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sailoryooons · 1 year

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Obsidian | One | myg (m)

☾ Pairing: Yoongi x f. reader

☾ Summary: You remember everything. The first time you radiated at garnet, feeling the power of the jewel rushing through you. Remember the energy pulsing at your command. And you certainly remember the face of the man who ruined your life. Then there’s Min Yoongi, the Chaotic who is the key to your revenge.

☾ Word Count: 10,012

☾ Genre: Urban fantasy, criminal/syndicate, strangers to lovers, angst, eventual smut

☾ Rating: 18+ Minors are strictly prohibited from engaging and reading this content. It contains explicit content and any minors discovered reading or engaging with this work will be blocked immediately.

☾ Warnings: Graphic depiction of death and body dismemberment, a lot of blood, Yoongi is brutally wounded/gutted, near-death experience, traumatic loss of parents, mention of suicide (not actual, but metaphorical), this is pretty blood and gory but not gratuitous? Death of a koi fish rip Agust the I.

☾ Published: April 22, 2023

☾ A/N: Don’t ask me to explain myself. I have no idea what I’m doing and my Aries moon is in full control of me and working me like a robot. This is a series or something I don’t know. I have no plans and no thoughts, just brain rot. Inspired by Jade City by Fonda Lee, the movie Colombiana, the movie Scarface and by my fuck it we ball attitude about writing what I want when I think of it. Also please note that the order of first and last names will be done in Western fashion in this, as this story does not exist anywhere real-world-adjacent and thus, will be first name > last name.❀ Disclaimer: All members of BTS are faces and name claims for this story. This is entirely a work of fiction and by no means is meant to be a projection, judgment or representation of real-life people. Any scenarios or representations of the people and places mentioned in works are not representative of real-life scenarios.

An emerald Radiant walks into the bar and makes a mess. It sounds like a punchline, but you never hear the end of the joke. Only the hook and the line. No sinker.

Before he arrives and messes everything up is important, though.

Market Town is a mess. Each side of the road has storefronts with open doors, neon and holographic signage blinking on and off with the shitty pulse from the electricity grid. In front of them on the side walks and spilling into the street are the stall vendors, ever-changing and ever-moving sales carts, tables, boxes and people hawking their wares, fruits and trinkets at the hundreds of people who writhe through the market.

It smells terrible. You keep to yourself, all the stink of bodies and rotting fruit and the sizzling fat of meat making your head dizzy no matter which way you navigate. Market Town stretches an entire district, street after street of stores and people and things and it feels like it never ends, the stench of humanity clinging to you like a second skin.

Water crashes down on a man selling lab-grade jewels to a wary-looking mother and daughter. They flinch away from the seller as he sputters and screams, soaked in sweat and whatever liquid has been tossed out an apartment window from above. He cranes his neck up to locate whoever tossed the water - or more likely, piss - out of the window, but he has hundreds of options to choose from from the apartment building that towers behind him. You grimace and step further into the middle of the street. Most of the apartments in Market Town have years worth of failing plumbing, and you have no desire to be showered with piss and shit.

It’s too early in the evening for the lights of the neon advertisements glittering in the air above your head to cast a blinding light on your eyes. Their glow is not yet painted on the surge of people coming and going, but you know by sundown Market Town will be a watercolor of holographic and neon advertisements courtesy of Roanoke Insurance, Jend Cosmetics, and Jura Jura Coffee: Best Brew In Diade.

At least Market Town has sensible advertisements. It isn’t the vibrant horror of naked figures bent over, or the bloody holograph of a man having his brains blown out. Crimson District has no shortage of unique and salacious advertising and the money its businesses generate make the lights and the glow much harder to ignore, even in the daylight. It’s part of why you prefer to scrounge around Market Town like a mangrove rat.

Well, and it’s what you can afford.

Namjoon’s work stall floats around Market Town. Usually, you can find him tucked between Margot’s fruit stand and Len’s divination table. Namjoon likes to nibble on Margot’s sweet strawberries in exchange for fixing the till on Margot’s stand, and Len is an okay stall neighbor when he isn’t so drunk that he’s trying to convince you that the end is near and the world will be swallowed in garnet and obsidian.

That sounds lovely, you always tell him.

Prepare for the end, Len always answers.

The sweet smell of tangerines reaches you through the sizzling smell of frying meat a few stalls over. It’s better than the rank stink of flowers wafting from a stall a few carts over, your head dizzy with the fragrance as you approach Namjoon, Margot and Len.

Margot’s fruit always smells better than any other food set out across tables and bins on the street. You’re pretty sure it has to do with the pretty, green citrine jewel that he keeps tucked away and out of sight and away from any wandering eyes.

You can’t blame him. Even though citrine isn’t high on the Jewel Caste, Market Town is primarily made up of Nulls. They certainly can’t radiate with jewels, but they sell them at a high price to those desperate enough to feel the power of a Radiant. Some even promise to sell jewels that make Radiants Caste Drop to a new, darker and more powerful color.

Only an untrained Radiant would think a Caste Drop is possible through a rock. It’s stupid, really. Anyone who wears or buys jewels openly in Market Town is asking to be robbed and gutted. You’ve even seen as light as a diamond caste get murdered here.

A kindly young man stands in front of Namjoon’s stand. It’s really just a wooden table with a bunch of trinkets, clocks with too many dials, little holographic action figures jumping into different poses, and other wares that run on technology or small engineering. Namjoon prides himself on being the best tinkerer, though you’re willing to bet he’s a lot smarter than that.

Namjoon himself isn’t much older than the man at his table, gesturing to a watch as Namjoon leans over it. Namjoon’s brown hair has grown long, shoved back by a black, cotton strip he has tied around his head to keep it out of the way. He’s dressed in a dirty shirt and canvas overalls, a little bit of grease on his arms. His glasses slide down his nose, lenses fogged with the humidity that collects in Market Town and makes it rot.

A fly buzzes toward you from Margot’s stand. He has his back turned to you, placing little white pricing stickers on his green melons. He's a little portly and very short - especially when Namjoon stands and shakes his customer’s hand. Namjoon is taller than most people, and much broader, his shoulders wide and arms thick, suggesting that he did something else before he became a tinkerer in Market Town.

You don’t know what, though. You can sense the peridot he has hidden in the soles of his boots and the fingertips of his work gloves, giving him power to radiate as he works on his little devices and mending broken objects for people. But you’ve never asked.

Asking questions is the first step to murder in these parts.

When his customer leaves, Namjoon turns to you and blinks his brown eyes at you owlishly, magnetized by his prescription lenses. He’s handsome - a little too handsome by Market Town standards - and he smiles at you, a dimple popping up in his cheek.

“I finally fixed this device for you,” Namjoon says by way of greeting. He digs around in his overall pockets and produces a tiny, silver device that looks like a bullet. “The little battery inside was fried. I put in a new one and replaced the copper plating on the starter. Your wires were totally corroded and-”

“How much?” you ask, a little exasperated. Namjoon will go on forever if you let him, and you need to get to Montana. “I only asked for the battery to be looked at, Joon.”

“No cost. It was a fun little device to look at. Kind of dangerous, though, no?”

“You can’t not charge me. I told you to stop giving people their shit for free.”

His cheeks turn cherry as he scratches the back of his neck. “Fine, what about five nil?” You toss the coins on the table and he passes you the device. “It’s a mini shatterwave, right? The high-pitched frequency scatters the frequency of Radiants?”

You give him an annoyed look. “Yes.”

“Who made it? It’s a fascinating device.”

Instead of answering Namjoon’s question, you pocket the little bullet and toss another five nil on the table. “For silence,” you tell him firmly.

He wants to ask another question. You can see it in his face. Namjoon is always asking you questions about the things you bring to him and ask him for. It isn’t his job to ask questions, especially as freely as he asks them. But Namjoon operates like someone who has no idea that he’s tucked away in the most dangerous market in the Crown Cities.

Nothing Namjoon does is that of someone low born. He’s too polite, gives out too many handouts, and lets his curiosity get the best of him. Lets his clients become friends. You’re fond of him as much as someone of your position is allowed to be - maybe even a little more - but Namjoon is a danger to himself, no matter how often you keep steering him back in the right direction.

“You!” Len leans over Namjoon’s table, his glassy green eyes wide, pupils dilated. His hair is white as salt and sticks up in multiple directions, looking as though he may have been electrocuted and never recovered. He points one knobby finger at you. “The world will end in garnet and obsidian.”

“That sounds lovely, Len.”

You predict the next words. Have heard him say it dozens of times. “Obsidian.”

Len surprises you. That has yet to be a response in your little game of prophecy, and you open your mouth to indulge and ask him what he means when something tingles at the back of your neck.

You pause and glance to the side where Margot is dealing with a customer arguing about the price of squash. A soft breeze rustles the canvas topper to Margot’s stand, carrying the scent of tangerine with it. Something is buzzing at the back of your neck, and your gaze slowly drifts from Margot to a man passing by the cart.

This is someone who blends in. His clothes are plain: his pants are ripped at the knees and scuffed at the bottom, his white t-shirt clinging to his chest in places where he’s sweating through. He has a floral shirt pulled over, open and fluttering in the balmy breezy of the market.

Nothing about him is remarkable, except that he’s beautiful. Perhaps not on the first glance, but when you blink and focus, it feels like you’re seeing him for the first time. You have no idea how upon first glance you thought he could ever blend in.

He has a round face, glowing and pale like the moon. Inky hair that is a little bit dirty, a few wavy pieces falling over cat-sharp eyes. He smirks as he walks, and though he isn’t looking at you, he seems smug about something. You’re not sure what, but as he passes you, you feel that tingle again.

Your eyes dart to all of the places you look for jewels first. Hands, ears, neck, and wrists. Nothing, there’s no jewel on him. You can’t sense a frequency about him that makes sense - he doesn’t fit anywhere on the caste that makes sense to you, but it’s definitely a Radiant-adjacent sensation. He’s on the caste, but you don’t know where.

Most Radiants feel like a dull buzz. When they have jewels, it’s more like an itch that you want to scratch. There is always an attraction for a Radiant to use jewels, even if they don’t belong to them. This feeling isn’t that, it’s more invasive and sharp, not like anything you’ve felt from diamond caste to onyx caste.

When he gets a few yards away, the feeling begins to fade. You start to turn away but he tosses something up and the air and catches it. You narrow your eyes and he does it again, realizing he’s tossing a tangerine up and down.

A tangerine that he stole.

“Hey!” you bark at him, making several people turn in your direction, including Namjoon and Margot. The man doesn’t pause, tossing his tangerine in the air again. “Hey motherfucker! You have to pay for that tangerine!”

That catches his attention. He turns and looks at you over his shoulder, eyes round and mouth parted in surprise. A few people turn to look at where you’re shouting, but you mostly go ignored. Thieves are common here and most people don’t bother to yell at them anymore.

The man pauses for a moment. His gaze darts between you, Margot who is coming around his cart behind you with a knife, and the ripe little tangerine in his hand. He looks at you again, dark eyes glittering. For a second, the two of you are connected, strung together by an unlikely moment between strangers. Then he does the damndest thing: he grins.

And then he’s running down the street, floral shirt snapping in the wind as he dashes headfirst into the crowd.

Like the idiot you are, you take off after him. Suddenly, you are the number one security measure of Margot’s fruit stand, a man who has never given you a fucking discount in your life. You have no idea why you’re running after this tangerine thief, but you feel energy surge through you as you do, dodging people and bodies and things as you tear after him.

The tangerine thief is quick on his feet but you’re fast too, the emerald jewel hidden in your boot sending energy through you. You only radiate a little - not enough to draw too much attention, but enough to not lose sight of his red shirt flapping as he takes a corner and leaps over a stall.

He’s a Radiant, you realize. You suspected when you felt him walk behind you, but the ease at which he vaults a market stall much taller than him gives it away. He isn’t worried about hiding his status from you, which can mean a couple of things.

You don’t consider any of them, going around the stall instead of over. The emerald in your shoe is more than enough to send you several meters in the air, but you like to play your cards close. Don’t like to flash power unless you absolutely have to.

In a market full of Nulls, you prefer to blend in. Unjeweled is safer, especially in Market Town full of thieves and cut throats for naive or unsuspecting Radiants.

Just as you catch sight of your thief again, there’s a loud snap in the market. You look up, seeing a two story stall made from dry-rotted driftwood splinter. There’s a single second where you’re watching the top of the stall holding fresh rain water and it’s crashing down onto the market floor.

Screams ring out as alarmed market goers are startled by the sudden deluge. You just barely throw up a shield of concentrated energy. Water splits once it hits you, a river breaking around a boulder. Chaos ensues, the stall owner screaming her head off and wailing about the precious rainwater she collected to bless with her divine spiritual energy and sell, while shoppers and other stall owners alike are furious about their now soaking persons and wares.

Dropping your shield, you shoulder through the crowd. Now the smell of garbage is wet and pungent, clinging to bodies as you shove through the mess, looking for any sign of the pretty boy and his stolen tangerine.

It’s a mass of colors and people, lanes between stalls and the crowd opening and closing. The movement of Market Town flexes like a living thing, shifting and writhing, a hungry serpent sliding through the streets.

“Fuck,” you growl. It was a well placed distraction and perfect aim, using his power to snap the beam of the stand.

With a sigh, you look down at your watch and curse. You’re going to be late to work. Again. All because you chased down a thief for a fruit salesman that doesn’t even like you.

But that tingle. That sense of awareness that pricked the back of your neck, sharp and lethal. You think about it as you speed walk to the outskirts of Market Town where the edge of the Night Sphinx territory borders the loosely carved strip of streets that belong to the Green Dragons.

The lane of pockmarked pavement between the left and right sides of the street is the only place in Diade where two families of the Armory share such close property. Though the Salib and Park families are friendly enough, it still doesn’t do well to mix too much among Armory families outside of official business.

As soon as you hit the corner, you keep your eye on the other side of the street. It’s lined with clubs and bars and gambling dens that belong to the Night Sphinx organization. A few patrons loiter on the street, but it’s mostly members with sphinx tattoos, brooches or emblems stitched to their clothing to state their association.

The sun is sinking toward its final goodbye, rays of gold light cut in half by the towering buildings of Civ just a few miles away. It’s a beautiful sight, a shot straight down to the lower elevation of the giant buildings turned burnish gold by the sunset.

Even from a distance, the commercial district of the city is imposing, its steel teeth biting upward at a colored sky. You wonder what it must be like to live in that world. To work or live in one of the Civ towers. You imagine you’d have your own little office with a desk and a private window to look out at the world. So high up near the clouds, a god of civilization.

A group of Green Dragons pour out of the door of Montana and onto the sidewalk. It draws your attention away from the shining, ever-golden Civ to the flickering neon sign above a banged-up metal door. It looks like the lock is busted again and you make a note to tell Burro. Not that he’ll get it fixed. It’s not worth the nil to fix anything in Montana, including the mangrove rat infestation brought in by one of the liquor shipments from Blows.

Inside the bar is no better. Sticky floors, wobbling tables with chipped wood and scratched lacquer coating, a single bar with broken stools pulled up to the edge. There are a few holoscreens flickering above the colorful bottles that line the bar, sometimes interrupted by Jungkook’s tattooed hand reaching for bottles.

Montana is rarely busy. It’s a new acquisition fronted by the Green Dragons, though the building isn’t new and neither is the bar. It had been closed for almost fifteen years, a rotted hole of a used-to-be-bar until Jimin opened it up again. He doesn’t intend for it to be a popular place to drink as much as he needs it for Green Dragons operations, but he fixed it up a bit.

As you round the bar to throw your shit in the office, a mangrove rat scurries by your feet, making you screech and jump. Jungkook lifts his head, round eyes sweeping back and forth for danger, hands cocked and fists half-clenched. He catches sight of the rat scurrying into one of the holes in the side of the wall and scowls before nodding in greeting.

So maybe Jimin hadn’t fixed up the bar that much.

If Jungkook is irritated by your tardiness, he doesn’t say anything. You’re just as pleased as you are displeased to discover that Burro isn’t in the bar at all. You suspect he’s down the block wasted in the Green Garter. Instead of asking, you immediately get to helping Jungkook maintain the system behind the bar, which is mostly cleaning vigorously at all times to fight the grime that seems to inch up on the place every hour.

Working with Jungkook is your favorite. He’s a quiet kid with a guarded expression and soft eyes. You don’t ask him much about how he got here or why. Jimin seems to show him the same reverence as when he first found you, so it’s safe to assume that Jungkook is a stray like you.

Even without jewels, Jungkook is tall and broad, his arms thick and strong enough to lift kegs one-armed over his shoulder. You’ve seen him go from quiet and unassuming behind the bar to throwing a jeweled Radiant across the street. You know he has your back. Despite the fact that his eyes sometimes drift to where your emerald is hidden. It’s the only evidence that you have that he’s frequency sensitive, like you.

Jungkook’s energy vibrates somewhere on the light colors. Maybe jade or rose, it’s hard to place him because he wears no jewels.

The sound of some sporting event on the holoscreen buzzes behind you. The murmur of voices is soothing as you work, scrubbing a stain on the bartop you don’t remember being there yesterday. A quick sweep tells you that it’s the usual crowd this evening: Daro who is a smoky jewel sitting at a booth with Rollins and Gia, both emeralds; twins Rin and Maki sitting at the bar with their sharp, matching gazes vibrating at amethyst, and Bolero who doesn’t run with the Green Dragons but has become a regular, the only Null in the building.

Bolero signals for another drink, grey eyes following you. He’s dancer-thin and his face is sharp like a hawk, grey eyes even sharper. He’s always in a long, red trench coat no matter how boiling hot it is. You think you’re going to see him keel over and have a heatstroke one day, but he never does. Just strolls in, pushing his long, dark hair out of his face before sitting down wordlessly at the bar.

You pour him a whiskey neat and slide it over to him. He hums a thank you and turns his attention back to the screen flickering behind you. Bolero never talks, but you don’t mind him. The Radiants ignore him, though they hadn’t at first. You still see Rollins sporting a ropey scar on his hand from learning how much bullying Bolero would take.

Apparently, it was very little.

Most places would have had the Null killed and dragged out for the city sanitation to collect in their once-a-week pickups. To Radiants, anyone who doesn’t have power, who can’t radiate on the same frequency as a jewel, is beneath them. Powerless. Ant, meet boot.

Radiants, you’ve learned, are certainly powerful but not quite intelligent.

“Where’s the asshole?” you ask Jungkook as you close the dishwasher with your hip. Three hours in and no Burro in sight. Not that you’re complaining, but as the manager, he’s usually expected to be around in the event that someone important drops by for business.

Jungkook shrugs, dubious. “How should I know?”

“He can’t keep leaving you alone.”

“I’m not a kid.” You give him a look and his cheeks go pink. “I’m twenty-two, you know?”

“A child. A mere infant. Baby.”

“Ugh.”

“Anway,” you clarify, throwing a rag over your shoulder. “It’s not right. If someone comes in here for Green Dragons shit and Burro isn’t around, you’re gonna be fucked.”

“I can service them just fine.”

“Yeah? Where’s the stash?”

Jungkook smirks and leans against the bar. He’s dressed in dirty pants and a t-shirt he’s patched holes on several times already. His arms flex as he crosses them, cocking his head to the side. His hair is so much longer than it used to be - now it’s wavy and falling into his eyes, sticking to the sweaty skin of his forehead. You want to offer him a haircut, but you don’t want to baby him further.

“It’s in the grate underneath the desk in Burro’s office.”

“Great, and then they’ll flay you alive for not answering in their weird little code phrase.” Jungkook’s smirk falls off his face and you shake your head. “Exactly. Just because you know things doesn’t mean you know all of them, Jungkook.”

“Whatever.”

Jungkook pushes off of the counter and distracts himself by sullenly adjusting the bottles on the bar. You snort and turn back to trying to pry the sparking plug of the freezer out from the outlet to move power sources. Eventually, you feel Jungkook’s presence at your side, making you crane your neck up to look at him.

“So what is the code phrase?” he asks, pout prominent. You roll your eyes and straighten just as the door opens to the bar.

The door swings open with such force that it smacks the wall behind it, doorknob cracking. It draws the attention of the bar, everyone turning in their seats to see the man standing at the entrance. He’s mid-size with wild, blue hair and there’s a messy tattoo of a black cat on his arm. Your eyes narrow and the bar stills at the violent entrance of a Night Sphinx member in front of you, panting and staring directly at Bolero, the only person not looking at the door.

“Can I help you?” you ask, looking back and forth between them.

The Night Sphinx is angry and his energy snaps around him, a crackle in the air. You don’t have to sense the emeralds on him to know where he’s at on the Jewel Caste. He has a single ring on his finger and two modest earrings, not polished jewels but still emeralds all the same.

For a second, the man doesn’t say anything. He just stares at Bolero in a red rage, face purpling with the way he’s panting, fists clenched at his sides. You think he might just pass out, but then he’s pointing a finger at the Null sitting at your bar, sipping whiskey.

“You motherfucker!” His voice is garbled and slurred with liquor. “You fucked my wife!”

“Oh for jewels sake,” Maki grunts, turning away and sharing a roll of her eyes with her twin. “Take him outside and kick his ass then. He’s a Null.”

If being sold out by Maki bothers Bolero, he doesn’t show it. He simply sits there in his heavy trench coat, eyes fixed on the game on the holoscreen. This seems to enrage the man at the door even further. He ignores Maki’s advice and storms into the bar, gathering energy as he goes. The chairs and tables he walks by rattle and slide away from him, the pulse of energy flowing through him as he radiates disturbing them.

No one in the bar moves. Jungkook is transfixed and confused, eyes wide. The Green Dragons in the bar watch with mild interest. Bolero isn’t one of them, and the bar isn’t important enough to pick a fight with one of Salib's men over a Null.

But you’re not looking forward to the cleanup, and you don’t want to explain to Jimin how you did nothing while some Night Sphinx came in and fucked up a patron.

As your hand slides to the small, bullet-shaped device Namjoon fixed for you, Bolero moves. It’s almost too fast to follow the fluid way he stands and spins from the chair. His foot slips under the stool, using the toe of his boot to hook it behind the stool’s leg and he kicks.

The stool flies at the Radiant. He’s a little drunk and slow, but he’s still a Radiant and he reacts with enough clarity to pulse with the jewels on his hand and earrings once, sending a shield of energy around him. The stool shatters against the invisible wall, leaving the intruder unharmed.

Bolero is still fast for a Null though, already flipping a round table over to duck behind it as the Night Sphinx sends a green bolt of energy right at Bolero. It hits the table and singes it, cracking it in half. It’s loud as thunder, your yell going ignored as the two of them wreck the left side of the bar.

This is the ignorance of the Radiants. They don’t care about how destructive they are, storming into places and letting others take damage as they make demands and use force when they want.

Grabbing the scatterwave in your pocket. Bolero is dodging and waving blasts of energy from the man who chases him around the bar, blowing tables and chairs to bits. The other members of the Green Dragons have moved out of the warpath, collected near a booth on the far end of the bar, watching and jeering as Bolero doges a slice of concentrated energy that would have taken his head off.

“Fuckers,” you mutter.

Palming the device you press the top of the scatterwave. The device is small but it lets out a high-pitched sound when activated, sharp enough to disrupt frequencies within a small radius. Its target is the darker colors on the caste, its high frequency enough of a distraction and disruption for Radiants that it makes it harder to radiate.

The reaction is instantaneous. You feel nausea roll through your stomach and your world spins. It’s an earth-shattering noise, your ears vibrating with the force of the whistle. Your vision is blurry but you stumble toward where the two men are fighting, the Radiant bent over with his hands on his ears screaming from the force of the shatterwave.

Bolero is unaffected. He has no frequency to scatter and he takes the shot, leaping at the struggling Radiant with a snarl on his face.

“Not in here!” you screech. “He’s a Salib, you cannot kill him in Park territory. Go somewhere else! Bolero, please!”

Bolero looks at you once, grey eyes full of fire. He has the intruder by the shirt collar, fisted tight as the man continues to thrash against the sound of your device. You think for a split second that Bolero is going to drag him out of the bar and do what you ask. He turns to look at the door, considering it.

He decides not to. A knife appears in his hand and you yell as he stabs downward. You can’t hear the fleshy sound as Bolero sinks the blade in over the wailing of the device in your hand. He hits right between the ribs and up, a solid jab directly to the heart. The Radiant jerks in Bolero’s arms, his death twitch violent as he fists Bolero’s shirt, eyes wide, face aghast. Then he goes limp, sagging as a ragged breath leaves him.

No one moves. Bolero holds the dead man in his arms, panting and looking down at him. They are so close, Bolero’s face right over the man’s and if you didn’t know any better, you might think they were lovers. Bolero slowly crouches down, suddenly gentle as he lays the dead body on the ground, hands hovering over him.

You press the top of the shatterwave and it goes silent as it can with the high-pitched ring in your ears as you try to recover. You’re a little unsteady on your feet, pressing your hand against the bartop to keep your balance. A sharp pain behind your eyes signals an oncoming headache.

“What the fuck?” your voice sounds foreign and strained in the ringing quiet. “Are you fucking serious?”

Bolero rises, pulling the bloody knife with him. He wipes it on his pants and flips it in his fingers artfully. Familiar with blades, you note. He half turns to you and glances around the destroyed section of Monatna before he looks back at you and shrugs.

“Maybe you didn’t notice, but he was trying to kill me.”

“I don’t give a fuck. You kill people outside of this bar. You aren’t permitted to kill here.”

“Montana doesn’t protect its patrons?”

“Montana protects Green Dragons,” you clarify with a hiss.

You feel your fingers twitch. The familiar urge to radiate rises. It’s a natural instinct, to want to reach for the power that is right there on the edge of your mind all the time. You feel the emerald in your shoe. You imagine it beckons you, wiggling its fingers, begging to be used.

You ignore it, pointing a finger at Bolero. “You fucked up and you know it. What the fuck am I supposed to do with a dead Night Sphynix?”

“Tell the Salib’s he attacked first.”

“You’re a Null asshole, it doesn’t matter that he attacked you first. You’re not fucking one of us.”

Something passes over Bolero’s face when you say it. Offense, you think. It’s there and gone so fast that you think you imagine it. You only feel a little guilty that he thinks you mean not a Radiant. You really mean not one of the Green Dragons but it doesn’t matter, in the end.

He pulls his phone out. “My boss will pay for the damage and deal with the Salibs.”

“Unless your boss is Jimin fucking Park, that doesn’t really matter.”

Bolero holds the phone up to his ear. You watch as he smirks a bit, shrugging. “Nah, but don’t worry about it.”

“Oh I’m fucking worried about it,” you snarl. Jungkook is watching wordlessly, mouth parted slightly. “Call Jimin,” you bark at him, making him flinch. You immediately soften your voice. “Sorry, just - call Jimin.”

With a bow of his head, Jungkook grabs the phone and dials.

Jungkook starts murmuring quietly when Jimin - or an assistant, more like - answers the phone while you let yourself into the back and lock the backdoor for security before returning to the front. Bolero is sitting at the bar waiting, the dead Night Sphinx behind him. Red is beginning to pool around him, almost black against the dirty floor of the bar.

Heading to the door, you throw Gia a look. “Watch the bar,” you grunt. “Unlike you did when that fuck stick walked in here and ripped the place apart.”

She looks down her nose at you, eyes narrowed. Gia is terrifyingly beautiful, standing nearly a foot taller than you and built with wiry muscle. Her silky, black hair is braided out of her face, elegant and carved like one of the glass angels sold in the art district. Her eyes are the same color as her jewels, a stunning emerald that flashes in annoyance at your command.

Gia nods once instead of arguing. The other Green Dragons behind her have the decency to look ashamed. While they aren’t heavies dedicated to protecting the Park family assets, they are low-level lackeys who could have prevented half the bar from being blown to bits by a Radiant. Especially the two amethyst caste twins who look at the wall blankly realizing what's going to happen now.

Instead of stopping the Night Sphinx, they all stood there with drunk stares and half-tilted grins. Jimin won’t like it and they know it. It doesn’t matter that Montana isn’t an integral operation to the Green Dragons. It’s about pride and respect. The fact that a drunk, emerald caste man under the flag of the Salib family stumbled into Jimin’s bar, destroyed the place and then was killed by a Null is going to set Jimin off.

So you find a target to direct his anger at.

Burro is slouched down on a leather couch at the Green Garter, exactly where you expect him. He doesn’t see you coming, the scattered green and white lights from the stage refracting and splitting into dozens of beams shining in his eyes as he stares at the topless woman on stage. There’s hardly anyone in the club and only a few people look startled when you grab him by the collar and yank him from the booth.

Security at the door and near the strange straighten up. The girl on stage keeps moving, lithe movements carrying her away from where you lift Burro up, fingers digging into his shirt enough to rip. He smells like grain alcohol and sweat, the stubble on his face indicating that he may have slept in the club.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Come on,” you snarl at him, shooting daggers as one of the security guards steps in your direction. You let yourself radiate just a little, enough to give out a steady hum that even the lightest on the Jewel Caste can feel the sensation of an emerald jewel. He backs off immediately despite the fact that you can see and sense the amethyst pieces drilled into his pale knuckles.

But there are two things that stop him: emerald is close enough to amethyst that a good Radiant can fuck up someone who is only a little darker than them on the Caste, and you’re a Radiant under the protection of the Park family, specifically Jimin, who owns the club.

As much as it annoys the man whose job is to protect the dancers and the patrons, if you want to beat the shit out of Burro on the shitty green carpet in front of everyone, he has to allow it. You’re one of Jimin’s favorite little Radiants and everyone knows it, especially on this strip of road.

No one stops you as you drag Burro out of the bar. His feet slide on the stained carpet, trying to find purchase as he yanks at your hand, shouting obscenities at you with his reeking breath. Your grip is iron, and you throw him as hard as you can once you’re back onto the sidewalk. He hits the ground hard, shoulder cracking against the street.

Burro yells and rolls over, curling into himself. You fight the urge to kick him a few times, your wrath waiting like a coiled snake to strike out and punish him for being such a burden to deal with. You leave him in a fetal position, storming back into the bar to throw a couple of nill on the table for the drinks and a heavy sum more on the stage for the girl’s trouble. She winks at you, pretty enough to make you flush and spin on your heel to get back outside where Burro is still laying on the ground.

Most of the time, you don’t bother. Burro is technically your manager and your superior. He’s an asshole and a waste of the Green Dragon's salary, which is why Jimin stuck him behind the bar, a punishment as much as a favor to Burro’s father who is a mid-ranking heavy in the Park family’s retinue. It’s as good as his son is willing to get for an emerald caste who is lazy and spends most of his days gambling, ogling at naked bodies, or wasted in a booth with Rollins.

Even so, most days you let him yell at you. Throw curses your way. Drone about how shitty of a bartender you are - which is true - like a gnat that won’t leave. He’s harmless on good days, annoying on bad days, and he’s too afraid to retaliate in rare moments like this when you shove him into his ill-fitting role.

“Get up,” you spit at him. You have the urge to crush his fingers that are spread out on the sidewalk. You think the loud crunch beneath your boot might be satisfying. You don’t, though. “Bolero just killed a Night Sphinx in the bar.”

“Swhwat?”

You growl as he slurs, slowly pushing himself to his feet. You think he might have been handsome once. He has the making for it, but his days knocking back grain alcohol have weathered him. You see the early signs of Alloy addiction all over his face, scabs picked raw, leaving behind dark scarring, the track marks in his arms when he wears short sleeves.

Raucous noise reaches you from a group of Night Sphinxes watching your exchange. Their laughter and whistles echo across the street, backed by the loud hum of shitty neon and the now very bright and flickering holographic display ads spinning in windows. This is a nice show for them, you’re sure. Everyone on this edge of Market Town has seen Burro get his shit kicked, though usually not by you.

“Get up, you’re embarrassing yourself.” You start marching back to Montana. “You’re needed at the bar. You know, the place you manage.”

He mutters something behind you as he manages to get to his feet, tilted and tripping. You don’t catch what he says, eyes fixed on the sleek car that sits parked right in front of the door at Montana.

The road here isn’t really built for cars. It’s full of cracked faultlines and potholes, but Jimin has opted for a sharp-looking SUV with green LEDs running down the side and a little metal dragon on the grill. Not his personal car, but a business class that is no doubt reinforced with bulletproof windows and shatterwave tech.

There are four men standing around the car, dressed in pressed suits, each with a dragon brooch pinned to the front. They nod when you walk by and you keep your eyes low, feeling the different colors as you pass by: amethyst, sapphire, emerald. They have jewels drilled into their knuckles and some of their teeth, earrings of polished stone, and necklaces set with their respective caste colors.

Walking around with that much power is safe enough for them, but it makes your skin itch. Thinking of all that energy just waiting to be tapped into, waiting for them to radiate. The urge to reach for the power just a few feet away lessens as you walk inside of Montana.

Inside is a vision. Jimin’s loyal group of Green Dragons sit together in a booth, silent and heads down. Maki glances up for a split second as you come through the door, anger twitching on her face before she looks back down at the table in resolute silence, her curtain of black hair hiding her scowl.

Good. She could have used her fucking amethyst to wipe the now dead man from the map and not suffered a consequence under Jimin’s protection. And yet there you are, walking slowly toward the scene of the crime.

Jungkook is standing behind the bar chewing on his lip, hands linked behind his back as he watches the two men in front of him conversing. Bolero smokes a cigarette on the same stool he was on earlier, eyes fixated on the holo once again. The dead man is still very dead, Jimin’s men spread out around the bar to assess the damage.

Jimin is one of the two men speaking at the bar in front of Jungkook. Jimin’s dressed sharply in black dress pants and a matching black, tailored jacket with emerald buttons and a beautiful dragon broach set with emeralds and jade. His arms are crossed as he listens passively, dark hair slicked back. There’s a single dangling earring in one ear, a teardrop diamond at the end.

Jimin Park is one of the most beautiful men you’ve ever seen. He reminds you of a dangerous jungle cat. His eyes are sharp, shadowed by a full-fan of dark lashes, cheeks round and soft in contrast to his elegant jawline. He smiles at something the man he’s talking to says, full lips rosebud pink.

Your eyes drift to the man talking to Jimin and before you can think twice about interrupting them, you’re yelling, “You!”

Both of the men jerk their heads in your direction. Jimin’s brows shoot up and he shakes his head as if to ask what the fuck? But you’re too distracted by the other man, who grins at you as soon as he realizes who you are, adjusting his floral shirt as he turns to face you head on.

You get a better look at him now and you’re angry to discover that he is still just as stunning as he was in the middle of the Market Town stalls. His hair is pushed back out of his face more, eyes twinkling as they drag up and down your frame. He wiggles his fingers at you in a wave.

“You can’t just steal tangerines!” you bark at him suddenly.

“What?” Jimin asks. He frowns and looks between the two of you. “I’m sorry, do you know one another?” The man says ‘no’ at the exact same time you say ‘sort of’ which makes Jimin’s jaw tick, patience waning. “Well? Which is it?”

“Seen her once,” the man admits. “But I don’t know her. She chased me through the streets of Market Town today like a lunatic. I think she took one look at me and fell in love.”

Your jaw drops. “You stole fruit from Margot’s fruit stand motherfucker! It had nothing to do with your good looks.”

“So you admit I’m good-looking!”

A failed attempt at a response comes sputtering out of you. You stop and start your sentences multiple times, trying to come up with a wicked riposte to his ridiculous insinuation that you think he’s attractive. Which you do, especially when he gives you a full, shit-eating gummy grin.

“Enough,” Jimin snaps in your direction. “Wait with Jungkook, I’ll deal with you later. And don’t interrupt me again, got it?”

You bow deeply at the command. You feel hot all over, an unpleasant mix of shame and something else that you can’t place for “Yes sir. I apologize for my outburst.”

Jimin turns away from you and back to the tangerine thief, leaving you to rush behind the bar to stand next to Jungkook while you stare at the two of them.

You have no idea who this man is. You’ve never seen him in the bar with Bolero, though it’s possible he’s come in when you’re not working. It isn’t likely, since there’s only one additional bartender besides you and Jungkook, but you can’t possibly imagine how this man is important enough to look Jimin in the eye when he speaks.

Jungkook gives you a head tilt and doe eyes. You shake your head, opting instead to study the object of your irritation rather than explaining. He doesn’t ask any questions but you can see the way he shifts back and forth, unsure of where to focus his energy.

As one of the family members in the city’s Armory, Jimin is one of the highest-ranking citizens in Diade. Though the Green Dragons are on the bottom of the totem in the Armory, Jimin ranks higher than most of the city by being the son of his family’s leader.

The man speaking to Jimin looks at him directly in the eyes as an equal. He is a hairsbreadth taller, but his gaze and tone are steady and respectful. There is no air of superiority between the two of them, making you wonder where exactly this smug man falls on the spectrum of city authority.

Each face of the Armory is familiar to you: the Parks, the Manobals, the Salibs, the Achilleos’ and the Kims. This man belongs to none of them and yet Jimin listens to him calmly, nodding his head at whatever the man is saying. Jimin’s arms are looped behind his back and he is poised as ever, even making a joke or two as they exchange words in hushed tones.

In Diade, the ruling family syndicates are the ultimate power. Jimin’s family owns the territory to the southeast, the Salib’s directly to the north, the Manobals to the west. You stick to Park territory only, always mindful of where each Armory boundary lies.

Despite Jimin’s favoritism, you’re not a high-ranking member of the Park family’s Green Dragons. Jimin thinks you’re useful enough though, and has a soft heart for strays. Jungkook is proof enough of that as you are, two little sources of information and loyalty in his personal pocket.

You work for Jimin, not his mother.

The respect that Jimin shows the tangerine thief leads to a few possibilities of who he could be. Under the rule of the Armory, there are other smaller and less organized gangs. The Circles are not particularly powerful and still concede to the Armory, but they range from loose bands of idiots and thieves to highly organized factions. There are dozens of Circles in the city, but only a few are powerful enough to earn a smile from Jimin Park, the prince of the Green Dragons.

Chewing your lip, your mind runs through a list of possible Circles this man could rank high enough in to matter. White Fang has always worked with the Green Dragons well. Their members can sometimes be found hanging out in Montana with tight if not overly polite smiles while they conduct business. While White Fang answers to all of the families of the Armory as a collective governing body, they are particularly fond of the Parks.

There is little chance that the tangerine thief belongs to the Midnight Sun. As the largest and most powerful Circle, they are only allied to the Kim family. Dangerous for any Circle to declare allyship to only a single governing body, but the Kim family sits at the top of the food chain. Being protected by Yujun and his son Seokjin have its strengths.

Your vision blurs when you think of the Kim family. Seokjin’s beautiful smile, the way his inky eyes glitter. He remains the most eternal person you’ve ever laid eyes on, and one of the most charming. Funny, smooth talking, intelligent.

But Seokjin is a snake. A beautiful thing that can fool you into a false sense of security before striking and sinking his fangs in deep.

Nausea unfurls in your stomach at the thought of him. You blink a few times, willing away the memories of him and his high-pitched laughter and anything else to do with him. Jimin shakes the man’s hand in front of you. It draws your attention to where their hands meet. Jimin’s hand is small and delicate in the large hand of the tangerine thief. A man who was raised with privilege and a man you suspect made his own.

“I’ll be back,” Jimin calls. You realize he’s talking to you and you bow. He turns his attention to the group of his gang members sitting at the table, waiting for their punishment. He whistles at them, calling them like dogs. “With me.”

You can’t help but feel a little smug as they jump up, tangled over one another to get out of the booth as fast as possible to follow Jimin toward the front door. None of them look at you or Jungkook, chins tucked to their chest and eyes on the floor. At least they’re good dogs who know when they’re going to be punished.

“Hello again.”

The tangerine thief is leaning on the bar. Up close, he smells like sandalwood and a hint of sea salt. It isn’t unpleasant, but you grimace all the same. There are bracelets on his wrist, but no jewels. The prickling, needle-like sensation comes back, right at the back of your neck.

“Jungkook, can you start cleaning up?” You ask. He nods and dashes away, giving the stranger a single nervous glance as he joins the security members of Jimin’s team cleaning up.

They pick up the body and carry him through the bag on Jungkook’s guidance, dripping blood the entire way. Bolero doesn’t even glance as they pass him, still transfixed by the holoscreen.

“Why did you use a shatterwave?”

Your eyes drift back to the man in front of you. Up close, you notice that his skin is flawless. He has a shine and glow to him of a healthy Radiant, and yet you’re not sure how to place him on the caste. You know he’s a radiant from his escape methods in Market Town, but you’ve never had this much trouble placing someone on the caste. “What?”

“The shatterwave. Had to hurt you too, I imagine.”

“Well no one else was going to do anything,” you answer, skirting his assertion that you’re a Radiant. “It didn’t hurt that bad. I’m a Light Radiant.”

He raises his brows. “Oh, you’re a liar.”

“About some things, sure. I can’t take on an emerald caste, though. So I used a shatterwave.”

“There’s an emerald in your boot.”

You grit your teeth. He doesn’t make sense. The needling feeling only increases as he cocks his head, scanning you from head to toe. His pout turns into a smirk and there’s something heated in his gaze that makes you squirm as you shift back and forth on your feet, trying to place him.

Sensing jewel frequencies outside of the jewel you radiate most with is difficult. Energy is a fickle thing, and though you can feel the buzz of every color of jewel around you, most Radiants can’t. They can only sense what jewel they vibrate on the same frequency as, though trained Radiants can sense their assigned jewel and lighter.

This puts the tangerine thief at emerald or darker. If he can sense the emerald in your shoe, it means he can use it. Unless he is a rare case like you and Jungkook, who are frequency sensitive. But he doesn’t feel like emerald and he doesn’t feel like he sits darker at garnet and onyx.

You shiver remembering what onyx feels like, an oppressive and demanding thing.

“It wouldn’t be the first time I lied,” you offer. You can keep skirting the topic of the emerald in your shoe, but he already knows it's there.

He chuckles. It’s raspy and soft as a whisper. There’s no doubt he’s used to the effect he has on people. It reminds you a little of Seokjin and you feel skittish.

“No, I’m sure you are quite the liar.” He leans in a little bit. “I’m Agust, by the way.”

Schooling your features is hard. Out of all of the Circles that crossed your mind that he could belong to, you never considered Black Lotus. It makes sense, you suppose, that Bolero belongs to the Black Lotus. It’s one of the few Circles in the city that not only accept Nulls in their ranks, but encourage it. A little oasis for Radiants and Nulls alike to claw their way to the top from the bottom of the barrel.

My boss will pay for the damage and deal with the Salibs. You think of Bolero’s comment, realizing why he was so confident. His boss is the leader of the Black Lotus, a chaotic thorn in the Armory’s side who walks around the Crown Cities undermining authority where he can.

Agust smiles, pride bleeding through when you recognize his name. He’s a little notorious for the destruction of three Circles associated with the Kim family and for donating thousands of nil to squatters in Blows. A violent killer with a soft spot for charity. Strange, and not quite as heroic as some seem to think it is.

Instead of saying anything, you busy yourself with folding rags, feeling the way of his gaze. Agust is pretty with a soft edge to his face and a charming grin. There’s a confidence about him that draws the eye, and yet he can blend in just like he did at Margot’s fruit stand. He is both sides of the moon, light and dark, switching whenever it suits him.

Again, he reminds you of Seokjin and your heart squeezes as you take a step away from him.

“Well, I hope you have a great evening, Agust.” It's dismal. Polite, but an end to the conversation nevertheless.

He isn’t swayed. “What, no name?”

“Do you need it?”

“I’d like it. Is it as pretty as you are?”

“Your flattery isn’t welcome here.”

“Then what is?”

You glare. “The money for Margot’s tangerine.”

Agust chuckles again and shrugs. You expect him to walk away or volley back with a riposte but he doesn’t. Instead, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the nil that Margot is owed and sets them on the counter, the silver coins clinking against the wood. He leans against the bar again, hand cupping his chin as he looks up at you.

“This cover me?”

You swipe the coins off the bar and sniff. “I suppose.”

“I like you. How about I call you Montana, hmm? Since you won’t give me a name, I’ll make one for you.”

Instead of looking at him directly, you busy yourself with moving around the syrup bottles in their plastic bin. “You don’t have to call me anything.”

“Or Garnet?”

For a second, you stare at your hands before slowly dragging your gaze to him where he watches you, feline-eyes glittering. That pinprick feeling returns sharper than ever. You’re a mouse caught under the watchful gaze of a hungry cat.

There are only a handful of people in the world that knows you sit on the second darkest color of the Jewel Caste. One of them is outside giving his gang members the lashing of a lifetime, one of them is sitting in a luxurious home in Aria and the other is no doubt watching cameras on the casino floor of Kaiju.

Sweat gathers on the back of your neck. You think about the first time you radiated at garnet, the power so raw and rich that you were almost drunk on it. You were just a kid, untrained in how to syphon energy that volatile. You’d become sick right after, taking too much too fast and completely unaware of how to channel all that energy.

The Kim’s had helped you find a way. And then used it to their advantage, a little girl with no one else to count on with all that power just waiting to be directed.

You refused to ever be used for your place on the Jewel Caste ever again.

“Say it again,” you murmur, voice low. Your hands open and close and you feel the emerald surge in your boot. Agust is either onyx or frequency sensitive, but it doesn’t matter. You’ve gone head to head with darker than you before. “I dare you.”

To your surprise, his smile is sad this time. There’s a moment you think you see understanding. Compassion. Something soft. Then it’s gone and he gives you a brief nod before pushing away from the bar, running a hand through his hair. You don’t move, muscles locked and primed to lash out, to grind him to dust if you have to. You don’t have a garnet, but you don’t need it. You can do just as much damage with an emerald, regardless of whatever color he is.

“Put the claws away, your secret is safe with me.” He nods to the pool of blood on the floor. “You have my apologies for the mess. Black Lotus will handle the fallout. Tell Bolero if any of those Night Sphinx fucks give you any trouble. You have my word I’ll pay my debt.”

“What debt?”

He jerks his thumb at Bolero. “You saved his worthless ass.” You don’t disagree but you say nothing. He lingers for a second, looking you up and down. Something passes his face that makes your heart speed up a little. “I mean it. Call if you need.”

“I won't.”

He grins. “Bye, Montana.”

When Agust turns to leave, Bolero gets up and goes with him. When the door shuts, it’s just you and the sound of Jungkook and Jimin’s men putting the bar back together.

No one can hear how loud your heart thunders.

THE JEWEL CASTE (from least to most powerful)

Light Caste

Diamond Citrine Aquamarine Jade Rose

Mid Caste

Peridot Topaz Turquoise Ruby Smokey

Dark Caste

Emerald Amethyst Sapphire Garnet Onyx

THE CHAOTIC CASTE (in general, from least to most powerful)

Opal Quartz Tourmaline Carnelian Obsidian

GLOSSARY

Alloy - A drug that allows radiants to lift frequency for a temporary amount of time and meld with a jewel they cannot normally radiate with. Caste Drop - When someone drops a color on the Jewel Caste and vibrates at a higher frequency Circle - Lower gangs who are not in the Armory Dark Radiant - Those who vibrate at the low-colors and high frequencies Jewel Caste - The order of least to most powerful vibrational jewel frequencies Light Radiant - Those who vibrate at the lighter colors and lower frequencies Mid Radiant - Those who vibrate at the mid-colors and medium frequencies Null - Those who don’t vibrate at the same frequency as the jewels and cannot radiate Radiant - Those who vibrate at the same frequency as the jewels and thus can radiate Shatterwave - A type of device that lets out high-frequency sounds to shatter Radiant frequencies in a certain radius Unjeweled - A radiant who doesn’t have any jewels on them to help radiate

#yoongi smut #suga smut #suga fanfic #yoongi fanfic #suga bts #yoongi x reader #yoongi x you #bts fanfic #mafia yoongi #minors do not interact #minors dni

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yutahoes · 1 year

Text

Polarity

Teaser - Chapter One

characters: mafia boss! Yuta Nakamoto x innocent! florist! reader

summary: While running away, you seemed to be moving closer to the man you were avoiding. Are you even heading to the right direction?

chapter word count: 2.8 k words

chapter genre: angst

chapter warning: violence, language, blood, guns, killing

a/n: Some scenes are inspired by the manga Koi to Dangan. There are also a lot of triggers that don't sit well with minors so please keep in mind that some scenes are disturbing and purely fictional.

taglist: @sourirensoleille @kyuprincess @nuoyipeach @anonjyxd @a-bts-world @a-place-filled-with-random

It has been a crazy day. A long hard-working day even if you are just a salesgirl at a local flower shop. You didn’t even know why many people are buying flowers today; it is all for a different reason though. But it’s just tiring.

Among all of the jobs that you did, this is the best one by far. True, there are days when you wanted to quit because of overwhelming orders and annoying customers but seeing the flowers in the morning and even the smile on the face of the people receiving the bouquet you made, makes everything worth it. Maybe this is your calling, to be a florist.

Coming home, you were surprised to see black cars on the street near your house. What is this? Is there some powerful man in your street? To visit who? Almost all your neighbors are old people living in run-down houses. It wouldn't be possible that someone with a car would live here. Wouldn't it?

The surprise was replaced by nervousness when you heard a loud crash coming from inside your small home. The instinct made you run inside to check on the only family you have left. Your crippled dad.

The house was a mess. Your dad was on the floor, his cane beside him, next to a broken glass from the window. A large man was checking on the high cabinet as your father begged for him to stop. “What are you doing?” You asked before holding the man’s shoulder to stop him from checking the cabinet. Those are full of your mother’s things. Priceless belongings of her that you kept. Is he a burglar? This early at night? What is he doing in your house?

He pushed you, causing you to fall to the ground. Your hand got cut by the glass shards but you didn’t care as you checked if your dad was hurt. Making sure that your dad is okay, your eyes darted back to the man in black who pushed you. He doesn’t look like a burglar but on one side of his neck was a dragon tattoo. You’ve encountered people like him before. A member of the mafia that operates the town. What do they need from you now? Why is he here?

"Hey!" a booming voice coming from your door can be heard followed by the appearance of two men coming into your house. The one in front has dark black hair and piercing eyes while the guy behind him has brown hair. They looked young, preferably the same age as you. The guy who pushed you turned to bow at the two before the guy in front held his hair, pulling it so the bigger man is facing the man with black hair. "What is the number one rule of the Nakamoto group?"

Your ears perked up at that. Nakamoto group? Is it one of the mafia groups around? What does a mafia need in your house? The three looked your way and your eyes widened in surprise, heart dropping on your chest. Their looks are predatory, scaring the shit off you. “Never hurt a woman.” The larger guy, being held by the hair, mumbled.

“Apologize.” Quickly, the man who pushed you kneeled on the floor while muttering an apology. The turn of events startled and confused you. What is he apologizing for? But the guy in front, probably their leader, stepped on his head, making the larger guy fall face flat on the floor. “Louder!”

“I’m sorry.” You can hear the desperation in his voice as he kept on saying the words repeatedly.

“I…It’s fine.” Your voice was shaking, scared for your life. What even are you witnessing now? Is this how mafias act? The man in front of you might be young and leaner than the one who pushed you but he seemed scarier and with more power. You can feel your insides shivering in fright as the leader kept his foot on the man's head while taking off his leather gloves with his teeth. He only let go of the man when he walked in front of you.

The latter crouched down to your height and held your hand, seeing the glass shards stuck on your bloody hand. “Does it hurt?” His eyes were void of emotion, a black orb that makes you tremble. You shook your head before he stared at your father in his piercing gaze, “You have to pay back the 3 million you owe or you know what will happen.”

“Yes, Mr. Nakamoto.” 3 million? Mr. Nakamoto? Does your father know him? Is your father involved with the mafia? And 3 million? Where did that money go? You were confused. What is happening? The three men left your home, the man referred to as Mr. Nakamoto leading the two. Is it possible that he’s the leader of the mafia group? But why are they after your family?

You glanced at your dad who only looked at you in apology. “It wasn’t me.” He quickly stated. “Mr. Long borrowed money from the mafia and he made me sign the papers.” You knew that person well. Your dad used to work for him but now he’s nowhere to be seen. It was the reason why your dad didn’t have a job for months. “When he went to hiding, he took all the money.” And your dad is to blame? “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have trusted that man.” You rolled your eyes in annoyance. It was because your dad is too kind.

“Can’t we just tell that mafia leader that it wasn't you who owed him the money?”

He shook his head, taking your hand and slowly removing the glass shards that made you wince in pain. “That’s not how mafias work.” He claimed before shaking his head. “I'll pay for it." You sighed. That wouldn't happen. He had a hard time looking for a job because of his leg. How would he pay 3 million? It's also hard for you since you only live paycheck to paycheck.

"I'll look for another job that would pay well."

But he quickly shook his head. "Promise me that you will not involve yourself in this.” It was a futile promise, you knew. The only family you had is involved. You cannot shake off the responsibility you have with your family.

That’s how you found yourself in front of the Nakamoto mansion. It was another nonsense attempt. You didn’t even know if the leader was here or what you should tell them. You didn't even know where you got the bravery to face him. It is heavily guarded by large men, larger than the man who pushed you before, and they have guns on their waists. “What do you need?” One of the guys asked. The scene is honestly intimidating that you were suddenly regretting coming here. You shook your head, you had to talk to their leader and clear your father's name. But how?

Before you could walk away from this crazy idea of yours, a black car stopped in front of you. A familiar guy, the man behind the leader back at your home, came out and then quickly opened the backseat door. The leader with piercing eyes came out, standing in front of you. The intimidation came back and you lost all the words you wanted to say. Why are you here in the first place? Your dad is right, you shouldn’t have gotten involved.

“Who are you?” he asked, staring straight at you. “What are you doing here?” A bright red dot appeared on the man’s face that startled you. In instinct, you pushed him just as a gunshot can be heard. Everyone huddled to form a circle around you and the leader who was still lying on the ground. “Find that person,” he said loudly, and you saw how the men larger than him were running to where the gunshot was heard.

“Are you alright?” When he held your left forearm, that’s when you felt a stinging pain. You were shot? There was blood on his hand and it obviously came from you. “Mark, get her inside and call Jaehyun.” It was the only thing you heard before you were escorted inside the large house.

It looked like a museum inside. There was a large chandelier in the middle of the house and a spiral stairway with a red carpet. But what do you expect from a mafia’s house? The guy named Mark let you inside one of the rooms on the second floor and told you to remove your shirt before closing the door behind him. Wait, remove your shirt? Isn’t it inappropriate? You glanced at the hurting part of your body and saw how your light blue T-shirt was filling with blood on the left sleeve. You cannot go home with a bloody arm.

So you heed Mark’s advice and removed your shirt, that you’re only in your brassiere when there’s a knock on the door. Quickly, you took the thick blanket and covered your body with it. Two guys, Mark followed by another man, came inside the room which made you nervous. The other guy put down what seemed like a first aid kit while Mark placed a dress shirt next to you on the bed. Both guys turned around so you can wear the oversized dress shirt.

Medicine was put on the spot that was hurting before it was wrapped with a bandage. “That was pretty brave,” the guy started while wrapping gauze around the gunshot wound. “Coming here and talking to Yuta.” You scrunched your eyebrows in confusion. Yuta? Is that the leader's name? “The wound isn’t that deep but you should refrain from moving your arm too much and clean it daily,” he claimed and you nodded. He held your right hand before dabbing medicine on the cuts you had from last night’s encounter with the same group.

Maybe this is what your dad meant when he said that you shouldn’t involve yourself with the mafia.

The door opened followed by a wounded guy falling inside the room. His face looked so beat up that his eye was swollen, there was a cut on his lip and a bright purple bruise on his cheek. The leader, with a dark gaze in his eyes, came inside the room while staring at you. "Are you two working together?" What? You saw how he kicked the man on the floor who coughed blood on the carpet. "Who are you working for?" If you thought he was scary when he stepped on the man's head last night, you were terrified while watching him kicking the man on the floor. Who is the man on the floor? Why must the leader do this to him?

You close your eyes, trying to look away from what is happening in front of you. "Yuta, stop it." It was Jaehyun's voice. "I don't think they're working together." You were surprised. You and the man on the floor? Working together?

"Then how do you want me to kill him?" It was a chilling voice that sent shivers down your spine. Before you could say anything, you heard a gunshot. The same sound as the one ringing in your ear from earlier. Why are you in this situation? "Mark, clean this up." He ordered and you heard footsteps approaching you. "Who are you?"

You looked up to see the leader looking at you. His dark orbs make you nervous. His right hand was holding a gun, a mere reminder that he just killed someone earlier. Your hands shake as you try to find your voice to speak up, "I'm Y/N Y/L/N." You watched the fiddling of your thumb, voice shaking as you continued, "I need to talk to you, Mr. Nakamoto."

A scoff can be heard then he leaned closer, raising an eyebrow. His gaze was magnetic, scary even, and you looked at the floor instead of him. "This is about my father's 3 million debt. It wasn't his fault, his employer…"

"It was him who signed the papers." The man reasoned out. You look for the correct explanation of it all. That your father is too nice for his own good. That he never benefited from the money at all. "Is that why you worked with a gunman?" he asked, which confused you. A gunman? "You pretended to save my life so the debt would be forgotten?"

Wait, it all made sense now. The reason why he asked that question in the first place. It does seem like you planned everything. "I didn't." You whispered, "I just panicked seeing the red dot." With a heavy sigh, continued. "My father lost his leg because of the same red dot." It was a story you never want to disclose to anyone, especially those in the mafia. "I'm sorry."

From the corner of your eye, you saw how the leader leaned his back on the chair he was sitting at. Jaehyun leaned closer to you, smiling that his dimple popped. “You are one of a kind, Y/N.” You watched how Yuta smirked while glancing at the guy beside him. The dimpled guy handed you a white card, “I like your courage. I dig girls like that.” You took the card nervously. “Give me a call.”

“If you really like a girl, you should call her and not the other way around,” Yuta claimed. But this isn’t what you came here for. “I’ll cut the debt in half.” Your eyes widened at that. That is a huge amount already. “Since I owe you my life.” You bowed, thanking him shyly. “But you have to pay it in three months.” 1.5 million in 3 months? How is that possible? “Or you and your father will end up like that gunman earlier.” The graphic image of blood on the floor and the man’s gasping for air flashed through your mind. He’s so ruthless. He can definitely kill you and your father. “Understood?” His voice came louder which startled you. You only nod, fingers shaking at the thought that you will definitely be killed at this rate.

“You’re scaring her,” Jaehyun noted then held your face to look up at him. “It’s late. I’ll drive you home.” What? You cannot be seen with someone related to the mafia. Your dad already warned you about it. You shook your head, rejecting his offer. You thanked them for their time and treating your wound before apologizing for the same reasons.

Quickly, you dashed out of the house. Eager to get out of this hellhole. Where did you get the courage to go here in the first place? And where is that courage all of a sudden? You needed to leave or you might throw up in nervousness and fright. You felt something, someone rather, bump your leg. Stopping in your tracks, you saw a young girl in a pink lacy dress looking at you with her clear round eyes seated on the floor. "I'm sorry," you claimed while helping her stand up. You crouched down to her height, brushing off dirt from her dress. "Are you hurt?" You asked. What is a young girl doing here of all places? "Are you held hostage here?"

But she was only looking at you with confusion. The young girl started moving her hands and fingers which made you confused. An old woman came rushing to where you are and then tapped the little girl's back. She gestured for her before you realized what it was. She cannot talk. It was sign language. "The young lady is asking who you were." The old woman asked and you stood up briskly, moving away from the little girl. Young lady? She's part of the mafia?

Footsteps can be heard and you saw the leader staring at you then at the little girl. Seeing him made your insides shiver in fright. You bowed at him then at the old lady, apologizing then fleeing off.

Your feet were on fire, rushing to get out of the huge house. Your head bent down so no one would remember your face. You almost ran once you were outside the gate because of fright. That was such a scary experience.

Once at the bus stop, a few streets away from the mafia’s house, you felt your knees weakening. Their frightening gaze, the smell of blood, and the sound of a gunshot all come to you like a wave. Subconsciously, you crumpled the white card given to you before throwing it in the nearby trash can.

As the bus approached, you made it a point to not get involved with the mafia. Maybe you’ll just run away and have a new life with your dad.

Away from this scary city.

Away from that mafia group.

Away from the man named Yuta Nakamoto.

Chapter Two

#yuta #mafia yuta #yuta nakamoto #nct yuta #yuta angst #polarity #nakamoto yuta #nct 127 yuta #yuta nakamoto angst

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brickcentral · 5 months

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REVIEW: 10315 Tranquil Garden

Hi community! We invited @johnreiley to review this set from a photographer perspective. Here's what he had to say (full version on the blog)

"The LEGO Icons 10315 Tranquil Garden is a Japanese-inspired set that I got from @lego through #brickcentral to review. Priced at $109.99, it's a reasonable deal with 1,363 bricks. While lacking minifigures, the build was enjoyable, completed in a few hours.

The red bridge and tea ceremony pavilion stand out. The water and black border were a bit tedious, but the set is packed with details like water lilies, stone lanterns, and koi fish. Customizing the garden is easy, and it offers great photo opportunities.

Shooting proved challenging, but removing the border and adding more bamboo helped. Setting the scene at night created a magical atmosphere. Despite the lack of minifigures, the set earns an 8/10 for its aesthetics, design, and details."

If you want to read more and have a look at some bts, heads on the blog!

- @theaphol, Community Outreach Manager

#lego #lego photography #brickcentral #toy photography #afol #legophotography #toyphotography #brickcentral member #review #lego review #lego zen

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girlzwfun · 4 months

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✩°｡⋆⸜ basics.

birth name ﹕cheryl lee

korean name ﹕lee chae-rin 이채린

nicknames ﹕chae , cher , cc, chaeprincess , kkoch , bangtan’s barbie

birthday ﹕april 20, 1996

zodiac ﹕aries-taurus cusp & rat

sexuality ﹕unlabeled

birthplace ﹕san francisco, california

hometown ﹕san francisco, california

ethnicity ﹕korean

nationality ﹕korean-american

languages ﹕english, korean, japanese

family ﹕

yang hae-sook / hannah yang ( mother )

lee yo-han / david lee ( father )

charlotte lee † ( sister )

✩°｡⋆⸜ physical.

face claim ﹕park sooyoung

height ﹕168 cm / 5’6”

blood type ﹕a

body modifications ﹕

double lobe ( both ) , orbital ( right ) , helix ( both ) , tragus ( left )

cherry blossom ( rib cage ) , cherry tattoo ( back of arm ) , ‘444’ ( inner arm ) , angel wings ( nape ) , infinity ( pinkie finger ) , ‘j’ ( wrist ) , taurus constellation ( behind ear ) , lotus flower ( shoulder ) , two koi fish ( spine )

✩°｡⋆⸜ persona.

traits ﹕

positive traits ﹕ good-natured, fun-loving, confident, charming, hard-working

negative traits ﹕ petty, hot headed, overly sensitive, nosy, naive

mbti ﹕ENFP

moral alignment ﹕neutral good

enneagram scale ﹕ type 3

✩°｡⋆⸜ career.

stage name ﹕cheri

occupation : idol

years active ﹕2013 - present

label ﹕bighit music

group : bts

position ﹕main vocalist, lead dancer, sub rapper, visual, face of the group

representative emoji ﹕🐶 / 🍒

individual fandom ﹕beotkkot

✩°｡⋆⸜ background.

tw. mentions of death, eating disorders, mental health issues

cheryl lee was born in san francisco, california to lee yo-han and hannah yang. cheri is the older sister to charlotte, who unfortunately passed not long after she became a trainee.

cheri was homeschooled and had a lot of free time. she convinced her mom to let her start piano lessons on top of her guitar and voice lessons. hae-sook did not argue as she wanted her daughter to find what suited her best. during a family trip, cheri was scouted by a bighit representative. she was unsure if she truly wanted to be an idol so far from her family, but her sister begged her to take the opportunity. after extreme consideration, her family moved temporarily to south korea in 2010.

due to her sister’s untimely death and the effects it had on her, cheri considered quitting and moving back to the states. she persisted, not handling her emotions properly. cheri was dubbed a monster trainee and was known to be quite intimidating. in 2013, cheri debuted in bts as the only female member.

she brought a lot of attention to the group domestically and internationally — unfortunately, she paid the price for being the only girl. cheri never took particularly good care of herself. in 2018, she was placed on hiatus due to her mental health and physical health. in her career, she has been faced with scandal upon scandal, rumor after rumor. her most noteworthy being a dating scandal with seventeen’s joshua hong immediately after her return to group activities. cheri and bighit confirmed the relationship in a letter from the artist.

she is widely known for her songwriting and has over 100 songs copyrighted to her name. her work is a testament of her life and feelings. cheri is often criticized for being to “open” and for not being careful enough with her idol image.

#˗ˏˋ new romantics ⟶ ❛ cheri ❜#˗ˏˋ new romantics ⟶ ❛ development ❜#ficnetfairy #tw death #tw eating disorder #tw mental health #kpop oc #idol oc #bts 8th member #bts female addition #bts female member #bts female oc #bts addition #fictional kpop community #fictional idol soloist #kpop au #kpop addition #fictional idol community

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absolutebl · 2 years

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BL Directors - Overview

Some DMing has made me think perhaps it’s time for a master post about some of the directors we have who always (or often) specialize in BL. I’m interested in better training my eye to spot BL director style (I think I have Cheewin & New down). This isn’t going to be an exhaustive list, but there are certainly ones whose names come up a lot, and some who have a very specific style. So I’m hoping many of you are as interested as me.

A word on address in Thai:

Many bloggers will refer to directors as P’New (for example) to distinguish them as directors, also because this is often mode of address used by their actors in bts and on promo circuit. Quite apart from the fact that there is a good chance I am older than many of these directors, the correct form of address to ANY ADULT from an outsider or stranger (like me) is Khun. So technically I should use K’New. However, to distinguish in my posts a director like New from say an actor like New of TayNew, I will occasionally use the moniker “Director New,” otherwise, as with other Thai names I will just use the person’s ชื่อเล่น chuelen.

New Siwaj

BEST KNOWN FOR: Until We Meet Again, Make It Right series (2016, 2017, 2019 co-directed with Cheewin)

OTHER NOTED BLS: Star and Sky series (2022), 7 Project (2021), My Gear And Your Gown (2020), Love By Chance 1 & 2 (2018, 2020)

FORTHCOMING: Absolute Zero, Between Us

OFTEN WORKS FOR: GMMTV, Wabi Sabi, MAME projects

LIKES TO CAST: Mean (will be co-directing Remember Me), Title, BounPrem, smol Earth, Yacht, Sammy, Plan, BoomPeak, Perth

STYLE: basic but high tech (he likes a lot of different camera work); redundant transition shot (he likes to reuse the same one for a given location in a series - Dean’s house = the koi pond in UWMA, for example); staged distance (long) shots; central aperture framing; neutral tones and backgrounds; school settings; good at encouraging genuine emotion, gets his actors to cry a lot; likes location shoots (forests, beaches)

NOTES OF INTEREST: He’s the producer but not director for Dear Doctor, I'm Coming for Soul; he’s the cinematographer but not director for En of Love: Love Mechanics; he was the screenwriter & director for both Love by Chance and Until We Meet Again

CONCERNS: none really, his style can sometimes feel redundant and a bit dull, like he’s phoning it in (see my thoughts on Star) but that’s about it, no negative rumors that I’ve noticed, he is very inconsistent in his story picks and therefor results (since he is so workmanlike he needs a very strong narrative to carry him), some stuff of his I love, others I can’t stand.

TRIVIA: New’s cousins in the industry include Captain (Noh in Love Sick) and Primrose (Aim in Love Sick)

Cheewin Thanamin

BEST KNOWN FOR: Why R U? (2020)

OTHER NOTED BLS: That's My Candy (2022), Secret Crush On You (2022), the YYY series (2020), Make It Right series (2016, 2017, 2019 co-directed with New)

FORTHCOMING: War of Y, Bed Friend, Middleman's Love

OFTEN WORKS FOR: LINE TV, Channel 3, GMM One

LIKES TO CAST: Zee, BoomPeak, JimmyTommy, MaxNat, YoonLay, Poppy

STYLE: commercial; bright, cheerful, favors primary colors, a touch campy and slapstick; no manga framing techniques; likes close-ups and mid-shots (few distance shots and when they are there, VERY staged); no drone work mostly dolly & steadicam; likes beach locations; loves a pillow clutch trope; very much signature Thai BL; good on higher heat; touch voyeuristic; later work has a queerer POV

NOTES OF INTEREST: Cheewin cut director’s teeth on the set of Love Sick 2, co-directing with two others. I don’t know the particulars on Cheewin’s preferred gender/pronouns or sexual orientation (translated into English) but Cheewin uses queer coded Thai linguistics (of the kind I discuss in this post), most specifically preferring ha, ja, and kha when being interviewed. So I would guess Cheewin identifies (by western definitions) as queer and/or gender fluid.

CONCERNS: almost always weak on story and plot, some marketing (fan scamming) rumors on some projects

TRIVIA: Cheewin played side role Christina in the Make it Right series, and the press conference host in 2021′s Lovely Writer.

Aof Noppharnach

BEST KNOWN FOR: Bad Buddy (2021), A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021)

OTHER NOTED BLS: Still 2gether (2020), Dark Blue Kiss (2019), He's Coming to Me (2019), Our Skyy (2018)

FORTHCOMING: Moonlight Chicken

WORKS FOR: GMMTV (content production director)

LIKES TO CAST: EarthMix, Ohm, Nannon, Tay

STYLE: cinematic, thoughtful, sometimes a little overworked; attention paid to setting; likes strong scripts; LOVES a long shot (crane work I think); pays more and better attention to audio, background music, and sound than many other Thai directors, specifically will choose orchestral music (less singing, thank fuck)

NOTES OF INTEREST: he clearly prefers experienced actors and established pairs or pre-existing friendship dynamics to ease the way for the intimacy scenes; he obviously tests and pushes his actors and is a bit of a perfectionist (actors and viewers seem to appreciate this)

CONCERNS: I have concerns around Moonlight Chicken because I don’t think his strength is in higher heat and messy gay, but as a director he hasn’t really failed us yet, so...

TRIVIA: Is the screenwriter behind the My Dear Loser series. So far as I can tell linguistically, identifies as gay. Produced but did not direct Cupid's Last Wish, Baker Boys, Fish Upon the Sky (so, lets keep him directing and NOT producing, okay?). Has had cameos in Baker Boys, Bad Buddy, A Tale of Thousand Stars, Our Skyy and Friend Zone. Appeared in BL: Broken Fantasy documentary. According to tumblr comments is openly gay (someone drop a primary source in the links to confirm?).

Other Thai directors to keep an eye on:

EXPERIENCED THAI DIRECTORS NOT FOCUSED ON BL

Ma-Deaw Chookiat - director & noted screenwriter, he does a range of genres, not just BL. He is responsible for the first gay YA drama out of Thailand, The Love of Siam (2007), as well as Grean Fictions (2013) which is not a BL but features many BL actors in their first major roles, and similarly dramatic and not BL but gay Songkram Yeng Poo To Be Continued: Secret of a Heart That Doesn't Exist and Dew the Movie. He’s from Chiang Mai and often casts northern actors. Amongst BL fans he is best know for Manner of Death and Triage. His BL is “BL light” often not really owing anything to the film genre but just the original y-novel story. He has neither a queer lens nor a BL style, but more of an objective outsider almost documentarian approach. This results in content that’s a lot more like western queer indie cinema than BL. He likes a strong almost literary story, driven by characters, and following that character to see what happens (VERY few tropes). He’s heavy on action and mystery elements, and likes complexity and movement in space, time, narration, and camera shots (I think he uses hand held quite a bit). There is no guaranteed happy ending with his work, but he will include gay threads whenever he feels like it regardless of genre (see Slam Dance) which is relatively rare out of Thailand.

Nuchy Anucha - co-founder of G Motif, one of the largest video production companies in Thailand. Nuchy is trans and explicitly queer in all her work, she is the genius behind Not Me, but she is not focused on BL.

Thitipan Raksasat - works mainly as a marketing director and comes out of musical theater, he did the two X-rated and not really BL but hella gay installments of Love Next Door, and most recently Love Stage!! He brings a queer lens to his work and good high heat, and I really hope he does more BL.

Mike Phontharis - Mike’s stuff is all over the place, messy, he’s absolutely does not specialize in BL and does a ton of work. I clearly am not a fan of his style because I’ve struggled with all his BLs, which include: The Tuxedo, Golden Blood and Siew Sum Noi.

Jojo Tichakorn Phukhaotong - I did a whole post on him here.

EXPERIENCED THAI DIRECTORS FOCUSED ON BL

Andy Rachyd - basically birthed Thai BL, and the Thai Pulps, helmed Love Sick (YAY!), both Water Boyys (BOO), Make It Right 1 & 2 (I am trash because I love them), and 'Cause You're My Boy (AKA My Tee), mentored New and Cheewin. Now he does mostly terrible pulps (Thank God It's Friday, Friend Forever, Physical Therapy) and there are some challenging rumors about him. I don’t really know more than that. He has a soap opera style approach to his filming and is pretty darn terrible on story structure.

Lit Phadung - with only a few exceptions has focused on BL since the unexpected success of SOTUS in 2016. His stuff includes the SOTUS series, Meow Ears Up, My Engineer, Our Skyy, Love Mechanics. He has broken away from GMMTV but I think he’s a better director when he has their backing, funding, organization, and talent pool - it allows him to do ensemble pieces and broad characterization with lots of minor characters and group scenes, at which he excels. He is supposed to be directing My Engineer 2.

Tee Bundit - mostly focuses on BL and helmed TharnType, Lovely Writer, and Something in My Room - so yeah, his style is all over the darn place and hard to pin down. I can say he is good at spotting and cultivating chemistry, and he likes a clean, pretty uncluttered picture that feels graphic if not exactly manga influenced, he loves mid-shots and I think is mostly using steadicam and dollies in his stuff. He is the kind of director that feels storyboarded, whether he is or not. He’s behind much anticipated forthcoming BL timeslip historical I Feel You Linger in the Air.

Jane Botta - specializes in BL and was the screenwriter of Together with Me and director on Nitiman, Oxygen, Our Skyy, and SOTUS S. His style it a bit slow and I worry about his pacing, but I generally like his work. His next BL is supposed to be Trouble Maker.

Aam Anusorn - is a pretty famous new wave Thai filmmaker who comes out of documentary work and does a lot of co-funded projects with other countries including gay narratives like Present Perfect series (w/ Japan) and Call It What You Want (w/ Taiwan) which is also an exposé on the BL industry. He’s a risk-taker who’s been recognized throughout Asian for example he has funding from South Korea to film in China, and also did the BL documentary BL: Broken Fantasy. In addition to those already mentioned he helmed 2 Moons 2 and DID NOT HAVE A GOOD TIME. I would call him a queer director NOT a BL director so I hesitate to even put him on this list. I doubt he will ever do anything “typically” BL ever again. But he does seem to be somewhat driven to queer up the genre so he’s worth keeping an eye on. I have to say, as a genre fan, I dislike everything he’s done except 2 Moons 2. So I think he and I have VERY different taste.

Nob Sathanapong - Nob’s first BL is the interesting, but unsuccessful Love of Siam-esk 2016 piece Sweet Student Boy (this is Chimon’s BL, often forgotten, not without reason). Since then he’s done BL (occasionally working for Star Hunter): La Cuisine, both Gen Y series, and forthcoming Ai Long Nhai. His stuff is... messy.

Phadej Onlahung - came up in the pulps and not much is known about him. Everything he’s directed has been gay if not BL: Dear Doctor, I'm Coming for Soul (I loved it), I Love You, Love Poison (TERRIBLE), Love at 7-11, The Best Twins (also TERRIBLE) and forthcoming Cafe in Love. So very much hit or miss for me.

NEW THAI BL DIRECTORS

Aoftion Kittipat (Aof) - the director of Cutie Pie who clearly has a STRONG yaoi/manga influence to his vision. He’s one of the only Thai directors who does. His scenes and aesthetics are very staged and he pays careful attention to framing details (and spends his money on getting the vision RIGHT). Cutie Pie was his first major directing gig but I really want more from him. However, he has his fingers in LOTS of pies (DomundiTV, Mandee Work, & Emojii Music). He also helped write Why R U? and is producing Middleman's Love & Bed Friend. (The characters that showed up at the end of Cutie Pie.)

Niink Karnpicha - a young up and coming director specializing in BL, Niink is clearly still working out his POV and style. He trained under New and often works as his assistant director (Star and Sky: Star in My Mind, My Gear And Your Gown, Love By Chance 2, Until We Meet Again). His helmed projects have a similar almost slap dash workman-like approach, whether as screenwriter (7 Project, 2Wish) or director: What Zabb Man! and En of Love series. Like New, as a result, his directing style can come off feeling (oh how do I put this?) a bit lazy. I’d like to see him rise above this and develop his own voice.

Chacree Rujiviphat - only known for the Close Friend series and while I was not wild about that series content, I did LOVE the directing style and queer lens, there’s a solid, focused (gritty, but not really because still Thai) honesty to his style. His close camera work is very clear and clean, almost like something from Korea, and I’d love to see him handed a full length BL.

Pepzi Banchorn - has been a co- or assistant director on KinnPorsche, Bad Buddy, Dark Blue Kiss, and Great Men Academy. I expect and hope we will see her helm her own BL soon as one of the few women consistently involved with directing BL in Thailand, it’s time.

OUTSIDE THAILAND

Tsai Mi Chieh - Legacy director and queen of Taiwanese BLs her works include: About Youth, H3:MODC, Crossing the Line, H1: Stay Away From Me, and Love is Science (BL side). Her entire body of work is in queer media, including Dear Uranus and Hijra In Between. She captures intimacy well.

Chiang Ping Chen - directed Taiwanese BLs Plus & Minus (2022), Be Loved in House: I Do (2021), Craving You (2020). His preferred tropes and handling of intimacy is distinctly domestic. In other words, he likes close camerawork, home settings, and casual physical affection.

Nancy Chen - directed HIStory4: Close to You and the Papa & Daddy series. She’s newer to BL but as problematic as H4 was, it did include some good elements (in the main couple) like negotiation and representation of lube, and Papa & Daddy is explicitly queer. So I would keep an eye on her with regards to queer rep.

Ray Jiang - We Best Love & My Tooth Your Love. He seems to love long shots and working closely with experienced actors taking input from them, giving them space to play with a script.

Adiamond Lee - Light; Dark Blue & Moonlight; H1: Obsessed; Jump the Boy - she’s an out queer director to keep and eye on, but I’m not wild about her stuff so far.

Hwang Da Seul - AKA Our (Evil) Queen directed Korean BLs To My Star & To My Star 2, Blueming, and Where Your Eyes Linger, she’s also a professor in the Department of Film at the Korea National University of Art. So she’s training the next generation of BL directors. Her style is varied, she doesn’t seem to stick to any particular technique or trend. But if you watch her stuff in order you can actually see her improve over all as a director, picking up and trying different techniques. She is also one of the few out of Korea to give us 2nd seasons. I haven’t been wild about them, but that’s my issue.

Park Sun Jae - directed Peach of Time, the Color Rush series, and Mr. Heart. Clearly can’t be entirely trusted with happy endings but is very strong on story for Korea. He’s atmospheric in his approach with a dream-like POV that suits magical realism more than it does plain old contemporary BL.