#However from what I’ve noticed in reviews I think with the slides in color this sharpness issue is only on the Westerlund 2.

[maddymoreau]

I replaced my night light with a planetarium:

#I REALLY like how much sharper the black and white slide is (ɞ̴̶̷ ·̮ ɞ̴̶̷ )♡!!! #However from what I’ve noticed in reviews I think with the slides in color this sharpness issue is only on the Westerlund 2. #I DEFINITELY (◞ > ·̮ <)◞♥︎ want to get more slides in the future (besides the ones it came with)!! #I’m a pretty anxious person especially at night and it’s helped a lot so far (۶ᐛ )۶!!! #The Brand is Pococo -> Don’t buy it on Amazon you can get it for way cheaper on their website. #Pococo #Planetarium #MaddyMoreauPost #Anyway YYYYYYYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

If I Fell For You (Part 15) - Trouble In Paradise

Summary: The reader is enjoying settling into her newfound children’s book career and shares how important the bracelet she gave Jensen is to her. A rainy day allows the reader to enjoy her shift into motherhood despite all of the bumps that go with it. But not everything is smooth sailing for the happy couple...

Masterlist

Pairing: Jensen x nanny!reader

Word Count: 5,600ish

Warnings: language, angst, mention of past abuse, nightmares, major angst

A/N: Uh oh. Big uh oh. Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

________

Two Weeks Later

“Honey bun,” sang Jensen as he stepped into your home office you’d set up in the small reading room in the house. “Must you work today?”

“I do occasionally have to work on that drawing thing,” you said. He pouted and laid out on the daybed, picking up a copy of the third book. “Give me another hour to finish with these pages.”

“Can I hang out and watch you draw?” he asked.

“Knock your socks off,” you said. You picked up your stylus again and went back to your pad, Jensen sitting up and watching from the other side of the room. “You can sit closer if you want.”

He got up and pulled over a chair, crossing his legs in it.

“I basically draw using my stylus and this pad and it shows up on my laptop screen,” you said.

“We could get you a better screen, like your own separate work computer. I know your stories are picking up a lot of steam.”

“I’m okay for now. All I need to do is finish illustrating this book and my five book deal is done and ready for print,” you said.

“Can I make a request?”

“I would love to put in a giraffe for Zepp but the story takes place in the woods,” you said.

“Baby giraffe? Maybe just in the background?” he asked.

You backed out of your current page and went to the last two where the foxes and wolves were playing with their friends. You tapped on a tree and erased it, sketching out a loose shape.

“Look up a giraffe for me?” you asked. He tapped away on his phone and pulled up a picture. “Thanks.”

You drew a picture of a rough giraffe, softening it some before adding colors.

“You’re really good at that,” he said.

“The characters are easy. Backgrounds can get boring,” you said. You went back to your original set of pages and worked quietly, Jensen watching carefully. “Yes?”

“Just wanna spend time with you is all,” he said, resting his head on your shoulder.

“Okay, baby,” you said. You worked for another hour, Jensen asking the occasional question but mostly staying silent and close by. After you sent off the pages for review you turned to him, Jensen offering a soft smile in return. “All set with work for the day.”

“Awesome,” he said.

“Where’s the munchkins?”

“A movie,” he said. You ran your fingers through his hair and he leaned into it. “Tell me a secret.”

“A secret? I don’t think I have too many of those left from you,” you said. He opened his eyes and looked at you through his lashes. “What?”

“You said you got this on vacation,” he said, holding up his wrist, the bracelet you’d put on him two weeks ago still there. “When we were down there, I was talking to Ray and he kinda implied it wasn’t just a souvenir.”

“I was upset that day when he bought it for me. It meant I was safe was all,” you said.

“How long after did your mom…”

“A few months. She went on bed rest after that trip.”

“Y/N, I know when you’re holding back, honey. I would never judge or tell anyone anything. You know that.”

“You got hurt because you lost someone and you got hurt and it sucks right? But it’s kinda like something happened and then you heal from it right?”

“Yeah…” he said. “What don’t I know?”

“You know how anxious you were to get in the car and drive down to the beach?” you asked as he nodded. “You’ve never been afraid of a person, Jensen. It’s like that feeling...but everyday and you’re expected to live your life normally when you constantly have that over your head.”

He was quiet, glancing past you as the room grew darker from some passing clouds outside.

“Canada wasn’t the first time you saw your father since you were adopted, was it,” he said.

“You wouldn’t believe what a good lawyer and shitty laws will do for a piece of shit like that,” you said.

“You were a kid.”

“With zero physical evidence. Everything was circumstantial. So he got out and he came to apologize or some bullshit and Ray decked him.”

“The more I learn about Ray, the more I like him.”

“My mom kicked him in the nuts.”

“I really like that woman,” he said. You smiled and he moved his chair closer, pulling you into his lap. “I don’t mean to make you talk about your dad. I was curious was all.”

He went to take off the bracelet when you put a hand over it.

“I don’t want to remind you of something bad, sweetheart.”

“Like I said, I was upset. Very upset and in public and I went down to the beach to try to hide away. Ray bought that for me and told me I was safe when he put it on me. All it means to me is that you’re safe.”

“What about you? What do you have?” he asked quietly. You cocked your head and moved your hand to rest over his chest. “Alright, sort of a dumb question.”

“Not dumb,” you said, trailing your fingers down his chest.

“Guess you’ll just have to stay as close as humanly possible.”

“I don’t have a problem with that,” you said.

“Do you have a restraining order against your father?”

“No but that’s only because Ray managed to get him kicked out of the country. He found some loophole law. He was born in the Yukon so technically he’s not American and he got him kicked back.”

“Scratch that. Ray is my new favorite person,” he said. “If only we could send him someplace we’ll never visit like...a deserted island. Or Hell.”

“I appreciate the thought but I’m not scared of him anymore,” you said. “I am however afraid our plans of lunch at the brewery are going to get rained out.”

“We can enjoy ourselves right here. I’ve never heard a complaint yet about my grilling.”

“You know what? I got the perfect idea.”

“Okay,” said Jensen, sliding the foil packet off the grill and onto JJ’s plate. You’d decided to have lunch on the grill, sitting out under the covered back patio off the playroom. It was pouring rain but you were plenty dry there. “Chicken, marinara sauce and cheese. Then we got chicken, ketchup and baby carrots for Arrow. Zeppy wanted to try barbecue sauce and onion which sounded good to me and then Y/N went for the salmon and lemon.”

You helped the twins open up their foil packets and get their food on their plates, dicing up the chicken for them before going to your own plate.

“Daddy,” said Zeppelin while he chewed on a big piece of chicken. Jensen hummed and worked on his own food. “Can we play race cars after lunch?”

“Sure,” he said, JJ shaking her head.

“I don’t wanna play cars,” she said. Zeppelin stared at her and his bottom lip wobbled. “You’re a cry baby.”

“JJ, that’s rude,” you said, Jensen glancing at you and nodding. “Apologize to your brother.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled. 

“We’re gonna play cars after lunch and you’re welcome to join,” said Jensen. “Your brother goes along with what you girls want to play quite a bit so I think you can do the same for him.”

“I still don’t wanna play cars,” she mumbled.

“You play cars with the Padalecki boys all the time,” you said.

“Not little kid cars,” she said. “He doesn’t know how to play right.”

You saw Zeppelin getting upset again and sighed.

“There’s no wrong way to play,” you said. “Zepp’s littler than you. You gotta be the big sister and do what he wants sometimes.”

“Mom would have played dress up,” she grumbled. “Not stupid cars.”

“Enough,” said Jensen. “You’re old enough to know better.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Your brother wants to play cars. We played horses all morning long and you barely let him have a turn at that so like I said, we’re gonna play what he wants and you are welcome to join us but if you don’t want to, you can play something else,” he said. 

“Baby,” she said under her breath. Jensen didn’t catch it but you did.

“JJ you’re in timeout after lunch. Ten minutes,” you said. 

“I didn’t-”

“You just called him a baby. You want to make it fifteen?” you asked.

“You’re not my mom! You can’t give me timeouts,” she said.

“Half an hour now,” said Jensen. She stared at him and he shook his head. “Eat your lunch.”

Zeppelin spent half of it crying quietly and JJ barely touched hers before she was following Jensen inside. You threw your head back and sighed before you went inside to get some tissues. When you came back out Arrow was hugging him tightly.

“Let’s clean you up, buddy,” you said as you squatted down beside them. She let go of him and you wiped off his face and helped him blow his nose. “Feel better?”

“We can play dress up,” he said. You picked him up and hoisted him on your hip. 

“We’re gonna play cars. Arrow, do you want to play with us?” you asked. She smiled and nodded. “Hey how about you go wash your hands and then you can bring out the bucket of cars and we’ll play out here. How’s that sound Zepp?”

“Okay,” he said. Arrow went inside and you carried him around as you collected the trash and threw it in the bag you brought out. You tied it up and left it in the corner to put in the bin later before you you walked to the edge of the covered patio, rain coming down at a decent rate. “Y/N you’re my mom right?”

“I’m one of your moms,” you said. “I’m gonna adopt you that way everybody can know I am though.”

“Cool,” he said softly, resting his head on your shoulder. “Mom can we play in the rain?”

“Hear any thunder?” you asked. He shook his head. “See any lightning?”

“Nuh uh,” he said.

“Then we can play in the rain all you want,” you said. You walked out to the grass and spun around with him, getting a giggle out of him. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” he asked. You spun around again and he laughed.

“There it is again!” you said. He giggled and you spun around a few times until you were dizzy and took a seat. He hugged you and kissed your cheek as you noticed Jensen leaning against the post of the patio. He was smiling and you hopped up with Zeppelin, waving him around in the air until you were back under cover. You set him down and he ran over to Arrow, picking out his favorite cars from the bucket and handing her some. 

“Well that might have been one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen,” he said. 

“You took a picture, didn’t you.”

“Oh several,” he said. He glanced back at the twins and then at you. “It clicked for you just now didn’t it.”

“Being a mom? Yeah.”

“You didn’t look to me on how to discipline JJ and you made him feel better and you made him laugh. You went full mom there and I’ve kinda been waiting for that.”

“I know it’s just playing they’re arguing over but I just hate...there is so much of you in him,” you said.

“I know and that feeling will never go away but it means you love ‘em and loving them is my only requirement for us working so this was actually a really good thing.”

“Those two are so sweet,” you said.

“It’s the twin thing. Oh what fun we have to look forward to when they are teenagers and they lie to us for one another,” he chuckled.

“Yeah but I’ll take it. Did you really give her a half hour timeout?”

“Fifteen minutes. She needs to share more and he doesn’t like confrontation so he goes along with what she wants but it’s not her road or the highway.”

“She’s been a little…”

��I know. Since we told them about the engagement,” he said. “We gotta talk to her on her own.”

“Let me take a crack at her first?” you asked.

“You got a hunch?”

“I don’t think having a mom again is a problem. I think the idea of losing a mom again is.”

“That makes sense considering she was attached to your hip before all this.”

“I’m gonna go see if I can get to the bottom of this. Now go play cars,” you said. He kissed your cheek and you headed inside, drying off some with a towel in the laundry room before you went up to JJ’s bedroom. You knocked and cracked open the door, catching her splayed out on her bed. “JJ. Can we talk?”

She rolled and put her back to you. You sat down on the edge of her bed and took a deep breath.

“You know your brother did what you wanted all day. You have to share,” you said. She didn’t say anything and you lay back on the bed, turning your head. She rolled back the other way and you sat up. She rolled again and you tilted your head back. “JJ do you want me to be your mom?”

“No,” she mumbled. 

“Are you lying?” She didn’t move and you sat back, her face scrunched up. “Are you scared if I’m your mom something bad will happen to me?”

“I don’t want two dead moms,” she said. 

“I have two dead moms,” you said. She blinked her eyes open and sat up. “My first mom, I never met her. She died giving birth to me.”

“You only had a dad when you were born?” she asked. You nodded and pulled her into your lap. “Did he get married again?”

“No. My dad was very mad my mom died. He took that out on me. He was a bad guy. He went to jail and I got adopted by my mom when I was your age. Ray was her boyfriend. He acted like he was my dad in a lot of ways. I was sixteen when my mom died. I understand it hurts, sweetie, and that it’s scary and you don’t ever want to feel like that again.”

“I thought if I was bad you and daddy wouldn’t...and then I don’t have to feel bad again.”

“I am so sorry honey but you can’t stop that feeling from never coming back. The only way you could not get it would be to not love anyone or anything and that’s not a life at all. It’s the price you pay for loving someone. Your mom was an accident. But Daddy is young and I’m even younger and I promise you will not have to feel that way about me for a very, very long time.”

“How long?”

“How about fifty years?”

“Fifty years? That’s forever,” she said. 

“I’ll give you fifty years if I can be your mom and you stop picking on Zepp. Deal?”

“Okay. I’m sorry I made him cry.”

“I’m not the one that needs an apology,” you said. “Now do you want stay in here all by yourself or do you want to come play with us?”

“I can play?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” you said. You got up and carried her down on your back, setting her down to let her run off out to the porch. Jensen got up from his seat and held up a finger, ducking back inside to where you were.

“That’s what I like to see,” he said as she gave Zeppelin a hug and he handed her a car.

“I did have to promise not to die for fifty years.”

“Fifty? You got off easy. I had to promise a hundred after the accident,” he chuckled. “I should have noticed she was scared.”

“I have more experience being a scared little girl than you do. I got experience with letting people get close again too,” you said.

“How’s that working out for ya?” he smirked.

“He’s lucky he’s hot,” you said. He threw his arm over your shoulders and grinned. “Do you want to get married in the fall?”

“This fall?” he asked.

“Can we pull it off that fast?” you asked.

“Yeah. We don’t have to book a venue which is the hardest part. I don’t see why not. What’s the rush?” he asked.

“It’s easier to adopt them if we’re married,” you said. “I don’t really want to wait longer than we have to if that’s alright.”

“I’d say let’s go drive down to city hall and get a justice of the peace right now if I knew my mother wouldn’t kill me for it. How about I call up the lawyer and ask him to start prepping the paperwork as if we already were so it’s all set to go,” he said.

“You have a lawyer?” you asked. “They’d do that?”

“Y/N, honey. My taxes alone frighten me not to mention I own a business with employees and what qualifies as a business write off still confuses me and wait you don’t have a lawyer for your book deal?”

“Should I have one?” 

“Greg is your lawyer now,” he said. “He’s good. He’ll do all the paperwork for us.”

“Oh good cause all the forms online were confusing the hell out of me,” you said. He shook his head and pulled you in close. 

“Silly goose,” he said, a loud boom of thunder shaking the house. “Let’s get the crew inside before it pours.”

“Who wants to build a fort?” you asked that afternoon. JJ jumped up and down on the couch and Jensen walked in with an arm full of blankets and sheets. Three little hands shot up and Jensen lazily tossed the blankets on the couch, covering the three of them.

“Hm, where’d those three munchkins run off to…” he said, Arrow ducking her head out first, hair all in her face. Jensen giggled and she rolled her eyes, the other two climbing out. “Alright. I’m gonna grab clothes pins and a few more things. You guys start designing.”

You stood back and let JJ organize, figuring out her first choice of blanket for a roof was too small. Jensen returned with a bag of clips, some twine and the step ladder, wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his head on your shoulder.

“How they doing?” he whispered.

“Picking out the roof,” you said, Arrow rushing over and grabbing his hand as Zeppelin climbed on JJ’s back and held up a sheet over the two of them with one hand. You smirked and she let out another eye roll.

“Daddy, can you pick up Zeppy so then he can put the blankie up? I told them they’re too small,” she said.

“Sure,” he said. “Tell me where you want it to go.”

Twenty minutes later the family room was covered with sheets, tied off to the stairs, chairs, the ceiling fan after Jensen broke out the larger ladder to get up there and assured you it wouldn’t bring the whole thing crashing down. 

“Can we sleep in here tonight?” asked JJ. 

“I don’t see why not,” you said. “There’s plenty of room on the couch. We’ll bring down your comforters when it’s bedtime,” you said.

“Can we watch Cars?” asked Zeppelin, glancing at JJ. 

“Okay,” she said. She gave him a hug and picked him up, Jensen smiling to himself as he looked on.

“Can we get pizza for dinner like a real sleepover?” asked Arrow. 

“We did cook up all the chicken at lunch,” you said, giving Jensen a side eye.

“Yeah we’ll get one,” he said. “Why don’t you turn on your movie okay? We’ll be right there.”

You let Jensen pull you into the kitchen, smirking as he picked you up and sat you on the counter.

“Seems like today’s crisis has been averted,” you said.

“I’m sure they’ll go back to tormenting each other tomorrow but I’ll take it,” he said, reaching into the drawer next to you, pulling out a menu. “So. You interested in pizza?”

“Oh that looks interesting,” you said, taking the pamphlet out of his hand and tapping at a special. “One cheese, one speciality, boneless wings and garlic bread? My little carb loving heart is in love.”

“She’s not the only one,” he said, leaning up on his tip toes and kissing you. 

“Are you coming?” groaned JJ from in the fort. You shook your head and Jensen kissed your neck, even nibbling before he pulled back. You smacked his chest and he set the menu down, giving you a wink.

“We’re coming in right now. Don’t wait for us kiddo.”

You woke up sweating, Jensen shushing you, arms wrapped around you. You took a deep breath and caught the clock said it was almost three. You turned in his arms and buried your head in his chest, his hand rubbing up and down your back.

“You’re okay. Bad dream is all,” he said softly. You nodded and started to relax, flinching when there was more thunder. “Hey, it’s okay. Nothing’s gonna get ya.”

The thunder shook the house and you tensed up. Jensen pulled the covers over both your heads and you crammed in as close as humanly possible when more thunder hit.

“Honey look at me. Please look at me.” You lifted your head and saw a horrible face in front of you, a scream ripping out of your throat.

“Y/N,” you heard as you woke up absolutely drenched, Jensen’s hands on your face. “Honey, talk to me. Can you hear me?”

“Night terror,” you said quietly. 

“Yeah, JJ used to have them. I didn’t know adults could get them,” he said. 

“Can I have a cold washcloth? And some water?” you asked. He got out of bed and padded into the bathroom in his boxers, settling back into bed and handing you the water. You drank it down while he wiped off your face and neck, running it over your head. “Thanks.”

“You okay?” he asked. 

“Mostly feel embarrassed.” He frowned and you put the glass on your nightstand, staring down at your sweaty shirt. 

“Should I call Ray?”

“It was a stupid nightmare. I’m fine,” you said.

“You were sat up eyes wide open and talking and shouting and I couldn’t wake you up,” he said. “I know adults really shouldn’t be getting night terrors so maybe something triggered you or something during the day.”

“I know my triggers and I know when it’s just a stupid nightmare. Back off,” you said. You got out from under the hot covers and went outside to the balcony, the air nice and cool from the storm earlier. The slide of the door was loud in the the quiet and you rubbed your arm. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ve seen you have nightmares. That was a lot worse,” he said.

“I thought I saw someone watching the house earlier.”

“What?”

“It was the neighbor’s kid, the teenager. It was his friend and he came over late but I thought...it freaked me out. That on top of thinking about the fact my father is not rotting in a jail cell most likely sent me over the edge,” you said. He walked in front of you, resting his hands on your arms. “I’m okay. Needed some air was all.”

“Alright. Tell me if something like that happens again?” he asked. You hummed and he gave you a kiss. “Okay, sweetheart. Let’s head on back to bed.”

“What do you mean?” you growled into the phone the next evening. Jensen lifted his head from his book in the family room and you walked away, stepping out to the private patio area on the side of the house. “That’s not possible.”

“It’s been fifteen years. He has every legal right to be in the country.”

“In the country! He got an apartment seven minutes from where I live!” you said. “I have little kids here, Finn. Tell me there’s something I can do.”

“I can get a restraining order-”

“That doesn’t mean shit to him. I need him fucking deported. I need him gone.”

“Y/N, you know me. I have never agreed to it but he paid his debt as it was assigned and he quietly followed the law. He did what he was supposed to and I’m sorry but until he does something, I can’t do anything besides help you and your fiance’s family get a restraining order.”

“So until he does something horrible again, I can’t do anything about it.”

“Y/N.”

“No Finn. I appreciate the heads up but...I have to go.”

You hung up and squeezed your phone tight. He knew where you lived. He was minutes away and there was absolutely zero help until something went wrong. You sat on a bench and bounced your leg. Nothing could go wrong. You couldn’t let anything go wrong. Who knew what the son of a bitch would do to any one of them.

You stopped bouncing your leg just as you heard the door open. You lifted your head and stood, spinning around to Jensen standing there.

“Everything alright?”

“Actually no.”

“Who was on the phone?”

“My ex,” you said, swallowing. You crossed your arms and thought of the things Jensen had told you about acting and getting in character and all that. You were gonna destroy him. Fuck you were going to end up shattering him into a thousand pieces he’d never put back together. 

You couldn’t really lie just to keep them away from him, could you? 

You saw Arrow run past in the house and made your face hard. Broken heart but safe kids was worth it.

“I thought you didn’t talk to him anymore,” said Jensen. You turned up your chin and he smiled. “You are the worst actress in the world. Who was it really?”

“I think we’re moving too fast and I want to take a break and I would appreciate it if you gave me my space to figure this out on my own.”

“Uh, what?” he said. You brushed past him and he followed you in, all the way up to your bedroom. You got out a bag and he flipped it shut. “What the hell is going on? Who was on the phone?”

“My boyfriend,” you said. He stared at you and you sighed. “You’re a great guy but I’m sorry. I can’t do the house and kids thing. I want to go see the world and not be tied down and you’re just...you’re too damn old for me.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Maybe you should have trusted your first instincts when you saw me and Doug,” you said. He stared at you while you shoved some clothes in a bag. You slung it over your shoulder and he caught the backside of it. You took off your ring and put it on the table by the door, Jensen dropping his hand. “I just can’t do this anymore. It wasn’t you. I’m sorry. I really need to go.”

______

A/N: Read Part 16 here!

#spn #supernatural #jensen ackles #jensen ackles x reader #jensen x reader #jensen series #rpf #rpf series #spn fanfic #jensen ackles fanfic #supernatural fanfic

[soyeahitsmiddleearth]

Dimension Jumping Pt. 5

Comforting a grieving hobbit and time get everyone ready to go out!

Via the genius idea from katzrfsoa / Kat88

There's been mention of the reader not wanting to take the groups out, for fear of the public's reaction... so what about a cosplay convention? it would give the Reader the perfect excuse to allow them out, and they would wear their original clothes 

----

This morning has been uneventful for the most part.

Breakfast passed by without issue and now everyone is off doing their own things.

You looked outside and took a peek in the guest room, but you still can't find him.

Sam, Merry, and Pippin are playing a board game you showed them; Legolas is doing his meditation sleep thing; Boromir and Aragorn are discussing something; and Gimli is stacking bread on Legolas' leg to see how long it takes until he notices.

Frodo, however, is missing at the moment.

Right as you were considering telling the others of his disappearance, however, you heard some shuffling from your hall closet.

You open the door carefully and take peer inside, not wanting to startle the small hobbit, and at first you don't see him.

There's more shuffling and you hear a quiet sniff, followed by soft sobs, and you then realize he's hiding behind the shelf.

The door makes a soft clicking sound when you close it, and right away the quiet cries cease. You didn't want to alert him with the door, you wanted to do it yourself, but it's too late now, so you just go with it.

"Frodo?" You call in a gentle voice, staying by the door incase he wants you to go.

"Y-Yes?' He calls back, not moving from his spot.

His voice is thick with emotion, and the sadness in his tone makes your heart ache painfully. And when you walk closer and see him huddled up behind the shelf, your heart breaks a little for him.

He hastily rids his cheeks of any evidence of his sorrows, though the puffiness around his eyes and constant sniffles don't much help his cause, and looks at you with a false smile.

"Frodo, why are you crying?" You ask with furrowed eyebrows, kneeling down in front of him so you may look at him at eye level (mostly).

"It's nothing." He tells you quickly, looking away from your compassionate face with the same sad frown on his lips.

When you don't move to get up or leave, his gaze slides back over to you and he realizes that you're not going to leave unless he straight up tells you to go away. This makes him sigh, but truthfully, he doesn't want you to go away. Not really. For having company in a time of sorrow always mends suffering.

"I... did not have a proper time to mourn Gandalf. I've been so caught up in the oddity that is this place that I almost forgot my sorrows altogether, but then this morning is all... came rushing back." He explains with a surprisingly even voice.

While he speaks you cross your legs and listen along intently, your hands folded neatly in your lap. When he finishes, you reach forward and place your hand atop his with a gentle touch, "I didn't know him, but I can tell he was very dear to you. Honestly, I can't offer much advice, but I can tell you that keeping it all bottled up inside is not a good idea."

He looks at you with that sad face when you speak, and it prompts you to continue, "Also, I know everyone else can be pretty overwhelming or they just don't understand, and I want you to know that I'm always here to listen if you're feeling down, okay?"

Your words draw a small smile from the grieving hobbit and it elicits a similar grin from you.

"Thank you, Y/N. I... actually do feel a little better."

"I'm glad."

---

After your discussion with Frodo you rejoin everyone back out in the main room and let him recollect himself, going right onto your laptop to get some work done.

You're idly scrolling through a scholarly article you need to research when you see it.

An advertisement for some sort of comic book, cosplay, convention... thing in the area (no wonder you've been seeing so many oddly dressed people recently).

At first you almost scroll past it, but then you get hit with the brick of knowledge and a lightbulb goes off in your head.

"Yes!" You scream, successfully scaring everyone in the room and Penny who is sitting with you for once. "Ohh, my god. This is freaking perfect!" You exclaim, clicking on the link to get some more information.

Your eyes practically soak up everything on the information page, and, once you've skimmed through all of it, you look up with a bright smile on your face.

Literally all of them are looking at you like you've grown two heads, but you only clap your hands together a few times. "Guys, I just had a huge brain moment!"

The joke goes over their heads as per usual, but you don't let that deter you.

"Huge brain moment?" Pippin asks in confusion, looking at his cousin like he thinks he heard it wrong or something.

"Yes! I've figured out a way to take everyone out!"

That certainly gets their attention.

"You have?" Sam asks exuberantly, dropping his game piece so he can turn towards you and pay perfect attention.

"I have, yes," you start, continuing once you're 100% sure they're all paying attention, "So here's the thing, I knew that I could take out you tall boi's without issue besides having to find a hat for Legolas here, and I could explain that Gimli here has dwarfism," you pause at that and realize it may be offensive to him, but you continue once more, "but I also knew that there's no way I can explain away the hobbits, and then I found this gem."

You turn the computer so it faces all of them, but they only look more confused.

"There's a convention thing in town for the next week, and it's the perfect opportunity for me to bring everyone out! We just have to dress up the hobbits a bit and pretend that they're children."

At your explanation you receive multiple pleased smiles, and it serves to make you feel even better about your idea. "And you can all wear your normal clothes, too. And if someone asks who you are... I'll figure out a game or something you guys can use as an alias."

"Are you sure that will work?" Aragorn asks with furrowed eyebrows, sitting up from his spot in your arm chair.

"Um, like, maybe 98%." You confirm with a shrug, "It's better than 88% though."

He doesn't seem like he disagrees with you, so you look back at your laptop again and start to look for ideas to make them more believable as humans.

---

3 hours of research later, and you've successfully compiled a completely fool proof plan to smuggle this merry band of bizarre boys out of your house.

What you've decided is that you'll put some makeup over Legolas' pointy ears to make them look more fake since the concept of elves is not lost in this world. Boromir and Aragorn can go as themselves, and you'll put some makeup on the hobbits much like you will Legolas (they'll be children elves since there are no hobbits in your world) and tell everyone who asks how they look so good that you're a professional makeup artist.

Gimli, fortunately for you, was the easiest to come up with something for next to the other two humans of this group. You can just tell people he has dwarfism and that's why he chose to go as a dwarf character.

Everything is in order except for what you're going to do, though you suppose you should match their theme and be some sort of renaissance, maiden, lady, thing. You'll figure it out, though you do need to make sure it's convincing like theirs.

You decided to, instead of putting it off, go ahead and start working on finding a costume to match theirs.

A couple of searches later and you come across a really pretty dress that looks to fit their style, and when you show it to them they give you the thumbs up, so you order it with express shipping so it should arrive tomorrow.

It's a lovely flowy medieval dress *just look up flowy medieval dress and go to images, there are some good examples there*, and you feel excited just looking at it. Of course, there's no guarantee that it'll be the best quality, but it's got great reviews and you certainly paid a hefty sum for it.

After that's done with you head to your bathroom to see what makeup you've got, and you find that you don't really have any theatrical/special effects makeup. You're going to need skin colored wax makeup, powders, and contour stuff.

You're no makeup artist, obviously, but luckily for you, your goal is to make them look less realistic, so it should be easy enough.

It's surprisingly easy to figure out what you need to make them as convincing as possible, and pretty soon you've got a nice little list going on that outlines each thing you need.

Since you don't want to delay anymore, you head out of your bathroom and grab your bag while putting on your shoes, "Legolas, I'm leaving now if you wanna come with." You suggest since he stated his desire to join you in the one of the last chapters (:o).

When you call his name he looks over at you quickly, smiling a bit at your offer, "Yes, but you said I need a hat."

"Oh yeah! I have one, just gimme a sec." You tell him, walking over to a drawer.

When you open said drawer, you find a grey beanie with ease and toss it over to him, "Here ya go. Make sure it covers your ears... and uh, tuck your hair up into it too if you don't mind."

He does as you say with ease and, surprisingly, he looks just as good with shorter hair as he does longer hair.

It sticks kinda awkwardly at first, so you waltz on over and gesture for him to crouch down so you don't have to reach up.

Once again he does as you request and leans down so you may fix it.

You adjust it a bit to make sure it won't fall first, and then you smooth it back a bit so it'll also look stylish. And once you're done you take a step back and smile at him brightly.

"All done! Let's go!"

---

He seemed rather fascinated in the way your car works first and foremost, but once you got him to look out his window instead of watching you, his excitement quickly turned into awe.

When you both get to the ULTA store he follows you without hesitation and asks some hushed questions about things he sees, like the light up signs, other passing cars, stoplights, and some other things.

You, of course, answer each question happily and lead him inside, holding the door open for him while he enters and looks around the brightly lit up makeup store.

Right away you head towards the general direction of the nose and scar wax (it's multi purpose, don't judge me), forgetting to make sure that Legolas follows you.

When it does occur to you, however, that the blond elf didn't come after you, you panic.

You turn in a circle and only stop when you see him standing with some ladies who practically have hearts in their eyes.

Unconsciously you breathe a sigh of relief and head over with the wax in your little basket, immediately reaching up to wrap your arm around his, "I got the first thing on my list, come on."

The girls stop their giggles and flirting as soon as you show up and look genuinely surprised.

You give them a smile and nod in acknowledgement, not wanting to make them feel bad over something so silly before turning with your arm still around his own and walking him over to look at some contour stuff and other things.

They make some snide comments when you turn your back about you being a 'clingy girlfriend' and 'not pretty enough to be with a model like that', but you only ignore it and relish in the fact that you didn't make them feel bad over something as silly as a cute guy in a makeup store.

"Why are those women talking about you like that?" He asks in a whisper, leaning down so only you will hear his question.

You look up at him with a bit or surprise since you didn't expect him to pick up on that, before you smile, "They're attracted to you, and they think that I was being selfish with taking you away from their advances."

"Selfish? Advances?" He looks confused, but you only smile and turn back to the display case.

"Don't worry your pretty little head over it, Leggy my boy."

"Leggy?" He asks slowly, looking at you in confusion.

"Leggy." You confirm with a nod with a distracted hum.

It isn't much later that you have everything you need, and so you go to the checkout and buy everything.

"Going to the convention?" The girl at the counter asks with a smile.

You smile back and nod your head, glancing up at Legolas before looking back at her, "That obvious?"

"No of course not, just the items in your basket always fly off the shelves around convention time." She replies with a giggle, ringing up all your items.

"Well, that's fair." You muse, putting your card into the reader to pay for it.

Once everything is in order she hands you your receipt and adds, "Maybe I'll see you there."

"Maybe!" You chirp back happily, liking the nice conversation going on here.

"You and your boyfriend have a good day now!"

You elect to ignore that.

---

On the way home you pretend to not notice the black car following yours and make small talk with the elf, answering some more of his questions and speaking idly on different things.

"There are so many odd, interesting things here..." He comments after a while, glancing out the back window. "Are you aware that, that car has been following us for the past 10 minutes?"

You nod and hum as an answer, "Mmhm, it's just Brian. He's probably trying to figure out who you are."

The blond knits his eyebrows together and glances back to look at the car again, "Should I do something about it?"

"The only thing you can do is ignore it. He went from lowercase 's' stalker to uppercase 's' since you guys arrived, and it'll only get worse if you intervene." You mumble, trying not to look in the rearview mirror at him. "It's fine."

"You don't seem to think it's fine." He challenges in the same even tone, turning in his seat towards you.

Instead of answering his question you look at him while you stop at a light and grumble, "I told you to put your seatbelt on."

"It's uncomfortable."

"I don't care."

"I will be fine."

"Not if we get into a crash, you won't."

The two of you stare each other down before he slowly reaches up and buckles his belt, never breaking eye-contact.

"Good boy." You coo in a way-too sweet voice.

"Anyways, I know we said as much before, but you needn't worry about that man while we're here." He continues despite your obvious subject change.

"I know." Your reply is softer and less defensive this time, for you really do appreciate it, "Thank you."

He looks surprised at your sudden gratitude, and his expression shows as much "For what?"

"For being you. For looking out for me. All of you."

This time he smiles and says no more.

---

When you both get back to your house you immediately put everything in your bathroom and get onto your laptop to view some techniques on theatrical and movie makeup, Pippin and Merry on either side of you while they view through the pictures and videos with you.

"That one looks interesting." Merry pipes up suddenly, pointing at a person to wolf makeup transformation.

"Yep, and way past anything I can do."

This pattern of going through pictures and viewing clips goes on for a little while until they two hobbits depart to have lunch, meanwhile you continue on so that tomorrow will be a success.

You're both excited and nervous at the same time, wanting to see how it'll all turn out but also dreading it incase something goes wrong.

You know the most important thing is to have a positive mindset about it, but it's kinda hard sometimes during your more anxious moments.

Also, there's the issue of Brian possibly following all of you...

Nah, that'll be a problem to think on for tomorrow.

"What time will we leave tomorrow?" Aragorn asks from his usual spot on the rocking chair, Penny still nestled in his lap as per usual.

"Around the morning. I bought the tickets already so we won't have to stand in line for too long... Hopefully."

"Thank you for working so hard so that we may see more of your world." He comments suddenly, stroking his hand down her fluffy back.

You tilt your head to the side and smile a bit, "You don't have to thank me."

"No, I do. You have seen to our every need and we no doubt pose to be a huge burden. Thank you, really."

His words make you flush slightly, and you look away shyly.

You've grown to care about all of them, so of course you would do anything to keep them comfortable at this point. More than anything you're just glad they see how much you're trying to make things easy on them. It feels nice being recognized for your efforts.

Plus, the added protection from Brian is pretty sweet.

"Anything for you guys."

#the fellowship x reader #the fellowship of the ring #the fellowship of the ring x reader #frodo baggins #pippin took #boromir #lotr gimli #legolas greenleaf #samwise gamgee #merry brandybuck #aragorn #lord of the rings fanfiction #dimension jumping pt. 5 #dimension jumping pt. 2 #frodo x reader

[yuzukult]

city lights || chanyeol & reader

title: city lights  pairing: chanyeol x reader (ft. x junmyeon)  genre: soulmate!au  words: 8.2k prompt: i’ve waited for years to find my soulmate, but when i finally meet him, he’s completely different from what i expected him to be, and he doesn’t want to be with me. warnings: there’s no smut, but there may be some mature topics & cursing. note: i know that city lights is baekhyun’s album title, but i thought this title it fit this story well :).... also this is my first fic in a while so... hopefully this isn’t too bad...  5/9/20: i’ve reviewed for typos....... lets hope 5th time is the charm....

I’m twenty-two when I meet my soulmate.

Once you turn the ripe age of twenty-one, a unique tattoo appears on your body that replicates the one your soulmate has.

Everyone dreams about meeting their soulmate, falling in love, getting married, having kids and growing old together—but those aspirations are only attainable for the population that get to even meet “the one”. There are people who defy the odds and develop relationships with those who aren’t bounded as their mate, some successful and some not, but if you knew you had someone who was made for you out there, wouldn’t you want to find them as well?

This guy was attractive and he knew it. He would stride his tall frame into every room with confidence radiating from his body with a beaming smile plastered on his face. His laugh was the remedy to a bad day, and if his happiness were an infectious disease, it would be considered contagious. Just being in his proximity gifted you a fragment of his elation but it was enough to feel the major aftereffects. It didn’t feel fair that he was a whole package. Bubblegum pink wavy curls brushing his forehead, doe-like eyes and ears that his friends would make fun of for being big— but was a cute addition to his looks. There had to have been a switch on and off button on him somewhere, because he knew when to suddenly flip from a sweet, charming guy into this sexy man. There wasn’t anything wrong with him, but his mentality was to ‘fuck around’ as much as he could. He had the traits to swoon any girl, easily fishing them into his lap before stringing them along and dropping them in mere moments. It was easy anyway, these girls knew that he wasn’t their soulmate, but he was the closest they could get to one. Maybe he’d be the one they could change and make him fall in love with them, they’d all say.

But he was mine.

Well, at least, he’s supposed to be.

I met him through a mutual friend – well, more of a co-worker really. I lived in Busan for majority of my life, so moving to Seoul for work meant that I lost contact with a lot of my friends back home. Plus, the hours at the office were draining…

So when Minseok approached me at my desk on a Friday morning with a suspicious smile spread across his face, I leaned back on my swivel chair as he invites himself to sit on the pile of paperwork that lay across my workspace. He is always welcomed here, after all, he’s one out of the few friends I have here in the city. 

“Yes? You want something from me?”

“Why do you say it like that?” His mischievous grin was now formed into a pout. “I don’t only come here when I need something from you. We’re friends, aren’t we?” Minseok was the opposite of what a stereotypical 29-year-old would look like – he’s cute, but baby cute. He’s got great features, with his bushy brows and well-sculpted face, but it was more of an “I want to squish his cheeks” kind of reaction he emitted from me. Either way, it didn’t stop the girls in my office from gushing over his looks, constantly trying to get his number.

I hum while twiddling with the pen between my fingers, pursing my lips in suit with his. “Maybe. But you’re definitely here because you need something from me. Cut to the chase—what’s up?”

“Okay, okay,” Minseok is admitting defeat now, slouching in his position as guilt washes over his face. “I noticed the music note on your arm. Is that your soulmate marking?”

“Oh,” I pull my sweater sleeve up just barely on my left arm, pushing my watch down just enough to see the tattoo. “Yeah, it’s a 16th note. I learned how to play the saxophone when I was younger, so I knew what it was when I saw it.”

“About that…” What’s wrong with him? Why does he keep pausing? “I think I know who your soulmate is.”

Minseok is the reason I find myself out-of-place at a club, seated at a bright red booth tucked in a corner that he claims is his friends’, and that I should hang around until I get a glimpse of this guy who he thinks is my soulmate. I’m pulling my blue jeans up that doesn’t quite fit right and opting for a black bodysuit with lace 3/4 sleeves. My hair is let loose with soft curls, one side tucked behind my ear. Honestly, I’m not here to look sexy at a club, but I wanted to look decent enough to meet someone who potentially was ‘the one’. 

But this isn’t exactly where I found myself wanting to meet him.

I’m sitting next to a guy named Kyungsoo, or so he introduces himself as, and I hope that I get his name right because the volume of the speakers are so loud, I can barely hear myself think. It has me wondering if all of Minseok’s friends are just as attractive as he is, because Kyungsoo reeked of beauty. Dressed in all black – including the rims of his glasses were black – he was effortlessly gorgeous. He seemed equally as awkward as I am here, but it’s confirmed that he’s not my soulmate, and that he’s only here because it’s a friend of both his and Minseok’s birthday – another guy named Jongin… who also is not my soulmate.

“How old are you?” Kyungsoo is leaning over behind my ear, hoping that I can hear him. The veins on his neck are bulging from his attempt.

“Twenty-two,” I holler back.

“Oh wow, you’re very young.” He’s pushing his frames up from slipping on his nose before continuing. “Chanyeol is twenty-eight. I’m twenty-seven.”

“Chanyeol?”

“Minseok didn’t tell you his name?” Kyungsoo seems like a well-reserved guy, but his smile at the moment illuminates with impish. “If he’s right, your soulmate is Chanyeol. Tall guy, you won’t miss him.”

“Could you tell me more about him?” He shakes his head in response before using his chin to point over behind me toward a figure walking in the direction of the table.

That’s the first time I meet Chanyeol.

I remember my heart skipping a beat once my eyes laid on him, because almost immediately, I felt the sparks that the stories said there would be. There were always these posts on forums about how people met their soulmate – how everything around them seemed to change. The way they perceived color and taste were different because now it was enhanced and that they were on a high that couldn’t be described in any other way. Words didn’t do the emotions justice. It was just pure elation.

Even well renounced authors couldn’t even put to words what it felt like. Bliss, maybe? No, it was better than that.

Plus—it was troublesome to compare my experience with theirs when I’m inside a club where it’s dark and the lights are flashing and flickering.

His hair looked fluffy. I wanted to run my fingers through those luscious locks, and the shade of pink in his hair made him look more adorable than sexy, despite his outfit. Black leather jacket, with matching black jeans, and a white t-shirt were his get-up, and as he was approaching the table, his hands were stuffed into the front pockets of his pants before he changes his route and strides toward Jongin who stands by the booth. Jongin’s cheeks were already flushed on his bronzed skin when I first meet him entering in the club, but he’s more than happy to have a stranger join in on his party shenanigans. However, the change of emotions on his face expressed the evident adoration he had for the taller male, because moments later, he has his arms wrapped around him with laughter that could be heard throughout the club.

“Chanyeol!” Jongin exclaims, and my claimed-to-be soulmate ruffles the birthday boy’s hair with a smile on his face. My heart clenched at that moment and I swore for a second I had a heart attack. “Happy Birthday, Jongin. Party the night away, bro.”

He slides into the booth across from Kyungsoo and I, exchanging handshakes with the other male before offering one to me. He’s using his right hand to greet me, so I don’t get a glimpse of his supposedly tattooed wrist.

“I’m Chanyeol,” He says, and I take his hand with a firm grip, and I feel that spark between the two of us again. He must have felt the something too, because he abruptly escapes from the grasp with a soft chuckle. “Sorry, I might have shocked you. I rub my socks on carpets in my free time.” He jokes.

Kyungsoo introduces me as Minseok’s friend, and it’s like a light bulb goes off on top of Chanyeol’s head. “Ah, the soulmate. He’s really trying to get me to settle down, isn’t he?” His face looks like he’s going to play along, quickly locking eyes with Minseok in the crowd before gesturing the older male over.

“Hey, I see you’ve met my friend, your soulmate.” Minseok is grinning from ear to ear, and I can’t tell if it’s him playing around with his friend that’s bringing him the overwhelming excitement or the alcohol in his system.

“She has a name, hyung, and it’s not ‘your soulmate.’ I’m about to ask her if I can see her marking to compare, and since you’re so damn adamant about us meeting, I figured you should witness it yourself.”

“Okay, well shoot. Do it.” Minseok is looking at me as I slip off the watch on my wrist, dropping it on the table while Chanyeol tugs down the sleeve of his jacket before resting his arm beside my watch. I place my own next to his, and Minseok is already clapping in awe.

It’s a match.

“Fuck, what—fuck. What?” He’s grabbing my wrist now, moving out of his side of the booth before slipping in next to me, pushing me into Kyungsoo. Chanyeol’s in disbelief, and I can hear the snickering coming from the other side of me. “But I’m only twenty-eight!”

“Dude, you shouldn’t be at a bar on a Tuesday night trying to pick up girls at your age. This is a good thing.” Minseok is in Chanyeol’s previous seat now, and his face is glimmering with excitement. “You can finally chill out and stop acting like a college student.”

“This is a joke right?” He’s scoffing, dropping my hand in the process and I wince at the abrupt action because I hit my hand on the edge of the table. “This is a temporary tattoo or something, because there’s no way.”

“You’re twenty-eight, Chanyeol, did you think you were never going to meet your soulmate?” Kyungsoo chimes in, swirling the beer in the cup in his hand. “Jongin is already married, and he’s one of the babies in the group.” Jongin has a wife? He didn’t seem like it… but I guess don’t judge a book by its cover, right?

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol’s standing now, looking down at me and I feel small. “I thought I would be lucky enough to not meet my soulmate. There are so many people who haven’t. Yeah, I’m not doing this. Sorry, you’re going to have to find someone else.” Before I could even let a word out of my mouth, he’s already lost in the crowd.

“Sorry about that,” Minseok looks like a sad kitten when he’s talking to me, pity spewing with each word that he says. “I honestly thought he was going to drop the act and actually try getting to know you.”

I want to say that it’s fine, but I’m not. Chanyeol only knew my name and that I was his soulmate, and in the matter of seconds, he concluded that he didn’t want this. My face is frozen, and I’m completely dumbfounded.

My soulmate doesn’t fucking want me. My soulmate, the person who was supposed to love me. The person I was supposed to love. I have waited twenty-two years to meet a man who ends up crafted as everything that I wasn’t, but was the person who was supposed to fit into me like a missing puzzle piece.

“Hey, are you okay?” Another guy – great, another one—comes to the table and he looks perturbed. “I’m sorry about Chanyeol, I was watching from the side because I thought I could witness him meeting his soulmate but it didn’t seem to turn out the way I assumed…” He’s distorted with worry, the same expression that’s drawn on both Minseok and Kyungsoo’s faces. “I can get you an Uber or something if you want to go home. I don’t think you’d want to stay here after that, right? Ah, I’m Junmyeon, by the way. Part of the group.”

“He’s the mom of the group if that makes you feel any better. He’s always the sober one, you’ll be safe with him.” Contrition clouds Minseok’s expression.

Junmyeon doesn’t look like a mom; in fact, he looks far from a mom. I don’t know where Minseok finds his friends because Junmyeon looks like a piece of artwork that belongs at a museum. He’s wearing two loose dress shirts layered that aren’t buttoned-up all the way, exposing a bit of his bare chest. It’s a questionable choice of fashion, I admit, but he makes it work.

I can’t even bring myself to speak, so I just nod. I type in my address into Junmyeon’s phone before he takes it away, tracking the driver. My soulmate doesn’t want me. That’s all I could think about.

“Don’t feel bad,” Kyungsoo interrupts my thoughts as he slides an unopened beer bottle toward my direction, implying that I should drink just a bit to forget my issues as Junmyeon is tracking the whereabouts of the driver. “Chanyeol… he likes to live his life differently. We only come to these places during special occasions—like Jongin’s birthday, or Minseok’s bachelor party. But Chanyeol… this is like a ritual for him to come every weekend.”

I take up on Kyungsoo’s offer and open myself the beer, taking a couple gulps before letting out a sigh. “It’s… It’s not fine, but I guess I will be fine. I want to try to convince him, so maybe I can meet him in a different place another time?” I suggest, and it seems that both Kyungsoo and Minseok like that idea because their faces brighten a bit.

I finish the beer coincidentally at the same time that Junmyeon tells me the Uber is here and that he’ll walk me out. We exchange numbers because he wants to make sure that I get home safe, and I comply – he’s attractive, the mom of the group, so I figured I could trust him.

But then we’re outside of the club, and I’m cold without a jacket, and I’m doubtful that I’m just exaggerating, but I feel like my heart was being pulled out of my chest, thrown onto the floor, and stomped on.

I didn’t mean to stare, and I probably have been standing here watching this whole thing unfold for about 5 minutes now. Chanyeol’s in the alleyway with some girl he probably just met, her back against the red brick wall where the streetlight barely brushes them but it’s like my senses were heighted to see the actions clearly. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, and although his head was tilted in my direction, attempting to hide the explicit actions between the two, any idiot would know what they were doing.

It hurt. My chest was in so much pain, twisting and turning like someone’s grasp was on it, but before it could get any worse, Junmyeon steps in front of me, pulling me into his arms. “Why are you watching? Don’t you know it physically hurts when you see your soulmate do… things like that with someone else?” I’m muttering ‘no’ in his shirt, and I feel the fabric hanging on him was damp – oh. It was because of me. I was crying. I didn’t know who Chanyeol was until today yet he has me bursting with tears in the arms of a stranger.

Chanyeol doesn’t even know me, and he’s already dismissed me from his life. He doesn’t know what my favorite color is, what I enjoy in my pastime, what my most watched show is, and what foods I enjoy. He doesn’t know my personality, what makes me as a person, my biggest fears, my dreams and aspirations but just one look, he knew he didn’t want me anymore.

He pulls away from the woman when he hears footsteps descending in the background, and sees that it’s me with Junmyeon walking away from the scene. What I later learned was that in that brief moment, he felt a stinging pain in his chest too.

After texting Junmyeon that night that I got home safely and reassuring that I was going to be okay (eventually, at least), we exchanged texts daily. I learned a lot about him, like how he enjoyed composing music in his spare time, which I found out later that Chanyeol does the same thing, except as a profession. I don’t tell him that I had known this about Chanyeol because of a previous dream. He works in a stereotypical office setting, something about trade management, but he claims that it’s just a job that pays the bills, and his passions are elsewhere.

We don’t meet, but we text frequently. I also see Minseok everyday at work, and he treats me as he did before, which I appreciate because it’s distasteful to talk about the circumstances of Jongin’s birthday party.

“What are you doing this weekend?” Minseok again is inviting himself to the little office space I have that is bombarded with rolls of architectural drawings and stacks of paperwork that needed reviewing. He skims through the documents that splatter, but he has absolutely no clue what he’s looking at for someone being in the financial department.

“Uh, probably catching up on work,” That question always strung along with a proposal to hang out, and I had prepared an excuse why I didn’t want – I mean, couldn’t go.

“My friends and I are going to the beach. We have a whole beach house that we rented out for the entire weekend, and seeing that you’re clicking well with Junmyeon, I think you should come along. Plus, you get to meet my soulmate!”

“Hayoung, right?”

“Yes, Hayoung. I think you’d like her; she has the same tolerance for spicy food like you do. And... It’s been months since you’ve actually hung out with me on a weekend.” He’s talking about the incident and I feel something churning in the pit of my stomach. But, he’s right. I don’t have any friends here, and I would have Junmyeon to hang out with when Minseok is occupied.

“Mm, alright fine, but just this once. No more funny business like last time right?”

His face falls into a frown, and he’s still remorseful about the fated night, but I’ve told him multiple times that he’s all forgiven, and it wasn’t his fault for what occurred.

It’s been almost 6 months since I last saw Chanyeol. I note this because the seasons have changed, and the harsh, brisk wind that slaps my face in the days aren’t present, but replaced with the blistering heat of the sun that June brings.

I chose to drive myself to the location that Minseok sends me instead of carpooling… just in case I needed to quickly escape any distressing social situations.

The house is seemly huge—there looks like there could be 10 rooms (eventually I find out that there isn’t even enough for all of us), and it’s by the water with multiple cars parked out in the front of it, which I can only assume, belong to Minseok’s friends. The roof shingles are blue with accents throughout the home that match the sea, seashells and decor splattered across the surfaces. I park my old, beat up Lexus sedan that belonged to my grandfather previously behind one of vehicles, and I’m surprised that I even make it here in one piece.

The salty ocean aroma fills the air and it mixes in with the charcoal burning from the backyard as I enter into the threshold of the home. I drag my duffle bag beside me, dropping it by the other suitcases and backpacks that sit in the living room of the home before making my way back to where everyone was grouped outside.

There are a couple new people that I haven’t seen before (who supposedly were at the club) since the last encounter with Minseok’s friends when I get to the back porch – Jongdae, Baekhyun, Sehun, and Yixing are their names. Hayoung is helping Minseok carry in additional groceries from the car, but she still says her greetings as she’s carrying one side of a cooler. A woman is standing beside Jongdae, who I believe is his wife, gifts him a peck on his cheek before briskly walking by me with a baby resting on her shoulder, whispering a quick ‘hello!’ to me before going into the house to set the little one down. Kyungsoo is manning the grill before I even arrive, and he’s gesturing me to come over with his cooking tongs to help him out. Junmyeon is standing beside him with a knife in his hand, and he looks lost after Kyungsoo gives him direction.

“Come help, hyung is useless,” He hisses, glaring at the older male through his glasses.

“I’m sorry,” Junmyeon is pouting playfully before he places down the knife. “I’m trying!”

“Sure, sure,” I find myself mimicking the tender smile Junmyeon has on his face when he locks his eyes with mine. “I’ll replace Junmyeon here.”

There are bell peppers, onions, and pre-cut cubed of beef lying by the grill beside the naked skewers sticks. I chop the vegetables before guiding Junmyeon to replicate my actions, sliding the pieces onto the stick before Kyungsoo cooks it.

“Do you know how to cook?” Junmyeon asks, but his eyes don’t leave his hands because he’s too preoccupied with his work.

“A bit, I live alone, so I kind of have to.”

“Ah, I live with Kyungsoo and Chanyeol so… Kyungsoo pretty much cooks every night.” I see from my peripheral vision that Kyungsoo has a proud grin on his face as he’s flipping the skewers on the grill. “So much for being their hyung and taking care of them, right? Chanyeol and I can’t even cook rice, we just get the instant ones when Soo isn’t around.”

“That’s nice though,” I stuff a piece of cubed beef to complete his skewer stick before trading it with my empty one. “You never have to cook. I always have to find new recipes because I get bored of the food I make.”

“Maybe you can teach me sometime. Learn new recipes and teach a beginner.” He’s gleaming with happiness, which can only be from the fact that the people surround him are the ones he loves the most. We’ve become friends over time, in spite of the fact that we haven’t met in person since Jongin’s birthday.

“Sure, I’d be more than happy to.”

“In exchange, I’ll bring the groceries. That’s my payment to you for being my teacher,” He winks, and my cheeks grow pink. There’s a slight possibility that Junmyeon is growing on me, and I might have a crush on him.

“I thought you weren’t coming,” I heard a voice from behind me, and I know it belongs to Chanyeol because I get chills down my spine. I’m filling up my cup from the tap with water while leaning against the kitchen sink.

“Minseok suggested that I come.”

“These places aren’t really your thing though, you’d rather be at home working.” Chanyeol is opening the fridge, grabbing himself a beer can. He opens it and brings the cold beverage to his lips, my eyes wandering to his neck as his adam’s apple bobs as he drinks, but I pause and refrain myself from letting my imagination run wild. Either way, I’m left questioning how he would know what my preferences are.

“How would you know? We don’t even talk.”

“I’m your soulmate, I know everything about you.” He wipes his upper lip with his sleeve, and there’s something erotic about it. I quickly shake my head again from these inappropriate thoughts and furrow my brows in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t gotten the dreams yet?” He pushes the can toward my direction, gesturing that I take a sip and I decline.

“No… what dreams are you talking about?” I’m not playing dumb, I really didn’t know what he was talking about, but his expression conveyed otherwise.

“All my dreams are of you, and you’re never doing anything interesting in it. I saw you visit your family a couple times, maybe had some dinners or lunches with friends back in Busan, but nothing else. Do you have any hobbies?” 

No, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.

“Well, if you’re fucking around all the time, it’s not going to show up in her dreams, you idiot.” Another voice enters in the conversation and room. It’s Hayoung coming in with Jongdae’s wife, who I still haven’t learned the name of, but I’m a bit embarrassed to ask her.

“Dreams?” I’m still perplexed by the situation, because if I’m being honest, I don’t quite understand this whole ‘soulmate’ thing other than you’re meant to be with them. I’ve never met anyone in the same situation as me, so I never learned the side effects of the rejection.

“You get dreams about your soulmate if you meet and choose to not be together. It’s a punishment, but it’s not brutal, so it’s not going to show you a scene of him hooking up with someone else. It’ll just make you regret.” Jongdae’s wife is talking now, shoving Chanyeol away from the fridge to grab the carton of milk to fill up the small bottles she has lined up on the counter.

Chanyeol chuckles at the comment, taking another sip of his beer. “So, I should regret not sitting by her while she’s working on some project? What are you even building by the way? Pipes?”

“It’s a mechanical system of a building,” I utter, and I’m dissatisfied immediately at my own response. Why would I even tell him that? Why would he even care? It makes me sound even more boring than I already am.

“Ah, there it goes. Another reason why I’m not feeling that regret you’re talking about.”

Hayoung is shaking her head in disapproval, arms crossed against her chest as she watches Jongdae’s wife finishing up the bottles of milk for the baby. “Maybe not right now, but it’ll build up. Before you know it, you’re going to be the one wishing that’s it’s you holding up the light instead of a lamp above her work just so you could do something to be next to her.”

When Chanyeol is with his friends, the best qualities of him come out when they’re around. He might be avoiding the real version of himself when he’s with me, but I get a glimpse into his world when I’m at these outings that Minseok and Junmyeon insist that I attend.

Chanyeol is playing the “attendance” game with the guys, and his competitiveness brings out a different side of him, but he’s determined to win, even if the prize is just being able to slap the loser on the back.

Baekhyun loses—again, and they’re all crowded around, not even taking turns, but in unison smacking his back as he grimaces in pain.

And when we’re out at the beach, sinking our toes into the sand and absorbing in the warmth of the sun, he makes a game out of out nowhere to play with his friends, laughter filling the air. He’s not laughing with me, but I still find myself feeling whole at the sound. 

I’ve come to realize how easy it is for someone to fall in love with Chanyeol. He cared for no one more than his friends and family, and I start to see this when he’s talking fondly about his older sister and her kids when he sees Jongdae’s baby. His expression resembled child-like wonder when he’s playing with the girl, and it makes me ponder what he’d be like as a father—ah fuck, scratch that. He said doesn’t want to be with me.

There are moments where I’m convinced that I’ve gone insane, because when I’m eating a burger at the dinner table, he reaches out with a napkin in his hand to wipe the smear of ketchup off my cheek. Or the time when they ran out of water bottles at the beach and it was scorching hot, and he drinks a bit from his bottle before giving me the rest because I didn’t have one. Not quite sure what brings him to be so affectionate, so it feels odd. 

The weekend sooner or later reaches to an end, and I had to resume back to work.

I’m attacked from behind at the office with more tasks than ever. It feels like there are at least 5 more folders that are added to the stack daily, and the mountains of paperwork overwhelm me. Minseok visits from time to time, dropping off snacks majority of the time because I don’t take up on his offers to have lunch together simply due to the fact that I didn’t have any time.

Despite all of that, Junmyeon still makes the effort to see me. He comes by several times a week, and just as promised, he’s providing the groceries and I’m teaching him how to cook. He entertains and keeps me company in my quiet apartment, but continues to be a wonderful distraction to the stress that I receive from work.

We’re cooking kimchi jjigae, and albeit that we both have aprons on, I still manage to get some on my t-shirt. I grumble in repulsion of how I could be so unladylike in front of a guy I’m trying to impress.

“It’s okay,” He comforts, and that signature smile makes an appearance yet again tonight. “It’s cute, it’s the style now.”

“What? Kimchi splatter?” I’m stirring the beef at the bottom of the pot, motioning him to monitor my actions. “You should let the meat cook, occasionally moving it around so it doesn’t burn. Cut the onions and mushrooms in the meantime.” 

He abides by instruction, making his way to the cutting board and begins to chop the vegetables ardently. “You look good in anything, even kimchi splatter.” I let out a laugh of disbelief in return, but his expression proved that his compliment was authentic. 

Everything about Junmyeon is art. His laugh is like the melody to your favorite song, and his smile shone brighter than the sunlight that peeks through the curtains of a Sunday morning. Listening to him speak about his aspirations, his interests in artwork, and his times with his friends remind me of a character in the novel that only spewed out perfections without a single flaw in their body. Junmyeon was selfless, elegant, and intelligent. A whole package, as someone would say, but a completely different package from Chanyeol. 

So when Junmyeon confesses that he might have some feelings for me, I don’t hesitate in telling him that I might feel something for him in return.

“Listen,” He begins, tapping his fingers against the lid of his iced Americano anxiously. We’re sitting in a coffee shop on a Thursday, after having lunch together at a ramen place he suggests. “This is a bit different from how I would normally date. You actually met your soulmate, you know who he is.”

“But he doesn’t want me,” I interject, and I don’t want him to continue with more reasons as to why we shouldn’t be together. “He doesn’t want me so it makes the decision not to be with him easier. I’m ready to move on, Junmyeon. At least let me try to do that with you.”

The expression on his face suggests how uneasy he’s feeling, and he’s hesitating before speaking again. “I… we can try, but I really don’t want to put a label on this yet. Let’s date, hangout, and see how it goes, okay? I don’t want to get hurt.”

I agree to his terms. I understand why he’s feeling that way; it’s even harder when my soulmate is one of his best friends.

He takes me out on dates, mostly to museums to show me his favorite artworks and his personal interpretation of the pieces. Junmyeon is passionate about things like this, and hearing his thoughts and views had become my favorite pastime. He asks me what my interests are, and I’m a bit flustered because my work is my passion. I wasn’t sure how else to show him, so I take him to the Gangnam District one night, and he’s confused.

“Why did you pick here specifically?” It’s a cold night, and he’s wearing a black turtleneck with khakis, and a light brown trench coat with matching dark backpack that’s slung over his shoulder.

“You know what Minseok does for a living, right?” He hums in thought at my question for a moment before responding. 

“He said he works in the financial department of an architecture firm. Am I right?”

“Correct, but do you have any idea of what I do?” Junmyeon pauses for a moment, and he raises a brow.

“Honestly, now that I think of it, I kind of always assumed you did the same thing. But I don’t quite think numbers were your passion,” He chuckles.

“Nope,” I click my tongue, jokingly disappointed as we’re walking down the streets, the lights illuminating from the buildings surrounding us but we don’t see stars in the sky in a city like this. “I’m an architect. I design buildings. I haven’t gotten the chance to design a building myself, just systems within it, but one day, I’d like to change the Seoul skyline. Create something of my own, build something bigger than me. I know you specifically like the works of artists that focuses more on the nature of things, but… something about the city is beautiful to me.”

Junmyeon is watching me as I spill my thoughts, and I physically feel the love radiating from him. Maybe I can learn to love him too.

At this same moment, I later find out that Chanyeol is dreaming of my date with Junmyeon, and his heart aches. He suddenly wishes that he were the one listening to my passions, and holding my hand while he shares his own.

I’ve been meeting Junmyeon weekly now, so frequently that he even has the passcode to my apartment. In addition, he’s been great at occupying my thoughts from these dreams I’ve been having. Almost every night, these scenarios of a typical relationship with Chanyeol would appear—doing laundry, cooking, movie dates… there was even a sex dream. It made me a little uncomfortable waking up from that nap, because my head was rested on Junmyeon’s shoulder on the couch. I must have fallen asleep in the midst of the movie.

“Finally awake? If I knew documentaries weren’t your thing, I wouldn’t have forced you to watch it.” He has a Cheshire’s grin that spreads from ear to ear and a chuckle the escapes from his lips. “Sorry, work has just been exhausting lately. I haven’t been getting much sleep.” I concede, and a bit guilty for sleeping through the movie but also dreaming about another man right next to him. Regardless, he’s interlocking our fingers together at this point, giving me a forgiving gaze.

“Don’t worry, I like having you next to me.” His words melt my heart, and I hate that I’m comparing him to Chanyeol because it’s not the same way that Chanyeol makes me feel.

Work had been exhausting, but not exhausting enough to find myself standing outside of a flower shop, beside Chanyeol who is equally as bewildered as I am. I couldn’t remember how I got there, uncertain how Chanyeol did either, and how long we’ve been standing here.

“I—did we agree to meet here or something?” He questions. Chanyeol looks different. His hair isn’t pink anymore, but it’s a dirty blonde. It didn’t matter what shade his hair was, what outfit he wore, he just pulled off any look he wanted effortlessly. He’s dressed casually, probably coming from the recording studio.

“I… I’m not sure.” I’m scratching my head, looking at the reflection of myself in the shop’s window before I realize how I look. My hair is greasy, tied up in a messy bun, and I’m wearing a t-shirt that’s stained with kimchi that splattered on me from my cooking lessons with Junmyeon whilst in the baggiest sweatpants. I was working from home that week because my new project didn’t have an office space set up for me yet, so I took advantage of the opportunity to dress like a bum in the comfort of my home. But… I’m not home; I’m very much out in public with Chanyeol.

He shrugs off the bizareness of the situation before facing me completely. “Anyway, since I have you here, can you stop having those moments with hyung?”

“What?”

“I keep seeing your dates with him every time I sleep. I see when you hold hands, when you sleep together—I see everything. I thought that these dreams weren’t supposed to be brutal.”

“How am I supposed to control that?” I feel my neck getting hot, and I’m furious with his words, but I don’t want him to have that leverage over me.

“I don’t know, just stop or something.” He dismisses me before walking away toward the opposite direction.

This happens a couple more times, and there’s no real explanation for it. I can’t manipulate my dreams and it becomes difficult to distinguish what’s a dream and reality anymore.

There’s a knock on my door but I’m too tired to get up.

It’s been 3 days since Junmyeon left on his business trip, and with my luck, I got sick the day after he departed. It’s probably due to the rainstorm that hit the other day, and I forget my umbrella at the office so I’m drenched by the time I’m home. I’m now alone in my small apartment, trying to convince myself I’m okay by occasionally heating up the leftover delivery of Soondubu I ordered a couple days prior. However, I’m currently prioritizing slumber.

The knock gets louder. The person is adamant about getting my attention; if it was a telemarketer, they would’ve left already. I grab my phone that lies right beside my face to see if there’s any new missed phone call notifications—none. If it were one of my friends, they’d call after the first attempt right?

Then I hear the beeping from the keypad on the door. Someone’s pressing in the passcode into my apartment. The lock dings in confirmation and clicks—whomever it is… they’ve successfully gotten into my apartment. Is this when I die?

“Dude, where are you?” The door shuts behind the footsteps, and it’s a familiar deep baritone voice that calls out for me, but I’m glued to the mattress, wrapped in my blankets like a burrito. He’s just going to have to kill me like this. I’m probably the easiest victim this killer is ever going to encounter.

There’s a tall figure that reaches to my bed, and despite my horrible eyesight, I squint enough to make out the features of his face. He has a facemask on, but it’s tucked below his chin, and he has a beanie on that matches his hoodie’s shade of grey. It’s Chanyeol. Am I dreaming? Is this another one of those hallucinations?

He kneels down beside me, utilizing the back of his hand to test the temperature of my forehead, then wipes the sweat off it with his fingers which feel like ice against my skin. I could almost hear myself sizzle from the impact. “Where’s Junmyeon? He called me saying that you haven’t responded to any of his texts. He can’t call for some reason. He’s worried.”

“Oh, away. I saw he texted earlier. I must have drift off midway through typing.”

Chanyeol sighs, clicking his tongue before getting up from the bed and snatching my phone from my side. “Password? It’s not going to recognize your face when you’re looking like that.” Ouch. “1616,” I respond before shuffling back into hiding position within my blankets. Maybe my cheeks are flushed from the fact that my passcode is 1616, like the 16th note on our wrists—but I’m going to blame it on the fever. I’m hot yet cold at the same time, and I can’t even gather the energy to argue with him about my appearance right now.

“Hey,” He’s talking to someone on the other line as he paces around the room with a hand on his hip and brows furrowed in slight frustration. “She’s home, she’s been sick. Not sure how long, but she’s looking like a wreck.” Chanyeol lets out a sigh, tapping his feet against the hardwood floors of my room, and it occurs to me that he’s never been in my house before. It’s also been a while since I’ve cleaned. 

He’s tightening his lips into a straight line as he listens to who I assume is Junmyeon on the other line. “It’s fine hyung, you don’t need to come back. Just finish your work there; I’ll get Minseok to come check in every once in a while. I’ll give you another call before I leave.”

After hanging up, he diverts his attention back to me before letting out another exasperated sigh. “Did you eat anything yet? Take any medicine?”

“No,” I mutter under my breath. Honestly, I wasn’t in the mood to talk, and his attitude wasn’t convincing me to try to uphold the conversation either. “It’s not time for me to get up yet.”

“It’s already 1pm, what do you mean you’re not ready to get up yet?” He’s in the process of taking off his facemask and beanie now, throwing it on the chair by my desk before rolling up his sleeves and making his way out the room. He’s gone for what feels like eternity because my eyelids are slowly drooping shut when I hear his loud steps coming from the hall with a bucket in one hand, and a towel in another.

“I’m going to clean you up,” He announces, placing the bucket on the nightstand by my bed. “I bet you haven’t showered in days, and I can already tell you reek.”

“You can tell or smell?” That’s all the comebacks I can get out of me, because Chanyeol is already inviting himself to pull the covers off my weak frame tugging on the hem of my hoodie, gesturing me to take it off. “Let me wipe you down.”

“I’m not stripping in front of you, Chanyeol.” I may be on the last portion of my human battery level, but I’m not stupid. “I’m naked under this. I don’t have a bra on.”

“Okay, but I’m your soulmate. I’ve seen you naked countless of times in my dreams. So please, take it off so I can clean you up.” So… he has seen me naked too? Does he have those sex dreams too? Should I be working to get abs if he’s dreaming about how I look under this too? Because in comparison to him—

My thoughts are interrupted when he helps himself by pulling the hoodie off my body instead of waiting for my response. I don’t even have the chance to feel insecure when he begins wiping my arms and underneath with the wet rag. I know the water is warm, but my body temperature is too hot to be able to tell the difference. It’s silent when he does this, and when he’s done with the upper half of my body, he dresses me before tugging on my pants gently. “I’m going to do your lower half now.”

I must have fallen asleep briefly from his delicate touches because once my eyes flutter open, he’s already done and my sweats are on. I couldn’t even remember being embarrassed of him seeing my bare body, because he’s already tucking me back under the covers, checking my body heat once again with the back of his hand before throwing the rag back into the bucket.

He’s leaving the room and I still can’t translate the expression on his face. I thought that meeting your soulmate was supposed to make things easier, not harder.

I think I doze off yet again, because this time when I’m stirring awake and Chanyeol is sitting in a chair beside my bed with a tray full of things. There’s a mug, medicine, and a bowl in front of him, and this is where I get to finally see his features a lot more clearly.

His hair is brown now—I’m unsure when he dyed it, but makes him look tamed compared to how he actually is. The black circles under his eyes were like a trophy to his exhaustion, probably from the endless cycles of staying up all night, working on his composition pieces at the recording studio. I haven’t talked to him much, but my dreams update me with what he was up to, more than he would ever tell me.

“Here,” He’s holding a couple of pills in his palm with a cup of water in the other hand. “Take this, and eat some of the soup I made you. You need to actually have something in your system to feel better.” I feel like a 7-year-old child being lectured by her father, but to be fair… I’m acting like one. For once, I decide not to start a fight and comply, taking the pills into my mouth and drinking from the glass he’s holding before handing it back. The size of it makes it tough to swallow, and I can feel it sitting in my throat.

“Open.” His face is making it hard to read any of his emotions, but he has the spoonful of what I assume is chicken soup near my face, I stare at him for a moment before opening my mouth questioningly as he feeds me. If he’s poisoning me right now, I think I’d be okay with it because the soup surprisingly tastes delicious.

Honestly… after meeting Chanyeol, I never thought I could possibly even imagine this scenario. He’s actually… feeding me. He’s taking care of me while I’m sick. His face is distorted from the worry he has for me, but there’s hints of anger because I obviously couldn’t manage myself. I let him look after me while my thoughts run in circles, thinking what if Junmyeon had been here. I would’ve never been able to see Chanyeol in this light.

How many times have I fallen asleep with him here?

I feel something heavy on my midriff, and a warm body pressed from behind that has me turning around curiously to face the suspect, only to bump noses with the one and only—Chanyeol. Nose scrunched up from the impact, he has his one arm wrapped around me, my head resting on the other, and his body spooning my own. He looks peaceful like this, quiet – not a word coming from his mouth that strings along insults toward me, and his brows aren’t wrinkled in frustration like it always is when he’s looking at me. His mouth is slightly agape, and I can’t help but stare at his plump lips. My heart is fluttering just at the sight of him, stomach boiling from anxiety that it reminds me of my encounters with my first crush in middle school. He spent the whole day taking care of me, and he’s probably exhausted, knocking out right next to me, potentially infected with this fever I have.

I despise myself being in this position. I should tell him to move – I’m trying to convince Junmyeon that I didn’t have feelings for Chanyeol, and Chanyeol didn’t feel anything for me either, despite being soulmates, but right now… I like the feeling of being in his arms, I like that I can feel his chest moving against my back with his soft patterned breathing, and I like that he’s snuggling in just to feel closer to me.

Chanyeol is stirred awake, shuffling in his position as he rubs his face with the arm that once draped over me. I quickly turn myself back to face away from him and pretended to sleep before I feel his nose nuzzling into the crook of my neck as he hums quietly, and I’m not sure if he recognizes I’m awake or not with this action.

He’s muttering against my skin, and I’m unable to tell the difference between the warmth of his breath as he speaks, or if it’s my fever acting up again. “Is it too late to tell you that I want you to be mine? Am I the first person to lose their soulmate by making the mistake of telling her I didn’t want to be with her?” Chanyeol pauses for a moment, before he takes in a deep breath. “I care about hyung, and I know he’s developing feelings for you… but I really want to steal you away. I think I’m in love with you.”

Okay—I’m steaming hot. I can feel my face and ears flushing crimson, and I can’t say anything because I’m supposed to be sleeping, and I wouldn’t even know how to respond anyway.

I felt his lips pressed against my neck, and chills go down my spine before he releases me from his hold, getting up from the bed before making his way out of the room and possibly into the kitchen. I’m kicking off the sheets from my body, sitting against the bed frame, and my heart is beating so fast and hard that I can’t keep up.  

This is everything I asked for. Just to be with my soulmate – but then Junmyeon is running laps through my mind every time I get closer to Chanyeol, and vice versa. Before today, I was okay with knowing that Junmyeon might be it, he might be my end game and although we weren’t bounded together, his feelings for me were genuine… plus not everyone ends up with their soulmate, right?

“I’m the stars, and you’re the city. You can’t see the stars in the city because of all the lights surrounding it, and I’ve already come to terms that Chanyeol is that light for you. I know that you’re going to try to convince me otherwise, but it’s a natural instinct for you to go to him, and it’s okay.” Poetic, even when he’s breaking my heart.

Junmyeon is leaning on the railing that perimeters the Han River, hair tucked in his black beanie that contrasts with his primary multi-color Northface jacket that compliments him so well. His cheeks are tinted pink from the crisp winter air and it reminds me that another year has passed since I’ve met him.

“I’m happy that I got to be with you, even if it was just for a moment. But I knew that I didn’t have you completely; there was still a part of you that resided with Chanyeol.”

“Please don’t do this,” I blurted. “I don’t understand why you’re doing this if you’re happy with me.”

He turns to face me, and his lips tug into an apologetic smile. His hands are rested on my shoulders in reassurance, knowing that this isn’t something he wants to do, but Junmyeon is altruistic. This is something Chanyeol needs, and he’d do anything to make his friend happy. It’s who Junmyeon is, and I can’t help but admire him for it.

“He’ll be here for you this time. He learned from his mistakes, and he’s willing to try. Why don’t you give him a chance?”

“He didn’t give me a chance when we met.” Tears are brimming in my eyes because the one person I thought wasn’t going to go is leaving me. “I thought you said you were going to stay.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” His thumb is pressed against my cheek, swiping away the stream coming from my eyes. “But Chanyeol is made for you. You’re never going to be able to love me like him. Your dreams are eventually going to take over, and whenever you see him with someone else, and when he sees me with you, it’s going to hurt the both of you physically.”

“We don’t have to see him—“

“You know I can’t do that. He’s like a brother to me.” He bites his bottom lip for a brief moment in thought before what it feels like forever, he speaks again. “When I left that week, I felt uneasy asking him to come check in on you. I knew that he wasn’t going to be able to hold back. He told me that after spending some time with you, despite the fact he’s met up with all these girls that only made him feel empty inside, he finally felt whole seeing you. He didn’t want to be with you because he wanted to option to choose you, he didn’t want someone, or something like fate to decide for him.”

I’m left without words, and I turn my head because it’s proven difficult to gather the courage to look at his face.

“I need you to be strong, and let me go. You won’t be as happy with me as you are with him. It’s how the universe works, love.”

I’ve been crying for days, and Junmyeon still hasn’t responded to any of my texts or calls. Eyes swollen that my face has become indistinguishable, my phone’s facial recognition just tells me to punch in the code now. I couldn’t even bring myself to leave my apartment anymore, so I’ve taken personal days off from work – I usually never did this since my emotions never truly got to the best of me, but it might have been the heartbreak and the constant overworking that finally broke me down.

I’m wrapped in my blanket once again, this time I’m not sick with a fever, but diagnosed with a broken heart. Bob’s Burgers is playing on the television screen in front of me; the show that once easily brought me light laughter from the stupidity of the jokes, suddenly doesn’t. I feel numb. 

There’s a knock at the door, and there’s nothing in me that wants to get up to see the unwelcomed visitor, but my legs beat my thoughts to it because I’m already opening the door.

“Sorry, I know I’m probably the last person you want to see.” Bags of groceries occupy his hands, and he lifts an arm up to show. Chanyeol is wearing a baseball cap, a black t-shirt that hangs loose from his body and blue jeans. How’s he still so handsome like this? Wait. No, I’m pissed at him. “Let me at least take care of you while you’re grieving.”

“I’m grieving because of you,” I spat. “If you just agreed to be with me in the first place, I wouldn’t have been with Junmyeon, and we could have been fine. If you just continued to fuck around, Junmyeon would’ve just stayed. You had to tell him that you wanted this?”

“You know he wouldn’t have stayed if he knew you felt something for me.” And for the first time, I agreed with him. I have been shoving my emotions down my throat, refraining myself from being completely honest with Junmyeon because the dreams had been eating me up inside. I was running out of energy, day by day, because I was denying the possibility of there being a Chanyeol and I, and I was being punished for it.

I remained quiet before stepping aside, letting him into my apartment. 

He makes his way into the kitchen from being familiar with the layout the last time he’s been here. Sitting back in the living room to resume my show, I peek over occasionally to watch. He had ingredients to make pasta, and his face is scrunched in diligence. We didn’t exchange words, we didn’t argue but continued to enjoyed the company of each other after that. 

The silence ultimately shatters when Nam Joohyuk is standing naked in a scene of ‘the Bride of Habaek’ because Chanyeol bursts into laughter. From that moment on, my apartment felt livelier with him in it. 

These nights eventually became recurrent. His clothes residing in a designated drawer in my dresser and space is made in my closet that has his name invisibly written over it.

Slowly, I’ve noticed that I’m not as tired as I was before. I felt refreshed, and skeptical that it’s because of Chanyeol’s evident presence that’s more frequent. After a while, I’m starting to believe that the debilitation between the two of us was due to the lack of each other’s company.

We schedule a dinner date at my place at 7, but he calls then tells me that he’s going to be leaving the studio late, and the instant a dubious sensation agitates my stomach, he’s at my house at 11 with soft pink tulips in his hand that reminds me back to when his hair was bubblegum.

“I’m late,” He states the obvious, but he’s bouncing on the tips of his toes anxiously as he observes the look on my face. “But I made Baekhyun run out to grab these for you while I was stuck. Forgive me?”

I think that moment was when I began to forgive Chanyeol for letting me go in the beginning.

Months later, I’m coming back from another rough day at work, tapping my fingertips on the keypad into my apartment before the door flings open just a moment before I’ve finished typing. “Oh?”

There he is, standing before me with a smile that’s brighter than the sun and warms me like not just any Sunday morning, but every morning. The chuckle that escapes from his lips at my startled expression isn’t like the melody to my favorite song, but becomes my favorite song. His voice when he says my name is as smooth and sweet as honey, deep enough to bring goosebumps to my skin.

“Happy birthday,” Chanyeol sings, pulling me into his embrace, my face is deep into his chest from the height difference. I’ve never felt more home than in his arms.

Between now and when I finally agreed to be with him, Chanyeol had completely turned around. We live together now, but other of that, we were taking the relationship slow. He was proving himself worthy, taking place of what used to be Junmyeon’s shoes and attempting his best to fill them, bringing us out on weekly dates, attentively listening to my opinion on shows, cooking with me at night, and even sharing his prized works with me. He says that his music used to reflect on the “me-shaped” hole in his heart, but he felt whole now, and I was the muse to the happiness in his pieces. A bit cringey, I admit—but it was his way of showing his love, and I liked that. He wasn’t usually like this. 

“Everyone is already inside, hurry in.” His hands wrap around my wrist, where my marking appeared to glow these days, tugging me into the living room where his friends are seated and gathered around the coffee table with a lit birthday cake in the middle. His friends had become my own, and grew to be a family of choice that shared and celebrated milestones together.

I see Junmyeon squished between Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, bickering at each other before he shoves them out the way, getting up and lifting the cake up to me with the saccharine grin on his face. “Happy birthday, love. Make a wish.”

I didn’t have any wishes for myself this time around. What I learned from Junmyeon was to be a little more selfless—and I wished for him to meet someone who loved him as much as I did when I was with him. I wanted him to be as happy as I am now, sacrificing his own happiness so that both of his best friends could be happy too.

fin.

continued ending, though from junmyeon’s standpoint. 

#chanyeol fanfics #chanyeol fics #chanyeol x reader #junmyeon x reader #suho x reader #suho fanfics #suho fanfiction #kfanfic #kfanfiction #chanyeol #suho #junmyeon #gyukultfics

[studycation]

what i’ve learned thus far about life and school — from a current high school senior 

there’s a huGE difference between “recognizing” and “understanding” study material

color coding notes: yes

don’t study in bed (i fall asleep every single time) & don’t study in a consistent spot. change it up every once in a while. i sat at the kitchen table instead of my desk for the first time in a year and i was so much more productive and focused.

reading the text again isn’t enough to study. writing out a few review notes makes all the difference, even if it’s just a few key words or a mind map.

sitting in the front/second row: life changing. it makes a huge difference because you’re forced to pay attention, remain engaged, and you’re less likely to get distracted.

also! try to pay attention in class! i know it can be hard sometimes, but there will be times where your teachers will recite information that will be on your test that isn’t on their slides, outlines, or handouts.

get a planner or some app to write things down. i used to be like ‘oh. i’ll remember this.’ new flash: never remembered. having a planner and being able to check off the tasks you completed is kinda fulfilling–not gonna lie. also writing on your hand is fine too! but anyway, moral of the story: write. it. down.

getting stuff done early feels SO good. as a procrastinator, this felt hard to believe. however, finishing early and studying ahead of time pays off—not just academically but mentally. when i finish early, my future self thanks my past self.

don’t make looking at social media before bed a habit. it’s not something worth staying up late doing, and you’ll regret it later. what ever you’re looking at, you can look at it tomorrow before school, during break, or after school—don’t lose sleep over something that you can do later and that isn’t necessary.

be realistic with yourself when you’re setting goals. when making your to-do lists, it shouldn’t be a laundry list. if you know you have a hard time getting up in the morning but you plan on waking up early to do work, plan for the time you’re going to lose to hitting the snooze button two times.

ways to save time in the morning: plan your outfit the night before or while you’re in the shower. brush your teeth while showering. pack your bag the night before.

having an ‘i get to’ rather than an ‘i have to’ mindset makes you so much more excited for and appreciative of life.

surround yourself with diverse perspectives. learn to empathize with people that do not look like you or think like you. let people challenge you! but also listen to what these people have to say…like r e a l l y listen. watch this video (it’s a little long (15min) but it’s definitely a w o w video)

you don’t always have to be right! i used to hate when people poked holes in my logic or proved me wrong, but now i openly welcome it. i took a step back and was like ‘i disklike coceited people’ and i’m acting totally conceited so this needs to change. embrace mistakes because they help you learn.

the way you perceive people to be is, more often than not, not the way they actually are. learn to drop first impressions and to upgrade your opinions as new information comes in.

once you accept your flaws and quirks, no one can use them against you.

on the other hand, if you have flaws that aren’t good for others or yourself that are fixable, you know they’re fixable, but you openly choose not to do anything about them—change that. be better than ignorant. you really owe it to yourself to be the best version that you can be.

bE KIND. see my post on ways you can do this! we need more kind people in this world. be one of them.

never feel guilty for doing the right thing.

i used to beat myself up over answering something incorrectly in class. my heart used to race when my teacher did roll call and i had to say ‘here.’ when we read aloud in class, i used to count the seats ahead of me so i could prepare for what i was going to read. USED TO. i’ve learned that the majority of people don’t notice the trivial things i do. i don’t even remember when other kids answer questions incorrectly so why would they remember when i did? being able to put myself in the shoes of how others think, has made me less afraid to live life and has allowed me to definitely participate more.

you don’t have to be who people expect you to be. you don’t have to follow stereotypes. be as authentically you as possible because you’re not living your life for others, you’re living life for you.

i cannot stress this enough: live in the moment. don’t wish your life away hoping for something better; life is too short for that. don’t treat this as a transitional phase. spend time with your friends and family. learn for the sake of learning. if you were to die today, could you say you’d die happy? volunteer more. sing in the shower as loud as you can. dance like nobody’s watching. do more of what makes you happy even if it might sometimes feel like a waste of time.

you aren’t necessarily accountable for your emotions, but you are accountable for your actions. you have the right to feel upset, but there’s no reason to take it out on others who want to help or had no part in making you upset.

creating a dream aesthetic/life board helps me stay motivated. i have a private pinterest board with sub-boards of doctors, motivational and inspirational quotes that keep me going, my dream room, etc. whenever i get distracted, i look at this board, and i am reminded that in order to achieve my goals i have to stay focused right now. i said before to live in the moment, and i’ve found that it’s not that hard to balance motivation for goals and living in the moment–it takes a little time but once you get the hang of it, life will be better.

#school advice #studyspo #advice #life advice #school tips #studyblr #studycation motivation #studycation school tips #studycation

[whumpallday]

Whumpee’s-R-Us VS Whumpee Barn: First Impressions

So, this post was inspired by @shameless-whumper‘s Unboxing and @my-whumpy-little-heart’s Defective. We always hear about the rivalry between Whumpee’s-R-Us and Whumpee Barn, but why not end the argument once and for all? 

TW: Dehumanization, mild physical abuse.

“Hey guys, welcome back!” A blue head of hair pops up on-screen, smiling at the camera. “It’s Starr here, from This-Or-That, where we compare to see what really works!” The camera cuts to another angle, highlighting her short haircut.  “Sooooo, over the past couple weeks, we’ve had a new trend take the internet by STORM. Box Boys!!” A couple pictures of advertised Box Boys show up to the left of her face as she holds up her hand, pre-choreographed to look like she’s holding them. “Yep! These little cuties have been all over the place, so naturally I was dying to do a video about them!” 

“However, you know me and you guys know I can’t do something without comparing to see what’s good, and what’s better!” The camera angle changes again, this time showing her as she sits at her desk, talking with her hands. “So here’s the dealio guys. I talked with Whumpee’s-R-Us and Whumpee Barn, the two main companies that I’ve heard about. They were both super helpful and they each agreed to send me one, so I could take it to the test, and see whose product was actually better!” 

Starr leans in, cupping a hand to her mouth like she’s telling a secret. “Don’t tell them, but I think they both just wanted to show each other up.” She laughs, and pulls away. “So, I’m way excited for this, so let’s get right into the video! But before we do, don’t forget to like and subscribe, and hit the little bell so you get notified on all my updates!” She winks, and then the camera changes again. 

The camera switches to a full-studio view, showing the white backdrop and a couple of shelves. In the center of the camera is a bar-stool, and sitting to either side are two big boxes. Starr walks on camera from the left, and sits down on the bar stool smiling. 

“So guys, I know you’re all so excited to get to the unboxing, I know I can’t wait! Unfortunately, you guys know the drill.” She looks to the left and the camera slides to a familiar thumbnail, with the words Website and Customer Service Review on a blue speckled background. Her fingers come from the right, pushing that away and revealing a close up of her on the camera. 

“So, first impressions of each website." The camera shows the Whumpee's-R-Us website as it scrolls down the page. "Whumpee's-R-Us had a really great layout, it was easy to find everything I wanted, and their customer service was eager to answer any questions I had. Their website was also really modern, with tons of examples of Box Boys."

The view switches to the Whumpee Barn website. "Whumpee Barn's website was a bit harder to look through, and there definitely weren't as many options. The website had a more rural look to it, a bit more rustic. But I guess that's what you get when barn is part of the title, eh?" She laughs, then continues.

"I ended up going random for both my boys, there were just so many options!" The camera switches back to Starr, smiling into the center. "But back to business. For websites, I give Whumpee's-R-Us a 5-Starr rating, because of the clean, sleek look, and it was really easy to navigate." A small counter pops up on the bottom of the screen, with five little pictures of her face, all of them colored in. 

"I'm giving Whumpee Barn a 4-Starr rating. It was really good, but it could be a bit more up-to-date on the current styles and trends.” She flips her hair, revealing a purple layer underneath the blue. “Okay! Now it’s time to start on the unboxing, which I’m excited for, and I know all of you are too!!” 

The camera cuts to a full-room view again, with Starr standing between the two boxes. She waves. “So we’re about to open the boxes, and I couldn’t decide which one to open first, so I flipped a coin and we’re opening the W-R-Us first!” She claps her hands, and walks around one of the boxes, labeled Whumpees-R-Us. She grabs some scissors and starts opening the box, grabbing the instructions. 

“Okay guys, here are the instructions for the W-R-Us Box Boy. It says to start with water, and then...” She squints. “Percussive impact with the palm or back of hand.” She smiles at the camera and shrugs. “I’m sure we’ll figure it out!” 

She removes the rest of the packing, then shoots the camera a big smile and it zooms in. “Guys!!! Look at him! He’s so cute!!!” She pulls up a thin, pale and blindfolded boy, dotted with freckles and with a mess of bright red hair. She grabs a water bottle and undoes it, gently holding it up to his lips. “Hydrate him, remember? Probably hasn’t had any water for a while.” 

The boy barely reacts to being pulled up, but as the water is put to his lips, he starts drinking. Quickly, like it was going to be taken away. Starr lets him drink as much as he wants, until the bottle runs dry. She turns to the camera with wide eyes. “Wow! Sure was thirsty! Okay! Onto step two. Percussive Impact.” 

She gently taps his cheek with her hand, increasing the pressure as he doesn’t respond. She looks towards the camera and shrugs, then slaps his cheek, making his head turn from the impact. After the slap, his head turns back towards Starr hesitantly, as if looking for her. 

Starr smiles, then takes off his blindfold revealing bright green eyes. They look wildly around the room, trying to take it all in. She squeals a bit. “Awwwww.... He’s even cuter!!” She takes his face in her hands, smiling up at him. “Aren’t you the cutest thing ever?” His eyes go to her, and the corner of his mouth twitches up in a hesitant, almost smile. 

Starr drops his face, leaving him in the box as she stands up and goes over to the Whumpee Barn box. “Okay! So we’ve done one, and he’s adorable, let’s see how the other one compares!” She smiles widely, walking to the other box and starting to open it up.  

She pauses as she brings up these instructions, on a booklet. “Wow! This is quite the user manual! W-R-Us had one of those too, but it wasn’t as big.” She starts flipping through it. “Hmm... User warranty, disclaimer, etc and legal stuff... Ooo! Found it! Opening the product. Step one: Remove packaging from Product.” She takes off the top layer of bubble wrap, revealing the back of someone kneeling in the box.

“Step two. Use collar to bring product to kneeling position. Hmm, this is new, the W-R-Us one didn’t come with a collar, they just came with a blindfold.” She shrugs, grinning at the camera and grabs the collar around the boy’s neck, yanking him up. The boy flinches at her touch, but comes up, kneeling upright and breathing heavily. 

“Oooo! He’s a cutie too!” She turns his head towards the camera, showing off an olive toned skin, with brown wavy hair. His jaw is clenched, and the blindfold doesn’t conceal a frown on his face. 

“Next they say to give him water too, so here goes!” She holds the water to his lips and he pulls back at first, then realizes what it is and starts drinking. His lips are slightly chapped. 

“Okay! Now we can take the blindfold off so here goes. Let’s see how this guy compares to the other!” Starr reaches for the blindfold, untying it and not being too gentle. The blindfold comes off, and she turns his face towards the camera. Blue eyes stare back, eyebrows furrowed and a glare on his face. Starr doesn’t seem to notice, turning his face back to her.

“Another cutie!!! Honestly guys, I’ve got the real haul right here!” She stands up, looking between the two boys sitting in the boxes. “I’m gonna cut to review, and we’ll do the rest of the unboxing in another video!” She waves, and the camera cuts to her, sitting at the desk again. 

She snaps her fingers, and a tally board comes up on-screen, with two sections. One with W-R-Us and one with W-Barn. 

“Soooo, First-Impressions-Tally! You all know how this works! Since this is a multi-video review, we’ll keep track of the tally’s and the one with the most at the end is the winner! This test will go on for three months, so I’ll try to give them out sparingly.” She winks into the camera, referencing her love of showering the coveted “tally-marks” in previous videos. 

“So, right off the bat I noticed that both W-R-Us and W-Barn tried to keep quality high, and sent adorable boys. That gets them both a tally mark.” A line appears in each box, and a picture of both of the boys pops up. The redhead, looking into the camera with hunched shoulders and a bit of a hesitant look, and the blue-eyed boy, sitting up straight and glaring into the camera. The pictures shrink and move to the bottom right of the screen. 

“However, I did notice that the W-Barn Box Boy is going to need a bit more training. I definitely did not like the way he was looking at me. So that’ll give one tally to W-R-Us." The tally appears in the corner, in a little sparkle of glitter. 

Starr flips her hair, showing the purple underneath. “That’s about it for the initial review, I’ll be uploading more content and reviews soon, so make sure to hit the notifications bell if you want to see more W-R-Us vs W-Barn!” 

She leans back, and the two pictures of the box boys come back up, filling the screen. 

“I’m so excited to finally have my box boys, but I’m so sure it’ll be totally worth the wait! This video is getting a bit on the long side, but I’m just dying to know! What do you think I should name them? I’ve got two, and I wanna hear all your suggestions! So, leave a comment in the comment section down below, and I’ll announce names in my next video!” 

The pictures disappear, and the camera focuses back in on her face. “As always, this isn’t possible without you guys and I love you all to bits! Don’t forget to like and subscribe, and click to get notified of all my new uploads! We’ll see you next time, on This Or That!” 

Next one here.

#whump #youtuber whump #box boy #box boy unboxing #box boy universe #This or That #whumpees r us #whumpee barn #two smol beans #I actually have no idea what to name them help me guys #oops thats long #box boy universe grabbed me #do people even read all of these? #tw: slavery #tw: mild abuse #whoops there went my brain #unboxing a smol scared bean #unboxing a smol angst bean #the competition begins #i should stop tagging now #this is the last one I promise #i lied. oops #whumpees r us vs whumpee barn

[yuthoe]

Schedule Changes (PENTAGON: Adachi Yuto)

HELLO, IT’S 12:48AM AND I COULDN’T HELP MYSELF.

I had to churn this out because it won’t leave my head. I’d like to thank my irl friend @shiiiiiiiiinwun for inspiring me to write this collection (yes, I’m gonna be doing one for all of ot9). And for someone who’s been watching anime since she figured out how to use the internet, you’d think I could’ve come up with better names, and faster.

EDIT (06/29/20): Hi! it’s my first time making an edit like this, so i’m kinda insecure abt it lol, i hope it’s okay. this is the 2nd yuto version i did, so it’s slightly better than the first one. tumblr rlly doesn’t want us to go overboard on image size huh

WARNINGS: n/a; some angst, maybe? who’s proofreading idk her. WORD COUNT: 3,314 it’s so fucking long.

---

Minister Sakaguchi,

Unfortunately, Her Majesty will not be available for your meeting today at 3PM; urgent matters have arisen that need her immediate attention. If you would like to reschedule with her, please reply to this email.

Thank you very much for understanding.

Regards,

Y/N L/N

Secretary to the Queen

You sigh, wondering if the email you’ve typed is in the appropriate tone that won’t offend Minister Sakaguchi; in all the years you’ve been working for the royal family it doesn’t get easier writing and replying to the emails of government officials, invitations to interview Her Majesty for magazine features, requests to attend public functions like galas and balls. The ridiculous amount of mail she gets, that are automatically forwarded to you, is mind-boggling, in anyone else’s eyes. It doesn’t surprise you anymore, though.

The queen as a monarch takes the backseat to running the kingdom, to any foreigner that decides to take a look at articles from international news sources. Her name isn’t mentioned as much as the king’s when it comes to referencing big developments in the state. Rather, the local newspapers and online sites have her name and face on some article at least once a week. The queen takes care of the little things, smaller projects that delve more into social welfare than her husband’s institutional programs. She is a strong advocate for women’s and children’s rights, as well as a figure in health outreach programs for the poorer sectors of society. Her compassion and dedication to her job is what made you want to work for her; she was like a role model to you, along with her husband.

It was a stroke of pure luck that got you this job; your first day as the secretary for Minister Yamazaki turned into you being his substitute with only a day’s notice. He had gotten sick with the flu and you were immediately thrust into a role you knew almost nothing about. So you took all the files related to the subject of the meeting and studied up on them the night before, turning up the next day and pulling out opinions as if you yourself spearheaded the project. The queen, upon finding out that you were new, was so impressed and had talked to Minister Yamazaki (who was still in his sickbed) over the phone about enlisting you under her employ.

It’s been five years since then. Five fast-paced, fulfilling, exciting years working closely with the royal family. At this point, your relationship with the queen is more of a friendship than strictly professional, and you’re grateful for it. The people you interact with on a daily basis are mostly considerably older than you--ministers, program leaders, the palace staff--and the talk is all business. So you’re grateful for your weekend teatime with the queen, sometimes with her children joining you, who are some of the only people your age you talk to on a regular basis, apart from the younger maids and kitchen staff. The afternoons out in the garden are the queen’s time to unwind and review everything that happened the previous week, as well as scheduling the succeeding weeks. The stress of planning therefore comes to a head on Saturdays so the week can sail by calmly.

Today is one of those Saturdays. Minister Sakaguchi had scheduled a dinner meeting with the queen yesterday--something about the upcoming fair for disenfranchised women, although you suspect Minister Sakiguchi will try to sneak in pitches for other programs she has in mind. The queen had agreed, so you penciled in the meeting into your schedule. However, the queen seemed under the weather when she came out earlier, that you had advised her to cancel it, assuring her that Minister Sakiguchi would understand. 

The queen takes a sip of her favorite rosehip and lemon tea, fingers delicate on the porcelain, and you send the email, huffing out a sigh. You place your phone facedown on the glass table and take a sugar cookie from the plate. “Just sent the email, Your Majesty,” you say. “Now you can just focus on resting tonight.” You smile as you take a bite.

Your boss smiles as she replaces the teacup on its saucer. “Thank you,” she says, relaxing against the lounge chair. “To be honest, I didn’t think Minister Sakiguchi would talk so much about the fair anyway. She probably suggested a meeting to tell me more of her ideas for the women’s sector.” You smile. Bingo. “Is anything else scheduled for tomorrow?”

You glance at your open laptop, as well as the printed-out spreadsheet on your lap. It’s an organized mess of colors and times and places and people. “Just the charity gala tomorrow night. I’ve coordinated with Subaru and she said the king will be late by an hour. Will you go alone?”

She tilts her head in thought and hums. “I don’t want to be late. Is there anyone available?”

You click through the several pinned tabs on your laptop to the tab for the royal family’s shared schedule. “It seems Princess Akari is free, as well as Prince Yuto,” you say after a moment.

“Ah, Akari will be busy designing something for the fair, I think, so maybe she won’t want to go,” the queen muses.

“So you’ll just take the prince, then? I’ll contact Daiki and ask him to notify the prince.”

“No need,” a deep, disembodied voice comes in from somewhere in the hedges before Prince Yuto pops his head into view. He walks towards the table as you clear up a space for him, closing your binder and putting that on top of the clipboard among other printouts on one of the spare chairs between you and the queen.

The prince strides across the grass in his black dress pants and long-sleeved shirt, to greet his mother. He places his hands softly on her shoulders and leans down to give her a kiss on the cheek. The queen smiles and accepts the kiss, patting a hand over one of his; her mood instantly lifts, and her posture relaxes further. As the youngest son, she dotes on him a lot; he in turn always keeps his mother company and can rarely be seen in public not by her side or his father’s. You think their relationship is sweet, and so do the many news articles posted online about it.

Prince Yuto takes a seat on the only empty chair and fixes himself a cup of tea while saying, “What’s the gala for?”

“The orphanages in the farther provinces,” the queen says as she takes a saucer and stacks it high with dark chocolate-coated cookies, pushing the small plate at her son’s direction. “Some dignitaries from other kingdoms as well as celebrities will be attending. And I will announce the new scholarship program for our state schools. There’s a chance your father won’t make it, so I’d like a companion.”

“Of course I’ll go with you, Mother,” Prince Yuto says after swallowing a bite of cookie. He turns to you. “What time is it?”

“Call time for the royals and major government officials is 7PM, and the program starts at 7:30. I’ll contact Daiki with the details as well,” you say.

The prince shakes his head, but there’s a smile on his face as he turns to the queen. “It’s such a shame, I thought you two were talking about Y/N transferring to my office,” he jokes. It’s a bit that he’s brought up many times before, and both you and the queen take it as a joke since you figure he just wants someone closer to his age with more experience than Daiki, who is about four years older and has only been working with him for two years.

The queen lets out a laugh and takes her teacup again. “What’s the matter with Daiki? He seems to be doing a good job.” Her eyes meet yours as she takes another sip, glinting in amusement.

Prince Yuto is smiling his bright, beautiful smile that the camera loves as he looks fondly at his mother. He probably got wind of her feeling run-down and hurried here to try to distract her. You know the queen is the most important person to him, and the queen may not know it, but it’s obvious to everyone else. “Well, as you know, Y/N is better,” he continues, “and Daiki-san is a stick-in-the-mud.” The teasing makes you huff out a laugh, immediately raising a hand to cover your mouth; Daiki is truly a stick-in-the-mud, even more than you are.

The queen laughs boisterously, throwing her head back. “Oh, you’re such a jokester, Yuto.” She sighs, fully relieved, and you’re thankful he decided to stop by. The queen finishes her tea and says, “Well, this was a fun teatime. I have some paperwork I have to sign, so Y/N, you may go.” She turns to her son. “It’s so nice of you to stop by, sweetheart,” she says, and leans down to drop a kiss on the crown of his head. “I’ll be seeing you both.” The queen glides away, and you briefly wonder how she can walk that gracefully in heels over damp, unpaved grass--but then you remember she’s the queen and has been doing this for years. She turns around the corner of the hedge and disappears.

You sigh and shut down your laptop, gathering your stuff as you message Daiki about the charity gala. You slide the laptop in your bag, and put all the printouts in order into a folder, before slipping everything else inside. You’re just about to get up to leave before Prince Yuto’s voice stops you.

“You sure you won’t consider transferring to my office?” you hear the prince suddenly ask. He’s looking at you, piercing eyes that make everyone in the kingdom, young and old, swoon. And if you didn’t talk to him everyday and your self-control had been any less, you would probably give in to whatever he wanted.

So you try to mask your rapidly beating heart behind a fond, teasing smile. “Well, I don’t really have a say in it. Don’t think the queen wants to let me go, anyway,” you say, taking a proffered dark chocolate-covered cookie from the prince and biting into it. The rich, slightly bitter punch of the chocolate explodes on your tongue.

The prince looks at you with a small smile. “I was serious, you know,” he says simply. “I mean, you won’t be as busy so you’ll have more free time, and the stuff I do is just small, as a minister for cultural arts. I split it with another person.”

You’re already shaking your head. “I like my job. I love working for the queen and seeing the results of what she’s done. You know she’s been my role model since I was a teenager, so this is a dream for me. And as much as I want a break sometimes, I can’t let this opportunity go.” You sigh, heart heavy now, and stand. “I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

He stands with you. “I know I’ve told you to call me just ‘Yuto’ before, didn’t I?”

“But decorum--,”

“Yeah, fine, practice etiquette in public, but when we’re alone you can just call me by my name.” You don’t answer, and hesitantly purse your lips. And then the prince begins to pout. “Come on, if you don’t wanna work for me, at least call me Yuto.” He presses the tips of his index fingers together and says, “I miss you,” so cutely, with his big puppy dog eyes and hilariously deep voice that’s sorely out of place for the cutesy thing he’s trying to do.

You have to laugh, bending down at the waist and steadying yourself with the table as you cackle. “Fine, fine,” you relent. “I’ll call you Yuto in private from now on.” You heave your heavy bag up onto your shoulder with a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

***

“You look beautiful tonight,” someone says behind you. You turn carefully, eyes meeting Yuto, in another black ensemble: turtleneck under an overcoat with black dress pants and boots. His hair is slicked back artfully, apart from the stray locks of hair that insist on falling over his eyes. Simple, but very handsome; the paparazzi and journalists must be having a field day with that outfit.

And you look down at yourself: standard black satin-and-chiffon off-shoulder gown that you usually wear to these types of stuff. Your shoes are your everyday pair, and you’re thankful that the dress comes all the way to the floor because they are getting scuffed at the tip. Your hair is wavy, the result of sleeping in a braid through twelve hours, but you manage to tame it into a loose bun that’s mostly out of your face. The only accessory you have is the necklace you’ve worn since your mother passed down to you six or seven years ago. Makeup is minimal because you are here to assist, not be the center of attention. Everything you put into your appearance tonight is just to make sure you look clean and professional. And invisible.

You roll your eyes at the prince. “Your Highness, I look like this everytime the queen needs to go somewhere fancy. I don’t think ‘beautiful’ is the right word.” You know he means well, but you’re just plain, from your shoes to your face to your position in society, you’re just simple, unremarkable.

The prince furrows his brows and takes his place standing beside you. “You are, though. You may not see it, but I do.” He casts you a quick glance before turning his focus to the stage, where a popular singer is performing one of her new songs onstage as an opening act. “And those photographers over there see it, too.”

You whip your head at him before scanning the event hall for any cameras pointed at you, heart pounding hard in your chest. You don’t spot any, but you still say, “I think you had better take your seat, Your Highness. I bet those people just want to make a scandal out of nothing.” Prince Yuto may be the youngest out of the royal children, but that does not mean he is risk-free. He is being trained for the position of Minister of Culture and the Arts; he has a large following of young people who look up to him as a leader and as a person; he is one of the most important people in your life, and you can’t bear for anything bad to happen to him.

The work tablet you brought is getting crushed in your folded arms from how tight you’re clutching it. “I’m going to find Daiki--,” you say softly, making to leave, but getting stopped once again by the prince.

He’s holding one of your arms gently, but strong enough to pull you back beside him. “It’s okay,” he says. “Let them. It’s fine.”

You pull your arm away. “Your Highness, it’s not fine. You can’t risk a scandal blowing up on you right now. Everyone has eyes on you, even if you don’t think so.” You’re worried. The last thing you want is for him to get in trouble because of you.

The prince sighs. “Y/N, there’s not gonna be a scandal if we’re actually together.”

You take a moment to think. “What? You want us to pretend to be a couple? I don’t think it’s a good idea; people might get the misconception that you’re slacking off, or--,”

“No, I mean--,” he sighs frustrated, more at himself than at you, but he keeps his composure and his face remains stoic; you both are still in public, after all. “I’ve wanted to tell you this for a while now, but I just didn’t know how to say it, and I certainly didn’t plan on telling you at a charity event where hundreds of people could hear.” He’s rambling--a sign that he’s nervous, unprepared.

Prince Yuto takes a calming breath before fully facing you. “I like you, Y/N,” he says softly, aware of the number of ears that are possibly listening in. “I’ve liked you since the day you started working for my mom, and I liked you even more the longer you stayed. You’re a hard worker, you’re dedicated to your job, you genuinely care for the queen and the things she does for the people. And I’m thankful that I got close to you as much as I have because you do mean a lot to me. I know I don’t show it, because I’m not sure how to show it, and I don’t know how you would react to it. But I do like you. Very much.” He releases a breath and looks you in the eye. “So will you try? To be with me?”

All this you take in with wide eyes and a shocked-open mouth. You know the prince is not the most outgoing person; he’s most relaxed when he is with people he knows, which are limited to his family and their secretaries, along with some of the senior palace staff. You’ve never seen him in a pickle of trying to get someone’s attention, but you do remember him offering to carry your heavy work back once or twice and you insisting on carrying yourself; him telling you that you look beautiful even if you wear the same plain things all the time; him giving you a box of (really expensive) chocolate for Valentine’s Day on the excuse of “I gave all the royal family’s employees chocolates”; him giving you a piece of his favorite chocolate cookies, even though you’ve never seen him offer them to anyone else.

All this time he’s been telling you how he feels and you’ve never noticed. And you yourself can’t even tell him the same because you don’t want to risk the prince getting hurt, you getting hurt, the queen getting hurt because of your selfishness. Your work is important to you, and you can’t jeopardize it for your happiness.

But here he is, Prince Yuto. Being brave enough to know the uncertainty of what lies ahead and being prepared to face it, if you answer him; if you push aside your fear of messing up and tell him you like him back; if, for once, you look to your heart instead of thinking of your work.

He stands tall beside you, an imposing figure of grace and compassion. A man people look up to. A leader who is innovative, yet respects traditions. A role model for young people who are inspired by his music, his acts of service to everyone. A son that is loved by his parents, a brother that is loved by his siblings. A friend who listens and is always there, but always pushes you out of your comfort zone.

How can you not fall for him?

How can you say no, when everything around you points to yes?

You’re nodding your head before you know it, still too shocked to properly process the last five minutes. “Yes. Yes, I’ll try being with you.”

The blinding smile is back, and you can’t help but return it. The prince nods, unable to suppress the grin on his face and gestures to the audience, milling about finding their tables. “I’ll be on my way, then. Find my mother.” He clears his throat, fidgets about with his coat and pockets. “Good luck for the rest of the night,” he says with a nod, before leaving.

You just curtsy, still beaming and your heart is drumming in your chest like crazy, but it feels light. Like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders and you can take flight at any moment, straight into his arms.

#pentagon #pentagon yuto #adachi yuto #pentagon adachi yuto #pentagon yuto scenario #adachi yuto scenario #pentagon scenarios #pentagon imagine #universe net #uninet #fic: mine #fic: not spicy #fic: yuto

[undertale-rho]

Underearth: Book 5 - Epilogue

Frisk blinked awake as sunlight poured through the open windows. Curling up again, Frisk flipped over under his heavy covers.

"Don't you dare try going back to sleep." Chara said.

Frisk roused a bit before trying again.

"Frisk." Chara groaned. "Come on, it's been eight hours, get up."

Frisk grunted before repositioning his covers.

"Frisk! Come on, you promised only eight hours, then you'd get up! It's boring when you're asleep, and watching you do it gets old real fast."

Frisk sat up, dropping the covers from over his body, his eyes still closed. Moving his feet from under the covers, they made contact with the freezing floor, causing him to recoil for a second.

"Just a bit to the left, sleepyhead."

Frisk moved his feet to the left until they came upon something furry. Slipping into the slippers, he got up and went to the bathroom.

With Chara waiting outside the door, Frisk fulfilled his Human hygienic needs, a faculty that Monsters didn't require. Stepping from the room wrapped in a towel, Frisk hurried back to his room and got dressed in the day's clothes. Almost ready for the day, Frisk finally went downstairs, where Toriel was already preparing breakfast.

"Good morning, Frisk." she said, using fire magic to heat up a pan to cook some eggs. "Breakfast should be ready in about five minutes."

"Sounds wonderful. Thank you." Frisk looked around the room. "Where's Asgore?"

Toriel froze for a second before continuing her cooking. "He left early. Had some business with the builders."

"Ah, alright."

Toriel had kept her promise. Though they were still far from friends, Toriel was making an effort to not be as wroth with Asgore as she was normally. She was the one to offer the idea of "housemates" to Asgore, perhaps as an attempt to force herself to follow through with that promise by seeing him every day. There was still a long path to go, yet Frisk had noticed that, over the past week since Emergence Day, Toriel froze in anger for a noticeably shorter amount of time than before.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked.

"Yeah. Well enough, at least."

"Excellent."

Pulling the pan from the stove, Toriel placed the contents on a plate and brought it over to Frisk.

Digging in, a knock on the front door brought everyone's gaze to rest upon it.

"Knock knock." a voice from the other side said.

Toriel approached the door. "Who's there?"

"Dozen."

"Dozen who?"

"Dozen anybody want to let me in?"

Laughing, Toriel opened the door and Sans walked in.

"Heya kiddo." he said, coming over to the table. "Cal sent me to collect you, said he was ready."

Frisk's breathing grew heavy as his pulse hastened. "R... really!?"

"As sure as the sun shines. Hurry and eat, I'll take you there when you're ready."

Frisk quickly shoveled the rest of his breakfast into his mouth and shot up.

"Gotta go." Frisk said. "I'll be back soon."

"Oh, be safe!" Toriel replied.

Stepping out into the nippy morning mid/late-September air, Frisk took a deep breath and looked out over the scene. The Monsters had taken to setting up around Mount Ebott, mostly near the base on the south-east side. Toriel's house was situated near the higher point of the budding city, near where a new palace was being planned. Looking towards the palace grounds, Frisk could see Asgore with Gerson, overlooking the planning process. Beyond, the spiked mountain, Mount Keep as the natives called it, and a towering city, Sparta, could be seen. In the opposite direction was a sprawling, yet still tall city. Athens.

"You ready?" Sans asked, offering his hand.

"Yeah. Let's go." Frisk took Sans's hand.

In an instant, a dark green glow appeared in Sans's eyes, and a feeling of minor nausea fell upon Frisk. A second later, they were standing on a sidewalk near the Athens north-south conduit street, on the west side. Stumbling from the teleportation, Frisk was held tall by Sans.

"Careful, Frisk." Calibri said from behind.

Frisk steadied himself, letting go of Sans.

"Geez," he said, "what's the limit of how far you can teleport?"

"Good question." Sans replied. "So far, I haven't found one."

"That's beside the point." Calibri said. "So, are you ready to begin?"

Frisk looked back at Calibri, thinking. Looking around, Frisk confirmed where he was. "Gimme a second..." he said, heading deeper into the south-west quadrant. Sans and Calibri followed him.

"Where are we going?" Calibri asked after a few minutes.

"To my old alley." Frisk replied. "We're almost there, just around this corner."

They turned the corner ahead. There, in the corner of the alley, stood a makeshift tent of blankets and rugs.

"Geez, kid..." Sans said, looking around at the walls. "don't tell me you used to live here."

"Alright, I won't."

Folding up the blanket he used as a door, Frisk looked inside. The place had been pillaged. Not that he had much in the way of belongings in the first place, but the holey black sweatshirt and pants he had were gone.

Folding the flap back down, Frisk turned and left the alley. Silently, Calibri and Sans followed.

Frisk crossed the quadrant back to the north-south conduit street, crossing to the sound-east quadrant. There, he continued on a fixed path, avoiding alleys he wasn't familiar with by habit, until he finally arrived at an alley decorated with many various chalk drawings.

Summoning a shield, Frisk carefully entered the alley. Watching Frisk summon his, Calibri summoned one around himself and Sans. Further in, the three reached a small alcove which was almost completely decorated in bright, colorful drawings. Aside from these, however, there was no life to be found within. Within the right corner of the alley was a large rectangle clear of drawings, where Frisk remembered a mattress once lay. In the other corner was a blackened scorch mark of a fire that once burned carefully to smolder meat.

"Well now, this doesn't look as bleak as your place." Calibri said.

"Yeah. All thanks to a creative six-year-old." Frisk chuckled to himself. So they really have left. Well, good luck, I say. May you find greater fortune beyond.

"Alright." Frisk said, turning back to face Calibri. "Let's begin. What've you got?"

Calibri pulled a slip of paper from his pocket. It was a simple map of the entire city.

"Sans," Calibri said, "can you take us here?" he pointed to a spot to the far north-west of the north-western quadrant, a location Frisk recognized to be the warehouse district.

"Sure, no problem." Sans offered his hands to both Frisk and Calibri, teleporting them to the desired location.

Stepping from the daze, Calibri led Frisk and Sans to warehouse #364. Opening the massive sliding metal door, they walked inside.

"Hey asshole!" a voice from within shouted. "Bloody hell, I was wondering if you'd be back. You should know that I have friends. Powerful friends. Let me go now and I'll make sure you'll be left unharmed, for now."

Frisk's hands shook as he walked further in, following Calibri.

"Are you okay?" Chara asked.

"Just fine."

William continued to run his mouth until Calibri finally reached kicking distanced and shoved the tip of his boot into his mouth.

"Shut up. Your barking is giving me a headache." Calibri demanded.

Frisk looked out over William. He was chained to the ground, his wrists and ankles wrapped in shackles that were chained closely together, which led back and looped around a metal support pillar. Two other chains followed the trail William's did, these ones attaching to the two Humans that were always with him.

Calibri pulled his boot from William's mouth, crouched down, and twisted his head up at Frisk.

"Can you tell me who this is?" Calibri asked.

William's eyes widened. "F... Frisk!?" he said. "You alive?"

"Yes, William, I am." Frisk responded. "Did you really think sticking that knife into my throat would do anything in the long-term?"

William's brow curled upward. "What are you talking about?"

Frisk crouched down, pulling the dagger from the pocket given to him by Sans.

"You sank this dagger into my throat, remember?"

"No I didn't. I've never seen that blade before in my life. I kicked you down a pit. What, did the impact break your memory too?"

Calibri pulled Frisk away before he attacked William.

"What's going on?" Frisk hissed.

"I don't know." Calibri said, looking back at William. "Maybe... maybe his memories were wiped in a RESET. The most recent one, perhaps."

"How? He remembered what I did to him before my first RESET. Why wouldn't he remember now?"

"What about Flowey?" Calibri asked. "From what you told me, he seemed shocked by you knowing everything, and even asked you how many times you two had 'first' met."

Frisk looked back at William. "Maybe..." he said. "But that doesn't erase what he did before."

"Are you sure you want to go there, you eidocidal maniac?" Calibri whispered, making sure Sans couldn't hear. "If you want to judge others based on past actions they don't remember even doing from past Runs, then where would you fit in, somebody who does remember doing something far worse?"

Frisk didn't answer.

"Besides," Calibri continued, "this isn't within our jurisdiction. I can't allow judgement to be passed on these... things."

Frisk looked back at William.

"Fine." he said. "But make sure they're taken into custody."

"I will." Calibri said, signaling something to Sans. Immediately, Sans pulled out his phone, walking off to a side room.

A few minutes later, Sans returned.

"The police are on their way." he said. "Let's get you two out of here."

Sans teleported both Frisk and Calibri back to Artemis's alley before returning to the warehouse. A few minutes later, Sans returned.

"Watched the prisoners until the cops showed up. Should be in prison soon enough."

"Excellent." Calibri said, reviewing the slip of paper. "The last place is here." Calibri pointed to a location in the center of the north-east quadrant."

Sans teleported them all to the place pointed out. Demolition equipment surrounded the blackened towers of rubble.

"Wait, isn't this—" Frisk started saying.

"—the building that exploded, yeah." Calibri finished.

"Why'd you bring us here?"

"Because it's related to that other thing you asked me to look into."

"A-Aliza?"

Calibri breathed out. "Unfortunately, yes." he pulled a slightly scorched book out from his pocket. "This is the journal-of-sorts of the owner of this building. Turns out that it was indeed a skyscraper that screamed 'I'm a criminal mastermind'.

"Some of this I already knew, but the part regarding your sister I did not. When my investigation led me here, I... I didn't want to believe it."

"Why?" Frisk asked. "What's this about?"

"This building was the headquarters of the Underground Hole. A Human trafficking cartel."

Frisk's eyes went wide with horror.

"Apparently, soon after you were separated from your sister, she was... taken by somebody and sold here."

"No..." Frisk gasped out.

"It... somehow gets worse than that... According to this journal, she was soon given the nickname 'Butterfly' due to her 'innocent beauty'." Calibri vomited in his mouth a bit. "Sorry." he flipped through a few pages. "Sometime later, she became a 'popular attraction', receiving many... 'guests' a day." Calibri covered his mouth again, taking a few seconds to recover. "She became infamous throughout the Hole. A tattoo artist within the city actually... oh for fk sake... tattooed a butterfly onto her..." Calibri looked away, looking like he was going to vomit a bit again. "onto her labia..."

Frisk looked over at Calibri. "Do I... do I even want to know what that is?"

"No." Calibri answered immediately. "No, you do not." Looking back at the book, Calibri flipped forward a few pages. "Anyway, whoever blew up this building was clearly somebody who knew about this cartel and hated what they did (with good reason). When they made their move to apparently destroy this cartel, they made sure to murder the leadership and destroy everything and everyone within. Hundreds of bodies have been found, whether some were sex slaves or not, I don't know, but only a fraction of the bodies are even partially identifiable. Trace remains of others managed to survive the purge. It's almost like somebody set off a nuke in there. Anyway, I'm sorry to say, but this is where Aliza's trail ends."

Frisk collapsed to the ground, screaming at the earth at tears fell down his face.

Calibri and Sans stood there, silent, for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, Frisk's cries started to quell.

"I should mention," Calibri said, "that I'm not 100% sure this was Aliza, but... with the picture they provided, I could see some partial resemblance to you, so... I assumed." Calibri crouched down next to Frisk. "I probably should have confirmed it with you first, but... hindsight 20/20, right?" Calibri flipped the journal around, revealing a small picture of a Human chained by their wrists and ankles to a ring in an X-shaped fashion. Calibri's hand covered most of the photo, everything from the Human's neck downward.

Frisk looked at the photo, but doing so only brought more pain. Aliza's brown eyes, once radiant and full of life, were now dark and dead to the world. Frisk forced his eyes away from the picture, his vision once again swallowed up by tears.

"I'm sorry..." Calibri said.

After a few minutes, Frisk stood up.

"Take me home..." he said.

Sans presented his hand. When Frisk took it, they were teleported back to Toriel's house. Sans teleported back as Frisk entered.

"Welcome back." Toriel said. "Do you want anything?"

"No. Thank you." Frisk said, crossing the house and ascending the staircase, walking into his room.

Upon entering, Frisk flopped down onto the bed.

"What will you do now?" Chara asked an hour later.

Frisk sighed, turning his head to face her.

"I've got nothing left from before I fell. Artemis is free, William is behind bars, and Aliza is..." Frisk paused. "I thought I'd stay with the Monsters. Build something new here."

A knock at the door snapped him back to his senses. Sitting up and wiping his face, Frisk faced the door.

"Come in." he croaked.

The door cracked open and Asgore walked through.

"Hey Asgore." Frisk greeted.

"Howdy, young Frisk. Still in bed? It's almost time for lunch."

Frisk glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand. Half-past eleven.

"So it is. Guess I lost track of time."

"I think we have a chance for a good life here." Asgore said, closing the door. "Knowing what everyone things of my own naming ability, I thought it would be best if I left it to someone else. So, I've come to you. What would you like to call this new city?"

Frisk chuckled to himself. Looking at the Monster that named the first Monster city in the Underground "Home" and the second major city "New Home", along with possibly the provinces, it was no wonder he came to him. Frisk stood up from his bed and walked over to the window. Despite the seemingly awful names, however, each name was quite descriptive. Home was the home of the Monsters. New Home was the new home of the Monsters. Looking out across the surface home of the Monsters, the perfect name came to him.

"How about calling it 'Surface Home'?" Frisk asked, looking back at the King of the Monsters.

Asgore looked stunned at Frisk, then threw back his head in laughter.

"Truly," Asgore said, "it is as though we are related. Alright, Surface Home it is." Asgore stepped from the room.

"Geez, you're hopeless." Chara said. "You could have gone for anything, and you choose 'Surface Home'. I guess Undyne was right to compare you to dad."

"What can I say?" Frisk asked. "It's simple, and straight to the point. Our new home on the surface."

Emergence : Epilogue

Previous First posting First of this book Next

#undertale #undertale au #undertale rho #UTRStory #underearth #emergence

[cloudyyoonji]

Silent ‘I Love You’s’ .

Hwang Hyunjin X Reader

Summary: When you completely overwork yourself, Hyunjin and the rest of the boys are always there to pick you up when you need it most.

Genre: Fluff with angsty themes.

_________________________________

The last few months have been hard. Completely swamped at work with reviews, presentations, and drafts of writings you knew just wasn’t your best work.

Tiredness eats at your work ethic, your mind tunneling down to just one focus, one Goal: Finish everything.

Relaxing is not an option. Yes, overworking yourself is probably going to take a toll on your health, but at this point, it's your only option in order to get things done. Waking up at 5 in the morning only to come home at 7 at night just to finish one of your millions of tasks within that 8 hour day was the epitome of your nightmares, a nightmare that had become your reality. The demons of your deepest, darkest fears are your boss, a surly man who yells constantly at anything you do. His neck veins are so big you thought that they might just explode one of these days. Your coffee ridden blood didn’t help either, creating a shaking mess that succeeds at making you susceptible to both mistakes and punishment for those mistakes. Your boss is a violation of personal space, often getting right up in your face as he yells at you, the tiny veins in his head puffing up to also scare you further. His hot-headedness made him more violent in nature, often a like a tornado ripping through a quiet, unsuspecting city.  But rather you are the city, immune to his verbal castigation.

To say at the very least, your extremely overworked.

As 7:00 pm comes, the dreary weather manages to make the walk back to the dorms even more insufferable. Stepping out of the building complex, you silently curse yourself for not bringing an umbrella, begrudgingly pulling your bag close to your chest, and making a quick dash for cover across the road.

Rain pelts at you, your clothes changing color as if they’d been dyed. The water on your skin acts like a layer of extra clothing, a film of an uncomfortable coldness that makes your bones ache. Your hair clings to your neck, soaked to the core in its simple ponytail.

Upon arriving at the familiarity of the JYP Building, you hurry inside, craving the warmth only a heater could provide you within this bitter winter.

However, you can only think of the work you need to finish tonight. Words that you need to fill in an empty essay and the correct power point slides you need for a presentation gnaws away at your tiredness. You just can’t sleep until this is finished.

Reaching the dorm rooms, you fumble with the knob as it slips around in your rain ridden hands, but finally opens thanks to your sheer will and determination. You sigh at the warmth, closing the door behind you and placing your rain ridden bag on the hanger, knowing that you need to take another bag tomorrow whilst this one dries out.

The clamoring shouts of 8 excited boys reaches your ears. They sound as if they arguing, psyching each other out as they play a game. You continue towards the sound, craving the warmth of the heater in the living room

“Y/N! You’re soaked!”

Hyunjin’s voice from behind you causes you to jump, your wet hair whipping across your shoulder as you turn suddenly.

He takes in your appearance, you’re absolutely soaked to the core, dripping with water like a leaky tap.

Beckoning you to follow him, you trudge to the laundry, where he hands you a towel. Thanking him, you begin to work on drying your hair.

He sighs at the sight of you.

You knew that he’d noticed your absence in the dorms. You left before they all woke, and sometimes returned when they were all sound asleep. All you wanted was a day with your boyfriend, but it was hard to even get a few hours at this point.

He takes the towel from your hands and wraps it around your shoulders, slightly rubbing at your arms in an attempt to get you to warm again. His touch is warm, gentle. The kind of touch that made you want to melt into his arms.

“It’s really late y/n.” He tells you, eyes scanning your face for even a flicker of emotion. But you could only look down in reply, a whisper of “I know” slipping from your lips as an excuse for your ungodly work routine.

He sighed again. It was always the same, your excuse that is. He’d seen your workload and suggested that you take a few weeks off, offload your work to other staff members. But, you just couldn’t bring you to do that, feeling it was unfair to your other coworkers.

Silently, he leads you to your shared room, ignoring your request of leaving you to change into your own clothes, giving you his warm ones instead.

You take them into to the bathroom, exhausted but mind racing, changing into the warm clothes you know will ease your senses.

But catching sight of yourself in the mirror; eyes dull in color, cheeks sunken in, dark circles, and a pale smudge of skin sends fear running down your spine. The reflection disappears the instant you look away, shaking away your concerns, and climbing into Hyunjin’s clothing.

“Y/N?”

The past few hours are a blur, the only thing being retained by you are countless phrases such as “in continuation” and “moreover”.

But Hyunjin’s voice breaks your concentration, sending your body into a state of shock and need. You crave a simple day with him, but your hurricane of a boss simply won’t allow it.

Your body remains frozen as he pushes your laptop closed and places it in its case that sits against the wall.

“You look exhausted.”

“I’m not... I can keep working.” You reply nonchalantly.

He shakes his head at your stubbornness.

You feel sick. You know that walking home in the rain had not been one of your best ideas. You also know that you’re not quite as lucky as you have been in the past with your health. But, your determination to just simply plow through your sickness was overwhelming, set on just not being sick at all. All you needed to do was just finish everything you need to, then you could rest.

But when Hyunjin touches his hand to your head, you know that you definitely won’t be doing any work tonight, nor tomorrow. Any chance of getting better spirals down the drain like a tsunami, leaving just the remnants of a broken body.

“You're burning up.” He exclaims, his hand falling from your forehead.

“...but I’m freezing.” You reply, confused at how you had a fever when it legitimately felt like it was -30 degrees in the room.

“Y/N, I don’t think this is from the rain... I’m going to get Chan okay?” You simply nod in response.

The truth is you really aren’t feeling well at all. Your head is a spinning mess and your joints ache with a constant throb.

Coming back with the Australian leader, you realize that perhaps you have been rather unkind to your body. A staple of 3 coffees a day wasn't exactly food... but then again 3 hours of sleep every night for the last month wasn’t ideal either.

Getting off the bed in a rush, you hold your hands up - ready to defend your case. But instead of preserving your case of 3 hours of sleep, your body seems to give out, swaying with your mind as your vision turns to a blurry mess. Hands grab you in an instant, guiding you back towards the mattress.

“Woah, okay okay, lay down.” You instantly recognize the sound of Chan’s voice, but can barely make out his face as the two boys gaze at you in concern.

“Felix, can you bring some wet face washers?” The boy yells, a hand sweeping across your head deeming your fever true.

“She can’t go to work like this,” Hyunjin says to his hyung, concern inherent on his face. “I’ll give them a call tomorrow. She needs to rest in the meantime.”

You shake your head in protest, lips parting to whisper ‘no’ over and over again. “You can’t” you croak, eyebrows strung together.

“Jagiya you need rest. You're overworking yourself! You’re barely are home anymore. You barely eat anything too. You need a break. Just for a few weeks!”  Your heart contracts at the sight of Hyunjins worried gaze. 

He’s right. Your lapsed sleeping schedule, coffee meals, and workaholic behavior has finally pushed your body to the brink of what it can actually physically do. Nodding in agreement, you finally give in to the idea of a small holiday.

You haven’t even noticed Felix come in, too trapped inside your own head. Giving Hyunjin the wet face washer, he shoots you a sympathetic smile.

They are all so concerned about your health, seeing you deteriorate before their eyes. But at this moment, it had just become so clear that these boys truly care for you. Felix's simple smile, Chan's caring hand steadying you and of course your boyfriends grip on your hand, eyes glazed with a worry you thought could only exist between a parent and their child.

“Make sure she gets some sleep,” Chan tells Hyunjin, whispering something that you don’t quite catch before leaving you two alone.

Your boyfriend joins you on the bed in an instant, pressing the damp face washer to your forehead in an attempt to calm your raging fever.

“I’m sorry,” you sigh into him, turning to meet his gaze. “I’m really, really sorry I’ve been overworking myself.”

He smiles gently at your words, “I know you are.”

Smiling too, you shift yourself straight into his arms, head resting on his chest. This wasn't something you got to do very often between your lengthy work schedule and routine appointments at your local coffee shop.

Your actions make him chuckle, his fingers combing their way through your hair whilst his other hand traced shapes into your back.

The face washer has fallen off, but you don’t care. It’s his touch that makes you feel immediately better, his scent that is your medicine, him that makes you feel completely rested.

However, your sleeping state doesn’t last long. Yes, Hyunjin’s cuddles definitely make you feel better, but you couldn’t ignore the fact you’d most definitely made yourself sick with work.

Pushing yourself up, your laboring breaths send panic spiraling through your body. You lurch forwards, half blacking out and breathing hard. Hyunjin is up by your side in an instant, his hand placed tentatively on your back. Kicking the covers off, you race out the room, heading for the toilet. The instant you reach it, it was like your body knows, your knees giving out and the contents of your small lunch spilling out into the bowl in front of you.

Hyunjin is behind you in an instant, turning on the light and immediately kneeling down behind you. Your locks are pulled into his hands whilst your body lurches to rid everything in its system.

When you finish emptying everything, you feel so weak, not even being able to turn to look at your own boyfriend.

“Woah, shit is everything okay?” You immediately recognize Minho’s voice but cannot bring yourself to lift your head off your arms, which holds it off the seat.

“Hyung Y/N’s really sick. Did Chan tell you?”

“Yeah he did,” You hear Minho shuffle closer, a hand touching your arm softly.

“Y/N, do you want to stay here? Or do you want to go back into your room?” Opening your eyes, you shake your head slightly, exhausted.

“Okay, okay. You can stay here... I can get Chan for you if you want?” Nodding slightly, you close your eyes, another wave of nausea coming over you.

You hear Hyunjin thank him, his grip on your hair readjusting as you move your head and ready yourself for another wave of sickness as it comes.

“I’m sorry.” You groan as Hyunjin holds your shaking body close. Chan had decided that it probably was best for you to stay where you were, going off to get a damp cloth to wipe over your face with.

“Don’t be sorry, your sick Jagi.” His words are meant as a source of comfort, but they only make you feel more anxious. You hate being sick and he knows that more than anyone.

“Here.” Chan kneels down in front of you, a face washer in hand. He runs its cold contents over your face, succeeding in cooling you down after you have been in hot shivers.

“Do you think you're alright to go back to your room? I’ll bring a bucket just in case you do feel sick.”  

You immediately nod at Chan’s question, feeling your body be picked up by Hyunjin and carried gently back down the corridors you’d quickly rushed down. Soon, you were back in the embrace of your boyfriend, a comfort you found yourself yearning for.

“I’m sorry,” you croak, not opening your eyes but fingers tightening around the grip of his hand. “I’m sorry I overworked myself. I’m sorry I made myself sick. I’m sorry you have to deal with me. I’m -”

“Y/N stop,” He cuts you off.  “You don’t have to apologize. You always look after us when we’re sick, so of course, we’ll do the same to you. I couldn’t care less that you're sick, I just want you to feel better because I know how much you hate it.”

You immediately bury your face into his chest, a silent ‘i love you’ gesture. His grip only tightens around you, destined to keep you close and in comfort. “I love you too.” It said, “I love you no matter what.”

#stray kids #stray kids reactions #stray kids scenarios #stray kids requests #stray kids imagines #kpop #kpop reactions #kpop scenarios #kpop imagines #JYP #Hyunjin #hyunjin stray kids #stray kids hyunjin #fluff #angst #Boyfriend! Hyunjin #Best friend stray kids #bangchan #leeminho #felix #changbin #hanjisung #jeongin #seungmin #hwan hyunjin

[mobius-prime]

100. Sonic Super Special #5 - Sonic Kids

Welcome to the hundredth issue, guys! Obviously not the hundredth issue of the main comic itself, we've still got a long ways to go before we reach that, but it's the hundredth issue that I'm covering in this review, anyhow. Fittingly, it's a bit of a flashback to, well, when the Freedom Fighters were kids. Which is awesome, because it allows me to finally go into several points that I've been just dying to bring up! Let's dive in, shall we?

When You and I Were Young, Sally

Writer: Mike Gallagher Pencils: Manny Galan Colors: Barry Grossman

So no time frame is given for what age everyone was when this story took place, but I'm going to guess it was no more than five or six years ago, given that any younger would make Tails basically a toddler in this story, which he doesn't seem like he is. Sally and her friends (minus Bunnie, because remember, she wasn't a part of the team yet) are playing inside when Rosie comes in to scold them and order them to play outside instead. Before Sally can follow her friends out, she's held back by Julayla (if you'll remember, her old mentor who died in StH#18) for a lesson. She's clearly not pleased with this.

This already gives some insight into how strict Sally's upbringing and royal grooming were, even with her father gone. Luckily, Julayla is actually rather reasonable, and recognizes the others' worth as both friends and a source of growth for Sally. While Sonic shows off by playing an entire game of basketball by himself, Tails - or Miles, as everyone calls him, because he hasn't earned his nickname yet - becomes dejected, thinking he'll never be as cool as his hero Sonic. Sally tries to cheer him up by pointing out that everyone has their own strengths, and Sonic jumps in to point out Miles' prominent birth defect, turning it into a positive instead.

And so Miles attains his flight ability! However, he doesn't quite know yet how to stop flying, and so he goes careening away into the forest. Rotor - or Boomer, as he's still known back then - is able to track where he might have landed, and even begins to describe a new idea he had for a handheld computer before Sally shushes him, serving as yet another reference to future events given that far-future-Rotor was the one who invented Nicole and sent her back in time, if you'll recall. The group hears Miles' voice coming from a tree stump, and gather around to try to decipher what he's saying.

Perfect! They all land in an underground cavern where Miles is dizzy from his landing but unharmed, and, looking around, are amazed at how cool the place is, with an underground aquifer and such an interesting secret entrance through the hollow tree stump… hey, sounding familiar? Sally declares that this should be their new secret headquarters for a group she's forming right now… the Freedom Fighters!

Well that's quite a verbose speech for a ten year old, Sally, but it inspires everyone to go along - minus Sonic, who seems mildly unenthused for some reason. I suppose it wasn't "cool" enough for him at first? Anyway, Sally then tasks them with finding a way out of the cavern, and Miles uses his new ability to fly out and lower a vine for them to climb out. And thus, the Freedom Fighters were born! It's a bit awkward to think back, however, on how resistant everyone was to adding Tails to the group in earlier issues, citing that he was too young. It paints kind of a ridiculous and petty picture of them initially forming the group with Miles, only to then reject him for being too much of a baby child, and only finally accepting him back in once he was the same age they were when they first formed the group. I mean, come on guys, that's such a dick move!

Stop… Sonic Time!

Writer: Tom Rolston and Karl Bollers Pencils: Art Mawhinney Colors: Ken Penders

The very first page of this story is my in - I finally get to explain my biggest theory!

Yes, that is a modern-day Sonic, being pestered by a bunch of little kids in Knothole to tell stories of his adventures. The first time I read the comics, this was the issue that made the silly tone of all the previous early issues make sense. After all, of course Sonic would love to brag of his and his friends' adventures to all the wide-eyed children of the village, hanging on his every word - but he couldn't make things out to be as dire as they actually were, lest he scare them. Add his naturally carefree and somewhat goofy nature to the mix, and you have your answer - most of the early issues, particularly the ones by Michael and Angelo, were all just stories Sonic was telling to the kids. To some degree, certainly most of the events depicted happened in some capacity, but they were much more serious, much more dire, with much higher stakes than we were led to believe. That time Sonic took a front row seat to Orbinaut's introduction and got put through a pinball machine for his troubles? More likely that he snuck into a Robotnik laboratory to find out his latest nefarious plans only to be spotted and captured, barely escaping an elaborate death trap with his life. That magic frog that gave him jewels which gave him powers? Probably an embellishment to an otherwise routine story of taking down Robotnik's latest invention. The time the Freedom Fighters formed a band and defeated Robotnik with the power of music? Perhaps an incursion into Robotropolis gone wrong when they were cornered in an old concert hall. My point is, given how serious the comic gets later on, those early issues, with their goofy slapstick tone, don't really make sense except through an interpretation like this - that they're merely dressed-up stories told by Sonic to the Knothole children throughout the war, to satisfy their curiosity, keep their spirits up, and give him a chance to brag even in the wake of a dire and terrifying battle that they barely escaped alive. This is how I choose to view all the older issues, through this lens of storytelling - it just seems to make sense. Incidentally, this is why I recommend people getting into the comics read every issue even if they're not into slapstick comedy, as they become painted in a much different light once you realize what they could mean in context.

Anyway, back to actually analyzing the story. When one of the kids asks Sonic how he got his shoes, he explains that they were custom-made for him by Uncle Chuck to withstand the friction created by his speed. He then decides to explain the story of how he got Tails his own shoes, which are similar to his. It took place a "few years ago," likely one or two years after the previous story since everyone still acts like children. Miles had been taking lessons from Rosie and gotten straight A's, prompting everyone to throw him a little party to celebrate his good grades. Antoine gets him a ribbon that he claims he earned through his own heroism, and while Boomer corrects him, Miles worries that Sonic hasn't shown up. Sally comforts him, but she's not too confident in him either.

Turns out Sonic is in Robotropolis, meeting up with a strange robed figure who agreed to trade him a bag of rocks for the shoes. It seems like a strange trade, but as Sonic speeds away…

Hey, remember Merlin Prower from the Sonic Live special? Of course given his name and appearance we knew they had to be related, but now we have confirmation - he's Tails' uncle! Sonic likely didn't actually tell this part to the Knothole kids - rather the comic is just showing the final panel to reveal this interesting tidbit of information to us.

Meanwhile in another part of Robotropolis, Robotnik is being evil as usual, and has come up with a plan. He's sick and tired of the "king's daughter" heading the resistance against him, and thus has invented a time-freezing ray that will stop time for everyone in the forest, allowing his forces to waltz in and load them all on a transport to Robotropolis with ease. Sonic sees the beam fire over his head as he races back to Knothole, but decides not to worry about it until after he's delivered his gift to Tails. However, predictably, once he gets back, everyone is frozen, and outside Knothole itself, the swatbots are rounding up the frozen Mobians. Sonic realizes he has to stop this plan before they discover the Great Oak Slide into the village, and so he comes up with a plan to pretend to be frozen, letting him sneak into Robotropolis.

Soon, Sonic is standing on the pedestal in Robotnik's main room, ready to be roboticized. Robotnik mentions, interestingly, that he had promised to spare those who followed his laws and had indeed followed his own rule up until now, which is surprising given his normally ruthless nature - however, naturally, he's decided that's boring and wants to roboticize everyone, followed by sending his robot army out to conquer the entire galaxy. Damn, man! The planet wasn't enough for you? Sonic allows him to monologue just long enough to let him get embroiled in an evil cackle before jumping off the pedestal and mocking him, then pressing every button on every console to mess up his plans. This thankfully results in exactly what he wanted - everyone being unfrozen back home, while Snively and the bots looking for more prisoners are frozen in time instead. With one last flourish, he smashes up the time-freeze ray and speeds out of the city, back home, where everyone within the village still has no idea anything went wrong at all. He dodges Sally's scolding, goes to give Tails his present, remembers he left it hidden in the forest, and speeds back to find it with ease.

And that's how Tails got his similar-to-Sonic's shoes! Sonic concludes his story to the children only to notice that they all fell asleep listening to him at some point. Classic!

Total Re: Genesis

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Nelson Rebeiro, Art Mawhinney, Sam Maxwell, and John Herbert Colors: Barry Grossman

Unlike the other two stories, this one doesn’t take place during the childhood of the Freedom Fighters, but rather just after StH#38. If you'll remember, I noted that the issue ended rather abruptly, not really explaining how everyone escaped or what happened afterward. I'm not sure if this story was intended to correct that or if they just randomly decided on that issue as a good place to add in an additional story, but here we are regardless. We open with Sonic, Sally, and Antoine looking pretty exhausted and beat up with a flaming pile of robotic wreckage behind them, and they answer a call from Uncle Chuck to explain what happened. Apparently one of the wrecked combots they fought came back online while they were cleaning up, and each of them take turns explaining their version of events, in which the speaker is the sole hero of the story. Sally explains how her two companions were knocked silly by a blast, and thus she acted as a distraction, breaking off a piece of a cliff to smash the already messed-up bot.

Antoine interrupts to explain that, in fact, it was Sally and Sonic who were unconscious, and the robot still had legs. What's more, it could cloak itself to become invisible, and so Antoine had an epic duel with it, using his superior hearing to fight and slash at it even without being able to see.

But that's not how it happened, interjects Sonic! Antoine was merely watching his heroics jealously from a distance while Sally begged him, ever the hero, to save them both. He stepped forward, easily dodging anything the combot threw at him while mocking its sound effects, and then paused to adjust his sneakers before charging at it to blow it up.

Uncle Chuck finally interrupts to tell them that he installed Nicole with an uplink to a spy satellite which recorded the whole thing, allowing him to watch playback of what really happened. As it turns out, everyone's stories are somewhat true, with Sonic using his spines to saw off the bot's legs, Antoine slicing up its internal circuitry, and then Sally crushing it with a boulder before it could fire off another shot. He congratulates them on their teamwork, and they bicker good-naturedly as they head back home.

Well, that's a hundred issues everyone! Hard to believe we've already come this far, but hang on tight, cause we still got over two hundred fifty issues to go. The story of the preboot is far from over, after all!

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sonic super special 5 #writer: michael gallagher #writer: tom rolston #writer: karl bollers #pencils: manny galan #pencils: art mawhinney #pencils: nelson ribeiro #pencils: sam maxwell #pencils: john herbert #colors: barry grossman #colors: ken penders

[munsmansion]

Honest Review of Beta (So Far)

Hello guys, gals, and nonbinary pals!

So I was selected for the Beta recently and even with @staff‘s latest update, allowing me to switch back to the old dashboard, I decided to give it a go and see what all of the fuss is about. I’ll leave my honest opinion at the end of each ‘feature’ with either a PRO, CON, or MIXED review.

First impressions were not great. I was immediately hit with a large font and different typeface. It was so bad that I swore that I had somehow zoomed my browser in and that’s why it looked so terrible. I’m not sure why this was added, most browsers have a setting that allows you to increase or decrease the size of the font for people with vision problems and for everyone else that doesn’t have vision problems, it just looks awful. New typeface and font size: CON

I also started to notice ads at first, I have an AdBlocker and a Xkit Anti-Capitalism extension installed so I’m not sure what was going on. It may have been glitched since I hadn’t started a new browser, but after opening a new window, restarting my AdBlocker and signing into XCloud (issues to follow) I thankfully no longer see those eyesores. Ads: MIXED

One thing that @staff really wanted us to look at was the new color palettes. These palettes change the colors of your dashboard. I guess they listened to our feedback regarding the new ‘True Blue’ color scheme. There are only a few palettes that I actually enjoy however, a couple of them are just WAY too bright and hard to look at. Compared to these palettes I enjoy the ‘True Blue’ way better, however there is also a ‘Low Contrast Classic’ which is very appealing and a welcomed sight for the Tumblr veterans, the ‘Dark Mode’ which is what I’m currently using, and the ‘Cybernetic’ which is kind of neat because it looks like the old software programmers use for typing code for websites. There are a few places where the new palettes don’t work like the activity page and rebloging something while on another user’s page, but hopefully this will be patched soon. All in all, I’m glad they are giving us options and this will definitely improve my eye strain while using the site. Color palettes: PRO

Those of you with multiple side blogs are going to love this next one. Notifications now work similar to those that are on mobile. You now have a counter that will appear with each new notification, indicating how many unread notifications you have. Time will tell if it craps out like mobile does and shows unread notifications when you’ve already looked at them. On top of that, when you click the drop down, you no longer have to hunt and peck for which blog has a new notification, it will have a marker next to the blog with the new one right there. I find this extremely important as I was relying on my phone notifications to tell me when I had a new reply, reblog, like and what blog it was on. Notifications: PRO

The forced beta was a real kick in the gonads but I’m glad they’ve now allowed us to switch back and forth between the new and old dash. This is a good thing because some ‘features’ don’t work. I know a lot of you use and love Xkit. Staff has been working with them for the transition and I’m happy to report that...some of @xkit-extension sill works. For now my blacklist isn’t working as well as a few other things like my mutual checker, but one-click reblogs still are working. To try to fix the issue is by signing into your XCloud. The problem with this is any keybinding that has a function in the dash, like the ‘j’ or ‘k’ will trigger while you’re typing in Xkit and won’t type the letter in the text box. I had to switch back to my old dash to sign it and try to fix some of the extension issues. Xkit Compatibility: CON 

Staff has also added a few new animations like a rainbow loading bar and new posts/threads slide up from the old ones when you click on the home button. I’ve noticed some slight delays when loading blogs/notifications so I’m not sure if it is linked to the new animations but they are a neat little touch. New Animations: MIXED

All in all, the change could be worse. Yes, I know it’s got some kinks to work out but if we give Xkit Devs and Staff time to work together, I think most of these things will be resolved. Honestly my biggest issue with the change, outside of being forced into it, is the way the text looks. Other than that everything else will be fixed over time.

#Beta #tumblr update

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: Doki Doki April 19

You guys don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for a chance to review this. Right after I got the box, one of my cats got ill... I had to throw the box away, so I’ve been having everything sit in a tightly sealed bag, just waiting to come out!

Today is that day!

Also, I finally got a chance to use my Pikachu mold set I got from a box some months ago:

Unfortunately I wasn’t prepared going into it... so I didn’t have everything I would have liked to have. But I tried, and it still tasted good :P

This months theme: Mythical Mori

“Forest critters awake as the leaves turn green and the flowers begin to bloom, marking the arrival of spring. Ready yourselves with this month’s crate, featuring items around the theme, “Mythical Mori”. We have curated a box of items to enjoy during a spring picnic with some of your favorite forest friends.“

This month, the back page features a description of the Mori Girl fashion style:

Mori means Forest for anyone unfamiliar with the word. The look is very natural and sweet, with nature being its inspiration. I didn’t really know much about Mori fashion outside of it being one of the clothing categories in Love Nikki, so I liked being able to learn a little more about it. I wish they did these more often.

Meanwhile, the prize for the photo contest is an adorable My Melody lunch set.

Suteki Crate

For this month we have a lot of cute goods inspired by the various characters in the box, nature, and things you would take with you outside or on a fun stroll for nature.

I love the totoro nesting dolls, don’t they look like fun~?

Sumikko Gurashi Purse

Our first item is perfect for outdoor travel, an adorable apple-themed Sumikko Gurashi purse. It comes with a pair of straps to connect to the loops, but you could also adjust it to attach the purse to other things if you wanted.

It’s made from smooth material and has a squared piece of Styrofoam in it that I took out, and it’s shape was perfectly fine the whole time, it didn’t smoosh down or anything. But I decided to keep it in there when not in use.

It also has a double-sided image:

Which side is your favorite?

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

In order to test this out, I took it with me to the county fair this past week. I was able to fit a handful of items in it, including a hand-sized/pocket medical kit, my inhaler, lip gloss, a can of foaming hand sanitizer, scrunchies, and a set oil blotting sheets. That pretty much filled it completely, it barely stretches out to allow more inside, but the items I had were decent sized. I would have room for a lot more if they were smaller. But I had pockets for my phone, tissues, money, so it wasn’t an inconvenience.

I really like this ♥ not only is it a cute shape and size and have cute designs on it, but there’s a lot you can do with it and usually a problem I have with purses is that they like sliding down my shoulder- which gets on my nerves when I’m out. I don’t know if its them or if its me; but anyway, I didn’t really have that problem with this. It would shift a teensy bit in comparison to other ones, but it wasn’t bothering me at all.

I can’t wait to use it again, and it’s perfect for the upcoming fall/autumn weather~

Rilakkuma Sakura Cup

Next up is an adorable, clear cup featuring Rilakkuma and friends enjoying the pretty cherry blossoms. The flowers completely cover the cup, and it features two sets of images of the group, Rilakkuma’s name, and the text Drawn out by the spring day, Rilakkuma collects cherry blossoms.

It’s a typical plastic cup but it features a very sunken-in bottom and ridges around the inside.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I have a bunch of cups from these boxes, but besides the My Melody glass I got, this is probably my favorite. It’s so pretty to look at, definitely perfect for a spring day, or maybe an early morning. It would be fun to bring out for a picnic~

Totoro Bento Box

To go with the outdoorsy, nature theme what better companion than a bento box? It’s always nice to bring along a snack or meal whenever you’re going to be out for a long period of time, or just for work or school- or you could probably use for food storage too. So for that we have this Totoro colored, inspired box.

It features a single, deep layer with a removable divider piece, and it has a rubbery piece on the lid that can be removed to release steam and heat from the box. It has two clasps on the top and bottom of the lid to securely hold it shut.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

I haven’t gotten use for this just yet (only because it never really occurred to me until now while I’m looking at it), but I’ve used the other ones I’ve gotten previously so I am very excited for that chance. This will go well with the upcoming season too, so maybe I’ll put something together and go to the backyard and have a picnic.

However, I’m rating it highly because it has a cute design, the quality is there, you get room for a decent amount of food, removable pieces... it seems really well thought out, and now I have enough containers to make a full meal!

Sanrio Ice Pack & Animal Food Picks

Everything kind of has a unified theme here, have you noticed that? Next we have an adorable, rectangular-shaped Sanrio ice pack. I got Cinnamoroll, and in the booklet I can see Pompompurin, so I assume there was a couple different ones?

Anyway, these are mainly for things like packing away with meals or drinks to keep them cool. But I think you could also use this when you’re not feeling well and need to cool down a little, I mean look at it, doesn’t that just look forehead perfect? 

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

So with any ice packs... they’re pretty much all the same. So quality wise it’s perfect. I like how it’s the opposite of my previous ice pack I got (it was round), so I can choose them depending on the need or item now :3

------

Our last item is an adorable set of animal picks! We get 2 panda, a froggy, and a lion, bunny, and elephant. According to the image in the booklet the coloring of the lion and elephant can differ. As you can see, the elephant also has longer “legs“ than the others do.

Picks are those cute little plastic decorations people put into bento, usually when its based on a series, or for children lunches, or just to add a touch of color. They come in many styles and shapes and are pretty popular, a lot of people use them.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Again, this is an item I haven’t gotten a chance to use, but I definitely will. They’re so cute and colorful, I’m very excited for an opportunity to make use of them and I think they go great with this theme we have.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content - 5 out of 5. I know I’m going to use everything, and I don’t feel like anything will go to waste. The items are nicely sized and detailed, the quality is there, I really like them! I did have a minor complaint though, and that’s that I felt like this box didn’t have much variety. Like the only thing different between subscribers would be the Sanrio icepack and maybe the coloring of a few picks?

Theme: 5 out of 5. Okay so initially I wasn’t sure what to rank this, due to not really seeing a mythical sense to the items. I feel like the Mori theme is also a little loose, but as Mori translates to forest, and you see natural things like animals in the forest. I also think the Suteki Crate did a good job, so overall yeah, I see the theme.

Total Rank: 10 out of 10 Cuties. For spring or summer or fall or even winter, these items are great! They’re all practical and very cute, I feel like even if you think you might not use an item, you probably will at some point. As much as I love stuffed animals sometimes I think they go to waste because you don’t do anything with them, so I like that I didn’t feel that way with this box.

♥ Cutie Scale ♥

1. Sumikko Gurashi Purse - Next to the cup this will get used the most, I just know it. The quality and material is amazing, it sits on my shoulder comfortably, and it fits everything I could need while I’m out (give or take). Just looking at it makes me feel happy~

2. Rilakkuma Cup - It’s so pretty, I love looking at it~ I can’t wait to put all sorts of different drinks in it to see how they look. It screams spring too, and it gives me a cooling feeling when I look at it.

3. Sanrio Icepack - It’s a bit plain in comparison to the other items, but I love how clear and pretty it looks :3 I’ll probably use this a lot, since I tend to get sick and get headaches a lot.

4. Totoro Bento - It’s a bit bland in colors to me personally, but I love the drawing on the lid x3 it’s so precious. My favorites in Totoro was always the little white and blue one.  

5. Animal Picks - As cute as they are, I know they won’t get as much use as the other items. As much as I love the panda though, I kind of wish they went for a more realistic forest, like... the frog and bunny are okay, but maybe they could have added squirrels, a bird, deer?

#cutie reviews #dokidokicrate #rilakkuma #rilakkuma utensils #cinnamoroll #sanrio #sumikkogurashi

[joonie-beanie]

Daydream

Summary: Your literature professor has a bit of a...gift. A gift that let’s him see other peoples thoughts when he wants to. And despite the fact that he warns his class openly about this gift, one day you forget, and find yourself in a bit of pickle when Kim Seokjin reads your mind, and finds you imagining some not so school appropriate scenarios...involving him.

Pairing: Jin x Reader

Genre: Smut

Words: 8,240

A/N: I’ve been in such a writing slump the last few months I’m so sorry lol. I feel bad bc I rarely put out fics nowadays, but after starting this over a week ago I finally managed to get it done!! I wanted to write a fic with Jin because I haven’t written one staring him in like...a year.

Anyway!! I hope you all enjoy!

You've known for a while that your literature professor is...gifted. It’s not entirely rare, but it's not common either. Over time humans have developed special traits. Only 1 in 100 people are born with some type of unique ability, and thus far not many have attempted to use their ability for evil, so the "gifted" individuals blend in with the rest normally. In fact, most gifted individuals tend to keep their abilities to themselves, wanting to fit in, scared of being ostracized. Of course, this trend doesn't apply to everyone--and certainly not your literature professor, Kim Seokjin.

A 4.8 rating online, he’s known for interesting lectures and his daring good looks. He's new to the university, but despite only being here 2 years he's got over 30 positive reviews. So, you sign up for his class. You never care about how attractive your professors are--you’re here to learn, and that's that. At least...that’s what you tell yourself until you see Kim Seokjin on the first day of class.

He's young--baffling young compared to the middle age professors you always seem to have. His shoulders are broad--his black dress shirt stretched perfectly across his chest, the top button struggling to hang on. A pair of round rim glasses rest on his nose, slipping farther down when he smiles, and his plush pink lips are enviable.

The lecture hall hushes as he sets his bag down at the desk near the projector. As he bends down to retrieve his materials his dark brown hair dangles into his eyes, and he cutely huffs it out of the way.

Your heart palpitates, and you lean sideways in your seat, peeking around the head of the girl in front of you. With the new angle, you catch an eyeful of your professor’s ass, hugged by his dark slacks.

Fuck...you swallow. He really is attractive. Too attractive.

This is dangerous. In fact, it's more dangerous than you know.

Kim Seokjin coughs, turning to address the class, and any chatter that had started immediately dies. He smiles again.

"Hello all. I'm Professor Kim Seokjin, and I'll be teaching this class for the next 4 months. I'm sure we'll all get along just fine. However...I suppose I should address the elephant in the room before we get into the core syllabus material."

You frown. What elephant in the room...?

Seokjin sighs. "Yes, I'm a mind reader."

Oh. Your eyes go wide, cheeks flushing as you recall the unadulterated thirsting you'd done just a minute before. Fuck.

"No, I'm not reading your minds right now. I only read minds when I choose to, and trust me—" he smiles wider, eyes creasing pleasantly, but you can sense that this smile holds some sort of...threat.

"—if I choose to read your mind, you shouldn't feel honored. It means that I've caught you slacking off in my class. Daydreaming, napping, texting--I’m not scared to let your peers know what you've got on your mind."

His head tilts to the side, a quiet laugh slipping past his lips, and a few of the people around you visibly pale. You, yourself, find a lump caught in your throat, anxiety rising to the surface. At 21 years of age you know damn well that you have a terrible habit of daydreaming during lectures.

"Please keep that in mind as this class progresses, alright? I don't intend this to be a threat, but more as a gentle motivator for you to pay attention in my class. I like to think my lectures are interesting, and you're paying all this money for a degree, aren't you?"

A wave of quiet laughter sweeps across the room, the mood lightening, and Seokjin nods, pleased.

He starts up the sizable screen at the head of the room, pulls up the syllabus, and begins reviewing it with you all.

You follow along dutifully, sneaking prolonged glances at his handsome face and keep his warning tucked away at the back of your mind.

Pay attention--you have to.

A month in, you realize doing such a thing is easier said than done. And the other students must feel the same.

Despite your professor calling out someone in nearly every one of his classes, you find your concentration slipping.

In the fourth class, he calls out the girl in the corner, swiping through her Instagram feed beneath her table, thinking that he won't notice she's looking at her lap and not at the PowerPoint on screen. He tells the whole class how she's thinking about her date with a frat boy on Sunday--about how she's debating what to wear--and informs her that if she's so concerned about her outfit, she should just skip his class and stay home to figure it out.

Two classes later, he calls out a guy in the back row who hasn't looked up from his laptop the entire class, internet shopping for a new pair of kicks. Expensive ones. And tells him that if he knows he can't afford them, maybe he'd be better off paying attention in a class he's paying for, so he can earn a higher salary in the future.

Each time Kim Seokjin calls out a student, you find yourself both terrified and amazed. If that happens to you, you're not sure what you'll do--drop out of school maybe, but...at the same time you get a strange thrill from watching him use his ability. His eyes flash, emotions washing across his face as the thoughts of his target flood into his mind. You can see when he does it, his eyebrows furrowing slightly, his lips pressing together. The emotions that show on his face vary on his level of annoyance, and his surprise towards what his target is thinking. And it’s...somewhat mesmerizing.

You can't help yourself from thinking about him. Whenever you walk into his class and see him standing at the front of the room, as kind and as handsome as ever, your mind wanders. At first you wonder if he's married, or at least is dating someone. He's only 25, barely older than any of you, and, hell, probably younger than some, but with a face like that it'd be impossible for him not to be seeing someone, right?

Like this, your daydreaming about Kim Seokjin starts out innocent enough. You wonder about his past, and his hobbies. What was he like in college? Was he top of his class? Did he get the girls?

Luckily, you're pretty self-aware, and manage to pull out of your daydreaming when you begin to fall too far from reality. When you daydream, your professor’s voice simply becoming background noise, your hand moves on autopilot. If it weren't for your ability to multitask in class--brought on by over 10 years of schooling--you're sure you would’ve been caught by now. After all, since the first day you've always been right in his line of sight--middle section, second row, seat on the far left. You're not directly in front of him, the lecture podium a good 20 feet over, but you’re not protected by rows of other students either.

You're vulnerable, yet proficient at faking your attention.

At least...until the second month.

At the start of the second month of Kim Seokjin’s class, you step into the lecture hall in a…mood.

You're not quite sure how you feel...a little giddy, a little tired, and a little...needy.

It's been a while.

Sliding into your seat, you pull out your notebook and pencil, mind already wandering and thighs already rubbing together.

You imagine a pair hands on you--slipping under your shirt, tugging off your bra. You imagine palms cupping your breasts possessively, soft lips enclosing around your nipple. And when your professor walks into the room, on time as always, you see his handsome face and stunning body and you imagine that the person who's making you bend and moan in your fantasy is...him.

Kim Seokjin, your 25 year old literature professor, who reads minds.

On this day, you forget about that last part.

Seokjin starts his lecture, but you don’t hear a single word he says. You watch him as he moves around, noting the way his shirt hugs his form—tight around his chest but loose at the bottom. When he poses a hand on his waist, you note how thin he is despite his broad shoulders, and you imagine sitting on his lap, popping open the buttons on his shirt one by one, until it’s sliding off his shoulders. You fantasize about running your hands down his smooth chest, leaving light nail marks in your wake.

You assume he’d shiver, head lolling back, throat bobbing as you sneak your hand beneath the waistband of his slacks, palming at his thick erection. You’d keep him wanting more, teasing his cock through the thin fabric, testing how far you can push him before he snaps. And when he does, you bet he’d turn the tables, pining you down and teasing you right back.

You’re not sure what kinks he has, but you can picture him being light bondage, denial, overstim, spanking…

“Hey,” someone whispers, and there’s a tap on your thigh. Blinking, you look to the male sitting next to you, and his face looks a little scared. He angles his head to the side, and you look past him, color blooming on you face and chest as you notice that Kim Seokjin, the man you’d just been fantasizing about, is staring right at you.

Your jaw goes slack, heart jolting against your ribs as embarrassment and horror floods into you.

You can tell by the shocked look on his face and redness of his ears that…he’d just read your mind. While you’d been thinking about…him and…kinks…and…

Oh my god.

The class is deathly silent now, looking to your professor expectantly. It’s clear to everyone that he’s read your mind—he only pauses this long in his lecturing when he’s preparing to call someone out. However…after a few seconds, Seokjin coughs, and retreats to his desk.

“Please pay attention to the lecture.”

You nod your head—baffled, relieved, and unimaginably embarrassed—and then look down at your blank notes. A murmur passes through the lecture hall, and you can only guess that your classmates are now wondering what the hell you’d been thinking in order for your professor to have refrained from outing you.

Clearly this a first.

You’re the first person he’s left speechless…because you’d been fantasizing about having sex with your professor.

Keeping your head down, you find yourself unable to look up the remainder of class. And when the hour is over, students shuffling out of the lecture hall, you quickly shove your notes into your bag and make for the door. However, when you stand—daring to look up for the first time in 40 minutes—you find Kim Seokjin standing right before you, 2 rows down. His eyes meet yours, and you freeze, worry and embarrassment inhibiting your movements.

“I…,” is all you manage to say, cheeks heating up, before your lips press shut. Seokjin narrows his eyes at you, curious, and when he breaks eye contact, his gaze methodically raking down your body, heat pulses in your gut. His actions, and the reaction that had occurred because of them, makes you both terrified and excited at the same time.

Yet, right now, persisting embarrassment wins over, and after meeting his stare one last time, you turn and hurry out room.

You’re pretty sure you’ll never be able to attend his class again.

The inability to skip a class wins over, and at the beginning of the next week you find yourself entering the lecture hall once more. You pause at the top of the steps, debating stealing a seat in the back. Maybe if you become a hermit in the back of the class he’ll overlook you. Or—you look over and find a few classmates openly staring at you, watching to see what you’ll do—maybe if you sit in the back everyone else will get suspicious of what you were thinking about in class last week…again.

Sighing, you readjust your backpack on your shoulder and descend the steps, returning to your regular seat.

All you need to do is pay attention and not slack off. Surely Seokjin is just as embarrassed as you are, and you doubt he’ll try and read your mind again...you probably scared him off the first time.

Taking a deep breath, you pull out your notebook and a pencil. Other students continue filing into the room, and just as class is about to start, you hear the door at the back of the room click shut, which only happens when the professor arrives.

Gulping, you attempt to calm yourself down. There’s no reason for you to be so worried about this. He’d already read your mind! It was done and over with, so why can’t you just move on from it?

A memory flashes into your head—that of Seokjin looking you over after his class had ended last session—and you bite your lip.

Oh, that’s right. That’s why. Because you still don’t know what that one-over had been about. There was no way he hadn’t been disgusted by his student fantasizing about him…right?

“Alright class,” his voice rings out, and your attention snaps to him. He’s stood near the projector screen, smiling at you all. “Today, rather than doing a lecture, I’m going to have you fill out an evaluation pertaining to the course. You’ll write down your favorite pieces of literature, and elaborate on elements of them that you really enjoy. The English department is conducting this evaluation in order to get a better understanding of what type of books students enjoy reading. I’ll give you all 30 minutes to do the evaluation. After that, we’ll use the remaining half hour of class to discuss what you wrote down, sound good?”

The classes mumbles in understanding, and Seokjin picks up a stack of papers, moving to pass them out. He hands them to the person sitting at the end of every aisle, and since you sit on the far end, you aren’t forced to face him.

Relieved, you turn your attention to the evaluation, and begin filling it out. For you, who has always loved reading in your spare time, the questions are easy to answer. You know your favorite authors, and what elements you like to find in an author’s writing. Because of this, you fill out the paper in 10 minutes flat, left wondering why Seokjin had allotted a whole 30 minutes, until you look around and find that a lot of kids are struggling to write anything down at all.

Smiling to yourself, a bit amused, you set your pencil down and then recline in your seat. You debate pulling out your phone, but you know Jin has a no phone in class policy. But…what are you supposed to do for the next 20 minutes then?

Sighing, you fold your arms on the table and then lean down, using them as a pillow. Not wanting him to think you’re taking a nap, you make sure to peel your eyes open, gaze moving up to your professor.

At the moment, he’s paying you no mind, eyes glued onto the screen of his laptop. He’s likely using this time to catch up on email, or do some research—his pink lips pouted as he concentrates.

He really is so attractive…

Scanning downward, you watch his hands as he types, his ring finger free of any wedding band. You wonder if his job keeps him too busy to date, a bit ashamed as your find yourself feeling glad that he’s not clearly taken.

The image of Jin looking you up and down flashes through your mind once more, and you find yourself sighing, head snuggling deeper into your arms, yet your gaze doesn’t leave him.

Maybe he…maybe your professor hadn’t disliked your daydreaming, you begin to think, a small amount of foolish desire rising to the surface. Clearly he’d been embarrassed when he’d invaded your thoughts but…is that how a person who is feeling disgusted acts?

No, you realize. You don’t think he was turned off by it at all.

Uncalled upon, arousal starts to pool in your gut once more. The doubt and fear you’d felt when entering the lecture hall earlier melts away, and while you know it’s dangerous—that you might be crossing a line that you won’t be able to step back across—you allow your thoughts to wander once more.

You pick up where you left off—your hand palming his erection through his underwear. He groans, his grip on your thighs tightening—emphasizing his need for contact. Smiling, you lean up and kiss his jaw before sinking down onto your knees in front of him. His cock is clearly outlined through his briefs, and you ghost a hot breath over him, causing his fingers to tangle in your hair. His grip isn’t tight enough to be painful, but it’s enough to warn you that he won’t be able to take much more teasing. So, you finally furl your fingers around the band of his underwear and allow his cock to spring free. Above you, Jin breathes a sigh of relief which makes you laugh.

Tongue flicking out, you collect the small amount of precum that has escaped his length, being sure to make eye contact as you do. Jin’s grip on your hair remains, his eyes mesmerized as he watches you work at his dick, tongue flattening against his length.

You kiss and lick your way down him, but quickly remember he’s no longer in any mood to wait when he tugs at your roots. So, you give him what he wants—your hot, wet mouth swallowing his cock. You work at him slowly, hallowing your cheeks and taking him in deeper and deeper.

By the time his head skims the back of your throat a deep growl is resounding in Jin’s chest, his hips bucking slightly. The action causes you to choke, tears forming in your eyes—

“Y/N,” your name is called in a somewhat forced tone, and you snap out of your second perverted daydream to date, looking up to find your professor staring directly at you. His face is flushed, Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat—and yet, you refuse to look away. Unlike a few days ago—when you’d been embarrassed at your actions and having been caught—this time you act boldly. You’d done this with the intent of being caught again, had you not? In order to see if you were right—if he actually is enjoying your daydreaming just as much as you are…

“Pass your paper down,” he continues, speaking slowly, as if trying to make sure he’s saying the appropriate words. Blinking, you look over to find that the male who had tapped you in the previous class to warn you is absent, hence why Seokjin had been forced to call you out himself.

Smiling apologetically, you pass your paper down the long table, the classmate who takes it from you flashing you a strange look that you understand is probably well deserved.

With the papers now being gathered, Seokjin moves to the end of the row to collect them—his body tense, and you notice right away. Eyes trailing on him casually, you watch as he moves back to his desk, straightens out the papers, and then after a few seconds releases a long sigh. The class waits for him to bring up the next item on the agenda—to start the discussion—but he ends up doing no such thing. Instead, he shifts a little awkwardly and then glances around the room, managing a grim smile.

“Sorry everyone, I’m suddenly not feeling too well…if anyone has interest in sharing what they wrote down we can do that during the next class. For now, everyone go and enjoy the rest of your afternoon. Have a nice weekend.”

Clearly a little surprised at his sudden change in health, the class is slow to get up. However, they listen nonetheless, and after a few seconds begin packing up their things and walking out of the lecture hall—glad to be done unexpectedly early.

Following along with the rest, you casually reach over and place your things into your bag before standing and slinging it over your shoulder. However, as you turn to leave you look to your professor once more—a smirk unintentionally spreading across your face when you find him staring at you. Unlike the first time, Seokjin’s eyes hold less curiosity and more…annoyance and…hunger?

Oh, you think, a sudden realization arising in your as you flick your eyes down to his slacks, the bulge pushing at his zipper apparent from where you’re standing.

You had definitely affected him this time.

Fuck.

Suddenly feeling warm yourself, your tongue darts out to lick your lips—unintentional once again, but you can’t betray what your body is feeling, it seems.

Switching you gaze to his face, you find that his stare hasn’t wavered one bit, and you make sure to meet his eyes—confident. You want him to know that you did this on purpose—your daydream this time was no mistake—and when his jaw clenches, throat bobbing once more, you’re positive he’s gotten the message.

With that, you turn to leave.

Professor Kim Seokjin watches your ass shamelessly the entire way out.

“I’m sorry…what did you just say?!” Namjoon sputters, his drink spilling from his mouth onto the table of the semi-busy pub. Jin sighs, massaging his temples as Yoongi elbows Namjoon in the side, scolding him for the over the top reaction.

“You heard what I said…don’t make me repeat it, please,” Jin mumbles, ears pink as he recalls the images that had flooded his mind a few hours before—the images that you had been thinking about in the middle of his class, AGAIN.

God, he rubs a hand against his face—he had been easily able to tell that you’d been daydreaming today in class as well, and had allowed his curiosity to get the best of him after the last time, but…he had never imagined you’d be thinking about…that…a second time!! And while staring right at him nonetheless!

However…he supposes it makes sense, considering the way you’d calmly reacted this time around. This time it had been…intentional, he realizes—and the thought alone makes his dick ache.

“I shouldn’t be feeling this about a student,” he grumbles to himself, forehead knocking against the table as he collapses into his arms, and with a sigh Yoongi reaches over and pats his back.

“So,” Namjoon starts, sipping on his drink. “Let me get this straight…a student in your Lit class was daydreaming a few days ago and you caught her daydreaming about…you and…well, you know,” he sweats when Jin sends a glare his way.

“And now today you saw her daydreaming again so you read her mind and…boom, same thing.”

“But this time she did it on purpose, and I know she did,” Jin nearly whines, causing Yoongi to roll his eyes. “The first time she was so cute and embarrassed and now…now she’s smirking and looking at my dick like she knows what she’s done and is proud of it.”

“Well, she probably is,” Namjoon mumbles, and Seokjin kicks him under the booth. Yoongi sighs, leaning back in his seat.

“Let me ask you though—what’s so wrong about that?”

Jin blinks. “…what?”

“I mean, she’s—,” he pulls Seokjin’s phone toward him, your student information from the universities database on screen, “—a 21 year old junior. She’s only 4 years younger than you—nearly the same age and Jimin and Tae—so what’s so wrong about you feeling attraction towards her? If you were a 40 year old professor trying to dick down a 21 year old student I’d get it, but you literally just graduated college 3 years ago, scored a teaching job after 6 months, and are now almost 2 years into a teaching career. You’re young, handsome, and still totally free to date whoever the hell you want.”

“But—”

“I agree with Yoongi hyung,” Namjoon cuts in, nodding wisely. “There’s no reason for you to hold back just because of this student-teacher thing—”

“Uh, YEAH, THERE IS,” Jin responds, finally getting a word in. “You two think I can just casually start fucking one of my students? So many things could happen! I could be fired, or worse—”

“Continue your yearlong dry streak,” Yoongi snorts, and then gets serious. “Listen hyung—is she dumb?”

“…aside from the daydreaming incident, no—she’s very intelligent—one of the best in the class.”

“And do you think she’d be someone to do this kind of shit just to trick you into losing your job?”

Jin sighs heavily. “No…but how do I know that for sure? How do I even go about talking to her concerning this?”

“You go ‘hey, can we talk? It’s about what happened in class the other day—here are my office hours’ and then if she accepts, you meet in a safe environment, talk it out, and then decided if you’re going to do anything with her or not. It’s not rocket science, hyung,” Namjoon says, flashing Seokjin a sympathetic smile. “It’s just like trying to start any other relationship, but with…a little more caution. Communication is key.”

“Guys…”

“You like her, think she’s smart, and she wants to suck your dick—just take a fucking leap of faith and talk to her,” Yoongi speaks, no room for argument.

Once again, Jin groans. He knows that his friends are right—and you’ve honestly caught his eye since long before this—during the first week of class if he’s being honest with himself. He’d spotted you and internally commented about how attractive you are in addition to your book-smarts, and had favored you ever since, but…before this week he’d never thought about you sexually. But…knowing that you see him that way and want to engage in such lewd acts with him? Well, it’s not exactly a turn-off.

“I hate when you’re right,” he ends up saying after a few minutes, and that night, before you go to bed, you find an email in your inbox addressed from none other than your literature professor, Kim Seokjin.

The email, in short, simply asks if you’d like to meet up and talk with him during his office hours, which, coincidentally, include a 3 hour timeslot the following day. A Friday, in which you don’t have work, and many students aren’t on campus.

Least to say, you respond first thing in the morning saying you’ll see him this afternoon, and proceed to freak out in the time leading up to your meeting.

Hours later, you step into the elevator, the doors sliding shut and carrying you up to the 5th floor where the English Department offices are. Your heart is pounding nervously in your chest, fingers fidgeting at your sides. You’d left your backpack at home, bringing nothing more than yourself, your phone, and a small purse.

You honestly have no idea what to expect—and you’re understandably anxious. Sure, you assume that you’ll be talking about what had been happening over the past week, but! Even knowing that doesn’t put you at ease. After all, you don’t know if he plans to “talk to you” by scolding you for your actions, or by...touching on topics a little less school appropriate.

A bell sound chiming, you glance up as the double doors slide open. When you step out into the hall, you immediately spot the offices you’re looking for to the left, and nervously venture inside. A secretary greets you pleasantly, asking what you need, and you tell her you’re looking for Professor Kim Seokjin. Before she can even finish pointing you towards which office is his, he appears.

Door clicking open, he steps out cradling a mug in one hand, and a few crumpled papers in the other. Since his eyes are downcast, immersed in whatever it is he’s reading, he fails to notice you standing there. At least—until the secretary coughs purposefully.

Pausing, Seokjin blinks and looks up, coffee mug nearly falling from his grasp when he sees you standing there.

“Y/N?!”

“Y-Yes?” Fuck you can already feel yourself blushing! Why the hell does he look so good today too?! “You did tell me to come to your office today, professor…”

“I…yes, I know. I just…sorry, gosh, hold on.” Putting himself together, he quickly walks into the small kitchenette near the secretary’s desk, sets his empty mug down, and then reemerges after taking a deep breath.

“You just caught me off guard, and I was embarrassed since I wasn’t paying attention when I walked out. Please, come in,” he says, smiling friendlily, and you nod, managing a smile back. When you enter the office, taking a seat in the chair in front of his desk, Jin hangs back to close the door. The sound of it clicking shut has your anxiety rising higher, but you know that for what you’re here to talk about…that’s something the secretary doesn’t need to eavesdrop on.

“So,” he starts, stepping behind his desk and easing into his chair. Still smiling, he leans forward, resting his chin in his palm. “Hello, Y/N.”

“Hi professor,” you respond after taking a deep breath, flashing a pleasant smile back at him. Knowing that you should just keep the conversation calm and honest as possible, you continue, “I’m sorry if the daydreams you caught me having over the last few classes made you uncomfortable…”

“Well,” he laughs, the sound charming, and your eyes trail on him as he leans back in his chair. “I have to admit at first I was rather…shocked. That’s never happened before, so I wasn’t quite sure how to act—”

“Which is totally understandable!!” you cut in, and Jin smiles at you again.

“But…the second time,” he flits his eyes up to meet yours, eyebrow cocking. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

Annnnd—your blush is back. Jin grins, but shifts his hands to hide it. Cute, he thinks.

“The second time…was on purpose,” you admit, “but…you’re the one who spurred it on, I hope you know that.”

“Me?” he questions, a little surprised, and you smirk, rolling your eyes.

“Typically a professor mortified by his students thoughts doesn’t give her a casual one-over as class is ending, professor,” you tell him, and he has enough humility to blush at your words. “Especially after catching said student daydreaming about sucking his dick.”

“I--,” clearly flustered, Jin pauses to cough into his fist. “Well…my bad.”

He deflates like a kid embarrassed by his actions, and you are suddenly reminded of the fact that he, too, is only in his 20’s. He may be your professor but he’s still basically a kid fresh out of college.

“I mean…you don’t have to be sorry about it,” you say, treading cautiously. Curious about what you’re hinting at, Jin looks up at you, watching as your eyes shift nervously between him and the top of the desk.

“I’m just kind of…wondering what you meant by that stare. I wouldn’t think a professor would…be interested in his student in any way, but…I kind of want to know what you’re thinking,” you admit, motioning your hand around the room. “Like this—emailing me to invite me here. You wanted to talk with me, but…what about?”

“Well…,” Jin responds after a few seconds, seemingly a little hesitant. “I actually…god, lemme just say my asshole friends suggested I do this, so if this all goes terribly wrong you can blame them. And whatever we talk about today…can you promise me that it won’t leave this room?”

The stress and worry is apparent on his face, and you get the feeling that whatever he’s about to say could be devastating to his career, so you nod.

“Of course. Professor, no matter what happens today I respect you, and I promise I’ll say nothing that would damage your reputation here. Believe it or not I actually like your class.”

Your little joke causes him to smile, and immediately the mood lightens a tad, which you’re glad for.

“Ok, well…I actually called you here today to see if there was a…shot of something actually happening,” he admits, voice quiet. He rubs the back of his neck, glancing away and missing your look of shock.

“I don’t know if you were just fucking with me or if you’re actually interested in some kind of relationship with me, but…if you want to try it out then I’d be willing. And I don’t want you to think that I’d just be using your for sex!!” he clarifies, waving his hands. His cheeks are flushed bright red. “I swear I’m not that much of a dick! I just…ugh god sorry maybe I shouldn’t have done this.”

He groans into his hands, and you watch as he begins to cave in on himself. Your heart thumps against your ribs, too many emotions battling for control, but the first emotion to win over luckily ends up being sympathy.

“Seokjin,” you say, scooting forward in your chair. You reach your hands out, cupping his hands between yours, and, surprised, he allows you to pull his hands away from his face.

“Listen…I never thought you to be that type of person anyway. I know I only see you twice a week during class, but those few hours still allow me to get a glimpse at your personality,” you tell him, smiling, and Seokjin stares at you with wide eyes, a bit dazed.

He’s pretty sure you’re actually an angel.

“I really think you’re honestly a nice guy, and I have to admit, I’ve wondered how you manage being a professor when you’re still so young. There’s such a small age difference between us and yet you’re held as such high standards compared to me. I figured it’d never work because of that but…,” you look up at him, and Jin feels his heart flutter when he notices the pink rising on your cheeks. “If you want to do something with me…whatever that may be…I promise it’ll stay between us.”

“Whatever that may be,” Jin repeats, smirking. He shifts his hands, moving so your palm is resting in his, and then brings the top of your hand up to his lips. The kisses has you flushing an even deeper shade of red, but you don’t pull your hand away. Instead, you glance up at him through your lashes, teasing yet shy.

“I mean…you never actually clarified what it is you want from me, professor.”

“Well,” he says, and presses to his feet. He keeps his grip on your hand, gently tugging you up as well, and you find yourself coasting around the side of his desk to meet him. Nearly toe to toe, your gazes meet, and you feel a wave of anticipation course through you.

“I was hoping for a coffee date at some point, since that’s what all you youngin’s seem to be doing nowadays,” he says, grinning when you giggle. “Unless of course you want to skip cute dates and get right to what you were day dreaming about in class.”

His insinuation has a part of you wanting to crumple in embarrassment, but instead you persevere, deciding not to back off. Inching even closer, you cock an eyebrow at him suggestively.

“Why not both?”

“Both?” he echoes, and his hands slide against your waist, the previously casual atmosphere of the room turning heated. His grip is light, but sturdy, and you lean into him, your arms moving to drape around his neck.

“If you want,” you speak, half-lidded eyes unwavering, and you notice Jin’s gaze flit down to your lips.

“You did leave me with blue balls twice now,” he whispers, voice deep. You laugh, and press upward, Jin meeting you halfway.

“Let me make it up to you then.”

Your lips meet in a kiss that at first starts off slow and tentative. This is untouched territory, after all—you both know it’s a risk to be doing this.

And yet, the tension between you in nearly palpable—the need for something more—for the daydreams you’d both seen to meet their fruition—and it’s not long before the kisses turn heated. Caution thrown to the wind, your bodies melt together. Your hand cards through the hair on Jin’s nape, pulling him deeper, and he releases a small groan, his hands sliding down your waist to your hips. You feel his fingers dig into the meat of your ass, and you can’t help but moan, the sound becoming muddled when Jin slots his lips against yours, his tongue sneaking into your mouth.

He proceeds to kiss you silly, moving you so you’re pressed up against the edge of his desk. His thigh nestles between your legs, brushing up against your arousal, and you gasp—your hands moving to his shoulders and pushing him back. A string of saliva connects you, Jin’s eyes full of lust as he looks you over, but you still see worry paint his features.

“Sorry,” he says, and you immediately shake your head, pulling him in for another kiss—this one soft, and short.

“No—it’s fine. I just…,” you laugh, still a little breathless. “I needed air. I mean, I’m sure you want to steal my breath away, Seokjin, but damn.”

Your little joke causes him to chuckle, and his lifts his hands, cupping your face.

“Sorry about that. Let me try again.”

This time when he meets you his kisses are slow and languid—working your mouth open and rendering you helpless against him. The pleasure that had been seeping into every inch of your body becomes that much more apparent, and you grind upward, mentally pausing when you feel his hard-on heavy against your thigh.

Shit, you think, and drop your hands down to his waist, finger searching for the band of his fitted slacks. When you find the button, you waste no time popping it open, the zipper following soon after, and before Jin even realizes what you’re doing your palm is rubbing against his length through his briefs.

“Fuck,” he hisses, breaking the kiss. His head rolls back, lips parting as he breathes shakily, and you grin.

“Seems like you’re a little excited, professor.”

“Y/N, I swear to god…,” he says, a growl resonating throughout his chest. Rolling your eyes, deciding to take a risk, you move your hand beneath his briefs and curl your fingers around his cock. His girth surprises you, and you can’t help but look down, tongue darting out to wet your lips as you finally get an eyeful of his member.

“Oh my god,” you moan, experimentally rubbing your hand along him. Precum leaks out of his slit, and you smear it against your palm, coating his length with his own arousal.

“Do you like this, professor?” you ask, glancing up at him. A vein in Jin’s neck has popped out, his jaw clenched as he attempts to control himself. It’s almost a embarrassing how riled up you’ve managed to get him, but he doesn’t have time to consider his shame at the moment—not when your hand is still gripping his cock and tugging him closer and closer to his impending orgasm.

“Actually, I’d like it better if you made your daydream a reality,” he manages to say after a few seconds, and you pause, an image of you on your knees in front of him flitting through your mind.

Shit, you can do that.

Easy to comply, you nudge him back, and Jin falls into his chair. He watches you, surprised, as you sink down onto your knees, scooting forward to grip his member in your hand once more. When your pink tongue licks at him, catching another drop of precum, his fingers find their way into your hair—tugging at the roots on the back of your skull.

You debate teasing him about his apparent need for you to give him more, but decided to simply grant him what he wants instead. Dipping down, you lick a long, heavy strip against the underside of his cock before parting your lips and taking him in. Immediately his grip on your hair tightens, and you glance up at him though your lashes, sinking your mouth down onto his length.

At first, you move slowly—hollowing your cheeks and sucking him in. He groans, and your eyes never leave him. The expression on his face is one of absolute bliss, and it stirs you on—your mouth beginning to work over him quicker.  

You take him in as deep as you can, gagging when the head of his cock hits the back of your throat. It’s been a while since you’ve done this, so your control isn’t as good as it used to be, but even still you don’t let up—not even when Jin tugs at your hair, trying to pull you back.

“Y/N,” he warns breathily, looking down at you. His cock jumps when he finally notices that you’ve been watching him, eyelashes fluttering prettily and tears wetting the corner of your eyes, his cock stuffed between your rosy, spit-slicked lips.

“Fuck,” he hisses, and without warning his hips buck. You immediately gag, caught off guard by the action, and the first stripe of his seed coats your tongue as you pull off. The next spurt lands on your cheek, and you blink in surprise, your lips instinctively parting as you catch the rest of his cum on your tongue.

“Princess,” Jin breathes when he finally sees you—ropes of his cum staining your face and your mouth hanging open to show him how good you’d been. Heat flourishes in your gut at the pet name, and you blink at him innocently as his hand untangles from your hair, moving to caress your cheek.

“Swallow,” he says quietly, and despite the fact that his command has heat flooding into your cheeks, you listen. Closing your lips you swallow, and when you open your mouth to show him proof he groans again.

“God you’re so precious,” he says, and gently helps you back to your feet, kissing you as soon as you’re situated.

“Jin,” you whine around his tongue, and he pulls back, cocking a knowing eyebrow at you.

“Is someone needy?”

His words have you pouting, cheeks still pink with residual embarrassment, and your professor rolls his eyes, bending down to kiss you sweetly.

“I was trying to hold off so I could fuck you properly, but you refused to pull off remember? Either way, I think you deserve something too since you were so good for me.”

As he speaks, he grabs your waist, hefting you up onto the surface of his desk. His fingers fiddle with the button on your jeans, and he glances at you to make sure it’s ok—proceeding on his merry way when you nod, bottom lip caught between your teeth.

Popping your jeans open, Jin wastes no time in wrestling you out of them, your jacket following soon after—leaving you in just your panties, tank-top, and bra.

“How come you didn’t show this much skin?” you grumble as he slips the straps of your bra and tank down your shoulders, his hands moving to cup your pert mounds through the 2 layers of fabric.

“It’s unfair, isn’t it?” he smiles and bends down, pressing a few light kisses to the top of your breasts as he slowly pulls away the fabric hiding them from view.

“Next time I’ll show some skin too, I promise.”

You smile at his words, leaning back onto your hands as Jin stakes claim on your chest, his tongue and teeth teasing your left breast and his fingers toying with the right. Already aroused—dying to be touched where you really need it—it doesn’t take long for whines to begin slipping from your lips.

Your sounds cause Jin to laugh.

“Alright, alright~,” he says, knowing it’d be smart to not keep you waiting any longer. Retracting himself from your chest, he smooths his hands down your torso until his palms are resting on your inner thighs, gently nudging them apart.

You know without him telling you that you’re already soaked—though your thoughts are only confirmed when he pushes your panties out of the way, two of his fingers rubbing between your folds and catching your arousal.

“Fuck,” he groans, and you gasp when he slides said fingers between your walls. “You’re so wet, Y/N. Did you really like sucking my dick that much?”

“S-Shut up,” you stutter, arms nearly buckling when he continues fucking his fingers into you, adding a third when the second fits too easily. This time the stretch has you moaning, and Jin picks up his face, watching as you fall back onto your forearms—the pleasure overwhelming yet still not enough.

“Jin please,” you beg him, almost ready to cry. You need so badly to cum. You’d needed to ever since you’d gotten on your knees for him earlier, but had been too immersed in making him feel good to think about yourself.

“Shhh, princess, I hear you,” he says and leans up to kiss you, muffling your whines. At the same time, he slips his other hand between your bodies and begins working his fingers against your clit—a shuttering gasp escaping your lips as your pleasure instantly spikes.

“Fuck, Jin Jin Jin--!” you begin chanting in a quiet whisper, spine arching upward as he moves his fingers faster, curling them to hit your g-spot. His perfect aim in combination with the fingers on your clit quickly has you coming undone.

Seokjin knows as well that it won’t be much longer, so he kisses you again, swallowing your moans as you cum around his fingers—your walls gripping onto him for dear life. However, like the perfect gentleman he is, he fucks you through it—smiling down at you when you collapse back against his desk, chest heaving and skin prettily flushed.

“Oh my god,” you breathe, eyes shyly meeting his roaming stare, and Jin cups your cheek, kissing you softly.

“Are you regretting this yet?”

“Not at all,” you laugh, giggling in his arms as he helps you up. Once you’re back on your feet, you turn to survey his desk, blushing embarrassedly when you see that you’ve made a mess of it.

“Don’t worry!” he immediately reassures you, handing you your pants and watching you fondly as you struggle to get them back on.

“I needed a reason to reorganize anyway.”

“Sounds like an excuse,” you say, rolling your eyes, and Jin mimics you.

“So, care for that coffee date?”

“Now?” you say in surprise. Jin blinks.

“If you’re free, that is?”

“I mean…yes, I’m free,” you say, and then laugh. “It’s just…we’re doing this ass backwards.”

“Well, I’d say that’s your fault,” Jin says, reaching into his desk and grabbing his wallet. Unable to argue, you simply smile and watch him as he grabs his own jacket, moving to meet you on the other side of the desk.

However, before you can exit his office Jin stops you, pulling you close once more.

“I’m…really sorry if this is weird to you, but thank you,” he says, worry sneaking onto his features, and you shake your head.

“It’s not weird at all, Jin. I like you—so stop worrying.”

“Okay,” he responds with a breath of relief, and moves to turn off the lights. The two of you step outside his office, pausing as he turns to lock the door, and then freeze when you spin around the find the secretary still sitting at her desk.

The two of you glance at each other, scared shitless at the possibility that she may have heard, but decide to play it cool.

“Bye, I’ll be out for the rest of the day,” Jin speaks up, waving at the women as the two of you glide past her desk. Catching the motion, the woman looks up, blinking.

“What?” Moving her hair aside, she pulls out one of the headphones she’s wearing, and you and Jin almost collapse in relief.

“Sorry, my favorite artist just released an album and the office is nearly dead today, so I decided to take a listen.”

“No worries!” Jin assures her. “Just said I’ll be out for the rest of the day—take care!”

“You too!” she responds enthusiastically, clearly unaware of what had just happened behind Jin’s closed door, and when the two of you step into the elevator, the doors sliding shut, Jin takes a deep breath.

“So, no more fun times in your office?” you guess with a grin, and Jin nearly chokes on a laugh.

“Well…I wouldn’t say that, it’s just…,” he pauses, kicking back against the metal rail behind him, and his teasing gaze slides over to you. His next words have you flushing red for the millionth time today.

“Maybe I’ll have to invest in a gag before we try again.”

#jin smut #bts smut #bts fic #ft namjoon and yoongi as wingmen lmao #kim seokjin #jin x reader #how do tag

[theantibridezilla]

Test Drives: Tatcha, IT Cosmetics & Sephora Collection

It’s been a bit since I’ve written a Test Drives article! So, let’s kick off March with a few great finds that I made in the last few weeks. I’m always on the hunt for great dupes, must have moisturizers and effective foundations, and that’s exactly what I’m covering in today’s post. I’ll be reviewing Tatcha’s Luminous Dewy Skin Mist, IT Cosmetics’ newest release Confidence in a Foundation, and Sephora Collection’s Golden Hour highlight. As usual, I’ll outline whether an item was purchased or gifted. So let’s get to it!

Tatcha Dewy Skin Mist (purchased)

I picked up this travel friendly version at Sephora while I was in San Francisco because I felt like my skin was getting dry while I was out one day. The premise is that this can help to instantly infuse the skin with moisture thanks to the mist’s natural botanical ingredients. To use, simply shake the bottle, hold it two to three inches from your face and mist. This can be used under makeup or as a refresh throughout the day.

What I liked

This is a truly hydrating spray which evaporates fairly quickly. That’s not to say that you don’t get the moisturizing benefits. It’s more like saying it doesn’t take forever for the mist to absorb into the skin. While this mist has a more natural/essential oil style scent, it’s not offensive. Of course, the small size makes this ideal for traveling.

What could be better

This isn’t so much a complaint as an honest observation. Most people who review this product rave about how it instantly improves the condition of their skin. While I like this product and definitely use it fairly regularly, I can’t say that I get better results using this either as a refresh or pre-makeup step as opposed to some of my other facial mists or even oils that I typically use.

Sephora Collection Golden Hour Highlight in Twilight (purchased)

This is yet another item I picked up while I was in SF. I can honestly say it was an impulse buy because I saw the purple pan on the gondola and instantly thought it could be a dupe for my personal favorite highlighter, Kevyn Aucoin’s Neo-Limelight in Ibiza.

What I liked

I was right, this is most definitely a dupe for Kevyn Aucoin. In the pic above, you can see that I have two swatches on my wrist. The top swipe is from the upper half of Kevyn Aucoin’s Ibiza pan on the left, and the bottom swipe is from Sephora’s pan on the right. If you say that you can tell a difference on my arm (not in the pan because clearly they look different in the pan), you’re full of it! I’ve always been a fan of Sephora’s powders, and this is no different. This particular highlight is finely milled which means you get minimal fallout. More importantly, you have great color pigmentation with this and don’t need to use a lot of product to get strong color payoff.

And something in particular that I actually prefer with Sephora’s Golden Hour is that the shimmer is uniform rather than an obvious gradient. As much as I love Kevyn Aucoin’s Ibiza, as you see in the pic above, I clearly don’t use the paler half of the pan, mainly because that paler portion can end up making me look frosty. So, technically speaking, half of the pan is wasted on me. In contrast, since Sephora’s version is more uniform, I can use the entire pan—making this a very cost effective product.

What could be better:

Nothing, I really like this product and didn’t find any issues with it.

IT Cosmetics Confidence in a Foundation in Rich Warm (gifted)

If you followed my IG stories or checked out my IG Beauty Events Highlight, you know that last week I attended IT Cosmetics’ Spring product launch. Those of us who came out went home with a goodie bag full of skincare products and more importantly, a 10-bottle sampling of their newest color cosmetics launch, Confidence in a Foundation, as well as an additional bottle that we received at their shade match station during the event. These 10 shades are considered their most popular hues that testers gravitated towards during the R&D stage.  This particular foundation comes in 48 hues, with plenty of options for darker skin tones. Confidence in a Foundation is meant to be full coverage with a velvet matte finish.

If you notice that I have 12 rather than 11 bottles (10 + 1 for my shade) in this pic, that’s because when I was at the event, the lighting wasn’t the best and I felt like I was falling between shades. So the MUA who helped me test colors sent me home with two shades.

What I like:

I’m really glad that IT has finally come out with a foundation that’s truly accessible for all skin tones. As much as I’ve appreciated some of their other CC creams, their color options were usually fairly limited with only two or three options for the #teambrownskin or #teamdarkskin crowd. Their previous brown hues would always have a bit too much orange or red in them, meaning that I’d have to limit their wear until the summer when I’m tan and can better match the shades. But this time, I have a shade that matches my “late Fall to Spring” shade.

That aside, I also like that even though this is a full coverage it didn’t feel heavy. Full disclosure, I typically avoid full coverage foundations because I don’t need that level of coverage. Normally I find this coverage level to be too intense, like I’m wearing a mask. That definitely wasn’t the case with Confidence in a Foundation. However to make sure that it didn’t feel or look too heavy, I applied the foundation sparingly and blended with a damp brush.

Today wasn’t my first time trying this product as I’ve probably rocked it a time or two before. I’ve currently been wearing it for just about six hours and it’s still wearing fairly well. More importantly, it plays well with other products too. So, if you’re layering via contour or highlight, it doesn’t slide around or fade away throughout the day.

What could be better:

So, as much as I think this product is great, there is one thing that is somewhat questionable to me. IT Cosmetics claims that Confidence in a Foundation offers a velvet matte finish. No. As compared to their Matte CC+ Cream which is a favorite of mine in warmer weather, this is not matte. Even during the time it took for me to apply my makeup (about 15 - 20 min), this foundation never “dried down” to a soft matte finish like the CC cream did. And I applied my foundation first since I wasn’t doing eye shadow today. At 6 hours out right now, I definitely have shine and would need to touch up with my setting powder to mute that sheen. Mind you, I wasn’t doing anything intense today unless you consider driving to LaGuardia to pick up the hubby and going to dinner afterwards a hefty day of activities.

My Verdict:

Honestly, everything was a winner for me this time. While I did question a few of the claims of Tatcha’s Luminous Dewy Skin Mist and IT Cosmetics’ Confidence in a Foundation, they’re both still great products that I would use.

Check out more of my Test Drives here.

Full Makeup Details:

Primer: E.L.F. Cosmetics Antioxidant Booster Drops Foundation: IT Cosmetics Confidence in a Foundation in Rich Warm Brows: NYX Cosmetics Love Contours All Palette Dark Eyeshadow Pan Eye Liner: Wet n Wild Pro Line Felt Tip Liner Lashes: Kawaii Girl Cosmetics Ebisu Concealer: Tarte Cosmetics Shape Tape Concealer in medium-sand Setting Powder: Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder in Deep Blush: Kevyn Aucoin Neo-Blush in Sunset Highlight/Bronzer: Kevyn Aucoin Flash from Contour Book Volume III + Sephora Collection Golden Hour in Twilight Lips: Sara Happ The Pink Slip Gloss

Full disclosure: I’m an influencer for Kevyn Aucoin and IT Cosmetics. I am also the owner/founder of Kawaii Girl Cosmetics. Occasionally I post affiliate links so I may receive compensation on some of my posts.

#beauty #test drives #product reviews #makeup reviews #tatcha #it cosmetics #sephora #highlighter #foundation #facial mist #beauty review #bridal beauty #makeup dupes