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#'oh yeah well i had a friend over and it got me stressed and uptight enough i was the closest ive ever been to self-harm' yeah no
sister: how are you
me: now that's a fascinating question
sister:
me:
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mommy-medusa · 1 year
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All of a sudden, the grove lit up in a flash of golden light. Apollo was standing there, a look of panic on his face.
“You’re needed on Olympos,” he said to Artemis, his expression grave. “It’s Athena.”
No other words were spoken as the twins both vanished from the grove, leaving Teddi and the other huntresses behind in confusion.
It wasn’t until much later that they returned, when the sun had already left the sky. The huntresses were already tucked up in their burrows, and the grove was near silent.
“I swear, at this point, he’s doing this just to spite her,” Artemis said, her voice the growl of a bear in the dead of night.
Smiling ruefully at her side, Apollo said, “No, yeah, that is exactly what he’s doing. A few months back, she finally came outside again, and he loudly made some snide comment that had her turning around and marching right back inside before she even left her courtyard.” He took a moment to try and smooth out his chiton, which was torn up around the edges and looked slightly singed. Artemis’ clothing was the same. Both twins smelled strongly of lightning, too.
When Apollo failed to fix his clothes, he dropped his hands and sighed. “I just can’t believe he brought up Pallas.”
Artemis nodded with a grimace. “And what he said about her maidenhood?” Deep disgust flashed across her features, and Apollo set a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“We should have let her maul him,” Artemis said mournfully.
“Agreed,” Apollo said.
The twins shared a moment of silence before Apollo took a step back. “Well. I better go check on the damage done. See if I can treat ‘Thena’s burns before she goes back into hibernation. And if she’s already in her sadness coma, then I’ll just do it while she’s asleep. If anything, it’s easier that way.”
“Need any help?” Artemis asked.
Apollo shook his head, waving a dismissive hand. “No, I’ve got her. Hera already offered to aid me.”
Artemis’ eyebrows raised in surprise. “Look at you two.”
“I know right? We shall bond over our mutual concern for the owlet.” He smiled softly. “Goodnight, my starry night.”
“Goodnight, my sunny day. If you need me, call upon me again.”
“I will.”
After bumping his forehead with Artemis’, Apollo disappeared in a flash of light.
The moment he was gone, Artemis released a large sigh. She rubbed a tired hand over her face sluggishly.
“You can come out now,” she said. “I know you’re listening.”
Teddi’s head, along with several others, popped out of the hollows in the great tree. Artemis turned to all of them, smiling slightly.
“I can’t possibly blame any of you,” she said. “Is there anything more interesting than the divine drama of the gods? I’m afraid that’s all for tonight, though.”
The audience mostly dispersed, but Teddi climbed down from her hollow to confront Artemis.
“You were talking of Athena?” she asked.
“Indeed,” Artemis answered.
“Is she…alright?”
To that, Artemis hesitated. Then, she beckoned Teddi to follow her away from the prying ears of the huntresses, and Teddi did. Chrysaor flapped after them, while Pegasus remained soundly asleep.
“I don’t know how to answer that, but my best guess is no, she is not alright,” Artemis finally said. “She has not been close to ‘alright’ in quite some time. I haven’t seen her this distraught since Pallas died.”
“Pallas?” Teddi tilted her head.
“Oh, you don’t know? Then again, I’m not surprised that it’s been buried in obscurity. It’s a rather tragic tale,” Artemis said. “Pallas was the daughter of Triton, who was the son of Poseidon, and was Athena’s greatest and closest friend. Those two were like Apollo and I—they practically kin. The Athena with Pallas was much different than the Athena we have now. She was less stressed, less stoic, less—and I mean this in the nicest way possible—uptight. But she was also still very young, even when she was born fully grown. By all accounts, she was a child—or as close to a child she could be considering, again, she was born a fully grown adult. She was an owlet, if you will, as Apollo and I affectionately refer to her as.” She paused for just a moment. “Ah. Do not— do not call her that to her face. She will probably smite you. But Pallas was her childhood friend.” She then laughed as she seemed to recall something. “She couldn’t walk when she was first born.”
“What?” Teddi said.
“You didn’t hear this from me,” Artemis said, “But after springing out from Zeus’ head, donned in full war gear and wielding a spear, she took a long look at all the gods gathered around her, very regal and mature, took one step forward, and WHOMP, fell flat on her face.”
Teddi couldn’t contain her giggles. “Really?”
Laughing, too, Artemis said, “Really! Just picture a baby horse trying to walk for the first time- that was Athena for at least an hour after she was born. Apparently, the heads of baby owls are too heavy for them to hold up, so, naturally, Ares, Apollo, and I kept making jokes about that. All that wisdom was just too heavy for Athena.” She tapped her temple with a chuckle.
“Wait,” Teddi said. “You were around when Athena was born?”
Artemis gave her a confused look. “Yes?”
“Oh,” Teddi said. “I always assumed that—”
“She was the oldest?” Artemis finished, and Teddi nodded. She chuckled again. “I don’t blame you for thinking that. She certainly asserts herself like she is the eldest of our kin. But no, she isn’t. The little owl is actually the third youngest out of the main lot of us, if you will believe it. She’s only older than Hermes and Dionysus. You have no idea how many ‘I cannot believe you are all older than me’ comments I have had to endure from her.” She then waved a hand. “But I’m getting off topic! Back to the matter at hand, Pallas was Athena’s greatest friend, and the two of them were trained in combat by Triton. They were raised beside each other, as close as sisters. And then, without warning, tragedy struck. Pallas was killed at Athena’s hand in an accident during an athletics festival. Stabbed through the stomach with a spear. Athena remained on this beach for several days until Hestia and Demeter, our aunts, came to retrieve her, and they found the same spear impaled through her stomach, like she had tried to make away with herself. When she was brought back to Olympos by the two of them, her gut gouged open and spilling ichor everywhere, Zeus just— he just sneered at her. As though he was more concerned with the pavilion getting dirty from her gore rather than his own daughter being badly injured. And he said, where everyone could hear, that she was acting like a child. He humiliated her. And I suppose Athena took his words to heart because, after she had recovered, she was different. Steely, jaded, calm. Whatever playfulness she had was now locked up somewhere inside of her. And Zeus was so pleased. He now had the perfect dog to lick all over his boots. I’m sure you’ve heard that Athena is his favorite out of all his kids?” When Teddi nodded, Artemis went on, “I do not envy Athena’s status. I would rather live in the shadows than stand in the light if it’s Zeus who casts such a glow. And yet, somehow, with Zeus’ spotlight constantly shining down on her, she’s become a shadow herself. She is constantly thinking, planning, scheming. All of us are, in some way, but she is the only one who acts on it. She is the only one who is constantly at work. She is the only one who takes the consequences. She barely ever stops to rest, and there are times where I don’t see her for an entire year because she’s rushing around all of Greece, aiding mortals in any way she can. And that’s—” She sighed, rubbing her forehead with two fingers, and Teddi could tell this was something she had discussed several times before. “That’s fine. Really, it is. If she finds joy in helping mortals, then who am I to tell her that it’s wrong? The thing is, I don’t think it brings her joy. Not exactly. Maybe it does, sometimes, but I feel like it’s just a way to make ends meet. A way to distract herself. Or maybe it’s just her feeling the constant pressure put upon her by Zeus, so she’s desperately scrambling to try and claw her way up to his unreasonably high expectations for her. She hardly trusts anyone at all, doesn’t talk about her problems, doesn’t even have her mother to turn to because Zeus ate her! Medusa was the first time since Pallas that Athena well and truly settled down enough to make a relationship with someone, and that was taken from her. She’s alone, and that is not a good place to be when you’re immortal and live forever.”
“Because of how lonely it can get?” Teddi said.
“Precisely,” Artemis confirmed. “The novelty wears off after a few decades—and that’s usually before you even reach the centuries. Why do you think I make it to where my huntresses don’t age or can’t die from natural causes? It’s a vain attempt to keep other people around. Because, after they die, there’s a good chance that I will never see them again. And when I saw what Pallas’ death did to Athena, I was afraid of going through the same grief. Unfortunately, not even my divine protections can stop whatever the Fates have in store for my pack. If they are meant to die, then there is nothing I can do about it.”
Chrysaor lifted his snout to nuzzle his nose against one of Artemis’ hands, and Artemis smiled softly, giving him a pat on the head.
“But at least I have them,” Artemis went on. “Athena… Athena doesn’t really have anyone. However…” She crossed her arms firmly over her chest. “I suspect this goes deeper than even Medusa and Pallas.”
“What do you mean?” Teddi questioned, tilting her head.
“Athena has always been walking over hot coals,” Artemis said. “As the years went by, she became more and more frustrated with everything, but especially Zeus. Never had the courage to actually make a stand against him. Until the day Medusa died, of course. I wasn’t present for the battle, but Apollo told me it was terribly destructive. Lightning, fire, ichor spraying everywhere. And after it was over, she went into this ‘dormant mode.’ I think she finally realized the futility of it all. She had spent so long bowing beneath a man who could care less about her, and everyone she has loved has died brutally, so she just…stopped. Now, she just exists in this state of nothingness. And she’s so scared, I think.” She shook her head. “We gods are not good people, Teddi. That much you must understand about us. None of us are good.” She paused. “Well— slight addendum to that, Hestia is good. I don’t think she’s ever done anything bad in her entire life. But aside from her, none of us are good. Our morality is entirely ambiguous and constantly fluctuating, and we only act civil because we choose to, not because we have to. I’m not going to act like I’m innocent. I’ve done terrible things that I am not proud of, and there are even more terrible things that I am proud of. But Athena… Athena, at the very least, tries. She tries to be good. If there is anyone who does not deserve this cruel hand that has been dealt, it is most certainly her. I just hope that, one day, she will learn to forgive herself.”
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floraltypes · 3 years
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May I request 44 with Pete Davidson thank you in advance 🥰
pairing - pete davidson x reader
request prompt - “sitting on the other’s lap”
an - thank you so much! hope this was up to your liking <3 can’t wait to work on some more! so make sure you all are requesting !!!
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The lights were blaring brightly, all sorts of colors, ones of blue and red and purple surrounding the large living room. It was clearly a more wealthy persons home, a birthday party for a rich friends of Pete’s and he insisted on you coming with.
Despite being a celebrity and going to your fair share of parties, ones like these, more crazy college rich kids, weren’t your favorite. And normally you wouldn’t see someone like you or Pete here, but Pete had been friends with the man for a while and casted him as the main event, and begged for you to come as well.
You had your worries, or, your publicist had more. Truly freaked when you’d brought the idea up to him, how paparazzi would soon find out and what would all happen. But when chatting about it with Pete not to long ago, it sounded important to him.
———-
“Come on, Kyle might be a bit of a douchebag but it’ll be a great party,” Pete laughed, sitting next to you around the round table with his puppy dog eyes and his thumb lightly rubbing your knee.
“I don’t kno-” You began before your publicist, sitting across from you, Jeremy spoke up.
“Mr. Davison, this idea is absolutely absurd for a woman like Y/n L/n. She has a name to withhold, and attending a immature party like this Kyle is throwing, would be ruining her reputation,” He said, standing up and walking in a circle, clearly stressed.
“How is he always this uptight?” Pete leaned over to whisper in your ear. “How do you deal with it?” He moved back, still having his hand on your knee as Jermey glared at him.
“Pete,” You slapped his arm, looking offended. “I like having someone to make sure I’m making the right decisions, it reassures me. Jeremy does a great job, truly does. And having someone like him is even more needed when dating someone like you,” You smirked as now it was his turn to look offended.
“Still, you might be popular but should still have a life. You’re still young,” He reminded you as Jeremy now walked over, pulling your chair away from Pete and turning you around to look at him.
“Miss L/n. This is important, going to this silly thing will cause a lot more work for me, and is risky, very.”
Pete got up and pulled your chair backwards, closer to him once again.
“So, risks can be good.”
“You are such a bad influence on Miss L/n!”
“You’re going to let him say that to me?” Pete turned you around, shaking you slightly.
“Sorry,” Jeremy shook his head. “Sorr-”
“No, don’t apologize. Pete needs a little messing around every now and then,” You laughed, poking Pete in the chest as his lips that were down turned now spread into a small smile.
“Yeah, someone needs to be the bad influence,” Pete joined in as it looked like Jermey had a little weight lifted off of him.
“Okay. But still. Miss L/n, this party isn’t good and shouldn’t be-”
“What if I said that despite it being like a college party, there will be other celebrities, Kanye or something,” Pete shrugged as Jermeys eyes lit up.
“Perfect, other people, paparazzi will love it but you won’t look odd, you’ll be fine! Oh great! I’ll go figure this out, have fun at the party,” Jeremy smiled, rushing out with his notebooks and folders, running to start contacting others and answering to other phone calls.
Leaving you and Pete to chat some more before more planning would commence.
————
Arriving with your hair neatly done and a small coat of makeup on your face, pretty jewelry decorated your ears and fingers, smiling up at your boyfriend who had a fashionable jeans on and a nice shirt. You wore a small blue dress, fitting you favorably, and truly attracting some stares as you walked up.
Your eyes caught onto others, celebrity friends of Pete’s and a few others. Kyle, or who you assumed to be, looked fondly at the factor of how popular his twenty-fifth birthday party had become. The factor of his father being a successful director being a big part of the reason.
“Pete Davidson! Wow! This is so great that you could come to!” The man smiled widely, pulling him into a tight hug as Pete hesitantly excepted it. “You’re so cool, and everyone is, this is so cool!”
“Ah, no problem dude, your dad has helped me with some roles and shit so this is all good,” He laughed as you walked up besides him, his hand slipping behind to wrap around your back and pull you a bit closer.
“Holy shit! You got Y/n L/n to come!” Kyle exclaimed, his mouth dropping ever so slightly. “You’re like my favorite female actress, so fucking good, and you’re like, even hotter in real life,” He looked at you, like you were a huge idol of his.
Your eyes widened slightly, surprised at how open he admired you and was openly speaking about it. He seemed like a nice man, same age as you.
“Thank you,” You nodded, a smile gracing your lips as he moved closer to try and give you a hug, despite being glued to Pete’s hip.
“How’d you get her to come?” He moved back, turning his attention onto your boyfriend as he pointed at you like you weren’t there. “My friends are freaking out, and I’m so gonna be popular with the girls!”
“That’s great, dude. Perfect birthday present, getting laid,” He laughed, as you just stood there, pulling out your phone receiving a text from a friend.
“But really, how did you get her to come?”
“Guess it’s my stellar charm, gets all the girls pussys quaking.”
“Yeah, sure,” Kyle chuckled before a friend of his came up patting his back, telling him to see him soon. “I’ll definitely meet up with you guys later!” He high-fived Pete, then winking at you, as he jogged to catch up with his friend.
“That was nice,” You looked up at Pete, as he just shook his head, guiding you more into the house as you heard more cars pull up, and soon, cameras flashing.
The both walked into the fantastic house, the music blaring into your ears, songs by popular performers which some of them were there. Kanye’s song filtering through the room as you could catch a glimpse of him talking with his friend in a corner, small drink in hand.
It was surprising how this looked like a college party, it wasn’t exactly, considering just how lucky this man was to get all of these well-known people to come. Having a famous father, with popularity in the directing and music business sure comes with advantages when wanting to have a killer party.
“Any good drinks?” You question, following Pete into the kitchen where fine beers and scotch were laid out, even a keg stand not to far, it made you want to laugh. “So, this is the college experience?”
“Been to a lot of parties like this, sometimes better than the ones I attend now,” Pete mentioned, grabbing a beer and sitting down on a stool in the room.
“Too bad I missed out, maybe I should’ve got rid of the whole celeb thing and got into the keg stand and  sororities.”
“You would’ve gotten all the dicks you wanted,” He spoke casually, as you laughed harshly, almost wanting to slap him once again.
“Oh my.”
“But then again, you have mine,” He winked as you actually got up and smacked his shoulder this time.
“Y/n! Y/n! It’s Y/n!” A girl squealed, rushing over with a group of friends. “Oh my god! Can I get a picture with you? I lived for you in Long Law! You’re character Julie was so hot!” She jumped up and down practically as her friends nodded and pitched in their own compliments.
“Sure!” You smiled, nodding your head and getting ready to pose with the girls.
“This is the best day ever! All the people here! You’re here!” Another girl smiled widely for the photo her friend was taking, going on to compliment your outfit and some of your acting jobs.
You sweetly thanked her and the others for their kindness, admiring how sweet and how great of fans they were.
“Want a picture with me?” Pete peeked over, standing up and walking next to you. “It would be no problem.”
“No thanks,” One spoke, walking away with her friends.
“What the hell? Don’t they watch SNL?”
“Don’t be jealous,” You laughed, taking his drink and a chug from it, handing it back.
“I’m not,” He crossed his arms, sitting back on the stool. “No big deal.”
“And Brad, this is Y/n. She really came, Pete got her too,” Kyle walked over with his friend from earlier, pointing to you and then Pete. “They really came to my party!”
“Fucking cool dude!” Brad smacked his chest, then the both giving each other a high-five. “Y/n, seriously, how you looked at those last VMA awards, holy shit, and here you are in the flesh!”
“Thanks,” You hesitantly spoke.
“No, seriously, you look even better in real life. Surprising cause usually all those girls photoshop their pics to look skinner.”
“Um.”
His eyes were glared to your chest area, bold like his friend but in a worse way. He eventually moved them back to your face, muttering another comment under his breath as Kyle walked away to chat with someone else. Brad pulled his chair up next to you, pulling his phone and putting his head to the side of you, swiftly changing to the camera app.
“Take a photo with me?” He looked you in your eyes, face only a few inches from you, able to feel his breath, making you move your head away a bit.
“I guess,” You muttered as he put on another smile, nearing closer once again and your fake smile reflecting onto the screen. As he clicked the button, his head moved to the side, mouth going to land onto your cheek until Pete stepped in, pulling your stool closer to his. Brad leaned over fully where he almost lost his balance, cursing under his breath as he looked at the photo where you were no where in it.
“What the hell?” He looked at you harshly. “Just wanted a picture.”
“You can have one without kissing her cheek,” Pete commented, as you got out of your chair, moving to stand besides him.
“That wasn’t cool,” You stepped back away from him. “It was fully inappropriate, I hope that isn’t a frequent action, it was disgusting.”
“You know what? You really aren’t that cool, that hot, I was just saying that to try and catch a look at your boobs, get a snap of that and get thousands,” He scoffed, moving out of the kitchen, and pushing through crowds.
“Damn, my feelings,” You smiled, putting a hand on your heart and looking at Pete.
“What a fucking loser,” He mentioned, taking your hand and pulling you closer, allowing you to sit on his lap.
“Romantic,” You leaned up to kiss his own cheek, as he took a sip of his beer. “Oh Romeo!”
“Not that shakespeare crap,” He chuckled, taking a swig as you pulled out your phone, snapping a photo of you and him. He quickly kissed your own cheek as your lips turned into a wide smile, and his arm moved around to lightly rub your waist.
“This party, not something I have a feeling I want to attend again,” You admitted.
“What’s not to love, the shitty lighting, obnoxious music, idiotic people. Come on, tell me!”
“I think you can assume,” You rolled your eyes, texting your publicist that everything was fine.
“Sorry I made you come to this shitty thing,” He kissed you cheek again, placing other ones as you squirmed in his lap, giggling.
“Stop!” You exclaimed with another laugh slipping from your lips. “It’s fine!”
“So, you’ll come to another one with me next week?”
“No way,” You shook your head and from not to far away a photo was taken, quickly blowing up all over twitter as now both of your phones were ringing crazily.
I guess your publicist was right that this night would end with drama, drama about how this practically confirmed you and Pete’s relationship. Sure he wasn’t the best influence, making you step out of your comfort zone and being risky, but he still had your back, being there to catch you despite all of it.
You just laughed on the phone with the frantic Jeremy, placing another chaste kiss to his cheek, as you relished in the feeling of being in his arms.
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(pete davidson masterlist)
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yougotthat-write · 3 years
Text
Tinder (Rafael Barba x Reader)
Word Count: 2,400
Warnings: Female reader, fluff, Rollisi shenanigans, cringey and inappropriate pick-up lines, potential PTSD for former/current users of dating apps and all the awkwardness that ensues from it :)
Summary: Amanda and Sonny try to find the perfect match for their uptight (and while he would never admit it - lonely) A.D.A.
Read on AO3 here!
It had started off as a joke, really.
Rafael Barba would never sign up onto a dating app if it wasn’t against his will. When he heard the snickering of Amanda and Sonny when he stopped by the 16th precinct, his feet couldn’t help themselves but bring him over to the two detectives.
Amanda bit her cheek to settle herself as the ADA’s polished shoes made their way over. Sonny’s ears turned pink at the tips, which gave Rafael the tell-tale sign that Sonny and Amanda were up to no good.
Hands in his pockets, Rafael quipped, “What?”
Amanda and Sonny exchanged glances. The silence between the two was not a normal thing but when Rafael asked a second time - more aggressive - Sonny held out a cell phone to the lawyer. Rafael’s brows went up in question but when Sonny motioned him to take it, Rafael grabbed it. Looking down at the device, the screen lit up and a plethora of information singed itself into his brain.
Rafael Barba, 37
Manhattan, NY
Assistant District Attorney
Oh baby, I’ll give you so much due process, standing will be the only issue.
Rafael’s eyes widened at the dumb pick-up line. His thumb swiped through the photos. One was of an appearance on the news - dressed up in a suit on the steps of the courthouse with a furrowed brow and serious look on his face. One was him at Forlini’s - scowling over the rim of his bourbon while sitting at the bar next to a grinning Sonny. He remembered when Amanda took this picture. It was the day he told Sonny he could be his second chair. Another picture showed him actually smiling - dressed in a Tom Ford tuxedo, champagne flute in one hand while the other was resting on the waist of his date for that night. She was an oil company lobbyist that he hooked up with sometimes when she wasn’t in D.C.
“What is this?” Rafael’s eyes hardened as he looked up at the two detectives. Sonny flinched at Rafael’s tone. Amanda simply blinked at Rafael. She wasn’t one to deal with attitude willingly but given how uptight Rafael could be sometimes, she was letting it slide. Rafael’s eyes went back down to the dating profile and he felt an annoyance bubble within him. “What the hell is this?”
“Calm down,” Amanda said as she grabbed the phone back with a roll of her eyes. “It’s just a dating profile.”
“Of me!” Rafael looked at Amanda like she was speaking some foreign, alien language. “Why does it exist?”
Sonny’s face seemed to become more pink. A hand went to the back of his neck, rubbing it as his mentor for all intents and purposes became more annoyed. “We just thought it would be fun-”
“You thought it would be fun impersonating a Manhattan A.D.A.!” Rafael’s voice was raised. A few passing officers gave some glances to the group. Amanda waved a dismissive hand to one of them, letting them know that Rafael wasn’t someone to worry about when angry. “You’re lucky I don’t have you arrested.”
Amanda snorted, “We were going to tell you about it when we got you a date.”
“Yeah,” Sonny added, “we just thought you were stressed lately and needed someone to... ya know.”
If looks could kill, Rafael Barba would have murdered two very well-liked and very hard working detectives right then and there in a New York police precinct. He would have to tell Olivia that she would be short staffed for god knows how long.
Rafael’s fingers came up to pinch the bridge of his nose, taking a hard breath before looking back at the detectives. “You think I need your help getting laid?”
Sonny’s mouth gaped like a goldfish, trying to find words but nothing seemed to make itself at home in his pretty little head. He looked over at Amanda with wide eyes, hoping for her to smooth over the situation. Amanda simply shrugged her shoulders, “It’s not that we think you can’t get laid, Counselor,” she paused, eyes almost sympathetic and it made Rafael’s nostrils flare, “you just haven’t had… anyone around… long-term, you know?”
“I’m struggling to find where this is any of your concern,” Rafael pointed a finger at the two of them, “or why you would think I would find it on a dating app.” Rafael’s mind was flooding with things to make the lives of these two detectives a living hell. Maybe if he pulled some strings with Olivia, she’d put them on desk duty for a few weeks. “I want it deleted - get rid of it!”
Amanda held the device out of the prosecutor’s reach, giving him a few nods of understanding but she needed to tell him of one important thing, “But before we do that, you should know that there’s someone who matched with you-” Sonny nodded enthusiastically, “and she messaged you - us? - back.”
“It’s why we were laughing,” Sonny’s smile faltered when met with the fiery gaze of Rafael. He cleared his throat before continuing, “we found the dumb pick-up line on the internet and she shot back with one of her own.”
Rafael’s fire was lessened with the mention of a match. And she happened to message him? Amanda stepped closer to Rafael, finger mindlessly swiping from one screen and to another. There Rafael had seen the actual large amount of messages he was getting. “Seems like more than one match.” He muttered under his breath. And while this whole ordeal wasn’t something he necessarily wanted, the temporary boost of his ego made his shoulders straighten and his tongue dart over his lower lip.
“You’re very popular, Counselor,” Amanda’s brows wagged.
“But we like her the most,” Sonny said, “she seems fun!”
Rafael’s eyes rolled, before they settled on Amanda’s phone.
Are you the Court of Appeals because I’m tryna get overturned.
After he read the message, he couldn’t help the snicker. Back in his Harvard days, Rafael had heard just about every dumb pick-up line you could think of that was in the realm of lawyers. He may have even used a few of them but could you blame the guy. Rafael watched Amanda switch over to your profile.
Rafael swallowed. And then he grabbed the phone out of Amanda's hands. She let out a protest but Rafael had taken a few steps away and studied your profile like it was a law book and he had a final the next day.
It stated your name and your age. Then the same location as Rafael - Manhattan, NY. Your job was stated simply as a lawyer. Huh. That certainly piqued Rafael’s interest. In your bio, you had:
What better alibi could you have than spending the night with me?
He swiped through your photos. One was of you at the Central Park Zoo, scowling at a monkey who was seemingly doing the same thing back at you. Another was of you at a bar or a club - one arm thrown over the shoulder of another woman and a fruity drink held in your free hand. Your attention was focused on your drink rather than your friend or the person taking the picture. The last photo was of you at a brunch of some kind. You held up a mimosa with a wide smile and a large sun hat atop your head.
“Did you say anything back?” Rafael asked. Amanda shook her head with a smirk. You were certainly attractive and if you had taken the time to message Rafael on the cursed app then you must have thought that he was attractive too. He went back to the message you sent and swallowed again. “W-what should I say?”
Amanda’s smirk didn’t falter as she stepped over to Rafael, plucking the phone out of his frozen hands. Rafael heard the speedy tapping of the blonde woman’s fingers, tapping out a message quickly. Sonny stepped over, peeking down over Amanda’s shoulder. Rafael watched Sonny’s face as it went from curiosity to what Amanda was writing and to a lopsided smile, essentially giving his approval of the message.
Rafael didn’t like the idea of Sonny approving anything of his - especially if it came to how he got a date but he patiently waited until a swoosh noise came from the phone. Rafael stepped over to see what she had written but Amanda’s fingers were quick with logging out of the app and swiftly deleting it off her phone.
“Hey-” Rafael couldn’t stop the protest from his lips, brows furrowed. Amanda ignored him, grabbing a sticky note and a pen. She scrawled the login information for the account and slapped it onto his chest.
“I don’t want it on my phone if that conversation starts to get dirty,” Amanda said. Sonny chuckled.
“I think it started out pretty fiery.”
Rafael held the sticky note in his fingers. He could feel his phone in his suit pocket. It felt hot and electric against him, even through all the layers of clothes he wore. “Nevertheless, I’m deleting the account,” he looked over the two detectives with a hard gaze, “and you are to never to do this again. Or else I will be put in jail for voluntary manslaughter.” Amanda swiftly ignored Rafael’s threat whereas Sonny seemed to take it more seriously. The lanky man gave a nod before settling himself at his desk.
Rafael stepped away from the detectives’ desks and dug his phone out from his pocket. His fingers twitched and he felt this wave of embarrassment wash over him as he searched the app’s name and watched it download onto his phone. It seemed to take hours for the dumb thing to fully be situated onto his device. He tapped it, used the sticky note information to log in and was greeted with new profiles to swipe across. He ignored them and went to his messages to see what the pesky blonde detective had said. He hoped it wasn’t something too inappropriate. The last thing Rafael needed was headlines of him sexually harassing women over social media.
He hesitated for a second before tapping on the messages with you. He took a deep breath. He felt nervous. Was it because of the potential can of worms that Amanda could have unleashed? Was it because he found you attractive? Was it because the two detectives were right and it had been a while since he’s had anyone around? While Rafael was capable of finding a temporary suitor to share his bed, he couldn’t find anyone to become something more permanent.
His eyes searched the screen, brain trying to quickly decipher the jumble of letters on his screen. “Ay Dios mío,” Rafael muttered under his breath and the grip on his phone tightened. Rafael thought he read the message a dozen times, just over and over again, trying to really see if Amanda truly did send this to you. He tapped various spaces on his phone, trying to see if there was an undo button but to no avail, the message taunted him.
Something something dictum. Sleep with me.
Rafael was caught off guard by Olivia who called his name from her office door. Rafael cleared his throat, slid his phone back into his pocket with one hand and slid the other down his chest, smoothing out any wrinkles in his shirt. Rafael finally remembered why he was there at the precinct. He needed to do his job and watch a line-up be conducted. Olivia had sounded very confident over the phone, so he figured he had a simple day.
He had spent the rest of his day watching various victims come forward to pick out their attacker confidently. When the defense lawyer monotonously asked to speak with his client after the lineups were done, Rafael felt his phone buzz. For a brief moment, Rafael had forgotten the dating app debacle. He wondered if it was Carmen, telling him of more paperwork and messages that needed to be signed and answered.
But no, it wasn’t Carmen.
It was a notification from the stupid app.
You have a new message!
Rafael bit down on his bottom lip, finger hovering over the notification. He took a breath and tapped his phone. God, what is wrong with me? Grow some cojones, Barba. Rafael watched the screen load and then plaster your message into his line of vision.
Ah, this definitely is a catfish account because there’s no way an ADA would use a line like that.
Rafael smirked. Took a moment to think and then started to type.
The DA has very low standards these days.
You messaged back quickly.
If they’re hiring based on looks, then I’d say they have very high standards, Counselor.
Rafael’s hand lifted to scratch at his jaw, a smile breaking across his face. His eyes widened at another message from you.
Does the prosecution want to rest at my place later tonight?
The forwardness from you made Rafael’s smile turn into a smirk. If Olivia or Sonny had seen him, they would even consider to call it a cocky smirk.
Would you want to meet for drinks first or just take this back to chambers?
I suppose I could side-bar for some drinks.
Great!
He paused before sending another message.
Let’s just agree to not use any more lawyer puns.
Objection!
After setting up a time to meet up at a swanky bar later that night, Rafael entered the bullpen again but with an air of confidence about him. Amanda noticed the shift in energy within the counselor. The corner of her mouth ticked up, fingers fiddling with a pen as she leaned back in her chair, side-eyeing Rafael. “Line-up went well?”
Rafael picked a piece of nonexistent lint off his suit jacket. “It went great, Rollins.” She hummed quietly, eyes studying every inch of his face with amusement.
“We’re heading to Forlini’s tonight,” Amanda stated, “would you like to come?” At the mention of Forlini’s, Sonny peeked over at the two of them from his laptop.
Rafael gave one curt shake of his head. “I’m afraid I’m busy tonight.” And with that, Rafael had turned and exited the bullpen and towards the elevator. Even though he hated it in theory of what Amanda and Sonny did, Rafael couldn’t deny that he didn’t not like the outcome of it.
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let me be your ruler.2
Warnings: guns, dubcon, noncon, handjob.
This is a dark! fic and explicit. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.
Pairing: (dark!mob!) Peter Parker x Reader
Summary: You try to forget about Peter but he won’t forget about you.
Note: I hate that I am the way that I am. I wanted to keep this to two parts but you know me. 
Anyways, I’m excited for this and hope you are too.
Hope you enjoy it. Thank you. Love you guys!
Please leave some feedback, like and reblog <3
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Drowsy in the afterglow of sex and alcohol, you fell quickly into a deep sleep. You didn’t even change before you sank into bed. You hardly recalled the elevator ride up or stumbling into your apartment and tripping around the shadows to your room. It was only a fractured journey from the car to your mattress.
You woke as your phone vibrated under your pillow. You must have buried it there before passing out. You groaned and rolled over as you dug it out. There were several notifications next to a single name; Peter. You thumbed through each message; written in the same tone as his voice. Demanding, without question.
‘Great night, Princess.’ ‘We’ll do it again Saturday.’ ‘Wear something nice.’ … The messages escalated smoothly from doting to commanding. It jolted you back to the night before, the way he seemed to just thrust you through the night. The dress, the drinks, the men, the guns…
You sat up, your panties crooked on your hips. You muttered and swiped away the messages. You weren’t seeing him again. You couldn’t. You had stuck your toe in too deep already. It was best to nip these things in the bud. Not to let yourself get dragged in so far you couldn’t see the surface. 
Peter was more than mysterious; he was dangerous.
You went to the kitchen and waited for the machine to grind as the scent of coffee filled your heavy body. You drank too much, did too much. You still felt Peter’s hand between your legs. It made your chest tight and your head spin. You looked down at your body, the red dress wrinkled and askew.
You left the coffee to brew and retreated to your room. You tore off the dress and your panties. You pulled on a cotton shirt and loose pajama pants. You stormed back into the kitchen and shoved the clothing in the bin. You snatched your phone from the counter and swiped up the lock screen.
‘Sorry, I don’t think this is going to work out.’ You typed. Your hand shook as you hovered over send. You heard Halle’s door and you pressed your thumb down. You looked up at her before you pulled up the block option.
“How was your night?” She asked as she inhaled the aroma of your morning ritual.
“Eh, you know, another dead end,” you pushed your thumb down and the conversation disappeared. “Just not my type.”
“Really?” She whined. “He seemed so nice. And he liked you so much.”
You blackened your screen and placed your phone face down. “Well, you know, things don’t always turn out.” You shrugged and pulled out a mug, “You want some?”
“Are you at least going to tell me about it?” She pouted. “And yes, lots of sugar.”
You poured her coffee and handed her the sugar dish. You frowned at how much powder she scooped into her cup but it was her most endearing trait. She knew what she wanted and she didn’t care what anyone thought.
“Uh, well, it wasn’t anything special. He took me to a party but… I don’t know. What kind of first date is that? Take me somewhere I don’t know anyone…” You ran your finger around the rim of your cup. “Maybe when I was younger but now.”
“You sound like such an old lady,” she snickered, “Oh my god!” She stood straight, “Are we old?”
“I am, but you’ll always be young at heart, Hal,” you rolled your eyes.
“So you’re not going to try a second?” She prodded.
“I don’t think so,” you cradled your mug, “He… hasn’t even messaged me back.” 
You hated lying but Halle had gotten you into this mess and you knew she’d harp on you for not even giving Peter a chance. But you had. He wasn’t what he seemed and you didn’t want to stick around and find out what exactly he was hiding.
“What?” She huffed. “Well, fuck him then.” She sipped from her coffee and her lips curved as she swallowed. “Wait, did you…”
“Hal, come on,” you snipped.
“Oh, fine, but you know, maybe if you got laid, you wouldn’t be so uptight.” She teased.
“Not this again,” you groaned and slid your phone off the counter. “You know what, I got work to do.”
“Uh huh,” she hummed as you turned to leave, “Work. When did you get so old and boring?”
“One of us had to,” you called back over your shoulder, “And we both know you’re never growing up.”
Your phone was pleasantly still for the rest of the day. You felt a twinge of guilt having blocked Peter but then you recalled the men and their holsters. You found your mind drifting away from your work and your fingers hovered over the keyboard as you thought back. 
The company he kept added to the uneasiness in your chest. Steve was friendly but arrogant. The way he looked at you, the way he spoke to you, what was it he introduced you as, “Peter’s girl”. And that man, Bucky. He didn’t seem too fond of Peter but the way he’d grinned at you, as if he knew something you didn’t. Well, he did, they all did. Your head stormed as you tried to figure out their secret.
You shook off the curdling paranoia and hunched as you squinted closer at your computer. You made yourself focus as you skimmed the tight font and added your suggestions in the margin. You sent off your edited draft as your stomach groaned; empty and churning from the acidic coffee.
You grabbed your phone and your mug as you stood. You checked the time. Almost noon. You grumbled and went back to the kitchen, thankfully empty as Halle had left for work an hour ago. You set your cup down and expanded your notifications. A single phone call from a private number and a new follower on your mostly empty Insta.
You opened the neglected app and hit the notification. The profile was emptier than yours. the profile pic was just black and there were no posts. The name gave you no hints as it was obviously generated by the site. 
You went back and a comment popped up on the picture of your and Halle at last year's winter market. ‘Gorgeous, Princess.’ You read and reread the two words as you leaned against the counter. You bit your fingertips and went back to the mysterious profile. You hit ‘block’ and locked your phone.
Surely, he’d get the hint sooner or later. It was one date and the man seemed to have no trouble with women. He’d move on and you’d both forget about that off putting night. You just had to wait him out.
A week rolled by as you kept yourself busy with your work. The phone calls stopped after the first day and you had no more peculiar alerts awaiting you. Your plan had worked. It wasn’t exactly the best; it was a bit cowardly, actually. Yet, knowing how Peter was and how ‘no’ seemed beyond his vocabulary, you had more faith in your evasion than his understanding.
As the weekend approached, Halle convinced you to come out with the girls. You had eluded those opportunities for the past year as you found yourself disillusioned and disinterested in the club scene. You felt as if you were aging out of it and seeing all those fresh-faced coeds assured you of it. Even so, the girls liked to dance and in their words, you need to ‘let loose’.
You couldn’t disagree. You had been on edge and the mounting emails in your inbox didn’t ease the stress of everything else.
With a pre-drink burning a whole in your stomach, you pulled on a pair of flats as your bag hung across your chest. You were comfortable but not stuffy in your tight jeans and the bright pink top with the criss-cross straps. You felt pretty good and the vodka made you optimistic.
You headed down to the street and caught a cab. The dread evaporated the closer you got and as you pulled up to the front of the flashing club, Molly and Desiree waved at your approach. The four of you joined the line as you searched out your ID.
“So,” Molly said, “Halle told us about your little date!”
“Date?” You blinked. “Oh, yeah, that didn’t pan out.”
“Of course,” Desiree scoffed, “That guy was so cute though.”
“Yeah, he was nice, but we just didn’t…”
“He’s ghosting her!” Halle interjected, “Didn’t even text the next day, ugh.”
Halle crossed her arms and you nodded. You weren’t going to correct her, you didn’t need the other two piling on about your dormant love life. You came out to have a good time, that’s what they promised you, and you didn’t want to think about the night that still stood so vividly in your mind.
As you stepped up to the bouncer, he barely looked at your card. You were almost offended as he waved you through and carded the next party more closely. You glanced around at your friends but they hardly seemed bothered. Well, only Halle had reached that big three-o with you, and the other two girls still had a year or two to go.
Madonna’s voice pumped from the speakers as you neared the bar. You looked around at the streaming lights and the bodies shadowed in the strobe. You were surprised you recognized the song and you nudged Desiree as she waited for Molly to order the first round.
“What’s up with the music?” You asked.
“It’s retro night! Duh! Just for you!” She giggled and you elbowed her harder.
Molly turned and passed out the plastic cups with their thin straws and you followed Halle to the low stage where the smoke machine billowed. You coughed at the taste of the fog and sucked on your straw. You began to sway as the other girls led the charge. You could help but be enlivened by the deep base and the energy all around.
As you danced, the girls yelled back and forth about their recent drama. Desiree’s date had been more successful than your own, Molly was certain she was in love with Charlie? You still didn’t know. And Halle was just riding the vibe.
You finished your drink and the other girls stacked their cups in yours before you crossed the stage to leave the garbage on the table just beside the platform. 
You looked over at the bar, pondering another, and your eye was caught by a figure who seemed out of place. The cut of his suit, the way he leaned on hand on a stool, and the intense gaze sent in your direction startled you.
You blinked and stumbled over to the single step down to the floor. You pushed through the bodies, nearly tumbling as a tipsy guy crashed into you. You got to the bar and looked up and down it. Girls waved their hands to get the bar tender’s attention and guys sidled up to them. 
Bucky was gone. It was him. Maybe the air was filled with smoke and the lights were flashing like a siren, but you were certain. Why was he there? How had he found you among the city? Among the reverie in that club? Why had he been watching you? And where had he gone?
You went to where you’d seen him and searched the perimeter of the bar. You went back through the club and slipped past those just getting in. You tapped on the bouncer’s shoulder and he grumbled before he turned and bent to hear you. “What is it?”
“Did you see a guy in a suit leave? Dark hair and--”
“There’s a lot of people here,” he shrugged you off.
You snarled and turned back. You got ahead of the flood of new arrivals and fought your way back to the three girls on the stage. As you walked up, Halle pouted and grabbed your elbow. “Boo, we thought you were getting another round.”
“No, no, I…” you squirmed and tried to get back into the rhythm, “I had to use the restroom.”
“Well, how about now? Wanna refill the tank?” She jibed.
“Uh, sure,” you picked at the purse. “Be right back.”
“Make mine a double,” Molly called after you. “Thanks.”
Despite drowning yourself in alcohol, you barely slept and when you did, you were back in the club, staring at a man you never expected to see again. You wondered if maybe you’d imagined it or if Peter had sent him after you or if it was someone else and you were just tipsy and blind. Whatever it was, you couldn’t shake the foreboding that followed you into the next morning.
Your Saturday was painful and lazy. You spent your hangover on the couch and barely saw Halle as she cowered in the dim light of her room. You fell asleep there and dragged yourself to bed just before nine. You really were old, or at least, getting there.
Sunday slapped you in the face after another night of disjointed dreams. Peter and the room full of men, Bucky at the bar, and static in between. Responsibility called you from your mattress and you cleaned up and dressed for your weekly trip to the grocery store. 
As you came out, Halle was glaring at her phone. “What’s up?” You asked as you shoved your wallet in your purse. “You coming to the store?”
“I got called in for one.” She pouted. “Tell me why I fucked that asshole?”
“Shit, Hal, I’m sorry. Well, I’ll just do the shop myself.” You frowned, “Let you get ready to deal with all that.”
“It’s all because he fucking texted me on Friday and drunk me decided to reply and then… urgh, why do I do this?”
“I don’t know why you’re asking me?” You grinned.
“Oh, please go before I throw this at you,” she shook her phone, “And don’t forget my oat milk.”
“Whole milk?” You asked as you slipped your shoes on, “Got it.”
“Don’t,” she warned.
“Alright, alright. Hopefully I catch you before you go,” you stood and grabbed your keys from the hook. “Have fun with Mr. Bossman.”
“Shut up,” she buried her head in her hands, “Oh my god!”
You tried not to laugh as you left. You felt bad for her as you didn’t know what you’d do in her situation. Looking for a new job had been her first thought but the market was never very good and the man who was driving her away, wasn’t exactly a shining reference.
You took your usual route to the grocer. You had your list on your phone and loaded your cart. You filled the reusable bags and set off for a very inconvenient subway ride home. Your arms screamed as you carried the load up your street and struggled to find your keys at the door. The elevator was too slow and you ended up hauling it all up the stairs. You were out of breath as you got to your apartment.
You turned the knob just a little and kicked open the door. You stomped in and dropped the bags. “So, I got your damn milk--” You stopped short as your voice collided with Halle’s. She was already dressed for work but her braids were still loose. She stood behind the couch as she talked to your unexpected visitor.
“Oh, there she is,” she said snappily, “I wouldn’t blame her for kicking you out but I’ll leave it up to her.” Halle turned to you, “Look who’s here. Only took him a week to come around.”
“Hal,” you said softly as you set the bags down. “What--” You lowered your voice, “Why’d you let him in?”
“So he can apologize to you,” she huffed loudly and passed you to close the door, “Don’t you worry, I still gotta finish getting ready so you have lots of time to hear him out.” She looked at him sharply.
“Really, it’s…” You gulped as you peeked over at Peter. He sat calmly in the chair as he watched you. “Yeah, okay.”
She marched into her room and as her door closed, you reluctantly approached the back of the couch where your roommate had just stood. You stared at Peter, uncertain what to say. You hadn’t been prepared for this; for him to be there in your apartment, your home.
“Peter,” you ran your hands over the couch cushions.
“You lie to everyone you know?” He asked. “As I recall, I’m not the one who’s been… ‘ghosting’, as your friend says.”
“I…” You shifted and picked at the seam, “Look, I told you it wasn’t going to work--”
“You barely gave me a chance. Gave us a chance,” he said as he pushed his legs apart. “That’s hardly fair.”
“Well, you know, I have work and it’s just not a good time for me right now.” You sniffed. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, but--”
“Ha, princess, I don’t hurt so easy,” he smirked, “Why don’t you sit down and we can talk properly… finally.”
You scratched your brow and cleared your throat. “I don’t think we need to do that.”
Your voice trailed off as Halle opened her door again. She swept out and you waited as she scooped her purse off the counter and sidestepped the groceries still sat on the floor.
“Gotta go,” she sang, “I’ll see you after work.” She stopped by the door as she wiggled into her heels, “Let me know how you deal with… him.”
“See ya,” you said quietly and watched her go. You looked back at Peter slowly as he chuckled.
“What did you tell her about me?” He wondered.
“Nothing. Really.” You said. “I have your jacket. You want it back--”
“Sit,” he gestured to the couch. “We’ll worry about that later.”
“No. Peter, please. I’m just not interested, okay?”
“You seemed pretty interested in the car,” he purred, “Seemed real interested.”
“I…” You looked at the wall and squirmed. “I didn’t ask you to do that.”
“You were asking for it in that dress,” he intoned. “Now,” his movement drew your eye as he reached into his jacket, “I don’t like playing things like this.” He pulled the pistol from its holster and rested it on the arm of the chair, his hand firm on the handle. “Please, sit down. Let’s talk.”
You stared at the gun. Your blood burned hot and you felt blindly as you came around the couch and dropped down. Your eyes never left the muzzle. Would he use it on you?
“Oh, princess, don’t you worry, I’m just getting comfortable.” He taunted. “Now, I’ve been tryna figure out where I went wrong. I got you a pretty dress, I took you to a nice party, I fed you champagne, and I even gave you a little dessert,” he mused and his lip curled, “So I gotta confess I’m confused as you why you’ve been hiding from me.”
You were paralyzed. You clutched your knees and gritted your teeth. You didn’t know what to say. You’d convinced yourself that you’d never see him again. Your method was tried and trued, at least, when it was used against you.
“Don’t be afraid. You can tell me. I really would prefer the truth.” His finger slid along the short barrel as he spoke. “So?”
“I… Peter, I don’t think that we would, uh, work out. Look, I don’t like guns and…” Your lashes fluttered, “I don’t really know that I wanna be around someone who carries one. Not too mention, your friends--”
“My friends. Princess, your mine. They won’t touch you.” He raised his chin. “They’re not that bold.”
You were silent. Your heart pulsed loudly and you took a breath. You stood cautiously and crossed your arms. “Peter, we talked. I told you my reasons. I think you should… go.” You said as firmly as you could.
He laughed again. His cheek twitched and the smile fell away from his face. He rose slowly and turned his gun to tuck it away under his jacket. His eyes never left you as he did.
“You really want me to go?” He asked.
You nodded and held your breath. “Yes.”
He threw his hands out and clapped them against his pants. He shook his head and crossed the room. You turned to watch him as he passed and suddenly, you were thrust towards him. His hand was on the back of your neck as he pulled you against him. He held you tightly and you felt his gun poking through his jacket.
He grinned, his lips only an inch from yours. “I’m going, princess, but not without you.”
“Let go of me!” You struggled with him. “Get off!”
“Princess,” he warned as his fingers dug into your neck, “Settle down.”
“No, I told you to go.” You hissed as you grabbed his wrist. “Please.”
“Let’s get this straight,” he said, “You don’t tell me what to do. Even if it gets me hard.” He crushed his lips to your suddenly and you wrestled with him, your teeth grazing his lip before he pulled back sharply, barely escaping a bite. “You don’t wanna do that.”
His hand went to your chin and he looked you in the face. He rubbed his nose against yours and growled. You beat on his chest and he squeezed tighter.
“Shit, let’s not just rush out of here,” he released you, “You should get those away before they spoil.”
He stepped back and placed his hand on the front of his jacket, where his gun was hidden. You gaped at him and your eyes flitted to the door.
“Ah, don’t worry, we’ll be on our way soon enough,” he said, “So long as you hurry up.”
You swallowed and he moved with you as you went to the bags. He blocked the door as you pulled the straps apart and began to unpack shakily. You dropped a can and it rolled along the floor before he stopped it with his foot. He kicked it back and leaned an elbow on the door frame.
You picked it up with several other cans and went to the cupboard. You snapped the door closed as you felt around the drawer with your other hand. You heard a click and looked to Peter as he aimed his pistol at you. He tilted his head. 
“Don’t do that,” he intoned as your hand lingered just inches from the knives inside the drawer.
You went back to the spread of groceries and tried to ignore him as you put everything in its place. As you bent to fill the crisper, he purred, a sizzly ‘princess’ under his breath. You finished up and packed the bags one into the other. You left them on the counter and again, he put his gun away.
“Princess, let me tell you something,” he gripped the door handle, “I don’t take that out without using it very often so don’t press my patience.” He turned the knob slowly, “I’ve waited on you long enough.”
The car ride was tense and long. Peter drove you uptown and you watched out the window helplessly. You rubbed your palms together nervously as they dampened with sweat. He’d taken your phone when you reached for it. He tossed it and it was somewhere on the floor.
He drove past the condos and the walk-ups and continued on nearly the exact path he’d taken on the momentous night. Another grand house awaited you but you remained in the seat as Peter climbed out. He opened your door and still you didn’t move. He reached across you to unbuckle the seat belt and grabbed your arm. He jerked you out onto your feet and sighed.
“Peter,” you begged, “What’s going on? Please, you’re scaring me.”
“Princess, have I done you wrong?” He asked but you didn’t answer. “I won’t hurt you.”
“You’re hurting me right now,” you wriggled your arm and he shoved you ahead of him.
“In,” he demanded as you stumbled up the rounded steps. “Now.”
You opened the door and stepped inside. You crossed the marble floor of the foyer as he directed you from behind. He followed at a pace, close enough that you couldn’t flee. Even if you did, you wouldn’t make it far.
“Pete,” the voice startled you and you stopped at the bottom of the wide staircase. Bucky stood in a doorway to your left. His gaze moved from you to Peter and back again. “I didn’t realise you brought company.”
“You’re still here?” Peter snipped.
“Was I supposed to leave?” He sneered. “You got me and Steve running around and you’re gonna kick us to the curb.”
“You don’t look very busy to me,” Peter growled and neared to rest his hand on your lower back. He leaned in and whispered in your ear. “Upstairs, turn left, the room at the very end. I don’t like hide and seek, you got me?”
You nodded and looked at Bucky again. His mouth slanted knowingly and his tongue poked out for just a moment. You turned up the stairs and left Peter behind. You reached the top and listened for a moment to his muffled voice.
“You and Steve do your fucking job and leave me alone. Understand. I don’t want to be bothered.” Peter snarled.
“Oh, I wouldn’t wanna be interrupted either,” Bucky snickered. “Not with her.”
“Go,” Peter barked. “Now.”
“Ay, you might be Tony’s man but you still gotta watch yourself,” Bucky warned. “This little arrangement isn’t gonna last forever…”
You went to your left and to the door at the end, like he said. You entered and couldn’t help but gasp at the immense bedroom. The black and white decor was expertly matched in marbles and exotics woods, plush velvet and polished sconces. You couldn’t help but admire the luxury.
You didn’t close the door. You glanced around dumbly and stood in one spot as you feared you might break something. You wrung your hands as you heard the steady footsteps and you spun as Peter entered. He looked even more agitated as he cracked his knuckles.
“Sorry about that, Princess,” he said, “Now where were we?” His eyes roved the room as he thought, “Ah, yes, an apology.”
“Apology. I…”
“Should I close the door?” He raised a brow, “You’d be surprised how sound carries in here.”
You frowned and he laughed as he swung the door shut. He neared you and bit the tip of his tongue as he considered you. His brown eyes bore into you and you took a step back. He stayed near and caught your wrist. His other hand fumbled with his belt and he let out a slow breath through his nose.
“Princess, I’d love to treat you how you deserve but you gotta be good to me too.” He pulled on your arm and twisted as you tried to resist. You hissed and he pushed your hand against his crotch. “I don’t forgive easy but I’m sure you can change that.”
“Don’t... don’t make me do this,” you uttered.
“Oh, but princess, you did this,” he pressed your hand around his bulge. “You take care of me and I’ll do the same.”
You parted your lips to argue and he grabbed the back of your head. He kissed you roughly and guided your hand to the top of his boxers. He slid your fingers under the elastic and urged you on, wrapping your fingers around his dick with a groan.
He squeezed until you gripped him firmly. He led your hand up and down as he held you to him, his hot breath filling you as it picked up. He forced his tongue into your mouth and you clawed at his jacket as he kept your other hand around him. He parted from your mouth at last and pressed his cheek to yours.
“Keep going, princess,” he purred as he slowly withdrew his hand from around yours. “You don’t wanna use your hand, I might think of something else.”
You quivered and slid your hand up and down his length. He nuzzled your neck and nibbled as he moaned against your skin. You could only move your hand as you stood against him stunned and rigid. He gripped your waist as you felt him tense and he murmured hungrily.
“Oh, princess,” he breathed and pushed his pelvis against your hands as he came. 
You felt the slick heat seep down your hand and slowed until he was breathless. He stilled your hand with his and carefully eased your hand from his pants. He stood straight and eyed your glistening fingers.
“Shit,” he swore as he caressed your cheek, “You made a mess of this suit.” He dropped his hand to the front of his pants as he smiled. He inhaled and pushed his shoulders back. “I forgive you, Princess.”
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ijustwant2write · 3 years
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Bad Boy-John Shelby x Reader
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(GIF credit to @markshade​)
Requested by anonymous: ‘Hi do you think u can do a John Shelby imagine where they are dating and y/n is a good innocent girl but freaky with John and her parents want to Him over for dinner John wants to piss off her dad cause he’s not a fan of the blinders and does subtle things to annoy him like touching y/n at the end of the night when they are saying goodbye at his car they have a heated make out sesh and John knows her dad is looking through the window so spices it up a bit . ❤️’
Characters: John Shelby x Reader
Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name
(Y/L/N)=Your last name
Warnings: Smut from the start (unsafe sex!), dirty talk, swearing, arguing, mentions of violence and death, fluff
(A/N: Amelia and Henry are made up characters)
                                        *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I clamped my hand over my mouth tightly, struggling to keep in the whimpers and moans as John continuously thrusted into me. However, the boxes I was perched on were full of bottles of beer, causing them to clang against each other.We were in the stock room of the Garrison, luckily having the music, singing and loud chatter drowning out the noise we were creating. John’s hands gripped at the skin around my hips, that cocky smirk on his face that I loved so much. For some reason, an idea popped into my head, and in the state of euphoria I was in just made me say it out loud.
“John...” was all I managed to breath out at first.
“Fuck, I love it when you say my name. Say it again.” he instructed.
“I want you to meet my parents.”
He suddenly stopped, making me realise it wasn’t the best time to bring that up.“You what?”
We were both heavily breathing.“Sorry, I don’t know why I said that just then.”
He scoffed, sighing as he slid out of me.“Well, that’s finished with.”
“I’m sorry! They want to meet you. They know who you are, but they want to try and treat this like they did with my sister.”
“You sure you want that? Remember what you told me when they first found out about us?”
I rolled my eyes, hitching up my stocking as he did up his trousers.“It was their idea, not mine.”
“You don’t want me meeting them?”
“Of course I do, I just-” I caught him trying to hide a laugh, he was winding me up.“You’re such a little shit.”
He stood in between my legs again, hands on my thighs before I could push my skirt down.“Well, if I have been summoned by the Lord (Y/L/N)-”
“Oh my god,” I threw my head back as I laughed in frustration,“would you stop calling him that! I’m the same class as you.”
“What have I always said?”
I shrugged my shoulders, but knew what he was referring to.
“You were always meant to be a fucking princess, Princess (Y/N) of Birmingham.”
I laughed at him.“Oh shut up! Are you coming to dinner or not?”
“If you ask me nicely.”
“And how do I do that?”
“By finishing what we started.”
John and I had been together for a few months now, much to my parents dismay. It had started as a drunk one night stand; we were both at the Garrison, and seemingly chose each other for the night. However, when you’re young, poor and living in Small Heath, there aren’t a lot of places to go out, so me and my friends went to the Garrison all the time. This meant I also saw John again....and again....and again, and again. We slept we each other maybe three more times before wondering if this could become a thing; from there onwards, we found out more about each other, and he brought out a side of me I had been hiding, also wanting to release.
On the day of the dinner, I wanted to see John before he arrived. I lied to my mum, saying we had no bread (which I had hidden away), and practically running out of the house to ‘buy’ some. I told John what time to be at mine, also lying to make him leave earlier so I could meet him halfway. In the bakery, I threw the money onto the counter after picking up a loaf of bread, speedily walking away as I prayed I would run into John. Luck was on my side as I spotted him, already heading in the direction of my home.
“John!” I shouted, the whole street now looking at me as I sprinted past them. 
He whipped around at the noise, hand hovering over where his gun would be. When he saw me, he didn’t relax, wondering why I was yelling his name and running like a mad man.
“I’m so glad I caught you.” I struggled to say, out of breath.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” he panicked.
“No, no I’m fine. I’m a terrible runner though.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Bread.” I said, holding up the loaf as evidence.“And also, to see you.”
“I was just leaving.”
“Yes, I can see that. I just wanted to go over some rules.”
“Rules? Oh come on (Y/N)-”
“No, listen to me.” I held up the bread instead of pointing my finger at him.“I love you. I always take your side for everything. We both know my parents don’t like this, but seeing as I am a grown woman, they don’t do anything to stop me. So just for today, we’re going to abide to their rules.”
He rolled his eyes.“Right, so I’ve got to be the uptight prat that your parents want you to be with?”
“They know what you’re like already, and even if they didn’t, they would be able to see through that act. Just let my dad be my dad.”
“If he says something fucking offensive, I’m not going to stay quiet!”
“Fine, then be political about it. Don’t shout at each other, try to make small talk, but no talking about guns, violence, killing-”
“Alright, are you going to go?”
“Sorry. I just want this to be easy. I hate seeing you stressed. I love you.”
He held my hand, starting to walk.“Yeah, yeah. Come on, I’ve got the car parked up in the garage.”
I hated that he hadn’t sent it back, but I understood why he was being like this. I was making him be someone he wasn’t. I loved John as a person, however, I couldn’t be dealing with a screaming match between him and my family.
“John, I do love you.” I said after a few minutes of walking.
“I know. I love you too.” he eventually smiled.“Just want you all to myself now, you know? We wouldn’t have to be dealing with this.”
“Soon darling. We’ll get that house soon enough. Oh, I’ve just remembered something else!”
“Rule number...I’ve lost count, maybe one hundred?”
“No inappropriate stuff. No touching, kissing, being sneaky, nothing!”
“That’s going to be incredibly hard. Especially with that dress.” 
Once we made it to my house, I gave him a quick kiss on the lips before getting out of the car. Opening the front door. I called out to my parents, hearing them reply from the front room. I told John to remove his coat whilst I rushed into the kitchen with the bread, carelessly chucking it on the side before getting back to him. I saw a hint of nerves in his eyes, though his pride covered it. Taking his hand in mine, I guided us to my family, surprised to see who was sitting with them.
“Amelia? What are you doing here? And with Henry?” I asked.
“Well, Henry would happen to be here with me because he’s my husband. I’m sure you remember being at the wedding.” she quipped.
“I don’t remember the boring days of my life. Not worth it.”
“(Y/N).” mum warned.
“Anyway,” I looked up at John,“I would like you to all meet John Shelby. We’ve been seeing each other for quite some time and-”
“We know who he is.” dad sighed, not even bothering to stand from his seat. 
“You’re the ones who invited him over. It would be nice of you to greet him properly.”
Dad stood slowly, making his way towards us, making me think he was getting up to shake John’s hand. Instead he just stopped, not looking either of us in the eye.
“I need a drink.”
He broke us apart by walking through us, mum timidly following. I felt like swearing and screaming. It was their idea. They wanted to meet him but then they were being like this. I sent an apologetic smile to John as we sat down.
“So,” I thought I would try and make conversation,“John, this is my sister Amelia and her husband Henry. She used to live here but she moved away a few years ago.”
“Had to find a better area, you know? Safer for the children we were planning for.” Amelia smugly smiled.
“Such a saint is my sister.”
“It’s like Mary and Joseph.” John chuckled, causing me to laugh.
“Well that would make you Judas and...and whoever he was with then, wouldn’t it?” Amelia desperately tried.
“Nice one Amelia. Don’t think too hard next time, yeah?”
Before she could snap back, mum called us to the dinner table. I realised we would all be squashed around it, seeing as only four people could usually fit there. I made sure John was sat beside me, Amelia and Henry opposite us and my parents at either head of the table. Our knees were almost touching we were that close. Dinner started silent, everyone tucking into the small meal. We were poor, we never had a lot to eat; which was why I was surprised that Amelia was here, there were now three more mouths to feed, not just John. But I knew why she was really here. Amelia had done what our parents wanted, found a good man who could provide her with the bare necessities and keep her out of trouble. They wanted me to reflect on who I was in love with, try to change my mind. Wasn’t going to happen.
“So what is it you actually do?” Henry asked. I was unsure if it was supposed to be malicious or whether he was actually curious.
“Work in the betting shop.” John answered.
“Yeah, but, you know, on the side.”
“Henry, we don’t want to get involved.” Amelia scolded him.
“Just because you’ve graced me with your presence, that doesn’t mean you’re on some sort of hit list.”
“No, but my sister is.”
“Amelia, shut up.” I snapped.
“No, she’s right.” John said, causing me to whip my head round to him. He went against my instructions, placing his hand on my thigh.“But I wouldn’t let anyone hurt my girl. They would be dead before they even thought about it.”
Although I had told him to not talk of such things or stoop to my families level, my heart melted at the (somewhat morbid) statement.
“Am I hearing this right?” mum laughed, but their was no humour behind it.
“Mum, try to not get upset.” Amelia held her hand.
Now it was my turn to laugh.“Oh my god.” Everyone looked at me, John was smirking whilst the others were frowning.“You’re such a hypocrite.”
“What?”
“You were sneaking out all the time, seeing different boys every weekend. What makes you so much better than me?”
“I’m not with a criminal.”
“All of you stop it!” dad exclaimed, slamming his fist down on the table.“And get your fucking hand off my daughter.”
Amelia tutted.“Henry would never-”
“You and Henry were fucking upstairs before dinner when he came round the first time!” I butted in.
“Sounds like a good time to me.” John mumbled under his breath.
“How dare you?!” mum was shocked.
“I knew this was a stupid idea. Get out, now!”
“With pleasure.” John stood, grabbing my hand.
I quickly left with him, grabbing the key off the counter and locking the door behind me. It made me laugh hearing their shouts of protest and banging on the door. We rushed to the car, scared that they would somehow break down the door. John leaned me back against it, hands sliding down the side of my body and gripping my arse. He knew what he was doing, especially since my family now had their faces pressed against the window.
“Well, that was...quick.” I giggled.
“Yeah, you’re not used to that.” John joked.
“You have to make it all about sex, don’t you?”
“(Y/N), I don’t give a fuck about what they think, and neither do you. As soon as I get this bit of business sorted with Tom and Arthur, I’m buying that house and you are moving in with me. Then we’ll get married straight away-”
“I hope this isn’t your proposal.”
“Don’t you worry, I’ve got something big planned for that.”
He leaned down to kiss me, gripping onto my arse firmly. As he deepened the kiss, adding tongues, he forced his knee between my legs, and I subconsciously started rubbing against it, only subtly. I made sure he stayed close by pulling him in by his coat. The neighbours would surely be watching, it was a small street, which would drive my parents insane. This only fuelled something in me, and I wanted to keep going. 
“I suggest we take this somewhere more private. Like, right now.” John breathlessly said.
I frantically nodded, and we both headed for opposite sides of the car, until I saw I still had the key in my hand. Hurriedly making my way back to the door, I ignored my family who had now managed to open the windows, screaming at me as I posted the key through the letter box. Running as fast as I could back to the car, I felt the adrenaline rush through me, giggling like a maniac at the thought of my parents catching me. Slamming the door shut as I jumped in the car, John floored it, and we looked like we escaped from an insane asylum as we laughed.
I stuck my head out of the car and screamed,“I fucking love you John Shelby!”
He pulled me back in by my dress, squeezing my thigh once I sat down.“I love you too, you fucking maniac.”
“I don’t think I’ll be allowed back there, you know.”
“Good thing you’re staying with me then.”
“You sure you’re ready for all of this?”
“I’ve been ready since I laid eyes on your face...and those tits, and that arse-”
“You make it seem like you’re only in it for my body.”
“Nah, that’s the ultimate bonus though. I already said it, but once you’re with me, I protect you and love you. You’re mine.”
“And you’re mine. Make sure to do your coat up before you get out the car, it’s a bit obvious down there.”
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ackerfics · 3 years
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levi brings or cooks you food even if you two just got into a nasty big argument/fight
levi will definitely do this for his partner tbh 😔 he reminds me of those moms who nag you until you cry, only for them to offer you some food while you're crying in your room. basically, levi reminds me of my mom bc of this ask HSHDJSJ but putting that aside, he really does care for you so much that it sometimes stir guilt in his stomach whenever you feel upset after a fight. this happens at most twice a week but worry not, levi will make you feel better at the end of the day.
if this were set in canonverse, the argument will most likely include you being put in the safest spot of erwin's formation, courtesy of levi, without you knowing about it.
we all know levi is a very protective person when it comes to his loved ones and since the usual impending doom brought by an expedition that could cost you your life is right around the corner, he is being paranoid.
seeing as he lost his family/friends, previous squad, and soldiers under his care, he took it upon himself to consult erwin about putting you in the back of the formation where he was sure there will be no contact with titans. and erwin being the supportive wingman he is, approves of it. mind you, you're probably one of the squad leaders so putting you in that position can never benefit a person with your status in the military.
it is a nasty fight bc; one, there are many casualties and nearly your squad got wiped out, two, people inside the walls are getting on your nerves, and lastly, you found put about the last minute changes in the formation. there you have the fight.
the two of you are stubborn and wouldn't back down on each stand so you left his office with pathetic tears running down your cheeks while he mulls over the fact that he made you cry. this realization will not come until he just sits there staring into space for a couple of minutes. istg, levi pull yourself together 😤 levi would feel so so guilty and ashamed for himself bc you're this amazing squad leader and he had the audacity to place you in the safest part of the formation. of course, you'd be upset.
so he will make everything right.
later that night while doing paperwork, you faintly hear the distinct sound of a knock on your door. nobody knocks on your door like that so it would mean one person. you were about to say you're busy but levi whispered in the softest voice that can still be heard in the quiet hallway, "open up, please." you had no choice so you put aside your files and opened your door to a very flustered levi.
there was a box of your favorite treats from the bakery down the road and it instantly melts your heart. you have to lean your weight on your doorway bc levi looks so adorable with a flushed face. you have to control yourself from cooing and pinching his cheeks or else this moment will be ruined. you're preventing a smile from coming out bc he's thinking that you're still upset. you're far from it actually.
"i'm sorry for underestimating you, i only want to keep you safe. i hope you accept my apology." as he's saying this, he will present to you the box of sweets.
"well, if you're brandishing treats from the bakery in town, i know our fight's over."
"oh."
"yeah, so come in so we'll eat those sweets with some tea, love 🥰"
in the modern world, however, your fights mainly revolve around the stress piling up on your shoulders or misunderstandings. they're not that intense when compared to your fights with him in canonverse but they still created this tension in your shared home. there are so many things he could do in the modern world to pull a smile on your face, one of these is his habit of trying out new dishes.
one of your fights that caused you to walk out of the room was when he showed frustration over university.
well, you're also a college student with problems of your own so this fight is perfect to let go of the stress. it's quite a nasty fight tbh. remarks not even related to academics are being spewed out until he mentioned how uptight you are these days and how careless you've been for neglecting everything, even your health and the state of the apartment. levi can't do everything alone, sweetie.
it's not something to be mad about but hey, you're letting out steam and he just slapped the reality that you are becoming irresponsible when you are clearly not.
so with the realization that he might have been harsh, levi cooks your favorite food for dinner along with some side dishes. he went all out, bestie, all for you 🧡
you peek out from your bedroom because of the smell and he notices. levi turns and rolls his eyes playfully while sighing, "you're like a puppy." he smiles and beckons for you to come out. "let's eat. i tried doing some changes for your favorite food. i hope you still like it tho."
oh, you loved it. you're starting to think that fighting with levi is a good idea bc food will always be there in the end. this man will pamper you through and through and you love every second of it 🥰
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taeescript · 3 years
Text
29 + 1 (Part Two)
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𝔰𝔶𝔫𝔬𝔭𝔰𝔦𝔰: In which Seokjin is the Devil from The Devil Wears Prada, Taehyung is your work Jesus and Jimin is your handsome successful brother.
𝔭𝔞𝔦𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰: seokjin x reader (squint harder than before for taehyung x reader) 
𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔯𝔢: slice of life; ceo!seokjin; a dash of enemies to lovers au 
𝔴𝔠: 7.6k
𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰: language; a plethora of drunk people, maybe a sext, and a ton of lying (possible implication of impending smut?!) 
𝔞/𝔫: this part came out longer than i thought it would be but *shrugs* feedback and thoughts always welcomed. enjoy (:  𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔯: DailyHive is real; this is not associated with it 
part one || part three 
The bright pop music that is blaring from the speakers does little to slow your animated talking. Bodies are packed into the small local bar, and students on summer break fill booths and form a snake of impatient, drunk (and horny) people. A slow trickle of the brazen has started to fill the dance floor as the evening morphs into the night.
  You whip your hair into a ponytail and dab at the sweat that is beading your forehead. You definitely should have worn that sleeveless top rather than this thicker t-shirt dress.
  “So, is he like your sugar daddy or something?” Taehyung asks, “Also drink.”
  Friday nights were usually spent at home, snuggled under the blankets in your pjs binging another rewatch of Friends. After work today, you could no longer hold onto your secret and invited Taehyung out for drinks. His girlfriend, Fei, was supposed to join but had been held back for overtime.
  You tip the shot back with no chase.
  “You’re a monster,” he comments as he bites into his lemon piece.
  The two of you had made a bet at the beginning of the evening: you each chose a pop song and each time it played, the nominee had to take a shot. That was your fourth of the night, and to say there was a bit of a buzz is an understatement.
  “It’s all throat technique, Tae,” you say with a bit of a slur, “Hit the back and swallow. No innuendo intended. Also, why the hell haven’t you had any to drink?”
  “You picked ‘Peaches’ for fuck’s sake.”
  “I told you I don’t listen to pop music. It was the first one playing.”
  “And shouldn’t that have told you something? Justin Bieber of all people?”
  “Shut up. It’s your song.” You nod at the pink-faced barista for another round. She slaps your order in front of the two of you without so much a glance.
You don’t even know what song is playing, but you feel quite satisfied watching Taehyung make a face as he downs it in one go.
  He clears his throat after the liquor has burned its way down to his stomach. “Back to my question: is he your sugar daddy?”
  You bark out a laugh. Was he? Perhaps the fact that he paid for fancy meals at lunch? Those have been his one o’clock meetings for the past two months.
  “I don’t know. I’d rather he buy me a car or pay my rent if anything. A casual 1k a week wouldn’t be so bad either. We just sit in his office and eat in secret, Tae. He’s ‘training me in the art of culinary cuisine’. I think it’s just so I don’t embarrass him by stuffing a shrimp cocktail up my nose.”
  “You do know – ”
“Yes, I know. And I would never. It’s a metaphor. It’s just that the position ‘intern’ is quite loosely defined at DailyHive, don’t you think?”
  Taehyung rinses his mouth with water before speaking. “So let me get this right. Mr. Kim calls you into his office, says he’s going to take you as his guest to the biggest tech event of the year, treats you to lunches and doesn’t ask for anything in return? No secret midnight meetups or shady business deals…”
  You shake your head.
  “Damn,” Taehyung says, resting his arm on the bar table, “Forget sugar daddy. He’s just daddy.”
  Sticking your tongue out, you gag visibly at his comment. “Do not ever call him that again, Tae; ev-er.”
  He laughs and watches you pensively. After a moment’s thought, he says, “Nobody has ever called me Tae.”
  “What do they call you then?” you reply, wrinkling your brows together. A cute brunette across the room catches your eyes and for the briefest of seconds, you wonder what a one-night-stand would feel like.
  He shrugs. “Just Taehyung.”
  The brunette waves in your direction. You are about to return his wave when an equally cute brunette runs up to him. He promptly kisses her before swivelling her around to join his group of friends.
  “Sorry. Do you want me to stop? I just assumed since we were out of the office…”
Oh Fate, how cruel you are. Life of twenty cats and solidarity, here you come. Maybe dogs. You feel like you could be more of a dog person.
  “No,” he stops you, “You can call me Tae. Whatever you want.”
  You turn your attention back on the also cute brunette in front of you. In all honestly, despite his youthful god-like countenance, he looks slightly out of place at this college bar with you in his upstanding business attire and dorkishly adorable thick-framed glasses.
  “Sure. How about Tee-Tee? Or Hyungie? The TaeMan?” You wiggle your brows with the suggestion.
  “God help me.”
  The two of you clink your shot glasses together even though neither of your songs are being played.
  His Apple watch lights up to indicate an incoming message. He relays the text to you, “Fei’s done work. She’s on her way now.” You can’t help but notice a shift in his previously excited demeanor.
  You nudge him with your elbow. “Aren’t you excited? She’ll need a glass of wine or two to destress after work. I might be projecting onto you for this part, but you’re buzzed. So after we get her to unwind I’m sure the overwhelming power of pheromones will get you lucky tonight.” You wink at him to emphasize your point.  
“She’s not a big drinker. She’s probably just going to come and ask to leave in five minutes. Bars like this aren’t really her thing either,” he states. He then unbuckles his watch and tucks it away into the pocket of his pants. Undoing the cuffs of his shirt, he rolls up the sleeves and continues to regard you solemnly. “Okay, next round is one me. Are you absolutely sure you don’t want to switch songs?”
  You notice how nice, long, and slender his fingers are. Plus the thing of girls liking when men have visible veins on their forearm? That had never really caught your attention until now.
  “She’s a bit of a bitch,” you say and immediately regret, “Shit, sorry. That just slipped out. Alcohol.”
  He offers you his water to drink.
  “I mean, she’s a little…uptight at times? But people can be completely different in and out of work. I can only imagine how stressful it is in her position. Working overtime until 9pm on a Saturday night seriously sucks,” you say to try and mend your wrongdoing.
  “Fei in the office is basically Fei at home,” he says softly, “It’s always work with her.”
  “We support career-driven women, yeah?” A smile is offered from you to him.
  He finally lets out a small one and nods. Out of the blue, he reaches over and covers your hand with his. Staring intently into your eyes, he says, “I know she makes you do her reports and occupies your time to do her coffee runs as well. You can say no to her. She may be my girlfriend, but you’re technically my intern, and I will stand on your side no matter what.”
  “Um, okay. Thanks, Tae,” you say. His sincerity has caught you off guard.
  At that moment, the sound of clicking heels pierce its way into your eardrums through the noise of the even busier bar. Taehyung quickly retracts his hand.
  Fei arrives, not a hair out of place in her tightly pulled bun. Her lips are painted a striking red against the paleness of her skin, and her manicured nails dig into the forearm of Taehyung when she reaches them. Even though she is wearing an otherwise drab office business suit, the curvature of her body draws quite a few glances from the younger men in the crowd.
  “It’s like a zoo here,” she sneers, turning away from a sacrificial lamb who had been bold enough step out of his circle of friends to greet her with a sleezy “hey”.
  “Hi, Fei. Busy night?” you greet her first.
  She gives you a tight-lipped smile. “Yes. I don’t know why you weren’t there. Isn’t it the intern’s job to complete reports?”
  Again, a loosely defined use of “intern” at DailyHive.
  You return her smile with a crisp one of your own.
  She turns away from you and regards Taehyung, who looks as if he had been the sacrificial lamb instead. “Teddybear, let’s go home. You know this type of place isn’t my vibe. I’m getting a headache already.”
  You raise an eyebrow at his pet name.
  He turns a little bit pinker, if that is possible under the current alcohol-induced glow of his cheeks, and says, “Um, sure. Y/N, are you going to be okay getting home?”
  Waving him off, you show him your phone. “30% left. I’ve got pepper spray in my bag and enough booze in me to not run from a fight. I’ll call an Uber home soon, don’t worry.”
  Fei has already begun to fight her way through the squirming, dancing bodies. Taehyung glances quickly at her and turns back to you once last time. “Text me that you’re home safe.”
  “Will do, boss,” you smile at him warmly.
  He lingers for just a moment more before running after his impatiently waiting girlfriend.
  You turn back to the bar and order another beer for yourself. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is perhaps the biggest perk of being single.
...
On the opposite side of town, sinking deeply into a soft lounge chair is Seokjin enjoying a rare evening out with his best friend. He has swapped his usual attire for a more relaxed fit of a white oversized crewneck and techwear bottoms. A heavy, exorbitant fur-lined long leather coat hangs on the coat rack beside the door to their private VVIP room. He swirls his glass of Chateau Lafite before sipping delicately.
  Outside, only a handful of patrons sit quietly engrossed in their own conversations. It is a relatively empty night at the high-end lounge. A lady sings sultrily on stage with the smooth background of a saxophone as accompaniment.
  Junho has poured himself another glass while he is talking to Seokjin. Seokjin had since slightly tuned out his friend’s rather elongated rendition of another celebrity sighting to occupy his mind with another individual.
  “Earth to Jin? When did you get so lightweight since I’ve been gone?” Junho waves a hand in front of Seokjin’s nose.
  Seokjin blinks to refocus.
  “The mansion I bought last year or the one I bought last month?” he reiterates. Sensing that Seokjin truly had no idea what the topic at hand had been, he tries again.
  “Where should I do my birthday party this year, man? I thought the mansion from last year since it’s closer to the city, but I feel like it’s been reused too many times. It’s not completely furnished yet, but the property I got last month is significantly bigger and I can probably host more people.”
  “The new place then,” Seokjin answers half-heartedly.
  Junho grumbles something intelligible.
  “What did you say?”
  “Nothing,” Junho sighs, “Tell me what’s new with you. How’s that little project of yours going? I still can’t believe you won’t let me know who you’re planning to take to the Gala.”
  Seokjin had refused to release even the slightest detail about you to Junho. Letting him know that Seokjin had agreed to one of his plans would be enough to inflate Junho’s ego for at least a little while.
  “It’s been going...”
  Junho waits for more of Seokjin’s answer, but his friend’s attention has been turned to a received text.
  10:17pm “Safe and sound, Teddy Bear.”
  10:17pm “Or should I say Taeddybear? 🥴”
10:18pm “That last beer done me rael godo.”
  10:18pm “Real good**”
  Seokjin raises a brow at the unknown number. He responds back.
  10:18pm “Who is this? I think you’ve got the wrong number.”
  Junho crosses his legs and sits back with a sigh. He presses the button to request for an attendant.
  10:19pm “You know who… Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you for saying you’ve got my back. It’s definitely appreciated.”
  The response doesn’t do much except to further pique Seokjin’s curiosity.
  “Sorry,” he says, sliding his phone back into his pocket, “Rogue text I think.”
  Junho shrugs. “Is that right? Seems to have caught your attention.” There is now a manner of indifference to his voice.
  “It’s going well, by the way – answering your question. I mean, all things considered. It’s not like I have to teach her how not to stuff a cocktail shrimp up your nose.”
  His friend snorts. “I’d be concerned and against this person if it’s who you’re planning to bring.”
  Seokjin’s phone buzzes again.
  10:21pm “Pray for me when I wake up with the worst hangover of my life. I’m going to bed now.”
  A moment of silence.
  10:21pm “I hope I didn’t piss off Fei tonight for stealing you for the evening.”
  10:22pm “Okay I’ll shut up now. Please don’t tell me you’re reading this. You should be getting some 😼💦.”
  The emoji makes Seokjin choke, liquid sputtering from his lips.
  Junho cusses. He angrily dabs at the speckle of red wine that has landed on his pearly white top.
  10:23pm Download attached image. “Just in case, here’s a little something to get the night started 😉”
  “What the hell man?” Junho gets up and makes his way to the bathroom. Luckily, the previously called attendant had arrived in time to escort him.
Seokjin barely notices that he is alone in room as he taps the download button. It isn’t until he has returned home and is looking at the picture one last time before bed that he realizes who his mysterious texter is.
  The employee nametag clipped to the collar of your workday shirt hanging on the arm of a chair can only be found when zoomed in past your painted toes and naked feet.
... 
You cannot hide your nervousness when you arrive at your “lunch meeting” the following Monday morning. All weekend, you had cursed yourself for not better checking who the recipient of your texts were before pressing send. Never had you thought that in your drunken stupor you would mix up “The Devil” in your contact list with “Taehyung Kim.” Curse you and your lack of friends beginning with the letter “T”.
  You balk before, a hand poised in perfect position for a knock. Maybe he didn’t download it? And even if he did, it was just a troll feet pic. You had made sure that it was as pg-13 as possible before you had sent it.
  “Hi,” you greet sheepishly when he has given you the go to enter.
  In a smart plain blue button-up and round frames that are almost certainly for the aesthetics, the CEO of the company and your boss sizes you up and down.
  “I know we’ve gotten to know each other better these past few weeks. But you’d think it’s still common courtesy to at least make eye contact,” he says. You look at him wide eyed without a word.
  He rolls his eyes but does not gesture to your usual seat. In fact, you don’t spy a take-out container in sight. He instead stands up and picks up his phone, walking to the door. He notices you have yet to move.
  “Let’s get moving. You’ve only got a 45 minute lunch.”
  You scramble to match his speed and catch Taehyung’s eye as you grab your jacket at your desk. Taehyung’s gaze follows you as you hurry to leave in pursuit of Seokjin’s coattail.
... 
The restaurant is a popular vegan establishment with a plethora of greenery crawling up its high ceilings and a window-framed overview of the city’s skyline. Waiters and waitresses who may just as well be walking New York Fashion Week serve you brunch mimosas on a golden plate; they attentively wait to the side in case you ever run out of water.
  Common topics are rare between the two of you. Initially, you respectfully kept quiet and only answered questions when asked, but you have never been one for awkward silence. Yes, it’s awkward only if you make it awkward; there is just no denying the hanging suspense that curls your toes each time. Recently, you have started with simple inquiries regarding the company, who they might meet at the Gala and everyday mundane topics.
  “You’re probably wondering why we’re out of the office,” Seokjin says. He continues shortly after taking a bite of his meal and ignores the look of your surprise at his initiation of a conversation. “My office has been getting stuffy with the warmer weather so I thought it’d be nice to get some fresh air. How’s the food?”
You nod, making small sounds of contentment as you chew on the Avocado Lime Tartare. Mmm… tart-y.
  He takes a deep breath in, stalling the incoming conversation. “It’s my friend’s birthday this next weekend.”
  “Oh,” you say, “Happy early birthday to him.”
  “He’s my best friend.”
  “Well… An extra happy early birthday to him.”
  A sigh. “Are you free next weekend?”
  Your chewing comes to a halt and you blink once at his question. Next weekend is the weekend before the Silver Gala. It is also the sole weekend before your birthday the following Friday after the Gala. You had hoped to spend it with Taehyung and maybe even Jimin who had promised to be in town on a long overdue vacation despite your chastising to visit your parents first.
  He senses your trepidation. Quickly, he explains himself, 
“He’s having a birthday party Saturday night. He has a place about an hour north of here. I can have somebody pick you up if that’s more convenient. I don’t have a birthday present for him and thought it’d be nice for you to meet him.”
  “You’re giving him me for a present?” you ask, incredulously.
  He bites his tongue. He never anticipated how awkward this conversation could go.
  “You’re going as my plus one. He really wants to meet you; in fact, he insisted that you be there. He’ll be at the gala too. I have something else planned for his birthday present,” he adds hastily, “Besides, you’re less than qualified as a present.”
  Musing silently to yourself, you wonder if in any situation should a human be qualified as a present. Despite that, you hate yourself as you agree on the spot.
  The rest of the lunch passes by quickly in dull silence. As Seokjin pays for the meal on the company card (and hands you the receipt for reimbursement), you note that there has been no comment made on any strange photos texted to him over the weekend.
  Perhaps being nonchalantly implied as a human birthday gift to a stranger is your karma for sending weird texts to your boss.
  Seokjin stays inside the car as he drops you off at the office after lunch, already preparing for his next business meeting. You nod your goodbye and step onto the pavement through the courteously held open door of the limousine.
“Y/N, try a soft pink. Fuchsia is not your colour,” he tells you as the door is closed.  
He then leaves you standing in front of the large office doors, staring at your chipped, week-old purple toenails.
... 
“I’m not exactly expecting a package in the mail or a dress laid out on the hotel bed – ”
“You guys are staying at a hotel?” Taehyung says over the phone.
  You are standing in your bedroom, an hour before when Seokjin is supposed to pick you up as an offering to his best friend. There are two dresses laid out on your Hello Kitty bed covers: a simple black dress you had worn once when you were a little bit more in shape and your prom dress.
  “No, I’m at home. But I mean, let me play into this movie metaphor.”
  “You suck at metaphors.”
  You have your phone propped up on some pillows so that you can see Taehyung as you debate your fashion decision. He is in a relaxed white tee, hair messily framing his face after a shower and a bowl of popcorn in his hands. You watch as a droplet of water runs down his face from his still-wet hair. He nonchalantly licks it off from the side of his mouth.
  “As I was saying, it wouldn’t hurt to get me something. He made it seem like it was a big deal. Like doesn’t the male lead usually surprise the female lead with a big bouquet of flowers and this over-the-top expensive dress which she wears and makes the male lead fall head over heels in love with her?”
  He chews silently on a kernel then probes, “You want Mr. Kim to fall in love with you?”
  “No,” you hastily correct, “It’s a metaphor. I think you’re the one who sucks at metaphors.”
  There is a beep on your phone to indicate you have another incoming call.
  “Tae, I’m going to have to call you back. My brother’s calling me,” you tell him. The black dress; your old prom dress is way too early 2000s. Black never hurts.
  “Okay. Have fun tonight. Pretend that it’s your birthday party. And then I’ll meet you for brunch tomorrow, my treat? You can tell me all about it,” he says. “Also the black. You look cute in that one.”
  “My party if I was 30, rich and successful. Oh wait, I’ll have one thing in common soon; that’s a start. Thanks though. I’ll call you tomorrow morning once I get up,” you say, then switch the call over to your brother. You had missed the flush of his cheeks as you busily swipe your phone.
Sticking the prom dress back into your closet, you rummage around the meager display of shoeboxes for a pair of high heels.
  “Hey, Jimin,” you greet over the phone.
  “Jesus, I do not need to be accosted by my half-naked sister,” he yells over the phone.
  You turn rapidly, seeing that you had accidentally continued a video call from when you had hung up on Taehyung. You throw a pillow over the camera in your haste to cover yourself up.
  “I was going to ask why you’re dressed like that but on second thought, I think I’ll leave your sexual exploits as your own secret.”
  Despite how disturbed you feel about this comment, his cheerful voice makes you smile.
  “So little sis, the weekend before the big three-oh!”
  “Please stop reminding me.”
  “Where do you want to meet tonight? I just got off the plane, but I can be ready to meet in about an hour. I booked a hotel close to the airport.”
  Shit. You forgot to tell Jimin. These heels will have to do.
  “Um… I, uh…”
  “What?”
  You clear your throat and begin to undress in front of the mirror. You have a sudden conscious thought that the dusty treadmill in your living room seems to be staring daggers at your back. 
  “I’ve got plans tonight.”
  “Plans? I wasn’t even aware you had friends here.”
  “Ouch, Jimin. But yes, I have friends. In fact, I am meeting a friend for brunch tomorrow if you want to join. I’m sure he’ll be okay with it.”
  “He?” Jimin repeats, “Should I put on my big brother boxing gloves? Give him a good talking to in case he’s interested in my baby sister?” Pause. “Was that who you were calling before?”  
You bite your answer back, not feeling the need to go down that rabbit hole.
  “He’s just a friend; A co-worker really,” you say, “He’s also unavailable. And before you suggest anything, his goalkeeper is technically one of my bosses so I do not want to try and shoot past her thank you very much.”
  Jimin laughs. “I wasn’t going to suggest anything. Well if you’re busy tonight, tomorrow morning works for me. Give me a call. I’ll spend the night in watching some good ol’ Netflix and enjoy this vacation time.”
  “Sorry again,” you apologize.
  “Go out and have fun,” he says, “You deserve it.”
  The two of you finish off the call with the usual goodbyes. You have forty-five minutes to dress the part of a sparkly birthday surprise for the co-founder of the company you work for. Throwing on your favourite throwback music, you get to work.
  Once satisfied, you snap a picture and sending it to Taehyung making special care that you have picked the right individual this time.
... 
The mansion is bigger than you could have ever imagined, and the amount of people present are…
  “You’re telling me I can do whatever I want tonight,” you ask Seokjin in the car.
  There is no denying that Seokjin knows how to dress for an event. In a velvety black and white suit, contrasted by his blonde hair which he has elected to temporarily dye for the evening, he looks very much the posh CEO magazines brand him out to be. You are glad you elected for the simple black dress as standing beside this Renaissance statue in a floral pastel yellow dress would be like planting dandelions in Kanye’s sculpture garden (if he ever wanted one).
  “The majority of people won’t recognize you after tonight. They’ll also be too drunk to even register anything you tell them,” Seokjin says.
  He cannot believe that you chose a simple black dress. Did you really not own anything remotely feminine besides the most generic clubbing outfit? Even if you had wanted to make an appearance as a hooker, at least make it an expensive-looking one. Maybe he should have bought you that Versace dress he spotted in the window the other day. Instead…
  “Take this. Your earrings are too gaudy for this event.”
  You touch the sparkly black cats you have put into your ears. Their eyes are made of crystal, and you thought it looked quite fetching in the light. Opening up the box, you see a dainty elegant pair of teardrop earrings that may or may not be of real diamonds.
  “Only Junho will know who you really are and then you can enjoy the rest of your night. I don’t want you to feel like you’re being held here against your will.”
  Putting them on, you note that even this simple change in attire has elevated the entirety of your presence. You felt as luxurious as this gift.
  “Thanks, Seokjin,” you try the first name basis he had insisted upon for this evening, “Not going to lie, I had imagined that maybe you’d send me a dress in the mail or something, but this is still very nice.”
  He snorts and rolls his eyes. “Like in the movies? Please, I run a start-up company. I’m not a millionaire and I don’t think you would appreciate my handouts.”
  You don’t respond, making your second note of the night on the Prada label on the cuff of his suit. “To clarify, I don’t introduce myself as your plus-one tonight.”
  “No. I don’t want you associated with me,” he curtly states. He watches as your smirk twitches and he hits himself mentally in the head again. “It’s to protect you. There are bound to be tons of paparazzi tonight at a party as big as this. I don’t want you to find yourself in the tabloids tomorrow morning. Just be smart.”
  The car pulls to a stop after inching its way up to the front door. People mill about outside in extravagant brands, holding glasses of champagne. The man of the hour is somewhere inside the building, charming his way into new business deals as well as making new friends.
  “Stay close to me. You can leave after we meet Junho. It is his birthday after all,” Seokjin offers a hand as you step out of the car.
  You take it, looping yourself into him so that your hand rests on his forearm. You are only 13 days younger than Junho, and yet this striking contrast in lifestyle hits you like a landslide while the two of you walk up the stairs and into the mansion.
  Inside, it is dim with disco lights flashing to the beat of amped party music. Upon entrance, the two of you are offered glasses of liquor (you take a swirling iridescent drink) to which you are then ushered to where the birthday boy lounges.
  Junho has an even more youthful face than Seokjin does. Where Seokjin’s features exude class and charm, Junho appears mischievous and looks to have stepped out of every girl’s bad boy dream.
  You stop Seokjin with a tug and make him look at you. “Tell me: do I look like a passable birthday offering?”
  Seokjin rolls his eyes and pulls you along with him.
  “Jin!” Junho hollers loudly across the room when spotting his oldest friend. There is a doll-like female magnetized to his side. “This is Clara, my date for the evening.”
  Seokjin shakes her hand and greets them. The female cannot seem to pry her eyes away from this handsome new stranger. He introduces himself chivalrously to her as Junho sides up to you and grips your hands in his. His breath smells strongly of mixed drinks, and you know that in about fifteen minutes the entire night will be a blur for him.
  “You must be Y/N!” he says excitedly, “Jin didn’t tell me that you were coming! What a surprise!”
  “I am,” you greet back with a large smile. “Although I’m also surprised. Seokjin told me that you had insisted I came.”
  Seokjin grits his teeth, annoyed at Junho. Would he ever learn when to keep his big mouth closed?
Laughing loudly, Junho grabs two drinks just as a waiter passes by and hands them to you. “Insist might be a strong word,” he says, drilling another hole unknowingly, “I honestly thought I’d have to play part-time wingman tonight. But I’m glad he’s got someone by his side.” He jabs you a little too hard in the ribs. “Next week’s gala is going to be fun! Okay, now there’s only one rule tonight: there are no rules!”
  The four of you clink your glasses together, while you do your best to hide an embarrassed smile on behalf of the birthday boy.
  “You bet I’m going around as your trophy wife tonight,” you whisper in Seokjin’s ear when Junho looks away.
  He whirls around to look at you, the tip of both your noses impossibly close together. He can taste the acidity of the wine when you breath out with a wicked smile. He barely has time to stop you as you peel yourself away to mingle with the crowds.
  Seokjin is about to follow you but Junho pulls him away, flamboyantly introducing his handsome best friend to a group of international models. He turns on his brightest smile, but his heart thunders in his chest at you calling yourself his wife.
... 
You twirl around in your dress, nobody noticing the small splash of champagne on the front of it in the quickly changing lights.
  “He bought this for me last week. Says it reminds him of the first night we met. Our eyes met across the waters in Tuscany where he was on a business trip. I’ll let you on a little secret, but I was his mistress for a little while.”
  Seokjin cannot make out the words you are saying to a small but growing group of people around you. He stands across from Junho, but looks over the latter’s shoulders to watch as you do another spin.
  “A little while, Charlotte? Are you still his mistress?” an older lady with an exuberant amount of jewels hanging off her body whispers with a keen interest in your expertly spun story.
  Charlotte Dior Laurent, an identity you are pretty sure is an amalgamation of French brands from the top of your mind. You continue to personify this character however.
“Don’t worry. He’s left her since. I know I know, my friends all say the same. ‘He’s already been divorced three times. How can you be sure he won’t leave you?’”
  At this point, you are in way over your head at having told this story to at least two other groups and a multitude of other renditions to whomever you have met tonight. But there is something powerful about liquid courage as it courses through your body.
  The lady lays a hand on your arm. “I don’t want your heart to break. You are still young.”
  Looking up between the heads of your audience, you catch Seokjin’s eyes. They are fiery and it sends a strange sensation up your toes to your abdomen. You give a titillating wave at him in which he does not return.
“He says I’m special and different. How can you say no to that?” you exclaim with exasperation, fully committing to the poor damsel just oh-so in love.
  There is a look of genuine concern on the lady’s face at your statement.
  Before you can dig yourself a deeper hole, you place your empty glass on the table and excuse yourself. You do not know if it’s the drinking on a relatively empty stomach or if the room is really much warmer due to the multitude of bodies, but you head out to the balcony.
  On your way out, you notice that the clock reads twenty minutes past midnight. This gives you a shock at how fast time has passed. Perhaps you should go find Seokjin if you are to get a decent amount of sleep before meeting with Taehyung and Jimin tomorrow. Speaking of Taehyung…
  You pull out your phone and see that there are two unread messages. The first is from Jimin, confirming that he is indeed invited to brunch tomorrow morning. The second is a response from Taehyung.
  11:09pm “Wow. You have me a little lost for words. I had imagined you’d look nice in the dress but… You really are beautiful.”
  Smiling, you type in your response.
  12:21am “Thanks, Tae. You’re up late.” You take a picture of the earrings Seokjin had gifted you and attach it to the message. “What do you think of these?”
Barely have you returned your phone into your bag when it buzzes again. This time you receive an attached image. Taehyung seems to be sitting in front of a monitor, as his face glows with a blue light and contorted into a pensive furrow of his brows.
  12:21am “A little different from your usual style. Are they new? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wear those.”
  12:21am “Fei’s out with some friends tonight. She likes when I wait for her to come back before I sleep. To make sure she’s safe, I guess.”
  12:22am “Pooey. I should’ve brought you as my plus-one 😩. Also, Seokjin bought them for me for tonight. He says my other earrings are too gaudy.”
  12:24am “First name basis 🙃”
  12:25am “How is your night going? Having fun?”
  You are about give Taehyung a call for a detailed recounting of tonight’s escapades when someone speaks out from within the shadows.
  “A penny for your thoughts?” He walks into the moonlight. You flush, meeting the eyes of this particularly dashing gentleman, the phonecall immediately forgotten.
  Oh, Alcohol, you make even the smartest of people do dumb shit. And right now, your effects are even worse on this idiot.
  Your mouth hangs slightly open as you watch him puff out smoke from his cigar and offer it to you. He brushes up beside you, his fingers trailing up your hand which grips the balcony. You cannot seem to break away from his gaze.
  “Lung cancer has an increasing incidence rate particularly for females due to smoking. Are you sure you want to be condoning this type of behaviour?” Seokjin interjects himself between you and your Tuxedo Mask, pushing the outstretched cigar back towards its owner.
  There is a small stare down amongst the two men before the latter quietly exits the stage. Your eyes continue to linger on him even as he walks towards another female alone in the night enjoying the outdoor breeze.
  “You’ve just ruined by chance. I could have seduced then blackmailed him with the story of his illegitimate child to play Black Widow,” you whine.
  Seokjin takes the glass that had somehow magically appeared in your hand during the short walk from inside to outside on the balcony.
  “How many have you had since we came?” he asks.
  You sigh wistfully, still in your dangerous daydream. “I don’t know. I’ve lost count.” You turn your attention back to him eventually. “What are you doing here? Did you see me with him and get all jealous, hubby?” you tease.
  He scoffs, drinking from your glass and pulling a face. Once again, there is that twist and jump within his chest, but he attributes it to whatever nasty concoction he had just ingested. He pours its contents over the railing and into whatever shrubbery lies below. “You seriously went with being my trophy wife?”
  You shrug. “Of sorts. You’d better be right about people being too drunk slash not caring about me enough after tonight to remember the things I’ve said. ‘Cuz you’ve been divorced three times, had me along with another as your mistress, I think you’ve sired a few illegitimate children and all in all, a Games of Throne life. Damn, maybe I made you a little too badass.”
  “You’re having water for the rest of the night,” he says.
  You glare at him, contemplating on making a remark about his equally flushed face but decide against it. Instead, you lean onto the balcony and give a cat stretch. A large sigh escapes from you.
  Wordlessly, he shakes off his jacket and places it around your shoulder all the while averting his gaze on the unblemished skin of your upper thighs that had been exposed from your previous movement.
  Your blood feels like liquid fire coursing through your veins. Feeling overheated even in the evening breeze, you give him back his jacket. You note his reluctance to meet you even as you throw what could be a thousand dollar jacket in the air to him. “So what’s it like to live like this every day?” you say in wonder. You feel said breeze return and lean over the balcony to catch its chill.
  “Like what?” he asks. The warm summer night’s breeze blows through, settling his hair in a childish tousle.
  “Like rich,” you say. You sigh again. “Believe it or not, I’m the same age as your birthday boy best friend.
  And everything feels absolutely unreal right now. If I hadn’t agreed to come here tonight with you, I’d probably be at another dingy bar knocking back shots with my brother and friend.”
  “Are you a secret alcoholic?”
  You glare at him. “No,” you state matter-of-factly. “As I was trying to share, this type of lifestyle is something I could ever only imagine. I’m not ungrateful about spending time with them, but at the end of the night I’d go home, sweaty, drunk and gross, and then simply pass out. My bank account might be a couple hundred bucks lighter. Come Monday I’ll be working my ass off just to earn back what I had spent. Then cue the repeating cycle.”
  Resting your chin on your palm, your other hand sweeps your hair back behind your ear.
  “It’s amazing the difference a few life choices can have.”
  Seokjin remains silent beside you. Truthfully, he is at a loss of words. The moonlight plays across your face and caresses your nose down to your lips. You are arching your back once again to pull away the soreness that comes with wearing high heel the entire night. It is just a simple black dress but on you it made you look –
  “Well, you’re Mrs. Kim tonight,” he starts.
  “Charlotte Dior Laurent,” you correct him.
  He raises an eyebrow. “Okay… Ms. Charlotte Dior Laurent. Tonight you get to live like the rich, as you’ve put it. As a rich person, what would you like to do?”
  You ponder his question a few moments for the answer. “Hmm…I think I’d like to play golf. It’s a rich person’s sport. I want to play it on a private golf course, wearing cute golfing outfits and talk about million-dollar deals with a client without a care in the world. I want to order sangria by the gallon.”
  He laughs out loud. It takes a while for him to be able to speak again, but when he does you feel as if the night has been illuminated a few degrees brighter. “I personally don’t have a private golf course, but Junho does here in his backyard if you’re up for it. I can’t promise cute golfing outfits so you’ll have to do with your wine stained dress. And if you’re really up for it I can pretend to make business deals with you, that’s my job anyways.”
  You grin, taking the hand he has offered you. “Call.” The two of you shake upon his suggestion.
As he is leads you by the hand towards the dim gates of said golf course, you tug at him gently. “There’s something missing…” you say.
  He shakes his head and pulls you back in towards the party room. 
“I’ll see what they have at the bar.”
... 
As the hands of the clock continue to spin past another hour, the summer night takes a chilly turn. Seokjin has lent you his jacket but even that cannot stop your fingers from becoming numb. Your hands shake even as they tightly hold the golf club. Seokjin watches you in silence as you prepare to hit the golf ball, a beer in one hand and a few opened bottles littered on the grass beside him. The club hits the ball with a resounding “cling” but does little in propelling it a few centimeters.
  “This one doesn’t count,” you announce, “It’s too dark to see anything here.”
  Seokjin takes a swig as you readjust your position. You sway in the wind and the last tendrils of your hair come undone in its half up half down hairdo. Your hair now whips wildly around your face when another gust blows through.
  “Shit!” you exclaim, missing the ball again. “Why is golfing so hard?!”
  You throw your club down and trudge to Seokjin. The six pack the two of you had been sharing has officially been depleted. Seokjin offers you his half empty bottle. This time, you are the one watching as he goes to your spot and effortlessly swings his target into the darkness.
  He smirks from the spot.
  You grumble. “You’ve had years of practice. Not fair.”
  “You’ve got to do better than that, Mrs. Johnson,” he says, teasing you.
  Your grumble becomes more audible. You place the now empty bottle on the ground and cross your arms against your chest. Since telling him of your other American alias from tonight, he has not ceased to remind you of your strange choice of name.
  “Just so you know, Mrs. Johnson can afford both an affair and the consequential prenup,” you huff.
  “It’s still a stupid last name.”
  “It’s an American multinational corporation with an income in the billions, okay?”
  “Keep telling yourself that if it makes you sleep better at night. Now come on, I’ve got one last ball. Take a swing.”
  Groaning, you shuffle over. You wish you had not suggested golf. You had never been good at sports anyways – bad hand-eye coordination.
  He stands beside you this time, scrutinizing your every movement with hawk-like eyes. “No, not like that,” he says, “Have a wider stance and bend your knees. Better centre of gravity gives you a better swing. Also hold it with a neutral grip.”
  You readjust your positioning following his instructions.
  “Index finger down the center. Good. And three knuckles on each hand. No, that’s two. Okay your hands are just weird now. Three. I said three.”
  “Stop standing there and show me then, Mr. Know-It-All,” you say, your patience in this makeshift lesson also coming to an end.
  He walks closer to you, reaching out for the golf club. He retracts his hands in seeing that you have yet to let go. “You got to – ”
“You can touch me. I did tell you that Mrs. Johnson can afford an affair and prenup. Besides, I’m not going to be able to learn anything if I can’t even see you in this dark.”
  He comes behind you and puts a foot between yours to guide your stance. Wrapping his arms around you, he fixes the placement of your hands to grip the shaft of the club in the way he had previously instructed.
  Perhaps it is the mixture of wine, champagne and beer offered tonight, but being enveloped in the warmth of this embrace intoxicates you. The tingles that are sent down from his soft breathing on the base of your neck, make you shake like a leaf in the wind.
He inhales the sweet undertones of your perfume. The tendrils of your hair brush against his collarbone, sending a sensual kiss onto his skin. Unconsciously, he draws you closer to him, shielding you from another gust.
“Now you just want to swing,” he says, the words a mixture of a whisper and guttural grunt. His chest rumbles with it, passing the vibration through to your back.
  You remain as still as a statue and lean ever so slightly back into him until your entire backside is pressed upon him.
  You can’t stop yourself as you ask him, “Do you want to have sex with me?”
...
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ghostlywritten · 3 years
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If Only I Had Stayed In The Shadows - Chapter Eleven
James Potter x OC
Words: 3,6k
Prologue  Chapter One   Chapter Two  Chapter Three  Chapter Four  Chapter Five  Chapter Six  Chapter Seven  Chapter Eight  Chapter Nine  Chapter Ten
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It was a peaceful Saturday, sunny with a light breeze rushing over the Hogwarts grounds. I was sitting against the trunk of a tree close to the lake, enjoying the rays of sunshine on my skin as I lazily skimmed the pages of my Potions book with tired eyes. The end of the year exam for Potions was coming up in two weeks and there was rarely a Sixth Year seen without this book in hand, either studying during breakfast, lunch and dinner or in the library inbetween free periods and after classes. Usually I would be among them, ripping the last few good strands of my hair in stress but today I felt unbelievably lazy, feeling too heavy and tired to do anything. 'Stupid period,' I thought grumpily, tilting my head up to the sky as if the sun could help me feel better. Which it did, until-
"Oi, Cec!" Sirius called out, jogging up towards where I was sat, interrupting the peaceful silence. I briefly thought back on the last time he had interrupted something several days ago and felt myself go red once again.
"Hey Sirius, what's up?" I greeted him, closing my book. He glanced down at it, grimacing. "Potions, eh? What a waste of time."
"Don't you need it to become an Auror?" I asked him amused and he simply waved me off. "Yeah, whatever. You got some time? I wanted to show you something."
I raised an eyebrow. "And what is that exactly?"
"Just come and see?" he nudged my leg with his foot, impatiently.
"The last time you wanted me to see something, a mass of dungbombs exploded on me," I recalled, scrunching my nose. The smell wouldn't get off for a week.
Sirius burst out in laughter, "Merlin, I completely forgot about that! What a brilliant idea!"
"Sure, you call it brilliant," I muttered to myself.
"Oh come on. It was a little fun, admit it," he grinned cheekily and I simply rolled my eyes at him. "You are not really doing yourself a favour right now if you still wanted to show me something."
"Yes, right!" he snapped back to attention, clearing his throat, "I wanna show you something. In fact, it's something really cool that could be useful for you as well."
"And why would you want to show it to me?" I asked, still suspicious.
"Because you're my friend and I wanna share my joy with you?!" As much as the thought of Sirius Black calling me his friend warmed my heart, who - despite his open and social character - rarely considered anyone a friend besides his tight inner circle, I couldn't help but think what a good strategy it would be to trick me.
Sirius sighed, giving in at my silence, "And maybe I want to know your opinion on something, too."
"There is the truth," I said, grinning widely as he gave me an annoyed look. Kneeling down, he tried to widen his eyes in a puppy look, "Are you going to come now?"
I cringed, "Alright, but don't try that look on me again." I got up swiftly, brushing a few strands of grass off my skirt as Sirius sprang up as well with a fist pump in the air. "It siriusly weirded me out."
"Really? Usually it works on the ladies," he pondered before giving me devilish smile, "Don't try to deny it. It did get you to come with me."
"Sure, it did, Sirius," I said, patting his head like a dog, "Sure it did."
We headed into the castle and I prodded him with questions of where we were going the entire way up to the seventh floor but the black-haired boy wouldn't budge until we reached a deserted hallway. I could safely I had never been in this hallway before, seeing as there was nothing but a weird tapestry of a man trying to teach trolls ballet and a vase in a way too big size to be considered normal across from it. And a window.
"So...it's a hallway," I concluded slowly, watching as Sirius traipsed around back and forth, his face set deep in concentration, "You wanted to show me a hallway."
Sirius snorted, stopping his movements as the wall behind was starting to ripple. My eyes widened in astonishment as a door materialised itself where stone had previously been. "No, I wanted to show you this," Sirius replied, smirking at my comically shocked expression. He went to the door, opening it. "My lady." He bowed formally, his smirk giving space for an uptight look and I snorted but eagerly walked over and through the door, curious on what would be behind it. And my jaw promptly dropped down once more.
Inside was a small, cozy room. The walls were completely covered in shelves filled to the brim with books and the floor adorned a thick carpet in a rich burgundy colour with intricate, golden-coloured details woven in. A large fireplace was carved inbetween the shelves in the wall across the door, an inviting fire crackling in it with two, dark green armchairs and a silver side table in front of it.
"Wow," was all I could say, letting Sirius push me inside and staring open-mouthed up at the walls, "This must be heaven for all the bookworms out there."
"Yeah? I thought it would be," Sirius said, a nervous edge on his tone. It broke me out of my stupor and I immediately bombarded him with questions, "How the hell did you find this place? Is this a mini library for nerds? In that case, how come you of all people have found it? And why didn't you show me this earlier, this was a way better place to hide from all the gossiping people than the actual library," I whined at the end. Sirius held up his hands in a placating manner, "Calm down, woman. Take a seat and we shall talk about my awesomeness that made me find this place."
I took the right armchair, relishing in how I sunk a bit into the leather and briefly thought about taking a nap right then and there.
"Chocolate?" Sirius offered, having taken out a bar from his bag. I nodded, catching the half he threw my way and munching on a piece.
"So first of, this place is super duper secret," Sirius started, holding up a finger, "No one that I know of knows about this place besides you now."
"What an honor," I said and it wasn't even sarcasm.
The boy grinned, making himself more comfortable. "As to how I found this place; It was a few years ago where my mates and I had a...a little dispute and weren't on talking terms."
"You guys not talking to each other?" I rose an eyebrow, "That sounds nearly impossible."
"Right?" Sirius grinned, but I could see an underlined pain in his eyes, "However, we did have a fight but got over it." He brushed it off, taking a bite of his chocolate. I cringed, "Can't you break off the pieces like every other sane person?" He looked down at his half of the bar before toothily taking another bite. "Why? Does it bother you?"
"Very."
"Good."
"Ugh, go on."
"Yeah, so anyway. During my dispute with the mates I was very much on my own in setting up pranks and stuff. One night, when I was out after curfew, Filch's blasted cat found me. I didn't have the Invisibility Cloak with me so I had to make a run for it, because wherever the cat is, our dear caretaker is close by as well. I got into this hallway, which was obviously a dead end and whilst I was pacing around thinking about where to hide, this mysterious door suddenly appeared on the blank wall just like it had right now."
"And it brought you to this library?"
"No, it was just a bathroom since I also had to pee very badly." I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, looking around the room. "How-"
"How is that possible, you ask? Well dear, I was wondering that, too because as soon as I got back out, the door disappeard and I couldn't get back in. So the next day, after I successfully escaped Filch and his cat, I went to this hallway and stood in front of this particular blank wall once more, trying to get back into the bathroom. Only, it wouldn't work. I tried everything, recalling every step I made that made the door appear, thinking I need to find this secret place and boom! The door appeared again!" he threw his arms up in emphasis and I would have laughed at his dramatic antics if I hadn't been so intrigued. No one could say Sirius wasn't a good storyteller. "But, it wasn't the bathroom I had seen last time. It was a much bigger room with millions of things scattered and piled up everywhere."
"What?" I asked, flabbergasted, "The room changed?!"
"The room changed!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger at me with a proud look, "It's a wish room! A room that can transfigure itself in whatever you need it to be." I dropped back against the chair in shock. "That...is...bloody brilliant!" I breathed out, staring once more around the room in amazment.
"It bloody is, right?" Sirius agreed giddily.
"So, if I wanted a place to hide-"
"You get your personal hiding place."
"And if I want a Quidditch field to practice on whilst the other teams are occupying the field outside-"
"You get your personal Quidditch field."
"And if I wanted my own sleeping space to get away from my snoring roommates-"
"You get your own sleeping space to get away from your snoring roomates, when you tell me who it is!"
"This is bloody awesome, Sirius! And no, I won't tell you!"
"Fine, but yes! It bloody is!" I laughed in excitement, thinking about all the great things that this room could be used for. "How come no one knows about this place? James would use it everyday for practicing Quidditch if he knew about it!" My face fell in thought, "Perhaps we shouldn't tell him then. He would train us dead."
Sirius' face also morphed into a somber look. "Yeah, I don't really want him to know or anyone else." I looked him over in surprise, "How come you haven't told him or the others about it? I thought you told each other everything?"
The boy sighed heavily, running a hand through his lucious black hair as he stared into the fire, "I told you, we had a dispute when I discovered the place. I always came here when I needed a bit time for myself to reflect on everything...it was kind of my safe space and also a good sleeping place when the dorm got too suffocating." I bit my lip, seeing the sad expression on his face and wondered just what had been so bad to cause such a bad fight between them. "I always planned to tell them if we were to ever become close again and when we did, it kind of slipped my mind with all the other things that came up. It happened around Fifth Year." I nodded, musing that he probably meant the time he ran away from home. Sirius sighed heavily, "So far, I haven't told them yet because I still sometimes use it as my safe space."
"That's good. You don't need to tell them everything because you are best friends," I said when he almost looked guilty at the prospect of hiding this from his mates.
He looked at me with an almost desperate expression, "Will you not tell anyone about this, please? I don't know how many can occupy this place at the same time since I couldn't test it out yet. And if the mates find out they will know to always look here. And sometimes, I just wanna be alone. You know, when I have to think about stuff they wouldn't understand..."
"It's okay, Sirius," I cut him off with a light laugh and he stared at me with an almost pout, "I won't tell anyone. Of course, I won't if you don't want me to."
He deflated with a relieved sigh before his toothy grin came back up, "I knew I could trust you!" I felt myself go red a bit at this, feeling warmth that he would trust me enough with something he wouldn't even tell his best friends. Come to think of it...
"But why would you tell me about this place anyways?" I wondered, "If you haven't even told James about it...?"
Sirius nodded. "I know, it's confusing. It's just that they - especially James - don't really understand the concept of personal space." I coughed to cover up a laugh, knowing full well what he meant. "I mean, Remus and Peter would actually leave me to myself if I were to ask them but James? Oof, James would immediately cling onto you and ask you what's wrong until you give in."
"I can imagine that all too well," I agreed.
"Right. And don't get me wrong, I love that and I myself am like that, too sometimes."
"Probably all the time."
"Shut it. So, that's why I'm still a bit reluctant to tell them. You, however, know when to drop a topic I don't wanna talk about. You give me the space that I sometimes need from a friend," he stated, growing more serious, "...and you know a lot more about me and a certain brother of mine than the others do." It dawned on me where this conversation was going and my eyes flickered over all the books once more. "I can't really tell the others about Regulus anymore. Ever since I've run away, the others think that the chapter with my family is forever closed and done with. That I'm done with my family. James especially holds quite a grudge against Reggie ever since I told them he said I wasn't his brother anymore. He is determined to fill up that space," Sirius chuckled to himself, "I love that guy." I resisted the urge to scream 'Me, too!'. His smile faded. "I can't give up on Reggie though. Never Reggie. I could never leave him behind, even if I kind of did...," he trailed off, his eyes glassed over as if he were somewhere else with his mind.
"You are trying to rekindle your relationship with him," I decided to speak up when his expression got too pained, assuming he was reliving a bad memory. He broke out of it, shaking his head slightly.
"I am, yes. And this is why we are here." Sirius gestured around the room, "This is my 104th attempt at becoming close to my little brother again. What do you think?"
"You gonna show him this place?"
"Yeah. I figured if we were to spend some time here, undisturbed and away from all the eyes that are preventing Reg from talking to me, we would eventually become close again. And maybe - just maybe - I can finally get him out of our blasted childhood place."
"Well..., I believe this is the perfect place for a bookworm for sure."
Sirius smiled widely, "Then Reggie is going to love it!"
I smiled back at him, "I think, he would love it even if this room turned into that bathroom that you had seen during your first time here." Sirius barked a laugh, "He would be so confused!"
"You might wanna add some snacks though when you meet up with him here. And some tea," I mused, "To make sure you don't get too hungry and have to cut it short."
"Ah, yeah I will have to get that from the kitchen. The room can't produce food." I pouted, "That's too bad." Sirius grinned before it softened into an uncertain smile, "And you really think he is going to like it?"
"With the amount of times we have stalked him in the library compared to any other place, we can safely assume that he feels very comfortable around books at least."
"We weren't stalking! Stop calling it like that!" Sirius complained, cringing. I snickered into my piece of chocolate. The boy relaxed into his seat, shooting me another smile, "Thanks for your help, Cec. I really appreciate it."
I gulped down the chocolate, leaning back against the armchair as well, "You are very welcome, Sirius. When are you going to show him this place?"
Sirius shrugged, trying and failing to appear nonchalant. "Maybe tonight."
I gave him a sympathetic smile. "Good luck. I'm sure it will go well."
"Has anybody seen Padfoot anywhere?" James asked later that night as we lounged around the fireplace in our common room. I smiled a little when everyone declined.
It was the next Friday when the last Quidditch game of the year rolled up: Slythering vs. Hufflepuff. Nearly everyone was there, the last game being the most popular of all since it would determine, who would become first place (either Slytherin or Gryffindor) and who would win third place (Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw). I watched the teams come out of the locker rooms, James booing loudly whilst the members in green were announced by the commentator. I noticed he was especially loud during the announcement of 'Regulus Black' and I nudged him a little. "BOOOO-uff!" Alright, maybe a little hard.
"Sorry, love," I said, rubbing his side soothingly as he complained noisily, "Someone bumped into me."
"S'alright," he mumbled with a pout, pulling me closer and glaring over my shoulder at the non-existent culprit. I shot a wink at Sirius, who was stood next to James, and he smiled gratefully.
"And the game begins! Mulciber has the Quaffle and immediately shoots towards to opponent's goals-!" The game continued with Quaffles and Bludgers being thrown/beaten back and forth between the teams. I watched with rampant attention as the goal difference never seemed to get too high, occasionally glancing at the Seekers to see if they had caught sight of the Snitch. Catching it seemed to be the only way to determine the winner.
"It's to 280 to 270 for Slytherin, ladies and gentlemen, and neither side is showing any sign of fatigue. It's a game of win and lose, of life and death- AND BLACK HAS SPOTTED THE SNITCH!" All eyes snapped towards the small seeker zooming towards the ground near the Hufflepuff's goals, a mere blurred image of green and brown as he flew down in a breakneck speed. I noticed everyone lean forward over the railing to see the exact moment he caught the Snitch, the Hufflepuff seeker being one second too late. "AND BLACK HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! SLYTHERIN WINS THE GAME AND THE CUP! OH MY MERLIN!"
The Slytherin stand broke out in an uproar, shooting green and silver lights into the sky as the teams touched down, the green-cladded members jumping on Regulus, who was holding up the Snitch clenched in his fist with a blinding smile. I noticed Sirius biting his lip hard to prevent a wide grin as his grey eyes twinkled with pride whilst James groaned in disappointment but proceeded to clap along with everyone else, knowing they had won fair and square. "Gonna bloody win against them next year," I heard him grumble under his breath and I squeezed his arm with mine as I clapped along, "Definitely." He smiled at me before his eyes flickered towards something over my head. I looked back forwards, sneaking a glance to my side to see Lily and Alice next to Marlene, who was next to me, a pair of green eyes looking in our direction.
My chest constricted once more.
"I'm going to have to schedule more practices," James spoke as we walked back up to the castle after the game, neither of us wanting to stay and see the Slytherins celebrate, no matter how well deserved it was. "Maybe I can even get everyone to train on their own during the summer holidays."
"That's a bit excessive, don't you think?" I remarked, arm hooked around his. All I wanted to do during the holidays was laze around before the N.E.W.T.s came up next year.
"What, you think the Slytherin captain doesn't force his team to?" James pointed out, "And it obviously worked. This way we don't need to get back into the routine after the holidays and can improve our teamwork faster rather than having to train our individual skills back into shape."
"But James, this is our last summer holiday ever. Next year will be our last year in Hogwarts," I pointed out.
"Next year will also be our last chance to impress any recruits that will be there during the last games," James replied and I thought back on the few foreign adults that had occupied some seats in the teacher's stands during this game. The messy-haired grabbed me by the waist, twirling me around as I squealed in surprise. "Think about it, getting recruited by the Chudley Cannons-"
"Montrose Magpies."
"-and becoming the best Chaser and Seeker the Chudley Cannons-"
"Montrose Magpies."
"-ever had in history." He led me down with grin, still holding onto my waist, "We would be the dreamteam." I gazed into his brown eyes that almost had a mahogany hue to it in the current light of the sunset. "Yeah, we probably would..."
"Definitely would!" he exclaimed and I wrapped my arms around his, burying my face in his chest as an uncontrollable smile almost made my cheeks hurt.
I was definitely whipped for this boy. Irrevocably.
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ch4nb4ng · 4 years
Text
Shine
Pairings: fem reader X hyunjin (a little bit of minho)
Warnings: oral sex, penetration, possible (?) harsh words (like rejection), masturbation 
Word Count: 10.3k
A/N: i have not posted for a while and i do apologise ive had a lot of family stuff going on. this took me a while to write so i hope you enjoy it :)
The sudden arms around your waist took you by surprise as you scooped the ice cream from the tub to your glass.
“Hi y/n,” Hyunjin giggled, his muffled breath dancing across your neck. Your body froze, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Yes, he had always been this touchy feely kind of person, but the amount of flirtation had increased recently; it was frustrating.
He used to be this cute little boy, full of life and innocence. Short black hair that used to flop over his eyes, bare, pale skin; pretty much as plain as they come. Hyunjin always had such a gentle nature about him. He supported you in whatever you wanted to do and dream of. He was the dictionary definition of a best friend. His personality didn’t change, but other things began too, especially for you. You were high school sweethearts. Always at each other’s hip, studying together, hanging out together at parties, after school; wherever. You both got into the same college, deciding to live together. That was when things began to take a turn. From growing out his hair, dyeing it blonde, getting a lip ring (and multiple other piercings), and, not to mention the multitude of tattoos he started to get carved onto his body was making you feel a different way. Even the way he dressed. You wouldn’t be able to lose him if you went out; the clanging of the chains dangling from his hips and neck was impossible not to hear. He wasn’t the pure, wholesome boy you used to know, and that had become a very, very pressing problem for you.
“Heyyyyyy,” you gasped, breath heavy from the slight scare attack he gave you. Your eyes automatically gazing at the slightly exposed skin showing due to the unbuttoned first button on his loose shirt.
“Oh my god Hyunjin,” your eyes widened, pushing his clothing to the side, “you got another tattoo?”
“Yeah what do you think?”
You ignored his question, starting to analyse it heavenly. A large, striking dagger; god, that was sexy. Biting down on your bottom lip, you giggled, lightly tracing your finger across the outline.
“I do like it actually.”
You smiled, looking up at him. How were the two of you suddenly so close? A hand was resting on your hip, you couldn’t help but feel the heat rush to your face. God he was such a fucking flirt, it was so irritating. Like he loved to play with you; see how much of a reaction he could get from you. You were clearly wrapped around his finger. It wasn’t like he wasn’t intelligent either. He began to know his way around girls, you would be completely dumbfounded if he hadn’t yet worked out the feelings you had for him. You wouldn’t even think twice, but when he’s looking at you, like that, inches away from your lips, it was hypnotising, leaving you wanting more every time. The cocky smirk fell from his face, spinning away from you and dropping onto the couch to watch some tv. He looked at you, playfully smiling as he pat the empty area next to him, inviting you to sit with him. Unable to refuse, you scurried over, legs slightly pushed against his as he flicked through the channels for something to watch. A comfortable silence fell over the room as you rested your head on his shoulder, a lively hum escaping his lips at the gentle contact.
“Are you doing anything tonight y/n?”
“I was going to ask you actually, do you think you could help me with algebra prac tonight?”
That playful smirk returned to his face, making your stomach swoon. How could he not know the effect his mysterious look had on you? You tucked your hair behind your ears, abruptly standing up and walking to your room, shutting the door behind you. Hyunjin’s eyebrows furrowed at your shortness; it somehow began to make his heart hurt. Immediate panic came over him as he ran after you, gently knocking on your door.
“Y/n?”
No response.
“Y/n? Is everything okay?”
“Yes Hyunjin,” you reply, opening the door with a smile. A wave of relief flooded through Hyunjin seeing you happy. He wanted nothing but for you to be happy. It was when he became the happiest. If you showed him any sign of sadness or stress, he felt like he was losing his mind. You were his number one priority. Regardless if he had a million things going on, you being content was the only thing that had mattered. 
You snapped him out of his thoughts, clicking in front of his face as you let him come to your room and take the seat next to you at your desk. Opening your book made his eyes automatically widen. You felt puzzled, beginning to stress slightly. If he didn’t know how to do it, how would you learn? Hyunjin was the only one who could actually get through to you when it came to understanding the multitude of theories you had to memorise. You felt your shoulders, which were previously tense, relax once he stood back up, letting his hands rest on you, thumbs digging slightly into your muscles as he began to analyse your work. A muffled whine escaped your lips at the feeling of his touch; so delicate, yet so rough. Tilting your head, you pushed your hair to the side; nothing more needed to be said. Hyunjin chuckled, enjoying your playful antics. His fingertips traveled across your skin, slowly reaching up to your neck. Rolling your head forward, you became limp. It was so exhausting putting up a facade in front of him. Just this one time, you could give into his touch.
“Y/n you’re so tight-”
“What?”
Your body froze. You weren’t sure if you had heard him correctly.
“Your muscles are so tight, is this really stressing you out?”
“Oh,” you replied, slightly relieved, “uhm, yeah it is. I honestly don't understand it at all.”
“Well we cannot work under these conditions,” he gasped, “get on your bed for me why don't you?”
You were flabbergasted. 
“Y/n, get your mind out of the gutter,” he snickered, causing you to playfully hit his arm.
You followed his instructions, stomach pressed against the quilt of your bed. Your eyes were closed, slightly becoming patient at the way Hyunjin was taking his time with you. 
“Are you ready for the best massage of your life?”
“Sure am Jinnie.”
You couldn’t stop the smile that was forming on your lips. The way Hyunjin climbed onto your bed, sitting on top of you, delicately moving your hair to make sure your back was exposed and bare to him. The way he was leaning down, lips almost pressing to your ear as his fingers began to sink into your skin. A small groan left your lips. Hyunjin had now grasped a good feeling of your body, knowing all the spots that were making you uptight. The temperature in the room was rising, whether you wanted to accept it or not. Your arousal was becoming apparent, core becoming hotter with each passing moment. Thumb digging into every place you longed for him. They began to travel, lingering under the edge of your shirt. It was obvious that Hyunjin’s only intentions were to make you feel better. You weren’t sure if it was the satisfactory chuckle that left his lips every two seconds, or the slight hard on that was becoming pressed against your thigh. Surely this was anything but innocent. Releasing the stress so he could help you with your homework. But the moans leaving your mouth was slowly but surely changing the atmosphere of the originally family friendly, helpful environment that was once created. 
“Your hands feel so good,” you blurted out, quickly burying your face into the sheets. You couldn’t believe you had just said that out loud. Your heart began to race in anticipation, dying for Hyunjin to say literally anything.
“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he hummed, standing up. An almost whimper escaped your lips. Dabbing your fingers to your forehead, you gasped. You were already sweating. A blush creeping onto your face. If he could make you this hot from a playful massage, imagine what else he could do with those fingers.
Taking your previous position on your chair, your head was feeling dizzy. Hyunjin began to explain the equation, yet all you could think about was his hands wrapped around your neck, trickling down your sides and to your-
“So do you understand it now y/n, y/n?”
“Oh,” you looked up, avoiding his piercing gaze, “um, yeah, i do, thank you.”
“God,” he huffed, rolling his eyes, “you must be real tired huh?”
“What? No Im fine-”
“Let me tuck you into bed.”
“Into bed?”
“Yeah,” he grinned, walking over and pulling the sheets back, “you aren’t listening to me so I think you need to rest, come here.”
Unable to refuse him, you quickly hopped in. Your body was tense, waiting for Hyunjin to leave. But he didn’t. The feeling of his arms wrapping around your torso, muscular frame pressing into your back. Your muscles began to relax straight away, practically melting into him. God, he liked to make things hard for you.
“Let’s get some sleep, and we can go over this in the library, okay y/n?”
“Mhmm,” you hummed, all your senses shutting off for the night. The last thing you heard was his baby breaths, tickling the back of your neck
***
Your eyes were awake, feeling the dishevelled strands of hair sprawled across your face, bed sheets completely tangled. A slick smile spread across your face at the thoughts of last night's subtle, yet not so subtle actions. You slapped yourself across the face. Getting out of bed, you made your way to the kitchen, still drowsy from the good quality sleep, and company you had. Tensions were high all of yesterday, keeping you aroused for a prolonged period of time. Wanting to have some fun, you decided to change out of the clothes you were in, stripping off and wearing nothing but your silk robe as you made your way to the kitchen. 
“Morning sleepy head,” Hyunjin smiled, taking his tongue in between his teeth as he began to look you up and down. One hand on the frying pan, the other leaning on the kitchen bench, “you tryna put on a show for me or what ?”
“Pfft,” you scoffed, joining him in leaning against the bench, “you wish Mr. Hwang.”
“Yeah uh, anyways,” he interjected, followed by a small cough, “i’m gonna have a shower and then we can head to the library.”
“Uh sure bub,” you smile, stealing a piece of toast from his plate, “I’ll go get ready and grab my stuff.”
Sending a wink Hyunjin’s way, you headed back to your room, collecting your thoughts and self together. 
His jaw clenched as soon he saw your behind. A frustrated hand ran through his hair. “God,” he mumbled to himself. Quickly cleaning the frying pan, he headed to the shower, turning the water on, extra hot. Hands relying on the glass frame, he let the steaming droplets run down his body. Eyes closed, he began to think, hard, compartmentalising the many thoughts of you running through his mind. One hand began to trail down his neck, dragging down the center of his body. A small groan escaped his lips, letting his fingertips gently wrap around his base. The combination of water and steam filled his vision as he began to pump himself, images of your exposed body lying in front of him, having you all to himself. His grip became harder at thought, having you moan his name over and over, tongue dragging across his chest, marking the ink that practically covered him. 
“Fuck,” he groaned, “y/n.”
Hyunjin stumbled backwards, letting his back dig into the sidewall as he threw his head back. Grabbing the soap, he held it above his head, letting it dangle across his length. He was already sensitive; the feeling of the cold liquid sending a shiver down his spine. Letting both of his hands now wrap around his cock, he made his own jaw drop. Images of his hands imprinted around your torso, completely manhandling you was making him dizzy. He wanted it, you, so bad.His thoughts were warped on a daily basis; they were all about you. All the times he thought about grabbing your waist, slamming you against the wall as he double pumped himself, jaw dropping open as his hips began to buck up. He was becoming desperate to touch you, to feel you under him. He wanted you squirming, begging for you. He just wanted to make you feel good. 
“Ah fuck y/n, I’m cuming,” he whined, seeing his liquid cover the glass. He stood there for minutes, heavily panting as he came down from his high. Eyes wide open, head snapping forward, Hyunjin turned off the water, quickly dressing himself and heading out to the couch to wait for you.
***
“Do you get it now?”
“Yes,” you exclaimed, “finally, thank you Hyunjin.”
What felt like hours of studying was finally paying off. Having hyunjin as your teacher was another bonus of course. The subtle grazes against your leg, his small thumb rubbing circles on your back. You were surprised how your body never went into sensory overload. Hyunjin’s touch was delicate, yet so enticing. Like he knew exactly what he was doing to you. His daily entertainment; how flustered could he make you? You adjusted your posture, a nervous cough escaping your chest, making Hyunjin chuckle.
“y/n, are you okay?”
“Uh yeah,” you shrugged, “why wouldn’t I be?”
“You seem flustered?” he questioned, a hint of innocence in his tone. Placing each elbow on the table, he smirked, gaze strong on you,
“Am i turning you on right now?”
Face beginning to feel hot, you began to laugh, playfully hitting him to avert that fact that you actually were flustered.
“Hyunjin, dont be stupid!”
He began to laugh with you, making your heart hurt a little. You knew it was all fun and games for him and he was just mucking around. Most of the time you found it funny too, but there were moments where you wished that he was being serious; this was one of these moments.
“Hyunjin’s teaching skills are okay from what i’ve seen.”
A huge grin swiped your face as you saw Minho, Chan and Jisung approach your table.
“My favorite people,” you paused half way through the sentence, turning to Hyunjin, “how are you guys doing!”
“I’m doing great,” Chan winked, making you gag on the spot. The boys began an uproar of laughter, completely dying at the way you completely rejected him. He was always harmlessly playful with you; this was regular banter you shared.
“Anyways,” Minho interjected, “we are all doing good, studying of course, the usual. I wanna go out though.”
“Oh my god yes,” Jisung gasped, “that’s such a good idea!”
“We haven’t gone out in so long,” you sighed, “I’m down.”
All of the boys clapped. What felt like a stressful, exhausting energy became a peaceful, relaxing one. Going out clubbing with the boys was so much fun. Things sometimes went south, but nonetheless, when everyone’s drunk, everyone’s having fun. 
“We just finished studying actually,” Jisung smiled, collecting his books and standing up, “if you guys are done we can go out for dinner tonight and then go out?”
“Oh um, I'm gonna study for a bit longer,” Hyunjin interjected, “and then I'll meet you guys out.”
Nodding in response, the rest of the boys got up, making their way back to their dorms. Minho remained seated.
“I-I’m gonna study for a bit longer as well. We can get something to eat and meet you guys later?”
You smiled at them; that was until you felt a heavy blow to your backside, causing half the students to turn and look at you.
“Hyunjin,” you whispered, “what the fuck was that for?”
Playing with your fingertips previously, Hyunjin wrapped his fingers around your wrist, pulling you back down, letting his ink covered fingertips sit on your neck,
“You know I'm just mucking around,” he whispered, moving closer to your ear, “were you thinking of something different?”
Pulling away from him, your eyes widened, playfully hitting him once more before grabbing your stuff and finally leaving. 
Waiting for a cue of privacy, Minho coughed obnoxiously, steering Hyunjin’s gaze away from behind.
“So,” Minho began, “y/n looked real cute today all snuggled up against you.”
“Oh,” Hyunjin nervously chuckled, “i don't know what you're talking about.”
“You know,” Minho leaned closer to him, “I think i’m gonna ask her out.”
Hyunjin’s jaw clenched. A pang hit him at the base of his stomach.
“Oh,” Hyunjin mumbled, “since when have you been interested in y/n?”
“Uh, since she started hanging around us,” he scoffed, making Hyunjin's fingers curl into his palm, “I was just telling you because, well, you know, you’re the closest to her and incase you guys has something going on -”
“We don't.” 
“Are you sure,” Minho questioned, slightly enjoying how easily he could rile him up, “say something now because if you don't, she’s gonna end up in my bed tonight-”
“I told you, there’s no problem. I'm gonna go back to my room and have a shower, do you want to come then we can go eat with y/n?”
Both boys were now standing, close together. The atmosphere had changed from playful to territorial very quickly. You could cut it with a knife.
“Sounds good to me. She’ll say no though, I know her too well.”
Hyunjin wanted to punch the extremely cocky smirk spreading across Minho’s face. It was no secret that Minho’s reputation with girls was, well, extensive. From one night stands, to threesomes, foursomes, you name it. There wasn’t one thing that this dude had not done. It made Hyunjin nervous. Seeing the way Minho treated other girls made his skin crawl. He didn’t want you to be just a number on his list. You were naive, Hyunjin knew that. He always knew that you always saw the best in people. It was one of the many things he adored about you, but in this current moment, it was making his heart sink. He wasn’t sure why; he wasn’t sure if it was jealousy or Minho’s arrogant agenda, but he was definitely feeling uneasy. 
***
The usual ice droplets that soaked your body felt like fire. Hyunjin was always touchy feely, but the way he had been with you the past couple of days was affecting you so much more than it usually did. The thought alone made you feel lightheaded. A large sigh came as your body pressed up against the glass frame. Your frustration was growing, and you weren’t sure how much longer you could keep these Hyunjin fantasies in your head. 
Stepping out of the shower, you wiped the fogginess sticking to the mirror. Pushing your hair back, you looked at yourself for what felt like a really long time. Nerves began to bundle in your stomach. Something about tonight was different. It began to feel a different way. Your chest jumped at the possibility of something finally happening with him. 
“Pfft who am i kidding,” you yelled at yourself in the mirror, pushing your nose up against the foggy glass, “keep dreaming girl.”
Wrapping your towel around your naked torso, you walked out to the kitchen, finding a few snacks too much on. You had time to procrastinate getting ready. Turning on the tv, you happily munched away, enjoying your favorite show, Jane the virgin. The previous bundle of nerves dissipated as you let yourself sink into the couch. Going out with the boys was nothing out of the ordinary, but the tensions between you and Hyunjin felt the highest it had ever been. What was worse was that it wasn’t the first time that the atmosphere had been intense.
***
“Oooo,” Hyunjin yelled, quickly snatching your phone from your grasp, “who is this you're talking to now.”
“HYUNJIN IT’S NO ONE,” you screamed, standing up in front of him, “can you mind your business?” 
The swipe across his hands to get your phone back failed, causing him to begin running around the apartment, simultaneously scrolling your messages. Sure you entertained other guys from time to time. However, none of them made you feel hot the way hyunjin did. It was practically impossible. Even looking at Hyunjin made you feel like exploding on the spot.
Following his charade of nonsense, frustration began to grow. Chasing him around the house was no easy task. He was fast and flexible. There was no way you would be able to catch him. Coming to a stand still, you sighed.
“Hyunjin please,” you whined, waiting for him to come out of hiding, “if you give me my phone back, i’ll tell you.”
A loud gasp left your lips when you felt him from behind. Hands pinned to your sides, Hyunjin used his force, pinning you against the wall adjacent to your previous stance. Sticking his lips out, he chuckled, blowing the hair that was covering his gently frustrated eyes burning down on you. Nerves were setting in, especially once his cocky smirk began to form on his yet to be touched lips. Letting a hand roam, your mind was becoming dizzy, unable to control what your body was doing. That could’ve explained how your fingertips were spread across his clean chest, nearly half the buttons on his shirt somehow were undone. Were they already like that? Did you do it? You weren’t able to comprehend the situation at hand.
“Y/n,” he paused, “baby. Why are you talking to other guys?”
You could feel the lump forming at your throat. Intimidation was creeping in, lingering the longer he kept his hungry eyes on you.
“W-what do you mean?”
“Come on,” Hyunjin huffed, swiftly dragging his fleshy thumb across your bottom lip, “you don't need other guys. I’m right here.”
***
“What do you wanna eat?”
Minho's presence was putting Hyunjin off guard. All of his thoughts led to you right now. 
“Uh, I don't mind, it's up to you,” he mumbled. He could feel the blood running through his body becoming warmer with each passing second. Opening the door to the apartment made him nervous suddenly. Especially when he opened the door to you in nothing but a petite towel.
“Y/n?”
“Hey hyunjin-”
You spun around, tripping over the carpet in front of you.
“Oh.. Minho’s here too,” you stated, praying to the gods that you were still fully covered. Minho’s facial expressions conformed to those of concern as soon as your body hit the ground. Finger tips traveling to your legs, slowly up your arms, landing on your cheek.
“Holy shit y/n, are you okay?”
“Uh yeah,” you smiled, “I’m fine.”
Helping you up from the floor, Minho reciprocating the innocent smile. You sent a hard glare at Hyunjin after, causing hyunjin to huff, loud. Saying nothing, he walked straight out the fridge, finding any possible beer that was in sight, and, well, sculling it. 
“Hyunjin,” you yelled, running over, one hand keeping your towel secure, the other hitting him on the back, “what are you doing? We haven’t even eaten yet!”
“What,” he hissed, making you uncomfortably step away, “are you my mom?”
“No,” you replied back harshly, eyebrows furrowing at the way he was speaking to you all of a sudden, “God, what’s with the sulky attitude?”
You reached passed, purposefully brushing your barely covered chest across his torso, reaching for a chocolate bar.
“Minho,” you called, keeping your gaze fixated up at Hyunjin, “do you wanna come help me pick an outfit for tonight?”
The question made Hyunjin crush the now empty beer can in his grip. 
“Uh sure,” Minho answered, somewhat courteous about the interaction the two of you just had. He followed you to your room, looking forward to the way you were about to try on these outfits just for him.
“Okay so,” you began, “I have two,” you paused, making sure you were loud enough for the Hyunjin to hear, “you can sit here, and I'll go and quickly change into the first one.”
The look on Minho’s face was delectable. Like he was a kid in a candy store. Placing your fingers on his chest, you gave him a soft nudge, making him fall and lay back on your bed. You turned to your wardrobe, making sure to cautiously bend over and pick out the first outfit. You looked back at him as you walked out the door. The way he spread his legs right open, waiting in anticipation for you was fucking hot. 
A sigh of relief escaped your chest as you closed the bathroom door, finally able to drop this irritating towel and put some actual clothes on. This moment gave you a minute of peace, thinking about what you were actually doing. Harmlessly playing around with Minho to make Hyunjin jealous. Would it even work? Usually it was something you would question and/or doubt. However, it did not matter right now. Whether it made him envious or not, you were sick of having hopes that something would happen. Minho was very attractive, and he had shown previous interest in you before. A little fun wouldn’t hurt right.
“Y/n?”
You rolled your eyes hearing Hyunjin’s voice and knocked at the door. Shimmying into your dress, you sighed, opening the door for him.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing,” he paused, hesitating, “I’m sorry for acting the way I did just before.”
You said nothing, instead, letting him walk in while you began to do your makeup.
“I just don’t understand why you think you can talk to me like that, especially in front of your friends?”
“Because, uh, well.”
You huffed at his hesitation to answer.
“Of course you don't kno-”
His actions spoke louder than words, as they were pinning you up against the glass shower frame. You could feel the magnitude of shivers fall through your spine, yet your skin felt hot, especially in the place he was touching you.
“I do know,” he answered, eyes burning. He sighed, running a frustrated hand through his blacked locks.
“What do you know,” you smirked, looking up at him, bringing a hand around his neck, “tell me.”
The intensity had never been so heavy. Standing there in dead silence, eyes pouring into each other. Inches apart. It could be so easy for you to just reach up and finally, maybe finally, let yourself experience the feeling of those damn lips brushing your wanting ones. You could picture how this ended in your head right now. Legs wrapped around his torso, lips tickling your neck. Hell, you could even somehow reach around and just turn the shower on, give you not only a reason to be naked, but another reason as to why this should happen; right here, right now.
“Y/n, are you okay,” Minho yelled, making you break away from Hyunjin, “you’ve been in there for a long time just to put some clothes on.”
Brushing yourself off, you left Hyunjin to himself, absolutely gobsmacked like nothing had ever happened. He could do nothing, but walk out and see you standing in front of his best friend. Dressing up for him. Showing off for him. Saying that it made Hyunjin’s blood boil was an understatement.
“Wow,” Minho hummed in approval, “spin around for me princess.”
You did as you were told, allowing his eyes to linger on your figure. All Hyunjin could do was just stand in the hallway, jaw dropped. His brain was ringing with anger. Storming off, all he could do was look into the fridge, quickly sipping on another beer can.
Finally stepping out of your room with Minho, Hyunjin huffed, barely paying attention to him. But when he saw you, he could feel the tent in his pants beginning to form. Tight black dress, long hair cascading down your shoulders. You looked perfect to him.
“Ready to go Hyunjin?”
He blinked a few times.
“Um, yeah I am.”
“Good,” you smirked, grabbing Minho's arms and wrapping them around your torso.
***
The music was blaring through the speaker system as you barely stood at the bar, chugging down the 5th round of shots Chan had bought for all of you.
“To friendship!” he yelled.
“Friendship,” you slurred in response, humming at the way the liquid burned your chest. It’s painful the  first time, but after the 5th one, it's the fiery sensation that you want nothing more than to feel again. Everyone was loud and fun, having their time of life. Except for Hyunjin of course, silently sipping on his drink in the corner. You stumbled over to him, somewhat heavily slapping him on the shoulder.
“Hyunjin,” you smiled, feeling your eyes get smaller, “what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“But you aren't acting like the Hyunjin that I know.”
You pouted, digging your index fingers into his chest.
“Nothing,” he snapped, “I’m fine.”
His response made you pissed off to say the least. But giving him a good scolding or fighting him was not even worth your energy. Why was he being so sulky? He was the one who pushed you against any hard surface whenever he was mad. The one who teased you with massages, lingering gazes, sinful touches. The thoughts of those many moments became a sudden sensory overload. You hurried away, quickly grabbing Minho's wrist and dragging him to the dance floor.
“Dance with me,” you whispered, grabbing his wrist and placing them on your sides as you turned to face away from him. Closing your eyes, you let the music pour into you, head lying in the crook on Minho’s neck as you let your body explore him. The satisfactory groans that left his lips and slipped into your ears felt like paradise. It felt so good, feeling someone finally reciprocate their interest in you. His grip on you was strong, thumb digging into your sides as he pulled you close, letting you feel his hard on from behind you. A deep hum left your throat, making him smile against your lobe.
“Feeling okay baby?”
“Mmmm yeah,” you chuckled, “I can tell you are.”
The deepness in your voice made him spin around. You threw your head back in satisfaction, allowing his lips to cover your neck in delicate, feverish kisses. Wrapping your arms around his neck made him chuckle, allowing him to pull you even closer than before. He wasn’t shy, that’s for sure. You shivered, feeling the hard grip he had on your left thigh, hooking it around and lifting your leg around him. You looked up at him, seeing the darkness pooling behind his eyes as he told you to jump, allowing him to carry you. Your hands were in the air, completely loose and carefree as you continued to sway to the beat of the music. This was the first time you had felt so light. Everything felt so easy at this moment. Minho was giving you the attention you had been craving from Hyunjin for so long. You looked down at him, the previous dark facade long gone as he looked up at you with nothing but joy and admiration present. It made you smile. 
“Y/n,” he yelled, bringing you back to his level, “let’s go sit at the bar, I want to ask you something.”
You didn’t complain, trailing him out of the human traffic of the bar. ‘Of course,’ you muttered to yourself, seeing the only two available stools being right next to hyunjin and some random girl that he was feeling up under the table. You rolled your eyes; of course he was entertaining someone else. You ignored him, putting a gentle hand on Minho's thigh.
“Did you say something?”
“Yeah,” he grinned, “did you want another drink?”
“Oh uhm, can you just get me some water please?”
“A-anything for you baby.”
You couldn’t help but giggle, not noticing till now how sloshed he really was. The two of you sat in comfortable silence, patiently waiting for the drinks he had ordered. You let your fingers linger on him, drawing sloppy lines along his inner thigh.
“So,” he began, taking a sip of his drink in between speech, “there’s actually something I wanted to ask you.”
“You did say this from what I recall,” you laughed, scratching your head with your index finger; an attempt at acting puzzled in front of him.
“Yes,” he smirked, placing a hand on the outer edge of your knee, “I wanted to ask if you wanted to go out on a date with me next week?”
His question knocked the alcohol right out of your system, completely sobering you up. You fixed your posture, slight panic settling into your body at his sudden question. It was just fun, wasn’t it? Just using him to make Hyunjin jealous? 
“Um wow,” you gasped, unsure what to say, “this is, well, um, I don't really know what to say.”
“What do you mean?”
Small dribbles of sweat began tapping on your forehead. Pushing your hair behind your ear, you lifted your hand, placing it apologetically over his.
“Minho,” you empathetically smiled, “I think that’s so sweet of you.”
You paused, quickly seeing the way the grin on his face began to turn down.
“And don't get me wrong, you’re a great guy and you have been nothing but sweet to me. But, I, well, I have feelings for someone else.”
The look on his face made you devastated. The hurt was evident in his eyes. Minho grabbed his drink, taking a big swig from it.
“Please say something,” you pleaded, beginning to feel uncomfortable from the painful silence.
“It’s fine.”
Heart beat beginning to race, you could feel it; the sudden change in atmosphere between the two of you.
“It is? Okay good because-”
“It’s fine because I was joking.”
A heavy pang hit you in the chest. Did you even hear him correctly?
“What?”
He looked up at you, a slight chuckle came from him.
“Oh, you thought I was being serious?”
He grabbed you by the wrist, picking it up and pushing it off of him.
“You weren’t being serious?”
“Of course not,” he snapped, “you think I would wanna be with you?”
“Well why would you ask me out if you didn’t feel that way?”
He took another swig.
“Yeah well whatever, it’s a mistake. I can barely even look at you.”
You stood up, blood beginning to boil now. 
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
He rolled his eyes, following you and standing over you.
“Do I have to spell it out for you? I wouldn’t go near you with a ten foot poll. Let alone fuck you? Pfft, your dreaming girl; good luck with that.”
You felt dizzy, unable to comprehend what Minho had just said to you. ‘What a dick’ you thought, before lifting your hand and slapping him across the face. You could feel the tear prick your eyes. You just wanted to fall, break down on the spot. No one had ever said such hurtful things to you before. Hyunjin turned around as soon as he heard the sound. You didn’t want to look at him. You were fuming. Minho just stood there, laughing at you.
“Listen here,” you snapped, “I get that you’re upset that your advances didn’t work, but you have no fucking right to say that to me, or anyone, ever again. Unless you apologise, I never want to speak to you ever again.”
And with that, you picked yourself up, and walked out of there, alone.
*** 
You couldn’t feel anything but the painful throb in the back of your head as you rose out of bed. Taking your phone off the charger you gasped, seeing the multiple missed calls Hyunjin had left you last night. You threw your phone back onto your bed, sheepishly making your way to the kitchen.
“Hey babes.”
You looked up to see a dishevelled Hyunjin waiting for you at the bench. You tried to smile at him, hide the pain of what Minho had said to you last night. Your heart was hurting, so bad. It was hard not to believe what he had said to you. You just wanted to run into Hyunjin's arms, let him whisper sweet nothings and tell you everything was okay; but you knew that if that happened, you would never let him go.
“Morning,” you mumbled, turning your back to him as you turned on the coffee machine, “how are you feeling this morning?”
“Yeah I'm good,” he mumbled back slowly making his way over to you. You sighed, a sharp inhale as you felt his arms wrap you from behind. Luckily, his head was resting on your back; he wasn’t able to see the impulsive tears slip from your eyes.
“Are you feeling okay after last night?”
Your heart sank. Humiliation was settling in; he had heard exactly what he said. It felt like you couldn't breathe. You were gasping for air. Hyunjin grabbed your waist, spinning you around, encompassing you in his embrace. He could feel you. The way your body sobbed against him. Hands against your chest, head curled into his neck. Holding it in was impossible, especially from Hyunjin. He knew you like the back of his hand.
“My angel,” he whimpered, cupping your cheeks and looking down at you, “I’m so sorry about what happened last night. I want you to know that none of what he said is true. You are such a beautiful person inside and out, and you didn't deserve that.”
You finally fixed your gaze back onto him. You had never seen such softness to his eyes before. You felt yourself giving  yourself to him. Vulnerability glowing in your heart as you felt yourself slipping away. His touch on you became stronger, hypnotising almost. Your hands found their way onto his body, unsafely creeping under his shirt and messily being dragged across his stomach. The front he attempted to put on was priceless; you could feel his body tensing underneath your corrupt touch.
“y/n,” he paused, slowly taking his hand from your body that he so desperately dreamed about, “I have to, uh,  go to class, but we can talk about this when I get back.”
Hyunjin sloppily grabbed his back and stumbled out the door, leaving you utterly speechless. It was the first time you could sense his nerves from something you did. A frustrated sigh left your lips. Nails digging into your palms, you stormed to your room, slamming the door behind you. 
“God,” you growled, aggressively falling onto your bed. Your eyelids suddenly felt heavy, but your mind was nonstop. 
The possibilities of finally having him was on a constant loop. The way his pupils changed when he looked at you. The shiver you could feel when you touched him. The ideas of what could have happened if Hyunjin didn’t leave was driving you up the wall. His voice played in your head, as if he was right next to you, whispering the praising words you longed to hear. A moan slipped from your lips, hands now sliding down the sides of your body as your mind became more vivid. The ache between your legs becomes stronger with each drawn out breath. You chuckled, replacing the ache with the thought of Hyunjin's tongue. You sat up, quickly stripping down to under garments. You took a quick look at yourself in the mirror; leaving you feeling anything but delirious.
You bit down on your bottom lip, letting your hands roam once more. Feeling the heat dance across your cheeks, you giggled, making yourself nervous at the thought of his summery breath cascade down your neck, blonde tips to follow. It’s like he was an island of fantasy and desire. All you could do was touch yourself. Letting your fingertips under the hem of your panties and into your folds. A sigh of relief slipping as you felt your legs become weak, falling back once more at the already immense pleasure you got from yourself. This was your way to reach the destination. The island of fantasy; desire; Hyunjin. Your stomach tensed at his name. The smile on your face could not be wiped off at any moment. Eyes closed, you could finally picture it. Hyunjin standing over you, a sadistic yet admirable facial expression hijacking his features, wishing that his lips were on your clit instead of your fingers.
“Baby,” you groaned, “Hyunjin, touch me.”
The slight cringe entering your mind at the way your voice broke at his name. ‘God how pathetic,’ you thought to yourself. He wasn’t even there and the effect he had on you was that strong. You continued your playful assault, teasing yourself at your entrance. Index finger gently prodding, you became dizzy. You were already close. The cause as to why was unknown. Were you really that good at touching yourself? Definitely not, the manifestation of every single thought of him was coming together, almost becoming overwhelming. 
“Hyunjin,” you choked, “I just want to be such a good girl for you. Please let me-”
“You wanna be a good girl for me, don't you baby?”
Your neck snapped, eyes widening at hyunjin staring down at you. 
“H-hyunjin,’ you stuttered, grabbing your pillow and covering yourself, “I c-can explain, I-”
“Shut the fuck up,” he retorted. He said nothing, tucking his hair behind his ear as he began to undo the buttons on his shirt. There was nothing you could do, but, well, stare. You propped yourself onto your elbows, feeling him wrap his arms around your torso, gently pressing your lips to every inch of his skin marked in ink. Hyunjin’s gaze was strong, never leaving your eyes as his smirk grew wider. Things were moving slow, way too slow for both of your liking. 
“You like what you see?”
“Please,” you scoffed, leaning your chin onto his stomach, “it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
The look in his face was priceless. Smirk rapidly dissipating from his lips; he was pissed. It was obvious. Jaw clenched, tightly gripped fists. Something you had never seen before on him. You looked down, noticing the purple covering his knuckles. You grabbed his hand, panic settling in you.
“Hyunjin what the fuck happened are you okay?”
He said nothing, ripping his hand from your grip and dropping to his knees. The smirk obviously returned at the way your legs involuntarily spread for him.
“Oh, this,” he questioned, flexing them out in front of you, “this is what happens what you’re a fucking dick to my princess.”
His fingertips traced your hem, violently teasing you. You lifted your hips, attempting to have 
Hyunjin’s fingers ‘accidentally’ slip over your clothed core. But he chuckled, hooking his arms around your legs and pushing them down, giving you no room to squirm. He chuckled; the level of power he had over you was something he had dreamt of. He began to chuckle; he couldn’t help it.
“Fuck y/n,” he groaned, snaking one hand from under your leg and onto your panties, sending a noticeable shiver down your legs, “you dont know how many times i’ve dreamt of this. Seeing you like this, all hot and bothered under me.”
You couldn’t help but groan at his words, feeling the edge of his middle finger press against your hidden clit.
“Fuck,” you mumbled, already on the brim of feeling overwhelmed.
“Am I making you too hot baby,” he pouted, increasing the pressure on your soft spot, “you like how I talk dirty like that about you?”
“Mhm,” is all you could manage to stumble out. Your body began to squirm, making Hyunjin smile at you. His hand trailed on your folds, gently travelling back to your hem of what felt like suffocating clothing covering your heat. Muffling groans escaped your lips, frustrated at how slowly he took them off. The way his pupils dilated was like a kid in a candy store. Tucking his hair behind his ear, he inched closer, lips moments away from having him where you needed the most. You let your eyes flutter shut, anticipating the moment you had been waiting for. Confusion hit when you felt hands balancing on either side of you, soulful kisses trailing up the center of your body until you opened your eyes, seeing his regard fixated, looking down into yours. You felt like a feather, his body hovered over you as he leaned closer, finally connecting his lips to yours. It was sloppily, lips out of time and teeth clashing. Not the kiss you expected, but you couldn't complain. Hyunjin slipped his tongue into your mouth, tongues colliding as he erupted a delirious fire inside of you. Your bodies began to collide, passions electrifying, lighting up the room as his hands wrapped around your hips, thumb kneading at your bones as your hands dug into his neck. Things were going slow before, but there were no more concerns about the pace now. Hyunjin’s lips were always nice to look at, but the way they felt was a whole different story. The cloud-like texture of them was making your head move in nothing but circles. You were in heaven, already thinking about how they would feel against your skin in other places you had become desperate fir. Such thoughts were interrupted when you felt him leaving your lips, sucking hard on your bottom lip. His eyes lingered on you, chest heaving, breath heavy as he lifted you up, tossing your, compared to his, small frame. A look of innocence played on your feature as Hyunjin pinned both of your hands above your head. 
“Hyunjin what are you doi-”
“Shhh baby,” he hissed, crawling back to face level, tilting his head to reach your ear, “don't move okay, I’m gonna make you feel so good,” he paused, pressing a kiss to your lobe, “just like the million times I imagined it.”
A satisfied whine left your lips as Hyunjin created a new trail, stopping at your neck. You wrapped a hand around his neck, wanting to push his lips into your skin more.
“Uh uh baby,” he chuckled, pinning your hands back to the ordered position, “be a good girl and keep them up there for me won't you?”
“Yes sir” you mumbled, a low hum of approval heard from him. He continued his savoury touches, harshly sucking on any skin above your chest that was left unmarked. His fervent touches were making you increase in sensitivity with each moment passing. A hand hooked around your back, effortlessly unclasping your bra and letting your breasts become exposed.
“Fuck,” he sighed, hunger increasing, “has anyone ever told you that you were made like a piece of fucking art?”
The compliment made you blush, hard. No one had ever said such complimentary things before.
“Uhm, no,” you whispered, scared that someone would hear you. Hyunjin frowned, eyes becoming hard as he looked up at you.
“No one’s ever told you that before,” he huffed, sticking his tongue out in front of your left nipple.
“No,” you inhaled, fear engaged as Hyunjin’s shift in demeanour appeared.
“That makes me so fucking mad,” he growled, attaching his lips to your nipple, “you’re the sexiest fucking girl ive ever seen y/n.” 
A choked whine left your lips at his words, and his tongue trapped around you, hands flicking the other.
“Fuck Hyunjin I-”
“Unfuckable,” he interjected, “how can you be when you fucking look like a piece of fucking art?”
He refused to rest. His fingers began to trail, teasingly grazing your sides as he let them travel, stopping right on top of where you wanted him the most.
“I had to add to the artwork that is you baby.”
He had now lowered himself back to his starting position. On his knees, lips in line with your pussy as he let a finger slips between your folds, your stomach jolting with electricity at the light, yet tantalising feeling he gave you.
“The marks all over your chest,” he puffed, almost like he was out of breath from just looking at you, “they are nothing but little flowers I added to a beautiful canvas.”
You could barely think about what he was saying as he pushed the finger into your entrance, a high pitched mewl coming from your chest as he began to pump.
“God Hyunjin-”
“Tell me princess,” he interrupted, adding another finger, “tell me all the dirty things you’ve wanted me to do to you.”
“Fuck,” you groaned. The cocky smirk on Hyunjin’s face, lips slightly agape,”there’s so many times when I have thought about you.”
“Tell me baby,” he groaned, letting his breath tickle the skin on your inner thigh.
“In the shower, on the kitchen bench, the couch in the living room. You doing me from behind, on top, letting me ride you,” you moaned, “but this, right now, this is my favorite.”
A grunt of thrill left his lips, an attempt and analysing the many thoughts you had about him made him feel completely justified. On the brink of pure anger, you thrusted forward, barely feeling the impact of his lips on your folds. 
“Shhh,” he whispered, curling his fingers, forcing you to lay still, “let me allow your fantasy to become a reality.”
A loud groan left your chest as Hyunjin finally allowed his tongue to plunge into you, harshly grazing your clit. The feeling made your body jolt, jaw fully lax as he your gave yourself to him. Hands running straight into his hair, you gasped, seeing him notice the way you constantly push the front strands his blonde locks behind his ears. 
“Fuck,” he mumbled against you, quickly sitting up, “this fucking hair is too long.”
Your legs shut, too weak to keep them open as Hyunjin frustratedly fisted his hair and teethed the string off his wrist, wrapping his hair into a high ponytail, front pieces gently left out, sprawling across his glistening face. As soon as he looked down, he couldn’t help but chuckle. Manhandling your delicate thighs, he bit down on his lips, aggressively spreading them open to regain his access to your sweet spot.
“Already so weak are we?”
You couldn’t help but feel humiliated as he kept his gaze on you, unforgivingly, letting his tongue rapidly circle around your clit. 
“Oh my god,” you managed to stagger out, another hum of approval entering your heat, vibrating and spreading to the rest of your body. God he was so good at this. Always making you feel good. Like you were the number one princess in the best castle. Even if it wasn’t sex, Hyunjin always found a way to make you feel better. But this. This was a whole new level of pleasure.
“Mhmm,” he grunted, replacing his tongue with a finger from his opposite hand, “how close are you baby?”
The clench around his fingers was enough, Hyunjin slightly amused. The combinations of the multitude of fingers and his extremely rough tongue on your clit was sending you to another dimension.
“Far out I knew I was good at this, but baby, you’re so easy to make cum.”
“N-no im not,” you whined, Hyunjin throwing his head pack in pure joy.
“It’s okay baby,” he cooed, picking up the pace of his fingers, “you don't have to put on a front for me.”
“Hyunjin c-cum,” you gasped, barely able to strangle anything out of your lips, “g-gon-na c-cum.”
“Yeah? You’re gonna cum for me?”
“Yeah.”
“You wanna cum for me baby?”
“Y-yeah I do.”
“Come on baby,” he growled, “cum for me like the good girl you are.”
His words couldn’t help but send you over the edge, strangled echoes of pleasure filling the room as he continued his pleasurable assault, loving the way your hips convulsed against his overstimulation.
“Fucking hell,” you cried, pushing his fingers out of you, “you made me cum so hard Hyunjin.”
He smiled, crawling back onto your bed, towering over you once more.
“There’s nothing else I want to do in this world apart from make you feel good baby.”
You couldn’t help but giggle, leaning into his lips to taste your sweet filled juices glistening his chin. The kiss was gentle, soothing from the intense orgasm you had just come down from. He created another trail, tongue dragging across your neck and back down to your chest, pressing an arousing kiss in between your breasts.
“I can't help it,” he smirked, “I just want to wanna mark you all over, let Minho know that you’re mine.”
His words made you feel light headed. Mine? Usually something like that made you wanna throw up. But the way Hyunjin said it, with so much hunger and vice, it was like you became bound to him. Anything he wanted to do with you would be impossible to say no.
“Then f-fuck me,” you mumbled.
“What was that?”
You slipped from underneath him, turning him around and pushing him onto the bed, hands firmly placed against his chest as you climbed on top of him. Hyunjin’s eyes became full. Full of fire, lust, hunger, anger. He played it cool at first, but now, now he was desperate. You let your hands now travel his body, one hand tracing the outline of his abs, the other behind you, palming his rapidly hardening cock.
“Fuck me like you own me, Like you want everyone to know I’m yours.”
The words were enough to send him into a craze. He quickly rid himself of the draw string, keeping a tight grip on his sweats, pushing down his pants to his knees. It came to your surprise when he had nothing else on, leaving him to follow your pursuit of complete nakedness. You lifted your hips off of his stomach, readjusting to let your clit sit on top of his pulsating cock that was lying flat against his stomach. A sharp inhale came from his chest, absolutely frothing at the way you rubbed your wetness against him.
“Fuck you’re so wet still,” Hyunjin chuckled, a deep grunt escaping leaving him.
“You like that?” You smirked, biting down on your bottom lip.
“Yeah baby,” he moaned, hands gripping your ass, giving you a soft blow. His hands were soft, icy, goosebumps becoming visible as you leaned back, gripping the base of his cock. the air was becoming desperate, and so were you. If you had a cent for every time you thought about this very moment, you’d be riding him in the royal palace.
A wave of goosebumps charged onto your skin as you lifted your hips. Hyunjin’s hands scattered over your ass, he helped guide you, excruciatingly slowly as your hand kept him still, allowing his cock to become buried inside of you. A groan of relief escaped each other’s lips as your walls became stretched, body feeling numb already. He was a big boy, causing your head to fall onto his chest. you needed time to adjust to the slight ache his length gave you, but you weren’t complaining. As soon as you bounced up and off of him, you felt as if your hole was whimpering, already desperate for him to be back inside of you. you continued with a light bounce, barely fitting any of him inside of you. 
“Fuck,” he mumbled, tightening his grip on you, “go deeper.”
You did as you were told, increasing the intensity, sitting back up and letting your hips freely roll onto him. Your mouth became heavily agape, an open invitation for Hyunjin to shove his fingers inside. your eyes became closed, fingers wrapped around his wrist as you lapped his digits with thick saliva.  The way you effortlessly took his heavenly inked fingers made his head spin.
“you’re such a good girl,” he smirked in between throwing his head back, “i bet Minho would be fucking dying for this kinda treatment.”
The mention of his name was a slight bruise to your ego; nonetheless, it simultaneously gave you motivation, determination to prove what he had been missing out on this whole time. How he would dangle girls in front of your face at any moment. How he teased you to no end almost every single day. Everything was coming out, and it was completely out of your control.
“Far out Hyunjin,” you hissed, ripping his fingers from your mouth, “why are you so obsessed with Minho right now?”
“Because,” he grunted, wrapping his saturated fingers around your neck, “he fucking pissed me off last night, and this morning.”
The sudden connection in your brain became apparent. All thoughts leading to the possibility of Hyunjin punching him made you lose control. So much control that you couldn't recall hyunjin flipping your over, his figure menacingly towering over you as he began to thrust.
“I fuck you so much better than Minho could,” he grunted again, left thumb gently attacking your left nipple, “dont you think?”
You could barely respond. Nothing but a suffocating moan spilled from your throat as his grip on you became tighter. You were on the brink of actually losing your mind. The way Hyunjin filled you up was just, well, indescribable. He just continued, letting the now continuous beads of condensation from his forehead spread across your stomach. 
“Say it,” he growled, a slight punishment created at the way he left nothing but the tip of him inside of you, “tell me i'm better than him.”
“Fuck,” you whined, attempting to sink your hips further down his length. But hyunjin knew better; he was one step ahead. Your desperate, pathetic attempt of getting out of your retribution was nothing but a joke to him. 
Hyunjin scoffed, “I know you want me to fill you up again, but I need to know.” 
His voice was the deepest you had ever heard him speak. The hand that was previously wrapped around your neck had escaped, a tremble that was clear as crystal running down your torso at the feeling of the multitude of Hyunjin’s ice cold rings dragging across your skin.
“You-you’re better than h-him,” you stuttered, trying to gain your previously hindered consciousness from his strop grip, “better than Minho.”
The words alone made him groan. He sure did like to tease you, but even he couldn't keep it up. Your voice became electrifying in his mind, igniting him as rammed his cock back into you; no hesitation. His pace was unforgiving. The lewd sound of skin slapping filling the room at a sound that exceeded the maximum level of decibels an individual could take.
“That’s right I am,” hyunjin moaned, “that fucking piece of shit.”
Your head rolled from side to side, a hand violently gripping your bed sheet. Like your mind went numb, your senses could only follow. Nothing but the scent of Hyunjin’s heat occupying your nose, the sound of skin slapping filling your ears, and your vision hypnotised by the darkness that pooled behind his eyes.
“Mhm fucking hell baby,” you groaned, arching your back, “i can feel myself getting close.”
“Tell me baby,” he chucked, bringing his thumb dangerously close to your clit. You brought your fingertips high, gripping his wrist before he could make a decision that you know would make you fall off the edge and into the black hole that would be your orgasm.
“What is it baby,” he whined, tone laced with concern, “scared that you’re gonna cum already?”
“Yes,” you blurred out, “just a little longer please.”
“And why should i?”
All you could feel was your eyes locking shut, fingers spreading you open and touching any every sensitive skin he could get his hand on. He had transformed into satan. hard thrusts and a heavy hand; you could feel yourself clenching around him as he sadistically chuckled, satisfied by the pleasuring torturing spell he had you under.
“Fuck,” you gasped out, the sound of your voice tainted as your body lunges forward with each thrust, “i’m gonna fucking cum.”
“Hh come on baby,” Hyunjin grumbled, “just a little longer for me now why don’t you?”
“Just f-for you,” you giggled, noticing the way Hyunjin heart was practically about to leap out of his chest. He was working hard to make you feel good; even if you couldn’t tell from the shimmering black ink spread across his chest and down his torso. 
“Baby are you gonna cum?”
Your throat had become empty, completely forgetful of how to speak and use your words. The continuous and uncontrollable clenching was satisfactory enough to give him the answer he needed. 
“y/n, are you gonna cum with me?”
“Please,” you whined, “cum in me, I'm begging you.”
Your words were more than enough. You hummed in satisfaction as you felt yourself slip over, feeling the warmth of his liquid inside of you. His body collapsed, falling next to you as he watched you sit up, enjoying the views of his viscosity spill out of you. You let a finger fall down, picking it up and tasting him. His jaw dropped at what he thought to be such a ludicrous act.
“Wow,” you smirked, letting your tongue sloppily wrap around your finger, “you taste so good.”
Hyunjin threw his head back on your bed, ripping out his ponytail and running his hands through it.
“far out y/n, you don’t know how many times i’ve thought about you saying that to me.”
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ssadumba55 · 3 years
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Helping Hand (Bernard the Elf X Reader)
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Request: Omg yay ok can I request bernard the head elf where he and the reader constantly fight trying to prove who is the better elf. Reader thinks their being slick about hiding their feelings but Mrs. Claus notices how the reader stares at bernard when she thinks no one is watching. Mrs Claus decides to play matchmaker
 “You’re only the Head Elf because I refuse to be in a position of power, I would’ve done it but now that I’ve seen how stressed and uptight you are-“ You grinned, walking beside Bernard as he rushed around trying to do his work while you hovered around, just to argue with him and grind his gears.
“If you’re as good as you say you are, then maybe you should be doing your work instead of bothering me,” he huffed over his shoulder, examining some of the toys that the other elves were working on. Christmas Eve was fast approaching, and everything needed to be perfect, Santa only had one shot at this.
“I’m already done,” you crossed your arms over your chest with a huff. “Sticking me on teddy bear stuffing duty was stupid, why do you always stick me with the crappy jobs?”
“Because. You’re annoying and giving you mundane tasks is the only way to get rid of you,” Bernard said haughtily, giving you a rather smug look as you struggled to find some way to respond to that. When it was clear that you couldn’t, he turned back to his work.
You watched him for a few moments more, perched slightly on the stool you had slid out to sit on. Yeah, okay, he was annoying and probably didn’t care much for you besides how much work you got done for the Christmas season. But you were also head over heels in love with him, although you would never admit it out loud.
There was a lot you admired in Bernard, his attention to detail, his focus, the way he was able to keep not only all the elves in line but even Santa and Mrs. Claus. He was the crucial key to Christmas running smoothly every year, without him, the North Pole would surely be in disarray and chaos.
You liked to joke you could easily take over his job, but you knew you could never do what he did, the only reason things worked as well as they did was because Bernard was doing them.
Sighing, you slid off the stool you were seated on and made your way out of the workshop. There was no point in thinking of Bernard as anything but what he had always been; your sort of rival.
As you made your way out of the workshop, you nearly bumped right into Mrs. Claus, Carol Calvin. Nobody here called her by her actual name though, the elves preferred to refer to her as Mrs. Claus. It was just tradition, there was no reason to change it now.
“Sorry, Mrs. Claus, just heading out,” you brushed past her, hurrying out of the workshop. Heading to find something else to do.
 Carol Calvin was no stranger to love. After all, love was the reason she was there in the North Pole in the first place. She had been lucky enough to fall in love with Santa Claus himself, who would’ve ever seen that coming? It was like a childhood dream come true, in her opinion.
So, she knew from the moment she first saw (Y/n) and Bernard interact, that there was something more there than either elf really let on. She wasn’t usually one to get involved with other people’s love lives though, she didn’t even really like meddling in her own.
But at this point, it was clear that whatever was there between them was slowly seeping into life in the workshop.
Almost all the elves at this point could tell there was something up, Bernard had been slacking on his duties. Not big enough that it was a huge deal, but it was noticeable to Scott and he was starting to worry about his head elf.
Carol knew she needed to step in and deal with whatever was going on before it was too late. They couldn’t afford to slack even a little, after all the whole world was counting on them.
“Bernard, can I talk to you for a second?” She pulled the head elf aside.
Bernard let out a slight grumble, stepping away from the toys he was looking over to see what Mrs. Claus wanted, likely something to do with Santa himself. Maybe he’d made a miscalculation on how many toys they’d need this year, it happened sometimes. Santa wasn’t exactly the best at keeping track of these things.
“How can I help you, Mrs. Claus?” He asked, smiling politely. He was a little annoyed that he was being pulled away from his workload, but he needed to be present for the Claus’. That was part of his job after all.
Carol smiled softly, pointing over his shoulder subtly. Bernard turned to look at what she was trying to show him, there across the way, was you. You’d left earlier after the bickering but had come back, to help some of the other elves get their toy quotas finished. Unfortunately, “helping the elves” had been code for “watch Bernard from across the room, while he’s not looking.”
Which is exactly what you were doing when he turned to look. You immediately looked away, focusing on the toys in front of you. Bernard raised his eyebrows and turned back to Carol.
“That’s just (Y/n),” he shrugged, brushing past her to get back to work. This clearly wasn’t as important as he’d originally thought it was, he could totally work and discuss (Y/n) at the same time.
“Yeah. And, uh, just (Y/n) has been staring at you for the past twenty minutes,” Carol cut in. Bernard flushed, dropping the toy he’d picked up and turning to look at you again. Once again, you looked away quickly, avoiding his eyes.
“Why are they… looking at me?”
“I think maybe you should go over there… And ask them yourself,” Carol grinned, gesturing for him to go. Bernard looked down at the toys he was looking over, then back up to you. He was trying to decide if his curiosity was worth stepping away from his work for a few extra minutes.
“Go. I’ll make sure these are up to Scott’s standards, I’m pretty sure being Mrs. Claus means I know better than anyone else what Santa is looking for,” she pointed out and Bernard knew she was right. He stepped away from the table he was stood at and hurried across the workshop, just a few minutes away from his station, to talk to you…
“You’ve been staring, at me,” he said, as he approached you. You looked up from your work.
“S- So what if I have?” You asked. “You’re a real genius for noticing.”
He rolled his eyes, grabbing your wrist to stop you from working and pulling you away from what you were working on.
“Why are you staring at me, (Y/n).”
You felt heat rising in your face, not knowing how to tell him about how you’d been feeling. There was so much you had to say, so much that needed to be said about this.
“I…” you could feel your face heating up and tears fighting at the back of your eyes. “I don’t know. I just… I’m sorry.”
Bernard sighed, shaking his head slightly. His tone became a lot gentler as he spoke the next few words.
“You can tell me, (Y/n). I know I give you a lot of flack, but I genuinely care about you. I’m not going to make fun of you.”
You hesitated, looking up and locking eyes with Bernard. There was something about him speaking to you like that that made what you were about to say so much easier.
“I just… I like you Bernard. More than a friend… But all we’ve ever done is bicker and I thought maybe, if I ever admitted that to you… you’d think it was ridiculous.”
“You know, Santa and Mrs. Claus never expected to fall in love the way they did, (Y/n). Sometimes… love isn’t always straight forward. It definitely doesn’t always make sense.  But when you’re in it… It’s the only thing that matters.”
He was right, of course. He was always right. He took your hand in his, watching as you followed his movements with wide eyes.
“I believe, maybe, we might’ve gotten off on the wrong foot. Someone offered to take my work load on for me, mind if I take you out for hot cocoa?”
You smiled, grateful that he hadn’t taken this all as some big joke.
“You may. Let’s go.”
The two of you began your walk, heading to grab some hot cocoa. As you reached the workshop door, Bernard looked over his shoulder at Mrs. Claus who had been watching them the whole time. She shot him a thumbs up and he rolled his eyes.
She was almost as bad as Santa.
Oh well, he thought, turning back to you. He’d have to thank her later.
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wiypt-writes · 3 years
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Stark Spangled Forever
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One Shot: How To Dismantle Bucky Barnes
Intro: Bucky is acting kinda stressed out. Both Sam and Katie thinks they know what the problem is. The only issue is, how to fix it? Easy when you’re a Stark with a very manipulative mind…
Warnings: Bad language. Smut! (NSFW) and no under 18s.
Pairings: Bucky Barnes x OFC Jen O’Donahue, Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Rogers (nee Stark)
Ok so this takes place in the SSB universe after the events of Endgame, later on in 2024. You don’t have to have read that series to understand or enjoy this but the characters will make more sense if you have.
This is based on @jtargaryen18​ ‘s master piece “How to Dismantle Steve Rogers” and I thank her WHOLEHEARTEDLY for letting me use her format and idea. And I’m not gonna lie, I had a lot of fun with this one!!
If you are currently reading Stark Spangled Banner as it is being reposted then this contains MAJOR SPOILERS and I recommend you wait until you’ve finished so you don’t spoil anything!
Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.
Stark Spangled Forever Masterlist // Main Masterlist
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 September 2024
“You’re an idiot…” Sam’s voice carried up the hallway to the kitchen as they entered the Rogers household “A total, moronic idiot…” “Quit it Sam.” Bucky’s voice dripped with annoyance. Katie glanced at Steve who arched an eyebrow at his wife the pair of them wondering why they had given them an access key each…
“I didn’t think it was possible but you actually are as dumb as you look.” Sam snorted.
“One more word out of you and I’m gonna kick your stupid, seagull ass-”
“Err, we can hear you in here!” Steve called loudly, cutting his friend off “And there are young ears about.”
There was some muffled grumbling, followed by what sounded like someone being shoved into the wall before Bucky walked into the kitchen, face dark as thunder. Sam followed behind, grin spreading from cheek to cheek as he rubbed at his chest.
Bucky stopping to gently tickle Rori’s cheek where she sat in the high-chair, her legs flailing as she was still in the bouncer seat, not being big enough or old enough yet to sit up. She gave him a huge smile which melted his heart as he returned it.
“Hey Sweetie!” he grinned, and she waggled her legs and arms excitedly. After a few more soft words to his god-daughter he turned and ruffled Jamie’s hair as Sam offered the 4 year old a hi-five which he eagerly took.
“Damned Buck!” Katie looked at him from where she was plating up food. “You get a hair-cut?”
Bucky flushed slightly and ran his hands through his short crop “Yeah…”
“Looks good.” she smiled and he beamed at her.
“Fancied a change.” he shrugged.
“Hasn’t worked, you’re still a dumbass.” Sam said.
“What’s a dub-mass?” Jamie piped up from his seat at the table. Steve gave an exasperated groan.
“Nothing honey.” Katie said, dropping a plate of stir-fry in front of her son as Steve shot Sam a glare “Uncle Sam is just being silly, don’t worry about it.”
Jamie shrugged, placated by the food and began to tuck in. Katie dodged round Steve making her way to the stove, whilst her husband grabbed the pre-expressed bottle and unfastened their 4 month old daughter from her chair. She grabbed eagerly at his beard as he sat down at the table and began to feed her, smiling softly as she eagerly took the milk, her eyes focussing all the time on his.
“You guys want eats?” Katie asked, looking at the two men. “I made plenty.” It was a stupid question really, as both men nodded eagerly and dropped into the spare seats round the table. Once Steve had finished feeding Aurora and Jamie was cleaned up and in the lounge watching TV, Katie dished out the adults’ food before she handed them a plate each. She gave Rori her rabbit comforter toy to keep her occupied and they all began to tuck in.
No more was said about Bucky’s encounter with the hairstylist until much later, when Jamie was tucked up for the night and the 4 adults were on the veranda round the fire pit, Rori snoozing in her basket which was stood on the stand just inside the kitchen door where Katie and Steve could see her clearly.
“Where’s Emmy?” Sam asked and Katie snorted as Steve shifted slightly.
“She’s on a date.” he grumbled.
“With who?” Bucky asked.
“Parker.” “As in Peter Parker?” Bucky frowned “The Spider Kid?”
Steve nodded.
“Punk.” Bucky snorted.
“Aww he’s a good kid.” Katie said, “Leave him alone.”
“She’s too young.” Steve grumbled and Katie laughed.
“Baby, she’s sevenet this year.”
Steve shrugged. “I don’t care.”
Katie shook her head and watched as Sam and Bucky were bickering again.
“Ok, what is going on?” she frowned “Sam why you giving Buck such a hard time?” Sam grinned “Because he is an idiot. He went on another date with Jennifer last night, and then she asked him back to hers…and he literally burned the poor girl.”
Bucky growled at Sam “I swear to God…” “Burned?” Steve frowned.
“Yeah, get this…he’s walked her home and she asks him in, so he goes in, and then he does a bunk.”
Bucky glared at him “That’s not what happened…”
Katie frowned, she hadn’t spoken to Jennifer that day and was quite surprised, actually, that if something had gone wrong her friend hadn’t called.
“Buck!” Steve sighed, shaking his head. “You promised when you started dating you wouldn’t let this get awkward…”
“Oh Shut up Stevie.” Bucky snarled out his name “Just because you’re all loved up now, let’s not forget how hopeless you used to be around dames. Do you really want me tell the story about the Chorus Girl who tried for 3 months to get a bit of the old Star Spangled D and you were too fucking dumb to realise?”
Steve narrowed his eyes as Katie and Sam looked at each other with glee.
“No.” He glared at Bucky, at the same time his wife and friend nodded.
“Yes,”
“Absolutely.”
“Oh Captain Rogers, I think I have something in my eye!” Bucky said, his voice airy as he imitated a women, batting his eyelashes ridiculously “Oh Captain Rogers, can you zip my skirt up for me, its stuck and I’m scared I’ll rip the material…Oh Captain Rogers, I just got caught in that rain, I’m all wet and my top is sticking to me…” “Fuck off.” Steve said, as Sam and Katie both laughed. Bucky looked at Katie shaking his head. “And you tell me this Punk he made the first move on you?” he shook his head “You must have been really fucking obvious…” “Well, it took him long enough.” Katie grinned as she stood up, dropping her arms round Steve’s neck and pecking his cheek.
“What is this? Pick on Steve night?” Steve pouted as his wife headed over to the bar at the side of the veranda, pulling out 4 more beers.
“Just like every night.” Sam chuckled.  
She gave a beer to Sam and then Steve, both of who thanked her before she made her way over to Bucky was positively glowering. She handed him a beer and he looked up at her mumbling a thanks.
“Buck.” She consoled softly, whilst Steve and Sam were bickering well naturedly “They’re only teasing.”
He sighed “I know, I just…didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“And that’s not because you were with Jen, obviously.” She raised her eyebrows. “Dreams?”
He raised his eyebrows in a confirmative manner.
She sat down next to him. “That have any bearing on why you cut your hair?” He gave a small chuckle “I swear to God you can read minds.”
“No, just people.” She smiled
“I just, well I wanna feel more like me, you know?” he shrugged.
She smiled “Yeah, I get it. You know, if it makes you feel any better Steve had nightmares for years you know. About the War, crashing into the ice.”
He looked at her “Yeah?” “Yeah.” she nodded.
“How did he get them to stop?”
“Honestly?” she smiled “Sleeping with me. Said having me in the bed made him feel safe.” Bucky snorted “Yeah, not sure Steve would go for that somehow.” Katie smacked him gently round the back of the head and he laughed, before his face became serious again. “They’d stopped in Wakanda.” he signed, looking at the label on his bottle. “But since coming back…” “You think we didn’t have them post the Last Stand?” she looked at him. “Jesus Bucky, I kept re-living that moment I thought we were all dead for months and seeing Tony snap over and over again…” She trailed off, taking a deep breath “We’re human at the end of the day, it’s natural and you have horrors in your past that even the most sympathetic of people cannot begin to comprehend.”
He bit his lip and looked down at his lap.
“Look, if you ever wanna talk, about anything without these two being around…” she jerked her thumb at Steve and Sam “You know where I am.”
“Thanks.” he said, flashing her a smile. She patted his knee gently and then stood up, making her way over to where Steve was sat, dropping onto his knee lightly.
Draining his beer Bucky stood up “I’m gonna take off.”
Steve frowned “How come?”
“Tired.” he mumbled “Katie, thanks for dinner.”
“Any time.” she said, making to stand but he waved her away.
“I’ll see myself out.”
Grabbing his jacket he strode over the patio, up the steps and into the house.
There was a pause as the 3 of them watched him go.
“What’s up with him?” Steve asked.
Before Katie could reply, Sam chipped in.
“He’s backed up.”
“What?” Steve frowned.
“He needs to get laid.” Katie replied, shrugging.
Since everyone had returned, she had seen how Bucky was getting more and more uptight, especially around her and Steve. Whenever Steve had shown her a bit of affection she had noticed his friend would avert his eyes or make an excuse to leave the room. And she knew it wasn’t because he was uncomfortable around PDAs or anything like that. No, it was frustration. That his best friend was getting some and he wasn’t. 
Then, one evening last year she’d noticed a subtle change in his frosty, outward demeanour when Jen had come round for dinner.
And thus, Katie Rogers plan to dismantle Bucky Barnes had been born.
Step 1- The Right Bait
Setting it up had been easy.  Katie had instantly spotted the attraction between the pair. She’d seen the chatter at the dinner table, the way Jennifer had tucked her hair behind her ears when Bucky was talking to her, a Double Tuck nonetheless.  So, a few months into the new year, once things had settled down after Steve had taken his 15 year holiday back in the 50s through 70s, Katie had seized the opportunity to send Bucky to Jennifer’s coffee shop- Has-Bean. She knew Monday’s were delivery days for the woman, and 9 times out of 10 Steve went along to help her out with the heavy lifting because Steve Rogers was nothing if not a gentleman, and after seeing her struggle one Monday when they had called in for an early morning coffee, had taken it upon himself to help out. But not that Monday. Oh no, Katie had used her pregnancy to her advantage, claiming she wasn’t feeling too good and she’d been clingy, real clingy, giving Steve no alternative but to stay at home. But rather than leave Jenifer in the lurch, Katie had suggested to Steve that maybe Bucky could help.
So Steve had asked him to go along.
And he had.
And Bucky kept going each Monday from then on. Without fail.  
But there had been no date arranged. So Katie had stepped it up a little bit. On Steve’s birthday, the Rogers’ had hosted a gathering for their friends and family. Casual enough to be relaxed, but in the same breath everyone had used it as an excuse to don a nice outfit. They had stood in the garden watching the fireworks and Bucky had given Jenifer a hesitant kiss on the cheek. The red head had flushed and, emboldened by champagne, asked Bucky for a real kiss. And in the dark of the garden, away from prying eyes (or so he thought, as Katie had seen everything) he’d obliged. And a few days later they’d gone on their first date.
Problem solved, right?
Wrong.
Katie really tried not to be nosey, she really did. But she’d enrolled Brooke, Jen’s daughter and Emmy’s best friend into keeping her up to date on happenings, the teenager being over the moon her mom was finally dating again. But so far Brooke had brought her no news that Bucky had even entered their home, let alone that things were progressing slightly beyond the dating stage despite the fact they were now almost 3 months down the line. 
Katie knew that, despite what Steve had told her about Bucky before the war,  Bucky wasn’t in this for a quick hook-up. Yes he was still the cheeky James Barnes of old, but she knew from the times he had opened up to her that he wasn’t that person to chase a skirt for simple gratification anymore. Whilst under mind control with Hydra, to keep him satisfied they either brought him women or taken him to women. Willing paid women, yes,  but the memories of the quick fucks on dirty mattresses in cells and run down whore houses stuck with him and made him feel sick. Since then there had been one woman, in Bucharest, that he’d sort of had a thing with but that had been cut short when he’d found out she was married. He hadn’t needed that sort of trouble so he had ended it. 
So, with all that in mind, plus the fact Jennifer wasn’t the type for a casual hook up either, it wasn’t totally surprising that things were going slow, but 2 and a bit months of dating was just fucking ridiculous. Even her and Steve had ‘done stuff’ before that! And it wasn’t like the chemistry wasn’t there. Katie had watched the two of them when she saw them together. Bucky eyed Jennifer with a thirst Katie had seen a few times in Steve’s eyes when he was having filthy thoughts. A stare at her ass or tits here, the biting or licking of a lip there all confirmed to her the fact that the Winter Soldier was backed up.
Sam had called it.
And Jennifer wasn’t the problem. When Bucky wasn’t paying attention the red head looked at him like she wanted to climb him like a tree. 
So what exactly did she need to do here?
“You ok?” Steve asked, jerking her from her thoughts with a squeeze to her thigh.
“Yeah, sorry, was just thinking.” she smiled at him, thinking back to the first time her and Steve had made out after a baseball game and a few drinks in a bar…
And then she had a plan. A brilliant plan.
She knew just what to do…
Step 2.  Proper Motivation
Letting out a sigh Jen served the next customer, lost in her own little world. She’d been seeing Bucky now for a few months and was still trying to get her head around that. She was seeing Bucky Barnes. The Winter Soldier, Avenger. But she had quickly realised that behind the legend and the gruff exterior he was just, well, sweet.
She’d first met Bucky one evening at Katie’s house and had enjoyed his company, but it wasn’t until a month or so later when he had turned up at the coffee shop in Steve’s place that she’d really talked to him properly. 
“Well, well, well, you decided to pay me a visit!” Jennifer grinned.
“Yeah,  err…hi!” Bucky smiled at her “Steve mentioned he normally helps on a Monday and seeing as he’s not available I thought I’d offer, you know, with the delivery…”
She beamed “You are a life saver!”
He’d helped her move the boxes and unpack, sharing easy chat with her about her business, New York in general, his time in the 40s with Steve…and by the end of it her cheeks were aching from laughing in a way she hadn’t laughed in years.
“Anyway, I think that we’ve earned a break” she said after they’d finished an hour or so later.  “What can I get you?” she gestured to the menus written in chalk on the wall above the machines.
“What’s good?” he asked, frowning slightly.
“Everything, I make it.” she smirked and he gave a huff of a laugh “But it depends. You got a sweet tooth?”
“I’m not averse to the odd bit of sugar.” he grinned back, and she’d felt her cheeks flush at the fact he was flirting with her.
She let out a soft laugh, smiling. “In that case I recommend the caramel macchiato, and one of my mint choc brownies.” “You’re the expert.” he winked.
“Take a seat, I’ll bring it over.”
Bucky had continued to help out every Monday, without fail, but it wasn’t until New Year’s Eve that anything had happened. After they had shared a soft kiss, he’d asked her on a date, and she’d gleefully accepted. So they’d gone to restaurants, done the whole New York sightseeing thing (which was more for his benefit as it had all changed so much), been to the theatre, seen movies, had lunch…and it had all seemed to be going well. 
Jenifer hadn’t dated since the death of her husband some 15 years ago, so this was a huge step for her. But Bucky had made it easy. He was old fashioned, he liked to open doors for her, let her pick where they ate, pulled out her chair for her, all the things she had seen Steve do for Katie. He always walked her back to the apartment above the shop, but never pressed to come inside, seeming content to kiss her goodnight at the door. It was endearing how shy he seemed. But then, 2 nights ago something had changed.
And it had descended into a cluster fuck.
In the middle of the afternoon she had been forced to cancel their date for the afternoon as the member of staff who was due to cover was ill. But Bucky had surprised her and brought the date to her. Armed with some Thai food he’d shown up at closing time, cheeky smile on his face. He had helped her finish up, meaning she was done in record time and then they’d sat by the counter with their food, the conversation flowing as it always did…until he had stolen the last steamed dumpling.
“Hey, I was gonna eat that!” she pouted.
“Snooze you lose.” he quipped and she narrowed her eyes at him.
“That isn’t very chivalrous, Sergeant…”
His eyes had darkened as he’d bitten off half of the offending item before offering her the other half. She’d taken it, her eyes locking onto his, and then before she could even register what was happening Bucky was kissing the life out of her. His hands had gripped her hips, hers fisted in his hair which was loose, his stubble rubbing her face raw. It was delectable, exciting, and then as his hands had brushed the strip of skin that had been exposed just above her waistline she had shivered at the feel of his touch, one flesh, one metal, but both equally gentle…it was exciting, or so she had thought.
He’d pulled back suddenly. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Huh?” Jennifer’s head was a whirl of lust and she was struggling to understand what had just happened? Why did he just stop?
He ran a hand through his dark hair, cheeks flushing, his eyes were sad as he avoided her gaze.
“That was uncalled for,” he muttered. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?” She asked again.
Bucky had simply taken a deep breath, pressed a kiss to her forehead before he stood up and headed towards the door. Was he embarrassed? No, she could see from the look on his face that wasn’t it.
“Buck?” She jumped up to follow him to the door. “It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong…”
He turned and smiled at her softly. God she loved that smile.
“I’ve got an early morning. We have a meeting with the DOD so I’d better go.”
With that he was gone.
Jennifer made all sorts of excuses for him in her head. Maybe he was tired. But the further into the night she got, the more she began to think she was fooling herself. She wasn’t in Bucky Barnes’ league. Maybe he just wasn’t interested.
Her gloom carried into the next day compounded by the fact he hadn’t called or messaged at all. She had contemplated calling Katie to see if she knew what was going on, but had decided to leave it a day or so to let Bucky get over whatever issue he had.  But after almost 36 hours there was no contact whatsoever and she was getting a little antsy. 
“Hey!”  a familiar voice called and she looked up, smiling, as Katie pushed the buggy containing her goddaughter over to the counter.
“Hi!” she beamed. “What brings you down here?”
“I came to ask a favour.” Katie smiled “Well, sorta. Long story short I need a night off. From being a mom…I was kinda hoping you’d be up for a few drinks.” “Tonight?” Jennifer asked 
“Yeah.” Katie nodded “I thought Brooke might like to stay at ours and they can annoy the shit out of Steve like normal.”
Jennifer ponded the invitation for a moment. It wasn’t like she had any other plans. And if she was honest, a good blow out and a chat might be just the thing.
“Alright.” she nodded “What time?”
“Why don’t you come to mine for 8ish and we’ll get Steve to drop us off?” Katie smiled. “Em and Brooke will be ok with Jamie for a little while, Rori can sleep in the car seat.”
Jennifer nodded,  “Sure…” and then her attention was taken by another customer.
“I’ll leave you to it.” Katie smiled, heading back out of the shop. As soon as she was gone she picked up the phone and called Sam.
“We’re on…” she said simply, before she smirked and headed towards her car.
****
Bucky walked besides Sam, hands shoved in his pockets, fists clenching slightly. He really didn’t want to be out tonight but Sam had insisted. Mind you, it had given him an excuse to avoid going to Steve’s to watch the game. He loved Steve like a brother, he really did, but recently the way the blonde punk fawned over his wife was starting to set his teeth on edge. His hands on her back or hips when he passed her, a soft lingering peck on the lips here and there, the way she sat on his lap and he ran his hand up her thigh…Living with them had been torture towards the end. He was grateful for them putting him up for how long they did, and he knew they hadn’t been doing it on purpose but his ears were sharp… and it seemed like the lucky son-of-a-bitch was getting some every goddamned night, and sometimes in the morning too.  
He was happy for the Punk, he really was but, simply put, he was jealous, even if he hated admitting it. Not because he wanted Katie per-se (although he wasn’t blind-Katie was an attractive woman) but because he craved some form of tender touch and he’d almost gotten some 2 nights ago.
Almost.
When he had first met Jennifer 7 months ago on Steve’s doorstep she’d instantly blown him away. She was stunning, long legs, curves, bright green eyes that sparkled with mischief and a smile that made the world stop.  And then he had gotten to know her during the time he spent helping out at the shop and realised that she was funny, clever, with an outgoing spirit that he loved. He’d wanted to ask her out on a date almost immediately but it wasn’t until July 4th at Steve’s birthday bash when she’d asked him for a proper kiss instead of a peck on the cheek when he had finally plucked up the courage to do so, no longer fearing the rejection.
And so he’d taken her out. Weekly in fact, every week since. And still helped at the coffee shop. Everything about the woman put him at ease. She helped him catch up on a lot of things she had missed, and when he stumbled on things he wasn’t familiar with or didn’t understand she didn’t instantly launch into an explanation unless he asked. For which he was grateful. It made him feel less inadequate that way.  
And she was tactile. And it was nice, Bucky hadn’t known anything but harsh physical contact for longer than he cared to remember. But Jennifer seemed to enjoy toughing him. She’d take his hand, lay her head on his shoulder as they walked, and then that time in the restaurant where she had brushed her ankle against his and then gently touched his knee as she stood up to go to the bathroom…well he wasn’t proud of it but he’d had a raging hard on for the rest of the date.
2 nights ago she’d cancelled on him, with a genuine excuse, so he’d taken the initiative and turned up at the shop with a takeout to help her close up. He’d stolen the last steamed dumpling, and then she’d teased him, calling him Sergeant which was enough to send a spike of desire right through his body and he’d acted before he’d thought about it, gripping her hips and pulling her to him, kissing her hard… and then he’d felt her tremble when his hands had brushed a strip of bare skin just about her jeans. He’d scared the shit out of her. So, he had made his excuses and bailed.
“Frosty?” Sam asked, and Bucky turned to look at him. He’d stopped outside a bar.
“Sorry, miles away.” Bucky shrugged, following him in. And no sooner had he done so he stopped dead.
“Hey, is that Katie and Jen?” Sam asked, and Bucky had to do a double-take honestly because at first, he didn’t recognize her. He had no issue with the way Jen normally dressed around him, figure hugging jeans, feminine tops or dresses and jackets that showed off her curves, and the way that fiery red hair normally fell around her face and shoulders…to him she was stunning as she was but there, right now?
Jesus fucking Christ. 
Her hair was twisted back in some form of bun, showing off her neck and shoulders which were bare thanks to the strapless, knee-length pale blue dress she was wearing, which had a slit up the right side through which he could see a perfect flash of alabaster thigh. Her lips were stained a bright red, like the women of his time, her legs bare, high heels on her feet. 
Next to her, Katie was sat wearing a floating gold dress, chatting to another one of the men, laughing as she turned to Jennifer and said something, causing her to laugh. Her face lit up with a smile as she replied and then turned to the man on her right who gently put his hand on the base of her back.
What. The. Fuck?
Bucky’s fists clenched as he watched Jennifer lean closer to say something to him, and the man nodded, laughing, before he waved to the bar tender, hand still on his girl. Before he could march over there and demand to know what was going on, Jennifer stood up and said something before she headed out to the bathroom. 
Before Bucky could stop himself, he marched after her.
**** Jen had started the night off feeling a little bit uncomfortable. She’d shown up to Katie’s dressed in a pair of tight, black cropped trousers and a white low cut vest top but there’d been an accident involving a glass of red wine when Katie had tripped on something and managed to throw it all down her. Her best friend had been so apologetic and mortified, but it wasn’t a complete disaster. Katie had a wardrobe that would make most celebrities jealous and in no time she had convinced Jen to try on the dress she was now wearing. It was a bit much for a Friday night out in Brooklyn bars but Katie was dressed up too so she supposed it was nice to make an effort every once in a while. Plus, she felt good in it. Which was nice considering how shit she’d felt the other day when Bucky had bailed on her.
A quick restyle of her hair to compliment the cut of her dress and they were on their way, Steve dropping them at their bar of choice and telling them to have a good time. They’d walked into the bar, ordered a bottle of wine and sat on the stools, where Jen had opened her heart and told Katie everything that had happened with Bucky. Katie had listened, sympathetically and then added her own pearls of wisdom suggesting that Bucky was a lot more shy than people expected. Their conversation had been cut short when two men had joined them, Katie jumping up to hug them both before introducing them to Jennifer as 2 of her old colleagues from SHIELD. The two men had been nice, included her in the conversation, and Jennifer had found herself actually enjoying their company. The dark haired one, a man called Ben,or Lawson as Katie called him, was interesting and had been entertaining her with a few tales of Katie at SHIELD, but then he’d started getting a bit touchy feely. And, despite the clear lack of communication from Bucky she still considered herself his. So she’d excused herself and gone to the bathroom. 
After re-doing her make-up, she was seriously considering heading back to the apartment and pulling on a pair of comfy pyjamas and settling with a nice bottle of rioja in front of the TV. Wondering if Katie would actually care, she snapped her purse shut, pulled open the door and did a double take as she found Bucky right outside it. He was leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest and she didn’t miss the way his gaze flew up and down her body as she stepped closer.  
“Buck, hi.” she greeted him “What are you doing here?”
“I was out for a drink with Sam, wasn’t expecting to see you. And from what I just saw at the bar I’d say it was clear you weren’t expecting me to either.” Oh shit. He was mad. 
Jen swallowed hard “That wasn’t…that wasn’t what it looked like.”
“No?”
“No.” she shook her head “I don’t even know that guy, he’s a friend of Katie’s from work, well her old work, SHIELD…” Bucky didn’t say anything, he merely held her gaze. She knew how it looked. Worse she was dressed as she was, making her feel a little bit uneasy as she never wore outfits like this normally. She glanced at Bucky, he was dressed in a simple black button down and black jeans, looking damned good, but his entire body language was off. The shy, gently Bucky Barnes she knew had been replaced by someone else. He was harsh, angry, even.
And then she felt herself getting mad.
This was the man that had darted out of her apartment the other night, and hadn’t even called her. And now he was here, getting all pissy because some guy had shown her a bit of attention?
Fuck that.
In that split moment Bucky saw her whole body language change, from one of a kid being caught with their hand in the cookie jar to a parent who was about to deliver a very stern telling off. And he wasn’t wrong.
“Actually, I don’t have to explain myself to you.” she folded her arms, mimicking his stance. “You ran out on me 2 nights ago. You haven’t called, anything…” Bucky swallowed, and momentarily he felt a little sideswiped, but he fast recovered his composure.
“So you just what? Go on a date with someone else?”
“This isn’t a date you dickhead!” she practically snarled “I’ve never me the guy before, but for the record, it’s kinda nice to be wanted you know what I mean? Now if you’ll excuse me…”
Wait? Is that what she thought? That he didn’t want her? Fuck, no, that wasn’t right.
He reached out and grabbed her arm gently to stop her leaving and she turned to face him. Once more his eyes skated up and down her body and before he could stop himself he had pulled her to him, so she was flush against his body.
“You’re supposed to be my girl.” he whispered, looking into her eyes.
“Am I?” she swallowed, her voice shy, meek almost. And fuck, that turned him on even more.
“Yeah…”
“Then I am, fucking hell Bucky…” she groaned, her lips meeting his in a fierce kiss. He backed her up against the wall, his thigh planted firmly between hers as much as it could thanks to the tight dress she was wearing, the kiss intensifying until the pair of them jumped apart as 2 other people came into the corridor to use the bathroom, smirking as they passed the couple.
Bucky looked at her, shaking his head “The other night…” he began “I know I scared you…” Jennifer frowned “No you didn’t.” 
“You were shaking.” Bucky said “There’s no need to pretend what…” “Bucky Barnes I’m a grown ass woman.” she said sternly “I think I know what I was feeling…”
His eyes widened, so if she hadn’t been shaking in fear…then…oh. 
Oh.
“And I know what I want…” she smirked, grabbing the shirt just underneath his collar and spinning them around. Backing up, she dragged him into the ladies and pushed him into a cubicle, locking it behind her. As soon as she turned to face him, Bucky had her pinned against the door, his hands skirting up her dress, gently teasing the outside of her thighs as she kissed him, hard, hands running through his hair.
“For the record…”she pulled back, tugging on the short locks a the top of his head “I’m liking this…”
A low growl rumbled in his throat as he pushed her skirt up over her hips, planting his thigh in between hers. She let out a moan as he pushed up into her spot, the harsh denim grinding on her spot. She was soaked already, and when his fingers hooked into the top of the very skimpy lacy underwear she was wearing, her clit throbbed from the slight pressure as he tore the garment easily in half, tossing it to the floor.
“Fuck…” Jennifer mumbled as his lips caught the pulse point on her neck, her head falling back against the cubicle door as his fingers slid into her folds, one circling her clit. 
“This what you want?” he asked, his breath was low.
“God, yes…” she muttered as his fingers picked up the pace. He inserted on inside, and her head fell onto his shoulder as he curled it forward against her spot. It was such a fucking turn on to see her trembling at his touch, trembling he now understood in a good way. With his other hand he pulled down the top of her dress, freeing her breasts and he gave a groan as he realised she wasn’t wearing a bra. He gently rolled one nipple in between his teeth, his other hand still fucking her gently and she let out a gasp.. 
“Bucky for God’s Sake just fuck me already…” 
He grinned at her, removing his hand.
“Yes Ma’am…” he said, as her hands flew to the buckle on his belt before opened his jeans, her fingers pushing them and his boxers down, allowing his cock to spring loose.
“You got any…” he began and she shook her head.
“No need, I got that covered…and I’m clean so as long as you are…” she looked at him and he nodded, as he gently hooked his hands under her knees and lifted her so her legs were round his waist. Once more he claimed her mouth with a heated kiss, swallowing the groan she gave as he pushed into her.  
Jesus…her heat almost paralysed him, but after a second or two to let them both adjust he began to move, slowly at first, gently finding a rhythm that suited them both.
“I’m going to make you feel so good, Sweetheart.” he said and she groaned again as he gently rutted up into her, his mouth finding her breasts again. The noises she was making were turning him on even more as he picked up his pace slightly, and the more he gave the more she wanted. 
Soon the bathroom was filled with the sinful sound of skin on skin, moans and groans, and the rattling of the cubicle door as Bucky fucked into her again and again. Her hands were in his hair, up his back, under his shirt, gently tracing the scars on his shoulder from behind but he didn’t give a fuck, in fact, in a twisted way he liked the feel of her soft touch over the raised skin. He continued to slam into her again and again, lips kissing down her jawline, neck, across her collar bone and down to her breasts again, and she gave a loud squeak. 
“God I wanted you so fucking much…”She gasped, bringing his head up to kiss hers again, her hands on his cheeks.
“Feeling’s mutual doll” he moaned into her mouth, the noise of the door behind them was rattling even louder. 
Jen felt her core tightened as a wave of pleasure swelled within her. Her shoes were somewhere on the floor as her heels dug into that ass she had admired for so long, nails scratching slightly at his skin as her hands slid under his skirt again. The door behind her continued to squeak, grind, and rattle.
“I’m…”
“You going to come for me?” Bucky asked as he kissed down her neck, biting at her collar bone. She nodded with a groan, and her head banged back against the door.
“Shit, Bucky…” and then she clamped around him hard as her release took her. Her entire body shook as the white hot tendrils coursed around her from head to toe, the entire world spinning. Bucky gave a strangled groan that bubbled from the depths of this chest, and he clutched her to him, tightly, hips stuttering as he shuddered with the utter intensity of it all.
A very loud groan and then a scream erupted from Jenifer as the door collapsed behind them, and sent the pair of them falling. In a flash Bucky wrapped himself around her, pivoting so that his back hit the floor first and Jenifer fell against his chest.
There was a moment’s pause before she began to laugh, and Bucky couldn’t help but chuckle as well as she looked at him and he helped her to her feet.
“Erm…so we broke the door.” She said between her laughter as she adjusted her dress, smoothing back her hair as Bucky did up his pants, tucking his shirt back in. 
He ran his hand over her hip, up to her neck and pulled her back in for a softer kiss and when he pulled away he was amazed at how relaxed and less tired and stressed he felt. 
Who’d have thought it? All he needed was a good fuck.
But now as he looked at the woman in front of him he realised fucking wasn’t enough. He wanted to take her home and lavish affection on every inch of her body.  
“Was that okay?” Jennifer asked, looking at him “I know it’s not exactly how a first time together should be but…” “Are you kidding?” Bucky chuckled, pulling her into his arms. “That was incredible but you’re right. I’d really like to take you home and do it properly, a little more caring maybe…as soon as I can.”
“My apartment’s free…” she whispered, as he kissed her again before he pulled back and grinned.
“What are we waiting for?” he asked, and with a last glance down at the broken door, she took his hand and led him back into the corridor. 
As they walked across the bar it didn’t escape Bucky’s notice that Sam was sat with the two men Jenifer had explained were friend’s of Katie’s, and that his best friend’s wife was nowhere to be seen.
And it all clicked into place. He realised he had been well and truly played. ‘Mrs Rogers, you cheeky little minx…’
3. Closing Analysis
“And he’s gone!” Sam smirked, watching Bucky stalk across the busy bar area after Jennifer “I gotta hand it to you…it would seem that Steve isn’t the only Rogers with a plan.”
“Yeah, I’m intrigued…” Evans said, draping a hand over her shoulder, “How did you know it would work?”
“Remember that time, years ago, when Steve and I had been on the baseball, and you commented on how Rumlow had been eye-fucking me all night?” she turned to her former sniper partner. He nodded “Well let’s just say it sparked something in Captain America that night.”
Evans and Lawson both chuckled. 
“And on that note…” Katie said, draining her glass as her phone flashed with a message from her husband “My ride home is here.”
“Seems Jen isn’t the only one with a super soldier waiting to ravish her…” Lawson quipped. 
Katie smirked “That and I have no intention of being here when they come out and realise we set the whole thing up.” “We?” Sam asked. “You were complicit…” she said, draining her glass. She turned to give Evans and Lawson a hug.
“Good to see you boys, stop by the house soon, come say hi.”
“Best get your chef on Nova.” Evans grinned, “You owe us.” “Oh admit it.” she smirked “You enjoyed the thrill of being on a Covert Op again.” “Think it’s Tin Man that’s gonna be enjoying that particular thrill…” Sam quipped, making her snort. 
“If they make it that far…” she smirked, pulling on her jacket. “Night boys.”
She made her way outside and over to the Audi, climbing into the passenger seat.
“Hey baby, you have a nice time?” Steve asked as she leaned over to give him a peck.
She grinned “Yeah, although not as nice as Bucky and Jen it would seem.” “What did you do?” he asked, looking at her suspiciously. 
“Nothing…just gave them a friendly shove…” she said, pausing as she felt her phone vibrate in her bag. It was a text. from Bucky 
“Expect a bill for a toilet cubicle door…”
She gave a loud laugh and showed it to Steve who groaned, shaking his head.
“Oh it’s not like we never fucked in a bathroom before.” she laughed, and he was about to reply when he stopped and grinned, nodding out of the windscreen. Katie followed his gaze as Jen and Bucky came out of the bar, hand in hand, and straight to a waiting cab. As Bucky opened the door to let Jenifer in he turned slowly to his right, locked eyes with Katie and raised his metal hand, leaving a single digit extended in her direction. The middle one to be exact before he grinned climbed into the car.
“You know, you don’t need to look so smug about it…” Steve said, a smile playing on his face as he eyed his wife who sat back in her seat. She gave him a shrug, smirking and he chuckled as he pulled the car away from the kerb. 
Ok, so she’d clearly underestimated the ex-assassin, maybe he had twigged it had been a set up. But that didn’t matter. Her plan had worked.
Katie Rogers had just successfully dismantled Bucky Barnes. 
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luvknow · 4 years
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parasitic | bang chan
genre: bang chan x fem!reader | college au ; roommates au ; enemies-to-lovers ; alcohol mention summary: your roommate is going abroad for the semester and now you’re forced to share your apartment with bang chan, who you basically lived with for the past semester except he didn’t pay rent, he ate all of your food, and crashed on your couch after a long night out. you were going to do everything in your power to avoid him until your roommate comes back. that doesn’t work out so well. wc: 11.8k a/n: omg a month late, but merry christmas to @channiechanchan!! did you know it was me?? LMAO I’M SO SORRY LKJDSLKFJ IT’S ALSO NOT EVEN XMAS RELATED BUT....... I HOPE IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT, ILY SLKJDSL
The sun rays peeked through the gaps of the curtains letting you know that a beautiful Sunday was upon you. You would spend the morning making breakfast for you and your roommate, clean your room of all the bad vibes, knock out some homework, and light an overpriced candle to conclude a stress-free day.
A long morning stretch in bed was the start to your day, and you had the widest smile on your lips upon exiting your room as if there was nothing that could ruin your energy. That dropped quickly once you were greeted with a loud, snoring, almost-naked man face down and passed out on your couch.
“Sorry about him,” roomie Yeri said out of habit while practically crawling out of her room. “Again.”
She looked like a hot mess, with her hair frazzled in all directions and last night’s make-up still smeared around her eyes. Her timing was impeccable - it was like she could sense your annoyance through her walls. 
“Why?” you whined childishly. This had to be the tenth weekend by now!
“You know why! Lucas had his birthday party last night, remember? Which you were invited to but totally flaked last minute.”
“I have an exam this week.”
“We have an exam this week and it’s not until Thursday!”
“So? I like to be prepared!”
“Can you two shut up?” the bane of your existence interrupted. The newly brunette (who had dyed his hair in your living room, thanks to Yeri) ran a hand through his wild hair, hoping it’d alleviate some of the pain from his hangover. “I have a pounding headache.”
“And whose fault is that?” you scolded bitterly before yanking your blanket off of him. The poor man below you shriveled up and buried his musty legs under your beautiful couch pillows for some sense of warmth. “Not like you pay rent here for you to have the right to complain, or anything.”
“Lighten up, buttercup. You’re so uptight.”
“Gotta do my job around here and exterminate the parasites.”
“Suck my dick.”
“Too many STDs.”
Yeri chucked a pillow each at the both of you so you’d shut up and avoid waking up any grumpy neighbors. “Please, for the love of God, can you guys chill out for once so we can have a relaxing Sunday together?”
“Together?” you and Chan groaned simultaneously.
Yeri was not having it and shot a glare like an angry mother, to which you and Chan mumbled some sort of noise of confirmation and went about your separate ways. You inhabited the kitchen and Chan dragged himself to wash away the sticky shame and Hennessey in the shower. Yeri hopped over to help you make pancakes as if her two best friends weren’t just itching to pull each other’s hair out. She liked to think of herself as the glue of the group, like the quirky friend in the middle who was delusion to the tension in between. Neither of you had the heart to ruin her sitcom fantasy.
“Morning ~” she sang cutely.
“I hate him.”
“He’s not that bad!”
“You’ve been saying that the entire fall semester, but almost every weekend of mine has been ruined by his presence!”
Yeri winced and took a step back as she watched you vigorously mix the pancake batter faster than an electronic stand mixer. Another step back was taken while you violently dumped in the blueberries. Cooking and baking was one of your favorite hobbies and she knew you could be quite passionate about it, but she never saw you angry-cook before. It was a scary site to see, as if you being angry wasn’t scary enough.
“He’s only the way he is because you never gave him a chance.”
“What does that even mean?”
“He’s the type of person who likes to be liked, you know?”
“So? Don’t we all?”
“Of course, but it’s different with people like him. When those types of people meet someone who doesn’t like them, they can get a little… How do I say this? Defense mechanism-y?”
“Wouldn’t you think that would motivate him to, I don’t know, be nice to me and not inhabit my space and eat my food every weekend? Perhaps he’d kiss my ass a little?”
“Like I said, defense mechanism-y…”
“More like melodramatic.”
No matter how Yeri tried to explain to you how Chan was ‘different’, you weren’t buying it nor did you care to argue any longer. Why should you have to like him just because he was your best friend’s other best friend? This wasn’t some algebra problem that could be easily solved by the transitive property - this was a matter of respecting each others’ personal spaces and each other in general, and Chan had been the one to cross both of those lines first, that dick. While Yeri lectured like your math professor, you mindlessly hummed here and there pretending to understand, just as you would in actual math class.
The bathroom door opening prompted you and Yeri to shut up immediately. Then, a moist Chan walked out of the steam with nothing but a familiar lavender towel wrapped around his disgustingly chiseled waist.
“Is that my towel!?” you shrieked in fear.
“Yeah. Hope that’s ok with you!” The fake honey sweetness in his tone made your skin crawl like there were bees under the dermis. “By the way, you’re out of shampoo. I love this scent! What is it, tea tree and mint?”
Yeri had to hold you back from hitting him with a hot spatula and Chan managed to escape back into the bathroom with a change of clothes that he kept here ‘for emergencies’, of course. They hung on the open clothes rack in the living room that was meant to show off yours and Yeri’s tasteful jackets, but the aesthetic was ruined early fall and even your jackets began to smell of Chan’s sophisticated cologne.
“I’m gonna kill him in his sleep,” you seethed.
Yeri patted your head like you were an angry kitten. “Killing the captain of the basketball team isn’t exactly kosher, love.”
“I’ll show you kosher.”
“Can’t keep on threatening me, babe,” Chan tisked while throwing on a t-shirt upon entering the A and B conversation.
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
“I’m just trying to make our friendship better. You know, since we’ll be roommates soon.”
Excuse me, what? “What are you talking about…”
“Oh, you don’t know?” a sly Chan smirked.
When you turned to interrogate Yeri, she quickly stopped the sign language that clearly meant ‘shut your GODDAMN MOUTH, Christopher’ and gave you that sweet, innocent smile that let her get away with practically anything because who could say no to her rosy cheeks and rainbow-shaped eyes?
“Yeri, what is he talking about…?” you asked hesitantly.
“Yeah, about that… I got accepted into the study abroad program!”
“That’s amazing and I am very proud of you and I love you, but what does this cockroach mean when he says we’ll be roommates soon!?”
“Hey!” he pouted.
“Oh, shut it!”
“Ah, well, I figured to lessen the burden of paying double the rent, I thought it’d, you know, take it upon myself to save you the stress of finding a subletter and Chan was the only one available…”
“Really? Of the entire cheerleading team, the pottery club, the damn pilates and cycling club, hell even the other players on the basketball team, Chan was the only one free to sublet? The only one?”
“Um... yes?”
“You know, I don’t really consent to this -”
“Please, _____, it will only be for the semester, I promise! I leave next week and I can’t take much with me, and Chan is the only person I trust to stay in my room and not ruin anything and steal my underwear!”
“How can you say that when he’s probably going to bring girls home and do them on your bed!?”
“I would never do that!” Chan interjected.
“Yeah, ok.”
“No, really! Why would I ruin her bed when I can just ruin yours while you’re gone?”
“Don’t you fucking dare, Christopher -!”
“See!” Yeri brought the two of you into a esophagus-crushing headlock so you two would shut up. “You two are already getting along so well!!”
Chan managed to slip away and steal you from Yeri, giving you a rough knuckle sandwich. “We’ll get along swimmingly, Yer-bear, I promise. Isn’t that right, _____?”
Yeri couldn’t help but look at you both with sparkly eyes, thinking that yes, maybe there’s a chance that a beautiful friendship could blossom from this! Jabbing an elbow to his ribs with a fake smile of your own, you wordless agree with a nod.
As long as Chan stayed in his room and you stayed in yours, maybe there wouldn’t be much to worry about, right?
--
The first week with Chan was exactly how you expected it - seeing his bare ass because he never closed the bathroom door, stealing your snacks, taking up the living room space, and blasting his loud soundcloud music that you could hear through your paper-thin walls. Still, even through all the frustration and the annoyance, you thought it would be best if you two just lived your lives separately and didn’t bother making nice with each other. Rather than fighting and yelling, ignoring each other for the sake of everyone’s sanity was for the best.
What pushed you to the edge was when he took the last pack of fruit snacks you were really looking forward to after a long week of classes.
“Oh, come on!” you groaned into the cupboard. “Chan!”
“Yes, darling?” he called from his - Yeri’s - bedroom, to which you stomped over to confront him. Seeing a grown man on Yeri’s white desk on a pink gaming chair playing some PC game was truly a sight to see.
“Did you eat the last of my fruit snacks!?”
The sly boy swiveled the desk chair to face you. “Ooh, was that the last one? I swear there was one left…”
“Come on, dude!”
“I’m sorry, ok, it’s not a big deal.”
“It is a big deal! That’s not cool!”
“No, what’s not cool is that you’ve been avoiding me all week.”
You were taken aback by his bold, although correct, assumption. You really didn’t expect him to call you out on this so early. “I… have not…!”
“You’re such a liar!” He pointed accusingly. Although you seemed heated in the argument, Chan was grinning because of course he was right, that dick.
“You don’t think I have anything better to do, like do my homework or-or hang out with friends outside of this apartment?”
“That’s not what I mean. I mean every time you come home and see me in the living room, you go straight to your room.”
“That’s normal!”
“Ah yes, but then you wait until I go into my room -”
“Yeri’s room.”
“- to cook dinner or grab a snack.”
“That’s just a coincidence -”
“How about the opposite, when I come home and you’re chilling in the living room and then you go to your room and shut the door? No ‘hi, how was your day’, or anything.”
“Well -”
“Or how about the mornings, when you’re sitting at the kitchen table relaxing and drinking something warm and sweet-smelling with a tired smile on your face because this is the only time in your day where you get to truly relax, but the second I leave my room to go to the bathroom or grab some water, you chug whatever’s barely boiling in your cup, dump it in the sink, and head out.”
“... I’m that obvious, huh?”
“Wow, look at that smug look on your face,” he pointed again. You didn’t even feel that proud smile on your lips. But Chan didn’t think it was amusing. His lips formed a frown, like he was insulted or even hurt at how cold you could be towards him. “What have I done to make you hate me this much?”
Your eyes bulged incredulously. “Let’s go down memory lane, shall we? Almost every weekend of the fall semester you; crashed on our couch, ate all of our ramen and eggs and sriraicha the morning after to recover from your massive hangover, used our laundry detergent, and used our bath products just to name a few! All without a simple thank you or even asking beforehand!”
Chan couldn’t deny that yes, maybe he’d been a little, um, unceremonious with his intrusion on your life, but come on, everyone deserves a second chance! The very prideful man in front of you rolled Yeri’s pink chair to the threshold only to clasp your hands together in his and now you were sweating.
“Ok, I’ll admit that I was a terrible guest this past semester.” Does an apology count if the guilty party rolls his eyes? “So, out of the goodness of my heart, I am very, very sorry.”
“My ass.”
“What!? Does this not look sincere to you?” he asked, pointing to his fake pouty face.
“Ok, I’m leaving.”
“No no no, c’mon!” Chan whined as he chased you into the living room. He grabbed your trailing hand to stop you. “Look, I’m truly sorry that I sometimes use your things -”
“Always use my things.”
“Most of the time use your things. I am sorry, really. Please believe me, ok? Aren’t you tired of avoiding me all the time?”
A tired sigh escaped you because you were absolutely exhausted from it. “I accept your semi-sincere apology. But why, for the love of God, why don’t you ever use Yeri’s things!? Why mine? She’s the one that’s your friend!”
“Honestly? I wanted to get your attention.”
“Oh, my God, what are you, five?”
“Hey, you’re the one who ignored me like a rude hostess from the get-go! You never gave me a chance!”
“My first impression of you was all I needed to not give you one.”
“I couldn’t have been that bad.”
“You puked in my backpack with some of my textbooks in it and poor Yeri had to clean up your mess!”
“Oh yeah, I remember that… That was on Sunwoo’s birthday.” You tried walking away again, but Chan’s grip was too strong. “Ok, fine, I’ll admit my first impression was horrendous, but you never let me redeem myself after that, so I kept annoying you so you’d confront me about it! That’s not fair that you judged me so quickly!”
“Yeah, and look how annoying me turned out! It went from my first impression to my thousandth impression.”
“I mean, it eventually worked, right?”
Another tired sigh. “Chan, is there a purpose to this?”
“Yes. I want to start over.”
You raised an eyebrow. “Start over? Like, erase all the shit that happened between us?”
“Exactly. A clean slate. Clean plates, I’ll even do your dishes tonight.”
You did hate doing the dishes… And you were so tired of stressing out over avoiding him, even if it had only been a week. After a long, painful pause, you held out your hand for him to shake. “Fine, a clean slate it is.”
A prideful and grinning roommate gladly shook your hand. “I pledge to not be an asshole anymore.”
“And I promise not to have a stick up my ass.”
“Wow, look how far we’ve come, huh? Cheers to a new friendship?”
“After you do my dishes.”
“... Fair enough.”
To commemorate this new and fresh friendship, you joined Chan in the kitchen. You didn’t do anything as he hand-washed your handmade dishes made in pottery class, but in return for eating your last fruit snack pack, he offered you some cookies he’d been hiding to which you gladly obliged. It was a peaceful silence in the kitchen other than the clinking of dishes and running water that offered some white noise while you read one of your books (after Chan called you a nerd). This had to be the most stress-free thirty minutes of your life.
“So,” your new ‘friend’, if you’d generously call him, began after finishing the dishes. He took a seat next to you and grabbed a cookie of his own. “Now that we’re cool and all, I would like to formally invite you to our basketball game tomorrow.”
"First of all, we're not totally cool just yet. Think of this as like a trial. Gotta pay your premium subscription fees before getting the premium benefits.”
“Yeah, yeah, so do you wanna go or not?"
"Hm, a basketball game? Like you're playing in it?"
"As the captain, I sure hope so."
You thought about it for a second - what terrible things could possibly come about if you went to one of Chan's basketball games? Well, it's set in a crowded and sweaty arena, whose crowd and players are also sweaty, it was loud, the food and drinks were expensive, and you literally could not care less about basketball. But, out of the goodness of your heart, which was now willing to give people a second chance for some reason, maybe you could tolerate sitting through a quarter or two.
"Sure, I'll go."
"Really? I wasn't expecting that."
"Then why'd you bother asking?"
"I'm tryna be homies, and that's what homies do! Invite homies to their basketball games."
"Please don't call me homie."
"Ok, home skillet."
"I'm gonna be honest, I don't know anything about basketball."
"Like, at all?"
"I know the cool far shots are worth like three points, right?"
"Oh, darling, you have a lot to learn. Here, lemme do a spark notes run down."
Professor Chan, PhD in sports and partying, took however many hours to explain. You lost track after two. At the end of the night, all of the cookies and milk were gone and you both went to bed at two in the morning.
--
"You, at a basketball game!?" Yeri snorted from the other side of the world. "And you and Chan being civilized!? Lord, how long have I been gone?"
"I have many regrets…"
"Don't say that! I think it's cute that you guys are finally getting along. Who would've thought that locking you two in the same apartment for one week was all that it took?"
"It might have been sooner if he'd just apologized right away instead of stealing all of my stuff to get my attention."
"Yup, sounds like Christopher."
"So you're coming back soon, right…?"
"If soon means a couple of months, yes."
"Yeri ~!" you whined, hopelessly missing your Sunday night partner watching crime documentaries.
"Chill, you big baby, just hang out with Chan if you're so lonely."
"Ugh, gross." Ironically enough, you stepped on a freshly-spat wad of gum upon entering the half-filled gymnasium.
"But not too often cuz, you know, you might fall in love ~"
You hoped no one saw the way your face twisted in disgust. "Are you delusional!?"
"Or even worse, you two might get drunk and make out and then fu -"
"OH-KAY, bye, Yer-bear love you!" You hung up immediately, traumatized at the thought she planted in your head. You hated how your face heated up so brightly. Don’t sweat it, _____! There’s no way that something like that could blossom from something that was nothing!
"Hey, you actually made it -" Chan had burst into your bubble without a warning, causing you to jump and drop your phone. After wiping off another fresh glob of gum from your phone screen this time, you bucked up the courage to stand face-to-face with a confused Chan wearing his basketball uniform. "Jeez, you good? You're all blushy. Ah, you saw Jaehyun's nudes, didn't you?"
"No, idiot! You just startled me, although I should be used to you invading my space by now."
“Ha ha. Stop being weird and take a seat. We’re still warming up, but hopefully we’ll start soon.”
“Uh, is there like, designated seating, or?”
Chan’s dimply smile accompanied a rough hair ruffle. “How cute, you’ve never been to a game before, huh?”
“I would rather die than willingly pay to go here on my leisure.”
A strong, sweaty arm wrapped around your shoulders. “Sit right over there,” he said, pointing to a single spot in the middle of the one hundred level that allowed for the best view of the entire court. “You’ll see me in action the whole time.”
“Next to the dude eating a chili dog and the chick with a cut-out of Woojin’s face?”
“The superfan section truly is not of this world.”
“If I came all the way here just to watch you lose, I’m gonna be pissed.”
“Don’t worry, baby, we never lose!”
The coach called Chan back to warm up some more which left you no choice but to enter the germ-infested purgatory and sit in between the superfans. Glancing at the other team, it was clear that they had the intimidation factor of being the taller and bigger players, so you weren’t sure how this was going to turn out. But your team, although smaller, had an enormous amount of unwavering energy. Perhaps it was because they were playing at home and had the entire half of this court filled to the brim cheering their names.
Chan was busy next to the couch, watching the form of his teammates as they were shooting three pointers. There was no doubt to anyone, even if no one had ever seen him before, that he was the captain. Who knew the barf-filled, void for a stomach, almost always naked asshole had the mindset of a lion? Every now and again, he’d pull one of his teammates to the side, probably a newbie to the varsity team, and help him with his form or give pointers or remind him of what play they were going to execute once the buzzer rang.
At some point, you realized you were watching him for far too long because he caught you right where he placed you. By the smirk on his lips, you’ll never hear the end of it if you see each other back at the apartment, and you would have looked away almost immediately if he hadn’t grabbed a ball not a second later. What was he doing?
Chan dribbled the ball to the free throw line (at least you think that’s what it’s called). He looked at you again, but this time he was pointing, like he was challenging you. Every pair of eyes in the gymnasium managed to pinpoint his target to you and if he thought you were blushy before, he should really see you up close now. After the very dramatic scene, Chan focused on dribbling the ball a few times which brought everyone’s attention back to him, thankfully. He dribbled a bit more, stopped to set up his shot, followed through and swoosh, there it went, right into the basket like a mathematician's perfect parabola.
“That was for you,” he mouthed silently with a sense of tease dripping from every word.
Normally, you might have flicked him off, but who were you to ruin the vibe just before the game started? Out of the goodness of your heart, you lightly clapped at his performance like this was the opera.
And so the game began! Mingyu, since he was the tallest member, did that thing where they toss the ball up in the air and they try to get it on their side, and since he was like 6’5”, it was easy for Chan’s team to start with the ball. There was a lot of back and forth head movements and eye scanning and you felt like your brain was being shaken up. To be honest, before you stepped into the stadium, you thought that none of this was going to excite you in the least. The idea of sweaty boys running around with a ball was completely barbaric, didn’t you think? But when someone, especially Chan, shot the ball or blocked it or did some weird dancey footwork, you gasped and cheered with the rest of the gym, the spirit of the game blooming in your soul much to your resistance.
The game ended almost too quickly and thankfully your team won. All of the superfans and the cheerleaders ran towards the team, congratulating them with cheers and hugs and mounting their beloved captain on their shoulders. Chan had his bright and dimply smile you’ve been seeing too often this week. You considered waiting until the crowd died down so you could congratulate him right then, but being the captain meant he was the center of everyone’s attention, not just yours. You shrugged off the impatience and headed for home. You could always congratulate him tomorrow, so long as he hasn’t puked anywhere.
Just before exiting the gym, you heard your name being called.
“_____, wait!” Chan yelled, sprinting to you as soon as his people made a walkway.
“I guess a congratulations is in order,” you said. “Congrats on winning. You looked super cool out there.”
“Hold on, can you say that one more time?” he teased, whipping out his phone to record you.
“Congrats, asshole!” you greeted the camera with double birdies.
“Thank you, m’lady. Where are you going now -”
“Channie!” a cute voice cried. Channie?
“Miyeonie!” he parroted back at the pretty cheerleader.
“Are you coming with us to Mingyu’s or what?”
You almost forgot it was the weekend already. It was time for drunk Chan shenanigans to ensue and that meant locking yourself up in your room and hiding the newly-bought fruit snacks.
“Oh, uh…”
Chan looked back at you like he was about to ditch his little sibling who had asked to play with him. Before any embarrassing pity invites were thrown out, you quickly bid your farewell.
“I’ll see you later, Channie ~” you waved off playfully.
“_____, hold on,” he said in urgency. Oh no, please don’t do what you think he’s doing… “Uh, I think I’m going to skip out on tonight, Miyeon.”
Both of you looked at him like he had three heads and two tails. Miyeon’s the only one brave enough to speak up on it. “Party Boy Channie is ditching us tonight? Why?”
“I’m super tired.” You’re full of shit, Chan! Why are you ruining my quiet night in!? “I’ll catch you guys next week, though.”
“Fine. Promise?”
“Promise.”
“Ok ~” She then quickly kissed him on his lips and he welcomed it fully like they’ve been doing that for some time now. Could it be that Party Boy Channie has finally settled down, despite all of his sloppy stories he used to slur about every weekend? How was it that he, of all scumbags, was able to have a significant other and you couldn’t even get a tinder date! “I’ll see you later.”
“Don’t get too wild tonight.”
“No promises!”
Chan sighed helplessly and turned to face a disgusted? Shocked? No, a very uncomfortable you who had watched a corny teen drama movie unfold right in your face.
“Sorry about that,” he said sincerely for once.
“Oh please, I absolutely love watching true love express itself right in front of me, Channie.”
He rolled his eyes. “First of all, it’s not love.”
“Really? You’re telling me kissing pretty cheerleaders isn’t your love language?”
“Not when they cling to me like mothballs.”
“You’re so cruel, Channie.”
“Stop calling me that,” he warned. “Secondly, what are we doing tonight?”
“We? I don’t know who this we is, but I’m going home.”
“Aw, c’mon, really? I just ditched a Kim Mingyu party and perhaps some ass for some quality roommate bonding time!”
“I did not ask you to do that.”
“Don’t you wanna go out to eat or something? I’ll even pay for you.”
“No, because there’s food at home.”
“There isn’t food at home, you liar!”
“Well ok, not yet, I still have to go to the market first and then I’ll cook.”
“Oh?” You can cook? He certainly didn’t know that. “You’re cooking us dinner?”
“I’m cooking me dinner.” Chan folded his hands and gave you a poor excuse for puppy eyes. But he did just win the game, and you bet doing all that sporty stuff made him starving. “But I guess I can make you a plate... I guess you and I can… eat together…”
“Don’t sound too excited.”
“I’m clearly holding back my excitement.”
Usually in movies or tv, they have the head chefs of famous local restaurants come to the markets between four and five in the morning. The amateur chefs like yourself prefer to pick off what was left for much cheaper at night time. It’s not that the stuff left over was any bad, it was just the important people managed to pick out all the perfect prawns and symmetrical vegetables and what have you. It was much less stressful in the evenings anyways, when everyone was already home cooking and you were left to wander as you pleased before the vendors packed up for the day.
“Do you come here all the time to grocery shop?” a freshly-washed Chan asked beside you. When he went grocery shopping, as long as the produce didn’t have any bruises and the meat was red, that’s all he needed. He never inspected the peaches for its plumpness or asked what time the fish was caught today, unlike you, though now and again he’ll slap a watermelon to test its juiciness.
“Goodness, no, am I made of money?”
“How expensive can this place be, they’re not even in a store.”
“Oh, Chan the naivete. Think of the most expensive piece of produce you’ve ever bought. It’s probably organic, right? Free of pesticides and the like?”
“I think it was an avocado.”
“Right, completely ridiculous that you’re paying $2.50 per avocado. The avocadoes here? Double that.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“I really wish I was. Those are the morning price avocadoes though. Nighttime shoppers like us are lucky to snag them for $3.50.”
“Why bother paying so much when you can go to the local store across the street from your house?”
“Even though I can get much more for the price I’m paying here,” you paused and handed Chan the brightest and quite possibly the smallest strawberry he’d ever seen. “You can taste the difference.”
Snipping off the green stem and leaves, the clueless boy popped the berry in his mouth and you watch the flavor brighten his eyes.
“Quality over quantity,” you bragged.
The rest of your time there, you had to stop Chan from eating a single grape from every little basket at every single vendor.
“You are a child.”
“Baby me, baby.”
Coming back to the apartment with your’s and Chan’s arms full of groceries, anxiousness rushed in the second you stepped beyond the threshold. It occurred to you that you’ve never actually cooked for anyone before besides Yeri. This will be the second time you’ll see someone’s first reaction to your cooking, and it’ll be from your worst enemy.
“Need me to sous chef, head chef?” he asked while unpacking.
“Actually, that would help me a lot. Could you wash the vegetables?”
“Sure. While we’re at it, can I get your opinion on something?”
You raised your brow in confusion. “Do I have the knowledge for it?”
“You have ears, so yes.”
From that point moving forward, you decided not to question Chan because he was going to do whatever he wanted anyways. As you prepped the kitchen, you ignored the loud rustling in the living room with the occasional ‘ow, fuck’ following a stubbed toe. Out of curiosity and right before yelling at him to hurry up, Chan had finally pressed the play button and an unfamiliar song played through his massive speakers that he brought outside.
“Is this your new song?” you asked.
He did the ‘hand-sexily-but-also-shyly-running-through-my-hair’ thing before answering. “Yeah, and I’m not sure if I like it that much. The guys say it sounds good, but they’re my homies so they have to say that, y’know?”
“At least you know I won’t bullshit you.”
“Be gentle at least, please.”
“I will once you help me with dinner finally.”
“Right, right.”
Of course one song didn’t cover the entirety of the dinner preparation. After the one, which you honest to God liked a lot (“Stop lying.” “I’m not! You asked me to be honest, dick!”), Chan shyly but happily showed you more of his work. Some of it was already posted to his Soundcloud and some weren’t uploaded because he either hated them or he was stuck and left unfinished.
“Like, how is it possible that I can’t finish a project whose finished product is less than three minutes long!?” By now, Chan gave up trying to help after he cut his finger several times and sat at the table munching on his expensive basket of berries as he explained his creative block to you as if you were his therapist. “It makes me seem lazy, doesn’t it?”
“People hit creative walls all the time,” you reassured. “Don’t get yourself down about it.”
“Have you ever even hit a wall before?” he challenged.
“I do in the kitchen all the time, you ass.”
“How is that even possible? What walls can you even hit in the kitchen?”
“The difference between baking and cooking is that baking has less room for error, but tons of room for visual creativity, which is why I think baking is much harder. Cooking measurements for a meal, on the other hand, are meant to be adjusted with freedom which is nice, but how many times can someone change the presentation of a bowl of rice, meat, and vegetables?”
A bowl of said food was placed in front of a drooling Chan who had to sit through the tortuous cooking process smelling the aromatics and satiate his rumbling tummy with sour fruit. He hadn’t even taken a bite yet and his eyes were already sparkling with anticipation. It was reactions like his that made you the most embarrassed because what if he tasted it and hated it!?
“Whoa, this looks delicious!” he beamed.
“You didn’t think I could cook, did you.”
“No, I thought you were joking and when you weren’t I was like, ‘I HAVE to taste her cooking’. I'm a little disappointed that it doesn’t look inedible.”
“Ha ha, just eat your food, parasite.”
With anticipation, you watched Chan take a huge bite with all the fixins on the spoon. You could sense the awkwardness when he turned away.
“Stop staring at me,” he mumbled with cheeks full of rice.
“Not until you tell me what you think.”
“Well, of course it tastes good.”
“Really?”
“Yes, now stop looking at me, I’m not your zoo animal.”
A huge sigh of relief escaped you and a heavy weight off your chest was relieved. Something about cooking for new people always made you want to pass out, but if both your best friend and your best enemy admit to how good it is, maybe you’ll become more open to the idea of cooking for others more often. You DID like that huge sense of pride that rushed in.
Chan finished the bowl in two minutes. He held it up for you to take. “More, please.”
“Wow, ok.”
You were lucky enough to get a bowl yourself with Chan practically inhaling everything, and even then he still had room for dessert. It was atrocious how much a college man could eat.
“They say someone’s cooking says a lot about them,” Chan proposed while washing down his food with soda.
“They who?”
“I don’t know, the internet?” he shrugged.
“Oh, yeah? What does the internet say about a bowl of rice for dinner?”
“That you’re uptight and don’t like to have fun.”
“Hey!”
“And probably a virgin.”
Your cheeks burned an embarrassingly bright red at the proclamation. “Wh-What makes you say that!?”
“It’s a safe meal to make. You know, hard to mess up and a little simple so it’ll always taste good?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Where’s the excitement, _____? The improvisation!?”
“There’s not much room to improv in cooking, Christopher.”
“Don’t you want to live a little? Have some spontaneity?”
“Are we still talking about my cooking or…?”
“No, dumbass, I mean your life, too!” Chan hopped up from his chair and took your hand to twirl you around the kitchen like the scene in Beauty and the Beast. Oh God, you hoped you didn’t accidentally poison him or that he was having a weird allergic reaction to sesame, or something. “Have some fun for once!”
You somehow broke away from the hypnotic dance and stood as far away from that crazy man as possible. “Don’t act like you know me all of a sudden because you read some corny Buzzfeed article about a fucking bowl of rice and meat, Bang Chan!”
“What do you mean, I’ve come to know you for a whole semester.”
“A whole semester of being blacked out.”
“Hey, that means nothing!”
“Ok. Tell me one thing you know about me from a whole semester of being unconscious on my couch.”
“You have an in-depth skin care routine.”
“Anyone can guess that.”
“From the books you have lying around and a few paintings on the wall, you dabble in that horoscope bull shit.”
“So do a lot of girls, next.”
“You like heart and star-shaped marshmallows in your hot cocoa.”
You’ll admit that one had you silent for a moment. Only Yeri knew about that, but that was because those were the only marshmallows you bought specifically for hot cocoa. They add a little pizazz to your drink, especially with the edible glitter. “That doesn’t count, there’s no other marshmallow in the apartment.”
“True,” he began, pointing an accusing finger at you. “But you like a whole handful of marshmallows in your mug.”
“... S-So -”
“Ah ha, got one!” 
“So what, a ton of people like marshmallows!”
“Yeah, but not pink hearts and purple stars ones!”
“How do you even know that?”
“Hm. I think it was the night of Hongjoong’s birthday. Yeah, I passed out, woke up, whined to Yeri, and she made me hot cocoa and said, ‘Do you care if the marshmallows are shaped like hearts and stars?’ And I said, ‘I ONLY want hearts and stars’.”
A shy smile spread across your lips. It’s moments like these when you weren’t chewing his ear off that he finds you a little cute. Just a little.
“Is there a reason for those specific marshmallows?” he asked.
“They’re cute,” you pouted.
“Well, do I get a prize for knowing one thing about you?”
“Yeah, doing the dishes.”
“What!?”
“I cooked now you clean!” you said before running off to your room.
A tired, but willing Chan dragged his feet to the sink. He could just throw all of the dishes in the dishwasher, but somehow hand-washing while reminiscing about all the Fridays he’s crashed here with you barking like a chihuahua the next morning was much more fun.
His cheeks hurt from smiling too much by the end of that night.
--
A virgin… How the hell does cooking a bowl of rice for your roommate somehow make you a virgin!?
Ok, so maybe it wasn’t the most outstanding meal you’ve ever made or could have cooked for him, but that ungrateful man who couldn’t even fry an egg shouldn’t be so picky!
But why, of all the insults and swears he’s ever thrown at you, was virgin the one that hit you the most?
Who cares if you were or weren’t one! What difference did that make you as a person, right!? At first glance, of course no one would be able to tell whether you were or weren’t one, but what did that say about people who did know you, like Chan and Yeri? Was that the kind of vibe you gave off? Were you too goody-goody, too play-by-the-rules? Was Chan right when he said your life lacked that spark, that spontaneity he seemed to so-crave?
Now that you thought about it, you haven’t gone out on a date or even found someone remotely interesting in a very long time… Since your first year of college at the very least.
Maybe you should show him how spontaneous you could get.
“That’s another thing I noticed last semester,” Chan’s charming accent shook you from your thoughts. You looked to the boy intruding in your room who leaned against the door frame, once again in only his pajama pants and a wet towel slung over his neck to barely cover his torso. He was built like he was carved from the finest slab of marble - how was his skin so white and smooth? “You tend to space out a lot, especially when you’re working on something.”
“How can you tell?”
“You get that dumb look on your face.”
“You mean the same one you have on all the time?”
“Ha ha, very funny.”
“Thank you. What are you getting all dressed up for on a Tuesday night?”
“Miyeon said she was coming over like, ten minutes ago and I felt musty, so here I am, half naked in front of your door like this is the greatest dream you’ve ever had.”
“Is that the cheerleader from your game last weekend?” Chan hummed as a response, drying his hair with the towel around his neck and a toothbrush in his mouth. “Is she your girlfriend?”
You heard him choke on the toothpaste. “God, no, why do you think that?”
“I mean she kissed you… ?”
“Eh, it’s kind of an on-again-off-again thing, but nothing was ever official between us.” A sudden realization hit Chan and then that sly smirk that loved to tease you came back to haunt you. “Why? Are you jealous?”
“Jealous of some cheerleader who’s clearly in love with a man who has no interest in her while he lives with another woman?” you scoffed. “Green with envy.”
“At least I have someone in my life!” he called from the bathroom.
That, too, hit a little too close to your heart. He was right - at least he had someone who kept him company, who adored him, who he could go out on dates with… And what did you have? A lousy roommate who uses your body wash.
“What are you doing tonight?” he asked after coming back fully clothed. Your bed was much softer than Yeri’s, who had a rock hard firm mattress. Perhaps Chan should take his naps here instead.
“Nothing. What is there to do on a Tuesday night?”
“Lots of things! It’s Taco Tuesday at that food truck on campus, it’s Tteokbokki Tuesday at that Auntie’s restaurant by the bookstore, ooh and the record store down the street gives out free seltzer water for the hipsters.”
“Is that what you and Miyeon are doing tonight?”
“No, she just wanted to make-out I think.”
“How romantic…”
Chan laid on your bed and kept his thoughts to himself for a while. Somehow after only a few weeks of living together did you tolerate his presence enough to not nag him to get out of your room, let alone off your bed. While you studied the infinite pages of words in your textbook, Chan was able to steal a few glances. The way your brows furrowed in frustration, the messiness of your hair, the slight pout in your lips, it was all quite cute for someone as grouchy as yourself. Although he supposed he’d be an asshole, too, if he was studying seven days a week. You must be tired and frustrated.
Without you paying attention, he whipped out his phone and texted his date.
“Darn,” he sighed convincingly. “Miyeon just cancelled on me.”
“Good for her.”
“Well, now that I’m free, it looks like it’s just you and me tonight.”
“Sike, I have some homework to do.”
“Oh, yeah?” Chan hopped off the bed and peaked over your shoulder at your homework. He was so close that you could smell his woodsy cologne. You kind of liked it. Kind of. “Homework that’s due on Friday? God, _____, at least try to be cool, you nerd.”
“Hey!”
“Get dressed, those tacos and tteokbokki won’t be piping hot forever ~”
“I’m not going!” you tried to argue, but that annoying boy was already out of your room and putting his shoes on. Evil chuckling could be heard from the living room - what a weirdo. As your stomach violently growled, it was really hard to resist such a tempting offer of food, even if it meant going with Chan.
An impatient roommate danced his way to exit. “I’m walking out the door ~”
“Chill, will you?” you mumbled while throwing on your coat. “How are you going to invite me and then abandon me?”
“Then move faster.”
“You move faster…”
“Ah ~” Chan pinched your cheek lightly. “You’re kinda cute like this.”
“Shut up.”
“You know, with trying to kick up the spontaneity in your life and what-not.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
It’s a cold Tuesday night and you almost heavily regret wanting to be spontaneous and cute and uncaring, all because a soundcloud rapper called you a virgin. But the thought of a hot cup of spicy rice cakes was enough for you to travel through the polar vortex. It helped that you weren’t the only one suffering.
“All those nights I crashed on your couch, I’d always buy a cup of this gold before heading over,” Chan admitted. “It was a shame for the days I threw it up.”
“Ah, no wonder your puke is red! I thought you were always almost dying.”
“Sometimes I wished I was.”
Of course the auntie knew Chan by the amount of times he’s stumbled upon the place drunk off his ass (“Wow, you’re walking straight and talking in sentences today!” “Ha ha, auntie…”). The fiery cup of rice cake was the perfect hand-warmer.
“Do I not give off the virgin vibe yet?” you half-joked.
A charming burst of laughter came from your annoying roommate. How could he forget that he called you that! “You’re not hung up on that, are you?”
“I just… I mean, do you think that’s the reason why…” you struggled to speak your insecurities into existence because once you did, that meant they were real and totally holding you back.
“Why what?”
“Tell me something - am I really that uptight? Does it make me seem… I don’t know, unapproachable? Unlikable, even?”
“Please, you are totally uptight.” A loud, unladylike groan echoed throughout the crowded streets of campus. “Unapproachable, yes. Unlikable? I mean, not necessarily? Some guys think that’s hot.”
“So what you’re saying is I’ll be single forever or marry some pushover.”
“Hey, don’t put words into my mouth! Look, if you really want to change how your aura appears to people, you already have! You’re out on a Tuesday night eating rice cakes with the sexiest guy you know. That’s progress in my book, all thanks to me.”
“Somehow you’ve turned my insecurities into praising yourself.” It was impressive, honestly. “You’re something else, Christopher.”
“Thank you!”
“What’s next on our impromptu tour of the town?”
“Ya like vinyl?”
“Huh?”
Chan said nothing else as he cut you off and walked right into the record shop and low and behold, potential buyers were holding skinny cans of flavored seltzer.
“C’mon, princess, there’s not enough seltzer for everyone!” Chan urged.
The vastness and number of collections of the record shop rivaled the local book shop down the street. Although much noisier and haphazard, the concept was still the same and the neon signs and signed posters gave the shop quite the personality. Actually, it was almost as if it was Chan personified. 
In front of you was a basketball-loving ear-pierced punk-ass roommate who wore leather jackets in sub-freezing temperatures and didn’t know how to fold his laundry flipping through the Wu-Tang Clan basket. And there was you, the personified small local bookstore, watching him longingly and wishing you could be like him, who was cool enough to attract other cool people and be someone so approachable and likable. He was the complete opposite of you, and yet somehow you’re both here together, acting like you never had to kick his ass for using your toothbrush four too many times.
How was it possible to think that one day, someone could be in love with a plain and boring bookstore like yourself? Could someone like Chan love someone like you one day?
You hoped so.
Chan wondered where you were and found you looking at him with tired eyes. Of all the things to look at, you somehow could only look at him. With his dimply smile, he said, “Falling in love with me?”
Something made you want to say yes. “Did you find something you like?”
He silently gestured to you to come over with a lazy hand. As expected, he pulled out one of the Wu-Tang Clan records and played it on one of the modern record players that had one set of headphones at the station.
“Here, put these on,” he instructed while putting the over-ear headphones on. A smooth and unique rap style voiced over the equally-smooth instrumentals. It was unlike anything you’ve heard before. Perhaps Chan’s intellectual layers lied within his knowledge in music.
A slight pressure pressed against your right ear. You couldn’t see from your peripherals, but you could smell Chan’s rustic cologne again, and that itself already made you blush deeper shades of red than you could ever imagine. Since there was only one set of headphones, Chan obviously had no other choice but to listen to this track with you like this - invading your space bubble and making you weak in the knees.
“Do you like it?” you could barely hear.
“I do,” you replied. The song wouldn’t be over for another two minutes and Chan refused to move. “Is this what you like?”
“It’s inspirational to me.” The vibrations of his voice almost sent you into shock because wow, was he close to you or what.
He knew you were nervous. He could tell simply by how your shoulders squared the moment his ear pressed on the outside of the headphones. That’s yet another detail he’s come to notice while crashing on your couch and living with you. Whether you were nervous because he was shirtless after coming out of the shower or you were annoyed because he’d eaten all of the ice cream you were saving in the back corner of the freezer, you always straightened your posture upon seeing him because God forgive you ever show any emotion. Why were you like those stuck-up librarians at the hipster bookstores down the street who turned a blind eye to anyone who didn’t look like they read books?
Or maybe, just maybe, you were liking this. You liked being in close proximity to the sexiest guy you’ve ever laid eyes on. You liked the almost-but-not-really skinship you almost-but-not-really shared. You were nervous, not annoyed, weren’t you? Or were you annoyed that you’re nervous around your most hated enemy?
Either way, Chan wins, and that’s all that mattered to him.
You spent most of the spontaneous night in the record store listening to soul, trot, pop punk, underground hip-hop, and everything in between. Quite literally in-between, as Chan would not stop pressing his face to yours because he refused to find a second pair of headphones for him to borrow.
“Stop doing that!” you whined for the fifth time.
“I wanna listen, too ~”
“Then go steal another set of headphones!”
“But I like this. It’s way more fun. And your cheeks are so hot that the radiated heat is warming my face up.”
You’re silent at that point forward because your cheeks thought their purpose in life was to burn as hot as the sun and serve as a radiator to intrusive boys who wanted nothing more than to listen to good music with you.
Honestly, what’s there to complain about?
The record store didn’t close until midnight and you practically stayed until then. At that point, Chan with his black hole for a stomach was hungry again and led you to the taco truck he talked about earlier.
“Is it Taco Tuesday still if it’s past midnight?” you wondered.
“It’s still Tuesday until the sun comes up in my books.”
Tacos weren’t exactly an easy-to-eat street food, so you used the tin foiled rolls as hand warmers until you were back in the comfort of your kitchen where you could happily eat greasy tacos with your sworn enemy.
“What do midnight tacos say about me now?” you questioned the food and vibe expert across the table.
“They say you like cliches and you care a little too much about what people think of you.”
“How the hell did you come up with that?”
“Please, Taco Tuesday is so cliche! And you conformed to it because you want to seem more playful and less of a stick-up-your-ass, am I right?”
The pout on your lips was enough of an answer. “Now I feel like a virgin in sheep’s clothing.”
“Hey, we all have to start somewhere.”
“Do you think I’m more likable this way?”
Perhaps Chan was a little harsh with his words the one night you cooked for him. He thought he would be able to know you front and back after nearly a month of living together, but it seemed that he was farther away from that than he thought. After all this time, he thought you didn’t care one bit about how people perceived your feisty self. Maybe instead you cared too much and you had built a wall to prevent others like Chan from knowing.
“You were always likable,” he admitted honestly.
“Please stop lying,” you groaned.
“I mean it! Even when you were yelling at me or trying to kick me off the couch or stealing back the food I was trying to eat, I never hated you. It was so much fun messing with you because you were not afraid to cuss me out.”
“And that makes me likable how?”
Chan shrugged. “I have fun when I’m around you. Do you think I would have kept coming back to crash here if I hated you?”
“Yeah, to torture me.”
“Well, to clear things up, I don’t hate you. And I bet my bottom dollar that you don’t hate me, either.”
“Sike.”
“You’re telling me you still hate me after the fun we had tonight? Or the night you watched me play and cooked for me? Or even the one night after Lucas’s Halloween party when I passed out here even though your heater was broken and you wrapped me up in your fuzzy blanket?”
Another blush spread across your cheeks. “You remember that?”
“How could I forget the first night you showed me any compassion?”
“Fine, you’re right, I don’t hate you… You’re, in fact, quite tolerable.”
Who knew Chan’s eyes could light up so brightly at such a mediocre compliment, if you’d even call it one. “You like me ~”
“Stop.”
“You’re gonna fall in love with me ~”
“Chan -”
“I bet you already have ~”
“Ok, I’m going to bed.”
“No, you aren’t!”
You tried to run out of the kitchen and into your room to lock the door, but Chan got to you just as you reached the living room. He entrapped you with his big, strong arms and held you in a suffocating hug, drowning out his giggles with your screaming. Your resistance was strong, but you were smiling brighter than he’d ever seen before. Today was a long day for both of you and the moment Chan rested his chin on your shoulder was when you stopped struggling to break free. His tufts of chestnut hair and slow breathing tickled your cheeks.
“Oi, wake up,” you demanded, hitting his forearms.
That only made him hold you tighter. “No.”
You stopped fighting him and let the poor boy rest on your shoulder. “You don’t think this is weird?”
“No. We’re just two roommates fighting, right?” he teased, shaking you in his arms.
“Yeah, fighting.”
“Do you think it’s weird?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“Please.”
His giggle rang in your ear and made goosebumps travel throughout your skin. Then Chan did what spontaneous Chan does and surprised you by kissing your cheek with a loud, moist, audible smooch.
“A-Ah, Chan!!” you gasped.
“Goodnight, beautiful.”
Before you could scold him further, he had already let go and went to his room. How long was he holding you? Because now you’re left stunned in the living room feeling the cold from the draft of your windows. Your cheek felt like it had been branded by his soft rose petal lips. It burned so much that you ended your night lying in bed staring at the ceiling cupping the tainted cheek.
“I hate him,” you mumbled to no one. Your words hold zero weight the moment you screamed into your pillow.
--
The first couple of days after the incident were a little weird, to put it simply. You circled back to your old habits of avoiding him and keeping conversations short and that didn’t slip past Chan for even a couple of hours. At first, he thought he might have ruined whatever weird friendship you had together, but the way you avoided him was not how it used to be.
You were embarrassed - dare he say even shy. Your avoidance held no malice and didn’t feel icy as it did last semester. Rather, you fled because you felt vulnerable. Your words were no longer full of insults, but instead were soft and sprinkled with stutters. It was like a scene from a drama set in high school where the cute shy nerd has a massive crush on the super sexy jock and won’t admit her feelings because she doesn’t think she has a chance. And knowing you, you would never admit to having feelings, so how was Chan supposed to get a confession out of you?
Cornering you was the only option he thought could work, but sadly that didn’t.
“Chan, c’mon, I have to use the bathroom,” you whined on the other side of the door.
He didn’t say a word when the door opened and steam spilled out into the halls. Yet again was he dressed only in his pajama bottoms and a towel around his neck, hair still damp and hanging loosely over his eyes. He took a step forward and you’re given no choice but to back up.
“What are you -”
You cut yourself off when your back hit the wall and Chan had you in the palm of his hands. Proximity was close to nothing as your toes touched and you could smell your body wash from his freshly-washed chest. Seriously, he still used your body wash!?
“C-Can I use the bathroom or what…” you stuttered.
He stared right in your eyes, then admired your cute nose, and finally down to your lips. He was teasing you! Like, actually teasing! He’s making you think that he wanted to kiss you! All of the possibilities of him making a move on you were just as equal as him not going through with it and your mind was racing like crazy and it was really starting to stress you out! Why, why was it stressing you out!?
Then he took a huge step back to let you through.
“All yours,” he whispered.
Well, that sort of worked… You didn’t say a verbal confession, but your face sure showed it. But no, that wasn’t enough. He needed to hear you say it. He had to do more, and he knew exactly what to do to push your limits.
For the whole week, whenever you did something for him whether it was answering a simple question or giving him a plate of whatever you cooked for dinner, Chan would kiss your cheek. That’s right, those soft rose petal lips would every-so slightly graze your cheeks almost everyday and even when you tried to scold him or fight back, you didn’t, as if you were stunned frozen every single time. This of course scared Chan - no emotion meant uncertainty on his end. Well, did you like it, or not!?
At some point, after a whole week of cheek kisses, you kind of… got used to it. Got used to the damn kisses, his flirtatious winks, the invasion of your space bubble, eating all of your food, using all of your bath products, taking unsolicited naps on your bed while you studied, all of it! You’ve gotten used to being around the man that is Bang Chan and you would almost admit that you liked being around him… almost.
And neither of you spoke up about it.
So… what were you two…? That’s right, you’re asking yourself the infamous ‘so what are we’ question - it’s really reached that point. No longer were you enemies or just plain roommates living separate lives, and of course you two weren’t dating, either. So did you consider him a friend? Sure, I mean you wouldn’t cook dinner for just anyone, right? But everything Chan did was not what normal friends do. At least in your experience - who knows if he’s doing this type of stuff to his other ‘friends’, like Miyeon.
Speaking of which, you hadn’t heard about her in a while, and you were almost convinced whatever relationship they had was over when she called off their date that one Tuesday - until Friday night.
The night was still young when you arrived home to your roommate mixing and playing with some beats over those impossibly loud speakers. It’s been a long week dealing with school work on top of figuring out your conflicting feelings of the boy in the next room and a quiet night without any games from Chan would be ideal, but life never worked out for you in that way, did it?
“Welcome home, darling ~!” he greeted playfully over the blasting bass before turning it down. “Cookin’ anything for dinner?”
The tiredness in your sigh didn’t go unnoticed. “Nah, I don’t feel like cooking tonight. I might do delivery if you’re up for that?”
The charming man came out of the room all dressed up like he was planning on going out and not coming back for the night. “That’s ok, I actually have plans tonight.”
“Oh? Where are you going?”
“Miyeon’s taking me out to one of her friend’s birthday bash, or whatever rich girls like to do, before we all go out tonight.”
Miyeon, the gorgeous cheerleader. Somehow, you’ve completely forgotten her existence. Of course they were still talking, idiot! How could you even think that you could compete with someone like her?
“Are you her date?” you asked hesitantly, not wanting to know the answer.
“If that’s what she’s callin’ it, I guess so.” Chan adjusted his shirt collar and unbuttoned the top. “Do I look good?”
“Do you not consider her your date?”
“Not really. All I have to do is sit and look pretty.”
“You don’t think she’s asking you because she likes you?”
“Please, she probably only asked me because Mingyu said no.”
“Chan, you don’t know that for sure.”
You began to feel his frustration when he threw his hands in the air in disbelief. The truth hurts, doesn’t it? “Why are you so hung up about this? Why does it matter to you?”
“It doesn’t!” you said a little too defensively. “I just don’t think you’re being fair.”
“How?”
“What if she really likes you? What if she’s asking you out to this thing because she wants you to know that? If she does like you, can you even say that you like her back?”
“Tch, no.”
“Then why even bother going and leading her on!?”
“Who said I’m leading her on? I’m just keeping her company!”
“What, so you’re going to have your arm around her waist, look into each others’ eyes and kiss and it’s going to mean nothing!?” At this point, you were screaming before you knew it. “Because that’s what you two normally do, right? Kiss each other like it means nothing?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what it means, nothing! I -” Chan sighed heavily. “Ok, it does sound a little ridiculous when I say it out loud, but I promise it doesn’t mean anything! Wait a minute, why am I even explaining myself to you? Are you jealous, or something?”
No, you’re not jealous. You’re angry that Chan was that kind of guy who played with women like they were toys or little pawns on a cheap chess set. You’re angry that you were one of them.
“Have fun tonight,” you said flatly, retrieving to your room.
“_____, wait.” You didn’t wait and instead locked your bedroom door. “Fuck.”
Well, Chan’s End Game plan to get you to confess out of jealousy backfired badly. The party wasn’t even real! Dammit, now where was he supposed to go looking like this!?
A small lightbulb went off in his head. Off to the grocery store!
Maybe going to your room was a terrible idea because now you were left to reflect on how you poorly reacted. You had your strong points about how Chan didn’t know how Miyeon truly felt about him, but the flipside was that she could have felt the same - that she was just using Chan as some accessory and he was totally ok with that. Who were you to judge the weird mutualistic relationship that they had as head cheerleader and captain of the basketball team? The concept seemed corny and straight out of a teen movie, but perhaps those movies weren’t too far off base as you thought.
You’re also left to reflect on what he said before you stormed off into your room - were you jealous? At first, your anger could easily be mistaken for jealousy, but what was the truth? Of course you’re furious that Chan played these stupid fucking games with you! But you’d be less mad if you were the only one he cared to fool around with. 
You finally left the room around an hour after your sulking to bump into Chan’s rock-hard chest.
“Jesus Christ!” you screamed. “Chan, what the hell!” 
“Sorry, I was about to knock!”
“What are you doing right in front of my room, you werido!?”
The cheeky, dimply boy held up a paper bag. “Buzzfeed said people who like desserts are emotionally-driven and a little cold-hearted, but sweet as sugar once they get their fix.”
“Buzzfeed said that or YOU said that?”
“Both.”
You shook your head tiredly. “What are you doing here?”
“I… I lied. I don’t have some extravagant party to go to tonight. I haven’t texted Miyeon in weeks.”
“What? Then why did you…?”
“I had this dumb idea that you would confess your undying love for me if I somehow made you jealous. Clearly that didn’t work.”
“You’re right, you’re dumb ideas never work.”
“Hey, I didn’t say that! Fine, let me try Plan B. Let me know it it’s also dumb.”
“Gladly.”
“_____, I like you.”
Your breath hitched in your throat. “Y-You what?”
“I like you. A lot. Since you threw that blanket over me that one night last semester and I knew you didn’t truly hate my guts after all. And then I got to live with you - to witness your multi-faceted personality, to talk with you, and to get you to laugh at my dumb jokes and cheek kisses. Tell me, _____, am I dumb for falling for you like this?”
“Well… I’d say yes, but that would admit I’m stupid, too.”
“Oh?” He smirked playfully, taking a step forward. “And that’s because…?”
You mumbled something incoherent. Then, Chan dropped the bag of desserts and scooped you in his arms again, nuzzling his nose in all the ticklish places on your neck.
“Chan, stop!” you giggled.
“Hm? What was that?” he asked. “I can’t hear you ~”
“I like you!”
Finally, he stopped, lifting his head to look at you but keeping you safe in his arms. “Do you? I mean, really, do you?”
“I like you. Surprisingly a lot. And I hate it.”
“Music to my ears, baby,” he grinned. He buried his face once more to flower you with cheek kisses. “Say it again.”
“Don’t make me say it again.”
“Please ~” his kisses trickled down to your neck.
“It tickles!” you giggled some more. “If I say it, you gotta stop.”
“As much as that burdens me, fine.”
“I like you, Bang Chan.”
“See? Doesn’t that confession feel great? Like a huge weight lifted off your chest?” He pulled you in closer, to which you oblige and it only made his ego bigger and his heart beat faster. “I could get used to this.”
“Me too,” you sighed dreamily.
“Would you like dessert to commemorate this beautiful union, my love?”
“Sounds delightful.”
“Will you kiss me first?”
You pulled on his shirt collar to bring him down for a long, deep kiss that Chan thought he could only ever dream about. It left him dizzy and a little light headed and the way you break the kiss to let your sweet lips linger so closely was torturous and almost had him begging for more. Almost. Bang Chan did not beg.
“Whoa,” he sighed breathily.
“That’s what you get for the past couple of weeks.”
“Ah yeah, I suppose I deserve that…”
You left the stunned Chan to go ahead into the kitchen. “Let’s go, lover boy. I want some ice cream, please.”
“Anything for you, princess.”
--
EPILOGUE
“You two are what!?”
You and Chan looked at each other with fear written on both of your faces. Yeri was on the other end on speakerphone screaming curse words and ‘are you kidding me’s and ‘I fucking knew this would happen’s.
“Yeah, we’re uh, kind of dating now,” Chan repeated bravly.
“I cannot believe what I’m hearing! This is disgusting!! _____, what do you have to say for yourself, you hypocritical piece of poo!”
“I have nothing to say, I am just as ashamed as you are.”
Chan nudged you playfully. “Hey, we’re in this together, you know!”
“Ugh, I hate how I have to support this!” Yeri whined and cried and sobbed. “Just… Just don’t do it on my bed!”
“Don’t worry, apparently to Chan I’m a huge virgin because I know how to cook.”
“I was kidding!! And that’s gonna change now that I’m here -”
“Oh, gross! Stop! Please stop!” Yeri groaned. “I hate you both, I’m gonna kick your asses when I come back!”
“Love you too, Yer-bear,” you and Chan said in unison.
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Text
Pills (Chapter 29)
(Hello everyone, Rancoeur here. I know it's been a while since I last updated this book and I am truly sorry about that. But it's been so long since I've seen Zim or have even read fanfics about it. So in a way I sorta fell out of love with it. This doesn't mean I'm going to stop updating this though. This book is a monument to how my writing has evolved over the years and is my pride and joy. I will finish it, even if it kills me. It will be awesome and I can't wait for it. Thank you for reading this and please accept this 3300-word chapter as my apology. I know it's a little short and I did want to add more stuff to it but then it just looked bloated and I didn't like that. I hope everyone is staying safe out there. Have a nice day.)
Monday morning, Dib slowly got out of bed and stretched as his alarm clock rang. The boy rubbed his eyes softly before grabbing his glasses from the nightstand and put them on his nose after turning off the said clock. He glanced outside, noticing the dark clouds coming in, and sighed.
"Already looks pretty gross out there," he muttered to himself before he started to get dressed for school.
Honestly, it felt weird to sleep on a bed after sleeping in a tent for a week. Aside from just being comfier it kinda felt... lonely. Like someone was missing.
The boy shook his head as he slid on his coat and began the trek downstairs to greet Gaz and his father. Another rare day of eating with the Professor.
"Hey dad, hey Gaz," he smiled a bit and went to the fridge to grab some juice. When he grabbed what he wanted he pulled back and shut the fridge, only to find his dad right behind him holding a new device to his head. He reeled back in surprise, "dad?!"
His dad smiled at him and waved him off, "no need to worry son, I was just testing out this new invention I'm making on you. Says here your serotonin levels are higher than usual. You must be in a good mood!"
Dib gave his dad a nervous smile and laugh before backing away to the table where his sister was eating with one hand while simultaneously playing her new game with the other.
"Yeah, you haven't mumbled about killing Zim all morning. What's wrong with you?" She spoke between bites of cereal.
"I don't know, I guess I'm just too tired to think about killing Zim," Dib shrugged as he poured himself a bowl.
"That's bull and we both know it. You talk about capturing Zim in your sleep, I can hear it in my room," Gaz tossed a glare his way before going back to her game.
Dib rolled his eyes, "whatever." He muttered as he began eating.
Still, he couldn't help but feel a strange sensation in his chest.
Zim tentatively stepped out of his home. The Dib had told him that the skool children had already forgotten about the drugs, but he still felt fear. Like there were still eyes following him as he marched down the sidewalk. A feeling of uneasiness seemed to wash over him.
Eventually, the blocky, grey building came into view. A few children were loitering about, waiting for the bell to ring. Not wanting to draw attention to himself, Zim just sat on a bench and waited alongside them. Only observing them slightly.
Humans were weird on Mondays, Zim had no idea why though. Something about that particular day of the week seemed to drain all of the energy from the weird meat bags. One kid looked like he was about to fall on his face from exhaustion.
Down the street, he spotted the Dib and his little sister. A part of Zim was fearful. Now that everything had gone relatively back to normal, would Dib go back to trying to expose him?
When the two entered the skool's grounds, they separated. Gaz went to sit on the steps, playing her video game. While  Dib glanced about, when he looked his way, the human... smiled at him.
Causally Dib stepped closer and closer until the two were only a few feet apart. There was a moment of silence between them, both of them just staring at each other. It was obvious they both wanted to say something but neither knew how.
Eventually, Dib sighed and spoke a little quietly, "hey uh... can I sit here?" The boy gestured to the spot on the bench next to Zim.
Zim looked surprised for a moment before he crossed his arms and looked away with his usual snark before quipping a quick, "you may."
Dib chuckled to himself, "same old Zim." He said as he sat down beside the green alien.
With that, the two sat in silence once more, the two of them just looking down at the skoolyard. Humans shuffling about like zombies, waiting for something to happen. Eventually, Zim slumped out of his uptight posture and looked down in his lap, fiddling with his thumbs.
It was Dib who once again broke the silence, "so, what evil plan is it this time?"
Zim looked up at the human in surprise, "eh?"
"You know, to take over the world and all that?" Dib smirked and leaned close, "or did you forget your mission."
Zim immediately perked up and sneered in disgust, "of course not! And to answer your first question. WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO KNOW!" He shouted that last part accidentally as he pointed an accusatory finger at the boy.
Dib just laughed, clutching his stomach as Zim tried to regain his composure. Zim couldn't help but giggle to himself slightly.
"In all seriousness," Zim started once the two had calmed down. "I don't know... I know I have a mission. But at the same time, that mission was given to me by them." Zim found himself glaring at his own hands. He clenched them into fists.
"It feels so strange, to have a purpose one second only to realize that purpose was only given to you to get you out of the way. And now that I see past all their lies I... I don't know. I have no idea what I should be doing, or what my purpose is now or what I'm even still doing on Earth." Zim sighed and closed his eyes, he knew Dib was looking at him, either pitying him or laughing at his distress.
Instead, he felt a hesitant hand on his shoulder. Zim looked up at Dib who was giving him a comforting yet awkward smile before pulling his hand back and sitting properly.
"If we're being truthful right now I guess I'll be straight with you," Dib spoke as he laid back on the bench and looked up at the sky. "The main reason why I wanted to help you was because I was hoping you'd leave once you realized what your mission was." Dib hummed to himself.
"But now that you're off your drugs and ready to leave... I..." Dib paused, "Don't get me wrong, I still hate your guts." He huffed but then frowned, "but the thought of you leaving now... it just doesn't sit well with me." Dib admitted.
"Funny how the one I considered my worst enemy could become someone I might even call my..." Dib paused again and looked at Zim with an emotion ZIm couldn't decern, "friend."
Zim stared at Dib in complete silence, 'friend?' Dib smiled slightly before going back to looking at the cloudy sky.
Three minutes passed before Zim opened his mouth, "Dib I-" Before he could finish the ever-piercing sound of the bell rang, cutting him off. Simultaneously, Zim was both annoyed and grateful for the interruption.
"Well I guess we'll finish this talk some other time," the human spoke grabbed his bag, and got up. "I'll see you later Zim," Dib gave one last smile before waving goodbye and walking away towards the school building.
It was then that it hit Zim, he'd never seen Dib smile so much before. The boy seemed genuinely happy in Zim's company. It felt so strange, a foreign feeling, a feeling he hadn't felt since, "Skoodge."
Suddenly it felt like all the air had left Zim's respiratory organs and he fell to his knees on the ground. Tears were building in his eyes until eventually, the dam broke, and he started sobbing loudly. Trying and failing to gasp for air. His cardiac spooch felt like it was being squeezed like a stress toy. It hurt and Zim was just figuring out why.
All alone in the Skool courtyard, Zim was crying. Crying like a long-forgotten smeet. Eventually, the Irken just laid down on his side curled into a ball. How could he? What was wrong with him?! How could he have hurt Skoodge like that?! His best friend! His partner! His mate!
How could he have hurt someone so close to him, so one who had seen him at both his best and his worst?
The tears wouldn't stop.
Eventually, his thoughts went back to Dib, the human who even despite their mutual hatred for one another still sought to help him. To get him off those horrid drugs and saw him as a... a friend.
Suddenly it felt like time itself had stopped. A friend.
Zim had a friend. Quietly the little alien stood up and whipped his eyes. He found himself staring up at the sky, just as Dib had. The clouds seemed to have gotten darker, it was likely going to rain soon.
He should probably get inside-
A hand came out from behind him and covered his mouth roughly, cutting off his thoughts as he went into a panic. That was before it all went dark.
"So uh... what is it exactly?" Tallest Purple asked a hand on his chin as he inspected the strange being before him, keeping his distance of course.
"A Murthen, my Tallest, female, foot soldier class." The Doctor spoke, his back upright and arms tucked neatly behind his back as he gave a quick bow.
They all stood on the bridge of the Massive. The two Tallest were near the controls while the Doctor and his captive stood at the other end of the bridge. Behind the Doctor stood Skoodge, the little Irken was practically sweating bullets as he clutched Raz's egg. He kept his mouth shut, but every time he even glanced at the Murthen or her collar it felt like another ton of weight was added to his shoulders.
"A Murthen?" Tallest Red gave a confused and disgusted look at the blue figure, "ok...but what's it doing on our ship."
"I believe she will be a great help to our mission to subdue Zim. Despite her lower rank, she is incredibly capable and has experience in both war and combat.
"I mean, so did Tak," Tallest Purple crossed his arms.
The Doctor actually laughed and it was the most haunting thing anyone in the room had ever heard. "Oh, my Tallest, Raz here, is certainly no Tak, trust me."
"I don't even trust the way you just said trust me," Purple muttered in the background as Tallest Red stepped forward.
"Murthen, Murthen where have I heard that name before?" He squinted his eyes at Raz as Tallest Purple stepped behind him, "was it a planet we conquered."
"I assure you my Tallest, Murth most likely will never be claimed," the Doctor hummed.
'He seems so sure of himself,' Skoodge thought.
"Why's that?" Tallest Red asked skeptically.
"This is why," the Doctor spoke as he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
Before anyone had any idea what was going on, Raz raised her arm, showing a previously concealed weapon. She aimed it at one of the foodservice drones and fired and a blue beam-like laser shot out.
"AHHHHHH!!!" A scream ripped through the room as the service drone fell to the floor, the donuts he was carrying, splattering beside him. He had been shot in the lower abdomen and was clutching his melting chest in a frenzy. He was quite literally melting on the floor. Eventually, he fell silent as he collapsed on the floor, smoke coming off his body.
The two Tallest jumped back in fear, "WHAT IN THE US WAS THAT?!" Purple screamed.
"Show them," The Doctor gestured to the two with his head.
Raz held out the gun, displaying it in front of the two leaders. It was small and compact, not unlike the blasters the Irkens used. This one however was silver with a grey handle, on the sides of the round barrel were tempered glass that displayed a blue liquid.
"This is just a ground soldier-grade weapon. Yet it has the capabilities to destroy Irken armies. It's filled with a chemical compound known as H2O aka water. Due to our solubility when an Irken comes in contact with it, we tend to melt. However, that's not everything. The water is also mixed with a compound only found in Murthen waters, it is known as Gr4F8 aka Blue Gix. Mixed with water it lowers the boiling point to room temperature and creates energy in the form of light and heat. This creates the beam you just witnessed. This gun alone could destroy our entire empire and that's not even half of it." The Doctor nodded toward Raz and she lowered the gun.
"This is the kind of weaponry that can be expected on Murth, that is why we can not conquer it yet. I'm sure with a bit of studying we could find a way to make ourselves immune to this but until then. We'll just have to leave Murth unconquered. At the moment, however, I believe we should get back to the topic of Zim."
"R-right right, Zim," Tallest Red stuttered, trying to keep his composer. "Are you sure she's fit for the job?"
"Oh my Tallest, you have no idea," the Doctor smiled that irksome smile of his.
"Zim won't know what hit him."
The rest of the discussion seemed to fade out for Skoodge as he stared, wide-eyed at the dead Irken before him. He had just been shot, no warning, no nothing. He was just doing his job and he was shot and then forgotten about. Like his life meant nothing.
Already some of the cleaning drones had come over, collecting the body to be disposed of. Most likely going to be tossed out of the airlock like trash.
Skoodge looked to the egg in his hands, little Mur. Every time he looked at her he just felt more and more guilty. Her carrier was being controlled against her will and he was the cause of it.
Now he had to carry her around, an actual burden on his shoulders.
"Alright then, I guess it's settled, we'll be leaving the quadrant in a few hours to start heading for Earth," Tallest Red's voice cut into Skoodges thoughts and he felt panic run through him, that means they'll be leaving Murth and Raz's family.
Before Skoodge had a chance to voice his concerns, the Doctor was already leaving with Raz in tow.
Quickly Skoodge ran after them, once they were out of the bridge and in one of the Massive's many hallways he spoke up, "Doctor! What about the egg! There's no water on the ship!"
"Your pretty good at stating the obvious," the doctor hummed, not even bothering to look at him.
"B-but-"
"Look Skoodge, I already told you. If you want the egg, you can keep it. But that makes it your problem, not mine," the Doctor growled, getting agitated by the shorter Irken's nagging.
"But Doctor!"
Suddenly the Doctor spun around and pointed glaringly at him, "no! I'm tired of hearing your squeaky insignificant voice!" He shouted, "one more word out of you and I'll reveal the secret about your lack of pills to the Tallest!"
At first, Skoodge was terrified but one look at the child, strapped to his chest and he was quick to shoot a glare of his own. "And reveal yourself?! Fat chance!"
"Oh please! you don't think I don't already have the Tallest under my thumb?!"
Skoodge paused and stared up at the Doctor wide-eyed, "what?"
"You heard me, I've had them on my drugs since day one! I have nothing to fear from them. Just like I have nothing to fear from you! You short, intolerable, idiotic, service drone!" The Doctor raised his hand to smack Skoodge only to collapse to his knee in pain. He grimaced and gripped his right leg in pain, a new bump already showing through his pants.
"Damn it!" He snarled and began to roll up his pant leg, showing the ugly lump on his calf. To even the Doctor's horror, it seemed to be splitting off into two.
"Damn things are getting worse," he muttered to himself and looked to Skoodge expectantly.
Almost on instinct, Skoodge pulled out 4 syringes from his pac only to pause before approaching.
"What the hell are you doing, help me!" The taller Irken demanded.
"No! I will do no such thing until we return Raz and her egg back home!" Skoodge demanded himself.
"And ruin your chances of taking over the control brains and getting Zim back?" The Doctor sneered, gripping his leg tighter now.
"The ends don't justify the means, Doctor!" Skoodge snarled.
"Fine," the Doctor stammered out, already looking out of breath from the pain. "W-with friends like you, who needs enemies," he growled and snapped his fingers, and Raz, who had been standing beside him stoically this whole time, tackled Skoodge.
The scariest part wasn't those sharp webbed fingers, or those strong four arms, no it was those cold eyes. Raz looked completely dead on the inside like she was just a body heading the commands of something that wasn't her. It was terrifying.
She was quick and strong as he pinned his arms and legs down before grabbing the needles from his hands and kicking him away once she got what she was after. Not even bothering to be careful about her egg, thankfully Skoodge used his own body as a shield for the fragile thing.
After that, she knelt before the Doctor and began to siphon out more of that green stuff from the lumps. She managed to get one of the lumps to go down but it seemed the remaining two syringes weren't enough to lessen the larger one. Only reduce it, as Raz got up to get more from Skoodge she was stopped by the Doctor standing up.
"Leave it, this will do for now," he hissed as he pulled his pant leg back down, hiding the bump. "And you," the Doctor glared at Skoodge.
"You're lucky I'm far too busy right now to deal with you. I do however have this to say,"  he looked down on Skoodge the lighting making him look absolutely terrifying. "If you pull that again, I'll make you watch as I dissect that egg." With that threat, the Doctor turned around and left Skoodge on the floor, Raz following obediently behind him.
Skoodge felt sick to his stomach like he was about to throw up. He clutched the egg tightly, trying desperately not to cry. How was he supposed to go on? He needed to save Zim, but at the same time, just the thought of abandoning Mur and Raz left Skoodge feeling sick.
"Oh, what do I do," Skoodge held up the egg, staring at the little Murthen inside as if she could give him an answer. What worried Skoodge was just how developed she was now. Her four arms had all formed and little pink and purple spots decorated her body, soon to make the pattern of one or both of her parents. Her eyes were slightly open now too. Revealing dark purple eyes.
"Oh Mur, you're going to hatch soon aren't you?" Tears started to form in Skoodge's eyes, "and your carrier won't even be there to witness it." Skoodge covered his mouth with one hand as he scooted to press his back against the wall in revelation, "and it's all my fault."
"I'm a monster," he whispered in horror. Just as he was about to break down, crying. Skoodge felt a shift in the egg and looked down at the little Murthlet inside. She had moved her hands from the clutched position they had before to the shell of the egg. She had just placed all four of them there and it completely mesmerized Skoodge. Four little blue hands with little webbing in between, even tiny little claws on each finger.
Skoodge felt a small blush form on his face in surprise before a small smile crept onto it as well. He placed his forehead on the shell, ignoring the slight burning sensation it caused, and smiled.
"I know I've hurt you and your family. But I swear on my life, I'll keep you safe, I promise."
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mermaidsneedwater · 4 years
Text
you’re drunk
⇒ jaebeom
“Pew pew!” You narrate the sound effects from your finger guns “Jae! I’m shooting love bullets at you, are you falling for me?”
“Baby how much did you have to drink?” Jaebeom laughed.
That was a very valid question, your best friend was getting married and you had been put in charge of throwing the most epic bachelorette party complete with penis straws, strippers, and alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol.
You had taken your duties so seriously that Jaebeom had to come pick you up from your wild night out, quite literally. He carried you bridal style out of the bar and walked you to his car a few blocks away.
“Just alottle.” You jumbled the words.
“Okay, that’s not even a word.” Jaebeom scoffed, “You’re gonna have the worst hangover tomorrow.”
“Oh man, Jaebeom is gonna be so pissed at me.” You said, forgetting that he was the one carrying you. “Hey! Don’t be a snitch and tell him. Sometimes he’s a little uptight about these things”
Jaebeom held back a laugh as you continued. “You got it.”
“All in all,” you yawned, “he’s a pretty good boyfriend, I’d give him a 4.7 rating on Uber.”
As he reached his car, Jaebeom was thankful he’d been the one to get you. He secretly loved taking care of you, but he’d never let you know that.
“Hey am I spinning or what?” You commented.
And with that, Jaebeom knew he was in for a long night.
⇒ mark
It was 3:24 am when Mark finally woke up. He’d heard his phone ringing, but couldn’t find the will to get up and answer it. Laying in bed, he contemplated the possibility of you calling, so when the phone rang a third time, Mark leaned over and picked up the call.
“Hello?” His voice still groggy.
“Mark Tuannnnnnnnnnnn!” You answered gleefully. “I need you.”
“What’s going on? Are you drunk?” He sat up in bed at the sound of your voice.
“I- uh just had a little bit, it was my friend’s birthday. Anyway, I can’t get a car home and my friends are about to leave so–“
“Stay with one of your friends and text me your location. I’m coming to get you.” Mark instructed. “And Y/N? Please don’t do anything stupid.”
“Aye aye captain!” You responded with a laugh.
Hanging up the phone, Mark rushed to get dressed faster than he’d planned. You were without doubt, 100% wasted.
At 3:47 am Mark arrived at the address you’d texted, which turned out to be a diner. He found you sitting alone in a booth, sipping on a vanilla milkshake and eating some French fries.
“Where’s your friend?” He asked, his voice concerned. “She just left you here?!”
“Relax, she just left 5 minutes ago. Why’d you take so long?” You asked, dunking a french fry in your shake.
“Sorry, I’m usually not up at three in the morning!” Mark snapped. “Next time call someone else when your chauffeur can’t make it on time.”
Placing a hand over his across the table, you spoke, “I’m sorry baby, but thank you for coming.”
His expression softened as you thanked him, how could he be mad at you when you were so cute? For the amount of stress you gave him, Mark couldn’t admit to himself that he loved the fact that you called him first for any situation.
“Well now that I’m here, do you mind sharing that shake and fries?”
⇒ jackson
“Swell, swell, well” you slurred. “Lookie who it is!”
You’d gone for a well deserved girls night out, having fun with your girlfriends. That was before you tried stripping and dancing on top of the bar, prompting your friends to call some backup.
“Y/N, is that my jacket?” Jackson asked as he walked to the bar, sober as ever.
“Whattttt? Pft, no!” You looked at Jackson’s jacket hanging off your shoulders, “Ohh wait...”
As the realization dawned on you that you were in fact wearing his jacket, you looked at him with a devilish smile. “Do you want it back?”
“I mean no–“
“Shots! Shots! Shots!” You yelled happily, “Bartender! Shots for everybody! I want everyone here to have a glass in their hand, I’m paying tonight baby!”
The crowd in the bar cheered as you made your announcement.
“Yeah! Let’s have shots!” A random guy yelled.
The bartender locked eyes with Jackson who quickly mouthed no. Nodding, he served two shots, one for you and one for Jackson.
“Princess, can you get down from the bar stool? You’re going to fall.” He calmly asked.
Complying with his request you attempted to get down. Holding his shoulder for support, you were taken aback, “woah, when did you become so buff?”
In the dim lighting of the bar, nobody could tell that Jackson was blushing, and nobody would ever know. Because you were the only one who could make him do cheesy things like that.
“Ready baby? One, two, three!” Giving him a quick ‘cheers’, you downed what must’ve been your sixth shot that night.
Jackson on the other hand had thrown his shot over his shoulder, acting as designated driver meant he couldn’t enjoy the high with you.
“Wooohooo!” You laughed. “Okay, let’s talk.”
“What do you wanna talk about?” Jackson asked, curious about what this truth serum might bring out in you.
“When we’re... you know... doing things, am I bad?” You tilted your head, genuinely concerned.
“W-woah, I was not expecting that” Jackson coughed and laughed at the same time. Truly, he didn’t think that was what you were thinking about.
“Come on!” You whined. “It’s so unfair, you get to be a successful K-pop person, and you’ve probably fucked so many people!”
Jackson brought your stool closer to his and leaned into your ear.
“Trust me babygirl, you’re very, very good at... doing things” He whispered, his voice husky.
“Um, can we go home...” you told him, a little flustered from his confession.
“Why?” He asked. “Are ya going to take advantage of me?”
He winked and stood up, walking towards the front door.
“Jackson Wang get back here!” You yelled after him.
⇒ jinyoung
Jinyoung knew he’d find you on the balcony.
Mark had thrown an apartment warming party for his new place and had invited everyone. Of course with Mark, he always made sure everyone was drinking except him. Jinyoung made a mental note to scold the host for getting his girlfriend so drunk.
Stepping out into the evening air, he took off his jacket and wrapped it around your shoulders.
Noticing he was there you smiled at him lovingly. “Cigarette?” You offered the vice to him.
Groaning, he took it out of your hands and straight to his lips. “You need to quit.” He said.
“Hypocrite,” You rolled your eyes at him, “besides I only do this socially.”
“Still,” Jinyoung said. Exhaling a puff of smoke, he put out the cigarette and threw the stub over the balcony. Mocking a baseball swing, he watched the foul thing fall down the stories of Mark’s new building.
“Hey!” You pouted. “I wasn’t done with that.”
“Now you are.” Jinyoung smirked. “Look at this view.”
“I know, it’s so magical.” You sighed. You pulled your bottle of tequila from the balcony floor and took a big swig.
“What the–“ Jinyoung started. He couldn’t contain his laughter when he saw the bottle pop up from nowhere.
“I’m not sharing, after what you did to my cigarette.” You held the bottle away from him “I know you’re gonna drain this.”
“Okay, okay,” he held his hands up in defeat, “I won’t try and drain it.”
“Promise?” You asked. “Pinky swear.”
You held out your pinky like a five year-old. Shaking his head and chuckling, Jinyoung attached his pinky to yours.
“I don’t know how I’m so in love with you.” Jinyoung looked out of the balcony. It took him mere seconds to register what he was saying when he turned to you. “I mean-“
“You love me!” You squealed. “I knew you were going to say it first!”
Turning to him, you wrapped your arms around his neck. “Don’t even try to deny it Jinyoung, you’re stuck with me.”
“I guess I am.” Jinyoung complied, wrapping his arms around your waist. “But you know, you’re so drunk sweetheart, you’re going to forget I said it in the morning.”
“Mr. Park, this is not the kind of thing one forgets” You stated. Leaning into his chest you placed your head over his heart, mumbling “I knew you were going to say it first.”
⇒ youngjae
Youngjae was eating his words as he watched you down shot after shot. He’d teased you before going out that you never let loose, and while he was right, he’d now come to regret the decision encouraging you to drink.
“Kiss me!” You clung to your boyfriend.
“Woah, woah, woah,” he managed to dodge your lips as they landed on his jaw.
“Come on, I know you can do it,” you insisted. “Just one kiss.”
“Y/N, darling, you’re beyond drunk.” Youngjae tried to reason with you. “We can’t.”
“I knew it! You’re going to break up with me.” You began to cry.
Oh crap, you were one of those emotional drunks.
As the tears flowed down from your eyes, Youngjae struggled to find the words to make it better.
“Why would you think that?” He asked
“Because you’re avoiding me and you won’t kiss me!” You cried.
“Yeobo, please. I would love to kiss you right now. A lot actually. But I can’t, we can’t. It’s not right.” He explained.
“Can’t or won’t?” You pushed him. You took another sip of your drink and he cringed.
“Alright, alright!” Youngjae brought your forehead to his lips, and lightly pecked it. “Happy?”
“What was that? That was the kind of kiss my grandpa would give. Kiss me like you mean it.” You insisted.
“Alright, point to where you want me to kiss you.”
You pointed to your eyes and Youngjae’s lips followed, then each cheek, your nose, and finally your lips.
As Youngjae leaned in, he pivoted and kissed the corner of your mouth.
“You’re the worst!” You exclaimed. “Don’t be such a tease.”
“Sober up and then we’ll talk,” Youngjae replied with a laugh.
⇒ bambam
Unlocking the door to your apartment, Bambam helped you in.
“Woaah” you said almost falling in your heels. “The air up here really is that good!”
“Y/N, you’re at most 5’8 in those heels, there’s no difference of air quality with a couple of inches.”
“Let me have this okay!” You hollered.
“Alright, come on,” Bambam ushered you into the bedroom, “let’s get you ready for bed.”
You plopped yourself on the bed as he knelt down and took off your heels. He worked his way up, removing your skirt and top, leaving you in your bra and underwear.
“Hey, hey, hey! Buy a girl dinner first.” You covered yourself up, “are trying to get me naked?”
At the mention of this Bambam lost it, chuckling he replied “Baby, trust me, that’s like the last thing on my mind right now.”
“Oh, so you think I’m ugly!” You retorted.
“No, I just wouldn’t take advantage of you when you’re like this.” Bambam replied calmly.
“Damn you and your manners!” You responded “if you’re not trying to get me naked then I want you to turn around while I change.”
“Y/N are you serious? You’ll take forever, just let me do it. It’s not like I haven’t seen you before” Your boyfriend insisted.
“Turn around!”
Seeing as he wouldn’t win the argument, Bambam turned around and waited for your signal to turn back. He waited ten whole minutes before you were finished.
“Okay, you can turn around.”
And what a sight awaited him, you’d managed to get your pajamas bottoms on correctly, but the shirt was on backwards. Stifling a laugh he headed over to you, “May I?” He asked.
Shrugging you sat on the bed again as he helped turn your shirt towards the front. When he finished he noticed you were sleeping in your sitting position.
She’s in for a rough morning tomorrow.
Tucking you into bed he kissed your forehead, and got ready for bed himself. “I love you, you crazy girl” he whispered.
⇒ yugyeom
For someone dating an excellent dancer, you yourself had two left feet. Usually you shied away from showing this trait off but when you were drunk? Let’s just say you certainly thought you were good.
“Jagiya, why do you always have to be drunk to dance with me?” Yugyeom laughed.
You were too busy busting out what you thought was the Lullaby choreography, but actually looked like you were a grandma with hip problems.
“Less talking more dancing!” You called out happily.
Sometimes you and Yugyeom did this, when there was nothing to do, you’d order a pizza and get drunk. It was a great way to relieve the stress of the week, but always ended up in a splitting headache for one of you. Today, it seemed like you would be the one waking up with a massive hangover.
As the song ended, Yugyeom changed the playlist and let a slow song play.
“May I have this dance?” He asked, bowing down.
“I guess.” You said jokingly.
Looking fake hurt, Yugyeom pulled you close and you swayed to the music.
“Woah,” you said, breaking the tension, “so awkward.”
“This isn’t awkward Y/N, it’s romantic.” He insisted. “We’re keeping the spark alive.” 
“Ugh, that sounds like something an old person would say,” you groaned. “I don’t wanna be old.”
“Unfortunately for you, everyone grows old.” Yugyeom said, resting his chin on top of your head. “But it’s okay.”
“Is it?” You asked, looking up from his shoulder.
“Absolutely.” He nodded.
“Since when do you say such profound things Yugy?” You asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Since always, you just don’t listen.” He stuck his tongue out at you playfully.
“Ah you’re right, everything you say goes in one ear and out the other.” You teased.
“Oh that was a low blow,” Yugyeom tickled your sides, “you’re going to get it!”
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drethanramslay · 4 years
Text
A funny thing called Fate: Chapter 1
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Pairing: Bryce X MC (Aisha Khurrana)
Word count: 2.6K words
Series Masterlist 
Masterlist
Warning: None really, just some cursing
Author's note: Hello!! I am back with the first chapter of "A funny thing called Fate" and this time this is in Bryce's POV
Like I said last time, there would be time jumps so you will be seeing both- 16 year old Bryce and present day Bryce
Just a word of caution, 16 year old Bryce (according to me) is your typical bad boy who is a jerk and upholds his reputation and prestige as the most important priorities
I decided to take part in @choicesseptemberchallenge20​ the prompt being- LOST
Also decided to take part in @choicesweeklychallenge​ the prompt being "I just... don't know. Honestly."
Both of them will be in bold
TERMS THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
-> kanilehua: Motherfucker (I literally googled curse words in Hawaiian language so please forgive me if they are wrong 🤧)
-> okole: Butt/ Ass
-> budhiya: old woman in Hindi
Forgive me if I make any mistakes
10 years ago- Bryce's POV
"Aloha!!" Bryce's cheerful voice ran clear through the hallways as he approached his teammates, instantly capturing the attention of the people.
"Hey Bryce, my man." Jason, his best friend stepped forward and did a complicated handshake with him before patting his back.
"How was the summer?" Kai, his other best friend spoke up as he leaned against the lockers, his dark hair falling on his eyes.
"You know the usual. Practice and stuff. My parents did take us to Australia. The waves there are sweet." Bryce whistled lowly, remembering how he spent numerous days surfing at sea.
"What a lucky bastard. Do you think your parents would adopt me?" Jason asked causing Kai to chuckle.
At this point, they would want anyone but me as their son. A dark look passed on his face but he hid it behind the over cheerful and happy go lucky mask.
"So, what's up with you guys?!" He asked, smoothly changing the topic.
Jason began. "Well I for one, had a fun summer hanging out at the beach, enjoying the sun-"
"-having flings left, right, centre." Kai completed the sentence, snickering.
"As if you weren't the one who fooled around more. You broke so many hearts, Kai!!" Jason rolled his eyes.
"But I finally settled down, unlike your unsettled ass." Kai exclaimed.
"50 bucks you will break up with him in ten days." Kai narrowed his green eyes and smacked the back of Jason’s head. 
"Wow, seems like I have some catching up to do." Bryce smirked.
Kai turned towards Bryce, suddenly serious. "Glad you brought it up. We have a proposition for you."
Bryce incredulously raised his eyebrow.
"Your two o'clock. Short brunette with glasses. Don't be too obvious."
Bryce ran his hand through his long hair and his amber eyes fell on the girl.
He leaned against the locker near Jason.
"What's her deal?"
"Apparently, she joined the school last year and has been on the low. Keeps to herself, certified nerd, teacher's pet and super uptight."
Bryce eyed her and he recognized that she was in his chemistry class last year.
Aisha Khurrana.
"Wait... That's Aisha. She was in my chemistry class last year. Introverted and quiet."
Jason did a double-take. "Wait really? Well, that makes it easier for us."
"Good. I will make y'all talk to her-"
Kai stopped him midway. "Woah, woah, woah. We don't want to interact with her. You are the one doing this."
"Will one of you kanilehua tell me what the fuck is going on?" Bryce asked, getting annoyed.
"After the legendary prank Ano pulled last year, it's time we step up. So while you were tanning your okole in Australia, Jason and I were brainstorming to come up with a better idea."
Jason continued. "So we decided that you could get her fall in love with you before the finals and boom! We could pull the prank on prom."
Bryce's eyed widened. "Woah, don't you think that's extreme?"
Kai rolled his eyes. "Please, Ano humiliated a teacher and exposed that he was having an affair with a junior. I don't think it's that extreme."
"What is this prank you have planned on prom?"
Jason waved his hand. "We haven't worked out the details but we have the entire year to do that. You on the other hand... Are running out of time."
Bryce's eyebrows furrowed. "And why can't either of you take this up?"
"Because Kai here is surprisingly getting cosy with Kaeo the jock from Sunset High while I am on the principal's radar for the shit I did last year. I am this close to getting expelled." Jason enunciated his point by touching his pointer finger and thumb.
"Jas... you're touching your fingers."
"Exactly."  
"So will you take one for the team?”
Bryce sighed. "I just... don't know. Honestly." 
“Bro, this could literally make or break our popularity bro. You don't want to be the laughing stock of the school, do you?" They asked with puppy eyes.
The peer pressure and the need to uphold his reputation as the golden boy made him raise his hands in defeat. His eyes glanced at the losers down the hall, who people were blatantly ignoring.
Definitely don't want to fall in that category.
"Fine. I will do it. But you will owe me."
"That's our boy." The boys whooped as they clapped his back.
Bryce's eyes wandered to his new target, finding her brown eyes staring right back at him. The flecks of hazel shone with curiosity but her face was impassive as if she didn't want to let anyone in.
Well, this is going to be an interesting year, Aisha Khurrana. Bryce thought to himself.
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PRESENT
When Bryce woke up this morning, he didn't think his day would turn out this way.
Who would have fucking thought that the one girl you could never get over shows up at the hospital you are a surgical intern at?
Not me.
He was looking forward to this fresh start. A new city where no one knew who he was and he hoped it stayed that way. To hone his craft and become one of the best surgeons in the country. Anything to get rid of the stains on his name.
After Aisha left at the beginning of Junior year of high school, things were hard. Not that anyone was going to believe him but he actually loved her and no matter how many people he hooked up with, no matter how much he drank himself to oblivion, there was just no getting over her.
He often wondered- no believed that he had lost his one shot at love.
You only get one great love and of course, I had to blow it up, and for what? Popularity? Reputation? That already went down the drain because of my beloved dad.
When he finally got his head in the game and things were bearable, the scandal happened towards the end of the Senior year. Sure, he could hide face during the summers, lounging in his gaudy compound. But he could hear the occasional shouts and protests out of the gates of his home, reminding him that he couldn't escape the truth.
To distract himself from his dad going to trial, his mom selling out to the feds and his baby sister crying from the stress, he dove right into his studies, hoping to score well in his SATs so that he could get away from Maui.
But there was still one year of high school left, and that was fucking awful. He was relentlessly bullied at every turn of the corridor, got the stink eye from the teachers and people jumped away from him as if he was a social pariah.
Technically, I was.  
Though his parents were very tight-lipped about the details of the case, it wasn't that hard to get to know more from the internet. And the fact that the people in his school always made it a point to remind him.
Aisha's dad was one of the people who worked for the company that got screwed over by his dad.
Bryce had given up after all these years that he will ever find her again. He often wondered what would he do if he were to meet her again. The apologies he would say and the monologue on how ‘he was never the same after she left’ had been practised over and over again.
But right there she was, half-naked in front of him, completely at the loss of words. His eyes wandered, making sure if it was the same girl from tenth grade. There was a nose piercing and he saw a little ink near a hip.
"Aisha?" He repeated, completely shocked, his jaw dropped. Never in his entire life has he felt the loss of words.
They stared into each other's eyes, chocolate brown eyes meeting his amber ones, completely lost.
But that moment didn't last for long because Jackie shutting the locker made them realize that this was indeed reality.
Aisha managed to snap out of her reverie. "Oh my fucking god, I don't have time for this shit." She rapidly threw on her fresh sets of scrubs and slammed her locker before making a move.
Bryce stepped in her path, blocking her. "What are you doing here?!"
Her eyes snapped up to meet his, the familiar fire and hatred flooding in those brown orbs. "Well, I could ask you the same thing Mr. I-will-become-a-lawyer. Now out of my way, I'm getting late for the orientation." Though she was short (5 feet 3 inches to be precise), she still managed to slam her shoulder against his chest and walk away.
"Oh My God!!" Jackie's voice resounded after a few quiet moments.
"Put a cap on it nose wipe." He muttered as he rubbed the area where Aisha slammed against him.
"I didn't say anything."
"Yeah but that expression says it all." He rolled his eyes as put his stethoscope into his breast pocket.
"But, for real. Who is she?" Jackie asked, inquisitiveness laced in her voice.
Bryce flicked her nose. "I found your nose in my business, why don't you take it right out?"
"Ugh. Fine. Keep your secrets. C'mon, let us get to the orientation before it gets over."
"Yap. Right behind you."  The duo headed towards the main atrium and made their way towards the front so that they could hear the hospital chief. The rest of the interns were already gathered in front of the stairs upon which an impressive, statuesque woman stood and spoke.
That is Dr Harper Emery!! Bryce thought to himself, as the very thought of standing in the very same room as his inspiration made him giddy. He turned to talk but the excitement instantly vanished because thanks to his amazing luck, he ended up standing right next to Aisha.
The universe, what games are you playing against me? Bryce let out a sigh which caught Aisha's attention. She just gave an annoying glance and stared up, as if to ask why was this happening to her.
Both of them turned away from each other and focused on what Dr Emery was saying. "... because as of today, you are no longer students, You are doctors."
Aisha turned towards Jackie and whispered. "Psst. Who is that?"
Jackie whipped her head towards Aisha's short build. "I don't know if you are joking or are serious."
Aisha's ears getting red was the only confirmation Jackie needed. Her jaw dropped and she was physically incapacitated, unable to speak before she finally managed to string together words.
"Seriously? Did you learn medicine in the woods or something?"
Aisha's eyes narrowed and Bryce just knew that if he didn't intervene Aisha would absolutely roast Jackie and her lineage.
So, in a low voice, he spoke up. "That's Harper Emery, the hospital's new chief." A smile made his way on his face as he continued to talk about her. "She's a total badass! World-famous head of neurosurgery before she got promoted."
He turned towards Jackie, smirking. "Guess she's just a scalpel jockey too, huh?"
Giving a Cheshire grin she responded. "She's the only scalpel jockey who deserves rights."
Aisha gave a stiff nod before turning back towards the Chief.
Someone is definitely a ray of sunshine. Bryce thought to himself. His conscience promptly snarked. Bold of you to assume that this isn't your fault.
Brain... Stop. as he shook his head to shake off the guilt that slowly swirled in his chest.
"More will be demanded of you that you've ever experienced. Some of you will buckle under the pressure. Some of you will quit. But some... some of you will thrive."
"Damn... She is so inspiring... I feel like I can do anything." Aisha whispered, her brown eyes sparkling with admiration.
"Well then, can I inspire you to pipe down? I'm trying to listen."
"Can I inspire you to get your ears checked, budhiya?" Jackie looked offended but you could see the glint of amusement and respect in her eyes.
"Girls, can this fight wait until after the speech?" Bryce muttered.
"This is not fighting. This is us bonding scalpel jockey. Get on the same page." Jackie whispered causing Aisha to smirk.
"I give up. But please for the love of everything good can we keep it on the low." He shot a pleading look and they managed to shut up.
"You've been entrusted with a sacred duty: the care and wellbeing of every man, woman and child who enters this hospital. Are you ready?"
The interns promptly burst into applause and they look around, sharing excited smiles with their new colleagues.
Harper Emery raised her hand, to silence the applause. "You'll be introduced to your senior residents tomorrow but for now, you'll be partnering up for your first patients. Your assignments are posted on the board. Good luck, doctors!!"
Bryce swaggered up to his board and searched for his name and found out that he was paired with a Samantha.
Wait for a second... that name sounds fami-
"You?" He swirled around towards the feminine sound and as soon as his eyes landed on her, the memories hit him.
Him running his hands through her hair whilst they kissed passionately against the door of her apartment. Her running her hands down his abs and pulling him by the loops of his belt. Both of them lost in the sensation of each other and Bryce still had the scratch marks on his back to remind him of the amazing night they had the previous day.
"Sam? I didn't know you worked here!!"
"Well fate is a funny thing, isn't it? So apparently we are partners?"
"Yap and we need to take our cases from the residents and be on our way. Are you ready?" Bryce asked, a smirk playing on his lips.
"I was born ready baby." Sam winked as she started pushing her way through the throng of interns and Bryce followed suit.
When they finally were free, Jackie showed up next to him followed by Aisha and another girl who had a striking resemblance to Chief Emery.
"See you later meathead."
"Try not to miss me too much." He winked before glancing towards Aisha. Their eyes met and she immediately looked the other way, chatting with her partner.
"It's a beautiful day to save lives. Let's have some fun, shall we?" Sam asked her eyes twinkling which just made Bryce smile.
-------------------------------------------------------------
It was going good so far. He had been allotted two cases that day. One with a routine appendectomy and the second one being a benign tumour removal from the right lung. With a cool, calm collected mind, the two of them diagnosed the patients, raising eyebrows.
"Dr Lahela, what is the treatment plan?" Dr Tanaka, the head of cardiovascular surgery asked.
"Well we are administering her with tumour shrinking drugs like bromocriptine so that we could decrease the size and then after a couple of days we will take her for surgery."
Dr Tanaka gave a nod of appreciation. Sam turned and held the young patient's hand. "Miss, you are in good hands and if you have any more questions you can always ask for us."
"Thank you so much, Dr Anderson."
They stepped out of the room and Bryce shut the door behind them.
"Keep an eye on her and do checks every four hours. Good job." Dr Tanaka turned on his heels and only when he was out of earshot Sam fist-bumped Bryce.
"The surgical society is back at it again."
"God Sam that was awful." He groaned as he pulled his pen out to sign the charts.
"Well, that just means I need to keep thinking of names for the dynamic duo. See you later byeee."
He shook his head and gave the charts to the nurses' station before whistling down the confusing corridors of Edenbrook when suddenly he heard a thud sound from the nearby supply closet.
Must be a doctor who is not having a good day.
He stopped before the door, contemplating whether he should enter or leave but his instinct to help overpowered and he cracked open the door to see Aisha leaning heavily against the racks, her back towards him. Her shoulders were shaking and he could hear her heavy breathing.
He was about to leave unnoticed when Aisha’s voice wafted over to him. “get in or get out. Don’t hold it open.” She glanced towards the door and Bryce knew that he could kiss his unnoticed exit goodbye.
Oh boy. 
Oh? so we have a new character 👀 And um that really wasn't the reunion Bryce was looking forward to lol
And now the supply closet yikes yikes yikes okay now i will shut up heheheh
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