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searidings · 3 years

Note

Lena definitely just lets Jess walk into her office without knocking and that has definitely led to her walking in on Lena in Supergirl’s arms

Jessica Hoang’s job pays well.

Like, really well. Like, buy-your-mother-a-new-Valentino-purse-every-Christmas well. Surprise-your-boyfriend-with-a-trip-to-the-Bahamas well. Rub-your-success-in-your-high-school-nemeses’-face-at-the-reunion-but-like-in-a-classy-way well.

And it’s not that it’s exactly unreasonable. Being Lena Luthor’s assistant is no cake walk. Jess has been shot at. She’s been almost blown up on more than one occasion. She’s worked all the hours god sends and then some. Hell, she’s got the chief detective of NCPD’s major crimes unit on speed dial.

She has, at various times and with varying degrees of success, played the roles of bodyguard, nutritionist, nurse, therapist, and drinking buddy. She’s seen Lena in every shade and hue of human emotion; coaxed her through crisis after crisis with warm words and a kind smile and never once let her miss a meeting.

So, Jess doesn’t really mind accepting the generous salary. Has even made peace with the borderline obscene bonuses Lena likes to toss her way around Christmas, or her birthday, or any time Jess introduces her to a new kale recipe.

She’s not arrogant, but she’s not prone to under-selling herself either. She knows Lena values her, knows she’s integral to keeping L-Corp’s CEO afloat and thus, to the running of the whole operation. And more than that, she knows her own worth. Takes pride in the work she does.

So she’ll take the paycheck, and the late nights and the missed meals and all the other things that come part and parcel with employment in National City’s most conspicuous company.

And if those other things come to include a front row ticket to the tragicomedy of her boss’ relationship with a certain blonde reporter, so be it. She’s not about to quit, after all. Once she’d gotten a taste of sleeping on Egyptian cotton bed sheets, there was no going back.

It started with the unrestricted office access.

Actually, it started when Lena allergic-to-the-press Luthor first asked her to put in a call to the biggest news outlet in town to request a private meeting with one of their junior reporters, but Jess lets that one slide.

(She’s got her own hunk of a man to go home to every night, yet even she’s not immune to Miss Danvers’ button down and slacks combo, to her earnest blue eyes and eager charm. Lena can’t be blamed for falling under that spell, nor for the hypnotic allure of the muscles straining beneath those demure cardigans. She’s only human, after all.)

But adding Kara Danvers to the list of people to be waved straight into her boss’ office with no checks – or rather, creating said list, which to this day consists of precisely one name – was what really sealed the deal. It was portentous in every sense of the word, a harbinger of what was to come.

Since that fateful day, Jess has seen more of Lena and Kara’s relationship than she’s sure any of the three of them would ideally prefer.

At first, it was the interviews. They’d been fishy enough in themselves; sure, Lena Luthor is objectively interesting. But three separate articles in the span of two weeks? No one’s that interesting.

After the interviews, it was the lunch dates. The first time she’d interrupted one of those she’d almost fallen over her own feet in shock. The sight of Lena Luthor – the same Lena Luthor that Jess had, on more than one occasion, needed to actively bribe into ingesting anything other than espresso and scotch in a fourteen hour workday – licking burger grease off her fingers and happy as a clam, had thrown her off for the whole rest of the day.

(Lena had long since instructed Jess to just stick her head into her office without knocking if she needed her. “Things can go to hell far too quickly around here to waste time with buzzers and intercoms,” she’d said with a self-deprecating smile.

If only Jess had known then what she knows now, she might have put up more of a fight on that front.)

The lunch dates had gotten longer, and more frequent, and decidedly more intimate. A year after the reporter’s first appearance at L-Corp it had become commonplace for Jess to walk into her boss’ office to find the two of them slanted close together on the couch, Lena’s heels discarded, her stockinged feet tucked beneath the blonde’s thigh.

Then, Kara started showing up at 7pm to drag Lena away from her desk at a reasonable hour. Started dropping by on her way to Catco before work too, fumbling coffees and pastries in her blushing grip.

(She always brought a latte for Jess along with Lena’s regular order. Of all the developments, that was certainly one of the most welcome.)

She got to know Kara, as the years went on. Was pleased to discover that she truly was as delightful as she seemed. And it was nice to finally have an ally in her ongoing battle to regulate her boss’ shockingly unhealthy work habits. She and Kara could tag-team their efforts, trading off caffeine duty and playing bad cop to get Lena to leave the office before midnight. It meant that Jess had finally, occasionally, gotten a day off.

It didn’t escape her notice that Kara was always there on the bad days. She showed up like clockwork after every ruthless smear campaign against L-Corp, every stock market plummet, every assassination attempt. She would enter the office to find Lena crying and she would leave with the dark haired woman tucked securely against her side, if not smiling then at least calm. At least hopeful.

And Kara was there on the good days, too. The mergers and the product launches and the prototype successes; she celebrated every one of Lena’s triumphs as if they were her own. And Lena, Lena lit up when Kara was around. Bloomed like a rare flower beneath the megawatt glare of Kara’s sunshine devotion.

Her boss never said so in so many words, nor did Jess ever walk in on anything directly incriminating. But it was clear to anyone with eyes exactly what was happening between the two women, exactly where it would lead.

And then one day, Kara wasn’t there anymore.

The effect was as obvious as it was immediate.

Lena started coming in early and staying late, if she left the office at all. She barely ate. Her face was pale and drawn, and Jess would often enter her office to find her boss’ eyes red-rimmed.

It became glaringly, painfully obvious that without Kara dropping by at all hours of the day and night, no one was coming to visit Lena.

Her boss became closed-off and withdrawn, more so even than when Jess had first started at L-Corp. Gone were their weekly gossip sessions about the crotchety old men Lena couldn’t yet oust from the company’s board. Gone was her boss’ openness about her own life or her interest in Jess’, her frequent requests for photos of her cats or updates on the master’s in computer science she was studying for in the evenings evaporating into thin air.

Lena did not want to talk about it. Jess was informed of this emphatically and repeatedly whenever she would tentatively reach out, and slowly she stopped trying.

The closest they ever came to acknowledging the elephant in the room was the night of L-Corp’s annual fundraiser at the Luthor Children’s Hospital. Once the gala was over, Jess had run back to the office to drop off the donation paperwork in the company safe only to notice a faint light beneath Lena’s office door.

She’d entered to find Lena hunched on the floor of her private bathroom, heels kicked off and hair falling out of its intricate updo, mascara streaking her cheeks as she sobbed into her hands. Jess hadn’t hesitated for even a second before sinking down beside her.

Wrapping a secure arm around her boss’ shoulders and smoothing the flyaway hairs from her flushed face, she’d tried her best to convey the support and reassurance that Lena had so consistently shown to her. But the young woman had brushed off her platitudes even as the tears had continued to fall.

“It’s not okay,” she’d hiccupped against Jess’ shoulder, the scotch evident on her breath. “She’s gone. I won’t ever get her back.”

And that’s all she would say on the matter. Eventually, the tears had dried up and the exhaustion had set in and Jess had chaperoned her all the way back to her apartment and into bed.

Lena had shown up for work the next day in a pair of oversize aviators, clinging to her triple shot extra-large americano like a lifeline. She’d dropped a latte on Jess’ desk with a rueful smile, and that had been that. They never talked about it again.

That whole dark period only cemented the strong protective streak Jess had been cultivating over her boss ever since the very first attempt on her life.

It’s just that Lena is strong, and smart as hell and unfailingly kind and utterly undeserving of the punishment the world keeps foisting on her for her family’s sins. And worse, she’s not prepared to fight back. She just accepts it, internalises the hatred and the burden and the blame and Jess cannot, will not watch it happen. So sue her if she’s a little hyper-vigilant, a little possessive.

And so when Kara Danvers had shown up again one unassuming Tuesday, Jess intercepted her trajectory at Lena’s office door with narrowed eyes and a suspicious glare.

It must have been effective – she’d learned from stone cold boardroom killer Lena Luthor, after all – because the reporter shrank back a little beneath the force of her stare. Kara cleared her throat nervously and Jess had been a split second from launching into a what are your intentions with my girl speech ripped straight from a bad 1980s teen movie when the door opened behind her and Lena appeared.

“It’s fine, Jess,” her boss murmured and she had, reluctantly, stepped aside to let the blonde pass. Not before fixing Kara Danvers with one last pointed glare, though. If Lena wasn’t going to protect herself then Jess would just have to do it for her.

But there was no shouting, no screaming, no audible arguments. And when the blonde left a half hour later and Jess stuck her head through the office door to very unsubtly check on Lena’s wellbeing, there was no trace of red-rimmed eyes or tear stains. Lena simply offered up a small smile, a soft smile and once again, that appeared to be that.

Slowly, Kara Danvers became a regular fixture in L-Corp again, alongside the fancy espresso machines in every break room and the ever-present whiff of soldered metal.

Jess remained wary, a fact which did not seem to go unnoticed by the reporter. In fact, Kara redoubled her efforts to win her over, including new pastries and other sweet treats with the lattes she still regularly delivered.

“I can’t be bought, you know,” Jess had said once, taking the offered apricot Danish anyway. Her loyalty wasn’t up for auction, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t capitalise on the spoils of a bidding war.

Kara had only smiled sadly. “I know. I’m glad.” At Jess’ inquisitive stare she’d just shaken her head, reaching up to adjust her glasses. “I’m glad she has you.”

Jess had hmphed rather ungracefully, licking a stray flake of pastry from the end of her finger. She may have broken her boss’ heart, but no one could deny that Kara Danvers had great taste in desserts.

“I’m not looking for her forgiveness. Or yours,” Kara had continued, so surprising that Jess had inhaled a healthy gulp of latte directly into her lung. The reporter had waited until she’d finished spluttering before she continued. “I don’t deserve it. But for what it’s worth, she has me, too. Again, I mean. For as long as she wants me.”

Jess had narrowed her eyes, searching for any trace of insincerity in that earnest, handsome face. Finding none, her feelings toward the reporter had at last settled somewhere in the ballpark of grudging respect.

And there they’ve remained. She still watches the blonde carefully, still keeps a wary eye out for any sign that things may crumble into dust again. But Kara is true to her word. She shows up, she keeps showing up, and she sticks around.

And slowly, achingly slowly, the light comes back to Lena’s eyes.

It’s just another regular unassuming Tuesday when everything shifts again.

Kara Danvers hasn’t yet shown up for lunch and her boss’ conference call was scheduled to have ended a half hour ago, and this stack of expense reports desperately needs Lena’s signature so Jess doesn’t bother knocking as she shoulders open the office door.

A lesser assistant might have shrieked. They’d definitely have dropped the gargantuan stack of reports all over the floor. But Jessica Hoang was trained by Lena Luthor herself. She’s got dignity and composure for days.

Even so, it takes every ounce of poise she can muster not to let out so much as a squeak at the sight of her boss hovering a solid five feet above the floor of her office, enveloped tightly in the arms of a fully kitted and caped Supergirl.

It’s an unavoidably intimate embrace. Lena’s stockinged feet perch lightly on the toes of the hero’s red boots, her arms wrapped snug around the Kryptonian’s neck. Their foreheads are pressed together and they’re just gazing into one another’s eyes, Supergirl’s arms slung low around Lena’s waist as she drifts them in lazy mid-air circles.

For one horrible, stomach-churning moment Jess is faced with the mind-boggling possibility that her boss is, for all intents and purposes, cheating on her reporter gal pal with the city’s superpowered sweetheart.

But equanimity isn’t the only talent she’s picked up from Lena. Her problem solving skills aren’t bad either, or so her boyfriend is fond of grumbling when she steals the Sunday crossword out from under his nose.

Jess uses the split second before they react to her presence to appraise the scene with a critical eye.

At this proximity, there’s something decidedly familiar about those blue eyes and flowing golden locks. But the real clincher doesn’t end up coming from Supergirl at all. It’s the softness in her boss’ expression, the gentle slant of her features and the unguarded love in her eyes in the brief moment before she registers the interruption that really seals the deal.

Jess has, after all, seen Lena in every shade and hue of human emotion. The list of people her boss would look at like that, much like the list of people with unrestricted access to her office, consists of precisely one name.

Two heads snap towards her in perfect tandem, two jaws hitting the floor in quick succession. Lena gasps and shoves herself away from Supergirl like the woman has suddenly become radioactive, apparently forgetting that she’s not currently abiding by the laws of terrestrial gravity and almost plummeting five feet to the ground.

She’s saved by the hero’s lightning fast reflexes, strong arms snapping out to catch her around the waist and pulling their bodies snugly back together into an embrace somehow even more intimate than the original.

Jess smirks. Lena’s cheeks are redder than she’s ever seen them as Supergirl floats them both gently back to the ground. “This isn’t— we were just— she’s not—” Lena tries half-heartedly as the superhero shuffles her feet at her side, blushing like a chastised schoolgirl.

Jess bites the inside of her cheek, calling upon every last shred of her professionalism to keep from laughing. “Your two o’clock is here,” she says gently, gracing her boss with a genuine smile. Jess may be proud of her own bullish protectiveness in front of others, but she’s a simple girl at heart. If Lena’s happy, she’s happy.

Both women are still staring at her slack-jawed. It appears no response is forthcoming any time soon.

Jess decides to put them out of their misery. “Just buzz when you want me to send him in, Miss Luthor. Miss Danvers,” she nods in acknowledgment as she ducks quickly back out of the room. Not quick enough, though, to miss the choked sounds of shock from behind her, nor the heated stage-whisper of how does she know, Lena? that follows her out of the door.

Jess shakes her head. And she doesn’t even have superhearing.

Lena Luthor has many strengths but subtlety, apparently, is not one of them.

That’s the conclusion Jess has no choice but to land on as she stares down at her phone. The extra 10k that has materialised in her bank account without warning or explanation could hardly be more obvious if it had come with the payee reference hush money right there in black and white.

Well. If Jess hadn’t been sure before, she certainly is now.

She shakes her head fondly. As if she would ever sell out her boss on anything, much less on what is very clearly a matter of the heart.

After all these years working together, she knows Lena trusts her. But she can also picture clear as day the scene that must have transpired in the office behind her just moments ago. Lena and Kara, panicking about being discovered. Lena falling back into her Luthor conditioning, deciding to clean up the mess by throwing money at it. The instant regret as she realises she’s just confirmed that there is in fact something to be covered up.

For a certified genius, her boss sure can be dense.

Jess chuckles. Taps out of her banking app and pulls up her messages. Your super secret’s safe with me she types, grinning. I’ve never told a soul that you were drunk as a skunk at the annual board meeting three years ago, and that was without a single dollar in bribes. Why would this be any different?

Hitting send, she swears she actually hears the sigh of relief her boss lets out despite the three inches of solid oak door separating them. She shakes her head again, biting her lip.

I’m happy for you, Lena she sends, warm affection swelling in her chest. Smiles when her screen lights up a moment later with a single red heart.

She locks her phone and squares her shoulders. Skims a critical eye over the weekly schedule she already knows by heart. Ushers in Lena’s two o’clock at her boss’ signal and settles back at her desk. Pulls up a new browser tab and searches up the cost of last-minute flights to the Maldives.

Just because Lena’s hush money was unnecessary, that doesn’t mean it can’t be put to good use.

#not me writing an entire one shot from the pov of a character who's had 12 seconds screen time max #alternate title: jess the secretary finds out kara danvers is supergirl #and honestly she's over it #supercorp #minific #lena luthor #kara danvers #jess the secretary #also on ao3 if that's your jam!#dings dot txt

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bexterbex · 4 years

Text

A Soul to Mend His Own | Ch. 2

A Kylo Ren x Modern! Reader in a soulmate au with some canon divergence. —————————————SLOWBURN————————————–

He is already the Supreme leader, searching the universe to find you, his Empress. Your name on his wrist has been the only constant in his life, while you have doubts about his existence and his acceptance of you. He isn’t in the database and why did the name Kylo Ren cover Ben Solo?

Originally posted on my Ao3 Crystallclover. If you missed Chapter 1, Click Here

Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Chapter 2: An Arrival to be Remembered

UFO has been sited entering the Earth’s atmosphere

Unknown armed and masked being exit ship heading towards the White House, is the President in danger?

Aliens spotted in D.C.

You woke up to the sound of your alarm, and got out of bed. You have been in the habit lately to start your day without checking your phone first. Mostly to avoid early morning emails from your boss before you have even had coffee.

You head to the bathroom relieve yourself, wash your face, and brush your hair. Exiting the bathroom you head to the kitchen and make yourself some breakfast and coffee. You enjoy the sunrise through the large windows in your apartment. Finishing eating you immediately wash your few dishes and get ready for work. You pick out your work ‘uniform’ of a black blouse and black trousers. You head to the bathroom to brush your teeth, put on a little makeup and get changed.

Heading back to the kitchen you prepare a to-go cup of coffee and pull out your lunch for work. Finally, you check your phone.

First, you see an email from your boss reminding you for the 10th time about the morning meeting that you have every Thursday. It isn’t like you to forget something you do every single week for the past year. Never once have you been late, in fact, he was always the one to forget. You wonder if these emails were meant more for him and less for you. But he was always the micromanager.

Next, you check your texts. Your usual morning photo from one of your siblings about one of your nieces/nephews. Another one from Hayden asking if you were still on for tomorrow night’s weekly bar trip. You answered ‘Yes 😀 .’ Another from Carter asking what you think of the news headlines this morning. Odd, although this isn’t the first time you two had discussed something like this it was odd to receive a text like this from them first thing in the morning.

You open Twitter to see #alieninvasiondc trending. You scroll through the news tag. Every major news site around the world is talking about the shuttlecraft that landed on the White House lawn last night, and the armed and armored soldiers that departed from the craft. All of the soldiers wore white armor, except one in silver. There was one who was in all black and a red-haired human-looking man among the group. Not much is known other than they haven’t been seen leaving the White House.

You text Carter back ‘Just looked now, either this is a hoax or the world as we know it is coming to an end. I’ll see you at work.’

You packed your work bag, grabbed your car keys and set off to work. You park in the ramp attached to your building and walk to the elevator. You wave at the security attendant to the opposing skywalk like you do every morning. You arrive at your floor and buzz-in. You say hi to Nancy in reception and head to your desk.

Strangely all of the televisions in the office were muted and tuned into CBC News, normally the one in the break room and the ones in reception were on, the others only really got used during Hockey Games or events like the Olympics. Your boss was in the walkway with his attention turned to his phone.

You set down your things at your desk and boot up your work computer while setting up your laptop on its stand. You did your usual check through work emails until the 9:00 AM weekly meeting. Your boss hasn’t moved from his position in the walkway.

8:55 AM hits and you grab what you need and head to the conference room. The tv was on in here as well. The others in the Marketing department filled in after you. Your boss, Scott, had yet to move from his place in the walkway. 9:00 AM hits and you continue small talk with your co-workers, most of the conversation is directed at the events in D.C.

9:05 AM your co-worker Ally sends a Slack message to your boss. He looks up from his phone to the clock on the wall and runs into his office. After a few minutes, he rushes out and into the conference room.

“Sorry, I am late everyone the Wife is just paranoid over this Alien Invasion thing. I can’t get her to stop texting me,” he chuckles.

Ironically this isn’t the first time he has been ‘late’ to a meeting after being on the phone with his wife an hour after work already started.

Suddenly you all get an Emergency Alert System notification on all of your phones.

‘International Emergency: Please tune in to your local news broadcasting station to receive an Emergency Report.’

Scott asks, “where is the damn remote?”

Ally hands it to him, he unmutes the tv.

The headline reads: ‘President of the United States has an Important International Government Update’

Live from Washington D.C.

On the screen, it shows the President of the United States, with the silver soldier, one in all black and the red-haired man from the video of the invasion last night.

“I have an important announcement. Earth has been contacted by people from space who call themselves the First Order. The First Order has informed me that they would like to peacefully work with Earth. As long as we fully cooperate as an entire planet no harm will come to any of us. Currently, our galaxy is at war, and the First Order seeks our help, in return of offering Earth protection from a group of people called the New Republic.

They have explained to me and the U.N. as a whole that the New Republic is not to be trusted along with their mercenary army called the Resistance. It is through my decision and the decision of the U.N. that we will cooperate and join forces with the First Order to be under their protection.

All citizens of Earth in the next 7 days must register with the First Order. You will be given a citizen number, some citizens may be reassigned to work directly with the First Order. All military personal will be reassigned to be under the First Order. You should not worry as most citizens will be unaffected, life will go on as normal. As long as citizens follow these orders and any orders to come, we shall be safe,” said the President. The President moved out of the way for the man in all black and with a black mask to move to the podium.

“I am the Supreme Leader of the First Order. I promise no harm will come to those who cooperate with us. We seek to peacefully transition your planet, as you know it Earth, to a primary First Order Planet. We value honesty and loyalty, along with hard work. We strive to rebuild the Empire and to maintain order in the galaxy. That is all,” The man's voice was distorted through the mask he was wear, it sounded mechanical or digital but it had a deep sound.

The broadcast cut back to the news anchor. “Currently all citizens of earth are to report to their a local city government building or town hall within the next 7 days for First Order registration and possible reassignment. All citizens must remain calm and do as the government has directed. Any questions or concerns will be answered by local government officials and First Order personnel. All foreign citizens to Canada will follow the same protocol as citizens. All citizens are asked to bring various forms of identification, such as a Passport, driver's license, birth certificate, social insurance number card, any immunization forms, military I.D. and more. You can find a full list of required documents at the CBC website or at canada.ca. As a reminder, all citizens are urged to stay calm and to follow all orders regarding and following First Order registration. Citizens are also advised to stay tuned to local news sources for any updates.”

The conference room sat stunned at the announcement.

“Well were f*****,” said Scott. “We are all surely f*****. Who are these people to think they can just take over like that? Do they think we are just going to sit by and let them brainwash us? Let them take everything from us?”

“I don’t think we have a choice, you heard the U.S. President, the U.N. is in agreement. This is for our own safety. If you are going to go against them and get yourself killed keep us out of it,” said Daniel one of your marketing co-workers.

“I’ll talk to Henry, and see if we can all take the week off, who knows this may be the last time we even get to see our families,” and with that statement, Scott left the conference room.

You sat there not really moving, processing what you just witnessed on the tv and the confrontation between Scott and Daniel. So did the rest of your co-workers. You could tell they were all in shock, the world as you knew it was about to change, the future had shifted.

All of your phones went off again. This time it was an email from Jonathan the CEO.

‘All employees will take today, tomorrow and next week off, in order to give proper attention to the government mandate. Please be safe and I hope to see you all come -Henry G. Wells’

Everyone in the conference room got up and went to their desks. The office was silent, except for the sounds of items being put away and people gathering their things. You were almost done getting ready to go when Carter appeared next to you.

They didn’t speak, for fear of being the first one to break the ominous silence. Carter just looked at you expectantly. You finished packing up and walked with them out of the office. The elevator was packed but silent. Everyone got off and walked to their cars. Carter followed you to yours.

Keeping their voice down, almost to a whisper, they asked, “I know I texted you this morning about all this but what do you think now? Do you want to go back to your place or mine?”

You thought about it for a moment before responding, “let’s go back to mine. We can discuss it from there.”

Carter accepted your response and went to their car to leave. You followed suit. Today was not what you expected.

Tags: @sheadre

#kylo ren #kylo ren x reader #kylo ren imagine #sw #sw sequels #a soul to mend his own

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voltagesmutter · 4 years

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Eisuke - “Sorry Not Sorry’ [Smut/Angst/Fluff]

NSFW, Smut, Angst and Fluff

Hugely inspired by the song ‘Sorry Not Sorry’

You finally snap after Eisuke over-rides his throughs causing him to become verbally abusive to you. Bases a year after the events and how you cope after becoming a successful artist but preform at ‘Tres Spades’ on the anniversary of your break up.

Language warning, verbal abuse from Eisuke and slight sexual harassment warnings

You took a deep breath and stepped out the limo you had arrived in, your stomach was tied in knots. Why, why, why, had you agreed to come to this event? Why, dear god, why was it was held here out of every venue in the whole damn city. You knew he’d be here, it was his hotel for crying out loud. You had swore to yourself you would never step foot inside ‘Tres Spades’ ever again after he broke your heart. It had been a year since you walked out of Eisuke, his growing accusations of you cheating on him growing too much for you to bear. He was possessive and couldn’t stand any other man to look at you, including those who resided in the penthouse. You knew he loved you and that made it even harder to leave…

“Eisuke he is your best friend! You really think I would screw him or any other guy, please stop being so stupid!”

“They give you that look, the look only I should you!”

“Then go and yell at them, not me! I haven’t done anything to deserve this!”

“You flirt back with them! You enjoy them all feeding out of the palm of your hand,” “Christ Eisuke, I can’t go over this argument again, the last time I love you only you,”

“Pft, I find that hard to believe when you’ve probably fucked them all and laughed about it behind my back,”.

With those being the last words you would hear him say directly to you, you ran off to your shared bedroom and locked the door before bursting into tears. You wouldn’t let him see you cry. You shoved everything you owned into a suitcase, anything that he had brought you or given you stayed, you wanted nothing that reminded you of him in your life. You waited until you heard the doors to his office slam shut and with one final look around you left his bedroom. Just as you were about to leave the penthouse Soryu had come out to see what the commotion was about.

“Bella where are you going?”

“I’m leaving, I can’t take this anymore Soryu,” You began to sob and he, rather awkwardly, comforted you, just as Eisuke came out of his office.

“Your fucking kidding me,”

“Eisuke, calm down this isn’t what it looks like,”

“Fuck it, do what you want, screw her like you and everyone else already probably has,” Eisuke held his hands up and walked away down the corridor. Unable to take anymore your hand gripped at the engagement ring on your finger and threw it across the room.

“Goodbye Soryu, you were always the kindest to me,” Taking one last look at the penthouse where you were once so happy before leaving, never to return. You broke down in the elevator, wondering how everything had gone so wrong.

‘Boss! God dammit Eisuke! What are you playing at, why are you being like that to her!” Soryu screamed after him, grabbing him roughly by his collar.

“Oh why are you so upset, your little pet ran away, she’ll be back,” He smirked and Soryu raised his first.

“The fuck is your problem!”.

“I know she’s been sleeping with you and the others, I wanted to see how much I could break her before admitting it,”.

“She’s not slept with any of us, you fucking idiot! You're jealous over nothing and you’ve just let the one thing that made you happy walk away!”.

“Well if she hasn’t why I have seen the messages between you all and her! And why did Kenzaki report all the secret meetings between you all and that Erika girl stating information to me!”

“Christ you're an idiot, a real idiot! If you ever paid attention to her you would know that Erika hates her and makes her life misery on purpose! She’ll say anything to you to get you to leave her, and the messages? She wanted help from all us to be like a ‘woman of your standard’ for the wedding and future events because she didn’t feel good enough for you, when all in all you were never good enough for her! She wanted to change and improve herself to make you happy and you became so overzealous for nothing you pushed the one woman away who truly loved you, not your money, or your status, you! So I hope you're happy, boss,” Soryu practically spits the words out of his mouth to him.

Eisuke’s heart stopped and he looked at Soryu who was walking away.

“Soryu, I need your help to get her back, what the fuck have I done?”.

“I think it’s too late, you treated her like shit these past few weeks and broke her heart,” Soryu snapped, he turned back around and threw the ring she had removed moments ago to him, indicating to Eisuke the extent of his damage.

Deep breaths Bella, just keep calm, you probably won’t even see him, you kept repeating in your head. Don’t let him ruin this for you, like he ruined your relationship. The day after the events with him you decided it was time to focus on yourself, no men to distract you, only you. You took more chances and risks, saying yes to new things but the main highlight was your singing. You began online singing covers of songs and it was a instant hit, the previous year had been a whirlwind, kick starting you into the music industry and tonight you was here to perform a song for the ‘70th Annual Music Inspiration Awards’ a huge moment for you. You had worked tirelessly on your music and yourself, you was completely different to the girl who had let Eisuke break your heart, if it happened now you wouldn’t be bleak and comply to his words, no you would stand up to him and challenge him. Fighting for yourself. But none of that was relevant, you didn’t care no more for him, or thats what your head was saying at least, your heart on the other hand was racing at the prospect of seeing him tonight.

You attended the event alone, it was still to sudden for you to find that special someone. Decked out in stilettos that wrapped around your ankles with a skin tight crimson dress that hugged your figure with a plunging, but also respectable, neckline. You had grown your hair long since you was last here and it had a wet dewy look to it. You looked like a entirely different person to when you was last here.

“Miss Bella! Miss Bella, over here! Singing weekly, how does it feel to be the youngest person to perform at this event?”

“Music updates, how does it feel to be performing tonight?”

You was flooded with questions and interviewers before you stepped inside, guided by your manager.

“Thank you Rikk, it was getting a bit overwhelming out there,” You smiled.

“No problems, it's why I’m here to protect you! Now I must say it one final time, you look stunning,” Rikk taking your hand and squeezing it, he was an incredibly attractive man however his personality rang like Baba’s, a true womaniser and you was smart enough not to be lured into his traps.

“So the plan?” You ask.

“Ah yes, okay so, interviews done, we should probably go and greet Mr.Ichinomiya and thank him for the event and then theres,” He started but as soon as you heard Eisukes name you zoned out and your heart began to race.

“No!” You cried.

“Sorry, I mean no, I’m merely here to do one song, I don’t think we should waste Mr.Ichinomiya’s time, you said there was a bar?” You quickly say before scuttling off, you had never told anyone in your business about Eisuke, you didn’t want to become a piece in the magazines about being his heart broken partner. In all honesty, you hadn’t heard a word from him since that day which broke your heart the most, he was meant to love you and want to marry you yet he never came after you, showing you truly how little he cared…

At the bar you could sense someone looking at you and gulped quietly before a familiar scent surrounded you.

“Hello Bella,” The voice rang crisp as day and you turned around.

“Soryu!” You smiled and pulled him in for a hug.

“Still as awkward around women as ever I see,” You giggled.

“What are you doing here? You look, you look incredible,”.

“Thank you, I’m actually one of the performers tonight, kinda special act you know, not to be released to the public aha,”.

“But you! How are you, how is everyone?” You heart clenched at everyone because you really only meant Eisuke.

“Yeah their good, Baba and Ota still up to no good, Mamoru nothing as always and Eisuke… well, he lost it after you and he hasn’t ever really recovered, he turned back into his cold old self and never snapped out of it,” He responds with a weak smile and you gave him one back, your heart almost re-breaking like it did the year before.

“He never deserved you, you know,” He softly whispered.

“I don’t think I ever deserved him, he broke my heart but it helped me grow, I mean look at me now,” You managed with a smile but Soryu saw straight through it.

“I can’t take back that day, but after he left I had to explain everything to him, that Erika woman and Kenzaki had been spreading lies to him and he was already so paranoid about these secret meetings we’d been having it sent him over the edge, I don’t think he’ll ever get over how he treated you,” His words made your eyes tear up and your heart ever so lightly raced. You wanted to see him and just as you was about to ask, Rikk appeared and put his arm around your waist, pulling you away.

“Come on, it’s showtime, just remember your brilliant, your my star,” He says with excitement and kisses your wrist, something you had repeatedly told him not to do. You stood in the side wings of the stage as the lights went down, you was the first one to perform tonight, you started the show. And then, the music started, the song you wrote after your breakup and wanting to get slightly revenge against the man who broke you started to play.

“Now, I'm out here lookin' like revenge

Feelin' like a ten, the best I've ever been

And, yeah, I know how bad it must hurt to see me like this

But it gets worse (Wait a minute)”

You stepped out onto the stage to a wild applause.

Now, you're out here lookin' like regret, ain't too proud to beg

Second chance, you'll never get

And, yeah, I know how bad it must hurt to see me like this

But it gets worse (Wait a minute)

Your face lit up at the applause and you carried on, swinging your hips to the song like you had practiced.

Now, payback is a bad bitch

And baby, I'm the baddest

Then you saw him, his back was turned to you but you knew just from his stance it was Eisuke.

You fuckin' with a savage

Can't have this, can't have this (Ah)

And it'd be nice of me to take it easy on ya, but nah

He turned as the applause went wild, your head ducking and flipping your hair, but his eyes met your and his face stood in shock.

Baby, I'm sorry (I'm not sorry)

Bein' so bad got me feelin' so good

Showin' you up like I knew that I would

Baby, I'm sorry (I'm not sorry)

You carried on with your performance, you couldn’t let him ruin it for you, not this.

Feelin' inspired 'cause the tables have turned

Yeah, I'm on fire and I know that it burns

Your eyes purposefully meet his at this point. You slayed through your performance just like you had practised, feeling on fire from the cheers and whistled you received. You even perfected the chair choreography, something you had been nervous to do with the size of your heels but nevertheless you did it. As it finishes, you're met with a standing observation and thank them for, wishing all the nominees the best of luck before leaving the stage.

“Doll, I told you would be great! You nailed it!” Rikk ecstatically yelled, pulling you into a tight hug with his hands firmly on your waist.

“Thank you, I’m feeling hot so I’m gonna go outside,” You say, trying to wriggle out his grip but he guides you, his hands placed firmly on you still. You went out to a secluded area, only for the event but due to it just starting everyone was inside.

“You know, you have the voice and looks of a angel, but I bet your really a devil, a little minx,” Rikk whispered into your ear, you could smell the alcohol on him, he must have already been drinking before the event.

“Rikk, you're making me uncomfortable please stop this,” You squirm and try to push him off.

“Your such a tease, you know that! You make all these sexual gestures towards me but shoot me down, well not anymore!” He angrily yells and grips you tightly.

“Get off me!” You cry, tears forming as you try to push him off you but his grip was too tight. It was all too raw, his words reminded you of Eisukes, tearing a fresh wound into your heart.

“She said get off her, I suggest you do so now or,” You heard from behind you, the sound of a gun cocking and Rikk’s face went white.

“You won’t get far with her, she’s just a tease,” Rikk hissed releasing you and leaving you. You sighed, wiping away the tears that had formed before turning to see your rescuer, well you should say rescuers. There in front of you were all the bidders, Soryu putting his gun away, Eisuke stood meekly behind them.

“Thank you,” You managed before they surrounded you, hugging and welcoming you back.

“It’s been so long kiddo, look at you all grown up,”.

“My Kiro is no longer a puppy,” Ota still whined as usual.

“We saw you performing, your sensational princess,”. You smile at their comments, not feeling as if you had been away from them for even five minutes, you engaged with all of them, all except Eisuke who hadn’t said a word.

Finally you take a breath and turn to him.

“Come to yell at me for being complimented by men, or did you come out here to agree with that Rikk said about me,” You spit at him, it was petty, it was stupid but you wanted him to hurt like he had hurt you. But he didn’t bite, he just stood here in silence.

“We’ll give you some space,” Soryu says and they leave you alone. You both stood there, the cold air hitting against you making you shiver.

“Here,” Is the first thing he says to you and takes off him jacket, handing it to you.

“I don’t- I don’t need anything from you,” You manage but he doesn’t listen and wraps it over you, your inhaling his scent like you use to do. You looked at the man in front of you, he still looked the exact same, still as handsome as ever but there was something in his eyes, they looked broken and it pained you to see him like that. Before you could even think, your eyes began to tear up.

“You never came after me, did I mean that little to you? Did our relationship mean nothing to you? Did you even love me Eisuke,” You manage between sobs, all your confidence had washed away, seeing him standing in front of you made it feel like the events from last year was happening over again.

“I can’t take back how I treated you and what I said and I will never forgive myself for that, but I always loved you, always,” He replies, his stance softening.

“Then why! Why Eisuke, you took me down and doubted me, you made me feel so little accusing me of sleeping with every man who looked at me! I loved you, I loved you so much! I was so excited for our future, we was getting married!” You sobbed, you no-longer cared about crying in-front of him, you wanted to see the damage he had on you.

“Bella,” He softly whispered and took a step towards you, a hand reaching out to you but you rejected it.

“I never felt good enough, never and you made me feel I was! And then you came out with all that stuff and proved me right, that I was never good enough for you,” You yelled before he wrapped his arms tightly around you, you didn’t even struggle and sobbed into his chest. It felt comforting, it felt safe, it felt like home.

“You were never not enough for me, you were always better than me and you deserve the world, your perfect, beyond perfect, my life lost all meaning the day you left,” He whispers into your hair as he holds you tight to him, never wanting to let you go again.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I will never forgive myself and I expect you will never forgive me, but your just too pure and perfect for this world, it hurt me so much every time I saw anyone looking at you, I was so frightened you would leave me for someone deserving of you, that it ruled my life,” He adds as you press yourself to his chest. You could feel his heart beating rapidly, just like yours. He was so scared of losing you, he had pushed you away instead.

“Why didn’t you come after me?” You manage as you look up from his chest, seeing tears running down his cheeks.

“I imagined you never wanted to speak to me again,”.

“I didn't,”.

“You didn’t…”

“I missed you so much,” You sobbed again, giving yourself into his arms. You couldn’t stop yourself, the man who you loved deeply was here in front of you, apologising, something you had never seen Eisuke do before.

“I missed you everyday, I have never stopped loving you, I hate myself for what I did to you, how I treated you, how stupid I was,” He whispers, holding you so tight against him you though you might burst.

“I… I never stopped loving you too,” You slowly whispered back, looking up at him before you leaned up as he leaned down to kiss you. You stood there embraced with his jacket on, your lips meeting in a passionate frenzy as if you were making up for every lost minute. When you pulled away, his gaze was heavy on you and stood there in silence.

“I don’t know what you going to say, scream at me, cry, hurt me, just please say something,” His voice was broken, you had never seen him so vulnerable.

“I want you Eisuke,” You whisper and your lips re-meet. It was how you truly felt, the details and your relationship could be sorted later, but right now you wanted to be just with him.

He carried you in his arms up to the penthouse, neither of your lips breaking before he sat on the sofa with you in his lap.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” He was still apologising.

“You’ve changed so much, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you apologise so much,” You giggle slightly and finally see a smile form on his lips.

“I mean it, I will apologise everyday if I have too, I just never want you to leave my side again,”.

“I’ve changed Eisuke, I’m not the same woman who left,”.

“I know, I can see how much more beautiful you have become, you’ve blossomed into a truly remarkable creature,”.

“But more sassy, it would be nice to have someone to argue back with me, it became so lonely when you left,” A slight smirk on his face. There he was, there was the man who you fell in love with.

“Pft, like you handle me,” You say with a giggle, your once broken heart melting at his gaze.

“Well I guess I have the rest of my life to try,” He smiles and takes your hand, your fingers entwining as your lips meet once more. The kiss between you was desperate, trying to regain and claim each part of each other. Your free hand ran through his hair, the feeling of electricity and softness through your fingertips as he moved his hand to hold your lower waist.

Unlike every other time with Eisuke this was slow and gentle, you took your time together to appreciate each other's bodies, he was determined to kiss every inch of you ensuring to linger and leave sweet bites along your skin.

“I missed you so much,” He whispered against your skin as he eased your dress off you, resting your back on the sofa, him looking down and admiring your body. He was almost hesitant to touch you and you took his hand and slowly placed it on your exposed breast and guided the other one down your waist, showing him it was okay. His mouth came down to meet your breast, sucking, licking and nipping at you as other hand slipped below your panties, find your clit making you cry out instantly. No-one could touch you like he could, no-one knew your body than him. You could feel him trying not to smirk against you from your reaction and his fingers continued to swirl around you. His mouth trails down your stomach, leaving wet kisses and he spreads your thighs and removes your panties with his teeth, you almost came on the spot. He kisses his way up your thighs, his finger still teasing your clit as your back gently arches, your finger embedded in your own hair.

“Your still wet and perfect for me,” He whispered against your core before his tongue grazed against you, your hips instantly bucking.

“Christ, Eisuke!” You moaned, your eyes rolling to the back of your head, your finger now tugging at his hair. His tongue delved deep into you, hitting that sweet spot that made you curse his name. He throws your legs over his shoulders, allowing him to dive deeper into you, his fingers stimulating your clit.

“”E-e-eisuke-oh!” You whined, your back arching fully of the sofa as your orgasm hit you, releasing yourself against his mouth. He lapped up your essence, making groans against you before pulling back and undressing, the sound of his belt buckle undoing was music to your ears you had longed to here.

“You're still so sweet,” He whispered softly as he licked your juices from his fingers and lips.

“I imagined my fingers were yours every time I-” You said with a slight flush, you had been with no-one else since Eisuke, you didn’t care if he had been, you were together now.

“I haven’t been with anyone else, I couldn’t even begin to imagine it,” He reassures you as he strokes your face, his other hand removing his boxers as you feel his hot member pressing fiercely against you.

“Neither have I,” You say as he kisses you, cover your body with his as he settles against your spread legs.

“Are you sure about this, because I can stop now,” He whispers, guiding his member to you, his eyes full of love.

“I’ve never stopped wanting you,” And as the words leave your mouth he gently thrusts into you. Both of you moaning, your cheeks were flushed and your lips gently parted.

“Y-your so, ugh tight!” He grunts, taking his time to fill you before his waist is fully against yours. The feeling of him being inside you, made your skin burn with pleasure and your legs instantly wrap around his waist. He thrusted into you gently, take his time to lap the sensation of your tightness around him, sweet moans escaping from your lips. His hand interlaced with yours as you kissed, his hips gently rocking against yours, hitting the sweet spot inside you.

“Eisuke! Oh god there!” You cry against his mouth, your nails digging into his hand as your muscles begin to contract around him.

“I love you,” He groans as he continues to thrust, a layer of sweat across his forehead.

“I love you too” You manage as your back arches, your head thrown back and you shake as your orgasm takes over your body. Seeing you to the pleasure, Eisuke follows, releasing deep within you as he rides you both down. You both pant before he removes himself and flips you over, holding your body tightly to you to him, frightened if he lets go you will fade away.

“I missed that,” You giggle, out of breath.

“I could never get the feeling of you out of my head,”.

“Me either,” You say as you cuddle into his chest, stroking patterns over him chest.

“I promise to you now, I will never hurt you again, I will never take you granted or let my jealousy rule me again, you are mine now and forever,” He says as he presses a kiss to your head.

You lay in each other's embrace, enjoying your blissful afterglow, neither of you wanting to let go. You filled him on the year that happened, how you began successful by yourself.

“Your voice is just as beautiful as you are, I’m so proud of you,”.

“But I don’t know how long it’s going to continue, after Rikk tonight I think I might have lost my producer…”

“Then we’ll get you a new one, the best one, one who will know not to touch what is mine,” And you giggle at his reaction.

“I’ve always been yours,”.

“Here get dressed, I think the others will be back soon and I have something I want to talk to you about whilst we're alone,” He says, releasing you and you both get dressed. Eisuke disappeared for a minute whilst you were busy fixing your shoes.

“So what did you wanna - oh,” You say, your eyes lighting up as Eisuke had returned and was on one knee in front of you, your engagement ring held in his hand.

“If its too much I understand but I-”

“Yes!”

“Can I fin-”

“Yes!”

“Bella”

“Yes! Sorry, sorry continue,” You face blushed at your outburst excitement both of you smiling.

“I can’t bear to go without you for another minute, I want to spend everyday making it up to you and giving you the best life I possibly can,” You finally letting him finish.

“Yes! Yes!” You say with tears and hold your hand out to him as he places the ring back on your finger. He sweeps you up in his arms.

“We have a lot of catching up to do,” He smirks and carries you to the bedroom.

Since that night the pair of you became inseparable, appreciating each other to the max, giving each other your mind, body, soul and hearts. Rikk had been removed for the company due to sexual harassment, allowing you to be free to choose a new manager at your own will. You knew Eisuke and Soryu was behind him leaving as he hadn’t been heard of since.

Eisuke and you became an iconic powerful couple and everyone wanted a piece of both of you, ‘The Future Mr and Mrs Ichinomiya’. Your love for each other only grew stronger each day. Whilst a year apart had damaged you both, it also made you appreciate each other and your time you had, your love blossoming from the painful experience.

When your big day finally arrived, every media outlet wanted to cover it but it was strictly only your closest family and friends.

“You ready princess?” Baba asked, holding his arm out to you. Since your parents had passed away, you had asked him to walk you down the aisle, which he agreed to through tears being touched at your emotional request.

“You look so beautiful,” He manages with tears.

“Don’t you start! Your going to see me off,” You plead and take a deep breath before holding onto his arm.

The sound of the organ echoed through the church and you gently gripped Baba’s harm with excitement as you saw Eisuke standing at the altar before turning to see you. His face full of love as he mouthed “Perfect” to you as you made your way down to him.

“You know white is only for virgins right,” He whispers with a smirk into your ear as you stand beside him.

“Pft watch it Mister, I still have time to make my get away,” You giggle in response as his arms around your waist, holding you close to him.

“You're not going anywhere, Mrs.Ichinomiya,”.

With that you both follow through with your vows before exchange rings and kiss, sealing your love.

#kbtbb #kbtbb smut #voltage kbtbb #kbtbb eisuke #kbtbb soryu #kbtbb mamoru #kbtbb baba #kbtbb ota #eisuke ichinomiya #eisuke smut #voltage smut #voltage fanfic #love 365 smut #love 365 #fanfiction smut #kbtbb fluff #kbtbb angst

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kyungsoomint · 4 years

Text

YOURS: Emotions

credit to respective owners for photos

Member: Park Chanyeol (박찬열) / Byun Baekhyun (변백현)

Genre: Angst, Fluff & Smut (Later on)

Word Count: 3.8 k

Notes: So for this one, I tend to overdo it. I said to myself that I should stop but sometimes you just can’t :) Apologize for any mistakes made!

YOURS:

Next Update: August 9

Seoul, 3 months later

"Well I know that you need a car because you don't like people driving you around," her father said, "That's why I bought you a car" he extended his hand to give BMW's car key to her. "You don't have to dad, I'm fine with everything" she was deeply moved by another kind gesture of her foster father. "Oh please! I know that you love big car, SUV and you used to own an Audi. So I thought maybe, getting another SUV with the different brand seems like a fresh start for you" she was awed at the fact that he knows she likes SUV best more than a sedan. She was adopted by a couple, Kim Youngchul and Kim Eunkyung at the age of 7 years old. At that time, she wasn't even sure if someone wants to take her as their daughter and yet there they were raising her as their own child with all of the love and expensive gifts they bought for her. She was grateful for the fact that she's raised by a loving couple and also eager to pay them back.

It was 9 am when Baekhyun came into her office, with the biggest boyish grin she has ever seen "How's your flight yesterday?" he was leaning into the door frame. "It was nice, great weather with no air turbulence" she automatically smiled at him. Baekhyun is just that person that always brings up a smile on people. "Well, that's nice. Anyway, we have a board meeting in an hour. It'll be interesting to meet everyone on the board!" She was about to question him about the 'interesting' part but he quickly got out of her room after saying bye. She shrugged away her thoughts by continuing what her father has left her with pretty much already organized works. She happened to understand the way her father works, so it wasn't a big problem for her.

The meeting room was massive, pretty much designed for board or investors meeting. There was floor to ceiling window that brings light into the dark atmosphere. Black furniture mostly with some touch of black granite. "Good morning, Junmyeon" she greeted Junmyeon who just entered the room. Junmyeon was followed by a much taller man behind, that person sat in front of her. She would categorize as handsome as fuck sitting in front of her, that person didn't look familiar for her. In which, Baekhyun realized that they haven't got to introduce each other, "Oh! So this is Oh Sehun, our Chief Marketing Officer" Sehun then waved his hand, "Hello, I'm Oh Sehun. You must be (Y/N)!" His eyes were projecting excitement. She replied to his enthusiasm with a smile and non, just after that, Chanyeol entered the room. Not surprisingly, his aura radiated throughout the room. She knew even if he smiles, he will still radiate the same energy, the same dominant energy out of him. It's just simply not because he lacked smiling but there's that too.

The meeting started as soon as Chanyeol sat on his chair. They were presenting about weekly reports such as marketing strategy or how well the products received by their customers. Most of the time (Y/N) just took notes to understand the company more. She noticed the way Chanyeol was giving out comments to everyone, in most stoic yet dreadful ones. Whilst, Baekhyun smiled every time he talks about something. He seemed passionate about what he's doing, even if the CEO's not him. "Let's end the meeting here. Baekhyun, I want you to look out a more efficient way of producing the new product, something that doesn't lower the value" his brows were squinting together, "And, (Y/N) I need the weekly financial report by 3 pm. Please report to my office by then". Sure, it's very Chanyeol, she thought to herself. Only three hours to compile everything, she tried hard not to roll her eyes at him, well because of course, he's her boss for fuck's sake. She could see that Baekhyun was giving her an apologetic smile for his friend's usual behavior. It didn't shock her at all, she knew that even if she had so many experiences before, she still has to prove herself to Chanyeol. Man of an action not words, that's what he's. One thing for sure, she immediately thought that it's better to work for Baekhyun than for Chanyeol. She was also unsure why Baekhyun didn't take the role of the CEO since they started the company together.

Back at her office, sure the work environment that she's in made her think from important to the most unimportant stuff. There were lots of stuff going in and out from her mind from how good looking everyone is, how could you even manage to have good looking people with an amazing brain? And there's Chanyeol, she knew that Chanyeol was being skeptical of her. She wanted to prove to him that she got the position not solidly because her father too, she has great potentials, her performance used to be praised by the previous company. Sure if there wasn't her father, she wouldn't be here, but she crawled herself up into this peak point through sweat and tears. Even if she knew that she might lack stuff yet she's ready to prove himself to him.

While overthinking, suddenly Baekhyun entered the room with his fresh cologne blazing through the air. "Hello! How are you doing so far?" Baekhyun entered with a cup, where it seemed to be coffee? "You are gonna be used to Chanyeol" he continued with a smile "Here's a coffee for you, to get through the day". Baekhyun's surely a nice person, with a very bubbly life of course. He sat in front of her, "So, how's your first day?" Baekhyun placed his hands on the table and wrapped his fingers all together. "Well, it's nice to have some pressure and I'm also used to that" she took a sip out of cup and Baekhyun gave a sigh. "Chanyeol is always like that in the first place, eventually he will warm up to you. I can guarantee you that, he wasn't even like the idea of my existence, look at we now" Baekhyun scrunched his eyebrows together, "Hmm, he still hates me sometimes but I do know sometimes what he shows outside doesn't reflect what he's feeling inside" Baekhyun turned into a big grin kid. She returned him with a smile, "You two almost look alike, the fact that I talk much more than the two of you, that horrifies me" Baekhyun pretended to look scared of her. "You talk a lot, Mr. Byun, that's why probably I talk lesser than you" Baekhyun huffed, "Why is everyone keeps on telling me that? But surely those who said that love me" Baekhyun winked at her which earned a laugh from her. Baekhyun sure is a silly person, she thought to herself. "Okay then, I'll disturb you again later on, just because you have a report to be done in 1 hour" Baekhyun went out from her office. Baekhyun sure was loud and talkative but he's the person that will light up the mood for the room. She kinda liked that about him, he made her feel easier to work here by having those types of vibes.

She made her way into Chanyeol's office 5 minutes before 3 pm, she hasn't been inside but she saw his office while her father and Junmyeon were showing her around the office. She met his secretary in front, if she wasn't wrong, his name's Jaejin. "Sir, Ms. Kim is here to hand over the report," he said through the phone. "You can go inside Miss" he was giving a polite smile to her. She went inside his office and she mesmerized by the black interior of his office. Sure, black does give a feeling of safety and comfort to her. His office faced the busy street of Seoul with ceiling to floor length glass. It's almost dark yet warm experience at the same time. Everything in his office seemed to be nice and well designed. "Do you find my office that interesting?" Chanyeol broke the silence which made her jump a little bit because she was so focused looking around. "I love black, so I should say that is place is nice and interesting. I love the ornaments, everything in this place seems nice and comfortable" she turned around to have a good look at his office while smiling. She suddenly realized what was she doing and feeling embarrassed, she handed him the report he asked earlier. "Here is the report you ask, 3 pm sharp, sir", Chanyeol shot his head up after hearing the word sir came out of her mouth "Please call me Chanyeol, as colleagues, I think sir seems too old for me" well, once Chanyeol actually smiled. That was the first time she sees him smile whereas, he rarely showed any emotions before. She was amused to explore that side of him which made her slip out a little back. She tried to gain composure as soon as possible while Chanyeol turned his head into the report. He scanned the report pretty fast, "Impressive work for such a short amount of time" he placed the report at the side of the document that he was signing before she got there. "Working under pressure is my forte", Chanyeol raised an eyebrow at her and leaned back into his leather comfy chair. "Well, you will be looking forward to more of that in the future, you good to go" she gave him a nod and turned her heels around to exit his office. "I almost forgot", she turned to face him again, "Tomorrow, we are meeting one of the key investors. I need you to go with me, 11 am" there was what she would call as a bossy attitude with calmer vibes getting out of him. He used phrases that someone would take as a bossy/possessive person yet that person talks with confidence and calm energy. "Sure, where?" She questioned him. "Don't worry, I'll drive you there" he replied. "Well, okay then" she walked out of his office and realized the fact that he said he'll drive her there.

The rest of the day went by quickly before she realized that the sun has set itself for more than 1 hour where everyone has gone home. As she walked out of her office, she noticed that light still coming from the corner of the big hallway, that's where Chanyeol's office located. Out of curiosity, she made her way down to his office. His secretary was nowhere to be found so she straight out knocking into the wooden black door. She sneaked her head through the door, "Aren't you going home?" She was curious knowing that having a black-themed office at daylight is awesome, at night, well it's scary. "I usually go home around 9 pm, if you are curious" there was a slight flush coming out from her cheeks, fortunately, Chanyeol's office was dark at night so she believed that he couldn't see it. She hummed, "Thank you for the information" she almost wanted to roll her eyes. "Have a good night" he replied with a nod and left his office. Chanyeol could hear the clacking sound of her heels fading out, almost how he heard her approach his office before, the same Valentino black heels. He was taken back by her sudden visit into his office, but like always he plays it cool. After she left his office, she was questioning herself about her unexpected visit too, clearly, auras were clashing. She wasn't the type of person that could be dominated nor was he. So there's a reason why and also she won't be easily be scared of someone. Mainly that's the reason why she was brave enough more than other people to stop by Chanyeol's office, peeping through the door and asking stuff that most people didn't do.

Seoul, the next morning

"I love driving. Also, I love off-road big SUVs. I hope that's sufficient enough to answer your questions" Chanyeol said which answered most of the questions going through her mind. They were standing in the lobby when a grey metallic G-class Mercedes Benz approached them. Unimportant thoughts started to flow through her mind, quite unexpected for a CEO to use G-class since they usually use S-class or such and of course, they don't drive by themselves. She was shocked and amused at the same time by Chanyeol's impromptu answer. "It's written within your face, don't people do that a lot to you?" He said as they were already inside the car. "No. Pretty much not a lot that can identify or find within me" she replied which earned a nod from him, the car fell into silence mode. Chanyeol sure didn't do much of the talking, when he does, he's really good at it. There was an instant urge coming from her, something that she wanted to ask, "Do you know that you radiate that sort of dominant energy all the time?" There she spat it out, in front of her new boss. Chanyeol turned his face to her for a second but she failed to notice because she was looking out of the window. "Does that bother you?", she hummed in response to him, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Chanyeol lightly tapped into the steering wheel, "We both know that we have the same energy going. Doesn't it always bother people like us?" There he said 'us', she was taken back by his use of describing her and him. He seemed to take a lot of interest only to the company and himself and him saying that seemed like a different world. At the same time, Chanyeol didn't realize the word he's using was something he didn't usually use as for people to people conversation. After that, the car ride fell into silence again. She could say that Chanyeol's very interesting person and you could say much like him to her too.

They returned to the office around 1 pm, whereas the work has pilled up alongside with a crumbling stomach. Suddenly, Baekhyun perked up from the door. "Hello!" His voice sounded very energetic like always. "I know you haven't got to eat lunch yet", Baekhyun placed a brown paper bag into her desk, "So I bring you some salad with sesame dressing". Her lips formed into an 'o', "Wow, how do you know?". Baekhyun sat in front of her desk while opening his own salad, "I called Mr. Kim to ask about what kind of dressing you usually have?" He said with a playful smile. She mixed the dressing and salad together, "And why are you doing that?". Baekhyun tried to answer her but failed miserably since his voice was getting muffled by a mouth full of salad. "I said, It's because I want to impress you of course" he then proceeds to stuff more food into his mouth. "Well, it's impressive, thank you Mr. Byun Baekhyun" Baekhyun continued the rest of the lunch with endless topics like he wasn't going to run out of it anytime soon. She found Baekhyun as a very interesting and outgoing person, she talked to her almost like he has known her for such a long time as if they have been friends for years. "So last Sunday, I went cycling at the park and I almost face plant myself into dog poop, as I said almost, I think it's within 2-3 centimeters from my face" Baekhyun made a 'yuck' sound. She let out some light laugh and packed the finished foods into the bag again. "I'm looking forward to more stupid stories", he gave her continuous nods "Sure thing", he gave a wink and went out from her office. Baekhyun's a fun person to hang out with, time went by fast with him.

Weeks and months went by as she has fully adjusted into the company. Chanyeol has taken her to more key investors for financial report presentation. One time she thought that Chanyeol was very keen to keep her busy not only behind the table. The more she worked with him, the more she understood him. That day was another day of investor meeting, "I'm going to drive today, not you" she took the lead out of him without hearing Chanyeol complained behind her. They made their way into the basement where (Y/N)'s car was parked. "I didn't know that this is your car, the car that somehow always park next to me?" Chanyeol was amused to know that the car that's always park next to him, which is also an SUV was droved by (Y/N). "Yeah. How about that?" She opened the car door and both of them got inside. "You were surprised to discover that I drive such a car and now look at yours, it's massive." For once, she really got to roll her eyes at him, "I'm sorry, did you just roll your eyes at me?" Chanyeol has fully turned his body to face her. "Weren't you being judgemental at me?" He continued. As the car approached into the street, she then proceeds to face him, "Then, I'm sorry, sir". Chanyeol proceeded a huff of disagreement, she knew how much he hates to be called that from the directors, "What did I say about the sir, I'm not that old". Her eyes were focused on the road, "In my knowledge, I know one thing for sure that you are older than me, sooo" there was a slight smirk forming from her lips, "using sir sometimes does suit you".

"I love driving big SUV, I used to drive one too in NYC" she broke the usual car ride silence which earned her a nod from Chanyeol. "Isn't driving SUV makes you feel you can see everything clearer and better?" It hit her at the perfect spot, "YEAH RIGHT?" Her voice was louder than he has ever heard before. "Sorry, you were startled weren't you?" They were stopping at the red light, "There are of course many things that I don't know about you and that one counts". There was a sudden urge coming from her that wanted to say well you too not so different. It was around 5 pm when they arrived to have the meeting. That's why the sun has set when they finished. "Let's grab something before I drop you off. I'm guessing that you are a picky person, regardless I'm still picking the place" she said before Chanyeol was able to cut her. "Impressive, you don't even need my opinion" Sure she could sense his sarcasm well, "I do need to impress my boss still" she shrugged. She stopped at a parking lot, "I see nothing here" Chanyeol said. "Of course we need to walk it's a narrow street, cars can't get in" they got out of the car and walked side by side, which was awkward yet comfortable as the night summer air blazing through.

"You thought, I'm going to take you to some fancy restaurant right? Nope," she said as she scooped the soup with rice into her mouth. "I'll say that I kinda like it" sure, of course, he liked it, the restaurant has been here for what? More than 30 years? "I might drive BMW, wear expensive clothes but let me say this, I like this type of food. Right here" a smile escaped from her lips, for once she saw tenderness from his big round eyes. She quickly drifted her gaze back into the food. "I'd like you to take me places," Chanyeol said which made her shot her head up again, back at him. Then, it hit him "I MEAN RESTAURANT like you know, foods, nice foods" he almost shouted and struggled to find the right words. It was followed by a nervous laugh from him which laugh's also rare when it comes to Chanyeol. "Sure, it's not like I'm going to resign tomorrow" she gave a cool shrug, masking that inside part of her was scrambling like crazy.

She drove back to S&S Co. Building where the time was 10 pm already. Surprisingly, they found out that they have already closed the access to the basement. "Shit, I forgot to tell them that my car's still inside" Chanyeol pressed his hand into his forehead thinking what a dumb shit fuck he is. Of course, (Y/N) would feel bad if she just left him there, "I can drive you home" Chanyeol was still trying to get hold of his assistant, "I can grab a taxi, that's fine" which earned a disapproval huff from her. "No, I actually insist on doing it since you pay for the food before I can!" With that, she hit the gas and drove away from the building. Chanyeol sighed at his defeat, "Now, where do you live?". "You need to turn right" he pointed out into the street. "I-Park Samsung" those words alone brought her head to face him. "I-Park?" And Chanyeol replied with a nod. "What tower?" She asked more and more to fulfill her curiosity because she lived there too. "102. Why you ask?" The more she asked the more relevant it's to her. "What floor?" She continued to ask him, "Floor 45" fortunately, she was stopping at the red light. She quickly glanced at him, she wanted to know whether he knew she has been living on the same floor with him or not. Chanyeol was giving her a confused look which means he didn't know. The thing's there are only 2 units on the 45th floor. "I'm not sure whether you know or not. But I live there too, same tower" she released one deep sigh, "same floor. Which means we have been neighbors for months" Chanyeol's eyes widened, "I thought you are living with Mr. Kim?" He questioned. "Fun fact of me, I like to live alone probably because I spent much time alone abroad" little did she know that Chanyeol understood what she's talking about yet he didn't expect her to live next to him. It was thrilling yet exciting to know who's your neighbor, knowing that her neighbor's not a psychopath or some sort of crazy person. But the fact that the person's Chanyeol embedded more meaning.

The next day, she offered to drive him into the office. It was weird coming out from the door at the same time while entering the door and seeing the same person too. But Chanyeol was polite he actually said thank you at her. Another rare thing she experienced. As she got into her office, Baekhyun burst into her office with a maroon suede suit. "I just want to inform you that" he took out his phone and show an image at her, "In two weeks, we will have the 8th anniversary of S&S. This year we are throwing a party at one of the Clubs owned by us. You need to come" Baekhyun said excitedly. She could only reply to him with a yes following with nods. "Good, now I have to do some works" Baekhyun left her office. She was left with her own thoughts, shit, a party? How long has it been since the last time I went.

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sunriserose1023 · 5 years

Text

Unexpected (6)

WORD COUNT: 5246 WARNINGS FOR THE SERIES: THIS IS AN AU; unplanned pregnancy, pregnancy symptoms, language, angst, fluff, sexual content, flashbacks, medical descriptions/procedures, emotional crap; more warnings will be added as the series progresses.

Masterlist Read this series on Ao3 HERE.

The One Where It All Starts to Unravel

“Miss Potts, can I speak to you a moment?”

You blinked as you looked up from your desk, then nodded at your boss. You pushed your chair in after you stood up, smoothing a hand down your blouse and walking into Phil’s office. He nodded at you when you walked in and you shut the door behind you before taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

Phil sat in his chair, putting glasses on his nose as he rolled the chair closer to his computer. He typed on the keyboard for a moment while you chewed on your bottom lip. After a few moments with nothing but the clicking of they keyboard as any noise, you spoke.

“Am I being fired?”

Phil smiled, continuing to stare at his computer.

“No, Y/N. You’re not being fired. We just … ah, here it is.”

He turned his computer screen to face you, taking his glasses off his nose as he sat back in his chair. You scooted to the edge of your seat, scanning the screen, eyes widening as you read.

“He’s coming here?” “And he wants to meet you.”

Your eyes widened even more.

“Me?”

Phil smiled at the squeak of your voice, nodding his head.

“He’s very impressed with your work, Y/N.” “How does he even know about my work?” “All the offices send him weekly updates. Our numbers have been outstanding lately, which I guess merits a visit from the big boss.”

You slowly nodded, swallowing at the rumble in your belly. You prayed you wouldn’t throw up all over Phil’s office, and he gave you a smile.

“This is a good thing, Y/N. You’re an excellent worker, and it’s time you got some recognition for that.”

You smiled, and Phil tossed his glasses aside.

“I’m meeting with him tonight, and he wants to meet with you around seven on Friday.” “Friday night?”

Phil met your eyes.

“Is that a problem?” “No. No, it’s not a problem at all, it’s just …”

Phil smiled.

“Call it a business dinner.” “Not a date?”

Phil chuckled.

“I can say he is very interested in you, Y/N. This could work out very well for you and our little office.”

You pushed a smile onto your face as you heard the words Phil didn’t say.

“So don’t screw this up.”

You nodded, and Phil tapped the arms of his chair.

“So I can tell him you accept?”

You swallowed, pushing down the guilt crawling up your spine. You raised your head, giving Phil a smile.

“Yes.”

You stepped into yours and Bucky’s apartment that afternoon, dropping your purse on the table and stepping out of your shoes. Your feet were killing you, and your legs were sore because of near-constant leg cramps so bad they woke you up in the middle of the night. You walked to the couch and sat down, putting your feet up beside you and sliding until you were laying on one of the pillows Bucky still didn’t understand how or why had appeared on his couch. You closed your eyes, opening them again when the door opened, then closed.

“Oh, hey.”

You sat up, seeing Steve set his bag down and open the refrigerator. You raised an eyebrow and he smiled at you when he turned to face you, bottle of water in his hand.

“You okay?” “I just got home.” “Tough day?”

You shrugged, then sighed. Steve motioned back towards the refrigerator and you shook your head. He walked over and sat beside you on the couch, setting his water on the coffee table in front of you and pulling your feet into his lap.

“Steve, I—“ “Hush.”

He started rubbing your feet and you collapsed back on the couch, closing your eyes and groaning.

“Oh my god, you’re an angel.”

Steve smiled, digging his thumb into the arch of your foot, watching your toes curl. He licked his lips, moving his hands up your ankle, to your calf. You almost came off the couch, sitting up as his hands hit a particularly sore spot.

“You okay?”

You shook your head.

“Don’t stop.”

Steve swallowed, but continued with his ministrations. You squeezed your eyes shut and groaned, biting your lip before you spoke again.

“I get these … awful leg cramps in the middle of the night. My legs are so sore but … god, that feels so good.”

Steve let out a breath, tilting his neck to the side as he continued massaging your calf. You moved to lay back down, giving a hitched sigh.

“Talk to me.”

Steve glanced at your face, relaxing when he noticed your eyes were still closed.

“What about?” “Anything.”

He smiled, changing his motions to massage back down your leg, licking his lips when you gave a soft moan.

“Had a kid turn in a paper today that was word-for-word plagiarized from his older brother’s paper I graded last year.” “Is that really plagiarism, or is it just changing the name and turning in my brother’s paper?”

Steve smiled.

“Either way, he’s failed. He was failing anyway, but this is just the icing on the cake. Now I’ve got to file a report and turn it in, have a meeting with my boss…”

He shook his head.

“Whole lot of hassle for a kid who had a ton of potential, but is more interested in smoking pot and hanging with his friends than to go to class.” “Oh, to be nineteen again.”

Steve shook his head.

“Nineteen was rough for me.” “Tell me about it, Grandpa.”

He gently pinched your toes and you laughed. He smiled, shaking his head, and you relaxed into the couch as Steve switched feet. You sighed, speaking softly.

“Kids are dumb. They do dumb things, but I think they have to, in order to get some sense.” “Yeah, I agree. It’s just hard to see a kid like that ruin his future when all he needed to do was put in a little effort.” “What’s the stupidest thing you did as a kid?” “Ran from the cops on prom night.”

Your eyes flew open and he laughed.

“Are you shitting me?” “Nope. You can ask Bucky.”

Your mouth hung open and he gave another soft laugh.

“Bunch of us were doing shit we shouldn’t have been. Nothing like drugs or anything, just stupid kids being stupid. Cops came and we took off running. I was captain of the cross-country team, so I outran my ‘friends’ and got away with it. Or so I thought. When I snuck in my room that night from the fire escape, my ma was sitting on my bed with one of the cops standing beside her. Turns out, he’d been a friend of my dad’s and recognized me.”

Steve shook his head as his hands slid up under your knee.

“He tore my ass a new one, and when he was done, my ma picked up where he left off. I never really understood the phrase about putting the fear of God into someone until that night.”

He smiled as his hands massaged your calf.

“Honestly though, the kids I was hanging out with were bad news. Nick probably saved my life doing what he did that night.”

Steve glanced over, saw that you were asleep on the couch. He smiled, continuing to gently massage your leg.

“My dad died before I ever got to know him. The only dad I ever knew was Bucky’s, and he treated me like his own. I want to be a good dad to our kid, Y/N.”

He let out a quiet breath.

“Maybe I should go pay Nick a visit, get him to teach me how to do that look that scared the shit out of teenage me.”

Steve set down the leg he’d been massaging, turning his body slightly to watch you. He kept your feet in his lap, grabbing a blanket off the back of the couch and draping it over you, picking up the remote from the coffee table and turning on the news.

You were sitting on your sister’s couch, staring into space, clutching a pillow to your chest when she walked into the room. Pepper raised an eyebrow, tying her robe and crossing her arms over her chest. You continued to stare, until she made her way to you and bent until you were face-to-face.

“Earth to Y/N. You in there?”

You smiled, blinking and meeting Pepper’s blue eyes. You shook your head as she walked into the kitchen, and you noticed the sun beginning to rise through the window. You sighed as Pepper spoke softly.

“Can I make some coffee?”

You swallowed, but nodded.

“Go for it.” “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?”

You smiled again.

“Bucky brought a … friend over last night. A very enthusiastic one. And she was still … showcasing her enthusiasm this morning. I had all I could take.” “Bless you. I’d have had all I could take a long time ago.”

You shrugged your shoulders.

“Bucky’s amazing. Especially with all of this. He knows a lot about babies.” “Well, he would, with the baby factories that his sisters became.”

You gave a soft laugh.

“Two sisters with seven kids between them.”

You shook your head and Pepper spoke again.

“Everything else okay?”

You nodded, but at the silence that followed, she raised an eyebrow. She walked around until she was standing in front of you.

“Liar.”

You rolled your eyes, but smiled. You let out a breath and Pepper walked to sit beside you.

“What is it?”

You sighed, turning to face her.

“The owner of the company I work for has a business proposition for me.”

Pepper’s eyes went wide.

“The owner?”

You nodded.

“He wants to discuss it over dinner.”

Pepper blinked.

“Like a dinner meeting?” “Like he and I discussing whatever it is over dinner.”

Pepper blinked again.

“Like a date?”

You blew out a breath.

“I don’t know.” “Y/N.”

You looked to her, eyes narrowing at the shocked look on her face.

“What? Is it so shocking to imagine a guy wanting to take me to dinner?” “You’re pregnant.”

You raised an eyebrow.

“So?” “So … you can’t date this guy.” “Because I’m pregnant?” “Because you’re pregnant with Steve’s baby.”

You shook your head.

“They don’t know that at work. And it could just be a business thing.” “Not if you’re sitting on my couch at the crack of dawn.”

You sighed, looking down at your hands.

“Why shouldn’t I go?” “Because.” “Because why, Pepper?”

She shook her head.

“You know why.” “So, what, I’m just supposed to give up my life now? No more dates for me?” “It’s weird.”

You glared at your sister.

“What? That I’m pregnant?” “That you’re pregnant with Steve’s baby but dating someone else.” “I’m not dating anybody. Certainly not Steve.” “Why not?” “Because he hasn’t asked?”

Pepper blinked.

“So you would be dating him, if he asked?” “That is neither here nor there.” “Oh, whatever.”

You slammed the pillow down, then got to your feet.

“This is ridiculous. I don’t even know why I’m here or why I told you.” “Because you know it’s weird!”

You glared at her as she stood up, crossing her arms over her chest. You huffed out a breath, then shook your head.

“He’s a nice guy. It’s just a business dinner.” “It’s a date, and you know it.” “I have nothing holding me back from doing this.” “What about Steve? What about the flowers he brings you constantly, or the food he goes and gets for you? The movies you sit and watch all the time?” “Or the way he goes home when it’s over?”

Pepper sighed and you shook your head.

“He hasn’t even tried to kiss me.” “That’s not—“ “I’m ten weeks along, Pep. It’s been a month since we all found out and nothing has changed.”

Pepper’s eyes widened.

“Are you kidding me? ‘Nothing has changed?’ Do you have eyes?!”

You shook your head.

“Just forget it.”

You turned and walk away, ignoring the sound of your sister calling after you. You ignored her, walking back across the hall to your apartment, throwing the door open and groaning.

“Oh, Christ.”

You covered your eyes with a hand when you encountered Bucky and his friend, eating breakfast while standing at the counter, neither of them wearing a stitch of clothing. You shook your head at his stammering, marching into your room and slamming the door behind you.

The door that you wrenched open half a minute later when you ran for the bathroom to throw up.

You stepped into the apartment after work that day, walking straight for the couch and sitting down on it. You huffed out a sigh, kicking off your shoes and laying on your back, staring up at the ceiling. You heard the door open, then close, and you made no move to leave the couch or even sit upright. A few moments later, Bucky’s face appeared in your vision.

“Hello.”

You smiled.

“Hi.” “Rough day?”

You sighed.

“I don’t know.”

Bucky nodded, moving to push the coffee table out of the way, then lying down on the floor beside the couch, his head near yours. He rested his arms beside him, staring up at the ceiling like you.

“We need a skylight.”

You closed your eyes, unable to stop the smile.

“Because the apartment needs more natural light?” “No, so at times like this we can make shapes out of clouds.”

You smiled, not understand why tears came to your eyes at that. Bucky lifted a hand, and you pressed your palm against his, squeezing your eyes shut when he entwined his fingers with yours.

“Talk to me, Mama.”

You sighed.

“Can you just listen and not judge me?” “Of course.”

You opened your eyes and sighed again.

“There’s this guy at work.” “Does he have a name?”

You pursed your lips, then answered him.

“Thor Odinson.”

Bucky was quiet, and you rolled your head to the side, only to see his blue eyes wide as he stared at you. You blinked, shaking your head and he spoke.

“You’re shitting me, right?” “You’re said you wouldn’t judge.” “Yeah, I’m not judging you. That dude’s name, I can judge all day. What kind of parents name their kid ‘Thor?’”

You rolled your eyes.

“That is not the point.” “So what is?” “I’m getting there.”

Bucky held up the hand not currently holding yours.

“I’m sorry. Go on.”

You huffed out a breath, staring up at the ceiling again.

“We talk sometimes, on the phone or over Skype. He’s a senior executive.”

You closed your eyes, making a face.

“No, that’s a lie. He’s the owner of the damn company.” “No shit?”

You nodded your head and Bucky gave a low whistle. You blew out a breath before speaking again.

“He’s nice. Charismatic. I can’t tell if he’s English or Australian, but I love his accent.” “Cute?” “Total dreamboat.”

Bucky made a gagging noise and you giggled. You sighed, then spoke softly.

“He said he has a proposition for me. Wants to discuss it over dinner. Like a business dinner.” “Are you going to go?” “I don’t know.” “So that’s why you’re in here staring at the ceiling?”

You nodded, and Bucky was quiet for a moment before he spoke again.

“Why wouldn’t you go?” “Because Pepper thinks it’s slutty for me to go on a date with another guy while I’m pregnant. But it’s not a date. It’s a business dinner.” “Not to detract from you, but do you know how many ‘business dinners’ I’ve gone on in my life?”

You snorted.

“Yeah, but those weren’t business. You just wanted to get in the girls’ pants—Oh, I see what you’re saying.”

Bucky gave a quiet laugh.

“But that doesn’t necessarily mean Thor is the same way. Maybe this genuinely is a business thing.” “That’s what I’m saying!”

Bucky shrugged his shoulders, giving your hand a squeeze.

“You’ll never know unless you try.”

You nodded, but stayed quiet. After a few silent moments, Bucky gave your hand another squeeze.

“What?” “I just … I don’t know.” “No, don’t cop out. Tell me.”

You sighed.

“I feel guilty about it.” “Why?”

You gave a shaky laugh.

“I don’t know.”

You groaned as tears filled your eyes. You let go of Bucky’s hand and sat up, covering your wet eyes with both of your hands.

“I’m so goddamn emotional lately and it’s killing me.”

Bucky gave a soft laugh, then sat up, laying a hand on your knee.

“Hey.”

You shook your head and he gave your knee a squeeze.

“Come on, pretty girl.”

You blew out a breath, then lifted your head to look at him. He gave you a soft smile.

“Talk to him.” “What am I supposed to say?”

Bucky shrugged his shoulders.

“The truth? You’re going out with this guy for a business thing. Is there an attraction there? Maybe. Could this blossom into something else? Perhaps.” “Buck, I’m just going into this to see what the job is. I’m not offering to bear his children.”

Bucky lifted his shoulders, a frown on his face.

“You’re sort of already working on that with someone else.”

You gave a soft laugh, shaking your head.

“You’re cute.” “It’s literally my job.”

You laughed again, holding out your hands. Bucky stood up, then took your hands, helping you stand.

“Whoa, careful.”

You closed your eyes, hand going to your forehead as the room swam before you. Bucky’s hands were on your hips, holding you steady, then helping you sit, a quiet groan escaping your lips as a wave of dizziness crashed over you.

“Breathe, honey.” “I think I got up too fast.” “You’ve got twice your regular blood volume running through your veins. It’s easy to get dizzy.”

You smiled, keeping your eyes closed.

“I thought Christine was the medical one.” “Well, Christine doesn’t have two sisters who have taken it as their mission to double the population of Red Hook.”

You gave a soft laugh, waiting for a moment before blinking your eyes open. You took in a breath and let it out slowly, then glanced up at a concerned Bucky.

“You alright?”

You nodded, giving him a soft smile and laying your hand on his wrist.

“I’m good. I promise.”

Bucky leaned down to kiss the top of your head, then made his way into his bedroom. You sat back against the couch, giving a sigh as you closed your eyes.

You made your way from your apartment to the subway, riding it as far as you could. You stopped by a coffee shop, then grabbed a taxi and rode it to Brooklyn College, where Steve taught. The campus was gorgeous, and you took your time walking through it before finding the building that housed Steve’s office. You smiled when you saw his door was cracked open, soft jazz playing in the background. You knocked on the door, pushing it open, smiling wider when Steve’s head raised from where he was bent over his desk. A wide smile came to his lips when he saw you and he jumped up.

“Hey, buddy.”

You smiled, handing him one of the cups you held in your hand and he gave a groan of thanks as he leaned to kiss your cheek. He took a sip and winced, surely at the heat of the coffee, but still gave a soft noise of approval.

“I needed this. These papers are putting me to sleep.”

You smiled as you sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

“Maybe the professor shouldn’t choose such boring topics.” “Maybe the kids could do something other than reword the textbook. No one has any original thoughts anymore.” “Oh, I bet they’ve got some original thoughts. And I bet they would get kicked out of class for writing them.”

Steve narrowed his eyes at you and you giggled. He shook his head, white teeth peeking out from behind his beard as he smiled.

“You’re so right.”

The two of you laughed and you glanced down at your hands. You’d had an uneasy feeling the whole ride over, and it was only intensifying now.

“Hey.”

You looked up, meeting Steve’s blue eyes.

“You okay?”

You let out a breath.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

He smiled, sitting back in his chair and lacing his fingers together, resting them on his stomach.

“I figured as much, since none of you ever come visit me at work.” “It’s just so far from the city.”

Steve rolled his eyes and you smiled, then sighed.

“There’s this guy at work.”

You were staring at your hands, so you missed the way Steve’s eyebrows perked up. He sat up straighter in his chair, hands moving to grasp the armrests.

“He’s … jeez. It’s his company that I work for. He owns it. Anyway, we’ve talked a few times before. He, uh … he apparently has a business proposition for me and he’d like to discuss it over dinner.”

Steve was white-knuckling his chair.

“Like on … on a date?”

You looked up, meeting his eyes, which were now a stormy blue. You slowly nodded, then shook your head.

“No, it—it’s a business dinner. We’d be talking business the whole time.” “While he bought your meal? Just the two of you?” “Well, it would be on the company’s tab.”

Steve blinked as he looked around his office. His mind was churning and his chest felt tight, but he couldn’t say why. He licked his lips, then loosened his grip on the chair. He shook out his hands under his desk, then met your eyes.

“Why are you telling me this?”

You shrugged your shoulders. Steve swallowed, taking a sip from his quickly-cooling coffee.

“Do you want my permission?” “No. I mean … I don’t know. This is weird.”

He slowly nodded and you looked up to meet his eyes.

“Do you think it’s a bad idea?”

Steve swallowed down the YES he wanted to yell. He didn’t want you going anywhere with anyone, especially not to a “business dinner” with a guy you work for. When he didn’t answer, you spoke again.

“If you think it’s a bad idea, I won’t go.”

He met your eyes, then glanced down at the papers spread over his desk. He picked up the coffee cup, draining the rest of it, praying you couldn’t see that his hand was shaking. He licked his lips as he set the cup back down, then smiled at you.

“I think you should go.”

Your eyes widened just a bit and he shrugged.

“It’s a chance to further your career, right?”

You nodded, and he gripped the armrests of his chair again.

“And I mean, it’s not like you have anyone holding you back. We’re not together, so why should it matter?”

The look that crossed your face for just a moment sent an ache through his heart, but you quickly schooled your face into a cool smile.

“Right. You’re … yeah.”

You looked down, blinking quickly, then pushed to your feet.

“I better let you get back to grading. I’ll see you at the appointment in two weeks, right?”

Steve flashed you a smile, leaning back and tapping the calendar on the wall, where a green heart marked the day.

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

He picked up a pen and you walked out of his office, the smile falling from your face as soon as your back was turned. You quickly made your way out of the building, the tears not falling until you felt the sunlight on your face.

Steve, meanwhile, set his pen on the desk and rubbed at the ache in the center of his chest, wondering why he suddenly felt bereft as soon as you were out of sight.

“So should we get right down to business?”

You glanced up from the menu at the man across the table from you, looking dashing in his suit and tie. You’d never really been into guys with long hair, but the man in front of you could definitely pull it off. You managed to tear your eyes away from his honey-colored locks as the waiter walked up, and the two of you placed your orders. He didn’t try to order for you—because nothing irritated you more than that—and once the waiter had left, Thor turned back to you. He lifted his eyebrows and you smiled, nodding your head. He smiled as he spoke.

“Okay. Here’s what I was thinking. I know you like your job, because I’ve spoken with your supervisor and a few of your coworkers. They all had nothing but glowing things to say about you. Your work is impeccable.” “Thank you.”

You could feel your cheeks warming, and Thor gave you a smile before he went on.

“I’m starting another company and I’d love to promote you.”

Your eyes widened.

“In the new company?” “Absolutely. You know the ins and outs of the company right now, and your expertise could be put to good use in the new start-up.”

You blinked.

“I don’t know what to say.” “Well, I haven’t exactly told you everything.”

You raised an eyebrow and he sighed.

“The new company is in Paris.”

You blinked as your mouth fell open.

“Paris?”

He nodded, and you spoke again.

“As in Paris, France?” “I’m afraid so.”

You stared down at the table and Thor reached across it, taking your hand.

“You don’t have to answer me now. I don’t need to know your answer right this second. Take some time. Think it through.” “Thor, I—“ “Please, Y/N. Just weigh your options.”

You blinked a few more times, then nodded. He gave you a dazzling smile, letting go of your hand as your food arrived at the table. Your mind was churning so much that you missed Thor’s question, looking up only when silence roared in your ears. You felt your cheeks begun to burn.

“I’m so sorry, what?”

Thor smiled.

“Would you like a glass of wine? Some other cocktail?”

More than you could imagine were the words you wanted to say, but they didn’t leave your lips. You smiled.

“No, thank you, I don’t drink. Water would be fine.”

Thor nodded at the waiter, mumbling under his breath.

“Will you do me a favor, darling?”

You met his eyes and nodded.

“Forget about business for the rest of the night. Let’s just … get to know each other better.”

You smiled and nodded, ignoring the twinge in your chest those words brought.

The rest of the night flew by, and when you’d refused the taxi, Thor insisted on walking you home. He wanted to know all about you, where you’d grown up, your family, where you went to college, your friends. You felt like you were lying to him by not telling him about the baby you were carrying, but you didn’t feel very guilty about that.

No, the guilt came with every other breath, and with the fact that Steve was the one and only thought in your mind.

You stopped outside your building and smiled up at him.

“This is my stop.” “Very nice. Is it true that your new brother-in-law owns this building?”

You smiled.

“Hate to say that’s just a rumor. He does own the floor where our apartments are, but the rest of the building belongs to someone else.”

Thor shook his head.

“You can’t trust anything you hear these days.”

You laughed, then turned to face him.

“I had a good time tonight.”

A smile lit up his handsome face.

“As did I.”

You looked into his eyes for a long minute, glancing away at the sound of a horn honking down the street. You looked back to him, going to open your mouth and tell him the truth when his lips were gently touching yours. His hand moved to rest against your cheek and you pulled back, keeping your eyes closed.

“Y/N?” “I’m so sorry.” “Oh god. No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have … I just thought—“

You shook your head, laying a hand on his arm.

“You’re a wonderful man, and I had a great time tonight, but …”

He let out a breath, a smile playing on his lips.

“There’s someone else, isn’t there?”

You felt the tears rush to your eyes as you nodded and he kept smiling.

“I knew there had to be someone. A woman like you isn’t one to remain single for long.”

You blinked and he lifted your hand to his lips.

“I’m sorry I missed my chance.” “Thor—“ “The job offer still stands.” “I can’t move to Paris.”

He nodded at your whispered words, then smiled at you once more, giving your hand a gentle squeeze.

“It’ll always be there, if you ever need it.”

You blinked, going to shake your head, but he turned away, letting go of your hand and putting his hands in the pockets of his coat.

“Have a good night, Miss Potts.”

You watched him walk down the street until you couldn’t see him anymore and you lifted a hand to rest against your belly as you let out a shaky breath. You turned to the building, stopping when you saw a bouquet of flowers sticking out of the trash can near the door. You sighed, smiling at Peter the doorman, who was singing and playing air guitar as he opened the door for you. You shook your head, humming along to “Rubberband Man,” going up on your tiptoes as you walked to the elevator, ready to get to your apartment and take your shoes off. You pulled your phone from your bag, tapping it against your hand before typing out a message.

Are you busy? I think we need to talk.

The elevator opened and you stepped into it, biting your lip as you looked back at your phone, then sent the message, waiting for the read receipt to pop up, waiting for the three little bubbles to appear at the bottom of the message.

But they never came.

You walked into your apartment and slipped out of your shoes at the door, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. You heard Bucky’s bedsprings bounce and you made a face before taking your water and your shoes to your bedroom.

You changed into your pajamas, turning on the television to drown out Bucky's headboard banging against the wall. You crawled into your bed and pulled the covers up, staring at your TV to see what was on. You grabbed your phone, eyebrows crinkling when it appeared that your message hadn’t been read yet. You tapped the phone against your hand, then dialed Steve’s number.

“Hey, you just missed me. Leave a message and maybe I’ll get back to you. If you’re lucky.”

You smiled.

“Steve, it’s Y/N. I, uh … I think we need to talk. I’m free tomorrow, since it’s Saturday, so just text me and let me know what’s up. I … okay. Bye.”

You giggled as you hung up, shaking your head at how stupid you know that message was. You snuggled down in the bed, closing your eyes as sleep overtook you.

TAGS: @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan, @captain-rogers-beard, @captain-s-rogers, @alexfayer, @rhiisnotawitch, @janeyboo, @zlixlle, @aurorasinger, @katielu-blog, @sandlee44, @iamwarrenspeace, @sebbystanlover-vk, @sofipatey, @poemfreak306, @teainaukgarden, @godhateskyleigh, @kaylaphantomhive, @vivalaplutonium, @katecupcakekate, @thatgirl-xx-thatgirl, @renalilo, @astrid345, @theonelittleone, @sebbytrash, @bionic-buckyb, @dudahmautner, @allyp1023, @nerdgirljen, @ashrod98, @rednamrahc, @ghostly-balloon-collector, @theplaidshirtmadness, @pagan-geek-girl-4-life, @itzmegaaaaaaan, @tumariposaroja, @thefanficfaerie, @wintersoldierswhore, @nerdy-bookworm-1998, @nuvoleincielo, @unapologeticallymimi, @shhhs3cret, @sea040561, @reginaphalange2403

#unexpected series #marvel au #marvel fanfiction #marvel reader insert #marvel crossover #marvel x friends crossover #friends #friends to lovers #steve rogers x reader #reader insert #female reader #phil coulson #steve rogers #bucky barnes #pepper potts #thor #Thor Odinson

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ruffiorocks · 5 years

Text

Long post about the reasons Lena sold Cat Co.

FYI very Anti James Olsen, and not very Kara friendly either. You've been warned 😊

This makes me sad, even though it was obvious Lena would sell Cat Co. What's heart breaking about it is Lena was essentially driven away from her own company.

Remember when Kara was ghosting her at the beginning of season 3? She only came back to Lena when she needed her for something, ie. Help with Cat Co. What did Lena do? Lena FREAKING brought it!

Kara "no! Edge has Cat Co!"

Lena "no... I brought it" - Lena hesitates when she says this as though she isn't sure how Kara, who has recently been a jack ass to her would react.

She then gets more confident and says

"pretty bad ass right" - she sounds so pleased with herself and is expecting Kara to be happy.

Kara? Basically says she quit. She came to Lena for the first time in ages to rant and rave, complain and then basically ask her to help sort it and Lena DOES! But Kara seems to forget all of this and just quits het job.

Lena is shocked and is like

"well unquit!! I can't do this without you! I don't know anything about running a media empire"

Kara, like she can't be arsed and didn't just get what she went to Lena for says "well neither do I". It's so dismissive, and it's bullshit since she does know how that stuff works to a point because she was Cat Grants FREAKING assistant! Kara was waaaay more qualified than bloody James "I take pictures of my posing best friends" Olsen.

This here just proves that Lena would have had second thoughts about have brought Cat Co if she knew at the time Kara was going to quit. She clearly thought Kara would be there to help her run it.

Lena also says "how often do you get to work with your best friend" it's so cute, and so sad. Lena was looking forward to working with Kara.

Fast forward to the end of the Episode and Kara has a realisation that Lena Luthor is a God Send and did EXACTLY what Kara wanted and couldn't give a rats ass she quit and decides being a"boo hoo my boyfriend is gone so I can no longer be the person I was well established to be before he showed up" Emo is ridiculous.

So first day at Cat Co and the elevator opens up to Lena and she looks excited and then meets Eve, who to be fair (even though we know what happens) is actually the nicest person to Lena the whole time she's at Cat Co and that includes her best friend and boyfriend.

James is shocked she dared show up to her own business without informing him, he then has the gall to say they don't have an office ready for her, erm.... James? Cats office is now HER office! Every office in Cat Co belongs to Lena now. He just assumes he's still running things and says he was thinking about weekly updates. Lena who is clearly used to men telling her how to run her businesses and setting her aside tells him there's no need and she will be there every day. James again is SHOCKED his new BOSS is going to be at her the place she spent $750 mil on 😑

Kara shows up and to begin with is a little love who gives Lena a diary and basically calls her family. But then Immediately runs off the moment Lena asks her to do something.

Kara does this more than once and Lena asks James what's she's doing and James dismisses Lena's question with a snotty "she's a reporter! It's what she does!" Seriously rude!! I don't give a rats ass she didn't tell James she was turning up and she did tell Kara. She had a reason to tell Kara, she wanted to work with her and trusts her. She had no reason to tell James, she has every reason to turn up and check out the buisness and how he's running it without him or anyone else dressing it up because the boss is there.

Lena is an understanding angel and even though Kara is ignoring instructions and being rude Lena isn't rude back. When Kara pushes it past the limit Lena has no choice but to reprimand her. Kara took full advantage of Lena here, thinking she could just do what she wanted because that's what she has been doing with James running things. News flash Kara, Lena isn't in on why you ditch work every 5 minutes.

Kara realizes she's been an ass and apologizes and Lena, understanding as ever immediately forgives and they hug it out.

Later Lena tragically gets involved with James even though he was pushy and handsy when she said she didn't want to do anything without talking to Kara first, because Sister's before Misters! She dotes on his ungrateful ass and he puts her whole business at risk by meeting and working with the COL which she told him not to do. Which she is FULLY entitled to so as his boss. He of course ignores her, she gets him a TV appearence to talk with Ben Lockwood which would boost his career and putCat Co in a anti COL light but noooo... Apparently Lena has no say in work matters! Did you read that correctly? Lena has NO say in WORK MATTERS!! why didn't she fire his ass on the spot?!!

So James, only caring for his ego and wanting to be relevant since no one ever remembers he's Guardian feels that hanging out with terrorists is more important than his job as the face of Cat Co, putting Cat Co at risk. To further put Lena's business in jepordy he picks KARA the junior reporter to take his place?!! Kara?? There wasn't a fully qualified journalist with more experience available? Well that went to shit anyway because Ben Lockwood destroyed Kara in that debate.

James nearly gets himself killed, nearly gets Kara killed, nearly commits an act of terrorism without any regard whatsover about what Lena, a LUTHORS association with the poster boy of the COL would look like, no regard for her hard earned reputation and no regard for her business.

James even humiliates her further by making her look whiny at Thanksgiving dinner in front of all their friends, even though 5 seconds later his little Field Trip with the COL proves how clueless he is since he didnt even realize what they were doing. He basically praised the guy he was with and thought he was on to something. What... A... Dumb... Ass!!

Remember James also revealed himself as Guardian, a STUPID idea that serves Virtually no real purpose, but Lena was supportive because she's an angel!! But he's a dumb ass and thinks he is above the law and thought HE of all people was able to stop the DA from going through with the charges against him for being a vigilante. James ACTUALLY thought by doing NOTHING he had fixed the problem, like the authorities just forget these things?

He decides going out as Guardian is a good idea even though no one needs him to do this and he serves no real purpose as Guardian. But Lena because she isn't a moron, tells him he WILL go to prison. He insults her and says she worries to much and he sorted that issue. Here Lena finally tells this jack ass that she solved that issue and what was his response to her declaration of love and not wanting to see him go to prison or die? "If you think that's what love is, I don't want it!" And he leaves her in a corridor to awkwardly go back into Kara's loft, humiliated.

James goes all Ross Gheller and invades Lena's space at L Corp after she told him she was busy and thankfully she kicks his ass out!

He pretends to be on board with her Harun El ideas and uses this to get her into bed, only to sit up looking awkward about it while she sleeps. (Jesus my 34 brother watched this and was like 'he basically lied so he could sleep with her)

James considers using Lena's own resources to investigate her?!!

Lena thankfully dumps his ass and stops coming to Cat Co.

Now here's where its really relevant:

Kara and James basically run Cat Co without Lena to the point she doesn't even show up anymore. Harun El experiments aside, Lena no longer feels excited to be working at at Cat Co on a new adventure with Kara. Plus why would she want to see James??

Kara basically ignores Lena as Kara but she treats her like absolute garbage as Supergirl. Then returns to her as her bestie Kara. Lena was up to this point unaware she was being duped. Lena even makes a comment to Kara when she FINALLY decides to remerge as Kara Danvers that Kara hasn't been there at all but Alex has.

Lena finds out that Supergirl asked Lena's BOYFRIEND to spy on her and betray her trust which he actually does do btw, then he sours things even further between Lena and Supergirl by revealing it?? What purpose did that really serve? And NO! Do not tell me 'he had to be honest' what he HAD to do, was not break into L Corp in the first place!

Now we have Alex reprimanding Supergirl for being an ass to Lena and they come to a shaky truce.

During this time Lena and Kara get close again by trying to track down Lex and then Lena and Supergirl have a few bonding moments. Kara, however let's Lena think she's been blown up for a good few seconds!!

Now Lena finds out that Kara has been lying to her this whole time, it was Kara who treated her like garbage as Supergirl, Kara who interfered in her personal relationships. It was all the other super friends all lying to her. Etc etc. She even saw Kara burning all the pics Linda's cell so Lena won't find out. She learns all of this from Lex of all people! This just tells Lena that Kara never trusted her, second guessing why they are even friends? Realising Kara tricked her into revealing personal feelings she would Never have told Supergirl to her, yelled at her, called her a Luthor and then came back to her as he shoulder to cry on oh and let her think she had died.

Yeah..... I wouldn't want to work at Cat Co with ANY of them either. No way is Lena going to want to work with James and Kara (I know James is leaving) and be the one paying their wages.

Lena was Virtually driven from Cat Co by James and Kara even before she learned the super secret. She was never really treated with the respect she deserved as their boss, and the thing is she never demanded it, she only pulled rank when they were being jack asses and thinking they were above being told what to do, acting like Lena being the owner and boss meant nothing.

Poor Lena's enthusiasm for working at Cat Co with Kara died very early on. Mostly thanks to both James and Kara. All that joy and optimism she had? It's all gone. 😢😢

So I'm glad she sold it!

#supergirl #lena luthor #anti kara danvers #anti james olsen #cat co #lex luthor #eve tessmacher

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loveseungs · 5 years

Text

irony p. ii

a/n: heck here it is i just love words dont i also note: tumblr is being BadTM and broke all links so if u want p 1 just pls search for it on my blog

↠ pairing: lee felix x reader ↠ word count: 13.07k ↠ warnings: female reader ↠ genre: fluff, angst, soulmate au ↠ part: one, two ↠ summary:

In a world where soulmates exist, love is still a gamble.

Bus rides home were usually filled with white noise and thoughts about work. But there was something about the steady pitter-patter of the rain and the hazy blur of life around you that lead you to plug in your earphones and listen to music.

It was tormenting. The catchiest beats were also the saddest ones, making your heart swell up at every relatable lyric. It was as if Spotify was playing with the strings of your heart, plucking them like an instrument every time a song about heartbreak came into your queue.

You were stuck in a state of paradox. The more you tried to forget, the more you tried to erase him who was in your heart, the more you remembered. You hated him because you knew that you couldn’t truly bring yourself to hate him.

Timing never seemed to be right with the two of you. If only you’d discovered that he was your destiny a few years later, maybe everything would have worked out, but since you found out a little bit too early, the problem then became you being too late to tell him.

A full year had already passed, and it felt like time was stretched. Graduation seemed so long ago after the ball started rolling on your career life. Once you moved to Busan and getting a great albeit stressful job, so many things just seemed to have happened. You convinced yourself of the fact that this was life now, and if this was all you were going to get, you were going to make it as spectacular as possible. Moving on from the mess that was Lee Felix was dealt and done with, however, it’d be a lie if you said you didn’t think about him every once in a while.

Twelve months ago, your arm was always covered in ink. The week you stopped talking to Felix, that’s when they started to appear. A thousand little messages written on your arm every single morning was what you had to wake up to. You’d seen your fair share of ‘I’m sorry’s and ‘I miss you’s, but you weren’t taking any of it. You knew that if you dared to reply once, even just once, you knew you’d just get hurt all over again—it was not something you were willing to risk, even if those annoying writings on your arm caused you to buy more long-sleeved shirts.

Gradually, their appearances lessened until the messages stopped altogether. Something about the absence of the all-too-familiar handwriting finally settled the fact that he was all but a memory that you were to leave in the past.

Occasionally, there were times that the memory of him would be jogged once again, like on this particular bus ride home. Truly, the blame was to be put on the meaningful lyrics and solemn melodies.

Chhhh. This was the part where you got off the bus and shook whatever bad vibes you were feeling out of your mind. This was not the time to feel sad. Not today, not today.

“Oh, you’re home already. How was work?” your grandma greeted from the kitchen, the sound of sizzling oil faintly echoing through the house.

“Shall I tell you over dinner?” You pursed your lips into a smile. “Or do you want to be spoiled? Just a hint, today was fantastic.”

“Well, if that doesn’t tickle my fancy. If you’re gonna start it off like that, sweetie, you might as well just tell me now,” she answered.

You entered the kitchen with a dramatic stride. You stopped for a second to pose, then you took a loud, deep breath. “Your grandkid made it, Nana. I, [L/N] [F/N], have been promoted to the Assistant Brand Manager of the department. Boss said I get a bonus on every third Friday of the month. Isn’t that something?”

“My, my. Won’t you treat your old woman out for dinner one of these days, since you’re now swimming in money? I’d love a steak, dear,” she smiled. “I’m only joking. I am so, so proud of you, darling! We need to celebrate! Come give me a hug!”

You wrapped your arms tightly around your grandmother. “Agh, I’m beyond elated! Shall we go somewhere special?”

“Would you care for some wine, perhaps? I’m cooking beef, so I think it would taste great. Set out the table outside, let’s enjoy the evening breeze. Let’s talk more about your promotion later. Who’s going to take your previous spot on the team?”

“I don’t know,” you admitted. “Boss said there were some very promising newcomers, and I can only hope they’ll be a good addition and not a downfall to our team. Did you know that our department is one of the most productive ones? Ever since the PR department waged war on us, our productivity rate has doubled in number.”

“Why would you want to wage war on other departments? Mustn’t you work together for the better of the company?”

“Yes!” you replied. “It’s mostly to see who can boost the company’s sales better. We usually compete when we do our weekly reports to the boss. I think Boss secretly knows about the Marketing-PR war because he hasn’t said a word about any of our shenanigans, even if we blatantly express our friendly rivalry. There’s a small scoreboard in the conference room to tally which department did better that week, and it’s updated by the secretary. Boss didn’t order it to be put there, but he hasn’t said anything about it either.”

“It sounds wonderful. That’s quite a great way to promote efficiency in the company,” your grandmother commented, plating the dishes she had prepared for dinner.

“I know! Rumor has it that Boss is planning a company outing where all the departments will go on a head-to-head competition. I don’t know the details, but my co-worker said that she heard it from the janitor who heard it from the secretary,” you went on, “anyway, I’ll save more of the talk for later. Where do you keep the candles? I’ll put some outside as I set the tables.”

“In the left-most wooden drawer—no, not that one. Yes, that one. Glad to hear that work is good for you, honey. Makes me very glad.”

How could you stop a smile from making its way to your face? When you stepped into work the next day, you wore a grin like an expensive article of clothing.

“Somebody’s cheerful today,” your co-worker, Yugyeom mentioned, looking up from his desk. “what’s with the happy demeanor, [Y/N]?”

“Can’t I revel in the fact that I’ve finally been promoted?” you answered, taking a seat at your desk.

“Come on. There must be something else that’s up. Did you get a boyfriend? Meet a soulmate? Win the lotto? Your smile’s so bright, I think I’m going to go blind.” He rolled his eyes.

“No! Gross, I don’t have time for things like that,” you huffed. Leaning in, you whispered, “Listen. There’s a newcomer that’s going to be added to our team. Apparently, he’s from the Daejeon branch of the company, and he’s being transferred here to the Busan office because apparently, he did very well. Do you realize what this means for us? If we get another good employee, we’ll have one more person to help tackle PR on the scoreboard.”

“Damn, girl! Talk about competitive!”

“You know you’re excited, too.”

“Okay, fine. I am. Let’s teach this newcomer to help us in the quest to out-produce PR.”

“Morning, guys,” a familiar voice greeted. You and Yugyeom stood up to bow to your superior.

“Morning, Chan,” you greeted back.

“Woah, no ‘Sir’ for you, huh, [Y/N]?” Yugyeom snickered.

You hit him playfully. “I’ve known Chan since high-school. He’s the one who told me not to call him ‘Sir’. Anyway, is it true that the newcomer’s a good one? Gosh, I can’t wait. This is like fresh meat for us, you know? Do you know his name?”

“How do you know he’s a guy?” Yugyeom asked, raising a brow.

“Heard it from the janitor. Swear the janitor knows everything. Need info? I can get it for you. The janitor makes a pretty good friend,” you explained. “Anyway, like I asked, Chan. Do you have info on him?”

“Actually, [Y/N], I don’t. The Chief of Staff has yet to introduce me to him, which is kind of surprising. But to be fair, I’ve been out on business trips lately, so I’m not all too shocked,” Chan explained. “I hope this person is what make him out to be. Oh, speak of the devil.”

“Hello, all. Good morning. As you know, I’m Mr. Park, Chief of Staff, and I’m here to bring to you the latest addition to your team. As some of you may have heard, he is from our Daejeon branch and is a very capable man. I hope you will all take care of him.”

Chan took one glance at you to make sure you were doing alright, but all he saw was your jaw suspended in the open air, eyes wide.

You felt everything and nothing all at once.

“Everyone, this is Lee Felix, and he will be in charge of product marketing.”

You slammed the door to the office pantry behind you, Chan following inside. As you finished downing an entire cup of coffee, you sputtered, “How could this have happened? Chan! You’re like, the only person who knows what happened between Felix and I during high-school and college!”

“I swear, I didn’t know!” Chan defended, handing you a glass of water to calm you down. “I’m just as shocked as you are, alright? Drink this.”

“Is the world seriously against me?” you grumbled, burying your face in your hands. “Just as things have been looking up, he walks back into my life just like that! Here! In Busan! Where I purposely went so that I could get away from him!”

“Calm down, [Y/N]. Let’s sort this out. But you have to promise me that you won’t let your personal problems get in the way of professionality. I know you’re in shock, but let’s try not to let this get the best of you. Remember, PR’s been on the top of the leaderboard for two weeks straight, and we really need to step up our game,” the older boy spoke, rubbing your shoulder reassuringly. “We’ll try to fix this, yeah?”

“Dear goodness, I sure hope so,” you muttered, setting down the second empty paper cup as you looked at the office through the pantry blinds.

“I knew Felix had a job in marketing, but I didn’t know it was for our company, nevertheless did I expect him to end up here with us. I thought he got hired back in Seoul,” Chan commented, also watching the newcomer through the blinds.

“Right?” you sighed. “What on this good, green earth am I going to do know? I’m going to have to engage in conversation, you know?”

“Well, I suppose you can’t hide from him forever. After all, he… is your—”

“God, Chan. Don’t say it, please. Please don’t remind me,” you begged, shoulders going down in a slump.

Just like that, your joyful morning mood was dampened like the imminent grey clouds on a sunny June day, and now you were left with a situation you couldn’t run from.

A couple of days passed and you successfully avoided having to make any contact with Felix.

Surprisingly, things weren’t as bad as you had expected. You only had to do that obligatory bow when you greeted each other in the hallways, but that was it. You could not have it any other way.

“So… how’s stuff? You doing okay?” Chan asked one lunchbreak, grabbing his chopsticks from the lunch tray.

You gulped the rice in your mouth. “Could not be better. Can you believe it? One week went by without anything more than a couple of seconds of eye-contact and a bow.”

Yugyeom, who was sitting beside you, squinted his eyes. “Wait. Who are we talking about?”

“Uh,” you began, shooting a glance at Chan. “N-No one important, really. Just this person I met.”

“What, blind date outside of work?” he asked.

“No, I don’t have time for dates.”

Your co-worker gave you a goofy smile. “Aw, sucks for me, I just lost my shot.”

“Gross, Mr. Kim!” you laughed.

“I’m joking, I’m joking. Anyway, what’s your soulmate link?”

Great. The taboo question. It was cool, it was cool, you were chill, you were chill. “Oh, uh… why? What’s yours? Have you met your soulmate?”

“I’m a late bloomer, I guess. Lots of my friends have met their soulmates already, but my link says I’m still meeting my soulmate in… a couple of months. I’d show you the tattoo, but no one can see it anyway,” Yugyeom shared, taking a bite of his lunch. “How about you? I asked you first.”

“It’s a drawing link. Whatever’s drawn on my skin shows up on my soulmate’s or vice versa,” you said quietly, sipping your water. “But I’m not too hung up on the soulmate idea. Did you know that Chan’s real lucky? He scored a jackpot. Have you seen his girlfriend? She’s super nice. She and Chan are like the older siblings I never had.”

“Hey, but it was hard. You know, I had such a hard time with visual projects back in school before I met her. I had to keep asking my friends to tell me if my presentations looked good because really, I couldn’t tell. If I worked on them alone, they’d probably have the color scheme of ugly sweaters. So glad I can see color now, or else I probably would have a difficult time here in the company,” Chan chuckled at the thought. “By the way, she’s asking if you wanna come over some time for dinner. She misses hanging out with you, you know.”

“Oh for sure. How about this Saturday evening? I need to tell her about the recent news. Unnie’s gonna freak,” you asked Chan while you noted the schedule down on your phone.

“Hey, I thought you were gonna help me that evening with the project Boss assigned us?” Yugyeom piped up. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna cancel!”

“Relax, Mr. Kim. Let’s do that over lunch. No need to worry,” you told him.

Just then, you felt a gentle tap on your shoulder and you turned around hastily, wiping your mouth.

Standing there with a hand at the back of his head was He-Who-Shan’t-Be-Named.

“Uh… Ms. [L/N]?”

‘Ooh, never thought I’d hear my last name roll off his tongue. Whatever, that’s to be expected,’ you thought.

“Sorry to bother you during lunch, but I need you to look over some paperwork that you submitted. Some of it wasn’t completed,” the freckled boy announced, handing you a folder.

You raised a brow. “Have I not? I could have sworn that I checked over these twice. I never submit incomplete paperwork.”

“A-Ah, is that so? But look here, there’s a blank space.”

You scanned the papers in your hands thoroughly. Glancing beside you, you inquired, “Mr. Kim, I thought this section of the paperwork was your job?”

Yugyeom took the folder from you. “What’s this? I didn’t send you the complete copy?”

“No?”

“Sorry, Mr. Lee. This was a fault on my part. It’s true, Ms. [L/N] never submits incomplete paperwork. I’ll have these files ready by 13:30, after lunch. Apologies for the inconvenience,” Yugyeom apologized, bowing.

Felix sported a polite smile. “Oh, it’s alright. I’m so sorry for the confusion, Miss [L/N]. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Um, you’re welcome.”

Caw. Caw. Caw.

“Well, I’ll be on my way. Enjoy the rest of your lunch, Ms. [L/N], Mr. Kim, Sir Bang,” Felix bowed, dragging his legs towards the opposite direction.

When he was out of sight, you leaned in to whisper, “If that wasn’t the most awkward two minutes of my entire company experience! I was doing so well up until this moment. I told you it’s best if I don’t talk to him!”

“What’s up with you and Mr. Newbie? You two know each other?” Yugyeom pressed, letting his chin rest on his hand. “Oh my. Don’t tell me—he’s the guy you went on a blind date with!”

“Lower your volume!” you scolded. “And ew, no! I already told you, I don’t have time for blind dates.”

“So give me a good reason as to why you’re apparently avoiding him!”

Chan came to the rescue. “Oh, we all went to the same high-school. [Y/N] and Feli—Mr. Lee used to go to the same college. She’s just had some weird encounters with him, is all.”

You nodded as if to agree with your superior. “Yup. Although don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to let it affect my work. Professionalism is professionalism.”

“Oh, is that right? Mm, didn’t know that,” Yugyeom answered, “anyway, let’s head back to our department. Lunch break is ending and I gotta fix this paperwork.”

The conference room door closed slowly behind as you and Chan made your way out from the most recent meeting. People from PR gave you both a smirk before heading towards their department. You clutched your fists in frustration and bore holes into their backs while stomping to the opposite direction.

“Just because they’ve gotten a lead on the scoreboard makes them think they can act like that, huh,” you hissed, rolling your eyes. “I swear, I’m working overtime this week.”

Chan placed a hand on your shoulder and stopped you. “Calm down, it’s gonna be alright, okay? Besides, we should be happy that they’re doing good for the company. Don’t get me wrong, I hate their department with my guts, but it’s nice to see Boss smiling at the good reports. But here’s the catch. Next week, we’re having the company outing. I’ve yet to announce it to the department, so keep your mouth quiet. I received the e-mail this morning, and it’s going to be held in Jeju island. There’s going to be lots of activities. Boss thinks it’s a good investment to have a fun company outing to, quote unquote, ‘promote bonding in the workplace’.”

You gasped and pointed at Chan. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“We get to totally mow down PR in competition?”

“The prize is yet to be announced, and yes. We’re going to kill it. Of course, that means everyone in the department has to double-time this week so that we can enjoy the outing without thinking of work. How’s the project I assigned you doing?” Chan questioned.

From behind you, a voice spoke. “Uh, sorry to intrude, but I couldn’t help but overhear you two talking about the company outing. According to Secretary Bambam, each department is going to stay in separate guest houses. Do you need some help, Ms. [L/N]?” Yugyeom brought up, joining in on the conversation.

“Help? For what?” you asked, raising a brow.

Yugyeom put a hand to his mouth. “Don’t you have some kind of uncomfortable business with Mr. Lee, the newbie? I don’t know, I thought you’d be bothered.”

“Mr. Kim!” Chan boomed. “Don’t let [Y/N]’s personal matters affect how you interact with the people on our team. The least we need is division amongst ourselves. Where even did you get the information on the outing? You’re not supposed to know yet.”

“Why hide it? As I was making coffee in the staff room, Secretary Bambam offhandedly mentioned it to me,” Yugyeom answered, holding his clipboard.

“I’m sure it’s not going to be so bad,” you reassured the two boys, heading over to your desk. “Thank you for the offer, Mr. Kim.”

“This is so bad,” you grumbled, throwing different articles of clothing on your bed. There were all sorts of knick-knacks flying around your tiny room, scattered any place a knick-knack could be.

Just then, the door to your room opened and your grandma stepped in, raising her hands in surprise. “Woah, woah, woah! What’s going on in here? Your room looks like a jungle of clothes! I said pack for your trip, not unleash the beast, sweetie.”

You let out an exasperated groan as you shut the door of your closet. “Sorry, grandma. I’m just a little stressed thinking about the trip.”

“Come sit,” the older woman insisted, patting the empty spot on your bed beside her. “Tell me what’s wrong. To think this trip is supposed to be a celebration for the numerous victories your company has been making these past few months.”

“It’s not the company, grandma,” you admitted, taking a seat beside her. “It’s…it’s just that I have to deal with being stuck in a house with someone I wish I didn’t need to be with.”

“Hmm? That’s strange, I always thought you to be one of the more amiable people at work. Are you not friends with everybody?”

You sucked in your breath and prepared for what was about to come. “There’s this one guy. His name is Lee Felix… and… he’s… my soulmate.”

“Oh my.”

Right then and there, you decided that you could no longer keep up the bubbling vexations you buried deep in your chest. From the moment you met him until the very moment those years of friendship ended, you told her everything, not sparing a single important detail. By the time you finished up your story, your face was puffy and your eyes were red. The nighttime breeze howled quietly in the background, enveloping you in a chill.

“A-And recently, I thought I was doing okay, but he decided to take another stride back into my life. I mean, it’s all good at work, but it’s been so hard to focus lately and I don’t know why. I know I’m over him, and I’ve resigned to not thinking about soulmates or finding love or whatever. But every time I see that damned face of his, things come flooding into my mind,” you sniffled, blowing your nose. Your grandma rubbed soothing circles on your back, listening to every word that you spoke. “It doesn’t help that PR is doing better than Marketing lately, and I can’t help but think that maybe I’m slacking off a bit or something.”

“Oh, sweetheart. Here, drink some water,” your grandma began, “if you’ll let me, may I share what I think about your situation?”

“Go ahead, grandma. I’m so sorry for crying.”

“Sweetie, no, don’t do that. It’s okay to cry. But you know, I think the reason why you’ve become so competitive at work, the reason you’ve been under a lot of stress lately, the reason why you hold anger in your heart towards Felix despite saying that you’ve moved on from him, even the reason why you always apologize for crying—all those reasons are the same. From what I’ve been hearing, I think you need to re-examine what’s really in there,” she explained, pointing at your left chest where your heart was. “Ever since Felix, you’ve blamed yourself for everything. Because you knew you got hurt, you sorta… how should I say this… resigned yourself into thinking ‘I’m never going to get hurt like that again’. You made that mistake, and you’ve been beating yourself over it for these past few years.”

“I-I have?”

“Honey, I have to tell you. It’s okay to make mistakes. It’s okay,” your grandma said, pulling you into a hug. “And honestly, I think the person who needs forgiveness most now isn’t Felix, but you. Forgive yourself, [Y/N]. It’s alright that you stumbled along the way.”

Your face crumpled. It was true. You felt so… so raw in front of your grandmother who saw right through you, who saw right through your heart. Everything somewhat fell into place, and you realized the reason you were hurting. And it felt good, to have finally admitted what you were hiding deep down for so long.

“So… what do I do now, grandma?” you asked, voice coming out as a choke. “What now?”

“It’s your choice if you want to, at the very least, tolerate him or let him go. Whatever you choose, know that I’m proud of you for taking those steps. Now go pack, it’s getting late and you’re supposed to meet up with the team early tomorrow. Please bring a jacket.”

“I will,” you replied, watching your grandmother get up and head out of your room. “Hey grandma?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Thank you.”

The sun was barely out, but you and your team were already outside the company building waiting for the van. The sounds of yawning and drowsy morning chatter filled the atmosphere.

Just before you left the house, your grandma left you some rice cakes on the table. A note saying ‘Eat well and enjoy <3’ came with it, helping you start your day off with a smile. As your team lined up to board the ferry, you bit into a rice cake, letting your teeth sink into the soft delicacy. Wow. It was beyond scrumptious.

The vicinity was getting a little bit warm as the sun began its ascent into the higher areas of the sky, causing you to remove the jacket you were wearing, As you tied the piece of clothing to your waist, you couldn’t help but notice a scribble on your left arm, just below your wrist.

‘Would you ever consider giving me one of your rice cakes? I’m so sorry, I saw you eating some and I haven’t had breakfast. It’s alright if you decide not to. I’ll wash off the ink with hand sanitizer.’

You jerked your head up, scanning the crowd for a certain someone. When your eyes landed on an all-too-familiar freckled boy, he reciprocated your stare with a sheepish smile.

You did a double-take. Should you forfeit your streak of barely having to interact with him or offer a rice cake to your hungry co-worker who would probably really need to eat something before leaving to engage in several tiring activities? Damn it, you knew he loved rice cakes.

Hesitantly, you shuffled over to Felix, who waved to you and bowed as you approached him. “Uh, good morning, Fe—Mr. Lee.”

“Hi, Miss [L/N]. Get my note?” the boy asked, pointing to your arm. Damn, you knew about his booming voice, but you’d forgotten just how deep his pitch was.

“The chicken scratch handwriting was quite hard to miss.”

“I’m sorry for using this particular means of communication. I just… I’m finding it a little difficult to talk to you, no offense.”

“None taken,” you answered, handing him a rice cake. “You’ll just really do anything for a rice cake, huh?”

In seconds, the poor rice cake was scarfed down. Felix wiped his mouth with his jacket sleeve. “I’m surprised you remember.”

“Like I’ll ever forget the reason half my lunch was always missing back in high-school,” you scoffed. “Here, you can have one more. I have more food in my bag anyway. Why’d you skip breakfast?”

‘Damn it, [Y/N]!’ you thought to yourself. ‘What the hell is up with you? I thought we agreed to just hand him a rice cake and leave?!’

“I live a bit far from here. I couldn’t miss the bus,” he answered, adjusting the neck pillow sitting comfortably on his shoulders. It was sort of endearing, how the neck pillow was themed to be a cute teddy bear design. Felix yawned. “And I didn’t sleep too well last night. Had to do some last-minute paperwork because somebody turned in their files late. Thank you so much, by the way. Your kindness will not be forgotten.”

“You’re welcome. And oh, I can imagine how awful that is. Late paperwork, I mean. I feel bad for nagging our co-workers to send me files, but in the end, it gets the job done, you know,” you replied, straightening your back. “Anyway, if that will be all, I’m just gonna—”

“Wait, don’t go!” Felix sputtered, grabbing a hold of your arm. He quickly released it, ears turning red. “A-Ah, sorry. I just wanted to ask you something about PR.”

“PR? Huh. Go shoot,” you mused, and you could still feel the burning spot where Felix’s hand collided with your arm.

“What’s up with this thing I hear about a Marketing-PR war?”

As you opened your mouth to speak, Chan interrupted you with a tap. “Hey, [Y/N], I need to borrow a pen.”

You fished for your trusty gel pen from your backpack and handed it to Chan, who began to look around and tick off boxes on his clipboard. Taking a peek at the clipboard, you saw that he was just doing a headcount.

“That’s our leader-nim, huh?” you teased, playfully giving Chan a nudge. He rolled his eyes.

“I’ll give your pen back later, I need it for a while. Go line up over there already, the van is leaving in ten minutes,” Chan answered, walking away.

Felix began to make his way to the spot that Chan had instructed you both to go to, and you followed right behind. As soon as he set his luggage down on the floor again, he turned to you. “So… Marketing-PR war?”

“Oh yeah,” you nodded, remembering. “It’s kind of a long story, but I guess it’s important to know the origins of the great Marketing-PR battle. I can tell you about it on the way, but only if you’re truly ready to hear the origins.”

“I mean sure. We’re spending a lot of time in the van anyway, so we have plenty of time to kill.” Felix suggested. “I’m so glad Boss booked the high-speed car ferry. A trip that would usually take five hours is cut down to two.”

“Good, good, sure. I only have so much downloaded drama on my phone to kill time. So anyway, since we have a lot to cover, I better start. It begins when Sir Park Jinyoung—not the CEO, the head of PR—gets one of Marketing’s most competent workers, Choi Youngjae.”

“Thank everything we’re here,” Yugyeom breathed, grabbing his duffle bag from the trunk. “I thought we’d never make it.”

“On the bright side, Mr. Lee finally knows the deep, dark past of Marketing and PR,” Chan mentioned, helping Yugyeom get his bags.

“Yeah, um, after we got interrupted like, ten times.” You rolled your eyes. “I could have told the whole story in one hour, but you kept cutting in and getting side-tracked. Did Mr. Lee have to know about the Ramen Incident?”

“Okay, fine, whatever. Let’s go settle in the guest house. Boss wants us to meet in the conference hall at 1:00 sharp. He’s going to brief everyone on the activities,” Chan retorted.

“Boss is here?” Felix questioned, tilting his head to the side.

“Yeah, he’s here to oversee the activities. Usually, he’d send the secretary, but since two entire departments are here, he came,” Yugyeom answered.

The four of you wheeled in your luggage into the cozy-looking cabin, which turned out to be more modern and restful that you’d expected. The inside was simple and minimalistic but sported a few home-esque touches. There were four bedrooms to be split between the team, but Chan had already assigned them. The girls would have the rooms upstairs while the guys would stay in the two downstairs. You were more than thankful to have a sensible roommate—her name was Jihyo and she was one of the more responsible ones on the marketing team.

“I’m relieved that we got here in one piece,” Jihyo commented, setting down her bags in the closet. “I’m surprised that Mr. Kim didn’t blow up the van.”

You chuckled. “Sometimes, I wonder how he’s even considered a grown man.”

“Right? Also, would you like some mosquito spray? I hear that it gets very bugsy outside,” she offered, holding up a bottle.

“How could I have scored such an awesome roomie? Thank you so much,” you grinned, spraying the product on your skin.

As soon as you both finished settling down, you made your way downstairs to meet the others. Once everyone was there, the Marketing team headed outside towards the conference hall, where your boss was waiting.

“Oh, nice. We made it first,” Chan mentioned, taking a seat on one of the plastic chairs.

You plopped down beside him. “Plus points to Marketing for being punctual.”

In a few seconds, a group of people started to pile into the venue one by one, and you recognized them as the terrible faces of PR. The engine of competitiveness was revving up as the minutes passed.

“Welcome to the long-awaited JYP company outing,” the one and only CEO boomed into the mic, “it’s nice to see that many of you were able to come.”

An applaud echoed throughout the hall.

“Anyhow, I’d not like to keep you here any longer. I’m sure that you are all famished by the travel and have not gotten the chance to eat a proper lunch yet. Worry not and let that be one of the driving forces for you all to give your best at the activities. The schedule is as follows: at 1:30 PM, the Relay Race will start. It will take around one to two hours, so I expect it to be over at around 3:00 PM. I will now announce the mechanics of the Race. Secretary Bambam, please flash the slides,” your Boss announced.

“Alright. You are now here,” he stated, pointing a laser at a spot on the screen. “Each team will go through a series of obstacles throughout the area. All these obstacles have been tailored to test your skills as employees, of course, as to not waste such a valuable opportunity to incorporate training and recreation. Some of these include creating a campaign for a product on the fly and trying to persuade me, who will act like a customer, to buy the said product. Each time you beat one obstacle better than the other team, you gain one point. Whoever gains the most points by the end of the Race gets quite the grand prize. At JYP, we don’t plan shabby company outings. At JYP, we allow our employees to have a chance at a fabulous prize, and this year, the winning department not only gets a delicious barbeque sponsored by our clients but also a bonus for next month’s paycheck.”

The entire hall erupted in cheer, everyone clearly enthused at the sound of the word ‘bonus’, which was just like an angelic choir.

“Right now, you all have a couple of minutes to plan out your strategies. Here are the list of ‘obstacles’ you will be facing, and I suggest you take time to assign your best people to the activities that they are most likely to do well at. At 1:30 sharp, Secretary Bambam will ring a bell and everyone should be off. Time starts now! Enjoy, everyone. See you at the finish line.”

You took one look at the screen in front and Chan was already motioning for your department to come and huddle.

“Alright, so for activity one, we need our most persuasive members. Ms. Park, Mr. Yang, I think you’d be most suited for that. Mr. Kim, I’m assigning you to face off in that dance battle,” Chan instructed.

“Are you kidding me?” Yugyeom shrieked. “Actually, you know what, sure. I’d rather do that than try to come up with a marketing scheme for Boss. Did you know I’ve won several awards for dancing in college? If I wasn’t in this company, I’d probably rocking the stag—”

“Not now! Anyway, Ms. Im, I’ll trust you to activity three. We all need to work together for activity four, then for the final activity—oh.”

Chan glanced at you, then glanced at Felix. You caught sight of that began to shake your head vigorously.

“Chan, whatever you’re thinking, NO.”

Your superior walked over to you and whispered, “[Y/N], we both know you and Felix can annihilate anyone in a three-legged race.”

“That was in high-school!” you defended, rubbing your palms together. “There’s no way—why is that activity even on the list?! Everyone knows the three-legged race is just so that people can poke fun at the contestants.”

“Think about PR winning that sweet, sweet bonus that we’re supposed to snag,” Chan tempted, etching a horrible image in your mind.

You did a double-take. “Fine, fine! But only because I hate PR’s guts more than I can humanely bear. Damn it.”

The score was currently tied, and it was down to the last obstacle: the dreaded three-legged race. ‘Of course this was how it was going to pan out,’ you thought to yourself, ‘because the universe hates me and loves to play with my life.’

While Yugyeom was busy bragging about his epic win at the dance show-off, you were bent down, tying a ribbon around your leg and Felix’s.

“Hey,” Felix began, clearing his throat. “Sorry you had to end up with me. I can tell you’re pretty bummed out.”

You whipped your head to him and your cheeks started to flush. “U-Uh, that isn’t it. It’s fine, really. Let’s just totally kill PR, alright?”

“You still got that three-legged race spirit in you?” he asked, stretching his arms. “Or has it withered away over the years?”

“I will never, ever give up my secret talent for three-legged races.”

“We’ll see about that. Wanna test it out? Let’s walk from here to there. No stumbling.”

You scoffed and nodded. In a few seconds, Felix found a way to snake his arms around your waist and a glare was quickly sent in his direction.

“What? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that this is the only way we can advance faster. Tried and tested, remember?” Felix piped up, adjusting his footing. “It’s how we beat that loser from Class B in high-school.”

“Alright already, let’s get this over with. Test from here to the water bottle?”

“Yup. One, two, three, go.”

Just like he said, the extra support from his grasp allowed for you both to move swiftly. It wasn’t long until you were able to reach the water bottle finish-line.

“See, told you.”

“Okay, contestants! Please make your way to the starting line now for the final battle, the tiebreaker!” Secretary Bambam announced over a microphone.

“How are you guys doing? You alright?” Chan’s voice came from behind you, causing you both to turn your heads in unison.

“Still got it, Sir Bang. The three-legged race has always been something me and Ms. [L/N] will always conquer with flying colors. Watch us win the department a bonus and a barbeque,” Felix grinned, giving Chan a thumbs-up.

“Can’t wait to see PR’s crushed faces. This is gonna be a breeze.” You saluted.

“Actually,” Chan started, leaning into a whisper. “You might wanna look over there. This is actually going to be quite close.”

Turning your head to the other side, you caught a glimpse of two familiar men. A gasp escaped your mouth.

“Wang and Tuan?!” you screamed, making Chan shoot you a look that said ‘shut-up’.

“What’s wrong with Wang and Tuan?” Felix questioned, head still turned in their direction.

You rubbed your temples in frustration. “Um, yes, you heard me. It just had to be the damned Wang and Tuan! They’re notorious for being one of the company’s most athletic individuals. We might as well surrender now because Mr. Tuan used to be in the track team back in the day and Mr. Wang once tried to match the speed of a moving car.”

“Hey, I used to be in Taekwondo! I have legs, Ms. [L/N]. Legs for days,” Felix replied.

“It’s indeed going to be a tough one, but we don’t know how well Mr. Wang and Mr. Tuan can run as a duo. For all we know, they’re amazing solo runners but terrible once their legs are tied together,” Chan encouraged.

“Nope.” You pointed at the two men who were jogging together in place. “Look at that coordination.”

“Okay, I hate to do this, but I know spite is the greatest motivator for you, [Y/N],” Chan started, balling his hands into a fist. “Remember when you were stressing over late paperwork the other day and wanted chocolate milk but found out there were none left in the staff room?”

“Yeah, and?”

“Wang took the last one,” Chan stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

“He didn’t.”

“Oh, but he did. When I went over to PR to hand in some files, I saw him sipping the last carton of chocolate milk.”

“That piece of scum,” you seethed, grabbing on to Felix’s waist. “That’s it, Felix. We’re taking them down.”

“Oh, we’re on first-name basis now?” the freckled boy asked innocently, putting his arm on your waist as well.

“This is war,” you declared, “we’re partners now. And today, we’re going to wipe off the dregs of society from this earth.”

Crackle. Crackle. A wave of heat kissed your face as a puff of smoke danced with the air. And the smell of charcoal was absolutely disgusting, but it was the single sweet reminder that everybody needed and deserved.

“Are we ready?” Yugyeom whispered, hiding behind your back.

“Let’s get cooking.”

Within seconds, the entirety of the Marketing team was scrambling to grab a hold of a piece of barbeque, hungry employees bustling left and right. After winning the competition, food was screaming to be devoured. It was three in the afternoon and nobody’d eaten lunch yet.

“Wait!” Chan cleared his throat. “Do we have drinks? I would like to make a toast.”

“Uh…” Jihyo drawled, eyeing the vicinity. “We have paper cups, but no drinks. Seriously? Who plans a barbeque with no drinks?”

“Doesn’t matter, I’ll go to the store. I heard it’s not far from here,” you offered, shoving your hands in the pockets of your jacket.

“I’ll go with you in a second,” Chan answered, grabbing a paper cup, “but before we eat, to [Y/N] and Felix! The ones who trampled over PR during the tiebreak! Raise a glass!”

A cheer erupted from everyone’s mouths as empty paper cups were raised in the air to honor the victory that belonged to the team.

“Oh, can I come with? There’s a couple of things I wanna buy, too,” Yugyeom asked, walking towards you.

“You guys go ahead, I’ll save you some barbeque,” Felix suggested, waving. “Congrats to us. Go get the team some refreshing stuff!”

The three of you made your way out of the area and onto the streets, searching for a nearby grocery or convenience store.

After what seemed like miles of walking, your feet finally brought you in front of a small grocery. You didn’t hesitate to walk right in and pick up a basket.

The humble store consisted of a few shelves with worn-out paint lined up neatly in rows and holding all kinds of snacks and delights. The gentle whirring coming from the back lead you to a clear refrigerator with different drinks, and pretty soon, the metal basket in your hands was filled with several bottles. These were piled onto the counter along with a couple bags of chips, courtesy a snacky Yugyeom.

“What?” he said when you started to eye him judgingly, throwing the chip bags on the cashier tabletop. “It’s for my midnight cravings and the trip back home.”

You rolled your eyes, handing the cashier your credit card in exchange for your purchases. After getting your card back, the three of you headed back outside. Chan stopped in his tracks.

“Wait, so from here, did we take a left turn or a right turn? Right, right?”

“Pretty sure it was a left turn, Chan.”

“What?! You two are crazy, we came from straight ahead! I saw that sign with the cute cats earlier.”

“Okay, Mr. Kim, we’re trusting you.”

“Just drop the honorifics already. It’s alright.”

A minute passed… then two… then five…

“This isn’t the way that we came from.”

“You know what? This is why we live in a technological world. Let me just Google Maps this,” Yugyeom scoffed, pulling out his phone. “Aaaaaand… it says my line was cut off because I forgot to pay the bill. Cool, cool. Chan?”

“I left my phone in the room earlier because I didn’t want it to be hurled around during the race,” Chan answered. “[Y/N], you?”

A trickle of sweat slipped down your forehead. “Phone’s been dead for over an hour. I used it to record Wang and Tuan’s devastated faces after the competition.”

“Um, excuse me,” Chan attempted, trying to ask an elderly lady for help. She waved him off, muttering something about dangerous strangers.

“Right, so we’re lost, no help, and completely foreign-looking streets. What could get worse?” Yugyeom mumbled all pessimistic.

The clouds rumbled above.

“Seriously?!” Chan breathed out, gesturing for you three to wait under the shade of the grocer’s storefront. “Situational irony? Isn’t this just fantastic?”

“Hold on,” you began, turning to the oldest of you three. “Chan, do you still have the pen I lent you earlier before you left? You said you needed to check attendance.”

“Oh yeah, as a matter of fact, I do,” he replied, fishing in his pocket for the said pen. “Here.”

You took it hastily, taking a deep breath before engaging in the one thing you had never thought you’d do in your lifetime. Flipping the cap open, you began to write down a couple of words on your arm.

“Hi, Felix. Please tell me when you see this. It’s really urgent. Chan, Yugyeom, and I are stranded in a grocery, phones dead. Could you come pick us up at XX Grocer with umbrellas?”

“What? How’s that supposed to help us? It’s not like the words will magically float off into cyberspace,” Yugyeom commented, confused.

Your cheeks began to feel warm. After casting a worried look to Chan, you shut your eyes and began to spill your secret.

“I-It’s…um… whatever I write on my arm will show up on Felix’s arm and vice versa,” you explained quietly, keeping your eyes fixated on your arms for any sign of response.

“Don’t tell me,” Yugyeom gasped, “he’s the one you’re soulmates with?!”

“She’s known since high-school,” Chan sighed, “but there are reasons as to why they’re not… you know. Together. [Y/N] doesn’t particularly like to talk about it.”

“No, it’s alright,” you waved it off, “I can tell you, just please don’t tell anyone. Um, actually, Felix and I used to be best friends, but some complicated things happened and we fought. After college, I went to Busan to try to start a new life, but in the end, I couldn’t escape him.”

“O-Oh, were you guys dating? Did he know you were here?” Yugyeom inquired, genuinely curious.

As the drops of rain started to pour around, you answered, “No, we never dated. And it’s all been purely coincidence. I didn’t know he was coming and neither did he. That’s why it was so difficult for us to interact when he first came.”

“Everything makes sense!” Yugyeom exclaimed, making an explosion gesture with his hands. “Wait, did he reply to your arm message?”

You looked down at you arm again and sure enough, the familiar chicken scratch writing appeared.

“I’ll be there in a bit. Stay dry! I’ll try to be as quick as possible.”

“Okay, good. We’re saved.” Chan let out a breath of relief.

In fifteen minutes, Felix was shuffling across the street towards you three, an umbrella in one hand and his phone in the other.

“Why’d you guys go so far? There was literally a convenience store right beside the place we’re staying at,” Felix questioned, unzipping his bag. “Here’s an extra umbrella.”

“Sir Bang—Chan… can I speak with you for a bit on the way home? There’s a bit of concern with one of the Marketing members and I need to discuss it with you,” Yugyeom piped up, grabbing the umbrella from Felix’s hands. “If you don’t mind, I’ll share this with Chan. It’s a personal matter.”

Chan didn’t even get a chance to object before he was pulled away by a swift Yugyeom, who began to babble about his concerns. You and Felix watched them mosey away, chattering about whatever was to be chattered about.

“Uh, let’s go?” Felix cleared his throat, holding the umbrella. You stepped in and began to walk back to the company outing’s venue.

For a while, all that could be heard was just the pitter-patter of the rain as you trudged on in silence. The quietness was so suffocating, you swear you could hear the cawing of a crow muffled beneath the sounds of the rain.

“Hey… you’re getting wet,” the freckled boy mentioned, wrapping an arm around your shoulder and pulling you closer to him. He dropped his hand quickly after, opening his mouth to speak. “Sorry if this makes you uncomfortable to be so near me, but I just don’t want you to get wet.”

You shook your head. “No, it’s okay. Thank you for being so considerate. And for picking us up.”

“It’s no problem, although this?” he said, riding up his jacket sleeve to expose the scribbles on his arm. “A message saying that you were stranded wasn’t exactly what I hoped your first ever arm message to me would be. I’ve been thinking about it lately, and I really wished you might’ve saved it to notify me that you brought rice cakes to work or something.”

A giggle escaped your lips as the thought entered your mind. “Well, sorry that an emergency message isn’t as cool as rice cakes. But now that you’ve expressed your sentiments, maybe I will bring rice cakes and use our connection to notify you.”

“I can’t believe you thought of contacting me that way. Couldn’t you have texted?”

“Well, Chan’s phone was left behind, Yugyeom hasn’t payed his bills, and mine’s dead. And even if mine wasn’t dead, I don’t have your number.”

“Ouch, you deleted my number after moving?”

“…I uh… got a new phone?”

“Nah, I’m just kidding you. It’s alright, I totally get it.”

Just as you arrived at the entrance of the recreation center, you halted your steps and turned to Felix.

For the first time in a very, very long time, you found the strength to look him in the eyes. “Uh… wait. I just wanted to tell you something.”

“Hm?” He turned to you as well, matching your stare. Why were your legs feeling wobbly? Your palms were starting to sweat as well, and you cursed yourself for it. Speaking to Felix properly and serious was something you found extremely difficult to do, but you decided to stop acting like he was a disease you didn’t want to catch.

With a deep breath, you began, “So… it kinda felt nice to be able to talk to you again. You know, not about work. Just…normally. I guess, what I wanted to say was, uh, well, is it okay if we restart? Be friends, maybe? I really hate this discomfort between us, and I think it would be better, even for work, if we got along.”

Silence enveloped the air once again, leaving the both of you in the company of the rain and the passing cars. Thoughts of Felix lashing out and angrily speaking back to you flashed in your head; suddenly, you wanted to scurry off and never see his face again. What if he called you out on all the horrible things you’d done to him in the past? You braced yourself for anger, for rejection.

But instead, the boy in front of you broke into a grin. He even chuckled a little, reaching out his hand.

“Well, in that case,” he spoke, “hi. I’m Lee Felix, it’s nice to meet you. You can call me Felix.”

You grabbed his hand and shook it. “Hey, Felix. I’m [L/N] [Y/N], but feel free to just stick with [Y/N]. Friends?”

“Sure. Friends.”

Months after declaring the newfound restart, the budding flower of friendship began its ascent into full bloom. Often times, you asked your grandmother to make you some extra rice cakes to bring to work, that of which you shared with Felix. Sure enough, you kept your promise of notifying him through a small doodle of a rice cake on your wrist. You could have sworn you saw his eyes light up every time he noticed what was on his wrist. There were even nights that you two would stay behind to work on projects together, bringing snacks and drinks to keep you guys powered throughout the extra hours. Productivity rate in your team increased due to you and Felix’s hard work, and this did not go by unnoticed.

As he was passing by Felix’s desk, Chan couldn’t help but notice that Felix’s usually busy computer screen was shut off and that his freckled junior was staring intently at something in his hands. One look over his shoulder and Chan couldn’t help but smile.

He cleared his throat. “What’s that?”

The poor boy almost leaped out of his seat. Shoving the object behind his back, Felix responded, “What’s what?”

Chan motioned to Felix’s hands. “Whatever’s behind you.”

A trickle of sweat dripped down Felix’s clammy fingers. “Just a photo.”

“Ooh, can I see?” Chan pressed on, already knowing exactly what it is the boy held.

“N-No, hyung.”

“Come on. Don’t make me pull the superior card.”

“Fine!” Felix revealed the photo to the man in front of him, ears turning crimson. “Look, I found our graduation picture while rummaging through some of my old stuff, okay? It’s just got me thinking, like…I didn’t realize how much I missed [Y/N] over time. It seems like forever since we graduated high-school, and I still remember how it felt being her best friend. Sometimes, when I see her laugh with Yugyeom, I’m reminded of the times I used to be able to make her laugh like that. I don’t know, I sorta miss it, um, a lot.”

“Hold up, are you jealous of Yugyeom?” Chan raised a brow.

Felix hesitated, turning away. “Don’t phrase it like that, please.”

“Felix,” Chan started, breaking into a grin. “Do you like [Y/N]?”

“Is that so weird?” Felix huffed, burying his face in his arms. “I mean like, she’s my soulmate. But more than that, she’s a friend I really, really treasure. Like, I’ve been thinking about it and it would really suck if she wasn’t in my life. So I kinda came to the conclusion that okay, fine. When I talk to her, it’s not as much so to ask for rice cakes but to actually converse with her. And that I um, do like her. But honestly, between you and me?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s a chance this whole ‘liking [Y/N]’ thing isn’t new news.”

Now Chan could only be relieved that his team members (namely you and Felix) were finally getting along well, but Yugyeom, on the other hand, would often sometimes send a wiggle of brows in your direction. Of course, this led you to throw crumpled balls of scratch paper at him, but deep down, you too were glad that the office became a more bearable workplace. You were more than thankful to have a good superior, good co-workers, and even a good boss.

On Tuesdays, you’d bring homemade lunch instead of buying from the office canteen. One fateful Tuesday noon, you stood up as soon as lunchbreak started and headed to the staff room to pick up your boxed lunch to heat it up in the microwave. On your way, you thought about handing some extra gimbap to Chan, Yugyeom, and Felix in gratefulness for being good to you. A smile made its way to your face as you entertained the thought, feeling appreciative and enthused that life had been looking up lately.

Just as you were about to open the door to the staff room, a familiar laugh rang in your eyes. Inside the room happened to be your freckled friend, smiling towards a female employee. You easily recognized her to be one of those PR scumbags, and once the realization hit that Felix was mingling with someone from that bloody department, your blood began to boil.

To make matters worse, you caught sight of him handing her what seemed to be a box—and that was all it took for you to storm into the staff room, take your lunch, and stomp outside in the direction of the canteen.

Once you got to your usual table, you plopped down in front of Yugyeom and hastily opened your lunch box.

“Woah there, tiger. What’s with the attitude?” Yugyeom asked, fiddling with his chopsticks. “Oh and by the way, Chan won’t be joining us. He’s in a meeting.”

“Felix is mingling with a girl from PR!” you huffed, stabbing a slice of gimbap and shoving it in your mouth. Between frustrated chews, you managed to sputter, “I’m so ticked off! He gave her a gift, or something!”

Yugyeom almost spit out his water. “What?! No way.”

“Yes way,” you nodded, wiping your mouth. “Saw them in the staff room being all friendly. I mean come on, ugh!”

“Hold on.” Yugyeom squinted his eyes. “Are you jealous?”

This time, it was your turn to almost spit out your water. “Excuse me? Yugyeom, you know how bad it is for someone to flirt with the enemy!”

“Yeah, but like, you sure you’re not just…I don’t know…pissed that Felix was flirting with someone who isn’t you?”

“The hell?” you hissed. “Felix does not flirt with me.”

Yugyeom sighed and rolled his eyes. “If that’s how you think, you are a lost cause, woman. When you write him notes or whatever on your wrist—which by the way, talk about cheesy!—his face lights up like a Christmas tree. And your banter as you do paperwork? Don’t get me started.”

“He gets excited because goodness knows Felix loves rice cakes more than anything. And office banter is nothing but what it is! What, I can’t argue about the better way to appeal to customers? What’s so romantic about different marketing topics? Seriously, do you know how un-sexy ‘Geographic Segmentation’ sounds? Anyway, I’m still upset that loverboy’s sucking up to PR. I mean, really?” you scoffed.

“Who’s sucking up to PR?” A deep voice came, startling you. When Felix took a seat next to you, you rolled your eyes and stood up. Petty, but absolutely necessary. You weren’t going to stand for anyone who mingled with PR. And just like that, you strut off towards your department, deciding that your table was the best place to eat lunch for now.

“I cannot even bear to see you guys sometimes,” Yugyeom exhaled, watching Felix try to comprehend what had just taken place in front of his eyes.

One entire week had passed since you started to act cold towards Felix, who had not a single clue what on earth was going on. Every time he tried to speak to you, you brushed it off with some lame excuse about having to think of the best way to brand the company’s latest product or that you were busy with paperwork.

“Chan, did I do something?” Felix questioned one Thursday, leaning on his superior’s desk. His face seemed to be clearly distraught by the furrowed eyebrows and pursed lips.

“Why? Did you do something?” Chan shot back, typing away at his laptop.

“I don’t know, man! [Y/N]’s been avoiding me like the plague. And she only does that if I do something wrong. Remember when I didn’t show up to our reunion in high-school? When you and the alumni hyungs wanted to hang at the amusement park but I didn’t go? Yeah, she wouldn’t talk to me because she was so upset,” Felix sighed, rubbing his temples. “This time, I don’t even know what’s up. And it sucks. I miss her rice cakes. It’s been a week.”

“Well, try to think of anything that you might’ve done to piss her off. Take her stapler? Send a late file?” Chan suggested, still not looking up from his screen.

“None of that! I swear, I blinked, and then she was mad. This is such bad timing because I want to ask her out for the holidays, and the break is starting soon. I don’t wanna end the year this way!” Felix whined, shoulders slumping.

“Thank me later,” Chan told him, raising his voice, “[Y/N]! Please come over here. There are some files to be looked over pronto!”

“Coming!” you replied, getting off your chair and walking to your superior’s table. But just as you came, he stood up and grabbed his clipboard.

“Actually, I have a meeting about now. But don’t worry, the file that needs to be looked over is—oh wow! Lee Felix.pdf is right here. Amazing. Love you both, see you at lunch!” With a grin, Chan sauntered off.

You folded your arms and tapped your shoes indignantly. “What, Felix?”

“I’m so sorry about Chan,” he apologized, rubbing his hands together. “But I do need to talk to you. Why have you been ignoring me?”

You rolled your eyes. “Oh, I don’t know, Felix. Maybe because someone was being all buddy-buddy last Wednesday with some girl from PR. I mean, are you even for real? How could you flirt with someone from PR?!”

“Wait… are you jealous?”

“Why does everybody automatically assume that I’m jealous?” you snapped. “The answer is no, you idiot! I’m angry because you were mingling with our rivals, our arch nemeses!”

When Felix remembers the events of last Wednesday, a laugh escapes his mouth. “W-What?”

“Don’t ‘what’ me. I clearly saw you being all generous and handing one of the PR girls a gift in the staff room. I have eyes, you know!”

“[Y/N]… no…” Felix started, trying to stifle more laughter. “I wasn’t flirting with her. That girl’s a family friend and I had to return a book that my mom borrowed from her mom. She told me that just because we’re family friends didn’t mean that her department would go easy on us. And I told her, ‘of course’, because I’m loyal to Marketing—I’m loyal to our team. Besides, I already have someone else in mind that I’d like to flirt with.”

You were taken aback. Somewhere deep in the crevices of your heart was a wave of relief mixed with disappointment, but you waved it off and let a giant smirk rest on your lips. “Woah, woah, woah, Lee Felix! Who’s the special someone?”

“Like I’d tell you, cheesebrain.”

“You suck.”

“No, not really. Anyway, you’re going back to Seoul for the break, right?”

“Oh yeah, why?”

“Wanna meet up on the 26th? I’m going home, too,” Felix invited.

“Oh shoot, yeah, sure! I’ll be sure to mark my schedule. I’m free that day anyway. What time to what time?”

“Just keep it flexible. I’ll text you or you know,” Felix motioned to his arm, “maybe I’ll write.”

“Just text me, I might accidentally wash it off.”

“See you then!”

The cold winter air was not the only thing that greeted you once you arrived back in Seoul, no. As soon as you set foot into the familiar gates of your home, your parents and relatives showered you with tight squeezes, slobbery kisses, and all sorts of questions. Were you eating properly? Did you have time to go Christmas shopping? How was work? Did you meet your soulmate yet? Was Busan better than Seoul, or Seoul better than Busan?

As much as you wanted to entertain your family with tales of Busan, settling in after a long travel sounded too good to pass. Once you spent an ample amount of time with them, you headed upstairs to your room.

Ah, your room. Upon opening the door, you took a whiff of the comforting scent of your original room, familiarity embracing you like an old friend. You flopped down on the fluffed-up sheets and could not resist a grin.

It was good to be home.

In a few hours, the grandfather clock in the living room would chime, signaling the start of a new day and the beginning of Christmas itself. But for now, you wanted nothing more but to put your mind at rest, leaving all thoughts of work behind at the doorstep. It was just you, your bed, and the chilly winter weather.

But someone—no, rather something—came to join your cozy trio, and it was right there in bright blue ink on your left wrist.

“Hey there. Get home safely?”

With a smile, you grabbed the gel pen in your bag and started to jot down a response.

“I thought you preferred text.”

“My head hurts and I don’t want to use my phone. I’m just resting in my room and hiding from my sisters, who won’t stop asking me about you.”

“Oh, so you’ve discussed me?”

“[Y/N], you never answered my first question.”

“Righty-o, Sir Lee. I did, indeed, come home fine with Grandma. It was fun to bring her home. The family’s stoked we’ve come.”

“Can I have permission to erase lines with wet wipes every few messages? My arm gets crowded. Also, please use a water-based pen. It makes it easier to wipe off.”

“Just text, then.”

“I deleted your number, too.”

“What the hell, Felix?”

“I’m kidding! See you on Kakao!”

“So, do I wear this sweater or this blouse? Kinda think the blouse is cute, but the sweater’s practical since the weather’s begging to freeze my butt,” you spoke into your laptop, which displayed a video of Chan furrowing his eyebrows as he took a look at your choices.

“You’re worrying too much. Just go with the sweater, it doesn’t make you look any less cute,” Chan snickered, “it’s so fun to watch my little [Y/N] put so much effort into this.”

Your cheeks flushed. “Just shut up and help me, Chan! Skirt, jeans, or leggings?”

“Skirt? Why would you even suggest a skirt? Damn, girl, you’re asking for frostbite at this point. Go with the leggings and make sure to wear leg warmers. Bring a thick coat, too.”

“Okay, mom. But are you sure this doesn’t make me look like a Christmas tree? Maybe a CHRISmas tree!”

Chan rolled his eyes and sighed. “It won’t be cute if your teeth are chattering and your skin begs to be kept warm. Just dress warmly. Hey, hey, what’s with the sigh?”

“Wait. Yo, yo, I just realized something. It’s just going to be me and Felix I think tomorrow. I-Is that a date or something? What if it is?!”

“Calm down. Did he say if it was or not?”

“I don’t know! He just said he was going to spend the day with me!”

A 480p-quality simper sat on Chan’s lips on the screen. “Are you scared because it might be a date or because he might just be asking you out as a friend?”

“I’m not SCARED, Chan! You know what, that’s honestly the least of my concerns!” you answered indignantly. “What if he stands me up? Remember the amusement park fiasco?”

“Relax, [Y/N]. He will NOT stand you up. Have you seen the way he’s been lately? Felix has been overtiming a lot, he’s always punctual and/or early for meetings, and he makes sure to go to all the places he’s assigned to. Whenever he can’t make it, he always messages a day or two in advance. I think that says something.”

“Okay, okay. You’re right. Anyway, I’m going to wash up and go to sleep. Thank you so much for taking the time to video chat me. I’m going to go now, merry Christmas! Say hi to unnie for me, please. Love you, bye.”

“Bye, [Y/N]! Good luck. Text me the details of it all! Merry Christmas. Love you too!”

Was it irregular to be having hands this clammy, to be having palms this sweaty? Felix pressed two fingers to his neck to check his pulse. Okay, great. It was good to know that he was still alive.

‘Agh! This is going to kill me! Please, please, please come soon,’ Felix thought, checking his phone for a new notification. Just in case, he rolled up his padded jacket’s sleeve and checked his arm. Both were devoid of any sign from you.

As if on cue, the freckled boy felt a tap on his back and there you were, bundled up in a cozy outfit. Holy. Crap. He had to fight the urge to squeeze you in his arms.

“H-Hey, [Y/N]. Glad you could make it.” Felix cleared his throat, offering his arm for you to hold. “Um, shall we? Have you eaten lunch?”

“Yeah, I have. You?”

“Same. Anyway, is there anywhere you want to go to?” Felix asked, starting to walk.

You squinted your eyes in thought. “Hmm… I don’t have anything particular in mind.”

“Alright, so it’s 2:45 now. I was thinking that maybe you wanna go to the old arcade? We can spend some time there, then maybe go around the area. Look at a museum if you want.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Laughter filled the air as you clutched your stomach, trying to stop yourself from giggling too much. At this point, you were borderline gasping for air with every guffaw. Felix was doing the same, and he had to hold onto your shoulder to keep himself from stumbling onto the concrete ground.

“I can’t believe you did that, Felix! We could have gotten kicked out of the museum, damn it!” you commented between laughs. “I’m so embarrassed by you now!”

“Not my fault that the little kid wanted to see me bust some dance moves. Yugyeom isn’t the only one in Marketing who can dance, you know,” Felix answered, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Whatever, you doofus. What’s next? It’s pretty dark already, so maybe dinner?” you asked, checking your watch.

Felix cleared his throat and his back started to stiffen. “Actually, I have a place in mind.”

You nodded and proceeded to hail a taxi from the waiting stand. Felix whispered something to the driver and you were off, silently sitting in the backseat.

“Where are we going?”

“Shhh, you’ll see,” was all Felix managed to reply before he looked out the window thoughtfully.

As soon as you arrived at the mystery place, Felix payed the cab driver and helped you get out. When you stepped out of the car, your eyes widened. You’d recognize this area anywhere.

For a little, silence was all that was shared between you two as you walked alongside the riverbank, the one place you knew had a special space for in your heart. Back then, this had been you and Felix’s favorite spot to go to after a tiring school day. And on one fateful December 26th, you were back, walking beside him once again.

The frigid wind left you to huddle a little closer than usual to Felix, who didn’t seem to mind. Gentle brushing of the hands led your fingers to intertwine with his, locking safely in his cozy yet sweaty palms; you could only hope he would not hear the erratic beating of your heart pounding against your ribcage with every passing second. This was happening, this was happening, this was happening—and oh dear, you didn’t dislike it.

A few minutes seemed like eternity with Lee Felix. But eternity wasn’t going to cut it for the scene that lay in front of you, the scene he had brought you to.

Sitting on the riverside was a small tent lit dimly by the soft glow of fairy lights, a sight you’d only managed to conjure up in your head once, long ago. But there it was, every bit of it as real as the warm feeling of Felix’s hands in yours.

Your lips parted. “F-Felix, is this…?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, leading you to the small tent and helping you take a seat inside. “Uh, there’s some soju in that cooler and some gimbap over there if you want. And japchae. Chopsticks are here.”

“When did you have the time to even prepare this? I swear, you’ve been with me all day,” you questioned, reaching for the chopsticks as Felix cracked open the plastic container of gimbap.

He smiled. “Oh, I called for help from people I know who’d never pass up the chance to aid in this surprise.”

You gasped. “Let me guess. Hyunjin? Jisung? Seungmin, Jeongin?”

He gave you thumbs-up. “My boys.”

“Our boys,” you corrected, shoving a piece of kimbap in your mouth.

A few gimbaps and bites of japchae later, you found yourselves in silence once again, sipping soju from little paper cups.

“So…I think this is the part where I start talking,” Felix began, wiping his mouth. He directed his gaze right at your eyes.

“I hope you liked the little surprise, [Y/N]. Even though… technically… it wasn’t my idea, but yours. Actually, the reason I brought you here was because it’s finally time for me to give something to you, very, very long overdue,” he continued, “when we were in highschool, I didn’t expect us to become friends. Frankly, I though that I annoyed you every time I talked to you at the 4419 bus stop. Remember when we first had a proper conversation? Man, after that, the ball just speeded downhill. Before I knew it, we were an inseparable duo. [Y/N] and Felix. Felix and [Y/N]. Hell, I remember getting poked fun at for it, and people were teasing me that I liked you. Which… honestly, I’ve come to realize…was true. I admit, they were right. It’s actually kind of weird, I’ve only known since recently that I caught some real, big feelings for you back then.”

Here Felix paused to take a sip of water before he went on. “I haven’t forgotten the first time I found out my soulmate link. Blue ink, wrist, all-caps: ‘STUDY’. When I found out that a girl from our school had a similar link, I almost freaked out. But honestly? I only started to flirt with her to um—wow, this is embarrassing—make you jealous. Childish, right? And after a while, ironically, it backfired. ‘Cause I started to like her. Anyway, fast forward, college, right? We all know what happened… then what happened after graduation. I lost you. My soulmate, but most importantly, my best friend. It was the worst because I lost you, and I could have avoided that,” he sighed, “and so here we are. Somehow, life has given us a second chance, and I don’t want to screw this up. So [Y/N], I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I’m sorry that I did so many stupid things in the past, I’m sorry that I was an awful best friend, I’m sorry that I didn’t fight harder to keep you in my life. I’m sorry for hurting you.”

“Felix,” you piped up suddenly, “Look, I’m sorry too. I think it’s a failure on both parts because really, maybe if I wasn’t so selfish, we could have avoided the whole fight. I didn’t know you were willing to wait for me until, you know, then. I’ve blamed myself a lot for that, but I’ve come to realize that you know what? It’s alright to make mistakes, and I forgive myself for doing that. And if I can forgive myself, I can forgive you. When we decided to restart our friendship, honestly, I was more than relieved to hear you were on board for it as well. So, can we agree to put all our mistakes in the past?”

“Yes. I’d love that. Man, thank you so much, [Y/N], for giving me another chance. I, too, forgive you for everything. And I’m so glad that you’re back in my life.”

“Aw, come here,” you grinned, opening your arms for a hug. Felix wrapped his arms around you tightly, and for a while, that’s how you two stayed.

“Wait, I’m actually not done,” Felix announced, pulling away. As he opened his mouth to speak, his hands started to shake a little bit.

“Oh?” You tilted your head to the side, curious as to what the boy would say next.

“I can’t promise you that I won’t make any more mistakes in the future, but for what it’s worth, I’ve learned from the past. And if anything, anything, happens that causes me to stumble and hurt you, I’m willing to put up a fight to make it right. I can’t promise you that the future holds all flowers and sunshine, but if there’s one thing that I am absolutely, terribly sure of, it is that [Y/N]?”

“Mm?”

“I’m in love with you.”

All you could hear was the faint howling of the wind as you were rendered absolutely speechless. It took minutes to process the words Felix had just spoken, and when you managed to grasp the idea of it, all you could sputter out was, “Really?”

Felix nodded. “Yes. Really.”

“I’ve waited since third-year of highschool for you to say that,” you admitted, mustering all your strength not to smile. “So, can I…kiss you?”

“Yes, yes you can,” he answered, leaning in.

So, slowly, surely, you kissed him. You let the gentle caress of his lips speak for themselves as they locked with your own, causing your heart to beat fervently in your chest. It may have been short, chaste even, but one kiss was all it took for you to confirm the vehemence that had been lurking deep down in the crevices of your entire being.

“I’m sorry that this isn’t as grand as you’d hoped. I remember you told me that you wanted big sparks to fly when you met your soulmate,” Felix laughed nervously, taking the opportunity to rest his hand on top of yours.

You shook your head. “No, I’m glad that it’s you, and I’m glad that this is how it turned out.”

Perhaps if it had been another day in another place at another time, you’d say that loving Lee Felix was quite full of irony. But since you were here, at this specific moment on this specific day in this specific place at this specific time, you could truly and sincerely say that there was nothing ironic about it, that there was nothing paradoxical about loving Lee Felix.

There was only bliss. There was only certainty.

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howveryheather · 4 years

Text

good time (the 2010s + me)

10 years of Heather... YESSSSSSS.

I mulled over various drafts of what you’re going to read today.

There was a draft where I summed up everything, literally everything, that happened to me over the last 10 years. The more I read that draft, the more it felt increasingly like a diary entry that did not warrant publishing of any kind.

I had a draft where I was only going to recap the good things that happened to me. That read like I had the world’s worst blinders on.

I weebled, I wobbled, I tried to organize my thoughts using bullet points. None of it worked and all of it sounded like noise, even though I was technically going in order of the last 10 years. So, I’m just going to keep it simple and focus on the basics.

I went on two pivotal journeys in the last 10 years. The first is the start of my writing career and the second was repaying my student loans. Note that the latter half of that sentence is written in past tense. In 2019, after nine years in debt, I paid off all my loans in full!

I want to talk about the loan journey first because it had an expiration date, even though I did used to think I was gonna die with those loans. Rather than sound like a broken record rehashing the story of how I paid everything off again, I want to share two aspects of paying off student debt that nobody talks about online.

The first one is that once it happens, after your debt is paid in full, you’re not rich. You have a little more money every month, but you can’t go out and change your lifestyle radically. If anything, you have to remain in place a little bit longer and remain on a budget. There’s certainly irony in debt repayment. The debt is gone, but you are not exactly free yet. You have to recoup the losses.

The other aspect of student loans is how quickly you forget about it once it’s paid off. And I mean all of it — the emotions and experience associated with loan statements and making monthly payments. I spent years lying in bed unable to sleep at night stressed out about my loans. I never think about it now.

Paying off my debt alone was really difficult, but deep down I think I always knew that this was going to be my journey. My debt was not going to disappear, no matter how much I wished for a genie’s lamp or hoped a dead relative would throw me some bones in a will or I could magically find a spouse to marry who would assume the payments for me. I made a lot of lifestyle sacrifices to get out of debt. I prepared a few years in advance because I knew that what was ahead was going to be miserable. I remained disciplined, I treated my life with a Spartan mentality, and I crawled my way out under the 10-year deadline to freedom. Sometimes that’s what freedom looks like. It’s not a climb or a sprint to a finish line. It’s a crawl.

Onward to writing!

I was still in college at the start of 2010. Back then, I was an extremely green writer with few clips under my belt outside of an internship at the Ventura County Star and a column in The Echo (CLU’s newspaper). As a post graduate, every writing experience I have had has been a combination of good luck, timing, location, and the willingness to push myself and work hard.

Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to write in the entertainment space. I always loved reading the pop culture section of the USA Today and soaked up my subscriptions to Entertainment Weekly and Premiere Magazine like a sponge. I was determined to break into entertainment however I could, and I got in on the ground floor of BettyConfidential and HelloGiggles as a contributing writer in 2011.

The early 2010s was a short-lived timeline before most of the major media moguls began buying these sites out. I remember this time as one — and everyone who started during this time will say the exact same thing, trust me — where everyone really was each other’s friend in the media space. Content felt fresh. It was new. It was also really kind. There was a lot of room to share your story and experience and receive incredible, positive feedback from readers.

BettyConfidential... What a wonderful group! Was there anything better than waking up at 5 AM the morning after the Golden Globes to email over my best-dressed picks? (Sometimes emailed over the night before, I must admit.) I wrote my heart out in that LA Correspondent gig, covering fashion and celebrity news. It gave me so many opportunities to lead the kind of life most people who move to California never get the chance to have. I had the good fortune to go to red carpet events and awards ceremonies and gifting suites and sit in on movie sets and chat with celebrities (often in more candid spaces than is the norm) that I would never have had otherwise. Betty gave me a much-needed glimpse behind the camera of celebrity and the etiquette for how to be a reporter in this space. My experience at HelloGiggles differed from Betty in that it was much more social media driven. That was definitely the site where you earned your following and found your people in the Twitter space.

Collectively between Betty and HG, my favorite memories were...

1) The first time I went to New York City to cover Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. I went to as many shows as I possibly could in Lincoln Center, took photos with my iPhone, stayed up writing and writing with my photos at the hotel afterwards, and did it all over again the next day for 3-4 days. I also packed very poorly for February 2012 weather. A trench coat and flats in 20 degree weather with snow... but I still looked good!

2) I went to an event celebrating L’Oreal’s 40th anniversary of their “Because I’m Worth It” tagline (an early foreshadowing of my future in writing in advertising). I wrote a nice article about the event, shared the story, and went about my merry way into the rest of my workload. A few weeks later, I received a gift in the mail from their team: a huge gift card to Saks Fifth Avenue! There has never been a Cinderella moment in my life quite like the way I spent this gift card. I went to the Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills and bought a beautiful designer day dress that I wore everywhere (and still have in my closet).

3) The first time I went to, and covered, the Pillsbury Bake-Off for HelloGiggles. (Look at all that foreshadowing!) The Pillsbury Bake-Off is such a delightful experience and not just because there’s a life-size Pillsbury Doughboy walking around either. The events are held in hotels with convention-sized rooms where one can fit 100 ovens. 100 finalists all bake at the same time and compete for a chance to win a million dollars with their recipe. Bake it like you mean it! I even had dinner one table away from Martha Stewart at the Orlando Bake-Off.

I tried not to decline any opportunities. I made everything work, as much as I could. As far as regrets go, the only event I turned down was an opportunity to go backstage and cover the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. The logistics and timing were really off. There was absolutely no way I could have flown to New York in time for it... but I will always wonder what if!

In a post-Betty and HG world, which is where I was in 2014 when both gigs wrapped, I began pivoting toward a new vertical: advertising. My discussions with Advertising Week began in late 2014 and I started writing for the website in 2015. Initially, this was a situation where I filled in the gaps with whatever content I was asked to write. A lot of it had pop culture tie-ins with Mad Men. (Shout out to my brain for already being a fan of the series and intricately understanding the ins and outs of its characters that tied in with advertising’s heyday!)

The first major series of articles I worked on were sponsored by Adobe, so there was an increased expectation to go above and beyond in the manner I wrote, the amount of research conducted in each article, and understanding the audience. I was ready to meet the challenge and was met with high praise for this hard work. During this time, I also briefly worked in transcription for Flaunt Magazine. I transcribed interviews for one of their writers, which made me feel as though I came a little full circle yet again to entertainment.

In March 2015, I received the opportunity to go to Chicago to the Museum of Broadcast Communications. It was for an event called “A Salute to Advertising’s Greatest Icons” which honored 10 of the greatest brand mascots in advertising. My favorite character, the Pillsbury Doughboy, was one of the honorees. Even more exciting, the creator of the Doughboy Rudy Perz would be in attendance. I immediately asked AW if I could cover the event and they agreed. However, a great tragedy occurred days before the event. Rudy passed away. I was completely crushed. As a lifelong Doughboy fan, I realized I would never get the chance to tell him how much of an impact that character had in my life.

In the 24 hours I spent in Chicago, I got to tour the museum space, meet and spend time in the studio of JoBe Cerny (the voice behind the Doughboy’s giggle!), and attend the event and its dinner. Each menu course was inspired by the 10 brand mascots. It was so much fun! I promptly wrote up the article and gave it to my bosses.

This article sparked the beginning of how I have carved a name out for myself in advertising. Brand mascots. We started discussing how to create content about characters, which I jumped at the chance to write. Before long, I had written so many character-based articles that the content spilled over the website. It required its own platform, PopIcon, which officially launched in 2016.

The greatest joy of my writing career so far has undoubtedly been PopIcon. There is so much to cover that I have gone through stages in writing. The initial stages of introducing the character to the world, the stage of updating everyone on the character’s current events (these critters are more active than you think!), and the historical narrative behind the mascot. There is only so much information a PR person can provide you before you can’t work with a one-sheet condensed timeline anymore. You have to get out there and behave like a journalist, finding creatives to talk to and share their stories. My favorite thing is when someone tells me that they have nothing to say. Then, they launch into a narrative of what life behind the scenes was like animating Lefty from Hamburger Helper or recruiting a voiceover actor for an ad campaign. That’s a lot to say! There is no absolutely story that is too small. Every bit of it is history and it has a place to be shared.

I struggle to pick my favorite PopIcon piece. At any given point, every article I have written has been my favorite. They are all jewels in a crown to me, which is a unique way to view your writing. Really, it’s how I hope every writer views their body of work as it grows and progresses.

However, if you must read anything... try these pieces on for size!

Leo Burnett’s Oral History, As Told By 8 Former Creatives (Part One & Two)

Putting The “Kool” Back In Kool-Aid

How Seth Werner Turned A Cluster Of Grapes Into The California Raisins

Monsters! A Brief History Of The Monster Cereals Icons

Ken Stewart, Creator Of The Coca-Cola Polar Bears, Reflects On Their 25th Anniversary

AW has been responsible for sending me back to New York City. In 2017, I went to New York to attend my first #AWNewYork event. My articles ran in their print publication, I hosted a panel, and I appeared on NASDAQ’s Closing Bell ceremonies live on CNBC and HLN. In 2018, I did the same rounds plus an Icons Gala which I worked on at the same time I was paying off my student loans. The Icons Gala was a massive success and I am so proud of it because it was really tough work. And in 2019, I came back for another #AWNewYork event and celebrated with all my mascot buddies once again.

Outside of PopIcon, I have my hand stuck in a series of freelance honey pots. I always like to keep the wheel rotating, as a means of avoiding stagnation and growing my work. It never ceases to amaze me where the wheel naturally rotates next. I wrote for Brit + Co when I lived in Orange County in 2016. I had a few pieces run on The Drum. I wrote for Ed2010 for two years, which felt like a return to my roots because Ed was the reason I got in with BettyConfidential. I still write with Business Insider, Coin, and Fairygodboss, all outlets I’ve been with for a few years now (minus Coin which started in 2019). Weirdly enough, I was fact checked in an obituary this year in The New York Times.

“Dabble in something new” was my fortune I received from a fortune cookie in the spring of 2019. Good timing. What could I do next that felt new? Where could I start to grow?

I have had my eye on weddings for awhile now, in more ways than one. You can’t help but notice when everyone you know is getting married. You really can’t help it when you’ve been a bridesmaid three times. When I think of the last frontiers of verticals where pure joy exists, it all goes back to basic life rituals. Marriage is one seeped in love, history, and etiquette. I started writing with the aptly-named wedding app Joy a few months ago. Finally, I was able to break into modern wedding editorial.

That has been the last ten years of my writing career, in a nutshell. Upon writing this out, I realized just how lucky and fortunate I am that everything looks so neatly tied together. The gaps have been few and far in between. Regardless of what was going on in my personal life or when things were difficult, doors kept opening for me. And I did everything I could to walk in when it happened.

Doesn’t it look like the land of Oz over here sometimes? It has been 10 years. If you juggled this much writing on top of a full-time job, nonstop for a decade while aging from a twentysomething into your thirties, you would probably run into some issues keeping your self-sustained sausage factory running. It’s not a realistic story if the heroine isn’t facing growing pains.

I am not a perfect writer. I’m never going to act like the Heather cup of tea is for everyone to drink up because it’s not.

I have had countless nights where I have been up late writing, researching, or editing drafts. My interviews with creatives sometimes last for a few hours. I have procrastinated my workload until the last possible minute, leaving me frantically pinned against a wall pushing all the puzzle pieces around until they fit in the eleventh, in the twelfth, hour.

I’ve had my brain switch completely off into a “duhhhhhhhh” setting. In this setting, I shut myself in and watch reruns of TV shows I have already seen before. I have to mentally peace out from the world. This is because operating at eleven every single day takes a lot out of you.

I have been rejected by a few outlets. Totally happens. I have also been told I am overqualified on more than one occasion.

In 2019, I finally seized the opportunity to buy my domain, which was not previously available, and create a space for my work.

I’ve learned a lot about one other person in the last decade: myself.

I know exactly who I am. I’ve hit reset on my life multiple times over the last 10 years, switching jobs, cities, and freelance work. I can reinvent some of me, but I can never leave myself behind. Nor would I ever want to do that. I love myself. She is still a work in progress, but it is progress I will do anything for, even if it means crawling alone for years on end. I do it for her.

Everything is up to timing. In time, everything will be as it is supposed to. That time will be the right time.

If you are ever unsure of what to do next, look to the past for guidance. Everything I loved as a child is coming full circle into my life as an adult.

I think the greatest thing I can do, now and in the next decade, is to continually work at making the younger version of me happy with her adult self. If the 10-year-old version of you could see you now, what would she think? Would she be proud of the person you grew up to become? Certainly I think the younger version of me is probably a little upset I don’t read as many books as I did in my Scholastic book club days (I’m working on it!). But, I do think she would be pleased with the woman I am in 2019. The things I have already accomplished and feathers in my hat. My personality and work ethic. The dreams ahead of me and the goals I still have left to achieve.

While I have no idea where I will go in the next 10 years, I am excited to see everything that comes my way in 2020 and beyond. I will keep writing. I will keep working. And I will continue to keep not telling anyone what I’m doing until it happens. I have found life is a lot more fun when you whip out a good, unconventional “surprise!” on everyone that nobody saw coming.

Keep your pen at the ready. It’s gonna be a good time.

#personal #2010s

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ketso · 3 years

Text

Episode 39

Lydia

"Zinzi, is the boardroom ready for the products meeting?" I ask Tom's PA. I've been told to manage her because she thinks she's on holiday. She manages the CEO's office for crying out loud.

She and I have a "not great" relationship because I make sure she earns her salary.

"Yes, I have". She says.

"The coffee?"

"It’s in Mr Msomi's boardroom already", she says.

I am the official coffee supplier around here for meetings. Everyone is obsessed with my coffee. My domestic worker makes it and delivers it for us, just as I taught her.

"I didn't see you here at 7am this morning. Where were you?" I ask.

She's given me the "My contract says I start working at 8am and knock off at 5pm" speech. Then I nicely told her that we can easily replace her with someone who understands the flexibility of managing a CEO’s office. Her type is not invincible and I let her know it. Now, she tows the line.

"I had to take my kids to school. But I made sure that Mr Ramaru's morning is adequately managed last night before I went to sleep." She says.

I just look at her and walk away. I contemplate saying thank you or well done, but with this one, I cannot give her participation certificates. She will think that she’s doing great when she’s barely doing the bare minimum.

I still do minutes for Tom in his meetings because this girl's minutes are something abnormal. I told Tom to take Pearl's former PA as his PA and make Zinzi his secretary. So that is in the works with HR. As annoying as Thando is, she's good at her job and she will, without a shadow of a doubt, put Zinzi in line very quickly.

Products is a mess! A mess I tell you! That's why poor Palesa is five minutes away from being fired and why Mthunzi and Thomas are forever calling me into meetings. Thank God for Harry who actually has a cooking clue on what's going on and what's supposed to happen. He put together a task team that has to do bi-weekly reports to Mthunzi on strategising. Today, we are meeting with the product developers and sales team. We need to understand what the disconnect is between product development and the sale. I suggested that we bring marketing into the meeting because they must lure customers to these products. The marketing lead told me they are busy for the next month and products have nothing to do with them. I told Mthunzi and... well... we all kinda experienced a side to Mthunzi that we never want to see again, so they will be in that meeting.

I'm getting food at the canteen while I check emails on my phone. I have fifteen minutes before this meeting and I am starving. It is 2pm and all I've had to eat all day was a biscuit I found in my bag. I don't know where it came from, but it definitely helped me with keeping my sugar levels up.

"Hey", Palesa says to me. She looks down.

"Hey", I say.

"Do you have a minute?"

Eh - I'm hungry, babes. I need to eat.

"I'm just waiting for my food. We can chat while I wait?" Me.

"I need an update on the products agenda", she says.

I know that Thomas and Mthunzi don't want her anywhere near products. The person she should be asking is Harry because, number one - that is her direct report. Number two - He is the one who has been appointed to lead this team.

But let me not be a bitch.

"We are actually meeting with sales and marketing in the next few minutes. I can brief you on where we are at the moment then you join the meeting?" I suggest.

She smiles.

"Thanks." She says.

Ja noh, it's bad. Life is not so great when you are no longer the boss' pet.

I get my food and we walk to Mthunzi's boardroom. Mthunzi never wants to meet in other people's boardrooms or in the vacant boardrooms around here. We are always meeting in his boardrooms. But at least we get refreshments.

I am eating my fries (with chili sauce) and briefing Palesa on products. She is taking notes in her notebook.

Thomas sees us walking into Mthunzi's boardroom. He and I make eye-contact and he uses his head to ask me where Palesa is going. I shrug my shoulders and sit down.

Harry comes in and he is a bit puzzled about Palesa's attendance. He sits down after giving me a look. This is going to be weird.

People arrive and in no time, the boardroom is full. Mthunzi walks in with Thomas and they both look at Palesa. Palesa is officially uncomfortable.

"I made copies, but we will be one short. Palesa, I didn't realise that you were joining us", Harry says. This is so unnecessary.

"It’s fine, she can use mine. I am familiar with the work", I say.

Palesa smiles at me. Thomas is still staring at me.

The meeting starts.

It takes long and people are arguing about stuff. I don't know what. Thomas and I are busy sexting over our text messages. Even Mthunzi is on his phone, probably sexting with his wife judging by the wide smile on his face as he stares at his phone. I should actually ask her to join me for lunch and we become acquainted. We are dating the powerhouse of this company.

Eventually I get tired of the arguing and finger pointing, so I put my phone down and say:

"Can we put together an end-to-end strategy of the product life cycle? Each product should have gate checks: from its creation, to its assessment to its marketing and branding, right up to its sale. Each product owner will have a team that will run these gate checks for the product then sign off should happen after the product life cycle is concluded and audited. Would that help?"

There is silence. Mthunzi and Thomas are staring at everyone in the meeting and are awaiting a response. Palesa seems to have dipped into a depression.

"Let me rephrase my question, what would be the problem with this approach?" Me.

Silence.

I throw myself in my chair.

"It’s settled then, that's what will happen. All managers to have compliance-checked SOPs on the governance of each gate check on my desk by close of business today", Mthunzi says.

There is mumbling.

"So your voices are back now?!" Mthunzi shouts this question at everyone in the room.

Silence.

He is really unfriendly these days. He is quite hectic. If I were not with Thomas, I’d avoid him at all costs. I don’t know this side to him and I don’t like it. I did say that I need to be acquainted with his wife. I’d be texting her right now and asking her to manage him for the sake of everyone who comes into contact with him.

"Adjourned", Mthunzi says.

I am the first to get up. As I turn towards the elevators,

"Elle, can you prepare a deck for me with everything I need to know about this?" Palesa.

"Harry has it. Can you ask him to please send it to you?" Me.

"I'm asking you. I want it in an hour", Palesa shouts then leaves me at the elevator, walking into Mthunzi's office where Mthunzi and Thomas have disappeared to.

...

Thomas

"Is there a particular reason why I am off products?" Palesa asks us, looking at Mthunzi and me like we have committed a crime.

We both don't answer her.

"I'm asking because my job description locates products under my management, yet I've been side-lined and an entire portfolio has been given to an HOD in my department." She continues.

"We thought we would ease your load and Harry had capacity", Mthunzi tells her.

"Did I say that I needed my load to be eased?" Palesa barks back.

"We made an executive decision. You've had products under you since day one and you have been struggling with it. That portfolio has been falling apart under your leadership and an immediate strategy had to be put in place with the right employees on board to make sure that the portfolio comes back from where it was under your leadership", Mthunzi tells her.

"When did you realise that I wasn't performing and why wasn't I performance managed as required in this organization by HR?" Palesa asks us.

"We thought it would be best to accommodate you instead", Mthunzi.

Palesa sighs.

"Thank you for thinking of me, but I'd rather be performance managed. Thami is my manager and I expect him to start having performance management chats with me as soon as possible. I want back on products and I will not tolerate any of your sexism anymore", she says.

WTF? Sexism? How did we get there?

"Excuse me?" Mthunzi.

"You think I don't see the toxic masculinity shit that is going on around here? The executive team consisting of all these men, then where I, the only female on this floor, should be sitting you put my HOD - My junior! You date young girls –

“Stop right there! When you say young girls, are you referring to the young girl who does a better job at managing this portfolio than you do?” I ask her. She better not get comfortable with disrespecting Lydia in my presence.

She looks at me.

“She is the only person who is willing to be nice to you and keep you in the loop and this is how you talk about her behind her back?” Mthunzi says. Palesa ignores us then says, “If I'm not performing, I want a clear outline of what I'm not doing and what the expectation is, then I want to be performance managed adequately. I will not leave this lying low. I will take you to task at the CCMA if I have to. I want the products portfolio back by the end of today", Palesa says then she charges out of Mthunzi's office.

I immediately call for Thami to come into Mthunzi's office. When he comes in, Mthunzi gives us each a glass of whiskey and I start.

"I want Palesa out".

"Chief, she's already onto us. She will definitely sue us or get some lawyer onto us." Mthunzi.

"Don’t we have a budget for paying off these people we no longer want around here? We can offer her a mutual separation agreement and if she doesn't accept it, we performance manage her out of the organization. If she takes us further and the CCMA says we must pay her, then we pay." Thami says.

"How do we make her take a mutual separation agreement?" I ask. I want her out as in next week.

"We need to show that her performance is appalling and it would be in her best interest to take the agreement and leave instead of being fired for poor performance", Thami says.

"You must get HR to verify all of that and make it happen because if we skip anything, she won't be going anywhere anytime soon." Mthunzi.

I nod my head.

"Do we have enough evidence to show her non-performance?" Mthunzi asks Thami.

"The products work. Then we need to get Elle to stop doing reports for her. Those reports are what promoted her, if you ask me." Thami.

"Can we prove that?" I ask.

Thami hesitantly agrees.

This one has no backbone. Mthunzi and I established this within his first week of working here. He goes with the wind. When HR arrives and tells him he's a bad manager, he won't stand up to them and stand by what we just discussed.

"Chief, can we call Pearl? Pearl was annoyed by Palesa everyday and complained about her work. She may have shit that we can use because she managed Palesa before Elle came on board. Then we can compare her work then to what it became when Elle joined", Mthunzi says.

This is why this man is my ace. I am already dialling Pearl and have her on speaker.

"Hello?" Some man picks up. We all look at each other, then at the screen.

"Hi?" Me.

"Can I help you?" The man.

"I'm looking for Pearl", I say.

"Okay please hold", he says to me then shouts, "Nobantu, someone is on the line for you."

Mthunzi is giggling. I am in disbelief. Thami is biting his nails. I have never heard Pearl use that Nobantu name. It was on her ID, so I knew she had it, she's just never used it.

"Hello?" Pearl.

"Hey Pearl, it's Thomas", I say.

"Hey. You good?" Her.

"I'm good. I didn't realise that you hired a male PA", I say. I want her to tell me who that man is.

"What do you want, Thomas? I am in the middle of having sex with my male PA", she says.

We all chuckle.

"Listen, you are on speaker. I have Mthunzi and a new hire, Thami, in the room. We want Palesa out". I say.

Pearl laughs. She laughs so hard that we are all laughing now.

"You should have left me to fire that woman five years ago", she says.

"I know and I'm sorry. But now, we really need her out." I say.

"I heard you made her a managing executive. You either really believed in her or you have money to waste." Pearl.

"Pearl, come on. Don't kick this dog. It's already down. Help us, please, sis'wami." Mthunzi.

"That woman has more than five written warning in her file from me. I’m sure that they haven't expired. I know two are really recent because I gave them to her before I left. Plus they are comprehensive final written warnings – those have a longer lifespan than the other warnings. Give her something to do that you know for a fact that she won't do and fire her for misconduct. Talk to Jeff. He has her file there in HR. I had also started a performance management process with her because her reporting was disgusting until Tom's baby mama came on board. Her involvement in products dropped the performance of products that I had to take her out of products. Palesa is an administrator at best. I have no idea how she even became an executive lead. She is just not fit for the role and I had already started the process of demoting her before I left. All of this is sitting in HR with Jeff. Take that information and go to ELR. That team will know how to use it to push her out by the end of this week." Pearl says.

She has literally given us a gold mine.

"Pearl, we worship the ground you walk on, right now." Mthunzi.

"They'll probably tell you that Palesa is now in a new role and we can't hold her performance in her old role against her now. But go to ELR and ask to deal with Nomzamo Thabethe. Nomzamo is their managing executive. That girl is a qualified labour law attorney. She will make things happen for you." Pearl.

"You are too awesome. Siyabonga sisi", Mthunzi.

"Cool. Bye." Just like that, she's gone.

She sounds great. I wish we could have chatted longer. She has always known how to sweep problems away. She doesn't sound like she misses me and she has clearly moved on. I feel so - I don't know - empty. I suddenly miss her.

“Shambula”, Mthunzi says. Thami and I both look at the door and we see that his wife has arrived. Mthunzi’s wife is beautiful. I just have to say this. My goodness!

“Hey”, she says. Her smile is not as bright and wide as it usually is. She has a lot of food in her hands.

“I brought you guys lunch. You said you are working hard, so I figured that you probably haven’t eaten. I got something for Lydia as well. I know you guys work her hard and I actually like her.” Koena says.

She is so thoughtful.

Thami is already opening the food before Mthunzi can even thank his wife. What’s wrong with this man? Does his wife not feed him?

“Thank you, Mrs Msomi”, I say to her.

She smiles at me. I text Lydia to come up to Mthunzi’s office.

Mthunzi is now hugging her and kissing her.

“You okay?” Mthunzi asks her.

She shakes her head.

“Let’s take a walk”, Mthunzi says.

She nods her head. They kiss again and as they leave –

“Hey gorgeous! I heard you brought us lunch.” Lydia says, hugging her.

“I did. I thought I’d bring you something nice to eat while you work hard.” Koena says.

“You are a darling. Thanks so much. I was actually telling Thomas that you and I need to go out and hang out.”

“I agree. Let’s make it happen, please.”

“We will.”

Finally, she and Mthunzi leave.

Lydia sits on top of me as she starts eating.

“Are you okay?” She asks me.

I smile at her and say, “I am now.”

She kisses me.

“Thomas, can I have my wife parade in and out of here as and when she pleases as well?” Thami asks me.

I am not even going to dignify that with an answer. I don’t like this guy. He’s annoying as fuck and he thinks he’s funny. He just behaves as if he had fitting-in issues on the playground. Thami doesn’t put in the hours that Mthunzi puts in, that’s why Koena can parade in here as and when she pleases. I use her time to get Mthunzi to work, so I am okay if she uses my time to feel better about whatever it is that they are going through.

“Let’s go to my office, baby.” I say to Lydia.

We stand up.

“And you better get out of Mthunzi’s office.” I tell Thami.

He dishes up for himself what he can, then leaves.

SMH!

0 notes

marblesarelost · 6 years

Text

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life

CHAPTER TWO

A soft knock on her office door brought her back out of herself, and she looked up from her screen to the door. “Um. Come in?” Jane peeked around the door, her grin wide.

“I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!” She squealed, coming into the office, a wine bottle and two glasses in her other hand. “Oh my God, Darcy, this is amazing!”

“I know,” Darcy agreed, nodding excitedly. “Two seconds, Janey, let me save this, okay?” She bookmarked the article about Doom’s request to the United Nations and saved her notes before closing her tabs and screens and rising from her desk. Her desk. Yes, it was standard and she’d had one in the lab, but this was hers, in her office, and she was going to do a hell of a job because she knew that they were trusting her and she didn’t even have her master’s yet oh God. “Okay,” she said, turning off the coffeemaker and picking up her bag. “Let’s go celebrate.”

“All the celebrating,” Jane agreed. “I’ve ordered dinner and I went downstairs to Michelle’s and got you a chocolate orange.”

“You’re the best,” Darcy said, following Jane out the door and closing it behind her. The magnetic lock clicked, and she grinned at the nearest camera before heading for the elevator. “I guess Tony talked to you?” Jane’s ponytail bounced up and down ahead of her.

“Yeah. He explained everything, and I’m supposed to start meeting with some of his people in the morning to try to find a new set of assistants. Seriously, I’m going to need at least three to handle what you do,” Jane sighed.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, boss --“ Darcy shook her head, brown hair flying. “You’re not though. For…for the first time in…”

“Four years,” Jane said softly. “But I’m glad. I’m really glad, Darcy. I mean, I love you, you’re the sister I never had, but…”

“But I need to spread my wings. I get you,” Darcy agreed. “Well, the good news is I should definitely be able to afford my own apartment in a month or two, I’ve just got to save up for deposits and everything.”

“Yeah? That is good news,” Jane agreed. “Maybe next you’ll get a date.”

“Oh, shut up, I go out,” Darcy said, bumping shoulders with her friend. It wasn’t long before they were having dinner, Alessandro’s from downstairs. Darcy moaned just a little as she ate, the lasagna perfect, the breadsticks good and crunchy. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was,” she admitted, taking a long drink of red wine.

“Isn’t that usually my line?” Jane said, her smile quivering just a little. “Oh, this is going to be…it’s great, but I just know I’m going to miss you so much in the labs, Darce, I’m used to having you there…”

“Hey, now. Like I said, it’s gonna be a couple months before I move out anyway, I’m still gonna be around,” Darcy insisted. “And besides, I’m only five floors down from this floor and four down from the labs. It’ll be fine, Janey, we can have lunch together, we can go to the movies, it’ll be fine.”

“Yeah. I know, and I know…Tony said what you’re doing is absolutely essential, really, for the Avengers, it’s just…I don’t like change in my personal life. It’s hard.”

“Awww. I know,” Darcy soothed. “But it’s not going to be that big a change. It’s not. And he promised me he would find you somebody good. So it’s gonna be okay.”

The next morning found Darcy up bright and early, her heels slightly muffled by the carpet of the building as she went downstairs to her office. Instead of her baggy sweater over a tee over jeans, she wore a black pencil skirt that fell just below her knees, white blouse, with a sapphire blue jacket for a pop of color. Her hair was up in a tight French braid, her bag replaced by the briefcase her Opa had given her for graduation. She nodded pleasantly to the few people she saw in the hallway of her floor, and went directly to her office, the door now bearing a brass nameplate; “Darcy Lewis, political analyst.” She couldn’t resist the smile that split her face, seeing it there, or taking a picture and sending it to her Opa and Oma. She had called them the night before, but that, that sort of made it a little more real.

She had just sat down behind her desk, coffee at two o’clock, notepad and pencil before her, when someone tapped on her closed office door. “Come in,” she called, and the door opened to show a stranger, an older woman with graying black hair.

“Good morning, Miss Lewis. I’m Linda, Linda Garrison. One of the attorneys for the Initiative.” Darcy rose from her seat, holding out her hand.

“Good morning, Ms. Garrison. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise,” the attorney replied, looking over the office. “Just started?”

“Yes, just yesterday actually.”

“Ms. Potts said that she’s going to be adding more analysts?”

“Yes. I’ll be heading the political team; of course we’ll leave the PR and the legal aspects to your team and PR, we’ll be offering political advice in regards to the different countries the Avengers might find themselves in,” Darcy explained. Ms. Garrison nodded slowly, her smile fading a bit, but never quite leaving her face.

“I head the legal team. I don’t know exactly how much we’ll work together, Ms. Lewis, but just in case there’s any friction between your team and mine, I’m who you’ll come to.”

“The same; I hope there won’t be any, though. I can’t really foresee any,” Darcy said, and Ms. Garrison nodded.

“Neither can I, right offhand, but one never knows, and it’s always best to know one’s peers and the chain of command. Well. I’ll let you get to it, my office is up the hall toward the elevator if you should need anything.”

“Thank you, Ms. Garrison. Good meeting you.”

“And you.” Darcy nodded, shook hands again, waited for the woman to leave before sitting back down at her desk. “FRIDAY, is there a way to engage do not disturb on this floor for the individual offices?”

“Yes, Miss Lewis. Would you like me to?”

“Give it another half hour, and then yes,” Darcy ordered. “Jane, any member of the actual Avengers Initiative, and Ms. Potts can override, but that’s it.”

“Yes, Ms. Lewis,” the AI agreed. “May I ask if the coffee provided was adequate?”

“Yes, it’s fine for now. I’d like to put in an order for a two pound bag of Thunderbolt French Roast starting next week, please.”

“Yes, Miss Lewis. Weekly or bi-weekly delivery?”

“Ah…biweekly for now, I’ll reevaluate once I figure out how much I actually need?”

“Excellent. Will there be anything else?”

“Not right now, FRIDAY, thanks so much.”

Her first real day of work as a political analyst went well, she thought. She read through the various articles and watched the news clips that had had aggregated over the last six months about the political situation of Latveria, taking careful notes, until lunch. During her lunch (a very nice lunch of fruit and soup, thanks, she’d had all the carbs the night before) she made notes regarding what she wanted her team to do from day to day, mainly research on what Pepper had called the short-term assignments, the political and social thoughts of the various countries of the world on the Avengers and whether they would accept assistance or not. “FRIDAY?” She asked once she was done with that.

“Yes, Miss Lewis?”

“What were the date parameters of the Latveria search that Tony ran?”

“Mr. Stark ordered a search for news stories regarding Doctor Doom and the political situation in Latveria between six months ago and two days ago, Miss Lewis.”

“Okay, new search, please. Same parameters except go back one full year, and update with any new stories that have shown up in the last two days,” Darcy ordered. “And keep it updated with new stories until further instructions.”

“Yes, Miss Lewis. That will take a few minutes, I’m afraid.”

“That’s fine. Thank you, FRIDAY.”

“You’re very welcome, Miss Lewis.”

By the end of the week, she had the zero draft of her report, she had reviewed a dozen resumes for the team that had been sent on to her by Pepper, and she had a rough idea of how the countries in the EU and some of the Eastern European countries viewed the Avengers. She felt it was a good start. There were a few sticky points that she wanted to work out, but overall, it was a good start.

She spent the weekend combing through thrift shops and secondhand stores, looking for businesswear that number one, would fit, number two, wasn’t all black or gray, and number three, was good enough quality that if it didn’t fit, but could be tailored, she would be willing to make the investment. She could do some things, taking hems up or down, for example, but she preferred to let professionals deal with the jackets, for example.

Monday morning, she was in her office at eight-thirty, sipping coffee and looking over her notes regarding the actual national status of Atlantis. Was it a country? It wasn’t recognized by the UN, or by more than two or three other countries, one of which was Latveria, which was amusing as Latveria was a landlocked postage stamp, actually, in the middle of Eastern Europe. But Greece, Italy, and Greenland all three recognized it as a sovereign nation, and King Namor had given several interviews…she should really look into that. If the Avengers had to deal with something rising from the sea, which they had already done on several occasions, they should really have at least a working relationship with Atlantis. But how? They didn’t exactly have an embassy, it was common knowledge that most Atlanteans would die if exposed to air too long. She’d have to think about that.

“Miss Lewis, Mr. Stark and Captain Rogers have just gotten off on your floor, they seem agitated,” FRIDAY warned her.

“Thanks, FRIDAY. Unlock the door for them, would you?”

“Certainly.”

A few seconds later, Tony and Steve came into her office, both in mufti, which gave her the chance to appreciate Steve in jeans, thank you Dr. Erskine. “Really sorry about this, Darce,” Steve began as Tony pushed past him on the way to the coffee machine. He looked as if he had just rolled out of bed, possibly head first. That was definitely yesterday’s AC/DC tee he was wearing, and --

“Tony, are you still in your pajama pants?” Darcy asked.

“Maybe. At least I’m wearing pants, be grateful,” he said, picking up one of her novelty coffee cups. “You’ve got Rebel and First Order and Imperial coffee cups?”

“May the Force be with you,” she said, and he snorted.

“And also with you, Artoo.”

“Does that make you Threepio? Because you’re the snarkiest bastard in the building.”

“HA! No.” He poured himself some coffee, choosing, she noted, the “I run so I can keep up with the Doctor” cup. “Steve?” That got her attention. Tony was using Steve’s name. Not Cap, not Capsicle, not Captain Tightpants. Steve. Tony was being serious, or at least trying to. He turned her office chair around, sitting on it backwards, while Steve hovered near the doorway.

“Okay. Steve, close the door, get some coffee if you want, then sit down. Tony. Seriously. What’s going on?”

“About twenty minutes ago, I got a phone call,” Tony began as Steve, bless him, followed orders. “From the Latverian Embassy.” Both of Darcy’s eyebrows went up. “Doom is coming here, to New York, tomorrow. His bees are working overtime, because he wants to set up a meeting with the UN and ask, formally, for UN assistance in…” Tony looked at his coffee, took another sip, shook his head. “He wants to reset his government, I guess. Change Latveria from, let’s face it, a dictatorship ruled by a literal iron fist, to a constitutional monarchy.”

“Are you serious?” Darcy said when she could find her voice. “That’s…that’s nothing short of amazing.”

“Yep. That’s what the guy on the other end of the line said. I was informed because he wants to ensure that the Avengers know he’s coming on a diplomatic mission.”

“Okay,” she said slowly. “I haven’t had time to do more than a zero draft of my report, but I can email it to you, no problem.”

“And you’ve got time to finish it, Darcy, I’m not trying to rush you, but I -- we,” Tony corrected himself, looking guiltily at Steve, “want your general impressions and conclusions.” Darcy took a deep breath, blew it out.

“Okay. General impressions and conclusions? He’s been working on this for at least the last year,” she began. “Slow outreaches to surrounding nations, specifically Symkaria and Chernaya. Definite rebuffs toward Putin’s minions; there was a minor diplomatic dustup last year when he and a couple of his robots personally dropped off four Russian agents on the front steps of the Kremlin. It was…interesting, at least for a few days, over there, but thankfully, nobody got stupid.” She paused to sip her coffee, then continued. “He’s allowing at least some of his subjects to visit Chernaya and Symkaria now, and he’s put down two attempted coups by a couple of his colonels, both of whom would have probably wanted to keep the police state.”

“That…maybe it’s just me,” Steve said slowly. “But if you wanted to make your country free, why wouldn’t you just do that?”

“Because they wouldn’t know what to do with freedom, Steve,” Darcy explained. “They still don’t. It’s going to take at least a couple of generations before the general populace understands the difference between what they’ve always had, and what they have the chance for. Even a constitutional or parliamentarian monarchy is better than the despot he’s been.” She drummed her fingers on her coffee cup, trying to think of how best to explain. “They’ve lived under a very harsh rule all their lives. They don’t know anything but toe the line, don’t speak badly of Doom, or life in Latveria, or else you disappear. Allowing small groups to go experience what life is like in Symkaria and Chernaya for a week or two at a time lets the people see the difference between the countries. He’s lifted the ban on speaking favorably of other countries, yes, that was an actual law for thirty years, you couldn’t speak well of the United States or Canada or the EU if you were in Latveria. He’s upgraded the common standard of living for most of his people, if you’ll give me a second?” She picked up her tablet, ran a before and after image search on Google, handed it to Steve. “On the left, you’ll see a common Latverian farm in 1990.” A small house that could barely be called better than a hut. Four people, man, woman, two children, standing in front of it with blank expressions. “On the right, you’ll see that same farm last year.” The house behind the family, which now numbered eight, had obviously been expanded, a real metal roof rather than tin sheets on the top, there was a truck and a four door sedan in the background. “He imported, at his own expense, a work truck and a car for every Latverian farming family last summer. Gave it to them. Flip the screen.” Steve did so to look at a line of trucks painted in bright, cheery colors, the people standing in front of them smiling broadly, dark skinned and haired, dressed in Latverian folk costume. “That’s a tribe of Latverian Romani. He’s always been partial to them, his mother was Roma.”

“He’s buying his people things? Why didn’t he do that before?” Steve asked, handing her the tablet, his face blank. “Why didn’t he try to improve their standard of living before?”

“I don’t know. What I do know is that in the last year, maybe year and a half, I haven’t finished all the research yet, he’s been making huge strides in improving the standard of living and expanding and opening human and civil rights in his country, and that by itself is amazing. For someone to just…turn themselves around like this? It doesn’t happen. It really doesn’t happen. Not without some form of intervention, not without something happening personally to open their eyes to what they’ve been doing.”

“So he got Jesus?” Tony asked, and Darcy threw her hands in the air, shrugging.

“I don’t know if it’s Jesus, Odin, or Baba Yaga kicked the fear of her into him, but the results speak for themselves. Victor Von Doom has been making changes in his country and in his rule for the last year. Maybe you guys could go over to Empire State and see if there are any recent Latverian students who are willing to talk to you? I don’t know that they would, but it’s a possibility. All I know for sure is that the news stories currently coming out of Latveria, Symkaria, and Chernaya all point to a massive change in the governmental outlook, and the quality of life.”

“Huh.” Tony sipped his coffee again, leaning back in his chair, his eyes half-closed. “Steve?”

“I mean, I think it’s great,” Steve said slowly. “If he really is sincere about all of this, it’s great. Knowing that maybe in a time of world crisis, we could perhaps ask Doom for backup? Would be a huge advantage, honestly, because he’s almost as smart as you, Tony.”

“Please, tell me more about how clever I am,” Tony smirked, and Darcy rolled her eyes.

“Be serious. But on the other hand, what if --“

“IT’S A TRAP,” Darcy and Tony said at the same time, and Tony picked it up. “Yeah. It could be. Or it could be he finally took a page out of his old pal Namor’s book, and decided to build instead of destroy.”

“I know you want to believe, Tony,” Steve sighed. “I know you do. And honestly? I do, too. I’d love to have another ally, especially in Eastern Europe. But I can’t just…say I’m from Missouri, I guess.”

“Look at it this way, Steve,” Darcy interjected. “He’s doing all the right things, and has been for a year. He’s invested tons, literally tons, of money in fixing his infrastructure and his people’s way of life. And now he’s coming to the UN for help. He’s not stupid, not at all. He knows he can’t just say, okay now, let’s vote on who you want to represent you. The UN is going to want to send teams over there, they’re going to want to investigate themselves. Can you open your mind enough to give Doom the benefit of the doubt until the UN finishes their investigation, at least?”

Steve was quiet, looking down at his hands for a long minute before his shoulders rose and fell, and he nodded. “I won’t say I don’t want to be cautious,” he said, looking up at her. “But we can give a man a chance. Everybody deserves at least one chance to change.”

“Great,” Tony said, standing. “Then I’ll call the Embassy and let them know that the Avengers recognize and approve of Lord Protector Von Doom’s visit to the UN, and any unpleasantness will not be started by the Avengers.”

“And give them my office number, would you, Tony?” Darcy interjected. “If I’m your political liaison, they should call me from now on.”

“Fuck. You’re right, Lewis. My bad.” He had the good grace to frown, at least. “You just started the job, hell, we just created it, that’s probably why…”

“No, I’m not mad,” Darcy hastened to reassure him. “You’re right, it’s not as if we’ve made a big deal about the new position or anything yet. We can make an announcement after Doom leaves. We don’t want to upstage his visit, that wouldn’t be prudent.”

“Right. Okay. Get with Pepper on that, she’s got the embassy numbers. Cap, you good?”

“Yeah,” Steve said, rising as well. “Thanks for your time, Darcy.”

“Hey, it’s what I’m here for. My advice, honestly, cautious support and observation is the best way to go in this. If he’s for real, we’ll know it; it’ll take the UN at least a year, maybe two, to get the elections set up. If he’s not, he’ll fuck up and show the autocratic DOOM IS BETTER THAN YOU PEASANTS crap again.” She grinned, bumping fists with Tony. “Villains, real ones, can’t help themselves, they have to feed their massive ass egos.”

“Exactly. Come on, mon Capitan, let’s go get Danish.” The two men left her office, and Darcy shook her head, smiling, as she went back to work.

#darcy lewis #fanfic #fanfiction #Avengers #tony stark #steve rogers #Victor Von Doom #darcyland #The Darcy/Victor Von Doom fic that nobody asked for #political wrangling #darcy is smart #@subsilvernight #I love reblogs

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thesevenseraphs · 7 years

Text

Bungie Weekly Update - 7/20/17

This week at Bungie, we’re putting you to the Test.

The Destiny 2 Beta is live. Two waves of Early Access players have rushed to the aid of a city under attack. The opening moments saw some Termites, but the pest control game of the Destiny Operations Center was on point. Tragically, we can’t say the same for the Guardians who were the first to confront the Red Legion…

It’s been an exciting week! A Beta is a rare opportunity for you to serve as a volunteer on our development team. As a product of the Bungie Community, I can remember the rush of breaking new ground in a work in progress – that sense that my footsteps in a new world were the very first to appear in that soil. During my time at Bungie, I’ve been on hand for several red letter days when a thundering herd of players storm into something brand new. I might be biased as a community guy, but there is no match for that excitement.

We’re learning a lot about what Destiny 2 will be at launch. If you’ve fired a shot in anger at the Red Legion, you’re helping us make a better game. Be sure to tell your friends we said so when they ask you where you got that Emblem.

Don’t take it from me, alone. Producer Jared Berbach has been working with the team that delivered the Beta to your console. Here’s what he had to say about it…

Jared: The Beta has been amazingly helpful for our development team. The analogy I always give is that the Beta is the plow on the front of the train that blasts all the snow off the tracks to clear our path. We had many updates to the original, but Destiny 2 is a brand new game using brand new technology in order to deliver an awesome experience. This new technology needs a lot of testing. This testing ultimately helps us validate that our new server model is working as we thought it would, and at the quality and scale we had hoped. It helps us evaluate our new tech advancements, including enhancements you’ll understand more fully when you play the full game. Ultimately, it paves the way for us to have a much smoother launch.

When Guardians finish a mission in Destiny, the takeaways are (1) sweet loot and (2) feedback about the moments of action that define the game. At Bungie, we have an enthusiastic ear for what you say about your experiences in the wild. The Destiny 2 Beta has been a great opportunity to listen. The test is far from over, but Beta Design Lead Rob Engeln has some acknowledgments to share mid-stream.

Rob: Aside from testing our processes and services, the Beta is also an opportunity for us to collect feedback and data to help us close out the final tuning for the game. We’re watching and playing with you. Thank you for sharing your experiences and helping make the launch version of Destiny 2 that much better. The PVE game tuning has changed pretty significantly since the Beta build was deployed. The nature of a Beta of this scale requires that it’s based off a build of the game that is now months old. So, in many cases, your feedback is helping us validate changes that were previously made based on internal feedback and playtesting. For example, we too felt that ammo (especially power ammo) was too scarce in PvE. In addition to retuning the drop rates, we built a system that guarantees power ammo drops for you and your Fireteam from certain enemies, giving power weapons a more reliable and predictable role in your arsenal. Other areas where we’ve made significant tuning changes include grenade effectiveness in PvE, Boss vitality, and weapon damage against non-player combatants.

There will come a time to share the full suite of statistics and the analysis. What did we learn? How many Guardians shared a bubble with Zavala? Time will tell. This grand experiment is ongoing, and we're tracking every data-point and forum thread. Tomorrow, we open the experience to anyone holding a controller connected to a PlayStation 4 or an Xbox One. On Sunday, we’ll open The Farm for one hour to see how players come together in the new social hub for Destiny 2.

We hope you’ll join us. There is a certain equity in “I was there before the game even shipped.” We thank you for being one of those people.

Game on!

The Rhythm of the Algorithm

BETA SPOILER ALERT: Once Ghaul kicks you off the stern of his attack ship, you’ll be invited to enter the new arena. The Destiny 2 Beta provides a preview for how competitive multiplayer is evolving alongside the rest of the game. Whenever Guardians meet in glorious combat, there are questions about how they were selected as opponents. Crucible Design Lead Lars Bakken has some answers for how you’ll meet each other in the heat of battle.

Lars: Hello everyone!

Lars from the Crucible Team here, aka: Thug Larz on the Internetz. We really hope you’re enjoying the Beta. Even though it’s just a taste of the full game, we believe it delivers a good preview of what you’ll experience this fall. As you play your first matches in the Destiny 2 Crucible, you’re probably wondering about how Matchmaking will work. Before we dive into the details, allow me to share our core design principles for the Crucible in Destiny 2:

Provide a great experience for players who enjoy competitive PvP activities

Ensure that players who enjoy PvP have fair and fun matches

We’re designing the Crucible for people who live for that competitive fire that wells up in their soul every time they are challenged. That’s important to us. So, what’s new for Matchmaking in Destiny 2? The obvious PvP evolutions are the 4v4 format and the two consolidated playlists. We hope these changes have a good impact on game quality. Destiny 2 Crucible Matchmaking places a greater emphasis on connection quality, but make no mistake: Skill is still a big component in finding worthy opponents for you to fight. When all these systems are singing in unison, it should help us reach our ultimate goal: To give all players, regardless of their skill, the best possible experience. While the new Quickplay and Competitive modes are designed to serve different moods, they are using the same MM settings in the Beta. We’ll be able to tune these separately post-Beta, and your playtesting will help us going forward. For those of you who are wondering, we bucket you separately depending on the playlist, so your Quickplay skill is tracked separately from your Competitive skill. TL;DR: We’re always trying to make sure your connection is solid, while also making sure we give you as fair a match as possible. Thanks again for helping us Beta test the game. We’ll see you starside.

We’re tracking all Destiny 2 Beta #Feedback on the forum. What do you think? Destiny has always been an experience that adapts to your best behaviors behind the gun. This is the first conversation we’ll have about Destiny 2 Crucible Matchmaking, but it will not be the last!

Pest Control

Destiny Player Support has orders to keep watch over the virtual ecosystem where you play. When pesky critters ruin your fun, they run them down. You’re always welcome to follow the running dialogue about the hunt. This is their report.

July 21: Destiny 2 Open Beta begins

Players who have yet to pre-order will be granted access to the Destiny 2 Beta on July 21 at 10 AM Pacific through the PlayStation Store or Xbox Store. Destiny Player Support is currently tracking the following issues.

Player reports of error code TERMITE when first attempting to sign in to the Destiny 2 Beta

Player reports of error code WEASEL occurring when inspecting weapons, armor, ships, or completing activities

Players reports of error code OLIVE occurring when attempting to complete the campaign mission Homecoming, or attempting to sign-in

Player reports of error code MOOSE occurring when entering new areas within activity spaces

Player reports of PlayStation error code CE-34878-0 appearing during gameplay until changing platform language settings

Infinite Super Abilities in the Strike activity

Infinite Ammo granted through various gear and subclass perk synergy

We have disabled in-game Clan invitations for the remainder of the Destiny 2 Beta, as functionality was leading to an increase in error code WEASEL. The cause of this issue has been forwarded to the appropriate team for investigation. Destiny 2 Beta Clan Issues do not impact Clan features on Bungie.net or within Destiny 1. While we are able to reduce the occurrence of some error codes impacting gameplay, other issues revealed during the Beta may not be addressed prior to the ending of Beta on July 23, 2017. To confirm additional known issues, please see help.bungie.net/beta. As we investigate and troubleshoot these issues, stay tuned to @BungieHelp for service status and updates

Reporting an Issue to the #Help forum

If you encounter any issues during the Destiny 2 Beta, please post a report to the #Help forum with the following information:

PlayStation Network ID or Xbox Live Gamertag

Time in which issue occurred

Activity in which issue occurred

Description of what happened

While players may not receive a response, issues will be forwarded to the appropriate teams for investigation.

#destiny #destiny the game #Destiny 2 #bungie weekly update

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svetlanawagner-blog · 5 years

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Welcome to our income reports where we share ways we’ve been making money through the , the challenges and lessons we learned each month, and finally to celebrate successes however big or small. Though we have a few side hustles, we’re happy that the travel is our main hustle.

Life Updates

We spent the first week of June at the IPW conference, where they shut down Disneyland for IPW, and we got to preview the new Star Wars Land. I usually opt out of conferences, and let Jacob do what he does best, but I couldn’t pass up going to Disneyland!

The second week, we were in Alaska, where we experienced 24 hours of daylight for the first time. It tripped me out, but I loved that golden hour lasted forever.

Back in Vegas, we’ve been spending more time climbing both indoors and outdoors, which has been the only way to have any work-life balance. It also helped that this month, we were able to send two of our writers to Czech Republic. Maybe I’m getting too old for back to back travel, but I like being able to come back to a home base and decompress in between.

BTW, I’m completely done with my training for setting at the climbing gym, so now I just need lots of practice. You can follow along my route setting and climbing journey @petiteclimbing or come by Origin and let me know how I’m doing.

This post may contain affiliate links, where we receive a small commission on sales of the products that are linked at no additional cost to you. Read our full disclosure for more info. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Local Adventurer possible.

Originally Published: July 5, 2019

How We Made OVER $13.1K in JUNE - Travel Blog Income Report

Why We Share Our Income Reports

If you’re new here, you might be wondering why on earth we would share something so personal. We’ve been hesitant to share our income reports for the last 5 years, and we’re super nervous about this post, but since we’re all about trial and error, let’s see how it goes! We’re putting out these income reports for these following reasons.

To Show You How We Make Income Blogging

We always want to be 100% transparent about how we make money through this . The amazing thing about the ging world is that every we’ve talked to does things a bit differently. There are also countless ways to grow and improve your business. When we started, we made most of our money through affiliate sales. Since then, we’ve shifted heavily to sponsored content. A big part of this is because my background is in sales and it’s what I’m good at. You can learn more about my sale method below. As time goes on, this will continue to change, but we want to share how we focus on our strengths to effectively meet our goals.

To Show You the Potential of Blogging

Whether you have a or are starting a , we want to show you that you can make a career out of ging.

Even if you don’t want to , there are a ton of ways to be financially and location independent and we hope to inspire others to go after it too. If you want to keep your day job, ging can be a great way for you to make some extra side money.

Esther started the 6 years ago and I joined her full time 3 years ago. Even until last year, our parents were worried about us financially, wondering when we would stop “playing” and start taking our lives and work more seriously. Neither of us ended up being “good Asians” (namely a doctor, lawyer, or engineer). It’s an unconventional job and where most people don’t understand all the work that goes on behind the scenes.

More: The Ugly Truths of Being a Travel Blogger told by Top Travel Bloggers

We love that our jobs give us flexibility in what we do, but being your own boss isn’t all that it’s cut out to be either. You have to be disciplined and work hard at your business to grow it.

If you’re not getting the results you want, again, keep in mind that we’ve been ging for 6 years now and the first month I tried monetizing my , I made less than $20. Give it more time and failing in the process is okay. I didn’t have the correct tools that are out now and a lot of it was trial and error. Consider it all an A/B test to figure out what will best work for you.

To Track How We're Doing

I’ve always loved sharing goals online and tracking them. Putting them out in the world (via the ) has helped me so much with accountability. Since we’re constantly tweaking trying to improve the , looking at these numbers will help us learn whether we’ve been making the right changes. It’s amazing to see how the sources of income have changed over time and to see where we still have room for improvement.

Ultimately, our life goal is to make enough to live on half our income (right now we’re at 30%), where the rest will go back into the community or support organizations we love.

Breakdown of Income for June 2019

In June 2019 we earned a total of $13,160.63.

Affiliate Income

Avantlink: $1,061.06

Commission Junction: $222.35

Misc (Ebay, Skimlinks, AWin, etc): $191.58

Sponsorships

Sponsored Product Posts: $3,038.89 *our fave marketplace lately: IZEA

Display Ads

Mediavine: $8,646.75

Income Comparison to Other Months

Total in 2019 Year Income: $135,125.49

Last Month Income: $30,944.79

Difference: 42% decrease from last month

Expenses

Web Hosting: $429.94 (Want to start a ? Here’s how you can start a in 5 easy steps)

Keysearch: $18.60

Social Media Manager, Virtual Assistants, Subcontractors: $979.17

Teachable: $89 (check out their free weekly webinar)

Office Supplies/Services: $4,272.33

Test Products/Shoot Supplies: $963.68

*Taxes: $1,192

Insurance: $613.89

Travel + Meal Expenses: $4,408.37

$193.65

*Roughly 30% of your income will go to taxes at the end of the year. The number above shows the money set aside for taxes to offset how much we have to pay at the end. It makes it less painful at the end of the year.

June 2019 Blog Traffic Breakdown + Stats

Monthly Pageviews: 664,585

Daily Average: 22,152

Monthly Sessions: 513,929

Monthly Unique Visitors: 428,569

Social Media Followers: 322,028

Email Subscribers: 8,459

Goals for June 2019

Blog Goals

Follow up IPW leads

Post once a week minimum

Update Affiliate Links for top 25 Posts

Finish moving servers (running into a few hiccups)

Document the first trip funded by Local Adventurer (more on this later)

Life Goals

Try intermittent fasting

2 date nights

Finish a book

Workout or go to the climbing gym 3x a week

Work only 40 hours a week (on weeks not traveling)

What's Working on the Blog

We’ve been so bad about posting new posts the past few months, but in June, we had at least 4! Go me! haha It’s so hard to balance creating new posts and updating older ones that need maintenance.

IPW has been a great conference for us. We always have a few good leads coming out of it. We’re excited to follow up and see if we can build new partnerships.

What Didn't Work + Lessons Learned

We’re in the process of moving servers, which will increase our site speed significantly. It’s taken longer than expected, but we want to do it right. As for income, it was a slow month in terms of payments, and a big month for spending. A lot of it is for future trips, so hopefully we’ll be seeing income come back to us later in the year.

We also haven’t had time to market the course. It’s a full time job of its own, so we’re currently looking to hire someone for marketing.