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cjsinkythoughts · 3 years

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It’s All in the Perspective

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Reader

Word Count: 4491

Warnings: !FATWS SPOILERS!, Cursing, Gun Violence, Minor Character Injury, A Peek at Angry Bucky, Explosions (if that’s a warning), Mentions of Stevie (I really miss him, guys)

A/N: So! Here it is! Part 4.3! After long hours of laboring and slaving away - kidding, kidding. I had a bit of trouble with this part, not gonna lie, because there’s a lot of feelings I wanted to try explaining. To do that, there’s a little sort of twist at the end that, once I decided to put in, made the chapter much smoother to write. I wasn’t happy with it at first, but now I’m satisfied.

There’s a lot of things happening in this one; it’s longer than I had anticipated because of the little snippet at the end I added. It’s got a few scene-for-scene things, but I kinda blew past it just to get to the characters’ emotions and stuff. Plus writing action like the shipping yard scene is hard when you’re not focusing entirely on that scene, which I wasn’t.

You’ll notice that the last little bit with Ayo (the Wakandan) isn’t in this. That’s because I couldn’t really find a way to fit it in and I’m assuming it will fit in better with next week’s episode.

Not beta’d, so please excuse any mistakes! Thank you wonderful people for reading and commenting! I enjoy hearing your opinions and what you like about the show and the series! Enjoy the final Part for Episode 3 and stay tuned for an announcement tomorrow about the One Shots I’ll be doing in relation to this series!

FATWS MASTERLIST

cjsinkythoughts MASTERLIST

!SPOILERS UNDER CUT!

You and Bucky kept sneaking glances at each other as you walked through the dock, weaving between the different colored shipping containers with Sharon leading the way. Every time you caught his eye, his ears turned red and he looked away, scanning your surroundings. Not that you were any better, immediately turning away when he turned your way.

You almost kissed him. Fuck. You couldn’t let that happen. He was your friend. Your teammate. He was the best friend to the man you fell in love with, who just so happened to be your best friend. Your best friend who left you. Your best friend who you promised you would watch out for Bucky.

Bucky…who you also fell in love with. Whether or not it was because of Steve, the fact of the matter was: you loved him. You loved both of them. And you’d never loved anyone like that before. And one left. And the other was trying to navigate through his shitty life. And you weren’t any better. Which is why, you decided in that moment, that no matter how much you wanted to - and holy shit did you want to - you wouldn’t pursue.

Yet. Maybe. Ugh! When did feelings become so complicated?!

When you started having them.

You silently grumbled to yourself, shaking your head clear. You had to focus and be in the moment. Now was not the time to sort out what to do about the suddenly rising emotions towards the cerulean eyed brunette currently burning with you with a gaze you refused to return.

“Alright.” Sharon stopped, making the group stop as well. “He’s in there. Container 4261. I’ll keep an eye out while you guys talk to Nagel. But hurry; we’re on borrowed time.”

You each grabbed one of the earpieces she held in her palm, slipping it comfortably in your ear. “I’ll stay back with you.” Sharon went to talk, but you cut her off. “I’d feel better knowing it’s not just you out here.”

She pursed her lips, before nodding. “Alright. If that’s what you want.”

“Doll-”

“I’ll be fine, Buck.” You insisted, checking your gun to make sure it was loaded. Bucky stayed quiet, nodding in begrudging acceptance.

You and Sharon headed off as the boys went towards the storage unit. “Just like old times, huh?” Sharon raised an eyebrow at you.

You grinned, shoving your gun in the thigh holster she let you borrow. “Let the good times roll, babe.”

“Absolutely.” Sharon winked, before you two split up to cover more ground. It wasn’t long before Sharon announced company and you took off sprinting in her direction.

You got to her just as more thugs approached her from behind, immediately lunging into action.

“Hey, so, we never finished that conversation!”

You grunted as you roundhouse kicked a guy, hooking your knee over his shoulder and pulling him to the ground by the neck “Really?! You wanna do that now?!”

“Sure! I’m not too busy!”

You rolled your eyes at her reply, seeing her knock a guy unconscious before she turned around to knee another one in the face. “What were we talking about?”

“Why’re you holding back?”

“It’s complicated!” You elbowed a guy in the ribs, flipping him over your shoulder and twisting his arm till a sickening crack sounded.

“Because of Steve?!”

“Yes - no! Kind of!”

Sharon was on the floor choking a guy out as you slammed a guy’s head into a shipping container, pushing him at another guy. “You loved him didn’t you?! And I mean, like in love with him!”

“Who?!” You laced your fingers around the back of his head and brought his face down onto his knee.

“Director Fury!” You gave her a look which she snorted at. “Steve, you dumbass! Who else?!”

“Yeah! No shit I was in love with him!” You ran up the side of a storage unit to do a backflip and land on some guy’s shoulders, choking him out. Before he fell, you rolled off, tripping a guy in the process and elbowing his throat.

“Well at least you’re admitting it now!”

You were hit in the back of the head, thrown into a wrestle with another guy on the ground. You bit his hand, making him cry out, before you headbutted him.

“You couldn’t even hear his name without having to remind people you were ‘just friends’!”

“We were just friends, Share! You know that!”

You heard her shoot of a gun a few times as you smacked someone in the back of the head with the butt of your gun, trying to save ammo. “You really never did anything about it?!”

“No!”

She glanced at you incredulously from across the way, bodies now littering the ground. “And you don’t regret that?”

“No.” You sighed at her look, relenting. “Yes. Kind of. I dunno. I mean…he’s happy with his decision, and for me that’s enough.”

“But doesn’t it hurt?”

“Of course it hurts. It hurts like hell. But-”

“But you still have him so it’s all good.”

You bit your lip, shrugging. “Something like that.”

Sharon tilted her head, confused. “So why don’t you tell him?”

“I dunno. I don’t think either of us is ready.”

“C’mon. I saw you two earlier. You should’ve just kissed him.”

Rolling your eyes, you frowned when you noticed something missing. “Ah shit. My ear piece. It must’ve fallen out earlier.” You looked around, but Sharon stopped you, nodding her head between a couple shipping containers.

“Don’t worry about it. Mine broke a little while ago, too. Let’s go get the guys. Tell them we need to leave.”

You nodded and started running with her to the unit Nagel’s lab was in. You followed her around the corner, only to widen your eyes and shove her out of the way. Two gunshots rang out, Sharon catching the guy right between the eyes, while the man’s bullet grazed your shoulder.

“Ow, fuck.” You hissed, hand immediately going up to clamp your wound.

“Dammit! You shouldn’t have done that, you idiot!”

You gave her a look. “You’re welcome.”

Rolling her eyes, she quickly tore off part of your shirt. “Hey!”

“First off, this is my shirt. Second, I’m just making it more of a crop top. Third, it’s your own fault, so quit your whining.”

“Touchy touchy.” You grumbled, wincing when she tied it around your arm.

“Just come on. And hey,” she turned to you as she sprinted with your wrist in her hold. “My advice? Don’t wait. Seriously. I know it must be weird, the whole he’s his best friend, he was your best friend, now he’s your best friend, thing you’ve got going on, but there’s nothing else stopping you. Steve made his choice. And he’d be fine with whatever you choose as long as you’re happy.”

You shook your head. “But Bucky’s still healing-”

“So? He’s already been on dates. I think you’re just using that as an excuse to protect your heart from hurting again. Trust me; Barnes isn’t going anywhere.”

Not able to respond since you were making your way to the guys in Nagel’s lab, you bit your lip, hating that she got the last say in the conversation. She definitely planned it so she would. “We’re outta time, fellas.”

As if things couldn’t get worse Zemo - that fucking snake, you knew he was gonna do something stupid - took out a gun he got from who knows where. You sure as hell didn’t let him have a gun. Before you could stop him, he shot Nagel, your best, your only, lead.

“Goddammit!” You growled as Sam and Sharon restrained him. “You fucking-”

The explosion came next, again happening faster than you could react. Bucky grabbed you and pulled you underneath him, covering you with his body as glass and metal flew around you. With ringing ears, you groaned, squinting your eyes open.

“Y/N, are you okay?”

You were vaguely aware of the alarms going off, a red light blinking behind Bucky’s head. You nodded, his worried eyes softening just slightly at your response. “We gotta get out-”

“I know, I know. C’mon.” He helped you up, eyes catching sight of the makeshift bandage on your arm. “Dammit, what did you do?”

“I’m fine.” You pushed his hands off. “Go help Sharon. We’ve gotta move. Now.” He huffed, but nodded and moved over to get Sharon. You tried to see where Zemo went through the smoke, but he was already gone.

You four made it just before the whole thing combusted due to the chemicals in the lab. So much for any evidence or leads.

The moment you got out, you were thrust into a gunfight, rolling your eyes as Bucky and Sam, once again, did their own thing.

“Are they always like this?”

“Usually it’s worse. Wait until they start arguing about who was right.” Sharon gave you an unamused look to which you nodded at, ducking when a bullet whizzed by you. “I know. It’s so annoying.”

Sure enough, when Bucky ran out of bullets, the bickering commenced, making you huff and Sharon shout at them. “Are they serious?”

You shot a few more bullets before your gun started clicking. “Dammit. Unfortunately.”

“I’m out!”

“Me too!”

Another explosion and a person you couldn’t see clearly through the haze caused a distraction for you guys to get away, Sam practically shoving you and Sharon into an open shipping container as Bucky took care of a couple more bounty hunters.

“What happened? Both of your comms went out.” Bucky growled once he came in behind you, grabbing your forearm to study your wound.

“It’s just a graze. Chill your ass down. I lost my earpiece and Sharon’s broke.”

Bucky’s eyes narrowed, his voice low with warning. “What. Happened.”

“We rounded a corner, the guy was there. I shoved Sharon, he shot, she shot, I got hit, he’s now dead. Happy?”

“You promised.” He snapped, finger tightening on your arm. “You said you’d save yourself first.”

“Buck, let go.” Grabbing his wrist, you tugged a bit, wincing slightly. “Seriously. Stop. That hurts.”

He blinked, his features slacking and his fingers immediately dropping your arm. “Doll, I-I…fuck.” He turned to go punch through the back wall to get out of the unit you were in.

Before you could respond and tell him it was fine, the Baron himself drove up in a slick blue convertible. You groaned at Bucky’s response to Zemo. “We need him.” God, you were getting tired of hearing that.

“You’re lucky I don’t bash your head in.” You growled at him.

“If you try that shit again-”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Sam raised an eyebrow when Bucky got into the passenger’s seat with no hesitation, looking at you. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but you shrugged and slipped into the back with Sam. Bucky and you always took the back seat. You had ever since the dumb little blue car Steve got.

You hugged Sharon in parting, knowing she couldn’t come with. “Hey.” She looked at you sternly. “Take a leap.”

“We’ll see.” You told her, sitting down and buckling.

“Do better than that, Y/L/N. And get me that pardon you promised me.” She told Sam, pointing at him..

“Thanks for everything.” She nodded, before jogging off in the opposite direction you’d be heading. Sam turned back to the front, an annoyed expression crossing his face. “You’re not gonna move your seat up, are you?”

“No.”

You snickered as Sam shot you a glare, Zemo starting to drive the car out of the shipping yard, away from the chaos.

****************

You collapsed onto the seat in front of Bucky, leaning onto the knee he had propped up against the back. He glanced up at you, face blank, before looking back down at his metal hand he was cleaning.

“Here. Let me see-”

“I got it.” He grumbled, shifting away from where your hands reached for his.

Your eyes widened, stunned at his reaction. “Bucky, just let me-”

“I said no, Y/N.” Your name. Again. You can’t remember him calling you ‘doll’ since before the shipping yard explosion.

“Are you okay?” He merely grunted. You straightened off his leg, swatting his knees with the back of your hand. “Hey.”

He shifted again, planting his feet on the floor. “Stop.”

“No.”

He shot you a warning glare. “Y/N-”

“Stop calling me that.”

“It’s your name, isn’t it?”

“What is wrong with you?” You scrunched up your features in confusion and concern. “Is this about my arm? I told you it’s fine.” You got no response except his eye flickering to your now properly bandaged shoulder. “Why are you acting so weird?”

He shrugged. “I’m not.”

You scoffed in disbelief, jaw dropping. “You’re not.”

“Nope.”

“Fine.” You stood up, brushing your legs off, the bare skin having splotches and smears of dirt and dust. “If you wanna be like that, go ahead. Brood. Be a child. When you’re ready to talk to me about whatever the hell is bothering you, like an adult, I’ll be in the back room.”

You only took two steps before he called out for you. “Doll.” You turned around, an expectant look on your features as you crossed your arms, shifting your weight to one foot. He looked up at you nervously, before looking down and picking at the metal plates of his hand. “I got scared.”

Your features softened, your head tilting gently. “Scared?”

“When you stopped talking. You and Sharon…you were talking. But both of your comms went down around the same time and I…it scared me. I-I don’t get scared anymore. Not the way I did when your voice stopped. I didn’t mean to hurt you…” His voice got quieter at the last sentence, his eyes looking to the purple handprint on your forearm.

“It was an accident, Buck.” You reassured him, settling back down in front of him. “It’s fine. You were still reeling it in from the bar. I know it’s hard for you to judge your strength like that. Steve had problems like that too.” You looked down at the rag he was holding, putting your hand out.

He licked his lips, before handing you the rag. You got off the couch to shift so you were sitting between his legs, his chest to your back. Holding his metallic hand between both of yours, you set to work, gingerly wiping away the grime, picking at the filth that wedged itself between the plates.

“He,” you chuckled, shaking your head at the moment you were remembering. “He accidentally gave me a concussion once when we were sparring. At first it was awesome; he got me my favorite take out and took me to the movies and all that. But then he just started getting annoying. Wouldn’t even let me reach for the TV remote on the coffee table a yard away.”

“Can I ask you something?” You hummed, tilting your head slightly when you felt his chin hooking on your shoulder, giving him more room. “How long did you love him?”

Freezing, you raised an eyebrow and turned to face him. “What?”

“You and Sharon. When you were talking…your comms were on.”

“How-” You swallowed thickly, a lump suddenly forming in the back of your throat. “How much did you hear?”

“Yours went out right after you admitted you were in love with him. Hers went out after you said you were just friends.”

Holding in a sigh of relief, you went back to cleaning his hand. “I don’t really know exactly when it happened. After the Battle of New York, maybe. So 2012, I guess? I dunno. I was getting up from falling for him, though. A few years later.”

“Was?”

“I - yeah. I kind of…fell again.”

He hummed, leaning back, taking his chin off your shoulder and unwinding his arm from your waist. “He’s an easy person to fall for. Hell, I’m pretty sure I had a crush on him once upon a time.”

You chuckled at that, raising an eyebrow over your shoulder at him. “I never said I fell for him again. But, yeah. You’re right.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “You like someone else?”

“It’s…complicated.”

“Oh…” He cleared his throat as you went back to his hand. “Uh…so you don’t still love him? Steve, I mean?”

“He was the first person I really loved, Bucky. A part of me will always love him.”

Bucky fingers twitched in your hold, the fingers on his other hand tapping against his thigh. “You know…he loved you too.”

You sighed, closing your eyes. “Don’t do that.”

“It’s true-”

“He left, James. If he loved me, why would he leave?”

You could feel his hesitation as his next words left his lips. “I-I dunno.” That was a lie. You could hear it in his voice. If there was one person Steve trusted more than you, it was Bucky. Of course he knew.

“Listen, I really don’t want to talk about this-”

“It’s in the notebook.” You bit your lip as Bucky shifted, pulling out the little notebook from his pocket. “He made lists - he liked lists. He made lists of things you said that made him laugh. Songs that reminded him of you. Little quirks you do that he noticed over the years. He missed you every time you went on a mission and prayed you’d get back safely.”

“James, please-”

“He didn’t want me to let you know. But I had to tell you. You have to know. He loved you.”

You let out a shaky breath as he placed the book on your thigh. You stared at it for a moment, before grabbing it and placing it in his left hand, closing his fingers around it and standing up. “I think…I’m gonna go rest for a bit in the back room. Holler if you need me.”

You didn’t wait for a response, moving quickly to the small back room of the plane which you got dressed in only a couple days ago. It only had one arm chair and instead of a door there was a curtain, but you were fine with that, plopping down in the chair and reclining.

Why? Why would he bring that up? Did he hear more than he said? Was he trying to let you down easy before you could even tell him how you felt? Did he get spooked after dancing? After the almost-kiss?

You never thought of Steve in the wrong. After all he’d done for the world in his life, he deserved to be selfish - to be happy. And Peggy gave him that. But why? Why would he leave if he loved you so dearly? If he really did what Bucky said? He wouldn’t. He’s not cruel. He wouldn’t up and leave, without even saying goodbye, knowing how deeply you loved him and feeling the same about you. This was Steven Grant Rogers for crying out loud! He wouldn’t…right?

But Bucky…he wouldn’t lie to you. He wouldn’t tell you that, especially knowing how much you missed the lovable blonde. And you knew his words held at least some truth. Actions spoke louder than words, and as something Bucky said repeated itself in your mind, you started slipping into a memory, your eyes shutting and your breaths evening out.

“He missed you every time you went on a mission and prayed you’d get back safely.”

The incessant knocking made you groan, shouting that you were coming and mumbling curses. You barely threw open the door before his worried voice hit your ears. “Are you okay? Were you hurt?”

“Stevie.” You sighed, rubbing your eyes and looking over at the clock on the wall. “Bubs…it’s two in the morning. I just got back, like, an hour ago.”

He shuffled, pink lips in a pout, eyes round and distressed. “I know, honey. I know. I’m sorry. But I heard you got hurt-”

You shook your head, a small giggle of amusement leaving your lips and you lifted your right hand, letting him see the black split holding your ring and pinky fingers. “I jammed my fingers in a door. The doc said I’ll be fully healed in a month at most.”

His eyes darted across your face and down your body, scanning for any more injuries. After glancing at your hands again, they finally landed on your eyes once more. Next thing you knew, you were being held against his chest, his face in the crook of your neck. You hummed softly, running your fingers down his spine, moving the two of you deeper into your apartment so you could shut the door.

“Don’t ever do that again. I gotta have faith in something and if you come home hurt, it’ll be crushed.”

Your eyebrows knit together. At his strange wording. “What’s that mean?”

“It means you have to promise me you’ll stay safe, honey.” He pulled back and held your face between his hands. “Please.”

“I can promise I’ll try my best.” You teased lightly, smiling at him and booping his nose, making him grin, although it was strained. “Why don’t you stay here tonight? We’ll turn on some TV in my room and you can keep me safe while I get much needed sleep.”

That made his grin relax into a real one, his head nodding in agreement. “Sounds perfect.”

“C’mon, bubs.” You took his hand, leading him to your room. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and you’ll catch some zzzz’s too.”

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

“What the hell was that?”

Bucky turned to Sam, who was gaping at him in utter disbelief, looking from the assassin to the doorway Y/N just walked through. “She needed to know.”

“Buck, she’s been dealing with some shit. And we both know something’s going on that she isn’t telling us. Her “zoning out” isn’t just zoning out, and we know that. She doesn’t need you confusing her even more.”

“Confusing her?”

Sam blinked, his troubled expression falling into a deadpan. “Are you fucking with me? No. There’s no way you’re that naive. Seriously?! Man, c’mon!”

Bucky scrunched up his face. “What?”

“She likes you, man! Everyone knows it!”

The brunette shook his head, forehead creased. “No. No, you heard her, Sam. She’s in love with Steve.”

“Was in love. As in past tense.”

“But-but she said- she likes someone else-”

“Barnes!” Sam threw his hands up, exasperated. “You are someone else!”

“I thought you two were already-”

Bucky pointed warningly at Zemo. “Watch it. Wait, wait-” He turned back to Sam. “But I heard her-”

“Bucky…man…” Sam sighed, shaking his head. “Listen, I can’t tell you everything. I’m not about to break my girl’s trust like that. But you gotta hear me when I tell you she likes you. What do you think almost happened at the party?”

“She - I - it was…an accident?”

Sam spluttered, eyes wide. “An accident? You two grinding and nearly making out was an accident?!”

“Woah! We were not…grinding-”

Zemo hummed. “Hmm…you kind of were.”

Bucky glared at him. “Thin. Fucking. Ice.” He whipped back to Sam. “I just remind her of him.”

“What?! That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! You remind her of Steve? Yes, granted your both dumbasses, but she knows both of you enough to know there’s quite a few big differences.”

“Wilson-”

Sam held up his hand, shutting Bucky up. “You like her. Yes or no.”

Bucky huffed, looking down at the hand she was holding only minutes ago. “Yes.” He finally relented. “Since the first couple months in Wakanda.”

“Steve liked her. Yes or no.”

He ran a hand through his hair, nodding his head. “Yes. Yes he liked her. I wasn’t lying about that.”

“So explain something to me.” Sam crossed his arms. “Why is it that Steve isn’t here, and you are?”

Bucky crossed his arms, brooding - although he’d never admit it - while staring out the window. “Steve…knew. I liked her. And, yes, he loved her, but he also loved Peggy. So he…”

“He told you to take your chance with Y/N, and he went back to be with his first love.”

HYDRA’s former fist nodded with a sigh. “Something like that.”

“You need to tell her.”

“I can’t.”

Sam groaned. “Why not?!”

“Because!” Bucky took a breath, trying not to shout and alert the sleeping girl in the room over, his ears tuning into her slowed heartbeat to make sure she was okay. “Because Steve has her heart, Sam. The whole thing just…I’m jealous of him. Because he got her first. And then I get mad because he didn’t do shit about it. And then I feel guilty because all the shit he put up with for me and here I am complaining…and then I just get…depressed because he’s not here. I used to be the one who fixed his problems. But after I got out…he’s been the one fixing mine. And I just…I don’t know what to do.”

Sam shook his head, rolling his eyes. “I get it. That’s valid. But stop whining and moping around about it. It happened. And you need to get your shit together. If not for your sake, for hers. Because she lost him too. And she’s probably feeling those exact same feelings.”

“But…she’s his girl-”

“No. She’s not. He made his choice.” Sam nodded towards Bucky. “Now you gotta make yours, Buckaroo.”

He shot him a glare. “You can’t call me that.”

“Why not? Y/N calls you that.”

“Y/N has a plan.”

“We both know that’s not true, Buckaroo. Hey! That one rhymed!”

Bucky shook his head with a scowl. “I will beat your ass, Wilson.”

Sam scoffed, shoving Bucky’s head playfully. “Stop being a dumbass and tell her. Buckaroo.”

“That’s it!”

Bucky tackled Sam to the ground, Zemo giving them an amused expression before leaving to talk to Oeznik. They were so wrapped up in their wrestling session, they didn’t notice the woman leaning against the wall, tired eyes barely opened as her eyebrows raised, unimpressed.

“Are you fellas done?’

They both stopped, shooting up when they noticed her. “Doll, I-”

She shook her head. “Don’t, Buck. Not right now. I’m just really tired.”

“Did we wake you?” Sam winced.

She shook her head again, yawning. “No. I just needed to use the restroom.”

Bucky couldn’t help the small smile as she rubbed her eyes, stretching her arms overhead, making that ripped crop top ride higher up. She was too cute. And she didn’t even realize it.

“Sleep well, doll. We’ll try to keep it down.”

She nodded, turning and waving over her shoulder. “You two try getting sleep, too, alright? Goodnight, Sammy.”

“Night, cher.”

“Sweetheart?” She peeked through the curtain, tilting her head slightly. “You know I love you, right?”

A small smile quirked up her lips, but it was sadder than the ones his question usually elicited. “As long as you know I love you.”

He nodded, returning the half-smile. “G’night, doll.”

“Goodnight, Buckaroo.”

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septembercfawkes · 3 years

Text

How Each of the 5 Major Plot Points Turn a Story

I recently had an epiphany on structure that I wanted to share. When I first realized this, it felt pretty significant (at least to me), but as more time has gone on, I've realized, in some sense, it's actually kind of obvious--I just hadn't seen it from this perspective before 😆 I'm willing to bet a lot of others haven't either, so it's definitely something I want to share. But where to start? I think I'll start with a problem I ran into: midpoints.

Midpoints happen in the middle of the story (usually around the 50% mark, give or take). It's a moment when new, significant information--or at least a shift in context--enters and turns the story in a different direction. To put more simply (or in some ways, vaguely), it's when the protagonist gets a sense of what's "really going on" in the plot.

For example, in the movie Interstellar, the midpoint happens when the characters learn that there is no Plan A--everyone on Earth is destined to die.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the midpoint happens when Harry overhears the professors in the Three Broomsticks and learns Sirius Black is the reason his parents are dead.

The midpoint moves the protagonist from reaction to action. It enables them to go on the attack--at least a more informed, aggressive attack than before.

This is what I was first taught midpoints were, and I was introduced to them in Story Engineering by Larry Brooks.

But as time went on, I ran into a different definition.

In Blake Snyder's Save the Cat!, he says that midpoints are events--a "false win" or a "false lose."

It's near the middle, and it's when the protagonist seems to win or lose what he or she wants.

For example, in Mulan, the midpoint happens when Mulan retrieves the arrow on the post, proving herself worthy of staying in the army with the men (a seeming victory).

In Stranger Things Season One, the midpoint is recovering Will's body (a seeming defeat).

So which is it? Is a midpoint new information? Or is it an event?

Personally, the more time goes on, the more I think both definitions are right. So these days, I prefer to combine them together:

The midpoint is a significant event and/or revelation that is either a seeming victory or a seeming defeat for the protagonist. It often provides a broader understanding of what's actually happening in the plot, enabling the protagonist to become more proactive in their goals.

The midpoint almost always happens right in the middle of the story.

And it pivots the story into the second half.

(Of course, this is not to say some rules can't be broken.)

Okay, now I'm going to talk about something else, and come back to this.

I've talked about the next section a few times, so if you are already familiar with it, feel free to skim the next few paragraphs.

In a well-structured story, nearly everything makes this shape--whether it's a scene, sequence, act, or whole story. And it can even fit, in smaller pieces, inside a scene. It's essentially like a nesting doll or a fractal.

The climactic moment is sometimes called a turning point because it "turns" the direction of the story.

This moment can only be one of two things (well, or both of them): a revelation, or an action.

Why? Because these are the only ways to turn a story!

This is most obvious in the overall plot level because that is what we are most familiar with. THEE climactic moment will either be a revelation or an action and often it's both.

Whatever it is, and in whatever it is (scene, sequence, act, or whole plot), that's the turning point.

I do want to add one thing: it doesn't necessarily have to be the protagonist who has the revelation or takes the action to create a turning point. It just needs to be someone significant, so that it turns the story. For example, a turning point may be the audience or an important side character having a revelation. Or it may be someone else (likely the antagonist) taking an action.

In the structure of a whole story, there are usually several major turning points:

1. The Inciting Incident (sometimes called the "Catalyst" or "Call to Adventure")

This is when something new enters the story and disrupts the established normal. The inciting incident will either be a problem or an opportunity. In The Hunger Games, Prim having her name drawn out at the reaping is the inciting incident--it's what turns the story in a new direction, leading us into the main conflict. Without that problem, the books wouldn't exist. In Harry Potter, the inciting incident is Hagrid telling Harry, "Yer a wizard" and inviting him to Hogwarts. Without that opportunity, the books wouldn't exist.

2. Plot Point 1 (sometimes called "Break into Two" or "Crossing the Threshold")

I hesitate to use the term "Plot Point 1" because I've found it to be rather ambiguous, as some people consider it to be (or at least include) the inciting incident, while others consider it to be the moment the protagonist chooses to move forward irrevocably, to address the new problem or opportunity. This is usually a transitional segment that takes us from the beginning of the story to the middle of the story. (Today, this is what I mean by "Plot Point 1.")

In Interstellar, this is when Cooper blasts off into space. That can't be undone, and it takes us into the main conflict of the story, the middle.

In Mulan, Mulan cuts her hair, takes the armor and horse, and goes to the camp in her father's place. Once she arrives as "Ping," her decision can't be undone (at least not without big ramifications, such as dishonoring her whole family). This takes us to the main conflict, the middle of the story.

The inciting incident and Plot Point 1 put the protagonist into a reactionary state. They are reacting to new obstacles.

3. Midpoint

I already talked a lot about midpoints, but just to keep things even, I'll repeat.

The midpoint almost always happens right in the middle of the story.

And it pivots the story into the second half.

You can see examples above.

4. Plot Point 2

At the end of the middle, a few things usually happen:

The protagonist faces the antagonistic force and experiences a defeat. This leads to what's called an "all is lost" moment--where it feels like (as you probably guessed) everything is lost, like there is no way the protagonist can succeed.

Soon after this, though, the protagonist gains something empowering that allows them to move forward toward the climax.

Some writers call the "all is lost" moment Plot Point 2, while others call the moment of empowerment Plot Point 2. What matters is that you understand that these things happen. This can get a little more complicated (for example, instead of experiencing a defeat, the protagonist may get what he wants and experience a hollow victory), but I'm gonna stop here for today.

Like Plot Point 1, this is a transitional segment that turns the story toward the climax--it moves us from the middle of the story to the end of the story.

In Mulan, Mulan is discovered to be a woman and dishonored. She thinks of going home, when she learns that the Huns are still alive. This propels her to the climax.

In Spider-verse, Miles watches his uncle die and gets tied up. After his dad visits, he gains a clear understanding of perseverance and faith, busts free, and heads to the climax.

5. Climax

The climax is the biggest, most pivotal turning point. It will either hinge on a revelation or an action and often it's both.

It might be a revelation that leads to an action. Or it might be an action that leads to a revelation.

For example, the protagonist may have an epiphany (a revelation, and often a thematic one) that informs him how to defeat the antagonist, so the protagonist takes that action. Alternatively, the protagonist takes an action to defeat the antagonist, and the result leads to a realization. If the latter happens, often the revelation will be further explained after the danger has passed.

For example, in Interstellar, Cooper realizes that love is indeed part of a higher dimension, and through it, he can communicate to his daughter Murph. He then takes the required action to reach her across spacetime and save the human race (and therefore defeat the antagonistic force).

In Harry Potter, Harry takes action against Quirrel. This leads to a revelation: Quirrel can't touch him. Later, Dumbledore explains Lily's sacrifice left Harry a magical protection: love.

(Love doesn't have to be the realization, of course, I just happened to pick two examples that share that in common 😆)

Now, this is all generally speaking, and it will be different if you are working with negative character arcs, but talking about all the variations is beyond the scope of this article, today.

Let's start tying these topics together:

So, generally, there have been two different definitions of the midpoint. Significant information. Or significant event.

Well:

Information = Revelation

Event = Action

Revelation is just another word for "new information," while "event" is just another word for action. Right?

Guess what? The midpoint and the climax are similar in this way. They turn on revelation or action or even both.

What about the other major turning points?

Every story structure I've looked at, emphasizes that at Plot Point 1 (or "Crossing the Threshold" or "Break into Two"), the protagonist chooses to move forward--that means taking action. The protagonist doesn't just want to move forward, he has to do something. So Plot Point 1 turns on action.

Let's look at Plot Point 2. After the "all is lost" lull, the protagonist almost always learns ("gains") something. This may be plot-focused--such as Mulan learning the Huns are still alive. Or it may be thematic, such as Miles Morales now understanding and embracing perseverance and faith. But it's essentially new information, a new understanding. So Plot Point 2 turns on revelation.

Okay, I know what some of you are thinking. You're thinking of stories that maybe don't fit this. You are thinking of stories where Plot Point 1 hinges on revelation and Plot Point 2 hinges on action. Like many writing subjects, this can become a chicken vs. egg conundrum. After all, when we act, we learn new things. And when we learn new things, we act.

A protagonist may learn something new that leads him to take action for Plot Point 1.

And the "all is lost" moment usually follows a big event (read: action), so we may have an action that comes before the revelation of Plot Point 2.

It's also not impossible to have two actions in a row, or two revelations in a row.

But Plot Point 1 and Plot Point 2 are transitional segments. They turn us to the middle and to the end, respectively. And that turn is usually an action and a revelation, respectively.

Of course, I'm not going to go as far as saying that no stories exist that break these rules. But most stories turn in these ways.

It's also worth noting that sometimes you have moments that blur the lines a little--for example, a character may take a big action that reveals something significant simultaneously.

Recall how earlier I said not all turning points are focused on the protagonist. For example, a turning point in a scene, may be an antagonist taking an action. A revelation may be a side character learning something. In a well-structured story, there will be lots of turning points of action and revelation. And of course, you can slice and dice stories in different ways (which is why learning structure can be so confusing sometimes).

But when it comes to these four major turning points, they usually focus on the protagonist.

At Plot Point 1, the protagonist takes a forward action.

At the midpoint, the protagonist takes a significant action or learns something significant.

At Plot Point 2, the protagonist gains valuable information.

At the climax, the protagonist has a realization and/or takes an action that thwarts the antagonistic force.

Now we have the inciting incident. The inciting incident is a little different than the other major turning points because it's what kicks off the story. It's the first turn that starts the story--it's disrupting an established normal, not changing up the main conflict.

Unlike the other four major turning points, the inciting incident sort of . . . How do I want to say this? It sort of comes from outside the protagonist more? In the other major turning points, it's the protagonist who is acting and gaining information on the journey.

The inciting incident hinges more on an outside source. I mean, it has to, because it disrupts the protagonist's life. The protagonist hasn't hit the main conflict yet.

For example, Effie in The Hunger Games and Gandalf in The Hobbit, are the ones bringing the inciting incidents to Katniss and Bilbo, respectively. In Legally Blonde, Warner is the one breaking up with Elle.

This isn't a perfect concept, but it is a generality. Perhaps the idea I'm trying to convey is that the inciting incident is something that happens to the protagonist. (Usually, there are exceptions.)

Notice that the inciting incident can also hinge on an action or a revelation.

Peter Parker getting bit by a radioactive spider is an action. It's the spider's action--an outsider's action--against Peter.

Harry being told he's a wizard from Hagrid is a revelation. It's information that Harry didn't even know to consider--completely unexpected.

So let's map out the five major turns:

Inciting Incident: Disrupting Action or Revelation

Plot Point 1: Primarily Turns on Action

Midpoint: Turns on Action and/or Revelation

Plot Point 2: Primarily Turns on Revelation

Climax: Turns on Action and/or Revelation

Now you will have a clearer understanding of how to handle the five major turning points in your own stories.

And should you have a protagonist who does not want to take action at Plot Point 1, as is sometimes the case--well, I have something to help with that.

That pretty much sums up my epiphany . . . or should I say, revelation? 😉

#writing tips #writing tips and tricks #writing reference #turning points #plot turns #writeblr #story structure

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ah-ga-seven · 3 years

Text

Till The End of Summer - Chapter 15 (Bonus: The End)

>> series masterlist <<

Pairing: Choi Yeonjun x Reader

In a Nutshell: College!AU, Rich Kids, Friends to Lovers, Fuckboy athlete Yeonjun, Overprotective Best friend Soobin, contains all of TXT and other Idol cameos, Omnipresent perspective.

Genre: Fluff, Angst.

Synopsis: You and Yeonjun are caught up in a cat and mouse game because of unspoken feelings and endless pining for each others’ attention. With the summer break approaching and lots of college parties, will you finally get a chance to explore your feelings for each other; even though the world, Yeonjun’s family, past and reputation makes things complicated?

Word count: 7K

Genre: Fluff, Angst

Warnings: None??

Yeonjun was following you around the house like a lost puppy as you were running around like a crazy person, gathering stuff you needed while you were half-dressed and half ready to leave the house.

“Baby, slow down,” he says as he zipped up your dress from the back while you were putting on your heels.

“No, we’re gonna be late for our best friends' wedding. Ugh, I knew we shouldn’t have showered together, that always ends with dickstractions.”

Yeonjun stopped in his tracks, unable to suppress his laughter. “Did you just say dickstrations?”

You turn around on your heels, a little startled at how close he was. You hadn’t looked at him since he changed into his suit and suddenly you feel your mouth grow dry at the sight.

He noticed how you were gawking at him and grinned, holding you by your waist. “Like what you see?” he asks all seductively, running his hands through his roughly slicked-back black locks. He looked ravishing, even better than the runway models of his own fashion shows.

You nod, biting your lip as he inches closer for a kiss, but you stop him as realization hits you. “Babe no, my make-up.”

He rolled his eyes, letting go of you so you could finish getting ready, and sat down on your king-sized bed, watching you put on the diamond choker necklace he got you for Christmas last year.

“I can’t believe they’re getting married,” he mumbles as he stares into distance.

“That’s usually what happens when you get engaged, babe.”

Your tone was a little bitchier than you intended, but after 5 years of being together while all of your friends were getting married left and right, you had no idea why you hadn’t been proposed to yet.

The thing is, between Yeonjun starting his own luxury fashion brand and your demanding job at a scientific research facility, you haven’t had the time to even think about having a wedding of your own, but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t want one.

Yeonjun looked at you a little puzzled and just as he was going to open his mouth to speak, his phone started to ring.

You looked at him through the mirror as you put your diamond earrings on and by the frown that had taken over his features you knew it had to be work.

He picked up with a sigh. “I thought I told you not to call me today unless it was an emergency, so this better be good.”

Yeonjun as a businessman was a full 360 from who he was at home or with his friends. It’s not like he was an asshole but…the reason why his brand got to showcase its creations next to majors like Balenciaga and Céline so quickly wasn’t because of his soft side.

You make eye contact and you raise your brow in question, but he just silently mouthed that it was work as he opened your bedroom door.

He walked out, not wanting you to hear him rant to his employees about some fuck up on their side.

You quietly put your lipstick in your clutch as you hear him close his office door behind him. Well shit. It must be bad if he doesn't want you to hear.

You hoped that whatever it was wouldn’t spoil the mood.

You fix a piece of Yeonjun’s hair as he’s driving and pout. He was stressed and nervous, you could tell by the way he was biting the inside of his cheek. he was Soobin’s best man, and you were Mia’s maid of honor; so, you were heading there earlier to welcome the guests and help them wherever you could.

“Are you nervous baby?” you ask as you intertwine your fingers with his.

He sighs, raising your intertwined hand to his plump lips to give the back of your hand a sweet kiss before putting both of your hands in his lap. “I have so many responsibilities tonight, I thought weddings were supposed to be fun,” he mumbles, anxiety evident in his voice.

Yeonjun is a perfectionist, so everything had to go perfect today. And given the fact that he had quite the role to uphold tonight, if anything were to be less than perfect, he’d be to blame.

At least that’s how he sees it.

After all these years Yeonjun is still hard on himself, but since it comes from a place of love for Soobin and Mia his perfectionism is even worse.

“It’ll be funnnn” you drag your words as you shake his shoulder to get him to lighten up and it seemed to work as he displayed his pearly whites to you in a boyish smile.

When you arrive at the venue, you’re in complete awe of how beautifully the place was decorated.

White flower walls and branches were set up throughout the place, they had starlight projectors, big round tables for their guests and the stage was beautifully decorated with polaroid pictures of them and their loved ones.

It was breathtaking and absolutely adorable. From the details of the engraved silverware to all the guests' names on their respective champagne glasses, they literally thought of everything.

You excitedly look around as you hold on to Yeonjun's arm as you drag him around the empty venue. “Oh my god, and this! They’re polaroids from our college days look!” you point at one of the pictures on the flower wall in front of you and Yeonjun leans forward to look at the group picture of the boys, Mia and yourself.

“This was at my welcome home party, look. I’m knocked out on your lap.” You giggle excitedly and start looking at the other pictures with childlike enthusiasm and suddenly Yeonjun finds himself simping over how cute you are right now.

He looked around him and noticed how a few staff members were fixing some flower arrangements or plates without minding the two of you, which gave him the perfect reason to be clingy.

“You look so beautiful,” he says as he snakes his arms around your waist from behind, leaning his head on your shoulder.

You’re surprised by his sudden display of affection and try to turn around but he holds you in place as he softly kisses your neck.

“Yeonjun, stop. I swear if you leave a hickey, I’ll kill you. Both of our parents are coming.”

He smiles against your skin. “We’re adults.”

“No, I’m the adult, you’re a man child” you argue with a smile and he let out an amused chuckle, reluctantly letting go of you.

“Fine. Just wait till we get home.” He threatens as he casually smacks your ass.

Your moment was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat and when you turn around you are met with Soobin’s tall and handsome form.

He was wearing the white suit Yeonjun designed for him, his hair was slicked back and he had the prettiest smile on his face as he laid eyes on both of you.

“Soobin!” you yell as you launch forward to hug him. He stumbled a step back and chuckled as you hold him at an arm's length. “Wow, you clean up nicely. You look great! So handsome.” You compliment him with a wink and he smiles at you all giddily. “Thank you, you don't look so bad yourself.”

“Ok, enough doting on each other,” Yeonjun says rolling his eyes as he pulls you back so you’d stand next to him again. The action made both Soobin and yourself burst out into laughter.

“What are you jealous of, I’m literally getting married.’ Soobin boasts all confidently as he wraps an arm around Yeonjun. “I’m jealous that no one’s complimenting me.” Yeonjun pouts and your eyes nearly roll out of your skull as you hear Soobin trying to heal Yeonjun’s ego with compliments.

You softly knock on the door before you peek your head through and make eye contact with Mia through the full body mirror she was facing. Her parents were next to her as well as her brother and her make-up artist.

You both look at each other with shocked facial expressions and when you lock eyes with her, you immediately start to tear up.

She looked beautiful. The strapless lace mermaid gown she was wearing was absolutely show-stopping. Her hair was down, long and wavy, and her make-up was also flawless. You had never seen her like this, and suddenly it hit you that two of your best friends were getting married to each other.

“Mia…” your voice was almost inaudible and when she turned around to see the tears in your eyes, she started to choke up as well.

“Shit, no. Don’t make me cry, my face will melt,” she says as she starts waving her hands to fan herself and the two of you start to giggle as you move closer to embrace her carefully without ruining her attire.

You greet her family before they left to give you a moment alone and turn to her again once they left.

“How does Soobin look?” she asks all excitedly. They hadn’t seen each other today and looking at Mia you were sure that Soobin would start crying once he saw her. “Almost as pretty as you do,” you joke as you walk to the small window of her dressing room that had a view of the main entrance.

“Are you nervous?”

The place was already getting packed with friends and family, and you spotted the table you’d be seated at, seeing that the boys and their partners were already there.

“Nah, well maybe a little. I’m sure the nerves will go away once I look in his eyes.”

You pout at her cute statement and look at the clock. “Half an hour till showtime.”

“Oh, shit. Well, I have to get going. I’m taking some pictures with my family before the ceremony, I’ll see you in a bit!”

You nod at her with a smile as she rushes out of her dressing room and make your way down the stairs. You were scanning the halls for Yeonjun but couldn’t find him or the boys when you swore you just saw them.

Your parents would arrive any minute now too, so your mind was in overdrive trying to find any familiar face at this point. You decide to just make your way to your table but halfway there you felt a slight tug on your wrist.

“Y/n? Is that you?”

You turn around a little bewildered because you were so focused on finding either Yeonjun, your friends, or your parents but when you see the man in front of you, you almost want to disappear.

It’s your fucking ex-boyfriend. Of course, he’d be here, he’s Soobin’s cousin.

You try not to look too startled but when he goes in for the hug you can’t hide your shock at seeing him again after all this time. “Minjae?”

“The one and only.”

Ew. He’s still smug. What did you even see in him?

You look around quickly to find an excuse to leave but everyone was still missing from your assigned table.

“Can I just say, you look gorgeous. Red is your color,” he states while biting his lip as he looks you up and down. The action made you awkwardly scratch your neck in response. “Uhm, thanks.”

“Why are you alone?” he asks as he bit his lip, unapologetically looking you up and down.

“Oh, I can’t find my boyfriend, I think he went to prepare something with his friends.” You made sure to mention that you were seeing someone and that that particular someone was here with you right now, but Minjae didn’t seem to be fazed by the information

Your relationship ended on bad terms since he cheated and you. You left for college right after your breakup so you never really got closure, of course, you had to run into him here. Just your fucking luck.

“Hmm, is he in his right mind leaving a pretty girl like you all by herself out here?” he asks with a smirk while you try your best not to gag.

If you could tell him off, you would. But the last thing you wanted was to cause a scene at your best friends’ wedding.

“Uhm, I think I’m gonna go find him.” You try to escape but Minjae follows your figure and stops you from walking away by standing in front of you again.

“Wow wow, not so fast sweetheart, let’s catch up.” He caresses your upper arm and you flinch at the contact, subtly avoiding his touch.

“I know we didn’t end things on great terms but I’m a changed man, I swear,” he says as he takes a step closer. He was trying to intimidate you and clearly wasn’t fazed by the fact that people were passing by the two of you left and right as it started to get busier and busier while you only got more and more uncomfortable by his presence.

“Yeah…that’s nice Minjae but I-”

“and I mean, how serious could that relationship of yours be? I don’t see a ring on your finger.” He interrupts you, wiggling his fingers around to show that he wasn’t wearing one either.

You’re at a loss for words and just about had it. The audacity?

Soobin always hated Minjae, and now you are starting to understand why.

“Do you see the man on her arm?” Yeonjun’s voice was crystal clear.

He showed up out of nowhere, grabbing your hand to snake around his arm as he nonchalantly put his hand in his pocket while he looked Minjae dead in the eye with a stoic expression.

You cling onto him, relieved that he showed up. He checked on you quickly but when he saw the distress in your enlarged pupils his jaw clenched.

“Was he bothering you?”

Yeonjun didn’t give a shit. People were starting to look your way, including Soobin and his parents.

“I-”

“Oh, wait. You’re Choi Yeonjun, right? That designer.” Once again you are cut off by Minjae, and Yeonjun wasn’t having it, rolling his eyes as annoyance got the best of him.

“Yes. I’m surprised you know of my brand. Looking at your H&M suit I wouldn’t guess you could afford it.” Yeonjun says with a smug grin and all you can do is snort at his comment.

Minjae stiffened, not expecting Yeonjun to come for his throat like that but he tried to act nonchalantly; laughing it away.

“I-it’s Zara.” Minjae tries, but Yeonjun licked his lip as he looked down with a smirk. He pulled you into him and placed a kiss on top of your head. “Let’s get going baby. Soobin needs us to be ready.”

Yeonjun placed his hand on the small of your back to guide you to where Soobin was standing and you finally start to breathe normally again.

“Who the fuck was that?” Yeonjun asks visibly annoyed.

“Choi Minjae. I used to date him in high school,” You explain in a hushed tone as you make your way through the venue.

“Choi as in Soobin?” he asks wide-eyed

“Yes, they’re cousins.”

Yeonjun stayed quiet but you knew this would be a topic of discussion later on.

He wiped the annoyed scowl off his face as he approached Soobin and replaced it with a smile.

“What was that about?” Soobin asks as he turns to the two of you.

“Just Minjae being a dick. What else is new,” You sigh, making Soobin clench his jaw as he eyes Minjae who had by now sat down next to Soobin’s aunt and uncle at their assigned seats.

“It’s ok, Yeonjun told him off he won’t try it again. What’s a wedding without a little family drama am I right?” you try to calm Soobin’s protective side down a little, but even after all these years, nothing has changed in that aspect.

“He’s the ex that cheated on you right?” Yeonjun asked and you nod, giving him a look. “Let’s just let it go ok, the ceremony is about to start.”

Your attention is shifted to Hueningkai, who hugged Soobin from the back, making Soobin jump at the sudden attack. “Hiiii” he cooed as he rubbed his belly.

Soobin and Yeonjun start beaming at him and you watch them have their moment until he turns to you for a hug. “Hi babyface,” you tease, making Hueningkai cringe.

“Stop calling me that, I’m 25,” he complains, but he secretly loves it and before you knew it you were joined by Beomgyu and Taehyun.

It wasn’t long before the ceremony would start. Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Hueningkai stood on Soobin’s side of the altar, and you stood on Mia’s side with Ryujin and some of Mia’s childhood friends and cousins.

As both yourself and Yeonjun were appointed as maid of honor and best man, you stood in the front. Yeonjun stood with his head held high, eyeing you and giving you a mischievous wink as you made eye contact. You winked back with a smile which made him chuckle and look down to control his facial expressions.

When you look out on the crowd you make eye contact with your dad who was shaking his head with amusement at how childish the two of you were being and suddenly embarrassment flushes over you, especially when you saw that Yeonjun’s mother had the exact same expression on her face as she was seated next to your parents. A sight you could never get used to.

The music started to play, all of the guests stood up simultaneously and the large white double doors at the entrance opened to show Mia holding on to her fathers’ arm. People started to cheer including yourself and the boys, and without much time Soobin was already choking up and biting his lip to suppress tears.

Yeonjun looked at Soobin with glistening eyes, patting his shoulder to show comfort as Mia approached.

It was beautiful. All of it. From their vows to their first kiss as husband and wife, it was like a scene out of a movie. The pure happiness you felt for your friends was almost overwhelming and after congratulating the newlywed couple and dinner with soppy speeches by the boys, yourself and their parents it was finally time to party.

You helped Mia change into something more comfortable in her dressing room and sighed as you looked at her. “How does it feel to be married?” you ask with a smirk, which Mia reciprocated. “Not much is different, other than the fact that I can call him my husband.”

“Must be nice, I’m in my late twenties and still call Yeonjun my boyfriend. It’s getting weird. The questions of people around me are even worse.”

“Like what?”

“Why aren’t you married, don’t you wanna settle down? Are the two of you in an open relationship, are you sure he’s not cheating on you? The list goes on.”

Mia’s face contorted from confusion to disgust. “Who the fuck says that.”

“My co-workers.” You huff. “But enough about me, I’m sorry. This is your day.” You try to laugh it off, but Mia is a literal psychologist, so she wouldn’t just let this go.

“Hmm, no. The dance floor can wait,” she says as she sat down on the couch, patting the empty spot beside her to tell you to sit down.

You try to protest but she grabs your wrist and pulls you down with her, making you look her in the eye.

“Have the two of you talked about marriage?”

“Yes and No.”

“Does he know you wanna get married?”

“Yes.”

“Ok, then…why hasn’t he asked.”

“Girl, you tell me.” You sigh. “Do you think he’s having second thoughts? With his brand and the people he’s around, they're a different caliber of gorgeous.”

“Y/n.” Mia scoffs. “Yeonjun would die without you, and you know he isn’t that shallow. He loves you more than anything. He still looks at you the way he looked at you in college. Just talk to him…”

“And say what? Hey dude, why haven’t you proposed to me yet?”

“…yeah.” She shrugged, not getting why you wouldn’t just talk to him about it but you honestly didn’t know how to bring up the conversation. If you both talked about it and he proposed somewhere in the future, it’d mean that he did it because you wanted him to and not because he wanted to.

“I can’t do that; my pride is in the way.” You explain giving her the short answer to your thoughts.

“I can talk to him.”

“No Mia, please. No.”

“Ah, come on. I won’t make it obvious; you know me.”

Mia plopped herself down on the seat next to Yeonjun.

“So, when are you two getting married?” she says without a filter, making you choke on your drink. You had fire spewing from your pupils as you look at her, mouthing a ‘bitch what the fuck’ to her which she just shrugged off, turning her attention to Yeonjun.

“Uhm…” Yeonjun chugged his champagne in one shot and bit the inside of his cheek.

Shit.. he only does that when he’s nervous about something.

“I mean, we haven’t really had the time. Our jobs are too demanding right now.” He explains with a soft smile, hoping that Mia would leave him alone about it, but he knew better.

You awkwardly shift in your seat and wanted to avert the conversation, but the other boys were already busting it down on the dance floor with Soobin, meaning the three of you were alone.

Yeonjun looked at you and noticed that you weren’t looking at him or Mia and sighed.

“I don’t know, the whole concept of marriage is kinda outdated right? I mean no offense of course. You just got married.” He gave Mia one of his hypnotizing smiles but if you heard that right then that was the confirmation you needed. He got up, kissing the top of your head. “You coming to dance with me?” he asked innocently but you just shook your head.

He isn’t planning on proposing to you. Not now, not ever.

“I’m sitting this one out.”

Yeonjun nodded understandably and walked towards his friends, making a dumbfounded Mia look at you with concern.

“….He…thinks it’s lame?” Mia says confused as ever.

“I don’t know Mia, I’ll just let it go for now.”

“No, listen to me y/n. If this is what you want for your future, then you have to let him know. Otherwise, he’ll never get it. You don’t want to have to explain to your kids why daddy never married mommy.”

You sigh loudly, slouching in your seat while rubbing your forehead. “Wait,” Mia says. “He does want to have kids, right?”

“Yes, he does.”

“Ok…at least you have that in common.” She tries to joke to lighten the mood but you glared at her.

“Mia…”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I know it’s not funny.” She shrugged, holding out her hand. “Wanna go dance?”

“No, I’m gonna look for my parents and Yeonjun’s mom.” You say looking around to find them.

Mia pouted at your rejection but she understood that you weren’t in the mood right now. “I expect at least one dance with my best friend, ok?” she pouted at you and you give her a weak-hearted smile.

“Ok, I promise. But later, ok?”

She nods and you both get up as you part ways.

Yeonjun kept an eye on you and frowned when Mia approached without you.

“Where is she going?” he asked as he looked at Mia. “To say hi to her parents and your mom.”

Soobin wrapped an arm around Mia’s waist and pulled her into him with a twirl. “There’s my lovely wife,” he says as he pecks her lips.

“Oh, Jesus.” Taehyun says shaking his head. “We’ve entered a new era.”

“Let them be, they just got married.” Beomgyu chuckled as he swayed to the beat with Ryujin’s arms wrapped around his neck.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of calling you, my husband.” Mia says with a laugh as she threw her head back in laughter as Soobin attacked her with kisses, and suddenly the puzzle pieces fell into place for Yeonjun at the sight.

The realization took over his features and he was immediately alarmed.

“I’m gonna go find y/n.” he says without looking back at his friends before he storms off to find you.

“What do we do now?” Hueningkai asks in confusion.

“What was planned,” Mia says shrugging her shoulders.

Yeonjun arrived at the table both of your parents were seated at, but you were nowhere to be found.

“Hey dad, have you seen y/n?” Yeonjun asks putting a hand on your father’s shoulder.

Your dad looked up at him with a smile and shrugged. “Haven’t seen her kid.”

“She went that way.” Yeonjun’s mother says pointing to the main entrance.

Yeonjun nodded and wanted to bolt off into your direction but your mother stopped him. “Everything ok?”

“Y-yeah, I just need to tell her something,” he says as he rushed off.

The three of them follow Yeonjun with their eyes in confusion while his mother lets out an exasperated sigh.

“I hope it’s not serious.” Your dad says raising an eyebrow.

“Knowing my son, it’s serious.” She states as she downs her champagne, grabbing another one of the waiters’ tray swiftly as they passed by.

Yeonjun made his way outside of the venue. The sun had set and it was chilly out; making him worry even more because if you were out here, you’d probably be freezing.

He walked around the perimeter of the venue and stopped in his tracks when he saw you sitting alone on the steps, looking out on the lake with a wine glass in your hand.

He sighed as he watched you take a sip while you were lost in deep thought and took off the blazer to his suit as he approached you.

He draped it over your shoulders, startling you in the process but when you look up at him you instantly relax.

He sat down next to you with a low groan, taking the wine glass from your hold while taking a sip.

“That’s mine.” You try to sound playful but your tone of voice sounded rather sad, making him sigh while putting the wine glass down next to him.

“Why didn’t you tell me you want to get married?” He asks as he stares into what seems like your soul. It made you feel incredibly vulnerable and small.

“What did Mia say to you?”

“Nothing. It clicked to me when you walked off and then she called Soobin her husband and it just…”

He cut himself off as you avoided eye contact and closed his mouth with a slight pout.

“Baby…tell me.”

“Nothing I say will make sense to you,” you say with a bitter smile as you stare at the fountain in the middle of the lake. Your eyes fixated on the lights that changed color and your vision got blurry.

“Try me.” He says as he put his hand on your thigh but you stiffened at his touch, which made him frown. Having had enough of your vagueness he laced his fingers through your hair and made you look at him.

His sweet demeanor had shifted to a sterner one. He wanted answers, even if you thought they wouldn’t make sense.

He cocked his eyebrow and licked his lips, waiting for you to speak.

“Yes, I do, but I…” you take a deep breath to collect your thoughts and start rambling.

“Of course I want to get married to you Yeonjun. It’s been five years. Incredible years at that, but as time passes, I want to be able to call you my husband. I’ll be 80 years old with grandchildren and a boyfriend, and call me old-fashioned but that’s not exactly how I pictured my life to be.”

He pursed his lips together as he listened to you attentively, furrowing his eyebrows a little to understand.

“Yeonjun. If I have to tell you that I want to get married, then you’d only propose to me because I basically told you to do so and I don’t want that. I don’t want you to do something because you feel like you have to. If the thought never crossed your mind, then…that says enough”

“Y/n…I’m sorry. I just never thought that-”

“It’s ok. I’ll get over it.” You say interrupting him.

“No. Baby, hear me out.” He made you look at him again. “You have to realize that the only example of a marriage I ever had was the one my parents were in. They hated each other. Married out of a business agreement and stayed together because a piece of paper tied them together. I don’t want that for us.”

“Yeonjun, we’re nothing like your parents ever were.”

He wasn’t helping his case with that comment. You took his hand off of your cheek and reached over for your wine glass, taking a sip once you retrieved it.

Yeonjun’s eyes were darting back and forth, trying to find the right thing to say but he knew that nothing he’d say right now would make a difference.

“I’m sorry…” Yeonjun says with sadness. He looked like a lost puppy. Truly unable to grasp why you were so upset about this, and honestly you had enough of trying to explain to him why marriage was so important to you.

Your parents were the perfect example of a successful marriage, and all you wanted was something as genuine as their love.

“Can we just talk at home? I don’t want to spoil the mood for our friends. They must be wondering where we are.”

He sighed, rubbing his forehead in agony. He watched you get up and jolted upwards in lightning speed to match your tempo.

“I don’t want to go back in there like this, we need to talk about this somehow.”

“We just did Yeonjun. I want to get married, you don’t, and last time I checked I can’t marry myself so I’m just gonna have to deal with it.”

“Y/n..”

By now you had arrived at the entrance. You downed your drink and set the empty glass down on a random tray and waltzed inside of the ballroom with big strides.

“Hey bitch, catch!” Mia yells as she throws you her bouquet.

You hadn’t even noticed how the music stopped and look at her wide-eyed. What the hell was she thinking? Wasn’t the look of thunder on your face enough of a hint that you weren’t in for her jokes right now.

You look back and Yeonjun somehow disappeared from your line of sight, making you even more confused and annoyed than you already were.

“Mia, what the hell.” You furrow your eyebrows at her and notice how suddenly all eyes were on you.

People were standing in a circle and most of the tables were set aside to create the space that you were now standing in the middle of right now.

Soobin smiled at you, he wrapped his arm around Mia’s shoulder, pulling her into him as his eyes disappeared into crescent moons. He watched your eyes widen as Tae, Gyu and Kai approached you. Tae covered your eyes as Beomgyu and Hueningkai sat you down on a random chair they brought with them.

What the fuck was going on?

- Before the wedding -

“I can’t believe they’re getting married,” he mumbles as he stares into distance.

“That’s usually what happens when you get engaged, babe.”

Yeonjun looked up at you in surprise as you were looking at him through the mirror while putting on your earrings.

Are you on to him? He dumbfoundedly stared back at you, trying to find the right words to avert your attention to a different topic but then his phone started to ring.

It was Soobin.

His eyes widened. Lying wasn’t something he was good at, but he didn’t want you to catch on.

He picked up with a sigh. “I thought I told you not to call me today unless it was an emergency, so this better be good.”

He looked at you, mouthing to you that it was a work thing as he disappeared from your shared bedroom and into his home office.

He closed the door behind him, pacing back and forth.

“Sorry, y/n was in the room,” Yeonjun says with a relieved sigh.

“Is she suspecting anything?” Soobin asks a little worried.

“No, at least I don’t think so.”

“Good. We planned this for way too long for it to be ruined. Everything is set up. She won’t know what’s coming for her.”

Yeonjun smiled, retrieving the square box from his back pocket as he opened it, staring at the 12-carat diamond ring in its case.

“I hope so.”

As Taehyun removed his hands from your line of sight a still image was projected on the wall in front of you.

You blink a couple of times to look around and see how Mia and Soobin were giddily smiling at you. You give the boys a look but they just laughed it off, motioning you to look at the monitor, and that’s when the video started playing.

It was a full timeline of your relationship with Yeonjun, videos and pictures of your college days, videos of yourself and Yeonjun decorating the house for Christmas, family dinners, important milestones; he documented all of it.

Deep down inside you knew what was about to happen but after everything that just went down, it was incredibly hard to believe.

You're entranced by what you were seeing, completely frozen and in shock to even move until the video cut to a clip of Soobin and yourself as kids, you guessed you were about 5 years old at the time.

Little Soobin and yourself were having a pretend wedding ceremony, making everyone in the room swoon and chuckle.

You still remembered this day clearly. You made Soobin dress up with you and play house but 5-year-old you came to the genius realization that in order to play house, you’d have to get married first.

Your eyes started to water at the sight, and then your dad who was behind the camera cleared his throat in the video.

“Soobin, are you going to marry y/n when you’re older?” he asks panning the camcorder around to show that both of your moms were present too.

“Ew dad, no.” you crossed your tiny arms over each other and gave Soobin a grossed out glare.

“No, probably not.” Soobin agreed too as he shrugged his shoulders.

“But when I do get married, I’ll make sure y/n gets married too.” He says with a small lisp, determination evident on his features as he pursed his lips together to show off his dimples.

Your parents started to laugh in the clip. “That’s not how it works Soobin.”

“Yes it is!” little you agreed with Soobin, linking arms with him as you stared straight into the camera.

“Let’s pinky promise.” You grinned at him, linking your tiny pinky with his. “Promise!”

The video stopped and you wiped a tear from your face as you give both Mia and Soobin a sentimental smile. Beomgyu helped you stand up and ran off to stand next to the others, who were by now joined by your parents and Yeonjun’s mother.

Both yours and Yeonjun’s favorite song started to play softly, and you turn around to see where it was coming from as Daniel Caesars' voice rang through the speakers.

‘Through drought and famine’

‘Natural disasters’

‘My baby has been around, for me.’

You were met with Yeonjun’s charming smile as he walked closer to you, taking your hands to lace his fingers with yours.

“What is all this…” you look at him with watery eyes,

“Aren’t you going to keep the promise you made to Soobin?”

He smiled at you as he let go of one hand, taking a tiny black velvet box of out his pocket as he got down on one knee.

You cover your mouth out of shock, tears welling up in your eyes once more as you give him a small nudge.

“You asshole.” You huff in tears, making everyone in the room laugh including Yeonjun. "And all of you were in on it?" you ask looking back at your friends who were nodding their heads in unison.

You chuckled through your tears, averting your attention back to Yeonjun who was still knelt down before you.

“You’re my home y/n.” he says with watery eyes. “Throughout everything, you are the one thing in my life that is unchanged. I know it was far from easy to love me for the past 5 years, but with all the craziness you have stood by me. With this ring, I want to show you that I’ll stand by you too…until death do us part” he states with a soft smile, and by now your mother has started to cry, including Yeonjun’s mother; the ice queen herself.

“Y/n.” he says taking a deep breathe. “Will you marry me?”

You sniff your tears away, scrunching your nose as you start to nod furiously.

“Yes.”

Yeonjun smiled up at you, quickly putting the ring on your finger before he got up and spun you around in his arms as people started to cheer, even Minjae was bitterly clapping his hands to congratulate you.

Yeonjun hugged you tightly as you buried your face in his chest, crying at the surreal and perfect moment. He giggled as a tear ran down his face too. Burying his nose in your hair as he held you as close as possible.

“I love you,” you manage to get out before you lean in to kiss him.

“I love you too.”

- 1 year later -

“Oooh my god Mia, you’re about to pop.” Yeonjun says with big eyes as he opens the door for Mia and Soobin to enter your home.

Yeonjun and yourself had gotten back from your month-long honeymoon a few days back and you invited everyone over for a Sunday dinner.

“Gee thanks. It’s not like I’m 8 months pregnant or anything.” She huffs as she waddles to the living room to sit down next to Taehyun and his boyfriend of two years, who had already arrived prior to them.

Yeonjun chuckled, throwing an arm around Soobin.

“How are you holding up, father to be?” he asks as he squeezed Soobin’s shoulder

“I can’t wait till the baby comes. Her hormones have been crazy lately, she made me get cheese nuggets last night at 2 am.” Soobin says as he rubs his eyes.

“Oh, y/n makes me do that without the pregnant part.”

You emerge from your kitchen at the sound of your name. “You talkin shit Choi?”

“No, I just told Soobin how much I loved you.” Yeonjun says through his teeth with a smile and all Soobin could do was laugh at the interaction.

You roll your eyes, wiping your hands on your apron as you take it off.

“Dinner will be ready in like half an hour.” You announce as you walk into the living room.

When you lay eyes on Mia you immediately run over to her, squeezing her as you rubbed her belly. “She’s gonna be the cutest baby ever.” you pout.

“Have you thought of a name yet?” Taehyun asks as he reached over to touch Mia’s baby bump as well.

“We’re still deciding,” Mia says with a smile, and at that the doorbell rang once again.

You got up to open the door and were greeted with the smiles of a by now engaged Beomgyu and Ryujin, followed by Hueningkai and his girlfriend Won-young

The night was spent enjoying the food you made, you reminisced about your college days and talked about everything from your honeymoon to brainstorming baby names for Mia and Soobin.

Time flew by when you were all together.

The group was enjoying a drink at the bar area of your kitchen and you were pouring yourself a virgin martini in full concentration mode.

Yeonjun snakes his arms around your waist from behind and kissed your temple sweetly as he came to check on you. You leaned into his touch, the both of you stared at the group of people that you call your family, smiling contently as you look up at Yeonjun to peck his lips.

“When do we tell them?” he asks as he rubbed your tummy.

You turn around to face him, giving him a nervous smile. ‘I’m worried that Mia might give birth on the spot when she hears the news.”

Yeonjun snorted at your comment, touching your stomach once again as he stared down in wonder. “I still can’t believe it,” he comments as he's lost in thought to a month ago when you told him about it.

Yeonjun was quick to serve everyone a brownie for dessert, carefully instructing them to wait before they took a bite.

You got up to stand next to him at the edge of your dinner table and had the giddiest smile on your face.

“…Brownies?” Beomgyu asks wide-eyed.

“The last time you made these I developed PTSD.” Soobin says, reminiscing back to the night where you told everyone you had bagged an exchange to Brown University.

“So, you have news again?” Taehyun asks carefully and Yeonjun just nodded with a smile, pulling out his phone to record their reactions once they broke off a piece.

“You’re not immigrating to another country or anything this time, right?” Mia asked, making you and Yeonjun chuckle at the absurd guess.

“Come on guys, open it up.” You clapped your hands excitedly and waited for them to break off a piece with their forks.

Ryujin was the first one to catch on as she discovered the blue and pink cream filling, followed by loud gasps and screams from everyone.

‘WE’RE HAVING ANOTHER BABY IN THE FAMILY!?” Hueningkai yells with big eyes, asking for confirmation as everyone looked at the two of you with anticipation.

All you could do was smile and nod and suddenly you were bombarded with hugs, kisses, and even tears from an overwhelmed Mia.

“I-I’m s-so h-happy for you!” she sniffed through her tears as she hugged both you and Yeonjun clumsily yet tightly.

Soobin approached you next with a huge grin on his face. “Our kids are going to be just like us, like all of us” He said with watery eyes, looking at Yeonjun and the rest of the boys with proudness and love emitting from his pupils.

“Together forever.”

A/N: Thank you so much for the overwhelming love and support all of you have given me throughout the series. Till the End of Summer has officially ended.

I hope you enjoyed the journey as much as I did.

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thefanficmonster · 3 years

Note

I'm so happy you like the idea! Your first three words are: Rattle, Candlelight and Corset.

Oh this is gonna be interesting 🤭

Regretting

Pairing: Chris Redfield x Female OC (taken in by the Winters family as a daughter of theirs basically)

Warnings: Swearing (No Spoilers for any games don’t worry😊)

Genre: Romance, Fluff

Enjoy the mess my brain’s produced. Love, Vy ❤

“I have several questions surrounding this bullshit event!“ Gwen shouts from inside her room where she’s been getting ready for the past hour with the Captains of the BSAA keeping a watchful eye outside her door, making sure she doesn’t get any ideas of running away.

“I have as many as you do, trust me on that one.“ He replies, readjusting his tie. He hasn’t found himself in a three-piece-suit in a long time, all’s been soldier get-ups, bulletproof wests and combat boots. Truth be told, it’s not that he doesn’t want to dress nicely, he’s just rarely had any occasions worth dressing up for. Lord knows he’d be at home in this very moment, seated on the couch with a cold beer bottle in his hand. So to make the truth truer - he actively avoids places and events that would require him dressing up. It’s simply a hassle in and of itself, but dealing with the people at the even - that’s what he’s most bothered by.

“You cannot expect me to believe that’s the truth!“ Gwen shouts again, the sound of shuffling accompanying her voice.

“Leon said it was important, Jill backed him up and you know I rarely get a say when the two of them partner up to support one another.“ Chris says, sighing while reaching for a cigarette before withdrawing his hand, remembering he didn’t take his pack with him on purpose. Claire says he needs to break the habit little by little so, in order to give her peace of mind, he does try whenever she’s looking. However, when she turns away, he’s quick to light a cig, almost as quick as a dying man getting connected to life support.

“You, Leon and I have very different definitions of the word ‘important’.“ She sasses back, her voice now being the only sound coming from the room which is a sign Chris cannot decide the meaning of - is she almost done? Is she starting over with everything? Either way, he doesn’t mind. Running late to the gala the mayor’s throwing is not particularly bothering him, he actually prefers it.

What’s been bothering him is the fact that he’s found himself impatient of something else. Impatient of seeing her - not that he’d ever admit it. Him and Gwen have been friends for quite some time. Well, they did get off on the wrong foot, but were quick to arrange a relationship alike a friendship and function without wanting to gauge each other’s eyes out. Somewhere along the lines they became actual friends without even noticing.

Gwen Winters had every right to be suspicious of Captain Chris Redfield. Not that she was always wary of him or anything - seeing as how him and her ‘parents’ are friends, she never thought twice about the guy. However, when she expressed interest in joining the BSAA and earned herself a scoff from him, she was rather pissed. Being the main chemistry project of an asshole with a saving-the-world complex back in Raccoon City, it’s safe to say she got some above average strength to her name. And that’s putting it mildly. Being rescued from that lab by Leon and getting taken in by the Winters family, she’s developed her own hero complex, the need to save those who can’t save themselves always dwelling within her.

And so, despite the amusement Chris showed when she brought up the idea, she became a BSAA soldier.

“I think we established that on your very first mission, soldier.“ Chris chuckles, recalling that first mission he was so opposed to, mostly because Gwen was tagging along at her request and the allowance of Leon. He was very fucking afraid they’d have to carry her dead body out of there but the action was quick to turn the tables on him - having Gwen save his life more than once. What surprised him most though was her humbleness about it. She didn’t rub it in or nag him about having proved her point. She was just glad they had all made it out in one piece and that struck him with a whole new intensity. Almost like a wake up call.

The door beside him suddenly swings open, causing him to abruptly straighten up from his leaning position, shooting a look at the doorway from which emerges Gwen. Or at least he believes it’s her. Had he not known she was the only other person in the house at the moment, or had he seen her passing by on the street he wouldn’t have recognized her.

And he’d have every right not to: this must be the first time she has worn a dress since prom - if she even wore one then - and the same probably applies for the make-up she’s put on. It’s not much or anything, in fact the only reason he’s noticed it is because he’s so used to seeing her make-up-free face. So much so, he’d recognize even a drop of foundation if she applied it. And oh boy, is he whipped by the sight. He can lie all he wants and to whoever he wants to, but he cannot lie to himself. Especially not when his jaw has fallen to the floor, his eyes have grown wide and his heartbeat has picked up noticeably.

If Ethan could hear at least half of what Chris is thinking at the moment, he’d be as good as banned from the Winters home forever.

When Gwen’s eyes meet her Captain’s, she can’t help but smirk, “What is it, Cap? I exchange the bulletproof vest for a corset and you suddenly don’t recognize me?” She asks, raising a teasing eyebrow.

He knows it’s wrong, for so many reasons: He’s her captain, she’s his soldier; She’s an adult but he’s still significantly older than her; She’s the ‘daughter’ of a friend of his, to make matters even worse - It’s so wrong yet he can’t get the thought out of his head. It’s not just now, it’s something he’s been struggling with for quite some time. He’s constantly haunted by her: the sound of her laughter, her smile, that focused frown that appears every time she is looking at a map or a new case, analyzing its every detail, the twinkle in her eyes whenever she gets told she’ll be going on a mission and that same sparkle growing brighter when she returns from it having successfully completed it.

It’s all overwhelming, and in the nicest, wrongest way possible.

“Honestly, Winters, seeing such a shift does rattle a person. Especially when I haven’t seen you out of a soldier’s uniform for years now.“ He comments, his eyes traveling up and down her body on their own accord, despite his best attempts at keeping his gaze on her face.

She laughs, “Can’t really go to training in a dress and high heels, you know. If I had more opportunities, the dresses in my closet wouldn’t be covered in spiderwebs.“

“Duly noted.“ He smirks, offering the young lady his hand as he leads her down the stairs, “I could help you out with that.“

She frowns, pausing mid-step, “Oh no, no, no no. If what you have in mind is a bunch of charity events, you better get that thought out of your head. A bunch of rich assholes drinking champagne, really not my scene.”

Chris chuckles offering her his arm as they walk out the front door to where he parked his car upon arriving at the Winters home, running into Ethan, Mia and their five year old daughter, about to head out for the night. He won’t complain about the lecturing he received, he deserved it after all. It’s a miracle the two even agreed to let Gwen accompany him, not that they could stop her either way seeing as how she’s an adult woman who’s more than capable of making her own decisions.

“No, no, I know you hate those events. I do too.“ He says, oddly timidly as the two get seated in the car. “I was thinking more along the lines of...“ He contemplates how to say it without making the rest of this night awkward, or mess things up with Gwen in any way. She means a lot to him and he’d hate to lose her over his complicated feelings he wishes he could control. “Dinner under candlelight, maybe?“

He’s as stiff as a boulder, tense and expecting something, anything. Literally anything, even outright rejection would be better than silence. Regardless of her answer, he’s gonna regret this move later when Ethan hears about it and goes to kick his ass.

Out of the corner of his eye, he catches the slight shake of her head, a blush evidently appearing on her cheeks, visible even in the dim light in the car. A small smile graces he features as her hand travels to his which is nervously resting on the gear shift. “Sure, I’d like that.” She says, her smile growing wider.

There’s that same twinkle - the sparkle in the eyes of a soldier willing to fight for the greater good, putting everyone above herself. And, on his hierarchy, she’s number one.

“I’m glad.“

Chris Redfield has regretted many things in his life and will probably regret even more in the future. However, he was a fool to think he’d regret this decision - one look at Gwen’s eyes and all regret was erased. All ass-kicking he might receive for it seems more than worth it, looking at it from the perspective of this very moment.

Then again, Captain Chris Redfield has never been a stranger to a little ass-kicking.

Thank you so much, Anon for this super fun challenge! I hope to receive more three words to turn into fics cause I really enjoyed this experience 🥰

#resident evil 8 #resident evil #resident evil village #resident evil 7 #resident evil chris #resident evil chris redfield #re8 #re village #chris redfield #chris redfield x reader #re chris redfield #chris redfield fanfic #chris redfield x oc #ethan winters #mia winters #original female character #original character #challenge #3 word challenge

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dreamsmp-au-ideas · 3 years

Text

I was going to actually post this before asks closed (didn’t get the chance), but Teddy Bear Anon, you are one of my favorite people and a magnificent creature. You get my vibe.

About Bad canonically being Sapnap’s dad I feel like that has so much extra angst potential when we consider the rest of the found family. Like. Sapnap, Tommy, and Fundy all have dads who started with the best of intentions but for one reason or another ended up slowly becoming a danger to them. I imagine Tommy and Fundy one day showing up with a cake and telling Sapnap “We regretfully welcome you to the shit dad club” and Sapnap is torn between being upset still and laughing over the absurdity of the situation.

Bonus points if Tommy made the cake using a recipe book that Niki gave him, the last gift Niki ever gave to Tommy. Tommy was originally a really bad cook/baker but after the egg really started to take over he went full survivalist. Leaning to cook was necessary but learning to bake was something he did as a way to raise everyone’s spirits. He’s never gotten the flavor quite to match with Niki’s perfectly but everyone agrees he’s gotten pretty decent in terms of skills. He and Fundy in particular will sometimes just spend an entire day in silence baking and then quietly eat their creations while reflecting on the friends they’ve made and lost over the course of L'manberg’s lifetime. When the group got back to the past and Niki made cookies for Tommy and Fundy the pair very nearly started crying.

Tommy is in an interesting position as a character since he did commit a lot of minor crimes and acted as a general nuisance but he was also still a child. (A very traumatized one considering I canonize SMP Earth with its unlimited lives but even more wars. Including against God. Tommy fought God just let me have this.) He acknowledges the moments when he went over the line and has tried to apologize. In particular at some point before the egg fully takes over he pulls aside Jack and tells him that he’s sorry for the way he acted when he was still in exile, taking one of Jack’s lives and all. Jack and Niki in particular are an interesting subject to address and a painful one for immune!Tommy to think about when he sees younger Niki because the three never fully tossed out the hatchet but it was obvious in the eyes of someone like Sam that both of them were growing more and more hesitant to hurt Tommy. It was made worse by the fact neither were even marginally immune, and it didn’t take long for the egg to get to them.

He never stopped being chaotic. Tommy at his core is just that kind of person. He did, however, grow up enough to act in a more mature manner. Started to recognize what’s too much. In particular he became a lot less violent and willing to lash out after Sam Nook in essence reparented him. He’s still an absolute wild card of a person, which in the eyes of Sam and Sapnap is a good thing. For this au I think we should actually address Tommy having severe ptsd and during the building of his hotel/the early days of the egg before it becomes a noticeable threat it shows. He’s a lot more subdued. Shows of aggression all carry a kind of desperation and his typical jokes feel flat. Lashing out at people slowly becomes more of a defense mechanism to see if someone’s going to leave or betray him, to test the limits of how nice they’re willing to be. After all, nice people have only ever been nice to Tommy when they wanted something from him. His eyes, especially after L'manberg is blow sky high, are well and truly gray. The first time Tommy genuinely laughs after filling Sapnap’s room with chickens is considered celebration worthy to them. His pranks take on a more hermitcraft-esque feel to them which honestly makes them more funny.

By the time they get to the past Tommy has recovered, but he still carries the kind of maturity that like Teddy Bear mentioned is reminiscent of age swap Tommy. When he gets especially stressed though, Immune!Tommy will slip into moments where he acts as tired and done with the world as age swap Tommy. With that said, most of the time he just acts like a more mature Tommy. Nothing could ever completely erase his unique vibe which Ranboo has gone on record as describing “Willing to fight God deaf, blind, and backwards just to prove a point."

Immune Fundy and Tommy get on really well once Fundy manages to catch up with the rest of the group. It gets to the point where everyone from the past is kinda shocked since smp Fundy and Tommy do not get along. At all. Literally the first night Fundy’s back someone goes to wake them up and they find Fundy asleep on top of Tommy which is a wild experience since this Tommy is a goliath who often refuses to take off his full Netherite max enchant armor. He really becomes a "looks like he could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll” kinda mans.

Also, yeah, this is Dream’s retirement arc. He is literally just sitting in the corner watching Tommy dote on his younger self and Tubbo before completely pile driving two of the most powerful people on the server straight into the dirt. At some point Tommy sits down with past Punz. He tells this Punz that their Punz died protecting him and Tubbo and that Tommy never got to properly thank their Punz so he’s going to thank this Punz. Tommy then gives Punz an entire stack of Netherite. If we’re gonna go ahead and agree on Phoenix Tommy then Tommy is fire proof, meaning he probably spent a large amount of time in the nether to avoid the egg crew and get rare supplies. Meaning he also probably did a lot of mining just to distract himself and it resulted in him being loaded. Tommy used to have a fear of tnt and explosives but he seems like the type of mad lad to say “exposure therapy” and make a massive cavern in the underbelly of the nether.

I think it would also be really interesting to dedicate like, a couple of chapters to other people’s perspectives. I kind of want to set the time they arrive in the past partway through the Pogtopia arc since I like mildly unhinged but not completely gone Wilbur. Plus then it also makes more sense for Techno to be there. Just prefer the aesthetic really. I want to have Wilbur see this version of Tommy and come to a sudden “oh” moment. I want to have a moment where Tubbo looks between his Tommy and this new Tommy, seeing himself nowhere to be found, and has enough what the fuck moments to become aggressively protective of his own Tommy. Especially if immune!Tommy ever admits to the past Tubbo why he is the way he is, what he faced under the thumb of the people he trusted. Which, out of everyone on the server, Tubbo would be the first one from the past to actively learn.

I am fully on board with Tommy knowing how to sew. That should just automatically be canon in literally ever AU. Tommy for all intents and purposes is still Phil’s child for me. Survival runs in the family the same way that chaos does, so he’s got a ton of basic survival skills that he just doesn’t show off because it’s still Tommy. He would have been completely fine in exile if it wasn’t for Dream. Whenever someone ruins their clothes in the Immune group they automatically go to Tommy and at first the past versions are very confused (except for past Tommy and Tubbo obviously) and then Tommy’s just “Sapnap this is beyond ruined it can’t be saved, let me make you something new” and within a couple days he makes Sapnap a completely new outfit. Like maybe Sapnap fell into a lava pool because Blaze Sapnap Supremacy and his clothes are beyond saving and everyone is beyond baffled when Tommy just acts like this is a weekly occurrence. He’s memorized Sapnap’s measurements and style tastes and already had a new outfit in the works for him that Sapnap immediately adores upon it being presented to him. It takes about a week for past Eret to learn that Tommy stress sews new clothing and he cannot think of a better model. Eret has never had such a full closet. Eret has everything from three piece suits to ball gowns now. Eret lives in terror of the days where Tommy disappears god knows where with Fundy and the two reappear with a new wardrobe for the entire god damn server.

Speaking of disappearing I really like the idea of part phoenix and part tanuki Tommy for a couple reasons. Being a Tanuki he’d have access to enough magic to hide his hybrid traits, which if they’ve been present for long enough would be a necessity to him. Additionally think about Fundy and Tommy building a den under Church Prime that slowly turns into a maze. Think about it. It starts off simple and then they both start digging more and it gets deeper and deeper and more complicate and the two just refer to it as their den and the only ones who are fully aware of the connotations of that word are Sam, Sapnap, and Ranboo who remember the absolute hell that was trying to navigate the original. Just Fundy and Tommy bonding over the fact they are literally the only creatures on this server that have this catacomb memorized and at the end of the catacomb is their saferoom which connects to rail way that the two spent a month straight on. It goes at least 25k blocks from spawn and it’s a final emergency resort in case they can’t stop the egg and the Immunes needs to regroup and essentially try again (if they keep bringing their younger selves with them then hopefully they’ll finally get an army large enough to stop this, but everyone really hopes it doesn’t come to that.)

I’m working on the first chapter of my fic right now actually if I’m gonna be honest and phoenix Tommy is absolutely without question canon to it but I’ve still been going back and forth on if I want him to be part tanuki as well or just blessed/favored by one like Teddy Bear mentioned. I’m also tucking away the whole thing about the magma blood for later use. Phoenix Tommy just makes sense. They used to call him Zombie Kid for a reason back on SMP Earth, he just literally does not die ever unless he decides he does.

~Snapdragon & Firefly

#dream smp #dream smp au #immune au #tommyinnit #fundy #sapnap #eret #the eret #awesamdude #dream #dreamwastaken #wilbur soot #submission #snapdragon & firefly #long post

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panharmonium · 4 years

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you know what?

no. absolutely not.

i already did part 1 of this post here. i’m back again with part 2, because unfortunately the awfulness factor doesn’t stop with arthur, and as much as i adore hunith generally, this entire sequence is a MESS.

and yes, i am aware that pretty much nobody else thinks so. every time i see this scene referenced in fandom, it is always framed as a fun, cutesy, sing-songy moment of “oooo, hunith ships merthur!” literally every time.

which, you know, like i always say about everything fandom-related - that’s fine. everybody is going to enjoy things differently; you do you, and keep on having fun! but here on my own blog, in my own space, i am gonna do me, and in this case ‘me’ involves yelling about how much i can’t stand that particular read, and how angry the end of 1.10 makes me.

disclaimer, to help folks curate their own fandom experiences: i am going to be Very Cranky for the rest of this post. if you love this particular scene in the way i just mentioned, you will probably want to scroll on by, because this piece of meta most likely won’t be your jam. as always, these are my personal thoughts and nobody is obligated to share them, so please do not hesitate to simply skip this post if we are on different wavelengths - instead, keep enjoying fandom in whatever way is most fun for you!

fair warning now given, off i go on a long, frustrated tirade.

i already wrote about the first half of this scene, where arthur decides that the appropriate thing to do at this particular moment is to give merlin a scolding about the evils of sorcery, despite the fact that the only reason arthur is even alive to deliver this lecture in the first place is because merlin’s ‘sorcerer’ best friend just DIED saving arthur’s life. but sure, you know what, let’s use said best friend’s funeral to chastise merlin about how “dangerous” sorcerers are. let’s just make that completely dickheaded decision.

and, moving on to the second half of this scene - here’s the thing. hunith overhears this entire conversation. she overhears arthur telling merlin off about sorcery, in front of the burning corpse of merlin’s best friend, who is, as far as arthur knows, the ‘sorcerer’ who died saving arthur’s life.

and yet, for some inexplicable reason, hunith still cannot get off the arthur pendragon train for two damn seconds.

she has known arthur for less than a week. by contrast, she has known will for his entire life. but the instant arthur walks away, hunith sidles up next to merlin and says, “you’d better be going” - like. okay, my god, can you try to hustle him away from his best friend’s in-progress funeral any faster????? how about we maybe give him a second? the pyre hasn’t even burnt down yet, and merlin hasn’t had a single second to himself since this sequence started. he’s had to stand there and listen to arthur insult the dude who everyone is supposed to be memorializing, and then hunith - who overheard the entire thing - zips right over and tries to chivvy merlin on his way. you’d better be going.

HELLO?! the pyre is still roaring. how about, instead of hassling merlin and hustling him offstage, everybody just sits down and waits for a minute. how about they all just leave merlin alone for three everloving seconds.

honestly, just - every time i think about this scene i get angrier.

i love hunith, and i know she’s well-intentioned. but everything she gives merlin in this scene is the exact opposite of what he needs. he doesn’t need to be hurried off the village green like there’s some reason he can’t stay there for the entirety of his friend’s funeral. he doesn’t need to be pushed into going back to camelot when he is clearly struggling with the idea of leaving ealdor again. and he absolutely does not need to be told how much someone else “needs” him right now, when he himself is the one who is having a fucking crisis and who needs someone to take care of him.

i cannot emphasize that last point enough. it is just - beyond upsetting to me that hunith literally watches arthur shitting on merlin’s dead best friend (and, by proxy, merlin himself, since merlin is the actual sorcerer) and she still somehow thinks the right thing to do is walk over and start telling merlin how great arthur is and how arthur “needs” him and how merlin “belongs at arthur’s side.”

i can’t stand that. it makes me so angry. it’s not right. it’s not fair. it’s damaging. it’s the same shitty messaging that destroys merlin’s life in later seasons, this idea that he exists for someone else’s sake, the complete disregard for what he himself might want at any given moment, for what he himself might need, for the reservations he might have about this plan that other people have formulated for his life.

he is UNCOMFORTABLE when she says these things to him! he doesn’t look at her; he shifts his gaze to arthur and the camelot squad with this grim, unconvinced expression on his face, and then he averts his eyes from her.

everything hunith tells merlin in this scene is the exact opposite of what he needs to hear. he does not need someone to tell him how badly his services are “needed” by a man who hates the person merlin truly is, not when the only friend who ever accepted merlin’s true self has just been killed. he does not need to be told that arthur, who is alive solely because will is dead and who only seconds ago expressed exactly zero gratitude for that sacrifice, is the person to whom merlin owes his undying loyalty. he does not need to be shuffled off to camelot as quickly as possible, as if it would be better for him to just rush forward and forget what happened here, as if what happened here didn’t matter.

because what happened here did matter, whether hunith and arthur find it convenient to acknowledge or not. i have to lay this out again, because what happened to merlin in ealdor is so much more important than anybody ever seems to realize - and i do understand that, i really do (because yes, it was just one episode for us) - but we have to look at it from merlin’s perspective, not the audience’s.

will wasn’t ‘one episode’ for merlin.

i can’t say this enough times. i cannot say this loudly enough.

merlin, at the beginning of this show, has only ever had ONE FRIEND.

most of us can’t even imagine something like that.

but try. TRY.

merlin has only ever had one friend. he’s only ever had one friend to love him. he only had one friend for the first two decades of his life. he’s only been in camelot for a couple of months; he’s only known these camelot people for a couple of months, and they don’t know his real self anyhow. and now his ONLY FRIEND, the person he’s known all his life, the only friend he ever had who knew him for who he truly was, was just violently cut down before his very eyes, whilst saving a guy who can legally have merlin murdered for just existing. and even though merlin and will spend the entirety of 1.10 having a painful, complicated argument, will still uses his last moments on earth to tell the biggest fucking whopper of his life, in order to shield merlin from harm, taking all of the danger and infamy and condemnation upon himself. he dies with a lie on his lips. he dies with merlin’s hand in his hair.

and all the while, merlin knows that this would not have happened if he had just been willing to use his magic in the first place, instead of letting his fear of discovery prompt him into allowing his neighbors to offer themselves up for the slaughter in his place.

the avalanching double-whammy of grief and guilt that merlin is suddenly slammed with at the end of this episode is almost incomprehensible in scale.

i’ve talked about this before, but again, i think it’s something we don’t generally remember: losing will is the first time merlin has ever experienced personal bereavement. and he doesn’t get to start out with a warm-up; he goes straight to the big leagues. this is not some trifling thing. this is a total implosion of merlin’s world as he knows it.

when we think about the mark this episode leaves on merlin’s life, i don’t think most of us consider the magnitude of this event deeply enough. losing will in this way is not some one-off thing that merlin just...gets over. this is the most earth-shattering thing that has ever happened to him, at this point in time. it is still one of the worst things that has ever happened to him, period, even years later. the guilt never goes away.

and the thing that’s unique about this particular trauma is that merlin has to manage it alone. there are other tragedies in his life where we witness him receiving support/comfort from others - freya, lancelot, balinor (though of course there are aspects to these miseries that merlin has to keep secret from other people, as well) - but with will, merlin has to do everything on his own. he can’t get one single moment of peace at will’s funeral. his own mother, the only person who knows what really happened, can’t help him without making everything about arthur. and merlin can’t tell anyone else what happened, not the truth of it, because doing so would squander the gift he’s been given - will’s lie is still protecting him, years later, from arthur and morgana both.

merlin, at the end of 1.10, is forced to navigate this grief completely alone, in the silent secrecy of his own heart. arthur is actively making it worse. hunith is out here singing arthur’s praises. and will is just like - he’s suddenly not part of the conversation anymore. he doesn’t even register on anyone’s radar.

it truly is...incredible, for me, to watch hunith overhear arthur being legitimately terrible to both merlin and the guy who just died saving merlin AND arthur’s lives, and then to see her come over and start talking about how merlin belongs at arthur’s side, how much merlin needs to be there for him, how they’re two sides of the same coin. meanwhile, the guy who literally just lied his life away to protect merlin’s secret and who NEVER made merlin feel like he had to hide who he was and who never had any problem with magic in the first place and never made merlin feel unsafe and never treated merlin like he was less of a human being just for existing -

- he’s just burning to ash there, and hunith doesn’t even acknowledge that, despite the fact that merlin is so visibly, intently, single-mindedly focused on that funeral pyre, and so clearly in distress and in pain and NEEDING somebody. all she can talk about is merlin’s responsibility to arthur.

the dissonance here is baffling. hunith has known will forever. she met arthur less than a week ago. she barely knows him, and what she does know is that he thinks magic-users are dangerous/evil. she saw him being a dick to her kid. she knows her son is having the worst day of his life. and she still doesn’t offer a single comforting word in reference to the person who just died protecting merlin’s secret, instead choosing to wax poetic about a man whose bigotry is what merlin needed protecting from in the first place.

that...is a hot mess. the merlin-hunith-will dynamic is one of the few things in this show that reflects less-than-stellarly on hunith’s character, however much i love her. and even though it all stems from an overwhelming desire to keep her son safe, it doesn’t make her choices any less damaging. she sends merlin away specifically because she finds out that will knows about his secret. she spends 1.10 analyzing and encouraging and dissecting merlin’s relationship with arthur, when merlin’s relationship with will is the one that desperately needs attention. she’s proven wrong about will’s trustworthiness in the most stunning, powerful way possible, and then she never even acknowledges him, instead choosing to laud the dude who literally forces merlin to live in fear of execution.

she’s merlin’s mother. she’s the only person in his life who knows anything about what will actually meant to him. she is his only possible resource as he tries to weather a kind of devastation that defies description.

and she, like arthur, just barrels right on ahead and makes everything about someone else.

the cinematography choices in this scene matter. whenever arthur or hunith tries to talk to merlin, the camera is placed on the opposite side of the fire from them, meaning the flames are always in the foreground of the frame. they are something we are required to see and look past before we can get to anything else in the scene. and in terms of directorial/acting decisions - merlin doesn’t take his eyes off the pyre until the end of his conversation with hunith. not once while talking to arthur does he look away from it.

the funeral pyre is always in the foreground of the shot, because it’s in the forefront of merlin’s mind. that is where his focus is right now. that is what is taking up all of his attention. that is what is edging into the frame, eating up our entire field of view. that is what he needs help with.

but he doesn’t get any such support. the entire sequence ends up revolving around arthur. will’s entire funeral is about arthur fucking pendragon. arthur inserts himself so he can talk to merlin about how evil magic is, and then hunith inserts herself so she can talk to merlin about how great arthur is. nobody ever stops to think that maybe merlin doesn’t want to talk to anybody right this second. merlin’s entire ‘farewell’ to the only true friend he ever had in his life is completely swallowed up by the prince of camelot, and if that isn’t a metaphor for the rest of merlin’s life, then i don’t know what is.

i know nobody needs to hear this, because very few people are invested in this kid at the same level of embarrassing detail as me, but here it is, anyway.

yes, will is prickly. he’s hard to get on with. he’s angry. he’s bitter and snappy and uncharitable, sometimes.

but you know what? he has every reason to be like that.

this kid has nobody. his own best friend’s mother - who has known him all his life - doesn’t trust him and doesn’t respect him. she is too afraid for her own son’s safety to give will any credit. she sends merlin away to camelot, the most violently anti-magic place in the world, because apparently, will knowing about merlin’s secret would be even more dangerous than uther pendragon’s genocidal reign.

think about how that would feel. to hear something like that about yourself. to be somebody who is already so goddamn alone in the world, and to have your only friend vanish without so much as a ‘see you later,’ and then to be made to feel, however indirectly, like this is somehow your fault, like you’re the liability, like you’re the untrustworthy element here. as if you, somehow, are more dangerous than a king who literally pays to have sorcerers trafficked to him in cages.

will has every right to be upset, all the time. he has every reason to be angry, and bitter, and hurt, all the time. to be thought so poorly of - to be held in such low esteem - when he hasn’t done anything wrong, when he hasn’t ever done anything to earn that kind of mistrust - and to have that same misplaced suspicion used to justify separating him from the only person in the world who gives a damn about him - if it were me, i would be constantly on the verge of screaming, all the time.

will has always been on merlin’s side, and he has never done anything to endanger him, and in the end he gives up everything to make sure merlin can stay safe and hidden and unhunted. he shouldn’t have needed to prove his goodness, his constancy, his worth; not when he’s already kept merlin’s secret for who knows how many years, but even after he does do so, it doesn’t even matter. arthur acknowledges him only to disparage sorcery. hunith passes him over completely in favor of praising arthur, with no acknowledgment of the misjudgment she made.

i have said before that merlin tends to befriend people who have nobody, people who’ve been left behind by the rest of the world, people who’ve been made to feel that they aren’t worthy of love. and will, merlin’s oldest friend, was the first of those many characters, and it is so heartbreaking to me that in this instance, the same kind of disinterested and careless attitude towards his worth that dogged him all his life is perpetuated and affirmed after his death. ‘people are used to ignoring him,’ merlin tells arthur, and merlin is right - even when will is dead and burning, arthur only sees sorcery. hunith, who we would expect to be more sympathetic, only sees arthur.

merlin is the only one who knows better. merlin has always known better, and he loves will so much, but he is the only one, apparently, and honestly, after will dies? nobody else even tries to understand.

to sum up:

hunith and arthur, for all that i love them, are both way out of line at the end of this episode.

the legacy of this experience, for merlin, is that he spends the rest of his life processing this particular trauma alone. and that is why i always, always have to keep will and ealdor in the back of my mind when i write for merlin in any capacity - because this event isn’t some simple stumbling block for him; it changes him forever. it teaches him what he can and can’t expect from the people around him, and it solidifies how irrelevant his own needs are when viewed in comparison with arthur’s, even to people who barely even KNOW arthur; people who are supposed to put merlin first over everything. it teaches merlin to bury his sorrow, and to wrestle with personal suffering in secret, because if things aren’t ultimately about arthur, then they aren’t important enough to be granted any significant amount of time for merlin to deal with. merlin’s own grief, even at his best friend’s funeral, takes too long to resolve. arthur walks away from the pyre, and it’s time for merlin to leave, too. you’d better be going.

bottom line: i don’t care if other people think this whole ‘ooo, everybody wants merlin to be with arthur’ thing is wonderful or beautiful or dreamily romantic. it isn’t. it’s ugly, and it’s cruel, and it stripped merlin of his present identity and his future potential, one stolen moment at a time.

#and that's what i have to say about that #so.#in case you all weren't already aware #will is a goddamn hero #and merlin misses him every day #the once and future slowburn #meta #no kings no masters

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sinisterlyhan · 4 years

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03. hwang hyunjin / 4514 words

established relationship, dom!hyunjin, mc being kind of a brat, unprotected sex, use of toys, female reader, degradation, light fluff at the end

tw: use of safe words, mentions of restraints

a/n: i think it’s safe to say i’m not very good with degradation.

you have not been feeling too good about yourself lately.

midterms had snuck up on you before you got the chance the blink your eyes for a moment's rest. one moment it seemed you were still discussing the start of a presentation project with your classmates and reading the provided lecture notes of the second chapter, then the clock ticks once and suddenly your professors were handing out exam review packets and tediously reminding the class not to be absent on exam day.

you were panicking, for reasons your friends kept on invalidating every time you brought up the fact that you felt anxious about this upcoming finals. your first semester went smoothly, they had told you. if you have done all the homework and aced all the quizzes, there should be no problem in passing the midterm exam either.

and you knew that, you did, you were just stressed about it.

exams are always a little different than tests and quizzes. and since you've picked a handful of harsher and unfamiliar professors this year, who were all rather vague about their criteria, you had no idea how to properly prepare for their papers.

not to mention, if you do mess up on your midterm, you would most likely sulk for the remaining year thinking about how much of a failure you are, and that never ends well for you in both the academic and relationship perspective.

that anxiety has given you nothing but mere torture. you couldn't understand the review lectures, you kept forgetting deadlines, and writing notes served more as a task than a genuine study session now. you were learning nothing new and understanding nothing old, and midterms were approaching, and you just felt... useless.

hyunjin snapped his fingers in front of your face when he noticed how you had been staring blankly at your textbooks for far too long. a frown was evident on his face when you glanced up, dazed and exhausted. he dropped his pen, and propped his chin on the back of his palm, tilting his head at you.

"babe, are you okay? you've been out of it lately," he asked, raising a curious brow.

"no, not really." you shook your head, pouting a little with a heavy exhale. "i don't get anything this professor is saying. he makes everything so complicated when it doesn't have to be and–ugh! i hate it!"

"(name), i'm sure everyone already told you this, including me. and you are probably sick and tired of hearing it but," he paused, shifting in his seat and placing a hand out to you on the table. "you are most likely going to be fine."

"most likely," you whined lightly, leaning your head down on the table as you laced your fingers through his in a loose manner.

he laughed. "most likely as in, like, almost ninety percent."

"ha ha, very funny." you rolled your eyes, not raising your head to look at him.

hyunjin had experiences of you getting like this back in high school. it was always before finals week or big tests that you think you hadn't studied enough for, only to have you ace them all at the end. it was almost infuriating to see you flash them the big red '100' on your tests sometimes; it was the kind of scores he could never get no matter how hard he studies for a subject.

he dealt with it before, with a lot of reassuring words and a big bag of your favorite snacks placed between you both during study sessions. your mood was always so easily lifted with delicious food and a good boba drink. but that was long before he took a shot on senior prom and confessed to you under the disco ball.

his method changed after you two started dating in university. there are still boba drinks and family-sized chips, of course, but there is also never a lack of sex around your shared apartment when either of you starts feeling stressed out from school. no matter at what place or at what time, having your walls tighten around him and having your pussy stretched by his shaft is never unwelcomed.

it eases the stress, fucking each other. your lips make each other forget about the world and for a brief moment, it is just a wave of moany, sweaty, irreplaceable bliss.

he knew what to do, he knew all too well, and he definitely wasn't opposed to it considering how much school has occupied the both of you lately. you two just kept brushing past each other at home without a second to spare for him to give you a mildly decent kiss. and his hands haven’t been around you lately, much to his dismay.

this midterms week has done nothing good to his high libido, and he has been aching to fuck you once the week finishes. who knew the opportunity would present itself to him now?

you hummed in confusion when you felt hyunjin pull your torso up by the arm. you didn't even realize that he had already made his way over to your side of the table, his legs opened wide as he sat on the chair next to yous. his attempt to pull you onto his thigh was effortless, and within a blink of an eye, his lips were on yours.

you protested playfully the first time, pushing at his shoulders and laughing about needing to study. but hyunjin's got you all smitten with the way he nibbled down your jaw after you pulled away, and he knew he was doing a fantastic job just from the way your cheeks jutted out with a smile.

you two met lips again for the second time. this time you pulled him closer and sunk into the kiss, with your hands barely clinging onto his shoulders. his finger danced up and down between your waist and your thighs, really touching you for the first time in weeks and reminding you how it's been some time since you two got so close to each other.

as the kiss slowly heat up, your paces going faster and messier, hyunjin finally stopped pacing around and clutched the end of your shirt. he pulled it over your head in a swift motion, discarding to the side before he quickly connected his lips with yours again.

his hand rubbed down the spine of your back, delicately caressing down to the skin of your sides with his nails. his touches felt like a brush of the wind, faint and ticklish, making you gasp out faint jolts here and there. he took the chance to pull away from your face when you giggled, his lips going down your neck carefully before he set his hands on your hips and pushed your weight down on his thigh.

your clothed heat pressed against his toned thigh, a lumpy feeling present between your lips. a sigh escaped your lips along with the satisfying feeling of your clit being stimulated. and you adjusted your hip to accommodate with hyunjin's control, grinding your hips down on his thigh needily when you got the first taste of your sexual release.

god, how did you never thought about doing this earlier? the notes and lectures have occupied your head to the maximum that you couldn't bring yourself to remember anything other than what was written on a powerpoint slide. even when the person is hwang hyunjin and the thing is about how amazing the sex has always been with him, especially when he was stressed out and he goes just a tad bit rougher on you during those times.

"ahh, oh god," you gasped out when he attached his mouth to your breasts, teasing and flicking your nipple with his tongue before lightly biting on it for more arousal.

your back gradually arched into his mouth, yearning for more of his kitten licks as you continued to ride his flexed thigh, feeling the wetness in your core increasing with each harsh rub.

hyunjin could sense that you weren't going at a pace where you were hoping you'd chase your release, indicating that you weren't planning on orgasming from riding this thigh along. it was just a little bit of foreplay to get your pussy slick with wetness. what you really wanted was seated hard and erected between his legs, and it impatiently twitched whenever your moans hit his ears or whenever you tugged at his hair to bring him closer to your breasts.

ahh, he was always so fond of the needier side of you. so shamelessly horny, so greedy for his touch, and so impatient to get filled up by his cock—he would make you beg for it, he loved making you beg for it with your little breathy voice, and he knew you would if he continued to give you pleasure little by little at an agonizing pace.

but today was not the day. he desired this as much as you did and he didn't plan on waiting another moment before he could feel your lips wrapped around him.

hyunjin pulled away from your breasts and grazed his lips up your skin before he arrived at your ear. "you want me to fill you up, hmm?" he asked, running a hand through your hair and pulling a small piece behind your ear as he moved to look at you.

"oh please, what do you think we've been building up to, hyunjin?" you whined, giving him a faint roll of your eyes.

pleasantly surprised at your attitude, he breathed out a low laugh as he tugged at your hair quite harshly, tilting your head to the side and causing you to hold in your breath. he glared at you with a smile, saying, "i don't really appreciate that kind of tone, babe. you're gonna have to rethink your answer before i leave you hanging with nothing."

"i said talk, you bitch," he demanded after a moment of silence.

you exhaled fully while meeting eyes with him. his gaze was overwhelming; he wasn't angry, but you knew you've unintentionally got him in a more dominant mood with that sarcastic retort. and the excitement contorted inside you, surfacing through your head at what was about to come.

"see? how easy is that?" he let go of your hair then, his smile widening in a rather sadistic way as he hoisted you up in his arms and stood up from the chair. you held onto his neck, a short yelp leaving your lips when his sudden movement while wrapping your legs around his waist.

"sor–sorry, hyunjin," you whimpered, pursing your lips together as you wracked your brain to try and remembering what he asked in the first place. damn, you're letting everything get to your head lately. it was the textbooks at first and now it is was your neediness.

you should probably get it together.

eyes wavering for a moment, you heaved a shaky sigh at the way he continued to pull at your hair, and you stammered. "i–i want you, hyunjin. please fu–please fuck me."

hyunjin leaned down to the table you two were just studying on, one hand pressed against your back while the other reached down so he could push the textbooks and stationaries off the table to make space. you didn't get the time get shocked about his action before he pushed your back against the table surface, his hand moving down your body before they looped around the waistband of your shorts.

he pulled them off quickly, ridding you of both your shorts and your panties with one swift move. you pressed your knees together with a frown, the cold air hitting your hot, exposed core as you acknowledged how you were completely naked in front of him.

and after that was a gasp when hyunjin leaned his face down to you to distract you from his wandering hands, one clutching the side of your waist while the other palmed over your heat roughly. you flinched, your legs jittery when he dipped two fingers into your cunt from the get-go, thinking that your wetness would help his fingers ease inside.

and it did. he was pumping in and out of you in no time, his fingers hitting places you never could and his skin rubbing against your naked walls. his fingers were getting slicker and slicker with each pump, coating it up with your juices as the squelching sounds echoed through the room. it felt good. needless to say, you wanted more but you'll take what you can get now since you have angered him—just a little, but he has the tendency to exaggerate—previously.

you were squirming underneath him, quick and rapid breathes leaving your lips that did not cater towards hyunjin’s liking whatsoever. there was joy in hearing you sound so breathless, of course, but he didn’t want that now. he was craving for loudness; moans and whimpers that uncontrollably fall out of your tongue when he is causing too much pleasure.

“what happened to you today, hmm? first, you talk back to me, then you don’t answer my question, and now you can’t even moan?” he hummed close to your face, hot air hitting against your skin and sending shivers down your spine. his glare almost felt threatening when you glanced down at him. “guess i have to fuck some senses into you, huh? can't have you acting that stupid the whole time.”

he removed himself from you, leaving your walls to clench around the air as he moved over to your head. he planted a short kiss to your forehead, despite your whiny protest, telling you to stay in your place before he left the living room and headed into where you assumed would be your shared bedroom. you waited only for a brief moment before he returned to the living room with something clinking in his hands.

you turned to him with furrowed brows, curious to what he’s got in his hands. and you frowned even more as you tried to access exactly the toy present in his hands. a shiny, metal bar lodged between two black cuffs at either end of the object. hyunjin rubbed the rigid pole in the middle with his fingers before he finally turned his eyes to you, and he laughed a little at your incredulous expression.

“is that a spreader bar?” you asked, a short laugh leaving your lips and breaking the tension flowing you both for a moment.

“yeah, i found it in minho’s room when i was over last time since he forgot to hide his box of trinkets,” he exclaimed in an excited hiss. “i got curious and looked it up online, and then i impulsively bought one!”

“how much did you pay for that?” you asked, propping yourself up on your elbows.

“like… around… fifty dollars–who gives a shit!” hyunjin cut you off with a wave of his hand before you could begin telling him off for spending that much money on something he could have replaced with some simple cuffs he could get for way cheaper. he moved closer to you then, his fingers curling around your ankle, holding your leg up for him. “the point is that this thing will make you feel really nice.”

“i’m sorry, i thought you are fucking me, not the spreader ba–ooh, okay.“ you let out a shaky breath when hyunjin suddenly tightened the cuffs around your ankle. he gave you a glare when you meekly smiled at him, and when he leaned down to your face with his finger tapping against your inner thigh, you turned your face away so his lips meet your cheek instead.

hyunjin groaned in annoyance. just because you’ve got him at the palm of your hands doesn’t mean he planned to let you go about saying and doing whatever the hell you wanted. mind you, you’re the one with your legs cuffed and your body bare, not him.

“that was a lot of strikes in the past few minutes, you fucking brat,” he mumbled as he pulled away, his hands working on the other cuff as he wrapped it around your ankle and tightened the buckle on it.

when he was finished, your legs could no longer clamp together no matter how hard you tried. he leaned back to take a good look at you, his eyes grazing past your skin lustfully as his hand reached out for your heat. you flinched, your knees going together without your feet following when you felt hyunjin slips his fingers back into your heat to gather up the wetness.

ahh, the way your eyes widened at the force of the pole made his cock twitch. the idea that you were left completely exposed, waiting for him to do whatever he wants to do with you simply sends his desire over the edge. he has the full ability to destroy you if he so sees fit now, with you laid on your back on full display for him, and he planned to. he did say he is going to fuck some senses into you, so he would.

his fingers shifted out of your heat and immediately went to tug his pants down. he pulled his member out of his boxers and pulled you closer to the edge of the table. holding your leg up around his shoulders, you inhaled sharply when he poked his tip against your cunt, your glossy eyes rolling down to look at him as you felt your wall clench in excitement. hyunjin raised a brow, waiting for your cue, and you gave it to him with a faint nod.

“good girl,” he praised lowly, his hand reaching down to caress your cheek before he slowly pushed himself inside.

you moaned at the stretch, the sensation both familiar but foreign at the same time. and hyunjin exhaled heavily at your tightness, his hands unconsciously pushing against the back of your thighs. has it really been that long since you last had sex with him? or did the sudden tightness came from you feeling turned-on over the new toy caging your legs open?

he stayed in you for a brief moment, allowing you time to adjust to his size and allowing himself a quiet moment to hold himself back from climaxing immediately. when he saw that it was time for him to move, he dipped his head down, his hair falling slightly over his eyes, and he said, “keep your knees open for me, hmm?”

you breathed out a sigh, your mind somehow still managing to race with retorts despite at such a vulnerable position. you snorted a little then, a smile on your lips. “sure, it’s not like i can close my legs with this thing holding them open anyway–shit!”

the smile was wiped off your face and replaced with an opened mouth, a whine slipping past your lips as hyunjin pulled out before easing himself back in. he did that once, twice, three times before he suddenly decided to pick up his space and unruly rolled his hips into yours. there was a sinister glare in his eyes, visible only in the gaps of his sweaty bangs, and your body shivered simply from the way he looked at you.

“you know, i’ve had it with you today. you can’t answer a fucking question normally?” he said through gritted teeth. the scraping against your wall continued relentlessly, the living room filled with his low grunts and your hefty moans, and you couldn’t speak much without him cutting you off every other word with a sharp thrust.

“stupid bitch, can’t think of anything to say this time, or am i fucking you too good you lost your voice?” hyunjin scoffed at you then, rolling his eyes to the side at the way you kept stammering. he placed a hand on the metal pole in the air and pushed it down slightly with his body weight, leaning down to look at you better. “come on? what’s stopping you from talking back, hmm?”

you shivered at the change of position. oh, this felt different, not quite in a good way but no so much horrible either. a sore pain rose from the back of your knees, your inflexible joints slowly starting to ache when hyunjin decided to push your restrained legs back against your shoulders and over your head instead of folding them to your chest.

“hey, i asked you a question, dumb slut,” he said, one hand gripping your cheeks together until your mouth molded into a weird shape, your lips all mushed up together. his other hand continued to push on the pole, pulling your feet farther behind your head while he leaned his weight on you for support. “fucking whore, think you can just lay there and take it?"

you whimpered at the ache then, your rigid muscles burning and screaming at the impossible stretch. you have never been a bendy person, you’ve spent your life unable to stretch your muscles as far as most people could. and while some pain you could handle for the sake of continuing with the sex, sometimes the pleasure melts in perfectly with the pain, and all you could feel was bliss. but this? this was beyond what your body could handle.

the lack of sounds coming from your throat contrasted the way you were squirming underneath him, you were trying too hard to breathe that your chest started to heave uncontrollably and your face was slowly turning red. but hyunjin mistook all of that as a sign of pleasure rather than uncertainty and pain, therefore when he wasn't all too pleased about the silence flowing around the air, he acted upon it with harshness.

you choked out when his hand slid down from your cheeks to your throat, miscalculating his strength as he squeezed your throat and cut your airway short.

no. you couldn’t breathe, your sight was blurry and your muscles were painfully clawing at your flesh. you couldn’t find it in yourself to enjoy this anymore, it was all pain.

you reached your hand out, trying to push him away. ”hyun–hyunjin–i think–"

"oh? so stupid bitch here does have a voice? and you're wasting it to speak?" he cut you off with a grunt, rutting himself into you at an increasing speed as his grip on your throat tightened, causing your face to go redder than before. he leaned down to you when you didn't get the cue to release any sounds he had always loved hearing from you, your mouth a tightly sealed vault he needed to pry open with even more heavy thrusts. "i need you to fucking moan, whore.”

your chest heaved.

no, this hurts, this really hurts.

"hyunjin–" you pursed your lips together, feeling a stir in your heart before you finally gave away and breathed out. "red! hyunjin, red! stop, please!"

the word took less than a second to register in hyunjin's head. red means stop, red means bad, red mean scary—red means safeword.

he immediately pulled out of you and released your neck, noticing the way your chest relaxed immediately and you coughed out the breath you have been holding. your legs immediately retreated to a normal position, trembling from the forced stretch from a while ago. and hyunjin fumbled with the buckles to take the cuffs off of your ankles before throwing the bar off to the floor with the rest of the things.

he cursed to himself as he watched you gasp on the table, shivers running down your body as stressful tears ran down your eyes. he was unsure of what to do now that the safeword has been uttered. it has never happened before.

if you said it then that meant you felt uncomfortable, right? and that he has hurt you in the process? oh, no, that's terrible, that's absolutely terrible. what has he done? should he touch you, but what if you didn't want to be touched right now? oh god, hwang hyunjin, why did you let it get to your head? why didn't you read the damn signs?

“fuck–(name), i’m sorry! i'm so sorry, are you okay?" he blurted out impulsively, his hands rubbing together anxiously as he awaited knelt at your side. he whimpered out when he saw tears streaming down the corner of your eyes, and he hesitated in wiping it away. “oh god, you’re crying–i’m so sorry–what did i do, what did i do?"

you sat up on the desk slowly, your naked body still on display but you didn't quite mind it as much as you did earlier. you focused on hyunjin, finding his shrunken body and teary eyes a somewhat endearing sight—he cared about to feel this worried. not to applaud a fish for swimming, but it was always nice to have your personal space be respected like this.

"i'm fine, hyunjin. it just got overwhelming,” you said, pulling your legs up to your chest and looking down at him. “you pulled my feet over my head and choked me, i couldn’t breathe at all and my muscles are really sore.”

god, he didn’t even register how he had done that. he knew he pushed your legs back, but he didn’t consider enough about how that would cause your discomfort. “i’m so sorry, are you feeling better now? do you want me to run you a bath?” he asked, sitting up on his feet and gazing up at you worriedly. “i’m so sorry.”

you smiled slightly at the way his eyes sparked innocence up at you. his duality really never ceases to amaze you. “i think a bath would be nice.”

"oh, okay, you just stay here and wait!” he perked up, scrambling up from the floor and looking around as if he has forgotten the structure of his own apartment. before he could leave you sitting on the table by yourself, you stopped him.

"come here," you beckoned, waiting for him to get closer before you reached up to give him a chaste kiss on the lips. hyunjin didn’t move, letting you do as you please in case he would accidentally hurt you again. “i’m okay, hyunjin. you apologized, i forgive you, and we talked about it. just don’t do that next time.”

"yeah, of course," he said, holding onto your hands with a somewhat remorseful smile. "i love you, you know that right?"

"i know." you nodded. "i love you too, thank you for listening to me."

“of course.” he couldn't imagine not doing that. “now, the bubble bath. i got one of these bath soap online recently–“

“you bought things again?” you exclaimed, frowning. “how much did that cost?”

“they’re like eighteen dollars each.” he shifted around, inching farther and farther away from you.

“and how many did you buy?”

like five of them, but he’ll let you find out yourself when he asked you to pick a scent.

#skz smut #skz dark hours #stray kids dark hours #stray kids smut #hwang hyunjin smut #hyunjin smut

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lilyhoshikawa · 3 years

Note

🎥💕💎

Nyanko didn’t specify so I’m gonna do this abt WKTD and u can’t stop me!!

🎥: Do you have any favorite scenes from your hyperfixation?

I’m a basic Jupiter kinnie sadly so as expected. My favorite scene has gotta be the Red Ending 3am scene. There’s such a beautiful, horrible tension in the early moments- the anxiety and uncertainty over knowing that the least obvious among the trio is going to become the devil, the sad bargaining in lines like

“We don’t need to know who the devil is. It’s just a phase. …right?”

Which transitions into this pleading, and then

Venus: “I can feel fingers on my face and arm and everywhere.”

Jupiter: “Ahaha. Gross. I’m gross.”

And then the most iconic scene in this entire game, the most powerful and tiny act of the hair tie breaking, a piece of symbolism so small yet so monumentally significant. And then everything that follows, the entire speech.

“Don’t touch me. You shouldn’t touch me. I wasn’t born good.”

Talk abt lines that live in my mind rent free dhdjbdjd. Everyone talks about “I wasn’t born good” bc it’s a killer line and very relatable, but shoutout to some other stars:

“I can try hard, but I think… God knows my heart isn’t really in it.”

“Y’all are sweet. But don’t do that. I won’t be happy if you do.”

“I want to touch. I want to be touched. I want to hurt. I want to be hurt. And if you feel the same way, you’re as bad as me.”

“Won’t you let me feel like a real devil for a moment?”

And that’s all just. Amazing. There’s so much to say abt that from the perspective of religious guilt alone, of ppl who have experienced that unique kind of internal struggle with Christianity, let alone the compounded complications of being gay, trans, neurodivergent. It’s a really impactful scene especially for the game’s themes, bringing them all together in the perspective of your typical idealistic leader character, of the one who wants to be good the most (that’s also why it’s imperative you play this ending last).

💕: Tell us about one of your favorite characters and why you like them!

I have committed the grave act of hubris in answering that first category in-depth before realizing I already elaborated on my answer for this one. Oops! Oh well.

Obviously it doesn’t take much to figure out my fave of the trio but every character is really important and I don’t wanna get caught up in rambling about Jupiter knowing she seems to be most ppl’s favorite.

All of the trio have different reactions to trauma, in particular the trauma of their world in which Christian morality is the actual law of the land. Many ppl can relate to Jupiter’s need to go along with it and to “fix herself” but I find the other two equally compelling.

Neptune isn’t happy with the way things are, she’s furious, bitter and burned. It’s criminal that the writers don’t elaborate on it more, but she’s existed for this long in a system that has already judged her bad, has already decided her very existence is wrong, and to her, it’s horrific and baffling how many people are okay to sit back and accept the same. The pain she feels watching the other members of her group suffer, trying so hard to appease a system that has already discarded them. Neptune isn’t interested in offering platitudes to a system that has already tossed her to the side, deemed her bad and irredeemable. Frankly, she doesn’t even care. What hurts her, what bothers her, is seeing other people grapple with the guilt that isn’t theirs to own, to try and fix in themselves what was never a problem to begin with. It’s like seeing a friend suffer a tragedy and blame themselves every time.

And Venus, perhaps most interesting of all, also knows that. She’s aware that the system is stacked against her and everyone else, and she’s bitter about it, but she knows nothing else. She goes along with it, and all the bullying and pain and hardship that comes with it. She isn’t deluded into trying to overturn her odds and prove herself to be good like Jupiter is, she’s apathetic, she’s accepted the hand she’s been dealt. She doesn’t fight back against her bullies because she has simply accepted their abuse as a natural part of her existence. She wants more, wants better, and has glimpses of hope that it’s obtainable- perhaps if she does what she’s told, if she doesn’t complain, if she puts up with it, one day she’ll get what she wants, what she needs to survive. But she won’t, she never will. She accepts all the hardship, all the abuse, all the confusion or a world built for and around people who aren’t like her, who can’t understand her- and she does it silently hoping things may get better on their own.

All three worst girls mean so much, have such meaningful and interesting perspectives and tell such compelling stories on personal levels which are only made more powerful by their union, by their coexistence and the vague, awkward but hopeful clashing of their disparate realities, coping mechanisms and outlooks. It’s shaky, it’s difficult, but they provide for each other what they each lack- Jupiter receive permission to be enough as she is, Neptune receives validation and companionship, and Venus receives the accommodations she needs to be her authentic self, no longer hidden. It’s really powerful, for trauma survivors and the mentally ill and for LGBT+ ppl.

💎 Are there any fun facts or trivia you would like to share?

Something most ppl may know but that I almost missed is that the original demo for the game- titled “We Know the Demo”- is actually not just a shortened version of the game or anything, but a unique prequel story that fills in some more gaps in characterization and worldbuilding, which I found very valuable for my fic “The Light God Didn’t Make.”

It includes such scenes as Neptune being secretly unstoppable at dodgeball, Venus infodumping, Neptune pointing out the fact we all know that Jupiter would look cool holding a guitar, and also Venus singing. All of them iconic bits.

The demo is free off the developers’ website and functions basically the same as the game, with picking a duo of characters to interact in each scene, so it’s a great complimentary piece to play before or after, and it’s really helpful in developing a better characterization of the trio if ur looking for that.

#oops I talked for 40 minutes oh no #meme response #thesunsetbox #rambles #wktd

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moon-yeongjun · 3 years

Text

Cat Got Your Tongue? || Moon Princess + Ting-Ting

Summary: On the morning of September 22, Jun races off to Ting-Ting’s in search of a solution to his little furry problem.

@princess-haru-chan

@princess-ting-ting

@moon-yeongtae

JUN: Jun was a cat.

Unfortunately, this fact had not changed during the frantic drive from the Moon Farm into town. Jun did not suddenly wake from this horrible nightmare to find himself hungover from last night’s Chuseok celebrations with a cough in his throat, rather than a hairball. But no! Instead he sat in Haru’s lap the entire way into town, though he took every opportunity there was a bump in the road to dig his claws into her thighs. Just a little revenge, though naturally he blamed his brother’s terrible (illegal!!!) driving.

And so he arrived at the Qins house as a cat. Yes, in one piece, but maybe getting run over would have been preferable.

Kidding.

Maybe.

It depended on how this early morning emergency magical consult went.

And it was early. Unfortunately, it wasn’t even 7 am yet, and Jun’s phone was probably under the couch somewhere ( he hoped? Honestly, where had his clothes gone?! Would Eomma find them and think the worst?) so they hadn’t been able to ring Ting-Ting beforehand. Jun just had to hope for the best-- namely, that she was a morning person, who saw this kind of thing (spontaneously cursed into the form of a cat) a lot.

So Jun leaped from Haru’s lap as soon as the truck’s door was open and dashed to the front of Ting-Ting’s house. “Hurry up, hurry up!” he hissed at both Haru and Tae as they clambered out too. Tae reached down to pick Jun up, but Jun bat his hand away. “Think about it and die!” he hissed.

Haru just rolled her eyes and then reached forward to knock on the door persistently, until it opened.

Instantly, Jun meowed first, despite how pointless an effort this was. “Ting-Ting, ah, thank god it’s you! Oh, we apologize for coming so early, but I need your help! Tell her, tell her!”

HARU: Haru wasn’t a cat, but she sure wished she was.

If she was a cat, she wouldn’t have claw marks in her thighs and she wouldn’t have to worry about translating for a very grumpy Jun-cat so humans could understand him. That was maybe the worst part of this whole thing so far because Jun-cat wasn’t a very nice cat. He hissed a lot, used his claws, and was not above using his teeth.

Haru tried for a bit, asking Tae to slow down and watch how he was taking corners, but every time Haru translated something, Tae would look down at Jun and smile at him which made Jun more angry and ended up hurting her legs even more. She stopped translating around the time Jun started threatening to never let Tae drive again and didn’t pick up again until Ting-Ting opened the door.

“Hello,” Haru said, shushing Jun-cat as he batted at her ankles. “I don’t know if you remember me but--”

“Jun-hyung is a cat!” Tae blurted, covering up his giggle with his hand. Haru wasn’t sure when he went from anxious and worried to thinking the whole thing was funny, but she supposed laughing was better than hyperventilating.

She turned and looked back at Ting-Ting.

“He’s not wrong,” she said. “This is Jun.” Haru gestured at the handsome black cat currently hissing at her. “He wants me to tell you he would really appreciate any help you can give him.”

Haru offered Ting-Ting an apologetic smile. “Sorry if we woke you.”

TING-TING:

Ting-Ting would like to say that she was up bright and early, but the truth was, she was actually fast asleep when the doorbell rang. At first she thought it was part of her dream (and it was a very good dream, actually, where she was a character in Dragon Age and — okay, that was besides the point), but then it rang again, and again, and finally Ting-Ting realized that oh, someone was at her door before 7 am and maybe it was serious.

Blinking away sleep, she grabbed a robe and made her way to the door, hoping that Mei and Su were still asleep.

She had no idea who it could be, but she certainly wasn’t expecting a hissing, spitting cat. She certainly wasn’t expecting Jun’s brother to blurt out that the cat was Jun. Slowly, she blinked. She looked at the woman, who she’d definitely seen around at Moon Market, but could not remember the name of, then looked at the cat.

“Oh my God,” said Ting, and she opened the door wider.

Immediately there was a bark. Key came sprinting down the stairs, her tail wagging furiously, as she caught the scent of a cat. Tiptoeing behind Key was Princess Kevin, who meowed curiously, but remained a safe distance away from Jun the Cat. Ting did her best to block off Key with her leg, while still ushering her guests in.

“Sorry it’s a bit of a menagerie in here,” she apologized. “Uh — sit down, please. I’m gonna make some tea so I don’t look like a total zombie.”

“Ting-Ting!” This was Mu Hou, calling from upstairs. “What’s going on?”

“Just some friends!” said Ting, as loud as she could while not being too loud. “Please don’t wake Mei and Su.”

Key barked. Kevin meowed. MuHou came sliding down the rain of the stairway. Ting wanted to bury her face in a pillow.

Instead, she put the kettle on, then sat down on the couch.

“So… why don’t we start at the beginning? How did … this happen?”

JUN: The relief Jun felt when he saw Ting-Ting lasted approximately… mmm… maybe seven seconds.

And then there was barking.

Every instinct in Jun’s cat-body reacted before his human brain. Because in his perspective: the dog was big, bigger than him, and coming straight for him.

He shrieked. It sounded like a yowl. And without warning, he launched himself up his brother’s leg, scrambling until a flustered Tae finally collected him in his arms, wincing and complaining as soon as Jun’s claws dug through his shirt. Jun could not be blamed for this! There was a massive dog and a strange cat and too many scents! He shivered in fright, never feeling more vulnerable as he did right now. Oh, the privilege of having two legs and standing up right! He missed it, needed to be a human again the way he was supposed to be!

Jun was therefore carried into Ting-Ting’s house and as soon as Tae and Haru sat down, Jun hopped off Tae’s lap but stayed squished at his brother’s side. His eyes tracked onto the loud dog and his ears flattened. If it got so much as one step closer to him…

Was that a monkey?! “What the hell?!” Jun hissed.

Oh, this was so overwhelming!

The best thing to do was get through it as quickly as he could. So as soon as Ting-Ting sat down, he meowed toward Haru. “Well! You should know, you’re the reason I’m like this! Tell her about your… your… cat magic ways!”

“Cat magic?” meowed the cat.

Wait, Jun could understand that? His ears perked and then he groaned, putting a paw up to his face. It was too early in the morning for this.

HARU: Haru wasn’t exactly sure what she was supposed to say. It was hard to think with Jun meowing loudly at her one second and practically yowling the next. Ting-Ting had always seemed very nice when she came into the market, but Jun should know better than most people that it was hard to tell random strangers your life story! Haru had been keeping the cat thing secret so long (mainly because of Jun!) that having him hiss at her to tell Ting-Ting was a little disorienting.

Sure, she knew they’d come here for help, but what if Ting-Ting couldn’t help them? What if Haru told Ting-Ting all about her home and how she was actually a cat and then Ting-Ting simply said she didn’t believe her and kicked them out of her apartment?

Ugh!

“Hush, Jun! I can’t think with you hissing at me all the time. Gosh you’re so whiny as a cat.”

With pink cheeks, Haru turned her attention back to the woman across from her.

“So, um, he said I should tell you how this happened to him, but I don’t actually know. He thinks, and he’s probably right,” she added while looking back over at Jun where he was squished against Tae, “that it has something to do with me being a cat.”

Haru blinked and continued, avoiding Ting-Ting’s gaze. “I, um, I actually come from somewhere else. I think it’s really weird like, portals are involved and everyone where I come from is a cat. I’m actually a princess, my country is called Nihon and I sort of miss it but Swynlake is really nice too and Jun has been so helpful and sweet and…” Haru trailed off, realizing she was rambling. “I don’t know how this happened to him, but I really hope you can help him. Do you think you can?”

TING-TING:

On one hand, Ting-Ting was very flattered that Jun kept coming to her for magical help but on the other hand he kept coming to her with increasingly complicated situations — honestly, she wondered how the heck he managed to get himself caught up in all of this? People taking on other’s appearances?! A world of cats?!

She wondered if there could be use in going to Reza — this seemed like a curse, if she had to guess. Though it didn’t seem malevolent… more like an accident if anything. But transmutations and transformations were absolutely out of Ting’s wheelhouse and honestly, all things considered Jun-as-cat’s internal Yin-Yang balance was pretty fine. Well, at the very least she could probably try to restore his power of speech, but…

She listened as best as she could, trying to formulate some sort of actionable plan — literally anything, when Mu Hou spoke.

“Oh dear,” said Mu Hou. She hobbled into the kitchen, lifting the whistling kettle off the stove and said nothing else.

Ting whipped her head around.

“You only say that when you know more than you’re letting on,” she scolded. “What is it?”

At her feet, Key rested her head, never once taking her eyes off Jun. Kevin aloofly kept his distance, but tilted a head in their direction every so often.

Mu Hou tsked her tongue, as she prepared the tea tray.

“You’re going to have to go back home, dear,” she said, not to Ting, but to Haru. She walked over, setting the tray down on the coffee table. “The only way to reverse this is to return to Nihon — this is a magic that won’t be undone here. I mean, theoretically, it could since — “

“There is in theory a spell for anything,” recited Ting, rolling her eyes a little.

“Yes, but it might take years to decipher. Your best bet, sir,” and here, Mu Hou addressed Jun, “is to go back with this young woman and find someone to remove the spell. They’ll know how to do it there. It’s pretty standard.” She hummed to herself and poured some tea. “But Ting can at least give you your voice back, if you’d like — isn’t that right?”

“Oh yes,” said Ting, standing up. “I can prep the spell for that if you don’t mind waiting a bit.”

JUN: Wait wait wait. This monkey said what?

First of all, Jun was quite unsatisfied with Haru’s explanation. It left out most of the important facts in his opinion! Like--

Well, actually, Jun did not know. For the first time, he realized his own squeamishness when it came to magic had meant that he’d never really asked Haru how she had become human in the first place, or why she’d come to Swynlake, or any of that. He’d just… well, he’d put it out of his mind completely. But surely she had to know much more about these things, at least the piece where she ended up in Swynlake! Yes, she was running away from a marriage, but why here? And how? Did she steal a, a charm, or could she open up portals herself, or what?!

There were missing pieces of this conversation that made Jun even more uncomfortable than he was. Miss Monkey’s confident diagnosis hardly did anything but make him more dismayed.

So while Ting-Ting stood up to at least give him his human voice back-- thank god!-- he glanced from Haru to Mu Hou and back again. At least they both could understand him.

“That makes no sense! Why are you so sure we have to go back to Nihon?” Jun demanded of Mu Hou. “And you!” This, to Haru. “You never explained to me how you even got here, eh! That seems relevant to this conversation, don’t you think? What kind of magic have you been hiding this entire time?”

TAE: As far as holidays went, this Chuseok was probably one of the more memorable ones. It wasn’t every day that his hyung’s girlfriend woke him up to tell him that his hyung was actually a cat and by the way so was she, you know? In fact, as the little cat form of his hyung snuggled up against his side, shying away from the other animals in the room, Tae was still struggling to wrap his mind around the whole thing. As far as he knew, Haru was related to someone at church! That’s why she’d been around so much. That was obviously a lie.

Now Tae was sitting in a room with talking monkeys and a girl who could understand his hyung when he yowled at her in cat and honestly he was going to have to talk to Jun as soon as all of this blew over--have a chat about telling lies and dating magick cat-girls like some anime or something.

Actually--Tae laughed from his spot on the couch, his fingers petting over Jun-cat’s back absentmindedly--and then blushed when they all looked at him. They were clearly having some sort of serious conversation that he could only hear half of and he’d interrupted them, but it was just so funny. His hyung was living an anime! He couldn’t wait to tell Nemo--well, as soon as the whole thing blew over and it wasn’t a giant secret anymore--but he was literally dating a cat-girl and then got turned into a cat!

“Sorry, I just--” he said to the room. “I was just thinking about something funny, don’t mind me.”

Haru cleared her throat beside him and he turned to look at her. He still really liked her, cat-girl or not. She was good for his hyung. He’d paid attention. He’d noticed Jun smile at her and let himself have a little fun when she was around. He really hoped Jun didn’t hate her too much for this.

“It’s not my magic,” Haru said, basically out of nowhere, though Tae was sure she was answering Jun’s meows. Heh. Cute.

“Back home we have a sorceress, Purrseph--she was kind of like a mother to me sometimes. I liked to follow her around, ask questions about what she was doing and she let me. I think she--well, I think she liked me more than my own family did sometimes, but that’s not important.” Haru’s eyes got a little shiny and Tae felt his heart twinge. He could understand that. Not that his family didn’t like him, but there was that fear of rejection--being scared of being tossed aside. He reached over and patted her arm.

Haru smiled at him and kept going.

“She told me she’d figured out a way for me to be happy when I came to her. She said she knew I didn’t want to get married to that stupid cat and that I was going to come to her so she’d been working on it. She said it would send me somewhere where I’d find that happiness and only when I found it would I be able to come back so I had to be sure.”

Haru’s cheeks were super red and Tae looked from her to Jun then smiled.

“Aww, hyung, you made her happy!”

“I think it was your whole family, Tae,” Haru said. “You all were so kind and welcoming and I just--I felt really at home with you. So thank you.”

MU HOU:

While Ting-Ting busied herself with the spell components — muttering a quick apology before dashing upstairs to the landing to collect all the reagents — Mu Hou pursed her lips, listening to the chatter of the cat-girl and the boy-cat (they were different, you see, for one was a cat turned girl and the other was a boy turned cat).

“Ah, I see,” said Mu Hou, with an understanding sigh. “I would’ve done the same for my girls. Well, perhaps not the same — but once I had them switch bodies to teach them a lesson. We mother-figures have to get creative sometimes, you know, otherwise a lesson won’t stick.”

She figured Haru would understand — animals often went about their ways in more indirect manners than humans. Part of it was not always being able to communicate in the same way, but Mu Hou found that those lessons stuck more when the people had to figure it out on their own.

“I’m back!” called Ting-Ting, darting down the stairs. “So so sorry — somehow we do have all the reagents, which is great, so they're all bubbling together right now and — “

“You’ll have to journey to the cat kingdom,” repeated Mu Hou. “I bet this Purrseph put a specific lock on the spell that only she can break. Complicated, yes, but lots of sorcererers will put failsafes on these sorts of things — especially when they come from the heart.”

She smiled at Haru, then looked fondly at Jun.

“It might seem… unconventional, but I have a feeling you will come out of this with something valuable.”

“Oh, please don’t tell me this is like those cookies,” moaned Ting, who scrunched up her nose. “That was a nightmare.”

“And you learned!” said Mu Hou. “Now — fetch that spell and help poor Jun find his voice again at the very least.”

Ting did as she was told — she always did — and soon enough, the spell was assembled and handed over to Haru in a little vial.

“Uh, he can lap it up using a little saucer?” offered Ting.

JUN: Ah, yes. A cat sorcerer. If there were a cat kingdom, and a cat princess, why wouldn’t there be a cat sorcerer? Though the more Haru explained, the more Jun wished she didn’t because of what it all implied--

Haru had been happy.

Apparently, Jun was this way because Haru was happy. He was supposed to fill in for this strange cat prince, and go rule a kingdom or something, like this was a strange faerytale about kissing frogs. If Jun had skin, he would be red from the tip of his ears to the tip of his nose. Did this mean that Haru actually like-liked him?

Yah, what was he, a fourteen-year-old?! Thinking things about ‘like-liking’ someone! He really needed to get out of this cat body, it was frying his brain!

(Though he couldn’t ignore that he’d had similar thoughts last night. But it wasn’t so much a feeling, was it? No butterflies at all. He and Haru had been perfectly comfortable with each other and that’s why Jun thought all those maybes. Maybe dating her for real wouldn’t be awful….maybe she’d be a good mother, a good wife, one day… maybe maybe maybe…

This was his fault too.

He’d never admit it!)

Instead, he leapt off the couch and padded toward the saucer. At least he could stop this high-pitched mewling! Jun lapped up the potion quickly, which wasn’t difficult because it was actually quite delicious. Then, blinking, he looked around at Mu Hou and Haru and Tae and finally Ting-Ting. “Well, I don’t feel any different. How do I know it’s work-- my voice!” Jun exclaimed. He could hear it this time, his words! His voice was back!

“Ah, thank you so much Ting-Ting! You have no idea how grateful I am. I promise, I’ll find a way to pay my gratitude.” He bowed...as a cat. Several times.

Though the main problem wasn’t fixed. But apparently… they had to go to Nihon for that.

He glanced at Haru. “Come, Haru, Tae-yah. We should er, let Ting-Ting get back to her morning. I’m sure she’s very busy.”

#para #moon princess #junting #moon bros

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daily-dose-of-imagines · 3 years

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(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ Matchup ♥

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Naruto, One Piece, and Free Match-Up Request

May I request another match-up but for Free, One Piece, and Naruto this time? :) Here’s all my info once more!

Name: Corethra (or Corey for short)

Age: 25

Gender: Female

Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

Occupation: Hand Packer at an ice cream factory. I work 12 hours (5:30pm to 6am) on a rotating schedule.

Birthplace: Memphis, TN, USA. I was raised in the neighborhood called Frayser which is the most impoverished area in Memphis and has a high crime rate as expected.

Zodiac Sign: Pisces (born March 2) My full birth chart can be found here

Enneagram: 5w6

Chinese Zodiac: Year Of The Pig

MBTI Type: INFJ

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Hogwarts House: Slytherin

Love Language: Acts Of Service

Race/Ethnicity: African-American

Height: 4'11 (Call me short and I’ll kick your butt!)

Body Type/Shape: Average but well developed figure at best. I weigh about 158 lbs and am pretty insecure about my body. I also have really bad scars on my left arm from being bitten by a dog.

Hair Color/Style: Black and naturally curly but I keep it flat-ironed so it’s straight. It’s long and goes down to just below my shoulder blades. There are times when I will have braids put in of various lengths.

Glasses or No?: Yes I wear glasses

Eye Color: Brown

Dress Style: I usually dress up in a casual way, just throwing on whatever looks good at the time but I will sometimes put in the effort when the time calls for it or when I’m in a good mood. I have an affinity for the punk, emo, and goth styles and I rarely wear feminine clothes but I will wear something risky every once in a while.

Hobbies/Interests: Video games, reading, writing, anime, internet surfing, listening to music, politics (sometimes), watching movies/TV shows, basically being an overall nerd. I’m usually either on my laptop or one of my many video game consoles if I’m not on my phone or reading one of my books.

Dislikes: Ignorance, stupidity, restriction, manipulation/gas-lighting, bullying, humanity, not being understood, corruption/injustice, close-mindedness

Personality: At first glance, I seem quiet and keep to myself, only speaking when I need to or when I’m spoken to. I’m an anti-social introvert to the fullest and don’t care much for small talk or going out. I prefer to have deeper conversations. When I get comfortable enough in whatever environment I’m in, I start to open up bit by bit. I’m a tomboy and pretty rough-minded as well as stubborn. I’m very sassy, have a smart, sarcastic, and witty mouth if not humorous and outrageous at times, can be borderline rude and mean, and I’m more sensitive than I care to be. I can literally cry at someone’s suffering especially if it’s someone I’m close to or even a total stranger. I’m very empathetic and my heart is bigger than what most people would expect. Most people describe me as quiet, intelligent, creative, dorky, a smartass, and really sweet. I love a good laugh and have an open sense of humor to boot.

Many of my friends say that I’m very sweet and kind which I usually am if I’m in a good mood as well as affectionate as hell. Hugs and pet names galore with me! However only my friends and family see that side of me. My language is often unfiltered, harsh, foul, and blunt which shocks people because they think I’m a pure angel. I say what I want when I want and no one tells me otherwise. If they do, they can expect a mouthful from me. I’m an escapist and very imaginative, can be a bit scatterbrained at times, and I’m methodical and detailed to the point of perfectionism. I’m usually a walking contradiction in terms of personality in so many ways to the point where the real me is almost impossible to decipher. To make matters more complicated, I’m not very good at expressing myself verbally and prefer to let my actions do the talking. I also express myself better through written form.

I have many pet peeves and I get annoyed easily in general. I’m also slowly embracing misanthropy and nihilism but I can be pretty idealistic so it balances out. I’m practically zero tolerance when it comes to bullshit. I hate confrontation and conflict but I’m starting to work on it so I can be less passive-aggressive and more assertive. I also wish to stand up for myself more often than I should so people won’t think that I’m weak and an easy target. I’m pretty cynical which is to be expected and usually expect the worst from people. When someone angers me, I will either just withdraw altogether and completely cut them off (slam the door basically) or get in their face and go off before doing the former. I’m the “hold my anger in and release it all at once” type but I hope to change that one day and stop letting things fester before they get out of hand. I can be quite petty and even cold as well and if someone wrongs me, they will have to make the first move to mend fences. I refuse to apologize if I’m not in the wrong and I will not accept gaslighting/guilt tripping. I also refuse to change for others and will admit to having quite a lot of pride but that’s mostly due to me not wanting to be hurt and manipulated, mistreated, or used.

I have issues with trust and a wild imagination to boot. I usually trust my instincts and can see right through bullshit. I don’t like taking risks and I have to know all the details when I do something so I don’t mess up and look like an idiot. I am indeed a perfectionist and introverted to a fault which often prevents me from trying new things and going outside my comfort zone. I haven’t been in a relationship yet and am still a virgin due to my issues with trust and not wanting to be hurt or humiliated as well as being quite picky/perfectionistic with the people I allow in my life. I have high standards for both people and myself although I’m pretty laid-back and my dislike of conflict allows me to also take a lot of shit from people too before I eventually say “fuck it” and slam the door or go off on them. I don’t think very highly of myself and can sometimes fall into a period of self-hatred and self-pity.

Many people praise me for my intelligence which is fitting since I’m an intellectual. My ideals and beliefs are rather odd to say the least (I’m a classical liberal/independent and despise most ideologies/ideas. This includes religion, feminism, social justice, traditionalism, statism, big government, nationalism, socialism/communism, etc.) and I feel misunderstood because of it (mostly because of the black community ostracizing me). I am indeed a rebel, open-minded, and a free thinker. No one tells me how to think or feel or else they face my wrath. I highly value power over myself and I think it’s the most important thing that a person needs in order to survive. I am definitely an outcast at heart and I often distance myself from others and don’t like talking about my feelings or beliefs because I think most people lack the ability/capacity to understand me. Before I give my opinion on something, I like to do as much research as possible as well as look at things from all perspectives before coming to my own conclusion. I don’t mind discussing things but I prefer logic over emotion when doing so which makes it damn near impossible these days for me to have an real conversation without insults and threats being thrown (usually towards me). Chances are I’m gonna find something wrong with damn near anything someone believes in or says and I’m not afraid to call it out when I see it. Once I do open up and express how I feel, the gates of passion will open up and never close. I also have high morals and values and stick to my guns no matter what which can make me pretty stubborn at times.

I’m currently battling depression and often experience many symptoms of it including suicidal thoughts and depression spells. I also suffer from iron-deficiency anemia as well as irregular, prolonged periods. These things are pretty annoying for me to deal with whenever they flare up.

Overall, I’m pretty crazy and a handful to deal with. Good luck matching me up with someone :P

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Hello @sacredwarrior88 and thank you so much for requesting with us! I am so sorry that this came out so late, but I do hope you enjoy this!

>Admin 𝕋

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

𝐼 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽…

Ace! I feel that you and ace would be such a great couple! He is open minded and kind to others whereas you are the same way! You are passionate like he is, caring like he is, loyal to the bone like he is! He would see you and see your personality and just instantly fall in love you and your personality! Like, I can’t even imagine how much he will want you on his crew, so they he can keep on you and protect you at all times-- though he will soon figure out that you don’t need help, you can take care yourself--which he will find extremely attractive, no doubt about that!

He will love that fact that you are independent, because he really values individualism and independency, he sees it as a great traits to have. But he will also love the fact that you are sensitive, and can sometimes get into your own head. He understands that, knows it all too well, so he will try with all his might to try and make sure that you are happy and always smiling! But he will love how fierce you can be to other people, never bowing down to their expectations!

All in all, I feel like Ace would be a great man for you in the one piece universe! He would be attentive to you, would love your attitude and personality, and would absolutely adore how loyal and strong you are! make sure to love him thoroughly!

Ah, Sai! He is much like Ace, just a little less emotional, which is fine! I feel like you and Sai would make a couple for a couple reasons! He would love how mature you are, and how logical you can be, and-- like ace-- he loves the fact that you are extremely loyal to your friends! That is a true factor in the way he will see you, and it is for the better! He will se how strong you are, emotionally and will be envious and at the same time fascinated! I Feel like Sai will look at you with wide eyes, his breath caught in his throat, his heart beating wildly in his ribcage because he will love you that much! All the things you are interested he will want to hear with enthusiasm, everything you love he will want to learn and hear from you, to get to know you better!

Another thing is that if you were to go to him with your insecurities and how you are battling depression, he will try to understand, and once he does he will try to everything and anything to make sure you feel better! You need a massage? He’s on it! You need cuddles? oh yeah he will give you some! You need chocolate or sweets or anything of the like? He’ll run to the store, and be back 5 minutes tops!

All in all, I feel like the cool, mature Sai, with a heart of pure gold will be such a good match for you! He will make sure that you uncomfortable with him, he will never want to make you unhappy, and he will definitely do anything i his power to make sure that you will keep on loving him as much as you can!

Rei! Now, with Rei, I wanted to go a more cute route. I feel that Rei would be equal parts and scared and in love with you! He sees how strong you are against people that oppose, he sees how strong you are for your friends, and how you have such a different personality to everybody else around him, and he will immediately fall in with you. Like instantly! To him, you’d be like a beautiful butterfly blooming right in front of him, and he will want to have you all tot himself! Of course, he won’t force you, but he will definitely watch you at a distance longingly!

He is very much an introvert and your calm but strong aura would definitely help with his anxiety! I just see him melting next you, into your lap or shoulder whenever you are around him because he is so comfortable around you. He doesn’t do this with just anybody so it would be a real honor! And when it it comes to your insecurities, he would want to make sure that you know he loves you the way are, and if you were to want to change something about yourself, then he will support you all the way, as long as you are happy! He will just love that you are such a freethinker and so openminded about things, so unlike him!

All in all, I feel like Rei would love you and (somewhat) idolize because you have all these traits that he would love to have. This perfectionist will understand how it feels to be such a perfectionist and will want to help you with that too! He will love to the moon and back(stroke)!

#match-ups #matchup #submissions #anime matchup #submission #naruto matchup #free! matchup #one piece matchup #naruto x you #free x you #one piece x you

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ah-ga-seven · 4 years

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Till’ The End of Summer - Chapter 9

<< series masterlist >>

Pairing: Choi Yeonjun x Reader

In a Nutshell: College!AU, Rich Kids, Friends to Lovers, Fuckboy athlete Yeonjun, Overprotective Best friend Soobin, contains all of TXT and other Idol cameos, Omnipresent perspective.

Synopsis: You and Yeonjun are caught up in a cat and mouse game because of unspoken feelings and endless pining for each others’ attention. With the summer break approaching and lots of college parties, will you finally get a chance to explore your feelings for each other; even though the world and Yeonjun’s reputation makes things complicated?

Word count: 11,5K

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Warnings: Mentions of a broken family, abusive parents, conflict and death.

Yeonjun followed his mom inside of the house he used to call home before he left for college. The familiar scent of amber and vanilla welcomed him as he stepped inside.

The heels of his shoes made a loud ticking noise on the luxurious black marble tiled floor with each step he took. The place hadn’t changed much. The only thing different being the flower arrangements and the emptiness of the massive Villa.

It used to be way more lively in here. There were always all sorts of visitors in the house, if it was staff, family members, or friends of his dad’s; there was never a quiet moment during the day, which made the silence even more confronting and saddening.

He sighed putting his bag down, stretching his aching body as a result of the long drive.

“Your room is exactly how you left it.” His mom says timidly. “I guess somehow I wished you’d return home someday so I didn’t have the heart to change anything about it.”

Yeonjun looks at his mother a little puzzled. All of the emotional confessions are taking a toll on him and he isn’t quite sure what he should be saying to her.

Just as the silence was starting to get awkward, they get interrupted.

“Yeonjun? Is that you?” a voice sounds from across the hall.

Yeonjun’s ears perk up and as he makes eye contact with her, his lips curl up into a loving smile.

“Yes, Lita imo, it’s me…” he says shyly as he let the older woman hug him tightly. Lita is the head housekeeper who has been working for the family since Yeonjun could walk.

She’s the one who packed his lunches and sat with him at the dinner table when his parents were too busy working. The only person he truly missed from the household was her. So, seeing her again after all this time made his heart swell.

He just wishes the circumstances were a little different.

She sighed as she held him at arms-length and studied him for a second. “Did you grow even more? When does it stop? You’re getting scary tall. And where did your baby cheeks go huh?” she says pinching his cheek, making sure to baby him like she used to.

“Ah-ah-ah” he whines as she let go of his cheek. They were beaming at each other and his mother noticed. A faint smile also on her face as she watched their dynamic.

She never really noticed how close they were until now.

“I’ll go make your bed. You must be tired from the trip.” Lita says, patting his shoulder before she makes her way up the stairs and into his old bedroom.

Yeonjun watched her go up with a small smile and sighed contently.

He followed his mother into the formal living room and sat down on the couch, letting his fingers graze over the velvety material.

“So…where is he?” he asks looking at his mom.

“He’s in the hospital.”

“Do we go…tonight?” He asks, uncertainty evident in his tone of voice.

“Yes, but let’s have some dinner first alright? I told Lita to make your favourite.”

“I can’t believe you stole the tournament bus,” Taehyun says clicking his tongue.

“It’s not stealing if I have a key.” Soobin argues back. “Besides how else were we all going to fit in the same car.”

The small bus had space for exactly 7 people, so you were glad it was even an option. Soobin being the team captain and all had its perks. He has keys to almost every facility and even the fucking school building.

“I hope this little stunt doesn’t get me suspended,” he says nervously biting his lip.

“No one will notice it’s missing hyung, it’s summer break.” Hueningkai retorts as he leans forward to pat Soobin on the back. Hueningkai was seated next to Taehyun in the middle row, while you and Beomgyu cozied up together in the back seats as Mia assisted Soobin with navigating in the front seat.

If the situation was any different, this could have accounted for a fun road trip with your friends, but the reality of things was a lot more somber.

“No, baby no! It’s a left here.” Mia panics as Soobin misses the exit.

“You said the next one!” he whines, slightly raising his voice.

“This is the next one!”

“Ugh, great. That at least an hour detour,” Taehyun states yanking the phone from Mia’s grip to inspect the route.

“Don’t get annoyed with each other already, we’ve been driving for only an hour,” you say interrupting the couples’ arguing.

Everyone was tense. None of you knew what the fuck you were even driving towards, where you would stay, what you would do when you’d see him. It was a permanent decision made on temporary feelings and you were anxious, to say the least, and given everyone’s attitudes, so were they.

“Well originally it was only 5 more hours, but thanks to someone it turned into 6.” Soobin says, which made Mia glare at him venomously.

“We’ll be lucky if we arrive before midnight with breaks included.” Taehyun states calculating quickly as he passes the phone back to Mia.

Beomgyu was asleep with his head on your shoulder, ignoring all the banter. You envied his ability to fall asleep anywhere at any time and sighed as you fixed a piece of his hair.

“It’s not the end of the world guys.” Hueningkai says calming them down. “I know we’re all nervous and every second counts, but we don’t even have a plan for when we get there,”

“The plan is to be there for him.” Soobin says tightening his grip on the steering wheel.

“No matter what.”

Yeonjun stood frozen on his feet with his hand on the doorknob to his fathers’ private hospital suite. The amount of security he had to go through was of insane proportions. If his mom wasn’t there to confirm that his dad indeed had a son, he was sure he wouldn’t even be able to enter on his own.

He let go of the knob and inhaled sharply before turning around to face his mother.

“I can’t do this,” he says with a shaky voice while his enlarged pupils dart to his mothers’ equally dark ones.

“Do you want me to go with you?” She asked putting a comforting hand on his shoulder as her brows furrow in concern.

Yeonjun thinks about it for a second but shakes his head in reply.

If he’s gonna do it, he’ll do it by himself. Though the presence of his friends would have helped, that wasn’t an option.

“I’ll be right here if you need me.” His mother assures, and for some reason, that small sentence of encouragement was all he needed. Hell, it was the most encouragement he’s gotten from his mom his entire life, so he took it with both hands.

He nodded to himself, his demeanor shifting to a much more confident one as the look in his eyes changed while twisting the doorknob.

He peaked his head through, knocking on the door softly. The view of his father was blocked by the figure of a nurse but as she turned to look at who was at the door, his father was in full view.

His mom was right, his condition was bad.

The once so powerful and unbreakable businessman Daniel Choi looked everything but those things.

He had lost a lot of weight, his cheeks sunken, hair gray. His lips were chapped and dry, as was his skin. All in all, he looked sick, and far more dead than alive.

Yeonjun’s eyes widened at the sight. There was no way that Yeonjun wanted to show empathy towards the man but somehow, he felt bad for him.

“Yeonjun, right?” the nurse says as she smiles at Yeonjun warmly.

He just nods in response and notices how his dad has only been staring at the wall in front of him, not responding to anything that was going on.

Yeonjun closes the door behind him and walks towards the nurse, keeping his eyes on his dad.

“He’s sedated to cope with the pain. He can hear you and see you. He responds if you get close enough, though it might take some time for him to process what is going on around him.”

Yeonjun nervously bit his lip, the sudden wave of emotions he was feeling becoming too much for him. He didn’t anticipate this, he thought he could have at least had one last normal conversation with him.

“Does he even remember me?” Is the first thing he says, the sound of his voice made Daniel’s head snap into Yeonjun’s direction and it startled Yeonjun.

His father’s fingers started to twitch in response. His movement became more demanding and the nurse immediately went over to him to calm him down.

“All he’s been asking for the past few weeks is you, Yeonjun. I think he’s surprised to see you too,” she says as she gives your dad a slight smile, patting his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

All Daniel was looking at was Yeonjun. He kept trying to lift his hand to motion to Yeonjun that he should come closer, but the message wasn’t quite clear.

Yeonjun didn’t know what to do, he stood awkwardly frozen in place as he watched his dad become more and more restless.

“Do I need to leave?” He asked a little distressed.

“No, I actually think he wants you to come closer, it’s okay. You can sit next to him on the stool. He’ll appreciate it,” she says holding out her hand as she motions for him to approach.

He took a deep breath and looked his father in the eye once more as he walked towards the bed.

His dad seemed to calm down as Yeonjun sat down beside him. His eyes scanning his son's face. He was able to grab Yeonjun’s hand, which surprised him, but he didn’t have the heart to pull away.

“I’ll give you two some space, if anything happens; press that button above his bed” the nurse says pointing toward the rectangular looking remote.

Yeonjun nodded, giving her a last look as she walked out. When the door closed behind her, he averted his attention back to his father. Sighing loudly as he looked at their intertwined fingers.

“You must really be out of your mind if you’re voluntarily holding my hand.” Yeonjun thinks out loud, speaking under his breath as he stares at their hands.

He felt tears prickle his eyes. His bottom lip trembling as the first tear escapes his eye.

He felt his father squeeze his hand, which made him look up at him.

“I really do hate you.” Yeonjun says in between sobs. “I do. I hate you.”

His father just looked at him, blinking a couple of times to show that he understands.

“So why the fuck am I even crying,” he huffs. This is a rhetorical question of course. He knows exactly why he’s crying. He’s crying because he’s powerless.

Yeonjun tears turned into frustration as he yanks his hand from his dad’s grasp. Angrily wiping his tears away as he collects himself.

“You can hear everything right?”

No response.

“Can you blink once for yes and twice for No.”

One blink.

Yeonjun sniffed nodding to himself as he organizes his thoughts. “Ok. So, we can communicate,” he thinks out loud.

His confidence returned, he rolls his shoulders back and places his hands on his thighs as he straightens out his posture.

“Why did you want me here?” Yeonjun asks getting straight to the point.

Daniel cocked his head to the side to show confusion, but his fathers’ confusion to the question only confused Yeonjun more.

“You wouldn’t tell mom why you wanted to see me. So why did you.”

His father tried to speak, but it was to no avail as he gave up quickly. Sighing in frustration at the fact that he couldn’t form words.

“Right, that’s not a yes or no question.” Yeonjun realizes, crossing his legs as he buries his face in his hands, lightly massaging his own scalp to release the tension in his brain.

After a few seconds he looks up, catching his dad staring at him intensely. Yeonjun uncomfortably shifted in his seat, noticing how his dad was getting more restless as he tried his best to form words.

“T-t-table.”

Yeonjun’s mouth fell agape to the sound of his dad's voice. “The table? Which table?” he asks getting up. Looking around frantically to catch any clues to what his dad is trying to tell him.

He followed his fathers’ gaze and quickly walked towards the expensive-looking mahogany table in the left corner of the room.

His eyes fall on an envelope with his name on it. His fingers ghost over the paper material, scanning it thoroughly as he picks it up.

He looks back at his dad who was still staring back at him. Yeonjun nodded. Taking the envelope with him as he sat back down on the stool.

“You want me to read this?” he asks, which earned one clear blink.

“Alright.” Yeonjun sighs as he opens the letter.

“To Yeonjun.” he reads aloud.

I don’t know whether or not you will read this when I’m dead or alive, but that’s not the point. After you’ve read this, make sure no one else does.

Even if you think I didn’t show interest in your life, I watched your every move. I know about your schoolwork, your team, your friends, the girl you like. I know it all.

I’ve had people watch you for me ever since I found out I was dying. Which has been years now. I made them write me reports on your character, your skills, and the way people perceive you and I have to say, I was surprised, to say the least.

You have proven yourself to be a leader rather than a follower. You are passionate, hard-working, smart and competent and will do literally anything to fight for your goals.

The only reason you are all of these things is because you had to work for it. You were never emotionally cradled as a child and from an early age you were aware that success is something you don’t just gain without a bead of sweat

You have seen the world at its darkest before you could feel what true happiness is, and that was not done unintentionally.

Your upbringing might have been tough. But it’s what you needed to become the ruthless and determined person that you are today.

That same ruthlessness and determination are what Choi Enterprises needs. Which brings me to the point of this letter.

There is no other person on the planet that I entrust with the future of Choi Enterprises other than you.

I don’t trust your mother and therefore I cannot let the company fall into the hands of your mother and her cunning family.

For your entire life, all I did was make sure you were ready for this moment. And even though it came earlier than anticipated, If you sign the attached documents. It’s all yours effective immediately.

Power comes with a price that I was willing to pay.

And I hope that you will too.

- Daniel Choi.

Yeonjun blinks a couple of times to let it all register to him. He lifts his head from the paper and looks at his father's hopeful expression.

“You spied on me.” he says in disbelief.

“You spied on me, but you couldn’t send me a birthday card?” It was a figure of speech, though his dad got what he meant.

Anger filled Yeonjun’s senses. The audacity this took from his father is on another level of crazy.

He got up, kicking the stool he sat on aggressively, making it fall to the floor with a loud thud.

His dad didn’t even flinch. He just kept staring at Yeonjun with the same look from before.

“Tell me.”

Yeonjun says as he inches his face closer to his father.

“Do you regret it?”

Daniel cocked his head to the side in confusion and waited for Yeonjun to continue.

“Do you regret being an abusive piece of shit? The whole, you needed to live through it to become strong shit isn’t cutting it for me. Do you regret it? Yes or No.”

Yeonjun was seething. He was inches away from his dad, fists balled, wrinkling the letter and attached documents in his left hand as a result of his strength as he anticipated his fathers’ answer.

The look in Daniel’s eyes went cold followed by two blinks.

“No.” Yeonjun scoffs. “Of course, you don’t.”

Yeonjun took a step back, clearing his throat as he swallowed his anger with it.

“Well in that case…” he says inspecting the papers in his hands. He held it in front of his line of sight, making sure his dad can see what he’s about to do.

He held on to each side of the pile of papers, ripping it in half slowly.

“Take that contract to your fucking grave.” He spits as he throws it into the nearest trash can.

His dad started to panic, convulsing aggressively in his bed. Gulping for air as he tried his best to move and speak at the same time.

Yeonjun pressed the distress button and stormed out of the room, not bidding his dad another look.

He slammed the door behind him, startling his mother who was waiting for him in the hall.

“Yeonjun!” she yelled after him. She quickly looked back to the room her husband was in, shocked with the sight of multiple nurses trying to hold him down.

She didn’t hesitate to run after Yeonjun, catching him in the hallway.

“Yeonjun wait a second!”

He halted his long strides, breathing heavily as he turned around on his heels.

“What happened in there?” his mother asks wide-eyed as she lays a hand on his shoulder in order to calm him down.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he says clenching his jaw, shaking his mothers hand off of his shoulder.

“Okay…whenever you’re ready.” she tries carefully, trying not to tick him off any further.

“Let’s go home. You’ve been through enough today.”

“Hyung are you sure you put in the right address?” Hueningkai asks wide-eyed as he got out of the van first.

“This can’t be it,” Taehyun says with his mouth agape. “This isn’t even considered a house. It looks like a damn palace.”

“I knew Yeonjun’s family was loaded but this…” Mia remarks.

You get out of the car, your mouth going dry as you look at the biggest house you’ve seen in your life. It was modern, yet rustic. The home had huge windows and white pillars and there was a huge stone staircase that lead up to the front door.

“How many bathrooms do you think they have?” Beomgyu gulps, his eyes darting from one side of the house to the other.

“Really? That’s what’s important right now?” Taehyun argues

“I’m just curious,” Beomgyu says rolling his eyes.

“Well..let’s….knock?” Soobin says with uncertainty peeking through his voice.

You take a deep breath, calming your nerves as you didn’t know what you would walk into. You weren’t sure how Yeonjun would feel to see you again or to see any of you right now. You had hoped the 6 turned 7-hour drive wasn’t for nothing, and that you could talk to Yeonjun with a clear mind.

Soobin took the lead with the rest of you trailing behind him. He sighed looking back at you guys before he built up the courage to ring the doorbell.

All of you were dead silent, anticipating for the door to be opened.

After a few more seconds, the large double doors open automatically, with a timid rather small lady standing in the doorway with an equally confused expression on her face to match yours.

That can’t be his mother? Right? They look nothing alike.

“Ehm…can I help you? It’s close to midnight? You do realize this is private property?” Lita says looking at the group with suspicion.

“Ehm, Hi mam, my name is Soobin, these are my friends…well…Yeonjun’s friends. We kind of…followed him here.” Soobin stammers incoherently. “But with good intent! We just…want to be there for him because…well…we think he’s having a hard time and-“

“Soobin.” You say shutting him up. “I think she gets it.”

Yeonjun heard multiple voices at the front door and came down the stairs out of curiosity. As he turns the corner, seeing a raven-haired tall figure at the front. He knew exactly who it was.

His eyes widened as his pace quickened, walking towards the voices a little faster.

You saw Yeonjun emerge from behind the lady, and when his eyes landed on all of you, he stood frozen on his feet next to her. The first one he made eye contact with is you.

The two of you stared at each other for a few seconds before the smaller lady interrupted the moment.

“Yeonjun, do you know these people?” She asks with a much kinder tone as she speaks to him.

“Y-yes, these are my friends,” Yeonjun says breaking eye contact with you, looking at the rest.

“How did you find out where I lived?”

“Y/n found out actually…there was a box in your room with the address on it…under your bed,” Mia says jumping in.

Yeonjuns eyes landed on you once again, giving you a small smile which you reciprocated, not knowing what else to do.

“Hyung, if you don’t want us here, I’m so sorry. But the way you left, we were worried and-”

Soobin couldn’t finish his sentence before Yeonjun pulled him towards him with a hard pull. The two hugged for a few seconds before Yeonjun let go, putting his hand on Soobin's shoulder as he looked at all of you with pure affection.

“I can’t believe you came all the way here…I don’t know what to say,” he says scratching the back of his head, still a little lost for words.

“How about, come in. It’s freezing.” Beomgyu says giving the older one a bitter smile as he chatters his teeth dramatically to show that he was cold.

Yeonjun chuckled, stepping aside so all of you could enter. And so, you did.

All of your jaws dropped at the interior and detail that went into the decoration of the place. The hall was huge and connected all of the separate rooms and wings together. Apart from the dark tiled floors, the colour scheme was light. Different shades of whites and nudes made up the interior. It was stylish, yet classic at the same time, with pops of colours from different flowers in huge vases.

“Do I need to prepare the guest rooms?” Lita asks a little flustered at the sudden appearance of 6 more guests.

Ah…so she’s the housekeeper, you think to yourself as you snap back to reality.

Mia nudged you, mouthing a subtle ‘Marry him’ to you, which you roll your eyes at.

“Uhm, yes. If you don’t mind. Thank you, Lita.” Yeonjun says bidding her a quick nod as Lita walks off quickly.

Yeonjun’s attention focused on all of you again, and Hueningkai barged his way through, ready to hug Yeonjun tightly.

“Hyung, are you okay? What happened?” he asks as he rubbed the older one’s belly while he still clung onto him like he always does.

His mother stood at the top of the stairs, unnoticed by any of you. She looked at the dynamic of all of you, especially looking at how clingy Hueningkai was with her son. She didn’t peg Yeonjun to be the type for physical affection like this.

A smile crept on her face, moved by the fact that his friends would go to these lengths to be there for him.

She tied her robe around herself, making her way down the stairs. And as she did so, Beomgyu noticed. He nudged Taehyun and motioned for him to look up, so he did, followed by all of you as you fell silent.

Yeonjun looked in the same direction all of you were focusing your gazes on, and immediately understood why you fell quiet like that.

As she made her way down the stairs, you got a closer look at her face, and the resemblance she had to Yeonjun was almost scary.

“Yeonjun? Who are these people?” Her voice was clear and warm, a little raspy cause she was probably asleep before you invaded her home.

She scanned everyones faces but when her eyes landed on you, they lingered on you, and it made you feel incredibly self-conscious.

Your paranoid ass started to get insecure, thinking she knew something about your relationship with her son, but her attention was quickly averted as Yeonjun spoke up.

“Is it okay if they stay here?” he asked politely.

“Of course, make yourselves at home. Any friend of Yeonjun’s is welcome here. If you all move to the living room so you can talk, I’ll go make some tea.”

“Thanks, mom.”

This whole dialogue confused all of you. To your knowledge, their relationship was questionable. But this seemed like a regular Mother and Son dynamic.

His mother disappeared in the massive hall as Yeonjun motioned for all of you to walk towards the living room. He knew he had a lot of explaining to do but he was dying to know why you were here after everything he said to you.

He was sure that no matter the circumstance, you’d never want to see him again. Yet here you were, looking at him with those big doe eyes of yours.

As the rest of the group admired the rest of the house, walking towards the living room, Yeonjun stopped you by tugging at your elbow lightly.

Your heart raced as he touched you, you looked down, hooking your pinkie in his before you looked up at his face.

His eyes were sad, apologetic, and insecure. “I…didn’t expect you to come with them…” he says looking at your intertwined fingers.

You sighed, rubbing comforting circles into his palm with your thumb. “Let’s talk later ok?” you say giving him a small yet reassuring smile. He nodded, letting go of your hand, leading you into the formal living room.

He caught Beomgyu playing with an antique object and Yeonjun’s brotherly side immediately kicked in. “If you break that you’re gonna have to work all of your life to repay my mother,” he says sternly as he sat down in the chair opposite from the couch all of you were seated on.

Beomgyu quickly let go of the weird-looking object and cleared his throat. “Ok, spill the beans hyung. What’s going on?” He asks as he sat down on the armrest of Yeonjun’s chair.

Yeonjun sighed, not quite knowing where to start.

“First of all. I owe all of you an apology,” he starts choking up a little.

“Hyung…” Taehyun says, his eyes getting sad as he watched Yeonjun protectively.

The mood in the room suddenly shifted as Yeonjun sighed. You could swear his eyes were getting watery, and there was nothing more that you wanted than to hold him in your arms right now. You wanted to comfort him and tell him everything was going to be okay, but you had no idea what was going on yet.

His mother emerged from the entrance with a tray full of teacups and cookies. She put down the tray and stood beside Yeonjun in silence.

“I’m sorry for acting the way I did on the night of the party. The way I acted towards you guys was uncalled for, especially towards you… y/n.”

You lock eyes with him again, and you feel his mothers’ eyes on you as well.

Hueningkai sat down in front of Yeonjun on the floor, putting a comforting hand on his knee.

Yeonjun gave him a small smile. Out of nervousness, Soobin grabbed Mia’s hand and squeezed it as all of you anticipated his next words.

“That night, I stayed at my uncle's house. The next morning my mom showed up to talk to me. It took some time but…we found some type of middle ground and I agreed to come back home with her for a while.”

“So…what was the family emergency?” Soobin asks a little confused.

Yeonjun inhaled sharply, rubbing his temple. He fell quiet for a second, suddenly noticing the room full of people that cared enough about him to drive all the way across the country to comfort him in a situation they didn’t know of, even though he was being a complete asshole.

He didn’t know what he did to deserve them. He looked at them individually and his heart started to swell with the intense amount of love he felt for them.

He looked at Beomgyu’s arm around him, Hyuka’s comforting hand on his knee, Soobin’s worried and glistening eyes to match Taehyun’s, Mia’s protectiveness, and your patient yet scared facial expression.

He bit his lip, getting emotional and he felt Beomgyu pull him closer.

“My dad is counting his last days,” he says looking at the floor.

You didn’t know about anyone else, but this was the last thing you expected.

The room fell silent apart from a few gasps. Your heart sank to your stomach and tears start to prickle your eyes as you watch him struggle to contain his emotions. His lip was slightly trembling, his hand covering his mouth as his eyes were big and sad.

“Oh, Yeonjun…” Mia sighs as she rubs Soobin’s back to comfort him as well.

Soobin isn’t one to cry but seeing the people he loves the most go through pain is absolutely heartbreaking to him. He wiped a single tear from his eyes and so did Taehyun as he sighed loudly.

Yeonjun huffed, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes to look at his friends. “Don’t cry. Stop, please.” He starts.

“It’s going to sound awful, but I’m not sad that he’s dying. My dad was…is a horrible person. He was abusive, manipulative, and unreasonable. There was no one I feared more than that man. Every time I closed my eyes at night I wasn’t scared of aliens and monsters under my bed, I was scared of him coming into my room to yell at me or hit me. I think I’m sadder about the fact that I’ll never get an apology out of him for ruining me. I’ll never hear him say that he was wrong for the things that he did to me as a kid and that’s the hardest pill to swallow.” Yeonjun confessed all in one go.

You swallowed harshly, trying to suppress a sob. Taehyun noticed that you were having a hard time, so he put his arm around you, making you lean into him by subtly pulling you towards him.

“I went to see him today, and even though we couldn’t really communicate the way I hoped we would, he made it clear to me that he wasn’t sorry.”

“What…” Soobin says in disbelief. “He wasn’t remorseful at all?”

“No.” Yeonjun shook his head, contemplating if he should tell them about the contract and the company, but given the fact that his mother was in the room; he decided against it.

He didn’t know if he could trust her, for all he knew she could be after the money and the company herself. Knowing his mother, she could be just as ruthless as her dad when it came to business matters.

“Yeonjun, we’re here for you. Seriously. If you need anything at all just tell us. We won’t be leaving unless you tell us to.” Soobin states confidently as they look each other in the eye. His words made Yeonjun feel assured, and he bid Soobin a small smile. It was nice knowing that he wouldn’t be going through this alone.

He took a deep breath, shaking the sadness off of him. “Thank you guys for coming, seriously. I think I needed all of you more than I thought I would.”

“Of course,” Hueningkai says.

“Anytime, we’re family,” Beomgyu says as he squeezed Yeonjun’s shoulder.

You heard a small scoff from the left corner of the room and saw his mother with her arms crossed.

You narrowed your eyes at her, raising your brow.

“Friends are friends, family is family,” she says, genuinely believing her own words.

Everyone was looking at her by now, as was Yeonjun who just sighed, ignoring her.

You don’t know why, but suddenly you feel a surreal amount of anger boiling in the pit of your stomach. You scoff at her statement which made Mia give you a warning look.

“We’ve been more of a family to him than you have been his whole life,” you say clear as day before you can think of the damage that you’ve just done, and just like that the atmosphere turned cold.

Yeonjun’s eyes widened, looking at you in shock.

Soobin uncomfortably shifted in his seat and Taehyun gave you a ‘bitch what the fuck was that’ look.

“Excuse me?” his mother’s tone changed completely. The once so soft-spoken woman turned into the ice queen herself and gave you a look that would normally make you run the opposite direction, but you held your ground by staring back at her fiercely.

“What she means is…” Taehyun jumps in quickly. “That we truly are a family, we’d go to hell and back for each other and that’s a fact…mam,” he says as politely as humanly possible.

You try your best not to roll your eyes, which Yeonjun noticed. He had an amused smile on his lips, which his mother then noticed and suddenly it clicked to her. You were the girlfriend who wasn’t his girlfriend. The girl that stole her son’s heart, and the girl that talked back to her in her own home.

“It’s getting late. I suggest everyone gets some sleep. You all must be tired from the long drive. We don’t know what is waiting for us tomorrow and if you are sticking by his side like you all say you are, then we better get some good night’s rest.” She says almost diplomatically, perfectly enunciating every word as if she rehearsed it.

You honestly didn’t even think of sleeping, you wanted to talk to Yeonjun, clear the air between you two, and comfort him to your best ability. He just told you his dad was dying, and his feelings were disregarded so quickly that it shocked you.

In your household, a revelation like this would result in hours upon hours of talking about your feelings, whereas in Yeonjun’s home. Feelings are seen as a temporary burden. It was scary how quickly the mood switched from emotional to almost business-like, but Yeonjun didn’t know any better. He was wired the exact same way as his mother because that’s how he had learned to deal with his feelings.

It’s like he only allowed himself to feel true emotion for a little while, seeing it as impractical to be vulnerable. This household really did feel like a business deal, which made your heartache for Yeonjun even more.

Soobin was the first to get up, stretching his tall body before he helped Mia to her feet as well.

Lita emerged from the entrance to lead all of you upstairs to your respective guest rooms.

Soobin and Mia shared a room, as did Hueningkai and Taehyun. Beomgyu and yourself, however, got rooms to yourselves with attached bathrooms in a whole different wing than the others.

From the outside, his house looked enormous, but from the inside, it was even bigger. You were already getting lost in the halls even though you were in a group. You had no idea where you came from every time you turned a corner and Yeonjun noticed how lost you were, chuckling to himself a little as he walked closely behind you.

You were the last one to be appointed to a room, as everyone else was already settling down.

“This is where you’ll be staying miss.” Lita says as she points to the door across from Beomgyu’s room.

You nod sheepishly, turning the doorknob. Your mouth fell agape at the sight of the room. You could swear it was as big as your apartment. The interior was classic, yet modern. And looking at the way the bed was made you were almost scared to wrinkle the bedsheets.

You swallow harshly, trying to act as nonchalant as possible.

“This will do, right? If not, I have a bigger option at the end of the hall.”

“N-no, this is fine, more than fine,” you stutter.

Yeonjun stood behind Lita, leaning against the doorframe with a shit-eating grin on his face.

He was enjoying your flustered state, as it took a lot to get your smart-ass anywhere close to dumbfounded.

You saw the playfulness in his eyes, and you cursed at yourself for being so obviously impressed with everything.

“If you need anything just give me a call with the house phone. The number is on your bedside table. Goodnight.” Lita says giving you a warm smile.

“Goodnight…” you mutter timidly as you close the door behind you after you watched Yeonjun walk off with her.

You lean your head against the doorframe, your mind spinning with all of the things that happened in such a short time frame.

You sigh, throwing your bag on the bed. You decided to take a quick shower. The attached bathroom looked like one out of a magazine, so it took some time for you to adjust and figure out how to set the right temperature for the faucet.

You really needed that shower to clear your mind and relax your muscles. You were basically clenching your butt cheeks the whole night out of nervousness, and you could already feel the muscles in your body getting sore. You sigh, finishing up your routine and slipping into an oversized shirt to sleep in.

During your whole routine, all you could think of was Yeonjun, and how badly you wanted to be alone with him right now.

You stare at the ceiling as you laid on your back, completely engulfed in the soft sheets and pillows of the bed.

You were wondering how he was doing, if he was thinking of you or if he was asleep.

You sit up, turning on the bedside lamp as you reach for your phone, ready to text or call him but your actions were interrupted as you heard soft knocks on your door.

Your eyes widened, knowing damn well that it was him.

You put your phone aside and crawled out of the bed with lightning speed.

When you opened the door and locked eyes with him, you launched yourself at him, wrapping your arms around his frame to hug him tightly.

He was surprised by your affection, wrapping his arms around you as well to hold you even tighter.

He closed his eyes as he buried his face in your hair, appreciating the moment.

God, he missed you.

You walked backwards, still in his hold as he closed the door behind him skillfully with his foot.

He let go of you slowly, grabbing your face as he searched for answers in your eyes for questions he hadn’t asked yet, but when you looked at him with the same longing facial expression as his, he knew enough.

He inched his face closer to yours, pulling you in for a soft and needy kiss that you yearned for so much. You stabilized yourself by holding on to his wrists as he kissed you with so much passion and hunger, that your mind went foggy. He pulled away slowly. Leaning his forehead against yours as you both try to catch your breath.

“Hi,” you say shyly, smiling up at him.

Your cuteness made him chuckle softly. “Hey,” he replies, letting go of you reluctantly.

You sit down on the bed and pat the spot next to you as a way of telling him to sit there. He complies and you face him, looking into his tired eyes.

You remove a stray piece of hair that was prickling his eyes and sigh.

“Tell me how you’re feeling, honestly,” you say taking a hold of his hand.

He takes a deep breath, knowing he can’t bullshit with you. “I’m not sure,” he confesses.

“It’s like one second I’m fine, and I forget what’s happening and the next I’m sad and angry. I feel bipolar,” he says letting himself fall flat to the bed.

You sigh, scooting closer to him. “That’s perfectly normal. I’m glad you’re still able to feel something given everything you’ve been through.”

He sighs loudly pulling you down with him, so you were situated on his chest. You comply, knowing that he needed you close for comfort, and to be really honest with yourself, you missed the feeling of having him close like this. You stay like that for a while, enjoying each other’s presence in the silence before he decided to break it.

“I’m so fucking sorry y/n,” he says in almost a whisper as he plays with your hair, lost in thought.

You stay silent, getting sad as you think back to your explosive fight. “I should have never slapped you,” you admit choking up. The fact that you did was something you couldn’t get out of your mind nor forgive yourself for. Especially after Soobin told you about his abusive childhood, all you could do was hate yourself for it.

Yeonjun noticed the crack in your voice and sits up immediately with you still in his arms.

“Y/n if I was you, I would have done more than just slapped me in the face, I deserved that. It’s okay,” he says shushing you, caressing your cheek in order to calm you down.

You take a deep breath, blinking away the fluid in your eyes before you start to speak. “No, it’s not. And let’s not sugar-coat it. We were both wrong, and we were both right at the same time. I just don’t understand how we go from paradise to hell in a matter of seconds Yeonjun, it’s what scares me about us.”

He just nods, not being able to counter act your statement because you were right.

The not being able to live with or without each other was a level of toxicity that you swore you’d never fall for. But yet here you are, wrapped up in the arms of the man who basically told you his best friend could have you now that he’s done with you.

You can’t even tell him how many times those words rang through your head like a painful mantra, but that’s the last thing that you want to burden him with right now.

“I forgive you,” you say breaking the silence. “I really do. I know you only said those things to push me away because you’re afraid to let me in, but you’re not the only one that’s scared Yeonjun. So am I. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about anyone and that’s just…’

“Scary,” he says, finishing your sentence.

“Yeah..”

Yeonjuns shoulders fell, giving you a kiss on your forehead. “We can figure out what all of this means for us later, but for now I’m just really, really happy you’re here right now.”

You nod in agreement, kissing his jaw affectionately before you wrap your arm around his waist again, and suddenly his mind flashed back to the little altercation between you and his mother.

“I can’t believe you talked back to my mom like that.” He snorts as he pulls you back down again, making himself comfortable with you laying across his chest.

“I’m sorry but it was the fucking hypocrisy that did it for me,” you huff a little annoyed as you think back to the moment.

Yeonjun just chuckles, and you feel his chest vibrate as he does so. “I don’t know. I get what you mean but she’s been trying. I can’t move forward with her if I don’t give her a chance to change but…I don’t trust her yet,” he says lost in thought.

“What don’t you trust her with?”

Yeonjun bit the inside of his cheek, contemplating if he should tell you about the whole ordeal with his dad this afternoon, but since he wanted your opinion on the matter, he decided to tell you.

“I told you guys I went to visit my dad, right?” He says rubbing your back absentmindedly.

You nod, looking up at him. “What happened?”

“He wrote me a letter saying that he’s been keeping tabs on me, and that he wants me to take over the business because he doesn’t’ trust my mom.”

“Wow, wow, wow. What?” you say sitting up again.

“Yeah, that was a very rough summary,” he says propping himself up on his elbows to look at you.

“He kept tabs on you?”

“He had people spy on me. It’s scary baby, he even knew of you.”

Your eyes widen in shock. It’s like you were suddenly involved as a pawn in a very complex game of chess and you didn’t know what to think of it.

“And he wants you to take over Choi Enterprises?”

Yeonjun just nods, looking up at the ceiling.

“Well…are you?”

“It’s never what I wanted. And It’s not like I want to grant his dying wish or anything like that but…”

“But?”

“It is my birthright.”

You blink a couple of times, letting his words register. If Yeonjun was seriously contemplating whether or not to take the position of acting CEO, you were sure he wouldn’t need some lame college degree to back him up. He’d drop out of school; move back to his hometown and you’d never see him again. Selfishly it’s not what you wanted, but it wasn’t about you. It was about him.

“If I just let my mom run the company, I could always roll in if I wanted to, but if I would go behind her back and acquire the position myself, it’d break the little trust we built.”

“What if your mom is just using your good heart to get to that position herself?” You ask thinking out loud.

“You think she’d do that?” Yeonjun says genuinely interested, not offended at all by the assumption. If anything, he was happy to have someone to talk to, so he could look at the situation from multiple perspectives.

“I mean…what do you really know about her?” You ask tracing patterns on his chest with your fingers to keep yourself occupied.

Yeonjun looked at you, biting his lip as he got lost in thought again.

“My dad did mention something in the letter about her, and her quote ‘cunning family’ being after Choi Enterprises, but I don’t know it just…seems like a stretch. My mom knows I don’t have interest in the company.”

You halt your movements, laying back down on his chest as you make yourself comfortable.

He looked down at you lovingly, giving you a quick kiss on your lips when you looked up at him again.

“Maybe ask him about it. I can come with you if you want. First thing in the morning.”

Yeonjun’s brows raised in surprise. “You’d do that?” he asks a little baffled at the fact that you’d voluntarily throw yourself in a lion’s den for him. This wasn’t just like visiting a relative in the hospital, there was so much more at stake that even Yeonjun himself couldn’t fathom right now.

You nod, not having to think twice about it. “Anything for you.”

The two of you fell asleep like that, wrapped up in each others’ warmth with your arms and legs tangled together. It was the best sleep both of you had gotten in the past couple of days. Though it was a short night, you were well-rested.

At around 8 AM you texted Soobin that Yeonjun and yourself went out to talk to each other in private when in reality you were going to visit the hospital to see Yeonjun’s dad. You were sure everyone was still in deep sleep and that you’d be back before they’d notice, but it felt better to at least let someone know that you left the house together.

The car ride was silent, nerves eating at the both of you as you held hands while he drove. He was nervously biting the inside of his cheek like he always does, and never let go of your hand the whole way.

As you walk through the endless halls of the hospital and pass security to the VIP section; you started to get more intimidated by the level of security present. They let Yeonjun through without a word and you trailed behind him with big eyes as you held onto his hand tightly.

He sighed, turning around to look at you as he stops in front of a massive double door. “Last time I saw him I stormed out in anger. Even when he’s not responsive he makes my blood boil and I honestly don’t want you to see me like that if it happens again.” He confesses as he looks at you seriously.

You sigh, squeezing his hand as reassurance. “I don’t care. I’m not leaving your side.”

Yeonjun nodded, taking a deep breath before he prepared himself as he opened the door to his fathers’ VIP area, but the sight he was welcomed with, was the last one he expected.

You noticed how he froze, and you frowned, standing on your toes to peek over his shoulder but your heart dropped to your stomach as you saw and heard what was going on.

Doctors and nurses were frantically trying to resuscitate Yeonjun’s father.

“CLEAR!”

The loud and continuous beeping of the heart monitor, followed by the charging sounds of the defibrillator was all the confirmation you needed to know that he was flatlining.

Panic was evident, and you knew that despite all the efforts of the doctors, chances were little to nothing that they’d be able to bring him back, given the state he was already in.

Your gasp was noticed by a few nurses and doctors which made one of them groan in disapproval.

“How did they get in here!? No one is allowed inside.” The doctor huffs before he charged the defibrillator again.

“CLEAR!”

Yeonjun watched his father’s body contort as the joules of electricity were charged through his chest, but it was to no avail.

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” One of the nurses says as she blocks the view.

Yeonjun pupils darted from his father to the doctors. He was in pure shock and unable to comprehend was going on before you lightly tugged at his hand.

“Yeonjun,” you say in almost a whisper, trying to snap him out of it as you squeeze his hand.

“I-I’m his son,” Yeonjun says in an attempt to stick around. The same nurse from the day before gave him an apologetic look as she slowly pushed him out the door, while another doctor closed the curtain.

“I’m really sorry Yeonjun, but it’s protocol. You have to wait outside.”

She closed the door behind her and left the two of you completely paralyzed in the halls of the VIP ward.

Yeonjun turned around, leaning his back to the wall as his legs became weak. He slowly crouched down, and the sight broke your heart into a million pieces.

He wasn’t crying, he didn’t even look sad. He was just frozen.

He looked into nothingness as he listened to what was going on inside of the room.

You quickly crouch down with him, not knowing what to do other than hold his hand and caressing his face with your free hand.

He still stared at the wall across from him as you pulled him close, making him rest his face on your shoulder as you whispered sweet nothings to him while he had to listen to what was going on in the other room.

The continuous beeping noise of the heart monitor followed by the sounds of the defibrillator sent chills down your spine as you held him to your best ability.

He didn’t respond to you or react to anything else, and when the noises halted after a minute or so, you knew they called it.

He closed his eyes, suddenly tightening his arms around you as realization struck him.

“Time of death, 8.43 AM.”

You were seated in the family room of the hospital, handing Yeonjun a plastic cup filled with water.

He snapped out his thoughts and accepted the cup, taking a sip from it while avoiding eye contact with you.

He hadn’t quite looked at you yet. He was continuously staring into the void and it was starting to become scary. You wished he’d just say something, but he wasn’t able to, so you gave him time.

You promised you wouldn’t leave his side, and you were keeping that promise by handling the communication with the nurse, so he didn’t have to. You had called Soobin to tell him what was going on and you were sure they’d all be here in no time.

You sat down across from him, trying to give him some space to gather his thoughts but it was like he wasn’t even in the room with you.

You sigh, taking a sip of your own cup of water and just as you were about to speak, his mother walked in followed by your friends.

She stepped aside as the boys enveloped Yeonjun in a tight hug, while Mia stood beside you, squeezing your shoulder lightly to show support.

Yeonjun sighed into the hug, loosening up a little and his frozen state seemed to vanish.

Again, he wasn’t getting emotional, but he closed his eyes, letting his friends hold him in silence for a while.

The sight made your eyes water a little, but you choked back your tears, not wanting to be the one to start crying when no one else was.

His mother turned her attention to you, and you looked back at her while Mia was protectively standing next to you, still with her hand on your shoulder.

“Thank you for handling the communication with the staff. That must not have been easy, and I apologize for the fact that you had to do that. That should have been me. I’m sorry.”

You were taken aback by her apology and quickly shake your head in response. “No, no, please. Don’t mention it. It’s the least I can do.”

She gave you a simple nod and averted her attention to Yeonjun. He got up from the chair and walked over to his mother, opening up his arms for her.

She hesitated but went for the hug anyway, closing her eyes as she inhaled his scent, letting him hold her for a bit. The physical affection making her tear up.

He rubbed her back, patting her hair.

“It’s ok mom, you don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

Everything happened so incredibly fast that you weren’t even able to process what the hell was going on around you. The Choi family had people for people who worked for those people, which meant that the funeral was basically held within the next day.

Lita made sure that the boys, Mia, and yourself had something appropriate to wear for the ceremony and you were in Yeonjun’s room, dressed and ready just half an hour before the service would start.

You were seated on his bed, watching him fix his tie in the mirror.

He had been super quiet and detached, and you wanted to give him space, but he was adamant about the fact that he wanted you around. He hadn’t shed a single tear and didn’t even really talk about what happened. It was mostly you doing the talking for him.

Having to explain what you saw was rough, and you were worried it’d trigger something inside Yeonjun, but it didn’t. He kept himself composed and strong, and you were curious how long he could keep that façade alive.

You snap back from your thoughts and watch him struggle with tying his tie. A small smile crept upon your lips and you get up from the bed, walking towards him to do it for him.

He looked at you lovingly, holding on to your waist as he watched you tie the knot expertly just like your father taught you.

“What can’t you do?” he asks amused, looking down at you.

You look up at him through your lashes and scoff. “Get you to open up apparently,” you say as you finish up, giving him a soft pat on his chest to let him know you’re all done.

He blinked a couple of times, biting his lip.

“I love you.”

Your eyes snap up to his in shock, making sure you didn’t just imagine that.

“W-what?”

“I love you,” he repeats, giving you a small smile as he fixes a piece of your hair.

“Y-Yeonjun I-” you stutter.

His confession was loud and clear, though it took you some time to process. You had no idea where it was coming from, but as you looked him in the eye; all he showed was confidence and sincerity.

“I think I knew the night of our fight, I wanted you as far away from me as possible to protect you from myself, and my uncle out of all people made me realize that that’s something you do out of love.” He explains making sense of his words.

“I don’t know what love feels like y/n, but when I look at you…the way you handled this whole thing. Sticking by me and supporting me emotionally even though I see you struggle with your own emotions it’s just…” He sighs, organizing his thought before he spoke again.

“I couldn’t put into words, how much I care for you and appreciate you, and that’s when it clicked that there’s a whole ass expression for that feeling,” he says, letting his hands travel to your waist again.

“I love you y/n. So, fucking much that it hurts,” he admits, closing his eyes as he leans his forehead to yours.

You sigh contently, letting your hand travel up to his cheek, softly caressing it before you peck his lips softly.

“I love you too.”

Yeonjun didn’t expect you to say it back to him, but you meant every word you said. His eyes snapped open and a huge boyish grin crept upon his face, his eyes glistening with pleasure as he pulled you towards him roughly, which made you yelp in response.

“You do?” He asks beaming at you.

“Yes Yeonjun, now wipe that grin off your face. We have a funeral to attend,” you say as you playfully roll your eyes.

He snorted, letting go of you reluctantly, stealing a chaste kiss from you before he opened the door to his bedroom.

“After you, my love.”

You were warned beforehand that the funeral would be more like a business event rather than a private family gathering. The ceremony took place in their back yard, so luckily you didn’t have to worry about running late.

The number of people you were introduced to, given the fact that Yeonjun paraded you around like an accessory was overwhelming. The only people that really stuck out to you were his uncle, Namjoon, and his wife Hye-Jin.

They were so happy to meet you that it felt like they already knew you personally.

Yeonjun basically had his game face on the whole night, it was a side to him that you hadn’t seen before and you realized that you missed the carefree, peer pong playing college boy from before.

As Yeonjun was talking to some stockholders, you decided to find your friends again.

“So…you and Yeonjun hyung are officially a thing now?” Taehyun asks as you join their table, completely exhausted from fake smiling to all the people you just met.

“Don’t think I don’t notice how he sneaks into your room every night y/n. Your room is literally right across from mine.” Beomgyu says as he gives you a bitter smile.

You roll your eyes at him as you smack his arm, earning a small yelp from him.

Soobin looked at you expectantly waiting for you to answer Taehyun’s question and you just nodded.

“We worked things through, I’ll tell you the details later but…we haven’t had the boyfriend, girlfriend talk yet.”

“Well, the timing is a little…” Mia starts.

“Yeah, exactly.”

Hueningkai sighs, throwing his head back in annoyance. “What is going on, first Soobin hyung and Mia, then Beomgyu hyung and Ryujin and now Yeonjun hyung and you? Is there something in the air that I don’t know about?”

The group started snickering softly, trying not to be rude given the fact that you were at a funeral.

“Maybe I should just start dating Taehyun.” He says jokingly nudging his friend.

“Actually, I’m kind of talking to someone too,” he says waving off the confused looks of everyone as he smiled at all of you.

“If it’s Yeonjun’s mom, I swear to god.” Beomgyu says.

“Ew, no. What the fuck.”

“Can all of you please behave? Please. Just one night.” Soobin begs as he rubs his forehead, which made Mia chuckle, patting his back in comfort.

Soon after the music stopped. A spokesperson of the family took the stage, telling everyone to take a seat. Yeonjun’s eyes found yours, and he basically told you in sign language that he couldn’t join you guys, as it is expected that he sits at the front with his mother.

The ceremony was simple and short. There were multiple speakers and every once in a while, you checked Yeonjun’s facial expression to see how he was holding up.

You noticed how the same hollowness returned if he didn’t have to act like the perfect son to all the attendees, and it worried you.

After his mother took the stage, shedding a few rehearsed tears, they lowered the casket, and the ceremony was basically over with. Watching his mother put on such an academy award-winning performance, made you realize that apart from you, your friends and the immediate family, no one knew what kind of person Choi Daniel really was.

It made you sick to your stomach that he was being honoured as if he was some type of hero.

A few hours pass before the last guests leave the house. Your group was seated together in the formal living room, and when Yeonjun enters with an exhausted look on his face, all of you fall quiet as you stare at him.

He let himself fall onto the lounge chair and loosened his tie, slouching down in his seat as he threw his head back.

“Are you okay?” Mia asks, being the first to speak up.

“I’m just drained I guess,” Yeonjun says rubbing his temples.

“Well, we are leaving tomorrow, so we can go back to our normal lives asap. I feel like I’ve walked into some K-drama.” Taehyun retorts as he sits down as well.

Yeonjun lifts his head, biting his lip as he looks at the group of people he cares about the most. “Right, about that…”

His eyes find yours and you can already see that he’s sorry about something.

You cock your head to the side, waiting for him to continue, and then he sighs.

“I’m not coming back with you guys,” he says apologetically. “At least…not for a while. I can’t just leave my mom in the midst of all of this. There's so much more that needs to be taken care of…”

Your heart sank a little, but it was understandable for him to stick around longer.

Mia narrowed her eyes at Yeonjuns words, and the guys just hummed understandingly.

“How long will you be gone for then?” Hueningkai asks.

“Till the end of Summer I think,” Yeonjun replies, his eyes finding yours.

You understood the circumstances, but you were shocked, to say the least. Even though you’ve been together non-stop since the incident, he hadn’t talked to you about it.

He gave you a sad look when you avoided his gaze, which Mia noticed as she looked at you two.

Yeonjun decided he had enough of the gloomy atmosphere and decided to crack open his fathers’ expensive collection of aged wines and scotches.

Since they were at home, he let the minors indulge a little too. Everyone was letting loose a little. The old playful group dynamic returned slowly but you were still lost in thought about Yeonjun’s decision to stay behind.

He noticed how you sat far away from him and sighed. He walked towards you. Asking you to come with him to the kitchen and you agreed. Feeling that it was best to talk about this before you make matters worse by overthinking.

You took a seat at the breakfast bar, waiting for him to start talking, but he just looked at you with concern.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” he says.

“I was just…speaking to so many people today and I realized I can’t just pretend that this part of my life doesn’t exist anymore. Especially now that he’s gone.”

“Yeonjun, I’m not mad. I just…don't get why you would tell me you love me when you knew that you weren’t going to come back with us," you say as you play with your fingers

His eyes widened and he got closer to you. Taking a hold of your hands after he made you look up at him by tugging at your chin.

“Hey, It’s just a few weeks. Nothing will change the way I feel about you; I promise. I just need time to unravel all of these family secrets. I never got to ask him why he didn’t trust my mother and after today I just…I have to figure it out.”

You nod, understanding completely. Somehow you wanted him to ask you to stay here with him for the rest of summer, but the fact that he didn’t was all that you needed to know.

“Don’t be sad okay, we’ll stay in contact,” he says as he caresses your cheek.

You nod and lean into his touch which made him smile. He inched his face closer to kiss you softly.

You didn’t know what, but something was off about him. He looked at you with affection but at the same time, his eyes were hollow, almost soulless.

A small knock on the wall snaps both of you back to reality, your heads snap back to see Mia in the doorway looking at you both seriously.

“Y/n, Soobin needs your help with something.” She says as she gives you a small smile.

You frown, and so does Yeonjun, but you decide to go see for yourself, not thinking much of it.

“Alright then?” you say as you get up from the barstool, walking towards the formal living room.

Mia’s gaze followed you out the door, and before Yeonjun could walk back to the living room with you. She stops him.

“You’re not coming back are you?” She asks, looking him in the eye sternly.

Well, fuck.

Yeonjun sighs. He should have known. Mia sees through anyone’s bullshit; and given how protective she is of y/n. He knew he had to tell her the truth before she beat it out of him.

“I’m not sure yet,” he admits, avoiding eye contact with her.

Mia’s shoulder fell, her eyes getting sad. It was just an assumption she had, but she didn’t expect him to tell her the truth this easily.

“Yeonjun…you can’t do that to her.”

“Don’t you think I don’t know that?” he says raising his voice a little. He glanced through the hall at the group, making sure you didn’t hear him before his gaze returned to Mia.

She stared back at him in disbelief, waiting for him to explain himself.

“I just…I need time. I can’t be what she deserves the way I am now. It could take weeks, months, maybe even years but you have to believe me that I’m doing it for her,” he says trying to make Mia understand.

“If there was another way, I’d do it, but after today my world turned dangerous. There are too many people after the company. Money makes people do crazy things and I don’t want her anywhere near it. Y/n has to be protected at all costs. I have to handle this on my own.”

Mia exhaled loudly, trying to gather her thoughts as her hand lands on her forehead.

“I love her more than anyone Mia. I do. You have to believe that I’m doing this in her best interest.”

Mia just shakes her head, swallowing harshly before she makes eye contact again.

“What about the guys.”

“They have each other, and y/n has you. You have to promise me you’ll be there for her.”

“Yeonjun...I-”

“Promise me.”

Mia sighs, defeated in a game she never even played. She closes her eyes, nodding at his request.

"Ok, I promise.”

Chapter 10

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s-jatpfic · 3 years

Text

I need to hear that out of your mouth

summery: bobbys perspective on 'worse'/bobby figuring out how to help reggie (i guess, not actually tho. honestly i have no clue what i wrote)

ohh also, bobby uses they/them pronouns

words: 1150

warning: mention of abusive parents, visible signs of violence, swear words (message me if you think i should add something else)

———

They knew they shouldn’t have left.

For gods sake they knew.

But despite Reggies attempt to never let anyone see, Bobby also knew Reggies secret.

How could they have missed that.

Maybe he was good enough to hide it from self-centered Luke or from "everyone has anxious ticks" Alex, but he definitely couldn’t hide it from Bobby not before and certainly not since Bobby is in love with him.

The way Reggie anxiously grabs the sleeves of his flannel as if his life would depend on it, bare what would happen if they would just slightly slip up his wrist.

Or layering long sleeves and pants even in summer and even if they go to the beach. Bobby can’t even remember the last time they‘d seen Reggie actually swimming in the ocean instead of coming up with excuses about guarding their towels and soda or that he’d just ate one of the pre-packed sandwiches Bobbys mom made for the band and can’t go into the water just yet, as if he suddenly started to care about such things.

However the main indicator of Bobbys observance was the way Reggies nose scrunches up and his tongue plays with his teeth as if he’s back in middle school and just got his braces for the first time whenever he is lying.

Yes, Reggie is a good liar, good enough to convince Luke and Alex and his teachers, even himself, but Bobby is greater at detecting Reggies lies than he will ever know.

Ever since Bobby put the pieces together they‘d been waiting for Reggie to finally say that out loud so they can properly help him and not just plan movie nights or road trips to get Reggie out of his house, but Bobby didn’t want to push Reggie. Reggie has to say that because he wants to and not because Bobby resists on.

But now that Reggie finally has the courage to say those stupid fucking words, as Bobby called it in their mind ever since they discovered Reggies confidential information, now that he finally talks about it Bobby is the first one to run away, registering the low "they hurt me" only through the echo of the garage door yet this mumbled sentence was probably the most clean-cut words Bobby ever caught up and everything needed for them to fully break into anger.

Maybe they weren’t ready for Reggie to talk about it. Maybe they didn’t got to prepare themselves properly. But what should they do, everything Bobby can do in this situation is calming down and being there for Reggie and thats the one thing Bobby isn’t doing.

So they gotta change that. Hopefully Reggie is still in the garage.

As Bobby enters their studio, the three other sunset curve members are yet paddlet up on the couch, impossible for Bobby to tell which body part belongs to which boy.

Only their soft breathing is stopping the room usually filled with obnoxiously loud noises, music blasting on full volume or chattering about nonsense, from being silent.

Maybe Bobby isnt ready for this yet, however, they have to be ready. This is not their fight, this is all about Reggie, all about the boy they are eying up a little bit too intense, rose-colored glasses refining their view.

Clearing their voice to get at least one of their friends attention, Bobby is still standing awkwardly uncomfortable in the middle of the room not really knowing what to do, what to say or how to act.

It‘s Alex being the first one to break the hug and facing Bobby, though, as soon as Reggie registers the sound, all his attention is on the suspenders-wearing lad.

Nothing but a low undefinable noise was leaving Bobbys throat as they opened their mouth.

Though their mind was filled with millions of things to say, they weren’t physically able to, something stopping them from moving.

As Alex caught up on the situation, he pulled Luke aside leaving their two oblivious friends alone.

Yeah, maybe Bobby isn’t the only one being in love with their best friend but maybe (or most definitely) is this not the right time to address that.

"I assume you already knew?"

Reggie hated how weak his voice sounds, but honestly there wasn’t a lot of explaining needed to understand why.

"Yeah I- ehm, I figured. Was easy to catch up on once I got behind all of your habits"

Bobby still hasn’t moved, unsure if they should go up to Reggie or if physical touch is too much to handle at the moment.

"Thanks for never mentioning it. Kinda hoping we all can just forget about it, pretending today never happened, you know?"

The bruises on Reggies still uncovered skin are the most captivating, hypnotizing thing Bobby ever experienced.

Green and purple shadows dancing their way from Reggies wrists up to the straps of his Tank Top, telling their very own story about two people who should have never gotten any kids.

"Can you- uhm? Please-"

It is as if Bobby lost all their knowledge about being a functional human being, their voice an octave below average.

Shaking of and breathing out, they finally get their shit together, finally sitting next to Reggie on the couch, finally able to form coherent sentences, finally able to think.

This is about Reggie. This is about helping the boy they like, their best friend, the one who’s always there if they need him. Now it’s time to pay their bill back.

"I know this is probably hard for you, and I can promise not to ever talk about this ever again if you wish, still I need you to know that I’m always gonna help you, protect you, give you custody or just distract and cuddle you whenever you’d like. You’re not going down by yourself, you’re having me and the boys and we act the way you want us to. But can you please, one last time, can you please say those stupid fucking words out loud for me? I need to hear that out of your mouth. Please?"

Bobby was practically bagging but for some reason this is very important for them, maybe because they need it smashed right into their brain to actually realize the gravity of the situation.

Reggie is just leaning into Bobby’s arms. Being hold by them, makes everything seem less big of an issue, being hold by them makes the world seem to disappear.

He can do this. It’s just saying it once. It’s just betraying them once. And it’s not as if Bobby wouldn’t know already. Saying it out loud, admit the issue is hard, is complicated, but being hold by Bobby, it’s not impossible.

"My parents abuse me"

~franky

masterlist

#boggie #bobby x reggie

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mystech-master · 3 years

Text

Blazblue rewrites Part 1: The Age of Origin and beginning of the Looping World.

(put this on my Reddit may as well put it here)

As we all know, the Blazblue series is one of the most convoluted and over-complicated pieces of media ever. Mainly due to its quantum physics talk and very chuuni dialogue and a lack of good explanation for a lot of points. Naturally, one good thing about being a fan is that through the power of hindsight we can look at the entire series and basically fix what we think was messed up. Of course, we have this freedom since we are usually individual people, don't have a massive writing staff and marketing we need to appeal to, and pretty much the entire skeleton and pieces are there, they just need to be rearranged and/or be tweaked a bit.

I remember getting into Blazblue around the end of high school/beginning of college, almost 5 years ago. I thought the setting was neat and I am into anime action BS. Of course, the story was bonkers and made no sense until I started looking deeper but the main thing that has bugged me were the characters. There is just so much Bullshit that the characters do and brush off that just irritates me, especially when it comes to Ragna. This series has made me rethink the meaning of life, of showing kindness to people, or if "doing things because it's right" is a good enough excuse, how much should you desire your own happiness? All sorts of existential questions that Blazblue has made me think, not from the plot, but just from the BS character interactions.

If you check out my Ragna the Bloodedge tag, or have just been following me for a while, you will see/know how much I will defend this guy to the fucking grave because of all the bullshit that this guy is expected to take and deal with and it being seen as"inspiring" or "heroic" when it is really just sad to me. It isn't me liking the character, it is just a massive amount of pity and feeling sorry for him, to the point where I kind of have a massive bias towards him and end up making him an all-powerful unstable badass in most of my fic ideas with him. But I am getting ahead of myself.

I wanted to lay out my ideas for how I would make a Blazblue rewrite. If anyone wants to use these in their own fanfic, feel free. I don't give a shit about credit.

Starting with the timeline, we have the XBlaze series, Bloodedge Experience, and the core C-Series (ft.

the Phase Shift Novels, and Remix/Variable Heart Manga). In the actual story these are all separate “Possibilities”, or Timelines/Universes. That is dumb and I think that we can tweak things to make it all one linear timeline.

XBlaze takes place in the year 2050, 50 years before the Dark War is stated to begin, and 149-150 years before the main games start. This is plenty of time to make things different. We know from the backstory that Takamagahara, the god-supercomputer that mankind made, was not completed in this possibility due to Touya’s mother iirc. In my idea, all this does is delay the inevitable, Takamagahara will be made, just at a later date now. (edit) There is also the Mitsurugi agency, which was kind of behind the Wadatsumi incident in XBlaze's backstory. With their connections to the Mage's Guild, the Amanohokosaka Clan, and their desire to get the Azure, we could say that this is the agency that discovered the Susanoo, the Boundary, and did most of these experiments to the Prime Fields.

I do not know the exact year when Bloodedge Experience takes place, but I am going to estimate around 10-15+ years from XBlaze, putting it at 2060-2065+, since they do mention Mei as the head/leader of the Amanohokosaka Clan. I am not too sure what the branching-off point is here, Valkenhayn mentions Clavis having killed Naoto in the core C-Series Possibility so maybe it was during their initial meeting. But is Naoto surviving gonna change that much? The only other detail that would need addressing would be Raquel’s relationship with Rachel. According to the wiki bio “Raquel was created when a user of Soul Eater went havoc and killed hundreds upon thousands of people. Clavis Alucard stopped the user and killed them, but was forced to take the lives of 128,932 people in order to do so. When this happened, he held an Embryo. Three years later, the Embryo became Raquel and she was born. Maybe sometime later Raquel could end up being killed or something and another Embryo results in Rachel. I mean we never see or hear mention of a mother, or maybe it’s some reincarnation thing? IDK. We see how stern Clavis was with Raquel, so maybe seeing his first “daughter” die he ends up spoiling the next one rotten, leading to the kind of haughty holier-than-thou Rabbit we know today.

However, all of this needs to be put in perspective of the Origin and Terumi. I may mess up some of the finer details.

The plot of Blazblue started when Susanoo ditched his body, the Susanoo Unit, and then mankind discovered it underground. They excavated it, dug deeper, and found a Cauldron which led to the Boundary, within which they found the Master Unit, the God Computer that would allow them to control reality, and beyond that, they found the Azure, basically the primordial absolute force of the Blazblue Universe. However, the Master Unit can only respond to something anthropomorphic/humanoid and humans can’t survive the Boundary. So they made the Prime Field Devices, Androids meant to go into the Boundary. Pretty weirdly specific criteria that results in robot girls but I don’t see how I can mess with this.

One of them manages to reach the Master Unit and upon touching it she gains the Eyes of the Azure which gives it the power of the Azure and basically becomes not only sentient, but basically a god. The Humanity, freaked out about her new free will and the power she now has, tosses her back into the Boundary. Within the Boundary, the PFD, the Origin as we know her, sees her “sister” units all being tortured. Most likely to break any souls they have so the scientists don’t have to deal with their “free will” getting in the way of their plans. Maybe to bring in Terumi telling Noel that they became weapons, other groups heard of the guys making the PFDs and them getting god power and obviously would be trying to stop them/take this power for themselves, so they decided to make the PFDs into mindless robo-soldiers to fight them off. Origin gets mad and ends up making all of them sentient. Probably by Observing them as sentient, like she sees all of these things “like her” so obviously they must be sentient or at least have the potential for sentience. Kind of like Jotaro going “It’s a similar type of Stand '' to DIO and then getting Time Stop.

Anyways now mankind is fighting these robot girls who want revenge for being treated like tools, all humanity sees is all these in-human weapons killing them for no reason, just because destroying is what a weapon does, and with the Master Unit’s Phenomenon Intervention, they can just rewrite all of their failures into victories. Mankind sees the Origin and the Master Unit as basically the same thing, an evil machine god. His leads into why the Origin and Amaterasu can’t just be separated so Ragna doesn’t have to sacrifice himself to stop the time loops, the world sees The Origin and Amaterasu as one, there is no distinction. This is also apparently the time period when Clavis Alucard helped mankind make the Izayoi, with its Immortal Breaker and ability to resist Observation to fight against the Origin and the PFDs. Ironic that it eventually became known as the prototype for the Lux Sanctus: Murakumo, but I’ll talk about that later.

So what does mankind do? Make a Black Beast to destroy it. I mean we are told to believe that a Black Beast is the result of Azure Grimoire (or just a piece of the Azure) + Murakumo Unit = either a Black Beast if the fusion is imperfect, and a powerful Kusanagi God Slayer is done right. But tell me, why the hell would they build ANOTHER Prime Field Device to fight the PFDs? I will be getting into the exact nature of Black Beasts later. Mankind is apparently cool with the Black Beast destroying the world because so long as they can get the Azure and plug it into Takamagahara, which is basically a manmade Master Unit supercomputer, they can just reset time. But due to a bug or something, the Master Unit stopped this and when the world was destroyed she just made a new one based on her memories. This is the world the characters live in now. And since the last thing she remembers about the world is the Black Beast and obviously she doesn’t want the world to hate and try to kill her, the Black Beast enters the world with everyone having no context to its existence and no other enemy to fight, leading to the Black Beast going from a weapon of Mutually Assured Destruction, to the new Ultimate Evil Enemy of the World.

A few things we need to take note of here.

XBlaze and Bloodedge Experience would need to take place during the Age of Origin, between mankind discovering the Boundary but before the Prime Field War starts. I mean the two things needed for that part to start would be Prime Fields and Takamagahara, and while there is Es who is sort of a PFD, you could simply say that her model isn’t suited for full Boundary Exploration. I know I am really glossing over the Embryo stuff about her but I haven’t seen XBlaze stuff in a while and I would need to find a way to connect it with the Embryo in Centralfiction.

Apparently, there was some off-screen war in which Hihiirokane (the Soul Cutting Sword protected by Jubei’s clan, used by his brother Tomonori to fight Terumi, then put in Clavis’ grave) was used to fight some enemy, “Outside of logic”. I have no idea what this is and it feels like something that shouldn’t be glossed over.

Mankind made a Black Beast on their side to get the Azure and fight the Master Unit, which A. means that in a weird way the Black Beast was sort of on mankind’s side at first before the Origin retconned it into being the destroyer, and B. mankind would have needed to make a Murakumo Unit to fight the Murakumos, knowing that the Origin is making them sentient and turn on them, which kind of feels like a dumb move. But again, I will get to this later.

This will all lead into the Looping World. Now, this is weird because of the main thing which the loop revolves around, The Black Beast. It is either A. as Terumi says in CS, a Cauldron that went batshit (which is precedent by the short story That Which Is Inherited where Sector Seven tries to smelt a Nox but everything goes tits up and a Black Beast forms from the Cauldron (no souls or prime field required), or B. a Time Displaced Ragna and Nu. The Black Beast is a Self-Observing weapon. Observation in Blazblue basically means “deciding if/how something exists” by Observing itself, the Black Beast declares its existence in this time period, which means that no matter what time paradoxical BS you may try to pull, it will always appear (Kind of reminds me of the Time Medallions Clockwork gives team Phantom in Danny Phantom). But a less mind-mushing way to look at it could simply be that, no matter what, this will always happen. Like, say the Assassination of Kennedy is Observed as an event that must ALWAYS happen, then even if you find and stop the sniper. He is gonna still die. Maybe there is another sniper, maybe the sniper gets a good hit on you and manages to make another shot down the road, but anyway you slice it, Kenedy gets shot. That event is permanently locked in history and no matter what you do, this event is inevitable.

But suggestion A is weird because it could either mean that 1. He is talking about the first Black Beast from the Age of Origin, or 2. Since that part of the story probably wasn’t written yet and they are talking about this specific Beast, he is talking about the Dark War Black Beast, in which case there actually was a bit of time before the time loops started, or at least the very first loop, so then there was a bit of time before shit went sideways.

Maybe the Origin didn’t make a Black Beast war and it was all Terumi’s idea. The world would’ve continued as normal but since Terumi hated the Master Unit and mankind wanted power, they tried to make a Kusanagi but it fucked up and made a Black Beast, but without a publicly known Prime Field War to justify it, mankind doesn't see this as a necessary evil which will get the Azure and then reset the world better for them, it’s just a big evil monster.

Okay, that is my interpretation of the Age of Origin for my Blazblue rewrite idea. Not many changes since this is all pretty self-contained and not much needs expanding on. Just make sure to justify some actions and connect the three timelines. I probably missed out on a lot of finer details but I think I got the broad strokes of it. Feel free to correct me.

Next time I will cover the Dark War and hopefully go into explaining how I would make the Powerset make a bit more sense (Ars Magus, Grimoires, Nox Nyctores, the Azure Grimoire, and the Black Beast).

#blazblue #blazblue rewrites

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