#something kind of melancholic about this piece i think. it's like spying on them. it pulled that one ee cummings poem from the | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mintymiknow · 3 years

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Trust Fall - ch. 13 | Lee Minho

summary | character profiles | masterlist

Pairing: Lee Minho/Lee Know x Reader

Summary: You and Minho end up on one more task, and it leads you to confronting a certain someone. Events also lead to Minho finally opening up and telling you about the woman from his past.

Genre: Secret agent/spy au, romance, angst, action

Word count: Approx. 9.2k

Warnings for this chapter: Blood and injuries due to genre-typical fight scenes, showering together (nothing nsfw happens; they literally just take a bath lol)

A/N: Longest chapter I’ve written so far hahaha but I do hope you like it! We’re nearing the peak of this story as well as the end, so I hope this chapter is a nice breather of sorts. I’m kind of disappointed with the confrontation, but I did my best haha! Those are so hard to write. Enjoy! If you have any questions or comments, hit me up!

A day after the events with Minho, you gathered Seungmin and Jisung in the lab, having mustered the courage and conviction to finally explain to them what happened in SKZ’s lab years ago. You told them the same story as you told Minho, hoping it would shed some light on everything, allowing the three of you to work closely together and understand how and why everything was happening.

There were a mix of gasps and shocked expressions, faces contorting into disgust or anger, and even words of encouragement and apologies from the two males. Thanking them for listening and understanding, they also do the same.

“I didn’t know that that was the entire story.” Jisung mulls it over, “The heads of SKZ wanted it to remain a secret for the sake of the agents’ morale and avoidance of chaos.”

Seungmin releases a sigh, “I was quite skeptical of it all since I believed we all had the right to know, but I guess there was a reason. Thank you for telling us, y/n. What happened back then was terrible. We’re sorry we weren’t more aware.”

“No, don’t say that.” you start, “I would have hated for the two of you to get involved as well.”

Jisung chuckles as he offers a small smile, “Well, to make it up for all those times, we should really focus on getting the anti-serum completed.”

Seungmin nods, walking over to one of the lab tables, “We were able to extract Cle’s serum from the dead agent’s body. We can use these for our tests and compare it to the formula y/n wrote down in her files.”

“We’ll need to test the anti-serum on all the Cle prototypes we have to really guarantee it works for everything.” Jisung adds, “We never really know which prototype Cle is going to make use of in the end.”

You nod your head and gather some items on the table and begin to work, “Let’s get to work.”

For the next few hours, the three of you work non-stop on running tests and conducting experiments with various chemical formulas. A lot of mixing and pouring is done, and a lot of vials and beakers have been used in the process. There’s a variety of colored mixtures here and there, a few miniscule explosions and sizzling sounds echoing in the room too. The three of you mix chemicals, substances, acids and even solid materials into various formulas in hopes to come up with the “perfect” solution; of course, it can’t all happen in one day despite you wanting it to.

The three of you started working at 6:30 in the morning, and by the time you’ve decided to take a break after working hours straight, it was already 5:00pm. Jisung left for a few minutes to get some food, returning shortly after with a plastic bag of packed meals and three cups of take-out coffee. You and Seungmin clean the area before all three of you exit the room and head for the lab lounge room.

There, Jisung distributes the food and drinks before plopping down on a beanbag and releasing a sigh, “I can’t recall the last time I was that productive.”

Seungmin chuckles, “We’re always productive in the lab, what are you talking about?”

“I think it’s because we worked hours straight without breaks.” you point out with a small smile before sipping your coffee, “And it’s just the three of us working, so that means we did more workload each.”

“True.” Jisung laughs, “Speaking of which...who else knows about all...this?”

You hum, “Minho. I told him yesterday, but I assume he’s already told Chan some of it.”

“Yeah, very Minho-like. He and Chan have always been close-knit.” Seungmin explains, “Chan was recruited into SKZ ahead, and he was Minho’s superior for about a year, from what I remember.”

“Mhmm. Chan was his superior, but after one year of doing missions almost perfectly, Chan appealed with Jung to have Minho ‘promoted’. They’re now the same rank, per se, but Minho still treats Chan and acts as if he’s his superior.” Jisung pipes in, shoving a piece of chicken in his mouth after speaking.

“Were they always in the same team?” you ask.

Seungmin tilts his head, “Not permanently. Changbin also came into the picture, and they were the main trio. Although...back then, Changbin was usually on missions with Jeongin and Hyunjin. Minho was with Chan and a woman named Jiyeon.”

You hum, nodding your head and swallowing your food. Afterwards, you speak again, “Wooyoung from a cafe did mention a Jiyeon as well. Minho didn’t look too...happy. But I didn’t ask.”

“Ah, so you met Wooyoung too! I love that guy!” Jisung chuckles before his bright smile fades into something more melancholic, “And Minho probably reacted that way because she - ”

“She left SKZ as well.”

The three of you snap your attention to the male leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed and facial expression blank. You offer him a small smile, and the dull color in his face warms with color, a small smile on his lips as well. Jisung waves at his friend before chuckling sheepishly, “Sorry about that.”

Minho uncrosses his arms and shrugs it off with a smile, “It’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting any of you - besides Chan and I - would remember her.”

Seungmin shakes his head, “I was never close to her though. It was always just you, Chan, and Changbin with her. Sometimes Hyunjin.”

“Yeah? Well, Jiyeon never liked big groups of friends.” Minho releases a sigh, “And she never really stepped foot in the lab since she was busy running missions here and there. She loved the adrenaline rush.”

You feel your cheeks flushing - you’re not sure if it’s jealousy, embarrassment or awkwardness - maybe a mix of everything. But when Minho takes a seat next to you by the lounge table, putting an arm around the backrest of your seat, you’re pretty sure your flushed cheeks are a result of his doing. Seungmin and Jisung aren’t blind as they throw each other knowing looks.

Great, your cheeks are as red as the straw of your coffee.

Clearing your throat, you turn to look at Minho despite the fact that your face is still flushed. “So, what brings you here?” you ask in an attempt to divert attention away from you.

Luckily, Jisung and Seungmin give it up and look at Minho expectantly as well. “I have more intel for you all.” Minho replies, “From Busan.”

“Busan?” Seungmin inquires, “Did your team infiltrate a base or facility there?”

Minho nods, “Yes, though I assume the three of you would have an idea of what we found already.”

Jisung melts further into the beanbag he was sitting on, sipping on his coffee, “Busan’s lab facilities are known for holding acids, specifically hydrochloric, nitric, and perchloric acid.”

“In other words, some substances that could be traced in Cle’s serum.” you finish.

Minho’s lips curl into a small smirk, “Exactly. The team has brought the findings in and are currently transporting them to one of the lab rooms right now. How’s your work going?”

Jisung answers first, “We’ve attempted to make various formulas for an anti-serum and have tried them on various prototypes, but since we only have a limited number of Cle prototypes, we have to practice discretion to make sure we don’t run out of it before we actually get to test the perfect solution on it.”

“I hope the findings from Busan include more prototypes?” Seungmin playfully chuckles.

Minho smiles in response, an apologetic look on his face, “Unfortunately, none. Though we did find our next target area in Gangwon. Cle’s Gangwon facility is just a small clinic during the day, but through connections and bribes, the owner of that clinic allows Cle to use it for secret research at night. So, no one really suspects it because it literally just looks like a neighborhood clinic.”

Seungmin mutters under his breath, “Using a medical facade as cover...disappointing.”

Minho gives him a small smile before speaking, “Well, I’m leaving for Gangwon in a bit. Hopefully, I get some prototype serums for you guys.”

“I’ll go with you.” you say out of the blue, surprising both Jisung and Minho; Seungmin just hums in curiosity.

Minho puts a hand on your head to smooth your hair, “I appreciate the company, but I told you that you three should focus on lab work.”

You gently remove his hand from your head, lowering it so that you could envelope it with both your hands under the table. You use both your thumbs to brush gentle strokes on the back of the agent’s hand. Hopefully, neither of the two younger males notice the gesture. You aren’t ready for their teasing...yet.

“I know,” you start to speak, “but the three of us are currently waiting for the results of one experiment because we attempted to recreate Cle’s most recent prototype.”

“It’s going to take at least half a day for the formula to fully settle.” Jisung points out, “While waiting, I’m going to run tests on the stuff you guys brought back from Busan.”

“I’m going to do more research in the data archives.” Seungmin nods.

You look up at Minho, tilting your head, “If that Gangwon facility does have their prototypes, I’d like to take a look at them ASAP. I might also find useful files there.”

With a deep sigh, Minho closes his eyes and nods, “Fine, but we have to be quick, alright? I’m going without a team because intel tells us that the facility isn’t guarded.”

“Why?” Jisung asks.

“Because, like I said, it makes use of the fact that the location is a clinic.” Minho explains again, “With that facade, Cle is able to do research and run tests at night without anyone bothering them at all. Why waste manpower and resources on a location that isn’t meddled with at all?”

“Makes sense.” Jisung notes.

“There’s probably going to be one or two scientists at most, but that’s it. I can take care of that quickly.” Minho turns to you, “But you still have to be careful, alright?”

You nod, “Of course.”

“I want to keep this as lowkey as possible. Hence, me not even bringing a team with me.” Minho says, nodding his head towards the coffee Jisung gave you.

You hum, and without much thought, grab the coffee cup and hold it close to the agent’s lips. Minho slightly shifts to sip from the straw, causing you to stifle a giggle as you look at him fondly. After he sips enough, he playfully looks at you and jokes, “It’s lukewarm coffee. You’re so boring.”

You scoff and hold the coffee away from him, “Excuse me, but this was iced a while ago.”

Minho sticks his tongue out, causing you to playfully swat his face away. Completely forgetting that you had two other friends in the room, Jisung snickers and slaps the beanbag repeatedly, “Are you two officially dating already? Like dating dating? ‘Cause you’re both acting like one real couple right now!”

You and Minho snap your heads to the male who is currently curled up on the floor, clutching his stomach as he laughs. Seungmin looks at him with a “you good bro” kind of face before his expression shifts to that with a sly smirk, “He’s got a point. I am intrigued.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny.” Minho says playfully, a smug smirk on his lips before he pushes his chair out and stands up.

“Boo!” Jisung says from the floor.

Minho playfully rolls his eyes before turning to you, “We aren’t taking any of the agents’ vehicles to Gangwon in order to remain lowkey. We’ll take the bus. Meet me by HQ’s main entrance in 15 minutes.”

“Ok.” you reply, still trying to calm your flustered state from Jisung and Seungmin’s light teasing.

With that, Minho leaves the room, leaving you, Jisung, and Seungmin staring at each other. You slowly grab your coffee in an attempt to quench your drying throat, but before you can take a sip, Jisung’s banter stops you.

“If you sip from that straw, that’s an indirect kiss with Minho.”

“Han Jisung!”

Seungmin jokes along with a straight face, “Do it.”

“Not you too…”

“Dating isn’t a foreign word to me, y/n.” Minho groans as the bus moves.

Thankfully, there weren’t many people on board, except for you, Minho and maybe around nine or ten people. You cross your arms, furrowing your eyebrows a bit too seriously; Minho thought it was cute, but he doesn’t say it out loud. “I know, but like...have you actually really dated anyone? Do agents have time to do that?” you muse, “Jisung’s question really got me thinking…”

Minho rolls his eyes to feign irritation, but the faint shade of pink on his cheeks says otherwise. “I...have dated before. It was nothing too serious in my opinion. It’s just...yeah. Not worth it.” he says, choosing his words carefully.

“So your flirtatious side did come from somewhere.” you tease.

“Haha, very funny.” Minho smirks, pinching your nose, “And you? Hard to believe someone as pretty as you has never had a relationship.”

“Ha, there’s the flirt in you.” you say in a deadpan manner before shaking your head, “But no, I’ve never dated anyone. I dated my work, unfortunately. My medical and scientific goals were the love of my life.”

“Were?”

You shrug, “Now, I don’t think it’s the same anymore.”

“Hmmm.” Minho hums to himself in thought, leaning back against his seat, “Fascinating.”

A few seconds later, Minho feels a weight fall on his shoulder. He slowly turns, now realizing that you had laid your head on his shoulder, your eyes closed in bliss as soft snores escaped your lips. Minho’s heart sings for joy and melts like chocolate at the sight of it all, and he has to use all his strength to keep himself from sobbing in joy.

“I told you I’d go to Gangwon alone.” he whispers with an amused smirk on his lips.

He presses a chaste kiss on the top of your head, gently nuzzling his nose into your hair while doing so. Unconsciously, you wrap your arms around his, scooting ever-so-slightly closer to his side. Minho stifles another chuckle, using his free hand to reposition your head to a more comfortable position on his shoulder before leaning back and relaxing completely.

Gangwon was still one hour away. Perhaps he’d indulge and relish in the way you fit perfectly by his side, giving him the light he’s lost long ago.

When Minho woke you up an hour later, you both arrived at one of the Gangwon bus stops. From there, you both put on a little act as some random couple simply strolling the city, hand-in-hand and laughing about some stupid joke (funnily enough, Jisung had randomly texted Minho a joke he and Jeongin thought of, so that’s what he used).

Since you and Minho left HQ at a calculated time, you both arrived at the location by night time; that would mean sneaking in would be a piece of cake, especially for Minho.

As you both approach the clinic-like building, Minho notices that the lights are off. “Either they’re out or it’s a trap.” he whispers to you, tugging on your hand to pull you close, “Don’t stay away from me, ok?”

“Ok.” you reply.

With that, Minho does his agent-y stuff, sneaking in through a window that he skillfully opens without a single noise. He slips in first, helping you in afterwards. Proceeding with caution, the two of you slip further inside the clinic, checking the rooms for anything.

There’s a lounge room that’s practically empty, but there are traces of chemical substances littering the floor. You swab the samples and place them in bottles before putting them in a case. Minho scans the room with his sharp eyes and speaks with a quiet voice, “Those look fresh. Perhaps there’s been activity not too long ago?”

“Yeah,” you nod your head, “but judging by the appearance of consistency of these substances, I’d say it was from hours ago...maybe earlier this morning?”

“I don’t see or sense any sign of people right now.” Minho brings a finger to his chin, “Either they worked this morning and left tonight, or they aren’t here yet. Either way, we should hurry. Are you done here?”

“Yeah, let’s go to the next room.”

After searching another two rooms that left you empty-handed, you proceeded to the last door which was locked. Fortunately, Minho had contacted Felix who effortlessly hacked into the system and breached past the lock, allowing you access into the room. You and Minho then enter, beginning to search for anything useful once more.

You find a filing cabinet and sift through its contents, eyes speedily but carefully going through the numerous sheets of paper inside. Minho tinkers with a nearby cabinet that reveals a few bottles of prototype serums when he manages to get it open. “Looks like Seungmin’s going to be happy.” Minho says quietly.

You hum, “Prototypes?”

“A few.” the agent responds, putting the bottles in a secured case.

“Good.” you say, eyes never leaving the files you’re currently going through, “How did they manage to get my information…”

Minho shrugs, standing behind you as he peers over your shoulder, “Networks and connections. Plus, many of Cle’s agents are ex-SKZ scientists. I’m sure they managed to steal some information from our database.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” you tilt your head to look at the male.

He answers plainly, “Of course, but a month after the incident in the labs, Felix and the tech team did a full-sweep and eliminated any bugs, viruses, hacks, and theft issues in our database. They’ve monitored it closely ever since.”

“I see.” you nod, putting a folder back into the filing cabinet and pulling out another one, “These are mostly just scrapped plans and formulas that didn’t seem to give them success with their serum.”

Minho nods, walking over to the other side of the room to where a locker-like cabinet stood. “Just grab what you think will help the three of you in the lab.” he says, preoccupying himself with getting the locker open.

You nod in response, pulling out another folder. A small wave of satisfaction hits you as you read the contents of the files, “This is a fairly recent file, and based on the notes and comments, scribbled on it, this is their most current formula. It...it’s identical to the one I kept at home.”

Minho has a subtle smirk on his lips, an unexplainable sense of pride bubbling in him at the thought of you being so capable, “Is that so? I guess that explains why they needed you on board. Probably knew you’d make the process faster for them since you’re an expert.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” you sheepishly chuckle, “They just knew I knew something and wanted to use that, I guess.”

Minho finally gets the locker open and narrows his eyes at the mess inside. And by mess, meaning there was so much clutter inside like someone just shoved their whole life inside. With a sigh of un-amusement, the male rummages through the items inside while saying, “Well, either way, they’re basically done with their serum, and if our intel is correct, they’re going to sell and supply those serums to high-bidding private parties in the black market.”

“I know. Jisung, Seungmin, and I will try to work on a solution as quickly as possible.” you assure the male, grabbing a few folders with formulas and plans and shoving it inside your bag.

“I know you three will.” Minho says with a small smile.

You close one filing cabinet and open another one, pulling out a random folder in the process. The first few sheets of paper are medical records, but you don’t bother to read what’s written or whose name it belongs to.

Not until the next sheet of paper reveals a picture.

There, in full color, is a picture of your dear friend, Ahn Hyejoo.

You tilt your head in utter confusion, wondering if the late doctor was also in kahoots with Cle or something of the like. You flip to the next page of the file, but regret it as soon as you feel your heart sinking to the deepest depths of despair. There on the paper, in clear writing, were plans of her apparent death.

She died in an accident. An accident.

But according to these files, Cle had “staged” or planned that accident.

It didn’t make sense. Why would they do that? Ahn Hyejoo was a humble and sweet doctor who spent most of her time drowning herself in chamomile tea and eating shortcake during her breaks in the hospital. She was the doctor who greeted everyone with a smile and remained extremely patient even to the crankier patients. She dedicated her short life to serving others and helping in the hospital. What could she have possibly done to have Cle end her life?

Your heart palpitates at the mere confusion, mind swirling and body shaking at what you had just read. “I don’t understand…” you trail off, more to yourself than anyone, really; you doubt Minho heard you as well.

Little did you know, just as you were frazzled by your discovery, so was Minho.

After rummaging through the heap of mess in the locker, he stumbled upon three things - three very distinct things to him.

A golden bracelet adorned with small red-ruby charms.

A glittery, black hair scrunchie used to tie someone’s hair into a ponytail.

And a single silver, dangling earring in the shape of an arrow, a small star at the tip of it.

The bracelet belonged to her. The scrunchie belonged to her. The earring belonged to him.

With a clenched jaw, the male agent sweeps the items to the side, revealing a small folder with just a few sheets of paper inside. Opening it, his eyes land on the picture of a woman, and below her picture is her personal information and profile details, much like how SKZ files looked like - except this was a profile for Cle agents.

Minho knew. He knew before Jiyeon left his life. But to see it again and be reminded once more...it didn’t sadden him. It only angered him, the disgusting feeling of bitterness piling inside.

From the other end of the room, you hastily put Hyejoo’s file back into the cabinet before walking over to Minho. You gently tap his back, whispering, “I think I’m good. I have enough data.”

But the agent doesn’t respond, and upon a better look, you notice how tense his body is. You decide to follow his gaze, eyes landing on the file in his hands - a woman’s profile. You assumed it to be the Jiyeon woman Seungmin and Jisung mentioned. Your eyes widened upon seeing that her profile was under Cle, so without a second thought, you brought your eyes back to Minho.

You expected to see rage - and yes, the thought of Jiyeon always angered him - but all you could see right now was bitterness and a hint of sorrow. You gently clasp a hand around his and whisper a bit louder, “Minho?”

He snaps out of his daze and quickly turns his eyes to you, offering an apologetic smile - a stark contrast to how his eyes looked a while ago. “Sorry, I just - ” he begins, but is cut off by a light snicker.

“Fancy seeing you two here.”

Minho doesn’t turn his head, narrowing his eyes instead. You, however, snap your head to the voice almost immediately, recognizing the familiarity without any issue. And because you do, your eyes widen with horror and heart ache, chest constricting with a sickening feeling as your hands move to grab the sleeve of Minho’s jacket. “Hyunbin…” you manage to gasp out, still unable to accept the fact the Minho was right about his assumption.

“Hey, y/n.” he says as if there was nothing wrong with the situation.

“I don’t understand...why?” you feel your legs go numb.

Hyunbin shrugs casually, crossing his arms, “Our friendship was all an act, my dear. I’ve always been a Cle agent. My role in Gongjak was just a cover to track and monitor you.”

“Wha - ” the words get stuck in your throat; you feel like you’ve been shot by a million arrows at once, dragged along the pavement, and thrown off a cliff when his words begin to sink in.

“It was going alright, I would say. Well, until you got involved with SKZ again and perhaps...romantically involved with that man.” Hyunbin snides.

You ignore the last part of his statement and instead ask, “What did Hyejoo do then? I saw the files. Did you know your bosses staged her accident?”

“Yes, I came up with the idea.” Hyunbin laughs, “Hyejoo’s curiosity knows no bounds. It was my mistake to let myself slip, but one evening, we had...well, spent a night together, mostly for my amusement. However, her curiosity prompted her to snoop around my place and see some...things. Couldn’t let her live after all that now, could I?”

Your body shivers involuntarily, breath hitching in your throat when Hyunbin pulls a gun out. Fortunately, Minho is just as quick, hiding you behind him as he pulls his own gun out and aims it at the male doctor. Hyunbin snickers, “You do know that my target is you, Lee, not y/n, right?”

Minho is unfazed as he levels a glare, “I know. But you’re not getting your hands on her, so be my guest and try to shoot me down.”

In the blink of an eye, both males pull their respective triggers; Hyunbin moves to the side to avoid Minho’s bullet while Minho pulls your wrist, ducking down to dodge Hyunbin’s. Without a second to waste, Minho gently pushes you behind one of the desks, “Don’t leave this spot, ok?”

You nod, heart thumping in your chest as Minho stands up to confront Hyunbin. The agent draws the doctor out into the hallway of the clinic and away from the room they were previously in. Making use of the other rooms, furniture, and walls, the two begin a rapid-fire shoot out. Bullets fly here and there, breaking vases and cracking the cement walls like mere chalk. Hyunbin may be an agent, but his shots are a bit off and frenzied, narrowly missing Minho each time. It gives him enough time to dart across the hall, taking refuge behind a wall.

Hyunbin stops shooting, and Minho knows he’s out of ammo. Taking advantage of the time frame, Minho pokes out of his hiding spot and aims at Hyunbin, pulling the trigger and landing a clean shot on the hand the doctor held his gun with. Hyunbin hisses as he drops his gun to the ground, giving Minho ample time to pocket his own gun - he’d rather save him ammo - while he rushes over to where Hyunbin stands. From there, the two males resort to physical fighting.

With Hyunbin still recovering from the shot to his hand, Minho easily lands a punch on the male’s face, causing him to stumble back. While it was normal for him to do so in the context of his job, it also gave Minho some sense of satisfaction to hit the man who built up your trust, only to single-handedly smash it down; it was like hitting him for you in a way.

Minho cracks his knuckles and stretches his neck, “You know….y/n really trusted you. She considered you her closest friend.”

“That’s her mistake.” Hyunbin says, steadying his posture for a fight, “She put her trust on the wrong person. Though, I can’t really blame her.”

The doctor then lunges at Minho, swinging punch after punch as if he were in a hurry. Minho observes his movement, calculating each swing with focused eyes; it helps him dodge or counter his opponent’s attacks. The agent then grabs Hyunbin’s wrists and twists it behind him, causing the latter to yelp in pain. Minho then uses the opportunity to kick Hyunbin down from behind, releasing a huff afterwards, “I’m surprised you didn’t just kidnap y/n during your fake friendship.”

Hyunbin stands up and shrugs the pain off, “I was tasked to simply keep watch over her until Cle wanted to make a move. We weren’t expecting she’d go back to SKZ...not after what she went through there.”

“So you knew?”

“I knew she was involved, but my superiors didn’t say anything else.”

Minho’s lips curl into a scowl, “Cle’s really just a den of snakes huh…”

At this, Hyunbin’s snickers become more audible and taunting, “Oh, you would know, wouldn’t you, Agent Lee?”

“Wh - ”

“Your precious Jiyeon was also part of that so-called ‘den of snakes’ wasn’t she?” Hyunbin laughs, “Unfortunately for you, despite your skill and intelligence, you fell for that woman. She was charming indeed, but I did not expect you to actually date her.”

Minho pretends like the comment doesn’t affect him, but Hyunbin notices the subtle change in his body language - tense and guarded. Putting on a stone-faced facade, Minho says, “She’s gone now, isn’t she? That’s all that matters.”

“Oh, ‘cause you have dear Dr. Song now?” Hyunbin pretends to gag, “Unfortunately for you, I’m going to have to take her away.”

“Like I said, be my guest and shoot me down if you want her.”

As if that spurred Hyunbin on, the doctor aggressively lunges at Minho, the sheer force of it making him take a few steps back. Minho is just as strong, standing his ground as he wrestles with the other male. With practiced speed, Minho uses one hand to grab his pocket knife, twirling it in his hand before lodging it into Hyunbin’s shoulder. The doctor yells, gritting his teeth as he tries to pry it away from him. However, Minho is way ahead of him, pulling the knife out and stabbing it onto the male’s torso, causing him to let go of Minho and crouch down on the floor.

“I’d like to kill you right now - ” Minho doesn’t get to finish his sentence because Hyunbin pulls the knife out from his body and swings it at Minho’s leg.

Fortunately, the agent merely side-steps, dodging the attempt easily. Minho pulls Hyunbin up by the collar of his shirt, bringing him close so that he could knee him in the abdomen. The doctor crumples down on the floor, seemingly unconscious. Minho then turns on his heel to return to you, but Hyunbin gets up when Minho turns his back. Hyunbin lunges at the agent, tackling him to the ground. With Minho recovering his bearings, Hyunbin straddles him and wastes no time in launching a flurry of punches. Around three punches land on Minho’s face before the agent once again overpowers the doctor, turning the tables so it was Hyunbin below him.

But Hyunbin is far from done, bringing a knee to Minho’s stomach, the force and power of it causing the agent to fall back. Hyunbin then grabs the knife that was on the floor, straddling Minho once more as he lunges the weapon into Minho’s arm. He winces but does not falter, gritting his teeth as he maneuvers their weight to flip Hyunbin over and behind him in a tumbling motion. Minho takes the knife out and throws it towards Hyunbin, piercing the doctor’s leg, prompting him to limp as he staggers towards the agent.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Minho pulls his gun out and swiftly pulls the trigger, landing a clean shot on Hyunbin’s chest. The doctor gasps out breathlessly, falling to the ground and griping in pain. Minho scoffs, tucking his gun back in and kicking Hyunbin to the wall of the room for extra measure. Finally, he makes his leave and returns to the room where you are.

He crouches down beside the desk he left you at, offering a small smile, “We should go.”

You worriedly take in his bloodied appearance, sighing, “Ok.”

But just as you stand up, you hear the door slamming and a digital lock beeping. Both you and Minho turn towards the sound; you look at Hyunbin in horror while Minho narrows his eyes coldly.

“No one’s getting out of this alive!” he yells, blood dripping down his chin; Minho’s honestly surprised he survived that gunshot.

“Slowly walk towards the door, y/n.” Minho instructs you.

You do as you are told, taking careful steps towards the door. Hyunbin slowly approaches you, and your heart freezes for a second. Minho, however, is quick compared to the two of you, grabbing Hyunbin’s wrist and pulling the doctor towards him to bring a knee to his injuries. Hyunbin coughs up blood, and Minho flings him towards the back of the room, causing him to crash into the shelves lining the wall. By now, both you and Minho are at the door, trying to get it open.

“No use!” Hyunbin cackles from where he’s slumped over broken shelves, “I’ve encoded it to never open unless I say so!”

Minho scowls, shooting a glare before making quick use of his intelligence to bypass the security code. But when he hears your soft, shaky voice, his movements halt for a second. “Hyunbin...please don’t.” you croak out, pleading eyes meeting the doctor’s.

The Hyunbin you knew would have smiled softly and chuckled like the spring breeze, but right now, he scoffed and allowed his lips to curl into a hungry smirk, “Boom.”

Before Minho can stop him, Hyunbin pulls a lighter from his pocket, setting the various chemicals around on fire. Minho grabs the small case where he kept the Cle serum samples and stays close to the door.

“Hyunbin!” you yell, but the doctor is busy laughing; it’s not an evil, twisted laugh - it’s cold and calm and almost smooth, sending chills down your spine.

Minho speaks into his comm device, “Felix! I need you to breach this code now!”

“On it.” the younger responds.

But just a few seconds after Hyunbin lights the chemicals on fire, a small explosion bursts, a thick blanket of pungent smoke swirling in the room and causing you both to cough. The air is extremely hot as the fire grows bigger and closer to a large bottle of unknown liquids. Minho wraps you in his arms as if shielding you for an imminent explosion, his voice commanding yet leveled as he speaks into the comm again, “Anytime Lix!”

“Wait! Just...a little…” Felix says from HQ through the comms, “...a little more...”

“Hyunbin…” you trail off brokenly.

Minho turns his head to the doctor who is now engulfed in flames, silent yet smirking as if he had won. The agent pulls you closer to him, making sure you don’t see the scene unfolding before you.

“There!” Felix announces.

The minute the younger male bypasses the code and has the door unlocked, a bigger explosion booms in the room. As the explosion goes off, Minho pushes forward, both of you tripping over each other’s legs as you fall to the floor. Thankfully, that fall somehow allowed you two from getting directly hit by said explosion, though the fumes may have gotten to both of you nonetheless.

Quick to hit feet, Minho pulls you up and wastes no time dashing out of the clinic. Once outside, the whole place begins to go up in flames, the crackling sounds of fire burning disturbing the night. Minho feels you shaking by his side, so he wraps his arms around you and ushers you to the secrecy and shadows of the trees.

“Lix, please have accommodations arranged for us here in Gangwon. You know where.” Minho quietly says into his comms, “With a good change of clothes for me and y/n.”

“You got it.”

The agent grips the small case of Cle serum bottles in one hand before turning to you to press a light kiss to your forehead before speaking, “There’s a small inn here in Gangwon that we have connections to, so they’ll give us a place to rest in for tonight.”

“Won’t they suspect that you're bloody and we’re covered in ash, dirt and smell like a lab?” you ask softly.

Minho smiles gently, beginning to walk, “The owner is an SKZ agent. They know what’s up.”

“By the way...I still have the files in my bag. I didn’t leave anything.” you say, hoping it somehow mattered despite the fact that Minho’s lowkey mission ended up with a burning clinic and dead ex-friend.

Minho smiles at you, squeezing your hand, “Good job.”

A few blocks away from the clinic site, a car picks the two of you up and brings you to the inn where Felix arranged for accommodations. A woman at the lobby greets Minho with a slight bow, “Agent Lee.”

“Agent Ju.” Minho greets in kind.

“Your room is ready.” she smiles gently while turning to you, “Necessary medical kits are there as well, and we’ve provided a phone in case you need it. I had someone go out to get clothes, but you might receive it tomorrow morning, so I prepared two decent robes for the two of you to use in the meantime.”

“Thank you.” Minho nods his head, leading you up the stairs after Ju gives both of you a smile and wave.

Once you both get inside the room prepared for you two, Minho plops the case and your bag on the floor beside the bed before sitting down. “I’m going to update HQ on our situation.” he says softly, “You can take it easy now.”

You nod, choosing to sit next to him. When you lean your head on his shoulder - the non-injured one, the agent puts a comforting hand on your thigh, rubbing gentle patterns on the skin. With his other hand, he holds the phone Ju provided to his ear, waiting for HQ to pick up. A few seconds later, a familiar voice responds, “Hello?”

“Chan.”

“Hmm?”

“Y/n and I are at Ju’s inn. We finished searching the clinic and...I need you to report back to Jung for me.”

“Ok, go. I’m listening.”

Minho then begins to tell the older male the events that transpired that evening, including what you found, who you encountered and what happened after. When he finishes recalling the situation, he ends with, “We’ll spend a night here to recover. We’ll head back to HQ tomorrow morning.”

“Got it.” Chan says from the other end, “I’m glad you’re both safe, now get some rest.”

“Yeah, see you.”

Minho ends the call then puts the phone on the bedside table. He brings his hand to the stab wound Hyunbin left on his shoulder and sighs, “For a doctor, he sure knows how to use a knife.”

You offer a small smile, “Well, we do surgeries, you know?”

Minho lightly chuckles, “Right, right.”

You lift your head from his shoulder and nod your head towards the bathroom, “You need to take a bath so I can treat that immediately. And, the fire and explosions involved chemical substances, so I don’t want to risk it contaminating or lingering on your skin.”

“You should bath first.” the male responds, “You were caught in that as well.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have any other injuries.” you reason.

“We both need a bath, considering chemicals exploded around us and we’re covered in all sorts of dirt and soot.” Minho stands up, pulling you up with him, “Let’s take a shower together, hmm? Win-win situation.”

You blush at the thought, immediately looking down at the carpeted floor. Minho stifles a laugh at your reaction before squeezing your hand, “I won’t do anything, y/n. Of course, if you’re uncomfortable, you can shower ahead.”

It takes you a moment to recover before you can shake your head and flash a very shy smile, “No, it’s fine...we can do that.”

With an assuring smile, Minho leads you to the bathroom. There, he strips out of his clothes and enters the shower, turning the water on. He turns to you and tilts his head, “Are you gonna just stand there?”

You pout and begin to remove your clothes as well; though your cheeks are burning, you get in the shower with him.

You expected to be flustered and awkward right now, but the entire shower time between you two is filled with a comfortable silence, giving you a sense of normalcy and peace. Minho takes a good few minutes under the shower head; while you would have wanted to take this time to appreciate his physique, your eyes automatically drifted to the stab wound on his shoulder.

Kang Hyunbin did that.

Your “friend” Hyunbin did that.

And now that the adrenaline wears off, you feel the heart ache and exhaustion wash over you like a wave crashing against the rocks of a cliff. The tears that should have poured down in the clinic suddenly rush down now, mixing in with the water dripping from your wet hair. Minho doesn’t notice as he rinses his hair from the shampoo, but when a sob escapes your lips, his attention snaps to you.

“Y/n?”

And right there and then, sob after sob leaves you choking and sniffing, tears rushing down your face like a dam released. You have to bring a hand to your mouth to control your cries, and it absolutely shatters the male bathing with you. It takes Minho a second to move, but as quickly as he can, he brings his arms around you and pulls you close to him. This was probably the tightest, closest hug you’ve ever shared, and the idea somehow calms you.

Still, your body violently shakes in his hold as you cry your heart out, wails blending with the sound of the water hitting the tiled floor from the shower. Minho’s hand travels up and down your back in an attempt to soothe you as he whispers, “It’s ok, let it all out. You’ll be ok.”

Your hands come up to clutch at his back, holding him close as if he was the only thing keeping you from slipping - a lifeline of sorts. You bury your head by the crook of his neck and do as he said, crying and crying until your tears ran out.

After a few minutes, your breathing stabilized and your cries had stopped. Minho pulls away just enough to look in your eyes, using one hand to move wet strands of hair away from your face. “You ok?” he asks gently.

You nod, offering a broken but much calmer smile now. Minho hums in satisfaction before pulling you under the shower head. You take turns in rinsing yourselves in the warm, relaxing water, making use of the soap and shampoo provided. After you’re both essentially cleaned up, the agent grabs two towels and offers one to you so you could get dried up. Then, you both slip into the comfy bathrobes provided before stepping out of the bathroom.

Minho walks over to the bed while you grab a first aid kit. You return to Minho’s side before moving in front of him, between his legs, and gently shrug off one sleeve of his robe to reveal the stab wound. You work in silence, putting the necessary medicines and stitching the injury up with gentle and nimble hands. Minho looks up at you with warm eyes, and you’d meet his gaze every so often while offering a small smile. Afterwards, you put the kit aside on the floor, but you do not leave your position.

Instead, your hands rest on his shoulders as his arms carefully wind around your waist. With one tug, he manages to pull you close, essentially making you sit on his lap with your legs on either side of him. Despite the blush on your cheeks, you lean your forehead against his, closing your eyes tiredly and releasing a shaky breath. “You’re lucky Hyunbin didn’t turn out to be a fight-centered agent.” you say.

“Hmm?”

You gesture the wound on his shoulder, “He may be an agent, but I guess he was a scientist and doctor first and foremost, not a field agent like you are. If he was, I think he would have given you worse injuries.”

“That’s true.” Minho nods, “Still surprised he can somehow carry a fight though.”

“I trusted him.”

Minho hums quietly, “I know.”

You sniff, urging yourself not to cry again, “Why’d it have to be him?”

“Did you love him?”

“I did not.” you open your teary eyes to meet Minho’s, “But I trusted him enough to be my friend. To be someone I could open up to and be weak with.”

“I know the feeling.” Minho whispers.

You sigh, “I put my trust in the wrong person again.”

Minho looks sympathetic, one hand reaching up to cup your cheek, “...do you still trust me?”

“I do, Minho.”

“Do you trust me with your life?” he says, and you aren’t sure who moved closer, but with every word he whispers, his lips brush against yours.

“I still trust you with everything, Minho.” you taste his lips subtly, “Everything.”

And like an elastic snapping, whatever invisible sheet of resistance that had stood between the two of you had shattered, the force bringing the two of you together. Lips clashed on lips in a slow, languid yet desperate kiss. Emotions poured out in a rush after being kept in for so long. If neither you nor Minho could express how you were feeling in words right now, the kiss you shared was more than enough to convey the message.

One of the male’s hands supports the back of your neck while the other clamps on your waist; your arms snake around his neck, and the two of you ensure that not even air can fit between your bodies. Minho kisses desperately, but there’s still a smooth and patient movement to his lips. They’re so soft and addicting, and you find yourself entranced in the dance he leads with purpose. You can’t help but hum into his mouth when his tongue darts in to continue his tango. Every slide of your tongues against each other sends a shiver down your spine, and Minho finds himself navigating every inch of your mouth like a pirate searching for treasure.

After a while, he pulls away after giving your bottom lip a quick nibble. Foreheads pressed against each other’s, Minho smiles charmingly as he whispers against your lips, “Should we get some rest, y/n?”

“Sounds good.” you smile back.

The male shifts around on the bed, laying down with you beside him and still enveloped in his arms. A few seconds of silence stretches while you both get comfortable on the bed; you eventually settle with resting your head on his chest while his arm coils around your waist. Minho stares at the ceiling, just about ready to close his eyes before you suddenly whisper, “Minho?”

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

“That woman...that was Jiyeon, wasn’t it?”

Minho recalls the files you both saw in the locker back at the clinic. With a few blinks, Minho replies, “Yes, that was her.”

“What happened?”

His silence worries you, thinking that you may have overstepped your boundaries with him. Maybe it was a subject he didn’t want to touch with anyone but the boys. Offering a small smile, you shake your head, “You don’t need to tell me if you aren’t comfortable though.”

“It’s fine.” Minho smiles reassuringly, “I suppose I should tell you.”

“Ok.”

“Jiyeon was my girlfriend.” he starts, giving your waist a little squeeze, “But she betrayed us in SKZ as well. She was Jung’s favorite and most trusted agent.”

“Jung did mention something like that.” you say carefully, “He also said that that agent apparently left or escaped so they’re most probably with Cle now.”

“Is that what he said?” Minho says a bit too bitterly, “Well, of course that’s what he’d tell you to keep you from getting hurt. It’s true that Jiyeon left SKZ, but not because she escaped. She’s dead.”

“How?”

Minho closes his eyes, “I killed her.”

The agent expects you to stand up and scurry away from him - to feel fear and dread or perhaps look at him with disgust. It does, however, surprise him that you cuddle closer to him, gently splaying your hand on top of his chest where his heart rests. “I’m sorry.” you whisper.

Minho lifts a hand to clasp around yours on his chest and offers a gentle smile. His eyes are screaming fondness and warmth as he looks at you, “It’s been years already though. I put it behind me.”

“If I may ask...what did she do?” you shift to look up at him from where you lay.

“Jiyeon and I joined SKZ at the same time. Trained together, got assigned to the same team almost always, and eventually got involved romantically. We were a pretty good team along with Chan and sometimes Bin. I always had her back, and she always had mine. But at some point in time, her behavior shifted and she became more...elusive and mysterious. She avoided a lot of conversations, chose to take missions by herself, and even avoided me for a while. Jung dismissed my concerns; that’s his greatest weakness. For someone of a high position, he’s much too trusting of his own men. I assume that’s why he didn’t realize Dr. Baek was doing...things in the secret labs. Thankfully, Chan understood where I was coming from and we decided to investigate or track her movements. That led me to speculate her involvement with a third-party organization, though I did not think it was Cle at the time.”

“Did you ever actually catch her red-handed?”

“She tried to kill me first. She knew I was suspicious of her after one evening. But I was awake and able to stop her. I let her walk away because I somehow knew we’d cross paths again. Ironically...I crossed paths with her in one of the lounge rooms of the lab department where no one was currently staying in. Hyunbin isn’t the only plot twist - Jiyeon was too. She was involved with Cle’s experiments back then. She was in charge of facilitating certain events that allowed Dr. Baek and his men to acquire certain materials and to keep nosy SKZ agents away from where you were conducting tests.”

“So...how’d you stop - how’d she die?”

“I shot her.” Minho says plainly, “The day that fight broke out in the lab was the day Cle was supposed to transport their experiments to another base or location, according to what Jiyeon was saying. I told Jung, and he told me to dispose of any traitors I could find. That included her. I was expecting to hesitate and find myself torn over the decision, but…I wasn’t. The sight of Jiyeon angered me. She lied to me and broke my trust like a fool, so I was angry. Killing her was...easy. But the realization of what I did hit harder after her death. It haunted me for so long, and I blamed it on myself for being weak...for allowing myself to waste time on human emotions and relationships. Ever since then, I hardened my heart and detached myself from everyone except for Chan and the boys.”

You were about to say something when Minho suddenly says, “But during the aftermath of that incident, Jung and I went to the lab to check on everything and round up the traitors who weren't able to escape. Then I saw you on the floor, crying and looking broken and lost with the chaos going around. I didn’t know you back then - just thought you were an innocent scientist or doctor caught in the fight. But I could tell that something broke you that day the same way killing Jiyeon broke me, and that caused something to stir in me. I knew the pain you were going through, so I consoled you.”

A fragment of your memories flashed in your mind, a sudden realization falling over you as Minho’s words sank in.

You sat on the lab floor with an empty expression, blood dripping down your face and black smoky soot smudging your skin. An agent you didn’t know or have never seen held you in his arms, whispering that it was going to be ok as Jung angrily ordered the others to search for the escaped “traitors”.

“That was you…” you breathe out.

“That was me.” Minho smiles gently, “After seeing you like that, and after I reacted the way I did, I realized that human emotions were...complicated, but they weren’t stupid. It's just that...it’s not something to be wasted on the wrong people. Emotions were something to be used with someone or people who deserved it. When Jung instructed me to fetch you back to SKZ, I somehow connected the dots that you were a scientist involved in that incident and not just an innocent casualty.”

“I see.” you trail off gently, “Why didn’t you say anything? If you knew who I was or what I did already? Is that why you put your trust in me despite me being so secretive?”

“More or less. I figured you’d be more hostile and hesitant to trust me if you found out that I knew about your past.” he admits, “It’s...your defense mechanism. You shut out anyone and anything related to your past, so I wanted to wait until you fully trusted me.”

“You really are something else, Lee Minho.” you hum gently, lips curling into a small smile, “Truly something else.”

“So are you, Song y/n.” Minho hugs you closer.

You chuckle, “Thank you for telling me, Minho. I didn’t know you had gone through so much as well. That’s what Jeongin probably meant when he said you had your reasons for acting certain ways.”

Minho nods, “You’ve put your trust in me, y/n. It’s only fair for me to be transparent with you. And yeah, Jeongin was right. I had my reasons, just as you had yours.”

You let out a sleepy yawn before nuzzling closer to the male agent, “It’s nice to not have to keep secrets anymore.”

“Indeed.” Minho kisses the top of your head, “Thank you for trusting me, y/n.”

“And thank you for not giving up on gaining my trust despite me being difficult.” you smile, lifting your head from his chest and onto the pillow below.

Minho shifts to lie on his side and presses a gentle kiss on your lips before holding you close to him, “Deserved, my dear. Now, let’s get some sleep. You had a rough day.”

“Mhmm.” you let out another yawn, “Good night, Minho.”

“Good night, y/n.”

“I love you.” Minho merely says it in his mind, but he knows he’ll be able to tell you someday.

And perhaps you’d say the same.

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woo-do-hwan · 4 years

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The June Review

Dramas & Films I watched in June

The Romance of Tiger and Rose (2020) [9.5 out of 10]

I finally watched this so I could stop avoiding spoilers and tbh it did not disappoint. I finished this in about 2 days and I honestly don’t know what to do with myself now. I might have to start calling Lu Si the comedy queen because of the one heck of the performance she put on. I also loved the chemistry between the leads and by ep 10, it was so obvious the male lead was so in love with her, my heart just burst for them. The couple also reminded me of Donghua & Fengjiu in some instances bc Han Shuo is whipped for his woman just like Donghua is. Anyway... I might have to go rewatch this bc I feel empty inside now.

My Dear Lady (2020) [6.5 out of 10]

I watched this curiously because of the summary but it seems most of the plot happened towards the end of the drama and by the end it felt rushed. I also got bored often watching most of this but the acting was still good.

Kore Wa Keihi de Ochimasen! (2019) [8.5 out of 10]

I do truly enjoy watching some jdramas bc they’re just 10 episodes with no exaggerated or lengthy plot line and this was exactly it. It also had the subtle romance plot which doesn’t take the majority of the 10 eps which I quite enjoyed. And pretty much each ep came with a different story which I also loved with odd exception of the romance plot and the two last episodes.

Kleun Cheewit (2017) [7.5 out of 10]

This isn’t my first lakorn and it certainly won’t be my last either. The chemistry between the two leads were amazing. I’m not sure what else to say... felt like they dragged out some parts and some things were a little so-so but good drama.

Mystic Pop Up Bar (2020) [9.0 out of 10]

This is probably one of the best dramas I’ve watched this year, at first I wasn’t planning on watching it but I decided to give it a try and little did I know, I was going to be hooked two episodes in. I did mostly watch it for the back story (with the young actors) and I hope when they’re older they might consider doing another drama together. But I’m a sucker for tragedy & angst which I also try to avoid most of the time going into dramas (this is a very odd combo). The plot was great. A great drama, and I notice this also applies to books, when the audience guesses and already knows of the plot twists before they are revealed. It’s quite satisfying when all the pieces fall into place and that is exactly what happened. Mystic Pop Up Bar also kept it light-hearted bc you needed the humour after watching some of the angsty scenes, phew.

Someday or One Day (2019) [8.5 out of 10]

I guess you could say this is a murder mystery for most of the episodes. The twist and turns are quite unexpected and I quite enjoyed watching. Greg Hsu could have my heart any day of the week. (this list is getting longer and longer with each passing day)

Want More 19 (2018) [7.0 out of 10]

A short web drama. I mean... the main reason I was here was for Day6′s OST ‘Chocolate’ It’s a great song. Also an amazing band. Again, it’s just a breather in between long-winded dramas.

The Legend of White Snake (2019) [7.0 out of 10]

I know I said below another drama review that I had changed my ways and don’t skip through things now. Well... I skipped through this one mainly because I got fed up and bored, this consistently lasted through a whole chunk of eps. So I kind of skipped to the end... I didn’t miss much if I’m being honest and I wasn’t a fan of the ending.

Tokyo Tarareba Musume (2017) [8.5 out of 10]

I went through a phase of watching dramas but regretted not paying enough attention to them the first time I watched them, either by skipping through the episode or just missing out episodes in general. Now that I’ve changed my ways and want to fully appreciate dramas, no matter how good or bad, I decided to rewatch this. There’s nothing better than watching Sakaguchi Kentaro be an angsty af man. Anyway, I enjoyed this very much. Jdramas have a lovely charm about them by not being too long and don’t drag out the storyline either.

Good Casting (2020) [8.0 out of 10]

A better title for this show would be Chan Mi and her sidekicks... I wasn’t really a big fan of her character. She was literally everywhere & I think that’s where the plot falls... maybe I would have liked it more if we actually had a chance at seeing more of the other main characters. I think I was trying so hard to find a reason to like it but there wasn’t much to like about it. The premise of it sounded so appealing but again, it was just another drama that fell short.

When My Love Blooms (2020) [7.5 out of 10]

Let’s be real here... I was watching this for Park Jinyoung & Jeon So Nee, I don’t know about you all. Honestly... I felt like Jinyoung & Jeon So Nee’s storyline would have worked well in a standalone drama. That would be quite interesting to see. Anyway, great chemistry between those two as well. I can’t say much for the present day storyline, easiest way to put it, I didn’t like it. But I suppose it’s what I get for a melodrama with the added extra drama tag. (Note to self, stop watching melodramas)

My Woofy Poofy Love (2018) [8.0 out of 10]

It’s quite refreshing to watch short web dramas like this in between heavy dramas. You are angst free while watching fluffy web dramas. This was pure sweetness and very uplifting to watch, especially because I’ve been watching some heavy dramas recently.

Where Your Eyes Linger (2020) [10 out of 10] (BL)

I’ve never given out a 10 before, they’re rare, extremely rare. Perfect actors, perfect length of episodes, perfect storyline. I loved it. I loved the way it reeled you in the first couple of episodes, with the fluff and the humour, then it eased you in and gave you a taste of the angst to come before completely ripping your heart out. And they gave us a kiss! A KISS! It was one of the softest kisses ever. PLEASE GIVE US SEASON 2... Ahem. At the moment, it is one of the best dramas I have seen this year. (I’m going to have to compile a list at the end of year of the best dramas, aren’t I? There’s bound to be more than one, Mystic Pop Up Bar is heading for a Best Drama crown this year too) Anyway. Go watch it, it’s worth it.

The King: Eternal Monarch (2020) [7.5 out of 10]

Okay, if you follow me, you’ll know I was watching this for Woo Do Hwan and also Kim Kyung Name (you might have not known that one) and the queen Kim Go Eun. I mean it’s definitely not the best drama I’ve seen all year, it’s only June, there’s plenty of time for another drama to come out and impress everyone. But with this one... there was nothing really keeping me there except those three. My interest did peak around the middle episodes but died down quickly after. I wasn’t in love with Kim Go Eun/Lee Min Ho pairing but that’s just me, certain episodes they clicked with me and others they didn’t. I wanted more out of that final ep but I don’t at the same time. I wanted to see more of everyone’s life instead of the brief snippets we got, not to be biased but I wanted more to see more of Jo Yeong. I guess you take what you can get... we were teased with so much, the excellent cast, the hype for it and having a well known writer behind it but having watched it, it was a big let down, for me at least.

Born Again (2020) [7.0 out of 10]

For an overall mystery/crime/fantasy/melodrama drama (If we can call it that) it wasn’t that bad... if we exclude the horror of the romance plot. The writer glorified what Jang Ki Yong’s characters did and that was not okay, he clearly needed help. Main Female lead ended up with the wrong guy. Lee Soo Hyuk deserves better. The stylist and him need a raise for his outfits during the later episodes when his past self takes over his current body because hot damn he was pulling that off better than any other character I’ve seen in a suit.

My Holo Love (2020) [8.0 out of 10]

I loved the beginning of the drama but my interest died down after the plot was revealed (an evil man wanting the AI)... but I did however love the last scene of the series, that was a nice way to end it.

Novoland: The Castle In the Sky (2016) [7.5 out of 10]

I just struggled to get into the storyline, I’m not sure whether to go back and watch the “happy ending” (ep 29) because I was fine with how they ended things.

Maybe, Maybe Not (2019) [8.0 out of 10]

This a web drama, sweet and short ^.^

Long Time No See (2017) (BL) [8.5 out of 10]

This is just a short little drama, I loved the chemistry between the leads and it was very action packed for the few episodes it had.

Snow Flower (2019) [Movie] [7.0 out of 10]

There is just something about Japanese movies... and sometimes dramas. It’s hard to explain, where they can be the most melancholic and beautifully filmed thing. It’s the odd feeling I get when I’m drinking coffee and it’s raining outside and I’m just overwhelmed and feeling nostalgic. Have you ever watched a film where you thought it was good, not extremely good, just good and not really have any qualms with it. This was the movie. Setting itself to be a sad movie with it’s summary surrounding terminal illness, but it’s hardly reflected upon. It focuses more on the romantic side of things which I didn’t mind. If you’ve got 2 hours to kill then it might be worth the watch.

Secretly, Greatly (2013) [Movie] [8.0 out of 10]

Worth a watch. It’s a good spy action movie with the comedy elements added into it as well.

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liw-the-melancholic-apple · 4 years

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How it may have gone - Humble Beginnings

A fic taking place in the marauders era. While the political climate seems to head to a conflict, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter are still just teenagers. Dealing with typical teenage problems.

But this year their little group grows. Who would have known that more prefects would be a good thing?

Masterlist

Nine: A hard night's day II

The common room slowly came to live and I vaguely answered the question as to where I’d been that night a couple of times but mostly ignored what happened around me. Until all four girls stood in front of me and ordered me to breakfast.

“Let me get dressed. I probably look like I feel. I’ll meet you in five minutes.”

“You promise?”

“I’d take an oath.” They left and I went upstairs. Looking at my closet I landed on black Jeans, a black and grey flannel and a black cardigan. I redid my hair into the topbun and put on some make-up after brushing my teeth. Just to cheer me up a bit I popped on my favourite ring.

I didn’t quite make my five minute promise but I got up to the Great Hall as quickly as possible. When I entered, though, I considered turning back around and asking Mimi for that toast and jam she had mentioned. They all sat at our table. Milla next to Remus and Peter, who bumped elbows with Nica. Nica talked to Blair who sat across from her and in between Chloe and James who stole some bacon from Sirius’ plate. Why?

I sighed internally and very slowly walked towards the Hufflepuffs. Maybe if I walked slowly enough they’d be done eating and I could not feel that badly. But since I didn’t move at the speed of a flubberworm, I arrived at the table before Peter had started his second course. I sat down next to Mag and across from Toby, keeping some distance between me and the Potter-posse and Crick.

“Morning, you look terrible!”, Magnus greeted me and won a slap against the shoulder.

“Charming.” He grinned at me and handed me a cup and the pot of coffee. “Thanks.”

I mindlessly grabbed a raisin roll and a chocolate muffin and started plucking them apart without really eating.

Nica waved at me.

“Huh?”

“Ugh, if you’re sure you don’t want to come to Hogwarts and spy on those two lovebirds?”

“I am. Got homework and detention.”

“Right! What d'you get?”

“Caring for the plans in the greenhouses one hour a day. Not too bad, actually.”

“You could do both tonight, you know”, Peter said trying not to spit out his sausage and fried egg.

“Not if I want to sleep at some point.”

“Sleep is for the weak! Live a little, Goods! So what if you don’t have all your homework? Nobody will die from it.” Hoarse voice, cheery tone, friendly, casual, not a trace of hostility. Was he kidding?

“Consider me weak then.” I pushed an enormous piece of muffin in my mouth and nearly suffocated.

“It will be so much fun though, shopping and following them around just the right amount”, Blair tried to change my mind.

“I hope you’ll have much fun. But I’ll sit this one out.”

“You’ve sat everything out, since the year started, Tea!”

“Was I talking to you?”

“No, but since we’re friends again, I reckon I can take an interest in your wellbeing again. You’ve spent five weeks in isolation, Black’s right, you should live a little.”

“Thanks for the input.”

“Have I done something?”

“No Crick, course not, sorry. I snuck off to the kitchens yesterday and fell asleep there, I’m just grumpy. Which is another good reason to stay here, by the way. Get some decent sleep.”

“No changing your mind?”

“None.”

The group went back to loudly planning how to spy on Remus and Milla which had those two groan, roll their eyes and giggle. I stayed out of most conversations and focussed on the destruction of yet another raisin roll. My untouched coffee had gone cold by the time the others got up.

“Coming?”, James held out his hand to help me off the bench.

“Sure”, I sighed and took his hand.

He held me back from the others a bit.

“You should have come with the others last night.”

“I was making up with Crick.”

“Before that I mean. You should’ve come outside with them.”

“To do what exactly?”

“Listen to Sirius explain.” I didn’t answer.

“He did explain all of it. Granted, it took him forever which is way too long, but he did. And I think you should have heard it. Maybe even before the others.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m glad he feels… Forget it. It’s fine.”

We arrived outside and pulled out our cigarettes while Milla and Remus waved and made their way to the village.

“This is going to be great!”, Sirius triumphed.

“It better be. We’d have one hell of a mess on our hands, if it isn’t”, Blair answered.

“Don’t be a spoilsport. It will be great, they will come back coupled up and we won’t have to listen to Remus whine about her anymore.”

“Does he do that?”

“What? No, of course not, never, don’t know why I said that”, he recovered very unconvincingly.

I took a last puff, threw the fag on the ground and went back to the foyer.

“Where do you think you’re going?”, Nica shouted.

“To bed! You are off in a minute anyways, aren’t you?”

“We’re giving them an hour head-start. Come back!”

“I’m knackered Chloe, I’ll have a lie-down.” Spoken and disappeared.

“All is not well with you.” Crick had waited for me.

“I’m really tired. Maybe some other time?”

“If you want to talk, I’m here, yeah? Even if some idiot breaks your heart.”

“Noone did. And I wouldn’t come to you with that. I’m not a sadist.”

“You could, though.” I hugged him a little longer than usual trying to express my gratefulness, appreciation and how bad I still felt, then I left him standing in the foyer and went to bed.

Felix had come up to the dorm and woken me up with a weird expression on his face, informing me that Sirius stood in the corridor waiting for me, bothering everyone who went in or out, asking them to get me for him. Groaning I got up and dressed again. I reckoned that I didn’t have a choice to avoid talking to him. After all I had just accused him of ignoring me for no apparent reason, it would be childish to do the same to him.

Breathing in and out two or three times I stood in the common room before opening the door and stepping onto the corridor.

“Goods, hey.”

“Hi.”

“You seemed…discontent this morning.”

“How late is it?”

“Just about lunch time.”

“Bloody hell, I slept for a while, then”

“Yeah, you did. I’ve been here four hours and most of your hosuemates proper hate me by now. Felix was really annoyed when I asked him to get you.”

“He’s thirteen, he’s always annoyed.” I tried a smile. It felt weird.

“Listen, you want to grab a bite and have a chat? I reckon I owe you one.”

“I’d rather not, Sirius. I’m pretty sure I know all I need to know. It’s fine. Kind of.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, yesterday cleared a couple of things up.”

“It did?”

“Yes. Just leave it, yeah?” I turned to either climb back into bed or confront my mountain of homework.

“Goods, I want to talk to you, hold up!”

“You want to talk to me? You want to talk to me? I’ve wanted to talk to you for five bloody weeks. And I’ve tried and sensationally failed, haven’t I? Can’t always get you want.”

I knocked against the barrel.

“Goo…Jette! I’m an idiot, okay? I know. But you deserve a conversation.”

“Damn right! I deserved one first day back from Christmas. Or the day after that. But I didn’t get one. I got death stares and ignorance like I had bloody murdered someone.” I stepped back from the door and lowered my voice again as more and more of my housemates went to lunch.

“I’m sorry”, Sirius hissed. “Which is why I’d like to explain it to you.

“What’s there to explain?”

“All of it!”

“You okay?” Felix and Marvin had just climbed out on the corridor.

“Sure”, I answered.

“You don’t look it.” He turned to Sirius. “She hasn’t had an easy couple of weeks, right? And she’s not good with waking up. Don’t upset her anymore, mate.” He looked into Sirius’ face all earnest and protective and I didn’t think I either ever respected or loved him as much as in that moment.

“I really don’t intend to upset her. I’m trying to apologise and make things right.” What I saw of Sirius’ expression was melancholic.

“You’re a stellar brother, Felix, you know that? She’s lucky to have you.”

“She really is”, I agreed kissing Felix on the cheek and sending him away.

“He’s looking out for you”, Sirius sadly smiled.

“He better be. I’ve done enough of that for him for years. Should’ve seen him in his first year. Lost little idiot.”

“Yeah, I can imagine. Same thing with Reg…” The smile vanished from his face.

“Fuck, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. But I am. So, please have lunch with me?” I sighed deeply. I contemplated for a moment. I walked towards the stairs.

“Thanks, Goods. I appreciate it.”

“Hang on! Should you not be in Hogsmeade spying on Remus?”, I suddenly asked when it occurred to me that he had so looked forward to that little mission.

“Oh, the rest are covering that. Thought this was more important.”

We went up in silence, both wondering where this talk would actually leave us. Sirius pulled me to the very empty Gryffindor table. It was the emptiest of all four of them, only first and second years, Sirius and I. My own table next to it was a little more populated. Obviously the snow and cold kept some people form the village. Most Slytherins were apparently battling the weather and most Ravenclaws had decided to stay in.

Staring at the bowls and plates in front of me I realised I still wasn’t hungry although I barely touched my breakfast apart from brutally mutilating it. Unwillingly I piled some salad on my plate and decorated it with a bit of chicken breast. Sirius took half the total amount of chicken wings and drowned them in ketchup. I waited for him to speak, but he didn’t. He thoroughly enjoyed his food and I forced myself to finish mine. When a third of his plate was cleared he looked up from it and turned to his left, facing me. His face was covered in ketchup, he didn’t care or didn’t notice. I handed him a napkin.

“What did you mean when you said that yesterday cleared up things? I mean it might have for the others because they didn’t know what you knew, but what on earth did it clear up for you?”

I bit my lip and hesitated. He jumped his shadow, I should, too.

“The girls said some things, when they wanted to come pick me up to go upstairs that just…made me understand things better. No need for you to repeat it.”

“Come again?”

“They said that you had told them all about it because there was no need to keep it a secret from your friends.”

“Exactly.”

“That’s that, then.”

“What?”

“Well, I took the hint. That’s why I didn’t join you guys.”

“What hint?”

“Are you serious?”

“Always.” I couldn’t help but chuckle. Should’ve known better than to use that word.

“The way they found out is identical to the way I found out. Not asking for it but hearing it anyway. And you tell them all about it because they’re your friends.”

“Right…”

“Well, that told me all I needed to know.”

“I’m clearly missing something. Mind just telling me what you know.”

“Ugh…” I pushed my plate away and rubbed my hand over my face probably messing up my make-up.

“Do I have to?”

“Please. You seem to think that that means more than it does and I’d like to understand that.”

“It’s not that difficult: They are your friends, so you tell them what’s up when they hear about your housing situation. I’m not your friend, so you don’t tell me. I get that. So,I guess I can go?”

I got up and walked outside to the courtyard. Sirius caught up with me at the first of the icy steps.

“You don’t really believe that, do you?”

“What else should I believe? When I found I seized existing for weeks.”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“But what. Look, it’s fine, really. I don’t fully understand what I’ve done wrong but nobody can be liked by everybody and you don’t have to be friends with me to be friends with them. You just have to accept my presence. As long as you can do that…”

“Will you shut up?”, Sirius interrupted my babbling. “That is not true. None of that is true, yeah? You are my friend. I took a bloody punch for you. By a guy who’s built like a small mountain troll. I do not do that for people I dislike.”

“But…why… how…what?”

“I would have talked to you last night anyways, Goods. James, Remus and Peter set me straight. They were furious. Don’t ever doubt their friendship; I think they were ready to drop me for you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

“Maybe not dropped me completely. The point is that I’m an idiot and you’re my friend. If you still want to be. Seeing how I’m an idiot…”

“Yeah, I want to be your friend, why d’you think I blew up at you.”

“Fine. Friends. Good Merlin. Thought that was obvious after we rescued you from Cricket…”

“So, did I but then you ignored me…”

“Said I’m sorry, haven’t I? Can you just let me explain?”

“Only if we go back inside, I’m freezing.”

He smiled and led me back into the castle and the prefect lounge. We didn’t talk on the way up. I didn’t know what to say anyways, I was rather confused.

In the lounge Sirius ignited the logs in the fireplace and I found some left over bottles of butterbeer.

“Nice!”

“I’m all ears”, I said after the first sip and gave Sirius my undivided attention.

“Right. Okay. Where do I start?”

“Where did you start yesterday?”

“Answering all the question the girls had”, he laughed.

“I have a question but I don’t know whether I want it answered.”

“Go for it.”

“When I realised you lived with James although your parents are alive and well I kind of assumed they… chased you out of their house. That right?”

“Sort of. I mean, you could say that. Look, I’ll go a bit far back in the story to answer that, yeah? That might be easiest.” I nodded.

“Here we go: My parents are pathetic, vile, racist people who love their so called blood purity and hate everything that isn’t a pureblood wizard or witch. I didn’t get that when I was young and I don’t get it now. And I’ve always let them know that I neither understand nor agree. When I was younger they didn’t make a big deal out of it, kept repeating their credo to me and hoped with all the traditional pureblood education I’d get the hang of it in time.

That changed when I started Hogwarts, got sorted into Gryffindor and befriended James, Peter and Remus. A bloodtraitor and two halfbloods were not who my parents wanted me to spend my time with. When I came home for Christmas they told me they were disappointed and expected me to use my position in Gryffindor House to spy on all those unworthy of magic so they could use that information in the Ministry to get unpure blood banned from Hogwarts. I refused. I told them I liked the blood traitors and halfbloods I knew and stuff like that. That’s when it started.” He paused and took a sip of his drink. He didn’t start talking again.

“The violence?”, I asked in a whisper. Truly, I wanted him to say no.

“Yeah”, he answered just as quiet. He took another sip of his bottle. “At first it was just a well-placed slap across the face and some yelling about how I was not serving my name. But the more they forced their views on me, the more I rebelled against them. Didn’t help that James and his family are normal purebloods who showed me how it could and should be done right. That made me even angrier at their ideals and twisted darkness. So, basically I escalated the rebellion and they escalated the repercussions. Slaps became punches, one became five and then ten and then don’t ask me how many, telling me I wasn’t serving my name turned into calling me a disappointment, a disgrace, a waste of space. You know…”

“I knew I didn’t want an answer to that question.” I felt a lump build in my throat and my eyes water. I usually wasn’t such a cry-baby.

“Oh, it’s no big deal…

“Yeah, it is! How could you even say that? It’s the biggest deal! They are your parents, they’re supposed to protect you and love you and tell you everything’s gonna be alright and be proud of you and support you. They’re not supposed to harm you, Sirius! Or break you down mentally. It is a huge deal.” While I spoke the lump in my throat grew and got audible, my voice cracked a bit. Sirius looked up at the sound of that.

“Woah, no crying! It’s alright.”

“It’s not alright! It’s amazing you’re not some whimp or an elitist arsehole or the worst person ever, fucking miracle that! You deserve so much better! Don’t tell me it’s alright! It’s not. Not even a bit.” By now tears were streaming down my face, clearly alarming Sirius.

“Goods… I don’t know what to do, now. The other girls didn’t cry. What do I do?”

I didn’t answer but leaned over and hugged him tightly. Sobbing like a toddler at the idea of the terror that he’d been through for the past five years. After a moment or two he hugged me back, rubbing my back, going “shhhhh” all the time.

“You know it’s not alright, yeah?”, I asked when I had calmed down enough.

“I know it’s not normal. And I know they’re wrong. But I am alright. Because I’m with the Potters now, and I got a family that actually functions and very good but sobby friends. So, please don’t feel sorry for me.”

“Of course I feel sorry for you!” Sirius let me go and pushed me away, his eyes narrowed and brows furrowed. I was confused. What had I done now?

“I knew it! This is exactly what I told them and they all went ‘no, she’s not like that, she won’t look down on you.’ And I believed it! I don’t need your pity!”

“I don’t pity you”, I forced myself to sound calm and neither shocked nor offended. “I am sorry for you.”

“Same bloody thing!”

“Not at all. You are my friend. I respect you and I care about you. That means I want you to be happy. I want you to be well. I want you to be unharmed. I want you to be as whole as possible. So, when you’re not happy, when you’re not well, when you are harmed, when you’re being broken, I feel sorry for that. Not because I look down on you but because I’m hurt on your account. You honestly think, I’d cry for you if I didn’t respect you? If I didn’t care?” I still forced myself to remain calm but it took all I had.

“You don’t think I’m a pathetic loser?”

“Sirius, why would I?”

“Cause you have such a perfect family. All of you. You all managed to be yourselves and believe in the right thing and make your parents proud. Why would you not think I’m an utter failure?”

“They are the failure! They failed you! And if you think any of us would judge you for what you’ve been through, then we have, too. But not you. Not you.” I closed the distance between us and forced him to look at me by pulling up his face with both my hands.

“You have done nothing wrong. And we all know that. You’ve stood up for what you believe in to terrible and horrifying people and you’ve come out a strong and kind person. We know that and we see that and we respect that, so much. But we still hurt for you. We’re still sorry you had to go through it. You got that?”

“I got that.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.” I let go of him and returned to where he’d pushed me.

“Is that why you didn’t talk to me. Because you thought I’d judge you, I’d laugh at you?”

“Honestly, after that speech I’d rather not say…”

“As long as you don’t think it anymore.” He gave me a weak smile.

“Not anymore.”

“Good.”

“Want to hear the rest of it?”

“The rest of it?”

“Like how I ended up at James’.”

“Yes and no.”

“So, my parents had a dinner discussion about werewolves, one night. It was during the summer holidays and there had just been an article in the Prophet about how there is a German organisation that has set up a full-moon-camp for werewolves. If you’re affected you sign up and then they take care of you over the full moon. The idea is for families to not be as affected or whatever. Great initiative. Obviously my parents hated it.

They told each other how it would be a great idea to set the whole camp on fire on a full moon night just to ‘end that pest’. Now, I don’t know what you think of werewolves but I tend to think they shouldn’t be liquidiated for existence.”

“Agreed. Most days they are just normal people and when they turn, they’re not themselves anymore. I’ll be honest: I do not need to run into a werewolf during a full moon. There’s a reason they are classified as one of the most dangerous creatures, but I’m mainly sad for them. The people I mean.”

“Well, my parents would hate you. Even more. Anyways, I told them pretty much what you just said. Which… didn’t fly with them. And because they had spent the entire time I was with them by screaming at me and using me as their personal punching ball – don’t look like that! – they decided I would be given one more chance to return to their noble and ancient ideals. So, they made me. Literally. They made me do what they wanted me to do. Brought in a stray mixed blood dog and had me kick it.”

“When you say made me…”

“Imperius.” I had to find every last bit of strength to not cry again. There was a very good reason that curse was an unforgivable one.

“And when that didn’t have the desired effect they rounded the evening out with a Cruciatus. I was knock-out for about half a day, then I wrote to James and flooed over there. Never looked back.”

“Thank God for Euphemia and Fleamont. I’m glad you’re out of there.”

“So am I.”

We drank up our butterbeers without another word and silently agreed to go back out to the courtyard after a while. Before we opened the door of the prefects’ lounge I hugged him again. Practically buried my face in his neck, one arm around it, one around his waist. I didn’t cry, I didn’t say anything. I just stood there wrapped around him, trying to stop his hands from shaking, which hadn’t been still since he told me about his sorting. I hoped he’d understand what I was trying to convey.

“You smell like something very familiar but I can’t put my finger on it”, Sirius said after half an eternity. Difficult to say if I had succeeded in my mission.

“Coconut”, I answered.

“I like it.”

“Thanks.”

“You can let go now, Jette. I’m good. We’re good.” I let go and smiled at him. He opened the door and we left.

#marauders fanfiction #marauders era #james & peter & remus & sirius #james potter #remus lupin #sirius black #peter pettigrew #harry potter #original character

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caspinn · 7 years

Text

Repeating Apologies - Chapter 7

Summary: The Winchesters and Castiel are looking for Deans soulmate to save him from the Mark of Cain. The only thing they know is that he or she happens to be one of an extremely rare species: The Indigo Children.

In this Chapter, Sam, Dean, Cas and Valo (one of the Indigos) go looking for the next Indigo, in Greece.

Warnings: Mentions of suicide.

Dean still felt a bit off after the encounter with the Indigo. His strange eyes did something to Dean; they made him feel empty. He had no more energy to be angry or aggressive and he didn’t care about anything anymore. It was a different kind of empty than he had with the Mark, but it wore off every minute of course, although he wasn’t able to shake that feeling off for a few hours.

Returned to the motel, Sam still didn’t know if they had to be even more careful and less trusting or not, and Dean simply didn’t care for a while so Sam started asking Valo some questions.

“What did you do to Dean?” Sam asked. Valo sat down on a chair, just like Sam. Dean sat in a sofa and Cas was testing the buttons of the fauteuil. Valo shrugged.

“Nothing really, I mean, you can see he isn’thurt, right?” Sam quickly glanced at Dean.

“Yeah, but you did….something to him. He acts like a bag of potatoes.” Cas looked up after that comparison, frowning and staring at Sam like the Winchester spoke in riddles.

Yup, Castiel didn’t get why Sam called Dean a bag of potatoes. Dean could’ve explained the comparison to the Angel, but he simply didn’t care and Sam didn’t notice Cas’s confusion. Dean saw that Cas decided to let it go when Valo answered.

“He looked me in the eyes, I didn’t have to use any more power than that. My-eh-other eyes have that effect on people, you know.” Valo shrugged once more. “Eh, at least he calmed down, I don’t like to use my powers either.”

“Why did you make a shield then, if you meant no harm?” Cas asked. Dean looked at Cas questioning. There was a shield? Dean only had noticed Valo’s weird eyes.

“Well, that…just happened,” Valo answered while his hand went through his hair. “The shield is kind of a habit, I’m not used to using my powers without the need to protect myself and I can’t really control them so they just do what they do.”

Castiel nodded. When Sam wanted to ask Valo his next question, the man held his hand up to silent the Winchester. Dean saw Sam cocking his eyebrow.

“But, Castiel, I didn’t expect you to be able to break those pieces down so easily. I mean, you must be a very skilled angel.”

Sam was the only one who looked surprised by the fact that Valo knew that Cas was an Angel. Dean simply wasn’t really feeling anything and Cas was being Cas. He probably saw it coming one way or another.

“How did you notice?” Sam asked Valo in a mumble, who was smiling a bit smugly. Not out of arrogance, but more like a teacher who was talking to an involved and curious student. “Well, I can see his wings, you know. And they are so huge, it’s almost impossible for me to not notice them,” Valo said, pointing at the empty space behind Cas where Sam sees absolutely nothing but air. This time Cas looked a bit surprised, turning his head to the side as if to check if his wings are actually there.

“They don’t really look so well, though,” Valo went on, scratching his stubbled chin while he was thinking.

“So, you saw my wings the first time we met and you weren’t surprised or confused or anything?” Castiel asked suspiciously.

“But how, I mean, when…you met an angel-?“ Sam started, but he was quickly interrupted by Dean suddenly jumping up from his place at the couch. He could’ve sworn that he saw something moving outside through the window behind Sam. Sam stared at his brother in wide eyes and then followed his brother’s gaze.

Dean was already opening the door, as quick as he was. As soon as he lowered the handle, he saw something quickly moving in the bushes. If Dean wasn’t so focused, the effect of Valo had worn off, he would’ve never have noticed the slight movements in there. Thanks to the Mark he lost all kinds of strategy as soon as he felt threatened and so he immediately ran to the plants like a wild animal in search for his prey. But the prey saw him coming and was quick too, probably even quicker.

Dean saw someone sprinting out of the bushes and he ran after the person. He’d rather die than let the man get away, he thought while he felt his heartbeat quicken. He got closer and closer to the man and when Dean caught the man’s black hood and pulled him back, his heart felt like it was going to jump out of his body.

He immediately knocked the man against the ground, and his fist was already raised to start landing a punch when he noticed the man wasn’t in fact a man, but rather… a woman? After he blinked out of confusion, he saw it wasn’t even a woman, but a girl. A teenager with long, black, wavy hair and bright blue eyes. Dean stared at her in disbelief. Did he just turn into such a cruel creature that his brain didn’t even notice that he was chasing a young girl?

She had been wearing headphones, but Dean knocked them off when he slammed the girl against the ground. He heard a melancholic sounding song and could unravel just one sentence that immediately was planted in his brains. ’…Don’t try to fight the storm, you'll tumble overboard….’ It sounded like even the song tried to tell him to die, or give in, surrender.

When Sam arrived, he pulled his older brother away from the girl and checked her wounds. She kindly smiled at him.

“Don’t worry, sir. I’m a Vampire anyways, I don’t hurt that quickly,” she said calmly.

“What?!” Dean barked at her, he suddenly felt sick. These mood swings didn’t really feel good. Right after feeling bitter for chasing a young girl, his mind immediately went back to the ‘kill it kill it kill it’ mode.

“Would you please allow us to check that, miss?” Castiel asked. He was standing next to Sam, who was kneeling next to the girl. Sam pushed her upper lip upwards after she consented.

“Yup, those teeth can’t be mistaken, alright,” Sam muttered in confirmation. After wiping his hands on his pants he stood up and helped the girl to get back on her feet.

In the meantime, Dean’s head was going crazy. Why was she there? Why didn’t she attack them? Why was she acting normal? Why did she run away? Was she sent to get their attention? Or was she sent to take away their attention? Who’d need them to stop concentrating? Dean inhaled sharply before he snapped.

“WHERE IS VALO?!” he shouted out, not being able to believe these two idiots would just leave the Indigo alone in the motel room.

“Right behind you,” Valo said calmly. Dean jumped and turned around. The Indigo raised his eyebrows and walked passed Dean to take a look at the Vampire.

“Well, they told me that these creatures existed, but I’ve never had the chance to really see one,” Valo said in fascination, circling around the Vampire girl as if she was some artwork in a museum. Dean wanted to ask who Valo meant when he spoke about them, and how the hell he knew how angel wings look like, or how he wasn’t baffled about that?

But Sam went on with asking question to the Vampire, what, indeed seemed to be more important at that moment. Dean felt lucky that Sam was still focused, because his head was complete shit and Cas had been permanently glancing, the way only Cas can do, at Valo. This seemed to make Valo feel a little uncomfortable, Dean noticed when he saw Valo scratch his head and arms a little bit more than his used to before the wings-conversation.

“What are you doing here? Were you trying to hunt us?” Sam asked her, watching her as she wiped away the dust from her clothes. Dean bet she wanted to eat the guys, but a little voice in his brains whispered to him that a teenage vampire wouldn’t try to hunt three guys on her own.

Dean started flashing around with his eyes, a bit paranoid. Maybe there was someone behind that bush or maybe behind that tree. It wouldn’t have been the first time Vampires would use a teenage girl to get what they want; Alex was the living proof of that.

“Dude, how dumb would I have be to try to hunt a bunch of hunters?” the girl asked, unimpressed.

“I don’t know, how do you know we are hunters?” Dean responded bitterly while staring at a, what seemed to him, suspective parked car.

“Well, my boss told me, so I was prepared. Besides, you knocked me down very quickly so…you know, every vampire with half a brain would notice that you’re hunters.”

When Dean finally realized that the car wasn’t going to explode in a thousand flaming metallic shards, he came to stand next to his brother and stared the vampire in the eyes. “That still doesn’t explain what you were doing. Who are you working for? Give us clear answers!” Dean growled. The skin of his fist saw yellow, ready to punch. Because teenage girl or not, monsters were just monsters in his dictionary.

The girl seemed to understand that she couldn’t keep on playing with the elder Winchester much longer. “Look man, I don’t eat human, that’s gross. The whole group only eats animals and we're constantly hunting on different places to make sure that the people won’t notice it too much.”

“So, you were spying on us… why?” Sam asked calmly.

“My boss asked me to keep an eye on you guys, you know…she wanted to get to know your intentions and motives to be in Greece so she’d know if she’d have to be worried.” So this Vampire has a female boss, something like the leader of a pack? Dean got even more paranoid.

“How long have you been watching us?”

The Vampire shook her head. “I don't think I should tell you guys anything.” The girl chewed her lip for a second while she was thinking. “She’ll probably explain everything to you guys… If you want to meet her?”

Sam turned around to look at Dean, who scratched his head. Meeting a queen of Vampires didn’t seem to be the best plan ever, but this girl made him curious. And after all, he’d have Sam and Cas by his side, so if they’d have to they’d be able to get rid of the Vamps. They might be American hunters, but Greek Vampires are still Vampires, and this girl’s story sounded way too interesting to ignore.

When Dean nodded, Sam asked “Where do we meet her?”

The teenage Vampire started explaining without hesitation. “So, you go to Olympia and when you get there, you just get your asses to the first Olympic arena. She always hangs around there, it’s kind of her business place, I guess. But you can only go by day. She goes home at six and nobody needs to know where she lives. Please let me go now!’ she didn't sound afraid, just more cranky. Dean then looked down to realize he had been clutching to her wrist to keep her from running off.

“Why would we do that, if we can just rid the world of one more vamp?” Dean said with a horrible looking smile. That didn’t scare her off either.

“Oh, come on! Jerks!” She cursed. Cas came standing next to Dean and stared at the Vampire, but was talking to the elder Winchester.

“Why would we kill her? She didn’t harm anyone… and she doesn’t consume human flesh. What kind of threat is she to us that we MUST get her blood on our hands?” Dean shook his head bitterly.

“Cas, she isn't human.”

“Neither am I,” Cas answered. “Nor Valo, yet we didn’t jam a knife through his neck.”

Valo jumped in on the conversation. “And I would strongly appreciate if you didn’t. And if I have to believe you guys, I must be a freak of nature.”

“You are!” Dean snapped loudly.

“Then why am I still alive?” Valo raised his eyebrow.

“Guys, that doesn’t matter! Stop wasting time with needless conversations. We are not going to kill Valo, unless he does something extremely wrong and we are not going to kill this girl under the same condition!” Sam settled this, he obviously felt a little bit annoyed. Then Dean heard him sigh. Sam was probably just worrying about Dean again, but what was there to worry? Dean really felt like shutting the Vampire down would be the most logical thing to do. Why didn’t anyone agree with him?

Fine, whatever… . Dean took a few steps back, releasing her wrist and watching how the girl rubbed her skin now that she was freed.

“Wait!” Dean yelled when the girl was about to turn around to run away. “What's your name? So we can come after you when we discover that everything you told us is a lie!” She turned her eyes and Dean could read her thoughts from her over-sarcastic face: Oh. My. God.

“Beyoncé, you paranoid freak!” she snapped. Dean heard Castiel mumble in the background.

“That’s doesn’t sound true,” he muttered, frowning once more and looking as if he wasn’t really sure how to feel about it. Dean ignored the naïve Angel.

“Please, tell us your name?” Sam asked and showed her that he was serious about this too.

“Fine, fine! My name is Echo,” she admitted after a long staring match. When the guys stared some more at her, not sure if they should believe her, she sighed. “Look, I must’ve been a very loud baby. Can I go now?”

Sam decided to believe her, so he nodded. Echo waved shortly at them before turning around. On the road, she went right and disappeared in the darkness.

“Are we really taking him with us!?” Dean asked, not able to believe it. When he got up the next morning, he had found Valo, packing his bags too.

“What do you want us to do, leave him here on his own?” Sam tried to talk some sense into his older brother, but Dean was hardheaded, as usual.

“Someone should stay here with him!”

“Sure, be my guest Dean!” Sam countered in a sudden wave of anger, clenching his teeth and startling Dean. “One more time: we are NOT hunting the Indigo Children! We are asking them for help, and it’s been a wonder that Valo kept putting up with your shit. You’ve been acting like a little child, unthankful for the sacrifice this man has made for you. If you keep behaving like this, we will never find the other two and we will never find your soulmate. And if we find them, they would never even want to help an arrogant ass like you!”

Valo kept packing his stuff, obviously feeling a bit uncomfortable next to the two arguing brothers.

“Now, you’re going to stop being such a spoiled brat and start showing respect to the people who are here to help you,” Sam finished his rant, and slammed the door behind him. He probably went for a walk and left Dean with a heavy head. He felt Valo staring at him and went to get a beer without looking at the Indigo. Sam was right, Sam was so damn right, but Dean had a hard time being softer. His body felt permanently tense.

“This place is beautiful,” Cas mumbled when they arrived at the ancient Olympic stadium. It was a ruin with grass growing everywhere and remaining stones of what must have been walls, still laying in low rows, marking the path like they used to do when they were great walls. Dean was following his brother when he noticed Valo going somewhere else.

The hunter decided to stay with the Indigo to show Valo that he wasn’t totally repulsive to him. Valo didn’t say anything and that totally didn’t bother Dean. It gave Dean the chance to get used to the Indigo, to calm his nerves so he wouldn’t say anything stupid. Valo found a still-remaining tunnel to walk through and felt the need to touch it before actually looking or walking through it. Dean, however, noticed someone walking around on the other side of it.

He poked Valo, who jumped slightly. “Go get Sam and Cas,” he whispered.

“You’re going to that woman alone, aren’t you? Who knows what she is-?” But Dean was already walking inside the tunnel. Then he turned around while walking backwards for a few seconds. “Yeah, well, I’ll see, won’t I?” On the other side of the tunnel, Dean saw a long stroke of gravel, surrounded by grass. The woman was walking around on the gravel, talking to her phone. She noticed Dean and finished her conversation. The woman had brown eyes and black curled hair, knotted together in a forties hairstyle. She was wearing a vintage sleeve, tube dress and was wearing red lipstick. She looked his age. When she had put her phone away, she started walking towards Dean.

She smiled widely at him.

“Well, well, the famous Dean Winchester, standing in front of me,” she said, sounding like she had the time of her life. Dean didn’t let her beauty distract him.

“Yeah, sure. Who are you and why are you following us?” he asked, and right after that Cas, Sam an Valo joined him at last. They had been running, Dean could hear them breathe heavily. The woman looked to the other guys and Dean could clearly see joy in her eyes by the look of his company.

“An Angel – well, what’s left of him anyway – two hunters and an Indigo. What a special clan do we have here?”

Valo stared at her strangely and took a few steps back.

“But who are you?” Sam asked this time, taking the word from Dean with his eternal calm. She already knew the kind of company the guys were, their race, their names. She must be powerful and have a lot of spies.

“You… are you an Indigo?” Valo whispered in the background. The other guys turned to him. Dean read confusion on Valo’s face, which was turning white.

“Yeah, I didn’t suspect that meeting another one would make me feel heavy and sick too, but they said that that feeling goes away the longer we stay in each other’s company.” The woman gave him a big smile, though nobody knew if it was sincere or not.

“You guys can feel each other?” Cas asked curiously. Valo nodded and let himself fall on his knees, the woman had to sit down for a moment too. ”Wait, there are only three Indigo’s in the world and only one of them lives in Greece. So you must be-“

“Eryn Mundis, it’s a pleasure to meet you all! I brought you guys here because I just couldn’t figure out why you were hunting the Indigo Children. My family has been signaling you guys to me since you landed in England, but they never found out any reasons. So you know, I thought that I probably should figure it out myself.”

So she had been stalking them during their whole journey. This made Dean feel very paranoid again, he started walking in circles. This was a whole other way of finding the Indigo, because this time, she tracked them down.

“Please don’t pass out,” she said worryingly to Valo. The other Indigo laid himself on his back.

“How long will we feel this way?” he asked.

“Just a few hours, normally. We need to adjust to each other’s energy. But please-“ she coughed heavily, after that her voice sounded worn “-Tell me why you are here.”

Sam looked at Dean, who nodded, and started talking. He told her everything, about the Mark and its consequences if they don’t remove it, the psychics and the soul mate part.

“We hope finding the Indigos will help the psychics to define Dean’s soulmate, or maybe he will define it himself, we don’t really know how this works.”

Eryn nodded. “I see, but it’s hard to leave my business, my family unguarded.” She bit her lip “Unless…he, but wait a minute. Why would I bother about this?” she asked with a sarcastic smile

“Because finding Dean’s soul mate gives us the chance to prevent more murders,” Sam explained it like he had explained it to Valo. “So-“

“No, they don’t know how the soul mate will be able to help them, so they even might need to kill one of us,” Valo interrupted Sam. She nodded and let her head rest on her knees. She was quiet and sat there for a moment.

“We deserve to be dead,” she suddenly stated. Dean wanted to ask what she was talking about, but Castiel was quicker with another question.

“Who are the they you both talk about? Who taught you what you are?” Valo got back up and stared at Eryn, they didn’t say a thing for a moment. Then Valo started talking.

“A few years ago, I got really depressed because I couldn’t figure out what I was. I didn’t understand my actions. Why did I kill people without being able to control it? It felt like something whispered to me in such a way I could not resist or fight.”

Dean looked shocked. Did he just say that he is a heartless killer? Valo went on.

“So at a certain point, I collected all the drugs, meds and alcohol that I could find and took it all in at the same time.”

“You tried to kill yourself?” Sam asked in clarification. Valo nodded.

“You would’ve done it too, you know, if you suddenly have the blood of some kind of criminal in your hands and you weren’t able to stop yourself. Being an Indigo is ironic, because you become a criminal, a psycho, from cleansing the world from all what’s bad, from the faults in the behavior of humanity itself. But I didn’t understand it back then, I just thought I was a heartless killer… But yes, I was finally dead, I felt like I finally did something good, until I met the reaper that should come and get me.

“I was so interested in her powers, her cleanness of working, no blood involved, that I started asking her questions. She taught me a lot, about what I was and how I could make killing less gruesome. By the time she had to go, she admitted it wasn’t my time to go yet so she revived me. But my depression wasn’t over so quickly, so I saw her a total of four times. And every time she told me that it wasn’t time yet, but every time she taught me so much about applying this angelic magic to my power, made of three kinds of magic as you guys know. The last time I saw her, she explained to me that I had more angelic powers in me than the other two Indigo’s. Knowing that I could fulfill my task without spilling blood or making my victims feel pain, gave me such a boost that I never saw her again.”

“So you are telling me that once you see a victim, you can’t help yourself?” Dean asked. That must've been freaking weird, to get out of some kind of trance, suddenly seeing what you have done. Oh wait, it did feel strange, he’s been through it before, after all.

“I don't expect you to understand, Dean. And this probably won’t make you respect me more.”

Dean cleared his throat and mumbled, “Well, actually I do know what that feels like.” Dean looked at his hands, once covered in so much blood, feeling the need to hold the familiarity of the First Blade in his palm. He tried to ignore the staring faces of the others. They knew what he meant. And suddenly he got a flashback to his adventure with the twin-psychics. He had seen someone pull a soul out of someone else, out of a rapist…the soul-taker must have been Valo. His actions had been painless, worn and calm, coordinated. Exactly as Dean would imagine how Valo would take care of someone.

Sam cleared his throat. “But if he is more angel, then what are you?” he asked Eryn.

#supernatural #winchester sister #dean winchester #sam winchester #winchester #greece #olympia #olympic stadium #mark of cain #mark of cain cure #indigo children

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