#in the survival/escape AU's he definitely gets his hands on a phone

[mojowitchcraft]

Fave WIP Round Up [Part 5]

Find the rest of my WIP Recs here

How to Rehabilitate a Jock in Four Months by @withacapitalp Rated G | Chapters: 15/53 | Words: 63k

After their breakup, Steve found that being around Nancy and Jonathan was pretty much unbearable. His old friends wouldn't even look at him, and there was only so much time he could spend with the kids before he started feeling kind of pathetic. All in all, he was a pretty lonely person now. But was he really lonely enough to consider joining Hellfire club? And were they really willing to accept having a dethroned king in their party? A post season two AU where Steve becomes a part of hellfire club

One Size Fits All by @entanglednow Rated E | Chapters: 3/10 | Words: 16k

Steve just wanted to do something nice for a friend, he doesn't mean to get Eddie's ring stuck on his finger, and it's definitely not his fault that everyone he knows is jumping to conclusions.

Layover by @3minsover & @dreaminginpencil Rated E | Chapters: 6/? | Words: 74k

“Mr Munson? Your complimentary champagne.” Eddie Munson looks up from his phone, and his dark eyes widen in surprise. “Jesus Christ.” “Uh. Steve, actually,” Steve offers awkwardly, hand still raised where he’d knocked. As first impressions go, Steve’s sure he is decidedly not making a good one. “I’m sorry,” Munson huffs, shaking his head a little. His curls shiver around his face and oh god he’s even sexier in person. Steve is never going to survive. “I just- wasn’t expecting…” “A man?” Steve preempts, with the knowledge that he’s one of two male attendants who tend to work this flight, and that it’s usually all pencil skirts and heels. Not that he’d be particularly averse- “No, no. Someone so- attractive.” OR the flight attendant!steve/musician-model!eddie au we didn't know we needed.

In a World of Just Our Own by @kiaramori Rated E | Chapters: 2/? | Words: 16k (mind the tags on this one!)

Eddie Munson dies and Kas wakes up in his place, with no memory of his life before. When Steve is attacked by a monster wearing his dead friend's skin, he thinks his life is over. He's wrong.

j'adore [series] by @oakenorcrist Rated E | Works: 2 | Words: 23k

Steve Harrington escapes the stuffy premiere party to find himself sharing a smoke with the alluring rock star Eddie Munson in the alleyway behind the Palazzo del Cinema. He finds himself entranced and enchanted, and can't help but follow this until-now stranger into the night, where they share stories and passions that will change Steve's life forever.

#mojowitchcraft wip recs #wip recs #steddie wip #steddie wip rec #steve and eddie #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things fic recs #steddie

[monster-noises]

7, 23, 28 & 29 (for whomever is haunting your dreams)

oo hoo hoo! I am still thinkin about my Webcomic quiet a bit so this time I'll be answering for Haggarty(R) and his twin brother Rantham(L)!

First! A brief introduction: Haggarty is the main character of the webcomic I'm writing, he's a sweet and quiet young man with a friendly and loving disposition but he's a little awkward and not the most confident. He loves to go on adventures with his friends and brother, but is often a bit of the odd one out and so spends an equal amount of time just on his own. He herds fluffy pigs on his families farm and is happy to spend the day tending to them all on his lonesome. Rantham is Haggarty's twin brother (though most people they meet are surprised by this, Rantham has very Youngest Sibling energy). In contrast Rantham is boisterous and rambunctious, a little wild and a little mischievous, trouble always seems to find him some how some way. But he has the same good heart as his twin and never truly means to cause anyone harm. He's a potter and a sculptor with his own private tent/shed set up at the back of the family farm.

Do they have any unusual fears?

Both of them are at least a lil bit superstitious, so their most unusual fears are all like.. creatures from folk stories that may or may not be real. Haggarty particularly is easy to rile up with one or two spooky stories or "first hand accounts" and has oft been the victim of jokes and pranks because of it. But Rantham takes the cake on this one for being Genuinely convinced and terrified of a creature called the "Reed Worm" that supposedly lives in old loose hay. To be clear this thing Definitely doesn't exist, their older sister Clements assumes he's playing it up to get out of barn cleaning, but the fear and belief is 100% real.

How would they want to die?

Ideally I think both of them would want to die peacefully at home, but Rantham has said if he dies doing some kind of extremely rad Stunt he'd be okay with it. And secretly Haggarty would be happy to go out in service of protecting someone/something, but he keeps that to himself.

Are they a #gamer?

Haggarty is the type to get really into a fun casual puzzle game (2048, peggle, flow, that kind of thing!) and occasionally be convinced to play through an interesting emotional single player experience, as long as the controls aren't too complicated. (journey, superliminal, what remains of edith finch etc.) Where as Rantham would absolutely be involved in multiple MMO's or online multiplayer games.. (Destiny, Overwatch, Hearthstone, WoW) Truly a #gamer. He'd be the guy who's just there to have fun, jumping into a server/game and being Silly in a harmless and genuinely entertaining way. (very ed-sheeran-but-it's-about-toe-sucking energy)

not that either of them has or would get to play games because they live in a rural fantasy village without modern technology sdkjhfd...

If they were real would you be friends with them?

I'd like to think so! A lot of my creations fall into "I love this little bastard with all my heart but if they were real? oh my God no." But these guys??? Genuinely chill and kind and good of heart. Though I'd probably get along better with Haggarty because Rantham's very Big energy would probably get a lil' overwhelming.

#monster noises #wait does.. does haggarty have a tag? #huh! he doesn't! lets fix that.. #HatWW #will do I think! #short for the full title: Haggarty and the legend of the Whistling Witch #Anyway! #rapid fire Lazarus answers in the tags because it Feels Necissary #Meat Husband #(7 I will be answering in a following post) #how he wants to die: Quickly. #He's under no impression that he's going to get the chance to die old and/or peacefully. So he just hopes that whatver takes him #Be it Miranada - a terrible accident at the factory- his Cadou - some unforseen force #it takes him quickly #He's a man who can divine the holy and righteous from a great many terrible things #pain is not one of them. #Particularly his own. #Alas Laz is in fact - a very old man. #he's about as Un-Gamerly as one can get #in the survival/escape AU's he definitely gets his hands on a phone #and is about as competent as you would expect someone who left the modern world in the 70's to be. #Lazarus is a very good example of the 'I love you but absolutely not' #perhaps in a non-village version of his life #where he's just an unsettling eccentric who makes scary taxidermy #but as-is he is Terrifying

[sagendipity]

the law of attraction: de minimis

a quackity x reader law school au

part one, chapter one

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.

The first myth about law school is that everyone is the same.

In movies, in TV shows, in books- everyone in law school is a certain type of person. Dangerously smart, hardworking to a fault, and absolutely cutthroat.

Now, that is true. To get this far, to get into a competitive law school and make it to your final year, you have to be all of the above. Smart, hardworking, and just a little cunning. It’s impossible to get a leg up unless you’re standing on someone else’s knee.

Or neck.

However, the fact that everyone here has to have a certain few traits in order to survive does not mean that they cannot have other traits.

Some are louder, exuberant, and competitive- the type to yell out the answer to a question before raising their hand, the type to go back and forth with the professor when they’re sure they’re right (and they’re not). There’s the introverts, the sly ones you never see coming, who you barely notice next to you all year until you glance over at the grade on their final and it’s a 110%, somehow.

Of course, there’s also the in-between. The respectable ones, the students that are just there to get through the classes they need and get a respectable job at a respectable law firm and make something nice out of their lives.

Or the hero type, the ones that are convinced they can fix any injustice they perceive in the world- the environmental lawyers, the criminal defense lawyers, the civil rights lawyers. They might be right, too, which is why it seems like a never-ending flow of them are pouring into the school at each orientation.

It’s not always as simple as that, of course. You, like many students, are a mix of a few types. You lie somewhere between the exuberant and introverted sides, not shy about answering questions in lectures, but not jumping the gun to cause discourse, either. A bit of a hero type, you must admit, but you do pride yourself on being reasonable when it comes to your life’s expectations. You don’t expect to become some William Kunstler. You work hard, you get shit done, and like law school has a tendency to do, it seems to become your whole entire life.

The type of person you never quite got a read on is Alex.

He’s been sitting next to you in your upper level criminal procedure class for the entire semester. A whole semester’s worth of lectures means you have plenty of time to observe and analyze the people in your classes- its not like there’s anything else to do when the professor is going over voir dire for the third hour that week.

You pegged the kid in the third row as a die-hard businessman. He’s not going into law to help people, he’s going into law to make the most profit off of the most vulnerable clients he can find. The girl in row six, however, is definitely the hero type, judging by her “save the oceans” stickers on her giant re-usable coffee cups.

Alex, though, you can’t read. He dresses down compared to the other students. They dress up to hide their shortcomings, like their fancy coats can stop them from feeling bad about their less-than-adequate qualifications for the internship they just applied for. Others just like to lean into the New York City aesthetic and dress like they’re already lawyers, even despite failing their last midterm. You fall into that category- you can’t help it, it’s a fun look- but hey, you definitely didn’t fail your midterm, and you’ve lived in New York your whole life, so you think you have the right to dress like that.

Alex dresses like he has nothing to hide. He dresses like the young, high-level professor who is always cracked out on Redbull and hasn’t graded a paper in his life; like the cute, fascinating barista at the local hipster coffee shop you can barely afford. He dresses like that one guy you’d see on the subway one day and never manage to forget because of how his eyes met yours for a split second.

To be fair, that is kind of how it’s gone. It’s not exactly like the two of you met on the subway, and you’ve definitely interacted more than just a passing glance, but goddammit is Alex stuck in your head.

You convince yourself it’s just because he’s such a mystery. It’s not because he has really sweet brown eyes, or the most charming, unruly hair you’ve seen this side of the Midwest. It’s not because he whispers a joke under his breath whenever your professor says something stupid, or because he bumps your ankles together and shares an amused glance with you when that one really annoying kid pipes up with an opinion no one wanted.

It’s just because you don’t know why he’s here, and you don’t know what he wants, and you don’t know how to read him.

It bugs you. It gets under your skin- not like an itch, more like a hum. He’s on the back of your mind constantly, like you’re trying to subconsciously figure out what’s up with him, but to this day you’ve had no success.

It’s not like you think about anything substantial in regards to him- every time your traitorous brain brings him up, you put it down quicker than it came up. Getting attached to people is dangerous in the best of circumstances, but getting attached to the absolute enigma of a guy in your criminal procedure class who you can’t even confidently say is named Alex would be equivalent to signing up for heartbreak.

“Don’t date law boys,” your roommate had lamented after she had done just that, laid across her rose-pink bedspread with a sleeve of crackers clutched in one hand and a tissue in the other. She had then blown her nose unattractively. “Lawyers have a reputation for being soulless for a reason. They’re only here for themselves. Fuck them.”

Despite that, you find yourself friends with Alex. As if you’d be able to resist the self-satisfied grins he flashes at you when the professor praises him for a particularly poignant answer, or the way he holds his hand out under the table for a high-five after you nail the answer to a cold call. You barely know anything about him, and yet, you know enough to decide he’s a good person.

“Alex”, whose name you’re only about 80% sure of- maybe it’s short for Alexander, but you thought you’d heard someone he was on the phone with call him Q, so maybe he’s a Quinn or a Quentin?

“Alex”, who shows up looking more comfortable than you’ve been in your entire life, and still manages to hold an air of confidence around him that you’d not be able to master even in your finest long coat and shirt.

“Alex”, who seems determined to wiggle his way into your heart in any way he can.

“Alex”, who you seem to be powerless to resist.

.

This growing attachment to Alex of yours is only strengthened with each lecture. You share this class three times a week, two hours each on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. It’s a focus class, meaning that anyone who wants to go into criminal work should take this course. It’s challenging, it’s competitive, and it’s cutthroat.

And it’s only February.

A cold Monday morning in February, in fact, with the clock above your professor’s desk ticking obnoxiously as the big hand nears the 8. Outside, it’s downright miserable: windy and foggy. The outside of the paneled windows of the classroom are glazed in a sticky frost, reducing the figures of passing students to dull blobs as they hurry through the whipping wind to get to their classes.

The big doors at the back of the classroom close with a bang that reverberates throughout the lecture hall, cutting through the murmuring chatter of the students who are already here. Out of the corner of your eye you catch a flash of green- as you suspect, it’s Alex. He always takes the seat on the very end of the row, and you the one immediately to his right. You look up at him with what you hope is a casual smile, but the one he returns is so bright it could probably melt the frost off of the windows.

“Hey!” he says, too awake for 8 in the morning, and sets his binder down on the desk with a clatter. The whoosh of air rustles the paper of your notebook, which you smooth back down habitually. You watch Alex longer than you should, only tearing your gaze away after you notice the smattering of tiny snowflakes that have gathered atop the beanie he’s wearing.

You stifle a little laugh. This guy wears a beanie to law school.

Out of the corner of your eye, you watch as he settles into his seat. He shrugs off his hunter green jacket, leaving him in just a gray hoodie, dotted with darker spots from melting snowflakes that’d been blown into him. He drops his outer jacket across his lap just as the room goes silent, your professor walking up to his desk.

As the last tails of conversations die off, you turn to Alex, unable to help yourself, “You have… snowflakes, on your head.”

He glances at you, a little huff of laughter escaping him as he brings up a hand to smooth over the beanie. The snowflakes are swiped off, melting on the heat of his hand- you wonder how it would feel held in yours, probably warm, he looks like he runs hot- and you pry your eyes away as he straightens out his beanie and tucks his hair up into the brim of it. He misses a strand, and the black swoop stands out sharply against the frost-paled skin of his face.

“Happy February,” your professor begins, his microphone crackling to life. “The month of love, is it not? Just two weeks until Valentines day.”

He swings his bag up onto the stool next to him, the sound echoing through the microphone. He turns to face the lecture hall, arms spread as if welcoming you all to a talk show.

“I’m about to ruin all of your Valentines Day plans. Welcome to the start of your final project: the mock trial.”

.

#quackity #alex quackity #quackity x reader #quackity x you #quackity x y/n #quackity imagine #quackity fanfiction #quackity headcanon #quackity fluff #mcyt #mcyt x reader #mcyt fanfiction #sage vs the law of attraction #sage vs the law of attraction qxr #sage vs quackity #law school #lawyer #law school au #quackity au

[yootaesowlwrites]

Stableman - Kim Taehyung

Banner: Pictures & Gifs belong to their rightful owners, the banner was made by me.

Requested By: -

Request: -

A/N: This is the first time I’ve tried to write a slow burn fic/imagine, I’ll admit, it wasn’t the easiest things to do, it took me weeks/months to do, find the right balance, but I’m hoping I didn’t do too bad, but it’s trying that counts! I started working on this in January, researching about how to do a slow burn, in the end, I followed my gut, BUT I am also sorry it took so long for me to finish it, but It’s here. AND YES, the goat and doggies have names!

I once again tried my best here with 2nd POV, and hopefully it doesn’t look too bad.

Happy Birthday @taeandpuppies​ !!! IF anyone wants to make the day unpleasant, let me know, I’ll use my big hammer on them.

Tropes: Strangers To Lovers, Boss/Employee, Stableman!Taehyung AU.

Warnings: Slow burn?, mutual pining?, fluff, smut, mention of medication, descriptive sex scenes, sex in a stable, nudism, protected sex (ALWAYS be protected), nudism, fingering, oral (male receiving), cum tasting, explicit language, size kink?, praising?, dirty talking, begging if you squint, slight aftercare, the tiniest bit of angst if you squint hard enough, soft sex in the meadow, unprotected sex, clit stimulation, Cowgirl position, Missionary position, Lotus position.

Age warnings: No one will listen to this, but it’s here, I will not take responsibility because you wanted to read this, but if you’re under the age of 18+, DO NOT INTERACT OR READ. Even though you will ignore this warning and still read it, so do not take this as educational, this is fiction!

W/C: 26.4K (THE LONGEST I HAVE EVER MADE AND I FEEL PROUD OF THIS NUMBER)

“I don’t need any help on my farm, I’m completely fine on my own.” You say to your brother over the phone, it was on speakerphone while you were moving between the closest and your suitcase, packing for a six-day business trip, you had asked him if he could keep an eye on your farm while you would be away, but you should have known that he would bring up the subject of getting some help on the farm again, something you were not keen about.

You had been managing without any help for years, well… maybe you did have some help, but it was mostly from willing family members or friends, not a full-time worker that would be living with you on the farm and help you take care of all of your beloved animals, you hadn’t even thought about getting one, but each time you had to leave for a business trip, you would mostly ask your brother for some help and each time you ask him, he would then bring it up.

“I don’t need anyone, I’ve been coping well on my own, and besides, it’s not like I’m away for weeks or each month.” You say while folding a shirt, you attended certain meetings every few months to learn and hear about new products on the market and if they could be useful on the farm, and during those trips, you would usually rely on your brother to keep an eye on things, and each time you asked, he would mention getting help, ‘doesn’t he want to be a helpful brother?’ You thought to yourself.

“But it would be easier if you did have a helping hand on the farm.” He says, you let out a sigh as you put the shirt you were folding into the suitcase.

“I am fine on my own.” You say. “Besides, where am I supposed to find the time to look for somebody that would be up for the task and would do a proper job instead of slacking off, oh and not to mention, someone trustworthy.” You pick your phone up from where it laid on the bed next to your suitcase. “Will you keep an eye on things here or should I ask someone else?” You were becoming impatient with him and his repeated question.

“No, no, I’ll keep an eye on things, don’t worry.” He quickly says. “You can count on me to keep an eye on things.”

“Thank you.” You say. “I’ll see you tonight when you come and pick me up.” You waited for him to argue, he would usually argue against it at first, but then agree to take you to the airport.

“See you then, bye.” He says, this surprised you, you had prepared yourself for the argument.

“Okay… bye.” You say as you end the call, you drop your phone back onto the bed before slowly continuing to pack. “What is he…” You trail off as you think for a moment. “He wouldn’t… I wonder if something’s wrong.” You shake your head. “No… he would say something.” You pause in your spot. “And who does he think he is suggesting getting help, he’s lost it if he thinks I’m going to get help!” You look at your dogs lying on your bed near the pillows. “What’s wrong with him?” They only responded with a wag of their tails.

That was seven days ago, you now stood next to your brother, [Y/b/n], staring at the man across from you, his dark brown eyes stared back at you, his dark hair was slightly damp and covered his forehead as the sunlight shone down on it, his honey toned skin was coated with a barely noticeable layer of sweat along with dirt from the stables, you were certain that you had told your brother that you didn’t need any help, yet, here stood a stranger in front of you, and he had clearly been working on your farm for a few days now, you slowly turn your head to look up at your brother’s taller form, several questions ran through your mind, your eyes displayed the number of questions you wanted to ask him, but you didn’t want to do it in front of the man your brother had obviously hired without your permission, and without consulting you first, not that you would have agreed if he did, you turn your gaze back to the man standing across from you.

“[Y/n], this is Kim Taehyung, he will be helping you around the farm.” Your brother says with a proud smile as if he had something to feel proud about after what he had done, your eyes flicker towards your brother momentarily before you turned your full focus to the man named Taehyung, a string of curse words ran through your mind, and you would definitely say them out loud later when you would be alone with your brother, ‘how could he do this to me?!’  You thought, your eyes slowly move over Taehyung, taking in his features, his length, divinity he seemed unreal, it was hard to explain how beautiful he looked. “Oh, and don’t worry, I looked at his qualifications, and he’s more than qualified for the job, and he adores horses also.” You wanted to grab your brother by his neck and strangle him right then and there, it took a lot of restrain for you not to do it, there would be a time and a place for that later, right now, you needed to focus on the stranger that would be working with you on your farm, Taehyung extends his arm and holds his hand out for you to shake.

“It will be a pleasure working for you and with you,” Taehyung says, your knees felt like they wanted to buckle underneath you, his voice was deep yet smooth when he spoke, you take hold of his hand, trying your best to hide the effects his voice had on you, your eyes move down to his hand as you take hold of it and notices how well they were built, or sculpted, they must have been sculpted by the Greek gods, he bows his head as you shake hands. “What should I call you?”

“Ah, you—“ Your brother begins to say only for you to quickly cut him off before he could finish his sentence, he had done enough, and you could speak for yourself from now on.

“You can call me by my name.” You say, your brother looks at you with his mouth still agape. “[Y/n].” Taehyung nods his head as a smile grows on his lips, ‘Dear goddesses… how do you want me to survive?’

“Well, [Y/n], you can call me Tae or Taehyung.” He says, you nod your head as your lips slightly part.

“Okay.” Your brother says loudly and claps his hands together making you and Taehyung look at him and release each other’s hands. “Then this is settled, I’ll see you when I see you.” He quickly flees towards his car, you look at him wide-eyed before running after him. “I’ll call you later!” He reaches for his car and opens the door.

“You absolute— How could you do this?!” You ask as you watch him quickly climb into his car. “I told you, over and over again!” He closes the door and rolls down the window after starting the engine.

“I know, I know, but you need help!” He says. “You have to admit that you need help, you can’t try and do this on your own, even if it’s just one other person that can help you.” You place your palms against the car door and look at him through the window. “This is a good thing, you can come and go as you please, you can trust him.” Your glare hardens at his words. “Trust me then, you know you need help, you’re just too stubborn to admit it right now.” You let out a sigh.

“One month, [Y/b/n].” You sigh out. “One month only and if I’m not satisfied with his work, you are going to come down here and tell him that it’s not working out, got it?” He nods his head as his smile widens.

“You’ll see, you won’t regret it, you only need one month to see how much easier things will be.” He says. “You’ll see how much easier it will be with help.” You take a step away from the car. “Oh, and he’s staying in that small cottage.” Your eyes slightly widen, the cottage hadn’t been used since Christmas, it was only used when your family came to visit for the holidays and sometimes the main house became too crowded, so you had built a cottage to escape to when things became too much in the house, and now Taehyung was staying in it, not that, that was the problem, the problem was that the cottage was located close to the main house, and you could look straight into the kitchen if the curtains were left open, you would have to be extra cautious from now on and make sure that they were closed, to prevent any kind of accidents. “I’ll call you later, bye.” Before you could say anything else, he drove off.

“I can’t believe him…” You mutter to yourself as you watch his car disappear into the distance, you bring your hand to your forehead and rub your temple as you take in a deep breath, you drop your hand to your side and shake your head as you turn around and make your way to the stable, you hadn’t seen your horses in almost seven days, and you needed to make sure that they were all still in good shape and doing well, as you enter the stables you spot Taehyung brushing one of the horses, your eyes immediately move to his arm muscles as they flex with each brush along the horse’s side.

“It seems like your brother didn’t tell you about hiring me.” He says once he spots you standing by the stable entrance, your eyes move away from his arm and settles on his face, ‘oh… his face…’ You thought. “You looked stunned when you saw me.” You harshly exhale through your nose before moving towards him and the horse he was tending to.

“I’ll admit, it was definitely a surprise when I saw you.” You say. “My brother has a tendency to ignore what I tell him.” He softly smiles at you, a smile that could melt anyone’s heart. “But it wasn’t a bad surprise entirely.” His smile slightly widens before he turns his head away from you, you stop in front of the horse and lifts your hand up to its forehead and begins stroking it.

“I hope I can provide some help to you.” He says as he turns to look at you again. “Help care for them.” You gently stroke along the horses face before moving your hand to its neck, your eyes meet Taehyung’s. “You have some beautiful horses, all of them— even the ponies— look so beautiful and strong.” You gently smile at him, at the compliments about your animals. “I look forward to helping you with them, they’re such magnificent creatures.”

“They really are magnificent.” You say with a big smile on your lips, just hearing how he thought and spoke about horses confirmed that he liked them and would at least help you care for them. “How long have you been working with horses?” You step away from the horse and move towards one of the stalls to greet another horse.

“A little over six years now.” He says. “But this is my first job since I decided to learn more about them.” You nod your head while listening to him intently. “I always loved and adored horses, so I always knew that I’d end up working with them in some kind of way.” You move towards another stall that had a pony inside. “How long have you been working with them?” You smile as you begin to rake through your brain, trying to remember when you had started working with them.

“It’s been years, I’ve lost track of how long it’s been, but it’s been over a decade.” You answer. “I’ve lived here since I was a child and took over about ten, eleven years ago, and then about five years ago I was the only one that stayed on the farm.” He nods his head as he stops brushing the horse. “We’ve always worked with horses, but two years ago I decided to get some ponies also.” His smile widens as the seconds pass, just hearing the passion in your voice, how passionate you are about your farm. “People bring their horses here if they can no longer care for them, or if they need help training them, or to buy one.” He puts the brush down and guides the horse back into its stall. “I don’t easily sell them, but if I do sell, I usually make sure that they will be going to a good and proper home, where they will be cared for.”


“Proper homes are hard to find.” He says. “So thank the gods for people like you that still care about the animal’s wellbeing.” You gently smile at him, at his words, before you could say or add anything else, your dogs along with a Pomeranian ran into the stables and towards you, you bend down and pat their heads as they wag their tails at you.

“Hey guys, I missed you too.” You say in a soft tone, you glance at the Pomeranian as he stood by Taehyung’s feet before running towards you, you reach out and allow him to sniff your hand before gently patting his head as well.

“Oh, that’s my boy, Yeontan, but I call him Tan.” He says, you nod your head and glance up at him.

“He’s really fluffy and soft.” You say before standing upright. “I see that they’re getting along also, so that’s good then.” You look between the dogs, watching them sniff each other’s butts. “And by that I mean, it’s good that they became friends so quickly.” He nods his head, smiling while looking at his dog.

“I was a little worried at first, but it seems like they don’t really mind being in each other’s company.” He says, you nod your head and watch them as they begin sniffing around the stables.

“As long as they’re getting along then I absolutely don’t mind the cute little guy.” You say before your mind trails to your sunshine probably waiting for you. “Speaking of cute.” You mutter to yourself. “I should go greet that sunshine.” You begin making your way out of the stables before stopping and turning around to look at Taehyung, he pulls the door of the stall close and locks it. “Have you met the life of the farm yet?” Taehyung’s brows furrow as he looks at you confused.

“That depends on who that would be.” He says, you nod your head to your side, signalling for him to follow you, he quickly follows you out of the stable. “Sunshine and life of the farm?”

“Yes.” You say. “His real name isn’t sunshine, it’s waffles, but I like calling him sunshine because he’s just a bundle of sunshine and joy.” The three dogs run out ahead of you, knowing where you were going. “Where are you from, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Daegu, but when I was a small child we moved to Geochang where I spent most of my life and time growing up and learning about those beautiful free-spirited animals.” He says. “The first thing I learned was how stubborn they can be.” You nod your head with a slight chuckle, it was true, they could be stubborn as hell when they wanted to be. “I don’t exactly remember how old I was, but horses seem to be my earliest memory from my childhood.” You couldn’t help but giggle a little.

“You don’t have to remember every detail.” You say. “I’m not trying to figure how you were born, but it’s nice to know that you were surrounded by them, it means you’re probably attached to them just like I am, it also means that you learned a lot more than any school could ever teach you because you had first-hand experience.” He nods his head as a boxy smile appears on his face, you could feel your heart melting at the sight of that smile, you could tell he felt a bit shy. “But if you remember anything that you want to share, I’d love to hear about it.” And you meant it, if you were going to get to allow him to work on your farm, you had to get to know each other and be comfortable with each other and in each other’s presence.

“I’ll gladly tell you more one day when we have more time.” He says, a pen with a small brick building came into sight, you had built it for waffles for the colder nights and the wet days, you always felt so bad if it rained or snowed, and he was outside in it while you along with Terry and Pizzie were in the comfort of your warm dry house. “Wait… is that a…?” He begins as he spots Waffles, you nod your head with a proud smile on your lips, the three dogs had run around the pen and had caught Waffles’s attention.

“Yes, that’s my other little baby boy.” You say, you bring your hands together clapping them together which caused Waffles to look towards the gate where you and Taehyung now stood and waited for him, Waffles runs towards the gate while letting out a loud ‘maaa’. “You miss me when I don’t come to visit you for a few days but ignore me when I’m here every day.” Taehyung watches you as you interact with the small energetic animal, rubbing his head and patting his back. “Do you want to pet him?”

“Can I?” He asks, unsure if he was allowed to touch Waffles or not, you nod your head causing some strands of hair to fall in front of your eyes.

“Of course, he loves attention.” You say, he smiles and reaches over the gate and gently slides his hand along Waffles’s fur, you watch as his hand gently pats down the hair while you stroke Waffles’s head. “I can see why you call him sunshine and Waffles, he looks like a bundle of brightness.” Waffles walks away from the gate and begin sniffing around before a burst of energy caused him to jump around. “Oh, definitely a bundle of sunshine right there.” You watch as he stares at Waffles with adoration in his eyes, you could practically see his eyes lighting up. “He’s got a nice spacious home also.”

“He has a lot of energy, so he needs tons of space to run, hop and play around, that’s why he has a playground also.” You say and point to the large play-set on the other side of the pen. “I should go check up on his food.”

“Ah, I should get back to the horses.” He says. “Thank you for introducing me to Waffles.”

“If you’re going to be working here, you should at least know everyone on this farm.” You say making him softly chuckle and smile, his lips once again forming that boxy smile from earlier, you practically feel your heart skipping a beat seeing it again. “I will see you either tomorrow or later.”

“Have a good day and night, [Y/n].” He says before turning around and making his way back to the stable, you open the gate and step inside and turns around to close it, you look up as you lock it to be sure Waffles doesn’t escape and saw a gentle breeze blowing Taehyung’s hair to the side, you watch as he lifts his hand and pushes them out of the way, dishevelling it as he runs his hand through them, you shake your head and turn away.

“No, no…” You mumble to yourself. “He works for you… you are his boss, it can’t…” You make your way to the tiny brick building and step inside you, you had the feeder inside the building to avoid needing to throw away food when it rained and snowed, you see that it was halfway and made a mental note to return tomorrow with food to fill it, you step out of the small building and made your way back to the gate to leave, your mind continued to wander back to Taehyung, the way his dark eyes would light up, how his muscles flexed underneath his button-up shirt when he would brush a horse or pet Waffles, his smile… the different types of smile you had already seen today, the gentle soft smile and then the cute box-like smile, and then his sweat-covered honey skin. “Snap out of it!” You exit the pen and lock the gate before making your way to your house, you had an entire list of things to write down that you had to do and get and have delivered to the farm, but as you sat in your home-office trying to focus on your work, keyword, trying, but your mind kept drifting off to the honeyed skin dark-eyed beauty inside your stable working with your horses, and now living with you on your farm.

“Dammit, why did he think I needed help!?” You suddenly say and kick a box filled with papers, you toss your pencil onto the table. “And why him?” You look out the window. “Him of all people?” Your eyes catch a glimpse of the man that was invading your thoughts and distracting you from your work. “He’s so good-looking…” You look away from the window and grab your phone. “That’s it, [Y/b/n] is gonna get a piece of my mind!”

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You look at yourself in the mirror as you remember that you were no longer alone on your farm anymore, it would be the first morning that you would be greeting Taehyung, which made you wonder, was he already awake? Was he already in the stables? You move away from your bathroom mirror and exit the bathroom and pick up your jacket, you slip into it as you make your way to the front door, you open the door allowing Terry and Pizzie to run out ahead before you stepped outside and made your way to the stable, you stop in your tracks when you see Taehyung already there brushing one of the ponies, you clear your throat, mentally preparing yourself for the day.

“Good morning.” You greet him as you make your way to one of the stalls and opened the door, you step inside and lead the horse out of it.

“Good morning, [Y/n].” He greets you with a smile on his lips, you glance in his direction and return the smile, he had such a sweet smile, one that you could just stare at all day, it was one captivating smile, and you almost felt blessed just being able to see it in person.

“Did you manage to sleep well?” You ask as you guide the horse towards a wide space to brush him.

“Oh, yes, yes, I slept good, thank you for asking, how about you, did you sleep well?” He asks, you nod your head as you pick up a brush.

“I did, thank you for asking.” You say and glance at the pony he was brushing. “Have you ever rode a horse before?” You begin brushing along the horse’s hair while glancing between the horse and Taehyung, waiting for his answer.

“Only a few times, not a much, or at all in recent years.” He says, you nod your head and put the brush down, deciding that you wanted to see him ride.

“Do you want to go for a ride?” You ask, you would finish brushing the horse later if he agreed to go on a ride.

“Can we?” He asked as his face lights up like a kid’s on Christmas Eve that got the toy he wished for, you nod your head and walk towards a small shed that was inside the tables, you open the door and step inside.

“Come and get yourself a saddle and bridle!” You call out while picking up a saddle and placed a bridle on top of the saddle, he puts the brush down and walks towards the small shed, he enters it as you exit it and picks out a saddle and bridle to use, he exits the small shed carrying the needed equipment, you lead the pony back into its stall and open another stall. “Take him.” He puts the equipment down and went to the stall, he leads the horse out and towards him the equipment and begins preparing the horse, it took only a couple of minutes to prepare the two horses and lead them out of the stable, you watch as he climbed onto the horse. “Did you learn on your own or did someone teach you?” You had to ask after seeing how his feet were positioned.

“Someone taught me.” He says as he shifts his weight to the centre, you guide your horse to a tree and tie the reins around a branch. “Why, what's wrong?” He watched as you approached him with a frown on your face.

“Your feet are positioned wrong, you’re going to get injured like this.” You say as you place your hand around his ankle, you take your other hand and place it on underneath his shoe and lifts the front of his foot up. “Your heels need to be down to avoid injury.” You release his ankle and look up at him.

“Oh…” He quietly says before pushing his heel down on his other foot. “I uh, I didn’t know that they didn’t teach me that when I was learning.”

“Who taught you?” You ask, your face almost emotionless, but inside you were boiling, how could a trainer not teach this to anyone? How irresponsible were they? “Because it’s one of the most important things you have to know, along with keeping your shoulders back, and arms in a soft bent position when you hold the reins.”

“Uh, I can’t remember who taught me.” He says. “But I’m starting to think that I should have met you sooner, you would have taught me properly.” He gently smiles down at you. “Anything else I should be aware of?” You softly smile up at him.

“We’ll go now, slowly, I’ll evaluate you as we’re riding, and I’ll let you know if there’s something else.” You say. “I wouldn’t want you to get hurt while working here.” He nods his head and watches you return to your horse, you untie the reigns and climbs onto the horse, making sure to push your heels down, you turn the reins and click your tongue, urging your horse to move which also caused the horse Taehyung was riding to move, you guide your horse out of the stable area and onto a road that would lead you to explore your farm. “I think we’ll just go on a stroll today, gallop another day, besides…” You look at him, picking up on how focused he was on keeping his hands and heels in the correct position. “There’s no rush.”

Throughout the ride you kept an eye on his heels, quick to remind him about pushing them down and keeping them down when you saw his heels were no longer pushed down, you didn’t blame him for forgetting, over the years something can become a habit, and it would take time to break that habit and learn to something another way, you also got to know more about each other, like how he had come to love horses, who had raised him and what he wanted to be if he wasn’t working with horses, by the time you were on your way back to the stables it was late in the afternoon and the sun was starting to go down, but your mind was set at ease, you got to know him a little more and your worries became less as you started to slowly trust him, you arrive back at the stables and dismount your horse and lead him into the stable with Taehyung not far behind with the other horse, you unstrap the saddle and remove the bridle and took it into the small shed, making a mental note to clean it later.

“I’ll clean them later, so you can just put them in there for now.” You say as you saw Taehyung remove the bridle. “Let me show you where I wash and cool them down after a long ride.” He quickly takes the equipment to the shed before exiting and following you to the other side of the stable.

“How often do you ride?” He asks, surely you must ride a lot, you took care of them and trained them, you probably enjoyed just saddling one up and going for a ride around your farm.

“As often as I can.” You say. “Which is not a lot these days, but when I have a moment to myself, I usually go for a ride.” He nods his head. “So uh, this is a nice open spot because the food is also close if they want to eat.” You show him the clear spot where a large bucket was that you usually filled with food to keep the horses busy while you washed them. “And fill this with water for them to drink.” He nods his head, listening closely to your instructions. “Some of them will become impatient and restless, it depends on their mood on that day, if that’s the case, take them back to their stall and let me know, I’ll go tire them out or if you want to learn or do it yourself, just let me know, and I’ll show you what to do.”

“Would you show me how to do it one day?” He asks with excitement in tone, eagerness clear in his body language.

“Sure, the pen is right outside that door over there.” You say and point to another door. “I usually take them there and tire them out, or to train them.” You could see his eyes lighting up as a smile forms on his lips, you could tell that he was curious.

“Thank you.” He says and slightly bows his head. “I’ll wash those two and brush the others tomorrow.” You brightly smile at him, showing some of your teeth as you smiled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help, I’m not going to be one of those bosses that sit back and watch their employees.” You say. “I just need to go feed Waffles, and then I’ll be back to help you with them.” He nods his head as you both walk into the direction where you had left the horses, you exit the stables while he guides the horses to the watering hose to wash them, you make your way to the large storage building where you stored all the food and medication for your animals, you enter the building and grab the bag filled with Waffles’s food and made your way to the pen where he lived, you enter the pen, closing the gate behind you as he ran towards you with a loud ‘maaa’, you giggle as you make your way to the small building where you kept the food and where he slept or stayed during colder days, Waffles hops next to you as you approach his home.

“You’re so cheerful.” You say as you step into the small building, you open the bag and fills his food supply. “Here you go, sunshine.” You put the half-emptied bag on the ground and gently pats his head. “You know the man that you met yesterday… well, he doesn’t seem that bad.” You pick up the bag. “Well, I should go help him, I’ll stop by again later.”

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“Good morning, Taehyung.” You greet him as you step into the stable, Taehyung was busy filing the water in each stall when you arrived. “There are some delivery trucks coming today.” He nods his head as he glances away from the water bowls he was filling. “I’ll be showing you where everything is stored and where they should unpack everything for the times I’m not here.” He moves towards the tap and closes it before removing the watering hose from the stall.

“Good morning, [Y/n].” He greets you as he neatly places the hose against the wall. “Are you planning on going anywhere anytime soon?” He looks at you while running his fingers through his hair, pushing them back only for them to fall back into place, with a few pieces of hair sticking up, your mind drifts for a moment, wondering how he would look with your hand running through it, you shook your head, he was your employee, you were his boss, you couldn’t have those thoughts about him, you barely even knew him.

“Not anytime soon, but I will in a few months once again go on another trip.” You say. “But maybe this time I don’t have to delay my deliveries if you’re here to help.” He had no idea about the one-month deal you had made with your brother, and you saw no reason to tell him about it, only a few days had passed, and you had felt the load being lifted from your shoulders in those few days. “They usually arrive just before eleven, so let me go show you the storage building, although, I’m positive you probably already saw it, right?”

“I have, but not the inside, and I assume that they’re also delivering some medicine and cleaning products, right?” He asks as he approaches you, he stops in front of you with a soft smile on his lips, you slowly nod your head as you glance at his lips before looking up into his brown eyes, those dark brown eyes that had a golden glow when the rays of the sun would hit them.

“Yes, you’re right.” You say. “You will have to know where they’re kept also in case I’m not home and there’s an emergency, I can only assume my brother showed you those kept in that little shed where the equipment is kept, right?” You nodded your head to the shed you were referring to.

“Yes.” He says, you nod your head and turn.

“Come, let me go show you.” You say as you exit the stable with him not far behind you, his long legs quickly caught up with you and walked next next to you. “A veterinarian and her team will also be coming next week to give a check-up on all the animals and make sure that they’re all still healthy and in good shape.” You glance at him and caught him already looking at you. “Again, I’m hoping the if there comes a time when I’m not here, that you could guide them around and help them when they need it.” He nods his head as you approach the storage building.

“That’s why I’m here.” He says. “To lift some of that weight from your shoulders, and make it easier for you.” You stop in front of the door and turn to look at him, giving him a warm smile. “And make your life easier for when you’re not here.”

“And I’m glad about that, I already feel that a lot has been lifted from my shoulders since you started.” You say as you pull the lock open of the storage door. “Thank you.” You walk inside and lead him to the back of the storage.

“I’m glad to hear that I’ve been able to do that.” He says, you lead him to the large walk-in fridge and opens the door.

“Don’t let this door shut on you, if it does, make sure you have your phone with you to call for help.” You say as you place two bricks in front of it to keep it from shutting. “Always put something in front of it to keep it open.” He nods his head and follows you inside. “This is where most of the medication is kept, you will see which one belongs here and which ones are outside, you saw the large closest-like thing just outside right?” He nods his head. “Okay, that is where the other medicine is kept, such as pills, eye drops or sprays.” You point to the back of the fridge. “Some cleaning products are also in here, which is kept over there.” You look at him. “I keep them away from all the medicine so I don’t end up accidentally grabbing the wrong thing if I’m in a hurry when it’s an emergency.” You place your hand on one of the shelves. “These are for when one of them is giving birth, and you see a problem or something that could cause or become a problem.” He nods his head before looking over all the products, as a child, he had seen most of the things and as he grew older he learned what most of them did and what they were used for. “If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask, all right?”

“I will.” He says as you step out of the fridge, you close the door once he was out of the fridge. “But you’ll be here if one of them is close to giving birth, right?” He had seen it before his teenage years, but he was too young to understand what he had to do during that time, even though he had learned about it, he would feel more comfortable if he had a helping hand for the first few times.

“Of course, don’t stress about that.” You say and turn towards him. “So, uh, we might not have a lot of time after the delivery trucks leave, but I would like to show you around the farm some more tomorrow if you’re up for another ride?” A wider smile appears on his lips as he nods his head, his hair bouncing as he did.

“Yes, I definitely want to see more of it, the parts I saw the other day looked so beautiful.” He says.

“Then we’ll go tomorrow morning early, then I can show you where the horses spend their time during the summer.” You say as you exit the storage building, you close and lock the door once Taehyung had stepped out of the building. “And where you can go search if one of them were to escape because that does sometimes happen.”

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The sun was already high in the sky beating down on earth when you and Taehyung exit the stables with two horses saddled up and ready to be taken out for a ride, you glance at Taehyung and saw that he had his heels pushed down as you guide the horses down the road.

“How did you sleep last night?” You ask as the horses walk side by side as the day slowly begins ticking by. “I know I always have trouble sleeping when I’m in a new place, and I realized last night that I never asked if you were comfortable in the cottage yet.”

“Oh, I slept good, and you don’t need to worry about that.” He says. “I’m not like that, I can fall asleep almost everywhere comfortably as long as I’m holding something in my arms, like a bunch of pillows.” You nod your head. “Is there a reason why you can’t fall asleep in a new place?”

“It’s usually the unfamiliarity and without Terry and Pizzie there to comfort me or lay with me on the bed, it just feels empty and lonely.” You say as you glance at him, you were moving at a slow pace enjoying the morning along with the soft gentle breeze blowing, the autumn morning making the day look even more beautiful, winter was drawing closer and closer it could be felt in the air as it got colder each day and night. “Terry and Pizzie keep me company at night, and it doesn’t feel the same without them.” He nods his head, understanding what you meant.

“It doesn’t feel like home without them, does it?” He asks, you nod your head. “I understand that, sometimes when Yeontan isn’t with me, which is rare, I don’t feel too comfortable, so I think that’s why I’m comfortable in the cottage, he’s here with me, but if he’s not with me, I still fall asleep easily because the faster I go to sleep, the faster I’ll be able to see him again.”

“That’s another way to see it.” You say as you guide your horse down a road that was next to a wide-open field with a fence surrounding it. “But sometimes the days are too long.” He nods his head, agreeing with you. “But, uh, anyway, uh, this is where I usually bring the horses and ponies to roam freely when it’s summer and when the stables become too hot for them to stay in.” Taehyung turns his head to look at the open field, it was usually covered with fresh green grass but since autumn had settled in it had died and become a brown colour.

“It looks so spacious.” He says as he turns his head to look at you. “I bet it looks unreal during the summer months.” The horses slowly walk past the area, the sound of their hooves clicking loudly on the ground.

“It’s absolutely unreal, it takes your breath away during the summer.” You say. “They’re so free when I bring them to this spot, you could just watch them roam, run and play around this area for hours and hours without getting bored or tired of watching it.” You gently smile as you thought about the past summer when they were running around. “You should experience it for yourself.” You pull on the reins as another road approaches. “Turn here.” The horses move down that road as you and Taehyung steer them in the direction.

“I can’t wait to experience it.” He says and looks around the road you were following. “This place is big, or it seems big.” He fixes his gaze on you.

“It is big, but also not as big as you think.” You say. “There are bigger farms in the area, compared to them, mine is much smaller.” The horses approach a lake that was located not too far from the open field where the horses and ponies roamed. “This lake is mostly for the ducks and birds, but you can take a dip in it if you feel like it.”

“It’s clean?” He asks as the horses immediately approach the water and begin drinking from it. “You’re telling me that I can relax in it without worrying that there’s something in it that isn’t supposed to be in there?”

“I wouldn’t say that, you should definitely make sure when you want to take a dip that there isn’t anything suspicious-looking.” You say. “Snakes could be inside it, or a duck could have laid her eggs nearby, and trust me when I say this, you do not want to be chased by an angry mama duck.” He chuckles and shakes his head.

“No, right, I definitely wouldn’t want that to happen.” He says. “They’re scary when they’re protective of their eggs.” Taehyung looks around the area, admiring the view from it.

“I have people that come out every year to inspect it, clean it also, just be sure that there isn’t anything inside it that shouldn’t be in there.” You say. “I wouldn’t want any animals to drink it if it’s not healthy or clean for them, because this water mostly comes from my water tank when it overflows when I fill it each weekend, I usually let it overflow for about thirty minutes to make sure the lake has enough water.” You point towards the pipe coming out from the ground. “Just to be sure that nobody is without water, even though there is a stream not far from here.”

“And during the winter?” He asks, surely the water would be less during the cold months.

“It freezes over a little until the sun comes out for a bit, but we both know that the sun isn’t as strong either, so some days it doesn’t melt the ice, but there’s barely anything aside from the birds drinking and bathing in this water, so it lasts a bit longer than it does during the summer.” You say, he nods his head, and you pull on the reins and begin guiding your horse away from the water, he does the same and steers his horse to follow yours as you guide your horse down another path. “You should see the meadow before it completely freezes over, I don’t want you to wait until summer to see it, not that it doesn’t look absolutely beautiful when it’s covered with snow, it’s just something you have to see before everything wither's away from the cold.” He nods his head as he chuckles.

“Wither's away.” He chuckles out. “I understand what you mean, it probably looks much different during the different seasons.” You nod your head. “Do you go there often then?”

“A lot during the summer.” You say. “When I want to think or be alone with my thoughts, Terry and Pizzie usually join me, but they seem to be enjoying Yeontan’s company today as you can see they’re not here with us today.” He looks around and notices unlike the last time, they weren’t accompanying them this time. “Most of the time I leave my phone at home just to have some peace and quiet, an hour of downtime.” He nods his head as he listens. “Don’t worry, it’s not just my spot, if you ever feel like you need a moment to yourself, the meadow is definitely the spot to go to.”

“I will remember that for when I ever feel like that.” He says. “And if that day ever does come, I’ll inform you of my absence.” A smile begins pulling at the corner of your lips.

“I would appreciate that, but you don’t have to.” You say, the trees surrounding you became thicker before it opened up to reveal a meadow, thick grass covered the ground with tiny flowers hanging as they begged for water to bloom again, a stream could be seen not far from the open field, the sound of water rushing through it to get to its destinations reached your ears, a few giant trees were near the sparkling stream, birds chirping underneath it as they bathed in the water.

“Do you have two lakes?” He asks in amazement, the view in front of him seemed like it was ripped right out of a fantasy movie.

“A lake and a stream.” You say. “This one is pure nature, I don’t touch it or let anyone else touch it.” The horses move close to the stream before stopping next to it, in the distance, a waterfall could barely be heard as the water loudly crashed down into the stream.

“Is the waterfall on your farm?” He asks as he heard it, he looks at you, and you nod your head before lifting your hand, pointing in the direction of the waterfall.

“If we keep following the stream along this way then we would find it.” You say, he nods his head, wanting to ask if they could go see it. “Come on, let me go show it to you.” You pull at the reins letting your horse turn to the side, you use your lower legs to squeeze behind the grith which caused your horse to start walking, Taehyung did the same movements as you and his horse follow next to yours. “You may get a tiny bit wet from the water spray.”

“That’s all right, today is kind of warm for an autumn day.” He says, you glance at him and saw a noticeable layer of sweat coating his honey skin, the button-up shirt he wore clung to his skin, morning had long passed since you and Taehyung started riding and exploring your farm, so you could understand why he would be covered with sweat, you could feel your own skin feeling a bit sticky from sweat.

You continue to guide your horse along the stream while still talking to each other, getting to know each other more and more, during the entire walk you started growing fonder of him and started to become more comfortable around him and the idea of him being on your farm, helping you around the farm, you slowly started trusting him, but that didn’t mean that you wouldn’t be cautious of him until you were certain that you could fully trust him, but you would definitely let your brother know that you didn’t want to get rid of him at the end of the month, you arrive at the waterfall, it wasn’t big, but the stream was strong enough to cause it to fall loudly down into the water below, which caused it to splash and spray everywhere, the surrounding area was constantly wet and sometimes frozen over in winter, but quickly became green during spring.

“Oh, this looks so beautiful.” He says. “Especially with that small rainbow inside the spray.” He glances at you. “It’s probably always there, right?” You nod your head as you move closer to it and into the splash of the water, the horses stop in their step, not wanting to move any closer to it. “That feels almost refreshing.” He could feel the spray hitting him, the cool water cooling down his hot sweat-covered skin, bumps forms on your skin from the cold water hitting you.

“It’s always nice to be here.” You say, you pull at the reins making your horse turn. “That tree over there.” Taehyung looks towards the direction your horse was facing. “That is the best spot to sit and watch, sometimes read, but most of the time I just sit there and watch and listen to everything, if you sit long enough you will see fawns approach to drink some water.”

“You can?” He asks as his face light up, you nod your head. “That just sounds like a dream.” You softly giggle. “It seems peaceful here, do you come to this spot often also?” He pulls on the reins and turns his horse to the spot you were facing. “Because it seems like a spot you could come to when you want to figure something's out.”

“Not as often, but I do come to this spot to think or just get away from everything when it feels like it’s getting too much.” You say. “In the summer it can be nice to walk through the spray to keep cool from the hot weather.” He nods his head as he continues to admire the spot. “Come on, let me go show you the final spot, the sun is getting low, and it’s the perfect time to go show it to you.” You pull at the reins slightly to turn your horse before squeezing your lower legs which caused your horse to start moving forward, Taehyung does the same, and you begin making your way back down the stream.

“I’ve noticed that some of your horses respond to just certain movements you make, but others respond to noise.” He points out, you nod your head.

“The two we rode the other day are young ones, they still need to learn the movements that you make when you want them to move, these two are older ones.” You explain. “They’ve been learned with just a little squeeze of your lower legs that it’s time to go.” He nods his head. “But these two were also specifically trained to feel the squeeze, in case I find myself in a situation with one of my horses being deaf.” His lips slightly part, he hadn’t thought of that before. “Every animal deserves a chance to live, no matter the situation unless it would cause them more suffering…”

“I understand…” He trails off knowing what you meant. “Hopefully you haven’t had to endure such a situation yet.” You faintly smile at him.

“Unfortunately I did.” You say. “But that was a long time ago.” You continue to talk as you take him to the final destination before you would be heading back to the stables, he asked about the incident, and you told him which result in him bursting into tears with you, you quickly brightened the mood by sharing another story which caused him to laugh, he shared a story with you as you approach a small path that leads to the cliff, the sun begins moving lower and lower as the minute's tick by, Taehyung quickly notices as you approach the cliff that it displayed the sunset perfectly.

“Whoa…” He breathes out as his jaw slacks, he watches the view as the sun slowly lowers down. “This is so beautiful.” He turns his head to look at you, his eyes sparkling with joy. “Have you stayed to watch the sunset?”

“A bunch of times.” You say. “It’s beautiful, it’s also a nice spot to have a picnic.” You had in the past watched the sunsets and brought yourself a picnic basket and a blanket to relax, you had even cleared a spot for yourself to just sit and relax and unwind from the day, usually, Terry and Pizzie would also join you for those evening, they would run around, sniff everything before laying down on the blanket with you, you would take out the food you had packed for them. “You should definitely come here one night to watch it with Yeontan.”

“Oh, I will, I definitely will.” He says as he stares at the view with amazement in his eyes. “Soon.” You smile before looking at him.

“Should we head back or do you want to stay a little longer?” You ask, he didn’t want to leave just yet, he wanted to watch the sunset. “Do you want to come over for dinner tonight also?” Those words quickly made him change his mind about staying there to watch the sunset, he would have plenty of opportunities in the future to watch it, but how many times would you invite him over for dinner? And he was starving after only having breakfast that morning.

“Yes.” He says. “Yes to both of your questions.” You saw this as another perfect opportunity to get to know more about him over dinner, to learn what he liked and disliked, you still had so many questions for him and he most likely still had tons to ask you. “Just so you know, I’m not an expert at making food.”

“That’s all right, as long as you can help only a little.” You say. “Like cutting vegetables or stir occasionally.”

“I can at least do that.” He says. “What do you have in mind?”

“Elk stew.” You say. “Hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh, no, no, it sounds interesting, I don’t think I’ve ever had it before.” He says. “I’m looking forward to tasting it.”

“It takes a long time to make, but it’s definitely worth it.” You say.

“I don’t mind waiting, especially if you say that it’s worth the wait.” He says, you pull on the reins and guide your horse back down the path you had come from, his horse follows alongside yours. “Besides, it has meat in, right?” You nod your head. “Then it’s worth the wait.”

After arriving back at the stables and unsaddling the horses Taehyung said that he would take care of everything while you can put the meat onto the stove for it to begin cooking, it didn’t take long after you had started cooking it for him to join you in the kitchen, he washes his hands before you had told him to chop some dill while you were gathering the spices and herbs you would use in the stew, he had noticed another pot on the stove with potatoes inside it, the delicious smell filled his nostrils and his stomach growled with hunger.

“It already smells so good.” He says. “I can already tell that it’s going to taste so good.” You smile as you add some spices to the boiling water. “That just made the smell stronger and better.” You softly giggle as you move towards him, you place your hands on the counter next to the chopping board.

“You’re hyping it up so much, I hope it lives up to that hype you’re giving it.” You say and glance down at the dill he was cutting. “Any troubles or problems?”

“No, no problems.” He says as he begins cutting again. “How much do you need?”

“Finish that one then it will be just enough.” You say, he nods his head, and you move away from him to check on the meat in the pot, after finishing the dill he was busy with he moves it closer to the pot for when you would add them.

“How long have you been making this stew?” He asks.

“It’s been in our family for generations, and I’ve been making it ever since I learned how to cook.” You say. “It’s one of my absolute favourite dishes to make.” He could hear the smile in your voice without needing to look up at you. “I remember as a kid that I waited for hours to taste this, the aroma filled the house and you just had to wait until it was finished and time to eat.” Fondness in your voice as you spoke, he looks at you and watches as a smile tugs on your lips as you think back to that time. “The first time I made it or tried to make it, it wasn’t as good, but things take time and practice.”

“It sounds like an interesting story.” He says. “Would you be willing to tell me that story one day?” You nod your head.

“I will, one day.” You say. “Maybe even over dinner tonight.” He watches as you stir the stew, the scent from it hitting him and enveloping him in almost a comforting embrace.

“It feels like I’m about to start drooling because of that smell.” He says making you giggle. “I’m serious, I can feel my stomach begging me to taste it.”

“It’s almost finished then you can taste it.” You say as you add the dill to it. “Just a few more minutes.” You place the lid onto the pot.

“Okay… wait it’s almost ready?” He asks.

“Almost.” You say. “I can’t believe the time went by that quickly, usually it feels like it takes much longer than this.”

“My company is just that good.” He says in a joking tone.

“Must be that it.” You say. “Good company makes the time fly by faster and the wait shorter.” You turn your body to face him. “So yes, you are very good company, no joke.” You could see the surprise in his eyes at your words. “Why do you seem so surprised, did you not think that you were good company?”

“I uh… I just wasn’t expecting you to agree.” He says. “But it’s a good surprise I’m experiencing right now.” You softly smile before turning back to the pot, slowly, you were getting used to each other, slowly opening up and trusting each other a little more.

“Did someone tell you that you were bad company once?” You ask. “Because I can assure you that they were lying.” You lift the lid from the pot and places it on the counter, you stir the stew before scooping a little of the sauce onto the spoon and gently blows on it.

“I’ll tell you about it one day.” He says, you nod your head and slightly turns towards him.

“Taste.” You say as you move the spoon closer to him, he looks at the spoon before moving closer to it, he tastes it and moves the taste around his mouth before he starts nodding his head.

“Hm, wow, that tastes so good.” He says, you smile to yourself as you turn the burner off and made your way to one of the cabinets, you take out two plates and place them on the counter.

“Would you like anything to drink?” You ask right as you were about to reach for the cabinet that held the glasses and cups.

“Not right now maybe later.” He says, you nod your head and move to the cutlery drawer and takes out the utensils you would be using before pushing the plates closer to the stove, you pick up the spoon you stirred the stew with and hands it to Taehyung.

“You can scoop in first.” You say, he takes the spoon from you looking unsure.

“Are you sure?” He asks. “You made it, the chef should have some first.”

“And you are my guest, so go ahead.” You say as you remove the lid from the other pot that had the cooked potatoes in it. “Looks like these are also ready.” You glance at Taehyung as he slowly fills his plate with the stew. “Don’t be shy, if you’re hungry make sure you get a lot, I won’t judge.” A smile forms on his lips before he adds more to his plate.

“Thank you.” He says. “For inviting me to dinner and making dinner, and for also showing me around your farm today.” You gently smile at him as you bring your plate closer, you begin scooping in some potatoes.

“You’re going to be here for a long time, so you might as well see more of the farm, and this is the perfect opportunity for us to get to know each other and become more comfortable with each other.” You say, he hands you the spoon to the stew and you hand him the spoon for the potatoes before switching places with him. “I’m sure that you still have a lot to ask me just like I also still have a lot to ask you.”

“I’m glad to hear that you plan on keeping me around for a while.” He says as he scoops some potatoes in. “I was worried you wouldn’t want to since your brother didn’t tell you about hiring me.” A gentle smile forms on your lips.

“My brother does things… that he thinks will help me or be helpful.” You say. “Sometimes the things he does for me work out for the better, other times he’s apologising for something I told him not to do.” You move to the table in the kitchen after filling your plate with the stew, you place the plate down on the table. “But this time it seems like he doesn’t have to apologise for what he did.” Taehyung moves to the other side of the dining table and places his plate down on the table. “I’m impressed with how much you have helped me around here.” You sit down at the table and move your chair closer, he sits down across from you and moves closer to the table.

“I’m glad to hear that.” He says. “And you’re right, I still have a lot to ask you.”

“And I’ll answer with what I’m comfortable with.” You say. “Don’t worry, the more I learn to trust you and the more I get to know you, the more I’ll be comfortable around you, and share more with you.”

“Of course, I’m not expecting you to share with me immediately or everything.” He says, you nod your head giving him a warm smile before glancing down at your plate.

“I’m glad about that.” You say as you look up at him. “Well, dig in, I hope it lives up to the hype you’ve given it.” He slightly chuckles and takes his first bite of it, your head was looking down at your plate, but your eyes were carefully watching him, watching his reaction as you cut your potatoes, you were curious about his reaction when he would taste the meat, this is your favourite dish, and you were hoping that he would like it, it almost seemed like his chewing had shown down as he tasted it, the smoky taste from the meat covered the taste of the dill, the flavour awakening his taste buds, his eyes widen, and he looks up nodding this head in approval.

“Oh, wow.” He says after swallowing. “Wow, I knew it would taste good after tasting the sauce, but this is just…” He gathers more. “This is delicious, where has this been all my life?” You softly chuckle as you move your fork to your mouth and take a bite from the potatoes you just cut. “This is just… I’m not sure how to explain it, it’s really good.”

“I’m glad to hear that it lived up to the hype you gave it.” You say after swallowing, he nods his head and stuffs his mouth with more stew. “There’s enough if you want a second plate, or if you want some for tomorrow.” He nods his head.

“I definitely think I should take some with me.” He says.

“I’ll put some aside for you.” You say.

You continue eating and had small conversation here and there with each other, he continues to praise the taste of the stew every few bites, making you giggle each time he did, you hadn’t expected him to like it as much as you do, but with how he complimented it and made sure to remind you to scoop some out for him assured you that he loved it just as much as you did if not more.

“Here, let at least wash the plates.” He says as you put the plates into the kitchen sink.

“You don’t have to do it, I’ll do it later.” You say.

“I insist.” He says. “I enjoyed the meal that you cooked for us, I should at least help clean up.” He moves towards the sink.

“If you insist.” You say, you were surprised, never in your life had you met anyone willing to help with the dishes, usually, everyone enjoyed the meal and dropped their plate into the sink before disappearing from the kitchen, leaving the dishes to you. “The soap is underneath the sink along with the sponge.” He takes a step back and opens the cabinet doors underneath the sink, he takes out the soap and sponge and closes the doors.

“I always helped with the dishes in my home after we ate.” He says. “It’s something I think I’m good at, and I feel like I’m helping after my attempt at helping to make the food failed.”

“But you helped tonight, you cut the dill.” You say, he chuckles and shakes his head as he begins washing the first plate.

“It didn’t feel like enough, so let me be more helpful with the cleaning.” He says, you nod your head as your eyes move down to his hands, you couldn’t help but stare at them for a moment, admiring them, ‘I… how… his hands.’ You thought to yourself before looking away and grabbing a drying cloth, you take the plate from his hands after he washed it and dries it off, your mind begins to drift back to his hands for a moment.

“Ahem.” You clear your throat as you shake your head. “What would you like to drink?” You ask as you put the plate down on the counter.

“Just some tea if you have some.” He says, you nod your head and hangs the drying cloth over your shoulder as you move to the kettle, you check how much water it has in before going to the fridge and took out a bottle of water, you didn’t want to go near the sink and get distracted by his hands again, you pour the bottled water into the kettle and turns it on.

“Do you have a specific flavoured tea that you like?” You ask.

“No, not really, or none that I can think about right now.” He says, you nod your head and took out two cups and begins preparing them, he finishes washing the other plate and places it on the drying rack. “Can I use your bathroom?” You nod your head as you turn around to face him.

“Yes, it’s just down the hall, you will see it.” You instruct, he nods his head and exits the kitchen, you take in a deep breath before moving towards the plate to dry it, ‘It’s going to be an intense, fuck, I mean interesting few months.’

━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━

A year and six months quickly pass since your brother hired Taehyung, things had been going smoothly, for the most part, you grew closer and closer to him and learned more about him as the months passed, but then you started to pick up the little things, the smallest of things had become noticeable to you, you would pick up the littlest quirks, it didn’t take you long to realize that you had developed feelings for him, but instead of accepting them, you denied them, writing them off as nothing but a crush, a crush you would get over, but then you started to notice all his tiny flaws that weren’t visible when you met him, and you loved them, that… that was when you knew that you had fallen for him.

The mole on his nose was the cutest thing to you as well as the one on his lower eyelid, the two moles on his arms that he seems to like to most and showed off while giving it an elephant face was absolutely adorable to you, but the one that distracted you the most, the one you wanted to stare at all day, but couldn’t, was the one on his lips, you wanted to admire his soft plump lips all day, watch them stretch into a wide smile or into the boxy smile he made, all those things were burned into your mind, haunting your dreams, your thoughts were consumed with it when you were busy with work, making food, ordering medication and food for the animals, some days you would even catch yourself daydreaming about him, but you would quickly shake your head as you tried to erase the images from your mind, you are his boss, and he is your employee, it would never work, even if it does work… he doesn’t feel the same, he doesn’t think of you in the same way… Just thinking about it made you lean forward in your office chair and place your pencil down on the table.

“Or does he…?” You mutter to yourself as your brows furrow. “No, no he definitely doesn’t.” You lean back against the chair as you bring your hand to your head, gently rubbing your temples. “Ugh.” If it weren’t his lips distracting you, it was his hands, the way they held something, the way they appeared to be sculpted. “Dammit!” You push the chair away from the desk and stood. “I should let him know about the visitor tomorrow.” You had noticed the small changes in your feelings towards him, and they continued to grow, you kept them to yourself and only told Waffles, Terry and Pizzie about them, you were hoping those feelings would eventually go away… but they only became stronger.

Stepping into the stables with your eyes on the ground as you thought about what you were going to tell him, you knew he was there, you had heard him working with one of the horses, you look up from the ground and saw him guiding the horse into the stall before closing and locking the door, his skin was coated with a visible layer of sweat, you could see his muscles flexing as he pulled the stall door closed, his hair was wet from the sweat and stuck to his forehead.

“Shit.” You mumble at the sight, he turns towards you and smiles at you. “Uh, um, hi.” You clear your throat as you take a step towards him. “I uh, I need to tall— I mean to tell you something.” Your mind couldn’t focus on creating proper words, forming them properly, you could feel your cheeks heating up as blood rushed to them, ‘stop stumbling!’ you thought to yourself. “I’m here to… uh, tell you… something.” Your sentence was slow as you tried not to fall over your words, he nods his head as he walks towards his bag that was on the ground.

“I’m listening.” He says as he picks up the water bottle next to his bag, he unscrews the cap and takes a sip from it, his head tilts back as he does, your eyes move to his neck as you watch his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he swallows, sweat rolls down his neck before disappearing into the fabric of the button-up, he lowers the bottle and puts the cap back on and placed it down next to his bag. “Are you okay?” He walks towards you, his long legs carrying him towards you quickly, he stops in front of you, you slowly look up at him.

“I uh…” You begin saying, but your words get caught up in your throat. “We uh… someone will be… ahem.” You clear your throat as you avoided looking into his eyes, ‘the more I avoid them, maybe I’ll get out of here faster.’ You thought to yourself, your hands became clammy as your nerves spiked. “Someonewillbevisitingtomorrowtoseeiftheywanttobuyahorse.” Your words came out faster than you intended, he moves closer to you, knots in his eyes as he stared at you in confusion.

“I missed that entirely.” He says. “Could you repeat it?” You could feel your knees wanting to buckle beneath you, you needed to say it again, but slowly and then get out of there to go sit down, you nervously smile at him and nod your head.

“Yes, of course.” You say. “Uh, someone is coming to visit tomorrow, they’re going to see if there’s a horse that they want to buy.” He nods his head.

“All right, I’ll make sure everything is in order for tomorrow.” He says, you nod your head and turn to leave, he quickly grabs your hand stopping you from leaving, you could feel the warmth from his hand in yours as he held onto it, something seemed to run through your veins when he touched you, but you weren’t sure what it was, you just knew and felt your heart rate picking up. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” You slowly turn back to face him, a smile on your lips but on the inside, it felt like you were going to collapse.

“Yes?” You say. “Is something bothering you? Are you unhappy here?” The wheels in your mind started turning as you thought that he was starting to become unhappy on the farm with you, ‘Did he get another offer? A better offer?’

“It’s nothing like that.” He says. “I’m still happy here, but something is bothering me, and it has been for a few months now.” You nod your head and waited for him to continue. “I thought if I ignored it at first then it would sort itself out, but it doesn't seem like it has, so, is something bothering you?”

“I uh, wh— why do you think that?” You were caught off guard by his question.

“Did I do something wrong?” He asks. “You’ve been distant…” He trails off before shaking his head. “Okay, not distant but acting a little off when you’re around me.” You swallow, your mouth suddenly drying up. “I would like to know if I did something wrong or something that had upset you.”

“No, I… No, no you didn’t.” You say almost dumbfounded. “You didn’t do anything at all.” He nods his head and moves closer to you, he leans down, you could feel the heat from his skin.

“Then I’m glad.” He says. “And then also, I’d like to try something.” Your eyes meet his and caught him staring at your lips. “If you don’t mind.” You were about to answer him, but your words were swallowed by his lips brushing against yours, your eyes widen as you felt his cushiony lips against yours, it took a moment before you leaned into the kiss, your eyes slowly starting to shut only for him to pull away.

“I…” You begin before stopping, you weren’t sure what you were supposed to say, ‘That you liked it! That you wanted him to do it one more time! Or the more times…’

“I’d like to do that again.” He says. “You seemed to shock to respond.” You quickly pull your hand out from his and place both your hand on his shoulders, your eyes blown wide open as you stare into his. “Is this your way of saying you don’t feel the same way?”

“No.” You say. “I’d like for you to kiss me again.” He didn’t need to be invited twice to kiss you again, his lips slam against yours as his hands move to your hips, lightly gripping the clothed skin, you could feel his fingers slightly digging into the flesh, his tongue runs over your bottom lip for a moment, you took his tongue between your lips and sucks on it for a moment before pulling away. “If you inflict any type of pain on me, this ends, same goes for name-calling, especially degrading names.” Your lips were slightly swollen from the kiss. “Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand.” He says knowing that this was about to become much more than just a heated kiss. “I understand completely.” You nod your head and use your strength to turn him around and back him into the stable walls, he was much taller than you were, you had to look up at him to look at his face because if you had looked at him straight ahead you would be staring at his chest.

“Good, I’m glad you do.” You say as your hands move down his arms, feeling the hot flesh beneath your touch as well as his muscles, damn were you glad it was summer, and he was wearing a short-sleeved button-up shirt. “Because I really don’t want to stop right now.”

“I don’t want you to stop.” He says, you lean closer as he leans downs and presses his lips against yours, his hand on your hips moving over your stomach before moving between your legs, cupping your clothed pussy, feeling the heat through your pants and panties, his fingers pressed against your pussy while his other hand moves up your side, brushing over the side of your tit as he moved it to cup your cheek. “Then what can I call you?” He sounded out of breath as he spoke, your lips still close to his, ready to collide again after you had pulled away from the kiss.

“My name.” You whisper. “Or any other nickname unless it’s a degrading one.” You move one of your hands away from his arm and down towards his cock and cups it through his jeans and felt that he was starting to grow hard, his eyes roll to the back of his head, something you quickly caught and couldn’t help but feel a boost in your confidence. “Do I have such an effect on you?” You rub your hand on his jeans, palming him through the rough fabric.

“Hm.” He moans, that would be the first of many moans you would pull from him, and just hearing it made you more excited to hear more noises coming from him.

“Let’s see what you have been hiding underneath all these layers.” You say as your other hand drops down his shirt, your fingers making quick work to unbutton his shirt, he tilts his head back, leaning it against the wall, both of your hands grip at the shirt and pulls it off his shoulders and down his arms before tossing it to the side, you lick your lips as your eyes move over his chest, he was even more perfect than you had imagined, your fingers trace over his chest moving them lower and lower, you lean closer and place a kiss on his chest.

“Is it what you imagined it to be?” He asks as if he knew that you had been imagining this for months now, you could feel his chest rumble as he spoke.

“It’s better, much better.” You say not even glancing up at his face, your lips continue to kiss his chest, leaving soft kisses everywhere until your lips reached his nipple, your lips halt above it before you slip your tongue out from your mouth and flick it over his nipple.

“Hm.” He hums at the sensation, a smirk forms on your lips before you do it again, you could feel his hand pressing harder between your legs pressing more against your pussy, you move to his other nipple and do the same before leaving kisses around the bud, your hands move down to his jeans and begin fumbling to unbutton the button on his jeans. “Struggling?” He rasps out.

“Shh.” You shush him just as you popped the button open. “I don’t need help undressing you.” Your hands move to the zipper and easily undoes it, your fingers curl around the fabric and pushes it down, he quickly moves his feet around as he removes his shoes and kicks them aside, his jeans pool around his ankles, he quickly manoeuvres them off his feet before kicking them aside. “Seems like you’re eager.” Your hand moves over his underwear and felt that he had hardened. “Hm, I can feel that you’re eager.” You move your hand to his that was between your legs, taking hold of it before moving it to the top of your pants. “Do you want to feel what you’re doing to me?”

“Yes.” He breathes out as he lifts his head away from the wall, he looks down between the two of you, at the position of his hand as you slip it into your pants, he quickly moves his hand over your panties and rubs your folds through the layer of your panties, feeling your wetness leaking from you and forming a wet patch on the fabric. “Oh my…” He sighs out, his cock twitches as blood rushes to it.

“Do you feel that?” You ask, he nods his head. “Good.” You pull his hand from your pants and lifts it to his mouth. “Have a taste.” His lips open and wrap around his fingers, tasting the clear liquid that was on his fingers, your release his hand and moves your hand to his underwear, your fingers curl around the band of it and carefully pushes it down, you release it when it reached his knees letting it pool around his feet, he steps out from it and moves it aside with his foot.

“Fuck, how did this happen?” He asks as he notices that he was the only one naked while you still had all your clothes on.

“Easily.” You say before moving down to your knees, his eyes follow you as you lower down in front of him, his eyes widen at the sight of you in front of him on your knees, inches away from his hardening cock, you glance up at him as you wrap your hands around his length. “Let me know if I do anything wrong here.”

“I’ll help you, I’ll tell you what I like and don’t.” He says, you nod your head and begin moving your hand along his length, your thumb circles around the head collecting the leaking liquid from the slit and spreads it over his length. “Gosh…” He closes his eyes as he felt your thumb teasing the slit, your other hand moves up and down his length feeling him becoming harder with each pump, you could feel the veins on his cock underneath your touch.

“You feel so good.” You say as you move your eyes to his cock. “Fuck, you’re so fucking big.” He opens his eyes to look at you as you stared at his enormous cock. “I’m starting to wonder if it will fit.”

“I… hem… uh.” He wasn’t sure how to respond, his cheeks heated up as blood rushed to them, was he supposed to feel proud of his size or embarrassed that you were questioning if it would fit or not. “I… I’m sure it will.” He manages to choke out, you look up at him with innocent eyes.

“You sound sure of it.” You say. “But I guess we’ll see.” You lean closer to his length and kiss the tip, silver strings of the clear liquid stuck to your lips as you pulled away before they snapped and rolled down your chin.

“Oh… go—“ His words get caught in his throats at the sight of his pre-cum on your chin, your lips wrap around his cock and begin moving your head up and down, wetting it and arousing him even more at the feeling of your warm mouth moving over his cock, it felt like he wanted to roll his eyes to the back of his head and shut them to enjoy the pleasure he was receiving, but he also wanted to watch you as you stared up at him, your eyes being the only thing that kept him from closing his, you unwrap one hand from his length and move it to his balls and gently took them in your hands. “Fuck… fuck, I thought you hadn’t done this before!” Your tongue darts in and out of his slit while your hand moves up and down his length that wasn’t in your mouth while your other hand gently massaged his balls, you take more of him into your mouth, using your tongue to slide more of his length into your mouth, you felt the tip hit the back of your throat and stop, you hallow your cheeks as you slowly slide him out of your mouth, making sure that your tongue was against his cock as you did, his length slips out from your mouth, and you begin peppering kisses down his length, he places one hand against the wall and moves the other hand— the one that was still near his lips after cleaning your juices from them— to your hair, his fingers entangle with your hair and softly holds onto them.

“Don’t you dare pull on my hair.” You warn him.

“Okay.” He breathes out. “But I don’t want to cum in your mouth or on you.” You move your head away, your eyes never leaving his. “Get up so I can undress you.” His eyes were clouded with lust, his brown eyes seemed darker than usual. “You’ve teased and warmed me up enough unless you want me to release in your mouth… or your clothes… or do you want it inside you?” You release his balls and his cock before standing up, you place your hands on his chest, a cocky smile on your lips.

“And who said you’re allowed to release inside me?” You ask. “If you don’t have any protection right here and now, then you’re going to have to pull out.” His hand slides through your hair. “Or we should end things here.” He plays the tips of your hair before pushing himself away from the wall and moves past you, he goes towards his bag and lifts it, pulling it open and searches through it, he had visited his parents only a few days ago and met up with his friend and ended up telling his friend about you which resulted in his friend buying him a box of condoms before he had returned to the farm, luckily he remembered his friend dropped the box into the bag he was searching through and thanked the universe that he had forgotten to take it out, you walk up behind him just as he finds the newly bought box. “Oh, look at that, it’s like you planned this, or the universe really wants this to happen.” You take the box from him. “Go get us a blanket.” He goes towards the shed that contained the horse equipment and searched through the blankets you had in there before finding one that looked the most comfortable. “Fuck.” You almost choke on your own spit as you saw the size on the box. “I knew it, how are you going to fit?” He throws the blanket open on the ground.

“Lay down.” He orders you, you toss him the box of condom before leaning over to unlace your shoes, you step out of them and made your way to the blanket and sits down on it. “I said lay, not sit.”

“Oh, ordering the boss around now, I see.” You say as you lay back on the blanket, he drops the box of condoms next to you on the blanket, he moves over you.

“And to answer your question.” He says as he leans down to your ear. “I’ll make sure that I will fit.” You could feel a shiver running through you at his words. “But I’ll also stop if you just say the word.” His hands move to the hem of your shirt and curl his fingers around the fabric, his knuckles brush up against your skin as he begins removing the shirt, you sit upright and allows him to easily remove the shirt, his hands instantly goes to your ribs after he dropped your shirt next to you, his hands flatten against your skin before he slides them to your back and towards the clasp of your bra, he moves to sit on his knees and leans closer to your chest, his lips wrap around your erect nipple through the fabric.

“Oh.” You gasp as you felt the fabric of your bra rub against your nipple and become wet from his saliva, your panties were already soaked from getting a taste of his cock, just imagining his cock sliding against your walls had caused you to become soaked which caused your panties to become wet, your bra suddenly felt loose around you which made you realized he had unclasped it and it was just clinging to your shoulders, his hands move to your shoulders and gently rubs them before his fingers curled around the straps, he pulls away from your nipple as he pulls the straps down your arms, he removes the piece of fabric and drops it where he had dropped your shirt, his lips connect with your collarbone and begins leaving a trail of kisses on it as he moves to your shoulder and back to your collarbone, he kisses down to your chest and down your sternum before moving to the nipple he hadn’t sucked, his lips wrap around the bud and gently begins sucking on it while his hands moved to your lower stomach and rests on your abdomen, you lay back on the blanket and he follows you, hovering over you, his lips almost releasing your nipple.

“Ohh.” You moan out as one of your hands move to his head, your fingers move through his hair while the other hand presses into the blanket, feeling the hard ground beneath it, his tongue circles the bud before he flattens his tongue against it. “Tae…” It almost sounded like a whine when you said his name, his lips release your nipple and gently blows on it causing it to harden from the cold air.

“The way you whine my name…” He breathes out before his lips brushed over your ribs, he moves lower as his lips move down your stomach, his fingers curl around the band of your pants and tugs at it, you bend your knees and press your heels into the ground and lifts your hips allowing him to remove your pants, the fabric slides along your legs before reaching your ankles, his eyes shift to between your legs and saw the damp spot on your panties. “So fucking wet.” You lower your hips and lift your feet, he removes your pants and pushes them aside. “Are you this wet because of me?” He licks his lips as he looks up at you. “Did sucking my cock make you this wet?”

“Mh, Tae…” You whine as you lift your head to look at him. “Touch me.” He places a hand on your thigh and slowly slides it upwards and between your thighs, his other hand grabs the back of your knee and pulls it to the side, spreading your legs apart and giving himself more access, he moves between your legs making sure that you wouldn’t be able to clamp them shut, he places a hand on your hip while his other hand reaches your moist pussy, his fingers trace along your clothed folds, feeling the wetness on it. “Oh.”

“Tell me what you want, what you like.” He says while stroking your clothed pussy lips, collecting the wetness that had seeped through the fabric of your panties, the feeling of his sculpted fingers touching your pussy felt so good already, you had to think properly for a minute before you could answer him, ‘Where did I want them the most? What did I want his fingers to do to me? Fuck he should remove those forsaken panties!’

“Get rid of my panties, touch me, stroke my pussy.” You breathe out, he smirks before pulling his hand away from your pussy and moves it to the elastic of your panties, his fingers curl around the fabric and pull them down, you lift your hips allowing him to remove the piece of fabric, you lower your hips to the ground and lift your feet to let him completely discard your panties, he places the fabric near his bag.

“What else do you want me to do, angel?” He asks in a deep husky tone, making you shiver, you couldn’t wait until he was whimpering and moaning, you desperately wanted to hear those noises come from him, ‘How would he looked fucked out?’ You thought before those thoughts were interrupted when his hand cupped your pussy.

“Clit, touch my clit.” You sigh, it only took a few seconds for you to feel his fingers move between your folds and stroke them, he could hear your wetness each time his fingers stroked along them. “Hm.” You whine out, you wanted those fingers of him on your clit, but he was teasing you, his fingers continue to stroke your fold, stopping every few seconds to massage them. “Tae…” Hearing his name already fall from your lips had him more excited which caused his cock to twitch against his stomach. “Tae… please…” His fingers move towards your clit, finally giving you what you want, his index finger circles around your clit. “Oh.” Your muscles stiffen at the foreign touch before you let out a sigh and allowed your muscles to relax, pleasure rushes through your veins.

“You’re responding to my touch so well.” He praises, watching your body twitch and react to his touch on your clit, he was vigorously rubbing circles around your clit, rubbing it back and forth and from side to side. “Look at you, so damn beautiful like this.” Two fingers were now circling your clit before he took the nub between his thumb and forefinger, slowly he rolled it between his fingers.

“Fu— ck!” You moan out as your back arches off the blanket, his fingers seemed to work magic on your clit, making you moan and whimper at the pleasure he’s causing, a tightening feeling was forming in your abdomen as it felt like the pleasure was going to boil over soon. “You… your fingers…” Your breathing was shallow as you tried to speak. “So good.” Your hands move to your head and run your fingers through your hair, gripping at it. “Aah.” His fingers disappear from your clit and slide down to your sopping hole, a finger slips inside you. “Go—“ your words get caught in your throat as you felt his finger twist and turn inside you, almost exploring your walls.

“Mhm… you feel so good around my finger.” He says. “I can’t wait to feel you when you’re wrapped around my cock.” Your walls clench around his finger at his words. “Oh, clenching around my cock as I’m buried deep inside your delicious pussy.” Your mind became clouded with pleasure as his words went towards your core causing your clit to twitch. “You like when I’m talking to you like this.”

“You… best— aah— uphold that promise— mhm— of being deep inside me.” You breathe out, moaning in between. “Ad— add anoth—OH!” You didn’t need to finish your sentence for him to know what you wanted to say, another finger slips inside you and stretches your walls.

“As you wish, angel.” He says, it almost sounded like he was out of breath from just fingering you as he spoke. “I can hear just how wet you are, listen to that.” You could hear it, the way his fingers caused your wetness to slosh around when he pumped them in and out of you, your toes curl at the sound. “Are you gonna cum for me?” You press your head into the ground, the hard and bumpiness from the ground going unnoticed as the pleasure coursed through your mind and body. “Should I add another finger?” You didn’t have any time to reply before you felt a third finger entering you, your walls stung as the stretch became more.

“Aah hm.” You whimper out, you couldn’t focus on anything around you, your eyes roll to the back of your head as you release your hair, one hand grips the blanket while the other hand fell onto the ground and gripped the straw and sand. “Taeh— yung!” His fingers stop pumping in and out of you before he suddenly curls them inside you. “GO— AAH!” The tips of his fingers coming in contact with your nerve endings inside you, your skin felt like it was set on fire from the pleasure, a tightening feeling pulled in your abdomen, you were close as the feeling became more noticeable. “I’m clo— CLOSE!” He presses his thumb against your clit and rubs the nub vigorously while he curls and extends his fingers inside you, hitting that sensitive spot over and over, your breathing became ragged as you edged closer to your high.

“Cum for me, release around my finger.” He says, it was like he was in control of your body, as soon as he said those words your orgasm hits you, your back arched from the ground as pleasure coursed through you, your mind flew into the clouds as pleasure took control of your body and actions, Taehyung watches as your jaw slacks and your lips part as a loud moan escape from your throat, he could see your entire body relax while your muscles twitched, you had no control over your body as you went through your high. “Look at you looking like an angel.” He slowly pumps his fingers in and out of you, easing you through your high, his movements stop once you lifted your head to look at him through half-lidded eyes, lust still in them.

“An angel, huh?” Your tone was low, just above a whisper, he slowly removes his fingers from your sopping hole causing your wetness to spill from your hole and leak onto the blanket.

“I think you’re ready for me, for my cock.” He says as he sits onto his knees, he grabs the box of condoms next to you and opens it.

“I have a question.” You say as you prop yourself up onto your elbows, his eyes move to your tits before slowly moving to your face. “Why do you have a box of condoms in your bag?” He could feel the heat rush up his neck to his cheeks. “Isn’t that the bag you have your lunch in?”

“I uh… um.” He stutters. “I uh… I went to visit my parents, and uh met up with a friend, and I, ahem, told him about you…” He clears his throat as he remembered the day he told his friend about you. “And he then bought me a box and placed it in this bag, I uh… ahem, just forgot to take it out.” You nod your head, a smirk forming on your lips.

“Thank goodness then, otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten this far right now.” You say, he nods his head as he removes a foil packet, he drops the box back onto the blanket and ripped the packet open, he places it at the tip of his cock, pinching the tip of the condom, you sit upright and reach for his cock only to notice that your hand was covered with straw and dusk, you quickly clean your hand using the blanket before reaching for his cock, you roll the piece of protection over his cock and looks up at him. “Lay down.” He moves away from the position between your legs and lays down on the blanket, he watches as you straddle his waist and felt the heat from your pussy near his hard cock, you could feel your wetness sliding down your thigh.

“You’re so fucking wet, I can see it sliding down your thighs.” He says as his gaze was fixed between your legs, he watches as your juices leak down onto his lower stomach. “Fucking hell, I’m gonna cum before you’re even wrapped around me.” You reach for his cock and firmly yet gently wrap your hand around it, his eyes fall shut at the touch. “Fuck.” You guide his length between your folds and lubes the piece of protection with your wetness. “I can feel how warm you are… fuck.”

“You sound so desperate to be inside me.” You say, you had to admit, you loved the sound of him being so desperate for you, the sound of him begging to be inside you. “Should I give you what you’re so desperate for?” He could feel your hand moving up and down his length. “Beg for it.”

“Please… Please put it in, I want to feel you, I want to feel you wrapped around me.” He whimpers out. “Please, please.” You guide his length to your sopping hole and pushes the tip inside it. “Oh, yes, yes, go— oh!” You release his length and lower yourself down onto him, you could feel your walls stretching and burning as you slowly take him inch by inch, until he was completely inside you, you gasp for air as you realize you had been holding it in as you had lowered down onto him, you place your hands on his ribs.

“Fucking hell…” You whisper, you could feel his length touching every part of your walls, you felt so full just sitting on his length, the head of his cock was touching your cervix. “Death by Taehyung Kim’s cock.” You breathe out causing him to chuckle which made his cock move inside you. “FUCK!” Your fingers dig into his skin.

“You’re over-exaggerating.” He says. “You feel so nice and tight around me.”

“It's because you’re so damn big!” You say, he places his hands on your hips, making sure not to hurt you. “Just… give me a minute to adjust, okay?” He nods his head and begins rubbing circling on your skin using his thumbs.

“Are you uncomfortable?” He asks as his eyes slowly lower from your face to your abdomen, he could see your chest rising up and down, he could see how stiff your stomach muscles were as you tried to adjust to him. “Relax your muscles, relax, I’ve got you, okay.”

“I’m… okay.” You softly say before taking in a deep breath, you exhale through your mouth and felt your muscles relax as you do. “Slowly.” His thumbs halt on your skin. “I’m going to start slowly.”

“Of course, you should be comfortable during this also.” He says. “I can’t be the only one receiving pleasure, you should and deserve to feel pleasure also.” You softly smile at him before lifting your hips, you could feel his cock brush along your walls as he slides out. “Good go—“ His words get caught in his throat as he felt your walls clench around him.

“Fuck, fuck.” You whisper, it felt like it took hours for him to only slip out halfway, you stop once you felt that it was only the head inside you.

“Are you all right?” He asks as he reaches up, he brushes some of your hair out of your face. “Do you want to stop?”

“No, no, hell no.” You quickly say, you had got this far, and he felt too good for you to stop now, even if It felt like he was tearing you apart. “I’m all right, I’m not stopping, not now.” You lower down onto his cock, faster than the first time, the burn you had felt before was barely noticeable now. “I’m not going to last long.” Your head hangs as you use all the strength in your legs to lift and lower yourself onto his cock, his hand drops from your cheek and goes down to your hip and held you, ready to assist you if he needed to. “I’m still so sensitive…” He could feel your walls clenching around him each time you lowered down on him, milking him for an orgasm, and he wasn’t going to last long either if you continued to clench around him.

“Just keep going, as slow as you want.” He breathes out, his breathing had become deeper from feeling your warm wet walls pulsing around him. “As fast as you want, I’m here to help you when you get tired.” You could feel the warmth from his calloused hands on your skin. “You’re doing so well, taking me so well.” Your pace speeds up, the sound of your wetness could be heard between your panting, moaning and talking.

“Fuck, I…” You pause to gasp. “I don’t know… how long— fuck— I can keep— oh, oh go— riding you.” Your legs felt shaky, like they would give out any second and that you would collapse on him without either of you reaching your high.

“I’ve to you, angel, I’ve got you.” He says, you could feel his grip slightly tightening on your hips before he used his strength to lift and lower you at a decent pace, pleasure moving between you and him, sweat forming on your skin as his became wetter from it, the heat from the summer air made everything around you feel extra hot, hotter than usual.

“Dear fucking gosh!” You tilt your head back as your eyes close with pleasure, you were close, the tightening feeling in your abdomen had returned, and it felt much stronger than before, your entire body felt like it was on the edge of being tipped over with pleasure.

“Keep… clenching around me— oh hm— like that and I won’t… last long.” He moans out, you slide your hand down his toned stomach, your fingers grazing over his skin. “You damn tease.” Just your touch left his skin feeling like it was on fire, you reach between your legs and placed a finger on your clit, the contact to the sensitive nub caused you to clench around his cock harder than before.

“FUCK!” You both moan out at the same time, his grip on your hips tighten and his movements falter for a moment.

“Are you trying to make me lose my mind?” He asks, his grip loosens on your hips before lifting you up and lowering you down onto his length again, he repeats the movement, the pace slowly picking up. “Are you close?” You nod your head, you lift your head and looked down at him, looking completely fucked out.

“Yes.” You breathe out, he could see and feel it, your muscles were twitching and contracting while your walls clenched around his cock as you rubbed your clit, he was close, and he wasn’t sure if he would last much longer, he thrusts upward. “FUCK, TAEHYUNG!” You didn’t even hear the horses moving around as they got startled by your scream, right now you didn’t care if you had heard, you just wanted to reach your high, his cock hits your cervix and brushed along the most sensitive spot inside you, you took your clit between your fingers.

“[Y/n], FUCK!” Your name fell from his lips loudly as his high suddenly hits him, a burst of energy runs through his cock as he fills the condom with his cum, his energy quickly drains from him, but he wasn’t giving up until you would cum as well, you could feel his hands loosening their grip on your hips and by the facial expression on his face, you knew he had reached his high.

“Do I feel that good?” You ask. “Fuck, it must feel that good if you couldn’t hold it back any longer.” Using your last bit of strength and energy, you lift and lower your hips, rolling them into his, you pinch your sensitive nub which caused the tension in your abdomen to snap, your toes curl in pleasure as your body begins shaking with it. “TAEHYUNG!” The moan was so loud he had barely heard it as he was coming down from his high, your mind fell blank and your hand falls away from your pussy, Taehyung moves one of his hand between your legs and took over, he rubs your clit to ease you through your high, your hair stuck to your forehead and neck from the sweat that had formed on your skin, you open your eyes to look down at him, your chest rising up and down.

“How is it possible that you can look so good while being fucked out?” He asks, you could only chuckle before you lifted yourself from his cock that was starting to grow limp, you climb off of him and sit down on the blanket next to him, he sits upright and removes the condom and ties it, he places a hand on your lower back and slowly rubbed soft circles on your skin. “Are you okay?” You nod your head. “Any discomfort?”

“I’ll probably feel it tomorrow if there is any discomfort.” You say as you turn your head to look at him, you would feel it in your legs the most tomorrow, you could already tell that they were going to be stiff. “How about you, are you okay?” He nods his head.

“Yes, I’m more than okay.” He says. “Are you feeling any discomfort right now?” He was concerned, you had told him several times how big he was, yet you took him so well, but he wanted to be sure, no, he needed to be sure.

“Nothing, no discomfort at all.” You say, you had grown accustomed to his size, but you knew that if this was going to happen again, he would have to stretch you again before you would be able to take him. “That was…” You had to think for a moment, you weren’t sure if the word existed that you wanted to use to describe it. “Wonderful, more than wonderful, I’m not sure how to describe it.”


“It was wonderful.” He says. “No words can explain what I’m feeling right now.” You nod your head agreeing with him, you take in a deep breath before reaching for your shirt.

“I should go take a shower.” You say while pulling your shirt on. “And you should do the same.” He softly chuckles and nods his head before standing up, you glance at your panties before looking up at him. “Keep my panties safe, if you dare show it to anyone…”

“Why would I want to show anyone?” He asks as he hands you your pants. “It’ll be our secret.” You slightly falter at the word secret, did he want to keep you a secret or what had been done in the barn a secret? You stood from the blanket and took your pans from him and pulled them on.

“Yeah.” You mumble, trying to keep your tone even and not give away that was something was wrong. “Our secret.” You pull at your shirt before looking around, you pick up your bra and looks at him as he pulled his jeans on. “I uh, I’ll see you later.” You quickly exit the stables and made your way back to your house, you step inside and goes to your bedroom, quickly discarding your clothes again and tossing them into the laundry basket as you enter the bathroom, your thoughts were moving a million miles an hour.

‘Did he not want it to happen again? Was he embarrassed it had happened? Maybe he doesn’t feel the same way… maybe he had something else in mind… not what I had in mind, why is liking someone so damn hard?’

You stood underneath the water watching it hit your skin before sliding down and hitting the tiled shower floor, you didn’t move, you felt too drained from your thoughts consuming you, but you willed yourself to do it, you had to clean yourself after what happened in the stables.

“Wait… in the stables!” You suddenly say as your eyes widen, you would be taking somebody to that same place tomorrow for them to examine your horses. “Oh no… no.” You bring your hands up to your face. “Shit, shit.” That thought had given you the energy you needed to wash yourself, you needed to get clean and go think about things clearly, ‘They’d never know what you and Taehyung did there… right?’ “Hmph.” You huff as you step out of the shower after washing away the sweat, dirt along with the reminder of what you had done just moments ago, however, the tingles on your skin remained, where he had touched you remained, it was almost like it was embedded into your skin. “Stop it, stop it, stop it right now, we need to focus… Tomorrow… Oh, gosh.”

━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━

You nervously guide the woman to the stables with a nervous smile on your lips, the only thing on your mind was Taehyung’s hands on your body, you enter the stables and your eyes immediately goes to the spot where it had happened only to find the spot empty, no blanket insight and his bag were hanging on a hook on the wall, he was on the other side of the stables, working with one of the ponies.

“These three are currently the only ones that I’m willing to sell, to a good home of course.” You say as you stop in front of the stalls. “They’re young and well-trained.” You explain to the woman, she carefully looks at the three horses. “If it’s for a child, then this one would be best. “ You say as you move towards the middle stall. “She’s a sweetheart and doesn’t seem to mind sudden outbursts if a child screams or becomes loud.” She nods her head, listening intently as you explained. “If you’re looking for a horse that you can ride in competition, then this one will be the best option.” You turn to the third stall. “But I can’t promise that he’s fast, but I do know that he’s good with his jumps.”

“And this one?” She asks, you move to the first stall and looks at the horse before turning to the woman.

“He's a little bit older and gets startled by any kind of screaming, I don’t recommend that he’s put near anyone that’s loud or screams often.” You explain. “But he’s a good runner and jumper.” She nods her head. “But I can’t confidently say that you can take him to a competition because of all the loud noises and things that could scare him, I recommend him for someone that just wants to go on a calm ride around their place.”

“You have some large stalls for them.” The woman states as she looks at the sizes of the stalls, each horse had a space large enough for them to walk around and lay down.

“How would you feel if you only had enough space to stand and turn around in?” You ask. “These beautiful animals deserve space, lots of it to move around and feel comfortable enough in it.” The woman nods her head.

“You seem to be the only person for miles that actually care about her animals.” She says. “I’ve been to five other places and each stall was just too small.” You frown hearing that, you knew people were cruel, but always hearing about it angered you. “I’m going to go think about it, but I think I’ll take this one.” The woman moves to the first stall. “This one would be perfect, I just want to go on peaceful rides and admire the scenery when the sun rises or sets.” You nod your head.

“Would you like a closer look?” You ask, the woman nods her head, you open the stall door and enter it. “Come on in.” The woman carefully enters the stall while looking around cautiously before relaxing and moving towards the chestnut coloured horse. “Did someone recommend my farm to you?”

“Yes.” She says. “Someone had bought a horse from you and told me how thorough you are.” You nod your head. “And I completely understand that you have to be thorough, you need to be sure that you’re selling your animals to the right person, into a good environment for them.”

“I’m glad you understand that.” You say. “So if you’re considering buying him, I will be making a trip to your home to be sure.” The woman nods her head.

“I understand.” She says. “I do think I will take him though, but I first need to build and set up a proper place for him to stay in.” You nod your head while rubbing along the horse’s neck, the woman carefully touches the horse before rubbing down his back. “I will let you know when it’s finished, but I need to go think carefully about buying him, it’s a big financial decision.”

“Of course.” You say. “It’s a big decision and a big responsibility as well, so take your time.” You glance towards Taehyung as he guides the pony back to its stall.

“Thank you.” The woman says as you exit the stall, you close the stall door and begin leading the woman out of the stables, you could feel eyes on you, you glance over your shoulder and saw Taehyung looking at you as he rubbed the pony’s head, you look away as you exit the stables and follow the woman to her car. “I will be in contact with you soon.”

“I look forward to hearing from you.” You say, the woman climbs into her car and starts the engine before rolling the window down.

“Thank you for taking the time to show them to me.” She says. “Have a wonderful day.”

“Have a wonderful day too.” You say and watch the woman drive off, leaving your farm, you turn around and look at the stables before going the opposite way to Waffles’s pen to go and talk to him and watch him play, you lean against the gate and watch him run around and jump up and down from the seesaw that was installed for him. “Maybe I should just go talk to him about it…” It had been eating away at your mind since you had left the stables yesterday, you had given yourself a headache from all the thinking and possible scenarios. “Dammit, I should just go talk to him… get it out and clear everything up.” The only response that you got was a loud ‘baaah’ from Waffles as he ran around, making you chuckle. “I’ll bring you some treats tomorrow when I come and visit you.”

━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━

A few more days passed before you finally decided it was time to talk to him about what he had said, you approach the stables and step inside the building and saw him using a pitchfork to gather all the hay and straw, sweat already coated his honey-toned skin from the heat inside the stables and the summer sun beating down on earth, you had to fight the urge to bite your bottom lip, you make your way up to him, nervously biting the inside of your cheek.

“Do you want to go for a ride?” You ask as you stop behind him, he turns around to face you. “We need to talk so it would be nice if you want to go for one.” He puts the pitchfork to the side.

“I think so also.” He says. “It feels like you’ve been avoiding me ever since we had sex over there.” He points to the spot where it had happened, you don’t bother turning to look at the spot. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Let’s go on a ride first then we’ll talk.” You say. “We’re going to the meadow, and then we’ll talk there.” He only nods his head as he goes and retrieves a horse for himself from one of the stalls, you do the same before going into the small shed inside the stables and retrieved the equipment you would need, you saddle up before returning to the shed and picking up a rolled-up blanket, you return to the horse and attach the blanket to the saddle, you lead the horse out of the stables and climbs on and wait for Taehyung to join you outside, it only took another minute before he leads the other horse outside and climbed on, you leave the stables and rode to the meadow, neither of you saying a word to each other.

You arrive at the meadow and climb off your horse and leads him to a large tree and ties the reins to a branch near the water underneath the shades, you take the blanket you had brought along and walk down the stream, Taehyung ties the other horse’s reins to another branch near your horse before following behind you, you stop underneath another large tree and throws the blanket open before taking a seat on it, he sits down next to you, and you look over at the stream, at the rippling water as it flows to its final destination.

“Are you going to tell me what I did wrong?” He asks while staring at you, you turn your body to face him. “I mean… I thought you felt the same way.” You meet his eyes, his searching yours for answers. “Or was I wrong?”

“What do…. You said after we finished…” You begin only to stop to take in a deep breath. “That it would be our secret.” You glance to the side to look at the water. “And that hurt me when you said that.” You look back at him. “This talk is long overdue, I should have spoken o you as soon as you said it, but…” You trail off.

“But?” He asks wanting to know what stopped you from talking to him about how you felt.

“I wasn’t sure what you meant by, that it will be our secret.” You say. “What we did in the stables or us…?” You think carefully about your next words. “What are we after that?” Taehyung turns his body to face you. “Because over the past year and months I’ve developed deep feelings for you, I like you, and I’m certain about that, but after what you said…” He leans closer and brings one of his hands to your cheek, carefully caressing it.

“Hey, Hey, I get it now.” He softly says. “When I said it would be our secret, I meant what had happened in the stables, what we did would stay between us, but us… I like you very much.” It felt like your heart fluttered and butterflies almost formed in the pit of your stomach, your body froze at his words. “So I became concerned when you started to avoid me, if I had known that, that was the cause…” He softly chuckles while shaking his head. “I would have approached you sooner, so we could have talked it out.” His fingers move into your hair, pushing them out of your face. “I could have done this sooner.” He leans closer,  your eyes fall shut as his lips touch yours, you lean into the kiss, tasting his lips, his forehead touches yours, and you begin smiling into the kiss as you feel the heat from him, you move one hand to his shirt and curl your fingers around the fabric, holding onto him as if he would disappear right in front of you, afraid that you were dreaming about his confession, but the way his lips felt against yours, you were certain that it wasn’t a dream.

You break the kiss, breathing hard as your eyes remain shut, taking a moment to appreciate each other’s presence, the surrounding sound was the leaves moving and the water stream following not far from you along with birds chirping in a nearby tree, the coolness from the wind blew against you, ensuring you that you were awake, and it wasn’t a dream.

“So will you keep coming to see me every day now?” He whispers, his lips almost touching yours, that was how close you were still to him. “I missed you in the stables.” You open your eyes and saw his dark brown eyes staring into yours. “Or are you going to make me wait longer before you drop by again?” You slightly lean away from him.

“I really thought that you didn’t feel the same way.” You say as you release his shirt, you press your hand flat against his chest.

“I feel the exact same way.” He says while leaning closer, he uses his other hand to guide you to lay back on the blanket, your eyes never leaving his as he leans over you. “I’ve felt like that for months now, and finally was able to act on it a week ago.” His hand on your cheek softly moves through your hair, his fingers brushing through the locks, he repeats the movement. “I want to keep confessing it over and over to be sure that you will show up at the stables every day without a worry.” His hand moves back to your cheek, his thumb gently brush over your cheek as he leans closer. “I want you.” His eyes flicker towards your lips before he looked back into your eyes. “In every single way, I want all of you, the vulnerable parts, the strong parts.” His eyes move back to your lips. “The flawless, the flawed, the perfections, the imperfections.”

“You’re becoming cheesy right now.” You mutter as you move your other hand to his shoulder, the one his chest slides up to his shoulder also. “It really sounds more like you want something else right now.” He softly chuckles and shakes his head.

“I’m just listing everything off that I want from you.” He says. “When I say that I want you, I mean that I want all of you.” He takes in a deep breath. “In every single way.” His hand that had been on your shoulder after he had guided you to lay down moves to your waist. “And I mean every single word right now.” He lowers his forehead to lean it against yours. “As long as you accept me in every single way with my flaws and my imperfections.” You nod your head as your lips part. “Do you?”

“I do.” You whisper, his lips brush over yours, the kiss feeling more intense than before, his hand on your waist rubbed soft circles on the fabric of your shirt, you start rubbing his shoulders as the kiss becomes deeper and more heated, his tongue swipes over your bottom lip before he took it between his lips and gently started sucking on it, his hand moves from your cheek to the blanket to support his weight, his other hand slider underneath your shirt and moves up along your skin leaving a burning trail behind, his hand stops on your ribcage and trace circles with his thumb, he releases your bottom lip and kiss along your jaw down your neck, stopping just above your collarbone.

“Can I?” His voice was husky as he spoke. “I need you to say it this time.” He lifts his head to look at you, you look at him with half-lidded eyes. “Am I allowed?”

“Yes, yes.” You say. “Please, yes.” Your tone almost begging him, it wasn’t that different from last time, but it felt slower and more passionate than the last time, he was making sure it was all right with you and that you were more comfortable with what he was doing, you were in control last time with some help from him when you rode him, but it seemed like he wanted to take the lead this time, his hand moves to cup your tit through your bra and squeezes it, those sculpted hands of his seemed to fit perfectly on your chest, it felt like he was giving you a massage, he could feel your breast swelling the more he massaged it, the more he played with it, he could feel the texture of the bra as he slides his hand up and down, the fabric rubs against your nipple causing it to harden and become erect, he leans down and moves his head to the side of yours.

“Do you want me to remove your shirt?” He softly asks making sure that his lips were brushing over your earlobe. “Do you want me to remove your bra and touch your tits in such a way that you might just reach your high from it?” His words made you shiver and caused your clit to twitch, he hadn’t had the chance to properly touch your chest yet, and you had no idea if he would be capable of doing that to you.

“Yes.” You breathe out, your breath hits his neck causing something to awaken inside him, you bend your leg as he moves over the other leg that was still laying extended on the blanket, his hand retreats from your shirt and moves to the hem of it, he sits on his knees, his leg between you forcing you to spread your legs wider, his other hand moves to the hem also and begins lifting it, you grip at his shoulders and pull yourself upright into a sitting position to make it easier for him to remove the fabric, your bent leg extends out into a more comfortable position, he drops the shirt next to you before his hand touched your skin and slides to your back and towards the clasp of the bra, his touch felt warm on your skin, the feathery touch of his fingers touched your skin as he fumbles with the clasp before it unhooked and sprung loose, he buries his face in the crook of your neck and place kisses along the skin as his hands rub your back. “They feel so warm…” You whisper into his ear, lips brushing over the lobe. “Your hands on my skin.” The touch felt more comforting as his hand slides up and down your back, he wanted to take his time with you.

“You deserve a comforting touch when we’re doing this, when things get heated.” He mutters into your skin just below your ear, you could feel your heart swell at his words. “To fully experience and feel everything.“ His hands move to your waist before slowly moving up your sides and under your arms before hooking his fingers around the bra straps, he slowly pulls them down your arms before moving away from your neck to completely remove the fabric, he drops it on top of your shirt next to you and leans back on his knees to get a better view you, his eyes slowly move from your eyes down to your lips down to your neck before stopping on your chest, you lean back placing your hands behind you on the blanket. “I can’t believe I didn’t get to appreciate you last time. “He leans closer before looking up at you, sweat was forming on his skin and some of his hair was starting to stick to his forehead. “But I’ll make sure to do that now.” His lips touch your collarbone before leaving a trail down to your sternum, his hands moving to the side of your chests, cupping your breast from the side. “We won’t be disturbed here right?” He suddenly stops, his lips hovering just above your left breast.

“No one knows about this place.” You say. “Except for us, we won’t be disturbed here and there’s no rush either.” That was all he needed to hear for him to part his lips and slip his tongue past them before pressing it flat against your skin, he licks a stride towards your nipple and circles his tongue around the bud causing it to harden and become erect like the right nipple, the feeling of his warm wet tongue on your skin caused bumps to form on your skin as the wind blew against it. “Shit.” His lips wrap around the bud and begin sucking on it, his tongue rubbed over it adding to the pleasure you were already feeling, you bring one hand to the back of his head and entangles your fingers into his hair, your fingers rub his scalp as he sucks on your nipple, your lips part as you heavily breathe out. “Gosh… how… how can you… it feels so good.” His fingers knead into the side of your breasts. “How is… is this…” You take in a deep breath. “Possible.” You breathe out. “How can it feel this good…” Your eyes fall shut and your senses take over.

Your fingers continue to rub his scalp while pushing his head closer to your chest, hoping for more pleasure, hoping to feel more, but he resisted it, his nose was already brushing over your skin and the sound of his breathing against your skin reached your ears, he releases your nipple and your grip on the back of his head loosens, he pulls away from the bud and your eyes fly open to watch him, you saw a silver string of saliva glint in the light as he moves away from you before it disappeared, his fingers keep kneading into the side of your chest, feeling the soft flesh underneath his touch, he looks at the swollen and erect bud before he leans closer again and kisses the sternum, you lay back and watch him as his head moves from your sternum to your ribs before moving over your stomach, his lips move over your exposed skin, kissing over some of your faded scars and the ones that were still noticeable.

“I hope I can catch you each time you fall.” He says as he looks up at you, your chest rose up and down from your breathing. “I don’t like seeing you hurt or too many of these.” His fingers trace over some of the faded scars, he had learned how clumsy you were over the past year he has worked for you, he had the shock of his life when it happened the first time, he had freaked out as soon as he saw you on the ground, but as the months passed he quickly learned to move everything out of the way that could be in the way, and if it did happen, he would immediately be by your side to offer help. “And if I can’t, I’m sorry.” You begin shaking as you laugh, both your hands move to cover your face.

“I’m— haha— I’m sorry— haha.” You manage to get out between laughter. “I don’t— haha— don’t know what to— haha— to say.” You move your hands away from your face. “Gosh, you don’t have to— haha.” He couldn’t help but laugh along, he lowers his head down against your stomach, the vibrations from his laughing tickling your stomach. “Oh my— haha.” He lifts his head to look at you, you move your hands to cup his face, your laughter slowly dying down. “You don’t have to catch me, at least not every time.” Your thumbs gently rub circles on his cheeks. “I need to see if you can help clean any wounds if I get some.”  His hands move to cover yours and gently moves them away from his face.

“I’ll try my best, but I can’t promise anything.” He says before kissing your knuckles on both hands, he releases your hands and moves his leg away from between yours and sits on his knees next to you, his hands goes down to your pants along with his gaze, he quickly unbuttons and unzips it before reaching for the band, his fingers curl around it. “Lift your hips a little for me.” You bend your knees and press your heels into the ground, you lift your hips high enough for him to remove your pants, you lower your hips once they reach your knees and extend your legs allowing him to remove your pants, he stops at your ankles and quickly removes your shoes and socks before discarding your pants, he places his hands on your ankle and slowly slides his hands upwards, making sure to move his hands over each part of your leg to feel all of you, his hands reach the back of your knee and stops. “Can I?” His thumbs circled the skin on the side of your knee with a feathery touch.

“Yes.” You say as you keep your eyes on him. “You keep asking me today, is there a reason?”

“I want to be sure that you want this.” He says. “Want me to do this.” One hand moves up the side of your thigh while the other one stayed in place behind your knee. “Last time felt almost rushed, I want to take my time today.” His hand moves to the top of your thigh before moving to the inside, his palm lifts from your skin and his fingers graze over your skin before reaching your panties, his fingers trace over the panties along your folds, excitement rushes through you at his touch, you could feel yourself growing wetter at the feathery touch tracing your pussy. “Your panties are already soaked.” You felt yourself becoming wet when he was sucking on your nipple, kneading the side of your chest, you only had sex once, and it already seemed like he had your body figured out, where to touch when to touch, and how to touch.

“Aah.” You breathe out at the sensation, you couldn’t describe the feeling that you were experiencing with his fingers tracing over your panties, you could feel the trace of his finger moving up and down and from side to side, purposely brushing over the inside of your thighs. “If I didn’t want this then I wouldn’t be here.” Your skin felt flushed with heat, he moves your panties to the side and slides his fingers up and down your folds. “Tae…”

“I like it when you say my name like that.” He says and slips the tips of his fingers between your folds, he strokes along your soaked folds coating his fingers with your wetness. “Let’s get rid of these, they’re just in the way now.” He moves his fingers away from your wetness and moves his hands to the band of your panties, his fingers curl around the elastic. “Lift.” You bend your knees once again and lift your hips slightly before lowering them down when he had pulled the panties down to your knees, you extend your legs as you felt his knuckles brush along your legs before he removed the piece of soaked fabric, he drops it on the pile of clothes forming next to you on the blanket, his hand immediately going to your mound and moves his fingers back to your folds.

“Hm.” You hum at the feeling forming in your abdomen, it felt like everything moved to the centre of your stomach and formed a knot of ecstasy, his fingers slip past your folds and move towards your sensitive nub that was begging to be touched and paid attention to, his fingers part as he nears the nub and slides them past the nub only rubbing the sides of it. “Oh.” He trails his fingers along your folds before moving them back to your clit, watching your reaction as he slides them over your nub. “Shit…” You could feel your breathing becoming heavier at his touch, his fingers seemed to reach every part of your folds as he strokes them, barely giving your clit attention.

“You’re going to be a sopping mess before I'm even inside you, angel.” He says while rubbing around your clit, only brushing the sides of it making it swell.

“Touch it, touch it, don’t tease me.” You say becoming frustrated, his fingers pressed against your clit. “OOH!” A loud gasp escapes from your lips and your back arches from the ground before lowering back down. “Fuck that felt good.” He rubs your clit, heat spreads through your body and a thin layer of sweat forms on your skin. “Don’t— oh— stop.” His other hand slides over your thigh and presses down on the skin, he takes your clit between his forefinger and thumb and gently rolls the nub between his fingers. “Fuck… Tae.” Pleasure courses through you, a tension slowly forms in your abdomen as he continues to roll the nub between the pads of his fingers.

“Keep moaning my name like that, angel.” He says. “You sound so beautiful when you moan my name.” He moves between your legs and leans down, he places a kiss on the inside of your thigh as he releases your clit, you let out a sigh before your body tensed when you felt a finger slip inside your sopping hole, he curls his finger and slightly twists it.

“Taehyung!” You loudly say his name as you felt his finger rub against your walls. “Shit.” He extends his finger and pulls it out halfway, the sound of your wetness reaches your ears before feeling the wind blow against your soaked pussy, you shiver with pleasure at the feeling, your toes curling for a second before uncurling, your hands move to the blanket and grip it between your fingers.

“Relax your muscles.” His voice was soft as he spoke. “It’ll feel better when you relax into it.” You take in a deep breath before releasing it, relaxing your muscles, you feel another finger slip into you. “That’s better, angel.” He turns his fingers inside you. “Tell me when I do something you’re not comfortable with.” He spreads his fingers inside you, using a scissoring motion to stretch your walls, he turns and twists his fingers inside you.

“TAE!” You scream as his fingers brush over the most sensitive spot inside you, your toes curl in pleasure as he continued twisting and turning them inside you. “Tae… Tae…” You could feel the tension become tighter and tighter, your legs starting to shake as your high approaches.

“You’re close, aren’t you?” He asks as he adds a third finger, he pumps them in and out of you, his other hand slides from your thigh to your mound and covers it before he slipped his thumb down to your clit, circling it before rubbing the sensitive nub.

“Oh… aah… Tae… Tae.” You whimper out, his fingers continuously brush against that spot inside you. “Tae… Tae.” You could feel the blanket starting to stick to your back from all the sweat as your body starts to shake with pleasure. “Close… I’m close.” You manage to whimper out, it felt like you were about to burst with pleasure. “Fuck… Taehyung.” He curls his fingers inside you and presses his thumb against your clit. “TAE!” Your mind becomes clouded with lust as your eyes fall shut,  stars appearing behind your eyelids as the tension exploded inside you and pleasure washes over you, your muscles twitching as you release around his finger.

“So damn beautiful.” He mutters to himself, you couldn’t hear a word from him during your high, his fingers slowly pumps in and out of you, his thumb circles around your clit easing you through your high, your eyes slowly open, still in a daze you stare up at the branches above you, his fingers slips out from you as he still watches you as your senses slowly return to you, his eyes move down to your soaked hole and saw your wetness leaking from it. “I can’t wait to fill you with my cock again, to feel you wrapped around me again.” He moves onto his knees and reaches for the buttons on his shirt, you quickly sit upright and reach for them.

“Let me…” You say as you look at him, he lifts his head and meets your eyes, they were darker than usual. “I want to undress you.” Your hands quickly undo the buttons on his button-up, your knuckles brushing against his skin every few seconds, you reach up and grip the fabric near the collar and pulls it down his shoulders revealing his tones chest and honeyed skin, you discard the shirt and drops it on top of your pile of clothes, you place your hands on his shoulders and slides them down his chest and stomach, Taehyung felt a shiver run up his spine from your touch, your hands stop at his jeans and begin fiddling with the button, you pop it open and move to the zipper, clearly seeing the tent that was forming, or trying to form in his jeans, he lifts his hips, and you pull his jeans down, your eyes watch as the bulge becomes larger after being freed from the jeans, he moves away from between your legs and sits down next to you, you watch as he quickly gets rid of his shoes and socks before removing his jeans and underwear.

“Fuck.” He mutters as he wraps a hand around himself. “Fuck, I didn’t bring any protection.” You move closer to him and wrap your hand around his cock below his hand, his lips parts, and he lets out a sigh of relief at your touch. “Shit.” His hand falls away from his cock, and you begin moving your hand up and down his length, remembering the feeling from the last time, the veins on his cock felt familiar underneath your touch.

“It’s okay.” You say as you stared at the head of his cock, clear liquid leaking from it and coating the tip, you swipe your thumb over the head.

“Aah.” He gasps from the sensation of your finger moving over the sensitive tip, you move your hand up and down collecting the clear liquid and spreading it over his length. “What do you…” He stops as he sucks in a deep breath. “Mean that it’s okay?” His mind was flooded with lust, but he needed to know what you meant, you lean closer to him, your lips reaching his earlobe.

“Cum inside me.” You whisper into his ear, your lips brushing over his lobe, his eyes widen, and he swallows. “And yes I’m sure.” You twist your hand around his length, his jaw slacks before he licks his bottom lip.

“Lay down.” He says in what sounded like a demanding tone, you release his cock and lays back, he moves to hover over you and reaches for his cock, his hand wraps around his member and guides himself to your soaking heat, he coats himself with your wetness, making sure to rub the head over your clit. “Fuck… so good.” He moves his cock to your entrance and inserts the tip inside you, you spread your legs wide before hooking your ankles together behind his back, your lips part and your eyes squeeze shut as you feel his cock stretch and fills you.

“Ooh— Aah.” You gasp and throw your arms around him, your hands rests on his shoulder blades, your fingers slightly digging into his skin, he leans down pressing his chest against yours and his lips brush over yours, capturing your soft moans and whimpers in his mouth, you squeeze your legs around him as you tried to close them from the pleasure, his hands were firmly pressed into the ground below your arms as he sinks into you as deep as the position would allow him, he comes to a halt when his pubic bone touches your mound, he breaks the kiss and lays his forehead against yours, you slowly open your eyes to look into his.

“This position isn’t working for me.” He mutters, you could feel that he wasn’t fully inside you like he was when you were riding him. “Hold on tight, unhook your ankles.” Your hands clasp behind his head as he shifts his weight to his knees, his hands move to your waist and firmly grips onto your hips as he moves his head away from yours, you unhook your ankles from around his waist and turns you over letting you be on top, his cock sinks deeper into you before he sits upright.

“HOLY FUCK!” You moan loudly as you feel his pubic bone rub against your clit and feel him slip in deeper. “Oh, my fucking… fuck.” His hands stay on your hips, his head moves to the crook of your neck as neither of you moves, he could feel your walls lightly pulsing around his cock.

“I’m going to be ruined before we even get started properly.” He says into your skin, you unclasp your hands and move one hand into his hair to hold the back of his head. “Are you… comfortable?” His mind was going completely crazy with you wrapped around him, you begin rocking your hips into his, causing his pubic bone to stimulate your clit.

“Oh… ah, ah, Hm…” You whimper into his ear with each rock of your hips, you could feel his breathing becoming heavier against your neck.

“Aah… Fuck, angel… aah... [Y/n].” He whimpers into your skin, the muscles in his thighs contracting underneath you. “Angel…” His moans sounded so beautiful to listen to as you rocked your hips into his, your grip tightens in his hair from the pleasure.

“Tae… Mhm.” You moan as you tilt your head slightly back, your eyes closing in bliss, one of his arms wrap around your waist and pulls you closer to him. “Tae… Tae.” Your moans became more breathy as you rolled your hips, your other hand presses against his back, your fingers digging into his skin, he lifts his head from your neck and brushes his lips over your earlobe.

“[Y/n]… oh… aah, hm.” He whimpers into your ear, you could feel your clit twitch at the sound of him whimpering your name, whimpering into your ear because of you. “You feel so good around me, taking me so well, angel.” He was whispering into your ear, grunt in between his words, he moves his head away from your ear, you lower your head and lays your forehead against his, you open your eyes to look into his, the intimacy growing between you.

��Shit… Tae… Taehyung.” You moan, tension building up in your abdomen, the sound of your wetness moving reached your ears, you could barely hear the sound of the water flowing, the wind blowing against your sweat-covered skin did nothing to cool it down, it felt like fire was coursing through your veins, your breathing was almost in-sync with his as you gazed into each other’s eyes.

“[Y/n]… fuck… I’m close.” He mutters, you could feel his cock twitch inside you. “I’m close… you feel so good.” Your walls clench around him at the thought of him releasing inside you, and at the sound of your name falling from his lips. “[Y/n]…”

“Taehyung... Tae, OH!” You moan as you feel him turning you over again, your back touches the blanket and your hand releases the back of his head as both your hands move to the blanket, he moves his away from your forehead and moves onto his knees, he hooks the back of your knees with his elbows and lifts your legs, almost pressing them into your torso, he snaps his hips into you. “TAE, OH FUCK, TAE!” He continues to roll his hips into yours, his arm moves around your leg as he moves his hand to your abdomen before moving it lower.

“You feel so good angel… are you close?” He asks, his cock twitches inside you as your walls squeeze around him, his hand reaches your clit and begins rubbing the sensitive nub.

“Tae… Tae… fuck… close.” You whimper out, he could feel your body shaking as he rolled his hips into you, your eyes shut as the tension suddenly snaps inside you, fireworks seem to go off behind your lids as pleasure washes over you. “TAEHYUNG!” He could feel you releasing around him, the feeling of your release surround him became too much, he thrust into you one more time and felt a burst of energy in his cock before he reaches his high and released inside you.

“[Y/N]!” His moan was loud as pleasure bursts through him, his mind was clouded with pleasure as he gently rocks his hips into you to ride out your orgasms, his fingers halt on your clit before lowering your legs and unhooks his arms from them, his cock slips out from you causing the mixtures of your orgasms to leak from you. “Fuck.” He moves away from between your legs and lays down on the blanket next to you, both of you breathing hard as your senses slowly return to you, as you slowly come down from the high you just experienced.

━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━

Another year almost passes since that moment in the meadow happened, and you’ve only grown closer and closer to him, every other night he could be over for dinner and help out as much as he could with the preparation, but he had proved that he was better with horses than in the kitchen, which was not a problem, because he made up for his lack of cooking by making the best-tasting tea for you to drink, usually during or after dinner when you would be sitting on the couch enjoying each other’s company or watching television.

Just like right now, nightfall had covered the sky and twinkling stars covered the darkened night sky, the TV was playing some movie, but neither of you was paying attention to it, Terry and Yeontan were on the couch with you and Taehyung while Pizzie was laying on the floor next to the couch, fast asleep, they had played in the water all day and had tired themselves out from all the playing.

“I’m going to go make us some tea.” He says as he turns his head to look at you, he lifts your hand that he was holding and brings it to his lips and kisses your knuckles. “I love you.” The words fall from his lips, your body freezes at those three words, those words that were so endlessly tossed around by countless people, you had hoped that one day when someone did say those words to you that they would mean it and not just say it because they wanted to, or because they thought you wanted to hear them, but now hearing them come from him after almost three years of knowing and getting to know him more, your heart fluttered, and it felt like the air in your lungs disappeared, your lips part as you try to get your brain to work again to respond to him, ‘Had he meant it? Or did he just say it because he felt like he needed to?’ So many questions ran through your mind, you wanted him to mean those words, to be sure that he does love you, before you could even ask him anything, he answered you as if reading your mind.

“I mean it.” He says. “I’m not saying it because I feel like I should, or I feel like it’s time, I’m saying it because…” He leans closer to you. “I love you, and I don’t expect you to say it back right away, if you still need more time to say it, take all the time you need if you want to be sure, but I’m certain.” You slowly nod your head and suck in a deep breath, realizing you had been holding it. “The tea isn’t going to make itself.” He stood from the couch and makes his way to the kitchen Yeontan jumps off the couch to follow him.

“If you’re sure about your feelings.” You say while standing up from the couch, he stops in his step and turns to you, you walk up to him and take hold of his hands. “I promised myself that I would only say those words if I mean them… and if I’m sure that the other person feels the same.”

“I don’t expect you to say it back.” He says. “It should come natural, so when you’re ready to say it… I’ll wait no matter how long, I will wait for you forever, [Y/n].”

#imagine #imagines #taehyung imagines #taehyung imagine #taehyung smut #kim taehyung imagines #kim taehyung imagine #Taehyung #Smut #smut imagine #smut imagines #au

[kurowrites]

“I hit you with my car and was the only one to visit you in the hospital” AU Prompt for Wangxian, if you like?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

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When Wei Ying woke up, he had to blink a few times to adjust his vision to the bright glare of the lights overhead, momentarily blinding him. Something was weird. This definitely wasn’t his own bedroom, whose lighting was rather dim and most definitely off when he was sleeping.

He blinked a few times more and then turned his head to examine the room he was in.

It took him far too long to understand what he was seeing, but once his brain actually started processing it, there was no doubt. He was in a hospital room, complete with barren walls and the strong smell of disinfectant. But he had no memory that could explain why he would be waking up in a hospital bed. In fact, now that he thought about it, he had no idea what he’d been doing before he’d woken up here, or even what day of the week it was.

Impatient to have his questions answered, he tried to wriggle around and slip out of bed, but his body felt oppressively heavy, and his vision started to swim as soon as he lifted his head off the pillow.

Exhausted and distressed, he fell back into bed. What the hell had happened to him? Why was he feeling so terrible?

Just that moment, the door of the hospital room opened, and a nurse stepped in.

“Oh, you are awake,” she said. “Good.”

She moved up to the bed and started to check his vitals – or harass him, Wei Ying couldn’t really tell which one it was. She was probably around fifty and had a distinct aunt-y vibe that made Wei Ying lay still on danger of getting stabbed with a needle.

“Do you know why you’re here?” she asked, after she had apparently determined that he was conscious and held it together enough for conversation.

“No,” Wei Ying croaked, and immediately started coughing. His throat felt terribly dry.

The nurse went to his bedside table, where a cup and a pitcher of water had been placed, and filled the cup for him. Then she made him drink.

“You’ve been in a traffic accident,” she told him without ceremony. “You got hit by a car and had to be brought here in an ambulance.”

Shit. Could that be true?

He didn’t remember any of that.

“I don’t remember,” he told the nurse.

“Honey, it’s probably better if you don’t,” she said, patting him on the arm absent-mindedly. “That’s your brain protecting you. You’re also on painkillers right now,” here, she pointed at one of the drips that went into his arm, “and they tend to make your brain a little foggy. You only need to focus on getting better right now.”

That wasn’t particularly comforting to Wei Ying. He’d been lying here, doing–

“My work!” he suddenly remembered.

“Oh, don’t you worry about that!” the nurse said, shaking her head. “I think that nice Mr. Lan has taken care of all that.”

She checked her watch.

“It’s almost time for him to visit, too. Such a nice young man, if only youngsters nowadays were a little more like him.”

She sighed, patted Wei Ying’s arm again, and then left, hopefully to tell someone else that he had gained consciousness again.

Wei Ying sighed and stared at the ceiling. He wasn’t sure what the nurse had meant with “that nice Mr. Lan,” because he didn’t know anyone with the last name Lan. Certainly no one who would visit him at the hospital. Had she gotten his visitor’s name wrong? He tried to think of a different possibility, but couldn’t think of anyone. Wen Ning was away. And Jiang Cheng still wasn’t speaking to him, not to mention that no one in their right mind would ever call Jiang Cheng a ‘nice young man’ if they had spent more than 30 seconds in his presence.

He wasn’t kept in suspense about the identity of his visitor for very long, though. Only minutes after the nurse had left, the door opened again, and through came a man that Wei Ying had never seen in his life. He would have definitely remembered meeting him, Wei Ying was sure, because the man was a devastating combination of tall, handsome and well-dressed. Very memorable. Even in his current drugged-up state.

The man hesitated for one small moment when he saw Wei Ying looking at him, but then continued his progress through the room with a measured pace, finally arriving at Wei Ying’s bedside. He did not speak, but silently placed several items onto Wei Ying’s bedside table. Wei Ying saw a book, what looked to be some healthy snacks, as well as… his phone? It looked terribly beaten up, but a traffic accident might do that to a phone. He should probably be glad if it still worked.

The stranger must have noticed the direction of his gaze, for he finally opened his mouth.

“I have taken the liberty of contacting you place of work.”

“Thank you,” Wei Ying said, sending the stranger an ironic smile. “What I’d rather like to know, though… who are you?”

The stranger bowed slightly, as if to apologise for his rudeness.

“Lan Zhan,” he said. “I was the one… who hit you with my car.”

“Oh, I see,” Wei Ying said, several things suddenly becoming clear to him. “This is a ‘I’m feeling guilty’ visit. Don’t worry about that. It’s fine. I’ll be out of here in no time.”

The stranger, Lan Zan, frowned at Wei Ying’s words.

“It is not guilt that has made me come here,” he said.

Then he was silent again. Wei Ying waited for a moment, but when nothing else happened, he raised his eyebrows at Lan Zhan, encouraging him to go on. Lan Zhan looked as if he’d rather do anything else than open his mouth again, but eventually, thanks to Wei Ying’s pathetic wheedling, he conceded.

“The one responsible for your accident was the driver who suddenly came out of a side street and nearly ran you over,” Lan Zhan explained. “You ended up in front of my car because you were trying to escape his path of collision. He also crashed into my car, nearly hitting you a second time. I have no guilt to speak of, but I am grateful that you survived. I was worried, however, when your family could not be contacted.”

“Oh, uh, well,” Wei Ying stuttered. “Honestly, that shouldn’t be any concern to you. I’ll be fine. My family… well, it doesn’t matter.”

“Your family should care for you if you are injured.”

There was a stubborn set around Lan Zhan’s mouth, and Wei Ying suddenly found himself smiling. He wasn’t sure if he should call it fortune or misfortune, but this Lan Zhan was clearly an incredibly stiff man with very strict notions of propriety, to the point where he involved himself into the affairs of others.

“Ah, Lan-gege,” Wei Ying sighed. “Not to say I’m not very grateful for your help, which I am, but let me assure you that you have officially fulfilled your obligations and are free to leave. You have already done more than I can ask for. If it is as you say, I have no ill feelings towards you. Feel free to go on with your life, and sorry about the car. I think I need to sleep again, I feel very tired.”

He was, in fact, feeling very tired, and it was getting harder to keep his eyes open by the minute.

Lan Zhan seemed to realise that that was the case. He said his goodbyes, but before he left the room, he announced, “I will come again.”

Wei Ying wanted to object, but Lan Zhan was already gone, and Wei Ying’s eyes were closing.

---

The next few days passed in the monotony of sleeping, check-ups by doctors and nurses, terrible hospital meals, and occasional visits from Lan Zhan.

As handsome as he might have been, at first Wei Ying really didn’t want Lan Zhan to come back again. He quickly learned to be grateful for his frequent visits, however. Staying in the hospital was extremely boring, even with the books that Lan Zhan brought him, and everything was much better once he trained Lan Zhan to bring him spicy snacks.

After a few excessively boring days in bed (more than he cared for, certainly), he was finally allowed to walk around a little in order to regain his strength, and Lan Zhan would take him outside into the garden whenever he visited. Wei Ying was extremely grateful for that, since the nurses didn’t allow him to go alone.

Wei Ying quickly learned on their little excursions that Lan Zhan rarely spoke, but was an extremely attentive listener who would prove said attention in the most unexpected moments. It was almost shocking sometimes; Wei Ying would ramble on about something, and Lan Zhan would suddenly say one thing or another that made clear he had been paying attention when most people would have tuned out already. It was… flattering, to say the least. To have someone pay attention to him so much. Definitely something Wei Ying could get used to.

Lan Zhan was also very attentive to Wei Ying’s physical state. More than once, when Wei Ying felt his own strength lagging, he suddenly found Lan Zhan’s hand at his elbow, steadily and unobtrusively making sure that he didn’t fall over his own clumsy feet. Lan Zhan seemed to know that he needed support almost before Wei Ying himself realised it.

Normally, he would complain about being thought a weakling, but if Wei Ying were honest, he would admit that sometimes, he really needed the support. And well… he couldn’t really bring himself to mind being spoiled by a handsome man. If he were really honest, he would confess that he simply liked Lan Zhan’s hands on him, and any excuse that provided him with an opportunity was good enough, even if he had to play up his weakness.

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said when they were on one of their garden excursions one day, eating little cups of mango panna cotta that Lan Zhan had brought with him today on a bench. “I will be released tomorrow. You don’t have to visit me here any longer after today.”

“Hn,” Lan Zhan agreed. “What time?”

“Around ten, I think? Why do you ask?”

“I will pick you up.”

Wei Ying sighed deeply and swallowed the last spoonful of dessert.

“Lan Zhan, ah, Lan Zhan. I can ask a friend to pick me up. You shouldn’t do so many things for me. If you are too nice, people will end up misunderstanding. Well, I will end up misunderstanding. You wouldn’t want that to happen, now would you?”

He directed his best salacious grin at Lan Zhan.

“Nn,” Lan Zhan replied noncommittally. “I will pick you up.”

Wei Ying stared at Lan Zhan for a moment. Could it be that Lan Zhan was that thick? That he didn’t realise what Wei Ying was getting at? Did he have to spell it out for Lan Zhan? That he meant misunderstanding in the sense of kissing and possibly getting naked with each other?

“Lan Zhan, I’m serious,” Wei Ying complained, tugging at Lan Zhan’s sleeve to make him look at him properly. “I will misunderstand.”

Lan Zhan looked at him, and it struck Wei Ying again how beautiful Lan Zhan’s eyes were. He had thought that Lan Zhan was pretty much expressionless when they first got to know each other, but that had been patently untrue. His perpetually serious eyes were the source of so much deeply felt emotion. Everything Lan Zhan felt, he felt with his entire heart. So when Lan Zhan looked at him, Wei Ying automatically felt his pulse speed up and his cheeks start to grow hot. That was the effect Lan Zhan had on anyone he really directed his attention towards.

“I will pick you up,” Lan Zhan repeated once again. Stubbornly, insistently. Mulishly.

Without breaking their line of sight even once. Just serious. And steady.

“Oh,” Wei Ying whispered.

Oh. Lan Zhan didn’t want him to misunderstand. Lan Zhan wanted him to understand.

Wei Ying shot up from the bench they had been sitting on and walked over to the trash can close by, to throw away his empty cup of panna cotta. Lan Zhan followed him, throwing his own cup into the trash. As he did it, he looked about as disquieted as Lan Zhan ever did, but right now, Wei Ying was unable to handle anything.

Could he be right? Did Lan Zhan – that Lan Zhan –

As he stood there, he slightly tilted to the side – and there he was, Lan Zhan was right at his side, steadying him. But right now, Wei Ying didn’t want to be steadied. He leaned further into Lan Zhan’s side, putting most of his weight on Lan Zhan right until his head a found a home in the crook of Lan Zhan’s neck.

“Ah, Lan Zhan,” he sighed. “Taking advantage of the weak and injured, I see. Do you always flirt like that? Picking people up at the hospital?”

He looked up at Lan Zhan and smiled.

Lan Zhan didn’t answer, but one of his arms most definitely found its way around Wei Ying’s waist, holding him securely to Lan Zhan’s side. It was… intimate.

It was answer enough.

“This is the part where you’re supposed to say ‘No, Wei Ying is the only one for me,’” Wei Ying pouted.

“Wei Ying is the only one for me,” Lan Zhan intoned seriously.

Wei Ying had to bury his face in his hands and scream a little.

“You can’t say things like that out of the blue!” he complained. “My poor, beaten body won’t be able to take it!”

Then he peeked out between the gaps between his fingers, up at Lan Zhan.

“Say it again.”

 (When Lan Zhan picked him up the next day, he received a kiss for his efforts.)

(One kiss, or many.)

(Who was going to count.)

#kuro writes #the untamed #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #mdzs #mdzs headcanons #well not really #sweat #enter21

[shurisneakers]

shut in [3]

Summary: When your high profile mission goes terribly wrong, you’re forced to hide in a safehouse with a man you’ve never met before. With seemingly nowhere else to go, you’re forced to work together to figure out who is trying to have you assassinated before it’s too late. (Sam Wilson x Reader, Hitman AU)

Warnings: cursing, implied abuse, ptsd, fighting over beds

Word count: 2.2k

A/N: every part i introduce more anonymous characters smh. i also appreciate feedback so if you would like to, please consider dropping me an ask or comment ly guys!! also if you want to be on the taglist, it’s mentioned at the bottom of the chapter.

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous Part || Shut In Masterlist

“Don’t make me shoot you, Wilson.”

“It doesn’t have to end this way, agent.”

“How’s it looking out there?”

“There’s been some talk. Apparently Serpentine isn’t very happy that their intel is dead. They’ve got people looking out for you everywhere.”

A frown adorned your face. Sam was leaning forward on his arms, head turned down as he listened to Ransone.

“How dangerous is it?”

“I would say that everyone’s a little wound up. Best not to go anywhere even a little populated.”

“Noted.” It would blow over in a while. The media coverage of Pierce’s assassination would die down with the changing news cycle soon.

“I can have someone pick you up wherever you are. Just tell me where.” 

“Don’t bother. We won’t be here for too long,” you responded, Sam nodding in agreement. Once it quietened down you could leave, go back to Ransone without blowing your cover.

“Whatever makes you happy. Just let me know when you’re out.”

The click of the call ending took with it the only noise in the room.

Sam picked up the phone to remove the battery, discarding it to maintain your security. Burner phones were useful, but you didn’t want to take any chances.

“Wait,” you cut in, holding your hand out for it, “I need to make another call.”

The both of you were seated at the dining table. A piece of paper lay in front of you, playing the dangerous role of being the mediator. 

You were trying to ration out your supplies and create a schedule as a way of finding middle ground. Things were more or less calm for the last two days, but the fight over the bedroom was wading into territory that could only be solved by a good old middle school fistfight.

Currently you were figuring out a meal plan so that you could establish some kind of routine. With bread as the only uniting factor, the other three components were going on a rotation. You had reached all the way till Saturday before running out of possible combinations.

“I’m just saying-”

“Don’t.”

“We’ve exhausted all edible options, it’s the only combination left-”

“I will not hesitate to fatally wound you.” You were only half kidding. The ridiculousness of the ideas he was proposing was entertaining, and you knew he wasn’t being serious. It was hard to catch a moment where he was. 

“Fine. But in case we get to the point where peanut butter and jelly is the only thing that’s left, don’t say I didn’t tell you so.”

“I would rather die than shovel spoonfuls of plain jelly and peanut butter into my mouth.”

“Your survival game is weak,” he chided, tsk-tsking at you.

You only rolled your eyes at him, moving on to the next subject.

Bed.

“Easy, we just alternate days. You got the last two days, so I get the next two and then we just switch everyday.” Sam eased back in his chair, arms crossed behind his head leisurely.

“How long do you think we’ll be here?” you asked, writing down the plan he had just presented. The bed wasn’t queen sized with memory foam or any kind of privilege like that, but it definitely beat the couch with its odd lumps and depressions.

“A week tops. Anything more is just excessive.”

“Hello,” you said, voice low, even though you were well out of earshot of Sam. He was eying you from the living room window. If he was as good as he claimed he was, he’d know how to read lips and you couldn’t afford to have him do that.

“Code?”

You turned your back to the window, facing the large trees that loomed before you. “1993. It’s me.”

“Y/N?” He sounded suspicious, a little shocked, and you understood why he would be.

“Living and breathing.” You toed at a rock that lay ahead of you.

“Word on the street is that you’re dead,” he pointed out dryly.

“Not me; Pierce. I escaped. It was a trap.” When the rock you were playing around with escaped after a particularly hard kick, you started pacing up and down instead, “Ransone put a hit out on him because he thought he was leaking information.”

“How on earth did he come to that conclusion?”

“Don’t know. He was dead before we got there.”

“Who is ‘we’? You got someone there with you?” You didn’t realise it had slipped out during your conversation. 

“Another one of our guys. Apparently I was a backup in case he didn’t show up, but he did, so now we’re stuck together.” You averted your gaze to Sam who was still observing you from the window brazenly, intently. 

“Where are you?”

“We’re safe.” 

“Alright.” He sounded like he understood, albeit not entirely convinced. “Stay low.”

“Will do.”

With that you hung up the call, dropped the phone to the ground and crushed it under your boot heel. When you were convinced that it was sufficiently useless, you turned on your heel, making your way back.

You walked back into the house, beelining to the kitchen to make up for your missed lunch, only to be greeted with Sam sitting on the couch looking at you inquisitively.

“Who was that?”

“Nobody,” you answered straightforwardly, opening the cabinet to get two slices of bread.

“If it has somethin’ to do with this situation we’re in then I need to know who you’re talking to.”

“Just drop it. It has nothing to do with you.” You found the jar of peanut butter he had already opened, using a butter knife to spread it along the bread.

“Somehow I’m finding that hard to believe.”

“Believe what you must. I’m going to take a nap,” you answered evasively, chewing absentmindedly on the sandwich you had just made. You didn’t bother to look at him as you headed towards the bedroom.

“Hey now, hold on a minute. Who said you had bedroom privileges? You’ve been using it for two days.” You stopped in your tracks, face scrunching in annoyance. “If you’re keeping vital information about my life from me, then I think I deserve to not have a fuckin’ backache when I wake up in the morning.”

You quickly weighed the pros and cons in your head, imagining how the next few minutes would pan out if you just said ‘no’ and left. But in every imaginary argument you proposed, the bottom line ended with him prodding at you until he either got the information that he wanted or the bed.

Frankly, the bed was something you were willing to sacrifice to get him to stop meddling in your business. It seemed like the only reasonable way to get him off your ass.

“Fine.” You spun around to face him. “We’re making an arrangement.”

“Whoever has the bed has to forfeit TV privileges for that day.”

“Sounds reasonable. None of those three movies can be played more than twice in a row.”

That was more to preserve your sanity than anything. You had already seen each of them once, bordering on thrice for Die Hard. Sam’s fault, not yours.

“We should have a codeword. In case there's danger or something. Or maybe if you just want to be left alone,” Sam suggested, finger pointing to the blank space left at the end of the paper. “But it’ll be like solitary confinement since it’s so fuckin’ quiet here.”

Almost on instinct your mind flashed to images of dark cells. Quiet sobs. Blood stains on the wall, originating from clawing at it. Sunlight through one small window at the top. Utter loneliness except for yourself.

You could remember the soreness in your legs from curling up into a ball for hours, rocking back and forth. The smell of drain water collecting in the basement where the cell was.

Isolation.

“You got any suggestions?”

“Huh?” You forced yourself back to the present. Your knuckles had a dull ache in them from holding the pencil too hard.

“Do you have any ideas for a codeword?” Sam repeated, looking at you intently.

“No, nothing off the top of my head.” You shook your head, trying to regain focus. You loosened your grip on the pencil, letting it fall to the table.

“We’ll just leave it at ‘Brooklyn’ for the time being.”

“Yeah, okay,” you agreed to whatever he was saying. It was just a precaution in case something major happened. It was rather unlikely that you were going to use it anyway. 

Codewords weren’t uncommon in your business, but it was mostly used for missions or other professional standings. Regardless of being less adventurous than what you tended to work on, this was work at the end of the day. 

“Is that all?”

“Yeah, I think we’re done.” His chair scraped loudly against the ground as he got up. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going out for a while. Need to shake off the possible osteoporosis.”

You didn’t bother asking where he was going, ears following his footsteps as he walked down the hall to the bedroom, probably to get his jacket that he hung up in the drawer.

You left the paper on top of the mini fridge, alongside the car keys and a few dollars you had nabbed in the hurry from Pierce’s house.

Staring around you at the silent room, you realised that there really wasn’t much to do. It wasn’t like you to have so much time on your hands. You could always go for a run or test out some of the weapons hidden here. 

You had the rest of the house to explore, plans to draw up, a post mortem to assess what went wrong on the mission, even though the last option wasn’t possible without Sam’s cooperation.

Fuck it, you decided. Couch it is.

Kicking your feet up, you grabbed the TV remote to flip to the news station. The town rarely had anything to report on but it would be worthwhile to know what exactly was available around. Possibly assimilate in the crowd in case you wanted to be hidden.

It took you a few minutes of mindless surfing through static channels till you found it. It seemed like a scene right out of a Hallmark movie; the reporter was holding a microphone to a child who looked like he understood nothing of what was going on.

You were barely paying attention as it flipped from segment to segment, other things taking precedence in your mind even though you willed yourself to relax. There really wasn’t much to make a note of other than a few good samaritans and how utterly boring the lack of content was. A few occasional glimpses of stores and other resources available in the background were the only interesting part.

You were starting to drift off by the time it reached the breaking news of the evening. Sam had already come back when the sky slipped into twilight. He barely acknowledged your form lazing on the couch, only offering you a greeting and a goodbye as he made himself his dinner to take to the room.

Your eyes were just about closing when the breaking news of that evening came in. It was all politics. People you knew from old missions waving and smiling their way to lead their country as if the dubious acts they committed behind the scenes to get there was erased.

Until you suddenly jolted awake, eyes wide open.

“Wilson. Wilson!” You hit the cushion furiously to get his attention when he didn’t respond the first time around.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

“What?” he yelled in response, mild irritation in his voice. You knew it sounded like you were shouting bloody murder even though no one was around other than you two, but you didn’t care.

“Look at this!” You couldn’t stop gawking at the screen. “Fuckin’ unbelievable.”

“What? What do you wa-” He stalked into the room, ready to tell you to stop yelling but stopped mid sentence when he finally saw what you were so concerned about.

“Reports claim that the victim was attacked early in the afternoon at his villa. Officers say they found multiple signs of a forced entry, following which he was shot dead. So far no arrests have been made but the police have since released photos of two suspects of whom, they claim, have reason to believe orchestrated the attack.”

On the right side of the screen flashed yours and Sam’s picture side by side. Old mugshots from a petty offence you committed years ago for which Ransone bailed you out.

“The pair are said to be on the run after escaping before law enforcement arrived. If you have any tips on the whereabouts of-”

You turned to look at Sam. His stare didn’t budge from the TV as they once again reminded the public what you both looked like.

Years of anonymity, working in the shadows and creeping around to avoid being recognised only to have the entire country know what you looked like.

“Well, shit,” he finally exhaled. “Somehow I think our stay here just got extended.”

Part 4

#sam x reader #sam wilson x reader #mcu fic #sam fic #sam wilson fic #sam wilson fluff #sam wilson angst #sam wilson series #falcon #falcon x reader #the falcon x reader #hitman!sam wilson #hitman!au #shut in fic #marvel fic #marvel #mcu #sam wilson #the falcon

[missskzbiased]

Eggy First Date

Summary: You can’t seem to catch a break this week. You’ve run out of eggs, visibly stained your living room carpet with grape juice, and worst of all: your laundry machine has broken down. Such an event has resulted in you awkwardly shuffling your dirty clothes to the nearest laundromat, but hey, at least the boy using the machine next to you is cute!

WC: 2,3 K

Requested: By Stayndays <3 Thank you, Buddy!

Genre: Slice of Life, Fluff, Humor (?)

AUs: College, (Implied) Classmates to Lovers, Crushes, Kinda Friends to Lovers

Pairing: Yang Jeongin X GN! Reader

Rebloggable Masterlist   //   Main Masterlist

Warnings: Mentions of food, Language (Crap/Shit)

                                                   ////

   Yep… Turns out it’s impossible to fix one’s life in a few hours.

      You should have known better than letting everything pile up like that, but now it was a little bit too late to be sorry. As your phone insisted on reminding you ─ alarm shouting for anyone to hear ─, your parents should arrive at your apartment in about two hours. It didn’t sound too bad when you put it like this, but when you think in perspective, it’s kinda easy to see why you’re screwed up…

      The first problem: You have no eggs.

     It may not sound that alarming, but you promised your mom to flex your culinary skills and bake her favorite cake as soon as she came to visit you. Funnily enough, when you tried to fix some scrambled eggs on Tuesday ─ a hopeful attempt to eat anything other than cup noodles ─ you had to drop half of them to your recently cleaned floor. In other words, not only you had to clean your floor again but you also had only four eggs to make your lunch and survive the week… Which meant you ran out of eggs by Wednesday.

      Now, you didn’t have to be a genius to know that having no eggs meant no favorite cake for your mom… And as much as having no cake didn’t sound like the end of the world, it was only the beginning. No cake meant questions, and questions meant answers, and answers meant you would have to either tell them the truth or lie to them… Unfortunately, you couldn’t tell them the truth or else you would expose your Thursday’s mistake, but we’ll get to that later.

      That being said, you were left with two options: Lie to them ─ and risk being caught ─ or buy fresh eggs to bake her a cake. It was needless to say that you went with the last one. However, by Wednesday night ─ when, despite having no eggs, you had finals to worry about ─, buying your groceries after your exams, on Friday, sounded like the perfect plan. And it kinda was… At least for the next 24H that followed it, before you managed to screw everything up on Thursday.

      The second problem: Grape juice.

      You were stressed out, alright?! You had only one more day to go with your exams and it may or may not have gotten to your head. So drinking grape juice on the couch ─ since you had no actual food to eat and have been feeding on liquids ─ while watching a 20 minutes episode of Brooklyn 99 was a good way to relax. Perhaps, you should act more like the nonfunctional college student that you were. This way, you would be studying in your room instead of missing the coffee table as you laughed; spilling your juice on the carpet.

      Of course, it couldn’t be a normal carpet that was totally replaceable… No, it had to be the very own carpet your grandma gifted to your father when he moved out… It happened to be the same one her mother gave to her when she moved out as well! Of course, it had to be this one and not the stupid carpet on your bathroom that meant absolutely nothing. It had to be the carpet your father gifted to you while saying that this new journey full of responsibilities ─ also called miserable college life ─ would be blessed by your previous generations or whatever!

     Basically, you just drowned your whole family in cheap juice that tasted like purple! Because of a joke! A joke that wasn’t even that good! It definitely wasn’t worth it.

     Whatever was the necessary skill to remove a stain from a carpet, you didn’t have it. And you didn’t have the time to learn it either. So, as a desperate student, you did the best you could: Blot the liquid with a wet cloth, pour about half of the ocean over the spot, mix the most random stuff you had, soak the carpet overnight, and go off to sleep so you wouldn’t botch your finals.

      The third problem: The Rise of the Machines. 

      When you got home after your exams ─ no eggs, ‘cause your mind was too focused on saving the carpet ─, you were still hopeful that everything was going to be okay. The Internet blessed you with the ultimate knowledge to remove any stains from a sacred carpet and you followed each step as if your life depended on it. Because it did. You did such an amazing job that the spotless area turned into a clean spot on the dirty carpet… And that, dearest friends, was the real problem.

      It was exactly 10:27 PM when you decided to shove your carpet into the washing machine and go downstairs to buy a burger on your friend’s stand. It was about 11:13 PM when you got back to your place, happily fed and unworried about your life. It took you less than a minute to have all of your happiness fading away as you saw that the foam spilled over the floor, bringing you a sad realization: Your washing machine had failed you.

     In other words, you had a damp, dirty carpet to save, a dozen eggs to buy, a cake to bake, and a lie to keep in the next… Twelve hours or something. And you needed to sleep for at least half of that time. But that was okay! Everything was fine… You had six hours to fix your entire life tomorrow, right? Yeah… Except that not really, no. Because obviously ─ how didn’t you see that coming? ─, your phone had decided to not wake you up the next morning.

     The fourth problem: Your parents.

     The two hours ahead of you could mean twenty minutes or even a second… Knowing your parents, they could be standing right in front of your door, ringing your bell and asking themselves why you weren’t home. The answer would be because you were at the laundromat next to your building, which wasn’t the cheapest one but it was the closest thing you had to a miracle right now. Well, it would be, if the washing machine actually gave a shit about your struggles.

      As the water slowly spilled over your carpet ─ instead of being gushed to soak the damn thing ─, you let your shoulders drop and a sigh escape from your lips. You didn’t know if you felt more relieved for finally having things working out or defeated for having to go through all of this. The exhausted eyes you met in your reflection were a good hint, though, and you got closer to the glass door to rest your forehead on the cold surface and take a small break. At least ─ as long as your parents didn’t arrive before the drying cycle ─, they would never know about the truth and everything should be just fine… You wouldn’t need to worry about being kicked out from the family.

      “Crap” You grumbled, mindlessly knocking your head on the door on repeat.

      “Tough day, huh?” The soft voice was familiar, but the warm hand preventing you from hitting the glass again wasn’t. You frowned before turning to check if you weren’t going crazy. To your misfortune, the cute boy smiling sympathetically at you was exactly who you thought it was “That’s bad for you” He pointed out, chuckling as he watched you snapping your head away from his hand.

      “Hey!” You blurted; face burning to the thought of him seeing you like this. Why everything had to go so wrong in your life?! Why did Jeongin have to see you wearing the most sloppy outfit you could ever wear? Your hands flew to your hair to try and fix the nest on top of your head “What’s up?” You huffed playfully; hitting his shoulder lightly in the most unnatural way that you could.

     Way to go, Y/N! Humiliate yourself in front of your crush!

     “Just washing some stuff” He shrugged, pointing to the machine next to yours, “You don’t usually come here, though… Well, at least, I never saw you here before” He mused, arching his brow “Are you following me around now?” He whispered teasingly, cupping his hand around his mouth as he smirked at you.

      “What?! No!” You panicked, widening your eyes and floundering your hands in the air “I’m not, I swear!” You insisted as he stared at you mockingly, “If anything you’re the one following me! I live nearby! Where do you live?! Is it even close?!” You defended yourself vehemently; poking his chest as you visibly lost your mind.

      “I’m joking, jeez!” He chortled, rubbing his torso “Calm down, Y/N… It’s your neighborhood, I know” He reassured you, squeezing your shoulder and chuckling as you relaxed under his touch “I was just trying to make you feel better” He explained; hand sliding to pat your back “What’s up? Did you mess up on your exams?” Jeongin asked; tone wandering around curiosity and worry.

      “No… I did just fine” You sighed; getting him to tilt his head in confusion ─ he’s so cute scrunching his nose like this! ─ while you smiled at him, getting back to your senses.

      It was just Jeongin, for Lord’s sake… He was your classmate! He had seen you look way worse than this before, if you were being honest. Which wasn’t that reassuring now that you think about it… But anyway! He had seen you drooling all over your desk, and snoring, and looking like a zombie! There was nothing to worry about… Even if he kinda is really cute and you kinda have a crush on him.

      “Wanna talk about it?” He offered friendly. Did he really have to be this kind and bubbly while smiling at you? Couldn’t he be a little bit less cute? Or just look like a normal human being while doing his laundry? Like having messy hair… Or messy clothes… Or dark circles under his eyes… Or just not look this fresh and perfect and… “Y/N?” He called unsurely, waving his hand in front of your eyes.

      “Sorry” You rushed to say, ducking your head between your shoulders “I... I mean, there’s a lot going on in my mind now” It wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t quite the truth. You were just thinking about him, but he didn’t need to know that, “Mom and Dad are going to come and visit me today… I promised to bake her a cake, but I ran out of eggs” Now you were just spilling whatever was on your mind, hm? It probably didn’t even make sense for him.

      “And you thought doing your laundry could get you some?” He joked confusedly, laughing as you pouted at him.

      “No…” You whined, kicking him lightly “I knocked my grape juice on the family’s sacred carpet… So I’m trying to make it look okay or else my dad is going to kill me” You explained further, pinching the bridge of your nose “But they’re coming and I still have to buy those damn eggs, and bake this damn cake, and wash this damn—”

     “Hey, hey” He shushed you, holding both of your shoulders to prompt you to look into his eyes. They held a thousand million stars… But that wasn’t really the point “Everything’s good, okay? Why don’t we go to buy some eggs, then you go and bake your cake?” He suggested calmly, massaging your skin as he smiled reassuringly “I can take care of your laundry… Mine is here anyway” He chuckled, seeing the way your eyes lit up to his plan “I can get it to your house before they get there… They’ll never know” He promised.

      “No way” You chirped; hands jolting to his face and grabbing his cheeks firmly “Jeongin” You said seriously; eyes unwavering as you stared right into his “You’re my hero” You stated matter-of-factly, enticing a wide grin from him “I owe you my life, I mean it” You concluded, quickly letting go of his face.

     What were you doing?!     

     “Ask me on a date and we’re even” He joked.

      “Don’t be silly” You rolled your eyes, pretending not to be affected by his friendly banter.

      “Fair enough… So go out with me on a date and we’re even” He smirked; eyes glinting amusedly as you let your mouth fall agape to his request. You took a while to react properly, and the growing silence seemed to get into Jeongin’s head, “I mean… I’d like to if that’s okay with you…” He shrugged, gulping down nervously “I’ve been wanting to… I was going to ask… I was just waiting for…” He floundered, clearing his throat to make it less obvious.

      “Well, if it makes us even…” You fought back your smile, watching as his anxiety dissolved into relief before he beamed at you “I guess I’d love to go on a date with you...” He laughed wholeheartedly, taking your hands in his “What about next week?” You suggested coyly, enjoying the warmth of his touch.

      “What about now?” He grinned like a fox.

      “Have you listened to what I said before?” You chortled “I have to buy some eggs and –” You began to enumerate on your fingers, but he giggled playfully, interrupting you.

      “You know what’s funny?” He smirked “My dream was to buy some eggs with you as a first date… I don’t think we’ll ever get this chance again” The corner of his lips twitched; dimples showing as he looked fondly at you “Shall we?” He asked in mocking politeness, extending his arm for you to take.

      “I must say you have such a weird taste…” You hummed, studying his extended arm amusedly “But you’re cute, so it’s all forgiven” You shrugged, chuckling as he locked his arm with yours and took the lead to find a grocery store nearby.

#skz fanfics #skz x reader #skz fluff #kpopcatalog #districtninewriters #stray kids fanfics #jeongin x reader #stray kids fluff #stray kids x reader #skz scenarios #skz imagines #stray kids scenarios #stray kids imagines #jeongin fanfic #jeongin fluff #jeongin imagines #jeongin scenarios

[pink-flame]

14 and 69 for Juke 😊

So I’m pretty sure I was only supposed to describe how I would write these combinations but where’s the fun in that? So I just went ahead and wrote it. Also someone else requested one that includes the bodyguard prompt so there will be a part 2 soonish. Enjoy! 💜

Bodyguard AU + Flirting under fire

Julie sighed for the third time in the last two minutes.

“Can you stop that?”

The exasperated voice expressing annoyance with her impatience was her best friend/assistant Alex. They’d been best friends since middle school and when Julie’s music career started to take off everyone had tried to convince them that working together was a disaster waiting to happen. She had worked herself up over how her being his boss would ruin everything until she finally told him how worried she was.

“Won’t you feel, I don’t know demeaned, being my assistant?”

“Jules, I’ll be assisting you to survive which you’ll never do without me. Stop overthinking.”

And five years later she was a lot better at that. She was a 22 year old successful musician, her second album and first national tour right around the corner. Unlike when they were 17 she had learned her best results always came when she was able to listen to her instincts and go with the flow.

Unless she was waiting in the lobby of her label waiting for her new bodyguard to show up. A bodyguard who was officially late, a fact that she didn’t hesitate to inform Alex of.

“By like 2 minutes, chill,” He insisted, tapping away on his phone probably arranging the rest of her day as his thumbs flew over the screen.

“Alex, if my bodyguard is late I could end up dead,” She reminded him.

“Someone’s feeling dramatic today,” Alex looked up and nodded toward the other side of the lobby. “Maybe that’s him.”

Julie turned to look and instantly shook her head.

“No way. There’s no such thing as a cute bodyguard.”

Alex raised an eyebrow at her confident statement.

“I’m pretty sure that’s just a harmful bodyguard stereotype.”

Julie wasn’t so sure. In her experience bodyguards tended to be stoic, middle aged men built like linebackers. This guy on the other hand was young, probably within a year or two of her, with shaggy hair and a bouncy energy visible even from across the room. It was true that even through his vintage band tee she could see that he was kind of ridiculously muscular but so was her personal trainer and she wouldn’t want Dante standing between her and a crazed stalker.

She stood by her first assessment though. He was definitely cute.

He was also looking around the room, his eyes landing on her and a perfect smile stretching across his face.

“You’re uh, not bodyguard is heading this way,” Alex observed.

Julie could see that.

“Are you Julie Molina?” He asked as he came to a stop directly in front of her. “I’m Luke, your new bodyguard. Nice to meet you.”

“You’re my new bodyguard?” She repeated incredulously. “And you’re not sure who I am?”

Luke shrugged, his smile seemingly unaffected by her borderline rude response.

“I was pretty sure. And your label wanted to hire someone who could blend in more easily, offer you some protection without ruining your image as approachable.”

“Oh,” Julie turned to Alex who was watching the exchange with interest. “Did you know about this?”

Her best friend smirked.

“They may have mentioned something.”

Julie was starting to feel as though she had been set up. She turned back to Luke who was still rocking slightly on his heels, standing still not seeming to be his thing. He really did not seem like the type who could intimidate an attacker but he did seem like the type who would be really distracting to have standing around if he was going to keep smiling at her like that.

So she was in trouble in multiple ways.

She did her best to keep her face neutral when she spoke again.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you too, Luke. Everyone on my team is hired on a trial basis, so we’ll see how it goes ok?”

Luke reached up to salute.

“Ok, boss. Where we headed?”

Julie definitely did not find his insistence on being casual paired with that hard to place accent attractive. Definitely not.

Lucky for her, his attractiveness was soon offset by his ability to drive her absolutely crazy. Other than Alex he was by her side more than anyone over the next few months. He followed her to recording sessions, he followed her to music video shoots, and he followed her to fan meet and greets. But he was expected to follow her on personal excursions too and he seemed incapable of doing so silently. He made running commentary on the groceries she bought (always late at night to lower the chances of being recognized). He gave her unsolicited tips on what weights she should be lifting while she worked out. And worst of all was his insistence on giving her unasked for feedback on her music.

He wasn’t familiar with her work at all, or at least he never showed a hint of recognition when she brought up her previous songs or album. But he had a lot of opinions on what she was working on now.

“You know if you added some echoes in the chorus that song could be sick,” He remarked one day as he escorted her home after a long studio session.

Julie groaned and let her head flop back on the seat of the car they were currently being driven in.

“And you know your job is to keep me alive, not actually to critique my musical choices, right?”

He shrugged.

“I’m a good multitasker.”

And the most annoying part was he was always right. At least about the music. He seemed to always sense when she was stuck and somehow pipe up with the exact thing she needed to hear to get the music flowing again. Suggesting a tweak to a lyric or humming a guitar riff he thought she should try. It got to the point where she sometimes sought out his opinion before he could offer it on his own. He was clearly a musician as well as the world’s most unorthodox bodyguard.

He made her a better writer and if the way he grinned when he particularly liked one of her ideas was any indication, she thought she might make him better too.

She wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of saying that out loud though.

So they went on like that for a few more months. Julie never brought up his trial period again and he continued to both annoy and intrigue her daily. So far he hadn’t actually had to do much protecting though. He had helped her escape a few overly excited twelve year olds once but that was about it.

Until it wasn’t.

Julie had heard plenty of stories about celebrities whose over enthusiastic fans had crossed the line to full on stalking. She just never thought it would happen to her. She always felt so close to her fans, so connected by the music she made for them. But when she came home one day and found the door to her condo ajar she realized she may have been a little naive.

She knew she should wait for Luke, he had been held up in the lobby checking in with the building security but he should be right behind her. He always did a sweep before leaving her for the evening. But it wouldn’t be the first time she had neglected to lock her own door when she left. She had so much on her mind right now. Maybe...maybe she had left it open?

She had the whole top floor of the building to herself, you needed a special key to even get up here in the elevator. It was hard to believe someone else had managed that.

Julie eased through the slightly open door and hesitated a few steps inside. Everything seemed normal maybe…

Then she heard it. Someone was in her bedroom and it sounded like they were going through her drawers. Her stomach sank. Should she run for the door? Or would that alert whoever was in there and send them after her?

Suddenly there was a presence behind her and Julie was just on the brink of letting out an involuntary yell when a familiar hand came down to grip her shoulder.

“Shhh,” Luke whispered directly into her ear. “Come on.”

He guided her backwards to one of her closets and pulled them inside quickly, somehow managing to pull the door closed behind them soundlessly. Julie’s heart thumped wildly in her chest as she tried to keep her breathing silent. Luke positioned himself between her and the closet door, keeping one hand on her shoulder and the other resting over his belt.

Did he have a knife hidden under that band tee? A gun? Why had she never asked any questions about how exactly he was prepared to protect her before?

Still. She had to admit she felt as safe with him as she would with anyone. All of the characteristic movement she associated with Luke had drained out of him, leaving him incredibly still but still thrumming with focused energy. He was listening at the door and she could see his brain cycling through calculations of what he would do next. She had a sudden fear of him leaving her, even if it was in an attempt to defend her.

She reached out without thinking and grabbed for his hand that had been resting on her shoulder and wrapped it in hers, holding on for dear life.

He glanced back at their linked hands and then up to her face offering her a soft smile that felt more like the Luke she knew. Somehow just that was enough to let her breaths come a little easier.

“You’re ok,” He whispered.

She nodded but didn’t drop his hand.

“Did you see them? Are they armed?”

He nodded once and Julie swallowed hard.

“Just stay put for a second,” Luke whispered again. “Backup is on the way and I’ve got you.”

Julie nodded. She believed him.

She focused on keeping her breathing steady and quiet. Soon she had calmed down enough to realize just how close they were to each other. It was a small closet just meant to toss a coat or two into when you walked in the door. Julie considered herself lucky that she hadn’t gotten around to putting anything in this particular closet or she would have been smothered by fabric right now. As it stood she was seated on the ground pressed directly up against Luke where he crouched against the door, their bodies touching in just about every way they could be.

This was not the time to be thinking about how big his eyes looked from this close or how those little bits of his hair that flipped up were tickling her cheek or how he smelled really, really good.

It wasn’t the time but that didn’t stop her from thinking about all of it.

Fear did strange things to people, ok?

Only it wasn’t just the fear because she had definitely noticed all of those things before. They just hadn’t been quite so in her face. Literally.

“Thanks,” He whispered, amusement clear in his hushed tone.

Julie snapped back to reality.

“For what?” She whispered back.

“You said I smell good. Really, really good,” He replied leaning in even closer so he could say it directly into her ear.

Julie froze in mortification.

“I didn’t.”

“You did.”

“No, that didn’t happen.”

He leaned back as far as he could go which wasn’t far and smiled before reaching up with his free hand to push a curl away from her face.

“Whatever you say, boss,” He said with his most annoying smirk.

Only she wasn’t annoyed. At all.

Trouble.

She had known he would be trouble.

Suddenly a floorboard creaked directly in front of the closet and Julie dropped his hand so she could slap her own over her mouth and muffle the whimper that tried to escape.

Luke was suddenly all business again, raising his finger to shush her before reaching for the door handle. Before she could react he had yanked the door open and was leaping out.

Julie thought she might have screamed but she wasn’t sure. She heard a scuffle but kept her eyes squeezed tightly shut, afraid to open them and see Luke hurt and her stalker coming straight for her.

A few long seconds later she heard the sound of the police arriving at the same time that a hand landed softly on her arm. She flinched slightly and opened her eyes to see Luke staring down at her, thoroughly out of breath but seemingly unscathed.

“You ok?” He asked.

She nodded and allowed him to pull her to her feet and lead her out of the closet. Thankfully the police had already hauled away whoever had been in her apartment but there were a couple of officers taking notes and speaking into their radios.

One approached them where Luke was keeping her upright with an arm around her shoulder.

“You’re a very lucky lady, Miss Molina. He was unarmed and your boyfriend had him in a heck of a headlock when we got here.”

Julie blushed.

“He’s not my...wait. The guy was unarmed?”

She looked up at Luke with a look that clearly demanded answers.

“He had a pen,” He shrugged as though the significance should have been obvious.

It was not.

“A pen?” She repeated. “You made me think he had a gun!”

“Hey, do you know how many ways someone can kill you with a pen?” Luke insisted. “Spoiler alert, it’s a lot.”

The cop looked back and forth between them with confused amusement.

“Well, we’ll leave you to it. We’ll check in with your building security and try to figure out how he got in. In the meantime you might want to look into hiring some protection.”

Julie felt Luke bristle next to her and couldn’t help but smile smugly.

“You’re right, I might.”

Then they were alone and Luke was moving through each room, checking for himself to see that everything was as it should be.

Eventually on his third check, Julie grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop.

“Thank you, Luke. For everything. As much as it pains me to say it...you were amazing today.”

He grinned, and suddenly he was the Luke who followed her around and annoyed her with how right he was about everything again.

“Yeah, well, you’re amazing everyday, Boss. So I guess we’re even.”

Julie could feel herself blushing again.

Trouble.

She was in so much trouble.

#trope prompt game #fanfiction #juke #jatp #my fics

[kaisooficrec]

hello!! any new Kaisoo war aus? but please with a happy ending, my heart can't stand unhappy Kaisoo :(

Hey! I'm happy there are so many quality war au, many are very elaborated and intense too :) check these out:

Through Fire and Ashes - 84k but LISTEN. this is absolutely gold zombie but also very survival/war au with the zombies. this feels like watching a movie but in a fic form. it's happy ending, but will have you on the edge of your seat like the entire story!

Night Flower - historical, also smut. When the war is over Jongin is set to find the nameless prostitute he used to sleep with in his sleepless nights.

Stolen Sunrise - oh maybe look away because this is sad hdsfjsdf but omg i love it :( very memorable plot. kaisoo are basically prisoners planning to escape

High Tides - damn, another sad sad story. also 105k!!! In the middle of a cold war, Kyungsoo gives Jongin the longest summer of his life. warning for ptsd, violence

Sitting on the Fence - swing kids au inspo!!! korean war au, also enemies to friends (no romance) kaisoo encountering on the camp

We Will Wait for You - drabble, Minseok and Kyungsoo get drafted into the war and have to leave their family behind (mpreg)

Kyungsoo is home - different authors, but unintentionally matches with the fic above haha. military/war au, he's back after leaving jongin with a child in his womb, family reunion, emotional smut

We Will Get Through This (kaisoo) - war au and historical,Jongin and Kyungsoo have loved each other very much since they were children. Suddenly a war starts and interrupts their young love and Jongin feels obliged to join the war and help defend his country and his love. age swap

of letters and espionage -ww 2 au. when kyungsoo's husband dies, he doesn't ever expect to see him again. when he takes matters into his own hands, fate proves him otherwise. secret identity, espionage

The Curse of Stars - historical, set in ancient china, Jongin fled his village in the flames of war, being the only survivor among his family. He then became a soldier in the chinese army

A Star to the Promise Jar - korean war setting. they're a family with a child and jongin promised kyungsoo to return home safely from the war.

Save Yourself - 68k, War is raging, and Kyungsoo is stuck in a race against time as he works on a spell that could save them all. But he can’t do it alone. with cat hybrid!jongin, fantasy and a different take on wizard/magic.

BITP - war au but with a plot twist - definitely happy ending :) multiple pairings, old lj drabble!

find previous war au here (or click the 'r:military au' tag below if you're reading on your phone :)

- Admin J

#kaisoo #sookai #kadi #dika #fic request #r:military au #admin j

[therealvalkyrie]

What Could’ve Been Without the War

Pairing/setting: Jean Kirschtein x Female!Reader, modern!AU within the Walls, set after the War; canon divergent w/ modern tech

Summary: You and Jean embark on your weekly trip to the grocery store.

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: equal parts angst and fluff, idiots to idiots, mutual pining, unsatisfying ending (i’m so sorry)

AN: Surprise Jean! I hope you are all having a wonderful Friday evening and that I don’t ruin it too much with angst. This piece started out as a super fluffy drabble involving grocery store shenanigans and kinda....uh....got away from me. Ahem. It was also originally intended as a 157 follower cool prime number thank you! I think we’re up to 180-something now, but we can still count it. Big thanks yet again to the love of my life @ghostlightprincess for her edits and encouragements:) Please come let me know what you think in my DMs/askbox/comments!!  ~valkyrie

Jean opens on the third knock on his apartment door, already shrugging on a jacket. He greets you with a short “hi” and receives the kiss you plant on his cheek out of habit.

“You ready?” You’re practically bouncing on the balls of your feet, car keys jingling off of the magenta key ring looped around your finger. It’s cute, and he finds himself matching your enthusiasm with a grin of his own.

“Almost,” he replies, reaching back to his coat rack to grab a scarf. “Honestly, I still don’t understand why you’re always so excited for the grocery store.”

He looks back to catch you rolling your eyes. “I don’t understand why you’re not. A grocery store is a magical place, with all of the cheesecake and ice cream you could ever wish for!”

He chuckles and joins you in the hallway, leaning down to lock his door behind him. “Need I remind you that you’re lactose intolerant?”

“That’s what Lactaid is for, stupid. Come on!” He lets you pull him down the hall, your small gloved hand in his big one. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Croft!” you greet his elderly neighbor as you pass her open door, sticking your head in with a wide smile. “You need anything from the store? Jean and I are just on our way.”

Jean stands beside you awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with his shrewd neighbor. You haven’t let go of his hand and he can feel a blush working its way up his neck. 

“No, that’s alright, honey, I just went this morning.”

“Okay! Well, let us know if you think of anything!”

“Thank you, dear.”

“Have a good afternoon, ma’am,” Jean chips in as you wave. 

“You kids have fun.”

The next second, you’re pulling him away again and he misses the way Mrs. Croft chuckles knowingly and looks back to her knitting. 

—

“What’s next on the list?” Your voice drifts down the aisle back to him, and Jean pauses in pushing the cart to shuffle the papers in his hands. 

“Umm… AP flour, vanilla extract,” shuffle, shuffle, “brown sugar, olive oil, yeast.”

You hum in acknowledgment and he watches as you flit from shelf to shelf, gathering items in your arms. He pushes the cart up to join you.

You dump everything in haphazardly, and he sighs, leaning down to straighten it all out into categories.

“What’s next?” You’re already halfway down the rest of the aisle again, gazing up longingly at the Oreos on the top shelf.

God, she’s cute.

He joins you, reaches up to pluck a pack of Double Stuf off of the shelf, and wordlessly places it in your section of the cart, suppressing a smile of his own as you grin up at him.

“You sure know how to treat a girl right, Jean-bo.” You reach up to ruffle his mullet. 

“Don’t call me that,” he grumbles, ducking away and flushing red like a smitten schoolboy. “Next is the frozen aisle.”

—

“Was it the lasagna that she liked last time? Or the shepherd’s pie?”

“The lasagna.” He accepts three frozen dinners as you pass them over from where you’re leaning past the glass freezer door.

“Hey,” he looks up sharply at your soft call to see you staring down the aisle like you’ve seen a ghost, hand still holding the glass door open. He follows your gaze and sees him just as you say, “It’s Erwin.”

It’s not, but Jean’s heart twists all the same at the resemblance the stranger carries. Same neatly parted blonde hair, broad shoulders. But he’s shorter, still has both arms. And he’s alive. 

“It’s not, sweetheart,” he murmurs, reaching to wrap an arm around your shoulders.

“It is, look he—” you insist until the man turns and instead of the Commander’s piercing blue gaze you’re met with brown eyes that flick between you and Jean in confusion. “Oh.” Your face falls and you allow the door to close, turning into Jean’s side.

“You alright?” He tilts his head to catch your expression. It’s pure pain, mouth twitching into a frown and eyes unfocused. Your hand comes up to grip the bottom of his jacket, and after a second he can see you physically force your face back to neutral. 

“Fine,” you nod. He knows you’re faking, that it’s a survival tactic, so he lets it go for now, only steps back to let you in between his body and the cart. 

“Up you go,” he prompts you to step up, feet on the bottom shelf and hands clutching the bar. He starts to push as you ride, walking first then running down the aisle until you finally throw your head back and laugh genuinely. 

He misses the exasperated look an employee gives him as the pair of you whizz past, too preoccupied with your smile.

—

“What do you need three dozen eggs for, anyway?” you ask incredulously, nevertheless opening each carton to inspect before handing them over. 

“They’re a good source of protein,” he defends. “Plus, you always end up running out and coming to me to complain. Ran me dry last time.”

Another playful eye roll. “It’s only ‘cause I messed up my brownies! And I needed them to entice the landlord to finally fix my heater.”

“Your heater’s been broken?”

“Well, it’s not anymore. Espresso brownies work wonders, I’ll have you know.”

You’re trying to brush it off as you normally do when he worries, but the thought of you shivering and blue-lipped keeps him pushing. “How long did you not have heat for? It’s February!”

“Not the point, Jean-bo!” You poke at his cheek and twirl away towards the cheese. 

“It definitely is the point. Come to me next time and I’ll fix it.”

“And lose my deposit?” You scoff, reaching for mozzarella. “Fat chance.”

“Freeze, then.”

You grin back at him. “Why d’you think I came over so much last weekend?”

“Is that all I am to you? A hot water bottle in your time of need?” He feigns hurt, but some pride swells in his chest that he kept you warm, after all. 

“And a cute one, at that. Think fast!”

His hand flashes up to catch the mozzarella you toss deftly. 

“You wound me.”

“Eh, builds character. What’s next?”

Shuffle, shuffle. “Wine and flowers.”

—

Jean watches as you bounce in the driver’s seat, hands almost dainty on the wheel, leaning forward to stare resolutely out the windshield at the darkening road. You’re singing along to some song he doesn’t know that’s playing from the stereo.

It’s so familiar, this Saturday evening ritual with you, and it wraps Jean up like the softest blanket. He knows why you’re always so excited about grocery shopping, and it’s not the cheesecake — it’s the way this routine has centered itself in both your lives. He feels it too, the semblance of normalcy, of domesticity, that you’ve cobbled together with him in between hard weeks and harder nights.

You navigate the bends and odd intersections of his old suburban neighborhood with ease, having driven to his house maybe thousands of times since you were teens. The elementary school passes, then the vet clinic, until finally, your old black sedan pulls into his mom’s driveway alongside her silver minivan.

You shift to neutral and yank on the parking brake habitually, then turn off the car and settle back into your seat.

You’re both quiet for a moment: you staring out the window lost in thought, Jean checking the time on his phone.

“Jean?”

“Hm?”

“Do you ever regret enlisting so young?” This catches his attention, turning sharply to look at your contemplative profile.

“Never. It was the right thing to do.” He’s resolute in this conviction, always. The War had seemed to be at its worst when you’d joined up, driven by the promise of Wall Maria’s reclamation and impassioned by your comrades’ fury. It had been the only choice, in his view.

“I do, sometimes,” you admit quietly, eyes downcast to where your fingers twist in your lap. “Maybe then my head wouldn’t be so messed up,” you laugh dryly and tap your temple, then shoot him a sideways glance. “And maybe—” you cut yourself off.

“Maybe what?”

“Never mind.” You’re out of the car so fast Jean almost questions if you moved at all. It reminds him of your natural grace on the ODM gear, how you’d whoop and holler as you hurtled past him among the trees during training. He wonders for a moment when your agility turned from a source of joy to an escape mechanism, then stops himself. He knows exactly when that happened.

—

The grocery store tulips thankfully survived their ordeal in the trunk of your car, bright against Ma Kirschtein’s tile kitchen backsplash as you arrange them in her favorite vase. After a minute of fussing, you take a step back, give a nod of satisfaction, and scoop up the trimmed stems off the counter. The rest of the groceries are already put away, organized so she can reach them without trouble.

It’s as you’re stepping on the trash can pedal to open its lid that the voices from the living room catch your ear. You pause, smiling as mother and son converse.

“Have you been eating enough, Jean-bo? You look so skinny….”

“Ma, I—”

“What am I saying, of course you haven’t. You’d waste away to nothing if you were left to your own devices. I’m so glad that darling girl is there to look after you.”

“Ma, she’s not my keeper—”

“When are you two getting married, again? I could’ve sworn I wrote it down in my book, but I looked the other day and couldn’t find the date anywhere.” She sounds serious. Confused, even, not a hint of teasing in her tone. Must be an off day. A symptom of her early-onset dementia.

“Ma, we’re not even together.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’ve been together since high school.” She’s so convinced, so sure, and you squeeze your eyes tight against the reality that you and Jean have only ever been friends. In the adolescent insecurity of high school, in the intensity of military training, in the fucking heat of battle, all you’ve ever shared is friendship.

“Ma, I don’t think… I don’t even think she—” He pauses and your ears strain in the silence to catch his last quiet phrase. “She doesn’t think of me that way.”

You just know, you can tell, he only says it like that to ease her confusion. It’s the opposite, really, he doesn’t think of you that way. Before you can hear more sideways rejection, you toss the flower stems and make a beeline for the bathroom.

—

“What was that movie you were telling me to watch, again?” You ask around a mouthful of spaghetti with sauce fresh from the jar, covering your mouth with one hand.

The pair of you are eating shoulder-to-shoulder on the floor of your apartment two floors above Jean’s. It’s got the decidedly better view out your picture window, complete with the perfect Eastern perspective of the river that cuts through Trost and its famous bridges. It’s this, the third leg of your traditional Saturday evenings together, that makes you feel the most warm.

Jean has the manners to chew and swallow before replying. “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? Connie, Sasha, and I went to see it when they visited last month—”

Your snicker cuts him off and he raises his eyebrows as you roll your eyes and take a sip of wine. “The feet movie? Sasha said it was pretentious.”

“Really? I thought she was too preoccupied with the fact that the theater sold chili fries to pay attention.” He teases back, twirling more pasta onto his fork.

“I’m telling her you said that,” you warn with a jab of your own fork in his direction.

“Snitch.”

“Hey!”

He ducks to avoid your swat to the back of his head, grinning at your pout. “No, but seriously, apart from the feet it’s a good movie.”

“Hmm. I’ll consider putting it on the roster for next week.”

You take a moment to relish the comfortable silence, looking out at the city lights as you chew thoughtfully. His thigh is heavy and warm against yours under the thick knitted blanket his mom gave you last Yule. Your belly is warm and full, your shoulders relaxed in the company of your closest friend, your lungs breathing easily.

Jean says your name quietly and you turn to see him staring pensively down at the plate in his lap. “About what you asked earlier… in the car?”

You nod, eyes wide and mouth serious.

“Sometimes… I do regret it.” He grits the words out through his teeth, like it’s difficult to force the truth into the world. “Not because I regret what we did in the War. But because sometimes I wonder,” his eyes cut to yours for a split second, “I wonder what could’ve been. Without the War.”

You don’t say anything, don’t say you understand, because you know he knows. Instead, you loop your arm into his and lean your head against his shoulder. It takes a moment, a release of breath and the fall of his chest, but eventually he closes his eyes, turns his face into your hair, and allows himself to sink into the what could’ve been. Just for now.

#jean kirschtein x reader #jean kirstein x reader #jean kirschtein x female!reader #aot fanfic #attack on titan fanfic #snk fanfic #shingeki no kyojin fanfic #canon divergent #female!reader #grocery store shenanigans #valkyrie writes #what could've been without the war

[hoebii]

To the moon

Pairing : JJK x Reader , PJM x Reader

Genre : Angst, fluff, college!Au

Rating : 18+

Warning : Swearing, major character death (disease), symptoms of terminal disease, talking about death, one sided love, pining 

Wc : 3.3k

A/N : Thank you @chemicalpink for being my amazing beta who helped making this fic much more than a hot mess. A huge thank you to @taegularities for making me this BEAUTIFUL banner!! I love this banner so so so much~ and @voiceswithoutlips for letting me use her name in the fic, ilysm <3 I had the idea for this fic for a while and this might be the favourite fic from what I’ve written so far so I really hope it’s good. As usual, hope you guys enjoy this one and feed back is always appreciated~

-------

Jimin could only watch from afar as Jungkook and you danced around within the crowd of people. Usually he could be found in the middle, Jimin was known to be the life of the party after all. But, he couldn’t seem to enjoy himself, not while being sober anyway. 

Downing the drink in his hand, he couldn’t help but wince a bit at the burning sensation as the liquid flowed down his throat. Slapping himself softly a few times he spoke to no one in particular, “Come on, Jimin, you got this. You’ve watched them love each other for years now, what’s one more night?”

Shaking his head to clear his mind, he pushed off the wall he was leaning against. He needed more alcohol if he wanted to survive the night without another heartbreak. Flinging the cup away nonchalantly, he strode towards the kitchen to grab another one. 

Reaching the counter, he grabbed the strongest alcohol he could find and gulped down half the bottle at one go. Would he regret it in the morning? Most definitely. But, did he care now? Not a single bit. 

“Oof, what’s got you drinking your life away?” he heard none other than Jungkook ask, seemingly appearing out of thin air beside him.

Choking on his drink, Jimin hit his chest as he placed the bottle down. Glaring at his smiling best friend, he grumbled, “Don’t scare me like that! I almost had a cardiac arrest, my good fellow.”

“My good fellow? Since when am I a ‘good fellow’?”

“You’re right. You almost gave me a heart attack, assbutt.”

Jungkook snorted, rolling his eyes as he grabbed two cups out of the stack, “Okay, Castiel. No need to get your panties in a twist now.”

“Bold of you to assume I’m wearing anything underneath.”

Wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, he bumped his shoulder with Jimin’s, “How sexy of you.”

Jimin shook his head, a small smile on his lips as he raised the bottle to his lips once again, “Very sexy of me indeed.”

“Alright alright. Stop moping about and drinking your life away and come join us! Y/N was asking where you were,” Jungkook revealed, “we need our third dumbass for the trio to be complete!”

Jimin slumped a little at the mention of you, before straightening up with his trademark flirtatious smirk. Thankful that the boy beside him didn’t notice - or if he did then didn’t comment -, “Aw, is this your way of inviting me to a threesome? Cause I’m in just so you know.” 

Head thrown back in laughter, Jungkook’s shoulders shook, “Yeah dude, we’re gonna have such a sexy time fucking in a frat house.”

“Bet.”

With that, Jimin took one last swig from the bottle before starting towards the main room, “Time to get this party started.”

-------

Jimin woke up to a pounding head with a start, covering his eyes with a hand in a futile attempt to block out the sunlight, he groaned, “Why’d I drink so much last night. Fuck you past Jimin.”

Moving to get out of the bed, he stopped dead in his tracks when he felt something, or someone, wrapping their hand around his torso. Looking down, his eyes widened like saucers as he recognised none other than Kas cuddling up to his bare chest. 

Scrambling to move away, Jimin fell off the bed with a squeak, successfully dragging the bed covers with him. 

Jerking awake, Kas groaned about her lost sleep, looking over the side of the bed to the flabbergasted man on the ground.

“If I knew this was how you started the morning, I’d never say yes to sleeping with you,” she remarked in a gruff tone.

“You- I- We-” Jimin sputtered from his spot on the ground.

“You, I, We, yeah we fucked last night,” Kas said offhandedly, rolling back to burrow into her pillow to fall asleep once more.

Clambering up, Jimin looked around the room he was in, noting that it was indeed, not his - though it was a room he wasn’t a stranger to either -. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone that Jimin was, put in simple words; a fuck boy. He had slept with a majority of the uni population by now. So it was safe to say Kas’s room was nothing new to him - thanks to his previous rendezvous with her. 

Though it was surprising that he was there at that moment, for he had stopped sleeping around as soon as he realised his feelings for you. Now, most people might do the opposite and excuse their actions with ‘I’m trying to get over them’ but Jimin couldn’t bring himself to do that. He didn’t find anyone else even remotely interesting enough to spend a night with besides you.

“Kas this-” Jimin started but the brunette was faster, waving her arm dismissively as she spoke, “It means nothing, I know. You’re too in love with your best friend, blah blah blah.”

“I’m sorry.”

Kas huffed out a laugh, rolling over to face him from the bed, “Why’re you sorry? It’s not like we have feelings for each other.” She continued as she rolled her eyes and smirked playfully, “besides, you’re not my type anyway. I’m more into guys like Namjoon.”

Body sagging in relief, Jimin could only chuckle along as he started gathering his clothes, “You know, I could always give you his number?”

“Then what? I call him and say ‘Hey, I got your number from Jimin after a one night stand. Let’s go on a date.’?”

“I mean, technically you could.”

A moment of silence passed as the two delved into a staring contest of sorts.

“Okay, so I’m gonna go now,” Jimin drawled out, getting dressed as he inched towards the exit, “I’ll text you hyung’s number later, by the way. Do whatever you wish to with that.”

“You’re such a shady fucker, Park,” Kas said jokingly, “how you befriended someone like Namjoon is beyond me.”

With a laugh he left, “See you around, Kas.”

-------

Jimin unlocked the front door of his apartment, not caring about the noise as he was certain that his roommate was out by now.

“Welcome back, man-whore,” Jungkook greeted from his spot on the couch, eyes glued to the TV screen in front of him. 

Jimin’s body tensed instinctively, eyes widening in shock as he looked at his roommate playing video games, “What are you doing here?”

“I live here.”

“Yeah but what are you doing here now?”

“Playing video games.”

Jimin sighed exasperated, “Aren’t you usually with Y/N at this time?”

Jungkook mimicked the elder’s sigh to mock the older, “Yeah but she’s busy today.”

Processing the information, Jimin nodded his head, “I’m gonna go freshen up.”

“Alright.”

-------

Steam escaped the bathroom as Jimin stepped out, drying his hair with a towel as he walked to his room. Just as he entered, he heard his phone ringing. Looking around the place, he spotted his vibrating phone at the edge of the bed where he had thrown it before going into the shower.

Grabbing the phone, he picked up the call without checking the ID, “Can you please call back? I’m on the other line with my proctologist and he’s trying to explain to me why I have a perfect ass.”

“What the fuck did you just say?” 

“Ah Jin-hyung! How are you?” 

“None of that. First tell me what the fuck you just said.”

Jimin snickered, moving to sit on the bed, “Don’t worry about it. I usually start calls with the weirdest thing I can think of so if it’s a scam call, they leave me alone.”

“You know,” Jin started, “if you used even half the brain power you use on shit like this while studying, you’d be one of the smartest students in your university.”

“Where’s the fun in that though?” Jimin whined, falling back to lie down, “besides, I’m already one of the top students in our batch.”

“Overconfidence will take you nowhere Park Jimin,” Jin stated.

“Lies. You’re a world renowned model, are you not?” 

“Aish, you’re such a brat.”

Giggling, Jimin switched his phone from one ear to the other, “Only for you. Now tell me how you’ve been! It’s been ages since we last spoke.”

-------

“Fuck! Taehyung focus!” Jungkook shouted into his mic as he killed another enemy, rushing to his friend’s dying avatar and quickly reviving him.

“Sorry, I was drinking some water real quick,” came Taehyung’s reply, “I thought that spot was safe for a quick sip.”

“You were literally hiding in a bush in an open field,” Jungkook deadpanned, throwing a grenade at the building he knew the enemy squad was hiding. 

“Ooh nice one,” Taehyung said as the game announced that he had killed two players with the grenade. 

“Taehyung-ah, only two more players left. If we lose then I’m gonna end you.”

-------

You hissed in pain as another rose thorn pricked one of your fingers, “I hate this so much.”

“Oh cheer up, Y/N. Gardening will never be fun if you’re such a grump!” your grandfather announced, plucking another rose and placing it in his basket.

“I wouldn’t even be here if I didn’t love you so much, grandpa.”

“I love you too, bubbles. Let’s go to that patch now! Be careful though, those have more thorns,” your grandfather beamed like a little kid on Christmas morning as he moved towards the white rose patch.

You could only groan as you dragged your feet to follow him, “Great, more thorns. Yay.”

-------

“Alright, five minutes break for getting water and shit,” Jungkook announced before taking his headphones off. 

He stood up and stretched, feeling his joints crack as he did so. Looking at the clock, he realised that he had been playing for a few hours now. 

“Damn I went so long without moving? No wonder I’m so thirsty.”

Jungkook rolled his neck, hearing some more bones cracking as he walked towards the kitchen to grab some quick snacks. Walking by Jimin’s room, he heard the older man talking to someone.

He was about to move on, having no interest in eavesdropping, when he thought he heard your name. Ignoring his brain that urged him not to listen, he moved closer to the closed door, trying to hear what was being said.

“I don’t know hyung…” he heard Jimin say, “you know how I feel about Y/N. I don’t think I can go on a date with someone else.”

His eyebrows furrowed as he listened. There was a pause, no doubt the person on the other line speaking before he heard Jimin speak again.

“I know I have to get over her, hyung. It’s just,” Jimin sighed, “it feels unfair for the other person, you know? Going on a date with them while I’m in love with Y/N and all.”

Jungkook’s eyes widened, he barely held a gasp in as he heard Jimin. He knew that Jimin used to have feelings for you when they were younger so he made sure to ask him before pursuing a relationship with you when he caught feelings for you too. He clearly remembered Jimin telling him that he no longer had feelings for you when Jungkook had confided to him about his growing affections for you. 

Jungkook moved away from the door, shaking his head as he realised that the other man had lied back then. He had prioritised Jungkook over himself. Typical Jimin, he thought.

Not wanting to barge in on Jimin mid call, Jungkook decided that he would speak to him about it later on. With that noted in his mind, he continued his journey to the kitchen to get some snacks. 

-------

Time flew by, days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months. Jungkook ended up never speaking to Jimin about his conversation, too swept up with university life and finals that came banging on the door. 

It was during that time when Jungkook’s health started deteriorating. It started with him feeling nauseous even though he didn’t do or have anything that might have caused it, then came his loss of appetite. 

Every time he would brush away your and Jimin’s concerned gaze, saying it was just him overexerting himself with all his extracurricular activities and studies. What worried you the most was when he started to drastically lose weight. The once muscular and energetic boy who loved playing outdoor games slowly turned into a sickly and frail boy who no longer had enough energy to move much without getting exhausted. 

Jimin and you tried time and time again to get him to see a doctor and he time and time again waved away your concerns, always dismissing his decline in health with some sort of excuse. 

The straw that broke the camel’s back was when one day he started to complain about severe back pain and difficulty breathing. You had called Jimin and the two of you rushed to the hospital with the barely conscious boy.

------- 

It was a day like any other, Jimin woke up, got dressed, made some food for himself and his roommate. Checking on Jungkook in the other room as soon as he was done. 

Holding the tray of food in one hand, he knocked on the open door to announce his presence, “Hey Kook. Got your breakfast, we’re having eggs and bacon today!”

Cracking one eye open, the younger man could only give a weak smile, “Morning, hyung.”

Moving to place the tray on the bedside table, Jimin helped him sit up - placing pillows behind him against the headboard so he could lean back and be comfortable as he ate.

“Where’s Y/N?” Jimin asked as he sat beside the bed, grabbing the food and starting to slowly feed the other. You decided to move in with them after Jungkook got diagnosed with the last stage of pancreatic cancer last year.

Chewing on the egg, Jungkook struggled to swallow before answering, “She went to the department store to grab some stuff.”

Nodding, Jimin fed him another bite, making sure that it was small enough for him to swallow without much struggle. The two continued in comfortable silence, only the scraping of the utensils against the plate and the distant chirping of birds from outside could be heard inside the room. 

It was a beautiful day, so why did it feel as if something was wrong? Jimin could only wonder, his eyebrows furrowed in thought before he shook his head to get rid of the negative thoughts. 

After making sure that Jungkook finished the whole meal and drank enough water, he placed the tray back on the bedside table. Jimin knew that the younger would want to read something to pass the time so he got up to grab a book from his shelf, eyes scanning all the spines before finally picking one he thought the other would enjoy.

Turning, he walked back towards Jungkook and handed him the book, moving to take the tray so he could clean up. 

Before he could leave however, the younger man called his name. Turning to face him, Jimin raised an eyebrow in question, “What’s up?”

“I forgot to talk to you back then but,” Jungkook started, a coughing fit making him pause midway, “I heard you on the phone that day last year. The day after the party where you went home with Kas noona?”

Jimin’s posture straightened, his body tensing as he recalled that day. The only one he spoke to on call, as far as he could remember was Jin. 

Clearing his throat, Jimin walked back to the bed, placing the tray back on the bedside table as he sat by him, “Oh? What about it?”

“I was walking by to grab some snacks when I heard you confessing your feelings for Y/N, hyung.”

It was like someone had just punched Jimin in the throat, a gasp leaving his plump lips as his eyes widened. 

“Kook, I-”

“Don’t worry,” Jungkook smiled softly, “I know you wouldn’t ever try anything. I trust you.”

Jimin didn’t know what to say, opting to grab one of his hands and softly running his thumb over it, “Kook I’m trying to get over her, I swear I am. It’s just a little difficult when you’ve loved someone for years.”

Chuckling, Jungkook placed his other hand on top of Jimin’s, “It’s fine, I don’t blame you. She’s an amazing girl, hyung. Anyone would fall for her.”

The two share a silent moment, though it was a comfortable one. None of them felt the need to speak, just enjoying the little peaceful moment they were sharing.

Jimin felt the grip on his hand tightening, the other’s face turning into one that showed discomfort, “Hyung, I don’t feel so good.”

“What are you talking about? Let me call the ambulance!” Jimin exclaimed frantically, freeing his hand from the younger’s, rushing to go grab his phone from the other room. 

Right as he was about to get up though, a hand grabbed a hold of his wrist. Halting him in his steps.

“Clam down, will you? I don’t want the last thing I see before dying is you panicking like a headless chicken.”

Swallowing back tears harshly, Jimin’s eyebrows creased in concern, “What are you talking about? How are you joking in a moment like this!”

Shaking his head, Jungkook smiled again, voice strained with the effort of him speaking through the pain and fatigue he felt, “No listen, it’s fine. Just make sure to take care of Y/N alright? She might act all tough but she’s as fragile as a flower.”

“Jungkook, please. Let me go get my phone so I can take you to the hospital,” Jimin begged, voice trembling as his eyes glazed over with unshed tears.

Ignoring his pleads, Jungkook continued with a laugh, “We always joked about how one day in the future we’d go to the moon together like in those movies. Guess that won’t be happening in this life, huh?” 

“Fuck Kook, you can! Just let me get the damn phone!” Jimin almost screamed in frustration, rapidly blinking back his tears as his hands shook.

Meeting his eyes, Jungkook only continued smiling, a peaceful look overtaking his feature, “Take her to the moon for me, alright?”

It was getting harder to keep his eyes open, but this time he didn’t fight the numbness that took over him. In that moment Jungkook truly felt at peace, knowing that the two of the people he cared so much for would be alright. That they had each other when he wouldn’t be there. 

------- 

That was what you walked in on. The sight of your boyfriend lying on his bed, looking more at peace then you had seen him in the past year. You could almost smile at the seemingly happy moment but the sobbing man beside him indicated something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

“What’s going on? Why’re you crying Chimmy?” You asked cautiously, still standing at the door.

Jimin’s head snapped up, his blood shot tearful eyes locking with yours, “He’s gone.”

The grocery bags that you were holding a moment ago were on the ground, the sound of glass breaking heard from inside. “What do you mean he’s gone?” You asked, lips quivering as your voice trembled.

Getting up from his seat, Jimin walked towards you, pulling you into a crushing hug as you started weeping, “You’re lying! He can’t be gone, he can’t leave me!”

Jimin could only hold you tighter, caressing the back of your head as he shushed you gently, whispering an endless string of apologies even though he couldn’t stop crying himself.  

“Please tell me this is some sort of a sick prank you two are pulling on me. Please tell me you’re joking and he’s alright,” you begged, weakly grabbing the collar of his shirt and tugging at it in desperation. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered again, kissing you on top of your head, “Let it out, I’m here for you, moonlight. Just like I promised.”

#thebtswritersclub #bangtaninn #jeon jungkook x reader #bts jungkook #jjk x reader #jjk angst #bts fic #bts angst #bts fluff #park jimin x reader #bts jimin #pjm x reader #pjm angst #bts au

[gyucore]

in the orb

pairing: trapped soul! beomgyu x reader

tags: fluff, angst if you squint, reincarnation au, supernatural au

word count: 1.8k+

warnings: implications of death, light swearing

— you were cleaning your grandmother's attic when you stumble upon an old glass orb that just happened to talk on its own

A cloud of dust scatters around the room after you drop the glass orb on a particularly dusty couch. You've lost it. You've definitely lost it. You're quick to cover your face with your sleeve, fighting back the urge to sneeze. The orb sits still on the couch as it should, a sheet of gray still masking its surface.

This was supposed to be an average weekend. Your grandmother had invited you to her house for some quality time together during your break, and you thought you'd offer to help her clean her mess of an attic, to which she was more than happy to accept. And right now, the sweet old lady was tending to her garden downstairs while you were up here, freaking out.

It's said that people often imagined hearing strange noises when frightened and alone. And you were in a dark and creepy attic at an old person's house. This could just be another case of the common I'm-so-lonely-I'm-starting-to-hear-voices scenario. It's simply wasn't possible for a dusty old orb to start talking when you pick it up. It's just not.

“Hello?” You call out, immediately finding yourself silly for even attempting to communicate with an inanimate object.

The dust in the room eventually settles, and yet still no response. “See, Y/N? You were just hearing things.” That conclusion seemed convincing enough. You felt the need to give yourself a good pat on the shoulder for going along with the sane route.

With that dilemma out of the way, your attention couldn't help but wander back to the large piles of junk occupying nearly every space in the vicinity. One could only hope for your grandmother to clean regularly. “Right, now back to work.”

“What work?”

“Oh, you know. Cleaning.” You answer its question from earlier.

You freeze, eyes wide, a chill running down your spine. There it was again. You weren't sure if you heard it right this time or was just hallucinating, but there was one way to find out.

Silence. You almost called it a day after considering that you were probably just tired and needed some rest.

Half a step outside the door and the voice spoke once more. “Are you still there?”

You pause, brows raised, and back still turned. Somehow, you didn't know if it was safe to face the big ball of dust just yet. “What do you mean? Of course I'm still here. This is my Grandma's house.”

Thank the heavens for modern technology and the invention of smartphones. Speaking of which, you fish for yours in the depths of your pants’ pockets. The voice recorder app should come in handy during times like this. You know, to confirm you're not crazy. With the app on, all you needed to do was have the orb talk again.

“Grandma? Oh! Then you're her grandchild?!”

“Uh, yeah?” The orb apparently knew your grandmother. Strangely enough, that was the least odd tidbit of information you obtained today.

“Her grandchild.. Wow, to think I'm finally meeting you! Or at least your voice?” The orb lets out a giggle and the more you heard it talk, the more human it sounded.

“Sorry, can you excuse me for a minute?”

Never in your life had you thought the day would come where you'd be excusing yourself from a conversation with some sort of decorative object but life has its ways. You were never a stranger to off days anyway.

“Oh, sure, uh, go ahead? I can wait.” The orb swiftly replies. For a second, you could swear something was moving from inside the orb after the light outside the window had hit a clear spot in the crystal.

Heavy footsteps echoed in the room as you dash downstairs, taking your phone out and bringing it closer to your ear, replaying the recording. Sure enough, the voice was caught in the audio loud and clear.

“Holy shit. I'm not crazy.” An exasperated sigh leaves you as you slump back on the wall in disbelief. For a moment, you considered running away and warning your grandma about the cursed object, but part of you was curious enough to disregard the warning signs, and possibly risk your life by going back up there and approaching the thing. You decided to go with the latter.

“Are you back?” The orb asks once you've gotten close enough for it to hear your footsteps.

“Yeah. Just had to do something real quick.”

“I see.”

You wait for the orb to continue but it doesn't. It continues to lie on the couch lifelessly as if it hadn't been speaking to you in the past few minutes.

“Um..” You clear your throat, hoping to get another response

“Oh!" The voice from the orb seemed startled after hearing you talk. “How are you're still there?”

You frown. “Why wouldn't I be?”

“Well for starters, a talking glass orb isn't quite the public friendly concept you'd think it'd be.” It answers. Only now have you noticed that the orb had a particularly low masculine voice. “People don't usually stick around long enough to find out why I can talk in the first place.”

You blink. “Fair point. Though, I don't see the need for you to ask over and over again when I already said I was back.”

The orb chuckles. “You'd be surprised how many times people have reassured me of their presence only to leave halfway. Plus, I can't really see you right now to actually know you're there.”

“You can't see me?”

“The dust.”

“OH.” Not knowing what came over you, you immediately lunged forward and started wiping the orb with one of the dust rags you had lying around. It didn't take long for the thing to clear up and look like its old glorious self again. “How about now?” You ask, inspecting the orb as you hold it up.

“Better.”

It takes everything in you to resist dropping the orb on the floor when a glowing face of a man appears from the inside, smiling brightly at you. “I think I'm gonna pass out.”

The man visibly panics, pressing his face closer to the glass. “Wait no! If you pass out now, I won't have anyone to talk to! I haven't spoken to a single person in decades!”

“But you mentioned my grandma earlier, I thought you—”

“She could never hear me, but I could see and hear her.” The man explains, his voice a little quieter than before.

You bring the orb down, still cupping it in your hands. “How is this possible? Are you a ghost or something? How did you get in there?”

“Wouldn't you like to find out?” He winks, resting his head on his hand. “Take a seat and place me down somewhere soft.”

This seemed ridiculous by all means, but you oblige. The couch should be soft enough, and so you place him down gently while you take a seat on the floor, making yourself comfortable. “You were saying?”

“I—” The man accidentally bumps his head onto the glass as he leans forward, chuckling as he rubs his head gently. “Ow. Sorry. I'm just so happy to finally have someone to talk to. You can't imagine how long it's been. How the world survived without a single soul hearing my heavenly voice for all those years is beyond me.” He cracks a joke and you couldn't help but laugh.

“It's okay.” You say, shifting in your spot. “Go ahead.”

The man nods, the smile slowly fading from his face. “My name is Choi Beomgyu. You can call me whatever you like. I had a friend once, and she was a witch. Oh— not the kind that you hear from stories, no. She was really nice and cared a lot about nature, her friends, and her family. That type of person, you know?”

You nod along, assuring him that you were listening, and he smiles again.

There's just something about his smile that just seemed so happy and endearing. Perhaps it had truly been so long.

“She was this ball of sunshine. And back then I was a pretty different guy. Our personalities might've clashed and we butted heads a few times but somehow we ended up becoming close friends.” A faint smile graces his lips before disappearing as quickly as it came. “But then I got involved with the wrong crowd.”

The statement piques your interest and you draw closer. Beomgyu notices this and tries to talk louder.

“Remember how I said she was a witch unlike the ones in the fairy tales? Well, there were also people who were exactly like those witches. The ones that used their knowledge and abilities for their own nefarious purposes.” Beomgyu continues, his hair slightly covering his face as he looked down. “Let's just say that I got myself in a situation where they ended up hunting me down for my soul.”

“What?”

He frowns. “My friend saw me being chased down the streets one night and helped. We both knew that even when together, we were too weak to go against all of them. They had us cornered in her home, and that's when we knew it was the end for us.”

Beomgyu's voice started to waver as he spoke and you were about to ask him if he was alright, and tell him that it was okay if he didn't continue but the look on his face when your eyes met was enough to tell you that he needed to do this. He must've wanted to talk about this matter for so long, you think.

“She.. pushed me towards her workroom, telling me that she'll keep me safe no matter what. I didn't know what she meant until she cast a spell on me and I passed out. The last thing I heard were her screams. I never found out what happened to her after that, and I can only assume the worst.” He shakes his head, trying to getting himself together in front of his new friend. “Next thing I knew, I was inside her old glass orb. I've been trapped in this thing for years with no escape. No one to talk to— forever regretting how I didn't stop her that time, and regretting getting in the way of those witches in the first place.”

His story nearly brings you to tears, and before you knew it, your hands were reaching out for the orb. “Beomgyu, I..”

“It's alright.” Beomgyu smiles. “In the end, the orb ended up in her younger sister's possessions.”

Your eyes widen. “You mean.. Grandma?”

“That's right.” Beomgyu chuckles. “Though she had never able to see or hear me, unlike you.”

“Oh. That's uh, too bad.” You smile awkwardly, releasing the orb. The two of you sit in silence for a while, both needing a little mental break after that.

Shortly, your attention was brought forth back onto the orb when you hear Beomgyu laugh. You find yourself chuckling along. “Entertained are we, Gyu?”

The laughter stops and his eyes shoot up at you. You hear him mumbling something incoherent before hesitating to speak. “No, no.” Beomgyu shakes his head. “It's just.. It's kinda funny. I'm trapped here repenting for my whole life because of what I've done to her, or thinking about what I could've done.. but you know what? To be completely honest, I was starting to forget what she even looked like. But looking at you now, and hearing your voice..”

The idea popped up in your head and you weren't sure if it was even possible to begin with. But then again, you were talking to a soul inside an orb.

“You were easily granted access to the true nature of the orb, and are the first person to have ever done that without running away.” He kids. “Could it be?”

“I wouldn't count on it.” You tell it to him straight, getting up from your spot on the floor and dusting off your jeans. You knew what he was implying and there was no way that you were even considering yourself to be your great aunt's reincarnation no matter how ridiculous the situation already was. “I'll get back to cleaning. Feel free to talk while I do that.” You tell him before rushing to the other side of the attic, avoiding his gaze as much as possible. You'll figure out what to do with him later.

Beomgyu watches you fondly. You had told him to not even count on the thought of you being the one he's been hoping for all these years but it was too late for that now. 

“Entertained are we, Gyu?” Her voice rings in his mind, and he shakes it off.

“How do you always manage to do such amazing things? I'd appreciate it if you'd stop stirring my heart.” Beomgyu's gaze rests upon your busy silhouette, and he smiles in content.

“It's nice meeting you again, Y/N.”

#txt #txt fic #txt imagines #txt x reader #txt fics #beomgyu imagines #beomgyu imagine #beomgyu fic #beomgyu scenarios #beomgyu x reader #beomgyu fluff #beomgyu angst #txt au #txt reincarnation au

[goldencorecrunches]

LanLan Rural Vet/Animal Sanctuary AU ~ from the LanLan discord --

It was the rain that made Lan Xichen start laughing. "Oh, I'm sorry. Oh dear," he said, one hand pressed to his chest in the passenger seat, the corners of his mouth helplessly turned upward. Thunder boomed, heaven's drums arguing from far away: Lan Xichen bent forward and laughed harder, cupping the back of his head. Song Lan didn't feel the urge to laugh himself, but he could appreciate the sheer ridiculousness of the bad luck that kept finding them today. First Wen Qing, his tech, had come in sneezing like an elephant with a head cold and so he'd sent her home with stern instructions not to return until she was better. Then he'd gotten a call from the farmer who'd dug the ancestral plow farthest up the farthest mountain to come quick because his best cow was in labor, and having trouble with it-- the cow Song Lan had not been told was pregnant. 

Then his car had refused to start, and he'd had to bargain with the grumpy auntie who delivered the post for the use of her shuddering pickup truck, a behemoth half rusted through that definitely hadn't seen the wet side of a sponge for many a long-toothed year. Then Lan Xichen, the director of the backcountry vet-and-sanctuary, had come rushing out as he'd pulled onto the gravel road, begging to come with so he could escape for a few hours his visiting uncle. (That part hadn't been so bad-- driving with Lan Xichen up the winding country road, the valley unfolding out beneath them, summer trees vibrant and lush on either side. Auntie's truck had no air conditioning, of course, so they'd rolled down the windows with the grating hand cranks and the short pieces of hair that had come loose from Lan Xichen's ponytail had blown around his face, his smiling eyes.)

(When Song Lan had taken this job, a year ago come June, he had not expected the pre-existing half of the administration to be the most beautiful man he had ever seen. "Zichen," Xingchen had said to him over video call that night, teasing, "you're such a hopeless romantic. Talk to him! Get to know each other! What could go so terribly wrong?" "He could drag me halfway across the world with only a backpack and a single change of clothes," Song Lan had signed back, biting the mirth into the side of his cheek, and Xingchen had blushed, pretty pink up to their hairline. Song Lan missed them. Of course. They were coming in fall, a hard-wrestled break in their schedule that they guarded against teenage fervency and staid official alike, and Song Lan couldn't tally the days until then without breaking his own heart.)

Up the mountain, the cow had not been giving birth to anything but her own insides. The farmer was not pleased when Song Lan through Lan Xichen told him this, elbow-deep, as if Song Lan had come all the way out there from some cattle-themed plot of revenge. He likely wouldn't call Song Lan again even if the situation was dire, which meant his animals would go untreated; the knowledge of it itched under Song Lan's skin, making him have to grimace apologetically at Lan Xichen when on the drive back he realized his own company was less than engaging. And then Auntie's truck had made a noise like a steel chain through a meat grinder and stopped in the middle of the road. And then it had started raining. Lan Xichen's laughter was running up the wrong side of hysteria. Seeing the rain start to darken the shirt over his shoulder, feeling the damp on his own, Song Lan reached around Lan Xichen's back and dragged at the handle until the window began to close. One perk of old trucks-- when they broke down on you, you could still work the windows. He repeated the process on his own side, focusing furiously on not being weird about the heat of Lan Xichen's body he'd felt press against his own arm and chest leaning over. The air inside the cab immediately became sticky and stale. "It's just-- I was supposed to take my uncle out for dinner tonight-- he's going to be so annoyed--" Gently, feeling a nervous spark in his belly at the presumption, Song Lan laid a hand on the sleeve of Lan Xichen's collared shirt. To his great relief Lan Xichen leaned into the pressure. It seemed to give him the wherewithal to swallow his frantic giggling, his shoulders shaking as he hiccuped; Song Lan tapped his thumb in the crook of Lan Xichen's elbow in a manner he hoped was comforting. (People were always surprised, either when they found out he was a veterinarian, or when they found out he was, as one receptionist had put it, a "clean freak;" they didn't go together in public consciousness. Usually Song Lan lacked the energy to explain that it was about where dirtiness belonged. An exam table should be sterile. The animal upon it should not be: if it was, it would be dead. Humans were the difficult ones, because they ought to wash their hands more than they usually did.) (Besides, it wasn't like he didn't wear gloves.) Finally taking a deep, shaky breath, Lan Xichen sat upright and let his hands fall into his lap. He peeked at Song Lan from the corner of his eye. "I'm...well. In control again, I suppose. Oh, that was embarrassing." His arm jumped under Song Lan's palm, but he did not pull away.

"This is certainly...an adventure," Song Lan signed with his free hand. Lan Xichen's smile went wide for a moment, lopsided, and Song Lan felt the victory like a hot drink on a cold day. "It has been," Lan Xichen agreed. He fidgeted with the denim over his knees. Well: tried to. It was tight denim. There wasn't a lot to fidget with.  "I should call the clinic and tell them we're stranded. If we'll get any reception up here, and with the rain." He sounded reluctant. Song Lan, personally, wanted to get back to his own house and get under Xingchen's knitted blanket and tell the world to go fuck itself dry, but he didn't have an...uncle, waiting for him. Creeping over him was the unshakeable sense that he had been gifted something precious, in Lan Xichen's vulnerability. Despite his easy manner and his compassion, Lan Xichen was, Song Lan had decided during several months of study, terribly lonely, and unsure how to stop. He held himself apart without seeming to, diverting questions back to shared interests, breezily finding an excuse every time their little mob of vet-techs and animal-enthusiasts invited him to join them after hours; and it did not help that to an individual they all viewed him with something of awe. When you were that good-looking, and that kind, it came with the territory. So Song Lan pushed down the irritation at being stuck in the oxidizing shell of what had once been a functional vehicle and unbuckled his seatbelt. Struggling a little in the confined space, he shucked his sturdy flannel and held it out. Lan Xichen stared at him, mouth open ever so slightly. His eyes were shining; Song Lan could feel the back of his neck heat up. "You take a nap under this," he signed, awkward. "Let me call. My phone's got better range anyway." "Because it's not a fancy bit of overpriced nonsense?" Despite himself Song Lan snorted; he and Lan Xichen had antagonistic views towards personal technology. "Exactly." "It's soft," Lan Xichen murmured, as his fingers closed over the dark green plaid. Song Lan tried to pretend he wasn't flushing thoroughly. (When they were rescued, three hours later, by Wen Qing's younger brother in his mountain-tire-fitted jeep, Song Lan had to touch Lan Xichen's shoulder to shake him awake. In the grey light from the overcast sky he seemed to blur, at the edges, soft and precious as a rabbit's underbelly. Song Lan swallowed thickly and looked away. "Keep it," he signed, when Lan Xichen tried to hand back the flannel. It was chilly in just his t-shirt, but that was all right. He'd survive. "It suits you better than it does me." "I don't think I agree with that," Lan Xichen said, and by the time Song Lan had recovered from his subsequent heart attack Lan Xichen was meters away, climbing up his own porch with Song Lan's shirt wrapped around him, pulled tight against the cool post-storm crispness.)

#mdzs #cql #the untamed #song lan #lan xichen #lanlan #they get trapped in a truck in the rain on a mountain together and song lan has Feelings #my fics #oh i didnt specify but xingchen is an international environmental activist and worker #lanlan rural vet au #fic: lanlan rural vet au

[boymeetsweevil]

binary stars

Grouping: Reader x Bff!Hyuck

Word Count: ~8.4k

Warnings/Themes: friends to lovers, insecurity, pining, jealous hyuck, like a teaspoon of suggestiveness, yuta is here because i love him

Prompt: “bff!hyuck + friends to lovers. college au and slightly nsfw or however nsfw u wanna make it”

A/N: This commissioned fic is part of the Changes with Luv project, hosted by FicsWithLuv. Here you can find more information about the project, cause, places to donate, and ways to commission a piece or offer your services if you are a content creator. Thank you!

The food court is crowded when you get there. It’s a bit later than ideal after morning classes followed by a study session in the library.

“What are you gonna get,” Donghyuck asks while slinging an arm around your shoulder.

While squinting up at the menu up ahead, he whispers into your ear. Just to make sure his question doesn’t get lost in the chatter around you. You still get goosebumps, though.

“All I know is that it can’t be a bagel. I’m starting to get sick of those.” You rub your arm and he mistakes it for you being cold.

Donghyuck pulls you closer while mumbling half to himself and half to you about what he’ll get.

“I heard they have this new sandwich thing. Johnny told me it has hash browns as the bread.” He peers down at you. “You could try that.”

“Did he say if it was filling or not?”

“No, but if it’s too big for you to eat, we can share it. Or you can use some of my tupperware when we get home,” he says.

When he says ‘home’, he really just means his dorm. There’s a section in the communal first floor kitchen that belongs to him, and it houses all the things his mom sent him with for survival years ago.

Home. As in ‘where you have a place too’. It’s a small difference from your classmates and other friends who say ‘the dorm’ or ‘my place’. But it’s also one of the many ways in which Donghyuck invites you in and makes you feel special. It’s one of the reasons you fell for your best friend.

“Why don’t you just get it?” You try to wriggle out of his grasp but he doesn’t notice and tightens up as the line moves up a bit. “It sounds like you’re the one who wants it, not me.”

“I would...but I think it’s one of the ‘deluxe’ sandwiches.” He pivots so he can envelope you fully from behind, puppy dog eyes out and at the ready. “And I’m in the red again this week.”

“Okay, why are you always in the red? What are you spending your money on?”

You miss the way his eyes drift down instinctively to the empty frappe cup you hold.

“I don’t know. The money just escapes me.”

“It’s a good thing you’re not an econ major, then.”

“Hey!”

He squeezes you tightly from behind and starts to shake you around like a ragdoll. A couple people in line turn at the sudden commotion while you scrabble at the tight vice his arms make around you.

Moments like these are the ones where, if you step back, you could convince yourself that Donghyuck was your boyfriend instead of just your best friend. But you know better than to think that you and he are in the same league. Even if you were, you’d probably be at the back of the line because he’s almost too easy to love.

Donghyuck is the whole package. When he’s not lighting up a room with his charisma and humor, he’s stealing everyone’s attention with his handsome face. It doesn’t help that he’s naturally flirty and generous with touch. Sometimes you think that maybe there’s some side of him that only you get to see, but other times—

“Hyuck!”

You and Donghyuck turn at the same time to see Mila, one of Donghyuck’s department-mates running towards your spot in the slow moving line. The moment stops being private and suddenly there’s a sort of shame bubbling up inside of you. Maybe it’s because you know that people think you’re an odd pair, that Donghyuck is misguided and charitable for hanging out with you. He’s never mentioned it, and the one time you did he blew up at you about it. But still, there’s something about third party appraisal that makes you feel like you’re in someone else’s spot. For all you know it could be Mila’s spot. She’s bright too. Not as bright as Donghyuck, but brighter than you. Since she started coming around Donghyuck, you’ve accepted this. The fact that she now uses your nickname for him makes you feel a whole new type of loss, though.

“Hey,” you both greet her.

She lays a hand on his forearm, squeezing lightly. “Hey, how are you? I’ve been looking for you.”

“Oh, what for?”

“You owe me a movie, silly.”

“Like a physical movie?”

You snort at his obliviousness and Mila responds with a quick glance at the way he drapes himself over you.

“No! Remember when you gave me those movie recommendations?”

“Yeah. To watch on your own time. You don’t have to watch them with me just because I mentioned them.”

“But where’s the fun in that?”

She pouts, grabs his free arm and tugs just hard enough to jostle him. With his arms wrapped around you, you stumble forward when he does.

“Oh, sorry.” Her hands come out like they’re going to steady you, but they get nowhere close enough to actually do the job. “Didn’t see you there.”

“She said ‘hi’,” Donghyuck chimes in before you can make up some excuse for why it’s okay that you almost fell on your face.

“I must have just missed you then,” she gazes down at you, “You’re so quiet.”

“Just watching the line,” you say.

The line moves forward and Mila moves with you. Clearly she’s not planning on leaving. She’s waiting you out and it’s working. You feel awkward enough that you need to get out, even if it means you cede something to Mila.

“Hyuck,” You turn and lay your hand on the back of his neck. It looks like a comfortable hand on the shoulder that went too far north, but that trajectory was calculated. He shivers like you know he will because he always does. It’s been a sensitive spot since you met him.

“Huh?” His voice is already sounding far away.

“I’m gonna go wait at a table. You can order for me.”

You make a point to pat at the arms he has wrapped around your middle still. The motion drags Mila’s eyes to the point of contact and she smirks a little. Donghyuck might only see you as a friend, but Mila mistakenly sees you as an obstacle. It’s petty, but you kind of want to make her think she has to work a little hard to get to him. Even if you don’t stand a chance.

In the end, the flash in Mila’s eyes is worth having to go find a place to sit during the lunch rush. You replay the moment over in your head, barely watching where you’re going in the crowded food court until you run into someone. If it weren’t for the quick pair of hands grabbing your upper arms at the last second, you might have taken a rather nasty fall.

“I’m sorry, that was my fault.”

“We’ve gotta stop meeting like this.”

The hands disappear once you’re stable while the voice lingers. It’s familiar but you don’t know why. When you take too long to put a name to a face, the person chuckles at you. At the very least, this mystery person is uniquely handsome with pretty teeth.

“You don’t remember me?”

“Can I have a hint?”

“What if you pretend to throw up on my shirt? Then would you remember?”

“Oh god,” you cover your face with your hands. Suddenly you recall the party last week where the pizza didn’t agree with you. “Yuta,” you groan.

“Hmm. My name sounds nice when you say it like that.”

You feel your face get hot as you peek at him from between your fingers. Last week you’d fallen face first into his lap while he was innocently sitting on a sofa. You’d proceeded to throw up onto his chest after he asked you for your name.

“Just kill me. It’d be less painful than this.”

“I don’t know. I think me still trying to hit on you afterward just for your boyfriend to send me murder eyes and whisk you away was way more painful than a little bit of vomit.”

“My boyfriend?”

“That little Hyucko guy, right?”

Yuta points behind you, and you turn to find him gesturing at Donghyuck. He’s still with Mila, but he’s clearly watching you talk with Yuta instead of engaging in small talk in line. You wave him off, hoping he’s not thinking you’re in danger.

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Sucks for him, then.”

Furrowing your brows, you return your gaze back to Yuta.

“But good for me,” he continues, “I don’t have to feel bad for asking you for your number now.”

“M-my number?”

“Is there another way to get to know the girl who threw up on me?”

“Uh, sure, why not?”

Yuta hands you his phone with a smile that looks so triumphant, you have to turn away slightly. His gaze on you is a bit too open, too pleased. You’re definitely not used to this type of attention, but you can’t say you’re mad at him for it. After typing in your number and name, he takes the phone back and reads your name out loud. When you nod in confirmation, he smiles wider.

“So, what are you studying then?”

“I’m studying political science.”

Yuta lets out a low whistle. “Sounds tough.”

“Sometimes, yeah. What are you studying?”

“Astronomy.”

“That’s very romantic.” He smiles in response.

“I suppose so, yeah. I guess you’d have to be romantic to look into an abyss full of flaming gas balls and think that’s fascinating.”

“Sorry to hear about your hot balls. You should probably get that checked out. I’m studying literature.”

Donghyuck shows up with a tray full of your food and takeout containers.

Yuta raises an eyebrow. “‘Sup?”

“What are you doing here? Did you come to bully the baristas?”

“Clever,” Yuta eyes him up and down. “You know I’m a grad student in the astronomy department. How do you forget every time?”

“Ah, you’re right. How could I forget. So what are you, like, 45 now?”

“Hyuck!”

“Sorry,” he sniffs. Clearly, he’s not sorry.

He trudges off to the nearest empty table to put the food down long enough to pack it up. You follow behind, with Yuta trailing alongside you.

“I’m sorry about him. Usually he’s...well, actually he is kind of like that.”

“I don’t mind. I just wanted to say that it was nice to finally meet you officially,” he starts off.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Same.”

Something about your response must be funny because Yuta laughs again to himself before shoving his phone back in his pocket.

“Can I call you some time?”

“Me?”

He laughs again. “Yes, you.”

“Okay.”

“Cool.”

You say your goodbyes to Yuta. It’s awkwardly formal because you’re not sure how these things usually go. When you finish waving a stilted hand at him, you turn around to find the food has been packed up and Donghyuck is fuming silently behind you.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I just don’t get why he of all people decided to butt in.”

He starts walking towards the exit, long legs eating up the distance at a speed that means you have to jog a little.

“You sure something’s not up? Because I don’t really get what we were doing that was so important in the first place. Not much to butt in on anyway.”

“Well, you know.”

“No, I don’t.”

He huffs and continues speed walking. “We had plans to eat lunch at my place. And he delayed that. Now I’m even hungrier.”

“I thought we were eating at your place because you weren’t hungry enough to eat there.”

“I—I mean, yeah. But I started getting hungry in line.”

You point at the wrapped muffin in his hand. “Couldn’t you have just eaten that?”

“This...is for later.”

Normally you’d try to figure out what it is that’s making Donghyuck so pissy. But your phone starts chiming and by the time you got to his front door, the little message notification on your phone had gone off a dozen times—all of them from Yuta as you message him on and off. Donghyuck settles for sighing dramatically every time you check your phone.

“Doesn’t he have, like, blimps to stare at? This is too much.”

“Since when is there a limit on how much I text someone?”

“There’s not but—isn’t this a lot? You just met him today.”

“Technically we met last weekend.”

He scowls but admits the point with a wave of his hand and a bite of his food.

“Still. I don’t even text you that much.” Donghyuck sits back in his chair before scoffing. “And no one should text you more than me. I’m your best friend.”

“But what if he was my boyfriend?”

“He’s not,” he snaps. There’s enough intensity in his voice to surprise you both. He reels it in a bit with an apologetic tilt of his shoulders over his plate. “Sorry. But—have you heard what people say about him? He’s a complete dick to the people he sleeps with. Plus, he’s ancient.”

“He’s only turning 26 in October.”

“So you know his birthday now?”

“Yes?” You put your napkin down, hash browns nearly finished. “And maybe I’m using him too. Bet you didn’t think of that.”

“Oh,” he says after a beat.

“Anyway, I don’t get why you’re so mad about this.”

“M’not mad,” he mumbles.

“Sure.”

You continue texting Yuta as you eat your lunch. Donghyuck huffs as he discards his trash and goes to his room to change into more comfortable clothes. While he’s gone, you glance at your phone guiltily.

It’s not that you’re so engrossed with the smalltalk with Yuta that you can’t put your phone down. Honestly, you want to just put your phone down and go plaster yourself to your best friend. But standing less than 2 feet away from Donghyuck and still feeling like he was unreachable earlier at the cafeteria really knocked some sense into you. If Donghyuck was the sun, you were merely a planet caught in his pull, orbiting around him. He wasn’t meant to orbit around you.

Donghyuck emerges from his room looking only mildly pouty at this point and in a sweatshirt and joggers. Seeing him in pajamas is your favorite thing. It’s why you like hanging out at his place so much because as soon as you settle in, he changes out of his regular clothes.

“Are you staying?” There’s only a touch of petulance still lingering in his voice.

“Do you want me to stay?”

“Of course.”

He says it so matter-of-factly that you have to turn away under the guise of finishing the last bites of your lunch to hide a shy smile. The words sound so sweet coming from his lips, even when it’s not meant in the way you wish.

You settle down on the couch to get some more work done, but the hash browns sneak up on you. Donghyuck watches silently from his battered copy of Dante’s Inferno at your eyes drooping closed. He’s known you long enough to know the signs of your food comas when he sees them. He shuts his book after marking the page and gets up from his spot on the carpet.

“Come on,” he shakes your upper arm lightly.

“What? What’s going on?”

“Let’s watch some TV.”

“I’m working, I can’t just—”

“You've been on the same page for 15 minutes.

“How would you know?”

“Because I stopped reading 20 minutes ago.”

By now, any traces of his strange anger are replaced by smug amusement. You let yourself be manhandled off your seat and take the trek to his bedroom. He flips through channels while you can dig something up from his closet to change into. Donghyuck has a strict no street clothes rule when it comes to lounging.

“Sexy,” he drawls, looking at your outfit choice.

It’s one of his shirts with an oversized neckline due to an accident with the 10-year-old dryers in the basement of the dorms and a pair of ratty long johns to beat the cold of the AC. It’s not cute per se but it was all he had clean.

“Shut up.” You sit down near the arm of the couch next to him. “What are you gonna do after this? Don’t you have a department dinner?”

“Yeah, but I can skip it.”

“Hyuck, don’t skip department events.”

“I already have a rec letter from Dr. Chittaphon, though. So I don’t need to kiss ass anymore”

“He finally wrote it for you?”

In your excitement, you grab his closest hand in yours, giving a congratulatory smile. He smiles back an almost tender smile. In the privacy of his own dorm with none of his other classmates around, he nods with some enthusiasm.

“He told me about it yesterday. He said I can use it for as many lit programs as I want.”

“That’s amazing.”

Donghyuck’s cheeks flush a deep ruby as he fiddles with the knitted quilt to pull over you. True to his word he has some inane show queued up on the tiny TV he brought with him from home. But once the lights are off and the coffee table is pushed close enough to support your feet, you succumb to sleep. Donghyuck is radiating warmth and an extra something that, combined with the background noise from the TV, makes you feel like you’re floating. You shift so you’re pillowed by the arm of the couch and drift off pretend the moment is something else.

***

You wake up from the nap to the sound of your phone alerting you to a new message. The phone is resting on the coffee table, so you sit up to get it only to realize you can’t quite move. Donghyuck’s arms are wrapped tightly around your torso and his head has migrated to your shoulder from it’s resting place when he was sitting up. He’s so close that the tip of his nose grazes your neck. You test just how stuck you are by moving toward the table a bit. Donghyuck responds with a grumble and a warning nuzzle of his cheek against your clavicle.

The moment you decide to move one of his arms, he pulls you in closer and presses his open mouth to your exposed shoulder. It feels almost like a kiss, but then he lets out a snore that reminds you of your family pug and all the romance is gone. You continue to shift as best you can to reach your phone.

The notification on your screen tells you that the message is from Yuta, yet again. Donghyuck is still fast asleep when you peek down at him. Just to be sure he doesn’t wake up, you turn onto your side. Even in his sleep he follows you, readjusting his grip on you while slotting his face into your nape and his knees behind yours. Thankfully the couch is wide enough that he doesn’t push you off the edge. With the brightness and volume turned down, you open up your messages.

there’s gonna be another NKT frat party in two weeks it’ll be no fun if you’re not there

Donghyuck’s words about Yuta’s reputation ring in your head but you don’t really care. Instead his flirtation makes you feel zippy. He might be a player but you’re play the game too. You type a response out quickly.

i guess i could go...u better make it worth it my while.

After you press send you have to bite your tongue to hold in a laugh. You’re not sure why you’re having so much fun. A small smile makes it to your face and you press the phone to your chest only for it to go off once more.

“I don’t get it,” Donghyuck groans. His breath hits the side of your throat while he rubs his eyes. “He can’t be that interesting.”

Even though he’s not pleased with Yuta’s constant messaging, Donghyuck’s grip on you doesn’t let up. In fact, he tucks his face securely over your shoulder and merely plucks the phone out of your hands.

“Can I read what he sent?”

“I guess,” you mumble.

It’s hard to be annoyed at him when he’s warm and soft behind you from sleep. He hands you the phone so you can unlock it before taking it back and finding the latest message.

“He said, ‘by the end of the party, i promise it will have been worth it. how do you like your toast in the morning?’”

“Oh god. Don’t read it out loud, that makes it so unsexy.”

“That’s because he’s unsexy. Just tell him to fuck off.”

“If you don’t think he’s sexy then don’t fuck him.” He pinches at your sides and you yelp. “Plus, I don’t really have a reason to blow him off so quickly.”

“Uh, yes. Yes, you do.”

“I already told you I don’t care if he’s not the marrying type.”

“T-there are other reasons.”

“What are they?”

There’s a long pause.

“Okay, I can’t think of any right now, but I know they’re there. So just...please. You’re way out of his league, anyway.”

You snort. “Right. I’m not hot enough to get free drinks from people, so if I’m out of his league, what are you?”

From the little spoon position, you can’t see Donghyuck’s cheeks burn in embarrassment. Sophomore year you two had snuck into a bar and a few senior girls sent some drinks to your table after seeing him in a leather jacket. Since then the freebies have only increased now that he’s lost some of his baby face and invested in jeans that fit.

“Besides,” you snatch the phone back. “He’s the only one who seems to find me attractive lately.”

“There are other people who find you attractive.”

There’s a seriousness in his voice that startles you a bit. Donghyuck is a free spirit so there’s not much that makes him mad. But now his voice is a shade more gravelly than normal. When you roll onto your back you see that his brows slant heavy over his eyes. He looks truly upset. And you’re not sure why. It takes you by surprise and it must show on your face, because instantly his eyes go softer and he’s laying back down beside you.

“Even if that’s true, Hyuck, those people aren’t lining up at my door.” Donghyuck mouth purses against the back of your neck in frustration. “At least Yuta is being loud and clear. I can’t fault him for that. Just like I can’t date someone whose feelings I never know.”

“Fair enough.” He sighs finally, his words taking you by surprise. “You sure you don’t like him at least a little bit, though? This seems like a lot for someone you don’t actually care about.”

“No, I have...someone else.”

Donghyuck shoots forward to peer at you with wide eyes. “Who is it?”

“I don’t wanna say.”

“Come on, that’s not fair.”

“If I told you, I would jinx everything.”

He eyes you silently but doesn’t push much more.

“Is Yuta suddenly an option so you can get over this mystery person?”

“Maybe.”

“Then I’ll do my best to help out.”

“What does that mean?” Donghyuck sits up, probably energized by the nap.

“Yuta is the type of guy that wants what he can’t have. So you have to show him that he can’t have you.”

“Okay, I see where you’re going and I honestly kind of like the early 2000’s rom-com vibes. But how do you make someone think you’re taken when you’re single?”

“Leave it to me.”

Leaving things up to Donghyuck harebrained schemes often means that you aren’t in the loop even when you’re technically in the loop.

Yuta and you text on and off during the whole week leading up to the NKT party. Per Donghyuck’s advice, you give short answers and always take longer than an hour to open his selfies after he sends them. When you do respond with a selfie, you’re never alone in them. A picture of you coyly sipping from the straw in your iced coffee with Donghyuck’s shoulder in the background. A picture of your legs while you study in bed with Donghyuck’s hand partially cropped in the left corner. One of them was supposed to be a mirror selfie to show your outfit, but Donghyuck is fully present with a smug grin and a “friendly” arm wrapped around your waist. When your best friend first proposed the idea to you, it sounded like bro code bullshit. But it seemed to work.

While his snap stories remain full of other ‘acquaintances’, Yuta’s messages get a little more lovey dovey the more you ignore him. There’s suddenly a flood of texts telling you he can’t wait to see you and calling you baby. The act seems to be taking a toll on Donghyuck judging by his scowls after every photo you send. But you just can’t help laughing at how petty guys can be.

Friday rolls around and you’re actually debating whether or not you should bring a condom to the party. You obviously don’t know what size Yuta wears, but with the way he’s been talking over text you think maybe the evening might end well. Help-me-get-over-my-best-friend sex can still be good sex, even if it doesn’t help you get over your best friend.

So you take extra time in the shower Friday night, shimmy into something tight, and wait for Donghyuck to arrive at your place so you can leave to the party together. You had wanted to go with your classmate Jennie, since Donghyuck is a bit of a homebody. But that night he wanted to come, saying something about seeing his plan through.

When Donghyuck arrives, you’re taking a swig from one of the tiny nip bottles of vodka that you stashed in your purse. After a mere 5 seconds of having arrived, he takes one look at you and immediately groans.

“Are you sure you don’t want to just stay in? We can order Chicken Haus and watch that new show you put on my DVR. Or I could hire a stripper. I’m sure we could find one that’s way more personable than Yuta.”

“Hyuck, I need to do this. It’ll be good for everyone involved.”

“But why am I part of that everyone?”

“You said you would help me with this. And you’re forgetting that Mila is gonna be there.”

Sadly, it was also too early in the night and you hadn’t drunk nearly enough to be able to tell him that he’s involved because he’s the one you're trying to get over. You empty the first tiny bottle and begin downing the second one as you begin the trek to the NKT house.

“What does Mila have to do with anything?”

“While I’m hopefully...doing my thing, you can be doing yours. With her.”

“Why would I want to sleep with Mila?”

“You don’t want to sleep with Mila?”

“No? Who said I did?”

“Oh.”

Donghyuck scoffs at you like you’re speaking gibberish and passes around you when you stop in your tracks again. When you catch up to him, he swipes the new nip bottle out of your hand and finishes it in one gulp.

***

The party is in full swing when you arrive. You stand in the doorway of the front entrance and take in the scenery. The regular lights have all been switched out for red bulbs. It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust and be able to make out faces properly because the color is so saturated.

The music is booming loud enough for you to feel the bass in your chest and echo across the soles of your feet as you walk across the room. Donghyuck helps you part your way through the crowd of bodies swaying to the music to get to the drinks table. With a cup in your hand and liquid courage going down your throat, you feel a little less nervous. You try to be inconspicuous while you scan the room for Yuta, but you don’t find him.

“I don’t see him,” you shout over the music, “What do you wanna do in the meantime?”

“Go home,” Donghyuck scowls into his cup.

You flip him off for being a wet blanket and finish the contents of your cup. Just as you move for a refill, you happen to find Yuta in the crowd. He’s not alone either. There’s a girl with long red hair in front of him, dancing while he smiles wolfishly. You think you recognize her from one of his instagram posts. Suddenly, you’re not feeling so bold anymore.

“There he is,” you say just loud enough for Donghyuck to catch. Even over the music he can hear the resignation in your voice. He follows your gaze over to the dark corner where the girl now has herself pressed against him.

“Shit.”

“Yeah. Shit.” Donghyuck straightens up.

“It’s not too late, though.”

“How is it not? She’s practically got him in a to-go box.”

“Maybe, but he might just not know you’re here. You can still plant the seed. You know, let him know what he’s missing, at least.”

Donghyuck’s features are now angled in focus. In the red party lights, the serious expression squares off his jaw, sharpens the planes of his face. He looks handsome and he wants to help you even though he hates the guy he’s trying to help you with. You don’t know whether to be angry or feel fond. It’s not like you really want him to help you get with another guy, but the fact that he’s swallowing his own pride to do it shows he cares. He’s a good friend, you muse. And you can’t mess that up just because you caught feelings.

With vodka and spiked punch humming in your veins, you toss your shoulders back and grab your friend’s hand. Making a beeline through the crowd once more, you make sure to end up in a spot that’s directly in Yuta’s eyeline. Donghyuck falls in front of you instinctively, acting as a wall to spy behind. The music changes and you move with it to look natural. Your arms come up to wrap around your friend’s broad shoulders and your body comes up to press against his. Donghyuck looks down at you.

“Sorry,” you plead through the thumping bass of the song, “I know this is weird but I just figured if it looked like—”

“No, I get it. Keep going.”

Then, he’s locking you in with a hand on the small of your back and stepping in time with the beat of the song. You follow suit and as soon as you do, Yuta looks away from his friend for a split second. Your eyes meet, he takes in the scene, and you give him your best teasing grin. Instantly he looks intrigued. His eyes don’t return to the girl in front of him and instead he raises an eyebrow. As if to say ‘I thought you said he wasn’t your boyfriend’. You respond with a coy eye roll but also graze your hands lightly up the column of Donghyuck’s back for effect. You’re so caught up in your act that you forget yourself and go so far as to rake your nails across the nape of his neck. He shivers against you and for a moment you think you’ve crossed a line. But then he’s spinning you around.

Now your back is to Yuta while Donghyuck sizes the older man up. The plan is no longer in your control and you’re nervous.

“What are you doing,” you hiss into his ear.

“I’m just doing my part.”

Donghyuck makes sure Yuta is watching before leaning in and pressing his mouth to yours. Once the initial shock wears off, you freeze up for a different reason. On the one hand, this is what you’ve been waiting for. On the other hand, this isn’t how you had imagined your first kiss with him. You certainly don’t want it to have happened only because he was trying to get some other guy interested in.

The way his lips caress yours softly makes you pliant for a moment. You let your guard down and pull him closer with a sigh. His arms come to wrap around you completely and it feels so real then. It feels like the room is spinning. And then you realize it’s actually spinning as Donghyuck turns you both around just in time to give Yuta a glimpse of your entwined figures.

You don’t see the way the older student frowns lightly while being dragged away by his lady friend. All you see is a reminder that none of this is real. The way Donghyuck hugs you to his chest minutely as you kiss him isn’t real. The sweetness of the way he nudges his nose against you and switches the angle of the kiss isn’t real. The way he murmurs your name briefly against your lips before coming in to kiss you again, hidden from Yuta, is...not real?

You push at him roughly. He stumbles back like he’s drunk even though he drank a fraction of the amount you did.

“Donghyuck”

“Mission accomplished.” He grins at Yuta’s retreating back, passing his hand over his mouth.

“What was that?”

“Huh? Oh, that was just...it was just something to seal the deal.”

“Right.” You look down at your feet. “It was an act.”

“Yeah, no, it wasn’t real.”

He laughs but it comes out airy and broken. You try to laugh too but the sound catches in your mouth and a hitch comes out instead.

“Would it have been that awful if it were real?”

You watch as his jaw drops and he frantically looks anywhere but at you. It’s a trap of a question. A trap for the both you really, but you can’t stop yourself from asking.

“What do you mean? Like if we...if you and I were—”

“Forget it. That would be crazy, I don’t know why I even said that. I’m gonna go get some air.”

“Hey.”

The NKT house is one that you’ve visited a couple times for parties, so you’re lucky in that you know the layout well enough to be able to find a back door quickly. There’s not that many people on the porch that you find, so you don’t feel that bad about nudging some empty hard cider cans out of the way and letting out a pathetic little cry.

The rejection isn’t actually all that hard to take; you’d come to accept that Donghyuck was not for you. You hate the sound of your watery voice as you basically asked him if you had a shot only for him to act like he was being held hostage. The couple who had been making out on the other end of the porch get turned off by the weepy background music you make and head inside.

Sounds of another person walking onto the patio interrupt your crying, but you figure if you just cry louder they’ll be gone soon. When the footsteps get closer and eventually end up to your right, you wipe your nose discreetly and take a step away.

“Rough night?”

Yuta stands next to you with a smile. It’s not quite as sharp as the other times as he looks you over.

“You probably aren’t looking for this right now, but I just want to say you clean up real nice.”

“Gee, thanks.” You smooth a hand over the fabric of your clothes. “What are you doing out here?”

“I came to find you actually. Can’t stop thinking about you lately.”

You scoff. “Where’s your friend from earlier?”

“Her? She’s just a colleague.”

“She looked like she liked you,” you say quietly.

“I guess so. I’ve definitely seen that look before. Maybe that’s what it is.”

“Trust me, I know that look when I see it.”.

“I bet you do.” He pins you with an amused look.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

You cross your arms and turn to him. He chuckles at your sudden annoyance, looking oddly charmed by it.

“Easy, cowgirl.” He lays a relaxed hand on your shoulder, pulling you near. “All I meant was that you must be sick of getting that look from your little ‘not boyfriend’.”

“He’s really not my boyfriend. And he doesn’t—”

“Look, I’m an observant person. I see things. I can read people.” He puts his beer bottle down and uses the now free hand to wipe at the drying tear tracks on your cheeks. “I know when someone’s trying to make me jealous.”

“About that—”

“And I know when someone is head over heels with someone else. And that guy? He’s completely gone.”

“Yuta, I’m sorry about trying to play with your emotions like that. I’m sure you get your fair share of that.”

“Eh, it‘s whatever.” He shrugs. “I will say that you did a good job. It was fun, even if I did get a bit jealous at the end.”

“It wasn’t completely my idea,” you confess.

“I think I kinda knew that.”

You stand in what you think might be companionable silence with Yuta. He takes another swig from his beer while leaving his hand lingering on you. Not in a sleazy way, but perhaps in an attempt at being comforting. Like maybe he’s trying to be a friend.

“So, what’s the deal with your friend?”

“He’s...I think it’s one-sided. I basically confessed out there and his response was kind of bad.”

Yuta turns to lean against the porch railing. You face out into the trees behind NKT house, he faces the house, watching people pass by and stop on the patio.

“What kind of bad?”

“It was like the idea of us together froze him or something. He got so nervous, he started stuttering. I just booked it out of there after that.”

“How do you know it was because he didn’t like the idea? What if he was, like, trying to contain his excitement or something?”

“That would be amazing. But the likelihood of that is insane. I mean, you and him are kind of alike.”

“Excuse me,” Yuta bawks. You laugh a little and pat his arm reassuringly.

“I just mean that you and he are both cool guys.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

“He’s super cool and funny and handsome and...warm? It’s probably just simple math or physics—how can you not love him?”

Yuta hums, eyes still trained on the partygoers passing by the porch entrance. Someone walks by the open frantically, then comes back to stand in the doorframe.

“I don’t know. Maybe you have a word for this since you’re in astronomy but isn’t that just how it works? The planets just gravitate around the sun. It’s not the other way around. He’s the sun and I’m...”

“Pluto?”

“Yeah, actually.”

You laugh because it’s a little sad but it’s perfect for your analogy. Pluto. Not even a real planet, doesn’t really belong with some of the other giants that have moons and rings of their own. But still helplessly circling the sun because the laws of the universe won’t let it go that easily.

“I’ll be right back. Don’t move,” Yuta says after a moment.

“Oh, uh, okay.”

You continue to look out at the backyard. With your eyes having adjusted a long time ago, you enjoy the dark cobalt of the night sky and the ink blot silhouettes of the trees in the forest that runs along the school’s border. The air has grown crisp and without the alcohol blanket covering you, you’re feeling a bit tired and cold.

“Hey, you misplaced this,” Yuta’s voice sounds again as he ambles back onto the porch. He hands you your bag and phone.

“Crap, you’re a lifesaver.” Oddly enough, you don’t really remember putting them down, but you suppose it was the chaos of the party that blurred the memory.

“I think I have to head out,” you say finally. “It’s clear that my head’s not really in the right place to stay out much later.”

“I get that.” Yuta leans forward and places a soft kiss on your cheek. “But I think I might actually have something related to this in some of my old notes. I’ll send it to you.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah, sure.”

Yuta waits around in a surprisingly gentlemanly fashion while you send an awkward text to Donghyuck saying that you’re catching a shared ride back to your dorm and that he doesn’t have to wait up for you.

The following day, you wake up to a knock on your door. Your head is pounding from dehydration and a too-late bedtime the previous night, but you still hobble to the door of your bedroom to see what the commotion is.

“Here.” Your roommate places a stapled book of pages into your hand. “Donghyuck came by to drop this off. He said some guy named Yuta gave it to him and that you would know what it was.”

“Oh-kay,” you yawn and blink down at the paper.

There’s a section highlighted in red on the lined paper. It says BINARY SYSTEMS in neat penmanship. You vaguely remember Yuta mentioning sending you some notes, so you put it at the foot of your bed and plan to read it when you’re more awake.

“You up for brunch tomorrow,” you follow her into the main room and find an overnight bag on the couch.

“Can’t. I’m going to visit my parents tomorrow since my Monday classes got cancelled.”

“Lucky you.”

“We can do next week though.”

“Yeah sure.”

***

Later that Sunday, when you’re stuck in a procrastination loop with your own work, you remember Yuta’s notes. You try to make some sense of them but even with coffee and an afternoon nap, it’s still too jargon-filled to bring any sense to you. So you do the next best thing and type the heading of his notes into an online encyclopedia. The first sentence for the page reads:

A binary system is a system of two astronomical bodies which are close enough that their gravitational attraction causes them to orbit each other...

You don’t really know what Yuta thought you would get from reading this. Maybe he just thought that you would be interested because you made an astronomy analogy. You pull out your phone, about to text Yuta for an explanation, when your phone rings. It’s Donghyuck.

“Hello?” You try to keep your voice neutral, free of embarrassment.

“Hey, where are you?”

“I’m actually just in my dorm.”

“I just saw Daisy. Is she—”

“She’s going home for a few days.”

“Cool. Can I...come up?”

“Yeah. Of course, yeah. I’ll be here.”

You hang up the phone and as soon as you enter the common room, there’s a knock on the door.

“That was fast, you must have—Are you okay?”

There’s dark bruises underneath Donghyuck’s eyes, a sign that he didn’t get much sleep the night before. He smiles self-deprecatingly and holds the door frame for support while taking off his shoes. You note that they’re his shower slides. He’s either more tired than you realize or he was in a hurry to get here. In his hand he holds a cardboard tray carrying two recyclable cups, one filled to the brim with whipped cream like you always ask for.

“I was looking for you,” he blurts. “Friday night. I was looking for you after you ran away.”

“Okay.”

“I was looking for you because as soon as I kissed you I knew I fucked up. But,” he puts his hands up, “not in the way you think.”

“I think I need to sit down for this conversation.”

“I—yeah, okay.”

Donghyuck follows behind you as you migrate to your breakfast table. He looks even more exhausted in the fluorescent lighting hanging above the table. He hands you your cup, and you eat some of the whipped topping thoughtfully.

“How’d you pay for this? Didn’t you say you had a negative balance?”

“I find a way,” he chuckles.

“What were you saying before?”

“I figured you wouldn’t really want to talk to me, but you left your bag and stuff with me, so I was gonna just give it back to you and then give you space, but then I saw you on the porch. With Yuta.”

“Yeah. He came and found me actually. We had a really strange conversation.”

“I know. I heard most of it.”

“Oh. Then you probably know how I feel.”

“Yeah.” He ducks his head to play with the cardboard sleeve sitting around his own cup. “Did you read Yuta’s notes? I gave them to Daisy before she left. She said she’d give them to you.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“And did you...get it?”

“Not really. I think he was just trying to convert me to astronomy”

“Well, after you guys talked, he took your purse from me. And he said he’d send me the notes too. So I read them. And then I didn’t get it so I read more, and then I thought about it and I think I got it.”

“What is it?”

“It’s you and me.”

“How is it you and me?”

“I mean, you kept talking about how I’m like the sun and you’re like Pluto. But we’re something else. It’s not you revolving around me or me revolving around you. We circle each other.”

“So, that means...”

You think back to the discussion you had with Yuta on the back porch of the NKT frat house and it starts to click into place. If hand-holding and back scratches and buying him lunch was your revolution, buying you coffee when he was broke, watching you pretend to do homework, and helping you bag another guy for your own happiness was his. Somehow you had missed so many little things because you were blinded by his light. But now, you could see clearly. Donghyuck wasn’t the sun and you were not Pluto. You were binary stars.

“Hyuck,” you whisper because your throat is suddenly tight.

You get up from your seat, nearly toppling your chair over as you make your way around the table. He opens his arms to meet you halfway and you pull his head to your stomach. Bending at the waist, you press a kiss to the top of his head. He buries his face into the fabric of your shirt and breathes out a deep sigh.

“I love you,” his voice is muffled.

“I love you too.” When he smiles up at you, you take notice of the dark circles under his eyes again. “Have you not been sleeping?”

“I spent a lot of time overthinking everything since Friday night. I kind of haven’t gone to bed since then.”

“You have to take better care of yourself.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“No, come take a nap.”

He lets you tug him to your room where your bed lays freshly made. You turn the blankets over and gesture for him to get in. He slides in to the wall and then turns to pat the free space beside him.

“Get in.”

“I’m not tired. I slept like a baby these last two days actually.”

His mouth drops open. “How? I felt like I had to read every article about brown giants just to get here.”

“Yeah, see, I didn’t do that.”

“I probably know more than Yuta by now, honestly.”

“You know,” you finally surrender to his annoying patting of the mattress and sit, “He’s not as bad as you made him seem. I actually really liked the vibe while I was talking to him.”

“Why would you tell me that while you get into bed with me?”

You pat his cheek. “I’m just wondering now if maybe some of your attitude towards him was for show.”

“It might have been. But I was feeling desperate.”

“I’ll forgive you if you just go to sleep.”

“I’m too awake to go to sleep.”

“Well, I don’t want to go out and do something just for you to fall asleep like someone’s dad at a baseball game.”

“I don’t do that.”

“You definitely do that.”

You reach a hand out to stroke his hair, making sure to graze the hair at the back of his neck. He freezes up and at first you think it’s just the area being ticklish for him. So you ignore it and continue. But he freezes up again.

“Okay, if you want me to sleep stop doing that.”

“What are you talking about—Oh.” Just as you were pulling your fingers away, you feel something press against your hip. Your eyes grow wide and he buries his face in your neck.

“Sorry, sorry. Don’t worry about me. I’ll go to sleep.”

It’s not the first time you’ve been in this situation. A fair number of times you’ve woken up first after falling asleep in front of the TV, wrapped up in him wherever you slept only to realize that he was still dreaming about ‘nice things’. Sometimes you were able to pretend you were still asleep and he’d quietly disentangle himself before going to sit in your living room until you ‘woke up’ for a second time. Other times, he’d wake up right after you and he’d say the same thing every time. ‘It’s just a reflex’.

“Just a reflex,” you ask because you're not really sure what to do.

“If you want.” He picks his head up then.

“If it’s not just a reflex, what then?”

You inch your hand under the covers at the same time that he props himself up on an elbow, pulling you closer. The sliding sound of clothes seems extra loud in the confines of your room and it makes your face feel hot. His hand appears near the hem of your shirt, grazing the sliver of exposed skin gently enough to make your breath hitch a little.

“Then we can just see where we end up.”

#nct fluff #donghyuck fluff #haechan fluff #nct fanfic #nct imagines #nct scenarios #haechan fanfic #haechan imagines #haechan scenarios #donghyuck imagines #donghyuck scenarios #donghyuck fanfic

[milknette]

chapter 01 - au

lights out solo in the blue, but now i’ve found you.

tumblr month: @adrinetteapril​

links: ao3 | ff.net chapter: previous | next

HUMANS suck.

Marinette bites back the need to scream, instead settling for a cold glare pointed at anyone who dares look at her— some even having the audacity to laugh .

This is a terrible idea.

Why did she think this was a good idea in the first place?

Her mind races back to last summer, where Alya was animatedly telling her about the wonders of the human world: how it was filled with knowledge and treasures that she could never find back home, where the people were so interesting and diverse, pointing out that she’d likely never get bored with the sheer amount of things they could do way up there.

“Come with me, Mari!” Alya had begged her. “This was literally the best summer I’ve ever had and I can’t imagine going back to college without you. I swear you won’t regret it.”

But as she stands in the middle of the quad, soaking wet from head to toe, Marinette only finds that she wants to curse her best friend’s name; to grab Alya by the shoulders and shout, “I regret it, you land mammal— how do you live like this!?! ”

She really should’ve just stayed at home.

Her dad was right, after all. Marinette doesn't belong here.

(Not with creatures like them.)

The mermaids are a proud people; ever since they had shown themselves to the humans (though the land people insisted they ‘discovered’ them— Marinette has to roll her eyes, humans could be so selfish and egotistical. ), active attempts to integrate and create peaceful unions between the two species were being implemented.

It was one step further into blurring the line between the real and the mythical— though really not all that noticed, as most mermaids didn’t care about the world on land in the first place.

Only a handful were actually interested in human life, and even fewer made an attempt to live within it.

Marinette, to her deep regret, happens to be one of them.

After a fair amount of begging and convincing, her parents had allowed her to take a kind of ‘exchange program’, where she’d be attending university with Alya on land for the next year.

It's exciting, at first.

Walking on her own two feet is a struggle ( really , how humans survived with these two weak limbs, she'll never understand), but decides that it’d be worth it if Alya had been telling the truth.

Sure, there are times Marinette misses her mermaid tail.

Though, at this moment, she really could be doing without it.

Marinette growls, looking irritatedly down at her scales, gleaming pink as they reflect in the sunlight. Her tail serves her well underwater, definitely, but it has become completely and utterly inconvenient on land: flopping uselessly as she tries to make her way to her next class.

She has no intention of transforming back to her original form, of course, but some other students thought it would be oh-so-funny to force her to do so— attacking while Alya wasn’t with her, so they knew Marinette would be stuck without being able to do anything about it.

After all, it's common knowledge that a transformed mermaid exposed to water would automatically revert back to her original form, and stay like that until they dried up— which meant one thing:

Because of a couple of immature college kids with water balloons, she’d miss her next class.

Again.

They're only too lucky that a mermaid using their powers is illegal, or they’d be in a whole new hell of trouble.

The sudden ring of Marinette’s phone distracts the mermaid from her thoughts, as she quickly retrieves it and answers the call.

“Girl, where are you?” The voice asks on the other line. “I dropped by Mme. Mendeleiev’s class and you’re not there yet? You know she’s tired of you being late all the time.”

Marinette groans, running a wet hand down her face. “Water balloons.” She only responds, flatly.

“Oh.”

From the static of the phone call, she can hear a hiccup, evidently her friend's poor attempt at trying to hide her laughter.

“It’s not funny, Alya!” Marinette cries, hissing as a few teenagers point and take out their phones to record her. “I’m stuck in the middle of the goddamn quad because of you land mammals ,” she spits. “Your species sucks.”

 “Hey, not all of us!” Alya protests back. “I’m a great land mammal.” The line suddenly goes silent, as Alya pauses if in thought. “Why don’t you just dry up? Where’s your towel?”

“Sure you are,” Marinette only drawls. “And it’s still wet; this wasn’t the first attack I got today.” She snarls, tightening her grip around her phone. “Now get over here and help me out. It’s hot and if another teenager tries to take a video of me, I’m going to end up breaking more than a few laws, and that’ll get us both in trouble.”

A gasp. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Try me.”

From the other line, Marinette hears sudden scuffling and books being thrown into her bag. “Fine, fine, give me fifteen minutes. I’m on my way.”

“Hurry up,” the mermaid responds curtly, before hanging up the phone.

She sighs, putting away the gadget, and looking upward. “This is so annoying,” Marinette complains, squinting as the sun shines down on her. Muttering to herself, she grabs at her tail in an attempt to drag it to some place that was shadier, with little to no success.

Marinette glares at her lower half.

Betrayal.

Humans are the absolute worst.

She decides that the next person who even attempts to look, much less talk to her, would understand why mermaids remained as creatures to be feared.

— And as it turned out she didn’t have to wait long, a cautious tap on her shoulder sending a sudden shiver down her spine.

Who the hell is dumb enough to touch a mermaid without her consent?

“What?” Marinette finally snaps, turning (with great difficulty) to the guilty party.

Only to flounder as bright green eyes meet her icy blue ones.

“I’m sorry,” the boy says, an awkward laugh escaping him. “I just thought you might need help,” he begins, clumsily gesturing at the lower half of her body, “with… all that.”

Marinette squeaks, a high-pitched sound of disbelief, before laughing— a notch too high for it to be considered genuine. “Oh, this? ” She asks, awkwardly patting at her tail. “This is nothing! No big deal! I’m cool, I’m cool, it’s cool… because I’m a mermaid, get it, it’s always cool underwater, haha …”

An awkward pause.

She cringes.

Did she really just say that?

Marinette wants to swim into the deepest trench in the ocean and stay in there.

Until she hears laughter.

The mermaid looks up, and to her complete surprise, the boy is laughing: amusement evident in his expression.

“Yeah!” He smiles ( a toothy grin that rivals even the rarest pearls she had scavenged back at home ), then continues. “That’s really funny, Marinette.”

She pauses, looking at him in disbelief. “You know my name?”

“Of course!” He replies, that same kind look in his eyes. “You did make quite a splash when you got here,” he winks.

That's corny.

Really corny.

So why in Poseidon’s name does she find that absolutely adorable?

“And I’m also studying mythology,” the apparent student continues. “I see you around the building sometimes.”

So the very pretty human boy who reminds her of sunshine (the good kind— warm and comforting, the kind of sunlight that reminded her of home; not the heated and dry sun that‘d been constantly beating her down as soon as she started living on land) knows her name.

That's nice.

Marinette continues looking at him, dumbstruck.

As if only realizing something, he smiles, offering his hand. “I’m Adrien, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

She stutters, awkwardly taking it. 

His hands are smooth — nothing like the rough and calloused hands of the land people she’d met thus far.

“I— uh— Marinette.”

The corners of his mouth tilt upward. “Yes, I know.” He laughs.

Oh.

Right .

Why is she so nervous? This isn’t like her at all.

“So, about my offer?”

“Huh?” Marinette asks, still reeling from the sudden attention.

The mermaid isn’t used to his attitude, after all, knowing that most humans typically don’t take all that kindly to her species.

Friendliness, Marinette isn’t quite used to yet.

(Alya being the sole exception. If she arrives in the next five minutes, at least.)

The amused smile never leaves the human’s— Adrien’s face. “You’re a literal fish out of water. I don’t think you’re stuck here because you want to, right?”

She nods, the joke easily going over her head, as she remembers what happened. “Some girls thought it’d be funny to force me to transform back here.” Marinette growls. “You humans are all the same —.”

A pause, as she looked at the friendliness in his eyes.

There's no hostility, fear, or disgust in them.

It's a nice change of pace.

“Well, most of you are, anyway,” she amends, then gestures down the rest of her body. “I’m stuck like this until I dry up.”

Adrien hums, sympathetic. “That’s pretty inconvenient.”

“It is,” Marinette agrees. “But my friend’s on the way, so don’t worry— I mean ," she pauses, "not to say that you were worrying about me or anything, I’m just…”

The mermaid fumbles on her words, before resignedly just shutting up. “That is to say, I’ll be just fine.”

Adrien quirks an eyebrow, before looking around. “Really? Your friend’s nowhere to be seen, are you sure you‘ll be okay?” He pauses. “And don’t you have class with Mme. Mendeleiev right now?”

Okay, now he has to be some kind of mind-reader, right?

(Not all that farfetched, considering the co-existence of humans and mermaids in their world.)

“Wh— how do you know that?

“I’m actually her TA,” he explains. “I keep track of all her students and classes. So helping you would actually be doing my job.”

“No, it’s really alright—”

“I have some papers to give her anyways, so it’s on the way,” he points out, patting his messenger bag. Then, his lips quirk upward. “And besides, I’m pretty sure you’re in danger of being dropped from her class if you’re late again.”

She gulps.

Of course he’d know about that, wouldn’t he?

Marinette sighs, defeated. “Fine,” she began. “There should be some towels in the restrooms; it’s a little far, but if you could—”

“No time,” Adrien only states, suddenly kneeling down in front of her. “I think you only have five minutes before you’re late, and it’s a ten-minute walk to our building.”

He grins, before suddenly scooping his arms under her tail and waist, raising her up.

Marinette can’t stop the surprised squeak escape her throat, as she feels herself get lifted off the ground.

The cute boy is carrying her.

And not just any carry, but a princess carry .

“What are you doing put me down I’m gonna scream …” Marinette rushes to say, swatting helplessly at his chest.

This is so undignified for a mermaid, to have some human’s filthy hands on her —

Adrien smiles.

Marinette feels her mermaid-equivalent of a human heart skip a beat.

Then, he winks.

She's sure she's the color of her tail, now.

“Let’s go!” He only says, before running with surprising speed, so light and quick on his feet that she feels like she's flying. His hold on her didn’t falter either, carrying the mermaid with both strength and gentleness.

It's a strange feeling, being in his arms.

But as he easily runs into the building and up four flights of stairs, she decides that it's not entirely uncomfortable, maybe .

.

.

Marinette shows up in the nick of time, only a few minutes before she’d officially be considered late.

Mme. Mendeleiev looks at the two as they burst into her classroom, hands crossed against her chest. “Late again, Marinette?” She asks, evidently unamused.

The mermaid is about to protest, until Adrien decides to speak up:

“Actually, ma’am, Marinette’s just in time.”

“I take attendance at 10:15 sharp, Adrien.”

“And she got here at,” Adrien exhales, out-of-breath, as he looks at his phone, showing the lock screen. “10:14,” he states.

Mme. Mendeleiev pauses, eyes narrowing at the two, before sighing.

“Fine,” the professor sighs. “There are towels at the back. Dry yourself up then take your seat, Marinette,” she states, then pointedly looks at Adrien. “And you,” Mme. Mendeleiev stares at the floor, dripping wet from their entrance. “Go get a mop and clean up this mess…”

The sudden “woah!” from outside following a crash makes her frown.

“... before anyone gets hurt.”

Adrien has the decency to offer a sheepish smile, before immediately nodding, helping the mermaid to the back, then setting her down.

“Sorry for getting you in trouble,” Marinette mutters, apologetic, taking the towel in her hands. “And giving you extra work to do.”

He shrugs, visibly unbothered, as the kind smile remains on his face.

“You didn’t get me in trouble, I decided to do this myself.” He responds. “I couldn’t leave you alone helpless like that.”

“You’d be the first,” she points out, using the towel to wipe her hair. “I guess humans aren’t all that bad.”

“Yeah,” Adrien chimes, a bright laugh escaping him as he runs a hand down his wet hair. “Not all of us land mammals suck, I can promise you that.”

Marinette manages to look the slightest bit embarrassed. “You heard that, huh?”

He smiles. “Yup,” he responds easily, before leaning over to her ear. “But I get you. Some humans really stink up here.” He wrinkles his nose, then scrunches his nose up in a way that she can only describe as absolutely adorable. “Must be because they aren’t taking a bath 24/7.”

Marinette feels herself laugh, ready to reply, when—

“What’s taking so long?”

Mme. Mendeleiev finally barks, glaring at the two.

The two look at each other, then burst into laughter.

“Guess that means I have to go,” Adrien says lightly, then bends down, kissing her hand. “I’ll sea you around, Marinette!”

He runs out, and for the first time, Marinette feels like she's falling.

Or sinking , if she's being technical about it.

#hey hi hello #comeback? #adrinetteapril2021 #adrinette april #adrinetteapril #adrinette #adrienette #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #ml #miraculous ladybug #milk writes #ml fic #ml fanfic #sandbar nine

[iam93percentstardust]

hey! i hope you’re having an amazing day. this is just me popping in your inbox to say that’s youre one of my favourite writers and you got me really interested in winteriron (honestly one of the cutest ships) are there any fics/authors ii could reccomend?

Hi there! Thank you so much! I love this ship so much, they’ve got such potential for both fluff and angst. They really are one of my favorite ships to write and I’m glad I was able to write so much for them this year. I certainly do have plenty of recs for you, starting with my favorite authors:

@riotwritesthings: started writing last year, I highly recommend just about everything Riot writes but especially Road Hazards, Melt into Me (Your Words are My Own), and When is a bed not a bed? (When you’re not in it)

@hddnone: so many stories and all so good! Has nearly 100 Winteriron works on ao3 and you will not regret reading any of them, though fair warning that some of them are Team Cap Critical. Especially recommend Honey Pot, You’ve Got Mail, and A Bit(e) of Danger

@monobuu: mostly an artist but sometimes writes stories as well. i recommend Ravioli, Invincible Summer, and Meet the Fam

@tisfan and @27dragons: can’t make a Winteriron rec list without including the both of them. They work together a lot but you should definitely take a look at their own stuff as well. I recommend Safe and (the) Sound, Kiss Me Thru the Phone, and Stark, Naked

@ad1thi: currently taking a bit of a hiatus and working on non-Marvel works but I love everything Adi writes, particularly her entire Bollywood but Make it Gay series, which isn’t always Winteriron but wonderful nonetheless. I recommend the Greek Gods AU, 1000 Lives (For You), and we’re connected

@the-winter-writer: lots of smut and all absolutely fantastic! I like Precious Treasure, Winter Wings, and Instinct

@rayshippouuchiha: definitely an iconic writer for this fandom. Really great if you’re looking for genderbends. Writes a lot of absolutely incredible fics and not just for Winteriron but my personal favorites are The (Not So) Great Pretender, Fearful Symmetry, and The Mistletoe Kiss Polka

Finely Honed (jaqen_hgar): once again very iconic. you’ve probably read at least one of their works even if didn’t know. I recommend Shameless, Today’s Forecast, and Practice Makes Perfect

@lovelyirony: mostly writes ficlets here on tumblr and a multishipper (I don’t know why I’m saying that like it’s a bad thing, I’m a multishipper), also a fan of Sharon Carter and that’s the thing that made me follow her so you know

@amethystinawrites: I only recently started working their works but I’m loving everything I’ve come across so far. I recommend Tech Support and I Won’t Hold My Breath

AvocadoLove: also writes a lot of Stony and Stuckony, which I love a lot, but for their Winteriron works, I recommend Amalgam and Dead Man’s Switch

Dracusfyre: another one I’m new to. I literally just started reading their works today so I don’t have any recs for them yet but one of my friends loves them so I’m going to go with you should definitely take a look at their works

Eirlyssa: has some anti-Team Cap works so keep an eye out for that if that’s not your thing but writes very good Winteriron. I recommend Guide Me Home (Guide My Heart) and Always (I’ll Be There)

@imposter-human: one of the first MCU blogs I ever followed! I recommend childhood memories, speak my language, and lost in translation

As for specific works I like:

Four Strings and Second Chances by Vashoth

It was reluctance to let one of his finest inventions ever out of his grasp that made him take a couple days over a week to send the arm to Pepper’s office. But all things considered, Tony figured that sending finest prosthetic that had ever come into existence--literally grasping an olive branch--was one of the classiest gifts he’d ever given. He’d included a note and everything. ‘Barnes,

Can help with installation. Or not. Up to you. --Stark'

Who is the Mechanic? by @akira-of-the-twilight

The Asset watched as his handlers brought in a stranger—a man with a metal object stuck to his chest that was hooked to a car battery.

The handlers shoved the man onto the stool where many who had operated on the Asset’s arm in the past had sat before.

“Asset,” one handler said, “meet the Mechanic. He will be responsible for the upkeep of your arm. Should anything malfunction, kill him.”

The Asset eyed the Mechanic. The Mechanic was glassy-eyed and unresponsive.

He’d probably be dead in a week.

The Fix by SleepsWithCoyotes

Right, because Tony...Tony fixes things. He remembers thinking that, not for the first time.

Paths are Made by Walking by @potrix-the-queerschlaeger

The road to recovery is long, winding and a different one for every person walking it. Bucky chooses to help himself the only way he knows how; by doing what he does best.

Or, alternatively; the one in which Tony is a mess and accidentally kick-starts Bucky’s protective mother hen instincts.

The Evidence by StrivingArtist

Didn’t notice. Right. Sure. Two brilliant minds, two super spies, and a god didn’t notice when the chattiest man they knew stopped making sound. They just seemed happier than before. Brighter and more cheerful than before. They just seemed like they were more comfortable with him around when he was stone silent.

Fuck it.

He knew they noticed.

And he knew they liked him better this way.

Shadowed Hearts and Winter Souls by NotEvenCloseToStraight

The mid-1800s and Antonio Carbonell Stark is caught in a scandal with his lover. Desperate for a chance to escape the trouble and his own broken heart, Tony accepts a proposal from a mysterious Russian heiress and flees the country.

Natalia Romanova is in trouble of her own and has enough secrets to make Tony's head spin but somehow they settle into a fake marriage and calm day-to-day together, and everything works... until her half brother comes home and their life is disrupted again.

James is somber and silent, brutal and nearly broken and scarred, a soldier of the resistance. His heart is cold and gaze like ice, but his hands are hot and lips are warm and Tony finds himself ignoring the blood on James's palms and the shadows in his soldier’s eyes, and falling in love.

When danger lands at their doorstep, Natalia and Tony have to pack up and leave, running away in the middle of the night and leaving their men behind.

The distance between Tony and James gets longer every day, and Natalia has been keeping a secret for that can’t be hidden much longer. With no place to call home and a thousand miles between them and the men they love, what are Tony and Natalia supposed to do?

Puppy Love by Reioka

Bucky is learning to become a person again. When some guy starts crying all over Natasha's dog, he decides he's doing better than he originally thought.

Describe Your Perfect Date by ali_aliska

After getting turned down by Bucky, Tony decides it’s time to move on from his massive crush. He tries online dating—Pepper’s idea, not his—but the only thing worse than getting rejected is getting rejected and finding out your soulmate-level match is Clint Barton, all in the same day.

Clint, of course, does not let opportunities like this go to waste, but he’s driving Tony nuts for a good cause, he swears.

Bucky’s just trying to do the right thing and fails spectacularly, but it all works out in the end.

Rocket Science by marsmaywonder and orbingarrow

Sleep-deprived and under-caffeinated, grad student Tony falls asleep in a conveniently empty classroom and wakes up in the middle of Bruce’s Physics 101 course. After seeing a groggy Tony fumble a simple question, actual-student Bucky offers to tutor him. In a moment of “oh no; he’s cute” panic, Tony takes him up on it. Now, in addition to his already complicated life, Tony has to figure out the answer to the incredibly messy question: “How do you look like you’re failing the class, when you literally wrote the book?”

What’s Good for the Goose by Taste_is_Sweet

For this nonny prompt at the Imagine Tony and Bucky comm on Tumblr:

"A soulmate AU where an immortal goose shows up one day to lead you to your soulmate, the challenge is surviving the goose." (Full prompt in notes.)

We all have soulmates, and every soulmate pair shares an animal guide. The Guide is there to lead you to your One True Love, and they represent the aspects of the psyche that you both share. They appear when you're about to meet your soulmate, and often materialize in moments of great personal crisis, offering hope and support. There are stories upon stories about how someone's Guide appeared to lead them to their One True, or how the barest glimpse of their Guide eased their hearts and gave them hope in the midst of despair. The newly-rescued almost always attribute their Guide with giving them the strength and courage to hang on.

Animal Guides are ephemeral, ethereal, and elusive. They are, most often, no more than a warm presence or flicker out of the corner of one's eye. They are incarnate symbols of perseverance, optimism and hope. Foretellers of happiness, and the grand destiny of love.

Except for geese. Geese are assholes.

and so, we unfold by TheKitteh

Senbazuru. Thousand Cranes.

An ancient Japanese legend that promises anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the gods. Some stories believe you are granted happiness and eternal good luck, instead of just one wish, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury.

Bucky’s not big on believing in any legends, not after all that has happened. He just wants to create something for a change, not destroy.

He needs to prove himself that he can be trusted to handle something delicate. He doesn’t need a promise of a wish come true. He just,- needs to do this for himself.

He doesn’t need noticing how sad, tired Stark looks. Doesn’t need to want to do something for the man, when he can barely do anything for himself. --- Tony simply goes through days and motions. He deals with the Avengers, with R&;D, with the rewritten Accords. All of it, it’s nothing new really. He just wants to get things done.

What’s new is seeing Barnes hunched over the coffee table, one step away from ripping a glossy magazine apart in the middle of the night.

And why the hell Barnes keeps looking at him during the days after like he’s a puzzle to be solved?

Welcome to the Winteriron fandom! We’ve got a lot of incredible authors and artists both and this is just the tip of the iceberg!

#alle answers #winteriron #fic recs #have a great day as well! #hold-our-destiny