#unlimited business credit

[yundeob]

the parent trap | KHJ

part 1 of the Night in Hollywood!series

☆ trope: exes to lovers!au, divorced!au

☆ pairing: producer!hongjoong x designer!reader, dad!joong x mom!reader

☆ warnings: nsfw (mdni), swearing, mentions of food, mentions of food poisoning, female desc. reader, drinking, suggestiveness, smut, slight!breeding kink, oral sex (f. receiving), overstim, unprotected sex (wrap before you tap!) nipple play, titty sucking, marking, praise, slightdom!joong, blond!joong bc that itself is too much for me, mentions of (early) pregnancy, you’re both in your early thirties and make an unbelievably stubborn couple in this!

☆ synopsis: AS DIVORCED PARENTS to two twin daughters, you and hongjoong have your fair share of work cut out. Driving to piano lessons, cheering at hockey games, drop offs at each other’s houses, it can all be a little much. But could a relaxing summer retreat as a whole family possibly rekindle past emotions you’ve swept under the rug? . . .

☆ word count: 18.1k

☆ playlist: soulful strut by young-holt unlimited, l-o-v-e by nat king cole, just the way you are by billy joel, slipping through my fingers by abba, this will be (an everlasting love) by natalie cole

☆ a/n: it’s finally here. I can’t believe I’m writing this and saying it’s finally here oh my goodness. first off, thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has supported me with the series so far (shoutout to @kitten4sannie , @byuntrash101 and especially @desirehorizon for being amazing!) everyone’s sweet comments have been greatly appreciated, and I just hope this silly little fic brings a smile to your everyday lives.

ty for making writing worth it as a writer. now cue the opening credits!

“ABSOLUTELY NOT” Hongjoong says.

“But dadd,” she whines, clutching the wrinkled pamphlet closer to her chest. Eunseo’s small hands are covered in purple doodles her sister drew using a glitter pen. 

“Why not?” the girl complains, shrugging her shoulders. 

He sighs, pushing his glasses up with one hand as he continues typing away at the important document the producing company sent him on his laptop. He tries his best to reason with the child.

“Because, baby…” pausing to think for a moment before responding. “It would be hard for your mom and I to find a time that fits into our schedules. I’ve got work, and she must be busy as well.” 

Eunseo glares at her father’s excuse. 

Okay, yeah, the man knows it’s somewhat of a lie, himself. 

She continues to protest by shoving the advertising pamphlet in her dads face and blocking his view of the screen. Thankfully, Hongjoong is used to these sort of work distractions, expertly avoiding her by craning his neck sideways and continuing to type away.

“But dad, it’s an amazing cottage resort! They’ve got a lake where you can go swimming in, a forest hiking trail, a bonfire to roast marshmallows and even a diner less than fifteen minutes away! So if you end up burning the camp food like last time, we can just order and eat in! Isn’t that great?” She beams. 

He stops typing for a second, fingers hovering over the keyboard as he gives his first born a look that makes her immediately break into a sweet smile, batting her lashes and flashing him a look of innocence. 

“Please?” She begs, standing on the edge of her feet as she gazes up at him. “The last time we went was when Eunbyul and me were toddlers.” 

And how on earth could any dad’s heart not melt at the sight of his daughter trying to convince him about one harmless vacation? 

Hongjoong wheels his office chair back, turning so he could look her in the eyes properly and tuck a stray hair behind her ear. 

“Listen honey, I’m sorry, I really wish I could, but…” he trails off, looking back at the open tabs and file documents displayed on his computer.

Turning his head around and upon seeing a frown form on his daughter's face, he quickly reassures her. 

“Once you finish your final piano recital tomorrow and your mom picks your sister up to take her to her hockey game, how about we go fishing the weekend afterwards?” he suggests, brows raising. “That’ll mean I have just the two of you all to myself.”

Eunseo mumbles under her breath, quiet but insistent enough that he catches it. 

“But we’re supposed to be a family of four.” 

She sulks, thinking of how that would leave you, her mother, left out of their plans. The arms holding the pamphlet up, ultimately fall down in defeat. 

He places a peck on her forehead, patting her on the back. “You know, if you can get your mom to say yes, then I’ll think about it” he chuckles, knowing the highly unlikely probability of the event.

Adjusting his glasses, the producer goes back to his work, peeking his daughter slugging away from the corner of his eye. 

Eunseo slumps her shoulders in defeat as she walks out of her dads office, turning the corner to see her twin sister, Eunbyeol, pressing her ears near the door with her neck outstretched. Clearly she’s been caught in the middle of trying to overhear their conversation. 

The twin younger by fifteen seconds quickly rushes over, waiting expectantly.

“So? What did dad say?”

Eunseo exhales, throwing the information pamphlet away on the wooden floors and slumping against the living room couch. 

“He’s totally not buggin. Said he wants to take us fishing next weekend instead. Just us three.” she grumbles. 

Eunbyeol scrunches her nose at the idea. 

“But dad sucks at fishing.”

Her sister groans, kicking her small feet against the couch in frustration. “I know!” Eunbyeol starts to worry, coming to sit beside her.

“Then how on earth are we going to get mom and dad to get back with each other again? They haven’t been in the same room since we were like, five!”

Her twin sister scoffs, “First, we gotta get them to have a proper conversation with each other. They barely even talk when they drop us off at each other's houses.”

Nobody truly knows why you and Hongjoong had divorced so suddenly when the girls were young. Not even themselves.

All they were used to were cold stares and one word replies shared amongst their parents, refusing to find harmony in their co-parenting.

Frankly, your girls have had enough of the performance you were both trying to maintain, looking past your expressions to realize you and your husband still held feelings for the other. It was only a matter of time and place in order to set you two up together, thus, the idea of an intimate, family getaway came into their minds. 

After a few moments of letting her words hang in the air, Eunbyeol’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. 

“That’s it!”

The older twin looks up quizzically, watching her sister jump off the couch and gaze at her excitedly. 

“We’ll just have to force them to meet each other! We can always guilt trip them for dropping us off at their houses and making us play alone!”

Eunseo rolls her eyes at the idea. “Right, and how are we going to do that dummy? The only reason they’d do that, was if it was an emergency.”

Whoever said twin telepathy wasn’t a thing was a liar, because the second Eunseo catches onto what her sister is saying, the twins share a look of pure mischievousness, the gears in their brains working together as one. 

With hushed whispers and quiet giggles, the twins immediately begin conducting their plan in secrecy near the corner of the living room, backs turned and in the middle of discussion when Hongjoong walks out of his office with an empty coffee mug. 

“What are you guys doing over there?”

“Leave us alone! Family man traitor!” Eunbyeol shouts, holding a slightly hostile grudge to her father before turning back to whisper to her twin. 

Hongjoong shakes his head, sighing as he heads into the kitchen. 

“Then it’s perfect! I’ll stay here with dad once my piano recital is over, and then when Mom picks you up for your hockey game tomorrow, we’ll try convincing them together!”

Eunbyeol nods her head in agreement, eyes lighting up with excitement as she whispers in a hushed tone. 

“And once both events end, we’ll pretend to be so sick that they have to take us to the nearby hospital.”

The other twin smirks. ”Where we’ll end up guilt tripping them into taking us to the cottage.”

They double high five in victory at their flawless plan, already waiting for tomorrow to come as soon as possible.

“A summer cottage?” you repeated, brows raising at the idea as you made a left turn onto your street. 

Eunbyeol nods eagerly from the back seat after getting picked up, having ranted on and on about the ad in the pamphlet since the moment you saw her.

“It's an amazing establishment mom,” She boasts, making you laugh at her words while parking the car and unbuckling your seatbelt.

“They have everything you could possibly think of!”

“Oh, really?” You say skeptically, opening the door for her. 

Eunbyeol is lost in the middle of passionately describing all the relaxing activities you could do by yourself, or rather per se, with a special partner together. 

“There’s couples hiking retreats, couples canoeing, couples yoga… did I mention couples hiking retreats?” She confuses, retracing her words. 

You roll your eyes and smile, keys jangling as you walk through the entrance of your apartment flat while balancing the bags and items in your hands.

Being a wedding dress designer and yet picking up your daughter from your ex-husband's house could’ve been ironic to some people. But after having split with Hongjoong since the girls were so young, you came to grow fond of having some independence as a divorcee, channeling your main focus into setting up your own bridal shop downtown.

It was through that hard work and focus that you did it all by yourself with no additional help.

You’d be lying if you said you haven't opened a bottle of red wine some nights due to loneliness as a divorced single mother, but at least that was what you had your daughters for.

You made sure to work just as hard as you did enjoy playing and spending time with them. After all, they were the light of your life and purpose for living.

Balancing the pizza you picked up on the way home, you set it down on the kitchen island, telling Eunbyeol to go wash her hands in the sink. The girl doesn’t stop ranting.

“There’s usually only two rooms in the cottage, so you’ll have to sleep together with dad, but I guess you won't mind, would you? After all, you were once married” She rolls her eyes, reaching for the soap.

You shake your head with a sigh. ”What is up with you and getting me and your father together in the same room?” you muttered as you took out the plates and utensils. 

Eunbyeol eventually walks back to you, wiping her hands on her baggy jeans before sitting on the kitchen stool. 

“It’s not that I’m obsessed, Mom. Actually, Eunseo and I are just dying to get away this summer now that school is over.”

Turning around from plating the pizza and salad, you chastise your daughter, telling her to sit with her bum flat on the stool so she doesn’t fall. She immediately listens, carrying on with her persuasion. 

“We just want you and dad to get the chance to relax as well, that’s all!” her mouth full from a bite of hot, greasy pizza. 

You smile, wiping your washed hands on the kitchen towel and coming over to wrap your arms around her affectionately. 

“Spending time with you and Eunseo every week is how I relax,” you assured her, smothering your baby with kisses on her cheek.

Byeol lets out a squeal of annoyance, taking another bite of her pizza. “You’re squishing me!” She tries hiding her smile, failing when you lean in closer. 

You pull back in laughter, ruffling her hair as you walk away while reminding her.

“Oh! Don’t forget you’ve got your hockey game tonight!”

Byeol chews faster, munching on the soft crust and counting down the hours on the kitchen clock. 

She smiles to herself. 

“Don’t worry, I know!”

“What do you mean you need to go to the hospital?” Hongjoong asks in a worried voice, standing against the women’s washroom stall. He holds Eunseo’s congratulatory flower bouquet for first place in hand, feeling the stares of multiple women passing by, clearly judging him for being in the ladies room with them. 

“Honey, is everything all right?” He asks worriedly. A string of groans come from behind the door.

“You need to leave!” one old lady thrusts her walking cane at the father, lips pursed in dissatisfaction. 

Eunseo did such a phenomenal job tonight for her piano recital, that Hongjoong was shocked to see his daughter clutch her stomach first thing after running down the steps of the stage, dashing to the washrooms.

He whips his head back. “My daughter’s having a bit of a situation in here, okay miss? Have a bit of understanding!” He barks frustratedly out loud to the onlookers before speaking softly back to the stall door. 

“Eunseo, baby, talk to me, is everything alright in there? Are you sure you need to go to the hospital? Is it that bad?” 

The girl continues her acting performance, letting out fake groans while typing furiously on her cellphone. 

“Oh the pain! I think I might have food poisoning, dad!”

Seolie: How far along are u

Byeolie: Mom’s outside, banging to come in. 

Seolie: same, I told dad I needed to go to the hospital.

Eunseo lets out another groan of pain, causing Hongjoong to worry even more. 

“That’s it, Eunseo. Let me in and help you” he decides, searching his bag for a painkiller or at least some sort of medication for relief. 

The girl frantically checks her phone, eyes lighting up at the new message. 

Byeolie: Mom’s getting the car to take me to the hospital. I’ve got her convinced to call dad soon.

Eunseo types as fast as her small fingers can move, even faster than when she performed her piano solo from before. 

Seolie: Then what do I do????

Hongjoong gets slightly suspicious at the lack of sound coming from the stall, calling to his daughter again.

“Eunseo? Everything alright?”

At the next notification, the girl makes up her mind, getting the signal from her sister. 

Byeolie: play dead. Mom calling soon. See ya there.

The actress gets into character, gaining her composure before unlocking the washroom stall and holding her stomach as she stumbles into her dad’s surprised arms. 

“Eunseo!”

She wails, falling limp. “Oh, dad! Please! Take me to the hospital, it hurts too much!”

It’s truly a mystery which parent she got her acting skills from.

But she doesn’t have to tell him twice at that point. The man is already piggy backing his fainted daughter and sprinting out of the ladies washroom, reassuring her with soothing comments as he makes a beeline for the parking lot.

“Stay with me baby!” He huffs, unbeknownst to Eunseo who peeks one eye open. 

Only after he straps his daughter in the backseat and is turning on the engine does he receive a sudden phone call from you, pressing the speaker for the whole car to hear your panicked voice. You break the news to him first. 

“Eunbyeol’s severely sick. She fainted right after her hockey game.”

Hongjoong’s eyes widened. “What?”

You sighed, running a hand through your hair. “She was holding her stomach saying she ate something wrong. Is Eunseo okay?” 

Hongjoong puts the stick into drive, backing out of the parking lot and replying in a hurry.

“She’s hit with the same thing right now. I’ll meet you at the Hospital in ten” he grunts, sweat forming on his brow as he speeds through traffic, not caring if he gets a ticket. 

Had he looked in his rear view mirror, he would have seen Eunseo sagging near the car door, clutching her stomach with a small grin on her face.

You never liked the hospital. 

The sounds of babies crying and hospital beds wheeling become the background noise, shifting nervously in your seat that was in the emergency pediatrics unit waiting area. 

Hongjoong has his eyebrows furrowed, hunched over one seat beside you as he hangs his head in his hands, knees bouncing up and down. A middle aged nurse nasally calls on the next family waiting from the front desk, boredom laced in her voice. 

You sigh, uncrossing your legs and choosing to bite at the fingernail on your right hand once realizing you’ve already done the same to all the ones on your left. 

“It’s all my fault.” Hongjoong confesses, suddenly sitting still. 

You glance to your left, watching as he sits up slowly. 

“Last thing they ate together would’ve been at my house. I probably made them sick with something I fed them,” he dejects, hanging his head down in shame. 

“It’s all my fault, god I’m so stupid!” He beats himself up. 

You have half the mind to snap at your ex-husband, anger already filling up inside you earlier when you heard Eunbyeol suggest it was something she ate at her dad’s house. You really did want to yell at him for being so bad of a chef that he sent his own daughters to the emergency pediatrics unit, undeniably relieved that Seonghwa was working tonight’s shift. 

But those cruel words sitting on the tip of your tongue are thrown away when you glance down to see your ex-husband missing a shoe on one of his feet. 

Hongjoong rushed over here so fast with Eunseo that he left his shoe behind like some sort of fairytale, Cinderella. He hasn’t even realized he wasn’t wearing one right now.

You exhaled, knowing that if there's one thing you’ve learned while parenting, it was that to have patience and understanding was a virtue. Even for your ex-husband.

“It’s not your fault,” you sighed, staring at your hands folded in your lap. 

It feels awkward when Hongjoong stops tugging at his blond locks to look at you in surprise, continuing to speak as you place a gentle hand on his thigh. 

“That could’ve happened to anyone. We don’t know yet if it was because of the food. Let’s just pray and wait and see” your voice being a sign of reliability to him. 

The man is a little shocked at your supportive nature to tell you truthfully. He delivers all the things he needs to say through his grateful gaze alone, reciprocating a small smile. 

“Didn’t think I’d see you guys tonight.” Seonghwa chuckles, walking in before Hongjoong has the chance to reply. He comes from the patient's room wearing his dashing, white doctor's coat. “Together, at that” he mumbles under his breath before looking up and flashing you a polite smile while giving his worried friend a soft pat on the back.

Hongjoong holds his breath when he asks: “How are they?”

“Better,” he tells him, flipping through some papers on his clipboard. “But it was a big shock to their bodies. They need some rest at the moment.” 

The pediatrician tries not to show his smile, standing in front of you and Hongjoong while hiding his expression behind his clipboard as per his niece’s request.

To be fair, if someone had told Seonghwa earlier that evening that he would receive a fifteen minute pep talk from his best friend's twin daughters that day in the emergency unit, he would’ve laughed in their faces. 

Alas, life was always filled with surprises. Here’s what went down thirty minutes earlier in the hospital room:

“We’re trying to get them back together,” Eunseo announced confidently, sitting next to her sister on the hospital bed. 

Eunbyeol nodded, eyeing the dumbfounded medical professional standing in front of them with his clipboard tucked under his arm, hands in his pockets. 

“So.. you guys don’t need an IV drip?”

“It’s this whole entire thing, Uncle Hwa, we’ll explain to you later.”

It took a minute before Seonghwa reclaimed his composure as an adult, chastising the twins for pulling a false alarm over something like this. He made sure to make them promise him they wouldn’t do something stupid like this again. But after that, of course Seonghwa is immediately pairing to help them with their plan on getting his best friend back together with his ex-wife. The man is just tired of watching Hongjoong beat himself up half the time about missing you. 

“So you essentially want me to lie about the fact that you guys don’t have food poisoning, and were just faking this whole thing so your mom and dad would have a reason to see each other.” 

The twins nod, one of them pointing out. “And make sure to tell them we’re fine of course. Maybe throw in we’re like, really sick, but that we’ll live so it’s best if we get rest.”

“At like a cottage or something” the other chimes in, wiggling her eyebrows at the hint. 

The doctor sighs, scratching his neck sheepishly. 

When Seonghwa leads you and Hongjoong into the hospital room, both of you feel awful seeing your babies laying in their beds, dressed in the children’s gowns. 

Eunbyeol peeks open her eyes first, voice hoarse (she practiced). 

“Mom? Dad? Is that you?” she groans, pretending to clutch her stomach in pain. 

Both you and Hongjoong rush to each child, grasping their hands and stroking their heads softly with sympathy. 

“Hey baby, I’m here” you coo.

“I’m so, so sorry girls, it was probably all my fault. I should’ve never cooked for you guys earlier today.” their dad cries out painfully, looking down in shame.

You come to stand beside him, reassuring them both. “But what’s important is that you guys get better now. We want to make sure you get the rest you need” you say, making eye contact with your ex-husband. 

Seonghwa clears his throat, crossing his arms as he flashes a wink to the girls behind your backs. 

“They seemed to have been mentally exhausted as well,” He asks on purpose, watching as you and Hongjoong share a look with each other. “Have they been receiving proper familial support at home?” 

“I can’t even remember the last time I saw my parents in the same room together.” Eunseo weakly admits, showing a faint smile. 

As parents, you and Joong feel the most amount of guilt anyone could ever feel. You realize how exhausting and stressful the pickups and drop offs to each other's houses could’ve been, especially when you two were so busy with your respective jobs to spend time with your daughters now that it was summer break for them. 

Hongjoong smiles, holding both their hands and making a promise to them. 

“Make sure to rest you two. Tell me, is there anything you guys need right now? Anything you guys want I'll make sure to get it for you.”

”Do you guys have crunchy ice?” Eunbyeol blurts out loud, breaking her weak facade. 

Eunseo almost wants to shoot a glare at her sister but she realizes both of you are still looking at them. 

“I can get you some ice!” Seonghwa quickly assures you and his nieces, mouthing to them good luck for support as he shuts the door behind him. 

You sigh, coming over to stroke Eunseo’s hair and caress Eunbyeol’s hand. 

“Well? Is there anything else you guys need from us?” Hongjoong states, eyes soft in sympathy. You nod, waiting to hear their response.

“Let us know girls, anything at all.”

Eunbyeol and Eunseo finally take their chance, sharing a hesitant look before speaking at the same time. 

“We want to go to the cottage”

“Together,” Eunseo says.

“As a family.” Eunbyeol adds in.

You and Hongjoong share a silent look. 

Later into the night, the twins are finally discharged from the hospital, deciding that they would stay at Hongjoong’s mothers apartment which was closest nearby, considering they were both tired and immediately needed a place to rest. 

The car ride home is awkwardly silent, even as the kids are (what you think) to be fast asleep, hockey gear and a bouquet of flowers riding with them in the backseat.

It was at their request for you to drive them to their grandmother's house, wanting both their parents with them till the ride home. Hongjoong settled on driving your car and dropping all of you off, planning to take a taxi back home and pick up his own car in the morning. Despite your protest on how inconvenient that was, he insisted as he didn’t want to disappoint the twins.

But suddenly the man begins to regret his offer, currently driving in complete silence on the highway, eyes facing forward and shoulders tense. Quiet FM nightly jazz plays from the radio. 

You’re sitting passenger seat up front with him in what feels like forever, looking solely at the reflections in the window, the street lamp lights scattering across your face as you travel through the nighttime traffic. It’s awkward being together like this.

You hear him clear his voice, speaking softly so he doesn’t wake up the girls.

“So, are we really considering that cottage retreat?” he glances back at you. 

You sit up, straightening your back and exhaling as you secretly wanted to have avoided that topic of discussion.

“We can’t Hongjoong,” you reasoned, shaking your head. “I couldn’t possibly take a whole vacation from the dress shop. Not unless I had someone take care of it for me, which my staff probably aren’t ready to do.” you explained, voice tense.

Hongjoong nodded, understanding your point of view. “I realize that. I’ve got a few projects I have to record and demo with Eden.” he tells you, an arm placed on the wheel with his sleeve rolled up. His veins become perfectly outlined as he passionately tells you about his producing job.

He’s so hot like that.

Jesus what were you thinking? Cursing your mind as you clear your voice and try to change the topic.

“How’s everything been going then?” you say stiffly. He nods, still awkward with sharing conversation with you. 

“Um, it's going good. You?” he asks.  

“Fine.” you swallow. 

Silence prevails. He’s first to speak again, building the courage to say the next thing in his mind. 

“I’m willing to put things on hold if I need to.” He confesses. 

Hongjoong continues to drive normally after having said that. Now it becomes your turn to stare at him now, watching how he glances at the side mirror, switching lanes swiftly like the pro-driver he was. 

“What do you mean?”

“Honestly, I think it would be good for the girls,” he admits, calling you by your name. Even hearing him call you your name feels weird. It feels foreign, like it almost wasn’t yours. 

“Hongjoong-” you warn, shaking your head at the warry possibility. 

“Just hear me out, alright?” He states firmly, making you quiet. 

He glances back into the rear view mirror, watching your girls peacefully asleep with their heads leaning against each other. 

“It’s been almost seven years. Seven years since they’ve last seen their parents speak to each other without breaking into a fight. Tonight was the first time they saw us together without having to plan a drop off and pick up in god knows how long.”

Hongjoong licks his lips, gripping the wheel as he emphasizes. “Seven years since they’ve gotten a goodnight hug and kiss from us at the same time in one place.”

You scoff, turning to face him properly this time. “I don’t know why you’re acting as though we can make this request of theirs come true Hongjoong. This is a big deal-”

“It is a big deal!” he exclaims, trying to get his point across. “I can see how badly our daughters want us to both be in their lives more, to acknowledge the fact that the other still exists after splitting apart.”

He sighs. “Us, not acknowledging each other’s existence at all is worse than if we had to see each other regularly.”

You bite your lip, getting angry. “So what Hongjoong? You’re saying you want to suddenly play family with them at the cottage?”

You shrug your shoulders. “Do you really think we can pretend to be normal parents to them without fighting like we are now? There’s a reason why our current schedules work. Don’t make me seem like the bad guy for not wanting to take them.” You glared, pointing a finger at him. His jaw locks. 

“You fully knew the lifestyle changes we would need to make as a couple when you signed those legal papers—”

“Well then did you also predict everything that happened after you brought me those papers?” He spits like venom, gaze hard as he clenches the wheel.

You blink your eyes at his words, pressing your knees together at his sudden attack. 

You don’t remember clearly if you even meant what you said at the time when you threw those papers at him seven years ago. But all you still know is that Hongjoong was just as stubborn as you were, making up his mind to sign them in the end regardless.

Looking in the rear view mirror, you muttered to him quietly. 

“Don’t raise your voice. The kids are sleeping.”

Their dad scoffs, muttering a sure, under his breath as he switches lanes. 

The kids were in fact, not sleeping, and very much awake. Eyes closed but ears wide, as they were listening in to the first real discussion their parents were having in so long. Or perhaps it was an argument?

At the right turn into his mother’s apartment’s underground parking lot, Hongjoong shuts off the engine, getting out of the car without another word and shutting the door in your face. 

You pinched the bridge of your nose, hear the back door open. 

You watch in the corner of your vision as his demeanor immediately changes, softly caressing Eunseo and Eunbyeol’s hair. 

“Hey girls, we’re here now. You gotta wake up.” He coos.

They yawn theatrically, pretending to stretch their arms. 

“So soon?” Eunbyeol mumbles.

A few feet ahead, you see your mother in law walking out from the elevators, a knit cardigan wrapped around her small frame. You smiled, getting out of the car and greeting her first. 

“We’ll leave Eunbyeol’s hockey gear with you for the night if that’s alright Mom-” 

Hongjoong’s words are cut off as the woman who birthed him walks straight past him, ignoring him and immediately taking you in her warm embrace, eyes forming crescent moons. 

“How are you my dear?” she asks, causing you to smile and hug your mother in law affectionately. “It’s been so long, I’ve missed you so much!”

Despite the break up between you and Hongjoong, you were thankful for one thing, and that was the fact that your relationship with Hongjoong’s family stayed strong, especially with Mrs. Kim.

“I’ve missed you too” you tell her genuinely. “I’ve been good, I’m just sorry for dropping them off so suddenly at your place,” You say, feeling apologetic for waking her up late into the night. 

“We had a bit of a situation,” you explain, watching as Hongjoong collects their things. 

She shakes her head, reassuring you. “Nonsense! Why would you be sorry for that.” she grins, turning her head at the car. “And where are my girls, may I ask?”

At the sound of her voice, Eunbyeol and Eunseo dash out from the back seat and into their grandmother's welcoming arms, pressing soft kisses to her cheeks.

Hongjoong is the only person that stands all alone, awkwardly holding the bouquet of flowers with heavy hockey gear and a duffle bag perched on his shoulder. 

“Oh, how I’ve missed my little squirrels!” she exclaims using their signature pet name and happily reuniting with her grandchildren. 

She turns her head, face falling at the sight of her son and lips pursing into a frown. 

“And where on earth have you been? Not giving me a call!” she snaps, slapping her son on his back. Eunbyeol laughs out loud while Eunseo tries to keep her giggles in. 

You hear your ex husband protest to her while you close the back seat door. 

“OW! I’ve been busy alright?” he mumbles, massaging his sore arm. 

Your mother in law takes both the twins hand’s on each side, nodding her head to you. 

“Leave all the kid’s stuff to Hongjoong, he’ll take care of it darling” she smiles sweetly, sending a glare to her son to take a hint and be more of a gentleman to you. She walks away with her smiling granddaughters, exchanging light-hearted giggles and excitement. “Bye, mom!” The twins wave back. 

Hongjoong cranes his head up, sighing at the ceiling before taking Eunseo’s piano bag that you were holding in your hand in one swift motion, walking reluctantly behind the three. 

“Stay here. I’ll drop them off.” he briskly walks away, leaving you stunned. 

Hongjoongs words from before can’t help but replay inside your head as you wait for him to come back down. 

Before you guessed it, it was already the ride back home, and the car was painfully silent once again. In reality, you were each thinking deeply to yourselves about the possibility of the cottage retreat. Could you really be a mom and dad together as a couple to your kids?

“Are you giving your plants enough water?” He brings you out of thought, the car slowing down as he turns onto your street. 

You look up, giving him a confused look. 

Hongjoong nods in direction, following his eyes to look at the measly, dying flower pot perched on the steps of your flat’s entrance as the car stopped to a halt. “You know, it’s really hard for plants to die when they’re outside.” He says in amazement at your shit gardening. 

You scowl at him, asking him when he became such a plant expert all of a sudden. 

He continues to poke fun at you, smirking when he undoes his seat belt. Hongjoong suddenly leans over to help you unbuckle your own, face dangerously close to yours as he lowers his voice. 

“Unless their owner just really sucks at taking care of them.” 

His eyes gaze into yours for a split second, feeling your face heat up from the proximity. You let out a tiny gasp for air when he leans back in his own seat. 

“Fuck off” you replied harshly. 

“You should give them some more care,” he suggests, ignoring your swearing. 

You don’t reply to his stupid comment, refusing to look at him as you get out of the car. 

“I can go in by myself” you press, adjusting the strap of your purse on your shoulder. You didn’t think it was necessary to draw out your time with this man any further.

Hongjoong straightens his dress shirt as he moves to your side of the car, shoving his own car keys in his trousers as he locks your doors and hands over the keys. You take them hesitantly, watching as he rests against the car door, strong arms crossing against his chest. 

“Think about it at least.” he mutters to you. 

You look at him, eyes shutting softly when you realize he was still talking about the cottage getaway. Sighing his name is exasperation, you run a hand through your hair. 

“Hongjoong-”

“Would it kill you to spend a week with me and our daughters?” He scoffs as he asks you straight up, looking at you in a way that makes you hesitate to say your next words. You observed one hand come to shuffle with the silver lighter in his trouser pockets. 

You stayed silent for a moment, genuinely thinking back to your daughters and what this meant to them if you went. What this would mean for you two as well. 

Finally, you look up to him, returning his gaze.

“I need time.” 

He nods, face serious. “I understand.”

“Let me think about it.” You mumbled. 

And with that you turn around, walking up the steps to your front door. At the sight of your flowerpot, you quickly remember his comment and snatch it in your hands, slamming the door shut to Hongjoong as he finally lets a soft grin break out on his face. Letting his back come up from leaning against the door, Hongjoong nods his head, satisfied enough at that answer, as he walks silently down the road while opening his Uber app. 

At least you’d give it some thought. 

Okay, maybe now you’ve given it too much thought. 

Sipping your fifth glass of wine of the night, you’re sitting, back hunched over with your knees tucked into your chest on the breakfast table chair, zoning out as your best friend Sophie continues barking at you and your inconsistent commitment. 

“I don’t even understand why you’re considering going! Does the man realize what it takes to leave your own shop for a full week?” she fumes, adjusting her royal jelly sheet mask while cursing at your ex-husband for pressuring you into going to the family retreat. 

“Not everyone can just pack their bags and go swimming at the cottage, Jesus Christ” she rolls her eyes. 

“He didn’t pressure me,” you told her pouting. “He wants to do it for the kids” you mumbled looking down as you defended him. 

You invited your best friend Sophie over to your apartment that evening for your weekly slumber party, a time you each looked forward to dedicating a bottle of wine and chardonnay over some gossip, spilling all the uneventful drama in your lives. 

Perhaps you revealed too much drama to your best friend tonight. 

“I don’t think I would mind going, to be honest” you hiccup, words slurring. “I haven’t had a vacation in so long, Sophie, and the girls really want to go! I would feel bad for leaving them with nothing to do this summer.” confessing through the alcohol. 

Cheeks flushed, you sigh as you play with your silk robe mindlessly while Sophie shakes her head at you, one hand coming up to snap at you and bring you back to reality. 

“Hello? Earth to Ms. Divorcee?” She sighs, rolling her eyes in frustration. “You said you wanted to set boundaries with him! To cut the line straight and keep your distance so you could get over your feelings for him! Show him who’s boss!” 

“He said he’s willing to put his music projects on hold for us,” you muttered quietly, the thought making your heart weak as you smiled at the memory of Hongjoong teasing you about your flower pot. Your chest blossomed with warmth now. 

Sophie sighs, shaking her head as she thinks just how differently you were feeling four wine glasses ago.

“Listen, honey, I’m just warning you in advance” she sips the golden liquid in her glass before placing it on the table. 

“Take it from a girl who’s had three divorces. I mean look at me! I’m still somewhat young, I’ve got no kids, no responsibilities, filthily rich, and not once have I had to pay for my own divorce settlement fees!” 

You nod mindlessly, eyes blinking softly under the bright kitchen lights. 

“What you need is a provider, sweetheart,” she crooned, caressing your head. 

“A guy who won’t leave you stressed and unimpressed like Hongjoong does.”

You continue mindlessly nodding your head at her words, ears perking up when you hear small footsteps come down the stairs. 

“Hi mom, Hi aunt Sophie.” Eunbyeol greets, eyes glued to her iPad that Eunseo trails after from behind, whining how it was now her turn to play Super Mario.  

“Hi girls,” Sophie replies like the cool, hot aunt she is, eyes shut as she’s concentrating on giving herself a collarbone massage right now. 

“Hey sweetheart,” you mumbled, smiling at your daughters standing near the fridge getting a glass of water. 

“Say, did your dad tell you guys anything about the cottage?” You blurt out loud, avoiding the look that Sophie gives you. Eunbyeol looks up from the glowing screen, ears perking in interest. “No, not much, why?” 

Eunseo snatches the iPad from her twin, coming over to you. “Did Dad say we’re going?” She asks enthusiastically, eyes widening. Sophie is quick to assure them. 

“Now of course not girls, your mother here was just-”

“Oh fuck it, why not?” you say confidentially, shining a bright smile. “Let’s go to the cottage!” You exclaimed in drunk excitement, all three girls staring at you with their jaws hanging at your sudden profanity as well as your final decision. 

Oh, how dangerous the effects of a bottle of wine were. 

Eunseo and Eunbyeol immediately embrace each other in a passionate hug, squealing in excitement that their plan actually worked. You and Hongjoong were now both convinced. “Oh my gosh, we’re going to go as a family!” They cried in happiness. You giggled at their joy, reciprocating their enthusiasm.  

Sophie leans back in her seat defeated, shaking her head with pursed lips as she picks up the whole Chardonnay bottle and sips it. 

“Oh whatever. . . This isn’t my problem anyways.” 

When Hongjoong drops by the next morning to pick up Eunbyeol and Eunseo from your house for the weekend, he can’t lie but be a little heartbroken at the way his daughters ignore his kiss to them first thing. They instead, immediately shove the cottage advertising pamphlet in his face with victorious grins. 

“See! We told you mom would say yes!” 

“Say yes to what?” He pouts, avoiding the paper and obsessively trying to peck a kiss to each of his daughter's cheeks. The idea of going to the cottage almost slipped the busy man’s mind after almost a week of no news from you. 

“What’s so important that you guys don’t even say hi to me anymore?” he sulks.

Eunseo giggles, fighting back her laughter when her dad tries to tickle her with his kisses. 

“We’re going to the cottage!”

Hongjoong stills himself, leaning back to make sure he heard her correctly. 

“We’re what?”

Eunbyeol, taking after her mother, has a cheeky expression on her face as she places her hands on her hips and sasses her father. 

“Pack your bags and swimming shorts, daddy, we’re going on a family vacation!” 

In perfect timing, you manage to stumble out your front door, coffee mug in hand and mid-yawn when you realize Hongjoong is already staring at you in shock. 

“What?” you snap, still grumpy from your slight hangover. “You’ve never seen a woman wake up before?” You replied, asking your kids if they packed all their stuff. 

The twins watch as their dad stands up from his crouched position. 

“You’re going to go to the cottage?”

At Hongjoongs words you freeze, everything coming back to you all at once. The wine, the twins, the promises, it hits you like a moving truck. 

“Well…”

“No take backs mom! You said it yourself last night that you were excited to go to the cottage!” One of the twins pointed out. 

Hongjoong doesn’t take his eyes off of you. 

“I-I did say that, didn’t I?” You chuckled sheepishly, toes curling at the rookie mistake you made in parenting 101: saying yes when you should’ve said no. 

Your ex-husband quickly tells the kids to put their things in the trunk, promising he’ll be right with them after talking to you. As Hongjoong dashes up the stairs in his white polo golf shirt, you feel slightly exposed being in only your silk slip dress and robe. 

“I didn’t realize you’d be here so early” you mumbled, looking down at your toes. 

He ignores you. “So I’m guessing we’re going then?” He smirks, looking at you with an expression of undeniable cockiness and peaked interest. 

You shrug nonchalantly. “Let’s surround the focus of this trip towards the kids” you remind him, straightening your back.

Hongjoong nods, agreeing with you wholeheartedly. “Of course, that was my intention from the beginning,” he smiles. 

You swallow the lump in your throat, unnoticing his stare drop at your breasts perking up from the cool morning air. You jump in surprise as you hear the honking of the car. 

“Come on, love birds! We gotta go back to dad’s to get our swimming stuff!” Eunbyeol cackles, leaning from the backseat into the driver's seat window. Eunseo already begins journaling in her hello kitty note book, an organized list of what she’ll need to bring to the cottage.

Hongjoong looks back at his daughters, before looking back at you with a smile. 

“Let’s keep in touch about details, alright?”

You nod silently, gripping your mug. At the sound of your nextdoor neighbor coming out, Hongjoong contemplates for a moment before quickly leaning forward, shielding you from their view with his backside. Clearing his throat, Hongjoong nods his head to the inside of your house, leaning forward to whisper to you. 

“Think, um, you should get inside, it’s getting cold,” he mutters, his dimples faintly showing. You glare up at him, “I’m going to say goodbye to my own daughters”. Still clueless to what he was referring to. He grins, shrugging his shoulders before looking at you. 

“If you insist. Just thought you wouldn’t want your neighbor to see what I can see, would you?”

You gasp at his words, looking down at your chest to see what he means before wrapping your robe around you. You quickly waved goodbye to your girls before you shut the door in Hongjoong’s smug face. 

It’s now become the second time you’ve done that.

Thankfully, the next time you see Hongjoong you’re wearing a much more appropriate outfit. In a white cotton blouse and casual jean shorts, your effortlessly chic vacation outfit was the only highlight today, considering the day you had been internally dreading for so long was finally here. 

You tried to take deep breaths while scurrying all over your house and finishing some last minute packing. Reassuring yourself that a family getaway couldn’t kill you. 

Right?

Reservations at the cottage were made over the phone last week, booking a house with the perfect lake side view, access to the forest trail and close proximity to the offered activities. It would only be a seven day stay, both in your respective rooms, (you clearly emphasized you and Hongjoong had to have separate ones) while the twins would lodge together. You had no intention of interacting with your husband alone together on this trip, apart from the quote on quote, ‘family bonding times’ you promised your daughters. And yet why were you here sweating nervously like a sinner in church?

“What a hot lady!” Eunbyeol wolf-whistles at your outfit when she walks through your bedroom doors. You jump at the sudden entrance, realizing Hongjoong was already here to pick you up with the girls.

A pair of black designer sunglasses slightly too big for her sat perched on her nose. Eunbyeol smiles before jumping onto your bed of clothes. You already know Hongjoong must’ve spoiled her and her sister with those, buying them a pair each.

“C’mon Byeol, off the bed” you quipped, packing your toothbrush as she reluctantly slugged off the covers. 

Your suspicions of Hongjoong buying them designer items are correct when Eunseo walks in, classily perching her matching white ones on her head before chastising her sister's tasteless compliment. 

“Elegant. She’s Elegant, Byeol. You don’t just go around wolf-whistling at people.” she rolls her eyes. 

“You look very pretty by the way, mom”

You smiled, nevertheless pleased at both their compliments and thanking them before going back to doing a last minute check of your things. 

Sun cream, clothes, makeup bag, swimsuit…

At the thought of your swimsuit you immediately blush, thinking back to how Sophie forced you to borrow her yellow bikini that left very little to the imagination. Despite your protests that you wouldn’t be needing it, she insisted. 

Hongjoong is last to walk through your front doors, swinging his car keys around his index finger and calling to his three girls from the downstairs foyer of your apartment. The man is clearly excited for the trip, he can’t lie. 

“Come on ladies, we’re gonna miss the chance to swim in that lake if we don't leave soon!” 

Hongjoong is your typical dad, except for the fact that he does not mess with dad!fashion. The producer is dressed classily from top to bottom in a loose-fitting designer button up with a pair of reformed denim pants, his pearl earrings and gold piercings complementing his outfit perfectly. 

Kim Hongjoong didn't play when it came to fashion. Even as a father. 

“Coming!” You exclaimed, ushering your kids out of your bedroom and making your way down the stairs with your suitcase. Seeing that it would only be a week at the cottage, you tried to pack light, though you may have to reconsider that thought with the way you struggled to lift the case properly. 

“Need some help?”

A strong hand comes to help you, immediately inhaling the scent of Hongjoong’s cologne as he brushes his knuckles near yours. “Here, I’ve got it” he assures, making you step back and admire your undeniably fine husband. 

Ex-husband. You meant Ex-husband. Scratch out the fine as well. 

You watch from behind as he struts out the foyer, smiling and joking playfully with his twin daughters, carrying your luggage out the door with them. 

What was this trip doing to you?

Once you’re on route to the cottage resort and the GPS is set, the car is blissfully quiet, each and every one of you surprisingly at peace. Jittery excitement still lays deep in your daughters' minds as you overhear them talk about what they want to do first once they arrive. 

Hongjoong’s 2000s soft rock and ballad playlist is playing quietly throughout the speakers right now, relishing in the music as luscious, green trees flash by you from the passenger window. 

While Byeol and Eunseo distract each other on their own, Hongjoong turns to talk to you. 

“I’m not going to lie, it’s been forever since I’ve been on a road trip” he smiles.

You copy him, feeling good in the moment. “Same, I don’t remember the last time I went to one.” you confessed, thinking only of all the times you had in the past when you were a child and as a teenager. 

Even back to when you were a young college student, wide eyed and so innocent to the chaos of your first college retreat with Hongjoong. That was the summer you two began dating, and boy were you fools in love. You cautiously look to your husband driving, bringing up past memories.

“Do you remember that one college retreat we went on during second year?” 

The corners of Hongjoong’s lips are already grinning upwards, smiling as he reciprocates your expression. 

“Right, like I could forget that summer” he replies sarcastically, gripping the steering wheel. 

It’s an easy memory to digest. A time when you were both so young, filled with nothing but dreams and passionate love for one another. Love so deep, that you remember the nights you’d spend locked up with Hongjoong under the sweaty bed sheets inside your cabin, blissfully making love until the sun would rise and he would finally kiss you to sleep. Perhaps, it was that summer when you realized you were going to marry and be with Kim Hongjoong forever someday. 

Though it’s too bad, someday already passed. 

“Do you remember when Seonghwa got so drunk he ended up confessing to Jieun in front of all the girl’s sleeping cabins?” Hongjoong snickers, relishing in the embarrassing memory his friend always hates him for bringing up. You laugh out loud, remembering the memory. “Oh my god, yes!” You turned to face him, shaking your head. “In nothing but his underwear, right?” 

Hongjoong nodded, smiling with one hand on the steering wheel as he drove.

“Didn’t he end up jumping into the lake afterwards? With you having to go in and save him as well?” You share your laughter with one another, catching up on past memories as your twin daughters listened attentively in the back, reliving them with you together.

That's what makes the hour and half drive from the city into the wilderness feel so short, finally pulling into the graveled parking lot of the vast cottage resort. White suburban cottages lined along one another, a good amount of distance in between each for every family staying. 

As Hongjoong parked the car, the view outside was so glorious you had to hold your breath. Glistening clear blue waves in the lake reflect the bright sunshine from above. A light breeze is present today with the way the willow and oak trees swayed gently. 

“It’s beautiful” you gasped from as far as you got out of the car, stretching your upper body with eyes closed as you inhaled the fresh air. 

Hongjoong stills his movements, shutting the door before replying with his gaze caught at your backside.

“Yeah, it is” he smiles.

Both of you turn around at a loud voice coming from behind. “We’re gonna explore the campsites and souvenir shops first!” Eunbyeol shouts as she runs away with her sister's hand in hers, towards the wooden cabin that's settled further away. 

“What about lunch?” you call to them. 

“We’re not hungry!”

Hongjoong tells them to be safe, and to stick around nearby. You smirked, helping him unload the trunk as you told him. “They’ll be fine. They’re probably too excited to even think right now” you giggled, bumping shoulders with him. 

You feel the tension that was once so strong between you two fade slowly, walking up the wooden steps of your lodge and exchanging conversation with each other.

“Hey, I just want my babies to be safe” he admits, a grin on his face as he holds the cooler in his hands. You chuckle, shaking your head at his protectiveness. 

“Here it is!” he exclaims, setting the suitcases in the front foyer as he opens the door. “Lodge number 1117”

The two story cottage is larger than it appears from the outside, having a modern yet rustic interior that you and Hongjoong admired. It had everything you would need, from a well designed kitchen area to a cozy living room space.

“It’s perfect, the kids will love it” you beam, looking at the hanging hammock chair in the corner of the living room and the gray stone fireplace. It fit perfectly for your family. 

Hongjoong smiles, sunglasses perched on top of his head as he sets the luggage down near the kitchen. Walking up beside him, you help him unload the cooler and ice boxes first, settling into your new home for the next few days. 

“I’m guessing you still drink?” you ask, looking in his direction as you unloaded the case of beer you saw him bring from the trunk.

He gestured to the booze. “C’mon, it wouldn’t be a vacation without it, would it?” 

You wholeheartedly agreed, placing a few in the fridge before you shut it closed. 

“Hopefully, this time we won’t end up shit faced like we did back in college” you laugh, turning to face him. 

“I can already picture that time we got so drunk from that bottle of tequila my friend brought, we snuck out of the campsite and went to the forest and got lost.” you spoke, the memory a little foggy but nonetheless fresh in your mind. 

Hongjoong smiles, listening as you speak.  

“There wasn’t anything but trees and bushes in that forest!” You exclaimed, shaking your head. “What did we even do there?” 

Hongjoong replies nonchalantly, folding the cardboard box in his hands.

“I’m pretty sure we fucked.”

You momentarily freeze at his words, before letting out a soft awkward laugh, causing him to look up. 

“No we didn’t, Hongjoong” you immediately deny, not believing his words. But your brows began furrowing at the foggy memory, starting to realize you really couldn’t trust your alcohol tolerance, now as an adult and even back when you were a college student. Did you guys have sex? In a forest out of all places?

Hongjoong leans against the kitchen counter, across from you as he crosses his arms in front of his chest and smirks smugly. 

“Nope, I distinctly remember it” he recalls, taking a step closer so he was now in your space. 

“I held your hand in mind as we walked up that trail by the cliff. And gosh, were we horny that night, because I remember you complaining about all that dirt you got on your knees from giving me the greatest head i've ever experienced in my entire life-” 

Slapping your hands over his mouth to stop him from going on, you blushed as you glared at him. 

“Jesus christ,” you mumbled, rolling your eyes before confessing.

“I get it, we fucked.”

Suddenly, you and Hongjoong break out into giggles like varsity sweethearts again at the story. Though embarrassed and cringing internally from the way you acted as young adults, it was nice to share them together now. At the proximity in which you’re standing in, you can't help but stare at each other softly. A hand wraps around your waist, making your breath hitch as he pulls you closer. 

“What are you doing?” you grin, watching him.

He looms over you, able to tell that something sits right at the tip of his tongue that he hesitantly decides to say. “I’m pretty sure,” he mutters, staring at your face and cautiously grazing the skin under your blouse. You feel your breathing speed up. 

“I also held you like this in my arms as you were leaning against that tree” his grip gentle and immediately transporting you back to the scenery that night. His sharp tone contrasts his touch. 

“Yknow, the one we fucked against?” he teases to you one more time.

The scent of burning campfire. A cold, midnight breeze. The feeling of the rough cedar tree against your back as Hongjoong thrusted inside you with every delirious snap of his hips, holding you close while he fucked you to oblivion with only the forest animals standing witness to your sinful actions. The film replays like a cheesy R-rated romance movie in your mind. 

“Did you, now?” You gulp, looking up at him as you adjust to the foreign feeling of his touch on your hips. 

“Yeah. I remember it all” he states, smirking down at you with an intense gaze.

The memory dies down when you catch yourself staring at his lips, arms finding their way around his neck as he dives down to whisper softly to you.

“Do you remember too?” He asks.

How he held you in his arms. How he whispered in your ear while you came around his cock, drool and traces of cum littering the corners of your mouth while Hongjoong didn’t care if you were stretching his flannel from how hard you were tugging at the material.

You nod. “I do,” you muttered, lashes fluttering as you felt as though your heart wouldn’t stop beating. “I remember you kissed me on the lips,” you confessed. 

Perhaps you wanted him to do it again right now. 

He looks in your eyes, searching for your approval that you desperately give, breath hitting each other's faces as he slowly leaned down to try and connect your lips. His chest is pressed against yours, and you begin to realize you haven’t shared the same breath like that in so long. You were so close to kissing right then and there.

If only you leaned in closer…

“We’re back!”

You push Hongjoong across the kitchen, shoving his hip painfully into the marble counter and ignoring his high-pitched groan of agony as you immediately look away to avoid suspicion, continuing to grab the beer from the icebox in front of you.

“Girls!” you exclaimed, voice wavering. 

Of course, Eunbyeol and Eunseo walk in with matching postcards and goodies from the souvenir shop in their hands, their sunglasses perched on their heads as their eyes lit up with excitement. They were still oblivious to the fact that they almost caught their parents about to make out in the kitchen.

“Dad, this place is amazing!” Eunbyeol deadpans, telling her father. “They even have jet skiing on the other side of the lake! We gotta go now!”

Hongjoong clutches his hip, pursing his lips as he hides his expression of pain and surprise. 

“Really? That's great sweetie”

Eunseo however, is quick to catch on.

“What were you guys doing?” she looks at you suspiciously. Her words hang in the air for a moment. 

“Were you guys about to kis-”

Hongjoong and you frantically scurry to find a plausible excuse, shuffling awkwardly. 

“I was helping your dad unload the cooler” 

“I was helping your mom get something out of her eye”

Both girls stare at you meekly. Eunbyeol scrunches her nose. “Huh?”

Plastering on a fake smile, you briskly leaped over the luggage nearby, ushering them upstairs before they had the chance to ask anymore questions.

“I think it’s time to unpack your things.” you watched their eyebrows quirk at the way you pushed them out the kitchen.

“We can do it on our own, mom! It’s really no big d-”

You clamp Eunbyeol’s mouth shut with your hand, blushing profusely as you walk away with them. 

Hongjoong stands there alone in the kitchen, rubbing his hip and wondering what the hell just almost happened.

The next few days, you and Hongjoong don’t discuss the incident between you two. Rather, the beginning of the trip after that event has become a painful performance trying your best to be eerily polite yet distant to each other in front of your children, as if that would make you forget the fact that you two almost kissed in the kitchen.

“Could you pass the sunscreen, honey?” Hongjoong would say awkwardly, turning his back to flash you a cheery smile on the lake deck as Eunbyeol and Eunseo watched you interact while floating in the cool, summer waters. 

You passed the bottle to your ex-husband while maintaining awkward distance. “Of course, darling!” 

“Thanks honey!”

“No problem sweetheart!”

This resulted in Eunbyeol and Eunseo looking at their parents in horror, the youngest twin muttering under her breath as they discussed an urgent change of plans.

“We have to get them to stop being weird.”

Apart from that, the ‘family bonding time’ promise to your daughters was maintained, and each day was an adventure for all of you in terms of what you would do together next. An accumulation of forest trekking, water-skiing and outdoors barbeques on the patio of your cottage made everyday feel more and more special for your girls, seeing how they relished in having both their parents with them at the same place and time. It became moments of peace and resolution that eventually became special for you and Hongjoong too. 

“I hope we stay here forever,” Eunseo blurted out one evening after a blissful day near the lakeshore, watching as the sun began to go down. She was busy licking the sticky sides of her melting ice cream cone in one hand, the other one held in yours. 

Hongjoong and Eunbyeol were a few feet ahead, laughing loudly and holding hands as they compared their fruit popsicles with one another to see whose was bigger. 

“You and Byeol would eventually get sick of going to the lake all the time” You smiled, the corners of your mouth turning up before her next words made the strings of your heart tug. 

“Sure, but at least you and dad could be together with us too.”

You watched as she ran up to her sister and dad, joining in on their fun as she began boasting that her ice cream was better than theirs. Hongjoong’s smile is the biggest you’ve ever seen it to be, looking down at his girls with a golden tan from the past few days spent outside, and hair slightly damp from swimming. 

Any person could tell the love in his eyes was as pure a father’s love for his girls could be. 

Her words stuck with you until that very night, where after dinner, board games, and much pacing back and forth in your own room before getting into bed, you decided to cautiously approach Hongjoong’s room on the opposite side of the second floor.

Bare feet padded across the wooden floors as you peeked through the sliver of the open door.

He's wearing an oversized sleep tee and blue pajama pants, getting in some nighttime reading before bed. His glasses are perched on his nose, intently reading his paperback novel. He looks as domestic as a husband gets. 

At the sound of your steps though, he sits up from his relaxed state on his bed, one arm that was supporting his head coming out as the other hand settles the book down on his abdomen. He looks surprised to see you. 

“Hi” he states, looking at you. 

“Hey”

Hongjoong’s expression immediately softened at your figure, watching as you shuffled awkwardly in front of him. The room is quiet. 

“Can I come in?”

“Of course,” He nods, setting his bookmark in the spine of the cover and turning his attention to you, offering you to take a seat on his linen covers. You see his polaroid camera with photos taken of Eunbyeol and Eunseo perched on a desk nearby. 

You don’t see the ones he secretly took of you, as those are in his drawers. 

“Don’t tell me you can’t sleep by yourself” he gently teases before watching as your smile doesn't reach the ends of your eyes. You wrap your silk robe closer to your body, feeling sort of vulnerable. 

“How do you like the resort so far?” He asks, watching as you played with your fingers absentmindedly. “Is the room okay?”

“It’s wonderful Hongjoong, better than I could ever have hoped for.” You spoke up, telling the truth.

It’s hard to arrange your thoughts in your head when it’s just the two of you in his room. The kids were already fast asleep. Now was your chance to just tell him how you felt. Why were you hesitating so much?

“Hey, look at me.” Hongjoong’s soft voice calls out to you, a protective hand coming out to caress the back of your head in habit. He can tell you want to say something, and the gesture makes you emotional, remembering how he always used to do that to ease your nerves when you were younger. 

“What’s wrong? Am I making things uncomfortable on the trip?” he worries about the boundaries you established with him at the beginning, watching as your lip begins to quiver and the emotions suddenly overcome you. 

“I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry.” you sniffled, tears forming near the brim of your eyes as you looked up at the father of your children. 

Hongjoong’s eyes widened, shifting through the covers over to you. “Woah, hey, shh that’s alright I got you” he coos, immediately going into dad mode and embracing you in his arms, letting your head rest against his chest. 

The action is natural, no longer foreign or weird, and you silently thank him for leaving reassuring circles on your back. Husband or not, Hongjoong would always be your best friend first. You had forgotten how much you missed this comforting side to him.  

“Tell me what you’re sorry about” he states, chest tightening at your wet cheeks before he slowly raises your chin to look him in the eyes. 

“For being mean to you for so long” you sniffle, a weakened state of emotional guilt eating away at you. You let him watch you carefully.

“I’ve been thinking about how happy the girls have been during this trip. A-And it kills me that we’ve been fighting for the past seven years, and that they’ve grown up seeing such bad parts of ourselves, of my own self” you ramble, confessing how you felt. 

You look up. “They’re happy because we’re together Joong. Because we’re not fighting or avoiding each other like we used to do before.”

He watches as you look up at him with tears forming in your eyes. 

“You’re such a good dad. And I realized you deserve to hear that.”

At the sounds of more sniffles, Hongjoong finally speaks, smiling as he brushes stray hair from your face. 

“I wouldn’t want anyone else but you to be the mother of our children, I hope you know that”

His truthfulness throws you off guard.

“I’m sorry too” he sighs, letting you sit up straight and look him in the eyes properly. “I haven’t been the best partner either, baby. We were both mean to each other.” he says, brushing a tear away from your face.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve thrown a hair dryer at me once before as well” he attempts to make you laugh, affection blooming in his chest when he sees he succeeds, wiping your tears. 

“But I already knew how you felt, sweetheart. I always know” he smiles, eyes mirroring a weak ache in his heart.  

“Married or not, we were once friends. And now we’re family” His voice turns deep, strong and dependable like the father he’s become.

“We can start over” you tell him, smiling as he folds his hands over your palm. “We can always do better from now and going forward. For ourselves, and for Eunseo and Eunbyeol.” 

Hongjoong nods, hesitantly for a split second before he leans over to press a soft kiss to your cheek, showing a gesture of affection that you longed for so long.

You shut your eyes, the kiss making your heart flutter. 

“Friends again?” He whispers, though silently wanting something more. 

You sighed, pulling him in closer to embrace in a hug. “Friends” you nodded while inhaling his comforting scent. 

The next morning, and for the rest of the remaining trip onwards, you and Hongjoong’s relationship dynamics did the equivalent of a 180 degree turn. 

It’s hard to believe you two really just wanted to be ‘friends’

Eunbyeol and Eunseo could tell by the way you talked to each other more, noticing you share more secret glances and fleeting touches that were innocent to the eye, but concealing a longing that you both tried to hide. You knew you couldn’t get carried away. You and Hongjoong were simply resolving a rough patch in your parenting. Not getting back together in a relationship. 

But after spending more time together while Eunbyeol and Eunseo became occupied on their own, it was hard keeping the interactions to a justified amount. Long walks in the forest, evenings spent cooking together, even cuddling together on the couch during family movie night. Thinking your kids were too busy watching the vintage Disney movie play on screen, when in fact, the real love story they were more invested in was happening right in front of their eyes, watching their parents falling in love again.

This led to the last event in their plan that they hoped would finally seal the deal. 

On Saturday night, the last night of your trip before you had to go back to the city, you and Hongjoong are surprised to find mini invitations left on your beds, scribbled in glitter pen and cursive handwriting reading out the following:

Gourmet Dinner Date for 2

Time: 7:30 pm

Location: Outdoor patio 

Dress code: Formal and Classy

You and your husband chuckled at the cards left on your beds, suddenly finding a twin each by your side and ushering you to get ready. 

“Do you and your sister even know how to cook dinner, Eunbyeol?” You questioned as your daughter rushed to push you into your walk-in closet, forcing you to get ready. 

She huffs, placing her hands on her hips looking offended. 

“At least my cooking skills don’t take after Dad’s, mom.” She mumbled, choosing your shoes for you. “Have some trust in a girl!”

Meanwhile, Hongjoong gets pampered by Eunseo in the other room, though in reality, her blunt critiques on her dads fashion are bruising his pride at the moment. 

“Dad, you have many normal clothes to wear. You have to chill with the ripped baggy jeans.” she demands, trudging through his closet to find something formal for him to wear. 

He begins to protest but his daughter shakes her head. “You’re supposed to look good for mom!” she huffs, searching on her own. At Eunseo’s words, the man starts to slightly worry, scratching the back of his head. 

“You and Byeol are gonna join too, right?”

She stops for a second, looking back to her father as she avoids the question and instead retorts back. 

“It’s just a date, Dad. Relax”

Back to what was happening in the other room at the end of the hallway, you huffed in frustration when you walked back into your closet after Byeol rejected another one of your outfits for the dinner date. 

“I have nothing else to wear, sweetie, these are all the clothes I have.” you came to terms with a hand coming to your forehead after having searched in despair. 

The ten year old shakes her head before pushing you out of the way and digging deep into your suitcase. She reveals a delicate piece of material you didn’t even realize you packed. 

“We got some help from Aunt Sophie and Uncle Hwa to pack you guys clothes that you could wear for a special occasion.” she wiggles her eyebrows, a smug grin on her face as you gap in shock. 

You inspect the dress, lips parting in disbelief as you feel the material. 

“I haven’t worn this since I was in college.” You uttered softly to yourself. 

At one longing look of the short dress, you shake your head, walking back into the closet to find something else. “I-I can’t wear this Byeol, what would your dad think?“ you asked nervously.

“Dad said he thinks your boobs looked hot in this dress so Aunt Sophie and I picked it specially” she looks up at you, proud of what she just said.  

You whip your head around, mouth hanging open in shock.

“Byeol! Where did you hear that from?” 

She sighs. “Dad had one too many drinks this one time and started talking about you guys back in college” she explained before shoving the infamous black dress in your hands. 

“Talked a lot about how pretty you were,” she draws out her words in a teasing voice. You curse your husband for his mistake.

You bite your lip as you stare down at the fabric in your hands. 

It was undeniable. You knew you looked amazing in this dress. You could testify from the amount of times Hongjoong ripped it off of you after countless night out’s filled with sexual tension and playful flirting. For god's sake, Eunbyeol and Eunseo could’ve almost had another sibling thanks to that dress.

“Fine.” you muttered bashfully, turning away as you walked into the closet to change. 

“But I’m just gonna try it on.”

Thirty minutes, one mental breakdown and too many outfit changes to count later, you walk down the stairs wearing the dress Eunbyeol had successfully persuaded you to wear. 

What do you know, the kid was right. Your boobs looked amazing in that dress. 

Not just your boobs, your whole body looked incredible with its strong curves and the beautiful fill it gave to the dress, making it slightly tighter than when you wore it as a twenty year old, but still all the more mature and sophisticated. You really did look hot.

Eunbyeol rushes down the stairs before you, catching up with her sister to inspect her job on their fathers preparation. 

“Well?” She says expectedly, looking at her dad. “Let’s take a look!”

He sports a simple yet timeless white collar dress shirt, the first few buttons undone as he wears a form fitting black dress-vest that accentuates his waist, dress pants paired to go along with it. Though simple, his silver rings pulled the outfit together, making him just as good looking and sophisticated as you were. 

Hongjoong’s back faces towards your front, watching as the man nervously shuffles his hands in his pockets.

“How do I look guys?” He gulps, adjusting his collar and sweeping his blond hair back. 

Eunseo rolls her eyes, a grin on her proud little face. “Do you even have to ask, dad?” She’s more than confident in the outfit she and Seonghwa coordinated together. 

He chuckles, shaking his head as he nervously tells them. 

“I want to look good for your mom, you know what I mean? She's a difficult woman to impress sometimes.”

“I’m difficult?” You tease, walking down the last few steps of the stairs. 

The man turns his head around, losing his breath at the sight of you standing there in front of him, wearing that dress that he hadn’t seen you wear for so long, looking breathtaking in every possible way. 

“Hi” you grinned softly, feeling sort of shy.

The way you fit in that dress made an insatiable hunger fuel inside Hongjoongs chest, eyes gazing at the way you strutted over in the black, lace covered material with your hair tied back and glossed lips turned upwards as your dimples showed. He breaks from his admiration when you quirk a brow at him, making the man almost fall to his knees and stutter uncontrollably. 

“I-I No I didn’t mean that-“

You giggle as you bravely take Hongjoongs hands in your own, shutting him up as you turn to your daughters standing in front of you, starstruck at your aura. 

“Outside, right?” you winked at them. 

“Right this way!” Eunseo enthusiastically leads you out back to the outdoor patio, a perfect view of the garden and lakeside coming into effect. Hongjoong slips his hand from yours, and slides it across your waist, pulling you into his side. 

“My parents are too cool” Eunbyeol sighs under her breath, watching from behind in awe.

Your ex-husband makes you swoon when he leans in to whisper softly. “You look breathtaking, sweetheart.” feeling an immense sense of pride at how lucky he was to make you the mother of his children. 

You blush, turning to him to whisper playfully back. 

“Not bad yourself.” 

You both look forward when you come to a stop at the patio steps, sheer amazement at the full preparation your daughters did for this event. Fairy lights were hung around the area, a table with two chairs on either side placed with a white table cloth and a bouquet of freshly hand picked flowers from the forest, battery powered candles that were sold at the souvenir shop lit in the middle and glowing softly. 

Eunbyeol dashes to the door when it rings, making you and Hongjoong furrow your brows. 

“Is someone here?” he asks, watching Eunseo fold a napkin over her arm like the pro waiter she was. The other one walks out, an oily fast food paper bag in her hands as she smiles. “Dinner is served!” 

“Turns out that diner 15 minutes away also delivers!” She chuckled, helping her sister plate the two cheeseburgers, fries, and vanilla and strawberry milkshakes. 

You and Hongjoong continue to watch in stunned amazement as the girls prepare the not exactly gourmet(?) but still impressive meal in front of you, their small hands working swiftly. 

“You guys prepared all of this?” You asked, getting a little emotional. They grin proudly, nodding their heads. “We called the place earlier and planned it all by ourselves!”

You pressed a kiss to each of their soft cheeks, thanking them both as Hongjoong did the same. 

“What did I do to get so lucky with my girls?” he smiles, ruffling their heads. 

“What about you guys?” You asked, watching as they slowly backed away to give you two some privacy. 

“Natalie and her mom invited us over for dinner and a sleepover tonight at her cottage,” Eunbyeol smiles. At the mention of their newly made friend that they had gotten close to over the week, Hongjoong looks at you then back at them. 

“What? But- ”

She cuts him off, rolling her eyes. “Her mom said it’s totally fine with her. She’s only two cottages down, and she’ll make sure we’re back in time again for tomorrow when we leave!” 

The two girls smile in excitement, though the both of you have your parental instincts kick in. 

“Please?” they begged, wanting you to let them go so that they could do this for you guys as much as they wanted to do it for themselves. “She’s waiting for us now!”

Hongjoong feels guilty. “C’mon, you guys should still join us!”

Eunseo immediately shakes her head, declining the offer. 

“Tonight is all about you guys. We don’t want to intrude” she chuckles, bumping shoulders with her sister who chips in.

“We’ll text you guys in the middle to let you know everything’s good of course” 

You and Hongjoong smile, a feeling of immense proudness overwhelming you from seeing your daughters act so grown up. There wasn’t anything else you felt grateful for more. 

“Thank you girls.” you muttered softly, watching as they flashed you a wink before hurrying out through the backyard door. 

“Don’t get all kissy in the backyard!” Eunbyeol teases, making cheesy smooching sounds with the back of her hand as her sister rolls her eyes and shoves her out. 

Before you know it, you’re left standing with just the sound of smooth jazz playing on the patio speakers and the buzzing of the summer cicadas. 

“She takes after you, I hope you know that” You told Hongjoong softly.  

He chuckles, “Not as much as you.” He gestures to the table. “Shall we?” 

And that’s how the next few hours seem to pass by without even realizing. 

You see, there was a reason why you fell in love with the man sitting in front of you, and you’re just beginning to remember it now. Being with Hongjoong felt as if the moment was everlasting, and you could testify that from the amount of laughter and deep conversation that was shared over dinner, bringing you to sit on that patio until the sun had set. Every so often you’d smile again at the thought of the twins preparing this all for you. 

“I don’t remember the last time I’ve been on a date like this” You blurted out after laughing about something, taking a sip of your strawberry milkshake through a straw. 

“Oh, so we’re going on dates now, are we?” Hongjoong grins, making you roll your eyes at him. 

You lean forward on the table cloth, watching as a glimmer passes through your husband’s eyes while he sits back in his chair, cocking his head to the side as he clears his voice. 

“But you’ve gone on dates after we split, haven’t you?” he asks, leaning forward in interest now, letting his chin rest on his palm. 

You shook your head slowly.

“Nope. Not since signing those papers” you revealed. 

Hongjoong furrows his brows in surprise. “And why’s that?” 

You suddenly didn’t have an answer. “I-I don’t know, I just…” You began, watching how he looked at you with an unreadable expression. You smiled, looking down and suddenly feeling embarrassed. 

“I guess I was too focused on running the bridal shop, I couldn’t find the time to.” You use as a cliche excuse. 

“Bullshit” he retorts back immediately. 

“It’s true!” You protested, throwing a fry at him that he dodges, landing on his finished plate. 

“You always did say back when we were younger that you wanted to be a designer. And look at you now” he admires, letting the candle lights shine a youthful glow to your face. 

“You always said you wanted to become a music producer and write your own songs.” you reciprocated, smiling as you soaked in the presence of one another. “And here you are now.” 

You think for a moment before asking the same question. 

“How about you?” 

Hongjoong silently shakes his head as his answer, though silently thinking about something else. The music changes to some old Billy Joel song in the back. You don’t realize it, but Hongjoong smiles to himself when he realizes the girls added it to the playlist. Of course they had to, it was one of the songs you played at your wedding. 

“What were we thinking when we got married like that?” You asked out loud, looking at how far you’d both come. You definitely skipped some of the order of the stages of a normal relationship. 

“I mean, we had no money, no prospects. Hell, we didn’t even have a car, Hongjoong!” you realized.

Your husband laughs, sitting straight and letting some skin show through his unbuttoned collar. 

“We were young” he justifies. 

“Yeah, and stupid too,” you pointed out, feeling the summer breeze pass by. It felt good to sit here like this with him.

You wondered, could sitting here like this with Hongjoong be a regular thing? After this trip, would you be able to walk back into each other’s lives again like this? 

As both parents and lovers?

Hongjoong brings up something you wouldn’t have expected him to. 

“Do you remember when we first found out about Eunseo and Eunbyeol?” he questioned softly, looking at you. 

You blink, taken aback. Suddenly you’re back in your college dorm washroom, sobs wracking through your body as Hongjoong who had only just sent his first few mixtapes to recording stations and companies nearby, pulled you close into his chest, eyeing the two lines left on the counter while he caressed your back. Only twenty years old and figuring out what you wanted to do with your lives, you were suddenly stuck in a sudden situation that had made you feel like your dreams would have been given up on completely. 

“I do,” you told him, pulling yourself from the memory. 

“I remember because in that moment I felt like the whole world was caving in”. You laughed, though it wasn’t fully cheerful.

“I don’t regret it, though” Hongjoong replies after some thought, gazing at you with truth in his eyes. 

You shook your head. “Of course. Neither do I.” 

It was a blessing to have two beautiful daughters as the product of your love.

“I don’t regret you either.” Hongjoong states.

You lock gazes, unable to take your eyes off of his face. 

“I loved you when I first met you and I still loved you when we divorced,” he says all at once, making your breath hitch and heart waver. 

“Don’t say that.” you tell him, looking away and suddenly reminding yourself you’re still divorced from the man sitting in front of you. 

How could he still love you after all this time? How could you feel the same about him?

Hongjoong continues, shaking his head as he bites back the lodge in his throat and makes up his mind. He has to tell you. 

“Truthfully, I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving you.” 

Don’t do this to me you begged silently.

“I’ve hurt you just as much as you’ve hurt me.” He swallows, thinking back to the times you already knew he was referring to. The times where you fought to the point where there wasn’t even anything worth fighting for anymore. 

“But you have given me the greatest gifts of my life.” He smiles, holding his tears back.

“And for that I will always love you.”

You push your seat from the table, suddenly feeling overwhelmed and wanting to avoid him.

“I can’t do this anymore.” you dejected, walking away from the patio and from Hongjoong.

There wasn’t anything else you could fake anymore. You couldn’t bear to hear the man you once loved, possibly even still love, say these things like he had a dagger lodged in his heart. Didn’t he know he was only going to do the same to you?

Hongjoong is quick to catch up, holding onto your wrist and turning you around, that your back collides with the nearest wall inside, pressing your fronts together and closing the distance.

“Why do you always run away from me? From the possibility of us?” He exclaimed, voice breaking. His heart crushed at the way you turned your head, hot tears already clouding your vision. 

“Because ‘us’ can’t happen again, Hongjoong!” You cried, staring up at the man you once promised your life to.

“Don’t you get it? Us going on this trip isn’t a sign to get back together. What would we do seven years after breaking up?”

“We could do it” He states firmly, staring you down, both your chests heaving.

You bite your tears back again. “No we couldn’t, honey. We would be pretending to think we solved our marriage. What would we do about our daughters? After putting them through our constant fighting— ”

He slams his lips to your own, shutting you up as you painfully resist his touch. Your hands came up to push him away, but at the sudden gesture, you’re already giving in and sobbing softly, letting him hold you for just one last time. 

Your lips mold so perfectly, it almost hurts how much you missed this feeling. To have him slot his arms around your waist, pull you in close, and cherish you. You almost forgot this feeling. 

He pulls away softly, watching your lashes flutter, pleading to you for a chance as he leans closer, making your breath hitch. 

“We could be together as a family again,” he states firmly, your name leaving his lips in a desperate plea. “We never know if we try—”

You drown out his words, looking up with tears falling as you cut him off. 

“Seven years ago I gave you those papers to sign, thinking that you would’ve chased after me,” 

Hongjoong holds his breath, watching as the next words stumble from your mouth. 

“I realize now, how stupid I was to think that.”

“I didn’t know you wanted me to chase you”

Shoving his chest away while mustering the last of your strength you uttered. “Of course I wanted you to chase me.” You let go of his hands. “It’s too late either way”, walking away from the defeated man.

Hongjoong stands alone near the patio entrance, watching his tears fall to the wooden floorboards. Holding the ring he had kept hidden in his trouser pocket, he plays with it in his fingers, silently wishing he had given it to you sooner. 

It rains the next morning on your departure back to the city. Perfect, considering it reflects the sudden storm of utter depression that falls upon your family. Long gone are the cheerful giggles and longing stares that were shared between you and Hongjoong during the ride to the cottage. 

There was no room for that, not after last night.

Eunbyeol and Eunseo sat slumped in the backseat, rain hitting the roof of the car as they mindlessly played on their cell phones. Really, they were peeking from behind every so often and watching their parents sit in the front seat with tension so thick, you could’ve cut it with a knife. 

What had they done wrong? They planned the trip, the activities, the dinner— it was all perfect. And yet why were you still fighting with each other? 

These questions racked in their brains, baffled to have witnessed the sight of their parents refusing to talk to each other after walking back from their friends' sleepover. 

Eunbyeol and Eunseo felt as useful as matchmakers without a couple, feeling their efforts all gone down the drain. 

At the sudden ring of your cell phone, you pick up, answering at the voice of your assistant. 

“I’m driving back up right now”

Hongjoong continues focusing on the road, the occasional wiping of rain from the windshield wipers on the front window. 

“Yes. That’s okay, I'll take care of it.” You muttered, glancing at the rear view mirror for a moment. Your twin daughters immediately sigh, having an idea of what to expect when you say those familiar words. 

“Thanks for letting me know.” 

You hang up the phone, 

“One of us isn’t going with you, are we?” Eunseo asks, making you look back at her with a sigh. 

“No, you’re not” You confess, apologetic. ‘I’m sorry honey. I really am.”

You look back facing the front, swallowing as you told Hongjoong. 

“You’ll have to drop me off at the studio. Some things aren’t working out with the client so they need me to come in and take care of it.”

He nods, unphased as he continues to look straight. 

“Will you be fine with the girls?” You asked carefully, watching them as they were slumped in the backseat.

Hongjoong grips the wheel before turning to you. 

“I‘ll be fine. Don’t worry about it” sending a small smile, though it doesn’t fully reach his eyes. 

The twins thank god that at least neither of them had to choose to go back home with either parent. 

They would’ve hated that more. 

After barely being able to depart and say goodbye to your daughters in front of your studio, holding them close for a warm embrace and thanking them for an unforgettable weekend, Hongjoong drives off with his daughters, an empty feeling cascading his thoughts. He puts on a smile still, trying to cheer up his girls. 

“What do you want to do first when we go home? Want to unpack and then eat? We can eat and then unpack. Or we could- ”

Eunseo crosses her arms, having been fed up for far too long.

“Dad, you must be out of your mind.” 

Hongjoong stills, furrowing his brows and peeking at the first born who crosses her arms, holding an attitude. 

“Eunseo, what are you- ” 

“You’re telling me you and Mom just spent a whole entire week together at the cottage, had the best time of your lives since separating with one another, and now you’re just going to go back to not speaking or talking to each other again?”

Hongjoong blinks at his daughter’s sudden outburst, already making a turn into the driveway of his house.  

Eunbyeol now reciprocates her twin, looking at her dad as she slouches beside him, coming near the front seat area. 

“She’s got a point dad. Do you really just not love mom anymore?” She worries, looking up at him genuinely concerned. 

Hongjoong doesn’t know how to answer these sudden questions right now, stuttering to reply.

“Me and your mother are fine!” He lies, trying to reassure them. “That trip wasn’t just for us, it was also for you two to enjoy— ”

Eunseo asks the million dollar question. 

“If you still love Mom, why are you letting her go a second time?” 

With the engine turned off, it's gone silent. Two pairs of eyes staring at their father, awaiting his response. 

“Well? Are you going to chase after her or not?!” Eunbyeol groans, her fathers lack of response making her pull her hair. 

They were right. How could he have made the same stupid mistake twice?

Hongjoong struggles to put the keys back in the engine, telling them to put their seat belts back on. Their eyes begin to glow with hope.

“Do you girls mind staying at your uncle’s for a bit?” He asks hurriedly, punching into his cell phone to call his brother for a favor as he pulls out of the driveway. Eunbyeol squeals, hands clamping over her mouth as her sister speaks on behalf of them both. 

“Dad, if you don’t drop us off and get your butt over to mom’s right away, I’m gonna report you to child services.” she threatens, watching as he steps on the accelerator, heart pumping so fast as he smiles through the rear view mirror.

You sighed, holding up your cellphone to your ear. 

“Call me once she approves the design then,” you told your assistant through the receiver, one hand looking over the sheets of paper, highlighting the changes to the new blueprint. 

“Alright then, bye.” 

After hanging up the phone, you rubbed your temples, head pounding as you tucked the files back into the folder. 

The clock in your studio showed the hands about to reach seven pm. A few hours had already passed since coming back from your trip to the cottage, trying to forget everything by burying your focus into the new dress prints a client of yours requested, remodeling them after the original was rejected. 

Fingers worked away swiftly, comparing textiles and fabrics as you looked at the piles of papers and messy sticky notes in front of you. But yet the gears in your mind seemed to churn achingly slow, sighing as you repeatedly told yourself the same thing. 

Just focus on the dress, focus on the dress, focus on the dress.

Don’t think about him. 

The task is impossible. Your mind can’t help but slip back to what your relationship has become with Hongjoong, and what you were going to do now that those seven days were over. For so long you had deprived yourself from indulging in your love life, prioritizing taking care of Eunseo and Eunbyeol while juggling your job as a designer. Had you been doing it all wrong? 

Hongjoong’s words repeat in your head like a broken record player. 

I will always love you

Lies. That promise couldn’t be kept. Your divorce was a clear outcome of it. You and Hongjoong were two people not meant for one another. You were too different, all you would do is hurt one another, make life an unbearable living hell—

And yet you missed him. You missed Hongjoong so much. 

What was fucking keeping you from loving him? Was it your stubbornness? Was it really the fact that he didn’t chase after you? Or was it none of that and just your own self being stupid?

The front door of the studio opens, pulling you from your thoughts as you got back to the sketches. You called up from your desk as you worked quietly. 

“The studios closed for the- ”

Heavy breathing. The man who just walked in catches his breath from dashing out of his car and up the three flights of stairs, driving through almost an hour of traffic in pouring rain to be here in this moment with you.

“Hongjoong?”

He’s drenched, making a mess on the floor of the studio as the droplets fall softly one by one. 

Suddenly he's striding over to where you’re sitting in long steps before slamming his lips against yours. The kiss throws you off guard, the shock of his cold hands cradling your face makes you close the gap unknowingly. 

Linking your arms around his neck while kissing back passionately, you let your hands rest on his shoulders, pulling back for air as you panted heavily, catching your breaths and looking at each other with pure love and lust. 

“Why are you here?” you asked, feeling dumb because your heart already knew the answer. His hands wrap around your waist, desperate as if you would leave him again. 

But he’s just so fucking tired of that now. He just wants to love you now.

“I lost you once.” He breathes, eyes watering.

“I’m not going to lose you again”. 

Suddenly, everything that kept you from being with each other is thrown away. 

That hate, that fear, everything is gone because you realize you still needed each other. You’re still the same twenty year old couple standing in that dorm washroom, holding each other close and knowing it’ll be okay because at least you had each other. 

You grasp onto his damp shirt, pulling him down with such force that your lips meet again, taking charge as you finally allowed him to have you. 

“You’re a fucking idiot” you whined between kisses, curses escaping your lips when he softly bites the flesh of your neck to test the waters. “I hope you know that”

He agrees wholeheartedly, nodding as if he was already getting pussydrunk.

“I’m an idiot” he mumbles to himself, letting it escape his lips like a mantra. Well, he was stupid enough to only chase after you this late, so if his wife told him he was an idiot, then so he was.

“Let me prove how much I love you,” a hand comes to graze near the collar of your shirt. 

You gasped, watching as Hongjoong lifted you from your seat and rutted his hips against your core pathetically, your ass digging into the edge of the table.

“Here?” Your eyes widened, watching his expression turn dark. He presses kisses on your collarbone, making your hands grasp the wood for support. “Hongjoong wait,” you exhaled in a deep breath, heart beating against your chest.

But he doesn’t give a shit. He’s tired of waiting. 

“It’s been too fucking long” he protests, ripping your top off. You’re dizzy from how abruptly he’s stripping you, latching onto his shoulders for support as you wobble from him unzipping your jeans and pushing them down, exposing you in nothing but your underwear and bra. 

And like the good little whore you are, you immediately spread your legs, letting Hongjoong get a view of the embarrassingly wet patch leaking through your panties as he’s crouched down to let you step out of the denim near your ankles.

Holy fucking shit

You stand bashfully, toes curling from how exposed and vulnerable you were being the only one naked. 

“Please?” you asked nicely, letting your foot rest on his shoulder as your pussy was now on full display for him.

You don’t have time to even finish the last word before Hongjoong dives in, lapping at your soaking cunt and humming in pure ecstasy at the taste. The muffled vibrations make you throw your head back, tugging on his locks to shove his face further. 

Hongjoong’s hands press into your thighs that cage his head in, leaving a grip that you guarantee with littering the flesh with red splotchy bruises. Did you mind? Not at all.

When his tongue pokes at the gummy flesh of your walls, you let out a full moan, echoing throughout the studio as the air begins to smell like sex. 

“Right there, yes” you urged him, leg beginning to shake from how weak it was getting. 

He's so invested, you fear he might suffocate any longer if he doesn’t pull back for air. So you grasp his head, pushing him away from his meal while you both gasped lightly.

You watch him wipe his slick covered chin with the back of his hand, not breaking eye contact as he stares. 

“You were just begging to be fucked for all these years, weren’t you sweetheart?” He teases. 

Though you wanted him to lap at your juices until you came, you knew you needed to still feel his cock inside after so long. 

Your fingers played with the hem of your underwear, smiling back at your husband. 

“And you were just begging to get a taste of this pussy, weren’t you, Joong?” wiping that smug grin off his face.

”Lay down for me” he demands, getting up so that one hand finds its way to the back of your bra to unclasp it. The other clears half your desk covered in wedding dress blueprints and sketches, making sure nothing would make you uncomfortable before he fucked you on that mahogany surface so all you’d remember would be his name. 

And people said romance was dead. 

When the bra slides off and your bare back hits your desk, you suddenly realize what Hongjoong’s intention was when he ordered you to do that. 

Soft mounds spill out as your breasts take their natural form, giving Hongjoong the perfect view of your tits. Pervert. 

He immediately latches his tongue on a nipple, taking his hand and playing with the other, twisting painfully. 

A cry escapes your lips, parting them open as you let him play with them as much as he wanted to. He smiles against the motherfuckers, knowing that shut you up perfectly. 

“Are you ready for me to fuck you now?”

“Please, Joong, I need you” you whined, submitting yourself to your husband. He already knows you’re in need of one last kiss, coming up to give his wife what she wants by slotting his lips against yours again, this time much harsher. 

“Tell me so that I treat you good, baby” he mumbles, pulling back and making you clench your thighs together. He undoes his shirt in the meantime, unbuckling his belt and pressing a sweet kiss to your cheek when you sobbed. 

“Fuck me, please” 

His fingers slide your panties to the side to press his aching tip to your wet core. 

“Like this?” He teases.

“Inside, Hongjoong” you emphasized, meaning what you said with the way your nails dug into a pile of papers nearby. Biting your lip from how sensitive and needy your cunt was. 

“I know, I know,” he murmured, smiling to himself after messing with you. 

“I just missed this pretty cunt” before in one strong thrust, Hongjoong’s bulging tip enters inside your walls, giving you a stretch you forgot how much you loved. You whined softly. 

“Shit” he curses, relishing how the buildup finally led to this moment. 

The man is ravenous, but he’s genuinely trying his best to ease the painful stretch as you adjust to his thickness, nipping your neck in a trail of hickeys and love bites posessively.

With every thrust he makes, you arch your back, pencils and papers shuffling near by you. 

“Fucking look at my wife” he admires proudly, watching the woman he loves bounce her tits at every thrust of his cock. 

“S’too much” you caved in, shaking your head at the stimulation. 

You claw at his arms, head turning to the side as your eyes roll back from pleasure. 

“I know, mama, I know” 

He grabs a tit in his left hand, the right one coming down to play with your clit, pressing slow circles near where you were connected. 

“Fuck, I missed these” He rasps, savouring the feeling of your soft flesh in his hand, making you throw your head back. 

“Missed how they looked when you were pregnant” he says, thinking of how ethereal you looked when you were knocked up with his kids. 

“God, at this point I’m gonna get you fucking pregnant again” Hongjoong grunts, snapping his hips deliriously back and forth. He envisions you round and full, fulfilling his inner fantasy. 

“Shut up.” You spat, breaking the mood as you bit your lip to suppress a moan. He almost laughs when you then crane your hips back to give him easier access to keep penetrating you. The desk shuffles. 

“Your mouth is saying one thing, honey, but your body is saying something else” 

After hearing his words, you suck him in further, both of you now getting close. 

“M’close. M’so close!” you whimpered, sitting up so that now Hongjoong could hold you in his arms, caging your body so his cock could stuff you better. 

Your mouth hangs open in silent bliss, hands scratching his back. You leaned into his ear, making the final chord inside him snap. 

“Make me cum, daddy” 

And just like that, you’re clenching around Hongjoong’s massive cock as a creamy white ring begins to form. Hot ropes fill you up inside, tangled in a sweaty mess as he purrs, caressing the back of your head again in habit. 

“So fucking good, sweetheart. You did so good for me”

The sounds of your breathing fill the studio, a pencil or two rolling quietly away on the ground from being shoved off the desk. He shakes his head when you try to pull your sweaty bodies away, hair sticking to your neck but feeling the way he refuses. 

“Just let me love you,” he mumbles into your shoulder, dick softening inside you. “Just for a moment.”

You’re too tired to say anything back, so you finally give in. 

Seven years passed by you two without even realizing how much you still loved each other. Though you wouldn’t be able to get that time back, for once, there was something that you and Hongjoong agreed upon. 

You had no intention of wasting that time any more. 

𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄:

Months later, and it still takes everything in Eunbyeol and Eunseo hearts to not scream at the sight of their parents when they walk hand in hand, smiling happily in public as they pick their daughters up from the first day of school. 

The girls jump into their parent’s embrace, eying the two silver rings they now wore proudly together. 

“How was school, darlings?” Hongjoong asks, pressing a kiss to Eunseo and Eunbyeol. 

“It was fun! We watched a documentary about lovebirds” she smiled, looking back up. You laughed softly.

“Which reminded me to tell you,” she grins, watching as you, her sister, and father all looked at her. 

“I hope you know that getting you and dad back together was my plan from the start.” she confesses, smirking at Eunbyeol who scoffs, crossing her arms. 

“Nuh uh, this was my idea first!” 

Before her sister could yell at her twin, you jumped in. 

“Plan? What plan?” You asked quizzically, both you and Hongjoong standing there confused.

“To get you guys to fall back in love again, of course!” Eunseo smiles, both her and her sister now giggling softly together.  

“How am I just finding out that there was a plan?” Hongjoong mutters, scratching his neck in confusion. You turned to the two girls, stopping in your tracks on your way to the car

“When did you two even think of all this?” grinning in astonishment as you felt Hongjoong slot his hand and intertwine it with yours. It felt natural now.

“Yeah, I'm curious too” he states, leaning close and becoming intrigued.

Your daughters look at each other before smiling. 

“It’s a long story.”

But at last, time is something you finally now have as a reunited family of four, walking back to your car, holding hands with a twin on each side.

Listening carefully, as your daughters start from the very beginning.

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[mostlysignssomeportents]

The long, bloody lineage of private equity's looting

Tomorrow (June 3) at 1:30PM, I’m in Edinburgh for the Cymera Festival on a panel with Nina Allen and Ian McDonald.

Monday (June 5) at 7:15PM, I’m in London at the British Library with my novel Red Team Blues, hosted by Baroness Martha Lane Fox.

Fans of the Sopranos will remember the “bust out” as a mob tactic in which a business is taken over, loaded up with debt, and driven into the ground, wrecking the lives of the business’s workers, customers and suppliers. When the mafia does this, we call it a bust out; when Wall Street does it, we call it “private equity.”

It used to be that we rarely heard about private equity, but then, as national chains and iconic companies started to vanish, this mysterious financial arrangement popped up with increasing frequency. When a finance bro’s presentation on why Olive Garden needed to be re-orged when viral, there was a lot off snickering about the decline of a tacky business whose value prop was unlimited carbs. But the bro was working for Starboard Value, a hedge fund that specialized in buhying out and killing off companies, pocketing billions while destroying profitable businesses.

https://www.salon.com/2014/09/17/the_real_olive_garden_scandal_why_greedy_hedge_funders_suddenly_care_so_much_about_breadsticks/

Starboard Value’s game was straightforward: buy a business, load it with debt, sell off its physical plant — the buildings it did business out of — pay itself, and then have the business lease back the buildings, bleeding out money until it collapsed. They pulled it with Red Lobster,and the point of the viral Olive Garden dis track was to soften up the company for its own bust out.

The bust out tactic wasn’t limited to mocking middlebrow family restaurants. For years, the crooks who ran these ops did a brisk trade in blaming the internet. Why did Sears tank? Everyone knows that the 19th century business was an antique, incapable of mounting a challenge in the age of e-commerce. That was a great smokescreen for an old-fashioned bust out that saw corporate looters make off with hundreds of millions, leaving behind empty storefronts and emptier pension accounts for the workers who built the wealth the looters stole:

https://prospect.org/economy/vulture-capitalism-killed-sears/

Same goes for Toys R Us: it wasn’t Amazon that killed the iconic toy retailer — it was the PE bosses who extracted $200m from the chain, then walked away, hands in pockets and whistling, while the businesses collapsed and the workers got zero severance:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/06/01/how-can-they-walk-away-with-millions-and-leave-workers-with-zero-toys-r-us-workers-say-they-deserve-severance/

It’s a good racket — for the racketeers. Private equity has grown from a finance sideshow to Wall Street’s apex predator, and it’s devouring the real economy through a string of audactious bust outs, each more consequential and depraved than the last.

As PE shows that it can turn profitable businesses gigantic windfalls, sticking the rest of us with the job of sorting out the smoking craters they leave behind, more and more investors are piling in. Today, the PE sector loves a rollup, which is when they buy several related businesses and merge them into one firm. The nominal business-case for a rollup is that the new, bigger firm is more “efficient.” In reality, a rollup’s strength is in eliminating competition. When all the pet groomers, or funeral homes, or urgent care clinics for ten miles share the same owner, they can raise prices, lower wages, and fuck over suppliers.

They can also borrow. A quirk of the credit markets is that a standalone small business is valued at about 3–5x its annual revenues. But if that business is part of a large firm, it is valued at 10–20x annual turnover. That means that when a private equity company rolls up a comedy club, ad agency or water bottler (all businesses presently experiencing PE rollup), with $1m in annual revenues, it shows up on the PE company’s balance sheet as an asset worth $10–20m. That’s $10–20m worth of collateral the PE fund can stake for loans that let it buy and roll up more small businesses.

2.9 million Boomer-owned businesses, employing 32m people, are expected to sell in the next couple years as their owners retire. Most of these businesses will sell to PE firms, who can afford to pay more for them as a prelude to a bust out than anyone intending to operate them as a productive business could ever pay:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/16/schumpeterian-terrorism/#deliberately-broken

PE’s most ghastly impact is felt in the health care sector. Whole towns’ worth of emergency rooms, family practices, labs and other health firms have been scooped up by PE, which has spent more than $1t since 2012 on health acquisitions:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/17/the-doctor-will-fleece-you-now/#pe-in-full-effect

Once a health care company is owned by PE, it is significantly more likely to commit medicare fraud. It also cuts wages and staffing for doctors and nurses. PE-owned facilities do more unnecessary and often dangerous procedures. Appointments get shorter. The companies get embroiled in kickback scandals. PE-backed dentists hack away at children’s mouths, filling them full of root-canals.

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/17/the-doctor-will-fleece-you-now/#pe-in-full-effect

The Healthcare Private Equity Association boasts that its members are poised to spend more than $3t to create “the future of healthcare.”

https://hcpea.org/#!event-list

As bad as PE is for healthcare, it’s worse for long-term care. PE-owned nursing homes are charnel houses, and there’s a particularly nasty PE scam where elderly patients are tricked into signing up for palliative care, which is never delivered (and isn’t needed, because the patients aren’t dying!). These fake “hospices” get huge payouts from medicare — and the patient is made permanently ineligible for future medicare, because they are recorded being in their final decline:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/26/death-panels/#what-the-heck-is-going-on-with-CMS

Every part of the health care sector is being busted out by PE. Another ugly PE trick, the “club deal,” is devouring the medical supply business. Club deals were huge in the 2000s, destroying rent-controlled housing, energy companies, Mervyn’s department stores, Harrah’s, and Old Country Joe. Now it’s doing the same to medical supplies:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/14/billionaire-class-solidarity/#club-deals

Private equity is behind the mass rollup of single-family homes across America. Wall Street landlords are the worst landlords in America, who load up your rent with junk fees, leave your home in a state of dangerous disrepair, and evict you at the drop of a hat:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/16/die-miete-ist-zu-hoch/#assets-v-human-rights

As these houses decay through neglect, private equity makes a bundle from tenants and even more borrowing against the houses. In a few short years, much of America’s desperately undersupplied housing stock will be beyond repair. It’s a bust out.

You know all those exploding trains filled with dangerous chemicals that poison entire towns? Private equity bust outs:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/04/up-your-nose/#rail-barons

Where did PE come from? How can these people look themselves in the mirror? Why do we let them get away with it? How do we stop them?

Today in The American Prospect, Maureen Tkacik reviews two new books that try to answer all four of these questions, but really only manage to answer the first three:

https://prospect.org/culture/books/2023-06-02-days-of-plunder-morgenson-rosner-ballou-review/

The first of these books is These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs — and Wrecks — America by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner:

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/These-Are-the-Plunderers/Gretchen-Morgenson/9781982191283

The second is Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America, by Brendan Ballou:

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/brendan-ballou/plunder/9781541702103/

Both books describe the bust out from the inside. For example, PetSmart — looted for $30 billion by RaymondSvider and his PE fund BC Partners — is a slaughterhouse for animals. The company systematically neglects animals — failing to pay workers to come in and feed them, say, or refusing to provide backup power to run during power outages, letting animals freeze or roast to death. Though PetSmart has its own vet clinics, the company doesn’t want to pay its vets to nurse the animals it damages, so it denies them care. But the company is also too cheap to euthanize those animals, so it lets them starve to death. PetSmart is also too cheap to cremate the animals, so its traumatized staff are ordered to smuggle the dead, rotting animals into random dumpsters.

All this happened while PetSmart’s sales increased by 60%, matched by growth in the company’s gross margins. All that money went to the bust out.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoinegara/2021/09/27/the-30-billion-kitty-meet-the-investor-who-made-a-fortune-on-pet-food/

Tkacik says these books show that we’re finally getting wise to PE. Back in the Clinton years, the PE critique painted the perps as sharp operators who reduced quality and jacked up prices. Today, books like these paint these “investors” as the monsters they are — crooks whose bust ups are crimes, not clever finance hacks.

Take the Carlyle Group, which pioneered nursing home rollups. As Carlyle slashed wages, its workers suffered — but its elderly patients suffered more. Thousands of Carlyle “customers” died of “dehydration, gangrenous bedsores, and preventable falls” in the pre-covid years.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/opioid-overdoses-bedsores-and-broken-bones-what-happened-when-a-private-equity-firm-sought-profits-in-caring-for-societys-most-vulnerable/2018/11/25/09089a4a-ed14-11e8-baac-2a674e91502b_story.html

KKR, another PE monster, bought a second-hand chain of homes for mentally disabled adults from another PE company, then squeezed it for the last drops of blood left in the corpse. KKR cut wages to $8/hour and increased shifts to 36 hours, then threatened to have workers who went home early arrested and charged with “patient abandonment.” Many of these homes were often left with no staff at all, with patients left to starve and stew in their own waste.

PE loves to pick on people who can’t fight back: kids, sick people, disabled people, old people. No surprise, then, that PE loves prisons — the ultimate captive audience. HIG Capital is a $55b fund that owns TKC Holdings, who got the contract to feed the prisoners at 400 institutions. They got the contract after the prisons fired Aramark, owned by PE giant Warburg Pincus, whose food was so inedible that it provoked riots. TKC got a million bucks extra to take over the food at Michigan’s Kinross Correctional Facility, then, incredibly, made the food worse. A chef who refused to serve 100 bags of rotten potatoes (“the most disgusting thing I’ve seen in my life”) was fired:

https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/local/michigan/prison-food-worker-i-was-fired-for-refusing-to-serve-rotten-potatoes/69-467297770

TKC doesn’t just operate prison kitchens — it operates prison commissaries, where it gouges prisoners on junk food to replace the inedible slop it serves in the cafeteria. The prisoners buy this food with money they make working in the prison workshops, for $0.10–0.25/hour. Those workshops are also run by TKC.

Tkacic traces private equity back to the “corporate raiders” of the 1950s and 1960s, who “stealthily borrowed money to buy up enough shares in a small or midsized company to control its biggest bloc of votes, then force a stock swap and install himself as CEO.”

The most famous of these raiders was Eli Black, who took over United Fruit with this gambit — a company that had a long association with the CIA, who had obligingly toppled democratically elected governments and installed dictators friendly to United’s interests (this is where the term “banana republic” comes from).

Eli Black’s son is Leon Black, a notorious PE predator. Leon Black got his start working for the junk-bonds kingpin Michael Milken, optimizing Milken’s operation, which was the most terrifying bust out machine of its day, buying, debt-loading and wrecking a string of beloved American businesses. Milken bought 2,000 companies and put 200 of them through bankruptcy, leaving the survivors in a brittle, weakened state.

It got so bad that the Business Roundtable complained about the practice to Congress, calling Milken, Black, et al, “a small group is systematically extracting the equity from corporations and replacing it with debt, and incidentally accumulating major wealth.”

Black stabbed Milken in the back and tanked his business, then set out on his own. Among the businesses he destroyed was Samsonite, “a bankrupt-but-healthy company he subjected to 12 humiliating years of repeated fee extractions, debt-funded dividend payments, brutal plant closings, and hideous schemes to induce employees to buy its worthless stock.”

The money to buy Samsonite — and many other businesses — came through a shadowy deal between Black and John Garamendi, then a California insurance commissioner, now a California congressman. Garamendi helped Black buy a $6b portfolio of junk bonds from an insurance company in a wildly shady deal. Garamendi wrote down the bonds by $3.9b, stealing money “from innocent people who needed the money to pay for loved ones’ funerals, irreparable injuries, etc.”

Black ended up getting all kinds of favors from powerful politicians — including former Connecticut governor John Rowland and Donald Trump. He also wired $188m to Jeffrey Epstein for reasons that remain opaque.

Black’s shady deals are a marked contrast with the exalted political circles he travels in. Despite private equity’s obviously shady conduct, it is the preferred partner for cities and states, who buy everything from ambulance services to infrastructure from PE-owned companies, with disastrous results. Federal agencies turn a blind eye to their ripoffs, or even abet them. 38 state houses passed legislation immunizing nursing homes from liability during the start of the covid crisis.

PE barons are shameless about presenting themselves as upstanding cits, unfairly maligned. When Obama made an empty promise to tax billionaires in 2010, Blackstone founder SteveS chwarzman declared, “It’s a war. It’s like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.”

Since we’re on the subject of Hitler, this is a good spot to bring up Monowitz, a private-sector satellite of Auschwitz operated by IG Farben as a slave labor camp to make rubber and other materiel it supplied at a substantial markup to the wermacht. I’d never heard of Monowitz, but Tkacik’s description of the camp is chilling, even in comparison to Auschwitz itself.

Farben used slave laborers from Auschwitz to work at its rubber plant, but was frustrated by the logistics of moving those slaves down the 4.5m stretch of road to the facility. So the company bought 25,000 slaves — preferring children, who were cheaper — and installed them in a co-located death-camp called Monowitz:

https://www.commentary.org/articles/r-tannenbaum/the-devils-chemists-by-josiah-e-dubois-jr/

Monowitz was — incredibly — worse than Auschwitz. It was so bad, the SS guards who worked at it complained to Berlin about the conditions. The SS demanded more hospitals for the workers who dropped from beatings and overwork — Farben refused, citing the cost. The factory never produced a steady supply of rubber, but thanks to its gouging and the brutal treatment of its slaves, the camp was still profitable and returned large dividends to Farben’s investors.

Apologists for slavery sometimes claim that slavers are at least incentivized to maintain the health of their captive workforce. This was definitely not true of Farben. Monowitz slaves died on average after three months in the camp. And Farben’s subsidiary, Degesch, made the special Zyklon B formulation used in Auschwitz’s gas chambers.

Tkacik’s point is that the Nazis killed for ideology and were unimaginably cruel. Farben killed for money — and they were even worse. The banality of evil gets even more banal when it’s done in service to maximizing shareholder value.

As Farben historian Joseph Borkin wrote, the company “reduced slave labor to a consumable raw material, a human ore from which the mineral of life was systematically extracted”:

https://www.scribd.com/document/517797736/The-Crime-and-Punishment-of-I-G-Farben

Farben’s connection to the Nazis was a the subject of Germany’s Master Plan: The Story of Industrial Offensive, a 1943 bestseller by Borkin, who was also an antitrust lawyer. It described how Farben had manipulated global commodities markets in order to create shortages that “guaranteed Hitler’s early victories.”

Master Plan became a rallying point in the movement to shatter corporate power. But large US firms like Dow Chemical and Standard Oil waged war on the book, demanding that it be retracted. Borkin was forced into resignation and obscurity in 1945.

Meanwhile, in Nuremberg, 24 Farben executives were tried for their war crimes, and they cited their obligations to their shareholders in their defense. All but five were acquitted on this basis.

Seen in that light, the plunderers of today’s PE firms are part of a long and dishonorable tradition, one that puts profit ahead of every other priority or consideration. It’s a defense that wowed the judges at Nuremberg, so should we be surprised that it still plays in 2023?

Tkacik is frustrated that neither of these books have much to offer by way of solutions, but she understands why that would be. After all, if we can’t even close the carried interest tax loophole, how can we hope to do anything meaningful?

“Carried interest” comes up in every election cycle. Most of us assume it has something to do with “interest payments,” but that’s not true. The carried interest loophole relates to the “interest” that 16th-century sea captains had in their cargo. It’s a 600-year-old tax loophole that private equity bosses use to pay little or no tax on their billions. The fact that it’s still on the books tells you everything you need to know about whether our political class wants to do anything about PE’s plundering.

Notwithstanding Tkacik’s (entirely justified) skepticism of the weaksauce remedies proposed in these books, there is some hope of meaningful action. Private equity’s rollups are only possible because they skate under the $101m threshold for merger scrutiny. However, there is good — but unenforced — law that allows antitrust enforcers to block these mergers. This is the “incipiency standard” — Sec 7 of the Clayton Act — the idea that a relatively small merger might not be big enough to trigger enforcement action on its own, but regulators can still act to block it if it creates an incipient monopoly.

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/16/schumpeterian-terrorism/#deliberately-broken

The US has a new crop of aggressive — fearless — top antitrust enforcers and they’ve been systematically reviving these old laws to go after monopolies.

That’s long overdue. Markets are machines for eroding our moral values: “In comparison to non-market decisions, moral standards are significantly lower if people participate in markets.”

https://web.archive.org/web/20130607154129/https://www.uni-bonn.de/Press-releases/markets-erode-moral-values

The crimes that monsters commit in the name of ideology pale in comparison to the crimes the wealthy commit for money.

Catch me on tour with Red Team Blues in Edinburgh, London, and Berlin!

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/02/plunderers/#farbenizers

[Image ID: An overgrown graveyard, rendered in silver nitrate monochrome. A green-tinted businessman  with a moneybag in place of a head looms up from behind a gravestone. The right side of the image is spattered in blood.]

[evilminji]

I Ponder The Humble Blob Ghost!

You think they are what happens when you ALMOST but not quite A Ghost(tm)? Like, you have the ectoplasm and the will to continue... but you didn't really have A Thing in life? No Final Crystalizing Thought that brings focus? Just "ow! Ah! I'm scared. Don't wanna die!" And theeeeen.... *poof!*

Why am I Orb? Am squish? No bones.

Like? Remove any one piece of the Critical Formula and you get Blob instead of Ghost? Different KINDS, mind you, but blobs none the less.

Like Skulker! Not enough Ectoplasm. Ended up Blob. He CLEARLY had the Will, the Obsession, the gory end and unfinished business... buuuut? No green goo to power the creation of a full body. He clearly knows what he's supposed to LOOK like? But it's not something FIXABLE? Even with his now unlimited access to Ectoplasm.

Like in utero damage that permanently stunted his growth. HE is fine. All his facilities are on-line and checking in as they should, for the level of sentience expected of a ghost of his people. He just... smol. Same strength, intelligence, and power as he would have always HAD...

He just got handed a really, REALLY crap "customize your eternal meatsuit" option screen. Like for real guys. Basicly NO options. His salt is eternal and entirely justified. He could have had his tattoos. He paid a LOT of credits for those! Sat for DAYS! Had to track down this One(1) artist on this SHITTY little trading hub, that BARELY QUALIFIED as one, to sit in on uncomfortable overturned crate... IN A GAS MASK because the AIR SUPPORT KEPT KICKING IT... for hoooours!

It was a WORK OF ART. You would have CRIED.

This is BULLSHIT.

But wait, I hear you say, staring at the Blob ghost chewing on a lamp post. The one that has wii music playing behind the eyes. No thoughts, head jello, one might say. What about THEM?

Good point! Remember that formula?

LOT of Ecto! But THAT... might be either an animal or a fungus. We'd have to check. ANYTHING can and DOES die. If it's alive? It can die and potentially leave a ghost. But! Consider the noble Ghost Rabbit! *holds up squirming rabbit that is ABSOLUTELY trying to both bite me and kick me in the face* A noble and friendly creature!

THIS is what happens when an animal: has sufficient Ectoplasm at the death site, a reason to continue living (fairly common. It's usually their offspring, escape, the instinctual drive to survive itself or other understandable base drives. Like love, loyalty, or hunger.), and that all important High Emotions End.

Miss any of these? You get Blobbertson over there! He's clearly a hungry boy! But! Not very DRIVEN is he? Just floating along, chewing on whatever seems interesting, looking for a snack. He's food motivated. But not MOTIVATED motivated.

Blobbertson over there? A peaceful death. Too much Ectoplasm too leave, too food motivated in life NOT to carry over, but? No DRIVE. To DEFINE and DEMAND the Ectoplasm in his little body become sharp and active. No highly emotional state to stir it into action.

Is Blobbertson INCAPABLE of higher emotions? No. He is every bit as capable as the Ghost Rabbit that has savaged my hands and escaped while you were reading. It was, in fact, NOT as friendly as originally assumed. I may be bleeding. Unimportant. Blobbertson is PERFECTLY capable of getting attached. Being trained.

Whatever level of intelligence Blobbertson had in life, still remains. And WITH that? Comes the ability to improve and grow in death! IF (and this is the big one) he ever finds MOTIVATION to do so.

Because you see, Blobbertson is quite happy. No thoughts, brain jello. Drifting along in a happy green ocean like a jellyfish. Only concerned about his next snack. It's comforting. His food obsession filled, his tiny motivation barely enough to move him place to place.

He would GLADLY sit in one place and eat for the rest of eternity. Head blissfully silent.

And that's OKAY! It truly, honestly, is. Not everyone has to be conquers and kings, crafters and cosmonauts. Sometimes you just want to spend the rest of time playing in the sand. Resting on a sunshine-y hill. Not EVERY soul is a loud one.

This is the INFINITE Realms.

And there are places like Amity Park out there. THICK as cold honey with Ectoplasm in the air, gently infusing all the life that grows there with greater and greater chance of Ghost-hood. Even the peaceful blinking awake after that final rest to look down and... little nubby green paws.

Congratulations on becoming a Blob, grandma! Yes, I imagine you ARE furious it is inordinately difficult to knit like this. No, I don't think complaining to the king will help, MeMa.

That said? I can not tell you if Blob Ghost all belong to the same Family or the same Order, but they are NOT the same species! The WAY in which you fuck up that ever vital Fomula results in WILDLY different Blobs! Was it an animal? A sentient species? A sentient PLANET? A complexe interlocking colony of fungi? What was the EXACT Ectoplasm concentration at the death site? Was that the historical levels or the At Death levels? Was the individual under sedation?

Yes! All of this IS in fact, VERY relevant!

And you think it ends THERE? HA! The SKIES are FILLED with Fighty Mother Fuckers! Ghosts LOVE to fight! It's built into their social dynamics and hierarchy! Good ol brawls to get the Ecto pumping!

......Local Blob Farmer would like to take this moment to say "GET OF HIS GHOST PEONIES, YOU HEATHENS."

No they would NOT like to join your 24/7 thunder dome in the sky, THANKS! Martha here is trying to compose some Atlantian Shell Poetry. Blobby Jr of Blobbington and Blobbington Incorporated is TRYING to study! You've DESTROYED THE COMMUNAL ZEN GARDEN!!

Get! GET!!! *swings broom*

And THEN you look not even a mile east? And it's the floating island of Blobs. They LIKE that rock. It's just an ever shifting, accidentally rolling off the edge, falling slightly, making an offended squeek, and floating back to the top of the pile to repeate the process, MOOSH of thousands of blobs. No one's certain if they used to be seals or some sort of cat.

Apparently THAT island is Warm(tm).

So there they sit. Making contented noises, chirping and shoving for the best spots. They never leave. You can literally just... float up and sit on them. It's amazing. You gotta be careful not to get buried, but it's So Soft and bouncy? And they are ALL making that soft happy Blob vibrate noise. It's like a giant, island sized, warm and almost fuzzy but not, water bed that massages you.

Just DON'T start anything there! Holy SHIT are they territorial. You Will Die. They SWARM.

And THATS not even getting into the Blobs that are? Literally brainless. Some people eat those. Which? I guess? They ARE basicly Ectoplasm jello. But SOME of them are NOT? Like... it's a debate. Hot button issue, ya know?

Some fungus turns into Ecto Jello with negative IQ and delicious insides. Is this food? But OTHER fungus was SENTIENT in life and become a whole RANGE of Fungus ghosts, from Blob right on up to complexe dryad like ghosts! Clearly NOT food unless you are a MONSTER. But THEY argue the FIRST group are ALSO not food?

Plant Ghosts have strong opinions and are willing to Gruesome Violence about it.

Which brings us back to the Humble Blob Ghost! Check before you pet! That might be grandma! Or planning to eat your hand! Just as Mammal tells you little to nothing about what animal you are looking at, so too does Blob and Ghost! Stay safe out there! And if anyone sees a glowing green rabbit? I want my blood back! That's supposed to be in MY body! Rude!

This has been, the daily ghost!

@hdgnj @stealingyourbones

[tonkatsubowl]

OKAY OKAY KISTEN PLEASE I NEED SOMEONE TO HEAR ME OUT ON THIS

SO I SAW YOUR REWUESTS AND I DESPERATELY NEED TO REQUEST AVENTURINE CONTENT SO

aventurine X reader where they kiss and he hides it with his fedora LIKE YKWIM??? it could be like in a casino after he won a match or smth AAAA I'm feral for this man

Don't forget to drink water, eat and get enough sleep darling (๑⁠¯⁠◡⁠¯⁠๑⁠)

it was you and aventurine's date night.

the man was always occupied with his ipc business and work, but the moment aventurine surprised you with a date, you were enthusiastic! you quickly got ready, and you always donned upon a fancy dress or whatever you may preferred. you knew that aventurine always took you out to high-end, expensive places, so you always dressed for the occasion.

after several minutes of getting ready, aventurine decided to take you out to the casino located in penacony. the casino already had a built-in restaurant and some bars here and there, so you were ready for anything that your lover surprised you with.

the first part of the casino date was peaceful. he took you around and the both of you played a few games, won some credits here and there before he decided to take you to the finest restaurant inside of the casino.

you ordered an expensive plate of lobster after aventurine encouraged you to order something expensive. after all, the gambler had an unlimited amount of credits to spend on you. you were absolutely spoiled, and you always tried your best to order something expensive...but you were so used to purchasing and ordering something that was the least expensive.

the two of you sat together in harmony, eating, laughing together and sharing several glasses of wine...until a strange man in an expensive suit approached you both.

"you're aventurine?" the man spoke, and around his arms were interlocked by pleased women who laughed in unison. a rich man, possibly a gambler.

"the one and only, my friend," aventurine said, lifting his wine and giving the stranger a nod, "are you here to dine with us as well on this fine night?"

"oh, no, thank you. but i've heard rumors that you were unbeatable when it came to a game of chess, cards...or whatnot in this casino." he said, lifting his own sunglasses, "how about i challenge you to that?"

aventurine's already-apparent smile widens as he casts a glance to your direction before lowing his sunglasses a bit. "why, of course. how much credits are you willing to bet?"

"'bout five billion."

"deal."

you blinked.

five billion!? that was so much. did aventurine have that much? well, of course he did! he was one of the most wealthiest people out there. you blinked, before getting up from your seat before going towards your lover, "five billion?" you say with concern.

"awh," aventurine cooed, wrapping an arm around your waist as he continued to drink a glass of wine as he remained seated, "are you worried that i'll lose? i'm rather offended." he mused, chuckling.

"i mean... not really, but, that's so much!"

"ahaha," aventurine shook his head, "mere pocket change, really. let's hurry on and eat. i've a guest to attend to, my dear."

moments later, the two of you arrived at the designated location where the other gambler agreed to meet. the table was designed and made for poker games, with the casino affiliate in the middle. you had no idea how poker worked, or any of these gambling games worked, but all you knew was that you wanted aventurine to win.

as the two sat, you noticed that there was a crowd that emerged from the middle of nowhere. they began to mutter and murmur a few things about aventurine, and you remained close by his side.

"is that aventurine?"

"i hear he's undefeatable in the casinos..."

"do you think he'll lose?"

"is he single? who's that next to him?"

aventurine never wore off his smirk as he began to play the game of poker. the game was intense as the two were head-to-head. his competitor was smiling the entire time, but you can see that were was a drop of sweat traveling from his forehead and down to his cheek. the man was stressing, alright. and aventurine's frame remained relaxed as he kicked his legs up to the table.

"cash in." aventurine says, and the crowd behind him begins to murmur more. some cheered, some belittled him. but you didn't care- all what mattered was that aventurine won fair and squared.

both gamblers got up, shook each other's hands, and the other left, remaining you and aventurine (with the crowd of course).

"of course, i deserve my victory kiss," aventurine coos towards you. you blink in confusion, unable to respond quickly enough before the man quickly reels you in for a kiss. he lifts his fedora over to conceal the kiss, shutting down any rumors of him being single in front of everyone.

your face turns red as you reciprocate the kiss, feeling his arms wrap around your waist to pull you in. "you taste like fine wine," he murmurs with a chuckle as he pulls away a little bit, "delicious."

"n-not in front of everyone!" you stammered, covering your face a bit.

"oh, come on now, (y/n). this is a good opportunity to show the world that you're mine, you know."

your flush had only darkened as the man reeled you in for another kiss once more.

oh, you were going to kick his ass later (in bed).

[chiiyuuvv]

Hiya sweetheart, can I request Riize and where they’d take you on a first date? Ty 💖

• PAIRING — riize x gn reader (i think again??😭 i have really bad memory omg)

• GENRE — some shyyy, some confident, some in the middle.. i really had a fun time writing this

• WORD COUNT — 732

• AUTHOR'S NOTE — ty for requesting!!

• TAGLIST — @moonlightdarlings • FULL CREDIT — @moonlightdarlings (i really feel bad for pestering you for ideas, when i didnt do anything so tyty and sorry :<)

MASTERLIST! – JOIN THE TAGLIST!

SHOTARO ☆

Shotaro would take you to a firework show at the beach!!

Would get a towel and gesture you to sit down, scooting right beside you

Using this time to get to know you more but just cant because how the wind is flowing your hair, the blue and red hue coloring you face makes you look even better

Small pda because he really likes you, but doesnt want to scare you away. His hand ghosting over yours until he finally gets the courage to hold it, looking down when you look at him

Say how pretty the fireworks are, but really he's just stealing glances at you and your smile

EUNSEOK ☆

At home date!!

Knows you spend a lot of time talking about your favorite movies and shows, so he clears the living room, kicks out all the members and prepares the show plus a bunch of snacks

A little self doubt when you come because should the pillow be facing the other way?? Are the snacks too sugary??

But melts when you speal and give him a big hug

And you didnt hear it from me, but hes defo daydreaming about that hug for the next five business days 🤭 ♡

SUNGCHAN ☆

Amusement park!!

Lays at how silly your hair looks after being on the roller coaster, guesturing you to come here so he can fix it

But realizes what hes doing, quickly batting his hands away from your hair and shyly scratches his neck

Takes you to the gift shop so you could try on different headbands, everyone in the store mistaking you as a couple

Also takes you to the photo booth so you could take lots of silly pictures together, which he puts them all in his phone case. (There's a pic where you're doing a silly pose and sungchan is looking at you fondly, but we dont talk about that) ♡

WONBIN ☆

Shopping date!!

We all know how much wonbin likes his fashion but hes also really curious about yours, and is willing to try it

Takes you to a milion little shops to try on clothes and boy the compliments he gives you, he's your own fanboy

But when you compliment him, he quick denies it, his face red and he keeps shaking his head no (that rhymes)

Pays for all of your belongs even when you tell him not too. So in return, you give a peck to his cheek... in front of everyone ♡

SEUNGHAN ☆

Takes you to this very fancy, romantic, over expensive date

He's dressed all square with the sweetest cologne that makes your head spin

And please, lets not forgot how flirty he'd get. Leaning over the table to wipe something off of the side of your mouth, his lips inches from yours and you just stop breathing. Very reasonable

"You know what my black card and love have in common? They're unlimited." ... "You're so cute when your blushing."

I cant think of anything else, so lets just take a moment to scream :) ♡

SOHEE ☆

Aquarium date!!

Takes picture of you and the turtles but say how you look cuter

Also the type to start small pda; holding hands while looking at the animals (the way i cant just picture the grin on his face, the way he'd look down at you, the way his eyes would shrink and how shy he'd get. I'm jumping off a cliff)

Buys you matching plushies and keychains, taking pictures of it to post on Instagram later

And maybe even a kiss when hes walking you home, saying how fun the day was. And if thats moving too fast then you're eating food while watching the penguins. The choice is yours :) ♡

ANTON ☆

Picnic by the lake!!

He was a little nervous about the whole thing, second guessing himself but when you start talking to him, he forgets all of his thoughts.

Is just feeling so calm and relaxed, laughing at whatever you say with a grin

When you're talking, he would randomly look into your eyes, before getting shy and looking away

Groans when you tell him how cute hes being, telling you to shut up with that soft voice of his ♡

BONUS ☆

All of them would defo smile to themselves after the date was over

Would text you "next week, 7 pm?"

And just so happy and giddy, falling alseep with a smile on their faces ♡

[pneuma-themes]

Temperance: About Page #03 by @pneuma-themes

Be still, the dawn is breaking.

Live Preview / Get the code: [Pastebin] [Github]

A simple contained about page. An attempt was made to get out of my slump and back into the groove again before I got busy with real life again.

Features:

A social media links section with icons included

A custom links section. Depending on the width of your screen, you can add more than six links (as seen in the preview).

A short information section above the about body

A sidebar image. The size of the image (w x h) should be 30% of 80% of your screen width and the height should be 300px.

An unlimited space to write your biodata. Can be as long or as short as possible.

Javascript free, so it should be possible to use this page without asking for whitelist from the staff.

This is a page theme, so blog posts will not be displayed. Please install this through the Add new page link instead.

Customizable colors. Colors can be customized from :root section of the CSS.

Credits:

Sidebar image: @xathrid

Font: Rubik @ bunny.net

Icons: Boxicons

The code has been annotated for instructions on changing the icons and adding or removing the sections on the sidebar. Feel free to contact me if you find any difficulties!

Please like and reblog if you like or are using this!

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

02/09/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Day 30 in the Gravy Basket; Cast & Crew Lovely Letters; Resources; Starfury Convention; Astrodglide Fic/Pic Week 18+; New Watchparties; People of Earth; Wrecked; SchadenFreude; Coyote Vs Acme; Articles; Morale; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Tonight's Taika

Day 30 in the Gravy Basket. (FYI Long Post is LOOONG today was a very busy and long day) Well we made it folks, we made it to one month since Max cancelled OFMD and we're still going strong. Some CRAZY stuff has happened since then and some of our crew put together some fun lists of what's happened.

Thank you to @gheyandwoke on twitter for these memes:

And that's not even everything that happened! So just remember, when it feels like it's been way too damn long, A LOT has happened

== Cast & Crew Lovely Letters ==

For Valentine's Day we've set up a Kudos board for our cast & crew of OFMD! (it's on an unlimited version so make as many posts as you'd like!) You can send pictures, gifs, videos, or just text, and we'll be sharing it to them on valentine's day across as many platforms as we can.

== Resources ==

One of our crew members, Lady Penni, aka @Pellington21 on twitter was kind enough to send in a HUGE list of Positive Critic Quotes to the Repo today and they got added in. Speaking of Resources, do you have images/gifs/infographics/text you want to share with the crew? Please feel free to send them to our contact form over at the repo. @quirkysubject as well as some other crew members are being kind enough to help me get it filled in and up to date (as well as updating the accessibility) and we want to make sure if you want to share your resources you can! Let us know what name you'd like to be credited by and we'll get things uploaded! Repo Contact Form

= Starfury OFMD Fandom Convention =

So as a heads up, the first Our Flag Means Death specific event has been anounced by Starfury for Heathrow, UK 8 Nov - 10 Nov 2024. Details at www.starfury.co.uk I would like to point out as it's been brought up QUITE A BIT that it would be good to hold off buying tickets for now. Apparently Starfury is NOTORIOUS for saying certain guests will be there, when they haven't been confirmed yet (and they did that today with Rhys Darby) so it may be good to wait a bit before purchasing. This did cause some "Come to my convention" clowning for various people on twitter, which produced some fun stuff.

= Watch Parties/Events! =

= Astroglide Fic/Art Week 18+ =

You heard that right. 02/09/2024 - 02/25/2024 is Fic/Art Week

Please feel free to @Astroglide on twitter, or even here on tumblr @astroglideofficial and use the tags: #LubeAsACrew #SaveOFMD

= New Watch Parties! =

Thank you @iamadequate1 for getting these all in one place! Twitter Thread

Feb 12 - Feb 16: People of Earth S1

People of Earth is no longer on any streaming platform, but it is available for digital purchase (ex, on Amazon). If access is an issue, DM @gentlebeardsbarngrill

Season 1 watch next week from February 12th to February 16th.

Skipping the week after in case people want to participate in the n next Palestine strike.

Season 2 watch from February 26th to March 1st

Times will be 10pm GMT / 5pm EST / 4pm CST / 2pm PST.

Watch two episodes per day. Episodes are 21-22 minutes each.

Use the following Saturday for the tags/watch if interested but not able to make this time.

Hashtags:

#PiratesOfEarth

#SaveOFMD

#AdoptOurCrew

Mar 4 - Mar 8: Wrecked Season 1

Wrecked is no longer on any streaming platform, and it is not available digitally on US sites. (Apparently, it is available on German Amazon?) There are sources being passed around. If access is an issue, DM @gentlebeardsbarngrill

Season 1 watch from March 4th to March 8th.

Season 2 watch from March 11th to March 15th.

Season 3 watch from March 18th to March 22nd.

Times will be 10pm GMT / 5pm EST / 4pm CST / 2pm PST.

Watch two episodes per day. Episodes are 21-22 minutes each.

Use the following Saturday for the tags/watch if interested but not able to make this time.

Hashtags:

#WreckedPirates

#SaveOFMD

#ForOurCaptain

== SchadenFreude / Coyote Vs. Acme ==

So some crazy stuff happened today. Apparently Zaslav made a decision to not only remove Coyote Vs. Acme from Max but to shelve it so no one else could purchase it.

Wanna learn more? The Final Days of ‘Coyote vs. Acme’: Offers, Rejections and a Roadrunner Race Against Time | Exclusive

Coyote vs. Acme's Fate Might Have Been Sealed by Real Judge Doom David Zaslav

Now what does that have to do with Our Flag Means Death? Well, just like we've been seeing for weeks now the WBD stock has PLUMMETED like crazy since The Wrap article came out this morning.

It sent the following trends all over twitter: (Thank you Mich for capturing these!)

Wanna help out Coyote Vs. Acme? Please sign their petition to get it saved: Petition

Seeing this much negative press for WBD is great and shows it's not just OFMD they're cancelling, they're making crappy decisions left and right. The term "Zaslovian Blunder" was also coined today on the @saveofmdcrewmates tumblr:

*Zaslovian (adjective): to make a decision that is unanimously deemed absurd, that almost seems to purposefully damage one's reputation, company, self, and others.

== Articles ==

5 TV weddings to celebrate the 20th anniversary of same-sex marriage in San Francisco

Peak TV Is Officially Over: FX Tallies 14 Percent Drop in Scripted Series for 2023

== Morale ==

In honor of 85k signatures, our friend @lucyrosebutler on twitter shared the rest of her Cameo with Rhys. (We'll see if it explodes this post, please don't I will cry)

Full video clips on twitter.

== Morale Cont'd ==

Hey Lovelies. 30 days is a LONG time. I get that. I'm feeling it in my bones too. I want you to know it's totally normal if you are feeling frustrated, and exhausted, and just over all of this effort to get our show back.

It's okay to feel that way.

You don't need to be positive all the time, you're allowed to feel grief. I know we've grieved several times since the original announcement, but just like progress, grief isn't linear either.

It's going to come up again in waves, and hopefully those waves get smaller each time, but they will keep coming until we get our show back.

I say UNTIL WE GET OUR SHOW BACK, because despite my own frustrations, I don't really have any doubt that it will happen at this point, it's just a matter of when.

What makes me feel that way?

Chaos Dad's silence

The fact he hasn't told us to just stop cause there's no way it's gonna happen

The whole "everybody is ready to go" in Aotearoa we heard from Wee John Wondays

Rhys' continuous pile of support

The Cast and Crew being more active on social media again

The continuous positive press

and so many other little things that continue to happen that keep making it feel like we're inching forward.

I'm not an expert, I just have a feeling, based on staring at every happening that's happened over the past 30 days.

So if you need to, go grieve lovelies! Get mad, get frustrated, scream, cry, it's normal and it's healthy. You deserve to let feelings those out.

You are human, and you are wonderful, and you can't be a ray of sunshine all the time (nor should you have to be).

And for those of you who aren't grieving, and instead feeling renewed excitement, that's absolutely wonderful too. Don't feel like you have to grieve if that's not where you're at! Every one of us has a personal journey through all of this, and not one of us will share the exact same experience, so remember not to judge your progress based on everyone else.

Anyway, I'm rambling now, so on to the love notes:

== Love Notes ==

YOU are beautiful.

YOU are doing so damn well.

You are trying your best at whatever you're dealing with in your life, and you're kicking ass, no matter how much it doesn't feel like it some of the days.

You are a glorious piece of stardust, and whether you're shining bright or dim today, you are radiant.

Remember to breathe, and drink some water, and get some rest so you can keep shining.

Love you crew, hope wherever/whenever you are on this big blue marble you're doing well.

=Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika =

In honor of the Love Birds Watch Party I'm including it in tonight's theme. Idk about the Taika one, they seemed to match, or I'm just tired.

[in-any-universe-ever]

Legit wondering if Lucerys and drunkmond ever argued

I think this requires some background info first:

At the time that Viserys cut them off, Aemond is about 23 and Aegon is 25. Luke is 18.

Aemond and Aegon both work in the family business, so being "cut off" really means they no longer have access to their credit cards, which Viserys pays. They still have their income from their jobs, so they have money, but don't have unlimited money. Given that they've been partying like this for multiple years, they're used to racking up the tab and letting Daddy take care of it, so when they have to dip into their own bank accounts to pay a tab they're like "fuck shit fuck that's a lot of money and I still gotta pay the mortgage etc etc." They are by no means destitute.

Luke has just graduated HS and has also joined the Driftmark division of the family business (College? Who needs college? says Corlys), but instead of the territory being a whole world, all of these are just different neighborhoods or buildings (I haven't decided yet) within the same city, so they are all physically close to each other despite working in different areas.

Okay, so arguments:

It was late - obnoxiously late. Luke, worried about the hour, fell asleep on the couch in the living room when the side door opened and Aemond finally came home.

He knew this when he agreed to move in. He knew this when Aemond kissed him. He'd known this for years. Aemond liked to party. At first there was the excuse that he was supposed to keep an eye on Aegon, make sure Viserys' eldest son didn't ruin the reputation of the entire family, but that was just at first. It didn't take long for Aemond to become Aegon's party partner, able to match him round for round, always ready for more, always down for a line or two when offered. Luke knew this was just something Aemond did, but it wasn't who Aemond was. Because Aemond was a different person when he didn't party, and Luke was helplessly in love with that man.

Aemond partied a lot at the beginning. When Viserys cut them off, they were going out multiple times a week. The lack of financial assistance helped somewhat, and ultimately it was how Aemond and Luke started hanging out. What had been a regular occurrence became once a week, then once every other week, then even less when Helaena had the twins and Aegon attempted to be a responsible father.

But after Luke moved in, sometimes crept back to regularly, and Luke found himself paying the bills just to keep the lights on since Aemond used all of his own money at the club. Luke wasn't cut off, and he made plenty of money at Driftmark to cover their bills, but he couldn't keep funding Aemond's habits, especially if they were occurring so often his performance at work was tanking again.

So when Aemond stumbled down the hall toward the stairs, Luke wrapped himself up in a blanket and turned on the light, startling Aemond into falling over.

"What the fuck - oh, oh hello, beautiful."

"I'm not in the mood," Luke snapped. "Wake the fuck up; we're having a conversation right now."

"It's four in the morning, baby."

"I'm well aware what time it is. You were the one out partying all night while I waited on the couch staring at my phone to make sure I wouldn't get a phone call from the hospital saying you wandered into traffic and died."

Aemond rolled his eye.

"I know better than that."

"I seriously doubt it. Splash some water on your face and meet me in the living room in one minute."

Aemond begrudgingly obliged and looked slightly more alert when he joined Luke in the living room. Luke purposefully sat in the armchair to avoid Aemond sitting too close.

"I'm not doing this anymore," Luke said the moment Aemond sat down.

"Doing what, love?"

"I'm not funding your bad decisions. I refuse to wait up for you to come home, to worry all night that you're okay, to use all of my money to keep the house in order while you're out doing gods know what with gods know who. I'm done."

"You sound like my father," Aemond muttered.

"And evidently he did nothing to change your mind. I know you don't care about your father, but you care about me, so here's the deal: stop partying or I leave."

Luke expected an argument, but instead Aemond sunk into himself, six feet of overconfident bravado melting into a pathetic young man who hated himself.

"It's probably for the best, anyway. I was never good enough for you."

"Seven hells, Aemond, when are you going to see it?"

Aemond looked over; the unspoken question was there. See what? I can't see anything anymore.

"You are so wonderful when you're sober. You are by far my favorite person in the world. I love you so much and I -" Luke felt the tears in his eyes and cursed them, because he'd been steeling himself up to this for weeks and promised himself he wouldn't cry. "I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. Get married, have kids, build a real life with goals and happiness. How am I supposed to do that when you're gone all the time?"

"I'm sorry, Luke. I'm so sorry."

"I know you are. You always are."

Luke stood. "I won't leave tonight. It's late, we have to work in the morning, and you're not sober. Let's go to bed and talk about it again when you are, when you can think right."

They went to bed, and for the first time Luke slept at the edge, far from Aemond's reach.

It was just two hours later when the alarm woke them. Luke clicked it off and rolled over. Aemond's eye was open, bloodshot red for multiple reasons. He was frowning, grimacing really, and reached his hand out across the void of empty space in their bed. Luke hesitated but reached out his own. Aemond gripped it hard.

"I'll do it," Aemond said, his voice hoarse. "I'll stop for you."

Luke didn't hold onto hope, but nodded. "Then prove it."

And so Aemond did.

[junetorres]

You are everything

I saw a reddit post that can really help with manifesting/shifting

(credits to u/ketoish123 on reddit)

I feel like sharing this, since I want to help more people understand that they are in control of their reality.

It goes like this: Everything you see is god/universe/consciousness. (Prefer it as you'd like).

God is everything, from the person you're in love with, to the pens on your desk, to the money you wish to have, to your pets, to the nice cars you want, to the luxury house you want, to the chair or couch that you're sitting on.

And if everything is god, this means that you too must be god.

There is only one consciousness. One mind for everything. And you are the operant power of that mind.

Just you.

One thought. One mind, for the entire universe.

There's no one to appose your thoughts or tell you "no". There's no resistance or things in your way.

What you speak is the truth. Always.

For example you wish to make millions of dollars selling products in your online shop.

First realize that the desire is immediately fulfilled.

Why?

Because you are everything. You are god. And if everything you see In front of you is also god, this means you are already, that which you seek. You are not separate from anything.

What you say has to be true, because there is only one singular mind for this entire universe.

One thought.

And that's yours.

You are the products in your shop. You are the customers buying the product. You are the raving reviews. You are the million dollars they spend. You are the celebrities wanting to promote your product. You are the ads that go viral. You are the investors wanting to support your product. You are the bank tellers handing you your money. You are the bank itself.

Go even further and you realize,

You are all the money that will ever exist. All the money that will ever be spent. All the people that will purchase anything ever.

Go even further and realize,

You are abundance. You are wealth. You are success. You are support. You are creativity. You are passion.

You are everything because you are god.

You think for an entire universe. Just you.

For a visual, imagine the universe fits inside your body, imagine everything that has, and will exist in this "physical world" flows outwards from your internal universe.

It flows outwards from you. Your entire life you've been creating world tailored to your thoughts, whether you were aware of it or not.

But if you're reading this, you're awake, now, and you know this has only ever been a dream. A dream where you play every role, every character. A dream where you can do, and be quite literally, anything that you want.

There is nothing separate from, or outside you. It's all lives within you. Every last person, place, thing, feeling.

One mind for everything.

You give to yourself what it is you desire.

More examples for those who like them:

1. You want a specific job but you aren't technically qualified.

Think, if I am god, and god is everything, then I am the recruiter/interviewer. I am the business itself. I am the only mind. The only thought for the entire universe.

Therefore, I, as the operant power, give myself this job.

You now have the position.

2. You want to be with a specific person but they are not reaching out for you.

Think, if I am god, and god is everything, then I am the person I love, I am the person I wish to be with. (Sounds silly when you realize this).

I am the only mind, the only thought for the entire universe. Therefore I, as the operant power, choose to love myself. I choose to give myself the experience, of feeling loved and adored by the characters that I've created.

3. You want a specific amount of money:

Think, if I am god, and god is everything, then I am all the money to ever exist (Think of it like an unlimited bank account inside yourself.)

I am the only mind, the only thought for an entire universe. Therefore, I, as the operant power, choose to give myself $12,000,000 (or whichever amount you prefer). I choose to experience this wealth.

For those that say, okay, but where are my results in the physical world that this is true?

Realize, you are ALREADY everything. Everything that looks to be outside of you, IS YOURS, it is YOU. This entire planet and beyond is YOURS.

You're just choosing a particular experience from it.

So when you say "I don't have it", it makes no sense. You are everything. You've always been everything. You've always had everything. This reality you see, only exists because you are projecting it. You are the projector, without you, nothing exists.

Know that everything you want, you HAVE. Anything you wish to be, you ARE, and always HAVE BEEN.

Since birth, you've had the entire universe within you. It's never changed. You're only selecting which parts of it you wish to experience at any given moment.

As the universe, as god, you came here to experience yourself.

The world is the playground, meant for you to live out any desire you wish to experience as a "human".

There has always, and always will be, one mind, one thought, for all that exists, and that is yours.

"Be still, and know that I am God."

[kaitokitty19]

Pandora AU: Home pt. 2

Part 1

This is a Hakukai fic. Kaito found Pandora but became immortal while everyone around him aged. Full synopsis here

Warning: WoT, (physical) age gap, angst

-- Kaito woke alone. The other side of the bed cold as he stretched over, tried and failed to fill the empty space. He remembered going to bed alone last night, too. 

There were two unopened messages in his inbox from Saguru, telling him it was a case and not to wait up. Kaito liked the messages belatedly while brewing a pot of coffee. He was already asleep when they were sent; he wondered since when had he stopped waiting up for his lover.

Lately, Saguru worked overtime a lot. If it wasn’t shareholders meetings at the Hakuba Corps then it was consulting with local and international law enforcement. Not that Kaito didn’t understand. He had watched Aoko wait for her dad enough times to know that patience is always a necessity being around people like Inspector Nakamori and Saguru. And more than anyone, Kaito understood the need to spread his wings unhindered. The older Saguru had gotten, the more responsibility he shouldered. His family business needed him. MI6 needed him. So did Interpol and the Mets. He just thought that… 

Kaito huffed, blowing on the steam rising from his mug. He didn’t even like the taste of coffee, but Saguru did. He missed the essence of him in the morning. 

Well, whatever it was, he was sure it would tide over quickly.

------ “This point of the investigation is most crucial,” Saguru cracked up from poor signal on the other end, his voice apologetic over the speaker, but not enough to quench the bitterness that had started to creep into Kaito’s ribcage, spreading fast like poison. His trip to Prague with MI6 would extend to three weeks instead of just the one – if he was even in Prague at all, so classified was the nature of his work. This hadn’t been the first business trip extension, either. And next week was February 23rd.

“I see,” Kaito echoed from a faraway place, straining to stamp down the need for a screaming match. He was at work, he reminded himself, and the Collection Care and Research department at the Lourve isn’t the most bustling of places – Madeleine from one desk over had already piqued up sensing gossip. Besides, how could he point an accusatory finger at Saguru proclaiming the man heartless when he was out there saving people? He dusted off his poker face and put on a smile, even though Saguru couldn’t see it: “Tough case, huh?”

“Yeah,” Saguru returned, before bidding him a speedy goodbye and ending the call. 

Kaito didn’t hear from him for an entire week afterward.

Ah, just like high school, Kaito thought, returning another day to a dark, deserted apartment, endless strings of days waiting for a presence that is forever absent. He tossed the phone onto his pillow and threw himself onto the bed to look at the gorgeous ceiling moldings, gorgeous tall windows, and gorgeous view beyond the glass panels. Gorgeous and lonely and not much else. 

Kaito had free rein of the house, of course. Even Hakuba's beloved Aston Martin, his unlimited black card were here, liberatingly under his disposal… But the man himself was never around anymore. It was almost insulting. Kaito had started to feel more like a piece of collectible ornament than someone’s partner.

February 23rd came and went. For their anniversary, Saguru sent him rare gemstones and an ancient sculpture he didn’t care for, cakes and sweets he had no one to share with, and a teddy bear from Prague that he wanted to strangle. 

Kaito tried to be understanding. After all, just like Ekoda, Saguru would always come back to him… right?

One month passed. Then two months. At the three-month mark, Kaito sent Saguru a curt text, took an absence from work, and traveled. He bought one-way tickets, hopped from one continent to another and then back again, flying first class, living lavishly, determined to max out Saguru’s stupid credit card – that had to at least get his attention! 

To his dismay, he found the task seemingly insurmountable. And all his provocations received from Saguru was a lackluster “Do as you like.”

------

Kaito ended up where he had avoided for so long: Tokyo. And though he had notified no one of his visit, the moment he stepped through baggage claim, Kaito was greeted by one Koizumi Akako. 

"Not only had your body not aged but you stayed a child mentally,” She scoffed at him from across the table, over her cup of tea. One red, sharp fingernail tapped a slow rhythm onto the ceramic rim. “You really do stay true to your name. Just a KID after all." 

Kaito darted his eyes around, alerted. But Akihabara was as crowded as he remembered it; no one would mind a stranger’s conversation. The corner of Akako’s mouth stretched into a glossy, amused smirk in deep rouge as she watched him fidgeted. Over the years, she had aged gracefully. Youthful skirts and flats traded in for elegant pearls and stiletto. Her outfit simple in details but bold in its cut and its shade of scarlet. There was hardly any pepper in her hair, but he could see faint lines where she smiled. The enchantress was as intimidating as ever.

Kaito, too, had aged himself appropriately with prosthetics. But Akako always had her ways of knowing things. He frowned:

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You are here to run.” She accused cryptically, leaning over into his personal space and narrowing her eyes, “He’s drifting away from you, isn’t he?”

Kaito backed away, crossing his hands over his chest, defensive.

“It’s good to see you, Akako. But I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

Akako pressed on as if he hadn’t spoken:

“Why are you waiting? You have nothing tethering you back anymore. No more secrets. Why haven't you run after him?” Suddenly, she pulled back. With her petit teaspoon, the woman stirred her cup of Darjeeling tea once, twice. The swirling liquid barely had time to settle before Akako reached over and dumped the tea into his half-empty cup of hot chocolate.

“Hey!” Kaito yelped. 

Akako ignored him to keenly observe the bottom of her cup. She clicked her tongue and spoke without making eye contact.

“You might have all the time in the world, Kuroba, but the rest of us don’t. Especially him, your White Knight."

A thousand horrid scenarios flashed across his mind. Akako might be a cryptid and an occasional sadist, but he had never known her to joke around with people’s lives. Finally, it was fear that made Kaito bite:

“What am I supposed to do? He won’t talk to me! I don’t know what I did wrong.”

His old classmate looked at him like he was stupid before that crease between her brows eased into an exasperated look. She placed both elbows on the table and laced her fingers before resting her chin on top:

“My, my; are you saying that the legendary KID had no way of garnering the attention of one detective? How awfully out of practice you are.”

Something inside Kaito clicked. A lightbulb lit up. He stood at once, almost clumsily knocked over his chair. 

"Sorry, Akako, I have to go. And thanks!"

He simultaneously apologized and thanked her before beating a hasty retreat. Kaito had meant to check in on the Nakamoris, but it seemed reunion with Aoko would have to wait.

Looking out the window at his disappearing form, Akako could only huff:

"Idiots, the both of them." 

------

The Heist note was sent in two nights before the full moon, to the National Palace Museum of Korea. Kaito spent time making sure the note was perfect, that there would be no chance it could be disregarded as a mere prank, and went through the building blueprint five dozen times. The note’s arrival didn’t cause as much ruckus as he would have liked – people have grown skeptical during his absence. He couldn’t blame them; it had been nearly three decades after all. But, as the saying goes, the show must go on. He just hoped the Black Organization, too, belonged to the group of skeptics.

The target this time was a royal jade seal carved in the shape of a dragon. Once obtained without much challenge from the Seoul Metropolitan police, as a habit, Kaito raised the object toward the moonlight. The moon only cast a dim halo around it. The taste of disappointment was one Kaito found familiar.

Just when he was done putting the gem back, a troop of officers burst into the chamber. Kaito smiled at them and yielded himself over without a fight.

------

The officers didn’t know what to do with him. His ID, fingerprints, and passport were all legit in the immigration database, but his look didn’t match that of someone halfway over forty. He technically had yet to commit any major crime, and, as a legal alien, he was entitled to representation before they could proceed with the investigation. In the end, they threw him into one of those interrogation rooms with a one-way mirror to await further instructions from higher-ups.

He was slouching uncomfortably on his creaky metal chair when a Korean officer unlocked the heavy metal door. In walked Hakuba Saguru, tired and sleep-deprived, but dignified. He still donned that long, tan trench coat, and his height towered over that of the attending police officer. 

Their eyes met. They had not seen each other in half a year at that point. 

At the nod of his head, the officer went to uncuff Kaito. They were led out via the back entrance. In the hallway, Saguru put a black cap over Kaito’s messy mop of hair. Kaito wanted to reach up and take his hand; he didn’t. Instead, he was guided into the back of a nondescript black car while Saguru and the inspector in charge of the case chatted. Before long, they shook hands. His detective entered into the car next to Kaito, and tapped twice on the glass to signal their chauffeur to “drive”.

Just like that, Kaito was bailed out. He was half impressed, honestly. With his affluence and his various connections in the intelligence world, Hakuba Saguru wasn’t a man one could say no to. Kaito bet all the records and footage, too, had been wiped clean.

Their ride from the Seodaemun police station was quiet.

"Well?” He started. Saguru shot him a questioning look, “Say something." He urged.

"What do you want me to say?" Saguru gruffed out; he sounded tired. This was one of those rare moments when he looked his age to Kaito. Sometimes, he often forgot that everyone else around him had aged; Saguru was no exception. They stewed in that silence for long enough that the car stopped before a fancy hotel lobby. Kaito waited until the two of them were alone in the elevator before continuing.

"Oh, I don't know; ‘How did you gain access to the vault?’ ‘Why did you do it?’” He mimicked that sickly sweet voice to the T, “Isn't that what you detectives do? Prodding?"

Saguru breathed out a sigh. Kaito knew that sound. Just when he was about to be rejected and an end was put to their conversation, the elevator stopped, admitting two hotel patrons. They stayed in the background while the two American tourists chatted loudly, the tension thick and palpable.

At the forty-seventh floor, they emerged. Saguru made a beeline for the presidential suite. Kaito followed.

"Why did you do it?" At the door, Saguru’s curiosity finally won over. Kaito felt himself bodily piqued at an opening.

"I was waiting for you to show up.” Saguru had finished unlocking the door and turned to pass him a look of utter bewilderment. “My turn, where have you been."

“This isn’t ‘twenty questions’, Kaito,” Saguru groused, his temper rising, but he did not slam the door behind them, no. Hakuba Saguru is too well-bred for one such action. The door closed with a muted ‘click’. “What if they had shown up? We don’t know the extent of their reach. What if they had got to you while under custody?”

“Hmm… should have been ‘twenty questions’,” Replied Kaito impertinently, “So? Where were you?” 

Saguru gave up.

"All over North America. Argentina. Germany. Then… England, mostly."

"So you've been at home while I..." Kaito bit his tongue. Bit back the hurt. "Why are you avoiding me?" That part came out more of an accusation than a question.

Did I do something wrong? Was left on the tip of his tongue, unsaid.

"I don't know, Kaito, I thought I was giving you space. I don't want to... suffocate you," Kaito’s own word said carelessly months ago was suddenly thrown back at him, ringing in his ears like a piercing slap in the face.

"What the actual fuck, Hakubastard?!” He bellowed, “Is this all this is about?”

"You said it yourself, it’s suffocating building your life around another person. You don't need to feel indebted to me or anything. You owe me nothing.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Now it was Kaito’s turn to be bewildered. Saguru couldn’t meet his eyes. “Fuck, you are!”

“I'm not the same wild-eye high schooler when we met, Kai. I have aged much and I am weighed down by my commitments; you have the privilege of youth and you need your freedom, I get it. I’ll only hold you back."

Kaito barked out a hysterical laughter:

"And whose fucking fault was that? Who wished on Pandora? Who turned me into this freak of nature?"

Saguru cringed away as if burned.

"That's not entirely fair, Kaito."

Hah! Fair! Kaito turned around, found the nearest breakable object, and threw it on the floor. It was a fine ceramic vase. Looked expensive, but he didn’t care. Months of pent-up hurt and frustration were finally let loose and Kaito wanted to go to fucking war. Fuck Saguru. He can afford it. Kaito stomped away. He couldn’t even look at that idiot right now.

Kaito’s tantrum only served to aggravate Saguru further. The man was hot on Kaito’s heels into the next room instead of letting it go like Kaito had become accustomed to him doing.

"I... You...” his words stumbled, anger rendering such a man inarticulate, “What would you have me do, Kaito?! You were shot. You fell from a seven-story building. You were a bloody mess on the pavement. I couldn't even touch you for fear you would crumble under my fingers. The red staining your white regalia still haunts my dream to this day. No medic could have saved you. What would you have me do, Kaito? Watch the person I love die?"

"And now I get to watch mine die? You get to live the rest of your life with the person you love. What about me? I've been 17 for 28 years! Even when you pass away, I'll likely still be 17. And even before that you're already leaving me!"

Saguru staggered. 

“I’m not abandoning you. I’d never…” And just like that, all the fights were drained from his person. Saguru sat down on the edge of the bed, defeated. He was at once very weary: weary of the long flight and the time difference, of keeping himself away from Kaito, of this fight… and now the guilt he carried since that incident decades ago had finally done eating him up. "I didn't know about Pandora then. I'm sorry. I'd have happily traded my life if it meant you could continue living as you were"

"Don't. You. Dare." Kaito grunted out each word. Suddenly, Saguru was seized by the collar of his shirt and Kaito’s face was inches away from his. Blue sapphire alight with furry. He growled, "You made me this way, Hakubastard. You're not allowed to leave me. Ever."

And suddenly, Saguru was being kissed roughly. He hesitated for one millisecond but quickly found that he had no choice but to kiss back. Kaito tasted like desperation on his tongue, and he chased that acute flavor until it mellowed down into neediness. Kaito’s fingers half tangled, half tugged painfully on the hair at the base of his neck; and Saguru looped his arms around Kaito to steady him when he climbed onto his lap. What an intertwined mess they were, physically, emotionally.

Kaito bit him, and Saguru thought he sensed the tangy note of copper. Very well. Served him right for putting his Kaito through what he did. Somehow he always managed to make the wrong decision around Kaito. Logic seemed to escape him when it came to the man he loved.

They detangled at last. Both flushed and gaped for air. But Kaito immediately clung onto Saguru’s neck and tip them over onto the bed. He made no move to remove their coat or adjust them both into a more comfortable position. Right now, he just wanted to hold Saguru and be held. Saguru traced small circles onto his spine. Kaito shuddered.

"I'm sorry.” Saguru whispered lowly after a moment of silence, “I won't do it again. I just thought..."

"Shut up. For a world-renowned detective, you really are just a hebo Tantei."

"Sorry," Saguru chuckled and repeated himself.

Another quiet minute went by before the detective spoke again.

“Since you are so opposed to the idea of us ever leading lives independent from one another again; hypothetically, if I ask you to marry me, would you say yes?”

“Hypothetically?”

“Hypothetically.” Replied Saguru, trying not to think of his family heirloom ring he had kept in his pocket for 25 years, never finding the right time nor enough courage.

Kaito put on a show of deep contemplation – a fact that Saguru knew yet did not help his nerve one bit – before he took pity on Saguru and said:

“Then, hypothetically, I’d say yes.”

[eraserdude6226]

I copied this from someone else.  Very interesting and it really made me stop and think about using cash more often.  I have really never thought of this – has anyone else?

Please understand what NOT using cash is doing … and why cash is important.

Why should we pay cash everywhere we can with bank notes instead of a credit card?

I have a $50 bank note in my pocket.  Going to a restaurant and paying for dinner with it.  The restaurant owner then uses the bill to pay for the laundry.  The laundry owner then uses the bill to pay the barber.  The barber will then use the bill for shopping.  After an unlimited number of payments, it will still remain a $50 note, which has fulfilled its purpose to everyone who used it for payment and the bank is dry from every cash payment transaction made.

But if I come to a restaurant and pay digitally with my credit card and bank fees for my payment transaction charged to the seller are 3%, so around $1.50, and so will the fee be $1.50 for each further payment transaction or owner for the laundry or payments of the owner of the laundry shop, or payments of the barber etc.  Therefore, after 30 transactions, the initial $50 will remain only $5 and the remaining $45 will become the property of the bank thanks to all digital transactions and fees.

Small businesses need your help and this is one way to help ourselves too.  Pull small draws of cash out at a time and use that instead of tap, credit, etc.  When this is put into perspective, imagine what each retailer is paying on a monthly basis in fees at 3% per transaction through their POS machine.  If they have, for example, $50,000 in sales & 90% are by Card, they are paying $1500 in fees in ONE Month. $18,000 in a year! That comes out of their income every month.

That would go a long way to helping that small business provide for its family!

[sixbucks]

Please understand what NOT using cash is doing !!!

Cash is important!

Why should we pay cash everywhere with banknotes instead of a card?

I have a $50 banknote in my pocket. Going to a restaurant and paying for dinner with it. The restaurant owner then uses the bill to pay for the laundry. The laundry owner then uses the bill to pay the barber. The barber will then use the bill for shopping. After an unlimited number of payments, it will still remain a $50, which has fulfilled its purpose to everyone who used it for payment and the bank has jumped dry from every cash payment transaction made...

But if I come to a restaurant and pay digitally - Card, and bank fees for my payment transaction charged to the seller are 3%, so around $1.50 and so will the fee $1.50 for each further payment transaction or owner re laundry or payments of the owner of the laundry shop, or payments of the barber etc..... Therefore, after 30 transactions, the initial $50 will remain only $5 and the remaining $45 became the property of the bank thanks to all digital transactions and fees.

Small businesses need your help and this is one way to help ourselves too. Pull small draws of cash out at a time and use that instead of tap, credit, etc.

When this is put into perspective, imagine what each Retailer is paying on a monthly basis in fees at 3% per transaction through their POS machine. If they have, for example, $50,000 in sales & 90% are by Card, they are paying $1500 in fees in ONE Month. $18,000 in a year! That comes out of their income every month. That would go a long way to helping that small business provide for its family!

Kelly Reedy

[irkimatsu]

Hello!! I hope you are doing well! Some food for though since we are all hungry for our dear Husk:

We all adore hefty Husk, big and fed as an Overlord. And I am guessing the man loves his clothes, fancy suits and ties and watches. And I bet he loves treating his partner to nice outfits as well.

Taking them shopping, hands them an unlimited credit card *I wish adulting is hard*, get anything you want baby. Legit rents out a fucking store for his partner. And don’t get me started about him peeking into the dressing room and then just making out with his partner in a fancy new whatever they are wearing. Like we will take three of these *points at outfit* and lord forbid how we would pounce on them if they wore an outfit he *specifically* got for them

And if you bought him a tie or a watch…man is gonna wear it with PRIDE!!!

Sorry this is long but it’s stuck in my head. Have a wonderful day!!!

Ohhhh I love sugar daddy Overlord Husk so much~

I may not be much for clothes and makeup, but my true weakness fashion-wise is accessories and jewelry. Husk giving me free reign in a jewelry store to stock up on sparkles... Husk losing his breath at the sight of me in a silver amethyst necklace, and helping me pick out a dress or suit to match the necklace, depending on my mood... I like to think he'd like me both ways...

Whatever your taste, though, Husk loves helping you indulge. Calling Husk into the dressing room for help fastening the outfit you picked out, knowing damn well he won't be able to resist the sight of you half-dressed, fully intending to thank him for the shopping spree right there in the dressing room... <3

"If we do this while I'm still wearing it, you'll have to buy it for me~"

And yes buy that man gifts!!! Of course he gives you an allowance; he might apologize that it's a mere pittance compared to the profits he usually rakes in, but one week's pay is still more money than you've ever seen in your life. Of course you have to buy him something to thank him for taking such good care of you! I think a dark red and gold watch would look great on him. You save money from your allowances, and finally manage to surprise him with the gift.

...but is it really a gift if you used money he gave you in the first place? What if it's not to his taste? What if it's not expensive enough for him?

You don't need to worry about any of that; he loves that you thought of him enough to buy him a present. Absolutely melts his heart. I think that man would be happy with a $5 watch from a toy store if the gift truly came from the heart. (Aww, now there's a headcanon for him with kids...) But it's even better knowing that you took the time to recognize his tastes and picked out something he'd like. He can tell you're not just trying to kiss his ass with expensive trinkets. You're really something else...

He'll never take that beautiful ruby watch off. It's a lucky charm; almost as lucky for him as you yourself. He can't always be with you, he has to go away on business sometimes and it's too dangerous to take you with him... but at least he can look at the watch and feel you cheering him on in his dealings.

God that man loves you...

[jodjuya]

Finished "Malcolm In The Middle".

I have so much love for this show, and so many thoughts and feelings about it.

I can't decide on a single favourite character. It's a tie between Dewey and Piama.

Pushing through the last two seasons really felt like a slog. Probably why it took me so many months, and this hospital stay, to finally get through it all.

The show's highlights were absolutely the episodes that showed Francis at his peak:

- at Marlin Academy, where he won zero achievement awards because he was too busy being in trouble for standing up for the other students

- when the family visited him at Otto's Grotto, and he got that Ranch Foreman Montage exemplifying him as the Pinnacle Of Masculine Competence, and the episode wrapped up with him EMBEDDED in dysfunctional chaos, unconsciously setting off fireworks like a hypnotized sleeper-agent. I think that's my favourite episode of television period.

But I feel bad for Francis. In, like, a meta way. His character got the worst treatment out of everyone in the ensemble.

They kept giving him amazing redemption arcs, which kept accidentally disconnecting him from the family's chaos and taking him out of the show, so then they'd have to reset him back to square one every other season. Very unsatisfying. The man had nearly as many careers as Homer Simpson!

And THEN! late in the sixth season it's suddenly his 21st birthday and that completely threw me for a loop!

Because when you're looking at Francis Nolastname, you really feel, deep in your soul, that you're looking at the most 26 year-old man to have ever been 26.

And that episode gives you such a record-scratch-doubletake. It's discombobulating AF.

It was a good series of twists to have him eager to be turning 21 because he's "been waiting for this day for YEARS" and you're like "alcohol?" But then it turns out he's Sober and big into Alcoholics Anonymous, and THEN it turns out he doesn't actually ever drink because half a glass of beer gets him tipsy, and so he's not even remotely close to alcoholism but that's just a narrative he latched onto to make himself feel better about his terrible life. It's very very funny.

Same narrative arc as when Reese got himself emancipated and got himself a kickass apartment and seemed to be superbly functional and mature, and then it was revealed that, no, he actually doesn't know shit from fuck and was just funding his whole lifestyle on credit cards like they were an unlimited free money hose.

Always very very funny to portray the boundless hubris of ignorant jackass teenagers. One of my top #1 all time favourite best television tropes.

Anyway, yeah, very weird to have that sudden reminder that Francis ran away to Alaska when he was only like 16 or something. That's fucking wild.

His wife was the best late addition to the show. I never didn't enjoy seeing Piama onscreen.

Pairing Francis up with Ida so often was a good writing decision. Kept him tethered to the rest of the family in a way that didn't feel too forced, and gave many opportunities for him to express Big Feelings with some hammy wallpaper-gnawing. Kept his character from getting too stale.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to watch "Breaking Bad". I really really really struggle with being able to watch "Bob's Burgers" for the same reason.

[danikamariewrites]

believe me when i say that your blog is AWESOME, AMAZING, im in love with your writing, i think it's the most beautiful thing in the world and i want to say thank you for sharing your talent with us. if i could marry one of your fanfics, i would do it without hesitation. 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻 .now that i said my thoughts about your amazing blog, i have a request... MODERN rowaelin x reader.

🧎🏻‍♀️🧎🏻‍♀️🧎🏻‍♀️ (fancy clothes, expensive phones, cars...) i would LOVE to see a fanfic of them in the modern world with reader🧎🏻‍♀️😫 .

no pressure, take your time, stay safe, eat healthy, sleep well, and drink water 🫂💜

Modern!Rowaelin x reader headcanon

A/n: thank you! That’s so nice of you to say and I’m so happy you like my writing (trying to make it my career if Hollywood can get its shit together lol). I love this concept, it’s amazing and I had to write it bc Aelin would thrive as modern day princess/queen.

Sending you love bestie ❤️

Warnings: none

Modern!Rowaelin would be a fucking power couple (and with you a power trio)

Let’s say for this hc that Aelin and Rowan are just a rich couple that come from old money. I’m talking old New England money but they give it a new look bc Aelin likes new stuff, Rowan is like the antique collector in the relationship

When you met they were shopping for art at the gallery you worked at

You had just graduated college a year or so ago and this was your entry level job in the art world. You were actually very familiar with the pieces the gallery sold and you have an insane memory for art history

Aelin and Rowan came in to buy a few pieces for their new apartment in the city so you showed them a few pieces since the owner was busy

The three of you hit it off and they offered to take you out to dinner once you finished with work

You met them at the five-star restaurant that was in their building and that’s when they asked you out. “We knew once we met you we had a connection. If you don’t feel the same way please feel free to reject us and we can pretend this never happened.” Aelin said

But you had felt an instant connection with them too. You felt safe and at home around them. You knew you needed to be with them

After that night you moved in with them and they talked you into quitting your job and working for their clients as an art collector

It was like a dream come true

Aelin and Rowan spoiled you with love, attention, and gifts

You weren’t always a material person, you grew up getting things you asked for that were within your family’s budget but this was a whole other level

After a year of being with them they gave you a credit card, “unlimited spending baby. Anything you want it’s your.” Rowan said kissing you on the cheek

Shopping sprees with Aelin were the best! Those were your bonding trips and when you truly got to know each other. You talked about everything while wandering the aisles of high end department stores, trying on shoes and clothes

Lingerie shopping was the most fun since you would pick out pieces that would drive him crazy (and each other)

There may have been a time or two where you both couldn’t keep your hands to yourself in the changing room

With Rowan your bonding time was going on walks or runs or him teaching you how to work out at the gym

When you were out in nature with him that’s when you saw him most relaxed (besides at home)

Your yearly summer vacation is always to Cape Cod

Both their families have beach houses there but they wanted their own in a different area, so they bought one just before they met you

The house is huge and you obviously use it more than once a year but you always had those set 2 weeks in July that you would go

No work. No distractions. Just the 3 of you, the beach, and fun times

You and Aelin of course demand the best lobster rolls which Rowan gets for you

Ice cream every night after dinner

And they buy you all the souvenirs you want

Two days before you were set to leave, you and Rowan were packing. You folded he put away (he’d never admit it but he’s awful at folding clothes but he tries)

Aelin came running into the bedroom with a shit eating grin on her face that told you two she wanted something, “Row, y/n/n.” “Yes Aelin.” You responded in unison

“I just realized we need something for the Cape house that we don’t have.” Rowan rolled his eyes, “And what would that be, Fireheart?”

“We don’t have a Jeep!” You and Rowan shared a look. “Ok A, so what do you suggest?” Aelin clapped her hands together in excitement “We’re going to get one obviously.” “Right now!?” “Yes Rowan. Come on you’re driving.”

She rushed back out of the room and you followed her as Rowan let out an exasperated sigh, tilting his head back

45 minutes later you were all sitting in the Jeep dealership

Not only did you leave with a Jeep wrangler, but she also managed to find a beautiful jet black convertible Audi

Aelin insisted you bring both to Cape Cod and of course Rowan gave in to her

[dowhatisaynotwhatido]

2. LA - Oh! THAT Lizzie...

Paring: bottom!Elizabeth Olsen x topMommy!Reader

Description: You figured out who she is. How do you explain to your celebrity crush that you follow her smut and dirty fandom?

Warnings: smut, teasing, mention strap and cockwarming, mommy kink, fingering (lizzie receiving), oral (lizzie receiving), casual.

Attention demi: casual sex – both of them are in their 30’s, just met, no emotional connection developed yet, not sure if there will be one.. Hm..Need to think about that..🤔

Word count: ~3,5K

This is part of the LA series: Part 1 | Part 2(this)| Part 3 | Part 4

Credits: This fic directly cites the blog and works of themidnightcrimson. A shout out to her writing skills and damn good fics. The links to her work will be on the fic itself, but also here

- themidnightcrimson blog | masterlist | innocence (+18) | mommy (+18) | strapwarming (+18)

----

"Yes. I did, Ms. Olsen. " You took a step back and sat in your bench with an embarrassed grin."And you owe me a rose wine."

......

"Don't get weird with me, please. We were having so much fun. " She cooed reaching and grabing your hand in hers.

"I am not. Is just...." You laughed at yourself. You read a very dirty fic about here just a day before all this: how was this happening?

"What is going on with that face, then?" She raised a brow grinning "Are you blushing, Y/N?" She teased. You tried to hide your face and laugh it off, but she grabbed you by the waist and turned you towards her "Tell me." She whined

"It is just silly, forget about it." You shrugged "I am just a Marvel fan." You lied.

"You wouldn't be blushing just because you are a Marvel fan, Y/N." She fake pouted and dove eye you "Pretty please?"

Probably was the wine talking and your unlimited boldness coming straight from the tannin, but you softly blured out: "I read fic about you."

She smiled widely "You what? Speak louder, Y/N.."

"Shit.. Ok. I kind of read a fic about you recently, ok? You....” You stalled until she motioned for you to keep going. “ You have a fandom on Tumblr... a very active fandom." You whispered

"Oh, that? I know about it" She chuckled "But I thought you were a lesbian" She looked at you genuinely confused.

Her producer had told her about her MLW fandom and it's contents, but she didn’t imagine she had also a WLW one. You looked at her with a raised brow and a condescending smile

"Oh, I definitely am.” You smirked “ You have a wlw fandom, darling" you mumbled

"Oh!" She startled" I didn’t know that... And what kind of fanfic are we talking about, hmm?" She smiled and pushed you teasingly by your arm "Do you read comfort and romantic stories about me before sleep, is it?" She joked

Your eyes darkened as you stared at her trying to decide if you where going to be honest about it or just ignore the subject.

"They do have fluff. But is not what I normally read." You said mysteriously rounding the kitchen island towards the stove

" I am starving, can I make us some pasta?" Trying to busy yourself with something else and change the subject. She made abluntly clear that you should make yourself at home, so why not?

"Show me" She asked with a small smile

"The pasta?" You said innocently while searching for some ingredients and pans through her cabinets. She rolled her eyes

"The fics, Y/N. I am curious..." She sighed as you ignored her still opening cabinets "Pan is in the bottom one. Oil and garlic on the left."

She got up and poured both of you another glass of wine. As she went towards you to give you your glass, she touched your forearm making you turn to her. Her gaze was full of mischief and she had a playful tone "Please show me. I have the right to know what people talk to me all over the internet..." She pouted

"Lizzie…" You blushed at the thought of showing her all the fics and kinks you had liked and reblogged in the last few weeks

"I already know is some kind of porn, Y/N. Just show me" she said harshly and corrected herself "Please " you laughed at her mini outburst.

"OK. But first, is your turn not to get weird out." You warned "Go grab your laptop, you can read while I cook"

A few moments after, the pasta was boiling as you towered behind Lizzie reaching the notebook and logged in your account. "Before you go stalking things. Let us start slow, ok?" You say slapping her hand away from the mouse. "This is one of my favorites writers. She is.. uhm.. very graphic with her language, let's put it like that."

You blushed slightly opening themidnightcrimson smut fics lists "This is about Wanda.. And this about you" You clicked on Innocence trying to easy her into it.

"Oh, my eyes look good in that picture" She squinted at the screen trying to get a better view

"Uhum" you nodded dryly

"Don't you agree?" She asked looking back at you with her brow furrowed

"All of you look good in that, Elizabeth" you rasped out shyly completely embarrassed" just read it. Tell me if you have any questions about.. uhm.. lesbian logistics? I don't know" you shrugged and got back to drain the pasta as an excuse to control your blushing.

While you busied yourself finishing dinner, you spared glances at her: she was concentrated, wearing her reading glasses and resting her chin up with her right hand. Of course, the picture of perfect. She held a small smile and and amusement expression, sometimes clearing her throat and taking a few deep breaths. You even considered that she was getting a little worked up with it, and now you couldn't wait to show her some more advanced ones and play.

"Did you like it?" You asked when she took of her glasses.

"I have questions." She took a sip at her wine "A few." She chuckled

"First... How does she know I have a yellow couch?" She pretended to be weird out about it and both of you laughed. " Secondly, is my finger really that interesting?" She said looking at her hands, making small movements with a mock pensive face.

You laughed and threw a cooked pasta at her as she dodged "Getting cocky, are we?" You smirked "Let's see what you think of these one"

A few fics after, dinner had come and gone, and you were taking out the plates while she kept scrolling throught the author's page.

"Have you ever done this one?" She asked showing you a fic titled "Strapwarming" .

You left the dishes on the sink and went to her, hovering behind her as she pointed to a page on her laptop.

You started to throb just thinking about that day, that fic, and the fact that Elizabeth Olsen had slightly leaned backwards touching her back at your breast didn't make any easier for you to hold down a soft whimper.

"I did, yes." You disguised with a cough

"And?" She looked up at you, her lips dangerously close to yours "Can you explain me? I don't understand"

" You don't understand that means a dildo inside of you?" You raised an eyebrow sarcastically

"No, silly! I understand the concept. I don't understand the appeal." She said turning her gaze back to the computer "It doesn't seem like the reader is enjoying herself..."

You took a deep breath trying to decide how much to push her. You were both a bottle in, not drunk or tipsy, but your inhibition definitely wasn't in perfect state

"Are you sure you want to know, Ms. Olsen?"

" Please, Y/N. Lizzie. Tell me. I feel like I have been under a rock and this 'imaginary me' got all the fun while I was gone" She chuckled, the vibration of her chest stimulating every part of you that was in high alert. This woman was inebrianting and you wanted to play.

"It is about the obvious being stretched out pleasure, but also about the power dynamics." You said pulling her closer to you by her waist.

Your mouth so close to her ear, that she could sense your breath before your voice became clear to her "The thing is that I, hypothetically, of course, can open your legs.." your hand traveled to her thighs spreading them earning a small gasp from her "and push my cock into you slowly and deep...." your hands traveled upwards in her inner thigh, so close to her core that you could sense the heat irradiating from her - just to push her legs close again. "...And tell you to warm it up for me."

Still behind her, you placed your hands to either side of her hips, harshly rotating it in a way where her ass was up and her core hit the cushion of her seat directly.

" You can't touch it. You can't let it fall off. You can't grind. You can't clench around it. You can't even think about it without my consent" You move her hips front to back rhythmically grinding her on the chair "can you imagine you being all filled up with my cock, how good this would feel, baby?"

"Yes." She whispered with her eyes shut close.

Although you acknowledged how receptive of your advances she was being, you dropped your hands and left her. You went towards the sink again, noticing the shiver that ran through her without your front warming her back. You opened the faucet and restarted hand washing the dishes like it isn't a big deal. In reality you could barely think straight of how much you wanted her right there.

"And then what? I just stay here?" She huffed showing a bit of frustration

"Hypothetically, I might leave you like that for a whole day. Or just while I do the dishes. Or do the groceries. Or while I watch you squirm." You smirked "Are you imagining it inside of you now?"

"Yes" She gulped

"Cross your legs for me, sweetheart" you cooed. She did as ordered and you could see the spark of pleasure as she pressed her thighs together to get some sort of relief.

"That is enough of that, baby" You said

"But that is just frustrating, Y/N!" She whimpered

"Just read it through, tell me if you have any questions" you said calmly and end the discussion.

After a few minutes

"What about this mommy thing? Is a little..."

"A little..." You went back to the kitchen island, resting your elbows on the countertop as leaning forward behind her laptop"

"I don't know" She bit her lip pensively

"Well, be honest with yourself. You don't have a reason to lie." You stood and round the table until you were behind her again. "Are you going to deny that you liked reading this? That it made you all hot and bothered?"

"Well, I had some wine and..."

"Don't do this, baby. Just be honest." You inhaled her scent as she closed her eyes to the sensation of you so close. She smelled fresh, orangy, sunny. You couldn't quite put your finger on it "We both know how horny you are right now. Aren't you? Tell me you can't feel your clit throbing..."

"I...." she gulped again leaning into your embrace

"Here. Read this one for me, will you? I will choose another wine for us, baby" You said nipping the soft skin on her neck and loving the way she catched her breath. You had pointed her to the Mommy fic.

As you were choosing between the several bottles on her wine rack, you noticed she began to grind slightly against the cushion and smirked.

"I can see you, baby. Don't grind. Be a good girl for mommy, will you?" You could see her tensing up on the term. But there was no turning back now "what is the problem, baby?" You grinned "Don't you like to play 'make-believe' with mommy?" You stared at her with a condescending smirk and waited.

Lizzie thoughts ran through her head at lighting speed. She was troubled by the same sex attention, by how you called yourself mommy. And worst, she was extremely confused about why did that made her so damn wet and needy. Is not like she was a sweet angels before tonight - she had her fun and her experiences, but she couldn't remember the last time she felt that throbing so intense.

"Yes" She whispered

"Yes what, sweetie? Use your words" you cooed. You wanted her to break that barrier that she was holding so weakly at.

"Yes, mommy" hearing her say that shoot a wave of pleasure throughout your whole body. It was all you could do not to drag her into the bedroom in that instant and fuck her brainless. Instead you smiled softly

"Good girl. This is right I am the one who knows that is good for you, isn't I? You poor baby can't choose for yourself, can you?" You pouted "You can grind for a bit, baby. But don't you come without my permission, ok?"

"Thank you. You are so good to me, mommy" she said downing her gaze back to the fic as she moved her hip rhythmically

"Anything for you, pretty girl" her cheeks blushed at the praise "As you are doing so good for mommy, kitten. I will let you make one more question, ok?" You cooed pouring some wine for both of you.

You noticed she stopped her movements suddenly and nodded slightly as getting off a trance.

"I don't get it" She pressed her hands in her face "How can you do this, Y/N? Why I am feeling this? I am straight, God be damned!" She said to you with a suprised but soft tone. Shit, you thought the barrier was already over with, but maybe you pressed too much.

"Lizzie.. Why does it matter? You are feeling good, aren't you? You are enjoying yourself?"

"Maybe. But.." she runs a hand through her hair " I am older than you... That makes no sense."

"That is why it is a fantasy.. It doesn't need to be logical, Lizzie. Don't be so hard and judgemental. Just enjoy it." you said taking her hands in yours "Why does it matter?"

"I don't know.." She said softly

"Do you want me to leave?" You asked softly

"No!" She answered a little more eager than she intended and that brought a smile to your face

"Than trust me, it doesn't matter" you said grabbing her chin to meet her gaze "Do you trust me, baby?"

"Yes, mommy" she acknowledged making you smile at her easy subduence. It was easier than you thought.

"So come, you have earned a reward, kitten" you smiled and guided her to the couch.

You sat down and placed her onto your lap straddling you. She swiftly obeyed, resting her hands you your shoulder and looking down on you.

"Do you want to kiss me, darling?"

"Yes, mommy, so much"

"Do you want me to touch you?" You asked bulking your hip upwards against her clit. She let out a whimpe "use your mouth for me, babygirl"

"Yes, mommy. Touch me" she whimps

You placed your hand behind her neck and guided her mouth down to yours. The second your lips touched both of your let out a moan, you taking advantage to quickly press your tongue into her mouth. She tasted heavenly, her glossy lips so sweet and tender that you almost felt sorry for bitting it down earning a gasp.

You let her deepen the kiss and guided her hip to grind on your lap, earning a soft moan. Lizzie was ranking her hands down your chest yanking at your shirt patientless

"Off, mommy. I want to touch you" You smirked proud of how she asked you

"Just because you asked so nicely, baby" You raised your arms letting her take your top off and eagerly lap on your neck with kisses and bites. Your own hands found her skin beneath her blouse, blindly undoing her bra.

"Strip for me, love" She got up on her feet and striped down to her panties. She was beautiful. She was covered with small brown spots, making a map on her soft skin. Her waist had the exact shape to support your hand and you were sure it was made specifically for you.

"So pretty for mommy, aren't you? Let me help you" you reached out and toyed with her waistband. Her eyes darkened with you touching her so close of where she wanted you and she bit her lip while moving her hip against your hand

"Oh, no, little one" you denied pulling her waistband and letting go with a loud snap against her skin "Don't rush me. Let mommy see you." You leant forward kissing her spots across her belly and thigh "do you know how long I have been wanting this?" You bit her inner thigh when she didn't answer you and she moaned softly

"No, mommy" You smiled against her skin and hovered right above her clit over her panties.

"Do you know how many times mommy touched herself thinking about fucking you, baby?" She moaned when you open mouthed kissed her over the damp fabric of her underwear. She tasted as good as you thought she would

"So fuck me, mommy." She said grabbing your hair and pulling you against her "Please, mommy. I need you"

"I told you not to rush me" You bit her clit slightly making her retract slightly and gasp "Don't ruin this for me, sweetie" you smirked as you noticed her dripping core staining her panties. You where seated the couch and she was standing between your legs. You took of he panties letting it fall on the ground as you took her right leg and placed her foot on the couch, opening her up.

The sight of her was enough to almost drive you out of control. Her glistening cunt was dripping making a mess all over her. You ran your tongue thru her folds earning a loud moan as she pressed her hip against your face. You steadied her hip with both of your hands while you slowly took her clit on your mouth sucking it. As you circled and flicked your tongue with increasing pressure, Lizzie kept whiping and moaning while pulling herself against you and holding your hair.

"Fuck ...me" she asked breathlessly

You sucked harshly at her clit and looked up at her "Mommy gave you better manners than that, kitten"

"Sorry, mommy. Inside, please. I need you inside"

"Do you want mommy's finger inside, baby?" You cooed looking straight into her eyes while teasing her entrance. She was breathing heavily, her hair a mess and you could see her bottom lip puffed from how much she was bitting into it trying to stiffle her moans. She nodded vigorously "yes mo--- Oooh" She moaned loudly as you plunged two fingers deep inside of her without warning. The sting of pain made her stop bulking, and you began to lap your tongue greedily into her, collecting all the wetness that came out. Soon she was moving against you fingers and you started to thrust in and out of her with increasing rhythm.

Her bulking started to lose rhythm and force and her walls clenched around your fingers. She was close.

"Mommy, can I come? Please"

"Yes, baby. Cum for mommy"

She came with a silent moan, closing her thigh against your head while you licked every drop that came out and steady your fingers deep inside of her until her legs trembled unable to stand.

"Mommy got you, babygirl" you said softly guiding her to straddle you again, keeping you fingers inside her and letting her rest her head in your shoulder.

"You were so good for mommy, pretty girl" you cooed giving her a small kiss on her neck.

She was still breathing hard when you started to thrust slowly inside of her and she stopped you holding your wrist

"It hurts, mommy". She whined

" I know it does, baby. But let mommy use your pretty hole, ok? You have been so good to me, don't act out now" you cooed taking her hand off your wrist

"No mommy, is too sensitive" she said biting down on your shoulder

"Trust me, baby. You are going to feel so good." you flicked your thumb over her swollen clit earning a gasp "Give me one more, ok?" You increased the speed of your thrusts as her soft moans became more frequent. You inserted the third finger

"Mommy" she moaned riding you

"That is it, baby. Ride mommy's fingers" you guided her hips downwards at each drive, meeting her halfway with your fingers hitting deep Inside of her. In and out, everytime you took out you coiled your fingers reaching her spongy point over and over again. The sloshing sounds and her ungodly moans were all you could hear.

It didn't take long until she was coming all over you lap.

--

Next day on Part 3.