Hey wait this bloodswap kinda slaps actually

(First sprites done in 2016, portraits done in 2019. Don’t know what my idea for Vriska or Gamzee were sadly. I do know karkat is like. Girls scout camp councilor. I love him.)

From The Ashes Prologue

Gif credit: hellodollfac3.tumblr.com

Note: This prologue hasn’t been proofread, if you find any mistakes let me know please! I’m looking for someone who might be willing to beta read the story if at all possible. Also, this story is going along with my experiences as a trans guy. Everyone’s transition is different. For me, I have little bottom dysphoria, so I use typical terms for AFAB genitalia when writing smut between my oc and Daryl. I also chose not to use HRT, which is how I wrote Pheonyx as well. In regards to passing, I write sometimes about Nyx having some more “feminine” aspects to his appearance, because this is an issue I have with passing in public. If any of these things are a trigger for you, please proceed at your own risk. Take care of yourselves, lovelies! Remember, every trans person transitions differently and I’m simply trying to portray my experiences as a trans guy.

If you would like to be added to a taglist for this story, please let me know!

Summary: Pheonyx Greene is the oldest of the Greene siblings. He’s always been different than the rest of his family; having endured abuse from his biological father as a kid and growing up as bisexual/transgender in conservative rural Georgia. He loves his family but the past has made him weary of strangers and love. He finds himself on the family farm recovering from top surgery when the world falls apart. As the dead begin to rise, Pheonyx finds himself becoming the sole protector of the farm as his family lives in denial about the Shadows of loved ones past. His life is changed the day Rick Grimes shows up on the farm, and shortly after a certain gruff archer as well. Daryl is drawn to younger man but how does he deal with the internal prejudices he’s grown up with? As the search for Sophia ensues, Daryl is forced to group up with Pheonyx. Will he push him away? Or will Daryl allow himself to put the past aside and let Pheonyx in? 

Series Trigger/content warning: Homophobia/transphobia/biphobia, zenophobia/racism/sexism(Merle), age gap romance(11yr difference. Pheonyx is 28, Daryl is 39 ), sexual assault/rape, child molestation, canon character deaths, body mutilation, child abuse, torture, hunting, smut 18+( P in V, unprotected sex(please practice safe sex!), creampie, breeding kink, rough sex, marking/biting, oral sex, sub/dom undertones), animal deaths, scars, blood, corpses, depression/anxiety, body dysphoria, religious trauma, menstruation mentions

Chapter Content Warnings: Transphobia/biphobia, religious trauma, child abuse, depression/anxiety, childhood molestation, self harm/suicidal thoughts, puberty, bullying, menstruation talk, body dysphoria, sexism 

Next Chapter

Pheonyx Greene spent the majority of his childhood hiding. So much so, it became second nature to him. 

From the day he was born to the age of 8, he hid from his father’s fists and hateful words that he didn’t understand. Words he wouldn’t understand for years to come. Bruises and lashes were concealed behind baggy clothes. Practiced smiles and rigorous play with neighborhood kids disguising the pain of every movement. His mother, Annette, would stare at him with guilt. Guilt for not having seen the abuse for 5 years, not wanting to see what was going on when she wasn’t home. Guilt for not noticing the flinches at innocent touch. And guilt for letting it continue as she worked to pull away from the monster that held them under his thumb. She never spoke of it to Pheonyx. Simply holding him after each “punishment”, silently cleaning his wounds and wiping his tears. That silence hurt worse than the switch on his back. His eyes begged for just a word from his mother. Something to tell him that it wasn’t his fault. That she was there for him or that she was going to do something to protect him. But those words never came. Annette gave birth to his brother, Shawn, when he was 6. 2 years later, they finally escape Pheonyx’s hell. The scars littering his body and the night terrors were always a reminder that he never fully escaped, though. 

At 8, Pheonyx no longer had to hide from his father, but he had to hide from other things. Schoolyard bullies tormented him. They asked him why he only wore jeans and long sleeves? Why did he play with boys instead of the “other girls”? Why did he cut his hair short using the scissors in art class? Why did he roll around in the mud while the girls were playing House on the other side of the playground? They would pull his pants down in the cafeteria, laughing about checking to see if he was a boy or a girl. It confused him. Why did it matter? Couldn’t he just be himself? But apparently it did matter. He would spend his entire schooling years, hiding from those bullies. 

     At 9, his mother married his stepfather, Hershel. He was a nice man. Much older than his mom, but he accepted and adopted, both Pheonyx and Shawn. He had a daughter, only a year younger than Shawn who had just turned three, named Maggie. Her mother died shortly after giving birth to her. While devastated about the death of his late wife, Hershel was strong and took on the role of a single father. He and Annette met at the local grocery store. A wailing Maggie in his arms, Hershel was trying to find the right formula product for his growing daughter. Annette was a godsend, taking Maggie and calming her before helping the man find the correct food for his daughter. They exchanged numbers and were married not many months later. The way Pheonyx’s stepfather tells the story, the older man fell for Annette the second she held Maggie in her arms.  

    Hershel was a good father to both Maggie and his stepsons. But Pheonyx was weary of the man at first. His only father figure was a devil of a man and the young boy waited for months for the other shoe to drop. It never did though. He would purposely break dishes or get bad grades at school, just trying to see what would be the final straw before his step father finally punished him. But aside from a small scolding and increased chores for his bad grades, Pheonyx was left unharmed. Hershel was kind and he treated his step children as if they were his own. He would often take the boys on house calls with him, whether it be helping birth a newborn calf or checking a swollen ankle on a neighbor’s gelding. Pheonyx loved the animals and looked forward to any time he could spend helping Hershel with his duties as a veterinarian.  The only thing Pheonyx hated about the man was how devout Hershel was. Pheonyx went from never going to church, to going every Sunday and Wednesday. Plus attending all holiday functions, youth group trips, and bible camps. He had lived in true hell for 8 years. The Christian version seemed like child's play compared to his father’s belt. It was at the church he also had to hide. Hide from the side eyed glances of older neighbors. Hide from the whispers wondering why he refused to wear a dress or why he didn’t act like a “proper young lady”. He had to lie when his mother asked why he didn’t want to attend Sunday School with Shawn and Maggie. He couldn’t explain that the teacher looked at him with evil eyes. That the man’s hands were cold as he slipped them under Pheonyx’s button up blouse. That the touches made him feel worse than when his father would make him kneel and count the lashes. 

When Pheonyx hit puberty, around the time his half sister(Beth) was born, he began to hide within himself. How did he explain to his mother and stepfather that the sight of his budding breasts made him want to claw his own skin off? How did he explain that when he got his first period, he contemplated taking all of his mother’s antidepressants and putting an end to the feeling of wrongness in his body?  How did he explain that everytime someone called him “miss”, “sweetheart”, or “girl”, he felt physically sick? What would he say when his mom knew that he kissed Caroline Allen under the maple tree at school? That same week he also kissed Jeremy Mason by the soccer field. Both of those kisses made his stomach flutter in ways it only should with a boy.  The preacher that previous Sunday had told them that any desire for people of the same sex was the ultimate sin. How did he explain to his mother and stepfather that, in their beliefs, he was destined to go to hell? He couldn’t. So he hid everything. The depression from not feeling at home in his body and from not being able to be himself at home. The anxiety of not fitting in with southern conservative values. The disgust with his own appearance as he let his hair grow and wore dresses to get his mom to smile. The weight of it all became too much. 

Maggie found him one day, crying in the barn, a razor held to his wrist. The 20 yr old thought Maggie would be mad, but she wasn’t. At just 13, the girl was wiser than most adults. She had seen her sibling struggling. She didn’t understand it, but she listened as Pheonyx explained what was wrong. Maggie held him as he cried and led him to the house. There, she helped Pheonyx cut his hair. The cut was jagged and patchy, as all they had were some dull kitchen scissors, but he loved it. She called him her brother and it felt like the cloud of depression and anxiety disappeared for a short amount of time. It was the first time Pheonyx felt truly accepted. That night, Maggie held Pheonyx’s hand as he told their parents and siblings everything. Beth was mostly too young to understand and Shawn was just confused. As were Annette and Hershel. They tried to tell him it was just a phase and that it was normal to be confused at such a young age. They refused to even consider the possibility of him being a boy. Of God having made a mistake when he was forming the child’s body. Despite their non acceptance, Pheonyx felt freer than he ever had. He had been working for 5 years at local horse stables and also as an assistant for Hershel at his clinic, so he used his savings to buy more masculine clothing. Maggie was the one who suggested the name “Pheonyx”. The meaning behind it felt right to him. From that day forward, he went by Pheonyx Archer Greene. 

The years following were rough. Maggie accepted him, never once misgendering or dead-naming him. But the rest of his family continued to have issues with it. Shawn and Beth picked it up faster than his parents. It took 3 years before the older couple even began to come around to the idea of Pheonyx being trans. They consistently pushed him to go to Church, to repent, or to go to “counseling” with the local preacher. This created a divide between the family and Pheonyx, one that still existed even after his parents began gendering and naming him correctly 75% of the time. 

He lost his innocence the day he turned 22. His body, that he had finally begun to love, became a broken shell. A layer of grime covering his already marred skin. No matter how hard he cleaned or tore at his skin, the filth never disappeared. The state of Georgia was suddenly a prison. The rolling pastures and never-ending forests that were once home suddenly held memories he needed to escape.

Once his physical body healed, Pheonyx took the first flight out of the Bible Belt and landed in Michigan. He took shitty jobs just to get by at first. Long hours with little sleep just to avoid the memories that haunted him at night. Solace came in the form of a friend, another trans guy that frequented the diner Pheonyx bused tables for. Small talk became long conversations over burnt coffee. The other man offered him a job at his tattoo shop, Zombie Ink, as a receptionist/custodian.  From there, he healed. Slowly. He had more nightmares and more scars than before but his skin finally felt clean.

He kept in touch with his family, but he avoided visiting. The memories were still painful. It took 6 years for the man to finally gain the courage to go back to his home state. His impending top surgery being the motivation to finally put his demons to rest. He would need some help after his surgery, and truth be told, he missed his siblings. Even his parents. So, he opted for a surgeon closer to his hometown. Afterwards, he would spend the next month healing on the family farm. Pheonyx didn’t realize that by making the decision to put his nightmares to bed, he was changing the whole course of his life. 

Maybe it was fate that brought him back home just shortly before the world collapsed. Or maybe it was just shitty luck. Pheonyx wasn’t sure. All he knew was that everything changed. 

Next Chapter

Making Waves

You are a young mermaid, not ready for your adult responsibility when you find a secret underwater tunnel that leads to a secret cove. You couldn’t imagine how your life was going to change because of it. HiccupXMermaid!Reader

This is my first reader insert where I also will write probably smut. I’m excited and also scared. That’s why I made the age of the characters like in Race to the Edge also 18 so no trouble. This story starts with the first movie, but like I said Hiccup and the gang are 18. I think it’s actually more logical that young adults fight against freacking dragons than 16-year-olds!  

Also, the Mermaid-Reader will be my own interpretation of mermaids, I took some aspects from different sources and put them in one. ^^

I hope you will like it and leave some comments .3.

They make me so happy!

Chapter 1: The cove

It was so… tranquil.

Yes, that was the right word.

It was so tranquil.

Cozy.

Protected from prying eyes.

You looked around the cove. The trees, the stone formations.

It was like a little sanctuary.

Who would have thought that the underwater tunnel you have found today would lead you to this? You were deep in the forest which belonged to the land-dwellers.

Your [F/C] fishtail hit the water surface playfully.

This…was great.

A place just for you.

Away from your coven, who demand that you finally found someone to have children with.

You were 18 and it was high time you born a new generation. Like some of your friends already did. Just…non of the mermen in your coven had caught your eye.

You didn’t know yourself why you just couldn’t settle with someone. For what where you searching?

Signing you swam around the pool of the coven and then decide to sit on land, with half your fishtail in the water.

You hugged yourself, listing to the sounds of the birds chirping.

Yes, maybe you could live here alone for a while. Till you felt ready to try again with your suitors.

It was decided.

You would do this.

You needed a break and you would get it.

Smiling, you concreted, till your fishtail turned into human legs.

Careful you stood up.

It was always a weird feeling having legs.

You looked at yourself in the reflection of the water.

If a human would see you they surely would get a heart attack, since you were nude, but for your kind clothes were useless.

The only time you recalled wearing clothes was when your parents once brought you to a festival of the land-dwellers when you were young.

The land-dwellers didn’t know how often mermaids were under them since no one knew that the merfolk had this kind of power to switch between legs and fishtails.

This festival was one of your most precious memories.

It was held on this island and a lot of land-dwellers from different parts of the region came here to celebrate with the inhabitants.

The light, the food, the singing, and the dancing.

How amazing it had been!

But the most amazing thing was the little boy you had met.

He was tiny, with eyes so green like the grass and a mop of brown hair on his head. He was so sweet and shy, yet he had the courage to ask why you looked so different than him

You first didn’t get what he meant. Since when you took your two-legged form you looked perfectly human. The laughter of your parents and the whispered words of your mother still made you blush.

In land-dweller’s eyes the merfolk, even in their own human form, were beautiful and enchanting.

So the little boy had just found you beautiful and couldn’t better say it.

You were charmed, still.

You took his tiny hand in yours and he showed you his home.

You both enjoyed the festival together. Played games, eat food, and told stories about your families, till it was time for you to return to your parents.

Even with so many people around, you couldn’t stay long with the land dwellers. They would sooner or later notice that your family didn’t belong to either of their clans.

That’s when the little boy gave you shy a little bracelet he had made for you. You thanked him with a little kiss on the cheek, which left him paralyzed and you blushing and giggling run to your parents.

To return with them to the water.

Later when you fell asleep in the embrace of your mother, you remember you never even asked his name.

What a shame.

You stared at your reflection in the water and touched the necklace which hung between your full breasts.

It was made from the bracelet your little land dweller friend had made you. As you had grown the bracelet had become too tight for your pulse so you had turned it into a necklace.

You wonder if he still lived here?

How was he doing?

Was he married?

Had children?

Or had a dragon got to him?

You bit your lip and walked around the cove thinking.

Dragons and the merfolk were friends. The water dragons even loved to play with your people, but they did steal food from the land dwellers.

No one knew why.

It was not like you talked the tongue of the dragons.

You just know that since forever, that dragons and the merfolk were friends.

Again no one knew why.

It was just like this.

The dragons loved the merfolk and they stole food from the land dwellers.

While you were walking you found a little cave.

Oh, this would be a perfect sleeping place.

You could sleep underwater, but you wanted to stay a bit more above.

By the seven seas, once you made your decisions and had children you couldn’t anymore have little adventures like this.

Best to make of the time you still had.

So you got into the cave and prepared with leafs a comfy sleeping place.

After you catched yourself some fish from the pool, and eat them, you decide to go to sleep.

The night was approaching, it was high time.

Smiling satisfied with this little sanctuary you had found for yourself, you fall asleep like a babe.

Forgetting all the worries in the world. Just enjoying the tranquility.

It didn’t last long since a black dragon crashed into the cove.

So much for a relaxing sleep!

Next

If Elena broke up with Stefan and Damon at the end of season 4, because of everything she went through with vampirism and her humanity. How would she and Stefan find their way back to each other?

I wrote a bit about that in the beginning of my drabble:

Stefan hadn’t told Elena where they were going. He hadn’t said anything during the drive either and Elena hadn’t asked. He’d just come into her room a couple of hours before, where she’d been pacing, thoughts racing, emotions barely suppressed, took her hand and said, “Come with me.”

Even now, even after everything, she trusted him absolutely, and that was why the silence between them wasn’t tense but an intimate understanding, a familiarity borne out of knowing each other as deeply as they did.

Stefan stopped the car after another half hour. They were outside of a cemetery. Elena felt something inside of her start to stir.

“Stefan…”

“Come on,” he said.

He got out of the car and after a beat, Elena followed, walking through the entrance and down a path until they reached a tombstone that read JOLENE. Elena started to panic. Her worst fear. Her worst shame.

“They found her body a few weeks ago,” said Stefan.

She didn’t know how long they stood there, his arms around her, her pressed against him, but when he pulled away, he held her gaze, waiting patiently for her cries to settle, for her breathing to calm, like he had when she turned her humanity back on. After a while, he spoke.

“I never wanted this for you,” he said. “To feel the guilt, the self-hatred, the despair. But now that you have, you have to make amends.”

“I’ll never be able to make amends for what I did,” she said.

“But you have to try. That’s what it’s all about, Elena, you have to try. And the first step, no matter how inconsequential or stupid or useless it seems, is to apologize. To her.”

Elena chewed on her lip, glancing fearfully at the tombstone before walking towards it. With a trembling hand, she touched the stone and then collapsed in front of it. Stefan moved to walk away but Elena called out.

“Please, don’t go.” She needed him there. “Please?”

He nodded. “OK.”

Stefan pulled into the Salvatore driveway. Elena had been emotionally spent after the cemetery and had ended up resting her head against him for the drive, comforted by the feel of his body, the support of his shoulder, the familiar comfort of the crook of his neck. When he idled the car, she pulled away from him and gave a small smile.

“Thank you,” she said. “For today. You knew exactly what I needed to do. You always…”

He looked at her, his eyes searching hers. “I’m always here for you,” he said. “That hasn’t changed." 

I think something that isn't spoken about as much as it should be when it comes to SE is Elena saying -- and this isn't even when they're together anymore -- that Stefan knows her better than anyone, anyone else that's including Jeremy and Bonnie and Matt and Caroline and obviously Damon

and I think that connection could bring them back together post season 4. Elena never actually has to deal with the fallout of the things she did when she had no humanity, like 4x23 was all about how she was deflecting from the grief and the pain and the guilt by honing in on rage and when she stops, it’s to mourn Jeremy who comes back and then we kind of just move on so I think if Elena was still plagued by what she did or if there were even aspects of having her emotions switched off that she actually missed because life in some ways was easier and she’s too ashamed to admit this to anyone but Stefan knows because he knows her but also because he can understand those feelings with his ripper history and then they start spending more and more time together and the feelings are starting swirl, I think that would make sense but Elena wouldn’t admit to those feelings until a particular moment, which is ---

Something else I've brought up is when they were together and broke up or when they were in the together-not-together phase, a major thing that would bring them back together a lot of the time was Stefan doing something for either a friend or family member:

1x06

1x09

Even 1x10, when Stefan saves Caroline

he insists that the potential of violence is why they can’t be together

to which she says

but what she’s seeing is how Stefan always strives to protect.

Season 2 is also a great example of this:

2x06

2x07

and she clearly goes to him for her own comfort in 2x08

and in 2x09

but it isn’t until 2x10

that they reconcile in 2x11

Even when he saves Matt in 3x22,

she’d already made her choice before that, but him saving Matt solidified that choice

and is what prompted her to say this in 4x01

so I think I would have him risk his life for one of the group or for a complete stranger and it makes the feelings undeniable for Elena.

Here comes “The Old Guard”. Marinelli goes to Hollywood, alongside Charlize Theron.

“Alone, fragile and immortal.”

A story of love, friendship and compassion with an ancient warrior and a young African American, who has just discovered she is immortal, as protagonists. Because the world needs women and courage knows no gender differences. 20 years after “Love & Basketball” and after “The Secret Life of Bees” and “Beyond the Lights - Find Your Voice”, Gina Prince-Bythewood comes to the action movie with very clear ideas on how to reinvent the rules. We talked to her over the phone while she was in Los Angeles during the lockdown. 

A superhero movie that doesn't look like a superhero movie. Is that why you decided to make it? 

Absolutely yes, when I read the script I realized that despite the fantastic genre there was a very realistic background. These characters are real and it's easy for the audience to relate to them despite being immortal. They fight for goals and reasons that people understand. The more realistic the film, the more viewers can reflect themselves in the protagonists. 

In fact, the most fascinating aspect of the characters is their vulnerability: they are immortal, but up to a certain point, which is a paradox. They too have to deal with the sense of the end. 

There is a possibility that they may die, that their immortality is interrupted, that they still suffer from their wounds, and this brings them closer to us. The public still feels sorry for them when they see them in danger.

Immortals suffer, and not just physically.

Many think that being able to live forever would be extraordinary, but no one asks what this really means. Immortality has consequences: it can be a gift, but it can also be a curse.

And we don’t know why immortality fell to them. 

The thing I loved about the graphic novel and the script is the fact that there is no explanation. Not only do we not know it, but neither do the protagonists. But it is a trilogy and therefore there is still a lot to tell.

Could you offer your contribution to the script? 

It was a great script, with great roles based on the graphic novel so I stayed very true to the text. With the author, Greg Rucka, we wanted to reflect on the fear of taking someone's life, the one that sometimes overwhelms soldiers in war, whose psychology is often neglected. Hollywood films have never been very concerned with this aspect, as if killing had no consequences. The protagonists are forced to kill, but if someone has been doing it for centuries, for others it’s the first time. 

What struck you about Luca Marinelli? 

I could talk about him for days, I love him, he's the actor that all directors dream of having on set. He loved the character and gave him life in a very credible way. Between him and Marwan Kenzari is born a great complicity, necessary between two people who have been together for centuries. Luca's eyes are full of soul, his Nicky is the heart of the group, he’s the most sensitive character of all of them. 

Charlize Theron, who is also one of the producers, has an increasingly and more torn body.

Charlize has already played roles like this one, she is very credible in the genre of action and has been helpful to who had never faced it before. From her, who really worked hard, others learned to do the same. She is very credible in the role of a woman who lived for thousands of years.

Matthias Schoenaerts, on the other hand, has an insidious role. 

He embodies the tragedy of immortality, loneliness, betrayal. He is the actor who most resembles his character in the graphic novel. He wanted to make the film at all costs because he had never measured himself with the action genre and felt he had things to express. 

The film underlines how today it’s no longer possible to hide, images can capture you at any time. 

In a scene near the end, when the immortals look at photos and articles about them, they truly become aware for the first time of everything they have done to protect humanity. They understand the power of images from which they continually try to escape in order to hide their identity. 

And then we talk about science and profit. 

In the film, people from different places join forces to protect the world, a need even more relevant today. Yet it is increasingly evident that profit matters more than human lives. 

Do you think the film industry is becoming more inclusive with women? 

Things are finally changing and I am grateful that, despite having no other action films on my resume, I have been entrusted with The Old Guard. I am grateful for the trust they have placed in me. It should be taken for granted by now that women are capable of coping with any film genre and I think how much pressure from the industry Patty Jenkins, who directed Wonder Woman to success and opening the door for many of us, went through. But the door must be wide open because there are still few who have such opportunities. 

In your opinion, have opportunities grown with the arrival of platforms like Netflix? 

Netflix wasn't afraid to trust a series of directors. Which studio would have produced Roma or Irishman? He has the courage to make films that Hollywood deems too risky.

The Golden boy

“Luca Marinelli, as we have never seen him before: in his Hollywood debut, he becomes an immortal and fights with Charlize Theron to save the world.”

Just before the lockdown he was one of the jury members of the 70th Berlinale in the city where he has lived for years - and he swears he had so much fun watching three films a day. The audience awaits him in theatre in the role of Diabolik, in the film directed by Manetti Bros., but on July 10th he arrives on Netflix with The Old Guard, the action movie that sees him alongside Charlize Theron. And where he plays the Italian Nicolo, Nicky for the group of immortals he belongs to. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and based on the graphic novel by Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández, the film offers Luca Marinelli an insidious superpower, an endless love and a new opportunity to demonstrate his talent as a true champion. We reached him on the phone and he, less shy than usual, told us how he became a secular "superhero".

How did you get to the project? 

I auditioned in London, where I later returned and met the director. Lastly, there was a final meeting between me and Marwan Kenzari. We made a scene together and then they announced to me, "We'd love for you to be Nicky." 

What struck you about this character? 

The story fascinated me because it tells of immortals as if they were the damned. Nicky and Joe live this condition as a gift because they are linked by a wonderful love story and they are not alone. They met in an absurd and paradoxical situation, during the Crusades, ready to kill themselves. They did it a hundred times and then they looked at each other and fell in love. But others suffer from it, like Andy and Booker. In a beautiful scene, Booker, played by Matthias Schoenaerts, explains what happens to them: they see the people they love die and blame them because they cannot prevent it. And they are tired of watching the world repeat itself following the same dynamics. They fight to save people, but everything seems to go on the same way. Only in the end will they discover what they have done and what they are doing. 

How did it go with Charlize Theron? 

Well, it was wonderful! As I read the script I said to myself: am I really going to make a film with Charlize Theron? And hug as well! I was very excited and intimidated already while reading. She is an extraordinary actress. In the scene where we are at the table and everyone tells Nile something about us, Andy tells her what we are and it was nice to see her running and venturing into the midst of emotions and thoughts. Sometimes I got distracted and didn't say my line. But Charlyze is also a crazy athlete. You have to be really athletes, otherwise you don't survive at the end of the day. And Charlize is an athlete of the body and the heart. 

What about her athletic training? 

We got together a month before shooting to start working with the stunts. I had to get some athleticism back: when I arrived and they looked at me I think they were a little worried. We had to become familiar with martial arts and then we switched from the sword to other weapons and to hand-to-hand combat. We prepared scene by scene, including the choreographies, different for each fight, and each of us had his own rubber reproduction of the sword. It was an unforgettable training.

The immortals come from different places in the world. How much of Italy is there in Nicky? 

Apart from the pronunciation? They still laugh at some of the things I said. Marwan and Matthias, but also Charlize, speak Italian at different levels and every now and then I enjoyed shooting a few sentences to which they could answer me. 

Did you offer your character something that wasn't in the script? 

Well, being in such a group, shy as I am ... I tried. I have always focused on the bond between Nicky, Joe and the other members of the group, because I am interested in discovering what is inside a character, his feelings, how he looks at the world, what excites him. Nicky has lived for centuries, but still greets the people he meets in the desert with a smile, inside him there is the flame of an infinite good. Each character has a different sensitivity and their own armor. Nicky is perhaps the least armored one.

The challenge was also to make people believe in a love story that has lasted for centuries. 

Marwan recites a beautiful monologue in which he talks about their love story. I hope that each of us, in their short life, can say the same thing about the person they love. 

You’ve already had superpowers in “They Call Me Jeeg”. What is your relationship with this genre? 

I like it very much and I think that both films, very different from each other, have a very interesting soul. In Jeeg Robot, Enzo Ceccotti uses his superpowers to help others, taking on a social responsibility. In The Old Guard the protagonists put themselves at the service of others, even if no one has asked them to. “This is what we do,” they repeat over and over to each other. What they do is save people, participate in what they think is right. 

How do you think they would react to protests on American streets and around the world?

I don't feel like playing games, mixing reality and fiction on a terribly real subject like this. I think that in reality, outside of any cinematic fiction, it’s fundamental to fight for equality, within society, but also within ourselves. To go back to our film, if in a microscopic way we manage to carry a message in that direction, I would be very happy. 

What director was Gina Prince-Bythewood? 

She is always ready to listen, and I am someone who asks a lot of questions even at inappropriate times. She always had great patience and was very attentive to the emotional side of the film, to the interiority and beauty of the characters.

CIAK Magazine - Luglio 2020

Just wanted to translate this old interview for the non-italian’s fans ^^ (sorry for my English)

Jack Dylan Grazer Discovers Who He Is in Luca Guadagnino's “We Are Who We Are”

After supporting roles in the It and Shazam!, the young actor shifts gears with his turn as a capricious army brat in the Call Me By Your Name director's new HBO series.

by Iana Murray / Photography by Nik Antonio  —  September 14, 2020

A few years ago, Jack Dylan Grazer took a trip to the movie theater. He was in Toronto and it was one of his days off from filming Shazam!, the DC comedy in which he plays the shape-shifting hero’s foster brother. He decided to watch Call Me By Your Name, and he immediately fell for it. Grazer took note of the director’s name that appeared in the credits—Luca Guadagnino—and turned to his mother.

“I want to work with him,” he told her. With eerie prescience, she assured him: “You will.”

Whether Grazer, now 17, has a knack for manifestation, or it was all just happenstance, his wish came true in the form of We Are Who We Are, Guadagnino’s coming of age drama which follows a group of army brats living on an American military base in Italy. Thematically, the show is something of a spiritual successor to Call Me By Your Name: Grazer plays Fraser, a tempestuous 14-year-old with a pair of headphones constantly plugged in his ears. He’s the new arrival at the base with his mothers (Chloë Sevigny and Alice Braga), and quickly forms a deep bond with his neighbour, Caitlin (Jordan Kristine Seamon), as they both wrestle with their sexuality and identity in the midst of domestic troubles and teenage debauchery.

“He’s an enigma to himself,” Grazer says of his character. “He doesn’t really understand a lot of the things he does but he’s so forthright so he convinces himself that he knows everything. He feels like other people don’t deserve his intelligence. But he’s also very volatile and aggressive at times, and not because he’s coming from an angry place but because he’s constantly questioning who he is.”

If Fraser is just beginning his coming of age when we first meet him, Grazer is inching closer to the end. Starring in enormous blockbusters including IT, he became the Loser Club’s resident hypochondriac at age 12 and a superhero’s sidekick by 15. His films have grossed a combined total of over $1.5 billion. Suddenly the stakes are multiplied tenfold during what are ostensibly, and horrifyingly, the most awkward years of your life. Every misstep is now being monitored, examined through a microscope of millions. (See: His 3.8 million fans on Instagram, to say nothing of the countless stan accounts.) Child fame is a disarming transaction like that: a stable career and all the other perks of being a celebrity, but at the cost of normalcy. That unalleviating pressure forces a kid to mature fast.

Grazer is acutely aware of this fact, admitting outright that he’s “not a normal person.” But he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I became 70 when I was 7!” he laughs. “I don’t know if I really had much of a childhood. But I didn’t want to. I wanted to grow up really fast.”

Nevertheless, he’s still 17. When we meet over Zoom, his shoulder length curls are damp and disheveled (he just got out of the shower), his black painted fingernails contrast with his brightly-lit, white bedroom as he rests his face on his hand. It’s a Saturday morning and he looks tired: It’s his first week back at school, which has traded classrooms for hours of video calls reminiscent of the one we’re currently on. “It feels like the days are shorter because the teachers don’t want to torture their students by keeping them on a computer for six hours a day,” he tells me. “You do miss the social aspect of being at school.”

If you were to judge Grazer by what’s out there on the internet, you’d expect an anarchic and relentless bundle of energy. A quick YouTube search brings up results like “jack dylan grazer being a drama queen” and “jack dylan grazer being chaotic in interviews for 4 and a half minutes straight.” He trolled a YouTube gamer on Instagram Live. His TikToks are inscrutable.

But here, he’s incredibly earnest, as he excitedly talks about his skateboarding hobby (a skill he picked up after auditioning for Mid90s) and his attempts to learn the flute (“I need to learn how to read sheet music, but it’s like reading Hebrew!”). He’s calm and thoughtful, as if this project we’re discussing requires a shift in sensibility.

For Grazer, acting had always simply been fun. While other kids might take up a sport or get hooked on video games, he performed in musical theater with the Adderley School because he “just wanted to play.” His roles so far have been reflective of his carefree approach to the job: Up until now, he’s portrayed best friends with biting one-liners, or the younger version of the protagonist in a flashback. IT is a prime example of both. In the horror franchise, Grazer plays a neurotic germaphobe running from a fear-eating clown, but in reality, the film felt like “summer camp.” Both films never felt like work; he just learned his lines and got to hang out on extravagant sets with his best friends. Likewise, school amounted to being pulled off set by a teacher in between takes to cram in the mandatory hours.

But with We Are Who We Are, he steps into his first leading role, one that required him to convey longing and confusion through Elio-like physicality and subtext. It’s abnormal to talk about the show as a turning point for an actor who isn’t even a legal adult yet, but Grazer explains that the show required him to radically change his approach to acting. He spent six months in Italy (“It felt like I was in Call Me By Your Name.”) and built up the character beyond what was on the page in collaboration with Guadagnino. “His philosophy is that we know our characters better than anyone else—even the writers—because we are the characters essentially,” he explains.

In many ways, Grazer absorbed that philosophy entirely. He describes the experience less as a performance and more like a “rebirth”—perhaps even an attempt at method acting. Over those months in Italy, the distinctions between actor and character gradually became indistinguishable. “I had no other choice but to act and surrender to Fraser entirely and throw Jack Dylan Grazer out the window,” he says. “I would go out and get a coffee as Fraser and walk like Fraser. That was just me trying to get into [character], but then I slipped at some point and just became Fraser.”

One day on set, he looked at himself in the mirror, and the hardened kid standing there with a bleach-blond dye job and oversized shorts was unrecognizable to him. He could only see Fraser. While talking about his character, he seems to unintentionally switch pronouns, from “he” to “I”, as if the two still remain one and the same.

The process was so transformative that it forced him to re-evaluate himself entirely. “I never really struggled with identity before,” Grazer tells me. “But I think the show opened up my eyes to question myself. Being Fraser forced me to question what I wanted and what I stood for and what I believed in. At some points, the show bled into reality.”

When asked how he has changed, he takes a pause and a pensive swivel in his armchair, unsure of how to answer. “I think I was more ignorant before I did the show,” he says, and he leaves it at that.

Coming of agers are a particularly well-trodden genre, but there’s a naturalistic, raw energy to We Are Who We Are that is distinctive from what we’ve seen before. Each character quietly struggles with their own problems and growing pains—for Fraser, it’s his sexuality. Caught in a fraught relationship with his lesbian mother and an infatuation with another man, his story doesn’t tick off the familiar beats. His personal discovery is instead internal and intimate. "I think every single person born as a boy has this guard. It’s this guard that they don’t even realize they have, where they’re initially like, ‘Being gay? I could never.’ But we’re all born as humans who are attracted to whatever we’re attracted to," he says. "I think that’s how Fraser interprets it as well. Yes, he’s reserved and nervous about it in the beginning because he’s unlocking this new idea for himself. He’s figuring it out, and that’s what you see in the show: him coming to terms with this idea."

As our conversation winds to a close, I ask him if Martin Scorsese ever visited the set—his daughter, Francesca, plays the confident cool girl of the show’s teen cohort—and his eyes widen. “That was actually a really stressful day,” he divulges. Still, he revels in the memory, speaking so fast it’s like someone has put him on 2.5x speed as he shows off his impersonation of Guadagnino. The director was so nervous about Scorsese’s presence that production halted that day.

“Luca was like, ‘I cannot do this today because Martin Scorsese is on my set. I don’t know what to do, this is not good for me. I will have a panic attack before the day ends,’” Grazer says in his best Italian accent. “It’s like if you’re a painter and Van Gogh shows up.” 

Admittedly, Grazer is also a self-proclaimed superfan of the Wolf of Wall Street director, and afterwards, he got to spend several days with his idol, as they went on lavish restaurant outings in Italy and talked about anything and everything.

He takes a second to compose himself. A giddy, Cheshire cat smile spreads across his face. The kid in him comes flooding back.

“...Oh my god!” he yells. “I met Martin Scorsese!”

Kitchen Romance

➜ Words: 11.1k

➜ Genres: 95% Fluff, 5% Angst, Chef!AU

➜ Summary: You come from a long line of matchmakers. Your ancestors' ancestors were matchmakers and it's all because of a special, inborn gift. A gift that allows you to see each person's fated ones above their heads. But it's not so much a gift when one day, your boss walks in with YOU above him.

cr.

The kitchen is in chaos.

The heat swelters in the still air, stifling with the summer warmth that’s forced most people indoors with air conditioning. But here, there’s no such privilege. Not when open fires on frying pans were at every stovetop and grease was splattering everyone like a water fountain show. You feel yourself being roasted alive, a layer of oil sitting on top of your skin, and there’s barely a moment to wipe away the sweat rolling from your hairline.   Your hands are wrinkled as you scrub down the nth dish from the pile that’s stacked above your head, but before you can finish, Taehyung’s desperately calling out for you. You shout back at him that you’re coming and then you’re helping him peel the potatoes.   There’s no room to complain. Especially not when—   “What is this?!”    For a moment, time itself stops.   The pandemonium halts, fire flickering, knives held mid-air. Everyone’s head has swiveled over to the dark-haired man standing at the end of the island. Kim Seokjin holds up a plate of baked salmon with methi prawns. His plump lips are pulled downwards. That’s never a good sign.   “The presentation is sloppy!” he yells and you flinch from the sheer volume of his booming voice. “Are you people blind?! We can’t serve this! It’s an embarrassment! Do it again!”   “Yes, chef!”    Everyone apologizes, including you, and Seokjin huffs, moving out of the kitchen.   Namjoon, sous-chef, shakes his head. “Focus! Dinner service hasn't even begun yet!”   Luckily, everyone’s on edge and meticulous enough with Seokjin walking around and scrutinizing every action that the rest of the night goes off without another hitch. By the end, you’re finishing up on cleaning and washing the dishes.   “Good night, Y/N.” Jihyo waves, bag strap slung on her shoulder.   “See you.” You muster a smile while you keep scrubbing. “Bye.”    “Night,” Yoongi says while Taehyung fixes you a grin. You watch them leave and then focus on completing the rest of your tasks. It’s not long before you’re switching all the lights off and changing from your uniform.    The walk back to your apartment proves to be excruciating. You’re beyond exhausted, lugging your legs along to carry the rest of your body while forcing your eyes to remain open, so you can at least see where you’re going.    When the door opens, you immediately jump into the shower to wash off the grime, nearly falling asleep in the process. By the time you flop onto your bed, your hair is still dripping wet, but as your muscles ease into the mattress, you’re knocked out into a deep slumber.   Rest is merely a blink of time.   The alarm on your phone is blaring before you can dream or feel even remotely refreshed. It’s deafening to your ears and you reach over to shut it off. Finding the sun already up in the sky, you force yourself to sit up, get ready, grab breakfast and eat on your way to work.   “If it’s too hard, you should come home,” the voice on the other side of the line coaxes. “Your dad and I are so worried about you sometimes.”   “I’m fine, mom.” You’re chewing in your cheek, phone sandwiched between your ear and your shoulder as you parade down the block. “Trust me.”   “Have you at least been eating well?”   You glance at the granola bar in hand. “Yeah. Sort of.”   “The city is scary. There’s no shame in coming home, dear. Your grandma misses you a lot. She always asks about you.”   “I’m fine, mom,” you reassure her for the second time. “I really am. And tell grandma—”   Accidentally, your shoulder collides with a businessman’s. Apologies spring from you, but rather than looking at the stranger like you should be, your eyes unintentionally wander above his head. To the cloud of fog. And a woman’s smiling face you see emerge from it.   The man’s brows lift at how you’re staring into space and he moves out of the way.   You’re forced out of your trance and you continue to apologize until he’s completely gone from sight. You damn yourself for not being more careful.   You come from a long line of matchmakers. Your ancestors’ ancestors were matchmakers.    Your mother once told you that back in the day, some peasants in your family couldn’t sew, sell or do any labour, so they begged heavens and out of pity, they were granted a small gift. A gift that’s been passed down to every generation since. While you’re not sure if the story is true or not, what’s certain is that from the moment you were born, you could see a cloud of fog above everyone’s head. It’s like speech bubbles or thought bubbles in comic strips. But instead of words, the fog comes with another person’s face. It’s the one who they’re meant to be with.   Ironically enough, you’ve never seen one above your own head. Though you’ve come to accept that. Romance will never be a major aspect of your life, so you’ve switched gears into focusing on your career and finding fulfillment elsewhere. You also knew early on that you didn’t want to be a matchmaker like the rest of your family.   You want to be a—   “Good morning, chef.”   “Good morning.” Namjoon nods with a smile. “Things weren’t too bad yesterday, but let’s try to be less sloppy for dinner service tonight. Hoseok, what time is the shipment of seafood coming in?”   Namjoon continues going through the daily routine, updating each person on the schedule and the shipments. But it’s not long during the morning meeting in the kitchen that the back door creaking can be heard.    Instantly, everything comes to a halt. Everyone turns themselves and greets the head chef simultaneously.    Seokjin rounds the corner. “We have a lot to do today, people. Tonight’s special is going to be watermelon with smoked salmon mousse—”   You gasp.   Automatically, your hands lift to cover your mouth, yet too late to muffle the loud noise. Your eyes are as large as saucers. Your heart stutters in your chest, nearly giving out.   Instead of the polished brunette woman above Seokjin’s head that was always there, you see someone else. Someone very familiar that you’ve seen in the mirror a thousand times. You.   You’re frozen — palms clammy, knees weak. And everyone’s turned around to stare, even Kim Seokjin himself. His brow is cocked and he eyes you intensely for daring to interrupt him.   “Are you okay?” Jihyo whispers, leaning in and nudging you with her elbow.   You start to breathe again, frantically. Yet no matter how much you gasp for air, you can’t feel the oxygen entering your lungs. But you force yourself to bow your head anyway, retaining an exterior that’s not oozing of sheer panic. “S-S-Sor..ry. I…. have something in my throat.” You clear it and Seokjin sighs, continuing with what he was saying.   The first task is to wash the salad and it’s easy enough, but your eyes continue to wander up to the dark-haired, doe-eyed man from across the kitchen. Black shirt with a white apron around his waist, he emanates intimidation from his god-like looks alone and constant frown.   Your eyes connect and you instantaneously whip yourself around.   You start to sweat when Seokjin beelines to you.   “Do you have an issue with me?”   You shake your head furiously.   “Then focus!” the man spits. “You’re drowning the salad!”   You wince as he slams the faucet down.   This can’t be. This can’t be it. It doesn’t make sense whatsoever.   On your break, you’re crouched over by the bathrooms and much to your dismay, your mom is hysterically laughing at you. “Just because you never saw your match, doesn’t mean you’re alone, Y/N! Poor soul, where did you ever get that idea from? No one can see their own. I didn’t and neither did your aunt or grandma.”   “Why didn’t you tell me that?” The syllables hiss out of you and you spare a glance over your shoulder to make sure no one’s coming.    You’ve come to accept that you would never be romantically involved with anyone. To find out that Seokjin, your boss, is your match out of everyone, it’s taking you for a hysteric spin.   “I thought you already knew!” she exclaims on the other line. “Plus, nothing comes from knowing your own. But who is it? Are you going to bring them home? I would love to know what sort of person is going to end up with my dear daughter. Oh, your grandma will be so excited to hear the news!” “Now’s not the time, mom,” you grieve, palm pressed to your forehead. There’s an overwhelming urge to cry. “I’m never going to end up with him.”   “You can’t change fate, Y/N.”   “Fate changes all the time.”   “Are you okay?” There’s a lower voice behind you and you flinch, turning around to see Hoseok’s alarmed expression.    You stand up, apologizing internally as you hang up on your mom. “Sorry. It...was a family emergency. But everything’s fine.”   “Okay. Well, Namjoon wants you to grab some more flour from the storage room.”   “I’ll be right on it.”    You swiftly return back to work before you risk losing your job any more than you have today. But all the while, you damn yourself. This is the worst thing that could’ve happened.    You ending up with Kim Seokjin, the scary boss that notoriously fires people in your position, is the last thing you wanted to occur. It’s like you’re living in a nightmare where you’re the only one who’s aware of your own dire circumstances and inevitable doom.   //   “Would it be that bad if he fell in love with you?” Hyoyeon eyes you lazily from across the table as she stirs her drink with her straw. She’s one of your oldest friends who happen to live in the city and one of the few who knows about your gift.   “Yes. It would be that bad!” You’re exasperated. You thought she would be up and arms about it like you are. “How could I ever look at my boss like that?!”   “You never know,” Hyoyeon sing-songs much to your chagrin.   “Don’t give me that. How would you like it if your boss fell in love with you?”   “My boss is a Karen going into her sixties.”   “Exactly.”   Her lips pop off her straw, wearing a visage of distaste. “This and that aren’t the same, Y/N. I didn’t think Soobin would be with me and when you told me, I was mad. But look at us now! He’s not half bad.”   “You’re married.”   “Precisely.” She laughs, practically glowing from happiness. “And you know, Seokjin isn’t bad either. He’s like what? Only a few years older than you. Ambitious. Wealthy. Handsome. He did that one photoshoot for that magazine and he was so goddamn handsome. Like holy fuck, I almost got pregnant from just—”   “Alright. I get it.”   “—and he’s like one of the top chefs of the country. Imagine having that kind of food for the rest of your life.”   “That’s not going to happen,” you mumble. If it changed once, it can change again.   The more you think about it, the more assured you become. You’ll do everything in your power to change it.   //   The kitchen has fallen into a lull.    Jihyo, the pantry chef, works on tossing salads while the butcher chef, Yoongi, is filleting fresh tuna. Sauté chef Hoseok is preparing his piccata sauce while you help Taehyung, the entremetier, with ingredients for the soup. Everyone has their designated roles here, most of which are fancier than yours. As a kitchen assistant, if you aren’t helping Taehyung then you’re washing dishes. But everyone needed to start from somewhere, so you aren’t going to complain. Working for Kim Seokjin is a privilege, albeit, he’s fearsome and hard to please.   You clear your throat. “Has...anyone seen that woman lately?”   Taehyung turns his head. “Who?”   “That woman came to the restaurant a few times and was with Chef Kim....”    A petite and dainty physique. Long, dark hair. Her eyes glimmered in the light and her pinked lips pulled softly when she greeted you all. She was poised, oozed of grace, sophistication, money. And she was the one who you saw above Seokjin’s head since you met him. Hell, you saw him above her head, and while you were surprised that in spite of his scariness, he actually had someone, they strangely suited each other well.   They were supposed to be together.    Until recently.   You wonder what happened. What the change was. Why you’re suddenly his match now.   Jihyo turns around, ears perked from the conversation. “Right! I haven’t seen her around lately either! I wondered if something happened.”   “You mean Kim Jisoo?” Yoongi lolls his head to the side and when Taehyung gives a curious expression as to how he knows, he says, “Hoseok and I were sent to her flower shop to pick up an order once.”   “Were they even dating?” Taehyung asks, looking up from where he’s chopping cucumbers.   “They were,” Namjoon pipes up and you look towards him, having expected him to shut down the conversation around the head chef, but he merely smiles. “But I haven’t seen her recently either.”   Jihyo hums. “I wonder if something happened.”   “Maybe they broke up,” Yoongi offers absentmindedly.   “Well, that wouldn’t be surprising.” Taehyung pauses and looks over to you, lifting a brow as if trying to find an ally. “He seems like he can be pretty hard to get along with.” But the opinion isn’t unpopular and there are several snickers throughout the kitchen.   “Seokjin’s just serious about his work,” Hoseok says with a smile. “But they were pretty serious.”   “Really?” You turn to Namjoon directly. It’s not often that you’d be so straightforward, but you want answers. You want explanations. “Did he ever say anything to you? On what could’ve happened?”   He shakes his head and then there’s a loud boom of the backdoor. Your blood runs cold. Everyone’s eyes widen, but there’s no time to react or to take back what he could’ve heard. Seokjin walks in with his eyes narrowed in on you specifically. “If all of you have enough time to talk about my personal life, then you can work twice as hard and twice as fast tonight.”   Everyone holds in their sighs.    With your downcast head, your eyes search the floor. “I’m sorry, chef.”    But the apology falls onto deaf ears.   //   It’s a busy shift.   With your tail caught in between your legs, it’s either a cutting board in front of you with a knife in hand or plates and a rough sponge by the sink. Oil from the fryer nearby splashes onto you, the grease coating bowls staining your apron, the heat sticking your tied back hair to your scalp.    Yet you wish you could do more.    Not just chop bell peppers, finely mince garlic or prepare starches. Not just rinsing bowls to stack into the dishwasher and wash large pots and plates by hand. While you’ve become accustomed to knives, keeping a rapid and constant beat as you slice whatever is in front of you, you wish you could cook. Not just be an accessory to the kitchen. Or an extra member to assist the chefs.    But for now, you count your blessings. Humming to yourself late at night while you finish.   “What are you still doing here?”   The crystal clear voice has you flinching, startled to death and you turn around to see Kim Seokjin in the flesh. White shirt rolled to his elbows, black trousers, expensive Rolex on his wrist that could pay the rest of your student loans with. You gawk at him. Speechless. Scared.   He doesn’t wait for you to find your tongue, dismissing your silence. “Where are the others? They should be cleaning up too. Just because dinner service is over, doesn’t mean they can leave.” He clicks his tongue in annoyance, no longer speaking to you but himself. “I won’t have anyone slacking in my kitchen.”   “I-It’s fine, chef.” Your voice is barely a squeak, but you muster the courage, not wanting them to get yelled at tomorrow. You turn around, quickening up your scrubbing until your nails start to hurt. “I’m supposed to be washing the dishes anyway.”   “It shouldn’t be taking you this long.”   You wonder if he’s scolding you.   It goes silent.   “Finish up and go change,” Seokjin says shortly and you nod. It takes another ten minutes for the task to be completed and then you’re wiping down the counters before heading to the lockers to change out of your apron and uniform.   Usually, you’d come out, turn off all the lights and begin the final trek home. But today, your blood runs cold. Your mouth fills with cotton when you step out. Against your own assumption, the head chef has not in fact left. Instead, Seokjin is leaning against the counter with his coat on, furiously tapping on his phone with his thick brows furrowed like they usually are.   You swallow hard and bow your head as you pass him. “Good night, chef.”   “Wait.”   Immediately, you halt. He pockets his device. “Are you walking?” The absence of an answer is enough of an indication for him. “I’ll drive you. It’s dangerous to walk home at this time of night.”   It isn’t a suggestion. It isn’t an offer either. It’s a command.    And soon, you discover yourself in his expensive Mercedes. The vehicle is black, sleek and you’re afraid of touching the leather seats more than you have to in case you stain it with poverty and have him sue you for damages. Or fire you.    “Turn left,” his fancy navigation system deadpans and it startles you.    Yet Seokjin is undeterred and with one hand on the wheel, he turns at the light, allowing the car to roll smoothly over the pavement. The passing lamp posts’ glow also illuminate his features, his plump lips and the slope of his nose. If Hyoyeon was here she would be salivating at the sight, how his chin is lifted, head slightly cocked. You would be too, if you weren’t so afraid. Kim Seokjin exudes confidence and intimidation, rightfully so too. He’s worlds out of your league.   And as your eyes stray from his profile to focus on the cloud above his head, your smiling expression still emerges.   You don’t understand how someone like you can be with someone like him.   “Is there something on my face?”   His question leaking with annoyance shakes you out of your trance and you tear your eyes away from him frantically to look out the window. “N-No.”   The tense quietness that follows is enough that you want to bang your head against the dashboard and hope you get knocked out to spare you from this awkwardness. Then again, you might just end up with a bruise and his car repair bill which would be even wors—   “You won’t be seeing Jisoo anymore,” Seokjin suddenly says and your head swivels to him. “She decided to cheat on me and that was a deal breaker, so I broke it off.”   “Oh.”   “I didn’t know you were one for gossip, but go ahead and tell the others if you’d like.”   “I..I’m sorry.” Your downcast head faces your lap and you swallow hard. “It’s personal and I shouldn’t have intruded or asked. It was wrong and unprofessional of me for bringing it up.”   “No.” There’s a moment of silence as he looks straight ahead. “It was wrong of me to act the way I did.” You blink wide-eyed and Seokjin parks at the curb. “My reaction was a bit uncalled for — it’s something I’m still working on.”   You stare at him and finally, the man meets your gaze. “You can get out now.”   “O-Oh.” You scramble out the car. “T-Thank you.”   The moment the door shuts, he drives off.   Fate can be changed. It’s rare, but choices influence futures and who someone ends up with can change depending on the actions they take. You just never expected Seokjin’s reason for the change to be so heartbreaking. Even if he stated it factually and his expression never wavered, you could sense it in his voice. The sadness you didn’t know he could possess.   //   “What made you think I would like him?” Jihyo is exasperated as she wipes down the counter and Taehyung grins as he sweeps the floor. “The guy literally kept on going about rock climbing, bungee jumping and skydiving. Do I look like an adrenaline junkie to you, Kim Taehyung?”   “Hey, hey. Yeonjun is nice, okay? I just thought you would be into the rough look.”   “Not at all. This is the last time I’m letting you set me up.”   Yoongi smirks as he passes by. “I’ll take it that your blind date didn’t go well?”   Jihyo glares at him.    Hoseok turns around with an amused smile. “It was your fault with trusting Taehyung with this sort of thing. What kind of guy are you into? Maybe I could set you up with someone better.”   She sighs wistfully. “I don’t even know anymore. I just want someone reliable and half decent.”   In the meanwhile, your eyes flicker up to the cloud above her head. There’s a bright eyed young man there and you smile, unloading the dishwasher as you continue listening to their conversation.    “See? It wasn’t my fault!” Taehyung pipes up to defend himself. “How am I supposed to know what kind of person you’d be into if you don’t know yourself?”   “Oh, so you know?”   “Of course I do!” He scoffs and becomes dreamy as he muses, “I want someone with long hair and dresses fashionably, someone who’s sweet and gentle, like a puppy.”   But based on the person above him, they appear rougher around the edges with shorter hair and a frown. But you let Taehyung have it, not commenting a single word. You’ve learnt from experience that it doesn’t work well if you come out of nowhere and try to involve yourself.    They continue talking about ideals, even Namjoon that pinches in he’s been seeing someone lately — an old friend who he went to school with that he never thought of romantically until recently. You’re having fun just listening in until the question is directed at you.   “Me?” You laugh awkwardly. “I don’t know either. I haven’t really thought about it before.”   “Oh, don’t give me that.” Taehyung nudges you. “Everyone has some idea.”   But you’ve sincerely never considered it before. You always thought you would live in solitude without another companion and even came to terms with it. But things have changed. “I guess….someone kind and considerate. Thoughtful. I don’t care what they do, except that they have to be a good person.”   It might be a generic answer, but as you think about Seokjin, you know you don’t want someone domineering and frightening. Yet from last night, Seokjin didn’t seem so daunting in the car.   “Yeah, I can see that.” Jihyo nods.   “What about Chef Kim?” you ask, eyes glistening in the light, curious beyond belief. “What do you think his ideal is?”   The people around the kitchen hum, speculating over the boss’ preferences. They’re equally intrigued by the question.   “Anyone who won’t shit their pants when he’s around,” Taehyung laughs as he finishes sweeping and pours the grime from the dustpan into the trash.   As Yoongi wraps a bowl, he mindlessly offers, “He seems to like the serious type,”    “What was Jisoo like?” Jihyo asks, tapping her chin with a frown.   “Sophisticated,” Hoseok suggests and you look at him, breathing a sigh of relief. Out of all things, you were definitely not sophisticated. “Gentle.”   “Sweet,” Namjoon says with confidence, having known the man the most after years of working together, “He likes the hard-working and earnest ones who prove themselves to be more than he expects.”   As if summoning the devil himself, Kim Seokjin comes from the back area and walks straight through the kitchen. “Stop slacking,” he states in a monotone and everyone returns to their tasks with a simultaneous ‘yes, chef’.    But as he passes by you, he pauses for a moment. “Everyone needs to leave on time today. If there’s anything that isn’t clean, you need to work together so that it is.”   “Yes, chef,” sounds throughout the kitchen once more.   You know being passive won’t solve anything. You need to actively do something that will repulse him, make it so he’ll vow never to get involved with you. If he makes the decision, fate itself will change and you won’t have to end up together.    The only plausible strategy to repulse you have at the moment is to embody the reverse of what Seokjin’s ideals are. The opposite of what appeals to him — sophisticated, sweet and gentle.   //   It takes you a while to pinpoint what the exact opposite is. But you find it.    Loud. Obnoxious. Aggressive.    You need to be these things in a way that doesn’t get you fired, but just enough that it alters who his match is. Part of you isn't sure you have it in you to be this way, but it’s worth a shot. You’ll do anything to change fate.   “What the hell are you still doing in my kitchen?”   Seokjin is standing meters away, half shrouded in the darkness. Your eyes flicker up at him but you resume dicing the carrots into one inch lengths. Only half the blade is lifted off the wooden cutting board and it descends at a rapid rhythm, rather therapeutic to listen to.   There’s an urge to cower down, but you channel your aggression, pretending it’s Taehyung and not Kim Seokjin — head chef with two Michelin stars — enough money to assassinate you and cover up the crime.   “Everyone went out to have dinner together, but I came back to get a head start on prepping ingredients for tomorrow. I need the practice anyway. Why? Is it a problem?”   The man’s brow is lifted at your upfront behaviour. “Get out. I’ll drive you back.”   “I’m going to finish this first,” you retort without a breath to waste.   Seokjin scoffs and puts down the keys he just grabbed. He sighs exhaustingly and you feel his stare burning into you. It’s hard to ignore it. You even start sweating until he moves towards the fridge, and that’s when you finally steal the chance to peek at him. “Are you going to eat? I can make you something.”   “It’s fine.”   He grabs two eggs, some shredded cabbage, a handful of spinach and a stick of butter. You don’t question it, solely focusing on your task until there’s sizzling on the pan and he leaves the stove to look over you.   “Your technique is poor.”   “What?!” Your voice is loud unintentionally, but you’re wholly shocked. If there was one thing you were proud of, it was your knife skills. You’ve spent countless time on refining it and getting it to meet standards.   “You could go faster,” he deadpans. “Your grip is too tense and you’re holding the knife too high up. You want to hold it at that balance point, so you have the most control over it and the weight is properly distributed.” Seokjin smoothly grabs a knife off the rack and holds it in front of you. You copy him. “It's easier to push the blade through when you're holding it there.”   “Like this?” You begin chopping again and he hums.    Against your will, a smile finds your features. It’s the first time he praised you— well...it’s less of a praise and more of a half-hearted noise of approval, but it still counts.   Seokjin takes the pan from the heat and switches it off. He grabs a fork from the drawer to start eating and you look over, finishing the job. It doesn’t take long for him to notice your blatant ogling. “Do you have an issue?”   You smile at him, stepping forward. “Can I have a bite?”   Seokjin scoffs. But you lean over and he steps aside, allowing you to nab a fork from the drawer to take some. It’s not like you’re particularly hungry, but you’re curious as to what he’s made. It’s been a long time since you’ve had food from the head chef himself and asking him for his dinner might just be off-putting enough that he’ll hate you forever. It wouldn’t be impossible considering he’s so picky. You swear, one mistake is all it takes for him to hold a grudge till the day he dies.   Yet, what you don’t expect is for the scrambled eggs to melt on your tongue. He’s sautéd the spinach, left the cabbage undercooked to add a crunch, and the eggs are fluffy in your mouth, a vivid gold that adds to the haphazard presentation. “This...this is delicious!”   He chews in his cheek. “It’s something I eat when there’s nothing in the fridge.”   You’re amazed. The fact that Kim Seokjin can’t recognize his own ingenuity is painful. “You should add this to the menu.”   He scoffs. “You think I would add scrambled eggs next to the caviar and truffle? I think you forgot this is a fine dining restaurant.”   “It’s fine,” you mumble. “I mean if it tastes good, it tastes good, right, chef?”   A tiny smile fixes at his visage, tugging his plump lip upwards. “You sure have a lot more opinions tonight.”   “Well, I’ve decided to speak my thoughts more,” you hum, scooping up another spoonful of his meal. Your eyes flicker up as you chew with your mouth wide open. “Why? Is it unattractive?”   “It’s interesting,” he says with a smile that’s more visible until he barks, “Hurry up eating so I can drive you home.”   You scoff at him as he walks away and you finish his dinner off.   //   Everyone’s on edge.   “It’s more akin to pretentious artwork without any real flavour than real food,” Hoseok reads from his phone to the entire kitchen. “Head chef, Kim Seokjin, is not far from what his cooking lacks too. A pretentious and egotistical nature, it’s no wonder his personal life is in shambles.”   Your fist tightens. Not only did the published article criticize his dishes, claiming it lost its touch and that he’s lost his roots, but they attacked his personality. His personal life. Going into detail of how his relationship was broken off unexpectedly.    “Oh shit,” Taehyung exhales.   “Was that really posted online for everyone to see?” Jihyo asks in a pitched voice, equally horrified and panicked.   Hoseok nods and before anyone can say anything, the backdoor is heard. Without prompting, everyone swiftly moves to their station, not uttering a single peep. Seokjin comes in, his expression unchanged and he deadpans the usual greeting as he moves past the kitchen.   Your face above his head hasn’t changed. But you know it’s not the time to dwell on it.   For the rest of the shift, Taehyung’s on his best behaviour and neither Jihyo nor Yoongi make snarky comments. It’s come at a cost — the morale is lower than usual. The atmosphere is tense and even Namjoon’s earnest encouragement can’t help.   Out of the corner of your eye, you can’t help but watch Seokjin. He doesn’t make mention to the article, yet by the deep furrow of his brow, you can tell he’s in a grumpy mood. It’s understandable. But you wonder why it seems like he’s less angry and more hurt.   If it were you, you’d be furious. The personal details of your life outed publicly and not only were your skills scrutinized, but your personality too.    Seokjin was cheated on and now chastised. Even if he’s resilient, it’s too much for anyone to take. It doesn’t look like he has friends to rely on either.   “Are you coming, Y/N?” Jihyo asks, turning around as you linger behind her. The restaurant’s lights are turned off, the kitchen long cleaned and your clothes changed into a fresh pair that doesn’t reek of dish soap and fish. But you feel unsettled. Like there’s still one more thing you haven’t finished doing.   “No, it’s alright. I forgot something. You can go right ahead.”   She nods, joining the others and you walk to the back, pushing the doors of the kitchen open.   There’s still a light on and you find Seokjin sitting on a stool by a counter. He looks up at you, visage in a neutral state. Neither a frown nor a smile. “What are you still doing here?”   Your hand tightens on your bag strap and you approach him. “Are you okay?”   Seokjin smiles at you. For the first time, it isn’t mocking — it’s gentle and tinged with sadness. The corner of his plump lips quirk ever so subtly and his arm extends, hand plopping on top of your head before it slides off. “I’m fine. It’s still early enough that I don’t need to drive you. You should go home before the sun completely sets.”   Wordlessly, you begin to walk away.   But then a sharp inhale is stolen through your parted lips. Before you can second guess yourself, you grab Kim Seokjin. Your hand wraps around his wrist and he glares at you.    “We should go out for a drink.” You don’t waver even with the incredulous look on his face. “What’s wrong? Never had a drink with an employee before? It looks like you need one and I’ll only offer once. I’m pretty busy myself, you know.”    It’s aggressive, obnoxious, a bit loud. It’s all the things you suppose he dislikes in a person, yet somehow the two of you have never been closer.   You end up in some hole in the wall, drinking shots of soju that burn its way down your throat. Seokjin sits across from you with an amused smile on his face that’s so irritating you want to slap it off, and you damn yourself for letting it slip your mind that you’re a lightweight.   “Aren’t you hurt, Kim?” The words slightly slur on your tongue. “‘s ridiculous! To criticize your food is one thing, but to criticize your personality and talk about your personal life ‘s just crossing the line!”    His lips pull, his eyes flicker down to the empty bottle beside you. “Yeah. It is.”   “Then why aren’t you mad?!” Your fist pounds the wooden table. “Getting cheated on is sad enough! Why do they gotta rub it in, huh?” His brow lifts, but you continue, “should sue them!”   Seokjin exhales on a sip. “It’s part of the business.”   “No, ’s not!”   “It was my ex who told them anyway. She’s upset that I kicked her out of the apartment.”   “Then that’s more reason to be mad!” You press your face into your hands, angry at how he’s not angry. “How can you be so nice? How can you be so nice and no one knows it?!”   Seokjin smiles to himself.   “This freaking sucks,” you moan.   He sighs at your drunken state and orders water for you. The old lady tottles by with a big smile and you get a chance to see the cloud of fog and the face above her head. “I brought the bean sprouts back,” her husband calls from the entrance at the same time with a grocery bag.   “I’ll be right there.” She places the glass down in front of you. “Here you go.”   Jealousy colours you pink inside. “You met your soulmate,” you exhale at her quietly.   The woman’s eyes twinkle. “That old man? He gives me more headaches than anything. I’d rather this handsome man be my soulmate,” she quips, casting a glance at an embarrassed Seokjin who thanks her for her compliment.   Her husband calls her again and she hurries back.    Seokjin leans forward with a skeptical look. “Are you okay?”   “I’m envious,” you sigh wistfully, looking on at the married couple at the back with your chin rested in your palm. After a moment, you shift towards the man across from you. Seokjin really is handsome. “I come from a long line of matchmakers, you know, and I have this ability.”   He plays along. “What ability?”   “I see the faces of who people are gonna end up with.” You drink the water, cooling your throat, but above the rim of the glass, you recognize his scoff and amusement. The glass slams down on the table in your protest. “It’s true! It’s been like that since I was a baby!”    “Okay, okay. I believe you.”   He clearly doesn’t believe you.   Irritated, you straighten your spine. “A long, long time ago back in High School, I really, really, really liked this guy.”    Seokjin’s brows raise, not sure where you’re going with this. “Alright…?” He nudges the glass of water back to you.    “I knew he wasn’t gonna end up with me, but he asked me out. And like a total idiot, I-I went out with him anyway. Then guess what happened?”   He has no idea.    A thick lump forms in your throat and makes it hard to speak. “He met the girl he‘s supposed to end up with, so I broke it off. They got married a year after high school. So I was right. I was...right.” Tears flood your vision, clouding the dark-haired man in front of you. You forgo the water for the shot Seokjin poured himself and you down it.    You were right. But it hurt.   Seokjin’s voice is soft, though it does little to console you. “So….because of your ‘ability’, you haven’t gone out with anyone else?”   You nod. “I’d be setting myself up for a failure anyway.” Your head lifts and your tired gaze connects with his. “My family wanted me to be a matchmaker like them. But I love, love, love cooking and I wanna be a chef. Like you.”   The corner of his mouth quirks. You’re honest — in a way he wouldn’t have expected from sober you. But he doesn’t mind it whatsoever.   “I know you don’t believe me. But look.” You reach over, tapping him relentlessly on the shoulder and your hand barely comes to cover your mouth as if you’re children exchanging secrets across the table. “See those two women over there? They’re gonna end up together.”   Your whispers are all too loud and Seokjin glares, not sure if you’re hysterical or delusional. Or both.   You turn to the window and he follows your line of sight. At the same time, a couple holding hands passes by and you shake your head. “They don’t end up together.”   “How do you know?”   “I already said! I see it. Above their heads.” Then you turn your head, looking at him. Seokjin’s startled, having not realized that you’ve leaned in so close, that your faces are mere inches away. But before he can shift back, your lip pulls and you murmur, “We’re supposed to end up together.”   His brow raises.   “It was gonna be someone else. Then one day, you came into work and poof! It was my face! Just like that. I almost got a heart attack, you know!” Giggles start to spill out of you. “It was a huge shock cause I always thought I was gonna be alone since I can’t see my own. Well, sometimes fate changes, so it might change again! Don’t worry!”   He exhales, squeezing out the air from his lungs. He stands, grabbing his coat and then tugging your arm up. “You’ve had too much to drink. C’mon. Let’s go.”   “Aye, aye, captain— I mean chef!”   His smile is small, but all too evident. He should smile more, even if it ruins the cold and aloof exterior he’s got going on. It’s cute and makes him look younger. So you express the idea and he chops your head lightly with his hand and gives you a rather gentle ‘shut up’ that has you grinning more.    //   The sunlight burns your vision and there’s a pounding headache at your temples.   There’s an overwhelming urge to pull the covers over your head, but as the slits of your eyes open and you realize there’s a strange floral scent to the sheets, you bolt upwards.   It hurts all the senses in your body, but your eyes register the neat recipe books lined on the shelf, trophies and certificates on the walls, a poster of the planets, a telescope and Kim Seokjin’s family picture by his nightstand. And then you scream.   “Christ. Relax!” He appears at the doorway, eyeing you with his arms crossed. “You were drunk, so I took you home.”   Absentmindedly, you tug the covers up to your chest in spite of still wearing the same clothes from last night. Your dry voice croaks out. “We...we didn’t do anything scandalous did—”   “No!” He shuts the thought down before it runs wild in your head and Seokjin pinches the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t do anything to you, jesus christ, woman! Just get up. There’s a spare toothbrush in the bathroom. I’ll make you some breakfast and a hangover drink.”   You follow his instructions, cleaning yourself up to the best of your abilities with the limited supplies, but it’s surreal to be in Seokjin’s penthouse. It’s clean and organized, like you expected, though a lot more cozy and warm. You didn’t know he traveled so frequently and that he had an interest in astronomy — if there’s anything the telescope and posters tells you.   “Stop snooping,” he calls out from the kitchen, looking up to where you’re investigating his movie collection. You come over with a half-hearted apology and he sets down a bowl of oatmeal and a mysterious concoction in a tall glass. Both taste heavenly, enough to work up your appetite ten folds.   But then he says, “Eat fast. It’s a special day today.”   You’re not sure what he means by it, but you simply nod and nurse your headache.   You remember what you told him last night, how you revealed all your secrets in one long tangent and you cringe at yourself. Seokjin probably thinks you’re a complete nut.   But strangely enough, when you look at the cloud above his head, your face hasn’t changed.   “Why are you staring?”   “I’m not,” you mutter and tear your eyes away, unsuspecting to his smile.   But in spite of how close and upfront you might’ve gotten with Seokjin, he still tells you to walk to work yourself — that it’s close enough and too much of a hassle if he drives you. So you cuss him out as you’re striding down the block as he zooms past you in his expensive vehicle.   You hope he notices your glare from across the kitchen, but if he does, he doesn’t comment.   “Today, we have some special guests for dinner service. A few of my friends will be coming and one of them will be proposing, so let’s make sure we give them a good dinner and memory.”   “Yes, chef.”   The news is exciting and even puts a buzz in the kitchen. “Finally, we’re doing something cool,” Taehyung says to you with a swollen smile. “I love a good proposal story.”   “Always the one watching the proposal, never the one getting proposed to,” Yoongi quips as he brushes past and Hoseok snickers.   “Hey, I’m working on it!”   “I’m surprised Seokjin actually has friends though,” Jihyo comments and right when Yoongi turns to add something, they both pale as Seokjin strides past. He glares at them and is even more frightening in his silence. They immediately apologize and he hums, moving out the kitchen.   You, Hoseok, and Namjoon laugh.   Evening eventually comes and Seokjin temporarily calls a halt to the kitchen in favour of his old friends meeting his staff. It’s unusual to see him in such a good mood, smiling and being sociable. It’s strange in general to see this side of him, but it’s not unwelcome whatsoever.   There’s seven of them, a mix of females and males, and you follow Hoseok’s lead in greeting and shaking their hands. Quickly, you recognize who's going to be proposing to who tonight. It’s not hard to miss considering the man is visibly nervous and the close female by his side keeps glancing at him in worry.   “Are you alright, Jimin?”   “Huh? Yeah.” The blonde with full cheeks and soft features smiles timidly, scratching the back of his neck. He’s dressed too nicely for this to merely be a dinner. “I’m fine. Just not feeling well.”   “Are you sure you don’t want to stop by the clinic?” The short-haired female asks, concern evident in the faint knot between her brows. “There’s one down the street. I can go with you.”   “I’ll keep an eye on him, Yuri,” the man who introduced himself as Jungkook reassures her, “If anything I’ll take him.”   “Jimin’s just excited to try out the food.” Seokjin grins, drawing attention away from his friend. “Rest assured, everyone will feel better after eating and if you get sick tonight, it’s not food poisoning, alright?”   There’s laughter in the group and another says, “You’ve been bragging about your restaurant for so long, I thought you were never going to invite us to eat here.”   “Well, we’re usually booked full house, but it’s a slower season so I thought why not.”   Yet the conversations drown away from your ears as your eyes unintentionally flicker upwards. You don’t mean to — it’s still a habit you’re trying to break. But you feel blood drain from your face as you discern the image that emerges from the fog above Jimin’s head and above Yuri’s.   “Y/N?” Taehyung waves his hand in front of your eyes and you snap out of your trance. “Why are you staring into space? We’re going back.”   “O-Oh. Sorry. I was thinking about something.”   You return to the kitchen, forcing yourself to focus and getting back to your task.    It’s none of your business. You know better than to involve yourself and it’s not like anyone would believe you in the first place. People’s lives have nothing to do with you. You have to turn a blind eye. It’s none of your business, it’s none of your business—   But as you leave to the back area to grab ingredients, you catch the man leaving the bathroom. “Oh, you’re one of Seokjin’s chefs right?” Jimin stops and smiles at you, inhibiting your escape.   You shake your head. “I-I’m only a kitchen assistant.”   “But you’re still part of his staff.” His eyes are rounded and bright. “Is he mean at all? We’ve been trying to squeeze it out of him, but he won’t give us any details. I heard a bit of shouting, so I was curious.”   “Oh, he’s always shouting.” The corner of your mouth quirks and Jimin grins. “He’s a bit mean, but Chef Kim’s just serious about his work and we respect him for it.”   “It seems like you understand him better than I do. Anyway, the soup was amazing. I already told Jin, but I thought I should let you know since you’re the one who brought it out to us.”   “Thank you.” Your eyes travel above his head and then you notice the way he’s fiddling with a box inside his pants pocket. You swallow hard. “Are you proposing tonight?”   Jimin’s head whips up. “How’d you know?”   “Chef Kim let all of us know, so we can make sure it’s a memorable dinner service.”   His expression softens and he bobs his head. Jimin takes out the ring box and studies it carefully. “I am. I hope it wasn’t too obvious. I know she’ll say yes, but I’m still nervous. She’s the love of my life and these things only happen once,.”   “Well….” You give an awkward chuckle. “Sometimes it happens more than once for people.”   “Not for us,” Jimin declares in such self-assurance that it’s uncomfortable. His smile filled with affection doesn’t help either. “She’s the one. I don’t think I’ll love anyone more than her.”   Your pupils flicker up to the cloud above his head that says otherwise. It gnaws at you, mocking you, and you’re uncertain if you can sleep tonight if you don’t say at least something. So you take the leap. “Are….you...sure?”   “What?”   “Never mind.” You turn around, having regretted it the moment it spilled. “Please enjoy dinner!”   “Wait!” The man unexpectedly grabs you out of sheer instinct, halting you in your spot. He searches your face while his own crumples into a frown. “Did Yuri say something to you?”   “No!” you frantically spit before taking a deep breath to calm down. “I’m just….I just….” The philosophy you’ve forced yourself to take collapses at his earnest visage. You were never good at being unattached. “D-Do you think this is a good idea? Are you absolutely sure about this?”   “What’s going on here?” There’s a lower voice, a husky timbre. Seokjin stands at the end of the dark corridor and all traces of his outgoing personality are gone. It’s replaced with the serious demeanour you’re used to. He beckons you. “Can I speak to you for a moment, Y/N?”   Jimin returns back to the table, even more unnerved than before while you’re pulled outside.   You feel small with your back against the brick and Seokjin looming over you. “What the hell are you doing?”   You flinch from his tone.    You’ve never seen him so angry. He isn’t shouting, screaming or imposing. But the irritation seethes out of him, simmering underneath his skin. You swallow hard, downcast eyes searching the gravel. You think about how dark it’s getting with the sun setting over the horizon. “I…”   “Are you seriously trying to talk him out of it?! What gives you the right—”   You snap. There’s no reason he should be upset, no reason you should be treated this way. So with your teeth gritted, you give him the truth that’s hard to hear. The truth that you alone must bear. “They’re not going to end up together!”    “What?”   Seokjin wears the same incredulous look from last night. It’s futile.   Still, your mouth runs off into mumbles, “I can see it above their faces. That woman, Yuri, she’s…..paired with that other man. Jungkook.”   You give up. Waving the white flag. In the silence that follows, you expect Seokjin to fire you, or call the nearest hospital. Either you’re a nut or unsuitable to work in his kitchen. Maybe both.   What you don’t anticipate is his startled expression, horrified as if you just told him there’s a ghost behind him. “How….how’d you know that?” The syllables unusually stutter out of him. It’s not like Seokjin to be inarticulate. “Jungkook hasn’t told anyone he loves her except for me.”   It’s your turn to be surprised. The quietness lingers. Then, he sighs.   “Don’t get involved,” he scolds, gentler than before. At the same moment, there are cheers from inside that leak out — clapping and hollering — you know Jimin’s proposed.   Seokjin turns away, returning to the restaurant floor and you resume your position in the kitchen. Jihyo asks if there’s anything wrong, but you brush her off. For the rest of the night, you concentrate on your job and Seokjin���s friends bid farewell after their stomachs are full from dessert and there’s a diamond on Yuri’s finger.   “Job well done everyone.” Seokjin has a satisfied look when he returns and Namjoon shares a smile with everyone. Clean up finishes soon after, but before you can leave, he calls you specifically. “Y/N, come here.”   Taehyung looks at you with widened eyes, but you don’t utter a word, staying behind. The kitchen filters out and even Yoongi sends a sympathetic look your way before departing. It’s never a good thing to be called back.   You brace yourself. If Seokjin didn’t make a scene firing you earlier than certainly will now. There’s no reason not to — you tried to stop an engagement between his close friends and he probably thinks you’re psychotic.   You stand there in silence for a good minute as he fills out some paperwork. It feels like you’re in the principal’s office. Then, the corner of his mouth moves as he casts a glance at you. “Sometimes you borrow the kitchen to practice, right? You can practice tonight.”   Confusion renders you immobile, filling your mouth with cotton, but you manage a slight nod.   You start to chop vegetables into bowls, dicing and mincing ingredients that will be needed for tomorrow. All the while, Seokjin sits meters away from you with a bunch of papers. Either doing his taxes or filing a report to admit you into the hospital. You’re not sure which one it is.   But halfway through, he pipes up again. “You should make something for the two of us to eat.”   “Yes, chef.” On any other night, you would be bursting with excitement, knowing it was a chance to impress him. But now you wonder if this will be your last chance to cook.    Within minutes, you have a pot on the stove, boiling for ten minutes.   “Sit down,” he commands, motioning to the other stool and you oblige.   Seokjin makes drinks in the meanwhile, asking what you want. When you mumble anything’s fine, he pulls out a few bottles from the back cabinet and starts mixing. You didn’t know he can bartend, but it’s almost expected that Kim Seokjin can do anything at this point.   The atmosphere is terribly awkward, so you exhale from your nose and speak up, “I’m sorry. I...I know I stepped out of line. I didn’t mean for it to come out the way it did. I’m really so—”   “I believe you,” Seokjin interjects, gaze meeting yours across the counter. Your breath hitches. “I didn’t believe you at first. About the whole ability thing. But when you told me that Jimin and Yuri won’t make it, I knew there was no other possible way.” He pours the drink into two glasses. “Jungkook and Yuri grew up together. He told me a long time ago he was in love with her and I was sworn to secrecy. No one else knows. Not his brother, his mom, or Jimin.”   He passes it to you and sighs, taking a sip. “But there’s nothing I can do to stop Jimin or to help Jungkook. It’s something they have to figure out on their own.”   You nod, gripping the stem of the glass. “I know.”   There’s a pregnant pause.    You lift your eyes and it connects with Seokjin’s. Instantly, you feel yourself breaking into a sweat at how intense he looks at you. “Is it true then?” he asks in the quaintness of the kitchen, his voice thick and low. “Are we going to end up together?”   “It might change!” The words come out all too frantically in fear he’ll freak out like you did. You know it’s a lot to take in. “Things change all the time. You were supposed to end up with Jisoo, but then, but then things happened so….nothing’s ever certain. It all depends on our actions and choices. I know you don’t like people like me. I don’t have anything to offer you anyway—”   “You need to have more confidence in yourself.”   Your voice dies on your tongue. Seokjin’s staring at you again in a way that makes your palms clammy, so intense that you wonder if he’s scrutinizing your pores. You swallow hard, tearing your own gawking away until you hear sizzling. The two of you turn to where the pot is almost over boiling and you run over, grabbing it off the stove. “I-It’s done.”   He grabs bowls as you set it down and uncover the lid.    “What do we have here?”   You’re embarrassed. It’s nothing like his fine dining dishes, or even his comfort food that somehow tastes like heaven. “It’s just carrot and potato curry stew. It’s actually something my family cooks…..so it’s nothing fancy.”   Seokjin’s spoon dips into the liquid and it’s your turn to watch intently.   He smells it, sips and his expression is kept blank.   You stand. “I can throw it out if you want—!”   “Why are you so jumpy today?” The corner of his plump lips curls. “And why would I want to throw out something so delicious?”   Your heart stutters in your chest and tears fill your vision. He might not fire you after all and on top of that, both your inborn ability and cooking skills have been validated. You feel overwhelmed. Especially when he finishes his first bowl and goes for seconds.    “This is what I’ve been missing in my cooking,” Seokjin murmurs with a tiny smile. “When they said I was missing my roots, I think I know what they mean now. Thank you, Y/N.”   You’re not sure who’s filled with more gratitude.   He smiles and you nod at him earnestly, speechless on what to say.   At the end of the night, Seokjin drives you home in his black Mercedes. A kind of lull fills that car and it isn’t frightening like it usually would be. Rather, it’s comfortable. A little too short lasting. He parks the car at the curb in front of your apartment and you get out.   “Thank you.”   Yet after you shut the door, he rolls down the window and stops you. “Y/N.”   You look at him and he smiles again. A phenomenon that used to be so rare that seems to happen frequently now. “I hope it doesn’t change.”   Kim Seokjin gazes at you, eyes connected across the distance that feels like it’s closing. He never wavers and a lump forms into your throat. “Are we going to end up together?” — Your own words echo in the recesses of your mind— “It might change! Things change all the time.”   But here he is. Going against all your efforts of trying to change fate itself. “I hope it doesn’t change. And I hope you don’t want it to change either.”   Seokjin drives off, leaving you absolutely stunned.   You wonder if he knows what he’s saying. But as you watch his car fade into the distance, somehow you’re not appalled or scared at the idea of being with him anymore.

The kitchen is an organized pandemonium.   A place where everyone knows exactly what they’re supposed to do and moves in fluid motions by one another, like a busy crosswalk in the downtown area. It’s a kind of silent teamwork and while you’re merely helping Taehyung chop vegetables or washing the accumulated dishes, you know your role is still an important one. You just wish you could a little more.   The moment the back door creaking can be heard, everything comes to a halt. Seokjin rounds the corner as everyone simultaneously greets him. “Good afternoon, chef.”   “Afternoon.” There’s a smile on his features, one that surprises a few and makes the others unsettled. “There’s going to be a special menu item today, so I want that prepared as soon as possible.”   He hands the new recipe to Namjoon who frowns upon the sprawled notes. “Carrot...and potato soup with chickpea crumble?”   “If you need details, ask Y/N,” Seokjin says with a tiny smile. “It’s her recipe.”   At once, everyone turns to you with shocked expressions. It’s one thing for Seokjin to suddenly introduce something new, but to introduce yours, it’s both unprecedented and a privilege.   You stare at him and his smile widens slightly. “I hope you don’t mind.”   “N-Not at all.”   The daily tasks commence, but not without a pat on the back from Yoongi, a congratulations from Jihyo and a smile sent your way by Taehyung. Namjoon and Hoseok ask for your help and it’s the first time you’re not just mincing garlic in the corner or washing a stack of dishes. Pride bursts through you and you look across the kitchen to Kim Seokjin. He scoffs at how big your smile is, feigns a glare and tells you to get back to work.   The rest of the dinner service goes smoothly. Your appetizer gets compliments from several and you couldn’t be any happier, even when everyone’s left and you’re still scrubbing dishes.   There’s a click of a tongue beside you. Seokjin stands with his arms crossed. “You always find ways to make me pay you overtime. Move over.” He rolls up his sleeves and helps you wash the last pots and pans.   “Thank you for today. It was a good surprise.”   He hums and the pair of you finish up before he tells you to unload the dishwasher tomorrow. “Go change and grab your coat. It’s getting late.”   “Are you going to drive me home?”   “No. We’re going to scope out some competition.”   “Competition?”   “We’re going to eat at a restaurant called Dog World,” Seokjin brushes off quickly, but when you continue to blink at him, he sighs and waves you off. “Don’t ask too many questions, alright? This is my excuse for asking you out on a date.”   If you weren’t caught off guard before, you’re wholly stunned speechless now. A deer in headlights. And it makes the older bastard grin widely.   “Don’t worry.” His voice knocks down into a gentler tone. “You can reject me if you want. I don’t want you to be pressured because I’m your boss, even though I don’t think that matters to you. But you should also know I’m not doing this because of what you see.” He gestures above his head, unknowingly batting the cloud of fog you can perceive. “I’m doing this because I want to.”   It sinks into you and your head tilts to your shoulder. “You….want to go out on a date with me?”   The corner of Seokjin’s lip pulls and he diverts his vision elsewhere. You notice how his ears are turning red. “Ever since you sat down with me and told me that getting cheated on was sad enough and that they shouldn’t rub it in.”   There’s silence. The first stretch of it is because you genuinely don’t know what to say to him. But the second stretch that follows is when you realize just how nervous he is and there’s a ruthless urge to keep him on the edge. You make him simmer in fear, a similar kind to the countless ones he’s given you during stressful shifts in the kitchen.   There’s something powerful yet endearing about how Kim Seokjin anticipates your answer.   You never thought he could be this way. He just keeps surprising you.   When you can’t contain it anymore, you burst out laughing.   “I’ll accept on the condition that if you take my recipe permanently, you’ll need to pay me royalties appropriately. Don’t think I won’t take you out to court, Kim.”   Seokjin grins and for the first time, certainty sews into you. You have a feeling fate isn’t going to change and you hope it doesn’t either.

[Epilogue]   The kitchen is your home.   You’re sure Jin would adamantly argue that the house was perfectly fine to be considered your home, but there’s still a charm to the busy kitchen that has drawn you in since childhood. Even if the heat swelters in the still air and is stifling, even when grease and oil splatter and stains your clothes, the effort in cooking makes the food that comes from it even more delicious.   “What is this?”    All heads turn at your voice and you motion to the plate about to be brought out. “The rice is on the wrong side of the plate! Re-do this, and watch the plating people! I know it’s easy to forget but it’s important to be consistent with the presentation!”   “Yes, chef!”   It’s strenuous and difficult to be here. It took years to get to where you are, but you wouldn’t trade it in for anything. The reward is worth it. You love your job — maybe even more than Jin, and while you’re sure he wouldn’t be surprised, he’d still playfully whine about being casted aside.   The rest of the night goes off without a hitch and once the kitchen is all clean, you switch off the lights and lock the doors. And like magic, the person you’ve been thinking about all day is leaning against the car parked on the curb, arms crossed as he stares out into the starry sky.   “About time. I’ve been waiting for the past twenty minutes.”   You scoff with a smile and discern the cold cloud emitting from his lips each time he exhales.   This is the exact opposite of what you intended to happen. Sometimes you wonder if it was a self-fulfilling prophecy — by knowing he was going to be with you and trying to avoid it, you inadvertently made him closer to you. But whatever the case may be, you’re glad for the outcome.   You close the distance and slap your hands against his frozen cheeks, trying to warm them up. A smile tugs on your features. “Sorry. You’re cold, aren’t you? You should’ve just waited in the car.”   “But I wanted to see you right away,” he mutters, putting his hands on top of yours to keep you there, then he adds, “and it gives me reason to do this.” Seokjin grins and leans in to press a soft kiss against your lips, one that you smile into.   If any of his old kitchen staff or even the current group saw him now, they’d faint with how grossly affectionate he was being. Then again, they might just be used to it considering Jin hasn’t ever paid mind to other people. He’s never been one to opt out of public displays of affection either.   “You know I’ve been thinking lately.”   “About?”   “How hard I tried to get rid of you and how I couldn’t. You’re kind of like a pest.”   Your husband of two years straightens his spine, wholly offended. “Pest?”   Laughter bubbles out of your chest and you press another chaste kiss to his lips before you’re pushing him aside to get into the car. Seokjin chuckles, rounding the vehicle to get into the driver’s seat.   “Are you hungry?”   “Not really.”   “Namjoon and Taehyung want us to go to the opening of their restaurant.”   “Their opening event lasts for three days right? We can always go tomorrow.” You turn to him as he pulls off, driving down the street. “I’m kind of craving your comfort food tonight.”   Jin grins, easily obliging while your eyes flicker up to the cloud of fog above his head. You see yourself smiling as widely as you are now, and you’re thankful you have your ability.

Drowning 6 pretttttry please. Your writing is amazing, honest to god. Wish I had your talent. Keep writing!!!!

Thank you for the ask and lovely message ❤

Drowning Part 6

Masterlist

This one is a tad different that the other parts, some segments are in from Supervillain's POV which are very vague because they are meant have an altered state feel to them. You also learn a lot about Villain and Hero's past in this one.

@shydragonrider @asrasmysoulmate

Warnings: unreality, wheelchair, schizophrenia, elecric shocking, hallucinations, hate towards another, possessiveness, restraints, drugged whumpee, sick whumpee

~

Supervillain emerged from whatever fluid contraption held him in place. His body went numb, pins and needles filling every limb, every muscle like wildfire.

But, nearly as quick as he broke the surface, he fell back in...

Falling...

Falling...

Falling...

His body seized up, a ringing in his ears... then he hit solid ground, his body going slack. Nearly immediately, he felt conscious of the tubes and moniters embellishing him like ornaments and garland on a Christmas tree.

His lead-filled mouth yanked open on its own free will, trying to force a scream out, but his tongue only managed a hoarse whimper.

He jerked his head about, finding it laid nearly on a pillow, but another trap locked his head in. He clenched his hands, but his body was already falling back into the sea- all feeling washed away by the waves.

Sand. He felt sand in his body, dehydrating and numbing, as consciousness was snatched away from him once again. The tubes faded, as did the traps- leaving Supervillain with an empty void.

He had a sense, but couldn't remember what happened in brief moments of waking like this. He hardly recognized the difference between unconsciousness and consciousness and if he did, it wouldn't matter. He never could escape. Never could escape the agonizing water in and around his body.

All he could do was fall.

Fall back into the water.

《~~》

"Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them," a voice spoke. Hero had given up on trying to tell apart the various differences between the countless heroes and doctors that spoke to her on a daily basis. Trying to just intoxicated her mind with a weird feeling of displeasure and annoyance that couldn't be placed. It was right in between her eyebrows, where she would have a unibrow if she didn't wax it all the time in highschool.

"Do you know who wrote that quote, Hero? Hmm?"

Hero didn't respond. Why would she? It gave her no clearance, no escape, no epic prison break that one may expect from such a person of stengths and wits. She just sat there, limbs tied to the ground by unrelenting steel, her head angled to watch the suffering man on the bed slowly fade away with persistent illness and everyday drugs.

"Bruce Lee," the speaker answered the question after quickly realizing that Hero wasn't going to.

Hero tuned out of the conversation, leaving it as background noise as she studied the scene in front of her. Supervillain was hooked up so many moniters, it was as if he was in a coma. Hero twitched her jaw. Maybe he was. The ventilation and feeding tube stuck all the way down his nose and mouth, opening it forcibly, definitely made that thought come alive.

Hero did this a lot, zoning out whenever someone tried to talk to her. Her once vibrant personality and optimism was dampered, replaced by a dull depression. Even Villain, who watched Hero daily, was getting nervous of this rapid decline in attitude- not that Hero knew of her betrayer's thoughts and emotions. To her, in this foggy hole of misery, Villain was an outcasted shadow, adding depth to the painting, but never a main topic. Heck, if she didn't concentrate, she didn't even see the light shade on the white surface.

There was only Supervillain.

But even that has changed, and not just in the extra moniters and tubes, but her whole aspect of him. He was the cause of her pain, he was the cause of the insufferable cloud that ascended over her.

There was no fondness in the way she viewed him anymore, just resentment. The deepest kind of resentment that could also be described as despising.

But even that was an understatement.

One day, a movement drew Hero out of her hate-filled thoughts and back into reality. It was Villain, playing with something by her wrist.

"Back off," she snarled, her voice sounding unnaturally deep and cracky.

"And so she speaks." The glint in his eyes revealed the sarcasm that his monotonous voice hid. "How are you Hero?"

Hero snarled, raising her lips in an animalistic manner, but didn't reply. Once her wrist was let go, the unused muscles allowed it to flop aimlessly against her equally thining thigh. She was fed yes, a vile piece of bland, moist garbage that gave her body its much needed vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, but lack of use degraded the once hefty muscle.

Villain worked on each of the restraints. Each arm fell limp as her legs splayed out, thankful for the break from the locked position they were kept in. When her head was let free, it flopped, her neck unable to keep it up.

Villain steadied her, putting his hand unceremoniously against the base of her neck. Hero squirmed, aware of her vulnerability.

"The door with the exit sign is unlocked," he whispered, so close to her ear that Hero cringed.

At first, her brain using its old habit, began to block out his words, but suddenly stopped and rewinded, shoving them back to the front of her mind.

Unlocked...

She could get out.

Villain helped her into a nearby wheelchair and was about to wheel her away when a strand of her empathetic nature fought against the newfound distant demeanor.

"What 'bout Supervillain?" She asked, her voice a weak whisper.

"This is for you," Villain replied casually grinning down at Hero, happy that she was back to somewhat normal.

Hero sunk into the plushy cushioning of the seat and looked at Supervillain's still figure and snarled. Ha, he didn't get to leave. She did. She got to escape the inhumane confines that kept her bound up like a trapped goat.

He didn't. He could now pay for his crimes.

Yet, as stubborn as this thoughts of retribution sounded, they weren't. That sympathizing portion of her protested against the new arrangement. And, being the stronger of the two opposites, it left her tongue in forms of coherent words.

"I won't leave him," she said, her heart bursting. Whether the internal explosion was due to anticipation or exaltation, it don't matter. It felt natural, like herself.

"You really don't have a choice."

"Why do you want me free?" Hero asked.

"This place is the definition of boring."

Hero was silent and contemplated Villain's statement. He really didn't care about her levels of bore and joy, never did. Any interaction or any relationship that the two once cherished was borne of platonic care of the other's well-being. Nothing too deep, and barely held any real intent. Are you alive? Are you dead? Were the only two questions that brought along any vowels of conversing.

It was weird, abnormal. Hero might've even went as far as to say suspicious.

But it was also promising. Very, very promising. It held the possibility of freedom that the chair did not.

But he was Villain. He did not have one ounce of good will or honesty in his cold veins. He was a liar, a cheat, and as much as she would've loved to call them friends, it was close to impossible. They couldn't build a relationship off of trickery as much as the two once wanted to.

This was a scheme, a lie, to get to Hero and make her mess up. Mess up and then she gets hurt.

Or worse, Supervillain does.

That thought stood out from the rush of others in her brain for it held an interesting style to it. As close as she was to the old Hero and away from the shadow that "choosing who gets hurt" made her into, she wasn't it yet.

Not yet.

"Boring, but I am alive," Hero retorted, rolling her eyes as well as the stiff rectus muscles in her eyes allowed.

"That is otherwise obvious." Villain placed a hand on the barred door that only purpose served as an aesthetic.

"Yeah, in a way I suppose, but Supervillain isn't."

"He's breathing."

"He sleeps all day and when he does manage to wake, he passes out almost immediately. I need to stay with him!"

"You do nothing but glare daggers at him. You are released dear."

"No, you are not helping me escape from this damn place!"

Villain was silent, paused in the motion of pushing the door open.

"Amidst your utter hate for him, you still have the decency to protect him; Hero there is nothing to protect. With one simple flick of a switch, he is dead," Villain pointed out, turning to Hero with tears in his icy blue eyes that Hero once found gloriously gorgeous. Ones that she used to gaze into as they fought, unable to tear herself away. She lost many fights that way by being too distracted to actually land a punch.

But the innocence of that gaze was really just hiding the fact that Villain was a scandalous bastard- only giving half-truths and fake emotions about everything.

"Then why do you give him the serum. You guys know that I won't hurt those civilians," Hero pointed out with a shrug.

Villaim remained silent and wheeled Hero out of the room.

《~~》

Supervillain seemed to always arouse when the nurses swarmed him to administer the vile liquid that plagued his veins with nauseating adrenaline. He felt the hot- not warm, but scorching hot- drug enter his veins.

But it wasn't the beginning, the actual pain of the procedure, that caused Supervillain his horrifying misery. It was afterwards and he wasn't thinking of the dizzying fatigue that usually pushed him into another deep sleep, but the memories it brought.

Some were nostalgic, others taut with grief. Others held regret while some even had remnants of agonizing torture he once endured.

Or gave.

But they were never happy, nor comforting to any degree.

So, when a reverie of kind touch swarmed Supervillain's sensations, his lethargic heart started to pump in rocket speed, motorizing the boat to accelerate...

"Go to sleep."

Hero's voice. One that brought him so much comfort. Hands scratched at his scalp and he felt his heavy eyelids drop.

"I'll be hear when you wake up," Hero lulled, humming softly as the sweet scent of vanilla hit Supervillain's scent receptors. He smiled, the tiniest of grins and nuzzled his nose into her warm, fleece sweater.

But, even delirous as he was, in the back of his head, Supervillain knew this was a vision. A hallucination. The model of schizophrenia that the drug brought upon his mind.

But it was just so real.

So he gave in, purposely allowing himself to be washed away by the unreality of the dream.

Because he loved it. He loved the touch as if it was actually real.

A warm figure slid next to his body wrapping its- her- arms around his shivering body. Phony yes, it gave stability as the fatigue pushed itself to its maximum.

As consciousness dripped away, Supervillain hummed slightly, happy with the feeling.

《~~》

Hero's hand buzzed over the door, considering the possibilities of opening it, but in the end, she blatantly refused.

"No," she said, her old self returning. "I am not going to leave Supervillain."

Villain's eyes widened, chin shaking.

"You care for him?" He asked, voice slightly elevated like a flute's pitch. Such a change from the droning audibles that usually slugged off his tongue. "Like actually."

Hero's brows crunched together as she read Villain's new face expressions. Blond hair draped down to his pointed eyebrows where it slightly curled. Tears seemed to well in his azure eyes.

"Are you crying?" Hero asked, scoffing, but in reality, she cared.

Cared a whole bunch.

"It's just," Villain stepped forward, leaning down and resting his hand on Hero's shoulder. His other hand balanced delicately against the holster of whatever weapon he carried.

Suddenly, without warning, his hand shot up and an bolt of electricity flashed through her body. Hero fell forward, screaming and withering on the floor.

Villain leaned forward, breath warm against her sweaty cheek. "You are mine Hero. I won't ever let you hold, or care for Supervillain again," he growled, bringing thr taser back to Hero's neck. "Goodnight, my love."

The electric shock came again, and the world descended into blackness.

thought i would do a little surrogate au piece from jihyo’s pov for a change

Jihyo sighed as she unlocked the door. Sana had given her a key years ago, telling her she was already basically family anyway. This key had been with Jihyo and her relationship with Sana through a lot. Through Sana’s falling out with Mina and Nayeon, through the night both of them needed just any sense of comfort, through finding out they had accidentally made a baby, through the birth of their daughter, through fights with Chaeyoung. Momo and Sana’s house had always been a comforting and safe place, and this key was how she got to that place.

Tonight, she needed that comforting and safe place. Her and Chaeyoung really didn’t fight very often, and  when they did fight it was little arguments over what to eat for dinner or who paid for what. Chaeyoung was not argumentative by nature, and Jihyo never really found anything about her girlfriend that annoyed her. Recently though, they had had some arguments about moving, and it all came to a head tonight. Chaeyoung had moved into Jihyo’s place when they first moved in together, and Jihyo thought everything would be fine. But there were a lot of issues Jihyo’s place had for Chaeyoung that had built up over time. For starters, it was really far from either of their jobs. Jihyo had never minded before, it was close to Sana and Momo’s plus the rent was cheap, so the commute didn’t really bother her. But now that she had Chaeyoung in her life, the hour commute she had to take was a lot more daunting. Chaeyoung’s commute was thirty minutes, still fairly decent but not as bad as Jihyo’s, and Chaeyoung was tired of having to watch Jihyo leave so early and get back so late. Next, the apartment was old and did have a lot of issues that needed fixing. Jihyo liked to say it had charm and she was able to save a lot of money for Nico’s future by living there, but Chaeyoung was starting to get tired of things constantly breaking. Chaeyoung argued it wasn’t a great place for Nico if things were breaking all the time, and if Jihyo was going to start taking care of her more often they would have to move. Jihyo just didn’t want to give up the location. She liked being able to walk to Sana and Momo’s and being able to walk to see Nico.

At first Chaeyoung had approached it lightly, but overtime things turned ugly, all cultivating in an argument that led to Jihyo practically running to Sana and Momo’s. She had had a rough day at work, and she just needed to see her daughter. Seeing Nico always made things better. 

She knew Sana and Momo would be asleep, but she still texted them she was coming over anyway. They would both be okay with her coming over at any hour, they had both been over to her place at odd hours multiple times. The night Nico was born, Jihyo was fast asleep and since she wasn’t waking up, Momo went to her apartment at two thirty am and poured water on her face to wake her up. The night of Momo’s birthday Sana had coerced Jihyo into coming over at five am to make her pancakes, an event that ended with all of them, the one month old Nico included, somehow ending up covered in flour. Needless to say, it would not be a big deal if she was letting herself in at almost midnight, she just wanted to make sure she did give them proper warning just in case they thought she was an intruder. Jihyo opened the door slowly, it had been getting a little creaky ately and neither Momo or Sana were particularly gifted at fixing or putting things together. Chaeyoung had promised to fix it for them when she got a chance. It seems that chance hasn't come yet. 

The first thing Jihyo noticed was the sound of the TV still blaring. Momo always listened to it so loud, she was amazed Nico had been able to sleep through it at first. She guessed Nico had inherited her patience when it came to the two, because even at her tender age she was still amazing at handling her mother and Momo at their worst.

Momo was on the couch, dead asleep with a stuffed doll in her arms. Jihyo smiled at that, Momo had a habit of falling asleep in the weirdest places. Jihyo decided to move her later, she knew Momo would whine about her back tomorrow if Jihyo let her sleep on the couch all night. She did make sure to turn the tv off though, just in case a loud scene came on and woke Nico. It had never happened before, but Jihyo was always worried about it. She worried about Nico a lot. She worried if she was growing okay or if she was uncomfortable or if she needed something. A lot of people told her she worried too much, even Sana. It was just hard not to, she wasn’t around Nico twenty four seven. Sana and her didn’t live together, and Nico needed Sana to eat. Jihyo had tried watching Nico overnight once, but she had thrown a huge fit when Jihyo tried to give her a bottle and Sana had to come whisk her away and feed her. They had mentioned switching who kept Nico more often when she was older, but for now Jihyo only got to see her daughter as often as she was able to come over to Sana and Momo’s. Momo got more time with her daughter than she did, and while she loved Momo and knew the arrangement was necessary, she also couldn’t help but want to be with Nico more. 

Nico’s door was left ajar, the mobile still turned on. Jihyo slowly approached her daughter, trying her best to not wake her up. Nico was weird. Momo leaving the tv on never bothered her, but if Jihyo made too much shuffling noise she would be waking the other two people in the house.

Jihyo felt all her frustrations and anger melt away as she laid eyes on her daughter. Nico was fast asleep, a tiny bit of spit on her onesie. Jihyo couldn’t help but smile at that, grabbing a spare rag from Nico’s dresser and gently cleaning her up. “My messy girl.” Jihyo whispered as quietly as possible. “Were you good today? Mommy sent me some pictures of you doing tummy time. I know you hate it but you're almost able to hold your head by yourself, pretty girl. I heard you spit up on Auntie Momo again yesterday, I know your mommy wouldn’t encourage this but it is pretty funny it keeps happening.” Jihyo couldn’t stop herself from taking one of Nico’s tiny hands. Nico was so beautiful, so perfect. Even if the situation was a bit different than Jihyo had expected, she loved every aspect of being Nico’s mama. Nico, her perfect daughter. She was so beautiful. Jihyo had always loved how tiny her baby girl was. Her little fingers as she held onto Jihyo’s hand to the best of her ability, her little feet that would always kick Jihyo when she was changing her, she was so small. So perfect. Jihyo honestly felt so honored she got to be a part of this girl's life. 

All of her anger and frustration was gone. Nico had that magical ability over Jihyo. She just filled her heart with so much love, it was impossible to hold onto her feelings. Yes she still had to deal with them, at some point, but for now she just felt so happy. 

“Hyo?” Jihyo giggled when she heard Sana’s sleep-laced voice behind her. She felt arms wrap around her waist and Sana’s chin on her shoulder, her whole body relaxing. “I saw your text, are you okay?” “I will be.” Jihyo sighed. “Chae-she just- it’s stupid.” “She has a point. Your apartment is pretty old. I know before her you were thinking of finding something a little nicer.” Sana muttered. “I just- there’s nothing good around here. I already feel so far away, I can’t go further.” Jihyo responded. “Hyo, she’s always going to be in your life, I will always be sure of that. We are her moms, both of us are. Not just me. And no matter how far away your apartment is, that won’t change that. Your commute is so long and expensive and it’s unnecessary. If you live twenty more minutes away from us, you will still be able to see Nico whenever you want.” “Thank you Sana…” Jihyo sighed, watching as Nico turned in her sleep. Her little feet kicked out and she rolled towards her parents. “I think she’s a little warm, I’ll go set the thermostat.” “You worry too much Hyo. It’s been the same temperature every night since she came home, I don’t think things suddenly changed.” Sana giggled. “Just a couple degrees.” “Hyo.” “One degree.” Sana giggled.

“She’s okay Jihyo. I’ll text Chaeyoung that you are here. You need some sleep, come to bed.” “Woah, calm down. Nico isn’t even one yet and we promised no more accidental babies.” Sana let go of Jihyo and slapped her arm. “You know what I meant. Grab Momo if you really want supervision, I know she’s asleep on the couch.” Sana stepped away and turned off Nico’s mobile, rearranging her blankets and kissing one of Nico’s hands.

“I know that’s a nasty habit of hers.”  Jihyo muttered. “We should talk to her about it.” “Tomorrow morning.” Sana whispered. “We need to sleep, Nico’s will be awake in a few hours.” Right as Sana said that, it was like something went off in Nico. Jihyo immediately moved to grab her, Sana retreating when she saw how Jihyo was moving. Jihyo held her tightly, bouncing her. “I’ve got this, go get Momo.” “Okay.” Sana smiled, kissing one of Nico’s hands again. “Have fun with your mama sweetheart.” “Very funny.” Jihyo rolled her eyes, bumping hips with Sana. “Go.” “Of course.” Sana giggled. “Mama.” Jihyo could only stick her tongue out at Sana as Sana giggled and Nico screamed in her arms.

Aforementioned long ask post please excuse me while i try to figure out tumblr's new text editor. I’ll get into the art meme questions first and then the rest at the end.

Ok first of all thank you all for sending in questions! Giving me an excuse to talk hehe. I’ll address these in number order. Here’s a link to the ask meme for reference but also I’ll restate the question for ease of reading.

1. When did you get into art?

Super cliche answer but I don’t remember a time where I WASN’T the weird art kid! I started keeping a dedicated sketchbook when I was about 12? But here’s a page from my kindergarten journal about what I want to be when I grow up.

2. What art-related sites have you ever signed up for? 

LOL this is a weird question. Not sure why so many people want to know. Anyways I definitely had a dA. more than one dA account. I used to browse oekakis when I was a kid but I think I was only signed up to some small ones that internet friends owned. What else...? Mangabullet,Tegakie, Paintberri, iscribble back when that was a thing, instagram if that COUNTs, I used to post art on livejournal and dreamwidth too. Patreon, I guess. Gumroad, inprnt, bigcartel, storenvy all for selling stuff.

In terms of resources.. I have a schoolism account that I’m sharing with friends. Used to take classes on coursera for free. I signed up to textures.com for work recently haha. I can’t remember if I ever had an account on posemaniacs. Did they have accounts...? I definitely used to visit all the time.

3. Show us your oldest piece of art you have on hand.

Alright here’s me actually logging into my old deviantart account. These are from September 2008 So I was 13 years old. I don’t have a deviantart account from before then because 13 was the required age for having an account and I didn’t want to lie about my age because I wanted people to be impressed by how young yet clearly incredible at art I was LOL.

4. What defines your artistic style?

You guys are probably more equipped to answer this than me but uh... I wanna say... Focus on colors. And... a slightly heavy hand? Like confident... not always well-considered mark making HAH...

Also I think I have a pretty healthy mix of american comics/manga influences. I feel like people who are into american comics always think my art is too manga and people who are into anime/manga always think my art is too american. And I’m taking that as a good sign.

5. Do you practice other styles/have you tried other styles in the past?

I like to think I switch it up a bunch! I mean, these are pretty different, right?

I think I’ve mentioned this before but one thing I really took away from art school is that, for an illustrator at least, art style shouldn’t be consistent. Your greatest weapon is changing the aspects of your style based on the task, the emotions and message you want to illustrate etc. So depending on the project I’m working on, the fandom I’m drawing for, whether I want something to be funny or serious or dramatic, I’ll change things about my style all the time.

One thing I don’t rly post on here is really tight polished work and that’s because I do that for my day job haha. If you’re not paying me... I’m probably not gonna color in the lines.

6. What levels of artistic education have you had?

I have a whole ass diploma LOL. Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. from the Rhode Island School of Design. And I had a great college experience tbh. Besides the student loans. If any of you guys are thinking about art school feel free to e-mail or message me questions or concerns, I’ll be happy to help. Be as honest as I can be.

7. Show us at least one picture you drew or sketched recently that you did not put on a public site.

heres the wandavision kids. Uhh what else do I have...I feel like I’m rummaging for loose change here...

assorted valentines prep doodles

8. What is your favourite piece that you have done?

Well, obviously this is gonna change all the time and generally it’s gonna be my most recent piece LOL. So yeah, why the hell not. I’ll say it’s this one. I have a pretty short memory which I count as a blessing for an artist. I don’t dwell that long on older work and it keeps me moving forward.

10. What do you like most about your art?

I like that it’s something that only I would make! I had this thought fairly recently and I wrote it down in my sketchbook, it’s pretty cheesy and rambling but it felt revolutionary at the time:

So yeah. I like my art best when it’s the most me and for me. And I like it least when it feels like I’m just making something for social media or for other people’s expectations or whatever.

14. What do you like drawing the most?

Kids in baggy clothing are like my go-to LOL idk if that’s obvious. but also I like being challenged so lately I’ve really loved drawing multi-character compositions, environments, weird angles, etc.

oh i LOVE drawing the underside of shoes lol. And bandages. People that are kinda beat up.. I think it comes from getting a bunch of cuts all the time. I’m always patching myself up and I want to patch characters up too.

15. What do you like drawing the least?

mmm I try to find something to like in every drawing but lets see... I don’t like doing commissions of people’s dogs. Just because it’s normally like... a family friend and my mom volunteered me without my consent and I don’t even really know what they’re expecting me to draw and I don’t even get to meet the dog. Also I’m not that great at dog anatomy. Trying to learn though.

18. What is your purpose for drawing?

This could have a million answers! Uhhh to GIT GOOD??? But also to express myself... and also to make money... I mean it depends on what the drawing IS. I draw fanart mostly to connect to people in the fandom so if you ever see me drawing fanart please take it as like an open invitation to talk to me about the character haha. 

20. How would you rank your art? (poor, mediocre, good, etc.)

Good!!! I have a lot of self-confidence primarily born out of ignorance and a short attention span. If I don’t think too hard about how many other artists are mindblowingly unfathombly good... its easy to think I’m good too! LOL

In all seriousness though, I think the opinion a person has of their art is like a crazy balancing act, right? Like you have to think you suck enough to want to get better but also you have to think you’re good enough to not want to give up. I think we’re all walking that line, I know I am! But also I’m a glass half-full type of person so. Most of the time I feel good about it.

22. List at least one of your “artspirations.”

This is a good question because I’ve been trying and failing to put together one of those “influence map” memes for like a full month now. What’s giving me a hard time is I feel like none of these are actually really obvious “““influences”““ in my art? Like it’s hard to see a lot of them in the work I make...? But idk maybe you guys’ll see what I can’t.

And these are just a couple! God there’s so many more. I could talk about other artists for ages, from all different genres of art. Daumier, Rockwell like every illustrator out there, Dana Gibson, Alex Toth, Hiroshi Yoshida, a lot of the Brandywine School. Lots of current working artists too, Karl Kerschl, frikkin Masashi Kishimoto lol, Jake Wyatt, Richie Pope, Edouard Caplain, Matt Cook, Sachin Teng, - lots of big internet artists, Sophie Li, Freddy Carrasco, Milliofish, Angela Sung... like all my friends from art school too. I could just keep going but I’ll stop for now lol.

24. Do you have a shameful art past? (recolour sprite comics, tracing art, etc.)

I mean if that’s how we’re defining shameful?? sure LOL. It’s not sprite comics but I used to do pokemon sprite recolors all the time. And I used to trace manga panels and color them... Granted this was all when I was like under 12 yrs old so it’s not even embarrassing. Can you really call it shameful when a 7 year old wets the bed or whatever? Not really. In fact some of these are cool as fuck. Look

25. Draw a picture!

Man I’m so tired now but here.

I used to get a lot of compliments for drawing people smiling lol but I don’t think I’ve drawn a lot of smiling lately.. here’s proof I’ve still got it.

OK MEME DONE. onto the rest.

I read this ask first thing when i opened my computer in the morning and it made me really emotional.. I’m so glad my sketches could help you!!

I think a lot of artists on social media talk about the struggle of making art but imo not enough people talk about the joy! Like I know it’s corny but. I really meant what I said at the beginning of that sketchbook about re-contextualizing art around process and progress > product and perfection. I think its super important..! The strength of messy, unfinished, and energetic art! For the feeling of it, for the love it!

That's crazy!!! I hope you like 'em. The whole line of x-books is really good rn imo.

Hi! I totally have the answer for digital stuff on my faq lol. But in terms of drawing on paper.. it varies! I tend to use sketchbooking and any on-paper doodling I do as a way to loosen up/warm-up or experiment. But right now my go-to aresenal is:

from top > bottom

- kuretake no.55 doublesided brush pen

- tombow fudenosuke

- muji 0.38 ballpoint

- medium size poscas

- grey tombow double brush pens

- good ol bic mechanical pencil

not EXACTly sure which inking you referring to from my sketchbook but if I had to take a guess it'd probably be the kuretake no55. That's been my main inker, lately. Great for sketching with the thin end too.

You can print out and eat my art if you like. Just please don't mass produce or re-sell. <3

Thanks! I've come to accept that my art is always gonna be sort of gestural and painty naturally. It's getting it to tighten up enough to be legible that's hard lol...

uh yeah lol I agree actually. I think yolei is great.

I assume these asks are related? LOL

1) Yeah totally true. I love David.

2) I don’t take requests, sorry! But if you want to commission me to draw Legion i would be MORE than happy to. Just e-mail me at [email protected].

<33333333333333333333333333

O5+Itafushi sick/injured/comfort for Anon 😊 totally canon divergent since we still don’t know a lot about their backgrounds and the series is still on going 🙃 Hurt/Comfort, angst w/happy ending. *Does container manga spoiler aspects if you’re not up to date on it.

It couldn’t be helped... logically, Megumi knew this, but what his brain understood didn’t mean his heart could accept. Yuuji was fated from the beginning to die and he knew— Knew that all the man wanted was to die without regret, and saving their world... well how much more honor could one achieve by fulfilling his grandfather’s dying wish? He should be happy for his friend, content in the knowledge that Yuuji gave them a chance to rebuild a better world without the fear of Ryomen Sukuna ever destroying it. Should be... but he wasn’t.

How many times had Megumi convinced himself they weren’t heroe’s, they were just sorcerers. Spiritual police in a sense, there to protect without a desire for acknowledgement. And that their deaths were both inevitable and not immune to regret. All they could do was their best not to garner too much of it and become the very curses they swore to fight. It was why most jujutsu sorcerers learned from an early age not to care about humanity, or at least lie to themselves that it was a possibility. Such bullshit, really.

So, as he stood there staring down at what remained of his best friend’s body, Megumi couldn’t help the regret bubbling up in his very soul. This was literally and figuratively his fault. Yuuji’s, or rather Sukuna’s exorcism was a combined effort in which he’d participated in. That’s not something you can simply set aside. Yes! Megumi was glad that Sukuna was gone, but so was Yuuji! He didn’t care if his friend had been born into, or chosen to, or somehow been trapped in this fate. It wasn’t fair at all. None of this was fair to any of them, just as his own birth had been an unfortunate creation for revenge.

“Fuck!” Megumi gritted out a barely audible utterance as his nails dug into the clenched fists at his sides, and tears trickled down his face. This wasn’t fair at all!

He shouldn’t even be there. If Gojou sensei knew he’d snuck into the morgue he’d be in trouble. But he didn’t care! They didn’t even let him say goodbye to his friend before carting him off to Dr. Shoko. It was for his own good— pfft, fucking uncaring bastards! Yuuji was the first real person he’d ever connected with who gave him back a sense of the humanity he’d lost along the way. The man made him feel, and now. “Fuck...” Megumi knew he was screwed. His heart had crossed the line. Images of a smiling Yuuji play like a movie behind his closed eyes, bringing a pained smile curling on Megumi’s lips. He’d avoided admitting it to himself, but it was true. He’d fallen for Yuuji Itadori.

It had been an unspoken promise Megumi made to Yuuji, one he’d made deep within his heart the moment it had chosen to cross the line. He’d find a way to sever Sukuna from Yuuji and save his love from the ultimate sacrifice. This promise had never been proclaimed from his own lips, but there was no running from the covenant he’d created in his soul. As Sukuna once explained, certain pacts in their works simply could not be broken.

His knees weakened, crumpling Megumi to the floor in a position of summary execution. All of the emotional walls he’d learned to control, gave way in a flood, sending shadowed curse energy to blanket the room. He didn’t even try to stem the flow of power surging out from his pain. It was entirely selfish to lash out with his regret and anger, but Megumi couldn’t stop... didn’t want to let go. “It’s not fair!” He raged into the still darkness. “I should have saved you! If I was stronger, I could have saved you! But I’m too weak... even now, I can’t...” he hung his head head and closed his eyes, “I can’t even let you die properly because you deserve to live Yuuji...” Because I still need you... Damn the consequences, he’ll take whatever comes his way! “Yuuji!!!”

.....Megumi wasn’t exactly sure what happened, how he ended up passed out on his side, or even how long he was laying there. But something gentle brushed against his face, sweeping his hair aside, and caressing it to stir him awake. His body was groggy from the power drain, eyes barely able to focus in the amber emergency lighting. Whatever it was said nothing, just continued soothing him and coaxing with light prodding to wake up. It felt so nice... Wait! Fuck! Was he caught?! Was it Gojou, Dr. Shoko, someone else?!

His eyes flash open wide as he scrambled to sit up, ready to explain himself, but— “Sukuna?!” Megumi screamed in shock.

“What?!” The naked man stumbled back, looking around in a panic. “Where?! He’s supposed to be dead!”

Megumi adjusted his eyes better, because the form in front of him looked like Yuuji, but with all of the same markings as Sukuna, including the second set of open eyes. Although the voice was different... not exactly Yuuji’s, not Sukuna’s, maybe a mix of both. “Who are you?” He asked, noting that the curse energy flowing from this thing was akin to Sukuna in power and this could be a trick from the God of Curses. Is this what his regret had wrought?!

“It’s me,” the figure stepped forward in confusion, a hand over his chest. “Yuuji. Megumi how could you not know it’s me?”

“Because you look like and feel like Sukuna.”

Yuuji looked down at his body and could see the markings too. But that’s when he also noticed something else in the room. His dead body lying on the operating table. His eyes widen as they whip back to Megumi. “Am I?!” His shaky voice cracked.

It was becoming clear. Megumi nodded. “My regret brought you back as a...”

“Curse...” Yuuji breathed out. He was stunned, and yet somehow not surprised. “Wow... but I don’t look like a normal curse.” He could think and feel, “I’m like Mt. Fuji head?”

“I don’t understand it either. I’m so sorry Yuuji— I just couldn’t let you go.” The tears formed again in Megumi’s eyes. “I’d sworn to myself I’d save you, but I failed miserably and for that... n-now you’re a curse.”

“I should be mad at you.” Yuuji knelt down in front of his friend, smiling. “But I’m not. I know all too well how hard it is to let go of people we care about.”

Megumi shook his head. “You don’t understand. I’m being selfish and that’s wrong! I just... I-I just... I love you too much to let you go.”

“You... love me? Like a friend, friend love or...”

Megumi turned away and if it wasn’t so dark his blushing cheeks would be glaringly obvious. “No, the other kind.”

“Brotherly love?”

For a second there, Megumi had to question his own sanity again for failing in love with an idiot. He ran his hand down his face in a huff. “The I wanna kiss you kind! I know you said you like women with big butts and all, but yeah,” he mumbled, “that’s how I feel about you idiot.” His face was truly on fire by this point, only made more difficult by the fact the man he loved was hanging out for all to see.

“Oh!” Yuuji chuckled and sandwiched Megumi’s face between the palms of his hands. “I’m just messing with you. I knew that for a while now.”

“Wait how?!” But dang if seeing Yuuji’s smile again didn’t just melt him. “I kept it hidden.”

“You did, but Sukuna sensed it in you when your domains overlapped, and he showed me.”

Yuuji leaned forward and brought their lips together in an awkward kiss. It was brief, but for Megumi, it solidified how he felt. That yes, he really did love this man and finally! He got to kiss him!

“There was a time I thought Sukuna had a crush on you actually,” Yuuji chuckled. “But then of course, it turned out he just wanted to use you.”

“So... you’re okay with me liking you?” As he spoke, Megumi pulled his coat off and handed it to Yuuji to cover up.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Yuuji smiled and put on the coat. “But what do we do now? Technically I’m not alive, I’m a walking, talking curse.”

“Fuck,” Megumi sighed, his shoulders slumping, “I didn’t exactly think this through, just lost control.”

Yuuji placed a hand on his shoulder, “hey, we’ll figure it out. We always do.”

Megumi couldn’t hold back any longer. He pulled Yuuji into a tight bear hug as renewed tears pooled in his eyes. “I don’t care what you are, I’m just happy to have you back.”

Yuuji returned the hug. “Me too.”

Suddenly, clapping echoed through the darkened room seconds before the light switch was flipped on, causing Megumi to flinch. Shit! They were caught so quickly!

“I had a feeling this would happen.”

It was Gojou’s voice. Aww crap!

Megumi moved Yuuji and placed himself between the two men. “Leave him alone!”

“Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head Megumi Chan, I’m not gonna exorcise him. I followed you here, so if I’d wanted to stop you, I would have done so sooner.”

“You’re messing with me.” Megumi narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “It’s our job to dispatch curses. Why would you make an exception.”

“Yes, under the old ways, but as you know, those ways were destroyed by us. As long as a curse is not a problem, I don’t care if they exist.” Gojou cocked his head in an evil grin. “Yuuji is now for you, as what Rika is for Okkotsu. I didn’t exorcise Rika, did I?”

“No...”

“Exactly!” He clapped his hands together. “Having powerful special grades on our side is a benefit in my eyes,” Gojou moved his mask to reveal his own, “and these eyes know everything,” he winks before affixing the mask. “Besides, who am I to get in the way of love,” he shrugged.

Megumi rolled his eyes at that last jab, but Yuuji let out a sigh of relief. “Gojou sensei, do you know why I’m like this?” He motioned to his body. “Shouldn’t I be more like Rika? But I can think for myself and talk, and I feel... well, normal.”

“That’s a good question!” Gojou cackled and pointed at Yuuji. “I have no idea!”

“Ugh!” Megumi slaps his forehead. This man never changed.

“But,” Gojou grew serious in an instant, “I can guess there are three factors involved.” He held up one finger, “Number one! You, Yuuji are no ordinary human but created by a curse at birth.” Raising a second finger, “Number two! You and Sukuna were bonded at the instance of death, so you’ve fused with him.” Adding a third finger, “and lastly, number three! When one special grade sorcerer curses another former special grade sorcerer, that amount of curse energy wasn’t going to create a lower lever spirit. So, voila! You were made Yuuji!”

“But is it like I still have control of Sukuna or something?”

“I don’t know, you tell me. Do you still sense him?”

Yuuji paused in thought before shaking his head no.

“It’s likely Sukuna’s soul was fully exorcised, and since Megumi was only thinking of you, it was only you that was brought back. This is just the form your cursed energy has taken. We’ll need to test what powers you’ve retained, but from what I’m sensing, they are on par with Sukuna’s residual energy.”

It’s Megumi who speaks up next. “So, is Yuuji allowed back at school?”

“I’ll allow it, provided your classmates don’t mind. Remember, while you can see him, he’s no longer alive, so normal humans won’t see him anymore. He is just a cursed spirit.”

Megumi and Yuuji looked at each other, then back to their teacher with Yuuji taking hold of Megumi’s hand. “I think they’d get mad if we didn’t return,” Yuuji smiled.

Gojou tipped two fingers as he turned to leave, “then I shall see you in class tomorrow. Try to keep the noise down in your room.” He teased with a cackle.

Megumi flushed red. “He’s so irritating.”

“Yeah, but you gotta admit Gojou sensei’s one of the cool ones.”

“Yeah,” Megumi sighed, but smiled. “Guess we should head back to school too.”

Yuuji squeezed his new boyfriend’s hand and nodded. “I can’t wait to see everyone’s faces when I walk in!”

“Just, no practical jokes like phasing through walls to scare them. We don’t need someone actually trying to exorcise you.”

“Oh, right! I’ll behave.” Without warning, Yuuji then swept Megumi into a bridal carry. “Let’s test my powers! I bet I’m faster than Gojou sensei now!”

“Wait! What are you doing?!”

Yuuji grinned down at Megumi with ruby red eyes glowing. “Trust me.” Cause I’ll kill anyone who dares to hurt you now...

Yes Puppy

Jimin (dog hybrid) x Reader

Word count: 12k+

Summary: Just a city girl living a lonely world, who couldn’t find love anywhere. Just a city boy (hybrid) born and raised in a world that wouldn’t let him get anywhere. That is until they find each other as strangers as she walks up and down the boulevard. He was in the shadows waiting in the night. Together they live to just find emotion. But they hide it from each other. Together they hope they will never stop believing in love and each other. 

(Yes  was inspired by Don’t Stop Believen” by Journey this is just a good song)

Genre: smut, fluff, angst 

Warnings: Smut, voyerism, marking kink, daddy kink, unprotected sex ( be safe please), jealousy, shy jimin, dom!jimin, switch! Reader, switch Jimin, marking kink, semi possessive behavior, It’s mostly soft and sweet

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Jimin was the first hybrid you ever owned. Truth be told you never wanted one because you felt it was wrong own another human. It didn’t matter if their genes were a little different. It never mattered what his spliced genes said, Jimin was still a man. After two years of having him in in your life this belief only became stronger.

 Until meeting Jimin never knew hybrids could look so human. There was a spectrum of how mortified their genetics were. Some looked more animal that human and some could even shape shift. However, one glance at your cute roommate and you would think he was normal man. A quick second glance and you may notice his cute little pointed ears that he hides with his hair. You may even see them twitch with sudden sounds. But, other than that you could never really find anything that would lead you to believe that he was a hybrid.

 His personality told a different story. After spending some time he became more comfortable and some of his more animalistic characteristics would become more apparent He was a dog hybrid, terrier mix to be exact. What he was mix with? Well no doctor/vet could really tell you. But he was definitely a terrier. He had a cute angelic face that hid his a naturally mischievous and quite curious nature.

 Whatever he was mixed with must have been some kind of tracking dog because he could find anything or anyone with just his nose. If you ever lost your keys he’d have them in your hand before you could finish asking if he’s seen them. When you would go out to meet friends he would know they’re coming before they even walked up to you.

 His instincts were also very protective like when he walked a little closer to you when you were out. He would sit with a stiffer posture when the doorbell rang. There was even a time at a club when he didn’t think twice about knocking a guy out to protect you when the guy couldn’t take “no” for answer. For being mixed with such a small breed he was very tough.

 But that’s not to say Jimin was ever mean or aggressive toward everyone, especially not you. He was the sweetest man you ever met and took such great care of you. He really is just a soft puppy who wants all your love and attention. Being his roommate and best friend meant you would give him anything his little heart desired.

The world hadn’t progressed much on the hybrid rights end. You always felt bad for having to “own” him just because so many people were uneducated and had no respect for other human rights. You were his owner on paper but only for legal and safety reasons. You promised him he would have full control of his own life. The collar and tags were just to keep him safe and would only have to be worn when he went out. Therefore, as a silent apology you worked tenfold to keep him happy. Whether that be pets on the couch while watching movies or letting him sleep in your bed when he “missed” you. He had you wrapped around his little finger and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

 In turn, Jimin satisfied every aspect of your life...well almost every aspect. Your love life was still dry and let’s get started about the sex. Before meeting Jimin you had been dating but you didn’t want to settle down just yet. Therefore, you went on dates, had one-night stands, and even had very short-term relationships. Which was fine because everyone had a right to explore what they want and who they want to be. After some time however, that life became boring and lonely. You weren’t feeling emotionally satisfied anymore. You didn’t know what to do because commitment was still scary after many heart breaks and trauma. It seemed like you were at your wits end when suddenly you stumbled upon a cute guy sitting in dirty alley looking like a kicked puppy.

 Which wasn’t too far from the truth. After taking Jimin home you fed him and allowed him to clean up. The entire time he seemed too afraid to speak and would jump at any sudden movement. That night you gave him the choice to stay or he could take extra clothes and food and leave if he that was what he really wanted. The next morning, to your surprise the handsome stranger was sleeping peacefully on the couch cuddled up other your favorite sweater. As you made breakfast you felt someone watching you. You turned to find a cute puffy cheeked Jimin standing behind you. As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes he looked so innocent and vulnerable all you wanted to do was to hold him so he knew he was safe now.  Ever since that night he became your priority.

 Those feelings only intensified as time went on. Jimin began to open up more about his past. The abuse, physically and mentally, which made him shy and scared of almost everything and everyone except, you. As time passed you became his safe space. The more he opened up about his pain the more he was able to work through it. He began to realize that the pain never really goes away but we learn to use it as strength and not a barrier to hold ourselves back.

 The months progressed and he blossomed like a flower. Besides the work you did with him he relied on dance and music as well. He really enjoyed singing but dancing became his purpose. He had such natural talent that you couldn’t confine it to just your home. A bonus to his passion was it would help him with his confidence. This led you to enrolled him in an art school with a special program for hybrids.

 There he began to make new friends both human and hybrid. The first friend he made was Yoongi, a lazy but very cute cat hybrid. He was never much of talker but his music and rapping spoke for him. Through Yoongi he met Hoseok and Namjoon who also rapped and helped Yoongi make tracks. He grew close to Hoseok, who was human, through their shared love of dance. Namjoon was a wolf hybrid with an old soul that loved poetry. He took Jimin under his wing like an older brother.

 As time went on Jimin met more people in his classes and even those who were not in his class. Like Jungkook a bunny hybrid who loved photography and Taehyung a human who was best friends with Jungkook. Taehyung was all about fashion and design therefore, he would Jungkook with his photoshoots.

 Looking back now it’s amazing how things have changed. Two years ago, you would sit alone in your home wondering when things were finally going to get better. Now you sit here watching Jimin and boys play games after dinner hoping things will never change.

 Tonight, the boys were spread around the room peacefully watching a movie. The quiet atmosphere lulling you to sleep as you snuggle closer to Jimin’s chest. You began to drift off to dream land when the calm environment was interrupted by the doorbell. Jimin, Yoongi, and Namjoon all sat up a little straighter at the sound. Their ears begin to twitch as they tried to pick up any sign of danger.

 “Are you expecting someone?” Jimin asks as you push off of him to get the door.

 “No. Are you?” you ask back as all their eyes follow your movements toward the door.

 “Nope. Everyone I like is here so?” Jimin says with a smile.

 “It probably a neighbor.” You say as you swing open the door.There were times when the nice old women next door, Mrs.Kim, needed help with something so she would come ask you or Jimin. It did seem a little late to come over. Maybe something was wrong.

As the door opened completely it most definitely was not your sweet old neighbor. Before you stood a very tall very handsome man. The first thing you noticed was how wide his shoulders were. He was well-built and to too top it all off he had the perfect face. With his plump lips and dreamy eyes. As you look more at his appearance you find two pointy ears in the middle of his dark hair. You become so mesmerized you forgot your manners.

“Hi.” He says with a shy wave.

 It was sweet how such a simple encounter already had a cute shade of pink dusting his cheeks. His hands also began to fidget nervously with the long fluffy sleeves of his pink sweater.

 “Hi.” You say quickly after being snapped from your little trance. A light blush now growing on your cheeks.

“I’m Kim Seokjin and I’m moving in next door with Mrs. Kim. She suggested I come over here to introduce myself. She said…umm… she said you had a hybrid too. And well she said maybe I can make some new friends here. I’m sorry if I was interrupting anything.” He says politely as he peeks over your shoulder to the boys who are all intently listening to the interaction. He bows slightly to them.

 “Hi Kim Seokjin. I’m Y/N. It’s so nice to meet you. Don’t be silly you’re not interrupting anything we’re just having a movie night. Would you like to come in?” you say with a welcoming smile.

 You step to the side to let him and he hesitates for a moment as he looks back at your friends. You give him a small nod to let him know it’s okay as keep as calm as possible to reassure him. His instincts must have started to kick in now that he sensed that there were multiple hybrids in the room. Yoongi and Namjoon seem to relax once they catch his scent. He must not pose a threat to them. Jimin however, grew more tense. This surprised you because even Jungkook, who is very tense around other hybrids relaxed. Jimin’s behavior surprised you because he’s usually so welcoming to other hybrids. He was always so nice because he never wanted to stress them out knowing what it’s like to be in their place.

 Seokjin seemed to shy away from Jimin choosing to stay closer to you and the door as you closed it behind you. The boys, except Jimin, went back to their places in the living room as Seokjin followed you. As he reached the entrance of the living room Jimin let out a warning growl.

 The other hybrids in room shot up at attention. Jungkook was ready to run and hide while Yoongi and Namjoon were ready to take Jimin’s side if needed. The room became tense and quiet as Jimin stared Seokjin down. He was trying to get him submit but Seokjin stood his ground. Taehyung and Hoseok look to you for answers but you were just as shocked as them.

 “Jimin!” you called his attention so he would look at you instead.

 His eyes briefly moved to you but he attention was still on Seokjin who was also starting to growl. You stepped between them in order to avoid an actual fight. You knew it was stupid idea but you felt like you had to keep the peace. Something told you the Seokjin didn’t want to fight but if provoked he’d defend himself. Jimin was more than capable of taking care of himself but Seokjin had a definite size advantage.

 “Jimin.” You called out calmly as you stepped between them. You turned your body toward your best friend to let him know your attention was solely on him and reached out careful so he could get your scent. He instantly began to relax.

 He took one last look in your eyes and stormed down the hall and locked himself in his room. Once he was out of sight Seokjin took a deep breath and finally relax. Yet, there was still an unanswered tension in the air.

 “So…is anyone going to explain what just happened.” Yoongi’s gravelly voice broke the silence.

“I am so sorry I don’t know what came over me. I’m usually so good at controlling myself. I’m so sorry.” Seokjin whimpered helplessly.

“Hey it’s okay it wasn’t your fault. I’m the one who should apologize. I don’t know what happened today but I promise you Jimin isn’t usually like this.” You tried comforting the scared hybrid.

“No, I came into his space. He clearly has something here he’s very protective of. I should have been more considerate and asked him if I could come in before. I should be going. I’m sorry.” His ears were flat on his head as he began to move toward the door. He looked so shamed of his behavior you couldn’t just let him leave.

“Hey Seokjin.” You gently stopped him with a hand on his shoulder before he could reach the door. His sad eyes met yours as you tried to console him.

“Listen everything is fine. You are welcome here whenever you want. Let me just talk to Jimin okay?” He gave you a small nod and left. You could practically see his tail tucked between his legs.

“Okay… again, is someone going to explain to me what just happened?” Yoongi asked.

“I’m not sure Yoon but I’m going find out. You guys don’t mind if we cut movie night short, do you?” you asked the confused boys who were still in the living room.

They all began to collect their things and wished you a good night before walking out the door. You really wanted to talk to Jimin but seeing as you had never been in this situation with him before you weren’t sure how to approach it. Maybe he needed some time to cool off first…yeah that’s probably best for now. Tomorrow morning would be better to talk.

The next morning, you quietly sneak into Jimin’s bed. As much as you hated to admit it, you really missed him even if you had just seen him last night. It was strange not having his body heat to keep warm while you slept. You realized last night effected more than you thought because in all your previous fights no matter how upset either of were, you would always end up in bed cuddling together. He was never one to go to sleep with either of you upset.

As you climbed under the covers you noticed that even in his sleep he followed your scent. His body was draw to your warmth as he snuggled up next to you. He stirred for a moment but then went back to a peaceful slumber. Now that he was next you everything had fallen back into place. You closed your eyes and went back to sleep. Hopefully the comfort you are trying to provide will be enough for him to open up to you later.

A few hours later you felt the warmth of the sun rays wake you. As you stretched you noticed the spot next to you was cold and empty. You began to panic thinking that Jimin was so upset he had left. That was until the lovely smell of pancakes hit your nose. Then your ears picked up the sound of soft music and pans being moved on the stove. With one last stretch you climbed out of bed and headed toward the kitchen.

As you reached the kitchen you watched as your best friends stood in the kitchen looking so domestic. He was in a plain white tee and his basketball shorts he usually slept in. His hair was still a mess from sleep. His face was still a little puffy but that only made him look all the more adorable. He still hadn’t noticed you staring as he continued to cook and hum to song he was listening to.

“Do you need any help?” you finally spoke up. He nearly dropped the bowl in his hands as his head turned toward you. You could help but let out a giggle at the surprised look on his face.

“Huh? Oh, NO! I mean no thank you. Just sit down I’ll get you plate.” He was always so cute when he was nervous.

As you took your seat you watched him trying to read him. He set a plate in front of you and stood there awkwardly as if there was something he wanted to say but couldn’t bring himself to do so.

“Are you going to eat?” You ask him with an amused smile.

“Oh! Umm yeah. I’m going to eat.” He jumped a little and grabbed a plate as well.

He sat next to you as you began to eat in silence. Whenever there was something on Jimin’s mind you let him decide when and how he wanted to tell you. It was system you both learned worked for both of you. In the beginning, you were so desperate to help him that you would constantly ask him how he was feeling or what he was thinking. As time went on you realized that was only pushing him away. He needed time and space to organize his thoughts.

“I’m sorry.” His voice was almost whisper.

“Jiminnie it’s okay.” You tried to reassure him.

“No. It’s NOT okay. I acted like a jerk because of my stupid animal instincts.” He said with his head lowered in shame.

“Jimin, honey, they’re instincts. You can’t always control them. They’re not stupid because they are a part of you and you should never hate that part of you.” You told him softly. You gently placed a hand on his shoulder and continued. “I’m actually the one who should be sorry, I should have considered your feelings this is your home too. I assumed allowing Seokjin would be okay because I had never seen you be anything but welcoming to everyone you meet. Listen, it’s okay you’re not always going to get along with everyone and there’s no problem with that.” You stood up to place your place your plate in the sink when a whine broke from Jimin’s chest.

“No. No that’s not okay. I’m not usually like this. I don’t have a problem with Seokjin. His scent made me feel territorial.” He corrected. His puppy dog eyes made you swoon. He real felt bad about yesterday.

“I understand that hybrids are more sensitive to other hybrids’ scents but we have hybrids here all the time like Joonie and Yoongi. What was wrong with Seokjin’s scent?” You wondered.

“It’s just different.” He tried to cut the conversation short.

Normally you would let it go so he would feel comfortable but this time it different. This time Jimin had acted in a way you had never seen him act toward another hybrid. This aggression was unprovoked, Seokjin had walked in respectfully and calmly into your home. There was nothing on his behalf that would indicate he was trying to claim Jimin’s space. In fact, he was being more submissive considering there were so many scents of other hybrids in the room. You could not allow this behavior to go on because it was dangerous to others and Jimin. On top of that, Seokjin was your new neighbor, what if one day when you’re not home they run into each other and something does happen. It would end very bad for both of them. They would up in the hospital or in the pound where they would be labeled as aggressive, which is basically a death sentence.

“Jiminnie look at me.” You gently cup his face. “I need you explain what’s happening. I know usually this is around the time we let this go but, we both know that this time we can’t just walk past this like it never happened.” You said calmly.

“I know.” He responded like scolded child.

“Now, what is about Seokjin that made you feel protective?” You sat back down as you waited for him to respond. As you looked up at him again you could see him struggling to explain. “It’s okay take your time.”

“Well…he’s also a dog hybrid like me.” He began to play with his fingers nervously.

“Oh, I see. Is it just because he’s a dog hybrid or is there another reason. You’ve never had a problem with Joonie and he’s a wolf hybrid?” You asked.

“It’s different with Namjoon hyung. He’s not an alpha, he would never force me to submit to him. His scent is also different. Wolves and dogs are not the same.” He stops for a moment to look you in the eye. “Plus, from the very beginning I’ve known his intentions. He never posed a threat claim y--.” His eyes grow wide as if he said too much. “I-I m-mean…he never wanted to claim anything that’s mine.”

You sat for a moment allowing his words to sink in. “Ah okay, I understand. Wait. Did Seokjin threaten you in anyway with his body language or a change in scent that you picked up?” You asked with your brows frowned… maybe you read him wrong this whole time.

“Oh no. No. He didn’t do anything. I-I ummm…I think I just- I-I mean I think my hybrid side assumed something based on how you guys interacted.” He confessed as a cute shade of pink dusted his cheeks.

“How we interacted? When?” You asked confused.

“Umm well… umm your scent kind of changed when you saw him for the first time.” You could have sworn the blush was a brighter than before. He even began to avoid you gaze, suddenly very interested in the state of your kitchen table.

You began to think back to anything that could have changed when you opened the door. Everything as you recall it seemed normal. Seokjin didn’t even get close enough to scent you. The only thing that you remember was you found him very attractive. It has been a while since you had been with anyone so there were times that your body reacted to that attraction…but it was impossible for Jimin to smell that…right? If that were true then he would know you also found him attractive but he had never caught that change before. Well... could he sense the change when you felt like that 24/7 around him?

You cleared your throat and looked at Jimin again as a blush began to form on your cheeks as well. “Is possible t-that y-you maybe you were thrown off by any scent that was on him. I mean he was in another house and I assume he was in the shelter right before that. Maybe you confused the smell?”

“No. I know what hybrids smell like when they were in a shelter, it’s like a jumble of smells. I also know what Ms. Kim house smells like. It wasn’t his scent it was yours. I’m positive it was you. I mean it’s gone now but when you saw him it changed.” He defended. If there was one thing you could never fight him on was on his nose.

“Okay. I’m not sure what could be causing that but how about you try going over to Ms. Kim’s to apologize and I’ll stay here until we figure it out. I really want you to work this out with him. I’ll keep an eye out in case you begin to feel like that again.” You suggested.

He seemed hesitate at first but ultimately, he agreed. After he finished his breakfast he got dressed and went next door. When he knocked on the door the door Seokjin answered and by the looks of it Jimin was back to his old self. He had a bright welcoming smile. You assumed everything went well because Jimin went in and spent the next two hours at Ms. Kim’s home.

When he walked in you were about to start lunch for yourself. You assumed he had stayed to have lunch at Ms. Kim’s with Seokjin. As you opened the cupboard to fish out some ramen the front the door opened and in ran a very excited Jimin. It was times like this that he was the embodiment of a puppy.

“Y/N!” Jimin yelled as he ran excited into the kitchen nearly making you drop your ramen in the process.

“Hey. Jiminnie how did it go with Seokjin?” You asked with a smile. You hoped they worked out whatever issues they had.

“It was great! Jin hyung is so nice. He’s into music and art like me and the rest of the guys. I even convinced him to join the art program with me. He has a real talent for singing and he plays guitar and piano like Yoongi hyung.” He said excitedly.

“I’m so happy you two got along. You’re even using nicknames with him now. So, when you guys were hanging out you didn’t feel any hostility or uneasiness with him?” You asked.

“No. Everything was fine. You were right, maybe a scent from the shelter he was in before threw me off or maybe something was outside when he was at the door. Anyway, everything is great between us I think we’re all going to be good friends. He even invited us and the boys out for dinner tomorrow night. He suggested we go to a restaurant so everyone can get to know each other and feel more comfortable. He also wants to apologize for last night, he felt really bad that he growled at me. He knows how uneasy that could make other hybrids. I would also like to apologize to the others for my behavior.” He lowered his head the end of his little rant.

Your sweet Jimin is always worried about how other perceive him. You know he must be beating himself up over what happened last night.

However, you know you both have amazing friends that would never hold it against him. They all know who he really is. He has the biggest heart of anyone you’ve ever met. He’s always there to cheer everyone else up even if he’s hurting inside. He’s always the first to hug his hyungs when they’re upset because he understands that just because they’re older doesn’t mean they have to be strong all the time. With his younger friends he could never leave their side if even the slightest thing hurt them. He would do anything in his power to see them smile again. He will always put the world before himself and that speaks volumes to the kind of person Jimin is. Despite, the events that transpired last night, Jimin could never bring himself to hurt another living thing. He’s all love and positivity.

“Well since everything is worked out then there will be no problem with us all going out.” You said with a bright smile.

The rest of the day was spent lounging around the house. Jimin would throw in an apology here and there no matter how many times you told him everything was fine. It wasn’t until you cuddled him on the couch for the rest of the afternoon that he finally seemed to relax.

The next day you had a few meetings to attend. Luckily, you were given the opportunity to work from home most days. Once you Jimin came into your life you found it harder to leave him alone. If you were in the office you wouldn’t be able to focus anyway.

The workload on your desk was enough to distract you until Jimin told you you’d be leaving in an hour for dinner. Normally you would leave in basic tee-shirt and jeans seeing as there was no one you had to impress. Well, there was Jimin but by now he had seen you at your very worst and could not careless how you looked. He even confessed one night that he liked you best in something comfortable. Today, however, marked 2 months since you had gone out. Due to your busy schedule these past few months you opted to stay in and order take out. Most times you would go out it would be with all the boys but they too have been busy with their projects and work. When you would see each other, everyone would be too tired to go out so you would all end up sprawled out in your living room. This would be the first time all of you would be out together in a long time which was perfect to dress up a little bit.

After a quick shower you did some light make up and dried your hair, opting to wear it all-natural tonight. You stood in front of your closet debating what outfit to wear for bit. A quick glance at the clock showed you only had ten minutes left which was more than enough time to get dressed. You decided to go with tee shirt tucked into a box pleaded skirt that stopped about midthigh. This look would be cute and comfortable for the occasion. At first heels felt like the way to go but after careful consideration your Converse seemed like the better option. Jimin never mentioned where you were going but you assumed it would be a nice casual spot. A perfect spot to sport your outfit.

“Y/N! It’s time to go.” Jimin’s voice broke through the apartment as you took one last look in your mirror. You grabbed you bag and phone as you walked out of your room.

As you walked into the living room Jimin looked up from his phone. He took one look at you and his jaw dropped for second. You became shy under his gaze. He not so suddenly looked you up and down stopping briefly to take an extra glance at your legs. It was surprising seeing his reaction seeing as he has seen you in more revealing clothing. You have to admit it still gave you a sense of pride getting that reaction from him.

“Y-you look beau- I mean you look good. New skirt?” He said as you blushed. It was cute seeing him stubble over his words. You were sure if he had a tail it would be wagging.

“It’s actually not new I just hadn’t had an occasion to wear it to. I was looking through my closet and I saw it. I felt it would be good to dress up a little bit for dinner.” You said with a smile as your hand played with the helm of the skirt.

“Y/N, it’s just me and boys. No one special. You don’t have to dress up.” He said with a small laugh. His smile quickly turned into a frown as he looked you in the eyes with a serious expression. “Unless… there’s someone you’re trying to impress.” He asked with a hint of what seemed to be jealousy in his voice.

“I-what?” You were beyond confused. Never once before had he reacted like this toward you.

“I-Is it because of Jin hyung?” He asked. The jealousy from before was gone and replaced with a sad broken voice.

“No. First of all, I don’t have to dress up for anyone other than myself. If I felt like dressing cute it’s for me and no one else.” You said sternly. You walked closer to Jimin to have his full attention. “Second, there would be no reason for me dress up for Jin. This is not a date it’s dinner with my friends. Understand?” You waited for him took look you in the eyes.

“Yes.” He said softly. The guilty look in his eyes was more than enough to prove to you he understood.

“I’m sorry. You have a right to wear what you want when you want. I don’t know why I’ve been so protective over you lately.” He confessed.

“It’s okay. Listen, sweetie, I love that you are protective of me and take care of me but you don’t own me. I am my own person. I’m not upset because I know that you understand that. Okay. I just need you figure out what’s going on with you so we can help you.” You said as you grabbed his hand to reassure him.

He tried to give you on of signature bright smiles but you could still see sadness in his eye. With one last nod and hug you headed off to dinner. The car ride was a bit awkward and silent. You could tell there was something on his mind but it was too soon to ask. Whatever was going on with him he had to figure it out on his own. You would be there if or when he needed you.

The drive t restaurant was not too long. As you pulled up you found it was a cute mom and pop KBBQ spot. It was nice and a little more intimate, which you knew was perfect for all of your friends to meet Jin. After finding a parking spot you and Jimin headed inside. It was easy spotting all the boys sitting in a long table. There were a few other people in the restaurant but your party was the largest.

“Hi guys.” You greeted as six pairs of eyes turned toward you. They seemed to be in deep conversation as you approached the table

“Y/N! You’re finally here!” Jungkook said excited as he almost literally jumped from his seat and into your arms. It was very subtle but you could have sworn you felt Jimin stiffen next to you.

“Hi bunny.” You greeted Jungkook

After he finally let go you went around greeting the other boys as Jimin followed your lead. You went around to everyone until you came two empty spots which was right next to Jin. As you were about to sit down Jimin took the spot first. It was a little strange since he always let you sit down first but you brushed it off as him wanting to sit next to his new friend.

 “Hey Jimin hyung why do you smell funny?” Jungkook stated as his little nosed twitched.’

“Ya! You brat I showered, no I don’t!” Jimin exclaimed a little louder than he should have. A few of the patrons turning their attention to your table.

“Jimin. You smell fine.” You reassure a now grumpy looking Jimin. You tried to place your hand in his but he just pulled it away.

“Yeah everything is okay. You’re fine. Right Jimin?” Yoongi asked with a skeptical look on his face.

“Yes.” Jimin crossed his arms and leaded back on his seat like an angry scolded child.

“It’s okay Kookie, your hyung didn’t mean to yell at you right, Jimin?” Namjoon said with a pointed look at Jimin as he tried to console the scared bunny that had literally ducked under the table. The poor bun was never good with confrontation.

“Yeah. Whatever.” Jimin scoffed.

After a few moments of awkward silence Jin got the table back to their prior conversation. As dinner went on the conversation flowed smoothly. The entire table began to share their personal stories. It was through these stories that you found out that Jin had been born into a normal happy family. His parents, who were both pure bred Doberman hybrids, that were owned by a lovely older couple who were very respectful and treated him and his parents like equals. It was until his teens that his parents tragically passed in an accident. The couple continued to care for him until he was old enough to join the police department. They were supportive of  him until their dying breath. It was too long after their passing that he had to retired from the police department due to an injury he received during a mission. With the loss of both sets of parents he had nowhere else to go so he surrendered himself to the shelter. Luckily, Ms. Kim was a friend of the older couple. When she heard of Jin’s story she tracked him down and adopted him. As tragic as his story was he seemed to carry himself with well. He seemed to have use his experience as a reason to become stronger and an overall better person.

As the night went on the drinks began to flow and soon you found yourself feeling tipsy. It was definitely not enough to be considered drunk but Jin’s dad jokes were becoming funnier. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, well everyone except Jimin. He had remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout dinner. He would only join the conversation when asked questions directly. After some time, his behavior began to annoy so you chose to ignore it and just enjoy your night with your friends. The table spilt up into smaller groups of conversation. Jin was closest to you besides Jimin so naturally you talked more with him.

“Wow! You really helped so many people you are an amazing man.” You’re not sure if it was the drinks he had or your flattery but a blush spread across his pale face. You couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped you seeing how cute he looked. Another thing you had come to find out about Jin was that, despite how charismatic he was, he became very flustered when he received too much attention. You first noticed it earlier in the evening when the waitress not so subtly began to flirt with him. He turned so red you thought he would combust. Luckily, she was very respectful and backed off when she sensed his uneasiness. It was so cute and surprising seeing his reaction because one would assume someone as attractive as him would be use to getting attention.

“T-Thanks Y/N. It was just a part of the job.” He said shyly.

“Aww you’re so humble it’s adorable.” You said with a wide smile that only made him blush more. You had the urge to reach over pinch his cute pink cheeks.

You don’t know how long you two sat there smiling at each other but clearly it was too long for a very irritated Jimin. A low growl erupted from his chest as he slammed a fist on the table making you and Jin jump back in surprise. Just like the other night everyone was sitting up at attention. Yoongi and Namjoon flatted their ears in submission as Junnkook jumped into Taehyung’s arms. Hoseok sat with a shocked look on his face. Some of the patrons in the restaurant had abandoned their meals to look at your table in horror.

“Jimin.” You whispered harshly to the seething hybrid next to you as you grabbed his arm. Yo u were very much aware of the fact that Jimin was much stronger than you but that didn’t stop you from trying to pull him up as you stood up. There was no way you could stay there. The people around you had a look of fear as they stared at Jimin, one call to hybrid control and they could take him away no questions asked. Staying there longer also risked a fight breaking out. You might have been able to prevent on from happening in your home but the stimulation in the restaurant could make the situation worse. Therefore, you had to get out of there as soon as possible.

You lead him to your car by his arm. It seemed like your scent was not enough to calm him today because his body was vibrating with anger. You weren’t sure if it because of how upset he was but his body seemed to be radiating heat to the point where it almost burned to touch him. The car was fortunately was parked in a spot covered by trees and bushes which would allow some privacy to talk to him. The closer you got to your car the quicker you walked. You thought he would resist you dragging him along but Jimin just followed you. He didn’t say anything but you could hear his heavy breathing behind you. Once you reached your car you quickly unlocked it and lead him to the passenger side. He sat down obediently as he tried to get his breathing under control. You quickly got into the driver’s side and locked the doors.

You finally let out a breath you weren’t even aware you were holding. This was far from over but at least you were in private space now. You tried to get your own anger and frustration under control before even trying to get to Jimin. After counting to ten you turned your body to your friend. The sight before you broke you. His face was buried in his hands as his body shook with quiet sobs. He looked so much like the scared puppy you found years ago that you just wanted to hold him until everything was okay again.

“Jiminnie, honey.” You called out softly. “Baby. Could you please look at me?” It wasn’t very often you used that nickname with him but it always seemed to pull him from the emotional spirals he would throw himself into.

“I-I’m not a baby!” He hiccupped.

“I-” You tried to apologize but he interrupted as he roughly wiped the tears from his eyes.

“I’m not a baby. I am MAN! Just like Namjoon hyung and Hoseok hyung a-and like J-Jin hyung. Why can’t you see that?” His voice came out so broken toward the end that it cracked your heart even more. He sniffled and wiped away more tears from his now swollen eyes.

“Jiminnie of course I know your man. I didn’t mean to insult you, I swear. I just needed you to look at me and talk to me please.” You tried keep your voice sturdy as you held back your own tears.

“No. You’re a liar. You always say you know I’m a man but you don’t see me like a man.” He said angrily as more tears rolled down his cheeks.

“What do mean Jimin of course I see you as a man?” You asked as tried reaching for his shaking hands. He quickly pulled them away as he turned his body away from you. It seemed like even looking at you hurt him.

“NO! You don’t understand. You will never look at me the way you looked Jin hyung.” He said exasperated.

“How did I look at him?” You questioned as you wiped the tears from your eyes.

“You looked at him like he hung the fucking stars in the sky. Like he could give you the world and more. Like he was everything you ever wanted.” He answered sadly.

You were shocked by his answer “Jimin I-”

He interrupted you again as all the frustration he was feeling finally reached its breaking point. “I KNOW! Okay I know I’m not special. I’ve never been anyone’s first choice, until I met you. Jin hyung is funny and charming and he was fucking police officer crying out loud. His breed is even superior, he was literally made to be a loyal protector. I’m just a little lap dog. I could never be half the man he is. And now you’re going to want him and forget me and once again I’ll stop being someone’s first choice. He has everything you deserve in a man, everything I’ll never be.”

Tears began to freely fall from your eyes. You never knew he felt this way.

“Jim-” you choked out

“No. Just please don’t give me pity. I’ll be gone by tomorrow. Once I’m gone you can finally be free to be with Jin hyung or whoever you want. I love you too much to make you stay with me. I should have never become a burden to you. I’m sorry. Please just forgive me.” His puppy dog eyes full of unshed tears finally looked up at you begging for your forgiveness.

“NO.” you said roughly.

“What?” It was as if you shattered his entire world.

“You don’t get decide was good enough for me or what I need. That is mine to me. No one gets to pick and choose who I get to love. You can’t just leave me not when you became my everything. I love you for fucks sake Jimin. I’ve never wanted anyone more than you. No one not even Jin could have a heart like yours. I love you for who you are. I don’t need anything other than you. I love you.” You were sobbing again partly out of frustration partly because it felt so good to finally confess everything you’ve been feeling for such a long time.

“You-wait, you mean it?” He asked as hope bloomed in his eyes.

“Yes, dummy.” You laughed as you wiped your tears.

“Wait but your scent.” You rolled your eyes as he brought up that topic again.

“What about it?” you asked jokingly.

“It changed again when you and Jin hyung were giving each other that degusting lovey look.” He said with a hint of jealousy. His nose even scrunched up as if he was witnessing something gross.

“You really can be such an idiot sometimes.” You laughed out. His look of disgusting morphing to one of offense. 

“Jimin think back…was there ever any other time my scent changed? Maybe when I’m around my best friend?” You questioned. He sat there with a cute pout as he thought back.

“Well… maybe there was a few times?” he said shyly.

“Uhuh…and when was that?” You asked with a sly smile.

“Ummm well…” his ears turned red and he began to play with his fingers nervously, “T-the first time you,” he cleared his throat, “the first time you saw me shirtless.”

You too became embarrassed at the memory. It was the first time you went swimming the boys. Jimin was apprehensive to remove his shirt claiming “he wasn’t fit like the other guys.” The boys, mainly Jungkook, were able to convince him to finally remove his shirt. His claim was obviously ridiculous, he was very fit. You couldn’t help to steal a quick glance at his abs which could arguable rival Jungkook’s. When he caught you peeking he became nervous again and tried to put on his shirt again. That was until you told him he looked very fit and handsome. He became bashful especially when the boys started teasing him about his blushing cheeks. Ever since then he became less afraid off showing his body. Recently, he even started walking around the apartment shirtless.

“Baby, attraction and love are different things.” You explained.

“Wait so that means you were attracted to Jin hyung.” He said with disheartened look on his face.

“I will be honest with you I think he’s an attractive person but I would never feel half of what I feel for you toward him.” You tried to reassure him but you could still see the insecurity in his eyes.

“Promise.” He looked at you expectantly.

“Baby.” You leaned in closer with a seductive smile. “Jin is nice but I would never let him do the things I dream about you doing to me.” You leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. As you pulled back you saw him swallow hard. He looked at you with his pupils dilated.

“Like what?” He asked almost as if he was out of breath.

“Well for starters…I want to please you. Just imagine how pretty I would look on my knees for you. I would let you use my mouth as long as you wanted. But I’d want you to pull out before you came because I need to be stuffed with your cum.” Every word seemed to turn him on more and more.

“I would be yours and only yours. I want you to claim me and mark me so everyone knows I’m yours.” You placed your hand on your neck to show him where you wanted him to mark you.

“You won’t believe how many nights I laid in my bed with my toys wishing it was you fucking me. That you were the one filling me up so good that all I could think of was you.” You had just finished your sentence when his soft lips were on yours.

At first it was rough as your tongues fought for dominance. Eventually you submitted to him and the kiss became slower and more intimate. It was as if he was trying to put all his love into this one moment. His hand wove its way through your hair and he began to gently pull at your roots. The feeling shot through your spine and caused a deep moan to erupt from your chest. The sound encouraging him to respect the action on a bit harder giving him an even bigger reaction. He pulled away as you both gasped for air.

“Fuck baby. Are you going to be good for me?” He purred as he began to kiss down your neck. The sensation making your mind go blank. The only sounds leaving your body were moans. The sounds you were making were not enough for Jimin as he growled and nipped at your sweet spot.

“I asked you a question.” He growled ad he continued to leave pink marks across your skin that were sure to bruise tomorrow.

“Y-yes I’ll be good. I’ll be the best girl for you.” You whined.

“Good. Can you take care of daddy right now?” He pulled back to look you in the eyes searching for any signs of discomfort. You were taken aback for a moment because you had never done anything like this in public. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to, you just never had someone you wanted to do it with. With Jimin however, it was different the idea of sucking him off in your car with the risk of someone, maybe even on of your friends, finding you made the fire in your belly grow. However, Jimin must have interpreted your lack of response as a rejection to his proposal. He quickly back away and began to apologize.

“I’m sorry baby. I went too, fast didn’t I? It’s okay if you don’t want to. We will do whatever you want whenever you’re ready.” He said sweetly. He went to peck you lips but you grabbed his head and deepened the kiss. He groaned as you pulled away and bit his lip.

“I want to make daddy feel good.” You reassured him.

“Baby I promise you don’t have to feel obligated to do this. I got carried away. I’m sorry.” He said softly as he ran his thumb over your blushing cheeks.

“Fine.” You pulled away defiantly. “We’re doing this my way. Jiminie first of all, I promise you I want this. Second, I’m not going be your good girl anymore.” He looked at you confused.

“I’m not going to be your good girl because YOU are going to my good boy now. So, get the backseat and pull your pants down for me, please.” You said with firmness in your voice. You weren’t sure how Jimin would react you your power change. At first, you thought he would be a stubborn dom who would not relinquish any control but the twitch in his pants told you this was going to be a fun game.

He opened his mouth but one firm look from you had him scrambling to the backseat. You watched him through the review mirror with a smirk as he fumbled with his pants. He met your stare through the mirror and began to run his hand up and down his hard cock. He let out little whimpers at the feeling.

“Did I say you had permission to touch yourself?” You questioned with a raised brow.

 “No mistress.” Huh? Mistress? Well this should be fun?

His hand quickly moved off his throbbing cock. He was so pretty when he was obedient. After checking on last time if the coast was clear you joined him in the back. Instead of sitting next to him you settled in between his spread legs. It was a tight squeeze and your knees hurt from the contact with the carpet on the floor of your car but it was exciting.

“This is going to quick okay baby? We wouldn’t want the others finding you like this would we?” You said as you ran your hand up and down his thick thighs. He let out a whine in protest.

“Oh? Do I have a dirty boy who wants his friends to see him being filthy like a whore in the streets? Or is there someone in particular you want to see you…” you pretended to think as you placed a hand on your chin, “OH! Maybe someone like your Jin hyung?” He moaned at the name you knew you hit the nail on the head.

You spit in your hand and placed on his cock. It was so beautiful. Length it was a little over average and the girth was enough that you knew it was going to burn and you’ll probably be feeling it tomorrow too. As you slowly began to move your hand his hips chased the feeling.

“Look at you baby wanting your hyung to see you humping my hand. Is it because you want him to know I’m yours?” You asked innocently.

“Y-yes I want him to see I could be so good for y-you. I-I I’m so good you could never look at him or anyone else that way.” His head was thrown back pleasure as he confessed his dirty little fantasy.

“Of course, my Jiminnie is such a good boy no one could compare to him.” You loved to see how your words made him squirm. “Good boys get rewards.” You purred.

Finally, you licked from the base of his cock to the tip. You collected the drops of precum and used them as lube as you finally began to take him fully into your mouth. As soon as the sensitive skin of his cock hit your warm wet mouth his hips twitched. The action almost causing you to gag but you stopped it. You started off with a slow pace that had him gripping the seats and groaning. Then you kept you focus on his extra sensitive flushed tip. Every swipe of your tongue had his member twitching in your mouth and Jimin almost screaming. He began to bite his lips to control his noises. After a while you took him whole again with more suction and faster movements.

“Fuck!” he groaned as his hand flew to your hair. He didn’t try to control your movements. He just tugged at the roots causing you to moan. The vibrations making him lose his breath.

“I’m close.” He finally looked down at your glassy eyes.

He was so close to his end when he tried to push you off. You looked up at him questioningly but kept your hand on him still moving at a steady pace.

“Y/N…oh god.” He moaned.

“I-it’s J-Jin h-hyung. He’ll see us.” He groaned but made no other effort to stop you.

You let go of is twitching cock and looked up at him innocently, “I thought you wanted him to see us Jimminnie?”

He sat there flushed weighing his options “Y-yes please don’t stop. I’m so close.”

“Okay but you have to be quiet so we have more time.” You gave him on last smile and went back to sucking him off. You took a big breath and took him all the way to the back of your throat, you were sure if you placed your neck you would able to feel the outline of his cock. The action had him biting his hand in order to prevent any noise from escaping. You smiled in satisfaction. You released his cock with a pop and took another deep breath. You took him to the back of your throat again ignoring the ache in your jaw and the burn in your throat. Once he was all the way in you stayed their focusing on breathing through your nose.

The loudest moan you had heard from him disrupted the relativity quiet car. You were if someone was walking by the car they would know what was happening. His gripped on your hair tighten as he finally released his cum down your throw. You pulled back a little in order to swallow it all. You were proud to find a fucked out Jimin with his eyes closed in ecstasy.

“Was that good?” You asked smugly as you wiped some cum and saliva off of your lips.

A deep chuckle rumbled through Jimin’s tired body. “I don’t think I can walk. Do you think that’s not good enough?” he said as he helped you sit down next to him. He leaned over and placed a sweet kiss on your neck. You sat there in a comfortable silence until the atmosphere was broken by your phone. You rolled your eyes as you reached for it in the front seat. As you answered Jimin tucked himself back in and went back to cuddling you. You could help but smile at how clinging he is.

 “Hello.” You answered not bothering to look at who was calling.

 “Y/N! It’s Jin. I’m sorry to just call you like this I was just so worried. Yoongi gave me your number. I just wanted to make sure Jimin was okay.” He sounded so worried.

“We-” You were about to answer when Jimin took the phone from you.

“Hey hyung, it’s Jimin. Yeah. Don’t worry we’re okay. We just had to talk in private about something.” He said as he bit his lip. You rolled your eyes for the nth time today. You heard Jin say something on the other line.

“Oh no we didn’t leave the restaurant. Yeah. We’re just outside in the car. Okay. See you soon.” Jimin said sweetly. He hung up the phone and wicked smile graced his lips.

“See you soon?” You asked astonished. He wouldn’t mean that… No?

“Yeah he’s coming to check on us. You better cover up baby? Unless you want him to see the pretty mess I made of your neck.” He said with a smirk. This cocky bastard.

Well jokes on him, the marks for you were a badge of honor. You cleaned up and climbed back into the front seats. You then opened up the windows to let some of the stuffy felling and smell out. You were sure Jin would know exactly what happened, if it wasn’t the marks on your neck then Jimin’s smug attitude would be a dead giveaway. You just wanted to be considerate and not send his senses into overdrive. Not too long after you saw Jin approaching your car. Even a few feet away you could see his nose twitch as he caught yours and Jimin’s combined scents. He hesitated as he walked closer to the open window on your side.

 “Is everything okay?” He asked as he looked between you and Jimin.

 “Yes.” Both of you answered.

“Okay? Ummm I just wanted to apologize if there was anything I did to upset you Jimin-ssi.” He said sincerely and bowed his head.

“Don’t worry about hyung we worked everything out. You didn’t do anything wrong. I was just feeling a little off.” Jimin said kindly.

“Oh, okay. That’s great.” Jin let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, that means I’ll be on my way. You guys have a fun tonight.” He gave a suggestive wink and began to walk away. He seemed to remember something else because he turned around and addressed Jimin, “Oh right, I almost forgot. I know she’s your m-” Jimin let out a warning growl that made Jin recoil. You looked at Jimin confused but he attention was zeroed in on Jin like he was saying something telepathically. After a moment Jin nodded nervously and looked at you.

“OH! I mean you guys have something special. I wasn’t nor would I try to come between that. So, ummm yeah.” He stood there awkwardly for a moment. “I’ll see you around. Bye.” He waved and basically spirted back to restaurant

“What was that?” You asked with a small laugh. You tried to laugh it off but looking back at Jimin you could see he was now nervous. “Are you okay Jimin?”

 “Y-yeah. W-well maybe there’s something. But could we talk about it at home, please?” he begged.

 “Of course, puppy.” The nickname making him perk up a little.

 The ride home was awkward. The only sounds coming from the radio. Instead of singing the lyrics at the top of his lungs like he usually did, Jimin quietly fidgeted in his seat and his ears twitched nervously. His lip seemed to be stuck in a permanent pout. You would be lying if you said you weren’t worried. If time with Jimin taught you anything it’s that a worried Jimin was a quiet Jimin. Your poor pup would work himself up about things that he felt would upset you. Most times it was very small things like he would finish the milk but something told you whatever was on his mind couldn’t be fixed with just a trip to the grocery store. When you got home you removed your shoes shortly after Jimin led you to the couch. He sat there for a few moments trying to collect his thoughts until he finally spoke up.

 “So. You’re probably wondering what all that with Jin hyung was, right?” he said slowly.

 “I was pretty confused. An explanation would be nice.” You said with a small laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

 “The things…Umm. So, you know you’re important to me. I care about you more than anyone else in the world?” he said as his puppy eyes glowed.

“Yes?” You responded urging him to continue with your eyes.

 “Okay…” He took a deep breath and continued. “I want you to know that no matter what I about to say or what happened earlier you have no obligation to me. You can choose to walk away and I well respect your decision. I just want you to be happy. I don’t care if that’s without me because-” he was staring to ramble.

 “Jimin, honey just tell me. There is very little you could say that would make me walk away from you.” You placed your hand in his for reassurance. You could tell your words made him a little more confidant. His trust in you warmed your heart.

 “Earlier Jin hyung almost blurted it out but I wanted to be the one to tell you. I-I think…no…I know you’re my m-mate.” He confessed.

 You were at a loss for words. Of all the things you could have sworn he would say to you, being his mate was not one of them. A part of you was confused and scared. It wasn’t common for hybrids to have human mates but it did happen. The most confusing part was why you? With all the women in the world that Jimin could choose… he wanted you. Not as a friend or even a girlfriend, but a soulmate and life partner. He wanted you for the rest of his life. Another part of you was over the moon because that was exactly what you wanted as well. No matter what happened in your life you knew Jimin would always be a constant. Even if you ended up with someone else you would want Jimin by your side through it all. He had built a place in your heart that no one else could ever occupy. You were so lost in thought that you didn’t notice your best friend going into full on panic mode.

 “Look, I understand if this is too much especially after what happened earlier but I swear this is not about that. I-I love you. I love what an amazing person you are inside and out. How smart you are and how much you care about me. If you don’t feel the same way I get it. I can leave and you’ll never have to think about this ever again. If there is any chance maybe one day you can come to feel something for me t-then m-maybe w-we-” he really was too cute for his own good.

 “One day?” You interrupted with a laugh. “You really think I have to wait for “one day” when I’m already head over heels for you.”

 You could see the joy in his eyes as he captured you lips in earth shattering kiss. The feeling of peace and happiness that flooded every pore in your being told you that you finally had your Jimin. The sweet boy that you had only dreamt of loving you was all yours and you weren’t going to waist another moment without him.

 You broke the kiss to look him in the eyes. “Jiminie I love you.” No other words needed to be exchanged.

 He placed you on his lap as the kiss became more heated. It wasn’t long until you felt his hard on poking your thigh. You placed more weight on his lap an began grind on him causing him to throw his head back in pleasure. This gave you the perfect opportunity to leave marks on his beautiful untouched skin. The little whines that left his throat encourage you. You swear you could have cum with the whimper that slipped out the when you found his sweet spot just below his ear. Things were heating up fast as you began to strip out of your shirt. Once it was off Jimin’s breath hitched.

 “Why are you fucking beautiful?” He mused. You gave him a sweet smile as you ducked down to kiss him again but he stopped you.

 “Wait! I just want to make sure you won’t regret this. I can wait.” He said sweetly.

“Yes, I want this baby. I have never been more sure about anything in my life, other than asking you to stay with me the night I found you.” You said softly. You gently cupped his cheeks and kissed him again.

 It wasn’t long until things were once again heated. His warm hands explored your exposed torso as he kisses down the column of your throat. He reached your collar bones and pulled down your bra exposing your hardened nipples. One of his hands supported your body as the other pinched your nipple. He placed his mouth over the other and gently sucked and bit it until you were a squirming mess. You were so immersed in the pleasure that you almost missed how placed both his hand on your ass and began to carry you to your room. As he entered the room he placed your feet safely on the ground never breaking your kiss. He kicked the door closed with his foot as he finally pulled away from you.

 “Okay, now I need you to be a good girl and strip for me.” He said a little out of breath. “Everything goes except that pretty skirt that has been teasing me all night.” He said with a devilish grin. Without question you did as you were told.

 Once on the bed you lower your front half so your ass was high in the air earning you a growl from Jimin. The sound made you already needy pussy clench in anticipation.

 “You don’t know what you do to me?” He groaned as he joined you on the bed. As his body got closer you could feel he had removed his clothing.

 “You have always been so perfect and for that you deserve a reward sweet baby.” He purrs in your ear. He kisses your neck for a moment and nips at your ear, the action making a shiver run through your body. Your reaction causing Jimin to let out a cocky laugh.

 Without any warning he pulls away completely. Any complain you were about to utter dies in your throat as you feel his warm tongue dance across your inner thighs. He leaving marks as he travels up your body to where you need him most. The first lick has you moving away from the stimulation. In order to keep you still Jimin grips your hips with one hand while his other hand is parting your lips to give him access the nectar he has been craving since the day he met you.

 “You are sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted,” He moaned. You gripped the sheets as he delved into you like you were his last meal. It was like he had spent years studying your body. He knew exactly where to flick his tongue and how hard to suck on your clit. He knew exactly when two insert two finger and find your most sensitive parts. It didn’t take long to reach your peak seeing as it seemed like Jimin made it his mission to have to falling apart for him hard and fast.

 “Ji-Jimin I-” You moaned trying to warn him.

 “Shh baby just let go. Cum for me.” With one last flick of his tongue you fell apart. He helped you right out your high as he cleaned up the mess he made. Once satisfied with his work he left n last kiss on your thighs and back away with a triumphant smile.

 “You did so good baby. How many do you think daddy can get out of you?” He mocked. Despite just having cum hearing Jimin call himself daddy had another spark of arousal jolting your body.

 “I need more Jiminnie, please.” You begged with a little wiggle of your ass to catch his attention and make him break.

 “Anything for my baby.” He said as he aligned himself with your entrance. He moved cautiously at first to make sure there was no discomfort. It wasn’t long until he was buried inside you. There was a bit of pain adjusting his size but after a moment you asked him to start moving.

 His thrusts were slow and calculated. Every time he entered you he would roll his hips so he could hit the sweet spots inside of you. Every thrust sent spark flying through out your body. It wouldn’t be long until you came again. You knew you were a goner when he began to pick up the pace. The faster he moved the louder your moans became. The only sounds filling the room were your combined groans and moans and the slapping of skin. Your end was nearing soon and you began to clench around Jimin causing his hips to stutter.

 “Is my baby ganna cum again?” He grunted.

 “Yes, daddy p-please l-let me!” The pleasure was going to your head at this point.”

 “Good girl. Cum.” It was as if he could control your body because as the words left his mouth your body exploded in euphoria. You released a silent scream as one of the strongest orgasms gripped your body.

 Jimin slowed down to help you ride out your orgasm but didn’t stop fucking you. As you calmed down he flipped you over on your back. You felt his warm hands on your sweating face as he spoke to you. You tried to focus on him but you were a bit dazed from the pleasure.

 “Are you okay baby?” He asked with concern laced in his voice.

 “Yes, I’m better than okay.” You laughed out.

“Good girl. Are you okay to keep going?” he asked gently.

“Yes, sir.” You said confidently.

“My dirty girl.” He giggled as he lined himself again.

You winced at the sensitivity but it wasn’t long before the pain turned to pleasure. You could see the determination in Jimin’s eyes to make you cum again. His thrusts were faster this time but still precise. He was also close to cumming. No matter how much he wanted that release he focused on you. The faster his thrusts became the more desperate he became. His hand slipped in between your bodies spending a spark through your body. He skillfully drew figure eights on your sensitive clit. He hid his face in your neck as he felt you start to clench around with a vice grip. He distracted himself by sucking on the sensitive part of your neck. That was what did it for you. The combination of his fingers playing with your sensitive bud, the pain of the marks on your neck, and Jimin’s moans threw you into your third orgasm of the night. This was stronger than the rest. White light danced behind your eyelids as you arched your body. A deep seductive moan escaped your throat as you hit the peak. It was enough to have Jimin fall apart with you. His body stilled as ropes of cum painted your insides. The warmth only adding to the experience. It felt like every nerve on your body was on fired as warmth spread through your body. As your bodies calmed down Jimin laid his body on yours. You welcomed the comforting warmth.

 You don’t know how long you stayed like that but eventually Jimin pulled out his now soft cock causing both of you to flinch from the sensitivity. He got up and grabbed a cloth to clean up the mess. He then helped you to the bathroom where you did you your business and he then helped you back into bed after dressing you in one of his shirts. After he was cleaned up and did his business and joined you in bed. Your cuddly puppy was back.

 “I love you.” He whispers as he holds your body closer.

 “I love you too.” You say back.

 “Does this mean you’ll only give me attention and cuddles. Not Jin hyung right?” he asks in his cute baby voice.

 “You can have all the cuddles but you need to share the attention.” He pouts at your statement.

“Why?” He asks like a baby.

 “Well… you will always be my only Jimin but you’re not my only friend. I still have six other babies that need me.” You say as you boop his nose.

 “Fine.” He huffs. “But I’m your bestest special baby, right?” He asks sweetly.

 “Yes puppy.” You kiss his sweet lips as you snuggle closer to his body.

 He was always going to be your puppy.

---

HI everyone,

FInally back and it feels good. I apologize if this isn’t the best work. I just needed something to get back into th flow of writting.

Thank you for all the support. :)

kun soulmate reading

as a birthday special for each idol of nct/wayv and bts, i’ll be doing soulmate readings! i missed Kun’s birthday on the 1st, so i’m doing his now since he’s my wayv bias and i didn’t want to wait till next year to do his. maybe i should have waited bc now i’m super curious on who his soulmate could be. this person is not what i expected, but at the same time it is? anyways, i hope you enjoy!

disclaimer: this is for entertainment purposes only. these are not factual and are only my interpretation of the cards.

five of cups reversed, ace of wands, king of pentacles reversed, two of swords reversed, eight of wands reversed, page of wands, emperor, four of pentacles

Kun's soulmate is definitely a character. They're this tornado of passion and energy that doesn't really care what they destroy in their path. Don't get me wrong, they're fun to be around and will be the kind of person that takes you on crazy adventures, but don't expect them to be there as a shoulder to cry on.

While they are quite energetic and a risk-taker, they still take the time to plan things out. They're highly motivated and financially savvy. Rich and powerful. This is someone who was most likely born into money. They're quite materialistic and greedy. They have more than enough, but they're the kind of rich person who hoards it. (You know the type that you see at the dollar store with a designer bag and drives a tesla.) This is someone who exudes that regal energy that makes people intimidated by them. Their quite assured and confident in themselves. Quite flashy too.

They just have this very Regina George energy and people eat it up! Everyone wants to be their friend. They're just so charming, wild and fun. While people may think they're stuck up, they're actually quite friendly. Very extroverted. They love attention and feel like they deserve it, but thats all they want. They don't want friends. This is someone who is actually quite a loner. They get bored of things and people very easily. They also are the kind of person who forgets to text back and are usually running late. I can see them being very stubborn too. They like things their way and will not hesitate to tell you why they're right and you're wrong. While they make a good peacemaker for others, their own stubbornness gets in the way in their own personal issues.

While they're quite assured financially and socially, romantically is a different story. This is someone who doesn't like making emotional decisions and just can't understand it. They don't like committing to something that they don't know is going to help them in the long run. Love is an investment to them and quite a hefty one at that. Because of this, I don't think they've been in a relationship. They'll probably be quite bossy in a relationship though. I can see possessiveness too, but they're the kind of person who takes care of what they consider "their's" and will probably shower that person in gifts or acts of love.

Physically, this is one hot person! They're very regal looking, but still have a wild vibe to them. They love wearing designer clothes, but something like gucci which is more funky and flashy in style. I feel like their style is something that an art student would wear. It's over the top and a little strange with mixing patterns and funky vintage pieces, but still looks effortlessly cool. Quite tall and lanky. While they're physically fit, this is someone who probably exercises not to be healthy, but so they fit their own idea of beauty. They definitely use their looks to their own advantage. They're a bit narcissistic. Definitely younger then him. If they have a "wand", it could be quite large or if it's someone without that appendage they could just have that kind of energy.

It looks like this relationship has been delayed so it might not come into fruition, but if Kun does end up with this soulmate, he'll have his work cut out for him. They're quite quick to anger and don't like making compromises. I can see them getting into arguments a lot because of this. I've always heard people say that Kun emits Daddy energy so maybe he'll like the brat aspect, but I didn't really read into anything of that nature.

archetypes

trickster -  Transcending convention, stuffiness, and predictable behavior.

This is someone who is a bit of a misfit. They don't care what others think as long as it makes them happy and they don’t hide behind lies. They'll fight back against anything that doesn't serve them.

mediator - Gift for negotiating fairness and strategy in personal and professional life. Respect for both sides of an argument.

They want harmony and balance. They observe what's going on and will detach themselves from the situation to give an honest and unbiased resolution. Is that composed middle ground between to warring sides.

samaritan reversed - Exacting appreciation and recognition for the help you offer.

They don't do things out of the goodness of their heart. There's a price for everything whether it be good reputation, favors, or money. They decide who's deserving of their "charity" by this.

student reversed - Arrogance in the pursuit of destructive knowledge. Unwillingness to translate knowledge into action.

They could be a serial student who is constantly switching majors or could mean that they've learned something (possibly how to manipulate people) and are misusing this skill.

oracle cards

gibbous moon - You’re very close to achieving your goal.

As long as they keep working hard, things could be going very right for them. They're headed down the right path and this could even mean a possible meeting with Kun.

new moon - A new start is coming!

This is a yes card! Even if there's delays in their meeting, it's going to happen one way or another! They might even be entering a new cycle in their life that could lead to Kun.

what would love do?

While this person is not very vocal about their feelings, it'll be very clear to their s/o when they are in other ways. Like I said earlier, they will be giving gifts and doing little favors for their love because they want to when usually they would want something in exchange for this.

love is never in vain

They don't want to fall in love at the moment. They think it's a hopeless investment, but once they do it's going to change everything for them. It's going to make them realize that not everything is about what you're getting in return. I think this kind of even eludes to the fact that it might not work out with Kun, but instead be a lesson.

While we’re on the subject of continuity errors, I felt like I should share the large list of headcanons I’ve amassed to explain how AOS can still be a divergent timeline from 2233, just with a lot of things happening differently in those 25 years between Kirk’s birth and his academic hearing. 

It’s under the cut because I have no self-control and it’s huge. 

James T Kirk was born two months premature in space. I.e. he was supposed to be born, on earth, on March 22nd, which he was in the Prime Timeline. But in AOS he was born on January 4th in space, due to the stress levels of suddenly coming under attack forcing Winona Kirk into premature labor (stress can do that sometimes). Space birth is weird, and it majorly fucked Jim up. Gave him blue eyes instead of brown (most babies are born with blue eyes anyway, so maybe the pigments just never matured right??? Idk I’m not a biologist). Gave him even more allergies than his TOS counterpart. Etc.

Starfleet has never visually encountered Romulans before Nero. (In the Prime timeline, they don’t see their faces until 2266). However, they have seen their mines and heard their voices communicated over audio. So it’s not unreasonable that their warp signature could be recognizable (or some other aspect of their ship). And though the captain who went over to the Narada died, the USS Kelvin was receiving transmissions and scanning the Narada, so the rest of the crew may have had time to send that information to Starfleet, and they could put together the pieces from there. I feel like I should add that the Narada is also part Borg technology, so that’s fun.

Oh also, to explain warp speed discrepancies, some of that transmitted data included information about the Narada’s weapons systems and propulsion systems, and Starfleet used that information to wildly improve their speeds in the next 20-30 years. They got so much better in such a short time they had to re-scale their warp factors so people wouldn’t get confused. (they’re used to using warp 8 for maximum warp, so instead of changing habits, they just scaled it up).

A lot has already been written about AOS Kirk’s characterization. But to sum it up briefly, the lack of George Kirk, and the addition of Frank into AOS Kirk’s life really screwed him up. I say he also still went to Tarsus IV and that really messed him up bad, especially when he had virtually no support system to return home to after he came back to Earth.

Spock’s discrepancy in characterization can be explained by the lack of Michael in his life. I actually say the whole show never happened in the Kelvin Timeline. Michael’s parents were never attacked by Klingons. Michael never went to live with Spock. She grew up with her biological parents and probably joined Starfleet as a scientist later on, but with a very different personality and a lot less trauma. (Admiral Marcus in Into Darkness claims that the war with the Klingons has always been cold, so further evidence that DISCO didn’t happen in AOS)

Uhura and Chekov were both born earlier in AOS. These dates took place after the timeline diverged, so I guess their parents just decided to have babies earlier. Or maybe in the Prime universe they had miscarriages that technological advances in the AOS universe were able to prevent? Idk.

A lot of changes in AOS are about taking something away and making it more broken and sad, but I think it’s be interesting to play with the idea that taking things away isn’t always sad. Maybe the reason Chekov is a ray of sunshine in AOS and a grumpy feral bastard in TOS is because in the Prime Timeline his parents stayed in an unhappy marriage, but in AOS they divorced.

The Kelvin Timeline comics also reveal that Uhura’s father died in some kind of shuttle accident. The comics aren’t canon, but I think this is interesting, and could explain some of the discrepancies in Uhura’s character as well.

Scotty? Who knows? But like… I think you’re catching my drift here. A lot can happen differently in 25 years.  

‘Admiral Archer’s prized beagle’ was an obvious Porthos/Jonathan Archer cameo, but both of them would be dead by 2258, so it’s obviously Jonathan Archer III and Porthos XI or something.

The Prime timeline switched from a mix of Gregorian calendar dates to stardates exclusively sometime after 2233, following a long period of using both and possibly a combination of other date systems to try and be accomodating. That was very confusing however. The AOS timeline solved the confusion by basically saying “Starfleet Headquarters are on Earth, so everyone goes by Earth Time.” Basically, “Our house, our rules, tough luck”. And as a result, the Federation in AOS is a lot more human-centric, despite their stated mission of diversity. (Of course, the Prime universe has its own share of human-centrism, it’s just better hidden).

The aesthetics of the uniforms and interiors of starships are different in part because of @protectspock ‘s headcanon that Starfleet uniforms change with power changes in the Admiralty (and AOS has different people in the higher ups than the Prime Timeline). And partly because Starfleet decided to hire different interior designers.  

Delta Vega is the dumb name humans gave to T’Khut, Vulcan’s sister planet. And it’s further away and icier in AOS because like... a big asteroid knocked it out into a farther away orbit or something. (Though not too far away, since Vulcan is still visible from it’s surface). 

Am I missing anything?

The Seal

This one is for @the-lady-razorsharp​ because she posted this post and this is the result. Also, more blame belongs with @godsliltippy​ because it was in her fic that seal!Gordon was born.

You guys are influencers and things like this happen. ::hugs you both::

Many thanks to @vegetacide​ for the read through and encouragement :D

Marks & Wings, a little language from our usually cool and calm heavy lifter, but his patience was shot, so I don’t blame him.

A little fun. I hope you enjoy it.

-o-o-o-

Okay, there were limits.

Sure, Virgil had been terrified that he had again lost his fish brother. The guy had done it before, and yet he still managed to do it again. Though admittedly, this time it was in Antarctica amongst the snow and ice and Gordon was obviously going for variety.

And sure, it had been because of a rescue. A successful rescue, one that saved the lives of three researchers.

Three researchers that Virgil was on the verge of killing, but hey, they were alive for the moment.

The ice had collapsed and Gordon had been standing on it. His brother couldn’t fly, so he did the next best thing to survive in the frigid cold waters he had fallen into, and he had changed.

Midair.

In front of three aghast survivors who shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

One of which had the nerve to get out their phone and film Gordon as he risked his life to save them.

Two had them dangling below, thanks to Gordon’s efficiency, and Virgil was able to yank them up into his ‘bird’s belly, despite the howling winds.

But his brother had vanished into the maelstrom of the Southern Ocean, last seen as a seal.

The frustrating thing about Gordon was that his body could not support a tracker. Whatever happened to his clothing when he shifted, any tracker in his body went with it.

Great for modesty.

Bad for locating missing brothers.

And if that rescuee complained about his phone one more time, Virgil was going to do something he wouldn’t regret.

The device was toast. Eos had obliterated it the moment she realised there was video being taken of the shape changing Tracy. His AI niece was efficient and the cell was now no more than a smouldering lump on the deck plates.

She would be on high alert patrol until Penelope could get her hands on the trio and stamp out any rumours they may choose to start.

Virgil took some great reassurance from that fact.

But Gordon had vanished from sensors and Virgil’s own sense of his brother was vague due to his shift in form.

Fortunately, seals were mammals so he was receiving much more than he would be if Gordon had turned himself into a crab or cephalopod. But still it was frustrating.

“So, what is he?” Phoneless rescuee was a bonafide asshole.

Virgil grit his teeth and ignored him.

Antarctic winds were a bitch and despite Two fighting like a champ, he was still having trouble keeping her at a safe hover. “John, tell me you have something.”

“I’m trying, Virgil, but cold is cold and infrared can only do so much.” His space brother was delving into Two’s equipment and focussing the power of Five through her instruments. The best thing Virgil could do right now was hold her still.

Virgil bit back a snarl of frustration. Every cell in his body wanted to go down there and fish his brother out of the ocean, but Two couldn’t be left to herself and visibility was shit.

“Is he a changeling?”

Virgil tasted blood as his teeth bit through his lip.

Gordon, if you can hear me, please!

There was a flicker of something, but it was hard to localise amongst the roar of Two, the howling wind outside and the windbag inside…

“Shut the fuck up!”

Okay, so Grandma would probably scrub his mouth out with a toilet brush, but it got results.

Windbag grunted and, fortunately for him, did as he was told.

A particularly strong gust whacked Two sideways and Virgil was forced to gain height or risk colliding with the leading edge of the glacier.

“John…”

The single hiss over comms was only a hint of the wave of worry that washed down from orbit.

But then….

“Got him!”

Location coordinates flashed up on Virgil’s dash and a holographic representation of a single dot swimming in an infinity loop at the surface of the ocean.

A bent infinity loop.

No, the number four.

Heart in his throat, Virgil lowered Two closer to the water.

It spat up at him, angered by the gale.

The glacier loomed.

As close to the waves as he dared, Virgil opened Two’s bay doors and lowered the rescue rig into the water.

The loop stopped and swam over to the tossed rig.

A flicker and his sense of Gordon reasserted itself as his brother changed form.

“Up.” It was breathless on comms and Virgil hurried to comply.

The wind fought him and Two dipped sideways again.

One of the rescuees squawked behind him.

Windbag swore.

Virgil’s grip on the yoke removed all the blood from his hands.

But Two was as strong as he needed her to be and she drew the rescue rig inside.

The moment he had it secured, Virgil pulled back on the yoke and Two climbed above the weather as fast as he could get her there.

The sudden absence of turbulence was peaceful. A creeping silence.

Virgil shoved her into autopilot, secured the console and despite the protests of windbag, was out of his seat and hurrying down into the module between breaths.

He didn’t need to see the seal to know his brother had transformed back into the pinniped, probably to conserve heat until the module warmed up, but it was always a surprise to encounter Gordon in another of his forms.

If Virgil’s heart wasn’t still beating a mile a minute, he could have called his brother cute.

Virgil didn’t know enough to identify the type of seal Gordon had chosen this time, only that it was a fat one, a dark mottled brown and rolling on Two’s deck plates like a beached whale.

Warm eyes glared up at him as he approached. The one aspect that seemed to survive his brother’s transformation was his eyes. They were always carnelian, always so Gordon they reached into Virgil’s insides and just yanked.

“Hey, you okay?” He visually combed the length of his brother’s seal body, but could not see any obvious injury.

The seal bounced its head up and down slowly.

“Cold?”

Another bounce. Gordon slid over and rubbed up against his leg.

And finally, relief flooded Virgil’s system. Oh, thank god.

A flickering echo of that same emotion wafted down from orbit as Virgil knelt and wrapped his arms around his still damp and cold brother. The chill coming off the seal was ice.

No wonder his brother had switched back as soon as possible.

He couldn’t help but rub a hand down his brother’s back.

Gordon chirped at him and wearily flapped a flipper.

Virgil pulled back with a frown. The sense being thrown at him was one of hunger.

“You’re kidding.”

Gordon smacked his lips together. Seals had puppy dog eyes, but these were definitely Gordon’s.

“You know we only have ration bars aboard. Not exactly seal cuisine.” Hell, he wasn’t even sure they were compatible with a pinniped’s digestive system.

Gordon squawked at him all seal teeth and tongue. “ARFGFJFJFHHGGJH!!!”

Virgil scampered backwards, as always, never quite sure exactly how much Gordon’s form influenced his brother’s thoughts. “Don’t arjfjfjejdjfjfggh at me, mister. I’m not the one who forgot to stock Two with sardines.”

Gordon wilted and dropped his head onto Virgil’s knee.

The puppy seal eyes deployed were downright lethal.

Virgil groaned. “Fine. We’ll pick up takeout from The Crab Shack on the way back.” The seal immediately perked up. “And yes, you can get your favourite. I’ll contact them on the way in.” The Auckland eatery knew them well.

Mostly their fish brother’s fault.

Gordon managed a tired but goofy grin.

Virgil sighed, but couldn’t help but reach up and rub at his scruff.

And the laugh that burst out when Gordon whacked a flipper repeatedly on the floor like a dog enjoying himself far too much was one of so much fond love, it almost had tears in it.

Goofball.

-o-o-o-

FIN.

Thoughts On: Jujutsu Kaisen

Let’s not speak of this again || Awful || Bad || Okay || Entertaining || Good || Better than Expected || Really Good || Amazeballs || What is this vision of glory I’ve witnessed?! 

Curses are born from the negative emotions of human beings, but the only people who can fight them off are the jujutsu sorcerers.  Yuji Itadori was a normal human until he was exposed to a cursed object, and from that point on, his entire world changed.

With this simple premise, Jujutsu Kaisen quickly rose to become one of my favorite series from the past two seasons and one of the best shonen of the past few years.

Shonen adventure anime all seem to have the same basic premise, especially in the more recent years.  Optimistic normal human boy gets thrust into a world he didn’t initially belong to and must find his place.  From your Izuku Midoriya to your Tanjiro Kamado, most of the shonen that are having success in the recent years have this very nice-boy-new-world premise.  It’s a solid if a little simple premise on its own, but the true test of the series is what it does with that premise and how likable our hapless hero is.

Jujutsu Kaisen successfully pulled it off, and it did it largely with the characters given to us.  While the plot took a little bit of time to develop and the narrative took the “large group of villains vs. large group of heroes” route, our characters really sell it.

Yuji Itadori is a cinnamon roll.  He’s a bright and shiny sunflower.  He’s the perfect kind of shonen hero that you want to root for and also want to be protected despite the fact that you know, as the main character, he’s always going to be in the thick of things.  In Jujutsu Kaisen, Itadori’s characterization is directly opposed by Sukuna, a character who is equal parts deuteragonist and antagonist and seems to switch parts depending on nothing more than his own whim and sense of personal convenience.  The unique situation between Itadori and Sukuna (of which I’ll stay mum for this review) only serves to make both of their characters shine and is, I’d say, one of the very unique elements to this series.

Gojo Satoru is also a very unique character whose characterization adds something unique.  While he fills that typical “overpowered mentor” role, Gojo does it with a finesse and lack of care that makes him unique as a mentor-character.  He has his own agenda, and the teenage characters are just glad that they fit into his agenda enough for him to take mildly-decent-care of them.

Another unique element to this series that I truly enjoyed was the horror aspect.  While series like Jujutsu Kaisen exist, most shows of it’s similar ilk either lean heavier into the shonen adventure or they lean into the horror.  Jujutsu Kaisen really combined both elements beautifully.  It was equally horrifying and hopeful, which is an odd balance to strike, but the series does it really well.

Voicing and animation plays a big role in the success of this series as well.  Voicing was a spot on, and MAPPA just continues to roll out animation that fits the style of the source material and the narrative rather than holding to their own particular “brand” of animation the way other studios (KyoAni and SHAFT come to mind immediately) tend to animate in a particular way regardless of the source material.  MAPPA really did a great job with Jujutsu Kaisen.  Mixing together the horror with the comedy with the drama is a delicate balance, and the animation pulls it off beautifully. Ah, this series was so good, and I was sad to see it end.  Hopefully we’ll be getting more than a prequel movie soon.  I really did love this series.  Though, I will caution that if you’re bad with types of body horror or body violence, then perhaps this might be one you should skip or--because it’s so good--be prepared to watch the dub/know Japanese so you can squeeze your eyes shut without missing any dialogue.