods was the last thing you needed right now. So your next thought was to try and call Yoonji again, vent about how much you hated the famous photographer to someone who actually believed it; someone who hadn't seen you beg for him last night and could clearly deduce you were lying. But your phone was mysteriously gone. You knew, for a fact, that you had left it on the nightstand where it had been charging. But no matter how much you looked over and under and around it, your phone wasn't there. You tried to think about the possibility of you taking it somewhere else, but since you had no signal you knew it was minimal. No, someone must have gone into the room and moved it. Perhaps the housekeepers.

There was some light tapping on the window and you almost thought the crazy man was throwing rocks at you again before you realized it was too much and too fast. You saw the rain droplets hitting the glass and sliding down in a rhythm in front of the grey background. And so it had begun.

You managed to slip into the sitting room while Taehyung was still busy in the kitchen. You would need the warmth of the lit fireplace if the rain was going to only get worse from then on. So you had to infiltrate the room before he had the chance. And you waited for him to appear, maybe even wanted him to, but he didn't. As if he knew you wished to be alone, as if he knew where you were without even checking, he stayed clear of the sitting room. And it was lonely.

Perhaps there was no reason you weren't with him right now. You had already proved that you still liked each other, maybe not in the way you would expect, but definitely at least carnally. And you had also established that whatever happened there, would stay there. That could have easily been the excuse you needed to spend the rest of your days there enjoying it as much as you could, without any shame and without looking back. But Taehyung still managed to get on your nerves. And you were pretty sure you did the exact same to him.

It may be that you were simply never meant to stop annoying each other. You wanted to go find him in whatever room of the many in this Manor he was in, tell him to just shut up and kiss him, but the idea that he would get the satisfaction of winning this stupid, made-up competition in your head made you upset. Even though just last night you were chanting his name like a prayer, by daylight you were still too proud to admit you liked it. Who knows, perhaps you won't have the same hesitations in the evening.

The rain kept getting louder, loud enough to distract you as you watched out the window to observe the scenery and how it reacted to the natural phenomenon. There was music somewhere in the background and you assumed Taehyung must have figured out how to get that old record player in the hallway to sing. The book abandoned open on the couch didn't keep you as much company anymore. All you could do was think about what the boy was up to, think about what would happen next. And you realized things could either keep going up and down, or they could go smoothly. And you also realized you hated the idea of being with the boy you've spent so long dishing, but you hated staying in that room alone more.

You may not want him as your boyfriend or your friend normally, but perhaps the days in this Manor could not count.

You found your way back into that kitchen, pretending you needed some water when you knew you'd find him there preparing lunch. You expected a clever remark, a teasing tone, a sarcastic joke from him. Something that would remind you why you had stormed out in the first place; but were met with a small smile. He seemed happy to see you there like he wasn't expecting it. And he stayed quiet, the way you do when you don't want to scare a wild animal away. So you let your shoulders drop and allowed yourself to get closer, peeping at the pieces of meat he was sauteing. He snaked an arm around your waist as he pulled you to the other side and handed you a knife and the vegetables he clearly needed you to cut. And with another small smile and a stroke of your cheek, you ended up side by side cooking together in almost absolute silence, save for the rain, the music, the sizzling of the food, and the occasional instruction given in the form of a whisper. And you liked it.

The food, as always, was amazing. And Taehyung pushed you until you confessed just that, although he then claimed it was because of your help. The disc that had been playing had reached its end and was doing quiet circles around itself until the photographer finished his last bite and went outside to stop it. When he came back into the kitchen, however, he was looking somewhat perplexed.

"Do you hear those noises, Amy?" he asked you.

You got off the table to face him, too. All you could hear at first was the sound of the rainfall, but once you moved closer to the hallway, you realized what he was referring to. Noises coming from upstairs.

You walked right in front of him, grabbing his arm. "See, Tae? That's what I was talking about. That can't be just the pipes."

Taehyung nodded as the thumping got louder. "And the housekeepers?"

You frowned. "You're saying there are people here right now?"

Clearly, you were alone. He glanced down the corridor and back at you, holding your arm as well. "Then? Is there someone else here?"

Oh, you didn't like that question. You were supposed to be asking the absurd questions and he was supposed to be calming you down. What was he doing, being the crazy one now? "Like... Who? What?"

It seemed like he remembered to be cool, and he shook his head with a chuckle. "No. There can't be anyone here," he said, releasing his grip on you and looking back down the hallway. "It must be something else."

"Okay," you sighed. "Then, will you go and look?"

"Me?"

"Well, yeah."

"Why do I have to go?" he mumbled even though he was still trying not to look scared.

You saw the opportunity and took it; crossing your arms over your chest. "I can't go, you know, since I'm an immature baby. You have to be the man and go check."

Taehyung growled at you through his teeth but shook his head like he was amused. "You're such a princess."

The thumping got worse. You both looked up at the same time, even though neither could see anything through the ceiling and then looked at each other in the eyes. You immediately knew you had the same thought.

"Together?" you offered.

"Yeah, let's go together."

Your hand slipped into his. or perhaps he was the one who sought it, as you slowly walked toward the staircase. Taehyung was one step ahead, checking the way as you followed, and you kept looking back, checking the way you left behind you. Your hands always linked.

"It's probably just the wind," Taehyung murmured when you had reached the first floor, but the rooms didn't look out of the ordinary. Then, a sharp bang came from right over your head.

"The attic!" you exclaimed. You saw Taehyung looking at the extra set of stairs leading further up and sigh, clearly not having the slightest desire to go up there. You couldn't blame him.

"Hello?" Taehyung shouted at the stairs, and you're not sure if it would be worse to get a response or not. It was the latter.

"I told you there's no one here," you murmured to his ear as he slowly started walking up the steps, still having this need to be right. Even in times like these.

The further up you got, the colder it got, a chill running down your spine like a breeze had passed right through you. And your hold on the man got tighter, the force reciprocated right away. The sound of the rain got worse, too, as it was hitting the roof that was right above you. And it was almost deafening. The atmosphere was stranger than ever, and for a moment you thought you'd rather never find out what the noises were; you held onto Taehyung's green sweater and pulled him slightly back, ready to tell him to abort. To just take both him and yo back to safety; if the downstairs era could be classified as such. Save him, so he can save you; the dynamic that seemed to be most prominent in your relationship.

"Hold on," he then mumbled, his free hand holding the one that was pulling him back. "I think there is a window open."

"Tae," you whined, but he slipped between your fingers.

You didn't take another step, keeping one foot still on the staircase, while you watched the boy walk carefully down the small corridor and looking inside the empty rooms. Another bang, that was now easier to locate, came from one of the closed rooms around the middle, and Taehyung pointed at it, before opening the door.

"Ah," you heard him exhale and he walked in without a second thought. You just kept looking at the empty spot he had left down the hall with worry, still not knowing what was going on. "Amy, see, I told you," his voice came a little muffled from inside.

You finally moved closer, until you were able to look inside. Taehyung was closing up a window in a very similar way that he had done in your room the first night. Although this time the strong windstorm was drenching him. He only struggled a tiny bit until he had the lock secured and the current was cut off. He sighed once more, taking a look around the room.

"How did that open?" you asked, fidgeting.

Taehyung shrugged. "Probably same way yours did," he said as he bent down and picked up a lamp that was laying on the floor; probably the culprit of one of the loud bangs that had brought you two up here, along with the doors that must have been slamming and the window casements smacking the walls due to the wind.

"I still don't know why mine had opened like that," you said. It was true, the way it had been so stuck earlier, it all just seemed too suspicious to you. Although you had nothing to base your suspicions on. Taehyung chuckled and walked back to you, placing his palm on your back to guide you gently back.

"I'll tell you how. Old house means weak windows. And weak windows means it's easy for a strong wind to blow them open."

You glanced one last time over your shoulder as you started going down the stairs, just to make sure everything else seemed in order; and yes, the attic was still the same kind of creepy as always, but at least it was quiet. "That, or there are ghosts getting in and out through those windows," you grumbled. Big stretch, you knew that. You didn't actually believe that, or maybe you did a little bit. IT just was had crossed your mind at the moment, and just the fact that you were comfortable enough to blurt it out in front of Taehyung without fearing being judged spoke volumes.

He chuckled and rubbed your back. "Now, why would ghosts need to use the windows? Can they not just pass through the walls."

You threw your arms up in the air. "Oh, right! Great. If there are any ghosts here we won't even be able to tell."

The photographer stopped you then, outside your room, and he turned you to face him. "Hey, hey," he whispered in a reassuring manner, holding your face in both hands and looking in your eyes. "How about we made a nice, warm cup of tea and go sit by the fireplace, huh? Nothing can hurt us there, okay?"

You basked in the feeling of his eyes on yours in such a sweet and comforting way, in a protective character, even if there was no real danger or need. Perhaps that's what made his stance even better; he didn't tease you or mock you. Even if that would be exactly what you would expect from him. Maybe Taehyung wasn't all that you imagined he was. Maybe when he was acting like that, it was exactly that: acting. Because he, too, was tired of your accusations and was giving you the role you had painted for him. Tired or hurt. But in this more genuine and sincere moment where both of you had undeniably let your walls down and gotten close, he was behaving more subconsciously and unpretentiously.

"Okay," you said while giving him a tiny smile.

He leaned in and placed his velvety lips on your forehead. Then his thumb caressed over your cheekbone and he let you go, quickly taking your hand in his, however. "Okay, let's go."

If there was one thing certain about this house, it was that you were indeed safe in that sitting room. Or at least it felt that way. When you were sitting by the warm fire, listening to the heavy rain on the windows and the ticks of the grandfather clock, sipping that delicious mountain tea with honey and lemon, it felt like nothing else existed in this world but you, Taehyung, and that room. This time you weren’t sitting very far; had chosen to be as close as possible, perhaps for a sense of protection. You were both on the thick carpet with all the cushions in front of the fireplace, at first with just your feet touching, then eventually with your whole body pressed upon his and his fingers playing with your hair any time he took a break from working. Until you were both too tired to continue and decided to play some rounds of Beavers.

The rain had turned into a storm. It was completely dark outside save for the frequent flashes of lightning. Taehyung was beating you on the game yet again and the time that you were supposed to go back to your separate rooms was nearing. But every time you looked toward the exit, neither of you wanted to leave. Be it the fear of what lay behind that door, or simply your need of an excuse to stay close, it didn’t matter.

The lights went out suddenly to a crack of thunder. The fire was the only thing illuminating your faces as you looked at the man with wide eyes.

“Tae!” you cried out, messing up your card game in favor of jumping into his arms.

“It’s okay, Amy, it’s just the storm.” He kept saying that, but was it really? “I’ll go look for some candles to light.”

But you held him tighter as he tried to get up. “No! Don’t leave me.”

He looked down at you. “Baby, don’t be scared.”

You just pouted at him, your arms snaking around his torso more. “Please, just stay here with me.”

He must have noticed the way you were slightly trembling because he gave up on trying to get away and held you. He stroked your back and your head as if you were some kind of puppy, only for a minute or two, before the lights were back on.

“Ah, see?” he exclaimed with relief in his voice that betrayed he wasn’t particularly fond of the darkness either. You peeked your head over his shoulder to see the room in its normal state. “It was nothing. It passed.”

“It may happen again, though,” you murmured, your hands pulling at his shirt still.

Taehyung chuckled. “So what are we going to do? Stay here all night?”

You bit your lip. You didn’t want to reply, or at least not truthfully, but for some reason, you didn’t find it in you to be distant anymore. “Is that a bad thing?” you said, your voice no louder than a whisper, and you would be fine whether he heard it or not.

You felt his chest rumble before his chuckle even reached your ears. “No, it’s not,” he managed to say between his laughs.

“Then why are you laughing at me?” you said sulking.

“It’s just funny how you go from wanting to be as far from me as possible, to not wanting to let me out of your sight go so fast.”

Of course. It wouldn’t be Kim Taehyung if he wasn’t boasting his charm and teasing you about it. You scoffed at him. “Just because being with you right now sounds like the better option, doesn’t mean that is always the case.”

“Uh-hm…” he mumbled and his smirk was obvious in his voice. His lowered until it was hidden in the crook of your neck, and his breath came hot from his mouth onto your skin. “And what do I have to do to know if you’ll have me or not each time?” he rasped. His voice against your neck caused goosebumps to form all over your body.

“Well-” you said and your voice cracked, “-I suppose I won’t be mad if you hang around while we’re here. You know, better chances of survival.”

You felt his smile grow as he pressed even closer to you. “That doesn’t go against your standards?”

You had to roll your eyes. Was he trying to get you to be with him, or remind you to stay away? No, he was probably just taunting you. He really loved doing that, didn’t he?

“We already said that whatever happens in this Manor doesn’t count, so…” you finally said, not thinking too much about your words, until Taehyung pulled away to look into your eyes.

“It doesn’t count, huh?” he repeated like he was trying to make sure he got that right. “Then you might as well go all out; do anything you want to do with no repercussions. Right?”

Your whole face caught on fire as he said those words. “Tae…” you began, and he waited patiently. “What do you mean?” You knew exactly what he meant. You were just asking that to buy yourself some time in order to figure out how you felt about it.

“Look,“ he whispered, licking his lips. “All I really want to know is… If I kissed you right now. Would you feel bad and regret it later? Or would you enjoy the moment like it won’t count once we go back to our everyday lives?” You gulped, and he was quick to add something before you had the chance to speak. “And by kissing you right now, I mean tonight and tomorrow and the day after, too. All while we’re trying to survive our stay in this Manor, instead of doing what would be easier and just leaving.”

You could see in his eyes the anticipation and wonder, perhaps even a little worry, as he searched yours awaiting for an answer. You bit your lip. At the moment you weren’t exactly suitable to think something like that through, but you didn’t have to, already having subconsciously decided the answer long ago.

“I didn’t regret kissing you last night,” you decided to admit instead of giving him a direct response.

But Taehyung knew exactly what that meant. The corner of his lips twitched before his hands held your face gently and he pulled you in for a kiss. It wasn’t sloppy and urgent like your previous ones. Instead, his lips fit in between yours slowly, and you got to feel just how soft and inviting they were. He deepened the kiss in a natural rhythm, yet still didn’t pick up the pace; solely let his hands wander further down, caressing your body over your clothes until they reached your hips. He pulled you closer and your lips broke apart just for a moment so that you could straddle him.

You could feel him harden beneath you as you were grinding on him to the tempo of your tongues. Your fingers through his hair, you enjoyed pulling them just slightly in order to listen to the moans he released from the back of his throat. The room seemed to be too hot all of a sudden, and you could barely tell if it was the fireplace or the photographer that was causing your skin to burn. It was so hot you needed to get out of that dress.

You pulled away and saw Taehyung pout, leaning in to go right back to tasting you, but you grabbed the hem of your dress, pulled it over your head, and threw it away. With just one motion like that, you found yourself in just your underwear, sitting on Taehyung’s lap. Lucky you had chosen the pretty ones today. The boy gulped as he paused to look at you up and down, his eyes eating you up with no shame.

“Your turn,” you told him, pulling at his sweater. He obeyed with no hesitation, the garment disposed on top of your own in mere seconds, revealing underneath the same view you had witnessed that morning. And so you had that skin-on-skin contact you craved. And you knew immediately it was him that was burning you up after all.

This time his mouth attacked your neck, sucking and biting, making you moan while his hands blindly made work of your bra. It took him a few tries to open it, which kind of surprised you but was rather endearing. And when that, too, was finally dropped on top of the pile of clothes, his mouth attacked your breasts. Your hands kept roaming down his pants- you needed to feel him as well. But he wouldn’t allow you any room to work; just kept kissing your body like he had forgotten you were there.

“Tae, please,” you chocked out at some point when he bit down your nipple a little too hard. “I need you.”

He finally pulled away, his eyes struggling to focus on your face like he was dizzy. He took a couple of deep breaths to stabilize himself. “Are you sure?”

You nodded. And then ground down on his fully hard member. The fabric of your panties was so thin it felt like you were naked against his jeans, able to feel just how big he must be. You heard a hiss leaving through his teeth before he pulled you slightly back in order to dip a hand between your bodies.

“Let me prep you,” he asked of you, but you shook your head.

“No, please, Tae,” you whined. “I want you. Now.”

It’s not that you hadn’t absolutely loved the way he had finger fucked you and eaten you out last night and you wouldn’t love to have more of that. It was the fact that he had still not even let you see his dick and the curiosity had been killing you for three years now. You could enjoy the rest of his qualities another time; right now you just needed his dick. Whether that was in your hands, in your mouth, or inside you, you didn’t even care.

As if Taehyung could read the desperation in your eyes, he mumbled an “okay, wait,” and got you off him to work on his pants better. But before he unbuttoned them, he slipped a hand in his pocket and pulled out what you soon realized was a couple of condoms, and gave them to you. “Hold these,” he said, instantly looking back down to undo his pants.

You blinked at the protection in your hands. You didn’t know what you expected but it wasn’t exactly that. “You just had these on you?” you questioned with an unamused tone.

Taehyung looked at you after he let his pants fall on the floor and stepped out of them. He had a smirk on that told you he knew exactly why you were vexed. Because he was carrying those around like he knew you would give in that easily. “Do you blame me?” he asked, challengingly.

“Stop!” you immediately whined, falling back on your heels. “You’re literally making me have second thoughts right now.”

“No, no!” Taehyung called out with a laugh, hurrying to grab your body before you fell completely down. “No seconds thoughts, there’re no good,” he tried telling you but you whined again, hiding your face away. He couldn’t help but chuckle at your distraught state while he tried to hug you and warm you up again. “I meant do you blame me when I am living in this house with a hottie like you! That’s what I meant. I would have fucked you anywhere and anytime you asked, so I had to be prepared, baby.”

You scoffed at him but were intrigued enough to look at him out of the corner of your eyes. “Yeah, right.”

“No, really,” he told you with a more serious face. “I’ve been carrying those around since the moment I realized we’d be staying here together.”

You frowned slightly, taken aback by his words. “What? Why?” You finally turned back to him, letting your back lie on the carpet completely and Taehyung hover over your body as he still held your arms tightly like he was afraid you’d try to escape.

You saw him gulp and shrug his shoulders. “I mean… I don’t know if you noticed, but I really liked you that night. And I won’t lie, I have been wanting to finish what we started.”

His words alone made your pussy clench around nothing. Finish what you started… You definitely could get behind that.

You wrapped your arms around his neck to pull him in for a kiss. “Well, go on then,” you whispered against his lips. “Do what you’ve been wanting to do to me.”

Taehyung growled. He kissed you again, more aggressively, while he grabbed your panties to discard them. He noticed just how wet you had gotten for him, but didn’t comment on it, instead taking one condom from you and ripping it with his teeth. Like everything that was going slow up until now suddenly needed to speed up. Like he had been able to wait for you for as long as you need all this time, but suddenly he couldn’t wait another second.

“Let me put it on you,” you offered. In reality, you just wanted the chance to look at him more closely, hold him in your hands, a chance you probably wouldn’t get considering how desperate Taehyung was looking.

He didn’t question or argue, simply pulled back, and finally dropped his briefs down. His dick sprung free, standing up tall and hitting his lower belly. You cursed under your breath. That dick was almost as pretty as that man’s face! How was that even possible; that everything about him was so perfect? It was long enough that it could cover both of your hands when you held it and thick enough for your fingers to just be able to wrap around it. Your mouth watered just at the sight.

But you weren’t about to say any of that out loud; Taehyung didn’t need that kind of boost of confidence from you right now. So you casually put the condom between your lips and lowered your mouth on his tip, pushing down until you had it at least halfway through on him. The rest you did with your hands.

He moaned when he felt your mouth around him. “Where did you learn that, princess?” he asked, not having expected that from you. You just replied with a guilty smile while you looked up at him from down there. Taehyung groaned once more, then pressed a hand on your neck as he pushed you to lie back down. “Hm, look at you,” he purred as he poised himself between your legs. “You keep talking like you’re so much better, but deep down you’re just a slut, aren’t you?” His words made you squirm, your legs almost pressing together if he hadn’t stopped them. With his one hand still on your neck and the other traveling down your chest, your stomach, and your crotch, he pressed two fingers on your to find your entrance. “Aren’t you?” he repeated while licking his lips. “Isn’t that why you’re naked right now, beneath me? Isn’t that why you are about to let me fuck you right now?”

A whimper was caught at the back of your throat when you felt the tip of his dick nudging at you. But Taehyung’s grip on your neck tightened, not too much to cut your airflow or hurt you, but enough to make your mouth drop.

“Answer me,” he demanded in a deep voice. You just nodded, not even sure you remembered what he had asked you. “You’re going to let me fuck this pussy right? Like I’ve always wanted to?” he asked and you nodded again, frantically. But that wasn’t enough for him. “Speak.”

“Yes.”

He smirked. “And who are you letting do this, princess? Say my name.”

“Taehyung. Taehyung, please…” your voice came out tiny and fragile. And he seemed to finally be appeased.

He released your neck in order to grab your hips with both hands as he guided himself inside you. He hadn’t even gotten halfway in and you were already fuller than you had ever been in your life. You scratched on his back as you let his name fall from your lips again and again, like a habit you had picked up last night. He made you wrapped your legs around his waist before pushing all in. His head was already hitting your cervix and he had barely even moved yet.

“Too- big-” you choked out before you could stop yourself.

Taehyung chuckled. “But you can take it, right baby? Do you need a moment?”

You shook your head, closing your eyes tight. “Move.”

And he did just that; thrusting in and out at a slow but hard pace at first, but quickly picking it up when it started feeling good and he couldn’t help himself. “Shit,” he moaned when he started found your g-spot; he could tell by the way your eyes rolled to the back of your head and you screamed suddenly.

“Right there,” you let him know. “Tae, right there. That feels so good.”

“Yeah?” he breathed in a low pitch. “How good?”

You growled in between your teeth. Even now he craved the satisfaction of you admitting how good he was at everything he did. “So good I hate it,” you answered truthfully.

Taehyung grunted, clearly happy with your answer by the way his hips faltered for a moment. He was thrusting in hard, trying to get the loudest moans he could out of you. And the sounds you were making, the way your face contorted in pleasure, your nails dug in his back and your legs caged him deep inside you- it was all driving him positively crazy. He dropped his head on your shoulder, thinking he could control himself better if he didn't see how hot you looked right then, and all because of him. But you took the opportunity to drive your teeth right on the soft skin of his neck.

“Oh, shit,” he panted while you were dining on his body like you were actively trying to mark him. Like you knew it was his absolute weakness. “I don’t know how long I will last, this is too good.” He regretted having to say that, always proud of how he normally could go for hours. But he meant it when he said it was too good; his chest was trembling from pleasure already and he could only hold back so much.

You moved your mouth higher, biting his earlobe and then kissing it softly, earning a loud groan from him. “Make me cum, please?” you whispered.

Taehyung stammered again but quickly regained his rhythm. “Aw, look at you,” he murmured, pulling back to watch your face again. “Such a good girl, asking politely and everything.” You almost turned away in embarrassment before he leaned down to kiss you leisurely, in contrast to his unceasing hits. “You want to come on my cock, baby?” he rumbled in your mouth. You nodded lazily. “Alright. But only if you remember to say thank you afterward.”

He kissed you again before he moved lower and wrapped his lips around one of your nipples. A hand sneaked down until he found your clit and he started rubbing circles on it. Your back immediately arched towards his body, being already topo sensitive for his touch. And he kept pressing hard on you, the way he had found out last night that you like the most, while he sucked your nipple for the double stimulation. You couldn’t see anything in front of you, and he kept going. You were screaming his name and punching his shoulders because the feeling was too much, and he still kept going. Until you released everything you were holding back and coated him with as much of your juices as your body could produce.

Taehyung didn’t slow down. He brought his face back in front of yours to kiss you, while you slowly felt your consciousness leave your body. Your limbs were exhausted and you couldn’t even hold onto him anymore, but he still kept fucking you, faster and stronger, chasing his own release.

“Thank you,” you remembered to whisper against his lips when you got down from the initial shock of your orgasm. And all of a sudden Taehyung was grunting and thrusting deep inside you, without coming out. You felt his cum even through the condom as his dick was pressed upon your cervix. It was those two words that had undone him.

He collapsed on top of you, puffing and huffing on your neck. And you thought how easy it would be for you to fall asleep just like that; with Taehyung’s naked body as a weighted blanket, by the dying fire, under the heavy storm, in a Mansion that you were starting to believe increasingly could be more than it appeared. How nice it felt, how there weren’t any negative emotions in your heart at all. You weren’t scared, you weren’t disappointed, you weren’t sorry or ashamed. You would do this again right now. Right now as in tonight, and tomorrow, and the day after that.

Next chapter

[maysbanks]

hypersonic missiles. (jj maybank)

hello ! some of you may recognise this fic and that’s bc it’s currently being rewritten as an oc fic rather than a reader insert fic which it was before. i can’t wait for you to read this and introduce you all to haley who i love dearly, so pls enjoy and lemme know what you think !!

warnings: swearing, mention of sex, sexual innuendos, drug use, underage drinking, violence etc

summary: after the death of her father, haley grubbs is determined to get the answers her mother seems to be keeping from her, seeking help from a group of pogues (which just happens to include her weekly hook-up) and unknowingly throwing herself into the midst of a treasure hunt.

( gif isn't mine! please let me know if it's yours so i can credit you. )

The gang gathered around John B's porch, spaced out in various positions amongst the furniture. Silence engulfed the group, the air thick with tension as none of the four teenagers dared to speak.

"JJ should be the one to go." Kie broke the silence, her words hanging in the air as the group processed them.

Said boy whipped around in his place, golden hair falling in his sea blue eyes as they widened, glancing wildly between each of his friends. "What?" He demanded. "Why me?"

"Because you're the one that's hooking up with her," Pope reminded, matter of fact. As if JJ needed to be reminded. The dark skinned boy gestured between him and the remaining two. "She's gonna trust you more than any of us."

Kiara and John B murmured their agreement, JJ scoffing as he flapped his arms, beginning to pace in his spot. "This is ridiculous," he muttered between gritted teeth. "She won't wanna talk to me any more than she'll want to talk to you guys. I mean, we've only hooked up like," JJ paused - raising a hand to count on his fingers. "Maybe like, eleven times, twelve at a push!"

Kiara scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Wow, how chivalrous of you to keep count, JJ," she drawled sarcastically, the blonde boy simply shrugging in return as he took his formal position of leaning against the Chateau's wall. "Look, the thing is you know her better than the rest of us. You're familiar, we're not. We can't just go up to her and start asking questions about her dead dad and John B's compass."

JJ stared in disbelief. "And you think I can?" He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know if you guys realise this, but hooking up doesn't really require much talking. I barely know her."

"But you know her enough to warm her bed every week," John B piped up, narrowing his eyes at his best friend. JJ sighed, lighting a fresh blunt as he refused to meet any of the gang's eyes, staring ahead. John B stepped over and beside the blonde, arm thrown over his shoulder. "We need answers, JJ. Answers she could have. I mean, it was her dad right? She must know something about why he had my dad's compass."

JJ nodded along, but the uncertain feeling bubbling in his chest didn't cease. Thoughts of the two men that had chased the group the day before, guns blazing, entered his mind. Then the memory of him and John B showing up at the Grubbs' residence, only to discover they had been beaten to it by the very same men - he'd heard them threaten Lana and Haley Grubbs, demanding questions about the same compass that lay heavy in John B's pockets. He knew his best friend deserved answers, why did Scooter Grubbs have Big John's compass the night he died? Why was Scooter Grubbs out in the storm that night anyway? Hell, even JJ wanted answers. But he couldn't shake the doubtful feeling, thoughts of Haley Grubbs swirling in his head.

"I don't think this is a good idea." He tried once more, voice small and defeated. The Pogues shared a glance, and he knew they'd already come to a decision. Sighing, he flicked the butt of his blunt, sending it flying in the opposite direction. "Fine, I'll go talk to her. But I'm not making any promises that she'll talk," he frowned. "Sometimes I kinda get the feeling she doesn't like me."

Kie snorted. "I wonder why."

What the gang hadn't bargained for, however, was that the same person who'd they been talking about was already on their way to them - boots stomping across the ground in a determined stride, their mind a whirlwind of series of memories, scenarios, and all the events that had happened in the last twenty four hours.

Haley wanted answers, and she wanted them soon. (Sooner rather than later, if she was being precise.) The series of misfortunes events had all begun with the disappearance of her father - for whatever reason, he'd gone out in the storm that raged against the Outer Banks the night prior, and that, unsurprisingly, had led to his death. Memories of his body, washed up on the shore, cold and blue, eyes open but completely lifeless as they stared up at nothing and everything at the same time. Her heart wrenched at the sight, and she still hadn't been able to get the scene out of your head - her mother breaking down in a heap of sobs, Haley’s body following along with her as the pair both held each other and cried, Sheriff Peterkin's voice echoing in Haley’s mind, over and over again, like a siren. “I'm so sorry. There's nothing we could have done."

Haley knew that, of course. But it didn't explain why he was out in the storm in the first place. She had tried to question her mother, because she knew her dad wasn't a fool. Storm Agatha had been reported for weeks following up to it, he'd even made off-handed comments about it over dinner a couple of times. Her dad was aware about the storm, but had still risked his life (and coincidentally, ended it) to take a boat ride, or so that's what her mother told you.

Bull-fucking-shit. Haley knew there was more to the story, the appearance of two men breaking down her door and trashing her whole house was enough proof of that. And the fact that they were asking about a compass, of all things, didn't sit right in Haley’s gut either. Why the hell would two thugs want a compass, and why would her dad have it anyway? To her knowledge, her dad had never owned a compass in his damned life. (He also never owned a boat, which raised the suspicion of how the hell had he even gone out on a boat ride in the first place.) But the pair were persistent, and she was forced to watch as they threatened her and her mom, their last words sticking with her, sending a shiver of dread up her spine every time they echoed in her head; “We'll be back."

It was something straight out of a king-pin movie, and yet Lana Grubbs still wouldn't talk. She knew something, Haley knew it, and why she wouldn't share whatever information she knew with Haley was beyond frustrating - so she decided, fuck it. If her mother wasn't gonna give her her answers, then she was gonna go out and find them herself. Starting with John B. Routledge.

As if things couldn't have gotten any weirder, the teenaged boy had shown up not a minute after the two guys had left, appearing in Haley’s not-so-much of a doorway with the exact thing the thugs were after: the Compass. To her chargin, she hadn't had time to ask any questions though, her mother was quick to dismiss him (and JJ Maybank of all people, but she didn't really want to think about him at the moment) and warned him not to let anyone know that he had the compass, and Haley could see why - those guys were not to be messed with.

And so, John B. Routledge had left the Grubbs’ home, JJ Maybank in tow, and Haley was left to clean up the mess the bastards had left behind them. Her mothers warning rang in her ears; "Stay away from them boys. Do not get involved in this, Hales.” But alas, there she was, storming towards the property she knew the guys would be. Her mother didn't know, of course, and she was determined to make sure Lana never did. (Haley would be the next person she'd be burying if she ever did find it.)

All Haley wanted was answers, and if John B had even a couple, she was going to find them out. Her father had died, and there was more to the story than anyone was letting on. If it was up to her to piece the puzzle together, then so be it. She would, gladly.

So she marched in the direction of the Routledge residence, more determined than ever. As she walked, people gave her pitying looks, obviously recognising her as Scooter Grubbs’ daughter (the newfound bastard of the Outer Banks, sarcasm intended.) and she simply ignored each and every one of them. She didn’t need them, she thought. She was going to find out the truth, and each step Haley took she was closer to uncovering it all. Some people walked towards her as if to stop and talk, probably attempting to give her some kind of condolence, but each time a person did she hurried her pace; she couldn’t be stopped now, she was too close to getting where she wanted to be for some middle-aged folk tell her they were sorry about her loss, even though they couldn’t have cared less about her dad when he was alive.

Fucking bullshit, she thought.

Haley’s stride slowed however, when a familiar looking van made it's way into her vision, memories of it parked outside the very same house she was planning on going running through her already overactive mind. Her stomach churned, thinking she had missed her chance to interrogate the poor unsuspecting boy, before it seemed to slow down and pulled up to right where she was standing on the curb. Her respectively plucked eyebrows raised as the window rolled down, revealing none other than John B sat in the drivers seat, Kiara Carrera in the passenger, and Pope Heyward's and JJ's heads peering around the pair from the back of the van.

John B leaned out, his mop of wavy brown hair entering Haley’s brown eyed gaze, tight smile on his lips. "Haley,” he greeted. “Hey, where are you off to? Need a ride?"

"Actually," Haley drawled as she stepped closer, right arm leaning on the window as she sent a forced smile the teenaged boys way. “I was just heading over to yours. What a coincidence, huh?"

She never missed the look Kiara shot the two guys seated in the back, all of their eyes seemingly communicating in their own weird little telepathical way. John B blinked, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water for a few seconds before he seemed to compose himself, clearing his throat. "Oh, really?" He asked, as naturally as he could. (It wasn't very natural at all.) “How, uh, how come?"

"Oh, you know," Haley started, shrugging a shoulder nonchalantly. "Just thought I'd pay you a visit, y'know, like the one you paid me this morning. Remember that?" She asked as innocently as she could manage. (It wasn't very innocent at all.) “Just wanted to ask you a few questions, s'all. Like why you have the one thing those meatheads that trashed my house were after. How you got hold of it, stuff like that."

And then she smiled like they were all sharing a perfectly civil conversation, as if the underlying threatening tone in her voice didn't exist at all. John B sighed, his head turning towards the rest of the group, catching their eyes and seeming to have another one of their telepathic conversations before he turned back to her figure, his head nodding towards the back of his infamous Volkswagen.

"Get in the back," he said - and she did, shooting him a smile that resembled one of a Cheshire Cat, satisfied as she moved to the other side, walking around the van and hearing him mutter from inside, "What? This is the perfect opportunity to ask her." She didn't need to look to know the rest of the gang were probably objecting her presence, but she couldn't care less. This was just the first step to getting what she wanted.

The door to the van was pulled open from the inside, JJ's head popping out and thrusting a hand out towards her to help her climb into the vehicle. Haley swiftly ignored the gesture, missing the flash of confusion and offence that appeared on the blonde's face, climbing into the van and seating herself beside Pope who smiled rather awkwardly toward her.

"I'm, uh, sorry about your dad," he said softly, fidgeting under her gaze. She smiled slightly at him in return, lips quirking more so in amusement at his obvious discomfort at either having her join them, or her being seated so close to him.

"Yeah, me too," Kiara piped up from the passenger seat, glancing over her shoulder towards her. "It must really suck, to just lose him like that."

Haley nodded, head turning in the direction of where JJ sat across from her, rubbing the back of his head as he muttered quietly, "Yeah, I'm sorry too." before averting his eyes when she looked at him, raising her eyebrows.

Kiara ignored him, the awkward silence that presented itself to the pedestrians inside the van only lasting a couple of seconds as she spoke up again. "I can't imagine what you and your mom are going through," she said, soft brown eyes darting to John B quickly before they returned to catch Haley’s once more. "We're always here if you need anything. Pogue's look out for each other, right?"

Haley forced a small smile, not bothering to bring up the fact that Kiara was technically not a Pogue, seeing no point in the matter as she sent her a small nod of appreciation, silently grateful for her words. Haley had always liked Kiara, or Kie, as she was more commonly known as. She had spent many times sat around a fire with her, listening to her rants about the environment and what everyone could do to help it, as an infamous Pogue kegger loomed around them. Haley was grateful for her presence amongst the guys, unsure of the fact that if she wasn't there, she probably wouldn't have entered the van. She was determined, but she also wasn’t stupid. Despite knowing the guys well and practically all her life, (it’s a small town kinda thing), she would never willingly get in a van with them and let them drive her to an unknown destination. Which reminded her suddenly - where the hell were they going?

"We're lucky we got each other, I guess," Haley said in relation to Kie's words. Kie nodded as her eyes darted to John B again. "But thanks, I really appreciate it." She fiddled with the hem of her faded out jean shorts, her next words directed towards John B. "So, care to tell me where we're going? Or better yet, why you have the damned compass my house was trashed for."

Silence filled the air of the Volkswagen. It was suffocating, the air thick with unspoken tension as everybody refused to meet her eyes. Haley was beyond frustrated, incredibly so, and she made a point to catch John B's eyes in the rearview mirror, an eyebrow quirking as she awaited an answer.

Finally, he sighed.

"The compass was my dads," John B revealed. Haley’s mouth opened in shock for a second before she clamped it back shut. "And for whatever reason, your dad had it. We uh, we found it at the wreck of your dads boat yesterday."

"Wait, what?" She demanded, blinking. She glanced between the gang, eyes accusing as she held each of theirs. "You guys found the wreck? And you didn't tell anyone?" She questioned, tone dangerously low. "And you stole from it?"

"It's not technically stealing if it was his compass," JJ defended, shrugging. Haley shot him a glare, feeling a bubble of irritation build deep in her gut. "And anyways, we tried to tell the coastguard about it after we first found it, but the guy was having none of it. They were hounded with the storm."

Her eyes narrowed. "First found it? Exactly how many times have you guys been at the wreck?" She demanded, tone accusatory.

The gang all swivelled to send JJ their own respected glares, Pope's voice small from beside her as he tried to explain. "Only a couple," he started, startling as her head whipped around towards him. "We're really sorry, okay! We didn't know it was your dads when we first found it, if we did, we wouldn't have snooped in his room either!"

Pope seemed to make note of his mistake as the rest of the gang did, Kie letting out a little frustrated groan from the back of her throat as JJ cringed, pointedly avoiding Haley’s gaze. John B's hands gripped the steering wheel tight, a warning "Pope" leaving his mouth.

Haley laughed, though it held no humour. She clasped her hands together, the slap of her palms meeting echoing in the confine space. "Let me get this straight, you guys not only found the wreck of my dads boat and didn't tell anyone about it, but also obviously found where he was staying and snooped in his room," she listed, feeling the familiar build of rage pulse through her body. “I mean, what the fuck you guys?"

"We're sorry," Kiara turned in her seat, meeting the Grubbs’ girl angered gaze. "We swear, if we had any idea it was your dad we wouldn't have. We were just, curious, I guess. We found the key on the boat when Pope first spotted it in the marsh, and before we even snooped we tried to tell the coastguard, but like JJ said, they weren't interested. So, John B and JJ went to look in the room."

Haley sighed heavily, leaning her head back to rest against the wall of the van. She tried to tell herself to calm down - hell, she probably would have done the same thing if it was her in their position, she couldn't get mad at them over that. "And did you guys find anything?" She asked quietly, the gang seemingly relaxing as they recognised her calmer tone of voice.

"Did we find anything?" JJ snorted as he repeated her words, grin falling from his lips at the glares the rest of his friends shot him. Haley sat up straighter, taking note of their warning glances. JJ awkwardly coughed, rubbing the back of his neck as he once again avoided her honey coated eyes. "Uh, not really."

"Not really?" She asked, frown on her plump lips. JJ nodded, tongue darting out to wet his pink lips, uncharacteristically quiet once more. "Okay, what the hell is going on? And no more bullshitting me, I've had enough of that from everyone else for the past forty eight hours. I came to you for answers, I'm not going anywhere without them."

She looked to John B then, hoping, pleading, that he would understand. He'd lost his dad too, nine months ago, supposedly lost at sea, believed to be dead. Haley knew he never believed that though, refusing to agree that his father was dead, insisting that he was simply missing. If there was one person that could understand her need to know about her dad, it was John B. And he knew it too, as he sighed and nodded.

"There was a safe," he started as she listened intently. "There was money inside it, I don't know how much. The cops kinda showed up when we were in there," he admitted sheepishly. "We had to hide before we could count it or anything. But there was also, um, a gun in the safe too."

"A gun?" Haley deadpanned. John B raised his eyes and caught hers, nodding. Haley scoffed in disbelief, running a hand through her almost waist length hair. "Why the hell would my dad have a gun?"

"Um, there's something else you should probably know," JJ blurted. "I kinda, uh, took it."

The Pogues glared at him again, Kie spitting a warning of his name, but the blonde just looked at the girl seated in front of him. Her eyes widened as he brandished the piece of metal, black in colour and daunting in shape. Of fucking course JJ Maybank had stolen her dads gun, she thought. It was so... JJ.

"You stole that from a crime scene?" She sputtered, heart squeezing uncomfortably in her chest as she eyed the object with disdain. JJ nodded, looking almost guilty. "My dads crime scene? What the fuck JJ? Do you realise how much trouble you could get into from taking that? For having that?"

Haley was unsure as to why she seemed to care so much about that, rather than the fact that he'd taken it from her dads motel room, and that the gun was technically her fathers. She didn't want to ponder too much about that, though, there was bigger fish to fry in that moment.

"Sorry," he said, rather dumbly. "You can have it, if you want?"

She stared at him incredulously as he held the gun out towards her, quickly shoving it away from her body as she shook her head forcefully. "What the fuck would I want with a gun, JJ?" Haley demanded. The blonde boy shrugged, suddenly sheepish.

"It was your dads," he stated simply. From the corner of her vision she could see Pope sending him a wild look, brown eyes blown wide as he tried to be subtle and shake his head at his friend, silently warning him to shut the hell up, or so she presumed. "I just thought, y'know-"

"You thought wrong, JJ," Haley interrupted him before he could continue. His eyebrows furrowed as he noted her hostile tone, but let it go as he simply nodded, swallowing thickly when she turned away from him. “So, what happened, after the motel room?"

John B looked glad to be back on the original topic. "Well, it wasn't long after that we found it was your dad. We were gonna tell the police, but uh, we had this crazy idea that there might have been more on the boat, like money or something? I don't know, we just thought-"

"Your dad might've been a straight smuggler," Pope piped up. Haley’s glare made him shrink in his spot. "Sorry, sorry. Not the time, I get it."

"Right," John B said curtly as Kie groaned softly. "So we went to look again, and I found a duffel bag. The marsh was closed, obviously. But we weren't the only ones out there," his voice turned deadly serious. “After I got it, these two guys appeared on a boat. The same two guys that were at your place earlier."

Haley exhaled shakily at the information, memories of the two men entering her mind unwelcoming. The image of them carelessly tearing apart her house, screaming threats at her and her mother, gun held to her temple as their fists left holes in the walls and bruises on her mothers skin. She shuddered and hoped the rest of the gang hadn't noticed, but she could see the pity in John B's eyes as they reconnected with her own.

"They chased after us, and they were shooting at us too. We managed to escape them, and when we got back on land I looked in the bag, and all that was in it was the compass. My dads compass. It's a Routledge family heirloom, and your dad had it."

His tone held accusatory, though she couldn't blame him for it. It was a mystery to even her as to why or how her father had gotten hold of the compass, and she knew John B wanted answers just as much as she did. Haley felt almost guilty that she couldn't give him any as she spoke up, “I didn't know anything about it, I swear. The first time I've even heard of it was today when those guys showed up. I'm sorry, John B."

Said boy nodded, seemingly believing her as he sent a small smile her way, reassuring her. “Anyways, that's why me and JJ went to your place, I just wanted to know if maybe you or your mom knew anything about it or why your dad had it," he shrugged a shoulder, trying to come off as non-chalant. "And that's when we saw those guys again. I'm sorry about that, by the way."

She shrugged too, an expression of what-you-gonna-do on her face. Though she desperately wanted to know more about the compass, and why it could be so important to the thugs, she withheld her questions for the moment, deciding they could come later.

"And then they arrived at mine," John B revealed. Haley’s yes widened in surprise at the sudden revelation, churning of fear twisting at her gut. "They did the exact same at my place that they did to yours; tore the whole place apart, looking the compass I guess."

JJ burst then - Haley jumped as his voice echoed in the van, much more louder than what John B's had been, excitement lacing his tone as he began to recite the story of the two thugs and their mission of tearing John B's poor beloved Chateau apart, hands gesturing wildly around him.

"Yeah, they were fucking crazy man! We were all locked in Big John's office, no way out apart from the window that was fucking painted shut. We could hear them, taunting us, y'know. Like, 'you better not be in there', they even knew John B's name!" JJ rambled, excitable expression painted on his boyish features. "They come in, guns-a-blazing and we're all tryna figure out how the hell to get out of there, before we finally manage to open the window and hide in the fucking chicken coop of all places. It was fucking insane, man. I had to kill a hen just so we could make it out alive."

Haley blinked at that, her jaw dropping slightly as she tried to process all the information he'd thrown at her all within a minute. JJ calmed down from his passionate retale, chest heaving slightly as he took in her dazed expression, sea blue eyes catching hers and holding them. Kiara said his name in a warning tone from the passenger seat, and he snapped out of his stare-off with the olive skinned girl, but she was still looking at him in disbelief.

"That's basically it," John B said from the front of the van, though his face held a slight grimace at his best friends rather dramatic recite. "But yeah, they practically stripped my dads office bare. They took everything, all of his books, research, everything about the Royal Merchant."

If anybody had noticed her sudden stiff posture at the mention of the Merchant, they never spoke on it. The Royal Merchant. Something Haley was all too familiar with. It had been something of a fascination to her father for a while, especially in the weeks leading up to his death. She just thought it was a weird hobby, a strange interest of his that she never really thought much of. It was nice to see her dad passionate about something, she’d thought. No matter how strange she believed it to be, he had a hobby and she was happy for him. But, sitting in the back of John B. Routledge's van, surrounded by a group of teenaged Pogues, one of which she was were all too familiar with, to put it simply, her throat tightened.

Surely the Royal Merchant couldn't have had anything to do with her dad, right? She was just thinking too much, more than likely. But something in the back of her mind was nagging, unforgiving as the thoughts whirled in her head.

"But before the guys showed up, we found something," she focused back her attention as John B continued. "There's something engraved on the compass. Redfield. It's my dads handwriting, he must have put it there for me, before he disappeared."

Haley shared a glance with JJ as John B said the word. Disappeared. Ever the hopeful, yearning boy. She couldn't doubt his wish, she wished for nothing more for her dad to appear back in her life - but she knew that hers was dead, officially. How could she forget, she saw his lifeless eyes every time she closed hers.

But John B didn't have that, he never knew, really, if his father was truly dead or alive. The records said so, but he'd refused to sign them, or so she heard. He was still hopeful, so certain that his dad would just appear back at the Chateau one day, like he'd never disappeared in the first place. But Haley - and many others - were realistic, and the reality was there was very little to no chance that Big John Routledge was alive.

(Her heart broke for the boy.)

She tuned out the rest of the conversation for the remainder of the drive, her head leaning back on the cool metal of the wall as she closed her eyes and allowed her mind to wander with all the possibilities. Could the Royal Merchant really have been a factor in her dads death? She couldn't shake the feeling, as she could hear vaguely the conversation of the gang. John B insisting that his dad was leading him on a mission, Kiara trying to be supportive but anyone could pick up on the doubt in her voice, Pope piping up with rather unhelpful scenarios like Big John having been kidnapped, (Haley had rolled her eyes), and JJ adding his input, multitasking with rolling a blunt. (She’d rolled her eyes harder.)

The thing was, Haley and the Maybank boy had a little deal going on. She could remember the exact day it had begun, at an infamous Pogue kegger, the sun having set and leaving the sky coloured in perfect hues of pink, purple and yellow. It had been a beautiful night, she had to admit. The party had gone strong to the early hours of the morning, and she’d somehow found herself leaving with JJ Maybank. He'd approached her after she witnessed him striking out with a Touron, (surprisingly), eyes narrowing at her when she’d let out a giggle at his misfortune. He had been hostile at first, demanding what she was laughing at, grinning slightly when she informed him simply 'you'.

The rest of the night had been spent in each others company, and Haley could recall the exact moment where they were dancing closely, bodies pressed tight against each other, her arms thrown over his shoulders and wrapped around his neck, his own around her waist, fingers digging into her hips. Their breath mingled together, his forehead leaning against her own, and she’d expected the moment his lips fell on herd, slightly chapped but impossibly soft against her own as they danced in a passionate embrace that secretly took her breath away. She’d let him lead her to John B's Chateau across the beach, hand gripped in one another’s, as he pressed her to every surface until they managed to stumble their way into the spare bedroom.

She had told herself the next morning that it would only be a one time thing. Haley wasn’t one for random hook-ups, not that no one had tried to coax her into one. She was kinda known amongst the island as being this untouchable, obtainable person that nobody could ever get close to. She wasn’t sure what it was about her that made everyone label her as this being - maybe it was the fact that she was a loner and didn’t stick to one friendship group and spent most of her time to herself, maybe it was the fact that people thought she was weird because her dad was known to be such a loser (God rest his soul), or maybe it was the fact that she skateboarded around town morning till dawn, earphones plugged in and music blasting so loud that passerby’s could hear every word clearly.

The point was, she wasn’t known for getting close to anyone. And yet, she had found herself drifting back to JJ Maybank many other nights after that first one, and that’s where their little deal came into play.

But that's where it began, and also where it ended. Hers and JJ's relationship (if you could even call it that) never went beyond that. Random hook-ups here and there, whenever JJ struck out with a Touron and found himself soughting Haley out amongst the crowd to fill the space in his bed. Of course they were always friendly with each other, they’d known each other for so long, that it would have been silly not to continue being friendly. But they never hung out, not with his group, not with him alone apart from their many nights of endeavours, until now, she supposed. She thought it might have been weird, and she thought correct. Neither of them really looked at each other head-on, the air awkward and thick as the driving continued.

Haley was thankful when John B seemed to finally arrive at his destination, and she leaned forward with Pope to glance out the window, spotting the tall lighthouse stood proud in front of the group. Redfield, the name was written boldly on display.

"Redfield Lighthouse," John B spoke. "My dads favourite place."

She clambered from the van as the rest of the guys did, gazing up at the high building with her hand shielding her eyes from the bright sun from where they all gathered at the clearing. John B turned to face JJ. "Right, you're gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?"

JJ's eyebrows furrowed as he demanded, "Wait, why me?" His expression only darkened when Pope informed he wasn't to go in the Lighthouse, Haley watching from the sidelines, unsure where to put herseld in the situation. "Why?" He continued to argue.

Pope grabbed hold of JJ's shoulders. "There are independent and dependent variables, you're an independent variable-" he tried to explain but was quickly cut off as JJ began to yell over his words. "We don't know what you'll do!"

"Shut up!"

Haley awkwardly scuffed her boots on the ground as Kiara sent her a small smile from ahead of the boys, rolling her eyes dramatically when Haley caught them. She smiled at the gesture, once again appreciative of her presence. "Listen to me for a second," John B cut in their argument, stepping forward. "Pope, you stand look out with JJ, okay?" The pair in questioned seemed reluctant, but both nodded at John B's persistent glare. The tall brunette turned to her next, gaze softening immensely when he caught sight of her uncertain posture. "Do you mind keeping an eye out here?"

She shook your head immediately, sending him a reassuring nod. "Yeah, sure. That's fine by me. Heights aren't really my thing anyway," she told him as she looked up at the Lighthouse, nausea hitting at a slight force when she stared at the very top of the building amongst the blue sky. "Yeah, I'm good here."

He nodded back at her, a thankful smile on his lips. "If we split up, we meet back at JJ's house." He spoke, directing the words to the whole group. They all nodded their agreement.

"Great." Kie finalised, shooting Haley one last small smile before her and John B began to walk off, jumping the small fence that blocked their path, their stride quickly entering them into the lighthouse. Haley exhaled as they disappeared into the door, and moved her gaze to return on the two boys she was stuck with.

"I'm gonna work on my merit scholarship essay." Pope informed, before he turned and entered back into the van, leaving her and JJ stood on the outside of it, alone and deadly quiet. She looked at the golden haired boy as he pulled out a happy sack from his pocket, beginning to kick it around with his booted foot.

Haley sighed as she leaned on the passenger side door, her teeth biting down on her watermelon flavoured chapstick covered lip as she stared at the grass beneath her feet, her mind racing. A thud caught her attention and she glanced in the direction of where it had come from, a happy sack laying at her feet. She looked back up to JJ, who sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, sorry about that."

She huffed out a small laugh, bending down and snatching the sack from the floor. "You don't have to apologise to me JJ," she said softly. Throwing the sack back to him, his large hands reached out and cupped it, bringing it back to his chest. “I'm sorry about this, y'know, gatecrashing your friends' little adventure."

JJ's lips quirked, his muscular arm reaching back and throwing the sack into the air, Haley catching it and holding his eyes. "You're not gatecrashing anything," he assured. In the sunlight, his skin cast a golden glow. "And 'sides you deserve to be here. You're looking for just as much answers as John B is."

"I'm not sure about that," Haley told him and threw the sack to him. "I mean, I'm looking for answers, of course. That's why I'm here. But I'm pretty sure John B needs them more than I do," she glanced at the lighthouse momentarily. "I know what happened to my dad, pretty much. He died while being out in the storm, I know that, I just don't know why he was out in the storm or what he was even up to in the weeks leading up to it. John B doesn't even know for sure if his dad is dead or alive." She shuddered at the thought, shaking her head. "He deserves answers way more than me."

JJ nodded, tongue pressed to the inside of his cheek as he paused in throwing the sack back towards her, looking at her small figure thoughtfully. "Do you think they could be connected?" He asked suddenly. Haley stared at him, confusion painted on her face. "Your dads, I mean. Yours and John B's. Do you think they could be connected, like your dads death and JB's dads disappearance?"

She stopped. Could they be, really? She had to admit she thought about it in the van on the journey there, but as quickly as it came it passed. To her knowledge, her dad and Big John didn't really know each other - of course they knew each other, but they didn't mix, or so she believed. But her mind replayed the moment John B mentioned the Royal Merchant, the way her stomach had filled with dread immediately, and she had the sinking feeling that it was very possible that what JJ was hinting at could be true.

"I don't know, maybe," she said instead, not wanting to voice her thoughts. JJ nodded thoughtfully, finally throwing her the sack back. She caught it, and repeated the process back to him again.

"I am sorry, though. About your dad," JJ's voice was soft, careful as he watched her pause, taking in his words. "I was gonna say more before, but with the guys... I know how much he meant to you."

Haley smiled gently, a sudden flutter in her chest alarming her as she nodded appreciatively at his words. "Thank you, JJ," she said quietly, sincerely. "It means a lot."

JJ nodded too, chapped lips pulling into an uncertain half-grin. "And I just wanted to say as well, that uh, I don't want things to be like, weird between us or anything," he stated awkwardly, clearing his throat. Haley almost laughed at the look on his face. "I mean, like, with us hooking up and stuff-"

"It won't be weird," Haley quickly interrupted him, grin overtaking the features of her face despite her better thoughts. "It was just hooking up, right? Not like we're exes or anything. No need to make it weird."

"Right," JJ voiced his agreement. Head full of long blonde locks nodding along at her words, dimples winking at her as they made an appearance in his cheeks when he smiled. "Not making it weird. Here's to that."

She laughed as the happy sack landed in her hands, holding it there as she squinted in the sun, grin cheeky as she gazed at him from her small distance. "Yeah, we'll just have to pretend we've never seen each other naked." She joked as she finally threw him his toy back.

The golden haired boy returned her smile, eyes mischievous as they made a show to glance at her figure from head to toe. "Trust me, I'll have to pretend a lot more beyond that to stay civil."

And before she could even think to voice her thoughts of Fuck, how did that almost kinda turn you on, a sudden and loud blare of a familiar siren startled, Haley’s and JJ's eyes widening as they met, a panicked expression matching in their features.

"Shit!" Haley uttered as JJ dropped the happy sack, her head turning to catch sight of the impending police car making its way towards where they were parked. She quickly glanced to the lighthouse, her heart dropping when she saw no sign of John B or Kiara, JJ grabbing her by the arm suddenly and practically dragging her into the van in the passenger seat, him running to occupy the drivers as Pope's head popped up between the seats, questioning them both erratically. She could give him no answers however, having no idea what had prompted the police to arrive. Haley had no time to think about what could have happened as JJ slammed his foot down, peeling out of the grassy area and away from the scene. "What about John B and Kie?"

"They'll be fine," JJ assured her, though they were empty words. He had no clue what had happened either, or if his friends would make it out and away from the lighthouse in time, but he still reached over and squeezed Haley’s knee gently when he saw her worried look. He caught her gaze and held it. "They'll be fine."

She could only hope that was true.

It was hours later when Haley and the Pogues gathered around John B's kitchen table, deadly silent as everyone processed what had just transpired.

She’d had JJ and Pope drop her off at home after escaping the police at the lighthouse, aware that she had been gone a long while and her mother was probably sick with worry by that point. If she wasn’t home within the hour, Haley had no doubt that she would have the police patrolling the streets, searching for her. When she toldthe boys this, they chuckled as she ordered them to park around the corner from her home, not wanting her mother to spot her leaving the van. She’d told them to call her when they heard from either John or Kiara, and they'd both agreed as she climbed from the van and walked the familiar path to her house.

Sure enough, Lana practically collapsed into her when she’d entered. Her arms were wrapped around Haley so tightly as they squeezed all the air out of her lungs, her mothers voice in her ear a jumbled mess of words laced in a frantic tone. Haley assured her she was fine, that no harm was done, and that she had just gone for a walk around the Outer Banks. Lana seemed hesitant, but had allowed Haley to ease her worries as she led her towards the couch and sat her down, letting her mom hold her for as long as she needed to assure her mind that she were really okay.

Haley felt almost bad, seeing her in such a panicked state. But then she remembered if she had just answered her questions truthfully instead of hiding everything from her than she wouldn't be sneaking around in the first place. And then the guilt subsided, if only a little. (Haley still felt awful.)

It was a couple of hours after that when a knock had sounded on her bedroom window. She had startled, her heart racing as she wondered who the hell could be knocking on her window, at night, too. She almost very nearly didn't go towards it, in fear of the two faces of the men from earlier that day greeting her, but she’d exhaled a sigh of relief when her eyes landed on the face of JJ Maybank.

"Care for a late night drive?" He'd asked, and she’d rolled her eyes. His grin never faltered as he watched her put on her boots, checking in on her mother and determining if the coast was clear to sneak out, before she’d climbed from her window, thankful that the house was only one story as she did so. Despite that fact, JJ's hands still gripped her hips as he helped her (though he didn't have to) down from the window.

She’d felt instant relief when she spotted Kiara and John B sat in the van, having resumed their earlier positions. Kie grinned at her as she got in the back along with JJ and Pope, who smiled at her also, as Haley began to question the both of them on what had happened after they’d fled the scene.

They'd been caught, of course. But they'd also been released, and that was the main thing. Haley decided to focus on the positives as John B drove them all off, this time to a cemetery of all places - leading the way towards a specific grave that he informed them all was his great-great grandmother, Olivia Redfield. Her maiden name, apparently.

And of fucking course inside that crypt was a white FedEx envelope, addressed to Bird, which they would later discover was actually John B's nickname given to him by his dad, who'd actually left the envelope there - hoping one day that his son would find it. (Because of fucking course Big John would do that.)

The pieces to the puzzle were all coming together, bit by it, slowly but surely. They’d all returned to the Chateau upon the discovery of the envelope, which contained a map, the sight very familiar. (The Royal Merchant, of fucking course it was.) And there was a very obvious X displayed on it too, X marks the spot. Along with that, a tape recorder fell into the palm of John B's hand.

"Dear Bird," the voice had started, vaguely familiar to Haley’s ears. There was no question as to who the voice belonged to - Big John Routledge was speaking directly into the room, all five teenagers gathered around listening intently. "I didn't expect to find the Merchant either."

Haley’s eyes widened to the size of saucers, her breath catching in her throat as she glanced at JJ who was beside her, his own face a perfect replica of confusion and amazement.

"There she is, the wreck of the Merchant. If something happens to me, finish what I started." Big John's voice continued to fill the deafening silence of the room. "Go for the gold, kid. I love you, Bird, even if I didn't always act like it. I'll see you on the other side."

The recorder clicked off after that, once again silence engulfing the room. Haley felt her stomach churn, her heartbeat to quicken, her palms beginning to sweat. She couldn't believe it. Big John Routledge had gone and found the Royal Merchant. The Royal Merchant, of which her own father had spent months obsessing over. The Royal Merchant, as in the ship that had sunk over two hundred years ago. The Royal Merchant, in which had bought her and this ragtag group of misfits together.

They all littered around the pontoon close to John B's house, beers in hand as Kie strummed softly on her ukulele, the night air a welcome comfort to Haley’s clammy skin, her heart having still not calmed from when she’d first come to the realisation that Big John had found the Royal Merchant, and now she was joining the Pogues on finishing what he had started - for her own father, she thought as she looked towards the stars in the summer nights sky, smiling softly up at them. For you, dad.

"How much was it again?" JJ broke the silence, the golden haired boy seated closest to her.

"Four hundred mil," John B reminded, though he said it dreamily, almost as if he still couldn't quite believe it. She couldn't, either, in all honesty. Five teenagers, about to charge head-first into a treasure hunt? They had to be crazy. But for four hundred million, anyone would be.

JJ's head turned at rapid speed, before he let out a sigh and clasped his hands together, looking between them all. "Alright, let's talk the split. Now, before we say 'evenly' may I remind you that I am the only one that can properly defend us from those groupers who were after us," he branded the gun, waving it around as he spoke. "Protection? Not cheap, okay?"

"Technically, that should be my gun," Haley pointed out, shrugging a shoulder and smiling cheekily when he turned to glance over at her, frown etched on his lips. "You said so yourself, remember?"

"You said you didn't want it!" He protested instantly.

She licked her lips as she teased him, "Well, maybe I changed my mind."

JJ shook his head, tongue running over his teeth as he stared at her in disbelief, though his smile was enough to let her know he found humour in her actions. "You don't just get backsies on a gun," he deadpanned.

Haley rolled your honey coated eyes as Pope quickly interrupted the two of them. “You haven't trained," he directed towards JJ. "You've done zero training."

"YouTube, bro!" JJ countered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "This," he pointed to the gun. "Is at least a five percent bump right there."

The group collectively ignored him, though Haley sent him a smirk when he looked at her, an expression of am-I-right or am-I-right on his pretty face. Kie tilted her head towards Pope. "What are you gonna do with your eighty mil, Pope?" She questioned.

"Pay for college in advance," the boy answered immediately. "And also, textbooks. Those are expensive."

Haley couldn't help but smile at him, Pope, ever the thoughtful one. She knew if she had half the brains Pope had she’d probably be the exact same as him - planning ahead, working towards college more than anything. She admired the boy, truly. But her future wasn't nearly as bright as Pope's, she was aware of that. Which made the desire to find that treasure from the Royal Merchant all that more huge.

"What about you, Haley?” She was broken from her thoughts as Kie suddenly directed her words to the other girl, raising an expectant brow as she came to, noting the rest of the gang all looking at her with similar expressions.

What would she do with her money? Honestly, she had no idea. She felt incredibly lucky to even be considered to get a share of it, given that she had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, demanding answers about her dead dad and the damned compass that had started it all in the first place. She’d questioned the guys immediately after the discovery of Big John's reveal, telling them that she was totally okay with not getting a share, had even told them she’d back off and leave them to it, though so many more questions needed answering in her mind. But they'd all immediately disagreed, letting her know that she were apart of this just as much as they all were. This was her journey, too.

"Move me and my mom out of our shitty house," Haley decided. "Get a huge ass house on Figure Eight, buy anything that we wanted. Treat her to everything she could have ever dreamed of. Maybe buy a holiday home in Italy, visit there every year and have a holiday romance with an insanely hot Italian guy."

Her and Kiara shared a giggle at that, missing the way the blonde beside her shifted almost uncomfortably, eyes downcast towards the water for a second before he licked his lips, proclaiming loudly, "I know what I'll do. I'm gonna get a big ass house on Figure Eight, and go full Kook," JJ announced, eyes meeting hers and sending her a wink. "We can be neighbours."

Haley laughed outright, shaking her head at his dramatics as he continued. "Gonna get a marble statue of myself, and then I'm gonna get a koi pond, put a bunch of those fish-"

"I'm never visiting." Kie mumbled, interrupting his sentence as they all shared a laugh, gazes suddenly turning to John B who hadn't spoken in a while, the tanned brunette simply staring off into space, almost seemingly lost in his world.

"What about you, John B?" He looked back towards the four of them sprawled out on the pontoon, his eyes catching Haley’s own for a millisecond, the pair of them understanding exactly what was going through both their minds in that moment.

"To going full Kook," he raised the hand that held his beer, the group of Pogues wasting no time in following the action, all their hands raising, beer cans glinting under the moonlight as they all exclaimed, "To going full Kook!" into the summer nights air, the excitement and anticipation present in all of their voices.

And she grinned as she clinked her beer with JJ's, the blonde throwing a careless arm over her shoulder as he tugged her closer to him; Haley’s own naturally wound around his waist in return as they all laughed and joked into the night, the promise of an adventure and bright future's ahead of them all.

She failed to notice that their arms never really left each other until later that night, when her departure from the gang forced her to unwind her limbs from his, their gazes catching, secret smiles on both their faces.

Oh, this would be fun.

[devinescribe]

Games

Chapter 7 to '100 Promises'

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Warnings: Swearing, violence, bullying, blood, I think that's it, but as always feel free to tell me if I missed any.

"I finally got contact lenses. I think they'll be better than my glasses. I mean, yeah, I'll probably still use them, but it's... nevermind, what do you think?" He rambled, a dorky smile on his face. "If it'll make you happy, then you look great," you said, smiling, honestly meaning your words. "I'm asking for your opinion woman, stop giving me the 'if it makes you happy' bullshit. Give me your opinion," he stated, shaking your shoulders."It looks good! I'm not used to seeing you without your glasses, but you look good!" You laughed, your words coming out in a vibrato of sorts from him shaking you. "I'm glad you think so."

"Dear gods my hair is getting long..." he muttered, running his hands through his hair, staring at himself in the bathroom mirror. "I think it looks good," you commented, passing by the bathroom with a laundry basket. "Really? I think I kind of like it too..."

"And how much does it hurt?" He questioned. "Not that much, or so I've heard. Plus, we're getting it at the same time, so... no backing out, or I'll cut your hair," you threatened, your hold on his hand tightening a bit. "No, don't you dare. And I won't back out," he said as you dragged him into the shop. (The fact I've been threatened with that-)

"I somehow can't believe we looked like that!" You laughed, pointing at the photo on your phone. It was from high school, and you were both laughing at how dorky you both looked. "Oh gods... actually, I was kind of hot," you said, giggling a bit. "Have we really changed that much?" Niragi questioned. "Well, let's see," you said, opening the camera and telling Niragi to get into frame. He did so, and you both stuck out your tongues, the matching piercings glinting in the light. You snapped the photo, and put it side by side the one from high school. "Wow... that's a big difference, holy shit," he laughed. You snickered, and posted side by side comparison of the the photos. "Yeah. Huge difference."

"Hatter would like to see you... Alone."

You looked back at Ann, and nodded, getting up. "If she's going, I'm going with," Niragi said, getting up himself. "He said he wants to speak to (Y/N) alone. Respect to rules for once please," Ann chided, as you walked to her side. Niragi laughed, finishing with a smirk, "And since when do I listen to the rules?"

You looked back at him with a proud, yet embarrassed face. Definitely not the same Niragi from back in the real world. He was more confident than you last remembered, that was for sure. "Dude, I'll be totally fine. The least they could do is kill me," you said, a bit to nonchalantly for his tastes. "That seems like a worse case scenario, but ok." he responded, "I'm still going with you." "No, you're not. Look, I'll be fine ok? Just wait outside the door," you suggested. He scoffed, but nodded nontheless. Ann stayed quiet, watching this exchange. 'So... is that all it takes to convince him? Really? All we needed was this girl?' Were her thoughts.

"Oh good, you're here!" Hatter exclaimed as soon as you walked in. Ann stayed outside, and shut the doors behind you. You nodded. Was he happy or just extremely charismatic? You didn't know, but whatever it was, it was nice. It made you feel like you were talking to someone you knew. Like the pleasant ladies from your apartment complex. "Well, what do you want to talk about?"

"Where are we?" You asked as you got off the train. "I don't know. Just took a random train. You said you wanted another adventure," he replied. You gasped. "Niragi Suguru, you did not," you said, grabbing onto his hand to make sure you didn't lose him in the large crowd. "I did. And what of it?" He asked, dragging you out. "Oh my gods... Excuse me, sorry to bother you, but which city are we in?" You asked one of the people who worked there. They smiled and answered with, "Shinjuku. Are you lost?"  You shook your head. "No, we'll be fine. Thank you very much!" You said. Niragi dragged you to the exit. "I don't look presentable to be in Shinjuku right now, Niragi," you said, hiding your face. "You always look nice though. And it's called opportunity. I took it, and now we're here. So, let's take advantage of this, yeah?"

Hatter sat you down. "From what Ann and Aguni reported back to me, you're a quick thinker. Great shot apparently. They were both very impressed," he started. You smiled. "I'm honored they felt that way," you said. Hatter chuckled. "Well, Ann said you'd do well in either position of a militant or an executive. And it's just your luck the precious person who held number 7 recently... died. The games, obviously. Before you came here, actually. Maybe it was a sign it was meant to be yours. And, since you've proven yourself useful, I think it's a good idea," Hatter said, rambling a bit. "That's a bit too high for me, isn't it?" You questioned. You had just gotten here, you couldn't possibly be up that high already. "Uh... no. It's not. So, as of today, you shall be a militant," he said dramatically. You laughed, thanking him as he gave you a wristband with the number seven written on the blue tag. You slipped it on your wrist. "Oh, and just so you know, Aguni will most likely take you under his wing. The militants are mostly guys, so be careful. And... uh... your friend can help you find everything. He'll also show you to your new room. That is all. Goodbye now," he said cheerfully. You smiled brightly, thanking him.

You opened the door to leave, seeing Niragi leaning on the wall across the door. You smiled, closing the door softly behind you. "I'm back," you said. He nodded, "I can see that." "Can you really? You have your contact lenses?" You asked, skeptical. He nodded his head. "Surprisingly," he added. "Hmm... and for how many more days do you have them?" You questioned as he led you through the hotel. "Well, I've been in the borderland about 2 and a half weeks-"

"Woah, hold up... you'd been gone for six months up in the real world-"

"Well, I'm starting to think time runs differently in both places. Because no way in hell have I been here 6 months."

"Ok... continue on."

You two talked about whatever came to mind just like you used to. It was like you never skipped a beat. He lead you down into where they kept the weapons. "Only milatants and Hatter are allowed down here. This is the basement, and also where we keep the weapons. So, take your pick," he said, a smirk on his face. "You're a bit to proud of this aren't you?" You asked, looking over the different weapons. "Maybe," he responded. You didn't have to look at him to know he was smirking, you could just hear it in his voice. You picked out a knife that had a strap around. You also picked up a riffle similar to Niragi's, and turned to face him. "Ok, I'm good," you said. "Tomorrow, the militants are heading out on a supply run. Which means you now too. You can wear actual clothes now, isn't that fun?" He joked. You rolled your eyes shoving him playfully. He ran his tongue over his teeth. "That's really how you want to play, huh (L/N)?" He asked. You could hear the tone behind his words. The tone that meant run or your fucked, because whatever game he's scheming will end with you caught. It was quite normal for you two. Playing games with each other was a hobby back in the real world. Didn't matter how childish or immature they were. "Ouch, my last name? That hurts... Suguru." (Is that his last name or his first name? I don't know, I've been treating it as his last name, but I'm probably wrong) You giggled, running off. There was probably tons of places to hide inside the basement, and probably even more places throughout the beach.

"How was last night? Did you have fun?" He teased as soon as you woke up. You rolled your eyes. "Don't even talk to me about last night. Another disappointment," you groaned, rubbing your eyes. "Damn. That bad, huh?" He said, handing you a mug with coffee in it. You took a sip, and smiled. Perfect... He always made really good coffee, and it impressed you. "Yeah... definitely that bad. I heard him leave this morning, let's hope he never comes back," you said. Niragi laughed, taking a sip of his own coffee. The sunlight came in through the sliding glass door of your apartment.  The sky was painted with pinks and purples. Gold dusted the clouds as the sun touched them. It was perfectly picturesque. "One day, we won't have to live in a sucky apartment building, you know? I promise you that one day we'll have... I don't know where do you want to live?" He asked you. You both walked over to the couch, sitting next to eachother. "I don't know... I'd go anywhere as long as I can still have my best friend with me.''

"Come on out, (Y/N). I'll find you sooner or later. We need sleep," he shouted. You stifled a laugh, and crouched down, sneaking around. You could see him looking around for you. You moved backwards, bumping into someone. You slowly turned around. It was the guys Niragi had introduced as 'Last Boss'.

Throughout the day, you had actually had the opportunity to talk to him a bit. More like you talked, while he observed you, occasionally making a sound of sorts to show you he was listening. He'd also answered your questions, so you thought he wouldnt be that bad. You made the quiet signal, putting a finger to your lips. He looked down quizzically. "Playing a game. Can't let him find me. Wanna join?" You whispered to the mysterious man. He nodded slightly, still a bit confused. "Ok, the objective is to not get caught by Niragi. He doesn't know you're playing yet, so I'll figure something out... oh, I got it! You go hide," you whisper shouted, shooing him off. He went to go hide, and you climbed to the top of one of the darker places. "A new player has joined in. One seeker, two hiders!" You shouted. You heard Niragi laugh. "Dumbass! You're letting me know where you are!"  You smirked. That's what you wanted him to think.

"Oh nice! You got his glasses that's 20 points!" The boys shouted. You struggled to get out of the ropes tied your hands together. You heard Niragi groan, and looked up, seeing him on the floor, blood dripping from his nose. "Niragi!" You shouted in worry. He looked over at you, before one of the guys kicked his face into the ground. You struggled against the ropes the boys had tied around your wrist. It dug into your skin, you could feel the skin being rubbed raw from how much you had struggled against them ."So useless without eachother, huh?" One of them taunted. "Stop hurting him!" You yelled, squirming. "Oh? Would you rather we harm you then? You were always such a pretty girl... to bad you decided to defend him," the leader of their little group said, kneeling in front of you. "I don't give a damn if you hurt me. Stop hurting him!' You shouted. "(Y-y/N), don't," Niragi said, before one of the bullies kicked him in the stomach. He winced in pain, screwing his eyes shut. "Stop it! He didn't do anything to you!" You screamed, struggling even more, the ropes creating rope burn on your skin. "It's not a vengeance thing. It's fun," the leader said, grabbing your chin, making you look up at him. You glared at him in disgust, wanting so badly to just hit him, or spit on him in the moment. But you didn't. You didn't because you knew if you did either you or Niragi would get hurt. More likely Niragi, since they knew he was your weakness. "Just like it's fun making girls like you submit," he added with a smirk. "Don't you dare hurt her! Hurt me all you want, but don't touch her!" Niragi yelled. There was confidence in his words, but you also knew how scared he was. You could see it on his face. "That sounds boring though. What if we just make both of you our little puppets for the night, have you both put on a show?'' One of the guys snickered. This was followed by a chorus of 'not a bad idea' and 'sounds interesting.' You looked at Niragi, fear written all over your face.

You ran quietly, and quickly, knowing he could catch up to you. You looked around the dimly lit basement, and saw the exist to go up. Your eyes caught a flash of movement, and someone grabbed you, putting a hand over your mouth. You were shocked at first, going to scream bloody murder, before seeing it was Last Boss. He let you go, and you took a breath. "Oh my gods... dude that was scary," you whispered. He shrugged. "I have a place we can hide. I don't think he's smart enough to find it," He suggested, nodding his head over to Niragi. You stifled a laugh, and nodded, letting him lead you.

"(Y/N)! (Y/N), are you alright?" He worriedly asked, checked on you. You hissed in pain when his hands went over the bruises. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault, if I hadn't-" he started, blaming himself. You grabbed shoulders, and shook your head. "It's not your fault... it's ok," you said, sitting up. The gravel under you poked at the skin exposed from your school skirt. "I-its not ok!" He shouted. "It's... it's not ok. You shouldn't have- I could've-" he started, pulling at his hair. "Niragi. It's not your fault. You didn't... you didn't hurt me," you said, your voice calming. You grabbed his hands, pulling them towards you. You were just kids. Fucking 16 years old(not exactly a kid, but whatever), you shouldn't have to go through this stuff. No kid should. "I should be comforting you, yet here you are, making me feel better. Stop it, you're the one who-"

"Niragi, it happened to both of us. Stop acting like you're ok too."

"But- I'm supposed to... I-"

"Shut up, and come here."

He sighed, sitting besides you. You pulled his head into your lap, and he sighed. "Stop taking care of me. Stop hanging out with me, because you're the one who ends up getting hurt because of me. Please," he pleaded as you ran your fingers through his hair. "No," you responded. "(Y/N), stop being so stubborn! Please, just... just listen to me!" He shouted. You flinched at the sudden loudness. "I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you," he apologized, noticing when you flinched. You sighed, leaning back on the concrete wall. You muttered back something along the lines of him not having to apologize. You heard thunder, and saw a flash of lightning. "It's going to rain, we should go home," Niragi said. "Don't wanna... let's stay here?" You muttered, watching the sun get covered by the clouds. You were under a bridge, so you at least had coverage. He looked up at you, and nodded. "Ok. We can," he whispered. The raindrops began to splatter on the ground outside the coverage of the bridge, and you sighed in happiness. Niragi sat up, bringing you close to him. The smell of rain filled your senses, and you couldn't help but enjoy the moment, even if you had been in emotional and physical pain before. Being there helped numb it for a while. Being with him helped numb the feeling.

"Alright... if I were (Y/N)... where would I go?" Niragi muttered to himself, walking around. It was too quiet. You weren't a quiet person unless need be, and if he remembers correctly, which he does, you had a losing streak in hide and seek since high school. You were too giggly to hide in silence, or maybe you got scared by being alone in the dark to long. Whatever it had been, you had a losing streak for almost 8 years. That was not about to change, not if he had a say in it. A part of him said he was not acting like himself, and that playing this with you was childish. Especially in the borderlands. He knew he would have to find you either way, so he stopped caring. He remembered what she had said. A new player has joined in. One seeker, two hiders! 'Ok, process of elimination....'

"So, given the fact Chishiya isn't allowed down here, I think I know who she's with, and where she is. Let's see if I'm right.''

This was more memories than actual current events... oh well- hope you enjoyed, have a wonderful day/night, baii!! Oh yeah, just because this is the only place people have a problem with me posting Niragi stuff, if you don't like it, the block button is right there, don't send me death threats or tell me to go kms. Thank you