#told me they were closing in 10 minutes. it was 5pm. i had written so fucking much

[schizononagesimus]

i have a disorder called gets a fic idea then blacks out until it's done

[kim-seungmine]

a thousand chapters

title: a thousand chapters

characters: bang chan of stray kids

genres: romance (it’s cheesy sometimes so beware), angst, best friends to lovers au, idol au, idol!chan, so i attempted to write song lyrics (spoiler: maybe i suck)

warnings: language

word count: 7138 words

synopsis: bang chan writes only 3 love songs throughout his life, and all of them are for you.

a/n: this is a little bit non-linear so please pay attention whether it’s present or past! i used different types of dividers, i hope you guys understand. i have so much feelz for chan and im not sorry

Call it an exaggeration, but sitting on your couch while watching TV and munching snacks before 9PM was truly a miracle. Nothing could ever make you leave work at 5PM, but today was an exception. You made an exception. An annual prestigious music awards was held today, and while you never really paid attention to awards, you made sure you told your manager that you had to leave as soon as the sun went down.

Now the winner of the most anticipated award, Daesang, was about to be announced. Interestingly, the two groups that had the biggest potential to win—Stray Kids and ITZY—both belonged to JYP Entertainment.

“I’m sure everyone has been waiting for this category,” the male MC trailed off, causing you to bite your bottom lip in impatience. Just as the female MC opened the envelope, your door bell rang. You clicked your tongue, making time to raise the TV volume first before running to your door. A delivery man was standing there, holding a small clear case. A CD? Without at least a bubble wrap to protect it?

“Are you Y/N?” the man asked, and you nodded absent-mindedly as you took it and closed the door without saying thank you. It was rude, but you could care less since both MCs were now smiling at the camera to tease the audience.

You quickly went back to your favorite spot—on the right side of the couch—and flipped the case. A clumsily-written tracklist was taped on it, and you frowned when you noticed a short note at the bottom.

“Chan hyung will kill me for doing this but you need to know. It’s been long overdue. -Seo Changbin”

A little panicked, you opened the case to see if there was anything else, but that was it. You read the tracklist, and the title of the first song sounded painfully familiar.

“Congratulations to… Stray Kids!”

You looked up, a relieved smile plastered on your lips. The whole audience cheered and clapped as the said nine guys stood up from their seats, dumbstruck look on their faces. They walked up the stage, took the trophy, spent the first 3 minutes sobbing and hugging each other before actually delivering their speech.

Leader Bang Chan grabbed the mic, causing you to shift closer to the television. “I was just a boy who loved music. I still do, and words can’t explain how thankful I am for all of you,” he said, half-sobbing. “Winning a Daesang has always been our dream, and now that it came true, we promise we’ll become even better.”

He went on thanking a bunch of people, from his family and friends in Sydney to fellow celebrities. And then he paused, staring at the camera for a while before blinking his tears away. “And to everyone who’s supported us and made us stronger, I love you. I hope your heart is where I’ll always stay.”

You glanced down, trying to fight back your own tears.

◇─◇──◇────◇────◇────◇────◇────◇─────◇──◇─◇

(I Hope) Your Heart Is Where I Stay

“You really should go to sleep at normal hour, Chris,” you protested, sighing at the sight of Chan copying your Math homework in the speed of light. “And please do your homework before you start training.”

Chan dropped his pen as he wrote down the last number, pouting at you. “We finish school at 3. I go to the company right away. I have lessons until 10. I have dinner at 11. Then I practice until 5 in the morning. I shower, get ready, then meet you at the bus stop at 6. Tell me where I should squish in ‘working on homeworks.’ “

“Why do you go to school, then? You don’t even bother to make time to do school stuffs,” you fired back, not wanting to admit that Chan did have a packed schedule. Your best friend said nothing, only sliding your notebook back to you.

“I’m sorry,” you apologized. “I didn’t mean to say it like that.”

You poked at his dimples when he didn’t respond, scooting closer to examine his face. “You’re such a baby, Bang Chan,” you commented before walking back to your seat. Chan shifted his gaze to you before breaking into a satisfied smirk. “I am, yet you’re still here.”

You had to stop yourself from blushing, but he was right.

-

“Catch a movie with me?” Chan is standing in front of you, slinging his backpack over one shoulder while you were zipping yours. “Don’t you have to be at the company soon?” you questioned, eyeing him from head to toe. After your “fight” this morning, Chan was even more smiley and energetic than usual. And more touchy. He was touchy to begin with, but never this much. Whether you hated it or not, you actually weren’t sure.

“I can call in sick,” he sing-sang, waving at several of your classmates. “You live in the dorm, for Christ sake,” you pointed out, but he only raised his eyebrows at you. “I have my ways, don’t worry. Jisung will cover for me.”

You met Jisung once. And Changbin. The three of them trained together and planned to release mixtapes under the name of 3RACHA, like the sauce. You kept laughing at Chan after you first heard the name, but after listening to their songs you decided that it was a suitable name for them.

Chan took your hand in his and led you out, not bothering to wait for your answer. He didn’t let go even after you got to the bus stop; he smiled at you instead as he caressed your fingers with his thumb. You didn’t have the heart to pull your hand away, but you knew you were secretly enjoying this. To be honest, nothing stressed you out more than your “friendship” with Chan thesedays. All you needed was one chance to ask if he was doing this on purpose or you were the one reading it wrong.

But, should you even try? Chan had been training for years—this year would be his seventh year—and the company loved him. They would definitely debut him and soon he would forget you. He would find you holding him back, and you didn’t want that.

You wanted to be Chan’s sweetest high school memory. Just a memory was enough, as long as he would smile when he thought of you.

The bus had arrived, and you let Chan pulled you inside. He tapped his metro card twice before you could stop him, chuckling as you let out a surprised “Yah!”

“What do you want for dinner?” he asked the second you sat down.

“Chan, we haven’t even chosen the movie we’re gonna watch yet.”

“I know. I’m just excited.”

You wanted to ask why, but then Chan was laughing and it was one of the most contagious things in the whole world. His hold on your hand grew tighter, to the point that it was impossible to move your hand, but you felt content. Whenever Chan was around, you always felt content and loved (you would never tell him this part, but that was the fact.)

You wondered if he ever felt the same.

-

“Are you still crying?”

Chan wiped your tears with his hand as you pouted at the blank screen. Both of you chose to watch La La Land and while the movie was wonderful, it was also realistically painful that you were unable to stop your tears.

“I feel so betrayed,” you croaked, letting Chan pull you up. “But you love movies with realistic endings. You love to suffer,” he said.

You did. You would rather weep than watch the main characters be “forced” into a happy ending. This time, though, you actually rooted for the main characters; you felt their longing for each other, you felt their love and respect for each other, and you felt their connected dreams although those ended up being the reason why they didn’t work out.

“You’re adorable,” Chan commented, the words rolled out of his mouth so naturally as if he said that everyday. You rolled your eyes at him, pretending that it didn’t make you feel giddy inside. He kept humming to City of Stars on the way home, casually linking your pinkies together.

“Christopher Bang Chan.”

“What?”

“You just missed your bus stop.”

“I’m walking you home.”

“Why?”

“Are you really asking that question?”

“You skipped practice today. What’s wrong?”

Chan stopped on his tracks, sighing as you released your pinky from his. “I’ve been meaning to ask you the same thing,” he confessed. “You seem… distracted. And so distant from me. Did I do something wrong?”

Uh-oh. You definitely didn’t expect that.

“Nothing. It’s just—”

The two of you had been friends since Chan moved back to Seoul from Sydney a few years back. At first, it was purely because you spoke English well, but Chan never left your side even after he got used to living in Korea on his own.

Things were chill until recently, when you noticed that Chan started treating you differently. He would smile at every silly thing you said, held your hand in front of everybody, or called you at night only because he wanted you to keep him company.

“What are we, Chan? I can’t help but feeling confused because you’re being like… this.”

Chan furrowed his eyebrows, cupping your face so he could look into your eyes. “Like what?”

You eyed his hands that were on your cheeks before removing them. “Like this. I don’t want to misinterpret any signal, Chan,” you mumbled. “If there’s any signal at all.”

“My goodness,” he gasped, pulling you into a bear hug you always enjoyed. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“You’re doing it now, Chris.”

He chuckled, squishing you into his chest. “I didn’t intend to send signals, but I guess I’ve been like this because I,” he takes a deep breath, “like you. Like, like you. As more than a friend.”

Chan tried to pull away to see your response, but you circled your arms around his torso instead, not wanting him to see your reddening cheeks. “You could’ve just said so, dummy. I thought you were just playing with me.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” he answered, placing his chin on top of your head. “I really didn’t know how to say it. I didn’t want you to feel awkward around me.”

“Too late for that. I don’t think I can ever look at you again now,” you groaned, your heart swelling with happiness when his laugh rumbled through his chest.

Chan gripped your arms, pulling away to grin at you and now you realized why you were being unusually sad over a movie’s ending.

Bang Chan was Mia, someone so endearing and inspiring and strong and talented and it was only a matter of time before the world knew what he was worth of. You, meanwhile, had a simple dream like Sebastian’s and just wanted to do your own thing, slowly realizing that you and Chan were living on a borrowed time.

But your best friend was looking at you like you were the only one who could make him happy and it was hard to resist. Chan could ask you to marry him right here, right now, and you would say yes. He might not be your first crush, but you were pretty sure that he was your first love. You wanted him—every inch of his heart—and he was offering exactly that to you.

“You’re not just gonna pretend that this never happens tomorrow, right?” you whispered as Chan cupped your face once again. He smiled when he felt that you were anticipating his next move, before brushing his lips against your temple. It was sweet and soft, but it ended too quickly and you wanted more.

You tried not to pout; the disappointment in your eyes was so obvious it made Chan chuckle. “You’re so whipped for me, how am I supposed to pretend that this never happens?” he teased, placing another kiss on your cheek.

“Wow I hate you.”

“Hate you more, babe.”

-

One of Chan’s trainee friends, Yang Jeongin, celebrated his birthday today. Jeongin had invited you over for dinner with the rest of the boys. You almost said no, but he sounded so convincing on the phone, saying that everyone was dying to meet you. Chan had also been begging you to finally come over and meet the other boys.

“I don’t know, Chan. I’m not even a trainee, and you’re not even supposed to be dating. How can I just show up?”

“Everybody dates, Y/N. Don’t be so naïve,” he replied, wrapping his arm around your shoulders as you were nearing the building. You sighed, glancing at Chan who was now humming a song you never heard before. When your eyes landed on his lips, you were forced to remember the fact that Chan hadn’t kissed you yet. Well, he kissed your cheeks, your nose, your temple, your forehead, your jaw… pretty much everywhere but your lips.

You felt ashamed at yourself for even thinking about wanting to be kissed. It was beyond stupid, and you knew you couldn’t possibly measure Chan’s love for you with something as insignificant as a kiss, but you were starting to question his sincerity. Was he really serious with you? Or were you just someone he kept because he was lonely or something?

“We’re here!” your boyfriend exclaimed, entering the password quickly. He pushed the door open, and soon eight pairs of eyes fixated their gazes on you. “Hi.” You waved at them, trying not to frown at the burning smell that greeted you the moment you stepped inside.

However, Chan beat you to it. “What did you guys burn?” he panicked, patting your head before running to the kitchen. The boys then proceeded to attack with you with questions (and thankfully, compliments), which you tried your best to answer.

You recognized Jeongin standing at the back, yelling at his hyungs to “stop harassing Y/N they’re my guest!”

Kim Woojin, whom Chan always ate fried chicken with every week, gave you an apologetic smile as the birthday boy walked past him. “Jeongin really wants to meet you,” he noted as Jeongin shook your hand with absolute excitement. “Christopher Bang is all giggles everytime he talks about you. Of course I have to meet you!”

“Is that a compliment?” you asked, liking him already. Changbin laughed, gesturing at you to sit on the couch while Chan was screaming in the background (“WHY DID YOU GUYS EVEN BOTHER MAKING BOILED EGGS IF YOU’RE JUST GONNA LEAVE THEM LIKE THIS!”).

Chan returned to the living room with a pot of burned boiled eggs and a pan of seemingly undercooked spaghetti. “Ah, sorry!” Seungmin yelled as soon as he spotted the eggs. “I was the one boiling them but then Y/N arrived and I got distracted.”

“Don’t use my Y/N as an excuse!” the older boy warned, causing everyone—including you—to cringe. Jisung passed you a plate for the spaghetti, which you politely declined. “Hyung, have you told them about our debut plans?”

You widened your eyes at Chan who looked as if he got caught red handed. It was such an incredible news, you didn’t understand why he was trying to hide it from you. Before anyone could throw in some awkward jokes to lessen the tension, Felix and Minho brought a huge cake into the living room, singing the Happy Birthday song. The others followed suit, showering Jeongin with bear hugs (Changbin tried to kiss him) tickles.

You watched the adorable chaos upon you, trying to memorize every little detail because everything would change soon. Chan seemed to notice the look in your eyes as he sprinted to you and dragged you out of the living room. He stopped in front of his room, placing his hands on your shoulders.

“Today is Jeongin’s birthday, but I also have something for you,” he whispered. He pushed you inside the room, trying to make you sit on his bed but you became too excited to listen to him.

“I think you need a new pop filter, Chan. I’m going to buy it for you,” you said, chuckling at his Dragon Ball figurines on the shelf. You noticed a jewelry box on his desk, a framed photo of you smiling at the camera was placed on top of it.

You opened it, and found all of the things you had given him inside. Most of them were things he needed at that time: a box of band aids, a phone strap, your Sharpie, and a pair of Snoopy earrings (which he had to wear for a week after losing a bet).

“Y/N, please sit down,” Chan whined, blushing when you poked his cheek. “You made a shrine for me, I don’t know whether I should feel honored or scared.”

“I also made a song for you.”

That got your attention, so you sat down on his bed, watching Chan browsing through his phone. He kneeled down, grabbing your hands as a soft instrumental started playing. “I wanted to tell you about our debut plan, but everything still seems too good to be real and I don’t want you to be disappointed if it… you know… doesn’t happen.”

You laced your fingers with his, bending down to kiss his nose. “I’ll always be proud of you, Chan. You’re talented and the company knows it, that’s a fact,” you assured him. You remembered the time when he told you that he was going to debut years ago. It never happened, and he had to watch his close friends debuted one by one. At this point—after 7 years of training, you knew Chan was scared to even voice out his excitement to himself.

“Another reason that I planned to wait before telling you is because… I don’t want you to break up with me.”

Chan lifted his hand to caress your cheekbone, a gesture that always made your heart flutter in a hundred different ways. “That’s absurd, Chan,” you told him.

“Even now I’ve canceled many of our dates because of lessons or late night recordings with Changbin and Jisung. You don’t get enough sleep because you’re always waiting for me to finish practicing. Sometimes we barely talk at school since I always fall asleep,” he recounted. “I’m not good for you, Y/N. And I’m afraid that you’ll eventually realize how lacking I am and how you deserve to be loved by a man who can love you properly.”

You shook your head, throwing your arms around his neck. “You’re the best boyfriend I’ve ever had, Bang Chan.”

“I think that’s because I’m the only boyfriend you’ve ever had.”

“Please don’t ruin the mood.”

“Sorry.”

“My point is, we’re both trying our best and I never feel that you’re lacking. You’ve been nothing but perfect.” You pulled away, threading your hand through his curly locks. “Now where’s that song you wrote for me?”

Chan took a deep breath, reaching for his phone to replay the instrumental. “I wanted to take you somewhere nice and sing to you there. But here you are, being your beautiful, loving, witty self and I just can’t wait anymore.”

“I don’t know how to write love songs

Or if I can even call this a love song

All I know is I’m writing this for you

Pouring out feelings that feel surreal.”

You giggled, pulling Chan up so that he was lying on top of you. You heard someone knocking on the door, but neither of you moved from your position.

“But I wake up everyday and you’re still here

Walking down this dark tunnel with me

Showering me with warmth and joy like no one else

And I wonder if you feel the same

So I hope

Your heart is where I’ll always stay.”

He stopped although the music was still playing, and you didn’t know if it was because he forgot his lyrics or because that was all he could manage to say. Chan pecked your forehead softly, keeping his hand on your cheek as he pulled away.

“God I love you so much,” he whispered, his lips quivering as you let his words sink in. “Can I kiss you?”

Chan’s lips touched yours and all you could see and feel was Bang Chan and his love for you. He parted your lips with his tongue, sighing in contentment when you tugged at his hair. You pulled him closer although he was practically lying on you, trailing his hand along your spine. “Chan,” you gasped, almost forgetting what you wanted to say when he continued tugging at your bottom lip with his teeth.

“Channie,” you tried again, and this time he pulled away, chuckling at your disoriented state.

“Yeah?”

“I love you too. A lot.”

“And Chan?”

He hummed, giving you pecks all over your face as you struggled to stop giggling. “Why did you only kiss me now?”

You expected Chan to smirk at you and tease you to no end, but he only stared at you before dropping another smooch on your lips. “I didn’t want you to think that I only wanted you that way. You’re so gorgeous and precious and you chose me, I don’t want to lose you.”

“Chan hyung!” Changbin banged on the door, causing Chan to grumble. “Is my phone inside?”

“Fuck off, Changbin!” Chan yelled.

“I will! But please don’t do anything weird in there! Y/N you’re still alive, right?”

“Safe and sound, Changbin!”

“Seo Changbin, I swear to God—”

You didn’t let Chan finish as you crashed your lips on his once again, and for now you didn’t want to think about how you were running out of time, how Chan would eventually slip away from you despite saying all of those sweet words that were already engraved in your heart.

He wanted to stay in your heart, so you let him.

♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡

If there was any other day you hated more than Monday, it would be Thursday. On Thursdays, it started to feel like the weekend, but then it wasn’t even Friday yet and everything just felt a bit more mundane and tiring. And empty.

At least on Friday you could meet up with your friends after work or drink with your co-workers. And then you could spend (at least) half of Saturday lazing around in bed before getting up to clean up your place and then binge-watch shows you missed until Sunday night.

But tonight was different.

You were lying in bed, looking at unread messages from an unknown number that you assumed to be Changbin’s. The boys had changed their phone numbers several times after debut due to some obsessive fans spamming them, but somehow all of them managed to keep yours. You always received birthday wishes from them, except for Chan who opted to send a box of dark chocolate (72% chocolate, your favorite) to your place every year. He never left any cards, and you could only guess who told him your address (if it wasn’t your brother, then you would be afraid), but you knew it was him.

Besides the annual birthday gift, you never had any contact with your ex-boyfriend for the past four years. You saw him a lot, of course. Stray Kids had their breakthrough year 1.5 years after their debut, and Chan became one of the most popular singer-songwriters in the country.

The songs in the CD, however, sounded like nothing he would ever write. You decided to take it slow, listening to one song each night.

◇─◇──◇────◇────◇────◇────◇────◇─────◇──◇─◇

The Candle I Blow Out

It was already past midnight when you opened the door for Chan, who looked like he ran the whole way to your house (he did). “You don’t have to do this,” you sighed, wiping his sweat with your hand. “We just finished filming. I’m sorry.”

“How’s Felix?” you asked, closing the door before leaning on it. It had been awhile since you last saw him and the boys; the company created a survival show for them, and you could see how it took a toll on everyone, mainly Chan. It felt weird seeing your boyfriend on television, and it felt even weirder to see people talking about him, admiring him, even hating on him. But you told yourself to get used to it, to accept the fact that nobody ever belonged to just one person. In this case, though, you had to share Chan with the whole world. Which definitely wasn’t easy at all.

“He’s doing pretty well. I think they’re considering to take both him and Minho back,” he said, and you immediately wrapped him in your arms. “I’m tired,” he added, burying his face on the crook of your neck. “I know,” you replied. “But it will end soon, and greater things are just about to start.”

Chan let out a frustrated sigh, mumbling things you were unable to hear. “Hmm?” you hummed, pulling away to see him tearing up. “Don’t cry on me, Bang Chan. You’re the leader of 8 boys and you’re doing great.”

He chuckled. “You pretending to be so tough on me. That’s hot.”

Deep down, you knew you weren’t just pretending to be tough on him. You were pretending to be tough on yourself too, trying to convince yourself that you wouldn’t be a burden for him and he would stay.

-

The melody of District 9 was still playing in your head although the boys had said goodbye and disappeared into the backstage. You stared at the empty stage in awe, reading the words “Stray Kids Unveil (Op. 01: I Am Not)” almost in disbelief. The fans around you were still busy gushing over the members, and it made you happy.

“Bang Chan is really crazy.”

“I know right? How does he do what he does?”

Hours of recording, barely sleeping, whining to you over the phone, and being so in love with what he’s doing.

“I don’t know about you guys, but he’s super hot.”

“He is! And did you pay attention to his body? It’s crazy.”

You knew you were probably supposed to leave, but you stayed, listening to them talking (sometimes screaming) about your boyfriend in a way that made you feel proud and weird. However, when they started talking about Cheongdam high school, the school you and Chan went to, you took it as a sign to leave.

“Do you have friends from Cheongdam High? Like the ones from his batch? I want to know how he was at school…”

-

channie: how is it that i arrived at your house before you did?

y/n: are you aware of how many fans you have and how hard was it to even get out of the venue

channie: oops. didnt think of that babe

y/n: you couldve asked me to drop by at your dorm, its fine

channie: you know i can’t risk that right :(

channie: pls come home soon

channie: i cant take another hour of your brother laughing at my makeup

y/n: lol deal with it

Laughters and giggles were heard as soon as you stepped inside your living room. Your parents and brother were chatting with Chan, who was still wearing his stage outfit. Now that you were looking at him up close, you realized how magical he was. “Hi,” he grinned, immediately lacing his fingers with yours.

“You should’ve seen how he tried to act cool on stage,” you told your brother as you put down a bucket of fried chicken on the table. “I heard you skipped the party with the boys?”

“Yeah, I did,” he answered distractedly, typing on his phone before dialing a number.

“Ah hyung,” he said. “Y/N just arrived and we—okay then.”

He ended the call, giving you a sad smile before standing up. “They want me back ASAP, I’m sorry. My manager is already outside.”

“It’s okay Channie, you must be tired too. Thank you for visiting us,” your mother assured him.

“Here, share with the boys. I’m sure you still have space for chicken,” you said. Chan took the bucket from you, making his way to the door.

“You did amazing today. I’m proud of you,” you whispered, ruffling his head as he chuckled. You could see fatigue and guilt in his eyes and you started to feel bad. “You’re not mad at me, are you?” he muttered.

“You just debuted. You’ve finally achieved your dream. Why would I be mad? I’m happy for you. My boyfriend is going to be a famous artist soon.”

Chan eventually left with a relieved smile on his face, but you figured it wouldn’t last long.

-

“You asked Soo to do what?”

You were walking down the street with a beanie covering half of your eyes. Chan had finished recording for a reality show, and he asked to meet you at the small coffee shop you used to go to during high school days (you were the only one who ordered though).

“I asked him to give him the spare key so I could close the shop for him.”

“Did he really agree to do this or did you—”

“He didn’t mind, Y/N. Why are you making this complicated?”

“I’m not. I just don’t want us to make other people uncomfortable.”

“We’ve known Soo since high school. He’s happy to help.”

He was right about that, so you told him you were arriving soon. You and Chan had had countless dates at Soo’s, even before you started dating officially. You made a mental note to pay visit later and thank him for trusting both of you this much. Meeting Chan had been a real challenge since the start of Stray Kids’ recent comeback. Their fandom continued to grow, and now some people started to follow the boys around during their schedule. It was only two or three people, but everyone was aware of it, especially Chan who became extremely careful (or paranoid, according to Minho).

You noticed how Chan had shut down the curtains when you got there. You slowly opened the door, and Chan’s eyes lit up when he saw you.

“Hi gorgeous.”

You scoffed at his cheesiness, but circled your arms around his neck as he pulled you close. “Dates at Soo’s, huh? Some things never change indeed.”

Chan giggled, peppering small kisses on your face. “Missed you, babe,” he sighed, tightening his hold on your waist.

“Don’t you wanna sit down?” you joked.

He shook his head. “No. I want to hold you,” he whined, pressing a more intense kiss on your lips.

“Is there any reason why you’re being this clingy?”

“Aren’t I clingy in general?”

“Chan.”

He rubbed circles on your waist. “We’ll be going on tour soon.”

You squealed and booped his nose. “That’s great! If the company gives you guys a tour then it means you’re doing well, right?”

“I guess so. The boys are excited about this, and we’ll be going to Australia soon. But Y/N—”

He paused, causing you to cup his face in worry. “What is it?”

“We’ll release the next album soon, practice for awards and year-end shows, and then practice for the tour while preparing the next album. It’ll be even harder for us to meet,” he lamented.

You tried to keep the smile on your face, but you knew he noticed the slight fear in your eyes. No matter how much you had prepared yourself for this, you weren’t ready.

But the last thing Chan needed was you being a nuisance, so you told him that it didn’t matter and spent the rest of the night catching up.

“Can I take you home?”

“You asked Soo to give you his key so we could have a private space and now you want to take me home.”

“Can I at least take you to the bus stop?”

Chan was begging with his eyes, and you instantly melted. “Okay,” you said, opening the door. He followed you, locking the door carefully before wrapping his arm around your shoulders. “Have you bought birthday presents for the babies?”

“You meant Jisung, Felix, and Seungmin?”

“Yeah, they’re—”

Both of you stopped walking as you heard the sound of shutter. Chan looked around, gripping your shoulder so tightly you nearly brushed him away. But before you could say anything, he had let you go and walked slightly in front of you.

channie: i think you have to go by yourself this time

channie: I’ll make it up to you i promise

You watched him making a turn at the corner of the street, his black hoodie becoming one with the dark sky as he quickened his pace. You glanced at your phone, hot tears falling onto the screen. What Chan did was understandable, it was a reflex. But it hurt, and you remembered the time when you thought that you and Chan were living on a borrowed time.

y/n: its okay. be safe.

Maybe your time together was up.

-

When Chan appeared at your doorstep with barely opened eyes, you just let him in without any protest. He only became more and more busy, and no matter how cheerful he appeared on cameras, days like this happened often.

“Is your brother home?” he asked, putting down a few shopping bags on your couch. You recently got a job in the central city, and you moved into your brother’s apartment so you could commute more comfortably.

“Bought him some fruits. And chocolate for you.”

You smiled, pulling out a box of dark chocolate from one of the bags. “You love me so much.”

He didn’t reply, causing you to dart your eyes to him. “What happened?”

Chan sat you down on the couch, biting his lips as you patted his biceps. “I think we should break up.”

It would be a lie if you didn’t see that coming. After both of you were supposedly photographed together two months ago, Chan changed. He was still the cheerful (but tired) and sweet Chan, but his eyes said otherwise and although he thought he hid it well from you, he didn’t.

“Alright,” was all you said.

“Babe, please don’t be like this—”

“It’s fine, Chan. I understand,” you cut him off. “I don’t want to hold you back. I don’t want to cause you more stress. If being together doesn’t make us happy anymore then there’s no point in forcing this.”

What you wanted to tell him was that you knew he was scared of losing his fans if he ever got caught dating you, but you couldn’t trust yourself to say that out loud without crying.

You loved Bang Chan, and this was the best thing you could do for him.

“You’re not holding me back. It’s just-”

“I get it. You’re too busy and everything is too risky.”

Your phone beeped, showing a message from your brother who was coming home soon. You stood up and walked to your door, Chan trailing behind you. “You should go. My brother is coming soon and God knows how many hours he’ll make you stay,” you attempted to joke. He smiled, taking your hand in his before placing a kiss on the back of your hand. He stared at you, long and intense, like he wanted to say something.

“I’m sorry.”

That was all he said.

♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡

“Is my toothbrush there?” your brother asked over the phone. You peeked into the bathroom, spotting a toothbrush that he used.

“Yeah it’s here. Why?”

“I’m staying over at Jiyeon’s place.”

“I don’t want to sound like Mom but just… don’t get her pregnant.”

“We’re getting married, dumbass.”

“But still.”

Silence.

“I called Chan,” he confessed. “I know I probably shouldn’t have done that though. Sorry.”

You faked a laugh. “Just because we broke up doesn’t mean you two can’t talk.”

“But still.”

“It’s been four years,” you said. “It’s old story. And he won Daesang, of course you wanted to congratulate him.”

“I didn’t congratulate him,” he corrected, voice unusually calm. “I cursed him out for dating that person from Sparkle. Who was it? Kim Jiho?”

You sighed, spinning the CD in your hand. “Come on, we moved on. Plus that was like… 2 years ago?”

“Maybe he did, but you didn’t. I don’t care how many people you dated after Chan, Y/N. We know the truth.”

“Let’s talk tomorrow, I’m tired,” you sternly said, hitting the end button before your brother attacked you more.

You decided to finally open Changbin’s message, which said how sorry he was for intruding your and Chan’s privacy and for you to “please please please” let him explain. You wondered what the rest 2 songs be about for Changbin to have second thoughts.

“Fuck it,” you muttered, sliding the CD into your laptop.

The song gave off a different vibe from the first one. The first song was light and sweet, and this one felt like all of things at once, but mostly regret.

“The sun shines bright

The stars twinkle

The world welcomes me

But what am I supposed to do?

I feel colder than ever

The warm candle I lit

Is now just a memory

I wonder if it’s my fault.”

You reached for your phone on the side table, asking Changbin for Chan’s number.

“Harsh wind? Hurricane?

No

My warmth, my light, my hope

Is gone

You’re gone

You’re the candle I blow out

And it’s all my fault.”

The song slowly came to an end, but then you heard a familiar sobbing sound. It took you a good minute to realize that it was Chan’s. He kept crying and crying until someone rushed into the recording room.

“Hyung!” you heard Changbin’s voice before the audio was cut short.

You pressed stop, and for the first time since your breakup, you cried. For Chan, for yourself, for all the time you spent trying to convince yourself that you would be okay without him.

◇─◇──◇────◇────◇────◇────◇────◇─────◇──◇─◇

(Not an) Epilogue

“C-Chan?”

“Y/N?”

The moment he called your name, your defense crumbled. You started crying again, causing him to yell at the boys to shut up.

“Y/N? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“Yes,” you answered. “It hurts, Chan-ah.”

“Where are you? Are you home?”

You didn’t answer, but you could feel him nodding. “I’ll be there soon, okay? Have you called your brother?”

“Chan,” you sobbed. “Please.”

“I’m coming. Don’t hang up.”

So you didn’t. You heard him fumbling with his car keys before starting the engine. He didn’t ask anything throughout the journey, only occasionally telling you to wait for him. When he knocked on your door, you hesitated.

Would things really turn out the way you wanted it to be?

“What happened?” he asked as soon you opened your door. Chan ushered you inside, taking your face in his hands to press soft kisses on your eyes as if he never left. “Hey, why are you crying?”

You pointed at the CD case, which he took immediately. He read Changbin’s note before pulling you into his arms. He whispered strings of apology in your ear as you cried even harder. “I let you go, Chan. Why aren’t you happy?” you asked.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he replied. “I just didn’t want to ruin your life Y/N. I don’t want you to get hate, to have people talking shit about you. I thought it’d be better if you hated me instead of suffering because of me.”

You sighed, your tears started to subside. “I didn’t want you to lose everything you tried so hard to achieve because of me. I just want to be your sweetest memory, Chan. I—”

“I love you,” he said. “I thought I could forget you. People move on, right, so why can’t I?”

Chan rested his forehead on your shoulder, breathing you in as you put your arms around his waist. “But it’s been 4 years and at this point I can’t keep lying to you or myself.”

“If you still want me around, if you’re okay with what I’m doing, will you let me stay?” he asked, pulling away to see your reaction. You looked at him, and you saw the Bang Chan you knew. The one who loved to mess around with you but was also the one who would protect you. The one who wrote you songs he never revealed to anyone else. The one who broke your heart into pieces but willing to pierce the pieces back together.

“Why do you even bother asking?” you answered, saying every word slowly to tease him. “You never left, Chan. I guess you really stayed in my heart after all.”

He burst into a loud laugh, pressing his lips against yours. He took everything slow, like he wanted to remember how it felt when your lips molded together, how you pulled him closer when his tongue grazed your teeth, how the touch of his lips left wonderful burning sensation on your skin.

You pulled away when his phone rang, watching Chan glance at the caller before switching his phone off. “Okay. I have to be a responsible artist and a responsible, loving boyfriend. What should I do?”

You only wiggled your eyebrows at him, causing him to groan.  He took a deep breath and gripped your shoulders. “If I go back to practice then return here at 3AM, will that count?” he suggested. “Oh no, I’ll be back at 6AM. You need sleep.”

“Now that’s responsible,” you agreed, pecking his lips. “And if you want to be a loving boyfriend as well, please bring me breakfast.”

Chan sighed in relief, eyes twinkling with excitement that you never wanted to trade with anything. “Does kaya toast sound good? Seungmin is into making toasts thesedays, I can steal some.”

“Also, have you listened to all the tracks yet?”

“I still have the last track to listen to.”

“Good. Don’t listen to that. I can make you thousands other songs but please, don’t listen to that one.”

Chan gave you one last look before reaching for the doorknob. “I’ll be back.”

And it was a promise he fulfilled.

-

“I only have one more chapter to write

I don’t want this story to be over

Holding your hand, listening to your silly jokes

Lulling you to sleep, waking up to you

I still want to do all of those.

Y/N we don’t have to end like Sebastian and Mia

Can I write one more chapter?

Can I write a thousand more?

Because Channie loves you so much”

This time you didn’t press stop. You repeated the song over and over again.

 -

a/n: wow this turned out to be longer than i expected. if you get to this part, then thank you for reading! mayhaps the chan’s room series inspired this although there’s nothing about that in the story.

[shadownova443]

Roses and Hydrangeas - Floratale! Papyrus

Floratale! Papyrus x Reader

It had been a relatively long day, not horribly so at the very least. It was slow though, the day taking it's time to drag by and whenever you decided to actually pay attention to the time, it only moved even slower. So throughout the day, you had done your best to distract yourself with everything else around you. Ranging from food to cooking to drawing to your pets- anything that you could manage. Though it really didn't seem to help very much, which wasn't very great. So it lead to you laying around on your bed watching YouTube. Your dogs weaseling their way up into the bed to join you, regardless of you trying to shoo them away at first, but you really couldn't find the energy to do so in any capacity.

Which all kind of led to this moment, you had something to do tonight, so you had at least been looking forward to something. You had finally dragged yourself out of bed around 4 to take a shower and get dressed. Grumbling to yourself all the way as you tried to be in and out of the shower, not wanting to spend an hour in there and maybe run behind. But, thank your lucky stars, you only took roughly 20 minutes before you were out and drying your hair. Doing your best to dry it out before getting changed into some nice comfy clothes that still looked presentable. A pair of jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt that was covered up by a large soft oversized sweater that completed it all.

You shook your head with a sigh, a small yawn leaving you as you exited the bathroom, shivering slightly at the temperature change as you made your way back to your room. Which had your two adorable pitbulls that were sprawled out lazily over the bed, no change there. The moment you stepped into the room, their tails were wagging as one of them propped their head up to look at you. You meet her gaze, waiting for some other kind of response, but she simply flopped back over which got a sigh and chuckle out of you. Making your way to your night stand as you swiped your items off of it.

Now starting to pocket your different items, you silently checked them off in your head. 'Keys, wallet, phone... Earbuds...' You listed to yourself as you pushed them into various pockets, looking around for anything else that you could possibly be forgetting. Raising an eyebrow before letting out a soft breath as you shook your head, you had all your main items, so hopefully that should be all. "Alright you two vicious terrifying puppers, hold down the fort for me." You hummed teasingly as you leaned over to pet both of them. To which the girl licked your hand as soon as it got into distance which made you laugh as the other just looked up at you.

You left the two to sleep on your bed as you exited your room, making a stop to check your back door and the windows before you were out to the front door. Doing a brief scan around for anything else you could be forgetting, but nothing seemed to come to mind. So, you shrugged it off and pulled open your door. Locking it up behind you as you made your way down towards your car. Worn but well loved as ever, your car was in the usual parking spot. Lightly patting the hood as you were quick to get into your car, not feeling up to having a conversation with any of your neighbors since you didn't feel like being late.

"Okay... Now what is it that I needed to go and get?" You asked yourself lightly as you took your phone out of your pocket, starting the car up as you plugged your phone into the car. Scrolling through your various playlists before turning on a random one and tossing your phone down as you turned it up a tad to listen to as you leaned back in your seat. "So let's see... The show starts at 7pm, but the doors open at 6:30." You noted as you tapped your fingers on the steering wheel. "But she said it's best to get there by 6:10-6:20..." You muttered as you started to back out of your drive way as you looked behind you, making sure no one was stepping out behind you. "That leave me... About an hour."

With this now in mind, you nodded a bit more confidently to yourself. Hopefully, the traffic wouldn't be too bad so you could get around downtown with little to no issues- you sure hoped so. Finding parking was gonna be the hardest part of all... it was going to be crowded most likely, which was your fault for deciding to see the show opening night. It made you lightly shake your head, "Why did I let Ami talk me into this?" You mutter with a sigh as you started down the street. "Now..." You let your mind wonder slightly as you stopped at the stop sign at the end of your street, narrowing your eyes as you watched a pair of neighborhood kids scamper across the street. Glancing around briefly for something that would help you remember what you were looking for...

Bike... Grass... Tree... House... Fence... Dog... Kid... Flower... Squirrel... Bird... Oh wait! "Flowers!" You exclaimed as you snapped your fingers together, that's what you needed! You needed to get Ami some flowers for opening night! The fact that it was now just hitting you made you shake your head in dismay at yourself. But at least you remembered it before you got there! Now that you were thinking about it, you could remember why you were waiting so last minute to get them. There was that cute little flower shop downtown near the theatre that you had been itching to visit- and it gave you the perfect excuse to stop by there.

You had been keeping your eyes on a cute little flower shop that you often seen when heading to work and you just hadn't had time to stop by yet... Or when you did, you just were too tired or unmotivated to do so, but now you had some motivation and time! So it just happened to be the best combination that there was. With a little more confidence now, you started driving in the direction of the said shop, tapping your fingers against the steering wheel as you felt a bit more upbeat now that you could remember what you were doing out earlier than need be!

You made your way through your neighborhood, which didn't take too long thankfully. It wasn't very hectic and there wasn't many other kids or people out and about, all which made your trip through easier. Careful not to hit any dang squirrels that so decided to run through the road or cars that didn't listen to the stop signs, you were making your way downtown. Just humming quietly along to the music playing out as you drove down the familiar roads.

It wasn't long before you hit the busier roads that would take you downtown. It was a weekday that they were opening, so there shouldn't be too much traffic hopefully. Though, you were bound to get caught in some regardless of what you wished. So, you took your time to not cause an accident unlike other idiots who sped regardless of all the other cars around them. You got downtown in record time, considering that it was already about 5pm, so with that pleasantness, you drove around as you searched for the tiny shop.

Which didn't take too long until you spotted it, and wasn't it just your luck that there was a parking spot near the front of it? It only served to make you a bit more brighter. Tapping your fingers excitedly against the steering wheel as you parked your car, throwing yourself into park as you grabbed your discarded phone and pulling your keys out of the ignition. Pocketing your phone as you opened your door up, careful for any passing cars as you slid out of the driver's seat. Shutting your door behind you as you locked your car, making your way around and onto the sidewalk safely.

It gave you time to stop and look at the tiny shop that you had been looking at so often. A giddy smile on your lips as your eyes traced over the cute fancy lettering of the name, 'Flora Tale' was sprawled neatly over the sign with flower paintings boarding each side. The shop was cute, with windows lining the front that framed many different plants and flowers that were being shown off in rows and arrangements. You could only name a few different flowers that you spotted, like orchids, roses, daisies... Not too many others, others looked familiar but nothing that you could actually name. There were even some cute succulent arrangements on show too!

You weren't sure on how long you stood there, ogling at the different types of plants and flowers that were in the windows before you realized that you did have to go inside to find exactly what you needed. So with this in mind, you took in a small breath and made your way towards the glass door that also had the name of the shop written on it with a few more flower drawings. You pushed the door open as you chewed on your lip, feeling a tad startled when you heard the tinkling of a small bell overhead. A small cute bronze bell, you could tell when you glanced up. As you entered, you could instantly tell that everything about this shop was either cute or downright gorgeous. One glance also told you that you were definitely going to need help picking out some flowers for your best friend.

You let the door close behind you, keeping the nice warm air inside as you looked around. There was a desk right up towards the front, which no one was currently at, so you shrugged it off and started to browse around. You did have some time to kill- so there wasn't any harm in looking around a bit too! Maybe get a new succulent or two to decorate your home with.... That would also be quite nice.

You looked overhead, a bit surprised by the plants that hung above you. Varying flowers and plants, different leaves poking down that made you peer up curiously. You wouldn't be needing any of those, but it definitely didn't stop your curiosity. Studying one that had interesting leaves, made you glance around, spotting one that was pretty big with a similar kind of leaf, you trailed over it, crouching down to read it. "Monstera deliciosa..." You slowly muttered, "Also known as the Swiss Cheese plant," You said the last part in slight amusement, there were the easier to pronounce names! They were quite nice plants... Though, you weren't exactly sure that you'd take good care of one. So, you left it to continue looking around.

There were some shelves in the middle that show off some smaller plants, taking in the different types before you as you browsed over them. "Pilea... Baby Toes... Jade Plant... Spider plant... Aloe Vera... Anthurium..." You muttered softly, taking in the different kinds of plants, there were so many! It made you a bit excited as you looked at all the pretty plants, "Chinese Money Plant... Kalanchoe... Oxalis..." The last one made you pause to study the beautiful purple leaves of the plant. It looked very similar to 3 leaf clovers expect bigger and a nice shade of purple. But you shook your head- that wasn't what you were looking for!

So you found yourself moving over to the succulents next, wanting to take a look at them before you got too distracted by everything else. You made your way down a few aisles, looking at the different flowers before spotting the aisle you were looking for. You backpedaled slightly as you stepped into it, immediately starting to study the various plants once again. The first one that caught your eye was a Sunburst, which was a nice shade of yellow and green that opened up much like a flower would.  The next few you read off quickly, "Christmas Carol, Twilight Zone, Spiral Aloe..." You murmured thoughtfully to

yourself as you smiled a tad. They were always so nice to see, plus you would love to bring a few home today or sometime soon. The Spiral Aloe was looking very nice, but the one that really caught your attention was a cute smaller succulent. A light pink and green one, it reminded you of tiny blossoming lilies, it was so adorable. "Anacampseros telephiastrum variegata..." The amount you stumbled on that one name had to be an utter record as you wrinkled your nose, "Aren't I just amazing at this?" You muttered as you pulled it closer to you, "Also known as Sunrise, ain't that a million times easier?" You mused to yourself. You held the plant close as you knew you were definitely gonna get this one.

You looked over a couple more, spotting some of the more common ones and a few that you already had at home. "Afterglow, Lola, Etna, Violet Queen..." You hummed lightly to yourself as you scanned to see if there were any more that caught your attention. In fact, there were another two that caught your attention that were a little further back. A little maneuvering later, and you were pulling out two more succulents. "Graptosedum, commonly known as the Alpenglow." It was a pinkish orange flower looking succulent, the other was what looked a bit more shiny and a pastel purple-isk color. "Graptoveria, the Debbie." You studied the two in interest, debating between them as you chewed on your lip.

The Debbie was looking like the better option here, it was just so cute and adorable after all. You decided took the Debbie as you looked at the two different succulents in your hands. You were rather happy with your two choices as you started to peek around more for the bouquets next. You traversed through the store as you searched for the said item, cocking your head to the side as you peered around. You were just seeing a lot of potted plants so far, maybe they were closer to one of the sides? Or maybe they were also up towards the front of the store...

Lost within your thoughts, you weren't nearly paying as much attention as you should have. Which lead you to conveniently walk into maybe the only other person within the store. You let out a small squeak of alarm, stumbling slightly as you clutched the two succulents against you as to not drop them. While you didn't fall, you did lose your balance a bit, but you quickly regained it with the help of the stranger who was sputtering out apologies already.

"O-Oh my- I'm so so-sorry. I didn't know t-that someone c-came in- I sh-should have been m-much more careful!" The stranger apologized as they straightened you up, careful to not let you crash into any of the plants or shelves. Which was quite helpful as you were afraid that you would do so. You blinked your eyes as you gained your footing, having to peer up to look at who had helped you.

To your surprise, it was a skeleton monster who stood before you. He had a good couple inches at you at least, He was definitely on the taller side you had to say. He was wearing mainly different shades of purple, a lighter purple turtle neck with a dark violet jacket that had fluffy white fur around the hood. Wearing some black jeans and a simple pair of boots, you dragged your gaze up to his skull. He had two rather large teeth that went upwards, the opposite of fangs seemingly. The most startling part had to be the hole that you spotted on his skull, but it was decorated with beautiful flowers that were placed within it that made it more of a nice accessory than disgusting or disturbing.

"P-Pardon me? Are you al-alright?" He tried again softly as you came back to, focusing back in on his words instead, watching as he peered down at you rather worriedly.

"Huh? O-Oh! I'm okay, a-and that was my fault." You said as you finally started to understand what was happening. "I was the one w-who ran into you." You pointed out as you gave him a gentle smile, watching his cheekbones flush a soft purple as he looked at you.

"Oh no- i-it was definitely m-my fault," He dried to deny, "You almost fe-fell over because o-of me." The skeleton said as he shook his head at you, rubbing his cheekbone as your eyes briefly traced over the different cracks and scars before focusing on his gaze, not wanting to upset him by looking at them.

"I'm telling you t-that, that isn't the case." You replied in a soft tone, "The only reason I was falling is because I'm smaller and don't have very good balance apparently." You added with slight amusement, hoping that it would ease him a bit. It did make him smile very slightly as you gave him a gentle smile.

"W-Well... What ex-exactly are you looking f-for?" The monster asked as he glanced around, as if he was looking for anyone else before turning his soft purple gaze back down to look at you.

"Oh- I was looking for the bouquets," You responded in kind, glancing around too. "I haven't been h-here before so I have no idea where to look. I kind of got a bit sidetracked by these..." You admitted as you motioned to the two little succulents you were still holding. You watched as he brightened a tad upon seeing what you were holding and what you were looking for.

"Those are gonna b-be towards the f-front." He replied as he motioned back up where you had come from, "I-I... I could h-help you if yo-you want..." The monster added a bit more timidly as he furrowed his brow, like he was getting ready for you to shoot him down. Which kind of broke your heart because he seemed like a real sweetheart.

"Huh? Yes please- I would love the help. I really don't know what to get her..." You said with a sheepish smile as he seemed a bit relieved by your warm shy response. He nodded as he started to herd you towards the front of the store, which you moved towards it when realizing what he wanted.

"Well... W-What are you trying to get for her?" He asked softly as you cocked your head to the side.

"I'm looking to get flowers for my best friend, Ami." You responded lightly, "She is performing at the theatre over here and it's her opening night- and of course I do wanna surprise her with some at the very least. She's been working really hard on it for months." You explained to him as he nodded along, taking in your words as he seemed to be thinking about it.

"Do you know her favorite flowers?" The skeleton questioned as you trotted along towards the front of the store.

"I know that she likes Tiger Lilies and Transvaal daisies," You answered almost immediately, they had been on your mind since you had been looking for what exactly to give her. "I want to get her a bouquet that looks nice and colorful." You added as he nodded along in response.

"Transvaal daisies..." The purple clad skeleton muttered softly to himself, "Maybe with a rose or two and a Hydrangea... Hypericum Berries would also add quite nicely to that..." He murmured as you blinked your eyes, listening to him speak to himself in a rather thoughtful tone. You understood maybe 2-3 of the plants he said, which was quite good considering he listed like 4 of them.

"I do need to be out by 6 though... So like 40 minutes," You added in softly in a quiet tone as he glanced over to you.

"H-Huh? Oh- that should b-be more than enough f-for a simple bouquet." He assured you as you both reached the front of the store as you placed your succulents down on the counter. "Do you have an-any preference on the color scheme?" He inquired softly as you glanced over at him, watching as he pulled an apron on.

"Nothing certain- just something bright preferably." You uttered as you leaned a bit against the counter, "Could... Could I get your name?" You asked as you tilted your head to the side, peering up at him as he paused, looking surprised by the question.

"O-Oh my- I'm sorry, I sh-should have introduced myself so-sooner." He responded as he looked quite flustered, not realizing that he hadn't done so before. "I-I'm Hyacinth, b-but call me Cinth." The tall skeleton introduced himself as you nodded your head before pausing, smiling a bit brighter.

"Hyacinth? Like the flower?" You said as your eyes widened, "Wow- and you're working at a flower shop- what a coincidence," You chirped with slight amusement as his cheeks flushed an ever deeper purple. "I'm (Y/N), it's real nice to meet you." You hummed as you offered your hand to him, which he very timidly took, you noted that he seemed to have sharpish claws though they looked well taken care of.

"T-The pleasure is m-mine..." He uttered softly as he pulled away, leaving you to watch as he quickly got to the task of putting a bouquet together for you. So you waited patiently, watching him move back and forth as after a couple minutes of silence, you both did manage to strike up a conversation. Although it started off kind of awkward, you manage to fall into a comfortable topic as you started off with plants. Which he could speak on with a lot of passion while you said were were bit of a beginning gardener, although difficult with your two rascals that liked to dig up the yard sometimes.

As the conversation led on, you started to move on past flowers as you found out he had a brother named Violet too. He owned a sweet fluffy orange tabby named Autumn which was extremely adorable which he had even paused to show you a picture of her. Who looked as adorable as she sounded! So you talked a little on your own dogs and the stray cat that did stop by your house sometimes, that you had affectionately named Scout.

You talked more on pets and animals together, chattering adamantly about them for a bit longer before you found yourself slipping to the next topic. Which happened to be hobbies, which lead to a bit more talking about gardening as you continued to learn more about the skeleton. He liked cleaning and decorating a lot, he also did read when he could though it could be a bit hard on him since he sometimes got sidetracked because of the headaches he'd get sometimes. Which you chattered back to him about your own hobbies, from trying to garden to the books you were currently trying to read. Jumping around as you spoke about your music tastes, favorite foods, favorite colors- you talked a lot to say the very least.

And as you spoke, Cinth worked away at the bouquet, and you got to watch in amusement as it all came together. Looking at the bright pops of color as you felt your heart warm excited. Ami was going to absolutely adore them! You felt giddy with every passing moment as you continued to talk. But time was really just flying by and before you knew it, the skeleton was finishing up the bouquet as he wrapped it up, tying it with a nice big bright bow around it.

"My stars- it looks amazing, Cinth!" You exclaimed as you peered at it, gushing over how beautiful it looked while the said skeleton flushed deeply at all the praise. "I don't know how you can do it- just look at it! All the flowers look so nice together- and the colors blend beautifully!"

"Oh please- it's n-nothing, really." He responded with a flush as he gently handed them over to you, which you gratefully accepted with a bright smile.

"Nothing? If this is nothing- then I'd be shocked to see what you would call something!" You shot back at him as he smiled bashfully, shifting the flowers in your arms as you checked the time. Surprised to see what time it was as you jolted. "Oh no- I really need to get going before I'm late." You said as you jumped slightly, watching as he quickly rang you up.

Cinth moved with ease as he checked you out, which you more than happily paid for as he gave you a small bag for your two little succulents too.  Handing your credit card and receipt to you as you smiled brightly at him. "Thank you so much, Cinth! I'll hopefully get to stop by again soon!" You called out as you quickly rushed to the door.

"B-Bye (Y/N)!" He called out as you disappeared out the door, hurrying to your car as you placed the bouquet down gently on the seat and tucking the succulents on the floor before getting into your car. Almost dropped your card as you tucked it into your wallet, checking the receipt briefly before catching something that seemed out of place.

'Hangout sometime?' Was written in sprawling writing in the corner with a phone number under it, you flushed deeply as you glanced towards the shop as you started to drive away.

Well... You were sure that you'd certainly be seeing more of him around.

xxx

So- this was something that happened while I was messaging my friend. I wanted to write and she wanted to watch me- so I got carried away and just wrote away on Discord and got this lil nugget. I am pretty proud of it, I wrote it in roughly 3 hours and is practically a full length chapter.

Floratale Papyrus/Cinth belongs to me and is my very own bby, so I was excited to write about him! Would you guys like to see more of him and Violet maybe? Maybe some more writing or I can open a group or somethin to talk about them. Maybe a Discord, we'll see uwu

Art by me

[kindar-life]

<h1>The problem with Crossing the Border (09-01-19)</h1>

The problem with Crossing the Border (09-01-19)

Or an alternate title: I have ADHD, Big Surprise Out of curiosity, anyone has border crossing stories? They don’t have to be horror stories; they can be good. I’m mainly curious how it’s been for other people. So this week could have gone great, and for one the problem wasn’t on my company’s side. We did everything right, it’s the shipper and the border who dropped the ball. So, did the delivery on Monday and as my manager is on vacation, St-Germain was the one handling it, and before they were done unloaded, I had my next assignment. a pickup, 5 hours away, for Wednesday morning. If my manager had been handling it, I wouldn’t have found out until later on Tuesday, forcing me to rush there, his justifications would be that he was looking for something better in the meantime, which is BS, since that shipper is about the only one we have in all of BC anymore. I only drove an hour, I mean, what’s the point. I’m on eastern time, so 3 hours ahead of them, and going to be a day early. Also, Hwy 3 from Hope to Grand Forks, is horrible and there is no way I want to do it in the dark. It was still dark by the time I left on Tuesday, but was light before I hit the really tight curves going up and down hills. It’s the summer, so it wasn’t as bad as it could be, and I was empty, but I’ve done them in the winter. I never look forward to driving on that road. Made it mid-morning for them, checked in, pointing out I was a day early and they said to drop it, their shunt driver would put it in a door within minutes and within a couple of hours it would be done. Which was great news for me. If I could get in the US a day early, I’d be able to take a two-day weekend. Remember that ‘IF’. The trailer is ready in three hours, but it takes another hour for me to find out because I was looking at the wrong drop lot. I decided to go in and get an update and, on the way, I saw it in the opposite drop lot. Got my papers, confirmed I was good to cross the border and headed to the Laurier crossing. I like it because it isn’t busy and the road on the US side is nice, even if it’s a 2-lane highway. No big hills, few tight curves and only a handful of towns. There is Spokane when it reaches I90, but I found a way around it. It’s a little longer, than driving through Spokane, but a lot easier. Get to the border, go inside. It’s so quiet they don’t have truck booths. I hand in the papers, the officer looked in his is system and asks. “Where’s your permit?” “I’m sorry,” I reply, “What permit?” “your permit to cross here.” Here is the thing. We’ve been crossing at this border for eight months. And we’ve never been asked for a permit. It turns out that no officer should have ever allowed us to cross there, but they weren’t doing their jobs properly. The reason we don’t have a permit is that the shipper never added us to the list of approved Carrier to cross there with their product. I did not know there was such a situation possible. So I turned around, stopped in an aside in the hopes it was an easy fix and called the shipper. Only to find out the person who deals with the border had already left for the day (it was 4pm locally, in the mood I was in, I wasn’t thinking good thing about a person who didn’t have to work until 5pm like all office workers.) I called dispatch to advise them. Drove back to the shipper to park for the night, they are only 10 minutes from the border, another reason I like crossing there. Next morning, 9am their time, noon mine, I go in and find out there’s nothing to be done about it, they can only add a carrier to their list once a year, in December. The closest crossing that is a ‘Commercial Crossing,” is in Ossoyoos, two hours west, over all those horrible hills and turns. Tell dispatch about it, get told it can’t be, we cross at Laurier all the time. I tell them, yes, but we can’t anymore, check with the shipper if you believe your driver is so determined to drive over horrible hills. By the time I bet close to Ossoyoos, I still don’t have my papers so I park at the truckstop there. Only have to wait an hour and I do. I have to drive later than I prefer but I make it to Post Falls, ID, where I like to park anytime I have to cross at that border. My 2-day weekend is gone, but I can take it easy, there’s plenty of time to get to Laredo. Or not. Friday morning my manager, the one who is on vacation, calls me to ask when I’m going to be there. I tell him something on Tuesday. I’m not concerned since it doesn’t need to be there until Friday. He starts asking why so late, it need to be there ASAP. I tell him I need to do a reset (not true, technically, but don’t tell him that) I tell him that the best I can do is be there Monday late afternoon, and he asks why? I have plenty of hours and it’s a holiday on Monday so I need to get there earlier so I can get a load. And here I need to pause. The earliest I could be there, pushing as hard as I legally can would be Sunday, and the office there is closed. If it’s closed on Monday too, what does it matter if I’m there on Monday? If there is a load there for me to pickup on Sunday, it’s still going to be there on Monday. I still don’t budge on my reset. I have stopped caring about them changing delivery times after I’ve done my pickup a long time ago. If I’m given inaccurate information, it is not my problem. He grumbles and tells me to be there Monday without fault, as if I told him I might not make it. So I had to drive a little harder but I got her on Saturday, and rested. One of the things I did while I waited for all that was get more writing done, so you get five chapters of Taking the Line, Chapters 44 to 48. If there is the usual wait time in Laredo, the last five chapters should be done next week. Chapter 16 of Blind Spot is written, and I finished book 5 of LRK’s origin story. 13 chapters. The longest one to date, I hope the longest period. So I’ve started the newest Going Home, which will explore McKannon, the industrial sector of Tiranis, as well as Eric finally making contact with one of his relatives. if you want to read all that, it's only 1$ on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/29632610 Another thing I did is take an ADHD test. There’s a warning about how it isn’t a medical tool, but if you score about a certain point, you really should talk to a doctor because, really, you have ADHD. And I do. I didn’t go in hoping I had it, but I strongly suspected I was somewhere on that spectrum. On the lower end, but on it none the less. There someone called ADHD Alien on Tumblr, and they post comics about how ADHD affects their daily lives and quite a few of them resonated with me, but one of the reason I never looked at the condition was that I was successful in school and the stereotype of someone with ADHD as that they aren’t good at school. Things is plenty of people with ADHD are good in school because it’s fun, there’s a lot of new things to learn and we soak up that knowledge easily, so easily most of us never have to bother studying, so we never learn how to study, and then when we hit college, of in my case the last two years of secondary school(I was in Quebec, they have their own system there) things start going badly. I was able to finish Secondary, but College was a bust. I just couldn’t figure out how to study and the concept I now had to deal with were so complex I couldn’t simply absorb them. I mean, I’m bright, but not that bright. So I dropped out, hit the work force and never regretted it. I was also lucky that my parents didn’t have expectations of me going to university and becoming a BIG SHOT™. They were surprised when I dropped out, but it was my life and they let me live it as I wanted. I love them for that. I love them for letting me screw up, then offering to help me up with a “See, that didn’t work, you might want to try something else, I can offer suggestions if you want but that’s up to you.” My mom picked up quicker than my dad that the suggestions that worked best were the kick in the ass kind of things and to then let me assimilate them and proceed. My mom told me months before I did it that I should write in the morning, that’s always been when I was at my best and I snorted, yeah right, mornings, who’s functional then? Eventually I ran out of things to try and did that. When I told my mom that she was right about it she smiled and said “I know.” But yeah, back on the ADHD thing. Learning that it was possible to succeed in school because you had ADHD and then fail for the same reason realigned my thinking. And add to that, that for the few things I can focus laser like on, like my writing, there are tons of them I am incapable of staying focus on. No matter how badly I want to learn them. So, yeah, I have ADHD. Will I seek treatment? No. for me to consider treating any condition I have, it has to either affect my ability to earn a living, or my health(and to be fair, when it comes to my health the potential down side have to be bad for me to even think about talking to a doctor about it) I can do my job without problem; I can do my writing without problems. The rest? Frankly, nothing else matter to a level I am willing to put those two at risk. I don’t Suffer from ADHD, I simply have it. I built my coping mechanism even without knowing I had something. Being Scatter brain? I either write it down, or accept that I will forget about it, and if I forget about it I accept the consequences. I don’t make myself a mess over forgetting it. I fix the problem it caused and move on. I do know now why Minecraft is such a trap for me now. It pulls at my focus by giving me things to do, always more things to do until I reached the point where I’m near panic because I can’t do all of them and I push it away. Until I’ve calmed down. But Minecraft commits the Sin of interfering with my writing by taking over that mental space. It’s why I no longer play it. It’s also why the craving is always there, but me and cravings are old friends. I have no issues staring him down. Okay, this is way longer than I expected so I’m going to pass on the movie and book review this week. You' all have fun, and come on, talk to me. Ask me questions, share your stories, it gets lonely talking to the void<chuckles> And that’s it, so I’ll see you on the next one.

Posted using PostyBirb

[heavenlydreamerblog]

In Too Deep

Chapter 6

 “I have to go Jared,” I said, pushing myself up from the sofa and away from his naked body and questioning eyes.

I could just make out my clothes in a messy pile on the floor. I moved quickly, my thoughts muddled, and sight blurred by a haze of tears. I needed a shower, I needed to clean myself, scrub myself clean, scrub away these feelings that would haunt me for too long.

“Lexy, stop.” His voice broke through my thoughts and I looked up as he launched himself from the sofa, grabbing hold of me by the waist and pulling me into his arms.

“What the fuck’s up Lexy. What have I done wrong?”

“Nothing,” I snapped. “Nothing. I need to go home and get some sleep. You know I’ve got a mountain of work to get through with this party.” I unwrapped his arms gently and moved away, gathering my clothes. “Where’s the bathroom so I can dress and sort myself out?”

“You don’t have to leave Lexy.”

I looked into his eyes. They were focused, questioning. Was that  confusion I could see written into a normally confident gaze.

“I do have to leave Jared. This ....,” I gestured with my hands, “ ...this shouldn’t have happened tonight. I need space to clear my head. I’m sorry .... “

“The bathroom’s down the hall, third door on the left,” he motioned with his hand. “I’ll get Emma to take you home.”

“No, just call for a cab,” I said, leaving him in darkness as I made my way down the cool, tiled hallway.

I closed the bathroom door behind me and pulled the lock. I sank to my knees, my legs giving away to the emotions of the night. I shivered as the cool tiles suddenly became cold to my skin, goosebumps covering my aching limbs.

I took my phone from my bag and texted.

Lexy: Jess, are you awake?

The reply came back in seconds.

Jess: Yes! Where on earth are you?

Lexy: I’m fine. I’m on my way home. Put the coffee on ☕☕

I dressed, fixed my hair in the mirror and promised myself a shower back home.

When I walked back into the den, Jared was nowhere to be seen. A sense of unease and dread filled me, remembering the confused look on his face when I left him.

“Lexy!” I spun around at the sound of a female voice. Emma was standing in the doorway, looking slightly worried. “Are you two OK? I just saw Jared walking off to the Lab. He told me to call a cab. You sure everything’s OK?”

I took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, everything’s OK. I just need to get home and start working on this party. Jared will be fine. Just tell him I’ll call in a few days to check on some of the finer details.”

Emma’s phone vibrated. “The cab’s outside. Take my number and call if there’s anything you need. Sometimes Jared can get lost in work and won’t answer his phone. At least you’ll know I’m here if you need help. By the way,” she said, pointing to my car, “I’ll get someone to drive that back home for you.”

“Thanks Emma.” I turned around and hugged her, hoping she couldn’t smell Jared’s odour which seemed to cling to my skin.

I jumped into the cab and waved goodbye. Jared was nowhere to be seen.

************************ 

“Jess! I’m home. Where’s the coffee?” I could smell a fine brew wafting towards me from the kitchen. I walked in to see Jess in her pyjamas, hands curled around her favourite mug.

“Spill the beans Lex! Where’ve you been until this time?” She looked at the clock on the wall; it was 2.30am. She poured me a press coffee and dragged two chairs around the table. This meant business. “Carrie said you’d gone to see Jared Leto about a house party. Please don’t say you’ve been there all this time,” she said, looking for an answer in my tired eyes.

I looked away and an audible sigh escaped my lips. “Hell Jess! What have I done?” I whispered putting my coffee mug on the table and burying my head in my hands. I heard the scrape of her chair across the floor and felt her arms cradle me.

“What was so bad about tonight’s meeting then?” she asked. “Have you fucked up the job; is Carrie going to bust your ass; .... or is there something else you want to tell me....” Her voice trailed off as she pulled me into a tight hug. We hadn’t known each other that long but she’s become a true friend in a very short time. Dan back home in Louisiana was my text buddy ... Jess was in the here and now, able to guess my every mood. And she could tell I was holding back.

“So, it’s 2.30am ... your meeting with Jared was at 5pm yesterday ... so fill me in on the bit in the middle. C’mon Lex, it can’t have been that bad, surely?” It was the questioning at the end that tipped me over the edge into floods of tears.

I must have sobbed for a good 10 minutes, telling her everything that happened with Jared, and how we parted, him disappearing into the house and not saying goodbye ... or anything.

“What if he doesn’t want us to organise the party,” I said, between crying and sipping the hot coffee that Jess was now forcing me to drink.

“Lex, I’m sure it’ll be fine. You’re reading too much into the situation. We’ll manage this between ourselves. Don’t mention any of this to Carrie whatever you do.

“Now, go and have a shower,” she said laughing, this time parting me from my coffee. “You smell of sex, and there’s a shit load of work to get through tomorrow. Go clean yourself and get some sleep while there’s still some hours left.”

I turned and hugged her. I caught sight of my mascara smudged eyes in the mirror over the table and winced. “Do I really look this shit?”

“Yes Lex. Yes, yes, yes, so get the hell into the shower.”

 *****************************

The next day, I hid behind a mountain of paperwork, costing up catering, valet services, bar staff and everything else Jared had requested. I glanced at my phone as it vibrated on top of a pile of papers.

Emma: Any communication with Jared this morning?

Lexy: No. Nothing. I’m just getting my head around everything on the list he gave me.

Emma: He was still locked in the Lab this morning. I think he was up all night working. Drop him a text and see if he responds xx

Lexy: Not sure if that’s such a good idea. I’ll leave it until later and then try!

I put my phone on silent and tried to focus on the work at hand. Carrie had yet to come in, so I’d made the most of my time alone, fearing I’d have to provide her with the ins and outs of my meeting. That, I could do without this morning. I peered out of the window. Yesterday’s unseasonable warmth had given way to grey skies and a cool breeze.

“Jess,” I called, pushing paperwork and my laptop into my bag. “I’m off out to work. I need some space after last night.” She looked over her screen, long enough to check I was OK and not about to have a major breakdown.

“What shall I tell Carrie if she asks?” Jess stood up and walked over, wrapping her arms around me tight.

“What’s that for,” I giggled.

“That’s what friends are for Lex! A hug when you’re least expecting it. Now go and find a coffee and settle your mind into work. We’ll have our asses kicked if this party doesn’t start taking shape.”

I gave her a playful punch and ran out of the office. Once outside, I checked the time: 10.15am. I’d had less than six hours sleep. Yesterday’s  sunshine had given way to grey skies and temperatures more in keeping with the end of February.

I had less than two weeks to organise this party. I’d better get used to sleep deprivation. I decided to walk over to a cafe I’d seen a few weeks ago. We’d driven past it a few times and I’d been promising myself a coffee there.

LA Metro was quiet as I pushed open the door, managing not to catch my bag as it swung closed behind me. It was warm and the smell of coffee was comforting, knowing the work that lay ahead. I found a table that was big enough to take my laptop and spread out my papers and then ordered an Americano.

“What’s your name and we’ll call when it’s ready?” The young boy behind the bar smiled as I jumped at the sound of his voice. “Lexy. Thanks. I’ll be here for a while if that’s OK. I’ll be needing plenty more coffee to power me through.” I laughed when he asked what was I was doing. “Planning a party,” I said. “I organise events and this is taking up all my time. So, if you provide the caffeine, I promise to get this work sorted and clear my mess as soon as possible.”

He was sweet. “Hey no worries. Stay as long as your work takes,” he said, pointing to my table. “Sit down and I’ll bring your coffee over for you.”

I thanked him and made my way back to the table. I powered up my laptop, calling up my emails to check if any of the suppliers had got back to me. I was lost in work, the cafe getting busier as lunchtime approached. The smells and sounds were just background noise as I tapped away on my keyboard while taking calls. I hung up after 15 minutes of haggling over the price of bloody fairylights. Jared had better appreciate how much work this was taking. My phone buzzed, rattling against my coffee cup. A text flashed up on the screen.

Jared: Let me know progress on party. Need to update guest list. Make sure catering has vegan option.

Lexy: I’m on it. I’ll update you with more info later.

I put my phone down, noticing my hands were shaking. My stomach was knotted, as I recalled the madness of last night compared with Jared’s cold, business-like message. The phone buzzed again.

Jared: If you want, we can forget about last night x

The bustle and noise of the cafe faded away, my eyes focused on the message. So Jared forces the decision on me. I switched the phone off, deciding the reply could wait.

I ordered another coffee to steady myself and again buried myself in paperwork for another hour. My mind wandered from time to time, worrying about Jared waiting for my reply and wondering if I should message Emma.

Behind me I could hear the scrape of a chair, and the chink of a coffee mug hitting the table. I breathed in a mix of expensive cologne and cigarette smoke. I saw the young barista approach with my coffee. “Here you go Lexy. Sure I can’t get you some food?”

“I’m fine,” I said, “but thanks for looking after me. The coffee’s great by the way.” I smiled as he walked back to the bar. Behind me, I heard once more the scrape of the chair leg on the tiled floor. Then silence. I stared at my laptop, a strange feeling washing over me.

“Lexy?” The voice came from behind, at once familiar, but awakening memories that I had buried like long lost treasure. I could feel myself shaking as I turned to face the voice.

The silence between us must have lasted for just seconds but seemed to stretch into the never ever.

I remembered his touch, his warmth, his kindness, his embrace and our parting at LAX.

“Shannon ....

If you want to be tagged (or even untagged) just drop me a message. I’m having problems tagging a few of you. Anyone know why?? @nikkitasevoli @llfd1977 @wolfgirl624

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[ktent]

Katie Lee watches the girls carefully with the signature smirk on her face. The vibe the song gives off makes it a bit weird to watch without a dance to go along with it or just any sort of bigger movement. Three minutes go by slower like this and the heavy air that her gaze brings makes the room feel a bit too quiet, even if the background music was playing all around them. It turns worst when the song ends.

“Well, your vocal abilities are certainly good.” The line of her lips doesn’t waver too much as she speaks. “Our vocal line is very good and Suji has gotten better; Jennie will finally get to show her rap. I’m glad Minji handled her high note well, and adlibs were never a problem to Haseul. As good as your vocal abilities are… there are two things I must comment on.”

She uncrosses her legs only to cross them again towards the other side. “This will be quite a change of pace for you considering your last concept. It does not matter, though, and I seriously hope you understand this. Throw away all of your smiles and turn them into smirks; save them for the press. I’d like for you to work on your expressions to make sure you’ll make both a safe and good transition to your second side. Even if you’re only standing when performing like you just did, you must make sure to go along with the feeling of the song. KT artists aren’t called visuals for nothing; that is a compliment and that’s how we take it. You should all show your charisma and this is the best song to do it. Don’t let the makeup and outfit do all the work — that’s your job.”

“And the second point I wanted to make was regarding your dancing.” Katie Lee leans back a bit, blinks, and then continues. “You didn’t show any of it today, which is my concern. It’s easy to sing like this when you compare it to the choreography you’re currently learning. You didn’t promote your debut song in music shows, but you will this time and people will notice if you’re lipsynching or out of breath. I’ve already told your coaches to develop training plans that’ll help you with this earlier today. Of course, we’d love to see some of you get better at dancing overall, but I think that’s in the works, isn’t it? You’ll see the changes in these areas starting tomorrow. For now, keep practicing on what I told you today, as well as the flaws you already knew you had.” The CEO stands up and looks down at her watch. “If you’d like to know… I’ve arranged your first comeback date to be on April 5th. Good luck and… don’t let me down!” She smirks, and then placidly leaves the practice room.

From this point on, vocal practice will be integrated into different parts of their schedule. Dance coaches may ask the girls to do random runs of a full performance to make sure they can successfully go through the choreography while also keeping their voices stable. Gym workout (or the optional yoga) will focus on building up stamina and working on core exercises. On the next Friday, the 8th, the time designated for instrument practice will be spent with one of their acting coaches to help them with their expressions. Any other day, the time slot is to keep on being used as practice for their comeback.

A week later, the girls will record their new songs in the dates as seen below. The girls will go in order of age. The one recording next is expected to wait in the room to make the process as smooth as possible. Once you’re done, go back to practice and tell the next girl to go up.

March 16th — Chase Me

March 17th — Mayday, Trust Me

On the following day, March 18th, the girls will leave to their usual hair salon to get their hair taken care of. If the hairstyles listed below match the one your muse currently has, she’ll have to go anyway for a simple trim and making sure her hair is in good quality. If the current length of their hair is shorter than listed below, they’ll be given extensions for activities.

Anna: Long, black ( reference )

Blue: Long, brown ( reference )

Haseul: Long, black + bangs ( reference )

Jennie: Long, brown ( reference )

Minji: Long, brown ( reference )

Suji: Long, black ( reference )

As better explained in this post, all of the ECLIPSE members will take part in the filming of the SuperStar KTWorld commercials on March 20th. Members are allowed to write the requirements for the specified rewards, but no same thread may be used for both the SSKT requirements and for their March schedule. 

On the 22nd, the girls will head out to an indoor location in Gangnam-gu to have their album photoshoot. This will follow the dark theme of their album so they’ll sport dark makeup and outfits ( references: 1 | 2 | 3 ). The real exhausting part will be the recording of their music video which will start on March 24th and will last two long days.

DAY ZERO — MARCH 21ST

9AM: Wardrobe fittings at the KT building.

DAY ONE — MARCH 24TH

4AM: Head to salon and get hair and makeup done

5AM: Go to first filming location

6AM: Visit and thank actor Jang Taewon on his private room for participating in the MV

6:10AM: Change into outfits

6:30AM: Jang Taewon films his solo scenes in the first bedroom ( 0:46; 0:52; 0:58; 1:01; 1:04; 1:09; 1:26; 1:30; 1:34; 1:55; 2:14; 2:33; 2:54 )

9AM: Recording of scenes with members ( 1:21 [Suji]; 1:59 [Anna]; 2:54 [Jennie] )

10AM: Start recording on second room with Jang Taewon ( 3:27 )

11AM: Members recording on second room ( 2:13; 3:15; 3:36 )

1PM: Recording of beauty shots ( 0:33; 0:45; 0:50; 0:54; 0:56; 1:20; 1:35; 3:01; 3:11; 3:18 )

3PM: Lunch break

3:30PM: Head to second filming location

4:30PM: Hair and makeup retouch

5PM: Start recording corridor scenes ( 0:10; 0:28 [Minji]; 0:37 [Minji]; 1:19 [Minji]; 1:30 [Suji&Haseul]; 1:56 [Haseul]; 2:05 [Minji]; 2:18 [Blue]; 2:28; 2:44 [Minji]; 2:52 [Jennie]; 2:54 [Suji&Haseul]; 2:55 [Anna]; 3:09; 3:13; 3:20; 3:27 )

9PM: Thank Jang Taewon and staff for his work

9:30PM: Head back to the dorms; eat, shower, rest

DAY TWO — MARCH 25TH

6AM: Head to salon and get hair and makeup done

7AM: Go to third filming location

8AM: Change into outfits

8:30AM: Recording member-specific scenes ( 1:05 [Suji] )

9AM: Recording first dance scene ( 0:23; 0:50; 1:11; 1:18; 1:40; 1:46; 2:02; 3:03; 3:06; 3:25 )

12PM: Lunch break; outfit change

1PM: Recording of singing scenes ( 0:35; 0:45; 1:03; 1:10; 1:25; 1:27; 1:38; 2:02; 2:17; 2:37 )

3PM: Recording second dance scene ( 0:26; 0:42; 0:51; 0:55; 0:59; 1:11; 1:14; 1:24; 1:28; 1:32; 2:00; 2:03; 2:17; 2:23; 2:43; 2:50; 2:59; 3:04; 3:25 )

6PM: Recording member-specific scene ( 2:59 [Minji] )

7:30PM: Recording last scene ( 1:43; 1:47 )

8:30PM: Thank staff for hard work

9PM: Head back to the dorms; rest

With their comeback being so close, the rest of the days of the month will be used for continuous practice and building up expectations when their first teaser drops on March 28th.

You will gain +5 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE AS YOU WISH, +3 DEBUT POINTS and +2 ACHIEVEMENTS for completing the written requirements as explained on the idol tier page. As this is not a promotional month, you may choose any two achievements for the month’s points. There is a capped maximum of five solos, sets of starters and/or partnered threads you may write for to collect this month’s points.

* For clarification, old threads from previous months will count towards points so long as they fulfill the requirements as explained on the idol tier page. However, at least one of this month’s requirements must be written about the schedule to gain any points for March.

The only form that needs to be submitted at the end of the month is a verification form for your debut points and achievements. Any SP points earned can be collected as soon as you finish the requirement for them. At the end of the month, you will submit the following form to the Points Verification blog:

IDOL’S NAME - KT ENT - MAR SCHEDULE (for the April 3 verification form)

PROOF OF ACTIVITY: [ x ]

POINTS: +00 SP [ distribute these however you like ]

TOTAL POINTS EARNED: +00 SP +00 DBT

+1 WK ACHIEVEMENT #1 [ NUMBER OF TIMES TAKEN + CURRENT LEVEL ]

+1 WK ACHIEVEMENT #2 [ NUMBER OF TIMES TAKEN + CURRENT LEVEL ]

NEW DEBUT POINTS TOTAL:

[happyumbrellla]

Snk:Mafia!Omegaverse : Chap 1

Chapter 1 : Reality

 Eight months ago, Grisha and Carla Jaëger were killed in a serious car accident. The driver of the vehicle responsible for the accident had fled and the police had not found him. Their two children, Eren and Mikasa, only 18 years old, were left alone. The family of their best friend, Armin Arlet, had welcomed them while they climbed the slope and to help them manage the necessary legal procedures. But even with their help and support, it was a long and painful journey for the last Jaëgers.

The determination of the two teenagers had allowed them to quickly pull themselves together to get out of it. With their savings, the money from the sale of their old house, which they could not keep, and the inheritance of their parents, they had bought a small apartment, above a closed tea salon, to free the Arlets from their presence and to make a new start. Mikasa had found a job in a small company nearby as an archive assistant, while Eren had been hired as a cashier in a nearby convenience store.

 As the weeks went by, the young man quickly realized that the neighborhood was the business district and that the businessmen were always stressed and in a hurry. Then Eren had the idea to buy the premises under their apartment to open a tea salon. Carla dreamed of opening one and Eren had always loved getting lost in the multitude of perfumes they offered. He had told Mikasa and they decided to try the adventure. His sister took over the negotiations and they managed to get the premises for a decent price. With the help of their friends, they restored the interior of the place and furnished it to give it a peaceful atmosphere. Eren set up contracts with tea producers and started cooking to offer a different pastry every day. They promoted it as much as possible before the opening and when D-Day came, Eren and Mikasa didn't think they had as many people.

 The first months were difficult in terms of organization, but not in terms of clientele. There were always people in the tea salon. If Eren swam in full happiness, it was not the case of his sister:

-You should resume your training at the police academy, had finally declared one evening the brown boy.

Mikasa had looked at him with big eyes:

        -What are you talking about?

        -I can see you're not happy working here. We have some money on the side, the tea salon is working well. You can take money to pay for your training. I know that being a cop was always your dream. It's time you realized that, don't you think?

She remained silent for a moment, thinking, before saying:

        -And who’s gonna protect you?

Eren smiles. Mikasa was an Alpha, her presence, her pheromones and her combat skills deterred anyone from making a single wrong move. And it was her smell, in addition to the teas, that camouflaged the sweet smell of Omega that Eren wore. He thus passed for a Beta, the middle class and the most current of the current society. And it suited him just fine. Betas were not affected by Omega pheromones. Only the Alphas were, and they didn't have that many. As for the Omegas, they were even rarer than the Alphas. Because of their rarity, they were considered treasures to be venerated by some and as simple luxury goods for Alphas by others. Not knowing people's thoughts about the Omegas, Eren would mask his scent to be quiet:

        -I can defend myself. Besides, nobody knows I’m an Omega. I won’t risk anything. Worst-case scenario, I’ll call you.

After long discussions, Eren had managed to convince his sister to resume her training. Mikasa therefore started classes again in September and the Omega found himself having to manage the tea salon alone. But he didn't mind, quite the contrary. He was having the time of his life. And at least he was gradually leaving behind his anger towards the murderer of his parents’ who was still running.

 Eren had been managing the salon for three months already, he had started to spot regulars and he had his favourite. A more than regular customer since he came 2 to 3 times a day and who did not pass unnoticed when he entered the tea salon. Why? Because the man, about six feet tall, with black hair, white skin, steel eyes, was an Alpha whose pheromones pushed everyone to submission. And his constant icy air only encouraged flight. Eren, being an Omega, was largely affected by such dominant pheromones, but he managed to forget them by opening a tea box and inhaling to the lungs. What he could not erase with tea, however, was the fact that he was very attracted to the other man's great cold beauty.

Eren was getting ready to open the salon when Mikasa crossed it to go to class:

        -In case of trouble, you call me.

        -Promise. Don’t worry about it. I got this.

It was a fact, he could take care of himself now. His sister kissed his cheek before she left. The brown one put water to boil before going to turn over the sign to announce that the salon was officially open. Hardly was he behind the counter again when the little bell of the door rang. Eren knew exactly who he was and unconsciously he started to smile:

        -Hello brat.

        -Hello ancestor.

It was their way of greeting each other, but Eren almost choked when he saw the dark man’s lips stretch into a sort of amused grin:

        -Who are you and what have you done with my grumpy morning client?

The Alpha sighed as he came into contact with the counter. Eren's smile grew bigger, the Alpha had come alone today, no strangers, nor the 2 men who regularly accompanied him, which meant that the young man had all the attention of the man. And having the attention of such an Alpha was exciting and slightly scary:

        -A black tea?

        -Yes.

        -Orange, peach and almond?

        -Yes.

        -A bakery with it?

        -The one you think is best for tea.

        -All right. So…

        -Surprise me, don’t tell me.

Eren raised an eyebrow:

        -All right. I’ll let you get settled in.

        -Thank you.

The businessman, Eren, had no doubt that he was one of them by his superb tailor-made suits, went to sit at his usual table, the one in the right corner from where one could see the whole salon, without being particularly visible. The brown one took out a pretty white and black cup, put it on the counter, next to a small assorted plate in which he deposited a part of brioche with pralines. He was proud to have done it. He prepared the small tea bag from his order, filled the cup with boiling water and placed it inside. Eren took the cup and plate and dropped them off in front of his first customer of the day:

        -Four minutes for the tea. The brioche with pralines was made this morning. This is the first time I’ve done it. Could you tell me what you think, please?

        -Hum.

The dark man hadn’t looked up from his phone. Eren didn't really get upset, he was used to it. He went back behind the counter and put some water back to the boil. The boiler regulated itself to stop heating as soon as the water was boiling and reactivate itself when it cooled too much. The Omega moved to respond as quickly as possible to orders from customers who arrived as they went along.

By 10:30 the rush had passed and Eren was able to clean the few tables that had been occupied. When he turned to the table the Alpha had occupied, he pouted when he saw it empty. Eren had not seen him leave and he was disappointed that the businessman did not tell him what he had thought of his praline brioche. But his pout disappeared quite quickly when he noticed words written on a wrinkle-free paper towel:

 « The brioche with pralines was delicious and accompanied the tea very well. That was a very good choice brat. See you tonight. Levi. »

 Eren couldn't help but smile. He cherished every new piece of information he learned about the dark Alpha. And today was a great day because he knew the beautiful Alpha's name; Levi.

 The Omega closed for an hour for lunch before returning to the salon for the afternoon. The activity was calmer in the afternoon, which allowed Eren to prepare the next day's service and in particular to look for a recipe for the day's pastries. He had to find one preferably before 5pm so that he could place an order with Mikasa who would go to the supermarket before returning from college. The brown one chose a recipe for milk chocolate muffins. So he sent a list of the ingredients he needed to his sister, not without adding a few extra ingredients to vary the muffin flavors. Once this was done, the Omega brought all its attention to the tea room. There weren't many people at that time, it wasn't 4:00 yet. But as soon as the clock showed 4:00, the employees of the surrounding companies would come for a break. With any luck, Levi would be among them. Even though Levi's Alpha aura intimidated him, he loved their strange exchanges.

 Needless to say, the young man was disappointed not to see the Alpha for a "snack", but was happy to see his sister back with 4 full plastic bags:

        -I found everything you asked for.

        -Thank you.

        -Armin and the others are asking if you want to come over tonight for a drink at the bar near campus?

        -What time?

        -8:00?

        -All right. If we don’t get back home too late.

        -Don’t worry. I get up early tomorrow.

Mikasa went upstairs to put all this stuff in the kitchen of their apartment since that's where Eren made all his preparations. The Omega decided to close a little early to have time to make the muffins for tomorrow before going out with his friends. He was about to turn the sign at the door when it opened on Levi:

        -Hello brat.

        -Hello ancestor.

Eren let him in and turned the sign right behind him:

        -You close early tonight…

        -Exceptionally yes. But I’ll take your order anyway.

        -I expected nothing less. I’ll have a black tea with orange.

        -It’s noted.

        -To go. I wouldn’t want to deprive you of your exceptional premature closure.

        -You can stay, I’m in no hurry.

        -If you want.

Levi sat at his usual table while Eren made his tea. He placed the cup in front of him:

        -Five minutes of infusion.

        -All right.

The brown one was happy to see that, for once, the Alpha was watching him. A long shiver ran Eren’s back. Those eyes were... Beautiful. The Omega pulled himself together, straightened himself up and activated the automatic closing of the shutters before doing a little cleaning while waiting for his client to finish. And the latter was not taking his time as usual, he was in a hurry. He got lost in his thoughts and jumped when Levi put his cup on the counter. A fine amused smile stretched the Alpha's lips:

-I didn’t mean to scare you.

-It’s… It’s okay. Are you finished?

-Yes. I let you lock up behind me?

-Yes.

Eren escorted his favorite client to the door and opened it:

        -Thank you… For letting me in.

        -No problem.

        -Have a good night.

        -Thank you. You too.

The Alpha nodded before moving away, first backwards, then in the normal direction of walk. Eren gently closed the door and sighed. That man was handsome! Too beautiful even! It was not a good thing that they stayed alone in the same room, because one day Eren wasn't going to control himself and let his Omega pheromones get into the Alpha's nose, and it would be the end of him. The brown one shook his head before going upstairs, to the kitchen more precisely to prepare his muffin batter and let it rest overnight before baking them first thing in the morning. Then he changed for the evening to come. He needed to relax and find his friends was the best way to do that.

 It was Jean who had found them this bar where they met as often as possible. Besides, he was already there, with her boyfriend, Marco. And the rest of their group, Connie, Sasha, Ymir, Historia and Armin. Eren loved his group because he had had the chance to meet another Omega, Marco. The two teenagers had become very close thanks to their extremely rare nature and they were protected by the group's only Alpha, Mikasa, and by Jean, who despite his Beta nature, had a strong character. If Eren and Jean did not always get along, they did their best not to let their arguments influence the rest of the group too much. Eren had a very good evening, far from imagining that his whole life would soon change again.

 As the days passed, Levi came alone more often around 6:30 pm. He had become the last client Eren served before closing. And thanks to the fact that they were often alone, they were able to start talking... A little. And Eren was happy with their exchanges, even if they weren't as full as the ones the Omega had with his friends. The brown boy had learned that Levi worked for a large company and held a position of responsibility. Eren was even more impressed with the Alpha.

 That night, Eren was putting the tea shelf away so it would be ready for tomorrow's service when the front door bell rang. Eren's nose told him that the two people who had just entered were Betas. When he turned around, he could see that they were tall, muscular, dressed in black and tattooed. Eren couldn't help but be a little scared:

        -The tea salon is closed gentlemen.

        -We know. We’re not here for tea.

The Omega swallowed. His instincts told him these people were dangerous. And he was right. The next second, one of them was pointing a gun at him. The brown one immediately raised his hands:

        -Don’t move and everything will be fine.

Eren swallowed but did not move an inch. Why did this have to happen one of the few nights Mikasa was on night patrol? The second turned his attention to Levi, who was now wearing black leather gloves. Why was he wearing gloves? :

        -I can't believe we're gonna be able to shoot the famous Survey Corps executor that easily. You've made it a lot easier for us by visiting this place regularly and unescorted most of the time. I'm even a little disappointed at how easy it is...

The brown one can easily see the Alpha's lips stretching into an amused and unhealthy smile:

        -Do you think so?

The rest happened very quickly. The dark-haired man drew a weapon and shot the first Beta. The second turned his weapon towards Levi and Eren took the opportunity to stoop behind the counter in search of protection. His whole body was shaking. Why the hell did this have to happen to him? He heard a gunshot followed by a heavy fall and it didn't take him long to understand that it was a body that had just touched the ground. But whose body? Eren closed his eyes as tightly as he could as he heard noises of footsteps approaching him. His heart was pounding in his chest as his breathing became more and more difficult. He was going to die... Then he felt a hand on his shoulder, he opened his eyes suddenly and shouted with terror. A scream that was quickly smothered by a hand... Levi's hand. It was almost instinctively that the Omega relaxed a little. Levi was alive and most likely had just saved his life:

        -Don’t scream.

The tone used was commanding, a real Alpha tone. And the Omega had no choice but to obey. Levi's eyes were even more beautiful up close. But his brain did not allow him to contemplate them for very long without fear... He shouted "Danger" to him while his instinct shouted "Security" and made him snuggle a little more against the Alpha's hand. A long shiver of anguish ran down his spine when his senses recorded the contact of the leather against his skin. Levi had killed those men... Was he going to kill him too? What was he gonna do to her? He said Survey Corps, was that the name of the company he worked for? Levi didn't take his eyes off Eren when he picked up his phone:

        -…Erd, I need an intensive cleaning at the tea salon where I go every day, bring Gunther and Auruo.

And he hung up:

        -Stay still, I’ll take care of the situation.

The brown one was unable to answer or move, paralyzed by fear and shock:

        -If I let you go, will you scream?

Eren shook his head negatively as gently as possible. His sister had told him that if there was an imminent threat, you shouldn't make sudden moves:

        -Good.

The Alpha slowly removed his hand from the face of the Omega before sitting next to him and drawing him against his body. He put one arm around his back to hold it while his left hand closed on his gun. Was he afraid of other attackers? Eren closed his eyes so he wouldn't see that gun that had brought death to his tea salon. His Omega instinct reacted to the protection that the Alpha had given him and the feeling of security that their proximity made him feel, and his body gradually relaxed, despite his realistic side that was still howling at danger. It only took a few seconds against each other for Levi to ask:

        -You’re an Omega?

Eren nodded feverishly and gently his head:

        -How could I miss that?

The brown did not answer but let Levi stick a little more to him. He felt the fingers of the man with black hair sliding along his neck, climbing up into his hair and forcing him to nest his head in the hollow of his neck. Which was strange. The Alphas didn't like to expose their throats, it was a sign of submission. Yet Levi allowed him access to his own... Was it because he was an Omega and he knew he had nothing to fear from him? Eren closed his eyes and let Levi's smell relax his muscles. He felt safe in his arms. The brown could not tell how long it had been before the living room door opened. It shouldn't have been Mikasa. Especially not. He suddenly pulled his head out of Levi's neck to feel three men entering, three more Betas:

        -Boss?

        -Behind the counter.

And the three strangers had a face and a name:

        -Gunther and Auruo, I don't want to see the bodies or a trace of blood. Erd, secure the perimeter and get the car. Make it quick.

The three strangers stood still for a few seconds when they saw Eren huddled against Levi. The latter scolded and they set to work. The rumble made the Alpha's torso vibrate and the brown one bit the lower lip... Such dominance... The brown one forced itself to think of something else, to close its eyelids and to delight to find this feeling of security which had enveloped it before the arrival of the Betas. They remained silent until the little bubble in which they found themselves was burst by Erd:

        -The perimeter is secure and the car is right outside the door.

        -Perfect.

Levi put his gun in his dorsal hollster and lifted Eren into his arms as if he was weighing nothing. The Omega squeaked with surprise as he wrapped his arms around Alpha's neck:

        -Let’s go.

The brown one emerged from his torpor at the agreement of his words:

        -What? No! Mikasa will be back soon and I have to be there! And I don't know you! I'm not leaving with strangers!

But the man with black hair kept moving towards the door. Eren waved in Levi's arms:

        -Let go of me!

        -An Omega who rebels, that’s new.

        -Put me down right now!

Levi released the brown one's legs so that he could put his feet on the ground. But when he moved away from the Alpha, the latter grabbed his wrist and brought him back against him:

        -Let go of me!

        -What happened to the fragile little Omega in search of comfort?

        -He doesn’t stay when you want to kidnap him!

        -But he stays with the man who killed two people?

Eren stopped, blinked and realized that he had indeed nestled with great pleasure against a murderer... But it was natural for an Omega to seek safety after a dangerous situation. Especially to seek such a feeling from the person who had protected him:

        -Don’t argue with me. Be good and everything will be fine.

The brown boy tensed, he was afraid again and his pheromones indicated it to Levi, who signed:

        -I know what you're thinking. I'm not gonna sell you, kidnap you, hurt you, or let anyone else hurt you.

        -And what if I don’t want to come?

Levi signed again:

        -I'm really kidnapping you and putting your sister under surveillance to make sure you don't do anything stupid.

The Omega let out a squeak of terror. Not his sister... Levi's natural cold and the fact that he had shot two people did not allow Eren to doubt that he would not hesitate to harm Mikasa, if need be. The Omega refused that his sister be put in danger or injured by her fault, then, he was going to follow him:

        -Everything's cleaned, boss, we dumped the bodies in the trunk of the car, we'll get rid of them on the way before we clean the car.

        -Good. We move then.

Without releasing the pressure on Eren's wrist, Levi dragged him to his suite and the whole group got into a black car with smoked windows. The Omega swallowed, it did not bode well. What about his sister? What was to become of his sister? :

        -What will become of my sister?

        -Nothing at all for the moment.

         -Am I… Am I coming back?

Levi didn’t answer his question:

        -Approach.

The brown one remained motionless until Levi ordered him in his Alpha tone to approach, which he did. The next second, the man with the raven hair tied a blindfold around his eyes:

        -What are you doing?, panicked Eren.

Levi put his hand behind his head to prevent him from fleeing:

        -Stop moving!

The Omega bowed to the tone of the employee and let himself be done. He was beginning to seriously hate his instincts for submitting so easily to the Alpha in front of him. Once the blindfold was in place, he couldn't see and it scared him. His instinct only wanted to have contact with the Alpha to calm himself and to feel safe, even though it was him who scared him... Eren did not always understand his Omega nature. A hand landed gently on his:

        -I’m here.

If Eren stood upright like an "i" in his seat, he grabbed Levi's with both hands and didn't let go of it for a second all the way to their mysterious destination.

 What had he just gotten himself into?

Masterlist

© 2018 - Happy Umbrellla - All Rights Reserved. No reposting and/or modifying of any form on any media is allowed. No translations allowed. 

[bunvoyagesarah]

Islands of Thailand: Phuket & Koh Lanta

Been there, Thai’d that

Phuket Friday, February 28 After flying through Bangkok to Phuket, Thailand, I met this woman at the baggage claim. She mentions sharing a Grab together to the southern part of the island. However, I don’t really see how the Grab driver is going to drop her on southwestern part and me on the southeastern. Google maps is showing me it’s about an hour to my hostel on a public shuttle for a fraction of the cost of this Grab. I’m soon stuck with this woman waiting outside an airport for a Grab that doesn’t let Grabs in.  We walk to find him and then we explain we want two different drop-offs and he wants considerably more. I’m out and go to find the shuttle that should be leaving from the other side of the airport in about 15 minutes.  The woman is now also going to take the shuttle. There are actually multiple shuttles depending on your location and I’m on a different one than this lady, which I’m now thankful for.  I sit at the airport for another 30-40 minutes before we leave. A couple more people get on and then we drive off for about five minutes then switch to another van.  Then we drop two girls off at a bus station and switch vans again.  We stop and pick people up and then drop them off along the way. I’m one of the last stops this shuttle makes and the only person in the van at the end.  I ask them if they can stop closer to my hostel, and they end up delivering me about 100 meters from the hostel, which was great, because it’s now 9pm and I’m starving.  

I met a girl in my room at Sleepy Station Hostel, who happens to be meeting up with her brother and his food for a bit.  I end up joining them and we eat at a street market with a lot of variety, but I get some spring rolls and fried chicken. After a walk to the beach, we all head back.  

Saturday, February 29 I hang out at the hostel for a little bit and meet a couple guys that want to head to the beach.  We all walk to Karon Beach together even though we’re closer to Kata beach. It’s pretty hot, even by 10:30am so we all go for a swim and by the time I get back to my towel I’m already dry again. I read for a bit, go for another swim and then decide to head back for some food.  I had woken up in the middle of the night, surely sick from the street market food and had decided to take it easy all day.

By afternoon, I felt a little bit better and rented a scooter. I drove inland to the Big Buddha.  And man, it was indeed the biggest Buddha I’ve ever seen. Walked around the whole thing and sat in the shade for a bit enjoying the view.  On the way back down some steep, curvy roads, there was an elephant park. Some people were riding them, and some of the elephants were being washed.  I stopped just to take some pictures of the baby elephant.  Then I drove up to the more famous Patong Beach to check out their market. Everything they had I had seen before, as a typical market in Thailand would. I got some dumplings for dinner there and then drove back to my hostel. I sat there for a bit trying to figure out what islands I wanted to go to, as most people were going to Koh Phi Phi, but I also heard it was gross there.  I opted to go straight to Koh Lanta and bought my ticket for the later option in the morning.  

Sunday, March 1 I woke up at the crack of dawn and drove to the southernmost point to watch the sunrise. Turns out, it’s more of a sunset watching spot than a sunrise watching spot and I couldn’t see much.  I did get some good views on the way back and saw the rising sun poking through some trees at one point.  

I return the scooter and get some breakfast nearby. My bag is ready to go and I’m able to sit and wait for the pick-up to the ferry port. Another guy from my hostel, Buzz is also waiting for the ride, but is going to Koh Phi Phi.  He’s Canadian and we end up chatting while we wait, and then more in the hour ride of picking up more people. We saw goodbye, and then realize we’re on the same ferry to Koh Phi Phi, and then I’ll switch to another ferry to Koh Lanta there, so we awkwardly have a few more hours of hanging out.

Once in Koh Phi Phi, I have about an hour to kill before the second ferry.  There is a mass exodus to leave the ferry and people are getting their temperatures taken for Coronavirus, as well as having to pay a $5 “trash fee” to enter the island. I wave goodbye to Buzz as he continues onto the island and I wait at the ferry so I don’t have to pay the fee for an hour to sit in a Burger King. I sat there reading until it got closer. I then go over and ask some people waiting at a desk and they look at my ticket and tell me to wait.  I am waiting and waiting and then say to myself, “This doesn’t feel right.” So I go and ask some other people, they show me the line of people getting on the boat and I hop in it.  

Koh Lanta

The hostel, Non La Mer, had written in their “About us” section the approximate cost of the tuk-tuk from the ferry port to the hostel and also mentioned the cost from the town at the end of the island. A man had been on the boat trying to sell taxis to people, but I didn’t like this. When I got off there was about 25 women with signs forming a small passageway to get through all shouting “Taxi, taxi” at you. I made eye contact with one woman and negotiated with her. Once I got close enough to the recommended price from the hostel and the driver found two other people to share the tuk-tuk and we were off.  

I loved this hostel with its hammocks and cushions for the floor. I was starving at this point so I walked down the street and got some fried rice with double chicken and a chocolate chip cookie, which I hadn’t seen in ages.  Then I walked to the beach for the sunset because even though I was meant to be getting to Koh Lanta by 2pm, it was more like 5pm before I arrived, which limited the number of islands I could get to drastically as it took an entire day of travel to go anywhere.  I met some nice Norwegian girls in my room. I met a friend from earlier travels at the Mushroom Bar, which had cool neon paint you could paint yourself or the tables with.  We went just for a drink and we got another late dinner together.  

Monday, March 2 I really just wanted to lay out on the beach for the day and relax after the day of traveling. I met the Norwegian girls, Isalin and Mae there, and then played some volleyball with them and some other new people.  

After an afternoon of searching for my scuba diving card and looking up different companies, I found the cheapest to be with my hostel, as they would give me a discount with Go Dive! I lied on the phone and said it had been five years since my last dive and they said since it was beyond two I would need to do a refresher. Little did they know, it had actually been ten years since my last dive.

By evening, I went to a place that the Norwegian girls had said had really good pad thai.  It was a little old man with a cart and a wok and he served the pad Thai in a piece of paper, much like you’d get fish and chips in England. After a beer and hanging out at the beach for a bit, I went back to the hostel and made sure I was ready for the morning.  

Tuesday, March 3 I was picked up around 7am from a truck out front. As the last one in the tuk-tuk, we were all driven to the Go Dive! office. They didn’t have my name when I checked-in, the only blank on the page with my hostel next to it. I had spelled my name for her on the phone, so I laughed a little to myself and then went on to do my paperwork. I was never asked for my diving license, just the number, and I’m not even sure they referenced that.  Then I was asked to try on some fins and a wet suit (I put my on backwards, like I said it had been a while). Then I got on the boat and the next thing I knew, we were off.

The drive was about an hour and they made an announcement about the day, and how breakfast and lunch were to work, where the toilet was, and where the sea sick medicine was and how it worked as a preventative. We had toast, hot drinks, tuna fish, and other random things for breakfast. After seeing one of the dive masters, I took his idea and made a little tuna fish sandwich with carrots.

My dive master for the day, I can’t remember his name so I’ll call him Steve, as part of the refresher course, he asked me to fill out a quiz to see how much I had remembered. He also said I would be with this older French couple and they spoke very little English, so everything he said he had to tell us twice, once in English for me and once in French for them. I actually enjoyed this, because his body language was the same each time, so I could pick up on what he was saying when he told them in French and I remembered more. Anyway, I sat down next to this French couple just in case I had a question, but their questionnaire was in French anyway and they spoke no English, so that was useless.  Steve went over the answers with me, and I actually did ok. For future reference, when in doubt with scuba diving, just go with the most safe sounding answer, because you’ll probably be right!

After the quiz, he had us how we would go re-learn how to put all our equipment together, and then relax until the horn sounded, put our equipment on, jump in and do an underwater quiz, which he had just explained and consisted of finding neutral buoyancy, finding our respirator by reaching our arm behind us, and clearing our masks.  

Then we went downstairs and he showed us how to put assemble our tanks to our BCD, which I couldn’t remember what it stood for, but I knew what it was.  We also practiced turning our tanks on and off and checking to make sure the gauge was working as well as the tank was full.  Then we returned upstairs for a few minutes and left anything we wanted to keep dry up there.  A few minutes later, the horn sounded and we went back down to put our wetsuits on, get our fins, and goggles on, and do a buddy check to ensure the tank was secure.

Steve jumped into the water first and I was the last one of the group.  It took a second for my respirator to kick in and then it was good to good.  We hung out above water for a few minutes before going down for the underwater test.  I had another weight added around my tank and then was reminded to exhale going down. As someone had recently told me, its suddenly easy to forget how to breathe when you’re underwater. I had also forgotten how much my own lungs worked in changing my buoyancy.  

But alas, we all finish the three things we had to do as part of our refresher and then went a little further down and immediately see a sea turtle! We watch him for a minute before he disappears into the rocks and we keep swimming. We saw a ton of other fish including a lion fish and an eel and various types of coral. Before I know it, the French guy is running lowest on air and we start to make our ascent.  Upon reaching the surface, we are a little bit of a swim away from the boat.  I didn’t realize my BCD wasn’t totally inflated, so I struggled a little, but eventually made it to the boat and handed over my fins to the boat guy while I went up the ladder.

Back on the boat, we strip off our wetsuits and weight belts and switch out our tanks so we’re ready for the next dive. The next dive site is just a couple minutes away, so we all enjoy a 45-minute break where Steve gives us a breakdown of this dive, we have some fruit and drinks before the horn sounds again and we get everything back on, the boat moves about 100 meters and we jump back in the water.  

First, the French couple takes some pictures with their kids in a different group.  And then we swim down into this “cave” that has an exit.  It was quite cool being in this room with fish swimming in every direction.  Then we exit the cave and swim along a wall. Steve is point out interesting animals along the way. When Steve asks us how full our tanks are, mine is already running low, so we begin to make our ascent. I screwed up and ascended way faster than I should have. But we made it back to the boat, no problems stripped our wetsuits off again and left everything there for the staff to put away. Steve went over the log book information with me and gave me some recommendations on where to scuba dive in Malaysia, where I was headed in a couple days. After arriving back at the office, those of us that had to pay lined up, and then got in the tuk-tuk to be driven back to our hostels and hotels.  

Log Book Stats Dive 1: Koh Haa Lagoon 3/3/20  Maximum Dive Depth: 15.3 meters Bottom Water Temperature: Above 27C Visibility: 6-12 meters Bottom Time: 53 minutes

Dive 2: Koh Haa 1 3/3/20 Maximum Dive Depth: 18 meters Bottom Water Temperature: Above 27C Visibility: 6-12 meters Bottom Time: 52 minutes 

After arriving back at the hostel, I hung out on some cushions with a bunch of people socializing. Then we all went to the beach for smoothies and a game of volleyball, but were joined by some older people that didn’t allow talking during the game. We were too many people anyway, so the group from our hostel hung out in the water for a bit and then went to a different volleyball court further down the beach.  

It was quite fun and we played until the sun went down, and then all went back to shower. We grabbed dinner across the street, which was quite reasonable and delicious. Then we got beers from the store and took them back upstairs to our comfy cushions while someone played on the guitar and the rest of us pretended that we would sing, but no one did.

Wednesday, March 4 Everyone else had already scootered around the island the day before, but said how fun it was. I had the free breakfast at the hostel and got my scooter from them. My intention was to start at the national park on the southern tip, but I missed a turn, and ended up near the Old Town. I found a new pair of sunglasses, as mine had been missing since I went tubing in Laos. I also got a shirt and a milkshake.  I then drove down the pier and back to the southern point of the island, thinking I could loop back up, but the road doesn’t connect at the bottom. So I drove all the way up, taking a stop to walk through the mangrove forest, crossing the bridge into the northern part of Koh Lanta, and then walking through the Wednesday market, which I found disappointing and as it was all fresh produce.

I’m now at the top of the island and I drive all the way to the southernmost point to the National Park where I’m stopped and have to pay an entrance fee, which I don’t have. I go back to the first beach and try to park my scooter on this hill. I get my scooter very stuck and am sweating profusely and then the scooter topples over. Luckily, it was fine and I could pick it back up, wheel it down to a flatter surface to park it.

It’s about 2pm and the sand on the way to the beach burns the bottoms of my feet, but the water feels so good. I dry off, trying to read, but it’s too hot, so I jump in the water again and then leave. On the way back, I find an overpriced restaurant with a nice view. After getting some food, I make my way to this waterfall, Khlong Chak in the center of the island. I started hiking in with some people but then realized I left my phone in my scooter, so I go back for it and hike in by myself. What I thought was an obvious path, quickly becomes not so obvious and I see people way below me while I’m up on this hill. I thought I saw the path return, and take it, but then am sliding down the dirt and rock based hill on my butt, which is why there is still a hole in my leggings on my right butt cheek to this day. Eventually, I get to this waterfall and it’s a mere drip coming down, hello dry season. Anyway, I’m hot, so I go and dip in the little pool of water and climb the giant log leaning in front of the waterfall. I meet some people from Amsterdam and they seem so nice, and we agree to meet up when I’m in Amsterdam in two weeks.  Little did I know, I wouldn’t make it to back to Europe for quite some time.    

I return to my hostel and find everyone hanging there, mostly because they are extremely sunburnt from the day before and haven’t been able to move too much. We hang out for a bit before getting food at a place the Norwegians wanted to go that supports anti-animal cruelty. It was prix-fixed meal and half the group found it too expensive, so we enjoyed a beer there and then split off to go back to the same restaurant as the night before.

We found everyone sitting on the cushions again when we returned and more people had arrived to the hostel, including one girl that had been in the immigration line with me between Thailand and Laos, and then been at my hostel in Vang Vieng, and then the bus to Vientiane.  It felt like a very small world.  The group went down to drink on the beach, and this girl Megan and I started chatting for a bit as she was just arriving in Koh Lanta, but heading to Malaysia after. Sure enough, she was in the bunk above me, so it felt like fate that we kept meeting.  

[victakestaipei]

WEEK 5 RECAP: “Hair Care, After-Rain, and Porn on the Bus”

Hello Folks,

My week this week started off pretty rocky (and painful), as I’m sure you’ve gathered from my previous post.. but overall I can’t really complain about how the rest of the week played out...

Wednesday: 

Today in class I got my first 100 percent on a quiz!!! Granted it was just a vocabulary quiz and not written dialogue sentences, but I’m still proud as hell. I also introduced my teacher to the movie Finding Nemo and how to “dab”. She’s so adorable and I just love her enthusiasm.

In the gym I ran a 8:53 mile… my body was hating me for skipping the past two days. I had a cramp in my left side the entire time I was running, so by the time I finished the mile I felt like I had done ab day instead of leg day…

After the gym we got caught in the pouring rain. Like raining cats and dogs.

This is common after a typhoon (the after-rain), but I was just salted that we got caught in it and that my socks were so dang wet. Every step made a squishing noise and my thin mesh Adidas weren’t made for that... The three of us went to lunch with one of our classmates, Mika, at that Italian place I had last week. Mika is from California... Cupertino I believe? And she’s super sweet and we’re always cracking up in class together. 

Above is a creeper picture Mika took with our teacher hehe.... I screenshotted it from a snapchat she sent me so DONT HATE ME MIKA

At lunch I ordered this spicy spaghetti with sausage dish... it was super good!! Although I found myself sweating while I was eating... but that could have been due to the fact that I was wet with rain and then sitting in a booth having lunch...

This was my desert    v     I can’t remember the name, but it was chocolate. I thought the consistency would be different when I ordered it, but it was more of like a pudding. I was pleasantly surprised ;)

After lunch we went to the stationary store and bought more school supplies that I really didn’t need. I bought more pens and a notebook, for the upcoming semester. Everything is so cute in that store and I could literally spend all day in there (it’s my favorite past time to be so honest....looking at stationary) lol. Lame, I know.

After that I came home, took a long shower, and a long long nap. I woke up about 9:15pm to a FaceTime call, and then decided to get up and be productive. I finished my homework fairly quickly, and for dinner Bunny and I got McDonald’s because the Gong guan night market was completely closed, I think due to the heavy rain today. I got a spicy chicken sandwich and it was 10x better than a hot n Spicy, and we ALL KNOW how much those SLAP!!! 

I knocked out after 2 am because my nap was a bit longer than it should’ve been... I think I was so tired because of how winded I was from the gym.

Oh Also!!! Today in the shower I did a co-wash, and after it dried I noticed that my hair has grown significantly while I’ve been here… so shout out to my ABLE Queen Sade: I’m going to drop some quick tips on my hair care routine: 

Usually I co-wash every week to week and a half. I only wash with shampoo maybe 1-2 a month (depending on what I’ve been doing...swimming, etc). I also oil/massage my scalp about three times a week. I am currently using small amounts of coconut oil on my scalp to massage, because this is the only oil I brought from the States and I don’t want my hair to be too too oily. But usually when I’m home, I switch it up between Moroccan/Argan Oil, Carrot Oil, Shea Oil, Coconut Oil etc. I also use a lot of leave-in conditioners and moisturizers in my hair. Right now I’m using the Aussie 3 minute moist deep conditioner as a leave-in and I love love LOVE this product. I love the Aussie Moist line in general and it’s pretty cost effective which is good. I also use the Cantu deep conditioning repair creme, as well as the Shea Moisture curl enhancing smoothie. Apart from all of that, I also try to stay consistent with braiding or twisting my hair up and keeping it stretched when I sleep. I didn’t bring my silk scarf with me to Taiwan (ugh) but I still sleep with like a bandana on or a regular scarf most nights. I drink a lot of water and the humidity does the rest! 

My burn on my arm is still a blistering, bubbling, sensitive, mess. I have to sleep on my right side so that I don’t get the burn creme all over my sheets. Woooo.

Thursday:

I woke up on time today, and pretty well rested… I think due to the fact that I took an extra long nap yesterday… anyway, I got to class on time, after eating a banana and pastry for breakfast. I really need to cut back on all the bread I eat but it’s just SO convenient. But I’m going to try to make a more consistent effort to not stuff my face with bread every morning. Wish me luck! Ya girl loves the bread.

We had a quiz today, again, and in class we talked about a bunch of different stuff, from Finding Nemo, to K-Pop stars, to this strange student our teacher had last semester, to screaming goats, etc... We also planned a date for all of us as a class, including the teacher, to go and get hot pot as like a class bonding/field trip type experience! I’m excited. I love our little class, we have a ball, and we’re definitely the loudest class in terms of hearing the laughter echo down the hallway. It’s always a good time. 

*NOTE: So the story about the strange girl I mentioned above is pretty interesting.... Our teacher was telling us how she had this student in her 8am class last semester (who still goes here) and she’s in her 30s. She comes to class every morning with a visor on, a hood on, huge sunglasses, and an ace-bandage type thing that she uses to wrap around her neck and face, up to her nose. Basically she’s a mummy and completely covered from the sun. She is Thai, and pale as hell. (But here in Asia, the paler and skinnier you are, the better!) Anyway, the weird part about the story is that she comes into class in the morning, with hella food. And she has two cellphones. One of them she uses as her normal phone, and the other, she props up on this type of “stand” and records herself. It seems like she’s on videochat or a FaceTime of sorts, but in reality, she records herself constantly, and it’s more of a stream. She doesn’t physically converse back and forth with anyone.  Our teacher and other students in my class (who have seen her around) think that she is one of those people who gets paid to constantly stream themselves so that creepy fetish people can watch them do their daily duties. Weird right?

Anyway let’s shift back...

By the end of the three hour period, my tiredness had hit me full force. I was dying to hear that bell ring at 1:10. After class we went to the gym, per usual, and it was back day / booty (floor) day for me. My butt was so sore I feel like I’m walking funny. But I know it’ll all be worth it and I’m already seeing improvements! Go me!!!

The gym on the Main Campus that we normally use will be closing at the end of this week. They’re hosting a huge event during the month of August, so tomorrow is our last day to use the facility. Bunny and I checked out the gym on our Gong guan campus, where our dorm is, and it’s definitely not as nice but it’ll do the job. There’s also no AC or treadmills though which sucks… but there’s a track, so I guess I have to get used to running that way, and not being able to really track my progress as easily. Bummer.

After the gym we went to eat at the potsticker place by our main campus. I ordered half curry and half vegetable pot stickies, and they’re bomb, per usual.

After we had lunch we went to the computer labs on campus to do our homework. Like peasants… I don’t have a laptop anymore, and Bunny’s laptop doesn’t have a disk drive, so the listening portion of our homework needs to be done at school now. But, it didn’t take as long as it usually does to get it done, because I was definitely more focused (because I wanted to get home).

We started on our journey home around 4-5pm. The bus was poppin!!! I think because it was later in the day... While on the bus, there was a man who was on his phone with his earphones in... pretty normal. But, he moved to stand next to me on the bus and I unintentionally looked at his phone screen and he was watching porn on the bus! HAHA. I immediately looked at Bunny and mouthed the word “PORN” and she starts cracking up. After he got off the bus, she told me how one of his earphones wasn’t in his ear, so she could hear the moans and stuff from the video. Wow. I want to say that I was completely surprised by this, (because of the fact that Asians in Asia are more private with their sexuality in general vs. Americans), but I guess a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

I got up around 9pm and we headed to the night market to eat around 10/10:30. We got these Vietnamese sandwiches at one of the vendor stands. They were 60 NT (around $2 US). I wanted to try the chicken sandwich but she had run out so I went for the spicy pork option instead. Very very tasty. It was basically like a hoagie, but the bread was a bit crunchier than I expected. And I also got some spring rolls, and they were huge, but I didn’t like them and didn’t even finish them. Definitely a disappointment. 

Also my bubbling/blistering burn has started to slightly deflate, but I think to make up for that, it’s started to spread more outward. Still looks disgusting. Still might scar. Still keeps me up at night.

Friday:

This morning I tried something new!!! I didn’t go to the bakery! CAN I GET A HALLELUJAH!!! Making moves!!! But.... I still had bread. 

This morning I opted for an egg sandwich for breakfast and a milk tea... There’s a cafe in front of our main MTC building (where all our classes are held)... and I have never come here for breakfast but I’m definitely going to start after today... simply because they have alternatives to bread, and it’s CHEAPER.

Our class today went by SO quickly. I can’t even remember half the things we talked about, but our chapter is covering “Recycling” so I know that was the main topic of conversation. 

Taiwan is SUPER BIG on recycling here. It’s been hard to adjust. In our dorm, we don’t have recycling bins on our floor. The only recycling bins/main trash bins we have, is on the ground floor of the dorm. Bunny and I have a trashcan in our room, but we never separate our trash (by plastics, glass, paper, normal trash, and food trash/compost), because in all honesty, WHO HAS THE TIME? .... because of this, we just throw everything into our trash can and then when it gets to be too overfilled, we take our trashbag down to the main floor, and tie it up and set it gently down next to the recycling bins.... I know, we’re terrible human beings. But it would be easier if they put the bins on our same floor, because no one wants to go up and down four flights of stairs every time they need to throw something away... It’s unreasonable. And today after class there was a note on the main chalkboard saying something about the trash... But Bunny and I couldn’t read/understand all the words so we just shrugged it off hahaha. Again, I know, we’re terrible human beings... but maybe if the janitor lady wanted to get the message across to the foreigners (she knows we’re foreigners because literally everyone here recycles), then she would just to write it in English??... Just a thought...

Today was leg day at the gym. Again, today is our last day at the gym due to the gym being closed for the rest of the month for an event... and I didn’t want to run my mile but I did it anyway... came out at 8:55. By the skin of my teeth. It was tough. Bunny also left early from the gym to go home and get started on packing/checking into her flight online, because she’s going to Hong Kong for the weekend! How fun.

I met with Mika after the gym, and we met on the Shi Da night market by campus. I found her in the beauty shop, because she wanted to buy falsies (and quite frankly so did I), but the beauty shop had tons of other cool stuff too (eyelid tape, tons of face masks, all kinds of makeup (not a variety of skin tones though), etc.)...

While in the shop, I looked outside and it appeared as though I was going to get caught in the pouring rain for the second time this week. But, this time I didn’t bring an umbrella. UGH. So, I did the most logical thing I could think of: I stole an abandoned umbrella from outside the beauty shop... Here in Taiwan, most people bring an umbrella with them everywhere they go. To either hide from the rain, or shield from the sun (...wouldn’t want to get too dark huh Lady?)... But if it’s raining and then the rain stops, a lot of people leave/abandon their umbrellas outside of shops or convenient stores in the rack provided. They do this because umbrellas here are so cheap, no one wants to lug them around all day. So luckily for me, getting caught in the rain, there were about 10 umbrellas sitting in the rack outside the shop, just waiting to be picked up by Muah. I knew they were abandoned because Mika and I were the only people in the store, and the umbrellas were sitting there when I walked into the store (before it rained). SO BLESS UP. 

We went to the curry spot to eat a few stores down... then later hopped on the bus to head home. Mika lives by the Gong guan market, which is where Bunny and I frequently get dinner. But Mika usually takes the MRT to get to school everyday, which I told her is a bit more expensive than the bus, and the bus just as convenient. So I took her home with me on the bus so she could learn the ropes.

Bunny was gone when I got home, she had already left to head to the airport. I took a shower and was SO PLEASED and GRATEFUL that she left me her laptop to use while she was away for the weekend (in Hong Kong). I am now fully caught up on my shows (Power and Insecure), and I’m able to blog from home rather than go to campus and do all my blogging on Monday in the computer lab (campus is closed on the weekend). BUNNY IS THE BEST ROOMMATE EVER CAN WE PLEASE ALL FORM A PRAYER CIRCLE AND PRAISE GOD FOR HER EXISTENCE.

Around 9:30pm I emerged from my cave to get potstickers (to-go) and came right back home to relax a bit more and draft my blog posts. 

Also, Green Tea ice cream is easily one of my favorite flavors, and they have it in these little baby pint size containers that they sell at the convenient store. They are so so good. They are my guilty pleasure. That is all.

Around 11:30pm I crawled into bed while on Facetime with Lijah, (if you’re reading this, Hi!! I love you!!!) and got incredibly sleepy after that. I think it’s because I was laying down and I hadn’t had my nap today.... I knocked out just before midnight and woke up around 7:30am fully rested. I was going to go out to the bar last night but I’m so glad that I didn’t. Tomorrow (saturday) I have plans to spend the better part of the morning/afternoon enjoying the Emerald Hills of Maokong.  More on that to come!

xoxo

[masterpieceavenue94]

Tired is my second name.

Here I am finally to talk about this last week. (This post will be long sorry not sorry) On Monday it didn’t actually happen anything interesting, at least I don’t remember anything. On Tuesday it was Valentine’s day and the only thing I remember is that I took the order of a guy around my age and after having eating his meal with his friends, he left but before he did that he came to me and said goodbye and I was like “oh, goodbye…” Yousra who was working with me that day looked at me like “you know him?” And I was like “nope”.

 I don’t remember if it was on Wednesday or Tuesday but Yousra came to me and told me that she had a conversation with the boss about this julebord. Ben told me on Monday that I should go and Yousra too but they were like “but why Singh (the boss) put on the shift that you work until 7pm if the party is at 5pm?” And I was like “no idea”. Ok, so Yousra went to talk with the boss to ask why I had to work until 7pm having the party two hours before. And I don’t know but it was a nice gesture, you know? I could have done it by my own, it’s my problem(?) It’s my shift but she went to talk with him just for that. So I was like “aaaawwww” thanks for caring about me, girl! And well she told me that he did a mistake that I would finish around 4pm that Friday so I could have around an hour to get ready and everything.

Wednesday was a chaos. I swear that we had more clients that day than on Valentine’s. And I was sooo freaking tired and I was mad. Mad because I supposed to meet Cecilie but she cancelled me. Again. I had to “bother” other people so I could meet her on Thursday for nothing. And she cancelled me because she supposedly had an import exam to make and it was like… “Thanks woman.” So I got mad, I was tired. I even talked with Bigepti asking her if she could help me to make this for the university (because she told me last week “if you want help, I can help you”) so I told her that, that if she could help me around 8pm that I would just send her screenshots so she could tell me where should I click. But of course Bigepti said that she couldn’t this week which is absurd, I mean I’m saying I’ll send you photos, I don’t need to meet you. So when I arrived home I was so freaking tired…and I explained all to my parents and my dad, I don’t know why, but he said “wait, I’m going to look at samordna opptak’s web” which is the web where you apply for the university and everything and guess what? Bad news too. For 4 years or even more has always been the same requirements, if you were from Spain you had to have finished high school, you have to have 7 years in English and B2-C1 in Norwegian. And I was happy for that because FINALLY I had my B2 so that would mean everything would be fine. But of course they had to change the rules, now they don’t need 7 years in English, nope. Now you need to have 140 hours of English in a Norwegian high school or having x points on some exams. I mean you could choose between this Cambridge exam, TOEFL and another one which I don’t remember. It’s pissed me off and I started crying because it feels like every time I’m close to get something, then something happens. And this time it wouldn’t be an exception.

On Thursday, I went to the school even though I couldn’t see Cecilie, I decided to talk with the director. My mum told me that I should explain her what happens and that well I went to these English classes last year so maybe I had 140 hours and everything would be fine. BUT OF COURSE NOT. I talked with Anne-Marie and she told me I just had 93 hours or something like that, that in one year there’s x weeks for school and that I just had two hours per week…so yep, fuck everything.

 She told me that I should do the TOEFL exam and well I told her that if she could call and ask how is this exam and when it would be and if I had to take any course or what. She told me “I have a lot of things to do, do it by yourself.” And I was like “wtf? You’re on your break now and you have 50 minutes. It’s just takes 10 minutes!” I mean at the end of the day I kinda talked with a woman so she could explain me a little bit but the thing is that YOU being the teacher and speaking perfectly Norwegian, well you could just help me… But I guess nobody wants to helo this little woman here so…

Moreover I met on Wednesday I think it was a new girl who works on Burger King and her names is Namita and she’s from India. Well…to sum up I don’t like her. She was being bossy and she was like “I know everything here” but the thing is that that day started working a new boy and of course he started at the kitchen. Well I don’t know what happened but Namita had to be with him because he obviously doesn’t know how to prepare hamburgers. But the funny thing is that Namita either. And we had a little crisis where neither me or Yousra could deliver the orders to the customers. And Arjan came and was like “what the hell is going on?!” And Namita started yelling “I don’t know how to make these! I’ve just been at the kitchen two days!” And I thought she started working here like…3…4 months…but nope, she has been working here since July. So, what happened? I had to go helo this boy. Me at the kitchen. And well I thought I couldn’t be able to make all of them but it was fine. Arjan was like “don’t stress, if you have doubts just ask.” And well when I came back to take orders, Namita…damn she was making me nervous. Looking at my orders, throwing things… Seriously it was a disaster.

Then Friday came and I had to work with Ben and it was funny of course. It is nice to work with him. I asked him about his name because on, you know, this list with phone numbers I found out that his name is Merlijn and that’s why I found his Facebook and everything. So I asked him like a silly looking at his order “Why it is written Merlijn and not Ben?” Then he told me that it was his real name, well in fact both of them are real but Merlijn is his first name. Anyway, we talked and I asked him how would people pronounce his name (something that I actually knew because I wrote it on Google translate and heard how did it sound lol) He told me that I was the only one who could pronounce his name perfectly and he told me also that I’m the only one who works really good to be just working a month there. That I learnt really fast. And I don’t know why but we talked about last names and he told me his last name means “tall tree” which actually fits him lmao. I asked him if he knew mine and he told me that he knew mine because he saw it on Facebook, on the group that all the people from Burger King has, and I was like “have you been stalking me?” Hahahahaha. Then at 3 almost 4 these people from other Burger King came. They were going to work in ours because we were going to this julebord. But damn it was so stressful because those who came were really slow and there was a moment where we didn’t get any hamburger and even Ben got nervous and stressed and he was like “Why there’s no hamburgers?!” But well at 16:40, Ben and i finished working and got ready to this party. And it was nice, honestly. We went to an Indian restaurant, I sat between Namita and Mihael, a boy from Croatia who was kinda funny. I sat next to Namita because I wanted. The thing is that I wanted to sit on one of the chairs which were on the middle of the table, because if I sat on a corner then I would be forever alone. So my plan was really good. Ben sat next to Mihael and whenever Mihael left to the toilet or went to smoke, Ben sat in his place (aka next to me) we talked and in general we all talked. There was once when Namita asked me to smell something and I told her that I couldn’t smell, and it is true, I can’t. I’ve never smelled, okay not never...but almost. Those times where I smelled it was because the smell was really strong. So the thing is Mihael and Ben heard me and Mihael asked again “seriously, don’t you smell?” and I was like “nope.” and he was like “oh, man! So I put my cologne for nothing?!” He was obviously joking but well it was nice to talk with him lmao. We drank too. AND the best part was when we left. I decided to go with Katherine and Yousra to the metro. Then Mihael said that he was leaving too and Ben joined us too. And when we separated Ben said goodbye to everyone and he hugged me. HE HUGGED ME. He hugged Yousra too (Katherine left before that) but the main thing is that he hugged me too and it was really awkward because he is really tall. But it was cute. 

On Saturday I didn’t work but I had to on Sunday and it was exhausting and stressful. Damn there were a lot of people. I met Victor, another guy from Burger King. He looks a little bit like Austin Butler and he seems 19 (maybe I’m wrong, who knows.) Nobody likes him, they say that his way to work is kinda difficult and he in fact is difficult. I thought he was nice and maybe they were just overreacting but….nope, I was wrong. I mean he seems nice but he talked to me like I was an idiot or something like that and he took my hamburgers l instead of waiting for his. Or even the fries!

Rebecca and Ben came later, Rebecca around 1pm and Ben at 4pm. I was taking orders and everything when suddenly I saw my family at Burger King in front of my place where I take the orders. Damn I got scared. My parents, my brother and my uncle, aunt and cousins were there. Of course I took their order and I made them pay less. My mum told me that Victor tried to take their order but she said to him “no” and it was funny because most of the people came to my place instead of going to his. Ben helped me a little bit with my orders and there was a moment when he took a cheesburger and he was going to deliver it but I was like (while I was taking my family’s order) “no, wait it’s two cheeseburgers not one” and he was like “no, it’s just one” and I replied “nope, it’s two.” So he looked again to this ticket and of course I was right and he looked at me and smile to me and I smile to him (BUAHAHAHAHAH) I mean I guess I showed him that even I’m taking one order and everything I remember all of my orders. But seriously it was exhausting working on Sunday and this week I have to work on Saturday and Sunday…

After finishing working I was meeting Chrysanthi and Giannis. And Utsav. When I left Burger King I realized they were waiting for me inside the restaurant and I was like “oh, hi” I hugged everyone and we went to eat “gyros” which is a typical greek food, it looks like a kebab. And well I didn’t talk with Utsav almost, I mean we talked but I talked more with Giannis who I talked the day before almost the whole day by snapchat. I like Giannis, he might be young but it’s really nice to talk with him. Where we went to eat this “gyros” thing, the place well it had a few tables to sit and everything and they decided to sit in a square table with two chairs and a sofa. Utsav sat on a chair and Giannis on the sofa, Chrysanthi was like “where do you want to sit?” And I said “I don’t mind” and Chrysanthi, I think she wanted to sit next to Giannis on the sofa but then Giannis said suddenly “She’s sitting with me!” So I sat next to Giannis and Chrysanthi on the chair. I had so much fun with Giannis because we were all the time joking and playing. Funny moment when Utsav took off his jacket and started showing his red sweater, the one that I gave him last year and he started moving himself, touching the sweater...and I was laughing on the inside because it was like “seriously? Are you doing this? For real?” I obviously pretended that I didn’t see him. Another funny moment was when we were walking on the street and there was a mexican restaurant and I told Giannis that on Valentine’s day you could get a taco for free if you kissed someone. What happened that Giannis was like “seriously?” And Chrysanthi and Utsav heard us. Giannis repeated what I said and after that he added “oioioi girl, what happened on Valentine’s day?” And I just answered him with an “oioioioi” and started laughing. Utsav didn’t say anything. He was quiet and he just talked when he tried to be funny and make bad jokes. We said goodbye around 10pm and I mean I was really tired, it had been a really long day but I was feeling great. I didn’t see Utsav since June (except from that day where I took the same buss as him, but we didn’t talk and of course we pretended to not seeing each other) so I was waiting for this day to come so I could see if I was over him or what. And you know what happens? I don’t actually feel anything. I don’t actually hate him or I’m not even mad. I thought there could be a possibility to get a little bit sad, but it didn’t happen so… APPLAUSE TO ME. And well if we talk about Monday, I didn’t want to leave my bed and either today. Damn I’m really tired. And moreover on Monday I got my period and it was awful. I worked good but I was really tired. And today has been really exhausting. This week is Vinterferie and well kids don’t have class and there are people who takes vacations and stuff. So a lot of people came and I don’t know but I was seeing myself really good working. But at 6pm I started being tired and well thank god I’m done for today. Tomorrow I started working at 2pm so at least that means I can sleep more, plus I have Thursday and Friday free so yeah, good. Damn this post has been really long, but I told you! It was a long week.