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jonghours · 4 years

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ATEEZ Diary album and AR photocards analysis

Finally got my albums and got to see what all these asks I got about the diary were asking me about so I’m going to go through all the entries and try to make sense out of them! I’ll theorize about the AR photocard bonus stories at the end, since they all take place after the events of the Diary Film and the entries on the diaries.

A INTRO: The time passing by, our dreams

This entry takes place after the Diary Film. It mostly describes the memories the members shared in their hideout.

“This is our onw space. Laughing, crying, arguing, dancing, and singing. A space where our dreams came together. Our hideout, our own world, separating us form the adult world”

I highlighted the word adult because the main point of this new series is how much ATEEZ want to hold onto their youth and dreams.

“Right now, it is a moment void of compromises and tameness. It is the moment before we opened that door”

That last line indicates this entry takes place after ATEEZ opened the door to a new world.

01 HONGJOONG: I don’t want to be forgotten as if I never existed

This entry gives us more insight about Hongjoong’s reason to join the group. As I wrote on my Diary Film analysis, all the members stories introduce the reasons that brought them together to pursue their dream: music. Back then Hongjoong’s was too subtle, but it becomes clearer here.

”Once I become a bright star that can be seen from everywhere, like those people on TV, will my family notice me? Even if it were by coincidence, I wish I could meet them at least once. If my family could come together like before... I miss the warmth of my living room”

It seems like Hongjoong’s family broke apart time before the events of the Diary take place. He’s definitley not an orphan, as he wishes to meet them once again. We don’t know why but Hongjoong’s family abandoned him and left it alone. It seems like Hongjoong’s motive to pursue music is to be an artist, and get noticed by his family in the hopes that they can get reunited once again.

“My family scattered around and here I am with my new family I made while living alone... [...] My family, the music I love, our dreams... We must keep them”

02 SEONGHWA: She, who was dancing to the beat

Seonghwa’s entry doens’t give us more insight into his story than what I already wrote about on the Diary Film analysis.

“She was moving as if nothing mattered anymore. Common sense, Rules, and this though world didn’t have power over her moves. Right this moment, my world broke around this snowy road”

Is it weird that I was interested in the snow? I know is probably just a minor detail, but I find it interesting that they added it since there was no snow in the Diary Film. I think it serves as way of putting everything in chronological order, since the weather is mentioned a lot on the diary entries.

“Ever since that day, I went to the same place at the same time. But, she never came back. I didn’t know her name or her address. Just like the “Be Free” bracelet she wore, she freed herself away [...] Since then, music never sounded the same again”

As I mentioned before, the Girl becomes a source of inspiration to Seonghwa, and he’s moved by what she represents. He wishes he could find her again and grasp that feeling, but the time never comes, because that’s what she ultimatley represents.

03 YUNHO: Weather is clear

Unlike the others (except Yeosang) this is literally a diary entry. I believe Yunho is writing this diary to communicate with his brother. Obviously not literally, but is a way for him to put the things he wants to say to him in order.

"Hey brother, you look like you are in such a good mood today! The weather is so good as well. Even though I was running to see you, I didn’t feel the heat. [...] It has been a while since I took out your broken guitar. I wanted to get rid of it because it always reminded me of a broken side of you. [...] I just left it out of sight because it seemed like you abandoned your dream”

As it was confirmed during Air Con, it was indeed Yunho’s brother who had an accident, and to me this sounds like Yunho’s brother abandoned his dream before that happened. Yunho seems to have hidden that guitar from him when he abandoned his dream and didn’t want him to see it again, but after he had the accident, he put it out again.

“I have a friend like you in my team. His name is Hongjoong. He is the kind of person I would go to when things get tough [...] I avoid thinking about these painful memories and instead I am focusing on the dreams you couldn’t achieve. I will make them happen; the boys and I will make them happen.”

As I theorized before, Yunho’s brother’s dream was related to music. Yunho even mentions doing street performances together at Han River. At some point his bother gave up, so Yunho wants to make it happen for him.

Also good news, Yunho’s bother isn’t dead!!

“When the time time comes, you must wake up from the long hibernation. I want to show you all of it! I’ll be back tomorrow. Good night!”

Yunho’s brother seems to be in a coma, so Yunho goes to visit him everyday. I think maybe the message Yunho receives is either related to the acccident, or might be bad news about his brother’s state. Both of those theories could trigger Yunho’s recalling of the accident. Still have no solid theory about Mingi.

04 YEOSANG: Just like a midsummer night’s dream

Yeosang’s diary entry gives a lot of new details about his personality, and I think maybe a clue about his role in the bigger picture. Also is important to note that the FEVER: Part One track “Dear Diary: 2017.07.29″ belongs to Yeosnag’s diary. The lyrics fit his writing prompt, and ahead there is a part that also fits the lyrics.

But going back to Yeosang, he has a very perfectly planned life, and the only thing he finds personal pleasure in is fixing things.

“I was never too good with mechanincs. It all started when I dismantled the speaker. Everytime I felt stuffy, I would disassemble various appliances or instruments and then reassemble them back together.”

I highlighted the speaker part because it reminded me of Jongho’s Diary scene. Probably nothing but I found it interesting.

Yeosnag must have been looking for things to break apart in the area where the hideout was, and that’s how he met the members, and that’s how he found a new love for music.

“My parents had everything planned for me: doing the same routine at the exact time. The only time I could go out of this cycle was when I disassembled and reassembled things. Thanks to this weird habit I met the guys. That day in that shabby warehouse a group of guys I’d normally run away from, asked me if I knew how to work a drone. This whole encounter was a little strange! [...] The sound of music is what brought me to that place. From that day on, I went everyday”

Now here is where this diary entry connects to the “Dear Diary” intro. The words in bold are the ones that are part of “Dear Diary”.

“For the first time, hearts pounding like it’s about to burst and this tingling feeling coming up from my fingertips started to take over me. Was there a moment when I wanted something this bad? One by one more kids started to say my name. The path that I slowly walked with one antoher person became a path to many. Slowly, the word ‘I’, became ‘ours’ (us)”

This makes it official that Yeosang is the owner of the diary being read in the album intro. Also, the person writing the english parts seems a little bit off with it at times, especially in the AR photocards. I think what it was meant to say at the end is “us”, not “our”, since they are the same word in Korean, so it might have slipped the translator.

Now, I believe this is very important. Because Yeosang was forced to give up on the boys because of his parents.

“Dancing was such a mind-blowin activity. Even if I saw my parent’s worried faces flashing before my eyes, I just could stop. [...] However now I must leave the ‘our’ (us). If I back out everything will be back to normal, the scattered members and the stolen hideout. I’m sorry, guys”

I wonder if this is why ATEEZ is trying to rescue the trapped Yeosang in Say My Name. Following the Inception concept theory, they might have entered Yeosang’s dream to try and rescue him, because as it was said before, Yeosang is a central piece to the story. Maybe it has something to do with his ability to build things?

05 SAN: I don’t know

Oh boy do I have some things to ask to San. This is by far the story that annoys me the most and is probably stupid but.... well you’ll see. His entry starts with him complaining about being unable to connect with people before having to leave them.

“[...] I’ve never had time to open up. Every time I got closer to someone, I had to move. It’s happening again today. But this time is a little different. Now I have friends to talk to about my feelings. As soon as I saw them, I knew right off the bat, they were like me”

“Oh, Seonghwa was a little different. He never tried to do anything the traditional way, he was always “HIS” way”

This is in capital letters, and I can’t help to think that the members who are mentioned by others give clues as to what “side” they are on later on in the story. The way he mentions Seonghwa like that but doens’t bring it up again, could fit in my theory that Seonghwa takes a bigger role in another part of the story.

“Can I just leave like that now that I have a place of my own... What should I say to Wooyoung? Thanks to him, thanks to my friends, I was able to perfect my dance moves”

Wooyoung is a very popular member in the story, as expected of the person that so far has been proved to be the most central member to the storyline.

And now..... let’s talk about that

“Bobo, what should I do? What? You want me to do it “MY” way?”

Now, who in the ever-living-hell is Bobo. It’s a given name, since he refers to them as “Bobo-yah”. And if you think it’s just a passing comment, sadly for me, it isn’t!!! just wait and look at his AR card later!!

06 MINGI: the sound of his laughter

Here we have someone else talking about Wooyoung. Honestly I was surprised people asked me about Woosan as a ship being important because San mentioned him once (1) but Mingi’s story is entirely dedicated to Wooyoung and his laugh and people decided to ignore it for the sake of their own narrative but ANYWAYS

“Music was my haven, my escape, my one and only relief. When I feel like dying, I listen to music”

“Only a few friends names you remember through elementary, middle and high school. [...] No one talked to me, but that is mainly because I didn’t answer if they try talking to me. But Wooyoung was different. Not that I remember [...] Wooyoung would always come next to me during every break. Whether I answer or not. He would go on with his stories [...] and that music team he works with outside of school. He always tops it with a signature smile of his, which naturally made me laugh. Out of shyness, I started calling him “Woo-ong. Ah that laugh of his. He was the first friend I opened up to”

So we have someone else who owes a lot to Wooyoung. I wonder if this is why we see Mingi breaking the chains that restrain Wooyoung during WONDERLAND. This will come back later.

“[...] It was around that time too when I followed him to the hideout for the first time; the place where I could dream. They were friends who took me as I am. They accepted me as who I am, regardless of where I live who my parents were. But now I’m getting scared, can I really have a dream? Will it not be taken away from me?”

This is Mingi doubting if he’s allowed to have dreams since he’s not in a position where he can allow himself to have such lavish dreams. And so the fight with Jongho happened.

07 WOOYOUNG: It’s different this time

I love how Wooyoung’s diary entries are subtle flexes.

“Will I fail again? When I was practicing and dancing alone, I was pretty confident! My practice video on social media has reached over 100.000 views. Many people contacted me and even big entertainment agencies offered me to audition for them. But once I felt their look towards me, I just couldn’t move [...] I closed my eyes trying to escape, and then Seonghwa’s voice popped in my head. I felt their presence even though they were nowhere to be seen”

This is probably what we saw on the Diary Film, different setting but definitely what is supposed to represent on those flahbacks. Once again Seonghwa seems to stand out among the other members when it comes to his way of doing things.

"I had a habit of overchatting to overcome stage fright and I practiced laughing to hide my shyness. It was a defense mechanism of mine to focus”

I just found this cute because it means he was nervous about Mingi back then.

“The firs time I met Hongjoong, Seonghwa and Yunho were at the street performance [...] When I danced with them I wasn’t self-conscious. My legs are tense. The first step, the step that I was never able to do, the chain that was trying my body, was magically released"

The chain thing again! I mentioned in my Inception post how it’s tied to WONDERLAND, at least definitley by the concept of Inception in on itself.

08. JONGHO: I had it all planned

Finally we find out why Jongho beat Mingi on the Diary Film! Here Jongho recalls how he felt after he was forced to give up on basketball, his first dream.

“I felt like I was drowning. No matter how hard I tried, I was still stuck in the exact same spot [...] everything inside me was lifeless, as good as being dead”

“That lifeless look, before Yunho grabbing my hand, looked so much like me. My hand is throbbing from the pain. Mingi clealry saw the fist coming his way but didn’t try to avoid it. His lifeless eyes are still haunting me. When Mingi said he would quit, that our dream was a luxury, and that the time we spent together meant nothing to him, I couldn’t stand but to punch him. Funny enough, it was a heart-brekaing moment for me but also the time I started dreaming again. At that time, I didn’t know how to reach out to a lost Mingi. Where are we, where should we go?”

So Mingi decided to give up on his dream because he felt giving up on it before it was stripped away from him by the tough reality of his situation, and so Jongho couldn’t stand it.

Z OUTRO: Into the New World

The title here proves how ahead the staff was with thin concept even before ATEEZ was created. If you remember, ATEEZ was going to be named “New World”, so this proves that this concept already existed even before the group was created. Now, just like the Diary Film, this is told from Hongjoong’s prespective again.

“Even though I lost my dream and my family again, there was nothing I could do. Everyone left and here I am, lost again”

He recalls how little by little, all the members drifted apart.

“On a summer day [...] we decided to go our separate ways”

Now I wonder if this, the day they went their separate ways, is the date on the diary, July 29, 2016. This could also be the date of the entry in Yeosnag’s diary, as well as the “Dear Diary” intro, which as we found out, is the day he decided to abandon them.

“All because our dream of being together have become like shackles that hold us down. The scorhcing sun melted away even our dream of youth and made it disappear [...] Even if, not often, the promises we made were pushed back day by day, and we forgot about each other. It was around that time when I began seeing him in my dreams”

“The man in the fedora [...] a somehow familiar, but tired eyes”

Now, this is supposed to be Hongjoong, even if he himself said he wasn’t aware it was supposed to be him.

“You lost your dream not because of the tough reality, but because you guys decided to. Get rid of the idea that the world you see is everything. There are many dimensions and many relaities in this world. The world I am in, the world you are in, are all real. I want to tell you everything, but I don’t have much time right now”

so HALAteez really seem to be on ATEEZ’s side. At least here, because during SMN, Hongjoong said their role was to stop Real ATEEZ. And now, the big reveal! Turns out the hourglass has a name, and it’s The Cromer.

“The Cromer. The key to connecting the world. [...] Follow your heart. The map is there”

That’s when HALAteez disappears, and we go back to the end of the Diary Film.

“I fell asleep in the hideout where no one was looking for me. [...] Wasn’t it a dream? While looking at the Cromer I inadvertently turned it around. The sand in the hourglass started to flow from bottom to top. The iron door then opened and I could hear the footsteps coming closer one by one. The guys then gathered around me with the smae puzzled face”

The highlighted parts are what the secret code in the ANSWER albums say.

Now, onto the AR photocards. As I said before, these take place in the future of the Diary Film events. (thank you so much to @honggers for helping me find them!!)

HONGJOONG

"Cromer... The treasure that made us dream again. The one who appeared in our dreams, and because of Cromer lying in front of my eyes when I woke up from my dream, I was able to protect the members. Though it was difficult and lonely at times, I was able to endure these days thanks to our members. Therefore, everything became all of mine and when the members began scattering away I had a heartache so painful I wanted to die. Though I might not know what lies ahead of me, the most important part of my life than this new world is our members who I cherish like family and continue to protect in our dream”

Okay so all the things highlighted in there make me think that this version of Hongjoong seems very intense. The members are all he has and this sounds like he would go as far as he could to keep them together. Could he go as far as to keep them in a dream against their will?

SEONGHWA

“Those who knew me would have never thought that I will be in this place. In fact, they can’t even imagine the existence of this place... I am.. No! We are here with fear and also, excitement. Each day was full of mystery. What will happen today? My knowledge about common sense, different logic and numbers faded away, just like the day I first saw her”

This is the first time “this place” is mentioned, which I’m pretty sure refers to either a diferent dimension or the illusion they have sunken themselves into.

YUNHO

"Brother how is everything? Can you see this place where I am at? I’m going to believe you are watching me. This place is unique yet fmailiar. In no doubt I can assure you that this place is not the same place you and I dreamt of. You can’t really hear the music here. In fact, I don’t see anyone here who feels happy about lsitening to music. So, we want to sing to the people here and of course with great choreography. Brother, I miss you.”

Now, Yunho is the first member that seems unhappy here. He misses his brother, he really wants to go back to him at some point. And also, this is not the dream Yunho had in mind, this is not the dream his brother had, which was his main reason to join the group. Maybe Yunho is having second thoughts.

YEOSANG

"Father, I’m walking on a path that I might never be able to return from again. I used to only walk on a clear and pretty path, where there’s not even a single peck of pebbles to be seen. But now, as I walk down an uneven path, my feet keep throbbing. Though my feet are killing me, my heart is in a state of tranquility. I feel like I’m free from your world. I am able to express this new freedom that I’ve never experienced before. Though I love you and mother, I wasn’t happy at all the in the world that you and mother were in. With my friends, I am now going to the place that I chose.”

Yeosnag seems very happy whenever they are, but the part in which he says “might never be able to return from again” might be a problem for other members.

SAN

“I laughed all the time because I never relaly got too close. Actually, I had to say farewell before I even got close. Then I met again. This is what the word “friend” meant to me. Therefore, the only friend that I can open up to was my friend Bobo, who was always there beside me. I’ve never been away so long with Bobo. I’m worried if Bobo is eating well or not... Hopefully, Bobo is worried about me as well. Hey Bobo, I am on a starnge journey with my first real friends. I’m not too sure how I am here or where I am but don’t worry too much. I will be back. I promise.”

Who the fuck is Bobo. Who the fuck is Bobo who thE FUCK!!

At first it didn’t seem that important but San’s whole AR photocard is dedicated to them!! And just like with Yunho, San is determined to come back for Bobo, so he too might have trouble with the “never coming back” part of the journey. I think Bobo might be a pet, or a doll, an imaginary friend (?) he did say “real friends” so...

MINGI

“I want this moment to last forever. The moment I had with my friends and being able to feel joy and happiness. I almost ruined it all. If I had not been here, I wouldn’t be able to get it back. No matter where this palce is, it doens’t matter what happens from now on.”

Another member who doens’t seem to want this to end, ever. I wouldn’t be surprised, since Mingi and Hongjoong get a lot of visual shots together.

WOOYOUNG

"Today was the day I was supposed to sign the contract. It was actaully a good oportunity that people would envy. It was a chance to debut in a big company and a success story in front of my eyes. But what’s the point of doing this, when I can’t go back. What if I can go back? Hmm... Let’s not think about it. Friends will mock me.”

Okay, first of all. Flex.

Second, this is what Wooyoung meant by “taking the easy way out” on his prompt, he could have had it easy, but instead chose the memebers. Also... Wooyoung what are you thinking? Does he know about the Cromer? He said “friends will mock me” so does that mean he knew about a way of coming back before even Hongjoong was offered the Cromer? After all, Wooyoung is carrying the Cromer during ANSWER, and he seems to be attached to it. Once again, Wooyoung is a central piece of the story, but he’s teasing us once again.

JONGHO

"An empty court, basketball, teammates, everything during my teens. I saw myself when I gave up all this through the loneliness look in Mingi’s eyes. At that time, my eyes would have been the same. I wanted to talk to him. Don’t give up, and I’m sorry. I came here all of a sudden without even be able to talk to him. My heart aches more when Mingi showed his kindness towards me as if nothing happened”

So Jongho and Mingi are back to being friends. The girls aren’t fighting anymore. There is peace.

THE MAN WITH THE BLACK FEDORA

“What’s the point of keeping these dreams when we have to give up things that matter?” “Is this that worth even where I have to let go of myself?” Whatever the answer is, it is your own decision”

I believe these questions are being asked by either Hongjoong or the members. They have to give up not only their lives, but it seems that they have to give up a part of themselves. Could that be when their lyrics wonder about who or where they are, or if anyhting is real at all?

#ateez #my hands hurt someone please read this lmao #ateez theory

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romioneficfest · 4 years

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Lose Yourself

Title: Lose Yourself name: Prompt: Day 4: Quidditch / Hogwarts Rated: K+ / PG Brief Summary: Rose Weasley Granger is about to step on the biggest pitch of her entire life, one that she has been training for almost her entire life: The Quidditch World Cup Final. Before she is off at the starting whistle, she needs validation from the one person whose approval she desperately needs. Warning: Oliver Wood’s guest commentary. Tagging @weasleyisourroyalfamily for the headcanon inspirations.

“Rose Weasley-Granger, the star seeker for the English National team is a bit of a prodigy. Her Dad put her on her first broom a year old, way she tells it. Uncle Harry Potter coached her early on. He was a bit of a star during his secondary years until life got in the way,” the play-by-play announcer nodded in full understanding as most of the English population 40 and up easily recalled, “and later coached by her Aunt Ginny Weasley-Potter, who was an enormous star for the Holyhead Harpies in the UK Quidditch League and taught her so much, even though she was a Chaser by profession in the Quidditch Leagues.”

“She also started as Second Chaser for the English National Team in 2002 and 2006 before retiring after the tournament.”

“That’s right Oliver,” Lee Jordan’s voice crackled over the airwaves to the delight of all the fans. “Rumor has it that Weasley-Granger was tutored in the summer months during her years at Hogwarts by the Hall of Fame Seeker and family friend Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian National team legend who caught the Snitch in the 1994 World Cup match played in the UK, and then again in the 2014 World Cup final in Patagonia, Argentina. Krum retired after that last International match, participating only in charity matches in England and on the Continent, raising funds for the Prewitt Trust, the post-war orphan trust for children whose parents were murdered by the Voldemort regime in 1997 through May 1998.”

Wood interrupted. “Speaking of, there is the Bulgarian Legend Krum, in the minister’s Box alongside the others. His wife Natalia is present and their oldest, Sergei, attends Hogwarts now as a Fifth-year Prefect, and their older daughter Mina as well. All we are waiting on now are the Ministers for the UK and Mexico to arrive.”

“Back to Weasley-Granger, she made a name for herself starting while in secondary at Hogwarts, catching the snitch in every match she played starting in her second year. By the start of her fifth year, all the professional teams in the UK and a few abroad were recruiting her when she performed a Wronkski feint which turned at the last second into a sloth roll to catch the snitch that had flown under her opponent and sealed the win for her House team that year. At that match, the recruiting scout for the Chudley Cannons, of all the teams, was present at the match and not a week later they were sending owls to the Weasley-Granger residence trying to sign her - at 16.

“Her Mum, Hermione Granger, who had assumed the role of Minister earlier that term, forbade her from signing any professional contracts until the end of her sixth year after she’d turned 17. The day after the end of term, recruiters were desperate to sign young Weasley-Granger. And each one she turned down, telling all of them, “I bleed orange and Black and am a Chudley Cannon through and through. Sorry fellas,” as she went back to work on their property, using a scythe to clear the back yard of overgrown grass as her daily workout. But the National team, having already watched her first season as a seeker for the Cannons, immediately invited her out for the team before the end of her first year. She beat out 16 other Seekers to become the starter, being the youngest since Krum started for Bulgaria at 18 back in 1994.”

“She’s been nothing short of legendary at the National competition level. I’ve watched her and her vision on the pitch is astounding.”

“And there is Minister Curazon of Mexico and British Minister Granger, along with the entire Weasley clan arriving, lead by Patriarch Ron Weasley-Granger, co-owner of Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes. Also present is Rose’s younger brother Hugo, who is already a renown Rune translator and spell researcher. Arriving with them are the Potters including Lily Luna, the starting third chaser for the Tutshill Tornadoes. Wood, you’ve been a part of a friendly with the Weasley Potter Granger clan. How much fun is it?”

“Lee, I have to say it’s much more fun refereeing them than trying to keep up. Between Rose and Lily Luna Potter, few stand a chance. I’m sore for three days facing Lily Luna, much less her Mum and Rose.”

The music shifted again, sounding like a celebration.

Oliver Wood stood, looking out at the fans. “Ladies, Gentlemen, Distinguished guests,” his voice boomed over the stadium, still strong years after retiring from Puddlemere United, "I give you the Mexican National team. At Keeper, Miguel Gonzales; Beaters Julio Sanchez and Juan Carrasco; Chasers Alejandro , Jorge Hernandez, and Rafael ‘Lobo’ Vasquez; and Seeker Teresa Blanco-Calderon !”

Seven red, green, and white rockets took off from the portal, racing around the Holyhead pitch at breakneck speeds, before taking their places at the centre of the pitch, with Calderon circling high above.

“There’s Ron Weasley, standing tall in the Minister’s Box, with Minister Granger by his side, wearing the customary Home White Lions uniform with blazing red of the St. George’s Cross. I spy underneath his jacket, a sprig of Orange. I‘m guessing, under his Weasley-Granger National jersey on the back, was his pride and joy - his daughter’s replica Chudley Cannons team jersey.”

Ron ignored the commentary from Lee Jordan, focusing at his wife at his side at his wife, the current Minister of Magic who was officially off duty tonight and letting Oliver Wood handle the festivities. Tears were streaming down her face, completely oblivious to anyone who might notice. Ron glanced right and saw his sister, brother in law, Viktor and his remaining family standing there, all beaming with pride, waiting for the English national team. Ron leaned down to give his wife a peck on the lips, ignoring the hoots and catcalls around them.

“That’s Weasley for you. He prefers his wife over propriety.” Guffaws broke out around the couple before Ron kissed her again before turning back to the player’s tunnel.

The Mexican team finished their racing circuits of the stadium and they settled in, waiting.

A thrum started, like a heartbeat. Ever so slowly, a roar erupted, punctuated with chanting known all over the British Isles: 'Weasley is our Queen'

“And starting for the English National team, we have at Keeper Charles Wood; Beaters Marius Pucey and Aiden Flint; Chasers Zeb Smith, Khalil Reeves, and Mohammed Siddiq-Smythe, and last but certainly not least, Seeker Rose Weasley-Granger,” the announcer roared over the crowds watching the Ginger Wonder Woman, as the English Press referred to the Prime Minister’s daughter. Sure enough, panning the crowds to the Minister’s Box stood Minister of Magic for the UK Hermione Granger, along with 2002 English 2nd Chaser Ginny Weasley Potter, her husband Harry Potter, and the minister’s husband Ron Weasley-Granger.

All eyes turned to the lanky Seeker, wearing her home White uniform with blood-red boots and cape, and her name embossed in Red on the back. The smile on her face was as bright as the fireworks that announced the team, shining above everyone. Rose soared, feeling the brisk air as she rode the jetstream and raced down to the ground, pulling up from the ground a foot from the pitch to fly almost straight up above the stadium.

“Win or lose, Lee, this is her moment, the one she’s trained a lifetime for.”

Rose dared look down at the Minister’s Box and saw her family, including ‘Uncle’ Viktor. An entire sea of ginger-haired people was looking up at her, waving frantically, led by her Dad, her #1 fan. But she only had eyes for her Mum, beaming in pride up at her. Her breath hitched when she saw her Mum signing to her ‘Little Lion Queen, Fly Fast; love you' up at her. She signed back, 'Love you' before deciding to do one last reckless thing before the whistle blew. Rose took off for one sprint around the top of the stadium, weaving in and out of the portals, giving the blurry a faces a momentary glance of her before stopping at the Minister’s Box. Rose waved at everyone before racing to the top of the pitch, settling in next to the Mexican Seeker Calderon, meters above the lights.

Quidditch chairwizard of the International Quidditch Association Faed Zozimar came walking out, his hair completely white with a moustache that reminded Hermione of a certain famous Singer from the 70s and 80s stood at the centre of the pitch with the official ball box. He kicked it open, letting the snitch escape into the sea of colours along with the two bludgers. He mounted his broom and awaited for Wood to make the official announcement.

“Players, on the whistle,” Wood boomed before an ear-splitting whistle broke the silence of the stadium. The quaffle went up and the match was on.

The crowd roared.

Rose raced off in a rush, feeling like the first time her Mum told her she was proud of her.

#Romione FicFest 2020 #Fic Post #Romione #Ron Weasley #Hermione Granger #Submission #Queue Up for the Dragon #Rated K+#Ace Safe

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yoddream · 4 years

Text

The Price to Pay | n.jm

pairing: jaemin x fem!reader

summary: when you’re given your dream job, what will happen to you and Jaemin?

warnings: ANGST, bad writing lmao, depression (not specifically mentioned but it’s obviously there), a shit ton of crying, jaemin being kind of an asshole ngl, mentions of hockey (only because there might be some things that don’t make sense idk maybe they do to somebody who doesn’t watch it), VERY INACCURATE INFO ON BECOMING A TRANSLATOR

notes: here’s part 2 to New Beginnings! idk how to link it lmao im sorry im really bad at this also im iffy on how this came out but at this point whatever i wrote a lot. I’m gonna try to do the bold for korean again (cuz new beginnings on the app is fucking jacked af but on the full website it looks how it’s supposed to) but like just assume that everything the OCs are saying are in Korean and whatever the Dreamies say that aren’t to English speaking people are in Korean

“Please put on your seatbelts as we will begin our descent to Los Angeles, California.”

You did as the flight attendant asked and looked out the window. The ground slowly got closer and closer, and your heart raced with excitement. Despite how you’d felt a year ago, you couldn’t wait to land and start the next chapter in your life. You could still feel the exhaustion from it being in the middle of the night in Seoul, but that was so little compared to all the emotions running through your body.

Once you were out of security, you pulled up FaceTime on your phone and called Jisung. It rang and rang, and you almost gave up when he finally answered the call. He was out of breath, as if he’d just run to get his phone. His face lit up when he saw yours.

“Y/N! You landed safely!” he said. Your parents appeared in the frame, which made you smile.

“I did! I’m heading towards pick-up now, so hopefully I’ll be on my way to the rink,” you told them.

You’d decided you wanted to be an English-Korean translator, so you had been hired as a translator for a new NHL prospect. He was born and raised in Korea, and he knew very little English, so you were going to help him during prospect camp, translating and teaching him English. You expected to be in America until September, but if he made it past both prospect and training camp, who knew what your future held?

“Oh honey, I’m so proud of you,” your mom said.

“We both are. You’re gonna do great, we know it,” your dad added.

You looked around and spotted your name on a sign that was held by a man with a driver’s cap. You told your family you had to go and hung up before walking over. He greeted you with a smile and grabbed one of your bags, heading to the parking lot. You shot a text to the boys, letting them know you’d landed. The drive to the rink didn’t take long, and you were escorted by a security guard through the hallways to an office.

“Ms. Park is here,” the security guard announced before heading back to his area.

“Y/N, it’s very nice to meet you. I’m Rob Blake, the general manager,” a very tall man in a suit said. He held his hand out to you, which you shook. “We’re very happy to have you here. Chi-won Han’s translator from last year has a new job, so we’re glad you can stay for longer.”

“Thank you, Mr. Blake. I’m very excited for this opportunity,” you stated with a wide smile. “So, where should we start?”

Mr. Blake’s assistant gave you multiple papers to sign before bringing you to get your ID made. You proudly hung it around your neck, even though your picture looked absolutely horrible (you just got off an eleven-hour flight). Then, Mr. Blake himself brought you to a conference room where the prospect, his agent, and the coaches were.

“Everyone, this is Y/N Park. She will be Chi-won’s translator.”

You bowed and said, “Han Chi-won, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Park Y/N.”

The boy bowed as well. “Thank you for flying here, Y/N. You have to idea how appreciative I am.”

You then introduced yourself to the agent and the coaches, dropping your bags to bow and shake hands. You told them about your exact role and how to contact you in case you were needed last minute. You’d been given a phone for work with everyone’s contacts in it, along with a rental car since you still had a valid driver’s license. You were then handed the keys to your apartment, which you would be sharing with Chi-won and one of the Kings’ players, Tyler Toffoli.

“Y/N, do you own any skates?” Marco Sturm, one of the assistant coaches, asked.

You shook your head. “I’m not very good at skating, but I’ll definitely do my best.”

“Have Tyler and Chi-won take you shopping for a pair. We really need you on the ice for drills.”

You translated for the hockey player when his head perked up at his name. He nodded shyly, his eyes darting to the floor. You couldn’t help but feel bad for him; he had no idea what anyone was saying, so for all he knew you could’ve been talking poorly about him. None of you would do that, but he didn’t know any better.

“Camp doesn’t officially start until tomorrow. We just wanted you to meet before then so that you can get situated. before the madness,” Mr. Blake explained.

“I appreciate that. It’s past midnight in Korea, so I’m pretty exhausted,” you replied.

“You guys are all set for today. We’ll see you bright and early tomorrow for day one.”

You turned to Chi-won and asked, “You wanna get food?”

He nodded vigorously, saying, “Tyler and his wife were making breakfast when I was called down here.”

Grabbing your bags, you said your farewells to the men before heading out, Chi-won hot on your feels. When you clicked the key fob for the rental car, a new SUV lit up. You let out a low whistle and popped the hatch, tossing your suitcases and duffel in. You and Chi-won then climbed in and decided on a local diner. The car ride was mostly silent, the radio playing softly in the background. When you walked into the restaurant, his eyes widened in fear as the waitress spoke to him. You ordered juice for the both of you and then started translating the menu with ease, watching his shoulders relax at the sound of a language he knew.

The two of you ate in silence for a couple minutes, simply enjoying your food. You checked your personal phone for any messages, but there was nothing. You weren’t surprised, though. The boys were supposed to be asleep, so you expected there to be nothing, but it still hurt to see that you hadn’t even heard from Jaemin. Then again, you probably should’ve expected as much.

“What?” Jaemin asked quietly.

You’d shown up at the dorms, wearing one of your boyfriend’s sweatshirts and a pair of shorts. Your hair was a mess from stressing out, so you had the hood up. He had to know what was going on, and you were out of time.

“I’m going back to America,” you repeated. “A major sports team contacted me last month to help one of their prospects. He doesn’t know much English, so I’ll be translating for him during camp.”

“When you do leave?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?!” You flinched at the sudden rise of his volume, the sound bouncing off the walls. There was no way the other Dreamies hadn’t heard him. There was no way the other Dreames hadn’t heard him, and you started to panic. This was definitely not how you expected this to go. “You’ve known for a month, and you’re just telling me now?!”

“I was going to tell you sooner, but since you’re working on your comeback, you’ve had to cancel dates! I didn’t have a choice but to tell you now!” you argued.

“Oh, so now it’s my fault?”

“I didn’t say that, Jaemin. I’m just explaining that there wasn’t a good time, so that’s why you aren’t finding out until the day before my flight. I’m sorry it wasn’t sooner.” Your hands were wringing in the kangaroo pocket, but it was hidden by the island in the kitchen.

“How long will you be gone?” When you didn’t answer right away, his jaw clenched. “How long, Y/N?”

Scared by his tone, you said, “I have no idea. Prospect camp is for a few days, but they’re expecting him to continue on to training camp in September.”

“Are you even coming back? What does that mean for us?”

“I don’t know, Jae!” you snapped. Your voice reverberated off the walls, and you could hear shuffling down the hall. “I don’t know.”

There was a heavy pause. He then asked, “You don’t know if you’re coming back? Or you don’t know what will happen with our relationship?”

“Both.”

“You’re very young to be a translator,” Chi-won stated, snapping you out of your thoughts.

You wiped your mouth with a napkin, giving you time to think of your answer without revealing too much. “My step-dad is from Korea. He and my mom got married when I was nine, but he and my step-brother had to stay there while my mom and I live here. We would visit whenever there was a vacation for school, so I learned it over the years.”

“Do you live in Korea now?”

“Right in Seoul. I moved after I graduated high school last year.”

Chi-won was silent after that. After you paid the bill, you plugged in the address for the apartment building and made the quick drive over. Parking along the street, Chi-won grabbed your bags for you and led you to the apartment. You used the key to unlock the door and walked inside. A man and a woman looked over at the same time from the kitchen and smiled.

“You must be the translator. I’m Tyler, and this is my wife, Cat,” the man introduced.

You shook their hands and said, “It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Y/N Park.”

“Come right in. I’ll show you where your room is,” Cat offered.

You followed her down the hallway to a room that had grey walls, dark wooden floors, and a matching wooden dresser. There was a queen-sized bed with fresh sheets on it and a cream armchair in the corner. Identical nightstands stood on either side of the bed, and there was a bathroom attached to the bedroom.

“Make yourself at home. You look like you’re about to fall asleep standing up,” she joked.

“Yeah, I’m gonna take a quick nap, if that’s okay?” you asked.

“Go ahead.”

Cat closed the door behind her, leaving you alone. You collapsed onto the bed and checked to see if any messages had come in before you’d left the diner’s WiFi, but still nothing. Sighing, you put your phone on the nightstand and let your eyes close, the heaviness becoming too much to fight against.

When you woke up, the sun was high in the sky. You groaned as your arms stretched above your head. According to your phone, it was a little past noon, so you rolled out of bed and headed to the kitchen. Luckily, the password to the WiFi was on the refrigerator. As soon as your phone was connected, it started blowing up with messages and snapchats. The sudden sound made you jump, definitely waking you up. You took some time to respond to the boys and your parents, and it took you a few minutes to notice that none of the notifications were from Jaemin. Sighing, you shoved your phone into your pocket and went looking for Chi-won. You found him in his room, looking at an English book with furrowed brows.

“I’m not starting lessons until after prospect camp,” you said.

The boy jumped, clearly unaware of your presence until you announced it. He closed the book and placed it on the nightstand before looking around the room, avoiding your eyes. Sighing, you sat at the desk that was by the window.

“What’s on your mind?” you asked.

“What if I don’t make it past this camp?” he questioned.

You let out a deep breath and said, “Then you go back to your team in Korea, continue to train and practice, and then next year, you’ll come back. The exact same thing as what you went through last year.”

“What will happen to you?”

“I’ll go back home as well. I’m currently under contract with the team, so if you’re not here, I’m not needed. They’ll let me know when I am. You’re stuck with me.”

///

You and Chi-won walked into the practice rink the next morning, a fresh pair of skates in the duffel bag on your shoulder. You’d gone out with Tyler and Chi-won after dinner to buy them, just like Coach Sturm had told you to. The thought of being on the ice with a bunch of hockey players and falling on your ass was terrifying, but you didn’t have much of a choice.

You headed to the weight room and sat on a bench. Skating wouldn’t come until after they were done for the day, so your bag was simply dropped to the floor. You then pulled out your phone and looked at the last message you’d sent to Jaemin.

You: I know you’re upset, but I would love for you to be at the airport tomorrow.

He never showed up. Everyone else had, but he’d stayed at the dorms. The way the conversation had ended left the status of your relationship up in the air, and you were too scared to ask. Your anniversary was supposed to be in a little over a month, but you didn’t even know if that was something to be celebrated anymore.

The sound of the door opening behind you caught your attention. The players started filtering into the room, shooting odd looks your way. You stood up when Chi-won walked in, moving to his side for when the head strength and conditioning coach started talking.

After a speech, the coach came over and introduced himself, apologizing for missing the meeting the day before. When you assured him it was fine, he transitioned the conversation to the first test he wanted Chi-won to run through. You translated everything as you followed them to the bikes, not missing a single beat. You watched as he pedaled and pedaled, sweat dripping down his face as his leg muscles rippled from the rapid movement. You could hear the cheers of encouragement from the other prospects as they watched the others that were running through the tests.

When there was time for a break, Chi-won took the water bottle you handed him, draining it fairly quickly. He then grabbed the towel from your shoulder and wiped his face and neck, tossing it in the hamper in the corner. He looked around at the other prospects, watching them talk and laugh with each other. You felt bad knowing he wouldn’t take that first step. It was understandable, though. You’d gone through the same thing when you started making trips to Korea; you’d been surrounded by people who understood you as much as you understood them, which was not a lot.

After a few minutes, it was time for more testing. You followed the group around the weight room, mostly watching but translating when needed. Everyone’s eyes were on you whenever either of you spoke, but all your attention was on him and whoever was talking to him.

At the end of the day, Chi-won looked like he was about to drop at any moment. You decided to skip the skating and brought him back to the apartment, using the work phone since it could connect to data. He dozed in the car, his face finally relaxed. You’d never noticed how much tension was there until now. Between the stress of getting past this camp and not knowing what anyone was saying, his head was probably spinning.

When you entered the apartment, Chi-won immediately headed to his room to nap. There was a note from Tyler and Cat that they’d gone to run errands, leaving you alone. You tried to FaceTime your parents, but neither of them answered. You knew the others were rehearsing, so you called Mark, but he didn’t answer either. Feeling dejected, you headed to your room and sat in the armchair. You looked out the window and watched the world below, a sudden flashback to the day you and Jaemin were sitting in the mall’s food court. Your heart ached at the thought of one of the happiest days of your life, knowing there was a chance it was all over.

///

It was the last day of the four-day camp for prospects. You wobbled onto the ice as you tried to skate closer to Chi-won. He looked over and rolled his eyes before skating over, grabbing your arm, and dragging you to the group. A few of the players laughed, but you didn’t care. You would be laughing too if you’d seen it.

Yesterday, they’d run drills, so you got to see Chi-won on the ice for the first time, and you could see why he was their first-round pick the year before. However, the true test was the scrimmage scheduled for today. Drills could be run over and over until you got it right, but in a game if you made a mistake there was no going back.

Once the teams were split, Chi-won helped you to the bench. You could hear your personal phone ring with a FaceTime call, but you ignored it. It was most likely Jeno, calling to talk to you before he finally went to bed. He loved to call you before he went to bed, which annoyed Jaemin whenever you were on a call with your boyfriend. You wished you could answer, since you hadn’t had much interaction with anyone. You mostly translated back at the apartment, leaving you craving to talk to someone, but you felt too awkward talking to Tyler and Cat.

The scrimmage was exhilarating to even just watch. Chi-won was fast, despite how large he was. He wove through players, making fantastic plays. His stick work was quick, and he seemed to know where his teammates were, making passes without looking. There was no doubt in your mind that they were keeping him, but seeing the looks on the coaches faces made it that much better. Chi-won played fairly, probably too much; he always passed the puck for a goal instead of taking a chance himself.

During a break, Coach Sturm was going over a couple plays to Chi-won’s team. You translated as fast as you could, trying your best to make it sound clear and right. Hockey pretty much had its own language, so you assumed it was working when he nodded along. As he was about to head back onto the ice, you grabbed his attention.

“Shoot the fucking puck, man. You’ve made plenty of great passes. They want to see what you’re capable of.”

His eyes widened, but he nodded and bumped your held-out fist before skating back to the face-off. You watched the puck drop, and the game was on. Your eyes never left the player you were there for, his form zipping across the ice with a breakaway. He was denied, but you could tell there was a fire lit under his ass. There were still amazing passes, but he was taking shots on goal more. The goalie was just unbelievably good at his job,

There wasn’t much time left in the scrimmage when Chi-won was skating towards the goal, him against two defensemen. His feet moved in a way you couldn’t explain, and he slipped past the opposing players, taking a shot on goal. You nearly jumped with joy as it flew past the goalie’s shoulder, and you didn’t miss the smile on his face as he celebrated with his teammates.

At the end of the day, Chi-won was asked to dinner with some of the other prospects. He nodded his head with a grin, so they told you the restaurant. Your phone connected to the Bluetooth as you were typing it into the map, and “My First and Last” immediately started playing through the speakers. Chi-won sent a look your way but said nothing.

The other players made sure you and Chi-won had seats next to each other so you could easily translate for him. They asked him questions about his life in Korea and his teammates. He talked about his family, his girlfriend Eun-ji, and his friends. You were learning more about him by doing your job rather than conversing with him yourself. You could feel something heavy settle in your chest as they all talked to each other, only looking to you when you translated.

When you were back at the apartment, Chi-won collapsed onto the couch. You sat in an armchair and stared at the ceiling, thoughts of Jaemin running through your head. It’d been five days since you last heard from him, and you were still hesitant to reach out. He was probably in the same boat, but what if he didn’t want to hear from you? What if your relationship was over and you didn’t know it? You hadn’t talked to the other boys about it, not wanting to drag them into your drama.

“You’re thinking too loud,” Chi-won complained.

“Sorry,” you said quietly. “How do you think camp went?”

“I think I did well. My whole body hurts, though. I wish Eun-ji was here. She gives amazing back massages. I would be in constant pain if it wasn’t for her. I’m definitely the luckiest guy in the world.”

That’s what Jaemin tells me. “Is she gonna be starting college this fall?”

He nodded. “She wants to study sports medicine, so she’ll be studying at Seoul University. I’m so proud of her.”

You looked at the time on your phone before realizing that it was your work one. Your personal phone was still in your duffel, which was in the car. Cursing under your breath, you rushed downstairs and grabbed your phone from the bag.

Jaemin💕: 3 missed FaceTime video calls

Shit. Just in case your relationship wasn’t fragile enough, you’d missed three calls from him. It was the first time either one of you had tried reaching out since you stormed out of the dorms in tears. Worried, you headed inside and returned to the apartment as fast as possible. You tried calling Jaemin back, but he wasn’t picking up. It was about ten in the morning where he was, and he never slept in too much no matter what time he’d gone to bed, so you knew he was ignoring you. Trying again, you cursed and swallowed around the lump in your throat. He finally picked up, and he was not happy.

“Hey,” you said as you moved to your room.

“Hey. Where were you?” he asked.

“We were at camp, and then we went to dinner after,” you explained.

His eyebrows raised. “You went to dinner?”

“Yeah.”

“Was it a date?”

Your eyes widened in shock. “What the fuck, Jaemin? Of course it wasn’t a date! Why the hell would you ask that?”

“I mean, you did say you didn’t know how this would affect our relationship,” he snapped.

“That doesn’t mean I would cheat on you. God, do you really think that low of me?” You could feel the sting behind your eyes of tears forming, but you tried to hold them back.

“I don’t know what to think anymore, Y/N. You waited until the day before you were leaving to tell me about it—”

“I didn’t have a choice, and you know it!” you exclaimed. “You know what? I’m done. I can’t do this right now.”

You hung up and threw your phone across the room, muffling sobs into your hands. Being here, having the job you’ve worked towards the past year, it was supposed to be exciting, yet you were dealing with possibly the worst heartbreak yet, and you didn’t even know if there was a relationship to salvage anymore.

Your phone was ringing with a FaceTime call from Jisung, but you ignored it. He couldn’t see you like this; even though you were partially in the wrong in the fight, he would completely lose it and attack Jaemin. You didn’t want to be the cause of something happening to NCT Dream. It would have to stay to yourself, just like everything else about your life.

///

You’d been in America for two weeks, and you were absolutely miserable. You didn’t talk to the boys as much, ignoring some of their calls so that when you did answer, there was too much to talk about for you to think about Jaemin during the calls. You hadn’t talked to him since your last argument, and you didn’t know what to do. Jisung didn’t now, but it was clear he was suspicious of something. You just wanted to go home, but Chi-won had to stay in California for more training and practice. He’d been invited to training camp in September, so it was easier for him to just stay here until he knew his future with the team post-camp.

Chi-won’s English was improving a little, but it was clear he wasn’t confident in himself. Learning a language was hard, and English was one of the most difficult. From conjunctions to words sounding the same but being spelled different to even the sentence structure, you didn’t blame him for feeling self-conscious and frustrated. You had talked to Jisung, and he’d agreed to speak with Chi-won.

“Chi-won, can you come here for a minute?” you called out.

He walked into the living room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked at your phone, jaw dropping when he saw Jisung on the screen. You held it out and said, “My brother wants to talk to you.”

He took the phone, sending a glance your way before looking back at Jisung. You moved to the kitchen to make breakfast, giving the boys some privacy. You could hear Jisung’s laugh through the tiny speaker, and it made your heart ache. Not seeing him every day felt like torture. You were so used to talk to him every day, but the both of you were too busy with your jobs, not to mention that you were still unsure of what the others knew about you and Jaemin.

As you were making some fried eggs, Chi-won joined you, holding your phone out with Jisung still on the screen. The hockey player sent a look that told you there would be a conversation later, and then he disappeared to his room. You looked at Jisung and smiled, asking him how it went. He said it went well, that Chi-won seemed to really listen to what he’d had to say. A door had opened behind him, and Chenle walked into the room. His face lit up when he saw you, and he ran over and jumped on Jisung’s back.

“Y/N! I haven’t talked to you in so long,” he said, suddenly pouting.

“I know, I’m sorry. Prospect camp was crazy, and I’ve been busy with teaching Chi-won English,�� you replied. “I wish you guys were here. You’d love it.”

“We’ll have to visit sometime. Jisung, we gotta head to bed. We have practice tomorrow morning,” he said.

“Sleep well, you two,” you said with a smile.

“Love you!” they shouted, and then the call ended.

You finished breakfast and called for Chi-won. He joined you in the kitchen, taking his plate from you without a word. The two of you sat at the breakfast bar, eating in silence. Tyler and Cat were in Canada for a wedding, so you were alone with him. You waited for him to say something, anything, but he didn’t. Instead, he washed the dishes and went back to his room. He returned a few minutes later in workout clothes, so you changed into your own outfit and silently followed him to the gym downstairs. He started out on the bike while you went to the treadmill, starting a light jog.

After a few minutes, Chi-won said, “So, your brother is Park Jisung.”

“Yup. Has been for ten years,” you panted.

“I didn’t even know he had a sister.”

“No one does. It’s too dangerous.”

“That must suck. I can’t imagine keeping my sister a secret,” he said.

“Seeing him live his dream makes it all worth it. Besides, once I’m living here permanently, we’ll be able to tell everyone who I am.”

///

Getting out of bed was harder and harder as each day passed. You could feel yourself settle into a deep and heavy depression. and it seemed like the people you were living with were concerned. You never felt hungry, you were having trouble finding the motivation to shower, and you were ignoring every call that popped up on your phone.

There was a knock on your door before Cat poked her head in. You glanced at her before turning your attention back to the window. She sat in the armchair and leaned on her elbows, sending a smile your way.

“So, Chi-won and Tyler talked to the team, and they decided that if you want, you can go back to Korea until it’s time for training camp,” she told you.

You sat up slowly and asked, “What?”

“We can all tell how homesick you are, and Chi-won said that you had an argument with someone that sounded like your boyfriend. They have a back-up translator, so you can go home for a little bit,” she explained.

“He told you all that?”

“Well, he used an app to translate, but yes.”

Leaping out of bed, you hugged her tightly, mentally thanking yourself for having showered that morning. She laughed and hugged you back before telling you to start packing. You started throwing your things into suitcases and your duffel bag as she left, and tears started streaming down your face in happiness.

You hugged Tyler and Chi-won in thanks before rushing to the airport, not wanting to stay in America any more than you had to. You called your parents and Jisung once you had a ticket purchased, and they promised to keep it a secret. Jisung was practically vibrating in his seat once he heard the news, and you couldn’t wait to hug your family again.

Somehow, you managed to sleep on the flight. When you landed, it was about three in the afternoon. You raced towards your family as soon as you spotted them, leaping into Jisung’s arms. He lifted you up and squeezed tight, as if you would disappear if he let go. You then hugged your parents, not afraid to let the tears fall down your cheeks.

“I missed you guys so much,” you sobbed.

“We missed you too, sweetheart,” you dad said.

When you were home, you took a couple hours to settle in before taking Jisung with you to the dorms. Not only did you have some boys to surprise, but there was a certain boy with blue bangs you needed to speak to. Jisung seemed to be excited to be on the other end of the surprise.

As you walked into the building, your stomach twisted into a giant knot. You didn’t know how Jaemin was going to react. Before you could dwell on it too much, Jisung opened the door to the Dream dorm. Jeno and Haechan were playing video games in the living area, but they stopped immediately when they looked at you.

“Sunshine!” Jeno shouted. He threw the controller on the couch and ran over, scooping you into a bear hug.

“What are you doing here?” Haechan asked as you managed to pry away from Jeno to hug him.

“They let me come back home until training camp starts,” you explained. “Where are the others?”

“They’re in their rooms. Jaemin’s napping, but Renjun and Chenle are playing PUBG,” Jeno explained. “It’s good to have you back. Jaemin’s been moping every since you left.”

So they didn’t know. “I’ll go see Renjun and Chenle first. Jaemin must be really tired if he’s napping.”

You walked down the hallway and quietly stepped into Renjun and Chenle’s room. They were too busy looking at their phones to notice, so you sat by Renjun and asked how he was doing. He glanced at you and then did a double take before tackling you to the bed. Chenle complained, but when he looked up a screech left his mouth instead as he piled on top. They started asking you a bunch of questions at once, but you shushed them and explained why you were home. Chenle didn’t want to let go, but you explained that Jaemin didn’t know yet.

Jaemin looked so peaceful as he slept. You could just stand there and watch until he woke up, but the conversation needed to be had sooner than later. Quietly closing the door, you walked over and sat on the bed as gentle as possible. Your fingers carded through his hair, pushing it away from his forehead. He sighed in his sleep, melting under your touch. You called out his name lightly, but he didn’t stir. You tried a couple more times, and his eyes finally opened. He stared at you for about ten seconds before grabbing you. You were suddenly thrown on the bed, and he pinned your arms down before kissing you.

Kissing Jaemin felt like a dream, especially after what you two’d been going through the past few weeks. He pressed kiss after kiss to your lips, finally pulling away with a frown.

"I’m really sorry for how I acted the past couple times we talked. I trust you, and I support your career,” he said.

“I forgive you. God, I forgive you. I’ve been so miserable the past few weeks. I should’ve tried harder to tell you sooner than when I had.”

“Let’s just forget this, okay?”

“Deal.”

He leaned down to press your lips together again, not leaving any space between your bodies. He trailed kisses down your neck, sucking a mark into your skin at the base of your throat. When he moved back to your face, he whispered, “I love you.”

That was the first time either of you had ever said those words. Whenever the two of you were together, there was a good chance another Dreamie was with you, so actual dates were rare, which meant that neither of you felt like it was the right time to say them. However, the past three weeks, had proven that it didn’t matter how much time was spent alone.

“I love you too.”

It was about half an hour before you two emerged from the room. The others made fun of the hickeys that were all over your necks, but in that moment you didn’t care. You and Jaemin were more than okay, and that was all that mattered to you.

95 notes · View notes

oh-boleyn · 4 years

Text

languages 101

Okay!! I did it!! I wrote fluff!! This is for @six-gifts-exchanges, and I wrote it for @enough-love-stories and I hope you like this!

Have some fluff with Cleves and Parr 💖

words: 2069, language: english. cleves & parr (friendship)

When Henry died, only two of his six wives were alive.

His fourth wife, Anna of Cleves, who he had divorced years prior but maintained a cordial relationship, even inviting her to court and granting her a castle for her own. And Catherine Parr, his six and last wife, who practically acted as a nurse in the last years of his life.

When they reincarnated, the two quickly bonded over being the “survivors”, even if only the final wife had the official title. They enjoyed each other's company, even when things got hectic in the house, they had each other’s back. Being the most relaxed queens left them the ones in charge to act as judges when chaos broke in the group.

Anna was close to Katherine too, happy to see her alive again. The fourth and fifth queens spent much time together, alone or with other queens tagging along. Taking dance classes together, eating ice cream, tea with Jane and binge-watching sitcoms were on their weekly schedules.

Parr had similar close relationships with Anne, after getting through the initial hesitation they were now usually seen together, discussing in French or talking about science. Aragon was another queen really close to the survivor, being her godmother, she had taken the role to take care of the younger woman, taking her into random trips to museums or other not-as-intellectual outings.

But still, the relationship between the second divorcee and the last queen was special. They had breakfast together almost every day, a really special moment for them to share what was going on. They confide in each other, knowing all their secrets and fears, having inside jokes and how to make the other feel better. If either of them had a problem, no matter how close they might be with the other queens, the first person they’d trust would be the other.

Tonight, the house was found with only both of them inside, having both been covered by their alternates.

“Are you in a mood for a round of chess?” Catherine asked, taking away her eyes from the TV.

“Yes, I think.” Anna responds, looking down. “I was actually going to ask you for a favour.”

“Alright, what’s up?”

“Can you teach me Spanish?” she asks.

A bright smile passes across Cathy, already shining with the idea of how to teach her best friend a language that she holds so close to her heart.

“Of course! Do you want to start now?”

Anna nods, and proceeds to say: “I will look for a pen and you go for paper.”

“You know me.” Catherine laughs.

Five minutes later they are sitting at the kitchen table across from each other. Anna covers the table with different pens, including some highlighters and glitter pens that belong to Katherine. Cathy has some white paper sheets, plus a notebook.

“I haven’t used this one yet, I wanted to save it for something important,” she handles it to Anna, “today is the day.”

“Are you sure?” The German queen wonders.

“Yes, teaching for the first time in something like five hundred years is a big deal, and teaching my favourite language to my closest friend is even more important.”

Anna accepts it. It screams Catherine Parr anyway you see it. The blue coloured front is no more than just an advance of the light blue pages inside. It isn’t squared, nor is it lined paper, instead it has dots all over it. The fourth queen appreciates it, the notebook is almost perfect for her friend, but still she decided to give it to her.

“Okay, first things first, persons. First person is yo.”

Cleves writes it down, her letter messy and cursive.

“Second person is tu.” Catherine indicates.

“Isn’t it vos?” Anna wonders.

“I mean, yes, but vos is used in only some countries, you can add it if you want to though.” Parr explains.

The go over all the persons, vosotros, ella, el, ellos, ellas. Once that’s finished, they pass over some common verbs. Yo soy, tú eres, vosotros sois, ella es, él es, ellos son, ellas son. They go quickly over explaining what eñe means, and how to pronounce it, which leads to the word cumpleaños.

“Try to introduce yourself.” Catherine offers.

“It will be a mess; I still don’t know a lot.” Anna contradicts.

“C’mon! I’m so sure you know your name.” The survivor smirks.

“Yo me llamo Anna of Cleves.” The German says, not sure about the language. “Yo tengo quinientos cuatro años.”

“Really, Anna? I am five hundred and four years old? Show off.” Cathy mocks. “Still, it was great, but you know ‘of Cleves’ is in English, like ‘Von Kleve” is in German.”

“So how is it in Spanish?”

“Anna de Cleveris.”

“Are you kidding me? That sounds… so not serious.” Anna laughs. “I refuse to be named that.”

“Whatever you say, Cleveris.” Cathy responds, with a playful look. “You can not change your name if you don’t want to. Catherine still uses Catalina sometimes.”

“She doesn’t anymore, not since Anne found that website that said that Catalina means poop.” Cleves reminds her. “But I think I will stick with ‘of Cleves’, at least for now.”

“Alright, now we continue, with for example ‘like’?” Parr offers. “It’s ‘gustar’.”

Anna checks her notes and before asking: “Yo gusto?”

“Yes, perfect. What do you like? I can give you the translation just so you can add it to your presentation.”

“I like music. And nature.” She stays thoughtful for a while. “And dogs, mate, I love dogs.”

“You can say yo gusto de la naturaleza.” Cathy explains. “Mi animal favorito son los perros.”

“That sounds like English I think I can manage.”

She writes it down, knowing that probably she is confusing S and Z, V and B everywhere.

“What was ‘dogs’ again?” Anna asks.

“Perros.”

“How do you write it?”

Cathy laughs, making Anna chuckle. Learning a new language was harder than she remembered, and it couldn’t be helpful how different Spanish was from German. Luckily for her, Parr was there to help. Walking to her side, she wrote in her distinctly calligraphy –a cursive that was maybe way too curvy, and distinctly renaissance-like– the word, marking the double R.

“There you go, linda.” She smiled.

“What did you call me earlier? A show off?” She parodies her friend.

“Oh, shut up!” Catherine giggles. “Would you mind if we take a break? I’m hungry.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Anna agrees, carefully closing her new notebook. “Do you want something specifically?”

“I was planning to do something quick; you should keep studying!” Cathy insists. “Start exercising in Duolingo!”

“I refuse, to ever, in my life, use Duolingo.” Cleves says, with a death look.

“Then keep practicing verbs. I have a dictionary in my bedroom.”

“I think I’m fine for now, I need a little break.”

They fall into casual conversation, talking about how excited they were for spring to begin, and different ideas for a summer road trip. They discuss their favourite places from the tour, and where they would love to be back.

Talking with each other feels natural, normal. They know each other's humour, how to make the other laugh. Friendships were not something they were used to in their past lives, everyone having an ulterior motive. Allies were not friends, and in court everyone was just that, nothing more than a power relationship.

“What made you want to learn Spanish?” Catherine asks, already serving the food.

“I don’t know.” Anna answers, trying to play it cool.

“C’mon! I know you have a reason,” she insists, “but it’s okay if you don’t want to tell me.”

“It’s just a silly reason, Cathy.”

“If it was you would tell me!” Parr laughs. “I keep up with your silliness all the time.”

“Rude?” Anna mocks. “It’s just that I wanted to make you happy.”

Catherine stops for a moment, processing the information. Cleves takes the opportunity to continue.

“I know how much you love languages, and you love to teach. I just thought it would be a good way to spend our time together.” She smiles. “I also think it can be fun, plus I would like to also speak in Spanish with Aragon at some point, I know how much nostalgia she holds to it. But I also don’t want to overstep, if that’s something just between you and Aragon then that’s alright but-“

Catherine interrupts her: “It’s really thoughtful of you.”

She leaves the plates, to quickly embrace Anna into a hug.

“You think so?”

“Yes! Really, it’s just an amazing gift.” She breaks the hug. “I know I can be a lot to handle sometimes with my ranting about random things, so I’m more than happy for you to get interested in languages. Nonetheless, if you want to stop learning I won’t get mad.”

“You are never a lot to handle.” Anna insists. “You are my best friend. And I don’t think I will want to stop any time soon, I like learning. Plus, maybe I can teach you German one day.”

“Maybe not now, I already get too mixed with languages.”

Anna laughs, conscious of how many times she would drop a word in another language while trying to speak English.

They have dinner while watching a Spanish show –Anna wanted to watch some sitcom that had been sitting on her list, but Catherine insisted on watching this show about time travel, plus “you have to get used to the accents, Anna!”–, laughing at their commentary. Before they can finish the episode, the queens burst into the house, tired after the show.

“How did it go?” Cleves asks, taking her plate and Catherine’s to the dishwasher.

“Tiring.” Anne says simply, falling on the sofa. “I fell during the Megasix, now my whole being hurts.”

“I hope someone filmed it! I was singing and didn’t see her!” Katherine complains.

“I did, it was funny.” Aragon laughs.

“Mate!” Boleyn protests.

“Anyway, girls, how was your night off?” Jane wonders. “What’s up with all these pens and paper?”

“Nothing.” Anna quickly shouts from the kitchen.

“It’s just me writing stuff, Anna was helping.” Cathy explains. “Do you want ice for your butt, honey?”

“Funny.” The second queen mocks.

The six queens stay talking for a while, before finishing eating and excusing to their bedrooms. Cathy takes the notebook and pens, and takes them to her room, aware that Anna apparently wanted to keep the secret of their Spanish lessons.

She decides to give the notebook back to her friend once the rest of the queens are already in their bedrooms, going slowly up the stairs, mindful of not making too much noise. Cathy knocks the door twice, before getting it, not bothering to get Anna’s permission.

“This belongs to you.” The writer leaves the notebook on the fourth queen’s desk.

“Thank you,” Anna smiles, “I just want to get better at it, before telling the others. I don’t want to feel rushed into learning.”

“I get it, we can be a lot to handle.” Parr laughs. “I also wanted to say thank you again. It’s been so long since I taught and I haven’t realized how happy it makes me. I was afraid that it might make me remember bad moments, but I actually enjoyed it a lot.”

“You are a good teacher, maybe a bit of a jerk though.”

“We already knew that, Cleveris.”

“Whatever you say, tonta.” She playfully replies.

“How did you learn that word?” Cathy asks, confused.

“Oh, Aragon once called Anne that. Kitty and I looked it up on the internet, she also called her tarada, but I think that one is a tad more aggressive.” Cleves explains. “Also, who doesn’t know curse words? I think it’s like the first thing you learn about a language.”

“Really Anna? That’s how you learn languages?” Catherine inquires teasingly.

“Maybe.” She giggles. “What’s your favourite word in Spanish?”

The last queen thinks for a moment, before responding: “I don’t know if I have one. But there’s one I like because I don’t think there’s a real translation of it.”

“Which one?”

“Querer. It means want, but also it means loving. It’s like amar, but I like the idea of a word that is mostly directed to friendship. Friends are really important.”

“Yes, they are.” She hugs Parr. “Te quero?”

“Te quiero.” She corrects.

“Te quiero, Cathy.”

“Te quiero más, Anna.”

#six the musical #six fanfiction #six the musical fanfiction #anna of cleves (six)#catherine parr (six)

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gabbykinncy · 4 years

Photo

i’m more than just a copy.

basics —

NAME: gabrielle ‘gabby’ kinney FACECLAIM: giorgia whigham ALIAS: honey badger AGE: 18 HEIGHT: 5’2” SPECIES: mutant EYE COLOR: green HAIR COLOR: black UNUSUAL FEATURES: facial scarring (one extending from her hairline down over her left eye to the middle of her left cheek and another under her right eye extending down her right cheek to her jawline) MBTI: estp-a OCCUPATION: unemployed RESIDENCE: lives with laura and jonathan in district x AFFILIATIONS: snikt family and x-men FAMILY: james howlett (father), sarah kinney (mother, deceased), deborah kinney (aunt), laura kinney (older sister), akihiro (older half-brother), jonathan (pet wolverine), megan kinney (cousin), bellona (older sister), zelda (older sister, deceased), x23_3par (older sister, deceased), six unnamed older sisters (all deceased)

powers/special abilities —

RETRACTABLE BONE CLAWS: she has two retractable foot-long bone claws. one in each arm. they stay under the skin and muscle of her forearms. they’re naturally sharp and tougher than human bone. they can penetrate most flesh and other materials. these claws come out of the knuckles of each hand.

REGENERATIVE HEALING FACTOR: naturally regenerates damaged or destroyed tissue and organs at a rate that exceeds anything a human can do. this ability however doesn’t heal her facial scarring.

DECELERATED AGING: inherited her father’s lifespan.

SUPERHUMAN ACUTE SENSES: her most improved senses are sight, smell, and hearing.

INSENSITIVITY TO PAIN: as a result of experiments growing up gabby is unable to feel any pain.

EXPERT COVERT OPS TRAINING: she’s a well trained assassin and bodyguard. she can also make it impossible for every wolverine to track her.

EXPERT MARKSMAN: she carried a pair of MAC-10 machine pistols.

EXPERT ACROBAT.

three headcanons —

I. Gabby is a lesbian, but still in the closet. She doesn’t know how to tell her family and friends. She had suspicions about these feelings from a young age, but it took some time for her to really figure out what they meant. It was all new for her to realize that she was allowed to feel this way. Gabby will probably end up confusing in Bobby for advice on coming out officially in the future when she feels that she’s ready.

II. She has a pet wolverine who is absolutely spoiled by her. Gabby will make sure there are several beds around the apartment and will bring some to her brother’s place too. There’s no expense too much when it comes to Jonathan. She wants them to have matching outfits too, whether it’s for casual wear or something suited for battle. It’s important to preserve his identity too! She always makes sure that he’s included. He’s very protective and has the ability to speak English as he was given a universal translator from Rocket. Gabby will take him on walks around the city and doesn’t care about any strange looks from people who are concerned. She will stab anyone who tries taking him away if Jonathan doesn’t bite them first as he’s picky about who to trust.

III. Her mood swings can be intense. They can go from threatening someone with anger radiating off her expressions to smiling and being happy again in an instant. This all depends on who she’s talking to, but these moods are also random. You never know when they’ll happen or what will trigger it. She can be far more sensitive than her siblings are when it comes to civilian casualties too. She’ll start crying and has to be pulled or carried away from the situation.

four personality traits —

- impulsive (once an idea is put in her head she often feels like she has the ability to handle it on her own. which isn’t always the case, she does need to wait for help sometimes depending on the situation. if gabby is told no she doesn’t always take well to that and will pout or do it anyway at a later point. she’s working on this! but maybe feels comfort in knowing she has people who can bail her out of trouble.)

- silly (she loves bright colors, joking around, and having fun with whatever can be found in the room she’s currently in. sometimes she will even listen to pop music instead of paying attention to the stakeout. she likes to sing and make ridiculous faces. she is often seen as lighthearted, but this can be used against her. she doesn’t always take things seriously as a result of this trait.)

+ caring (gabby always wants to try helping everyone whether it’s a person or an animal. she helped a bunch of turkeys escape once, never wanting to leave any living creature behind. this goes along with being charming and cheerful. she believes everyone deserves a second chance just as she got.)

+ adventurous (always looks for something to occupy her time, particularly fond of missions that involve dressing up as someone else because it means creating a backstory. maybe it’s something that has to do with finally getting to be a child that meant embracing her playful side. even when all the other members of her family don’t want to encourage her mindset if something important is going on or being discussed. she continues anyway!)

some history —

Gabby was only eleven years old when the ban originally started, but that didn’t matter for what Alchemax Genetics had planned for her. She was one of ten clones of Laura Kinney, the youngest of them actually. Their purpose in this world was to trained to serve as bodyguards. They were basically created to be assassins who would look after important personnel or work on what was called humanitarian missions. Gabby and the other clones who she considered her sisters were abused by their handlers. Since she was the baby, being the youngest and all, she was protected by her sisters from Mooney and whoever else raised a hand to them.

So when the ban was starting out Gabby was still working as an assassin. She didn’t know any better than what she was groomed to be. Six of her sisters would die on their missions, and eventually Gabby escaped with the three who were still alive. Two of them would end up passing away, and only Bellona stays alive too. However after meeting Laura, who they were cloned from, Gabby stayed with her almost clinging to her new older sister while Bellona left to pursue a life of her own. Gabby doesn’t know what happened to her, but focused on following Laura around wherever she would go. She didn’t care where they went just as long as they were together.

Gabby brought Jonathan with her and traveled the world with Laura for a while. She would soon begin looking up to not just her sister, but her brother Daken after meeting him too. Although she grows up to be five foot two and ends up looking up at everyone quite literally.

In recent months has been doing some exploring around the county with her pet wolverine, but realized being on her own isn’t much fun. She misses being close to her family and seeing that they’re all in Star City brought her to the place. She made sure to call her brother and sister first, so they’d be aware of her arrival. She doesn’t know what to expect, but even Jonathan seems excited to see the ‘angry one and the loud one’ again as he calls her siblings.

Gabby is trying to be a good person now despite the reason for why Alchemax created her. She has grown to her own person with interests, likes, and dislikes that make her far different than what her handlers wanted her to be. She pretty much has a heart of gold, and might put too much trust into Star City.

#starcintro #ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ᴅᴏ ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ᴅᴏ ʙʟᴇᴇᴅɪɴɢ. [ MUSE ]#trauma tw #death tw #abuse tw

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inkjam-moon · 5 years

Text

Colors Chapter One - Red

Summary: You’ve jumped through time all your life, but this jump seems to have put you in an entirely different reality as a nurse in the midst of World War II.

Pairing: Jeongguk x Reader

Genre: Fluff, angst, smut

Word Count: 13.2k

TW: Talk of war and violence associated with such and event, talk of racism, fist fight, medical/hospital talk, blood mentions, wound mentions, virgin sex

A/N: Click here to see what I based the dancing scene off of.

You always thought it was a glitch, a dream; anything that wasn’t reality. But then it happened again, and it kept happening, more and more, for longer periods of time, only changing for the drastic. You can’t control it. You don’t even really know what ‘it’ is. All you know is that when the haze arrives, there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

The first time it happened you were seven years old. You were in the car with your mom, driving to the mall. When the light at the intersection turns green, your mom pulls out, and is t-boned by an oncoming truck. As soon as the truck hits your car, suddenly, you’re surrounded by some sort of fog, and then, as if by magic, you’re sitting at the red light again; same cars around you, same song on the radio, everything is exactly the same. Did you imagine the crash? You look up to see the light turn green, but as your mom lifts her foot off the break you scream.

“Wait!”

Your mom slams her foot back down on the break just as the truck runs the red light and plows through the intersection in front of you, mere inches from the front of your car.

You mom looks at you in amazement. “H-how did you know the truck was coming?” She asks as she pulls forward and crosses the intersection, pulling into the lot in front of the mall and parking.

“I saw it.” You state. “I think it was a dream.”

Your mom simply shakes her head at you as you both get out of the car.

You never really understood what’s wrong with you; why you spastically jump through time, but you do, and you have absolutely no control over it. You manage to maintain your memories through every jump, and nothing you do seems to have any impact on the future.

But this time is different. You’re twenty two now, and your latest jump has put you so far out of your comfort zone, you swear it’s a dream.

The first thing you hear is soft swing music playing on the radio. That’s odd. You didn’t think you turned the radio on before you went to bed, although your radio is pretty old and sometimes comes on by itself, but swing music?

You open your eyes and the first thing you see is red; the paint on the walls that surround you. This isn’t your room? You sit up and look around, realizing that you have no idea where you are. Your bed is the only one in the room, so it must be yours, right? You stand, letting the silken floor length nightgown that adorns you fall around your legs. You look around for a purse, a bag, anything that might help you place where you are, but you can’t find anything.

You grab the robe that hangs on the back of one of the doors in the room and slip it on before opening the door. Nope. Bathroom. You try the other door and it leads you out into a long hallway with three other doors and a staircase. Staircase seems like a good place to start.

You tiptoe down the stairs as quietly as you can and sneak across the hallway at the bottom into the kitchen. The radio is on down there too and a few girls sit around a table sipping coffee and eating breakfast as they chat and listen.

“Today President Franklin D. Roosevelt met with joint congress and officially declared war on the country of Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in the state of Hawaii yesterday. Today the true extent of the carnage is still unknown to officials who say it could take some time until they discover exactly how much damage was done.”

Pearl Harbor was yesterday? What the fuck. Does that mean it’s… it’s 1941?? What the-

“Is Y/N still asleep? It’s not like her to sleep in this late.” One of the girls, a blonde with perfectly pincurled hair and bright blue eyes mumbles.

“I don’t blame ‘er.” Another girl, the redhead with a thick country accent says. “She was up all night tendin’ to those poor soldiers.”

Soldiers?

“I’m glad she did. Better her than me. I don’t want to heal those assholes.”

“They’re still people.” A third girl chimes in. She has straight, stark black hair, almond eyes and tan skin.

“Yeah, people that bombed us.” The first girl states before turning to see you’ve arrived in the kitchen. “Y/N! Finally. We’ve been waiting for you.”

“G-good morning.”

“Are you alright honey?” The second girl asks.

“You don’t look the best.” The first girl adds.

“Clara!” The third girl scolds.

“Well, it’s true!” Clara, the blonde, defends.

“I’m not really feeling like myself this morning.” You explain.

“Don’t listen to her Y/N.” The third girl rolls her eyes. “She’s still shaken up from yesterday.”

“Aren’t you the one that just got her hometown blown up Kono?” The second girl asks.

“Shut up Bits.” The black haired girl, Kono snaps. “Anyway, Y/N, you should go get dressed, we have to leave soon.”

“Leave?”

“For work?” Bits, the redhead reminds you, as if you should know what they’re talking about, but technically, maybe you should.

“Your uniforms out on the line.” Kono says sweetly. “I’ll get your coffee.”

“Right. Okay.” You nod before heading out the door in the kitchen that leads to the backyard where Kono pointed.

You look at the clothes line to see a nurses uniform is the only garment left hanging. Shit. You’re a nurse? God, you hope you know what you’re doing. You grab your uniform off the line and head back inside. Just as you leave the kitchen you hear Bits whisper to the others.

“What’s her problem?”

“You have to remember, Y/N’s parents are from Korea.” Kono responds. “And Japan basically took over the country. It’s probably scaring her that they’re seen as enemies; she might be-”

You head up the stairs, not wanting to listen to the rest of that conversation. You go back to your room and get dressed, looking yourself over in the mirror as you pin your cap into place. You don’t really look like yourself, while there was make up in the bathroom, it’s all old fashioned and you have no idea how to use it. You’ll just have to go barefaced until you get the hang of things. Maybe you can ask Kono? She seems nice. When you deem yourself presentable, you head back down the stairs and start your day in this new life.

You all take a cab to the hospital, although, you’re not sure you can really call it a hospital, it’s more of a tent really. When you arrive, you follow Kono into the tent and are immediately overwhelmed by the view you’re greeted with. Men, dressed in military uniforms, are laying in cots. They all have various stages of injuries, some missing limbs, some wrapped head to toe in bandages, some even look as though they’re barely clinging to their lives.

Everyone around you is rushing to get their work done, tending to each and every soldier, although, you notice the soldiers in tan uniforms aren’t getting as much care as the ones in green.

“Y/N,” Kono turns to you. “Can you get some of the Japanese soldiers they just brought in over there?” She points to the far back of the tent. “You’re the only one that doesn’t seem to mind helping them.”

“O-of course!” You grab the stethoscope she hands you and head over to where the majority of men are wearing tan uniforms, the ones the other nurses seem to be avoiding.

You walk up to the first one you see. He looks panicked, but otherwise, relatively okay, no obvious wounds except for a small laceration on his temple. Using the bit of Japanese you know, you try to calm him down; he’s obviously terrified of being treated by the enemy, but you explain that you’re just trying to help him. Once he calms down a bit, you take his vitals, they seem normal, though you have no idea how you know that.

You write them down on his chart and then move onto the next man who seems to be in a lot of pain. You check him over to see he has a large wound on his abdomen. You clean it and then pack it tightly with gauze before calling over a doctor who takes the man away into a seperate tent for what you assume is going to be surgery. The next few men all seem relatively okay, and you explain to them the best you can that they’re alright, take their vitals to make sure, and then move on.

The day moves quickly; you work right through lunch and before you know it, it’s time for dinner. Clara is the one who comes over and pulls you away from your patient, leading you out of the tent and into another one across the way where the food is served. You grab some soup and bread before going over to sit with Clara and Bits. The three of you chat while you eat, you find out ‘Bits’ is short for Bitsy; and honestly you’ve never met someone who fits their name more. You’re just about to ask where Kono is when she comes bursting into the tent, looking around frantically until she spots you.

“Y/N!” She exclaims. “Come quickly, I need your help!” She tugs you up out of your chair. You drop your spoon and follow behind her as she tugs you back into the hospital tent.

“What’s going on?”

“A soldier just came in from the harbor, he’s been trapped under rubble this whole time and he’s in shock. He’s got a bad laceration on his left leg. I’m pretty sure he’s Korean, I need your help translating.”

She leads you through the back of the tent and into where the doctor took your patient earlier. Your ears are immediately assaulted by the screams of a man as Kono hands you a gown, mask, and gloves which you put on before walking through a doorway and into a makeshift operating room. The sight before you is heart wrenching; there’s a man on the operating table, screaming in pain. The nurse is trying her best to hold him down while she screams at him in english to stay still.

You can hear him swearing and sure enough, it’s a language familiar to your ears. You rush to his side, pushing the other nurse out of the way before grabbing his flailing hands.

“Sir, sir I need you to calm down please.” You coo in your sweetest voice. He stills when he realizes he understands the words coming out of your mouth.

“Y-you speak Korean?” He stutters.

You smile at him. “I was born in Gongju.”

“Busan.” You watch relief spread across his face before pain overtakes it again. You move to soothe him and then try to distract him.

“What’s your name?”

“J-Jeongguk. Jeon Jeongg- Ah!” He cringes as the doctor prods at his leg, his eyes closed in agony.

“Okay, My name is Y/N, I’m going to be your nurse. Mr. Jeon, Do you have any allergies?”

“N-no.” He grits.

“How old are you?”

“Twenty o-one, and please, c-call me Jeongguk.”

God he’s so young. Only a year younger than you. “Alright, I’m going to figure out what’s going on and then I’ll let you know, okay?” He nods and you turn to the doctor. “What’s going on Dr. Evans?”

“He’s got a twelve centimeter gash on his calf. It’s pretty deep.”

“What did you find out?” Kono asks you.

“His name is Jeongguk, he’s twenty one years old, he doesn’t have any allergies. What’s the plan?”

“It’s pretty bad.” Dr. Evans states. “We might have to amputate.”

“Amputate?” You gasp. “Really?”

“I don’t see any other options. We’re going to sedate him now. Can you tell him?”

“S-sure…” You turn back to Jeongguk who thankfully is too focused on the pain to notice the worry on your face. “Jeongguk, listen to me. We might have to amputate your leg-”

“What?” He sits up straight. “No! No, I need my legs! I can’t-” he grimaces in pain before continuing. “No! You can’t take my leg, don’t let them take my leg Y/N, please! I need it for work, to support my parents!”

“I-I’m going to sedate you now, okay?” You grab the syringe of phenobarbital and prep it, making sure there’s no air in it before pressing it into his arm, injecting his vein with the drug. It’ll only be a few seconds before he falls asleep.

“Y/N don’t let them… My leg… Please…” Those are the last words he says before he drifts off into induced sleep.

You feel terrible. Absolutely awful. You can’t let them take his leg. You can’t. You have to do something. “Dr. Evans. Do we have to amputate? This man needs his leg.”

“There isn’t enough tissue left here to close the wound. Without the tissue, it won’t heal properly.”

“Can’t we take the tissue from somewhere else?”

“Somewhere… else?” He looks at you confused.

“Yeah, can’t we get the extra tissue from his arm or his other leg? Or even his… his behind?” You think you saw that on Grey’s Anatomy once.

“Oh my god.” Dr. Evans looks at you, stunned. “That… That might actually work. Alright, Kono, Emily, you both stay to assist, everyone else, you’re free to leave.” He shoos everyone else out and Kono thanks you as you walk out back into the main part of the hospital. You discard your gown, mask, and gloves before heading to the bathroom outside.

As soon as you close the door behind you, you rush to the sink and splash water on your face, before heading into one of the stalls and locking the door. You sit on the toilet, trying to calm yourself down the best you can. That poor soldier, if you weren’t here, he would’ve lost his leg for sure. You can’t even imagine… You just hope Dr. Evans can save it.

It’s about an hour later before someone else comes to use the bathroom When you hear the door open, you try to make yourself presentable again before opening the stall door to see to see Bitsy standing there, touching up her makeup in the mirror.

“Y/N! Where have you been? We been lookin’ everywhere for you!”

“Oh, I-I’ve been… In here.” You confess.

“Aw honey, have you been cryin’?” She drawls, taking in the sight of your puffy red eyes.

“W-what? No, of course not, I-”

“Oh darlin’, what’s got you in such a fuss?”

You sniffle as you wash your hands. “It’s nothing Bits, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”

Bitsy eyes you curiously, her lips pursed. “Are you ready to go home then?”

“What?”

“It’s quittin’ time.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I’m- one of my patients is in surgery.” You explain, gripping the sides of the sink.

She laughs at this. “So what? The next shift will take over for ya.”

“He’s Korean. They’ll need me to translate when he wakes up.”

“Oh, Is it that poor boy Kono’s workin’ on?” She asks. You nod. “Oh bless your heart sweetie, he won’t be out for another few hours at least. Dr. Evans is frankensteining him up.” Bitsy pauses to think for a minute. “Alright, if you won’t come home, how ‘bout I take you to the oncall room they set up? That way you can at least get some rest. Sound good?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Okay, let’s go girly.” Bitsy leads you out of the bathroom, past the cafeteria to a small building that looks like one of the portable classrooms your high school had. She leads you into the brick building and you’re surprised to find it’s empty except for the cots that line the walls. She takes you to the one in the far back corner. “This one is the least noisy.” She states, gesturing for you to sit.

You take a seat on the cot and she looks at you for a minute before nodding. “I’ll make sure someone comes to getcha when he’s outta surgery, alright?”

“Yeah, thanks Bits.”

“Of course darlin’, now get some rest.” She turns on her heels and heads back out of the building, giving you one last sympathetic smile before shutting the door behind her.

You sit on the bed for a moment, wondering why this boy is affecting you so much. You sigh as you make yourself comfortable on the bed, pulling the sheet up over you as you try your best to relax. Thankfully, it doesn’t take you long to fall asleep, you didn’t realize how tired you were.

It’s dark out when you feel someone shaking you awake. “Y/N, Y/N wake up.” It’s Kono.

“Kono? What’s going on?”

“It’s John-kook.”

You snort, your tiredness making her mispronunciation funnier than it should be. “His name is Jeongguk.”

“Sorry. He’s out of surgery.”

“Really?” You sit up at this, grabbing your cap off the floor and pinning it back to your hair. “Is he okay?”

“He’s great. Everything went really well.” She explains as you stand up and follow her out of the building. “We managed to keep his leg using some skin from his other thigh, but he’s going to be sore when he wakes up. We need you to explain what we did and how he should take care of it.”

“Of course.” You nod and she explains exactly what he should do as she leads you into the second post surgery room. Jeongguk is the only one in there right now, tucked in a cot in the far back corner as he sleeps. She leads you over to him and then pulls up a chair for you.

“He should wake up soon.” Kono states. “Take his vitals every hour and record them on his chart. If he’s in pain, you can give him some morphine, but only one at a time, okay?”

“Got it.”

“Okay, I’ll leave you to it.” Kono nods before heading back out into the main triage room, leaving you alone with Jeongguk.

He looks so peaceful right now, so much more comfortable than he was when you first saw him. You grab your stethoscope from around your neck and check his pulse before taking his blood pressure. Everything seems good. As you place your scope back around your neck, Jeongguk begins to stir, his face grimacing in pain as his nerves wake up.

“Jeongguk?” You whisper as he comes too. He grunts. “Jeongguk are you in pain?” He nods, so you grab some morphine and inject him with it, watching his face relax almost instantly. “Is that better?”

He nods again as his eyes finally open and he looks around until his eyes land on you. “Noona?” He mumbles. You giggle at the term, letting it slide because he’s still drowsy, until you see his eyes go wide in panic and he tries to sit up.

“Woah, hey, what’s wrong?” You ask.

“My leg! Is it gone? I can’t feel it!”

“Jeongguk, calm down, it’s alright.” You try to soothe him. “You still have both legs.”

“Really?” He sits up on his elbows and looks down. You lift the sheet to show him that both of his legs are indeed there.

“See? Now, I just have to check your nerves, if that’s okay?” He nods, so you walk down to the end of the bed, take the pen from his chart and run it up the bottom of both of his feet. As they should, both feet twitch from the ticklish sensation. “Okay great. Can you wiggle your toes for me?” Jeongguk’s brow furrows in concentration, but it only take a few seconds before all of his toes start moving. “Perfect, that’s good Jeongguk, really good.”

Jeongguk falls back against the bed in relief and you realize that his face is filthy. You go over to the wash station and grab a bowl, filling it with warm soapy water and taking a washcloth back over to Jeongguk. “Do you mind if I wash your face?”

“No, please, go ahead.” He states. “I hate having all this stuff on my face.” You dip the cloth in the water as he continues. “So, what… what did they do?”

You begin dabbing at his dirty face, trying your best to clean him as you explain. “They took some skin from the back of your right thigh and used it to close the wound on your left leg. Everything went very smoothly and your wounds will heal nicely, we just have to make sure they’re cleaned and bandaged correctly, and I’ll explain how to do that when I have to change your dressing.”

“How long will I be here?”

“A week or so, maybe two, depending on how fast you heal.”

“And are you… will you be my nurse the whole time?” He asks hopefully.

You giggle lightly. “I can be, if you want me to.”

“Good.” He huffs. “That other nurse was mean. All she did was yell, as if that would help me understand english.’

“She was just trying to do her job.”

“Yeah I guess so.”

Jeongguk goes quiet while you continue cleaning him. As you scrub the mud and dirt and war paint off his face, revealing his tanned skin underneath, you realize for the first time how pretty he is. His eyes are a deep chocolate brown, wide and doe-eyed with curiosity; his nose is a little big, but it fits the proportions of his face; his bottom lip is fuller than the top, but they both look plush; as he breathes out, you can see his two front teeth, making him seem almost rabbit-like; and his jawline is chiseled, perfectly sculpted as you run the cloth down his neck. He’s truly beautiful, and you wonder how this poor boy from Busan got mixed up in the war and ended up fighting for the Japanese.

When you’ve scrubbed his face clean, you walk back over to the wash station, dump out the water, rinse the bowl, and ring out the towel before tossing it in the trash. When you’re finished, you dry your hands and then take one last look at him before starting to walk back towards main triage, but you don’t get very far before he stops you.

“W-wait, where are you going?”

“I should go see if they need me for anything else.”

“Can’t you-” Jeongguk bites his lip as you watch him struggle for the right words. “C-can’t you stay with me? What if someone else comes and tries to ask me questions? What if I start to hurt again? What if-”

“Okay, okay.” You laugh lightly as you walk back over to him. “I can stay for a bit longer I suppose.” You take a seat back in your chair and this seems good enough for Jeongguk as he relaxes back against the pillows. It’s silent for a few minutes before Jeongguk gets the courage to ask you a question.

“So… Gongju, huh? How’d you end up here?”

“Me?” Honestly you don’t remember. You must have immigrated at some point, but god only knows when. You settle for a vague excuse. “It’s… It’s kind of a long story.”

“I’ve got time.” He smiles at you, and you can’t deny that his smile makes the butterflies in your stomach do backflips, but how can you explain your situation to him? Jeongguk seems to sense your perplexed state and speaks. “You don’t have to tell me, it’s okay.”

“I immigrated with my parents when I was little.” You state. That seems like it could be true. “They wanted to raise me where the ‘American Dream’ was possible.”

“That doesn’t seem very long.” He smirks.

“I left out the details for another time.” You inform him. “For now, you should try and get some rest.” You order, standing up and pulling out your stethoscope to take his vitals again. He sits still as you listen to his breathing and take his blood pressure and you can feel him watching you as you scribble the information down on his chart. “How’s your pain right now?”

“Um… Maybe a five?”

“Okay, that’s about right.” You nod, marking one last note before putting his chart down and walking up to his side. “Now get some rest. I don’t want to come back and find that you’ve been causing trouble.”

“Me?” He feigns a gasp. “Never.” He gives you one last smile before settling back against the cot and closing his eyes.

You spend the next several days tending to Jeongguk, and for lack of an excuse to leave, you ignore your other duties. You stay by his side, keeping him company. You really only leave to go home and shower, you even bring your meals to his bedside, enjoying the rather bland food with him, and sneaking him something sweet whenever you can.

His progress steadily gets better; it’s only a few days before the pain in his right thigh is gone completely. It’s on day four that he decides he wants to try walking again and as you wrap your arm around his waist to support him, your heart rate picks up at the close proximity, it’s the first time he’s actually touched you, aside from the fleeting brushes of his fingers against your hand as you pass him things or check his vitals.

He’s determined to say the least; you actually have to stop him from pushing himself too far the first time when his knees nearly give out under him and you catch him around his waist, supporting his weight until he finds his footing again.

When you bring him back to his bed, he nearly collapses against the cot, his chest heaving with the effort of walking after being bedridden for three days. The pain he must be feeling, you can’t even imagine, but he puts on a brave face and swings his legs back up onto the bed, relaxing against the stack of pillows you’ve piled up for him.

It’s a week later, when the two of you are eating the dinners Kono brought you, that your curiosity gets the best of you and you finally ask him about himself.

“So, you’re from Busan, right?” You ask when you hear a hint of Satoori slip through his words.

He nods. “Yep, born and raised.”

“I’ve always wanted to go to the beaches there. I heard they’re beautiful.”

“They are. You should go sometime. You’d love it.” He says in between mouthfuls of soup.

“Ha, I don’t think I can swing that right now with everything that’s going on.”

Jeongguk looks a bit confused before realization dawns on his face. “There’s a war. Right.”

“Speaking of, I was wondering… How did you get mixed up in all of this?”

He sighs deeply before sitting his bowl of soup in his lap. “The same way everyone else from Korea did. We were drafted, every man over the age of sixteen. We were ripped away from our lives and forced to fight with threats of them killing our families and burning down our hometowns if we didn’t. I got drafted with my brother, but we were separated when missions were assigned. I got sent here and he’s fighting in Germany I think, if he’s still even alive… I’m fighting for a side I don’t believe in because I have to.”

The room becomes silent as your heart breaks for Jeongguk. This poor boy was wrenched from his family and forced to fight for the wrong side.

“Jeongguk, I’m so sorry…” You whisper.

“At least one good thing came out of it.” He mumbles.

“And what’s that?”

“I got to meet you.” He states, his cheeks flushing pink as he meets your gaze.

“O-oh…” Your face flushes the same shade as his as you fumble for words. “I-I, wow I… Um… That’s- You’re too sweet.” You finally mutter, averting your gaze, but he leans over and cups your cheek with his hand, turning you back to face him. He runs his thumb across your cheek lightly, barely ghosting across your skin.

“Y/N, I hope it’s okay for me to say this, and it isn’t too forward, but I think- I think I like you. And after I get better, I was wondering if I could maybe take you out?”

“R-really?” He smiles at your stuttered reply before nodding. “I… Yes.” You whisper in return. As if to solidify your answer, Jeongguk swings his legs over the side of the bed and leans down before pressing his lips to yours in a sweet, but short kiss. When his lips leave, you can’t help but chase after them for more, making Jeongguk giggle when you open your eyes to find he’s sitting upright again.

“I have to say, I’ve never felt like this about anyone before, but there’s something about you noona, from the first moment I saw you.” He offers you a beautiful smile that makes his eyes scrunch up, embarrassed at his own words and you can’t help but smile back.

It’s a week later when Jeongguk’s dressings are officially removed and he’s discharged from the hospital, but having nowhere to go, you offer to let him stay with you until he can make his way back home, with the permission of the girls of course. The two of you have been inseparable since your first kiss, and there have been many more sweet exchanges since then, you even taught him a little bit of english. Jeongguk even went so far as to call you his girlfriend during his lesson yesterday, and the word sent sparks up your nerve endings.

When the taxi pulls up to the home you share with the other girls, it’s pretty early in the morning, they should just be waking up for work. You help Jeongguk out of the car, handing him his cane as he grabs his bag that includes his dirtied and nearly shredded uniform. He’s currently wearing some scrubs you found at the hospital, they’re a bit snug, but they’ll work until you can find him some decent clothes to wear.

Jeongguk follows you up the front walk and you open the door before leading him in. You walk down the hallway, trying your best to be quiet, only to hear the word ‘surprise!’ being shouted at you as you enter the kitchen. You stumble back against Jeongguk in shock before a warm smile spreads across your face. Kono, Clara, and Bitsy stand in the kitchen, holding a cake with Jeongguk’s name written on it in Hangul.

“What’s all this?” You ask.

“We knew Jeongguk was finally coming home with you today, so we made him a cake!” Clara explains.

“We wanted to surprise you both!” Bitsy exclaims, bouncing up and down as she claps her hands together.

You turn to Jeongguk and explain the situation and a beautifully wide bunny smile spreads across his face as he drops his bag and grabs his chest where his heart lies. “Thank you.” He states in perfect english.

“Oh, you’re welcome honey.” Bitsy states.

“Now, we’ve got to head off to work, but we’ll see you whenever we get back.” Kono reminds you.

“Don’t worry,” You giggle. “I won’t wait up.”

“Oh, one more thing.” Kono turns back to you as the others head out the door. “I had my brother bring by some of his old clothes for Jeongguk since he doesn’t have any. I put them in your room.”

“Oh god, thanks Kono.”

“Of course.” She looks up at Jeongguk and then back at you before tossing you a wink. “Have fun kids.”

You roll your eyes as she saunters out the front door before turning to Jeongguk who’s already exploring the kitchen, you can tell by the icing on his finger that he’s about to pop into his mouth.

“Um, excuse me?” You laugh, halting him in his tracks. He stares at you with his innocent doe eyes as you walk over.

“I was fixing it.” He states, pointing down to where his name is spelled out in icing. You realize quickly that it’s spelled incorrectly; it says ‘jeongnun’.

“They tried their best.”

“I know, but eating it will make it better.”

You stare up at him incredulously. “Cake for breakfast?”

He simply shrugs. “Why not?”

Well, you can’t argue with that. You grab two plates and two forks and a knife, cutting you both a piece of cake before heading over to sit at the kitchen table to eat. Jeongguk joins you, but instead of sitting on a chair like a normal person, he sits directly on your available lap.

“Jeongguk!” You squeal with laughter, beating on his back to get him to stand up.

“What?” He feigns innocence as he looks down at you over his shoulder.

“Get off, your giant butt is crushing me!” You tease.

He giggles as he gets off, a forkful of cake already in his mouth as he takes a seat in the chair next to you instead. “So what did Kono tell you? I heard her say my name.”

“Oh, she had her older brother bring by some clothes for you.”

“Really?” His eyes light up when you nod. “Thank god, these doctor pajamas aren’t as comfortable as they look.”

You snort at the phrase ‘doctor pajamas’ before going back to your cake. Jeongguk finishes first, and with how fast he does, you would think the hospital starved him. “Did you even chew? Or did you just inhale?” You chide.

“What? It was good.” He states, smacking his lips for effect before giving you a goofy smile. “So, what do you want to do today?” He asks as he sits up, basically bouncing in his seat from excitement.

“Well, I figured you might want to take a shower first?”

“Are you saying I stink?” He pouts playfully.

“Sponge baths aren’t exactly the most refreshing.” You point out.

He wiggles his eyebrows mischievously. “Are you going to shower with me?”

“Jeongguk!” You squeal, flicking some icing off your fork and onto his face, making him flinch back in surprise. “What kind of girl do you take me for?” You tease, clutching your imaginary pearls.

“A beautiful and smart one.” He whispers, putting his elbow on the table and resting his head in his hand as he gazes at you.

You scoff. “Cheeseball.”

He giggles at this before continuing. “Okay so what do you want to do when I smell like a normal human again?”

“I figured we could just relax? Maybe watch- er, listen to the radio.” You keep forgetting that you don’t have a tv and they won’t really even be popular until 1946.

“But I want to do something.” Jeongguk whines.

“Jeonggukie, you need to rest. Doctors orders.”

“I’m tired of resting.” He pouts, crossing his arms.

“Jeongguk…” You sigh as you grab his plate and yours before standing and walking over to rinse them in the sink. He follows behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his head on your shoulder. “Do you want your leg to get better?”

“It is better.” He protests.

“Really?” You ask sarcastically. “Can you put all of your weight on it?”

“Yes.” He states.

“Okay.” You nod as you dry your hands. You swipe his cane out of his grip and then walk across the kitchen to the stairs. “Walk to me.”

“Is this necessary?” He whines.

“Walk. To. Me.” You repeat more sternly. “If you can put weight on your foot without any pain, we can go out tonight.”

“Fine.”

Ever the stubborn one, Jeongguk takes a deep breath before stepping forward with his injured foot. A grimace immediately appears on his face, but he muscles through it, putting all his weight on his bad leg as he takes his next step. He continues in this fashion the whole way across the kitchen until he reaches you and nearly collapses against you, whimpering in pain.

“There. Can we go out?”

“Absolutely not.” You scold, exasperated. “Goddamnit, did you really have to do that? You could’ve just injured yourself further for all I know.”

“Can I have my cane back now?” He mumbles, defeated. You hand him the metal stick and wrap an arm around his waist to help hold him up.

“Come on, we just need to get you upstairs and then you can rest.”

He nods, bracing himself as he straightens up before heading up the stairs with you, taking it slow, one at a time to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself again. When you get to the top, you lead him across the hall to your room, opening the door to lead him in. You see a bag of clothing on your bed and lead Jeongguk over to it so he can dig through its contents.

“Pick something to wear while I get the shower started for you.”

“Okay.”

WIth his affirmation, you head off to your bathroom and start the shower. “What temperature do you like?” You call to him.

“Hot.” He calls back. This boy’s going to use up all your hot water, you just know it. You turn the temperature up until steam starts billowing out the top and then you head back out to your room to see Jeongguk seems to have made a selection; a pair of pressed khaki slacks and a soft blue sweater.

“Find something?” He nods, holding the items up to you. “Looks good.” You smile before waving him over, watching him limp towards you and follow you into the bathroom. When he enters he looks around in astonishment.

“You have your own bathroom?”

“Well, not anymore.” You tease, raising an eyebrow at him. “Come here.” You grab the front of his scrubs and pull him closer to you before lifting the shirt off over his head. You toss the shirt to the floor and without even paying attention, you start undoing the drawstring that’s holding his pants up until he grabs your wrists.

“Woah, woah, Y/N. What’re you doing?”

“Helping you get undressed?” You look up at him, confused by his question.

“I can d-do that myself.” He stutters, swallowing hard.

It’s then that you realize your mistake. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry.” You start to giggle as you cover your mouth with your hand. “I went right into nurse mode.” You confess.

“It’s okay.” He smiles, placing his change of clothes on the counter.

As he leans over, you get the chance to admire his shirtlessness for the first time, and you can’t help yourself as you reach out to touch his abdomen, fascinated by how well-toned and muscular he is. You move closer as your hands glide over his chest, taking in every inch with awe.

“Enjoying the view?” He chuckles, snapping you out of your trance.

“S-sorry.” You mumble. “You’re just… you’re really pretty.” You admit, blush filling your cheeks.

“Ah, thanks.” He smiles, rubbing the back of his neck. “Can I shower now?”

“Right! Go ahead!” You scramble to exit the bathroom. “You remember how to wash your leg?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Okay, I’ll be right out here so yell if you need anything.” And with that you shut the door.

You busy yourself sorting through the clothes Kono left, folding them and putting them in a drawer you emptied yesterday so Jeongguk could use it. When you hear the shower turn off, you’re laying on your bed, reading a book you found lying around the house. It takes a few more minutes, but soon enough, the bathroom door opens and Jeongguk limps out, slacks hung low around his waist, sweater in his hand as he ruffles his hair with a towel.

The droplets of water you see dripping down Jeongguk’s torso make you drool inwardly, licking your lips at just how delicious he looks. He tosses the towel back into the bathroom before he makes his way over to your bed. He lays his cane against your nightstand before taking a seat on the mattress next to you, slipping on the cerulean sweater and then laying himself back against the pillows that sit at the headboard.

“I like your room.” He states, holding his arm out for you to snuggle up to him. You accept his request, reaching over him first to turn on the radio before sitting back and curling up at his side, your arm draped over his waist.

“Thank you.” In the time you’ve been here, you’ve grown accustomed to the dark red walls, not that you’ve seen them much over the last week, having spent the nights after your first kiss asleep in a chair next to Jeongguk’s hospital bed.

The two of you lay in content silence for a bit until a familiar song comes on the radio, one that even Jeongguk recognizes.

“He was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way…”

“I know this song.” He whispers.

“You do?” You tilt your head to look at him.

He nods. “Sometimes at base our radio signals would interfere with American radio stations and it was almost always this song that came on. It was always a nice break. The tuners wouldn’t change the channel until the song ended because it always put us in a good mood.” A wide smile stretches across his face. “I would always get up and dance, and some of the other guys would even get up and join me.”

“I didn’t know you liked to dance.”

“I’ve always loved to dance. It just makes me so happy.” He explains. “My mom and I used to dance around the kitchen when I was little and after that, I just kind of never stopped I guess.”

“Are you any good?”

“I won a swing dancing competition at a club near my house once a few years back.”

“Well, color me impressed.” You state, rolling onto your stomach and laying your arms on his chest, resting your head on your hands as you gaze up at him.

“That’s why I didn’t want to lose my leg. It brought in a lot of money for my parents, so I figured I could win some real competitions here in America and bring the money back home, but then…” He trails off, the smile fading from his face.

“But then you were drafted.” You finish for him.

“Yeah…”

“I mean, once your leg heals, you could still compete.”

“Yeah, but…” He hesitates, running his fingers through your hair. “Then I’d have to leave you.”

“Jeongguk,” You sit up to scold him. “Don’t let me stand in the way of your dream. You never know when you’ll lose the opportunity.” You look down at your lap, remembering all the opportunities you’ve lost because of your ‘problem’. You would hate to get in his way when you don’t even know how long you’ll be here. Your eyes start to grow misty at the thought of ever having to leave him; your first real boyfriend, maybe even your first love.

Suddenly Jeongguk cups your cheek as he sits up, forcing you to look up at him. “You are my dream.”

You break into a smile, your bottom lip trembling as you try to hold back the sad and happy tears at the same time. Before you can say anything, Jeongguk leans forward and presses his lips to yours ever so sweetly. You’re not sure what to do in this era, if it’s normal for you to want to move forward and sleep with Jeongguk so soon, or if you should wait, but then Jeongguk tilts his head to the side and parts his lips, deepening the kiss, and you find yourself unable to resist.

The radio plays in the background as you attempt to pull Jeongguk closer, letting him flick his tongue against your lips ever so lightly before you break the kiss and sit up, climbing on Jeongguk’s lap and straddling his muscular thighs, surprising him a bit before you pull his lips back to yours. Not knowing where to put his hands, Jeongguk lets them lay at his side, but you can feel him fidgeting, so you grab his wrists and guide his hands to your hips. He pulls back to make sure it’s okay and you nod, scooting closer so that your chest is pressed to his, gripping his shirt and pulling him back to you.

The two of you make out lazily for a while, enjoying each other, until you start to feel a heat building in your stomach and you accidentally grind down on Jeongguk’s lap and he gasps, breaking the kiss.

“Y-Y/N I-”

“I’m sorry.” You interrupt. “I-I don’t know what came over me.”

“No, I mean… This is great, like… really great, but… wouldn’t you rather wait? Until marriage?” He asks.

You have to physically restrain yourself from bursting out laughing. “O-of course!” You roll your eyes. “That’s what we’re supposed to do, right? Wait until we’re married.”

“U-until we’re m-married?” Jeongguk stutters.

“I just meant ‘we’ in general as people, not ‘we’ us.”

“Right.” Jeongguk nods, though seeming a bit disappointed.

“Is it hot in here? Do you want some air?” You ask, trying to change the subject as you climb off of Jeongguk’s lap and walk over to your balcony, opening the door.

“Air sounds great.” Jeongguk agrees, grabbing his cane and standing up to join you.

You usher him outside and then excuse yourself to the bathroom, shutting the door and then flopping yourself down onto your bed. What the hell was that conversation? Does Jeongguk want to marry you? You know that was the thing to do back then, or… back now, but getting married so young, with someone you hardly know… That can’t be right, can it?

A week later, you have to return to work. You took a week off to help Jeongguk adjust to how things worked around your house, and thankfully, he only accidentally walked in on someone once; even more thankfully, it was Kono and she just laughed it off. The week was quiet, with the other girls at work most of the time, you and Jeongguk just spent the time getting to know each other; playing games, reading books, and listening to the radio, teaching him english, which he picks up surprisingly quickly; but you found the most fun was cooking with each other.

Jeongguk was surprisingly good at cooking, and after eating military and hospital food for so long, he was thrilled to be able to have a home cooked meal. The two of you made food from your childhoods, recreating what you could with american staples you would pick up from the local market, happy to be out in the warm spring weather with each other.

Jeongguk was using his cane less and less, in fact, when he was in the kitchen, he put it to the side and didn’t use it at all, choosing to use you for support instead; his arms frequently found resting on your shoulders, or wrapped around your waist. He’s a goofball, and you have to admit, you think you’re falling in love with him.

“Okay, you remember where everything is?” You ask as you grab your purse off the table.

“Yes.” He rolls his eyes, tired of you asking.

“And you’ll be okay going to the market by yourself?”

“Yes.”

“And you promise to rest? You won’t overwork your leg? I don’t want you to-”

“Noona.” He interrupts. “I’ll be fine I promise.”

“But-”

“I’ll be okay. Go to work.” He says in english, emphasizing his point.

You bite your lip with nervousness, not wanting to leave him on his own, you know how people in this area get with unfamiliar faces. “Okay.” You finally nod, opening the front door. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

“I’ll be waiting.” Jeongguk smiles before sweeping you into a sweet kiss, leaving you dazed for a moment before you walk out to the cab you called and climb in.

“Honolulu Military hospital please.” You tell the driver before looking back, watching Jeongguk wave goodbye as you drive away.

Work is awful. The amount of injured soldiers has slowed significantly since the attack, so you don’t have much left to do expect check the vitals of the few patients you do have; those that had more serious injuries and require a longer recovery time. You suppose it’s a good thing, you can hardly focus as it is, worried about Jeongguk being left at home by himself. What if something happens to him? You spend the better part of your lunch hour thinking of ways Jeongguk could get hurt, and it isn’t until Kono taps you on the shoulder that you even realize she sat next to you.

“Uh, Y/N?”

“Hm? Sorry.” You turn to her.

“I asked if you knew what Jeongguk was going to do when you went back home?”

“Back home?” You repeat, confused.

“You didn’t hear? They’re sending everyone back to the mainland since things have slowed so much here. Almost everyone that was called over gets to go home, except for a few who are choosing to stay.”

“Stay?”

“I was telling Bits earlier that I don’t know what I’ll do, the house will be so empty. So is he going with you? Or is he going back home too?”

“I… I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it.”

“You should think about staying.” Kono urges. “You’re doing really well here.” You nod as the lunch bell dings, signaling that your lunch is over.

The rest of the day goes by surprisingly quickly as you try to figure out what you want to do. You don’t remember much about living back in the continental states, you lived in California somewhere, but that’s as good as you’ve got really. You like Hawaii, you really do, plus Jeongguk is here, and as long as you’re here, he can stay with you.

As the cab pulls into your driveway, you still aren’t sure what to do, or what to tell Jeongguk as you and Kono get out of the car and walk up to the house. As you step over the threshold into the house, a delightful smell tickles your nose; someone’s been cooking. You and Kono both follow your noses into the kitchen to see Jeongguk sitting at the dinner table with Bitsy and Clara.

“You’re home!” Clara says, more out of surprise than happiness. “John-kook made dinner!”

“Really?” You ask, but when Jeongguk doesn’t immediately turn to greet you with that goofy smile, you know something’s wrong. “Kook?” You walk over and put your hand on his shoulder, but he still doesn’t look at you. Clara and Bitsy both have nervous looks on their faces.

“Kook…” You pull the chair out next to him and sit down before tilting his chin so that he looks at you. You gasp, dropping your purse in shock when you see the dark black bruise surrounding his eye. “Oh my god! Jeongguk what happened to you?” You ask, cupping his face and pulling it closer so you can inspect his eye, but he remains tight lipped so you turn to the two girls sitting at the table.

“We didn’t see the whole thing.” Clara states.

“We just caught the end of it.” Bitsy agrees. “Ya see, we were down at the market an’ we ‘eard this commotion.”

“It sounded like a fight and there was a big group of people standing in a circle, so we went to see what was happening and…” Clara continues.

“It was Paul. Him an’ his group a rougheins.” Bitsy growls. “Once we realized it was Kook, Clara ran into the middle of it to stop them.”

“It wasn’t fair, it was five against one!” Clara pounds her fist on the table. “Those racist bastards.”

“She got Paul to back off, but not before they gave ‘em a nice shiner.” Bitsy finishes with a sigh. “We helped him home though and made him rest before dinner.”

“The butcher felt bad and gave Kook a nice steak to put on his eye for the swelling.” Clara adds. “And then he made dinner with it.”

The girls keep talking, but they fade out as your focus is drawn to Jeongguk in front of you. He won’t meet your gaze, seemingly ashamed, that is until he picks up his fork and stabs a bit of meat before holding it up to you.

“I made your favorite.” He whispers. “Please don’t be mad.”

“Mad…?” You ask. “I’m furious, but not at you baby.” You lean forward and wrap your arms tightly around Jeongguk, knocking the fork out of his hands. “I’m just glad you’re safe.” You can feel Jeongguk smile as he returns your hug. You pull back and place a kiss on his forehead before sitting back in your chair. “Let’s eat, I’m starving.”

Jeongguk made bibimbap, your favorite, with perfectly seasoned meat, and you happily eat. After dinner, Bitsy and Clara leave for the night shift, and Kono disappears into her room, leaving you and Jeongguk alone to talk about what happened as you finish cleaning up the kitchen.

“I was just walking down the street at the market when these guys came up and started asking me a bunch of questions I couldn’t understand. When they heard my accent as I tried to explain that I didn’t speak english well, they started pushing me around while they yelled at me.”

“Did they say anything you recognized?”

“Jap.” Jeongguk mumbles as he puts the last bowl on the drying rack. “That’s all I knew. And then the big one punched me so hard I fell over, that’s when your friends found me.”

“Jeongguk,” You cry as you wrap him in your arms again. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault jagiya.” He sighs. “Although, I did lose what I went to town for; they stole it, said I didn’t deserve it.”

“We can go back tomorrow and get another one? What was it?”

“A ring…” Jeongguk whispers, looking up at you, his cheeks a bit flushed.

“A… A what?” You mumble, not sure you heard him right.

“It was a ring, for you.”

“For me?”

Jeongguk chuckles. “I feel a bit stupid telling you this without it, but I was going to propose to you noona. Tonight.”

“W-what?”

“Kono told me yesterday that you might be moving back home, and I want you to know that wherever you go, I’ll go with you, because I’ve fallen in love with you. I know it’s crazy and we’ve only known each other for a month, but I’ve never felt this way before, about anyone.”

“Jeongguk-”

“Noona, will you marry me? I’d get down on my knee, but I don’t know if I’d get back up.”

You’re speechless, you’re definitely rushing into things here, right? But maybe that’s how it should be… You don’t know how long you’ll be here, or maybe, is this where you’re meant to be? “Y-yes.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I will.” You nod as Jeongguk sweeps you up off your feet and spins you around the best he can.

“I love you Y/N.” He states as he puts you back down, pulling you close.

“I love you too Jeongguk.” You smile brightly as he pulls you in for a kiss.

The girls of course are thrilled when you tell them, each of them squealing happily. Bitsy being the sneaky minx that she is, actually manages to get herself invited to Paul’s house two days later and steals the ring back for you. When she returns it to Jeongguk, he happily opens it and slides the ring on your finger; it’s a simple, but beautiful ruby and the weight of it on your finger makes you feel warm inside.

You and Jeongguk decide a few days later to stay in Hawaii, at least for the time being. Jeongguk writes his parents letters daily and has since he arrived at the hospital, about a week after Jeongguk proposes, you receive a letter back from them. They’re thrilled about your engagement, and after weeks of Jeongguk asking, they’ve finally gotten enough money together to move to Hawaii, and should be on a ship within the week and should arrive in another week or two. You and Jeongguk quickly find them a nice house by the bay and eagerly await their arrival from across the pacific.

A few days after his parents letter arrives, you and Jeongguk are relaxing at home, both of you on the couch while the other girls are out, your legs across his lap as you listen to the radio and read to Jeongguk.

“Isn’t this Doris Day?” Jeongguk suddenly asks, turning the radio up.

“Hm?” You listen for a moment. “Yeah, I think so. The song is called ‘Again’ I think, I’m surprised you know that.” Suddenly Jeongguk pushes your legs off his lap and stands up before grabbing your arm and tugging you to your feet with him. “Kook,” You giggle as he pulls you flush against him. “What are you doing?”

“Dancing.” He states, grabbing your waist and beginning to sway you both back and forth.

“So I finally get to see the magical feet of Jeon Jeongguk?” You tease.

“Shhh, just dance with me noona.”

“Again, this couldn't happen again

This is that once in a lifetime

This is the thrill divine…”

It’s nice, a peaceful and sweet moment, with you pressed so close to him as he rests his head on yours while you sway, hand clasped in his, content in just being with him. It makes you sad to think that one day, at some point, life may choose to take him away from you, or more likely, to take you away from him.

“Mine to hold as I'm holding you now and yet never so near

Mine to have when the now and the here disappear…”

“Jeongguk…” You whisper, thinking maybe you should tell him, but you don’t know what happens to the people you leave behind; is some part of you still here, or do you and all traces of you vanish completely, even the parts of you in his memory?

“We'll have this moment forever

But never, never, again…”

“Mm?” You don’t hear him as much as you feel the rumble in his chest.

“I love you…” You say as the song plays its last chord and your dance comes to a stop.

“I love you too.” Jeongguk smiles and leans down, capturing your lips in the sweetest of kisses, making your knees weak. You grip his button up shirt tightly as you pull back, breathing a bit heavier, and you wonder what it’ll be like to have him. All of him. Before you can overthink it, you push Jeongguk backwards so that he falls back down onto the couch.

“Woah,” He exclaims as he hits the cushions. “What’s this about?”

“Jeongguk,” You whisper as you climb into his lap. “Let me show you how much I love you.”

“Are you sure?” He visibly gulps.

“I’m sure.”

Jeongguk hesitates for a second before nodding, his bottom lip caught between his teeth; a sight you can’t resist. You lean forward and press your lips to his, letting his hands fall to your hips as he pulls you closer, his tongue slipping between your lips, and this time when you grind down against him, he doesn’t pull away, instead he groans, deep in his chest, a rumbling that sets your body on fire, but then he pulls away again.

“Um, wouldn’t you rather do this in a bed maybe?” He suggests shyly, cupping your cheek.

“You won’t change your mind?” You ask, suddenly nervous that he’s rejecting you again.

He stares deep into your eyes, smiling a heart wrenchingly beautiful smile. “Never.”

Your chest and stomach flutter at the same time as Jeongguk helps you off his lap and leads you upstairs to your room where he shuts the door before spinning you to face away from him. He grabs the zipper on the back of your shorts and yanks it down, dragging them down your legs before pushing you down on the bed and crawling on top of you; gone is the innocent boy you love so much, in his place is a strong man with a fire building in his sweet brown eyes.

Jeongguk reconnects his lips to yours as he starts working at the buttons on the front of your shirt, carefully undoing them until he gets to the last one and sits back to look. He stares down at your half naked body; your bra and underwear all that’s left covering you.

“You’re so beautiful noona.” He whispers.

He skips unbuttoning his own shirt, choosing to just slip it off over his head and toss it to the floor, leaving him in just his white undershirt and khaki slacks. You pull his undershirt off and reach up, running your fingers over his chest and watching his muscles flex beneath your touch, but not for long. Jeongguk slips your shirt the rest of the way off and leans down to pepper your neck with kisses while he fumbles with your bra. It takes him a few moments, but eventually he gets the hooks undone and manages to slip the fabric off your shoulders, taking his time to caress and marvel at your breasts.

“T-they’re so soft.” He observes, leaning down and burying his face between them as he massages them gently, feeling your smooth skin against his face.

“K-kook…” You gasp when he brushes against a nipple. His head shoots up to look at you, ready to apologize for doing something wrong until he sees the look on your face and the blush adorning your cheeks. He leans up and kisses you sweetly once more before grabbing the waistband of your underwear. He looks at you for approval, which you give, before slowly pulling the fabric down your legs and tossing it to the floor. He sits on his knees, a now obvious tenting in his pants as his hands caress your thighs, seemingly mesmerized by your naked figure, before spreading your legs with a small groan of want.

Jeongguk quickly moves to unbuckle his belt, but once he gets it open, he falters and begins to ramble. “Oh god Y/N I-I’ve never… I never done this before and I don’t know if I’ll be any good. What if I do something wrong? O-or if I hurt you? What if-”

“Jeongguk,” You coo softly. “There’s nothing you can do that will make me love you any less.”

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” You whisper, sitting up to pull him into a kiss before you pull back and help him undo his pants the rest of the way, your hands brushing the scars on his thighs after he deposits his khakis on the floor.

“Noona,” Jeongguk calls your attention back up to his face as he pushes you back down against the mattress. “A-are you ready?” You realize he’s now leaning over you, one hand on the waistband of his underwear.

“Yes…” You mumble, suddenly realizing that in all the lives you’ve had, you’ve never had sex before either. “I’m just nervous I guess. I haven’t um… I haven’t done this either.”

“I’ll go slow, I promise.” He assures you, leaning down to give you a kiss before pulling the covers over you both. He shifts on top of you as he removes his underwear and then his knees are nudging at your thighs to open wider for him, and then you feel it. Something warm and hard is pressing against your most intimate of parts, trying to find its way inside your own warmth.

“A little l-lower I think…” You state, trying your best to guide Jeongguk to his destination. He follows your direction, pushing with intent until he finally slips the tip of his cock into you, a little faster than intended, catching you both by surprise as you let out a small cry.

“Are you okay?” He asks, panicking as he stills himself.

You nod, biting back the stinging feeling between your legs. “It just h-hurts a little bit. Y-you’re bigger than I e-expected.”

Jeongguk’s face flushes bright red as he looks down at you, obviously flustered by your comments on his size. “I’m s-sorry. Do… Do you want to stop?”

“No!” You whine, a little too loudly, making Jeongguk smirk just a bit. “J-just… Just go slow.” You mutter.

Jeongguk nods, leaning down to press his lips to yours as he starts moving again. He goes slow, swallowing each little gasp that leaves your mouth until he’s fully seated inside you and a moan escapes both of your lips as Jeongguk’s head falls on your shoulder.

“It’s s-so tight…” He whimpers. “Is it supposed to feel this good?”

“Jeongguk please move.” You plead, needing some sort of friction before you feel like you might burst.

Jeongguk simply groans against your neck as he complies, pulling his hips back before sliding into you again and again, making you feel dizzy and hot and oh so full. He feels so good inside you, brushing against your walls in all the right ways; you’ve never felt this kind of pleasure in your life.

You wrap your arms tightly around his neck and spread your legs wider, allowing him to go deeper as you both moan. The longer you go, the rougher Jeongguk’s thrusts become until you feel like you’re bouncing across the bed with every push of his hips. All of your thoughts are gone, the only thing you can focus on is the blissful feeling of Jeongguk, pleasuring you from the inside out. Suddenly a swirling heat starts building in the pit of your stomach, your senses heightened as you feel like your whole body is tightening.

You need to tell him something’s happening, but you don’t know how. “J-Jeongguk, I-”

“God it feels so good. I feel- hah~ I’m so- Oh god, w-what is- Oh~ Oh~!” Jeongguk thrusts into you one last time with all his might, spiraling you into the most amazing feeling you’ve ever felt in your life, crying out his name as bliss floods your brain and something warm and wet floods your core.

You’re both still as you ride out the feeling and then Jeongguk collapses on top of you, his body spent. He peppers your face with kiss after kiss, mumbling how much he loves before finally sitting up and carefully pulling out of you, both of you wincing. You feel a rush of fluids spilling out of you and you sit up to look, thinking you must be bleeding or something, but instead of red, you see Jeongguk’s white sticky release coating your folds.

“S-sorry.” Jeongguk mutters as he stands up. “Don’t move, let me get you something.” He limps his way to the bathroom and you hear the sink running before he comes back, one hand covering himself, a washcloth in the other. He sits back on the bed and gently swipes up your folds, collecting the mixture of your releases and then tossing the washcloth in your hamper, cheering when he sees it went in before grabbing his underwear and sliding them back on and handing you yours. As you pull your underwear up your legs, Jeongguk climbs over you and lays on his side of the bed, grabbing your waist and pulling you flush against him, his arms wrapped tightly around you as you both sit in silence, suddenly tired. You start to drift off, and just as you’re about to fall asleep, Jeongguk whispers in your ear.

“I can’t wait to marry you noona. I love you so much.”

“I love you too Jeongguk.”

It’s a few days later, and few more sexual encounters later; you’re both sitting at home when Bitsy and Clara come home from work and Bitsy declares she wants to go out and have a good time before her and Clara head back to the states next week.

Clara rolls her eyes. ��Bits, when don’t you want to go out?”

“Just because you’re a big ‘ol buzzkill.” Bitsy retorts, sticking her tongue out. “Y/N will come with me, wontcha Y/N?”

“Me?” You ask, surprised, usually she drags Kono out with her.

“Yeah, you haven’t been out in ages, don’t ya wanna have fun?” She taunts, shaking your arm. “Kook can come too! It’ll be great.”

You look up at Jeongguk as he comes back into the room with some water. He must have heard the conversation because he’s looking at you like a puppy you promised to take for a walk. “Where would we go?”

“Anywhere ya want! Kook, where do you wanna go?” She turns to him.

“Can we go dancing?” He asks hopefully.

“Of course! I’mma get changed, let’s leave in ten minutes, okay?” She squeals excitedly before flouncing up the stairs.

“I guess I should get changed too.” You state, putting your book down and standing up. “Kono, are you coming with us?”

“Yeah, why not.” Kono shrugs. “I think we all deserve a night out.”

“Fine!” Clara bursts. “Let’s go.”

They both stand up and you all head upstairs to get ready. You pick out your favorite red and white swing dress with a white petticoat and some red shoes, finishing your look with a red lip before heading out of the bathroom to see Jeongguk in a pair of khaki swing trousers, a red polo with suspenders, his favorite black and white oxfords and a black fedora.

He smiles when he sees you. “Noona, you look so pretty.”

“So do you.” You giggle, walking over to him. “But I think we can leave this at home.” You reach up and take off his hat, leaving it on the bed.

“Too much?”

“Just a bit.”

You reach up and cup his cheek. “Are you sure you’re okay to go out?”

“Noona I’m fine.” He rolls his eyes. “You promised when I got better we could go out.”

“I know, but-“

Just then you hear Bitsy calling your names from downstairs, telling you to hurry up in a less than polite way, so you grab Jeongguk’s hand and tug him out of your room and down the stairs to where the others are waiting.

“Let’s go!” Bitsy cheers when you’re all gathered. She grabs her car keys and you all follow her out the door and pile into her car; Clara in the front, and you in the back squished between Kono and Jeongguk.

It takes about ten minutes to get to Bitsy’s favorite place in the world; a bar called the Suds, and when you pull up, you can already hear the loud music and laughter coming from inside. Bitsy parks and you all get out, Jeongguk helps you out of the car and then grips your hand tightly as you walk up to the entrance, seemingly nervous. You squeeze his hand in return to let him know it’ll be okay and he seems to relax as you walk inside.

Bitsy vanishes as soon as you get inside, making a beeline for the dance floor, Clara and Kono find an empty table and take a seat while you and Jeongguk go to the bar and get everyone a drink, heading to the table when you’re done. You take a seat and take a sip of your beer, scanning the room. Jeongguk seems unable to sit still next to you, bouncing with excitement as he watches the dancers.

“Jeongguk, go.” You whisper, nodding at the dance floor.

He immediately stands but then turns back to you and holds out his hand. “Dance with me?” He asks in a perfect english accent.

You accept his outstretched hand with a smile. “Of course.”

Jeongguk immediately tugs you out onto the dancefloor, making Bitsy cheer when she sees the two of you. “It’s about time!” She yells before the man she’s dancing with spins her around. “Show me what you can do Kook!”

Jeongguk doesn’t hesitate at all, grabbing your hand and your waist and pulling you close. The two of you rock step as Jeongguk intermittently swings you out, moving your feet to the beat of the quickstep song the band plays. He spins you around, leading you all over the dancefloor, impressing you with just how good he is, moving you to the rhythm. It isn’t until most people have moved out of the way that he moves onto the big stuff.

When he decides he has enough room, Jeongguk swings you down, lifting his leg up over you and the pulling you up from between his legs before spinning you so your back is against his and then flipping you up onto his back and over, making the crowd around you cheer. He slows down and lets you catch your breath before you jump up on his hip and then he pushes you off, sending you flying in a spin until he catches your hand and stops you, pulling you back to him.

You go back to a rock step until Jeongguk puts his arm around your waist and lifts you, sending you into a jump over and around his back before picking you up and flipping you over his arm where you thankfully land back on your feet. He spins you once more before grabbing you under your arms and spinning you around, your feet flying out as he steps over them until you land again and fly back into Bitsy who catches you and sends you back into Jeongguk. You jump into his arms, your legs spread and he rocks you back up into the air, you feel like your feet touch the ceiling before you come back down. You come to one side of his waist and Jeongguk quickly swings you to the other, grabbing your legs tight before flinging the top half of you around him, catching you and spinning you before he lets your feet find the floor again. He grabs your arm and spins you one last time before the song ends and he stills you; everyone cheering and clapping as you come to a halt.

Bitsy runs up you, bouncing as she claps. “That was amazing! Y/N, I didn’t know you could dance like that!”

“I didn’t do anything, it was all him.” You state as the three of you walk back over to the table.

“I’m glad we saved your leg, Kook.” Kono smiles as you take a seat next to her and take a swig of your beer. “That was incredible.”

“Thank you.” Jeongguk mumbles, his face flushing from the praise. “I like dancing.”

“He’s won competitions back home.” You brag for him.

“That doesn’t surprise me.” Kono nods. “You could win some serious money doing that.”

“They have competitions here every friday.” Bitsy states. “You should enter one.”

Jeongguk looks at you confused and you translate for him, watching as he breaks into a wide smile and nods. “I’d like to.” He agrees.

“Then you should start practicin’!” Bitsy cheers, pulling Jeongguk to his feet. Jeongguk nods happily before turning back to you and grabbing your hand, tugging you back out onto the dancefloor.

The two of you dance to several more songs, having a great time with each other, but after the next slow song, you have to sit down and you allow Bitsy to take your place. You make your way back to your table and have a seat, watching Jeongguk twirl Bitsy around the floor to the music, until you notice Jeongguk start to limp again. The next time you catch Bitsy’s eye, you point at Jeongguk and then at your leg, and she quickly gets the message, dragging Jeongguk over to the table for you before grabbing Kono and Clara and hauling them onto the dancefloor with her.

“How’s your leg?” You ask Jeongguk as he sits down.

“Honestly I didn’t even feel it until you said something, but it is starting to hurt a bit.”

“Maybe you’ve had enough practice for tonight?”

“Yeah, I have.” He agrees, offering you a smile.

“So, you never told me you could dance like that.” You tease.

He shrugs. “Did you have fun?”

“Fun? You flipped me around so much I didn’t know which way was up! It was great!”

“I can teach you some steps if you want.” Jeongguk offers, his smile growing wider.

“That would be-”

“Well!” You’re interrupted by a loud male voice. “What do we have here? The local Jap couple.” You look up to see Paul, the asshole who beat up Jeongguk the other day.

“What do you want Paul.” You hiss.

“Well I heard you two were getting hitched. Is that true?”

“What’s it to you?” Jeongguk suddenly asks, standing up in front of you protectively.

“Woah there tough guy.” Paul throws up his hands defensively. “I see someone finally learned to speak english.”

“What do you want?” Jeongguk spits.

“I just want to make sure you didn’t put a baby in this here girl of yours,” Paul points to you and suddenly two men lift you to your feet and hold your arms behind your back. You struggle in their grasp, but their grip it too tight. “Cause if you did, I’mma have to knock it back out.” He rolls up his sleeves. “Can’t have you two breedin any babies to fight for the wrong side.”

“Don’t touch her.” Jeongguk growls, grabbing Paul’s arm and pulling it away from you.

“I can do whatever I want.” Paul states, grabbing the front of Jeongguk’s shirt. “I ain’t gotta listen to you, Jap.” And then Paul pulls his fist back, but Jeongguk’s quicker this time, punching Paul right in the side of his jaw, making the man stumble back a few steps from the unexpected hit. “You son of a bitch!” Paul yells, causing the music to stop as he lunges at Jeongguk.

“Jeongguk!” You cry, only able to watch as the man you love is knocked to the floor. Paul kneels down and continues hitting Jeongguk, punch after punch. Tears stream down your cheeks as you watch Jeongguk’s blood drip from his face. It’s then that you feel it; the haze. It surrounds you. No, you can’t leave now, Jeongguk needs you. “Jeongguk! Jeongguk, I’m sorry!” You whimper, slipping from the men’s grasps as you slowly disappear. You see the girls appear a the front of the circle of people surrounding the fight and suddenly see Clara and Bitsy jump into the fray, trying to pull Paul off Jeongguk. The last thing you see is Jeongguk reaching for you, blood dripping down onto his red shirt.

“Jeongguk!” You cry, bolting upright, gripping the blanket in your lap tightly. You begin sobbing uncontrollably as you realize; it doesn’t matter anymore, wherever you are now, whenever you are, Jeongguk is not here with you.

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angelofthequeers · 4 years

Text

Hold Me By Both Hands: Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

Chapter 4 | Chapter 6 | AO3 link

“Nino, Sabrina, and Kim,” Ms Bustier calls.

“What?” Chloé snaps. “Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! Everyone knows that Sabrina and I always work together!”

“Well, I thought that it could be fun to assign you group members for this exercise that you might not ordinarily work with,” Ms Bustier says. “Our next group will be Adrien –”

Marinette crosses her fingers.

“– Lila, and Marinette.”

Yes! Finally, Marinette’s put in a group with Adrien! Even the fact that their third member is Lila, who’s shown a definite interest in Adrien, isn’t enough to taint her sheer elation.

“And that leaves Juleka, Max, and Chloé,” Ms Bustier says. “Now, I’ll assign you all your English exercises, and the first group to successfully complete all of them will get a little sweet treat!”

Everyone immediately starts shuffling around to form their groups. Since they’re only sitting a desk apart, Marinette and Adrien wait for Lila to come down to them from the back.

“I’m so happy that I’m working with you two!” Lila says, sliding into Nino’s vacated seat. Drat, why didn’t Marinette think to take that seat first? “And it’s so great to finally talk to you for real, Adrien! I haven’t gotten the chance to introduce myself since last week. I’m Lila!”

“Nice to officially meet you!” Adrien shakes Lila’s hand, then turns to Marinette. “The bench is wide enough for all three of us, Marinette. Why don’t you come sit down here? It’ll be easier to work together that way.”

“What a great idea!” Lila rests her hand on Adrien’s arm. “You’re so considerate, Adrien!”

Adrien’s inviting Marinette to sit with him? And Lila, sure, but with him? Marinette practically floats down to his table, where he shuffles over so that she can slip onto the end of the bench and he’s sandwiched between her and Lila. Oh. Gosh. She’s touching his arm. His warm skin! This is a dream come true!

“Exercise first what?” she babbles. “I mean – what’s our first exercise?”

Adrien pulls his worksheet towards him. “We have to translate these sentences into English.”

“Oh, this’ll be easy!” Lila says. “I studied English at Harvard when we were in America! Of course, they don’t accept children, but one of the professors just took such a liking to me that he simply had to teach me!”

Marinette’s eye twitches. Again with the lies! What’s this girl’s problem? At least Adrien looks just as disbelieving, if only politer about it.

“How about you do this first set of exercises, then?” Adrien says. “Marinette and I can work on translating these English sentences into French in the meantime.”

“Oh!” Lila’s eyes widen. “I’m so sorry, I really would, but I sprained my wrist the other day! You know, when Alya took me to watch the fight against Green Giant! I can’t write in case I make it worse…I’m ever so grateful that I was partnered with you, Adrien!”

“But your wrist was fine just before! And Miraculous Ladybug fixes everything!” Marinette says. No way is Lila getting her claws into Adrien! That niceness last week really had been an act!

“I…didn’t want to ask for help,” Lila sighs, drooping. “I was afraid to inconvenience anyone. But since we have to do these worksheets together, I thought…no, it’s okay. I understand if I’m being too troublesome.”

“That’s not what I said at all!” Marinette resists the urge to slam her forehead into the table.

“Um –” Adrien tries to say.

“In fact, it might be better if I just work by myself,” Lila continues. “You and Adrien seem like such good friends…I’d hate to come between you –”

“I didn’t say that!” Marinette says. “You don’t have to work by yourself!”

“I’m sure Marinette’s just concerned for you and wants to make sure she’s got the information right,” Adrien says with a pacifying smile.

“Oh!” Lila beams. “That’s so considerate of you, Marinette! Would you mind filling out my worksheet for me? Only if you’re okay with it, of course!”

What can Marinette do? If she says yes, Lila wins. But if she says no, she looks like a raging bitch in front of Adrien! Eventually deciding that it’s better in the long run to give Lila this little victory, Marinette pastes on her sweetest smile and pulls Lila’s worksheet towards her.

“I think this sentence says, “I would like to buy a pair of blue pants”,” Adrien says, frowning down at his sheet. “But my professional lessons are in Mandarin, not English, so I’m pretty useless here.”

“You’re not useless!” Marinette says immediately. “You’re pretty – uh, good at anything you put your mind to!”

“Marinette’s right,” Lila says, shifting so that she’s snuggling into Adrien’s side. He automatically leans away and straight into Marinette, whose heart spontaneously combusts in her chest. “Someone as smart as you couldn’t possibly be useless!”

“Um…thanks,” Adrien says. “Marinette, what do you think the next sentence is?”

“Your eyes are forest green,” Marinette sighs. Her insides chill when she realises what she’d just said. “I – ah, I mean – your dress is green!”

“Hey, that’s right!” Adrien writes out the sentence in his gorgeous handwriting. “Good job, Marinette!”

“Yank thou – um, thank you!”

“Marinette is right, though,” Lila says, resting her chin on her ‘un-sprained’ hand. “Your eyes really are such a gorgeous shade of green.”

“Thanks.” Adrien once again shifts away from Lila. “I think this third sentence is –”

“And your hair is so golden!” Lila continues. “Oro come il sole!”

The nerve of this bitch! Can’t she see that Adrien’s clearly uncomfortable with her touching him? And Marinette was here first, so how dare Lila just barge in and –

Marinette freezes. What is she thinking? Why on earth is she treating Adrien like some possession that she’s entitled to? Is she really that…fixated on him? The realisation is like icy water straight to her insides. She’s fighting over a boy! And sure, Lila’s totally a liar, but it’s not like that’s the only reason why Marinette dislikes her…

“Marinette?” Adrien says. Marinette blinks and looks up from her worksheet, where she’s been absently doodling her signature flowers on the side of the paper. “Are you alright?”

“I hope I didn’t upset you in some way!” Lila seems to feel the need to add.

“You honestly didn’t,” Marinette says with a weak smile. “I just…got lost in thought, I guess. English has never been my best subject.”

“Well, it’s lucky that you’ve got me working with you, isn’t it?” Lila says brightly.

“What’s this next sentence, then?” Adrien says with a friendly enough smile. “Marinette and I have each translated one, so it’s your turn.”

“Oh…gosh, I wish I could help, but I think my dyslexia is flaring up!” Lila says. “I’m so sorry, you must think I’m such an awful burden –”

“Not at all!” Marinette says, resisting the urge to slam her head against a brick wall. Or at least the desk. “You’ve been in class for a week and you haven’t told anyone? How have you been coping? Surely you must need help? As the class representative, it��s my duty to take care of these kinds of things!”

“Oh – I wouldn’t want to impose…” Lila says. “But if there was someone who could help me…” She bats her eyelids at Adrien. “Someone really smart…”

“Of course!” Adrien says. Lila’s face lights up, while Marinette tries – and fails – to squash the mild nausea in her gut because no, she’s not a bad person and she won’t sink to the level of some possessive, entitled weirdo! “Max is super smart, so I’m sure he’d help you if you asked!”

Lila’s face falls quicker than a superhero on the Eiffel Tower. “Oh – yes, I suppose, but I don’t know him very well and I wouldn’t want to –”

“Oh, Max is so approachable!” Adrien says. “He wouldn’t mind at all! I’d offer to help you but between my fencing and my Mandarin lessons and everything else, I don’t think I’d have the time. You deserve better than an unreliable tutor.”

Ha. Okay, so Marinette’s trying her best to not be jealous, but it really is satisfying to see the way Lila’s face twists as she tries to suppress her displeasure.

“I appreciate your concern, Adrien,” Lila says with a smile that, to her credit, is pretty well-faked. “I just might ask Max at lunch.”

“Great!” Adrien says, then smooths out his worksheet. “Quick, let’s get these done! I haven’t had sweets in –”

“Finished!” Max slams his worksheet down. How the heck his group finished first, especially with Chloé refusing to lift a finger, is beyond Marinette. All she knows is that the look of disappointment on Adrien’s face simply cannot be allowed to exist. Purely by instinct, she rummages in her purse for one of the cookies that she keeps for Tikki.

“Here!” she says, presenting it to Adrien as Ms Bustier awards Max, Juleka, and Chloé their little wrapped chocolates. “We may not have won, but you still get a sweet treat!”

Adrien’s smile is as bright as the sun when he accepts the cookie. “Thank you, Marinette! Freshly baked?”

“This morning!” Marinette says. Adrien immediately bites into the cookie and moans, and Marinette’s forced to look away to prevent him from seeing her undoubtedly scarlet face.

Man, she’s got some serious thinking to do when she gets home.

“You’ve been doing that for half an hour now,” Tikki says as Marinette just lies face-down on her bed, face making a permanent imprint in her pillow. “What’s got you so upset?”

Marinette doesn’t answer at first. It’s odd; she’d thought she’d be a hysterical mess, shrieking and pacing and tearing her hair out as she tries to sort out everything currently battering her brain. Instead, she’s deathly silent, just trying to suffocate herself in her pillow to escape her own mind.

“Nothing…” Marinette rolls onto her side so that she can speak actual words instead of pillow-muffled mumbles. “I’m just completely re-evaluating my life.”

“Is this about class today?” Tikki says. “Lila did seem very –”

“No, it’s not about Lila,” Marinette says. “It’s about me. Seeing how I was acting around Adrien because of Lila…it just made me realise how fixated I can be. I just…” She blinks rapidly to dispel the stinging in her eyes, though she’s unsuccessful. “I feel like so much of what I do is because of Adrien. I entered that game tournament because he did, even if I won fair and square and I genuinely enjoyed it – I always ‘happen’ to be around when he’s doing his photoshoots – Tikki, what normal girl does all this? I even stole his phone because of an embarrassing voicemail!”

“And you only deleted the voicemail,” Tikki says. “You didn’t snoop. It wasn’t right to take his phone in the first place, but a true stalker would have gone through everything to get all the information they could about him! You were scared of being embarrassed, not trying to creep on him.”

“I still took his phone,” Marinette says. “Do I even really like him? Or am I just so wrapped up in this crush I’ve got on him that I don’t even know?”

“Well, what do you know about him?” Tikki says, and oh boy, getting Marinette to talk about Adrien is most definitely a sure-fire way to get her to not shut up.

“I know how much it meant to him to think that the scarf I knitted was from his father,” she says. “I know when it’s Adrien the model smiling and when it’s Adrien Agreste smiling. I know that he likes video games and he feels so lonely because he misses his mother and his father treats him like – like – gah, I can’t even think of the word! I know how much he hates all the public attention he gets and how everyone throws themselves all over him. I’ve seen how uncomfortable he gets when girls cling to him!”

“Does that sound like a stalker?” Tikki says when Marinette pauses for breath. “Or does that sound like someone who cares deeply for their friend, who they happen to have a crush on?”

“But you don’t get it! I was so possessive over him today! Lila was touching him and sure, I was annoyed that he was uncomfortable, because I’m so sick of people grabbing him and treating him like he’s a toy or something, but I was also jealous! I literally thought that she had no right because I was here first! I called her a bitch in my head!”

“Mhm,” Tikki says. “And clearly you’re not a bad person, or you wouldn’t be agonising over this right now.”

Marinette just blinks at her.

“I’m thousands of years old,” Tikki says. “I’ve seen a lot of creepy and bad people, and you’re neither of them! You’re just a normal teenage girl who happens to get enthusiastic about her crush and hates it when people put their hands all over him. If you were really a stalker, you’d have taken credit for that scarf to gain his attention. You wouldn’t have let Manon be in that photoshoot with him. You would have gone through his phone when you had it. You wouldn’t have tried to step down and let Max play in the tournament. You’d constantly be touching him and invading his personal space like Chloé and Lila do. You wouldn’t have gotten the whole class involved in a protest so that he could come back to school! You’ve made mistakes, yes, but you’ve realised that you were wrong, and you tried to better yourself! That’s what makes you a good person, Marinette.”

Marinette can’t help but smile at her tiny friend. “Thanks, Tikki. How do you do that?”

“I’m an ancient, wise being,” Tikki says playfully.

“You got the ancient part right,” Marinette teases. Tikki pokes her tiny tongue out.

“So, what do you plan on doing about your crush?” Tikki says.

“Well, I can’t just forget about my feelings,” Marinette says. “I wish it was that easy.”

“Who says you have to forget about them?” Tikki says. “Chat Noir has feelings for Ladybug –”

“So he claims.”

“– and he never stumbles over his words with you.”

“He’s Chat Noir,” Marinette says. “He’s not awkward, clumsy, hot-mess Marinette.”

“Stop that right now!” Tikki’s azure eyes blaze as she rests her tiny hands on her tiny hips. “Stop putting yourself down, Marinette! Ladybug is smart, confident, talented, brave, and always driven to do the right thing. And you are Ladybug, therefore you’re all of those things too!”

“Only behind the mask.”

“You were chosen to be Ladybug because you’re all of those things,” Tikki says. “Your mask makes it easier for you to openly display those qualities, but you have them even as Marinette. You certainly weren’t behind Ladybug’s mask when you proved yourself to Master Fu.”

“All I did was help him across the road.” Why is Marinette fighting against Tikki’s words so much? Maybe it’s because every time she tries to be confident about herself, she’s smacked back down, whether by Chloé or something else. “Are you saying that he would’ve given you to any old person who helped someone across the road?”

“You didn’t just help him across the road,” Tikki says. “You put your life in danger when no one else would. You saw how everyone froze and stood there! And you sacrificed the macarons your father made when it would have been easy to worry about your own problems and how you were negatively impacted. Master Fu told me all about it when he was informing me of who my holder would be. He saw that you had the potential to be Ladybug, and you proved it when you saved Alya and defeated Stoneheart! Yes, he might have given the earrings to anyone who helped him, but you’re that someone who helped him when it would’ve been easier to look the other way. You’re that one who jumped into action rather than panic, which is essential in a superhero. And you’re the one who’s made Ladybug into who she is. Every Ladybug I’ve ever had is different because it’s the holder who makes the hero, not the other way around.”

Something warm blossoms in Marinette’s chest, and she smiles and draws Tikki in for a hug. “Thank you, Tikki. You do always know what to say.”

“I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t the truth,” Tikki says. “You’re smart, confident, talented, brave, and you always do the right thing because that’s who Marinette Dupain-Cheng is!”

“You’re right!” Marinette says. “I’m Marinette! I can do anything if I put my mind to it!”

“Including talking to Adrien normally!” Tikki says. Marinette promptly wilts.

“Y-Yeah…”

“Remember everything you just told me about Adrien. You don’t act anything like his other fans, and you don’t hang off him like Chloé and Lila do,” Tikki says. “You know things about the true Adrien that only his family and friends really know. I personally don’t think you put him on a pedestal. You’re a teen girl with a crush and when your crush is famous, there’s bound to be at least some influence from his public image. Especially when you’re around other teen girls who are fans.”

Marinette’s eyes sting with tears she tries to hold back, because Tikki is the one of the best things that’s ever happened to her and she doesn’t know what she’d do without her wise little friend. “Thanks, Tikki. But…how do I do this? I can’t just flip a switch! What if I never stop acting like a goof and he never notices me and he falls in love with someone else and –”

“Marinette!” Tikki says loudly, stopping Marinette in her tracks. “Adrien’s your friend. And you don’t have much of a chance with him if you can’t even talk to him, do you? Even if you did become his girlfriend, how could you date someone you can barely talk to?”

“You’re right,” Marinette mumbles. “I should just accept the fact that I’ve got no chance with him.”

“Is it really that important to be his girlfriend?” Tikki says. “Is romance really that much more important than friendship? You and Chat Noir trust each other with your lives and you’re not a couple. And of all the Ladybugs I’ve served, many of them never even kissed their Black Cat, but they still had a friendship as close as the relationship between the ones who did marry each other. Friendship is just as beautiful as romance.”

“I never even thought of it that way,” Marinette says, blinking at her kwami friend. Tikki’s totally right! Alya is easily one of the closest people in her life and there’s nothing romantic between them. Marinette would do anything for Alya. Would that relationship really lose its importance if she ever got together with someone? Would that someone really become more important than Alya purely because of the romance?

“Of course you didn’t, silly,” Tikki says with a small grin. “Humans are so obsessed with romance that I’m not surprised you’d see it as the most important thing ever.”

“Maybe being friends with Adrien isn’t such a bad thing,” Marinette says firmly, although whether she’s trying to convince herself or Tikki, she’s got no idea. “I’ve got more of a chance of having a close relationship with him if I’m his friend rather than stammering and sneaking around to watch him and “conveniently” run into him. And if we do ever get together, at least I can say that it’s built on friendship.”

“Exactly,” Tikki agrees. “You don’t have to stress over trying to get rid of your crush. Just focus on interacting normally with him instead of trying to ask him out, because you always seem to be able to string together more than two words when you’ve forgotten about asking him out. So, how are you going to do this? You enjoyed playing video games with Adrien, didn’t you? Maybe invite him over again!”

“Maybe,” Marinette says, although she’s not sure she’s ready for Adrien to see her true competitive side yet. She hadn’t gone too hard on him last time, since they’d had to work together as a team for the tournament, but there’s a reason her papa teasingly calls her a little princess when she plays multiplayer games and it’s not because of beauty or daintiness.

Her eyes land on the pictures of Adrien plastered across her wall near her computer, and she sighs and heaves herself out of bed. Tikki beams and whizzes over to her as she’s removing the pictures of model Adrien from her wall carefully so that they’re not damaged. Although she probably won’t be putting them back up, it doesn’t hurt to keep them in case she needs them as a reference when she’s designing. And really, Adrien makes the best designing reference.

Okay. Enough, Marinette!

“I’m proud of you, Marinette,” Tikki says as Marinette stashes the pictures away. “It’s super admirable that you can recognise what you need to improve on and how to work on it! That’s exactly what makes you such a great Ladybug.”

“Thanks, Tikki,” Marinette says with a wistful smile at her stack of Adrien modelling pictures. The only photos of Adrien left on her wall are those where he’s either with friends or smiling for a dorky photo: selfies from their phones, silly pictures shared between them and Alya and Nino, even the fun ones that the whole class (minus Chloé and Sabrina) had done together after Juleka had been akumatised. There’s a sense of rightness settling inside her as she examines the photos on her wall that show the real Adrien, happy with his friends, rather than Adrien the model that the world gets to see. In that moment, she knows she’s made the correct choice.

#miraculous ladybug #ml fic #aotq fic #aotq: hold me #marinette dupain-cheng #adrien agreste #lila rossi #anti-lila #ugh #tikki #marinette has some things to think about #also screw that true selves crap

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theawkwardterrier · 5 years

Text

things left behind and the things that are ahead, ch. 19

AO3 link here

He wakes up alone that morning. The note that Peggy’s stuck to the bathroom mirror reminds him that she’ll bring Emma and Drea with her after work. (They’d already discussed this together last night, dreamy and worn out as they curled beside each other, but she might have thought him too close to sleep to have remembered.) Perhaps Eric too, she’s written, a hastily added postscript even though it’s above the signature. Emma had mentioned that they were back together, and no matter how much Peggy had been encouraged by their breakup after high school graduation, Steve has the feeling that it will stick this time. It’s fine with him; Eric is a nice person, and Steve doesn’t doubt that Emma will live her life and find success whether they’re together or not. Staying with her high school sweetheart won’t limit that.

He doesn’t technically have work himself - he'd been called in on Saturday, and was taken off the schedule for today in exchange despite his protestations - but if he slides into the office around 10, Bella will be shut up doing budgeting and he can tuck himself away without being noticed. He needs the distraction.

Nate’s already down in the kitchen when he gets there, although he’d finished with school yesterday and doesn’t really need to be up either. He’s hunched over a book at the table but glances up when Steve enters.

“Food on the stove,” he says, removing the fork he has stuck absently in his mouth. The plate already on the table in front of him has the remnants of his own portion of scrambled eggs, along with traces of the strawberry jam he likes to mix in with them. It’s a good thing Emma isn’t here yet: she thinks it’s a sin.

Steve brushes a kiss to his head on the way past. “Thanks,” he says, going to fill a plate. They’re all used to Steve’s metabolism: Nate left probably eight eggs worth in the pan despite his own teenaged appetite. He sits down across from his son, whose nose is back in his book, another one of the science fiction novels he loves. Nate isn’t a fast reader - he spends a lot of time thinking about what he’s reading, taking in the words, their implications, what it all means - but he is steady and voracious. His bookshelves upstairs are lined with carefully cracked paperback spines, slotted in one at a time as he finishes them.

“What are you up to today?” Steve asks.

Nate finishes his page and looks up, blinking, though more from leaving another world than from the bright sunlight filling the kitchen. “There was a problem at the printer and they didn’t get the yearbooks done in time to sign them in school, so we’re all going to Nancy Taylor’s house to do it there instead. Then we have graduation ceremony rehearsal at the school anyway, so we’ll probably go over there all together.”

“Sounds good.” Steve focuses on forking up more eggs. Of all of his children, Nate would probably best accept his tearing up over the thought of these kids spending one last assured day together before they all go their separate ways, but it’s a little early for him to start falling apart.

The work distraction is actually fairly successful. With Mary Alice’s retirement, his caseload has increased, and he manages to lose himself in files and phone calls for most of the day. He doesn’t even notice that he’s worked through lunch until Bella, finished wrangling the budget for now and in a mood from the effort, tells him loudly that even if he is going to ignore both her instructions and official regulations, he isn’t going to starve while he does it. He gives a token protest, but ends up biting ravenously through a couple of sandwiches as he stops at red lights on the way across town for a home visit he’d been able to hastily set up.

It’s actually easy to check his personal life at the door when he’s talking to families, to the kids he works with. His feelings can matter later; it’s the job that he needs to focus on now.

He’s surprised when he returns to the car and finds that it’s 4 PM. By the time he has gone back home, changed clothes, and driven over to the school, it’s about forty-five minutes to the start of the ceremony. Sliding his hands into his pockets, he sets off across the grass of the sports field where they have set up a small stage and seating all around. Back when Rose and Drea had graduated, the school had chosen to use the auditorium, but Steve guesses that the weather today was too fine to resist. The temperature has dropped from its peak of several hours ago, and a breeze brushes through his hair.

He stakes out seats, making sure to get an extra for Eric just in case. He sees some people he recognizes: parents and siblings who he’s run into around town or at past school functions for Nate and the girls, Nate’s old English teacher Mrs. Krentz, who comes over to gush praise again even though she retired last year. He tries to store away the details of it all to tell Bucky about in their next phone call; Libby will be graduating in just a couple of years. (Buck will probably have another one of his good-natured breakdowns when it happens, starting off with mentioning how young most of the other graduates’ parents are.) Mostly, though, he sits and waits.

Drea finds him first. There’s a looseness to her spine, a grin on her face, as she walks across the grass, says, “Hi, Dad!” and wraps her arms around him. Though she likes school and he can see the little smile that lives at the corners of her mouth even when she is simply telling people where she’s at college, there’s a feeling each time they drive up to Cambridge that she is constructing defenses, restructuring herself in some way. All of that is gone today. She’s wearing a belted denim dress - she never went in for Emma’s long florals, or the sorts of busy patterns and fire-bright colors that Rose prefers - and she’s gotten her hair cut since he last saw her. It’s just a couple of inches, but he smoothes a hand over it as they embrace.

“It’s good to see you,” he says quietly. “I know Nate’s looking forward to it.” The day Nate had called with the date of the graduation, Drea had circled it on her calendar while he was still on the phone (“In red, Nate, I promise”) and when they’d hung up, Steve watched him smiling with unconscious excitement. It’s not that he mopes around, whining over being left behind as his sisters have gone off one by one, and it’s not that he loves Emma and Rose less, but it’s still unfamiliar to him, being apart from Drea.

“I guess I could stand to see him,” Drea says, shrugging, but she is smiling too.

Peggy comes up behind Drea as she is pulling away. Emma and Eric are with her, Em’s hand tucked into Eric’s back pocket. Peggy catches Steve’s eye as he takes that in, raising an eyebrow and pulling her mouth just barely to the side. Steve covers a grin by dipping to kiss her cheek.

“Lovely group of seats,” she says innocuously as Steve turns to greet the other two.

They all settle in beside each other. Peggy always likes the aisle seat - quick egress - and Drea slides in after her, Emma and Eric next, and Steve bracketing the other end. Emma talks about her summer courses. Drea tells stories about Tony’s antics, the mischief he’d gotten into as he tried to prevent her from leaving even for just a few days; she’s obviously charmed by that in a way that Steve isn’t sure he would be.

The seats fill up around them, chattering relatives and friends, staff members. It is almost time.

The crickets are starting to chirp, but Pomp and Circumstance drowns them out, the high schoolers in the band clearly putting their all into it. The graduates enter in twos, each member of the pairs representing one of the school colors. Nate walks with Jillian Lee. Nate went out with Jilly on a couple of occasions, but not much came of it as far as Steve knows. She is standing very straight and walking steadily, wearing a respectable green cap and gown. Nate is stuck in the version that’s meant to be the corresponding gold but looks instead like unfortunate mustard. The robe doesn’t even fit him right, slightly too short above the ankle and draping loosely over his bony shoulders, but he manages to pull it off just through his own lack of perturbation over those facts.

As the last of the graduates file into their seats and the band silences their instruments, Drea intones quietly, “Guests, faculty, scholars,” anticipating Principal Connor’s traditional, pompous opening. After a bit of microphone feedback, he echoes her precisely, and Steve, smiling and shaking his head, angles himself to begin translating the words for Emma and Eric. Em places a hand on his after only three sentences.

“This speech - I think I can quote all of it now.”

Steve looks up at the stage. Principal Connor raises a finger in the air to emphasize a phrase. “That’s new,” Steve points out. Em rolls her eyes.

“Only one more time,” she says, hands weighty and mouth parted to emphasize the exhaustion of it all.

“Only one more time,” Steve repeats, the words coming slow and numbed on his fingers. He feels a little stricken and barely manages a smile for her.

The valedictorian and salutatorian speak one after the other. It’s obvious that they, at least, have written new speeches of their own: the words of triumph and hope, of lessons learned and more to come, might be cliche, but they are still somehow new. Even if he’s heard nearly the same sentiments at the girls’ graduations, for these kids, they are only just discovered.

When it is Nate’s turn to walk across the stage, he does it with a firm step and his family cheering loudly from the crowd. Steve, applauding hard, can’t even tell if he can pick them out in the audience, but he watches Nate raise his diploma in the air with a smile on his face and is certain that it’s meant for them. It is that same smile Steve knows so well, that peaceful, open-armed upturn of the mouth that Nate has displayed since childhood. Sometimes Steve thinks that Nate was born smiling like that, that this was the way he greeted the world on his first moment in it. He’ll never know if he’s right - that first smile belonged to someone else - but he has a lifetime of Nate’s smiles saved up and that’s something that not many people have.

As Melvin Casper is called next and they all sit back down, he and Peggy catch eyes, even down the row from one another. Despite the smile he gives her, she tilts her head, closes her eyes in an understanding blink which she holds for a beat longer than usual. I know, it seems to say, but also, How lucky have we been?

There’s a bit of a debate regarding the pictures. Nate fights his way through the crowd to find them with Emma and Peggy in the middle of a standoff over whether Eric should be included in the family photos and Steve and Drea are trying to make polite, distracting smalltalk with the man in question.

“Eric can take four, five,” Nate compromises calmly, “and then we’ll find someone to take some with him.” He searches around for a moment, then raises his voice. “Ricky! Hey, Rick, come over here for a minute.”

Ricky Blake, cap in hand, has been standing nearby, taking his own turn to greet Mrs. Krentz. He glances over at the Carters, at Nate and his beckoning hand, and excuses himself.

“What’s up?” he asks as he walks over, and Steve notices that he’s lost the awkward sort of meticulousness to the way he does the sign. He does it confidently now, casually, even if he doesn’t quite have the accompanying mouth movement down.

Eric actually has a good, artistic eye and arranges them all so that Nate is the center of the photos without throwing his shadow onto the rest of them.

When they’re finished, Steve goes to reclaim the camera.

“How are you, Ricky?” He puts out a hand to shake. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks, Mr. C.” A grin spreads across Ricky’s face as he grasps Steve’s hand enthusiastically. Even when Steve first met him, he was slightly bigger than average for a kid his age. Now Steve looks firmly up at him; he’s probably six and a half feet tall, and solid across. His graduation gown, unzipped in front by this point, has clearly been altered to fit him. He looks around. "Rose couldn't come?" He's always had a bit of a fascination with Rosie.

"No, she wasn't able to take the time off of work. She'll call tonight."

"Too bad."

“Did you decide on your plans for next year?” Steve asks. The last time they spoke, a few months ago, Ricky was still considering whether he wanted to end up at GW like Nate. He’d laid out the entire pro-con list while leaning against the counter watching Steve make carrot cake and waiting for Nate to finish getting ready for the concert they were going to.

“I’ll be staying in state,” Ricky replies, and though Steve is watching closely, his smile does not slip, the light in his eyes does not dim. “Maryland has a better education program anyway, for undergraduates at least.”

Steve can feel his eyebrows jump up. “Education?”

“Yeah.” Ricky glances back over his shoulder. “I was just telling Mrs. Krentz. I want to be an English teacher.”

“You’re going to be great at it,” Steve says with confidence. He doesn’t bother asking how Earl Blake took this news.

“Thanks, Mr. C.” Ricky looks down at the ground and then back up. He fiddles with the tassel on the cap he is still holding. He clears his throat. “I just—I wanted to tell you how much you helped me. You’re a good listener, and—um, it was important to me, to watch you with your kids or talking about your work. So, thank you. I just wanted you to know.”

For a moment, Steve can't say anything. Finally, he manages to speak. "I don't think I did much," he says with soft feeling, "but if I did, it was my pleasure."

There's always a bit of a wrench watching Ricky go back to rejoin his family. He's taller even than his father now, but there's still a little stiffening to Ricky's shoulders when they are near each other. Tim, still only just gaining some height of his own, shifts to stand beside his brother.

He thinks about how everyone still calls him Ricky, a child's name. He could have grown up into a Rich or a Richard by now, but he hasn’t. Perhaps he will never make the change. Or perhaps it just isn’t time yet: how easy it is to see Ricky and Nate and all the others on this day, at the top of a climb, and to think that it is all over. Maybe he should try to remember that it is only just beginning.

Peggy is leaning against his chest, his arm around her, before he even fully registers her there.

"We've done well, haven't we," she says, looking over at the children with pride, and he nods against her and kisses her hair.

"More to come?" he asks, a little waver in his voice, and she looks up at him, surprised.

"Of course," she says, taking his hand. "Always."

The custodial staff is beginning to come in to fold up the chairs. It is time to go.

"I want to finish telling Mom something," Drea says as they head over to the parking lot. "I'll ride with her."

Emma has her bag in Peggy's car, so she and Eric decide to join them as well. Steve squeezes Peggy's hand, still in his. She looks up at him fondly. Em's as stubborn as she is, and clearly trying out her version of exposure therapy. It's a good thing that Eric's a good sport.

"What about the man of the hour?" Peggy asks, looking over at their son. "Are you certain you don't want a nice dinner out?"

"I told you what I wanted," Nate says. Steve has the lasagna already prepared to go into the oven as soon as they get home. Every restaurant in town will be crowded tonight anyway, but that's not the reason Nate chose it. "And I'll ride over with Dad."

Peggy's parked farther in. She parts from Steve with one last squeeze of the hand and a "See you in a moment." Nate and Steve walk over to Steve's car together.

"How are you feeling?" Steve asks.

Nate takes in a deep breath of the night air. "Really good. Proud. Excited. Tired, a little, too." He looks over at his father. "How are you feeling?"

"Good. Proud of you." Steve repeats. "A little sad that this part of things is over."

"Sure," Nate says easily. "But there are other parts. And I want you there for all of those. We all do."

Steve looks over at him. “You ready for what comes next?” he asks.

Nate stretches his hands up toward the slowly darkening sky, fingers spread on one, diploma still held tightly in the other. “Course I am,” he says. The departing crowd is loud, all shouts and laughter and car engines, Nate’s voice quiet even in its surety, but Steve hears it anyway. He would hear it anywhere.

He looks at his youngest, taller than he is now by a half inch, maybe a bit more. It’s clear that Drea and Nate have height in their genes. His slim build, the lankiness of his limbs, just makes him look even taller, but he’s never seemed awkward with it. Nate always just puts one foot in front of the other, attentive about it but confident too, trusting that he’s placed himself on solid ground.

“Course you are,” he agrees. Under the beginnings of the slimming moon, he puts an arm around his son’s shoulders, pulls him close, and holds tight.

More chapters here

#Steggy #Steggy fic #Steve Rogers #Peggy Carter #things left behind fic

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nekojitachan · 6 years

Text

Okay, I just felt like writing something Halloween-inspired. This is the start of something new (I KNOW, FINISH SOME OTHER STUFF). I’m getting back to RP, I promise, but I wanted to post something since I haven’t lately, so here’s this.

Warnings for Mary (so yes, abusive relationship), and mentions of child abuse, mentions of the abusive pasts of our boys.

The Ghost in You

*******

Andrew gave what passed as a glare from him at Wymack as he stalked into the man’s office. “How the hell am I supposed to help Peter Minkin if I can’t understand him, hmm?” he asked in a deceptively mild tone of voice as he slapped his latest case file onto his boss’ desk and narrowly missed sending a pile of paperwork toppling over as a result.

Used to him by that point, Wymack didn’t even flinch or pause in drinking his coffee, merely gave Andrew the finger as if gesturing for ‘one minute’ while he finished his needed influx of caffeine before speaking. “Because that’s why I hired a damn translator last month? Which a shitty little maggot like you would know if you’d attended the supposedly mandatory staff meetings.” Wymack glowered as he folded his tattooed arms on top of his messy desk.

Andrew waved aside the usual gripe as he snatched up the abandoned file, partially mollified that he’d have a way to communicate with the kid. “That’s what Kevin’s ten page summary emails are for,” and ignored – he relied upon Renee to fill him in on any necessary details, but she was currently on sabbatical, off helping out some old Peace Corps friends with a project for a couple of months. Hmm, he had to wonder if the new translator had anything to do with the ‘hot piece of ass’ Nicky had been going on about lately, which was even more reason for Andrew to ignore his cousin. “I’m scheduled for a preliminary meeting with Peter in half an hour, the translator better be there,” Andrew said as he turned to leave the cluttered office.

“It’s already on Josten’s schedule,” Wymack called out. “You’d know that, too, if you read your damn emails!”

That was another familiar complaint which was waved aside as Andrew left, intent on having some more caffeine himself while he checked for any important updates to Peter’s files before the appointment; on the way to the kitchen and then to his own office (a lot less cluttered and disorganized than Wymack’s), he ran into Nicky and Robin, yet managed to fend them off by waving the thick folder in the air. Nicky grimaced, clearly in the mood to talk and unhappy to be denied, while Robin, finally cleared to work on cases of her own after shadowing Andrew for the past few months, smiled and wished him a good day.

It was such a hopeful thought, but highly unrealistic; the children brought to Palmetto Services (nicknamed the Foxhole because of all the stuffed foxes scattered around the place and the playful versions painted on the walls in an effort to soothe and cheer up the kids) were abused and/or traumatized, were the ones who’d been fucked over by the ‘official’ child services system in one way or another and so it had been decided that they needed more specialized attention (that they’d be someone else’s problem).

It meant that Andrew was working with kids who often suffered through the same thing he’d gone through as a child, the same pain and abuse and neglect… and he got to end the horror for them. He got to make it better, but it took a lot of work, a lot of patience and digging and effort, and he knew firsthand the nightmares would still continue even though the monsters had been vanquished at last (at least those monsters).

At least, he did everything he could to help the children assigned to him, so the new translator – Neil Josten – better not fuck things up with Peter Minkin. From what the files said about the boy, he’d been taken into custody from a violent father up on various charges with no sign of the mother, and could barely speak any English. The boy was malnourished and bore repeated signs of abuse (Aaron had done a thorough physical on Peter, and Andrew could tell from the sloppiness of the handwritten notes attached to the copies of x-rays and bloodwork that his brother was furious about the results).

He skimmed the newly added details from his brother and what Seth had been able to unearth about the boy’s father, everything committed to memory, then went to the one prepared play room where Peter would be brought for their first session. It only took a minute for Andrew to reach it since it was right down the hall, and he was surprised to find someone there already.

The person was a young man around his age, perhaps a little younger, and had a couple of inches on Andrew’s five feet. The dark grey sweater he wore hung on his lean frame, the sleeves falling past his hands, and dark brown hair fell onto a handsome face bearing a faded scar down the right side, obscuring what seemed to be brown eyes. “Andrew Minyard?” the young man asked, his voice a quiet tenor and accent bland, lacking in any regional indicators.

“Neil Josten,” Andrew said by way of an answer, and noticed that Josten didn’t offer a handshake nor seem offended when Andrew didn’t do the same. “How’s your Russian?”

“Good,” Josten said then fell silent as he took a step back to lean against one of the bookshelves containing a multitude of stuffed animals.

Not a talker, which seemed odd for a translator, but that was fine with Andrew, who wasn’t much of a talker himself. He checked his phone to see that Abby was bringing Peter, along with a surreptitious glance at his associate; despite the shaggy haircut and baggy clothes, Nicky wasn’t too far off about Josten.

It was just a casual observation while he waited for the kid.

“And here we are,” Abby said as she arrived with Peter Minkin, a bright smile on her face and ash-blonde hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. Even though she was the head nurse practitioner for Palmetto Services and helped run the medical offices where Aaron and Katelyn interned, she often escorted the new or more skittish children around (her or Renee) since she projected ‘safe’ so well with her friendly smile, the colorful scrubs she wore and her genuine kindness.

As for Peter, he appeared small for his seven years (probably the malnutrition), his dark brown eyes huge in his face and his light brown hair cropped close to his skull. He was dressed in a Winnie the Pooh t-shirt and jeans that were a little too long for him, and was obviously reluctant to come near two strange men.

Before Andrew could do anything, Josten moved away from the bookshelf with a stuffed Pooh in his hands and knelt a safe distance from the boy while he spoke softly in Russian. After a couple of seconds, Peter’s face broke into a smile and he gave a shy smile as he reached for the bear; Andrew noticed that Josten was mindful to hand it over slowly and without touching the child.

Josten spoke for about another minute, and then Peter joined in as well. That went on for another minute or two while Andrew’s annoyance grew, until he heard his name be brought up. Peter’s eyes flickered toward Andrew and whatever it was that Josten said seemed to put the boy at ease, to the point that he gave Andrew a slight wave with his right hand.

Soon after that, Josten nodded once and slowly stood up as if mindful not to startle Peter. “All right, I told him that you’re going to talk to him for a while, perhaps ask him some questions but that you’re here to help him and it’s going to be all right, that you won’t touch him.” Something made Josten’s jaw clench for a moment before he went back to the one bookshelf. “No one here will.”

Interesting, that Josten said ‘not touch’ and ‘not hurt’, not that either would happen while Andrew was around. “He’s right,” Andrew told Peter even though the boy might not understand him. “As he said, I’m Andrew, now shall we play a couple of games?” He motioned toward the one table that was already set up with the various coloring books and simple games he used to help him know the children assigned to him better as well as work toward gaining their trust while Josten translated.

The session went by quickly despite Andrew’s inability to talk directly Peter, with Josten only speaking to translate and staying quiet otherwise. Peter seemed to enjoy being able to play with crayons and to draw what were probably meant to be animal shapes, but drew into himself whenever Andrew brought up his father or the one coloring book had images of a man and a woman with a child or children in it.

Probably not a good idea to have Wymack attend any sessions with the boy in the near future.

The session ended with Andrew certain about Peter’s abuse and forming a plan on how to move forward with his treatment, but aware that it would take numerous more sessions. He remained seated when Abby returned for Peter, intent on retaining the slight bit of trust he’d earned with the boy so far.

It was difficult to tell with the overlarge sweater, but when Josten left the room first, Andrew thought Nicky might be on to something about the man’s ass. Also, he’d have to talk to Wymack about having the door looked into since something was wrong with its hinges – the damn thing would have slammed shut in his face if he hadn’t stopped it in time. He also felt a blast of cold, so the air conditioning was acting up.

He stopped by Bee’s office to share his initial observations with her about the boy and go over his reactions to the new case, as well as his workload in general. After about half an hour, they moved on to more ‘safe’ topics (the latest books they were reading, a new bakery), and he brought up Josten. “What’s his story?”

“Neil?” Bee handed over a fresh mug of hot chocolate before she returned to her desk. “David felt that we needed an official translator on site rather than request one on demand all the time. We can’t keep limping along with the various languages everyone on the staff knows, so he brought in a heavy-hitter,” she said with a smile.

Andrew thought about that for a moment, about Josten’s quiet voice and professional behavior. “What does he know besides Russian?”

“That I know about? Chinese, Spanish, French, German and Arabic.” Her smile strengthened when Andrew’s brows drew together. “Yes, I know, impressive.”

“Why’s he working here, then?” One didn’t go into a social service related job for the money, and it seemed to Andrew that someone with Josten’s skills could be working for the government or some big corporation.

Bee was quiet while she sipped her own hot chocolate as if debating what to say. “I’ve only met him a couple of times and David’s been quiet about how he found Neil… but I’m willing to bet that Neil works here for much the same reason that most of us do,” she admitted. “It’s personal for him.”

Andrew thought about that after he left to continue with the rest of his current cases (Isabel and Ryan and Cory), while he worked with Laila on the upcoming court trial for Cory’s prick of a father and spent some time with Robin on one of her own cases. He had just enough time to meet with Aaron for lunch and was satisfied to have an excuse to turn down meeting up with Kevin later that evening to watch some stupid game in a bar, even if it had been too long since he’d gone out drinking or had any ‘fun’.

Josten showed up each day to translate for Peter, a quiet, unobtrusive presence who stood off to the side and relayed what Andrew and Peter spoke as Andrew worked hard to earn the boy’s trust, to slowly try to pry the truth out of him about what his father had done to him and his missing mother. Each day Josten would show up in thick sweaters despite the fall weather still being warm for that time of year, covered from lower neck to hands and feet, his hair barely combed and falling onto his rarely expressive face. He would translate and then leave, and Andrew wouldn’t see him in the break room or the small cafeteria or anywhere else around the Foxhole.

It wasn’t that huge of a building.

“What do you think of him?” Nicky asked during lunch one day, about two weeks after Peter had arrived at the Foxhole. “You’re so lucky you get to work with him – all of my kids speak English or Spanish,” he said with a slight grimace, as if he didn’t adore his cases; he worked with kids facing difficulties due to them coming out or transitioning, often because of their home life or the situations at school.

“He translates, which is good,” Andrew said as he broke apart his cheese sandwich.

“Oh come on.” Nicky rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner as he leaned back in his chair. “I’ll admit that Neil needs a major wardrobe overhaul and makeover, but he’s still hot. How can you stand being in a room with him every day and not notice that hotness?”

Andrew greatly regretted his cousin finding out about him and Roland, even if it was just a casual thing. “Because I’m working and we’ve said like five things to each other?”

Nicky frowned at that. “Yeah, he’s not very outgoing, is he? Matt’s tried a few times to invite him out to some of our group events but always gets interrupted by something. “ He grinned as he leaned forward with his elbows on his table. “I wish I had my phone out the one time the coffee maker just started shooting water out all over him! It was the weirdest thing but funny as hell! Another time he leaned against the fridge wrong and somehow hit the ice button and the cubes started just falling out onto the floor! I think Neil’s terrified of being around him because of what’ll happen next, the poor guy.”

Well, Boyd was a bit of an eager puppy when he decided to go after something, though not as bad as Knox – there was a reason the men helped Kevin with the sports therapy programs. “Nothing’s going to happen,” Andrew told his cousin. “Drop it.”

“But-“

“No.” Andrew grabbed the rest of his sandwich with the intent of finishing it in his office and ignored his cousin’s crestfallen expression with ease as he walked away.

Still, something about the conversation stuck with him, as did Bee’s. It made him study Josten even more, made him pay close attention to the way the younger man was so patient with Peter, would soften his voice or offer up a new stuffed animal at just the right time (when Andrew had to ask more details about the bastard of a sperm donor). How there seemed to be a darkness in Josten’s eyes when Peter began to give up halting details, when he drew angry red marks on the child images (and the mom images as well).

“Who is he?” Andrew asked Wymack when they met the day before Cory’s trial would begin. “Where did he come from?”

“That’s confidential information,” Wymack said with a stubborn set to his jaw. “Just know that he had great recommendations and leave it at that.”

No, not quite, but the old bastard had installed a better lock on the personnel file drawers after he’d realized that Andrew had gone through them to check up on the last few hires, so Andrew would have to bide his time to read Josten’s file (that or get enough dirt on Seth to have him hack the online version, which might be easier).

His part in Cory’s trial lasted two days, two days of mental exhaustion and barely constrained anger while he was questioned and cross-examined and had to push down the urge to get up out of a damn uncomfortable wooden seat and bash in the brains of some fucking prick who’d dared to harm a defenseless child. Two nights of the memories rushing back to the fore worse than usual, of the demons riding him harder than usual… but it was worth it for Cory to be free, for the prick to receive a guilty verdict, according to the text he received from Laila as he worked on his daily tasks once back in the office.

Perhaps it was that text, or perhaps it was the way that Peter smiled at him when the boy saw him, the sense of progress during their session, but after Peter was gone and Josten went to leave as usual, Andrew spoke up. “Soon I’ll start working in new elements, have him sit in with Bee and try some sessions with Kevin as well. He’s going to need to learn English and get back in classes once he’s stable.”

Josten paused by the door to look back at him. “Yes, I’ve been asked to do a language evaluation of him in the next week or so, and to sit in with Dr. Dobson.”

Still so distant and polite, as always. Andrew shoved aside a thought on if he was like that with other things. “No other cases you’re assisting with right now?”

“A couple.” Josten cocked his head to the side. “It’s fine, I can manage.”

“Is that what keeps you so busy? I don’t see you around here at all.”

Josten tugged the cuffs of his light grey sweater (he always wore grey or light blue, wore such boring colors and clothes) even farther over his hands; Andrew thought he caught sight of faded scars on the long, slim fingers before they disappeared. “I have things to do.”

That wasn’t much of an answer, was it? “What do you think of Peter’s progress so far? Perhaps we can discuss it over a cup of coffee?” Andrew didn’t usually do the whole ‘social’ thing, but there was something interesting about the translator, something that drew his attention the more that Josten tried to hide away.

For a moment he thought that the man was going to say ‘yes’, and then Josten drew in a quick breath as he wrapped his arms around his middle. “No, I have paperwork I need to do. I’ll send you an email with my thoughts,” he said in a rush before he spun around and almost ran from the room.

Surprised by the reaction which seemed almost fearful, Andrew stepped forward to follow Josten and find out what had provoked that response. He shivered as he encountered a spot underneath the air conditioning vent (hadn’t Wymack fixed that yet?) and cursed when the door slammed into him with unexpected force, enough to knock him aside and leave his left arm throbbing with pain; it would have been his head if he hadn’t thrown his arm up in time.

Apparently Wymack hadn’t fixed that, either.

Josten forgotten for the moment, Andrew cradled his sore arm against his chest as he stalked down the hallway to go have a ‘nice’ chat with his boss.

*******

Neil frowned when he noticed that the grapefruit weren’t on sale anymore, but perked up when the green apples and pomegranates were instead, both of which he stocked up on until he felt a harsh tug on his hair. He grabbed some radishes and yams since they were cheap enough to pass without complaint (and the few vegetables he didn’t mind), then left the produce section with some regret.

Chicken thighs were on sale as well, so he grabbed a couple of packages with a whispered ‘I’ll freeze some’, then checked to see what cheese was marked down and got some decent cheddar. He managed not to sigh over the ramen packages he added to the cart, and at least would have the chicken, radishes and yams to make a proper meal out of it, and got a loaf of not quite the cheapest white bread along with a jar of peanut butter.

He grabbed some more shampoo, laundry soap and toilet paper, then saved the first aid aisle for last where he stocked up on bandages and antibacterial ointment. At least he didn’t need hair dye for a few more weeks, he thought to himself as he headed to pay for everything, mindful to pick a different cashier than last time.

The young woman smiled at him while she rang up his purchases, talking all the while about how she loved ramen, too, and wanted to try making an apple pie that weekend. He busied himself bagging up the items as they came down the conveyer belt, uncertain as to why she had to talk so much and not just focus on doing her job, and shook his head when she asked him questions along the lines of if he baked (he didn’t like sweets) or if he liked Japanese food (he did enjoy sushi, but it was rare when he allowed himself the treat).

She kept smiling at him despite the lack of answers, and brushed his fingers with her own when she handed him the receipt after he used his debit card to pay for everything. Aware of Mary’s cold presence behind him, he was quick to grab the bags so he could leave, and didn’t flinch when he heard what sounded to be a drawer slamming shut and the woman cry out in pain.

He didn’t know why people couldn’t leave him alone, couldn’t ignore him like he wanted. Why did they have to smile and talk to him? He wasn’t worth their attention, their attempts at friendship… or worse.

Mary tugged on his hair several times during the drive back to the apartment, hard enough to make his scalp burn but not enough to distract him from the road ahead. She waited to ‘speak’ until they were inside with the door locked and deadbolted for the night.

/Did you have to encourage that slut?/ Mary accused as she yanked on his hair again, that time hard enough to bring tears to his eyes.

“How did I do that?” Neil asked as he forced himself to carry the bags into the kitchen, the British accent slipping back into his voice since they were alone. “I didn’t even talk to her and I barely looked at her. Next time I’ll avoid her register,” he promised.

There was another tug to his hair, but that time it was almost gentle. /Good. What have I told you about her kind?/

His head hurting and arms aching from the scratches from earlier which still throbbed, Neil set the bags on the counter and took a deep breath before he recited the words he knew by heart. “That relationships are evil and will only harm me. That people who try to trick me into one aren’t ever to be trusted, that they only want to hurt and use me.”

/Yes./ That time Mary when stroked frigid fingers through his hair, he shivered from both the chill and the gentleness of the touch, from the rare show of affection. /You need me to watch after you, to keep you from falling for their tricks, Abram./

“I know, Mum. You’re always looking after me.” He gave her partially see-through form as grateful a smile as he could summon before he started on the groceries. “How about some tea?”

/Yes./

Once the chicken was put away (most of it in the freezer, as he’d promised), he filled the kettle with fresh water and started it heating up on the stove, then decided that he wasn’t in the mood to cook that night and settled on a peanut butter sandwich with an apple for dinner. He’d just finished making the sandwich, the kitchen orderly once again with the groceries tucked into their places (it wasn’t hard to keep neat considering how little food he bought) when the kettle whistled, so he rinsed out the two mugs to warm them up before he dropped teabags in them.

Mary hovered over the steeping mug set out for her, a pleased expression on her incorporeal face, her long hair drifting about much like the tendrils of steam rising from the mug. Neil allowed his to steep a little longer while he ate the sandwich, the large apple saved for ‘dessert’.

His mother was quiet for about an hour or so, during which he cleaned up after his dinner and took to reading a book in Chinese in the living room’s only chair. /How much longer are we going to stay here?/ she asked as she floated around the bare room, her expression one of displeasure.

Neil marked his place in the book then hugged his knees up to his chest. “I told you, this is a good place for us and there’s no need to run anymore. The money’s enough for all my bills, no one’s questioning my past and I like what I do.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly when she drifted closer. “He’s dead, Mum. No one’s looking for us anymore.” No matter how many times he tried to convince her of that, it never ‘took’ for long; he didn’t know if it was because of all those horrible years of living with a monster, of the harsh time on the run or her terrible death, but she couldn’t move on from the past.

But wasn’t that what made a ghost a ghost?

(And who was he to throw stones at glass houses, when he lived with said ghost?)

There was a blast of freezing air, Mary’s displeasure made evident as she whirled around the chair and tugged on his hair once more as a furious, sparkling silver blur. /Nowhere’s good, Abram. Everywhere is full of liars and betrayers and murderers, did he teach you nothing? How many times did we think we were safe, only to run away in pain? How many?/

“Everywhere and always,” he gritted out as he forced himself to not lift his arms to protect his head, to try to shove her away (as if that would work). “But he’s dead, Uncle Stuart killed him years ago. That doesn’t make anywhere safe, but… but that’s why I have you, yes?”

The whirling blast of cold eased up and the tugging stopped, right before Mary coalesced in front of him, her head downcast and wisps of hair floating in front of her face. /Yes, that’s why I’m here, Abram. I have to watch after you, have to protect you./

“I know, Mum,” he told her with a trembling smile. “You’ve always looked after me.” She taught him French and encouraged him to keep learning new languages when they were trapped in that nightmare of a home back in Baltimore as a means of distraction, to keep him busy and out of his father’s sight (as much as possible). When the abuse had finally gotten to be too much, she’d stolen money and run away with him, had managed to keep them out of his father’s reach until that awful night in Seattle.

Even after Nathan had nearly caught them, had left them bloody and beaten, Mary fatally so, she hadn’t given up. Her spirit had lingered on after Neil (Nathaniel) had burned her body, had kept him going long enough to reach out to the Hatfords for help (at last).

Neil thought that Stuart suspected that Mary hadn’t entirely ‘moved on’ after her death, that he’d picked up on her presence around him. After all, Neil had to get the whole ‘I see dead people’ from somewhere, not that many other ghosts came around him with Mary constantly there, for which he was grateful. There had to be something special about the Hatford bloodline which allowed Mary to be so powerful as a ghost.

Or maybe it was just more of their lives (and afterlives) being fucked up and cursed.

The debate about him leaving his new life behind settled for the time being, Neil made some more tea and read a little longer, then went to take a shower before bed. He sighed at the sight of the long, red scratches along his arms and even a couple of across his chest, but none of them were deep enough to require any bandages.

That time.

He took care not to scrub them too hard while washing clean, and only looked into the mirror to check his roots (they would be fine for a few more days) before he removed the contacts and brushed his teeth for the night.

Once he was tucked beneath the heavy blankets, Mary took up position by the bed, a familiar sentinel which never tired, never wavered in her duty to watch over him. He missed how she used to sleep in the same bed as him, her back pressed to his, but knew that when he’d wake up from the nightmares that she’d be there to brush cold fingers along his sweaty brow to calm him down, to reassure him that she was there and all was safe.

He was Neil Josten (now), he had a home to call his own, one with a deadbolt and a comfortable bed (even with the gun under the pillow), with no ghosts of people cruelly murdered by his father (save Mary), no monsters in human flesh eager to hurt him lurking about to cause harm. He had a job where he got to help children, something that paid the bills (even if Uncle Stuart had set up an account for him) and allowed him to do something he enjoyed.

He had Mary to watch over him, ever and ever.

It was enough.

*******

okay, pretend i know what i’m writing about here (in general).

#tw: abuse #mary's not letting go in this one #andreil #or will be #andrew minyard #neil josten #mary hatford #supernatural theme #wait until renee shows up #she has andrew's back #he's gonna need it #neil just doesn't want to be alone #nekojitachanfics #ghost in you fic #aftg fic #tfc fic

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alwayschoosechocolate · 5 years

Text

Are we even speaking the same language? ( Part 2)

Sophie moves to Seoul to become a language assistant at one of Seouls biggest music companies. Even though her Korean is far from perfect, she quickly seems to get along with some of the biggest stars in the company. But the language might not be the only barrier, she has to overcome.

Characters: All seven members of BTS, paring between Namjoon x main character

Word count: 3,655

Genre: romance, angst, (idk yet)

Comments: When the dialog is written in cursive, it’s in Korean.

Masterpost with the other parts of the story, can be found here (x)

When they came back to the office spaces, Cathrine introduced Sophie to some of the other co-workers and then helped her get into the systems. As Sophie opened the mailbox, she saw that she already had 23 unread emails.

Cathrine chuckled.

“Looks like you already have some assignments. If you need help with anything, just let me know. I’m right on the other side of the desk, alright?”

Sophie thanked her and started reading through the emails. Most of them were introductions to the different systems they used, papers she needed to sign, and official statements. It took her about two hours to get through the new information.

Lunchtime came around, and Cathrine asked if she wanted to go out and grab some lunch. Sophie stretched in the uncomfortable chair and gratefully accepted. She hadn’t been sure, how they normally did it here. If there was a cantina, or if people went out for lunch. It seemed like Cathrine had made it her mission to make sure, that Sophie had a good first day, and Sophie really appreciated it.

As they walked into the street Cathrine started explaining, where she could get food in the area, and which places were the best. They went to a small Italian restaurant a little way from the BigHit building, opting for some well-known food, instead of more new things. They both ordered a pasta and talked about where they came from, and how they ended up in Seoul. Cathrine had a master’s degree in business and communication and had done a semester abroad in Seoul during her studies. When she finished her studies, she went straight back to Seoul. “I just felt more like myself here. Like I could be whoever I wanted to be, and not who I used to be. Luckily finding a job here wasn’t that hard. Spanish and English is apparently a rare combination here, and many of the companies are quite international.” She had spent two years in Seoul, having moved here, when she was 25. “How about you?”, Cathrine asked as she took a sip of her coke. “What’s your story?”

Sophie pursed her lips, wondering where to start.

“I have a master’s degree in German language and literature, and I’ve lived 2 years in Berlin. I took a semester abroad there and ended up staying while I finished my studies. In the beginning, I thought it was the country and the language, that made me feel at home, but as it turns out, it was just the fact, that it wasn’t Denmark. That it was different. I liked the feeling of being foreign and having to learn how the culture worked. Turns out, that feeling kind of disappears after some time.” Sophie laughed a little bit at herself. “So I wanted to do something new. I originally wanted to go to France, so I could improve my language as well, but then I ended up here. I studied some Korean on my own for about a year, and thought, why not. I still can’t believe I actually got it.” She laughed and shook her head. Cathrine smiled at her.

“So your Korean is self-taught?” Cathrine asked a bit surprised.

“Not all of it. I took some classes, when I learned that I had gotten the job.” Sophie said shyly. She knew that learning a language on your own always got some kind of response. Not always a positive one.

“That’s amazing! So cool! Well, as I said earlier, you can join the language courses at the company if you want. They’re free, and I’m in them too.” Cathrine said, as she motioned to the waiter that they wanted to pay.

“I would love to, but I think you’re quite a bit better than I am.” Sophie said and laughed. Cathrine joined her.

“Yeah, but there are a lot of other people on the courses as well. And then we can practice together.”, Cathrine said excitedly.

Sophie smiled. “I would love to!”

When they got back to the office, Sophies mailbox had piled up again. 15 unread emails. But at least it was assignments this time. There were some translations, answering some emails in German and English. Sophie set to work. As the office space was quite large and noisy, she popped in her in-ears to listen to some music and drown out the noise.

After a few hours of working, she had a hankering for some coffee, so she got up and walked towards the breakroom, asking Cathrine if she wanted something on the way. She smiled restlessly and went with her. They were chatting about work while waiting for the coffee machine to make the drinks. “So what do you think? Does it seem doable?” Cathrine asked her over the rim of the coffee cup.

“Hmm. Yeah, I think so. Most of it has been translations into English so far, and communications with some German companies and venues. So that’s fine – haven’t had too much Korean yet.” Sophie wasn’t actually sure, if she was relieved or annoyed with that. She did want to practice her Korean, but a slow start was also nice.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get some if you ask for it.”, Cathrine winked at her. “I actually wanted to ask if you wanted to come get a drink after work? I know a really cool bar right around the corner. I think some of the others are coming as well?” They started to make their way back to their desks.

“Sure, that sounds like fun.” Sophie was happy, that they wanted her to come along, and went with her rule of not saying no to social activities in the first three weeks of living in a new place. It made it easier to find new friends, if you were constantly there the first few weeks. Although she did still have to unpack quite a few boxes, but that could wait.

After work, Sophie went with Cathrine and two other girls from the office to the bar. Julia was a quiet Brazilian girl with short curls, big brown eyes and a shy smile. Hannah was Japanese but had grown up in the USA. She was loud, constantly cracking jokes and her laugh was contagious. The four girls ordered some drinks and sat down at a table in the corner. The conversation was relaxed and easy going. The girls wanted to know more about Sophie, and Sophie just wanted to get to know them. Even though they came from completely different cultures, backgrounds and languages, they quickly bonded over other things, like their love for languages and their interest in South Korea and Seoul. They stayed at the bar a few hours, before Sophie excused herself to go home. She was complete blown away by all the new information and all the new faces, and she was exhausted. The other girls waved goodbye to her, and Sophie left the bar to find a taxi to take her home.

As soon as she got in the apartment, her eyes caught sight of all the unpacked boxes. She groaned, debating for half a minute if she should start unpacking some of them now. But she decided against it, exhaustion pulling at her eyelids, and instead made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face, before she climbed into bed.

The next few days flew by fast. Sophie spent most of her days translating and writing e-mails, attending some meetings every now and then.

Most of them had been really boring, revolving mainly around the different departments in the office. But today Cathrine had a meeting with BTS and some of their managers about an upcoming tour in the US. Cathrine had asked Sophie to attend as well, seeing as she wanted her to help with the organization of the tour. This included communication with the venues, booking accommodations, planning of transportation, booking of interviews, talk shows etc. Sophie was excited to be helping with such a big project and couldn’t wait to learn more about it.

As she walked into the meeting room with Cathrine, it was only one of the managers and a beautiful tall blond man, who Sophie vaguely recognized as one of the members, that were present. Jin, maybe? She wasn’t sure. He smiled lazily at Cathrine.

“Hi Cathrine. Are you handling our tour in the US again?”

Cathrine chuckled a bit.

“I only do communication. I don’t really handle anything. But yes. I’m helping again.”

He tutted and shook a finger at her.

“If you hadn’t been there last time, we wouldn’t have been able to talk to anyone.”

Ah, so Cathrine had been with them in the US last time as a translator, it would seem.

“You have Namjoon, you don’t need me.”

“But you are far prettier than Namjoon, Cathrine!”, Jin exclaimed and Cathrine laughed at his compliment, before she shook her head. At the same time two guys stepped into the room.

“Hi, noona!”, they said almost simultaneously. One of them in a deep voice accompanied by a boxy smile, and the other with big doe eyes and a bright smile.

“Hi Tae, Jungkook. How are you?” They both chatted with Cathrine for a little while.

Sophie had been sat on a chair in the corner, since she got in, observing how relaxed and natural Cathrine was with the members. She had clearly worked closely with them before. Sophie kept her head down and pretended to make notes on her block. More people poured in the room, all saying hi to Cathrine. Sophie started to wonder if she was invisible. That was until Hoseok came in the room together with a stunning man with a thick blond hair. Sophie had found Hoseok beautiful, but it seemed the entire group was composed of really good-looking men.

“Hi Cathrine! Hi Sophie!”, Hoseok smiled at both of them and Sophie sent him smile back, thankful that he had acknowledged her.

“Hi Hoseok. Jiminie, how are you?”, Cathrine asked looking at the other member, that Sophie only now recognized as Jimin, one of the other members. Damn. She really had to study up on the artists. Cathrine and Jimin chatted for a bit, before he joined his bandmates at the table. Cathrine walked over to Sophie.

“We don’t have to do much this meeting, mainly listen and take notes. This is mostly an informational meeting. If you could take notes as well, so we make sure to have it all written down. The meeting is going to be in Korean, but I’ve seen how much you understand,” Cathrine smiled at her, “so just write down as much as you can.” Sophie nodded at her and looked down at her block again. The last two guys made it to the room.

“Hi Cathrine”, one of them said. He looked completely uninterested in what was about to happen, and mainly just looked like he wanted to sleep. Cathrine smiled at him.

“Hi Suga. Tired as always, it seems?”, she teased him. The other members snickered as Suga gave a slow nod, before he plopped down in a chair.

“Hi Cathrine, how are you?” the last member said, Sophie recognized him as RM, the leader of the group.

“Hi, Namjoon.”, Cathrine gave him a bright smile. “I’m good, not much new to tell. How about you?”

“Oh, we’re busy with the new album, so I have plenty of work to do. Actually, I wanted to get your help with some lyrics if you have some time one of these days?”

“Sure, whenever it fits you.”

He thanked her and joined the members, quieting them down. Sophie observed how they interacted with each other. The jokes and insults being thrown around along with pushes and punches. At the same time, they constantly reached for each other. Physically leaning or touching each other. They were obviously close. She smiled and shook her head. They definitely acted like they were siblings.

Now that everyone was present the meeting started. Short introduction to the scheduled dates of the tour, cities and the shows that had stated, that they would like to interview the boys.

“The communication with the different people in the US will all go through Cathrine and Sophie. Sophie just started here, but she speaks fluent English along with a bunch of other languages, I believe.” One of the managers laughed, as he gestured towards Sophie. She blushed and smiled shyly at his words. The members looked at her curiously. “So if you have questions about anything, or want to make requests about something, it goes through them.”

It was a rather short meeting and Sophie had been stressed about getting as much as possible written down, her note-block a combination of English, Korean, Danish and a few German words every now and then. As the meeting ended, she looked at the notes and groaned. It would take some time to rewrite them, so other people could understand it. She started to pack her stuff away, already talking to Cathrine about what the first order of business would be now. She didn’t notice RM standing next to her.

“It was Sophie, right?” He asked her softly, not wanting to startle her.

Confused, she looked up at him for a second, before she answered.

“Yeah, Sophie. You’re RM, right?” He smiled at her.

“Yeah, RM or Namjoon, that’s up to you.” He flashed his dimples, and she couldn’t help but smiled back at him. Her note-block caught his eye, and he chuckled quietly.

“Seems like you have a lot of languages in your head.” He looked at her questioning with soft eyes. “What language is that?” He pointed at one of the German words. She felt embarrassed and blushed heavily.

“It’s German.”

“Ah, wow. Okay, cool.”

He sent her another one of his dimple smiles, and she gave him a shy smile back. Suddenly Jimin called out for him from the doorway. He gave him a nod and looked down at her again.

“Well, it was nice meeting you. I guess I’ll see you again soon.” He gave her a bright smile and left the room.

Sophie quickly made herself busy with cleaning up the meeting room and gathering her things, so she didn’t have to look at Cathrine. She heard her laugh.

“You don’t have to look at me, for me to look at you like this. This is a look, that you can just feel.”

Sophie looked up at her. Cathrine had her arms crossed, one eyebrow raised and a big smirk on her lips. Sophie burst into a laugh, and Cathrine followed her.

“They are charming, aren’t they?”, Cathrine asked with a wink.

Sophie blushed.

“Well, I guess so. They are definitely handsome.”

Cathrine laughed and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well that’s a given in this industry.”

The next week Cathrine and Sophie were busy making a proposed schedule for the band, incl. hotels, restaurants, interviews, talk-shows, the works. They had to send it to the managers before Friday, seeing as Cathrine would be in Chicago all of next week.

“Ah, Sophie. I almost forgot. I have a meeting with Namjoon at 2pm today about his lyrics. Do you wanna come and help out? See how it works? Some of the guys might need help, while I’m gone, and then you’re up.”

“Sure, I would love to.”, Sophie replied with a smile. She couldn’t wait to work with some more interesting translations than hotel-bookings.

At exactly 2pm Namjoon came up to Cathrines desk.

“Hi, Cathrine. You ready?”, he asked her with a smile, that she returned.

“Yep, just give me a second. Sophie is gonna join us as well”, she added while pointing at Sophie with the end of her pen. Namjoon looked over at her and gave her a bright smile.

“Great”, he answered.

As they sat down to discuss the lyrics, Sophie kept to the background, wanting to observe, how they worked together. It was obvious, that the message of the lyrics was very important to Namjoon, and hearing the lyrics, Sophie could understand why. They were packed full of meaning. Messages of hope, reassurance and understanding. Opening up about self-doubt, mental health, social pressures etc. Sophie was impressed, and the more she heard Namjoon talk about the lyrics and the music, the more respect she got for him.

Cathrine suddenly looked at her watch and jumped up.

“Ah, sorry! I have to go. I have an appointment in half an hour, and I can’t be late.” She looked to Sophie, “Sophie, are you good with taking care of the rest of the lyrics with Namjoon?”

Sophie wasn’t sure she was, but she didn’t really have a choice at the moment.

“Sure, Cathrine. No worries.”, she smiled at her.

“Great! I’m sorry, Namjoon!”, she sent him an apologetic smile, and he just waved her off.

“No need to apologize. Just get going. I’m sure, Sophie’s up for the job”, he said and smiled at her.

Cathrine mouthed a sorry and a thank you to Sophie, before slipping out of the conference room. Sophie just smiled and shook her head at her.

She turned and faced Namjoon, suddenly aware that she was alone with him. He sent her a reassuring smile, which she returned with a shy one. Okay, Sophie. Time to show what you got.

“So, this line, that you were talking about,” she said, and pointed to the line, she meant. “would it maybe be better to change the tone into something more… urban?”, she asked him.

He looked at her curiously.

“Maybe. Why do you want to make it more urban?”, he asked her.

“Because the whole song is built around how feelings are natural, but in this exact line, you seem to question it. Wouldn’t it make sense to reflect that in the words?”, she asked a bit unsure, if she had stepped out of line. After all it was his lyrics. But he inspected the lyrics again, trying different variations, before giving her a smile.

“I think you might be right”, he exclaimed, giving her a big smile. She returned the smile.

“Okay, let’s keep going. Ehm. I might need some help here though”, she said, furrowing her eyebrows. “This Korean word,” she said pointing on a word on the page. “I know, it means something along the lines of missing someone. Like aching from the feeling of being alone. But I see it being used in different situations, that aren’t quite like that. Is there some kind of nuance, that I’m missing in meaning of the word?”, she asked looking at him with bright curious eyes.

He smiled at her, surprised she had picked up on some of the nuances, since her Korean wasn’t that advanced yet.

“Yeah, actually there is. You're right, that it means to miss someone. But it is traditionally only used about missing your soulmate.” Sophie's eyes lit up.

“Ah! So, when you use it here, you’re indicating that your very first soulmate isn’t another person but yourself. And in this song, you talk about how you’re missing yourself.” She looked up at him, with a surprised look. “Wow, that’s beautiful.” She smiled at him. “Thanks for explaining that to me.”, she told him with a genuine smile, that he returned.

“Anytime,” he said. “If you ever have questions, don’t hesitate to ask. I’m mainly at the studio. You’re always welcome”, he ended the sentence with a dimpled grin. She giggled at him.

“Thank you so much!”, she answered. “But I think that was all then, wasn’t it?”, she asked him, looking over the lyrics they had brought with them.

“I think that was all. Yeah.” He started to stand up. “Unless you have some questions for me?”, he asked her with a smile. She thought for a moment, debating if she should just wait and ask Cathrine tomorrow. But then again, why not. She had nothing to lose.

“Actually, I was wondering if you might know of a bookshop here, that sells English books? I tried buying some books in Korean, but I still read quite slowly in Korean, and I get impatient. So, I wanted to get some English books instead, but I don’t know where.” Sophie met his eyes, that seemed to search hers for a second before he answered.

“There is a bookshop that also sells English books here. They don’t have a lot of them, but there are some.” He said, looking at her curiously before adding, “I’m actually going there myself today, if you want to come along?”

Sophie was a bit surprised by his offer, but seeing as she was still in her first three weeks of living in Seoul, she couldn’t say no. It might be a self-made rule, but she was still going to follow it. That didn’t stop her from getting nervous though. And she felt the cold-sweat break out, as she thought about being alone with Namjoon. She tried to ignore her body’s reaction to the situation, and quickly agreed.

“I would love to.”, she said and sent him a smile.

His face lit up in the biggest smile, she had seen in a long time.

“Great! I have to go the dance studio, but we should be done around 6pm. Just come by, when you get off work, and then we can go together.”

She nodded at him and gave him a bright smile. “Sounds good.”

His dimples popped out as he gave her a goodbye smile.

Interesting, Sophie thought. I wonder how this is going to be. She was a little hesitant to go to a bookshop with someone. Bookshops and literature had always been her shelter. Her place to be herself. But she wasn’t about to say no to Namjoon. She went back to work with a smile on her lips. Only 4 more hours.

Comment: Ah, so I know it’s moving slow. Have patience. The story keeps evolving in my head, and it’s for sure not a short story, so there is no need to rush. I hope you enjoy it!

// Part 3 //

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thedistantstorm · 5 years

Text

Phoenix Protocol 25

When the Traveler’s Light was returned to the Guardians after the defeat of the Cabal, it did not manifest itself the same in everyone. Miyu, an Awoken Warlock, finds herself struggling with her abilities, her Light feeling different and not her own. With her Vanguard preoccupied with grief and all eyes turned to the Reef, she finds herself turning to an unlikely source in an attempt to rediscover her connection to the Light and define what it means for her as a Dawnblade.

[This amazing art was done for my by the ever-so-lovely @crazy-bone-lady and I’ve been waiting months for this chapter to officially share it with you all!]

Previously

They walk hand in hand to the hangar. There is no one around to see, not even the Shipwright at his hour. Though, if there was, based on how tight their fingers are locked together, Miyu doesn’t doubt for a second that he would not pull his hand away.

“You better keep a close eye on her,” Adelaide is saying over their heads to Tamashii. “I want frequent updates.”

“She sounds like you,” Miyu says, with a tilt of her head in Zavala’s direction. His lips pull up into a wan smile, but it doesn’t stay for long. Her lips purse, and her eyes spark in response. “Don’t look sad, Anata. It isn’t forever.”

“I know,” He intones gravely. “The uncertainty is… I am not partial to it.”

“I’ll check in when I can,” She promises, nudging him gently with her hip. “Maybe even send you a geode or two to use as a paperweight for your office. I’ve read that the rocks there don’t match anything we have in our database.”

“Whatever you’d like,” He says indulgently. “So long as you return safe.”

“I promise.”

Zavala sighs. “It isn’t one you can make, Miyu. I have heard how the curse fares. I am not so naive to think that you won’t see any trouble.”

“Yes, well,” She places her left hand, the one not locked with his, over her heart. “I will make every effort to return safe and sound. Will you accept that promise instead?”

“Yes,” The Commander says, as they approach her ship’s dock. “I’ll hold you to it.”

The Warlock smiles. “Please do.” They stand, looking at the ship for a few moments before Tamashii drifts down in front of the Commander, dipping his rounded cones in the approximation of a nod.

“Tamashii,” Zavala says carefully, his eyes meeting the other being’s cyan optic. “Keep her safe.”

“Always.”

“He will,” Miyu chimes, looking to him as well. “Make one last check for me, please?”

The Ghost bobs again in the affirmative before zipping away. Adelaide takes the opportunity to zip into Miyu’s chest, persisting even after thunking against the hard chestplate that’s woven into her robes. “You better be careful, you hear me? If something happens, I’ll never forgive you!” Zavala huffs at his Ghost’s antics, half amused, half sad.

Delicate fingers come around the white Ghost shell to cradle Addy gently, bring her up to eye-level. “I will return,” She says in the most serious tone she can muster. Her eyes are hard and bright, like white fire. “Keep an eye on Zavala for me as well, please.”

“That’s my job. You know I will,” The Ghost replies easily.

“And-”

“I know,” She interrupts, grousing, “I’ll make sure he takes breaks and doesn’t forget to sleep every once in a while.”

“Arigatou, Addy.” She brings the little Light close to her, pressing her lips to the top of her shell. “I’ll see you soon.”

“You better!” The Ghost taps her cheek gently before spinning around to her Guardian and executing a quick transmat. “I’ll see you when you get back,” She chirps to her Guardian’s partner, shimmering away in motes of Light.

Then, they’re alone. Miyu ducks her head when Zavala takes a step in her direction, gingerly offering her the box his Ghost has swiftly managed to transmat into his hands. “For you,” He says, gently.

“Zavala,” She murmurs sadly, looking up into his eyes. They are so bright and warm, despite being such a cool blue. She bites her lip. “You shouldn’t-”

“I was going to commission a sword,” He tells her, with a bittersweet smile, “But it seems Paladin Rior beat me to it.” The box is flat black and not unlike a jewelry box, but larger. Her hands shake from something besides nerve damage for a change.

“Oh,” She says, vision swimming as she opens it. “Zavala, this is-” She looks up at him, blinking through tears. “It’s beautiful.”

“Do you like it?” He asks, his voice trembling just a touch and she sniffles, laughing. As if that were an actual option.

It is a stunning crimson red, intricate silken cording embellished with a traditional knot and tassels. An homage to the past, and a nod to the future. Their future. Her mouth splits wide into a brilliant smile. “It’s gorgeous,” She says, voice strained with the effort of staving off her tears. “I love it.”

“I am glad,” He grins back at her. “I was worried that it might be too forward, however-”

“Absolutely not,” She interjects, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him hard. There’s something urgent to it, as if she’ll never have enough time to express her thanks. He holds her close and presses his lips to hers slowly, savoring the moment and committing it to memory, forcing her to melt into it. It doesn’t surprise him when her tears are back with a vengeance. “I promised myself I wouldn’t cry,” She whispers, when he pulls back to look down at her, those glowing eyes of his fond. Swiping at her cheeks, she continues, voice watery, “I didn’t want to make you sad.”

“It’s alright,” He admits, his hands moving to her cheeks and thumbing the rest of the moisture away. “You’re beautiful even when you cry.” She huffs, trying not to cry harder at the compliment, and he smiles and hugs her again, plucking the case from her hands as he does so. “May I?”

She nods into his chest plate before stepping back. “Please.”

It’s a perfect fit, the tassels swaying gently with the draft in the Hangar, the intricate knot almost flower-like from afar. “It suits you,” He whispers, stepping back to admire it on her arm.

She leans forward to kiss him again, but this time it’s chaste. “I can’t thank you enough,” She says in a trembling whisper, embracing him tightly once more. “This is it, huh?” She says, taking a deep breath and sighing when she lets it go. She wipes away the last of her tears and sets her jaw with a nod.

“I believe in you,” He says, chest puffed proudly. “You can do this. You’re stronger than you think, Anata. I cannot wait to see all that you learn.”

Miyu straightens her back and stands tall. “I will,” She agrees, before looking in the direction of the ship. Outside, the sun is beginning to rise, and though they could say their goodbyes for days, she knows she has to take that first step into the unknown. Her lower lip trembles. “Thank you,” She whispers against his ear, crossing the distance between them one last time. “For loving me enough to let me go.”

She does not see him cry, and it's likely he does not, but she feels him tremble all the same. When they draw back from each other, both have glossy eyes and somber smiles on their faces. “Itte kimasu,” Miyu tips her head to him.

“Itterasshai, Miyu. Ai shitemasu yo.”

Zavala lingers only as long as it takes for her ship to clear the Hangar. Adelaide appears beside him in a show of support, hovering just close enough to nudge his cheek every few steps. They make the walk back to command alone.

The pastel beauty of the Dreaming City is not lost on her, despite the Taken miasma oozing from cracks and crevices, seeking to coalesce in the air. Miyu kills three Knights and a handful of Acolytes with her new blade before one of the Corsairs assists with a knife through a thrall's skull.

“Welcome, Cousin,” The woman says, and though Miyu cannot see her face, her seriousness bleeds into her tone. “Nice sword.”

“Thanks,” She calls back, breathing heavy. “Nice knifework.”

The two fall into step rather cordially, but it isn't completely unpleasant. “I'll take you to Petra,” The Corsair advises, giving her a glowing eyed once-over. Her scrutiny is apparent. “What're you here for, anyway? Weapons? Glory?”

Miyu smiles softly. It gives the Queen's servant pause. “A way forward, Cousin.”

The Corsair thumps Miyu on the back. “Well, shit,” She manages around a hearty chuckle. Her posture relaxes. Perhaps this one might not be so bad. “Aren't we all.”

End Notes (A smol, non-professional lesson in Japanese):

Itte kimasu: literally translated to English means “I’m leaving and I will come back.” it’s a common phrase used when someone leaves.

Itterasshai: the response to itte kimasu, meaning “Go and come back safely,” and wishes the person leaving safe travel and return.

Ai shitemasu yo: this is the supremely formal way of expressing love. So much so that it’s rarely used, and even more rare to be stated so formally (and even less likely so to be said by a man to a woman). In picking this phrase for Zavala to say this chapter, I did a lot of research, but ultimately decided that he was the brave sort who would be implicit in expressing his emotions, and he’d find it poetic to be so serious about it.

Other phrases I’ve used before include: Oyasumi nasai (good night), arigatou (thank you), anata (beloved/dearest/dear), yamete kudasi (stop it, please), and of course, Tama no hikari - Tamashi’s nickname - literally translates into ‘jewel of light.’ I think I’ve missed a couple in there, but if you have any questions, just let me know. I’m not fluent in Japanese, but I’ve watched a lot of anime (no that’s no the same thing, but it’s enough to spark my interest in this language). On the flip side, if you notice anything off, please tell me.

#destiny fanfiction #commander zavala #zavala x oc #oc: miyu #destiny ghost #destiny fanfic #miyu the sweet bean warlock #collection: phoenix protocol #here have an early chapter #since i'll probably finish chapter 31 tonight

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sordidandsublime · 6 years

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The Lopez-Sidonias

I keep saying I'm done with PT, which is true (it's not an innovative story. In fact it's probably downright derivative), but I haven't entirely figured out the people who populate the setting. I suppose this one is about occupation. As usual, nothing set in stone etc.

Natalia Lopez Sidonia- she was teaching English in the as-yet-unnamed Protestant university in SMDM, a properly genteel occupation for a upper class young lady waiting for marriage when she met Rafael. While it takes Natalia some years to gain some sort of official title on the board of the Sidonia corporation (it takes a similar amount of years for Rafael to properly incorporate his holdings), she's the one who takes up the day to day management of the plantation, collects the rental on various properties, makes the shrewd purchasing decisions etc and saves the corporation from ruinous decisions when she can. While Rafael might rightfully claim to be owner and CEO of the corporation, Natalia kept the enterprise together and held its coffers (much to Rafael's frustration as he was often prey to a great desire to wantonly spend huge sums of money).

Santiago Lopez Sidonia- heir apparent, oldest son, golden boy. Like most of the Sidonias, Santiago is intelligent, but lacks focus and motivation. He was an indifferent student despite the forceful reminders to do better, to not embarrass the family. He passed the exams that put him in the best (read: poshest) university in the country, bounced from management degree to sociology degree to biology degree, stopped showing up to class for drinking or traveling out of the city or for any number of reasons and is expelled, reaccepted, expelled again. Eventually he manages to graduate with a degree in agriculture from a third rate university back in the home province. He then goes on to help his father with the plantation with the expectation of someday becoming the family patriarch. This description might give one the impression of a sullen, gloomy presence, but that would be wrong. Santiago is popular, well-liked, gallant. He has a number of compadres whom he likes to drink and travel with, similarly well-to-do men who don't really have to work a day in their lives. He explains away his various abandoned enterprises with bellows of laughter and panache, one can't help believing, even sympathizing with his point of view. One might even excuse his fits of rage.

Rea Silvia Sidonia-Fargas- much like her mother, Natalia, Rea is the one who now actually keeps the corporation afloat after years of ruinous debts and mismanagement. She installs herself as chief purchasing officer instead of COO, and puts her more malleable (relative term, ha) siblings on the board. Unlike the rest of her family, Rea's involvement in the family business has been minimal. As a young doctor she worked in Rafael's hospital, of course, it was expected, but after her marriage she went back to school and studied literature and history, focusing on Filipino literature and history. Rea becomes a respected writer, historian and advocate for Filipino art, and has a weekly column in the culture section of a widely read national paper. She's most well known for English and Tagalog translations of the work of Emilio Borromeo Alonzo, a lesser known poet and writer from Bulacan, who, in Rea's opinion, is a much better writer than Rizal because of his wit, subtlety and elegant language. Rea has written a handful of historical novels as well, which were praised for their extreme historical accuracy, but quietly laughed at in some circles for their prim didacticism. Despite her intellectualism, Rea is not a political radical or a flouncy barely-there hippie. She's a shrewd and sharp traditionalist who does not like to be contradicted.

Jaime Sidonia- Serafina's son, adopted by Rafael, much to Natalia's sporadically veiled displeasure. Good humored, a little vague, self-effacing but stubborn in the extreme. Occasionally he surfaces from his thoughts to deliver an exceedingly dry put down. He was in university studying to be an architect at about the same time that Santiago was ricocheting widely between departments, and becomes one with very little fuss. The family's good name allows him to enter an international firm with a branch in Manila where he works for a few years before leaving to become involved in the national cultural commission's projects of restoring mansions built in the vernacular style and the federal style government buildings that remain damaged from the bombardments of WW2. Jaime is now mostly a scholar of vernacular and Asian architecture, he's written books, presents lectures and teaches in university sometimes. He stays out of the family business although he has a seat on the board because he usually has no problems voting the way Rea wants him to vote.

Encarnacion (Chona) Lopez Sidonia- vivacious, frivolous, given over to strong passions, possibly one of the happiest of the Sidonia siblings. Chona was a respectable student, but doesn't count herself as an intellectual like some of her other siblings. Unexpectedly, she's also a doctor, a dermatologist, and sets up a successful practice in a fashionable Makati clinic, helping actresses and socialites clear up their breakouts and occasionally feeding glutathione into their veins for that mestiza paleness. Spurning putting up a practice in Rafael's beloved namesake of a hospital puts her out of favor for years, but she couldn't give less of damn (what was she going to do, offer whitening treatments to pig farmers?). She marries a surgeon, eventually divorces him. Currently she and her fiancé, John, own and manage the Manderley, the oldest hotel in SMDM, a rambling 19th century structure by the seafront boulevard that they're marketing as old world, a return to more graceful times.

Antonio Lopez Sidonia- Architect, industrial designer. Mercurial, melancholic, very kind but flippantly sarcastic and venomously funny when angry. School was difficult for him; he was extremely bright but sensitive, the slightest upset at home would make it impossible for him to focus on his work and he often got into fights and would act out outrageously. Despite that he managed to graduate with honors (after moving high schools) and enrolled into a competitive architecture and design program in university. He had to fight himself, his addictions and the black void of depression to get his degree. His first remarkable project came about as a kind of joke; a month or so before graduation he was in Palawan with some school friends and their older, more sophisticated siblings and their friends when one of them idly began to speculate about building a vacation home on his family's cliff side property. Antonio said it could easily be done, and two years later the elegant construction of glass, local wood and indigenous rock is featured in architects' magazines and mentioned in society papers as the work of a rising new talent. Antonio begins to build homes for the wealthy, he champions the tropical modernist movement, insists on using local materials and craftsmanship and incorporates contemporary versions of traditional Filipino designs into his work. He's difficult to work with, he changes his plans midway through construction, building is slow and he is expensive, but the end result, most feel, is well worth it. His forays into commercial work is a disaster because he refuses to compromise his working methods for a corporate bottom line. All this time Antonio is bedeviled by a love for contraband pharmaceuticals and crushing unhappiness, and there are months and sometimes years when he doesn't work at all. He declares bankruptcy once, is practically homeless several times. There are rumors of primitive asylums, extremely expensive treatments at high end sanitariums. In his later years he's found a semblance of peace and has returned to live on Negros Island, on the occidental side, far enough away from his family to spare him their venom but close enough to fulfill his duties on the board of the corporation. His current project is building affordable sustainable housing in collaboration with a foreign multinational, and he helps his favorite niece, Ava, with the construction of her own home.

Ciela Maria Lopez Sidonia-Pangilinan- The family beauty and the brainy one, she would thank everyone to remember that. She excels in school, and for her pre medicine course she doesn't simply enroll in a relatively easy science-medical degree, but some obscure molecular biochemistry honors program. Afterwards, a fast-tracked medical program, and then a masters in hospital management. Ciela makes sure to remind her siblings that she's never flubbed her schooling the way some of them have, and in almost any business related argument she trots out her credentials; clearly she's the most learned and so they should bow to her expertise. Ciela returns to Santa Maria in bouyant spirits after she collects her masters. She imagines modernizing Rafael's hospital, changing the system top to bottom, making it more efficient and bringing it up to primary, western standards. She won't stop there, and is dedicated to doing the same for the plantation, and can already imagine the gratitude and admiration of her family. Smart, good and beautiful Ciela. It doesn't go the way she imagined; she and Rafael fight, a lot. She insists (she never raises her voice) she shows him her textbooks and manuals, spends money on new equipment, changes policies and hires staff without asking, Rafael calls her stupid and walang-alam. They row for months, the entire family is involved one way or the other, Ciela cries, engages her elder sisters in long phone calls, alternates between cajoling and scolding her father. Eventually Ciela leaves, returns to Manila and makes what is, arguably, the most successful marriage amongst her sisters, to the scion of a massive pharmaceutical company. Still, Ciela can't help trying to make herself necessary to the family business. She acquires a phd in health sciences, visits her family regularly, tries to offer this or that innovation to Rafael, who laughs at her and rebuffs her. Now that she's on the board of the Sidonia corporation she's aggressively (but in a ladylike way) trying to acquire the position of COO, despite her lack of practical experience and shaky grasp on the realities of running a business.

Ricardo Lopez Sidonia- the youngest, and full on family disaster. No one can say, exactly, how Ricky passes both grade school and high school but he does. He moves from one humanities degree to another, claims he wants to be a novelist, a filmmaker, a painter, a pilot. Eventually he drops out of school permanently. Cheerful, clever, indolent and entitled, Ricky skates through life on the generosity of his parents. He doesn't care that his father calls him a fool, a useless parasite etc etc. he figures Rafael owes him his money for being a shitty dad and an all around fucked up human being, and it's not like they'll ever put him out on the street, they're too proud for that. Ricky dabbles in various businesses without ever making a success out of them, despite them being business that would yield a respectable profit if he stuck with them. Gas stations, convenience stores. Once, assisted by Ciela, he attempts to sell medical equipment, and also gets into several businesses with stoner school buddies who eventually got their shit together for adulthood. Ricky's too lazy to stick with anything; he's too lazy to be a proper junkie, even. Fond of luxury goods, the latest smartphone etc but he doesn't take good care of these things. He gives them away when bored. Nowadays he occasionally shows up to his job as assistant hospitality manager for one of his nephew, Isidro's resorts, but really everyone knows it's not an actual job, it's an excuse for him to hang out with guests, take them out on the lake and smoke a blunt or five.

Plus:

Serafina and Angelica Sidonia- Rafael's younger sisters. For a time they both lived with their mother in one of the homes in the San Diego compound, out of sight of the big house. No one knows whether they're full or half siblings. For a time it was the only thing the townspeople of San Diego could talk about, and even years later it's still a topic to dredge up on hot afternoons when the latest gossip is thin. Angelica marries, Serafina does not. Angelica's husband dies young, but not before she bears him a son, Felipe, who goes on the become head overseer of the plantation and assistant to Rafael. Serafina has two children out of wedlock, Jaime and Maximiliano. The father might as well be the devil himself or an enkanto, that's how much people know of their paternity. In their old age Serafina and Angelica become intensely reclusive, and still dwell in the same house they were given to live in by their brother.

Asterio Sidonia Cabahug- the youngest of the Sidonia siblings, from his mother's marriage to a rice planter and dealer. Lumpish and obedient, but not overly intelligent. He oversees the Sidonia's roll on-roll off port.

#Sidonias #PT #I feel like I forgot someone #a wholeass telenovela #and yet its only background info lmao

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finestfantasyxii · 6 years

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Final Fantasy XII Character Information

Disclaimer: All information is from official sources such as the ultimanias, merchandise like the official XII pins, and the websites, game guides, etc.

If a character’s age is different in the Japanese version compared to the Western version, the Japanese version will be listed first.

The character descriptions in Japanese can be located here.

Sky Pirate’s Den sprites are ripped by Shard of Truth. Revenant Wings sprites are ripped by Barubary. Pictlogica sprites are from Square Enix Bridge.

This post will be updated over time when we get around to all the ultimanias and such.

MAIN CHARACTERS

VAAN

Age: 17 (XII) 18 (RW)

Height: 170cm or ~5′5″ or 5′6″

Quickenings: Red Spiral, White Whorl, Pyroclasm

Eye Colour: Gray-Blue

Descriptions:

(NA Game Manual and website) "A boy who sees freedom in the skies." Living in the Rabanastre slums, Vaan maintains an air of hope even under the oppressive rule of the Empire. But he longs for more: a life without borders or authority. He dreams of becoming a sky pirate, free to go where he will.

(NA TZA website) Living in the Rabanastre slums, Vaan maintains an air of hope even under the oppressive rule of the Empire. But he longs for more: a life without borders or authority. He dreams of becoming a sky pirate, free to go where he will—though the loss of his family weighs heavy on his heart.

(Itadaki Street Portable) A bright-eyed boy who still dreams of being an airship pirate as his hometown falls beneath the Empire's mighty fist. Even after Dalmasca was taken control of by the Empire, Vaan maintains a positive attitude. His late brother was his only immediate family, so he took to caring for the younger children. Vaan dreams of becoming an airship pirate, flying freely in the sky.

(Piggyback Strategy Guide) He lost his family during the war and is now living as a cutpurse in the Lowtown district of the Royal City of Rabanastre. Even though life under the rule of the Empire isn't easy, the 17-year-old boy looks to the future with an air of hope. He dreams of one day becoming a Sky Pirate, with his own airship to command.

(Bradygames Strategy Guide & PrimaGames) After losing his parents to the plague and his brother Reks to treachery and war, Vaan is now a child of the streets. He's now a leader of a sub-culture of war orphans who roam the slums of Rabanastre.

(Bradygames Revenant Wings Strategy Guide) Vaan has spent most of his young life dreaming of being a sky pirate. Recent remarkable events (chronicled in Final Fantasy XII) have made that dream come true. But a seemingly simple treasure hunt with old allies Fran and Balthier unleashes a mind-boggling chain of events. Vaan loses one airship, gains another, and hurtles skyward with his friends on an adventure to an ancient sky continent.

(Revenant Wings manual) A young sky pirate whose journey throughout Ivalice have taught him so much. At last the captain of his own airship, Vaan travels the skies in search of adventure.

(Tactics A2) Final Fantasy XII's leading man. Tempered by his many adventures, Vaan has matured in the intervening years, but he remains spirited and carefree—some might say careless. Now famous sky pirates, he and his partner, Penelo, even find themselves plagued by impostors.

(Opera Omnia) An orphan from the Kingdom of Dalmasca who dreams of becoming a sky pirate. While he despised the empire for taking his brother's life, he was helpless until a twist of fate brought him and Princess Ashe together. Along with his childhood friend, Penelo, and the sky pirate, Balthier, he sets out on a cosmic journey to free their homeland.

(Dissidia 012) A cheerful youth who skillfully uses a variety of weapons in battle. Confident in his skills, he fearlessly enters any fierce battle.

Misc:

Both Ashe and Vaan were used during the production of Final Fantasy XIII to stand in for unfinished characters.

PENELO

Age: 16 (XII), 17 (RW) ; 17 (XII), 18 (RW)

Height: 160cm or ~5′2″

Quickenings: Intercession, Evanescence, Resplendence, Dance of Rapture

Eye Colour: Honey Brown

Descriptions:

(OG NA Game Manual and website) "Vaan's friend." "A girl who wants peace." Like Vaan, Penelo calls Rabanastre's Lowtown home. She watches over Vaan, trying to keep him from getting into too much trouble. Though she lost her family in the war with the Empire, Penelo is ever cheerful, making her way by doing odd jobs in and around the city. She enjoys the lighter side of life, but Penelo is not altogether unfamiliar with battle. While she remains untested in a true fight, her brothers, who belonged to the Order, taught her the fundamentals of combat. Penelo believes that in perseverance, there is hope.

(NA TZA website) A young woman who suffered the tragic loss of her family during the war, Penelo is Vaan’s friend since childhood and always looks out for him. She is brave and will not lose sight of herself, even when she gets caught up in a conspiracy that will shake a nation.

(Itadaki Street Portable) A girl orphaned by the war. Penelo tries to maintain a good attitude. She knows martial arts, but prefers to dance. Childhood friend of Vaan, born into a wealthy merchant family, but orphaned during the war. Penelo likes to sing and dance, but also knows martial arts - as her brothers had wanted to become knights. Penelo has a cheerful spirit that encourages the people around her.

(Piggyback Strategy Guide) 16-year-old Penelo lives in the Lowtown district of Rabanastre like Vaan, and makes her living by running errands for a respected merchant called Migelo. This cheerful girl acts as if she was Vaan's elder sister,always trying to keep him out of trouble. Despite her youth, she doesn't shy away from combat thanks to the tricks her brothers taught her.

(Bradygames Strategy Guide & PrimaGames) Penelo loves Vaan like a brother. Her own parents, who were lost in the recent war, took in Vaan after his loss and raised him as one of their own. She sees the natural leader in him, even if he doesn't quite see it himself.

(Bradygames Revenant Wings Strategy Guide) She may be the "mother hen" of the group and her cooking may be suspect, but Penelo is an unspoken leader of Rabanastre's subculture of war orphans. Her steady, healing support abilities make her an indispensable member of every battle party.

(Revenant Wings manual) Vaan's childhood friend, always there to lend a helping hand--or a proper scolding. Penelo is ever the faithful navigator, even when Vaan strays off course in new (and alarming) ways.

(Tactics A2) Vaan's steadfast partner, Penelo sometimes gently—but more often severely—keeps him from staying too far off course. Already a famed sky pirate, she is also fast gaining renown as a skillful dancer.

(Opera Omnia) A cheerful young girl taken under the wing of local shopkeeper Migelo after being orphaned in the war. Her concern for Vaan leads to her first encounter with the sky pirate, Balthier, and a misunderstanding which pits her in a battle against Archadia. Penelo learned martial arts from her elder brothers and dreams of becoming a dancer.

Misc:

Originally her hair colour was meant to be a kind of pinkish colour. In the Final Fantasy XII Ultimania Omega, Akihiko Yoshida says he originally designed her with pink hair, but there were problems with the color in-game, it looked washed-out(?), so he gave her blonde hair instead.

There is a translation out there for one of her Japanese character description that says she only has one brother whereas other translations including localized ones say she has more than one. Both say they were part of the Order.

In Revenant Wings, Penelo is said to be a terrible cook at the start of the game. So much so that Vaan and Kytes can’t stomach eating all of it, but do it anyways to make her happy. By the time Larsa joins the group, Penelo has improved a lot to the point Larsa loves her cooking so much, he buys (or upgrades) her diner in the Galbana. By the end of the game, she’s improved substantially.

Basch and Penelo are the only ones of the main cast of characters to not have a Play Arts/Play Arts Kai figure for them.

In the original Japanese version of Final Fantasy XII, Penelo’s kidnapping scene is not present. Producer Akitoshi Kawazu said in an interview, it was because of a ratings issue, and there were similarities between Penelo’s kidnapping and real-world incidents in Japan at the time.

Penelo’s English voice actor, Catherine Taber, also voices Queen Andoria Kaya Tranka Fam Forturio from Final Fantasy Type-0 HD.

Penelo and Vaan’s relationship is developed further in Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. Penelo, also, mentions how she wants their relationship to be like Fran and Balthier’s.

In the Revenant Wings Ultimania and the Final Fantasy XII Scenario Ultimania, Penelo is referred to as Vaan’s girlfriend.

BALTHIER

Full Name: Ffamran “Balthier” Mied Bunansa

Age: 22 (XII), 23 (RW)

Height: 183cm or 6′

Quickenings: Fires of War, Tides of Fate, Element of Treachery

Eye Colour: Hazel-Green

Descriptions:

(OG NA game manual and website) "A dashing sky pirate." He would describe himself as a noble thief, stealing only from those who deserve it. He goes where he pleases, swearing fealty to no one. While roaming the skies of Ivalice with Fran, his viera partner, he still makes time to charm the ladies with his silver tongue and put wrongs to right-grinning all the while.

(NA TZA website) Balthier would describe himself as a noble thief, stealing only from those who deserve it. While roaming the skies of Ivalice, he still makes time to charm the ladies with his silver tongue and put wrongs to right—grinning all the while. And yet he has not entirely escaped from the demons of his past...

(Itadaki Street Portable) A young airship pirate who only steals from those he deems as wicked. His success attributes to his ally, Fran, and his airship, the Strahl. Pilot and commander of the airship, the Strahl, along with his partner, Fran, of the Viera race. Balthier threw away his past and ties to become a self-proclaimed righteous pirate. He smiles fearlessly without panic, even in dangerous situations. Ashe and Vaan meet him a local market.

(Piggyback Strategy Guide) Balthier is exactly what Vaan longs to become: a Sky Pirate. This handsome man, 22 years of age, roams the skies of Ivalice together with his Viera partner, Fran. With a gambler's love for risk-taking and a healthy disregard for the rules, he considers himself to be a good old-fashioned adventurer.

(Bradygames Strategy Guide & PrimaGames) A man of wit, charm and a mysterious past, Balthier owes allegiance to no crown or council. He prowls the skies of Ivalice with his partner Fran in search of treasure and perhaps something else...

(Bradygames Revenant Wings Strategy Guide) Captain of the legendary vessel named the Strahl, Balthier has become the most famous (and infamous) sky pirate of modern times in Ivalice. After reluctantly taking Vaan under his wing, he now faces a new and unsettling menance while teaching young apprentice that things are not always as they seem...

(Revenant Wings manual) Legendary sky pirate who flies his beloved airship, the Strahl, to the ends of Ivalice. He stepped from a limelight at the great war's end, keeping his whereabouts well hidden.

(Opera Omnia) A youthful sky pirate deeply attached to the wide blue yonder who roams the world with his partner, Fran. In an unexpected turn of events, he meets Vaan and gets caught up in a quest to restore Dalmasca. Although a man of charm and wit, he becomes highly sensitive when people bring up his past or father.

(Tactics WotL) A sky pirate who owes allegiance to no man or country. His skills as a machinist and thief are second to none. Balthier, branded a heretic by the Church, is searching for the Cache of Glabados. His path crosses Ramza’s when a false lead intended for him ensnares the young Beoulve as well.

Misc:

According to the Final Fantasy wiki, He and Doctor Cid were meant to have a conversation shown between the two of them during Balthier’s past when he was a Judge; the audio for this is still present on the Japanese version of the original Final Fantasy XII, but has been removed from later versions. However because there is a lack of sources for this, please take this with a grain of salt until someone can retrieve it from the game disc.

There is also a model of Balthier present in the data as a prisoner in Nalbina dungeons. This model was later reused for Basch with a simple head-swap.

Balthier shares his last name with Mustadio and Besrudio Bunansa from Final Fantasy Tactics.

Balthier’s Japanese voice actor, Hiroaki Hirata, is the voice of Captain Jack Sparrow in Kingdom Hearts II as well as Sanji from One Piece.

In The Zodiac Age, Balthier’s hair, earrings, and clothing did not move similar to Basch with his hair. This had been fixed for the PC release.

FRAN

Age: ~23-27 in Hume years*

Height: 187cm (6′1″) without her ears and 216cm (7′1″) with her ears

Quickenings: Feral Strike, Whip Kick, Shatterheart, Gaze of the Void

Eye Colour: Red-Brown

Descriptions:

(OG NA game manual and website) "A master of weapons." A viera warrior, Fran is as much at ease with a sword as she is her bare hands. Her proficiency with a blade is matched only by her skill with a wrench, as she also handles the maintenance of Balthier's airship, the Strahl. The lifespan of the viera is far greater than that of humes, and many secrets lie hidden in her long history. Yet, the divide of race does nothing to diminish the bond of trust between her and Balthier.

(NA TZA website) A viera warrior who forsook her forest home for the life of a sky pirate. Fran's prowess in battle is matched only by her skill with a wrench, as she also handles the maintenance of Balthier's airship, the Strahl. Her silent, inscrutable air belies a strong inner spirit and a readiness to risk anything to protect her hard-won freedom.

(Itadaki Street Portable) A member of the Viera race with a mastery of any weapon. Fran's sharp sense and knowledge of airships are invaluable to Balthier. A female Viera warrior with knowledge in weaponry and mechanics. She is in charge of maintainence of Balthier's airship, the Strahl. Fran is a calm person who makes wise decisions using her sharp senses. She trusts Balthier strongly.

(Piggyback Strategy guide) Fran is Balthier's "business partner". Amongst other things, she handles the maintenance of their airship, the Strahl. Although her age is unknown, she belongs to the Viera, who are distinguished by (among other things) their remarkable longevity.

(Bradygames Strategy guide & PrimaGames) A Viera female with a strong sensitivity to the Mist, Fran is a loyal partner and co-pilot to Balthier. She's quite a formidable warrior and a mechanic to boot. Her adjustment to the greater world since abandoning the forest dwellings of her race is nearly complete. But can one ever completely forsake the voice of the Wood?

(Bradygames Revenant Wings Strategy guide) The beautiful and mysterious viera is the longtime co-pilot and partner of Balthier. Her remarkable connection to the Mist that surrounds all life gives her an almost mystical ability to see the paths that must be taken... or avoided. Ignore her "feelings" at your peril!

(Revenant Wings manual) Mysterious and quiet, as viera are to be, Fran shares a bond of unshakable trust with her fellow sky pirate and partner, Balthier.

Misc:

*The official scenario ultimania lists Jote (the oldest of the Viera sisters) in the Hume equivalent of her 30s, and Mrjn (the youngest) in the equivalent of her late teens, around 18-20. This would put Fran (the middle sister) most likely anywhere between the equivalent ages of 21-29 / 23-27 in Hume years.

Fran shares her Japanese voice actor, Rika Fukami, with Sailor Venus/Minako Aino from the original Sailor Moon anime in Japan.

Fran makes an appearance in the Final Fantasy: Lost Stranger manga.

ASHE

Full Name: Ashelia B’nargin Dalmasca

Age: 17 (Beginning of XII), 19 (XII), 20 (RW)

Height: 165cm or 5′4″

Quickenings: Northswain's Glow, Heaven's Wrath, Maelstrom's Bolt, Empyrean's Edict

Eye Colour: Gray

Descriptions:

(OG NA game manual and website) "A princess who had lost everything." The only child of King Raminas and sole heir to the Dalmascan throne, Ashe is believed dead following the invasion. She meets Vaan and the others under the most unlikely of circumstances. Ashe knows all too well she lacks the power to right the wrongs committed against her and her kingdom, but she will not allow herself to admit defeat.

(NA TZA website) The only child of King Raminas and sole heir to the Dalmascan throne, Ashe is believed to have taken her own life two years ago amidst the invasion. In truth, she lives, secretly leading the Resistance with the hope that she will one day reclaim her kingdom.

(Itadaki Street Portable) Sole heir to the Dalmascan throne. Ashe fights alongside her people against the Empire's expanding control. In a small country that connects the Valendia and Ordalia continents, the surviving heir to the Dalmascan throne is the King's only daughter. As the country lowers its resistence to the oncoming threat of the Empire, Ashe feels it is her duty to save it. She is a worriful girl who often feels outright helpless.

(Piggyback Strategy Guide) The 19-year-old Princess Ashe is the only child of the late King Raminas and the sole heiress to the throne of Dalmasca. After the Empire invaded her home country, it was announced that she took her own life. Thankfully, reports of her death were greatly exaggerated. Her goal is now to form a resistance that will be able to reclaim her country's sovereignty.

(Bradygames Strategy Guide & PrimaGames) The daughter of the Dalmascan king and heir to the throne, Lady Ashe first loses her newlywed husband Rasler and then her country to the Archadian juggernaut. The official story is that she took her own life in the aftermath of the Imperial conquest. However, resistance is in her blood, as is the legacy of the Dynast-King.

(Bradygames Revenant Wings Strategy Guide) Heir to the legacy of the great Dynast-Kings of Dalmasca, Lady Ashe now sits on the throne of the ancient kingdom. A great warrior in her own right, she teams with Basch to form a formidable duo of unshakeable allies.

Misc:

Did you know many sources have said Ashe is an only child, but others have said she has at least 8 older brothers?

In the data for Final Fantasy XII, there is a ‘ghost’ model of Ashe among her other models. It is similar to how Rasler appears in the game outside of FMVs.

Both Ashe and Vaan were used during the production of Final Fantasy XIII to stand in for unfinished characters.

Ashe’s menu portrait is taken from her promotional poster, and not her official render like everyone else.

Ashe shares her English voice actor, Kari Wahlgren, with Aranea Highwind from Final Fantasy XV, Shelke from Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- and Ovelia Atkascha in Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. Her Japanese voice actor, Mie Sonozaki, voices Jihl Nabaat from Final Fantasy XIII.

In the Final Fantasy XII Ultimania Omega, Akihiko Yoshida says he had many different designs for Ashe and isn’t sure how he came to design(?)/decide(?) on her current one.

BASCH

Full Name: Basch fon Ronsenburg

Age: 36 (XII), 37 (RW)

Height: 180cm or 5′9″

Quickenings: Fulminating Darkness, Ruin Impendent, Flame Purge, Apocalypse Shield

Eye Colour: Blue-Gray

Descriptions:

(OG NA game manual and website) "A loyal knight branded as traitor." A captain in the Order of the Knights of Dalmasca, Basch achieved renown as a gallant and brave hero credited with countless victories on the battlefield. He is a man of justice who cannot abide inequity. Unlike the other captains, who are chosen from the aristocracy, Basch is of common blood and enjoys the love of the people, until he inexplicably murders the King on the eve of a treaty-signing with Archadia. He is led away in chains. What could drive so loyal a man to slay his oathsworn liege?

(NA TZA website) A Dalmascan knight and captain once celebrated as a gallant and brave hero, Basch shocked the realm two years ago when he assassinated his own king on the eve of a treaty-signing with Archadia. Though public records say he was executed for treason, in truth Basch yet lives, imprisoned deep in the dungeons.

(Itadaki Street Portable) A wise warrior of Dalmasca. His prowess and dedication earns him overwhelming support from the people he serves. Warrior of the old Dalmasca Kingdom. His name is known amongst the generals. Once honored as a hero, Basch has been accused of the assassination of the Dalmascan King. After being released two years later, he protects Ashe, the remaining heir to the throne. Basch cares little for himself, believing only in justice.

(Piggyback Strategy Guide) 36-year-old Basch was a captain in the Order of the Knights of Dalmasca. A veteran of many battles, he was considered a brave and valiant knight, until an inexplicable event led to him being branded a traitor to his country. However, there may be more to him than meets the eye.

(Bradygames Strategy Guide & PrimaGames) This great hero of Dalmasca, captain of the Order of Knights, now stands accused of the assassination of his oathsworn liege, King Raminas. Word is that Basch saw the King's attempt to sue for peace with Archadia as a betrayal of the kingdom. But is that word true?

(Bradygames Revenant Wings Strategy Guide) The great captain of the Dalmascan Order of Knights and personal bodyguard of Queen Ashe, Basch is as steadfast and loyal as he is deadly with a melee weapon. His abilities can literally add a shield of protection to any party under siege.

Misc:

In Dissidia and Dissidia 012, Gabranth has an alternate outfit called “Captain’s Gear” which is a reference to the beginning of Final Fantasy XII when he impersonated Basch and killed King Raminas.

Basch and Penelo are the only ones of the main cast of characters to not have a Play Arts/Play Arts Kai figure for them.

In Japan, Basch’s title in the Order is general whereas in the English version, he is a captain.

Basch and Gabranth are twins, and Basch is the oldest and Gabranth is the youngest.

In The Zodiac Age, Basch’s hair is glitched in that it doesn’t move like the other party members. In the PC release this was fixed.

In the Japanese version of Final Fantasy XII during the scene when Reks is stabbed, Basch and Gabranth’s voices overlay leaving an air of mystery about who killed the king, but in the English version, there is no overlay. Gabranth is the one who speaks, not Gabranth and Basch.

OTHER CHARACTERS

REKS

Age: 17-18 (XII)

Eye Colour: Pale Blue

Misc:

Jovy, a seeq in Nalbina, eventually tells Vaan that his hero was Reks and that he looked up to him.

Reks’s Blade can be obtained by Vaan in Dissidia 012.

Reks shares his Japanese voice actor with Cecil Harvey from the Dissidia series and Final Fantasy IV 3D remake.

GABRANTH

Full Name: Noah fon Ronsenburg

Age: 36 (XII)

Eye Colour: Hazel

Descriptions:

(Dissidia) A warrior who swears his life to those he trusts.

(Dissidia 012) The guardian of the law who presides over judgments of life and death, his true strength is realized when he dons his helm.

Misc:

The most expensive piece of merchandise for Final Fantasy XII is a replica of Gabranth’s helmet.

According to Destructoid.com, it was around $1100. Play-Asia lists its size at 360mm.

Square Enix has also made a life-size replica of Gabranth’s armor.

In both Dissidia and Dissidia 012, Gabranth is voiced by Keith Ferguson who voices Basch instead of Michael E. Rodgers who voiced Gabranth in Final Fantasy XII.

REDDAS

Full Name: Foris “Reddas” Zecht

Age: 33 (XII)

Misc:

Reddas shares his English voice actor with Ramza Beoulve from Final Fantasy Tactics.

Reddas is younger than both Basch and Gabranth by three years.

AL-CID

Full Name: Al-Cid Margrace

Age: 27

Descriptions: (

Tactics A2) One of the Margrace family who controls Rozarria. Masters of espionage who travel the world in search of information. They are well known for keeping a woman, or several, in every port.

Misc:

Al-Cid is not seen in Revenant Wings, but is mentioned by Ashe to Balthier that she visited Rozarria and the sunset from the Ambervale is beautiful.

Al-Cid is also in Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift and can be recruited after completing the quest A Dashing Duel.

His job class in Tactics is Agent and he cannot change jobs nor can he use support or reaction abilities.

Al-Cid shares his english voice actor, David Rasner, with Brother from Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2, as well as Trema from Final Fantasy X-2.

#final fantasy xii #vaan #penelo #fran #balthier #ashelia b'nargin dalmasca #basch fon ronsenburg #reddas #reks #gabranth #al cid margrace #ff12info

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