#you always think of the best comeback afterwards eh

[naomiknight-17]

There was a woman being very unpleasant on the bus just now

I guess she thought I was looking at her? But I was just looking out the front of the bus to see where we were.

She started talking about 'someone' giving her the eye. Someone fat and ugly. She looked right at me and called me a hippopotamus

I finally broke and said "Are you speaking to me?"

She looked me in the eyes and said "No I am NOT speaking to YOU."

So I went "Okay. Cool then" and proceeded to ignore her. She got off the bus shortly after

Now, probably she had some kind of mental issue (I mean, same). And probably it's best that I dropped it where I did

But it was very tempting to take the hippopotamus comment as a compliment. Did you know they're one of my favorite animals? That they're big and beautiful and strong?

Did you know that they're responsible for more human deaths than sharks and crocodiles combined? Did you know that if you enter their territory, they'll split your boat in half and rip you to pieces while they're at it?

Did you know that hippos are great and majestic and you should never ever get in their face?

They're fascinating creatures. I love them. I wish I was a hippo

[clarissalance]

Who has the upper hand?

Pairing: Kaeya x G/N!Reader, mention of Varka and Diluc.

Warning: Slight swearing, Kaeya is a lil shit, reader being stubborn and scheming, immense tension

Summary: You’re so terrible at swordsmanship that you can’t withstand 2 strikes from Kaeya or, are you? 

Word count: 3k5

Disclaimer: What is written in here is based on my imagination, nothing from this fic should be taken seriously. Most of the fact I put in this fic does not follow the lore of the game so it should only be taken as a grain of salt. For example: section 8 in Knight of Favonius codebook.

A/N: I struggle so much when I wrote this piece. This was suppose to be angstier but I tone down a little bit (because Kaeya was very OOC in my draft, I think he’s still a bit OOC in this fic but I tried my best ;-;, pls don’t bite me.) 

How did author write a 50k+ oneshot? I can’t write something more than 5k properly ;-; Anyhow, please enjoy this fic. I’m going to have a good rest for 2 weeks before release a comeback. Please shower Kaeya and our new MC with a lot of loves!!!! 

As a strategist of the knight of Favonius, you don't usually have enough time to finish the towers of reports, the never-ending meetings and dealing with cheap tricks Fatui diplomats. Often, you have to skip your daily sword training session, which results in a rather miserable situation. The whole practice ground is staring holes at your defeated posture. You are sitting on the hard soil ground, and the Calvary captain is towering you, his sharp blade just a few inches away from your throat. 

It is not a strange scene for any knights to lose a spar against the Calvary captain, he should be one with the best swordsmanship after Grand Master, and maybe Acting-Grand Master, too. However, as knight, they can usually withstand him at least more than 2 blows. 

Whispers and talks start to circulate around as soon as you stepped your foot in the training ground. It’s very uncommon to see people from that department wandering around this area. The strategy department is famous inside the Knight of Favonius to be the weakling-cunning-mouthy-jerks, who always find excuses after excuses to skip the monthly knight evaluation. 

So, who gives them the right to be exempt from the test? Of course, it’s from the ultimate high chief of strategy department. Rumours say before the strategy chief works for the Favonius knight, the man was once a legendary attorney. That person can flip words from black to white, turns the defendant from guilty to innocent.  With a profound convincing skillset coming from the chief, persuading the Grand Master Varka is easy as a piece of cake. The whole department of 10 people is easily off-hook for 3 years, never participate in the monthly evaluation before the man suddenly dropped the bomb 2 days ago.  

“ I’m tired from coming with excuses to cover for your lazy asses.” The man waved his hand, his eyes staring outside the window. His nails scratching the messy shaved chin.“ Varka seems to get used to navigating my thoughts-”

“Maybe time is wearing away your skill-” At the corner, someone accidentally blurted out, and the whole table gave him a sharp look. Did he have a death wish or something? If so, everyone here can happily dig him a hole, free charge for the coffin.

The chief cleared his voice again, blue eyes melancholy drifted to the table. “So, you guys have tried your best on this monthly evaluation. I hope to see you all again next month.” 

The meeting was dismissed afterwards, and everything spiralled into chaos. The whole department hasn’t touched anything aside from the parchment papers and the quills in the last 3 years. How are they going to master the swordman-ship in 2 weeks? 

But, the worst thing is,

Your well-respected, talented, and tactful chief has run away. 

The next morning, you received the news that a foxy old man is on a business trip to Fontaine with the Grand Master. The expedition is 2 weeks long.

You should have known what he meant when the deceitful man ambiguously ended his sentence like that. Nothing goes well when the chief said:  ‘Farewell, my comrades’. 

 For the last 2 days, you have been starting to familiarize yourself again with how to hold a sword and how to swing the sword. 

As you trail along with the long-forgotten memories, trying to look through the familiar feeling when swinging the sword, you hear footsteps coming in your direction. It is familiar, with the way the person is walking, the beat, the sudden burst of noise in the air, you can only conclude it’s the Calvary Captain. The practice ground seems livelier as soon as the man steps inside, people rushing to his side to give their greetings. Maybe today is one of his practice days.

 “ Never thought I would see you here.” The young man calls out, successfully jostle you up from your thoughts. You give him a complex look and turn away, focusing on the tattered dummies. Your wrist is screaming in protest, legs wobbling. You remember those golden days when you were young when you were flexible, and your bones didn't crack as much. Oh, where the golden days have gone? 

“What do I own the honour of seeing you here, captain?” You fold your arm defensively, voice monotonously. Kaeya despites the most when you start talking in an emotionless tone. Oh, how you love riling him up in the middle of the practice ground! 

“ I come here for my weekly practice, but-” He shrugs, eyes glinting with mischief. “ look like the rumour about the abolishment of special permission for the strategy department is true.” 

So he has heard the rumours. You roll your eyes, face blanks. You know Kaeya has his own way to obtain his information, but you never thought it’d be this fast. Words don’t easily leak from the strategy department. 

“What do you need? Make it short, so I can practice for the upcoming evaluation.” Tired of his long introduction, you ask him directly. If you are going to ignore him any longer, the man will continue poking you. 

Starting an argument only wastes your time, and asserting dominance in the middle of the training ground won’t boost your ego. You’re a strategist, your weapons are detailed plans and sharp word, not sword and bow. Showing off your strength in front of those ruthless knights don't improve your relationship with them. 

“ Straight the point eh?” You give him an impatiently look, tempting to ignore him again before he flashes you a smug grin. “How bout sparing with me?”  

The whole training ground falls in silence, and you direct at the captain a confusing look. Is he serious? No one in the knight except the Grand Master can go against him, not to mention someone who hasn’t touched a sword for three years. 

“I can help you with your training, and you can help with mine” Kaeya speaks with utmost confidence that you almost nod and agree. That man is really deceitful, he knows how well your skill has gone dull, yet he still wants to practice with you? What is this man plotting?  

“ Do you realize how absurd your offer is? ” You give him a complicated gaze, voice unwavering. Everyone takes in a deep breath, tension crackling. It's not everyday scenery you often encounter. A heated argument between the mischievous cavalry captain and the tactful strategist. Nosy people gather around the pair, internally hoping for the war the breaks out. 

“ You know well that I can’t properly block your first strike.” Light-hearted, you joke, but there is no hint of amusement in your voice. Sharpe eyes glaring at the blue figure, you notice the man remains unfazed. 

" Shouldn't you choose a more competent opponent?" 

The sound whispers and talking about the reasons why Kaeya picked such an easy opponent start to circulate, and you can’t help to curl your lips up. Within a  few seconds, you have effortlessly turned the gossiping direction toward your desired path. Flashing Kaeya a victorious grin, you tap your foot impatiently, waiting for his reaction.

You should have worked at PR damage control or marketing instead! The diplomat would have been fine too! At least, you wouldn’t need to practice swordman-ship.

As you mulling on your terrible choice of career, a chill runs down your spine. Tilting up, Kaeya is beaming sweetly at you, the frost slowly creeping up and nipping your shoes. Look like you just pressed the wrong button. 

The man narrows his eyes, and you gulp nervously, avoiding his calculating gaze. Kaeya chuckles, his voice laced with worry, wavering and hurtful. 

“I just want to help you improve as fast as possible. The test is coming in two weeks isn't it?” 

The whole table has turned, and people start to say how considerate and thoughtful the cavalry captain is. The crowd starts to criticize you and tell you to be more grateful and stop suspicious of his unconditional help. Oh, you wish he wasting it on you, many knights in this training ground would love getting advice and improvements from him. 

Applause for our dear Calvary captain, smoothly seeking empathy from the crowd and turning the favour back to him. No wonder how fast he climbed up the rank. 

Bantering and arguing with a person like him is meaningless, so you accept his offer and drag your sword toward his direction. Let finish this within 2 strikes. 

Moving to the centre of the field, both of you face each other, his eyes scanning you sceptically. What is this man plotting again? Bowing, you finally give him a warning look before standing at your ready position. Kaeya holds his sword, analyzing your starting posture. 

As soon as the whistle blows, you charge at the man, opening the spar with a direct hit. Kaeya quickly raises his word up to block the first blow, the sound of steel clashing loudly. He then forcefully diverts the sword to the left, a classic way to counter the strike. 

Knowing your limited strength against him, you take a step back and swiftly angle the blade downward, aiming for a weak spot at his waist. This move would create a noticeable weakness on your right, and only the idiot doesn't use this as his advantage to disarm you. 

You’re right, he uses the loophole you planned, successfully disarm you within 2 strikes. The sword slips from your hand clanging loudly behind as your foot slips and fall on the ground. 

His sharp blade is just a few inches away from your neck. The calvary captain wears a solemn look, his cerulean eyes imbued with irritation. Seems like he figures out you purposefully planed to end the match in 2 strikes. 

Quickly raising your hand in defeat, you shoot him a taunting grin. The referee declares Kaeya is the winner, and people start to clap and cheer loudly, but overall no one is surprised. As the match end, audiences start to disperse, return back to their tasks. 

Kaeya put his sword away and offers you his hand. You stare idly at the gloved hand a moment before putting yours on. The man effortlessly pulls you up, your body flush against his. With Kaeya so close to you, your first reaction is to push the man away, but his firm grip says otherwise. He inches closer, dark blue locks brush your cheek, tall figure towering you intimidating. 

“Why end it so early?” He leans down and whispers, your body tenses up visibly. “Surely, you could handle more than 2 strikes of mine.” The young man in blue hums, his voice sultry. 

“ What are you saying? I haven’t touched the sword more than 3 years.” You remind him, hands pushing his chest away, trying to create some distance. The man doesn’t budge an inch. 

“Your strikes doesn’t say so. The first strike was not bad.” Noticing your effort to push him away, Kaeya stands straight, heels dig into the ground. His lips curl up at the helplessness flashing in your eyes. He loves seeing you struggle, seeing how anxiety and desperation rising in your sparkling orbs. “I think you could at least have a decent fight with me.”  

“ Quit spouting non-sense Kaeya, let me go. We are in public.” You let out an annoyed hiss, punching his toned chest. He still wears the uniform improperly like that, the exposed tan chest can be under many layers. Sometimes you don't even know the reason why doesn't he just button the shirt up properly. Finger grazing at the bared skin on his chest, you turn your head away, cheeks heat up. 

The man loves seeing you squirming in his trap, and you’re not going to let him see that. Anything, but satisfying his masochist hobby. 

“You don’t like skin-ship?” The man fakes a gasp, his orb sparkles with mirth. “But you were being touchy with your friend. Why can't we be a bit touchy? ”  His tone suggestively, the tall man snickers at your blushing mess. Out of everything, why would he mention that? You give him stinky eyes, brows furrow deeply.  

“I’m not touchy with you.” You deny dreadfully. Archon, how long have you wasted your time here with this slithering serpent? 

Kaeya arms wrap tightly around you, your body moulds perfectly into his embrace. You hate how perfectly you fit into his hug like this, but you can’t deny how warm he is, despite the fact he wields cryo. 

“ When will you let me go?” Your voice starts to grow weak, dragging slightly in discomfort.  Kaeya curiously looks down, noticing your pouting. Sensing his gaze, you turn your head away but his fingers have quickly grabbed your cheek, forcing you to look at his deep blue eye.  

“Give me a kiss, then I'd let you go.” His voice serious, but what he just said is not. You look at the cryo wielder horrendously, mouth gaping. His face is composed and relax, like what he just ask is like asking about the weather, asking about your health, not for a kiss. Is he being serious? What in the world did he just ask? A kiss? Excuse me, a what? 

“You...you are not being serious.” You wriggle your way out, escaping from his fingers, but his embrace tightens, caging you inside. Damn it, Kaeya. He’s messing with you. 

When you flash him a furious look, the man shrugs nonchalantly, his cerulean lock fluttering gently in the wind. Suddenly, you have an urge to wipe off that calm demeanour. He can’t be serious. Why does he have to go all the way to annoy the shit out of you? 

The smug grin hanging on his face, the mischief in his blue eyes, the arching brows, everything about him screams a flirt, yet you feel so mesmerized. Blinking a few times, you have to constantly remind yourself this man is not trustworthy. From the attitude to the way he looks at you, to the way he acts around you. Nothing from his action is truthful. Like Diluc’s warning, you can only believe half of his word and action. 

“ Of course I’m being serious.” His voice solemn, but you can see the amusement in his eyes. If he doesn’t like you, why would he spend so much effort bothering you this much? What reaction is he expecting from you?  

“ I really like you, Y/N” Kaeya confesses cheerfully, and you can faintly hear a few gasps around. Not this again...

Archon, you’re going to die early at this rate. You just want to practice for the upcoming evaluation, not becoming a hot topic for all Mondstadt citizen to gossip about. 

And this man too, how can he easily slip out those words when you just heard him flirting with another woman the other day?  You already told him numerous times that you’re not interested in dating him, or anyone right now! 

Hung your head down in exhaustion, you tap his shoulder, mumbling quietly. “ Fine, fine.” You finally open your mouth, too exhausted and bothered by his stubbornness. He only wants a kiss, and you won’t hurt giving him one. Just a kiss then you can get back to your practice.  

“Just don’t confess your love to me in a crowd like this again.” Before closing the deal, you weakly add a bargain, nudging him.  

The calvary captain looks surprised, his eye widens little, not expecting you to agree. Normally, it takes another argument or two before you comply with his request. Kaeya timidly raises his gloved hand to your face, gently caresses your cheek. This time, you lean into his touch, nuzzling your face into his palm, eyes glimmering softly. Despite a cryo wielder, his hand is surprisingly warm. 

The man in blue curiously peeks at you, he feels like a feather tickling the itchy spot. Are you plotting an escape route? Since when did you become so obedient? He has never seen the soft fur under the spiky façade you set up to face with the world, but strangely, he likes this version of you more. 

Noticing his relaxed stance, you carefully gently wrap your fingers around his wrist while keeping eye contact with him. Kaeya eye widens, startles at your sudden touching. Trying your best to not break the unspoken connection, you bring his hand away from your cheek. In those cerulean eyes, you see a hint of disappointment, but it quickly dissolves. Slowly, you draw closer toward the hand hanging in the air, lips fluttering on the smooth skin on his wrist. 

The calvary captain instinctively moves back, trying to escape from your sudden contact. Ironic, he is the one who innates the hug and demands a kiss from you. Tightening your grip, you press your wet lips on the exposed part of his wrist dedicatedly while maintaining eye contact with him, eyes drown with submission.

Kaeya stares at you in awe, maybe not expecting the passionate look in your eyes. His azure eye fills with mischief, now replaces with confusion and hesitation. You notice how his ears have dusted with pink despite the winds blowing in the practice ground. The man avoids your eyes, flustering. 

Whispers and gasps start to remind you of the crushing reality, so you let his hand down while grinning cheekily at the cryo wielder. Poking and breaking Kaeya meticulously façade is always something you want to try. The man is a living devil, so it’s extremely unusual to see him losing his composure. 

Sneakily, you untangle his other arm wrapping around your waist, plotting an escape route. 

However, Barbatos doesn’t let you slip away that easily. Quickly regaining his composure, Kaeya snakes his hand around your hip again, tightening his hold. Unlike the first time, the sneaky bastard lifts you up and has the audacity to throw your body on his shoulder, carry you like a sack. 

“ Yah! What are you doing?” You exclaim, fluster at his sudden antic. Kicking and punching on his shoulder, you try as many as you can, but somehow, Kaeya manages to dodge all of them.   

“ You said you will let me go when I give you a kiss!” The crowd uproars, stares and gossips poke pointedly at your back. You don’t want to hear those comments from those knights again. They're not going to let this live down, aren't they? Bury your face in the Kaeya's furry collar, you let out a frustrating sigh, punching his shoulder as hard as you can. 

“ You give me a kiss on my wrist. That doesn’t count.” Kaeya nonchalantly strides away from the practice ground, unfazed by your attempt to escape. This man is a beast, how can he not budge an inch with all of your kickings on his shoulder? 

“ You didn’t specify the place. A kiss is a kiss!” You emphasize, and you can feel his shoulder shaking. Is he laughing? “You didn’t keep your promise.” Fuels by the rising anger, you kick your leg aggressively, struggling to free yourself from the iron-clad grip. This time, his strong arm wraps around your calves like a chain.  

As soon as you raise your head up, the familiar pathway hits your memories. Shit, he is heading toward the headquarter, likely to his office. You can’t let anyone in there see you in this state. Punching his back profusely, you shot back. 

“Not fulfilling the contract is breaking the Knight of Favonius's code of cond-.” Before you can finish your sentence, the man smacks your calves loudly, successfully shutting your mouth. Speechless by his sudden punishment, you let out a disbelief breath.    

“ There are no such a section states about fulfilling contract inside the code of conduct, so stop making the rule up.” Kaeya smugly grins, and you can already picture his blue eyes glinting with mischief, the signature shit-eating grin on his handsome face.

" There is, it's in section eight-" Before you can finish your sentence, Kaeya cuts in, waving his hand dismissively. 

" Section eight is about interaction with your co-worker, there is none about keeping contracts." The calvary captain humming, trying to recalling the content of the book. Speechless by the detailed memories of his, you can only close your mouth, quietly waiting for him to drop you down. If you stay still on his shoulder, will he let you go? 

" You know, not everyone reads and memories the knight of Favonius handbook, you are just unlucky that I know the book by heart." Seeing you deflate weakly on his shoulder, Kaeya lets out a chuckle, patting your head comforting.       

Before heading inside the HQ, the man doesn't drop your down but leans in closely, his whisper tickling your ear. “But at least I had fun seeing you squirming in my grasp.” 

And then it hits you, the bastard purposely falls for of your antic. 

[fabricated-misslieness]

pairing: bokuto, iwaizumi, kageyama, kuroo, miya twins, and ushijima x shorter manager male reader

req: yes | cw: suggestive | 16+

alex: MOST OF THE TALL THIGH GUYS IN HAIKYUU SIMP FOR THE SHORTER MALE MANAGER AFTER THEY FOUND OUT HE LIKES BIG THIGHS(and tits and all that) WHILE THEY TRY TO MAKE THEIRS LOOK BIG AND JUICY????

hcs of tall boys simping for a shorter manager because they like thicc body parts

a/n: i didn’t mention this because i did want to write it, but alex, reqs were closed. unless you suggested this for 1.5k, in which case, just why?

Introduction

A volleyball training camp consisting of some of Japan’s most prominent high schools. Chaotic, right?

Well, many schools came: Aoba Johsai, Fukurodani, Nekoma, Inarizaki, Itachiyama, and Shiratorizawa.

These training camps often led to the teams’ managers getting to know each other better and bonding. And as Itachiyama’s manager, even if most of them were girls, you were no exception.

Which meant, while all the managers collectively did their manager duties like refilling water bottles, you talked.

And, for some reason, the topic of boys came along and what ‘type’ of boy they liked.

You see, the girls were nice. They looked for personalities, rather than body parts - most of them anyway.

You on the other hand, well, you loved thick boys.

Prominent man boobs, thick thighs, fat asses.

“Is that… why you became a manager?”

“Is that why you don’t hand out towels?”

Unbeknownst to you, and the girls, a few people were eavesdropping on you.

 

Bokuto

“I’d say that fits your description, right Bokuto?” Konoha playfully elbowed him on the chest, but the ace wasn’t paying attention. “Eh, Bokutooo? You there?”

He was not, in fact, there.

He really had no plan to charm you at all. If he already had these traits, surely your eyes would drift off to him, right?

But obviously, he subconsciously starts showing off more when you’re watching his match.

He starts glancing at you every time he scores a point. Slowly, glances turn into looks that ask for praise, like a puppy; and then looks turn into verbal “Did you see that (y/n)?!”

You don’t know when or why he started fixating on you, but you certainly weren’t complaining.

Thanks to your praise, Bokuto slowly starts getting more comfortable around you. Then, one day after he scores the game winning point, he runs over to you.

Before you know it, he’s pulled you into a hug.

“WOO (Y/N), DID YOU SEE THAT?!”

But you don’t reply, because 1) you can’t with your face smushed against man boobies, and 2) this is heaven.

Bokuto’s confused, of course, until he realizes your hands on his thighs.

He only laughs it off, until Komori comes. Behind the libero is a possessive looking Sakusa and a scary Iizuna. Komori’s about to spew some protective comment like, “hands of our manager” but you stop him.

The will to stay in this bear hug is stronger than the boobies giving you an inability to speak. “Let me have this, Komori.”

“Ah, right, you like this kind of stuff.” The libero laughs, slowly nudging Sakusa and Iizuna away. 

“What’s this kind of stuff?”

“You, hot stuff.”

 

Iwaizumi

“Iwa-chan, you’re not gonna leave me for him, righ-?”

“Shut up, Oikawa.”

It starts off subtle, wiping off sweat from his face with the bottom of his shirt and making sure to expose his pecs. Though such a thing works when there’s no other thicc boy in the room.

Then he starts stretching more often, particularly his legs.

Sometimes, on particularly hot days, he rolls his shorts even higher up his thigh.

Slowly, as you start to talk more often, he does the same things while you’re hanging out relatively alone.

“Hajime.” 

“Hm?” He stops his stretching, looking at you curiously. You lick your lips, your gaze looking at his thighs.

“Keep stretching.”

He obeys. His thighs flex and stiffen, the stretching starts getting painful, but he doesn’t stop because he knows you like it. When you press a hand against his thigh, he lets out a low groan.

“Fuck, Hajime.”

Finally, he knows you’re absolutely enamoured with his body.

 

Kageyama

“None of us fit that description.”

“Shut up, boke.”

“I mean...you fit that description?”

Each time he knows his gaze is on you, as he’s in the back line ready to receive a serve, he sticks out his ass just that little bit more. Along with tensing his thighs.

Sometimes he drags Hinata to receive his serves somewhere within your vicinity. When Hinata receives it and sends it back to him, he doesn’t catch it. Instead, he lets it fall so that you can watch him bend over to grab it.

He might even shake his ass a little.

One time, when something accidentally falls out of his hands, you confront him.

“Tobio, you’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

“Doing what?” He looks at you through his lashes - up for once, booty out and still bending over. Then he has the audacity to shake his bubble butt.

He smiles when you let out a frustrated groan. “That.”

“I still don’t know what you’re referring to.”

 

Kuroo

“Ha, that sorta fits Kuroo. Wait, Kuroo, are you-?”

“Yes, absolutely, yes.”

You know that extremely flexible receive? Yeah? Expect to see that a lot.

It shows off his ass and thighs and just- umph im such a simp

Unlike most others, he’s much more forward about it than others. He won’t outright say it, granted, but he’ll be more touchy with you.

One second, his arm is wrapped around your shoulder. The next, he’s pulled the back of your head to one of his pecs. 

When your team spots this, they rush over to get him to stop. At the forefront of the group is Iizuna. “Hands off our manager.”

Before you can say anything, Kuroo speaks up, “Last time I checked, (y/n)’s his own person. Besides, he enjoy this, right?”

“Yeah.” You don’t defend yourself from Iizuna, because hell, the captain banter is entertainment.

The two captains glare at each other with their competitive yet polite looks. Eventually, Iizuna falters. He can’t argue with you saying you like it, nor does he have the comebacks in him to talk to the ‘provocative expert’.

 

Atsumu Miya

The twins stare at each other, glaring as they usually do. “Dibs.” Atsumu says, and Osamu can’t deny that. It seems he’s missed out on you.

Just like Kuroo, Atsumu is forward.

He is also impatient, so if you don’t catch on the first few times, he’s just going to blur it out.

And that is exactly what happens.

Each time he tries to get your attention, he fails. A subtle wink sent your way, a flex of his bicep, bending and holding on to his knees after a loss penalty, none of them seem to alert you. They don’t, because he’s dumb and doesn’t think to show off the qualities that you like as much as the qualities that he’s confident in.

Which is why he’s here, in front of you while you take a break on the bleachers.

“Miya-san? Don’t you have a game?” You glance down at the court, seeing the rest of Inarizaki playing. They certainly aren’t at their best without their genius setter.

“I like you.”

Your raised eyebrow only taunts him, “And what brought this upon-”

“I know you like me.” He sits next to you, slinging his thighs over your lap. “Don’t you like these thighs?”

“I guess I do, ‘Tsumu.”

 

Osamu Miya

The twins stare at each other, glaring as they usually do. “Dibs.” Osamu calls. Even if Atsumu grumbles and kicks at the ground because he’s missed the opportunity, he can’t deny the power of dibs.

He’s much better at this than Atsumu is. He’s more patient and has no problem with playing the long game.

However, he doesn’t; because unlike Atsumu, he accentuates his qualities that you like.

He pulls up the bottom of his shirt to wipe his face, rolls up his shorts quite high, and generally does things that always have your eyes on his thighs, pecs, or ass.

He’s taunting you, silently telling you to come to him, so that’s what you do.

The next time you find him panting from a run, ass out and bent over, you confront him. Conveniently enough, he’s away from other people.

You make your presence known by putting a hand half on his ass, half on his thigh.

“Oh, heeey, (y/n).” He gives you an all-knowing look, paired with lazy half lidded eyes.

“You know why I’m here, don’t you, ‘Samu?”

“Obviously.”

 

Ushijima Wakatoshi

“I like thick men, the ones with prominent pecs, thick thighs, and bubble butts.”

Sure, he heard it. Sure, he processed it. But did he think about it afterwards? No. Did he connect the dots? No.

In fact, you’re the one attracted to him.

Ushijima is that one oblivious yet extremely suggestive individual. He does squats after practice, thigh-accentuating stretches, bends over without a single thought, this man is blatantly sexy.

You have to keep yourself from doing anything indecent.

So, it’s quite obvious you like him. Anytime he’s in the room, you’re staring at him. As such, Sakusa takes notice, and boy is he disgusted.

“(y/n), please don’t like him.”

Why? He didn’t want to let you date him, it’d turn you into a reminder of one of his most formidable opponents.

“Sakusa, I can’t help it.”

Welp, he’s doomed.

“(y/n), hey.” You’d never really interacted before you approached him. He noticed that you always looked at him, but he didn’t really think about it, nor did he think about why you did it. There were more important things to focus on.

“I like you.”

“Huh?”

He’s so dense, so oblivious, gosh. Good luck with him.

[writingwithacupoftea]

Poison

Summary: When Y/N Shelby arrives back from a meeting with some potential business partners, her brothers, Tommy, notices that something isn’t quite right with her.  Hours later, the family are crowded around her bedside, while she lies on the brink of death.

Word Count: 3350 (ooh, that’s satisfying)

Trigger Warnings: vomiting and just generally being ill

A/N: My stubborn arse finally managed to finish this fic (even though I edited as little as possible so it’s quite long)!! Hope you like it 💜💜

The Shelby and Gray families were not ones for quiet - they brought chaos and noise with them wherever they went. But now, not a single member of the family could bring themselves to speak, the doctor's parting words circling around in their heads:

"It's not looking good, I'm afraid. If she wakes in the morning, then I think we can say that things are looking up. But I can't promise you that she will."

Tommy couldn't decide if the silence was a blessing or curse. He was beyond grateful not to have his younger sister's screams of agony echoing down the halls of Arrow House any more, but it seemed so unnatural: Y/N wasn't the loudest of the Shelby clan, but she was always there with a sarcastic quip, witty comeback, or words of comfort that none of her other siblings could ever quite get right.

Her brothers often said that she was the future of Shelby Company Limited - Y/N had a vision and was determined to see it through with Tommy's help, for even though they disagreed frequently, he couldn't deny that her ideas could be the making of the business in the modern world. Tommy was beyond proud of the woman that he raised after their bastard of a father left them. Yes, Arthur, John and Ada had helped him and Polly with raising their sister – but no one could deny that Tommy loved Y/N in a way that none of the others ever could.

Now, he and his brother were crowded around her bedside, helpless, wondering how they could have let this happen.  

The doctor suspected poison, and although he couldn't be sure which poison it was, Tommy knew exactly who had given it to his sister and let the guilt consume him.

***

Earlier that day...

"Tommy, do I seriously have to meet them by myself?" Y/N asked as she marched into her brother's office (without knocking, of course).

"I've told you, Y/N/N, I've got a meeting of my own to go to and I don't trust Arthur and John not to fuck things up even if you are there."  

She was meant to be having lunch with some potential business partners from America, but despite Tommy's reassurances that this deal would be of benefit for their future plans for the company, Y/N had a feeling that something wasn't right about them. When she'd mentioned her suspicions that the associates may not be as friendly as they appear, Tommy brushed her concerns aside as Polly raged on at him ("Thomas you're a fool if you don't listen to your sister now – it's her gypsy instinct and it's never wrong.")  

But still, Tommy insisted on going through with it. He wasn't backing down now.

~ ~ ~

When Y/N returned later that afternoon, Tommy watched in silence as she slumped down at her desk and put her head in her hands.

"That bad was it, eh?" Tommy questioned, jokingly.

"My head's pounding, Tom, don't fucking wind me up."

Arthur, who had heard the exchange, walked up to her, slamming a pile of work onto her desk. "Is our little Y/N becoming a lightweight?"

"Oh, piss off Arthur," the firmness in her voice surprising him, considering that she didn't lift her head up.

Luckily, Arthur took that as his cue to leave, but not before sending an amused look at Tommy, one that was not reciprocated. Instead, the second eldest brother furrowed his brows, all of his attention focused on his little sister, concern beginning to bubble inside of him. Not wanting to start any arguments, however, he simply settled with saying "We'll leave at about five o'clock if you're still feeling like shit, yeah? I just need to finish this first."

Y/N laughed, humourlessly, and gestured towards her newly acquired work. "I've got plenty to keep me busy, Tommy, don't worry."

"You know if you're really feeling -"

"No, Thomas." His sister cut him off abruptly. "I'm fine to work, it's just a headache. It'll go before I know it."

With that, she began reading the first document that Arthur had given to her, actively avoiding Tommy's eye.

~ ~ ~

A couple of hours later and Tommy, having been so consumed with his work, realised that he hadn't heard a peep from Y/N since she started working.  

Looking up, he immediately became aware that Y/N still wasn't back to her usual self. To anyone else, she simply looked hard at work, furiously making notes as she waded through her paperwork; but Tommy could see her discomfort from a mile off. The hand subconsciously rubbing her stomach, the occasional wince in pain, the fingers on her other hand massaging her temples.

Y/N didn't seem to notice anything as Tommy made his way past her desk to speak to John and Arthur. "Has she said anything to either of you?"

"Nah," Arthur replied, casually. "I didn't think I pissed her off that badly earlier though, so I don't know why. She just keeps ignoring everyone and won't fucking sit still."

This did absolutely nothing to qualm Tommy's worries.

John piped up, tentatively: "You don't think it's...you know?"

"No, I don't, John. So spit it out."

John lowered his voice to a whisper, glancing slightly over his shoulder to make sure that Y/N wasn't listening. "You don't think it's that time of the month, do you? She always get a bit cranky, doesn't she."

Tommy cleared his throat as Arthur looked at the ground awkwardly. "Yeah, he's got a point, Tom. Best not to ask any questions."

"Right." Tommy paused, before making his way back to his office.  

He mulled over his brothers' words. It was a reasonable explanation for her behaviour, but something just didn't sit right with it for Tommy. Y/N had always lived with him and over time he had developed an instinct for when that time of the month was meant to be, and this didn't fit the usual pattern.

Lost in his thoughts as he packed up his things, Tommy was taken by surprise when Y/N appeared in the doorway, a smile plastered on her face. "You ready to go, Tom?"

If Tommy had looked a bit closer, he would've seen that the smile was just a bit too bright to be genuine. He would've seen that it didn't quite reach her eyes, which looked tired and pained in themselves. But, in an unusual move for Thomas Shelby, his shock at seeing such a drastic change in his sister overtook everything else.

As they drove back to Arrow House, the sun beginning to set in the distance, Tommy thought to himself 'Maybe John and Arthur were right, for once. I'm just worrying too much.'

Upon their arrival home, the siblings' usual routine began: Y/N made her way up to her room, whilst Tommy headed straight for his study to carry on working after greeting Grace and Charlie.  

And so, the evening began as a fairly typical one...but Tommy would never forget that night for the rest of his life.

~ ~ ~

At 7 o'clock each night, either Y/N or Grace would barge into Tommy's study to drag him to dinner (otherwise they thought that he'd never eat). In actual fact, Tommy always knew when dinner was going to be, but he enjoyed their visits to come and fetch him – for once, Thomas Shelby enjoyed being looked after.  

Grace had left for the weekend to spend some time with friends, and so when 7 o'clock came and went without Tommy being disturbed by his sister, he began to worry. Remembering her headaches and discomfort in the office, he came to the quick conclusion that she must have fallen asleep and made his way upstairs to go and wake her.

Call it his instinct as her older brother, but Tommy just knew that something was off as he stood outside Y/N's bedroom. Opening the door and peering around it, he froze at the sight before him: his sister, collapsed on her bed, sweating profusely and mumbling incoherently to herself. Tommy rushed over, panic eclipsing him, "Y/N?"

As he brushed the loose strands of hair away from her face, Tommy felt the heat radiating from her. Having nursed his sister through many an illness during her lifetime, and therefore knowing exactly what to do (or so he hoped, for Tommy had never seen her quite this bad before), he jogged down the hallway to fetch a bowl of lukewarm water and a cloth from the bathroom.

But Tommy's plans to nurse his sister through the night himself were put to an abrupt end upon his return. Y/N was curled up in a tight ball, arms wrapped around her stomach as she groaned and grunted in pain, vomiting violently over the side of her bed.

"Mary, call the doctor NOW!" Tommy yelled over his shoulder before dashing to sit next to his sister on the bed, dampening the cloth and dabbing it to her forehead. "Y/N? Y/N, speak to me, love, what's wrong?"

Still he got no response. Y/N didn't even give any indication that she knew that he was there. Her moans of pain simply got louder and more agitated and Tommy couldn't bear it. He had always done everything that he could (and more) to keep any pain far, far away from his sister, and when it couldn't be prevented Tommy would stop at nothing to make things better for her. Even when she was a baby, and their mother was still alive, no one could separate Tommy from Y/N's side when she was sick or injured – he didn't trust that others wouldn't cause her to suffer further, and so Y/N remained under his watchful eye until she was back to full strength (and even then he was wary for a week or so afterwards).

So, for Tommy, seeing his beloved sister writhing in pain, not knowing what was wrong or how he could help, was complete and utter torture for him.

~ ~ ~

When Mary arrived upstairs to inform her employer that the doctor would arrive within ten minutes, she barely recognised him: hair messy, hands shaking and muttering tender words of comfort, the Thomas Shelby in front of her was far from the controlled man that she had become accustomed to dealing with. But the thing that shocked her the most came when the man looked up at her. Whilst the blue of his eyes had become less icy since his marriage and the birth of his son, these eyes were wild, frantic and displayed a boyish vulnerability that Mary had never even imagined. They were glazed with unshed tears, and yet this barrier did nothing to hide the whirlwind of emotions that were communicated through them. The overarching message that they conveyed was as clear as day: Thomas Shelby was frightened.

The man's voice, thick with emotion despite his attempts to compose himself, snapped her away from her thoughts. "Call the rest of the family. Explain what's happening. Tell them that they need get here as quickly as possible. Then see to it that Charlie's looked after for the night. I'll be staying here."

"Yes, Mr Shelby. Shall I send everyone straight up here?"

Tommy simply nodded, his attention already devoted to his sister once more.

~ ~ ~

The minutes that followed this interaction would forever haunt Tommy's memory.

Whilst Y/N appeared to have stopped being sick, her cries of pain continued to escalate, both in frequency and in volume. Each one pierced through Tommy like a dagger straight to his heart. He knew that nothing he was doing was helping her, and that the situation was completely out of his control, and Tommy hated it. His brain became like a cage, trapping him in his tormenting thoughts: 'You should have done something sooner...you've failed her...how can you ever claim to be a good brother again when you can't even ease her pain...this is your punishment...it's your fault...it's all your fault.'

Tommy clutched onto Y/N's hand like a lifeline, mopping her brow as sweat continued to spill from every pore and her groans became screams tearing from her throat.  

Just when he thought that things couldn't get any worse, the convulsions began

Sheer terror consumed Tommy as he watched Y/N's body jerk violently on the bed. Silent tears cascaded down his face as he sat there, completely helpless, trying not to breakdown himself. That was the last thing that Y/N needed. He knew that he should call Mary or one of the maids, but he couldn't bear to leave Y/N's side to do so. He felt almost paralysed with fear, the only movement he made being the kisses that he placed repeatedly to her knuckles in between his pleas of "You're going to be alright, sweetheart...I'm here...I love you..."

The doctor came rushing in just as the convulsions were dying down, and immediately shooed Tommy away. Had the circumstances been any different, Tommy would have questioned the tone that the doctor took with Tommy – no one dismissed Tommy Shelby like that (except for Aunt Polly). But the Shelby man didn't even register it in his desperation for his sister to be looked at, so that he knew what to do to help her. He just needed to do something to make things better for her.

Standing outside Y/N's bedroom door, he heard the low rumble of his family's voices. Going against every one of his instincts to stay in position outside of Y/N's room, he ran down the stairs to see his family.

John, Arthur, Ada, Finn, Michael and Polly, like Mary, were shocked by the version of Tommy that appeared before them. From this alone, they knew that things were bad. Despite Tommy's explanations, the sight of Y/N lying weakly in her bed took them by surprise. Y/N always seemed so strong and full of life, the light of the family, and the realisation struck everyone that they may be plunged into darkness in the next few hours.

***

"It's not looking good, I'm afraid. If she wakes in the morning, then I think we can say that things are looking up. But I can't promise you that she will."

The silence left behind in the room after the doctor's departure was deafening. He had given Y/N some injections of fuck knows what to stop the convulsions and ease her pain, but he didn't know what else to do. He'd never dealt with anything like this before.  

All the family could do was wait.

After some time to process the doctor's warning, each member slowly began to unfreeze, or so it seemed. Polly disappeared to the kitchen to make tea and sort out some food, although no one felt like eating. John called Esme, and afterwards Arthur rang Linda, informing their wives that they wouldn't be back at home until at least tomorrow – they couldn't leave their sister. Michael ventured down the corridor to fetch some more chairs. Ada went to tend to Charlie, and Finn went with her, sent with the task of updating Mary and telling her to go to bed.

That left Tommy. Tommy, who couldn't believe what was happening. Tommy, who knew that, despite his new family with Grace, he couldn't cope without Y/N.  

Tiredly, the second eldest of the Shelby clan moved to reposition himself next to Y/N on her bed, holding her small hand in his and observing the baby hairs which fell delicately in front of her face. She would always be his little girl, no matter how old and grey and feisty she became, and nothing would change that. He refused to let anything take her away from him before they reached that point, not even poison.

As he mulled this all over in his head, remarking to himself how much she'd grown up yet how little she'd changed, Finn came back into the room. Breaking the silence, the youngest brother tentatively asked "Will she be alright?"

When Tommy looked up at his younger brother, he realised that he wasn't the only one who was scared. Truthfully, Tommy hated not being able to give a straight answer, and simply replied "She's a fighter, Finn."

God knows, they all hoped that she wouldn't stop fighting now.

***

Hours dragged on like days. The slow rising of the early morning sun taunted Tommy. The brighter it became in that room, the more the chance of Y/N waking up again slipped through his fingers.

He was the only one who stayed awake for the entire night, despite Ada's pleas for him to rest and Polly's snaps of "You're going to be no use to her if you're dead on your feet." Even the occasional drooping of his eyelids couldn't persuade him to relent. Because he knew that the minute he gave into that temptation, something would happen and Tommy couldn't risk missing anything.  

Part of him had stayed awake in case Y/N needed anything or got worse; part of him stayed awake in case she herself woke up (he didn't want her being alone); and the final part of him, the part of Tommy that was shit scared of what was going to happen, wanted to spend every single moment with his little sister. Because he didn't know if one of them was going to be her last on this Earth.

Arthur and John woke up in the chairs next to Y/N's bed, and gradually the rest of the family came to join them.

Polly was the first to speak. "Has there been any change?"

Tommy didn't trust himself to say the words out loud, so responded by shaking his head and placing a kiss to the back of Y/N's hand, which he hadn't relinquished his hold on.

Whilst her skin was clammy to the touch, she was no longer sweating like before. Her breathing had evened out and the expression of discomfort that had marred her face had melted away: Y/N looked peaceful. To Polly and the rest of the family, this was a good sign, an indication that she was getting better. However, the thought lingered that this would make it easier for her to slip away undetected.

This was the most terrifying idea.

The morning continued to pass by: 9 o'clock, 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock...still nothing.

Everyone was becoming more and more agitated, the ticking of the clock doing nothing to ease the tension. Tommy had finally moved, deciding to pace up and down the limited space left in the room instead. Occasionally, someone would walk over to the window or run downstairs to get a new book. But still they waited, each member of the family united in their hope that Y/N would wake soon.

When the clock struck midday, that hope began to fade, even though no one would say it out loud; it could just be felt in the atmosphere.

However, when no one was looking, Y/N's eyes slowly crept open, squinting as the bright sunlight beamed through the window. Once her eyes had adjusted, she observed her family positioned around her room and noted the peace and quiet, even if Y/N could tell that it was tense. Internally, she sighed to herself 'No fucking fighting, at last.'

Her voice was croaky as she said quietly "How long are you guys gonna hover round my bed like a bunch of creepers, eh?"

The relief was immediate. As Arthur and John roared in excitement, shouting "SHE'S ONLY GONE AND FUCKING DONE IT," Tommy raced over and rested a hand on her cheek tenderly, their tired eyes meeting for the first time in hours. His eyes spoke of admiration and disbelief, whilst hers held only adoration for her big brother. Tommy placed a kiss to her forehead, and let a couple more tears fall.

"I love you, sweetheart."

"Love you, Tom." Y/N smiled softly. "Thank you for staying with me, I knew you were there the entire time."

"As if I could ever leave you, eh."

"Or I you, Tom."

And that was the simple and honest truth.

[ashenburst]

Any Which Way

Mista x Reader, fluff (?), 4366 words - oh GOD do I hate this one and I apologize if it sucks in advance I just aaa had no coherent ideas whatsoever and I was trying to write fluff at the time my brain was screaming angst and - well, it shows. Anyway.

Mista is acting up because you fed the Pistols. Oh no.

When Mista asked you out, you told him his joke was tasteless. When Mista asked you out for the second time, you didn’t feel well enough. The third time, wondrously, your grandmother needed your assistance. He didn’t bother asking you for the fourth time.

It was a long gag running between the two of you, and the run started off wrongly. A marathon ought to begin with a leisure pace, and only by the near end should the contestants accelerate – this method would provide optimal results. Your situation was the exact opposite. Naturally, it did not turn out well enough.

At least for you, because you knew this was a silly mishap, from the beginning to the end. Yes, you may had been mean the first time, but it was an automated reaction: Mista was a jokester, and you enjoyed retorting. Many of the interactions weren’t serious, simply put. You were in Buccellati’s team for around a week and this dynamic had already been established.

So when he casually asked you out, after knowing you for such a short period, you brushed it off with a retort. For a moment, though, you were a mess. To be asked out by a guy this pretty, this… cool? Unbelievable, truly – it was only natural that shock rendered you dazed. Then, you procured a reply fitting to that disbelief you were stunned with: a snarky comeback. Afterwards, he quickly changed the subject, but did not change in behavior. There was no flinch in his voice, no meaningful allusion to the possible date, no, nothing at all. You had a valid reason to believe it wasn’t a sincere question.

And once you borrowed more thought to that matter, logic grounded your idea. You had seen Mista flirt with other girls, which meant he had a social life outside the mafia. This was not surprising, he had quite the unique charm. Therefore, he could certainly get together with people who were better than you.

However, this pondering had a side effect. The gunslinger crept onto your mind, binding your daily reflections into a slow realization that, perhaps, you had a thing for him.

But you didn’t feel bad. If anything, you were glad that he was your friend. Although his company was a gnawing reminder of your growing feelings, at the end of the day, he fulfilled you – and you supposed you fulfilled him too. Not once did he bully you, so you took that as a positive sign.  On the other hand, you had a slight bullying tendency towards him. Teasing him was something he always loved to respond to, dramatically, exaggerated, which would cause much laughter to the both of you. In other words… there was no harm done.

The next two times you were asked out held terrible luck to them. You simply could not make it. Upon uttering your excuse, in both cases, Mista laughed, commented, and moved on. Swiftly and comically, just the usual. You were left to rethink the tinge in your heart.

This third fiasco had occurred just a couple of days ago. What remained of it was – null, just some void of reminiscence that irked your daydreaming. Early in the morning, in Libeccio, you couldn’t enjoy your drink. The haziness of your mind did not carry a pleasant undercurrent. You did not know what to make of it, or what to remake of it. You were left to stare at your own beverage, hand on your chin, as your empty thoughts tumbled.

It was quite peaceful. The kind of peaceful you’d see in the first morning classes back in school. People all around you were barely awake, and quietly agreed to bask in the mutual silence.

That is, until Buccellati strolled in. His lively “buongiorno” made you flinch. Where did that energy come from?

The team leader explained himself. He already had a long discussion with some Mario La-something (you weren’t focused enough to catch that) and its result was a mission. You clenched your jaw. This early in the morning? Damn. You could only pray you wouldn’t be picked, you really weren’t in the mood –

But alas, Murphy’s law was in effect.

Buccellati rightfully deduced that there was something going on between you and Mista. Therefore he stated, “I’m sending (Y/N) and Mista on this mission, due to their remarkable chemistry.” Something that was, allegedly, apparent right from the start.

Not only that. Buccellati’s decision was (objectively speaking) great, as your and Mista’s stand were a powerful combo. Speaking of the Pistols, there was the amusing fact that you would die internally whenever you saw them. You surely were looking forward to that, and… cooperating with Mista too. This might work out well.

Someone tapped on your shoulder, making you jump in your seat. Looking at the culprit, you weren’t surprised to uncover his identity. It was him.

“Let’s go, sleepyhead,” Mista urged, wiggling his thick brows. Your smile was inevitable. “Or you’d rather trade places with Abbacchio?” He questioned with a smirk.

“Huh?” You took a glance at Abbacchio, and immediately scowled. He somehow slid so much down his chair that his chin was touching his chest – and he was sleeping soundly. How come you didn’t notice?

“Too bad, you can’t trade places with Abbacchio. Duty calls. Come on, on your feet,” Mista blabbered, which barely worked on your half-conscious self. You let our yet another “huh” which was followed by a disturbed squeak – Mista started pulling you up. You had no choice but to stand up.

“(Y/N) secured, Buccellati!” Mista proudly announced. Buccellati wasn’t too impressed. You, however, were impressed by the fact Mista was so… awake, all of a sudden.

Mista then put a hand on Narancia’s shoulder. “Okay, before we go, Narancia – you know what you’re supposed to do, right?”

The boy had a similar reaction to yours. “Eh? What?”

Mista nodded towards Abbacchio. Narancia grinned. You bit your lip, both grateful and sad you’d miss this. That was how you were brought back to your senses, and how you departed for the task.

Now, the nature of the mission was simple, but it took so long. Until you got there, until you found the exact location, until Mista talked with his Pistols (and you tried to, too), etcetera, etcetera – in the end, it took you hours to complete it. Funnily enough, you didn’t even take out your own stand. So, in your eyes, this was a complete waste of time.

Luckily, with that over, you two were free to go. Not before Mista had a little chit-chat with his stand, praising them all for a job well done. However, he didn’t really get the reaction he expected – instead of the usual one, just a “yay” in unison, the Pistols began asking Mista for a reward. A snack, to be specific. Mista quickly turned them down.

“It isn’t lunchtime yet, everyone, you’ll spoil your appetite,” he explained himself, only for the Pistols to start loudly pleading him for food. Mista crossed his arms.

“Come on guys, have some patience. We’ll go back to Libeccio just in time for lunch.”

It was a solid argument. Did that help? No, not at all. The Pistols were still floating in front of Mista and screaming with their tiny voices about how hungry they were. Their user, acting like the usual tired parent, tried to subdue them – but to no avail. They continued rambling, almost every single one of them, like spoiled children. Because, although did not want to be viewed that way, they truly were children. Even the fact they denied it supported the idea.

But these were no ordinary crybabies. They were sly and awfully intelligent, all while maintaining their characteristic lighthearted aura. Those childish antics? They lead to chaos, sometimes even to brutal honesty.

Mista got to deal with the downsides of that, but you? You would just stand aside. And whenever you did get to interact with those Pistols, you were exposed to downpours of compliments and almost perfect behavior. The brutal honesty? It came in the form of their heartfelt words and actions, as you were able to discipline them better than Mista could ever hope to. They listened to you, which came as no surprise.

Because Mista always played the role of the bad cop. In contrast, you were the good cop. It was only natural – you adored them, you had every reason to.

Taking all of these things into account, you couldn’t help but feel bad for them. You took their side.

“But Mista, they performed exceptionally well on this mission. On an empty stomach! Maybe they do deserve a little something, look at them. They’re desperate,” you made sure to point out. The Pistols approved of their new advocate.

“There’s no way in hell I’m wasting my money on them when we have free food at Libeccio,” Mista said, causing various sounds of disappointment. Even you sighed. He rolled his eyes.

“Come on now, shush, let’s go.” He waved his hand at the Pistols who did their best to ignore that.

“Aww, but Mista, we deserve a reward! You told us we did a great job! And! And (Y/N) agrees!” One of the Pistols was heard clearly. You nodded in approval, which Mista didn’t notice. He was too weirded out.

“What’s up with you? Why are you so persistent all of a sudden? I told you not to do this,” his tone suddenly hushed down. Now it was your turn to roll your eyes. He had no idea how to handle the situation, evidently – the Pistols wouldn’t shut up unless they were fed. It was as simple as that.

You shot another question at him, “And why won’t you let them have a snack, Mista?”

“I think I’ve been yelling my reasons up until now,” he murmured.

“Look, your method isn’t working. They won’t calm down. Why don’t you just give in and basically do the right thing?”

Mista made a disgruntled “eh” to that.

“Don’t be on their side. Just don’t. Please,” he pleaded, irritation lowering his tone. He kept that act of an exhausted father even with you – and this confused you. “Why?”

“Because,” Mista said, then paused, waving his hand towards the Pistols who were already parading in joy, “they’re impossible.”

“Impossible? Them? Ha, I wonder why. Maybe because you aren’t a good parental figure,” you teased.

“That isn’t true,” Mista quickly responded, clearly displeased. “If anything, they’re acting like this because they are a reflection of who I am. I’m not perfect, neither are they, but as you can see, I’m trying to make them… better.” He took a deep breath, and you had to think that, woah, he truly was invested. “I know them the best, because they are me and mine, so the task is on me,” he finished.

To that verbal essay, you simply shrugged. “Yeah, sure. So you know they’ll get quiet once they have what they want.”

Reluctantly, Mista nodded. “They need to be taught patience, though,” he added.

You were quick to counter. “Or do they need to be rewarded for doing great?”

You assumed this fried Mista’s brain because he couldn’t devise a proper response. His face, however, depicted the reply quite clearly – a pout appeared, such a childish move coming from the user of a childish stand. Soon, however, he had to react. The Pistols were getting too excited.

He waved his arms in a surrendering gesture, and almost hit some of the Pistols while doing so… purposefully or not. “Fine, you win. What’s your grand idea for the reward?”

That was where your little snack came in. Something you carried around in case a mission would appear out of nowhere. You once had the displeasure of going on a day-long mission without anything proper to eat. This instance, you weren’t hungry enough for the fruit. “I… can give them my apple,” you suggested. You were sure they wouldn’t mind. Their appetite was so blind, they would eat anything.

Mista, on the other hand, once again acted baffling. His eyes widened after he had heard your offer, and he denied it. “Aw, no, (Y/N) you won’t –”

But you interrupted him. “Again? Why?” Now, why was he so insistent on not letting them eat? Out of all people in the team, he was the most relaxed one. Even if he were trying to lecture the Pistols and set an example for them, he didn’t have to go this far. It was out of character, to say the least.

Strangely, it seemed as if he too was confused – he paused, as a furrow brought his brows together. “That’s your apple. Don’t waste it on them,” he reasoned strictly. Strictly?

You sighed, already removing your backpack. Mista obviously had ulterior motives, but you couldn’t care less. The Pistols wouldn’t be silenced until they had their meal – and not only that, but they deserved it. If only Mista realized that…

Maybe he did? Nevertheless, something was going on in his mind. You looked over to him. He was staring at you, despite the mess some of the Pistols were making in front of him. Number Five was already on the verge of tears. Oh, he was definitely hiding something.

You reciprocated his stern tone. “I’m not hungry, but they are hungry. Who should eat the apple? Them. Seems pretty logical to me.”

At long last, Mista gave up. “Aw, man, there really is no arguing with you, huh?” He waved his head in disbelief. “Alright, have it your way. I suppose there’s no harm done.”

And on that cue, the Pistols all flew towards you, squeaking their gratefulness. They were already in front of your face, telling you how amazing you were and how thankful they were. Just a bunch of overjoyed little gremlins. You couldn’t help but giggle.

“Thank you, everyone, thank you,” you barely managed to utter, overwhelmed with their excitement. You had to stop and stare for a moment there – they were actually flailing their hand and feet in the air, performing a dance of sorts. They were that happy! It warmed your heart, it really did.

So, to reward them. As soon as you took it out, they were decimating the apple.

It looked like carnage. You were about to look away when you noticed something odd.

Did… did Number Three just push Number Five? Were you seeing that well? Yeah, you definitely were, since Number Three was now shoving his tiny hand into Number Five’s face.

“Number Three! Don’t be such a meanie, there’s enough for everyone,” you warned.

He looked up to you, his eyes squinted, then he huffed. “Sheesh, fine.”

“Thank you so much, (Y/N),” Number Five mumbled, his voice high-pitched on the brink of breaking, as usual.

“You’re welcome!” You offered a reassuring smile, and the little stand mustered one too. Your heart was melting. You had to squeal.

That attracted Number Three’s attention. “Ass-kisser,” he grumbled. You gasped.

That was when Mista came in. He stepped by your side, pointed at them, and ordered, “Oi, Pistols, behave yourselves! You don’t wanna leave a bad impression on (Y/N), now, do you?”

Naturally, they screamed a “nu-uh”.

You heard their user sigh. “Just as I thought, whew,” he spoke in relief.

You looked over to Mista, and he mustered a smile.

“You were asking the Pistols what’s wrong with them,” you told him, “but in reality, it’s you who has been acting weird.”

He chuckled. “What do you mean?”

The apple in your hand weighted so little that you had to give it a peek. Or at least, you gave a peek to of its last fragments as they were being devoured. They actually ate everything.

Redirecting your attention back to Mista, you told him what was on your mind. “You’re too… uptight. Relax a little, will you?”

“Ah, that. Absolutely, relaxing straight away!”

His showcase of relaxation was stretching himself. What an incredible way to put his muscles on display – but you knew better than to ogle. To avoid the possibility of being flustered, you looked away. The Pistols were a much more pleasant sight. Sitting on your palm, just enjoying the aftermath of their meal.

“Pistols! It’s go time, come here,” you heard their user’s demand, and you watched as they flew back to Mista. They vanished, and thus, the entire hassle was over with. Thanks to you, it was done so in no time. You almost felt victorious.

That would mean that only you and Mista were left – alone. This wasn’t a problem on your way to the mission, but now, after everything you had witnessed, some awkwardness spawned in the air. It was a shame, truly. You finally had some time alone with Mista and you were getting these weird vibes from him, and they unsettled you. Perhaps for a good reason.

The only way to find out more was through communication. You decided to be straightforward, and did not hesitate to inquire, “Alright, so, what’s up with you?”

Mista jumped, as if it were a gunshot he heard instead of your question. “M-me?”

“Yes, you. Have you seen the number four or something?”

“Ew, no. Why are you askin’ – have you seen it?!” He was already getting panicky.

Probably yes, but unlike Mista, you didn’t bother noticing and remembering them. “Nope. But why are you acting so weird? You okay?”

“What exactly are you referring to?”

“You being way too strict with the Pistols.”

He laughed. “Oh. That stupid thing. It’s nothing. Dontcha worry.”

“I am worried. You seemed too aggravated. Almost as if you weren’t yourself.”

He placed a hand on his chest, his expression that of astonishment. “Now that is what you call a surprise.”

You shook your head in misunderstanding. “What are you talking about?”

He then placed a hand on your shoulder and offered you his tearful answer. “You worrying about me! I didn’t know you would do that!”

You were partially offended by this act because, by all accords, you cared about him, more than he could ever imagine. Mista probably caught the meaning of your grim face, so he let go of your shoulder and talked on.

“Kidding, I know you care. Anyway, yeah, they messed up big time. We had a chat, me and the Pistols, and would you believe it, they act like brats so they could get you to take their side.”

Despite the annoyed façade you put on, you had to laugh. Those sly little gremlins, brightening your mood even when they weren’t present.

“Are they like this with everyone or?” You had to ask – because as far as you had seen, nobody was as privileged as you were.

“Nah, just you. You’re the only one who’s willing to help ‘em anyway.” He put a hand on his chin, completely discarding your sudden smile. “Come to think of it, (Y/N), you’re too… hm…”

“I’m what?” You tilted your head, and he snapped his fingers.

“Nice! I think that’s the right word. You’re just too nice.”

Well, isn’t that a lovely thing to hear. “Aww, why, thank you.”

“Yeah, now listen up, you should really take care! There are bad people out there who can take advantage of that!” He raised a finger in the air to further emphasize his point.

“Err, Mista, hate to break it to you, but I’m literally a member of the mafia. I doubt that can happen.”

“And yet you’re so sweet! Sometimes, at least,” he whispered the last bit, and before you could say anything to that, he continued. “I’m telling you this for a reason. I mean, did you know that the Pistols were abusing your kindness?”

“Not that I was aware, and not that it mattered,” you replied with staggering indifference. Mista, on the other hand, was overly jumpy. This was so odd.

He went from one extreme to another in a handful of moments. The shift was so unusually stark that it left you perplexed. Lost in thought, you didn’t pay much attention to Mista’s future ramblings.

“You get it? You – you didn’t recognize their scheme! They’re acting all whiny because they know you’ll react. As I said, you’re too good… for your own good.”

Did you hear that well? You looked at him with a raised brow. He winked.

That sort of “joke” or whatever it was, deserved only a snort. That’s what you gave him, and he wasn’t pleased in the least.

“Did you just – oh come on (Y/N), why not actually laugh? Laugher is so healthy! It prolongs life expectancy. Or am I really that unfunny?”

 “You’re the funniest, Mista, don’t you worry about that,” you told him, and as a reassuring act, pat his head (or at least, his hat). His eyes widened and he smiled after the initial shock. You suddenly became aware of what you did, and you averted your gaze elsewhere to continue your explanation. “I… suppose I am simply confused as to why you are so…”

“Worried?”

“Yeah, I guess, among other things.”

He provided you with an elaboration spoken through the smile you had caused him. “Worried, yeah, I am worried because you’re too nice to some people. You see, (Y/N), just like you, I’m simply confused as fuck. Some people get that nice treatment, and sometimes they’re undeserving of that. I mean, just look at you. You’re so weak for the Pistols. Like… why do you like ‘em so much, anyway?”

You looked over to him with squinted eyes. What was this question about?

He leaned in close. “Are they cute? Or just adorably… bratty? Is that what you like?”

It clicked. It finally clicked.

“Mista… oh, Mista…” You began laughing. This was unbelievable.

You were being such a prick towards him sometimes. It was no wonder why he went crazy once he saw you were actually capable of being so caring and sweet for none other than his stand. His stand! The irony! He must’ve been so jealous, even desperate, to see you side with them and not him.

And if he truly suffered from jealousy, well, only one thing could cause it. The revelation, no, the mere possibility was so wonderful –

“You okay?”

Not at all, but he didn’t have to know that. Shit, you had to do something – but what? Maybe this was the opportunity for you to come clean after all this time, and for him to, finally, admit if he was being serious or not. You took a deep breath and decided to delve deeper.

You took him by the arm, which scared Mista, who yelped. You looked in his dark, so comfortingly black eyes, and the lashes that softened their still gaze – and he looked back into yours with unyielding focus.

“You know the saying: it’s not you, it’s me. Well, in this case, it is you,” you chiefly began, and it was enough to bewilder Mista. “You are jealous of them,” you accused, and it did not go as you expected.

Then and there, he broke into a laughing fit. So much so, that you had to let go of him. You thought that, indeed, this was too blatantly exaggerated – but it was no bad thing! It could still, somehow, turn into something good!

He finally calmed down, and naturally, denied the envy. “Pfft. Me? Jealous of them? That’s ridiculous, (Y/N), very funny, ten out of ten, top-notch humor.”

“Aww, top-notch acting, Mista,” you reciprocated the compliment boldly. Despite that sarcasm, he was a grinning mess, and he immediately moved past it.

“Say, hypothetically, what would you do if I were jealous? Just what would you do?” His question was characterized by some shy excitement, as he darted his focus away from your face, then back at it, in rapid repetitions. And you were buying it. You were totally buying it.

But not to accelerate this suddenly delicate conversation, you continued that teasing tone – although your heart was pounding, mind buzzing. You knew things were set in motion and you had to be very careful about what you said next.

And what was on your mind? Mista, who was standing right in front of you, with that heartfelt and yet undoubtedly cheesy smile; his eyes that bore into yours, expectant, so shamelessly looking for a reply. All of that, such a rightfully overwhelming visage, it was too much – and you bent your head slightly, averted your gaze slightly, and with the same rocky smoothness offered him a truthful answer, “Laugh at you, because… it’s adorable.”

His eyes widened, lips parted – now, perhaps he too was having a whirlwind inside his mind. “You think so?”

“Y-yeah, I mean, I…”

And there you have it, the embarrassment you knew would be your doom. You were so unsure what to speak, what to do, even. Should you just say it? Get it over with –

But Mista just ruffled your hair. “Save it for a better time. Say, are you hungry?”

You swallowed hard. “Are you...?”

“Yes, I am,” he confirmed.

That didn’t make any sense, because, as you recalled… “But… isn’t this the fourth time –“

Mista jumped backwards, utterly and wholly terrified. “What the fuck?! Okay, we’re skipping this one too, sorry, (Y/N), but I can’t do this! There’s no way I’m putting either of us in danger because of a date!” He waved his hands around in what you perceived as comical outrage.

In it, you found some amusement. It relieved you, and relief was what you needed. The aftermath of this conundrum left you with an obnoxious heartbeat, and at long last, it was quieting down. Therein laid some peace, and with it, you garnered a brilliant idea. “And what if I invited you to that date? As… attempt number five.”

And he was shocked. Did it align with his logic? Or was the risk of the deadly number too high?

After what seemed like an eternity of processing, Mista’s expression shifted to that of an overjoyed one. He chuckled, commented, “Honestly? I’m sure Buccellati wouldn’t mind it if we were a little late,” and pulled you by your waist, ready to drag you to that goddamned date.

[taehyungiestummy]

Return to Paradise -- Chapter Eight

Masterlist     Previous    Next

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2945

         “This is the life,” I smile, shoving a few fries into my mouth. “Take-out and watching TV.”

         “It is a good way to end the day,” Nari nods. “After a crazy week, I need a break. Daycare is way harder than people think.”

         “Six days a week most weeks is tough regardless of the job,” Emily rips a chicken finger in half, handing me a half.

         “I have a lot of vacation stored, so if it ever becomes too much, I can take breaks. The kids are lovely, so it helps.”

         “You’ll be such a good mother, Nari,” I sit up and grab my drink off the coffee table.

         “Well, I will have raised you two for two summers after this,” Nari giggles. “I do wonder how taking care of my own kids will be like. It’s not going to happen for many years.”

         “Do you think Jin will be a good father?” Emily nudges me to grab her drink.

         “Jin and Nari would be some of the greatest parents,” I hand Emily her drink, leaning back with mine in hand.

         “Oh, hush now,” Nari shakes her head. A redness on her cheeks. “Seokjin and I aren’t nearly to that stage of our relationship.”

         “Would you tell us if you were?” I shove my piece of chicken into my mouth.

         “You two would be the first to know,” Nari sips her tea. “Don’t even worry about that. Now, how was Skyping your parents?”

         “Tae was so nervous,” I giggle. “He really didn’t want to mess up and not get my parents approval. Gah, he was so cute when he told them how much he loves me. I thought that my heart might explode.”

         “They loved them, right?” Nari asks. “Your parents fully approve of Namjoon and Taehyung?”

         “They do,” Emily and I nod.

         “Yoongi entered near the end, and I think that helped too,” I wiggle into the couch. “He’s my best friend. My other best friend, that is.”

         “Namjoon was very calm during the meeting,” Emily says. “But he told me afterwards he felt just like Taehyung. I thought that was sweet. That he would be that nervous to meet my parents with all that was on the line.”

         “No need to worry now then, Amber,” Nari smiles. “Your love is not going to be messed with. You just had to let everything play out.”

         “I guess you’re right,” I smile. “Oh, yeah, something else came up when we were talking.”

         “What is that?” Nari tenderly smiles.

         “Well, BTS have a little comeback during July, and, though we haven’t really been asked, they might want to take us along,” I bite my lower lip.

         “Oh, wow,” Nari slowly nods. “I don’t know. That’s some time away from me, and I don’t know where you would be all the time.”

         “We will have Jin talk to you,” Emily says. “He’ll have all the answers, and be able to explain everything.”

         “That will make me feel better,” Nari sighs. “I do understand your wanting to go. Spending time with your boyfriends means a lot, and you aren’t here for that long, and you are gone for a long time.”

         “It does mean a lot,” I place my trash onto the coffee table. “July is still some ways away, so no need to worry yet.”

         “You have a point there,” Nari giggles. “I’ll miss you girls, though.”

         “I’m sure Jin could get you into a show,” Emily leans into me. “You want to see him live, don’t you?”

         “Of course,” Nari stands up out of her recliner. “I already have a few times now, actually. You’ll love watching them.”

         “Ah, so you’ll let us go?” I try my best boxy Taehyung smile.

         “You are cute,” Nari chuckles. “Show Taehyung that smile.

         “I will,” I relax my face. “Needs practice, and it will never look quite like his.”

         “But I am leaning towards letting you go with them. You’ll be able to explore South Korea a bit more, and wherever else they go. Plus, have fun seeing the boys doing their job. You would hate me if I didn’t let you go, as well.”

         “Eh, we wouldn’t hate you,” I smirk.

         “Not forever, that is,” Emily smirks with me.

         “I’ll call Jin soon so we can talk. I will let you know my decision soon, don’t worry,” Nari smiles. “I know what happens when you worry.”

         “Ah, truly, this summer is going so well so far,” I close my eyes. “I am loving my life right now.”

         “Your mental health back up to where it needs to be?” Emily asks.

         “Back up where it should always be,” I happily sigh.

         “I wish that life could always be like this,” Nari says. “You girls deserve this kind of happiness all the time.”

         “Next year,” I pick my phone up off the couch to see texts from all the boys in all kinds of single and group chats. “Geez, those boys are crazy with texting.”

         “Anything interesting?” Emily chuckles, picking up her phone to see what texts she got.

         “Tae loves me, Yoongi sending me possible lyrics to look over, and the young boys are planning some video game day or something. Not everything is translated exactly correctly, but at least I can understand most of it.”

         “I remember last year that you didn’t text them that much, and now it happens all the time,” Nari giggles. “They must miss you the second they can’t see you anymore.”

         “That is probably true,” Emily says. “Though, I think that we miss them just as much when we get back to the apartment.”

         “We’ll see them tomorrow, and they know it,” I roll my eyes. “Not much would keep us away from them. That is for sure.”

********

         “Holy fucking shit,” I groan, curling into a tighter ball on the couch. “Fuck this. Periods suck.”

         “I can’t believe how hard your period hits you,” Emily places a bowl of soup on the coffee table. “Glad my cramps are mild.”

         “Yeah, yeah, shut the hell up,” I take a few deep breaths to overcome the pain of my lower abdomen. “Thanks for making me soup. Chicken noodles should help.”

         “I hope so,” she pats my head, taking a seat in the recliner. “I know that I tease, but I hate seeing you like this.”

         I slowly sit up, careful not to move too quickly in fear of a cramp attack. “Tae is missing out on me looking cute in his t-shirt,” I smile, bringing the bowl of soup up to my lap.

         “You do look adorable,” Emily turns the TV on. “Simple black and white stripes.”

         “I want a sweatshirt of his,” I slowly sip on some soup. “I would be drowning in the fabric as he is just that much bigger than me. His smell is helping me get through this day.”

         “That would be overly cute,” Emily smiles. “I bet Namjoon would share a baseball cap with me, or just buy matching items.”

         “He would, but that’s just his type of personality. He’s very caring, yet wants to keep up the cool dude kind of attitude.”

         “Comes with being an underground rapper for so long. You get a little rough.”

         “I don’t doubt it,” I slurp some noodles. “He has a soft spot for you. I can see it when he looks at you.”

         “I like that I get to see his soft spot the most. Makes me feel special. Taehyung’s cuddly with you, and that is cute.”

         “He’s really touchy, that’s what he is. I’m totally okay with it. He wants the world to know I’m his, or with him, or whatever,” I place the now empty bowl onto the coffee table. The warmth helping keep the cramps at bay. “He’s cute, so I’ll let him be a bit protective.”

         “He gets jealous easy, but that’s because he loves you. Kind of hot, a jealous guy.”

         “I agree. However, he should know that I would never leave him, and I want to be with him for the rest of my life.”

         “He’s just scared because this is his first serious relationship. All past relationships didn’t get as far as they have with you.”

         “I did forget about that. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. We were just waiting to meet each other.”

         “That is a neat thing to think about. Really makes the soulmates thing seem true and all. I mean,” Emily chuckles. “It’s an idea I believe in, but others don’t, so that makes it believable to them.”

         “I understand,” I smile, lying back down on the couch. “Sunday was nice hanging with them at the dorm.”

         “Playing video games for most of the day is pretty sick. I never thought that would be something that we would do with them.”

         “Jungkook and me going out for a run was fun. I have to keep my running body in shade. Running is so nice.”

         “We can do morning runs once you aren’t dying.”

         I laugh, sending a cramp exploding through me. “Shit, that hurt. Ugh, why must my body do this to me?”

         “Sorry, my fault.”

         “I’m fine,” I groan. “Monday, the dance lesson was cool.”

         “Dancing with the other boys was the highlight of that day.”

         “Hoseok was sure he would hurt me since he had to kind of sit on me. No matter what I said, he was still overly careful.”

         “We still almost did the dance perfectly. Helps we’ve watched them do it so many times.”

         “That does help, it seems,” I sigh. “Yesterday was not a good day for me, though. I could feel my body hyping up for this shitty period.”

         “Yeah, I could tell by the look on your face. Yoongi and Taehyung were very concerned for your wellbeing. I think they thought you were going to get sick, and in a way you kind of are.”

         “Ah, Yoongi the rock, caring for me. That’s so cute. He is too sweet for me.”

         “Brother love, that’s what it is. He is like a brother in every way to you.”

         “Writing poems together is fun,” I smile, the cramps subsiding for the time being. “Jimin is just fun to talk about looks with. Both of us need pick-me-ups sometimes.”

         “Jin is that mature adult that can actually help with problems,” Emily chuckles. “He is funny when he wants to be, though. Being the oldest must be tough.”

         “Youngest as well. Jungkook has all eyes on him, so he can’t mess up.”

         “True. Hoseok is just off to the side being so extra.”

         “The weird band of brothers. I wish my body wasn’t trying to kill itself. A day away from them is good time wasted.”

         “We can make it up once we move here.”

         “Still can’t figure out a good way to tell our parents that one.”

         “It will come to us.”

         “Yeah, the day we don’t come home.”

         “They must have a feeling we want to live here. Our loves are over here,” Emily sighs. “Maybe we should read and calm our brains.”

         “I can do that,” I grab my manga, Deadman Wonderland, off the coffee table.

         Emily and I read for many hours, eventually turning on some music as the apartment is overly quiet. I have to get up multiple times to use the restroom and grab the next manga in the series. Only needing Emily to grab a pill for my cramps once. We have already been informed that Nari is going out with Seokjin right after work, so dinner is up to us.

         “Take-out is always nice,” I smile, sitting up on the couch.

         “Any cravings?” Emily asks, picking up her phone.

         Before I can respond, the doorbell rings out.

         “Um, maybe someone already sent us take-out,” I shrug, placing my book on the coffee table. “How crazy would that be?”

         The doorbell rings again, and Emily stands up. “I’ll get it,” she nods before walking off.

         I sit in silence, focusing on my breathing to keep the cramps calm.

         “It was take-out,” Emily’s voice fills my ears moments later.

         “Good, I’m hungry,” I turn around to see Emily, as well as Taehyung and Namjoon with take-out containers.

         “We wanted to come over to make sure you were okay,” Namjoon says.

         “You boys are very sweet,” I tenderly smile, falling into my Korean tongue with better ease. “I am feeling much better.”

         “I couldn’t stop thinking about you all day,” Taehyung walks around the couch, sitting next to me. “My jagi was ill and I wasn’t able to take care of her.” He begins opening the take-out containers he has. “One job of a boyfriend is to take care of his girlfriend when she is sick.”

         “Catch a summer bug?” Namjoon takes a seat in front of the recliner that Emily has returned to.

         “No, it’s a little more,” Emily runs a hand through her boyfriend’s hair. “We both know when it will hit, I guess you could say.”

         “Hm, I think I know what she’s dealing with.”

         “I don’t.” Taehyung pouts.

         I lean into Taehyung’s side. “Um, well, you see, it feels like my uterus is trying to kill me.”

         “What? Jagi,” Taehyung feeds me something from the take-out container. “Wait, what is a uterus?”

         Namjoon, Emily, and I burst into laughter.

         “Hey, what’s so funny?” Taehyung shoves some food into his mouth.

         “You can tell him, Amber,” Emily takes the container Namjoon is holding out to her.

         I look up at Taehyung, “Tae, the uterus is part of the female reproductive system.”

         Taehyung looks down at me, “Oh. Why is it hurting you? Should we go to the doctor?”

         “No, no doctor. It happens every month for a few days.”

         “What happens?”

         I groan as a pain shoots through me. “Ah, bad cramps. Part of my period.”

         “Period?”

         “No one has told you about girl’s cycles, Tae?” Namjoon asks.

         “No,” Taehyung adverts his look on me, clearly embarrassed.

         “It’s okay, Taehyung. That’s why I am telling you now.”

         Taehyung reconnects our gaze, “I will listen.”

         “Every month, from around fourteen, sometimes younger, sometimes older, a girl has a thing called a period.” My cheeks are slowly heating up. “During three to five days, her body is getting rid of the egg that didn’t get fertilized. This happens by, um, ah,” I freeze up, embarrassed to inform him what I am going through right now.

         “What happens,” Taehyung feeds me something else in hopes of coaxing the answer out of me.

         “Bleeding,” Emily speaks up. “Girls body’s bleed to expel the egg and stuff.”

         I groan out of pain and embarrassment. “Does that make sense?” I look away.

         “And your body hurts you for this?” Taehyung puts his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer.

         “Amber gets the worst cramps of any woman I know,” Emily answers.

         “Do you have pain relievers?” Namjoon asks.

         “I do,” I wiggle around to a more comfortable position in Taehyung’s grip. “They help, but I don’t like relying on stuff like that. Plus, after today, it gets a lot better.”

         “What can I do to help?” Taehyung kisses my head. “I want to help you feel better.”

         “Well,” I look up at my boyfriend, the blush fading from my face. “Keep feeding me, and maybe a massage later.”

         “Of course,” Taehyung leans down and gives me a kiss. “Are you wearing my shirt?”

         I giggle, “Yes. It’s comfy and smells like you. Helped me not miss you as much, and I don’t like to wear anything tight when on my period.”

         “Cute,” he grins.

         “So, how long are you guys staying over here?” Emily asks.

         Taehyung leans back, “I don’t know.”

         “Until Seokjin-hyung gets back here after his date with Nari.”

         “Ah, yes. They should be talking about July and all that good stuff,” I smile, accepting food from Taehyung’s fingers.

         “Jin seems like he will be able to convince Nari to let us go,” Emily hands her trash to Namjoon.

         “I hope so,” Taehyung gives me a small squeeze. “I need my jagi.”

         “No reason to worry about it,” Namjoon nods. “Let’s just enjoy our time right now.”

         “I am trying to do that as much as I possibly can,” I grab Taehyung’s free hand, placing it on my stomach. The warmth from his hand like a hot pad for the cramps. “Ah, Taehyungie, I am so glad that you are so warm.”

         “What are you doing?” Taehyung rests his chin on the top of my head.

         “Cramps sometimes aren’t as bad when heat is applied. A heating pad can’t reach me, and the rice thing that Nari had was fine for a while. Your warm hand, though, feels like heaven.”

         “Would it help if it was right on your skin?” Taehyung toys with the bottom of the shirt I have on.

         “I don’t know, Tae, that seems a bit too much,” I squirm.

         “Not at all,” he sneaks his hand under the shirt, resting it on the middle of my stomach. “There. How does that feel?”

         “Good,” I happily sigh, letting my eyes fall close as I settle against Taehyung. “You don’t need to feed me anymore. I wasn’t that hungry to begin with. Not much sounds good right now.”

         “I’ll just keep holding you and stuffing my face.”

         “Once everyone is done eating, how about we watch a drama?” Namjoon speaks up.

         “That sounds great,” Emily says. “As long as Amber doesn’t need me to do anything else for her.”

         “Right now, I feel great,” I goofily smile. “I don’t care what we do, as long as I get to stay just like this for as long as possible.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hope you enjoyed reading! A cute chapter that I loved writing. The gif is a bit of a stretch, but it was cute and I thought “Why not?” Please, I would love to know what you thought! :D

[mint-yooxgi]

Just Listen - Yandere!Siren!Jongdae X Reader

Yandere AU - Part of the Yandere!EXO X Reader Series

Genre: Mature, Horror, Angst

Pairing: Jongdae X Reader

Words: 15,757

Warning: This is a Yandere story, it will contain themes such as stalking, violence, obsession, possessive natures, and just general overall creepiness and swearing. You have been warned.

A/n: I can hardly believe it, the final instalment of my Yandere!EXO Monster series is here! Finally! It’s almost been a full year since I started this journey with Kyungsoo and now look how far we’ve come. Wow. I just want to say thank you all so much for your constant support for my series and always supporting my writing. Fear not, for this is not the end! I have plenty more Yandere stories planned and that have yet to come! I’m pretty happy with how this turned out, and I think it’s very fitting to be the finale of the series. As always, I do not believe Jongdae, nor any of the other members, past or present, of EXO would act like this. This is just my interpretation of the archetype and the song. Feedback is always greatly appreciated. Enjoy ;)

Another day, another practice session of the nine of them rehearsing for their upcoming comeback. Pants fill the room as they all take a quick five minute break considering they have been practicing for the past two hours straight.

You sit in the corner of the practice room, scrolling through your phone while they try and get that one move perfect for the nth time that day. You flick your eyes over to your left where you just so happen to see some movement coming closer to where you’re sitting.

Moving your legs off the bench, both Yixing and Chanyeol move to sit beside you while they take their break, chugging their water on the way. You let out a sigh.

“I still don’t understand why you guys want me here while you practice,” you say, shaking your head slightly. “I’m pretty sure I’m just distracting you. Besides, I’ll see the end result when you’re all finished.”

“Don’t be silly, (Y/n),” Junmyeon smiles at you. “After all, this is the song you composed for us. We just want to make sure everything is to your liking before we show it to the world.”

“I’m sure it will be great no matter what you guys choose to do,” you smirk. “I mean, you are EXO and whatever you do is going to be amazing, and the fans will love it no matter what you do.”

“Of course it’s going to be great,” Yixing grins. “You composed the song.”

“I still can’t believe you guys are going to be performing my song,” you say, a look of awe on your face. “How did you even manage to swing that one?”

“It’s not everyday your best friend comes screaming into your studio that she’s wrote a song for your group to perform,” Chanyeol chuckles. “A good song at that.”

“Are you saying my other compositions are bad?” You raise an eyebrow at him which receives little ‘oh’s from the surrounding members.

“That’s not what I meant, silly,” he gives you a slight shove on your shoulder.

“I know,” you nudge him back, playfully. “I’m just not used to this yet.”

It’s true, throughout all the years you’ve been best friends with Chanyeol, you’ve barely shared your compositions with him. It wasn’t until recently that you felt brave enough to show him some things you’ve written, and thanks to his positive feedback, you felt brave enough to show him the song they’re currently practicing. 

As soon as he heard it, he knew you wrote it for him and the boys, and he could tell who was supposed to have which part of the song. He told you to meet him the next day to show the rest of the guys, and then their production team. All of the guys fought for your song to be on their next album, but they didn’t have to put up much of a fight since the production team liked it so much.

“Some of the lyrics are a bit cheesy, though,” Sehun grumbles, and you turn to look at him.

“Oh?” You inquire, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, ‘I’ll protect you, and love you until the end of time’? Ugh,” he rolls his eyes.

“What? Don’t like singing what your fans want to hear?” You giggle, now wiggling your eyebrows at him. “Besides, who doesn’t want incredibly attractive men singing that to them?”

“Chanyeol was complaining that he couldn’t write another love song,” Minseok trails off.

“And who better to write a love song then someone on the receiving end of the song?” You raise an eyebrow. “In the end, I am your target audience, I know what they want to hear.”

“You could almost say you wrote this song for yourself,” Jongdae smirks. “What you want to hear us tell you.”

“Oh please,” you roll your eyes at him. “Love is nothing but a series of chemical reactions in your brain only meant to confuse and mislead you into thinking someone else cares for you. Love can be induced through a series of mock instances using drugs that trigger these reactions, or similar instances where these chemicals are released when doing something stimulating. Love is nothing but artificial.”

“Somebody’s bitter,” Baekhyun sing-songs. 

“You know I’m right,” you state. “Love exists, yes that is true, I know that for a fact. I’ve seen it. I just couldn’t care less about it at the moment, thank you very much.”

Junmyeon lets out a low whistle, “sounds like you’ve been through it before then.”

“Yeah (Y/n), who hurt you?” Jongdae jokes, but there’s a hint of seriousness in his voice that you pick up on.

“No one has hurt me,” you say with a roll of your eyes. “Why does everyone think that when I tell them this?”

“Maybe because you sound sceptical about love?” Jongin offers.

“Eh, probably,” you shrug casually.

“Sometimes, I don’t understand you,” Baekhyun teases.

“You’re not the only one,” Chanyeol chuckles, which just makes you shrug once more in response.

Just then, your phone rings. You quickly answer it, signalling to the guys to give you a second.

“Hello? Oh, hey, Johnny,” your brows furrow slightly as you listen to what he has to say on the other end, before a smile breaks out on your face, “yeah, I’ll be right there!”

You hang up your phone and turn your attention back to the nine men surrounding you. Each of them stare at you with an expectant look on their face, waiting for you to tell them what that was all about. All except one, who looks more pissed off than anything.

“Well, this was fun and all, but I don’t think you guys need me here anymore,” you say while standing up. “The dance is looking great, keep up the great work!”

“And just where do you think you’re going?” Jongdae questions, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Johnny asked me to help him with something, then he said he’d buy me bubble tea afterwards,” you reply, grabbing your things and heading towards the exit. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” you wave to them, then look directly at Chanyeol, “later loser.”

With that, you take your leave, heading towards the elevators to meet Johnny in the lobby. You breathe a sigh of relief once the elevator doors close in front of you. You love the boys of EXO very much, but sometimes they can get a bit much, especially Jongdae.

For whatever reason, he seems to act different around you. The other boys always tell you how goofy and loud he is when you’re not around, but for some reason, when you’re there, he gets all stoic and silent. You know they aren’t lying, the amount of videos you’ve seen proves it. You don’t necessarily think he hates you, but you also don’t think he likes you very much. If only you knew.

Meanwhile, back in the practice room, Jongdae looks almost longingly at the door where you’ve just left from minutes ago. He’s shaken out of his thoughts by Baekhyun placing a hand on his shoulder, sending him a concerned filled look. Jongdae just rolls his eyes in response, getting back to practice.

For some reason, he can never get a read on you. To him, you’re an anomaly, the only one who doesn’t fall under the charms of his voice, and he doesn’t understand why. No one is able to resist his voice once he activates it, yet you’ve been able to, every single time.

He knows that not every time he opens his mouth to sing, he’s using his powers. He only uses his voice to lure those unsuspecting few into doing whatever he wants. Sometimes it’s to feed, other times it’s just to cause a bit of chaos. His favourite though is using his voice to make people fall in love with him.

He’s tried countless times to do this to you, and at first it was just for fun, but over time, he’s actually grown fond of you. He finds it intriguing how you’re able to resist him, and he guesses that’s what makes you so appealing to him. He actually has to try with you. Though at times, he does get frustrated that his regular charms don’t work on you.

It’s been at least a year and a half since he started to try and make you fall in love with him using his voice, yet it’s never worked.

He sees the looks of fondness you share with your friends, especially Chanyeol, and he can’t help but want that for himself. He wants to feel something genuine with you, and knowing that if you fell for him without the use of his voice to aid your decision, would bring him no greater joy. It would be a real, genuine love, not something artificial. It’s something he craves, something he desires more than anything.

He’s never been in love before, but he wants to be, with you. In fact, he’s almost positive he is already, but he’s not about to make it obvious. You have an effect over him, it’s obvious, and it’s getting harder and harder to hide everyday.

He’ll make you his one way or another, without the influence of his voice.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the lobby, you step off the elevator once the doors open to see Johnny waiting for you by the front windows.

“Howdy, stranger,” you tease, poking him on his shoulder once you’re close enough.

“Why hello there, m’lady,” he jokes right back, tipping a fake hat in your direction, making you both burst into a fit of giggles.

“So, still need help asking Vanessa out, huh?” You say as the two of you exit the building.

He smiles nervously in your direction, letting out an awkward chuckle as the two of you walk down the street. That’s all the answer you need to know you’re right.

“What am I going to do with you?” You sigh.

You’ve known Johnny for quite a few years now, meeting him while he was still a trainee and becoming quick friends. You’re pretty much as close to him as you are with Chanyeol.

“Help me, because I know you’re also her friend and you love me so much,” he continues to smile at you nervously.

“Hmm,” you hum, as if thinking about if you actually want to help him or not, making him even more nervous than he is.

“(Y/n)?” His voice almost sounds panicked.

“Relax, I’m just messing with you,” you giggle, sending him a reassuring smile. “Of course I’ll help you.”

“Oh, thank god,” he breathes a sigh of relief. “You’re the best!”

“I know,” you smirk, pushing open the door to the bubble tea place and stepping inside.

You spend the next two hours sitting and talking with Johnny, coming up with a plan for him to ask Vanessa out. After so many failed plans, you both finally come up with one that will work. In three days, at EXO’s comeback stage, you will bring Vanessa with you. Johnny will also be there seeing as he’s expected to be, and you will suggest they hang out afterwards together to go for something to eat.

“You only get one chance with this, so don’t screw it up like the last time,” you tease, pointing a finger at him to which he puts his hands up in self defence.

“I’m sorry okay, she just makes me so nervous,” He responds.

“You can perform in front of thousands of screaming fans but you can’t ask your crush out on a date, yeah that makes sense,” you laugh, shaking your head slightly.

“Hey! Performing is different, I’m trained for that, not asking someone on a date,” he crosses his arms with a small huff.

“I’m just kidding,” you smile at him. “Don’t worry, everything will work out fine.”

“I sure hope so,” he mumbles.

“What? Do you not have faith in me?” You ask, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I do, it’s me I’m worried about,” he chuckles.

“Wow, who would have ever thought the great Johnny Seo would be so nervous to ask someone out,” you gasp.

“Shut up,” he kicks your shin from under the table.

“Ow,” you pout. “That hurt.”

“Aw, poor baby,” he pouts back at you, teasingly.

“You’re the worst,” you kick him back laughing slightly as he jumps in surprise. “Anyways, it’s getting late and I need to get back home. I’ll see you soon, okay? If you need anything else, call me.”

“I will,” he replies.

At this, you both stand up, you gather your things as Johnny throws out your empty cups. He walks you outside and you turn to him once more, bidding him a farewell and giving him a quick hug to which he gratefully returns.

“See you soon,” he whispers to your retreating form as you get further away from him down the street.

The next two days pass by fairly quickly for you, as you’re busy each day leading up to the comeback. However, for Jongdae, those days feel like an eternity.

Currently, it’s the night before the comeback, and he’s the only one left in the practice room this late at night. He’s running through the dance again, wanting to make sure everything is perfect for tomorrow. He knows how much this song means to you, and now how much it means to him, considering you wrote it. He wants it to be his best performance, especially for the first time you’re going to see him perform it live.

He starts once more from the top, but this time he places a chair in front of the mirror, resting his phone on it with a picture of your smiling face open towards him. This time when he runs through it, it’s just going to be you and him. He’s singing your song for you.

His heart is racing in his chest as he practices the song for you, putting everything he’s got into it this time. He sings along quietly under his breath during the other’s parts, and when it comes time for his, he gives it his all.

Once the song finishes, he’s staring at his panting reflection in the mirror, noticing how golden his eyes have become.

“You’re still here?” A voice snaps him out of his thoughts as he whips around to face the figure leaning against the doorframe.

He can only manage a slight nod of his head in response, his eyes flicking to his phone and breathing a sigh of relief once he sees it’s shut itself off before anyone could see your picture on it.

“I thought you would have went home hours ago,”  Chanyeol comments, pushing himself off the doorframe and making his way over to Jongdae in the middle of the practice room.

“I wanted to get in a few more practices before tomorrow,” he says, grabbing his water bottle and taking a swig. “Besides, I still had a bunch of energy.”

“Sure you’re not just trying to impress someone tomorrow?” Chanyeol quirks an eyebrow, and Jongdae tenses.

“Who would I need to impress?” He comments, relaxing his shoulders once more.

“The fans, idiot,” Chanyeol rolls his eyes. “Who did you think I meant?” 

Jongdae avoids making eye contact with him, choosing to shrug his shoulders instead. 

“Unless…” Chanyeol trails off, “there is someone you’re trying to impress.”

Jongdae stays silent, sending Chanyeol a look as if to say, ‘come on,’ which has his eyes widening.

“So there is someone you’re trying to impress!” Chanyeol smirks as if he’s cracked a secret code.

“There’s no one I’m trying to impress, Chanyeol,” Jongdae deadpans, collecting his things so he can go home.

“Dude, I’ve been your friend for a long time now, I can tell when you’re trying to impress someone,” Chanyeol jokes.

“Okay, Chanyeol, if you say so,” he replies with a roll of his eyes.

It’s quiet between the two of them as Chanyeol takes this time to stare Jongdae down as he continues to pack his things for the night. Chanyeol's eyes narrow slightly as he watches Jongdae pick up his phone which is still resting on the chair at the front of the room.

“Can I ask you something?” Chanyeol is the first to break the silence.

“If all you’re going to do is ask about if I’m trying to impress someone-“ before he can finish, Chanyeol cuts him off with a shake of his head.

“No, that’s not what I was going to ask,” Chanyeol crosses his arms once more in front of his chest.

“Okay then, what is it?” Jongdae asks, slinging the strap of his bag over his shoulder.

“What’s your deal with (Y/n)?” At Chanyeol’s words, Jongdae tenses. “We’ve all noticed how different you act around her, and knowing my best friend, she’s noticed too. Ever since the two of you met you’ve been like this. Has she done something to elicit this type of reaction out of you? Why do you hate her so much?”

“I don’t hate her,” Jongdae sighs, closing his eyes briefly. “She’s done nothing bad to me.”

“Then why do you act the way you do around her? You make everyone think you don’t like her,” Chanyeol raises an eyebrow.

“That’s not true!” Jongdae exclaims, before catching himself and calming himself down. “I mean, I-“

“Whatever man,” Chanyeol sighs, cutting him off. “Just be mindful with how you treat her from now on, she doesn’t deserve it. You may be my bandmate, but she’s my best friend, and I need to make sure I’m looking out for her. She doesn’t need anymore drama in her life, so calm down a bit, okay?” Before Jongdae can reply, Chanyeol is turning around and walking towards the doorway. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With that, Chanyeol exits the practice room, leaving Jongdae alone with his thoughts. 

Jongdae’s face is pulled into a frown as he turns off the lights and exits the practice room. He makes his way out of his building and towards his apartment complex. His private home for times like these. 

Sure, he could go back to the dorms for the night, but he wants to be alone right now to figure some things out. He also doesn’t want to see any of the other boys right now, least of all Chanyeol. In fact, the only person he wants to see right now is you, but he knows he can’t.

He makes it to his apartment in record time, opening his door and tosses his bag onto his side chair. His frown is still ever present on his face.

His mind is racing, digging into the conversation he just had with Chanyeol about you. What did Chanyeol mean when he said you didn’t need anymore drama in your life? Is someone bothering you that he’s not aware of? With the way Chanyeol was acting, it was almost as if you’ve been hurt before.

Jongdae’s fists clench as he thinks of anyone hurting you in anyway, whether it be physically, emotionally, or anything else for that matter. Maybe you have been hurt before by love, but you just don’t want anyone to know. Maybe that’s why he can’t get close to you using his voice. Sometimes, when someone is guarded against love, or not looking for it, the power of a siren doesn’t work on them.

His frown deepens as he thinks of this.

Letting out a sigh, he checks the time on his phone, seeing it’s just past two in the morning. Perfect.

He quickly grabs a towel from his bathroom, as well as a set of keys off his hallway table as he heads back out the door. He takes the elevator to the main floor and heads down the hallway to the left where the familiar smell of chlorine reaches his nostrils. 

Using the key he brought with him, Jongdae quickly unlocks the door to the building’s pool, making sure to lock the door behind him once again. He figures a swim will help to relax his aching muscles and clear his mind.

Normally, the pool closes at eleven at night, but he managed to convince the superintendent to make him a spare key to the pool area so he can use it whenever he pleases. Being a siren does have its perks.

Stripping himself of his clothes, he places them on top of one of the lounge chairs at the side of the pool, and then dives in. The water rushes around him and he smiles to himself as the comforting coolness surrounds him once more. 

Opening his eyes as he swims underwater, he turns his head to look down at himself. He watches as his pastel orange tail shimmers beneath him with every swish through the water. His hair floats around his face as he floats just beneath the surface, allowing for the water to calm him down.

For a siren, he’s definitely one of the prettier looking ones, with his light coloured tail and fins which protrude from his forearms, helping to guide him in the water. His scales, however, are razor sharp despite how smooth they look. His ears once again gain their natural pointedness, his senses becoming that much more heightened in the water. 

He keeps his teeth in check though, preferring to not have them elongate and sharpen into points as he leisurely swims through the pool, same with his nails. The only reason this would occur is if he was dragging someone down to the bottom of the ocean, and he hasn’t done that in years.

He lets his eyes take on their natural golden colour as he swims around beneath the surface of the water, letting the sound of the water hitting the edges of the pool bring him comfort in this time. The only thing that would bring him even greater comfort would be if you were there with him.

He can’t get what Chanyeol said about you out of his mind, and he wants nothing more than to be able to wrap you in his arms and hold you close to him at this time. He wants to feel the warmth of your body pressed against his as you bury your head into his neck and breath him in. He wants to be intimate with you, like only lovers can be, but he can’t. At least, not yet.

He allows himself to indulge in his fantasies a bit, manipulating the water into reflecting your image. His eyes are shining bright gold as the water manifests into your figure and your image is now floating beneath the surface with him.

“Hi,” the image of you smiles at him, your voice ringing through his ears as clear as day.

He cannot help but to smile back, taking your hand into his and pulling you close to him. He swims around with you in his arms, imagining that this is real and not some vision he’s created to simulate having you in his arms. He just wants to know what it’s like to hold you in his arms for the night, and know that you want to be there as much as he wants you there.

He spends the next hour just swimming in the pool with that vision of you, imagining that it’s the real you and the two of you are spending quality time together like couples do. He pulls the vision of you close to him one last time before undoing the magic that’s keeping the shape of you in the water with him. You slip right through his fingertips once more as he lets out a sigh. He’s about to hoist himself up above the water and out of the pool when his fin twitches.

Immediately, he dives back down into the water, focusing his energy on listening to the water around him, for it’s relaying your voice. One thing he loves, yet also hates about being a siren is that he can hear everything when he’s underwater. Well, as long as said thing is in the water with him, or the pipes are connected somehow. However, as far as he knows, the pipes to the pool are stationary, meaning they run on their own private system, not connected to anything else. 

He then realizes what this must mean. The pipes that relay to the pool are directly beside another set of water pipes which echo and transfer the sounds to each other. He also realizes that this means you live in the same apartment complex as he does, and he’s never even realized it.

He now focuses his energy into listening to your voice, using his echo location to follow the pipes through the building until he finds you, and when he does, his whole body shudders in delight.

You’re currently in your tub, taking a bath at three-thirty in the morning because you’re too nervous to sleep. A glass of wine sits on the edge of the tub as your hand gently fiddles with the stem of the glass. You let out a sigh, bringing the wine glass to your lips, and taking a sip.

Meanwhile, Jongdae keeps himself stationary underneath the water of the pool, his breathing becoming slightly deeper as he focuses on you. Every curve submerged in the water, he sees. He can almost feel every breath you take as you soak in the tub. He wishes nothing more than to become the water surrounding your body so he can know what your skin actually feels like beneath his fingertips. What he wouldn’t give to be able to be there with you, pleasing you in every way he knows how, in any way he could to help you relax for the evening.

“I think I’m just nervous for the showcase tomorrow,” you sigh, turning your attention to something, or someone else in the bathroom with you, of which Jongdae cannot see. His jealousy flares as he pictures another man in the bathroom with you, anyone but him. Unfortunately for him, he cannot see past the water’s reach. 

“No one has ever performed one of my songs before, I just hope the fans like it. I know not everyone is going to like it, but I hope the overall response is positive,” you receive only a ‘meow’ in response, one of which Jongdae cannot hear, yet he notices how you smile at something in response, letting out a slight chuckle, “you’re right, I’m just being foolish. I’m sorry for waking you. Go back to sleep.”

He breaks the connection once he feels the water start to drain from the tub and you getting out of it. His breathing is heavy in anger and jealousy. Who was that? Are you living with someone? Do you have a significant other he doesn’t know about? Maybe this is what Chanyeol is talking about.

Hoisting himself up and out of the pool, he’s quick to flick the excess water off of himself and have legs once again. He stands up, grabbing his towel to help dry him off completely before he grabs his clothes and heads back upstairs to his apartment.

He needs to come up with a way to make you fall for him, and also for him to find out who is with you in your apartment. That should be him, not anyone else. You belong with him.

Making it back into his apartment, Jongdae is quick to shower off and then get ready for bed. He has a big day ahead of him and he needs all the rest he can get, especially if he’s going to impress you. He’ll make you fall for him one way or another, and soon, that’ll be him you’re talking to while you take a bath at three in the morning. He’ll make sure he’s the one comforting you in your time of need, not someone else.

A few hours later, you pull yourself out of bed, groggy from what little sleep you actually did get. Your nerves get the better of you, and you only manage to sleep for a few hours, and as soon as you wake up, you know you’re not going to be able to fall back asleep no matter how tired you are. After all, you have a very busy day ahead of you.

Making your way to your kitchen to make yourself breakfast, you let out a big yawn. Today is the day it’s all going down. Johnny is going to ask out Vanessa after EXO performs your new song for their comeback, and then you’re going to treat yourself to a nice dinner. It’s the least you can do to congratulate yourself after everything that’s happened recently.

You grab a light breakfast since you know you won’t be able to stomach a heavy one with all your nerves for today, and then go to get ready. You take your time, seeing as you don’t have to be at the venue for another two hours for rehearsal this morning.

After you finish getting ready, you feed your cat, Bucky, patting him on the head a few times as you place his bowl on the ground.

“Thanks for putting up with me last night, little buddy,” you chuckle. “I’m sorry for disturbing your beauty sleep.

All you receive is a ‘meow’ in response before he’s digging into his food. You smile and grab your phone to check the time. You see you have a new text from Chanyeol, so you quickly open it to see what it says.

Disney Chanyeol: Hey, are you excited for today? The boy’s and I can’t wait to see you and for you to see the finished product ;)

You: More nervous than anything, despite the fact that I’m not the one going to be performing for thousands of screaming fans, lol

Disney Chanyeol: Don’t worry, the fans will love it! You’re bringing your friend Vanessa, right? Make sure she’s with you when you come in. Anyways, I have to get back to the guys, we’re about to leave, I’ll see you soon!

You: Yep, I will! See you soon!

You lock your phone shortly after you send your last text, a small smile gracing your features. It’s getting closer to the time when you have to leave to go pick up Vanessa before heading over to the venue. Since you get in early, so does she.

Grabbing your stuff, you say a quick goodbye to your cat and head out the door, locking it behind you. A driver is coming to pick you up, then you’re going to get Vanessa, and then the two of you will be dropped off at the venue. 

You wait in the lobby of the building until you receive a text that the driver has arrived. You make your way outside, taking a deep breath as you push open the front doors and greet the driver.

“Daemin, it’s good to see you again,” you greet him once you see him.

“Good to see you as well, (Y/n),” he smiles at you. “Ready for today?”

“Physically, yes. Mentally, no,” you joke, climbing into the back of the car as he holds the door open for you.

“I’m sure everything will be fine,” he smiles at you once more as he closes the door and hops into the drivers seat.

You’ve known Daemin for quite some time now, as he’s usually the driver whom drives you places, as well as many of the idols you know. He’s very friendly and easy to talk to, so you’re glad he’s the one chauffeuring you around today.

“Where to, madame?” He grins at you from the rearview mirror, already knowing where the two of you will be heading for the day.

“To pick up Vanessa, please,” you grin back. “Do you remember the way?”

“Of course I do!” He replies, feigning offence. “How could I forget considering the amount of times I’ve dropped you off at her place or picked her up?”

“Fair enough,” you nod back at him.

The ride to Vanessa’s is quick, the two of you maintaining small talk the whole time. Once you get to her house, you see her sitting on the front porch. Her expression immediately lights up once she sees you. You smile and open the back door, allowing her to climb in beside you.

“Hey! I can’t believe you’re bringing me to EXO’s comeback!” She squeals, giving you a tight hug in greeting.

“Well, hello to you, too,” you chuckle and you see her blush slightly as she pulls away. “I’m glad you could make it, I don’t think I could have survived by myself anyways.”

“Knowing you, you would have been fine, but still,” she smiles, “I’m glad you invited me.”

You smile back at her as the car starts to move once more. The two of you make small talk on the way to the venue, with Daemin chiming in here and there as well. You can tell how excited Vanessa is to be accompanying you to this event, and you smile to yourself. You’re excited for her to be here too, but for more than one reason. You can’t wait to see how Johnny does when asking her out.

About half an hour later, the two of you arrive at the venue for the day, being dropped off at the back entrance. As soon as you step out, you’re greeted by three security guards, two of whom you recognize.

“Hey, (Y/n),” one of them greets, to which you nod your head back in greeting, wanting to get inside as soon as possible.

The third one which you don’t recognize stops Vanessa before she can follow you into the venue. You turn around just in time to catch her look of panic.

“She’s with me,” you tell him, to which he nods his head in understanding, muttering a small ‘sorry’ as he lets her pass.

The two of you make it into the venue, letting the door fall shut behind you. You both breathe a sigh of relief, looking at each other briefly before grins appear on both your faces, yours more nervous than anything.

“You ready?” You ask her.

“Oh, hell yeah! Are you?” She replies.

“When am I ever ready for things?” You laugh, and she gives you a look. “I’m just kidding, of course I am.”

With that, the two of you make your way through the venue and to the area where they told you to meet for rehearsal. Vanessa follows behind you slightly, letting you lead the way since you start running into people she’s unfamiliar with. Finally, you make it backstage and see Chanyeol talking with Johnny and Kyungsoo.

Chanyeol’s back is to you, but both Johnny and Kyungsoo notice your presence before he does. As soon as Johnny sees Vanessa his eyes widen slightly but he’s able to maintain his composure as you motion for both him and Kyungsoo not to alert Chanyeol of your presence. 

“Oh my god! Park Chanyeol, I’m your number one fan!” You squeal in a high pitched voice, jumping onto his back, successfully scaring the living shit out of him, making you burst out laughing.

“Geez, (Y/n), are you trying to kill me? I almost had a heart attack!” He complains, placing a hand over his heart for extra emphasis as the four of you laugh.

“But you didn’t,” you tease him, to which he just pouts at. “Oh, relax you big baby, I have to keep you on your toes somehow.”

“Well, I’m glad the two of you are here now,” Johnny comments, and the two of you share a look as Vanessa greets Kyungsoo.

Meanwhile, Jongdae watches your whole interaction from the opposite side of the backstage area. His eyebrows are furrowed in distaste and the empty water bottle he is currently holding is now crushed in his hand. Why can’t you ever look at him the way you’re looking at Chanyeol, at Johnny. Hell, even Kyungsoo gets more of your attention than he does.

Baekhyun, who is passing by on the way to the dressing rooms, notices the state Jongdae is in and stops walking. 

“You okay, man?” Baekhyun’s voice snaps Jongdae out of his thoughts, yet he cannot seem to take his eyes off you.

“Yeah,” Jongdae replies, shortly.

Baekhyun follows Jongdae’s gaze and sees you and your friend talking with Chanyeol, Johnny, and Kyungsoo. Baekhyun’s eyebrows raise in realization, and a mischievous smirk crosses his face.

“Come on, let’s go say hi,” Baekhyun smirks, grabbing Jongdae’s arm and drags him over to your little group despite the resistance Jongdae gives him.

You’re just in the middle of talking about what today is going to be like when you spot Baekhyun dragging Jongdae forcefully across the backstage area. The expression on Jongdae’s face does not look happy, and you start to get even more nervous than you already are. You can tell Jongdae is looking at you, and you sigh internally.

“Hey, (Y/n)!” Baekhyun cheers once he and Jongdae reach you.

“Hi, Baekhyun,” you greet him back with a smile.

Jongdae’s eyes are filled with anger as he watches you smile and interact with everyone else. You offer him a small smile, but it’s more of a grimace when you see the look on his face. He’s jealous of the attention you’re giving to everyone but him.

“Excited for today?” Baekhyun asks with a smile.

“You could say that,” you chuckle nervously.

“Oh, come on, (Y/n), relax,” Johnny smirks at you. “You’re overthinking things.”

“Yeah, Johnny’s right, you tend to do that a lot,” Vanessa chimes in, patting your back affectionately to help ease your nerves.

“I hate it when you’re right,” you narrow your eyes at them while crossing your arms in front of your chest.

“Just relax,” Johnny chuckles, to which you take a deep breath and nod your head.

“Well, we need to all get ready for rehearsal now, so we’ll see you in a bit, okay?” Chanyeol says, to which you just nod your head once more.

The four of them head off towards the dressing rooms to get changed while Johnny stays back with you and Vanessa. You send him a look while flicking your eyes to Vanessa who is still standing beside you. He looks at you in slight panic and fear.

Just then, Vanessa’s name gets called from off to the side which has her whipping around to find whoever has called her. You turn around to find Taeyong with a smile on his face as he approaches you. 

Vanessa immediately wraps him in a hug, smiling wide at one of her best friends whom she hasn’t seen in a while. They pull away from each other and start talking animatedly, moving off to the side and away from you and Johnny.

“You know, I keep forgetting they’re also best friends,” Johnny mutters.

“I didn’t know Taeyong was also going to be here,” you reply, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Didn’t I tell you? I thought that I told you,” Johnny responds quickly, watching Vanessa almost longingly.

“Nevermind, you love struck puppy, lets go wait in the audience for rehearsal to start, they’ll be fine on their own,” you pat his shoulder, leading him out onto the stage and down into the seats just below.

Meanwhile, Jongdae still has a bitter expression on his face as he enters the dressing rooms first. He tosses his crushed water bottle into the garbage, gritting his teeth as he remembers the way you looked at everyone but him. 

“Okay, dude, what is going on with you?” Baekhyun is the first to speak once he enters the room, followed by a frowning Chanyeol and a curious Kyungsoo.

Jongin, who is currently scrolling through his phone, looks up at the entrance of the other members.

“Nothing, I’m fine,” Jongdae replies gruffly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“As soon as you saw (Y/n) you looked like you wanted to murder someone,” Baekhyun raises an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t consider that to be ‘fine.’”

“We talked about this,” Chanyeol’s voice is stern, staring down Jongdae from across the room. “Way to make her feel like you don’t hate her.”

“I don’t hate her!” Jongdae snaps.

“Than stop acting like it!” Chanyeol snaps back.

“Both of you calm down,” Junmyeon makes his presence known, stepping into the room and in-between the two arguing members.

By now, all the other members have entered the room to see what all the commotion is about.

“Look, I know you may not care, but this is an important day for her, so I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t act like such a dick towards her for one whole day,” Chanyeol says, narrowing his eyes at Jongdae. “Please.”

A silence settles between all of them as the two of them stare each other down.

“Alright, I’m sorry,” Jongdae is the first to break the silence by letting out a sigh, figuring it best not to argue any longer as he’s starting to get a headache from all of this.

“Well, now that that’s settled, hurry up and get ready, we have to rehearse,” Junmyeon instructs them, ushering the other members back out into the hallway.

The remaining members change and get ready for rehearsal while the ones that are ready get their mic’s ready. There is still a tension between Chanyeol and Jongdae, and all of them can sense it.

Meanwhile, you sit in one of the first rows of the venue talking with Johnny. You’re hyping him up to ask out Vanessa later on in the day and it seems to be working, for his shoulders have relaxed and a small smile tugs at the corners of his lips. You smile at him encouragingly as he tells you he’s going to put your plan in motion after the main performance tonight.

Turning your head towards the stage, you see some movement before Junmyeon, Yixing, Sehun, Jongin, and Minseok all walk onto the stage. They’re chatting amongst themselves in hushed voices and you and Johnny both share a look with raised eyebrows.

“Is everything okay guys?” Your voice manages to pull them out of their conversation, them all turning to look at you now with smiles on their faces.

“Of course! Why wouldn’t it be?” Minseok replies with a nervous chuckle. You narrow your eyes slightly at him but don’t push it, it’s probably group related anyways.

A few moments later, out walks Vanessa, Chanyeol, Taeyong, and Baekhyun, shortly followed by Kyungsoo. Jongdae has yet to make an appearance so you figure he’s probably the last one to be ready out of all of them. You see both Taeyong and Vanessa making their way over to where you and Johnny are sitting in the audience. Once they reach you, Vanessa chooses to sit beside Johnny as Taeyong comes to sit beside you. 

“Hey (Y/n), it’s great to see you again!” Taeyong says while sitting in the seat beside you.

“It’s nice to see you again as well, Taeyong,” you smile back at him. “How are things with you?”

You strike up a friendly conversation with Taeyong while you all wait for rehearsal to start. You notice out of the corner of your eye that Jongdae has finally appeared on the stage, but you don’t pay too much attention to him as you are currently talking with Taeyong. 

Jongdae, on the other hand, notices your happy expression right away and sees how you share multiple smiles and laughs with Taeyong. His jealousy flares once more as he gets ready to start the sound check.

They all get into position and a voice comes over the speakers letting everyone know that rehearsal is about to start. Your conversation comes to an end with Taeyong as all your focus is now drawn to the stage where they’ll be practicing your song soon.

“A little birdie told me that you wrote the song that they’re about to perform,” Taeyong says, amazement clear in his eyes.

“I take it that little bird was someone named Johnny?” You giggle and receive a nod in response as the lights begin to dim.

Rehearsal starts and everything is running smoothly so far, a few lighting changes here and there, as well as adjusting the volume on a few mic’s are the only major things that occur. 

The whole time, you watch each member as they perform your song. Even though it’s just rehearsal, finally seeing it being performed onstage with the lighting and everything really makes your heart swell in your chest. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves while performing it, too. Well, everyone but Jongdae.

Your brows pull into a frown as you watch him with a pissed off look on his face. He looks more uncomfortable than anything and your expression drops slightly. Does he really hate the song that much?

Up on stage, Jongdae lets his emotions control his performance. Having to see you so close all day around other men, being friendly to everyone but him is really getting to him. Seeing you talking with Taeyong is the final nail in the coffin for him. That is, until he notices you watching him while they practice.

His heart starts to race in his chest as he feels your eyes looking at him for once, and not someone else. Although, with the defeated expression on your face, he realizes that you must be watching him due to his own expression of distaste on his own face. He curses at himself as he knows you’re probably beating yourself up over the fact that he looks so unhappy right now. Yet, it’s not for the reasons you think.

Knowing you’re watching him still, he forces his feelings of jealousy to the back of his mind and focuses instead on the feeling of your eyes watching him, and only him. All of a sudden, he’s singing with a new passion, performing each move of the dance with a new energy he didn’t feel before. All of this is for you, and he knows that if he’s going to win your heart, he needs to show you a better side of him, and start acting the the man you deserve.

His change in demeanour does not go unnoticed by you, it’s almost as if Jongdae has become a completely different person within the span of a few seconds. The frown you once wore is now morphing into a mild look of surprise and awe as Jongdae comes alive on stage. You watch as he performs the song like you’ve never seen him do it before.

The song ends and the boys are all panting from the practice. They quickly move on to practice a few of their other songs they’ve prepared for their comeback, and soon enough, rehearsal is over.

The four of you in the audience start clapping after the last song is over, congratulating them on a job well done. The boys all smile back at you, but you notice a type of fondness in Jongdae’s expression. A fondness that seems to be directed at you.

You shake your head. There’s no way Jongdae’s looking at you like that, you’re probably just imagining things. You’re pulled out of your thoughts by Vanessa speaking.

“Wow, you guys are amazing! I can’t wait to see the actual performance if you guys are this good during practice,” she comments, admiration clear in her eyes. She receives a few chuckles and smiles her way before the boys all head offstage to grab some food before they open the doors to the venue to start letting the fans in.

Standing up from your seats, the four of you follow them backstage and grab some food as well. You stand off to the side talking with Vanessa for the next hour seeing as the boys have all gone off to get ready and do their own things.

A little while before the show starts, Vanessa excuses herself for some fresh air leaving you alone backstage. However, you’re not alone for too long as Johnny makes a reappearance and comes to stand beside you. He sends you a questioning look, one which you understand right away.

“She went outside for some fresh air, don’t worry, she’ll be back shortly,” you tell him and he sighs slightly in relief. “You’re asking her after the show, right?”

“Yes, I already told you this,” he replies.

“Just checking,” you smirk at him while he just shakes his head slightly in response.

Just then, you see all of the members make their way backstage and to where you’re currently standing, Taeyong following shortly behind them. You look them over and let out a small whistle.

“Damn guys, are you going for the ‘I’m going to murder every single one of my fans with my charming good looks’ look, because if you are, you’re killing it,” you say. “Pun intended.”

A few of them chuckle in response at your statement while Chanyeol comes to stand beside you. Vanessa returns at this time and stands beside Johnny, taking in the appearance of everybody. Looks like she has the same reaction you do.

“Gotta look good for our fans,” Chanyeol smirks, flinging an arm lazily around your shoulder.

Jongdae nearly rolls his eyes at Chanyeol’s statement. He couldn’t care less about looking good for the fans right now. All that matters is him looking good for you, and judging from your comment and the way your eyes trailed over his figure a little longer than the rest, he’s succeeding in doing that.

“By the way, has anyone told you where the two of you will be watching this performance this evening yet?” Yixing asks you, also directing the question towards Vanessa. The two of you shake your heads ‘no’ as your brow furrows slightly in confusion.

“Let me show you,” Chanyeol says, beginning to drag you to the side of the stage where you can peek out from without being spotted by the crowd.

Looking out into the crowd filled with excited and anxious fans, you see two of the best seats in the house have been reserved for both you and Vanessa. You look back at Chanyeol in shock, a huge smile breaking out onto your face as Vanessa takes this time to check where the two of you will be sitting.

“Thank you so much, Chanyeol!” You surprise him by wrapping your arms around him and squishing him in a hug. He lets out a laugh and immediately hugs you back.

“There’s no need to thank me, you deserve it,” he replies, pulling away from you and looking into your eyes. “Now, the show is about to start, so I think the two of you should go take your seats.”

With a wink from Chanyeol, you both wave to the boys and wish them good luck before heading out into the audience to take your seats. The whole time, Vanessa is bouncing up and down, hardly able to contain her excitement just like the fans around her. However, the closer it gets to showtime, the more nervous you start to become, your worries from early in the day making themselves apparent once more.

Jongdae watches you disappear from his sight once more, looking after you longingly. He’s doing his best to control the anger he feels at seeing your interaction with Chanyeol. That should be him. All he knows is that he’s going to put everything he’s got into this performance, and all for you. This comeback is for you, no one else matters. Granted, he will still put on the charm and use his powers on the rest of the fans to ensure they like it, but for him, this will always be your song.

A few minutes later, the lights begin to dim and screams are heard from the audience as the members make their way into their starting positions for the beginning of their comeback stage. You wait on the edge of your seat with bated breath as the opening plays in preparation for what is to come.

Soon, the lights come on much to the delight of everyone in the venue and your song starts playing over the speakers. You hear the excited voices of the fans screaming along to the fan-chants and a smile makes it’s way onto your face. You turn to Vanessa who seems to be greatly enjoying herself.

“They like it! They really like it!” You scream, a bright smile on your face as Vanessa nods vigorously.

“I told you they would!” She yells back, and the two of you focus your attention back to the stage.

Immediately, your gaze gets drawn to Jongdae. He’s performing the song ever better and more enthusiastically than he was during rehearsal today. Your smile grows wider as you watch him, for he seems to be genuinely enjoying performing your song.

Sensing you’re looking at him, Jongdae makes eye contact with you, giving it his all during his parts, singing all for you. To him, it’s almost as if there’s no one else there, just you and him.

He notices the gigantic smile you’re wearing, and can’t help it when his hear skips a beat and makes him even more breathless then he already is. You look so beautiful, so happy, and you’re looking at him like that. He can hardly believe it.

The song ends and the fans go wild, screaming their love for the members and the song they’ve just executed flawlessly. Though, you can hardly hear them over the sound of your own heart racing in your chest.

Your eyes are still trained on Jongdae, and you find yourself placing a hand over your heart to see if you can control the frantic pounding you feel in your chest. Tears gather in the corners of your eyes as you recall how he performed your song. He’s never, in all the practices you’ve attended, even once shown that amount of passion while performing your song before.

Another thing you’ve noticed is his voice. You’ve always known Jongdae has a powerful voice, and you’ve always been a silent fan of his singing talents despite how he’s treated you. This time, however, you really felt the power behind it, the emotion in his voice as he sung the lyrics you wrote. It makes your heart race.

The rest of the show you’re hyperaware of Jongdae’s voice. Listening to it intently every time he sings, especially during the heartfelt ballads. You can tell he puts a lot of effort into what he’s doing, and he does have a lot of passion for it.

You do occasionally switch your focus to the other members, as you know Chanyeol would have a fit if he found out his best friend didn’t watch him during the whole show at least once. However, each time you look at another member, you find your gaze being drawn back to Jongdae.

Throughout the show, Jongdae only uses the power of his voice once, that one time being during your song. He figures he doesn’t need to worry about the other songs, and your song is the only one he really cares about. That and some of the other songs are already fan favourites, so he figures he shouldn’t waste his energy or his powers on them.

Before you know it, the show has ended. You and Vanessa make your way once again to the backstage area, a giddy smile on your face. You can’t wait to see the boys and congratulate them on a job well done, and you also can’t wait for Johnny to confess to Vanessa.

Once backstage, you immediately make your way over to the nine sweaty men with a large smile on your face.

“You guys did amazing, holy shit, I’m speechless,” you say, the smile on your face conveying all of your emotions of happiness to them.

“The show was fantastic and you could tell the fans really enjoyed it too,” Vanessa comments, nudging your side during the second part of her statement.

“See, what’d I tell you?” Chanyeol smiles, coming over to wrap you in a tight hug. “Nothing to be worried about.”

“Yeah, yeah, you were right,” you sigh, hugging him back before a disgusted look crosses your face. “Now would you please let go of me, you’re all sweaty.”

“Oops, my bad,” he teases, hugging you tighter just to annoy you.

“Chanyeol!” You shriek, pushing him away from you. “Gross.”

He just grins at you in response as the others laugh at the interaction between the two of you. 

“By the way, we’re all going out for dinner as a sort of celebration after this and we were wondering if you’d like to join us?” Junmyeon asks you. “Chanyeol mentioned earlier that you didn’t have any plans after this, and you’re more than welcome to come out with us.”

“Oh, um, “ you trail off looking towards Vanessa and not knowing how to answer. You’re unsure if the invitation is also open to her or not.

“You’re more than welcome to come too, Vanessa,” Junmyeon adds, sensing your hesitation.

“That’s very kind of you, but I’m afraid I’ll have to decline, I already have dinner plans,” Vanessa says with a kind smile.

“I’ll go with you guys then,” you say, shooting him a grateful smile.

“Alright!” Baekhyun cheers. “Then it’s settled, you’re coming with us.”

“That’s what she just said, Baek,” Yixing deadpans.

The two of them start bickering back and forth as you giggle at their antics. Eventually, they all soon move off to get changed out of their performance attire, and get their mic’s taken off. 

You notice Johnny making his way over to where you and Vanessa are standing and you smirk. He sends you a look in response as if to say ‘don’t you dare leave me alone.’ You shake your head at him and sigh.

“How did you two like the show?” He asks once he reaches the two of you.

“It was amazing! I loved every second of it!” Vanessa gushes, a bright smile on her face.

Johnny smile at her enthusiasm, “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”

“Oh, for sure,” she replies.

“Anyways, if you two would excuse me for a moment, I just need to check something real quick,” you say, sending Johnny a subtle wink as he looks at you in slight fear.

You move off to the side and away from them, watching the rest of their interaction from not too far away. You can still hear what they’re saying, and after five minutes of polite conversation, Vanessa excuses herself to the washroom.

Almost immediately after she’s disappeared you pop out and smack Johnny on the back of the head. 

“Ow, what was that for?” He whines, rubbing the back of his head.

“Why haven’t you asked her out yet? “ You ask, stepping in front of him as you cross your arms in front of your chest.

“I don’t know, I panicked, okay?” He replies, wrapping his arms around himself in nervousness.

“You just have to go for it, I know she’ll say yes, just trust me,” you try to reassure him.

“You don’t know that for sure,” he mumbles.

“Yes I do! Come on, just go for it,” you encourage him. “I know you can do it.”

“I don’t know if I can do this anymore, (Y/n),” he looks at you with eyes full of anxiousness.

“Sure you can, you just got to go for it,” you respond. “Here, practice on me before she comes back.”

He sighs, “okay, fine.”

You stare expectantly at him as he collects himself. He opens his mouth a few times as if he’s going to say something, but he stops himself each time, almost as if he cannot find the proper words to say.

Meanwhile, Jongdae is one of the first ones to finish getting ready, making his way back to where he knows you are waiting. He pauses, mid-step as he sees the intense silent battle you are locked in with Johnny. His eyes narrow at the situation he finds you in, and your next words have his eyes growing wide.

“Oh, for fucks sake, Johnny! How many times have you easily told me you love me, yet you can’t even do this one simple thing?” You exclaim.

Jongdae feels like his whole world has stopped. His heart clenches in his chest as he hears you utter those words. His mind is racing with questions, none of which he has answers to. Was Johnny the person with you in your apartment last night? One thing he’s sure of though, winning your heart has now become a lot more difficult than he thought it would be.

After the initial shock of your words wears off, anger courses through his veins. Johnny may be his friend and fellow label mate, but if he thinks he can steal you away from him, he has another thing coming. So, before either of you two can react, Jongdae is storming over to the two of you.

“What the hell did you just say?” Jongdae spits once he’s close enough to the two of you, yet both you and Johnny choose to ignore him for the time being.

“That’s different!” Johnny tries to defend himself.

“Please do explain to me how that’s different?” You quirk an eyebrow at him in challenge.

“Yes, do tell,” Jongdae crosses his arms in front of his chest, glaring at Johnny, and if looks could kill, Johnny would be dead thrice over by now.

“You’re my best friend, she’s the girl I like,” he explains as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Men tend to act a little different around the person they like, a little crazy even!”

“Oh my god, Johnny, you’re acting as if asking her out is going to kill you,” you roll your eyes.

Before he can say another word, Vanessa returns to your side, and she’s managed to hear the last bit of your exchange. She stands beside Johnny and pats his arm reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, Johnny, I’m sure whoever you like will agree to going out with you. Anybody would be lucky to have you,” she says, and you can see the wheels spinning inside his head. “Anyways, I have to go now, my brother is here to pick me up. Thank you so much once again for letting me accompany you to this, (Y/n). I had a great time. I’ll see you guys later!”

With that, she gives you a brief hug, nods in Jongdae’s direction, and sends Johnny one last smile before heading for the exit.

“What are you waiting for? Go after her!” You practically yell, turning him around and pushing him in the direction she went off in.

“Alright, alright!” Johnny replies, exasperatedly as he starts to follow in the direction Vanessa went. “I just have a hard time with words.”

“You seem to have no problem with words when it comes to telling (Y/n) you love her,” Jongdae spits, bitterly, and this time, you can no longer ignore his statement.

“Okay, Jongdae, what the fuck?” You turn on him, narrowing your eyes at him.

By now, the rest of the members have made their way back into the backstage area where you are. They’re all just able to catch the last bit of your conversation before you round on Jongdae.

“What?” He snaps.

“What do you mean ‘what’? What the fuck is your problem?” You snap back. “You’ve been acting like a dick all day, not to mention all the times you’ve treated me like shit for no apparent reason. So, I’d like to know, what the fuck do you have against me? Did I do something to offend you the first time we met? What did I do to make you hate me so much?” Before he can respond, you continue, “and you have no right what so ever to make comments about my personal life and relations. You are not my boyfriend. Hell, you’re not even my friend, so how dare you say anything against Johnny. He knows more about me then you ever will! I am so sick and fucking tired of this bullshit, I do not deserve to be treated like this!”

All the boys are silent, surprised by your outburst, Jongdae especially. He stands there, staring at you in shock, unable to say anything as he tries to comprehend what you’ve just told him.

“I can’t believe you,” you huff, turning away from him to face Chanyeol who is standing right behind you. “You guys go out for dinner without me, I’m not feeling up to it anymore. Congratulations on the comeback guys, you really did amazing.”

“(Y/n),” Chanyeol calls your name softly, reaching out to grab your arm but he’s too late, you’ve already turned around and left. His expression morphs into one of anger after he sees your form disappear from his sight, rounding on Jongdae. “I asked you not to be a dick to her for one day. One fucking day, and you blew it! You told me you didn’t hate her but your actions are really contradicting your statement right now.”

Without another word, Chanyeol rushes after you down the hall, trying to catch you before you can leave the venue. Unfortunately, you’ve already managed to leave before he can catch up to you. He comes back to find Jongdae getting scolded by the other members, them also asking him what’s going on with him. They get minimal responses back from him, a sour look residing on his face. This just pushes Chanyeol over the edge.

Before anyone has time to react, or can stop him for that matter, Chanyeol lands a solid blow to the side of Jongdae’s face, successfully knocking him to the floor. Chanyeol goes in for another hit, but before he can make contact, he’s being held back by Sehun, Minseok, and Yixing.

“That’s enough,” Junmyeon’s voice booms. “Jongdae, I don’t know what has gotten into you lately, but you need to calm down and apologize to (Y/n). Chanyeol, control yourself.”

“I’ll control myself only if he learns to act like a decent fucking person for once,” Chanyeol spits, pulling himself out of the other member’s hold. “I’m going home.”

Without another word, Chanyeol storms out of the venue, shortly followed by Jongdae. Neither of them can take much more of this. Once they’re both out of sight, the seven remaining members share a look between each other, all asking the same thing. What the fuck just happened?

Meanwhile, Jongdae makes it back to his apartment in record time. He’s fuming, and he can hardly believe what has just transpired. Not only is he angry at himself, but he’s also disappointed. He can’t believe he let his emotions get the best of him, he’s acting like the monster he knows he is, but usually he can hide it. There’s just something about you, you just make him go so crazy.

He looks at the clock that hangs on his side wall and sees it’s only ten thirty at night. Usually there’s no one at the pool at this time so he deems it safe to go down for a swim. Grabbing everything he needs, as well as a pencil and a notebook, he makes his way down to the pool, figuring a swim ought to help clear his mind.

All he wants to do is be there for you, to have you as his own, and to protect you. He needs to find a way to express himself without scaring you off. He needs to fix things, and fast, otherwise there may be no coming back from this at all. He could lose you forever, and he doesn’t like the thought of that one bit.

Making down to the pool, he briefly glances inside before determining there’s no one else there. He opens the door to the pool area and sits in one of the lounge chairs on the opposite side. This way he can have a view of the pool and the giant clock that sits on the opposite wall.

Putting his stuff down beside him, he takes the notebook and pencil and begins writing. Maybe if he can’t express his feelings through regular words, he can express them through a song. Putting the pencil to paper, he begins writing, letting out his thoughts about you, and letting them transpire into words on the page.

About twenty minutes pass and he already has a rough outline for a song. He’s pretty proud of it so far, as it displays his emotions and feelings he has about you out in the open. He will admit, the song is turning out a little more personal than he intended, but he knows that he wouldn’t be able to express himself in any other way.

He’s pulled out of his thoughts as he hears the door to the pool open, and in walks you, the person he least expects to see. However, as soon as you turn back around from closing the door and spot him already staring at you, you freeze like a deer in headlights.

Your eyes widen before they narrow at him in disgust, turning back around to exit the pool area, not wanting to deal with him right now. Before you can open the door, however, Jongdae is standing up, out of his seat and rushing over to you.

“Wait!” He calls out desperately, but you choose to ignore him. “Please!”

“Why should I?” You pause your movement of opening the door halfway, not daring to turn and face him for fear of the tears you have just managed to get under control an hour ago resurfacing.

“Please, just hear me out, I-“ his words get caught in his throat as you turn around to look at him and he sees your hurt expression. 

“Well, are you going to say something?” You question, looking expectantly at him.

“You don’t have to leave,” he mumbles. “I mean, if you don’t want to.”

“And why should I stay? It’s obvious you can barely stand to be in my presence, so I think it’d be better for the both of us if I just left you alone,” you state.

“It’s obvious you came down here for a swim, so please, swim. I promise I won’t bother you,” he says, looking at the patterned tiles on the floor and refusing to meet your eyes. He wonders why he’s gotten so shy around you all of a sudden. He thinks it’s probably because he’s ashamed of how he’s been treating you lately.

You don’t say anything to him in response and once he hears the door close, he figures you’ve probably left. He looks up and his eyes widen in surprise when he sees you still standing there. He’s even more surprised when you let out a sigh and make your way over to the furthest possible chair away from him. He almost lets out a whine at how far away you’ve chosen to be away from him, but he hangs his head in shamed understanding.

Making his way back over to his own chair, he sits back down, picking up his pencil and paper once more. He can’t help but to steal glances at you every now and then as you shed you clothes to reveal your swimsuit underneath. The way it hugs every curve of your being, showcasing every asset you have, makes his mouth water in desire and hunger for you. He can feel his eyes turning gold and has to shake his head to clear his thoughts.

How badly he just wants to go over to you, wrap you in his arms, and never let you go. How badly he wants to be able to run his hand all over your body and feel every inch of your skin underneath his fingertips. What he wouldn’t give to have you trembling in ecstasy beneath him, moaning his name. He bets your voice sounds angelic when you beg, and so badly does he want you to beg for him to make love to your gorgeous body all night long.

He closes his eyes as he pictures these scenarios in his head before opening them once more to stare at you once again. You’re his biggest temptation, his biggest weakness. He licks his lips. 

He’s pulled out of his thoughts by the clearing of your throat.

“Could you please stop staring at me,” you say, sounding more like a demand than a question.

“Sorry,” he blushes and turns his head away, embarrassed that you caught him fantasizing about all that he wants to do with you.

He forces himself to focus back on the song he’s writing, changing a few lyrics here and there, trying to hear what certain parts might sound like in his head. He glances up briefly once he hears you dive into the pool, following your figure submerged underwater with his eyes. He makes sure to look away once you come up for air. He’s already been caught once staring at you. He figures if he’s caught again, you’ll just leave, and right now, he’s enjoying your presence.

You are sure to swim with your back turned to him the majority of the time, not being able to find it in you to face him. You find you don’t want to face him regardless, not after how he’s treated you.

You’re just floating peacefully in the pool, finally relaxing after the day you’ve had, when you’re pulled out of your thoughts by a soft voice.

“I don’t hate you,” Jongdae says, speaking quietly so as not to startle you, yet his words still manage to do just that. You switch your position so you’re now treading water while facing him, sending him the most confused and hurt look Jongdae has ever seen in his life. His heart pangs in his chest. “I’m sorry if I made you think that.”

You scoff and roll your eyes, “it’s kind of hard not to think that based on the way you act around me, with the way you’ve treated me.”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” he says. “Really, I truly am. I just didn’t know how to act around you, I can’t really explain it right now, and I know that’s a horrible excuse but please. Please. I’m begging you, if you could find it in yourself to forgive me, and maybe we can start over? Without all the drama?”

By now, you’ve swam a little closer to him, being able to support yourself on your feet in the shallow end, but still keeping the majority of your body submerged. You let out a sigh, closing your eyes as you bring a hand up to rub at them.

“Despite my better judgement, I will give you one more chance,” you tell him, and you see his expression immediately brighten with hope. “But, you only get one more chance. If you blow it, that’s it.”

“Thank you, (Y/n), I really mean it,” he says, looking straight into your eyes. “This means more to me than you’ll ever know.”

You both hold each other’s gaze for a solid minute, neither one of you wanting to be the first to look away. You notice the same fondness in Jongdae’s eyes he had earlier when he was looking at you, and your heart skips a beat in your chest. This look is so different, so kind, so tender, compared to the other glares he has been giving you throughout the day, you’re a little taken back by it. You force yourself to be the first one to look away.

Jongdae feels as if a weight has been lifted off of his chest, and a small smile tugs at the corners of his lips He notices how you’ve gone back to swimming leisurely in the pool, seemingly more relaxed now. 

After a while, your curiosity gets the better of you and you make your way over to where Jongdae is sitting in his chair. He’s so engrossed in his writing he doesn’t notice you lurking up to him in the water with only your head above the water line.

“What are you working on?” He nearly jumps out of his chair once he hears your voice, and you have to stifle a giggle.

“Just a song,” he answers, a blush crawling up his neck as he thinks of how he wrote this song about you and your relationship with him.

“What’s it about?” You inquire, genuine curiosity in your eyes.

“It’s a little bit different than I’m used to but I wanted to go for something a little darker,” he explains, almost cautiously. “It’s about a guy who’s so in love with a girl, she makes him go crazy with his love for her, wanting nothing more than for her to love him back.”

“Is this based off of personal experience?” You tease with a raised eyebrow.

“I guess you could say something like that,” he jokes right back.

“Sounds interesting,” you reply. “What’s the name of the song?”

“It’s not one hundred percent yet, but I’m thinking ‘Monster,’” Jongdae tells you, watching your reactions very closely.

“I like it, I think it’s fitting for the concept you’re going for,” you smile at him and he swears it’s the most beautiful thing he’s seen in his life.

He only smiles back at you in response, making a mental note to keep the title the way it is and not change it. He works on the song for a bit longer until he hears you getting out of the pool. This grabs his attention as he watches you wrap your towel around yourself and dry off. You grab the rest of your things and head to the exit.

“Goodnight, Jongdae,” you call over your shoulder, but before he can respond, you’ve already left.

He lets out a small sigh and closes his eyes in bliss. He can hardly believe that just happened for it feels too much like a dream. A dream he never wants to wake up from.

Once he’s sure you’re not coming back, he places all his things onto his chair, stands up, and dives into the pool. 

His tail swishes happily back and forth behind him as he move around in the pool. He swears he can still feel the warmth from your body heat in the pool water, that he can still smell your scent radiating off of the surrounding waves. He hums a small tune to himself as he swims back and forth, a new one which he’s just come up with.

“She got me going crazy,” echos off the pool walls for the next hour and a half.

He returns to his apartment shortly after one in the morning, taking a quick shower and heading straight to bed. He falls asleep that night with a smile on his face, his thoughts filled with images of you smiling at him and what the rest of his life will be like with you by his side.

The next day, he arrives at the studio earlier than everyone else, too eager to start producing his new song and see what the others think. About an hour passes before anyone shows up, and the first person that does show up does not look happy to see him.

“You’re here early,” Chanyeol comments, and all he receives is a grunt in response, Jongdae too engrossed in his song to verbally respond. “I got a text this morning from (Y/n),” at your name, Jongdae perks up, “she told me the two of you talked things out last night and now you’re good with each other. Is this true?”

“Yeah, we talked last night and I apologized for being such a dick to her. She decided to give me one more chance,” Jongdae explains.

“I see,” Chanyeol nods. “Sorry for punching you yesterday.”

“It’s alright, I deserved it, I was being an asshole after all,” Jongdae replies.

It is now that Chanyeol actually takes notice of what Jongdae is doing.

“What are you working on?” He asks, pulling up a chair to sit beside Jongdae.

“I wrote a song last night,” Jongdae replies simply, surprising Chanyeol at how casual he sounds.

“That’s great man!” Chanyeol says, grinning at Jongdae to which Jongdae grins back. “Let’s here what you’ve got so far.”

Jongdae plays Chanyeol the song, and the two of them spend the next few hours working together to perfect it. Once they’re done, they both share a proud look and call up the other members and their production team.

After playing everybody the demo that they’ve created in such a short amount of time, the production team jumps all over it, calling in some other people that can help get this track finished and produced faster. They now have their repackaged title song.

The next few weeks are spent performing at music shows and preparing for the second part of their comeback. There’s a lot of buzz surrounding this upcoming concept as it’s something they’ve never done before. No one is looking forward to this comeback more than Jongdae is though.

The weeks leading up to the comeback are spent practicing as hard as he can. He wants to make sure to impress you since he knows you’re going to be at this comeback show just like the previous one, only this time, he’s going to make sure to make you fall for him.

One thing you’ve both started doing a few times a week is hang out at the pool in your apartment building late at night. Usually, you’re the one swimming while Jongdae just sits at the side conversing with you. When you asked him why he doesn’t join you for a swim, he simply replies that he much prefers the ambiance of the pool rather than actually swimming in it. He says it helps him think, clear his mind, and calm down when he’s stressed. You don’t question it.

He keeps telling you how he can’t wait for you to see their new comeback, making sure the other members keep you in the dark about what it’s going to be. Every time you ask him about it and if it’s the song he wrote that one night, he only replies with a ‘you’ll see.’ 

A week after the music video is filmed, it’s released, and the very next day they’re all once again at the same venue for their new comeback, getting ready for rehearsal. You stand backstage this time, watching as they practice the song Jongdae wrote with a smile on your face.

They rush off the stage once rehearsal is done and make their way towards where you are standing.

“You guys are doing great, the song is amazing,” you tell them with a big smile. “I’m sure the fans can’t wait for this one.”

“It’s definitely different from what we’ve done before,” Sehun comments.

“Different can be a good thing,” you reply. “I think this one will be one of the fan favourites for a long time.”

“I hope so,” Chanyeol grins, slinging an arm around Jongdae’s shoulders, to which he grimaces.

Eventually, it’s almost time for the show to start and you take your seat once more, exactly where they had you sitting for the first one. You take a deep breath as the intro to the song starts and the fans go wild.

You watch them perform the song flawlessly, your eyes being drawn to one person in particular once again. You follow Jongdae’s movements across the stage as he performs the song with so much energy and passion, mesmerized by his every move. 

You can tell you’ve been starting to fall for him over the past two weeks as he’s completely changed around you. He now treats you so kindly, always respecting you and not making a fuss over every little detail in your life. He’s really changed, and you couldn’t be happier.

Once again, you find yourself mesmerized by his voice, it captivating you and sending shivers down your spine when he hits his high notes. Now that the relationship between the two of you has changed, you’re not afraid to admit that you love his voice. Singing, speaking, no matter what it is, you could listen to him all day.

Sooner than you’d like, the comeback show ends and you find yourself heading backstage once more. However, as soon as you get backstage, you’re stopped by Taeyong who had come to the comeback show again, just like last time.

“Hey (Y/n), can I talk to you for a minute?” He asks you, somewhat nervously.

“Yeah, sure,” you agree immediately, “what’s up?”

“Well, you see, here’s the thing, I think you’re really pretty and I was wondering if you’d-“ before he can continue, he gets cut off.

“What are the two of you talking about?” Jongdae inquires, lazily slinging one of his arms around your shoulder.

“Taeyong was just about to ask me something,” you inform him, to which his eyes narrow at the man standing across from you.

Jongdae’s no fool, he knows what Taeyong was about to ask you. When someone else has eyes for his girl, he’s the first to know about it.

“No, he wasn’t,” Jongdae states, using his voice to manipulate Taeyong while sending him the nastiest glare he can muster.

“No, I wasn’t,” Taeyong repeats almost immediately. “Sorry for bothering you, (Y/n). I’ll see you around.”

“Oh, okay, bye Taeyong,” you call after his retreating form, and you can feel Jongdae’s grip tighten around your shoulders. Before you can Question him about it though, he’s running off to the dressing rooms to change.

You shake your head to clear your thoughts, texting Chanyeol that they all did a great job and that you’ll see them all later. You leave the venue shortly after, heading back to your apartment to relax for the evening.

Around quarter to eleven, you decide it’s time for your nightly swim to help you relax. You change and make your way down to the pool with everything you’ll need for the evening. Arriving to the pool, you already see Jongdae lounging on one of the chairs. As soon as he spot you walk in, his whole demeanour perks ups. You narrow your eyes at him, still confused about his behaviour earlier today.

“Hey,” he greets you, standing up from his chair.

“Hey, great job today, by the way. I never got to congratulate you after the show,” you say. “That high note really was something else.”

“Huh?” He blinks back at you, surprised.

“Well, now that we’re in better standings with each other, I’m not afraid to tell you that I really like your voice,” you inform him, a small blush dusting your cheeks as you turn away from him and start to take off your excess clothes you’re wearing over your bathing suit. 

Jongdae watches your every movement, drinking in your figure once more as you reveal more of yourself to him. He watches as you move towards the edge of the pool, just standing beside it. He finds that no matter how many times he’s seen you, he still can’t get over how stunning you look to him like this.

He lets out a small ‘oh’ in response to your statement, not expecting to hear something like that come from you. Maybe his powers do work on you after all. He’ll have to test that later tonight. He’s pulled out of his thoughts by you speaking once more.

“So what was your deal with Taeyong today?” You turn to him, an eyebrow raised in questioning.

“Nothing,” he replies shortly.

“That certainly wasn’t nothing,” you press on. “It seemed to me like you were jealous he was going to ask me out.”

He gives you only a ‘really’ look in response, crossing his arms in front of his chest, letting out a huff as he does so. He turns his head to the side, avoiding your eyes while grumbling a ‘so what if I was.’

“Just because you’re jealous doesn’t mean someone else can’t ask me on a date,” you retort, getting upset that he would choose to do this to you, again.

“Let’s just drop it,” the statement is powerful, him infusing some of his power into it to see if his voice actually can effect you.

“No! I’m not going to drop it,” you cross your arms. “Maybe I want to find happiness with someone else. Who are you to dictate who I can and cannot go out with? I deserve love! I deserve to be loved!”

The pain in your voice tugs at his heartstrings. He never knew you felt this way before. 

He’s also overcome with a sense of happiness he’s never truly felt before. Sure his voice may not effect you as a siren, but knowing you like hie voice, his true voice makes him the happiest he’s ever been in his entire life.

“Don’t just stand there, Jongdae, say something!” There are tears gathering in the corners of your eyes and he takes this opportunity to close the distance between the two of you.

Bringing his hand up, he uses his thumb to brush away the first stray tears that fall down your cheek.

“I love you,” 

With those words, he closes the distance between your lips, placing his own gently on top of yours as he cups your cheek with his one hand. To him, kissing you is the best feeling in the world, better than anything he could have ever imagined, and he never wants it to end. You’re like the pull of the ocean to him, and he’d gladly get lost in your waves over and over again.

Your eyes are wide in shock as you shove him away from you. The angle the two of you are standing on causes Jongdae’s foot to catch the edge of the pool and for him to go tumbling in.

He quickly breaks the surface of the water, flinging the hair out of his face to see that you have fallen to your hands and knees at the side of the pool. He watches as more tears escape your eyes and he reaches out to wipe them away. He sees your eyes widen in slight fear as you stare at his changed form in the water.

“What are you?” You manage to choke out, and Jongdae mentally curses himself for allowing his emotions to cloud his self control.

“I’m a siren,” he decides that there’s no way for him to cover this up now, so he might as well just be honest with you about what he is.

“A what?” You shriek, trying to back away from him, but he reaches out his hand and pulls you into the water with him.

“A siren,” he repeats, brushing some of your hair out of your face that’s fallen due to you now being in the water with him.

“Jongdae, what the fuck, let me go,” you begin to struggle in his grip, trying to break free. You manage to kick his tail but immediately you yelp in pain as your foot gets sliced on his scales.

“(Y/n), I need you to calm down,” he sighs, doing his best to steady you in the water and not bring you anymore harm, but with how violently you’re thrashing, he can’t keep a steady grip on you.

He does let you go once he’s brought you to the centre of the pool, and he watches as you attempt, with injured feet, to swim away from him. His heart pangs in his chest before his expression hardens. Why are you looking at him in such fear? He’s done nothing to elicit that kind of expression from you.

“Stay still,” he commands, and he uses his powers to manipulate the water into holding you hostage while still keeping you afloat.

“What’s going on? Why can’t I move my body?” You start to panic, even more so than before.

“Why do you always insist on fighting me? Why do you always run away?” His voice is low, like an approaching storm. “Why do you look at me with such fear? Why can’t you look at me the way you look at the others?”

“Jongdae, what are you talking about?” You reply, trying, and failing, to back away from his approaching form, like a shark approaching its prey.

“I just want you to look at me like you do with Chanyeol, with Johnny. I want to know what it feels like to experience that look of love you get in your eyes when you look at them, but I want you to look at me, and only me like that,” his voice is sending chills down your spine as he starts to circle your form before coming to rest right in front of you. “I just love you so much, and sure when we first met I was just going to use my voice to lure you into loving me, but you,” he takes a deep breath, “you’re able to resist my call. This intrigued me, as no one has been able to resist my voice before, so I kept my eyes on you. Eventually, that want turned into love and it just grew from there. I just knew I had to have you, and now that I do, I’m never letting you go. For too long I’ve watched you give your love and attention to others, but now? Now it’s my turn.”

“You’re crazy,” you say, eyes wide in fear as he wraps his arms around your body, pulling you close to his chest.

“You make me this way,” he hums, staring into your eyes.

“You’re a monster,” you whimper as more tears escape your eyes.

“You can call me monster all you want, baby,” he smirks, “but it won’t change a damn thing I feel about you.”

[skyecrandall]

TannerXFlynn (part1/4)]

I know what you are thinking. I know you all want to kill me but i did it as a dare and somehow got enough invested in this ship that I’m making it a 4 part story. It is also my submission to @clonedhayden ‘s ChoicesCreates65 whose theme was non-canon couples.

Brb I hope you guys enjoy it. I do not know how to write romance at all especially if they are not my OCs so please deal with this newbie writer here . Comedy and adventure are more my writing style.

Also, could you guys help me get a name for this series? My brain kinda farted on this :/

Tagging : @alanakusumastan @mlmseangayle @clonedhayden @choiceslife and @boneandfur since they showed interest in it.

"Dammit !" Said Flynn as he slammed his fist against the wall of his room.

"Why did all this have to happen? Why did he die?" He muttered.

He was emotionally wreck currently. The chain of revelations was too much for him. First Tanner didn't uphold the deal and now he is dead? What is even happening here...

Flynn should probably be feeling relieved right now but he also felt sadness. Was it a sign that he truly was in love with Tanner?

To think it all started about a month ago, the day he was released.

It had been 6 years that he had been staying in prison. After all these years, he could finally spend time with her dear sister Kate. That brought a smile to his face which didn't last long as he saw Tanner Sterling coming towards him.

"What are you doing here Sterling? Came to add another 4 years to my sentence?" asked Flynn.

"I have to time to lose O'Malley, let's get quickly in the limousine. I have an appointment," said Tanner as he grabbed Flynn's wrist.

"Hold on, why would I come with you? If I remember well, wasn't it your family who sent me here and even extended my stay here?" Said Flynn as he backed off Tanner's grip.

"It is because Kate told me to. We are getting married Flynn and she sent me to come and fetch you. Since she is busy buying her gown with mother, shd was not able to come along. I have an important meeting later, so now let's go!" replied Tanner as he started walking back to the limousine, expecting Flynn to follow.

What Tanner just said shocked him. Kate is getting married ... to this family of assholes? Sure Tanner was handsome and a tiny bit less of an asshole than his family but they are still a snobby and pretentious family of assholes. Does she know what she is getting herself into?

Feeling like he needed some answers, he reluctantly followed Tanner and entered the extravagant limousine. These Sterlings are always happy to flaunt their money everywhere do they?

Once he stepped inside and sat on the leather seats Tanner immediately handed Flynn two envelopes.

"The first one contains an official invitation to the wedding. Keep it well or you will not be able to join us for any ceremonies. The second ones contains some money. Use it to buy a suit worthy of the ceremony. Mother will make a fuss if you are not suited to the standards," explained Tanner.

Flynn to the first letter but then slapped the other envelope to the ground.

"I don't need your money Sterling! So you can take that envelope and shove it up your ass," shouted Flynn angrily.

"Perhaps you are right Flynn. I must admit it though, you O'Malleys are really adorable. Kate is one of the most gorgeous women I ever met and now you... cute like a little chocolate muffin," said Tanner before Flynn jumped onto him, his right fist clenched into a fist and the other hand pinning Tanner by the collar in the leather seat.

"Why don't you go fuck yourself instead Tanner," hissed Flynn.

"I compliment you and you get angry? Quite an individual are you?" Teased Tanner.

"Shut the fuck up!" Yelled Flynn with anger as he pulled Tanner back by the collar and slammed him back on the seat.

"You better learn your place O'Malley!" Said Tanner as he furrowed his brows, clearly annoyed.

"You don't want me to cancel your invitation to the wedding do you? How do you think Kate would feel if one of the persons she treasures the most does not come for the most important day of her life," continued Tanner.

"I will tell her everything!" Said Flynn his anger at its peak. He was ready to blow up at any time.

"But do you think she will listen to you? Sure you might be her brother, but can she really trust you? I mean you threw away 6 years that you could have spent with her over a car. Where were you when she was down? Where were you when she was crying in her corner? WHERE the fuck were you when she was lonely? Do you really think she will trust someone she has not seen or talked to in 6 whole years!" Said Tanner aggressively.

Those words left Flynn completely shook. What If...he was right? What if... Kate doesn't trust him anymore? Why would she even?

From his experience in trades and dealings, Tanner taught himself how to read his clients, how to twist the deal and make it favorable. He could see how Flynn's eyes were shaking, how his grip around his collar softened and how his hand was shaking. It would seem like, all Flynn cared was Kate’s happiness. Mentioning anything that would make him doubt Kate’s trust in him would mess him.

Taking this opportunity, Tanner slid his right arm under Flynn's left one before grabbing his hair from behind.

Then with a small push, Tanner pulled Flynn's face closer.

"Your eyes are just so beautiful, so fascinating," said the blonde man, transfixed by Flynn blue eyes.

"Just...leave me alone Sterling," complained Flynn as he tried to back off from Tanner but was flipped on the seat on the side.

Tanned then mounted into Flynn this time, also pinning his arms usimy his knees.

"Tanner, please...Just leave me alone...I- I'm not in the mood," said Flynn quietly.

From the fidgeting eyes and his defeated time, Tanner knew that he probably went too far earlier.

He might seem cold, but Tanner was also a human. He had some empathy for the others.

"O'Malley? What's wrong? Talk to me," said Tanner in a softer tone.

"Nothing...Just...Just let go of me," said Flynn as he tried to struggle but in vain.

"Is it because of what I said? About Kate?" Asked Tanner but Flynn only ignored him and turned his face to the side.

"Look at me!" Said Tanner as he gently grabbed Flynn's head to the side with his hand and forced him to look at him straight in the eyes.

"You should not worry about anything. Kate still loves you and trusts you. Ever since I've known her she always talked a lot about you to the point that even started getting jealous. I knew you were her brother, but still I wanted her to also talk more about me. She kept holding onto the wish of being able to have fun with you when you are back," said Tanner.

"You are just inventing stuff to make me feel better," said Flynn dejectedly.

"If I am doing so then how do you think I can say with absolute certainty that she still waits for you to comeback and take her through the marina's haunted house," said Tanner.

"Ho-How did you know about this?" Said Flynn, shocked and he had a good reason to.

What Tanner had just said, was a promise that the siblings made to themselves just a few days before Flynn got arrested.

Kate had always been of most supernatural creatures like ghosts or zombies, yes even 6 years ago and Tanner used to tease her about it,. Then one day, to prove to him that she was no longer afraid she got inside but was so afraid of everything she his in such a place inside that not even the staff could find her. Later it was then Flynn who found her crying and he then took her out of it where Flynn promised her that one day Flynn will take her inside with him and they will defeat this haunted house.

"She told me everything about it. You are her hero, she'll always trust you," said Tanner softly.

"Do you...really think so?" Said Flynn as tint bead of water started forming in the corner of his eyes.

"Definitely," said Tanner as he gently kissed Flynn on his forehead.

"Now get yourself back up O'Malley... It's a pity to see you in such a state," said Tanner as he moved over, letting Flynn move himself if he wanted to.

Just then the engine of the car came to a halt a voice could be heard over the speaker.

"Sir, we have reached the residence of Mr. O'Malley," said the chauffeur.

"Looks like it is now time to part our ways," said Tanner.

"But I would like to let you know something. You don't have to bear this burden alone. I'm also here. I'll also take care of Kate, so don't worry. Let's just focus on making Kate happy," continued Tanner.

Following Tanner's words, Flynn felt like his heart was lighter. The fact that he isn't when caring for Kate reassured him. Tanner is also here and together, just like he said, they will ensure Kate is always happy. From this liberation, Flynn couldn't help but let out a smile.

He then just slowly moved in front of Tanner and then hugged him. It is not something he usually does but he couldn't help him.

Tanner brought him back up when he was down. He took care of Kate when he wasn't here. He gave him new strength and even took a load of his self imposed work. All of this culminated into this hug.

"Tanner, thank you. Thank you for everything," said Flynn softly.

"You're welcome," replied the blonde man as he brought Flynn back up.

Flynn then took the invitation envelope but as he got down he was stopped by Tanner.

"Flynn, please. Take the money. If we want this to be the best day possible for Kate, we do not need any necessary drama so please, take it," said Tanner as he handed the other envelope to Flynn again.

"Free money eh? How can someone say no? I'll see you afterwards, Tanner," said Flynn as he accepted the cash envelope, stepped out and closed the door with a smirk.

"Me too," mumbled Tanner with a smile.

[autumn-pines]

Blank State-Chapter 2: Dipper

   Chapter 1

Before...

Switching. Danger.

A handshake.

Laughter.

  Unlike the girl, the boy wasn't saying anything. And even though he was quiet, he looked just as upset as the other child. He was simply staring at you with a depressed, knowing face, while rubbing his arm, like he was unsure what to do.

And when the girl is on her knees, crying, the boy puts on one hand on her shoulders while the other goes up to pull down his cap, partially hiding his face.

But even from where you were, you could see something shining on what was visible.

And maybe, there was a hitched sob.

 "We saved the world, but what's the point? Grunkle Stan's not himself anymore." The boy mutters, scuffing at the ground with his foot.

He looks like despair is starting to grip him, the same going for the rest of the people.

However, after the girl finds the scrapbook, he walks over to the right side of the chair, perching himself up on the arm.

"That time we went fishing?" He breaks in, sounding cautiously hopeful. Or desperate. "That Summerween we spent together? Don't you remember anything?"  

You don't.

But then you do.

Something small. Only a name. But then it turns into two names. And now the boy is happily saying to keep going as you sit down, scootching closer when you do.

After the laughter, you gently reach over to rub your knuckles into the boy's head. He only lets out a wide grin, his expression near giddy, and punches your arm in return.

Afterwards, you are told that the boy and the girls are twins...

And that they are your great niece and nephew.

Which makes a part of you glow with giddiness and pride. Though you didn't admit that.

And like your niece, your nephew has his own quirks, too.

He's sort of an awkward child, with a cracking voice resulting from puberty and his tendency to burst into rants and then stutter off when he realizes what he just did.

However, you notice he is a little firecracker, too. Not so much the way Mabel is with her happiness, but more like a determined feisty kitten.

It didn't help that he sometimes sneezes like a kitten, too.

"I do not sound adorable!"

You also note that the child wears the same clothes everyday. Literally.

A red short-sleeved shirt, a blue vest, gray shorts, and his blue hat with a pine-tree on it.

You never bring it up, but you hope that he at least changes to another pair of the stuff he wears instead of keeping the same pair on.

He also sometimes carries a red book around and writes in it while chewing on the pen or clicking it relentlessly.

One time, you saw a golden six-fingered hand on the cover. You felt a pang of familiarity, something itch your mind, but when you tried to delve down into your memories, the feeling disappeared.

But a image of the elder man flashed.

Whenever there are scrapbook memory sessions, the boy is always there, correcting details and adding to them.

"Uh, Mabel, the zombies were not made out of pink putty."

"Oh, no. The wax guys actually meant to kill you."

Once, he tells how he went into your mind and saw a memory of yours that he will never forget.

"...And when I opened the door, you were saying that I was a loser, and weak. That you just wanted to get rid of me." The b-Dipper paused, studying the table, not meeting your eyes.

You wince, feeling like an absolute jerk. You open your mouth, about to apologize when the boy raised his hand.

"But when I listened more, it turned out you were only talking about your past experiences, and that you were just trying to help me get stronger so I could fight the world if things got tough." He finishes, finally looking up at you, smiling.

Then, with some hesitance, he slides off his chair and walks over to hug you. "Thanks, Grunkle Stan."

"...Eh, no problem, kiddo." You pat him on the back, feeling a lot lighter than just a few seconds ago. But then suddenly having less breath when your nephew decides to turn the hug into a playful chokehold.

He is a bit stronger than he looks, and you feel pride for him.

Dipper though, is also a bit jittery.

Once he asks for a dollar, and when you hand him a one-dollar bill, he glances at the back and drops it, watching it as it floated to the ground. He didn't move to pick it up but nor did he move away from it.

You gingerly put a hand on his shoulder, "You okay, kid?"

"I-I'm fine." He utters, starting to look a little scared. "C-Can I just have some quarters, please?"

Swiftly you offer the silver coins, and with a nod of gratitude, Dipper snatches the coins and speed-walks out of the room.

When you pick up the dollar, you scan it, trying to see what frightened him. There was nothing suspicious looking, except for the weird triangle thing with an eye on the left side...

...a cackle. Screams. 

You leave the dollar on the counter.

Later that night, you had to your best to calm down a panic attack.

"Will he be okay?" Mabel frets from beside you. Earlier, she ran into you while you were heading to your room. Frantically, she brought you to their bedroom, where you found your nephew sitting on his bed, with arms wrapped tightly around his knees, breaths short and erratic.

You nod, putting your hands gingerly on Dipper's shoulders, causing for him to look up at you with wide, terrified eyes. You can feel your heart crack. "Alright, kid, deep breaths. Inhale...exhale..."

After about a minute, Dipper finally calms down. "S-Sorry," He mutters. "It was j-just a stupid nightmare."

You shake your head. "Hey, there's no such thing as a dumb nightmare. It's alright to be scared. Just uh, come get me if you need to, okay?"

Dipper smiles slightly, and nods. With his sister's help, the two go back to bed, and you can hear them chatter as you leave the room.

You had a feeling that the dollar-bill sparked this. But why, you don't know.

Sometime later, Dipper takes off his hat and shows you his birthmark, making you recall his real name, a hospital, and you holding two tiny babies. One that punched the doctor when she came out and the other already having something strange the day he was born.

You never have seen something so adorable.

So naturally you tried to hold them as long as possible.

That same day, the two of you go on a trek through the woods. Dipper saw something that he wants to check out, but since his sister and the other man were busy, he asked you to come with him.

"What are we looking for again?" You shove away a branch that just slapped you in the face.

"I don't know, actually." Dipper glances down at the notepad he brought along while holding the end of a pen to his mouth. "All I saw was a bunch of neon colors. It did kinda look reptilian, though. And I heard a screech type sound."

If you die because of this, it is 100% not going to be your fault.

"And what's your plan to track this?" You tighten your grip on your bat. You don't like going in blind, especially when you're with a child.

"Grunkle Stan, we've been following it's footsteps for the past six minutes." Dipper responds, sounding deadpanned.

You tilt your head downwards and realize that the two of you were walking on a trail of footsteps, with each one having four toes and what looked like claws. Huh. What an observant person you are.

You are preparing a snarky comeback when your nephew stops, perking up as if he spotted something. "Shhh," He hisses as he leans forward, carefully lowering a bush.

Ah, you see what he's looking at.

Just a few meters away, a tall, bright-colored...thing is standing on eight legs, sniffing at a tree. You guess it does appear similar to a reptile with it's scales and face structure. But there is something strange about it. Pure black covered the neck and head, making the rest of it's body stand out even more. And even from where you are standing you can see it has small red pupils.

That just flicked back and caught direct sight of you.

The thing lets out a purr and turns around, staring at you with a curious expression.

"Hey, kid." You whisper, not taking your eyes off it. "Do you think this thing is friendly?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Dipper mutters, writing and sketching on his notepad. "It might be. Like, I guess it did purr at us."

The creature then smiles.

It. Smiles.

Making it look a lot more creepy than it had a right to be, almost like a serial killer. It takes a step towards you, flexing it's sharp, hooked claws.

Oh boy.

"RRREEEEEEEEEEE!" The monster screams and charges.

Yup, that would be a no thanks to you.

You snatch your nephew around the waist and throw him over your shoulder before running as fast as you can without face planting into the ground.

There were a few times when you thought it would catch and brutally kill you both, but with Paul Bunyan's luck it get's lost somewhere behind you.

The two of you are covered with leaves and mud when you finally reach the Shack, and after you set your nephew down, you both burst out into hysterical laughter.

But then you remember being on a mist-covered mountain, letting some kids loose to destroy things, the slowest and most irritating sky-tram on earth, a spider lady that tried to eat you, and specifically you saying, "What do I look like, an amnesiac?"

You slap your forehead.

So far, your past was something, to say the least.

But the most important thing you recall, was Dipper smiling up at you, and saying sincerely.

"Hey, we're both losers."

After you tell the adventure the two of you had in the woods to the rest of the family, whose shocked faces making the event totally worth it, you go to the chair, feeling exhausted. 

What you didn't expect was to feel something lay on your side. 

When you look, you discover that Dipper was resting on you, already asleep. Without saying a word, you wrap an arm around him.

It was a pretty good day.

Your nephew is lots of things. Books that are scattered everywhere. Annoying and relentless pen clicking. Typical teenager awkwardness combined with eager curiosity. A constellation on Earth, in a spot least expected. A quiet type of happy, that shows itself in subtle ways. A secret name that only a few know.

A pine tree.

All that resulted in Dipper.

I always enjoy writing some Stan and Dipper bonding. They are such a stubborn pair.

Okay, the next chapter is Ford's! Which should be posted tomorrow, but don't worry if it doesn't. I'm a little busy right now, however the next chapter will probably be on schedule. Thanks for reading!

@stanuary

[qforqazaq]

Black Dial: The Drama

You've probably heard the latest news from the Q-pop world: L and Teddy are no longer in Black Dial.

Hmm, where shall I start?

***Disclaimer: For the convenience of the foreign fans who aren't sure what has actually happened, I tried to recreate the sequence of events to get some exposition first. I've missed some details here and there, because this was already getting too long.***

It all began when the producers of YB Entertainment posted the announcement saying that the official Instagram accounts of L, Teddy, Ray and Black Dial were hacked, so from now on everything that's going to be posted on those pages has nothing to do with YB. "Okay, the pages got hacked, whatever, it happens, no big deal", I thought. BUT! After awhile I've noticed (first ever) IG stories posted on L's and Teddy's accounts with the actual L and Teddy recording each other while giddily saying something like "Did you know that we were hacked?" - "Lol, no, did we?" - "Yeah, they say we were hacked. I am hacked, you are hacked, comeback is hacked too, hahaha".

Obviously, everyone got even more confused, like, why the hell would the producers call the accounts hacked if they were obviously not. I mean those were real L and Teddy, right?

Meanwhile, I started to read some comments about L and Teddy and something about leaving the group, which got me a huge "Wait WHAT. WTF??? Are you bloody kidding me??" moment.

I obviously couldn't believe my eyes, because, what the hell, first Newton, now Black Dial, are you for real?? When I was about to start doubting these rumours while frantically looking for more info, there came interviews from the official press conference by YB Entertainment.

There, Yesbolat Bedelkhan with Bayan and Bota Yerimbet have formally announced that Yeskeldi Quandyq, formerly known as L, and Samat Kazmaganbet, formerly known as Teddy, were no longer the members of Black Dial, that the company had terminated their contracts, the main reason being consistent violation of the contractual terms by the former members. Moreover, according to the producers, the stage names "L" and "Teddy" and all the social media accounts belong to YB Entertainment and they cannot be used by the members should the contract be terminated.

To say I was shocked is to say nothing. Because, apparently, L and Teddy have not just left the group - they were kicked out. Not only that, they basically kicked themselves out by consistently showing insubordination, disobedience, and violation of terms in many occasions. Without feeling much remorse about it too, it seems, as they didn't look very sad on those Instagram stories - that's for sure.

To make the matter worse, they had no rights to use those Instagram accounts anymore, which explained the earlier announcement about "hacking".

Frankly, that was a lot to take in, and while I was desperately trying to make sense out of whatever was happening out there, all hell let loose. Interestingly - on the producers. Because a horde or rather a flock of angry fangirls or "Ravens" started to shout accusations at the producers, blaming them in all deadly sins. According to them, it was all producers' fault, because they intentionally kicked their "biases" out; how did they dare to be so unfairly strict with them; they were shitty producers in the first place; they should have made their comeback sooner instead of postponing it; the whole "hacking" incident was made to sabotage the members' reputations, and their beloved L and Teddy did the right thing leaving this horrible company.

As for me, these accusations sounded too heated and not very convincing especially when I took a step back and started to actually think about it.

Well, let's break it down, shall we?

First of all, the question of fairness seems super childish, because we're talking about actual legal binding contracts, not some sandbox tantrums that can be resolved by shoving lollipops in kids' mouths. If one signed a contract, it is assumed that both of the parties were aware of and agreed to all of the terms in the first place. In other words, if you in a sober mind signed a legal document, complaining about stuff that you can't eventually commit to afterwards won't work. Why the hell one would even sign a contract in the first place then?

Secondly, do you really think the contract was that strict? Okay, stricter than, idk, a contract signed by the guys from 91? I do very much doubt it. I'm more than sure Yerbolat isn't that chill and understanding compared to his younger brother.

Thirdly, Black Dial is the only active project of YB Entertainment (Darrem doesn't really count) aka literally the company's only flagship product that was supposed to get its long-awaited comeback. Think about it: who the hell in their right minds, in such a crucial moment, would kick out members from the only existing group without a legitimate reason? No one. And there was one reason, a few actually, wasn't there? Moreover, according to Yesbolat Bedelkhan, they've tried very hard to keep the group intact, to smooth out those cases of disobedience and insubordination, closing their eyes to most of them. But I guess, the situation got completely out of control, so terminating the contracts was the last resort.

Fourthly, haven't you thought that the comeback was being postponed over the course of, what, 9 months? exactly because of the internal problems and conflicts inside BD and YB? What if the producers weren't sure if they could proceed should have the said members continued to "misbehave". Which they apparently did, so better cut ties earlier than later, with only one MV, and one more released song.

Next, the "hacking" incident. According to Yesbolat Bedelkhan, sometime around February 14, when BD was supposed to record a video to mark the date, L and Teddy have completely disappeared from radar, not answering anyone's calls and/or messages. The producers even tried to reach their parents at some point, to ask if everything was alright with the boys. Strangely, the parents were not reachable as well, because apparently they have changed their contacts too. Later, the producers discovered that they couldn't access official IG accounts of L, Teddy, Ray and Black Dial, because someone changed their passwords. I suppose it was then they guessed it was L and Teddy's doings, which I assume was the final blow.

Finally, Yesbolat believes that someone from outside have persuaded the boys to sabotage their own places at YB Entertainment. A certain someone with a personal grudge against YB producers. I have my guesses and I won't be surprised if this someone will collaborate with those two at some point in the future too.

Show business sucks, doesn't it.

_________________________________

Don't get me wrong, by making a case for YB Entertainment, I don't want to imply that Yeskeldi and Samat are inherently bad people or anything. Okay, I must admit I had my problems with Teddy and tbh wasn't very sad to know he has left the group (yeah, I'm crude), but I did respect L very much, coming to admire his capacity for songwriting when I took on that challenge at translating their songs (Bul Soni Yemes is a lyrical masterpiece. Period.), regarding him as a very thoughtful young man. Despite personal preferences, I didn't want anyone to leave the group in any circumstances, always hoping and betting on them to settle at least on the second place in Q-pop.

In other words, waking up to a news like this has brought me no pleasure. Further unfolding only left a bitter taste in the mouth and the feeling that you were viciously played.

However, I do still think that it was, pardon my French, totally a dick move to leave everyone and everything just like that, without a decent explanation, a formal apology to the fans at the very least. Leaving by making a public drama out of it, while openly gloating in the social media, abandoning the company, the producers and the other members who counted on them so much.

Was it fair? I think not.

I do wish them luck in whatever they're planning to do though, just to see if it was actually worth the drama, huh.

And I do certainly wish the best of luck to YB Entertainment, to the producers and the remaining vocalists in remedying the whole situation, so to speak.

And what now? Yes, YB is having their casting in search for their new rappers and everything, but what does it tell about the whole "Q-pop movement"?

It's impaled, sick and haven't even grown out legs to stand upright and move properly. People are leaving the groups whenever they want, groups changing the label companies however they want, the entertainment centres are opening and closing at flick of the fingers, and we only have about eh.. 3.5 groups who are actually doing something now? With Black Dial on the resting bed, those would be Ninety One, Mad Men, Moonlight and sort of Newton~. Considering that I'm already very cautious with the latter, skeptical with the second, and Moonlight just doesn't excite me very much, we're coming to the default settings of just clinging to the founders for now while just observing everyone else from the distance.

Nice.

What do you think though? What was the reason for BD having so many problems with its former rappers?

Is Q-pop actually going to crumble to pieces even before it becomes anything substantial?

Feel free to comment and share, and please do leave a like at least. I've been writing this for ages after all.

[madokasoratsugu]

rain rain go away

[soutaku; AU where Souma is a part time cashier part time piano prodigy, and Takumi is a famous novelist who recently got fucked over by identity theft. 

but this fic is about getting caught in the rain and deals with none of that heavy stuff]

a/n: ayyyyyyy back w another au, will i ever fuckin stop. 

btw: u might notice i used 'yukihira' instead of 'souma' like i usually do here. this is bc ppl in this au mostly know souma as 'yukihira' so i used that. more details about this au coming soon. maybe. perhaps. idk lmao

ao3 / ffnet

The weather bureau’s cheery mascot mocks Takumi from his phone screen, beaming “a sunny 35°C, don’t forget your sunblock!”.

Takumi despondently looks down at the quickly gathering water at his feet, ears drowning in the sound of rainfall pelting down.

Sunny indeed.

He pockets his phone and hastens his steps; this inclined path was not doing his leather shoes any favours.

Takumi barely bites back a yelp when a gust of wind crashes into him full force. He stumbles back a step, then two, and catches himself just in time to prevent his untimely demise onto the muddy pavement.

His umbrella is not so lucky and snaps cleanly in half, accepting its end swiftly.

During a brief moment of sheer upset, Takumi considers screaming in frustration, but the heavy rain convinces him to start running instead. This doesn’t stop him from glaring at his umbrella in disbelief for the betrayal as he stuffs it into his chest to reduce wind resistance

Speaking of things to protect. Takumi clutches his briefcase closer to his chest, muttering a short curse at how absolutely soaked it felt. Thank god he’d moved on from hand written drafts to thumbdrives and technology. He might just kill himself if the final draft of his book was ruined from something as stupid as faulty weather reporting.

Amidst the storm, Takumi can make out a dimly blinking ‘24/7’ sign. An arm shielding his face from the rain, he sprints as fast as his already burning calves can take him.

The welcome jingle of his apartment’s corner minimart has never sounded more welcoming.

He does suck in a chilled breath when the blast of air conditioning hits his very wet back, however.

Takumi navigates the store with speedy ease, snatching two towels off a rack close to the automated door, and making his way to the register immediately. He slaps it down on the counter along with his briefcase, and he would have apologised for the unnecessarily sour attitude if it wasn’t for the fact that he recognised the redhead behind the counter.

Too many late night trips to the minimart during the past year -  whether it be a genuine need for something or just to get a breather from his work - had familiarised Takumi with him.

“Bad day?”

Takumi blinks the water from out his eyes, and smiles tiredly at Yukihira.

“Just the weather.”

And that was true. Takumi had been having the best day of his life, prior to this.

Doujima-sensei had informed him that his comeback debut novel was selling like hotcakes, and its sequel’s draft Takumi had brought today was right on track - just a few chapter revisions and finalising a few administration matters, and off to the printing press it would go.

Then the sudden downpour had started, turning Takumi’s forty minute uphill trek from the cafe back home into a desperate dash.

So now Takumi was left stranded and feeling like an old dishrag in his drenched peacoat and soaked leather shoes. Which, he had thankfully sent for weather proofing. He still had the possible loss of a good coat to mourn, however.

At least his hairdo was still intact. Takumi briefly slides a hand over his slicked back bangs, admiring the gel’s handiwork. Isami always did have a better eye for beauty products.

As Takumi thinks about how this would save him time later, he misses the way Yukihira swallows a little too hard at the movement and slips on the keys of the register.

“It’s really pouring out there, huh?” Yukihira says, quickly ringing up Takumi’s purchases.

“Yeah, I could tell.” Takumi rolls his eyes, and Yukihira responds with a laugh. Takumi pays in exact - he always does, when Yukihira is behind the counter. It’d become a silly little routine that Takumi was trying to see how long he could keep up.

Yukihira has the graciousness to rip open the packaging of one of the towels, handing it to a very grateful Takumi.

Takumi dries his face off first, then quickly wipes his neck. Yukihira leans on the counter with crossed elbows, tilting his head to one side, watching.

“No umbrella?” Yukihira asks.

Takumi wordlessly holds up his broken contraption. Yukihira’s eyes crinkle in a wordless laugh.

“That’s some real bad luck, Takumi. Wanna get another one?” He tilts his head to the other side, where a rack of portable umbrellas are arranged along the side of the wall, next to the newspapers.

“No thanks. I don’t think it’ll do much good now.” Takumi sighs, rubbing his hands in the warm cloth.

“I was gonna ask about a raincoat but it seems your coat is a pretty good rain -coat at this point.” Yukihira grins.

“Ha ha.” Takumi throws the towel in Yukihira’s face, and it smacks him with a satisfyingly wet sound. Yukihira makes a faux dying noise, before removing the towel.

“Then how about some oden? We just got a batch fresh.” Yukihira pushes himself upright, putting the towel into a plastic bag, along with Takumi’s other purchase.

Takumi’s stomach decides to growl in a timely fashion. He flushes beet red, while Yukihira grabs a pair of tongs and sing songs, “Yes it is!”

“Thanks.” Takumi replies, pressing a hand against the warm glass display, where a row of split containers with assortments of ingredients bobbing in hot soup seat behind. “I was thinking of grabbing a snack before - oh shoot , I hope the florists’ is still open.”

“Florist?” Souma looks up for a moment, stirring the soup with the ladle.

“Yeah. I need to pick up a bouquet.” Takumi smiles.

“For?” Souma scoops a hearty amount of soup and carefully pours it into a paper bowl.

“I’m going to a recital later.” Takumi explains. “It’s...an important performance to me, and I wanted to give the pianist something to show that. I mean, not that i’ll be able to hand it to them directly, with how performances generally work. I have a friend who knows them, so they promised to do me this favour.”

Erina had been surprisingly forward about it too. Something about helping Hisako with a few favours a while back, so this would be the least she could do for all the help Takumi had given her wife.

It was an incredibly uplifting offer, especially at a time when Takumi was still trying to brush the whole incident with name fabrications, ghostwriters and Mimasaka off his back.

To be able to thank the person whose music had encouraged Takumi out of his depressive slump was the only reason he had worked so hard to make his next novel a bestseller like it had become.

“That’s sweet. Did you get a good seat? Where is it?” Yukihira says, while handing Takumi his cup of oden. A few wooden skewers have already been stuck into the bowl, and Takumi takes the cup gratefully.

“Mmm. I got one in the middle, row L seat 17.” Takumi lifts a fishcake out, taking a bite. Quickly, he devours at least half of the cup’s contents before speaking again. “So this rain is really a downer. I still have to change, too.”

Yukihira stretches his arms above his head, then twists his torso to look at the clock behind him. “When’s it start?”

“Eight. But someone’s picking me up at six forty, so I have to hurry.” Takumi blows on a piece of radish before taking a bite.

“Eh, there’s still another hour and half, you’ll be fine.” Souma dismissively waves, and a part of Takumi agrees, but the more paranoid half screeches at him from the back of his mind.

“Still.” Takumi jabs at a piece of konnyaku, lifts it out of the cup and frowns at it. “Hey Yukihira, want it?”

“You don’t like konnyaku?” Yukihira asks, though he’s quick to lean over the counter with his mouth open.

“I’ll eat it if I have to.” Takumi says, popping the triangular piece into Souma’s mouth. He tries not to stare at Yukihira’s lips. “But I don’t really like it.”

Yukihira nods, chewing. Meanwhile, Takumi drinks the rest of the soup in one long gulp.

“Okay, i’ve got to go.” Takumi quickly tosses the empty cup into a bin nearby, stuffing his broken umbrella in afterwards. “But first.” He opens his wallet to pay for the oden, and realises a little sadly he doesn’t have change anymore.

He hands Yukihira a ten dollar bill, listening to the clacks of the register as it swings open and the clatter of coins as Yukihira quickly takes out change.

Yukihira’s fingers are warm as they press the coins into Takumi’s chilled palm. Takumi resists the urge to hold the hand a little longer.

“See you around.” Yukihira says, voice somehow softer than usual. Takumi gives in to the momentary urge, and squeezes Yukihira’s hand briefly, before moving his hand to shove the change into his pocket.

Grabbing his briefcase, Takumi flashes Yukihira a smile as the turns to leave. “See you.”

Yukihira raises his hand in goodbye, and smiles brightly back.

“I can’t believe you only arrived half an hour before your own recital!”

Erina’s aggravated voice is only partially blocked, with Yukihira’s childish attempt at covering his ears with both hands.

“I arrived before the performance, it’s fine!” Yukihira tries to reason, and he thinks he hears something in Erina snap when he does.

“Even so - !” Erina extends her arm, smacking Yukihira in the chest with a sheaf of papers. Yukihira recognises the hasty scribbles of musical notes as the one he’d handed to his manager just prior.

“What is the meaning of suddenly adding another piece into the performance? A new one, too!” Erina leafs through the sheets, scanning the piece. “And the title! ‘That feel when you see your crush drenched in the rain ten out of ten’? It’s not even spelt out!”

Her hands are shaking with pure fury now. “Souma, this is your comeback recital! You can’t just keep changing things like this!”

Yukihira blinks quietly. He takes in Erina’s stiff form, her contorted expression, and feels his soften in response. He rubs her head, careful not to mess up her hair too much.

“Thanks for worrying about me, Erina. But it’ll all go okay. If it’s that piece, i’ll be fine.” Yukihira looks off to the side, towards the curtains that part the wings from the stage.

Somewhere beyond that maroon drapery, past the lights and amongst the darkness of the hushed audience, a certain blond will seat, arms full of odd blooms.

Erina heaves out a submissive sigh. “...I know. I’m the one who knows your potential best, after all.” The statement is almost grudging.

Yukihira shoots his original co-debuter a winning grin. Erina returns it with a haughty sniff.

“If you don’t mind me asking, though…,” Erina trails off, waiting for Yukihira’s nod of approval before continuing. “What made you decide to return? After all this time, and everything that happened….” Erina ends off uneasily.

Unconsciously, Yukihira moves his left hand over his right. Then he brings his hands up, spreading his fingers out before him. The scar that runs unevenly down from the joint between his third right finger and fourth and odd splotches of discoloured skin on both hands stare back at him.

The warmth from the brief squeeze before still lingers.

“This is my eulogy to mother.” Yukihira begins softly. “And also,” He shifts his weight onto one foot, so he can peer past the curtains and comb through the audience to mid-row L, seat 17. Upon seeing a familiar blond head, he smiles. “I found my muse again.”

“Does it have anything to do with this book of yours you had me bring?” Erina grabs the book she’d placed earlier on a spare music stand, and thumps it gently against Yukihira’s still outstretched arm.

Yukihira takes it, and thumbs to the very first page.

‘Dedicated to Souma; for gifting me with music that became my reason to try again’

Just then, Shinomiya’s loud, singular clap rings out through the backstage.

“Five minutes before we go on!” He instructs, a loud reminder for any lollygaggers.

Erina immediately reaches out to straighten Yukihira’s lapels, and snatches the book from his hands. She looks him directly in the eyes, all previous playfulness gone.

“Do it for them.”

Yukihira nods, a professional smile pinned to his face.

“Of course.”

And that’s the last thing Yukihira has time to say, before he’s ushered towards the stage and met with stadium lights and the roar of applause once more.