#nct sfw

[warmau]

☆ [nostalgic] summer romance! hendery another late as all hell birthday au! but happy bday dery~! find others here: johnny | haechan | taeil | taeyong | mark | jaemin | yangyang | yuta | sicheng | chenle | kun | yukhei | doyoung | jaehyun | jungwoo | ten | jisung | renjun | jeno | xiaojun | shotaro

"the air conditioner is broken in my apartment."

you cross your arms and jut your hip out with an amused gaze

"uhuh and the world is ending on thursday. what do you really want hendery?

he wipes the back of his neck and shoves his palm into your face with the evidence that he's been sweating for hours

you pull back just in time with a face

"im serious, my place feels like the pits of hells."

"i think that's fitting."

you don't uncross your arms and hendery groans

"c'mon, please just let me in for an hour of relief."

hendery looks unbearably long

taking up most of your carpet and then some as he lays starfish in your cool living room

you had been watching something on your tv, absentmindedly wasting your weekend away when he'd come ringing on your doorbell

technically, you aren't "enemies" or anything - you've been neighbors for well over half a year

it's just something about him irks you.

maybe it's the way he has one of those obnoxious doormats that doesn't stick to the ground so if you aren't looking and step on it - you'll go sliding down the hall like you're on ice

or the fact that you noticed he doesn't properly know the difference between fabric softener and detergent so he just pours them into the machine when he's in the laundry room with you

actually, you grind your teeth yourself, it's none of those - it's the fact that he thinks he's entitled to everyone else's hospitality and never gives any of his ow-

"can you throw me a pillow?"

he outstretches his toned arm and you ignore the way his muscles flex as you chuck one off your sofa at him with the intent to hurt

but he catches it effortlessly and without anything close to a thanks

he's a brat. that's why we don't get along.

"can i change the channel?"

"no."

"you aren't even watching the tv."

"and this isn't even your house."

hendery rolls over onto his back and gives you a glistening white smile that you're both envious and pissed off at.

"hey, why do you hate me so much - could it be that you secretly want all of thi-"

he runs his hand down the line of his body and that's the straw on the camel's back for you

"get out."

"oh come o-"

the door shuts with a heavy, cruel thud and you are left in peace again.

you stare at the pillow on your carpet and walk up and down the spot where you can still feel the heat from his body.

what a weirdo. well at least he won't bother me again.

you're in the shower the next time someone rings on your doorbell.

you half expect it to be the deliveryman so you peek your head around the curtain to yell out that they can leave the package at the door but all you get in response is another doorbell ring

you huff and grab a towel, wrap it around yourself and trek out with slippery footprints left in trail as you get to the door

"who is it?"

the doorbell rings again

maybe it's the building manager? only she's such a hardass about things and wouldn't just give up after the first ring.

you sigh and unlock the door to open it - fully sure now that it's the manager - when all you see in front of you is

hendery

he looks you up and down and you stare back in horror

seemingly unaffected by your appearance he points over his back

"our air conditioners still busted is it ok if-"

"NO!"

you shut the door again and hear hendery yelp in surprise, then add "you could have crushed my fingers!" for good measure

you stand there and grit your teeth - glaring at the door as if you're glaring at him

"hendery. im not letting you in here anymore!"

"but whhhhhhhy - it's so hot, it's like one hundred degrees out and kun can't fix the damn thing so im dying pleaseeeeeeee spare some mercy!"

you harden in your resolve

"no! if you want free AC, go stick your head in the freezer section of the grocery store!"

you think you hear his footsteps shuffle away and the tension releases in your shoulders

you head back into the shower and stand under the water as you try and figure out what exactly made you this mad this time

obviously, it was because he's coming here to annoy me.

the angel on your shoulder quips

but the demon on your other shakes its head

aren't you mad he wasn't all flustered seeing you like this?

the self-conversation is bizarre, and you shut off the water to stop it

when you dry off you decide that the summer heat is getting to you, what does it matter to me what hendery thinks? 

you need to go get some ice cream and regain your dignity

you’re humming to yourself, trying to decide between a tub of plain vanilla or the box of mango popsicles 

when you hear the door to the freezer beside you open

at first you don’t look up, but then you hear a loud sigh and you peek from the corner of your eye just for your gaze to fall on the one person you really - really - do not want to see right now

“hendery. what are you doing?”

he moves aside a carton of cool whip to rest his head on the shelf inside

“i’m doing what you told me to do. sticking my head into a freezer.”

you look around to see if any employees are milling about 

and if they are, you fully intend on abandoning this conversation so no one incorrectly thinks you and hendery have anything to do with each other

but don’t you?

an evil voice in your head suddenly chimes

look at him - doing exactly what you said. isn’t that kind of ........ cute?

you are so dumbfounded by your own inner dialogue that you scoff and hendery raises an eyebrow

“why are you scoffing, first i can’t use the ac in your place and now i can’t even do this? you’re the one-”

you grab the carton of vanilla and let the freezer door shut hard enough to shake the others beside it

hendery pops his head and squints his eyes

“you can do whatever you want hendery.”

“does that me-”

you extend your hand and point directly between his eyes

“let me rephrase that: you can do whatever you want, hendery, as long as it is not in my presence.”

you are half way to the cash register when you suddenly stop

you look over your shoulder, and a part of you seriously expects to see him there again

pouting and whining and annoying you again

but hendery is nowhere to be seen and you pretend the weird drop in your stomach is from the mean look a random lady throws your way for blocking her path to the produce 

hendery doesn’t show up for the next couple of days

you say you notice it only because you’re enjoying the fact that he took your last warning to heart

but in reality, as the vanilla carton of ice cream you bought empties little by little, you realize you’re just searching for him for another reason

one you don’t think you want to confront yet

then one day, when you’re sitting beside the window and eating the last of your ice cream you see him

he’s sitting in the little park across the street, right under the water fountain, and a group of kids are circling around him 

they’re all counting and laughing and the sound makes it up into your ears

hendery suddenly jumps up, shaking the water for him hair and starts chasing one of the kids 

they run all around the park and hendery purposely slows down so that he can’t catch them

you roll your eyes, what’s he doing playing with kids at his age?

and then the kid he was chasing falls, scrapping hands and knees on the hard ground

hendery immediately hovers over, your spoon stays in your mouth as you watch him scoop the little body up into his hands and rush over to where you presume the kids mother or aunt or older sister is

the other children form a curious circle, the ice cream starts to melt down the side of your spoon as you concentrate on the way the one who fell is still clinging onto hendery’s sleeve as their wounds are bandaged up

hendery looks up for a brief second and you back away from the windowsill on instinct

the carton of ice cream drops down beside you

it happens again, this unexpected view of hendery from a distance

you’re coming home from a meeting with a friend and he’s across the street at the bus stop

at first you just look to make sure it’s him, but that posture and grin as he stares down at his phone is a dead giveaway to his identity

so you tell yourself to just keeping going - out of fear that you’ll somehow make eye contact

then, you see him suddenly bend down

at his feet is a local stray, she rubs up against his bare legs and hendery scratches behind her ear 

if you remember correctly, that same stray has never liked you, hissing even when you had tried to put out a saucer of tuna

so you stop walking and watch as it nearly splays down over his feet and hendery laughs and tickles it 

and you hate to say it but you think he looks almost.........cute.

the bus comes puffing down the hill though and hendery picks the cat up carefully and sets it safely in the nearby bushes of another building

before he can turn around in time to see you, the bus blocks both your views

you hurry along and try to distract yourself with the thoughts of what you’ll have for dinner

summer is at its worst when you wake up and check to see that the temperature is forecasted to be 99 degrees

you turn the ac on and sit down to think of what you can do in such horrible weather

when you lean down to press your forehead to the cool surface of your table you think

should i let hendery in, is his ac still broken?

you jolt at the thought. 

recently, you’ve been thinking about hendery a lot. way more than you ever have before.

you’d been watching some b-listed romcom the night before and when the lead had fell on his butt trying to impress the girl of his dreams you’d akin it to something he would do

it was downright unsettling 

the sun has cursed you - you reckon - that’s what it is 

ever since you met him you knew you two wouldn’t get along, yet here you are sprouting up the thought of actually inviting him over if his ac really still is broken

you groan

no, it’s not because you care about hendery or have suddenly grown feelings for him. you’re just a concerned neighbor. plus hendery lives with kun and you.........like kun well enough.

it’s enough of an excuse that gets you up and down the hall, knocking on the door 

hendery doesn’t answer, but kun does - and so does a gust of strong, cool air

“oh. you fixed your ac.”

you say before you can think and kun raises an eyebrow

“fixed? it was never broken.”

“oh.”

you blink up and into kun’s confused expression

before either of you can follow up with a question in the awkward, tension-filled silence

hendery appears behind kun with his bedhead and no shirt. he doesn’t see you as he rubs the sleep from his eyes and asks if kun can make him an omelet

you wave without a word and rush back to your own apartment before hendery has the time to notice

you hear kun say something about how hendery needs to learn how to crack eggs himself before the door shuts

your heart is beating ever so erratically in your chest. at the kind of speed that you would deem humiliating.

but, if the ac was never broken then why was hendery always bothering me about it?

the devil pops back up onto your shoulder with a grin big and red like candy

maybe, he just wanted an excuse to be around you.

you spend the rest of the day debating this.

first off, hendery did seem like the type that would annoy his crush in highschool with weird nicknames or notes passed around during class

that is in highschool  - you’re both adults now. there was no way he would still be doing the same thing

then again, this was hendery you were talking about, whose common language and overall vibe seemed to work best with children and animals

you try to convince yourself that that’s exactly the issue

why am i suddenly liking a guy who acts like .... that?

by “that” you had meant childish and weird - but maybe “that” was slowly turning into kind, fun, and really easy to love

the thoughts clog up your brain, mixed with the miserable heat, you just give up and go to bed early

you hope you wake up with a clarity of mind

instead, you wake up to a note slipped under your door

you pick it up and know who it is from immediately.

guess he really isn’t above highschool level flirting afterall?

you read it and it says that hendery wants to meet you in front of the freezer you two talked at last

half of you says you need to keep face and just not go. 

the other half is sick and tired of being single.

hendery is wearing basketball shorts and a plain grey hoodie when you show up

“a lot of layers for someone who said their air conditioner is broken.”

is your opener and hendery turns to you, first smiling and then letting his face fall into a serious expression

it’s the first time you’ve ever seen his eyes not twinkle with some form of mischief

“yeah - i - kun told me you stopped by.”

now you feel your own playfulness wear off and while clearing your throat you wait for him to continue

“i’m sorry about lying. and im sorry about always being a nuisance to you.”

you wait two beats and hendery stays quiet

“anything else?”

you can tell he doesn’t really know what you mean by the question, you know he’s racking his brain for the ‘right’ answer

“i mean - um.........i’m sorry for being....um........rude?”

he tries and in response, you can only jut out your hip and roll your eyes

by that, hendery can tell that he hasn’t said what you’re wanting to hear so he tries again

“i’m sorry for acting like a chi-”

“hendery.”

he straightens up and stares into your eyes with concentration

“why did you lie in the first place? that’s what i want to hear. what was the reason.”

again, you can tell the cogs in his head are turning, and you start to second guess yourself

maybe he didn’t just do it because he wanted to be around me - maybe he really just wanted to annoy someone? was he just.....

“kun said i should apologize, i shouldn’t bother people just because i’m bored.”

........bored

you think you hear something break, maybe a glass bottle in another aisle over

but the ringing sound in your ears is actually just the fragments of your own heart

“right. you were just bored.”

you repeat and a shadow casts itself over your face. hendery reads the switch fast and reaches out to touch your shoulder

you shake it off and turn to leave, as there isn’t much else you can say

this time you don’t look back to see if he’s following you. you don’t think twice about the time you’ve spent changing your opinion on him and you decide that afterall, you knew that you and hendery just would never get along. in any kind of way.

“i’m sorry.”

his voice comes from over your shoulder before you can push your way out of the exit door of the grocery store

“kun also said i shouldn’t lie. i was bothering you because i like you. i was acting like a five year old with a crush because that’s the only way i’ve ever been with the people i like. i know it’s dumb and i know i really made you mad so i- i’m sorry.”

before you can turn, hendery tries to move past you and run away first

you catch him by the back of his hoodie and he freezes up when you tug him back toward you

“i’ll do anything ok, seriously, i’m sorry i will try my best to stop liking you because i know it’s a burden please i-”

he’s rambling and rambling and you two are blocking the way for people to get out of the store

so wordlessly and with more force than you mean to, slam your arms around him from behind

you bury your head into the fabric 

“you talk so much. i think i like you too.”

if you weren’t hugging him, you might have been able to see the physical joy that spreads over hendery’s face

it lights up every part of his features and he scrambles to turn in you hold to hug you back

he leans in, eager and overflowing to try and kiss you, but you put a hand up against his mouth

“we’re still in the store.”

he nods, saying something muffled and you push him toward the exit. someone scuttles past you and mutters something about how you both are being so annoying right now

when you finally get back to your place, you tell hendery that he can try again - with the kiss of course - but this time you want a genuine try and not some kind of messy puppy slobber which is what you imagine he had in mind

hendery feigns offence, but when he takes your face in his hands, he’s gentle and you’re thankful that his mouth tastes like fresh mint

“did you plan for this to happen?” 

you joke later as you two cuddle against each other with your ac on blast

“of course. i knew you’d fall for my charms one day.”

you playfully pinch him and hendery cries out like it seriously hurts 

you laugh, the two of you laugh together, but you can’t say he’s wrong

at the end of the day - somehow - you did end up falling for some kind of charm

and that charm stays with hendery, even as you two grow older together 

and being neighbors turns to dating turns to living together 

and the one summer where your shared air conditioner actually breaks and you two find yourself standing in the freezer section with the doors open

trying to take in as much free cold air as possible

you look at hendery’s reflection in the glass with a big smile

“babe, you were so smart back then. this is way better than an ac.”

he chuckles at his own corny joke before you can

you want to quip back, but in the moment all you can do is see young hendery in front of you

sticking his head in between cool whip and ice cream just because you told him to

“hey - i love you.”

you blurt out, even though you’ve said it way too many times before

hendery smiles, says “i love you too” 

and draws a heart in the condensation on the door

you grin and then under it hendery adds word that makes your eyes go wide

“forever?” 

#well well well. look who is done even though february was one billion years ago #wayv scenarios #wayv imagines #hendery scenarios #wayv au #hendery au #hendery imagines #wayv sfw #nct au #nct sfw #nct hendery #nostalgic summer romance #idk what to tag I ONLY HAVE ONE PERSON LEFT.

[starswguru]

❝ message in a bottle ; 마크이

𖥻 pairing: college!mark lee x female reader

𖥻 contains: college!au, fluff, slight angst, second chance romance

𖥻 warnings: swearing, marijuana & alcohol consumption / english is not my first language and this is my first work ever on tumblr so i am sorry if there are any grammar mistakes or misspellings

word count — 4.06k

synopsis — you and mark were in a situationship for a few months before things ended poorly when you got too scared of your feelings and he had to leave the country for an exchange program in london. now, six months later, you were at a party with your friends and discovered mark was back in town.

🎀

AND just like that, your whole world stopped spinning for a long and torturous minute. in the blink of an eye, you went from being over-the-moon excited — and slightly intoxicated — with the idea of partying with your friends during the first summer night before heading to your hometown in the next couple of days to being paralyzed, feeling all your blood get drained far away from where it should be in your body. in the blink of an eye, you went from being a happy girl with the arrival of the last member of your friend group to someone terrified with the sight of a ghost from the past. a quick glance, unintended by all means, in mark’s direction was all it took for the memories from that previous year to come flooding back to hit you like a lost train.

“hey, princess,” he said. his cheeks burning in a shade of shameful red, but something stronger than him was preventing his stare from going anywhere else other than your eyes. there was a blunt hanging between his teeth. “how you doing?”

“that’s it, guys; i’m done with this. i’m just gonna change my major or something like that! everything’s going terribly wrong, and i can’t keep torturing myself by studying this shit.”

you dropped your head and rested your forehead on your arm that lay on top of the desk in front of you right as the confession slipped from your lips like a dangerous poison that you should not have taken. it was the first time you’d ever said it out loud to someone else to hear — other than the mischievous voice inside your head — how you truly felt about the english major you were pursuing. the fear of judgment and of being too hasty about this decision was corroding every last bit of your emotional health, and because of it, you could sense that a storm was coming. what if you did change majors and ended up not adapting? how would you find a job, or better yet: how would you support living all by yourself if you couldn’t even pick an undergraduate academic path? time was running out, and the unbearable clock inside your mind wouldn’t give you a break. the tick-tacking of the goddamn thing was going to drive you to insanity at any point soon.

“hey, chill for once, okay? it’s normal to feel like that and to want something new. hell, i know i had to change my major twice before finding out what i actually wanted to do. jae did the same thing. you’re not alone.” jeno offered you a small yet reassuring smile or someone who didn’t quite know what to say but still wanted to see his friend more relaxed.

“exactly! take a deep breath and think things through with an easy heart. if you need help, we’re here to help you." swallowing the last bite of the sandwich he had bought earlier, renjun tapped the notebook in front of him. “how’s that linguistics project going?”

as you raised your head, you shook your head in a negative sign. “i mean, it’s good. too good, actually… and that’s sort of the problem. like, the dude i’m working with is super sweet and really fucking good at this class and so he’s kind of doing the whole thing by himself and dragging me along with it ever since we started. i feel terrible, even if he says it’s all good and stuff, but it is what it is, i guess.”

before either of the guys could express any opinion about what was just said, a guy with freshly cut black hair — it was even possible to see the drawing of a spiderweb on the left side of his undercut —, earphones in and a large yankees shirt approached the desk, more specifically you, and offered a genuine smile that wasn’t common to see between two colleagues who were only working on a school project together at you. the unknown man squatted so he could be at your height and unlocked his ipad’s screen to the word document the two of you were using to write notes together, or at least that was the initial idea because the reality was that mark was doing all of it alone, proudly.

“oh, hi, y/n, you good? just wanted to ask you a quick question… have you taken a look at this topic right here? i know we’re only supposed to work on it in two weeks but i was wondering if maybe you’ve come up with the same conclusion as me.”

feeling a thousand times more embarrassed than if a professor asked you to present a thirty-minute seminar alone in front of the whole class, you felt the tip of your fingers getting cold and a thin droplet of sweat rolling down your temple. “uhm, hey, mark. yeah, about that… look, i didn’t really have a chance to look at that yet, i’m sorry. i can barely manage this week’s assignments, let alone two weeks from now. i- i’ll text you when i read it, okay?”

you didn’t know it at the time — or if you did, you had an enviable ability of discretion — but every single time mark heard his name escape from your heavenly drawn lips, his heart would skip a beat or two and he felt like he was about to combust at any second. it was the first time in his whole life that he had ever felt that way about someone and dealing with feelings of that magnitude was both weird and extraordinary, which meant that the ravenette wasn’t completely aware of how to process them. mark’s solution for his overwhelming thoughts whenever you were around was to take charge of everything he could in that project, to make you feel relaxed about that one particular class. the canadian was terrible at linguistics, for his skills were much more reliable during literature classes: he could interpret and internalize poetry from the eighteenth century like it was nothing, and plays written in latin during the roman empire were of natural understanding for him; and yet, ever since the first day of that semester in which it was requested that both of you joined efforts to build the complicated assignment, it was impossible for mark to not pull all-nighters reading texts and more texts, watching one video class after another that broke down the subject of that class just so he could give his absolute best when the time came to work alongside you and you didn’t find him an idiot, as most people in that university usually did after meeting him for the first time.

mark just wanted to impress you and the last thing he could be worried about was doing all that alone, as long as it meant that he could still have the minimum interaction with you.

“yeah, sure, that’s cool. if you need anything let me know, alright?”

you were still in a state of complete shock. no words would come out of your mouth, making it impossible to answer properly the question directed at you by the boy that a year before was the reason for many sleepless nights and therapy sessions, through no fault of his, which was even worse, because mark was perfect and you hated yourself for how everything ended.

a cold breeze, too cold for a summer night, hit the both of you with enough strength to make you shiver and it was only then that you realized that none of your friends were around anymore. you were alone again with mark for what had felt like a lifetime since he left the country for an exchange program in london and with enough unspoken words to make the whole situation a million times more uncomfortable than it needed to be. what were you supposed to say right now? “oh, hi, mark, long time no see! listen, i’m really sorry for being horrible to you last year, i’ve spent the last six months torturing myself because i only woke up to the fact that i had let the perfect guy for me get away too late to try and fix everything”? you ran your fingers through your hair, knowing that there were no words of your knowledge that could make it easier, that could put together again the pieces of what had once been something magical that the two of them were building.

you couldn’t care less about all those times your therapist tried to be kinder to your heart than you had ever been, or how your friends always tried to distract your mind from the constant haunt of self-collection and, to be honest, didn’t really mind that yes, after all the effort and studying, you had managed to change your major to something you actually enjoyed if the price for it was to drop the perfect crystal piece that was mark’s precious heart. there were no words that could take that back, and going against every piece of advice that was given to you, you had imagined more times than you’d like to admit how this encounter would play out: what you would do, what you would say or not say, how it’d feel… but none of those scenarios inside your mind was anywhere near to the real sensation of being in front of him again.

mark looked taller — or maybe it was just the feeling of missing him crushing your soul and clouding your judgment —, the slim body now gave way to the body of a man who went to the gym and tried to truly take care of his health, his hair that previously used to be as dark as the t-shirts he used to enjoy wearing was now covered in a shade of red so bright that it reminded you of his favorite superhero’s suit. even still, the one thing that caught your attention the most were his eyes. before mark left, before the whole chaos, they were always big and full of life, like those of a curious cub and you could always feel a cozy warmth travel across your body when mark looked at you with such brightness; however, it seemed that ever since the canadian got back in town, they were opaque, closed off to the outer world as if his eyes were now carrying some kind of intense melancholy behind them. the familiar redness in his sclerae, months ago, used to always be accompanied by an excited and smiling version of mark lee, but that night the only thing apparent to you was that lee was holding on to weed like some kind of way to numb the break-up pain.

the redhead had lived a thousand different lives during his exchange: saw and learned things that he knew he would never have achieved if he hadn't accepted the opportunity to go to england and yet, his mind couldn’t recall any of those experiences with the genuine happiness he should’ve felt like any other normal and grateful person would if they were on his shoes; to mark, ever since you left him all alone, he had turned into nothing but an empty shell of what should’ve been the real mark lee. what were his experiences, his learnings, his funny stories if, at any moment, he was allowed to at least call the person he loved and share all of that with her?

“yeah, i guess i’m okay.” you answered, holding back a cry that was stuck in your throat before looking away. “you?”

a shiver went down the english student as he waited for his project partner to arrive at the coffee shop you two had agreed to meet at to finish for good the agonizing linguistics document. it didn’t even seem real that you were finally concluding the most stressful and endless project of your university career until that moment and despite the sweet taste of reaching the finish line, mark had on his lips a bitter one, because he knew that the very instant you pressed “send” on the body of that e-mail to your professor, all of his excuses to talk to you would come to an end. it was only the beginning of november, you should spend at least a few more weeks studying together if said professor were to follow a normal academic calendar like the rest of his fellow colleagues of the department.

mark would only have one last chance of making this work out and that chance was right there and then. anxiety and fear were destroying the boy with more strength than he himself was biting through his nails waiting for you to arrive.

“gosh, mark, i’m so sorry!” you said in a panting tone when you finally managed to get to the coffee shop and met the guy that, by that point, had already become your friend. “the bus took forever to get to the stop i needed and then the subway was also chaotic… anyways, i’m sorry that i’m late.”

the both of you stayed a long time in that coffee shop, not only finishing the assignment but also laughing together and watching a few episodes of modern family on his computer as a way to relax after all the constant flow of negative emotions the both of you were facing during that semester due to not only that particular class but also all the other ones with their enormous reading load. by the time you had indeed finished what you were supposed to do, you were feeling so comfortable in mark’s presence that you didn’t even notice when you heart started to race faster and faster before the mundane things the lee did: the way he smiled from ear to ear, or how kind he was to everyone around him. you were starting to fall in love with how mark explained all the different concepts he used to build his arguments across the paper like someone would explain the most basic things to a child, and you thought it was sweet the way he would say “dude” and “no way” every couple of sentences that fell from his lips. but, above all, unconsciously, the way mark seemed to glow every time he looked at you was ethereal to your eyes.

as soon as you sent the hated file, it started to rain on the outside of the coffee shop, but contrary to the ideal scenario, you couldn’t stay in there just waiting until the climate conditions became more favorable because the two of you had places to be at, on opposite directions. there would be no other alternative but to run to the nearest subway station, or in the brunette’s case, the bus stop.

mark immediately took off his hoodie to shield you as best as he could from the rain, in exchange for you protecting his backpack that contained his computer as if your life depended on it, the moment you two stepped outside the establishment and something of a thunderstorm was taking over the avenue. mark couldn’t help it and ended up laughing at the situation you two had found yourselves in, thinking about how he wished he was a little less broke and had a car to take the girl of his dreams back to her place without having to worry about the rain, or how he wished he was stronger to pick you up and carry you to the subway station and, with that, spare your shoes from coming in contact with the soaked surface of the sidewalk. before you could notice, you were right in front of the stairs that led to the station.

“bye, i think.” you said, giggling along with him while you tried to fix your hair that, despite mark’s hoodie’s protection, still got wet from the rain.

the lee was going to answer you like a decent and proper person, he really was, but in that very moment, a raindrop fell from the marquee above you and somehow managed to hit you right on the forehead, which made you close your eyes, but mark kept his wide open. with an automatic reaction of his body, almost like an involuntary movement that he was incapable of controlling — such as the beats of his accelerated heart — his left hand traveled to your neck while his right thumb was busy drying the solitary raindrop slowly, to give his mind time to analyze every little inch of your face so close to his. mark tried to respond with words to your farewell, but his impulse to kiss you was far stronger than any cohesive phrase that his brain could formulate in that moment.

the literature student, now in his final semester, nodded as he bit his lower lip and those opaque eyes fell to the floor beneath his feet after stepping on the remaining of his blunt. mark didn’t even know why he started that conversation in the first place, it was obvious that it was impossible for him to stand close to you without it affecting some part of him — whether for good or for bad — and even still, there he was, not managing to say a single word to you, nor being able to get closer, just feeding that giant gray and terrifying cloud that grew over both of your heads due to the impasse of what this was and what it should have been.

unlike his mind, that was only able to repeat tirelessly the day he finally built the confidence to kiss you, yours was in a hurricane of terrible memories that involved the brief, yet intense, relationship you two shared — or whatever the hell one could call it. how was it even possible that something that lasted only four months could leave such deep scars?

if mark was trying to hold back a smile remembering how it felt to have your lips on top of his, you were only torturing yourself with the replayed image of mark being crushed in front of you, by no fault other than your own. it was your fault that fear was allowed to consume every single good thing that the lee had ever given you; it was your fault that you’d thought that whole thing was a sick and sadistic joke from the universe and that, in reality, there was no way someone like him could've ever fallen in love with you. in the deepest, darkest, cruelest part of your soul, you were convinced that everything was your fault and not your mind trying to destroy you before something so pure and happy.

you were a sinking ship, navigating towards a port with not a single sight of a lighthouse’s spark to help you, not knowing how to reach the treasure that awaited your arrival because other people had already destroyed the lighthouse. the ability to grope around, trying to find yourself in the darkness you’d placed yourself, was stripped away from you the second you gave in to the bruises that were caused by third parties, and mark knew it wasn't your fault, although it was still difficult to try and be the guide to someone that wouldn't allow them to have access to the heat and light from the fire he tried to offer.

without even realizing it, the silenced cry stuck in your throat for months on end started to escape, not giving you any power to control it. you felt anger, sadness, frustration and you were missing mark… all at the very same time, in an endless swirl triggered by the mere vision of having mark back into your reality.

just like the first time you kissed, the unconscious answer of mark lee’s body to the sound of you crying after such a long time being away from you was to wrap his arms around your body without allowing himself to give too much thought to the action that just took place. if it was even possible, noticing you needing him in any way, shape or form was a true calling for him and it didn't matter how much time could've gone by, the lee couldn't ignore it. to love you and protect you was just as natural as breathing.

between the supplications for your tears to stop and hair strokes, mark then began to feel something that he thought was dead coming back to life inside the hollow box that was his chest. for months now, the redhead just knew that his heart was no longer there. instead, it must've been put inside a bottle and thrown away into the ocean that separated his emotions from his rational mind, as if he wasn't even the owner of his own feelings.

“please, princess, don't cry. i’m begging you.”

the cruelty of your mind wouldn't give you a break for not even a single second ever since the last time you've heart mark’s melodious voice so close to your ear, and the fact that it carried the same heavy tone of request didn't help with your genuine desire to stop your sobbings as your face was pressed against his chest. in that moment, the last thing on your mind were the looks that other people could be directing at the two of you; you could only see the desperation all over the face of the only man you've ever truly loved. he was in such pain that day — the day you told him you didn't want to see him anymore. soon, though, that image was replaced with the memory of the gut-wrenching feeling of chronic emptiness that filled your chest the following week and you came to your senses that you had make a mistake, but that it was also too late: mark was in another country, it was far too late to ask for forgiveness.

“i know you probably hate me right now. i shouldn't have done that, i shouldn't have said that, i was such an idiot, stupid… i'm sorry, mark, i don't know what was going on in my mind to treat like that, i-”

that sobbing wouldn't allow you to form coherent sentences properly and the way you were crying so helplessly was becoming melancholic instead of just sad to the man holding you. if only mark could get into your merciless head just how he would never be able to hate you, not in a million years, not when there was so much love, desire and adoration intrinsic to the image he had of you, then maybe that big gray cloud would disappear forever and the two of you could just live like he hoped for. all mark wanted was to have the privilege of loving you again.

“y/n, look at me” mark held the red and tear wet face of his beloved girl with kindness while his tone of voice was filled with all the firmness the moment could ask for. “for christ’s sake, y/n, i love you. i could never hate you. dude, really, for once just keep your head out of this and focus on what i’m telling you right now. i love you and this whole time i was thinking of you. only you.”

even if he knew you wouldn't answer anything for a few seconds, or maybe even minutes, mark just allowed a sweet smile to appear on his lips while he delighted himself with the feeling of being allowed to hold your face once again, to stroke your cheeks and to place small, delicate kisses all over your beautiful face — which he knew would force your breathing to slow down, giving you the chance to calm down again. the canadian was smelling like the combination of weed and beer, but somehow, your body knew how to identify the familiar and characteristic smell of his cologne; the same smell your searched for and ached for during the coldest nights, when missing him was too overwhelming it almost felt like a hole was being digged up in your chest. that familiarity was the reason for the shy smile that took over your lips, that opened a breach for light and happiness after all those tears while mark traced your lips with his thumb, admiring you like you were some kind of artwork created just for him.

“i was made to stay just like this with you, princess. and i’m not leaving this time.”

#— ⟡ 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐥𝐞𝐞 ! #— ⟡ 𝐤𝐩𝐨𝐩 ! #— ⟡ 𝐧𝐜𝐭 ! #mark lee #mark lee x reader #mark lee x y/n #mark lee x you #mark lee angst #mark lee fluff #mark lee sfw #nct 127 #nct u #nct dream #nct #nct dream drabbles #mark lee drabbles

[swee7dream]

hi! Just wanted know if I could request cg chenle or jisung taking care of y/n when she regresses in public because of sensory overload? I love your page so cute and helpful! 🥰

whatever you want cg!zhong chenle x f!reader

summary: he just wanted to welcome u back home from ur trip :(

genre & warnings: established relationship, angst, comfort, sensory overload, public regression, non-sexual use of 'daddy'

dni if: sexualize age regression

“Baby, you’ve gotta eat. You didn’t eat anything on the plane or before your flight.”

“Said I’m not hungry.”

“Can you have at least one more bite of rice? Just one.”

Chenle’s nagging whispers tickle the shell of your ear, making you pull away. He doesn’t remove his hand from your waist, nor his eyes off your curled-up figure.

Your friends around the table are too engaged in their conversations to see how you’ve been uncomfortable from the second you walked into the restaurant.

It’s as packed as most barbeque spots would be on Friday nights, with customers shouting for staff help over all the music and talking, and waiters yelling back in that tone that just wrings your brain like a soaked towel. Chairs and stools screech with each move they make on the concrete floor and it makes you wince.

You’re hunched in your seat, covering your mouth with one hand while the other holds one of your elbows pushing against your hips. Your nails dig into your clothes when you feel a sizzling pop of grease too close for comfort, bouncing your feet on your stool’s footrest.

It’s only now that Chenle realizes his plan is flawed. Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to invite your friends to go out to eat together the same day you came back from a week-long visit to your parents. Sure, he missed you and to him, there was no better time than one where all his favorite people are there but—

“Don’t wanna…” You groan quietly, bringing your glass of water to your lips just to have something to block Chenle from force-feeding you in public.

It’s not the best time for you.

“Fine. You don’t wanna. I get it.” He whispers, bringing up the hand on your waist to hold your head when he kisses your hair.

Chenle pulls out his phone and unlocks it to check his messages. No new ones, but nobody but you can tell. He clicks his tongue loudly, successfully earning the attention of Mark next to him.

Large, concerned eyes wordlessly ask Chenle if he’s okay to which he nods and seamlessly gives an excuse to let the two of you go home first without ruining the good mood the rest of the group has.

As much as you want to just run out of the restaurant, your boyfriend gives you a familiar, near-mindreading look that you know is telling you to at least wave goodbye. So you do, just as he zips up your bubble coat up up up to your nose and throws the hood on after.

You groan about not being able to see but not sure if Chenle heard it, your hand already in his as he leads you out of the cramped establishment with your purse over your shoulder.

You know it’s annoying, you know it’s wrong, but you just can’t help but complain.

“It’s cold! And loud! And there’s so many people!” Your warm tears are quickly dried out by the winter chill, sparkling under the light like the snow you see collected on a tree nearby.

“I know, baby.” Chenle sniffles, his nose turning pink in the cold. His free hand tinkers with his phone, looking for a nearby taxi.

“I hate restaurants!” You stomp your foot.

“No, you don’t.”

His blunt words leave you quiet, bringing your tantrum to a sudden stop. It’s almost annoying how he doesn’t let your mind wander too far away from reality. Your arms wrap around one of Chenle’s, the embarrassment of your loud outburst catching up to you.

“I don’t…” You admit into his coat’s sleeve. “Didn’t mean it. Sorry.”

“I know you didn’t mean it. My baby girl’s just feeling lots of big feelings right now. I can understand that.” He scratches your head, locking his phone and dropping it into his pocket.

“Like restaurants...” You murmur. “Just not that one.”

“Okay, not that one.” His hand slides down to your jaw, giving you a gentle smile. “Do you want me to get you your headphones?”

“Yeah.” You nod.

The pink headphones Chenle had bought you for your first anniversary are out of your purse and his hands, but he’s not willing to give them up just yet.

“Want it…?”

“Want it please, Daddy.” You bite your lip. In the next second, you feel the plush pillows on your ears muffling the sound of the street. “Sorry…”

“No apology needed, doll. Just wanted to check in and see where you're at.”

You can hear Chenle mutter to himself as time passes on with no available ride in sight, only taxis with LED displays reading ‘unavailable’ mocking the two of you as you stand in the cold.

“How about a walk?”

“…”

“I’ll buy you hot chocolate.”

“…with whipped cream?”

“And marshmallows and chocolate syrup.”

Chenle admits that it was a risk going to that cafe, its little red canopy luring you in. Neither of you had ever gone there before and trying new things usually was reserved for special occasions where in general it had been a good day that has given a lot of energy, not a bad one like today where the seeking for new experiences is at an all-time low. There was just something pushing him to go in, a sort of inexplicable force.

From the outside, you could already tell it was small. The little hole in the wall used small chandeliers hanging from the ceiling to successfully bend the rule of ‘not using the big light’.

Like in shows, a bell rings overhead as you two open the door, taking in the smell of freshly ground beans and baked pastries. It’s like a slice of heaven on earth.

There are no other customers, empty booth seats lined up against the wall opposite of where the display case and coffee machines are. Thin glass vases hold up lonely flowers, lightening up the dark oak round tables. You’re busy inspecting the seemingly real vines that hang high on the walls when you feel a gentle nudge to your side.

“For here or to go?” Chenle repeats to you.

“Here.”

You unhook your arm with his to look around further, seeing how the seemingly hand-crafted wood shelves run all around the store, hardcover and paperback books of every genre resting atop them. Your fingers run along the spines, most of the letters all blending into nonsensical scribbles. You don’t mind though, you just like seeing the way the gold lettering on the thick spine of this one dark green book.

“’Peter Pan & Other Classics’…”

Chenle’s sudden voice behind you makes you jump.

“Wanna stay a bit and read?”

“Can we?” Your eyes sparkle.

“It’s Friday night. We can do all your little heart aspires to.” He taps the tip of your nose with his finger. "Absolutely anything you want, doll."

a/n: hey..... how y'all doin'...? OK STOP BEFORE U THROW UR TOMATOES CONSIDER THIS: I'M A HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR. i'm sorry for not keeping my promises on the two fics but like... it's exam season ok? please show mercy. anyway, anon !!! thank you for requesting !!! i'm so sorry it took so long to put out AAA. spidermark is next if all goes well. my askbox is also open for whatever. just remember to read my rules first pls and thank u ok love u lots like subscribe and SMASH the notification bell BYE

#nct dream x reader #nct dream fluff #nct fluff #agere sfw #cg!nct dream #nct dream agere #nct imagines #zhong chenle x reader #zhong chenle #chenle #chenle x reader #chenle fluff #chenle angst #cg!zhong chenle #cg!kpop #little!reader #kpop agere #nct dream #nct dream imagines #nct fanfic #nct scenarios #nct dream reactions

[mystarsohee]

can you write something with cg!jaemin?? 🥹🥹🫶 i love your works omg :<

silly face

genre: fluff, sorry thats like all im good at writing

you and jaemin take some silly photos on his macbook photobooth.

!!! non-sexual agere, only cg name used is jaem.

cg!jaemin gn!reader

jaemin sits on the bed and types away on his laptop, while you're located closer to the foot of his bed playing out some random scenario with your stuffed animals. you were honestly getting bored of playing with stuffies, its been almost an hour! looking at your jaem, he looks very serious. and very concentrated. you want to do anything but bother him, so you don't. instead you move closer to him, and lay down. being careful not to disturb jaemin, you still find a way to get into contact with his arm.

jaemin notices your movement, and moves you in a way that places you on his chest, facing the laptop. all you see are words that are too big for your tiny mind to comprehend, and all you feel is the slow rising of jaems chest.

while mindlessly staring at his computer screen, he clicks open an icon at the bottom. once clicked, your reflection stared back at you! he opened the photobooth app! wait, but why? wasn't he working on something..

"baby, sit up! lets take some photos." jaemin said to you, as you moved yourself to a comfortable position with his arm around you.

"jaem lets use a filter!!" you say, and he starts scrolling through the different filters. you decide on the filter with hearts floating above your head. they were so cute!

the both of you take a few photos with various poses! your favorite is when the two of you do the infamous "kyuu" pose.

"you're so cute!!!" jaemin giggles at you.

"you're face is silly!!" you giggle back at him.

you let jaem pick a filter this time, and this one distorted your face in a funny way! you two looked like little aliens. you found this absolutely hilarious, you couldn't stop laughing while jaemin took photos.

almost 10 more filters and a million poses later, you lay back down on his chest. jaemin takes this time to go through all the photos and take pictures of them with his phone. he sets the one of both of you doing "kyuu" as his wallpaper, replacing the previous selfie of the two of you.

you're busy looking up and admiring his face, you could never get enough. though you said his face was silly, it was still so beautiful.

author note: this one is so much shorter than my other works, sorry!! i'll try my best to write an even amount of both long and short. i hope you enjoyed this :< i just love jaemin kyuu

#mystarsohee #jaemin x reader #cg!jaemin #kpop agere #sfw agere #sfw #nct dream #nct dream x reader #nct agere #nct #jaemin

[aces-parrows]

café conversations | taeyong

pairing: taeyong x male!reader word count: 1.4k genre: fluff, slight angst, imagine warning(s): not proofread, mentions of enlistment summary: you're in a secret relationship with taeyong, meeting up at your guys' spot to catch up.

the warmth of your fresh coffee warmed your hands that had become frozen from the cold weather, gradually thawing them as you took this moment to embrace the aroma and the soothing heat. it was about nine in the morning, a few minutes past when your boyfriend promised to meet you here. as you glanced around the bustling cafe, anticipation and a hint of concern filled the air, your mind wandering into different scenarios it could think up as to why he was late. normally, his "late" was right on the dot for the time he gave, but today was different. you understood the idol life kept him busy, however, you were aware this was supposed to be a day off for him. what could be keeping him?

you glanced out the window, hopeful to catch a glimpse of him through the glass, now blurred by the frost that coated it. perhaps there was traffic due to the weather? the roads did appear quite icy when you left your apartment earlier. even the sidewalk was coated in ice that you were slipping on as you walked over here.

taeyong appeared at the entrance of the cafe breathless, looking around for you with those sweet boba eyes. they seemed to sparkle upon seeing you as he skipped over to where you were seated, his smile almost visible through the mask he wore. he didn't have on makeup today, which you noticed despite most of his face being hidden. the acne on his left cheek and his pores just added to his attractiveness; knowing that he wasn't "perfect" just made his genuine charm even more appealing. not just to you, but to his fans as well.

"i'm so sorry i'm late, lovebug." taeyong's said in the sweetest tone, visibly remorseful for keeping you waiting.

lovebug. that pet name that always made you smile and blush like it was the first time he's ever called you that.

when he first bestowed the endearing nickname upon you, it during a chance encounter at the bar. you two were engaged in casual conversation between sips of your beers, when you were abruptly whisked away to spend time with a friend and his girlfriend. admittedly, you found taeyong irresistible even though you barely knew him. his purple hair made him stand out, the way it framed his captivating, boba-like eyes. god, those eyes were as big as his heart. you couldn't help but continue to steal glances at him throughout the evening, watching as he laughed among his group of friends, which you soon found out to be members of his group, nct 127.

it was later in the evening when you were about to head out, your friend and his girlfriend having left half an hour earlier. you didn't know what kept you there, but you felt as though you needed to stay and wait for something. perhaps, this was the universe's subtle way of bringing you and taeyong together.

in the bar's bathroom, as you were about to exit, taeyong entered. the smile that quickly spread across his face, lighting sparkles in those boba eyes and filling the air with a sense of love you never felt before. it was there in that bathroom, where he explained his situation as an idol, the industry, the fans, all of it. you listened, curiosity piqued. this was vital information, provided to you before he asked you out to dinner.

the invitation took you aback. in the bar bathroom? here is where she asked? looking back, it was hard to be offended when you got to witness first hand how crazy the fans can be, especially with their idols being in love or in a relationship. you accepted regardless, wanting to see this sweet man again, even if it was only once more before he disappeared from your life permanently. the excitement boiled over in him as he called you "lovebug" for the first time when he expressed his excitement to see you again.

ever since that night, that was his special nickname for you. it melted your heart every single time, bringing a warmth even the freezing cold outside couldn't extinguish.

"it's alright," you said reassuringly, "i was getting worried, but i'm glad you're here."

"i had someone following me." he admitted, stress evident as he hesitantly glanced over at the entrance. "i needed to lose them before i could come."

that was the one thing you hated about his job. the fans. no, not all of them. the crazy ones. the ones that could ruin his career if they even so much as suspected he was in love with someone, let alone a man. the conservative nature of south korea did make it harder to be openly gay, but when you're in the spotlight, it's even harder. you know the international fans would love him regardless, it's the ones here in korea that terrified you. you sometimes had nightmares of how they might treat you if they found out you exist. what would they do if they felt you were taking away "their man?"

the secrecy of your relationship gave you comfort in knowing they wouldn't know about you. regardless, you never left to meet up with taeyong without a mask and other ways of obstructing your appearance to make it more difficult for them to find you.

you were snapped out of your thoughts when you noticed taeyong's beanie, a hint of a new hair color peeking out the back, prompting a soft giggle to escape your lips.

"what's the new hair color this time?" you ask, internally crying for your poor boyfriend's hair and scalp.

"brown." he said happily.

"no more silver and black?" you ask with a soft pout, that combination being your favorite after the pink and blue.

"no, sadly not." taeyong chuckled, "you did always like natural colors on me the most, though.

"i know, but you pulled off those colors so well! i couldn't get enough of it!"

the amount of times taeyong changed his hair was crazy. every time you saw him, it seemed he got his hair colored to something new. admittedly, you considered making a bingo card at some point to see how many colors this man could have dyed his hair in just a few months. you felt bad at the idea when you found out it was damaging both his hair and scalp to a point he dreaded getting a new hair color. you wanted nothing more than to have some sort of magical healing abilities, able to kiss away all the problems his company caused hm physically.

"how have you been?" he asked

"the usual." you admitted, "work has been kicking my ass."

"the same here." taeyong said through a laugh, "but i love it. i love seeing everyone so happy and enjoying our newest songs. especially since i.. you know."

that damn e word. enlistment. you knew it was coming and that it would make your already secretive relationship even harder to maintain. why couldn't he have enlisted earlier or not have to enlist at all? despite the freshness of your relationship, it felt as though you two had known each other for years. the mere thought of him going away for a couple of years tore your heart into pieces. how could you live without him? true, he could visit you on his days off, but how often would that be? how frequently could he communicate with you? your biggest fear was that you two would discover a freedom he doesn't get with being an idol, allowing your guys' relationship to bloom more; only for it to be ripped away once he's discharged.

"hey." taeyong said gently, knowing you were getting lost in those thoughts again, "i understand it's tough to think about, but we'll make it work. we'll make the most of our time together and i'll contact you as often as i can."

you looked into his eyes, finding reassurance in the words he spoke. his unwavering support made the impending separation a little more bearable. with a tender smile, he reminded you of the wonders of modern day technology, how even if he can't communicate for some time, your guys' memories will always be at the tips of your fingers whenever you wanted.

"our love can withstand the distance." he reassured once more.

you then realized in that moment, that no matter the difficulties,the strength of your bond would be a guiding force through the trials of his enlistment. and the limitations of the idol life.

taeyong, realizing he had to go, apologized for having to cut the date short. you understood, sensing he had a good reason. he planted a quick yet tender kiss on your cheek before he said his goodbyes, making you promise to text him the second you stepped foot into your apartment.

"i love you, lovebug. take care, i'll call you tonight."

#taeyong #lee taeyong #taeyong imagine #nct #nct 127 #nct u #nct imagine #nct imagines #kpop imagines #male!reader #taeyong x male reader #male y/n #male reader #sfw interactions only #i needed to write so i hope i didn't break any hearts tonight

[struggling-intuit]

jung jaehyun

a headcanon || of his ability to anticipate a partner's needs

wc || 0.4k

djj || strawberry sunday

backed up by astrology ⋆｡°✩

Jaehyun is my OG k-pop himbo, so you may be surprised that “no thoughts, just vibes” Jeffery is actually intuitive in practice. Don’t worry, he’s more conscious than he seems on the surface.

If that aquarius mercury-venus conjunction in the twelfth says anything, it’s that he likes a puzzle in people. Add a cute little eighth house libra mars in retrograde with pisces-virgo on his ascendant-descendant axis, and he wants to figure you out so he can cater to you. Solve your problems. Shoulder your trauma. Become indispensable to your happiness.

Astrology aside, Jae is the type of person who’s only going to tune in if he cares about you, and you make him want to do exactly that.

Maybe you’re not always upfront about your needs, but he kinda definitely likes that about you. The challenge you present. Especially if you’re one of those who puts up a fight if you feel forced to open up and take care of yourself.

He’ll use that careless, ditzy shell (is that why he looks good blonde?) to sort of, maybe trick you into not killing yourself out of principle. I’ve said it before, but he loves him an independent bitch, so he’ll never do anything to make you feel like that’s any less true of you. 

Got a heavy bag? He’ll ask to see what’s in it, peek inside, shuffle the contents around for a few seconds. You want it back? Hmm, you can have it when you get home.

It’s hot and a single bead of sweat has rolled its way down your temple? He wants a cold drink, yes, right now. You won’t let him buy you anything? Well, you’ve just got to taste this. Again.

Part of him does love bickering with you, so sometimes he’ll sneak up behind you to snatch your bag and replace it with a strawberry lemonade you don’t remember him purchasing, and then he’ll be using those long, strong legs of his to press on farther down the street while you make a fuss half a block back.

And even if he’s trying to be sneaky, he’ll have this big ass grin on his face because he’s just so proud of himself. He’s not very sneaky.

But he knows you and you know him, so it’s fun and won’t be an issue until you’ve actually settled down together and you’re stressed out about work and he’s up in your space giving you exactly what you need somehow and it’s fucking annoying get out of my head Jaehyun.

You love it though.

click here for main masterlist

and here for nct masterlist

excuse me and my incessant thoughts about this man

#and it intuits #sfw readings #jaehyun #jaehyun nct #jung jaehyun #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun headcanons #nct 127 #nct fluff #nct headcanons #nct soft thoughts #nct soft hours #kpop fluff #kpop astrology #intuition #reading people

[hyuckcicles]

haechan hcs : random

fluff

warnings: none !

a/n : wanted to try fluff. I rly enjoyed it I think it turned out pretty good ^^

definitely has a few pictures of you in his wallet

shows it to anyone and everyone who comes by him "this is my girl isn't she gorgeous"

loves when you get him gifts out of the blue

can only go to sleep when you are hugging him from behind and playing with his hair

always shows public affection

especially when he knows you're embarrassed he just does it to tease you even more

when he's on tour he sends you pictures of the sky and say's "this reminds me of you"

ALWAYS gets his way

so you don't even bother arguing with him because he is too stubborn

purposely sprays a lot of perfume on his hoodies

he knows you're going to steal it from him later on and he wants his smell to linger

buys cringy couple outfits like "she's mine" and "i'm his" word's on them just to make you embarrassed

makes you beg for affection

because he loves when you need him

#nct headcanons #nct #nct scenarios #nctzen #nct haechan #lee donghyuck #nct fluff #nct dream #nct 127 #sfw

[yaasirambles]

Dog-Sitting?- Chenle req.

This was a request!

Word Count: 370

Group: NCT DREAM

Member: Chenle

It was a hot summer day, and you were lying on a lounge chair by the pool, tanning in the sun. Suddenly, a shadow stepped in front of you, blocking the sun. You opened your eyes to see Chenle standing in front of you. A wide grin on his face 

“What do you need?” You narrowed your eyes at him

“What do you mean? I can’t just hang out with my best friend?” He asked, still smiling

“No. You have that look on your face. You want something.” 

“I don’t want anything!” He exclaimed

You stared at him, eyes still narrowed, your arms crossed.

“Fine…I was wondering if you could watch Daegal for a few days while I go on a trip?” He asked 

“You want me to dog sit?” You raised an eyebrow. “How much am I getting paid?” 

“I’ll buy you food.” He smiled.

“You’re supposed to do that for me anyway. That’s your duty as a best friend.” 

“Then, as my best friend, it’s your duty to dogsit for me!” he counters 

“One night, maybe. But a few days?? I require compensation.” You stood up to face him 

He narrows his eyes at you, you raise an eyebrow at him, and you realize what the wheels turning in his head are coming to. 

“Chenle, don’t you da-” you start, but before you can finish, you’re pushed into the pool, sinking in the water. You swim up and glare at him. “CHENLE, I’M GONNA STRANGLE YOU!” you start to swim towards the steps to get out.

Daegal jumps in the water, paddling her little paws to try to reach you. Small little barks of concern. You grab her and carry her with you out of the water. 

Cenle is ready to run from you, but you approach him slowly. 

“You know what, I’ll watch her. Just because she tried to save my life after you attempted murder.” You smile and set Daegal down. She shakes herself off and trots off to a different part of the yard. “But now I’m gonna kill you,” You say, and Chenle sprints off, and you’re sprinting behind him, waving your sandal in the air and yelling at him. He’s screaming for forgiveness.

#nct #nct dream #nct imagines #fiction #nct chenle #chenle #nct scenarios #sfw only

[pearl-neo]

Paranoia

Pairing ⬩ Reader + Johnny

Genre ⬩ psychological thriller \ suspense \ mystery \ angst

Length ⬩ 13k — one shot

Plot ⬩ After a year spent living as a shut-in, you finally agree to go on a drive with your sister. When a storm steers your plan off course, you find yourselves brought closer to two charming strangers—but an unsettling tension lingers in your mind.

Warnings ⬩ anxiety; agoraphobia; implications of depression; ongoing feelings of helplessness, general discomfort, self-doubt; mental breakdown; minor violence; character death

‹ Note › The feelings/mannerisms that come as a consequence of (mild?) agoraphobia in this story all come from a personal place. I don’t mean to make light of anyone’s experience with mental illness.

Disclaimer! I don’t know any of the nct members personally, and would never claim this is how they behave/think in real life. They only inspire me to write these stories, and I think of them as a cast of actors like in a drama or movie. It’s never my intention to project on or disrespect any of the people mentioned.

A sliver of light escaped through the window blinds as your fingers pulled at one of the blades. Despite the clear and sunny sky outside, it was dim in your apartment. It often was. Your eyes rejected the foreign light for a brief moment before they readjusted.

Outside, a pale pink Cadillac convertible was parked in front of the building’s entrance. The kind where the back just above the tail lights rose in a theatrical peak on either side. The roof was down, revealing the velvet white interior. You liked the velvet, it was comfortable; you could almost remember what it felt like.

Although, right now, it only served to remind you of how much time had passed since you were last in it. Maybe a year, maybe a little longer than that… Right before your driver’s license got revoked and you gave up entirely.

“Are you gonna keep staring at it, or are we gonna go get in?” Your sister quipped from behind you, resting her chin on your shoulder. “Not that this isn’t a killer view.”

Even though you appreciated her keeping up a humorous air for your sake, you could still feel the tension. She had been trying to get you to go outside for at least an entire year. Yet you still always managed to back out at the last second.

“We’re absolutely not going to get out of the car?” You asked, probably for the tenth time now. For the whole duration of this past month, you would ask and she would reassure. Over and over again, that it would’ve made anyone else sick of you by now.

She squeezed your shoulders. “Nope, just drive around. Eat something nice. Drive back home before sunset. We’ll get on the coastal highway so there won’t even be that many cars.”

Opening the front door wasn’t a problem—online shopping was basically your lifeline. The slight nausea began only after you stepped out for the first time. Autumn was coming to an end, with the beginnings of a fierce winter approaching eagerly on its heels. The cold wind bit at your flushed cheeks, and you closed your eyes to take it in before willing yourself forward.

It almost didn’t feel real. That somehow made it easier.

The sky was so blue, the trees so green, you couldn’t quite stop staring as everything sped past you. The sun breathed life into the colors of its surroundings in a way that it could never fully achieve inside your apartment. Even having the sun directly on your skin felt foreign. Car roof down, the chilly wind engulfed you in waves.

Soon, you were on a curving highway by the sea. The road was flat and stretched as long as you could see, with only the odd car here and there. What you could only describe as psychedelic pop music played in a pleasant volume in the background.

The drive would be four hours long, two to the end of the coastal road and two back, but you took that as an excuse to stop by three different drive-throughs to assemble what was surely going to be a magnificent spread. A car picnic was part of how your sister had managed to entice you, after you saw some characters on a TV show do it. She even let you pick all of the food.

Breaking the trance-like silence, you said, “I don’t know if I can stand the smell of that food much longer…”

“Same,” she said, “we’re almost there, you see that?”

She nudged her head at a square brown building in the distance. It looked like one of those rest stops that would have a shabby family pool up front. You felt a sense of relief that you wouldn’t have to go in. Maybe you would get the courage to venture out of the car next time. Or maybe the time after that. You let your mind wander as you got closer and closer.

There was one other car already parked there, a jet black Brabus G Wagon. It was a monster of a car, so big and square you thought it almost looked like an armored hearse. When your car pulled over a few spaces away from it, it still managed to dwarf you by comparison.

The music kept playing as the pair of you laid out all of your food, placing it on a checkered picnic blanket that you had covering the trunk of your car, and pushed the front seats as far as they could go for you to stretch your legs out on.

Thankfully, the food was still hot when you took it out of the thermal containers. You had yourself to thank for that idea, so you mentally patted yourself on the back.

“The chicken is all limp,” your sister whined after she picked one up. Just as you reached out for a strip yourself, a drop of cool water landed on the back of your hand and slid off to the side. The colors had grown faded, and the air felt different.

“Oh no.”

And just like that, in under a minute, a few stray drops turned into one of the quickest downpours you had ever experienced. A strong wind came and blew some of the smaller containers off, while you both rushed to hold down whatever you could.

“This doesn’t look very partly cloudy,” your sister laughed. You admired her ability to laugh it off while you panicked and scrambled around dramatically, making a mental note to never trust the weather forecast again.

“Go on, you bring up the car roof and I’ll take care of these,” she called to you over the wind that was continuously growing louder.

The moment you let go of what you’ve been holding down, they slid away from you but mostly held their place (for now). The retracted roof only budged by the tiniest margin despite your incessant pulling. All this rain must’ve done something to it…

At that moment, the door of the black SUV opened and a young man with soft facial features half-jogged to your car. Fighting your instinct to recoil, you found yourself avoiding his eyes instead. You really weren’t ready to talk to anyone. Not to mention, you didn’t get a chance to do any mental preparation for it.

He, on the other hand, had an effortless smile on as he approached, and you almost rolled your eyes at yourself for noticing his dimples right now. But you didn’t, your brows furrowing instead.

“Hi,” he called, “let me help you.” Smoothly, he joined you in pulling the roof up. You could only manage a small “sorry” but your sister added a friendly “thank you!”

He was only wearing blue jeans and a lightweight white sweater. The expensive kind of fabric you wouldn’t want to get wet. So you glanced at him with guilt as it got wetter and wetter.

“It’s like it’s nailed down,” he laughed, eyes squinted in what looked like embarrassment.

“Oh!” he added, looking behind you. You turned to see one more young man coming out of the rest stop this time. It was a bigger guy dressed all in black. Despite his tall and muscular build, something about him was gracefully cat-like.

“Johnny! Could you give us a hand?” The dimpled guy beckoned him over, although he was already on his way to you.

“What’s up? Ah.”

Soon, it was all three of you yanking at it together. Ridiculous. For some reason, it didn’t feel any different than when you were pulling on it by yourself. You prayed that it would be over as soon as possible. You could already feel your breath constricting—even looking their way was difficult. Like they were radioactive.

“Okay, I don’t think this is working out. We might actually damage it if we keep this up,” Johnny said, looking between the three of you, “you’re better off coming inside for now. At least until this storm is over.”

You looked over at your sister, who had just successfully put away all she could save from the food, which was now stacked in a corner in the back seat, getting pitifully hammered by the rain.

Her smile was stretched from ear to ear. You tried to catch her eyes and somehow telepathically communicate to her how uncomfortable you felt, but she had already moved on to observing the dimpled guy’s physique.

Under other circumstances, you would’ve found it funny that you could see the exact moment she snapped out of it. But you were sad to admit that over the past year you rarely found anything funny anymore. A few moments later, her eyes found yours, apologetic.

“Actually, we really need to get going,” she turned to them. “Thanks for your help, though!”

Owing to the storm, it had gotten darker much earlier than anticipated. A glance at the road ahead only discouraged you further when you saw just how thick the fog had gotten—even with the roof up, driving in this weather would certainly be a questionable choice… You would never forgive yourself if you were the reason your sister got into an accident.

Frozen with your hands clenched by your sides, you mentally talked yourself into it. Just one night. Clearing your throat, you gave a hesitant “okay. Let’s go in.”

Her eyebrows shot up in response. “You sure?” Even though she was offering otherwise, you could see how tired she already was. You could also feel the eyes of the two men on you, although you didn’t look up to confirm it.

“Yeah. It’s too dark. We’ll leave as soon as the sun comes up, okay?” Although your words were directed at her, part of it was also said to yourself for reassurance. You continued in a low voice, forcing yourself to look up at them, “uh, thank you so much for trying to help.”

“No worries,” the dimpled guy smiled at the both of you.

If your sister had a tail, she would’ve been wagging it. It was hard not to see that she had a type. The dimpled man, who had a laid-back demeanor and a twinkle in his smiling eyes, was exactly the type she always gravitated towards. The type that looked like he would never hurt you.

A stagger in your step, you found your body resisting the walk inside. Something felt very wrong in your gut, twisting a knot into your stomach. Sharp feelings of regret started to find their way into your mind at having offered to stay. Today wasn’t supposed to go this way. You weren’t supposed to run into anyone.

It could’ve been your imagination, but you felt Johnny’s stare linger on you as you finally followed everyone inside.

*

You were wrong about there being a pool by the entrance of the rest stop. That was probably for the best, because everything else looked fairly uncared for, and the rain only exaggerated all the dirtier aspects.

Past the small courtyard covered in dead (and now, wet) leaves, and a lone vending machine with a few snacks covered in a thick layer of dust, the four of you walked through a smaller door leading to the lobby.

It was just as shabby on the inside as it looked on the outside. Dim, warm-toned light-bulbs provided less-than-ideal lighting so that you could only just make out your surroundings. A musty smell wafted your way almost as soon as you stepped in.

“I’m Jaehyun, by the way,” the dimpled guy’s voice made you turn, and you saw that he still had a relaxed smile on. You and your sister introduced yourselves as Johnny went ahead to the front desk, which was manned by an old woman and her cat. The cat sat with its front paws tucked into its chest, unfazed by the new guests.

“Are you guys staying here, too?” Johnny called back to the two of you.

“Go on,” your sister encouraged. You shot her a look, and she returned it with two thumbs up, miming you can do it.

Keeping any further signs of discomfort to yourself, you agreed that you were in dire need of practice. Given that you hadn’t spoken to anyone other than your sister for the past year, even the thought of a brief exchange with a clerk was enough to set you on edge. You approached the counter with heavy feet.

“Good afternoon,” you started, but the woman spoke right away in a sharp tone. “No vacancy. Under repair, dear.”

“Oh. Well… We’ll just wait in the lobby then, if you don’t mind.”

Your sister had moved on with Jaehyun, the pair of them talking by the entrance. Sopping wet and looking giddy, their laughter and voices were drowned out by the storm outside.

Johnny looked down at you then back to Jaehyun across the lobby before offering “you guys can crash at our room if you want.”

His smile was cat-like to boot, and he was even bigger up close. Absurdly attractive, too. Something about that almost made you queasy, but you passed it off as your nerves building up. How long was the storm going to last?

“We couldn’t. Thank you for your offer, though.” You managed to return a small smile, but by then there was something else in his eyes that you couldn’t decipher. Interest? Amusement?

It must’ve been something you didn’t like, after all, because you hurried away and hooked your arm through your sister’s. She took her time before finally turning away from Jaehyun and back to you.

Deciding it was best to speak away from Jaehyun’s ears, you dragged her farther away. Just in case he felt charitable enough to repeat the same offer—at this point, you weren’t so sure she’d turn it down.

“No vacancies. We can just wait in the lobby for now,” you relayed, steering her towards the waiting area. At least you would get it to yourself.

There were only two shabby couches facing each other, with peeling wooden legs and faded out green fabric. With a start, you noticed for the first time that it wasn’t empty after all.

There was someone sleeping with his legs stretched out on the floor in front of him, ankles crossed. His head slumped forward so that his red hoodie obscured his face, his arms folded against his chest. He was only as big as you or maybe a little taller. Strange. You hadn’t noticed any other cars parked outside.

“Is he with you?” Your sister whispered to Jaehyun, who had followed the pair of you and was suddenly looking around the lobby awkwardly, brows slightly furrowed. He shook his head no.

There was still water dripping from the ends of his hair. He must’ve noticed you unconsciously stare, because he said “I’ll go get us some towels” and went up a narrow set of stairs to their room. Johnny glanced up at him only for a second, before going back to playing with the cat on the counter. The cat squeezed itself past his hands and stalked away into the shadows somewhere.

Why was Jaehyun sitting in the car, if they already had a room with their things in it?

“She doesn’t like us very much,” Johnny said to himself, his tone light. You don’t know why your heart did a little jump. He was talking about the cat. Not you. Right?

That was a non-ideal time for him to look straight at you. But nevertheless he approached, and his quiet walk reminded you of the cat he had just been petting. When he got close enough that it made your body tense up, you were relieved that he didn’t stop and instead kept walking past you.

“Forgot something in the car,” he said to no one, and left the lobby.

A pang of guilt sounded in your chest. You knew you were coming off as stand-offish, but you had your set limits. Especially today.

Your sister had her back turned to you, and was observing a large, muted painting of a tall ship sailing through turbulent waters. There was an ornate but faded golden frame around it.

Reaching out for her hand, you opened your mouth to say something, and—

“Towels?” A smooth voice spoke up behind you, and you spun around so quickly that you almost twisted your neck.

“Aww, thanks!” Your sister took one and let it fall over your head before taking another for herself. That made Jaehyun laugh, twinkles in his eyes. Everything seemed to make him smile or laugh, like he didn’t have a care in the world.

You grabbed the towel off of your head and absentmindedly held it out to your sister until she took it, then you turned to follow Johnny out into the rain.

A cold hand gripped your arm, stopping you. Turning around, you saw Jaehyun’s pale face staring back at you. “You’re gonna catch a cold if you go out there again. Do you need me to get you something? Your roof is open anyway, so I don’t need your keys.”

Next to him, your sister was looking at you with a puzzled expression. You hoped your voice wouldn’t crack, and said “uh, no… No, nevermind, it’s nothing.”

“You okay?” Your sister put her arms around you. “Long day, huh,” she said, rubbing your back.

“Yeah.”

When Johnny came back, you noticed he didn’t have anything in his hands.

What did you forget in the car? You wanted to ask him. But you knew better than to share what was on your mind, with everyone around.

You cursed under your breath at Jaehyun, who was still buttering up to your sister. The curse wasn’t only for how stuck to her he was, or how taken she was with him. It was also for how despite that, he still wouldn’t let you follow Johnny outside.

Although you supposed you had yourself to blame for that, too. It’s not like he forced anything on you. But somehow, when he told you not to go, you felt rooted in place and could no longer do anything other than what he told you to do. Somehow, your body was under other people’s control more than it was under your own.

The whole past year, you had felt yourself slowly slipping—you had been at a war with yourself that went on for so long it left you only as a ghost of who you once were. A silent shadow etched onto the pavement you once sat on.

All the new activity must’ve been noisy, because the sleeping man (boy?) took a deep breath in, sat up, and stretched his arms out in front of him. When he looked up at the three of you and his big eyes caught the light, you decided it would be more accurate to call him “boy” rather than “man.” Wide, circular glasses framed his youthful but angular face.

He immediately looked away and awkwardly drummed his hands on his knees. His clothes were wet, but his hair was dry underneath his hoodie, so you guessed that he must’ve ran in just before your group did. Probably while you were all struggling with pulling the roof up.

“Hi there, storm messed with your plans, too?” Your sister scrunched her nose at him playfully. “Sorry if we woke you, by the way.” She was still rubbing your back.

“No, not at all! Um, I wasn’t actually sleeping or anything. I just ran in a few minutes ago, actually,” he said, “that storm really came out of nowhere! And there was nowhere else to stop… so, yeah.” he paused, then added “I’m Mark.”

You introduced yourselves, and Jaehyun asked if Mark wanted him to check the front desk for a towel for him.

“No, I’m okay, thank you,” he pulled his hood back and shook out his hair, running a hand down its front to calm it down. Something made you instinctively look to your side, and you caught Johnny quietly staring at Mark. His eyes looked different when he wasn’t smiling. He glanced back at you, and that blank expression disappeared just as quickly.

Johnny took that as a chance to address you. “Hey, could I talk to you for a second?” When you nodded, his hand brushed gently against your wrist and led you to a more private space.

“I’m really sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier.” He leaned into you, his voice soft. “It wasn’t my intention…”

“Don’t worry about it,” was all you could scrape together. You’d be lying if you said this hadn’t caught you off-guard. That being said, you still kept your defenses up. You were a naturally wary person. To be honest, you weren’t even sure what he was apologizing for.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, so…” You trailed off. You used to be so much better at talking.

“Didn’t I? Asking you to share a room with a stranger you barely just met,” he gave a soft laugh, and you could feel his warm breath on your face. Peppermint. Was it just you or was he closer now than when the conversation started?

Feeling the heat rising to your cheeks, you realized you needed to end this exchange soon—you weren’t ready for whatever this is. Willing yourself to continue, you said “you were just being considerate. I can understand that.”

“Is that so? Well, we’re in room two if you change your mind,” he countered, only half-joking, a glint of whatever you caught in his eyes earlier still there.

“But hey,” he said, as he reached to take his jacket off, “it’s chilly out here, so at least let me give you this.” He draped it over your shoulders and walked away, letting his reiterated offer hang without rejection.

* *

The rain outside was relentless. The gaps in the wood of the windows had the cold wind whistling through them, and rattled the glass rhythmically. It made your bones feel damp. Your sister had you wrapped in a tight hug both for her warmth and yours.

Quite the opposite from how you were feeling, these circumstances had her vibrating with excitement at all the possibilities. She adored movies where a random ensemble of characters were stuck together and had to find ways to get along.

Much to your sister’s disappointment (and your relief) Jaehyun and Johnny had went up to their room soon after that encounter. Thanks to the lack of Wi-Fi, she had spent her time so far pestering Mark out of boredom. As the conversation went on, he had loosened up and politely entertained her with whatever random topic she sprang on him.

It was just like your sister to quickly get people to open up to her wherever she went. But soon enough, even she was running out of things to talk about with Mark.

The pause in the conversation left enough room for your sister’s ears to perk up, picking up on the noise coming from down the hall. Considering the fairly small size of the rest stop, and the fact that you watched the two men walk into the room right across from the few steps leading up to the corridor, you could somewhat see their door from here if you strained your eyes hard enough at the dark.

The gap between the door and the floor told you that their lights were still on, and seeing the shadows moving around was the final push your sister needed to bounce up and practically skip there, dodging your desperate hands that clambered to pull her back down.

“Shh, I’m bored, I’ll just go see what they’re up to, that’s all!” She giggled. Your heart just threw itself against your ribcage miserably, in slow but heavy thumps. All the will in your legs escaping, you accepted that you probably wouldn’t be able to get yourself to stand up and follow her. You were under an invisible binding spell. So you and Mark watched her disappear down the short corridor.

She knocked a musical tone on the wood of their door, and it opened in no time, unleashing the light from their room and illuminating their silhouettes. Judging by the size of it, you guessed that it was Johnny. His head bobbed, going along with whatever she was saying to him.

He stepped aside, and your body tensed even more when you saw her go in. From here, it was hard to make out his features as he stood still, facing you. Was he looking your way? He held that position for a little longer before finally closing the door and drowning the corridor back in shadows, making it seem darker than it was before.

You couldn’t tear your eyes away from the corridor. It was as though everything stood still as you watched that door. Almost like all your surroundings shifted, steadily bringing you and that door closer, everything else around you disappearing.

Mark cleared his throat, asking “are you okay?”

That made you snap out of your hyper-focused state, sparing him a glace before returning it to the corridor. “I think so. Sorry.”

“Um… Do you wanna, like, go after her?”

You nodded, almost as though you were given validation to move. Just as you braced yourself to get up, the door opened again. The sight of Johnny stalking down the corridor and coming towards you made you stop, confused.

He sank down into the space next to you, casually flashing you a smile. “Hi again.”

You gave him a curt nod in reply, before impulsively shifting your gaze away. When your eyes found him again, through a great deal of effort on your part, they lingered this time. At that, his eyebrows went up inquisitively.

“Is everything okay?” He finally asked.

Before you could answer, you jumped at the sight of your sister already approaching you with Jaehyun on her tail. You really must’ve been out of it staring at Johnny…

As they maneuvered to find an empty spot to sit, the pair had ditzy smiles across their faces, and you could even see a hint of childish mischievousness.

“You won’t believe what Jaehyun here had in his suitcase,” your sister teased, both of her hands holding something behind her back. “Which was immaculately organized, by the way. But…” She pulled out a long rectangular box, and it took you a moment before you recognized that it was a Jenga tower. “Who the hell travels around with this thing?”

All four of them laughed at your sister’s presentation, and you felt like the odd one out for not having it in you to laugh along with them. Your sister plopped down in the space between Jaehyun and Mark, and began setting up the tower on the short coffee table that stood between the two couches.

“We might as well make use of it, right? You’re all playing,” she said. After that, it was mostly quiet as she finished working on it. It wasn’t plain wood like what you usually saw on TV, but instead with blocks tinted red and green.

“How about you go first?” You found your sister pointing at you excitedly. Now that she was guaranteed time spent together with everyone for at least the duration of one game, she was practically bouncing in her seat. And you knew perfectly well that she didn’t plan on letting it end after only one round.

“Let’s go!” Mark clapped, saying your name to hype you up.

You reached out and plucked an easy red block towards the top of the tower, which you were eager to set back on the very top to get everyone’s eyes off of you.

“Not so fast,” your sister said, finger twirling playfully in the air, urging you to pick the block back up. When you did, you noticed a line of small print on the underside of the block:

Whisper one of your deepest, darkest secrets to the person on your left.

Truth or dare. You never thought it was something that you would have to come across again as an adult. When participating was unavoidable, you had always defaulted to truths. But looking at it now, you concluded that the green blocks must be truth and the red ones must be dare. Although this one felt awfully a lot like both.

“Well?” She pushed, “read it aloud!”

“Whisper one of your deepest, darkest secrets to the person on your left,” you read, and Johnny perked up as he held his long hand up to his ear. Pathetically, your own hand shook as you leaned forward to set the block back.

“The darker the better,” Johnny winked at you.

“Oh. Well…” For starters, telling him anything personal was out of the question. What was something believable you could come up with on a whim? Finally, you leaned into him as close as you could get yourself to go (which wasn’t very close at all) and whispered “I cheated on my college final.”

“That’s all you got?” He feigned an expression of disbelief.

“That’s all I got.” You said, deflecting.

“You’re welcome to give us a dark secret of your own then, mister the darker the better,” your sister teased, earning a playful nudge from Jaehyun, who seemed to be enjoying driving Johnny into a corner.

“Oh, trust me, I have plenty,” Johnny’s tone was lighthearted, but your eyes met his and you caught that same look from before, lurking just beneath the surface. He didn’t look away, almost like he was pausing to savor your discomfort, so you broke eye contact first and cleared your throat.

“Mark, your turn.”

When you glanced up at Mark, you caught his eyes darting from you to Johnny. Too caught up in whatever was going on between you two, you had failed to notice that Mark was somehow under the same blanket of tension. Or at the very least, he was an observer. Had Johnny noticed?

Mark mirrored you in clearing his throat, then pushed a finger into a block towards the middle of the tower. A green one stuck out on the other side, and he reached around to take it. Truth.

“What is the most childish thing you still do?” He read.

“And try to limit it to one, kid,” Johnny stared ahead at Mark, his calculated smile delayed.

So he had noticed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mark said, although he was visibly trying to keep his tone light. Meanwhile, a laid-back Jaehyun still had his amused smile on as he watched Johnny. When Johnny didn’t comment, Mark moved past it and gave a half-baked answer to his prompt.

“Finally!” Your sister gave an exaggerated sigh, probably relieved to have the focus shifted away from Mark and Johnny’s strange tension. She went straight for a red block, picking out a dare. “Hm, dance with no music for one minute… See, no, that’s no way to treat the game master.”

“Game master?” Jaehyun echoed, grinning.

“Yep. You may be the landlord for packing the Jenga, but I dug the thing out, so I hereby officially declare myself game master. Everyone kneel—or actually, I’ll settle for some singing this time.”

Johnny held a conceding palm out to Jaehyun, who pondered for a moment before slipping into smooth singing. You weren’t surprised by how it sounded just as rich and smooth as his speaking voice did.

“I fall in love too easily,” he sang extra slowly, earning a smack on his shoulder from your sister for picking a ballad, followed by some passionate head-banging as she pretended to dance at a rock concert.

“I fall in love too fast,”—his voice broke at ‘fast’ as he held back his laughter—“I fall in love too terribly hard,”—it was getting harder for him to maintain his composure when Mark and Johnny didn’t share his reservations, with Mark clapping like a seal right next to him—”for love to ever last... Okay, okay, I think the minute is up. You’re gonna dislocate something.”

Out of breath, she flopped back down onto the couch, hands busy fixing her wild hair. “Your turn,” she panted to Jaehyun, “And don’t be lame. Dares only.”

“Okay, dare it is,” he laughed. Then proceeded to laugh even harder when he read out his dare. “Serenade the person of your choosing.”

Needless to say, of course your sister was serenaded twice in one night.

The game went on for a while, with Johnny, Jaehyun, and your sister routinely picking dares. The group would eventually get loud enough to warrant an occasional scowl from the old lady at the front desk, until it was late enough for her to call it a day and disappear into a door tucked away behind the counter.

Meanwhile, you and Mark had mostly stuck to truths, as the Jenga tower grew more and more unstable. It was Mark’s turn again when he picked yet another green block.

“Name one thing you’d do if you knew there would be zero consequences.” He read in a drowsy voice, going on to give a quick answer. “I don’t know, I guess I’d knock some snacks out of that vending machine. I don’t know why I said that, I wouldn’t actually do that. I really am getting kinda hungry, though…”

“Your mind went straight to burglary? You guys better watch your bags tonight,” Johnny said, and what you assumed was supposed to be a humorous jab came across a little too sharp-tongued. Everyone’s energy levels had been depleting over the past couple of hours spent on the lobby’s less than ideal couches.

“I’m sorry, do you have some kind of problem with me?” Mark retorted.

“I don’t know, should I?” Johnny said.

“Dude, if you have something to say to me, just say it.”

Your sister pushed herself off the couch. “Well, I’ll go use the bathroom until you guys figure this out like big boys.”

“Nice and condescending, yeah?” Johnny said, not bothering to look up at her as she retreated to their room.

Jaehyun hid his evident enjoyment long enough to hold both of his hands up and say “okay, guys, how about we take a break?”

“Nah, I’m good.” Johnny shot back, his face anything but. His demeanor was scarily calm throughout the entire exchange.

That cold atmosphere went on for the next few rounds. You hadn’t forgotten that you were merely attempting to get along with strangers you knew nothing about. Johnny with his two sides, all calculated smiles and concealed stares. Jaehyun with his eerily laid-back demeanor and strange enjoyment of the conflict. And Mark. You didn’t know what to think of him yet.

With the added tension, you stopped trying to look up at any of them.

Before you knew it, it was your turn again. Would this cursed game ever end? So far, you had exclusively picked truths and lied your way through all of them. Your eyes scanned the tower over several times, before you gave up finding a green block that was stable enough. You picked your second dare of the night, this time voluntarily.

Let the group look through your phone for one minute.

A whole host of reasons rushed through your mind at how bad of an idea that was. At the very least, they would know that the only contact on your phone was your sister. You had virtually no pictures, and no apps. Everything pointed to your ghost-like life, so empty and unremarkable that it was practically a burner phone.

“Well?” Jaehyun said.

“I don’t want to do this one.”

“It can’t be that bad, can it?” Johnny asked.

“She just told you she’s not comfortable with whatever it is, though.” Mark spoke up, having mostly kept his silence for the past few rounds.

Johnny reached for the block in your hand, and your body flinched involuntarily, the block flying out of your hand and skidding across the floor.

“Whoa,” Johnny hung back, “I’m sorry. I wasn’t gonna do anything.”

“I think you’re scaring her, Johnny.” Jaehyun said, his voice ominously quiet. Was there a hint of a smile in his voice? Were you imagining things?

“Am I?”

No one said anything for what felt like a long moment, until finally, as if on queue, your sister was back in the lobby.

“What did I miss?” She said, entirely missing the atmosphere of the room.

Johnny reached forward and tugged one of the legs the tower was supporting itself on. The entire thing came crashing down.

“Oh.” She stopped midway, hovering awkwardly next to them. “Okay then.”

“Good night.” Johnny said, getting up and giving you a brief pat on the head, before slowly making his way back to their room. Your scalp felt like pop rocks as you watched him walk away.

* * *

It was past midnight. Now it was just the two of you again, along with Mark. Your sister was sleeping soundly next to you, her head on your shoulder.

Mark was still awake on the couch across from you, but he was back to sitting quietly in the corner and avoiding eye contact. Save for the occasional accidental eye contact with you, which he responded to by sending a small smile your way before going back to aimlessly staring away.

His hands were curled around the warm thermos your sister had given him earlier. He set it down when the owner’s cat sauntered towards him, and patted his lap for it to come up. It deliberated for a moment, then jumped and curled up on him as he stroked it.

Your mind couldn’t help but go back to your interaction with Johnny, running it over in your head again and again until you had positively squeezed the life out of it. One minute he was cold and calculated, and the next he was the gentlemanly romantic lead. Or at least he knew how to make people perceive him that way.

You shivered—the weather was getting colder.

“Mm?” Your sister looked up at you, eyes barely able to open.

“It’s nothing, go to sleep,” you reassured her, then took the chance to get up now that her head was no longer resting on you.

The front desk was empty now, but you attempted to ring the bell on the counter anyway. A while of waiting made you accept that no one was coming. It was probably safe to assume the old lady ran this place by herself, and was most likely asleep by now.

You needed to go to the bathroom. A quick look around led you to a door with a sheet of paper taped to it, reading “Staff Only.” You twisted the doorknob, your guilt a second priority right now. Locked.

It might have been the hope of almost finding a bathroom, but suddenly your mild need for it turned into a more urgent one. You looked around some more, before cursing under your breath and going up the narrow staircase that led up to the rooms.

To your surprise, the hallway was very short. It was even darker than the lobby, so you gave your eyes some time to adjust. There were only three doors, the one in the center had a brass number 2 on it, and was right across from the staircase.

We’re in room two, if you change your mind, Johnny’s captivating voice played in your mind for what felt like the hundredth time. Feeling your heartbeat speed up again, you took deep breaths and willed yourself to calm down. The other rooms were under repair, but maybe their bathrooms weren’t.

First, you attempted to open the door with the brass 1 on it, but it didn’t budge. Then the one with the brass 3, but that one wouldn’t open either.

You clenched your fists and cursed your terrible luck. Would they even be awake?

After a lengthy struggle, consisting of an internal argument about whether you’d rather ask them for help or go out into the nearby wilderness in the middle of a storm, you knocked on the door of the second room.

As you waited, you glanced back down the stairs behind you, your eyes searching for your sister. She was now lying down on the couch, breathing deeply…

The door springing open made you jump, and Jaehyun was positively beaming in the center of the door frame. Following a quick scan, his smile faltered when he realized your sister wasn’t in tow.

He looked like he had just showered, his hair damp again, and his skin glowing. Johnny was stretched out on the bed behind him, awake.

“Welcome,” Jaehyun said, picking his spirit back up. “Did you change your mind?”

“No, but would you mind if I use your bathroom?” You died a little on the inside.

“Of course not, come in,” he made way for you, and you abandoned your last remaining shred of dignity as you sprinted to what you assumed was the bathroom. Jaehyun giggled behind you before you closed the door and finally got some privacy.

Despite being done, you stalled going back out, probably out of dread. You supposed it was in your favor that the bathroom was by far the cleanest place in the entirety of this pit stop. A quick look around told you that Johnny and Jaehyun were comfortably settled in. An electric shaver was strewn on the counter, and a travel-sized toothpaste tube lay feebly next to the sink, almost all used up. Peppermint.

Finally, you took a deep breath and opened the door. You were immediately met with Johnny, who was leaning on the wall by the bathroom, not even an arm’s length away. Behind him, Jaehyun was nowhere to be seen, and the door leading out of the room was closed.

Momentarily dizzied from the blood rushing to your head, you took a step back to create some distance.

He smiled sweetly, “the storm sure is taking a while to settle down. Where were you two on your way to, again?”

“Just a short trip. They’re expecting us back at work tomorrow.” You lied, knowing full well there was no one there who would notice your absence, save for your sister.

“Oh, you two work together? Jaehyun and I work together too, actually.”

His eyes watched you patiently as you flipped imaginary pages in your head, scrambling for something normal to say next. You felt like it would be the polite thing to do to continue the conversation, but your heart was beating too fast for that, which made you that much more nervous and jittery. Johnny seemed to be enjoying your visible anxiety. You weren’t sure if it was your imagination that his smile was getting wider. Something about it wasn’t so sweet anymore.

“I should get back. To the lobby, I mean. Thanks again.” He didn’t lock the door, did he? The nausea was creeping back up.

You speed-walked to the door like you used to do when you were little, when you were alone in the dark and scared of whatever thing that might snatch you and drag you away before you reached the light. You could only feel fear. Fear of how powerless you felt about everything.

It felt much longer than it should’ve but you reached the door. The hair on your neck stood and your breath quickened. You turned the knob, and it swung open.

In a hasty moment, you tripped at the first step of the stairs, and a big arm grabbed you around your waist. You could see Johnny’s profile in your peripheral vision, curling down for his cheek to meet the side of your head, slow breaths against your ear. His chest rose and fell gently against your back; he was holding on so tightly.

He felt like a solid wall, and you knew it was impossible for you to get away unless he was the one who chose to let go of you. He alone should’ve been able to pull up the car roof with ease.

“Back when we were playing that game,” he said, his voice so low you could barely hear it, “did you feel like I was gonna hurt you?”

What was he saying? You left his words unanswered as you were still engulfed by your silence.

From here, you could see that your sister was still sleeping peacefully, and Mark had his head turned away. Nevertheless, just having your sister in your sight helped soothe your nerves. That feeling was fleeting as Johnny spoke his next sentence.

“Are you scared of me?”

Trapped in what felt like an iron embrace, you opened your mouth but you still couldn’t make any noise come out. Some hunch or instinct, or maybe just pure chance, must’ve been what made Mark’s head turn your way out of nowhere.

He was staring for a while with an expression that told you he wasn’t quite sure what he was looking at. His eyes must’ve finally adjusted to the darkness of the hallway, because he suddenly got up, making the cat on his lap scuttle away offended.

“Dude, what are you doing?”

The entire building let out a groan, and whatever dim lights were there all blinked out simultaneously, plunging you into complete darkness. Johnny held on for a few more seconds before finally letting go. You ran down the steps without looking back.

Mark called your name, his voice alarmed, “is everything alright?”

Your throat was still squeezed shut, as you walked into something and stumbled in the dark until you felt your way to the couch your sister was on. Your hands found her sleeping from, and you shook her awake.

“Get up, we’re leaving,” finally finding your voice, you spoke sternly. She was still in a daze and clearly confused.

“Wha- what? What?”

“We’re leaving. I’m gonna call us a ride, I just need you to be awake with me,” you stammered. Your sister sat upright, most likely still processing.

Mark’s voice spoke up. “It’s pitch black outside, the roads around here aren’t lit very well. Did something happen? Are you okay?”

You couldn’t put it into words. The familiar dread that built up in your gut.

At this point, you just wanted to go home and shut yourself in again.

You ignored Mark, and ruffled through your bag for your phone. You went through every corner of it four times, your heart sinking deeper with each try. “My phone is gone. Where’s my phone?”

Without waiting for a reply, you tossed your bag aside and felt around for your sister’s this time. Also gone.

“Wait, mine’s not there either? That’s weird…” Your sister went through hers again for good measure, her voice thick with sleep. “Do you think we left them in the car?”

“No, I always have mine on me.” Something suddenly occurred to you. “I was awake the whole time, wasn’t I?”

You felt your sister shrug next to you. Hesitantly, Mark answered instead, saying “I don’t know, you both kinda drifted off at some point.”

“And you? You were awake?” You pushed.

“I was, yeah. I went to check on my Vespa for a second.” You couldn’t quite grasp what it was, but something was off about Mark’s voice.

Paranoia now had you firmly in its grip. You decided it was best to watch your words until you could see again. But you couldn’t stop a wave of helplessness from washing over you, making your limbs go cold.

“Could we borrow your phone, maybe?” You asked Mark. One final attempt.

“Oh, man, I sent it for repairs this weekend,” Mark said, apologetic. Why did his voice sound like that?

“Let’s go.” Resolute, you grabbed your sister’s arm and attempted to head towards the exit.

“Just give me a minute!” She said, releasing her hand from yours. “You go on and get the car started, okay?”

You hesitated, before making up your mind and following the only source of light, out into the storm.

The rain immediately battered down on you, and if you thought it was cold in the lobby then this was absolutely freezing. You could only barely make out the silhouettes of the parked cars.

If you just turned on the headlights all the way, the two of you could probably drive through the dark. And if you kept moving, the rain wouldn’t bother you. You had the keys ready in your hands, and you were grateful that at least they were still in your sister’s bag. Maybe you really did forget your phones in the car, after all.

But something was squirming in your gut, making your stomach do desperate flips as you jumped into the driver’s seat, slamming the door behind you.

You slid the key in the ignition and turned. Nothing. Not even the sound of the engine trying to start. The sounds of the howling wind and heavy rain carried on.

Reaching for the glove compartment, your hands found the flashlight, and a weak beam of light pierced its way through the darkness. You stepped out of the car, wrapping your other arm around yourself to stop from shaking. When the hood of your car was open and you shined the light at its interior, you doubted your eyes.

The battery was gone.

You were just silent. Your own worse fears coming into realization right before your eyes. After what felt like a second and an eternity of staring down at the empty spot in the hood, you felt a light touch on your arm when your sister joined you by your side. She looked exhausted, her breathing heavy. Calling over the storm, she said, “should we ask them if they can do something about this?”

Your head snapped to her in bewilderment. Could you be wrong? You doubted yourself for a second, but then got a grip back. There was no other explanation. You were stuck here, and it was too late to speak up. The words collided into themselves and were left mangled somewhere in your throat. But you had to say something, anything.

“Listen,” you started, and she looked at you attentively, concern clouding her face, “I think—”

“Is something wrong?” A voice spoke up from behind you. Jaehyun. Again.

“We were just talking about you!” Your sister chimed. “Take a look at this. Think someone stole it?”

You were dumbfounded as he leaned in between the two of you to take a closer look at the car’s contents.

“Mmm,” he didn’t look very surprised. He turned to your sister and said “we can give you a ride tomorrow morning. You might need to get it towed.”

“Okay... I can barely hear you. Let’s go inside?” She turned to you. Your face must’ve looked terrible because she did a slight double take and put her hand on your shoulder. “Come on.”

Shining the flashlight ahead, the three of you walked back to the rest stop.

When you were back inside, Mark was gone.

* * * *

At least an hour must’ve went by until Johnny was back. He didn’t acknowledge anyone as he came in, just silently sauntering past the lobby. He was completely soaked again from head to toe. Drops of dark water trailed behind him as he made his way back to their room.

You resolved that you would find a way to take your sister and leave any way you could. Maybe you would find a way to take their car. They were only human, they had to sleep sometime.

For now, Jaehyun was still in the lobby with the both of you.

“You don’t think he took our car battery and our phones, do you?” She was talking about Mark. Your sister was sitting next to Jaehyun and mostly addressed him, since she hadn’t gotten a word out of you after you failed to leave. Having Jaehyun hovering around took away any of your will to speak up.

“He didn’t seem like the type…” She trailed off, still thinking about Mark.

The night felt longer, probably because of the changing seasons, but it might as well still have been midnight. You lost track of how much time was going by and doubted yourself when you remembered that this has all been just one long day. The power was still out. You had the flashlight off to conserve its battery.

Down the hall, you heard the room open, and after a minute you felt the cushions next to you gently sink with a familiar weight.

“I found some candles and lit them in our room,” Johnny’s voice spoke up. You could only see his outline and features like a hazy dream. You avoided looking at his face. You were too tired.

There was a soft, dancing reddish light coming from their room now. Gently, Johnny spoke again. “It’s too dark out here, isn’t it? Let’s go inside.”

Your sister shifted, and you noticed for the first time how close she had been sitting to Jaehyun. Were they holding hands? You didn’t know if your mind was playing tricks on you. She got up before your eyes could decide what they were looking at.

“I need to wash up,” she said, sounding just as tired as you felt. Getting up, you followed her to their room. You couldn’t care less if you looked completely unhinged, sitting on the floor right in front of the bathroom door after she closed it.

“You two are so close,” Johnny spoke though the dark, face hidden in the shadows cast by the candle light. You still refused to look up at him, but you could hear the tone of amity. The candles on the night stand behind him exaggerated the size of his shadow and made it dance over you.

“You look tired,” his voice was gentle, surreal, “get some rest.”

You hugged your knees closer to your chest, fighting to keep your eyes open. The sound of the water running in the bathroom was steady. Your eyes kept rolling back into your head, and you kept dragging them back into focus…

But they were so unfocused…

And the steady stream of the shower ran…

And everything swayed in the candle light…

Everything swam…

and the water ran…

and ran…

You dreamed that Johnny was carrying you and wading through a crimson sea. Gently. Gently.

You were floating in crimson.

Or was he the one floating?

Daylight. Your body woke up with a jolt, eyes snapping open. The first thing that screamed out at you was how incredibly sore your body was. It must’ve been from all the tension that you had built up. You were curled up on your side, holding your own body close.

Small mountains of white sheets were piled up around you, and strips of sunlight draped over the bed and made their way to your skin. It was so silent; last night’s storm almost felt like a distant dream.

Moving excruciatingly slow, you lifted your head and looked around. Your heart hammering in your chest when you saw that Johnny was sleeping over in the other bed, his large frame rising and falling slowly with each breath.

The bathroom door was open, and you could see from here that it was empty, too. It was only the two of you in this room.

Logically, you knew that there was still a possibility that Jaehyun and your sister chose to sleep on the couches outside. But there was a pit in your stomach that crippled you. It made it hard to move. Hard to think.

As quietly as you had it in you to move, you left the bed. The cold floor against your feet made you notice for the first time that you were barefoot. Good. With quiet footsteps, you made your way to the bathroom to double-check. The floor was wet under your feet, like someone had walked in from the lobby straight to the bathroom not that long ago.

But just like you suspected, it was empty. The curtains drawn shut over the bathtub caught your eyes, but one look at the material told you that it would be too noisy to try and move it right now. It was too quiet for anyone to be sleeping there, anyway.

You turned back towards the bedroom door, taking glances behind you to make sure Johnny was still asleep. You didn’t take your eyes off of him as your hand gripped the doorknob and turned it. It opened without resistance, and you peeked outside at the lobby past the staircase. Empty.

Trying to slow your breaths and breathe more quietly only proved to make things worse for you. It was as though you were running out of air. Before you could give your brain more time to panic, despite your overwhelming instinct to just run out and start calling for your sister, you walked back towards Johnny, who looked so peaceful in his sleep that your own panicked state was almost laughable.

At this point, you must’ve gone out of your mind, because suddenly you found yourself fighting the urge to laugh. You were hysterical. You had to stop and put your hands over your face, as your body shook with silent laughter, but tears started to stream down your face.

Thoughts of your sister were racing through your mind. Maybe she really was cuddling up to Jaehyun last night. Maybe they went somewhere together. Maybe she thought she’d be back before you woke up.

But you knew deep down that she wouldn’t leave you behind. You were so convinced of that, that any what ifs you tried to feed to your worry, to keep it from consuming you, just felt forced.

You knew she wouldn’t leave you because she knew how fragile you were after what happened last year. You were so fragile, you saw everything through the lens of a horror movie. With your own little cast of strangers.

Something caught the light just outside of your line of vision, halting your chaotic train of thought. Your hands wiped away any tears that lingered on your eyelashes so you could see more clearly. There, carelessly tossed away on the nightstand by his bed, a set of keys were reflecting the sunlight. Among them was a car key.

Well, if you really were crazy, then you might as well see where it led you.

The closer you came to Johnny, the harder it was to breathe. Until you couldn’t bear to do anything but hold your breath. Finally, when the keys were within your reach, your hand closed around them. There was only the slightest sound of scraping against the wood of the nightstand.

With no time for you to worry about the sound the keys had just produced, Johnny’s hand shot up and grabbed your wrist. But it didn’t stop. His grip got tighter and tighter until the ends of his fingers yellowed, and your hand shook and dropped the keys with a clatter. Even so, he didn’t release his grip.

“Where were you gonna go?” He spoke slowly.

“It depends—where’s my sister?” You shot back, voice shaking.

He laughed quietly. He had a gentle laugh. Finally letting go of your wrist, his hand instead brushed through his hair. “I told her you might get worried. You must’ve gotten a scare… Sorry about that.”

You turned to him with an inquisitive look, hanging onto his words. He looked sleepy and relaxed, his hair tousled. Not like someone who almost broke your wrist less than a minute ago.

“Jaehyun told me about all our phones going missing, and your car battery. That Mark might’ve made away with them or something. He and your sister went to pick up a new one.” He explained. And as you listened, your heart sank.

“Okay. Please take me to her, then.”

“You know, I think they wouldn’t have minded some time alone, too,” he chuckled, “but sure, if you’re so worried. I’ll take you.”

Passing through the lobby, you noticed the old lady was back at the front desk. Were you brave enough to finally say something? Everything in your body screamed at you not to, straining your muscles into place.

Your heartbeat quickened, and you used any strength you had left and turned to approach her. Before you could go on, you felt Johnny’s hand hold onto your upper arm and pull you closer, wrapping you into a hug by his side.

“Let’s not waste any time,” he whispered, and held on as he led you all the way out of the rest stop. He only let go of you when you were in the shadow cast by his giant car.

The day you stopped for the car picnic, you had parked farther away on the left side of it, but as you approached the other side of his car this time, you saw what had been obscured by the SUV. A turquoise Vespa came into view.

Mark’s.

Seeing it sent goosebumps down your back and up your neck, but you dragged yourself away. You couldn’t afford to comment on it right now, not to Johnny. You would talk to your sister when you saw her…

A sting creeping into your eyes warned you of incoming tears, but you blinked them away rapidly, not ready to face a possible reality. When you saw your sister, you would tell her everything you had on your mind and you wouldn’t care who might be listening in.

Johnny was making his way to the driver’s side when you spoke up abruptly, before you could help yourself. “One more thing?”

“What is it?”

“I just want to get something from the car. My sister’s car.”

“Go ahead,” he leaned an arm over the car roof as he waited for you.

In the trunk, a few thermos flasks were stacked neatly to the side, with small labels taped to them, reading “12” and “24” and “48.” Your sister had always been meticulous when it came to packing. This would be all you had of her with your right now. You found the one labeled with the number twelve, and hugged it close to your chest. Twelve would do.

For now, you walked with your own two feet right to what felt like your doom, and hoisted yourself up into his car. A second after you got in, all the locks snapped shut.

* * * * *

He drove with the two of you in silence for a while, his eyes focused on the road, one hand on the steering wheel. You were getting farther and farther away from the rest stop, in a stranger’s car, your sister nowhere in sight.

Reality finally crashed into your chest like an icy wave. The tears you were holding back fell down your cheeks, making your chest heave in small, irregular breaths.

Incoherent thoughts raced through your head, and you started hyperventilating, your seemingly never-ending tears threatening to choke you.

“Hey, hey,” Johnny reached his other hand out, the one that wasn’t on the steering wheel, and brushed his long fingers against your face, lulling you, “deep breaths. In… out… that’s right. Just like that. In… out…”

Your rattled breathing slowed, your mind halted.

He didn’t turn your way once, his cold stare on the road, face expressionless. But his voice was gentle. Effortlessly soothing. If you looked hard enough at his face, maybe you could find something you wanted to find. Maybe it wasn’t cold. Maybe he was just tired.

“What are you so afraid of? You’re safe. Everything’s going to be okay.”

He sounded so reassuring that for a long moment you doubted that anything out of the ordinary had happened today. Maybe you were just imagining everything. Maybe your isolation had finally gotten to you.

You were glad someone kind like Johnny was here to look after you.

Taking his outstretched hand into your own, you nestled your face into his palm and closed your eyes.

“Good girl,” he said.

That was the last thing he said for a while.

Hours must have passed by the time you realized you had fallen asleep out of exhaustion. Orange hues now stretched across the sky in broad strokes, clouds almost dissipated. Next to you, Johnny was still silently driving, soaked in the orange light. Everything was so saturated, it looked like a painting.

“How did Jaehyun leave without his car?” You asked, your voice coming out small.

“This is my car,” Johnny said. “But we came with two. I told you, we work together.”

“Oh.” Somehow, the more time you spent with them, the more you didn’t have it in you to know more about them. Ask about their life or what they did for a living.

“You know, I had this car modified. It’s sound proof. And bullet proof, even.”

“Hm.”

The silence was strangely comfortable now. You closed your eyes and leaned your head back on the headrest.

“You cold?” He asked.

“No.” You said, your hands unconsciously pulling in his jacket tighter around your frame. “I never thanked you for giving me your jacket… Here. I want you to have this,” you handed him the warm thermos. The last thing you had of your sister’s.

Somehow, you felt like everything would be okay. Just like he said it would be. He gave a grateful smile and took slow mouthfuls from the flask, as you watched the sun outline him through his window.

The trees that were scattered more sparsely before now gathered into denser bunches the farther along the road he drove. Before you knew it, you were driving into the middle of a forest thick with pine trees. The car rocked left and right underneath you as the ground grew wilder. At some point, all directions started looking identical.

Eventually, the car slowed into a stop and he cut the engine. You were surrounded by nothing but trees, in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. “Get out,” Johnny said, not looking your way.

The silent bubble you were in was broken by a rush of cold wind when he opened his own door, stepping out. Following him out into the forest, the smell of pine twined with the cold air seeped into your lungs. The silence was only broken by the sound of Johnny’s and your shoes against the vegetation.

Your body felt so heavy with sleep, it only exaggerated your dream-like state of mind. The orange light of the sunset warmed you to your core. You were the calmest you’ve been in a very long time, as you followed him deeper and deeper into the forest.

“Where are we?” Your own voice sounded jarring against the silence.

“Jaehyun likes it here. It’s quiet, and there are no eyes around. I’m just making a guess that they made a stop here.”

The trees parted and the sea revealed itself for the first time. It had been years since you were this close to it, and the air coming through over the water felt nice on your face.

Johnny had stopped walking ahead of you, and you were now the one in the lead. You stopped as soon as you got to the edge of the water, staring down at the crimson ripples.

There was a trail in the sand that looked awfully a lot like something heavy had been dragged away, back towards the thick of the trees.

“Why are we here, Johnny?”

Johnny’s arms reached around from behind you, slowly, wrapping you into a snake-like embrace, his broad hands curling around your frame. His movement was tentative, like he was giving you a chance to pull away.

It was quiet for a while before either of you said anything.

“Back when we were playing that game,” he repeated, before stopping to recollect his thoughts, and starting again, “look, I know I haven’t known you for long. But this whole time, I was watching you, you know.”

“It’s just… Something about you seems off,” he continued, “You’re scared of everything. And there’s the way you walk all folded into yourself… I wasn’t sure at first. I thought maybe you were just having a bad day. Then I thought maybe that guy Mark was bothering you or something. Until you flinched at me like I was gonna hurt you.”

For the first time, nerves were evident in his voice, “like… I don’t know, like that’s something you’re used to. Like you’re in trouble… Or you’re trying to hide from it.” He paused to take a shaky breath, his words dripping with uncertainty, his voice odd. Just like Mark’s had been.

“You seemed like you’ve been trying to say something these past couple of days. No one is around here right now, you can talk to me. Whatever is going on with you, I think I can help.”

You kept your eyes ahead of you, watching the sea. There was nothing you could say or do now. You understood now that last year’s events had their claws on you too deep to shake off. You were a haunted house.

Like how he had been holding you back at the corridor, his embrace lingered. But this time, he let it linger indefinitely. It was comfortable.

You don’t know how long the two of you just stood there in silence. Over time, his grip loosened just a little but kept hold. Then it loosened more, until it completely slipped away from you. There was a loud thud behind you when he hit the ground, but you didn’t turn around. Caught on watching the crimson ripples for a moment longer.

You still had twelve hours.

That would be enough.

When you finally turned around to face his slumped body, your eyes didn’t go up to scan the forest. Instead, you trained all of your focus on Johnny, because you knew everything counted on these next coming moments. Because you couldn’t let things end like they did last time.

Getting down on your knees, you pushed his heavy body until he was flat on his back. Then you put your hands around his neck and squeezed.

You knew how hard you needed to do it to cut off someone’s air supply. How long you needed to keep it cut off until it was too late. So you knew your limits perfectly well, and how to do it just enough to be convincing. Just enough not to really hurt him.

And when your hands finally withdrew from his neck, you stayed perfectly frozen in place, not moving a muscle or making a sound until you could make sure that he was drawing the shallowest of breaths again.

Finally, your hands roamed his pockets until you found his car key. Your grip wrapped around it tightly.

A rustle and the crunching of leaves told you that your spectator had finally come out of hiding. The crunching stopped as your sister walked onto the sand of the small beach. She was scanning your face carefully. In her hand, a long metallic baseball bat.

“I almost thought you wouldn’t be able to do it.” She said, proud.

“You told me I would develop a taste for it sooner or later.”

“And I guess I was right, huh,” she teased, nothing different from the usual way she spoke. She didn’t let go of the baseball bat as she raced towards you and drew you into a big hug. “I’m so proud of you. I can’t believe it’s finally happening! We’ll be so good together!”

Your body tensed up, and she withdrew to look at your face. “Something wrong?”

“No! No. I’m just… tired.” You pulled her back into the hug, spinning your bodies ever so subtly. Shifting her view away from Johnny.

“You’re acting weird. Are you mad at me?” She said.

“Why would I be mad at you?”

“You could barely stand looking at me after last time.”

You mustered up everything in you to stop your voice from wavering. “Because it was my first time ever seeing anything like that. There was… so much blood. There was so much blood on you, I would see it again in my mind every time I looked at you.”

She drew away from you again to give you an understanding look, before saying “Well, now you can do things your own way. No blood. Right?”

“Right.”

“We’re in this together, right?” She beamed at you. You nodded in a silent reply.

“You’re avoiding my eyes again,” her face dropped into a cold stare almost instantly.

“I’m not… I told you, I’m just tired. I wanna go home.”

“I know I promised we wouldn’t do anything this time… But you know I can’t keep doing this alone. It just doesn’t feel the same. We’ve always done everything else together, and I wanted you to finally accept this side of me.

"You accept it now, don’t you? You just did it, too. You just killed someone! We’re the same now,” her eyes were shining as she kept filling the silence. “How did it feel?”

“It felt… It- it felt,” you stuttered, “I was the most scared I’ve ever been in my life. I want to go home now. Please?” You felt the urge to throw up, which you held down by swallowing your bitter saliva repeatedly.

Thoughts of Jaehyun and Mark weighed heavy on your mind, and thoughts of what she would do if she noticed Johnny’s shallow breaths made your body start shaking out of your control.

“Wow, you’re really taking this hard. Shhh,” she held you to her side, supporting you back into the woods, “it’s okay. It’s okay…”

“Is Jaehyun here? Is he somewhere in this forest?”

“He is.” Her reply was curt.

“And Mark?”

“Poor baby…” she cooed like she was talking about a wounded puppy, “he followed me right out into the storm. So eager to help. After I was done with him, he had to spend the night out in the rain. I had to lay his body in the bathtub the morning after, early enough while you were all sleeping.”

“Oh.” Bathtub… Bathtub…

You left her with him. Why did you leave?

“Anyway, we’ll need to actually go get a battery now. I don’t think the one I took out is usable anymore.”

“Hm.”

“Which car do you wanna take back? I got Jaehyun’s keys. It’s a pretty nice car. He had good taste in music, too.”

Had… You were the one who agreed to stay at the rest stop.

And it cost two people their lives. 

Your step faltered. “Johnny’s.”

She side-eyed you, “you’re talkative. Okay then, lead the way.”

It felt as though your blood had entirely escaped your body by the time you were back by the car. The keys were clutched so tightly in your hand that you wouldn’t have been surprised if they drew blood. You doubted that you would’ve felt it right now.

“Can I drive?” You asked.

“Ooh. Are you sure?”

“I think so.”

She gave you a proud look once again, and she threw the baseball bat into the car before she finally got into the passenger seat. You, on the other hand, had been pretending to circle around to the driver’s side after having used the remote control key to activate the locks. Ten more seconds before deadlock would be activated.

Nine… You walked as slowly as you could, but not slow enough to draw any suspicion.

Eight… What would happen to her if you turned her in?

Seven… What would happen to Johnny if you didn’t? And every other person after?

Six… She said she wanted you two to be together. You would be. You were just as guilty.

Five… You were positive that these were the longest ten seconds of your life. Everything seemed to move in slow motion.

Four… Your eyes betrayed you as they stole a worried glance at her.

Three… She held your eyes for a moment, before you watched a slow change in her expression.

Two… Her eyes went wide, realization dawning on her face. She lunged at the door, and—

One.

You couldn’t hear her screams as she thrashed at the door handle, shouting something at you. Then, all at once, she stopped. There was a crazed expression on her face as she pulled out her baseball bat. She waved at you before pointing at it, giving you a wild smile.

Your heart sank. Your knees weakened under you and made you slump to the ground like a rag doll, using your arms to brace yourself against the soil of the forest.

It was over.

You had ruined everything.

Of course it wouldn’t have worked.

You betrayed her.

What were you thinking?

She swung the bat at the window by the passenger’s seat, and you couldn’t do anything but watch in stunned silence as she bounced right against the glass. Coming back for a more charged swing than the one before it, she bounced back as harshly as she had swung.

And then you remembered why you couldn’t hear her screams one bit from out here. Johnny had modified the car. It was soundproof. Bulletproof.

You scampered away from the car, your legs still refusing to carry you. She wasn’t giving up, baseball bat bouncing off the glass over and over again. When she finally stopped, staring into your eyes like an animal whose leg got caught in a bear trap, your heart hammered so loudly that it was all you could hear.

Please, she mouthed at you.

She was bargaining.

You weren’t sure which stage weighed heavier on you, this or the anger from earlier. She dropped the bat and splayed both of her hands against the glass.

Her eyes were so wide, so scared, that you had to fight the urge to run back to her and unlock the door. She was all you had. Your sister, your best friend. You only had each other.

But you knew that more than anything you could give her, she needed help. And you needed help. If you went on living like this for any longer, you were sure you would only lose your mind more and more. That was if you hadn’t already lost it.

You took a deep breath and looked her squarely in the eyes, then you shook your head no.

Her face broke down into a silent sob as she slapped her hands at the unmoving glass. Crying for the freedom she knew she had just lost. Grieving for it.

Then you were reminded that the stages of grief weren’t always linear. Because just as quickly, she was back to anger, and your hand went up over your mouth as you watched her bang her head against the glass.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

Maybe she was hoping you would let her out before she hurt herself too much. And then it dawned on you that this wasn’t anger. This was really just her final bargain.

You couldn’t do anything but sob quietly to yourself as you watched your sister. Before long, she grew sloppier and swayed against the glass until she finally gave out and collapsed.

Turning away, you walked back to where you had left Johnny, and followed the trail you had spotted earlier in the sand. Where it looked like someone had been dragged away.

Surely enough, Jaehyun was at the end of that trail, propped up under one of the thicker trees. His face was pale and peaceful, his back leaning against the tree as though he were sleeping. Your movements stuttered as you approached him.

Getting a grip on either side of his face, you pulled him forward. One look at the back of his head was enough to tell you that it was too late for him. You cried for the lives ruined and lost because of one reckless decision.

The more your adrenaline tapered off, the more your muscles reminded you of how sore you were, and the more the hammering of your headache increased. What now?

Call the police? None of you had your phones.

Drive back to the rest stop and do it from there? Your sister had the keys to Jaehyun’s car. The thought of unlocking the car and attempting to get the keys from her unconscious body spiked a horrible fear in you that you couldn’t possibly face right now.

Getting on your knees next to Johnny, you lied down on the sand and watched him as he slept.

You wondered if his neck would bruise, and whether he would be as sore as you were when he woke up.

You wondered how many hours were left until the sedative from the flask weakened in his system.

You wondered what he would do when he finally woke up.

You wondered about what kind of person he was, and whether he would still help you after he found out how much trouble you were really in.

When you noticed the first signs of his understanding, you were nothing short of terrified. The past year felt incredibly lonely. But the thought of someone finding out about the burden you carried was frightening.

You had never taken a life, but you were there when your sister did—and you were too damaged to say anything about it. All you had in you to do was shut yourself away from the world and live the life of someone who had died a year ago.

And as you wondered many things, your eyelids grew heavy. From here, it almost looked like Johnny was floating on the surface of the crimson sea. So you watched him and watched him until you couldn’t anymore.

copyright 2022 - 2025 © pearl-neo all rights reserved.

This work is fictional and for entertainment purposes only, but is licensed and protected under a creative commons attribution-noncommercial-noderivatives 4.0 international license. Any instances of plagiarism will be dealt with accordingly. Do not re-post or translate without my permission.

#nct #nct 127 #nct x reader #sfw #johnny suh #johnny x reader #johnny fic #nct fanfic #nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct thriller #nct horror #nct angst #johnny scenarios #johnny imagines #johnny suh angst #my first fanfic #new to tumblr

[lullabytaeyong]

Little Taeyong ~

Oh my sweetie pie baby boy 🥺

Definitely a younger regressor maybe 4 and under

Loves making necklaces and gluing plastic gems on things like his shoes or light switch

Super smiley unless he’s in a fussy mood

Talks a lot but mostly to himself or his toys as he does things or plays

Quietly from another room, “You need one shot today.” in another voice “ahh! no i hate shots!” “it’s okay these are magic so they don’t hurt!”

He would 100% love pretending with little figures like Calico Critters or any little animal toy

Has an elaborate collection of houses, shops, furniture sets and other accessories

Loves nap time! Always ready to lie down and rest

Wiggles underneath blankets and pillows until he’s comfy and warm

Likes to color, but avoids the pages in coloring books with easy brain games

Rubs his head on peoples arms to show affection

Refused to eat off of anything except those cute trays with different characters printed on them

Aggressively swings arms with whoever holds his hand

I think he would love good night moon 🌙

Sing-songs different words or names of cartoons

Has wooden baby toys, like chunky puzzles, trains, and pretend cooking sets

His dark brown eyes always being wide and sparkly

#kpop agere #agere community #little nct #little nct127 #little taeyong #regressor taeyong #kpop littlespace #age regression #sfw agere #cute taeyong #baby taeyong

[daydreamingyuta]

SFW Alphabet│Mark Lee

A ⁓ Affection

I feel like Mark would show his affection towards you with his words. He would be very vocal about how much he loves and appreciates you. He would also very much appreciate that you don’t mind his long tangents that he tends to go on and that you seem to know exactly what he is trying to say. 

B ⁓ Boyfriend (What is he like as a boyfriend?)

Mark would be the best-friend type of boyfriend. Everything just feels so natural and there would be no pressure on either of you. I think that he is a very nonjudgmental person so he would make sure that you feel very comfortable around him and that you don’t have to hide any part of yourself from him. And he wouldn’t hide any part of himself from you. 

C ⁓ Clothing (Would he let you borrow his clothes?)

Yes! Mark would practically put his sweatshirts on you because he thinks you look so adorable in his stuff. He would also love it when you gave his stuff back and it smells like you 🥹. And I think he would also buy you clothes all the time. If you are shopping together, you would try to pay for your stuff and he would stop you before you could, and pay for everything for you because he loves to treat you. But he would also buy clothes for you while you two are apart. He would see things that he thinks you would really like/ look really cute in and he can’t resist getting it for you. Every time he comes back from tour you practically have a whole new wardrobe. 

D ⁓ Disagreements (What is he like when you two fight?)

Mark is a pretty level-headed person so I feel like you two wouldn’t fight too much. And when you do, they are more just disagreements than anything. Mark is the type to hear you out and try to see everything from your perspective and I think he would want you to do the same for him. Because of this, I don’t think these disagreements would last very long at all. At the end of the day it doesn’t even matter what you guys were fighting about, Mark is just glad to have you and call you his. 

E ⁓ Effort (How much would he put into a relationship?)

He puts so much effort into everything he does so I don’t think a relationship would be any different. You are clearly a very special person to him and he is going to make sure you know that. Although he is someone who is very busy, he would always make time for you. Even if all he can do is send a quick sweet text, he always prioritizes you. 

F ⁓ Facetime

Mark would constantly facetime you. To tell you a story that just happened to him, to play you a little bit of the song he’s working on, or just because he wants to see you. He is definitely the type to call without any text or warning though. He would also want to fall asleep on facetime with you even though that never really works out because you two just end up talking until the morning about any and everything.  

G ⁓ Goofy (How much do you make him laugh? How much does he make you laugh?)

Mark would think that you are absolutely hilarious. He would laugh at all your jokes even the ones that aren’t funny at all, he would just love them. And Mark is such a funny person, whether it is on purpose or not, so you would also find him so funny. I also think that he would feel very proud of himself every time he makes you laugh. 

H ⁓ Holding hands

I feel like, at first, Mark wouldn’t want to hold hands too much because he doesn’t want you to think he’s weird if his hands get all sweaty. But when he gets comfortable around you, he would love to hold your hand. He would grab it randomly and rub his thumb back and forth absent-mindedly. To Mark hand holding can be both a very innocent cute thing but it is also such a intimate thing as well. Especially when it’s just the two of you and he grabs your hand just to let you know that he loves you. It is just a simple action but it expresses so much. 

I ⁓ Intuition (How long did it take him to figure out that you are the one) 

Mark is very busy and I feel like he wouldn’t ‘waste’ his time on just any relationship. I think he would have to be friends with you before hand and he would already be head over heels for you before the relationship even starts. I think Mark is very smart as well so if there is absolutely anything that feels wrong about the relationship he wouldn’t go through with it. So I think that he would know that you are the one for him pretty early on. 

J ⁓ Jealousy

I think Mark is pretty secure in himself to not let the little small things bother him or make him jealous. I think it would take a lot for him to get jealous. But I do think that if he saw you get a little bit jealous over him, he would think that it’s adorable while also assuring you that he only has eyes for you. 

K ⁓ Kiss (His favorite place to kiss you?) 

Mark is a forehead kisser!! He would kiss you on the forehead while you are hugging him. And while you two are cuddling, he would kiss your forehead right as you are just about to fall asleep. They are just so innocent and cute and I just know he would love giving them to you!! 

L ⁓ Love (Does he say I love you first?)

Mark definitely said that he loves you first. It wouldn’t have been planned at all. He would just say it without realizing that he said it at first and then kind of panic because he’s not sure if he should have said it just yet, but your happy reaction calms him down immediately.

M ⁓ Mornings (What is he like in the morning?)

I would say that Mark in the mornings, on his days off, would love to have a chill and relaxing start to his day with you. I feel like he would be cuddly when he first wakes up but then after a while would want to get up. I don’t see him as a person that likes to stay in bed all day. But after you guys get up he would want to cook breakfast together (or just ‘help’ you make breakfast) while listening to music. 

N ⁓ Nicknames (What he would call you?)

Of course he would call you ‘dude’ subconsciously but his cute nicknames for you would include

- Baby (”babyyy”)

- Beautiful (”good morning beautiful” ajdefhwk)

- Princess (”c’mere princess”)

O ⁓ Open (How open is he with you?)

I think that Mark is a very open person once he gets really comfortable around someone. He’s someone who seems to love deep conversations and he would love to have those with you as well and those types of conversations require you both to be very open with each other. 

P ⁓  Physical touch 

Mark would not be the most touchiest of people but I definitely think he would be touchy with you a lot of the time. I feel like most of the time it would be those simple, small touches that he almost does subconsciously but they bring him a lot of comfort because he knows that you are right there next to him. Mark is also a hugger so I think he would give you an infinite amount of hugs at all time.

Q ⁓ Quirks (One of his little quirks) 

I saw a tik tok showing that Mark spins when he gets really excited and I just think that it’s so cute that he does that and I can see him doing that in his personal life when he’s really excited. I feel like when he gets you a really good gift that he was so excited to give you, he might do a little spin real quick while you open the gift!

R ⁓ Random (A cute thing he does)

I think something Mark would do all the time, without even realizing it, is talk about you all the time. You are always on his mind, so every little thing reminds him of you. The members would feel like they know you well just from how much Mark talks about you. Whether it be him gushing about you or just sharing a memory of you two together with the members. 

S ⁓ Sentimental 

I don’t think Mark is the most sentimental person. Like I don’t see him being the type to save the receipts of the place you went to on your first date or anything but with certain things I think he is very sentimental. He would find each moment he spends with you precious, so he would take lots of pictures so that he can look back on them later. I also think that if you wrote him a little note or drew him a cute little picture, he would keep it forever!

T ⁓ Tradition (What are his little traditions that he does with you?)

Idk if this is really a tradition, but I think Mark would always want to be watching a show or movie series with you. And you two are only allowed to watch it with each other. You two would have special days planned out where all you two do is sit in your pajamas together and binge watch whatever show/movie you are currently watching. 

U ⁓ Unknown (Something he does only for you)

Mark would make playlists for you! They would be filled with songs that played while you two were together and songs that remind him of you. And I think that he would be constantly making new playlists for you. So that every time you listen to a playlist that he made for you, it takes you back to the exact time period with him. 

V ⁓ Vigilant (Can he tell when something is wrong?)

Yes! I think that Mark is very watchful and pays close attention to detail. So when you are not feeling well or something is just off, he will be able to tell. He would try his best to find out what is wrong and to comfort you in the best way he can. If you were going through something I think Mark is the type to baby you a little bit until you feel better!

W ⁓ Whole (Does he feel incomplete without you?)

I think that if you would have asked him if he was complete before he met you he would have said yes. But now that he knows what life is like when he has met his other half, he couldn’t imagine going back to how it was. He would absolutely see you two together as two halves of a whole!

X ⁓ Xtra (Random head cannon about him)

We all know how much he loves the sky and I think that he would share that love with you any chance he gets. Watching the sunsets/ sunrises together, getting pictures of the sky sent to you at any time of the day, and little tangents of him going on and on about how much he appreciates the sky would happen all the time. 

Y⁓ Yucky (Something that he would not like?)

Mark wouldn’t like someone that thinks that are better than anyone else. I think he would need his person to be very open and loving like he is. And someone who is not going to judge others, but try their best to see from others perspective.

Z ⁓ Zzz (How does he like to sleep?)

Maybe i’m just projecting but I think Mark likes to cuddle when he sleeps 🥹. Like the comfort of having you in his arms at night, after a long day, just puts him right to sleep. To him there is nothing better than having his girl in his arms. I also think that he likes to talk a lot before bed so as you both get sleepy you can hear his voice progressively get more slower and tired and it would be so cute!!!

#mark lee #nct #nct 127 #nct dream #drabble #fic #kpop #fluff #sfw alphabet

[warmau]

☆ commission: lovestruck!au jaemin note: i do not know how to crochet so please bare with me

there are three people in the crocheting club

two are quiet, hermit type classmates that you have never heard make much more then a small noise or string together the syllables of their name in class

and renjun - who looks you up and down when you come through the door with nothing but the pair of old crocheting needles you got from your grandmother and a ball of yarn that is....in his opinion...the ugliest shade of yellow to exist

but then you sit down after a small introduction and get lost in your project, clumsily making it through your knots, and renjun softens to that

the whole point of this club is to be alone, together

you understand that without having to be told - meaning, you fit right in

after a hectic day of trying to survive classes, the annoying and loud nature of the hallways, and of course all the other woes of youth - this place is a safe haven

and then of course, na jaemin appears on a tuesday at exactly three fifteen sharp

the way he opens the door is sudden and the energy he gusts in with him like a wind draws shudders from the two wallflower classmates, a look of disgust from renjun, and confusion from you

"jaemin, this is the crocheting club are you looking for-"

he flashes a big and white grin at you

"then i'm in the right place!

✧

jaemin is not good at crocheting

to be honest, he can't even sew

he brings the wrong kind of needles with him and doesn't have the slightest idea of what a pattern he's interested in starting

he just makes an offhanded comment about how he likes cats, the big and fluffy ones

renjun's voice waivers with nuisance as he tries to get jaemin on a more concrete path

"well are you going to make a blanket with a cat, a hat with a cat, a pair of mit-"

"whatever you think i should do!" jaemin grins and looks over his shoulder at you "woah, you're in the club too?"

the way he asks makes you think he already knew the answer before stepping through the door

which is weird because..........jaemin isn't your friend

you guys are more like acquaintances by force

he was your lab partner last year when he transferred from organic chemistry to biology 2 which he claimed was because the professor just didn't understand him

but you had heard from rumors floating around that the real reason he'd been switched was due to an secret experiment gone wrong that jaemin had been caught red-handed for

you had debated asking him about it when you two were working together in class, but decided against it

plus - jaemin was good at biology - like ... really good ... so far so that maybe his claim about just being disliked had merit

because someone so talented and excited about science, couldn't have failed and almost blown up a classroom like the rumor whispered about

so keeping your curiosity to yourself, your just tried to keep up with jaemin

who would get to the conclusion before you could even get past the hypothesis

other than that, the most you'd ever really talked to each other was one time outside of the library

you were waiting for a friend and jaemin had come down the hall, flanked by a group of rowdy friends of his, jaemin the center of all their attention

when he'd spotted you he had smoothly pushed himself out of that frenzy and into your quiet, awkward personal space

"you accidentally left this behind last period." he'd fished your half done lab report out of his backpack "i kept it between two textbooks so it wouldn't get crumpled."

as he handed it back to you, you immediately saw that beside your own work were scribbled notes in pencil

"did you-"

before you could ask your question, a hand had appeared on jaemin's shoulder and pulled him back into the body of people taking up the entire hallway

jaemin didn't get a chance to look back at you, but you had watched him and everyone else disappear around the corner

you remembered distinctly that one person, a girl with bright eyeshadow and a collection of keychains hanging from her bag had turned around to shoot one glare at you, and then jaemin and the rest of them were gone

you had looked at the report, noticing that the comments in pencil were corrections to your work - but after each sentence there were a variety of tiny little scribbles

some were smiley faces and others looked like attempts to draw some kind of cartoon characters

even though the corrections were bluntly explaining how your line of thinking was wrong - the drawings had made jaemin's sincerity obvious on the page

he's trying to help me, and still be silly about it

you had remembered thinking: "that's very.....jaemin of him."

✧

despite this one interaction and the scattered lab periods you'd shared, you didn't have a moment where you felt as if you and jaemin had gotten anywhere near close

not as friends, and not as anything more

but yet - as the first session of crochet club that jaemin attends came to a close - he's the one to corner you at the door and ask, with that smile never really leaving his face

"can i walk you to the station?"

"sorry - how did you know i take the train?"

jaemin doesn't look flustered, he just blinks at you as if it's obvious that he should know this

"i ride my bike to school, and you're never at the bike rack. my path goes by the bus and you're never at the bust stop - so, logically speaking, the train is it."

you have the tickling urge in your stomach to one up him

"what if i walked to school?"

he points to the pass case hanging off your bag that clearly displays the ticket you need every day to get on the train

"then why would you always have that?"

you open your mouth to think of some retort, but you really don't have any, so you just look back at him

"is there a reason you want to walk with me - is there something we need to talk about?"

jaemin puts his hands hands in his pockets and shakes his head

"nope. but you can also say no if you don't want me to walk with you."

has anyone ever said no to him?

you think, taking a pause to focus on his face

when you look like that, with the added bonus of his height and the fact that being smart just comes naturally i would assume rejection isn't even a possibility in his mind

"no - i mean yes you can walk with me."

and look at me, falling right into the trap like everyone does

jaemin gives you a thumbs up and turns his body to let you through the door

the first couple of minutes it's silent and you catch some double takes from other students

renjun is at the front of the school when you pass and he raises an eyebrow as you kind of mouth a "i don't know either?"

then, when you're out of the vicinity of the school, jaemin straightens up and stretches his arms over his head

his shirt rides up and reveals the lean skin of his stomach and you involuntarily look up to pretend you didn't see it

"so - why do you like crocheting?" the question catches you off guard "from what i could tell today, it's pretty boring."

"it's not boring!"

you argue, "it's fulfilling, and good for your concentration. plus at the end you make something that you can use and that's the most rewarding part."

"but you can buy a hat or a blanket anywhere. there are machines that make them one hundred times faster, and they're cheaper to buy then spending money on the equipment and the yarn and-"

you stop and jaemin walks a couple of feet ahead before realizing and turning back

"why did you-"

"if you just wanted to make fun of my hobby, why did you even show up to the club today? no one forced you to join us - and you could have left at any point."

a look of surprises washes over jaemin, and then he scratches his head and seems to understand that all he's done is come of as a bit rude

"no - sorry, it's not my intention to criticize you. i just really wanted to know why you like it."

"lots of people like it. for lots of different reasons, just because something is boring to you doesn't mean it's boring to me. for your information na jaemin i don't find science to be all that interesting but you love it right?"

you aren't sure where this is all coming from, a part of you think it's just you exercising your right to tell this guy off for butting into your club unannounced

and the other part is just that......jaemin is always so straightforward and simple. he's always first to find a solution and for once maybe you want to get there first...just a one up against one of the most popular and intelligent students

"well science isn't boring, it's infinite and ever changing. isn't crocheting just doing the same thing over and over and over?"

"there are different-" you stops before you start, the two reasons you have for this conversation suddenly seeming childish and unnecessary

you glare at jaemin and stomp past him toward the station

obliviously, he starts after you, but you point back toward the school

"i would appreciate if you let me walk to the station alone now."

you don't look at his expression as you continue on your way, muttering in your head about how stupid that all was

jaemin watches you, but you don't feel his gaze on your back, instead you fume a little on your way home

but tell yourself that it doesn't matter, ultimately - you won't have to deal with jaemin again

he won't be showing up to your 'boring' club again anyway

✧

jaemin is there before you are, chatting at one of the two quieter students as they stare at him like deer in headlights

"basically, kiwi's don't have wings - but they're still considered birds, but interestingly they have more in common with mammals an-"

"jaemin" you get his attention and he smiles and waves at you as if everything is fine and as it should be. even though that's clearly not the case "what are doing here?"

he lifts his needles, "i'm here to crochet. this is crocheting club, right?"

you cross your arms, "didn't you tell me yesterday that you thought crocheting was boring?"

"i did"

"so then why are you here doing something boring when you have the choice to.........well not be?"

he stands up and you expect him to laugh, to turn this all into some joke that he's been playing out in his head

but instead he just gives you a clear smile

"because my choice is to be here. i want to be here and i want to crochet with you."

a gasp comes from the other two students in the room - renjun walks up behind you at the exact moment jaemin makes the proclamation and snorts

"so you're here to flirt? could the two of you do it somewhere else?"

"that's not-" you start but jaemin tilts his head at you like a puppy awaiting your call

"should we go crochet somewhere else? i want to continue our conversation from yesterday too."

renjun clicks his tongue, "oh your 'conversation' from yesterday huh?"

you feel heat on your skin from the eyes in the room and the absolute shameless way jaemin is staring straight at you with no intention of stopping

"actually, i have to go home - i have...stuff to do." you turn to make a beeline out of there, but in mere seconds jaemin has caught up with you with the cheery look on his face turned to concern

"wait - what do you mean do stuff? i heard you tell renjun at lunch that you're almost done with your scarf project and wanted to finish today at the club."

"oh so are you eavesdropping on me and my boring conversations now too? was not coming here to make fun of my boring hobby again not enough?"

jaemin looks lost, which confuses you because what other explanation could there be

"i was just near you in lunchroom and i never made fun of your hobby."

"jaemin, you literally asked me why i liked doing something so boring."

he takes a second and you're reminded of a loading screen on a game or a computer

"oh." he starts, brown eyes finding yours again "i didn't mean boring as a bad thing."

✧

you sit across from jaemin in the grass of a nearby park and watch him struggle through a couple of the first loops

after a moment he groans and puts the needles down

"it's just not for me."

"you can't say that just because you're bad at it. everyone is bad as a beginner."

jaemin shakes his head, "most things are easy to understand for me - how can i understand cell division but i can't understand how to make a square of fabric?"

you try to suppress a giggle, but jaemin catches you and thins his lips in response

"oh, is it funny that i'm not good at something you can do easily?"

you shrug playfully, "kinda."

he leans back against the tree his bag and yours are resting on as well

"i am sorry again.....i didn't think i would offend you when i ... said all that yesterday."

you rub your arm nervously, after storming out of the room with jaemin following you - you had been offended. mad, even.

but you had fundamentally misunderstood jaemin

he was just curious - as you had been when he was made your lab partner last semester

curious about why he'd been switched, but also just curious about how someone could have so much fun in science class

you didn't have that kind of fun with it - you weren't even interested in it really. you just had to pass the class.

jaemin was doing the same here, he'd just been more vocal about it and had used the wrong word when he'd picked "boring"

he had probably meant to say - why do you like crocheting? personally, it's not easy and fun for me.

which is a question lots of people have about it - and have asked you before

"don't apologize, you were just trying something new and wanted to know more about it i guess."

jaemin shakes his head

"i was trying something new - but i was trying it because i heard you liked it. i wanted to try something you liked."

the words are simple and strung together without shyness, but you don't really know how to take them

"um - why?"

"why what?" jaemin twists some of the yarn around his finger and then glances at you when you don't follow up

"why did i want to try something specifically you liked?"

he continues for you and you nod, unsure of what to add

he smiles and his teeth are pretty just like the rest of him

"because i like you."

✧

you reply the conversation close to a hundred times in your head that evening

"because i like you."

"sure, but you could have found another way to be my friend - you didn't have to force yourself into croc-"

"oh, sorry, let me say that again. i like you in the non-platonic kind of way."

jaemin's voice hadn't faltered, like with most things, he said this without a single hint of worry or lack of confidence

you'd felt the inside of your mouth go dry as you repeated it slowly back to him

"in the non-platonic kind of way?"

"yes." he'd taken the two crocheting needles and pressed the edges of the top sides together "like in this way, you know?"

you'd imagined he was mimicking kissing, but your mind halted that thought because - well - then that meant that na jaemin was implying that he wanted to kiss you

"are you being serious?"

was all you could think to say, the words tumbled out of you without a filter

"pretty serious."

he'd tilted his head and done the whole puppy awaiting your command look that probably sent most people head over heels within seconds

but just kept you sitting there almost dumbly confused

"you don't have to give me an answer now, and don't worry if you don't feel the same - just tell me how you really feel when you decide."

you sit up in bed and ball your fists around your covers

"when i decide? decide what? decide that i -"

you say it outloud and into the darkness of your room before groaning and falling back into your pillows, one hand thrown over your eyes

"not like i have a choice in deciding, it's you jaemin......of course, i like you too."

✧

jaemin is talking with renjun when you show up to the club the next day

and renjun throws a glance your way that immediately reads: please help me get away from this weirdo

jaemin waves at you casually, and it almost makes you forgot what happened yesterday

you sit down at one of the empty desks and take out your nearly completed scarf

looking at it, you nod to yourself, and focus on finally finishing

jaemin stays the entire time too, and you can see from the corner of your eye that he's trying out the technique you'd been showing him yesterday

he catches your gaze once and smiles, but goes back to his work

half thankful that he isn't sliding himself in beside you to talk while you work (or, more importantly - ask you for your answer)

but also half confused at how calm he is even after confessing

you let yourself get lost in your work and when the club ends, renjun and the two other students leaving before you and jaemin do

you look down at the scarf that's complete and then turn to the desk where jaemin is

he's fallen asleep on top of his attempt at making....well you aren't sure

and you get up to wake him

but before you put a hand on his shoulder, you take in the image of him - laying his head on his arms, uniform sleeves rolled up to his elbows

he's got a serene expression, as if he's having the best dream in the world, his bangs falling over his eyes and tickling the desk beneath him

even like this his jawline is sharp and handsome, his breathing is even and his long legs are stretched out past the desk beneath him

he doesn't look like he belongs here, in this room with you, but somewhere else

somewhere ethereal and beautiful

which makes what happened yesterday feel like it isn't real either

you suddenly feel like you shouldn't disturb him

which also make a sinking feeling in your stomach rise as you wonder if you should just ...... say no. maybe, rejecting jaemin is the right choice for the both of you because -

you clutch the scarf in your hands

because you and him don't fit. like failed science experiments, or a badly crocheted pair of socks

"i'm sorry." you start - in a small voice "i'm sorry, but i don't think i should like you back."

"that's silly."

you startle and look down to see jaemin opening his eyes and blinking back sleep

"you were aw-"

"oh! you finished." he points to the scarf and you reflexively let him take it out of your hands

he unravels it and gasps, "it looks even better than the ones in stores. are you going to give it to someone?"

i was going to give it to you. i was going to be selfish and say, of course i like you back. you of all people should be smart enough to know that.

but you're quiet in response and jaemin's eyes flicker a little as the dimming light outside trickles throughout the room

"so what did you mean by that, by thinking you shouldn't like me back?"

"jaemin-" his name sounds too soft when it leaves your mouth "we're different, i don't think we would work out."

"but you haven't tried." he gets up and smiles "you haven't even given it a try."

he dangles the scarf up beside him, "you probably didn't think you could make this when you started - but look at you now. you made this."

he places the scarf gently onto the desk, as if it's going to break if he mistreats it

"and i wouldn't have half as much fun doing the same experiments over and over again, never trying something new to get a new conclusion."

he opens his arms wide and you look at him with a wrinkle of your forehead

"so don't say you shouldn't like me or i shouldn't like you. just like me freely, like i like you. without inhabitation - and let's see what happens!"

for a minute the world stops and you and jaemin are alone in it

without another thought, you walk right into him, throwing your arms around his waist

for the first time you feel through the contact that he's surprised, but then his arms close in around you

"the scarf was for you by the way." you mumble into the front of his shirt "i hope you like it."

he let's go of you with one hand, the other still securely wrapped around you as he puts the scarf on

"i love it, i'm going to wear it all the time."

"even in the summer?"

"even in the summer."

✧

somehow jaemin doesn't seem to be as aware of the shock that pulsates through your school when you both walk in holding hands

and maybe it's the fact that jaemin is sticking to his word, walking around with your scarf around his neck despite being inside

but you're sure it's actually because na jaemin is dating someone.

and that someone is you

the only people who aren't surprised are the crocheting club

renjun just gives you the, him? well if you're sure look and the two other members speak their first full sentence to you: "you guys look cute together."

jaemin swings by the club a couple of more times with you, but it's mostly just to stare as you work

you don't mind it - but you encourage him to join a club of his own that does things that he's interested in

"but i still want to learn to crochet, you like it and i want to understand it."

you put your hands over his and lean up to peck him right on the lips

"that's nice of you, but i think we can appreciate the things we both like .... even if we don't do them."

"you just don't want me to get you involved in my science stuff right?"

you sheepishly give your answer with a sidelong look away from him

jaemin laughs and presses his lips to your cheek, kissing twice toward the tip of your nose and then spinning you into his arms for one more kiss on the lips

but jaemin, surprisingly, is serious about learning more

so sometimes you sit inbetween jaemin's legs, crocheting and humming to yourself as he rests his chin on your shoulder transfixed at your movements

you explain them and then let him take over, his long arms coming over yours and taking the needles

he's clumsy and it's taking him some time to get used to it

but with practice, you're sure he will get be better

one afternoon as you're sitting together like this - jaemin rests his chin on your shoulder

"want to know when i started liking you?"

you stop your work and enthusiastically nod - you had never asked him, but you definitely always wanted to know

"so, i was taking organic chemistry and we were learning about reactions, addition reactions - adding atoms to unsaturated molecules - talking about the importance of modifying existing organic compounds."

"jaemin - human words"

he laughs, "talking about how adding something to something that already exists and making it something different."

"ok...go on."

"and i thought, what's something new i can add to myself to make myself new? i couldn't think of anything. long story short, i talked to the professor i had about it and he wasn't impressed with it. he said something about how biology might suit me better if i was interested in 'how humans change'."

you look over your shoulder, "so you didn't blow up the lab like everyone says you did?"

"nope, but when i left his office that day i passed by the crocheting club room and i saw you."

you feel jaemin's hands wrap a little more tightly around you

"and i had this feeling in my chest that something in me changed - just by looking at you. turns out that to my luck you were in biology two and after transferring i got to be your lab partner."

he nuzzles his face against your neck and you gently graze your fingers up and down his arm

"each time we worked together, something inside of me was changing. maybe not a cellular level - but i felt new every time and i didn't want to let those feelings go when the semester did so - i found you where i'd seen you first."

you take in every word, but ask - "but, how did you know that change was-" you hesitate but jaemin says the word against your neck

"love?" he lifts his gaze back to yours

"because it was the only definition i could give to the change inside of me. and sitting down with you in crocheting club, walking you to the station, and telling you how i felt - proved my theory."

you look at his eyes - as clear and as truthful as they always are - the beautiful brown a lighter hue in the light

"that there was a new me, a new me that loves you."

when he presses his lips to yours - you want to say it back, you want to fill the entire world with it

i love you too, silly.

#jaemin to me is so fucking smart but so fucking goofy so it confuses everyone #when he was just debuting im like shy little guy. i was wrong #nct scenarios #nct dream scenraios #jaemin scenarios #jaemin au #nct dream au #nct au #writing commission #fluff/ #sfw/

[littleprincerianne]

a song from my playlist as an outfit board even though nobody asked because rianne wanted and therefore rianne did and it's a fun way to bounce back the ewie mood from earlier today ! but also this is a very fun way to say "send song recommendations pretty please" /j /lh

#age regression #agere community #sfw agere #agere blog #sfw age regression #sfw little blog #sfw little community #agere #sfw littlespace #age regressor #kpop little space #kpop agere #kpop moodboard #kpop #kpop outfits #sfw agedre blog #agedre blog #nct dream agere #sfw agedre #age regression sfw #sfw little #sfw blog #sfw age dreamer #sfw age dreaming #sfw age regressor #sfw agere blog #spotify playlist #sfw cglre #sfw little stuff #sfw regressor

[swee7dream]

slowly but surely zhong chenle x f!reader | 2.3k words

summary: it's the end of the year but you are finding it very difficult to be in celebratory mood.

genre: angst & fluff :3

warnings: internalized anti-agere kinda ?? not rly lolz super quick mention of a panic attack but not in depth. lmk if i missed any !!!

dni: if you sexualize age regression and/or have an 18+ blog.

You’re going to quit your job.

You are, you’re making a promise to yourself about it and you have already decided to honor the promises you make to yourself this coming year. You are going to quit your job and nothing is going to stand in your way this time.

Only your boss would talk about an end-of-year party as a ‘compulsory team meeting’. You were supposed to have a nice simple evening with Chenle at home, making dinner together and then watching the fireworks until one of you falls asleep. A nice simple evening that did not have you hyperventilating in the bathroom out of fear you would be let go.

The plan was to stop by the store as soon as you finished your shift to ensure you got the freshest ingredients for the pesto pasta recipe you found on Pinterest and get more than the advised portions because you know for a fact half of it will end up on your kitchen floor when the play-fighting gets out of hand.

It was meant to be a night of relaxing and reflecting and not any of what you are feeling right now: stressed, angry, and murderous.

You take a sniff of your clothes as you walk from the bus stop back home, wondering if you can still wear this jacket out tomorrow or if you’ll smell like you bathed in alcohol fully dressed. Moisture seeps through your boot and into your sock from a puddle you didn’t notice on the sidewalk a couple of minutes back and you feel your entire body rejecting the sensation.

You mumble to yourself while doing quick work of inputting the PIN code to your front door lock, squeezing your eyes tight in an attempt to bring moisture back to your dried-out eyes.

‘Bath, color, cuddle, sleep. Bath, color, cuddle, sleep. Bath, color, cuddle, sleep!’

The plan for the night repeats like a broken record in your mind, mentally pushing yourself to go on just a little longer. You let out a sigh of relief when the lock finally sings its tune of entrance after three failed attempts.

“There’s my girl. I thought someone was trying to break in or something.”

The mental image of you talking with your dolls and stuffed animals shatters like a priceless vase, the shards amounting to the grains of sand in the sea.

“Hi.” You drop your bag on the floor the second you have a foot inside. You were so excited about tonight, how could you forget so quickly? Your boyfriend is so excited to see you and all you can think about is how you want everyone to die, that’s rich.

“Hey.” Chenle’s smile drops at your lack of enthusiasm. “You okay?”

“Okay… Just tired. ‘m gonna take a bath, ‘kay?” Your lips barely part as you speak and your feet don’t lift an inch from the floor, shuffling down the hallway instead. Tongue trapped between your teeth, you stop yourself from saying something you’ll regret on the way to the bathroom.

—

Your own gasp wakes you and you find that you’ve fallen asleep in the tub. How long have you been asleep? The water’s not exactly warm anymore and you see your fingertips have pruned up like raisins. You poke at them while leaning over the edge before sighing. Chenle’s out there waiting for you, you remind yourself, you can’t just stay pruned up like this forever.

Only for a little bit longer. You hug your knees to your chest and rest your cheek on one of them as you watch all the water from your bath swirl down the drain like a whirlpool. You can’t help but blow your lips together, mimicking the sounds you think pirates caught in a whirlpool would make.

A knock at the door.

“Everything alright in there?”

“Uh, yeah. Sorry. I’m getting dressed now. I’ll be right there.” The sound of your voice surprises you, feeling it’s much deeper than it should be for some reason.

The heat coming up from the vents is still too cold for you and although you know you should keep moving to feel warm, you find it much more comfortable to just stand in place on the rug.

Water drips off you and onto the rug and the towel wrapped tight around you where you shiver. Your hair is wet and heavy and if looks could kill, the shirt you planned to change into would be on fire at the moment. The feeling of heavy, damp hair wetting your new shirt makes you roll your eyes a bit, but the knowledge of your boyfriend on the other side of the door pushes you to endure it.

You’re in your own home but you sure don’t act like it, shuffling shyly out of the bathroom with uncertain steps.

“Le?”

“Oh.” He looks up from the shelf he was carefully inspecting before. “Hey baby. Good bath?”

“…yeah. What are you holding?”

“This?” He lifts his hand. “It’s one of your crayons. I found it lying on the floor and was just looking where to put it back.”

“It’s not mine,” You state firmly with a swift snatch. “It’s my nephew’s. He came over recently.”

“…your nephew colors with glitter crayons?” Chenle tries not to eye the grip you have that crayon in.

“Yeah. He does. Is that a problem?” You tuck the crayon into the pocket of your pajama pants quickly and make your way over to the kitchen.

“It’s not a problem, I just didn’t know he moved on so fast from his ‘arts and crafts is boring’ stage.”

“He’s coming around to it.” You move around the kitchen quickly, filling and turning on the kettle.

“Good for him.” Chenle stands slowly, when did his back start hurting like this? Is he getting old? Well, he is already balding. But that’s because of the hair dye, right? It’ll grow back. Probably.

“Yeah.” You toss a tea bag into a mug. “That’s just how kids are. Thank you for finding it.”

“Mhm.”

He takes notice of how you haven’t made eye contact with him since you snatched the crayon from him, how you still don’t. You try cracking your knuckles and wrists again and again, ignoring the fact that you already did before and nothing will pop for the next while or so.

You’re lying.

Why are you lying?

“Well, now I’m jealous.” Chenle leans on the counter with his forearms, teasing smile gently nudging you to at least look his way. “How come that little kid gets to color with my girlfriend when even I haven’t done that before?”

You don’t reply but his eyes follow how you swallow an invisible lump in your throat.

“It’s not like we have the ingredients to cook dinner tonight anyway, why don’t we just spend our home date tonight just coloring? You have more crayons, right?”

“No,” You reply immediately, turning away to get the kettle when it dings. “He just left this one. Why would I have any crayons? Do you think I’m a five-year-old?”

“I never said that.” He stands up, a frown of confusion painting his face.

“Right. Well, I don’t have any of those. And I don’t want to do a coloring date. I’m dating an adult, I would like to feel like I am.”

“Adults can color.”

“No they can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because they can’t.”

The kitchen is quiet, the single noise of the spoon mixing the tea and honey in your mug. With each second of silence, the control you have on your breathing weakens.

You do want to color. You want to doodle and draw and give Chenle all your stickman drawings. You want him to show you his pictures and you want to hear him praise the color you chose for the sun’s sunglasses. You want him to color with you and play with you until you’re all tired out. When you’re asleep you want him to cradle you and cuddle you, kiss you on the forehead, and hum you lullabies in an undertone.

But it’s also so unreasonable to demand that.

He has a life just as stressful if not more than yours, to throw all your burdens on him to bear, even if just for a few hours, is wrong. You would feel too guilty. Chenle’s dating an adult, not babysitting a child. Dating you should be an option, not a burden.

“They can’t?”

“They can’t.” You shake your head, voice breaking.

Chenle takes you into arms before you fully break, leaving all your tears to stain his t-shirt. His fingers dig into your hair and your whole body shivers when you feel his nails gently scratch against your scalp.

“I’m going to be honest with you, Princess, I don’t really know what happened today. Or if it’s something you’ve been dealing with for a long time… Either way, I’m sorry. If I’m the reason you’re crying right now, I’m sorry. And I’m also sorry for not knowing what I’ve done wrong. I’m kind of slow on the uptake at times. If I’m not the reason you’re crying, I’m sorry you went through that, or, are going through that. I don’t really know…

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. You looked like you were about to drop dead as soon as you walked in tonight so I wouldn’t blame you. I probably should have left earlier but I couldn’t help it. It’s the last day of the year and I really wanted to spend it with you. I’m kind of clingy like that, I guess. I was on my way here and… I was thinking how I would be ending this year and starting this next year with you and- and I wanted this to be how every year will be. Forever. Or, until you don’t it want to. Because I don’t feel like I will ever not want to be with you. I’m like… obsessed with you. But not to a point where I won’t leave if you tell me to leave. I definitely will leave if you ask me to leave. Do you want me to go? I can go. You look tired and I’m keeping you up-”

“No.” You interrupt, speaking into his chest. “Stay.”

“Okay. Yeah, I’ll stay.”

“But… I think I am gonna nap.”

“Yeah… Yeah, you should. I’ll just stay out here.”

“You’re an idiot.” You blurt. “A big dumb idiot. You’re dumb.”

“…yeah.”

“Want you to nap with me. Cuddle. Carry me.”

“Carry you…?” Chenle looks down at you, feeling whiplash at how quickly your moods change. He doesn’t question it though, melting at the sight of your big watery eyes. “Yeah, okay. Your wish is my command.”

You smile as you feel his arms wrap around you, his cologne entering your nose and giving you an incomparable high. His steps are slow and uncertain, careful to not hit your head on any doorframes. He begins lowering you onto the bed but your arms don’t loosen around his neck.

“Sorry too.” You whisper.

“For what?”

“Callin’ you dumb. You’re not dumb.”

“Thank you.” Chenle smiles, his eyes disappearing into thin little moons. “But, I am actually a little dumb.”

“No.” You frown as if the person offended was you. “Not dumb.”

“No?”

“No.” You insist. “’m the dummy.”

“What? No, Princess.” He sits on the side of the bed when his neck begins to hurt from the angle. “How could you think that?”

“’Cause,” Your eyes drop to his shirt, suddenly extremely interested in the wrinkles of his shirt. “Dunno. Thought you wouldn’t like me.”

“Wouldn’t like you? Baby, why would I not like you?”

“’Cause ‘m a dummy!” You whisper-yell at him as if he wasn’t listening. “Was bein’ mean earlier and takin’ stuff and… just wasn’t bein’ nice. And then I thought that you wouldn’t like me if I… I dunno.”

“If what?”

“If there was like… a side o’ me you didn’t really like. ‘n’ I scared you away… Don’t wanna be a bother, y’know?”

“You’re not a bother, Baby.” Chenle presses a kiss to your temple. “You’re my responsibility. I choose to do all these things. You’re never a bother. Never ever. Even if you get sick or get kicked out of your house or… I don’t know. No matter what, I choose to stay with you.”

“What if you choose to stop staying with me?”

“Did you kill someone?”

“No?”

“Then I think we can work through it.”

You giggle and lean back into him. He says such silly things with such confidence that he almost makes you believe it. Maybe one day you will.

“Oh shoot, your tea. I’ll be right back.”

The bed creaks under you as he gets up, the fireworks of overly-zealous celebrators with seemingly broken clocks lighting up his side profile pinks and purples through the window.

You stare at him and feel a warmth grow deep in your heart, an uncontrollable smile painted on your face. Chenle looks back at you with a confused smile, but you can see the same love in your heart in his eyes.

Yeah.

You also think that this is right. You don’t know if it’s for forever yet, but you sure hope it will be. That this year and the next and all the years until you’re both stars in the sky you two will be together. The fireworks will light up your faces when you’re both wrinkly and gray, wearing the same dorky grins you wear tonight.

You’re afraid, but you can feel that soon you’ll introduce a new side of yourself to Chenle. As he gets in the bed with you, looking out the window of your bedroom with his arm around your waist, the anxiety is the tiniest bit smaller than it was this morning. Slowly but surely, you know in your heart the day when you can show your heart bare to him will come and you’re not afraid

Maybe you’re afraid now but you know it’s only a matter of time before you free fall into his arms without a second thought. It's inevitable, you smile to yourself.

a/n: STRESSING to post this before the new year lolz. also, i hope y'all know that reader was toned down SO much over the drafts. when i get overstimulated i start wanting ppl to die and it's never that serious...... i rly had to get rid of that quality when writing for reader LOLOLOL OK ENJOY REBLOG GIVE KUDOS ALL THAT STUFF THAT TUMBLR LIKES LOVE U ALL HOPE U HAVE THE BESTEST 2024

#nct dream x reader #nct dream fluff #nct fluff #cg!nct dream #nct dream agere #agere sfw #nct imagines #kpop agere #little!reader #zhong chenle #chenle x reader #chenle #nct dream #nct fanfic #nct dream imagines #nct dream scenarios #chenle fluff #chenle angst #cg!zhong chenle #agere fanfic #sfw agere

[mystarsohee]

could u write cg doyoung or jaehyun (mayhaps both if ur willing) w a little fem reader? age range doesn't matter, whatever you're comfy with!

star blossom

genre: fluff

songfic kinda not really.. its just doyoung having his little listen to star blossom for the first time, a song he wrote for her (jus pretend he wrote the song in this world..) 😭

!!! non-sexual agere, only cg name used is doie.

cg!doyoung fem!reader

doyoung has been working a lot later than usual these past weeks, and honestly it has made a difference on you. everytime he comes home you can't help but cling to him for as long as possible. he feels the same way. you have the same effect on him, the way he has an effect on you.

the caregiver title was made for doyoung, who always had the instinct to protect and take care of you since you two met. he was the type to always give you sweet nicknames, like flower, or my love.

the reason hes been working so hard lately, is because hes currently helping write and release a song! what you don't know is that the songs lyrics have been written about you. about the memories the both of you make together. the things you two enjoy.

after long long weeks of doyoung working late, he comes home with good news.

"hi my pretty girl!" he greets when he enters.

"hi doie!!!" you waddle to him, cartoons still playing on the tv.

you immediately start clinging to him, and he pulls you and himself over to the couch. he pulls out his laptop from his bag, and starts typing and clicking. you watch as a file opens, labeled, "star blossom 🌸 demo"

"i've been working so late because i've been writing and singing a song. and i want you to be the first person outside of my coworkers to hear it!" doyoung explains to you.

"wow, i know it'll sound amazing because you made it! can i hear it right now?" you ask, with a head tilt.

he nods, plugs in a pair of earbuds and hands them to you. instead of putting both in, you hands one to him. so you can both listen together, you tell him when he asks.

"a night of walking with you i have these heart fluttering dreams walking, just us two, it's so sweet"

the lyrics remind you of the many times you two went out on late night walks. usually around the park, and you would go when you had trouble sleeping. they were always so peaceful and quiet, only sounds from doyoung or you were heard during the late hours of the night.

"when the white starlight blooms i'll hold your hand"

oh his voice is just so beautiful. from your perspective, its the most angelic thing you've ever heard. you grab his hand, and hes watching you with an adoring look. the two of you are already as close as can be, since you haven't seen eachother all day. going that long without your caregiver can get rough.

"soaked in the yellow moonlight are the hours of the night i'll remember it for a long time"

your mind goes back to those walks, honestly they had to be one of your favorite things to do with your doie. his presence was always just so comforting, you never felt unsafe when he was around. doyoung would always play with you, no matter how exhausted he was from that day. he just made everything better, and you hope he knew that he brought endless love into your life.

"we fill up our empty silences with small conversations. you are so bright, more than those stars"

doyoung did have a habit of calling you his star.. always talked about your bright smile to you, and anyone he had the chance to talk to. he looked at you like you were the only thing in the universe. always with such attention and care, his members loved to tease him about it. he didnt care about that though, because all he really cared about was you.

"look at the stars, theyre shining for you everything is so beautiful, just like when you walked over to me"

he loves you so much. like, so much. doyoung never knew he could love anyone this much. everything you do makes him love you even more, and when he became your caregiver it was like nothing could ever go wrong again. he loves to take care of you, whether you need help eating, or getting dressed. he'll do it for you. or if you do something you're not supposed to, he has no choice but to discipline you. doyoung always feels like the most horrible person ever when he sees you tear up.

speaking of tearing up...

"doie... that was so.. so good!" you say while sniffling, and doyoungs face quickly drops.

"oh my love, i didnt mean to make you cry. i just wanted you to hear the song.." he says, wiping and kissing your tears away.

"it was very pretty.. thats why i cry! and- and the lyrics, like when we, uhh, go walk at night!" you try to explain how you felt, but it was difficult with your current headspace.

"the lyrics were about you pretty girl. its you, you're the star blossom." he smiles, tears building up in his own eyes. doyoung removes the earbuds from his ear and yours, and brings you in for a big hug.

you two stay like that for a while, soaking up eachothers love and comfort. in the next month, when doyoung officially released the song, it was playing non-stop. anytime you got the aux, or had headphones, star blossom was playing. doyoung appreciates all the love you give to the song, knowing that he wrote it with you in mind the whole time.

author note: HI ANON!!! sorry if this took long to put out.. i hope you enjoyed! it was honestly a bit rushed but i actually love this song so bad.. and the lyrics too 🥹 also sorry i didnt ever really mention sejeong.. i still love her tho 😛 shes a boss queen!!! i think this scenario is so cute, like imagine doyoung writing a song for his little omfg. as always, feedback is appreciated! 💕

#mystarsohee #kpop agere #sfw agere #kpop #nct agere #nct 127 #doyoung x reader #cg!doyoung #nct 127 agere #fluff #nct fluff #doyoung fluff

[tinieji]

🫧 renjun as a little:

(ᗒᗩᗕ) CW or TW : FOOD ; MINIMAL CAPS ; EXCLAMATION MARKS !

• aged 3 - 4 ( tinie 🥺 )

• pretty much always regressed because his members love to baby him even out of little space

• but the babying always leads to..

• “aww is that my little injun?”

• *little nod* 🥺🥺

• the most polite little guy !

• he’s nonverbal at least 70% of the time

• but the other 30% is just him humming, gasping, crying, babbling etc.

• moomin EVERYTHING

• moomin jammies, moomin stuffies, moomin plates

• watches moomin on his daddies phones before bed

• baby injun loves all of his daddies but has a soft spot for haechan

• not really into toys

• but loves to paint !!

• especially finger painting ^^

• injun loves to be fed ( chopsticks make him angy >.< )

• more than two people being in a room with him overstimulates him

• that’s why it’s usually just him nd his caregiver in his room whenever he’s little

• pacies only for bedtime

• he sucks his thumb when he’s watchin tv 🥺

• obsessed with baby sensory vids ( safe link ! )

• mini pancakes nd cinnamon sticks are a must for little injun

• usually wearing jeno or jisungs hoodies cus he likes to drown in them

• veggies r a big no no !!

• but fruits r acceptable lol

• little mermaid nightlight is needed for bedtime !

• must sleep with moomin stuffie nd a daddy

• nd baby blanket

• or else no sleepies for injun !!

#﹫ 🎀 1njun ✦ !! #age regression #babyspace #agere #age regression kpop #kpop little space #little space au #nct dream #renjun #huang renjun #little space sfw #age regression au #little space