#and a consecutive dream about getting groceries at the store and heading back to the apartment me and my partner shared in the dream

[the-cabin-complex]

Esrah, who usually deals with literally all the dream-based ptsd symptoms for the system in the form of chronic bad dreams: *has a dream that’s just wish-fulfillment of spending time with their best friends*

Esrah: w h a t. w a s t h a t. Aaaaaaaaaaaaa 🥺🥺🥺

#Literally just a dream about sharing a hotel room with my best friend while we were on a road trip #and a consecutive dream about getting groceries at the store and heading back to the apartment me and my partner shared in the dream #and hugging on the stairs #like WHAT. I don’t get dreams like that! Ever! The last dream I really had like that was months ago and before that the last one was years #Esrah's tag

[georgescatcafe]

the rising chariot — 2

rating: t warning/s: none pairing/s: platonic dream team, karl jacobs/sapnap genres/tags: percy jackon and the olympians au, friendship, angst summary: Nick Pappas isn’t sure it’s normal for teenagers to be sent across the United States on a quest that could potentially kill them, but Nick has started to realize that everything he thought was normal is entirely false. George Davies doesn’t particularly want to spend three consecutive days with this new camper and that son of Hermes who snagged his win in Capture the Flag two weeks ago, but he knows he has to suck it up and go with them, no matter how irritating they may be. Clay Bryce just wants to prove himself and show that he’s more than that troublesome kid from Cabin Eleven, but even as the leader of this quest, he’s not sure how to when Nick has fire powers and George is practically capable of mind-control.

Yet what they feel and want will mean nothing if they don’t complete their quest. When a petty feud between gods has Apollo threatening to take the Sun from the sky, the three must head out to stop him, but not just that—they’re in a race against an ancient enemy of the god, one who definitely will try and kill him if it gets to Apollo first.

+ao3 +masterpost

Floris came by his house again the next day. Nick stared at him as he stood in the doorway. “School’s cancelled indefinitely,” Floris told him. “They said they’ll work on rebuilding as soon as they can, but while we still don’t have a physical school, we get summer break early.”

“Happy birthday to me,” Nick replied, though there was no mirth in his voice.

Floris smiled anyway before his eyes got all shifty, and he leaned forward, as if looking for something. “Are your parents home?” Nick wondered if Floris knew about his situation. He knew about Nick’s mom; or, at least, Nick assumed he somehow did. It wouldn’t surprise him that he knew about the rest of his living arrangement, either.

“I managed to get taken away by a deranged cop the day they left for their anniversary,” he answered. “And they aren’t putting that on hold for me.” His younger sisters—homeschooled, lucky them—were sent to their grandparents last week. The only reason Nick didn’t go was because he was old enough to handle himself. Or so he thought. “I’m home alone.”

“Nice,” Floris hummed, hand settling on the doorframe thoughtfully. “So about yesterday….”

Nick held up a hand, wincing as a headache bloomed behind his eyes. “I really don’t want to talk more about it.”

Floris made a face, but Nick was being honest. The whole ordeal just made him feel sick. “It’s good to—”

“Talk things out, I know,” NIck replies, “so you said. But, look, man, that was really traumatic, okay? And I think I hit my head too hard on the door because I was seeing things, and it was just really scary. I don’t want to think about it anymore.”

Floris studied him, gaze intense, and Nick straightened up under it, shoulders moving back and chest puffing up slightly. It wasn’t an intimidating look, but there was something… unnerving about it. He felt he had to prove something. Finally, Floris sighed. “It’s probably for the better for once. Just… if something like that happens again, you should take this.” He held out a small card, and when Nick took it, he realized it was a business card.

“Call me, okay?” Floris asked. “Don’t be a stranger.”

Nick stared at the card for another second before looking back up at the other. “Okay,” he agreed. “I’ll call.”

Floris gave him a final smile before pivoting on his heel. He was about to walk off when he spun back around. “Oh, uh, I made these for you.” He held out a baggie filled with what looked like lemon bars. “I don’t recommend eating them all at once. I’ve found they’re pretty good for when you need comfort food, or, like… healing. Or something.”

Nick accepted the bag. “Uh-huh. Thanks.”

“Yeah,” Floris said, before smiling for the last time for real and turning, heading down the walkway and taking off down the road.

Nick looked back down at the lemon bars. They weren’t his favorite. He definitely wasn't going to eat them all at once. Dumb of Floris to even tell him that.

He went about his routine like usual, now that school was out of the picture. It was a bit weird actually, sitting down to a day of mindless video games with no guilt, no homework to turn in or tests to study for. (Granted, most of his homework was left incomplete, and most tests were taken with no studying involved prior. Not that Nick was a dumb kid, school just… wasn’t for him. In case you couldn’t tell by the whole burning it down thing. Not that he meant to do that. Just to be clear. In case you missed that fact.) Nick sunk deeper into his beanbag chair, fingers flying across his Xbox controller as he focused on the small TV in his room. He wondered if his parents knew about his early summer already.

Probably not.

He played until the Sun went down, only stopping to pee or get food, and his routine looked very much like that for the next three days until his parents returned, and he found himself thrown into the monotony of chores and errands. It was preferable to reading-induced migraines, but he also missed the break from home school provided. The town he lived in on the edge of Houston was easy enough to navigate on foot, and his dad had started to give him driving lessons, but the lessons had to be put on hold for work, and walking around the city was a lot less fun when there was no one else to walk with.

The business card he’d taken to keeping in his pants’ pocket ever since Floris gave it to him seemed to become a paperweight then. Nick pulled it out.

Floris Larkspur Keeper Half-Blood Hill Long Island, New York [phone]

The information on it was terrible to read, in some fancy, looping font, but Nick understood it well enough once he squinted for a while. He frowned at the address and phone number. The number was obviously toll-free, meant more for business rather than personal use, and the location itself… New York? Nick frowned before returning the card to his pocket.

He’d have better luck running into Floris in the grocery store. Besides, the only bit of info on the card that didn’t leave him more confused than how he started was Floris’s name. Nick bit the inside of his cheek. Maybe Floris wasn’t the best person to walk around the city with.

Nick sighed, wondering if his stepmom would maybe send him on a grocery run. He was surprised when he walked into the living room to see his parents sitting on the couch, staring at him expectantly.

“Is something wrong?” he asked. “I didn’t mean to burn down the school. I promise.”

His stepmom rose from her place on the couch. “We believe you,” she said, hand coming to rest on his shoulder. His heart pounded as his gaze dropped to her hand. “You aren’t in trouble. Actually, the opposite.”

He stared at her before turning to his stepdad.

“Your birthday, Nick,” he said.

His birthday. He completely forgot about it. He looked at his stepmom.

“We’re sorry we weren’t here to celebrate with you,” she told him. “That was our fault. So we did something extra special for you.”

“You didn’t miss much,” Nick replied, even as she guided him over to the couch where his stepdad opened his laptop.

“With no school,” his stepmom said, “we figured it would be okay if spring break came early.”

And there, right on his dad’s laptop screen, a ticket to New York City.

Nick’s eyes turned to saucers as he stared between his parents, gaze going from his stepdad, back to his stepmom, then vice versa. “You’re kidding,” he breathed.

“Your flight goes out in two days,” his dad said. “A week there and straight back.”

“By myself?” Nick asked, hardly believing his luck.

“You’re sixteen,” his dad replied, even as his stepmom made a face.

“We have a second ticket,” she explained. “We can resell it, but… if you wanted to take a friend—a responsible one.”

Nick didn’t have many friends. Constantly switching schools did that to a kid. He stared blankly at his stepmom, who offered him a tentative smile in return. He tried to give one back, but his mind was reeling, wondering who to invite—if they’d really let him go on his own or not.

“Y’know,” his dad started, “there’s this one kid I’ve run into a couple times, at the gas station, the store, kind of funny looking, ginger, always asks after you.”

Oh, God. “That’s,” Nick hid his face in his hands, humiliation rising in his throat, “Floris.”

“A friend?” his stepmom asked, hopeful.

Nick nodded.

“Perfect!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “And clearly he cares about you. I think that’s a good one to take.”

“Mom,” he said, even as the name tasted bitter on his tongue, knowing his actual mom was still out there, “no. There’s got to be someone else—or I could go on my own, right? Right, Dad?”

His stepdad said nothing. So that was just a fib, then. Nick’s face fell.

“I think Floris would be good,” she urged. “You don’t have to spend every second together.”

“But you’ll want us to,” he argued.

“I just want you safe,” she said, “and I know your dad wants the same.”

Nick made a face.

Finally, she made one too, expression souring. “Nick, we just want to do something nice for you—for once. Can’t you just accept it?”

“I,” Nick made a frustrated noise deep in his throat, “why now? You’ve never cared. Is it because I almost went to prison?” He looks to his stepdad. “Do you feel guilty or something? That you couldn’t stop them from taking me, just like you couldn’t stop them from taking Mom—my real mom,” he added quickly, unable to stop the glare he shot at his stepmom, polite as she may be.

Her hand flew to her chest, as if stung, and his stepdad sat up, brows furrowing, lips downturned in a severe frown. “Nick Pappas, don’t you dare talk to us like that,” he scolded.

“Or what?” Nick snapped. “You going to kick me out? I bet you’d love that! You wouldn’t have to look for a new school anymore; you wouldn’t have to look at me and be reminded of her. You’d love that, wouldn’t you?”

“What’s gotten into you?” his stepmom cried. “You’re never like this!”

“I’m just tired!” Nick shoved himself up off the couch. “Thanks for the trip, but oh my God, just leave me alone—please!” He stormed into his room and slammed the door shut, pressing his back against it and immediately pressing his face into his hands.

He almost died Friday, and they didn’t care. Of course they didn’t care! And now they wanted to act nice, and he was supposed to just accept it? Without a modicum of suspicion? It was so not fair. He brought his legs to his chest, hands sliding from his face and elbows resting on the tops of his knees. He buried his head in his arms. None of this was fair.

What felt like an hour but was probably just ten minutes later, a soft knock at the door startled him into lifting his head. He scooted away from the door, and it opened slowly. In the doorway stood his stepmom. Nick bit back a groan.

“What,” he said.

The petite woman lowered herself to the floor, closing the door behind herself and taking a seat across from him. “I’m sorry I’m not her,” she replied.

Nick glared at her crossed legs.

“I mean it,” she promised. “I’ve never tried to be her—”

“You wouldn’t want to be her,” Nick grumbled.

His stepmom paused before a hand came to rest on his knee. “I never met her, but if she was anything like you, she couldn’t be bad.”

“You’re just saying that.” Nick’s glare strengthened. “I can’t stay at one school; I’m always setting things on fire; I almost went to prison just last week. I’m a terrible son.”

She didn’t say anything to that. 

Nick flattened his lips. 

“I’m sorry,” she finally said. “We’re… not good parents. I never wanted to be a parent. I am now, and I wouldn’t change it, but I’m not your mom, even with you calling me that, and I don’t want to replace her. And I could never be her because I know how much she meant to you, and I couldn’t do for you what she did.”

“You don’t even know what she did,” Nick snapped.

His stepmom sighed. “Can you please just accept this? I had to talk your dad into keeping the tickets after what you said.”

“You should have let him sell them,” Nick replied. “I deserve it.”

“No, you don’t.” She patted his knee. “You’re right. You did almost go to prison—you wouldn’t have deserved it, though. I think wrongful imprisonment deserves a trip to New York.”

Nick allowed a laugh to fall past his lips, bitter.

His stepmom took it. “Your flight leaves in two days. Tell your friend to come with you. You’ve got a whole week to run around NYC like the teenager you are. Have fun.” She gave a gentle shove to his shoulder. Nick rocked with the motion. “Okay?”

Nick stared at the floor.

“Okay?” she repeated.

He nodded.

“Good.” She pushed herself from the floor, running her fingers lightly through his hair before leaving, closing the door softly behind her. Nick squeezed his eyes shut, letting out a shaky breath.

Have fun. He can do that.

When he finally hunted Floris down at the grocery store the next day, he told him about the trip. “It’s short notice,” he apologized, “but it’s a week.”

“New York?” Floris asked. Nick felt like if the ginger had a tail, it’d be wagging.

“Yeah,” he replied. “A week and then we come home.”

“Got it, captain,” Floris said. “I’ll pack my bags tonight and meet you at your house bright and early tomorrow morning.”

“The flight doesn’t leave until noon.” Nick frowned.

“I like being prepared,” Floris replied. “Are you ready?”

“More or less,” Nick nodded, “not like I own much anyway.”

Floris stared at him, eyes narrowed, before nodding also. “See you tomorrow then.”

Nick gave him a mock-salute. “See you tomorrow.”

#sapnap #fundy #mcyt #karlnap #pjo au #georgenotfound #dream #fic #fanfiction #updates every friday #hfh

[chiradipdakshi]

Novel: 3 On 1

Author: Chiradip Dakshi

Chapter 1: The Unknown Girl

Genre: College, Slice of Life, Romance, Comedy, Fiction

[ The bell rings]

"Fuck off! I will sure make sure this clock is thrown out in the trash. It's unbearable."

Oh, the story started? Sorry about that. Hello, I am Johnny Western. I'm nineteen years old teen guy. I didn't have much for a hobby. The only hobby I have is basketball. I used to go running about five kilometres daily, but today, I am too late to go for running. It has been about three months since I graduated from Sylvia high, a local renowned high school in the city of Toronto. My family lives in New York City but I had to transfer to Toronto due to the school. It us embarrassing to say, but all girls in my high school were fan of me. Today's is my first day of college. I had no talents for science so I picked up to study Archaeology since I knew taking this subject will help me to go around different parts of the world. When I was in twelfth grade, I used to see travelling videos and it inspired me that I should also go to see the world.

It was a nice weather outside. Birds chirping all over the garden, green everywhere although there was a broad road going across the middle of the society. We had a garden at the back of my house. Actually, my parents had me rented a house near the college I would be visiting. The house was purely white with a garage at the front, a swimming pool at the back. I had a dream to become a YouTuber, so I made a separate studio for me in the first floor. The theme was for gaming. The reason I woke up late was because I went sleeping late because of a live stream, Ha-ha. So, coming to my morning routine. Specifically, nothing, just a shower before college, a bowl of corn flakes with milk. I heavy breakfast light because I heard that there is a short break after having two consecutive lectures. So, I'm late. See you at the college.

[Meanwhile, Arthur running.]

Hello I'm Arthur Rowland. Nice to meet you. I'm eighteen. My hobby is painting. I barely go outside unless my friends ask me out. A little shy. Prefer not to speak, unless necessary. So, after running about three kilometres, I go to the convenience store and take some necessary groceries for the day which includes bread, some instant ramen, and some vegetables. Alright, coming to my extraordinary personalities. Since I was in the second last year of my high school, I had a knack towards photography. So, I joined the photography club of our high school. If you think that what's the use of photography club in high school, then I must tell you the answer. Fortunately, we work with the newspaper club and send them the necessary photographs they need for a particular article and for that they used to share thirty percent of the total budget they get for the year since the budget for the photography club was the lowest of all the clubs in the high school. Beside this, school student council used to ask us out during any fest or any event in the school. And for that we get a fixed amount of money. And I am proud that I was the president of our photography club. But now all things have changed. Now is the time for us to go to a college. So, I'll be joining the same college as Johnny, whom you all heard before. I will be taking arts in the college since this could help me to carry forward my dream of becoming a photographer. Like we said, we are besties. Hehe!

[The phone rings]

"Yes coming!" Arthur shouted.

"Hello! Oh, it's you Johnny! Long-time no call bro. How have you been?"

"Yeah bro, I'm fine. See, we are going to the same college. So, I think we should join the same club. So, choose accordingly" Johnny from the other side.

"Ye... Yeah bro! Of course, if we get so."

Finding a trembling voice over the phone, Johnny got disgusted. " Hey, hey, hey! What you mean by probably? We definitely be joining the same club. By the way where are you now?"

"What's the time?"

"It's nine."

"Oh, fuck man! We're gonna be late bro? I haven't even entered my house yet. The college is from ten. Uuggggh! " Arthur shouted suddenly in between the public.

"Huh! That's why I tell you, be punctual. See I am ready. Just left to have my breakfast. " Johnny with pride.

"Tell me, have to gone running today?"

"Y...ye...Yes! Of course, I've gone."

"Stop lying bro!"

"Heh. You surely see through me all the time. Have you call the other idiot? "

"Who? Tom?"

"Yeah!"

"No. But don't worry. He'll just be alright."

[Meanwhile, Tom sneezes.]

Hello, I'm Tom Henderson, age same as Johnny, meaning Arthur is the youngest among us three. I like experimenting pranks over the other two. I never wasted their weekends without pulling pranks on them. I didn't listen to them. I have a good quality. I always break a serious mood of my friends. And Arthur and Johnny would accept me as they knew that I was only guy who helped them to understand that however may be the reason, we shouldn't let ourselves down and step back from the important days of our lives.

"Who the hell is talking about me?' said Tom after sneezing.

[Phone rings]

"Where are you?" Arthur called.

"In my house. But why? Anything bad happened?"

"Nothing bad but it's worst. We are late for school, man"

"What's the time?" Tom asked curiously.

"Fifteen minutes to start"

"Damn, man! I'm late." Tom keeps the phone in the bag and smiles for a second.

Arthur took the metro and boarded off at 1459 London Road. Then he kept running as fast as he could as it was almost three minutes remaining to enter the campus. On the last minute, Johnny entered. "Ooof...at last we managed" Arthur while relaxing. "But wait, hasn't Tom been here yet?

[From their back]

"Greetings, my friend! Long time no see! How have you all been?" Tom surprises both of them. "I thought you are late since you told me that you were late." "I lied" Tom after smiling. "You damn brat" Johnny got angry. "I'm sorry bro" Tom rubbing the hand at the back of the head. "My family members are all thin even if they eat all the junk food, even me too" Tom after smiling. "Why are we exercising Johnny? Is it that necessary? I'm envious of Tom's physique" Arthur with his crying face.

"Hey, we are late, run!" They started running along the corridors as fast as they could. They decided to enter through the second door, the back of the auditorium where the freshers meeting will be held.

[An unknown girl came running blindly from the front door and got crashed with the three boys]

"Ow! S...Sorry! I wasn't looking" the girl said.

"Don't worry! We weren't looking, so it was our fault too. We should apologize."

When the girl raised his head, something happened at her heart. It felt like she got her future prince. Normally, a girl gets only one prince but here is the story of a girl fascinated by the three boys. The girl blushed out and ran away. The last thing went over the boys' head.4

"What was that?" Johnny asked.

"I don't know."

And the three of them stared at the empty corridor with the girl running out. What will happen in the story? How will the girl react if they meet them again? Find out as the story continues.

                                  ***

If you like, do follow me @chiradipdakshi for new parts. See ya again❤😉

#novel #novel writing #ya novels #romance

[jaemtens]

The Canned Genie

monsta x| kihyuk | side jookyun | 11.5k | ao3

summary:  Lee Minhyuk was just making dinner when he ends up with a genie that he didn’t ask for. Yoo Kihyun was just chilling in his “lamp” when he ends up with several headaches that he didn’t ask for.

☆ The First Wish ☆

Minhyuk dropped his backpack on the ground and dramatically collapsed on his rickety bed.

He should eat, he thought to himself.

Long ago, he was sure that the bed frame would iminently give out, folding on itself while he was sleeping on it. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do if that happened -- sleep on the floor? That’s not the worst, right? A few days passed, and he was pretty sure he was in the clear. His bed was just rickety and old, even if it was comfy and, um, well-used. He could definitely fall asleep right now. Minhyuk rolled to his side, hugging his blanket and burying his face into it. It was so warm; yup, he could fall asleep right now if he wanted to.

He really should eat, he thought again.

Minhyuk was so tired. Beyond tired. Exhausted? Yeah, exhausted was the word. Today, he had to work the early-morning shift at the convenience store before heading to his night lecture for Quantitative Chemistry aka Quant aka Hell On Earth. Yeah, yeah, he knew that choosing chemistry as his major was definitely not the easy way out. He knew that every waking moment of his four-year degree was going to be hard. But, even if your average Biology or Pre-Medical major Suffered (yes, Suffered, not suffered. Just ask a biology major about organic chemistry and you’ll know why) through every chemistry class, Minhyuk took most of them in stride. Quant was a whole ‘nother level, and his brain ached just thinking about the class. He didn’t know how he made it through today’s lecture, and he certainly didn’t remember dragging himself through the dark streets back to his apartment building.

Just get up and eat, you lard! he chided himself.

He finally acquiesced to his conscience. With a prolonged groan, Minhyuk rolled off his bed, his gangly limbs steadying the sleep-deprived college student. His eyes were barely open, the light streaming from the incandescent bulb above him too much to handle right now. Minhyuk dragged himself to the kitchen, nearly tripping on his bag along the way. God, he was a mess.

Look, he wasn’t usually a mess, okay? Just after Quant. And Inorganic. And -- never mind.

Just how was Minhyuk so perpetually tired?

Well, first, he was a college student. An unhealthy dose of exhaustion was the name of the game. Bonus tired points because he was a chemistry major, a department in which the professors literally did not care if you slept or not. Suffering (yes, Suffering!) was widespread in his major. And Minhyuk? Well, he was basically an academic masochist. Just ask the nuclear magnetic resonance spectrographs scattered all over his desk.

Second, he worked. It wasn’t a good job. It wasn’t even a job he liked. It was a dead-end retail job at a convenience store. But, let’s face it. Who’s going to hire a broke underclassmen chemistry major with literally no work experience? A convenience store, that’s who. Unfortunately, that wiped out most of Minhyuk’s free time.

Third, Minhyuk was the type of person to sleep whenever he could. His sleep schedule oscillated wildly between consecutive all-nighters to, like, 36 hours of sleep straight. Okay, not quite straight, but laying in bed and hiding under your covers while technically awake is not really awake, right? Minhyuk took naps everywhere and anywhere. Altogether, he was pretty sure his sleep schedule was screwed up beyond saving.

Fortunately for sleepy Minhyuk, his kitchen was really close to his bed. The upside to a closet-sized apartment? Is his studio even a real apartment? Still half-awake, Minhyuk opened one of the cupboards and sighed at how hopelessly empty it was. He really needed to get more stuff from the convenience store... Or steal more free food from campus. Grocery stores were too expensive. Who has money for fruit in this economy? Minhyuk reached for his last can of chicken noodle soup and fished out his hand-me-down can opener from one of the drawers. He latched the can opener’s teeth on the can of soup and clenched down hard on the handles, perforating the can on one edge.

Without any further warning, the top of the can practically exploded off, and a plume of lavender-white smoke swirled up from the can. The smoke enveloped his small kitchen, but it left as soon as it had appeared. In its place was an empty can of ‘soup,’ and a boy who looked like he couldn’t be much older than him.

Oh, and the boy was floating.

“I must be hallucinating,” Minhyuk murmured, rubbing his eyes. That was the only reasonable explanation; he was so tired that he was hallucinating. God, he really should’ve just stayed in bed. This is what happens when you shun sleep. Never give up on sleep, kids.

The floating boy rolled his eyes. “No, you’re not,” he emphatically replied. “Name’s Kihyun, I’m a genie, and you get five wishes.”

“What?”

Kihyun sighed. “My name is Yoo Kihyun. I’m a genie, and I grant wishes... Anything you want, really. You get five wishes.”

The hallucination -- Kihyun, his tripped-out brain corrected -- seemed pretty serious for being, you know, completely fake.

“I wish I had another can of soup,” Minhyuk deadpanned, rubbing his eyes again. What a weird dream.

Kihyun rolled his eyes again. Minhyuk swore he heard the boy mutter something under his breath, but, without missing a beat, Kihyun snapped his fingers. Another puff of lavender smoke appeared on his kitchen counter, quickly dissipating to reveal an exact replica of the empty can of chicken noodle soup that Kihyun came from. This new one was sealed, unlike the empty one next to it. Minhyuk looked back over at Kihyun, who acted like this was totally and completely normal.

“Four wishes,” Kihyun dryly said.

Okay, this was a little much for a hallucination… maybe he was dreaming? Minhyuk tried to wake himself up a little, studying all of Kihyun’s features. Even though he was hovering a few inches off the ground, Minhyuk could tell that Kihyun was a few inches shorter than him. He had light brown hair that was boyishly combed down over his forehead. His features were remarkably sharp with strong cheekbones and a strong jawline. His eyes were small and narrow, but his lips and nose were larger. He had small unremarkable earrings in each ear and a blinged-out ring on his right hand, but otherwise he was dressed in plain business casual: a white collared shirt and black pants.

This was oddly specific for a dream. Minhyuk was really tired, though -- maybe he had actually passed out? Kihyun was starting to look impatient. Would he really have dreamed this up? He remembered reading somewhere that your most vivid dreams occurred when you were the most tired. And, well, he was really tired when he got home.

“So…” Minhyuk slowly started. “You’re a genie?”

“That’s what I said, didn’t I?” Kihyun retorted. He seemed disinterested, like Minhyuk was probably the most boring thing in his genie-life right now.

“And you grant wishes?”

“Yup,” Kihyun dismissively answered. “If you wish for anything, I’ll make it come true.”

“And you just wasted your first wish on a can of soup,” he added, disdain evident in his voice. Compared to Minhyuk’s low, nasally voice, Kihyun had a high-pitched tone that sounded like a cross between a sassy gay boy and an annoyed younger sibling. It was almost endearing?

“Well, can I get a do-over on that wish?”

“There aren’t any do-overs for wishes,” Kihyun harshly replied.

“Can I wish for more wishes then?”

“No!”

“Oh.”

So, turns out that you can’t wish for more wishes. What a joke. Kihyun said he could wish for anything, doesn’t that mean he can wish for more wishes?

Minhyuk looked back over at the can of soup on his counter. “Why… why were you in a can of soup? I thought genies came in lamps?”

Kihyun sighed. “Look, how many magic lamps have you seen, like, ever?”

“Mmm,” Minhyuk paused, thinking out loud. “None?”

“Exactly. So we have to get creative.”

“But… a can of soup?”

“Okay, first off, it’s a lot bigger than it looks. Quite roomy, actually. But you wouldn’t know since you’re just a boring old human.”

“And… you’re a genie.”

“Ohmygod, yes! Yes, I’m a genie! How many times do I have to tell you?”

“Okay, okay, you’re a genie,” Minhyuk tacitly agreed. “And you do genie things like grant wishes.”

“Yes.”

“And live in soup cans.”

“Listen here, you little shit,” Kihyun threatened, his eyes fierce and staring directly at Minhyuk’s eyes now; Kihyun definitely had a temper. “With a snap of my fingers I can banish you to another dimension. Or I can shrink you down to the size of an ant. Or I can turn you into an actual ant. Point is, I have more magic in one finger than you can even dream up in your wildest nightmares.”

Kihyun sure was awfully angry. Or annoyed. He couldn’t tell for sure, but Kihyun seemed upset for someone who had just been released from, well, a can of soup.

“Isn’t it, like, against the genie rules to hurt the person who summoned you?”

Kihyun sighed again. He seemed to do that a lot? He was clearly still annoyed.

“Yes,” he belatedly admitted. “But that doesn’t mean that the second you finish your fifth wish--”

“--Don’t you just go back into the soup can?”

“Why are you so annoying!”

“Because this is definitely a dream,” Minhyuk argued. “Or a nightmare, I guess.”

“No, I can assure you that this is very much real, that you’re awake. If anyone’s having a nightmare, it’s me.”

“Oh come on, I’m not that bad,” Minhyuk protested. Just then, his stomach growled in hunger. He blushed a little -- he still hadn’t eaten.

“Anyways, you don’t get hungry in dreams.”

“Uh huh,” Minhyuk dismissed. Kihyun did have a point: you don’t usually get hungry in dreams. And they usually aren’t this… realistic. He was really hungry. And Kihyun seemed really… real. “You don’t mind if I, uh…” he added, motioning toward the can of soup that Kihyun had conjured up for him.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Kihyun replied, rolling his eyes again. Minhyuk just smiled in response as he cracked open the new can and poured it into a bowl. He threw it in the microwave and let it cook.

“I hope you, like, made this correctly.”

“I can assure you that it’s just as salty, preservative-filled, and unhealthy as every other can of chicken noodle soup.”

“Great,” Minhyuk feigned. “Just the way I like it.”

“You still haven’t told me your name.”

“Oh.” Minhyuk was too sleepy to be embarrassed. “That’s because I thought you weren’t real.”

“GENIES ARE REAL!”

Minhyuk just laughed in response. “My name’s Lee Minhyuk.”

“Well, okay, Minhyuk,” Kihyun started, “You live in a dump. These kitchen appliances look like they’re from 1962. Your cupboards? 1942. There’s no furniture in this place except for your desk, which, by the way, is covered in crap so you can’t even see the desk. Your walls and ceiling are peeling in at least five places, and I can only imagine what your bedroom looks like. Not to mention that you have no food, no tableware, and no proper cutlery.”

“Um,” Minhyuk demurred, sheepishly scratching his neck while looking around his place. “First, I don’t have a bedroom. Studio and all. Second, I wasn’t exactly planning on having visitors tonight, you know?”

Kihyun didn’t really seem satisfied with that answer, but at this hour? That was the best he was going to get.

“You can, uh, make yourself at home, I guess?” he added.

“Trust me, there’s nothing that you can do to this apartment to make it more homey.”

“You’re right, I can’t make it look like the inside of a soup can,” Minhyuk replied, giggling as he watched Kihyun’s expression sour.

“Why you little--”

The microwave beeped, signaling that his soup was done. Minhyuk stopped giggling and grabbed his tupperware bowl from the microwave with a hand-towel. He cradled the soup in one hand with the towel whilst using his free hand to find a plastic spork for slurping the noodles.

“You were saying?”

Kihyun sighed and rolled his eyes at the same time. Minhyuk wondered if that was an improvement?

“Aren’t you going to make another wish?”

Oh, yeah, the whole genie bit.

“Hmm, well I think I need some time to think about it,” Minhyuk countered before blowing on a sporkful of noodles and stuffing it in his mouth.

“Did me listing all the things that were wrong about your apartment not help?”

“Nope~” Minhyuk replied with a smile.

☆ The Second Wish ☆

Minhyuk’s eyes fluttered open when the sunlight just started to assault his eyes through his apartment’s lone window. Everything was really freaking bright, so he barely cracked his eyes open; he shuffled in his bed, rolling around to face the rest of the room. Everything looked normal? Normal-ish, at least. He lifted his upper body up and sitting -- well, float-sitting (is that the right word for that?) -- near the foot of his bed and looking totally unamused was none other than Yoo Kihyun. He was unchanged from last night, except he had an unimpressed look and a hand on his chin like he had been watching Minhyuk sleeping for… hours? Hours. Minhyuk’s eyes got real wide and he pulled his covers up over his bare chest.

“What are you doing in here?” he groggily stammered out, still in shock that Kihyun would desecrate the sanctimony of his bedroom-slash-living room. And surely he knew that Kihyun was going to say something about the state of his room soon enough.

“The genie equivalent of watching grass grow,” Kihyun deadpanned, still not moving his hand from his face. “Except for us it’s watching humans sleep.”

“Wait, what?” Minhyuk complained. “Don’t you have, like, genie things to go do?”

“Oh, I would love to be doing literally anything else right now, Minhyuk. But, unfortunately for me, I’m stuck with you until you use all of your wishes. And, even more unfortunately for me, you are a very boring person who doesn’t wish for things quickly. So here I am, watching grass grow.”

Minhyuk let his covers fall back down after realizing that, no, Kihyun was not going to kill him. Though, he still had at least one question nagging at him.

“Couldn’t you, like, do something? Anything? Other than watch me.”

Kihyun sighed. “I would do literally anything else, but, again, you’re a boring person who has literally nothing of interest in this shoebox of an apartment.”

“Right.” Minhyuk feigned agreement, still trying to wake up. “Sorry, I’m still really tired.”

“Well, it’s not like you’ve got a genie who could instantly solve that problem for you,” Kihyun wryly commented, perking up a little. “You could wish for a comfier bed? Fluffier pillows? Warmer covers? Or how about a fully-furnished apartment? Or a larger apartment? Or you could skip the whole apartment and wish to be fully-rested every day?”

Kihyun seemed really excited about the prospect of Minhyuk using up another wish. But why would he want to? He just got up; shouldn’t he, like, fully think this through? Kihyun probably just wanted him to wish for stuff so that he could go back in his soup can and do whatever genies do. Yeah, Minhyuk was pretty sure that whatever Kihyun wanted to do was probably more important than granting his wishes, but honestly? Kihyun was pretty cute and he wasn’t gonna pass up the opportunity to have a cute magical boy follow him around for a few days, even if it came at Kihyun’s expense.

“I want -- not wish for -- some privacy while I shower and get ready,” Minhyuk calmly said, walking to his micro-sized bathroom wearing nothing but sweats. Kihyun’s expression darkened when he realized that, no, Minhyuk was not going to get this over with quickly.

“Trust me, I do not want to see you naked.”

“Nope, you just want to watch me sleep,” Minhyuk joked with a smile before shutting the door to the bathroom. He wanted nothing more than to see Kihyun’s facial expression change in response to that comment, but he needed to get ready; his first class started in an hour, and it took him twenty minutes to get to campus. He started the shower and looked at himself in the mirror. His black hair was messy and all over the place, but he didn’t really care. Bedhead was pretty normal for him. You know, a common side effect of excessive sleeping. While the shower was warming up, he brushed his teeth and picked out a towel to sling over the shower rod. Minhyuk undressed and stepped into the nearly-scalding water.

What did he want to wish for? Every time his mind turned to his remaining four wishes, everything just went… blank? Like, sure his life wasn’t perfect. Kihyun was right, his apartment was kind of a dump, and he didn’t have much food in his kitchen, and he was always tired. But he couldn’t imagine his life any other way. If he just wished away one of his problems -- or even most of them -- new problems would just take their place. Minhyuk wanted things, sure, but he wanted things that you couldn’t just put into words, that you couldn’t just conjure up, that you couldn’t just wish for. It wasn’t that simple.

He just had to figure those things out.

After lathering himself and throwing some shampoo in his unwieldy hair, Minhyuk rinsed himself off, stopped the water, and dried himself with his towel. He tied his towel around his waist and stepped back into the bedroom to put together an outfit and to find out what sassmaster-genie Kihyun had prepared in past five minutes.

“You know, you really should be nice to your genie. I can pervert all of your wishes to their worst possible meaning.”

“Uh huh,” Minhyuk dismissed, searching his closet for something to wear.

“Aren’t you going to wish for something? I’m sure you thought of something in the shower. Lots of shower thoughts, right?”

“Were you imagining me in the shower?” Minhyuk asked.

“No,” Kihyun flatly replied.

“Do you want me to wish that you were thinking about that?”

“Look--”

“--Besides, how would genies even, like, know what goes on in the shower? Do genies even shower?”

Kihyun didn’t have an answer for that one. He licked his lips while his eyes darted around shiftily; Minhyuk was satisfied.

“I didn’t sign up for this,” he finally complained.

“I didn’t either,” Minhyuk added before disappearing back in the bathroom to change.

“So are you going to come with me to class today?” he shouted through the door.

“Unfortunately,” Kihyun replied, also shouting.

“Okay, well I have--”

“--Organic chemistry lab, I know.”

What? How did Kihyun--

“You had your class schedule on your desk,” Kihyun mentioned. “And your lab. You screwed up #4, by the way. You’re welcome.”

“You fixed it!?”

“I wasn’t gonna leave it wrong, Minhyuk.”

“H-how do you even know organic chemistry?”

“Minhyuk, I’ve been doing this genie thing since before organic chemistry was even a thing.”

He threw on his hoodie and exited the bathroom.

“Why would anyone even willingly learn organic chemistry,” he mused in full earshot of Kihyun. He went straight to kitchen, and he could feel Kihyun’s floaty presence follow him.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Kihyun replied. “Don’t you wanna wish for, like, a nice breakfast? A stack full of pancakes perhaps?”

“Mmm, pancakes sound, like, really good right now. But maybe I should wish for you to stop asking me about my wishes?” Minhyuk deadpanned before pulling out an Eggo waffle from his freezer. He threw it in the microwave and turned to face Kihyun. “Are you really going out like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like that!” Minhyuk repeated, gesturing at Kihyun’s whole body.

“I’ll have you know that I’ve kept up with current fashion trends,” Kihyun started, “Besides, a collared shirt and pants will never go out of style.”

“Not that... That,”he corrected, motioning more toward Kihyun’s feet, where he was most definitely still floating. Kihyun seemed to take even more offense to Minhyuk’s insinuation, his eyes widening and then narrowing before the microwave decided to interrupt his reaction. Minhyuk tossed the waffle in his mouth, holding it with his teeth, and moved over to his desk, grabbing all the stuff he needed for lab.

“Uh, no, I am not going to walk,” Kihyun protested. “I haven’t walked in over fifty years, and I’m not going to start today. It’s disgraceful for a genie to walk. We can float for a reason -- so we don’t have to walk. Walking is for humans.”

“Well, I would really prefer it if you walked if you’re going to follow me around. Besides, like, aren’t people gonna ask?”

“No, they’re not. You’re the only one who can see me.”

Minhyuk frowned. “Maybe I’ll wish for things faster if I’m not distracted by a floating genie.”

He finished shoving notebooks into his backpack, zipping up the pockets one-by-one until his homework and labs and class notes were all stuffed in his completely-disorganized bag. He finished off his waffle and turned to face Kihyun, who, to his disbelief, looked even more ticked off than before. But! He wasn’t floating. Small victories.

“Do you remember how to walk after fifty years?”

“I wish I didn’t,” Kihyun sassed back.

Minhyuk laughed. “For being hundreds of years old, you don’t look a day over twenty-five.”

“I’m actually twenty-two in genie years, you asshole.”

He laughed again, motioning Kihyun toward the door. “Let’s go,” he announced. Kihyun sighed, marching out of his apartment with a gait and facial expression that told Minhyuk he’d rather be doing basically anything other than this.

“You know, I bet you look older because of the soup can thing.”

“I’m going to kill you, Minhyuk.”

“Are you sure you’re supposed to add that chemical next?”

“For the love of God,” Minhyuk whispered under his breath. He had quickly learned that perhaps having his cute genie follow him around all day was not the best thing to happen to him. For instance, the cons of no one else noticing Kihyun became readily apparent:

First, if Minhyuk tried to talk to him in public, everybody looked at him weird, like Minhyuk was talking to himself. To be fair, that’s exactly what it looked like to everyone else. And there was no feasible way for Minhyuk to explain that, no, I’m not crazy, I’m just talking to my personal genie whom you can’t see. This relegated Minhyuk to whispering, subtly gesturing, and, to steal a page from Kihyun’s book, rolling his eyes.

Second, because Minhyuk couldn’t really respond to Kihyun, this gave Kihyun ample time to be even sassier than he was before. Minhyuk couldn’t shut him down like he usually did, which made Kihyun extra smug. It wasn’t as bad as it sounded -- even if Kihyun liked to slip little comments about wishing for this and wishing for that, he usually chimed in when Minhyuk was about to do something stupid. Like add the wrong solid to his chemical reaction.

Third -- and Minhyuk hated to admit this -- Kihyun was starting to look really cute.

He didn’t dare tell his genie that, though.

“Look, I really think you should double-check the protocol, Minhyuk,” his genie insisted, his butt plopped on the empty bench space next to him. He wasn’t floating per se, but his feet didn’t reach the ground and if that wasn’t the most adorable thing ever --

“No, not that one,” Kihyun interjected as Minhyuk went to grab a different solid.

“Which one,” Minhyuk whispered, slightly exhausted by the constant badgering. Honestly, Kihyun was the only reason he was still working on the lab. Usually he had screwed up so badly that there was no way for him to recover, forcing him to leave early.

Kihyun pointed at a yellow solid, rolling his eyes in the process. “Did you even read the protocol?”

“I was going to, but then my plans got kinda screwed up by an unexpected visitor.”

“Sure, blame it on the genie who you could easily get rid of in four wishes.”

“Shut up,” Minhyuk toothlessly warned. It was an empty threat -- like there was anything Minhyuk could do to actually get Kihyun to stop talking. Meanwhile, Kihyun played with the ring on his right hand’s ring finger, spinning it around aimlessly. Minhyuk really was boring to him.

“Um, what?”

Minhyuk looked to his right.

Crap.

“Hyungwon, I’m sorry, I was talking to myself.”

His hood buddy -- the other student who he shared the fume hood with -- made a face, like Minhyuk had three heads. Hyungwon made that face at him a lot. Kihyun snickered in amusement.

Hyungwon, unlike Minhyuk, usually knew what he was doing. He was a straight-A student who knew chemistry inside and out. Quiet, bookish, and the type to actually study regularly instead of cramming like literally everybody else, Hyungwon was the star of the program. Hyungwon usually didn’t bother to grace Minhyuk with any words throughout their three-hour lab; he was methodical, laser-focused, and, honestly? Too good for the frenetic and unorganized Minhyuk. Hyungwon actually knew what he was doing while Minhyuk was usually just guessing.

“Yo! Minhyuk, pay attention!” Kihyun hollered, leaning forward a bit.

Minhyuk looked over at the reaction he had been carefully stirring.

“Dude!” Kihyun started, peering into the fume hood from his position perched on the lab bench. “You were supposed to stop stirring when it turned white again!”

Minhyuk looked down at his definitely not-white liquid. It was more like a salmon pink color, the reaction having gone past completion. It was also sticky, like silly putty. Minhyuk sighed. This always happened. He wasn’t good at organic chemistry.

Without missing a beat, Minhyuk started cleaning up after himself. He was used to it by now -- the shameful dance of cleaning up your station far before you were supposed to be done. Everybody knew what happened: Minhyuk screwed up. Again. Minhyuk glanced over at the TA, who just shook his head. His TA did that last week too.

He tossed his toxic reagents in the waste container, washed his glassware with distilled water, packed up his belongings, and started taking off his lab coat.

His grade was still salvageable. Yeah, it wasn’t going to be perfect, but Minhyuk just needed to pass the class. You could still get a C on the lab report even if the reaction didn’t work.

Surprisingly, Kihyun was silent throughout the whole ordeal, like he could tell Minhyuk was genuinely upset about the whole thing. He tried his best -- he really did! He just wasn’t the best at labwork. He wasn’t Hyungwon.

“Oh no.”

Just as Minhyuk was about to leave, he heard Hyungwon start to panic. He glanced over at his hood buddy’s reaction, which had started to turn pink, too.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Hyungwon repeated, trying to load the paste-like mixture into his funnel. It seemed like it was too late, though; the mixture wasn’t falling out of his beaker into the funnel at all. Instead, it was like glue, sticking to the bottom of his glassware.

Minhyuk had never, ever seen Hyungwon screw up before. And watching the scene unfold before him -- it was heartbreaking. It sucked when things didn’t work, but Hyungwon was beyond that. His perpetually-pouty face was upset, his eyes starting to gloss up. He was completely distraught, desperately trying to save his reaction, trying to help the rapidly-solidifying mixture into his funnel with his mixing spatula. Nothing was working, and Hyungwon could see his A in the class slipping away as the reaction refused to leave his beaker.

Minhyuk could too.

He immediately turned to Kihyun, who looked surprised by Minhyuk’s reaction to Hyungwon.

“Kihyun, I wish that Hyungwon’s reaction worked.”

Kihyun seemed genuinely shocked. Minhyuk hadn’t wished for anything in over a day, and now he was wishing for someone else’s reaction to work? Even after his own reaction had already failed? Kihyun had no choice though, so he reluctantly snapped his fingers.

Minhyuk ignored Kihyun’s reluctance and threw his backpack’s strap over his shoulder, slowly walking away with Kihyun in tow. They could both hear as Hyungwon’s started whispering incredulously as his reaction liquefied, falling out of his beaker and into the filter-funnel that he had been trying to scrape it into for the past few minutes. Hyungwon was beyond happy, moving wildly to keep his reaction going and his A alive.

Once they were out of earshot of the rest of the lab, Kihyun piped up:

“You don’t wish for anything all day, and then you wish for someone else’s lab to work?” the genie questioned. “Why?”

“I had to,” Minhyuk bluntly replied. “I had to.”

☆ The Third Wish ☆

Saturday.

Finally, it was Saturday.

And if you -- yes, you, random person following Minhyuk’s so-called boring life -- thought Saturday was gonna be any easier than Friday… ha. What a terrible joke. No, Saturday was the day Minhyuk had to go work his meaningless convenience store job. At 7. Yes, as in, 7 in the morning. Not that 7 pm would be any better.

Minhyuk expected that he would tired. He was always tired during this shift. He could sleep all day Friday (yes, he had slept all day Friday before) and still be tired during this shift. It just was a fact of life. Like how Kihyun following him around was also a fact of life.

What he did not expect was that Kihyun would also be tired.

Which led to them walking to the convenience store together in silence.

Maybe Kihyun wasn’t like the physical version of tired, but Kihyun was surely tired of him. Of course, Minhyuk couldn’t read Kihyun’s mind, but if he had to guess? Well…

Kihyun was probably tired of how bubbly Minhyuk was all the time, how he never knew what was going on, how little Minhyuk prepared for his classes, how he slept forever when he didn’t have classes, and, most of all,

How many wishes Minhyuk still had left.

It had now been several days since Minhyuk tried to have soup that one fateful night, and he still had three wishes left. Three whole wishes! Some people would have wished for five things in five minutes. But Minhyuk? Well, he could hardly think of one good thing to wish for. Every idea that popped into his head was something that he didn’t actually want. No, he didn’t want to just graduate. No, he didn’t want a nicer apartment. No, he didn’t want a better job. Minhyuk wanted to earn those things through his own hard work, even if required him to grind through college to get his degree. Kihyun kept suggesting all these material things for Minhyuk to wish for, but he didn’t want any of it.

So that left him with abstract things. You know, love, happiness, et cetera. Things that money couldn’t buy, but Minhyuk could surely wish for… the problem was Minhyuk didn’t want to wish for any of those things either! He could wish for happiness, but, like, what’s happiness without sadness or love without heartbreak? Yeah yeah yeah, you can fault Minhyuk for being a sappy romantic, but those things had to be earned as well. Wishing to find the boyfriend of his dreams would just cheapen the whole thing, right? And, yeah, there were other un-wishable things -- who doesn’t want to be a few inches taller, right? -- but Minhyuk was happy with himself as a person. Maybe it’d be nice to have abs again, but, hey, some boys didn’t like abs.

Did Kihyun like abs?

Did Kihyun have abs?

Did genies work out? Could genies work out?

It was, what, like four days into this… this arrangement and Minhyuk hardly knew anything about Kihyun.

Where he was from, how old he actually was, why he dyed his hair brown, what his favorite color was…

Kihyun was surely fed up with him now… but…

“Kihyunnie!”

When Minhyuk didn’t hear an immediate response, he stopped and looked back at his genie, who had already stopped in the middle of the empty sidewalk. They were the only losers out and about on a Saturday morning, so Minhyuk could speak to Kihyun with a normal-ish voice instead of a whisper. If Kihyun wanted to talk, that is.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“What… what did you call me?”

“Um,” Minhyuk demurred, “I called you ‘Kihyunnie.’ Is--Is that not okay?”

Kihyun shook his head and looked down at the ground, a small smile breaking across his face. “No, it’s fine,” he replied. “It’s just… no one’s called me that in hundreds of years. Not since I was a kid.”

Oh.

“I… I, uh, missed it,” the brown-haired genie added, looking up at him. There was something childish about his expression -- he didn’t look so sullen and annoyed anymore, the contours of his sharp jawline and cheekbones softening ever-so-slightly. It was cute, and Minhyuk couldn’t help but smiling back.

“I was actually wondering about that… what’s it like being a kid-genie? How… how do genies even have kids?”

“Heh, well it’s a little different from being a human, right? Like, um, there’s no intimacy involved. There’s actually a set number of genies in the universe at any one point in time, and whenever a genie is needed, a new one is ‘born’ from the aether. It’s actually a rare event? There weren’t any other genies ‘born’ within one hundred human years of me.”

“Really?” Minhyuk incredulously replied. “That sounds so… lonely?”

“It wasn’t that bad. My moms were wonderful to me.”

“Moms?”

“Yeah, moms. New genies are raised by a genie pair. There’s a list? It’s weird.”

“That’s not too weird. Where do genies even, like, live?”

“Um, shouldn’t we keep walking, Minhyuk? You’ll be late.”

“Oh, right,” he answered, pivoting on his feet. He started walking toward the store again, but Kihyun jogged up next to him. Apparently he was okay with walking now.

“So, how can I describe this in human terms? Genies live in a dimension parallel to this one. We’re connected to this world by mundane objects.”

“Like cans of soup?”

Kihyun sighed. “Yes, like cans of soup.”

“Did you even pick the can of soup?”

“I mean, in the same way that you ‘picked’ your apartment?”

Minhyuk cocked his head at Kihyun. What?

“It wasn’t really a choice. It was the only place that I could ‘afford’ based on my seniority if that makes sense? Don’t get me wrong, it’s still infinitely better than your apartment--”

“--Hey!”

Kihyun chuckled. Minhyuk liked how Kihyun’s nose scrunched up when he laughed -- it was cute. He had one thought nagging his brain, though.

“Wait, so if you were ‘born’ or whatever, does that mean another genie died?”

“Not necessarily,” Kihyun absentmindedly replied. Minhyuk noticed that Kihyun was playing with the ring on his finger again. “There are a few ways for us to lose a genie.”

“Oh.”

“Sorry, I can’t tell you. Genie secrets,” Kihyun explained, his smile turning into a bit of a smirk. “Besides, I think we’re here?”

Minhyuk broke his pouting face and looked up at the storefront. They were here! How did Kihyun know…?

“Right on time, too.”

He was a little shocked, to be honest. Minhyuk was never on-time for this shift -- he was always late. He fumbled through his pocket, finding his key for the sliding front door. Kihyun waited patiently while Minhyuk pried the door open, sliding inside. Before he could even make it past the front, his manager called out from behind the register.

“You’re late.”

“Um, actually--”

“--It doesn’t matter,” his manager nonchalantly interrupted. “You’re in charge of re-stocking.”

Minhyuk just sighed and nodded in response. Making his way to the storeroom in the back, he knew Kihyun was following him. They were going to be out of earshot of his manager, and he knew Kihyun was going to say something.

“You’re just going to let her treat you like that?” Kihyun asked. “You’re gonna let her walk all over you?”

“It’s okay, really,” he explained. “This, um, happens every week.”

“And you don’t do anything about it!” Kihyun answered, his voice getting louder. “You don’t tell her to help you?”

“Kihyun, I--”

“You need to stand up for yourself!”

“It’s not that simple, I--”

“Why don’t you just wish you had a better job? Or a better manager?”

Minhyuk looked down and away this time. Kihyun was basically glaring at him -- glaring at him like he was the biggest idiot in the world. But he wasn’t. He just didn’t care what his manager said anymore.

“Because I’m okay with it not being perfect.”

Minhyuk made it through his shift. It was still light outside -- after all, it was only 3pm -- but he wanted nothing more than to get home and collapse on his bed.

The manager, as per usual, did jack-shit. When it was busy, she escaped to the back, hiding from all of the customers. When it wasn’t busy, she manned the register, refusing to lift a finger to help Minhyuk re-stock the store for the rest of the week. It was a lose-lose situation for him; he was always working, and, because of that, he was exhausted after his shift. He was like a ghost, limping along the street, dragging himself to his apartment building.

Kihyun, meanwhile, refused to talk to him for the rest of the shift. Something about “not standing up for yourself” or whatever. Minhyuk was sure that Kihyun thought he was a ditzy wimp, unwilling to fight to be treated better. Even during their walk back, Kihyun kept his distance, a perpetual glare fixed on his face. It made Minhyuk feel all dejected on the inside, like he disappointed Kihyun. He didn’t want to make Kihyun’s life miserable, but he didn’t want to rock the boat at his job. And he wasn’t going to wish for it to get better -- the second his job gets better is the second another part of his life (like Organic Chemistry Lab) becomes the shitty part of his week.

Yet, even with how mad Kihyun seemed to be… something seemed off. There were a few times Minhyuk was ferrying items from the storeroom to the front of the store, and, well, it seemed like he finished way faster than he should have. Like he’d make a few trips and suddenly in between trips there’d be a few more items stocked than he remembered doing.

Kihyun never fessed up to doing anything, though.

Sometimes Minhyuk wished he could float up the stairs like Kihyun -- magically will himself up to his apartment on the third floor. It would make these stairs so much easier, like they didn’t even exist.

By the time he keyed into his apartment and closed the door, he was ready to die on his bed. Apparently someone had other plans.

Before his face could even reach his pillow, he heard three loud knocks at his door. Minhyuk froze where he was standing, listening to the door to see if he could hear anything. He caught Kihyun out of the corner of his eyes; he was shaking his head, instructing Minhyuk not to answer.

“Minhyuk?” he heard from the other side of the door. “It’s Hoseok. Your neighbor.”

Minhyuk just shrugged at Kihyun, turning around to go to the door. He caught Kihyun starting to roll his eyes, but he ignored the genie. Minhyuk unlocked the front door, and he opened it up about 30 degrees. As expected, Hoseok was waiting for him on the other side.

“Hey Minhyuk,” Hoseok murmured.

Minhyuk immediately thought something was off. Hoseok was the type of person to envelope him in a bear hug as soon as he saw him; instead, he was quiet now. Nothing like the normal Hoseok.

“Hey,” Minhyuk replied. “What’s up?”

Hoseok perked up and looked back at his apartment. They stood there for a few moments in silence before Hoseok decided to turn his attention back to Minhyuk.

“I’m, uh, sorry to bother you, I know you just got home. I was just wondering you had seen a cat?”

“A cat?”

“My cat,” Hoseok corrected himself. “Calico. Fluffy. Meows a lot. Have you seen her?”

Minhyuk didn’t even know Hoseok had a cat.

He looked back at Kihyun, who shook his head. Apparently Kihyun hadn’t seen her either. Or he disapproved of this whole thing. Either way, Kihyun wasn’t helpful.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t seen her.”

“Oh,” Hoseok mumbled, his voice deflated.

“How long have you been looking?”

“S-since I got home an hour ago,” Hoseok replied, his voice trembling. “I, uh, I don’t know where she could have gone.”

“Do you want me to help look?” Minhyuk asked. He could hear Kihyun facepalming behind him, but Minhyuk didn’t pay any attention to him.

“No, uh, it’s okay, I’ve already taken up too much of your time. I’ve gotta keep looking,” Hoseok hurriedly replied, turning around and heading for his apartment. Minhyuk didn’t say anything afterwards, instead shutting his door and turning around to face Kihyun.

“Why did you even offer to help?” Kihyun dryly asked. “You’re so tired that you probably don’t even know what day it is.”

“It’s Saturday,” Minhyuk quietly answered. “And I wanted to help because I’ve never seen Hoseok so upset before…”

Kihyun sighed.

“Kihyun, I wish that Hoseok would find his cat.”

“What?”

“You heard me,” Minhyuk asserted.

“I’m just -- why?” Kihyun snapped his fingers, a small plume of purple smoke appearing near his hand. Moments later, Minhyuk faintly heard Hoseok yelling excitedly through the wall they shared. He had been reunited with his calico.

“That’s why.”

☆ The Fourth Wish ☆

Day #8 with Minhyuk.

Eight days of pure, uninterrupted monotony.

Eight days of watching Minhyuk struggle to… well, everything. The kid had an unnerving mixture of unintentional aloofness, perpetual sleepiness, and intentional laziness. He ambled from one disaster to the next, barely skinning by each and every day. It was like watching a slow-motion trainwreck… but a boring one.

Kihyun’s first thought was that Minhyuk was basically one-dimensional. He was motivated by one thing: sleep. How did that jive with the kid picking one of the hardest majors in his college? A good job gets him more time to sleep. Working on the side? He needed to pay for rent so he could sleep somewhere. Eating? Can’t sleep if you’re dead. Honestly, it made Minhyuk a remarkably boring person. Sure, he had a lot going on between class and work and trying (and failing) to be a functional adult. But it was all very routine -- nothing Kihyun hadn’t already seen in his hundreds of years being a genie.

But then…

Some days, Minhyuk surprised him.

Some days, Minhyuk would get up early and make pancakes for himself from two month old box mix that he “only used sparingly,” according the smiley boy. Some days, Minhyuk would go out of his way to help a complete stranger, saying “it’s the right thing to do” when Kihyun interrogated him. Some days, Minhyuk would use the most valuable thing he owned right now -- his five, now two, wishes -- to make someone else’s day better. Some days, Minhyuk would forget about himself and his own needs.

It was infuriating. Absolutely infuriating.

That confused Kihyun. It scared him. A lot. Because, honestly, it meant he cared about Minhyuk. This was the longest amount of time he had spent with any one person in the human world -- besides that one time his human got too careless after his first wish, got hit by a car, and was in a coma for a week. But that doesn’t count. No, he had spent seven waking days with Minhyuk, and he was barely half-done with Minhyuk’s wishes.

“Kihyun?”

“Hmm,” he replied, looking over his shoulder to find Minhyuk cheekily smiling at him. His black hair was shooting out all over the place, still wearing pajamas and sitting up on his bed. It was cute, that little shit. He must have been napping for a while now.

“I invited my friend Jooheon over. He needed to talk about something.”

“You have friends?” he quipped.

Minhyuk’s smile immediately disappeared. “Why are you always so mean to me, Yoo Kihyun?”

Kihyun smirked. “It’s a genie thing.”

The other boy made a face. “I can’t tell if you’re telling the truth or not.”

“I’ve had 500 years to practice my lying -- you can barely read your textbook, what makes you think you can read me?”

“I can read that you don’t totally hate me.”

Kihyun paused. He knew it was a joke, but had he really been that obvious? Had his stupid feelings seeped through to how he acted around Minhyuk? Had he really changed after spending a week with Minhyuk?

No, he answered himself.

“Uh huh,” he finally replied, rolling his eyes. He crossed his arms, impatiently rotating his ring around his ring finger. He had only started doing it in the past few days with Minhyuk, but now it was basically his nervous tick.

“Are you blushing, Kihyun?” Minhyuk teased.

“Keep dreaming,” Kihyun fired back without missing a beat. Minhyuk giggled, letting his head fall back onto his bed. Kihyun knew he wasn’t blushing. He would never blush around Minhyuk -- maybe he’d smack him, but he certainly wouldn’t blush.

He’d make sure not to smack him too hard. Besides, Minhyuk’s pretty face is one of the few assets he’s got going for him... aside from his endearingly boring life and half-witted brain, both of which had their moments.

“When’s Jooheon getting here anyways,” Kihyun absentmindedly asked.

“Oh, in five minutes.”

“And you’re just telling me now!?”

Minhyuk shot him a confused look. “You’re upset?”

“Clearly,” he flatly replied.

“Why? It’s not like Jooheon can see you.”

“I -- I know that!” Kihyun asserted. “I just, uh, need to mentally prepare to deal with more people.”

Minhyuk laughed, his nasally giggles loud and boisterous from his laying-down position. “More like you need more time to come up with ways to torture me when I have to pretend you don’t exist.”

“Er, right.”

“Do you have friends, Kihyunnie?”

“Of course I have friends, you twat.”

“... For some reason, I feel like that’s a lie,” Minhyuk rambled, “... Like, you’re pretty mean to me.”

“Untrue.”

“Um, you definitely just called me a twat,” Minhyuk retorted, sitting up again.

“No, I meant that I’m not mean to most people.”

“Aww, so I’m special?” Minhyuk put on his best puppy-dog eyes, clasped his hands together, and looked at Kihyun expectantly. It was too cute, even for Minhyuk.

“Sure, Minhyuk.”

“Ouch,” Minhyuk replied, feigning the gayest hurt face Kihyun had ever seen.

That was “gay” as in gay, not stupid, by the way.

Just how did Kihyun know Minhyuk was gay?

You mean other than the endless flirting and Minhyuk’s sassy-gay tendencies?

Well, there was that one time when he was mind-numbingly bored when Minhyuk was asleep, so he pulled out Minhyuk’s laptop and decided to get on the Internet. One thing led to another, and, well…

Let’s just say Minhyuk has an interesting browsing history.

“Tell me about your friends, Kihyunnie,” Minhyuk piped up.

“Oh, um, well,” he mumbled.

“-- So your friends aren’t real!” Minhyuk interjected.

“Shut up,” Kihyun harmlessly threatened. “I’m just not used to humans asking about my life, okay? Anyways, so my best friend is named Hyunwoo. He’s only 75 human years older than me, but he acts like he’s 400 years older than me. Wise and worldly and cares about all that genie crap that I, uh, ignore.”

Kihyun paused, but Minhyuk didn’t say anything immediately.

“And your other friends?”

“Uh, well, actually…” he started, nervously running a hand through his hair. “So I don’t really have any friends besides Hyunwoo.”

“I’m sorry,” Minhyuk immediately replied. “I kinda know what that’s like. Jooheon’s basically my only friend.”

“Really?” Kihyun was sure Minhyuk was the type of human to have 100 friends. Outgoing, sociable, loud -- he had all the makings of an extrovert who just clicked with everyone.

“Yeah, most people think I’m annoying? At least that’s what I think.”

Oh.

“Well, um, if it’s any consolation, Minhyuk…” Kihyun began before a knock at Minhyuk’s door cut him off. Minhyuk was still looking at him, though; he was waiting for him to finish.

“I don’t think you’re that annoying.”

Minhyuk smiled. “Thanks.”

The other boy made his way for the door to let his best friend into his apartment.

“It’ll all work out, Jooheon. I promise.”

Minhyuk closed the door to the front of his apartment and looked over at Kihyun. They were finally alone again; Jooheon left to catch the last bus to his own apartment complex. Kihyun, meanwhile, was putting on his best unimpressed face for Minhyuk, but it was mostly a front to hide total and utter disdain Kihyun had been harboring for the past four hours.

“So, what did you think of Jooheon?”

“Charming,” Kihyun dismissively replied, leaning over Minhyuk’s kitchen counter and planting his chin in his left palm. “Absolutely charming.”

“What? So you didn’t like Jooheon?”

“Honestly, I didn’t get to know him too well,” Kihyun replied, keeping his voice monotone and disinterested.

“He was here for four hours!”

“Yeah, two of which were spent watching a movie while basically sitting on your lap. The other two hours were him crying about his crush, Changbin.”

“Changkyun.”

“Whatever.”

“Look,” Minhyuk answered. “Jooheonie’s going through a really tough time. And him and Changkyun would make a great couple. But Jooheon’s too shy to say anything, and Changkyun’s definitely too shy to say anything either, so we’re stuck in this predicament. Which reminds me…”

“What?”

“I wish Jooheon would finally have the courage to ask Changkyun out. Let’s say, tomorrow.”

“You’re serious?” Kihyun couldn’t believe that Minhyuk would wish for something so--

“Yes.”

--asinine. Again.

He was compelled to snap his fingers once more, zapping some confidence into Minhyuk’s best friend. At the very least, he gave the boy enough confidence to ask his crush out without stammering for fifteen minutes like he ordinarily would. Kihyun then quickly turned his attention back to Minhyuk, who was smiling triumphantly, like he had solved world peace. Kihyun finally snapped, this time in a different way.

“Why,” he bitingly demanded.

“Why what?” Minhyuk was so oblivious that it just made Kihyun angrier. He could feel his blood pressure rising, after it had already been building over the past few hours of Jooheon and Minhyuk bro-time.

“Why do you keep on wishing for stupid things?” he spat out.

“Stupid?”

“Yes, stupid! Why do you wish for such stupid things!”

Minhyuk looked even more confused, which fueled Kihyun to continue berating him.

“I’m a genie, Minhyuk. I’m not here for your entertainment. I’m not here to grant stupid wishes. I’m not here to do something that a stupid fairy could do. I grant important wishes, wishes that no human could fathom achieving. But you! You little… You waste my powers on wishing for things that don’t matter. Things that don’t matter, Minhyuk!”

Minhyuk now looked more hurt than confused. But Kihyun didn’t care. He wanted Minhyuk to realize that his wishes were the stupidest wishes Kihyun had granted in hundreds of years.

“Why, Minhyuk? Why do you waste your wishes?”

Minhyuk shook his head. “Do -- do you really think that my wishes are stupid?”

“Yes!”

“T-that Hyungwon’s grades don’t matter to him?”

Kihyun didn’t answer that one.

“That Hoseok’s cat doesn’t matter to him?”

No -- that’s not what he meant.

“That Jooheon’s happiness doesn’t matter to him? Or matter to me?”

“No, I --”

“You what? Think you’re better than that?”

“No!”

Minhyuk looked directly at him now. His facial features were strained, like he was in pain having to say these things. Having to confront Kihyun like this.

“No?”

“No, I -- I, uh…”

“You what?”

Kihyun was mute. He couldn’t say anything. For once, he didn’t know what to say. He was usually four steps ahead of Minhyuk.

Minhyuk shook his head again.

“Could you please leave me alone tonight? I’m going to bed.”

With that, Minhyuk disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Kihyun alone in Minhyuk’s tiny kitchen. He wasn’t supposed to leave, but he did. Everything in the genie rule book told him he had to stay, to be around in case his human wanted to wish anything. But something told him that Minhyuk didn’t want to use his fifth wish. At least, not now.

Kihyun walked out, his brain still numb.

He walked. He hated to admit it, but it felt nice to walk. It forced him to focus on something, to help the numbness go away.

Eventually, one thought percolated to the front of Kihyun’s mind: that he cared too much. He wanted nothing more than for Minhyuk to wish for something for himself. He wanted Minhyuk to care about himself. To think about himself. To live in a better apartment, to have a better job, to be able to afford some actual groceries. Minhyuk deserved better.

Just then, he had a thought that scared him even more. That made him even more upset.

If Minhyuk deserved better, then why did he just scream at him for being stupid?

☆ The Fifth Wish ☆

A big part of Minhyuk wanted nothing more than to make his final wish right then and there. To get this all over with, to make Kihyun disappear from his life forever. But as soon as Kihyun left, a wave of relief swept over him: he didn’t do something stupid. Again, Kihyun would have added, that bitingly cynical thought creeping into his mind. He was becoming as cynical as Kihyun now.

But an even bigger part of Minhyuk won out. The part of him that loved Kihyun’s dimples, his sassiness, his hair, their banter -- it won out. The part of him that only became obvious over the past few days.

When Kihyun first popped into Minhyuk’s life in a plume of lavender smoke (a shade of lavender that Minhyuk now found more endearing than ever before), he didn’t think much of him. Minhyuk flirted, sure, but that’s just who he was. Naturally flirty, making quips about seeing each other naked, and so on. He didn’t expect Kihyun to play along, to take his flirting in stride and throw it right back at him with sassiness. It piqued his interest.

But what sealed the deal, what made Minhyuk really fall for Kihyun, was something else. No, it wasn’t Kihyun’s angelic giggling (but that did help). Minhyuk loved that Kihyun seemed to care. Kihyun did little things that made his life easier, like fixing his homework, coaching him through a difficult lab, helping restock the convenience store -- mini “wishes” that he wouldn’t, that he couldn’t make for himself. Underneath all his biting sardonicism and cynicism was a Kihyun who genuinely cared. Minhyuk didn’t know a whole lot about genies, but he sure didn’t think it was normal for a genie to go out of their way to make their human’s life easier unless they wished for it. That definitely sounded like something that would be against the rules if Kihyun’s friend Hyunwoo ever found out. And yet, Kihyun risked it.

For Minhyuk.

So why did Kihyun snap at him like that? What would compel Kihyun to be so hurtful? What would make Kihyun, who went out of his way to make Minhyuk’s life easier even while pretending like he wouldn’t, try to break Minhyuk down? Where did this Kihyun come from? Who replaced the Kihyun that Minhyuk had been secretly falling for?

Part of him needed to know.

Minhyuk didn’t sleep much that night.

The next day was a big studying day for Minhyuk. He had a P-Chem exam this week, and, God, he sucked at P-Chem. It was his weakest subject, and the perfect mix of chemistry and physics to make him wonder if he hated himself. Y’know, choosing this major and all.

No sign of Kihyun, though. Minhyuk was starting to worry. He had already gotten up, showered, thrown on some clothes -- all before 9am on a day when he didn’t have work or class. So, basically a miracle. Aka Thursday. He was currently in the process of shoving his heavy P-Chem textbook into his poor backpack, which seemed to resist his ‘desire’ to study even more than internal Minhyuk did. Finally, he managed to guide the 900-page behemoth down into the right pocket, zipping up the pockets and moving his backpack in front of the door.

Now for breakfast.

Minhyuk moved to his kitchenette, expecting to face a Major Breakfast Problem: he had no breakfast. He had used the last of his precious pancake mix the other day. Eggo waffles were long gone. And he certainly couldn’t afford to buy breakfast out this morning. He hopelessly searched his cupboards, debating whether instant ramen would be better than soup for breakfast. Screw it; he decided that skipping breakfast altogether was easiest.

Turning around, he noticed a large pile of piping hot pancakes with syrup drizzling down the sides of the pancake tower sitting on his kitchen counter.

“Kihyun?” he called out.

Instead of digging in to the pancakes -- why are you such an idiot, his stomach protested -- Minhyuk decided to search his studio apartment. Kihyun had to be around here somewhere. That’s how genies worked, right?. They have to be like, you know, nearby. Like Wi-Fi networks: their powers have a range. Right?

Minhyuk searched his living room. Nothing. The bathroom? Nope. Behind the shower curtain? No. Under his bed sheets? He wished, but nada. In the kitchen cupboards? Zilch. Just then, Minhyuk turned around to face his mysterious pancakes again. This time, there was a handwritten note sitting next to the pancakes that he swore wasn’t there before.

“Just eat them,” it read.

It had to be Kihyun, right?

Kihyun’s handwriting was pretty.

Where was he?

Minhyuk decided that he might as well eat the pancakes while they were here, cutting off a large portion with the accompanying knife and fork. It was like Kihyun was there, insisting that Minhyuk use actual silverware instead of the plastic stuff he jacked from Starbucks. Minhyuk committed to absolutely demolishing these pancakes, stuffing huge pieces into his mouth without thinking. Well, he was thinking. Just not about pancakes. He was thinking about Kihyun, and if this was his apology for last night. But where was he?

Before he knew it, Minhyuk had cleared his plate, his mind preoccupied by considering all the ways today could play out. Like, was Kihyun going to avoid him all day? Yeah, those types of thoughts. Not much healthier than the pancakes he apparently just inhaled.

There wasn’t much he could do to make Kihyun re-appear, so he slung his backpack over his shoulders and walked to the library. At the very least, he could try to study for P-Chem.

You know those walks where you kinda just… forget everything? And walk? That’s what today’s walk to campus was. He just walked. One foot in front of the other, stopping at crosswalks, ignoring everything but focusing on nothing -- he was on auto-pilot. Minhyuk wandered into the library, which was surprisingly empty. He’d never been up this early before, so he had no baseline for library crowdedness at 9:30am. He was able to nab a self-study room, the studying equivalent of a booth table at a restaurant, with ease.

He shut the door to the room, and dropped his bag on an empty chair. He unzipped the pockets, but, before he could coax his textbook out of his bag, he heard the door click back open.

“Oh, I’m sorry this room is ta--”

Minhyuk stopped mid-sentence when he looked up and saw who it was.

“Hey,” the shorter boy said, shutting the door again.

Minhyuk just stood there, hand half in his bag, mouth slack-jawed, and completely speechless.

Kihyun looked like he always did: beautiful. The same sharp facial features, narrow eyes, wide nose, soft brown hair. He looked… sad. Minhyuk had never seen so much emotion in Kihyun, except for last night.

“Studying?” Kihyun finally piped up, breaking the long awkward silence between them.

“Look, if you’re here to tell me to wish to just pass the exam…” Minhyuk replied, his voice a bit hoarse and dramatic. He didn’t know where that thought came from, but it was the first thing that popped into his mind. It was like his mind was wandering around Kihyun’s plump lips but his mouth was vocalizing all the pent-up pain that had accumulated in the last twelve hours.

Kihyun seemed to expect something along these lines, looking down toward the carpet, his expression unchanged. He couldn’t look Minhyuk in the eyes while Minhyuk was outwardly angry with him.

The shorter boy stared at the ground for a few more moments before gathering the courage to look back up at him. “I want to help you study.”

Minhyuk paused. Kihyun seemed earnest, like he meant ‘help’ in the human way and not in the I’m-going-to-use-magic-to-solve-this-problem genie way.

“Okay,” he responded.

“Okay?”

“Yes, okay,” he confirmed, yanking his textbook out of his bag. “I have my P-Chem exam on--”

“--Tuesday,” Kihyun interrupted, cutting him off. He had moved toward the table in the middle of the study room, taking a seat opposite of Minhyuk. It deflated him a bit -- he wished Kihyun had decided to sit next to him.

“Yeah, Tuesday.” Minhyuk pulled out his textbook and sat down.

“So what’s it on?”

“Umm,” Minhyuk demurred.

Kihyun gave him a look.

“Look, I'm just trying to go over all the material today, and then I’ll study the stuff I really suck at tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a plan… ish,” Kihyun replied. Minhyuk giggled -- he forgot how much he missed Kihyun’s sass.

He pulled out his syllabus, placing it next to the open textbook. There was kind of a problem, though.

“Kihyun.”

“Yeah.”

“It would be easier if you were, um…” he started. “Sitting next to me? That way it’s easier to show you stuff.”

“Oh. Right,” Kihyun replied. “Actually, how about I go grab some reference textbooks and study material from the stacks outside while you figure out what your test is on?”

“Okay.”

“Oh my god, I’m so tired,” Minhyuk dramatically complained, letting his head fall onto the table with a thud. One of his hands was holding his throbbing head while his other arm was stretched out, reaching across the table. He rolled his head over to look at his tutor-genie, Kihyun.

“I can go get some more snacks?” Kihyun suggested. Minhyuk could see his eyes darting around at all the empty wrappers scattered around the table, though -- he knew Kihyun was secretly judging just how much ‘brain food,’ aka junk food, Minhyuk needed to stay motivated and awake. They’d been at this for hours, and Minhyuk was just about brain dead. Delirious, or whatever.

He wasn’t sure if it was the exhaustion or the fact that Kihyun must have tried to push his brown hair back like fourteen times in the past thirty minutes when explaining basic P-Chem concepts to Minhyuk, but Kihyun looked even prettier right now. Especially looking up at his jawline from the side. His side profile was stunning.

“Minhyuk? Snacks?”

Oh, right. Words. But, instead of vocalizing his needs like an adult, he just groaned dramatically, earning another look from Kihyun.

“Okay, no snacks.”

“I don’t know anything,” he whined.

“That’s a lie!” Kihyun reassured him. “You know some things!”

Minhyuk groaned again.

“Look,” Kihyun started. “And I really don’t want you to take this the wrong way? But I’m going to suggest it because you’ve tried really hard and because I really want you to pass this exam. But… you could… just… wish to pass the exam?”

Minhyuk was squealing inside. Maybe it was from the delirium, but he loved how Kihyun tip-toed around asking him to wish for it this time. It was so cute. The Kihyun that he knew cared about him deeply finally appeared, and it made him ridiculously happy.

“But that’s not what I want~” Minhyuk teased, looking directly into Kihyun’s eyes while sing-songing his response.

“Oh?” Kihyun replied, dramatically splaying his own arm out like Minhyuk and resting his head on the table. They were now at eye-level, both staring at each other. “Do you want... another stack of pancakes, o lazy one?”

“Nope~”

“What do you want then, Minhyuk?”

Without missing a beat, he replied: “I wish” -- dramatically letting that word fall off his lips -- “that the boy I was looking at right now would kiss me.”

Kihyun’s eyes widened, a light shade of pink instantly creeping across his face.

“You -- You didn’t have to use one of your wishes on that,” he murmured. Kihyun looked away briefly, then focused back on Minhyuk. Hesitantly, the shorter boy leaned closer and closer before softly planting his lips on Minhyuk’s. It was quick -- chaste almost -- because Kihyun recoiled almost as soon as he naturally could. Minhyuk couldn’t get over how insanely pink Kihyun’s cheeks looked, how bashfully cute his genie was.

“Gotta save the best wish for last?” Minhyuk choked out, the humor mixing with the pain to form a lump in his throat. Kihyun had to leave now, right? That’s how this worked. That’s how it worked in Aladdin. Oh god.

“It… It wasn’t your last wish, Minhyuk,” Kihyun softly replied. Minhyuk watched as Kihyun, who still had his planted on the table like Minhyuk, brought his hands together. Using his right hand, he removed the large blingy-looking ring that adorned his right ring finger -- the ring that he liked to play with when he was nervous. Kihyun then reached for Minhyuk’s right hand, gently pulling it close so that it was positioned between the two of them. Kihyun was lazy but deliberate; he slid the ring down Minhyuk’s dainty ring finger.

“You… you know how you asked how we could ‘lose’ a genie?” Kihyun started. “Well, uh, I may not know the genie rules that well, but I know that this is the way that I say that I want to spend some more time with a human.”

More time?

“Y--you mean you’re not a genie anymore?”

“Not anymore,” Kihyun confirmed, a shy smile creeping across his face.

“You can’t grant wishes anymore?”

“I can, actually,” he answered. “But only yours.”

☆ Epilogue: The Eleventh (?) Wish ☆

Minhyuk actually lost track of how many wishes it had been now.

It had been about a week since Kihyun committed to him. A week since Kihyun and him became ‘real,’ since Minhyuk had to explain to Jooheon (and Changkyun) that he had a new boyfriend. A side-effect of committing to Minhyuk? Everybody could see Kihyun now. It made Minhyuk’s life much easier, to be honest.

Their relationship improved dramatically without the constant pressure of wishes hanging over them. Kihyun was relaxed. He was still sassy, of course, and Minhyuk loved him for that. But Kihyun also was fiercely protective -- fiery when someone so much as threatened to hurt Minhyuk’s feelings. It was nice to see that fire directed at someone else, to be honest, even if Minhyuk could more than handle himself.

There were problems of course.

One day, Minhyuk came home from class to a fully-stocked kitchen. New pots, new pans, new appliances, tons of food. Fruit -- even in this economy! And lots of pancake mix. All the pancake mix.

And while Minhyuk truly loved that Kihyun cared, he had to set ground rules for wishing. No amazing, life-changing wishes, no surprising him with tons of new worldly possessions, no making his life so easy that one of his problems became irrelevant, no more than one “wish” per day, et cetera.

“-- Only one a day?” Kihyun complained.

“Yeah, and it has to be small.”

“Why?” Kihyun protested. “I love you and I want to show that I love you, Minhyukie.”

“I love too too, babe. But, like, wishes are the easy way out. I love you because you’re you, not because you’re a genie who can grant any wish.”

The next day was slightly better -- he ‘only’ got a new laptop from Kihyun. They had to sit down and have a talk about what “small” meant. You know, flowers and chocolates and a home-made dinner. Not a new car.

Minhyuk also insisted that Kihyun find something to do during the day. Like enroll in some classes. In a different major, he emphasized. Kihyun acquiesced, got a perfect score on the college entrance exam, and became a philosophy major. Apparently he had a soft spot for the Enlightenment. Something about his youth.

But other than those few problems -- and what relationship doesn’t have problems? -- Minhyuk couldn’t be happier. Besides, it was a nice day out today, and he could watch Kihyun try (and fail) to eat his ice cream for at least a few hours. The park was lovely, but his date was lovelier.

Minhyuk was glad he canned his genie.

#monsta x #kihyuk #kihyuk fic #monsta x fic #kihyun #minhyuk #my writing

[yaaahbaekhyun]

STAY (1)

Genre: Fluff / Angst

Pairing: BaekhyunxOC

Summary: They say we’re all bound to our soulmates. So what will happen to your four year relationship with Baekhyun when he finally found his “The One”?

A/N: This would be my first ever story, idk what i’m actually doing hehe this is quite short since it’s just the beginning, I’d make the next chapters longer :-)

You shot up to a sitting position gasping for air. You were sweating and your hands were trembling.

When your mind was a little clearer, you looked at the clock on your bedside table processing the time.

10:24 am it read

You overslept again.

And you had a bad dream.

Yet again.

Not long after, Baekhyun came to your shared room looking so worried. He rushed to your side and sat on the bed, holding your cheek.

“What’s wrong, Y/N? Are you having a bad dream again?” He asked while rubbing circles with his thumb on your smooth cheek.

You only nodded and he sighed.

It had been the same dream for 3 consecutive nights. You would see Baekhyun standing not very far from you with a sad look in his eyes. You would try reaching out to him but whenever you do, a girl would always appear wrapping her arms around him. Baekhyun would be staring right back at you with so much emotion which was why it felt so real. He would slowly turn around to face the girl, entwining their fingers. You would panic and try calling out to him but whenever you tried to, no voice came out and suddenly there would be a tightening in your chest. You won’t be able to breathe as if you were drowning. That’s why you always ended up gasping for air when you wake up.

It was strange, and you wanted to know why you were having this dream over and over again. Perhaps it was your fear that you and Baekhyun have soulmates waiting for each of you which is why you were having them. You tend to overthink and it was a bad habit Baekhyun wanted you to stop. He just didn’t like seeing you stressing yourself over nothing.

“Baby, look at me” He said in a soft voice. You looked at him listlessly.

“It won’t happen, okay?” He tried reassuring you.

“Baek-”

“No, listen Y/N-”

“No, Baek listen to me.” You pleaded which made Baekhyun stop talking. He just looked at you with those loving eyes, egging you to continue. He wanted to know what was bothering you. He wanted to ease your pain.

“We’ve been together for four years…”

”And we would be together for four more, and another four, we’d be together until we run out of fours…”

”No….we won’t. Even if we wanted to” You said dejectedly. He removed his hand on your cheek and stared at you with a hurt expression. He looked like a kicked puppy right now and you just wanted to hug and kiss him but you needed to get this out. It was eating you from inside.

“Four years and you had been nothing but good to me. You were always by my side the same way as I was with you. I wouldn’t ask for a more perfect relationship even if I could. But…..but there would come a time we would have to let go. And I- I can’t….” You swallowed the lump in your throat, not daring to look up.

“Cause sadly, I don’t get a say in this, Baekhyun. And neither do you.” You said. You didn’t even notice you were crying until a tear fell on your lap. You weakly continued, head hung low.

“It’s inevitable. You will find your soulmate the same way I would find mine. We’re both bound to fall in love with someone else and where does that put either of us? Who finds their soulmate first? Tell me Baek, who would break first?” At this point you were only slurring out the words. You couldn’t speak properly because you were a crying mess and Baekhyun quickly took you in his embrace. Your head was on his chest, tucked in between his arms and he had this strong yet gentle hold on you. Strong enough to let you know that he doesn’t want to let go but gentle enough to give you a choice. So you did choose. And you chose to let him.

“Hey, no one’s leaving no one, alright? I love you so much and I won’t let some stupid destiny-soulmate bullshit ruin us. If I meet my soulmate, I would kindly ask her to leave me alone since I already have the love of my life right here in my arms. And if ever you find yours, well, I would beat the living daylights out of him until he’ll personally back down from being your soulmate.” He told you softly and it made you chuckle a little although you were still crying. There was something with the way he said it that made you want to believe his words.

“Baekhyun?” You called out after a few minutes of comfortable silence. He hums in reply as he keeps drawing invisible shapes to your back, soothing you.

“You’re such an idiot.”

You couldn’t see his face but when he kissed the crown of your head, you could feel the smile forming on his lips.

“I know, sweetheart. But you love me anyway.”

And you didn’t say anything because he was right. You did love him anyway.

“God, for a second there I really thought you were breaking up with me.” He said. You couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped your lips.

“You just started talking about how long we’ve been together and how thankful you were for having me, I was about to have a panic attack!” You rolled your eyes playfully at him even though he couldn't see you. But knowing Baekhyun, you know that he knows.

“You’re being dramatic, Baek.” You retorted and you heard him snort.

“I wasn’t the one crying!” He held you tighter while he laid back down on the bed bringing you down with him. He kissed the side of your face then whispered,

“And besides, I just can’t afford to lose you, Y/N. I love you too much.”

You only hummed in response. He looked at you in disbelief.

“I just declared my love for you and you won’t even say it back?”

“Hmmmmm…..next time.”

“You are unbelievable.”

“And you love me anyway.” You copied his words from earlier.

It was Baekhyun now who didn’t say anything else but kissed you while he entangled his limbs with yours because you were right. He did love you anyway. 

You ended up cuddling in bed for an hour and you wanted to stay like that a little longer but Baekhyun had other things in mind.

“Come on stinky let’s go take a shower, we’re doing groceries today.” He said nudging you on your cheek with his nose.

You grumbled because you didn’t want to go anywhere today. You just wanted to stay in Baekhyun’s arms because it was really warm and comfy. Baekhyun felt like home.

“Baby~ let’s goooo~ we need to do the groceries.” He urged and he was about to let go of you but you held him tighter.

“Can’t we just stay in bed? I like you hugging me like this and plus, I really have a bad feeling about this day.” You whined like a child. It was true, you felt like something bad was going to happen once you step outside of the apartment building and your gut feeling always turned out correct.

Baekhyun found you adorable and almost gave in to your request. But responsibilities are responsibilities. You could always order take out but he wanted to cook something special for you today since you have been so stressed lately. He also loves doing groceries with you because it made him feel like you were a married couple. He also loves showering with you. He just loves doing everything with you. Period.

“Nothing bad is going to happen, silly. Baby I swear you’re just overthinking again. Come on, let’s do the groceries. I love doing the groceries with you.” To your dismay, he was very adamant about his decision. He separated from the hug but immediately held your hand and kissed the back of it.

“Come on, I’ll show the world just how beautiful my wife is. But first, let’s take a bath.” He smiled at you adoringly before pulling you along with him.

“I’m not even your wife, Baek.” You blushed. He was just being his usual sweetheart self but you could never get use to it. 4 years into the relationship and he could still make your heart flutter.

“Hmmmmm….maybe not yet. But we’ll get there.” 

“I can take a bath on my own, you know.” You pouted.

“I know, but you love showering with me.” 

“I do not.” 

“Nuh-uh, that’s not what it felt when I was balls deep in you yesterday in the shower-”

“Oh my god Baek!” You hit his arms playfully with your free hand. You covered your face in embarrassment.

He smiled cheekily and crinkled his nose at you.

“I’m just kidding, sweetheart.” He said while he took your hand away from your face and kissed the tip of your nose before entering the bathroom.

Your “morning shower” took approximately one hour and thirty minutes.

The car ride was filled with laughter and random topics. This is another thing you loved about Baekhyun, being with him was so comfortable. You never ran out of anything to talk about because your thoughts just seem to align with his. He’d steal some chaste kisses whenever he had the chance and you weren’t complaining. It was a 20 minute ride to the small grocery store but it felt like it wasn’t enough.

You and Baekhyun were enjoying each other’s company while walking down from aisle to aisle searching for what to buy, making some good old grocery puns, here and there. Baekhyun was half way through his corny joke when he came to an abrupt halt. You looked at him and his eyes were wide open while he had a hand to his chest, as if checking his heart rate. 

“Hey what’s wrong?” You asked worriedly. 

He didn’t answer you and spun around to look at something or rather, someone. You turned your head towards what he was looking at and you saw a girl staring back at him in wide shock. You’re eyebrows furrowed. They were exchanging knowing glances while you were left confused. 

Who is she? A friend? A cousin? An ex girlfriend? You grimaced at the last one. An ex girlfriend was something you don’t want her to be. 

“You…” both of them said at the same time which would be cute in a different situation but right now, oh no, Baekhyun was YOUR man. He can’t be cute with anyone else BUT you.

“Baekhyun, who is she?” you asked with an edge in your voice too evident to be missed. You were panicking on the inside. You knew whatever this is that was going on between them must be stopped. This made them snap out of their little trance and the girl shifted her gaze almost looking apologetically to you which you returned with a sharp one. You were not going to back out from the staring contest until Baekhyun cleared his throat and spoke, voice sounding soft similar to a doctor breaking down the news to its dying patient, 

“Y/N….I think I found my soulmate." 

“Oh.“ 

You didn’t know what to say. You couldn’t move from where you were. You didn’t know how to handle the situation because you weren’t ready for it. You weren’t ready for this. 

It suddenly hit you like a speeding train. Those weren’t bad dreams you were having. They were signs. They were warning you for the impending tragedy that was happening right now.

This was why you didn’t want to leave the apartment because your gut feeling knew that this was going to happen.

And this was the first time you wanted your gut feeling to be wrong.

Baekhyun was looking at you. Like he was waiting for an answer. “What now?” was what his eyes were silently asking you. 

And you couldn’t do anything else but look back, silently asking him too. 

Perhaps her being an ex girlfriend didn’t sound so bad after all.

#baekhyun #byun baekhyun #baekhyun angst #baekhyun fluff #baekhyun smut #baekhyun fic #baekhyun scenario #baekhyun fanfic #baekhyun fanfiction #exo #exo fanfic #exo fanfiction #exo fluff #exo angst #exo smut #exo scenario

[firerubynat]

Mega-list of my fave Yuri!!! on Ice Time Travel multi-chaptered fics (Last updated: 21/04/17)

[Title - Author (Complete/WIP; No. of words)]

Note: No rape/non-con/dub-con here! Check each fic’s tags for other trigger warnings though. IMO sections will be updated over 29/4 weekend.

And I Will Try To Fix You - Dawn on ICE (Dawn_Blossom) (Complete; 20468)

Sum: 16 year old VIctor Nikiforov may be lonely, but he isn't sure how getting thrust into the future to live with his older self and his older self's fiancé is going to help anything. Oh, and the 16 year old version of his older self's fiancé is there, too.

IMO: The comparisons and interactions between their past and future selves stirs up enough feels for a rollercoaster of emotions. Ends on a sad but hopeful note that fits neatly into canon.

counterclockwise - viktyuuri (Empress_Arisu) (WIP; 6942)

Sum: Life after retirement, Yuuri thinks, is quite a nice change of pace. Although, not so much when he finds himself thrust back into the past. In which married husbands Viktor and Yuuri somehow end up 5 years in the past without knowing how or why. Or: Yuuri and Viktor try and fail to keep their relationship on the lie low.

IMO: ...

Gods of Circumstance - Ritequette (WIP; 15060)

Sum: During his Free Program at the 2016 Barcelona Grand Prix Finals, Yuuri suffers a freak equipment malfunction and falls, hitting his head on the ice. When he wakes up, surprisingly not dead, he finds himself in the last place he expected... the 2015 Sochi Grand Prix Finals. Again.

IMO: ...

Future Self - fishydip (Complete; 5200)

Sum: Soulmates AU where one day, at random you wake up in your own body, except in the future after you have already met and fallen in love with your soulmate. You get a random amount of time to spend as your future self to learn more about them.

IMO: ...

Katsuki Yuuri Solemnly Swears That Time-Travel/Alternate Universe Bullshit Did Not Happen With The Intent to Piss Off Yuri Plisetsky - Eldestmiddle (WIP; 20,108)

Sum: He is wrong.

IMO: ...

Lunchtime - bonehandledknife (ladywinter) (WIP; 13,806)

Sum: Wherein Viktor Nikiforov has no chill. The moment he realizes he's travelled back in time is the moment he decides to hop on a plane. He has Priorities.

IMO: Victor takes off to Hasetsu and kidnaps Vicchan during the GPF, setting off utter chaos due to a missing persons report for the Living (Extra AF) Legend and a Twitter/Insta ‘war’ between Victor, the Yuris and the fans. Smooth flowing of scenes, expressive language and use of social media makes this crack fic a hilarious read worthy of one’s time.

Mind the Gap -  Amaryllis_Namikaze (WIP; 4457)

Sum: In which Yuuri wakes up in the past, Victor has no chill and still is extra af despite being (supposedly) mentally older, and no one is prepared to what's coming from the... couple? Wait, what.

IMO: ...

of whispering lights and empty ice rinks - nauti (Complete; 12125)

Sum: One would think that everything would calm down after Yuuri won the Onsen on Ice event. It was supposed to be his year; he was going to be training with his long time idol turned coach and he was back in Japan with his family. Everything was looking up for Katsuki Yuuri. That is, until a stranger that looks exactly like him, but older appears in the middle of the rink after a bright flash of light. Oh, right, because time travel is apparently a thing now. also known as: Yuuri, Yuri and Viktor go back in time and have to find each other again.

IMO: ...

On My Love - RikoJasmine (WIP; 72702)

Sum: For the second time, the Sochi Grand Prix Finals arrive, and with it a reborn Yuuri Katsuki... Yuuri often thinks of his life as Before and After Viktor Nikiforov, the marking point being the day Viktor swept into his life and turned his world upside-down. After many years together, an accident leads to Yuuri suddenly waking up in the Before — back in Detroit, before the GPF, before he ever knew Viktor as anything other than his childhood idol. As if it had all been just a dream.

IMO: ...

Once More, With Feeling - Watermelonsmellinfellon (WIP; 59760)

Sum: Yuuri wakes up in Detroit after going to bed under heavy stress and emotional turmoil due to Victor's declining mental health. Things are different. He's dreaming obviously. And in dreams, people can do what they want.So Yuuri decides to do what he wants. If only he could have accepted this new reality. Then the realization wouldn't hurt so much later on. But ignorance keeps the pain of reality away.

IMO: ...

Only You - quesadiaz (WIP; 43716)

Sum: In the year 2021, Victor Nikiforov, retired professional figure skater and Number One Husband, steps into a taxi to make his way home from the grocery store, arm full of vegetables and fruits to bring home to his beautiful husband and loyal old dog. A sharp sound and a blur of color is the only warning before Victor wakes up in the year 2016, sitting in a first class seat on an ascending airplane headed for Fukuoka, Japan. — A "Victor died and time traveled to the past to relive falling in love with Yuuri but it's a secret for some reason" fic from Yuuri's perspective.

IMO: The POV twist helps set up a well-written fic full of confusion, angst and misunderstandings - Victor tries, but makes assumptions based on his past-before-he-came-back, thus misjudging things and screwing up especially in his interactions with Yuuri. They get better eventually. Very eventually.

Standard Deviations - JustBeHappy (Complete; 86102)

Sum: Victor knew something was wrong when he woke up. Firstly, Yuuri wasn't by his side in bed. Secondly, the wallpapers weren't supposed to be blue. — Time Travel AU, where Victor landed 4 years into the past, just after Sochi Grand Prix Finals.

IMO: Welcome to the madness that is this beautiful, beautiful fic starring the Russian Skating Family (plus a surprise ‘guest’) filled with so much OTT exaggeration, trolling and sheer crack. Can be quite OOC at times, but it’s worth the time for an amusing read.

The Switch - BoredPerson69 (Complete; 5318)

Sum: The Switch was a true mystery to science. Nobody knew how or why it happened, it just did. Soulmate AU where Viktor switches bodies with his future self after years of believing he didn't have a soulmate.

IMO: ...

Turn Back the Clock - IronScript (WIP; 52517)

Sum: When Yuuri and Viktor wake up over thirty years in the past, they don't know what to do. Does the other remember? Luckily that particular question is quickly answered and they can relax slightly, but what about afterwards? Viktor was brought back to right before his first Olympics, and Yuuri isn’t even old enough to compete in Seniors’! Then there's the fact that they're still very much in love, but a physical relationship would be illegal (and would gross them both out considering Yuuri's age), and they can't count on anyone to just trust them not to do anything age inappropriate. So maybe being long-distance (with as many in-person meetings as possible) would be better until Yuuri becomes a legal adult physically, never mind his actual age. But it's hard to behave and act naturally when you're forced to be apart from your husband of twenty years, especially during one of the most stressful parts of anyone's life, so Yuuri and Viktor have to distract themselves somehow, right? Right. And if everyone around them ends up completely confused and blindsided at their sudden changes (though admittedly they seem to have changed for the better), then so be it!

IMO: ...

Turn Backwards on Go - inkwellofstars (WIP; 5396)

Sum: In which Yuuri and Victor, happily married and retired, find themselves thrown into the past and proceed to mess with everyone.

IMO: ...

Way to Victory - crea_sei (WIP; 18156)

Sum: Defeated after his loss at the GPF 2015, Yuuri doesn't expect anything more from the GPF. That is, until he wakes up on the 5th of December, five days before the GPF even begins.

IMO: ...

[And a twist on the Time Travel trope, Groundhog Day Style!]

Maelstrom - feelslikefire (Complete; 43682)

Sum: Victor Nikiforov is poised to win gold in his fifth consecutive Grand Prix Final. He has the world at his feet, is unparalleled in the sport--right up until a snowstorm blows into Sochi, and he finds himself repeating the same day over and over and over. He stumbles over Yuuri Katsuki, and everything changes.

IMO: ...

#victuuri #yuri on ice #yuri katsuki #yuuri katsuki #victor nikiforov #viktor nikiforov #yoi #fanfic recommendation #fic recommendation #time travel #yoi fic rec #n's lists #fic rec

[rosafaen]

..

It’s me again. Day 2. Today is better than yesterday. I’ve done some things. I emailed a lawyer about my situation with work. I cleaned the house, and realized I want to burn the majority of things I have from my mother, maybe do a severance spell. A lot of my negative self image is her voice from childhood in my head, and I have to get rid of that to be who I want to be. I also realized that part of my anger lately is just that I’m dissatisfied with my life. I always was adamantly against being a housewife, and yet, here I am. 

My health declined dramatically about a year ago. My stomach was upset one way or the other most days, my joints were hurting constantly, sometimes to the point that I couldn’t even get off the couch without help. I couldn’t open drinks by myself, I was suffering from very low libido. I was exhausted and miserable all the time. I ended up finding out I have Celiac disease, which the only cure for that is to go gluten free and be very meticulous about avoiding cross contamination. I work at a grocery chain as a produce clerk. I mostly liked my job, minus my asshole assistant department manager and a few coworkers. But, I missed a lot of work due to the upset stomach. You can’t be at work and have those kinds of symptoms. I went from being on track to becoming management to a part time clerk who had to leave 25-50% of the time I tried to work. 

Flash forward to March. COVID-19 was terrifying from someone who is immunodeficient. My department manager and store manager both told me that our company’s stance on the pandemic was that high risk employees could stay home as long as they needed to be safe and come back when things were safe again. Here comes May, I get a letter in the mail saying that they consider me resigned as of April 20th for not working for 30 consecutive days. I had nothing in writing protecting me. I was told there were only forms for military leave of absence and FMLA. I also found out my unemployment was approved and now idk how this affects that. I’ve contacted a lawyer through the state bar and I’m waiting to see what options I have. 

I’m staying at home 90% of my time now. The only person I see is my fiance, who is a handyman. He’s only taking outside jobs right now to try to protect me. I usually get most of my socialization done online anyway, so this isn’t new for me. What is new for me is how on edge everyone is. Even people I previously liked are so sharp and confrontational. It just seems like the world is a powder-keg and covid 19 is the match. I’ve had to make a new facebook and I’m only adding people who don’t stress me out. People are already testing that. Part of me wants to just completely isolate because I can’t handle the tension, part of me knows I will go crazy without interaction. I am also having to leave my neopets guild. I started talking to them offsite and I found out most of the council is a bunch of snarky girls who give me high school flashbacks. I won’t be friends with bullies. My best friends are all having severe mental health problems, two have been feeling suicidal, and everyone is just really going through some rough times. I feel like I’m constantly on alert, trying to help everyone as much as I can. They help me back, it isn’t all one sided like it has been in the past. But I still am exhausted. 

I feel like I’ve gone through so much this year. The fucked up thing is that I’m actually better off financially than I was before COVID started. My credit cards are paid off, my bills are caught up, minus mortgage and truck, which is deferred for now. I really hope that we can break off from my fiance’s current boss. He’s such an ass. My poor guy is working like 6 days a week right now, working for the boss 3-4 days a week and us 2-3. 

I physically still can’t do as much. My stomach is better mostly, but I am still having a lot of physical pain. I’m going to a rheumatologist for this now, hoping to have answers soon. I’m also mentally struggling a lot. I should be utilizing this time for the soaping business and the handyman business, and my art/creative projects, but I’ve just been gaming and existing. My executive dysfunction has never been worse. I’m trying so hard, but it’s such a struggle daily just to even do cleaning tasks. I realized today I’m a broken housewife, and I never wanted to even be a regular one. I’ve always felt a bit... negatively? About housewives, not stay at home mom’s, that’s different to me because I know taking care of kids is a full time job. But part of me was always like, how is that fulfilling,  do you have no passions, are you lazy? Other people do these minute household  matters on top of working. In hindsight, I do see how fuckered that line of thinking is, I just, almost became that woman with my high school sweetheart and I hated who she was. My feelings about that had more to do with myself and my dreams than it did about anyone else. But, now I’m sitting here, looking around, realizing that I’m not capable of what was once my worst nightmare. It seems like such a small thing to tidy up and cook for two adults, but I’m not capable most days. I feel guilty at that because my fiance already works so much, and my self esteem is just shot. 

Today was better than the past few. Hopefully tomorrow is the same. 

[iamedelyncaochua-blog]

Revenge of a Vampire

          “You are very pretty.” I heard someone said with a scary voice. “You are a very talented young lady. You looks like your dad but you got your eyes to your gorgeous mom.” “Who are you? What do you want from me?” I asked nervously. “Hahaha! Do you know who you are? Or should I say, do you know what you are?” The scary voice asked again. “What are you saying? I don’t even know you.” I said while searching where the voice came from.

           “Len wake up! You are dreaming.” I slowly open my eyes when I heard my grandmother call my name. I’m just staring at her face when she asked me if I am okay and what’s with my dream or should I say nightmare. I am very scared because of it. I saw my grandmother’s face became worried when she saw the tears flowing from my precious eyes. I thought it was real. It seems real. The voice are still echoing in my ears that’s why I covered it with my bare hands but I still hear the loud scary voice. I’m just crying in her shoulder while she is tapping my back to calm me down asking what is the problem and if I’m okay. I told her everything about my nightmare. I told her how scared I am that time. I can see that she is very worried about me and suddenly she hug me while teary eyed, saying “just forget about it okay? It’s nothing.” I just stared at her because of how she acts. After we talk about my nightmare, I was about to sleep but I felt thirsty that’s why I get off the bed and went to the kitchen. Then I saw her walking back and forth, panicking and murmuring something. I came closer without her noticing it and I heard her say “Van knew her already. It is not right.  She don’t need to know who she really are.” I call her and she almost jump when she heard and saw me standing right after her. “Did you hear what I said?” she asked me. “No” I lied. She asked me when I am hungry and I say yes. While she is cooking, I’m still thinking of what I’ve heard a while ago. I’m thinking of who is she pertaining to and who is that Van. She cooked scrambled egg, bacon and fried rice for our breakfast. We are living in a two storey house. Just the two of us because my parents died when I am still a kid and I am two years old that time. That’s what my grandmother told me because honestly speaking, I can’t remember them. She told me that someone burned our house and only the two of us survived at the incident. She is the only person whom I consider as my family although I also have my best friend still I treasure my grandmother the most. She saw having that nightmare because we are sleeping in the same room and the same bed even though we have two rooms, I am still sleeping beside her. I can’t sleep without her. I can’t sleep when I didn’t saw her before closing my eyes. I always eat with her. Do the laundry together. Cook our food together when I have nothing to do. We go to church every Sunday and go for a walk after. And speaking of Sunday, today is Sunday and we need to go to church. I took a bath and prepare myself then when I am already set I go downstairs and saw lola waiting for me at our living room. “Let’s go?” then I smiled at her. After the mass, we decided to go to the grocery store to buy some stocks like vegetables, fruits because I love fruits, meat, fish and many more. After the grocery we went home to clean our house. I know you are wondering where we are getting our money. I have an uncle who is working as a neurosurgeon at one of the famous hospitals at New York City. He is single at the age of 36 and he don’t want to get married. It is already 8 o’clock in the evening and we just finished eating our dinner. We are now lying at our bed doing nothing. I am sleepy but I’m afraid to sleep because there are so many what ifs in my head. What if I heard again the scary voice. What if that voice from my nightmare appear again and say something I don’t know. Those are the things that I am thinking right now. But then I am really sleepy that’s why I closed my eyes remembering that I need to go to school tomorrow.

           “Bye lola! I need to go now.” I shouted while running at the stairs. I am now standing at the bus stop, waiting for a bus when I heard someone call my name. I search for that voice and saw my best friend running towards me. She is Euphy Ocampo my best friend since I was grade 2. We became friends when she helped me because our schoolmates are bullying me. When a bus stopped in front of us, we hurriedly ride so that we won’t be late in our class. We are studying at the same university and that is Heidelberg University at the same time we are classmates. We arrived at our school 30 minutes before the time. Everybody is looking and greeting me “good morning” with a smile on their faces of course I greet and smile back at them. I already told so many things but I still didn’t introduce myself yet. I am Jenalyn Montecarlo a 17 year old lady. I am currently living at Florida U.S.A. with my grandmother. I am a grade 12 student at Heidelberg University together with my best friend. I know how to play different instruments and billiards. I am a top student in our school for 5 consecutive years and a candidate for valedictorian. I am friendly, every students here know me and my best friend Euphy and I are seatmates and we are now sitting at our respective seats when the bell rang. Our terror teacher came in and without saying a word she distribute the papers that she is holding when she came. We stared at each other and at that very moment I already know that what we are thinking is the same. It is a ‘surprise’ quiz. Some of our classmates are frowning, murmuring because they are not expecting it. It is called a ‘surprise’ quiz that’s why. Euphy and I started taking the quiz the moment we receive the papers and focused on answering. It is 5 in the afternoon, time for dismissal when Euphy told me that she can’t wait for me to finish my practice because she needs to go home early and I understand it that’s why I let her go. I’ll be representing my school on one of the billiard tournament.

           2 weeks have passed and today is the day of my game. I’m now here at Park-Hyun University preparing for the event later. Our principal and my grandmother will be watching my game. The game started and now my opponent has a score 7 while mine is 5. It is my turn to shoot a ball and one wrong move I’ll lose this game and I don’t want that to happen. I thought of a thing that will motivate and inspire me to win then I saw my grandmother smiling at me and there I said to myself “I should win this game.”  And it really happen. I won and I can clearly see how proud they are to me right now. They walk towards me and congratulate me nonstop. When I look at my grandmother I know she’s happy. I run towards her and the moment I reach her I hug her tightly. She laugh because of what I did and she saying “I’m so proud of you Apo.” After the tournament we came home happy. “CONGRATULATIONS!” That’s the first word I heard when I switch on the lights. I saw a lot of foods, balloons, a banner saying “Congratulations Len! We are very proud of you.” and my best friend Euphy holding a chocolate cake together with her famiy. Lola knew that Euphy was preparing for my celebration as if they know that I won and that’s the reason while lola is smiling while texting when we are about to go home a while ago. I planning to tell Euphy what happen at the tournament but lola already did it. Tsss While we are eating I think I heard lola’s voice at the backyard but I just shrugged it off because I thought it is just my hallucination and it was nothing. When everybody is done eating, I placed the used plates and utensils at the sink and when I get back at the living room I noticed that lola is not around then I remember what I heard a while ago. I got nervous and asked others if they saw lola and they said that she told them that she will just get something outside. I hurriedly run at the backyard and almost stumble in the ground because of what I saw.

           “Lolaaaaaaaaaaaa!” I rushed towards her and hug her immediately. My tears continuesly  fell when I saw her lying in the ground with her own blood. “You are not human Apo. You are a vampire. You, Euphy, her family, you are all vampires. I’m sorry if I lied to you. Apo your parents are still alive. We are just protecting you from their enemies because they after you. They want to kill you. I’m sorry I’m not your real grandmother.” Those are words she say before closing her eyes. I searched around the area while still hugging her and I saw a man shadow escaping. Euphy’s father lift lola and we hurriedly go to the nearest hospital. My hands are shaking while waiting for the doctor to come out where lola is. They are telling me that lola will be fine but I can’t stop my tears falling from my eyes and fast beating of my heart. I can’t stop thinking what if she’ll die? What if she can’t make it? What if she leaves me? Although she said that she will never leave me whatever it takes but still I am very nervous right now. My heart beats faster when I saw the doctor came out. I came closer and ask the doctor “Doc how’s lola? Where is she? Is she fine? Can I see her?” My heart beats faster when the doctor came out but now, my heart stop beating when I heard him say “I’m sorry. We did our best to save her but she didn’t make it. She’s already dead iha. I’m sorry.” What the doctor said echoes in my ears. She’s already dead. My grandmother is gone. I run at my grandmothers’ body. I tried waking her up. I planted so many kisses in her whole face because that’s how I wake her up every morning. I even shouted at her but Euphy is pulling me away from her. I pushed Euphy and said “she’s not dead. She’s just sleeping. She promised, she won’t leave me.” Euphy hugged me when I fell because I am really weak.

           My Uncle travelled here because of what happened. He’s asking me what really happen but I can’t answer him because honestly I don’t know what should I tell. The only that I know is lola is gone and will never come back. I am sitting here in front of her thinking of what will happen to me now. Now that she’s gone. Gone beside me. She’s the only person I need. I can’t live without her. Now I’m asking myself, how am I able to survive in this life without her beside me? Day passed, now is the day that I should let her go but I can’t, I don’t want to. I don’t want to let her go to the place where I can’t be with her. I’m just hugging her coffin while crying because that’s the only thing I can do, to cry. They are stopping me but I am just pushing them away. I don’t want to put her 7 feet below the ground because I know to myself that I can no longer hug, kiss, touch and see her. I am pulling her coffin because people who are carrying her is telling me that we need to put her there but uncle Fred is also pulling me saying that I should let her go. That lola is gone and I can do nothing about that. And because of what he said I pushed him. Dark aura is all over my body. I felt something sharp in my mouth. All I can hear is lola’s voice, her laughter. I throw all the things that I saw.  All the people in the area are very shock. Because of what happen to me, all people including me are wondering how did that happen. Then it hit me. I remember what lola said before she closed her eyes. “You are not human. You are a vampire.” “You are not human. You are a vampire.” When everybody’s gone, I sat at the ground facing lola. “Lola is it true? Am I really a vampire?” I asked her even though I know that she will not respond on my question. I will just ask Euphy and her family about this matter.

           After that, I walk home and saw Euphy together with her family sitting in the living room. The moment they saw me entering the house they all stand up. It is very obvious that they are waiting for me. “Yes or no. Are we really a vampire?” I asked them without hesitation. “Yes, we are.” ”And your parent wants to talk to you.” Then a man and a woman enter the house. The guy looks like me and the woman? She’s gorgeous. They hurriedly run and hug me. “My daughter” they said while crying and me? I am just standing and didn’t hug them back. What can I do? I don’t even know them. ”I’m sorry but can you please get off me?” They introduce their selves as my parents. They said that I’ll be living with them from now on to where they are staying together with Euphy and her family. At first I refuse because I don’t really know them even though they already told me that they are my parents. I asked them, if they are really my parents, why did they let me be apart to them. They even told me that lola is not my real grandmother. But they let me live with her? Huh! They also said that we have enemies and they want to kill me that’s why. And lola is the only human they trust. I’ll be going with them somewhere I don’t know it’s not because I want to but because I need to know who I am and also to know the one who killed my grandmother. They taught me things about vampires that I don’t know. They also train me to fight like other vampires do.

           While eating, one of the guards walk towards us and says “Mr. Falcon is here with his son. They want to talk to the both of you.” Hours have passed and the butler came closer to me telling that my parent wants to talk to me. He guided me to one of  the rooms here and there I saw them sitting in a couch with two other guys. I asked them what they need and my jaw almost drop when I heard them say “You need to marry him.” While pointing at the other guy who looks just like my age. “What? Why?” I confusedly ask. You want what is the reason? Just because our company will merge and the worst part is that I can’t complain. It is one of their traditions. A vampire should marry another vampire whether he/she likes it or not. Isn’t amazing? Tsss.

           After so many “blah blah blah” they announced that we are already a married vampires. I know you are wondering and yes it is my wedding day. I am now married to a guy named Kurt Falcon. But I am not happy. Just like any other girls out there, I also have a dream wedding but I guess it won’t happen anymore because I’m already married to a guy I don’t even know. We are living at the same roof because that’s what our parents want.

Weeks, months, years have passed. There are so many things happened but I am still searching for that person who killed my grandmother because I promised to myself that I will make that person pay for what he did. But you know what, my relationship with my husband is getting better and better. I think I already fell in love with him. His sweet acts, his different sides, everything about him are the things I love. I admit at first I don’t like him. I always shout at him. Throw things to him. Slap him every time he did something I don’t like. But then I realize, he deserves more that. Since that day I started treating him like my real husband although he is. I already fell for him but he didn’t know. I’m afraid that we didn’t feel the same. What if he doesn’t love me? What if he love someone else? What am I gonna do now? Should I tell him how I feel? Or I will just keep this feeling to myself? I don’t know what to do.

“Heidy the private investigators is looking for you.” I went to the living room and there I saw the private investigator I hire to look for the person who killed lola. But the news he gave makes me stiff. We already know who that person is. I should be happy right? But why am I feeling like this? Do you want to know who’s behind that most painful event in my life? It is none other than ……MY HUSBAND. Of all people why him? The person I love killed my grandmother. My husband killed lola. How did that happen? “Hon? What happen? Why are you crying?” ‘paaaak’ Yes I slap him. I slap him hard. Hard to the point that he almost fell in the ground. “Why did you kill my grandmother?” I prankly asked. I saw his eyes got wider. Because of that I can already say that it is true. What happen to me at lola’s burial is happening again. Dark auras around me, sharp teeth, I can also feel eel something rushing through my veins. “Please let me explain.” “I don’t want to see you anymore.” Then I run and run until I got tired. And there I burst out.

I promised that I will have my revenge to the person who killed my grandmother that’s why I searched for him for how many years but now that I already I found him my mind change. Is it because he is my husband and I love him? But how about lola? He kill her. I should despise him but why am I feeling like this? I want to have revenge because I can’t accept the fact that someone kill my grandmother but why can’t I do it now? Now that I already found that bastard. And that bastard is my husband. I don’t know what to do anymore. I went to lolas’ grave and ask her “what should I do lola? I want to kill him just like what he did to you but I can’t. There is something that stopping me to do that.” I think because it is very tiring day, I fell asleep right beside lola.

“I don’t want you to hurt your husband and yourself just because of me. I know you love me very much but you should learn how to forgive and to forget. I already forgive him because I can see how he loves you and how happy you are with him. All throughout your life, you are thinking about me. I think it is time to think of yourself too Apo.”

“Lolaaaa!” it is just a dream but I felt her presence. Is that what you want lola? If it is, I will do it then. After that I went home and talked to my husband and clean the mess between the two of us. I realized that I am just making the situation complicated. Kurt and I are now living happily with our 2 kids and I didn’t regret anything. I didn’t regret forgiving him because he deserves it. And there I realize again that the revenge I am talking about is this. A good revenge. Giving him a happy family, forgive him. And you know what? I feel better now. No more grudges, hatred.

And this is a good revenge of a vampire.

#ShortStoryCreativeWriting