#i would post a snippet but i don't like chapter 1 so no snippet
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Big Sky Country - ch. 1
Cowboy!Frankie x OFC
Hi!
I'm really excited to post the first chapter of my new fic after posting a little snippet of it almost a month ago! In it we meet a cowboy version of Frankie as he returns to New York to patch things up with his "maybe girlfriend", but he also makes a connection with another woman, who makes this lost cowboy feel welcome in her Brooklyn bar.
No age gap, OFC story, angsty as fuck in parts, some smut, and I'm putting poor Frankie through hell again (I love him, I swear...)
And a big shout out and thank you to @i-own-loki who made the beautiful banner!
Warnings can be found here - contains spoilers but please read if you know certain themes may be upsetting for you. This fic is dark in parts and I don't want to upset anyone.
Series Master List
Main Master list
Prologue
The Greyhound bus rumbled away down the pin straight highway, heading west, towards the darkening mountain range. The sun slowly sank behind the highest peaks, soon their shadows would touch her feet. Looking back, east, towards a past she’d left on a whim, she sighed and let her eyes drift up to the indigo sky. Big sky country indeed.
So alien to her eyes, so open to someone used to living their life surrounded by tall buildings, busy people, small trees in small parks.
Here, the open prairie gave speed to the cold wind that hurtled down from the mountain range, whipping dirt from the road, tugging at her loose hair. She briefly closed her eyes against the particles of dust, inhaled deeply, tasting it on her tongue, dry grass in the air, a hint of snow from the mountains. No way back now, the bus too far away to stop. Only her duffel bag and a phone number, hoping he’d pick up and let her in.
He pressed his thumb to the button with her name, the taxi behind him rolling away down the crowded street. The buzz from the intercom added another layer of noise to the assault on his ears.
He dropped his hand.
Waited.
Glanced down the street, letting the tall steel and glass buildings pull his gaze upwards, to the thin sliver of dirty gray sky visible above them. With a sigh he dropped his eyes down, towards the end of the long street, where the buildings seemed to merge into one solid wall. He knew he was looking west, could feel it in his bones, in the way his feet wanted to start walking towards it. Towards the tall mountain range behind his home.
He pressed his thumb against the button with her name on it again, the buzzer grated his skin. He had a way back, nothing stopping him from hailing a cab, climbing back on the Greyhound and heading west again.
But she was here. If he wanted to make this work, he needed to be here.
Chapter One
A wall of warm air hit Frankie as he pulled open the door to the bar, chatter spilling out onto the street. His shoulders pulled up to his ears, the environment uncomfortable to him and he stopped just inside the door, scanning the room for something familiar apart from the smell of stale beer in the air. This bar was the first one he saw that looked like it would maybe serve someone like him, a Texas boy, fresh off the bus from Montana. He’s pretty sure he still has horse dung stuck to the bottom of his cowboy boots, his old army duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
The door behind him opened again, cold air hitting the nape of his neck under the ball cap.
“You growing roots, old man?”
The line is followed by a man snorting and a hand on Frankie’s arm, pushing him to the side. He would snap, bite back with a threatening remark, or at the very least fix the man with his most intimidating soldier scowl. But he just took two steps to the side, his shoulders creeping closer to his ears as he tugged at his cap, the movement unintentional, a nervous habit. He knew he was out of place here, a stranger.
The young man, a yellow backpack slung over his shoulder and long hair pulled into a bun, shoved his way past Frankie, catching the eye of the woman behind the bar.
“Hey, dickwad! Behave yourself or I’ll have you barred,” she barked, her eyebrows furrowed as she jabbed her finger at the man and he raised his hands in a weak gesture of apology as he sauntered towards the bar.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he snarked, heading towards a loud crowd further in, walking away and ignoring the frown from the woman. She turned her attention to Frankie instead and looked him up and down, an appraising look, before meeting his eyes.
“You coming or going, cowboy?”
“Uuh..coming,” he managed to press out, picking up his feet and walking to the bar. He felt heat creep up his neck at being so easily pegged as a cowboy, an out of towner, swallowing down the urge to turn on his heel and bolt out the door. He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and the woman behind it gave him a smile, setting down a coaster with a flick of her wrist.
“What can I get you? You look like you’ve traveled far.”
“Just a beer, thanks,” he said and she gave him a softer smile, pity flashing across her face.
“This is Brooklyn, cowboy, I’ve got twenty beers on tap and forty in bottles,” she said and he felt fatigue set in, can’t even order a normal fucking beer in this city. He sighed deeply, dropping his head between his shoulders. But the woman just chuckled in a low voice, tapping her hand on the bar just in front of him.
“Don’t despair, I’m a good bartender, I know what you’ll like.”
He picked up his head as she stepped away, grabbed a glass, and moved to a tap further down the bar. Shooting him a quick grin, she began to pull the pint, amber liquid filling the glass, topping off with a creamy white head. He watched her from under the bill of his cap, shouldn’t really appraise her, but he couldn't help it. The fitted jeans on her curves, and the faded bar uniform shirt tied at the waist instead of tucking it in, made his eyes drop down over her ass in a way a man trying to save his relationship with another woman should avoid. And she clocked him, checking her out when she turned towards him again, making him snap his eyes to his hands on the bar. Heat crept up his neck as he rubbed the small bullseye tattoo next to his thumb.
“Amber ale from a local brewery three blocks from here,” she said and placed the pint on the mat in front of him.
“Thanks,” he replied, watching the bubbles rise to the bottom of the head, “looks good.”
“One of my favorites, I’ve always had a soft spot for amber ale,” she nodded, picking up a cloth and returning to the never ending duty of cleaning glasses.
Frankie picked up the glass and took a long sip, humming as the ale slipped down his throat.
“Damn,” he said, “that’s good, that’s really good.”
“Told you,” the woman smiled at him and he gave her a quick smile in return before he took another sip.
She watched him from the corner of her eye as she moved around the bar, clean glasses getting wiped and stacked. Clearly a newcomer to the city, she’d called him ‘cowboy’ and he hadn’t protested, the boots and the duffel bag giving him away, even before she saw his uneasy eyes roam around the bar and his nervous shuffle. She’s used to assessing anyone who stepped in through the door, the loud ones, the quiet ones, the ones who are only coming to make trouble.
This man was one of the quiet ones, she doesn’t think he’s loud even when he’s in his own element, surrounded by friends.
As he took another long drink from his pint, she turned and picked up glass, catching his eyes on her. She smiled warmly at him, wanting to make him feel welcome, at least in this bar. The city outside is usually brutal to newcomers, and this one seemed to carry more of a burden than most.
“So you’re new to the city?” she asked him, moving back to his side of the bar, pushing long strands of ginger red hair back behind her ears before wiping another glass.
“Yeah, came in on the bus a few hours ago,” he replied and she nodded. He doesn’t look like he flew into the city, he’s got the tired face of someone who's spent too many hours leaning against a window, watching the Midwest slip past. But underneath the tired eyes there’s a warmth, a softness in the way he gives her a small crooked smile that makes a dimple appear on his right cheek.
“Spent two fucking days on it,” he sighed, rubbing a large hand over his face before he lifted his cap and swept his thick curls back. She was temporarily mesmerized by how they bounced back around his ears as he squashed the cap back down.
“Two days? Where did you come from, Texas?” she asked, her eyes widening at the thought of spending two whole days on a bus, but he shook his head.
“No, I think Texas is like three days, I came from Montana,” he took another long drag of his beer.
“I’m guessing this isn’t a weekend trip then”, she quipped, putting down the cloth, all the glasses done, and leaned back on the counter behind her. There’s more work to be done but the stranger chuckled softly at her joke and it pulled her in, making her smile in return.
“No, I’m here to stay with someone, my..ah-a friend, of sorts,” he said, “Gonna see if I can find some work around here, try a different type of life.”
“What do you do?” she asked, “Maybe I know someone who knows someone, that’s usually how it works here.”
“Back in Montana I work with horses, on a ranch,” he replied, rubbing his thumb over the condensation on the beer glass, “Before that, I was a mechanic, cars, helicopters, anything really, I can usually fix it.”
“That’s a pretty handy skill,” she replied, sounding impressed and he gave a little shrug, as if the ability to fix helicopters was something inconsequential, “I’m sure you’ll find work, especially if you can fix old cars, lots of those around here.”
She turned and grabbed a notepad from next to the till, “What’s your name and number? I’ll keep it on hand and ask around for you.”
“Really?” He sounded surprised as he sat up a bit straighter, “Uh yeah, I’m Frankie, Frankie Morales.”
“Nice to meet you, Frankie,” she smiled back at him and slid the notepad across the bar, “Write it down, and your number. I can’t promise anything, and I’m not recommending you to anyone, I’ll just let them know you’re looking for work.”
“Yeah, sure, of course, but anything helps,” he replied, grabbing the pen and jotting down his information.
“What’s your name?” he asked, as he passed the notepad back to her.
“Aisling,” she replied, slipping it in next to the till again.
“Do you own this place,” he asked, looking around the bar. When he looked back at her she was shaking her head.
“No, not at all, I’m just the bartender,” she said, “Give me a minute, I’m just gonna serve these guys.” She gave him a quick smile and headed down the bar to two men who had just sat down.
Frankie watched her as she took their orders, smiling and laughing easily as she pulled a beer for one of them. The men, her age, are both hanging on to her every word as she makes a joke, the blonde one clapping the other one on the shoulder with a loud howl. She winked at him and turned, reaching for a bottle on the top shelf to serve the other man. As she stood on her tiptoes, stretching to reach, her shirt rose up, a soft sliver of creamy skin exposed in the dim light of the bar. Frankie couldn’t help but stare at the glimpse black underwear peeking out above the edge of her jeans, a flash of lace, his mouth suddenly dry as his cock reacted. He dipped his head, but couldn't keep his eyes away, she swayed on her tiptoes, refusing to get the stepladder and her breasts pressed against the shirt as it rode up higher. Frankie had an image of her underneath him, all that soft flesh, warm and smooth under his rough palms, sweet smelling and whimpering.
She managed to slide the bottle off the shelf and grab a glass. Frankie peeled his eyes away, looking down at the now empty pint in his hands, pressed his thumb into the tattoo, forcing his thoughts in another direction. At the end of the bar, Aisling rang up the customers’ order and wiped down the bar before coming back towards him.
“Do you want another?” she asked, nodding towards the empty glass. Frankie considered it for a beat and then shook his head. He wanted a clear head when he went back to the apartment, he needed to say the right things to save the relationship with the woman who lived there. He already knew that not even in his head could he bring himself to call her ‘girlfriend’, he’s far from sure that’s what she is anymore, not with the way they left it.
“No, I can’t,” he said, “It was good though, what do I owe you?”
“Fourteen fifty,” Aisling replied and he tried not to cough at the price as he pulled his wallet from the back of his jeans.
She took his bills and he left her a tip on the bar that she deposited in the tip jar with a smile.
“Uhm…tell me,” Frankie said, absentmindedly tugging at his cap, “Do I really look that much like a cowboy?”
Aisling’s smile softened as she heard his nervous question, “Well…yeah, the cowboy boots are kinda a give away,” she replied, “It doesn’t exactly look like it’s a fashion choice, and the whole jeans, suede jacket, belt buckle look…” She motioned over his body as Frankie’s eyes dropped down to his jeans and belt, hidden from view by the counter.
“You’re good,” he said, a small chuckle escaping him, “You got all that just from when I came in?”
“Tricks of the trade,” she replied, “I need to know who steps into the bar and read them quickly.”
“So you assessed me as soon as I walked in? What else did you pick up on?” He was curious now and leaned forward on the counter as she laughed.
“Well, I’m cheating because we’ve been talking for a bit now. But you do look ‘new in town’ and I’d say ex-army maybe?”
“I guess the duffel bag gave it away?” Frankie smiled, glancing down at the old bag at his feet.
“No, they’re ten dollars at the army surplus stores,” Aisling replied, shaking her head, “But you sat down with your back against a corner, and I bet you can tell me exactly where the exits are and how many people are in here and which ones could give you trouble.”
Frankie raised his eyebrows in surprise at her and she shrugged.
“You’ve been scanning the room since you walked in.”
“Yeah, you’re not wrong,” he replied, letting his eyes roam across the room again, it’s instinct at this point, inherited from years in the army, “I quit the army years ago but it’s a habit I can’t seem to drop.”
“What did you do? Mechanic?” Aisling asked and Frankie shook his head.
“Helicopter pilot, which means I had to be able to fix anything, but mainly I flew things, anything really.”
Aisling gave him a closer second look and the pieces fell into place, his quiet demeanor, the way he held himself, not exactly folded in on himself, but as if he was trying to stay unseen and not be noticed unless he wanted to be. A strong, solid body gone slightly soft with age, betrayed by the gray in his beard and hair, small white scars across his knuckles, evidence of old injuries.
“What?” he asked as he noticed her eyes scanning him.
“Just building the picture,” she said, a small crooked smile, “You know us bartenders, always trying to figure out the story of our patrons.”
“Not much of a story,” he said, tugging at his cap and hiding his eyes, “just new in town, looking for work.”
“Everyone has a story, Frankie Morales.”
He shrugged at that and fumbled for his phone as it began to ring. Aisling gave him a quick smile and stepped away to let him answer in private.
Frankie’s jaw ticked as he saw the name on the screen, Eva. He’s been expecting her to call since he left her front door. Their front door, maybe. The truth is, he doesn’t know where they stand anymore. They’d met in Florida, after a doomed mission to South America that left so much pain inside him, and a rift between old friends. She’d been a calming presence, someone who seemed to have his back when his mind spiraled out of control. But she hadn’t been enough, being in Florida became oppressive, and it wasn’t just the humid heat. The old haunts from the days he’d spent trying to numb his brain with white powder, bars and venues filled with memories of the friends he’d lost, both those who’d died and those who still lived, it all became claustrophobic.
When Herb, his sponsor at the NA, first invited him to the ranch in Montana he’d scoffed at the idea. He was a pilot, not a ranch hand. But after a close call, nearly falling back into the habit, he’d taken him up on the offer and gone out there for two weeks. Herb had convinced him by talking about the clear, cool air making it easy to breathe, the open sky making the mind feel less claustrophobic. And he’d been right. The first evening they’d sat on the porch, the mountains at their back, the open prairie in front, and Frankie had looked up at the endless sky and it was almost as if he was back in a cockpit, flying close to the stars. Nothing encroached on his mind, no buzz in his ears, nothing tugged at his memories, just the open sky and an endless horizon.
The two weeks of hard ranch work, aching muscles, blistered hands, sealed the deal. If he wanted to truly start over, he needed to leave Florida and come here.
Eva had been enthusiastic at first, pulled in by Frankie’s talk of the horses, a new foal that had just been born, the small cabin they’d live in. He’d shared the pictures he’d taken, all rustic beams, sturdy wood furniture and a hammock on the porch. It looked like a romantic western dream and that’s what they both really thought it would be. And for the first few months they were happy.
But when Frankie found peace and calm in the solitude of the isolated ranch, felt free and unrestricted, she began to feel claustrophobic and suffocated. The nearest town, a forty-five minute drive away, didn’t offer much of anything. She found work online and began to resent the life he’d trapped her in. That was the word she’d used, trapped. When the fights became a daily occurrence, Frankie felt the familiar itch of wanting to escape come back. Starting, as always, in his feet and crawling up his body until he spent more time out on the ranch than in the cabin. And for every hour he stayed away, Eva resented their life more, resented him more.
Until eventually, one late evening when he came back after five days on the trails with a group of guests from a neighboring ranch, she’d left. Only a note saying she’d accepted a position in New York with the company she worked for. A line about needing a different type of life, no invitation to come with her, to follow her, just signed /E and that was it.
He’d called her, spent hours on the phone when she eventually picked up, begged her to come back. Offered to move to a ranch closer to a bigger town, find a compromise where he could still have the peace of the ranch life, but let her live her life too. But she loved New York, after the silent cabin, she craved the noise and the tempo of the city.
Eventually he agreed to come to New York, to see her new life and maybe find a place in it. But the city was an assault on his senses after so long on the ranch. The peace that his spiraling mind had finally found evaporated as he navigated the city, the metro, her friends, the bars. His feet itched, the skin around his nails was picked raw and he felt on edge, even in the apartment, his mind never getting a chance to be quiet.
Eva called it his need for control, to always have a plan of escape, a way out. He knew it was the years in the army that had shredded his sense of safety, left his nerves ragged and too exposed to the mundane background noise of a city. Maybe he’d be able to deal with it some day, but now, he needed the silence.
After two months in Brooklyn, he left. A loose promise from both of them to maybe try to patch things up, to try the long distance thing. But when he sent a text, saying he’d returned safely to the ranch, and she didn’t reply for two days, he knew it was over. And he didn’t miss her. He had loved her at some point, he thinks. But their lives didn’t match, their needs too different. And he saw that he should maybe not be with anyone while he laid down the foundations of a new life in a new place. He needed to find a way to live with himself, in silence, before he considered sharing his darkest sides with someone else.
And then Eva called. Six weeks after he’d left Brooklyn. He could hear the heavy traffic behind her as she walked down a street somewhere, leaving a clinic that had confirmed what she’d suspected.
“I’m pregnant, Frankie, and it’s yours.”
The words floored him, sent a sharp jolt of dread through his system, his feet tingling, then his scalp. A baby. In New York. But his baby, their child. And the dread was replaced by nerves, how would they do this? Would she want to raise the baby in New York or come back to Montana? He had space for a child here, a guest bedroom with a view of the mountains. It would be a perfect nursery, he could paint it, build a crib with Herb’s help, the nearby town was a good place to raise a family when the child was old enough to begin school. Without even stopping to think, he built a new life around the unborn child.
Or hell, even New York, he’d make himself put up with New York if that was what she wanted. The apartment only had one bedroom but maybe they could move further out, get a bigger place. He could renovate pretty much anything, he was sure of it. Maybe they could find a quiet neighborhood with trees, where his mind could find peace even in the city. Without even stopping, he built another new life around his, their, unborn child.
“I don’t know if I’m keeping it, but I wanted to tell you.”
Eva’s voice had been hard, letting him know that she was doing him a favor by telling him, letting him be part of it.
“I’ll come to New York, I’ll get a bus today,” Frankie pleaded, “Let’s talk this through, a few more days won’t make a difference.”
She’d conceded, and he’d thrown stuff into the old duffel bag, left a message with Herb, and driven to the crossroads where the Greyhound stopped.
Now he was here, in a Brooklyn bar, looking down at her name on his phone as he pressed the green button to answer.
Chapter 2
A/N: And we're off! I'm so nervous, I really hope you all will love this and follow along as I explore this new version of Frankie! I hope to post a new chapter every Sunday so fingers crossed life doesn't get in the way too much!
❤
Tagging the ususal suspects: @harriedandharassed @inept-the-magnificent @sheepdogchick3 @readingiskeepingmegoing @noisynightmarepoetry @survivingandenduring @vabeachazn @amyispxnk @oberynslady @vabeachazn @amyispxnk @thewiigers @laughing-in-th3-purple-rain @casa-boiardi
#frankie morales#pedro pascal character fanfiction#pedro pascal#frankie morales fanfic#triple frontier
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for wip game pls tell us why kinnpete is misleading 😂
yes thank u i love talking abt this
so kinnpete au right just imagine
kinn is like so guys. this may sound crazy but i think vegas might be stealing every man i look at. i have no evidence to prove this btw. and tankhun is like no problem i have a genius idea u guys. what if. u fake date pete to see if vegas tries to steal pete and then pete can report back with evidence.
and then they do just that.
except! ofc pete trying to seduce vegas while pretending he's not at all seducing vegas and actually in a relationship with kinn doesn't end well for him bc well. vegas is famously kinda 😳 and pete is famously NOT immune
so essentially it's pete honeytrapping vegas by pretending to date kinn.
perhaps even the only fake dating au on earth that doesn't lead to real dating. im a pioneer if u really think abt it
that's why it's misleading bc the title kinnpete au implies something between them which there is not. they're besties they're worsties and most importantly pete deserves a raise.
#and here's the kicker. i didn't even come up with this au the bestie @disaster-j did and im just the girlie writing it#i would post a snippet but i don't like chapter 1 so no snippet#asks#ask game answers
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Don't Tell The Boss — CEO Jeon Wonwoo
✧ The First Chapter — Part of the SEVENTEEN World Series
You were off limits. Seungcheol had made that absolutely clear from the very start. Wonwoo knew that, the other CEOs did and even you were aware of that fact. But when Wonwoo is tasked to fill in for Seungcheol during his monthly legal consult, he certainly didn’t think that you’d be there, his best friend’s sister, the one person he wasn’t allowed to get close to. Then why did he suddenly find himself asking you out? And why did you say yes?
✧ Genre: CEO au; SMUT [18+]**, fluff, angst, slow-burn, best friend’s sister, family drama
**I've decided to post the smut as a separate post - you can find it here or at the end of the chapter – can be read as a stand alone, but it will make more sense if you read the chapter first!!
♥ Pairing: lawyer!reader x CEO!Jeon Wonwoo
✧ Word count: 29k+ (AND 2.1k smut)
✦ Warnings: mentions of alcohol, swearing, slightly suggestive, a very angry Cheol, one physical altercation, arguments arguments arguments, reader shares the same last name as Cheol, extremely overprotective brother, heartbreak, time skips (let me know if I missed any!)
✎ Notes:
1) I recommend to read the prologue before you read this chapter – you might miss some crucial info otherwise
2) the story is written from the perspective of Wonwoo AND reader
3) the chapter contains some snippets that will likely come back in the other CEOs chapters
♕ Shout out: thank you to @fugaciousserendipity for your input and proofreading :D and thanks @outromoni for the banner!
“Sir? Managing CEO Choi is on line two,” Wonwoo’s secretary, Park Hajoon, called from the door to his office. Almost immediately, a puzzling frown made its way onto Wonwoo’s face. As far as he knew, Sungcheol was on a business trip in Japan and he always let his secretary manage his business while he was away. This included any form of social interactions with the other 12 CEOs. According to him, he “needed to focus and didn’t want anything to distract him”, so it would have to be important if he decided to call during a trip. What could be so urgent that he had to break his own rule?
“Thanks, Hajoon. Close the door please.” Wonwoo watched as his secretary nodded and shut the door per his request, followed by him lazily running a hand through his dark brown locks. It took him a few seconds to move from his position, mainly because he needed to mentally prepare himself for what was about to come. Though he didn’t really want to admit it, this phone call made Wonwoo a little nervous. What could Seungcheol want from him specifically? Did he forget something? Did he do something to damage the company name? What the hell was it?
Deciding that keeping his friend waiting would probably only make things worse, he eventually forced himself to reach for the phone. “Hyung?” his deep voice sounded through the large office.
“Wonwoo, glad that I could reach you! I don’t have a lot of time, but I was hoping that you could do me a favor,” Seungcheol spoke up, his voice void of any anger or disappointment. Wonwoo released a small sigh of relief at that, already feeling the nerves that had crept into his body start to settle down. Literally no one – but really no one, wanted to be on the receiving end of Seungcheol’s wrath. Luckily for Wonwoo, today was not the day and he intended on keeping it that way.
“Uh, sure? What is it that you need?” He seriously hoped that it wasn’t anything that involved him having to sacrifice a lot of his precious time, because as CEO of SEVENTEEN Gaming, he already had more than enough things to worry about, especially now that the new game he’d been working on was close to being released. But, that ship sailed as soon as he heard the words come out of the managing CEO’s mouth.
“I need you to take over my monthly legal consultation meeting with the Kang Group tomorrow.” With some effort, Wonwoo suppressed a groan that threatened to come out and tried to play it off by clearing his throat rather loudly.
Seungcheol, who knew Wonwoo pretty much like the back of his hand, was quick to add a bit more information to his request. “I know you don’t like this official stuff, but I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. I need a few more days in Japan to secure this business deal and we could really benefit from taking on this new client. I promise, it won’t be too much work. Haewon will set everything up and send you a checklist with things you’ll need to discuss, so you won’t have to worry about a single thing.”
Song Haewon had been Seungcheol’s executive secretary for many years and Wonwoo had no doubt that she would arrange the whole thing from start to finish. That wasn’t the problem. No, Wonwoo just didn’t want to bother with all this legal crap and waste two hours of his time on something he wasn’t an expert in. Wasn’t that what a legal team was for anyway?
“But why me, Hyung? You could have literally asked anyone else. What about Seungkwan? He’s great at these types of meetings. Or what about Chan, Mingyu or Jeonghan Hyung?” he suggested as he took off his black-rimmed glasses with one hand, the other reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.
These were the CEOs that knew quite a bit about legislation and did not shy away from dressing up into a suit and arguing with a bunch of officials, so Wonwoo just didn’t understand why Seungcheol was so adamant about it being him who would take over this meeting for him.
“Because I trust you the most with this, so I need you to be there, not anyone else. Just do this for me, please? I’ll owe you one.” Seungcheol was nearly begging by now. It wasn’t often that Seungcheol was this desperate, and if Wonwoo didn’t feel so pressured at that moment, he probably would have laughed at the absurdity of this whole situation.
“Fine, I’ll do it. Just send Hajoon the info and make sure that I don’t make a fool out of myself. But seriously, you owe me one, Hyung,” Wonwoo sighed, not in the mood to drag this on any longer than necessary. Besides, the fact that Seungcheol would be indebted to him after this didn’t sound too bad.
“Thank you, thank you. I’ll definitely owe you one. You’ll get all the relevant info within the next ten minutes. Just contact Haewon if you need any further info. I need to leave for another meeting now. You’re the best, Wonwoo!”
Before Wonwoo even had a chance to respond, Seungcheol had already ended the call, leaving a stunned Wonwoo sitting there in his comfy office chair. What had he just agreed to? And who was he even meeting? Seungcheol never let anyone take over these meetings, so it had to be some very important people.
The thing that probably stuck with Wonwoo the most was the fact that Seungcheol apparently trusted him the most with this. While it was nice to know that his friend valued him so much, it also confused him. It wasn’t like any of the other CEOs would try to purposely mess up the meeting. What did Wonwoo have that they didn’t? No matter how long and hard he thought about it, he couldn’t seem to understand the logic behind Seungcheol’s reasoning.
“Ah whatever, forget it,” he mumbled as he once again reached for the phone, pressing down on a button that he used way too often. “Hajoon, what’s next on my agenda?”
True to his words, Seungcheol had Haewon send over the necessary documents for tomorrow morning’s meeting. Wonwoo nearly wanted to call Seungcheol to back out last-minute when he was finally in the comfort of his own home, going over the meeting notes. So, to prevent him from disturbing Seungcheol on his trip and risking pissing him off by canceling, he called Mingyu instead, Flavor Factory SEVENTEEN’s CEO and also his closest friend.
Whenever Wonwoo was in doubt or about to take a big risk, he would search out Mingyu to ask for his opinion, and the younger CEO was always more than happy to help out his friend. The two of them had been in the same business for many years and even before that, they had already been extremely close, so Wonwoo was pretty confident to say that he trusted Mingyu with his life. Today was no different.
“Just do it, Hyung. I’m sure it won’t be that bad. Everything has already been laid out, so all you need to do is recite everything. And even if it is bad, Seungcheol Hyung will owe you one anyway, which is a big thing! Oh, and I’ll treat you to drinks. How does that sound?” As expected, Mingyu successfully managed to erase any doubts from Wonwoo’s mind and reminded him that he would get something out of it too.
“I guess that doesn’t sound too bad. I just don’t wanna mess it up, that’s all” Wonwoo groaned, throwing his head back to look at the high, white ceiling of his home office. “Thanks, dude…for the support, you know?”
“Anytime! Just let me know how it goes, yeah? I’m heading back into the kitchen. Dessert is about to be served,” the chef chuckled and only now, Wonwoo actually noticed the noise coming from the background, the sound of pots and pans clanging suddenly very audible. He’d no doubt been in the middle of cooking for guests and had taken some time to talk to his friend. Wonwoo could only smile at that. No matter how busy Mingyu was, he would always try to make time for the people he cared about.
“I will. Good luck with those desserts,” he managed to get in right before Mingyu started yelling at someone. This was followed by a quick goodbye to Wonwoo and then the call ended, leaving him alone with his thoughts once again. “Well, let’s do this,” he whispered to himself and grabbed the sheets of paper he’d need tomorrow.
Wonwoo wasn’t really a fan of wearing suits. Although he was a CEO, he usually chose casual clothes over chic. Jeonghan, being the fashion icon that he was, had already offered his services on numerous occasions in an attempt to get Wonwoo to dress up, but to no avail. Unless it was for a meeting or an important social event, Wonwoo liked to stick to his casual attire. Similarly, at SEVENTEEN Gaming, he encouraged people to work in their most comfortable outfit, even if that meant showing up to work in a track suit or pajamas. Wonwoo didn’t really care, as long as everyone did what was expected of them.
Well, he did have to implement some restrictions. One of the company’s now-previous interns apparently thought that it was funny to show up in nothing except for his swimming shorts, which had resulted in a number of complaints from his staff, so from then on, he allowed his employees to be comfortable, but not in a way that would make others uncomfortable (i.e., being naked or nearly naked). So far, it had worked out great, because his employees appreciated the lack of a strict dress code and it made sure that the work environment was pleasant and rather informal.
For this reason, Wonwoo felt a little uncomfortable as he entered headquarters. It was an enormous building and the difference between SEVENTEEN Gaming and SEVENTEEN World’s HQ was huge. There were numerous bodyguards spread around the lobby, nearly everyone was dressed in a suit or something equivalent and the vibe was way more official and formal than at his HQ. Wonwoo was happy that he never really had a reason to visit the main building, apart from the yearly shareholder’s meeting that always took place there, but that was pretty much it. Everything else was usually done through Zoom meetings and he liked it that way.
“Mr. Jeon!” Haewon, who’d been waiting for him in the lobby, immediately approached Wonwoo when she caught sight of him entering the busy lobby. The four bodyguards that were guarding the main entrance, politely bowed to him as he made his way towards the chirpy secretary.
“Haewon,” he nodded, after which he slightly adjusted the tie that suddenly felt uncomfortably tight around his neck. He was definitely going to swap this outfit for a more comfortable one as soon as that meeting was over.
“Please follow me, Sir. The meeting will start in fifteen minutes,” she told him while motioning for him to follow her. Despite her being rather short and in heels, she sure knew how to walk fast. He nearly even tripped over his own feet as he tried to match her pace, but was luckily able to catch himself just before he could hit the ground. After he quickly confirmed that no one had seen his near mishap (because that would have been embarrassing), he picked up the pace and joined Haewon at the elevators, where several SEVENTEEN World employees politely bowed to him.
Although Wonwoo had been a CEO for many years, the way people treated him still felt odd to him. Sure, he ran a successful business, but he was only human. There was no need for them to bow to him and there was certainly no need to take the next elevator just because he was in their presence. Obviously, he knew that this was a common way to show respect, but he deemed it unnecessary, which is why he always made sure to let every new employee at SEVENTEEN Gaming know that they didn’t need to be so formal with him. He was their boss, but he was also part of the team, just like everyone else.
“I already set everything up for you, Sir. There’s water over here, but if you’d like to request some other refreshments, just press the button to your right,” Haewon explained as she pointed one of the white buttons on the panel right from Wonwoo.
“Thank you, Haewon. I think I’ll be fine,” Wonwoo nodded and watched as Seungcheol’s secretary left the room before shifting his eyes to the checklist that he’d placed in front of him. Now, it was officially time for the nerves to settle back into his body. He was currently in a large fancy meeting room on the 30th floor with a large rectangular table in the middle and chairs placed around it, and a set of large windows functioning as walls. The layout of it all made the whole thing even more official in Wonwoo’s opinion.
As he was going over Seungcheol’s notes and stressing out about what could possibly go wrong, he barely even registered the sound of the door opening, completely in his own world. At least, that was until he heard the sound of an all-too-familiar voice.
“Wonwoo?”
—
You watched with an amused smile as the CEO came back to reality and shot up from his chair at the sound of your voice. The shock was evident on his face and you had an inkling that Seungcheol had left out some crucial information.
“Y/N? What are you doing here? You’re the one I’m meeting from the Kang Group?” He was clearly confused, his eyes going over your form and taking you all in, as if he needed to confirm that it was actually you.
“Yes, but I guess my brother wasn’t very specific, huh? I want to say that I’m surprised, but I’m really not,” you chuckled, not being able to stop yourself from admiring the man standing in front of you.
It had been a good three years since you last saw each other, at SEVENTEEN World’s 5-year anniversary party, which was probably one of the only few occasions where you got to interact with your brother’s friends. And even then, Seungcheol had tried to whisk you away any time you were getting a little too close for his liking. You’d told him many times that you were a grown ass woman and that you could make your own decisions, but he was stubborn.
As far as you could tell, Wonwoo hadn’t changed much at all. His hair had grown a bit longer and he looked more mature, but he was still the tall and handsome man with a smile that always made you feel some type of way. Okay, you might have always had a little crush on him, but it wasn’t like you had ever dared to act on it anyway. Seungcheol would have nipped that in the butt before it could have even taken off.
“No, he was pretty vague about it, and now I know why. You look good,” he blurted out, his eyes slightly widening at the realization of what he’d just said.
“Thank you. I-uh…” You felt your cheeks heat up as you stumbled over your words. Who knew that a simple compliment could affect you that much? “So do you,” you mumbled shyly. And since when were you ever shy around men? It was like you’d lost all your ability to function within the span of five minutes.
You had to eventually remind yourself that you were here to represent your company, not to flirt with your brother’s best friend. Right, your brother, the one who’d set this whole thing up because he trusted you and Wonwoo to handle his business with him being away for a few days. You couldn't afford to let yourself get distracted.
To break the awkward silence, you carefully cleared your throat before daring to speak up again. “Um, let’s start, shall we? We have a lot of things to go over.”
Wonwoo was quick to agree, holding out a seat for you so that you could sit down before taking a seat himself. Luckily, after the initial awkwardness, the two of you quickly switched to business mode and went over the list of points that needed to be discussed. And much to your surprise, you discovered that Wonwoo was a natural at it.
Though Seungcheol had told you that his friend wasn’t too fond of these types of meetings and didn't know a whole lot about legal matters, he was attentively listening to your every word. At first, you thought that he was simply feigning interest, but when he started to pitch some rather good ideas about halfway through the meeting, you were convinced that he was somewhat enjoying it.
You found yourself more drawn to him the further the meeting went on, sneaking the occasional glance at him when he was busy noting something down or adjusting his glasses to read something. It went completely against your moral code, but you couldn’t stop yourself. The man was already attractive, but to see him in action as CEO made him ten times more charming, especially with the little pout that appeared on his lips whenever he was focusing. And the dark blue suit, which fit him just right, didn’t leave much to the imagination either. You just prayed that you weren’t too obvious about it, because you didn’t want to seem like a love-struck high-school girl who couldn’t keep her emotions under control in front of a good-looking guy.
Little did you know that Wonwoo was going through his own internal struggles. The moment he laid his eyes on you, he knew that he was officially fucked. He’d always kept his distance because he respected Seungcheol enough not to get involved with his sister, but now that he got to be alone with you, he couldn’t resist taking full advantage of the situation. He knew that it was wrong and he probably should have listened to the voice in his head that was telling him to get his shit together, but how could he not when you looked so good?
It all made sense that Seungcheol had been so vague about the whole thing, and why he never let anyone else be involved in these meetings. Everyone knew that you worked for the Kang Group, but none of the CEOs were aware that you were the one managing Seungcheol’s legal consultations. But as the meeting progressed, he started to understand why you’d been put in charge. You weren’t just a pretty face, but you were smart, confident in your skills and not afraid to point out any deficiencies.
He found himself clinging onto your every word. It was probably the most time he’d ever spent with you, and though he was scared to admit it, he loved every second of it. Being with you, albeit in an official setting, made him feel something that he hadn’t experienced in a long time. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was exactly, but he knew that he didn’t want it to end with this.
That’s how the two of you ended up where you were right now, with Wonwoo confidently blocking your way to the exit after you’d given him your business card and prepared to take your leave. Giving him your business card had been your attempt to give him a way to contact you. If you’d given him your personal number, that would have been anything but professional, but this was appropriate in your eyes – and you hoped that he would actually use it, even if it was only for business purposes. You didn’t really care. All you knew is that you wanted to see Wonwoo again, regardless of the consequences. And you hoped that this was his attempt to do the same.
Though you appeared calm as your eyebrows raised in confusion, your heart was actually beating a hundred miles per hour while you waited for Wonwoo to explain himself. What if it was all in your head and he just wanted to ask you a business-related question? After all, that’s what you’d come here for in the first place.
You were convinced that was the case up until the moment he uttered the words Do you want to go on a date with me?. For just a moment, your body froze on the spot, your brain short circuiting as you tried to figure out that what you’d heard was not actually a figment of your imagination.
The man standing in front of you, who’d been so determined just a few seconds ago, suddenly became aware of what he’d done and his cheeks flushed a bright pink, something which you found quite endearing despite your state of shock. Your bet was that anyone walking past the see-through office would definitely wonder about what had caused the CEO to blush like that.
Realizing that you’d probably stayed silent much longer than socially accepted when being asked out, you managed to overcome the initial shock and blinked furiously as you tried to form an answer. But before you could even open your mouth, Wonwoo had already beat you to it.
“Shit, I’m sorry. That was so unprofessional. I’m sorry, ugh,” he frowned, slapping his right hand against his forehead.
“No, don’t be sorry. I was…uh, just a little surprised?” you squeaked, mentally cursing yourself for sounding so insecure.
“I should be sorry. You’re my best friend’s sister and here I am, trying to take advantage of that during a professional meeting.” Wonwoo then began pacing up and down, your eyes following his every move.
“Forget about this meeting or my brother for now. Please.” You stepped forward and placed your hand on his arm to stop him from moving, your eyes meeting once again. “Do you want to take me on a date or not?”
It took him a few seconds to respond, so you could only assume that he was having an internal conflict with himself with the way his expression hardened. You could only hold your breath as you awaited his response.
“Yes, I do,” he finally answered, his expression softening as he slowly nodded.
“Good, then we’re on the same page. You know how to contact me.“ You pointed to the business card that was still in his hand. “Until next time then, Mr. Jeon,” you grinned, suddenly having found your confidence again. That was the moment you decided that it was time to go, leaving a stunned Wonwoo behind.
Oh yeah, he was definitely screwed.
Mingyu nearly choked on his drink as soon as the words had left his best friend’s mouth. “Hyung, you did what now?!” Wonwoo, who wasn’t trying to attract any attention, quickly shushed the boisterous man beside him.
“Yah! Can you be any louder? I’m not trying to become a headline.” Wonwoo adjusted the black cap that covered some of his face, hoping that no one was paying much attention to the two of them. The bar they were at was nearly empty, so it was pretty unlikely that anyone would be able to overhear what they were talking about. But then again, he didn’t want to take any risks. “I don’t know what came over me, okay? Fuck, I just couldn’t let her leave without shooting my shot.”
“Damn, I can’t believe you actually had the guts to ask her out. And she said yes?! If Seungcheol Hyung ever finds out about this, all hell is going to break loose.” Mingyu shook his head before taking another swig of his whiskey.
“Don’t remind me please. The plan is for him to never find out. I might as well sign my own death certificate if that happens,” Wonwoo sighed, his fingers fumbling with the rim of his own whiskey glass. The thought absolutely terrified him, but still here he was, risking it all for a woman he wasn’t supposed to be involved with.
“You know I won’t tell anyone. Just be careful, yeah? And you better tell me everything. This one is definitely going down in the books,” Mingyu smirked, giving his friend a playful wink. “When is it gonna happen anyway?”
“I know, thanks for having my back as always. It’s happening this Sunday. Shit, I haven’t done this in forever. What if I mess it up?” A frustrated groan left Wonwoo’s mouth, which was followed by him gulping down his drink in an effort to calm his nerves.
It had been years since Wonwoo had last gone on a date. Compared to Mingyu, who was dating on and off here and there, Wonwoo was the total opposite. He’d been so engrossed in his work for the past few years that he’d completely neglected his love life, neither having had the time for it nor interested in it. Well, until you had stepped into that meeting.
“Just show her the real you and it will be fine.” Mingyu watched in amusement at the way his friend was stressing over something as simple as a date. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this worked up,” he snorted, giving the older man a playful punch in the shoulder, which earned him a scowl in return.
“How can I not be? It’s our best friend’s sister we’re talking about. Seriously, what the fuck was I thinking? I need you to talk some sense into me.” Wonwoo shook his head as his mind went over all the possible worst-case scenarios, in particular the one where Seungcheol would slowly kill him if he were to find out.
“No, what you need is another drink.” Mingyu motioned for the bartender to bring them another order of whiskey. “Now, stop freaking out and tell me your game plan,” he grinned.
“He didn’t try anything weird, did he?” your brother asked as the two of you were having dinner at one of his favorite restaurants. Your mind had been so preoccupied with you and Wonwoo’s upcoming date that you almost forgot about the dinner you were supposed to have with Seungcheol the day before. The thought of having to face your brother was enough to burst your happy bubble.
“Define weird?” you smirked, which earned a sigh from the older man.
“Y/N.”
“I’m just asking,” you shrugged. “But no, Cheol. Nothing weird.” As you took a bite of your food, you could just feel his eyes on your form. This was confirmed when you looked up, only to be met with such an intense stare that made you want to hide under your non-existent covers. “What?” you mumbled, your mouth still full of food.
“Are you sure he didn’t try to flirt with you?” For a second, you thought that he knew about your date with Wonwoo and was just testing to see if you’d actually lie to him. You felt the panic start to rise inside you and your only response at that moment was to nearly choke on the food in your mouth.
In an attempt to save yourself from further embarrassment – because you were sure that you’d already attracted the attention of the other dinner guests with your coughing, you reached for your water to get rid of the itch in your throat. “Y/N, answer the question,” Seungcheol frowned, his tone indicating that he wasn’t playing around.
“Yes, Cheol. I’m sure. He was professional and we handled things just fine as you saw. Now, can we please change the topic? I feel like I’m being interrogated and I don’t appreciate it.” And I will have to keep lying to you if you ask me any more of those questions. You were usually a very bad liar and if this continued any longer, Seungcheol would definitely start suspecting that something was wrong. That’s why you hoped that the topic regarding the other CEO could be dropped.
Besides, the mention of Wonwoo only made you feel giddy at the prospect of your date with him. Wonwoo had texted you on your work phone almost immediately after you’d left SEVENTEEN World HQ, and you’d eagerly shared your personal contact with him so that the two of you could discuss the date in more detail. He didn’t want to let on much, but he said to dress casual (which didn’t surprise you at all with what you’d heard about him), and that he would pick you up.
You absolutely didn’t want these thoughts roaming inside your head with Seungcheol keeping such a close eye on you. Part of you felt guilty doing this behind your brother's back, but then there was also the part of you that wanted to live life to the fullest and take a little risk here and there. And apparently, Wonwoo had similar feelings, or he wouldn’t have asked you out so brazenly.
“Y/N. You’re not even listening to a word I’m saying.” Seungcheol sounded annoyed and you realized you’d let your mind wander a little too far.
“No, I’m listening. Your business trip, dinner with the CEO of Yamazato. Continue,” you motioned, glad that you’d at least managed to catch a few of the things your brother had been rambling about. If this thing with Wonwoo was going to go anywhere, you’d definitely have to work on your poker face in front of your brother.
The day of your date, Wonwoo picked you up just like he said he would. You had to admit that the closer to the date you got, the more you started to doubt the whole thing, especially after the dinner you had with Seungcheol.
What if agreeing to this was a mistake after all? It wasn’t like you could risk going to any of your dear friends for advice either. You trusted them well enough with your secrets, but this one was different. Just one little slip up and the reputations of your brother, Wonwoo, and even you could be at stake if anyone outside your circle got wind of this. And the thought of having to bear the guilt of being the reason for such a scandal was enough to keep your mouth shut and suffer in silence instead.
But surprisingly, all of those fears vanished as soon as you spotted Wonwoo leaning against the passenger door of his black SUV when you exited your apartment building. Just the sight of him was enough to convince you that this was, in fact, not a mistake.
He was in full disguise, with a black cap hiding his hair, a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes and a mask in place to prevent anyone from recognizing him. The rest of his attire consisted of a brown leather jacket with a white t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, finished with a pair of white sneakers – the casual fit a stark contrast from the dark blue suit he’d worn during your last meeting together.
You had also taken the necessary precaution, with the hood of your oversized beige hoodie and a mask similar to Wonwoo’s covering most of your hair and face. Despite your brother being the celebrity in the family, the public knew your face too, and you had no doubt that reporters would jump at the chance to air your dirty laundry too if they caught you out with a ‘mysterious man’.
“So, this is what you look like when you’re not playing the role of CEO?” you asked as you approached him, a grin plastered onto your face despite Wonwoo not being able to see it.
“To be honest, this is what I look like ninety-nine percent of the time. The suit is only for special occasions, but even then I practically have to force myself to wear it. Not a big fan as you can probably tell,” he chuckled, the vibrations of his deep voice sending shivers through your body.
“Noted. I won’t get too attached to the suit then. Can’t say I’m disappointed with this look anyway,” you teased, earning another chuckle from the man in front of you before he pushed himself away from the passenger door to hold it open for you.
“You ready for this?” he asked, and you guessed that he was giving you the chance to back out while you still could. But there was no way you’d go back now.
“Yeah, let’s go” you breathed, accepting his hand as you climbed into the car.
—
Wonwoo ended up taking you to his favorite arcade, which he’d made sure to reserve ahead of time so that the two of you could enjoy your date in private. When he’d initially suggested it to Mingyu, his friend had immediately approved of the idea and convinced him that it was a perfect date activity. However, on the ride there, with you sitting beside him and still not having a clue about where he was taking you, Wonwoo suddenly wasn’t sure if he’d made the right choice for a first date, especially since he didn’t know if you were into games like that.
He luckily didn’t have to worry for long, because as soon as he led you inside the building, he could see that he’d made the right decision with the way your eyes lit up.
“An arcade? Oh, wow! I haven’t been to one of these in ages. This is amazing. Thank you!” Your automatic response was to wrap one of your arms around Wonwoo’s arm as you looked around in amazement, catching the CEO by surprise – not that he was complaining. He was happy that you already felt this comfortable with him.
That’s what gave him the little bit of courage he needed to reach out and grab your hand with his free one. You froze for a moment, your eyes drifting down to your hand that was now engulfed in Wonwoo’s much warmer one. Fearing that he’d misread your gesture, he slowly started to pull his hand away in an effort to make it less awkward. But you were quick to tighten your grip on his hand and raised your head to look into his eyes.
“It’s okay,” you mumbled softly, causing Wonwoo’s heart to go into overdrive. You were seriously going to be the death of him. “Now please, can we play some games?”
The awkward tension was already forgotten, now replaced by a feeling of excitement at the thought of spending the next few hours together.
“Come on, let me show you my favorite game,” Wonwoo grinned, already in the process of pulling you in the direction of the air hockey tables.
It didn’t take long for the two of you to start fully enjoying your date. Your disguises had been discarded in the process, allowing you to read each other’s facial expressions freely without the threat of being discovered hanging over your heads.
Something Wonwoo discovered as you played the numerous games that were available in the arcade, was that you were just as competitive as he was. Originally, when the two of you started the first game of air hockey, he’d intended to go easy on you and maybe let you win a few times.
That was until he realized that he started to struggle with scoring points, whereas you were very much in the lead. This resulted in you teasing him about what kind of gamer CEO he was if he couldn’t even win from an amateur. So, for the next few games, Wonwoo decided to just throw the chivalry aside and treated you as he would any other opponent, which, in all honesty, made it that much more fun for the both of you.
You spent a good few hours trying out the large variety of games, while occasionally taking a break for snacks and drinks. And it also gave the two of you the opportunity to get to know each other better. You found out about Wonwoo’s love for cats, and how he adopted two of them through Vernon’s cat rescue center about three years ago: Shiro and Saja. He also shared the fact that he couldn’t cook to save his life. You nearly couldn’t stop laughing when he told you about the time he’d almost burned down the kitchen while trying to make a simple sandwich with the help of Mingyu.
Many times, Mingyu had tried to teach him, but Wonwoo somehow still managed to either ruin or burn something every single time, much to his best friend’s dismay. It was safe to say that he’d been banned from any of Mingyu’s kitchens, both for his own sake and that of others. So, Wonwoo had come to terms with the fact that he was just not made for cooking and he was totally fine with that.
In return, you shared some of your own stories and things that kept you busy. Among other things, Wonwoo learned that you were very passionate about your job (which he had sort of guessed already), had a cat of your own – Bom, and that you had a fear of deep and open waters. This was the result of a near-drowning experience you had as a child, where you’d fallen out of a moving boat and had to be rescued by your parents. Wonwoo made a mental note to never mention the idea of a cruise to you.
Neither of you wanted the date to end, but Wonwoo also knew that he had a bunch of work waiting back home. Hajoon had made sure that he’d have enough to fill a whole evening, and he couldn’t afford to ignore it since he had an important meeting tomorrow – one where he and his team were supposed to go over the finances for the new game they had been working on for months.
But, it was pretty obvious that this date would not just be a one-time thing. After he’d dropped you off at home, Wonwoo promised that he’d text or call you for a follow-up date as soon as his schedule would allow it.
When he’d made sure that you’d safely entered your building, a smile started to form behind his mask as he drove further and further away from your home, still not quite believing that the date had gone so well. And though it should have concerned him, the fact that you were his best friend’s sister did not even cross his mind once.
It took about a week of you anxiously waiting for Wonwoo to ask you out on another date. Ever since your first date had come to an end, you hadn’t heard from him again. Not a text, not a call, nothing. At first, you assumed it was because he was busy. He was a CEO after all. But then your mind started to wonder after about three days of radio silence. Had he suddenly changed his mind about dating you? And even if he had – which you could have totally understood, he could have at least let you know instead of leaving you in the dark. Not knowing was driving you absolutely insane and you hated yourself for being so affected by a man you’d only had one date with.
On Sunday night, exactly one week after your date, he finally called you while you were cuddling on the couch with Bom. You hadn’t been expecting it, so you assumed it was either your brother or work who’d be calling so late.
“Wonwoo?” You quickly sat yourself up, much to your cat’s annoyance, who was quick to leap from your lap onto the ground to find another one of his cozy spots.
“Y/N. I’m so sorry I didn’t call sooner. I know it’s not a good excuse, but this week was crazy,” Wonwoo’s apologetic voice sounded through the speaker of your phone.
You shook your head, even though you knew that he couldn’t see you. “It’s okay, Wonwoo. You’re a CEO and CEOs are busy. I get that.”
“Good. I just didn’t want you to think that I was backing out of this,” he sighed, sounding somewhat relieved that you weren’t cussing him out.
“Don’t worry, I wasn’t.” Lie. But he didn’t need to know that. At least your mind was put at ease now that he’d confirmed that he still wanted to continue this with you.
“Okay, so about that date..,” he started, after which the two of you fell into a comfortable conversation about your next meetup.
The next time you saw Wonwoo was only two days after the late-night phone call. The plan was to have a private dinner at a Japanese restaurant. However, per your request, your date started with him giving you a tour of SEVENTEEN Gaming. You were genuinely interested in the work he did and you were trying to understand what it was that his company did exactly. Sure, you’d heard stories from Seungcheol and read some things online here and there, but it was much better to hear it from the actual source.
When you realized that he was going to give you a tour with all his employees still in the building, you started to question whether this was a good idea. Because people meant eyes on the two of you, and eyes on the two of you meant that people were going to talk…to other people, who could potentially tell your brother. Just the thought already made you want to crawl in a hole.
Wonwoo was quick to assure you that his employees knew how to be discreet and were expected to keep whatever or whoever they saw to themselves, which included you apparently. Although he was a pretty laid-back CEO, Wonwoo didn’t like gossip and he wasn’t afraid to use his power as CEO to put his employees in their place if needed. You still had your doubts, but you decided to trust him on this. As long as word didn’t get to your brother, you were fine with almost anything.
“Wow, so you really manage all of those things? That sounds insane,” you gawked, completely in awe as your eyes darted across the chart displayed on the large screen in front of you. Wonwoo could only chuckle at your adorable reaction.
“It’s not like I manage all of those by myself. I have many people helping me. Here.” he pointed at the top of the chart, where his picture was located. “I’m mainly involved in the development of new games, as well as some administrative stuff and marketing. Technically, I’m involved in a little bit of everything and I give my input here and there, but I trust my employees to deliver good results without me having to look over their shoulder the whole time.”
You slowly nodded, taking it all in. Wonwoo then moved his hand to the left part of the chart when he was sure that you’d processed it all. “These people manage the gaming centers that are located in South Korea, but also those abroad.” He moved his hand again, this time to the right side of the chart. “And this group of people manages the eSports tournaments that we organize on a yearly basis. They collaborate a lot with SEVENTEEN TV since we also air them on national TV, but you probably knew that already,” he said, to which you hummed in acknowledgment.
Of course, how could you not know about that? Every year around October, people from all around the country and other parts of the world would flood into the city for SEVENTEEN Gaming’s legendary eSports tournament. The promotion for the event was huge and from what Seungcheol had told you, there were usually hundreds of teams fighting for a spot at the top. In other words, the competition was insane. It totally made sense though, especially when there was a prize of 150 million won on the line.
One of your favorite things about the tour was probably the VR cave, where you got a sneak peek of the game that was set to release next month. You were truly impressed with what Wonwoo had accomplished in such a short span of time. It also made you wonder how the other CEOs were managing their large businesses. Maybe someday you’d be able to get a tour from each of them – that is, if you could convince your brother first.
On your third date, Wonwoo took you stargazing after you’d had a pretty rough day at work. He remembered you sharing with him that you liked looking at the stars because they calmed you down, so he felt that it was the perfect idea for a date night. Mingyu had even offered to provide the food for a little picnic. Now, who in their right mind would refuse that?
Wonwoo also remembered that night as the night that he got to kiss you for the first time.
—
“It’s so pretty. Thank you for remembering and taking me here,” you said, your eyes never faltering from the stars above you. The two of you had filled up your empty stomachs with Mingyu’s delicious food creations and a complimentary champagne that left you with a satisfying buzz.
“How could I forget?” Wonwoo was sitting right beside you on the picnic blanket, your legs and arms touching as you both observed the little balls of light lighting up the dark sky.
He thought you looked so beautiful, even with the dark circles underneath your eyes and the baggy outfit you’d quickly thrown on when Wonwoo showed up at your doorstep without a warning. Everything about you was just so intoxicating, and as the days went on, he found himself thinking of you more and more, always looking forward to the next time he’d get to see you.
Without Wonwoo realizing it, you were no longer looking at the stars. Instead, your eyes were now focused on the CEO sitting beside you, his mind definitely somewhere else.
A nudge to his side eventually snapped him out of his daze, which was followed by the sound of your angelic giggles. His eyes instantly sought out yours to let you know that you had his full attention.
“You’re supposed to look at the stars, you know?” Your voice was soft and Wonwoo hummed in response, a smile playing at the corner of his lips at the fact that you’d caught him zoning out.
“I think I found something better,” he teased. You just rolled your eyes before giving him a playful push, trying to fight the smile that was threatening to appear.
“You're so cheesy, you know that?”
“Maybe, but it's working. Yo-” His breathing hitched as you suddenly reached up to carefully push his glasses, which had slid down a little, back up his nose.
“What?” you asked, looking up at him with big curious eyes. You really had no idea what kind of effect you had on him when you did small things like that.
“Just you. This. I feel lucky to be here with you.” Now it was your turn to feel flustered – your cheeks heating up at the way Wonwoo was looking at you, his eyes not once straying from yours.
“Wonwoo…” His name left your lips in a mumble, which caused his focus to shift to your lips for just a brief moment. But it was enough for him to want to be even closer to you.
“Can I?” Wonwoo's voice had gone down to a whisper, his eyes darting back and forth between your lips and eyes. You quickly nodded, seeming to want it just as much as he did.
That was all the confirmation he needed before leaning forward to touch his lips to your soft ones, covered in a thin layer of lip balm. Your lips met him halfway, just as eager to get close to him. Wonwoo nearly wanted to sigh in relief when your lips finally collided, because it was something he’d been wanting to do ever since he’d gone on that first date with you. He had no idea how he’d managed to control himself for so long, but he was glad he’d held out until now.
Your lips were addicting. That much he knew already from those few seconds he’d been kissing you. But when you turned your body slightly to clutch onto the brown leather jacket that he was wearing, Wonwoo lost every ounce of self-control he had. His right arm slid around your waist and he tugged you into him without a warning, eliciting a little moan from you that had Wonwoo groan into your mouth.
It didn’t take long before he had you situated in his lap, and the next thing he knew, your tongue was licking across his bottom lip – he was all too willing to accept. Wonwoo didn’t care about anything else at this moment. Not even the fear of being caught out in the open could pull him away from you right now. He was completely hooked on the taste of your strawberry lip balm, the brush of your nose against his skin and the way one of your hands had found its way into his hair, giving him goosebumps from the way you were softly tugging on it.
But much too soon for Wonwoo’s liking, you pulled away. His lips quickly chased after yours, not wanting the euphoric high to end. At the sound of your laughter, he was eventually pulled back to reality, his eyes slowly fluttering open.
“I gotta breathe, Wonwoo.“ The man in question almost groaned out loud at the sight of your swollen lips, feeling a sense of pride that he’d been the cause of that. Not anyone else.
“Breathing is overrated,” he huffed, hands coming to a rest on your waist while his fingers played with the hem of your hoodie.
“Not if you want to kiss me again.” A grin formed on Wonwoo’s face at the sound of your words.
“You’re gonna let me do it again?”
“Is that even a question?” you said, a grin of your own now adorning your face before you leaned in to connect your lips once again.
Yeah, Wonwoo could get used to this.
—
On your fourth date, the two of you were nearly caught by your brother, who decided that a Wednesday night was the right time to stop by your apartment…unannounced. You and Wonwoo had just finished the takeout you’d ordered and were in the middle of a movie when the sound of your doorbell startled the two of you. That caused you to nearly knock the popcorn bowl out of Wonwoo’s hands.
—
“Ah, shit, I’m sorry,” you cursed, quickly apologizing to Wonwoo as you scrambled off the couch and sprinted towards your intercom system. Your face paled at the sight that greeted you on the small screen. “Oh fuck! You need to hide, like now!”
“Hide? What are you talking about?” Wonwoo questioned, now coming closer to see what got you so fired up all of a sudden.
“It’s my goddamn brother. I don’t even know why he’s here, but you need to hide if you want the both of us to come out of this alive,” you whined, placing your hands onto Wonwoo’s back and pushing him in the direction of your bedroom.
That seemed to switch the gears in Wonwoo’s head, the confusion immediately replaced with pure fear. All this time he’d been so stuck in this happy bubble with you that he completely forgot about the danger that was your brother, his best friend.
“Wait, shit. My phone!” Wonwoo quickly changed his direction and rushed over to the couch, where he snatched his phone and any other traces of his presence.
Meanwhile, you’d buzzed your brother in just because you couldn’t exactly leave him standing there. He’d already rang the bell twice and you knew that he was going to start calling you to ask about your whereabouts if you didn’t open the door. You couldn’t exactly lie to him and pretend that you weren’t home, especially when you were such a bad liar.
“Why are you still here? Wonwoo, I’m not even kidding, he’s gonna be here any minute!” You felt like you were officially going to lose your mind.
“Are you sure I didn’t leave anything? Just check t-” Wonwoo started, but he was quickly cut off by you as you grabbed a hold of his wrist and started to drag him towards your bedroom. This wasn’t exactly how you wanted to show him your bedroom, but this was an emergency.
“Forget about your things. If my brother catches you here, we’re going to have bigger problems. Just put your phone on silent and hide in my closet. I’ll try to get rid of him,” you said, pushing him into your walk-in closet. That was the exact moment the doorbell rang, indicating that your brother had made it to your front door. “Not a sound.”
After that, you quickly closed the door and rushed out the room, making sure to close your bedroom door too before you made your way towards your front door. Your heart rate was out of control and you hoped that you could at least keep your facial expressions under control while facing your brother.
“Cheol! What are you doing here?” He was still dressed in a suit, so you guessed that he’d just gotten off work and went straight to your place.
“Can’t I just visit my little sister?” he asked, stepping forward to enter your apartment.
“You could have at least called,” you grumbled, even though you were freaking out on the inside. The plan was to get rid of him, not for him to invite himself into your apartment. “Cheol, do you mind? I was in the middle of something.”
“In the middle of what exactly? Do you have a guest?” You noticed his eyes scan the room for a few seconds before something on the floor caught his attention. “Are these men’s shoes? Are you dating someone?” he questioned, his eyes narrowing as they focused back on you.
How could you have forgotten about the damn shoes?
“Yah, that’s none of your business. I’m a grown ass woman. Now, can you please just go?” You were begging, already fed up with the fact that Seungcheol had shown up without notifying you.
“Don’t you think I should meet this guest of yours? Seems pretty serious if you’re even inviting him over.” This man really did not understand boundaries when it came to your personal life.
“No, Cheol. You’re not meeting anyone tonight. You’re my brother, not my babysitter.” You crossed your arms, trying to come off as intimidating as possible. Then again, it was your brother you were talking about. There was no way he’d ever feel intimidated by you.
“Fine, I’ll go. Let me at least meet the guy sometime. I just want to know if he’s good enough for you,” Seungcheol responded, but you’d already had enough and were in the middle of pushing him out your front door.
“Goodnight, Cheol.” As soon as he was out the door, you simply shut the door in his face, not even feeling guilty in the slightest. “That’s what he gets for showing up without a warning,” you mumbled.
Still, you felt a little paranoid, so to make sure that he’d really left, you peeked through the peephole before deeming the coast clear.
“Okay, he’s gone!” you called, taking that moment to lean your back against the wall as you tried to recover from that nerve-wracking moment. You were truly thankful that Seungcheol hadn’t recognized Wonwoo’s shoes and you were glad that the coats were hidden behind a door. Your brother definitely would have made the connection if he’d spotted his best friend’s brown leather jacket. The same goes for his car, which you’d told him to park in your underground garage in case someone would spot it.
Wonwoo appeared a few seconds later and you immediately let yourself collapse into his arms, the severity of the whole situation suddenly weighing down on you all at once.
“That was scary as hell,” Wonwoo sighed, his hands gently rubbing your back to calm you down. “Do you think he knows?”
Leaning back slightly to look up at him, you shook your head. “No, I don’t think so. We were lucky this time, but I don’t ever want to do that again.”
“Fuck no. I’d like to keep my sanity,” he chuckled and despite the situation, you also managed to crack a smile at that.
“Oh, and just so you know,” you started, pointing towards the dreaded shoes that had almost given him away, “you might want to burn your shoes after tonight.”
—
It was about a week after that incident that Wonwoo first saw Seungcheol again. Every three months, each of the CEOs was supposed to submit a quarterly report to ensure total transparency towards the public as well as each other. And as managing CEO of SEVENTEEN World, Seungcheol took this matter very seriously.
Wonwoo was technically supposed to have submitted it a few days ago, but he’d gotten distracted and asked for a few days of extension. Truth was, he’d been spending more time with you and he’d totally forgotten about it. It was only when Hajoon had sent him the usual reminder, he realized that he would never make the deadline in time.
It was unlike Wonwoo to miss a deadline and so it came as no surprise that Seungcheol himself had insisted on coming to pick up the report in person. Wonwoo had no doubt that his friend was curious and wanted to know what was going on with him – that was just the kind of friend Seungcheol was, always checking up on his friends, no matter how busy he was. And really, Wonwoo was happy to have a friend like him. But right now was just not the right time, especially when the reason he missed the deadline was no one other than his dear sister.
“Is everything okay with you?” Seungcheol asked as soon as Wonwoo had closed the front door behind the CEO. The younger man mentally cringed at the question, knowing that it was practically unavoidable with Seungcheol being the nosy person he was.
“I'm fine, Hyung. If it's about the report, it just kinda slipped my mind with everything else I have going on.”
“Are you sure? I'm used to Seungkwan asking for an extension because we all know that he's doing too much for his own good, but this is the first time you've ever asked for one. You can tell me if there's something going on or if there's anything I can do…,” Seungcheol offered as they made their way into the living room.
“It's nothing serious. I've just been busy with other things, nothing to worry about.” Seungcheol nodded, his eyes scanning over Wonwoo's form for a few seconds.
“If you say so. By the way, I never really said it to you personally, but thanks again for stepping in for me the other day. I know it must have come as a surprise to see my sister there, but I didn’t want to scare you off.” Wonwoo could only nod at his friend’s words, too afraid that he would give himself away if he opened his mouth. Luckily for him, Seungcheol wasn’t bothered by Wonwoo’s lack of response and continued.
“But I’m glad everything went well. I knew that I could trust you with this. If I’d sent Mingyu or Jeonghan, who knows what they would have tried with Y/N. We both know that they flirt without even trying. With you, I at least knew that I didn’t have to worry about that.” The older man grabbed onto his shoulder and squeezed down gently before offering Wonwoo a grin.
“R-Right,” Wonwoo stuttered as a sinking feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. Some friend he was. The man trusted him with his sister and what did he do? Go behind his back and date her. And worst of all? Despite the guilt he felt or the consequences that came with dating you, Wonwoo had absolutely no intention of staying away from you.
“Wonwoo? The report?” Seungcheol’s voice snapped him right out of his thoughts.
“The report, yes! I’ll grab it for you. Just make yourself at home, Hyung.”
On the way to his home office, Wonwoo shook his head at himself for nearly losing his shit at the mention of you. If he didn’t want to end up in a coffin, he’d have to find a way to maintain his composure. Because there would come a time when he would have to face you in a setting where Seungcheol, with his hawke-eye vision, would also be present.
As Wonwoo returned with the report, Seungcheol was in the middle of admiring a large glass showcase that was filled with the many prizes Wonwoo had acquired over the years. This included the trophies he’d won himself by participating in gaming tournaments – even before he started his business, as well as the large number of awards he and his team at SEVENTEEN Gaming had managed to collect from prestigious game award shows and conferences such as the Game Developers Conference and The Games Industry Awards. Wonwoo was proud of everything he’d accomplished so far and he wasn’t planning on slowing down anytime soon.
“Hyung? The report,” Wonwoo’s voice echoed through the room, catching the attention of the other CEO. He accepted it without another word and leafed through it for a couple of seconds before nodding.
“Looks good. I have to get going though. Haewon is on my case since I’m already kinda late for a lunch meeting, but I will make sure to read through it before the end of the day.” He patted Wonwoo’s back as the two of them made their way back to the front door. That was until Seungcheol suddenly stopped in his tracks, his gaze pointed at one of the two small tables that decorated the entrance hall.
“Hyung?” Wonwoo’s own eyes shifted to the small table, curious as to what could have caught his friend’s attention. His eyes finally stopped on a piece of jewelry, a silver bracelet – your bracelet to be exact.
—
“Surprise!” your smiling face greeted Wonwoo after he’d opened the front door. Your hands were full of bags and he was quick to take them off you after pressing a soft kiss to your lips.
“What’s the occasion?” While you were busy taking off your coat and shoes, he curiously peeked inside the bags to find a bunch of vegetables, noodles and spices.
“Well, since you released that game you’ve been working on so hard, I thought I’d celebrate with you and let you finally taste my cooking,” you smiled and crouched down to greet the curious cats that had gathered at your feet. “Because we both know that you’ll just eat ramen or end up ordering takeout instead.”
Wonwoo laughed at that, his heart warming at the fact that you already knew him so well. After the release event, the other CEOs had congratulated him with his achievement and Mingyu had even offered to have dinner together, but Wonwoo had refused. Usually, after a big release, he just liked to be in the comfort of his own home with a good book or one of his games, and a simple meal to fill up his stomach. You just happened to be the exception to his rule.
And so you ended up cooking for Wonwoo in the huge-ass kitchen that he never even used. You didn’t let Wonwoo help you at all – which was probably for the best, but he watched in amazement as you prepared all the ingredients while switching your attention between the two cats that had taken a liking to you, and himself. At some point, you’d taken off your bracelet so that you could mix all the ingredients with your hands and Wonwoo had placed it onto a small side table to keep it safe.
Though Wonwoo would never tell Mingyu, your japchae was probably better than the chef’s version of the dish. It was honestly one of the best meals he’d ever had and as a CEO who was often invited to dinner parties, he’d eaten quite a number of delicious meals prepared by some of the world’s top chefs. He made sure to let you know exactly that by kissing you senseless after he’d helped you clean up the dishes, and you were more than happy to accept his offer.
But unfortunately for the two of you, you got called away for work before it could go anywhere and left in a hurry, completely forgetting about the bracelet. That’s why Wonwoo moved it to the table in the entrance hall, with the intention to return it to you as soon as possible.
—
“You know…Y/N has one exactly like this,” Seungcheol pointed at it and Wonwoo could already see his life flash right before his eyes. Was this it? Was this already the end of your story and possibly his life?
“R-Really? That’s such a coincidence!” Wonwoo exclaimed nervously, his mind going over the possible scenarios that would justify the bracelet being at his place without giving away his secret.
“It really is. Only a few of those were made.” The neutral look on Seungcheol’s face was suddenly replaced by a frown. “I gave it to her when she became a lawyer, and had it personalized even.” Fuck, there was no way he could let Seungcheol examine the piece up close.
“Don’t worry, Hyung. I had a…uh, a date the other night and she forgot this.” A date, really? That’s all he could come up with?
The other CEO raised his eyebrows at Wonwoo’s confession. “A date? Didn’t know you were back in the game.”
“Mingyu set it up for me, thought I’d try it for once.” Wonwoo made a mental note to let Mingyu in on his lie, because Seungcheol would definitely want to bring this up at a later point in time.
“Good, because for a second, I thought I might have to kill you,” Seungcheol grinned, even though his eyes were telling a different story. Something about his mood had definitely changed and it sent chills down Wonwoo’s spine. “Anyway, I’ll see you at the next meetup.” After giving Wonwoo another pat on the shoulder, Seungcheol put his shoes back on and left the house after a quick goodbye, leaving behind a relieved but confused Wonwoo.
Later that night, he met up with you at your place to give you back the bracelet you’d forgotten a few nights ago and he made sure to inform you about what had transpired with your brother.
“What do you mean my brother saw this bracelet at your place?” You were on full alert now, the work you were doing on your laptop completely forgotten.
“I forgot that it was there and I didn’t think about it, I’m sorry.” Wonwoo, on the other hand, was distracted by your cat that was now comfortably snuggled in his arms. You bit your lip anxiously, not understanding how he could bring it up so nonchalantly.
“He fucking knows, there’s no other way,” you eventually said, beginning to pace up and down your living room.
“Do you think I’d be standing here if he knew?” You stopped your pacing to look at the man that was petting your cute little ball of fur.
“You have a point, but still. He had this made specifically for me, engravings and all. There’s no way he doesn’t know,” you shook your head, not convinced at all. You knew your brother and he certainly wasn’t a fool.
“He didn’t get to see it up close though. I lied and said that it belonged to a date I had.”
“Really? That was what you decided to go with?” you snorted and Wonwoo cringed at how bad that sounded.
“I know, it’s not good. But…he seemed fine when he left.” He decided that it was best to leave out the mood switch and the part where Seungcheol had basically threatened him. You were already stressed about the whole thing, so Wonwoo didn’t want to be the reason to add to that.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes, I’m pretty sure. Let’s just not worry about it and do something fun, hmm?” Wonwoo suggested and let Bom jump out of his arms.
You sighed, throwing your head back briefly as you tried to calm yourself down. “I have more work to do, Wonwoo.” The man apparently didn’t care, because he simply wrapped his arm around your waist and playfully trailed his lips across your jaw before placing a soft kiss onto your cheek.
“There’s always more work to do. Just relax with me. I didn’t come here to see you work,” he teased, his hands moving to squeeze your sides.
“Fine,” you rolled your eyes, not finding it in you to say no to him with the way he was trying to persuade you. “You choose the show. I’ll get the wine.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” the CEO responded, a smile tugging at his lips as he watched you make your way into the kitchen.
In the month that followed, you and Wonwoo continued to go on dates in secret whenever time allowed for it. The more time you spent with the CEO, the more you realized how much you liked the man. No, scratch that, you’d already fallen for him. Hard. And you only hoped that he felt the same. Well, with the way he was spoiling you with gifts and spending nearly all his free moments with you, you guessed that he felt the same way about you.
Despite how well things were going between the two of you, it didn’t take away the fact that dating in secret was tough and exhausting. On top of hiding it from your brother, you also needed to hide it from the public, which meant that the only dates you could truly enjoy in peace were the ones at home or those where the space was rented out for just the two of you.
You were aware that Mingyu knew about you and Wonwoo, which made you slightly envious of their friendship. It would have been nice if you had someone to share your secret with. But every time you thought of finally sharing your dating life with your close friends, that little voice in your head returned and convinced you that it would be catastrophic if anyone in your circle were to accidentally leak something to the press or your brother. It just wasn’t worth it.
That didn’t mean, however, that they didn’t notice a positive change in you. And you may have had to lie and say that it was because you were killing it at work – which wasn’t a lie, but that was beside the point.
Similarly, Wonwoo had told you that his friends had mentioned during the monthly get-together that they noticed a change in him too, though they weren’t sure what it was. Of course, Seungcheol took that opportunity to bring up the ‘date’ that Mingyu had set up for him and naturally, everyone wanted to know about the woman that got Wonwoo to put himself out there again.
And boy, was he glad that he hadn’t forgotten to tell Mingyu about the lie he’d told their older friend. Because the chef was quick to jump to his best friend’s aid and spewed enough bullshit about the mysterious woman to keep the others satisfied for a while.
Speaking of changes in behavior, your brother had been checking in on you way more than you were used to. Normally, you saw him once or twice a month – one of those times being the consultation that had become part of your routine and the other usually dinner at one of your favorite restaurants. However, in the span of just three weeks, Seungcheol had suddenly become much more involved in your life – much to your annoyance.
He now called you at least twice a week to ask if you wanted to meet up for dinner or drinks, and never failed to ask about your plans, in particular who you were meeting with. As if that was any of his business.
When you’d finally gotten sick of his new-found hobby, you asked him what his problem was. His response? He had more freetime and wanted to spend that time on family, meaning you. You immediately called his bullshit, even though you didn’t explicitly tell him that.
Thinking back on it, you were reminded of just a few weeks ago, when he’d suddenly showed up at your place without as much as a warning. At that time, he thought that you were dating someone because of the men’s shoes near your front door, so you assumed that this was his way of ‘investigating’ in the most subtle way. Obviously he wasn’t as slick as he thought he was.
You had also voiced your concerns to Wonwoo, and he admitted that he too had noticed some changes in his friend. For one, Seungcheol had suddenly shown up at the SEVENTEEN Gaming HQ a week after the monthly get-together. Of course, there was nothing wrong with visiting a fellow CEO, but what made it strange was that Seungcheol never stopped by without informing Hajoon or himself about it beforehand.
He’d claimed that he wanted to visit each HQ on a more regular basis to be more involved, which was strange in itself. Seungcheol was already as involved as he could be, and with more than enough work on his plate, Wonwoo couldn’t understand why he would want to add a bunch of random visits to that.
To confirm that he wasn’t going crazy and Seungcheol wasn’t just keeping tabs on him because he suspected something between you and him, Wonwoo checked in with Mingyu and several of the CEOs to inquire whether Seungcheol had paid them a visit too. Much to Wonwoo’s relief, the managing CEO had visited Mingyu and Soonyoung’s HQ the day before, and Jisoo and Minghao’s HQ the day after his visit to SEVENTEEN Gaming – also without so much as a notice.
In Wonwoo’s eyes, that was one less thing to worry about, especially since he had other things that demanded his attention. You didn’t know it yet, but for the past week, he’d been planning a surprise for you with Mingyu’s help.The two of you had been dating for about two months now and he wanted to do something special for you. Though you would probably tell him that he was already doing more than enough for you. It was true, but Wonwoo wanted to do this. He was utterly obsessed with you, in the most positive sense of the word. After all those years he’d spent single and too focused on his work, he now had someone that he could shower with all his pent-up love.
Chic, was the only word that came to mind when you spotted the car that came to pick you up on a balmy Saturday evening. All Wonwoo had told you was that he was taking you out and for you to dress fancy, whatever that meant. If you had to go by Wonwoo’s definition of fancy, it was probably okay to show up in a nice pair of jeans and a simple sweater. But you were glad that you’d gone for a more appropriate choice after seeing the driver, who was dressed in a black suit, exit the car.
Said man quickly rushed over to the other side upon your arrival and held the door open for you after greeting you with a small bow. You returned the gesture and slightly lifted the skirt of your ankle-length dress before you got yourself seated in the expensive vehicle.
During the twenty minute ride, your mind started to go over all the possibilities that would require you to dress up like this – especially seeing as Wonwoo liked to keep things casual. You just didn’t understand why he would force himself into a situation that would potentially make him feel uncomfortable. But it did get you all the more excited and thrilled the closer you got to your final destination.
When you’d reached your stop, the driver, who’s name was James, escorted you out of the car and into the large restaurant that was probably one of the best-rated restaurants in Seoul: Flavory Factory SEVENTEEN. You’d visited a couple of times with your brother and you had to admit that the food was absolutely delicious, so you definitely understood the hype. And you also understood why Wonwoo had asked you to dress up. Showing up to a Michelin star restaurant in a casual outfit would have been inappropriate and would guarantee a bunch of bizarre looks from both employees and other dinner guests.
James left you alone when you’d reached the entrance hall and motioned for you to continue your way to the large set of doors. There, you were greeted by a friendly-looking woman who no doubt worked at the restaurant.
“Right this way, Ms. Choi,” she smiled, opening the two doors that led to the dining area. No matter how many you’d come here, you were still amazed at the layout of the whole place. The ceilings were high and completely made out of glass, offering an incredible view of the sky, both during the day and at night – undoubtedly your favorite part about the restaurant. You were so focused on the stars that were now visible through the see-through ceiling, that you didn’t even notice the man that was observing your every move, completely mesmerized by your beauty.
“Wow, you look so stunning right now,” Wonwoo spoke, his voice slightly breathy at the sight of you. Your eyes settled on him almost immediately at the sound of his smooth but deep voice.
“W-Wonwoo?” you stuttered, eyes slightly widening at the sight that greeted you. The CEO who hated dressing up, had forced himself into a dark gray suit that looked so good on him that it made your heart skip a beat as you took it all in. “What’s all this? Why are you dressed in a suit?”
The man simply chuckled and reached out to grab your hands, pulling you closer to him in the process. “I thought I’d surprise you for once. What do you think?”
“You look handsome, but you always do,” you grinned. “Weren’t you the one who said you hated suits though?”
“Like I said, I can be persuaded for a special occasion or in this case, a special someone,” he mumbled, letting go of one of your hands to cup your cheek, the warmth of his palm causing your entire body to warm up.
“I see,” you hummed, moving your free hand to the black tie that had been neatly tied. “Can’t say that I’m not excited to see you in a suit.”
Wonwoo smirked, inching his face slightly closer so that his lips were nearly touching yours. “Don’t get used to it,” he whispered before stealing a kiss from you.
“A woman can dream,” you pouted, but let him pull you towards the table that had been set up for you anyway. Like the gentleman he was, he pulled out your chair and helped you sit down before taking his own seat. This was immediately followed by a waiter appearing at the table to offer the both of you some refreshments, followed by a short explanation of the menu, after which he left the two of you alone.
“So, how much convincing did it take you to let Mingyu close down his restaurant just for the two of us?”
Wonwoo smiled and shook his head as he reached across the table to grasp your hand gently. “None. It was actually his idea to host us here. He would have thrown a fit if I’d booked any other place.”
“Right, I forgot how much he supports all of this,” you giggled, remembering how the other CEO had once told you that he was you and Wonwoo’s number one fan. At this point, he was literally the only fan since no one else was supposed to know about it. Either way, you were happy that he was so supportive and willing to keep this whole thing a secret from everyone else. “I’m glad he suggested it though. The food is always amazing here.”
Wonwoo nodded in agreement. “And a plus is that his staff are discreet, so we don’t have to worry about toning it down for the sake of the public,” he added.
And that was true. You were able to enjoy the evening without having to think about your image. As the hours passed, the restaurant staff kept bringing delicious foods, up to the point where you'd lost count of how many different courses you'd already eaten. You felt bad for thinking it, but you were glad when they finally brought out the last dish, the dessert. If you continued eating more, you were pretty sure that your stomach would burst with the way your dress was already getting tighter and more uncomfortable against your body.
That said, you made sure to remember to thank Mingyu for putting all of this together at a later time.
“That was so delicious! But if I eat anything more, you're going to have to pick me up from the floor,” you laughed, using your napkin to wipe your mouth.
The man in front of you grinned boldly. “I'd gladly pick you up though.”
“Such a gentleman you are,” you responded, your lips forming into a smile.
“I’d like to think I am,” Wonwoo smirked and took that moment to get up from his seat, holding his hand out for you to take. Wondering what could be next, you accepted his hand and shuffled out of your seat to join him.
The nice thing about the restaurant was that there was a section that had been transformed into a little garden with lots of greenery, flowers and a small pond that housed several species of fish – perfect for a stroll after the dinner you’d just had.
“There is one more thing,” Wonwoo started when you’d stopped in front of the pond. You lifted your head in surprise, wondering what else he could have planned after the amazing night you had.
“What's that?”
“Well…” Wonwoo grabbed your other hand and pulled you closer to him. “I wanted to make tonight special for a reason. We’ve been dating for a while now, and I know that I’m not the best at expressing my feelings in words, but I want you to know that I’m so in love with you. Fuck, you have no idea what you do to me. I can’t stop thinking about you and I can’t wait to see you every time we’re apart.” He then chuckled while shaking his head. “ Hell, I lie to my friends about this whole thing and I don’t even feel bad about it if it means I get to have you just a little longer.”
“Wonwoo,” you whispered, your stomach filling with butterflies at his revelation. How lucky you felt to have this man all for yourself. And to hear him tell you that he felt the same way only amplified the love you felt for him.
“Be mine, please?” He was looking at you expectantly, almost as if he was afraid that you’d say no. Your lips slowly morphed into a big smile.
“I’d love that,” you nodded happily, moving your arms to wrap around his neck instead. Not giving him any time to respond, you pressed yourself flush against him and captured his lips into a kiss. He was more than happy to oblige, his own arms wrapping around your waist to keep you close in his own way – not like you would want to move away from any of this.
You were vaguely aware that you were having a makeout session in the middle of the restaurant, Mingyu’s staff in the front row seat, but you honestly couldn’t care less. It felt so good to know that Wonwoo had done all of this just to ask you to be his girlfriend. That on top of the fact that he’d put on a whole damn suit for you was already enough to score a bunch of brownie points with you.
“You ready to get out of here?” Wonwoo asked when you’d pulled away, his breathing slightly unstable as he tried to recover from the intense kiss you’d shared. Though the way he’d phrased the question was quite harmless, the way his eyes darkened and his hand had lowered to your ass just seconds ago informed you that he had some intentions that were far from innocent.
“Mine or yours?” you responded as your fingers played with the hairs on the back of his neck. That got Wonwoo into gear, one of his hands quickly reaching for yours before you’d even realized that he was no longer hugging your form.
“Whatever is closer,” he answered, already in the process of tugging you back to your table, where you’d left your clutch. A string of giggles escaped from your lips at the way he was rushing, your heel-covered feet trying to catch up with his speed.
The sound of a door slamming open startled the both of you and you turned your head slightly to identify the source of the commotion. What you found instantly sucked all the joy right out of your body. There, in the flesh, was no one other than your brother.
All three of you were frozen in shock, Wonwoo and yourself obviously for different reasons than your brother. The latter seemed to be in pure shock, his eyes scanning over the two of you for a few seconds before his expression morphed into one that could only be described as pure anger.
“What. The. Fuck. is going on here?” Seungcheol seethed, his eyes darting back and forth between you and Wonwoo.
“Hyung.”
“Cheol,” you spoke at the same time, quickly pulling your hand from Wonwoo’s grasp when you realized that you hadn’t let go of each other yet. Your head was spinning and you felt like you wanted to be sick, your stomach twisting uncomfortably at the situation you were currently in. This wasn’t how your brother was supposed to find out. How did he even know to come here?
“I asked. What the fuck is going on here?!”
“Cheol, please calm down. It’s not-”
“Don’t fucking tell me to calm down, Y/N.” He then turned his attention to Wonwoo, his eyes shooting daggers at the man beside you. “You got some nerve,” he snorted, taking a few steps closer to the two of you. “You lied to my face about that bracelet, Wonwoo. I trusted you. I fucking trusted you and you go behind my back to mess with my sister? I can’t believe this.”
“Hyung…Shit, I’m sorry. I never meant for it to be like this,” Wonwoo responded, clenching his fists in frustration.
“Were you ever going to tell me, hmm?”
“Cheol,” you spoke carefully in the hope that he wouldn’t get even more angry. “It just happened okay? And we’re sorry for not telling you. But please, can’t you just let it go?”
“Let it go? My best friend and my own sister betrayed me and you want me to fucking let it go? No. Tell me, how long?”
“It’s not like that, Hyung. I swear. Can’t we just talk it out like adults?“ Wonwoo pleaded, but the older man was not having it.
“How. Long?” Seungcheol was now right in Wonwoo’s face and grabbing onto the blazer that he was wearing. Your brother was pissed and you seriously feared the worst for your boyfriend. The man beside you sighed in defeat, knowing that his friend wasn’t going to drop it before he got an answer.
“Two months,” Wonwoo mumbled softly, but it was loud enough for Seungcheol to hear. Your brother could only scoff, his jaw clenching while you held your breath.
“Cheol, please let go of him,” you finally begged, wanting Seungcheol as far away as possible from Wonwoo before he did something he would regret.
“Still defending him, huh?” Seungcheol laughed, but his laugh was void of joy. Still, he released Wonwoo’s blazer and patted him on the chest before turning his back to his friend. “You know, I think it’s funny because that was right around the time that you were supposed to take over that meeting for me.”
The next thing you know, Seuncheol turned around and delivered a blow straight to Wonwoo’s cheek, his glasses knocked off his face in the process. Your brother had moved so fast that it was already over before you realized what had happened.
“Cheol!” you shrieked, grabbing onto your boyfriend, who staggered a little bit due to the impact of the hit. “What the hell is wrong with you?!” You glared at your brother, who was just standing there with a frown on his face.
“I guess I deserved that,” the younger CEO gasped, holding onto the cheek that had taken the blow.
“No you didn’t. That was so uncalled for,” you grumbled, bending down to retrieve his poor glasses from the floor. “Are you okay?” you asked softly when you carefully placed them back onto his nose, momentarily forgetting about Seungcheol as you examined his cheek.
“I’m fine, don’t worry.” Another door slam is what pulled your attention away from the man in front of you, only to notice that your brother had left the room. Although things between you were bad, you were glad that he’d decided to leave before it could escalate even more. You would deal with him later and just focus on taking care of Wonwoo for now.
“It doesn’t look fine. It’s already bruising. We need to get ice on this.” You quickly called out for one of the staff members, who’d no doubt witnessed the whole thing. How embarrassing.
“I’m sorry. This is not how I wanted this night to end. He’s never going to forgive me for this. I’m fucked.” A desperate sigh left his lips after that, his eyes shifting to the floor in front of him.
You quickly shook your head as you accepted an ice pack from the woman who had escorted you to your table. “Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault, Wonwoo. I don’t know how the hell he knew we were here, but he should have minded his business. Hold this.”
Wonwoo did exactly that and watched as you hurried over to your purse, digging into it until you’d found what you were looking for.
“I’m going to call Mingyu. He should know about this too,” you announced while scrolling through your contacts to look for his phone number. Wonwoo didn’t protest, and even if he would have, you probably would have called Mingyu anyway. The two of you needed all the support you could get right now, and it just so happened that Mingyu was the only one that you could fall back on.
Fortunately, it only took about fifteen minutes before Mingyu burst through the doors. From the looks of it, he’d quickly rushed from home to check on the both of you.
Upon seeing Wonwoo with an ice pack pressed against his cheek, the chef rushed over and demanded an in-detail report of what had gone down.
“Dude, you’re fucked,” was the first thing that came out of the CEOs mouth when you’d finished telling him the full story.
“Yah Mingyu! Not helping?” you scolded the big giant, which earned you a goofy grin in return.
“But it’s true. I ruined it for everyone just because I was being selfish,” Wonwoo agreed.
“Okay, it probably won’t be that bad. Hyung will come around eventually.”
“Did you miss the part where he punched me in the fucking face?”
“No, but you’re still alive! That’s something, right?” You just rolled your eyes, not understanding how he could still joke around at a time like this. Wonwoo, however, seemed to think that it was somewhat funny judging from the laughter that erupted from the man. After that came immediate regret in the form of a groan that got you out of your seat.
“Stop playing around before you hurt yourself even more,” you grimaced, forcing Wonwoo’s ice pack hand back against his cheek. When you were satisfied, you collected your purse and grabbed your phone once again to arrange a ride for yourself.
Wonwoo, who noticed that you’d opened the taxi app, was quick to latch his free hand onto your wrist to prevent you from leaving. “Wait, where are you going?”
“I need to deal with Seungcheol.”
“Just be careful, yeah?”
“Don’t worry. I can handle myself,” you smiled, gently squeezing his hand before turning your attention to the other man. “Mingyu, please m-”
“I’ll take good care of him, don’t worry!” he assured you, that goofy smile adorning his face once again.
After making sure that Wonwoo would be fine in Mingyu’s care, you collected all your things and made your way out of the restaurant and towards the car that had just arrived for you.
Although you wanted to stay with Wonwoo, you felt like you had no choice but to deal with this, because there was no way you were going to let your brother get away with the shit he pulled tonight.
The drive to Seungcheol’s place was way too short for your liking, mainly because you were dreading the whole thing. Every fight the two of you had ever had always ended in the two of you screaming at each other – because you were both stubborn and reactive, so why would it be any different tonight? If anything, you just wanted to make it clear to him that he needed to mind his own damn business and focus on that instead of trying to control your life.
After thanking the driver for his service, you slowly made your way to the main door of the apartment complex.
Going over the list of names, you finally pressed the one that had your brother’s name on it. The sound of the doorbell pierced the silence while you anxiously waited for any sign of your brother.
“Cheol, I know you’re there. Open the door, ” you spoke into the intercom, knowing that your brother would be able to hear you. He had to be there, you were sure of it. When Seungcheol was angry, he usually liked to blow off steam in the comfort of his own home without a bunch of eyes on him. That's how you knew to come here. But it seemed like your brother was being stubborn – so were you though.
You pressed the bell once again, and again and again, until the familiar buzzing sound echoed through the air, which was followed by the door finally opening after a few minutes of trying.
With annoyance running through your system, you made your way up to the top floor, eager to give your brother a piece of your mind.
The front door was slightly open when you arrived, so you took the liberty to let yourself inside the apartment and took off your heels. Your attention was drawn to some commotion coming from the left, so you sensed that your brother was in his home office doing god knows what.
Your thoughts were confirmed when you opened the door just in time to see Seungcheol slam his hands down onto his desk before snatching a glass filled with what you assumed was whiskey off it.
“Yah, Choi Seungcheol! What the hell is wrong with you?” He looked up at the sound of your voice, his frown deepening even more at the sight of you.
After taking a big gulp of his whiskey, he said, “Really? That’s the first thing you say after lying to me?”
“You need to apologize to Wonwoo! I can't believe you actually had the audacity to punch him. And for what?!” you exclaimed, crossing your arms over your chest.
Your brother only shrugged and leaned back against the table as he faced you. “He got what he deserved.” You were in shock at the way he went about this so nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just almost knocked down one of his closest friends.
“He’s your friend! Instead of being immature and resorting to violence, we could have talked it out like adults,” you snapped.
“Then explain to me why I had to find out through a fucking private investigator that the two of you were sneaking around behind my back,” Seungcheol spat, his eyes blazing with fire. You, on the other hand, were in complete disbelief at what you'd just heard. He did what now?
“You hired a private investigator to spy on us?! Are you serious?” You actually hoped that you'd simply misheard, because if what you'd heard was true, you feared that you didn't really know your brother as well as you thought you did.
“You think I wanted to do it like this? Would you have told me if I’d straight up asked you? Hmm?” Your brother looked at you expectantly, but you were completely speechless, your mouth opening and closing, but no words came out.
“That’s what I thought,” he huffed and turned back around to grab the whiskey glass.
“You’re out of your mind if you think that’s an okay thing to do. You went too far this time, Cheol.” You shook your head as you continued. “I have tolerated a lot of your shit over the years, but this…I'm done with you trying to control me.”
“Maybe if you'd told me the truth from the start, it wouldn't have ended like this,” Seungcheol retorted. You could only scoff, refraining yourself from rolling your eyes at his words. He knew god damn well that he would have tried anything in his power to stop you from seeing Wonwoo had he known from the start.
“Oh, please cut the crap. What's so wrong with me and Wonwoo being together? He treats me well and actually cares about me, probably more than anyone I've ever dated. Why can't you accept that?”
“It's not even about that! You two went behind my back and lied to my face for weeks…weeks, Y/N!”
“So what? We only did that because you're a fucking control freak! It doesn't give you the right to violate our privacy. If you can't even acknowledge that what you did was wrong, then how do you expect me to ever forgive you?” Your brother slammed his glass down at the words that left your mouth, the sound of the glass hitting the desk slightly startling you.
“Y/N,” he chuckled bitterly. “You forgiving me? How about you apologize to me first for the shit you pulled?”
“Hell no. I don’t regret anything.” Part of you probably felt a little bit guilty, but with how angry you were at that moment, there was no way you were going to apologize to Seungcheol…not when he was acting like an entitled bastard.
“Fine, whatever. As long as you understand that you and Wonwoo are over.” Your arms dropped to your sides in response, your fists clenching in frustration at your brother’s absurd demand. The fact that he had the guts to say that to you made you want to cry and laugh at the same time, because just who did he think he was to make that decision for you?
“You can't be for real, right? After all this you're still trying to tell me what to do? Get it through your thick skull that I'm not your damn puppet. I'm a grown ass woman and I can manage my own relationships just fine without your controlling ass.”
“Watch it, Y/N. I’m still your brother,” he sneered, obviously not liking the way you were speaking to him. No matter how bad your fights got, there had always been some type of mutual respect between the two of you – not this time though. No, this time, you wanted him to know that he was dead wrong and foul for violating your and Wonwoo’s privacy.
Whatever respect you had for him had vanished the moment he revealed the involvement of that private investigator. It also made you wonder what details of your personal life had been shared with your brother? Just the thought already made you feel sick and uncomfortable.
“Or what, Cheol? You're gonna hit me too? Seriously, go fuck yourself!” You were about ready to leave, knowing that there was no reasoning with him in this state and at this point, you didn’t even want to.
In an attempt to stop you from leaving, Seungcheol reached forward to grab onto your wrist, but you just ripped it away. “Don’t! And don’t contact me either. I can’t fucking stand you right now.”
You were on the verge of a breakdown, but you managed to compose yourself just long enough to give your brother a final glare before storming out of his home office, ignoring the way he was calling after you.
All you wanted after that nightmare was Wonwoo. You needed him, because he was the only person who could truly understand what you were going through right now – you were in this together after all. Mingyu had let you know through a text that he’d dropped his friend off at home, so that’s how you ended up in another taxi, this time on your way to Wonwoo’s place to tell him all about what had gone down with your brother.
“I’m not going tonight.”
“Hyung, come on! Everyone is looking forward to seeing you,” Mingyu pleaded as he stepped inside his best friend’s home.
“I know one person who isn’t,” Wonwoo retorted, not even waiting for the chef to take off his shoes before he started making his way towards the living room.
Mingyu, however, was quick to follow behind him. “So what? Does that mean you have to skip everyone else too?”
“It’s too soon, Mingyu.” He remembered the night that you got back from your conversation with Seungcheol all too well. The moment he’d let you inside his house, you broke down crying in his arms. This was followed by you telling him everything that had been said between the two of you. To say that Wonwoo was shocked would have been an understatement. Never did he think that his best friend would go so far as to hire a PI to find out the truth. He had expected the screaming, the cussing and even the blow to his face, but this is the thing that had caught him off guard. Wonwoo didn’t know how to feel about it, because he understood where Seungcheol was coming from, but then again, the whole revelation made him want to avoid the managing CEO even more.
On top of that, Wonwoo had also been distancing himself from you ever since you left his place that day, mainly because he felt terrible. He couldn’t help but blame himself for the whole argument between you and your brother, and he felt like being in your presence would only make everything worse for everyone.
Of course he hadn’t told you how he felt, because you would definitely reassure him that he shouldn’t feel responsible for anything, which is why Wonwoo did what he thought was best: keep his feelings to himself and distance himself – at least until he figured out what to do.
“You can’t avoid each other forever. We all work together, so you’ll have to face him eventually. Better to just rip that bandaid off.”
Wonwoo sighed at that statement. “I know that, but how the hell am I going to hide this?” He turned around and pointed at his cheek, which was now a blue-greenish color after a week had passed. “And I’m not really looking forward to adding another bruise to the collection.”
“Just wear a mask and play it off as a cold. Or…how about you tell everyone what’s going on?” Mingyu suggested, but Wonwoo was quick to shake his head.
“No way. I’m not involving anyone in this drama when I don’t even know how to deal with it myself.”
“If you don’t show up, the others are definitely going to start asking questions. Do you want that instead?”
A frustrated groan left Wonwoo’s lips at that, the truth of Mingyu’s words sinking in. He had a point. Seungcheol wasn’t the only nosy one out of their group – mainly Seungkwan and Jeonghan, who had a tendency to snoop around for juicy stories. It wasn’t in the way that Seungcheol was in everyone’s business, but it was bad enough for Wonwoo to admit his defeat. Besides, it wasn’t like not showing up was going to make the whole thing go away.
“Fine, I’ll go. Happy?”
“Very,” the other CEO grinned. “ Now go get ready. We leave in ten,” he announced before plopping himself down onto the couch.
“I’m gonna regret this,” Wonwoo mumbled to himself as he made his way towards the stairs.
Forty-five minutes later, the CEO pair found themselves seated around Seungkwan’s large dining table with the rest of their friends, minus the managing CEO. Wonwoo hated to admit it, but he was relieved that Seungcheol was slightly delayed, because it gave him time to mentally prepare himself. The goal was to not create a scene with the other CEOs present, so he counted on Mingyu to help with that. As long as Wonwoo didn’t have to sit next to Seungcheol, there was a chance that he’d make it through this get-together without another fist in his face.
Unfortunately, that worry-free moment was short-lived when he showed up ten minutes later. Wonwoo, who had been joking around with Mingyu, Chan and Jeonghan, felt himself tense up at his sudden presence. It was weird…seeing him in this type of setting when it was only a week ago that Seungcheol had caught him with you. It made Wonwoo wonder if he even wanted to be here, because he sure as hell didn’t.
Without intending to, Wonwoo’s eyes met Seungcheol’s eyes for just a brief moment, but it was long enough for Wonwoo to feel the anger radiating through the CEO’s eyes. The smile that had adorned Seungcheol’s face only seconds ago vanished almost immediately as he spotted the man who’d betrayed his trust.
Wonwoo felt his breath hitch in his throat in response, anxiety slowly seeping into his body as he tried to keep his composure. Mingyu, being the good friend he was, probably sensed his friend’s distress and placed a comforting hand on Wonwoo’s shoulder, as if telling him that it would all be fine.
Wonwoo was glad that dinner was pretty uneventful, apart from the occasional glances that Seungcheol kept throwing his way – which he tried to ignore as best as he could. It did help that the older man was seated far away from Wonwoo, all the way at the end of the large oval table. However, that all changed when Jun and Vernon suggested that they should play some games.
They moved to Seungkwan’s lounge room, where they opted for a game of cards with a couple of drinks. Wonwoo tried to have fun and focus on the game and his friends, but it was hard when the man sitting across from him kept staring right into his soul every few minutes or so. And sadly enough, Wonwoo wasn’t the only one who noticed the tension in the room.
“Okay, something is going on here,” Seungkwan finally stated, peaking everyone’s interest. Wonwoo, however, almost whined in frustration.
“You’re right. Something weird is going on,” Minghao agreed.
“And why does Seungcheol Hyung look like he wants to kill someone?” Chan questioned at the sight of Seungcheol’s murderous facial expression.
“Maybe because I do,” the man in question answered in a low voice, his eyes flashing to Wonwoo. There we go.
“Wow, what the hell is that? What’s going on?” Jisoo asked, no doubt referring to the look Seungcheol had directed at Wonwoo.
“Why don’t you ask the gaming pro over there,” Seungcheol spoke and motioned to Wonwoo, who cringed at all the attention he was suddenly getting. This is exactly what he had been afraid of. If only he hadn’t let Mingyu convince him to come.
“Hyung, let’s not do this here, yeah?” Mingyu interfered in an attempt to defuse the situation.
“You’re not any better, Mingyu. Trying to cover his ass and supporting the whole thing behind my back.”
“Are we being pranked? Because this is not really happening now, is it?” Jihoon asked, looking profoundly confused.
“Oh, I wish it was,” Wonwoo mumbled from behind his mask before he switched his attention to Seungcheol. “Hyung, can we please not do this right now? Let’s not involve everyone.”
The man just laughed and stood up from his seat. “Why not? Afraid that everyone is going to see you in a different light when they hear the truth?”
“Hyung, come on,” Mingyu tried to persuade his Hyung before it was too late. But, Seungcheol was not in the mood to listen to the chef, not when he was all worked up.
“No, Mingyu. Don’t even try to stop me. I think everyone deserves to know that Wonwoo over there,” he pointed at Wonwoo, “went behind my back to date my sister and he thought he could get away with it.”
“Excuse me?! Your sister Y/N?” Seokmin’s eyes were wide open in shock, his eyes shifting to Wonwoo instantly. He wasn’t alone, because very soon, the other ten CEOs were also staring at him, some with their mouths open after hearing that mind-boggling news.
“Nah, that can’t be right. Wonwoo Hyung and Y/N? Never,” Seungkwan shook his head as if he refused to believe that piece of information.
“I’m speechless,” Vernon said after a few seconds of silence. Jeonghan, who was sitting right beside Wonwoo, playfully hit the man’s shoulder and chuckled in an attempt to lighten the mood.
“Yah, Wonwoo. They’re joking, right? You didn’t actually make a move on Y/N?” Wonwoo didn’t have anything to say to that, mainly because it was obviously clear to everyone by now that it was, in fact, not a joke but very much true. He just wanted to disappear and pretend like it had all never happened.
“Wait wait wait! Don’t tell me you and his sister actually…you know…?” Seungkwan asked nervously, his eyes flicking between the two friends that were in the center of the dispute.
“He’s too chicken to open his mouth now with all of you here, but he sure was okay with sneaking around with her for two months. Oh, and mind you, he lied to you too,” Seungcheol butted in.
“Cut him some slack, Hyung. He’s already miserable enough because of the whole thing. You punching him in the face was punishment enough,” Mingyu huffed, coming to Wonwoo’s defense once again.
A gasp sounded from Chan. “What?! Is that why you’re wearing the mask? Because Hyung beat the shit out of you?” That was immediately followed by a smack on the head plus a scolding from Jihoon. “Sorry,” he mumbled.
“Shit, Cheol. You hit him? Are you out of your mind?” Jisoo frowned, obviously not amused with the man’s actions.
“Hell yes I did and he deserved it. My own sister won’t even talk to me because she’d rather defend this backstabber!” At that, Wonwoo stood up from his seat. He was not having it this time, especially because it was you he was talking about now.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Hyung. The reason she’s not talking to you is because you hired a fucking PI to dig into our lives instead of coming to us like a normal person would have! Who the hell does that?!”
Silence dominated the room after yet another revelation that left the other CEOs too stunned to speak. No one had expected their monthly night of fun to turn into a reality TV drama.
“I gave you two plenty of chances to tell me, but you left me with no other choice.”
“That’s bullshit, Hyung. There were more than enough alternatives to choose from,” Wonwoo scowled.
“Alright, I think it’s time to put a stop to this. We’re all friends, there’s no need to be getting this worked up,” Soonyoung finally stepped in between the two CEOs, but Seungcheol was quick to go around him and got in Wonwoo’s face before anyone could stop him.
“Hyung, don’t!” Mingyu called out, already making a move to pull the two of them apart.
“No! I need to make this clear first,” Seungcheol snapped, shaking off Mingyu’s hand from his shoulder. Truth was, Wonwoo had no idea what he was getting himself into. For all he knew, he’d be leaving Seungkwan’s house with another bruise.
“I’m telling you Wonwoo, if you want this to work out between us, you better break it off with Y/N. I’m serious, it’s SEVENTEEN World or Y/N, your choice. Choose wisely,” was the final thing that came out of Seungcheol’s mouth before he swiftly turned around and stormed out of the room, leaving behind a room full of CEOs with a bunch of burning questions.
After their managing CEO had left the house, Wonwoo was literally bombarded with questions, up to the point where Mingyu was forced to chair the ‘Q&A’ to prevent total chaos – because what else to expect from a room full of men?
Despite the severity of it all, Wonwoo wanted to be transparent with his friends and explain to them why he’d done what he did. Sure, some were slightly offended that he hadn’t trusted them, but most of them were just shocked that it was Wonwoo, the CEO who didn’t like to date, who had managed to capture your attention.
And of course, once all the serious questions were over and done with, the teasing comments started, initiated by no one other than Yoon Jeonghan and Hong Jisoo, SEVENTEEN World’s infamous instigators. The poor CEO endured it all, but he couldn’t deny that he enjoyed it a little bit.
Yet, all of this didn’t take away the fact that Wonwoo had to make a difficult decision – and he didn’t know if he was going to like the outcome.
Ever since you left Wonwoo’s place that day, you hadn’t heard from him again. That was now two weeks ago. At first, you guessed that he probably needed some time to think things through, which was completely understandable. That’s why you’d kept your attempts to reach him to a minimum, with the occasional call or text message.
But then a week passed, and you still hadn’t heard anything from his side. It was just like the time you’d been waiting for him to initiate a second date and it drove you insane.
In the week that followed, when you felt like you’d given him enough time to sort things out, you probably called him about a dozen times and left him numerous text messages, but all to no avail.
From an outsider’s point of view, it must have seemed excessive and perhaps slightly bordering on stalker behavior, but you were slowly growing more and more restless as the days passed.
You just couldn’t help it. Wonwoo occupied your mind 24/7 and it frustrated you that he’d removed himself from you so easily, especially when he’d made it pretty clear to you that he was in love with you – you couldn’t just forget about that little fact.
All of this had just come at such an unfortunate time. Why did your brother have to show up when he did? He just had to ruin what would have been the best day of your life, because that was what he knew to do best. Thinking about it was enough to get you fired up again.
Speaking of the devil that was your brother, you’d been vehemently ignoring him ever since you’d stormed out of his apartment. In his attempts to contact you, he’d texted and called you, but you’d simply blocked his number in response.
You should have known that he wouldn’t give up that easily, which is why it didn’t come as a surprise when he came knocking at your door one night – for obvious reasons, you refused to open the door and let him ring your doorbell for about fifteen minutes before he gave up and left.
To make sure you could avoid him completely, you’d even gone as far as to arrange a replacement for your monthly legal consultation, because you didn’t think you’d be able to keep it together if you had to face him, not even for the sake of business. Maybe that would finally make your brother realize that he really fucked up this time.
Currently, you were holding your phone to your ear, anxiously waiting for the recipient to pick up.
“Thank you for calling SEVENTEEN Gaming. This is Park Hajoon speaking, what can I do for you?” Wonwoo’s secretary spoke through the phone.
“Hajoon, hi! It’s uh, Y/N. I was wondering if Wonwoo is available.” You felt completely embarrassed that you had actually called his office in the hope of speaking to him during your lunch break, but you were desperate at this point.
“Oh, hello Ms. Choi. I-I’m sorry, but I’m afraid he’s busy right now. I can leave a message for you?” the secretary offered, but you simply sighed in defeat.
“Just let him know that I called. That’s all, thank you,” you thanked her, the disappointment already beginning to settle in.
Of course, because what were you thinking? If he was really avoiding you then he obviously would have told his secretary to tell you that he was busy if you were to call.
While trying to finish your lunch, your eyes fell on your phone once again. What if…
Before your mind could catch up and prevent you from doing anything stupid, you unlocked your phone and searched for that one person in your contact list – possibly the only person who’d know how to help you reach Wonwoo.
“Y/N? I’m kinda busy right now,” Mingyu’s surprised voice sounded, the background noise immediately giving away that he was in a packed kitchen.
You were quick to jump in, afraid that he might hang up before you got the chance to ask him. “Mingyu, please. I need to talk to him. It’s been two weeks!”
“I know, I know. But he won’t even talk to me about it though, so I don’t know if I can help you.” You almost felt like crying at this point. If he didn’t confide in his best friend, then how were you going to get through to him?
“I just need one chance to see him. Isn’t there anywhere he goes often?” It was silent for a moment, and you were afraid that Mingyu had hung up the call. But when you checked the screen, you were relieved to see that he was still there.
“Well, I guess you could try the arcade? You know, the one you went to on your first date? He usually goes there to relieve stress, but I’m not sure he’ll be there, Y/N.” The arcade! How could you have forgotten about that place?
“No, that’s perfect. Thanks, Mingyu!” you thanked the CEO and said your goodbye before ending the call. Tonight, you were going to pay a visit to the arcade and hopefully see Wonwoo there.
With your newfound determination, you made your way to the arcade when your workday had come to an end. As you entered the building for the second time, you immediately noticed the change in vibe from the last time you’d been here.
On your first date, the place had been completely deserted since Wonwoo had reserved the whole space for the two of you, but it was the complete opposite now. The whole hall was filled with people, both young and old, all having fun trying out the various games – it was Friday night, so that was to be expected.
You were starting to lose hope after spending two hours there, still no sign of the SEVENTEEN Gaming CEO. Even after making a few rounds and checking out the individuals wearing face masks and caps, you had to come to the conclusion that Wonwoo wasn’t here…and probably wouldn’t be tonight. After the third hour, you finally disposed of your empty cup and collected your things so that you could make your way home.
—
Wonwoo slammed his car door shut and locked it with the click of a button before he adjusted his disguise. For a second, he thought of going home to play some games instead, but he reminded himself that he’d just finished a tiring day full of meetings with stakeholders and needed something to relax him, something to distract him – mainly from you.
He was painfully aware that you’d been trying to get a hold of him and he felt like a complete dick for going radio silent, but Wonwoo wasn’t good with these types of situations. He had no doubt that you hated him right now. All you wanted was to talk and here he was, ignoring the woman he’d confessed his love to not too long ago.
Wonwoo wanted to work this whole thing out, but he didn’t have the slightest clue where to start. The only scenarios he could come up with ended with both of you in pain and he wasn’t ready to face any of that yet. Distracting himself with games was the only thing that gave him some sort of comfort right now. Not even Mingyu, who’d offered his help already more than once.
The CEO was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice the figure that was about to exit the building just as he wanted to enter, causing the two to bump into each other.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, not even looking at the person that had bumped into him.
“Wonwoo?” Fuck. That voice. “Is it really you?” His eyes were automatically drawn to the woman standing in front of him, which confirmed to him that it was no one other than you he’d bumped into.
“Y/N,” he breathed, his body heating up at the dread that suddenly took over his body upon seeing you so unexpectedly.
“Why have you been avoiding me?” Your tone was stern, but he inferred from your sullen eyes that you were more sad than angry.
“Come with me,” he said, reaching down to take your hand in his to tug you in the direction of his car. If you were going to do this, he didn’t want to be anywhere near the public.
“Where are we going?” you finally asked when Wonwoo motioned for you to buckle up.
“Somewhere private,” was the only thing that Wonwoo said. For the rest of the minutes that Wonwoo spent driving, no words were spoken. He didn’t really know what you were thinking, but in his case, he wasn't sure what to say to you, not after ignoring all your calls.
He finally stopped at the spot where he’d taken you to stargaze before, knowing that you could probably have a conversation there without the risk of anyone catching you.
“So, are you going to tell me what’s been happening these past two weeks?” you asked impatiently, now standing right in front of him and way too close for Wonwoo’s liking. You smelled so good, too good even. Any closer and he’d completely forget about the serious talk you were supposed to have.
“Y/N…”
“Wait! Let me at least see your face while we do this,” you pouted, your hands reaching up to unhook the mask from behind his ears. “There,” you whispered, your hands coming to a rest on his shoulders as you looked at him with expectant eyes. Shit, Wonwoo really didn’t want to do this.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about how to have this conversation with you,” he started, reaching for his shoulders to lower your hands in an attempt to minimize any sort of physical contact with you. “To be honest, I didn’t expect to see you tonight.”
Your hopeful expression dropped and was replaced by a frown at his action. “I don’t like where this is going,” you responded, your eyes narrowing.
“I’m sorry. All I’ve been doing is avoid you because I’m too scared to deal with this situation.” Wonwoo shook his head and ran one of his hands through his hair. “You deserve so much better.”
“I admit, it’s frustrating when you don’t talk to me,” you sighed. “But, I want to be with you. I’m not joking when I saw that I’ve never felt this way about anyone. I lo-”
“Don’t. Don’t say it,” Wonwoo quickly interrupted you, knowing that whatever you were going to say next would make this even harder.
“Why not? Don’t you feel the same?” you asked softly, reaching forward to grab his hand but Wonwoo was quick to prevent it.
“It doesn’t matter how we feel, because this is bigger than us. I have to choose,” he grimaced, feeling a slight tightening of his chest at the words that came out of his mouth.
“And you’re not choosing me? It’s my brother who’s making you choose, right?” you chuckled bitterly, your fists clenched into fists.
“I don’t want this either, but I have to think of my company, my employees and the whole of SEVENTEEN World. If I can’t fix this with your brother, we’re putting other people at risk.”
“I know…I’m just being selfish. It shouldn’t have to be a choice though. Seungcheol is being an ass and he knows it. He’s still trying to control my life even when we’re not on speaking terms.”
You were trying to be strong, but you couldn’t stop the few tears that fell from your eyes, staining your cheeks with the salty liquid. This was followed by the sound of your sniffing and some more tears, until you were full-on sobbing.
Wonwoo absolutely hated being the reason that you were crying. He didn’t mean to upset you, but he had to rip the bandaid off before he chickened out.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry” he mumbled over and over again, not being able to refrain himself from wrapping you in his embrace at the sight of your crying form.
“It’s n-not fair,” you gasped, burying yourself into Wonwoo’s leather jacket while you had him in a tight squeeze.
“I know,” he agreed, making the mistake of looking down at the exact moment you lifted your head to look at him. Even with your eyes all red and your cheeks wet with tears, Wonwoo still thought that you were the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. God, how much he would miss this.
“Y/N,” he warned softly when you reached up to bring your face closer to his.
“Just one more kiss,” you begged, pressing your body even further against him. How was he supposed to say no to that?
“Fuck,” he whispered right before cupping your cheek and connecting your lips before he could regret it.
Wonwoo made sure to pour everything into that kiss, wanting you to know just how much he cared about you. It was both messy and hasty, with your tongues clashing together and your hands exploring each other’s bodies as if trying to remember everything about the other within the short time that you had. Because after tonight, you would both have to go back to reality – the one where you were no longer together.
You felt heartbroken. You felt sick. You felt miserable. Following your breakup with Wonwoo, every new day felt like a punishment, with you literally having to force yourself out of bed every morning. And every time you drove to work, you had to mentally prepare yourself for the letters plastered onto the SEVENTEEN Gaming HQ building that would be staring you in the face, mocking you and reminding you that you couldn’t have the one thing you truly wanted.
Even at work, the change in you was noticeable. For the first time in your time at the Kang Group, you were slacking, missing crucial deadlines and mixing up appointments, much to the surprise of your colleagues and your boss. One of your best qualities was your ability to completely separate your personal life from your work life, and you’d thought so too, which is why it frustrated you that this whole situation affected you so much.
It eventually got so bad that your boss had you take the next few weeks off from work, because you weren’t able to focus on anything other than feeling miserable.
You weren’t sure if being away from work was the solution to your problems. It only left you with more time to think and the more you thought about everything, the more you felt yourself begin to spiral down.
Your friends had tried to drag you out of the house on more than one occasion in an effort to cheer you up. They were aware that you’d gone through a breakup – because you’d told them that much, but they didn’t know who it was. You appreciated them for organizing various activities such as a spa day, a movie night and drinks at your favorite bar, but those distractions only lasted for a short time. Each time, after coming home to an empty apartment, you went right back to wallowing in self-pity.
The situation with Seungcheol hadn’t gotten any better either. He was still blocked and knocking at your door from time to time, but you couldn’t care less. Seeing his face would only make you mad and the end result would no doubt be another screaming match. Maybe one day you could forgive him, but not when everything was still so fresh.
You opted to spend most of your time alone, either sleeping or killing time watching shows with the occasional tub of ice cream. But despite trying to remain strong as the days passed, you were constantly reminded of how you and Wonwoo used to watch these types of shows together, which then unleashed another breakdown that resulted in you crying for hours.
You just wanted to stop feeling like this, mainly because it was unfamiliar and so unlike you to have a total meltdown over a man. If this continued any longer, you’d for sure lose your mind.
—
Wonwoo wasn’t doing that much better than you. He felt just as miserable, if not worse. But instead of taking time off from work, he focused all his attention on his business. Every free moment was spent on the next game release, all to keep him distracted from what he was actually feeling.
He was like a machine in the weeks that followed, showing up to work early, working on his to-do list and leaving when everyone had already left the building hours ago. It was clear to everyone that something was going on with the CEO that was normally so passionate about his work.
The enthusiasm with which Wonwoo generally went into meetings – especially the ones revolving around the creation process of new games – had been replaced by an indifferent attitude that his team and in particular, his personal secretary, Park Hajoon, didn’t know how to deal with. They obviously didn’t want to pry, but whatever it was, they hoped that he could deal with it and go back to the old one asap.
The next get-together was also skipped by Wonwoo, simply because he was not in the mood to pretend like everything was fine when it was clearly not. Being the good friends they were, everyone except Seungcheol, made sure to check in on him at least once.
Wonwoo assumed that they knew about what had gone down, especially because he looked like the life had been sucked out of him, but also the fact that Seungcheol was no longer giving the man dirty looks and actually managed to be cordial during their quarterly business meeting.
Mingyu, who’d watched his best friend beat himself up again and again over the past few weeks, finally had enough one day. If anyone was going to get Wonwoo out of his slump, it would be him.
“Hyung, you need to get out of your house tonight,” Mingyu started as soon as Wonwoo had answered the call.
“I think I’m just gonna stay in tonight. It’s late,” Wonwoo sighed, his gaze drifting to the large clock that was hanging on the wall. Technically, 9PM wasn’t that late, but the man couldn’t be bothered.
“You say that literally every time. You haven’t left the house for anything other than work for the past few weeks!”
“Exactly, because there’s no other reason to leave the house.”
“You can’t be this pessimistic for the rest of your life, Hyung. Come to my restaurant and I’ll cook for you. We can have some food and drinks,” the chef suggested.
Wonwoo, who’d only eaten two packs of ramen today, was tempted by the offer. But then again, it also meant that he had to leave the house and deal with Mingyu’s nagging. “I think I’ll pa-”
“No you’re not. I swear to god, Hyung. I know for a fact that you haven’t had a proper meal in days and I’m not having it. Go put on something decent and be here in 30.” This was not how he’d planned to spend the rest of the night.
“Mingyu, what about ‘I think I’m just going to stay in tonight’ don’t you understand?”
“I understood every word, but I just don’t give a shit and I’m not joking this time, Hyung. Get changed, get into your car and be here. If you’re not here in 30 minutes, I’m going to ask Minghao to lend me his bodyguards. I bet they’ll have no issue dragging you out of that house,” Mingyu threatened.
Upon hearing his best friend’s words, Wonwoo decided that it was in his best interest to take his words seriously, because Minghao would for sure have no problem with Mingyu using his bodyguards if it meant getting Wonwoo out the house. On top of that, he’d seen and met Minghao’s intimidating bodyguards – these guys were trained professionals, so he wasn’t about to risk them paying him a visit at home.
“I’ll be there, so you can stop with those threats,” Wonwoo spoke and released a deep sigh. He better not regret this like that one time he had a confrontation with Seungcheol in front of all their other friends.
“Wise choice, Hyung. Just look for Aecha when you get here. She’ll wait for you in the entrance hall and take you to me,” Mingyu explained, referring to the waitress that had also served you and him on your final date. “And don’t even think about ditching! Remember, the bo-”
“Yeah yeah, the bodyguards. Got it, Mingyu. I’m hanging up now,” Wonwoo announced and ended the call, not even bothering to wait for his friend’s response.
Wonwoo felt conflicted as he parked his car in front of Flavor Factory SEVENTEEN – the place wasn’t exactly triggering happy memories for him. The last time he was here, it had ended in a complete disaster. The date that was supposed to have ended with him taking you home and showing you how much he loved you, only left him with a bruised cheek and a broken heart instead.
But despite Wonwoo really not wanting to be here right now, he would try to push his feelings aside for tonight and enjoy spending some quality time with Mingyu. Ever since he’d broken things off with you, he’d been distancing himself from everyone, including Mingyu, the one person that had supported him through it all.
Whereas Wonwoo usually shared all his problems with the chef, he had refrained himself from doing so this time. The man had already been dragged into this whole mess because of Wonwoo’s selfishness, so he wasn’t about to bother Mingyu with his relationship issues, especially not when he was in the middle of preparing the launch of a new food item.
But he also realized that pushing his best friend away wasn’t going to solve anything. That’s why Wonwoo fought the urge to turn around and return home as he made his way inside – and again, the thought of being ambushed by three bodyguards really didn’t sound all that great.
Just as Mingyu had told him over the phone, Aecha was waiting for Wonwoo in the entrance hall.
“Aecha?” Wonwoo approached the waitress, who kindly greeted him and motioned for him to follow her. Instead of going through the restaurant, which was no doubt packed with all the cars outside, she took him through a hallway that was accessible to staff only.
“Make yourself comfortable, Sir. Mr. Kim will be with you shortly,” the woman spoke as she guided him into one of the restaurant’s private dining rooms. It was a little on the smaller side, so Wonwoo guessed that it was normally used for couples or groups up to four people.
“Thank you,” Wonwoo said to the waitress and watched her close the door behind herself. While waiting for the other CEO to show up, he admired some of the art that had been displayed in the room – some paintings and sculptures that probably cost a fortune.
The sound of the door opening just a few minutes later is what pulled Wonwoo’s attention away from the piece of Korean art that he’d been inspecting. And what awaited him was definitely not what he’d been expecting.
“Wonwoo? What are you doing here? I’m supposed to meet Mingyu here,” Seungcheol’s confused voice echoed through the small room after Aecha had closed the door once again, this time leaving him with an unexpected guest.
“Aish, god damn Mingyu,” Wonwoo mumbled, realizing that the two of them had been set up by the younger CEO. “I guess we fell for one of his tricks.”
Seungcheol scoffed at that, seemingly thinking it over before shaking his head and taking a seat at the dining table.
Wonwoo didn’t know how to feel about this situation. Both of them hadn’t had a one-on-one in a long time and they weren’t exactly on the best of terms, so why the hell did Mingyu think that it would be a good idea to put the two of them together…in a small room?
“You look like shit,” Seungcheol stated after observing Wonwoo for a few seconds.
I wonder why. “Thanks, I’m aware,” the man responded as he took a seat on the opposite side of the table.
The silence that followed was deadly, with both of the men not quite knowing what to say. None of them had prepared for this, so it felt awkward to be in such an intimate space together.
Were they going to just stare at each other this whole time? Or were they going to talk? And even if they did, were they going to fight again?
Also, where the hell was Mingyu? Had his plan really been to just drop them in a room and leave them to figure it out themselves?
Wonwoo's thoughts were interrupted by the door opening once again, this time revealing no one other than the culprit himself, Kim Mingyu.
“Hyungs! Glad you could make it. How do you like the surprise?” A smirk was plastered onto his face as he rolled in a cart full of delicious-looking foods.
“Really funny, Mingyu. I don't recall you telling me there would be another person joining us. I thought you wanted to discuss some important business,” Seungcheol responded, already looking quite annoyed.
Mingyu only shrugged as he began to move the food from the cart onto the table. “Sorry, Hyung. I know you wouldn't have shown up otherwise, so I had to think of something.”
“So much for quality time,” Wonwoo mumbled quietly, mentally cursing at himself for having left the house tonight.
“Stop being such a grump.” Mingyu nudged Wonwoo, who could only glare at the man that was now towering over him. That earned him an eye roll from the chef. “The two of you need to stop this act and make up already. It's driving everyone nuts! We don't want to see you fight or be miserable. What happened happened, and there's no turning back, only moving forward from here. That's why I tricked you into coming here tonight. And no, you're not leaving this room before you've eaten some food and made some progress.”
“Do we really not have a say in this?” Wonwoo asked, shifting his gaze from the food to Mingyu, who gave him a pointed look.
“No, you don’t. And this better not end in another fight either. Minghao’s bodyguards are on speed dial,” the chef warned. “Now, enjoy the food and fix this shit.” That was the last they heard from him before he left the room, leaving the two CEOs to deal with their problems.
“Well…” Seungcheol cleared his throat when it was just the two of them again. “I guess we better dig in, huh?”
Wonwoo nodded slowly as it started to sink in that he wouldn't be able to get out of this anytime soon. “I guess so,” he replied, his eyes scanning the various food items on the table.
Mingyu really had gone all out for the two of them – the man never came to play when it came to food. Among the variety of dishes was a rose spaghetti with shrimp, a big bowl of Jajangmyeon, a plate full of beef bulgogi, a bunch of freshly made banchan and many more things that honestly made Wonwoo’s mouth water.
His stomach growled involuntarily, as if his body was indicating that those two packs of ramen had certainly not been enough. He should have eaten more, yes, but in his state, it had been the last thing on his mind.
“Aren’t you going to take it?” Seungcheol asked, his voice cutting through the silence. Only then, Wonwoo noticed that he was holding out a plate with an assortment of the food that was on the table.
“Oh, yeah. Thanks, Hyung.” He was quick to take the plate, feeling a little surprised at the CEO’s gesture.
The two ate in silence for the next few minutes, the sound of chopsticks and spoons hitting the plates and bowls echoing through the room. But different from the uncomfortable silence that had dominated the room before, it was now a pleasant silence. In Wonwoo’s opinion, the arrival of the food was the main reason for that change.
“I’m sorry I punched you.” Seungcheol was the first to speak again, causing Wonwoo to freeze in his spot. Was he actually apologizing? He couldn’t believe that he was actually taking the first step, and he truly sounded like he was sorry.
“It’s…whatever. I would have punched me too,” Wonwoo finally said when he’d gotten over the initial shock.
“I admit, you were wrong for going behind my back, but still, it wasn’t okay of me to do that. I should have gone about it a different way and I guess I let my irrational side take over,” Seungcheol explained.
Wonwoo understood why Seungcheol had punched him when he did, because he couldn’t classify himself as innocent in all of this. He did break his trust and date you while knowing fully well that there would be consequences. So, despite the shit that his friend had pulled, Wonwoo felt like he needed to own up to his mistakes too.
“The same goes for the PI that I hired to spy on you and my sister,” Seungcheol continued. “I never meant to invade your privacy like that, but when I saw that bracelet…I was just so angry at the thought of you two together that I wasn’t thinking clearly and didn’t care what it took to confirm what I’d seen. But after seeing the effect it had on you and Y/N, I now realize that I went a little too far. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m sorry,” the CEO sighed.
“I appreciate that, Hyung. I really do, thank you. And I guess I should also apologize to you for going behind your back. That was…really wrong of me. And I don’t have any good excuse for it either. We just clicked so well during that meeting that I threw all my morals aside at that moment. And then it only escalated from there with no way of going back. I never meant for anyone to get hurt,” Wonwoo shook his head. Just thinking back to the night you’d been crying your eyes out in his arms caused his chest to clench again.
“Oh you were dead wrong. I w-”
“Wait, Hyung. I’m not finished yet. I should have told you the truth from the start…”
“You shouldn’t have asked her out to begin with,” Seungcheol interrupted, a frown making its way onto his face.
Wonwoo slapped a hand against his forehead at that statement. Fair enough. “Right, I shouldn’t have, but I did. And then we got to know each other better and we developed feelings. I can’t lie and say that I’m fine, even after almost a month has passed. Hell, I’m sure neither of us are fine because we were both a mess the night we broke it off. But I just want you to know that I respect you and value you as a business partner, and of course as my friend.”
Seungcheol slowly nodded, taking in everything that Wonwoo had just told him. “So do I, and I never wanted for us to fight. I’m willing to put it behind us if you are too, not only for the sake of the company, but for both of our sakes too.” This was followed by Seungcheol extending his arm across the table.
Wonwoo let out a small laugh before shaking the hand in front of him. “Hell yes. All this awkwardness was killing me.”
“Same here. Man, guess we need to thank Mingyu after all,” the other man grinned before taking another bite from the food on his plate.
“I guess we do,” Wonwoo smiled, feeling somewhat happy that they’d been able to squash their beef.
It was slowly starting to feel like old times again, and although Wonwoo knew that it was going to take some time to move past the whole fiasco, he was glad that the tension between the two of them had settled after that long overdue talk.
Mingyu even came to check in on the two men after an hour or so, and upon discovering that they’d made up, he brought them his number one dessert on the house, just because he couldn’t believe that his plan had actually worked out. The man was so delighted that he even joined them for a couple of drinks before he had to run back to the kitchen to deal with his staff and guests.
When it was about time for the CEOs to start heading home, Wonwoo felt like there was something that he hadn’t yet been able to say, something that had been weighing him down ever since they had their talk. And if he didn’t say it now, he was afraid that he’d never get the chance to do so.
“Wait, before we leave I just want to say one last thing and I hope you’re not going to change your mind about tonight,” Wonwoo said when the two of them had gotten up from the table.
“This doesn’t sound like a good start,” Seungcheol chuckled as he adjusted his blue tie.
“I know, but I need to say this. Look, I know we’re trying to move past this, but I want to say again that I never meant to hurt anyone, especially Y/N.” At the mention of you, Seungcheol was suddenly on high alert, his lips pressing together into a thin line. “Even if we can’t be together, I want you to know that I’ll always have a special place in my heart for her. I never got to tell her because of everything that went down but I love her, Hyung. I love her in a way that I’ve never loved anyone else and I only want the best for her, even if that means it’ll eventually be with someone else.”
Wonwoo wasn’t sure if he’d made the right choice by telling his Hyung, but he did feel a huge sense of relief at getting that off his chest.
“I see,” Seungcheol nodded slowly, his gaze moving to the ground.
“I just needed you to know, that’s all, Hyung. Are we still good?” Wonwoo asked carefully, not knowing what was going on in his friend’s head right now.
“We are. I just need some time, that’s all,” he responded, meeting Wonwoo’s eyes once again. “I’ll see you later, yeah?” The younger man nodded and watched as Seungcheol made his exit.
Some time…Wonwoo could live with that, especially if it meant that he could have his friend back.
You don’t exactly remember how you’d ended up in this situation, but you were currently on your way to meet Mingyu at a cafe for what he called an ‘intervention’. The other night, he’d practically forced himself into your place with a bunch of delicious foods that you couldn’t say no to. And of course, he used your weakness against you and miraculously managed to convince you to join him for coffee at a low-key place to get you out of the house.
Another torturous week had passed without seeing Wonwoo and without talking to your brother – not that you minded the latter. This time, you’d even tried to pull yourself out of your slump on multiple occasions, but you somehow always ended up back on the couch with your tub of ice cream.
It did feel kind of weird to still be in contact with your ex-boyfriend's best friend. You were sure that if your brother knew about it, he’d flip a table – did you actually care about that? Not really. But despite the weirdness of the entire situation, you were truly glad that you had a friend like Mingyu. Aside from Wonwoo, he was the only one who understood what you were going through, so you appreciated his efforts to cheer you up.
Mingyu was waiting for you in front of the cafe, with his hood and mask up as expected. Fortunately, the place was practically empty when you two entered, which you guessed was a good thing since Mingyu was here with you. The last thing you needed was to be harassed by a bunch of paparazzi.
“Where should we sit?” you asked, scanning the cafe for a good spot that wouldn’t be too out in the open.
“How about in the back?” Mingyu suggested, quickly moving past you to lead the way. You were fine with anything, so you nodded, following him after greeting the staff members behind the counter.
“What the hell is he doing here?” you asked, your eyes widening at the figure that came into view when you neared the table in the back.
“Y/N, I know what this looks like, but trust me, there’s a reason for all of this,” Mingyu responded quickly. You should have known that he was up to no good.
“You better have a damn good reason, because I don’t remember this being part of the deal,” you grumbled, a frown making its way onto your face at the sight of your brother sitting at the small round table.
Seungcheol turned his attention to the chef, who was now looking more than a little nervous at the little scene that was unfolding in front of his eyes. “Mingyu! You didn’t tell her I was going to be here?”
Holding up his hands in defense, he said, “Don’t blame me! Do you really think she would have showed up if she knew you’d be there?”
“Yah! I’m right here!” you exclaimed, the frown on your face never faltering as you observed your brother. It had been a little over a month now since you’d last been in the same room with him. Being here confirmed that you had still not forgiven him for what he did. “I’m not talking to him.”
“Y/N, come on. Please, just sit down and listen. You don’t even have to talk if you don’t feel like it. I just need you to hear me first, and if that’s still not enough, you can leave. How does that sound?” Seungcheol pleaded, the desperation showing on his face. You were angry with him – very – but you guessed that it wouldn’t hurt to at least hear him out.
“Fine, I’ll listen. But at least let me get a coffee before we do this,” you sighed, your hands already reaching for the menu that was on the table.
“Already did. I ordered your favorite,” your brother said, to which you put the menu back down.
“Thanks, Cheol,” you mumbled, your eyes drifting over to the man that had orchestrated the whole thing.
“Alright, so then I’ll just let the two of you talk,” Mingyu announced from beside you.
“You’re leaving me with him?”
“Hey!” Seungcheol looked genuinely offended at your question.
“You’ll be fine, Y/N. Just give him a chance,” Mingyu smiled and gave you a thumbs up before leaving you with your brother.
One of the staff members was quick to bring you your drink order, which you were grateful for. It at least gave you something to keep your hands busy while listening to Seungcheol.
As Seungcheol sipped on his own drink, you took the opportunity to ask him the most obvious question. “Why am I here, Cheol? And did you really have to drag Mingyu into this?”
“He owed me, and besides, he was already in this anyway,” Your brother shrugged, causing you to scoff in response. Of course he would find a way. “Regarding you, I felt like we needed to talk about everything. I know I’m blocked, I got the hint.”
“Good,” you stated before bringing your cup of coffee to your lips.
“Look, I know I fucked up, okay? I shouldn’t have invaded your privacy and I definitely shouldn’t have resorted to violence. It was a dick move and I can own that. I’m sorry, Y/N. Truly.”
You put your cup down, looking him straight in the eyes. You needed to know if he was actually sorry and not just putting up an act just for the sake of making things right with you. “Are you actually sorry, Cheol?”
“I am! I really am. Not being able to see you for weeks and hearing that you can’t even stand to see my face really got to me. Especially when your colleague showed up to our usual meetings instead of you, I realized how much I hurt you with my actions. I should have come to you and talked to you about it, but I wasn’t thinking straight,” he shook his head.
“You can’t keep controlling everything in my life, Cheol. I’m not a child anymore and I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions. But you keep breathing down my neck for every little thing, which is, by the way, also one of the reasons I didn’t want you to find out about me dating anyone, friend or not. It can’t keep going on like this or you’ll lose me for good,” you spoke, hoping that the expression on your face was enough indication that you were dead serious about this.
“I know and trust me, I’ll try to be better.” You raised your eyebrows. “I mean, I’ll do better. It was never meant to go to this extent, I swear. Watching you ignore me and suffer on your own isn’t exactly something I’d envisioned. You’re my sister and I just want the best of the best for you. If that means backing off and letting you do your thing, then I’ll have to learn to let you go, he sighed.
A hum left your lips at that, your mind processing his words for a moment before you asked him another obvious follow-up question.
“And what about…Wonwoo?” You nearly choked on his name, the wound still a little too fresh.
“What about him?” your brother asked.
“Well, how are you two? Did you apologize to him?”
“I did, actually. We talked it out about a week ago after Mingyu forced us into a room together. Turns out that he’s pretty good at getting people to resolve conflicts, especially when food is involved,” he chuckled slightly before continuing. “Anyway, we both owned up to our own parts and we’re slowly getting back to what it used to be.”
You weren’t surprised to hear that Mingyu had been the one behind their reconciliation. In fact, you were quite certain that this would have dragged on for much longer had he not forced the two CEOs together. Whereas Seungcheol was stubborn, Wonwoo tended to avoid confrontations, both of which not exactly ideal qualities in times of conflict.
“That’s good, I guess,” you mumbled, feeling somewhat conflicted as you sipped on your coffee. On the one hand, you were glad that the two of them were on good terms again, but on the other hand, you envied your brother for being able to keep his friend while you were left with nothing but heartache.
“There’s actually another reason I asked you to come here.”
You immediately perked up at that, curious as to what else he could have wanted you here for. “Which is?”
What you didn’t expect was for your brother to start waving. Not at you, but at someone…behind you? Confused as to who he was waving, you turned around in your seat, only to nearly drop the coffee cup you were holding.
“W-Wonwoo?” you stuttered as your heart went into overdrive at seeing the man that had captured your heart walk over to your table. There was a cap on his head and a mask covering most of his face, but it was undeniably him – wearing that brown leather jacket that you loved so much.
The man himself seemed surprised at your presence too, his steps slightly faltering. “Hyung? What’s all this?”
“Take a seat.” Seungcheol motioned to the seat beside him. What the hell was the meaning of this? Why would he do this to you when he clearly knew that you were hurting?
Wonwoo hesitantly took a seat in the empty chair opposite from you, his eyes trained on your form. You were no different. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t look away from him, especially when he took off the face mask, revealing the pretty face that you’d gotten so used to. You were glad to see that his cheek had healed fine, but the bags under his eyes were pretty evident. Had he felt just as miserable as you this whole time?
The sound of a throat clearing is what finally got you to tear your gaze away from the CEO in front of you. Your brother was fidgeting in his seat, seemingly nervous about something.
“So, you’re probably wondering why the both of you are here.”
“Obviously,” you grumbled, crossing your arms over your chest while trying to push down the butterflies that had formed in your stomach.
“Right. Well, I had some more time to think, specifically about something Wonwoo said to me last week,” Seungcheol started, his eyes switching to the man sitting next to him. “A certain someone made me realize that I should accept the fact that I can’t control everything that happens. You can’t help who you like or love, and I guess that applies to the two of you too.”
Your breath hitched in your throat at his words. “Wait. What are you saying? What do you mean by that, Cheol?”
Your brother sighed in frustration, twisting his body slightly so that he could address the both of you clearly. “What I’m saying is that I’m not as opposed to the two of you being together anymore.”
“Hyung, are you serious? You would accept us dating?” Wonwoo asked, who, just like you, could not believe what he was hearing from his friend’s mouth.
“If what you said to me that night is still the truth, then yes. Like I told Y/N before, I only want the best for her and I guess I was scared that you wouldn’t be good enough for her, especially with lives as busy as ours. If I’m being honest, no one has ever been good enough in my opinion. But in this case, I was overdoing it a little bit because you were supposed to be my good friend.”
“A little?” you huffed, throwing a pointed look in his direction.
“Okay, a lot. Anyway, I will have to get used to the idea and it will probably take a while, but I’ve seen with my own two eyes what being apart did to the two of you. That’s why I’m giving you my blessing. Just, don’t make me regret it,” your brother said, looking between you and Wonwoo.
“So, I take it that kissing in front of you is a no-go then?” Wonwoo asked, a hint of a smirk on his face. You wanted to scream at the absurdity of this scene. Was Wonwoo actually teasing your brother about kissing you in front of him? – you seriously feared for his face again. Then again, the thought of kissing him after all this time also made your heart flutter.
“Don’t push it, Jeon. Remember that hit you took? That was me going easy on you,” Seungcheol joked, but you didn’t find it that funny.
“Cheol,” you warned.
“I know, I know,” he laughed, causing Wonwoo to crack a little smile too. “But I’m serious, if you hurt her, I’ll know where to find you,” Seungcheol threatened, his own smile faltering slightly.
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Hyung,” Wonwoo assured your overprotective brother.
“Okay, enough with the macho stuff. I would like to stay in the peaceful and forgiving bubble we were in up until a few seconds ago,” you begged, not wanting to risk ruining this dream-like moment. What universe had you landed in for your brother to change his mind? Who was this person that had managed to convince your brother? You would kiss them if you could.
Seungcheol looked at you, his own expression softening when he noticed your concerned one. “Don’t worry, Y/N. I’m not going to change my mind. I was just making sure that we’re on the same page.”
“You promise?”
“I promise,” Seungcheol smiled and for the first time this afternoon, you let yourself smile too. “By the way, does this mean I’m forgiven and you’ll finally unblock me?”
That question earned a shrug from you, followed by a smirk. “Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe? Maybe not? Guess you’ll have to find out at the next consultation.”
“I guess I can survive for another two days.”
“You don’t really have a choice, because I don’t think I’ll be available for the next two days anyway,” you stated, after which you dared to peek at Wonwoo, who you found already staring at you with the hint of a mischievous look on his face.
“What do y-aish.” Your brother’s expression morphed into one of disgust as his eyes darted from you to Wonwoo. “Just go. Or I might actually change my mind in the next few seconds.”
He didn’t need to tell you twice. The rest of your coffee now all forgotten, you nearly jumped up from your chair and reached for Wonwoo’s hand. The CEO was quick to put on his mask and tightened his grasp on your hand as he got up from the seat. You barely remembered to say goodbye to Seungcheol as you hurried out of the cafe, Wonwoo hot on your heels.
“Slow down. I’m not going to disappear, you know,” Wonwoo chuckled as you reached the parking lot.
“I already let you go once. You really think I’m going to waste time by taking it easy this time?” you questioned, taking that moment to let your eyes wander over him. Any work he’d been planning to do would have to wait, because there was no way you were going to leave his side for the next few days.
“You have a point. Mine or yours?” he asked, repeating the question you’d asked him too on the night of your last date.
“Yours. My place is a mess,” you replied, grimacing at the thought of having to clean up the aftermath of weeks of laziness.
“Can’t promise mine is much better, but I could care less.” Now, it was Wonwoo who took the lead, tugging on your hand as he led you to his car.
The drive to Wonwoo’s place was agonizing. You couldn’t keep your hands still, mainly because all you wanted was to touch the man sitting next to you. However, you weren’t about to cause an accident. You could wait. You’d been doing that for the past few weeks, so you could manage a few more minutes. Instead, you chose to observe him. He’d luckily taken off his mask, so there was nothing to obstruct your view.
It was crazy to think that up until today, you’d been a total mess. You’d felt completely lost for the last couple of weeks, not knowing if you’d ever go back to your old self. But now you were sitting in the car with the man you were still so in love with. Even after weeks of not seeing each other, he still managed to evoke the same reactions from you – butterflies in your stomach, your heart racing and your mind filled with nothing but him. Only this time, you wanted all of him and there was nothing or no one that would be able to come in between you this time.
You couldn’t help but grin at the way Wonwoo was gripping onto the steering wheel. Though he didn’t voice his thoughts, it was obvious that he was trying to hold himself together. Your mouth opened to tease him about it, but you refrained yourself from doing so. Teasing would undoubtedly lead to flirting and with the sexual tension hanging in the air, you had a feeling that Wonwoo would have no problem making a pit stop to have his way with you in the car. And although it seemed quite tempting, the risk was just too big. A scandal was not how you wanted to start off this second chance you’d been given.
“You coming?” Wonwoo asked, snapping you out of your thoughts. You noticed that he’d parked his car in his garage and had gotten out to open your side. A smile formed onto your face and you nodded, happily accepting the hand that he’d offered.
“I feel like we probably should have stopped at my place to get some clothes though,” you said as you followed behind Wonwoo, the front door closing soon after that.
“I don’t think you’ll be needing any clothes for what I have in mind,” he mumbled, caging you in between himself and the front door.
The sudden proximity caused goosebumps all over your body, your breath caught in your throat for a second as your eyes found his dark brown ones.
Then Wonwoo was suddenly kissing you before you could get a proper response out. His hands were on your sides in seconds, pressing you further against the door as his tongue slipped into your mouth. Your eyes had automatically closed at the feeling of his soft lips against your own, with your hands making their way to the collar of his leather jacket to pull him even closer. If this was what pure bliss felt like, you never wanted it to stop.
“I love you,” you mumbled in between kisses, not being able to keep it to yourself for another second. The last time you’d wanted to say it, he’d stopped you and you’d respected that. But now…it felt so good to finally be able to say it out loud, especially since there were no consequences this time.
Wonwoo detached himself from you at your proclamation, which was met with a whine of protest from your side at the loss of his lips. With a little chuckle leaving said lips, he leaned his forehead against yours.
“I love you too. So fucking much,” he said before leaning in to plant a few more kissing onto your awaiting lips. “I can’t believe that I actually told your brother that before telling you.”
“You what? No actually, I don't care about that right now. I want to get to the part where we won’t need our clothes,” you pouted, growing more and more impatient and needier the longer you spent fully clothed.
The CEO in front of you smirked at your request, his hands moving down to squeeze your ass gently. “If that’s what my baby wants, then I better comply, huh?” God, this man was going to be the death of you.
Read the smut HERE or skip.
“So, how does it feel? Dating the boss’ sister?” Jeonghan teased, taking a seat on the couch next to the SEVENTEEN Gaming CEO.
Chan’s eyes lit up at the question. “Yeah, Hyung. Tell us,” he urged, drawing the attention of several of the others in the room.
Wonwoo wasn’t surprised that the news of you and him getting back together had already reached his friends. If he had to guess, Mingyu was most likely the one that had spilled the beans – there was no way Seungcheol would have told them. Plus, the fact that the chef was currently avoiding his best friend’s eyes was enough confirmation.
“It’s great. She’s everything I could have wanted.” A small smile made its way onto Wonwoo’s face at the thought of you. It had been three weeks since Seungcheol had given his blessing and the two of you had made it official once again – without exaggeration, the best three weeks of his life.
“Aiii, look at him all happy,” Jun exclaimed, which was followed by a bunch of giggles and screams from the men in the room.
Jisoo, who was sitting next to Jeonghan, nudged his friend. “I bet you he was thinking about some dirty stuff.”
Wonwoo immediately released an annoyed sigh at the playful comment. “I wasn’t.”
“It’s okay, Hyung. We don’t blame you,” Mingyu winked at him from the opposite side of the room.
As if it couldn’t get any worse, Seungkwan decided to open his big mouth. “Hyung! Your brother-in-law over here is having dirty thoughts about your sister!” he yelled to the managing CEO, who was currently getting some snacks from his kitchen. The other men in the room burst out laughing while Wonwoo genuinely feared for his life.
“Yah! Do you want to die?” Wonwoo hissed, hitting the man in question with a newspaper that he found on the small table beside the couch. He should have known that he would never live this down.
Fortunately, Seungcheol seemed completely clueless when he re-entered the room. “Did I miss anything?” Thank god for the big apartment.
“Nothing important,” Wonwoo said quickly before anyone else had the chance to tell him the truth.
“We were just talking about how Wonwoo managed to score your sister,” Minghao spoke, ignoring the glare that Wonwoo threw his way.
Jeonghan grinned before adding, “And to think I missed the chance to shoot my shot.”
“In your dreams,” Wonwoo and Seungcheol responded at the same time, the latter throwing a handful of popcorn at the fashionable CEO. That quickly wiped the grin from his face as he started to scold Seungcheol for nearly staining his designer outfit.
Jihoon rolled his eyes at the squabbling couple. “All jokes aside, we’re truly happy for you, man.”
“Hyung’s right. I can’t believe you went through all that shit and ended up getting your happy ending with Y/N,” Seokmin beamed.
“Well, I guess Mingyu deserves most of the credit.” Wonwoo pointed at the man.
“I can confirm. If anyone needs a matchmaker, conflict resolver or wingman, I’m your guy. You can contact my personal assistant for inquiries,” he declared, a smug look taking over his features.
“I think I’ll pass,” Jihoon mumbled.
“Me too,” Soonyoung agreed with a nod. The chef, who was seemingly offended at being flat out rejected, took that as an invitation to start bickering with his two Hyungs.
A buzzing sound in Wonwoo’s pocket got him to pull his phone out. It was a message from you.
A little sneak peek for tomorrow’s date night:
[Image attached]
Don’t we look cute? I got you one too! :D
He couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of you dressed in the Sherlock Holmes attire that you’d thrifted for the movie you were going to watch. Bom, Saja and Shiro were sitting beside you, all of them wearing little matching detective hats and capes. How you’d managed to put that on Saja and Shiro AND gotten them to sit still for a picture was a mystery to Wonwoo. He couldn’t wish for anything better.
“What’s up with that face?” the ever-observant Mingyu asked, quickly spotting the love-struck look on his best friend’s face.
Wonwoo simply shook his head, still not believing that the universe had blessed him with someone like you.
“Nothing. Just happy, that’s all.”
© All right reserved — ourdawnishotterthanourday // Please do not repost or edit any of my works without my permission!! If you see any of my works outside of this Tumblr, pls report it to me asap. Thank you in advance!
AAAND THE END! Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter :D Feedback/comments/reblogs are highly appreciated!
~ stay tuned for the next chapters ^^
☀ if you want to be added to the tag list, leave a comment or send me an ask!
✎ Make sure to enable the MATURE community label if you want to read the SMUT!!!!
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#JiJis series#seventeen world#fic: don't tell the boss#jeon wonwoo x reader#wonwoo fic#wonwoo smut#seventeen x reader#seventeen x you#seventeen smut#svt smut#svt x reader#seventeen fics#seventeen imagines#seventeen scenarios#seventeen#svt#jeon wonwoo#wonwoo x reader#wonwoo x you#svt wonwoo#wonwoo fluff#wonwoo angst#seventeen fluff#seventeen angst#seventeen au#svt au
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~~ Read my works on Archive of Our Own ~~
4/24/24 - I'm working through the kiss prompts I received! Excited to get those finished up. Still working on all my wips too, thank you for being patient with me! Leave a comment or send a message if you'd like to be tagged in any future fic posts!
new fics:
A Nap With The Captain (copia x gn!reader, fluff)
Napping in the Clouds (young copia, angst and fluff)
A Kiss Goodnight (copia x gn!reader, a sweet kiss, nsfw)
Peanuts and Cracker Jacks (secondo x f!reader, ghaseball, smut)
Suggestions (copia x swiss, a very thorough kiss, nsfw)
ongoing series:
Tales From Lucifer's Hollow (copia x aether, mountain x rain, swiss x phantom/aeon, fluff, eventual smut)
An au series set in the small town of Lucifer's Hollow. A look at the lives of the humans and ghouls that live there. There are just snippets so far but I've linked them below or you can search the tag: tales from lucifer's hollow.
Mr. November (copia x aether) snippets so far: here and here
A Petal For Your Thoughts (mountain x rain) snippets so far: here, here, here, here, here and here
Sweets and Treats (swiss x phantom/aeon) snippets so far: here and here
Naps With Copia - series masterpost (copia x gn!reader, fluff, fluff and fluff, sfw)
A series of stand alone stories featuring soft, fluffy naps with Copia and gender neutral readers. The specific "Copia" will be listed by each story.
The Cardinal's Bride (copia x f!reader, cowboy au, angst, smut)
latest chapter: 12 / series masterpost
After being forced into a marriage with Mr. Saltarian by your father you are sent west to his estate in Nevada. Along the way you end up meeting one of the cowboys you have always fantasized about...
Copia on ICE! (copia x f!reader, winter olympics au, angst, fluff, smut)
Chapters: 1 / series masterpost
At what would probably be your final Winter Olympics you needed to focus on realizing your dream of winning gold. You definitely didn't need to start a whirlwind romance with world famous speed skater Copia Emeritus…
Clockwork Hearts (copia x f!reader, steampunk au, fluff, adventure, smut)
A tale of adventure and alchemy in a steampunk world. You have to join forces with Captain Copia on his airship, The Impera, in order to save your city.
Capitano Copia (copia x f!reader, tease for main story, smug copia)
Clockwork Friends (f!reader, fluff)
Building A Family (young copia, fluff)
Napping in the Clouds (young copia, angst and fluff)
A Nap With The Captain (copia x gn!reader, fluff)
The Repugnant (mary goore x f!reader, pirate au, horror, adventure, smut)
Chapters: 1 / series masterpost
After becoming too curious about seeing the pirate ship The Repugnant you end up captured and in the clutches of the feared pirate Captain Mary Goore...
my other fics:
Pancake Breakfast (gn!reader, domestic fluff, sfw)
Happy Lasagna Day (f!reader, silly birthday smut)
Papas Taking Care of a Sick Reader (gn!reader, fluff, sfw)
Care Package (gn!reader, sick copia, fluff, sfw)
In His Name (gn!reader, filthy smut)
I Love You, I Like You (gn!reader, sweet and caring copia, sfw)
Invisible Touch (f!reader, phone sex)
Ring Ring (f!reader, phone sex then closet sex)
Don't Go (gn!reader, brief angry copia, angst, fluff)
Smudge (gn!reader, silly copia, fluff, sfw)
Feeling Blah (gn!reader, fluff, sfw)
Them Rats (gn!reader, rat dad copia, fluff, sfw)
Little Hands (violence, horror)
A Lil Somethin' Somethin' (f!reader, sex toys, smut, car sex)
Play Ball (f!reader, copia in his ghaseball uniform, smut)
Best Folk Album (copia's ghouls are just trying to help, fluff, sfw)
Copia Is Terrible At Telling Scary Stories - chapters: 1 / 2 / 3 (gn!reader, fluff, sfw)
The Vampire's Bride (f!reader, vampire cowboy au, smut)
Ratte Art (gn!reader, coffee shop au, fluff, sfw)
Rainy Kisses (gn!reader, kisses in the rain)
Yay Satan Day (f!reader, smug copia, desk sex)
His Dark Song - chapters: 1 (f!reader, occult au, future smut)
Satan's Toy Box (gn!reader, fluff)
A Man After Midnight (f!reader, copia doing a strip tease, fluff, smut)
Falling (f!reader, fluff, smut)
The Late Assistant (f!reader, fluff, tiny bit of smut)
The Pants (gn!reader, fluff, sfw)
No, Cardinal (gn!reader, cock warming)
Shooting His Shot (terzo x omega, winter olympics au, fluff)
A Gift Of Bones (terzo x omega, zombie!terzo, death, resurrection)
The Morningstar (f!reader, cowboy au, smut)
The Perfect Afternoon - sequel to One Dance (f!reader, regency au, fluff)
One Dance (f!reader, regency au, fluff)
Please, Cardinal (f!reader, cardinal terzo, loss of virginity, smut)
Satan's Dick (gn!reader, insufferable terzo)
Yes, Cardinal (f!reader, cardinal terzo, desk sex)
My Husband is Now Bones (terzo x omega, zombie au, death, resurrection)
Promises (f!reader, smut)
140 Shades of Terzo - series masterpost (prompt fills from a list of 140 smut prompts featuring terzo)
The Sexy Adventures of Cardinal Terzo - series masterpost (cardinal terzo and his sexy adventures around the abbey)
A Nap With Secondo (secondo x gn!reader, fluff)
His Little Ghuleh (secondo x aurora, rough bj, scratching, size kink)
Another Round (f!reader, messy ritual sex, overstimulation)
Breakfast in Bed (f!reader, vampire secondo, blood, smut)
Distraction (f!reader, aftermath of teasing papa)
A Single Kiss (gn!reader, fluff, sfw)
Shut Up (gn!reader, secondo is bad with emotions, fluff, sfw)
Sap (gn!reader, forced separation for ritual prep, fluff)
Sliding Home (f!reader, secondo in a ghaseball uniform, desk sex)
And I'm Yours (f!reader, jealous secondo, ritual sex)
Drenched (f!reader, overstimulation, little breeding kink)
Payback (f!reader, messy desk sex)
What You See (gn!reader, old man body worship)
Nema (f!reader, ritual sex)
Dumbasses (cardinal primo deals with a young terzo and copia, sfw)
Time's Up (primo comes to terms with his time as papa, sfw)
The Repugnant - chapters: 1 (f!reader, pirate au, horror, adventure, smut)
Napping With An Outlaw (gn!reader, cowboy au, injured mary, fluff, sfw)
Giddy Up (gn!reader, pony play)
#oakie's writing#the band ghost fanfiction#ghost band fanfic#copia x reader#terzo x reader#secondo x reader#primo x reader#mary goore x reader
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of our own making
(an X-Files fanfic)
Oh hey, look, it's that massive story I've been working on since January! I'm so thankful to everyone who has shown interest in the concept of this fic and the little snippets I've posted. You've been more help than you know. Without that support, I don't think this would have ever gotten finished.
A special thanks to @numinousmysteries who kindly beta read for me and did a fantastic job. I wanted to make sure I got this right, and she was a great help!
And now I can't wait to share this with you all! New chapters posted daily!
[Read on AO3]
Chapter 1/34 - ink and paper
How long has he been thinking about this, she wonders. What exactly is he thinking? Her mind races, trying to reconcile this Mulder whose deepest desires are spilled out here in ink on worn and crinkled brochures with the one she’s spent nearly every day with these past several months.
She'd never have guessed...
Find out if adoption is right for you!
Visit us at 8080 Meadowlark Ln. Annapolis, MD
“A Home for Every Child!”
Scully stares down at the brochure on the desk. One of many, which are half buried underneath a pile of paperwork from their current case. Certain words and phrases are circled in pen, underlined, annotated in the margins in the familiar scrawl she knows almost better than her own.
stability – less travel? change in division? discuss with Scully
loving home – ask Frohike for real estate agent #
The word “family” is circled three times.
She swallows with some difficulty, finding—to her dismay—that her hands are shaking. Mulder will be arriving any second, and here she is, frozen like a statue.
How long has he been thinking about this, she wonders. What exactly is he thinking? Her mind races, trying to reconcile this Mulder whose deepest desires are spilled out here in ink on worn and crinkled brochures with the one she’s spent nearly every day with these past several months.
She’d never have guessed…
“Morning, partner,” his voice calls out, and she jolts in surprise. She hears the door snick shut behind him, but she can’t bring herself to turn around. With deft fingers, she pushes the brochure back under the stack of papers where she found it, only the colorful corner of the page visible.
“Morning, Mulder,” she tries, clearing her throat. It comes out strained, but she hopes he doesn’t notice. She hides her trembling hands in her lap under the desk.
He looks down at her, half amused, half concerned. “You okay? You're not getting that stomach bug that's been going around, are you?”
“I'm fine,” she answers defensively, warning him to back off. She grabs a file off the desk in front of her with a little more force than necessary, plopping it open.
‘Okayyy,’ he mouths exaggeratedly, eyebrows raised. He sits down at his desk and leafs through some papers sitting on top, arranging them into neater stacks. When he uncovers the brochures, his eyes widen and he clears his throat, hurriedly covering them with other papers and trying to act natural.
Scully thinks about letting it go and pretending she doesn’t know what he’s hiding, but she knows she won’t be able to sleep until she finds out what’s been going on in that ridiculous head of his.
She idly flips to the next page of the file in her hand, displaying a confidence she doesn’t feel in the firm set of her shoulders
“Doing some light reading, Mulder?” she asks, attempting to look disinterested.
His head shoots up, a look of alarm on his face. For a second he thinks she might be talking about something else, that she couldn’t possibly know, but one look at her throws that theory right out the window. He glances back and forth between her and the papers on the desk a few times before dropping his shoulders in defeat.
“I’m sorry, Scully, you weren’t supposed to see those,” he says, shuffling all the brochures into a pile while carefully avoiding eye contact. “I was working here late last night. I must have forgotten to put them away.” As he speaks, he opens the top drawer of his desk and shoves them inside, then takes a seat at his desk. His nose is buried in a file before she can even respond.
She watches him now. He is a curiosity, determinedly feigning concentration on a case she knows he finds disinteresting and a waste of time.
Typical.
“You're really not going to say anything?” she asks, arms crossed in front of her.
That rankles him. “What do you want me to say?” he asks, indignation boiling below the surface.
She looks at him incredulously, the file in front of her all but forgotten.
“You're thinking of adoption? When were you planning to share this with me?”
He sighs and shakes his head, pleading silently with her. “It's too soon, Scully. I didn't think you'd want to hear it yet.”
“But you're looking into it because…”
“It's just been on my mind, that's all.”
She stares at him, brows furrowed.
“Since when?”
Since when… Images flash of a life he didn’t recognize. His sister, alive and grown up. A quiet suburban neighborhood. Cancer Man living just down the street. A wife and kids, but not the right ones. It was wrong, all of it was wrong.
“A hallucinatory trip into an alternate universe tends to make you think,” he answers simply.
He’s looking at her now, deadly serious despite the joking tone. She doesn’t respond. Can’t respond.
“I'm sorry, I didn't want to bring all this up,” he continues. “I know it's a sore spot for you.”
It takes her a moment to conjure words from her mouth, her lips moving but no sound coming out. “I just wasn't expecting…”
“For all I know, this isn't even something you'd want.”
What does she say to that? Is she interested?
“I– I'm not sure. I've never really considered it before.”
He waits, his eyes assessing her for some hidden meaning, some insight into her state of mind. He gets nothing. She’s totally blank.
“Well… what do you want?” He thought the question was innocuous enough, safer territory than straight up asking her if she wants to adopt, but apparently not.
She shuts her folder, abruptly standing and slinging her purse over her shoulder. “I'm going back to the crime scene,” she declares, changing the subject. “I want to see if there's anything we missed.”
“Scully…” he tries.
“Not now, Mulder.” Without even taking the time to put her coat on, she flees, leaving the door partially open in her rush to get away. Cursing under his breath, Mulder grabs his coat from its hook and hurries after her.
The elevator doors are almost all the way closed by the time he catches up, but in this case, he figures it’s worth the potential loss of a limb. He throws his hand between the closing gap in the metal doors, and it bounces back open to allow him entrance, to the extreme displeasure of one Dana Scully. He wisely stays silent in the elevator, stealing glances at her every few seconds out of the corner of his eye as they ascend. He can feel the frigid air coming off her in waves. It’s been a while since he’s seen her this annoyed with him, this eager to get away.
He won’t let her. Not this time. He’s learned from his mistakes.
In the parking garage, she's walking briskly, heels clicking on the concrete, and he has to pick up the pace to keep up with surprisingly agile little legs.
He didn’t want this confrontation. There was a reason he was keeping his research a secret. This is exactly what he was hoping to avoid, at least until the time was right to carefully drop some hints here and there. But now? There’s no carefully about it. No option to wait and let this blow over. There’s only one way out of this at this point, and unfortunately, that way is through.
He picks up the pace.
“You're the one who brought this up, Scully, I was perfectly happy throwing those brochures in my drawer and not saying a word.”
His voice echoes in the concrete parking structure, sounding harsh even to his own ears. As frustrated as he is with her, that isn’t his intent. He only wants to know what he can do to help her, how he can help her fulfill her dreams. He lets out a breath, and with it, releases his selfish frustration. She’s still walking away at a breakneck pace, and he doesn’t know how he can get her to stop and face this.
“If you want to talk about it, let's talk about it,” he says, pleading. “I can't help you if I don't know what you want. You want me to shut up, never mention the subject again?” he shouts, throwing his hands in the air, “Fine, just tell me. What do you want, Scully?”
“I just want to be a mom, okay?” she yells, whirling around to face him. Her words instantly silence him, and he watches stone-faced as tears spring in her eyes. “I see all these other moms out there and think… I could do that too. Why can’t I do that too?”
Well, mission accomplished. The truth is finally out there. Part of him feels bad for pushing her, but the other part knows that it was doing her no good to keep her feelings bottled up inside to deal with by herself. He reaches out a hand, intending to comfort her, his eyes softening in sympathy.
“You could. Scully, you’d be the best mom.”
She flinches away, stepping out of his reach. “You don’t know that, Mulder. I can’t even—even my body is even telling me no. Over and over.” She resumes her brisk walk to her car, and he thinks he sees her brush angrily at her face, no doubt wiping away the evidence of the stubborn tears that have managed to escape.
He rushes to get in front of her, walking backwards so he can keep her in his sight.
“When has that ever stopped you?” he asks. “You had cancer, and you kept fighting. You’re alive today because you refused to give up when your body quit on you. What about that?” He stops abruptly, forcing her to come to a halt before she crashes into him.
There’s no way out of this, is there? Her shoulders slump in defeat.
“You saved me, Mulder,” she admits quietly, shaking her head. “You’re the one who didn’t give up. Not me. It was only because you were with me that I survived.”
This time, when she goes to walk away, he stops her, placing a hand on her shoulder. The simple touch causes her to freeze, hardly breathing, and when he steps closer, she stays. His hands slide down her shoulders, holding her securely in place to ensure that his next words come through loud and clear.
“I’m gonna be with you here on this too, I promise.” His thumbs brush back and forth on the fabric of her sleeves, for his comfort or hers, she’s not sure. “You can still be a mother, Scully. I’ll help you.”
She shakes her head, her heart feeling like it has been ripped to shreds. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.” He gives her a little shake for emphasis. She still won’t look at him. “You’ve kept me alive all these years, how much harder could a baby be?”
That gets a breathy chuckle from her, and her head falls to her chest. Groaning with the agony of this burden on her heart, she stops fighting it and leans into him. Without hesitation, he wraps an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his embrace.
Her hand comes up to find purchase on his suit jacket, relishing in the comfort only he can provide. She’s past caring if anyone sees them like this here. Let them talk. They already do, anyway.
“Well, at least when you wake me up in the middle of the night, you’re not crying,” she speaks into his chest.
She feels him shrug, and can almost see the goofy smile she knows she put on his lips.
“Usually.”
She looks up at him with her chin on his sternum before taking a deep breath and pulling away.
“It's raining,” he says softly, glancing down at her and brushing a strand of hair out of her face. “We can go back to the crime scene later.” She nods, unsure what else to say. She allows herself to be led, his ever-present hand brushing against her back as they start toward the basement.
“Adoption,” Scully mutters to herself, shaking her head in disbelief. “I don’t know, Mulder. This—this is different than IVF. With that, all I was asking for was your…” her eyes dart around, looking anywhere but at him, “genetic material. This is something entirely different.”
He’s pleased she’s at least considering it, but she doesn’t get it at all, if that’s what she thinks.
“How? ‘Cause from where I’m standing, the process of getting a baby is a little different, but in the long run, the result is the same.”
She pauses, looking at him in confusion. “What– what are you saying?”
He runs a hand awkwardly through his hair, suddenly taking a unique interest in his shoes and the floor of the parking structure.
“Yeah, we probably should have talked about this before…”
“Talked about what?”
He sighs and guides her into a stairwell. It’s stuffy and poorly-lit with a flickering lightbulb, but here, there’s less of a chance they’ll be overheard.
“Look, Scully, I don’t know what you had in mind for my involvement beyond contributing to half the baby’s DNA when you first asked me to help you get pregnant,” he starts, fighting hard to meet her eyes instead of shying away. “But, I– I had hoped it would be a little more than ‘Say hi to Uncle Mulder,’ every couple of months.”
She blinks back at him, speechless.
“I’m sorry if that’s overstepping, I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable with all this, I just—” He takes in a breath. “I guess I got to thinking of what it might be like to have a family again.” His bout of honesty is met with a blank stare, and his nervous smile drops. “I completely misread the situation, didn’t I?” he asks, self-loathing waiting on standby. “Got ahead of myself…”
She stops him by catching his coat sleeve. “No—uh. No, you didn’t.” She collects herself, willing herself to offer him some reassurance. Her fingers release the fabric of his coat, shifting her grasp instead to his hand. “I didn’t realize you felt that way.”
He glances down at where she holds tightly to him, and his lips curl into some semblance of a smile.
“I guess they might have had a point with all those communication seminars we’ve skipped, huh?”
She chuckles softly.
“I don’t think this is exactly what they had in mind…”
With a gentle tug, Mulder leads her down the stairs, committed to holding her hand as long as she’ll let him. The air is stagnant and silent, only the rhythmic echo of their shoes clicking on the concrete steps as they make their way to the bottom floor.
She’s thinking. What she knows now, it changes everything.
She had asked him to leave. Hid her grief from him as much as possible after her initial lapse into weakness when she came home with the news. She had almost kissed him, then, unsure of what else she had to live for. She knew she was hurting him by folding inward on herself in the weeks that followed, but that didn’t stop her from doing it. She was in a dark place, hardly able to see what was right in front of her. What she couldn’t see was that his hurt wasn’t just for her, born of some misguided sense of guilt or pity. It was his own, too.
“Mulder, all those months, after it failed—” There’s something like fear in her voice as she utters these words, or maybe regret.
“I was just worried about you.”
She squeezes his hand, feeling tears well in her eyes once more. “No, you were grieving like I was, and I didn’t notice. I pushed you away…”
“Dana…” He turns, a couple steps ahead of her, so for once it’s him who has to look up to meet her eyes. Her lip wobbles as she looks down at him, and he brushes his thumb tenderly over her knuckles. “You had to deal with it on your own, I understood that. I don’t blame you for anything.”
Those eyes. So open and honest and sad. She wonders how anyone could hurt him, could bear to break this man’s heart. How could she?
Choking back a sob, she falls into him, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding tight. His arms encircle her back, supporting her weight, and she feels herself being lifted as he goes up a step, closing the distance between them.
His hand climbs up to the back of her head, stroking her hair soothingly.
“I just wanted to be there for you,” he mumbles into her neck.
“You were, Mulder,” she gasps between bouts of tears, finding comfort in the feel of his soft hair between her fingers. “You’ve always been there.”
He pulls back, lifting his hands to cup her face and wiping away the tears he finds there with the pads of his thumbs.
“You don’t have to give an answer now,” he says, reassuring, “This is… a big commitment, I know, and I don’t want you to say yes just because I suggested it. I just wanted you to know it’s an option, and if you want to have a baby, I’m in. However you want to go about it, I’ll be as involved as you want. Just– let me know, anytime. Okay?”
He’s looking at her now, head ducked so those sad, puppy-dog eyes can get his message across.
She nods, holding tight to the wrists that so tenderly cup her face.
“Okay.”
~~~
Lovely tag list ♡: [if you would like to be added or removed, let me know!]
@today-in-fic @ao3feed-msr @agent-troi @angegova @baronessblixen @bby-got-books @calimanc @captainsolocide @cutemothman @danasculls @deathsbestgirl @edierone @enigmaticxbee @figureofdismay @frogsmulder @hippocampouts @invidiosa @monaiargancoconutsoy @mulderscully @oofubad @p34chi @primrose19 @randomfoggytiger @skelavender @skylarksong @slippinmickeys @stephy-gold @teenie-xf @the-redhead-in-a-dress @vincentsleftear @whovianderson
#msr#txf#x files#xf fanfic#mulder and scully#my fanfiction#fox mulder#dana scully#of our own making#ooom#msr adoption fic#adoption
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Fic-to-Art #38: Ozai carries Azula to the physicians' wing
This has been done for A WHILE now, but I didn't post it because the past days have been chaotic and not just on a personal level. For one thing, I really wasn't eager to drop this when people were losing their shit massively over the liveaction and its recontextualization of Azula and Ozai's dynamics, I didn't look forward to releasing this just to be told that whatever I've done in my story is somehow wrong, sooooooooo... that held me back, for a few days.
Then? The AI-Tumblr deal started to be talked about and I may or may not have freaked out about that too. Sooo... this is the first glazed and nightshaded piece of my creation, as consequence. The original, clean and proper version is available in my Patreon. Is this me being a dick to Tumblr-only people? Unfortunately, it very much isn't, I'm not trying to say that if you want the best iterations of my art, you should pay me for it... this is squarely, entirely, at staff/the CEO's feet. Obviously, there's the insecure side of me that goes "what makes you think they'd steal YOUR art when there are so many better artists out there!" but ultimately? AI is about taking everything en masse. It isn't a matter of developing a criteria about who makes the better art... it's just taking EVERYTHING and trying to repurpose it in whatever twisted way it needs to. Therefore? I think my choice is more of a matter of caution than anything else. Once AI bullshit dies out (and I really hope it does), we may just return to the same level of quality across all my accounts. For now, it is what it is.
ANYWAY! Point is this artwork is very much what my Patrons happened to vote for this month, a very shocking scene where Ozai reacted in the least foreseen way to Azula being attacked. Azula's confusion/terror comes from a place of not knowing what to do and being powerless to stop her father even if she doesn't feel comfortable with his help... but for once, Ozai isn't making a dreadful choice that will only devastate his daughter. He's actually worried about her health... and feeling genuine guilt over what landed her in the situation where she was in danger in the first place. Yes. I like me my complex Ozai who finally learned actions have consequences. He bores me to death otherwise :') if anyone STILL doesn't know that this whole situation is Gladiator-specific, then I shall clarify fully: this is artwork based on my fic. It's about a story that has been developing these characters for ALMOST ELEVEN YEARS now. It has nothing to do with whatever's going on in canon or in the liveaction, the scene in question was written almost two years ago and the artwork proposed and voted for several days before the liveaction aired. Ergo: there is no connection between this and that. Nor am I saying through this piece that Ozai is a good father. He is not. He can still be an interesting character to work with on a narrative level anyway :')
Alright. With that out of the way, hope you guys like this piece! The big one I haven't posted is ALSO finished, also glazed and nightshaded, but I think I might just end up posting it on the 26th if I don't have time to do anything big for our eleventh anniversary... yep, I'm so busy I don't even have a huge project in mind this time. Also? I have a lot to write and I'm finally happily writing it, and I would like to continue doing that...
Anyway! If you would like to be part of the creative process behind this piece, as well as see it in its proper, OG, less color-bleeding clunky version? A $1 Patreon pledge gives you the chance to join in suggesting prompts, voting for them and reading Gladiator snippets 6 days before a new chapter is released!
#fic-to-art project#ozai#azula#obviously this was the February piece#and I'm very sorry for the long time it took me to post it but#god I hate it every time there's any “new” thing going on in this franchise#has nothing to do with me and yet it's always a pain because people with the STALEST takes#start to spring out and start trying to police what's going on in the fandom#even people with sense are saying things that blow my mind lately#... so yeah I don't feel entirely safe posting anything to do with my work lately#but hopefully that will change :')#for now enjoy this one
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Fic Finder
Jan 25th
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1. I'm begging to know if you have this fic. Years back, I read a fic where Wei Ying is exiled from the Lan clan and in the process becomes mute kind of (?) by choice. Years-ish later the Lan clan would beg him back to teach the juniors dark arts, and after something he would comply. It's a lot of Lan Zhan trying to apologize and Wei Ying not taking it afterwards, but I do believe it has a good ending. Do you perhaps know what this fic is? I've been trying to dig out the name for a month or so now. @sunshines-child
FOUND? Wei Ying's Destroyed Heart by Belladonna01234 (Wattpad)
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2. hi!!! im looking for a genderbend fic( i think ?) where wwx is set to marry jin guangyao (theyre each others beards) and lwj is the florist, or maybe the other way around. i didnt read it, i only remember those specific things bc of the tags and the summary, but most definitely one of them is the florist at the other's wedding, and they meet and such is life. thank you so much!!!
FOUND! Widow's Weeds by travelingneuritis (E, 18k, wangxian, Modern Cultivation, Gardens & Gardening, Wedding Planning, wedding thwartin, grich people are terrible, Light-Hearted, Smut, Gender Changes, Getting Together, offscreen deaths played for laughs, this is meant to be silly don't worry about it, Scheming, Plotting, wwx and jgy are accidentally-on-purpose bearding each other but i keep it PG, wwx running laps around the entire jin sect)
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3. Hello! I am looking for a fic which I am 90% sure is a WWX/LWJ fic, but there is a 10% chance it might be Keith/Shiro from Voltron (oops, ehe, if so please disregard this ask!). It is a modern au where WWX looks like a rough guy, maybe from a motorcycle gang, and LWJ is a lovely put together businessman. The office where LWJ works begins to notice their boss (LWJ) meeting with tattooed WWX and they think WWX might be up to no good! But WWX is actually a cop or fireman, and he just looks a bit like a road rat. They eat pastries together on their lunch break. Does this ring a bell? I have been looking for ages! Thank you!!!
3 is definitely a Voltron fic if the other blades of Marmora are Keith's fellow cops.
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4. Hi! For fic finder, there is a fic that i only read the summary and a snippet of the story. I didnt read that fic at first because it is not something i usually read, but now its haunting me. Its ice skating au. I think there are "madam yu bashing" In the tag (im not sure). And the snippet i read is NHS beat up WC in secluded place in revenge for WWX. There are no CCTV and NHS said to WC that no one will believe him that NHS beat him up. I know its short, but i really dont know the story. Thank you!
FOUND! enough, for me by doodlebutt (T, 1k, Modern AU) which takes place during chapter 7 of All the shine of a thousand spotlights (M, 60k, WangXian, Modern AU, figure skating, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Major Character Injury, Recovery, Getting Together, background relationships - chengqing; xuanli; xiyao, Background Pregnancy, the mortifying ordeal of Talking About Your Feelings, sexually tense pair skating, There Was Only One Bed)
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5. WWX and LZ are flabbergasted to see the other alive: WWX was burning paper money at LZ’s funeral as LZ died protecting him and LZ was attending WWX’s funeral as LZ failed to protect WWX during a nighthunt. The universe did some weird shit that merged the two timelines so now they’re both alive and with each other. I can’t find it anywhere @selena10180
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6. There was this fic, i don't remember, wwx was single and pregnant and his family (i think jiangs or wen? ) was with him? If u could find this fic and more like it?
FOUND? All I Want by Selenay (E, 47k, WangXian, Modern AU, No Powers, Mpreg, Post Holiday Romance, Consequences, Reunions, Idiots in Love, Teacher WWX, Rating earned in later chapters, Handwavey Biology)
FOUND? Nothing but your heart by airinshaw (E, 21k, WangXian, Modern AU, A/B/O Dynamics, Implied Mpreg, First Time, Getting Together, Angst and Drama, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anal Sex, Whump, Breeding Kink) could also be this
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7. hi!! im looking for an unfinished (as of when i read it at least!!) accidental baby acquisition fic where wwx drops a baby (lsz i believe!) off at lwjs door in the middle of the night and disappears — i know thats vague but i dont remember a lot of details? it was a lot of introspection and confusion on lwjs part, kind of OH SHIT i have to look after this baby now n wwx is vanished n idk whats going on. n to my memory in the next chapter or so wwx comes back and is still rlly weird n mysterious n frustrating abt the babys origins n theres wx vibes but lwj is real confused. sorry i dont have more detail but i really hope i can find it!!!
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8. Hi! :D I really hope you can help me find this fic! I have been looking for weeks! it's driving me nuts!
I remember that WWX doesn't die and LXC help him live hidden in CR using the identity of a Lan that has died, WWX is taking care of LWJ/is LWJ's servant, there is a scene where they are in Lanling (I think) and WWX has befriended some of the servants there, him and one? of them are talking about WWX's feelings for LWJ/if LWJ love WWX/or something like that, and then LWJ is there, I'm pretty sure they go somewhere else and confess to e/o
FOUND! Unbreakable Heaven, Luminous Earth by carolyncaves (M, 96k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Secret Identity, almost to the point of uncomfortable identity theft, Sharing a Bed, Literal Sleeping Together, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, Suicidal Thoughts, that's for WWX after Nightless City and is not pervasive throughout the fic, Blood and Injury, Hurt/Comfort, Caretaking, Sexual Content, Domestic Fluff, Angst with a Happy Ending, Power Imbalance, mainly between WWX and JGY in an entirely nonsexual manner, this isn't really a kid fic but the kids are there, as are some yunmeng sibling feelings, JYL lives, Not Everyone Dies AU, some COVID parallels, this is not a quarantine fic, but thematically WWX deals w things like face-covering for safety and loss of control, also assume all canon warnings, this AU is gentler than canon but isn't a complete fix-it)
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9. Hi hi! Thanks for your wonderful recommendations always! I’m looking for a wangxian fic where WWX has a breakdown in the lotus pier courtyard and the vibes are like “I’ve tried so hard for so long and for what; I can’t anymore; I’m so alone” and the Jiangs are like “… oh shit” and then treat him better after that and help him bear the burdens. (I can’t remember if WWX is a dragon also?) @vi-sky
#9 while the suggestion is great I don’t think this is the fix I was looking for. I don’t think the Jiangs find out about anything until WWX has the breakdown in the courtyard, and I think he kept it to himself for awhile as opposed to his breakdown being chapter 1 in the recommended.
NOT FOUND! 🧡 (Un)Hidden truth by Sarah_R (M, 198k, WIP, WangXian, Suicide attempt, Time Travel, Hurt/comfort, Angst, Self-Harm)
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10. Hello! I can't remember much details but I think lan zhan lands on an unfamiliar planet, there he meet wei ying. Wei ying appearance is different, his body i think is color pink? or blue or like galaxy (눈▽눈) I 'm not really sure but he is not human , also wei ying is shy at first and then warm up eventually. Wahh thank you in advance!
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11. Hello! For fic finder: I am trying to find a fic I read recently (within the last 6 months or so) where Wei Wuxian cultivates a resentful energy core but it was held outside his body in the Yin Tiger Tally. Lan Wangji doesn’t know that, so he convinces Wei Wuxian to give up the Tiger Tally as a gesture of peace. Everyone gathers around to watch and are horrified when as Wei Wuxian crushes the Tiger Tally in his hand and the Tally crumbles to dust, Wei Wuxian keels over in terrible agony at losing his core a second time. I think Wangji rushes over to help but Wen Qing pushes him away. It wasn't Decay by antebunny (although that is a good fic!!). Any thoughts? Thank you!
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12. hi I just remembered a fic in modern verse where Wei Ying boarded a flight that disappeared mid air and landed after 10+ yrs and Lan Zhan comes to pick up from the airport once he gets the news. I can't seem to find it can you please help and thanks for your efforts its bought me across many amazing fanfics
FOUND! 看客散去唯你我不忘 | the world forgets but i still remember you by prettyxianxian (T, 11k, wangxian, Modern, Flashbacks, POV Multiple, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Lives AU, Insecurities à la WWX, manifest au, JC & WWX Reconciliation, Good Parent YZY, Good Parent JFM)
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13. Hello!! I'm looking for a fic that I was sure i had reblogged but now I can't find it anywhere 😔 It was on tumblr not ao3. LWJ is sex-cursed and he has to be touched by the person he loves. It was during the burial mound days and WWX is isolated from the cultivation world, and also LWJ refuses to ask him for help for that, he'drather die. LXC finds out and takes an unconscious LWJ to the burial mounds and gives him a day to tell WWX on his own or LXC will do it, and LWJ only agrees because he intends to run away before WWX finds out why he's there @kokobabee
FOUND! Tumblr Fic by @jingyismom
~*~
14. Hello! I badly need help. I've been looking for this fic. I think it was like 5+1 or something where other people learn that Sizhui is Hanguangjun's son and that one time that Wei Wuxian did. I remember some of the 5+1 was a scene with a vendor, another scene with Ouyang-zongzhu in a nighthunt and I'm not sure if Jiang Wanyin was also one of them. But yeah, I've tried all keywords I could think of but I just can't find it. I hope you can help me. Thank you so much for all your efforts.
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15. Hello I am looking for a fic where the world agrees to not kill Wei Ying if he marries and dual cultivates with someone and it's LWJ @calamityisalve
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16. I am looking for a fic where wangxian invite the cultivation world to their wedding but wei wuxian and Lan shizui get badly hurt during the hunt before the wedding. The wedding is postponed and I think it had a scene where they fell down a waterfall? Please find it for me🙏
~*~
17. Hiiii!!!! I’m looking for a Twitter thread fic about a Warprize Lwj ABO Au where he became a consort to wen zhuliu? I think it was him, anyway, he gave birth a-yuan but a-yuan was actually Wwx son. I remember there was quote retweeted art of the thread fic where Wwx was standing over a-yuan’s cradle.
If you actually manage to find it a million thanks!!! @silent-taco
FOUND? Twitter thread by @cerbykerby, art by @hellinglaozu
FOUND? 🔒 Poison series by Cy_an_Blue, NiceElsa (E, 30k, wangxian, Gods & Goddesses, God WWX, God LY, A/B/O, Alpha WWX, Omega LY, Pre-Relationship wangxian, Implied/Referenced Forced Marriage, Implied/Referenced Bottom LWJ, Omega LWJ, Alpha LXC, Married WangXian with kids, Dark, War Prize LWJ, Forced Pregnancy, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Not by WangXian, Adultery, Cheating, Threats of Violence, Threats of Child Abuse/Murder, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-Typical Gore, Smut, Mpreg, Pregnancy, Pregnant Sex, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Endgame Wangxian, Post Mpreg, post pregnancy, Protective LQR, Gūsū Lán Elders Bashing)
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18. Hello! I hope you can help me find this one, because I’m not having much luck; Wei Ying agrees to do what the sects want in exchange for the Lan sect taking in the Wen. He is basically imprisoned in the Unclean Realm and can’t practice demonic cultivation, and over time Nie Huaisand and Nie Mingjue start to warm up to him.
I think the one scene I remember most is a scene where Lan Huan asks Wei Ying if he can play for Nie Mingjue but Wei Ying says he can’t and admits that he has no golden core after making Lan Huan promise to keep it a secret. Hope this helps?
FOUND? Always walked a very thin line by tucuxi (T, 22k, WangXian, NHS & WWX, JYL & WWX, Depression, Anxiety Attacks, Canon Divergence, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Self-Worth Issues, Slow Burn, Oblivious WWX, Golden Core Reveal, WWX Has No Golden Core, Chronic Pain, Chronic Illness)
~*~
19. 你好! I've been looking for a fic with mute wei ying? (mute by choice, I believe). I cannot remember much, but I do remember that Wei Ying is exiled by the Gusu Lan clan, led by Lan Zhan himself. He's later called back to teach the juniors lessons on Demonic cultivation, where they found out after many years of choosing not to talk, he's kind of lost his voice. I don't know if you could find this fic, but it's been plaguing my brain for awhile now.
~*~
20. Hi! Searching for a fic where omegaxian is the assistant physician of Wen Qing and then Emperor (not sure if emperor or just a prince) Alphaji want him immediately as his consort. Wen qing and other people protested and told alphaji that omegaxian is not available because he is only a physician.
I remember it being a threadfic in X (twitter)
Thank you so much
~*~
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Steve Harrington time stamps
For when you just want to watch Steve’s scenes
I had the idea to do this during my current rewatch thanks to @harmonictechnicality (who was very happy for me to post this) and then @al-ghoul sent me his timestamps so a HUGE thank you there!
Oh, and @faequeentitania has a supercut of all of Eddie's scenes (link is in their bio) so I didn’t add Eddie’s time stamps to this post
My original intention was to not post this until it was completely done, but I honestly don't have much energy right now, so there are only time stamps up to S04E05. But I do intend to finish it one day! (If anyone wants to help out with the remaining ones, that would be great.) You can also see where the formatting changes and that's where I stopped typing up my notes and just used what @al-ghoul sent me, but I do want to reformat it so it's uniform, and add in songs used for his scenes, but I just wanted to get this out there
And I want to say sorry if someone has already done something like this in the meantime! I tried searching but Tumblr search isn't great
SEASON ONE
Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers
14:54 - 16:07 Steve’s first appearance in his rendezvous with Nancy in the bathroom
37:59 - 38:42 Mike sees Steve trying to climb through Nancy’s window
41:04 - 43:12 helping Nancy study
Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street
12:26 - 14:04 asking Nancy to the party at his house (mention of his parents); the scene cuts to Nancy and Jonathan at 13:20 but you can still see Steve in the background until 14:04
38:17 - 38:37 opening the door for Nancy and Barb (song: Raise a Little Hell by Trooper*)
43:06 - 45:39 pool scene with the drinking, etc., with Tommy H, Carol, Nancy and Barb (song: I Melt With You by Modern English)
49:18 - 49:40 drying off and going upstairs
50:22 - 51:18 we see Steve and Nancy through the window from Jonathan’s POV then it cuts to inside Steve’s room
52:36 - 52:50 getting hot and heavy with Nancy (song: tiniest snippet of the opening strains of Hazy Shade of Winter by The Bangles)
*seems to be playing inside Steve’s house because it’s muffled and gets louder when he opens the doors
Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly
00:40 - 1:50 sleeping with Nancy, intercut with Barb being killed (song: Waiting for a Girl Like You by Foreigner)
3:03 - 3:50 Nancy tries to wake Steve, then leaves
10:16 - 11:11 at Nancy’s locker
20:48 - 21:56 cafeteria with Tommy H, Carol and Nancy
30:07 - 32:16 confronting Jonathan about photos
36:01 - 36:43 waiting for the game in the hallway with Tommy H, Carol and Nancy; Nancy leaves
Chapter Four: The Body
13:16 - 14:30 meeting Nancy between buildings; asks her not to tell the cops about the beer (mention of parents)
Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat
25:47 - 27:51 Steve shows up at Nancy’s to say sorry and invite her to the movies (mention of parents; song: Steve singing a bit of Old Time Rock and Roll)
Chapter Six: The Monster
3:29 - 4:45 driving to Nancy’s with Tommy H and Carol; sees Jonathan and Nancy on bed through window (song: Sunglasses at Night by Corey Hart*)
30:46 - 33:18 alley fight with Jonathan
* playing on the car stereo
Chapter Seven: The Bathtub
14:21 - 16:00 Tommy brings Steve a can of Coke and painkillers; Steve has fight with Tommy and Carol then drives off
18:40 - 19:21 offers to help scrub graffiti off cinema marquee
Chapter Eight: The Upside Down
14:42 - 17:03 comes to Jonathan’s to say sorry; gets introduced to the upside down shenanigans
18:53 - 22:00 Nancy gives Steve an out; he runs, then he comes back (it cuts to Hopper and Joyce at 21:18 for a couple of seconds)
22:27 - 23:50 following the lights with Nancy and Jonathan that Joyce and Hopper are lighting up as they go through the UD version (intercut with scenes of Joyce and Hopper)
48:01 - 48:24 epilogue snuggling on couch with Nancy in Christmas sweater
SEASON TWO
Chapter One: Madmax
12:13 - 14:02 Nancy looking over Steve’s essay in the car outside the school (song: Talking in Your Sleep by The Romantics)
20:09 - 20:38 waiting by the corner in the hallway to pick Nancy up and twirl her around by the lockers
31:38 - 33:50 dinner with Nancy at Barb’s parents
Chapter Two: Trick or Treat, Freak
15:58 - 19:22 studying in the library with Nancy/Steve is worried about the government if they talk too much about what happened and suggests going to party and pretend everything is normal (between 17:15 to 17:36 it cuts to Nancy thinking she sees Barb)
31:23 - 32:17 Tommy H and Billy come over while Steve is with Nancy at the party; Tommy H: “We’ve got a new keg king, Harrington.” (Song: Shout at the Devil by Mötley Crüe)
42:03 - 44:14 dancing with Nancy (song Girls on Film by Duran Duran)/spills drink on her/bathroom ‘bullshit’ scene
Chapter Three: The Pollywog
19:11 - 21:14 playing basketball against Billy (Song: Go! By Tones on Tail) and talking with Nancy between the buildings
Chapter Four: Will the Wise
16:23 - 17:53 basketball again (Song: Scarface (Push it to the Limit) from Scarface) and the shower scene with Tommy H and Billy
Chapter Five: Dig Dug
35:17 - 35:52 shows up to Nancy’s with flowers and is waylaid by Dustin
Chapter Six: The Spy
00:51 - 3:43 In car with Dustin (song: Hammer to Fall by Queen*) going to kill Dart with bat
12:39 - 13:06 bringing meat with Dustin
24:51 - 27:34 laying trap for Dart with Dustin (meat on the railroad tracks) and talking about girls
31:48 - 32:37 at the junkyard with Dustin
33:10 - 33:21 at the junkyard with Dustin, Lucas and Max
35:27 - 35:38 fortifying the bus/setting stuff up at the junkyard
35:49 - 36:02 pouring gasoline
36:48 - 37:01 going into the bus
37:44 - 38:24 inside the bus; flicking the lighter
40:46 - 45:06 demodogs appear; Steve goes out as bait/to fight them
* playing on the car stereo
Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister
Doesn’t appear in this episode
Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer
08:35 - 10:33 walking from the junk yard with kids at night, looking for Dart on the train tracks
13:27 - 13:56 in front of Hawkins lab; meet up with Nancy and Jonathan
15:15 - 15:45 in front of the lab
16:15 - 16:21 gate opens
21:58 - 22:22 waiting at gate; Hopper picks them up
23:06 - 23:42 at the Byers’
24:43 - 29:03 in Byers’ kitchen; Steve is in and out of the frame/sometimes in the background
29:23 - 29:55 duct-taping the shed with Nancy
31:51 - 32:07 finishing the shed with everyone
33:05 - 33:10 practicing with a bat at Byers'
34:32 - 34:35 blinking lights at Byers’
38:52 - 39:16 morse code
40:31 - 40:56 “close gate”
41:31 - 41:37 hearing demodogs
42:15 - 44:34 preparing to fight/El arrives
S02E09:
00:07:23 Steve (at Byers with everyone) (00:08:03)
00:09:08 Steve (at Byers backyard with Nancy) (00:10:02)
00:10:50 Steve (on the Byers porch with kids) (00:11:06)
00:15:22 Steve (putting demodog in the fridge) (00:15:57)
00:16:17 Steve (at the Byers with the kids / Billy arrives) (00:19:09)
00:19:47 Steve (fighting Billy) (00:21:02)
00:24:41 Steve (waking up in the car with Max) (00:25:54)
00:26:43 Steve (arriving to the tunnels) (00:28:17)
00:30:00 Steve (at the tunnels) (00:31:42)
00:33:40 Steve (torching the tunnels while Will burns) (00:34:43)
00:36:52 Steve (running through the tunnels) (00:36:59)
00:38:00 Steve (freeing Mike / meeting Dart) (00:39:38)
00:40:16 Steve (running out of the tunnels) (00:41:19)
00:43:40 Steve (gate closed) (00:43:44)
00:45:19 Steve (at the Barb's funeral) (00:45:27)
00:48:51 Steve (driving Dustin to the Snow Ball) (songs: Love is a Battlefield by Pat Benatar and Twist of Fate by Olivia Newton-John*) (00:50:10)
*both are playing inside the Snow Ball Edit: actually the Pat Benatar song seems to be coming from his car on re-watching 😅 it definitely sounded like from inside the building to me before but now it doesn’t
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S03E01:
00:09:15 Steve (letting the kids through Scoops Ahoy back door) (00:09:40)
00:10:46 Steve (lights go out) (00:11:01)
00:12:12 Steve (lights go back) (00:12:18)
00:24:42 Steve (Scoops Ahoy with Robin, hitting on ladies) (00:26:46)
S03E02:
00:10:15 Steve (Scoops Ahoy with Dustin) (00:12:34)
00:17:52 Steve (translating Russian with Dustin) (00:19:24)
00:35:27 Steve (Robin translated first Russian) (00:35:54)
00:41:26 Steve (mall after hours with Robin and Dustin) (00:43:37)
S03E03:
00:17:23 Steve (spying for spies in the mall with Dustin) (00:19:19)
00:27:12 Steve (found a sport fitness "spy" with Dustin) song: Wake Me Up Before you Go-Go by Wham!* (00:28:32)
00:29:20 Steve (with Dustin returning to Scoop Ahoy) (00:29:26)
00:30:03 Steve (Robin cracked the code) (00:30:12)
00:39:20 Steve (in the rain looking at delivery) (00:40:30)
*playing in the jazzercise class
S03E04:
00:09:04 Steve (Scoops Ahoy, devising a plan) 00:10:08
00:21:14 Steve (Robin brings Starcourt blueprints) (00:22:58)
00:24:32 Steve (bringing Erica into the plan) (00:25:11)
00:34:51 Steve (Erica goes into the vent) (00:35:05)
00:36:22 Steve (Erica got to the room) (00:37:00)
00:40:28 Steve (opening the boxes with the team Scoops) (00:42:08)
S03E05:
00:00:07 Steve (the elevator room falling) (00:01:58)
00:16:25 Steve (stuck in / getting out of the elevator room) (00:19:46)
00:25:19 Steve (walking the tunnel) (00:27:16)
00:34:40 Steve (finding the russian base / fighting the guard) (00:37:01)
00:37:21 Steve (Robin found The Machine) (00:38:21)
S03E06:
00:00:14 Steve (being apprehended by russians) (00:01:48)
00:17:12 Steve (being beaten up / questioned by the russians) (00:20:21)
00:31:06 Steve (tied to a chair with Robin) (00:35:58)
00:45:25 Steve (truth serum kicks in / Dustin saves them) (00:48:50)
S03E07:
00:06:31 Steve (Dustin is driving away through the tunnel / elevator) (00:08:45)
00:13:13 Steve (running from the mall guards into the cinema) (00:14:04)
00:14:30-32 / 00:14:41-44 (tweedldee and tweedledum in the cinema)
00:23:19 Steve (drunk with Robin in the cinema hallway) (00:25:08)
00:28:27 Steve (confesses Robin in the cinema restroom) (00:35:02)
00:39:07 Steve (sneaking out of the restroom) (00:40:03)
00:48:50 Steve (hiding from mall guards under the counter) (00:49:16)
00:49:41 Steve (El defeated the guards) (00:50:51)
00:51:09-14 Steve (El collapses)
S03E08:
00:00:36 Steve (Eleven's fucked up leg) 00:01:25
00:02:50 Steve (El pulls the Flayer out of the leg) (00:03:16)
00:04:28 Steve (everyone is catching up on things) (00:05:11)
00:06:34 Steve (hanging around while everyone prepares) (00:06:43)
00:07:40 Steve (driving away from the mall) (00:08:10)
00:13:32 Steve (driving kids to the radio hill) (00:14:42)
00:17:50 Steve (on the radio hill) (00:18:19)
00:24:19 Steve (on the radio hill, Flayer attacks Starcourt) (00:25:12)
00:26:03 Steve (on the radio hill running back to the car) (00:26:14)
00:32:54 Steve (hitting Billy's car at Starcourt, Nancy's driving away) 00:33:35
00:34:39 Steve (Flayer pursues the car, Suzie appears) (00:34:50)
00:35:49-53 Steve (in the car while Dustin sings over the radio)
00:36:28-31 Steve (in the car while Dustin and Suzie both singing)
00:38:04 Steve (in the car while Flayer goes back to Starcourt)
00:42:29-34 Steve (throwing fireworks at the Flayer in the mall)
00:43:03-04 Steve (keeps throwing)
00:44:16-22 Steve (on the radio with Dustin)
00:50:33 Steve (Flayer disassembles) (00:50:43)
00:54:58-01 Steve (at the ER car in the background)
00:56:44 Steve (arriving with Robin at the Family Video for a job) (00:58:04)
00:58:55 Steve (bumping into the cardboard figure) (00:59:12)
--------------------------------------------------------
S04E01:
00:15:24 Steve (in car with Robin) (00:16:58)
00:54:43 Steve (with Brenda at basketball game) (00:56:24)
S04E02:
00:07:56 Steve (at Family Video with Robin) (00:09:49)
00:28:13 Steve (at Family Video with Max & Dustin) (00:29:06)
00:44:58 Steve (at Family Video flirting / searching for Rick) (00:47:43)
01:01:45 Steve/Eddie (at Reefer Rick's) (01:06:14)
01:07:22 Eddie, Steve (talks about Chrissy / Vecna revealed) (01:12:30)
S04E03:
00:12:28 Eddie, Steve (receiving supplies at Rick's) (00:14:23)
00:15:14 Steve (at Fred's crime scene) (00:15:29)
00:25:29 Steve (with kids and Nancy discussing Vecna) (00:28:12)
00:38:21 Steve (outside shrink's house in the car) (00:39:28)
00:41:22 Steve (driving away from the shrink) (00:41:33)
00:42:00 Steve (driving the car while Lucas radioes) (00:42:43)
00:50:53 Steve (breaking into school shrink's office at night) (00:51:38)
00:55:54 Steve (at the shrink's office) (00:56:53)
S04E04:
00:02:09 Steve (school after Max's episode, Nancy and Robin arrive) (00:04:50)
00:07:29 Steve (the Wheeler's house - Max writes letters, Nancy and Robin arrive) (00:10:44)
00:17:35 Steve (Max finished the letters, wants to go) (00:20:04)
00:31:33 Steve (driving Max to the trailer park) (00:31:53)
00:34:35-49 Steve (Max returns to the car)
00:48:17 Steve (driving Max to the cemetery) (00:49:00)
01:02:32 Steve (going for Max at the cemetery) (01:03:04)
01:03:17 Steve (trying to wake Max up) (01:03:35)
01:04:58-07 Steve (with Dustin and Lucas trying to wake Max up)
01:09:01-12 Steve (Dustin brings music to Max)
01:10:45 Steve (everyone searching for the tape) (01:11:06)
01:11:50-00 Steve (Max flies)
01:13:43 Steve (Max is out) (01:14:14)
S04E05:
00:14:32 Steve (sleeping in Wheeler's basement) (00:14:38)
00:36:19 Steve (arriving at Creel's house with everyone) (00:40:06)
00:49:55 Steve (checking Creel's house with DNR) (00:52:36)
#Steve harrington#stranger things#st4#steddie#steve x eddie#st3#st1#st2#(steddie is the target audience but it's also for anyone!!)#(reblogs very much appreciated on this one!)
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Seeing as you have finished writing the script for your AU thingy, I wanna know, how?
Like, were you motivated the whole time? Or was it a on and off writing type thing?
i'm trying to write but I don't know if I have the motivation...
How did you keep the motivation if so?
Oh man. I have so much to say about writing and creativity that I could make an entire series of posts talking about the subject, but I'll try to keep things orderly and brief.
Disclaimer: I should let you know that I have never finished a writing project before recently finishing my TPiaG AU. Keep that in mind when reading the advice I offer— the tips I give have only been put into work in my own life over the course of the last couple of months, but they’ve proven very effective in my experience!
Sofie Creativity Tips Episode 1, go!!!
Was I motivated the whole time I was writing TPiaG / How did I stay motivated?
Absolutely not. If I hadn’t provided myself a detailed chapter-by-chapter outline for TPiaG before starting the writing process, I would have given up thanks to a mix of writer’s block and absent motivation. Motivation is a fickle muse and prone to ditching me for months on end, so I’ve adapted by trying not to rely on it, but also by creating new motivation rather than clinging to past motivation. I create motivation for myself in two ways: removing friction when writing and being my own fandom.
Removing friction is pretty simple— I create very detailed chapter outlines that remove any fear of writer’s block, set up my devices in a way to make it easy to access my manuscripts and notes, download premade writing playlists that have Pomodoro session break timers built into them, and more. Anything that makes the writing process easier to get into and enjoy doing, I make sure to incorporate into my life.
Being my own fandom is less intuitive, but a thousand times more rewarding in terms of motivation. I make memes of my characters. I write self-indulgent snippets on the side. I make AUs of my own work. I make playlists and save audio clips that suit the characters. I draw comics exploring concepts that might not get into the manuscript itself but that I want to make content for regardless. Basically, I dive in deep into the story, characters, and world, and try to do so with the enthusiasm that I give other people’s projects.
(That part is extra fun, because if I have a headcanon, it automatically becomes canon to whatever AU or original project I’m working on. I have all the power in the world when working like this, and it’s very fun.)
What changed and made it so I finished my first ever written project?
This isn’t exactly what was asked, but because I have eschewed motivation as the main driving force in my writing process, I figured I’d give another insight into how TPiaG went against the pattern of half-started and swiftly abandoned projects that came before it and actually got finished. Late into October, I adopted a new method of producing first drafts. Previously, I would spend weeks polishing the same chapter and would only move on to the next chapter once the current one was perfect. My new method is the complete opposite. I’ve started calling it Writing BFF:
Write bad
Write fast
Write fun
First up, write bad. The point of this is not to waste your time writing prettily during your first draft. Don’t bother agonizing over how to reword that one sentence to be more elegant when it does the job well enough to get its point across. Don’t go off on a 30-minute research tangent in the middle of a writing session because you want to fact-check that one detail and make sure it’s perfectly accurate when you could just put a placeholder detail in brackets and CTRL+F search and plug in something accurate later on. Don’t write pretty, write bad. And be okay with it. You can’t edit an empty page, so fill the page with as much garbage as possible so that you can turn it into gold later on.
Next, write fast. This is only effective when paired with writing bad. Don’t pause, don’t hesitate, don’t deliberate. Write as much as you can and do it as fast as you can. This idea is best illustrated by Chris Fox’s book 5,000 Words Per Hour, where he talks about increasing your WPM (words per minute) and how it makes everything about your writing better. The person who creates a beautiful first draft once every three years is doing okay, but the person who cranks out a complete manuscript every three months learns leagues more about writing than the first person does by the end of three years. The second person has practiced outlining, drafting, editing, publishing, and more with every manuscript completed. The faster you write, the better you get, because practice makes perfect and quantity begets quality.
Finally, write fun. I write what I enjoy, and if I’m not enjoying it, I pivot the project so that I enjoy it again. I like writing deeply personal stories, so pretty much everything I write is heavily based on my life and experiences— TPiaG included. Grovyle’s portrayal is deeply influenced by my experience being an elder sibling who has been a bad example of self-talk, and cleaned up my act because my younger sister started echoing how I spoke to myself. Dusknoir’s portrayal is informed by my experiences with being the therapist / mom friend in different social circles as well as attending actual formal therapy. Twig is the character that my experiences have the greatest influence on in her portrayal, and I joke about her being a self-insert, but ultimately all of the characters are self-inserts to some extent. I also enjoy low-stakes and slow slice-of-life stories that are driven by character growth. If I ever stop having fun with a project, I inject more of myself and my preferences into my work to get it back into my favor.
TL;DR / Writing advice lightning round
Write as badly as possible as quickly as possible, and have fun as you do it. Momentum yields motivation and stagnancy yields doubt. Editing comes only after the first draft is complete. Be your own fandom and your project’s biggest fan. Give yourself direction and ward against writer’s block by making detailed chapter-by-chapter outlines. Make the writing process as easy and enjoyable as possible. Motivation is a lie and if you chase after it instead of making your own, you’ll be writing on hard mode for the rest of your life. Reject perfectionism, embrace flawesomeness.
If I didn’t answer your question right, let me know! I’ll do my best to correct it.
#creativity tips with sofie#sofie answers asks#sofie says stuff#writing#writing advice#writing tips#writing motivation#writer advice#writer tips#writers on tumblr#writerscommunity#writers of tumblr
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Accidental Chemistry - Coming Soon!
Summary: Azriel had his whole life figured out. He was the head of his department at work. He had a nice house with his own space. He could pick up any woman he wanted for a good fuck before moving on. He didn’t need commitment—didn’t want it. But when his brother and sister-in-law ask for a favor, he finds his whole life turning upside down in the blink of an eye. All because of his new roommate: recently divorced Elain Archeron.
And her three-month-old son.
~~~~~
I'm very excited to announce an upcoming fic, Accidental Chemistry. I have to give all my love to @duskwhisperer for sending me this idea and letting me run with it. Thank you, babes! 💕 I'm working on building out parts right now and don't have an official launch date, but I couldn't not use @elriel-month to announce this new project. Can't wait to share it with you! And to tide you over, here's a little bit of a sneak peek at chapter 1. 💜💙💚
Feyre sighed, sitting forward in her seat like she needed the strength to speak. “Az, we—or I—need to ask a favor of you.”
Ah, finally. The reason they invited him over for dinner tonight. He indicated for her to go ahead with a wave of his brutally scarred hand.
She took a deep breath, settling her nerves. “I was wondering if Elain could move in with you, into the loft you renovated over your garage? Until she’s back on her feet, at least.”
His brows shot into his hairline. Frankly, out of all the favors she could’ve asked him for, that was not even one that crossed his mind. Before he could get out a word in edgewise, Feyre barreled on.
“I know it’s inconvenient for you and that it’s totally inappropriate for me to ask you of this, but Elain has so much going on right now and her husband is taking advantage of the situation, and she has nowhere else to go, and I—”
“Feyre,” he interrupted her run-on sentence. “It’s okay. She can stay with me.”
Silver lined those blue-gray eyes that made him suspicious that other hands were at play here. Had her husband been abusive? Feyre’s relief that he agreed to allow her sister to live with him seemed…so out of place, he supposed.
“Thank you, Azriel. Truly. She’s going to be so relieved.”
This could be good for him. Once Elain was back on her feet and at a good point in her life again, there would be no harm in trying to pursue her, right? Obviously, he’d never take advantage of her, especially when she was in a vulnerable position after her divorce, but if she showed interest, there wasn’t any reason he couldn’t ask her out.
Right?
Rhys subtly nudged his wife, though it did not go unnoticed by him.
“There is one more thing.”
That had his stomach tightening in knots. Now what? After a beat, he finally said, “Well, spit it out Feyre. Don’t leave me hanging in suspense.”
“She has a son.”
All thoughts emptied from his head. “What?” he asked in confusion.
Her hands folded together as she leaned her forearms on the table. “Elain? She has a three-month-old son.”
~~~~~
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#accidental chemistry#elriel#elriel month#elriel month 2023#elrielmonth#elrielmonth23#elriel fic#elriel fanfic#elriel fanfiction#elain#elain archeron#azriel#azriel shadowsinger#fic announcement#tswaney17#tswaney17fics#tay writes#my writing
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How do you write so beautifully? It's so well written. Do you read a lot? Do you have any tips?
Thank you! Some general tips I have when writing fanfiction:
1) Read a lot! I like analyzing the styles and plots of other writers, and usually, I get inspired from reading when I'm stuck with writer's block.
2) Create a doc on your computer for your favorite lines. Occasionally, I refer to these compiled scenes that I love and ask myself: what makes these snippets so good?
3) Outline your plots and subplots. Draw inspiration from movies, personal life experiences, college-era daydreams, pov tiktoks, slowed+reverb songs...anything.
4) Utilize online writing resources. My favorites are Grammarly (proofreader), Thesaurus.com (self-explanatory), Rhymezone (for descriptive words), and Words to Use Instead of 'Said.'
5) Don't be afraid to fail. From spending many hours writing scenes that would never get published to being disappointed when a posted chapter didn't perform as well as expected, these blips are inevitable. Yet, the most important consideration is: did you have fun?
Hope these help! :)
#jamms.answers#jamms.thoughts#writing#writer#creative writing#writing advice#writing tips#writing resources#fanfic#fanfiction
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FIC IDEA VAULT #17 - RadioApple Hercules AU
@fanby-fckry is an enabler XD Their post about their idea for a Little Mermaid AU forced my hand to actually write down this idea! Originally I had the inspiration from this Tiktok!
So, this is an inspired by Disney's Hercules AU, we will follow cannon for season 1 loosely and then we take off from there, and yes, the tiktok scene will be there! I have lots of ideas already down, including a general idea of how each chapter will go. So far, aiming for 8 (?) chapters, which will have not only Alastor's POV but also Lucifer's and others as they become relevant. I want to incorporate the ideas I already have for my own Hellaverse (which I will also use for my Alastor centric fic) which include the Sins being ride or dies for Lucifer, Roo as the main villain, lots of bonding amongst the cast and some cameos by the Helluva Boss crew! I don't plan to make this be straight romance, I want them to be friends first before Alastor starts caring more for Luci, and I'm also trying to keep him as faithful as I can be to his Ace Identity (which is a spectrum! Please, no harrasment over this, but if anyone would like to help me out to make sure I don't screw Al or offend anyone, please let me know! I would really appreciate the help!)
I am swarmed by work, and this has been the worst week for me in a while, I can feel the depressing thoughts around, but talking about my aus, or any of my fandoms always helps! I hope to work on this and publish soon, but I do want to have some chapter written before posting to Ao3. So, without further ado, I leave you with the main summary and two snippets from chapter one! I'm sorry for the errors, I will fix them up for publishin the full story on Ao3! Enjoy!
At least out loud, I won't say I'm in love (Hercules Radioapple AU) by Vesta Dragon
Tasked with getting closer to the King of Hell after the last extermination, Alastor the Radio Demon tries his best to show the king the attention which is plain to see the fallen angel craves. But as they spend time getting to know each other in the most antagonistic and less romantic way possible for Alastor's peace of mind, he finds his mission shifting when shown what a capable ruler Lucifer can be, alongside his softer side that still shows the angel he never stopped being. Lucifer knows that getting along with Alastor will keep Charlie happy, and keep one less headache away from him as he takes the reigns of his kingdom back with the help of his closest friend, Satan, who is now on a mission to make sure both him and Charlie are in top shape for any upcoming battle Heaven will surely start. His heart will be his doom, as he feels himself growing closer to Alastor, but will their love be enough to stop the threat lurking far below Hell? Or will her millennia-old plans finally come to fruition, so the Root of All Evil can finally rule it all as the planets align?
Chapter One Teaser under the cut!
God was created to bring balance to the Universe, and he in turn created Angels, his first and most beloved was Lucifer Morningstar…
The story of the Garden of Eden is one I'm sure you are all familiar with, but what you probably didn't know was that it skipped over a lot of details. Lucifer always thought that keeping Humans always happy and in the dark, meant they would never get to their full potential. He befriended Lilith, the first Woman, and they fell into a quick and deep love.
Charlie Morningstar was interrrupted by the loud entrance of Angel Dust, the spider demon carrying around a cooler from which he passed around beverages to the visitors sitting in front of the princess in the Hotel's second entertainment room.
"Boooooriiiiing! Charlie, I swear if you tell us the detailed history of all of creation, I'm taking everyone on a tour of my favorite clubs!"
Finished with his task, he took the main couch, sitting for once, not splayed out but definitely confidently enough that it drew some curious eyes, though they quickly turned away as he swept his gaze around. He took from the cooler two extra waters and passed one to Charlie, who accepted despite looking scandalized at his suggestion.
"Angel, you wouldn't dare!"
"Oh, but I would! Who wants to go dancing?" At the raised (albeit nervous) hands that went up, he smirked at the princess who huffed and rolled her eyes.
"Well, what's wrong with giving them all the details?" Charlie shuddered to think were her charges would end up, so she admited that maybe her story would need to be told differently than to how she prefered to remember it.
"For one, it would take us way too fucking long to go over everything. Let's go for the more fun version! You gotta know when to give the right details." He made sure to wink at a couple of people, the majority laughing as he riled the princess up.
"We are not sharing anything explicit!" That would be worse than the clubs, as she was about to continue her point, she was interrupted again.
"Is Charlie going to tell the Story? I wanna help!" Nifty had jumped from behind the couch Angel sat at, no one having heard her skittering around until she had made herself known. She proceeded to jump over the couch, landing on Angel and kicking him slightly before settling in beside him.
"Ouch, Nifty! Careful with my arms!"
"Hehe, sorry Angel!"
"Oh, this will be fun." Vaggie had come due to all the shouting, wanting to make sure everyone was being civil. She had known Charlie had plans to share the story, and she was glad she wasn't the only one who knew the princess had to be watched so avoid her rambling to their guests for 5 hours. She loved her, but she knew Charlie tended to go overboard, especially with this.
"Hi sweetie! Come sit here with me, we can share the loveseat." Charlie relaxed upon seeing Vaggie, and made sure to give her a kiss as soon as the fallen angel sat down beside her.
"Can you two stop with the lovey-dovey public displays, let me get my coffee in first." Yet another interrupting, this time from the resident bartender, who was carrying two takeout cups of coffee, one of which he gave to Angel, despite Nifty's attempts to snag it.
"Husk, I'm surprised that you aren't drinking a beer." Vaggie smirked, knowing that usually, the stoic bartender tended to leave the tours to the others and kept to the quiet of the bar. But it was obvious why he had come, as Angel patted his legs.
"Oooh Husky, my lap is open if you want a seat."
"I'll take the floor, otherwise we won't get to the end of the story."
"C'mon you two! Seriously?!" Vaggie was infurated now, she had hoped they had at least some decurum to save it for after the tour was done.
"I meant he would loose circulation on his legs, I ain't as light as Nifty over there." Husk laughed softly, winking at Angel as he took a seat between his legs on the floor.
"Can I sit on your lap, Angel?"
"Sure, Nift."
"Oooooookaaaay, is everyone settled? Can I continue?" Charlie was more aware now of the time constraints, but she was glad to have the company. It was always more enjoyable to have the story be told with input from everyone.
"Yes, but keep it light on the start, we want to get to the good part this century!"
After their fall from Heaven and Earth, Lilith and Lucifer began working on making their prison more comfortable. As others, like the Sins and the Ars Goetia, slowly filled Hell, as they newly appointed King and Queen, they held a party. And someone new arrived to them. She was lovely, yet she was no former angel. Her power left everyone speechless. Her name was Roo. She welcomed everyone, but especially the new King. She had seen it all, and she had to thank him for letting her be born. She was evil personified and she had a proposition. She could help them get revenge upon eveyone who had forsaken them. And while some saw this as a great opportunity, Lucifer refused.
"Fighting Heaven will bring us nothing! I prefer to make the best of this here, were I have my freedom, despite being in my own prison. Let them deal with it all, I thank you for the consideration, but it would be foolish for us to go to war when we know we will lose."
Roo smiled, she tried again to entice him, but he wouldn't move. His powers, which he knew she craved, he would not give her. Roo bid them farewell, making sure they knew she could be found at the deepest part, where the river of souls ran, if they ever changed their minds.
She returned to her domain, deep into Hell, to the parts that no one had ever ventured to. She stood now in her home, a castle of darkness that towered over everything. She climbed until she came to her work room, on its center a stone basin filled with a clear swirling liquid. From it she could see the present, past and future. She had used this to her advantage to make sure her influence had sparked the first sin of man. The free will of the humans meant that she now was present up on Earth, but it also crippled her once vast power. Her future vision would never be as it once was, nor could she force the fallen who now ruled Hell to make her biding. She needed more if she was to wreck havoc as she was promised, gazing into the hazy future in which she ruled it all. She could be patient, someday she would have her revenge.
| Line break |
Alastor the Radio Demon could tell that he was utterly fucked, and he could count on one hand his whole life's (and afterlife's) regrets. Babysitting an overexcited and touchy princess and her entourage was something he deeply regretted, as he watched Vaggie run around trying to film the Hotel an annoying television commercial. He honestly thought his own was pretty favorable, but the Princess thought otherwise. As she went to her meeting, her girlfriend now scrambled to put something together with no experience. He could let her keep on trying, ultimately failing but he needed to keep the Princess as happy as possible, and this was something he would have to endure.
After all of that work only for the commercial to be cut off to the news that Heaven was going to come back earlier? He knew his boss was laughing at him. The next few months brought little change.
After this, he saw Charlie welcome in another patron, Sir Pentious had tried to be a thorn at Alastor's side, but like the television demon he took orders from, neither could actually cause any harm; like a toy knife, both were only mildly threatening in appearance. His meeting with the Overlords helped him be closer to his end goal. The months flew by, and still, nothing was going the Princess' way, and she was forced to call her father.
And Lucifer Morningstar ended up coming. To HIS HOTEL. The former Angel went so far as to compare him to a bellhop and Alastor was so close to unleashing everything on the pompous asshole. Thankfully, he managed to take his anger out on the loan sharks Mimzy brought, but he still had to dismiss her, more forcefully than he would have if he hadn't already been so on edge. He was fuming by the end of the day, not only had he been humiliated by Lucifer, Husk knew of him being on a leash, and Heaven would soon come.
He unleashed his anger once in his room, thankful for the small mercy that his room opened into his own private bayou and no one would be aware of his (frankly childish) tantrum, and suddenly he felt it in the sudden stillness of the air, and deep among the trees, the one who owned his sould appeared.
Roo was not that taller than Charlie, yet the front was just to spite him. he knew, seeing he still towered over her but she held all the power to bring him to his knees, like she did now.
"Alastor, sweetheart! Interesting day?" She sat on a tree stump that formed into a throne. Alastor hated every minute of it but he obediently knelt by her feet, levelling her with his worst glare.
"Roo, you said he wouldn't leave his isolated hole." She laughed and smiled almost as wide as him.
"I said he wouldn't come out without proper reason, Charlotte finally reaching out to him I guess gave him the strength to try for the first time in years." She was looking at her nails, utterly unbothered by this. Her ability to see aspects of the future irked him when she kept information like this from him.
"The fucking Devil will unravel everything I have worked for here." He seethed but Roo just laughed, a shrill sound that hurt his sensitive ears.
"Oh, Al, don't be so pessimistic, darling. I need you to trust me." She reached out to take his face in her hand, squishing as he growled, static becoming more prominent around him. "This is needed, taking out that pompous asshole up in Heaven will leave my darling Lilith in the perfect spot to worm her way in, you have to trust me."
"Charlie will draw a target on her back if she goes to Heaven, and it will lead the Hotel to be in danger." All his hard work, gone if Adam himself lead the charge to the Hotel.
"Well, that's why you are here, correct? Al, trust me, everything is going according to plan. Make sure to use our little golden ticket to make a deal with the Princess, I will need her to complete my plan." He avoided yelping in pain as she dug her fingers into his face, her other hand making sure to spread his smile wider, to the point it hurt more than usual. Her tone grew dark, and suddenly Alastor could feel the chain around his neck tighten as her voice echoed everywhere in the bayou. "And don't lose your temper with Lucifer again, I don't have the time to get another puppet if he decides to smite you."
With that, she threw him to the floor and as soon as his head had stopped spinning, he looked up to find her gone.
#my writing#fic idea vault#vd's fics#fic idea vault 17#Hercules AU#hazbin hotel#radioapple#appleradio#duckiedeer#hazbin alastor#hazbin lucifer#lucifer morningstar#alastor the radio demon#charlie morningstar#angel dust#vaggie#hazbin husk#hazbin nifty
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CHAPTER ONE - WHAT I HAVE TO DO.
a/n: hey y'all! so, I tried to post this in response to the anon who asked for a snippet but I saved it as a draft and Tumblr ate it😭 SO THIS IS DEDICATED TO YOU, ANON, WHOEVER YOU ARE!! sorry babes!💔💖💖💖💖
its been a minute since I've written anything fully, this was fun!!! as always, please ignore any grammar/syntax/spelling. I proof read it but you feel me. I'm super excited to be writing something so long and multi chaptered and definitely out of my comfort zone! am I an action girly now? LMFAO but anyway, I'm super open to any feedback and 👀 as always, if you wanna see sum, say sum.
anyway, I love my science gays and I will stan shuriri forever. this is pretty much all angst at this point❤️🩹, but I truly hope you enjoy LMFAOOO. lmk how you feel.💗 (and yes, I love a good flashback real bad and ima do it every time if I can. not too much on me LMFAO)
✮ taglist: @mybonafidefeelings@zeezeecave@gr00vyminibus@lppriceisright@darkangelchronicles@princessmel-1995@xenaizogie@nanii2x, and tagging a few folks that enjoyed the sneak peak and a few shuriri/shuri/riri folks who might! @karimwillia @inmyheadimobsessed@mal-urameshi@somethingcleaverandwhitty@imjusthere2readbruv@imagineandwrite there's more but my computer glitching so we gonna get this show on the road! lmk if you'd like to join the taglist or check the link in my tagged post! love y'all, muah
✮ word count: 11,193
✮ panther divider: @firefly-graphics
✮ some of the xhosa translations are from @iinkonde! here's where you can find some of their amazing resources:
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Shuri paced the room that seemed to be growing smaller by the millisecond around her, searching for something - anything - inside of the brain most people considered the smartest in the universe to offer the scientist in front of her. She found nothing but the desperation she had been pushing down since the moment they met.
A desperation that mirrored the effects of the herb she had reproduced, also made from the desperation to save something that she felt was slipping through her fingers at the time. Just like the herb had found its way through her body when she first took it, this feeling spread from her throat as she choked when their eyes met as she pushed herself into the dorm room she was once again standing in. Down to her chest, pulling heart strings she didn’t know she had. Plucking them in a rhythm that felt intrinsic, ancestral, almost painful in the way that they made everything feel superimposed. She resisted, but she felt her toes and she felt her finger tips and she felt the curls framing her face dance above her eyes ever so gently. It spread through every atom that comprised the panther and she could barely breathe. She felt everything and she felt nothing, like she was sinking in an ocean of clouds. She could barely look at the woman who was staring back at her with a look of confusion, and an equal desperation that she couldn't explain.
Shuri still had nothing to offer in terms of speech. She paced at a speed that had only just registered as super fucking fast, clearly adding to the concern building in Riri's eyes.
"Shuri-" Riri started, but couldn't even try to finish as her voice had triggered the awaiting and building eruption in Shuri that it always did. Riri, if she did anything to Shuri, she made her feel things she wasn't used to feeling.
"Anything you want, just name it. It's yours. I'll make it happen. I'll build it myself. Just please don't do this. Please." Shuri froze in her place, finding herself begging for something she couldn't explain. She knew she was almost yelling at the other woman, which she would never do but she couldn't find the part of her that could compose herself. She was thankful for the kimoyo beads she had scattered in the room when she entered, enabling a silencing mode and cutting through anything that the government had tapped in Riri's room.
Riri froze too, only moving to fumble with her fingers nervously. She didn't have anything to offer the panther, the queen standing in front of her. She didn't have anything to comfort her friend. The woman she loved more than she could explain. More than almost anything.
"I don't... I don't want anything from you, Shuri... We both knew this day was coming. You had to have thought about it. I thought you were.. I don’t know... It almost felt like-"
"Please, Ri. Please. Just find something and I'll do it. I'll make it myself if I have to. Please just find something else."
"I don't want... I don't understand, Shuri. We only talked about this like twice, I didn't even think you cared that much or even had time to care about it... or me, really. Just... lets just sit down for a second." Riri tried to redirect, trying to give herself time to figure out what was going on. She felt her mind trying to run back through memories and conversations the two had shared in the past year and some change, but it was few and far between that they ever really had time to talk about their lives in depth lately. At first, they talked a lot after they had finally reconnected. They had even spent a few nights together. But lately, Shuri had been working a lot and it seemed like their connection was running dry. Riri had shared her plans a few months ago and hadn't really heard much back from the woman standing in front of her looking like she was fighting a battle she wasn't sure she'd win. Riri had committed herself to this, to showing up and doing what she felt she needed to do to make up for all the ruin she had caused - or at least what she thinks she caused. And now Shuri was trying to offer her a chance out of it. She didn't know what to do or what to think. That's something she felt often with the panther, she figured out. She had zoned out for only a split second before Shuri was grabbing her wrists and looking in her eyes.
"Riri, I'm begging you." Shuri stared into the Iron Heart's eyes, searching for something she knew she was missing. Something she needed the way she needed air, she felt. Riri searched back, trying to decipher something Shuri wasn't ready to let her see.
"Shuri, you know I feel responsible... But, I just.. I don't understand what's going on. What's wrong? Please just talk to me. It's okay." Riri tried to pull them closer, tried to grab the Panther's hand but her grip was too tight around her wrists. Shuri relaxed it, she hadn't intentionally been holding on so tight but she wasn't ready to let go. She's never been ready to let go of who she loves. She saw that same resolute look in Riri's eyes that was always there when she was sure about something. It broke something in Shuri that she knew she couldn't mend on her own. One final try, she told herself.
"I will give you anything under the sun. Please just don't go to them. Don’t go to him. I- I know you're trying to help and change things for the better, and you will. But not like this. Not until it's safe. He will find you, Riri. He will do anything to get to you and to get back at me. You know this and you still choose to go? You don’t have to make this easy for him. We can figure this out a different way. Please. I will give you access to all the technology Wakanda has to offer, just please find something else to focus on, to take place of this. Please."
Riri tried to pull her closer again but the panther moved back, sending a shiver of rejection up Riri's spine.
"I don't want anything from you, Shuri... I just want you. I- I mean I just want you to-"
Shuri felt her body getting hot and somehow freezing at the same time. Riri just wanted her? But she also wanted to go on this suicide mission, which is what it was regardless of what Riri thought of it. She fought back the defensiveness she felt crawling up her throat like it always did when she was hurt. She didn't want to lash out on Riri, she only wanted to protect her. She only wanted her to be safe, alive. She only wanted her. But it was to no avail. She felt the ferocious beast pull itself through her. She scorned herself as her words burned their way through her skin, landing on Riri's.
"You just want whatever you want. You just want to fight whatever moral war you have going on because you're the one who survived! You would give up your life for what? For who? Not for my mother! Not for me!"
Riri hadn't noticed the tears stinging down her cheeks until she saw the ones pouring out of Shuri's. It was something she had never seen before. She had seen Shuri lash out, though. She knew this was just the first wall of defense the panther had when she felt hurt, afraid, abandoned. She couldn't take this personally, though she had to fight back the sting of the words as they came at her. She reached out to try and touch the woman in front of her.
"Shuri, please. Let's just ta-"
"What?! Sit and talk? For what? For you to tell me again why you have to do this, why you have to go and die? Do you care so little for me? For yourself?"
"You know that's not true!"
"Why wouldn't it be true?! Ungayenza njani le nto kum!?"
"Please just listen to me! I don't know what's going on but we can talk about it! I'm right here, I'm right here!"
"But you won't be after this! You don't have to do this! Just let me try, let me show you that there's other things to give you purpose, there’s other ways we can handle this! PLEASE!" Shuri felt herself starting to cave in, her chest becoming a cavern filled with the screams of the orphaned girl inside of her. The girl who needed her family. The girl who couldn't save her brother. The girl who was held back from her mother as she drowned. The woman who loves women, specifically the woman in front of her who was planning to give herself up. She couldn't keep it together. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think.
"That's not for you to decide, Shuri!" Riri shot back, starting to feel the same layer of armor pull itself over her. She didn't like being yelled at. It triggered something in her that she herself had pushed back as far as it would go. She just needed to get Shuri to listen to her.
"I don't care! You can't do this Riri!"
"Please stop yelling at me!" Riri gave in, covering her ears and turning her back to the panther, who felt herself go still. She hadn't meant to unleash this part of herself. She felt embarrassment mixing with her desperation, afraid she had only made things worse. Who was she to be trying to control the actions of a woman she only met a little over a year ago? Who she was just friends with, and barely that if you based it off what normal friendships looked like. They rarely even spoke for longer than a few minutes every couple days and that wasn’t even true anymore. Shuri scorned herself for the time she hadn’t spent with her, for the time she had been forced to spend trying to fix, defend or save her country. She resented her royal blood now more than ever, wishing she could be nothing more than a girl again. Maybe a student. Maybe just different. Shuri felt herself starting to crack, she felt like she would disintegrate if she stood there any longer. She had done enough damage. She and Wakanda and the Talokan had put Riri through enough and she knew that. She could see why Riri would think this guilt was hers to bare but Shuri knew better, knew more secrets. She knew that her father and his father and so on hadn’t handled things right, and no matter the good T’Challa had tried to do - maybe he didn’t do it right either. So now it laid in her hands, forced once again to stand in the way of something she wasn’t ready for. She felt bad for herself, but she felt worse for Riri. She wishes she had never sent her home with the beads, that they had never touched hands, that they had never even met. Maybe if no one ever knew about Vibranium, no one would be trying to take it. Or maybe if the world had always known, if her ancestors had done things differently, this wouldn’t be Riri’s life. She was part of the lost tribe, as N’Jadaka would call it. Maybe he was right. She didn’t know what to think, but she also knew who she was, herself. She was the most powerful person on the surface world and she was the Queen of the most powerful nation in the world. And she was in love, helplessly, with Riri Williams. She would not let her go again.
"I am sorry for coming here and making you upset." Shuri said blankly, masking any emotions she had just shattered into the room as best as she could to regain any self control she had left.
Riri turned around, tears still swelling in her eyes. She hiccuped and it made Shuri's heart pound.
"I-it's okay. I just don't like b-being yelled at. Can we just sit and talk?"
Shuri nodded, knowing Riri needed a minute. Riri turned to grab a blanket off her bed to wrap herself in as she took a seat on the floor in front of her bed. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before motioning to Shuri to sit next to her. Shuri stared at her for a moment too long, before kneeling down next to her. They sat in silence that wasn't comfortable for the first time in a long time. Neither missed this feeling, the feeling of such uncertainty between them. Sure, it was always there, biting at the backs of their minds and hearts. But they had both worked hard to be comfortable with just having what they had. But now more than ever, neither was sure what was really going on. Shuri mirrored Riri, taking a few deep breaths. Riri felt herself relax, misreading the quiet sigh Shuri let out.
"Are we okay? I don't want us to fight. I just... need you to help me understand why you're so upset. It didn't seem like you even really cared about this. I know you've been busy with what you have going on so I just figured this... I.. wasn't really on your radar anymore."
Shuri stayed silent, fighting that feeling nudging her.
"Please say something." Riri pleaded quietly after a few too many more moments of silence. She couldn't stand it. Neither could Shuri. She needed to escape. Get out of the room, out of America. She needed to run and scream and break something. She needed to kill Namor. That was her only option, once again. She knew it would come. She knew the fate of her country would be in the air again, and part of her knew she shouldn’t do it. Equal parts yes and no. Blood on either hand, regardless of what choice she made. But she also knew that Riri's life was once again in question and there was only one answer Shuri would accept. She would deal with the aftermath the same way she had been. She would accept whatever came. She knew she wasn't thinking clearly, that maybe she would be exiled or worse, but she also knew she couldn't live with herself if Riri wasn't alive tomorrow, and that was enough for her right now. If Riri wouldn't listen, then there was only one choice.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you, Riri. It won't ever happen again."
Riri was startled at the sincerity in the Panther's voice. She was confused why that was what Shuri felt she had to focus on in the midst of whatever the hell was going on.
"It's okay, I promise. I'm not mad at you for yelling at me. I'm just confused..."
"It's not okay. This, whatever you're planning, whatever he's planning... None of this is okay." Shuri said, pinching between her eyes as she tried to swallow the same beast from just a few minutes ago.
"Shuri... it's not like before. It's not about him. It's not even just about what happened in Wakanda. You know I'm Iron Heart. You knew I was going to start doing these things at some point. Missions that weren’t just flying around Chicago and Boston stopping robberies. And you know that something has to be done. And I can’t let this go on again when we all know it’s my fault.” Riri sighed. “We all know it is. So, please just try to hear me..."
"I have always heard you, Riri."
Riri digested that sentence with a gulp. She replied after a moment.
"Then let me hear you, for once. Tell me why you're here. Tell me why you're reacting like this. Tell me who you are and what you're feeling. Let me in, Shuri." She said, reaching out to grab Shuri's hand again. The Panther's hand was hot, almost burning. She didn't pull away this time.
"I'm here because I lo-.. Because I won't let this happen." Shuri caught herself before she said something she couldn't explain. Riri looked into Shuri's eyes with a pleading, less sure look. Shuri couldn't hold it this time. She couldn't freeze. She couldn't tell Riri. She reminded herself what happens every time she loves someone. She reminded herself of what she was capable of and what needed to be done. Regardless if Riri ever shared her feelings or not, she would swear her life to protecting the woman until the day she met the ancestors and maybe after if she could. She would do whatever it took, every time, no matter what, she resigned to herself. She squeezed Riri's hand.
"What're you gonna do? Lock me in my room, Shuri? I don't get what's going on!" Riri pleaded.
"I would never. You are not a prisoner or someone I want to control. You are free to do as you please, just as I am. Please understand that much."
"What does that mean... Wait, please don't go!" Riri tugged back at Shuri's hand again as the Panther got up to leave. Shuri looked down at their hands touching, taking in every second that their skin touched. She remembered what it felt like to reconnect after a long time apart. She wishes she could live in it like she had before. She brought their foreheads together and closed her eyes.
"I will protect you with every part of me. The cost will never be too much."
"Shuri, please don't do what I think you're about to do..." Riri pulled Shuri's hands into hers and brought them to the sides of their faces. They were so close they could feel each other's breath on their lips. Riri prayed in her head that Shuri would listen to her, knowing the strength and power the woman in front of her wielded. Shuri choked out a pained laugh before kissing Riri's forehead and pulling away, taking in the scent of Ghanian Shea Butter and the sweet scent Riri always had.
"Andizukuphulukana nawe. Impilo yami ngeke ibe lutho ngaphandle kwakho, Riri Williams."
Before Riri could open her eyes, the Black Panther was gone, the sound of a closing door shaking Riri to her core. She felt like she was in shock, having nothing to do but curl into a ball and pull the blanket around her body, covering her face as she let the rest of the tears fall silently. She laid there for what felt like an eternity until she heard a familiar voice call out to her.
"Miss Williams?" Riri jumped up, running around her room tracking down the voice. She picked up a purple and black kimoyo bead and held it up, suddenly seeing several others connect like magnets from across the other corners of the room.
"Griot?!" Riri both yelled and whispered.
"Hello, Miss Williams. Are you feeling alright?" Griot asked as the AI began taking a scan of her body to check her vitals.
"I've been better... what's going on? Why are you here? Not that it's not nice to... well you get what I mean!"
"It seems you have suffered a panic attack of sorts. Please get some water and take a seat before I proceed."
Riri rolled her eyes with a tired huff, giving in because she knew Griot wouldn't budge until she obliged. She grabbed a half empty bottle of water from her desk and sat back down near her bed, pulling the blanket up around her. She suddenly felt the absence of Shuri in her space and fought back the tears threatening to make way through her as she pulled the bracelet on, watching it activate. She had felt this way before, but it was different now.
"Feeling better, Miss Williams?"
"Just Riri is fine, and I guess. Can you explain what's going on now, please Griot?"
"Yes, Miss Riri." Griot replied as a hologram of Stark Tech floated in front of the scientist. She felt even more confused.
"Why are you showing me Stark Tech?"
"The panther has created and assigned your own AI for you, it's name is VIV. It is nearly identical to the JARVIS, or Vision, that Tony Stark had. It has been being developed for over a year, and seems to have just finished."
"What the fu-"
"The Panther also has an updated version of your vibranium Iron Heart suit on it's way to your lab location, or garage currently. She has given you access to me as well, with some restrictions. She has instructed me to inform you of this when the AI download is complete."
Riri sat in even more shock than she was in before. She was even more confused about Shuri's intentions now. More confused about her feelings, than anything. She replayed the words the panther had said to her before she left, she knew some Xhosa but it wasn’t great.
"Can you translate what Shuri said to me in Xhosa before she left, Griot?" Riri asked, hoping for some clarity. Griot calculated for a moment, before answering.
"It would seem I am not permitted to complete that task at this time, Miss Riri."
Riri felt a pang of frustration rise in her, as she let out a laugh.
"Of course not... Can you tell me where the panther is right now?"
Griot took a moment again before answering.
"The Queen was on her way back towards Wakanda as of her last status, but it would seem she has powered off her location devices. Would you like me to contact her for you?"
Riri sat for a moment, considering her options and her own feelings.
"No, that's alright Griot. We're going to my lab. Can you help me boot up VIV when we get there? We're going on a trip."
"As you wish, Miss Riri."
Riri stood up, grabbing a hoodie and sliding on some J's. Before she walked out the door, she slid on the kimoyo beads and asked a final question.
"Oh, one last thing Griot. Can you turn on privacy mode? I would like my location hidden from everyone, including the Panther. Can you do that?"
"It seems I can, but I would not advise that action Miss Riri. There are safety protocols in place that the Panther can activate for you remotely."
"That's fine, just turn it on. I have my own safety protocols."
"As you wish, Miss Riri."
"Thank you, Griot."
Riri made her way to her garage in no time, paying no mind to the world around her or the messages on her phone from MJ about their project. When she got there, she did decide to shoot her a quick text explaining that she was heading home to Chicago for a family emergency, that MJ could find her portion already done on a small drive in her room and that she had permission to break in, and that she would make it up to her later. MJ did reply, but Riri didn’t have time for that. She got to work, with the help of Griot, or the portion of him that she was allowed to operate, and booted up her own AI and implemented it into her nano suit. The one from wakanda was on its way but wouldn’t be there in time. Thankfully, she didn’t have to meet with Namor for another day and a half. She needed to think quickly but after working everything out with her suit, she was unsure where to go from there.
“Griot, can I use both you and VIV?”
“Yes, but you likely will not need me once the AI is turned on. I will be there when you need me, though Miss Riri.”
“Thank you Griot.” Riri smiled to herself, always fond of Griot and their robot voice. It made her think about the time she spent in the lab with Shuri, where they would borderline argue and Riri would laugh at them. This brought back that pang in her stomach and chest. She got to work on turning on and engaging with the AI so that it could mold to her needs, voice and patterns. After about an hour, she felt ready to head off. Except she had no idea how to get to Wakanda, let alone how to get in. She ruffled through her bookbag to find the information Namor had sent for her. A small teal envelope with her name on it, looking like it was written with a quill and ink. She shuddered at the thought of how old this man was and how intentional he had been to get this note to her. She opened it and read over it again, hoping to find more information than last time. Then, an idea came to mind.
“Hey VIV, and Griot, not that I don’t think you can handle it by yourself VIV. But uh, can you both scan this for me? I don’t have my Black light. Look for anything and everything. Cross reference what you find, if anything. Please.”
“Yes IronHeart.” “Yes, Miss Riri.” They both answered in tandem. While they got to work, Riri sat down finally to think about what she could do. She couldn’t exactly call up the avengers to help her figure this out. She had to be lowkey, she had to be smart, and she needed it to work. She had only been to Wakanda once, and wasn’t really in the know about how to travel there let alone get through the border forcefield. As she went over all she did know, trying to remember any details that would help, the AI duo alerted her.
Griot speaking first, since VIV seemed to sense a deeper trust from the IronHeart’s patterns.
“There are markings on the back that would indicate a geolocation where Namor would like you to meet.”
“So, coordinates? I can work with that.” Riri said out loud, still trying to figure out exactly how she could work with that. Until she looked over at her father’s red car, in pristine condition thanks to Shuri. And it dawned on her.
“Griot, do you have contact information for anybody besides Shuri?”
“I have contact information for Queen Shuri, and Okoye, former general of the Dora Milage.”
“Perfect. Please contact her now.”
“Yes, Miss Riri.”
“Wait, before you do, please transfer this contact information over to VIV. I’m not sure if Shuri knows that I have VIV yet, but in case she does, I don’t doubt that she would shut you down.” Riri explains to her favorite robot as if they needed it. Griot complied and sent a call out to Okoye.
Riri waited, holding her breath. She wasn’t sure is Okoye would answer, or even be willing to help. But this is what she had to work with.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Okoye answered.
“Small girl. Is everything alright?” Okoye answered seeming cheerful enough to hear from the girl but not without worry for the cause. Riri took a deep breath and explained the situation, truthfully, to the best of her ability. Somehow, as a surprise to both of them, Okoye was on her way in a matter of minutes as a Midnight Angel, with a jet that Shuri had let her keep. They both knew Shuri would be upset, but somehow it didn’t matter enough to let her get to Namor. They both knew what could happen, and what Shuri would likely do.
No time was wasted when Okoye arrived, Riri running in the open hatch as fast as she could. Okoye pulled off without a trace, both of them hoping they hadn’t alerted any American law enforcement this time.
Okoye charted course for Wakanda and they both sat in near silence for most of the ride, only sharing a few words when Riri boarded, Riri showing Okoye the letter before she began piloting. They would make it in time. Riri sat near the back, not feeling like she belonged at the mantle of the machine. She had always liked these, having begged Shuri to teach her how to fly one before they set off for war. Riri sunk into her feelings that she had been trying to keep at bay since finding out about the AI. Before Shuri came, she honestly really wasn’t sure what she was going to do or how she was going to do it. But it seemed like the timing would suggest that she was supposed to, whether she really wanted to believe that or not. She didn’t want to believe that she was this horrible monster who brought death and destruction with her everywhere she went, but sometimes she really did. She tried to fight those thoughts back and began to feel the weight of her body, sinking into the seat. Sinking was a familiar feeling to her. She tried to remember how to swim in her own thoughts. She remembered how Shuri would talk her through her episodes. How she would call right away when she sensed anything off, even if Riri wasn’t wearing her beads. She remembered how it felt to think everything would be okay, and how often that was proved to be untrue.
It was too easy to remember. Too easy to feel like it was just yesterday. Riri couldn't keep her mind from wandering back in time while the Wakandan jet made its way through the air. Trying to focus on anything else, trying to pay attention to the Dora silently flying or guarding the exit, trying to watch the sky around her. Anything. She couldn't bite down hard enough on the inside of her cheek, leaving a sore mark wasn't enough to keep her mind from its current occupation.
"What are you doing here?!" The shorter of the two screamed, almost screeched as she ran into the panther's arms.
"I had some time to myself finally. Where else would I go?" Shuri chuckled as she picked the scientist up.
"You could literally go anywhere in the world and probably... out of the world? At this point with Wakandan tech." Riri explained, seriously, as she hung onto the slim but toned body holding her off the ground with ease, not realizing she was holding on as tight as she was. Not realizing there was nowhere else Shuri would have gone. Nowhere.
"You're so... anyway, what should we do?"
"How long do we have?" Riri asked as she pulled back, not even trying to contain her wide grin that was plastered across her face. Shuri recorded it to memory, as she always did with the smaller woman's features.
"96 hours. Well, 96-ish, less now that we've been standing here debating where I could've gone." Shuri jokes as she lets go, making sure Riri found her footing.
"Shut up! Four days?! We have so much to do!" Riri definitely screeched this time, pretending to slap Shuri's arm. Fighting the urge to grab it and pull her in, Shuri picks up Riri's book bag from where she dropped it and places it in her desk chair as she walks to the bed and pulls her own bag out from under the bed.
"Exactly how long have you been here? You seem comfortable." Riri jokes as she grabs two waters from her mini fridge and hops up on her bed.
"I am." Shuri chuckles at the sight of the shorter woman having to jump to get on the bed. "And since your first class."
"Are you serious?! Why didn't you say anything dickhead?!"
"Ouch!" Shuri feigns pain as she catches the pillow Riri throws at her head and plops on the bed next to her. "I had a few things to handle, and needed to secure the dorm building. I didn't want to disrupt your day, I know midterms are coming up no?"
"Yeah, they are but you could've let a bitch know! I would've cleaned!" Riri states, noticing that she sounds much like her mother.
"I like your mess." Shuri smiles.
"Shut up. How did you secure the whole dorm building?"
"Well, I hope you don't mind. I have beads in every corner of the building. And a few around campus as well. Including in here. Is that alright with you?"
"Sheesh. Do I have a choice?" Riri jokes, but Shuri nervously answers.
"Yes of course! If it's not comfortable for you, I can sleep at a hotel. I should've asked, I'm sorry about that. Next time I'll-"
"There's a next time too?"
"Well, if you'd li-"
"Are you crazy?! Of course! And yeah yeah, that's all fine with me. I get it. Don't start worrying about it or nun. I was just curious."
Shuri's smile returns and she relaxes back into the bed. It was oddly comfortable, being that the last time she was here was before the war. Sure, they'd been talking for months over facetimes and calls. And texts. And letters.. oddly, but not to them. They were both truly as desperate as they felt, but excused it since it seemed mutual - opting to call it a mutual interest in friendship, as opposed to what it really was in the bigger picture. And sure, they had seen each other one other time, but it was so brief that it shouldn't really count - although it did, to both of them.
Shuri had arrived at an American event in Boston, forced to show face by the elders after the uproar surrounding her mother and everything. She felt it was too soon and didn't make sense to attend a tech gala when none of it was even touching Wakandan tech. But regardless, she put on her best suit and went, disregarding the elder's request for her to wear traditional royal attire. She sat there, wishing she hadn't come, while big investors droned on. The only part that peaked her interest was listening to the stories of young inventors. They reminded her of herself, so excited and in a hurry. They reminded her of someone else too. Someone she had been longing to see since she left Wakanda only a few months ago at the time.
Shuri muddled around the thought of calling Riri, or just showing up at her dorm. She knew she had responsibilities to attend to the next afternoon after she returned home, and it really hadn't been that long. Maybe Riri wasn't ready to see her yet? Or maybe she never would be. Or maybe Shuri had really made their connection up in her own mind. Or maybe she didn't? And maybe she should just call her, or maybe send her a quick text to keep it more casual? Keep what, casual exactly? She wasn't sure. She paced around her own mind anxiously the entire night, not realizing it was her turn to speak until the Doras were next to her asking if she was alright. She collected herself and headed to the stage, performing a speech much like her brother had about the importance of innovation, supporting the youth - especially the Black and Brown youth, etc. She meant what she said but she hardly felt as connected or present with it as she was when she wrote it. Still circling her mind was her favorite innovator, the scientist who made everything make sense to her. Pining so badly, by the end of her speech she had resolved to call Riri. Faking her smiles through the eruption of clapping and handshakes as she left the stage, she made her way back to her seat while the closing speech began - only to lose her resolve when Ayo bent down to whisper a reminder of their exit plan and their intended arrival time back in Wakanda.
She had known it was a foolish thought. Who even knew what the small scientist would be doing at this time? She could be working, studying, partying. God, Shuri hoped not but recoiled at her own thoughts. She wasn't heteronormative and she wasn't the toxic type. She just also felt jealous of anybody and anything that got to be around Riri when she wasn't. Which was most times. Essentially all the time. Really, she reasoned with herself, she had only been around Riri for a few days and it had been against her will anyway. Maybe she really was making all of this up in her head.
The Queen of Wakanda continued her mental pace as she made her exit, later than most guests and certainly not from the front entrance. She walked through the beautiful building with the Doras who were talking amongst themselves about logistics, seemingly all having caught onto another one of Shuri's "moods". Shuri paid them no mind, as they expected, while she began brooding. What was the point of coming to America, aside from like... the actual point, politically - if not to see her scientist? She caught herself scoffing at "her scientist", making fun of herself in her head as they headed outside and around the back when the Doras suddenly stood alert around her. Shuri looked around her and back at her beads quickly, doing a quick scan of their surroundings, only to hear a small, out of breath "Hey" from her left.
"Williams?"
"Yeah, yeah.. haha. Hoo. Crazy catching you here." Riri joked awkwardly as she tried to catch her breath from clearing having run.
"Yes, well I was-"
"Giving a speech. I saw on tv. Just happened to be in the neighborhood myself so I figured I'd uh, say hi." Riri cut the Panther off as she caught her bearings and finally made eye contact. Shuri made contact back, silently signaling for the Dora to drop their guard. Ayo looked between them but of course followed command. Shuri stepped between them and closer to the scientist, who was now twiddling her fingers and looking anywhere but at Shuri. Just like she did in Wakanda. Just like Shuri had replayed in her head a billion times over. While Shuri took the absence of eye contact as a chance to damn near gawk at the smaller woman, Riri was doing her own mental laps.
She also questioned her intentions and if she had been making this all up. She also questioned how crazy she must look, showing up here like this. She couldn't stop herself, leaving MJ, Peter and Ned in her OWN room after they had been flipping through channels and Riri caught a glimpse. That was all it took, one, maybe two seconds and she was out the door. And granted, she kind of was in the neighborhood. If you consider being four miles away in the neighborhood. She had considered grabbing her car from the garage but figured it would take too long, so she jumped in her nano suit her and Peter had been working on (that definitely still needed some work), and flew over. Of course she couldn't land in front of everyone, so she landed in a park a few blocks away and took off on foot. None of which she will EVER tell anybody, although she could barely remember her excuse to the three friends she left in her dorm as she forced herself to look back up and meet Shuri's eyes.
"In the neighborhood?"
"You could say that." Riri joked awkwardly again.
This made Shuri laugh. Riri had that effect on her, she had learned during their late night lab sessions. Even in the midst of the grimmest of days and a literal war, Riri had Shuri laughing so hard she cried a few times. They both seemed to be thinking back while they laughed together and smiled at each other shyly until Ayo cleared her throat.
"We must get going, Kumkanikazi." Both women seemed to jump a bit, having been pulled out of their staring contest. Riri shuddered at hearing Shuri be called that, she recognized it from when Okoye would speak about Queen Ramonda. She had done her best to pick up on as much of the language as she could when she was there, for some reason unknown to her - she just figured it would come in handy. But now, hearing it and knowing it meant Queen, shook her to her core. She remembered why she hadn't reached out, the guilt that sat in her bones about it. She nearly turned on her heels until she heard Shuri speak.
"One moment please."
"My Queen, we really must-" Ayo begun speaking in Xhosa but was cut off by the Panther Queen.
"Please. One moment." Shuri said, a command but almost begging, not turning to face the general one step to the side of her. She pulled at the necklace around her neck and Ayo nodded silently.
"I will ready the jet." Ayo answered and turned around, her and the two other Dora briskly walking to the jet that was just now coming into Riri's focus. She assumed it was using the new camouflage tech she had heard mentioned before she left Wakanda.
"Those things get cooler every time."
"Yeah, I suppose they do." Shuri laughed half heartedly. They both tried to speak but cut each other off.
"So-"
"I do-"
"You first." They both sheepishly smiled as they spoke in unison. but Riri insisted. "Go ahead, please."
Shuri would've resisted if she wasn't so desperate and struggling against showing it.
"How have you been? I've mis- I've been wondering. We haven't spoken since you left." Shuri caught herself, suddenly feeling like twiddling her fingers and looking at her shoes too but she resisted that too. She was good at resisting.
"Oh.. well yeah. I've been. You know, school, work. Just been trying to get through the semester. I wanted to re- well I wondered how you've been too."
"I've been, too." Shuri shrugged with a smile. She wanted to know more, everything. To devour the stories Riri could tell her, even the most mundane. She wanted to know what pencils she used to write equations and what she thought of the food in her cafeteria. Riri just smiled, feeling the weight again. She knew Shuri hadn't been good, and she knew she hadn't either.
"Can I ask you-" They both spoke in unison again.
"You first." Riri insisted again, before Shuri could. Shuri didn't like it but she also didn't have much time to waste.
"Why didn't you reach out?" She asked, leaving Riri out of breath all over again. After a second that seemed like a million, Riri answered.
"I didn't know how." She said truthfully.
"I left you beads. Maybe I should've left a note too. I'm sorry, I figured you'd-"
"No, no. Not like that. I figured that out, it was actually pretty easy." Riri smiled, thinking about how much fun it was to try to get the beads to work. Fun until it wasn't. Fun until she heard Shuri's voice message and left it for months.
"Then you didn't want to?"
"No, I did. I just didn't know... how. I didn't know what to say, or how to say it. But trust me, I wanted to. I really wanted to." Riri said earnestly and more quiet than she intended. Shuri believed her and took her answer, even if she didn't like it. Again resisting herself. Resisting Riri.
"I understand. Thank you for letting me know. Well..." She looked back at the Jet and sighed. They made eye contact before Shuri decided it would be best to count her losses in her own country, turning to leave.
"Wait, I still have a question!" Riri almost shouted. "If that's okay... of course." She said more quiet. Shuri turned around eager to hear. Hoping. Resisting. But hoping. She nodded her head.
"Well..." Riri twisted her fingers around in her hands. She still didn't know what to say or how to say it. But she didn't have much time to waste.
"Well?" Shuri asked, trying not to sound pushy but anxious to know.
"Is it too late?" Riri asked, looking back up at the woman in front of her. The face she had committed to memory, but a bit different. More mature. Somehow even more beautiful. Shuri said nothing.
"...To reach out... To talk?" Riri finally drove it home, sending a silent prayer to whoever would answer that she wouldn't further embarrass herself.
Startling the both of them, Shuri's beads lit up and Ayo's face appeared.
"My apologies my Queen, but if we do not leave in the next three minutes, you may be late to your engagements tomorrow."
"Yes, thank you. I'm coming." Shuri said back, eyes still on Riri.
Riri felt defeated as she watched the panther tuck her beads back up her sleeve. It probably was too late. And who knows. Maybe it was the right thing to do to not stay in contact. Maybe that's what was best for Wakanda or Shuri. She remembered her mother always telling her that sometimes "doing the right thing feels like shit". In this case, she thought, it felt worse than shitty.
That was until Shuri grabbed her hand. Softly, almost too soft in comparison to what you'd expect from a super powered panther. It was so soft yet sent a shiver through Riri, like electricity was coursing through her. Like her heart was beating for the first time. The eye contact was somehow not as awkward as it was a second ago when they were standing a few feet apart. It was like they were all alone.
"Use the beads. If they need to charge, just set them in the sun but they shouldn't."
"Oh- Okay. I will. I will." Riri said twice, almost like she was confirming with herself first and the Shuri.
"Good." Shuri smiled. She took a step closer before she heard another beep on her own beads. Before the General could speak, Shuri was already responding.
"I heard you. I'm coming."
She looked at Riri again and sighed, and suddenly Riri saw just how exhausted the Panther really was. And maybe something else too. Shuri stepped back again, not wanting to let go of Riri's hand.
"It'll never be too late. I'll see you soon?" Shuri said, finally letting go and letting the physical distance regrow between them, hoping that the emotional distance wouldn't grow again too.
Riri watched as the panther walked back to the jet and boarded, looking back only once, only long enough to catch Riri's small wave but not return it. The younger scientist stood there feeling disassociated, unsure of what to do next. Really, she knew she had to go back to her dorm and go back to living her real life just like she had after she left Wakanda. Although, as dreary as that still seemed to her, this time felt different. Like there was something to look forward to, if she had the balls to actually use the beads like Shuri had said. She mulled over whether or not it was an instruction or a question from the Panther as she chose not to watch the jet fly off behind her. She heard the media start to buzz again when they heard the jet, upset that they had missed the person they were waiting for. Yet, Riri stood there and stared at the ground where Shuri was just standing. She still felt that pathetic feeling, and worried that she hadn't had a chance to explain how she found Shuri or even knew she would be there. She felt the weight of grief again, after seeing how tired Shuri looked when you really looked at her. And she felt guilty, for feeling excited. For feeling the butterflies she always pretended she didn't feel. She wondered, briefly, how Shuri was feeling right now but per usual, tried not to wonder too much as to not become delusional. She knew better than anybody that assuming to know how someone else thinks is the worst mistake you can make.
Shuri, back in the jet that was flying faster than she would like, was afflicted by similar thoughts. She wondered how Riri had found her and wondered if she really was as lucky as that just felt. She wondered why the girl even came. She wondered if she thinks about her too. She wondered if Riri would use the beads. She sat awake, replaying every moment of their time together since their first encounter over and over until they arrived in Wakanda, despite the Doras concerns for her not getting rest. Shuri would rest when things were well enough for her to rest, she told herself, but even she was starting to notice the cracks. She knew she could only stay awake for so many days until her body would shut down. She had secretly tried some of the elixirs and teas that both Nakia and Aneka had sent her, and she had read what Okoye sent her after hearing everything. She had slept every now and then, but it was never restful. It was never without torment from some figment of her mind taking shape of someone she wasn't ready to face - whether that be Namor, N'jdaka, or her mother. She always prayed for T'Challa to appear, who she wasn't sure if she was ready to see but longed for the comfort of his voice or face, but each time her body fell asleep, her mind fell into a well pit of despair.
That is, until later that night. Shuri had been through her daily responsibilities after making it back to Wakanda. Once her meetings were over, she made her way to the lab. She did her best to avoid checking the status of Riri's beads, trying to keep her mind busy as she usually did. It was harder this time, knowing that she'd actually spoken to the girl. After bopping around a bit, her body started to feel the weight of the past few days. She hadn't been physically training as much as she should've the past few weeks, because she knew it would knock her out but she was starting to feel stiff. She finally let up and sat down at one of her desks in a back room of the lab after Griot had let her know her vitals. She didn't usually sit in this room, so she hadn't been aware of what was placed in there. As she lazily sifted through the papers on the desk to try to keep her mind occupied, she saw blueprints for Riri's Iron Heart suit. The same feeling of nervousness and excitement rose in her as she more hurriedly looked over them. Despite all the work they did together, she never really got to see too much of Riri's initial process from scratch. She ran her slender fingers over Riri's pencil marks, reading over all her notes to herself.
With a yawn, Shuri sat back and relished in the fact that Riri actually existed. Sometimes, when Shuri was really out of it, she couldn't believe that everything really happened. She was sometimes convinced she would wake up and her mother would still be here, or that Riri was just a figment of her desperate imagination. Sure, having her mother back would be... well, everything. But it scared Shuri to think Riri might not have been real, that she didn't really happen. She felt selfish for this, knowing that Riri's life would probably be better without the trauma she endured in Wakanda. But nevertheless, Shuri held on tight to the memories she had of the woman, hoping that they would be enough for her.
She thought about how it felt to hold Riri's hand, to touch her skin again. It was just as soft and delicate as it had been when they parted ways a few months ago. Her face looked the same, maybe more mature in some ways. She looked tired too, underneath the face she put on for other people. They had gotten past that with each other during their long nights alone working together in the lab.
She thought about what it would feel like to fall asleep in Riri's bed. The mattress probably wasn't super comfortable but she remembers all the colorful pillows she has, messily strewn across the surface. The different colored blankets would probably fit them both well, even with the little space a twin bed supplies. They would have to be close, touching. Shuri imagined breathing in sync, feeling Riri's ribcage rise and fall in her arms while they were pressed against each other. She thought about how Riri smells. She's been trying to replicate it for months. She thought about breathing her in, laying her face in the crook of her neck and sleeping. Not thinking. Sleeping. Not even having to dream. She thought about waking up next to her, seeing her sleeping still until Shuri shifted too much by accident. Riri waking up and no doubt saying something funny. Or soft. Or just saying hello. How her eyes would look. She thought about not being afraid to make it real, that in her thoughts she didn't have to pretend that these touches were by accident or out of necessity. That they could spend an eternity, wrapped in colorful blankets, sleeping and touching skin to skin. That maybe Riri would feel the same, and they would laugh about how long it took to figure it out. That they would laugh until they couldn't, and talk until they couldn't, and then they would kiss. And everything would melt away, and neither would know where their skin would begin or end. And they would kiss until they couldn't. And they'd sleep.
She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep at the desk until she heard Griot's voice.
"Sorry to startle you, Panther. But, Miss Williams is trying to contact you. How would you like me to proceed?"
Shuri was shook, unsure of what she looked like or even what time it was. She felt nervous. She felt groggy, not even sure if this was real either. Nevertheless, she answered.
"Patch me through, please."
She waited a moment with bated breath, hoping this wasn't a dream or some fluke. Until she heard a familiar voice.
"Hello?" Riri asked, sounding nervous herself. Shuri wondered what time it was there, too.
"Hey." She said, in a more relaxed tone. Even if this wasn't real, it was still the best dream she'd had in months. Maybe ever.
And they talked, for a long time. Eventually working through any awkwardness. Riri never explained how she made it to the Panther, and the Panther never asked. She did explain, however, why it took so long for her to call. Shuri just listened and let herself laugh, like she'd been dreaming about. Finally feeling free for a little bit, even if it was just for a little bit.
On the other side of things, once Riri had cleared everyone out of her room when she got back and promising to explain to MJ later, she had sat down and thought about what to do. That turned into pacing and talking outloud. She had been avoiding the beads like the plague for months, unsure of what to do. Unsure of what choice would cause the least harm, since she already felt guilty for what she had caused. She found herself awake all night feeling anxious. She left for class that morning, deciding that she would get through her day and take a nap. She would figure it out after that. What she didn't tell Shuri, is how hard its been to sleep since she left Wakanda, or really even how hard it was while she was there. But when she tried to take a nap, she realized that all she dreamed about this time was Shuri and how soft her hand was when they had touched and how peaceful it felt to talk to her, even if only for a few moments and only a few words. She decided when she woke up that even if they ended up never talking again, she would keep her promise and use the beads.
And that's what she did. And that's what they kept doing, for weeks and months. They talked, they listened, they laughed, and on rare occasion, fell asleep. Both free from nightmares, even if just for a little while. Until Shuri finally arrived.
And finally, they had some time to really figure things out. Shuri promised she wasn't missing anything important by being there, and that she had allotted enough time. Riri was still unsure about it but couldn't resist the opportunity to finally see the woman she had been pining over for months - as a friend, of course.
As Riri remembered back fondly, she had forgotten what was ahead of her until she was jolted by turbulence that was usually well controlled by the Wakandan tech in the fighter jet. She couldn't process how she could possibly be on her way to confront the man that almost killed her and did actually kill the Queen of Wakanda. She couldn't fathom that she was racing there, against her love, her best friend, to make sure she didn't kill him first. Suddenly her clothes all felt too tight, and her suit felt heavy despite being nano. Suddenly the air felt hot and her lungs felt empty and she felt dizzy. She had felt all of this before, a panic attack. Riri Williams was no stranger to a panic attack. Not before Wakanda, and definitely not after. Though, for the past few months, she had always had Shuri to help ground her. Now, she was floating in the air, literally and figuratively. Everything was moving so fast. She felt herself spiraling and cursing herself in the process, unable to stop it but ashamed nonetheless. She had worked hard, since she was younger, to have a control over her emotions and thoughts. She needed to, especially if she was going to take this super hero shit serious. Especially if she was going to be there for her mom and sister after her dad passed. Especially if she was going to make it. But she felt that control slowly ripping itself to shreds, doing a number on all the mental blocks she had in place. She couldn't lose Shuri. She couldn't be the cause of another war in Wakanda. She couldn't live with the guilt. She couldn't let Shuri get hurt, or worse, for her again. Even if it meant confronting a man much more powerful than her. Even if it meant losing. Even if it meant drowning all over again.
Suddenly, she felt a cool hand grace the side of her cheek. She felt her suit dematerialize around her until it was just a bracelet again. She felt Okoye kneel down in front of her, eyes kinder than they usually were. She felt her pull her in close and squeeze. The pressure of the embrace bringing Riri back into her body. They stayed like that until Riri could breathe again.
She went to apologize as Okoye pulled back silently, just as she had appeared, but she was cut off.
"Aht aht. There is no need." Okoye softly but firmly let her know, sitting down next to her. They had never been this close before. Riri looked over to see the jet flying itself. The first time she saw that happen she was crazy nervous, but she's grown to trust both Wakandan tech and Okoye. After a few moments of silence, Okoye spoke again.
"I know what she means to you, you know."
Riri looked at her finally, noticing how somber her eyes really looked. She had seen those eyes before, but not like this. Okoye continued, looking back out the windows.
"I was T'Challa's right hand. I saw it all, from the beginning to the end. I saw him be the panther, I saw him be the king. I saw him be Shuri's brother." Riri felt a pang in her at the use of Shuri's name. She listened.
"And I saw him fall in love. I saw him devote himself to Nakia, and I saw her unravel at the loss of him - until she left. I saw it all, as much as I could. And I often wondered why I didn't feel the way they seemed to feel when my husband betrayed me and Wakanda. But their love... it was pure. It was something out of this world, it was something built into them." Okoye sighed, feeling grief in many directions. Riri found herself fighting back tears again until Okoye looked at her with different eyes, almost loving eyes this time.
"I have seen that kind of love before and that is how I know you have it. Both of you. And that is how I know we will figure this out." Okoye looked at her and squeezed her hand again, affirming what she said. They both heard the AI tell them they were approaching in the next 5 minutes. Through her tears that were now shamelessly falling down her face, Riri gulped out a question, in true Riri fashion.
"Do you think you will ever love like that?"
"I already do." Okoye said, getting up and adjusting herself to get back to the front of the plane to chart their secret entrance into Wakanda. Riri looked confused.
"Ngudade wethu." Okoye answered again, before sitting down and being who she needed to be. Riri knew what she said, and knew that she was right. About all of it.
As they prepared themselves, Riri suited up and made her way to the front of the plane.
"Where did he say to meet?" The midnight angel asked Riri. She sent the coordinates to the jet and looked at them wistfully. She hadn't really thought about where she might actually be going to "talk" to him when she was rushing to get herself to Wakanda. She jumped when Okoye gasped.
"What?! What is it?!" Worry filled her from head to toe again, hoping it had nothing to do with Shuri.
"That bastard... We are going to have to find a way to break into the palace. He wants to meet in the throne room."
Riri was speechless, knowing that this was a tactic to try to make her feel weak. She also couldn't deny that it was working. She felt her heart rate increase at the thought of being back in there. Of seeing the place where she almost died. Of... all of it. She had visited many times in her dreams, all against her will. And now she would face him there, against her will. She knew he was doing this to weaken her resolve, much like her and Shuri did with the dehydrating jet. She knew his intent all along, but this certainly solidified it.
Riri tried to make peace with dying in Wakanda. Once again, her mom wouldn't know where she was or how any of this happened. She wondered what lie they would tell her. She wondered if she would fight or just give herself to him. She wondered what Shuri would do, knowing this wouldn't end well no matter what she did. But she held her mind together as best as she could. She knew she had to meet him before she did. She knew she had to do what she could to prevent a second war. Okoye knew too, looking at her and then pulling up her own beads to try and locate Shuri.
"The Panther's location services are currently offline." The Ai spoke to them.
"Let us pray she is behind us and not ahead of us."
"Will she know where to find us?"
"We are about to break into the most secure place on the planet earth. I'm sure everyone will know where to find us in a matter of moments." Okoye answered and they shared a look.
"I hope you know, I will fight until the end with you. I have stood with the Wakandan throne my whole life. I have stood with Shuri and those that came before her. I have stood for the safety of my people as best as possible, but I have made my own mistakes before. I will stand with you, now, Riri. No matter the outcome."
Riri felt the pull of her tear ducts again but different this time. Okoye reminded her of her own sister, and of her own mistakes. She reached out a hand and found Okoye's. They held hands until it was time to land.
Once they had maneuvered their way into the country using Okoye's knowledge as former general and her new disguising tech, which Riri made a note to recreate if she made it out of this, Riri followed Okoye into the dense jungle around them.
"The best chance we have is to stay low until we can't anymore, and then charge in. The Doras won't see it coming but they will react, with their full might as they've been trained to do. Even to me. Our goal is not to harm any Wakandans, but we have to get to the throne room before he does. I will do my best to reason with Ayo and Aneka but they will resist a meeting with him there. Once we spot him, we must draw him away from the palace. Even if it means drawing him to the sea. Remember that he is most powerful near water."
Riri nods as she listens. Okoye wishes there were another way.
"Remember that if we see Shuri, we may already be too late. We must keep them separate. I do not know if she will choose peace a second time. Not when it concerns you."
"I don't want her to do this, I hope you know. You were right. You were right about it all. I love her. But I don't want her to risk everything for me. You all already have and I can't live with that. I can't live with any of this. I don't want to die but... But I can't let everyone else die for me either." Riri spits out, hoping she's being believed. She means it. Okoye looks at her and hears Nakia's voice in her head. "I just know his spirit. It is simple in that way for me."
"Ndiyawazi umoya wakho. I believe you. And I will fight to make sure no one has to die today, unfortunately even him if it means peace."
"Thank you."
"Thank you, small girl."
"For what?" Riri asked, genuinely surprised since most of the mayhem the past few months has been a result of her actions - intentional or not.
"For giving her something to hold onto again. Something to believe in." Okoye answered truthfully. Riri didn't know what to say but she took in what the older woman said, against trusting her. After a few moments of silence, it was time.
"Stand behind me and do not fly until I tell you. If you enter the air space anywhere near the palace, you will be shot down before you can count to one. Do you understand?" Riri nodded.
She did understand. Now, more clearly than ever.
🖤
#black sapphic#riri williams#Shuri Udaku#iron heart#black panther#black panther wakanda forever#black wlw#marvel#SHURIRI#SCIENCE GAYS#SORRY FOR THE ANGST BUT I HAD TO
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80s New York Art Scene AU for @steddiebang
Now on AO3
Written by me with art by @melonalemonade & @dreaminginpencil
Beta'd by @lihhelsing & Nevertheless
If Eddie had known that sharing his art studio with Robin would include her buddy Steve, he never would’ve offered it in the first place. There. He said it. If that makes him a bad friend, so be it.
Because Steve is around all the time. Pastel and prissy. Sculpted from marble, yet dressed like a Macy’s mannequin. Always hovering.
They got Robin’s potters wheel up the stairs last week, a three man effort he can still feel in his lower back, and now she’s fucking teaching him. Full on, arms wrapped around his waist, hands guiding hands. Someone grab him a bucket, ‘cause Eddie’s about to throw up.
He’s not even good at it. Steve can barely get the hump of clay centered on the wheel and he refuses to get stains on his clothes. It’s fucking clay. It comes out in the wash. Steve’s shirtless approach to pottery is borderline offensive to the arts.
More information under the cut:
The posting date is less than two weeks away and I'm beyond excited to start sharing this fic with you guys! I've been working on it since January and it's the longest thing I've ever written.
This story is absolutely drowning in 80s neo-expressionist art, graffiti and street art. Think Jean Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Everything about this fic is covered in paint <3
Posting Schedule:
Nov. 7: Prologue + Chapter 1 - "Takes One to Know One"
Nov. 10: Chapter 2 - "You've Done This Before"
Nov. 14: Chapter 3 - "The Boy From California"
Nov. 17: Chapter 4 - "A Regular Thing"
Nov. 21: Chapter 5 - "You Don't Have to Tell Me"
Content warnings for: Past abusive relationship, mentions of abuse during childhood, addiction, slighty toxic relationship, period typical homophobia and mentions of homophobic parents, mentioned death of a parent, explicit sex scenes with dom/sub undertones
I've got a little snippet for you here:
“Ta-dah,” Robin says with a big smile and an even bigger hand gesture.
She stretches her arms like a big reveal, which only highlights how small the studio is. Both of her hands almost touch a wall.
Eddie’s normally fucking proud of this space, but Steve’s presence is ruining it. It’s one of the reasons he hates rich people. The world always looks like shit through their eyes.
A crease forms between Steve’s eyebrows, an expression Eddie has seen him make several times in the thirty minutes he’s known the guy.
“This part is mine!” Robin says, sounding genuinely excited. She’s the only rich person Eddie respects.
He cleared out the room directly to the right of the entrance for Robin. It’s slightly smaller than his own, but she agreed to it before she left to spend all of June and July with her mother in California. She said it had better light anyway, which Eddie doesn’t give a fuck about.
There’s something twitchy about Steve’s movements. He baby birds his way across the space, like he doesn’t realize he has wings yet. Anxious, which, what the fuck? What did Eddie do to deserve that?
Steve’s nose scrunches like he smells something he disapproves of.
“I really don’t like this part of the city,” he says and he looks out the window like that proves his point. “Do you have to work here?”
Eddie bites the inside of his cheek. He promised Robin he’d play nice, but surely these are extenuating circumstances.
“We don’t all have daddy payin’ our bills,” he says with a pout and a lilt that borders on sexual. Just to piss him off. Just to make everyone uncomfortable.
Robin blinks a few times fast and shakes her head. Count that as a win.
“I don’t…” Steve stutters before collecting himself. “I just want Robin to have a nice place to work.”
“And I’d like a pony and a private jet, but we can’t all get what we want,” he says and he really should stop there.
But…
“Isn’t that right, pretty boy?”
He doesn’t even have to wink this time. A blush stretches all the way to Steve’s ears. His eyes deepen from shock to anger like a bruise turning dark purple on day three.
Yup. Worth it.
“Eddie, could you please just behave,” Robin groans. “We still have to get the rest of my stuff.”
“I can help you with that tomorrow,” Steve says, still flushed, but pretending like he isn’t. It’s a sweet offer until he turns to look Eddie up and down and adds: “So we can get out of here now.”
“That would be great.” Robin looks up at Steve. “I could really use a drink, you?”
There’s those puppy eyes again. Steve’s whole face lights up and he nods quickly.
“You coming, Eddie?” She wiggles her fingers at him. “First round on me?”
An offer to get drinks with his best friend and this random guy who makes him want to rip his own hair out? Fuck no. He has some sense of self preservation, thank you very much.
“I’m just gonna work on my painting for a bit.”
Robin rolls her eyes at him before pushing Steve back toward the front door.
“Go home on time, okay?” she yells over her shoulder. “The painting’s gonna be here in the morning.”
“Yeah, yeah…”
He waits by the door until he can no longer hear their footsteps on the stairs. Once he’s confident they’re gone, he grabs the sheet turned blanket from the crate behind his easel. He never bothers with pajamas, just unbuckles his overalls and lets the pants sag around his hips as he sinks into the couch. It’s easier that way. If Robin comes back he can just tell her he was taking a nap.
Sweatpants and a sleep shirt would be a dead ringer that sleeping here isn’t just a one off.
He’s been doing it since he got evicted in April, but what Robin doesn’t know won’t hurt her.
#steddiebang23#so so so thrilled#i will do so much infodumping about art in the chapter notes#cant wait!!!#I also think it's one of the best things I've ever written#I put so much time and energy into this#I've never edited something this much#and i think it really shows <3#cant wait for people to read it!!#if you like excessive descriptions of the painting proces#and also mommy issues#this is the fic for you!!!#steddie#steve harrington#eddie munson
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tagged by @emily-prentits THANK YOUU THIS LOOKS SO FUN
1. how many works do you have on ao3?
18!
2. what's your total ao3 word count?
141,974 words...which is a little embarassing considering jo, who tagged me, has 59 works and only about 30,000 more words. evidently i like my longfics.
3. what fandoms do you write for?
carmen sandiego 2019! 17 of those and one (1) original work that i dont mention in this post at all
4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?
the cardinal and the kitten - 325 kudos
say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime (let me lead you from your solitude) - 164 kudos (we call her the phantom au for short)
simple are the ways of love (simple as the touch of another's hands) - 156 kudos
Upon the Sword - 154 kudos
Everything is a Lie - 127 kudos
5. do you respond to comments?
Most of them yes!! I LOVE getting comments I screenshot and save every one I get.
6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
Hm- I guess it depends. Hellscape ends with Carmen's internal monologue just before she gets mind-wiped by VILE, but its technically no angstier than canon. they gave you life (and in return you gave them hell) is pretty angsty the whole way through and examines Carmen's trauma.
Those are both little one-shots, though- I usually end my reigns of terror within chapter fics pretty happily if I can manage it. The Phantom AU (linked above) ends in a dark place but leagues brighter than it seemed to be heading towards. It isn't a terribly neat and happy ending, and it tells a story of trauma and attempted suicide and the road to recovery from these. Let's go with that one.
7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
In Love Is A Locked Cell Door Chase Devineaux and Crackle happily start making out in a jail cell and live happily ever after!
Ok, being serious-
For a one-shot, simple (linked above) starts happy and ends happier.
For a chapter fic, Choice ends with Carmen, Julia, and Gray all living in a very happy polycule pardoned from the law with full emotional control of their lives which is fun :]
8. do you get hate on fics?
@emily-prentits used to leave passive aggressive comments on my wattpad and we would fight in the comments sections 💀now we're partners so make of that what you will. but anyway, no serious ones, no!
9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?
No, not really! I have a few "fade-to-blacks" or skip-overs without any detail. The one time I tried writing smut it was really forced and hard for me to write...doesn't help that I've never felt sexual attraction in my life so I don't know about that. Curse you asexuality for taking papertiger handcuff sex away from the world.
10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written?
No, I'm not a fan of crossovers
11. have you ever had a fic stolen?
I've had one or two...heavily referenced. Not in bad faith, but it was funny to see a lot of my plot and prose mannerisms reworded in a younger author's fic. I think they credited me as inspiration or gifted it to me both times so its not a big deal.
12. have you ever had a fic translated?
I have not!
13. have you ever co-written a fic before?
If FRANTIC FANFIC! counts, which it shouldn't lol. Also the polycule is working on something :3
14. what's your all time favourite ship?
15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
I have an au where paper star and black sheep escape VILE together and go through a sort of friends to lovers to enemies deal as carmen (renamed cardinal here due to never escaping in the boat the way she does in canon), though influenced by paper star at the start, eventually finds her inevitable path of good while paper star slips into a chaos that cardinal just can't stomach
ill paste a snippet here that i wrote but its a little bit long and complex and i dont have a ton of motivation for it
16. what are your writing strengths?
ABILITY TO MAKE READERS SUFFER
17. what are your writing weaknesses?
cohesive plot...lord help me i cannot plan a fic to the end before i post chapter 1 and it bites me in the ass all the time
18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?
if there's a small amount of it, i usually write it as-is in the other language and use external sources or context clues to explain it. if a lot of dialogue is in another language, I'll put it in brackets and write it in english!
19. first fandom you wrote for?
carmen sandiego. still going lmfao
20. favorite fic you've written?
that's really hard- i'm going to do top three in no particular order SORRY
Love, Carmen - this was the first or one of the first fics I ever wrote. it put me on the map a little bit (wattpad..) in terms of writing and boosted upon the sword and choice when they came along. it was really fun to just be young and writing after finishing all two released seasons of the show. i still like it a lot. its just cute and simple.
the phantom au - what a labor of love. i've had other fics (evil carlotta series, cough cough) that have been long and complex but those strayed into meandering and pointless and i lost a lot of motivation. phantom combined my love of theater with my favorite show and my hunger for angst angst angst. it was super fun to write and, at the risk of sounding vain, i pulled off a very hard to pull off trope at the end and i think i did it well. i think if you read any one of mine, this highlights a lot of my strengths.
the cardinal and the kitten - this is a popular one of mine that kind of serves as an updated love, carmen. i really enjoy how i wrote carmen and julia playing off of each other and my dialogue is very strong in this one.
okay, sorry about how long that was i treated it like a professional interview. i had a lot of fun writing this instead of working on a very important school project
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WIP Weekend
Weekly update:
Chapter XIII of Possession will drop later this weekend. Only two more chapters and the epilogue left to write now, and that separation anxiety is starting to hit! What's going on? I only started that fic yesterday, didn't I???
My RBB fics will post on 25 and 29 March, respectively. I'm just in the process of finishing up the second one and so excited to share them!!!
Meanwhile, in omegaverse, things are finally getting smutty.
Send me an emoji, and I'll write and share three sentences from that fic!
The two RBB fics are a bit of an exception, as I may only share spoiler-free bits, so you'll get a snippet of my choosing from any place within the fic.
🦇Possession
🔥Omega!Eddie
🐠 I'm just gonna swim (until you love me) [RBB fic 1]
☀️ RBB fic 2 [which I really ought to title soon]
Snippet from 🔥
CW: omegaverse, nsfw
He just fucking chirped at Steve fucking Harrington. Steve fucking Harrington, who just ate him out like a starving man would devour a delicious feast and who told him he tastes incredible.
Somebody shoot him now.
Steve's eyes go dark again.
“Don't do that,” he murmurs, voice strained and reluctant, but he has started crawling his way up and towards Eddie’s face, as if pulled by an invisible thread. Like he couldn’t stop himself if he tried. His scent crests over Eddie, earthy and warm and intense. Every morsel of self-restraint, every ounce of shame, shatters in its wake. Eddie doesn’t think he minds anymore. “Don’t make that noise at me.”
His hands cup Eddie’s face and he’s close now, so very close. Close enough for their noses to brush, close enough for Eddie to feel his breath on his lips. Close enough for Steve’s clothed cock to slot itself between his legs, big and hard and right, right, right where it belongs.
Eddie can’t think anymore, can’t talk, can just lie there and look up at that face, those eyes.
Taglist: @somegirlsomewhere
#steddie#steve x eddie#steve harrington x eddie munson#steddie brainrot#steddie fanfic#fanfiction writer#fanfiction#fanfic#my writing#wip ask game#wip weekend
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