#ALSO THAT FACT THAT HAN SAID HIS PERSONAL COLOR IS BLUE!!!!!!!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

peculiarphantomphoenix · 2 years

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342-343

It was at that moment. The alcoholic jerked his head.

‘Hmm?!’

Cale made eye contact with the alcoholic. He couldn’t help but flinch at the sudden development. It was because he needed to develop a good relationship with the Mercenary King. Wouldn’t that be the only way to easily get him to hand over the healing power?

The blue-haired man started to speak.

“Huh?”

He tilted his head before jumping up. He then quickly walked over to Cale.

‘What the…?’

Cale was starting to become nervous. He could tell that the blue-haired man was walking toward him. It was because the blue-haired man continued to stare at him.

The blue-haired man welcomed Cale with open arms as the two of them stood in front of each other.

“Friend!”

‘What?’

Cale hugged the man back in shock. The blue-haired man, the Mercenary King Bud Illis, started to speak in a happy voice.

“Nice to meet you!”

‘…Hmm, I don’t know what is going on, but was I already friends with this guy?’

Cale could see the Mercenary King’s face quickly turn into a scowl once they stopped hugging.

“Hmm?”

‘Now what?’

The Mercenary King fumbled around a bit before pulling out a pair of glasses as Cale stood in shock. He then put on the glasses before starting to speak again. He was still speaking in a cheerful voice.

“Oh, you’re not my friend.”

‘…This bastard……’

Cale felt himself starting to get annoyed for some reason. However, Mercenary King Bud Illis smiled brightly as he continued to speak.

“But I can smell it.”

‘Smell? Smell what?’

Cale, who was acting like a good person to develop as good of a relationship as possible with Bud Illis, couldn’t help but start to frown.

‘Toonka, the former bandit leader of Mount Leeb, all of them said the same thing. Why do they all say that they can smell something? Do I smell like a strong person or something?’

The Mercenary King continued to speak to Cale who was getting annoyed.

“You smell like an alcoholic!”

“…Ho.”

The man who reeked of alcohol but seemed fine didn’t care about Cale’s reaction as he continued to speak in a refreshing manner.

“In that case…”

Cale saw a hand move in front of him. The Mercenary King was asking to shake his hand. He cheerfully added on as well.

“Nice to meet you, friend!”

‘…He really is a lunatic.’

Cale could not help but admire the fact that crown prince Alberu had provided him with such accurate information.

Nobody was able to say anything for a moment. Cale could only stare at Mercenary King Bud Illis’s hand due to the shock.

– …This human is a b, bit weird too!

He could hear Raon’s shocked voice in his mind. On and Hong who had jumped out of Cale’s arms earlier were also looking at the Mercenary King as if he was weird. However, Mercenary King Bud Illis was unable to see the expressions on the faces of the children averaging nine-years-old.

“Ah. Friend, are you angry because I mistook you for someone else?”

Bud’s hand was still there as he looked toward Cale with an apologetic expression.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I can’t really see without my glasses. Your hair color, eye color, and even the presence you give off is so similar that I thought you were him.”

Choi Han moved right behind Cale at that moment. The Mercenary King and Choi Han. The two of them were observing each other. An odd gaze filled Mercenary King Bud Illis’s face as he looked back toward Cale. He smiled as he quietly responded back.

“…My hand is feeling really awkward now….”

Choi Han’s gaze was quite cold as he looked at Bud. Choi Han had read the information Alberu had brought over as well.

‘Sword master. Also has a special ability that we have not been able to determine.’

That information alone was not enough to get him worried. However, he was just being careful just in case something unexpected happened. However, Mercenary King Bud Illis’s comments made Choi Han start to worry.

‘Friend, nice to meet you!’ ‘Your hair color, eye color, and even the presence you give off is so similar that I thought you were him.’

Someone whose eye color and hair color were similar to Cale. Someone who gave off a similar presence. There was only one person that came to mind.

The White Star.

The tips of Choi Han’s hands were tense.

Of course, if the White Star and Mercenary King were friends, then the information about how Arm and the White Star were aiming for the Mercenaries Guild had a high chance of being incorrect. Either that, or there was something they were missing.

‘Most importantly.’

There was something else that made Choi Han have no choice but to be tense.

‘That bastard can almost completely tell how strong I am.’

Choi Han could not forget the look in the Mercenary King’s eyes when they made eye contact. Those eyes had been quite cold and did not look drunk at all.

His eyes had clearly been observing Choi Han.

Someone who could tell Choi Han’s level of strength had to be around his level to do that. That meant that this guy was not a sword master at the level of Duke Huten nor the crazy Clopeh Sekka. They were already strong, however, they were not strong enough for Choi Han to fear them.

There was something clearly different about this Mercenary King.

‘That is why it is an issue.’

The Mercenary King was only giving off the same level of strength as a regular sword master to Choi Han. However, he knew that the Mercenary King must have something else up his sleeve. He was someone whose level of strength could not easily be determined. He was someone to be wary around.

‘I need to let him know.’

He needed to let Cale-nim know about this fact. However, he could not speak to Cale right now.

Choi Han saw Mercenary King Bud Illis start to speak again.

“…Are you going to reject my handshake?”

The cheeriness had disappeared from Bud Illis’s face. Choi Han’s wariness shot up exponentially. It was at that moment.

“Hey.”

Cale started to speak. Choi Han couldn’t help but flinch. It was because Cale’s voice was cold. Choi Han stood next to Cale and turned his head.

‘…Cale-nim?’

He could see the expression on Cale’s face. A face that looked annoyed was looking at the Mercenary King. The cold voice then continued to speak.

“Put your hand away.”

Cale was telling the Mercenary King to put his hand away. Silence filled the area at that moment.

The first floor of the inn was still loud and the former bandits who were now employees were doing their best to work hard while avoiding Cale’s gaze, however…

It was completely silent around Cale. But that silence was quickly broken.

“…You want me to put my hand away?”

Bud Illis asked as if he could not understand what Cale was telling him to do. He then looked toward Cale. The two of them were similar in height, however, the Mercenary King could see that the red-haired man in front of him seemed to be looking down at him.

The red-haired man continued to speak as the Mercenary King’s eyes started to turn cold.

“Go bring me some alcohol instead.”

‘Hmm?’

On and Hong tilted their heads in confusion. However, Cale motioned to Bud Illis with his chin.

“If you really are my friend, you should know that we drink instead of shaking hands. How could you not know that?”

‘Ohhhhhh.’

Bud Illis started to smile. His voice became cheery once again.

“Alcohol is the alcoholics’ way of greeting each other, huh?”

Cale answered back in an annoyed tone.

“Will you stop with the obvious nonsense?” “Heh.”

Bud Illis let out a small chuckle. That chuckle soon became very loud.

“Hehahahahahaha!”

His laughter was as refreshing as his smile.

“Friend, I really like you.”

Bud Illis put his arm around Cale’s shoulders. Cale looked at the green eyes beyond the glasses with a stoic expression. The Mercenary King did not care as he kept his arm around Cale’s shoulders and led him to his table.

“Come, come. The alcohol that will take the place of a handshake is on my table. Let’s go over there.”

Tap.

Cale moved Bud’s hand from his shoulder.

“Hmm?”

Bud Illis looked at Cale in confusion as Cale stoically started to speak.

“Follow me. Both the food and alcohol will be of the highest quality.” “Oh, really?”

Bud Illis started to smile. Cale started to walk back upstairs as he responded back.

“Yes, I’m the boss of this inn.”

Cale motioned to Beacrox, who was looking over from the kitchen, and started to walk back up the stairs. He then looked at the table where Bud’s associate was sitting and continued to speak to Bud.

“I have a lot of money. It’ll be my treat.”

‘Wow.’

Bud’s jaws could not help but drop.

“…How cool.”

The Mercenary King truly seemed to be full of admiration. Cale heard Raon’s voice in his mind as he was climbing up the stairs.

– Human! The Mercenary King is more than just a little weird! He seems to be crazy in a different way than that crazy Clopeh Sekka!

Cale ignored that voice and started to speak to Ron.

“Food and alcohol-” “I will bring it to the third floor.”

Ron, who already understood what Cale was going to say, finished his sentence for him. Cale looked at the Mercenary King who was being guided by Ron before heading back up to the third floor without any hesitation.

Choi Han followed right behind him.

“Cale-nim.”

Choi Han called out to him as if he was trying to whisper to him. However, Cale just smiled and responded back before he could say anything else.

“It’s fine.”

‘Does he even know what I’m going to say to be able to say it is fine?’

Choi Han questioned it for a moment but started to relax. He did not say anything else before following behind Cale.

“Wow, the boss of this large inn is my friend? And that friend is someone who knows how to drink?” “…Will you stop being so loud? It’s embarrassing.”

The Mercenary King was leisurely looking around the inn. The robed mage next to him was the one who said that it was embarrassing. Cale could hear the two of their conversation coming from behind him.

“Why is it embarrassing? I’m just looking around my friend’s house.”

The Mercenary King continued to say whatever came to mind as he entered the special room on the third floor.

“Wow, forget an inn, this feels like food a noble or royalty would eat.”

Mercenary King Bud Illis could not help but compliment the food and alcohol being placed in front of him. Cale felt the same way.

Cale could see Beacrox who was putting the plates down on the table. He sneaked a thumbs up to Beacrox who pretended not to see it.

– Human! Me, I want to eat it too! Can’t you send the Mercenary King and mage out and let me eat? Slurp!

He could hear Raon’s excited voice.

– Wow! Human, Beacrox is so nice! He cooked the beef steak exactly the way I like it! Human, is it okay if I give an apple pie to Beacrox-

However, Raon had to stop talking. It was because of what Cale suddenly said.

“That friend of yours that you confused me with earlier…”

A warm atmosphere was around the table right now. Cale asked Bud Illis the question as they sat around the table. He didn’t beat around the bush and instead got straight to the point.

“Does that friend of yours wear a white mask?”

Choi Han flinched. He looked back and forth between Cale and Bud.

Cale was openly asking the Mercenary King about the White Star. Bud Illis put a bite of chicken salad in his mouth as he answered back.

“Ohhh, how did you know?”

Choi Han flinched once again. The Mercenary King had answered too easily.

“That’s right! That’s my friend! He wears a mask that covers his nose to his forehead! His eyes are a lighter brown color than yours!”

He sounded happy as he responded back.

– Human! The Mercenary King seems to be an idiot! He is similar to Toonka!

Raon was chatting away in Cale’s mind as if he could not believe what he was seeing. However, Cale’s expression turned odd.

‘Similar to Toonka? He thinks this bastard is similar to Toonka?’

The smile on Cale’s face started to grow wider. The Mercenaries Guild was currently fighting against Arm.

Arm had been developing its roots in the Eastern continent for at least fifteen years. The Mercenaries Guild had an even longer history than Arm. What was the likelihood that the head of that organization, someone who had received the title of, ‘king,’ had never seen the leader of Arm before?

The Mercenary King was friends with the White Star without knowing who he was?

That thought simply made Cale start to laugh. He asked the Mercenary King a question as he laughed.

“You’re going to kill that friend, right?”

The lively table suddenly became quiet.

That friend.

Cale was asking if Bud was going to kill the White Star.

Cale asked while Choi Han, Eruhaben, and the others looked toward the Mercenary King. The Mercenary King did not even hesitate as he answered back.

“Ohhhhhh!”

He was full of admiration as he answered back.

“You are right. How did you even know about that?!”

The Mercenary King had answered that he was going to kill the White Star. Bud Illis pushed up his glasses as he became curious about Cale. He then shook his head before continuing to speak.

‘No.”

His eyes were curling up behind the glasses.

“My friend is someone who knew who I was without even asking my name. It’s only natural that he knows that much.”

‘This bastard.’

Cale became certain after hearing the Mercenary King’s response.

‘The Mercenary King, Bud Illis, is a lunatic.’

In addition. There was one more thing Cale became certain about.

‘He’s someone who will understand me.’

Cale recalled what Eruhaben had said in his mind earlier when they were downstairs.

– That punk seems to have figured out my identity. I think he peeked at Raon in the air as well, but it was so stealthy that the little kid didn’t notice it… Looks like the little kid needs a lot more training.

Cale picked up a bottle and started to speak.

“Friend.”

He popped the bottle open, and then…

Tap.

He placed the entire bottle in front of the Mercenary King. He then asked a question.

“You know what other people’s abilities are, don’t you?”

Cale recalled how the Mercenary King had mistaken him for the White Star earlier. He had thought about what had caused him to make such a mistake.

Hair color and eyes? He had rushed over from a distance without his glasses on.

Cale’s calm voice continued to speak.

“Even if you can’t be certain about the details, you have a decent idea about the powers a person has, am I right?”

‘Although he doesn’t know all of the details since he made such a mistake.’

The special ability that the Mercenary King had that they weren’t able to determine. Cale was taking a guess at that ability as he asked.

“That is the reason you mistook me for the White Star, isn’t it?”

Cale and the White Star both had multiple ancient powers. Cale also had the fake Dragon Slayer’s power while the White Star had the real one.

“Right?”

The Mercenary King probably ran into the White Star before. How else would he know about the White Star’s red hair and brown eyes? And if this bastard’s hidden power was what Cale was thinking it was…

Cale continued to speak to the silent Bud in a friendly way.

“The White Star’s abilities. Can you tell me what they are, my friend? Hmm?”

A thick smile appeared on the Mercenary King’s face at that moment.

“Hey, mage.” “What is it?”

The mage who was covered by a robe sighed and asked as the Mercenary King looked toward Cale and responded back to the mage.

“I really like this bastard.”

Bud Illis then drank a whole bottle of alcohol.

Tap.

The empty bottle was placed on the table before Mercenary King Bud Illis started to speak again.

“Friend, nice to meet you!”

Bud reached his hand out and Cale grabbed his hand.

“Yes, nice to meet you.”

The two of them properly shook hands this time. Bud continued to speak at that moment. Cale could see the cold gaze behind the glasses.

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thimbil · 3 years

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Having some thoughts about the references and inspirations used for the Bad Batch’s designs.

So Boba Fett is my absolute favorite character and Temeura Morrison was perfect casting. I went to see the 2008 TCW movie in theaters because I was so excited to see him again, even if he was animated. You can imagine my disappointment. Whoever was on screen was not Temeura Morrison. You could sort of see a resemblance if you squinted and didn’t think too hard about it. They replaced Temeura with Racially Ambiguous G.I. Joe. If I didn’t know better and someone told me the animated clones are space Italians from the moon of New Jersey I would buy it. One Million Brothers Pizzeria and Italian Bistro. Not that there’s something wrong with being space Italian, I just don’t think it’s the right choice for the Fetts. The design got slightly improved by season 7 but it still bugs the hell out of me.

I did eventually get into the show later and (of course) got invested in the clones. Unfortunately, they were largely sidelined by the Jedi storylines. Out of the two new main characters created for TCW, Ahsoka definitely got more development and focus than Rex. When they announced The Bad Batch, I was excited to see a show specifically devoted to the clones… at least that’s what it said on the tin. We have all seen what lurks beneath those stylish helmets.

Jango Fett, you are NOT the father.

So who is?

Based on interviews with Filoni, it sounds like the Bad Batch was a George Lucas idea. And like all his ideas, it’s super derivative. The original trilogy directly lifted elements from sci fi serials, westerns, and samurai movies, more specifically Kurosawa films like The Hidden Fortress. For The Bad Batch character designs, the influence is obviously American action and adventure movies.

Now let’s get specific. Bad Batch, who’s your daddy?

Hunter

Sylvester Stallone as Rambo in First Blood 1982. That bandana has become an integral part of the iconic action hero look. You see a character wearing one and it’s a visual shorthand for either “this character is a tough guy” like Billy played by Sonny Landham in Predator 1987, or “this character thinks he is/wants to be a tough guy” like Brand played by Josh Brolin in The Goonies 1985 or Edward Frog played by Corey Feldman in The Lost Boys 1987.

Hunter’s model is closest to the original clone base. If you look closely you will see the eyebrows are straighter with a much lower angle to the arch. His nose is also not the same shape as a standard clone like Rex, including a narrower bridge. It’s certainly not Temeura Morrison’s nose. Remember what I said about space Italians? It didn’t take much to push the existing clone design to resemble an specific Italian man instead of a specific Māori man. The 23&Me came back, and Hunter inherited more than the bandana from Sylvester.

Crosshair

The long narrow nose, the sharp cheekbones, the scowl. That’s no clone, that’s just animated Clint Eastwood. Not even Young and Hot Clint Eastwood from Rawhide 1959-1965. With that hair, I’m talking Gran Torino 2008. The man of few words schtick and family friendly toothpick in lieu of cigar are pure Eastwood as The Man With No Name from Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns A Fist Full of Dollars 1964, For a Few Dollars More 1965, and The Good the Bad and the Ugly 1966.

In a way, this is full circle because the actor Jeremy Bulloch took inspiration from Clint Eastwood for his performance as Boba Fett in ESB.

Wrecker

In an interview Filoni lists the Hulk as an (obvious) inspiration for Wrecker. Ever seen the old Hulk tv show from 1978? Well take a look at the actor who played him, Lou Ferrigno. Would you look at that. Even has his papa’s nose.

You could make the argument that Wrecker was influenced by The Rock, an appropriately buff ‘n bald Polynesian (Samoan, not Maori) man. But look at him next his Fast and Furious costar Vin Diesel and tell me which one resembles Wrecker’s character model more.

Tech

Tech is a little trickier for me to place. If he has a more direct inspiration it must be something I haven’t seen. That said, his hairline is very Bruce Willis as John McClane in Die Hard 1988. His quippiness and large glasses remind me of Shane Black as Hawkins from Predator 1987. In terms of his face, he looks a but like the result of McClane and Hawkins deciding to settle down and start a family. Although, Tech’s biggest contributors are probably just everyone on TV Trope’s list for Smart People Wear Glasses.

And finally,

Echo

Oh Echo. Considering he wasn’t created for the Bad Batch, he probably wasn’t based on a particular character or movie. But if I had to guess, his situation and appearance remind me a lot of Alex Murphy played by Peter Weller in Robocop 1987. However, Robocop explored the Man or Machine Identity Crisis with more nuance, depth, and dignity. Yikes.

The exact tropes and references used in The Bad Batch have been done successfully with characters who aren’t even human. Gizmo from Gremlins 2: The New Batch 1990 had a brief stint with the Rambo bandana. I could have picked any number of characters for Defining Feature Is Glasses but here is the most cursed version of Simon of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Suffer as I have. Marc Antony with his beloved Pussyfoot from Looney Tunes has the same tough guy with a soft center vibe as Wrecker and his Lula (also a kind of cat). Hell, in the same show we have Cad Bane sharing Cowboy Clint Eastwood with Crosshair. I actually think Bane makes a better Eastwood which is wild considering Crosshair has Eastwood’s entire face and Bane is blue.

So we’ve established you don’t need your characters to look exactly like their inspirations to match their vibe. So why go through the trouble and cost of creating completely new character designs instead of recycling and altering assets they already had on hand? Just slap on a bandana, toothpick, goggles, and make Wrecker bigger than the others while he does a Hulk pose and you’re done. Based on the general reaction to Howzer it would have been a low effort slam dunk crowd pleaser.

But they didn’t do that.

So here’s the thing. I like the tropes used in The Bad Batch. I am a fan of action adventure movies from the 80s-90s, the sillier the better. I am part of the Bad Batch’s target audience. Considering what I know about Disney and Lucasfilm, I went in with low expectations. I genuinely don’t hate the idea of seeing references to these actors and media in The Bad Batch. I don’t think basing these characters on tropes was a bad idea. If anything it’s a solid starting point for building the characters.

The trouble is nothing got built on the foundation. The plot is directionless, the pacing is wacky, and the characters have nearly no emotional depth or defining character arcs. They just sort of exist without reacting much while the story happens around them. But I can excuse all of that. You don’t stay a fan of Star Wars as long as I have not being able to cherrypick and fill in the gaps. This show has a deeper issue that shouldn’t be ignored.

Why do the animated clones bear at best only a passing resemblance to their live action actor? In interviews, Filoni wouldn’t shut up but the technological advancements in the animation for season 7. So if they are updating things, why not try to make the clones a closer match to their source material? Why did they have to look like completely different people in The Bad Batch to be “unique”? Looking like Temeura Morrison would have no bearing on their special abilities and TCW proved you can have identical looking characters and still have them be distinct. In fact, that’s a powerful theme and the source of tragedy for the clones’ narrative overall.

Here’s Filoni’s early concept art of Crosshair, Wrecker, Tech, and Hunter. (Interesting but irrelevant: Wrecker seems to have a cog tattoo similar to Jesse’s instead of a scar. Wouldn’t it have been funny if they kept that so when they met in season 7 one if them could say something like “Hey we’re twins!” That’s a little clone humor. Just for you guys 😘)

None of these drawings look like the clones in TCW, much less Temeura Morrison. Let’s be generous. Maybe Filoni struggles with drawing a real person’s likeness, as many people do. But he had to hand this off to other artists down the line whose job specifically involves making a stylized character resemble their actor. Yet the final designs missed the mark almost as much as this initial concept. Starting to seem as if the clones looking more like Temeura Morrison was never even on the table. It wasn’t a lack of creativity, skill or technical limitations on the part of the creative team. I don’t think there is an innocent explanation. They went out of their way to make the final product exactly how we got it.

This goes beyond homage. They could have made the same pop culture references and character tropes without completely stripping Temeura Morrison from the role he originated. It was a very purposeful choice to replace him with more immediately familiar actors from established franchises and films. It wouldn’t shock me if Filoni, Lucas, and anyone else calling the shots didn’t even think hard or care enough about the decision to immediately recognize a problem. And I don’t think they believed anyone else would either. At least no one whose opinion they cared about. Those faces are comfortingly familiar and proven bankable. They are what we’re all used to seeing after all. They’re white.

Lack of imagination, bad intentions, or simple ignorance doesn’t really matter in the end. The result is the same. Call it what it is. They replaced a man of color with a bunch of white guys. That’s by the book garden variety run of the mill whitewashing. There’s no debate worth having about it. For a fanbase that loves to nitpick things like whether or not it’s in character for Han to shoot first or Jeans Guy in the Mandalorian, we sure are quick to find excuses for clones who look nothing like their template. Why is that? If you don’t see the problem, congratulations. Your ass is showing. Pull your jeans up.

#star wars #the bad batch #unwhitewashtbb #wrecker #crosshair #tech #hunter #echo

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elsannabackwardsposts · 3 years

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Bonus Feature (apology for the chapter delay)

I think this was a requested Bonus prompt from a long while back. Posting as a little apology for the delay in getting out Chapter 40 Part 1. :)

Flynn POV; Mid-Chapter 12 time frame

“Hey, Elsa,” waved the boy from across the lobby of the campus’ business building. The blonde woman turned her attention from her notebook, curiously looking up from where she sat on the cushioned bench. With a smile, the brunet plopped down beside her, backpack falling at his side. “Got a minute?”

Raising a brow, Elsa nodded, making one more pencil mark in her notebook, filled to the brim with print outs of what looked like a class’ power-point slides. Once the book was closed, resting on her lap, pencil fit through its coiled binding for safe keeping, she turned her head to face her underclassmen.

Taking the acknowledgment as her means for him to continue, he sighed. “I need some ‘dating’ advice..” He had caught the widening of blue eyes, and although already knowing the real reason behind why the older rower held such a surprised reaction, he played it off innocently. Running a hand through his loose bangs, he sighed, shrugging his arm. “I know. Me, of all people. Crazy.”

When he glanced toward the Senior again, he noticed that she’d schooled her look back to that of a more controlled expression; one which matched her soft voice. “I don’t know how much of a help I’ll be on this..”

He waved his hand. “Don’t sweat it. I just don’t really know how to approach this one girl. None of my usual ideas are working..” He let his gaze fall, hand absently raising to scratch the nape of his neck. “She’s on the team, which may be why it’s harder. I’ve never, ya know, dated on the team before.” Flynn knew it wasn’t the greatest way to pose this question, but really, he didn’t know what else to do.

“You know how I feel about dating teammates, Flynn..” Elsa said quietly, having turned her eyes away solemnly, a bit of warning in how she spoke his name.

“Yeah, I know..” he said apologetically with a sigh, lulling his head for an instant before locking his honey-hued gaze on her. “But you’re also filled with wisdom that I don’t have,” he said, trying to give a cheeky face, although feeling the sincerity slip a little too much into his words. It did seem to give the blonde a pause before looking back at him with a bit of amusement. “Seriously though, if you were to ever go about dating again, team or not, and, hey, look. I get it, you totally won’t, but just hear me out.” The smolder was locked and loaded in his wide, pleading eyes.

The older of the two made a face, finally rolling her eyes in an exasperated manner, motioning her hand with a twirl, letting the man continue. He smiled.

“Alright, so. If you were to ask them out.. what would you suggest? Or even say?”

There was a long silence and the blonde averted her eyes. The way her expression morphed into a pensive gaze gave away the fact that she was just taking her time to really think about the question. So Flynn casually pulled his leg up to his lap, relaxing back into the seat, prepared to wait patiently for his quiet friend’s response.

“I’d make sure to remind her of the importance of putting crew and studies before a relationship.” The young captain groaned, lifting his eyes dryly to the ceiling with a long blink. Elsa frowned at his reaction. “What? It is very important to get that out of the way in the beginning,” she stated firmly.

Hanging his head, Flynn nodded, voice defeated, but tinged with a delicate sadness more than anything. “Yeah, I know..” Seriously. What else did he really expect from the lone woman? After all she had been through, of course she would opt to make sure every one else was warry, not wanting to see anyone else get all caught up in feelings only for it to all end painfully. But he could appreciate it fully all the same, because no doubt Elsa would not offer this advice, one learned so deeply due to cuts in her own heart, up to many others, if any others, but him.

Tucking a strand of flaxen hair behind her ear, Elsa softened her look. A few thoughtful seconds later, she gently added, “Just.. keep showing her that you care; that you respect her. Be yourself. Honesty is what means the most to everyone.”

Turning, seeing the gentle look cross his childhood friend’s face, the boy felt himself inhale, just in the slightest, just because of seeing the glimpse of ease emanating behind sapphire eyes for the first time in a long time. Unable to handle the elated emotion of seeing the Senior finally melt, even if in the slightest, in a highly delicate moment which could be easily ruined if he harped on her heart’s submission, or made mention of it at all, he instead played it off in the best Flynn way possible. He made an ugly face.

“Ugh, that’s it?” He closed his eyes, tilting his nose up. “No offense, but that really is girly advice.”

“Full offense,” Elsa genuinely laughed, hand shoving the boy’s shoulder lightly as he grinned back. “If you didn’t want a woman’s input, why did you not ask your guy friends?”

Flynn rubbed the light scruff of his beard. “I don’t talk about this ‘touchy-feely’ stuff with most people. And Hans is never around anymore since he’s so busy with Anna. I really didn’t have anyone else.” His honey colored eyes fell to the side, noticing how Elsa had looked down to her hands again. He blanched, realizing his words. Shit. “Ah..! I know you two don’t get along, sorry for bringing him up.”

But the girl shook her head. “No, it’s fine.” Her blonde brows furrowed in a strange way, as if there was a hint of confusion and some sort of disdain intermingling in her emotion. “Honestly, sometimes I forget that they’re together, so thanks for reminding me.”

Something about the way she said that made Flynn pause. He honestly couldn’t really comment much, as the young couple always seemed to hang out outside of crew practice; only a handful of sparse remote moments could be recalled of the two giving off romantic vibes at the boathouse or after a race. Maybe Anna wasn’t the type to talk about her relationships very much with her teammates, airing away from typical PDA-type antics. Or maybe the Freshman was discreet enough and careful of Elsa’s feelings to not bring up the boy in conversation (as Flynn had just absentmindedly done here), effectively keep Hans out of Elsa’s mind.

He hoped it was the latter. From what he had begun to observe, the rowing pair had seemed to have a good mesh, even noticing a bit of brightness returning to his best female friend as the fall season began to roll into early winter. If Anna was that considerate of Elsa’s feelings, she was definitely a good person who’d treat her friendship with Elsa well, prioritizing the gentle soul over the novelty of a boyfriend.

His eyes scanned the Senior once more, noticing something else in her eyes; a distance usually reserved for her pensive thoughts. A place she’d fallen in and out of periodically as her years at university rolled on, usually when reflecting on her race performances and, if ever another person, it would be her Ex.. But this expression was never offered regarding the auburn haired Junior boy. So, given the conversation, did that mean it was the talk of Anna who had triggered the look this time?

Blinking, Flynn held his breath instantly as the connection was made, looking at the stoic woman with a new eye. Her expression paired with her previous reaction at the couple’s mention. His brain was suddenly pulling up images from before; her reaction Halloween night, the way every time he recently messaged her she happened to be studying or exercising with Anna. Nowadays, everything that he knew of Elsa revolved around Anna. When had that happened?

Could it be that she..?

Does Elsa actually have feelings for..?

Blue eyes were suddenly on him, narrowed. “What are you looking at?” asked the woman tersely, a frown on her lips, making Flynn startle.

“Ah, sorry, thinking of, um, you know, how I can go about wooing my lady.” He grinned sheepishly.

Sitting forward, he watched as Elsa slipped her notebook into her backpack and sat up straight, sliding her satchel strap over her shoulder. For a moment, the Junior Captain thought the woman was about to stand and take her leave, but instead, she stayed still, a pale hand lingering on the strap.

“Hey, um..” Flynn was looking directly at the porcelain face which was turned downward, gaze locked on the brilliant tile floor. “What about studying together and hanging out afterwards at your place?”

The boy blinked and tilted his head. “Huh?”

Elsa made a small grimace barely visible in her side profile. “A suggestion for you and her.. to get closer.”

The Starboard rower brought his palm beneath his chin as he leaned forward, eyes still watching the Senior. “Huh. Well, we don’t have any classes together, but maybe that’d work.” He looked to the high vaulted ceilings and the gorgeous chandelier overhead and smiled. “Yeah. Study date and a movie. Sounds like a plan!”

This time, the blonde looked at him. “Why a movie in particular?”

He laughed good-naturedly. “It’s the perfect ‘hang out’ excuse to blur the lines of a friendly date. Even if nothing happens, or if conversation lulls, you can at least extend your time with the other person and quietly enjoy it that way.” He shrugged. “Doesn’t have to be a Netflix and chill deal.”

The Senior slowly nodded in understanding at his response, if not also scrunching her nose in confusion at the final weird phrasing he had chosen, before finally standing and bidding a farewell. Flynn reciprocated in kind and watched his blonde friend head off toward the glass-walled entrance of the building.

He leaned back, arms crossing against his chest with a smirk.

Despite his excellent acting skills revealing the total opposite, Flynn himself did not miss the subtle implications hanging in the blonde’s suggestion, nor how there was an honest curiosity in hearing his interpretation of why a movie could be a nice transitional date option. He really hoped he had worded the idea optimally enough. And although he certainly was down to implement it in his own endeavors, with what he had assumingly discovered regarding the elusive woman’s heart, he hoped he would not be the only one picking out a movie this week..

#Bonus Feature #elsanna backwards

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stellarstarwarsimagines · 3 years

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Lie For Me (Part II of V) (Part I)

Pairing - Modern!Ben Solo x Reader

Summary - So far you’ve managed to convince Ben’s parents that the two of you are dating, but now you’re about to be put to the test in his family’s home where you’ll find that maybe there’s more to Ben Solo than you ever thought.

Word Count - 4,866

Warnings - Maybe a bit of language, but that’s it. Hope you guys enjoy this one as much as the first!

When you heard the knocking at your door, your heart rate picked up the tiniest amount. Not because Ben was here. No, that had nothing to do with it.

It was because he was here to pick you up to go to dinner with his parents, and you were covered in flour, chocolate, in an oversized t-shirt and shorts with your hair clipped all out of your face in what you liked to describe as . . . a mess. Oh, he was going to be pissed. “Rey! Can you -”

“On it!” She replied, with what you could tell was a full mouth of food as she went to go answer the door. “Hey, Ben.”

“Rey?” Even from here, you could tell he sounded confused. “What are you doing here?”

“Taste testing.” She replied.

“Taste testing?” He repeated.

Letting out a sigh, you brushed some strands of hair from your face, and called out a response. “I made cookies for your parents, and Rey always samples my cooking when I’m trying something new.” You placed a lid on the box the cookies were now in and went to go meet them, looking sheepish. “I might also be running a bit late.”

Ben took one look at you and let out a snort.

You had expected him to be pissed. You had expected yelling. You had expected an eye roll. You had not expected him to laugh. You had also not expected him to look so good in his gray slacks and light blue button up with sleeves pushed to his elbows, but that's besides the point. “Why aren’t you mad at me right now?” You asked, putting down the cookies and crossing your arms over your chest.

“Because I told you to be ready an hour before we needed to leave.” Ben replied, a small smirk on his face.

Your mouth dropped open in surprise. What the hell? Did he not even trust that you could be ready on time? You weren’t, but still! “What a dick move!” You said, annoyed.

Rey and Ben both gave you the exact same pointed look.

“Okay, it was a smart move, but it was still a dick move!” You admitted, shoving the plastic container of cookies into his arms. “Now I’m going to shower, and get ready.”

“You mean you’re not going like this?” Ben asked, that annoying smirk playing at the corners of his lips. “The dogs’ll love it.”

When you passed by him to go to your room, you shoved his shoulder . . .

But you didn’t miss the little smile on his face when you did.

____________________

While Ben and you hadn’t been friends, you knew some things about him. He was a hard worker, he liked organization, he was a minimalist, hated losing at any board game whatsoever, and he and his family were rich.

When you pulled up to his parent’s house though, you realized just how rich he was.

The house was stunning. It was a bit more modern on the outside than you expected, but gorgeous. You found yourself in awe, and didn’t even notice when Ben got out of the car until he opened your door. “Are you planning on getting out? Because if not I can drive back and pretend this never happened.”

His words pulled you back to the situation, and you unbuckled, climbing out of the car, cookies and flowers in hand. “Nope, we’re here, we’re doing this. We’ve already done it once before, this time should be easy.”

“Right,” he replied as he slipped an arm around your waist. “Easy.”

At least you hoped it would be. After all, there weren’t any friends trying to sabotage you this time, and the two of you had sort of . . . bonded at the party. You wouldn’t say you were friends, but there wasn’t as much dislike. You even sorta liked how his arm felt around you. There was something comfortable about it.

Almost as soon as Ben knocked on the door, loud barking could be heard from inside and you heard Han yelling, “get out of the way fuzzball!” from behind the door, and you had to bite your lip so you didn’t laugh when Ben let out a loud sigh. “Well hey you two.” Han said with his charming smile. “Come on in, ignore Chewy, he won’t bite. Hard.”

The two of you slid your way inside, and almost immediately what was the largest dog you had ever seen in your entire life had jumped on you, putting its paws on your shoulder and began licking your face. You couldn’t help but giggle at its excitement, even more so when it jumped away from you to attempt to lick all over Ben. “Chewy!” Ben groaned, but there was a twitch on his lips that made you think he was enjoying the attention.

“Chewy’s been looking after Ben since he was ten years old. Never left his side until he went to college.” Han whispered to you as the both of you watched Ben and the dog interact. “I think the mutt likes him better, and I’m the one that feeds him.” Then he turned his attention back to you. “It’s good to see you again, Kid.”

You gave Han a big smile as he shook your hand. “It’s good to see you too, Han. I - um, I brought these for you and Leia.” You said, handing him the flowers and cookies. He was about to say something else when a loud bark interrupted him. Once more you laughed as Ben put his hands on the dog’s shoulder and pushed him away gently, running his hands over his now disheveled clothes as Chewy let out an excited bark and left the room.

“He’s probably going to Leia. She’s been cooking for the last three hours.” Han told the two of you, gesturing to what you assumed to be was the kitchen. “Ben, why don’t you show her around while you’ve got the chance?”

Ben nodded, and you waited until Han was gone before you turned back to him. “What does that mean, ‘while you’ve got the chance’?” You asked, tugging a little bit on the front of his shit that was crinkled from Chewy to straighten it out.

He let out a sigh, but let you fix his shirt. “He’s talking about when my mom’s going to come and kidnap you.”

For a second, it felt like your heart stopped. At the party, the two of you had been able to convince them that you were in a relationship, but then you had each other to lean off of, play around with. You weren’t sure how you were going to handle this on your own. Especially in front of Leia Organa-Solo, a woman who you might have looked up after the party, and were now a smidge intimidated by. “Kidnap? By myself?”

Ben picked up on your tone in a second, and you frowned when you noticed the smirk on his lips. “What? Are you scared of being on your own with her?” He asked.

Of course you weren’t going to tell him that. “Of course not. She’s your mother. How scary can she be?” You asked, raising your eyebrows at him, and giving him a little grin.

He leaned against the nearest wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked at you, trapping your gaze with those deep eyes. It was moments like these, when he was staring down at you that you forgot how tall he was. While you’d never admit it, his intensity did sometimes make your heart speed up in nervousness. “You don’t think I’m scary? Intimidating?” Ben asked.

You crossed your own arms over your chest, matching his pose as you tried to stare at him with the same expression even though your pulse was racing. “Nope.” You said, putting extra emphasis on the word.

For the briefest moment, you could have sworn that you had seen the corner of his mouth turn up into a smile, but it vanished too soon for you to be sure. “Whatever you say.” He pulled away from the wall, nodding his head to the stairs. “Do you want to start upstairs?” He asked.

“That depends. Where’s your childhood bedroom? Because I’m dying in anticipation over here to see what young Ben Solo’s room looked like.” You said, and you were. Since you had agreed to go to this dinner, one of the things you were most looking forward to was seeing Ben’s old bedroom. They were always such an interesting place, personal, private, and Ben had been so closed off to you for so long, you found yourself interested in his past self, what he had been like all those years ago, and how it had helped shape who he was today.

He didn’t seem surprised by your question. In fact, it was almost as if he had been expecting nothing else. All he did was let out a sigh and began to walk up the stairs.

You followed him with a bit of a spring in your step, excited that you didn’t have to put up a fight, and let him lead you upstairs. As you passed by a few doors, Ben told you what they all were, but didn’t give much more of a description than that. Finally, you reached a door at the end of the hall, and Ben held it open for you, gesturing for you to go in first.

It was . . . similar to what you expected in all honesty. You had never pictured Ben as the hoarder type, colorful and bright, and even his childhood bedroom reflected that. In fact the only bit of clutter was a stack of boxes in the corner that were labeled with various holidays, so you assumed they weren’t even his. The rest of the room was very minimalistic, neutral colors with a few bits of furniture. You couldn’t help but smile though as you caught sight of a photograph that he had on his bedside table. You lifted it up, and showed it to him. “You didn’t want to take this to your place?” You asked.

Ben’s expression seemed torn between annoyance and fondness. “Poe already had a copy hanging up on top of the fireplace.”

A little smile formed on your face. Now that he mentioned it, you did remember seeing it. Poe had created a little shrine to his friends in his living room. It was almost covered with pictures of them throughout the years. Of course the ones of Ben and him were the oldest. Neither of them looked to be much older than five in this one, and you couldn’t decide whose smile was bigger. It was almost strange to see the man standing beside you grinning so wide he was showing his teeth, compared to the rare half smile someone would occasionally get out of him. “Were you two on a field trip?” You asked, noticing the background.

He shook his head, “It was a business trip with our moms. One of the last ones before Shara died, and mom started getting babysitters and Uncle Luke instead.”

As soon as he spoke, you could feel tension almost clouding over the room in darkness. Ben didn’t talk about his parents much. In fact, the few times they had been brought up had been Poe or Rey, and then been glossed over. After meeting them the other night, you were even more curious as to why that was the case.

As you opened your mouth to ask the question, he spoke up. “Is it what you expected? The room?” Ben added to your confused expression.

Your curiosity was even more peaked after the abrupt change in subject, but you decided to go along with it anyway. The last thing you wanted to do was get into a screaming match at his parents’ house after they had been so nice to invite you in the first place. “I’m a little disappointed to tell you the truth. I was expecting something along the lines of dart boards with people’s faces on them, and oh, I don’t know, a shrine to Satan.”

A week ago, those words would have sounded harsh, but today there was a teasing note that you weren’t going to be able to keep out of them. A week ago, those words would have been met with a biting remark and a narrowed glance . . .

But not today.

“They took it down when I moved out. Mom thought it would be unseemly for any house guests to see when they came to visit.” Ben responded, crossing his arms over his chest as he smirked at you.

You couldn’t help but grin at his words. “I don’t know, I might have to disagree with your mom on this one. I think it’d be a great conversation starter.”

There it was again, that little quirk of his lips that almost looked like a smile, a sight so rarely seen on him you almost didn’t believe it was real. “Not if it’s got pictures of them on it.” He answered.

“I’m shocked,” You said, plopping down on his bed as if it was your own room. “It wouldn’t be just pictures of me?”

While the way you had sat so comfortably in his room caused an eyebrow to raise, he let out a sigh at your words. “I told you, I don’t hate you.”

Even though he had said those words to you twice now, you still found it so hard to believe. “Forgive me if I struggle with that considering the past couple of years of insults and snarky looks.”

“It wasn’t one sided.” Ben responded, giving you a very pointed look.

He was right. You had been as rude and mean as he had right back to him. To this day, you couldn’t think of the inciting incident. You looked down at the carpet, slipping your sandals off and sinking your toes into the soft shaggy carpet. “I don’t remember how it happened. How we got off on such a wrong foot within moments of meeting each other.”

You didn’t so much see, as feel Ben sit down beside you, the bed sinking under his large figure. “You spilled your coffee on me.” He replied after a few moments.

As soon as he said the words, your mind flooded with images. A hangout that Rey had put together for you to meet some more of her friends that she was sure you would get along with. You had already known Finn and Rose, but Poe and Ben were new to you. Ben had been late, and you remembered coming around the corner with an iced coffee in your hands . . . “Are you serious?” You turned your gaze to him, your eyes narrowing in anger. “All of this was because of a coffee?”

Ben shook his head. “It had more to do with what happened before the coffee. You just happened to be the outlet of my . . . what did you call it? ‘Severe anger management issues’.”

Having to fight back the urge to roll your eyes, you crossed your arms over his chest, “and what happened before the coffee?” You asked, looking over at him.

For a brief moment, you thought you might, for once, get some sort of answer. He looked like he wanted to tell you. His posture was open, his gaze settled on yours, an apologetic look on his face as he cleared his throat like he was about to speak.

“Oh there you two are!”

The hope shattered as soon as you heard Mrs. Organa-Solo enter the room., There was no chance that Ben was going to open up with her around, that much was clear from the expression he was wearing. You tore your eyes from him to find Leia in the doorway, looking pleased to see the two of you there.

“Food’s ready! If my son hasn’t bored you to tears already showing you around the place.” Leia said, a soft, affectionate smile on her face as she looked at her son.

It was impossible not to smile in return even while you felt Ben tense beside you. “Not at all. I have to admit I was hoping for some baby pictures though.” You joked, smirking over at him to try and relieve a bit of the tension. You stood up, walking over to her and leaving Ben behind you on the bed.

“Oh, don’t worry sweetheart,” Leia replied, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. “That can be arranged. Why don’t you come help me set the table, and I’ll see if I can find some?”

You had to bite back your laughter as you heard Ben stand up so quickly his head hit the lighting fixture. “No it can’t.” He butted in, the anxiety in his voice impossible to miss.

Leia continued on as if she hadn’t heard him, but there was a certain twinkle in her eyes that told you she had. “I mean it took a few years for him to grow into those ears, but - oh well, you’ll see.” She told you with a wink.

“Mom, you are not -”

Leia waved his concerns away as she led you back down the stairs and to the kitchen, your laughter echoing across the halls.

____________________

Leia had pulled you away from Ben so smoothly you hadn’t had the time to be nervous, but now you did. You hadn’t met a lot of parents in your time. You had been too busy building a career, and the few you had met already felt . . . unimportant compared to right now.

Because despite the fact that Ben and you weren’t dating . . . You wanted Leia to like you. Not just because she was Ben’s mom, but because she was an incredible woman. Her accomplishments could fill up a book. Was it selfish to want someone like that to approve of you? It probably was, but here you were, feeling like a contestant on the bachelor.

“You seem nervous.” Leia spoke up as she handed you some silverware to place on the table.

Apparently you weren’t as good at hiding it as you thought. “I am.” You replied, seeing no sense in denying it. “If I’m being honest . . . your family is a little intimidating.”

Leia didn’t try to deny it. “Ben’s mentioned that you don’t have much to do with yours. I imagine it’s weird to be around a family like ours.” She said, gesturing around the room.

She was right. Beautiful house, dogs, smiles and a mother that cooked. It was the complete opposite of how you had been raised. You were a little surprised that Ben had mentioned anything like that to her but went with it anyway. “You guys almost seem like you have the perfect life here. It was nothing compared to how I grew up.”

Startling you, Leia let out a bark of laughter at that. “Oh, honey, my family has never been and never will be anywhere close to perfect, and I’m sure Ben has made that clear to you.”

You looked down at the ground, not wanting to give away anything that Ben had said, but Leia grabbed a hold of your hand, giving it a small squeeze.

“What I’m trying to say is that you have no reason to be nervous. I don’t want some perfect little housewife for Ben. I want someone that’s going to love him, be there for him, and make him happy. He deserves that after all he’s been through.” Leia tried to assure you.

Oh god. How were you supposed to respond to that? You were pretending to date the man, not about to make a declaration of your undying love! It wasn’t as if you could say that to her though. She looked so sincere . . . And what did she even mean by ‘all he’s been through’?

What did you not know about Ben Solo?

It was clear that she was expecting a response, so you gave her a small smile, the most genuine one you could muster, and nodded. “I’m going to try.”

____________________

Dinner ended up being very similar to what it had been the week before, minus all of the interfering from your friends. It was much less stressful that way, and you even found that you were enjoying yourself. Even Ben seemed a bit relaxed, and you could have sworn you even saw him crack a brief smile at one point when Han was telling an elaborate story about one of his jobs.

Although you wouldn’t admit it to him, it was a nice sight.

“You know,” you found yourself pulled out of your thoughts and looked away from Ben to Leia who had spoken and was giving you a knowing smile. “You two seem to make a great couple.”

Heat rushed to your face at her words, and you glanced back at Ben who had tensed. After a brief hesitation, you reached for Ben’s hand on the table, still so much larger than your own, and gave it a squeeze. His intense gaze was locked on you, and you sent him a reassuring smile. Satisfied once his shoulders slumped, you turned back to Leia. “I’m glad you think so.”

“Ben needs a good girl in his life. Make him stop working so much.” Han said, sending his son a little wink that had Ben rolling his eyes.

“I don’t think that’ll be here. According to Amilyn, you work as hard as he does.” Leia said, giving you an approving look.

“I try.” You replied, with a soft smile. You wanted to know everything that Holdo had said about you, but you didn’t think that now would be the appropriate time to ask. Talking about work seemed to get on Ben’s nerves, and that was the last thing you wanted to do right now. However, there was something else you had been wondering about since Leia had mentioned it. “Now about those pictures you mentioned earlier -”

Ben sat up straighter, and even you couldn’t miss the panic in his eyes. “Mom -”

Before anything else could be said though, there was a loud knocking at the door. “Now, who could that be?” Leia asked, looking confused as she stood up and went to go answer the door.

You looked at Ben who had gone tense, almost as if he knew who it was. You raised your eyebrows at him, but he avoided your gaze.

“Luke . . .” You heard Leia say from the front door.

As soon as the name left his mother’s mouth, Ben stood up, grabbing your hand and tugging you with him. “We’re leaving.” He told Han.

Han let out a sigh, shaking his head as he stood up as well. “Come on, Ben, don’t be like that. We were having a nice time -”

But Ben didn’t give him the chance to say anything else. He pulled at your hand and started heading towards the back door.

To say you were confused was an understatement, but you managed to turn around and mouth a ‘sorry’ to Han as Ben dragged you out the back door. As soon as you were outside, you swatted at his arm until he let you go. “Ben! What the hell was that?!”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He said, and opened your car door. “Get in the car. I’m not sticking around.”

You raised your eyebrows at him. “I’m sorry, do I look like a fifties housewife to you? Are you trying to order me around after you made us look like that in front of your parents?”

Ben’s hands clenched into fists, and you could tell that he was trying very hard to keep his temper under control. When he said your name it was almost a hiss. “That’s not what I meant. Just get in the car before my mom comes back and tries to drag us back in.”

Crossing your arms over your chest, you continued to stare at him.

He glanced back at the house, and then you. “Please? I know I’m being an asshole, but please get in the damn car.”

Ben Solo had said please to you. You didn’t think in all the time that you had known him that he ever said please to you. It was at that moment that you realized whoever this Luke person was that had shown up moments ago, he had an effect on Ben that you had never seen out of the man. He was desperate to get out of here, and you weren’t being honest with yourself if you said it didn’t scare you a little. You let out a little sigh and nodded. “All right, but I’m only getting in the car because you said please, and I intend on staying there until you tell me what the hell that was all about.”

Ben nodded, and once you had made it into the car, he shut the door behind you, climbed in on his side, buckled up, and he was peeling out of the driveway in seconds.

The two of you sat in silence the rest of the way back to your apartment. There were so many questions that you wanted to ask, but you were afraid to. Throughout the drive you couldn’t help but spare a few glances Ben’s way. His eyes never left the road in front of him. His hands were so tight on the steering wheel that you thought for a good ten minutes he was going to break it apart in his hands. The more time passed though, the looser his grip became, the more his body relaxed until by the time he pulled up outside your place, he seemed the same as he was when he picked you up.

There was an awkward silence as he put the car in park. You wanted to ask, and you had told him you weren’t going to get out of the car until he told you what was going on. Now, you were unsure even if your curiosity was through the roof.

It turned out you didn’t have to say anything. After a few moments, Ben let out a sigh, his whole body seeming to collapse in on itself somewhat. “My Uncle and I don’t get along.”

“If that’s who Luke is, I gathered that much for myself.” You said, fiddling with the end of your sleeve.

But Ben continued on as if you hadn’t spoken. “My parents were gone a lot when I was younger. Their jobs made them. They were too important to stick around home, even if they had a kid.”

You could hear the bitterness in his tone as he spoke, and for one of the first times in your life, you had to say that you felt a little sorry for Ben Solo. You understood the feeling of abandonment.

“So Luke looked after me a lot, but . . . we never got along. He always put so much pressure on me, like he expected me to become this big, great, larger than life person. Nothing I ever did was good enough. Not for my parents and not for Luke.”

You could see Ben tensing up in anger again, and without even thinking about it, you reached out and placed your hand on his knee, rubbing soothing circles onto it with your thumb.

His eyes shot over to you when you did that, and he stared at you as if shocked by your gentle touch, and you couldn’t help but wonder if anyone had ever done this, just listened and comforted him when he was upset.

Or if he had ever let anyone.

“We had a big blow up one day. I left the house after that, and stayed out of contact with my family for three years.” Ben concluded.

“How did you get back with them?” You asked, hesitant in your tone, not sure if he was even going to answer.

“Rey,” He answered at once. “She met all of us at different occasions and . . . you know how stubborn she is.”

You let out a laugh, knowing how stubborn she was. “I do.” You said, shaking your head, and looking out the window to your apartment where you knew the girl was waiting, eating your food and watching your Netflix. “I should go see how much of my food she’s eaten.”

Ben raised his eyebrow at you. “You left her alone with your food?”

“I know. Bad idea.” You said, shaking your head at yourself. There was an air of awkwardness in the air now, and you knew it was time to go. “I’ll see you later, Ben.” You told him with a small smile.

“See you later, and . . . I’m sorry. For earlier.” Ben replied, and you could tell how weird it was for him to apologize, probably because he never had to you.

Before you could talk yourself out of it, you leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. “It’s all right. As long as you promise to never try and tell me what to do again.” You added.

Ben shook his head at you, but his smile said otherwise.

#ben solo x reader #ben solo #kylo ren x reader #ben solo x you #ben solo imagine

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falsewrds · 3 years

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“ NOTHING hurts more than putting your all into other people then having them leave you with not a damn source of light left in your life. ” ── a guide on HAN ILSEONG .

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area 001. the general info

. ･ﾟ ┇ ⸢ PARK JIN-YOUNG , CIS MALE , HE / HIM , MUSE 26 ⸥ ❛ ╾ don’t look now but ILSEONG + HAN is heading this way . last i heard , the TWENTY FOUR year old declared their allegiance to FACTION 2 during the last town meeting . it definitely makes sense , considering the fact that they’re known for being CAPABLE & RESENTFUL . that being said , they can also be quite PROTECTIVE & PROVOKING . i don’t know about you but every time i see them i’m reminded of A HINT OF GREEN DUSTING PALE CHEEKS AT THE SIGHT OF BLOOD , ACADEMIC TROPHIES COLLECTING DUST IN A BOX HIDDEN AWAY FROM THE WORLD , A PHOTO OF YOU AND YOUR ADORING BABY BROTHER IN YOUR WALLET BEING PIECED TOGETHER BY DIRTY TAPE , AN ENGAGEMENT RING RESTING PRETTY AROUND YOUR NECK AS A GOOD LUCK CHARM , MEDICAL BOOKS ALIGNED AGAINST YOUR SHELF TAUNTING YOUR WASTED POTENTIAL . i’ve also heard they’re often referred to as the BROKEN ACE , but that might just be because they’re a SAGITTARIUS . something tells me it won’t be long before they start to show their true colors . wait , are they listening to STRUGGLE by WOOKS ? i love that song ! ❜

legal name : ilseong han.

alias / nickname(s) : han , song.

date of birth + age : december 5th , twenty - four.

natal chart : sagittarius sun , sagittarius moon , leo rising.

gender + pronouns : cis male , he / him / his.

faction chosen : faction two.

selected major : formerly pre - med now childhood education.

orientation : biromantic , bisexual.

area 002. the summary

you lugged the heavy bookbag on your shoulder, cheeks bearing the dried up remains of a tears as your eyes seethed with pure anger of nearly everything in your sight. betrayal was around every corner in your life ; including from yourself. but that would change. you were no longer gonna be the soft kid you used to be but the person your head as been wanting you to become. and as you stood in front of the lance hall, you would soon get there. slowly, but surely.

two high school sweethearts welcomed their baby boy into the world on a sunny morning. he was deemed the golden child from the way the sun reflected off of his calm frame.

that phrase would follow him throughout the rest of his life, making it impossible to escape until downward spirals take over his life.

ilseong was infatuated with his father’s medical books at a young age. the older man wanted to pursue medical school but couldn’t at the time. so he was pretty excited to know that now his eldest child , since jaeseong was born shortly after , was following in his footsteps.

maybe the couple were only mentally prepared for one child. it would explain the out of the blue divorce and separation between the two brothers, and how his father would make some but not really a noticeable amount of effort to keep in contact with his younger child. but he had ilseong, the golden child : the future doctor.

of course he was becoming the definition of the word perfect. he was respectful and quite caring about anyone and everything in the world. not really a bad bone in his body.

around high school a lot was going on : he began dating the artist that would soon steal his heart for as long as he lived & he was working a part time job to earn more money for school. things were going pretty splendidly for the young man. he even managed to keep a close relationship with his brother , his first tattoo being both of their birthdays on his chest.

things flipped a switch after he introduced his girlfriend to his father. after she was escorted home and ilseong came back bustling with joy that two people he really cared about were gonna be close, he was met with discouragement. his father thought she was a distraction, and was just using him like an idiot. he ignored every negative thing spoken and just left him alone. behind those words were a man who went down a similar path and ended up with a secret gambling addiction. he didn’t want that with his son.

on the other hand, ilseong was beginning to think that maybe he should’ve went with his mother. from the looks of it, things seemed to be going pretty well.

around after graduating, he proposed to his girlfriend, his fingers showing off a beautiful engagement ring that was nearly all of his college fund.

actually, that money began dwindling way faster than expected. with investing in said girlfriend’s art career and finding his father had an addiction and paid for multiple counseling sessions, there was only so much he had left. and that ring took much of it.

even @ saltzman, he grew the same golden boy reputation. always smiling towards people, being really friendly and even a tutor.

a phone call he had gotten during one of his tutoring sessions around the afternoon had him speeding home, anger radiating off of him for once in his life. his father had missed another session and at this point, he couldn’t keep this going. they got into a heated argument leading up to the same words uttered when meeting arwen. this time ilseong blew up and basically vowed to never speak to him again esp since now they were engaged and he didn’t want the man to be a threat upon her.

it wasn’t even that long afterward when his father’s words came true. he was going to meet up with his fiancee, bouquet in hand as to see what she came up with using the supplies he brought her. turns out she was buying other “important” things with his money she’s been getting, resulting in a rocky breakup and a crying ilseong stepping on those flowers.

so two out of three things were going wrong, but hey!! maybe things will change when he gets his degree. he’ll be a surgeon and surely that can solve everyone problems. except this was no longer something he wanted to do for himself but a possible solution to all of his problems.

[ tw: suicide mention ] ilseong was on a nightly drive as always from campus, just cruising to music as he debated on what to eat that night. out of the blue, a figure appeared in front of his car, and as quickly as he tried to swerve, it was too late. he tried helping with all his might from the learning he had memorized, the blood soaked shirt clinging to him being evidence, but it was no use. originally he was gonna be charged but they saw he wasn’t even going over the speed limit. deeper investigation showed that it was a planned suicide. the victim couldn’t do it themselves so whoever the poor soul was that was going to drive by would be their supposed savior.

that night played back to back in his head. it was stuck on loop and slowly driving him crazy. he’d suddenly tried to stop the breaks whenever he wasn’t driving as he hallucinated he was, and sometimes woke up in a cold sweat after imagining his own face on the victim.

they had a practice lesson on a surgical procedure and his hands were too shaky. he proceeded to run to the bathroom and threw up, and that was when the haunting realization was that he couldn’t do it anymore.

he never realized how scared he was of death until now, especially if he was the cause of it. what if a procedure went wrong? what if he couldn’t save their last breath? he couldn’t cope with it.

so he switched majors undercover. though people seemed to notice as he was no longer carrying heavy medical books or even wearing the fake props but instead making lesson plans.

he may not have seemed like it but truly he was upset with himself. he let everyone down and even cut off his father for his soon to be true words. but he had his brother by his side, and that was all he needed. until that left him, too.

bottling up so much anger, he hated that his feelings clouded his judgement. he wanted to fix that but it’s hard when that’s your whole personality : mr. nice guy, the golden child, the perfect student / boyfriend .. he was just a simple fuckup who hated his life.

so now he’s trying to change himself but is struggling hard as hell to do so.

area 003. the fun facts

he lied to arwen about pawning the ring [ he tried but stopped himself the second he was about to hand it to the cashier ] so instead it’s hooked to a piece of string and is either hanging around his neck underneath his shirts or tucked away in his pants pocket. keeps it as a good luck charm despite it not being one.

he tore up a lot of photos of himself and others only to freak out and tape them back together again. a picture of him and his brother are in his wallet.

is a pretty good fighter but has he ever used those skills before? once, and that was how he got a gash on his cheek.

likes being alone and reading but if someone spoke to him, he’ll maybe engage in the convo ... he most likely will anyway but he’ll pretend to think about it.

doesn’t believe in stealing and will snitch.

he guards the drug store on thursdays and mondays.

pretty much an angry boy who is still a soft boy.

#fwintro #* ❪ 𝙱𝙴𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙰𝙻𝙻 . ❫ › 𝗳𝘁 : intros .#god i hope this saves

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jeongyunhoed · 3 years

Photo

Past-Present-Future Black Dahlia

Two major tragedies bring Lee Mirae closer to the edge as she goes through the stages of grief in a more violent manner that would affect not only her relationships with her boyfriend Jeong Yunho and her half-brother Choi San, but also has her becoming closer with the immortal mutant Kang Yeosang. Fueled by rage, grief, and pain, along with a very rude awakening that has Mirae spiraling out of control and questioning everything she holds dear.

Group: ATEEZ Member: Yunho Pairing: Jeong Yunho / OC Genre: Action, adventure, angst, fantasy

Watch Out! : Violence, blood, death, grief and loss, major character deaths, use of weapons, some jealousy (but no cheating ofc), implied smut (not sure if there is any but i’m putting it out there nonetheless), mental illness (probably?), gambling and alcohol

Anything else? : Mentions of other idols of course as well as other characters. SuperM, Dean, Chanyeol, Zelo, soloist Park Jihoon to name a few.

Author’s Note: SuperM hello. Also, sexc car chase scene with Yeosang driving. This hasn’t been proofread much, so sorry for the errors you might see.

Listen to: Dark - Hans Zimmer

Masterlist

Chapter 4

Yeosang glanced over at Mirae, who was still blankly staring out the window. She had been that way in the first few hours of the drive. He wouldn’t admit it, at least right away, but with the silence coming from her, Yeosang was even more convinced that she was that sad. Dare he say it, he was beginning to feel a little concerned yet knew that sometimes the polite thing to do was not to say anything about it. The music playing on the radio acted as white noise between them, and Yeosang was hardly even listening to the songs.

Mirae looked down at her hands, feeling the deck of playing cards in her jean pocket. She barely had time to think about how expensive the clothes she was wearing were - Yeosang’s excuse was that the Dior boutique was the nearest. Mirae wanted to scoff right then and there, but she was impressed at how he got her clothes that fit her.

Her thoughts were going back to how she left Yunho. How she left him unconscious in Yeosang’s apartment while hoping San got to him, or anyone at least. A feeling of guilt was setting inside even in the midst of the overwhelming feelings of sadness and rage. Was it even possible to feel like this? She wasn’t sure. “How did you meet them?” She suddenly asked.

“Who, my dear?”

“The one you’re taking me to.”

“It’s not just one person. They’re a small group of people, people like us,” Yeosang replied, glancing at her from time to time as they entered a flyover, cars intersecting above and below them. “They felt they were above the place we lived in, so they uh, how should I say it? Created their own little world.”

“So how did you meet them?”

“I met them through another immortal. His name is Mark Lee. I’ve known him for centuries. We were rivals for the affections of Emperor Octavian’s daughter, Julia. Amazing woman in every way possible,” A smirk crept up on Yeosang’s lips as he remembered. “I nearly became an emperor if Mark hadn’t intruded that one night.”

“To this day, I still don’t know how old you actually are.”

Yeosang chuckled. “My dear Mirae, age is not important, especially my age. When I met Mark again, in recent… shall we day, decades? Or at least some few years ago, he introduced me to a group of mutants he was friends with. Some of them are quite powerful, one of them, I think, is an omega-level mutant like you.”

“I guessed as much, if they thought they were so superior,” Mirae looked out the window.

“We’ll see about that. Sometimes, mutants only intimidate others just by mentioning their powers, empty threats even though they could deliver on it, lessens the dirty work but it gets into their heads,” Yeosang said. Glancing at the rearview mirrors, he noticed three black cars in a formation behind them. “My dear, if you could assist me a little bit, I think we are being followed.”

Mirae looked over her seat at the three cars that seemed to move closer while Yeosang kept his foot on the gas to drive faster. “I wonder who they could be,” She watched for any signs of movement from the driver’s seats. Mirae saw a set of small rockets come out from the lights on the bumper. “They plan to kill us. Do you know them?”

“No I don’t, I promise you,” Yeosang swerved a few times past several cars only for the three black sedans to be able to keep up.

Mirae shook her head at the sight of the sedans keeping up, one of which was already across from them. There were spikes that extended from the rims of the wheels. The car bumped into them, Mirae clutching the armrest. “They plan on destroying your car while they’re at it,” She said, her eyes glowing red as she stared at the car next to them. The tires exploded, sending the car skidding, the rear hitting their vehicle.

“Damn,” Yeosang kept the car in its lane. “Very good, my dear Mirae. Perhaps you can do something about the other two?” He said, swerving several times so as not to bump into the cars surrounding them to get ahead.

Mirae took out one card from her pocket and threw it as hard as she could at the other sedan that caught up to them. The sedan exploded, the impact of the explosion moving them forward. “If they’re your friend’s bodyguards, then I think they don’t want us coming,” She said, her eyes still glowing. “Not that I care.”

She eyed the remaining black sedan that was following them that launched a rocket. Mirae looked at both the rocket and the car, both exploding in the middle of the road. The remaining cars began to cluster towards them. “Apparently, they were everywhere all along. The way must be heavily guarded, or that they don’t want us going,” Yeosang glanced at the rearview mirrors.

Mirae stayed still, staring at all the cars in front of them. Her eyes were glowing brighter than ever as she kept her gaze on them, the vehicles exploding one by one. She glanced at the rearview mirror on her side, the cars behind them exploding one by one as well, the smoke from the explosions blocking their view of the road.

“Thank you, my dear,” Yeosang drove on through the thick smoke in the air. “All this smoke means we’re getting close.”

The color of the smoke changed from the usual gray and black to white as he moved forward. The glow in Mirae’s eyes faded just as the smoke began to fade, only to see that their surroundings had changed.

Past the wide roads of the highway, they were at the entrance of a dreary lakeside village. “This is where they live?” Mirae glanced at him.

Yeosang chuckled. “No, they live up there,” He pointed to the nearby cliff. There was a white mansion molded in the usual 1930s art deco style that Mirae noticed in the immortal mutant’s apartment.

Mirae noticed that the residents in the village seemed to dress differently, as if wearing different variations of the hanbok. The anger seeped in again, knowing that they were approaching the home of who may have been behind the explosion of the Danger Room, behind the deaths of Chanyeol and Hyuk. Yeosang drove on, down the route of the mansion’s driveway, the sight of the house growing bigger and bigger until they finally approached the gate.

Two guards were standing by and stopped them. “Name?” They asked.

“Kang Yeosang and Lee Mirae. One of them is expecting me by now,” Yeosang replied.

The gates opened on its own and the guards stood by for their vehicle to enter the grounds. As soon as they pulled up, they saw someone standing by the front doors, dressed undoubtedly like he owned the place, but also that he was strikingly handsome. One half of his coiffed hair was blonde, the other side was red. His eye on the blonde side was also blue, the other a dark brown. He was smiling as they pulled up, opening Mirae’s door.

“Hello,” He said as she got out, taking her hand and kissing it.

“Taeyong, quite a greeting you’ve got there,” Yeosang pointed out, tossing the key to the valet.

The male with the name turned to Mirae again. “Forgive my manners, or lack of. I’m Lee Taeyong and I own this house. It’s nice to meet you at last.”

Lee Taeyong was an omega-level mutant like Mirae. Taeyong was an omega-level psychic that could not only read minds, but could also control a person’s mind and manipulate their memories. Taeyong also had the extraordinary gift of turning into organic diamond, making him almost invulnerable to harm and giving him added strength and a psychic shield. However, Taeyong’s limitation was the fact that he could not use his telepathy while he was in his diamond form.

Mirae glanced at Yeosang and before she could speak, he shook his head. “It’s not him you’re going to see,” He advised.

Taeyong smirked. “You must be jumping for joy now that you’re on a drive with the apple of your eye,” He glanced at Yeosang. Turning back to Mirae, he let go of her hand. “That’s what he was thinking. He thinks very loudly.”

“My thoughts are not for you to read, Taeyongie, as I’m sure your brother has taught you that much. Taemin, where is he?” Yeosang asked.

“He’s attending a business meeting. He won’t be here until tonight. But Mark is here, I guess you haven’t seen him in a while,” Taeyong replied. “Come in, come in, I can’t read your thoughts but I can read his and I know who you plan on seeing. Don’t bother taking off your shoes in the main area.”

He turned around to lead them inside. The interiors were decorated in shades of black, gold, and white on marble similar to Yeosang’s home. Mirae and Yeosang followed him further down the hall and they stopped in front of two mahogany doors. “At least one of us couldn’t be read,” She muttered to him.

Taeyong opened the doors, leading into what looked like a parlor, with red velvet couches and chintz chairs, mahogany chests of drawers in the same art deco style, and a crystal chandelier in the ceiling. They saw two people by the fireplace drinking champagne in crystal flutes, watching a drama on a tv that was placed above the mantle. Mirae felt her heart drop as the two figures, whose backs were turned, looked familiar.

“They’re here,” Taeyong announced, making the two people turn around.

Mirae’s eyes widened, looking like a deer caught in the headlights upon seeing their faces. “...Baekhyun? … Jongin?”

The shorter and paler of the two, Baekhyun, smiled. “Mirae, Mirae, Mirae, long time no see,” He said.

Byun Baekhyun was skilled in manipulating and creating light and light energy. Baekhyun was also skilled in hand-to-hand combat, specializing in hapkido. Kim Jongin had the ability to teleport, leaving a wisp of black smoke in his wake.

“It’s been years, hasn’t it?” Jongin spoke this time, approaching her. “You look like you’ve been through a lot.”

Mirae still couldn’t speak. She was too stunned to utter a word. All this time, Baekhyun and Jongin survived the Seoul attack but had never made themselves known. “Hello to you too, Yeosang,” He glanced at the vampiric-looking mutant, who nodded. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” He said to Mirae.

“I couldn’t blame her, we haven’t exactly seen her since that day,” Jongin patted her shoulder. “Do you like our new place? It’s not underground like the Center, but it’s here in this little village, it’s cozy,” He gestured for her to sit down while they did the same. “Mark’s here too, by the way, he’s probably off playing tennis or something.”

“So, what brings both of you here? I doubt it’s because the weather’s nice in this place,” Baekhyun poured her a glass of champagne. Mirae quietly accepted the drink, staring at the bubbles.

“Don’t act clueless, you know why they’re here,” Taeyong chimed in, giving the elder a look.

“Taeyong, it’s rude to read other people’s minds without their permission,” Baekhyun chided. “Even if I already know, it doesn’t hurt to ask to make sure. They might be misleading you, even in that respect.”

“I don’t have the capability to be paranoid when I can read everything like an open book,” Taeyong rolled his eyes. “Dinner is already prepared, by the way, I’ll call Mark-”

He stepped back when out of thin air appeared Mark himself. Unlike Baekhyun, Jongin, and Taeyong, Mark was dressed in a pinstripe suit. Yeosang’s expression stiffened upon seeing him. Mark Lee was, like Yeosang, an immortal mutant whose fortune over the centuries led him to own a business empire that had bases in both South Korea and Canada. Mark had the ability to teleport anywhere and everywhere he chose while also possessing a strong telepathic ability. Mark was also considered a doctor among his peers who studied Languages though he barely put that knowledge of his to the test as he usually tackled his businesses.

“No need,” Mark said, stopping at the sight of Mirae and Yeosang. “Brought her here to meet them, ‘Sang?” He asked.

“As a matter of fact, I did. Ruined anyone’s pursuits lately, Mark?” Yeosang shot at him, watching him take Mirae’s hand and gently kiss the back of it in greeting.

“As long as it’s your pursuits, which I can tell is this lovely woman in front of me,” Mark said.

“I’m taken,” Mirae pointed out.

Mark glanced at Yeosang. “Oh? You have pursued her? This is going to be fun.”

Mirae pulled her hand back, seeing Baekhyun and Jongin’s amused expressions. “I’m guessing you’ve been living your lives here all this time,” She said.

“Well, yeah, since the Seoul attack,” Baekhyun nodded. “Before you two arrived, we were all discussing a business venture we were looking to carry out in the capital. Maybe you could help us out, Yeosang?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, Mark and Taeyong have the capital to build it on, maybe some added manpower would help make the project solid. Let’s talk about this over dinner,” Baekhyun said, gesturing to the doors. Mark disappeared in an instant.

The dining room of the mansion had a view of what was outside. Yeosang and Mirae noticed that it had gotten much darker, realizing how late it was getting. Mirae still couldn’t believe that Baekhyun and Jongin were alive all this time, that they actually survived the explosion from the Seoul attack, the impact caused by her own powers. She was still trying to process this new situation.

Could they have been the ones who tampered with the Danger Room? The question reminded her of why she was there, having dinner with them, with other mutants who were also quite powerful, especially psychics as powerful as them. Mirae could only hope that Yunho would be able to read her mind at the moment, so he would know where they were.

“So, as I was saying earlier, Jongin, Taeyong, Mark, and I are looking into setting up a new business venture and Yeosang may be able to give it the added credibility it needs,” Baekhyun broke the momentary lull when everyone else tucked into the food. Mirae poked around the courses on her plate as she listened.

“Is that what you’ve been up to since the Seoul attack?” Mirae asked, glancing at him from time to time.

“Yeah, killing monsters and aliens wasn’t fun for me anymore, I’m sure you understand that,” Baekhyun smiled. “Knowing that Taeyong, his brother Taemin, and Mark are businessmen, when Jongin and I found each other and in turn found them, the business world seemed a little more interesting.”

“What kind of venture is it?” Yeosang asked. “I’d like to know what it is before I make any deal.”

“It’s called Project Apocalypse,” Baekhyun said with a grin on his face. “Project Apocalypse is going to be the next big thing among mutants and non-mutants.”

“It’s more of a think-tank. People come to us for answers, we give them the answers,” Jongin added.

“What kind of answers would those be?” Yeosang asked in between a sip of wine.

“Political answers, mostly, economic answers, diplomatic answers, you name it,” Mark replied. “You and I both have the experience for that. Didn’t you meet the adviser to Chun Doohwan during the uprising?”

“I have. I killed her,” Yeosang replied, both Baekhyun and Jongin looking surprised at how nonchalant he was about it.

“She could’ve been useful to us, you know,” Mark said. “Oh right, I see. You killed her because she was trying to get to Mirae over here,” He added, having read his thoughts.

Mirae sighed and ate a forkful of her salad instead. “You know, Mark and I can read everyone’s minds here, except for her. Why is that?” Taeyong raised a brow.

“Psychic shield, Taeyongie. I remember Junhong telling us about it when we first started training,” Baekhyun chuckled, glancing at her. “If you can’t read her mind, her psychic shield must be that strong.”

“We can’t read everyone after all, it would be too easy if we could,” Mark chimed in.

“How is Junhong, by the way? Has he been well? He’s alive, isn’t he?” Jongin asked her.

“Very well. Fixed my staff the first time we met again. He’s fixed a lot of other things, sometimes without me knowing,” Mirae replied.

“The three of you go a long while back and yet you’re acting like you don’t know each other,” Taeyong chuckled in his place.

“It has been a while since we last saw each other. We did, however, spend a few years together in the Center for Paranormal Research,” Baekhyun nodded, finishing the food on his plate. “I remember it was me, you, Minseok hyung, and Tao that were put forward because of our fighting skills.”

“Do you have any idea what happened to them?” Mirae asked.

“No idea. I thought I was the only one left, until I saw Jongin from the corner of the street, teleporting out of that place in time,” Baekhyun glanced at her. “I guess the same could be said of you.”

“Yeah, and Hyuk, and Chanyeol. Remember them?”

He smiled. “Why don’t we go take a walk? Just us, you can play catch up with Jongin after,” Baekhyun suggested.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you more about Project Apocalypse after we pitch the idea to Yeosang over here,” Jongin nodded eagerly, exchanging knowing looks with the older male.

Baekhyun and Mirae got up from their seats. Mirae eyed Yeosang, who had a look of concern all over his face at the suggestion. She followed him towards the patio doors and out into the well-manicured backyard of the mansion that had a swimming pool with a diving board and several patio chairs. The question was still nagging at Mirae as a silence came between them while they walked along the cemented areas of the estate. “To answer your question, I do remember them. Vividly, actually,” He said. “The tall dope and the guy I remember you used to like but is also your best friend.”

“Years have gone by since the Seoul attack,” Mirae said.

“I know. It changed everything. It changed everyone. You with that streak in your hair, still playing with the same stick you always used to lug around. It’s almost like a part of you, isn’t it? That staff of yours?” Baekhyun said.

“I never leave without it. Even when I go to work, it’s with me,” She pointed out.

Baekhyun nodded. “I see. No matter how much has changed, you still seem to be the same person. It didn’t help that when Professor Jang died, Ino took charge and started to play favorites.”

“You were one of them, Baek,” She said carefully, remembering the nickname he would often go by.

“That I am, Tao too. Minseok hyung too. We were like, how should I say it? Like the four horsemen of the apocalypse. We led the fighting for the rest of them,” Baekhyun grinned as he remembered. “Too bad things went the way it did, otherwise we’d all still be there, cooped up underground with all of those simulations.”

“That’s a memorial now. A lot of things happened since then, at least to me,” Mirae recalled everything, feeling her heart sink further upon remembering Jihoon, then Hyuk and Chanyeol.

They stopped in front of a ceramic bust perched on top of a small pillar. Baekhyun looked up. “What brings you here, then? You didn’t know I was alive, much less Jongin.”

“I came here because Yeosang told me I’d find answers here,” Mirae replied. “Chanyeol and Hyuk are dead now, and I find out that the Danger Room was tampered with leading to them dying. I’m trying to find out who did it and why.”

Baekhyun smiled. “I knew you were going to say that. Actually, Taeyong knew just by reading Yeosang’s thoughts over there. He was thinking of what you were going to find out upon coming here. I can hear him telling me now. Yeosang’s looking out for you, he’s kind of worried about what you will know, and how you’ll react when it’s all revealed.”

“You know who did it, didn’t you?” Mirae stared at him. “All this time, you were alive and you never meant to make contact? Not even with Junhong? You didn’t even bother to look for us in the places you figured we’d be?”

The male chuckled. “For a trained assassin like yourself, you’re getting pretty bad at stealth, aren’t you? I’ve come across you quite a few times since then, but you never saw me, much less took notice of me.”

She raised a brow. “Well I never got any message from you. Not even a hi or a hello.”

Baekhyun shook his head. He leaned closer with a satisfied look on his face. “No, no, no. My way of making contact with you was through the tragedies you have experienced. Jihoon, and now Chanyeol and Hyuk. To be honest, I was surprised at how I managed to hit two birds with one stone with both of them. The tall dope and the music producer.”

“What do you mean?” Mirae had a feeling she knew what he was about to say.

“It was all me, Mirae. Jihoon’s death, Chanyeol’s death, and Hyuk’s death? It was all me,” Baekhyun revealed calmly. “I am the author of all your pain, of all the grieving you were and still are doing.”

Mirae stared at him, feeling a chill down her spine at the revelation. “Jihoon was killed by those Utopian cult thugs.”

He shook his head. “I had a little help. I met Mark around that time, and when I told him what I wanted to do, he gladly possessed the body of the man who pulled the trigger on your dear friend, the friend you thought of as a brother,” He explained.

Mirae was still staring at him, as if prompting him to continue explaining. “Jongin, you know, of course, teleported me there once Taeyong found out the location of the so-called safehouse you put up, saw that Junhong was creating a simulation room like the one we used to have. With his help as well, I was able to make a few adjustments like rerouting some circuits to overload,”

“I was actually thinking of getting Chanyeol first, out of sentimental reasons. I knew him longer than Hyuk, so naturally I thought he should get the first strike. Little did I know,” Baekhyun smirked. “It would get Hyuk too. I doubt Junhong had a clue that the systems were hacked. Taeyong and his brother run a tech empire.”

She could feel her eyes well with tears at the explanations, the tension she was feeling slowly getting replaced by sadness and rage. “It was you all this time. Why? Why are you doing it?” She asked.

“Because I wanted you to know the pain and grief I felt after that attack happened,” Baekhyun replied, looking her in the eye. “My family thought I was dead when that came in. I was thrown into the ocean from the explosion you caused. They had given up on searching for me, in turn, they gave my brother all the money that was meant for me. Knowing you made the final blow to those goblins, all of the trouble I experienced, I knew I had to make you pay.”

Mirae looked away, fighting back the urge to break down the more Baekhyun talked. He sounded so satisfied. “And now you’re all alone, Lee Mirae. And you know the best part?” He tilted his head as he looked at her. “Ino knew all this time. Ino knew it was me. Yet he allowed it to happen anyway.”

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hafanforever · 4 years

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The Men with Two Faces

When Frozen was released almost seven years ago, I fell in love with it and the love hasn’t stopped since, especially with the following of Frozen Fever, Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, and last year’s Frozen II. I am very proud to be in this fandom and have enjoyed expressing my love for it by writing analyses about them, and my friends and followers can rest assured I will never stop doing it, especially as long as there is more material for me to discuss! 😁😁😁

One of the reasons I fell in love with Frozen was because of Hans and the fact that he was a surprise villain. Disney introduced him by making us think he was another typical heroic prince: benevolent, noble, brave, caring, selfless, and kind. Hans tells Anna that he is the youngest of 13 sons from the kingdom of the Southern Isles, and in being the youngest, he has apparently faced ignorance, neglect, and abuse from most of his brothers, if not his entire family. But then in the third act, we discover that Disney had purposely misled all other characters, and even the audience, about who Hans really is. He reveals himself as a truly ruthless, sadistic, dishonest, power-hungry, selfish, two-faced sociopath whose only goal is to become king and gain the status, power, admiration, and respect he apparently never received from his family, and would never gain as the 13th heir of the Southern Isles. So he plotted to take control of Arendelle by marrying into the throne. He initially wanted to marry Elsa just because she was the oldest and rightful heir, which would give him a legitimate chance to become king. However, he decided to pursue and marry Anna when he realized that Elsa was an antisocial recluse, and planned to kill Elsa to get her out of the way and rise to power with him as king and Anna as his queen.

When I first saw Frozen, I was very shocked that Hans was the true villain, though at the same time, there were a few moments that made me suspicious of him. After seeing the film a few more times, I realized there were subtle clues of his villainy in many of his preceding scenes, so his villainous revelation did not come totally out of the blue. But Disney using the twist and idea of having a hidden main antagonist, one that was a prince, who is stereotypically a heroic character in fairy tales, no less, was something I very much enjoyed about Frozen because it was something so new, different, unexpected, and very unique, particularly for a Disney fairy tale.

When I saw Frozen II, I wasn’t expecting it to have a villain, hidden or not, since the trope of surprise villains by Disney, which started with Wreck-It Ralph, had been waning and it was getting easier for me to figure out who they were. Needless to say, when Runeard was revealed to be the film’s main antagonist, I was very shocked. I wasn’t shocked in the same way I was when Hans revealed himself to be an evil prince, but for different reasons. For one thing, Runeard only appears on screen as a living character during Agnarr’s story about the Enchanted Forest in the prologue, then as a snowy ice figure Elsa discovers in Ahtohallan years after his death. He has the shortest time on screen than any other villain in the Disney animated canon, yet Runeard also has a major effect on the film’s plot. He is one of the few Disney animated villains who affects the flow of the story from the very beginning, and is rather unique in doing so because he is a POSTHUMOUS main antagonist, the first one from Disney animation. In fact, Runeard is the Greater-Scope Villain of the Frozen franchise as his heinous actions against the Northuldrans not only led to the main events of Frozen II, but also to what became of his bloodline and what led to the events of Frozen. The fact that Runeard has such a short time on screen while simultaneously impacting so much to the story makes his actions even worse than those of Hans.

While the revelation of Runeard being the main villain has received mixed reception from fans and critics like that of Hans did, I can still focus more on the positive about the former’s villainy than the negative. Heck, when you look at both films and both of their main villains, Runeard and Hans actually have quite a lot in common, even though Runeard is far less developed as a character and has a much shorter amount of time on screen than Hans.

Both are monarchs who present themselves as kind, generous, noble, charismatic, benevolent people to the public, while in private, they reveal that are really nothing but cold, obsessive, ruthless, sadistic, two-faced men who are successful in concealing their true dark natures in order to gain the trust of others for their own selfish interests and benefits. In fact, when they make their first appearances in their respective movies, Hans and Runeard wear their benevolent masks when they meet with people, and both are wearing gloves as they do so.

Both prove themselves to be very competent rulers of Arendelle (though Runeard was a true king of Arendelle while Hans briefly acted as its reigning monarch in both Elsa and Anna’s absence), and are kind and generous towards the people of whom they are in charge. In truth, however, both they are very power-hungry individuals who do not care for anything except the power they have/crave, and are willing to do whatever it takes, including treachery and murder, to get what they want and expand their power.

Both have brief scenes in which they reveal their true colors to a single person and sadistically smile as they explain how the plans they have set in motion will be carried out and satisfy their ruthless, selfish desires. The difference between them is that Hans reveals his secret to Anna as he indirectly attempts to murder her, while Runeard reveals his secret to his second-in-command and doesn’t try to murder him (though he apparently instilled fear into the officer and swore him to secrecy over the true purpose of the dam’s construction).

Both plan to kill people who they see as being in their way and a threat to their goals. They sneak up on their victims when they (the victims) are seated on the ground (Hans on Elsa, Runeard on the Northuldra leader) and raise their swords over the victims’ heads, ready to murder them. As I said in “Striking Resemblances”, the difference between both moments is that while Hans failed to kill Elsa due to Anna’s intervention, Runeard succeeded in killing the Northuldra leader because no one else was around to witness and intervene.

And while it’s not part of their characters and actions within the movies, both mens’ true natures were kept a complete secret from viewers prior to the release dates of their respective films, especially during promotional material. Hans was labeled as “The Nice Guy” in the first theatrical trailer for Frozen, while Runeard was completely omitted from pre-release storybook merchandise, and Jeremy Sisto was revealed as the voice of the character for the first time at the world premiere of Frozen II.

The fact that Runeard killed the leader of the Northuldra while Hans didn’t kill Elsa suggests that Runeard is potentially a darker example of what Hans could have easily become if he had succeeded in his goal to kill both sisters and become king of Arendelle. But in the months since Frozen II came out, another possibility on how Runeard is suggested to be a darker reflection of Hans, with the former having succeeded in the past where Hans failed in the present, has been suggested by fans. As I’ve said before, Runeard was the founder and first king of Arendelle. Prior to this accomplishment, perhaps like Hans, he was once a prince who was overlooked and neglected by his family, and he craved power, respect, and admiration after having never received them from his family and/or the majority of his kingdom. Or perhaps Runeard was just a commoner, a poor nobody who still craved power and respect after never having received it, or even anything fine and desirable, in his life...and he ended up getting what he wanted when he created his very own kingdom and was proclaimed its king. AND when he became king, Runeard was set on expanding as well as protecting his power, with his only concern being his own status as a monarch.

Runeard and Hans both have underdeveloped backstories as villains and what makes them as such, even though it feels easier to figure out that of Hans based on what he does reveal to Anna. But considering how much they do have in common, perhaps Runeard WAS once in the same position Hans used to be, and he managed to succeed where Hans did not. With all we do know about them, though, Runeard appears to be far more evil and despicable than Hans, given his bigoted, judgmental, paranoid, hateful behavior towards the Northuldra and the magical spirits and his actions against them.

Hans briefly gets his chance of being a leader when he takes over as temporary ruler of Arendelle in both Elsa and Anna’s absence. He successfully wins the hearts of the Arendellians by acting as a kind, caring, benevolent ruler during the harsh conditions brought on by Elsa’s magical winter. The fact that he earned the trust and respect of the Arendellians and acts very competent as a ruler suggests that Hans really could have been a very good king. However, as I said in “Tyrant Terror”, while Runeard was revealed to be a ruthless, power-hungry, obsessive king in secret, he used the same kind of benevolent mask that Hans used when he appeared in public. Runeard apparently was also very competent as a ruler since he knew how to run the kingdom while pretending to be a noble leader to the public. He led the citizens, the guards, and the castle staff on to believe that his kind facade was his true nature.

Because getting power and respect for himself was all that both men ever really cared about, I have absolutely no doubt that, had he succeeded in stealing Arendelle’s throne, Hans also would have become the same kind of secretly ruthless, power-hungry, selfish tyrant that Runeard was before him.

Now the biggest difference between Hans and Runeard’s villainy is what motivates them to carry out their evil plans. Runeard seeks to destroy the Northuldra because they have ties to magic, something he detests, fears, and towards which he holds bigotry, since he believes it to be a threat to his royal rank and authority. The fact that the Northuldra are peasants who follow magic rather than a government ruled by a king is also how Runeard saw them as a threat. He presumably believed that the Northuldra might try to use their magic to one day plot to usurp him and take over his kingdom. Consumed by his hateful, bigoted, and paranoid feelings towards the tribe and their magic, Runeard decided to destroy them to prevent any chances of them trying to destroy him first.

In Hans’s case, he obviously viewed Elsa as a threat to his plans since she was the legitimate heir of Arendelle, and he plotted to kill her to get her out of his way. When Elsa accidentally revealed her powers and caused the eternal winter, Hans was just as shocked as everyone else. However, while his motive to kill Elsa expanded so that he also wanted restore summer to Arendelle (and appear to be a hero in the eyes of the Arendellians for doing so), Hans was always presumably indifferent to Elsa’s powers. Throughout the whole movie, he never once shows any true feelings of prejudice towards magic or fear that her magic makes Elsa so powerful that she is a greater threat to his goal of taking over her kingdom than he initially believed. The best example of this is when he reveals his true nature and plans to Anna, who says “You’re no match for Elsa!” and Hans callously retorts “No, you’re no match for Elsa!” Hans knows that Anna means that Elsa is more powerful than him with her magic and she could use them to bring him down, but Hans is completely unconcerned and unconvinced about this concept. If anything, by this time, he has realized that Elsa was scared of her own power and of losing Anna...and he knew how to use both of her fears against her.

So unlike Runeard’s fear of magic being his overall motivation to destroy the Northuldra, I don’t believe Hans ever feared or was prejudiced towards Elsa for being magical. He only wanted to kill her just because she was in his way of gaining access to Arendelle’s throne.

As with any Disney villain, though, in the end, Hans and Runeard’s confidence and arrogance ends up being their downfall, and they end up being forever ruined due to their actions. Hans extinguishes all heat sources in the library, then locks Anna in so she will die from her frozen heart. But because Olaf helps her escape the castle, Anna intervenes in the nick of time when Hans attempts to kill Elsa. After the winter is lifted, Hans is humiliated and defeated when Anna reveals that she survived, and many witness the punch she gives him to his face. Hans is then apprehended, imprisoned on a French ship headed back to the Southern Isles, and banished from Arendelle forever. He is later shown working in the royal stables in his kingdom, cleaning up after the horses.

Though he makes no further appearances in the franchise, Hans’s betrayal has undoubtedly ruined him forever and he will probably never be allowed to leave his kingdom in order to try his plot all over again. Furthermore, the allusions to and mentions of him in the sequel shows that he will never be forgiven by Elsa, Anna, and their family.

Despite having succeeded in murdering the tribe leader, the war that Runeard instigates leads to him falling off a cliff to his death and causing the angered spirits to cast a mist over the Enchanted Forest, trapping the people, including his surviving soldiers, in it for decades. Though he is long dead by the time the main events of the story take place, what remains of Runeard’s evil reign is finally brought to an end when Anna and Elsa destroy the dam. This act lifts the mist and frees the Forest, and a true union of peace is at last established between Arendelle and the Northuldra.

In life, Runeard had been desperate to protect his power, status, and legacy from being ruined by the Northuldra and their magic. But in great irony, his misdeeds caused his own fear to become reality (though not like he had envisioned), and his legacy is now forever ruined by his betrayal.

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evolmaze · 3 years

Text

truth or drink

summary - truth or dare never works out, but when you add drinking things just get worse

paring - han x reader ft. twice, the rest of stray kids, bts, and blackpink

genre - fluff, angst, comfort | friends to potential-lovers!au, nonidol!au

word count - 4.6k words

warnings - slight harassment and bullying by O.C. against reader, drinking, very minimal slut shaming of O.C., swearing

masterlist

“I don’t even wanna go tonight,” Dahyun said, laying on your bed. “Who’s even going to be there?”

“The usual crowd I think, us girls, Han and his friends, Tae and his friends, and I think Jennie and Lisa are coming too,” you conclude, putting the finishing touches on your makeup.

“Ooh, I haven’t seen Jennie in ages,” Dahyun commented, suddenly sitting up. “I suppose I can make an appearance.”

“That’s more like it,” you laughed, turning around. “How do I look?”

“Absolutely stunning!” she cooed, “Han isn’t gonna know what he’s missing.”

You scoffed, “I’m not doing this for him, I’m doing this for myself.”

“Sure, sure, and you’re absolutely not wearing that blue sweater because he told you it looked nice on you last week?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Absolutely not,” you declared, though a slight red hue appeared on your face. “Come one we gotta go soon anyway. Party starts in 20 minutes.”

“No one ever shows up right away, Mina and Jihyo said they aren’t coming till closer to eight.” Dahyun whined, going into the closer to change.

“Yeah, but I promised Bang Chan and Felix I’d help set up, so unless you wanna find your own way there, you’re stuck with me,” you laughed, grabbing your jacket off your desk. Dahyun groaned, but reappeared minutes later, ready to go.

“Alrighty, let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”

______

“y/n, Dahyun, so glad you could be here to help!” Felix said as he opened the door, quick to grab a couple of bags from you and Dahyun. “Please, please come on in!”

“Thanks, Lix,” you said, closing the door behind. “Any word on when people are planning to show up?”

“It varies really, Tae and his friends said sometime around eight-ish, Changbin and Minho said they’d be here around 7:30, I’m assuming the girls will be here around then as well?”

“Yeah, Sana just texted me now, said they’ll be here in about 20,” Dahyun said, as she started taking bottles out of her backpack and adding them to the drink table.

“Oh that’s awesome, I’m so excited to see them!” you cheered, going over to help her.

“Excited as you are to see Han?” she teased, nudging your shoulder as she poured a bottle of vodka into a giant container you had bought specifically for wop. Across the room, Felix chuckled as he untangled some cords for the sound system.

“Oh my god, please shut up,” you plead, your face a slight hue of red as you unscrewed your own bottle. “It’s really not that big of a deal.”

“Sure, sure. Felix did you know that she literally hasn’t stopped talking about this party all week, seems a little coincidental that this also happens to be the first party Han has been able to come to since he left to go visit his parents,”

“I’m actually going to kill you,” you muttered, unable to keep a straight face as the two of them laughed. Dahyun may have had a point, Han had left two weeks ago to visit his parents, which meant you hadn’t seem him for a couple weeks due to conflicting schedules. You missed him, missed his jokes, his vibrant personality. You guys had met about six months ago when Dahyun invited you to a party at her place, and ever since then you guys had hit it off.

“Oh leave the poor girl alone won’t you?” Chan said as he entered the room, laptop in hand. “So she has a thing for the kid, it’s not like you two haven’t ever had a crush.”

“Yeah,” you chimed in, gracious for Chan’s appearance. “If I remember correctly Lix you had quite the infatuation for a certain barista down at Two Rivers, right?” You grinned at his red face, and inability to rebuttal, “and Dahyun,” you said, facing her. “Don’t make me bring up the infamous crush you had last fall-”

“Okay!” Dahyun said suddenly, smacking a hand over your mouth. “Point taken! Sorry y/n, you know I think it’s cute that you like him, I think y’all would be cute together! I’ll shut up now.”

You laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, “Apology accepted, sorry for bringing up your past, I promise not to do it again, unless circumstances call for it.” you grinned, running away from her as she chased you with an empty bottle.

______

Music blared from the speakers in the backyard as you sat with Felix and Sana, currently exchanging your thoughts on the latest season of stranger things. “There’s no way Hopper’s actually dead,” you argued, taking a drink. “Why else would they include that clip of him in the promo?”

“I agree!” Sana said, “Plus that’d be so cruel for them to kill him off like that just as he and El were developing a real relationship!”

“Right, and I’d rather die than not see Hopper and Joyce get together, literally made for each other!” Felix agreed, the three of you laughed at his sudden outburst, but sudden stopped as Sana whispered.

“Who invited them here?” you turned towards the entrance of the house, and spotted exactly who she was talking about. Currently talking to Chan and Jennie were two girls who you had briefly met your freshmen year, they were awful; mean and cruel just for their own enjoyment. Unfortunately, at a school so small, circles overlapped, and somehow they ended up at this party.

“God, I hate them,” you muttered, taking another sip of your drink. You turned back around. “Think they’ll stay long?”

“Well Aria has a huge crush on Chan I think,” Felix said thoughtfully, “So yeah unfortunately.”

“Fantastic,” you muttered again, annoyed that you even had to be in the same room as them. It wasn’t that Aria and her friend Soon were ever mean to you directly. In fact, you even used to be friends with Soon a couple years ago, but times change, and so do people. While you had learned more about yourself and learned from your wrongdoings, Soon found Aria and together they adhered to this “preppy-high-school-mean-girl” bullshit attitude that never really wore off.

“Oh don’t be sad, y/n! Look who just showed up,” Dahyun said suddenly as she appeared behind you, wiggling her eyebrows. You rolled your eyes at her as she sat down beside you, but turned around anyway, already knowing who had shown up.

Han Jisung walked through the doors and you hated to admit it, but your heart leaped out of your chest. It had been so long since you had seen him, and not to be cliché, but he was literally glowing. He looked amazing, his hair was still that same raven color you loved. You remembered when he had first dyed it two months ago, he was nervous to go back to a dark color after being blonde for so long, but you had assured him he looked good in any hair color.

“y/n, earth or y/n, hello?” Felix said, waving his hand in front of your face, you jumped, not realizing you had zoned out. Sana and Dahyun laughed as you blushed. “Sorry what?”

“I asked if you wanted to go grab a new drink?” Dahyun laughed, and you look down at your drink.

‘Yeah sure,” you agreed, laughing at yourself as you folllowed her back inside. You crossed the yard, mentally preparing youself to walk by Han, it was dumb, really. He was your friend, there was nothing to be personal about, but you’d be lying if you said he didn’t make you nervous. It wasn’t till a weeks ago that you had even developed these feelings for him, and if it wasn’t for a drunken night at Chan’s, no one would have even known you had felt that way, but when you’re drunk, your filter leaves you, and that night you spilled the beans to Dahyun, Sana, Felix, and Chan over a game of truth or dare. You tried to keep it lowkey, you did, but as you got to know him better, it was becoming harder and harder to avoid it.

Dahyun passed Han and Changbin as they talked on the porch, as you did the same someone grabbed your wrist, “y/n!” Han said, grinning from ear to ear. “Don’t think you could pass me and not say anything!”

You laughed, and looked at Dahyun who wiggled her eyebrows. “Changbin,” she said, looking past you. “Wanna help me grab some drinks?”

“Sure,” he agreed, brushing past you. “Nice to see you, y/n.”

“You too,” you said, taking his seat next to Han. “So, how was home?”

“It was great,” he said. ‘It was nice to see family and celebrate my grandma’s birthday, but I’m glad to be back.”

“I’m glad you’re back too,” you agreed. “Someone needs to be the life of the party.”

“Oh, you don’t think that Jin already has that handled?” he asked, and you both looked into the house, where he was currently, furiously rapping some song on the karaoke machine.

You laughed, “I’ll admit that he’s pretty chaotic when he wants to be, but there’s only one person I know who enjoys starting conga lines at the most random of times. Remember when you started one when we walked to the grocery store? People were so confused!” you said, and he laughed.

“Well I’m glad someone appreciates my antics,” he grinned, taking a sip of his own drink. “What have you been up to since I last saw you?”

“Nothing too exciting, just the usual.”

“Bullshit, I follow your photography page, that place you went last week looked incredible, you’ll have to take me sometime,” he said, nudging your shoulder.

You blushed, “Ahh thanks, it was so pretty, a super nice hike too, you’d love it. The sunset there was incredible!”

“Well we’ll have to make sure we go at night then,” he mused, and you grinned.

“Oh absolutely, when are you free next week?” you asked, hoping to set something up, hanging out with Han one-on-one was a rare and fun occasion.

“Let me check,” he said, pulling out his phone. About to pull yours out, you suddenly hear the music cut out. A chorus of boos and cheers resounded throughout the party.

“Sorry everyone!” Chan said, mic in hand. “Aria and Soon here wanted me to let everyone know, that if you’re interested, there’s a game of truth or dare happening over here.”

You rolled your eyes, poor Chan, you looked over at Han. “Should we go save Chan from an evening of Aria’s torment and neverending questions?”

“Good idea,” he agreed, standing. “Ayo Seungmin, I.N., you guys wanna go play a couple rounds of truth or dare.”

“Why not?” Seungmin said, standing up, with I.N. following suite. Changbin and Dahyun appeared next to you, with a handful of drinks.

“So true or dare, huh?” Dahyun said. “Classic Aria.”

“It truly is her signature,” you agreed, grabbing two drinks from her and handing one to Han. “Let’s get this over with, yeah?”

You made your way over to the firepit where Aria and Chan sat, surround by some others. Jennie and Lisa sat to the left of Chan, while Seungmin and I.N. sat next to them. Soon was next to Aria, and Mina, Jihyo and Sana were next to her. You took a seat in between Dahyun and Han, and Changbin in between you three and Felix. The group waited as a few more people piled in, Jimin and Jungkook taking sets behind Changbin on the brick wall, and Hoseok and Tae taking up seats on the wall as well behind Chan.

‘“Let’s get started, shall we?” Aria said, scanning the group. “Felix, truth or dare?”

______

Numerous rounds had passed since you first sat down, and the rules were simple. If you didn’t want to answer a truth or do a dare, you had to take a shot, but the catch was you only got three shots per game. So far people had jumped into the pool while fully clothed, made out with random party goers, and made prank calls to people who weren’t at the party. So far, you had told everyone which professor you would sleep with if given the chance, called your good friend Solar to tell her her cat had ran away, and told everyone about your most embarrassing moment from 5th grade.

Currently, Tae was attempted to walk along the entire edge of the pool without falling in. “You got this, Tae!” Jimin cheered, getting everyone to start a chant of encouragement. You did your best ro hold in your laughter as Tae slipped at the last second and fell into the pool. A chorus of laughs resounded, and the game continued on.

By now, some people had left to get drinks or eat food, so the only people left were you, Han, Dahyun, Chan, Aria, Soon, Felix, Sana, Seungmin, and I.N.

“Aria, truth or dare?” Soon asked, taking a sip of her drink.

“Dare, obviously.” Aria said, a tone of cockiness in her voice. “Truth’s are loser who enjoy being an open book,” she commented, glancing in your direction. You rolled your eyes, taking another sip of your drink.

“Takes one to know one,” you muttered under your breath, across the fire, Chan chuckled, amused at your lack of filter coming out.

“What was that?” Aria said, obviously irritated that Chan had laughed at your retort.

“Oh, nothing.” you said, looking up at her as she glared daggers into your eyes. “Soon what’s her dare?”

“Aria, I dare you to make out with Chan!” she said excitedly, and the rest of the group, minus Aria, groaned.

“Shocker,” Dahyun said, and you looked over at Chan who looked less than thrilled to be in this position.

“Hey don’t make him do something he doesn’t want to do,” you chimed in, worried about Aria’s influence over your friend.

“It’s okay, y/n.” Chan said, taking a quick shot. “I can handle her.”

You sighed, and took a long sip of your drink as the two of them made out for the next 15 seconds or so, as they pulled apart Aria looked at you. “Yeah, y/n, Channie’s a big boy, he can handle himself. Plus he’d probably prefer a girl with experience anyway, unlike you.”

You rolled your eyes for what seemed to be the millionth time that night, “Sorry Chan, just looking out for you, didn’t want you to get an STD or something.”

Alcohol had this affect on you that sometimes you didn’t realize what you were saying until you had said it, as the words left your mouth, you instantly regretted them due to the way Aria started you down, a look of hatred in her eyes. Around you, everyone lost their minds at your reply, some congratulating you on your comeback, others looking shocked the words even came out of your mouth. You weren’t sure how to feel, on one hand Aria deserved a taste of her own medicine for how she belittled every person she ever met that didn’t meet her standards, but also you were never one to slut-shame, so who knows what came over you. Beside you, Dahyun was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes, and Han looked so shocked you weren’t sure whether it was a good thing or bad thing.

Aria narrowed her eyes at you, unsure of what had come over you, but sure of what her next move was going to be, ”y/n, truth or dare?”

“Uh-” you started.

“Don’t bother answering, I’ll pick for you since I already know the answer: truth. y/n, tell me, what’s it like to be a lonely virgin, with no romantics pursuits besides having a crush on a close friend who doesn’t even think of you that way?”

The group quieted down pretty quick after that, you stiffened, shocked she had said that, confused how she even knew that, but mostly concerned of where this was going to go. You were sure that if someone took a photo of you now, you would look like a ghost. Aria cocked an eyebrow at you, “Oh y/n,” she feigned concerned. “Cat got your tongue? Need some help with that? Must be tough to like someone who doesn’t even think of you that way, right? Who goes away for weeks and doesn’t even text you? Let alone think of you in any other way besides a friend. You can call me a slut all you want, but at least I get the things I want, I don’t sit around and wait for them to happen like some stupid hopeless romantic. At least boys answer my texts, what do you get? A pity reply to one of your numerous attempts at a real relationship with him?”

“Aria, shut the fuck up.” Dahyun said beside you, you were frozen in spot, so utterly humiliated, but also amazed at her level of intel, how the hell did she find out?

“Why?” Aria asked. “It’s okay for y/n to blatantly slut-shame me in front of my crush, that I can’t expose her in front of hers?”

“That’s not the point-’” Dahyun said, anger seething from her body. You put a hand on your shoulder.

“It’s fine,” you said, trying you best to remain calm. “I mean she right, right? What I did was a low-bow, and I’m truly sorry, Aria.” you said, trying to look as sincere as possible despite your mental stability rapidly declining. “It’s only fair you attack right back, but if you don’t mind, I think we’re pretty even now; I think I’ve heard enough.” You finished, your voicing cracking slightly at the end. You quickly got up, and made your way inside the house, ignoring the calls from the rest of the group.

As you entered the house, you got some looks from everyone you passed. Some concerned, some confused, and some just straight up lost as to why you were running through the house crying.

It was your own fault this had happened, you knew Aria was the type to have dirt on everyone, so why didn’t you think about the fact that’d she have dirt on you? You shouldn’t have even responded to her, no matter how much she got under your skin, Aria always won every battle she started, but you never expected her to rebuttal with things so cruel and close to your heart. You just hoped people were too distracted to piece together the underlying meaning.

Your phone buzzed rapidly in your pocket, a call from Dahyun on the screen. You sighed, and picked up the call. “Hey-”

“Are you okay? I swear to god I’ll kill her for saying those things about you! That was so fucked up, you made one comment and she spilled your entire load of dirty laundry for everyone to hear. Where are you? We should go home, forget-”

“Dahyun, slow down.” you laughed, feeling a little less awful than you did before. “I’m in the bathroom, I’ll be back out in a little bit, no need to have Aria ruin this whole party for us.”

“Oh that’s good, I’m glad your okay,” she said. “Aria’s gone anyway, after her little performance, Soon and Chan convinced her to go home for the night. The bitch was too intoxicated to form a coherent thought after she used them all on you.”

You laughed at that, “Serves her right, I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Sounds good, bye!” she agreed, hanging up the phone. You looked in the mirror, wiping off your mascara that had run onto your face. You pondered how the rest of the night would go, everyone had heard the embarrassing details of your life, but on the other hand, fuck Aria and fuck her for trying to ruin a perfectly good night. Yeah she every right to be upset at you, but unlike her, you could bounce back from this, you determined. How would things go with Han? You had no idea, you suppose it depending on his ability to read between the lines, and whether or not he was too intoxicated to do that or not.

“It was what it is at this point, I guess.” you said to yourself, accepting your fate, whatever it may be. It was odd, you had always imagined that your crush finding out you like them would be mortifying, but you felt oddly calm, maybe it’s because you knew thing would be okay. You had great friends, supportive friends who would stand by you no matter what, and even if Han did know, you knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t be mean about it, maybe weirded out, but that was only temporary, cause at least then you’d have closure and could move on.

You exited the bathroom, ready to get another drink and hang with Dahyun and Felix, and everyone else if they were still around.

“y/n!” Sana yelled from the end of the hallway, running up to you. “Are you okay? God I can’t believe Aria did that, she’s awful, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m fine, really.” you assured her. “Aria’s a bitch, but it’s not like I didn’t have it coming with what I had said to her.”

“I guess, but she said some really personal things that weren’t her business at all. Everyone knows that she gets around here and there, she even admitted it! You weren’t saying things we didn’t already know,” she said, looking annoyed. “But if you’re fine, then so am I. Wanna grab another drink?”

“Yes, please.” you laughed, following her into the living room. As you were there getting drinks, you assured many people that were at the fire that you were okay, and you didn’t need them to kill Aria for you.

“y/n!” you stopped talking to Sana and Changbin, and turned around to see Chan, he looked frazzled, a look of worry on his face. “Can we talk?” he asked, you bid your goodbyes to Sana and Changbin, and followed Chan back outside.

“What’s up?” you asked.

“First I wanna say I’m so sorry for Aria’s behavior, I know it doesn’t mean much, but she was pretty drunk, but I’m not sorry that I didn’t do anything to stop it. I’m the reason she was even here, and it’s not cool that she did that to you.”

“Chan, Chan, it’s fine, really. Aria isn’t your responsibility, you’re not her dad or boyfriend, so you couldn’t have predicted she would have done that. I accept your apology, but there’s no need for it, truly.” you assured him, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Okay, good. The other reason I wanted to talk to you was because of that,” he said, gesturing over his shoulder to the fire. At the fire was Han, Felix and Dahyun sat with him, but he looked distant. It didn’t seem like he was paying them any attention.

“Is he okay?” you asked. You felt bad, this was your fault.

“Dahyun, Felix, and I have been trying to talk to him, get him to come inside, but he isn’t really speaking to anyone. We all figured he might talk to you; but only if you’re comfortable doing so.” Chan explained, you nodded. “Of course, he’s still my friend.”

Chan and you walked over to the fire, and as soon as Felix and Dahyun saw you were with him, they stood up, leaving with Chan. As Dahyun passed you, she whispered in your ear. “I think he’s just confused is all.” You nodded, understanding.

Han didn’t look up as you sat down, just kept staring into the fire. You weren’t sure what to do, it wasn’t as if you had done any malicious to him in any way, but you’d also understand if he didn’t want anything to do with you.

“I’m sorry,” you said, breaking the silence; he didn’t look up. You sighed, “I know you must feel really weird with everything that Aria had said, I swear I didn’t know she was going to say that stuff at all; I honestly don’t know how she found out, but I’m sorry that that indirectly put you in a weird position.”

“Why are you sorry?” he muttered. “It’s not like you asked her to do it.”

“No I didn’t, but what she said involved you, and that’s something you should have heard from me, privately, not in front of all our friends at a bonfire,” you reasoned, nervously chuckling at the hilarity of it all. Who would have thought this was how you night would end? “So, I’m sorry.”

Han put his head in hands, running his fingers through his hair. He sighed, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I-uh, I don't know,” you stuttered, unsure of what to say. “I didn’t want to make things weird, change our friendship in any way. I like being your friend, and we hadn’t been friends for that long when I first realized, so I choose not to say anything in order to keep being your friend. If I’m honest, I thought I’d get over it by now.”

“You thought something like that would end our friendship?” he asked, looking up at you. “y/n, that’s crazy.”

“Well, I don't know!” you exclaimed, “How could I be sure how you’d react? We aren’t exactly best friends, and I hadn’t seen you in awhile, so it felt awkward to hang around after she had said that. Figured it would be easier to leave so you wouldn’t be obligated to talk about it if you didn’t want to. I’m sorry if I hurt you, or made things confusing, that wasn’t my intention, I just didn't know what to do.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “I get it, feelings are weird, and you can never be sure how things will turn out, but I still wish you would have said something, don’t you trust me?”

“Han, we may be friends, and I do trust you, but this is probably the one thing I wouldn’t have told you about.” you laughed awkwardly. “Usually people don’t tell their crushes they like them till they’re sure their crush feels the same.”

He blushed, “Ah yeah, that’s a good point, but hey! Who’s to say I don’t feel the same.”

You paused, “You like me?” What was happening right now?

“Well maybe, I don’t know!” he laughed nervously turning an even darker shade of red, and you chuckled. “I feel like we’ve become better friends lately, and I like having you around, like spending time with you. I don’t wanna rush into anything, but I would be down to start hanging out more one on one.”

You smiled, “I feel the same. I don’t want to rush things either, and I’d rather us both be on the same page about it if this does become something in the future.”

“Well I hope it at least means we’ll become better friends,” he said hopefully.

“Me too,” you agreed, feeling a weight being lifted off you shoulders.

“But I could be okay with us being in a relationship too, I suppose.” he mused, pretending to look thoughtful. You laughed, and lightly kicked his foot.

“I suppose I could be okay with that too,” you joked, and he grinned. “Well if you’re up for it, the offer to go hiking still stands.”

“Let’s do it!” he said excitedly. “We can take some sick pics at the top too!”

“Oh absolutely,” you grinned. “I’d love nothing more.” Han smiled at you, a glint of something promising in his eyes. Everything was going to be fine, you could feel it.

______

a/n: hope y’all like this one, it took a different turn than I thought it was going to, but I still like how it turned out!

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juminsmysticmc · 3 years

Note

Hi! Hope you're doing well! How about a Honduran Mc who's sensitive to large groups with the RFA group + Saeran, & Vanderwood? Please,

RFA with a Honduran Mc who‘s sensitive to large groups

Hey Babe, you waited long enough, I know, but after a long wait here you are, finally the HC! Okay, like everyone else I will only write for the RFA, please request again for Saeran and Vanderwood, that would be amazing, yeah? Thank you for everything, I love you! Hope you enjoyed the HC!

Jumin

Your husband observed you as both of you walked down the street.

You wanted to visit the Honduran shop where an abuela worked who looked just like your grandmother.

However, something was bothering Jumin.

He kept holding your hand and was sure that you were trembling.

Your beautiful brown eyes weren’t shining anymore. Instead, they were looking around.

This time, however, you weren’t the usual curious woman he knew; no, you were panicking.

And as soon as he heard you mumbling about the large group, he stopped everything and made sure to call his bodyguards.

Immediately, twenty men in black suits surrounded you, making sure that you had enough space to walk.

,,Jumin...mi amor,’’ you chuckled as you looked at him.

There it was, the cute smile he missed on your tanned beautiful face.

,,Yes, Mc?’’ he laughed.

And finally you could be yourself, hopping around and making your hair dance in the air.

,,Today I will cook you nacatamales!’’ you laughed, making him feel as if he was experiencing Christmas early this year.

Zen

Your boyfriend knew how much you hated large groups.

And as his girlfriend, he knew that you often had to go through the pain of having way too many strangers around you.

,,Cariño, tengo miedo,’’ you said, your voice now trembling a bit more.

Immediately Zen took your hand and tried to pull you out of the crowd.

At that moment he didn’t care if he was a Korean idol, all he cared for was you, his girlfriend, who was sensitive to large groups.

,,Everything okay?’’ he asked you, kissing your cheek and noticing that you were totally cold.

Zen hugged you, your fragile body between his arms.

And even though you were scared at the moment, Zen couldn’t help but enjoy the moment he could have with you in his embrace, inhaling the scent of your hair.

He could imagine that your hometown in Honduras smelled the same.

,,Yes, it’s just that… I suddenly remembered that time when I got lost and couldn’t find my mamá anymore…’’ you confessed.

,,It’s okay. I will always find you, no matter how large the group my be…’’

Yoosung

Your husband, aka marido, the name you called him, knew perfectly well how much you hated large groups.

You were just sensitive to them.

You never knew why, but whenever you were in a big crowd, you just felt uncomfortable and you wanted to get away from that place.

And since Yoosung knew how you would always react, he tried to help you as best as he could.

Even though he would like to go to a convention with you one day, he always held back and went with Seven or on his own to crowded places.

Not this time, however.

Yoosung bought two tickets and Seven had to cancel plans because of something he couldn’t talk about.

It wouldn’t have been a big deal if this wasn’t the last day.

So the money wouldn’t go in vain, you told Yoosung that you would go with him.

And now, there you were, the only Honduran woman in the whole room, feeling uncomfortable.

You rubbed your hands and gripped your soft dress.

It was kind of big and had the colors of your country’s flag - blue and white.

Of course, your husband soon enough noticed that you were already feeling bad and began to sing your favorite song to make you feel better and follow him outside where you could finally catch your breath.

,,Fiesta, Fiesta yo quiero más fiesta Quiero divertirme y olvidarlo todo Fiesta, Fiesta yo quiero más fiesta Quiero divertirme y olvidarlo todo…’’ he sang, a song by Banda Blanca.

,,Thank you, Yoosung…’’ you smiled and took his hand.

,,Pero necesitamos practicar más…’’ you laughed, telling him that you guys had to practice more.

Jaehee

You were mentally tired after you finally had your first RFA Party.

If you would have had more time, you thought, you would have managed to get more people to come.

However, this amount was already enough.

Jaehee approached you and you still couldn’t believe that you actually accepted to open a coffee shop with her.

Blinded by love - this was real.

,,Mc, hello,’’ she shyly smiled and sat down next to you.

,,I would like to meet you tomorrow and talk about our project and also get to know you better, is that okay?’’ she asked you.

You nodded to Jaehee.

Her wonderful brown hair made you go crazy as you imagined your hand between her soft skin.

,,You are Honduran, right?’’ she asked you, making you look confused since you thought about totally different things.

,,Yes!’’ you answered.

,,I would like to bring more stuff from your country into the market, would that be okay? Can you name me some examples please?’’ she asked you.

You quickly came up with the quesadillas your grandmother would always make for you.

,,Okay! I will wait for a recipe then!’’ she laughed and was ready to go.

,,Contrólate!’’ you said in your head and finally called her.

Making her stop, Jaehee looked at you, waiting for you to tell her whatever you wanted to say.

,,I am… actually uncomfortable in crowded places… I’m not sure, if I am the best person for-’’

,,You are. I won’t force you to anything, but know that I will always be by your side. We will find a way,’’ she said and patted your hand.

Saeyoung

Like you, Saeyoung was at home most of the time.

Both of you were pretty similar, except for the fact that you were Honduran which made you a bit darker than Saeyoung, you could speak your native language, cook, and were actually sensitive to large groups.

Usually Saeyoung would make fun of you, but since he knew that this kind of stuff was real, he supported you as best as possible.

He tried his best to go shopping on his own, and whenever you had to go to your abuela’s shop, who lived in Korea too and raised you, he tried his best to drive you there so that there was no need for you to go by bus or train.

And besides, who needed an amusement park if he had a friend named Jumin Han, who could rent the whole place for you?

Living with Saeyoung made your life easier since he truly understood your fears, helped you, and even tried to get to know you better.

,,No, for God’s sake, how many times do I have to tell you I was born in Olanchito, traveled to Sonaguera when I was ten, and came here to Korea with my grandparents. See, this was my city,’’ you said as you zoomed in on the place on Google Maps.

,,Entiendo,’’ Saeyoung said.

,,You don’t understand anything!’’ you laughed, shaking your hand and explaining even more about your origins.

MASTERLIST 1

MASTERLIST 2

MASTERLIST 3

05.02.2021// 09.00 MEST

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minniewoos · 4 years

Text

Amortentia ➣ Hwang Hyunjin Pt.1

Genre: hogwarts au, slytherin!Hyunjin, fluff, angst, bestfriend!Seungmin

Pairing: hyunjin x reader

Word Count: 12,932

Summary: Hyunjin was conceived under the effects of a love potion, making it impossible for him to experience love. But you try your hardest anyway. And you kinda succeed.

part 1➣part 2 ➣part 3

"And the final curious potion we will be introducing today, last but not least, is Amortentia." Your potions professor announced. Professor Lee always had a bounce in his step and a delighted grin whenever he taught. Anyone who saw him could tell that potions were his passion. And today's lesson was no different; the smile on his pudgy face was more full than usual today. And you weren't sure why. But he continued dutifully with his teachings.

"I'm sure most of you already know what this little concoction is, it's quite famous amongst kids your age." He chipped, but then held his pointer finger up and towards the small group of students in front of him. He warned, "But don't even think about using it. This potion is considered highly dangerous and very powerful. It does not create genuine love, that is impossible to achieve by means of magic. Just an intense obsession. Understand?"

You heard a few peers around you sigh in disappointment. And you weren't very surprised since you always heard gossip through the grapevine. Stories about your classmates and their romantic struggles. And like your professor said, this potion was very popular. Everyone wants easy love, a perfect romance. You even thought about using it once or twice when you were younger; probably in year two or three. You shake your head at yourself, those days of pining after that certain person were behind you. At least, the childish thoughts of using magic to do that.

"Of course, I'm sure most of you are wise enough not to do that. I expect great things from you bunch, this is an advanced potion class. I see greatness in each one of you." Your professor smiled once again as his eyes landed on every one of you and your classmates. It was a mixed class as well; it had some students from each house attending it. Which was a change from the usual one or two houses per class, but you like it, you didn't interact as much with the other houses as you would've liked to.

"Would anyone like to tell me what they know about Amortentia before we begin?" Professor Lee let the question hang in the air, receiving only silence. His smile dropped for a moment, but it was up once more when he spotted somebody raised their hand. He nodded and pointed towards the owner of the raised hand, "Yes, Seungmin, go ahead."

“It’s complicated to brew, and it makes the person it’s used on have an extreme obsession.” Seungmin said, very interested in today’s lesson, “The smells also different for everybody; it smells like the three things people love the most.”

“That is correct! Five points for Ravenclaw.” Your professor chirped happily. “At the end of class, if anyone wishes, they may take a whiff of Amortentia if they’re curious about the smell.”

You smiled as well, and discreetly fist-bumped Seungmin for the extra points for your house. In your mind, he was always a good kid, if not a little odd sometimes. For the rest of the class, your professor spoke animatedly about Amortentia and went over its painful brewing procedure. You listened, well, you tried to. Looking to the brewing procedure is tedious and quite a bore, especially for such a long and precise potion like Amortentia. So, your thoughts wandered a bit, but you got the gist of what you needed to know about Amortentia. And if you had questions, the textbook was there for a reason. Instead, you were curious about what Amortentia smelled like for you; perhaps it would be your favorite coffee or tea, or maybe a particular food. What did Seungmin smell? Or the professor? You scanned the room, curious as to what the others would smell in the Amortentia.

There were pretty rowdy Gryffindors like Han Jisung or Shin Ryujin. But there was a certain Slytherin you were especially curious about. Eyes trained on Hwang Hyunjin, you concentrated as you tried to think. Your eyebrows scrunched together as you thought about what he would even smell, he was unpredictable, really. Nobody was really close to the aloof Slytherin, but he got along really well with everyone. He wasn’t cruel or stuck up despite the Slytherin stereotype, but he wasn’t friendly either. Hyunjin never stuck to people that well, it was as if he wasn't interested enough to care. On the other hand, people stuck to Hyunjin like glue; you weren't exactly sure why. So it confused you, why care so much about a guy who doesn't do the same? Perhaps it was because of his charm, the few times you spoke to him were very pleasant; it helped that he was a solid ten in looks. Nonetheless, there was something off about him that you couldn't figure out. Hyunjin was indeed a mystery.

“Hey, pay attention.” Seungmin jabbed at your side, effectively derailing your train of thought. “If we’re gonna be partners again, it’s not going to be like last time.”

You rolled your eyes, “Come on Minnie, it wasn’t that bad. Okay?”

He frowned, “Says you, the potion didn’t blow up right in your eyes.”

“Sorry?” You shrugged with a shy smile, feeling a little guilty about the potion incident. Seungmin went blind for a whole hour.

“You better be.” Seungmin turned his focus back into taking his notes. How diligent.

You pouted and leaned onto the desk, your chin resting in the palm of your hand. You muttered sourly, “That sounds like a threat.”

“That’s because it is.”

The class period reached its end quickly, and your mood was instantly lifted. While you enjoy the advanced potions class, it has a knack for putting you to sleep. You were a pretty lazy Ravenclaw.

“Remember class, I will offer you extra credit for this lesson! If you’re interested just sign this parchment before you leave the room, this is your last day to do this before I begin planning the extra credit.” Your professor reminded everyone one last time before dismissing the class.

The small class began to file out of the room, most of them gathering around the table with the vials of potions lined upon them. All the potions the professor went over today were interesting and very advanced. It was predictable which one people flocked towards first. Amortentia.

Chatter filled the air as you heard excited quips of what they smelled; others who were less interested simply left the room.

Seungmin was one of those people about to leave the room, completely ignoring the potions. But you clutched his arm and yanked him towards the table. He yelped in surprise before giving you an ugly look.

"Don't act like you aren’t curious about what you smell." You crossed your arms, standing in front of the table. The small crowd already began dispersing.

"I will act like it because I don’t." Seungmin sighed, then began to leave the room once more. "I'll meet you outside after you're finished."

Lips pursed in a frown, what a downer. You weren't sure what his problem was today, his mood seemed to drop mid-lesson. But ignoring Seungmin’s attitude, you faced the little vial of Amortentia. Little spiraling wisps rose from the vial, dissipating by the time it reached the height of your eyes. Already a little excited, you leaned down and took a whiff.

You smelled everything right away, each scent from the potion was strong and distinct. The corners of your lips tipped up.

Old books, and you knew exactly why. The Ravenclaw common room was absolutely filled with ancient books from top to bottom, and it showed. Bookcases were full of leather-bound books and rolled-up scrolls. The scent was faint but immediately noticeable, old and musty, but endearing to you. Ravenclaw pride bubbled up in your chest.

Then there was a sort of citrusy smell, it was oranges. Other than the fact that they smell good, they were always in season for you. Ever since the first day you sat down at the Ravenclaw table and the feast appeared in front of you, you adored Hogwarts’ oranges. It was the first thing you tried out of the feast, and the taste stuck with you. You’ll eat one whenever you have the chance.

Jasmine. The last scent was jasmine, and while you vividly recognize the smell, you were confused as to why you smelled it. There were no prominent memories associated with jasmine other than it just smelling very good. And despite your confusion around it, it was easily the most potent smell among the three. You stared intensely at the vial, trying to focus on the jasmine scent; it was possible a memory or feeling would come to you. But alas, you couldn’t quite put your finger on it.

Deciding to give up, you took a step away and just admired the potion for a moment. It was lovely, a light blue color with a sleek sheen to it and spiraling steam. No one would be able to tell what powerful properties it would have. You sigh before you noticed most others have left the class already to carry on their schedule. All except for one.

You were surprised to see Hyunjin standing in front of you on the opposite side of the table. He was glaring down at the potion, a confused and annoyed expression creased his face. Frowning, you wondered what he smelled to possibly cause such an irate reaction from the boy. Unsure of whether it was appropriate to ask, you just stared at Hyunjin’s concentrated expression. But as usual, curiosity got the better of you and decided you wanted to know why he seemed so annoyed. Hesitantly, you got his attention and waved a hand.

“Hey Hyunjin, what do you smell?” You leaned over to match his line of sight, with an awkward little smile to seem friendly. You gulped nervously after Hyunjin’s irritated gaze flicked to look you directly in your eyes.

“What do you smell?” He responded to your question with a question. You frowned but figured you would answer anyway.

“Hm...it was old books, oranges, and jasmine. Pretty pleasant if you ask me.” Shifting your weight, you tilted your head before questioning him again. “So, how about you?”

“Nothing.” His lips pursed with his eyebrows were scrunched, “I don’t smell anything.”

The first thought that came to you was simply that that wasn’t possible. But you couldn’t question him or dwell on the idea any longer. Hyunjin ended the small talk when he sharply snatched his textbook off the desk and left the room, leaving you to feel bad you even asked.

Feeling down since you’ve somehow insulted two people within the span of five minutes, you figure it’s your time to go. A heavy sigh and a moment later you headed towards the exit.

“Miss y/n, please don’t feel bad about that. It’s good to be curious. Some people just have a complicated relationship with this kind of stuff.” Professor Lee consoled you, he was packing his notes and materials up from his desk. His smile was sympathetic.

You smiled and shrugged, “I just don’t think he’s a very open person, sir.”

“Well, Miss y/n, that just makes their journey all the more satisfying.”

“The journey?”

“Getting to know somebody is an adventure all on its own. I’m sure you’ll discover this.” Professor Lee began walking out from behind his desk, parchment in hand. “Somebody like him specifically, Hyunjin, would be a tough but fascinating journey.”

“You’re talking about people like they’re stories, sir.”

“Well, everyone has their own story, for some people, it just takes some digging. I know you’re an inquisitive person, you have a thirst for knowledge."

"Thank you, your enthusiasm when you teach really does help." You smile gratefully, then paused as something came to mind. "Actually, where’s that parchment for the extra credit? I'd like to do it; the lessons have been getting a little hard to understand."

"Oh, of course! It's right here." He held out the parchment in his hand and gave you a quill. "Go right ahead dear, you'll be given a partner to complete this outside of class."

"Okay, thanks sir, I'll see you later." You sign and gather your things, leaving the classroom in a better mood than you would have otherwise. You nearly forget Seungmin was outside waiting for you, so you sent him an apologetic look.

"Took you long enough, I was about to go in and check if you died," Seungmin commented, propped on the ledge jutting out from the sculptured stone walls. He looked uncomfortable.

"Wow, you really did wait for me, I'm flattered." You smiled, pleasantly surprised despite the frown set on Seungmin.

"Yeah, I did, now hurry up before we're late for charms class." He began to walk ahead of you while you trailed behind him, a couple steps quicker to try to catch up. "What did you smell anyway?"

"Hmm, old books, citrus, and jasmine. All quite nice if you ask me."

Seungmin hummed in response, slowing his pace for you; he seemed content. The smug little smirk on your face showed your sense of satisfaction. Seungmin could never stay mean to you, it didn’t matter what; you two have been best friends since the first year. He got grumpy sometimes, but it never lasted long when it came to you. You nudged him with your elbow, catching him on the side; then, you looked up at him to show off your smug little grin. In return, he rolled his eyes and nudged you back, but you peaked at the little smile he attempted to hold back.

The next morning was breakfast time, and the only way to describe your journey to the Great Hall was a hobble. Or maybe a shuffle or stagger. And it was a long ways away from the Ravenclaw tower down to the Great Hall. As a result, you were really struggling to move your tired limbs. Perhaps you'll take a quick nap during breakfast, or sleep during Ms. Hong's charm class. Either way, you were not awake, and it showed. Badly.

Unfortunately, you’ve developed an awful habit of not sleeping when you’re supposed to, and it’s resulted in your morning zombie-ness. And general crankiness if you were going to be honest. All that nagging Seungmin threw at you didn’t help either, he always nagged at you to sleep early or to eat right. It was easy for him to say though, he was one of the early birds in this school.

And as soon as you took your seat at the Ravenclaw table, you knew the look Seungmin was putting your way. He really just reminded you of your mother sometimes. So, before he could nag you, you nagged yourself. You hitch your voice into a slightly nasally tone and scrunch your nose mockingly. “Y/n you need to sleep earlier, study before 10pm, don’t rely on caffeine, stop procrastinating you lazy ass.”

“I don’t sound like that!"

“Shhh, yea, you do, don’t pretend you don’t know. Don’t be so loud in the mornings, please.” You grumble and lay your head on the table after placing a muffin on your plate. After closing your eyes, you sigh heavily and ultimately regret your life choices that lead to your headache and tired eyes.

Seungmin shook his head, “I wasn't even going to say anything. You’re a brat in the mornings, you know that right?”

“Mmmhm, watcha gonna do about it?” You mumble, head still lying on the table and eyes shut comfortably. After a few seconds, you got no response, “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Meanwhile, Seungmin wasn’t buying into your childish attitude right now. Simply resting his cheek to the palm of his hand, eyelids lowering in boredom, and with a weary sigh said, “Your robes are on inside out.”

"No, it's not you're just messing with me." You didn't even bother to check.

Seungmin stopped bothering you in favor of chatting with Jeongin. Another Ravenclaw just a year below you; he also had a knack for annoying you. You weren't surprised that he and Seungmin got along so well. Eventually, maybe a few minutes passed before your thoughts shut down, and you were snoozing away. A soothing smell drifted in the air around you, slightly mixed in with the fresh oranges and ripening bananas. It smelled very familiar, but you were too drowsy to remember the name, and it served to make you fall deeper into your morning nap.

"How does she fall asleep so quickly…" Jeongin stared at you in engrossed bafflement and proceeded to wave a hand in front of your face. He was another early bird who enjoyed teasing you about your poor life choices.

“Because she refuses to go to bed at a reasonable time,” Seungmin said, bored as if he’s been through this situation many times before. Which to his credit, he has. "She’ll start snoring soon, just wait.”

And you did, the snores were quiet at first, more like loud breathing. Jeongin raised his eyebrows, “You were right.”

Seungmin smiled a smug smile, and tapped his temple. “I know her well, later she’ll complain about how tired she still is but can’t sleep. Then the cycle will repeat.”

Seungmin then pulled out a quill, a devilish smile on hand. “I have an idea.”

Jeongin mirrored his mischievous grin, immediately recognizing the type of quill he took out. Without hesitation, Seungmin, on your exposed cheek, began to write gently. While nothing showed up at first, the quill contained disappearing ink; and that means that in about an hour the ink will become visible. Just about the time you'd be getting sleepy again, in potions class where he had to deal with your lazy ass.

Seungmin felt satisfied with his work. His little art piece wasn’t visible at the moment. But the little mustache and monocle he drew would give him a good laugh later in class. He even wrote ‘I told you so’ on your forehead, just to take a jab at you.

Eventually, you were forced to wake up. The students around you filing out of the Great Hall and through the large entrance doors, the chatter filling the castle. You lifted your head. It felt heavy as you stretched your arms out to yawn. Drowsy and your vision still blurry, you picked up your muffin and quickly began to eat. You sat there for a moment, letting your sleepiness slowly fade away. Only then did you freeze Seungmin and jeongin left you there, you pursed your lips and puffed your cheeks out. But you should've expected it, it always annoyed Seungmin when your lousy sleeping habits caught up to you, and you knew it.

You shook it off though as Seungmin just being Seungmin and stared dully at the seat he sat in across from you. He had a half-filled plate of breakfast food leftover, and you really just thought of why he would grab so much if he didn't even eat it. But one thing caught your attention, making you do a double-take. A funny feeling began to settle in the pit of your stomach. Your eyes stuck on the teacup across from you as the gears in your head work hard. The silence as the room emptied out only amplified the thoughts in your mind.

Seungmin's tea was jasmine, he always drank a cup in the morning and before bed. Although Seungmin drinks a lot of tea throughout the day, jasmine is his favorite. It was usually routine for him to start and end the day with it. And well, you always liked the smell of it; since you associated it with good memories and Seungmin. You recognized it as the smell that so easily put you to sleep this morning. And you also recognized it as the last thing you smelled in Amortentia.

It wasn't hard to put two and two together, but it was a jarring revelation. Did you love Seungmin? Of course, you would say yes, but to think of him romantically gave you a funny feeling in your chest. You blinked at the teacup in front of you, trying to decipher what this meant for you. If somebody asked how you felt, you wouldn't be able to answer clearly. It was as if that warm, fuzzy feeling right now was also constricting. Your breathing was heightened, and there was a pressure in your abdomen. The most honest answer you could say was that your feelings were mixed.

"Miss," there was a tap on your shoulder, breaking you from your thoughts. You blink wildly as if torn from a daze and stare at the professor in front of you, slightly baffled. She looks at you softly, "it's time to go to class hun."

"Oh," you reply dumbly. But hearing the awkward sound quickly brought you back to your senses. "Oh, yes of course. I'm sorry professor, I guess I'm still waking up. It's not an easy morning I suppose."

"We all have those days, now hurry along and get to class before you're late."

"Of course, thank you" you gather your stuff and rush out of the now empty Great Hall.

You speed walked to your next class in a daze, took notes in a daze, and left the class in a daze. Seungmin. Seungmin? Maybe...but, it was Seungmin. Your best friend, Seungmin.

Which you had your next class with, and you absolutely wouldn't be able to concentrate. It was potions, which you suppose was a good thing. You were good at potions, and Professor Lee was giving out the assignments for the extra credit today. You found yourself standing in front of the potions room door, staring at the floor and thinking to yourself. You shake your head and huff, you just decide to focus on the studies for now. Worrying can wait.

You walk into potions class and take your usual seat next to Seungmin, and everything was as usual. Professor Lee began his lecture, and you and Seungmin made little comments to each other, sometimes snide and sometimes witty. He scribbled notes in his little parchment paper, bound into a notebook. You lean over towards Seungmin, boredom already creeping up on you, and start doodling on his parchment. He doesn’t even bat an eye, he’s too used to your strange doodles. At first, he always complained about the “weird muggle drawing” on his study notes. But he eventually grew to know who Spongebob was, initially asking why there was a “block of cheese with a face on it” on his paper. Being a young first year, you were horrified that he didn’t know who Spongebob was. And proceeded to explain to him what Spongebob and cartoons were. Little pureblood Seungmin was weirded out, but since you kept on drawing on his notes, he figured it was useless to keep complaining. Now he actually likes seeing your doodles on his notes, even if they weren’t that good. It was always a different person or character, and whenever a new one popped up, he would ask about it. Currently, you were doodling a bad rendition of the gang from Monsters Inc.

Seungmin glances over at you, smirks, then looks back down to continue note taking. This action makes you pause for a moment. You stare at him, waiting for him to explain to you why he looks so smug and satisfied. You can already tell this isn’t a good sign for you, to mentally prepare yourself for the worst.

“Seungmin.” You nudge him gently, “What did you do this time?”

He looks at you, eyes you a bit before looking at his paper again, a smile on his lips. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Liar.” You narrow your eyes, trying to think of the previous pranks he pulled on you. It only took a moment before the lightbulb lit above your head, your expression was one of annoyance. “You drew something on my face, didn’t you.”

“Of course not, why would I do that?” He pretends to be offended, but you knew he was satisfied on the inside. His response only confirmed your suspicions.

You grumble to yourself before trying to wipe the ink off your face, but you were sure you were just smudging it. Also hoping nobody else noticed whatever it was Seungmin decided to draw. And you could only wish it was nothing obscene. After a few minutes of trying to wipe the ink off your face, Seungmin finally took pity and began wiping it off for you. He chuckled silently to himself while doing it, though. What a little fucker.

Soon enough the professor got everyone's attention after his lecture of the day. You tuned in after a whole class period of barely listening, and it’s a good thing you did. He just started talking about the extra credit project. And so, you decide that you need to pay attention to this. Putting your thoughts away, you turned your focus towards professor Lee.

"Now, I must say I am slightly disappointed. Out of the 17 of you in this class, only 4 signed up for extra credit." Professor Lee huffed indignantly. But continued anyway. "But those who have, I’m proud to say, are quite brilliant students.”

You leaned into Seungmin and asked him in a low tone, “Did you sign up?”

He shook his head and shrugged, you pouted, a little disappointed.

“First pair, Na Jaemin and Kwon Eunbin. You two will be brewing the potion Felix Felicus. The next, and last, pair will be Hwang Hyunjin and y/f/n. And the two of you will be brewing Amortentia. Those are both complicated potions you know, and it must be done outside of class. We are much too busy in class here to work on this project. I suggest the four of you see me after class to discuss this more if you have any questions.”

Your curiosity was peaked, you twisted around in your chair to spot Hyunjin a few seats behind you. The odd boy was going to be your partner. He didn’t seem too interested, but his eyes flicked to meet yours when he sensed your gaze on him. You smiled and waved, trying to look friendly enough after what happened yesterday; maybe you came off as insensitive? Hyunjin nodded to you politely, the ghost of a smile hovered on his lips. After a moment, his attention turned back to the professor. But your gaze lingered for another second, you twisted back around after.

Seungmin nudged you, “Got a little crush, huh?”

Your jaw dropped and you smacked his arm in offense, “No, of course not. I just think he’s a little strange…”

“Strange?”

“Yea, isn’t there something off about him? He’s not mean or anything, but it’s like...like an act.”

Seungmin shook his head in denial, “I don’t see anything wrong, maybe that's just how he is.”

You thought about it for a moment, but it still bothered you. Nonetheless, the topic was dropped, and your mind clung onto another question. Was Seungmin aware of the Amortentia thing? He knew what you smelled in the potion, and Seungmin isn’t a dumb boy. Unquestionably he connected the dots and knew you smelled his jasmine tea, but for some reason just held off telling you. Or maybe he didn’t want to cause any awkward feelings because he didn’t reciprocate those feelings…

The thought of that put you down though, like your heart felt heavy just thinking of that possibility. You frowned, you were positive Seungmin knew, because you knew him well enough. He’s a smart boy. You rested your chin on your hand and tilted your head to eye Seungmin, squinting your eyes skeptically.

Of course, he noticed, not like you were hiding it anyway. He only looked at you weirdly and scoffed, amused. “What’s with the stink eye?”

“Not a stink eye, just thinking.” Your response was curt.

He pinched your nose affectionately while you swatted his hand away, “You overthink.”

“What a hypocrite, you’re a thinker too.”

“Yea, but at least I’m still grounded in reality. When you think, your heads way up there.” Seungmin looks up and points towards the sky. You purse your lips, unable to retort. And soon after, class was finishing up.

You stood from your seat, grabbed your textbooks, and waited as you leaned on the table. Eyes closed, you sigh breathily and wait for further instructions. When you open your eyes, Hyunjin was waiting as well with the same bored expression as you. The other two classmates were standing around too, it seems like none of you were particularly happy about this extra credit project. You couldn’t dwell on the thought much longer, though, because your professor stood in front of you all now, a huge gummy smile on his face. You sneak a glance at Hyunjin only to see a prominent frown on his usually indifferent face, your head tilts in curiosity.

“Hm…”

∎∎∎

Two days later and you sat in the library, not exactly enthused about Hyunjin’s tardiness. When Professor Lee explained the criteria for the extra credit a couple days ago, you and Hyunjin decided on when your first meet-up would be. And it was agreed that 6pm in the library would work. You were chewing on some oranges, a pile of the rines sitting on the table, the citrus-y scent wavering around you.

Apparently, it didn’t, because Hyunjin was thirty minutes late and your temper was increasing by the minute. You were muttering to yourself, “This boy, geez, what’s his deal. He better have a mighty good excuse for this…”

Pulling out a potions textbook, you just decide to start on your own. Doing nothing won’t get you anywhere. You probably sat there for another fifteen minutes or so before a couple chairs were pulled out and sat in. Looking up, you expected to see Hyunjin, but instead you were greeted by Jaemin and Renjun, you furrowed your eyebrows. You were friends with the two boys, Renjun was in Ravenclaw with you so it was a natural friendship. And you knew the Slytherin Jaemin through Renjun, all in the same year as you. You tilted your head and rested an arm on your textbook.

“What are you guys doing here?” You asked, a bored look in your eyes.

Jaemin whistled, pretending to be offended, “What? No ‘Hi Jaemin! Hello Renjun! It’s so nice to see you guys.’”

You rolled your eyes at him, Jaemin even fluttered his eyelashes for the extra flair. “No, since when have I ever greeted you guys like that. And you didn’t answer my question, why are you here?”

“Ah, you’re so cold to us.” Renjun chuckled, but smiled nonetheless, knowing you were just being comfortable with them. “We just needed to check up on some things. But we saw you and wanted to say hi. The real question is, why are you here and why do you look so pissy?”

“I’m doing extra credit work for potions, but, Hyunjin is supposed to do it with me and I haven’t heard from him.” You frowned, bookmarking your page and closing your textbook.

“What, really?” Jaemin looked confused, “Hyunjin was sleeping last I saw him.”

“He...was sleeping.” You repeated, irritated and about to drag him to the library by his ear if need be.

Jaemin nodded and stood up, “He’s one of my roommates. Never mentioned extra credit or anything.”

Renjun stood up with him and shrugged, “Maybe you guys will have to reschedule your study date. Wish you luck, we’ll be going now.”

“Study date?? Renjun no, no, that's not-” You tried to explain, but they walked away before you even finished your sentence. They even stole a couple of your oranges before they left. You sighed, exasperated and tired, they always teased you; they even had the nerve to steal your oranges! But your irritation caught up to you again as your head dropped and thumped onto the table. You sighed heavily as you just laid there, you figured it’s about time you pack things up. You can’t get too far without Hyunjin, and you weren’t about to do all the work and let Hyunjin slack off. This was a group project!

Just as you stood up and began packing your things away, a familiar figure rushed into the library, making a ruckus and disturbing the calm atmosphere. It was Hyunjin.

The boy basically stumbled through the door and slammed his hands against the wall to keep himself from entirely faceplanting. Somehow while still tripping over his own two feet. All of which caused a loud thud sound and all eyes on him; this provoked a violent and angry “Shhh!” from the librarian. He stood up straight and apologized, seemingly bewildered at how extra his entrance was. Then as he lifted his head up, he was able to see that most eyes were on him. Pink crept up his neck, and his usual calm demeanor was broken as he scratched the back of his neck. He quickly walked away from the entrance, trying to shake off all the eyes on him. It didn’t take long for Hyunjin to spot you and he made his way over, he let out a long, drawn out sigh. He shook his head, eyes squeezed shut for a moment as if he was trying to erase that moment from his memory.

You stood there, arms crossed and a prominent frown gracing your features. About a million questions were buzzing through your head, but first one you chose to scold him. “Why are you so late?? I was sitting here for like 45 whole minutes Hyunjin, and Jaemin comes by and tells me you were sleeping?? Really? Honestly, you better have a damn good excuse for this, this project isn’t easy, and we gotta pick it up if we want to do good on it.”

Hyunjin just stood there, mouth slightly ajar and eyes staring intently. He then stammered, “R-right sorry, I had quidditch practice before this and I got back to the dorm and just crashed… I woke up and ran here...um...”

He didn’t know what else to say. He was...flustered? Your eyebrows furrowed and your anger subsided in favor of curiosity. You’ve never seen this boy flustered before. Hyunjin always seemed level-headed and sharp, but with the way he was acting now, it was a strange new side of him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Hyunjin questioned, kind of worried about what you would say next. “Are you about to scold me more or…”

You looked up at him and shrugged, a glint of teasing in your eyes, “I just think you’re strange. Now let’s get started on this project, chop chop.”

Your response clearly caught him off guard. “Wh-what, wait, strange? You can’t just change the subject like that, why? Hey, don’t ignore me.”

“Come on, I already started the research for this, you gotta catch up.”

“I-what?? You started without me?”

“Um, yea, you were late so I’m not the one at fault here. Now come onnn, I wanna get started.”

“Ah...okay okay.” Hyunjin was still a little flustered and confused, but he sat down beside you anyway and looked at the textbook. It seemed like he was in deep thought, just staring dumbly at the textbooks cover. He was still processing the embarrassing moment that just took place.

You had to flip the book open to the right page, and Hyunjin’s lips formed an ‘o’. You chuckled to yourself, figuring this was going to be a bit more fun than you initially expected. Picking up an orange, you began to peel it and handed Hyunjin a piece. He took it gratefully and you plopped a bit into your mouth, savoring the flavor as you started reading the textbook with Hyunjin.

And studying with Hyunjin was...surprisingly easy. He was cooperative, and if he had any questions, he didn’t hesitate to ask. While he very swiftly regained his usual calm demeanor, it wasn’t a stubborn or cold one as you had originally thought. He was just quite a bit more aloof and quiet, not like that’s an awful thing; although, it was as though he attempted to regain his composure. Despite that, you discovered that the two of you actually got along quite well. You were actually making good progress on the research portion of this project. Note-taking and finding the right sources were a breeze, which usually weren’t in your past experiences. It was a miracle in a sense, Hyunjin was able to make good progress, even with your lazy ass occasionally getting distracted. Which he quickly turned your attention back to the problem at hand. The only thing that bothered you, sometimes Hyunjin would get a blank look on his face. It would be in between the little intervals of conversation, and he would just go blank. No facial expression but he was clearly thinking, his mind was running, but nothing was there. It normally wouldn’t bother you, it was just how he felt, right? It was just the vacant look his eyes took on, they were cold and distant. Something about it made you uncomfortable. Those moments were rare, though, and so you just carried on.

Nearly an hour later, you stretched your arms in the air, flexing your fingers out. A yawn escaped your lips as you rubbed your dreary eyes, laying your head on the table between your crossed arms. Hyunjin's condition was no different. He was leaning back in his chair, slouched and his head drooping. His hair fell over his half-lidded eyes while his arms were crossed comfortably. Sleep for these two drowsy sorcerers was imminent. The efforts of your work were splayed out across the table, messy hand-writing and orange rinds and all. Several open textbooks were stacked upon each other, the musty library smell and peaceful silence lulled you two to sleep.

The sun was beginning to set as an illustrious golden glow shown through the library windows. Rays of the intense orange glow shining spotlights upon the few library occupants remaining. As the sun sunk over the horizon, a particularly strong orange ray slowly crept its way right into Hyunjin’s face. He sneered at the disturbance of his sleep, squeezing his eyes before fluttering them open. His hand went to shield his eyes from the annoying light.

Hyunjin had to blink a couple more times to get a hold of his surroundings, temporarily forgetting where he was. But he quickly remembered whenever he was you snoozing away next to him. Your head on the table, using a textbook as a cushion. Your hair fell over your face, a strand getting caught between your lips as you snored softly. Hyunjin’s eyebrows raised curiously as he watched your lips move intermittently, you were mumbling under your breath. Sleep talking.

Hyunjin frowned. What time is it? He looked around the library, and there were simply a few students left, the sun was setting, and even the librarian was giving him a nasty side-eye. He cringed, remembering his entrance from earlier and figured it was time to go. His attention was turned back to you, he reached out and brushed the hair out of your face. Trying not to startle you, he placed his hand on your shoulder and shook gently.

"Y/n…" he prodded, but you were as still as a log, your cheek squished up against the textbook. Hyunjin prodded once more, shaking you a bit harder this time and still no response except a vague mumble of word salad from you.

"Tch, what a hypocrite," he scoffed, but there was no ill intent behind the action. He raised an eyebrow, and his lips raised as well in a smirk. Hyunjin was plotting against you. He sat up and leaned in close to you with his elbows situated on his knees.

"Hey...y/n…” Hyunjin cooed gently beside you, “Honey, I love you.”

You smiled faintly, still snoozing, but you responded nonetheless. "I love you too, Minnie…"

Hyunjin raised an eyebrow, continuing deviously, "When’s our date?"

Your eyebrows scrunched and you mumbled something incoherently. "Bu..en..mmm… you asked me out?

"Yea, to Hogsmeade, remember silly."

"Hmmm, I dunno." you trailed off, a soft snore interrupted your thoughts. "Is about time though…"

Hyunjin leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed and a smug smirk gracing his features. He was satisfied, and what he suspected was true. Amused and planning on teasing you later, Hyunjin finally woke you up for real.

You lifted your head up and yawned as you stretched your legs, "What's the time…?"

Hyunjin shrugged, looking forward he couldn't help but smile.

"What's that look for?" You sat up and turned toward him, seeing the weird smile he put on.

"Oh nothing," he shrugged, then turned his head over his shoulder, the shit eating grin wider now. "I just discovered you talk in your sleep."

A grain of dread settled into your stomach, small yet very obviously there. The unattractive feeling must've shown on your face since Hyunjin looked very amused. You gulped, a knot began to form in your throat as you muttered, embarrassed. "What did I say?"

You've often been told you slept talk. But it was mostly around your roommates in the late hours of the night, you never talked in your sleep in the day. If you did, Seungmin would've commented on it more. You were sure of that. You stared at Hyunjin expectantly, waiting for him to answer. But he only rested his elbow on the back of the uncomfortable wooden chairs and twisted his back, stretching it out.

"Ahh, that's a conversation for another day. I'm tired and my backs killing me." He whined as he stretched his back. Then rubbed his neck with a soft smile, "The library isn't very comfortable."

There was a hint of teasing in that grin. You narrowed your eyes. "Hwang Hyunjin, whatever I said stays between us, got it?"

In response, he winked and put a finger to his lips in a shushing motion. You narrowed your eyes playfully and smiled. Hyunjin stood up, the wooden chair squeaking against the floorboards, and gathered the leather-bound textbooks. Just as he turned his back toward you, he lowered his head to check the books in his arms and spoke. You noticed his hair brushed over his eyes.

“Have a good night, y/n.”

“You too.”

And so, not too long after you were sitting in the Ravenclaw common room. The tall walls lined with books from all over, old and new. Blue and bronze decorated the entire space, and the white walls stood elegantly. Exhausted and weary, but not tired enough to sleep so you just hung yourself on an armchair as Seungmin read on the floor beside you. You groaned as your head rested on the arm of the chair. Your leg draped over the opposite arm. You squeezed your eyes shut and sighed.

“Was working with him that bad?” Seungmin pulled his brows together, setting his book down and twisting around to look at you. You looked down at him, cross-legged on the floor and staring up at you. Shaking your head, you sighed again and just laid there for a moment.

“No, it wasn’t. But well, I don’t know. He’s odd.” You tried to explain, but the weariness throughout your body was impeding on your ability to think properly.

“Real descriptive.” He smiled and leaned his back against the foot of the armchair. “So, then he’s weird?”

“Well, no, but he’s not...normal? Not like it’s a bad thing, but it’s just, like he’s hiding something? I don’t know, Seungmin, like sometimes I see him and he looks so cold. And sometimes he’s so charismatic, you know?” You exasperatedly waved your hands to try to explain better, but Seungmin wasn’t even looking. He was listening, though, since he hummed thoughtfully. You continued, “I don’t know how to put it, but I can just sense something off about him. The more I think about it, the more he confuses me. You just can’t tell right away.”

Seungmin leans his head again the chair, “You’re thinking about him an awful lot.”

“Because he’s confusing.” You whined. “And now I gotta work with him for the next...oh I don’t know, a month? And it’s just going to confuse me more, it’s intellectual torture, Seungmin.”

“Oh, poor you.” Seungmin faux pouted, then let out a little laugh, “Are you sure you aren’t just, curious about him? Maybe he’s only confusing to you because you want to get to know him better. Mysteries always intrigued you.”

You pondered his words for a while, a frown settling onto your face. The sun had finally set and the only light in the common room was from the little lanterns spread about, gifting the refined room with warm orange light. Maybe Seungmin was right? But that couldn’t be the only reason to be so confused about Hyunjin. You were a naturally curious person, always have been, so it’s not impossible. In the end, you decided to drop the topic and try to go to sleep.

“Well, whatever.” You sat up and ruffled Seungmin’s hair up, “I’ll be going to bed now.”

Seungmin swatted your hand away and attempted to smooth his hair down, but it was too late. You snicker at him and stand up, making your way across the common room towards the girls' dorms. You called out, tiredly leaning onto the cold, stone walls “Goodnight, Minnie.”

“Yea, see ya.” Seungmin yawned and lifted a hand.

∎∎∎

A whole week after beginning the project, and you and Hyunjin were well on the way to making the potion. It was going very well, and in your opinion, you were beginning to befriend Hyunjin. Despite his eccentricities, he was charming to be around. It didn’t surprise you that he tended to get along with most people. While he had his moments, be it a bad mood or whatever, you tried not to dwell on it too much.

Especially since the Amortentia was looking fantastic. The potion research paper and data were all gathered and written down. All that was left was the actual brewing and then the after paper. Fun.

So, after school for four days a week, you and Hyunjin brew the Amortentia in the potions room. Which was where you were heading to, the tapping of your footsteps echoing in the spacious stone halls. The chittering of a few students accompanied the background noise. Still, you figured most students were enjoying their free, after-school leisure time and weren’t trying to wander the halls. Unlike you. Not like you minded much. You’d actually be lying if you said you weren’t looking forward to this time spent with Hyunjin, the two of you actually got along quite well.

When you arrived to the potions room, you pushed the heavy wood door open with one hand while your other carried the supplies. When your eyes shifted up, the simple yet comical sight made you bark out a laugh. You experienced a short bout of Deja Vu. Because what you found was Hyunjin standing plainly in front of the cauldron, just looking down into it. He wasn’t in any sort of natural pose, nor was he leaning his weight anywhere. Hyunjin was just standing there, arms at his sides, and looking down at the caldron as if he didn’t know what to do.

He reminded you of a sim. Like from the muggle computer games.

And it amused you very very much.

“You look like a sim!” You laughed delightfully, closing the door behind you.

Hyunjin looked at you, brows pulled together in obvious confusion. He still stood in the default sim pose. “A what?”

“A sim!” You snickered, “Like when they don’t have any instructions.”

And Hyunjin just stared at you as if you were mad. He shifted his weight onto one foot and crossed his arms, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

You shot him a sympathetic smile and wiped a fake tear from your eye, really playing up the dramatic act in that moment. “Ah, that’s right. You, my friend, are a pureblood and unknowing of muggle luxuries. What a shame.”

Hyunjin rolled his eyes, “That doesn’t answer my question, what the hell is a sim? Like, a simulator? What kind of simulators do muggles run?”

The boy looked perplexed. It amused you.

You laid your books down on the table next to the cauldron and took out a couple quills. “Nope, it’s a uh, a game. Like on the computer so it’s digital and doesn’t have any real world effects.”

“What’s a computer?” Hyunjin looked intrigued now, tilting his head like a puppy with his soft brown puppy eyes. Why did this guy have to be so good-looking? It wasn’t good for your emotional capacities, aka your heart. You sighed.

“You have a lot to learn about the muggle world.” Shaking your head, you stirred the potion in the cauldron. “It’s a shame cause all of it really had progressed quite far.”

“Yea, but they don’t have magic, how advanced can they really b-”

You jumped, twirling 180 degrees to face Hyunjin behind you and cutting him off with a gasp, “You don’t know about memes!”

“What the fuck is a memes??”

Oh, you had so much to teach him about muggles. Which is what you did, and to your pleasant surprise, he seemed interested. He asked a lot of questions, which made you quite happy to explain to him. You rambled on about the muggle world as Hyunjin kept an open ear, all while beginning the brewing for the Amortentia. While muggles aren't as controversial to Slytherins as they used to be, many Slytherin and pureblood enthusiasts still turn their nose up at them.

Hyunjin, you were glad, was not one of them.

The first thing you taught Hyunjin was about gum of all things. You happened to have a pack on you and offered him some mint gum. You told him tons of muggles chewed it, but usually never swallowed it. He seemed a little confused at first. He didn’t complain and still seemed to like it though.

“Okay, so...today we added the ashwinder eggs and a handful of rose thorns” You read off of the instructions. “The potion needs to sit before we do much else with it, so we can continue brewing in about an hour. Then it has to sit for a whole nother day.”

You read over the specific instructions one more time to make sure and check yourself. While the potions ingredients were easily obtainable at Hogwarts, the procedures for it were incredibly tedious.

Hyunjin pulled a face mockingly, “Stir potion rigidly for ten and a half turns, let sit for five minutes before putting in sixteen rose thorns, blah blah blah.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” You nudged him and rolled your eyes, “don’t forget who had to get the ingredients because the bat spleens made you too squeamish.”

“You can’t blame me, those are disgusting.” Hyunjin stuck his tongue out and scrunched his nose, just by remembering the smell in the supply cabinet. He sat down and made himself comfortable, throwing his leg around the back of it so he straddled the chair. He rested his chin on it and he stared at you. “I’m bored.”

You climbed onto the table, next to the cauldron and plopped down on it. Your legs hung in the air and you just shrugged at him. “There isn’t much to do other than wait.”

“Earlier…” Hyunjin began, a hint of wonderment in his voice. “You were talking about muggle games and what they do for fun. Continue with that.”

You smiled, “Well, that’s a broad topic…”

“Oh, let’s play the one. Um… Dare and Truth?” Hyunjin tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows, then nodded to himself.

“Truth or Dare.”

“Same thing.”

Hyunjin surprised you in many ways, but you never expected to be playing truth or dare with the boy. Despite his slight confusion on how to play, it was a fun time and you ended up playing until the end. A lot more fun than you expected, actually. You’ve discovered Hyunjin was quite dramatic and a bit of a scaredy cat, refusing to partake in some of the more out-there dares you suggested. So, you were lenient on the dares since he was a newbie. Although, halfway into the hour, the game started to sound more like Would You Rather since there’s only so much two people could do with Truth or Dare.

Admittedly, you found Hyunjin very charming. He was distant in many ways, but still kind and charismatic. And oftentimes, you found yourself laughing with him. It surprised you how well the two of you connected.

“So…” Hyunjin hummed, taking his time to think of a question. “Would you rather...live as a muggle or a wizard for the rest of your life?”

You opened your mouth, then closed if after a second to think. Off the top of your head, you were about to say wizard, hands down. But as a muggle-born, your whole childhood was spent in the muggle world. Your entire family were muggles, and almost everything you knew was muggle. You loved the wizarding world, but you would most certainly feel homesick. “Um...muggle.”

Hyunjin looked surprised, “Why? That means no magic.”

He seemed perplexed, but you simply shrugged, “I love the muggle world. It’s where I grew up and where everything I know is. My family are muggles...I don’t think I could leave that behind.”

Hyunjin nodded thoughtfully, “It sounds amazing how they live so efficiently without magic…”

“It’s not as archaic as it sounds.” You laughed, “Muggles are actually very innovative. Now it’s my turn to ask you something.”

“Shoot. Oh, can I have another piece of gum?” He asked before you threw him another piece. He’s recently addicted to the mint-flavored gum you’ve been handing out. He wasn’t a big fan of gum before you, but now it just seems like he constantly asks you. The wizarding world does have gum, but it’s somewhat different from muggle gum. You guessed Hyunjin just preferred it more.

“So, would you rather risk your life for someone you love or have somebody risk their life out of love for you?” You smirked. Leaning back on the palms of your hands, you shifted; your bottom was getting uncomfortable from sitting on the tabletop for so long.

Hyunjin went silent for a moment, his expression dropped significantly. It looked conflicted and he slumped to rest his chin on the chairs back. Your smug smirk is wiped off your face as you realize you may have hit a sensitive topic for him, but you stayed silent and waited for his answer. He took his time, but he eventually looked up at you, sincerity crystal clear as he gave you your answer.

“I would rather die for love.”

The look of pure determination in his eyes caught you completely off guard. Your innocent question was answered thoughtfully by Hyunjin, who seemed to have strong feelings about it. At a loss for words, you blinked a couple times. You swallowed a sudden lump in your throat as you felt your heart thump wildly in your chest. These feelings were an unexpected turn of events, but after another moment, you smiled at him.

“That’s really endearing, I’m sure the love you feel is strong if you’re willing to risk your life for them.” You grinned warmly, then you pondered wistfully “I wonder if I could do anything like that...how that would feel to love someone so much in a moment.”

Hyunjin tore his eyes away from you, “Yea, I wonder what that feels like as well.”

∎∎∎

You sat across from Hyunjin, who was being very pouty at that moment.

Your arms were crossed, “Come on, get to work.”

He rested his chin on the table and looked at you with those big, stupid puppy dog eyes. “No.”

“We are literally in the library to do this stupid project,” You lightly whacked his shoulder, “now work.”

“I’m tired.” He whined and put his head down. His arms were splayed out on the table and pushed the numerous textbooks out of the way, ultimately messing up the study space. Hyunjin was not an easy person to motivate.

It was very late. The two of you have been in the library for four hours already, and for some reason, the Amortentia turned a weird green color. You were trying to find a way to remedy it without restarting the whole potion because it takes so long to brew. So you gathered as many potions books you could find and dropped them onto the table. All while Hyunjin attempted to work on the essay that was due with this project as well. And he was not happy with it.

“Y/n, I’m nearly dyslexic. Why did you make ME write the essay?? You’re the Ravenclaw.” He sat up and complained, throwing the quill onto the table. The light plink sound it made caused you to look up from the current book you were reading. You sighed and frowned.

“Look, I know you’re frustrated,” You then held up your textbook to face him. Allowing him to see the tragedy that was the potions book, it had itty bitty font with such confusing wording that even Shakespeare would cringe at it. “But do you REALLY want to read this horror story of a textbook. The dude who wrote this must’ve really been up his high horse. It really just sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo without a dictionary. He really just thinks big words and long sentences means better writing. Yikes.”

“Ah, come on it can’t be that bad.”

You gave him a look and handed him the textbook. “Okay, how about you read for a while and I’ll write?”

“Deal.” Hyunjin took the textbook and slid the parchment paper over to you, flicking it over carelessly and clearly happy to be rid of it. He obviously didn’t care much for this essay. You chuckled and shook your head.

You began by reading over what he already wrote, and it wasn’t bad, you just had to correct a few things before you started writing. Hyunjin only sat in stubborn silence, brows lowered in concentration. It’s wasn’t even ten minutes later when Hyunjin slammed the book down in frustration, “Listen, I don’t consider myself dumb. But what the hell does ‘DEFENESTRATE’ MEAN!!!???”

You calmly looked up from the paper, “The act of throwing something out of a window.”

“I’m about to throw this book out the window.” He ran a hand through his hair and took a long, heavy sigh. “Let me read it for like, ten more minutes and then we can switch back?”

“Yeah yeah, just let me know when. I bet you only last five.” You smiled and challenged him. Then got back to work, finding him a little cute.

“Yeah I’ll prove you wrong.” He muttered and began reading, this time with a dictionary on hand.

Time passed quickly, and soon ten minutes became twenty and you were getting suspicious. It was getting late and the library would be closing soon. The lights were dimming significantly as long shadows loomed through the library rows. Only about halfway done with the essay you take a quick break to see Hyunjin nose deep in the book. The worn leather bound cover clenched tight in his slender fingers as he looked slightly distressed. His hair was more ruffled up, probably from him running his hands through it a few too many times. But his expression was concerning, his lips were pulled taught and there was a heavy crease between his eyebrows. His eyes, especially, looked troubled and worried.

“Hey Hyunjin…” You called to him, concern lacing your voice.

“Hm...?” He didn’t take his nose out from the book, eyes still scanning the words of it.

“You can take a break, it’s okay. You just look...I don’t know, upset.”

Hyunjin finally looked up from the book and lowered it, you saw him swallow. His eyes darted away from you.

“What’s wrong?”

He looked at you intensely, as if he were analyzing you. Judging you. It made you fidget in your chair, shifting your weight once or twice under his burning gaze. After he looked away again, he began packing up. Quickly shoving the textbook into his bag with the rest of his supplies. He stood up, frazzled and unnerved, “I’ll check this book out, let’s get out of here and then I’ll explain.”

“Hyunjin, you’re scaring me.” You looked at him suspiciously, slowly packing your stuff up as well.

“It’s okay, I just think...I just think I know what the problem is now.” Hyunjin grabbed your hand and guided you out of the library. He took the lead since he seemed like he wanted to go somewhere specific. He was on alert and a little jumpy, walking quickly. So, you didn’t say much more and allowed him to just show you what he wanted to. Soon enough though he calmed down a little and slowed down his pace, now walking side by side with you. You were clearly confused and a little anxious, but his hand in yours calmed you a little. You weren’t sure if he just forgot to pull his hand away or if he held it deliberately, he was frazzled so it made it hard to tell. You decided not to bring it to attention.

Eventually, he pulled you around a corner and into a room you've never seen before. The door was designed differently from the other entries in the castle, it was larger. Hyunjin quickly shut it behind you and seemed to relax a little. His shoulders visibly relaxed and he took a deep breath, eyes closed.

After admiring the room, it was small. Just about half the size of a classroom but still enough room to not feel suffocated. The room was a little plain but had furniture in the middle, just a couple love seats and a coffee table. After deciding it wasn't anything special except for a lounge room, you looked to Hyunjin. You took a step towards him, "Hyunjin?"

He opened his eyes and distanced himself from the door to walk past you and sunk into one of the chairs. He motioned for you to sit across from him. And you did, waiting patiently for him to explain.

"Um...so nothings really wrong. But…" he began but trailed off soon after. As if he wasn't quite sure what to say. He folded his hands in front of him and looked to his feet.

“Then what was that all about?” You leaned forward, concerned and not quite sure of yourself. “You suddenly rushed out of the library, half-pulled me through the castle, and now we’re in a room I never knew even existed in Hogwarts.”

“Oh! About that, this is called the Room of Requirement.” Hyunjin gained a little more confidence. Seemingly to stall the inevitable conversation, he was so desperately trying to avoid. “It only appears to students who need it, and it changes depending on what the need is. And right now...I just needed a private space to talk.”

You nodded, still confused, “So it just...appears sometimes?”

“Exactly.” Hyunjin nodded and fell silent.

It stayed silent, and you just looked at him expectantly. He avoided eye contact and looked uncomfortable, shifting in his seat and fiddling with his hands.

“Hey Hyunjin…” You called, and in the most comforting voice you could, “you don’t have to tell me now if it’s this distressing for you. It’s okay, as long as you’re comfortable and when you calm dow-”

“No no, I... I want to.” He interrupted you and shook his head, but he still looked unsure of himself. Despite that, he composed himself better and calmed down. “I’m just...nervous? Maybe I’m scared.”

“You sound like you don’t know.” You said quietly.

“I’m the reason why the Amortentia isn’t working.” He said, eyes avoiding you and palms sweaty.

“Is that all?” You seemed dumbfounded, “Hyunjin, if that’s the problem then that's okay! It’s not that big of a deal, this is only a bonus project and even then, it’s not like we were going to use it anyway.”

“No no, there’s more to it. So much more.” He said delicately, choosing his words carefully. “I…”

His eyebrows furrowed as if he wasn’t sure how to continue his train of thought. He tilted his head and continued, “Do you know what happens when a child is conceived under the effects of Amortentia?”

You nodded, “Yea, the child won’t be able to feel love. That’s why Voldemort...couldn’t.”

Hyunjin frowned but nodded. “That’s right. The child can’t feel love. That-that doesn’t mean they’re inherently evil, but the feeling of love just doesn’t come to them.”

“Okay, but why did you bring this up? Voldemort’s be dead for decades.” You were thoroughly confused now. Was Hyunjin concerned about the consequences of brewing this potion? Was the potion being brewed wrong? What did he read?

“Well, turns out...if a person who was conceived under Amortentia, tries to brew it, it won’t work. The Amortentia will have the opposite effect instead...not ‘love,’ but disgust. And it turns a green color...” Hyunjin explained, much calmer now, but the nervous glint in his eyes were still present. His long fingers were fidgety and you noticed his Adam's apple bob.

“Wait, but our potion is…” Your eyes widened in realization, and your lips formed an o shape. Your eyes quickly turned sympathetic. “Oh Hyunjin…"

You quickly reassured him that it was okay and went to sit beside him. You took his one hand and held it between your own, your thumb rubbing reassuring circles over his skin. While his palms were a little shaky, he calmed down a little and proceeded to steady his breathing. Hyunjin finally got the courage to look at you, he lifted his head gently as he gauged you from behind his fringe. And you smiled, your eyes showed kindness and acceptance. You realized this explained so much about him. This was why he didn’t smell anything in the Amortentia, why he felt so cold at times, and why he wasn’t close to many people.

Hyunjin visibly relaxed, “I was afraid that you’d think I’m a monster.”

“Never, Hyunjin, I could never think that.”

“You’re unique then...most people do.” Hyunjin’s eyebrows pulled together, a sad look crossed his face as his lips tugged down. He was reminiscing, but they obviously weren’t happy memories.

You squeezed his hand in reassurance, “I don’t, and others shouldn’t either. Hyunjin, you are absolutely not a monster and people who think that just don’t understand. They...are not the end all be all.”

He nodded and smiled at you, “You know, I’m really glad I’ve met you… This might sound weird, but I don’t think I’ve felt this close to somebody before.”

“And what’s close to you?” You tilted your head, wondering what feelings he felt for you if not love.

“I can’t feel love, but it’s more like trust.” Hyunjin nodded to himself, his gaze towards the ground, “It’s like trust and safety. And I’m comfortable and happy. And well, it’s not like I don’t feel happy around our classmates, I think I get along with most people really well. But it’s kind of like...I couldn’t care less about them. And I don’t say that like I don’t see them as people, I do. But to get myself to care about them and what goes on in their lives, I just don’t.”

“Then, how am I any different?” You asked, still curious about what you did differently.

And Hyunjin only shrugged, “I just feel more comfortable with you, most people tend to say I’m cold when they try to get close to me. They would get offended that I don’t seem interested, but you just...treated me normally. You didn’t push anything and just treated me as you would anyone else. You did it with a kind heart too. I guess you could say you were very loving in a way. I think it’s something I want and seeing you in love helps me. It lets me see what being in love is like.”

“M-me, in love?” You stuttered, caught off guard at Hyunjin's sudden statement. You weren’t entirely sure what he was talking about. Maybe it was Seungmin, or perhaps it was that he noticed you were catching feelings for him. You really hoped he didn’t notice.

Hyunjin chuckled, but it sounded sad. “The relationship you have with your friend, that other Ravenclaw, Seungmin. It’s very wholesome, anybody could see the amount of love and care the two of you have for each other. It’s natural and simplistic and... I don’t know. I guess I get a little jealous.”

Feeling your face redden in embarrassment just made you even more nervous. As your heart thumped loudly, you laughed nervously. And you tried to wave off Hyunjin’s words. “How do you know I love Seungmin? He’s my best friend, of course, I love him but-”

“Remember when you were sleep talking the other day?” Hyunjin’s devilish grin made your stomach drop. He was implying that...no.

“What did I say, I swear to god if you say anything to anybody you are a dead man.”

“Just that you’ve been wanting a date with the one and only Kim Seungmin at Hogsmeade. That’s all.” He teased. Which was conflicting since he seemed much more comfortable now, but he took the liberty to tease the hell out of you.

Immediately you covered your face and buried your head in your hands. Every time you attempt to confront your feelings for Seungmin, you get too confused and flustered. So you just tended to not dwell on it, mainly since it could ruin the friendship. You didn’t want that.

“Sorry sorry,” Hyunjin was very amused and ruffled your hair up, “I’ll stop, but only because if I continue, you’d shut down completely.”

You grumbled and rolled your eyes, “You’re not wrong.”

A comfortable silence fell over the two of you, and you thought about what Hyunjin must’ve gone through in his life, it definitely couldn’t have been easy. He was scared to tell you, and you could only imagine what happened to him before to make him that nervous. It made you a little sad. You also thought about what he said about feeling jealous. He obviously wants to feel love, he wants to love somebody but physically can’t. All because of some stupid love potion. If there was a way to help him, you would.

“Hey,” Hyunjin called out gently, “what’s it like?”

“Hm?”

“What’s it like to love somebody?”

“Oh, well, it’s probably the most comforting feeling I know. And when you’re with them, the world seems a little brighter. You focus on the little things they do, and it just makes you fall even more in love, you just can’t look away. You just feel like you’re on cloud nine and you don’t want to come down. They’re on your mind a lot, and it’s a little stressful. But only because you want the best for them and for them to be happy. I would die for somebody I loved.” You thought hard and soon after the words just spilled from your mouth, you thought about your family and friends as you described it. Trying to put it into words as best as you could. And Hyunjin only nodded thoughtfully, otherwise staying silent.

“People care about you Hyunjin, I care about you.” You urged, “I hope you remember that.”

“I will, I promise y/n.”

∎∎∎

Back in the potions room, you and Hyunjin were attempting to fix the Amortentia. And he, of course, asked for mint gum.

“Okay, so, as long as I don’t touch it anymore, it should come out okay.” Hyunjin was reading the textbook, “The potion should go back to normal by the time it’s finished.”

“Sounds great.” You stirred the green Amortentia, the color was a far cry from the pearly sheen it was supposed to have. But you were going to trust Hyunjin on this and just continue brewing. So you threw in another ingredient and just went with it. “So, what now?”

Hyunjin shrugged, “Let’s play a game. Truth or Dare?”

You perked up, your lips tugged up, “Absolutely. But you can’t say no to dares anymore, got it?”

He grimaced for a split second, nose scrunching up, “Ah fine, but that rule applies to you too.”

You flashed him a toothy grin, “Easy.”

And you played. Usually, truth or dare with only two people wasn’t that fun, but Hyunjin seemed to enjoy it. And while you guys played, he asked about muggle things as you both chewed on mint gum. It was simple and it was fun, just like how it’s always been when you were with Hyunjin. You laughed as you finally got Hyunjin to participate in the dares he originally refused to do. And Hyunjin got a kick out of teasing the hell out of you. A while passed and the atmosphere calmed down a bit, it was your turn.

“Truth or Dare.”

“Um...dare.” You smiled.

Hyunjin got quiet as he thought, then a mischievous grin pulled at his lips. “Kiss me.”

“....?” You stared at him as you try to remember if you heard that right. “I... sorry what?”

“I dare you,” Hyunjin repeated as if talking to a child, the teasing glint in his eyes, “to kiss me.”

“You’re kidding,” you whined, and your cheeks began to heat up, “you’re just teasing me…”

“No, well, yes. But it’s your rule.” Hyunjin seemed to be serious about this, “You can’t back down now.”

Your eyes trailed down to his lips, then snapped back up to his eyes. Completely unaware of what his goals for this were, you were pouting and felt conflicted. On one hand, you were catching feelings for this boy, and they were getting stronger by the day. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t want to kiss him. But on the other hand, you also didn’t know why he wanted to kiss you, and there was that tiny little voice that reminded you about Seungmin. It was at the back of your conscious but it spoke up and let itself be known. You felt your palms beginning to grow sweaty and your mouth dry up, your leg began to bounce.

Hyunjin noticed your hesitation and took your hand in his, he scooted closer to you and wrapped an arm around you. He was incredibly close to you now, and as he leaned down, he was closing the distance. You were hip to hip, his one hand holding yours and the other pulled you closer. Your heart felt as if it were beating out of your chest and you were positive your ears were as red as an apple. His eyes locked onto yours, “I’ll make this easier for you, but you can’t back down. Okay?”

You swallowed nervously and fluttered your eyelashes as you looked up at him and nodded. You mumbled a quick agreement before pressing your lips to his, bringing your one hand up to cup his cheek. You were nervous, but Hyunjin was comforting for you. His touch was gentle as he held you and kissed back. The kiss was soft and delicate. Your lips moved together in just the right way. And when you finally pulled back for a breather, Hyunjin leaned back in for more. Prolonging the kiss and tightening his grip on your waist. Your hand moved to the base of his head, threading your fingers through his hair. The kiss became deeper and more fervent, the delicate touches were replaced. And you stayed like that, relishing the sudden development in your relationship, neither of you seemingly wanting to let go.

And when you finally did, you pressed your forehead against his, breathing heavily. Your eyes were on his lips, one of his best features in your opinion. Hyunjin chuckled lightly, “I enjoyed that.”

He got your attention, and you looked up into his warm eyes, and you smiled back. “Me too.”

In Hyunjin's arms, you basked in the aftermath of the kiss, and you realized one thing. Your heart was captured by this boy, and he wasn’t going to give it back. This gentle, sensitive, amazing boy had your heart now, and you wouldn’t have had it any other way. After weeks of slowly building your feelings up, he swept it from your hands and held it carefully. As you locked eyes with Hyunjin, all your feelings were communicated to him. Feelings of love, caring, and understanding. Hyunjin understood completely, and as if a final promise to you, to keep your heart safe with him, he pressed his warm lips to your forehead. A sweet, gentle kiss to protect you as best he could. And you would like to believe Hyunjin gave a piece of himself to you as well.

And then you understood. Your heart was too far gone to go back to the way it was before.

a/n: WOW it’s finally done, and it’s only part one hahahaha. I have a lot planned for this and i reaaaaally love this. I hope yall love it as well, it took a lot of effort. And I’m kinda glad I got it out near Christmas, kinda like a gift :)

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mostlycompetentwriter · 4 years

Text

God’s Menu (one-shot)

F/M Pairing: Y/N x Seo Changbin (SKZ)

Warnings: Language, and some mentions of smut

Genre: Enemies to Lovers AU

Word Count: 9K

Summary: Y/N is a critically-acclaimed chef at New York’s premier five-star restaurant, The JYP Organic Cafeteria. However, when a new restaurant across the street begins attracting attention (and paying customers) because of it’s young and handsome head chef, Seo Changbin, Y/N grows furious at her dwindling reviews. When she confronts this new chef, she’s appalled to realize that he’s nothing short of arrogant, and they both engage in a fierce competition to determine who the best chef really is in NY.

A/N: I wrote this in one day, such a crazy experience, and it’s all thanks to Changbin. Also, why not, I’ll dedicate this to @lordseochangbin, the biggest Changbin Stan I know on this site.

The art of cooking involved a delicate sensibility that I had taken great pride in perfecting, especially after I graduated from culinary school. Thereafter, I worked tirelessly as an assistant for some of the greatest chefs in New York City, and I had the pleasure of working next to them under their great tutelage. Subsequently, their talents and well-intended advice shaped my own style of cooking, and my finely-tuned skills helped catapult me to the very top of our industry.

Likewise, I gained instant fame when I became the head chef at JYP’s Organic Cafeteria in the heart of New York City. People from all over the state came to my restaurant to try my cooking, and word spread fast about my immediate rise to stardom. As such, I started modeling for cooking magazines while receiving warm reviews from even the staunchest food critics, and I had a legion of fans in the form of paying customers who often lined the sidewalk outside of the restaurant to wait for an available table.

I also had some of the most promising chefs working directly under me. For example, my sous-chef, Bang Chan, was a very skilled man when it came to experimenting with some of our more expensive offerings. He had a natural talent for measuring ingredients, even without the assistance of a recipe, and his taste was nothing short of exquisite. His assistant, Felix, was a captivating presence among the staff, and he moved around the kitchen like he had been born to cook for the hungry masses. Felix also had a knack for cutting with his impressive collection of knives and cutlery, and he enjoyed trying the recipes that Chan and I worked tirelessly to perfect.

There was also Han Jisung, our kitchen’s pastry chef, whose delicious cakes and sweets were touted as some of the finest cuisine in North America. He prided himself on making the best cheesecakes, and our customers enjoyed a variety of unique flavors that could satisfy even the pickiest of palates. Jisung also never hesitated to include fun and interesting additions to our menu, even if that meant he had to stay up all night to prepare the ingredients.

Finally, our saucier, Jeongin, brought a degree of youthful exuberance into the kitchen, and he was adept at evolving his soup recipes and incorporating the freshest ingredients from the local marketplaces. He was always smiling, despite the recurring dinner rush, and he was quick and efficient with his hands, especially when handling our ingredients.

Together, we formed an intimidating team, and I was excited to continue growing our successful restaurant while bringing our talents out of state and to the rest of the world. Of course, it was important to perfect ourselves at this stage in our evolution, and tonight would be another step in the right direction. As such, when I glanced out the window overlooking the main dining room, I immediately spotted the important food critic talking pleasantly with one of our waiters. “Jeongin!” I shouted to attract the younger’s attention.

“Yes, Chef,” he returned, pausing next to me at the revolving doors.

“Tell everyone that the critic is here,” I said. “And make sure that I cook her order.”

“Of course, chef,” Jeongin agreed, and he addressed the rest of the kitchen with a commanding presence that made me feel proud because he had once been too shy to elevate his voice.

In the meantime, I started to prepare my station, ensuring that everything was clean. “Felix,” I said, turning to the silver-haired chef as he tossed up a pan of vegetables. “Get me the best ingredients and tools.”

Felix smirked, returning the plan to the stove before bowing slightly. “Right away, chef.”

Meanwhile, I carefully adjusted the sleeves of my apron, pulling them high above my elbows. For the most part, I was fairly consistent with my cooking, but I always put in extra effort when it came to potential reviews that would show-up in distinguished magazines. It was a well-known fact throughout the city that, in our competitive line of work, those reviews meant everything to the clientele we targeted. Thus, whenever a critic came into the restaurant, I liked to handle their meal preparation myself with the utmost attention.

“The order from the critic, chef,” Jeogin announced, following Felix with a bright smile.

I took it from him with a long exhale. “Garlic butter chicken,” I read. “I could do this blindfolded.”

However, I was somewhat relieved about the order because chicken happened to be a specialty of mine that I often took extra care in preparing. It was the first dish that I ever perfected in culinary school, and it often earned me the most acclaim when I was nothing more than an apprentice. And I’m sure the critic in question expected something truly mouth-watering, which is why I started immediately with every ounce of my concentration focused on the task at hand.

The first step was to clean the chicken thoroughly, and I usually requested that Jeongin wash the ingredients, but I was serious about preparing this dish myself. Next, I seasoned the chicken with an appropriate mixture of salt and pepper before allowing it to simmer on the stove while the butter melted in a separate skillet over medium heat. The familiarity of my movements was both exhilarating and reassuring.

Yet, despite just starting the early stages of the dish’s preparation, sweat was perspiring against my forehead, falling in long rivulets down the sides of my temples. It was a mixture of the kitchen’s oppressive warmth and my own nervous anxiety that combined together to create a fascinating effect on my person. But I was undeterred by any obstacle.

Instead, I turned to the sauce, recounting the ingredients inside my head: garlic, red pepper flakes, and hot sauce (a special invention of mine). Afterward, I had to sauté the heady mixture for 30 seconds until the garlic became aromatic. I grinned triumphantly because the smell was nothing short of delectable, and I could practically taste it on my tongue as the flavors excited all five of my senses. Finally, I deglazed the skillet with the chicken broth and brought it to a much lower simmer. “Stand back,” I said, throwing the ingredients together inside a separate pan and tossing it above the heat to ensure that every piece of chicken was evenly coated with the delectable sauce. “Jeongin, it’s time for plating.”

“Yes, chef,” Jeongin said, hustling to the surrounding shelves of our finest decorative serving dishes, assisting me next to my station as we carefully plated the chicken specialty. I watched as the delicate lines of steam rose from the top before requesting that our waiter bring the food to the awaiting critic.

With a steady exhale, I joined the rest of the chefs as watched the waiter disappear out the revolving door before we all crowded together to observe the critic’s reaction from the window. “She looks impressed,” Jisung remarked, and I smiled at his comment.

In the proceeding moments, the critic unfolded her napkin over her lap and reached for her fork and knife, studying the dish with close scrutiny. I swallowed hard when she lifted a bite to her awaiting mouth, chewing thoughtfully as she appraised my offering. Thankfully, I knew that it was successful when her eyes lit with a familiar warm glow, looking down at her plate with evident pleasure. As if on cue, everyone around me started clapping at once, and their shouts of praise and encouragement certainly fed my ego while we watched the critic enjoy the remainder of her meal.

It was another successful evening.

In the mornings, I often walked to the restaurant because the weather was nice this time of year, and I was left alone with the company of my thoughts. However, after such a grueling night of dinner prep, I was also excited to see the fruits of my labors in the form of a new review that might appear at any moment courtesy of the satisfied critic who left the restaurant with a grateful salutation. My stomach was practically doing somersaults just thinking about it, and I was in a fairly good mood when I saw the JYP sign shimmering up ahead in the distance.

However, as I grew closer, I realized that there was also another sign for the previously empty building across the street, and it stood a little taller in comparison. Consequently, I paused outside the recently renovated space, peeking in through the glass window to discover a restaurant set-up waiting inside. “When did this get here?” I wondered, taking a step back to appraise the building. The enormous banner across the front spelled out the name of the establishment. “Dwekki.”

I released an exhausted sigh because I wasn’t ready to process the implications of what this might mean for JYP’s business. However, I was caught off-guard by the unexpected sound of approaching footsteps. “Doesn’t open for another hour, sweetheart,” came an unfamiliar voice.

I turned around to confront the man whose attitude clearly exposed his underlying arrogance. “Excuse, me?”

He smirked, and it made him look even more handsome. In contradiction to his dark-colored eyes, his blue-tinted hair glowed beneath the sunlight, and his arms crossed over his broad chest to experiment with the limits of his thin t-shirt. “We don’t start serving lunch until 11:00.”

“I’m not interested in eating here!” I glowered.

“That’s a shame,” he replied, and I was taken aback by his flirtatious tone, watching as his eyes appraised me.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

“Sweetheart, if you wanted an autograph, then you should’ve just asked,” he replied, and I instantly recoiled.

“I work over there,” I said, jutting my thumb behind me. “I’m the head chef for JYP.”

“Really?” Changbin asked, and his eyes reflected a newfound interest. “I’ll be more formal, then. My name is Seo Changbin, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I wish I could say the same,” I said. “I’m Y/N.”

Changbin chuckled. “It sounds like you don’t like me, Y/N, which doesn't seem right since we just met.”

“Well,” I huffed. “I always like to keep an eye on potential competition.”

“Competition?” Changbin snorted. “Sweetheart, there won’t be any competition when they taste my food.”

I bristled at the challenge. “Is that so?”

“I have the best cuisine,” Changbin said. “I’ve been told that my food is the best in New York City.”

I gasped at the insinuation. “Listen here, Changbin, I have the credentials to back up my food! I’ve been voted Food Critic Magazine’s most promising chef for three years in a row.”

“Well, it was a good streak while it lasted,” Changbin said, and he seemed amused by my inability to offer some kind of witty comeback in return.

“Fine!” I managed. “I’ll just have to prove it to you.”

“I look forward to it, sweetheart,” Changbin replied, and I held my breath when I pivoted around, storming away from the horrible man with a new purpose guiding my steps.

Graciously, I found Chan waiting outside of JYP, looking up at me with a bright smile that disappeared when he realized that I wasn’t happy. “What happened?”

“There’s a new restaurant opening across the street and its chef is a complete asshole!” I shouted, fumbling with the restaurant keys in my hand. “He thinks he can say those things to me? Nobody’s food is better than ours!”

Chan blinked twice. “What the hell is going on?”

“It’s a war, Mr. Bang!” I declared passionately, holding the door wide open. “We’re going to prove that man wrong!”

Chan sighed because he was already used to my dramatics. However, what he didn’t realize was that I was serious about the declaration, and I had no intention of holding up the white flag of surrender anytime soon!

Of course, despite my initial confidence, it was hard to maintain my earlier enthusiasm when, after a week of operation, I had started to notice that more people were wandering into Changbin’s restaurant and ignoring JYP. “His food must be killer,” Jisung remarked off-handedly one day, wincing when I slapped him on the back of his head. “What was that for?”

“He’s the competition,” I seethed, pacing back and forth in front of the open window at the front of the restaurant. “It’s just because he opened recently and people are curious.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Jisung huffed, rubbing his head with a pout.

“We’ll just have to keep a lookout,” I insisted, and I knew that I sounded mad when Jisung hesitantly took a step back away from me.

“Aren’t you taking this too far, Y/N?”

“Too far?”

“Woah! You know that I’m just kidding!” Jisung chirped, anxiously power-walking his way back into the kitchen while I continued to maintain my post as JYP’s head chef and silent guardian.

Eventually, I returned to the kitchen since I was expecting the usual dinner rush to commence. However, the longer that I spent chopping way too many carrots without a ticket request for our finest appetizer soups, the more I began to realize that something was amiss. I reached for Felix’s arm and drug him away from the others. “Why aren’t we getting any ticket requests? Is the waitstaff missing people?”

“Not exactly,” Felix said, and his eyes darted back and forth as if he was withholding valuable information.

“Well?” I insisted. “What’s happening?”

“There’s not many people tonight,” Felix said, and he quickly tried to reassure me when he noticed my sharp intake of breath. “It’s Monday, Y/N, and most people don’t like to eat out when they have work the next day...”

But I ignored Felix’s attempts at rationality, leaving the kitchen with heavy steps to instigate some preemptive sleuthing of my own. “What the hell?” I grumbled, crossing my arms when I noticed that there was some sort of commotion going on outside. Yet, when I stood in front of the window, I still couldn’t believe what I was seeing. “What’s wrong with these people!” I exclaimed, watching as the line outside of Changbin’s restaurant continued to grow even longer.

“I heard it’s good,” Han offered unhelpfully, and I didn’t even notice his approach because I was too distracted by the horror-show playing right in front of me. My literal worst nightmare coming to life with one preemptive swoop!

“This is terrible!” I said. “We’re losing business t-to them!”

“Y/N, it’s okay,” Jisung said, laying one hand on my shoulder. “Most of our regulars are here.”

“It’s not okay!” I said, shaking off his hand aggressively. “We need to get to the bottom of this!”

Jisung flinched when I turned around sharply on my heel, finding my way back to the kitchen where I clapped my hands together loudly to attract everyone’s attention. “Listen up, people!” I started. “The place across the street has just become enemy number one. That means we need to investigate! We have to infiltrate the restaurant and figure out what the hell is going on!”

“Y/N,” Chan sighed. “Is this necessary?”

“Oh, it's completely necessary! We’re going undercover,” I said, pointing between Felix and Chan. “You two are coming with me.”

Chan shook his head. “Y/N, do we really have to do this?”

“Yeah,” Felix whined. “You’re just gonna do something embarrassing again.”

I offered them both a glare. “Do you like working here?”

“Yes, chef!” Felix immediately shouted, holding up his hand to his forehead in a military salute.

Chan rolled his eyes. “I think you’re making a big deal out of nothing.”

“We’re losing customers, Chan,” I said. “We need to figure out why.”

“But do we really have to go over there?”

“Can’t Jisung go instead of me?” Felix asked, jutting out his bottom lip like it might garner him some kind of sympathy.

However, I was completely set on my resolution. “You’re coming, Felix, and we’re going to get justice for JYP!”

“Justice for JYP!” Jeongin shouted while raising his fist in the air to demonstrate his solidarity with my outrageous claim.

In the meantime, I had removed my apron, dusting the flour from my jeans while grabbing my purse from the backroom. “Now!” I said, dragging a reluctant Chan and Felix behind me as we exited the restaurant through the back door.

I had never been more determined in my entire life!

“How many are in your party?” the hostess asked when we stepped inside Dwekki for the very first time.

“Three,” I replied while scrutinizing every feature of the interior.

“One moment please,” the hostess said, leaving her podium stand to enter the dining room. I stood on my toes to look inside, but I only caught a faint glimpse of an overhanging chandelier before the doors closed again.

“Fancy,” Felix remarked, but I ignored him while observing the main lobby.

“How pretentious,” I muttered, taking in the elegantly tiled marble floors and freshly painted white walls.

“Says the person who charges 30 dollars for chicken,” Chan retorted.

“Whose side are you on?” I asked him, but a potential argument was quickly interrupted by the hostess who re-emerged from the dining room.

“Right this way,” she said, grabbing three menus before encouraging us to enter the literal lion’s den.

Immediately, I decided that I didn’t like Dwekki. It screamed money and finesse, and I wasn’t impressed with the elegant set-up, disregarding the shimmering fountain and the open kitchen that revealed dozens of chefs working tirelessly to prepare their dishes.

“Thank you,” Felix said politely when our hostess brought us to a small table near the kitchen’s entrance, offering us our menus before returning to her post outside the dining room. “You guys, it smells like chocolate in here,” Felix said, whining when I reached over to whack his arm with my menu.

“It smells like desperation to me,” I said. “Look at all this unnecessary decor. Who the hell needs a water fountain in the middle of their restaurant?”

“I think it’s nice,” Chan said with a sarcastic attitude on clear display.

“You’re the worst sous-chef,” I told him.

“But what would you do without me?”

“I’d put another ad in the paper,” I said, and he gasped in dramatic fashion that was clearly meant to mock me.

Meanwhile, I had barely noticed the arrival of our waiter until his voice interrupted my playful banter with Chan. “Good evening, folks, welcome to Dwekki, my name is Hyunjin and I’ll be your server tonight. Would you like to start off with an appetizer.”

“What do you recommend?” I asked, taking note of Hyunjin’s taller stature and the way he tied back his long hair into a neat style.

“Our chef’s choice is the scallops,” Hyunjin replied, and I inwardly groaned at the mention of the restaurant’s chef.

“Yes, that’s fine,” I said, and Hyunjin had barely left the table before Felix was opening his mouth again.

“He has literal angels working for him, Y/N,” Felix said.

“Do you really have to say that?” I asked.

“He certainly has class,” Chan added, and I felt their betrayal deep inside the center of my chest. “Do you think he might recommend his decorator?”

“Our restaurant is more family-oriented,” I said, bringing my water glass to my lips because I was suddenly parched.

“He’s coming back,” Felix whispered, and I was taken aback by Hynjin’s reappearance, holding a bottle of wine in his hands.

“This is for you,” he said with a knowing smile.

“Pinot noir!” Felix gasped, snatching the bottle from Hyunjin who barely flinched.

“Compliments of the chef,” Hyunjin explained, and I hesitantly glanced over my shoulder to see Changbin watching us from the kitchen’s entrance. I returned my gaze to the table, fanning my flushed skin. “He also insisted that you should try tonight’s house specialty.”

“That’s fine,” I said, breathing a sigh of relief when he finally left us alone.

“Does he know who you are?” Felix asked curiously.

“I ran into him the other day,” I said.

“She nearly had a heart attack,” Chan said. “It was the day we declared war or something on this place.”

“Like battleship?” Felix asked, and I actually regretted not listening to his plea from earlier to have brought Jisung along instead. At least my pastry chef was entertaining.

“The food is probably mediocre,” I said. “Nobody can have an ego that big unless they’re compensating for something.”

“Y/N,” Felix teased, raising his eyebrows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Not whatever you’re thinking,” I said, wincing at the idea. “Look, I know that you both think this whole thing is stupid, but the restaurant is really important to me, and I care when our customers start eating somewhere else.”

“Is it really about the customers or your pride?” Chan asked, and I hated it when his questions turned philosophical.

I tossed my menu in his direction. “Study the dishes, Chan. We’re here to gather important intel.”

Chan smirked, but obeyed my command, browsing quietly while Felix took his job too seriously and started capturing screenshots using his cellphone. Meanwhile, I leaned back in my chair with a heavy heart because it was starting to look like we were hopelessly outmatched. I mean, just the interior of the dining room itself was far more impressive than our cafeteria-style, and I was actually envious of that stupid fountain because it looked magical underneath the stupid chandelier.

Thankfully, the arrival of our food temporarily paused my morbid thoughts, and the smell of our appetizer scallops actually had my stomach grumbling. Felix and Chan immediately grabbed a scallop for themselves, and I forced myself to take one of the delicious smelling rations. My mouth started watering when I brought a small bite closer, and when I chewed against the tender meat, my entire facade cracked because it was absolutely wonderful.

Of course, to make matters even worse, the head chef had decided to leave the kitchen and gloat before I could even swallow my food. “What do we have here?” Changbin asked, and I trembled at his approach. “It can’t be the head chef of JYP! I’m honored.”

“Why are you out here?” I hissed.

“I saw you come inside,” Changbin replied. “I figured I should be nice to our new neighbors.”

I watched as Changbin took a step to the side, crooking a finger, and Hyunjin joined our table once more with the entrees. “The veal,” he said, placing a portion in front of the three of us.

“It’s one of my most popular dishes,” Changbin said with a tone laced with his smugness.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I said, stuffing a bite into my mouth and immediately regretting the way that my body reacted positively to the food. Like I was suddenly back home and enjoying my mother’s home-cooked meals.

“Do you like it?” Changbin asked.

I gritted my teeth as I pushed the dish away from me. “It’s okay,” I said, sighing when I noticed that Chan and Felix were practically devouring their dishes.

“You see that critic over there?” Changbin asked, and I followed his gaze to a strikingly familiar face. Because it was the same woman who had just eaten at our restaurant several nights ago, and she looked way too pleased with her current meal. “She told me that my chicken was the best she had ever tasted.”

I held my tongue to keep myself from retorting. “That’s impossible,” Felix said over a mouthful of his veal. “Y/N has the best chicken dish in New York.”

“Really?” Changbin asked, leaning down so that he was speaking right into my ear. “Maybe we should put that to the test.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a food competition this weekend on Good Morning, New York,” Changbin said.

“I love that show!” Felix said, and I rolled my eyes at the unnecessary observation.

“They’re inviting local chefs to participate,” Changbin said. “I already reserved my spot, but maybe Y/N could try her luck as well.”

I slammed my fork down against the table. “You’re on, Seo. I haven’t lost a food competition since culinary school.”

“May the best chef win,” Changbin said with a pleased smile. “Enjoy the rest of your meal.”

“Whatever,” I grumbled, forcing another bite of veal into my mouth because I was growing more and more frustrated with my impending crisis.

The next morning, I walked inside the restaurant to see a group of my chefs crowded around one of the tables. “What’s going on?” I asked, and they immediately began to disperse. “Hold on!” I said, jogging over to grab Felix’s apron sleeve. “What are you holding?”

“It’s nothing!” Jisung squealed from further away, but I still jerked the magazine away from Felix’s hands. It was a copy of the Food Critic Monthly magazine, and they published reviews of the most popular restaurants in New York City.

“Y/N,” Felix said, and his voice was unusually deep. “It’s one person’s opinion.”

I shook my head as I opened the magazine, flipping through the pages until I found our restaurant’s name in the heading. “JYP remains consistent, although they could certainly benefit from a change in their normal menu. I’ll give them a score of 9 out of 10,” I read aloud, fuming when I realized that Dwekki’s review was on the next page. “This hot new restaurant has some of the finest cuisine that I’ve ever tasted, and its head chef holds the potential to be the greatest in New York. My rating is a solid 10 out of 10.”

The room was quiet when I finished. “Y/N?” Jeongin tentatively inquired. “It doesn’t matter, we can impress them next time.”

“Next time?” I repeated with barely constrained rage. “It’s the opinion of one of the biggest food critics in the city!” I retorted. “Of course, it matters.”

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes for a moment to center myself. “Y/N?” Jisung said. “What are you gonna do?”

I looked at him with newfound determination. “Someone needs to schedule me for that Good Morning, New York show. I’m gonna beat him in front of the entire city!”

Jeongin nodded his head quickly. “I’ll make the call, Y/N.”

I rolled back my shoulders, pausing when I noticed that Chan had stopped in front of me. “You’re going too far this time, Y/N.”

“I need this, Chan,” I said, shoving my way past him. “I also need freaking break from this place!”

That afternoon, I sat behind the restaurant with a cigarette in hand, puffing smoke into the surrounding space. Unfortunately, whenever I felt particularly stressed, I turned to the nasty habit that I had trouble completely dismissing from my life. It was truly disgusting, but sometimes these situations forced me to do things that I normally wouldn’t even consider.

“You shouldn’t do that.”

I held the cancer stick up to my lips. “Why the hell do you care?”

“Maybe I think you’re too beautiful for bad lungs,” Changbin said, and I finally met his gaze from across the alley.

“What do you want?”

“To show off?” He shrugged, resuming a business-like demeanor when he walked in my direction.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” I said, watching him as he took a seat next to me.

“Look at this,” Changbin said, holding up a black folder. “We have reservations scheduled for the next month.”

“A month?” I spluttered, taking the folder from him. Sure enough, I ran my finger down the list of names occupying time slots that filled the remainder of June. As a result, I let my head fall back against the brick wall of my restaurant. “This is private property, you know.”

“Oh?” Changbin chuckled. “Look, Y/N, whatever I’ve done to offend you, I want to apologize.”

“Really?” I said. “It doesn’t feel like you care.”

“Actually, I really admire your work,” Changbin said. “I read some of your reviews when I had just graduated school, and I even based one of my dishes from your Parmesan.”

“Fuck that makes me feel old,” I complained, but there was no way that I was more than a few years older than Changbin.

“You might feel younger if you stop with these things,” Changbin said, and I only frowned when he took the cigarette from me.

“I booked myself on that show,” I said. “I hope I don’t offend you when I kick your ass.”

Changbin smirked, leaning in closer with a dangerous smile that somehow managed to send my heart fluttering inside my chest. “I look forward to it.”

Unsurprisingly, Jeongin was a cheerful presence even when the sun hadn’t quite risen above the New York City skyscrapers. He had previously agreed to come with me to the show as a support system, and I could use his infectious energy when it came to my biggest challenge to date. “I even made you a sign,” he said as I drove us along the crowded streets.

I laughed. “I don’t think you can bring those inside the studio.”

“I’ll still cheer the loudest!” he said, and I wanted nothing more than to wrap him into a secure hug.

However, I also had to resist the softer side that Jeongin always tended to bring out in me because I needed to focus solely on this competition. My entire reputation was hanging by a thread, and this show offered me the chance to redeem my dwindling reviews.

Graciously, upon my arrival, I noticed that most of the other competitors weren’t nearly as intimidating, and I offered them polite greetings while doing my best to ignore Changbin and the ridiculous smile that he sent in my direction when I entered the studio. “Keep talking to me,” I instructed Jeongin. “Maybe that will keep Satan away.”

Jeongin nodded his head. “I believe in you, Y/N.”

“There’s a great evil threatening our existence,” I said solemnly. “I just need to focus.”

“Woah!” Jeongin suddenly cheered. “They have soft batch cookies.”

“Hey!” I said. “Are you really letting that distract you?”

“Sorry,” he whispered, bowing respectfully when the Good Morning hosts approached us.

“We’re excited to have you here, Y/N. It’s been a while since you’ve participated in something like this.”

“Well, I need a change every once in a while,” I told them.

“We’ve assigned your station next to Seo Changbin’s,” they said. “You two are the best in the kitchen, and our viewers will love it!”

“I bet they will,” I said, smiling sweetly while pulling Jeongin along next to me. “Let’s make sure it’s spotless,” I instructed him, and we both started cleaning the station with prompt attention.

“Oh, Y/N,” Changbin said from his station next to me. “I saw a comment on social media this morning. Someone said that I shouldn’t even bother wearing anything under my apron. What do you think?”

“Pervert,” I muttered under my breath, wiping down the counter with far more aggression than necessary considering how the surface was practically glimmering.

“Alright, everyone!” a producer suddenly announced. “The show starts in five minutes.”

However, I was unprepared for the way that my stomach twisted uncomfortably because I had never felt this nervous before in my entire life. “I can’t breathe,” I told Jeongin, and he immediately started fanning my overheated skin with one of the frying pans.

“You can do it, Y/N,” he said, and I only nodded in response while I watched him join the crowd gathered behind the cameras.

“3...2...1...action!”

Fuck, why was it so hot in here?

“Good morning, New York City!” one of the hosts began, holding out her arms in grandiose fashion. “We have six of New York’s hottest young chefs ready to cook for us this morning.”

“That’s right, Kathy, and when we get back from our commercial break, we’ll determine the best of the best in a fierce competition. Let’s introduce today’s chefs.”

Kathy smiled in our direction, holding up the microphone as she spoke briefly with each chef in turn, coming closer and closer in my direction. “Mr. Seo,” she said. “You’ve scored tremendous reviews with some of the city’s toughest critics! What inspires you to create such gourmet dishes?”

“Well, recently, I’ve been inspired by someone who managed to capture my heart,” he said, sending a discreet wink in my direction.

I scowled at his blatant sarcasm. “Oh, she must be a lucky lady, then,” Kathy said, taking a long stride to stand next to me at my station. “What about you, Y/N? You’ve been at the top of New York’s finest chef’s list for years!”

I found Jeongin at the back of the room whose sweet smile managed to lend me some semblance of confidence. “I’ve always been competitive,” I said, and the answer summoned a chuckle from Changbin.

“Well, I guess we get to see for ourselves right after these brief words from our sponsors!”

“Cut!” the producer yelled, and I sighed in relief.

But it was a short-lived reprieve, and Changbin leaned in closer to shorten the space separating our stations. “I don’t want to embarrass you, sweetheart,” Changbin grinned, and it took everything I had to resist the temptation to hit that perfect face.

“Shut the hell up,” I muttered, briefly glancing up to see Jeongin offering me a cheesy thumbs up from behind the camera.

Tragically, this time I didn’t feel any reassurance from his warm presence. Instead, I anxiously waited in profound expectation until the recording lights started to flash green, and I put on my best poker face for the camera. “Chefs, today you’ll be making your best dish to impress our judges! We’ll be looking at three categories: taste, presentation, and creativity. You have twenty minutes to finish your dish.”

Twenty minutes?! I was freaking out, running over my best chicken recipe inside my head while the hosts started a vicious countdown that slowly destroyed my resolve. “Go!”

I immediately launched myself into action, running to the fridge to pull out a package of freshly cut chicken. I was relying on years of experience to guide my actions, resorting to my most basic cooking instincts when I cleaned and seasoned the chicken while blocking out the commentary in the background.

Sauté, sauté, sauté, I chanted inside my head while I heated the olive oil and tossed in the chicken strips to cook over the warm stove. Since I had such limited time, I gave each side exactly four minutes to cook before I was moving on to the next step, glancing over at Changbin’s station to watch him slice several ingredients with precision.

Jesus, he looked really hot doing that!

“Stop it, Y/N,” I whispered to myself, rolling up my sleeves while I grabbed my mixing bowl to prepare the honey and balsamic vinegar base for the sauce that I planned to glaze on top of the chicken. I added some garlic to my chicken skillet before stirring in the stock that would elevate the chicken’s natural flavoring.

“Ten minutes, chefs!”

My heart was pounding against my breastbone, and I decided to add rice at the last minute, even though it was a risk since it might not cook thoroughly in time. However, I also knew that it would add some color to the dish, and I was ready to pull out all the risks to reap the benefits.

The kitchen was loud with the sound of sizzling skillets and boiling pots, and I was overheated and flushed because of the rising steam. The smells of intermingling dishes were overwhelming, and I resisted the urge to check on Changbin’s dish because I couldn't handle that pressure.

“Five...four...three...two...one...stop!”

With a long exhale, I threw up my hands and retreated away from my plate. My nerves were still sending trembles along my spine, and I was pretty sure that I could pass out from exhaustion at any moment. Yet, beneath it all, I was also exhilarated from the challenge, and I couldn’t help but smile proudly at my dish sitting at the edge of the counter.

“We’ll let our judges decide,” Kathy said, and several assistants came to collect our plates, bringing them to the panel sitting somewhere off-screen.

I watched their reactions greedily, noting how they maintained neutral expressions for every dish with a certain degree of professionalism. “It was very close,” one of the judges said. “However, we made a decision.”

“The top three,” another continued. “Third place goes to Mr. Lee for his delicious pasta!”

I wasn’t sure if I should feel relieved or not, watching one of the hosts place a shiny bronze medal around the young chef’s neck. Surely, that meant Changbin and I were taking the top two positions, but I was desperate to hear them call out my name above his.

“We’ll announce first place,” the judge began, and I was practically hanging from the edge of the counter. “Seo Changbin!”

Unfortunately, there were no words to describe the way my shoulders instantly deflated, and a feeling of existential dread gripped tightly to my heart because of my failure. “Second place goes to Y/N.”

I was shaking, but it wasn’t out of anger for once. I pretended to smile, accepting the medal with a bile taste at the back of my throat. I managed to hold myself together until the show went off air, and I slowly removed my apron while trying my best not to reveal just how affected I was by everything that had happened. “Hey, Y/N,” Changbin said, and I turned around with a sigh.

“Save it, Changbin,” I said. “I don’t need you to rub it in.”

“I’m not,” he said, sweeping his bangs away from his eyes. “Will you just look at me?”

I offered him my full attention. “Well?”

“It was really close,” he said. “You did a good job, and your dish was amazing.”

His words were earnest, and I saw the honesty in his expression. Yet, my pride was still wounded, and I wanted to creep away into the remote corners of my lonely apartment and lick my wounds. “You don’t really mean that.”

“Not everything has to be a competition, Y/N,” he said, giving me a meaningful look that I couldn’t quite understand.

However, if the competition could be considered another step towards my total demise, then I shouldn’t have been so surprised to see the next day’s issue of a popular magazine. “Food Critic Daily,” I screamed, snatching the magazine from a sheepish Jeongin. My eyes grew wider when I saw that Changbin had the privilege of gracing the front cover. “This reviewer insists that you listen to everyone who tells you that Seo Changbin’s dishes are some of the finest cuisine in New York City. Perhaps nobody can compare.”

I dramatically fell back against the counter because it was too much for me to handle. I took a deep breath, channeling that emotion into anger as I grabbed the magazine from the top, ripping it slowly in half while my chefs looked on with barely disguised horror. “The insanity stops now!”

“Are you sure about that?” Jisung asked.

“We just have to try something different,” I said, looking around at my gathered chefs.

“Maybe not right now, Y/N,” came Felix’s gentle response.

“Why?”

“Changbin’s here,” Felix whispered, pointing at the kitchen door.

“What?” I growled, immediately turning around to face my kitchen staff. “Listen up! We have to be on our best game tonight!” I pointed at Felix who immediately froze to the spot. “I’m cooking his meal. Send his order to me.”

Felix nodded, relaying the instructions to our waiter while I approached my station with malice. “Y/N,” Chan said softly. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I grunted. “I can do this.”

“I didn’t say that I doubted you,” Chan said. “But I’m worried that you’re pushing yourself too much.”

“I can handle it,” I snapped, reaching for my discarded apron.

“Here’s the order,” Felix said, returning promptly. “He asked for the garlic butter chicken.”

I snorted. “Of course he did.”

Nevertheless, I cracked my fingers and got to work, arranging the pots and ingredients across my station. I quietly sharpened my knife, glaring at the revolving kitchen door where I knew that Changbin waited outside in the dining room. Despite the repeated blows to my self-confidence, I was determined to impress him tonight.

After I had sent off Changbin’s order, I returned to the back office to try and rest after pushing myself to the limit. I resisted the familiar urge to grab a cigarette from my bag, looking up at the ceiling in an attempt to distract my mind. However, my efforts were in vain because Jeongin eventually started knocking on the door, looking at me with wide eyes. “Changbin said that he wanted to speak to the chef.”

I huffed an annoyed sigh. “That isn’t surprising.”

I slowly lifted myself from the chair, following Jeongin back into the kitchen. I was aware that the other chefs were watching me like I was some kind of wild animal ready to pounce. “Stay here,” I said to Jeongin, pushing my way through the revolving door to enter the dining room.

It wasn’t hard to find him, sitting with his waiter, Hyunjin, at one of the tables near the front entrance. I lowered my head when I started for his section, aware of the weight of his gaze on me the entire time. “You asked for me,” I said, looking down at Changbin with my eyes narrowed.

“My compliments to the chef,” Changbin said. “The food was surprisingly good.”

I chose not to react to his passive-aggressive comment. “Will there be anything else?”

“Just a moment,” Changbin said, reaching into his jacket pocket to produce a folded card. “What do you think?”

I snatched it from him ungracefully, smoothing out the surface before I caught the unforgettable name of Kim Seungmin listed across the card. “The Kim Seungmin?” I asked, and I didn’t bother to hide my excitement.

“I can get you an interview with him,” Changbin said. “What do you think?”

I frowned. “What’s the catch?”

Changbin laughed. “Maybe I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart.”

“Yeah, right,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Just tell me what you want.”

His smile was gone, replaced by a look that I could only describe as sobering. “You should go on a date with me, Y/N.”

It only took me a moment to start laughing. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Changbin sighed. “I’m being serious.”

“So am I,” I replied, watching him as he stood from the table.

“I don’t want you to see me as a competitor,” Changbin said. “I think you’re amazing, and we would be so much better as partners.”

Regardless of his kind words, it still felt like he was mocking me, even if his tone suggested otherwise, and I couldn’t swallow down my pride and bruised ego long enough to acknowledge the truth. Instead, I hardened my gaze, looking at him as someone who continued to ruin our business each day I prepared our menu selections in the kitchen. “I think you should leave.”

“Y/N-”

I took a step back, bowing in front of him before I returned to the kitchen with his eyes burning a hole into the back of my head.

After our regular closing hours, I lingered behind in the kitchen office, staring at the blank computer screen. I couldn’t stop thinking about Changbin, and that was a problem. It was his fault that I was feeling so defeated, and I couldn’t imagine allowing him access to my personal life.

Thankfully, the familiar tone of my cell phone forced my attention elsewhere, and I answered the call with a distracted greeting. ��Y/N!” an excited voice announced from the other end. “It’s Jeongin!”

“I have caller ID.”

“Oh, r-right,” he stuttered. “Anyway, I just got off the phone with one of my friends, and he said that his company was looking for a place to host their anniversary dinner this weekend. I mentioned our restaurant because I think the attention might help bring some interest back to JYP!”

I listened intently, feeling a familiar spark of hope. “What company?”

“It’s a huge TV network! The same one that programs Good Morning, New York!”

“How many people?”

“Uh, maybe like a couple hundred?”

I hesitated because I knew how difficult it would be to handle that many guests at one time, but I also knew that Jeongin had been right when he suggested that the publicity could be the push that we desperately required. “Tell them we would be more than happy to host.”

I hung up the phone with a loud exhale. What the hell was I doing?

The weekend approached fast, and I was slowly experiencing the numbing effects of panic when I realized that several of my chefs would be unable to help with dinner preparations for the party that we were hosting. “It might be pushing our limits, Y/N,” Chan said, and he stood next to me while I examined our depleted numbers.

“We can do it,” I said. “Everyone, let’s start preparing the main dishes!”

“Yes, chef!

I took a deep breath because we wouldn’t have a single moment of reprieve to accommodate the orders. But I had convinced myself that enough early preparation would help counter our severe lack of help in the kitchen. Subsequently, I was working my ass off to ensure that everything was progressing smoothly.

“Y/N,” Jeongin said. “People have started to arrive.”

“We can start serving soon,” I said. “Tell the waitstaff to get themselves ready.”

Jeongin nodded, but I could tell that he was nervous, and his lack of confidence was noticeably debilitating. Nevertheless, I encouraged everyone to work harder, trying to pay less attention to the accumulating orders. “Y/N, table eight has been waiting for twenty minutes on an appetizer.”

“I got it!” I shouted back, approaching the front counter with the shrimp plate in question.

“Y/N, what about the crab cakes?”

My heart was skyrocketing inside my chest. “It’s coming!”

“We need the chicken for table six!”

“Y/N, people are starting to ask me about the soup?”

“Y/N!”

“Fuck,” I cursed, trying to settle my breathing because there were dark spots building in my peripheral vision.

Chan graciously reached out for my arm, holding me steady with his strong hold. “We’re understaffed, Y/N, and Felix is crying in the bathroom!”

“Just hold on one second,” I said, pacing back and forth nervously across the kitchen floor.

“Y/N,” Chan said, shaking my shoulders. “We have to call Changbin for help.”

“Changbin!” I yelled, gripping the counter. “Are you serious?”

“We need extra hands,” Chan said. “Changbin told me the other night that he really wanted to support the restaurant.”

“He said that?”

“Call him,” Chan insisted, shoving the kitchen phone into my hand. “Please.”

I released a defeated sigh as I dialed his number, finding it listed in the phone book that we kept in the office. “Hello?” a gruff voice greeted me.

“Changbin,” I said, swallowing hard. “It’s Y/N.”

“Well, this is a surprise,” Changbin’s smooth voice responded from the other end. “Did you change your mind about our date, Y/N?”

I groaned. “No, but I actually have something to ask you.”

“Really?” Changbin said, and his tone was playful. “It’s always hard to resist you.”

“I need your help Changbin,” I said, but there was a nasty taste left in my mouth after the words had already come out. “I’m hosting an important party at the restaurant, but my staff can’t keep up.”

I held my breath, waiting impatiently when I heard nothing from the other man. “Give me ten minutes,” he replied before I was greeted with the sound of the dial tone.

Changbin’s arrival was, for once, a breath of fresh air, and I ushered him into the kitchen with eager hands. He had also brought half a dozen of his own chefs, and they fell into order with my staff like a well-oiled machine. It was reassuring, and I felt myself grow lighter on my feet as I moved through the kitchen, filling orders at a much faster speed.

“Let me handle that one,” I said, grabbing one of the tickets from Jisung before rushing back to my station. I started cutting vegetables with a speed that I hadn’t seen since my early culinary school days.

“You look sexy doing that,” Changbin remarked from next to me.

I grinned because the comment was strangely endearing. “You’re just saying that.”

“I really mean it,” Changbin said, and his presence was somewhat intoxicating.

“Focus on your work,” I said, but I could feel that I was blushing.

“That’s cute, Y/N,” he said, reaching out to poke a finger against my cheek.

“Hands to yourself,” I added, and Changbin laughed before he grabbed the handle of his skillet to toss the contents of his dish.

“I think we’re finally caught up,” Jisung announced from the front of the kitchen and there was an audible sigh from my staff in the kitchen.

“What, is this a regular thing, Y/N?” Changbin asked. “How have you survived without me for all these years?”

“Perseverance,” I responded, turning up the heat on my grill and enjoying the accompanying sound of the chicken frying in the sauce mixture.

“Fuck, that’s hot,” he said, and I couldn’t help but shiver while I tried to figure out if he was talking about me or the dish.

Eventually, serving hours were completed, and most of the chefs had started to clean the mess that we had made of our dwindling supplies. Meanwhile, I studied the satisfied patrons from behind the revolving doors, and I felt proud of everything that had been accomplished. Even if that meant finding help in an unlikely ally who was engaged in polite conversation with Chan and Felix.

“Jeongin,” I said, drawing the younger’s attention.

“Yes, chef!” he saluted, and I bit back a smile.

“Find us some champagne from the back,” I said. “Bring glasses for everyone.”

“I’m on it!” he declared, and I watched him hurry to the back while I took one last look at the lingering party guests.

I wandered through the kitchen, occasionally offering to help clean one of the stations. At the same time, I couldn’t resist a persistent desire to glance at Changbin, watching him from the corner of my eye. For the first time since we had met, my attention wasn’t focused completely on the restaurant.

“I think it was a huge success, Y/N,” Jisung interrupted my musings when he returned from the dining hall. “I spoke to the CEO, and he said they would definitely consider us again as a future host!”

“Hopefully, we’ll have more help,” I said, reaching over to pat Jisung on the shoulder. “Thank you.”

Jisung’s eyes widened. “Are you sick, Y/N?”

“No,” I laughed, and my gaze immediately locked with Changbin’s. “I’m just grateful.”

Thereafter, Jeongin returned with a bottle of wine and several glasses. I quietly instructed him to give everyone some of the champagne. “Make sure the restaurant clears out,” I instructed Jisung who nodded obediently.

Meanwhile, I watched Jeongin flitter between the kitchen staff, holding out glasses and filling them to the very top with delicate bubbles. “Are we celebrating, Y/N?” Chan asked, pausing next to me.

I smiled. “I think everyone deserves it.”

Finally, Jisung made his return after sorting everything out with the CEO, carefully assisting our waitstaff in sorting out the evening’s conclusion. Thus, I held up a glass of champagne since the restaurant had finally cleared out, waiting patiently while the chefs gathered together for a short celebration. “Thank you,” I said. “To everyone because I was really in over my head.”

“That’s an understatement,” Chan snorted.

“Also, I’m glad that Changbin and his staff were able to help us,” I said. “We couldn’t have done this without you.”

“Cheers!” Jisung shouted, and I brought my glass to my lips to enjoy the cooling effects of the alcohol as it slid down my parched throat.

It was late when I started to send most of the chefs home. I made sure to thank everyone again, smiling brightly because I was incredibly proud of their efforts. “We’re almost done with clean-up, Y/N,” Jeongin said, approaching me with an exhausted yawn.

“I’ll clean the rest,” I told Jeongin. “Everyone else can go home.”

Jeongin nodded, looking up at me with sleepy eyes. I grinned as he trudged out of the kitchen, and I took his place at the counter to wipe down the surface until it was spotlessly clean. “This is very dedicated of you, Y/N.”

I smirked at Changbin’s comment. “It’s the least I can do after tonight.”

“Well, you seem like a very ambitious person,” Changbin said, and I could feel him behind me.

“It’s just...been hard lately.”

“Why?”

I closed my eyes. “Honestly? I was a little worked up because we were losing a lot of business to your restaurant. It hurt my pride.”

“The novelty will wear off,” Changbin said. “People enjoy new things, but they always eventually look for what they really like again.”

“Are you trying to be wise?”

“Maybe I’m still trying to impress you,” he said, and the deep tenor of his voice sent a shiver down my spine.

“What?”

“I really like you, Y/N,” he said, and I felt his lips right next to my ear and the warm sensation of his gentle breathing.

His hands smoothed down the fabric of my apron, holding my waist with an unrelenting grip. I shivered when his lips found the sensitive skin of my throat, placing teasing kisses wherever he could find space. He eventually turned me around in his arms, and I was lost in the endless pools of his eyes.

“Are you going to push me away?” he asked.

“Not anymore,” I replied, and it was nothing short of satisfying when he finally kissed me, and I could feel my head spin while my mind tried to process everything that was happening.

I could feel the counter digging into my lower back, and I hopped onto the clean surface while keeping our lips firmly attached. I also grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him between my legs to sear our lips together in a passionate display that stole every bit of oxygen from my burning lungs. He moaned when I let one hand tease the front of his dress pants through the fabric of his jeans and chef’s apron. “Does this mean I can have my date?”

I smiled, curling my fingers into his hair. “Whatever you want.”

“I just want you,” he said, and I seared our solemn declaration with another heart-fluttering kiss.

One Year Later

I had been dreaming, but there was one person who could always summon me from the clutches of my REM cycle. “Sweetheart,” his gentle voice whispered into my ear.

I groaned in protest, rolling over onto my side to avoid Changbin’s persistent wake-up call. However, it was hard to ignore him when I could feel him pull back the covers to settle between my legs. “Don’t do that,” I whined.

“What?”

“You’re trying to convince me to wake-up,” I said. “Let’s sleep longer.”

“Are we gonna skip the opening tonight?” Changbin asked with a husky chuckle.

I sighed, looking up at him with barely-opened eyes. “It’s still so far away.”

“That’s why I’m doing this,” he said, running his hands along my thighs, creeping past the barrier of my shirt.

“Binnie...”

“Y/N,” he said. “I’m gonna fuck this little pussy, and then we’re getting dressed for tonight.”

My eyes shot open immediately. “You better keep that promise.”

Changbin growled low in his chest, pressing a kiss to the front of my panties, and I curled my fingers into his hair because I wouldn’t be able to walk when he was finished with me.

Needless to say, it was a beautiful day for a grand opening, and I studied the front of our new restaurant with pride. It had been a while since the incident that brought us all together, but I enjoyed every day that I spent with Changbin by my side. I had also met so many interesting new people, and our staff finally felt like one giant family. Therefore, we had agreed to open a place together, equipped with a combination of our best staff and servers, and I was excited to welcome tonight’s guests.

“Y/N, should we start kitchen prep?” Jeongin asked, looking at me from inside the front entrance.

“Sure,” I told him with a nod. He clapped his hands together rapidly, disappearing behind the door with my favorite smile.

“Are you not going to help them?”

His teasing voice only brightened my mood, and I felt his arms wrap around me from behind. “I just wanted to see everything before we opened.”

“What do you think?” Changbin asked, looking at me for approval.

I nodded my head with a smile. “It’s perfect.”

#stray kids #skz #stray kids fanfic #skz fanfic #stray kids oneshot #skz one shot #skz fluff #skz smut #stray kids changbin #skz changbin #seo changbin #seo changbin fanfic #stray kids changbin fanfic #seo changbin oneshot

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artsoupsoupart · 3 years

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Madney Week 2021: Paint Me as You Mourn Me

Day Three: “I don’t care what happens to me as long as you’re safe.” + angst

Read on Ao3

“Ch-Chim,” her voice is so far off in the distance, somewhere behind the ringing in his ears. It’s dark, but there are flashes of light pulsing into his line of vision, and he knows he’s hit his head at some point. “Chim, you can get out. Something—”

Her own grunt of frustration cuts her off as he shakes his head, eyes blazing with certainty as his vision clears enough to focus on Maddie, the one person he had secretly vowed to protect from the moment he had met her (even if he didn’t really know the extent of said vow). He looks around for something, anything that could free her from the weight crushing her. “No, gotta get you out first.”

He can think a bit clearer now that the dust has settled, and he’s taken in his surroundings. There had been an earthquake. It had shaken everything and anything, but then it had stopped. The aftershock, though, was quick and intense, and then they were falling, and Chimney was losing everything that meant anything to him. She’s not gone yet; he has to remember that. She’s not allowed to leave him he thinks to himself. Not yet at least. There’s a long trail of blood dripping from her head, thick and oozing, and her eye and side of her face is already beginning to bruise something grotesquely purple. He remembers the ground shaking, remembers thinking this is one of the biggest earthquakes he had ever experienced. He had shielded her with his own body, protecting her in the passageway of the parking garage but then the floor gave out beneath them, and they fell and tumbled to whatever was below.

“Baby, I’m…” she groans out in a pain so distinct that it sinks his heart. “I’m stuck. You have to go. If you don’t,” Maddie winces in pain, her words slurring. “If you don’t—”

“No!” he cuts her off again, his hands cupping her cheeks. “I don’t care what happens to me as long as you’re safe.”

The first time he had picked up a paintbrush, Howard Han was eight years old and at school. It had been the most natural transition from crayons and color pencils to acrylics and watercolors. He had loved it immediately and had gushed to his mother over and over again about how he had wanted to paint for the rest of his life. He painted even the most mundane of scenes. There were canvases of the sky and the moon and the woods behind his home. He had journals and sketchbooks of little moments of ice cream trips and big events like graduating. He mapped out every important event of his life through acrylic and graphite and watercolor.

Setting up Maddie’s security system had been an easy tradeoff for beer and pizza. He had said yes before even meeting her, mainly because he is kind and gentle and the safety of someone is his main priority no matter if he’s on the clock or not.

And then he had seen her. She had said she’d never seen Mission Impossible and what a travesty that is, he had joked. Immediately he takes notice of her, drinking her into his system in the least creepy way possible. She’s blue but not in the dangerous, threatening midnight or oxford blue of a raging ocean where the sea threatens to swallow and drown him whole. She’s nothing like the broad strokes of a pallet knife, thick and aggressive and coarse. She’s far from the aquamarine that drips of hopelessness and grief that he knows so well. She doesn’t make him sad. She doesn’t make an alarm go off in his mind that encourages him to put up false pretenses that will lead to absolutely nothing and drain him of everything he thought he was.

Instead, the strokes of paint are soft under the round brush. Featherlight but abstract because this is already beautiful but so wonderfully new. Chimney doesn’t know the last time he’s felt like this or if he’s ever felt this feeling before. He yearns for her already though they barely know each other, they don’t know each other. Still, she’s a calming sapphire, welcoming and brilliant. He wants to learn what makes her smile, what makes her laugh, what makes her dream of love and light. She sparkles already and he’s only known her for a couple hours. For just a moment he knows he can’t begin to capture what she makes him feel on a piece of linen wrapped around planks of pine.

…

Takeout and a movie between friends, that’s all this is. It’s all this will be because they’re friends and he’s content with that. For each tomorrow, he makes a vow that says if friendship is all they have, that will do. Because she’s been through a lot. It’s what she needs and what she deserves and he’s grateful to be witness to a side of her that he thinks is reserved for few people in her life. He is witness to her tenderness, to her gentle hands and soft voice. He’s on the receiving end of her bright sarcasm and welcomes it just as she does his (corny) jokes. They are friends, but they’re closer than that. She leans her head against his shoulder when they watch movies. He comforts her when scenes are a bit too much. Being allowed to hold her hands is sage green with wide, smooth strokes. They laugh together. She makes him walk and talk differently but they’re just friends. Maybe.

The thin liner brush traces the blobs on the canvas, outlining, defining the images beneath the black paint. For what it’s worth, the old Chimney is gone. The old Chimney would contrast with what exists now. The old Chimney is replaced with one that compliments the sage of who she is. Perhaps now he is a blush of pink that mimic his cheeks when he’s near her, or a muted orange that is warm in a way he couldn’t be before. Together they are a peach sunset on a sprawling meadow. He’s relaxed when he’s with her. He doesn’t have to pretend, doesn’t have to lie. She laughs at his jokes and leans against his side. They are warm and inviting and everything good pools just from being together.

They’re just friends and he can be okay with that for as long as she is as well. He won’t push. He won’t press without her because they’re friends but somehow they’re also partners. Together, they are free to be, to exist and open themselves up entirely.

…

He told her he loved her. She is who he loves, with cats in her throat in the morning. She is who he loves, dancing together in the kitchen, cuddled together on the couch, the morning after saving a life. He is who she loves, with his jokes and his strength. He is understanding and hope and joy. She loves him just as much as he loves her and that burns across the pages of his sketchbook, page after page being filled with their desire, affection, and devotion to one another.

Her eyes shine as she smiles at him, they sparkle more than stars in the deep onyx of an unpolluted sky. Perhaps that’s what he’ll miss the most if he loses her one day. The way those deep ebony pools of burnt umber darken because he loves her. The look in her gaze shoots him directly in the heart every time, without fail. She’s gold, a brilliant yellow that blazes through his very being, his very soul. The light that they’ve turned on is bright and blinding and he thinks this is the end all, be all for him, for them. It takes every bit of self-control in him to not fidget as he paints their passion against the pale beige canvas.

Then they’re red, scarlet, burning bright as they connect with one another. This time is different, better. They’ve professed their love for one another, and it shows in their touch, in their kiss, in the warmth of skin against skin. The strokes are angled, precise. He thinks of time as he paints. How they’ve spent so little of it together in the grand scheme of things, but that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because time goes along with space and they’re well beyond that. They care about each other’s most benign details. They are one and will be for as long as they chose to be.

…

Chimney doesn’t know why he brought the paintings. Each one leans against the wall of the hospital room, comforting him, mocking him. His eyes flicker to each one and his heart breaks that much more. The doctors say she’ll be fine. Somewhere in the back of his mind he believes their optimism, believes she’ll wake up and won’t hate him for failing her, for losing his grip on her, for being the indirect cause of why she’s even in the hospital in the first place. She’d never see it that way, see him that way. Still, he can’t help but think he should have held her tighter, protected her better.

He looks over at Maddie, watches the rise and fall of her chest under the skinny tubes connected to her. There’s so many wires, so little sound, so much light in this room and it’s overwhelming. Everything about this situation is overwhelming. He can’t get the flashes of falling out of his head. He can’t figure out why his hold on her hadn’t been strong enough, how he could have possibly let her slip out of his grasp. It’s not his fault, he’s heard it many times in the last two days. But he had let go, he had let her arms go as they fell, and she had ended up pinned beneath thick, unmovable cement and there had been a rebar of her own through her shoulder. And so much blood.

He’ll never get the image of the color fading from her face as she joked that they’d have matching scars. If only he was good enough, worthy enough to be able to wake her up. He wants to hold her while he waits but can’t risk jostling her and making things worse than they already are.

“I’m going to love you for a long time, Maddie.” His hand finds its place back in hers, tears pooling in his eyes as he realizes how cold it is. She runs cold anyway, but this is practically frigid ice against his. It’s just his mind playing tricks on him, he knows. The fact doesn’t stop him from worrying anyway. “So, just wake up now and then you can rest until you’re better.” She doesn’t move, doesn’t flinch, or speak or even flutter her eyes.

With one hand still in hers, he turns to the travel easel holding a small canvas frame and picks up a paintbrush, dipping it into the flat wash with a sigh.

#madneyweek2021 #maddie buckley #howie chimney han #angst #chakayla’s royal decree #ignore that this is late #the rest of the prompts might be bc i scrapped a lot of stuff #being a perfectionist is fun

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sunshinejihyun · 4 years

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The Birthday Debacle || Choi Twin’s Birthday 2020

Summary: Saeyoung and Saeran have always celebrated their birthday together since the events of Mint Eye, but there’s one person they didn’t know who also shared a birthday with them

Word Count: 3.9K

Masterlist

\“We have a problem." Was not something Saeran Choi wanted to hear on the day of his birthday party. But alas, Saeyoung just had to say it, didn't he? "It's also MC's birthday. I totally forgot about it after doing my background check on her but now I just remembered."

Saeran’s hands started to sweat and he could feel his heartbeat speed up; how could he forget his own girlfriend's birthday? Why didn’t he know it in the first place? It’s been three years since they met, why has this never come up before? “You’re telling me that she probably thinks that we’ve forgotten her birthday for three years now? You have got to be kidding me.”

“I’m sorry! But isn’t it her boyfriends job to remember?” Saeyoung threw his hands in the air and walked off. “I’ll start making the cake, if you want to call and let everyone know it’s also MC’s birthday and we should expect to surprise her.” Saeran mumbled a thanks under his breath and pulled out his phone, already dialing Jumin’s number.

“Saeran, I’m going to see you soon, am I not?” Jumin questioned on the end of the line and Saeran felt a bubble of anger rise in his throat. He wasn’t angry at Jumin, he was angry because he never even thought to ask your birthday and now you probably thought no one cared.

“You are, but there’s been a slight change of plans.” Saeran explained to Jumin that it was your birthday as well as his and Saeyoung’s and that he needed Jumin to stall you for a few hours. “Can you just take her to get a new dress or something? Make her pick out a few and then have her wear her favorite one to the party. I’ll send you a new wine I found as compensation.”

Jumin knew the reason that he was asked to take you was simple: you were closest with him aside from Saeran, and knew that you’d be less suspicious of him than anyone else. So, that’s how Jumin found himself taking a detour to your small apartment, waiting out front until you were planning to leave to meet everyone else for the party.

When you stepped outside, your eyes glanced over the car inquisitively before Jumin saw you smile and rush to meet him. “Jumin, what a lovely surprise!” You exclaimed, leaning over and pressing a friendly kiss to his cheek, him doing the same to you.

“I have to admit, the reason I’m here is purely selfish. I just didn’t want to show up to the party alone and I needed your help with something.” Jumin explained before the driver started the car up, driving in the opposite direction of Saeyoung and Saeran’s bunker. “I need your help choosing a new suit to wear. I’m getting tired of the same grey color every time.”

“Oh Jumin, you know I love to help you but isn’t that what your tailor is for? I don’t want to be late for the party.” You pulled out your phone and looked at the time, nervously chewing your lip. “Can’t we do this after?” Jumin was having none of your objections and instead insisted on sitting on his phone, ignoring whenever you would complain about being late.

When you pulled up to the nicest clothing store you’ve ever seen, you saw Jumin eye a gorgeous white, pink, and green floral dress in the window. “That would look nice on you.”

And that’s how you ended up trying on dress after dress while Jumin looked at some dark blue suits. Jumin had deemed himself the fashion police and every time he didn’t like something you had tried on, he just sent you right back in with another dress in your hand.

At the Choi household, chaos had ensued after the fact that it was also your birthday came out. Saeyoung was in the kitchen baking a second cake for you, a little personal one for you and Saeran to share together later. Saeran and Jihyun were going through all the decorations and trying to fix them so they said “Happy birthday Saeyoung and Saeran! And MC!” Jaehee was running around with Yoosung and Zen, trying to pick out a few perfect presents for you since no one had time to shop before.

Finding his brother in the kitchen with vanilla frosting decorating his face, Saeran chuckled. “I think you missed the cake.”

“I was just taste testing it. What if it was bad? We wouldn’t want MC to get sick.” Saeyoung protested and Saeran reached across his brother to dip his finger in the frosting as well.

“Well, it tastes good enough to me.” After standing and watching his twin messily frost the cake for a moment before speaking again. “Hey, thanks.”

Saeyoung stopped his movements, putting down the knife and turning towards his other half. “What on earth are you thanking me for?”

Saeran turned his gaze to the floor, sure that if he looked straight at his brother he wouldn’t be able to explain correctly. “When we were younger, you always promised you’d come back for me. For a long time, I lost any sort of hope that you would. When I was under Rika’s control, there was only hatred left for you, she erased all the good memories from our childhood. But you never gave up on me. You sat silently day after day and waited for me to come around and I just wanted to say thank you. I’m glad you're my brother.”

Saeyoung felt tears well up in his eyes and he hesitantly stepped towards Saeran, wanting to embrace him but needing the confirmation first. Saeran wrapped his arms around his brother tightly for a moment before letting go and clearing his throat. “You should probably finish that cake.” He noted before walking off, presumably in search of something else to do.

Saeyoung Choi was turning 25 this year and finally, he was in a place in his life that he was happy with. He had great friends and his brother back at his side. They were his family, albeit a dysfunctional one, but what family wasn’t? Even MC, who came later than everyone else, fit right in. In his mind, she was his and Saeran’s honorary triplet (except not really, since you and Saeran were together and that would be gross) since they all shared a birthday. That’s why this year needed to be extra special. It was the first year that they were actually celebrating everyone’s birthday together.

Saeran approached his brother for a second time that morning and set a large box down in front of him, away from the cake. “I got this for you. It’s not much but-“

“I love it!” Saeyoung laughed as his brother looked at him exasperatedly.

“You haven’t even opened it, you idiot.” Saeran deadpanned and then gestured for his brother to open the box.

Inside the box was the biggest Longcat pillow Saeyoung had ever seen and he gasped, hugging it tightly to his chest. “It’s perfect,” looking his brother in the eyes, Saeyoung sincerely thanked Saeran. “Wait here for a moment.”

Saeyoung returned with a large book and promptly handed it to Saeran. Turning it over, Saeran smiled softly at the cover. It was a picture of them together on their first birthday, faces both covered with cake and smiling at the other. Inside was every picture Saeyoung could find of them together or Saeran alone and later on, pictures of MC and the rest of the RFA was added in there. “Saeyoung..”

“I know it’s kind of cheesy, but I wanted to show you that no matter what type of childhood we had, we always had each other and there’s so many people who care about you.” Without saying anything, Saeran grabbed his brother tightly, a sob wracking through his whole body.

“Thank you. Seriously.” After straightening up, Saeran wiped his eyes and went to go put the scrapbook in his room, hidden in a safe place so nothing could damage it.

There was a knock on his bedroom door and he smoothed out his sweater, turning to see Yoosung in the doorway. “Hey, MC and Jumin are on their way. We’re all going to hide and surprise her when they walk in.” Saeran nodded and followed Yoosung to the living room silently, crouching behind a chair and feeling utterly guilty about missing your birthday.

Shutting off the lights, Zen announced that you were at the security gate, struggling to answer the question Saeyoung currently had set for security measures. Saeran smiled to himself, remembering the first time he brought you to the bunker and how frustrated you got with the simple question. How when he finally told you, your neck flushed red and you thanked him with a small kiss.

As soon as he heard the door start to rattle, his smile on his face got bigger, just imagining your face and how surprised you’ll be. “Jumin, the lights are off. Are you sure they’re still-“

As you walked in the door, Zen flicked on the lights and everyone jumped out, screaming a variation of “Happy birthday, MC!”

Your hand covered your mouth and tears welled up in your eyes as Saeran hastily made his way towards you, wrapping his arm around your body as you buried your face in his solid chest.”Happy birthday, Saeran. I love you.” You waited a moment before asking, “how did you know?”,voice muffled by his sweater.

“I’m just sorry we didn’t find out sooner, my love. Why wouldn’t you tell me?” One of Saerans hands pushed your hair back from your forehead and he pressed a soft kiss to the exposed skin.

“Because the first year you celebrated your birthday with Saeyoung, was the first time since you reconnected and I wanted you to have that day with your brother. After that, it just felt too late to tell you so I just never bothered.” You explained and turned towards Jumin. “You’re sneaky, Mr. Han. I can’t believe I didn’t figure this out sooner.” Saeran took that moment to truly study you for the first time in about a week, since that was when he saw you last. You were wearing a blue tea dress, small flowery patterns swirling around - one of the three dresses Jumin had gotten you. Your hair was partially up and it showed off more of your neck than normal, and he smiled to himself when he saw a necklace he had gotten for you on your second Valentine’s Day together dangling down the front of your dress.

“Happy birthday, MC!” Saeyoung exclaimed and wrapped his arms around your waist, twirling you around. Saeran smiled at his brother and partner getting along and he mouthed a thank you towards Jumin, who held up his hand in a way to say “no problem.”

When you pulled away from Saeyoung, you made your way around the room with hello’s and thank you’s making sure to ask everyone how they were doing. Saeran loved that about you, the fact that you remembered such intimately personal details about all your friends; it made everyone know you cared and made them care for you even more.

After you finished your conversation with Jaehee, Saeran gently took your hand and pulled you towards the couch, loving the laugh that you let out as he settled you down on his lap. “What do you say we get out of here later? I love all our friends but I’d really just like to spend some time with you, Princess.” You bit your lip and nodded quickly pressing a kiss to his lips and laughing at the blush that settled on his cheeks.

“I would like that, I want to give you your present alone.” Saeran couldn’t help but let his mind wander at that comment and you laughed, smacking his chest. “Not like that, you dork. It’s just not something anyone else needs to see.”

Saeran smirked, lightly peppering your neck with kisses. “Your not helping your case by saying that.”

“You are unbelievable!” You laughed as you squirmed in his grip, Saeran hitting the ticklish spot on your neck.

“MC, we got this for you. Since we didn’t know it was your birthday, we looked for something to suit you. We hope you will find it suitable.” Jaehee handed you a small velvet box and you felt a smile creep onto your face before sneaking a peek at Saeran, who’s smile was almost mirroring your own. Opening the box you gasped as you saw a bracelet with a locket inside it.

Skipping it on your wrist, you felt Zen grab the charm and open it for you, showing you the pictures inside. One side was the group picture you took on the twins first birthday together and on the other, a picture of you and Saeran asleep, you curled in his lap with one of his hands in your hair, the other wrapped protectively around your waist. “This is beautiful. Seriously, thank you guys.” You got up to hug each of your friends and when you got to Saeyoung you pulled out a small box for him. “Happy birthday Saeyoung.”

He opened the box and saw it was a customized HBC and PhD. Pepper keychain to put on his car keys. Laughing he booped you on the nose before pulling you into another hug. “Thanks so much MC.”

After some more gift exchanging from the other members of the RFA, you noticed Saeran’s eyes starting to glass over, a clear sign he was getting overstimulated and needed a break from people for a moment. Grasping his hand, you shook him out of his trance and motioned your head to the front door. “Want to go take a walk?” Smiling gratefully at you, Saeran got up and you wordlessly followed him to his room where he grabbed two sweatshirts, one for him and one for you.

“I know it’s summer but the nights get colder now. I want you to stay warm.” He explained, once again taking hold of your hand and leading you out the door. “Thanks for noticing I needed a break.”

You squeezed his hand gently and he brought your entwined hands up to his lips, pressing a lingering kiss to the top of your hand. “I notice everything about you, Saeran.” You replied honestly, smiling to yourself when you saw a blush dust the tips of his ears. “Can I give you your present now?”

You guys had stopped and sat down at a park bench when you handed him a heavy bag. He looked at you curiously before pulling the paper out and handing the crumpled ball to you, grunting slightly as he pulled out the large picture frame. “It’s… constellations?” He asked, confusion written all over his face.

Laughing, you pointed to the bottom. “Look at the date.”

Saeran’s eyebrows knit together in confusion before a look of realization dawned on his face. “The day we met.”

You nodded, wrapping your arms around one of his, grateful for his sweatshirt he insisted you put on before you left the party. “Those are the constellations in the sky on the exact date, time, and location when we first met.” You explained, looking at his face as he studied the frame carefully, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I didn’t know what to get you for the longest time, to be honest. You’re picky and I didn’t want to get you anything that wasn’t sentimental, like I got Saeyoung.” You laughed and Saeran pulled you closer to him, pressing a kiss to the side of your head. “But I figured this would be good, since it’s sentimental and something you can always use. Let’s be honest, your room does need something on the walls.” You teased him and your heart swelled when Saeran laughed along with you.

“It’s perfect. Seriously, MC. I couldn’t picture anything better.” Saeran had set down the picture frame and was looking deeply in your eyes, grasping both of your hands. “I’m sorry I don’t have anything for you.”

You shook your head, smiling. “I don’t need anything. Being with you and the rest of our friends are enough. You’re the most important thing to me.” Saeran smiled widely before pulling you into a deep kiss. It was a kiss that said way more than words ever could. It love and thoughtfulness, hope and adoration. It was the type of kiss you would remember forever. It was the type of kiss that proved to you that true love was real.

“As much as I would like to keep you to myself for the rest of the night, I think we need to get back.” Saeran said, a little out of breath as he pulled away, his forehead still pressed against yours.

You let out a small whine as he laughed and pulled you up, holding you close with one hand and holding the bag with your present in the other. On the way back to the bunker, you spotted an ice cream shop, the lights still shining brightly and you stopped your boyfriend. Pointing to the shop, you smiled as his eyes lit up. “Want some ice cream before we head back?”

“MC, do you even have to ask?” Saeran asked seriously and you laughed out loud before he dragged you inside. “Can I get a strawberry on a cone and a vanilla in a cup?” You smiled at the fact that he remembered your order before you remembered you should stop being impressed. Saeran remembered everything you’ve ever told him, even if you didn’t remember telling him. Of course he did, you were his pride and joy.

No matter how much you insisted, Saeran wouldn’t let you pay for the ice cream. “I have three years of birthdays to make up for, please don’t fight me with this.” He pleaded, taking your hand before walking out the door of the ice cream parlor.

Sneaking a glance at Saeran, you suppressed a giggle as you saw a bit of ice cream on his nose. He looked down at you and as he did, you reached up on your tiptoes, kissing the tip of his nose and promptly cleaning his face of ice cream. “You had ice cream on your nose,” you explained as he looked at you with a bewildered expression.

Saeran silently pressed a kiss to your lips. “You had ice cream on your lips.” He stated, like it was the most mundane thing ever.

The rest of your walk back to the party was quiet, the both of you just enjoying being in the others company. When you got to the door with the security questions, you stepped back, happy to let your boyfriend figure out the answer.

“MC, Saeran! There you are.” Yoosung flocked to your side as soon as you stepped into the front door, linking his arm with yours. “You guys have to blow out your candles on the cake!”

“Well, uh, I actually don’t want cake.” You stayed and when everyone looked at you like you were crazy, you went on to explain. “When Saeran and I were out, we got ice cream.”

“Speak for yourself, Princess. I still want some cake.” Saeran released your hand and kissed the top of your head before heading over to sit by his twin. You went and stood by Jumin and Jihyun, a smile on your face as you watched Saeran and Saeyoung argue over who was going to blow out the candle on which cake.

Once they settled their little debacle (Saeran took the vanilla cake and Saeyoung, the chocolate), you all started to sing happy birthday and you laughed as everyone tried to fit Saeran’s, Saeyoung’s, and your name into the song. As your two birthday twins blew out the candles, you felt a tap on your shoulder and Zen stood before you, a smaller cake with your name written sloppily on it with one candle in the center. You smiled at him and blew it out before returning your attention to the birthday boys who were now both eating their first bite of cake.

Saeran gestured for you to come by him and you complied, sitting on his lap as he wrapped his arms around you. Jaehee pulled out her camera and you were about to ask why when you felt something sticky on each side of your face.

Saeyoung couldn’t contain the giggles that had bubbled up in his throat at the look on your face and he doubled over, laughing so hard he fell out of the chair. “I’ll give you both five seconds to run.” The twins each looked at the other and then you were pushed out of Saeran’s lap, both of them running to hide. You immediately chased after your boyfriend, quickly catching up to him and pressing your cheek against his, making sure to rub the frosting all over his face as well. He pulled you closer to him, his face close to yours as he whispered. “Happy birthday, MC. I love you.”

“Happy birthday Saeran, I love you too.” You replied before gently kissing him.

“Happy birthday Saeyoung, I love you.” You heard the other twin say to himself and you and Saeran both broke apart with a giggle playing on both of your lips.

“Hey, Jaehee just sent us the pictures she took from the party, do you want to see them?” Saeyoung sat down next to his brother on his bed.

“Sure,” Saeran replied, turning his attention away from the book he was reading. As Saeyoung spread the pictures out in front of the two boys, Saeran smiled at all the pictures that were there. Pictures of him with his brother, Yoosung, you, and every other combination of all of his friends was laid out in front of him.

“What do you think about adding these to your scrapbook?” Saeyoung asked, laughing as he saw his brother's eyes transfixed on the picture of you and him kissing, cake frosting all over both of your faces.

“I think that’s a good idea, but if you don’t mind I think I’d like to keep this one out of it.” Saeran grabbed the picture his eyes hadn’t left. “I’d like to frame this one. Keep it where I can see it no matter what.”

Saeyoung smiled at his lovestruck brother. “Of course.” Patting his brother on the back, Saeyoung removed himself from the bed. “Hey Saeran?”

Looking up at his brother, Saeran answered him quietly. “Yeah?”

“Thanks for being my brother. I can’t wait to celebrate our birthday together next year.” Saeyoung said before leaving the room.

“I can’t wait either,” Saeran whispered, picking up the picture of him and his brother blowing out the cake candles together. “I’m so lucky to have you.”

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