#They Came in Peace Preview Part Two

[bestaez]

Don't Fear the Reaper

Scream AU

pairing: taehyung x reader

genre: yandere, horror/thriller

warnings: murder, graphic violence, mature themes, obsessive behavior, sexual content

word count: 13k

summary/preview: Just a year since your brother’s brutal murder, bad luck seems to strike again in your once-peaceful hometown. It seems as if death wants to follow you as it finds its next victim in one of your school friends. The more the murders start to connect, you begin to wonder if it really could be just a copycat killer or if the wrong man was imprisoned.

quick note: this is very unedited so pls excuse any mistakes!! ty🖤

It had been almost a year since your brother’s death and you still couldn’t believe it was real. His bedroom door had been practically sealed shut, neither you nor your father daring to venture inside. The sight of his empty room getting dusty would have just made it that much more real - something the both of you didn’t need as the constant news coverage had done enough of that job already.

It wasn’t necessarily that you were so distraught over Seowon’s death that you couldn’t come to terms with it. He was your older brother, your own blood, but that didn’t mean the two of you had been the closest siblings. You would describe your relationship over the years as lukewarm at best. You loved him because he was your brother but you never truly felt like you knew him. It was also hard to mourn with news vans following you everywhere you went.

The part that was hard to believe was the way in which he had died. He had been found in the woods near your house with seventeen stab wounds. It didn’t make any sense. Your brother had been a star football player at your school, part of the popular crowd. He was well-liked amongst students and teachers. You didn’t think anyone had a bad opinion of him. It’s possible he had rivals especially in sports or romances but nothing that would warrant murder.

Initially, there had been a lot of speculation in the town and you had heard all the rumors, including the one where your father had killed him in a fit of rage. You knew it could never be true; your father had been devastated by your brother’s death. He had been emotionless before, but now he was just a shell of the man he was. And whoever said loss could bring people closer had obviously never met your father.

The truth was that your father had always been emotionally closed for as long as you had known him. Your mother had died from complications after your birth and though he had never voiced it, you knew that he had resented you for being the cause of your mother’s death. At times, you wished you had never been born because living with the guilt had been too much to bear especially living with a father who never forgave you for it. 

When the police eventually did find a suspect, you were shocked to say the least. Min Yoongi was a few years older than you and had already graduated when the murder weapon as well as your brother’s blood on his clothing was found. He had always been a serious guy and if you asked most people, they would say they had always believed he kept skeletons in his closet. You knew he was a bit of a recluse, but you never would have guessed he was capable of murder. The motive they came up with was that Yoongi had been jealous of your brother’s popularity and mixed with his own mental instability, things inevitably came to a day and he decided to act out his aggressions.

Many people wanted to know your side of it, whether you believed the story and whatnot. You had mostly stayed silent on the matter, unlike your father who had screamed at Yoongi in court and had to be dragged out of the room. You can still remember the stares you got from everyone that day - it was the same look you got from most of the town and your classmates. A mix of pity, curiosity, and judgment.

It was safe to say you hadn’t been looking forward to this time of year. The true crime fanatics had seemingly been ramping up their shenanigans, hoping to possibly find some clue that would connect more of the dots. The stares you always felt in town and at school hadn’t lessened and seemed to be picking up a bit more in recent weeks as the anniversary drew closer.

Which is why most nights, you would find yourself holed up in your bedroom where it was calmer. Much to your best friend's dismay, as she would always try to drag you away to some party or school outing. Haena hated it when you closed yourself off and didn’t believe in wallowing alone. In her eyes, it was as if your introvertedness was just a sickness that she had to cure.

The only person who understood your feelings was your boyfriend, Taehyung. He, too, was a bit of a homebody and didn’t mind staying in with you most nights. He did have more friends and liked to party, but he never pressured you to go out. Part of you believed he enjoyed having you all to himself that way and for some reason you didn’t mind it.

You don’t know how you got so lucky getting a boyfriend like Taehyung. He was so dreamy with dark black locks that were often tucked behind his ear and matching dark eyes that seemed to always be on you. He was an artist and could often be found wearing distressed jeans and sweaters with little splotches of paint here and there. He was extremely affectionate, always having to have his hands on you some way or another.

The two of you met in freshman year art class where you had quickly realized you had no business holding a paintbrush, much to Taehyung’s amusement. He would offer to fix up your paintings when the teacher wasn’t looking and was the only reason you ended up passing. It wasn’t until a little after that semester that the two of you started dating.

A low tapping interrupted your thoughts as you sat in bed, almost too quiet to hear over the television playing in your room. You got up to investigate, pulling your curtains open to see none other than Taehyung leaning up against your window using a ladder to get up here. You weren’t even sure if that ladder was yours but you were glad your window didn’t face the street where others could see.

You opened the window as you spluttered in shock, stepping back to allow him room to clamber inside. You held your breath as you kept an ear out to make sure your dad hadn’t heard his nosy arrival, eyes trained on the door like he would bust in any moment.

“What are you doing here?” You hissed once you had regained your composure.

“What, I can’t visit my girlfriend?” Taehyung pouted. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too but if my dad catches you-” “He won’t.” Taehyung cut you off, leveling you with his beautiful dark eyes as he leaned closer to you on the bed. “I’m stealthy.”

You breathed out a sigh, at a loss for words from his sudden close proximity. He reminded you of a tiger the way he stared you down like you were prey. You were so mesmerized by him you had missed him inching closer until you could feel his breath on your lips.

“Tae-” You tried to stop him but he shushed you, pressing his mouth to yours.

Taehyung was your first serious boyfriend and there hadn’t been a single dull moment in your relationship yet. For you, every new experience you had with him had been a thrill. But there was only so many heated makeouts you two could have before you knew he would want to do more. He understood you were inexperienced and was willing to wait but you wondered how much longer before he cracked.

As if on cue, his hand grazed your thigh lightly as if to test the waters. When you didn’t stop him, he grew more confident and raised it until it reached your hip, squeezing gently. You appeared calm on the outside but on the inside, your heart was racing.

He pulled back a bit to look you in the eyes, licking his lips as he smirked. “I can feel your heartbeat.”

Your eyes widened in embarrassment as you quickly sat up, covering your cheeks as you felt them heating. You had hoped it wouldn’t have been so obvious. Why couldn’t you just be normal? 

“Still so nervous around me after all this time,” He chuckled wryly, lifting a hand to remove the ones covering your face. His fingers caressed your cheek as he gazed at you. “What can I do to make you more comfortable, baby?”

“I’m sorry.” You breathed, feeling your heart skip at all the intense eye contact. “I just need more time.”

“Don’t be sorry. I told you I would wait.” He gave you a small smile, leaning in to give you another kiss. He brushed a hand through your hair before pulling away and making his way back over to the window.

You watched him begin his descent back down to the ground before an idea popped into your head. You don’t know where the sudden confidence came from but the sight of his retreating back made you want to try something.

“Taehyung,” You called out from the window once he had made it all the way down. He looked back up at you curiously, his eyebrows raised in question. “Something to hold you over for now?”

You didn’t wait for him to reply before you lifted your shirt up, exposing your breasts to him from down below. You waited a few nerve wracking seconds before pulling it back down, giggling nervously as you did.

His look of pure shock made it all worth it, preventing any possible embarrassment from flooding into your system. You could tell your stunt had rendered him speechless for a moment, if the choked sputters coming from him were anything to go by.

“I think you just made it worse.” He finally spoke, his voice deep and chilling. You laughed loudly, moving to shut your window closed.

*****

When you arrived at school the next day, the atmosphere was tenser than usual. You were used to people whispering around you but this was different. People seemed to be more huddled in groups. It was as if there was some unseen sinister presence that had arrived. You weren’t sure if you could just blame it on the seasons changing but there definitely seemed to be a chill in the air this morning.

A hand grabbing your arm on your way through the courtyard startled you, your heart jumping only to see it was just Haena. Her eyes were wide as she squeezed your forearm urgently. You could tell just by her expression that whatever was going on was serious.

“Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Your confusion was obvious as you watched realization dawn on her.

“You haven’t heard...” She paused as if trying to find the right words, biting her lip unsurely. “YN, some students were murdered last night.”

“What? Who?” The shock spread throughout your body like a numbness, your extremities feeling cold all of the sudden.

“Park Jimin and Yoon Iseul.”

You weren’t sure if any names that could possibly come out of her mouth would not come as a shock but this just floored you. Jimin and Iseul were the school’s power couple. Everyone was in love with them or wanted to be their friend. The correlation between their deaths and your brother’s wasn’t lost on you. Could it be a copycat killer? You didn’t want to think of the alternative - that Yoongi had been wrongfully imprisoned.

“That must be why everyone is acting so strange today.” You mumbled mindlessly, hearing the words coming out of your mouth but not feeling connected with them. “I just saw Iseul yesterday in sixth period.”

“It’s all I’ve been hearing about this morning. How Iseul’s parents came home to the grizzliest scene you can imagine. They said Jimin was tied up and they found Iseul out- '' Her chattering stopped upon seeing the sick look on your face, her lips pressing together as if just now realizing who she was speaking to. You didn’t blame her though - you knew she was just in shock. “Well, you get the gist. Apparently a neighbor saw the killer run out of there wearing some kind of weird ghost mask. Now everyone’s calling them ‘Ghostface.’”

“I don’t understand why this keeps happening.”

At some point in the day, you were called to the principal’s office for questioning. This wasn’t strange, though, as everyone in the entire school was going through the same thing. The police figured their first place to look was at the school, which made sense.

They had asked you simple questions like how well you knew Jimin and Iseul, if you knew if they were in any drama at school, etc. You had answered honestly and as accurately as you could. To be honest, you hadn’t the slightest who could have done something like this. But you could sense the detectives figured you might have some clue as you had been around death before. They looked at you like you had some kind of ghost hanging around you.

You decided that going through your day like you always did was the best shot at getting through it, clinging to any shred of normalcy that you could find. And if that meant having lunch with Haena and her usual friend group, then so be it. The seven of you were sitting outside in the courtyard, the climate having warmed up a bit since this morning.

The boys were goofing off with each other as if nothing was wrong, which in a way comforted you. You needed to act like everything was okay or else you could feel your sanity start to slip. Eyeing Haena, she was chatting with Jungkook while throwing her feet in his lap. He was rubbing her lower calves and you couldn’t help but watch how comfortable they were with each other in public like this.

It gave you the courage to lean back onto Taehyung who was sitting behind you, his warm chest a welcome embrace. He responded by wrapping his arms around your front, not missing a beat as he conversed with Hobi about the quiz they took this morning.

“Did they ask you guys if you liked to hunt?” Hobi asked all of the sudden, the idle chatter dying down as you all knew he was talking about the police interrogations all students had to partake in today.

“Yeah, I just told them I liked to fish.” Jin barked out a laugh.

You wondered out loud, “Why would they ask that?”

“Because their bodies were gutted.” Hobi responded matter-of-factly, turning to Jin with a suspicious look. “Kind of like a fish.”

“Thank you, Hobi.” Taehyung spoke sarcastically and you could practically feel his eye roll from behind you.

“They didn’t ask me about hunting,” Haena frowned in confusion.

“You think a girl could have pulled off a murder like that? Yeah, right.” Jungkook chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows at her in a condescending manner.

Haena scoffed in disgust, pulling her legs off his lap. “That is so sexist of you. Plenty of women become serial killers - look at Aileen Wuornos.”

“She used a gun on her male-only victims. Not exactly the same.”

“Yeah, from what I hear Jimin and Iseul were barely recognizable by the time they found them.” Jungkook informed, seemingly undeterred by Haena’s annoyance. “The fact is that it would take a man to do something like that.”

“How do you gut someone?” Your voice trembled as you voiced the question, your curiosity getting the best of you. Taehyung tightened his arms around you and leaned his head on your neck, leaving a kiss there.

It was silent for a moment before Jungkook spoke up, “Well, you’d get a knife and start from the groin-”

“Jungkook, shut the fuck up.” Taehyung’s harsh tone left no room for argument and even made you tense up a bit.

“Didn’t you date Iseul?” You asked Jungkook.

His eyes lit up for a moment as he chuckled, “Yeah, for like two seconds.”

“Before she dumped him for Jimin!” Hobi chimed in. “Hmm, I wonder how the police would feel if they knew you were her lover scorned.”

“What, you think I killed her?” Jungkook laughed genuinely, shaking his head in disbelief. “I’m sure you would love to see me behind bars but I’m afraid I have an alibi.”

Haena rolled her eyes as Jungkook winked at her, fed up with his immaturity. “If you think I’m going to defend your misogynistic ass, you’re sorely mistaken.”

Jungkook watched her with a pout as she stood up to leave, gathering her books for the next class. “Come on, baby! You know I’m not a killer.”

She ignored him as she walked off, which led to him jumping up and following her to no doubt get back in her good graces. Those two had been on-and-off for a while but you would be lying if you said their shenanigans weren’t entertaining. He was a pig-headed jock and she was an artsy type. They didn’t make any sense but somehow they ended up together.

*****

You went home that day to an empty house and a note on the kitchen table, which both surprised you and somehow didn’t. You were used to your father skipping out on you with no notice but to leave a note? That wasn’t like him.

Got a lead for a job out of town so I’ll be gone for a few days. I’ll try to call but might not have service -Dad 

You supposed the message was emotionally detached enough to be from him but you couldn’t help the strange feeling you got from reading it. You knew he probably wouldn’t call or if he did, it would be just to let you know he was staying longer. He knew you didn’t expect much from him and probably preferred it that way. Weirdly enough, you did too.

Exhausted from the day, you threw your bag on the floor and collapsed on the couch. You flipped the TV on and surfed through the channels mindlessly before one with a news headline and familiar face caught your eye. It was a reporter that you recognized almost immediately - Kim Namjoon. He had covered your brother’s case extensively and even wrote a book about it.

“ This small but mighty town has been hit yet again with another gruesome homicide case. Two young teenagers were found brutally murdered in their own home. ” He spoke clearly, his dragon-eyes penetrating you through the TV screen. You had seen them in person and knew how deadly their effect could be. “ Authorities have yet to release any statement but we know now that no arrest has been made and the murderer could strike again. ”

“ Could it be merely just a coincidence that this month is the anniversary of yet another senseless killing? It has been only ten months since Min Yoongi was found guilty for the murder of Jung Wooshik, who was also a student at Woodsboro High. ” Namjoon continued, and you held your breath as you waited for him to say what you had been fearing. “ Many have made a few theories on what could be the meaning of this, including that of a possible copycat killer or perhaps a wrongful imprisonment. It’s safe to say the town of Woodsboro needs to stay vigilant on protecting its own. ”

You cut him off there, not wanting to hear any more. Namjoon had made it clear early on that he was doubtful of Yoongi being the killer and spent most of his news coverage with that perspective. You tried not to take it personally but there had been instances where it seemed like the reporter blamed you for what happened. You knew you weren’t directly responsible for Yoongi’s conviction but you couldn’t help but wonder if you should feel guilty. You had only told the truth to the judge, that you had seen Yoongi by your house the day your brother died. That your brother had bought some weed from him and that you had seen him leaving while your brother was still alive. What happened between then and when your brother was killed was completely unknown to you.

But your witness testimony along with the physical evidence found in Yoongi’s home and car had been enough to convict him. You can still vividly remember the expression on Yoongi’s face when the verdict was given, as though he hadn’t even heard the judge. You couldn’t help but be amazed at his absolute indifference to everything going on around him at all times. You had never seen him smile or get angry ever. He kept all his emotions inside and it only fueled to make you more unsure of him.

The sound of the phone ringing loudly next to you made you jump, hand laying on your chest to feel your racing heart. You took a deep breath before you answered, “Hello?”

“YN, I just wanted to check on you and make sure you got home okay.” Of course it was just Haena. You knew she worried about you especially when you were home with your father.

“Yeah, I’m okay. My dad’s left town apparently so I’ve got the place to myself.”

“Oh shit, really?” She sounded stunned by this. “Didn’t he hear the news?”

“Not sure. Although knowing him, he might have just wanted to get away from all the media craziness.”

“Do you want to stay at my place?” As if she could sense your hesitance, she continued in a more serious tone, “I know you probably think I’m being dramatic but I just don’t think you should be alone right now.”

“Okay.” You relented, agreeing that it was probably best to not be isolated and vulnerable with a killer on the loose.

You ran upstairs to pack some clothes for the week, unsure of how long you would be staying there. The thought occurred to you that you should probably let Taehyung know where you would be going just in case he tried to make another surprise sneak-in on you again. You picked up your phone and dialed his number. It rang one time before immediately going to voicemail, causing you to pull the phone back and look at it in confusion. It wasn’t like him to outright reject your call, so you tried again. This time it rang all the way through before going to voicemail. 

“Huh, that’s weird.” You waited for the automated voice to end and the beep to sound before leaving him a message informing him of where you would be tonight as well as Haena’s home number in case he needed to reach you later.

When you got to Haena’s house a little while later, you weren’t exactly sure why you felt uneasy all of the sudden seeing the police vehicle in her driveway. Her dad was Sheriff Lee and he had always been like a father to you, more so than your own father anyway. But just seeing his car again after so long and knowing he was in there was dredging up old memories that you had tried to forget.

Haena answered the door with a bright grin and pulled you inside excitedly. You already knew you were in for an eventful next few days, especially with her two younger brothers who were always loud and rambunctious. But oddly enough, you found that you enjoyed being around such a loving and busy household because that had never been your home experience.

You were greeted by warm hugs from Mrs. Lee before she quickly sat you down for dinner with a plate full of food. Haena rolled her eyes at her mom’s antics especially when she realized she was not included in this display of special treatment and would have to make her own plate. At some point, Sheriff Lee rolled in and you could tell by the tired lines on his face that this week had taken a toll on him.

He still greeted you with a smile and a pat on the head before joining you all at the table. Mrs. Lee brought her husband a plate and you couldn’t help but watch as he grabbed her hand to give it a kiss. The two of them had always been a sweet couple and what with your lack of ever seeing that growing up, you were always fascinated by them.

“How’s your father doing, YN?” Haena’s father asked.

“Fine,” You answered, rolling a cherry tomato around on your plate with your fork. “He’s actually on a work trip this week so Haena convinced me to come stay here for a little while if that’s okay.”

“You know you’re always welcome here, honey. You’re practically family.” Mrs Lee was quick to reassure you.

“Work trip, huh?” Sheriff Lee’s eyebrows were drawn together as he held a spoonful of stew in front of him thoughtfully. “Did he mention where?”

“Nope. You know how he is,” You answered honestly and he nodded.

Just then, the phone rang and Mrs. Lee got up to go answer it. You were about to go clean your dish when she came back into the kitchen and said, “YN, someone’s on the phone for you.”

You quickly went over to go pick it up, “Hello?”

“YN,” Taehyung’s deep voice came through on the other line, sounding hushed and slightly out-of-breath. “I just got your message.”

“Oh, yeah well I just didn’t want you to go worrying if you called me and I didn’t answer. Haena’s family is taking care of me.”

“Yeah? That’s good.” He responded, and you could practically picture him posted up somewhere like the cool guy he was. “Although, I wish I had answered when you called because I could have kept you company.”

“I’m sure you would have liked that.” You chuckled. “I don’t think my heart can handle another one of your window sneak-ins.”

“Well, I don’t think my heart can handle being away from you that long.”

“You’ll still see me at school.” You reasoned, rolling your eyes despite him not being able to see you.

“Yeah but that’s school. You won’t even let me kiss you unless it’s somewhere hidden.” You could practically hear his pout through the receiver. “Why don’t you meet me at your place sometime this week? I’ll cook you dinner and we can finally be alone together.”

You couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed at his sudden pushiness to get you alone. You knew if you agreed to meet him at your house that he would probably try to have sex with you again. As much as you wanted to take that step with him, you were scared.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, what with the recent murders and all. I think it’s probably best to stay in larger groups.”

“What, you don’t think I can protect you? I know I’m skinny but I’m strong.”

“No I know you can but it’s just not a good time right now.”

“Yeah, I know. You haven’t been yourself in a while.” He huffed into the receiver. 

You laughed sarcastically, unsure if he was being serious right now. “Yeah, sorry I’m not in the mood to have sex with you right now. I’m kinda still reeling over the deaths of our classmates.”

“I don’t mean recently. You haven’t been the same since Seowon died.” His words shocked you, not understanding where this was coming from all of the sudden.

“Uh, well that’s kind of what loss does to a person if you didn’t know. They change - drastically.” All humor was gone from your tone as you felt yourself getting annoyed with him.

“Yeah well it’s been a year since he died and you’re still so skittish around me. It’s like you think I’m some kind of bad guy.”

“I’m sorry if my trauma has ruined things for you but no one is making you stay with me. If you need it that badly then you-” 

“Stop. That’s not what I meant at all.” He huffed angrily, taking a pause to gather his thoughts. “Listen, I don’t want to make you upset. I know it’s hard to see right now but I’m just feeling insecure. I want to make sure we’re still okay.”

At your silence, he let out another sigh. “I’m gonna let you go now. Please don’t be mad at me. I love you.”

He didn’t say anything after that but he stayed on the line, and you knew he was waiting for you to say it back. Hoping for you to say it back. And as pissed off as he had made you, you hated the idea of going to bed mad at him. So you conceded, for now.

“I love you too.”

*****

When you arrived on campus the next day, you spotted Namjoon standing near his usual news van. He was dressed smartly in an olive sweater and gray slacks, his glasses making him look more like a university student than a reporter. He was busy sorting through some papers, probably brushing up on his notes before he did his next broadcast.

You felt compelled to speak with him, especially after everything that had been going on recently. Over the past year, he had reached out to you multiple times for a comment and you always declined. The only time you had spoken in-person was after the court case had ended and it hadn’t been the most cordial moment.

“YN, this is a surprise. What can I do for you?” Namjoon raised his eyebrows at you, a mix of curiosity and something else you couldn’t quite pick up in his expression.

“I wanted to talk to you about Min Yoongi.”

“Okay.” He spoke slowly, glancing over at his camera crew who were standing a few feet away. “I’m guessing this is off the record?”

“Yes, please.” You paused, trying to think on how to start. “I know you probably don’t think very highly of me.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, you wrote a whole book on how my witness testimony was the reason an innocent man was imprisoned.”

“Yes. I still stand by that.” He responded honestly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“So what, you think I’m a liar?”

“You painted a picture that made him look like a killer. I think you were so desperate for all the media coverage and court trials to end that you picked him as a scapegoat.”

“Have you talked to Yoongi?”

“Many times. He admits to selling drugs to your brother but that’s all.” The look on his face told you just how in-depth their conversations had gone. Namjoon was a very detail-oriented man.

“Then how do you explain the blood on his clothes and the murder weapon in his home?”

“His roommate testified that he came home high with no blood on his clothes. Someone else planted all that evidence and framed him.” The way he spoke of Yoongi was almost like they were close; he clearly felt very strongly about clearing his name.

“Why are you so adamant on proving his innocence? Did you know him?”

“Why do you care what I think?” Namjoon’s face screwed up as he seemed to grow more irritated with you. This was the real emotion you expected to get from him, behind the friendly facade he tried to put on with you. “You got what you wanted, didn’t you? Yoongi’s life is ruined, he’ll never see the light of day again.”

“That’s not what I wanted.” Now, it was your turn to look confused. “I wanted justice. I told the judge exactly what I saw that day.”

His lips pursed as he thought for a moment, processing your words. “Yes, I knew Yoongi. We weren’t exactly friends but anyone who knew him knew he was harmless. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Harmless and yet he sold drugs to teenagers?” You regretted it as soon as it came out your mouth. You knew it was a low blow and you didn’t truly care that he did that anyway but you needed to cling onto some semblance that you made the right call.

He hummed as he searched your face for a moment, “Why are you asking me about Yoongi all of the sudden? You’re not so sure anymore, are you?”

“No, Yoongi murdered my brother.” You weren’t even sure if you believed yourself at how weak your voice sounded.

“These murders are related, aren’t they? The killer’s still on the loose.” He sounded almost triumphant as he marveled at your recent revelation, the cogs in his head working on overdrive. You had just confirmed his biggest theory yet despite your best efforts not to.

Now was a good time to leave. You weren’t sure what you had hoped to get out of this interaction but it wasn’t this. You had been avoiding the truth for a long time but it was catching up to you. 

“Goodbye, Namjoon. Always a pleasure.” He didn’t respond as he watched you move to leave, his lips moving as he quietly murmured to himself. Despite his dark calculating eyes following your every move, you knew that he was in a different place conjuring up his next news broadcast.

*****

Halfway through the school day, it became apparent that Principal Choi had not shown up nor called in sick. After multiple attempts to reach his home phone, one of the administrators called the police to do a wellness check. And what they had found upon entering his home had been what everyone was fearing.

The news of Principal Choi’s death spread through the school like wildfire and you could tell the staff struggled to hold themselves together while keeping the students organized. A few police officers arrived at the school to work with the administrators on figuring out how to go about letting the students go home.

You were in the library with Haena and Jungkook when a pair of boys came running through your section and drawing the attention of everyone nearby. One was screaming in an exaggerated manner and the other was wearing the infamous Ghostface mask and chasing the former. You could tell they were just playing a prank but you didn’t see how anyone could be making fun of the situation right now.

“What is wrong with people?”

“Are you kidding me? Look at this place, it’s like Halloween.” Jungkook threw his head back and laughed.

“Stupidity leak!” Haena berated him, whacking him in the head with her notebook.

You shook your head at him, deciding to just ignore his comment. “Have you guys seen Taehyung around?”

“You mean after you gave him blue balls? No, his heart’s broken.”

“Jungkook,” Haena elbowed him hard, causing him to grunt.

“He said that?” You were shocked that even Jungkook knew about your lack of a sex life but should have known that boys would talk just like girls did.

“Of course he did. The guy’s crazy about you.”

“What guy’s crazy about her?” Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Taehyung leaned over you from behind to kiss the top of your head, causing your heart to do a flip.

“Keanu Reeves, of course.” You mouthed a ‘thank you’ to Haena at her swift coverup, causing her to give you a wink.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” Taehyung whispered in your ear and held your hand as he pulled you out of your chair. Haena ignored Jungkook trying to get her attention as she watched you follow your boyfriend to a more secluded area. 

“I’m really sorry about what I said before - it was way out of line. I’ve been a little out of sorts lately with everything going on.” He sounded vulnerable as he spoke, and you couldn’t help but feel your heart tug at his remorseful face. He had always been the type to wear his heart on his sleeve. “I just want us to be okay again. I want my girlfriend back.”

“I’m still your girlfriend,” You rolled your eyes playfully, squeezing his hand in yours. “But I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel insecure. I know I’ve been acting different for a while and it wasn’t fair to you. I guess I just haven’t been dealing with my trauma very well.”

“That’s not your fault. You don’t need to feel bad about how you grieve.” He reached up to tuck a lock of hair behind your ear, a soft expression on his face.

“I haven’t been grieving at all - that’s the problem. It’s like my emotions have been shut off.” You sighed, shutting your eyes as his hand moved to caress your cheek. “I can’t keep hiding in my room forever. I need to move on.”

When you opened your eyes again, Taehyung was watching you carefully with his mouth pressed shut. You wished you could read his mind. There was more you wanted to say but you found it hard to find the words, so you decided to let your actions speak by leaning forward and kissing him deeply.

You could tell he hadn’t expected you to make the move by the way he froze but he quickly recovered, pulling you closer with his arms settling around your waist. You pressed yourself to him as he leaned against the bookshelf. This was the most hot and heavy you had ever been in public and you could tell he was enjoying it, not wanting to part from you for even a second.

When you did eventually pull away, you felt brave enough to ask, “Will you meet me at my house later?”

You felt him tense up in shock yet again but couldn’t see his face as you were leaning on his chest. You dared to look up and see him looking at you with wide eyes.

“I thought you wanted to stay at Haena’s.”

“I changed my mind.” You shrugged, feeling giddy as his face lit up. “You’ll protect me from any bad guys, right?”

He pulled you in again, wrapping his arms around you tightly and resting his chin on the crown of your head. You had never felt safer.

“I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Taehyung has always been careful and thoughtful about how he treated you. His touches were gentle and soft; you couldn’t imagine him hurting a fly. Maybe it was just his artsy persona but you had always known him to be a deep, considerate person. He was meticulous about every detail, whether it was his art or his life. Sometimes it seemed like he truly believed life was art; a painting that was ever-changing and inspiring.

You were a masterpiece in his eyes. Something to be cherished and never tarnished. That was why he wanted to keep you safe from the evil in the world. He knew that life had already not been fair to you. But he believed it was his job to prevent any further wrongdoings from coming into your life. He wouldn’t hesitate to destroy anyone who would even try to cause you harm.

It was when you were laid out on your bed looking like an angel, Taehyung felt like he was truly going to Hell. Surely God was coming for him because he had stolen an angel and kept her all to himself. You had given yourself up to him and you didn’t know it yet but he would never let you go. How could he?

The only word to describe it was heaven. Having you in his arms like this, touching parts of you his hands had never dared to before - it was pure bliss. He wanted to stay like this forever. There was nothing out there for either of you. Everything you both needed was right here, in each other’s arms.

He had lost count of how many times he made you come undone before he had even entered you. This wasn’t his first time but it may as well have been with the way he struggled to not fall apart almost immediately. You were his weakness and at the same time you were the only thing keeping him together most of the time. He didn’t care how old you both were - you were it for him.

You had always imagined your first time would be like a dream, full of romantic candles and roses. The reality of it was much different, more natural, and yet you found it to be better than you could have ever imagined. You felt like one of Taehyung’s paintings as his lips and fingertips caressed you everywhere, molding you into one of his perfect creations. You were his muse and you had never felt so beautiful.

It was a night of passion and love; the perfect embodiment of your relationship. Whatever rocky period you had been going through before was long gone and you almost couldn’t believe you had ever wanted to delay this. This was where you needed to be. You knew you probably sounded like a naive teenager, but you didn’t want to think of anyone else in this way ever. You only wanted Taehyung.

“I’ll always love you, YN. I’ll never leave you.”

*****

The next day, you were on your way to your locker when you spied Haena waiting for you. You tried to act indifferent to Haena’s wide eyes looking you up and down as you approached her. It was as if she was trying to find some kind of visible evidence on you.

“So?” You knew she wanted to know what happened last night, but you weren’t ready to spill so soon. 

“So... what?” You acted ignorant as you opened up your locker, reaching for your math textbook.

“Oh come on, I’m dying here! Spill.”

“Okay, okay.” Laughter bursted out of you, your resolve crumbling before you could even try to build it up. “We, uh... did it.”

“More details, please.” She rolled her eyes at your vagueness.

“It was really sweet. He made us a nice dinner and then we...” You cringed, not knowing how to talk about it without sounding corny. “I don’t know how to describe it.”

“Well, did it hurt? Did you come?” You nodded to both questions honestly and her eyebrows raised as she became more intrigued. “How many times?”

When she saw you counting on your fingers higher and higher, she blew a low whistle. “God damn. Good for you, girl.”

“I feel like he set the bar pretty high. Is it always like this or is he just really talented?”

“Well, it depends. Jungkook is usually pretty good but sometimes he’s too drunk or lazy and then I end up doing most of the work myself.”

You pursed your lips in thought, “Doesn’t he go down on you before?”

Her eyes widened as she opened her mouth in shock, “Can I borrow him?”

You smacked her on the arm as she laughed, linking arms with you as you both made your way to class.

“Oh, by the way, Jungkook’s having a party at his house later.” She mentioned nonchalantly as she popped her gum in her mouth.

“What about curfew?”

She shrugged, “I don’t think they’re being too strict about it. It’s probably safer that we’re all together anyway.”

You still looked convinced, so she added, “But if you’re really worried, we can just stay over at his place. His parents are out of town.”

“Does your dad know?” You glanced at her curiously.

“God, no,” she laughed, shaking her head. “He’s working a night shift so he’ll be busy patrolling. And I’ll just tell my mom we’re staying at yours.”

“Okay. We can go.”

“Yeah?” She looked surprised, a bright smile painting her face. It was infectious as you found yourself smiling back at her and nodding. She bumped shoulders with you, wiggling her eyebrows as she leaned in, “Hmm, I like the new you. She’s fun.”

You were surprised how easy it was for you to agree to the party. Maybe last night gave you more confidence to just live a little. All you knew was the old you would have opted to stay at Haena’s for another night in and you didn’t want to be stuck in your old ways. You owed it to yourself and everyone you loved to move on.

You had foolishly fallen into a sense of false security, not necessarily forgetting about the horrors your town had been cursed with but just for once not having it in the forefront of your mind. You had felt closer to your boyfriend than ever before and now you were ready to be more adventurous. It wasn’t until later in the day did that bubble of excitement pop.

When the classroom door opened to reveal Sheriff Lee, the students around you immediately began whispering to each other conspiringly. You wondered what it could be this time around as he whispered something to the teacher before turning back to face front with a serious expression. Your teacher’s eyes landed on you as she waved her hand, “YN.”

Everyone around you hushed as you gathered your things with shaking hands, making your way to the front of the room quickly. The air out in the hallway felt different, less suffocating. It somewhat helped your rising anxiety.

One look at Sheriff Lee gave you a new perspective of this man who had practically raised you. He wasn’t that old, only early 50s, but the stress he had put under with his profession had aged him. He had tired bags under his eyes, worry lines on his forehead, and sprouting grays here and there. He had always been handsome and you could tell he would continue to age like wine. But that didn’t change how sad it made you to see him in this state.

“YN, I’m afraid I have some bad news. There was a report of a car that wrecked on the side of the road just outside of town.” He spoke slowly as he relayed the information, the consideration from him not lost on you. You were trying to process it all while still not understanding why he was telling you this. “It was your dad’s car.”

Your heart stopped as you clutched your school bag in your hand. Thoughts were going wild in your head as your breathing became erratic. You didn’t know what any of this meant. 

“What, um... is he dead?” Your tongue felt disconnected like your brain was just on autopilot.

“No one has seen him yet.” He sighed, a deep frown etched across his features. “I know you said he was leaving for a work trip but have you spoken to him at all since he left?”

He was aware that your father wasn’t known for contacting you at times like these, but you understood he still had to ask. “No. The last time I saw him was the night before he left.”

He nodded as if he expected that, giving you a small smile. “Well, we’ll keep looking. In the meantime, I want you to stay out of your house in case there are any clues to where he could have gone. And it’s probably safer that you’re not alone right now.”

“Okay.”

It seemed like he wanted to say more but clearly was out of his depth when it came to comforting someone. It wasn’t like he could make any promises about finding your dad because the truth was he was most likely gone. You had dealt with enough loss that you knew this feeling well. You gave him a matching small smile, albeit weak but you hoped it would appear encouraging.

“Thank you, Sheriff Lee.”

*****

School ended early that day, mostly due to the fact that half the staff had called out in fear of receiving the same fate as Principal Choi. It was strange that they even had anyone come in at all but you figured the police had already suspected the killer was at the school, thus being their best bet at finding them. Everyone was on edge as if Ghostface was still lurking in its shadows. Which technically, he probably was.

You had already started to go through in your mind which students in your school could have done it. There were a few stronger girls in your class who could have had the physical power to do it, but they were all too nice or non confrontational. There were plenty of bully-like guys that could fit the description, but you had a hard time truly seeing any of your classmates being involved in such gruesome scenes. It’s just that all the victims had one thing in common: the high school. It only made sense that all suspicion would be pointed here.

Eventually, you gave up trying to figure it out because you were only going in circles in your head. The police would figure it out. Tonight was supposed to be fun and you were sure the killer wouldn’t be brave enough to attack a whole group of teenagers. There was strength in numbers and you felt safer this way.

As you and Haena made your way up the driveway, music could be heard blasting from inside. You weren’t even that late but it seems the party was already in full swing. There were a dozen football players and cheerleaders lounging in the main room when you walked in, most of them unknown to you. Haena greeted a few people in the hallway and you followed her into the kitchen as she searched for some refreshments. 

“It’s about time you guys showed up,” Jungkook yelled from where he was standing by the snack table.

“I see you guys couldn’t wait to get started,” Haena eyed where Hobi was pouring beer down a funnel into Jin’s mouth.

“Well no one told you guys to arrive fashionably late,” Hobi replied, high-fiving Jin before switching places with him. Haena rolled her eyes, moving on to talk to Jungkook on the other side of the room.

“Hey, have you guys seen Taehyung?” You asked, leaning against the countertop island.

“He was in here earlier. I think he said something about going outside for a smoke,” Jin informed, not taking his eyes off where he was pouring.

You briefly wondered how you had missed him if you had just come from the outside but shrugged it off. He had to be around here somewhere. You ventured out into the main room and plopped down on the couch. The music had been turned down a bit as they were going back and forth trying to decide what movie to watch. For some reason, the genre they had settled on was horror which was in poor taste in your opinion. At least it was entertaining to hear them argue about who usually survives in a horror movie.

A hand on your shoulder startled you, looking up to see Hobi standing there with the telephone. “Phone for you.”

You held in your confusion as you got up to take the call in a quieter area. “Hello?”

“YN, it’s Namjoon.” Of all people who could be calling you, he was probably the last one you would suspect. “Are you guys okay?”

“Yes, why wouldn’t we be?”

“I’m guessing you haven’t heard yet.” He sighed and your heart thudded in your chest, unable to speak as you willed him to continue. “Sheriff Lee’s dead. They found him strung up on one of the field goals in the football field.”

You almost dropped the phone, a stuttered gasp being the only sound you could make for a moment. 

“Oh god,” you finally spoke, your hand coming up to cover your mouth. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“Is Haena with you?” He asked quickly, trying to distract you.

“Yes.” Swallowing, you covered your other ear as the voices in the main room started getting louder. How were you supposed to tell everyone? You were surprised you were even still standing.

“Stay with her. If I were you, I wouldn’t leave that house. ”

You were still so in shock from the news about your Haena’s father that it suddenly dawned on you that he had figured out where you were without you ever telling him. 

“How did you know I was here?”

“Someone reported a large gathering of students at the Jeon house on the scanner. I had a feeling you would be there.” His answer was a shock to you, not expecting anyone to know about the party as it was out on the edge of town.

“O-okay, I better go warn everyone...”

“YN?” You held in your breath as you waited for him to continue, unease crawling into your system at his pause. “Be careful.”

For him to sound so concerned for you only heightened your paranoia, quickly walking back into the main room where everyone was. Jungkook was sprawled out on the couch now along with Jin and Hobi, throwing his head back at something the latter had said. You shakily placed the phone back on the stand.

“Jungkook, I need to talk to you.” You were surprised your voice was so steady, his big eyes meeting yours as he took in your expression.

“Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” He joked, standing up to meet you behind the couch.

“Kim Namjoon just called me,” You felt your stomach flip as you held the back of the couch for support. “Sheriff Lee was murdered.”

You had tried to be discreet about it but your shock must have garnered enough attention, gasps sounding around the room as they all picked up on what you had revealed.

“Holy shit, I’m getting out of here.”

There was a chorus of responses as people started to make themselves scarce, clearly not in the mood for a party anymore. The only ones that stayed were Hobi and Jin, either not concerned enough about the killer or not brave enough to leave the house. You weren’t sure which group you belonged to but you knew you had to find Haena. You looked up at Jungkook, who was staring at the carpet with a serious expression on his face and biting his lip.

“Where’s Haena?” It was like he almost didn’t hear you until you shook his shoulder. ���Jungkook?”

“Um, she went to get more beer-” He blinked a few times, waving his arm behind him. “Garage.”

You walked quickly around the house, trying to find the correct door to the garage. When you finally did, it was pitch black save for some light coming in from the opened garage door. You almost turned back as it was clear there was no one in here before something made you stop. There was no noise, no movement but you felt like something was in here.

Your hand sought out the light, switching it on and blinking as it flicked a few times before brightening up the room. Your gaze flitted around, almost giving up before you saw something dark and red that made you flinch backwards. 

There was a piercing scream and you felt the ground beneath you move, your ass hitting the wooden step hard. It wasn’t long before thundering steps came behind you, stopping as they hit your back. Your ears, seemingly filled with water with how muted everything seemed, caught a few more gasps and screams. Hands gripped you under your armpits, pulling you up over the steps and back into the hallway.

After that, everything was a blur of commotion. You were vaguely aware of people yelling around you but it wasn’t until Hobi crouched down, waving his hand in front of your face that you felt alert again.

“I think she’s in shock,” He relayed to the others.

“YN?” Taehyung’s voice sounded from the other end of the hallway, his expression bewildered as he approached quickly. “I heard screaming.”

“Jesus, where have you been Tae?” Jin asked.

“Having a smoke,” Hobi moved out of the way so Taehyung could kneel before you, bringing his hands to your cheeks and analyzing your face closely. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“Haena...”

“Go find Jungkook,” Tae instructed the older two.

Hobi groaned, “Why do we have to keep splitting up? This is what the killer wants!”

Jin smacked him behind his head, angling his head towards your shell shocked figure. “Shut up, would you?”

The two of them walked off, bickering quietly as they went. Taehyung sat with you silently as you stayed in the same position, wiping away any tears that escaped. You stared at the floor as your mind raced with a million thoughts, not a single one sticking long enough for you to linger on.

How could this happen so fast? You had just seen Haena in the kitchen talking to Jungkook. Everything was fine. You couldn’t have been gone from her for more than thirty minutes and yet so much had changed. It didn’t make any sense.

First Sheriff Lee, now Haena. The killer was getting closer. No, the killer was already here. It couldn’t have been Jungkook, Hobi, or Jin. They had all been with you.

But...

“Taehyung?” He looked up at you, surprised to hear your voice finally. He leaned in, reaching a hand out to brush your hair back but you shied away. He reared back in shock, his expression confused as he met your suspicious one.

“What?”

“You were... smoking? For thirty minutes?” Your voice was unsure as you questioned him, sounding stuffed up from all the crying.

“Yes, wh-” The sound of screaming from outside interrupted him. You shot up from your spot, running towards the front door where it came from. “Wait, YN! Don’t!”

You ignored him as you threw open the door; you needed to stop any more evil from happening. You had already lost so much in your life. Enough was enough.

The sight of Hobi’s bloody body laying on the front steps had you freezing in your tracks, feeling Taehyung’s chest collide with your back a moment later. The two of you stared in shock before you became aware of the violent tussle happening further out in the yard. It was hard to make it out but it looked like Jungkook and Jin were fighting. What the hell had happened? You were guessing this was Jungkook’s fight-or-flight response to finding out about Haena.

“Stay right here,” Taehyung spoke softly to you as he brushed past you, walking around Hobi’s battered body and approaching the two other boys with a calmness you didn’t quite understand.

The further he went out, the harder it was to make out who was who especially as they moved between bushes and trees. You felt anxious and stupid as you just stood there, your feet itching to move out and help them but not knowing if it was a smart idea.

“YN,” A voice coughed out from below you, a gasp escaping as you fell to your knees where Hobi was laying. You had been so distracted by the fight that you almost forgot he was there.

“What happened?” You asked urgently, grabbing one of his hands and squeezing.

He choked a bit, blood spraying out onto his lips and neck. “Don’t trust them.” He gave your hand one last squeeze, meeting your eyes as if to make the message stronger. You watched in concern as he closed his eyes, chest rising and falling rapidly. He was still alive but he wasn’t doing well. He needed medical care immediately.

“YN! Get inside now!” Your head flew up to see Taehyung underneath Jin, the two of them fighting over something shiny and sharp-looking between them as what looked like Jungkook was passed out next to them.

Your gaze flew back and forth from them to Hobi’s unconscious face, trying to figure out who to believe. You took a deep breath and ran back inside, locking the door behind you as you ran for the phone. You hit redial, hoping it would direct you to Namjoon. You never thought you could ever cry with relief at hearing his voice.

“YN? Are you okay?”

“Namjoon, tell the police the boys must have snapped or something, I don’t know. But Haena’s dead and we need help.” The words flew out of you so fast you weren’t even sure what all you said, hoping you got the message across as you huffed.

The line went silent at that, and you held your breath as you waited for a response. But there was nothing - just dead air.

“Hello? Namjoon?” You tried again, pulling the phone away before you realized the line was dead. Someone had cut the lines. “Shit.”

Just then, a sudden banging could be heard from the front door followed by desperate shouts of your name. You ran over to it, ready to unlock the door when you hesitated with your hand on the lock.

“Who’s there?”

“YN, let me in! Hurry!” The urgency in Jin’s voice made you throw open the door, gasping when you saw him covered in blood with a knife in his hand.

“Jin, what-”

“Don’t let him in, YN! He attacked me!” Jungkook suddenly appeared behind him, a deep cut on his cheek that hadn’t been there before. 

You looked between Jungkook and Jin, trying to decipher who to believe but not finding any conclusive evidence. To be honest, when you saw them out in the yard before, it was hard to tell who had even started the fight. And now seeing them both with blood on them, you felt at a loss. All you knew was people were dying and someone had cut the phone lines. You didn’t know who you could trust.

“Fuck, I can’t.” You slammed the door as quickly as you could, locking it again. The banging and shouting continued.

“Help me! He’s gone crazy!”

You stood there for a few moments, palms still on the door as you willed your racing heart to calm down. Tonight had been nonstop crazy and you couldn’t remember the last time it was at a resting rate. Before you could turn around, a pair of hands landed on your shoulders and ruined any chance of your heartbeat slowing down any time soon. You shrieked as you turned around, not expecting to see Taehyung standing behind you. 

“Shh, it’s just me.”  He shushed you, putting his hands on your shoulders to calm you down. 

“Wh- how did you get in here?” You hadn’t seen him outside just now.

“I came in through the back. Are you okay?” He checked over your body, fingers brushing over the visible skin on your face and arms.

“I’m fine but Tae, where have you been all night?” Your exasperated tone caught him off guard, a somber look coating his features as he regarded you. “I’m getting really freaked out.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to run off like that. I’ve just been trying to protect you.” His words didn’t make any sense but you weren’t thinking clearly enough to dissect what he meant.

The banging grew louder and Taehyung moved to open it. The roles were reversed this time as you shook your head at him, silently urging him not to let anyone in. Your fingers gripped the sleeve of his sweater anxiously. He turned to look at you, his hand coming up to cover yours on his arm.

“It’s okay. You can trust me.” He nodded at you with a small smile, and you released the breath you didn’t know you were holding.

The door swung open to reveal Jungkook standing there looking out of breath, but his face lit up when he saw you standing there with Taehyung. A grin broke out across his face, “The gang’s all here!”

You could only watch in confusion as Jungkook stepped in in the same move that Taehyung backed you up with him. Jungkook shut the door behind him looking gleeful as ever. You looked at Taehyung who had a serious look on his face but you recognized a glint of something in his eye, almost like he had just won a bet or something.

“What’s going on?” You asked, stepping back cautiously from them. The energy had changed drastically and you didn’t like it one bit.

Taehyung eyed you like you were a scared animal, holding his hands out as if to placate you. His gaze was locked on yours and you almost felt like he could read your thoughts, anticipating your next move before you could even do it.

“Surprise, YN.” Jungkook smirked at you, looking far too elated right now to have just lost his girlfriend.

Your eyes flitted back and forth between the two of them before you spun around, racing toward the kitchen to find something you could defend yourself with. Although you had no proof, you knew it was them. Taehyung and Jungkook were the killers. You didn’t have time to feel heartbroken and betrayed. Your only thought right now was survival.

Before you could get far, arms wrapped around your waist and yanked you back towards a firm chest. You eyed the knife block longingly - so close. Taehyung held you tightly to his front, turning the two of you around so you were backed up against the counter. Jungkook leered from across the room looking like a dangerous predator.

“Why are you doing this?” You cried, hot tears streaming down your face.

“I already told you. I’m protecting you.” Taehyung explained as if it was the most obvious thing.

“By killing all my family and friends? You’re fucking crazy!” Your voice grew louder, unable to feel shy about getting angry despite being caught in a murderer’s arms.

Taehyung was a murder. Your soft, loving, artsy boyfriend was a cold-blooded killer. This was a nightmare; this couldn’t be real.

“Yes, I am crazy, but only for you. I would do anything for you, YN.”

“You’ll never get away with this.”

Jungkook chuckled, “Tell that to Min Yoongi. You wouldn’t believe how easy he was to frame.”

“What did you have against my brother?” There was a lot to unpack here but this was the question you had been wondering for a whole year.

“Your brother wasn’t the picture perfect star quarterback everyone believed him to be. He had a bad habit of date raping girls from other schools, including my cousin.” Taehyung answered for you, the lack of eye contact with him making him hard to read if what he was saying was true.

“You’re lying,” You hissed, trying desperately to break out of his arms.

“Why are you defending him? He was never nice to you.” Jungkook reminded you, his eyes calculating and cold. “Face it, YN. Your brother was a bad apple who got what was coming to him.”

“What do you have to gain from this?”

“Well, naturally, I wanted his spot on the team.” He grinned at you, flashing a perfect set of teeth. “It wasn’t hard for Taehyung to convince me once I realized what a piece of shit he was.”

“And Haena?” You glared at Jungkook. “How could you kill your own girlfriend?”

“I can’t take credit for that,” He nodded towards Taehyung behind you and you felt your body go still. “You saw me. I was here the whole night.”

“Wrong place, wrong time.” Taehyung added, leaning his head on the space between your shoulder and your neck. “But I won’t lie. I hated sharing her with you all the time.”

“You’re okay with him murdering your girlfriend?”

“I liked Haena but she didn’t get me. She didn’t get you either.” Jungkook approached the two of you slowly, dark gaze zeroed in on your anguished expression. He reached out to caress your face, causing you to tense up as Taehyung straightened behind you. “You’re too good for her.”

“Jungkook.” Taehyung’s voice was rough as he motioned with his head towards another part of the kitchen. The two shared some sort of unspoken communication as something dawned on the other boy.

“Oh yeah! We got a surprise for you, YN.” Jungkook’s voice grew louder and more excited as he walked towards the hallway closet door. “You’re gonna love this. It’s a scream, baby.”

It didn’t take him long to retrieve what he was looking for, your eyes almost bulging out of your head as you saw who it was. “Dad!” He was tied up with tape around his mouth and a nasty cut on his forehead.

“See, YN? We got it all figured out, don’t worry.” Jungkook began, pulling the knife from his pants and stuffing it in your dad’s belt. “The cops are already onto him and now the evidence is all over him. Just one more thing to do.”

Leaving you no time to react, Jungkook pulled a gun from behind his pants and aimed it right at your father’s head, shooting him dead. You couldn’t help the scream that tore out of your lungs. You felt cold all over, like your body had disconnected from your brain. Vaguely, you registered Taehyung’s arms holding you steady as your knees buckled.

“He deserved it, YN.” Taehyung spoke so plainly about the murder of your father like it was just a harmless prank he had pulled, “He didn’t appreciate what he had. Deep down, we all know he blamed you for being the one that survived. He never loved you the way a father should.”

The harsh reality of his words hurt. It was like he was looking into your soul, into your deepest darkest feelings that you had tried to keep down for so long.

“We did you a favor.” Jungkook added, his dark stare penetrating you where you stood behind the kitchen island. “And he makes the perfect suspect, triggered by your brothers’ death anniversary, then goes on a killing spree and finally kills himself with the sheriff’s gun. It’s like it was meant to be.”

These two were insane, no doubt about it. They had seen too many scary movies and now they felt like they were invincible. You could practically feel the adrenaline running through Taehyung’s veins.

“And now what? I’m next?”

“Of course not,” Taehyung laughed, switching you around so that he cornered you into the kitchen counter. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to your forehead, ignoring your deep cringe. “This has all been for you, baby.”

“Now, we finish what we started.”

Faster than you could blink, Taehyung swung at Jungkook, causing him to keel over. Red started pooling through the side of his shirt as he coughed into his hand, staining it with blood. You couldn’t believe your eyes.

“Tae, what the fuck?” Jungkook grunted, holding his side as he looked up at Taehyung in shock.

“I changed my mind. I don’t need a sidekick anymore.” Taehyung sneered, a venomous look on his face. “Thanks for all the help, buddy.”

Jungkook fell to the kitchen floor and Taehyung moved on top of him, stabbing him a few more times for good measure. In his bloodlust frenzy, he failed to notice that he had turned his back on you. Not only that, but the gun in Jungkook’s hand was now within reach of you.

You wasted no time in falling to your knees to grab it, quickly standing up and aiming it at the back of his head. Taehyung froze, still not facing you but somehow already figuring out his mistake. It was a foolish move on his part but he wasn’t exactly thinking clearly.

“Don’t move.” You spoke clearly, trying to keep your hand steady.

He didn’t listen to you though, moving slowly and carefully as he got off of Jungkook. He turned around with his hands raised, eyes wide as he stared at you. “YN, don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

“I said don’t move!” You yelled, your fingers trembling. You had never even held a gun before and now here you were aiming it at the love of your life.

“I know you don’t understand right now but you have to know: I did it all for you. So that we could be closer. I never meant to hurt you.” The sight of him inching further set you off, giving you the motivation you needed to pull the trigger.

“Goodbye, Taehyung.” You closed your eyes, not wanting to see the image of the light draining from his eyes.

It was over.

*****

Months later, you were relieved to find that life had seemed to calm down after that horrible night full of evil and bloodshed. You had suffered and lost so many people you loved. Much like a year before, only this time you felt somewhat hopeful for the future. Death couldn’t follow you around anymore like a bad curse; the evil was dead and gone from your life. It was the only thing keeping you going.

That and having a positive influence in your life, like for example Namjoon. He was the first to find you there at the Jeon house after getting your phone call but never receiving your message due to the phones being tampered with. You were lying on the kitchen floor, covered in blood and still in shock over everything. He had been so helpful, urging you to call 911 on his cell phone while he checked to see if Hobi and Jin were still somehow alive - which by some miracle, they were. They had sustained serious injuries and were lucky to be alive, each spending quite some time in the hospital and then physical therapy after that. You visited them almost every day.

It had been hard, dealing with the survivor’s guilt. Losing your entire family, best friend, and boyfriend (even though he had been the cause of it all) had done some serious damage to your mental health. And despite all the therapy you had been receiving and would continue to receive, you knew it would never completely be healed. But that was okay. In your mind, you deserved some kind of scar from the whole ordeal since you hadn’t suffered any physical injuries. Several of your friends were dead or badly hurt - you could deal with it if not for yourself, then for them.

The best part about it was being able to exonerate Yoongi. To finally be able to see some emotion from him on the day the judge ruled him not guilty had been life changing. Yoongi had always been such a calm guy and never blamed you for the year of his life wasted behind bars. You wanted desperately to make it up for him but didn’t know how you possibly could. Namjoon assured you that you had done enough but the guilt never seemed to go away.

Namjoon and you had started to develop more of a friendly relationship, something you had never expected to come out of this. But after all the conflict was gone, it was much easier to see each other’s point of view. And the truth was, he had always been right.

“Got any plans this weekend?” Namjoon asked as he poured some sugar into his coffee before taking a sip.

“Not sure,” you began, taking a breath as you thought it over. “I got invited to an end-of-year party but I’m not sure if I should go. Feels too soon.”

“Oh, you should definitely go. It’s not as soon as you think.” He responded encouragingly, sounding like a big brother.

“I just don’t see what there’s to celebrate about.” You shrugged, meeting his gaze.

“There’s plenty to celebrate! How about surviving a tragic murder spree, exonerating an innocent man, finishing up a school year?” You didn’t look convinced, so he tried again, “Come on, I think it would be good for you to get out. You shouldn’t stay in that big house by yourself all the time.”

“You sound like my therapist.” You rolled your eyes at him, stirring the tea in your cup mindlessly.

“Well, you sound like a petulant child.” He chuckled.

You opened your mouth to retort, eyes flying up to look at him when something in the distance caught your eye. Your body felt cold, frozen up as you stared at the familiar figure. Dark black mop of hair covered his face, baggy sweater and jeans on his frame. You blinked a few times but he didn’t move at all. It didn’t make any sense. 

“YN? What is it?” Namjoon waved a hand in your face, distracting you from whatever it was you just saw.

“Huh?” You asked, blinking at Namjoon before glancing back at where he stood before. Only now, there was nobody in sight. You cleared your throat as your gaze fell back on the man before you, “Uh, nothing.”

“You looked like you saw a ghost.” He laughed, eyebrows furrowing at you in a concerned manner.

“Yeah, right.” You shook your head. There was no such thing.

I’ll always love you, YN. I’ll never leave you.

*****

A/N: i'm baaaack! ngl i'm proud of myself for getting this one done bc it was a whopper. i really hoped you liked it! scream is one of my fave scary movies so i've always wanted to make an AU for it. ty for reading and pls lmk what you think!!

#yandere bts #bts fanfic #yandere jungkook #yandere taehyung #taehyung x reader #jungkook x reader #bts x reader #bts x yn #seokjin fanfic #namjoon fanfic #yoongi fanfic #hoseok fanfic #jimin fanfic #taehyung fanfic #jungkook fanfic #taehyung smut #bts smut #yandere x reader #yandere fanfiction #yandere fanfic #yandere bts x reader #yandere bts x yn #scream fanfic #scream au

[joelsgreys]

the road ahead l preview (j. miller series)

a/n📝 in honor of hitting 4k followers this weekend, I decided to post a little glimpse at what I have been brainstorming: a full length series for the to do the right thing universe. I have been toying around with this idea for a while now and to be honest, I am really terrified taking on such a big challenge and writing this story, but also kind of excited too? part of me feels like I’m going to be in waaaay over my head but oh well lmao.

the first chapter is still a draft, but this scene is complete. what do we think? should i do it? please let me know your thoughts!

“Frank?” You knelt in front of his wheelchair and placed a gentle hand on his knee. “What is it?”

“We need you to take Gracie with you,” Frank told you, softly. His blue eyes had gone red, brimming with tears that he was trying his absolute hardest to hold back. Behind him, Bill stood there with his hand on his partner’s shoulder and you could have sworn that he was fighting back tears too.

“What?” You and Joel hissed out in unison. While you couldn’t see him, you could imagine the look of shock on his face mirrored yours as well.

“We need you to take her with you,” he repeated.

You stared up at Frank, your eyes wide in pure and utter disbelief. “What are you talking about?”

“Whatever this illness is, it’s progressing fast, way too fast. Look at me. The last time you were here, I could still walk. That was what, just a few months ago?” Frank let out a small and humorless chuckle and shook his head. “I’m getting worse with every day that passes. I can’t do anything for myself, let alone for Gracie. I’m in the most excruciating and unbearable pain and the reality is that I don’t have all that much time left.” He paused, hesitating for a moment before saying, “If I’m going to die, then I’m going to die in peace, not in agony.”

Your heart sank deeply, realizing what he’d meant by that.

“What about Bill?”

Joel’s gruff voice came from behind you, strained and tight.

“He can’t raise her alone. And besides, he’s made his choice to go with me.” Frank put his hand over his beloved partner’s hand, which was still resting on his shoulder.

You glanced over your shoulder back at Joel, who just stood there, the color drained from his face.

“How could we put her through that?” You asked, your voice thick with emotion as you turned back to look at Frank. “Don’t you realize how dangerous it will be for her to go with us?”

“She’s right. We’re goin’ across the fuckin’ country to get Ellie where she needs to be,” Joel reminded them. “We don’t know what kinda shit is out there or what we’re goin’ to run into. So how the fuck do you two expect us to take along a fuckin’ child?”

“Ellie’s a child,” Bill pointed out to him.

“She’s fuckin’ fourteen, not three—”

Frank held up a hand to stop him.

Finally, a tear slid down the side of his face. “Look, this isn’t a choice that we want to make, Joel. But let’s face it. I’m sick and Bill is old. Gracie will wind up alone.” He swallowed harshly, his eyes meeting yours. “I know you just wanted her to be safe, and sure, maybe she was safer with us here than in the zone for a while, but I don’t think that we thought this all the way through. I don’t think we looked far enough into the future. At some point, Gracie was going to lose us both.”

You turned and looked into the living room where Gracie was showing Ellie her favorite teddy bear.

“What’s his name?” Ellie had asked her.

“Teddy.”

She snorted, ruffling her hair. “Real original, kid.”

Gracie giggled, playfully swatting her hand away.

“I know she loses either way.” Frank’s hoarse voice garnered your attention once again. “I know it’s an incredibly dangerous risk, taking her with you. But it’s either that or she winds up alone.”

“We took care of her for as long as we could,” Bill said, quietly. “Now it’s your turn.”

#joel miller x female reader #joel miller x reader #joel miller series #joel miller angst #pedro pascal characters #;tdtrt #;tra

[jingsyuans]

…preview for baby au fic -> jing yuan/reader

notes: relationship still relatively unestablished at this point, but reader has moved in with jing yuan. to help with writing the story, your baby has been named ‘Ami’.

˚　✦. 　 ★ ˚ . ✦　˚　. ★⋆. 

You’d known something was amiss, but you could only figure out so much on your own. It wasn’t until Yanqing came home, his expression twisted and bitter as he was escorted by fellow Cloud Knights that you finally learned everything Jing Yuan had been hiding from you.

Of course you knew he was hiding something. The Luofu is normally peaceful, but with the sudden infection of a Stellaron digging into the ship’s roots and the denizens taking advantage of it, peaceful days are thoroughly interrupted, as well as the routine that’s been made by you and the General. This was his job, after all, and when tragedy struck, you were both aware that he is one of the first to handle such tragedy. To keep it from spreading out and infecting the other citizens on the ship, Jing Yuan is expected to solve the issue headfirst. It is something he has plenty of experience in, so you have no reason to doubt him and no reason to complain when he spares you the details whenever you ask.

He’s just doing his duty, his job. But you met Jing Yuan in an era of relative peace, which makes this part of his life uncharted territory. You’re not sure how to react. You’re not sure if you’re allowed to- if the relationship between him and you really warranted your concern. Perhaps it was none of your business.

But you worried all the same. Anxiety wracking your head and heart equally, wanting to know more and do more for Jing Yuan because you’re here and you can- yet too afraid to interrupt the fragility of your relationship, you kept quiet. You were silent as you watched everything from the sidelines, hoping that one day, it would be over- and one day, things would be the way they once were.

That was a selfish thing to want.

Jing Yuan had already given you so much- he gave you and your little girl a home full of trust and safety. Why would you dare ask for more? That was the ugly thought that planted in your head once Yanqing returned and told you everything.

It did little to soothe your heart, seeing Yanqing look so defeated and worn down- not only from battle, but from disobeying Jing Yuan and getting caught red handed. You can only focus on one thing at a time, so while you may want to seek Jing Yuan out and beg him to stay away from the dangers he was plunging into, you focused on Yanqing first. He is still just a boy, and he needs someone to help bandage his wounds and soothe him over when he’s feeling uncertain. You’re happy to be that person for Yanqing.

After that, there is only waiting. Bouncing your baby, shushing her when she cries, making dinner when the time arrives. Urging Yanqing to eat, bouncing Ami again, settling her down for her nap. Waiting. Realizing you haven’t seen Yanqing, calling his name and searching the rooms, he isn’t anywhere. He must have fled when you were putting Ami in her crib. Alone. Waiting. Walking up and down the halls of the house, checking in with the Knights that patrolled outside the yard. Nothing. Waiting.

The tick of time is especially cruel during this period, knowing so little and being powerless to whatever was happening beyond your sight. The night passed you sleeplessly as you realized you may never see Jing Yuan again. You’d never come to think of this possibility before, even when the Stellaron first came and things had begun to change. You never dared to think it would get this bad, the future this uncertain.

Who would you be once he was gone? Would you be anyone at all? Would you still live in this house, because papers and law bound the two of you together? But that wasn’t all there was to it. Your relationship was so much more than that, and yet so little. If Jing Yuan passed, you could only see yourself moving back to your little apartment. You didn’t have any right to stay here in the ghost of his life. It’s not yours. He’s not yours.

#previews #jing yuan x reader #jing yuan #hsr x reader #reader insert #jing yuan reader insert #baby au

[monstersandmaw]

Oats the kelpie (single dad, dad-bod, absolute softie sweetheart) is now up on Patreon on early release! You can read it right now for $3, or for $5 you can have access to everything pre-2020 mothballing.

Background info post on the Full Moon Motorcycles group here Oats Appreciation post here

Featuring a plus-size, bisexual, not very confident reader, and a divorced, Scottish, single-dad, biker kelpie with a soft-dad bod and a heart as big as his bike’s engine (possibly bigger).

Wordcount: 7562

Preview:

You pushed open the glass door of Full Moon Motorcycles and willed yourself not to feel self-conscious or out of place.

Having both an older brother and a mother who rode motorbikes had at least given you a fair bit of familiarity with bikes and the general ‘biker culture’, but it was mostly the fact that almost all the ‘biker girls’ you saw posing on social media were slim and toned, which you were decidedly not.

From the utterly foetid takes in the comments section of the one post your brother had shared on his page with you in it, you’d also got the impression that the biker community was not particularly kind to any woman with a waist over 25 inches. It probably wasn’t the case, but your one experience with it had been enough to make you very wary.

And yet, as you made your way towards the bike shop’s counter and the older man with floppy, greying hair and warm brown eyes looked up, you were greeted with an open, welcoming smile.

“Hi there,” he said, standing up with a grunt from the comfy chair where he’d been sitting in the corner near the shop’s antique cash register. “What can I do for you?”

You smiled shyly and glanced along the wooden countertop before returning your gaze to him. “I’m looking for a present for my brother, but I’m kind of on a budget…”

“Gotcha. We’ve got some silly key fobs there,” he said, indicating a rotating display rack at one end of the counter, with mottoes that ranged from funny to explicit, “But if they like working on their bike themselves, you can’t go wrong with some maintenance supplies… Not the most glamorous but I promise they’ll be grateful to you all the same.”

“Could always tie a festive ribbon round it,” you said, and he chuckled and nodded.

“That’s the spirit.”

You eyed the reasonable price of the fobs with some relief, and then followed his gesture towards the various bottles of chain degreaser and the like, and a few other useful tools and kits that were stacked on shelves on the back wall to the right of a door that presumably led into the back and store rooms.

The right hand side of the shop had the counter and some shiny, new bikes that had been parked in a row around the perimeter of the space, and the left hand side was more open with a bench or two against the brick walls, and some red, mechanics’ tool-chests tucked against the back wall. A number of leather two- and one-piece suits hung in racks at the furthest end though, with helmets on shelves and a few rows of t-shirts, jeans, gloves, and boots displayed too. There were oil stains in the centre of the polished concrete floor, and you suspected that tinkering took place there outside of the shop’s usual opening hours.

The whole vibe of Full Moon Motorcycles was friendly and cosy, with a slightly industrial, grungy note for some flavour.

In short, you loved it.

“There are also some fun helmet covers –” the older man chuckled, and added, “A number of the regulars here have them, and there are also some earplugs, or perhaps a tough phone case and mount? A chain care kit? There are some vinyl stickers too, and t-shirts, socks, neck warmers, balaclavas, mugs, helmet care kits, thermals…”

Laughing, you held up your hands for him to stop, and he started to chuckle too.

“I’ll let you browse in peace, sweetheart,” he said, his whisky brown eyes twinkling. Even his un-looked-for endearment came across as kindly instead of creepy, and not many men could pull that off. “You just holler if you have questions and I’ll be happy to –”

The door opened behind you and he broke off as his attention was snagged by the arrival of a heavy-set guy in dark jeans and a softly-worn, black leather jacket. He held a black helmet with a tinted visor in his large hands, and he looked more than a little wind-blown and rumpled.

Incongruous with his rather roguish-dishevelment, a lock of his long, thick, slightly grizzled, black hair was held back by a little hair-clip with a Barbie-pink, fabric bow. It didn’t fit with the dark scruff of stubble on his jaw or the piercing green-blue eyes at all, but he seemed completely unfazed by its presence.

“Oats!” the older man exclaimed with obvious joy, clapping his hands. “It’s been a while, my boy! How was the trip to Scotland? You make it round the NC500 this time?”

The ‘boy’ looked to be in his mid to late thirties…

“Ach, no’ a chance this time, Hank,” the man chuckled with a heavy, Scottish accent lacing his rich, rough baritone. Exactly where in Scotland he was from, you couldn’t tell, but it was lyrical and attractive all the same.

“Ah, next time, next time. And is Natalie well?

“Oh aye, my wee Loch Ness Monster is doing just fine. She’ll be terrorising her mother for the Christmas holidays. I came straight from the road though — clutch started playing up just south of Birmingham.” He grimaced, but even that looked charming somehow. “Sort of hoped you might find a minute to take a look at it for me if I left the Old Girl here. No rush though.”

“No problem, Oats. We’ll get her running properly again in no time. Bet you’re missing little Natalie already,” Hank added sympathetically.

“Ah, you have no idea,” the man, peculiarly-named ‘Oats’, sighed ruefully, shaking his head.

“See she left you with a parting gift though,” Hank snorted, pointing at the bow hair clip.

With a slight frown to his dark eyebrows, Oats reached up and patted at his head until he found it, and then he laughed. It was a loud, delighted, full-bellied sound that reverberated through the space while it lasted, and he left the hair clip where it was with no trace of self-consciousness as he lowered his hand again. “Aye, that she did. Surprised it survived the journey down with my lid on and everything. Oh –” His unusually pale green eyes landed on you, watching him and lurking near the rows of t-shirts on the back wall, and he went still.

Those sea-grey eyes raked you up and down, clearly noting the way your black leggings clung to the curves of your thighs and hips, and the black hoodie, which maybe went some way to hiding the softness of your stomach a bit, and he swallowed visibly. He looked… hungry. That was not the usual reaction you had grown accustomed to from men, and you let the flare of heat lick up your insides for just a moment, daring to hope that maybe he did find you attractive.

“Sorry,” he said in your direction, with a soft, dusky smile. “Didnae mean t’interrupt.”

Read the whole thing right now over on Patreon, as well as everything else in my exclusive masterlist, plus February's story involving a holiday romance with a naga in Starfall Springs...

#oats the kelpie #kelpie #male kelpie #male monster #monster romance #single dad monster #monster single dad #dad bod #male monster x female reader #plus size reader #plus size female reader

[whiteteadreams]

Talking to Death

Pairing: Newly-Dead!Jeong Jaehyun x Female Reader

Preview: Missing someone who's dead? Talk to them now!

Is there someone who has passed away that you miss dearly? Well, you can talk to them now! Call the number below!

xxx-xxx-xxxx 

Just remember to interact with friends and family outside of speaking with your departure and don’t crowd and overwhelm your departure as they adapt to their new surroundings. This stage is new for everyone. 

Word Count: 6.8k

Genre: Tim Burton-esque (?), Fantasy, Non-Idol AU, Horror

Warnings: Jaehyun’s dead from the start, fluff, angst, mentions of self-harm (but can be easily missed), mentions of suicide (also can be easily missed), passing out/fainting, blood, cleaning a wound, main character death, suicide (this one isn’t easy to miss), not 100% proofread.

a/n- This idea randomly came to me in a dream, but I hope you enjoy this little twisted reality. Also, sorry that the last two fics have ended with death and not really happy endings, the next couple of fics I have planned out do have happy endings. And there is unfortunately repetition of some words, like I just used those words too often, but I hope it isn’t too bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"My condolences". You didn't know who he was, but he was here for Jaehyun. You didn't know any of these people except for his close family and friends. But it didn’t matter whether you did or didn't know them, every single one came up to you expressing their sorrow.

The service was lovely, the walls of the funeral home were between the color of oatmeal and bone white, and the flowers were roses, even though they symbolize love, and not death, Jaehyun claimed that he loved them. Every single pew in the entire room was filled, even with people standing in the back, and there were still people in random places of the home.

At the front of the room to the left, people surrounded a table that held several photos of him, and each photo had a paragraph that explained what that specific part of his life was about, and there were even more people to the right of the table, which is where he was. It was obvious that he was loved by many, yet he chose to love you and only you.

You hadn’t realized that everyone had sat down in their designated seat until Jaehyun’s mom came to your side. “Y/n, honey, it’s time for us to sit down. There’s an open seat next to me for you.” You let her take your arm to lead you to said seat.

The warmth of Jaehyun’s mother’s hand on your arm didn’t last long, because as soon as she sat you down, she went up to the podium that was between the table that showed the timeline of her son’s life, and her son himself.

He looked so peaceful; you would've thought he was asleep if it weren't for the current circumstances. It was an open casket; you don’t know if you’re glad it was or if you wish it was closed. With it being closed, you wouldn’t be able to see him at all, but with being able to see him, it’s just proof that he’s truly gone. You’ll never be able to see him, kiss him, hold him, or talk to him after today.

“Thank you everyone for coming. Jaehyun would’ve be glad that you all came.” As soon as she used Jaehyun’s name in the past tense is when she started crying. You didn’t notice that that was the end of her eulogy until she stepped down from the podium and came back to her seat next to you. “It’s your turn sweetie.” She gave you a small smile and nodded her head slightly to the podium.

With legs you thought were going to buckle at any moment, you got up and slowly made your way to the podium. You knew that there were a lot of people there, but it wasn’t until you finally looked up and out into the room to see all the people looking at you. Normally, whenever you had to give speeches in front of a lot of people, Jaehyun was always somewhere in the front, smiling from ear to ear, showing off his dimples, and giving you two thumbs up. But Jaehyun was next to you now, though he wasn’t smiling or whispering to the person next to him saying “that’s the love of my life”, while proudly pointing at you.

You didn’t want to look at him because you knew that if you looked for too long, all you could do was start crying, however, you couldn’t tear your eyes off of him. “Jung Jaehyun was the love of my life. And I’m not sure what else to say, he was and still is, in simple terms, everything to me. He was my boyfriend and my best friend all in one. I wanted to grow old with him, we talked about it, all the time. Getting married, having kids, living our lives with the other by our side. I can’t even think about what I’m going to do now that he’s gone.” Your words were no longer audible, muted by sniffles and sobs.

“Hey Y/n, let’s go sit down, yeah? Or we can go outside and get some fresh air if you would like to. Whatever you want.” Johnny, one of Jaehyun’s best friends had gotten up from his seat to try and coax you off the podium. “I want Jae.” Johnny just sighed and took your arm, much like Jaehyun’s mother had done, and led you out of the room.

Your cries got louder, and you started to lose the ability to breath. You were gasping for air, the feeling of drowning taking over your body, leading you to the ground. Johnny hadn’t gone back in, scared to leave your side, he sat down next to you. He lightly rubbed your back as you stained his suit jacket with drops of watered-down mascara.

 You couldn’t decide if the day drug on or flew by. Maybe both if that was possible. It seemed as if the day itself flew by, but the minutes seemed to never end. With time not seeming to work right, all the crying, and everyone coming to talk to you, a headache formed, and you just wanted Jaehyun back.

 Normally when you had a headache, Jaehyun would rub your temples and to help you fall asleep, he would lightly trace your facial features, your eyelids, nose, lips, and that always seemed to work because the next thing you knew was that you were walking up the next day.

 Before you knew it, you heard Johnny getting up beside you. “I have to go help carry Jaehyun, the burial is about to start, I’ll come stand by you during it, but Jae’s mom is going to come walk with you.”

 Johnny went back inside but Jaehyun’s mom quickly filled the now empty space beside you. Without saying anything she helped you stand up and caught up with the group that started to head over to the empty hole in the ground.

 “I don’t want them to put him in there. They need to leave him alone. I don’t want him to be gone.” You rested your head on Jaehyun’s mother’s shoulder and quietly blubbered in her ear. “I know Y/n, I know.” She pulled you even more into her embraced and placed her chin on your shoulder. For a while you two just held each other while crying. But you completely broke down when you saw Jaehyun’s coffin being carried towards where the group was gathered.

 Johnny and Taeyong were in front, then Doyoung and Mark, Yuta and Haechan, and in the back was Jeno and Taeil. Following them was Jungwoo carrying a bouquet of roses. They all were crying, some better at hiding it than others, but all of them had tears cascading down their cheeks. They walked up the pathway that was made by the group dividing, the rest of Jaehyun’s friends on one side and his family and you on the other. The men carrying the coffin placed it on the lowering device and walked to the side where the rest of his friends were. Jungwoo placed the roses on the coffin, wiped his tears and joined the rest of Jaehyun’s friends.

 Johnny said a parting word to Taeyong and Mark, who he was standing between and joined your side that Jaehyun’s mom wasn’t occupying. You should’ve paid more attention but all you could stare at was the part of the coffin where Jaehyun’s head would be. But then the coffin started lowering and both Johnny and Jaehyun’s mom tighten their grips on you. Your crying turned into screaming and you started thrashing to get out of their grips.

 In any other situation you would’ve been embarrassed but as you watched the coffin disappear into the ground, all you could see was the future you’d be forced to live without Jaehyun with you.  “No, no, no. Jaehyun! You can’t take him from me!” Johnny pulled you into his chest and him and Jaehyun’s mother tried to calm you down by rubbing up and down your back and quietly shushing you. “I don’t want him to leave! I need him!”

 When you first found out that Jaehyun had died, it was in the middle of the night. The police had shown up at your door at 2:42 AM to deliver the news to you. At first, you were in shock, not being able to believe it, your face just paled, and you were unable to speak.

 But seeing his coffin being lowered into the ground snapped everything into place for you. The box that the love of your life was in, was never going to see the light of day again. You’d never be able to have your Jaehyun again. He was now, officially gone.

 After the funeral and burial, you booked an Uber to take you home by yourself with your spiraling headache following close behind.  You could barely see straight, and any noise that was made just caused your headache to get even worse. It felt like the world was spinning, and your vision had gone spotty.

You were waiting on the sidewalk outside of the funeral home when a car pulled up. “Uber for Y/n?” You just nodded and quickly got into the back seat before you your legs gave out. Sitting down and feeling the AC blow cool air onto you helped your headache ease a little bit.  

 The silence was broken when the Uber driver turned down the radio and spoke up. “I’m sorry for your loss, Ms.” You nodded even though he was looking forward. “Thank you.” Neither of you said anything after that but it wasn’t awkward.

 Feeling the coldness of the window on your forehead from leaning on the glass helped calm your headache even more. It was now just a dull ache that matched the ache in your chest. You watched as the city you had explored with Jaehyun passed your eyes as the Uber driver drove you to your house. Or your neighbor’s house a couple doors down.

 Not wanting to say that he’s a few houses down, you just paid the driver and got out of the car. Your neighbor was out on his porch, smoking as always. He was a grumpy old man and Jaehyun said that if he ever got like that when he was old that you had permission to put him in a nursing home.

 You got your phone out of the dress pocket and went to rate the Uber driver before you forgot but your neighbor started speaking out loud, making you look up from phone and at him.

 "Hey kid, you young people are always on your phones these days, how about you pick up a newspaper for once and learn something." The man tossed the newspaper that was lying in his yard at you. It fell a few feet away, but you stepped closer to crouch down and grab it.

 The man said something under his breath and flicked his cigarette to the ground, stomping it out after mouthing some words at you. The last breath of smoke came flowing out of his nose as he turned to walk back up his porch and into his house. 

 Another neighbor had come out of her house and tried to start up a conversation but with the way the wind was blowing your hair in your face, your headache was starting to make its return, and the eerie feeling the man gave you, you needed to leave. Immediately. You needed to go lie down after drinking some water.

Speed walking to your house with only tripping on a sidewalk crack once, you made your way to your shared home with Jaehyun. As soon as you opened the door, his aroma hit your nostrils and you closed your eyes, you could just imagine him welcoming you home. But when you opened your eyes, you were alone in your dark entryway. No Jaehyun asking how your day was, no Jaehyun dragging you to either the couch to watch TV or the bedroom depending on what type of day he had, no burning smell coming from the kitchen from Jaehyun cooking. No Jaehyun. You didn’t have Jaehyun anymore.

 Not wanting to scream and cry anymore today, you took a shaky breath and tossed the newspaper on the ottoman that sat in front of the couch. You swallowed, but realized that there wasn’t anything to swallow, your mouth was dry, causing you to remember the water you’ve been wanting. Trying to just look straight ahead in hopes of not thinking of Jaehyun, you headed to the kitchen. But of course, everything reminded you of him. His chair at the dining room table for one, it was like you could see him smiling up at you with only love and adoration in his eyes.

 Once you turned the corner from the living room to the kitchen you tensed up, waiting for Jaehyun to pop out and scare you like he always did but the scare never came. When you opened the cabinet that held the glasses and cups that Jaehyun came along to help you pick out, well you picked them out, he acted like a child and complained when you said he couldn’t go to the vinyl section just yet, you saw the mug he reluctantly picked out because he thought it was nice. Slightly moving to the left, ready for his arm to reach over your right shoulder to grab the mug for his drink, but again his arm never came.

 So used to him leaning on the cabinet next to you, you were expecting his face to be revealed once you close the cabinet door. When you looked to your left, there wasn’t anyone there, just the dining room table and behind that, the large windows that showed the backyard, as well as the street.

 Jaehyun always talked about wanting to see your kids grow up and play in that backyard, thinking of that just made everything come crashing down. The glass of water, falling from your hand and shattering as soon as it hit the floor. You fell also, your knees giving out, using your hands to catch yourself, you hissed in pain.

 Lifting your hand off the ground, and turning your palm up, you saw several little cuts and red indents from the glass that had just broke. Not giving a fuck anymore you used your right hand to sweep the small slivers of glass out of your way as your left hand held up your almost entirely limp body. Once most of the glass what out of your way for now, you just laid down. Crying in your kitchen, in the fetal position, with glass shards around you and blood dripping from your palms, you whispered his name before blacking out.

It wasn’t the sun that woke you up, the kitchen island covered you from the sun light that poured through the open blinds, but the ring of your phone. Blindly searching around for your phone, you just felt the pieces of glass that surrounded you. But you were too upset and tired to care enough to get up and actually look for your phone. The ringing would stop soon anyway.

 The ringing did stop soon, and instead of the ringing, frantic knocking on your front door replaced the sound. Then, yelling added to the frantic knocking. “Y/n! Open the door! It’s me, Johnny!” Slowly, you picked yourself up and wiped your hands on the tights you wore underneath the black dress that you forgot to change out of. The wiping only caused the pieces of glass that managed to stay in your palms through your tossing and turning during the night to shift. Johnny started knocking again but before he could yell, you made your way to the door and opened it just a bit.

The man sighed in relief, instantly feeling a invisible weight lift off of his shoulders when he saw that you were there. “Oh good, you’re still here.” Johnny smiled a bit at you. “Of course, I’d be here, I live here.” He just shook his head and under his breath he said, “That’s not exactly what I meant.” Understanding, you just looked down and nodded.

 “Are you bleeding?” Johnny’s voice was still calm but laced with concern and confusion. Based on the situation, of course he thought the worse, but you spoke up before he could ask any more questions, “I dropped a glass and passed out when I got home.” Immediately offering to clean up the mess for you, Johnny just squeezed through the crack between the door and door frame and led himself to the center of the living room. “Alright, where is the mess?” You just pointed to the kitchen and Johnny, silently started picking up the bigger shards.

“Hey Y/n, while I pick up the rest of the glass, how about you go wash your hands, try to remove as much as the glass as you can with tweezers and then I’ll come help you. Is your broom and dust pan still in the closet over here?” “Uh-huh”, you left Johnny in the kitchen to go follow his instructions with removing the glass in the bathroom.

Finding the tweezers and first aid kit wasn’t hard since Jaehyun always insisted that it was important to keep it in reach and keep everything in there full. Grabbing the kit and tweezers and setting it on the vanity, you rinsed the dried blood from your palms so you could see the cuts easier. The glass was embedded into your skin, and it would hurt to take out, but stiches wouldn’t be needed.

“Y/n, I finished cleaning the glass, I’ll come help you in a moment.” Taking a closer look at your palm, you started to remove the glass yourself. Wincing, whenever you had to dig a bit deep to retrieve the shard, but soon your palm was clear of any glass. Losing folding your hand so you could run along the welts with your fingertips caused you to hiss.

Just as you were about to trade the tweezers to your other hand, Johnny came in and took them out of your hold. Without saying anything he held out his other hand. Giving him the hand that still had glass pieces sticking out, he quickly started to remove the bits. Looking at the reelection the mirror showed you saw how messed up you truly looked.  Wrinkled clothes from yesterday, slightly bloody hands with blood on your arms, chapped lips, and streaks of mascara along your cheeks. Even though the sight of yourself was alarming enough, it was when you saw a familiar head of hair peeking out behind Johnny.

The owner of the hair slowly appeared, his eyes were glossed over, the iris and pupils were no longer visible, only the lens of his eyes which were a cloudy opaque white. His nose was crooked and had dried blood coming out of both nostrils. Shards of glass were stuck in all different parts of his face, there was a bump on one of his temples, and the thing that really made your breath hitch besides just seeing him, was the fact that his neck was limp. Jaehyun had died on impact, his neck immediately breaking when the car driving on the wrong side of the road hit him head on. His mouth was turned into a slight smile, the one thing no one had changed from the moment he died to the moment he was buried. They cleaned the blood off of him, they put him suit, propped his neck up, did all the regular things people do to get a dead person ready for burial, but no one, touch the slight smile that was on his face.

He was there, looking over Johnny’s shoulder at the scene that was playing out in front of him. You hadn’t turned around yet, but that didn’t stop you from saying “Johnny, you need to leave.” “What? Y/n, I was just trying to help, did I do something wrong.” His eyes and voice were laced with panic and concerned. “It doesn’t matter you need to leave. Now. Get out of my house.” Johnny softly apologized and told you that you could call him whenever. He turned around and walked right through Jaehyun.

You still haven’t turned around, but Jaehyun faded out when Johnny walked where he was standing but quickly reappeared. His head tilted a bit and the sickeningly sweet smile stayed, with those emotionless gray eyes still staring straight into your soul. “Jaehyun?” You slowly turned your body, but when you were completely turned around, Jaehyun was gone. You whipped your head back to the mirror, but he wasn’t there anymore either.

“Jaehyun?” You asked yourself out loud while walking out of bathroom and into the hallway. He wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Continuing to look for him was a lost cause, he was gone. But of course, you refused to believe that.

Jaehyun never appeared again, with every little breeze that chilled your bones and brought goosebumps to your skin, there wasn’t a blurry Jaehyun passing by.

The next week passed slowly, no waking up to Jaehyun kissing your face, no Jaehyun standing in the bathroom mirror, getting ready for the day, no Jaehyun laughing, no Jaehyun smiling, no Jaehyun.

You just spent your days running on nothing, no food, no sleep, you couldn’t even remember the last time you changed your clothes. Roaming around you and Jaehyun’s was what you did every day, all day. Turning the corner into the living room for what felt like the 50th time that day, and it probably was, you saw the old newspaper that has been in the back of your mind.

Staring down the newspaper and slowly approaching the couch, Jaehyun’s cologne trapped you as soon as you sat down. Just going for it and ripping off the Band-Aid, you opened the newspaper. Something wasn't right though, the date on it, wasn't today's. Well, it was today’s, but not this year’s, or last year’s or even next year’s.

May 31, 1972

Today, but 50 years ago. All the content of the newspaper was normal, politics, town news, advice columns, ads, and even a recipe or two. But one thing about the ads was none of them seemed real.

Want to know where your dreams come from? Meet the person who pick them out!

Remember that childhood imaginary friend? Revisit them today!

Missing someone who's dead? Talk to them now!

Curious about who is watching over you? Everyone has their very own guardian angel, meet yours!

Are you lonely? Order your very own partner!

This has to be a hoax; some teenagers probably threw this is the man's yard wanting to prank and confuse him. But of course, this was the day he threw it at you. Not caring enough to think about the what’s and why’s for too much longer and in dire need of a good chuckle, you looked at the ad about calling the dead.

Missing someone who's dead? Talk to them now!

Is there someone who has passed away that you miss dearly? Well, you can talk to them now! Call the number below!

xxx-xxx-xxxx

Just remember to interact with friends and family outside of speaking with your departure and don’t crowd and overwhelm your departure as they adapt to their new surroundings. This stage is new for everyone.

What a piece of shit.

There were more words under the short paragraph, in much smaller print, but already being skeptical, you didn’t care enough to strain your eyes.

. But with not having anything else to do, you grabbed your phone and punched in each of the digits and pressed the dial button.

"Hello, I'm Steven with Talking to Death! Is there someone you've been missing recently that has died? If so, please state their name, your name, your relation to the person, their death date, and cause of death. If not, I'm not sure why you called this number, but how may I help you anyways?"

"Is this some sort of prank?" You were skeptical with the whole thing. "I understand why you would think that, but we have been a respected company since 1897. Unfortunately, to be able to speak to your loved one, you must believe that you'll be able to talk to them." Steven responded through the phone, seemingly tired of this question but still replying with a joyful customer service type voice.

"Okay, but why haven't I heard of this before?" "Well, it is obviously a king of odd and not everyone goes around telling people about this in fear of sounding crazy, is there someone you would actually like to speak to?"

"Um, yeah, my boyfriend, Jeong Jaehyun died a week ago, so May 24. He died in a car accident." You slightly stuttered through your words, not expecting someone to actually be serious. 

"Okay, and now I just need your name." "Y/n L/n." "Alrighty, Ms. L/n, he checked in five days ago and has had time to settle. I will put the call through to his line and he will pick up when he is ready. One thing to remember though, make sure not to get too attached because he isn't in your world anymore, please use with caution. Thank you for calling us and have a good rest of your day."

Steven transferred the call over and as you were waiting, some peaceful jazz music played. It wasn't annoying like elevator music; it was nice and put you in a calm and relaxed state.

The music lasted for a couple minutes, and with each minute that passed, you started to lose hope a bit more but then, the relaxed aura that now surrounded you vanished when you heard him.

“Hello?” It’s him. “Jaehyun?” “Y/n?” “Oh my god! It’s really you, is it? Really you?” You could hear him chuckle from the other side of the line. It was deep and hearty, something you had started to deeply miss.

“Yes Y/n, it is really me. Jaehyun.” “My Jaehyun.” “My Y/n.” You couldn’t help yourself and all the tears started running down your cheeks all at once.  

The absurdity of it all caught up with you, even with the tears and the silent sobs trying to force their way out of your body, you couldn’t help but laugh. Hysterically. You were talking to your dead boyfriend.

“I don’t even know what to say. How are you? What was dying like? Are you okay?” Having about a million questions running through head was making the room spin. “Well, I’m doing okay. Nothing hurts, I feel, almost weightless. Dying wasn’t anything like people said it was. My head hit the steering wheel and I woke up in this lobby, or a waiting room. And there was no Jesus, bright light, or stairway that led to the gates of heaven.”

Just wanting to hear Jaehyun talk more, you stayed silent so you could cherish the moment you were given. “Anyways, this world, or whatever, is pretty similar to ours in a sense, for now, I’m just in this hotel room until my house is created. Enough about me though, I’ve missed you, how are you?”

A dry chuckle left your throat, “A fucking trainwreck. I told myself that I’d never be dependent on a man, but here I am, an absolute dumpster fire. Johnny came by to check on me and when I didn’t answer my phone or the door right away he thought I had killed myself. I screamed and kicked at your funeral like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Johnny and your mom even had to hold me down so I wouldn’t jump in your grave when they lowered your casket.” Recalling the events, you felt your stomach twist. Not out of embarrassment, but of how you felt, even just looking back, you felt like puking.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that Y/n.” It was obvious that Jaehyun didn’t know what to say in this situation. However, you were sure that the conversations would go back to almost normal with time.

Clearing his throat in hopes of getting rid of the awkwardness, Jaehyun spoke up after minutes of silence. “Well, I have to go, Y/n. I love you, so much.” Wait.

“What? Jaehyun, we just started talking again? Did I say something wrong? We’re always open with each other? What’s going on?”

Taking a deep breath, Jaehyun was able to calm you like he always did. “You can call me tomorrow, it’ll be okay. I love you.”

“I love you too.” But he had already hung up before your brain and body allowed you to get the words out. Staring down at your phone’s keypad, you were alone again.

You were climbing up the walls for the rest of the day, not being able to think about anything but calling Jaehyun, your body just couldn’t stop shaking. Too buzzed on the thought of speaking to him again, no matter what you did, you couldn’t just calm down.

No matter how slow time seemed to go by, tomorrow did eventually come. You decided to call Jaehyun around noon.

Having already saved the number in your phone, you clicked it and pressed call.

"Hello, I'm Steven with Talking to Death! Is there someone you've been missing recently that has died? If so, please state their name, your name, your relation to the person, their death date, and cause of death. If not, I'm not sure why you called this number, but how may I help you anyways?"

“Hello Steven! It’s Y/n, Jeong Jaehyun’s girlfriend, may I please speak to him.” Your response to the man was much for cheerful this time around than your first greeting. “Ah, Y/n. Now that your number is in our system and Mr. Jeong is aware that you can call him, whenever you call him from now on, you will just be automatically transferred to his line. But, I cannot stress this enough, make sure you do not overwhelm him and please seek communication and other forms of social life in your own world.”

“Okay Steven, just transfer my call to Jae.” With only a sigh of dispute, Steven respected your wishes and soon the jazz music that quickly became familiar, welcomed you.

“Hey Y/n. How are you today?” He didn’t sound excited or in the very least, content that you were calling, even with him telling you it was okay to call today. “I’m doing okay, but how are you, you’re the one that sounds upset.” He just claimed that he was fine, and honestly, the sound of his distaste towards talking to you, broke you inside.

The conversation ended up being just like the one that occurred the day before. It was full of awkward silence, passive aggressive comments, and annoyance. You didn’t know what you were doing wrong, you didn’t think you had said something wrong, but Jaehyun was acting like you were the one who killed him, and you had no idea why.

Even if he seemed more and more upset, you never stopped calling.

“Hey Jae?” He just hummed. “Did I do something wrong?” He huffed and just responded with a simple, “No”. “Well, then why are you acting like this? I saw you in the mirror the day after the funeral, I thought you’d want to talk to me.”

You sniffled and that’s when he finally said something again, “Y/n, I never appeared in a mirror, that was your imagination. And it’s not like I don’t want to talk to you, it’s just going to be harder for you to let go and move on.”

You didn’t get why he thought you’d want to let him go and move on, he was your everything, you didn’t care how many times you’d have to say it, but you simply couldn’t stress it enough, you love him.

“You’re just tired Jaehyun. You need to get more sleep; I’ll call you tomorrow. I love you.”

“I love you too, Y/n.”

The call ended and you could feel your eye twitch a bit. Were you actually going crazy? You hadn’t left your house in weeks, you hadn’t had a normal sleep, shower, or eating schedule since Jaehyun died.

Walking to the bathroom to just wash your face of the tears you hadn’t know that fell. You turned towards the sink and placed your palms on the cold marble. A slight sting spread throughout your palms, so you pulled them from the counter, and you saw eight crescent moons made from blood.

Happening without your notice, your hands had clenched into fists so hard that your nails had made small indents into your palms.

Going ahead and washing your hands before your face, you looked at yourself in the mirror for the first time in a long time and you could hardly recognize the sight in front of you. The dark circles under your eyes, your skin wasn’t as vibrant, and you had lost a significant amount of weight. What happened?

That question made you giggle to yourself a bit. It was pretty funny in your opinion, it did cause you to laugh for the first time in weeks, or maybe you’re just delusional at this point. The little question was easy to answer, you lost your entire world, there wasn’t much else to say.

You kept your word to Jaehyun, you did call the next day. The only thing is, he didn’t answer.

It was now your fourth time calling Jaehyun for the day, however, there was still no answer. He shouldn’t be busy; he was supposed to be expecting your call. You were about to redial the number for the fifth time until a knock on your door was heard. You put your phone down, your hand slightly shaky as you did so. Slowly, you walked towards your front door and looked through the peephole, only to see Johnny.

You sighed as your unlocked the door, pulling it open to see Johnny smile sheepishly at you. “Y/n! How are you doing?” Did he find out that he could talk to Jaehyun too? Was that the reason Jaehyun had started to answer less and less.

Raising your right eyebrow you said, “Hello Johnny, I’m fine. How are you?”

“Y/n, no one has seen or even heard from you since the funeral, and I haven’t seen or heard from you since the day after. Are you sure you’re doing alright everyone’s worried about you, me, Jae’s mom, and the rest of the boys.”

Already irritated and only being able to think about calling Jaehyun, you started to close the door, “Yes, I said I’m fine and I would really like to be alone now.” Your voice got louder as you continued to speak. “Please leave me alone and tell everyone to stop calling. I need the line free.” Finally slamming the door and locking it, you rushed back to where you had set your phone down.

Was it possible for Jaehyun to call you? You doubted it, but just in case it was possible, you needed to make sure that your phone was always free.

Running back to your phone once you made sure Johnny had left, you couldn’t stop shaking. It had been only a couple minutes since you last tried calling but you didn’t care. He was yours; you were allowed to talk to him.

It took a few tries because you kept accidently hitting the wrong number because of how bad you were actually shaking. But finally, you tapped the last number and hit call.

It rung for a bit before you heard the groggily and almost annoyed, “Hello Y/n.”

“Why didn’t you answer?” Jaehyun sighed on the other side of the line, and you could imagine him rubbing his temples. “Y/n. I really think we need to stop doing this. We’re both in really different places right now.” You felt your breathing picking up. You had just got him back and now he was leaving you again.

“No, no, no, I need you! Don’t you understand? I can’t go on without you and I just got you back!” Tears were starting to run down your cheeks and Jaehyun just went silent for a bit. But after listening to you mumble barely audible sentences about him leaving and you needing him, he spoke up. “It would be different if we were together again Y/n, and that’s not really possible.” But it is.

It was your turn to go silent and now Jaehyun could see the gears turning in your head. “Y/n please, don’t do it. You still have your entire life ahead of you. I’m gone, but that doesn’t mean you need to follow me. Please, please, please, do not do it. Take a deep breath, we can still call as long as you don’t do anything you’ll regret.” Jaehyun was now the one who was breathing heavily and speaking quickly. But you, you on the other hand had gone eerily silent.

 “How could I ever regret something that’ll let me see you again? And what’s the point of living the rest of my life if you’re not right beside me? We could be happy again Jae.”

 “No, Y/n, you don’t understand what this means. There’s no going back, please don-" “I do understand, I love you more than anything, I can’t live without you, and I don’t want to either. I love you, so, so much. We’ll be together again soon Jaehyun.”

Hanging up before Jaehyun could say anything else to you, you pushed the end call button with your thumb. Crazed by the idea of being with Jaehyun again and being overcome with adrenaline, you started walking to the garage.

 After making sure the garage door was fully shut, you sat in you and Jaehyun’s shared car. The cool temperature of the leather on your burning skin, along with the scent of Jaehyun, you were intoxicated. Putting the key in the ignition and turning, while holding your foot on the break, the car came to life. Turning on the air conditioner, so you could be comfortably cold and leaning back, letting yourself sink into the seat.

 What you didn’t know was that Jaehyun had left his room in the hotel and sprinted down all the stairs and to the lobby, without being able to run out of breath, his question came out clearly and urgently. “Can we call someone from the world we came from?” The man with the name tag that read Steven, looked slightly down, and shook his head. “I’m afraid not, these calls are only one-way calls, meaning only one side can call, and that side is the living world.”

 About to start crying, Jaehyun tried to argue. “You don’t understand. This is an emergency. I need to call my girlfriend; I have to convince her not to do anything irrational.” Jaehyun’s eyes were wide with crazy hidden behind them.

 “I am really sorry Mr. Jeong, but there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that I can possibly do to help you reach her.”

 Finally, letting the tears slip, he sunk to his knees in the middle of the lobby of the hotel. There were quite a few newcomers that night, many of them being new to the environment, stared. Regular residents of hotel could imagine what was happening. The dead doesn’t have too much to worry about anymore, some though still held feelings and emotions for past loved ones.

 Jaehyun was asked to return to his room, as he was starting to scare the newly-deads. With puffy eyes and tousled hair from pulling at it, he curled up on his bed with the one item he was allowed to choose and bring to his new life with him, the ring he was going to propose with. That’s actually the reason he was going to be home late the night he had died. Although, if he hadn’t gone to the jeweler’s that night to buy the ring, he would be cuddling with you on your guys’ couch right now. He still doesn’t regret going to buy the ring, he loved you and wanted to spend the rest of his life with you, and even though it wasn’t like he planned, he still got to live his life with you by his side.

 Thinking about that, he started to remember what caused these thoughts.

 Time passed differently in both worlds, Jaehyun’s seconds were slower than yours. So, what was two hours for him, was actually around four hours for you.

 With four hours passing, you were starting to fall asleep, it was harder to think straight and remember everything, but you could still remember Jaehyun. Before you couldn’t think about anything anymore, all your favorite memories replayed in your mind, there were a few that didn’t involve Jaehyun, but he still was the main star in your movie of life. The last thing you thought of wasn’t even a memory. It was what you had imagined your future with Jaehyun to be like.

Allowing one final tear to slide down your cheek, your eyes fluttered shut.

#jung jaehyun #jaehyun x reader #nct #nct 127 #female reader #fluff #angst #non idol au #kpop #fantasy #tim burton #horror #jeong jaehyun

[aprilblossomgirl]

'Lines of Power' is not really my strength, but I'm tempted to answer this challenge by @luckydragon10 for some scenes of my favorite pair, Kim & Chay, as I have some thoughts about them. I don't know if someone already touched on these, but I'm just gonna give it a try. And I'll just make a separate post instead of a reblog just in case it gets too long.

Porchay.

The tilted, firm horizontal lines give off an imbalance and unsettling feeling; they also act as a divider of Chay's mental state. In the first image, the camera was focused on Chay and perhaps the many things on his mind. Here, he was shown from the back looking downward outside the window using a medium shot with a bit of low angle. Now that his brother is officially part of the mafia power, he needs to find a footing for himself in navigating his new 'chapter' of life in the Theerapanyakul's environment. It's not surprising if, at this point, he starts questioning his life goals or purposes, apart from being a little brother of the head of the minor family.

In the next couple of images, he diverts his view to the left, to the guitar leaning on the wall, HIS guitar. And then, slowly, he took it and stared at it as if contemplating returning to his love for music. Music has always been his passion, apart from his admiration of Wik (and later, Kim).

The interior vs. exterior view on the left vs. on the right symbolizes Chay's inner heart and outside-influenced thoughts. He hesitated for a moment and looked towards the outside again but eventually decided to sit comfortably playing his guitar and music.

Notice that the camera slowly took steps back, and the angle transitioned to a more human-level shot, providing a long shot of Chay within his room with outside views as background. Chay tries reconnecting with his music and finding peace internally amidst his external thoughts and concerns.

Distraction came in the name of a video message coming from Kim. It was started with a friend request, of course, because he's still blocked. The previews of the messages were shown between two horizontal lines of the window frames, occupying a definite space in Chay's mind (or heart) reserved for Kim (or Wik, or Kimhant).

I hate to see Chay crying, but this shot is necessary. It's a close shot of Chay's expression, with many vertical (decorative, fine) lines coming from/to his head, showing possible conflicts running through him. He missed Kim; he couldn't yet bring himself to forget him, but he clearly couldn't forget him. He finally chose to see his message. Perhaps this one got through Chay's heart because it's music, the language both understand very well (a bit out of the discussion).

A bit of step back, Chay alternated his gaze towards the outside view and his phone screen. This reveals his inner conflict between continue facing his own feeling or keep putting them on hold. Or maybe, he just needs more time to process his emotions.

Kim.

In architecture or building design, stairs are used to direct and move people up and down vertically. The railings (in this image are the steel frames) are there for safety reasons so that you don't fall while moving. In the first image, Kim sat on the stairs behind the railing bars. We could see this scene as him being caged or restrained from expressing this feeling towards Chay (as we saw manifested in the previous scenes). Smoking could indicate opposite things, whether he's feeling relaxed or stressed about it. Or, it could be just an effort to buy time for himself (another out of the discussion).

In the next image, Kim turned around as if anticipating something to signal what his next move should be. Perhaps any sounds or movements to indicate Chay's reaction to the aftermath of his fight at the bar. Or maybe simply just making sure he's fine.

In the last image, he went downstairs (after confirming Chay's okay), following the lines of the railing bars, to the ground. Somehow this foreshadows his subsequent scenes: recording himself singing while playing guitar and sending it to Chay. I see it as Kim finally comes to terms with his feelings toward Chay and decides to face and work on it.

=====================

And that's the kind of an open end we got for Kim and Chay. One finally trying to reach out (still with his awkwardness), and one trying to open up and trust again. But sure, both need time at their own pace.

#kinnporsche #kinnporsche the series #kinnporsche thoughts #lines of power #kim x chay #kim x porchay #kimchay #kimporchay #kim theerapanyakul #porchay kittisawasd #my post: text #i hope this makes sense #at first it was about the lines #how it ended up also about their gestures

[artemiseamoon]

Whatever happens, just come home to me

Manny (Mayans) x ex-ofc ft their daughter

Words: 2277

Warnings: Angst, worry, fearing the worst

✨ arte releases a draft into the void✨ read in full on A03 (artemiseamoon)

✨More Mayans ✨

Angela took a deep breath, drawing air into her lungs, holding, then releasing it. It does little to calm the tension in her muscles and churning in her stomach. When it came to Manny the club, she tried to keep her hands off the cards.

When they used to be together, any indication something was off would bring her to the table; cards spread out, turning them over one by one with nervous anticipation; waiting to see if her instincts were right or wrong. Though the cards rarely led her astray, they added to her anxiety and worry about his overall safety.

When Angela said yes to him, she had an idea what she was signing up for. One can’t date and fall in love with a biker and expect peace and calm, she knew that. Though the whole MC thing was a deterrent, she was head over heels for him, and the dangerous weren't' enough to keep them apart.

But it eventually did become too much, and along with some other things, despite all the love between them, after 7 years and a daughter, they parted ways. It wasn’t easy to do, she nearly bit her nails off as she geared herself up for the conversation. The look in his eyes broke her heart. But it was for the best. They both knew that, even if they hated it, even if the breakup broke their hearts.

The last two days, Manny has been heavy on her mind, more than usual. They’ve been separated for about a year now, but still see each other often and co-parent 4-year-old Ana with love and respect. Their relationship is good, and he’s even been spending more time here over the last month.

In one way, it’s nice, it's how things used to be when they all lived in this house. When they broke up, she was ready to search for an apartment, but Manny told her to take the house and he got an apartment himself. Ana loves having him around, she’s a daddy's girl after all, and being able to wake up and see him has been spoiling her, and in some ways, Angela too.

After the breakup, things were a bit weird and very emotional, but once they passed that hump, they fell back into the comfort and ease they have always had. When he stays over, Manny sleeps in the spare bedroom. On some nights, she stares at the second pillow where he used to be and contemplates welcoming him into the bedroom.

It would be easy to extend that invite, they’re close and still flirt with each other, even if they don’t intend to. The energy is there, like an elephant in the room but neither have acted on it. The closest they got was three months after the breakup, he dropped Ana off and stayed for dinner.

As they cleaned up in the kitchen, and Ana watched a short cartoon as her food digested, they almost kissed. Just as their lips brushed together, Angela put her hands on his chest and put some space between them.

“We shouldn’t.”

Manny looked at her longingly and took a step back. After apologizing, he shifted his focus to the sink and resumed washing dishes. That was the last they spoke about it….

This is a preview * read in full on A03

Mayans - Masterlist

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#manny Mayans #manny x ofc #Mayans Mc #Arte releases a draft into the void

[turesti]

Doing Something Unholy

Nessian assassin AU. Unedited rough draft & preview. Wrote this super quickly on my phone, but just wanted to at least get a preview of it out before I try writing more

Present

It’s been 457 days since they last saw her. The last time there was a confirmed sighting left 49 dead, 123 injured, and the person that they were detailed to protect spewing blood all over the carpet. The amount of money spent by whoever bought such a massacre made bile rise up Cassian’s throat. Even worse was remembering how easily she had slipped out of his fingers.

Lady Death

The Hellcat

For a while he and the team believed that they were separate people, apparently she answered to both names easily. He had punched a wall so hard it left a dent coming back from that disaster of a peace summit that almost started a second war between the two polarized countries,. He was so close. And yet she would always be just out of his reach.

Three Years Ago

The base of nightclub’s song reverberated in his ears even as he breathed in the cold air as he stood outside the building. His head was already somewhere else when Cassian first entered the club, now it was still nowhere to be found but with a migraine too. The deep breaths had lingered in the chill in front of him. Of all the times he had actually stuck to his resolution to quit smoking. He was supposed to be clearing his head tonight, blowing off steam from another failure. His failure. None of his friends would ever say that to him, but it was the truth. It was his lead. He lost the targets. They got away.

The anger had him clenching his jaw so hard, it worsened the already skull splitting ache in his temples. He needed a better distraction. He needed to be alone from the people he loved, but honestly couldn’t help him in this moment at all. Cassian did enjoy going out dancing with friends, his family, but tonight wasn’t working. It had been the five year anniversary of when Feyre’s sister had went off the radar, Cassian knew that they had a fraught relationship to begin with, but Feyre and Elain had taken it hard when the eldest Archeron just slipped out when night and never came back home. Apparently it’s what she was good at, disappearing without leaving a trace. Rhys did everything money could buy to find her, even though he cared more about a snail than the sister who caused Feyre’s sadness, he would find her for Feyre. Nothing ever came up. Not even Azriel could find a hint of a trail that could lead up to her. She was just gone. A ghost was all that was left of Nesta Archeron.

Tensions were fraught tonight. The main two reasons being the reminder of a missing sister and a failed operation. It seemed like going out and carrying on how they usually did was the bandaid that was supposed to ease everyone. Cassian just didn’t have it in him to pretend to be jovial. He was frustrated and angry at himself, faking a smile in strobe lights was the last thing he wanted to do. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick message to Az asking to rely the message not to wait up for him, he knew out of everyone Az would understand that he needed to find peace of mind on his own tonight, without being talked out of it. Pocketing his phone back into his jeans and hands inside the worn leather jacket that kept even the dampest colds out, he made his way down the street.

The dive bar where he was currently occupying a bar stool was not the most welcoming place to be. It was also not a huge deterrent either. A perfect in between nice enough and seedy to be comfortable in. The seats didn’t have some unknown sticky residue, but it wasn’t nearly nice enough for it to be a date night spot. There was a decent enough amount of people here. He felt like goldy locks, a bar that was just right. He was nursing a simple liquor drink, he doubt this place would even honor the request a mixed cocktail no matter how much you wanted a margarita, when he saw a flash of brilliant and cold blue.

If part of him was being honest, a large he wanted to ignore, Cassian in part couldn’t stop thinking about this morning because of how beautiful those cold eyes were. It coated his stomach in an oily feeling, but it was bare truth. The girl’s eyes were stunning. She had taken off the outer mask she normally wore, leaving a solid black half mask that covered just over her nose and conceal the rest of her face. The black mask just enhanced the brilliance of her eyes, making it difficult to look away. It was also one of the only identifiers he had of the assassin that was part the group that royally kicked their asses. He had seen her in various scuffles before, but never fully close enough for him. He wanted to take her down. Lady Death. The Hellcat. Two hours before the first bomb went off at the museum, Az was able to finally prove that Lady Death and The Hellcat were one and the same. An assassin and a thief. Whatever paid the exuberant bills he supposed. She wore a uniform at every sighting, kept virtually every noticeable feature of hers hidden, even layered masks for fucks sake. Her new nickname should have something involving ghost in it, since there was nothing tangible about her. No DNA traces, no finer details to describe her; all they had to reference her was her build, her signature masks, the hood that covered her hair, and her damn eyes. Those eyes were looking at him from across the other side of the bar now.

#based a fair amount on Cheshire and Red Arrow #not sure how long this will be #no real plan just vibes #nessian #Nesta Archeron #cassian #acosf #acotar

[petri808]

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

@thenaluarchive Nalu Week 7-part story

With almost a week and a half under their belt, the four friends decided to have a lazy day with each doing their own thing. Levy’s boyfriend Gajeel finally had his day off from work and had driven over from Hilo to visit. So, he and Levy took off after lunch to cruise around the west side of the island. Maybe take in a movie at the Keahou theaters and dinner at one of the Kona restaurants. Around the same time they left, a friend of Gray’s named Loke picked him up to hang out and go surfing at a beach called Magic Sands. It wasn’t always the best place to surf, but it was king tides season so the waves were a little bigger than normal.

That left the newly established couple to their own devises.

“That’s a loveseat.” Natsu remarked at the theater’s seating. “A leather loveseat!”

“Well,” Lucy chuckled, “it’s called a luxury cinema for a reason.”

“And they bring our food to us?!” He plops down on the leather chair. “Sweet!”

Why do a Netflix and chill at home when you can get restaurant quality food and a movie theater experience combined? Waikoloa Luxury Cinemas at Queen’s Marketplace and their restaurant The Bistro offered such an experience with meals delivered during the previews. As the lights came down, and food been taken care of, Lucy snuggled up to Natsu. He put his arm around her shoulder and leaned his head against hers, settling in for the movie.

Although things still felt a little awkward, in truth… it really wasn’t. They’d been friends for two years, close friends for almost one, so spending time together was nothing new— just the cuddling part… which had been getting easier over the last couple of days. Lucy’s heart would still skip a beat at his touch, but she didn’t lose her composure as badly. Natsu for his part never pushed and allowed her to gain confidence in their new relationship on her terms.

After the movie ended, they walked back towards the condo. It wasn’t too far of a walk along tree lined sidewalks. They’d passed King Shops, another small shopping center. A golf course on one side of the road, condos and hotels on the other. Every so often Lucy would point out any historical sites, such as a field of ancient petroglyphs that had survived. When they reached Anaehoomalu beach park, the couple decided to take a detour.

Natsu took hold of Lucy’s hand as they walked the sandy white beach between the Hilton Waikoloa and the Waikoloa Marriott. Visitors were sparse on this work day, giving them a peaceful time just listening to the waves and enjoying each other’s company.

“I don’t remember the name,” Lucy pointed to an area between the beach and the Marriott, “but those are ancient fish ponds that the hotel helped to restore. It’s like the Hawaiian version of aqua farming.”

As they got closer, Lucy continued pointing out different features such as wooden slats that allowed water and baby fish to flow in from the ocean, but trapped the fish once they’d grown bigger in the ponds. “If you look closely there’s always eels,” she explained as they leaned over the rock wall that lined the pond. And sure enough, after a couple minutes Natsu could see a few popping they’re heads out of cracks.

They spent some time on the beach before heading to the condo once it got closer to dinner time. When they arrived back, no one had returned yet, so they stayed out on the patio to watch the sunset. It was a partial view of the ocean from the condo, but enough that one could watch the day slowly turning into night. The skies turned reddish orange, while the sun gained a slight greenish hue as it slowly sunk below the horizon.

“You’re hair looks like it’s on fire,” Natsu commented as the suns darkening rays bounced off of Lucy’s golden blonde hair.

Lucy blushed and tucked her hair back out of nervousness. “Really?” She asked sheepishly.

“Really,” Natsu smiled and squeezed her hand.

“I um…” Lucy started to speak, then stopped and kissed him instead. Just a quick one, as her eyes continued to communicate something else and her body leaned in closer.

Taking the hint, Natsu moved in, turning fully towards her while pulling her almost onto his lap. His fingers tangled into her crown as Lucy made moves of her own to wrap her arms around his neck. They’d forgotten all about the sunset. Their lips too wrapped up with one another’s in a full-blown make out session.

“I could…” Natsu mumbled between the kisses, “stay like this forever…”

Lucy sighed, “me, too.” Once the floodgates had opened, she started to realize just how much she’d really fallen for the man.

But the sound of keys and a door opening, eventually broke the spell.

“We should stop before…” Lucy grumped.

“I know,” Natsu sighed. “For now.”

“Before they tease us.” Lucy added.

He placed a hand on her cheek and gently smoothed his thumb over the skin, “do you really care?”

“Mmm, a little…”

“Pfft.” Natsu stood up and pulled her with him. “Then let’s hide in the bedroom,” he teased with a glint in his eye.

That made Lucy giggle as she squeezed his hand in return. They quickly ran past a surprised Gray to the upstairs bedroom and locked Lucy’s door.

“Well, guess I get the room to myself tonight,” Gray chuckled as he headed to his room. “But keep it down!” He yelled as he passed by theirs.

“Too bad, snowflake!”

Eh, they’ll be fine…

#nalu #nalu week 2022 #simply nalu 2022 #fairy tail #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #nalu fanfiction #part 5

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Back to How Rest In Peace Ended

@wdway

With all our talk last week about the possibilities of Maggie, or Daryl and Maggie going back to the farm just brought back that naggingness (totally a word) I had about how RIP ended. I have harped on the one year jump a million times, so I went back and rewatched that part, yet again.

I was also inspired with how we had talked about the short DD's spinoff preview of him coming out of the ocean and then the longer preview of him getting off a boat, how these previews are not necessarily in sequence.

We don't know what episode we'll see these scenes, especially the long preview. We played around with several scenarios of Daryl leaving at the end of RIP. Daryl getting kidnapped and ending up in Paris or if he left, went somewhere else, then came back to the Commonwealth. This was all on my mind as I watched.

My newest speculation is that what we see is not in the right sequence. I'm going to lay it out in a new order. As always we won't know until we know. I will pick up right after the scene of Rosita's death.

Carol: it's a beautiful day to head out. Daryl: yeah. I wish you were coming with me. Carol: I know. But this is gonna be good for you, for me. Daryl: I'm proud of you. No, I am. You took Hornsby's job and you made it your own. Made everything better. For you, for the kids. You'll keep making it better. Carol: You will, too. Daryl: it's not like we're never going to see each other again. Carol: I'm allowed to be a little sad. You are my best friend. Daryl: Come here. (Hugs Carol)

I hope you can make heads or tails as far as the sequence goes. After Rosita's death I think it would actually pick up with Maggie sending for Daryl, Carol, Lydia and Elijah. Maggie speaks to Daryl about finding out what's out there. She's giving him a mission.

I think she gives Lydia and Elijah the mission of letter carriers between the known communities. Something that they have not had before. They’re at the original Hilltop, we know by the water tower. I think she might have told of her own plans of starting another Hilltop, this time going further north. I think Carol has made the decision to stay in the Commonwealth for several reasons, one of them being Ezekiel, also because knowing that that's the only way Daryl would go on his mission.

She also understands that he would never leave the kids unless it was with someone that he totally trusted. She'll watch over the kids. Apparently, no one remembers Carol's history with watching kids, only kidding. Kind of.

You're probably wondering why I put it in this order. The Maggie mission part probably makes sense. The reason I grouped the Maggie scene, Daryl and Carol by the pond, the goodbyes with the kids all tied together because of what Carol is wearing. She has on a long black or very dark coat.

They don't give us very many shots of the others while Maggie is making her pitch to Daryl but when they do walk up you can see that Lydia and Elijah are wearing different clothes, tptb are very sneaky with the subtle changes in the clothes.

Judith's jacket is kind of a brownish red color, and the difference is that the jacket she has on in the Hilltop scene and where she is saying goodbye to Daryl has no hood, whereas her jacket at Commonwealth and at Alexandria has a hood.

Plus, Lydia and Elijah have their mail bags going into Alexandria where Lydia gives FG the package. No bags at Hilltop. The clothes change that really caught my attention was the very well-tailored, very light-colored jacket that Carol has on at Alexandria and then has the long black coat at Hilltop. It was a noticeable contrast between the two.

My speculation is that Daryl heads westward because that's the direction Georgie was headed, and Daryl had talked about New Mexico in s10. He could go southwest through the Carolinas and Georgia. All kinds of routes we could speculate about. At some place (Grady) he finds something that makes him believe that Beth did not die at Grady, she did not turn. That there were experiments.

And somehow he gets a message or something to Carol and she joins him. This part is so up in the air, I have no idea how to work that out, but my theory is that Carol joins him and it's them that has been away for a year. When we see Daryl at Alexandria there's no sign of Carol, there's no mention of Carol in Ezekiel's speech. I think they came back together but we don't see them together as part of tptb misleading us in the belief that only Daryl had been gone.

The first time we see Carol is at Alexandria. She and Daryl looking at the names on the wall.

I remember thinking that Coco, Rosita's little girl looked more than just a year older than when we last saw her. She looks closer to a 2 to 3 year old to me. The year count started not after Rosie died, but probably months later.

I guess why I think this might be important is how it relates to the back and forth storyline of Daryl, Carol parting, coming together, parting again type of storyline from s10 Diverged.

Something else I wanted to share with you guys that occurred to me earlier today, another way Maggie could have gotten the photographs other than going back to the farm. She could have gotten them from her grandmother's beach house. I much prefer the thought of the farmhouse but in reality I had to tell you about the other option.

Also the package that Negan sent to Judith that Lydia and Elijah deliver to her at Alexandria. I wonder if he was already in New Babylon. Since we know that Ginny had come originally from Oceanside I'm thinking that he must have met her there, that's where Annie was probably send originally after the Commonwealth was brought down.

@galadrieljones

I just rewatched this and yo wtf is going on with the outfits

It’s like one minute Carol is wearing that weird gray space suit and then we seen Maggie and apparently there was another time jump?

The first time is when Daryl comes back and Connie greets him. Then they greet Maggie whose like “Time to see what’s out there,” and then Daryl and Carol say goodbye. I don’t think I realized this at first. Also sorry for the incredulity like I feel like I’m seeing this for the first time lol.

Really interesting theory that Carol has not been there, that she was with Daryl.

This is very weird I agree. All of it is perfectly missable but if you look closely all of these things are true. Weirdly, it makes me think about that one episode with all the time jumps and time stamps. The one with Toby and Aaron and Maggie, etc., and the weird scenes and distances that seem impossible. I always wondered if that was teaching us to watch closely for stuff like this but who knows. That episode still doesn’t sit right with me, and also, this series of scenes is also extremely odd.

I like the idea of him going back west, stopping in Georgia, and calling for Carol. Then they return and he has to go east by himself.

Or maybe it’s not east, maybe north, who knows? Also, what is the reason for Carol being unable or unwilling to go with him? Does she want to stay behind for Ezekiel? Does she need to figure something else out on her own without Daryl? She says, “This is gonna be good for you, for me.” Maybe she means, I need to work on my relationship and you need to go get yours. Daryl also says “It’s not like we’re never gonna see each other again.” So maybe they have a plan? Just adding to your speculation.

@wdway

This is all speculation, so spec away, haha. Like I said above, I believe there's several reasons that Carol initially stays behind. First of all Melissa at this point had backed out of France and they didn't know if she would be joining Norman for the second season of DD spin-off, so they left it open. That way they never have to come back and rework it, but if they needed to come back and worked the groundwork is there, story wise. I believe she was staying for Ezekiel but it's also about Carol breaking her pattern of running away and putting down roots. And lastly she's staying for the kids, because Daryl would not leave the kids with just anyone. By the time Carol joins Daryl I think it will be with Ezekiel's blessing and Daryl will be okay with knowing Ezekiel will care for the kids with his life.

I think that the year is from the time Daryl leaves and then returns to the CW. We don't see Daryl's reunion with the kids but we do see his reunion with connie. And we get the impression that people knew where he had been. Which means he wasn't kidnapped and taken to France, at least not yet.

@twdmusicboxmystery

Really love all this, Gals! Great catch on the outfits for the final episode. I’m sure you’re right about the chronological order of things. It’s super interesting that they were showing it to us in the wrong order. Great observations about everything!

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

[boomboxfic]

Sneak Peek of Ch. 5 of Unintended

Hi, still poking about with writing this series! Good news - I’ve made some breakthroughs regarding plot points that were giving me a little bit of trouble. Now, it’s a manner of organizing and planning out chapters and such. Thanks for your patience. Here’s the beginning of Ch. 5, nice and fluffy. 

Banner by the amazing @loganstonegibbskinney​

Ch. 5 preview (takes place right after the events of Ch. 4) 

Ben’s apartment Saturday morning

Ben slowly stirred awake, trying desperately to drag himself back into the comfortable oblivion of sleep. The morning rays trickling through half-open drapes made that near impossible, so Ben grumbled as he turned over and flung an arm over the other side of the bed. As he buried his face in the other pillow, he could still smell Mike’s cologne there. Memories of the previous night came flooding in, and Ben welcomed them, his reminiscence causing a stirring in his groin. 

Although he was tempted to indulge his desires, Ben’s realization that Mike wasn’t in the bed was more than enough impetus to get up. Avoiding the strewn-about assortment of clothes on his bedroom floor from their post-club escapades, Ben opted to reach for his bathrobe that usually hung on a hook in his bathroom, and found it gone. Shrugging his shoulders, he walked back to his bedroom, pulled on a pair of pajama pants, and went looking for Mike. 

As he entered the hallway, the familiar scent of bacon and eggs attracted him like a moth to a flame toward his kitchen. There, draped in his bathrobe, was Mike cooking up breakfast. The younger man grinned as Ben hugged him from behind. 

“Good morning. Hope you don’t mind, I wanted to cook us breakfast. I’m starving.”

“I don’t at all,” Ben replied easily, pressing a kiss to Mike’s cheek. “I should apologize. I should be cooking. I’m a terrible host.”

“It’s okay, really. You looked peaceful. I didn’t want to wake you. Good dream?”

“Blissful oblivion.”

“That does sound peaceful.” Mike laughed, he nodded toward Ben’s coffeemaker that began to gurgle. “Made coffee, by the way.”

“Hmm.” Ben released Mike after a squeeze, kissing him on the cheek, and went to help himself. “Thanks. I knew I liked you.”

I knew I liked you.

Mike let the thought float about in his head. He was sure that Ben meant it as a playful quip. Of course, he likes me. We’ve ended up in bed the majority of the days we’ve known each other. He looked over at the attorney, happily indulging in his cup of coffee, his hair sticking up in all sorts of angles, wearing only pajama bottoms - a far cry from the well-put-together professional putting criminals away in the courtroom. Mike smirked as he took note of the assortment of love bites on Ben’s slim body. His doing. Yeah, maybe I like him too. 

“Hungry?” 

“God, yes.” 

Ben watched as Mike laid out the bacon over paper towels, handing him a cup of coffee, before greeting him with a kiss on the lips. It was one of his favorite things to do, Ben thought, kissing Mike. He could get used to this. Slow mornings on the weekend, lazing about. As Mike turned to pour the eggs into the frying pan, Ben made himself useful by getting some bread out for toast. As he popped a few slices into the toaster, the attorney looked over at the man who had seemingly turned his life upside down. The logical part of his brain said he ought to be concerned. Ben was nearing 30, this man, maybe 23. The same part of his brain asked what this arrangement was - did Ben want more, did Mike want more? 

The answer was - well, Ben didn’t really have an answer. He just knew, innately, that he could get used to this. This comfortable silence. He watched as Mike did one final stir with the eggs before plating everything and greeting Ben at the little kitchen table. Ben had also managed to get the orange juice and some fruit out, and the two had a nice, relaxing breakfast. 

As they finished, Ben had to stop Mike from doing dishes, insisting that he wanted to do them since Mike cooked. Mike acquiesced, smiling, before taking a sip of his coffee. The most Ben would allow Mike to do was cart their dishes over for Ben to wash. He leaned against the fridge, watching as Ben started to rinse the dishes, squeezing dishwashing soap onto the sponge. 

Mike couldn’t help but smile when dwelling on Ben. If pressed, he wouldn’t be able to say what they were, but just that he could be himself with Ben. Last night at the club was sort of a trial thing for Mike - he wasn’t sure if Ben would be into the scene. Ben looked uncomfortable for sure and was nervous to step onto the dance floor. Something shifted inside of Ben, and Mike thought it was beautiful watching Ben be free. Ben had put his trust in Mike, and their connection was something Mike couldn’t ignore. Ben was different than any other lover he had. It was the first time Mike could think that he’d wanted to linger. And here he was, in Ben’s kitchen, lingering willfully. 

His next thoughts were on the lovemaking session when they got back to Ben’s apartment. The attraction was palpable and Mike could feel the eyes on them as they left the club; he could tell that other men wanted to interact with them as well. Not that Ben noticed, his attention was on Mike and Mike alone - and boy, did Mike enjoy that. A part of Mike questioned his own intent - What did he mean to Ben? What did Ben want? Why did Mike want to keep going back to him? 

Mike was not one for relationships - he didn’t have time for them. It was just easier to remove himself from emotional attachment. Ben was not usually his type - Mike usually played with a fast & loose crowd. But one dance - One dance in a small office in the District Attorney’s office - a job Mike wasn’t initially keen on doing - seemingly shifted his trajectory. He wanted to keep coming back to Ben; there was this inexplicable, yet undeniable bond. Sexually, Mike never had it as good with anyone; and when they got back to the apartment that early morning, their lovemaking had somehow elevated, adding a layer of intimacy neither had experienced with anyone else. They spent hours exploring one another; as opposed to the intensity of their previous experiences in Mike’s apartment and in Ben’s office. That morning, after club, was different - and Mike knew it. 

He watched as Ben finished up on the dishes, putting them on the dish rack. His eyes raked over Ben’s lithe marked body and approached him as the attorney dried his hands. 

“Sorry, for all this.” Mike said smoothly, as his fingers traced all the marks he left on Ben’s chest. 

“Jack said maybe I should get tetanus shots before sleeping with you again. He’s still traumatized from seeing what you did to my neck.” Ben laughed, fixing Mike with a playful look. “And we both know you’re not sorry.”

Mike chuckled deeply, caught. He traced his fingers along Ben’s chest, following along lines of lean muscle. “Hey, with the noises you make, it’s impossible not to do these again and again.”

Ben smiled sweetly, and Mike, enamored, found himself drawn toward that expression. Cradling that boyish face in his hands, Mike dove in for a kiss, his tongue teasing along Ben’s bottom lip before those lips slowly parted to allow Mike’s tongue entrance. They stood there, entwined, lazily kissing in the early morning glow, enjoying the sense of comfort and familiarity their connection fostered. Mike wrapped his arms around Ben’s neck, smiling as the other man began to intensify their exchange, pushing Mike up against the fridge, and dropping to his knees. 

“Heh, what’s this, then?” Mike joked, panting, as Ben undid the knot in Mike’s robe, pleased, but not surprised, to find what was waiting there for him. 

“Oh, you know, just saying thank you for breakfast.” Ben murmured, as he licked up Mike’s cock before taking him into his mouth. 

Mike tilted his head back in pleasure running his fingers through Ben’s hair, as the other man pleasured him. Thoughts regarding whatever this thing he and Ben have could wait. “You are SO welcome.”

#fic: unintended #sneak peek #stogan #mike logan/ben stone #law & order au #law & order fluff #fluff

[auduux]

Chapter one preview! Please leave comments if you like it!

---

“Smokescreen?” Inferno asked, entering the break room.

“Yeah?” The smaller man asked, sitting on the floor playing monopoly with Ultra Magnus, Tarn, and Mudflap. It was a common sight, though Mudflap being without Skids wasn’t. He didn’t question it though, accepting the brief peace.

“You mentioned another space station near here a while ago, but I thought we were supposed to be isolated?” He asked, sitting down beside them, on the opposite side of Tarn. He still stayed a distance from the Decepticon in case he decided he wanted to blow his head off.

“We are, for the most part. They’re not close close but Astrotrain could take us there in only two light years.” Smokescreen shrugged, watching as Mudflap lunged at Tarn after the Decepticon got his hands on one of their railroads. It didn’t do much, given they were about nine times smaller, but they still flailed and cursed when they grabbed him by the waist and shook him a few times before putting him back down. The shaking worked in shutting him up, but it also made him wonky, spinning around the room without any footing.

“Are they affiliated with this station?” Inferno questioned, still unfamiliar with how the stations worked, how many there were, and which ones were ‘affiliated’ with the station. In common writing, which ones shared a first name.

“They are! That’s where our medic and mechanic are! They come here sometimes, but not often. It’s called Alytra 2/B Alpha, their AI is a Decepticon named Sevens Apollo. You can guess where his name came from.”  Smokescreen answered, always excited to share common knowledge with him. They seemed extra giddy to talk about the station in particular, but Inferno didn’t question it.

“Our Medic is Knock Out, He’s a Decepticon, pretty keen in disassembly. He works with Charlie sometimes, she’s over there too, she’s our mechanic actually. She always comes with Ricochet in case he decides to punch another hole in Red Alert…hopefully not again.” Smokescreen continued, rambling as he usually did. He was used to Smokescreens info vomiting by now, he found it cute. It was an interesting quirk, just like how he talks a mile a minute when he’s nervous and sings when he’s working or bored. He had picked up on cleaning as a pastime when they weren’t fighting someone or calming Red Alert after they start panicking randomly. He’d gotten good at it; Inferno never saw Red Alert dirty anymore.

“Who’s Ricochet?” Inferno asked, noticing the gleam in his eyes as he talked about the person in particular. He was interested in hearing what it meant, and how close they were for Smokescreen to talk about them with such a fond look.

“He was a Decepticon but switched over before the war ended. He has a short temper but he’s nice once you get past it. He’ll look at you like he wants to smash your head in too but it’s just his resting face, he wouldn’t do that. To you, at least. He does it a lot to the people he fights. Gruesome thing to watch. Anyway, Red Alert is terrified of him, so he won’t do anything while he’s here, but he’ll probably alert you each time he senses something, so watch out for that. You haven’t felt it yet, but he can enter your mind, pretty much, read your thoughts, memories, see from your eyes. It feels weird. He’ll be able to talk to you like that one on one, through your mind, so you won’t miss it. If you have a sleep schedule, I would throw it out the window. It’s getting ruined. Utterly. But he’ll let you in wherever you want without a fight at least.” Smokescreen rambled, disregarding the game of Monopoly entirely and ignoring Tarn and Mudflap as they continued to argue over which railroads were whose. Magnus had moved further away, preferring to be isolated from conversations he wasn’t a part of.

“And how much sleep do you think I’ll get with Red in my head?” Inferno asked in a sigh, mentally preparing already. Ricochet he assumed was admiration. What there was to admire, however, he wasn’t sure. From the description he was given the ‘bot didn’t seem like someone he would want to hang around.

“I got about four, five hours when he was in my head, but I’m a light sleeper. It might be different with you. He hasn’t known you as long, just don’t spook him.” The Autobot said, an apologetic smile on his face. Red Alert was aware Smokescreen couldn’t do what he was doing before, which would make him lose his job if anyone figured out actually, and would go to Inferno instead. They were over paranoid but not stupid. Inferno sighed in response, standing. He decided that was as much info he could take for the day. He would probably ask Smokescreen again later.

“That’s enough for today, I’ll be in the control room if you need me. If I can get in.” Inferno chuckled, the last part supposed to be funny, though he was sure Red Alert wouldn’t take it too well. He never did, but really could he blame him?

#no i have not reached my peak of dumbassery #new to this #red alert x inferno #writing #not written that well #fanfic #archive of our own #transformers smokescreen #smokescreen x ricochet #red alert #inferno #transformers #please leave comments #please reblog #ai red alert au #autobots #autobots are humans au

[more-than-a-princess]

@litoredeem asked: 008. scary movie :)

Setting Prompts - Still Accepting!

008.   the back row of an empty movie theater

With a small bag of chocolate-drizzled popcorn in one hand and a bottled drink in the other, Sonia had taken her seat rather surprised. In the past, she'd experienced entire theaters being bought out by her family for some special screening, often requested by her mother or father (romantic drama or kaiju and mecha, respectively) in order to obtain the necessary privacy and security clearance the royal family needed to enjoy a film in peace that didn't involve a personal television or a projector set up on the grounds of Novoselic Castle. There was a different sort of pleasure, being able to see a film in the theater: from previews to snacks to limited edition merchandise (Sonia was, of course, partially there for the latter), it was wholly different seeing it on such a large scale screen, surrounded by an audience.

But that was the surprising part, she thought as she took her seat: the theater was entirely empty. Save for Riku who had dutifully accompanied her as her bodyguard, the theater seemingly hadn't sold any other tickets for that particular screen and double feature: back-to-back horror movies celebrating the anniversary of two American classics: The Thing and The Exorcist. It didn't matter how many times Sonia had seen them both: seeing them in a theater was a new experience, and it seemed that Riku was unfamiliar with them. Perfect, it would be entertaining enough to see his reaction to the blood test scene in The Thing, and the spider walk and final scenes of The Exorcist.

"The first film is about to start soon," She commented, concerned, as she settled into her seat, looking down at the rest of the theater from her spot in the very back. "I would think there would be more attendees for such an important event! The films are subtitled in Japanese after all, so there should not be a language barrier. These are two very significant horror films of the past century and should have their anniversaries celebrated."

She spoke of them like they were good friends and honoring an important birthday. In a way, her favorite movies were: growing up isolated in Novoselic Castle, stories and characters had become her way of both understanding and enjoying the larger world she was kept hidden from. Of course, while her parents had rather expected her to embrace animated films, or adaptations of classic works, or even just simple romantic stories as so many young ladies often did, Sonia had gravitated towards the gothic, the horror, the mysterious if not depraved parts of cinema. Case in point: she'd been thirteen years old when she watched Cannibal Holocaust out of curiosity, and hadn't been completely turned off by horror movies afterwards.

"Thank you for accompanying me tonight, Riku-san," Sonia turned to smile at him. Not that he had much of a choice: it was his job. But considering she would've been in the theater all by herself otherwise, she found it fitting to thank him. "I hope you enjoy yourself. I do not believe, in the course of your employ, that you have seen these specific films with me yet: what sort of films do you enjoy watching?" Much of his background was a mystery, save for the fact he came from southern Japan, somewhere with a lot of beaches and water. Thus, she tried to politely extract as much information about him as she could without overstepping employer and employee boundaries.

#more-than-a-princess answered #litoredeem #Non-Despair AU: University verse #(Settings prompts meme) #(Thanks for the ask! Sorry about the wait) #(Does Riku regret accompanying her to the movies yet?)

[thewatcher727]

Our New Life Together: Chapter 11 Is Now Live!

Preview:

Blaze stepped out into the warm afternoon sunlight and made her way to the royal garden. Her heels clicked against the stone pavement, each step measured and precise. Her hands were clasped behind her back, fingers interlaced, a position she often adopted when she was lost in thought.

Her tail, long and fluffy, swayed gently behind her, brushing against the back of her legs with each step. She had always been very proud of her tail, the way it moved with such grace and fluidity. It's one of the few parts of her body that was always on display, and she took great care to keep it clean and well-groomed.

As Blaze entered the garden, she took a deep breath, enjoying the scent of the flowers and the sound of the birds singing. She walked slowly, taking in the beauty around her. Her posture was regal, her head held high, and her gaze focused on the scenery before her.

She stopped by a small pond, watching the fish swim lazily in the water. For a moment, she forgot her responsibilities and allowed herself to simply enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the garden. It was moments like this that helped her stay centred and focused, reminding her of why she worked so hard to protect her kingdom.

After a few minutes, Blaze continued her stroll through the garden, her heels clicking against the stones, her tail swaying gently behind her. She knew that her duties would soon call her back to the throne room, but for now, she was content to lose herself in the simple pleasures of the garden.

As she passed the greenhouse, something within captivated her attention. It was Silver and her head gardener chatting away, completely oblivious to her presence. Blaze watched as Silver bent down to examine a small potted plant, a look of deep concentration on his face. The head gardener, a wise old badger named Fenton, stood beside him and explained the intricacies of pruning and fertilising to the knighted hedgehog. Blaze felt a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth as she watched Silver's enthusiastic expressions.

Without wanting to disturb Silver's lesson, Blaze stood quietly and listened in on the conversation between the knighted hedgehog and the head gardener. The two were discussing the differences between different kinds of soil, and Blaze found herself fascinated by the details of the conversation. She leaned in a little closer.

As Fenton showed Silver some of the different plants in the greenhouse, he noticed how intently Silver was paying attention. Curiosity getting the best of him, he couldn't help but be intrigued. "May I ask why you are so interested in gardening, Sir Silver?"

Silver looked up from the plant he was examining and smiled. "I've always been fascinated by how something so small can grow into something beautiful and powerful. I think it's important to understand how to grow and cultivate our own food. It's a skill that everyone should know."

Fenton nodded in agreement. "Indeed it is. And with your interest and knowledge, you can help us ensure that our kingdom's gardens and farms are thriving."

Silver beamed with pride at the compliment and thanked the gardener for his time and knowledge. He couldn't wait to put his newfound gardening skills to good use. However, there was more on his mind he felt comfortably sharing.

"I came from a desolate place where everything was barren and lifeless," Silver said, his voice laced with a tinge of sadness. "There were no plants, no animals, nothing but ruins and fire. I had never seen a flower or a tree until I came here. It was like a whole new world to me."

He paused, lost in thought for a moment before continuing. "That's why I find gardening so fascinating. The way plants grow and bloom is like a miracle to me. It's a reminder that there is still beauty in the world, even in the darkest of times."

Fenton listened intently to Silver's explanation, nodding in understanding as he spoke. As Silver finished, a look of sympathy crossed the head gardener's face. "That must have been difficult for you, Sir Silver. But you're here now, in a place where you can learn and grow."

Silver nodded, his eyes downcast. "I want to make up for lost time," he said. "I want to learn all I can about gardening and plants. It's like… it's like a symbol of hope. Even in the middle of destruction and ruin, life can still find a way to thrive."

The head gardener smiled, placing a hand on Silver's shoulder. "I understand. And I'm glad that you're finding that hope here. I'll teach you everything I know about gardening, and together we'll make this garden bloom like never before."

Full chapter available here:

#my fics #my writing #sonic #sonic fanfiction #sonic stories #sonic story #blaze the cat #silver the hedgehog #our new life together #sonic writing #writing #writing snippet #new chapter

[spoekelse]

Oh I will but you better do the same in return. So any fun things happening? Any cool facts or songs you want to share? Perhaps a show you’ve seen and been thinking about?

I'm lucky to be experiencing a spell of relative peace. I'm using the time to cobble together a public post containing information about commissioning me for artwork, and I'm working on my animation project. Two things on my mind are lead poisoning, and the kpop group KINGDOM.

A 2022 meta-analysis, which pooled 542 estimates from 24 studies (correcting for publication bias as well), found that the estimates indicated that "the abatement of lead pollution may be responsible for 7–28% of the fall in homicide in the US." Which I found pretty interesting. People had been getting lead poisoning, and with the banning of leaded gasoline came massive strides forward in public health. It just makes me think about which places in the world are most recent to phase it out, it makes me think of which communities are most affected by this danger. Leaded gasoline pollutes the whole environment, but it was also used in other things. Lead poisoning is something that affects a person their whole life. It causes permanent brain damage, among other things. How long until we see a society totally clean of its affects? And how can we learn from this- a material, known to be dangerous, but that danger ignored for too long.. something inescapable by an individual making choices. My thoughts turn to microplastics, and the broader affect of climate change.

On the other hand, I follow a criminally underrated kpop group, and they're about to have a comeback. Each of the seven members plays a character that exists in a shared universe, with a story revealed through their songs and music videos. These characters are very loosely based on historical kings and folklore from different parts of the world. I've liked every one of their four title tracks so far, and the small previews of the next one have promised I'll like it too.

Their most recent comeback is '승천' meaning "ascension"

#asks #anonymous

[kathasworld]

From wiki. The Urner region, now #Uri canton, off Fletschbache across #Glarus is extended from the Schächenthale route over the Klausenpaß and the mountain divisions. Once in history, the people of Urn and those from Glarus region fought about their national border. They repeatedly insulted and harmed each other. The hounourable citizens dictated that the time for settling their dispute should by a time when day and night are divided exactly evenly. Hence on the equinox day, early in the morning as soon as the rooster crows, an efficient and able bodied man from each side would start walking towards the border. The location where the two men would meet would be the fixed boundary between Uri and Glarus, be the shorter part fall on Uri side or on the Glarus side. Two expert men were elected, both sides began pondering to find a rooster that did not quarrel and crowed in the morning on the very earliest. The Uri people took a rooster, put it in a basket and gave food and drink sparingly. They believed that hunger and thirst would wake him up sooner. On the other hand, the Glarus people fed their rooster well so that he could happily and hopefully greet the next morning. As autumn came and the equinox day appeared, the tasting rooster in Altdorf first cried out when it was only dusk. The expert man from Uri gladly woke up and began running. However in Linthal, the morning redness in the sky began vanishing, the stars were fading and the fat rooster was still sleeping in good peace. The community surrounded it, but honesty prevailed there. So none dared to wake it up. Finally it swung its wings and creaked. But they knew that would be hard for the glorious runner to regain the lead! Anxiously he jumped, and looked up at the partition. He saw the man from Uri screaming on the gable of the ridge and already coming downhill. The Glarner swung his heels and still wanted to save the land for his people, as much as possible. And soon the men bump into each other and the one from Uri screamed: “Here is the border!” What happened next? https://kathamukh.wordpress.com/2021/10/23/crossing-the-border/?preview=true https://www.instagram.com/p/Cehrm8XvoII/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#uri #glarus