#What if we just want to enjoy a cute storyline?

[bitchcakegreen]

I finally watched all four episodes of season 3 part 1 and I have thoughts, as a fan and as a screenwriter/former romance novelist, and professional director. I didn’t have netflix but I got it for this season. I did this kinds of analyzations and such during Game of Thrones. Hopefully people enjoy reading. Full disclosure, I have not read any of the Bridgerton books. (I’m about three chapters into Romancing Mr. Bridgerton)

First off, give me all the Pen and Colin all the time. I’ve been hoping they get together from season 1 and I’m so happy Shondaland didn’t make us wait another season, as the books go in a different order. There’s a lot of subtle nuance to Pen and Colin’s scenes, Colin always seeking out Pen wherever they are, the tent pastry scene followed by Colin clearly eating the same pastry as Pen did. The tent scene was freaking hot. I said what I said. Things of this nature make their love affair so lush. It’s that journey to getting to the carriage scene that’s so thrilling.

I didn’t mind Francesca’s subplot or the Mondrich one but I do agree with many I’ve seen here that the subplots almost took over. There was a lot of emphasis placed on things other than Pen and Colin which annoyed me somewhat. Hopefully when we get to part 2 there will be more intense focus on Polin and the subplots are just rotating around them because right now, with the pacing of these first four episodes, it’s the opposite. Polin feel as if they are somewhat an afterthought.

The Cressida redemption movement I don’t think will last into part 2. I think all this work is to try and make the audience sympathize with her and then when she goes after Pen, Pen as Lady D, and so forth we are supposed to think “OH! But she was being so nice.” Hopefully I’m wrong and they follow through on her storyline because if they don’t…they wasted a lot of time and storyline on her instead of focusing on Polin.

I’m ambivalent about Lord Debling, so meh. Sorry about it.

Anthony and Kate - absolutely unnecessary but I know why they brought them in. One, he is the Viscount so he would be around. Two, they are fan favorite. I get it. I accept it. It was just wasted real estate for me. But to each their own.

I love Mr. Finch and I LOVED he got to be such a beaming brother-in-law for Pen in the green dress. I do wish they hadn’t shown us the dress reveal in the trailer. It would have been such an awestruck moment for us to see it first in the show. Sweeping cape removal and glittering loveliness.

Pen’s sisters and their race to get pregnant. It’s all a setup for Pen to be pregnant first or with the male heir by the end of the season. Cute but really long winded in getting there. There is a now since deleted promo clip of Pen, with Colin standing behind her, where she takes his hand and places it on her stomach. So we’re getting a pregnancy nod somewhere next part. May even be why she faints in whatever scene they show in the trailer for part 2.

Eloise needs to get her head out of her butt. I don’t think she’s angry Pen is LW but more angry that she didn’t figure out Pen was Whistledown sooner. She’s mad that Pen didn’t try to see her during the offseason, yet she tells her at the end of season 2 to get the fuck out of her life. Get it together Eloise. I love Eloise, don’t get me wrong, I adore her. I just want her to stop acting like an ass and TALK to Pen.

There is discourse about the second Colin threesome scene, but there really shouldn’t be. There’s a reason for it. It showcases that Colin is done with the charade he’s been playing all season. He isn’t the bon vivant, dashing rake he’s supposed to be. It’s jarring but it’s a scene with a purpose.

All the Polin scenes are delightful. The balloon scene might be my favorite - the pastry scene I include in this. And of course the first kiss and the carriage scene (which lives in my head on repeat) but I have to say, I wanted more Polin screen time. I think if we spliced all the Polin scenes together we see that out of four hours of film, they have maybe a cumulative 1 hour of screen time. Which isn’t much for a couple that is the lead of the season. Hopefully the ratio will be better in part two.

Merit badges and raises to the Featherington coachmen and to Pen’s maid Rae. They are MVPs and are totally gossiping about Polin. You know that tea was flowing in the servant’s quarters about the carriage ride…

Scenes I hope we get in part 2.

1. Full on sexfest with Pen and Colin, the likes to rival Daphne and Simon.

2. Whistledown reveal to Colin. First I want him angry - that passionate angry we use in romance novels. The kind where the hero is always “I’m so mad at you right now I can’t see straight but I need you writhing with passion underneath me screaming my name RIGHT NOW!” kind of angry. I want ripped corsets and torn skirts. If you know you know.

3. Pen and Eloise make up.

4. Big stupid lavish wedding.

5. More unhinged Queen Charlotte wigs. Because reasons.

Sorry this was such a long post, but I needed to get my thoughts out. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Now excuse me while I go watch part 1 elevenity million more times.

#romance novels #romance writers #polin #bridgerton #writing #bridgerton thoughts #colin bridgerton #colin x penelope #polin bridgerton #writer thoughts #late night writing #bridgerton season 3 #penelope featherington #shondaland #netlfix #bridgerton netflix

[wenellyb]

Buddie shippers when you tell them you're not interested in shipping a pairing that hasn't gone canon in 6 years but they insist it's a slow burn.

The real problem is that some buddie shippers act like you have to ship Buddie and get angry at people who ship Buck or Eddie with other people.

#Some of them can even get quite agressice #agressive #911 spoilers #bucktommy #anti buddie #if at least there had been any sign of the showrunners heading that way.... but there hasn't #there has been a sign of Bi Buck with the scene with TK in the crossover episode but there has never been any indication of Buddie becoming #canon #What if we just want to enjoy a cute storyline? #also it's not a slow burn if they don't end up together #and so far it doesn't look like they will #We'll see in the next episode but Eddie seemed quite happy about Buck's relationship with Tommy #a slow burn would show at least one of them being jealous that the other is in a relationship #the shipping is cool but the entitlement and harrassment of actors and other fans isn't

[rui-drawsbox]

remembering the most memorable mc's (with canon appearences) from the otomes i played

all of them are phone games btw. and looong rambling about the games after the cut!

Mystic messenger has been in my radar since i was in elementary school but i played it for the first time after the spanish traslation came out (2017 i think?) Seven shaped my type in such a specific way that im not really sure why loved him so much (it was the whole "he loves you in every route" stuff). I like a lot the default mc, most of the fandom did and that was enough to won me over

Rosa is top tier protagonist tbh, Tears of Themis has really good story and characters (as far i played, not a lot but i enjoyed it) The reason i'm not that much of a fan is bc the game is expensive asf and not very free to play friendly. You're either lucky or have a big wallet with the gacha

i miss my wife man(Marius)

Ephemeral has to be one of the best free to play otomes i've played tbh (if my memories aren't tricking me, it's been years) Good artwork, good storyline, good characters and as far i remember you can unlock one chapter of the character route per day (mabye two days, idk) and the mc's background has an important role in every route (she's a zombie! she's pretty now but eventually will fall apart, aaaaand her story gets expanded in one of the routes!) ((shes also adorable)) There's also a sequel, if you wanted more of the boys! never finished it but i'd recommend it

Honorable mentions! Huellitas Mágicas is a great game! has a really good cast with well fleshed arcs for all the characters, even the scondary ones! The game shines more for the development of *all* the characters rather than just the protagonist/ml. The main theme is overcoming insecurities! Each love interest has a different way of helping our (very insecure) protagonist and helping different characters with their own struggles :DD

10/10 i recommend this game if you want something cute and can be finished in a few hours, if i remember right. It also has a sequel! with like- 12 new love interests, also never finished it bc i didnt found a guide that worked for me but ñek

A3! is my canon event as a gacha player. Discovered the english/global server, tried it and got bored, left it for a few months, tried it again and fell in love, noticed the game was going to shut down bc low sales -HAHA :(-. This is not a otome btw, this is here bc Izumi has to be one of my favorite protagonists in gacha games ever

last but not least! Obey me! Shall we date? oh dear, what have they done to you :(. The original had intense powercreep to force you to pull cards -multiple times bc that makes them stronger- and even now, the company showed a lot of favoritism to some characters, leaving others to dust bc they don't make the same money. Not to say, they released a new game with the same cast and new main story (ignoring all what happend before). And let me say: THEY LITERALLY WANTED TO KILL THE ORIGINAL GAME.

Nightbringer might be a decent game but i don't trust the devs anymore, i still remember what happend with Asmo's birthday right after the release, and honestly i don't want to sit there watching how they disrespect my favorite characters again and again and again. Loved the characters hated the devs. 5/10 you can play it if you want but i don't recommend spending money on it, it's not worth it, just search #obey me here in tumblr and enjoy the amazing fanworks that i can assure you have a lot more love than the game itself

i miss my wife man (mammon and levi)

#got sting by the nostalgia mosquito #thinking about it i kinda want to play huellitas magicas again #mystic messenger #mysme #tears of themis #rosa tears of themis #ephemeral #its that the right tag? #huellitas magicas #a3 #a3! act! addict! actors! #izumi tachibana #obey me #obey me shall we date #otome game #tot

[secondhandsorrows]

Some Vital Scenes to Include in a Romantic Subplot, pt. 1

I’ve been in the plotting stages of a novel I’ve been working on for some time now. It’s not a romance novel, per se, but the romantic aspect is very prevalent… dare I say important. Anyway, so as I was working on my scenes and character arcs, I began to realize that I didn’t have enough fleshed-out about romantic arc, nor deepened the protagonist’s love interest or their connection, for that matter. This led me to devise up some scenes that I felt were crucial to the story if I wanted to keep this romantic angle to it, and now that I’ve most of them arranged, I find now that I’m way more excited about my characters’ love story. 

These tips will be unnumbered because, obviously, the sequence of these events and how they will fall into your storyline will probably be different. Also, you don’t have to use only one scene for every suggestion that will be mentioned, as you can have multiple scenes of flirtations or deep conversations, for example. They usually blend all together into the narrative at this point. Just remember that there should be some relevance to the plot at hand in some of these scenes as to not derail completely from the main narrative or other conflicts.

I was going to post this all at once, but decided it was too long and wanted to split it into two parts to go more in-depth and for easy reading. /-\ Enjoy ~

- The meet-cute, or the meet-ugly:

Ah, yes, the first encounter. Or, as we sometimes like to call it: the meet-cute, or the meet-ugly if you’re feeling a little unconventional or perhaps mischievous. Though we may enjoy setting up our star-crossed characters in a whole range of moments from awkward to swoon-worthy, the initial meeting is what’s important (if your characters haven't already met before the beginning of the story, ofc, but this is useful to have in mind). Let us quickly define the two:

Meet-Cute: A charming and serendipitous first encounter between the characters in question that sets a positive, memorable, and oftentimes romantic tone.

Meet-Ugly: An unconventional, awkward, or disastrous initial meeting that adds a unique twist to the start of the romantic connection, often leading to unexpected chemistry and an added intrigue on whether or not they’ll get together.

You don’t have to nail your characters’ first encounter into a label or bubble such as these two examples, but I like bringing these up for a general idea. 

- Bouts of flirting and/or banter:

Just as the title suggests, these are scenes containing the flirtaious communication between the two characters. These kinds of interactions will, of course, develop over time and deepen the bond or relationship. Playful interactions, gazes, and witty exchanges between the characters can create a lighthearted and flirtatious atmosphere that hints at their growing attraction.

The way they might flirt or tease can reveal their personalities. For example, one character might be more sarcastic, while the other responds with quick wit, or quiet bashfulness. There’s an element of subtlety, as flirting lets the characters express their romantic interest without explicitly stating it (unless one of your characters lacks subtlety in general and prefers to shout their undying love from the rooftops, which would make for an interesting dynamic, but I’m only spit-balling). 

Banter, teasing, and romantic tension underscoring heated debates or loathsome gazes suit just as nicely, especially if you’re writing with enemies-to-lovers or rivalry tropes in mind. But be careful! A little goes a long way: too much all at once can repel any growth for the characters or narrative.

- Initial conflict or struggle:

Depending on your story’s big-picture conflict, the introduction of challenges or obstacles can create tension between the characters, adding depth to their relationship and making their eventual connection all the more satisfying. This might include cultural or class differences, opposing goals or values, history of past heartbreak, personality weaknesses such as stubbornness, or external pressures that threaten to keep the characters apart. Even a nosy family or a disapproving mother can be considered. How the characters navigate and resolve these conflicts contributes significantly to the overall emotional impact of the romance subplot, as well as allowing for some exploration of each character's strengths, weaknesses, and resilience. 

- Shared vulnerability:

This kind of scene involves the characters opening up to each other about their innermost fears, insecurities, past trauma, or personal struggles. Shared vulnerability goes beyond surface-level interactions. It involves characters revealing their authentic selves, exposing their emotional vulnerabilities, and allowing the other person to see them in an honest — and sometimes new — light.

This is a symbolic gesture of commitment we’re talking about, here… something that requires trust. As characters share their fears or past traumas, they are entrusting the other person with sensitive information, fostering a sense of trust and emotional intimacy. It might be scary, it could be out from left field, but they will end up learning something new about themselves, their situation, or about the other person, and thus deepen their connection, little by little.

#writing advice #creative writing #fiction #writing #writing tips #character #on writing #story tips #story conflict #writing process #writer stuff #writer #writeblr #writing help #how to write #writing resources #writing tips and tricks #writers on tumblr #writers and poets #writerscommunity #subplot #romance #writing romance #writing characters

[dancermk]

I’m a little disappointed to see so much discourse, fandom competitiveness, and plain arguing going around at the moment in regards to queer film/TV. People complaining about too much sex, not enough sex, too cheesy, made for the hets, too happy, too sad, too realistic, too unrealistic, and a million other petty issues. I, for one, am a queer person in my 50s and I grew up with practically zero representation! Yes, we want to continue onwards and upwards with quality and varied shows BUT let’s be HAPPY we now have representation! Like, actual shows where the central characters are queer, not just a side character who gets f*cking murdered! There is room for all different types of representation - so enjoy the types you like, and let others enjoy what they like.

And on a side note: progress is progress and film/tv is a business that has to turn a profit! If some queer content is made to appeal to the straight community, and will also act as a means of reducing homophobia and increasing understanding, then that’s a good thing. That means in the future more and more content will include queer stories and representation. If only 10% (ish) of the population is the maximum target audience then shows won’t keep getting made!

There is a huge backlash all over the world right now - a “push back” by conservatives and religious groups that want to wind back the clock, and specifically the last decade of advances.

So stick together queers and LGBTQIA+ allies.

I’m super happy knowing I don’t have to wait years between content anymore. And I’ve loved all different types of shows over the last 5 years, for lots of different reasons!

Interview with the Vampire - is giving me the toxic, passionate gothic love affair I’ve always wanted. And addressing interracial relationships.

Heartstopper - is filling me up with pure joy and hopefulness for the future.

Shameless - gave me Ian and Mickey - unique, anti stereotypical gays with a tragic yet ultimately beautiful love story spanning 11 years

Lone Star 911 - is giving me TK and Carlos whose sexuality barely factors into the storyline! Yay!

Looking - gave me an authentic queer experience and an intoxicating love triangle.

Red, white and Royal Blue - gave me a sweet, cute romcom that allowed reality to be sidelined. Fun escapism!

Young Royals - had me captivated by first love and intense angst.

Fire Island - an underrated romcom that made me laugh so hard I cried.

Sex education - shoved the realities of sex in our faces and provided me with laughter and drama and a range of queer identities.

Gentlemen Jack -gave me historical lesbians with spectacular wit, and feminine power.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg- because there’s SO SO SO many more shows I could mention! Don’t at me because I didn’t mention YOUR favourite. This is my point! There is SO much great content it would take all day for me to include everything. This is just a sample - and that’s f*cking brilliant!!

So maybe we could all start posting/tweeting etc about what WE DO LIKE / LOVE / MAKES US FEEL LOVED AND SEEN and put down the device if we’ve got nothing nice to say.

Sending everyone a love filled week! 💜

#interview with the vampire #amc iwtv #heartstopper #rwrb #red white and royal blue #nick and charlie #ian and mickey #shameless #louis and lestat #alex and henry #911 lone star #tk x carlos #queer as folk #sex ed netflix #fire island #bros #loveislove #queer love #ofmd #the l word #young royals #elite netflix #wilhelm and simon

[leclercvsx]

Show off | SMAU

LANDO NORRIS

pairings: Lando x footballer!reader

summary: Lando is dating reader, who’s a football player for arsenal WFC & Lioness’ and Lando isn’t shy when it comes to reminding people that he is readers boyfriend.

warnings: storylines do not add up, i’m pretty much making them up on the spot!

face claim: Alessia Russo (loml)

note: I KNOW IM LATE BUT OH MY GOD I CANNOT BELIEVE LANDO WON HIS FIRST RACE!!!I WAS SCREAMING WHEN HE CROSSED THAT LINE😭

masterlist | requests open

yourusername

liked by landonorris, ellatoone, lionesses and 52,726 others

yourusername: Evenings at Wembley✨Only onwards and upwards from here🦁💕

landonorris: my girlfriend everyone, look at her go😁😁

leahwilliamson: i don’t know what she’s told you, but she’s MY girlfriend😐

ellatoone: i think you’ve both been mistaken, she’s actually my girlfriend

landonorris: i will fight both of you (virtually because i would never hit a woman🙏🏼)

yourusername: calm down girls, there’s plenty of me to go around😛

lionesses: 🦁❤️

carlossainz: Great game Y/n! Lando made sure all of us watched it

yourusername: thank you, Carlos! i’m sorry Lando put you through that😔

danielricciardo: don’t be sorry, Y/n. We loved watching you play🙏🏼

liked by yourusername

fan1: Lando forcing the grid to watch the Lioness’s games sounds so funny to me😭😭

——

landonorris

liked by yourusername, carlossainz55 and 1,263,372 others

landonorris: Celebrating my first win AND celebrating my girlfriend winning her match🙏🏼🧡

tagged: yourusername, mclaren

yourusername: IM SO PROUD OF YOU

yourusername: You deserve this!!!

yourusername: it’s also very sweet that you included my win, BUT THIS IS ALL ABOUT YOU🧡🧡

landonorris: your wins are my wins and my wins are your wins❤️

oscarpiastri: that was cringe

leahwilliamson: i agree with pastry

oscarpiastri: thanks but that is NOT my name

yourusername: it is now x

carlossainz55: congrats, you deserve it💪

liked by landonorris

mclaren: here’s to many more🧡

——

yourusername

liked by landonorris, leahwilliamson and 52,827 others

yourusername: enjoyed the off-season with this muppet, time to get back to training💪

tagged: landonorris

landonorris: i miss you

yourusername: it’s been less than 24 hours since we last saw eachother

landonorris: i miss you

leahwilliamson: im gonna enjoy seeing you everyday and rubbing it in Lando’s face😅

landonorris: i hate you

leahwilliamson: your girlfriends about to become mine

landonorris: back🤺off🤺

yourusername: Leah, be nice👀

francisca.cgomes: gonna miss seeing you in the paddock :(

yourusername: i’m gonna miss you too😔

lilymhe: don’t worry, we’ll all be there for that world cup final😉

yourusername: hopefully we make it😅

carmenmmundt: you WILL make it, we’re manifesting it

fan1: the way the wags interact with her😭😭😭

fan2: i KNOW it’s so cute

fan3: well she is a wag too, let’s not forget

——

landonorris added to their story

yourusername replied: i love you😭😭

landonorris: i love you too❤️

fan1 replied: she’s so cute omg

lilymhe replied: she’s gonna smash the world cup

leahwilliamson replied: she went out with me before you by the way

landonorris: LEAVE ME ALONE

——

yourusername

liked by landonorris, leahwilliamson and 173,372 others

yourusername: absolutely gutted and heartbroken, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I’m so unbelievably proud and grateful to be apart of this special team. No one else i would want to be on this journey with🤍

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone that came out to support us and those of you at home who have supported us from the very start. We’ll all cherish these memories forever.

For now we’ll all rest up and recover and come back better than ever🦁🤍

alexgreenwood5: ❤️

1maryearps: ❤️❤️❤️

keirawalsh: ❤️

landonorris: you did great baby, you’ll win the next one🫶

carlossainz55: you did very well!

lilymhe: you did unbelievably well, Y/n. The next time you will win, i swear❤️

yourusername: thanks guys, sorry i disappointed you all❤️

landonorris: stop that. you didn’t disappoint anyone.

fan1: i’m sobbing

fan2: you were great, it just wasn’t meant to be :(

——

landonorris added to their story

yourusername replied: thank you for everything

landonorris: no need to thank me❤️

leahwilliamson replied: as much as i hate to admit it, i’m glad you’re taking care of her

fan1 replied: that’s so cute

danielricciardo replied: you are such a simp

landonorris: shut the fuck up

——————————

i’m so proud of Lando’s first win. i was literally SCREAMING when he won. i didn’t wanna jinx it so i kept my cool and was just focusing on the gap between him and max but when he crossed that line me and my friend screamed and clapped😭😭

#f1 imagine #f1 x reader #formula 1 #imagine #formula one #leclercvsc #f1 #f1 fanfic #f1 fic #f1edit #lando norris #soft lando #lando x reader #lando imagine #ln4 smau #ln4 smut #ln4 fluff #ln4 imagine #ln4 fic #ln4 #ln4 x reader #ln4 x y/n #ln4 x you #ln4 one shot #ln4edit

[mirrrorballs]

seeing you tonight.

pairing / jj maybank x fem!kook!reader

genre / fluff, fluff, fluff! slight angst if you squint (?) cute little established relationship read:)

warnings / mentions of an argument, drinking (not the reader), talks about insecurities, i'm pretty sure that's it ^^

synopsis / to say the least, you were pissed at jj. and you were pretty sure he shared the feeling. what started out as a petty little bicker escalated into an actual argument. however, you're going to have to deal with him sooner or later since you're both attending the monthly outer banks beach blowout. seeing him tonight, it's a bad idea right?

author's note / my outer banks phase has been resurfacing, and apparently so has my jj obsession! this is inspired by 'bad idea right?' by olivia rodrigo <3 it doesn't entirely follow the song's storyline, but the idea is there. hope you guys like the little homage to gilmore girls (it's fall, after all.) and the little jess and rory mentions. enjoy!

"Woah, woah, woah- hold that thought, JJ. You argued with her over 'Gilmore Girls'?" Kie asked with furrowed brows and the most confused tone you could hear.

"Well- not technically." JJ replied, but it came out more as a question. Pope decided to pop into the conversation, "How on earth do you argue with your girlfriend over a show about a single mom and her mensa level daughter?" he asked.

JJ sighed sarcastically after John B let out a snicker whilst picking out some clothes for that night's party.

"We didn't really argue about the show. I just didn't like this opinion she had on one of the characters 's all. I think." he shrugged, saying the last part more to himself.

"Enlighten me then. What was this opinion she had?" Kie challenged.

It was early in the morning. JJ had slept over at your house the day before. It was now four am and you were both snuggled up together under a duvet on your couch, head on his shoulder as you both waited for your pop tarts to toast and for your coffee to brew.

You tore yourself away from him, causing JJ to groan and break the comfortable silence that engulfed the two of you.

You giggled lightly at his rather clingy state as you picked the TV remote up from the coffee table in front of you before settling back into his arms.

He held onto you slightly tighter this time, as if he didn't want you out of his hold.

As you turned the television on and started browsing through some shows on Netflix, JJ buried his head into your hair.

"What show d'ya want to watch?" he said all muffled, pressing a small kiss onto your head after.

"Gilmore Girls. You were binging it with me the last time you slept over, remember?" you said, looking up at him. He hummed in response.

"I remember. It's that favorite show of yours." he replied, smiling to himself when he noticed you didn't continue watching it without him, the episode displayed on the 'continue watching' panel being the one you left off on last time.

You both watched in silence filled with only the sounds of your reactions to some scenes. You both only paused to get your pop tarts and coffee, but JJ offered to get it for you before you could even stand up.

After a few episodes, you decided to speak. "Y'know, a lot of people like Jess, but I just can't see why." you said nonchalantly.

JJ looked at you with a confused expression and furrowed brows. Not that he was the biggest fan of that character, but he was curious as to why.

You took his look as a sign to expound on your stand. "Mm, he just doesn't seem to have the best influence on Rory. Not that he really influences her or anything, but you know what I mean?" you sat up straight to look at the blonde boy next to you.

"Not that Dean was either, I remember you droning on and on to me about that one house wife episode. What was it again? Diane Reed?" JJ replied. "Donna Reed. And you know I don't like Dean at all, I just don't think Jess was that big of an upgrade." you simply shrugged.

"And why is that? He and Rory have more things in common than she and Dean did." the blonde inquired.

"It's not really a problem with compatibility. He's just getting into fights all the time, he's incredibly disrespectful to both Luke and Lorelai, even Rory sometimes! And the whole bad boy, good girl thing they have going on isn't exactly the best thing." you said.

JJ doesn't know why, but he somehow felt himself getting defensive.

He scoffs. "So what, they're in love! Since when was opposites attract a bad thing?" his tone was shifting now, and this took you aback.

"He picks fights for no reason! I'm sorry that I'm not soft for him all because he likes to read books!" you met his tone with a hint of sarcasm.

"Is this because he's not some rich kid with a trust fund like Rory? Are those your standards?" he said. You were just bewildered by this argument now.

"Where are you even getting this?" you asked in disbelief.

"Look, I'm just saying that I don't see anything wrong with Jess! It just seems like you're nitpicking what he does." JJ was standing up now.

"Why are you taking this so personally? Is it so wrong for me to dislike a character?" you stood up as well.

"I don't know. It just seems weird that a character you don't exactly like is damn similar to me!" the blonde said, frustration mixed with confusion laced in his voice.

"What? JJ, you and Jess are two completely different people. I don't know what you're talking about--" you were cut off by him discarding your statement with a wave of his hand.

"You know what, I should really head over to John B's. I'll see you later." he said blandly, walking past you and heading for the door.

"You idiot!" Kie exclaimed once JJ stopped his retelling of that morning's events. "You know she would never even think about comparing you to someone in such an awful manner, gosh. That girl loves you so damn much it actually concerns me. Don't get me started on when you brought up the trust fund thing" she scolded.

"And dude, for the record, this Milo Ventimiglia guy is way hotter than you." John B said, showing them all a photo of him he found on google as if to say this was a reason the two couldn't be compared.

"Wow, thanks JB." JJ said sarcastically.

"Look, man, your girl's smart. She'll realize what you were implying with your argument and might get hurt." Pope added. Kie nodded furiously.

JJ's blue eyes softened at the thought of his words hurting his own girl. "Oh, man." he sunk into the couch, burying his face in his hands. After a few moments he sat back up properly. "Okay, hopefully she's still going to the party, if I can't make amends there I'll buy flowers and go to her house." he continued seriously.

Sarah was sitting on your bed as you threw clothes around your room from your closet in search of an outfit all while filling her in on your argument with JJ.

"I mean, how could he even think that I was comparing him with a character I was talking distastefully about? JJ's perfect to me, I don't see how he's as 'bad' as Jess as he thought I was implying." you rambled while inspecting one of your laced tank tops, nodding to yourself and throwing it onto your bed as a sign of approval.

"I didn't realize that what I was saying seemed to hit him where it hurt. I feel bad about that, but I'm still frustrated." you continued while eyeing two sweaters in your hands, deciding to go with the one that belonged to your boyfriend.

"You didn't know. Honestly, I think JJ still thinks he's not good enough for you. Not just with the whole kook and pogue thing he told us before." your friend said while tracing her finger over the lace on your top.

You paused and threw a pair of shorts next to your sweater and top before turning around to face Sarah.

"He thinks that?" you asked with soft eyes. "Oh.. I'm taking this as you guys haven't talked about that yet." she said.

"No, we haven't. I didn't even know he felt that way" you said.

Sarah smiled. "Well, a reason to talk to him later. Right?" she asked with a slightly tilted head. You gave her a tight lipped smile and a nod.

"Yeah. And here I was thinking seeing him later was a bad idea." you said, more to yourself than to your friend.

"You better get ready then, party starts in an hour. I'll help you with your makeup." Sarah said, standing up and handing you your outfit.

Your ears were filled with the sounds of party music, loud cheering, chattering, the opening of bottles of booze accompanied with the chants of some random guy's friends telling him to chug.

You were walking around the party on your own, Sarah already went her own way to look for John B.

Your eyes scanned the beach for the head of blonde hair and blue eyes you loved dearly. You were still eyeing the area as some guy randomly walked up to you and started trying to flirt with you by using pickup lines.

Your ears practically tuned his voice out from the get go.

Your heart rate seemed to have picked up when you saw your boyfriend from afar with some of his other friends that seemed only a bit familiar to you. He looked happy. Smiling widely and laughing after downing a red cup filled with beer with ease.

After looking at him for a few seconds, practically burning a whole into his skull with your gaze, he turned around and made eye contact.

You turned around almost immediately and shifted your attention to the guy in front of you.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" you asked in pure confusion, clueless as to why this man even approached you.

He smirked. "Well, my last statement was asking how a pretty girl such as yourself is alone at a blowout like this." he said.

You took a half step back in slight discomfort. Unbeknownst to you, this didn't go unnoticed by JJ and he immediately excused himself and made his way over to you.

You didn't realize the blonde boy's presence until you felt the all too familiar warm hand of his snake around your waist, pulling you close.

After looking up and seeing him, you faced the guy in front of you with a small smile. The poor boy seemed confused.

JJ shifted his gaze to you. "This a new friend of yours baby?" he gestured the hand that held his red cup towards him.

"Oh, uh- I didn't know you had a boyfriend." he scratched the back of his neck.

"You never gave me the chance to tell you." you simply shrugged.

"Okay then.. Bye." he backtracked as he stated before walking off in long and fast paced strides. JJ simply laughed at this.

"J, can we talk?" you turned to face him properly, looking around to to signal that the conversation should be held somewhere more private. He nodded and you both went to the empty side of the beach.

Once you were both just standing still, there was a rather awkward silence.

"You look gorgeous tonight, as always." he said with a smile that you returned.

"I'm sorry." he simply said. You looked up at him, confused. "I overreacted." he continued.

"JJ, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that what I said could come off as comparison." you said as you looked down.

JJ furrowed his eyebrows and held your chin, tilting it upwards so you were looking at him.

"Why are you apologizing? You couldn't have known. It's just- well, sometimes I can't help but feel that you're too good for me" he said, dropping his hand to your hips as he threw the red cup to the ground so his other hand could mirror this. He played with the hem of your sweater.

"Yeah, a little birdie told me you thought that." you said, the frown on your face somehow heard in your voice. "Sarah," JJ practically groaned to which you nodded.

"I don't get how you could even think that. I think the opposite at times, you're too good for me." you shook your head.

JJ tilted his head to the side as if his reason was the most obvious thing in the world. He scoffed slightly with a smile. "Just look at you. We're from two different social classes, you're a total good girl, and let's face it. I get into fights like Jess and I admit that I'm not the best influence." he said.

"Those social classes don't matter. And JJ, hey look at me, you are not Jess. You get into fights because you're defending your friends, you're defending me. You are loyal, amazing, a person with all these good adjectives and a great heart. You're respectful, my parents love you. I love you. So don't you ever think that you're not good enough because you're more than enough. Got it?" you said as you trapped his face in between your hands.

His hands were on your wrists, and he was smiling with tears slightly welling in his eyes. "I love you, so damn much." he whispered lovingly before pressing a kiss into the palm of your hand. You smiled widely at this.

"Let's ditch this party, wreck our plans." you said as you wrapped your arms around his neck. "Not a bad idea, let's hit the chateau this time." he replied, pulling you flush to him. You smiled and pressed a quick kiss onto his lips.

After pulling away you decided to message Sarah before leaving.

Hey, I'll be heading back early tonight.

You picked up JJ's red cup from the ground to dispose of properly before standing up and intertwining your hands together.

"You pick the show this time." you told him. "Sounds great to me." he smiled before falling into step with you.

Your phone dinged, indicating that Sarah responded. You shook your read with a smile as you read the reply.

Yeah right.

juls speaks. I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED! this was so cute to write oh my gosh, i swear, this had me giggling and all.

#juls writes <3 #jj maybank #jj maybank fluff #outer banks #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank x reader #obx

[sunnebeam]

fall from grace.

DRABBLE.

pairing: kim taehyung x reader

warnings: smut (are we even surprised at this point? as usual, minors do not interact), unprotected sex (bc of the time period, but in this day & age please use protection), royal au, mentions of actively trying for a child, other warnings withheld due to possible spoilers

masterlist + disclaimers.

note: finally!!! this cute lil drabble completes my 'smut with storylines' collection (which is basically just an unofficial collection of smutty drabbles i wrote for each member lol). anyways, enjoy reading and don't forget to share ur thoughts! ^^

The kingdom's people call you the Peasant Queen.

Some say it in jest, some say it with affection. But you believe a majority say it in disdain.

A lowly peasant as the Queen? A former palace servant as the King's beloved wife? A complete disgrace!

A number of people chalk it up to a love potion. Others point to a curse. Some say you resorted to black magic to bewitch the King. And the crazier the theory becomes, the more they pin the blame on you.

But in truth, you never wanted to become the Queen. Never asked to be and never expected to be. But your husband, King Taehyung, always knew you were going to be one.

"Is everything to your liking, my love?"

You turn your head to your husband's voice, your eyes softening when you see his boxy smile. You nod at his question, turning your gaze back to the windows of your shared chambers, where you can see from a distance the extravagant floral arrangements you had insisted on for the palace gardens.

"Everything is perfect, my King," you respond, feeling his arms wrap around your waist and his hard chest against your back.

"Good," he says simply. As long as you're happy, he supposes he can be happy as well.

"Thank you, my King," you suddenly say, turning in his arms and wrapping your arms around his neck. "Thank you for helping me commemorate today's significance."

His smile hardens but you don't notice.

"Of course, my love."

Your smile widens.

"He would have loved the flowers," you mumble, your smile never faltering.

His eye twitches but you don't catch it.

"I'm sure he would have, my love," he murmurs. "After all, he always used to love what was mine."

"What was that, my King?"

"Nothing, my love," Taehyung mutters then leans his forehead against yours. The both of you stay like that for a few moments, quiet and leaning against each other, before he asks you, "Have you drank your tea for the day?"

Warmth rushes to your cheeks at the mention of the tea that's supposed to help with fertility and conception. You nod, confirming that you have indeed already drank the concoction.

He smirks, his hands reaching for your garment and removing it from your body. The action still makes you bashful no matter how many times he's done it before.

"Still so shy, my Queen?" he teases you while he's removing his own garments.

"I can't help it, my King," you gasp when he pulls you to him, your naked bodies pressing against each other. "I have never been with another man. I have only ever laid with you, and yet you always manage to make me act so... salacious."

Taehyung always loves to be reminded that he's the first man to have taken your innocence. But on days like these, when the garden looks so decorated upon your insistence and the day holds so much significance to you, your words leave a slight bitter taste in his mouth.

Because he was almost not your first. It was almost not him.

"And I'm the only man to see you in such state, my love," he growls, his fingers reaching down to prep your womanhood. When he sees that you're ready for him, he spits on his hand and coats his cock with the wetness before sliding inside you. "Never forget that. Ever."

"I won't, my K-King," you stutter when he starts thrusting in and out. "You're my first..."

A harsh thrust.

"...you're my last..."

And another.

"...and you're my only."

He groans in pleasure and satisfaction, placing his hands on the underside of your knees to lift you up and wrap your legs around him. You, in turn, wrap your arms around his neck and let him carry your full weight with ease.

"That's right, my Queen," he says with conviction, bouncing you up and down on his dick, letting gravity heighten the pleasure for both of you. "I'm your husband. Your King. Me."

Not him, he adds internally.

Because although you've been married to Taehyung for two years now, the thought of him still pops up every now and then. Although you've been Taehyung's wife for two years now, you still decorate the garden with flowers to commemorate his birthday. And although you've been Taehyung's beloved Queen for two years now, you still talk about him from time to time.

"I love you, my King," you whimper when your husband angles your body in mid-air and his thrusts start to reach deeper spots inside you. "I love you so much!"

She loves me, Taehyung chants internally. Not him, not him, not him.

Your King pounds into you with renewed vigor, making you scream wantonly in delight. Your pussy tingles with each movement, clenching around his fat dick uncontrollably.

It doesn't take long before you're creaming around him, your juices gushing and making it easier for him to continue fucking you through your climax. Just as you're coming down from your high, he spills inside you, his member twitching inside you and keeping you plugged up.

Taehyung promptly carries you to the bed, laying you down gently and placing a pillow underneath your lower half. He then pulls out of you slowly, and when he's completely out, he inserts two fingers inside you, making sure not a single drop comes out.

"Maybe we finally made one," you mumble adorably, a hopeful look in your eyes.

Your husband merely smiles. Finally conceiving a child with you... the thought makes him feel content.

Maybe it's time he lets go of his grudges. Maybe it's time he feels secure in the fact that you married him. Maybe it's time he forgets about the palace gardener you fancied before him.

Maybe it's time he forgets about Jeon Jungkook.

After all, although you were in love with Jungkook first, you never ended up telling him. And although Jungkook was in love with you as well, he also never ended up telling you.

Because Taehyung made sure of it.

And although, in the end, you ended up marrying Taehyung, he'll never let you find out the truth.

And the truth is that Jungkook never went back to his home village to take care of his sick mother. The truth is that Jungkook never died from catching his mother's sickness himself. The truth is that Jungkook never even made it home, to begin with.

All you truthfully know is that Jungkook is dead.

But you'll never know that it was all by Taehyung's royal, bloody hands.

COPYRIGHT 2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

#bts x reader #bts smut #kim taehyung x reader #taehyung x reader #v x reader #bts fic #bts imagines #kim taehyung smut #kim taehyung fic #kim taehyung imagines #taehyung fic #taehyung smut #taehyung imagines #bts x you #kim taehyung x you #taehyung x you #v x you #bts x y/n #kim taehyung x y/n #taehyung x y/n #cat.writes

[oasiswithmyg]

First Meetings

So’lek x Sarentu!Reader

Hi everyone, this is my first fic ever for anything, this will be with AFAB reader in mind and will follow closely to the storyline of the game, so there will be spoilers. As I'm making this a series, each of these can be read as standalones. I hope you enjoy it ! Any Na’vi words or phrases I use, the English translation will be right next to it, if not then it will be at the end of the fic!

Word count: 2.6k

Masterlist - Next

“It's our world, it's lost…dying, because we didn't fight for it when we had a chance. Now we’re fighting for yours. We’re going to make a difference here. Together.” Priya passionately declared as she looked at you sincerely. Then her eyes widened as she remembered something, “Oh! So’lek was hoping to catch you too. Promised him I wouldn't forget. Tell him I didn’t forget !”

You giggled at how cute and bubbly Priya was, out of all the humans here at the resistance base, you liked her cheerful mannerisms a lot. You could tell that she would be a wonderful friend to have. You nodded and thanked her before you head over to find So’lek.

As you slowly walked through the base, your mind had shifted to the recent events that occurred while you and the others were at the TAP facility a day ago. The reason for the shift being a certain resistance Na’vi.

Oel ngati kameie. I see you.

Those were the first words you heard from him when you woke up after the cryo sleep. Even with all the chaos that was going on at the time, you couldn’t help but feel drawn to the Na’vi who seemed to be very straight-forward, blunt and yet understanding of the situation that you and the rest of the Sarentu had faced.

So’lek, he said, was his name (‘what a lovely name’ you had thought) when you asked him while on the run from the RDA, one of the last remaining survivors of his clan. Although, everytime you think of that memory, alone and running from the RDA, you remember the fear of being separated from everyone and wondering if they were safe. After what happened to Aha’ri, you couldn’t stand anyone else being hurt. But So’lek’s voice kept you moving forward and when one of the RDA in the AMP suit caught you, holding you down as that horrible man, Mercer looked down on you, comparing you to your sister, the only thing you wished and hoped for was that So’lek would keep the Sarentu trio safe, as you almost gave up, He came out of nowhere, shooting at the RDA to save you and told you to run.

When you finally got out of the TAP facility, Pandora was nothing like what Mercer or the TAP said it was. They said that it was a terrifying, vicious, and cruel world. However, to your eyes, It was beautiful, the bright sun, the sounds of the creatures and water of the forest. It was like a new world and you couldn’t believe that you spent so long without it all.

As you walked forward, finding So’lek and the others immediately became a priority, when you finally found So’lek, he was hurt, the concern in you washed over like a wave in your chest, he must have gotten injured while protecting you. You knew at that moment that you wanted to protect him as well, taking his bow and using your Na’vi sense that So'lek told you about, made you realize how much you missed out on life, then getting the dapophet plant to heal him and fighting the RDA, gave you a feeling like no other, it made you feel that you can help, that you can be a protector as well.

However, It was when So’lek asked about your songchord, that made your heart flutter. You can still remember the conversation even though it hadn’t been that long.

“You have no songchord.” So’lek said as he got up after repositioning his shoulder, noticing that the Sarentu he seemed to run into a lot was missing a songchord. There was just something different about her, she seemed very caring and yet so strong in spirit, as he could tell as they were on the run from the RDA. “We had my mother’s, but they stole it” Your voice cracked as you said it, the pain of losing both your sister and the songchord, the only piece of your mother left still hurts you to this day.

Hearing that, So’lek felt anger and resentment flare up in his chest. Not only did they kidnap the Sarentu children, kill his clan and hurt the lands of Pandora, they had the audacity to steal something precious from a child as well. He could not explain the feeling in his chest, he wanted to do something for the Sarentu. “Then we must change that” his voice seemed to soften as he said the words and as he questioned, “What is your name Sarentu ?”.

Hearing his voice being gentle brought heat to your cheeks, and more flutterings in your chest, a feeling of happiness seemed to spread through you, “Y/N, my name is Y/N” you looked at him as your name rolled out your mouth in a hurry. Hearing it, So’lek lips curved up a tiny bit, his smile although small was gentle.

The rest went on with him making sure you understood that you must find your own way as you are a Na’vi and by doing so on your own was the way you can learn and then he finally asked you to join the resistance, hearing how he talked about the resistance made you understand why he was in it and you wanted to join them to help other Na’vi, to help save Pandora. After reaching the resistance base and meeting many new human faces, it was a breath of fresh air, they seemed so kind and you could tell that they were sincere in their welcoming and the work that they do here. The only person you still felt a bit weird with was Alma, but you discarded it as it was probably a long time of not seeing each other. She must have felt that she lost all of you after putting you all to cyro sleep.

Seeing the rest of the Sarentu trio free was another happiness that you could not describe, as you saw them as your family. With you being the second to last youngest, you looked up to Ri’nela and Nor a lot, you tried to be there for them as much as possible, to be listening ear or someone they could find comfort in, especially Nor, as he lost his best friend, your big sister. He was the only one that would rebel at the facility, trying to follow Aha’ri’s footsteps. Ri’nela, she became a big sister to you, but was always worried about what would happen if things didn’t go the way TAP wanted. Then there was the youngest, Teylan, he was like a little brother you never had, he would always hold onto your shirt when he felt overwhelmed and sometimes at night when he felt no one would notice, he would sneak into your bed and cuddle wanting to escape whatever nightmares would plague him. It was why you made a very simple doll out of one of the old clothes you had, you gave it to him saying that at times if he couldn’t see you, that he can always hold on to it to know that you’ll always be there for him. The day you gave him that, he hugged you so tightly, he didn’t let go for a long time. But it worried you how much he seemed to praise and think about Mercer.

Then you were given your first mission, take down one of the RDA facilities near the base which was polluting the land, Pneumatic Tower Echo. It felt overwhelming at first but after seeing how the land, your land, the land of Pandora, was ruined because of the RDA, a determination had stirred up in you. It was what made you destroy the RDA facility as soon as possible. In wonder you had seen Eywa had worked in mysterious ways, the land rejuvenated after the facility was destroyed, with creatures from the forest returning to the land, the flora coming back to life. Teylan called you through the radio in worry after hearing the bang, he and the others were at a flower they found. He wanted you to be there with the others so you could check it out, you had hurried over to the group, slowing down as you and the others came closer to the flower, Ri’nela had gasped in wonder, saying how that it was the flower that opens only for the Sarentu, to connect to Eywa, a Tarsyu. You had looked at it in awe, as you could only barely remember seeing the flower when you were a toddler. Finally, pulling your kuru forward, you connected to Eywa and met your ancestor Entu, the first Toruk Makto, with your will renewed, your heart became content and excited at the prospect of learning more and more about what it means to be a Sarentu.

You stopped reminiscing as you finally headed over to the armory where So’lek was at, looking over his gun. For some reason you didn’t think twice when Priya told you that So’lek was looking for you, your feet seemed to have a mind of their own. So’lek ears turned to your direction as he heard your footsteps approach him, he looked up and his lips curved up automatically, he looked proud as he said, “You did well out there”. You felt happy at his words, that you had helped the resistance in some way. As you looked over at him, you felt curious about the weapon in his hand. “Did the humans teach you their weapons too ?” you asked.

So’lek’s eyes became dull at those words, a resentment growing in his chest as his thoughts went to his clan, from when he could last remember them. You wanted to take back the words immediately, not wanting to see his eyes fill with such emptiness ever again. “No, I saw the RDA butcher my clan. Their bullets slicing them to shreds. That was my lesson.” he explained, his voice low and tense as he continued, “I know how it feels to be among the last of your people. The humans…they are like their guns. Brought here to cause pain.”

You took in his words and you honestly agreed to what he exclaimed. Guns and those strange machines just brought more destruction to Pandora, especially the humans who operated them. But you were confused as well, were the humans here at the resistance base not RDA once ? Voicing this concern of yours, he firmly replied in a hurry, “and I will not make it easy for them to forget. They are our allies now, yes. But, this is not their war. They fight for the ghost of their home world. But we fight for our home.” His words made you think about your time spent at TAP. Although the program was to ensure a healthy relation between humans and Na’vi, it never felt like that. It felt like that evil man had won, “In the end, Mercer got what he wanted, he made us into soldiers.” Your hands clenched tightly at your sides, your tail swishing, agitated and just saying it made you frustrated.

So’lek looked at the Sarentu thoughtfully, he could understand her frustration, her pain and sorrow, he could see how much she wanted to change the way things were and he felt like he wanted to help guide her on her journey, to be her helping hand, he could not explain these emotions well. So he advised her, “You are not what they made you. You are Na’vi. You will learn what that means in time. Starting with this,” he pulled something from the back of his gear, it was a songchord, “I made it for you” he passed the songchord to you, looking at it, you could feel the crack in your heart when they had stole your mother’s songchord from you lessen. You held it in your hands gently, as if it was the most precious thing in the world, which probably was as this was the first time someone, other than your sister and mother, ever made anything for you.

“My own songchord, like my mother’s…” you gently noted.

“All Na’vi wear one. It is your life’s journey for the world to see. For you to remember” He explained the significance of the songchords to you.

“Her’s had more beads on it” you exclaimed in a low tone, trying to remember what it looked like when you last saw it, before Mercer had taken it right out of your hands. You tied the songchord that So’lek had given you on your wrist and examined it carefully, noticing a bead on, your eyes looked at him curiously.

“Each bead is a moment of great importance to the wearer. I have put one in place to commemorate your first steps to freedom. Build on it. Build your own memories. Each one, a new song in your heart.” So’lek explained, noting the soft and gentle look grace the Sarentu’s face. This expression was something he hoped to see, to brighten whatever dark clouds that had been swirling in her mind.

You looked at him, hoping to convey your will to him, “I hope we can. Ri’nela really wants to try. To know what it means to be Sarentu. But at the Tarsyu…Nor seemed confused. Upset.” Thinking about it, after your sister's death, Nor took it hard and felt that it was his own fault for her death, that he did not try harder. He always used to listen closely to Aha’ri with you when she would hum the songs or tell stories of the Sarentu.

“Eywa shows us who we are. And who we can be. But she also reminds us of what has been lost. For your people, that is a heavy burden” So’lek said somberly. He then picked up his gun and started inspecting it again. “The back exit is not so exposed, he may be there.” Noting the worry on your face for Nor, he stated. You nodded with a smile at him, you were about to turn and leave when you remembered, “So’lek,” he turned his head to your voice, a slight shiver crawled up his spine at the gentle caress in the way you said his name, he could see your expression and he felt shocked at the way your eyes looked him in gratefulness. “Irayo So’lek. Thank you so much. For saving me and the others. For giving me strength. For making this songchord and the bead, I will treasure it always and I hope that I can show you my journey through it.”

You turned to leave, feeling the heat rush back to your cheeks at the honest words you blurted out to him, your feelings all over the place. However, before you left, you heard him whisper to you, so that only you would hear, “Be safe.” You felt your heart skip a beat as you nodded to him and rushed out of the base in order to search for Nor.

So’lek did not expect the Sarentu to say such heart-felt words, he had to cover his face because it felt slightly heated. He did not understand what he was feeling, as he did not feel the same with the other Sarentu trio as he did with her. Maybe it was her honest and caring nature that made him feel flustered. For now though, he decided to ignore those feelings. He needed to focus on gathering intel about those who killed his clan and defeating the RDA.

Little did either of them know, that in the future that he would not be able to ignore his feelings and that there would be a bead that represents them on her songchord.

∘ Oel ngati kameie - I see you

∘ Irayo - thanks

Thank you if you've read through to the end ! I would greatly appreciate comments on how it was and any tips to further improve my writing.

#so'lek x reader #so'lek #avatar frontiers of pandora #avatar #afop #sarentu #frontiers of pandora #so'lek x na'vi!reader #so'lek x sarentu!reader #so'lek fluff #nor #ri'nela #teylan

[longtallglasses]

some miwi headcanons just bc ! older ones

i see young mike as kind of loud and not realizing how loud (and annoying) his yelling near people is (ie karen yelling in s1 “mike let’s go!” “COMING!!!”) however he quickly learns not to yell around will, adopting his softer voice for him BUT

in school he’s constantly calling over to will “will come here” “will sit next to me” “will! over here! look at this!” trying to get his attention “will, will, hey will…” other kids are like dude shut up… so many kids know will’s name who’ve never seen him, and mike’s thought of as that kid who’s always calling out for his friend.

i’m an avid rock collector!mike enjoyer. on the playground, in the forest, at the park, at the lake. he’s picking up all the cool ones, storing them away for very important scientific reasons like “this one’s shiny in A Different way!” he sets aside his favorites to show and give to will, very much in the style of a cat bringing a dead rodent to their owner, like “got something special just for you :) a Very Cool Rock :)” will loves how much mike enjoys it and is very excited to receive them, feeling quite special.

will loves stuffed animals (i mean we been knew) when he was younger they all had names and backstories, interpersonal drama and storylines he played out. two stuffed cats he definitely thought of as him and mike subconsciously, as they were best friends. he would act out little dramatic scenes of them running away from some oppressive kingdom, going on an adventure and meeting new friends along the way. … and he may have made them kiss a few times …

obviously small will loved drawing, but i don’t think he was always confident in his skill. after people tell him he’s good he gets caught up in trying to be really good, and gets frustrated when he can’t do something the way he wants. hence crumpled up attempts in the trash mike fishes out. there’s a spell of time where he gives up for a bit and jonathan asks why he hasn’t seen him drawing lately, and will says he doesn’t think he can get any better, it’s too hard. jonathan tells him it doesn’t matter if it’s perfect, he should just draw to make himself happy “draw for the campaigns, your friends think it’s so cool” so will keeps at it focusing on drawing what he thinks him and his friends will appreciate

while watching scary movies in the basement mike and will always held hands under blankets. it started when they were younger and they first got permission to watch a scary movie, they didn’t want to admit they might be getting too scared. during a big jump their hands reached out on instinct and too caught up in the movie they didn’t let go. when it was over they didn’t talk about it, but then it just kept happening every time they got scared. which led to holding hands when upset outside of watching movies. they never really discussed it, it just felt like their little secret thing.

all the boys were nice to holly but will was the only friend who actually liked seeking her out to play w them. (fascinated by a little sister unlike lucas and only-child dustin) mike and will would play games with her sometimes, will thinking she was really cute, and mike thinking it was cute will really liked her. cue karen thinking will is the best influence on her son

i have such a strong image of kindergarten miwi right after they become friends making mud pies together every recess. their teacher scolds them the first few times having to scrub their hands when they come back in. it gets so bad when the recess monitor sees them heading for the dirt they’re yelling “Michael! William! don’t even think about it!” they think it’s so funny to rile them up, they start spreading mud on each others arms “will you need more than that!” they only try to eat it a few times, it does taste really gross. after they’re banned from the dirt, they move to the sand box, it’s only a bit cleaner.

#thinking about THEM #byler #byler headcanon #miwi #will byers #mike wheeler

[teyamsgrl]

Hi guurl, how you doing? good?

SO .. as a girl who obsessed with Neteyam ! I need to request you this ><

How about reader gives birth to twins! tow boys!

they became 14 YO .. they are famous in the clan because no one gives birth to twins before and they are always in troubles and the clan used to it lol

love your writing btw 💋🫂💋🫂..

hiiiiii i'm doing well, and thank you for the request! i love dad!neteyam and i think this is such a cute idea, i'm so excited to write it! and thank you i'm so glad you enjoy my fics! 🥰

i've restructured the storyline of atwow happenings for this - when lo'ak, spider, kiri and tuk encounter recom at the old shack, i'm making it that they never leave for awa'atlu, but rather spider just gets kidnapped. it'll make sense in the fic!!

p.s: so sorry for taking forever to complete this i feel terrible 😭 life def got in the way of everything including my writing which is so unfortunate BUT IM COMING BACK I SWEAR

troublemakers ✧ neteyam

°˖➴ warnings: fem omatikaya reader, mom!reader, agedup!neteyam, dad!neteyam, mention of pregnant!kiri, mention of children/parenting, mention of spider being taken by recom - muntxatan: male spouse/mate

as you sit on the floor of your hut weaving a basket for kiri as a pregnancy gift, you look up as you hear someone else enter your space. "hey, love" neteyam says, squatting down in front of you and examining your handiwork. "looks great, she will love it" you smile up at him and reach for his hands, dropping the basket from your grasp. "thank you, i really hope so.. she made me such a beautiful one while i was pregnant with the boys" your eyes glance over to said basket that rests atop the table across the hut, "speaking of, have you seen them?" you ask your husband.

"not for a while, i saw them while i was visiting my mom then they headed out towards... fuck i know exactly where they were going!" neteyam shoots up from his squatting position in front of you, holding a hand out to help you up. "old shack?" you question, grabbing a hold of his hand and heading towards the entrance of your hut. "definitely... they're gonna hear it from me" you two start to walk deeper into the forest, following the familiar trail towards the old shack. "ma'teyam... don't give them too much trouble, don't you remember when we used to sneak out here too?" a purple hue fills neteyam's cheeks as he recalls your younger times, squeezing your hand tightly as if to agree with you without words.

as you approach the shack, you instantly recognize the sounds of your sons; them arguing with each other was often a common occurrence. "stop being such an asshole! give me it!" mar'ue scolds his brother, chasing him around the old shack. "no! you'll have to catch me first!" kal'el taunts back, climbing on top of the shack. once they come into your view, you and neteyam squat behind some of the large foliage surrounding the area. you start to giggle as you watch them, a giggle also escaping at the protective look in your husband's eyes. he was quite the emulation of his father, always wanting his family to be safe and therefore expecting them to listen to instruction. your boys were quite the opposite of neteyam in this sense, they loved to mess around and constantly looked for trouble.

once mar'ue jumped on top of the shack as well, the boys instantly started to wrestle each other for whatever item kal'el was holding captive. they were hissing and growling at one another, lanky bodies rolling around atop the dilapidated shack. you watch as they get dangerously close to the edge of the shack, neteyam lunging forward to make himself known. "what brings you two out here? huh?" he questions, crossing his arms across his chest. you bite back a smile as you emerge from the plants as well, watching your boys freeze in surprise at the sudden presence of their dad. "w-well-" "it was his idea!" kal'el blurts, pointing to his brother. if looks could kill, your son would've been done for. "are you fucking serious-" "hey! watch your mouth" neteyam scolds, gesturing for them to come down. you smile at them as they head towards you both, leaning to hug neteyam's arm.

"what have i said about this place?" neteyam stares them down as they shift around under his gaze. "not to come out here..." they mumble in unison. "exactly. i wasn't allowed out here, and neither are you two. you have no idea how dangerous this place can be!" you rub neteyam's arm, trying to encourage him to calm down on the boys a bit. you knew what happened with spider back then still affected him, even though his adoptive brother has been home for a long time now. "you boys have to understand why your dad is so against you both being out here..." you squeeze neteyam's arm before continuing, "you know how uncle spider was away from home for a bit when your dad was younger?" you watch as your sons nod, curious as to what you'll say. the incident was hardly ever talked about as it was hard for everyone, especially spider. "well, it happened here. the sky people took your uncle spider right here, and kept him from home for a long time. not only is this a sensitive place for your dad, but it is risky to be out here. sky people are still coming to pandora and there is always a risk, especially in places they've visited before. i know it's fun to come out here and it feels exciting to go behind your dad's back, but this can be a scary place..." you trail off as the boys' faces fill with guilt, eyes locking on their dad.

neteyam lets out a heavy sigh after your words, moving to wrap his arm tightly around your waist. "i'm sorry, dad.." mar'ue says, looking for his brother to repeat the words. "me too, we didn't know, it won't happen again..." kal'el steps closer, coming to hug his dad on his free side. neteyam pulls him in tight, "it's okay, son. you were right, you didn't know" he rubs kal'el's shoulder before pulling mar'ue in too. you smile and make it a group hug, happy that the boys understand. "now go on, there's still hours until dinner, have some fun elsewhere" neteyam sends them on their way, chuckling as they run off towards the nearby pond. neteyam then wraps his arms around you, pulling you flush against his front. "you're so amazing.." he whispers, lips ghosting over yours. "i could say the same to you, muntxatan.. our boys truly look up to you" you press a kiss to his lips, pouring every ounce of love into it. he hums into it, hands trailing up and down your back.

"thank you for explaining it to them.. it wasn't fair for me to get so mad at them without explaining why" he whispers, one hand coming to push a braid behind your ear. "it's okay, it's not an easy topic for you or anyone in your family for that matter, it isn't just something you can effortlessly talk about" you whisper back, leaning into his hand. he nods at your words, pulling your head close so he can press his lips to your forehead.

you two head back to the village holding hands, delightfully in love just as you were years ago.

#avatar #atwow #avatar 2009 #avatar the way of water #avatar fic #atwow fic #avatar masterlist #avatar smut #avatar fluff #avatar angst #atwow smut #atwow fluff #atwow angst #neteyam #neteyam sully #neteyam x reader #neteyam fic #neteyam smut #neteyam fluff #neteyam angst #jake sully #jake sully x reader #jake sully fic #lo'ak sully #lo'ak x reader #lo'ak fic

[rinkkuma]

rin and his love for horror movies. something you were surprised to find out when you started dating him, but hey, he seems to enjoy them.

you didn't mind watching them with him sure, but some of them have made you have sleepless nights and made you shit yourself. rin of course didn't force you to watch them with him if you didn't want to—but you always insist you'll be a-okay. although you slightly hate horror movies, surely you'll get over the movie eventually, and anything to spend time with him right?

wrong. a new horror movie had just released and rin decided to spend his sunday night watching the movie. unbeknownst to you, the movie was one of the most gut-wrenching, butt-clenching, daunting films released this year. you sigh as you plop down on the couch, unaware about what you're about to get yourself into.

jump scare after jump scare, rin seems to be unfazed, almost like a statue, while your heart pounds out of your chest and you dramatically scream quietly. you begin to wonder how he stays so unfazed. sure, he’s watched a lot of horror movies, but this one seems next level.

“you okay?” rin turns to you with concern in his eyes while pausing the movie to make sure you're fine with continuing on watching.

“y-yeah! i mean, it can't get worse than this right?” he hums, wrapping his arm around your shoulder to give you some sort of comfort, and unpauses the movie.

and it did get worse. you wonder how one even has the imagination to create something this horrifying. trying your absolute hardest to push through and hold in your screams, you settle for snuggling closer to rin, hoping you feel somewhat safer.

he looks down at you response to your actions, and pulls you closer to him, aware that you're terrified. he's been aware since your first scream, but being a little more alert now that you seem even more scared than earlier.

rin thinks you're cute like this. being comfortable enough around him that he's the first thing you come to when you're scared.

after what seemed like decades, the movie comes to an end as you're still taking in everything that had happened in that movie. you have to admit the storyline was great, but god, did they really have to make it scary too?

rin is the one to break the silence. “you know, you don't have to watch scary movies if you want to, right?” he's been mentally noting your reactions from the very first horror movie you watched with him, and it's clear that you hate them, but still continue to watch them with him.

“yeah.. but i get to spend time with you, rinnie.” his eyes widen at your confession, and rubs the back of his neck feeling slightly guilty that you watch them for his sake.

he flicks your forehead in response. “idiot. there's so many other things we could do instead. could've told me from the beginning if you wanted to spent time with me..”

“ow! well, you seem to enjoy them so much, so..” you murmur, you move closer to him, your thoughts still full of the jump scares replaying.

rin pauses and thinks about what you had just said. he's grateful you try to invest into his interests, but if you hate it, he doesn't want you do it at all costs.

without a word, rin picks you up and walks to your shared bedroom. he gently places you on the sheets and pulls the comforter over you before joining you.

he brings you into his chest and hugs you tightly. his warmth immediately washes over you and you feel at peace.

“won't let anything ever hurt you.” he whispers as he places a kiss on top of your head.

you laugh at his somewhat cliché, but sweet statement, but still content with his words. you close your eyes and doze into a deep, comforting sleep in rin's arms.

#blue lock x reader #rin x reader #rin itoshi x reader #rin itoshi #blue lock #blue lock fluff

[little-miss-dilf-lover]

Matt x Fem!Reader she’s an ex-black widow, they’re on their first date after admitting they have feelings for each other and she’s freaking out because she’s never been on a date or in a relationship and has never been in love until she met Matt. He can tell she’s nervous and scared so he keeps reassuring her and they have their first kiss at end.🥺🫶🏻🫶🏻

hii!! I love this sm omg, so cute ugh! thank you for requesting, hope you like it💌

…

worth the wait

matt murdock x fem!reader

word count: 897

kinda imagined the location for matt and karens date, now just realised after writing that ^^ i unintentionally kinda copied a bit of the storyline (fuck?!😀)

✧.┊ MASTERLIST

As an ex-black widow, you've never had many opportunities to be human. Since the destruction of the Red Room all those years ago, you've been on a personal quest for happiness. And happiness's name just so happened to be called Matthew Murdock.

You haven't long professed your shared feelings, so things were still very new and terrifying. 

Matt's a great guy; that's not the issue. It was you. 

Since you've been a widow your whole life, you never got to experience things you should have. You've never been on an actual date or even dated someone, for that matter. 

You've never received spontaneous flowers or an 'I miss you' text that wakes you in the middle of the night. You've never had one of those cutesy dates you've always dreamed of- the kind you see in the movies, where you walk hand in hand down the beach at night. You've had no more than a few unrequited encounters, so things with Matt were a big deal to you. 

It was daunting to date someone as special as him, and you were scared of blowing it.

"Where'd you go?" Matt asks from opposite you, slipping his hand into yours above the table.

"Nowhere," you smile, rubbing your thumb over the back of his hand.

"Mhm, okay," he grins, his eyes playfully squinting. He could tell something was bothering you and playing on your mind, but he didn't want to press the matter- not yet, anyway. "You're doing great," Matt reassures, squeezing your hand as if to comfort you.

He knew you were new to the dating game, so he didn't want to rush or overwhelm you. He wanted to take his time with you. To allow time for you to adjust, to get used to it. He wanted to show you your worth and how you're supposed to be treated by someone, despite your troubled past. 

You knew all about Matt's upbringing, as he did yours. You knew these somewhat violent and graphic details about each other, and in some weird miracle, it didn't make the other want to run for hills. 

"I feel like I'm messing this up," you chuckle, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"No," he shakes his head. "Absolutely not. You're doing great."

"I dunno,"

"You are sweetheart, trust me," he nods assuringly, playing with your fingers clasped around his.

As this was your first date with Matt, you were a big bundle of nerves and butterflies. It wasn't the company that scared you. It was because you were in such a fancy restaurant and constantly worried about saying the wrong thing.

"Hey, here's an idea," he starts, a soft smile lining his lips. "Let's go somewhere else."

"Why? What do you mean?" you ask, head cocking to the side.

He picks up your hand and brings it to his lips, pecking a kiss on the back of it. "I can tell this place is making you uneasy— and I don't want that," Matt shakes his head as if he's emphasising his point. "We can go someplace else, anywhere else."

"But we just got here— and you got the reservation and everything. I don't wanna be—"

"Not at all," he interrupts, smiling sweetly. "I think I'd prefer Thai food anyway."

You knew he only said that to avoid hurting your feelings, but it's a special gesture and one that didn't go unnoticed.

On the way back, you and Matt stopped by his favourite local Thai restaurant. As it was a much more casual setting, you felt like you could finally relax and enjoy your date with him. And you did.

...

After an hour or two of chatting and sharing dishes, Matt walked you back to yours. Your arm wrapped around his as you continue your juvenile conversation from earlier, heartily laughing as you make your way down the late-night street.

"This is me— that was stupid," you chuckle, shaking your head. "That's what they say in movies— it's— it's dumb."

"No, I thought it was cute," he smiles, slowly spinning you around to face him. "It was cute," he says again, reassuring you of self-deprecation.

Matt takes a small step towards you, slipping one hand to cup your cheek. "I had a good night," he grins, speaking inches away from you.

"I did, too," you smile, placing your hand over his, holding him to your face.

"I want to take you out again sometime, maybe friday?"

"I'd like that," you murmur, your eyes darting down at his lips. 

He says something incoherent before guiding your face to his, brushing over your lips. He kisses you soft and tender, sweet and loving. A grace of compassion you've never had before. He snakes his spare hand to your waist, holding you to him as he lightly works over your lips. 

He breaks the kiss first and rests his forehead against yours, soaking in the memory as he embraces your comforting aura. He kisses your cheek one last time before stepping back, opening your front door. 

"I'll stop by tomorrow during my lunch break," he grins, taking your hand and guiding you into your house. 

"I'll make us sandwiches," you smile back.

He slips his hand from yours, kissing it one last time. 

"Text me when you get home?" 

"I will, sweetheart. Goodnight,"

"Goodnight." You beam, locking the door with an excited squeal.

Maybe Matt was worth the wait. 

— — — — — — — — — — ☆ — — — — — — — — — —

matt taglist: @hailey-murdock @ashlynhasmanyhyperfixations @idontknowwhattohaveasmyuser @redecoratestan @kpopgirlbtssvt @scarletsloveletter @princess-pebbles-things @messymissy @schneeflocky @readerhead @thegreengoop @charmedkim @queerponcho @selfryed

#matt murdock #matt murdock x reader #matt murdock x you #matt murdock fanfic #matt murdock fluff #matt murdock x fem!reader #matt murdock fem!reader #black widow reader #matthew murdock #matthew murdock x reader #daredevil

[sungbeam]

OFF THE RECORD ▷ PART ONE (EP1-8)

nonidol!ji changmin x fem!reader

everyone thinks changmin is cute and harmless, but you know that's not who he really is.

▷ genre, part warnings. e2l, childhood friends gone bad, (extra) slow burn, fluff, angst, mentions of childhood trauma and parental manipulation, arguing, bittersweet galore, nct ten is there for the sole purpose of being nosy like the rest of us or for being a 2nd male lead who knows!, swearing, hurt/comfort, ji changmin dancing. (need i go on), symptoms of panic/anxiety, a lot of non-tbz moments sorry i meant it when i said extra slow burn, pining haha...ha (very subtle)

▷ PART ONE WC. 18.5k

this is the third installment of the love in unity series! this can be read as a standalone, but i encourage u to read jacob and eric's storylines too! all prev and future yns will be referred to as _!yn ;) / otr part two

a/n: this was going to be a very quirky author's note, but it's not anymore bc i'm really mad at tumblr. pls enjoy :')

EPISODE ONE (PILOT): OFF THE CLOCK

"NIGHT, Yn!"

"Good night, Yn-ie."

"Make sure you get some rest, Yn-ah! Good luck with the report."

The door out of the laboratory building shuttered closed after your last coworkers and peers swept out to leave you to the white noise of the lights above your head and the cooling units. You were probably the only person crazy enough to still be chained to your lab workbench on a Friday night, especially when it was already six o'clock. Your stomach growled its complaints as you tucked a pen behind your ear with a sigh. There was probably a bag of shrimp chips in the break room snack stash, and you pushed your stool beneath the workbench to head into the break room.

Now that the laboratory was practically barren except for you, it wouldn't be a bad idea to take the reign of Kun's speaker…

The sound of your phone ringtone blared out loud from your pocket, and you scrambled to grab it with your other hand not occupied with shrimp chip crumb dust (after having washed your hands, of course). You put the call on speaker then deposited your phone onto the countertop so both hands could be used for eating. "Yo."

"You've been hanging around Mark too much," Yeri answered from the other end.

You snorted, covering your mouth for a moment, then replying, "Well good evening to you, too, my beloved. What's up?"

You could hear the muffled sounds of your friends from the other side of the phone. A car door slammed shut. "Hey-yo, is that Yn? Yn, what's up, my dude?"

"Mark, can you speak like a regular human?" That was Seungkwan. "Hi Yn-ie! We miss you, mwah!"

"Look, man. Me and Yn are homies, and this is literally just how I talk—"

The car door opened and Yeri must have taken initiative to get out of the car herself at this point. You laughed at her audible eye roll. "Okay, now that you've heard what I have to deal with, will you tell me that you're coming to the dance draft show tonight?"

Your mood soured.

It wasn't that you didn't want to go for Yeri's sanity's sake, you just didn't want to go, period. What the performing arts called a rehearsal, they referred to as a "draft" stage, where they planned rough runs of acts for the showcase. It just so happened that the dance department was holding their draft show for people to sit-in to watch tonight; their final showcase would be held on the Friday night of finals week, which was only in a few weeks now.

(Why did they call it a "draft" stage instead of simply a "rehearsal"? Well, you had no clue, and you didn't have any plans to ask anyone who would know the answer.)

When you didn't immediately answer, you heard Yeri's grumble. "Don't nerd out on me, Miss Yn Ln."

You gasped. "Nerd out on you? I'm being responsible—"

"You're being a workaholic!"

You pursed your lips together and quickly rinsed your fingers of shrimp chip crumbs. "Fair. But I'm sorry, I'm not going."

A brief pause. Then, the sigh. "Okay. That's okay," she said. "Wanna meet us for dinner afterwards at least?"

Your stomach grumbled, right on cue. It wasn't loud enough for Yeri to hear on the other end, but the timing made you laugh to yourself. "Definitely."

There was a smile in your friend's voice. "Cool! I'll text you details once we figure out what's happening. In the mean—" her voice was interrupted by the sound of muffled yelling on the other side, and Yeri pulled her mouth away from the phone so she could screech at Seungkwan, Mark, and now, Kim Jungwoo, to be quiet and put their seatbelts on. You heard vaguely about Jungwoo being late for his call time, and you were not at all surprised. She returned to the phone with a grumble. "You're really leaving me with the kids, Yn?"

You giggled. "Sorry, Yeri. I'll pay for your dinner."

"Deal. See you soon, babe."

"See ya, love!"

When the phone call ended, you realized just how thick the silence fell around you. It settled like a blanket over your senses, and it all became a bit overwhelming, especially after such a loud phone call.

You sighed, putting the shrimp chips back in the snack stash. You might as well go find where Kun hid his speaker to fill the silence then.

— ✶

People were yelling. And tripping. And crying.

In retrospect, this constituted as a normal backstage environment for something like a finals showcase draft rehearsal. It was hardly even a rehearsal, but more so a sneak peek showcase. There were people in the audience, after all.

Ji Changmin would know. This would be his third winter draft show out of his three years here in university. There were always showcases at the end of each quarter, but the winter show wielded the title of most anticipated. With the cold and rainy weather keeping most people indoors, it allowed for a larger crowd to come flocking toward said indoor modes of entertainment. Thus, the winter showcase and all of its hype.

Changmin lingered in his little corner of the backstage area, calmly stretching out his lanky limbs while chaos erupted all around him. He had two acts this time around—a duet with Lee Juyeon, as well as a solo performance. It had been enough to keep him busy for the quarter, among his other classes.

"—Jungwoo, you're late!"

He raised his head at the sound of Lee Minho’s voice from across the room, the dirty blond sending a deadpanned glare at the man in question. Kim Jungwoo’s eyes were wide with doe-like innocence as he made his way toward his friend, his posse following behind and taking in the chaos with amused awe. Changmin could easily recognize those present—Kim Yeri, Mark Lee, and Boo Seungkwan.

He turned his head away; it wasn’t his business, and he had much bigger things to worry about.

He raised his hands to his neck to put his headphones over his ears, but paused when he caught a few more echoes of their conversation.

“ — sorry Minho, but you know I can’t resist getting a free carpool ride,” Jungwoo said while setting his duffle bag in the corner and swiftly joining Minho in stretches. If Changmin was a hard ass when it came to dance and schedules, Minho was much worse. But Changmin respected him a lot, especially in a craft like dance and performance—he saw him as an equal.

A sigh from Minho. “Yeah, yeah. Poor Yeri.”

Yeri huffed, her hands shooting up into the air. “Thank you!”

Minho folded his arms over his chest as he stood up straight to stand next to Yeri as the two of them absentmindedly watched Jungwoo fold himself in two to stretch his long legs out. “Huh, no Yn tonight?”

Changmin didn’t know why he was still listening. He slowly lowered his headphones back to their position around his neck, then resumed stretching out his hamstrings. He could wait a couple more minutes before getting into his choreography…

“You know you’re not gonna see her anywhere near this place,” Yeri said with a pointed look. Changmin held back a retort, or even a snort. “Wanna get dinner with us tonight? She’s coming to meet us after the show.”

“Ah, I’d love to, but I promised Jisung I’d swing by the studio afterwards. Hey, have you met Ten yet? You should ask…”

Changmin decided that this was an appropriate moment to tune out. He swiftly donned his headphones and reached for his phone hidden in the pile of his duffle bag and jackets in the corner. He didn’t even know why he listened in when your friends brought you up. Why were you even still connected to the dance and performing arts department people anyway? He huffed, rolling his eyes with a small shake of his head. It wasn’t like you wanted to be connected to dance anyway. So why give him a constant reminder of your existence and the past you shared—

“Changminnie!” Juyeon appeared in front of him, waving to him with that goofy smile to get his attention.

Changmin broke into a smile as he shifted one side of his headphones from his ear. “Hey. Wanna go over some of the routine?”

Juyeon nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready. I was trying to get your attention, but I think you were just occupied.”

Whoops. Changmin flicked his wrist as he followed Juyeon down the hallway to a more private place to practice with his friend. “Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking of something.”

“Oh, okay,” Juyeon ducked his head into an empty dressing room in the back hallway, beckoning Changmin to follow him in. “Nothing to worry about though? You can talk to me; no judgment.”

Changmin chuckled and closed the door behind him. “Nah, nothing important. Let’s just focus on the performance.” Anything involving you? Definitely not important anymore.

— ✶

Late February brought the cold, bitter winds of night to the university, so the trek all the way across campus from the laboratory buildings to the performing arts hall was a hellish one. You kept your head tucked into the puffy collar of your puffer jacket, hands stuffed into your pockets, a happy tune blasting in your ears to keep you going all the way up the road. It was around nine o’clock by the time you made it to the front of the performing arts hall, and you could already see the sea of people meandering outside its doors post-draft show.

You shivered and pulled your phone out from your pocket to see where your friends were waiting for you.

“Yn-ie!”

Your head lifted and you grinned, waving your hand at Seungkwan who was making his way over to you. “Hi Kwannie,” you greeted and wrapped your arms around him in a warm embrace.

When you’d pulled away, Seungkwan made a face as he shuddered. “Jesus, it’s cold. I should have brought a scarf or something. Did you walk here?”

You began to nod, but he tsked. “Aish, Yn. You should’ve called! No one should have to walk in this torturous cold.”

You laughed. “It’s no big deal. We’re about to go get some hot food, so it’s cool.”

“We might have to wait for a little longer.” Both you and Seungkwan turned toward Yeri, Mark, and Jungwoo who were walking over. Jungwoo had a sweatband holding his bangs out of his face and his duffle slung over his shoulder. He had his jacket draped over his arm; he was probably warm from the showcase. “We’re waiting on Ten to finish up.”

“Hi Jungwoo,” you greeted him, and the man returned the expression with a side hug. You furrowed your brows. “Who’s Ten?’’

Mark replied with a sniffle from the cold, “Oh, he’s a new exchange student! Well, he was originally admitted here, but he went abroad for a year. He's with the NCT frat. Super cool, super funny. He’s great at dance though.”

“I think you’ll vibe with him, Yn,” Yeri chimed in. “He’s asking a couple people for their opinion on a few parts of his routine, so I think he’ll be out soon.”

You nodded in understanding. You didn’t mind waiting, but you hoped what Yeri said about him was true. Hopefully you did get along with him, because you were honestly far too tired to forcefully play nice. You were hoping for a chill night anyway. Then again, as long as you could avoid a certain someone tonight, this would turn out to be a chill night in general.

You and your friends chatted for a few minutes only before Jungwoo caught someone’s eyes from behind you, Yeri, and Mark. He brightened. “Ten! Ten, over here!”

You all swiveled.

Ten was just as lean and lithe as Jungwoo was, but with black bangs, a pair of round spectacles hanging from the collar of his white T-shirt, and a cute smile on his face. You and he made brief eye contact before Jungwoo was hopping on the balls of his feet to greet him.

Jungwoo slung an arm around Ten’s shoulders as he brought him over to the group. “Yn, this is Ten Lee. Ten, this is Yn-ie—the friend we mentioned earlier.”

Your eyes widened slightly. “Why was I mentioned?” You laughed nervously.

Ten flashed you a boyish kind of smile. “Oh, it was nothing; don’t worry. It’s nice to meet you though.”

Your heart didn't slow at his assurance. “Ah, okay then. Uh, nice to meet you, too!”

“Did you get your routine settled?” Seungkwan asked as the lot of you began to move in one, loose blob toward Yeri’s car. (How all of you would manage to fit, that was something you mentally were trying to figure out. In Yeri’s tiny sedan, you might have to squish four people into the back seat.)

Ten nodded enthusiastically. “Yup, it’s all sorted. Minho and Changmin were really helpful with their comments.”

You felt the people around you freeze at the mention of Changmin’s name. You stiffened as well, but tried to force the strange feeling to go away. Your friends knew the drill, too, but you saw the way they glanced at you from their periphery.

Ten was smart, you realized, when his head tilted at all of your reactions.

Time for damage control. “That’s—that’s good!” Mark’s voice cracked and coughed to clear it. “I mean, Minho’s always been really attentive to details and stuff. I think he was almost recruited to become an idol or something like that…”

Ten pursed his lips, as if silently saying, ‘I’m not buying this bull’. You decided to just… do it. “Changmin’s a great dancer, too,” you said, and everyone shot disbelieving glances your way, but you could already see how Ten was grasping onto everything you were saying. You forced a neutral tone into the way you spoke, forced yourself not to let the bitterness seep through. No one deserved to fall victim to the feelings that were only meant for one Ji Changmin. “I’m glad he helped you out. He’s really good at sharp movements and isolations.”

“Oh, do you dance, Yn?” Ten piped up with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Ruh roh,” you heard Seungkwan murmur, and he shuffled away from you to go to the other side of Yeri’s car.

Maybe you purposefully let him see right through you. “Not really. It was a long time ago.”

You and Ten held eye contact, the silent tension like communication passed between the two of you—this was personal, but Ten could figure out that there was more to the story. It was odd though; the way he didn’t fear prodding just a little bit. You didn’t know why you were letting yourself feed him more bait, but Yeri was hollering for the two of you to squeeze into the backseat, and you snapped out of it.

Weird…

Ten held the backseat door open for you. “Looking forward to getting to know you, Yn,” he said pleasantly.

Your eyes narrowed slightly as you slipped into the backseat. “Same to you…”

EPISODE TWO: OFF THE TABLE

YOUR curiosity won you out.

In fact, it won you over so much that you agreed to get coffee with Ten Saturday afternoon—with Mark and Yeri, of course. The four of you had coordinated stopping by one of the coffee shops in the shopping mall just down the hill from the university to hang out and destress a little from the incoming second wave of STEM midterms. Well, you needed to destress. Mark was in communications, Yeri in psychology, and Ten was… what was Ten’s major again?

“Foreign affairs,” he answered before lifting the straw of his iced americano to his lips. “Lots of foreign language classes and politics and history. Politics and capitalism classes are not my favorite, but all the cultural courses on campus are really great.”

You bobbed your head, propping your chin onto your palm. You sat across from him at one of high tables in the cafe; Mark and Yeri’s stools were barren, save for the belongings they left for you and Ten to watch, while they literally sprinted across the mall to the grocery store because they forgot they were supposed to bring booze to the NCT-RVE joint alumni homecoming tonight. You probably weren’t going to go just because social energy came in short supply these days, but you promised to send a card for your friends in RVE.

“I can imagine,” you commented. “I took a really neat course on African tribes and culture in freshman year, and I miss my professor a lot. I sometimes wonder what would have happened had I joined his study abroad program in Ghana instead of staying here.”

Ten’s head did the tilt thing again, the one you recognized from last night as something he did when he was intrigued. “That does sound really cool. What made you stay?”

Where do I even begin? “My major,” you replied simply. It wasn’t really a lie—not entirely a lie. You sipped on your latte, a faraway look in your eyes. “I was so set on a plan that I guess I got nervous about the unknown should I have gone on that trip.”

“Mm, I understand.” He had taken on a softer look now, something more akin to empathy. “It is a little scary, but while I was in Indonesia, I realized I wouldn’t have traded such an experience for anything else."

You set your cup down. "Have you always wanted to dabble in global affairs?"

"Uh, I'm not sure," he said, head tilted upward with a scrunch in his nose. He nudged his glasses up the smooth slope of his sculpted nose. "I was kind of put in a situation where I had to learn a lot of new languages, and I luckily turned out to be pretty good at picking up on them."

"Wow, that's really cool," you chuckled. A talent you definitely envied. And it seemed like Ten had made the decision to pursue this future of his on his own. You wished you could say the same.

From the counter of the café, you heard one of the workers call out your order number for cinnamon rolls, fresh from the oven.

You began to slip off your stool, and Ten spoke up, "Oh, I can totally go get those."

"It's no problem," you chirped, "I'm already down anyway." You were swift to scurry over to the counter and pick up your table's tray of cinnamon rolls with a smile at the worker in deep gratitude. The thick, warm sweetness wafted into your nose, and you inhaled the delights with a blissful grin.

However, as you turned to head back to the table, you halted abruptly, nearly knocking the plates on the tray into each other.

There, standing next to your table and chatting with Ten, were Ji Changmin and Choi Chanhee.

Great.

The sweet dessert smell soured and tasted like acid on your tongue. Bitter, like the taste of hot coffee straight from the pot. You schooled your face into neutrality, but there was no way all of the uncomfortableness could stay away.

You made your way over; the tray was getting heavy.

"—actually here with Yn, Mark, and Yeri—" Ten was pointing your way and you had to control your urge to hide.

Changmin and Chanhee's heads turned in sync, but only Changmin's eyes narrowed at the sight of you. You returned the expression wholeheartedly.

Chanhee held his breath, muttering a "Yikes" under his breath, while Ten observed the interaction with slightly parted lips. Huh.

"Ji."

"Ln."

You deposited the tray onto the table and your biceps sighed in relief. Those four cinnamon rolls truly were quite hefty on their own.

You could still feel Changmin’s eyes on you as you slid onto the stool across from Ten. “Something you’d like to say to me?” You addressed him with ill-suppressed snark.

Changmin’s eyes narrowed. “Nothing that you’ll take into importance anyway. Just didn’t think you would ever hang out with someone from the dance department.”

“Ten’s got a life outside of dance, Changmin,” you replied. You flashed him a thin-lipped smile. “He gets it.”

“And you’re so much better than me for having a so-called life,” he rolled his eyes. “You know, some people are just really passionate about dance—something you seem to still not understand.”

“I really don’t think you want me to bring up the trove of things you don’t understand—”

Chanhee subtly moved over to Ten’s side as the two of them observed the sparring match between you and Changmin. A sigh fell from his lips, and his eyebrows raised up all the way to his pink-dyed hairline.

Ten had taken one of the plates of cinnamon buns in front of him, silently offering Chanhee some. The latter refused, and Ten began to peel away one of the sultry, sweet dough layers. “Is this… normal?” He asked Chanhee under his breath, motioning to the still-bickering couple across from them.

Chanhee snorted. “It’s their mating call.”

It seemed he had said those four words loud enough to catch yours and Changmin’s attention. A miracle, indeed.

“Ew,” both you and Changmin immediately grimaced at Chanhee. Then you looked at one another with a greater degree of disgust. “Stop copying me!”

…Or, less so a miracle, but rather, a tragedy.

Chanhee let out a haggard sigh, eyes sullen to a deadpan. “One of the few things the two of you will ever agree on.”

“The last thing we’ll ever agree on,” Changmin grumbled as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “C’mon Chanhee. We should probably order before JC!Yn and Kei finish loading up the car.”

Changmin was already making his way over to the cashier when Ten managed to get in a final question, “Are you guys coming to the NCT-RVE homecoming tonight?”

“Sure—”

“No.”

Chanhee sent Ten an apologetic look for Changmin’s brusque answer. “Sorry about him. We were thinking of it, but he might be practicing with Juyeon tonight. See you later, Ten—and Yn!” He chased after Changmin, ambushing his friend by practically leaping onto his back and then smacking his shoulder.

Now that Changmin was away from you, the red in your vision had begun to clear away, and you finally remembered the set of delicious cinnamon rolls waiting for you.

Ten propped his cheek against his fist. “So… you and Changmin…”

You made a sour face as you cut off a slice of your cinnamon roll. “What about the gremlin?” You asked. As soon as the buttery, sweet delight hit your tongue, you felt your body lighten and you did a little happy dance in your seat.

Ten chuckled at your behavior. “Lovers gone wrong?”

You choked on the bite.

Your new friend’s eyes widened comically to the size of saucers as he literally pounced across the table to pat your back. “Shit—sorry, Yn. I probably should’ve waited for you to finish swallowing, huh?” He winced when you’d managed to breathe correctly and washed the bite of food down with a sip of coffee. He returned to his perch, letting you recover while he talked through his thoughts. “I don’t mean to pry—actually—” he paused, reconsidering, “—I do mean to pry. Sorry, I’m kind of a sucker for this kind of stuff.”

One of your eyes squinted at him as you massaged your throat. “Yeah, I kind of figured.”

He beamed at you boyishly, the kind of expression that almost had your defenses slipping. Almost. Ten was one slippery fellow. For some reason, you kind of respected him for being upfront about the nosiness, and if you were being honest, if this drama wasn’t yours, you would also be curious about the whole thing.

“Can’t help myself sometimes,” he confessed with a mere shrug. “You don’t owe an explanation or backstory, of course.”

You sucked in a breath, opting to hold back on eating your pastry until you and Ten were done with this topic. “I’m just going to say that Changmin and I were not ‘lovers gone wrong’,” you said, body shuddering.

“Mm,” he hummed. His eyes wandered behind you and over your head, swiftly followed by the action of waving to Changmin and Chanhee on their way out of the cafe. “It’s just interesting to me. Didn’t you just advocate for him the other night at the draft show?”

That rang a bell, unfortunately. “It’s complicated.”

Ten pressed his mouth into a saccharine smile. “I can imagine.”

EPISODE THREE: OFF THE PHONE

THERE was an avid knocking at the laboratory door, usually done by those who didn’t actually work at this specific lab. This lab area was usually reserved for upperclassmen and graduate students and their work.

“Yn-ie, could you get the door, please?” You heard Kun called out to you from his office. It wasn’t just the two of you tonight, but rather, just a few others you didn’t know as well as you did Kun. He often worked late hours like you did, always overworking himself even more as a fresh grad student. You, on the other hand, were trying to finish up this one research paper resulting from last quarter’s research project. If you were lucky, you would be able to send it off to be peer reviewed soon.

You slipped out from behind your workbench and maneuvered the maze of workbenches to head out into the corridor. Exhaustion wore at your bones from having such a long day, but you really did need to get some productive work done so you could focus specifically on your midterms approaching at the end of this week and the beginning of the following week.

However, as you turned the corner into the corridor, you nearly missed your footing. At the end of the hallway where the glass door to the outside was, you found yourself identifying one Ji Changmin and his friend, someone you didn’t recognize. The latter wore a gray hoodie beneath a black puffer vest, and he reacted the opposite to how Changmin did when they caught sight of you.

“Hey! Could you open the door, please?” Not-Changmin hollered through the glass, furiously shaking his sweater-pawed hand down at the door handle.

You didn’t want to. God, you really didn’t want to.

Changmin stared you down, as if daring you to come closer.

You opened the door, and let the cool gust of late February air and two outsiders into the safety and warmth of the laboratory building.

Hoodie Guy shuddered violently to get the cold out of his system. “Jesus, it’s cold outside. Thanks,” he said to you. Then he nudged Changmin with his elbow, as if jolting the man into reality.

“What are you doing here?” You asked, words directed toward Changmin in particular.

His dark bangs were tucked beneath a black beanie with his pair of black headphones hanging around his neck. “You think I want to be here?”

His friend sent him a look, his eyes flickering between you and Changmin furiously until the pieces clicked into his mind. “Well, uh oh…” he muttered while turning away slightly to scratch his head. He gathered his wits then. “Uh, Yn, right?”

You perked up. “Yes.”

“Uh,” he drawled. “We’re actually here for Jacob Bae. You see, we told him we’d come pick him up to take him over to—”

“Is he here?” Changmin asked.

Your eyebrow shot upward. At least they were here for a proper reason. You crossed your arms over your chest, glancing back toward the main laboratory floor way down the hall. Man, the safe zone felt so far away. “He actually just left like, ten minutes ago. Sorry.” The apology was said to Changmin’s friend, the one who seemed to have been able to figure out who exactly you were to Changmin. Not that you were anything to him. And did Changmin just talk about you to all his friends or something—?

“Oh.”

Changmin tapped his friend with the back of his hand. “C’mon Sunwoo. We’ll just meet him over there.”

Sunwoo wrinkled his nose. “I just think it’s weird that he didn’t text us to let us know before we came over here.”

There was a pause and you could practically see the gears in Changmin’s head turning. You would have left them to their own company, but you technically weren’t allowed to leave unauthorized students alone.

It was strange seeing Changmin break into something akin to sheepishness. You saw the dimples appear in the apples of his cheeks as he cupped the back of his neck. “I might not have told him we were coming…”

Sunwoo’s eyes and mouth widened and he whacked his friend with the length of his hoodie sleeve. Changmin let out one of those hyena laughs that set off triggers in your mind. It’d been awhile since you heard that… “Hyung! You’re so unreliable sometimes, oh my god. Even Eric would have remembered to tell him!”

Changmin made a noise of dismissal, slinging an arm around his friend. “Ah, it’s fine. We’ll just meet him there—as you said.”

“Worst texter award goes to,” Sunwoo rolled his eyes.

“I guess some things never change.” The words slipped out of your mouth before you could stop yourself, and both Sunwoo and Changmin suddenly remembered that you were in the hallway with them. Sunwoo had perked up as if he were surprised you would even comment on their situation, but Changmin cut an unreadable expression your way. You didn’t want to read into it.

“You literally forgot to answer a text I sent for three days,” Changmin quipped.

Well, if he was going to play the back and forth game. “That was once out of how many other times,” you scoffed. “You refused to answer anyone’s texts in the mornings anyway, so don't get on my case about that.”

“He did that to you, too?!” Sunwoo cut in with fire behind his words.

You could’ve sworn you saw the slightest bit of blush grace Changmin’s cheekbones as you hid a laugh behind your hand. “He did that to everyone—”

“Hey, I’m better over call; you know that!” Changmin argued. “Sunwoo, you can’t even talk about being a bad texter. I have to hunt for you on discord sometimes to get a straight answer.”

Sunwoo groaned, “Yah! Whatever. It’s still better than your average three-business-day reply speed.”

Changmin stammered, “It is not an average of three business days.” If your ears were not deceiving you, Ji Changmin was whining. “It’s a couple hours at least.”

“A couple hours means half a day,” you said to Sunwoo.

Changmin whipped his attention back to you, finger jabbed accusingly in your direction. “Hey, missy! You always fell asleep on-call, even when you promised that you would stay up to help me study.”

You shook your head. “Not my fault! You know that I always fell asleep around midnight back then.”

“Well, back then—”

“Is everything okay out here?”

Everything in the corridor came to a stand still, and Changmin closed his mouth, mid-sentence. Kun had his head poking out of the door to the main floor, a crease pressed between his brows and right above the rim of his thin spectacles. He eyed the two non-laboratory students with a slight grimace. Of course, Kun was aware of who Changmin was. He could recognize him because of his famed performer reputation on campus, but he knew his history with you because you had spent far too many late nights here at the lab with things plaguing your mind. You and Kun both had a problem with trouble sleeping and being workaholics.

You turned slightly to Kun. “Yeah, everything’s okay, Kun-ge.”

He sent you an unimpressed look.

“We,” Changmin piped up as he urged Sunwoo to the door, “were just leaving.” The mirth and fire from the bickering just a few seconds ago had faded, and you could feel him slipping away.

Kun drummed his fingers along the doorframe, eyebrows shooting up for a second. “Oh-kay… Yn-ie, Ten says he’s right around the corner and asks if you want some company walking home.”

The door to the laboratory behind you was held open, and the night breeze brushed through your hair. When you looked back, you saw that Changmin had stalled in the door for a second. But, it had only been that second before he and his friend were gone.

“Oh.” You made your way over to Kun. “That’s really cool of him. I’d love that.” Some company on a late-night walk back to your apartment did not sound bad at all. You’d done plenty of trips on your own, but sometimes having even one person with you would have been nice.

Kun nodded, pursing his lips, as the two of you walked into the main lab together and toward his office off to the side. “Okay, I’ll let him know. You’re for sure okay though? That must have been… not nice, seeing Changmin here.”

You gave a stiff shrug, your hip leaning against the door of his office while Kun settled back at his desk. “It’s fine,” you said. To be honest, you weren’t even sure if that was a lie or not. You’d heard Changmin laugh for the first time in years. You’d seen the dimples in his cheeks, the sheepishness in his expression—you swallowed.

Once upon a time, you associated all of those things with something like happiness. Your happiness.

Kun fixed you with a pointed look. “If you need to talk.”

You gave a firm nod. “I know where to find you.”

He clicked his tongue, shooting you a finger gun, then shooed you off to finish your work and pack your things. Ten was just around the corner, after all.

EPISODE FOUR: OFF THE RECORD

CHANGMIN liked to think that he became nosy, and that he wasn't born this way. But ever since he overheard that Kun guy asking about Ten wanting to walk you home, he couldn't help but wonder…

He shook his head, brushing his hair out of his eyes and off his forehead, before those same bangs flopped back into their place. He walked back onto the main stage of the performing arts hall to the soundtrack of a hype playlist blasting from the ears of his headphones. As he made his way past groups and individuals doing their own thing, he absentmindedly searched for one person in particular.

Conveniently, he found Ten setting himself up right by Changmin's things. He was shouldering off his black puffer jacket, rolling the material up into a manageable ball to shove into his duffle bag.

"Hey," Changmin greeted, bending down slightly to grab his water bottle.

Ten straightened and flashed him a smile. "Hey."

It wouldn't be awkward would it? Probably not. Just be cool about it, Changmin. He smiled slightly, the dimples in his cheeks disarming his acquaintance. "I didn't know you and Yn were close."

Your name felt so… foreign, yet familiar, on his tongue. It was like tasting déjà vu, like eating a treat from childhood that had been associated with good feelings, but he couldn't decide if it was still as good as he remembered or a trick of his mind.

The mention of your name brought a jolt of energy to Ten's body and Changmin saw the man lean into the conversation. Curious… "Oh? Well, I mean—" he gave a shrug, "—she's really cool. She just seems like a good person to get to know, y'know? Why do you ask?"

Changmin couldn't tell how much he trusted the slight narrowing of Ten's feline eyes. There was no way you hadn't mentioned him to Ten at some point or another. To be honest, he didn't like the feeling of you still lingering in his head if he didn't linger in yours. It meant a myriad of things that he loathed to admit.

He let the feeling slide away, let his mouth tilt upward like his eyes to the spotlights in the ceiling. "Just be…" He shook his head. "Nothing. It's nothing." He flicked his wrist, as he spun his water bottle cap on tight. "You can forget about it."

Ten sent him a look that Changmin pointedly ignored.

Somewhere within the depths of the performing arts center, Changmin could hear the howling laughter of his friend Hyunjae as he most likely bugged his best friend out of her mind, both to her chagrin and her delight. That was another can of worms entirely.

Ten piped up as he settled onto the backstage floor while Changmin mentally went through some of the problem sets he had to review today. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you and Yn on such… uneven ground with each other?"

There it was. Changmin snorted. "Uneven ground? I don't even know if we're on the same ground."

"You're both really friendly people," Ten added, "so it just doesn't make sense to me."

Changmin pursed his lips. He never felt the need to divulge this stuff to anyone but his friends, but he didn't know what Ten already knew. He didn't know what you told him, but based on the fact that Ten wasn't looking at him the same way you did… Changmin scratched the back of his head and leaned his side against the wall to face him. "Something happened a long time ago. I guess we just both hold a grudge well."

Ten huffed a laugh in response. "Remind me never to get on your bad side then," he joked.

— ✶

There was a buzz about the university newspaper room. The Daily had only a handful of crew members onboard, mainly because it was so selective. Over the past few years that you had been apart of the staff, you and a few others had gradually loosened the reputation of the Daily's elitist interview process—there was still some level of intimidation that ensured the publication took on the hard workers and not those simply looking for an extracurricular to put on their resume though.

So when there was talk of a new staff member, everyone knew about it.

You let yourself in the door with a sigh, brushing the hair from your eyes held up with a random, blue claw clip you found on your bathroom sink. The bus had been late this morning because it broke down, but you luckily were able to make it to your lecture on time. You had run over here for a quick meeting that Kim Doyoung had summoned you for, no doubt about the new hire.

"Hey guys," you said as you passed by clusters of desks piled with copyedits and heads buried in monitor screens. The sounds of typing stopped briefly with each head you walked past:

"Yn!"

"Hi Yn!"

"Sup Yn—HEY! I just did my hair this morning!" Mark yelped, hands smoothing down the braids in his hair.

You giggled as you patted his head. "Your hair needs a break, Mark."

As you disappeared around the corner, you heard him shout back, "So do you, but you never hear me complaining!"

You rolled your eyes with an ill-concealed smile. The door to Doyoung's little editor in chief office was right down the hall next to the office for the sponsoring professor. As much as you and the others teased him about getting the "Boss man" office, he always complained to you about being on edge with the professor's office next door. You didn't quite understand since Professor Woo was almost never in his office anyway, but you supposed you could see.

Doyoung's door was open, and the fourth year's head perked up at the sound of your voice and nearing footsteps. He didn't even wait for you to knock or say hi, before beckoning you inside. "Yn, thank god you know how to hustle. Close the door on your way in. Thanks."

Your eyebrows shot up at the terseness in his tone, but didn't question him until you'd closed the door and settled into the chair opposite him. His desk, much like those outside, was covered in a sea of paper, with his laptop being the only land in sight. "What's up? You sound stressed."

He shot you a look over the rims of his thin glasses. "When am I not stressed?"

"Valid."

"Okay," he began with a sigh that made your concern rise just a bit more, "you know the situation with our performing arts review section, right?"

You nodded. "Of course."

The situation with the performing arts review section of the paper was inherently a mess. For a handful of years, the performing arts section was written under a pseudonym (lovingly dubbed Opera Glasses)—the identity of the reviewer was anonymous—which was a product of an incident a few years ago where a performer was unhappy with a review left by someone on the paper and came to ask, very unkindly, for a rewrite. Since then, the paper had been swallowed up by so much that finding a permanent writer or reviewer for the section became less and less of a priority.

When you joined the publishing team, it had been in the middle of freshman year when you were also putting your application out for research projects. Joining had felt like the right thing to do, as much as it was an act of rebellion against your mother and your childhood. They had asked if you knew anything about dance of all things.

And well, you did know.

You'd written one piece—one piece that was entirely you. It had been for one of the dancers just debuting at his first winter showcase. Since then, you couldn't stomach writing another one or watching another one.

You ghost wrote, you edited, you advised—but you stuck to putting your energy into covering the STEM-related sections of the paper now.

So Doyoung already knew your relationship with the performing arts review section. "Well," he cleared his throat, making a vague flourish with his hand, "I'm sure you already know that I just interviewed a new prospective recruit. I was wondering if you would be willing to take them under your wing and to show them the ropes."

Oh. That wasn't exactly what you expected him to say. Your heart kicked up for an entirely new reason, however. You'd always wanted to be someone's mentor. To be someone's older sister. "I mean, yeah. I'd love to," you stammered, a smile slowly curling onto your lips. "That would be really cool."

Doyoung sighed, his shoulders sinking in relief. "Thank you."

"But wait." You cocked your head to the side as you asked, "What does Opera Glasses have to do with this?"

"I want her to eventually take over for it," he explained. "She knows quite a bit about theater and music—little less about dance, though. I know that you have your issues with the dance department, but out of everyone here, you probably understand dance stuff the most. I just ask that you help her out a little with that, and maybe even introduce her to some of the people there so we can ease her in with interviews—"

You opened your mouth to interrupt him, but he sent you a pointed look. He continued, "Just hear me out, okay? If you're uncomfortable at all, you can back out. And you don't even have to back out right now or completely; maybe you could have Mark introduce her to Jungwoo for interviews, and you can just stick to the behind-the-scenes stuff."

Doyoung exhaled. "Okay, so what are your thoughts?"

You worried your bottom lip between your teeth. What did you think… What did you think?

Even the thought of stepping foot into a practice room made the yelling and screams echo in the caverns of your mind. But you'd missed them—missed the polished wood floors, the floor-to-ceiling mirrors, the people. God, you couldn't even stay away from the people if you tried, no matter how much you tried convincing yourself you could.

You weren't fooling anyone.

You swallowed. You'd always wanted to be a big sister.

What was the harm in giving this a try?

(Changmin. You'd probably run into Changmin a lot more often than if you didn't accept. But you could see him from that one night: the sheepishness, the dimples, the laugh. Why couldn't you get over that interaction?)

You mustered up your courage and straightened in your seat. "I'll still do it. When do we start?"

EPISODE FIVE: OFF THE MARK

IT turned out that Doyoung intended for you and your new recruit, Bae Sumin, to get started right away. With the winter showcase only a couple weeks away, it was imperative that the two of you dived right in.

"—so what made you interested in joining the team?" You asked, shoving your hands into your jacket pockets to hide signs of nervousness from your underclassman peer. The two of you were walking from the Daily's newsroom and over to the performing arts center. It was about a ten minute walk, but you figured that it would give you two the opportunity to get to know one another.

Sumin was a multimedia major, as you had been told earlier when the two of you just met for the first time in the entryway of the Daily newsroom. She was cute and well-dressed—she wore a pleated skirt and sweater with a white collar peeking through. Her smile was dazzling, and reminded you of someone who would do well on stage. No wonder she had theater and performing experience.

"Oh!" She shot you one of those dazzling smiles, her hand shooting up to shift the white, fluffy earmuffs seated over her head. "I actually had a cousin who came here and shared with me some of the Daily's earlier issues. She always said it was kind of competitive to get in, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try."

You bobbed your head. "That's really cool." A small laugh fell from your lips, "I'm glad you did try! Lots of people just assume they're gonna get turned away and they don't try at all, you know?"

Sumin hummed in understanding.

Something had settled nicely in your chest throughout this walk. Even if your past anxieties were beginning to bubble up to the surface at the sight of the nearing performing arts buildings, Sumin's easy conversation calmed you. It was one less thing to worry about.

Yesterday, when Doyoung had proposed this job for you, you had asked Mark to accompany you and Sumin to the arts buildings. He couldn't walk with you two, but he promised to meet you there. Now, you were kind of glad you got to have this bit of bonding time with her.

“I think Doyoung said that I should introduce you to a few people in particular,” you said offhandedly and pulled your phone out to check yours and Doyoung’s text thread.

Sumin did the same, most likely taking out any notes she had taken from Doyoung’s instructions. “Yeah, something like Lee Minho, Kim Jungwoo… the Hwang?—the Hwang siblings, uhm and Ji Changmin…?”

Your footing faltered for a second, and Sumin asked if you were all right, but you recovered quickly. You let out an embarrassed laugh, feeling heat crawl up your neck. Why in the world did his name catch you off guard like that? Maybe it was because you assumed Doyoung would just let you avoid Changmin, but realistically, if Sumin was going to do an interview with the dance department’s most prominent members, then there was no avoiding Changmin.

You just had to suck it up and be an adult about it.

It was three years ago… What was the big deal?

But as you moved to open the door to the backstage area for Sumin with your ID card, you felt your throat tighten in on itself. You forced a smile to your face as you let Sumin go in before you so you could turn your head out to inhale a large lungful of fresh air. Then, you ducked in after her.

The backstage corridors were as hustle n' bustle as you expected them to be. The lights were dim-looking from the black walls and floors marred with scuff marks from years upon years of use. It was an overwhelming tidal wave of sensory details—what, with the clashing sounds of chatter and music, the smell of some kind of polish (or maybe that was resin?), the warmth of energy in the air and all around you.

The hairs on the back of your neck stood like you could sense someone was coming this way.

You gestured down the opposite direction to Sumin. “Come on; I’m pretty sure they’re down this way.”

It was a curious thing, memory. You could recall late nights of catching the bus to these very practice rooms and backstage rooms from when you were in high school. Performing on the stage was a whole other experience in itself, and though part of you missed it, there were other feelings that dominated the hints of nostalgia now.

You could hear the chatter even clearer now, even if their words were muddled.

The door to one of the larger practice rooms were left ajar, and though you only peered in, you felt the warmth hit you like a wave. Your throat was closing up again—breathe—

“Hey,” you said into the room, catching quite a few eyes. From an initial scan, you determined that Changmin wasn’t amongst the crush of people socializing in here, and you couldn’t identify the feeling manifesting in the pit of your stomach.

Jungwoo was the first to bound over toward you, swiftly followed by Minho and Hyunjin, one of the Hwang siblings. “Yn-ie! I can’t believe you actually came. I thought Doyoung was joking.”

A smile made its way onto your lips and you accepted Jungwoo’s side hug. “Yeah, well Doyoung doesn’t joke around.”

“He really doesn’t,” Hyunjin said with a grimace. “He’s kind of scary, that one.”

“If you can survive Minho,” you said to him, “then you can survive Doyoung.”

Minho made a face at you. “What have I ever done to you, Yn?”

Nothing; this is just me trying to pretend I’m not seconds away from quivering like a leaf in the wind. You laughed. “Nothing yet. Guys, I'd like you to meet Sumin. She’s our new recruit at the Daily, and she’s gonna be the one conducting interviews for the winter showcase this year.”

Sumin didn’t need much prompting to smile and wave at your friends in that same charming way. “Hi, nice to meet you!”

The three dancers before you replied in kind. Jungwoo offered to introduce her to some of the others in the room, and before you knew it, she was swept away.

Hyunjin made a comment about needing to go check up on a friend of his, leaving you and Minho chatting to the side of the room.

“Wow,” Minho said offhandedly as the two of you watched Jungwoo and Sumin work their way around the room, “she’s a natural at this. Where’d Kim find this one?”

“She saw some of our older issues,” you replied. You watched as Sumin ignited a sort of brightness in every conversation she started. You struggled to swallow; now that you didn’t feel obligated to keep up appearances, especially in front of Sumin, your jitteriness was beginning to come on just a little stronger. You absentmindedly massaged your throat, willing it to loosen up.

Minho glanced over at you, his eyes catching your anxious actions. “Must have a lot of confidence in her if he’s throwing her straight into taking charge of interviews. How’re you holding up?” The latter was said lowly and under his breath in case someone just happened to be close enough to catch onto your conversation.

Minho didn’t know your history with the dance department as thoroughly as your close friends did, but it didn’t take a genius to see that you weren’t at your absolute best right now. You gave a stiff shrug. “I’m alright,” you managed to say.

He nodded, though it was probably more for your sake than him saying he believed you. “It’s funny,” he drawled, “one might think that by sending you here on behalf of the paper, that you were behind Opera Glasses.”

Now that, you could let out a genuine chuckle at.

Minho gauged your reaction but smiled to himself. He wasn’t one to really care for the drama and gossip side that came privy to the performing arts review section, but you couldn’t blame him if he was curious.

“That would be really stupid if that was the case,” you mused.

“It would be,” he agreed. “Is this a sign that this will be the end of Opera Glasses then? Finally a face to the name?”

You pursed your lips. “Actually, I’m not too sure what Doyoung will end up doing. I’m sure he’ll call for a board meeting to decide what the review’s fate will be, but it’s not exactly our top priority—”

Your voice and words trailed off as your eyes met a pair coming into the practice room. You and Changmin froze at the sight of one another, two deer caught in headlights, and you felt your heart palpitate violently in your chest. Your breath left your lungs—his expression was filled with surprise, until it morphed into something you couldn’t read.

“What are you doing here?” He deadpanned.

Minho’s eyebrows shot up. “You didn’t know Yn was stopping by? We all got the email from Director Lee, man.”

Changmin pressed his mouth together and it made the dimple in his cheek deepen. He looked you up and down, and he opened his mouth to say something else, but paused when you unconsciously brushed your thumb against the hollow of your throat. (Dear god, why couldn’t you breathe? Breathe, breathe, breathe—)

He seemed to lose whatever he was going to say. You swore the sharpness in his gaze softened.

But then his jaw tightened; you didn’t know why. “I didn’t think you’d actually show,” he muttered under his breath.

Ouch.

The words from his mouth pricked uncomfortably at the back of your mind. You found your voice again. “I’ll be gone before you know it,” you replied tersely.

Your response touched a nerve for him, too. He cut his attention to the rest of the practice room. “Where’s your new girl?”

“Over there,” you said, inclining your head across the room where Sumin and Hwang Yeji were currently swapping contact information. Something soared in your chest at the sight, but you couldn’t tell if it was pride or envy.

Without any additional prompting, you watched Changmin make his way toward Sumin and away from you. You didn’t realize you were holding in a breath until you finally exhaled—

“Yn! Sorry I’m late.” Mark bumbled into the practice room, wiping a drop of sweat from his forehead as he quite literally crashed against the wall next to you and Minho. He was panting and gasping for breath, and you and Minho couldn’t help but express your amusement.

“It’s all cool, dude,” you assured while patting his head.

“I should probably get back to it,” Minho said as he began walking away from you and Mark. “Nice to see you, Mark. Feel free to take a water bottle from the green room.”

Mark thumped his head against the wall with his eyes closed. “Thanks, man,” he huffed.

With a snicker under his breath, Minho went his separate way.

You gave Mark a moment to catch a breath or two, and you slid down next to him against the practice room wall. Folding your knees up against your chest, you copied Mark’s position with his head tilted back as you both inhaled through your nostrils and breathed out through slightly parted lips. While Mark might have been trying to get a moment of rest from (no doubt) running here from the bus stop, you were trying to steady yourself.

The anxiety was starting to make your hands feel numb cold.

“You don’t have to stay, y’know,” came Mark’s voice, followed by the back of his hand gently nudging your arm. When your eyes fluttered open, you found him already looking at you. “You asked for my help; you can go take a breather outside and come back in—or maybe don’t—whatever you’re comfortable with. This can’t be easy.”

You were struggling to swallow again. One of your hands drummed messily against your kneecap. “It’s—” you shook your head, “—I’ll be okay. Thanks for coming though.”

“Yeah, dude. Of course.”

Something prodded at the side of your head, like someone was staring at you, but when you turned to see, it was just Changmin talking to Sumin. They were both smiling and making good conversation, it seemed.

You let out a sigh and closed your eyes again. Wishful thinking.

— ✶

Mark stayed behind to “vibe” with the remaining dancers still at the performing arts building while you and Sumin pushed out into the crisp, cool evening. Even after walking all the way to the bus station, your hands were still numb, and the cold definitely wasn’t helping.

“How do you feel about the dance interviews now?” You found yourself asking Sumin as the two of you sat on the bench at the station waiting for the bus to come pick the two of you up.

Sumin beamed. “I definitely feel a bit more secure about conducting them. I’ll definitely need some help with dance terminology and editing and stuff though.”

You nodded. “No problem at all.”

“The people are all really so chill and nice…” Your eyes definitely weren’t tricking you when you saw the bashfulness that her expression took on, and the little giggle you heard could not have been the wind. “Especially Changmin.”

Ha. What.

A weight fell to the pit of your stomach. Maybe you were hearing things… “Sorry?”

She blinked, and the blush on her cheekbones darkened. “Oh, haha, it’s nothing! I just… he was really sweet, and he has a really pretty smile and stuff—do you—uh, do you know if his previous dance showcase performances are online?”

(Something about that detail—he has a really pretty smile—rang a bell for you.)

It was really an innocent question, but you knew if Sumin went searching online for Changmin, and if she went deep enough, she’d find you there, too. You sucked in a breath. “I can—” you winced inwardly, “—send you some of his performances, if you want?”

You couldn’t deny the warm and fuzzy feeling in your chest when Sumin practically lit up at your suggestion. “Would you? I would really appreciate it, Yn! You’re the best.”

From your periphery, you saw the bus approach from down the street, and you gestured for the both of you to stand up and get your ID cards ready to board. You sent her a small smile—at least it felt good to help her out. You could pretend for a second that this was just a little crush or infatuation on some other colleague of yours that Sumin had. “Yeah, no worries.” No worries at all.

EPISODE SIX: OFF THE [TOP OF YOUR] HEAD

FRIDAY night brought you, Seungkwan, and Doyoung to the hotpot place located in the university district. The three of you were the unconventional combination of your friends, but Kun and Ten were supposedly on their way over as of five minutes ago. Thus, with the last of your party nearing, the three of you deigned to begin ordering almost everything off the menu—just to whet your appetites, of course.

Doyoung slumped down in his seat across from you and Seungkwan as soon as the waiter left to input your table's hefty order. "Ugggggggh."

Seungkwan snorted. "Ah, my favorite sound."

Doyoung passed him a dirty look over his lenses. "Is that sarcasm I hear, Boo Seungkwan?"

"I have no idea what you mean," he said with feigned innocence as he looked away and scratched the side of his head.

You chuckled to yourself, drawing your phone out from the inner pocket of your puffer jacket when you heard the series of buzzes. Your screen lit up with notifications from Sumin, all of them thanking you profusely for the spam of links you'd sent her way. These were on top of the videos you had dug up from your secret locked folder in your phone—and here you were, wondering why in the world you were doing this to yourself and for her?

"I can't decide if I dread Doyoung's noises of discontent or your expressions of pain more," Seungkwan commented, effectively pulling your focus away from your phone.

Both of your friends were now looking at you, patiently awaiting your answer to what ailed you tonight. Where should you begin?

"I'm not in pain," you scoffed. You set your phone facedown on the table next to you to avoid looking at the notifications. Huh. "Did I look like I was in pain?"

Doyoung's smile was wide like his eyes as he nodded. "Yup," he chirped in that sweet sarcasm of his. "Like you'd just watched a video of someone stubbing their toe against a doorframe."

Seungkwan blinked. "That's so—specific."

"You do not want to know what my For You Page looks like—"

You recreated the look of pain from earlier, holding your palm up. "Respectfully, Doie? I don't."

Seungkwan let out another snort of delight and had to hold a hand in front of his mouth.

Doyoung leveled a half-hearted scowl at you. "You're lucky I'm not your boss right now."

"As opposed to every other moment in time?"

"You have a mouth on you tonight."

"I do like to use it every so often," you quipped, the corner of your mouth lifting in an amused smirk.

Doyoung sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "I don't get paid enough for this."

"You're literally not getting paid at all—" Your words were sliced off at their end when you gasped—it was all a blur: a mass of reddish-brown hair, your phone snatched from right in front of you— "SEUNGKWAN!"

Seungkwan held his breath with an impish grin as he turned his back to you and shielded your phone from your attempts to get it back. "I just wanna see!" He said with a cackle. "Every time you've looked at your phone today, you looked like you wanted to fall into an abyss."

You glared at him, pulling away to cross your arms firmly over your chest. "You can't just steal my phone, dude!"

"What's so important on your phone anyway, Yn-ie?" Doyoung asked good naturedly, reaching for his glass of ice water. "You're usually not so attached to that thing."

Your lips snapped shut and you wondered if the heat creeping up to your face was obvious.

"You've been sending Changmin videos to Sumin?!" Seungkwan bursted out, his eyes so wide that you could see your reflection in his pupils. As you'd feared, Seungkwan still had his fingerprint registered into your phone from before (long story; don't ask), and had cracked the device open, as well as your most recently opened application—yours and Sumin's text messages.

You did nothing but stare at the table like you were getting war flashbacks, while Doyoung had even gotten up out of his seat to take a peek at your phone, too.

"I haven't even seen this video before," Seungkwan hissed as if you weren't right there.

You fixed them both with a stink eye, but at the same time, maybe this was for your benefit. They could help you without you actually asking for help—

Doyoung's face contorted into a laughable expression of shock (eyes wide, mouth wider, eyebrows pinched, nose wrinkled) as he viewed what Seungkwan had selected. "Oh my god. He's a child in this!"

"Actually he was a senior in high school—" You slapped a hand over your mouth. Whoops.

Both of their heads whipped over toward you. "I thought you deleted all your high school shit!" They chorused together. If it had been any other situation or context, you might have laughed at the hilarity if it all.

Instead, you averted your gaze, making a show of looking for the waiter or maybe even Kun or Ten. What was taking them so long anyway?

"Yn," Seungkwan addressed with a tone akin to that of a parent on the verge of lecturing their child, "what in the name of god are you sending Sumin and why?"

Helpless, you held both your palms up in a sheepish shrug. "The kid has a crush on him, and being the best mentor figure ever, I… did some compiling for her." You paused, "Now that I say it out loud, it does sound pretty stupid."

Doyoung returned to his seat. "Ya think?"

You wrinkled your nose at him. "Hey! Sometimes, some of us have bad nights and we wanna feel something." Out of context, this was a really suspicious conversation.

"Isn't this just you torturing yourself?"

Seungkwan slapped his hand against the table, and both you and Doyoung startled. "That's it! I'm calling for an intervention."

Your mouth parted open. "Right now?"

He deadpanned at you. "No, when Kun and Ten get here—of course, right now!"

You returned his deadpan expression. The adrenaline from all this back and forth was slowly fading, and what you were left with was something that felt like emptiness. So… now they knew.

Doyoung and Seungkwan exchanged looks with another from across the table, but it was the former who spoke first. "Why do you still have videos from back then, Yn-ie? I thought you told us you deleted them all?"

"I mean, we're not trying to be judgmental or anything," Seungkwan added firmly, but not unkindly, "they're your videos and photos, your past and memories, but… based on everything you've already told us before, wouldn't it be best to delete them?"

You didn't like the emptiness. The adrenaline had stripped you of energy and confidence when it faded. "I," you stammered, "I just… I couldn't bring myself to delete them." Your voice was quiet, almost inaudible compared to the liveliness of the hotpot shop around you and your friends. "I mean, how could I? Sometimes, I want to watch them and try to find the courage to say that I'm sorry first."

Yeah, you wanted to feel something. That "something" was actually a lot of things—courage, happiness, nostalgia, anger, melancholy, love, passion, pride. A life and childhood you had lost; who's fault was it but your own? You felt nothing short of pathetic.

Seungkwan frowned deeply, his eyes softening. He leaned forward and drew you into his embrace, his hold warm and comforting. "Oh, Yn. I'm sorry; I shouldn't have pried like that."

You wrapped your arms around him, eyes shuddering closed. "Yeah, you shouldn't have."

He grunted into your shoulder, a noise of defiance and attitude.

Doyoung had a similar expression of sympathy present on his face. You didn't often see something like that from him, but after years of friendship and working together, you'd begun to see a lot more of him. "I'm sorry too, Yn. It probably still hurts, and I know I was probably really insensitive when I asked you to introduce Sumin to the dance department—"

"Hey guys! Sorry we're late."

Everyone jolted at the sight of Kun and Ten arriving at your table. Kun sent Ten a sharp look along with a sharp jab with his elbow for interrupting. Kun shot you an apologetic look. "Sorry, we didn't interrupt anything, did we?"

You shook your head as Seungkwan pulled away. Doyoung and Seungkwan were both looking to you to make the decision of whether or not you would let Kun and Ten in on the prior conversation.

No, you didn't want to put a damper on dinner any longer. "Ah, no worries. We were just… discussing a couple work things. What took you guys so long?"

Luckily, no one (namely Ten) called you out and the two newcomers slid into their respective seats. Dinner would arrive soon, and you could fill your belly with something other than negative thoughts for once.

— ✶

boss bunny: hey, i didn't get a chance to say this earlier, but i'm so sorry for expecting u to introduce sumin to the dance dept

boss bunny: i didn't think at all abt how that might trigger u, and i still want u to know that u can back out whenever u feel uncomfortable. seriously.

your phone: it's okay, doyoung. i get it, i really do. and i promise that it didn't feel like u were forcing me or assuming that i would do it either

your phone: i knew it would probably trigger me like this too, but i kind of really wanted to be someone's mentor yk? it just… called to me ig

your phone: sounds kind of sad lol

boss bunny: nonono! not at all :( i understand that too

boss bunny: i admire ur strength, yn

your phone: DOIE 🥺

boss bunny: …okay love u and all, but let's not use that emoji yeah? T-T

your phone: okay wtv 🤧 now stop texting cuz ten is starting to realize ur not slick at this

boss bunny: AM TOO. >:(

— ✶

"He kept looking at his phone and then at you, like, every five seconds," Ten giggled, his shoulder absentmindedly brushing against yours as the two of you strolled side by side through the numbing cold night. Dinner had concluded just about half an hour ago, and while Kun ferried Doyoung and Seungkwan home, you and Ten decided to head down a few blocks to get milk tea and hang out.

You clapped your hands together in delight, your laughter lighting up the night. “That’s what I’m saying! He just wasn’t subtle about it and he kept arguing with me that he was.” You shook your head, tongue darting out to lick your lips, “It’s okay though. I think Dad Doyoung’s antics are charming.”

Ten grinned. “Dad Doyoung? I think he’s more of an uncle; ‘Dad’ is Kun’s title.”

“Fair enough.”

“Ayo, Ten!”

Both yours and Ten’s heads whipped upward at the sound of his name being called. You didn’t actually recognize the voice, but when you saw the lineup of four young men coming toward you from the opposite end of the street, you didn’t need to recognize it. Because, well, you recognized their faces.

Huh, you had been running into Changmin and his like a lot more often recently.

Heading straight for you was Changmin, Chanhee, Juyeon, and—you thought his name was Kevin. Kevin was the one who had called out to Ten, and he waved excitedly over to your friend. Based on Changmin’s not-so-subtle frown at Kevin, you could assume that this was not expected. Maybe he was going to advocate crossing the whole street to avoid you.

“Oh, hey Kev!” Ten greeted back cheerily, glancing at you beside him. “Do you know Kevin and Juyeon?”

You bobbed your head. “Briefly,” you replied. The two of your groups met in the middle, two blockades in the smack middle of the sidewalk. Impromptu meetups like this always seemed to end up clogging up the sidewalk for some reason.

After a swift greeting, Chanhee was already gesturing to the direction his group had already been headed in. “Hey, I’ll probably run up the street and get us a table. Haknyeonie says the tables fill up fast after eight o’clock.”

Juyeon perked up. “Oh, I’ll come with!”

Chanhee made eye contact with Changmin from across the group, and a silent form of communication passed between them. You watched this happen quietly, standing to the side with your hands tucked into your pockets while Ten and Kevin caught up from the last time they saw each other (apparently, it was a drawing and painting course from last quarter). However, instead of leaving with Chanhee and Juyeon, Changmin lingered with the three of you.

He naturally came to stand semi-close to you since he wasn’t exactly a part of the “drawing and painting” conversation. The frown from earlier had disappeared, though, and you didn’t know if you could call that a win or not.

Perhaps to you, the tension between the two of you was palpable. There were… far too many things up in the air at this moment, and it was nearly impossible for you to figure out just one thing to start with.

Plus, now was no time to get into all of that baggage. You needed to finish that intervention with Doyoung and Seungkwan before you could handle that kind of conversation—at least, that was what you would have preferred.

But for now, you found yourself clearing your throat and sparing him a glance. “Hey.”

Changmin’s eyes darted over to yours in ill-concealed surprise. “Hey.”

And that was that.

Luckily, Ten nor Kevin dragged on their conversation longer than it needed to be, and soon, you and Ten were passing by Kevin and Changmin as both parties went their separate ways. (You were going to pretend that you hadn’t looked back to watch Changmin walk away. Definitely not.)

“All good?” Ten asked, though, his voice was quieter than it had been before.

You could meet his eyes and nod. “Yeah.”

Ten followed up with an idle sort of humming noise, like he was one of those really loud computer fans (what in the world led you to think of that—?), “A few days ago, I kind of asked Changmin what the deal between the two of you was.”

“Oh?” Nervousness bubbled up the column of your throat. “What’d he say?”

He gave a shrug. “Something like a long-standing grudge.”

You let out a laugh that didn’t exactly sound like a laugh. “Well, I guess that’s one way to put it.” Was that how you would put it? In a way, that was what it was, but there was so much more to that, wasn’t there? Did Changmin think so little of what transpired between the two of you or was he just trying to deflect Ten’s interrogation?

The two of you had arrived at the tea shop by now, and Ten opened the door for you. The shop’s insides were warm and bright, and the tables were already filled up with fellow students who decided to hang out with friends on their Friday evening. You and Ten shifted over to the self-order kiosks to the side of the room and continued your conversation in low volumes.

“How would you put it then?” He asked. When you looked over at him, you realized that there was something scarily disarming about his eyes. “No pressure, of course. I mean, you can call me out on being nosy whenever; I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask.”

You pursed your lips as you turned back to the screen to absentmindedly swipe down the page to find your preferred order. On the inside, you fought for the right words. “Changmin and I were best friends since we were kids,” you started, inputting your preferred level of sugar and ice like clockwork, “and we met through dance.”

Ten nodded to signal he was still listening, and the two of you swapped places so he could input his order.

You cracked your knuckles and rubbed your palms together to generate some kind of heat between them. “I didn’t really like dance at first. It was just one of those things my parents put me in to occupy my time after school and while they were working. But… well, you know how Changmin is with dance—it was and is his livelihood.”

“Even then?”

A nod. “Even then.”

When your orders were paid for, the two of you moved to a quiet corner of the shop to wait for your number to be called from the counter. You leaned your side against the wall next to Ten, your eyes staring blankly at a crack in the floor. “He was actually the reason I grew to love dancing,” you confessed. “As we got older and went into high school, sneaking out to practice together and performing together on stage became as easy as breathing air and as normal as…” You shook your head. “It was just a lot easier I think, back then.”

Ten tilted his chin toward you. “What happened between you two, Yn?”

You swallowed roughly. “In my first year of high school, my parents got divorced. I always suspected it would happen, but my mom kind of changed after that.” Your eyebrows crinkled as you recalled the memories of your early teenage years and tried to grapple with an adequate way to express them aloud. “And, to be fair, the more I danced, the more I didn’t want to focus on school work, but my mom became really hard on me about all that and I started to crack down on that stuff.

“Eventually, she got tired of taking me to dance practices and shows, and she blew up at me about how useless dance was going to be if I was going to become a doctor or something like that.”

Ten heard your number being called and nudged you to follow after him. He handed you your drink, and the two of you pushed back out into the chilly night. You didn’t really know where you were trying to go, but you didn’t really care. You both ended up in one of the small parking lots squeezed between two fast food restaurants, and you sat yourself down on the curb.

You continued, “And so, she would purposely forget to come home in time to take me to competitions and rehearsals. By the time I realized she wasn’t coming, I was already late every time. I would start walking myself there and taking the bus instead. Changmin started noticing that I was slacking, but I…”

“He didn’t know?”

“No.” You didn’t want him to know. Maybe it was your stupid pride that was preventing you from admitting that aloud. Maybe you were ashamed that your mom wasn't as accepting of dance as his parents were. You let out a shuddering breath and watched it come out in a visible puff in front of your face. “She made me grow spiteful toward dance,” you said stiffly. “I would be trying to stretch or practice movement in my bedroom while studying for exams, and she would come in and berate me.”

The yelling echoed in your mind, all too vividly. Your mother never physically hurt you, but there were still scars. “She’d discourage me from rehearsals or signing up for competitions by telling me I was nowhere near good enough, that dancing wasn’t going to put food on the table, and that I was—” A complete disappointment. You could pick those exact words out of a line up.

Ten’s eyes glistened with silver in the amber glow of the streetlight above you. “Jesus, Yn. I’m so sorry; that’s—that’s awful.”

You didn’t know how to accept the sympathy, even after having received so much from your other friends already. No matter how many times you retold your story, it was never quite right or in the way your brain wanted to portray it. You didn’t want to portray anyone as the villain; you figured that maybe you could have done something back then to prevent this. (You couldn’t have, actually, and that was the most difficult part to accept.)

“Yeah,” you murmured, setting your drink on the ground as you curled in on yourself slightly. “Anyway, by senior year, Changmin was obviously really into dance and was probably really stressed about auditions and end-of-the-year competitions. We basically… we basically took out our anger on each other. He said some things, I said some things. The rest is history.”

It was quiet for a moment as you let the words sink into the open air. Your chest loosened a bit after being able to tell another person about it, but for the most part, your hands still trembled. You reached for your drink again to take a sip and to force some kind of liquid down your throat.

After a while, Ten piped up, “Yn… I hope you know that you are not whoever your mother was trying to make you believe you were. You’ve probably realized that already—or maybe you’re still working on it—but please know that you’re probably one of the strongest people I know. It must have been really hard for you and I…” He exhaled, “Sorry, I’ve never been great at this.”

You sent him a small smile in return. “It’s okay; I still appreciate it.” After a beat, you added, “I know I act like I hate him, but I still want to see him succeed. I can’t think that ill of him, especially when he wasn’t the only one at fault.”

“Ah, that’s why ‘it’s complicated’, huh? I get that.”

“Yeah.” Your hands—god, if they could just stop shaking—

Ten reached over and covered your hands with one of his, and you let the heat of his palm warm yours. “You’re doing great, Yn. You know that, right?”

You couldn’t choke out an answer to that. You could only really say, “I just miss him sometimes.”

A sad smile. “I know. Maybe he does, too.”

You wanted to laugh, or maybe cry, at that. Anyone who got in the way of Changmin’s passions was no one to him. You would know exactly how that felt.

EPISODE SEVEN: [ROLLS RIGHT] OFF THE TONGUE

WHENEVER Changmin was feeling unsure of himself, he would retreat to his safe space: the practice rooms. Even if it was some time in the ungodly morning, like 2am as it was now, he would make the trek beneath molten gold streetlights and barren cobbled streets. It was the one place where he could focus his energy solely on dance, and forget about everything else.

Once upon a time, it had been your safe space just as much as it was his.

Changmin huffed a sigh as he hiked up the remaining flight of stone stairs that led up to the backdoor area of the performing arts building. It was a handful of hours since he and Chanhee parted ways with Kevin and Juyeon after enjoying dinner together. Chanhee was probably dead asleep by now—he was probably going to wake up and continue studying for his exams anyway.

As he turned to his right, his breath hitched as he caught sight of someone standing right outside the door. Usually, he had no trouble getting in and security wasn’t exactly strict in this area of campus. In fact, he almost never bumped into anyone, as strange as it sounded. Maybe he should have counted his blessings.

But then he recognized your jacket from earlier this evening, the very same one you were wearing while walking next to Ten—practically squished up against each other, two peas in a pod. He didn’t like how irked he was by that detail. He still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that you had said “hey” first.

You weren’t looking at him, rather, your body was completely turned toward the door as if you were trying to decide whether or not you should go in. You were as still as a statue, frozen in time.

The moment, however, faded as quickly as it had come. You must have sensed his presence, and your head whipped around to face him.

There.

His heart leapt into his throat—dear god, why did you look so afraid? And then he noticed that you weren’t frozen still, but rather, channeling all your energy into keeping your body from trembling. Were you cold? What were you doing here so late? Why weren’t you with Ten?

He watched your throat move as you gulped. And then you were walking toward him—no, past him—wait, come back— “So that’s it?”

The grip he had on his duffle bag strap tightened when you stopped next to him just as you were going to walk past him toward the stairs. Your gazes clashed like a pair of twin lightning bolts slicing through the night sky. There had always been a sort of energy between the two of you, and when you were young, he had been so very attracted to that kind of power, one so similar to his… he didn’t think he was mistaken back then.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You said, still there. Your voice was low, but he could detect the edge.

He didn’t know what it was supposed to mean; he just didn’t want you to leave without knowing why you were here. Were you looking for him? “You’re not gonna say anything to me? Why are you here?”

(He swore it wasn’t supposed to come out that brusque-sounding, but he also didn’t know what it was supposed to come out sounding like…? He felt like he didn’t know you anymore.)

There was a narrowing of your eyes, and you both angled your bodies to face one another like a standoff. “No one said I had anything to say to you. And I—” You tripped over your words, “—I don’t know why I’m here. That’s why I was leaving.”

Oh.

Why was he disappointed by that answer?

“So you’re not here with Ten or something?” He asked, unsure what else he could say to keep you here, even for just a couple seconds longer.

Your mouth curled. "Clearly not. Why are you so pressed about me and Ten?"

Changmin pressed his lips together. "I'm not." Okay. Very believable.

The face you made said the same thing. "Okay, yeah. I didn't expect you to care so much anyway."

For a reason he loathed to admit, anger spiked in his blood and he felt the distinct need to defend himself. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know," you replied sarcastically, your volume rising, "maybe it's that you've never really cared that much about things that concerned me in the first place?"

"Now that's rich coming from you."

Your glare pierced his. "Oh, please. As soon as I started slacking—god, it took so little for you to just abandon me."

His jaw fell slack. Where the fuck did this conversation just turn to? "Abandon you? You abandoned me!" He exclaimed, finger flicking between the two of you as if he could impale both of your chests with the sharp edge of his accusations.

"How could I have possibly been the one to abandon you?" Your face contorted with so much more emotion than Changmin had ever seen from you over the past three years. Suddenly, he could see the underlying desperation and devastation hidden beneath the lines of bitterness and anger. His heart sank, but his blood still boiled and pumped. He couldn't get the distinctly awful hole in his chest to stop aching. He could remember exactly when you just stopped coming to practice with him. He could remember exactly the day he gave up hope.

"You—" you stammered, your hand flying to your throat. It was the same action he had seen from you just a few days ago while you were in the practice room. He recognized it as a habit of yours for when you were anxious or overwhelmed because your throat closed in on itself. If that wasn't enough to make him want to lay down his sword… "—you stopped caring. When did you stop caring? I just want to know."

Everything went silent for him, just for a split second. You thought… you thought he stopped caring? How could he ever stop caring about you? Wasn't that why he was so upset in the first place?

And when the world zapped back into play, he was sure his skin was ashen. His throat bobbed. "How could you think so little of me?"

Your forehead creased. "Little? Changmin, you were everything to me."

Dear heart—

You were shaking your head and taking a step away from him then. "You couldn't possibly understand."

Just like that, there was fire in his veins again. "That's because you never gave me a chance to understand!"

You threw a look back at him and again, he could read everything there like an open book, so much unlike the wall he had been met with all this time. "And I can say the exact same thing about you. If you think I kept things from you, Ji Changmin—" you said with the undertone of a snarl, so fierce that, as you turned on your foot to face him again, your breath came out like that of a dragon's smoke, "—then how much have you kept from me?"

His nostrils flared and his hands gestured wildly, vaguely—he pressed his palms to his eyes with a haggard sigh. "Why are you here, Yn?" He asked again, finally. He lowered his hands and took a step toward you. "Are you here just to pick a fight with me?"

You paused.

He watched you open your mouth, then close it.

You pursed your lips, finally murmuring, "No. I didn't come here for you."

For some reason, that hurt even more.

— ✶

The practice room was colder than it usually was.

Changmin kept the lights dim for the sake of his stinging eyes, and he dumped his duffle bag in the corner of the room before making a beeline for the aux cord for the speaker system. He hooked up his phone and opened up his music files, his forehead pressing against the cool mirror wall.

For a moment, he simply let his eyes flutter shut and his lungs to breathe.

You were long gone by now, and Changmin considered just going back to his apartment, but he knew he would just lie in bed awake for hours if he did.

When he opened his eyes, he swiped out of his music and instead went to a file kept deep down in the depths of his storage. He had purposely named it so it would remain at the absolute bottom of the list when alphabetized, and the pass code on it was supposed to dissuade him from accessing it.

Supposed to.

He punched in the four digits of your birthday and the lock clicked open to reveal a hefty file of video after video. There were photos of you, too, somewhere, but the videos were all at the top of the file because of their size. He didn't know what he was gonna do when his phone ran out of storage; he figured that when that day came, it would either be when you and he finally figured shit out, or he got closure and could delete them all.

He sighed.

His thumb hovered over one of the video files near the top, one where he could see your face in the thumbnail.

When he opened it, his younger face filled the screen. His tongue poked out from his lips as he carefully settled his phone against the wall next to yours as both of your phones recorded the run-through that was about to happen.

"Changminnie! Come on, I'm starting the song!" Your voice echoed against the practice room walls, and his laughter soon followed as he scurried into place next to you.

Changmin watched his younger self transform his expression into something more serious, while you had looked at him through the mirror and burst out laughing.

Younger Changmin broke his facade, the dimples in his cheeks deep, his smile bright. "What?"

You grinned back at him. "Sorry, sorry! Nothing; it's just interesting how you can just shift your facial expression like that."

"You have to practice like you perform though!"

"I know, I know. I just like your smile better, y'know?"

Changmin could see the hearts in his younger self's eyes. Jesus, had he really blushed that hard? Younger Changmin cupped the back of his neck bashfully. "Really?"

You punched his arm playfully. "Yeah. It's really pretty, Changmin. I thought I told you this before."

"Well yeah, but it doesn't hurt to hear it again—yah! Hey, I can bite back, you know—!"

Changmin's eyes shuddered as the familiar melody of the song flowed into his ears. He abruptly slammed his thumb down onto the pause button.

No, he couldn't stomach hearing it. Not when he could recall every move from memory and not when he had no partner to complement those moves. It just reminded him of the gaping hole in his chest and the emptiness of this room.

"Let's get to work, Changmin," he muttered to himself as he swiped out of the folder and back to his music files. He had an actual to-do list in mind, after all, and it did not include a dive into the forbidden folder. (No matter how much he needed to hear your voice again, for once, not arguing with him.)

EPISODE EIGHT: OFF THE HOOK

"HE'S been pissy all morning—"

Changmin suppressed a groan of frustration as he heard his friend's voices nearing the dressing room he was in. All morning, the performing arts building had been a madhouse, even worse than the night of the draft showcase. Everyone just decided to be here today, whether they were his fellow dancers trying to score a practice room, one of the prospective actors auditioning for a part in Hyunjae's best friend's thesis play, or one of the tech members trying to make sure everything worked behind the scenes.

Changmin had gone from room to room in an attempt to find an empty one where he could have some peace in working on his own. He would have just gone home at this point, but Chanhee was stressing over his own exams, so Changmin was stuck here.

So taking all of that into account, including the rough encounter he'd had with you a couple days ago, plus a lack of sleep and coffee—not the happiest squirrel on campus.

(How could you just drop a bomb like "You were everything to me, Changmin" in his lap and expect him not to think of anything else for days on end?)

The door to the dressing room he was hiding in cracked open, and all of the cacophony from the outside flooded in, as well as a crush of his friends.

"Don't you guys have class?" Changmin moaned, his hand coming up to rub his sleep-deprived eyes.

"Well, yeah, but this is much more fun," came Younghoon's teasing chuckle as he walked over to Changmin and clasped a hand on his shoulder.

Changmin made a face. "I just wanted some peace and quiet."

Sunwoo scoffed. "Peace and quiet? You've come to the wrong place, hyung."

"Yeah," Hyunjae added on, "might as well take a break for once and come watch auditions with us! HJ!Yn needs help judging people anyway."

Changmin cocked a brow at the blond. "You should call Chanhee for that then. Shouldn't you be out there, Younghoon?" He nodded toward the tall, lanky drama major present.

Younghoon shook his head, bouncing on the balls of his feet. How did he have so much energy? "Nope. I'm auditioning for a part, so she's gatekeeping me from watching."

Changmin turned from his friends slightly as he reached down for his phone that he had situated on top of the small bluetooth speaker he had the good sense to bring. Then again, maybe he should have just stuck to earbuds… whatever. He was too tired to care. Part of him wanted to add to the chaos anyway.

"What's her thesis play about again?" He asked no one in particular. Sunwoo waddled over to him and stole his phone right from his hands and began browsing through the music selection.

"It's a modern take of one of Shakespeare's plays: Much Ado About Nothing," answered Younghoon. "It was really funny actually, like the original play. Lots of matchmaking, lots of stupidity. I think they dump someone in a lake..."

Hyunjae perked up. "Oh yeah! That was probably my favorite part of the whole script."

Changmin chuckled. "I was expecting you to say something like 'the whole thing's my favorite because my best friend wrote it'."

"Oh, no, that still applies."

Changmin, Sunwoo, and Younghoon all exchanged knowing looks with one another. Mhm… so they thought. There were a few too many in their friend group who had interesting relationships with their other friends. Exhibit A: whatever the fuck was happening with Hyunjae and his.

Hyunjae caught their silent communication and furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

Sunwoo snorted, but Younghoon was the one to drawl, "It's absolutely nothing."

Changmin pressed his lips into a cheeky smile, brushing the bangs from out of his vision. Hyunjae's lips quirked to the side in a frown, but didn't make any comment on it. It wasn't a new reaction from the group, by any means, but… oh well. That would be a tale for another time.

With that being said, Changmin followed the three of them out of the relative privacy of the dressing room and out into the hustle-bustle of the main backstage corridor. As soon as that dressing room was vacated, however, somebody was swift to occupy it. Changmin cursed inwardly; guess he wouldn't be able to come back to that room later.

With the switching of theater leadership over the past year (a changing of the guard, if you would, but with professors and sponsors), the management of the entire performing arts department was a mess and a half. There were a few stand-out graduate students and undergraduates who were keeping everything in check for all of the events happening over this year—like Hyunjae’s best friend, Lee Jihoon (a graduate student specializing in sound and music production), and Moon Taeil (a graduate who was a soloist in the chamber choir).

As the four young men made their way closer to the immediate backstage, the sound miraculously dulled down. The lights were a lot dimmer here, as the spotlights were turned toward the main stage. Changmin spotted a few people scattered throughout the backstage area with phones or folded script packets in their hands as they recited their lines to themselves, with some even making exaggerated facial expressions and grand hand gestures.

Hyunjae’s best friend was one of the up and coming director-screenwriter “prodigies” that the drama department championed. She was a year older than Changmin was, and he didn’t need to be a genius to know that there were a crowd of people vying for a role in her graduating thesis play. It must have been stressful as fuck, but he knew that she had a good head on her shoulders—

“—I’m gonna stop you right there.”

HJ!Yn’s voice resounded from the other side of the hefty velvet curtains separating the backstage from the main stage. Hyunjae made a show of pressing his index finger to his lips to signal his friends to be quiet—Sunwoo thus made a show of rolling his eyes (“Duh, we’re gonna be quiet.”). They all huddled to the side of the curtain and poked their heads out to see what was going on.

The university performing arts hall was likely one of the most magnificent places on campus. It featured a vast array of floor seating, while also boasting three levels of balcony seats. Changmin remembered once briefly learning the anatomy of the theater seating: the floor or nosebleeds, the slightly lofted box seats, the grand circle, loge circle, and upper circle—the gods. It was all very antiquarian, but it was a place Changmin had become quite familiar with over the years.

The director herself sat in the dimmed nosebleeds section, in the smack middle. Someone had dragged out one of those plastic, foldable tables for her to set her paperwork and a small, battery-operated lamp on top of.

Curiously, sitting next to her was none other than Bae Sumin, your new recruit.

Changmin straightened, accidentally bumping into Younghoon’s shoulder as he did. “Sorry,” he whispered.

Younghoon shook his head to say that it was all good, his hand lifted in acknowledgement.

“Did you know Sumin was here?” He asked his friend.

Younghoon’s expression was thoughtful. “I think so? I left to go find you when I thought I heard someone say they saw her come in. Why? Did she not tell you when the dance department interviews were gonna be held?”

Changmin recalled receiving no notice. “No. I—I figured Yn would be here, too, then. Right?” Was he ready to face you again so soon? Would you even acknowledge him this time—?

Younghoon passed him an amused glance with a small smile fitted over his face. “That would make sense,” he murmured with his arms crossed over his chest. One of his hands reached up to idly massage his jaw. “I’d imagine she would be with her friends, somewhere around here. Though, it would also make sense that she would be sitting with Sumin, too. Then again—”

“You are… no help,” Changmin deadpanned.

His friend chuckled lowly, eyes upturned into slim crescents.

“Uh Jihoon-ah?”

Changmin and Younghoon’s attention flitted over towards the far side of the backstage and they watched as a girl chased after the resident sound producer graduate student. He was, perhaps, smaller than one might anticipate from the intimidating man, but he still harbored so much scary energy and talent within his body. Like all of the staff on the technical team, the pair were clad in all black.

Jihoon glanced up from his clipboard and at the girl. “Hm?”

The girl nodded toward the curtains. “Director is calling for a break and is asking if the house lights can be turned on.”

“Ah okay, come on then. Follow me.”

As the two of them strode across the length of the backstage, the girl’s eyes found Changmin and Younghoon, and… She was looking past him now at someone else. She lifted her hand in a small wave, paired with a smile, “Hi, Sunwoo.”

Changmin whipped his head around, only to realize that Hyunjae had disappeared, but Sunwoo was now standing on Changmin’s other side. He watched in utter delight as his younger friend flushed, even in the dim lighting, at the girl’s greeting. His eyes were wide as he squeaked out a quick, “Hey!” in return.

When Jihoon and his charge had gone out of view, Changmin turned on Sunwoo with a hyena cackle. “Oh my god! Who was that, Kim Sunwoo?”

Sunwoo seemed to shrink into the collar of his hoodie. “No one.”

Changmin’s laughter lit up the room just as the house lights thunk-thunk-thunk’d to life. Younghoon had slipped away, most likely to meet Hyunjae in the nosebleeds, which left only the two of them there alone. “Do you have a crush on her?”

“Yah! You’re such a menace,” Sunwoo groaned, whacking Changmin with the extra length of his sweater paw. “You can’t even talk, dude! You’re in love with a girl who can barely stand to be in the same room—” Sunwoo realized his slip up and slapped a palm over his mouth.

Ouch. The truth hurt, didn’t it? Changmin chuckled, though it was noticeably quieter now. “Well, you’re not wrong—” He shook his head, eyebrows creased together, “—wait, no. Wait, I’m not in love with her!”

Sunwoo rolled his eyes so hard he must have seen his brain up there. “Oh, please. The last time you were drunk and emotional, you showed us that secret little folder in your phone.” He jabbed his finger accusingly at the phone in Changmin’s hand.

Changmin scowled, pressing his phone to his chest as if to protect it in case Sunwoo decided to have wandering hands. “That was told to you in confidence!”

“No, it was told to me in a drunken stupor—” The two of them began to make their way back toward the edge of the curtain, ducking out from its shadow and onto the main stage. Hyunjae and Younghoon were indeed in the nosebleeds now, but Sumin was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she had only been here to observe the audition process. “And you guys say I’m the lightweight.”

“That’s because you are the lightweight.”

Just as the two of them hopped down from the stage and onto the ground floor of seats, Juyeon came in from the doors located at the back of the seats. He raised a hand in greeting to all present, cheerfully waving with that golden retriever-esque grin. “Hey guys! Oh, Changminnie, I was just looking for you.”

Changmin’s eyebrows flew up. “Oh? What’s up, Juyeon?”

Sunwoo retreated into the rows up where Hyunjae and Younghoon were, while Changmin met up with Juyeon in the rightmost aisle.

Juyeon threw a thumb behind him toward the direction he had just come from. “Sumin was asking if you would be willing to do your interview right now.”

His eyes widened slightly. “Right now?”

“That’s what I just said, wasn’t it?”

Changmin pressed his lips together, before nodding. “Uh, for sure. Yeah, lead the way.”

The two dancers hiked their way back up to the back of the area and through the door Juyeon had originally entered through. The main lobby was much less crowded—it was practically barren, which made it the perfect environment to conduct an interview in. Sumin was setting herself up at one of the couches, setting her laptop, phone, and coffee cup on the coffee table opposite to her.

She raised her head when she heard the door open and close, and a bright smile graced her features. “Oh, you found him! Thanks, Juyeonie.”

“Yeah, no problem,” he chirped. “I’ve got a couple things to handle first, but just ask someone to come find me once you and Changmin are done.”

With Juyeon swiftly taking his leave, Changmin was left to take a seat on the other end of the couch that Sumin was sitting at. “Hey, nice to see you again, Sumin,” he said, crossing one ankle over the other and resting his arm along the back of the couch.

The corners of her smile widened. “Nice to see you, too, Changmin! Sorry this was so sudden; I figured that I could get started on some of the interviews while I was here.”

“Oh, yeah, no worries,” he chuckled.

She reached for her phone, fidgeting as she swiped to a simple recording application. “I hope you don’t mind me recording this…?” At his consent, she nodded. “Okay, cool. I did wanna say something before we started.”

He sat up just a bit. “What is it?”

There was a sort of twinkle in her eyes, and if he wasn’t mistaken, her manner became a lot more bashful all of a sudden. “I have to confess that I asked my mentor, Yn, if she could send me some of your dance performance videos and I’m literally in awe of your talent. Like, I wanted to tell you how starstruck I am just being able to tell you this right now, but I just wanted to say this before we started.”

He broke into a boyish grin at this, his dimples becoming craters of joy in the apples of his cheeks. “Ah, thank you—that really means a lot,” he smiled.

Sumin added on, one of her palms pressing against the couch cushion as she leaned toward him slightly, “I mean, I don’t even know how Yn was able to find videos of you from high school, but I’m so glad she did, because—”

Wait what. Changmin was watching Sumin’s mouth move as she talked but he wasn’t truly hearing what she said. His humble, albeit a bit dumbfounded, smile remained, but her words from just before resonated in his head. There were definitely a few of his dance performance videos online from his high school days, but did you keep links to them? Did you keep the recordings on your phone?

The fact that Sumin asked you meant that she probably had no clue about your past, only that you were the person Sumin could rely on if she had any questions.

What did it mean? What did it mean?

His heart pounded in his chest at the thought that maybe he could possibly have an excuse to get you to talk to him, even if it was one, truly dumbass excuse.

“—ready?”

Changmin snapped out of his dazed state. “Sorry?”

Sumin blushed slightly, clearing her throat. At some point, she had pulled her laptop onto her lap and prepped her phone by placing it in between the two of them to record the following conversation. “Are you ready to start?”

He coughed, straightening and adjusting his position. “Oh, yeah—uh, sorry. Yeah, whenever you’re ready.”

Sumin gauged his reaction carefully, but instead of pressing the record button, she hit the power button. “If I may, you seem a little distracted. I don’t really want this to feel like a burden if you’ve got a lot on your plate.”

Shit. “No, I mean,” he shook his head, “I’m sorry. I guess my mind just wanders really easily when…” He huffed a sigh, dragging a hand down his face. “I’m a little tired, that’s all.”

“I totally get that,” she sympathized. “You’ve probably been practicing non-stop lately for the winter showcase. We don’t have to do this today if you’re not in the right headspace.”

He sighed and couldn’t help but feel just a little relieved. He needed to talk to Chanhee about this, math exam or dance practice be damned. But there was a part of him that definitely felt awful about having to cut off her interview even before it began. He gestured to her phone. “How about we reschedule? We could meet up sometime else during the week to redo this and I promise I’ll be all yours.”

He didn’t know what he did, but the pink on her cheeks deepened to a cherry red. “Oh, uh, sure!” She giggled, taking her phone and passing it over to him. “You can just put your phone number in there and I’ll text you to ask when you wanna meet up.”

Changmin nodded his agreement and swiftly inputted his contact information into the given slots. “Definitely,” he said before handing her phone back to her. The phone fumbled between the two of them, but Changmin was already standing up with the goal to go retrieve his bag (wherever it was), and to go consult Chanhee and the man’s infinitesimal opinions. “Really sorry again, Sumin.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it!” She dismissed his worries with a flick of her wrist. “Would you mind finding Juyeon, though?”

Changmin sent her a thumb’s up over his shoulder on his way to the door. “Yeah, for sure.”

She returned the gesture, watching as he disappeared out of the main lobby. It was only when he was definitely gone, she covered her mouth with her hand and stared at his saved contact in her phone. Then, with a silent scream of happiness, she ran to her text chain with you to tell you all about it.

a/n: PLS STILL REBLOG THIS PART EVEN THO ITS NOT THE FULL THING PLS PLS PLS IM BEGGING

read part two here (also linked at top)

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#kflixnet #the boyz x reader #ji changmin x reader #changmin x reader #q x reader #the boyz fanfic #the boyz drabble #the boyz fluff #the boyz oneshot #the boyz angst #the boyz imagines #the boyz scenarios #ji changmin oneshots #ji changmin drabbles #changmin imagines #changmin oneshot #changmin fluff #changmin angst #changmin scenarios

[nokiatelava]

✿✿Leaving Me✿✿

Author's Note - Hi guys!! I'm kind of just planning on going along with the plot of ATWOW, obviously adding my own storyline here and there with Awpxey. But! I hope you guys enjoy the story!!

Summary - After finally being able to heal from your injuries, your parents break news to you and your siblings. You're moving away. Far, far away. Across the great ocean to a clan that calls the sea their home. You go to find Awpxey after your parents finalize their decision. Now Awpxey is choosing his own. Stay at the forests of Pandora, or move across the sea with you.

Warnings - i don't think there's anything significant?, trying to talk back, jake's mean for like a second, arguing, crying, cute bf & gf moments, kissing, admiring, swearing, moving, decisions, stress, grandma - granddaughter talk, advice

The last bit of swelling left your face over the last few weeks. Talking was a bit easier now and you could see clearer.

Just a few days ago you were able to go back to your family’s hut.

You don’t know what compelled your mind to make you think you would be staying there for long.

It was a supposedly “normal” day. You were used to the silence that sat around the hut, your family not talking to each other much.

You felt almost estranged, you were feeling so happy and energized now at the fact you were healed. But it was as if everyone got used to how it was while you were injured.

It was always silent.

It made your happy mood deteriorate. And in doing so, it ruined your happy thoughts. So it only left you feeling sad.

Just like everyone else.

But on this “normal” day. Something still felt off. The air felt stiffer then usual, it was something with your parents.

They had been off since the whole situation, but something told you, something else caused this.

It was around lunchtime when your mother called everyone to the table. Thinking nothing of it, you all sat in your usual seats, waiting.

After sitting in silence for sometime your father spoke up.

“We’re moving.”

You furrowed your eyebrows in question.

“What do you mean we’re moving? Like to a different hut or-” He cut you off.

“We are moving.” His voice became harsh. “Far away. We need to get out of here. We’re set to leave tomorrow. And I’m stepping down from Olo’eyktan.”

Your heart dropped, your mouth opening in disbelief.

Moving? Far away? Stepping down? What is going on?

“What?..” Your voice came out in a quiet whisper, tears building but you tried your best to blink them back.

Your mother put her head down, looking at her lap.

“Mama is he being serious?” You looked between your mother and your father. Trying to ignore the tears that left your siblings.

“I’m being serious Y/n. This isn’t some kind of joke.”

You didn’t want to believe him. You didn’t want to.

You shook your head, “we can’t just leave here.” You motion your hand to the hut.

“This is all we know! This is the only place we call home!” Your mother’s hand went up to her eyes.

“I know that Y/n, but there’s nothing we can do-”

“Yes there is! There is, you can’t just give up so quickly!”

“It is not safe here-”

“So fight back!” You stood leaning over the table.

“We can’t!” Your father mirrored your actions.

“We are not equipped enough, there is not enough of us. There’s no, “fighting back” we can do.”

You still shook your head.

“You’re Toruk Makto, gather the other clans! Do everything you did those 17 years ago and fight back!”

“It’s not the same! Do you even understand how many people we lost back then? Because of that War? Thousands of the people died fighting for their land!”

“Exactly! So the loyal Na’vis, and the ones who can participate can join and fight back! We’re not leaving here!”

“We are Y/n! And that’s final!”

You wanted to hit him.

Never in your life had you ever wanted to strike your father.

But you wanted to right now, and wanted to hit him hard. Knock him straight.

But you turned and left. Walking out the hut and ignoring the few calls of your name by your siblings and your father.

You wanted to escape. Wanted to be down in the forest and accept the comfort of The Great Mother and her creations.

But you couldn’t.

Those evil demon bastards are infiltrating your home and destroying the land around it.

They’re taking your home away. And because of that, you had to leave.

You don’t know where you were going, your feet walked you in whatever direction and you let them.

You didn’t feel as if you were living in your body. You felt so disconnected and far away, wishing for the comfort of somebody, the embrace of somebody.

When you found yourself at the entryway of a hut, you finally looked up.

You were at Awpxey’s kelku, and that made you crack a small smile. But it dropped as you remembered what you now have to tell him.

You were met with his back, he was facing the other way as he fiddled with something in his hands.

He was alone in the hut. And he must have felt your presence as he turned his head around.

His eyes lighting up as he saw you.

It all only made your heart hurt more.

He then realized your solemn expression and stood up, walking toward you slowly.

“Y/n? Are you okay?” You let out a sob as you ran into his chest, his warm skin only coaxing you to cry more into his chest.

“What’s wrong yawne? Talk to me, I’m right here, right here with you, okay?”

You couldn’t even stomach the fact you would have to tell him you’re leaving.

Where is that going to leave the two of you? Do you have to break up now as there is no way of communicating?

“A-Awpxey..” You cried, squeezing him closer to you as you hiccuped and sobbed.

“It’s okay Y/n, talk to me when you’re ready. I’ll wait for you.” All you could do was quickly nod into his chest, continuing to cry.

Once you felt that all the tears were somewhat out your system, you took a deep breath.

“I-I have to tell you something Awpxey.” Your chest stuttered as you felt your eyes cloud again, but you only rubbed the feeling away.

“Okay, you can tell me.” He nodded, running his hands through your hair.

“Come sit on the floor with me, right here okay?” You held his hand as you let him guide you to sit on the floor with him.

Your hands shook with a frenzied tremor, wiping your eyes you took another deep breath before looking into Awpxey’s eyes.

“I-I’m moving Awpxey.” You swallow as you try to breathe. “Really, really far away. A-and my dad is stepping down from being Olo’eyktan, and I don’t know what to do.”

You started to cry again, and only tucked your face into the crook of Awpxey’s shoulder.

“I don’t wanna leave.” You sobbed.

Awpxey rubbed your back as he was trying to process the information.

“I’m going with you.”

You froze, silence encompassing the hut, the only thing really being heard were your rough shallow breaths.

“What?” You sat up, looking straight at him.

“You’re doing what?” You blinked at him quizzically.

“I am going to go with you. I do not care if you don’t agree.” You opened your mouth shocked.

“Awpxey, what? N-no you can’t come, I can’t let you do that, no.” He has his family here, his parents, he can’t just leave them.

“Awpxey you can’t just leave, what about your parents? You’re not just gonna leave them are you?”

“I would. Just for you.” You gasped at his words.

“I love you Y/n, I love you so much. I See you. So I’m going to go with you.” He caressed your cheek.

“I want to mate with you one day, I can’t just leave you.” You leaned forward, kissing him as a way to express your love for him.

“But you haven’t even asked them yet Awpxey. What if they say no?”

“Knowing my parents? They’ll definitely say yes, they probably want me to move out anyway.” You stared at him, scared of how nonchalant he sounded.

“And what if they don’t want you to? What if they want you to stay here with them so they know you’re safe?”

Awpxey shook his head. “They are not like that Y/n, trust me.” You knew he was — somewhat — right. Itxä and Puo are two very understanding people. And always wish what is best for their son.

Which in their book, you are.

“They’ll definitely let me go with you. When do you leave?”

“Tomorrow. My dad didn’t say when, but knowing him.. It’s definitely in the morning.” You let out a broken chuckle, trying to revert your mind from the subject at hand.

Awpxey continued to rub your back. You felt his eyes on your face and could see him staring from your peripheral.

“What?” You said with a giggle as you turned towards him.

“Nothing.. Just looking at you.” He smiled as he continued to look.

“Why?” You asked, feeling a bit embarrassed by how lovingly he was looking at you.

“Because I love looking at you.” You felt a heat tread into your cheeks. “You know Y/n, I don’t think you take all the credit you get for your beauty.”

You tilted your head in confusion, “what do you mean?”

“You are just so beautiful. And sometimes I feel like when people tell you that, you don’t believe them.” You chewed your lip, knowing that what Awpxey was saying was true.

“You’re very observant.” You nodded. “Got it from you.”

You smiled, “really?” You asked mockingly.

“Yeah, got it from that people watching you taught me.” You felt a bit shocked.

He actually started doing that because of you?

“You actually started doing it?” He nodded, “why wouldn’t I? It’s actually very fun, entertains if you will.”

You laughed, “you’re becoming a little mini me!” Awpxey joined you in your laughter, “I wouldn’t mind becoming that.” He shrugged with a smile.

For a moment, you both only stared at each other. Looking at each other’s features.

“How do you feel about little admirer, hm?” You smiled at the tease and pushed his nose with your finger.

You could hear his tail smack lightly on the floor behind him.

“When are your parents coming home? So you can ask them? I don’t wanna be here when you do.” He furrowed his eyebrows, “why?” You only shrugged.

“It’ll make me feel weird.” He nodded but brought up another point. “Where are you going to go then? I know you do not want to go home.”

You rolled your eyes. “Too observant.”

He smiled, pulling your cheek. “Learned from the best.”

Over the next few minutes, you spent some more time together.

“I’m going to go home.. I-I have to pack my things.” You felt reluctant, you didn’t want to leave the forest, or Awpxey at the moment either.

As you both stood, Awpxey held your hand. “I know this is hard for you Y/n. But always, always know that I’m going to be here for you.” You nodded, trying to sniffle your tears away.

“I’m going to be there with you forever because I’m going with you.” He whispered teasingly in your ear. You laughed as his breath tickled your ear. “Awpxey!”

“I know, I know. Now go, get ready so we’ll both be packed by morning.” You turned back to look at him. “You’re very confident that they’ll even let you go.” You looked worryingly.

He only smiled, “I know they’ll let me go, now go back little Ms. Sully.” You laughed at the name and waved goodbye, him doing the same.

“Wait, Y/n!” You hear Awpxey call your name from behind you, making you turn around.

“Yes Awpxey? What is it?” He’s approaching you in a small jog.

“Come here.”

Before you could even get a breath out, he had grabbed your face. Smashing his lips onto yours in slow kiss.

It caught you by shock at first, but you slowly relaxed into the kiss and closed your eyes.

When he pulled away, all he had was a smirk on his face as he had seen your purple cheeks.

“You didn’t give me a goodbye kiss.” You embarrassingly cover your face with your hand, trying to hide how hot your face had gotten.

“Awpxey!” You squeal, trying to hold in your laughter.

He grabbed a hold of your wrist, trying to pry your hand from your face.

“Let me see you!” He continued to tease you as he tried looking around your face.

“Awpxey, I have to go!” You giggled.

He let you go, still laughing. “Bye Y/n.” He placed a kiss on your cheek.

For some reason you froze. Your cheeks felt hotter again as you brushed your fingertips against the spot.

You smiled sheepishly, shyly leaning forward and placing a kiss on his cheek.

“Bye Awpxey..”

It was Awpxey’s turn to mirror everything you had just done.

You smiled at him before turning and leaving, the soft smile still stuck on your face.

While you walked home, you couldn’t feel nothing but dread as your hut came into view.

Eywa, how bad you didn’t wanna be here right now.

When you walked in, everyone glanced at you, but you paid no mind to that as the only thing that took your attention was your home.

What used to be your home, at least.

All you saw was the inside of your home, technically completely empty instead of all of the things that were yours that were left in place.

Every movement that was made echoed, and it made your heart slow.

You were actually leaving. Your parents are really making you leave home.

“Come on Y/n.. Pack your stuff.” You heard your father’s gruff voice behind you.

Tears clouded your vision, and you clenched your fists tightly as your breath picked up. The pain in your palms went unnoticed as your fingernails continued to dig into the skin of your palms.

But you decided not to act on your emotions.

So you took a deep breath and started to pick up your things.

Minute after minute, your chest ached more and more as you had to pick up all the memories of your home.

When you were finished, you had a good two bags full to the top full of all your items.

Tops and loincloths, jewelry, and trinkets. The bags held everything.

Everything you’ve ever known, ever loved.

“Where are we going to sleep? Since there’s obviously nothing in here, for us.” You knew you were being sour.

But you had every right to be.

Your life is being taken away from you. How are you specifically supposed to feel?

You felt this feeling of hate, towards your father.

What did he want you to do after telling you, you all had to move away? Prance around and dance?

You had a sneer on your face as you waited for his answer, tapping your foot on the floor, urging him to hurry up.

“We’re going to stay at your grandmother’s hut.” He sighed and you felt a pang of guilt run through you as you seen him pinch the bridge of his nose, squinting his eyes shut as if to think.

“She’s being kind enough to let us stay there.. So let’s say thank you to grandma when we see her okay?” The small childish tone was obviously directed towards Tuk.

She was still too young to barely even comprehend what is happening right now.

She smiled up towards Jake, nodding excitedly.

“I love staying at Grandma’s house!” The words made your stomach hurt.

Does she even know this will be the last time she’s staying over there?

You decided to just step in. “You sure do, don’t you?” Grabbing her hand with a small smile and leading her out the hut. Trying your best to just get the night over with.

The rest of your siblings followed reluctantly, knowing what they have to do once the night is over.

Knowing they will never come back to their home.

It all felt unreal, it was unexpected, and it was too rushed. You felt as if the decision was rushed.

You wondered if your parents even really thought about what they were doing. You would have never thought that, that night in the forest would lead to this.

The last experience you had in your homeland was miserable. You were beaten to a pulp, the last thing you saw was the trees, and the beautiful night sky you loved.

You felt as if you never were actually even able to bask in the beauty of your home. You try to pull your mind of all the memories you have in the forest. But you’re barely pulling any, all you can think about is that night.

If this was planned earlier you felt like you maybe could have done something else. Do something else, be someone else.

You love it here. You want to stay here.

But you can’t.

Because now you’re moving away. Moving away to somewhere cold. You’re moving away to somewhere that you have to become a different person, act a different way, and practice different customs.

You didn’t want to do that. You didn’t want it to come to this.

All the things you could have done. Time was lost. There was too much lost time. You could have been running with the wind through the forest just yesterday, happy to be in the environment your Great Mother had created. Even with the knowledge you’d have to be leaving the very next morning.

Or if you hadn’t even went on that little outing. You could have been sitting in your hut, full of everything that it had before. Making bracelets with Kiri and Tuk.

So much lost time.

Before you even blinked, you were at your grandmother’s hut, walking inside. You don’t even remember walking over here.

This is not how you wanted your last night here to be.

In a blur, you were all setting up your sleeping mats. There was barely any small talk between everybody, small words being exchanged here and there.

You took a deep breath through your nose, trying to implant the smell of all the herbs deep in your lungs.

You loved the smell.

It was so nostalgic, a smell you always loved since you were a child coming to see your grandmother, Mo’at.

You loved her so much. You didn’t want to leave her. Your eyes watered for the umpteenth time that day as you thought about the fact you were leaving family behind.

Mo’at watched you keenly, studying you body movement, it’s language.

She knew you were angry, she can feel it coming from you. She felt it before you even arrived. And she didn’t want her granddaughter to have such hate in her heart.

She planned to talk to you when everyone fell asleep, which she knew would be soon.

A few minutes later, everyone was saying goodnight as the climbed into their mats. For about an hour, all that was heard was the shuffling from all of you tossing and turning.

Slowly, everybody around you fell asleep one by one. You sighed as you sat up, rubbing your eyes trying to produce some sort of feeling of on-coming slumber.

You gasped quietly when you looked up, only to see your grandmother sitting up, staring directly at you.

“Y/n.” She said expectantly, her small smile barely visible from the dark engulfing the room.

“Grandma.” You stated, your words floating in the air as they reached her.

“Hm.” She said, turning her head while her smile grew.

You are telling her everything she needs to know already.

“Come, come over here child.” Mo’at’s hand beckoned you to come closer as she got up and moved from her mat. Heading toward a small private area of her hut.

You stood quietly, stepping over the sleeping bodies of your siblings before silently standing before your grandmother.

She patted the spot next to her, “sit with me?” A small smile flashed on your face as you nodded, taking a seat next to her on the sitting mat padding the ground.

“What’s going on grandma? Why aren’t you sleeping?” She looked towards you, a look on her face.

“Why are you asking me questions I’m going to ask you?” She shrugged as she ignored what you had asked her. She chuckled, “what is going on with you Y/n? Though I already know what.”

Furrowing your eyebrows in confusion, you looked at her questioningly.

“What do you mean Grandma?” She laughed silently again.

“Because you make it obvious. Your body, your eyes, your ears, your tail, your heart.” Your grandmother shook her head, “your soul is vulnerable, you are technically putting it on display.”

Not really knowing what to say, you only responded with a feeble, “sorry grandma..” That made her laugh quietly again.

“There’s no need to apologize for something such as that. You are sad right now Y/n, very sad.” Her hands came up to your head, threading her fingers through your hair softly.

You could only nod in agreement, not knowing the fact your feelings were so presentable.

"I know why you are sad Y/n." Mo'at whispered next to your head. A solemn look in her eyes as she continued to brush her fingers through your hair.

You gave a broken chuckle as the tears started to cloud your eyes once again. "What is making me sad grandma?" You asked sarcastically.

This made Mo’at frown, she felt a strong pity for not only you but herself too. She knew that as soon as all of you left, she would be and feel completely miserable.

But she couldn't act on her emotions because all she could do was hold it all together for the sake of the people.

What would the clan do if their Tsahìk was completely low with grief? Mo’at had — no has — a lot to grieve for, but she has no time to grieve.

No time to think.

She’s quick with what she has to do, always by herself — mostly not — with her thoughts.

She tries her hardest to not think about those days.

Those days in which everyone was a bit younger.

Those days when her whole family was still together.

“You’re leaving..” Mo’at whispered as her nimble fingers continued to brush your hair.

“And I know you’re very sad to leave. Leave here, your home.” She pursed her lips as she tried to fight her tears.

“Grandma.” You whispered out in a breath of realization. “I’m sorry grandma I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

You sat up straighter, placing your hand on her back before she chuckled. She pulled your hand off by your wrist.

She held your hand, pressing a kiss to your knuckle as the tears fell from her eyes.

Yours following soon after.

“I remember when you had just made it into this world..” She smiled at the memory as she rubbed your knuckles.

“Your cries were piercing, very loud. But you never cried much.” She squeezed your fingers.

“You are still very quiet now Y/n. But promise me, when you leave here and you join this new clan. Promise me, you will use that same exact piercing voice when someone does you wrong.” She looked deep into your eyes to show the sincerity of her ask for promise.

You nodded, “I promise grandma. I promise I will, if they either do it to me or anyone else.” She smiled.

“Remember that boy you yelled at all those years ago? During your craft class?” You laughed quietly at the memory.

“Son’tuk?” You giggled as you thought of the boy.

“Mhm, that was the very first time you had used that strong voice of yours for defending yourself. You always stayed quiet to yourself. You still do now obviously.” She rolled her eyes.

“But before when you were younger it was.. Worse.” You grimaced as all the memories of your younger self came back.

“Everybody was so shocked. You had become so loud, I didn’t even expect it.” She laughed.

“What did you tell at him for again?” You curled your lip to a sneer.

“He was talking about me, Kiri, and Lo’ak. Specifically our hands. He was shit-talking right in front of me, to me! And I told him to stop multiple times and he didn’t.” You shrugged.

“Well, that day made history!” You both giggled.

For hours after that, you and your grandmother spoke about anything and everything.

After a bit, your eyes became heavy, that familiar pressure behind your eyes. You tried your hardest to fight it, because you knew this would be your last night here.

Your last night to enjoy these moments with your grandma.

You wanted to savor every single second, but the stress from the day and the continuous conversations started to make you feel exhausted.

“G-grandma..” You whispered before falling asleep against her, she laughed quietly. Looking down to your face and examining your soft but fierce features.

“Oh how I’ll miss you. I’ll miss you so much.” Mo’at whispered as her eyes watered. Her breath was shaky as she combed your hair with her fingers.

Leaning down she pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead.

“I’ll love you no matter where you go Y/n. You are forever my first grandchild.” Tears platted down onto her thighs, and she slowly wiped her eyes so they wouldn’t worsen.

Minutes later, Mo’at began to drift off and fell asleep also.

Hi!! So I’m going to continue this on in another story obviously!! But I wanted to start working in the other one right when this one finished so I can post them both like on the same day? Probably might not be smart, but regardless!! I didn’t want to do the whole nine yards of the Sully’s meeting the Metkayina, it would end up being wayyy to long. But I hope you all enjoyed the story!! Sorry if there are any spelling errors! Thank you so much for reading 🤍!

#jake sully #jake sully x daughter!reader #neytiri sully #neytiri sully x daughter!reader #y/n sully #neteyam sully #neteyam sully x sister!reader #kiri sully #kiri sully x sister!reader #lo’ak sully #lo’ak sully x sister!reader #tuktirey sully #tuk sully #tuktirey sully x sister!reader #awpxey x reader #awpxey relongtai #avatar #avatar 2 #avatar: way of water #avatar oc #oc #sully family x reader

[star-writes-sometimes]

look after each other

dealer!remus lupin x baker!reader

words: 1.8k

cw: pining, idiots in love, drug use, tension

---—---

remus always knows when you're upset.

remus watched as you were finishing the strawberry tarts. he was not so sneakily stealing strawberries as you hummed along to the soft music pouring out of the speakers. it was friday night but you wanted to drop them off to mrs silvia tonight so you could sleep in tomorrow. mrs silvia was a kind older woman who lived alone and spoke with an accent neither of you could place - though you did enjoy speculating about it - and every week she would order some kind of baked good from you. 

you put them all neatly in a box and said you'd be quick even though both of you knew that wasn't true. she only lived two floors below you but mrs silvia always chatted for just a tad too long whenever she saw either of you.

so, seventeen minutes later and counting he was browsing through netflix waiting for your return. it was his pick tonight and he knew no matter what he chose you'd tease him about it, but he didn't mind. just as he was starting to get restless you return. you smile softly at him as you lean on the doorframe for stability while you tug your shoes off.  

remus returns your smile and stares at you intently. his gaze feels sharp on you, you always feel exposed under his stare, like he can see all of your secrets. 

you start walking to the couch and flop down on the side closest to the door and run a hand over your face, feeling exhausted. remus cocks his head as his eyes follow you, squinting slightly as he continues study you.

“what’s wrong, angel?”

you met his gaze and glared playfully “nothin’. what's wrong with you remmy?”

he glares back and scrunches his nose up “don't lie, sweetheart it’s not a good habit.”

“says the drug dealer.”

“bunny” you hate that tone. it makes you want to tell him every little thought going through your brain. 

“‘m just tired rem. and my feet hurt those shoes are cute, but fuck do they hurt”

he smiles slightly before he furrows his brows. he noticed your absence over the past few weeks, spending less time with him and working more. he pulls your feet onto his lap and starts massaging them. you sigh contently shuffle around getting comfortable and mumble out a small “thank you” he only hums in response “what movie did you pick?” you ask.

“a new hope”

“again?” you ask in a teasing tone.

“yeah. whatchu got against episode 4?”

“nothin’ just the prequels are better."

“you only say that cause you think hayden christiensen is hot." he rolls his eyes.

“well yeah and ewan mcgregor but carrie fisher is gorgeous so that's not my reasoning. i like the storyline of the prequels better that’s all.”

“you kiddin’ me love? nothing beats watchin’ luke destroy the death star."

“nope wrong anakin and obi wans fight is the best. episode 3 is superior.” you yawn starting to feel the exhaustion catching up to you. 

remus gently smiles and rubs small circles on your ankle “how ‘bout we compromise, bunny? we’ll watch revenge of the sith then new hope. that way we both get our favourites." 

you pretend to consider this and over exaggeratedly tap your chin in thought “m’kay remmy you got yourself a deal.” you hold your hand out to shake. he takes it and squeezes gently. 

“go get changed baby i’ll make the popcorn.” he taps your foot to signal them to move so you slide them to the floor.

“can i borrow one of your sweaters?”

“i left one on your bed angel.”

“you’re the best remsy.”

he scrunches his nose up at the nickname and watches you disappear into your bedroom. you smile as you enter your room upon the sight of one of remus’ brown sweaters folded on your bed. you undress before pulling on the sweater, a pair of comfy boxer briefs and some fluffy socks.

once you’re done you go back into the living room to see remus with a bowl of popcorn and and two cups of tea on the coffee table. he’d taken off his own sweater and was now just relaxing on your couch in his faded graphic tee and grey sweatpants. he’s fiddling with the remote loading up revenge of the sith. 

“hey pretty boy.” you give him a tired smile.

“hey bunny. c’mere.” you fall onto the couch and remus pulls you into him, loving his arms around you and letting your head loll onto his chest. you lean back and look up to him grinning at him. “y’ready for a subpar star wars movie?" 

“if by subpar you mean the bestest most awesomest star wars movie then yes.”

“whatever you wanna believe, love.”

he only half watches the movie. you’d watched them together plenty of time before anyway, he was more interested in watching you. he saw you grow slowly more and more tired.

just as padme gives birth, you start snoring lightly against his chest. he pushes some stray hairs out of your face and kisses your forehead. “g’night bunny.”

—

and you always take care of remus.

the upbeat knocks on his door jolts remus out of his half asleep state sprawled out on his worn out couch. he sighs as he rises and cracks his back on the short walk to the door.

he swings it open to reveal a familiar smiling face holding a loaf of some kind of bread. he can't help but mirror your smile as he steps aside to invite you in.

“i heard you arrive home 20 minutes ago but i wanted to finish making my banana bread first so i could bring you some” you ramble on while heading towards the kitchen and placing it down on the small breakfast bar, then turning to face him again “mrs. silvia gave me some bananas yesterday apparently her son-” you’re cut off by remus’ arms wrapping around you and his head burying itself in your neck.

you softly start to run your hands through his hair while your other arm returns his impromptu hug. “you doin’ okay remmy?” you question softly but instead of responding his arms just tighten around you.

you furrow your brows and lean back slightly to grab his jaw and look into his eyes. “you high rem?”

“mhmm” 

“wanna go to bed?”

a beat passes before he slowly nods into your neck. you slowly untangle yourself from him and pull him into his bedroom. you face him and reach up to run your hands through his hair and down his face. he leans into your touch and closes his eyes. you move your hands lower and reach for the bottom of his sweater and slowly pull it over his head and onto the floor. he pulls you into a hug again and your arms go around your waist and lean into him. 

“remus dear?”

“yeah love?”

“please don’t take this the wrong way but when was the last time you showered?”

“um… maybe 4 days ago?”

“rem?” 

“yes?”

“can i run you a bath?”

“please angel.”

you giggle as you pull away and walk into his bathroom to start drawing a bath. there were plenty of bath products there already you had gifted him after you taught him how to use them properly. remus lingers in the doorway watching you intently. 

you can feel him lingering “strip, lupin.”

“if you wanted to see me naked pet you could've just asked.” he pulls his shirt off before fumbling with his jeans. he struggles a lot with the button before huffing and leaning against the wall. “babyyyy i need help.”

you sigh softly and move closer to him and undo his jeans “you got it from here pretty boy?” you tease lightly.

“you think i’m pretty?”

“course darlin’” 

he smiles and feels his face heat up. your comments always affect him more when he’s high. 

you watch him shyly turn his head away and smile fondly “the baths ready hon’ do ya need anythin’ else?”

he shakes his head, and you leave the room. once you hear the small click of the door closing you turn and head towards the kitchen. you cut up some of the banana bread and get two glasses of water. you take them to his bedroom and place them on his bedside table. you move around the room, lighting the few candles you had bought for him and grabbing some clean clothes for him. 

you knock on the bathroom door “rem, can i come in?”

“yeah, love.” his muffled voice replies.

you walk in and smile down at him. there were enough bubbles in the bath to preserve his modesty (not that he would have cared anyway) so you could only really see his shoulder and above. “i brought you some clean clothes babe for whenever you’re ready.”

“thanks angel.” he smiles, and you leave again.

you grab some painkillers for his unavoidable hangover in the morning. you decide to change into one of remus’ t-shirts and a spare pair of sleep bottoms you left there. you go back into the kitchen and start making two cups of tea. you set out two mugs and chose the tea bags but just as you start adding the sugar you hear a groan coming from the bathroom. you abandoned the tea and rushed to the bathroom.

as you walk in you seem remus on the floor, shirtless, with one leg inside his pyjama pants.

you can’t help the small giggle that escaped at the sight. “need help sugar?” 

“pleaseeee.” he gives you those stupid puppy dog eyes.

you help him to his feet and hold him to stabilise him while he puts his other leg into his pants. once his pants are securely on his hips you reach for his shirt and bunch it up to help him put his head through the hole. then, helping his arm goes into each sleeve. you smile and pat his chest.

you return to the kitchen and finish making the tea. you move to the sink to wash the teaspoon you used and the other few stray dishes when you feel his arms wrap around your waist. he snuggles into you and smells your hair. he starts slowly kissing your neck and rubbing small circles onto your hip bone with his hand.

“you’re being very affectionate,” you comment trying to come off as nonchalant despite leaning into his touch.

“i missed you.” he mumbled into your neck.

“you saw me this morning.”

“i know but it’s not enough.” he whines slightly in a way that is somehow endearing.

“seeing me every day isn’t enough? what did you take?” you snicker slightly.

“pads had some mushrooms. we’re not the right kind of close we need to be closer. i love you bunny.”

“i love you too remmy.”

“no not in the right way. not in the way i do.”

your breathe hitches. he was high. you force an insincere giggle “you’re so high baby. you ready for bed?”

“can you stay? please stay the night with me?”

“yeah, rem. i’ll stay.”

#remus lupin #remus lupin x reader #dealer!remus #baker!reader #dealer!remus x reader #dealer!remus x baker!reader #remus lupin fluff #remus lupin x you #remus x reader