#and i mean hes always nice n says he likes my outfits so naturally id kill for him but like. king | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

leossmoonn · 3 years

Text

Dear Y/n

masterlist

pairing - carl gallagher x fem!reader

type - fluff

note / request - “OMFG FINALLY SOMEONE WRITES FOR RECENT CARL GALLAGHER. Can we get one where the reader is Kev and V’s daughter so they grew up together. And maybe Carl is her secret admirer” so i made debbie and you seniors and carl a junior since he is technically a year younger than debbie. so let’s pretend that debbie stayed in school and carl never went to military school lol, just for the sake of this imagine. enjoy!

summary - you find a note in your locker from a secret admirer and try to figure it out who is your secret admirer

warnings - language

————

*gif isn't mine*

“Hey, girl!” Debbie exclaimed. You looked up from your phone, smiling as you spotted your friend.

“Hey,” you smiled while walking up to her. Your attention when to Franny, who was sitting in her stroller. You crouched down and smiled at the baby.

“Hi, baby. How are you? Do you like going to school with Mommy? You know, some day you’ll be going to school. I’ll be an adult and with kids, too!” You babbled to the baby. Franny squealed and held her hands up to you. You giggled, bopping her nose before going up back to talk to Debbie.

“You’re really good with her,” Debbie complimented.

“Thanks, kids kinda like me,” you giggled.

Debbie rolled her eyes, “Yeah, we know. Anyways, can we hang at your house?”

You two started walking to your guys’s lockers. “Sure. I have to babysit Jems and Ames, though. Mom and Dad don’t get off work until like, midnight.”

Debbie nodded. “Franny can play with them.”

“Sounds good,” you nodded. You unlocked your locker, a piece of paper falling out.

“What’s that?” Debbie asked.

“I don't know,” you muttered, furrowing your brows. You picked up the paper, unfolding it. Your eyes widened as you saw its contents. It read:

Dear Y/n,

I thought your outfit looked really good. Not that your outfits don’t always look good, but today’s my favorite. I really like your jeans and your red shirt. Red really looks good with your eyes.

From,

Secret Admirer

Debbie read the note with you, laughing as she got to the end. “You have a secret admirer!”

You smiled, “Yeah. This is cute. I wonder who it’s from.”

“Maybe it’s from Dean Kepner,” Debbie said, nudging your shoulder teasingly.

You rolled your eyes, “That is the funniest shit I have ever heard.”

“Well, what if it is! I noticed him staring at your shirt today,” Debbie said.

You scoffed, “Yeah, more like staring at my tits. This note said nothing about my tits. It’s probably not him. Plus, I’m pretty sure Dean can’t make compound sentences. He’s worse at speaking than Ames and Jems, and they’re 3 years old.

Debbie chuckled, “True. Well, we should try to figure it out.”

“Eh. It's probably some jackass who wants to get in my head, and then embarrass me because I thought someone liked me,” you said.

“Be more optimistic!” Debbie exclaimed.

“Hm, I will if I get a second note. Let’s go, Jems and Ames are expecting me to pick them up from daycare,” you said. You grabbed a few textbooks and shut your locker. “Is Carl coming home with us?” You asked.

“I think so,” Debbie said. “Alright. Where is he?” You asked.

“Probably making out with some slut in the bathrooms,” Debbie said.

“Probably,” you snorted.

You and Debbie walked to the nearest bathroom, peeking behind the corner to see if you could hear any noise. Surprisingly, it was quiet.

“What are you guys doing?”

You both jumped, turning around and seeing a confused Carl behind you.

Carl was Debbie’s little brother. They were both Gallagher’s. They were children of the alcoholic and drug addict Frank and Monica. They lived on the South Side of Chicago, which was where you also lived.

You were Y/n Ball. Daughter of Veronica Fisher and Kevin Ball. You had lived next to the Gallagher’s all your life. You were their best friend. Well, their only best friend, really. Your mom and their older sister, Fiona, had been friends since forever. You had been born around the same time as Debbie, who was the third oldest out of the 6 Gallagher children, so you two have been basically best friends since birth. Carl was also one of the Gallagher kids you were also the close with, too, him being just a year younger than you. You three had basically grown up together, so being best friends was pretty natural.

“We were seeing if you were fucking anyone,” Debbie answered.

Carl scrunched his face up in disgust. “I don’t do that.”

You laughed, “Sure you don’t. C’mon, C-Dog, I gotta pick up the little missies.”

“Alright, Y/n/n,” Carl smiled at the nickname you had given him ever since you two had gotten closer.

You two hadn’t always been close before. Debbie and you were by far the closest, with being in the same grade and all. You and Carl hung out a lot, but it wasn’t really until he started high school when you two actually hung out one-on-one. He had come to you for relationship advice when he was dating this one girl, Dominique, who turned out to be a horrible person. You two have since bonded about your past, failed relationships, and how shitty life is.

Since getting closer with him, you had kind of developed a little crush on him. He had always been cute, but when puberty hit him, he became really hot, really quick. You never showed any other feelings for him than platonic, though. You didn’t want to deal with all the drama that it would bring between you and your families.

“Stop eye-fucking each other, please,” Debbie groaned, walking away from you two.

You rolled your eyes, “Like you should talk. Every guy you meet you imagine sleeping with them.”

“Not true!” Debbie defended herself.

“Yeah, right. That’s why you have a baby,” Carl joked.

“You guys are so mean,” Debbie muttered.

“That one was pretty mean, but at least it didn’t come from me,” you smiled.

“Yeah, it came from the asshole who got circumcised for a girl,” Debbie laughed.

You laughed with her, Carl rolling his eyes and blushing. He looked to you and noticed a piece of paper peeking out from your jeans.

“What's that?” He asked and pointed.

“Oh, it’s a note that someone gave me,” you said. You took it out and gave it to Carl. He opened it and read it.

“This is nice,” he said.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cute,” you agreed. He handed you the note back. “Who do you think it is?”

“I don’t know, honestly. I’m kind of thinking it’s a joke, so I wanna wait till I get another one,” you said, folding it back into your pocket.

“I think it’s Dean Kepner,” Debbie stated. You rolled your eyes, “Yeah, you're the only one.”

“Is that the popular football guy? In your grade?” Carl asked.

“Yep. He’s so hot,” Debbie sighed dreamily.

“I don’t think so,” you stated.

Carl looked at you and nodded. “Yeah, I heard he does hard drugs.”

“Yeah, another reason why I don’t fuck with him. I mean, I have a beer every other night, but never am I gonna do drugs. That shit messes you up,” you sighed.

“Yeah, we know. We had Monica as our mother,” Debbie said.

You chuckled, walking over to your car. You got in the driver seat, Carl sitting in the passengers. Debbie usually sat there, but since she has a baby, you told her it wasn’t safe to put Franny in the passenger seat, especially since if the even of an accident, the airbag goes off and hurts Franny.

You drove to daycare, humming songs from the radio while doing so. While you were driving, Carl couldn’t help but stare between your face and the note in your pocket. You didn’t know, but the person who wrote you the note was him.

Carl was usually pretty confident and outgoing. All of his family like that. You had to do that to survive the South Side. But when it came to you, he was like jello. He didn’t know how to act, speak, whether he could look at you two seconds longer than normal. You never noticed his behaviour change, though. To you, he was always quiet and low-key. He was thankful that he never questioned why he was so quiet around you, especially since he was a loud, annoying kid when he was younger.

With these notes, he would be able to say what he was afraid to say to your face. He didn’t want to face rejection, especially by the pretty senior girl that had lived next to him since the day he was born. It would be awkward if you did reject him, so he just kept quiet until maybe he worked up the courage to ask you out depending on wether you liked the notes or not.

You parked in a handicap parking spot. “Alright, one of you wanna go and help me get Ames and Jems?” You asked.

“Carl, can you do it, I wanna stay with Franny,” Debbie said.

“Yeah, sure,” Carl nodded. He got out of the car with you, walking into the daycare.

You walked up to front desk. “Hi, I’m here for Amy and Jemma Ball. I'm their older sister, Y/n,” you said.

“Alright, can I see ID?” The woman asked.

You nodded and got your wallet out of your back pocket. You handed her your ID. She handed it back to you.

“Alright, go ahead and head in,” she said.

“Thank you,” you smiled.

She hummed a ‘you’re welcome’ as you and Carl went into the play room.

“Why do you have to give her your ID?” Carl asked.

“I think it’s because she’s new, and also I didn’t drop them off this morning. They wanna make sure no one kidnaps children,” you explained.

Carl nodded. “Ah, makes sense.”

“Yeah, the usual woman here, Julie, moved to Florida. She always gave me and the girls a mint when we left, and never asked for my ID,” you said.

“Wow, she sounds cool,” Carl said.

“Yep, she was,” you smiled.

You walked into the room, spotting Jemma and Amy immediately. They spotted you two, smiling and running up to you.

“Hi, babes!” You exclaimed, crouching down and catching them in your arms.

“Hi, Y/n!” They both squealed.

“Ready to go home?” You asked.

They both nodded.

“Alright. Let me go get your stuff, hang out with Uncle Carl for a few minutes, okay?” You said.

“Okay,” Jemma said.

You walked over to their cubby, grabbing their baby bags. You went back over to Carl, taking a hold of both of the girls’s hands.

“Let’s go, babes,” you said.

“I’m hungry!” Amy exclaimed.

“I’ll get you a snack when we get home, alright?” You asked.

Amy nodded, smiling excitedly. You smiled at her, looking up to see Carl opening the door for you.

“Thanks,” you smiled at him.

“No problem,” he nodded and followed behind you. You put the girls in the backseat with Debbie, unloading their bags in the trunk. You got in the front seat, starting the car.

“Do you want to be dropped off at your house or stay with us at my place?” You asked Carl.

“I'll hang with you guys,” Carl said.

You nodded, “Sounds good.”

You drove back home, parking the car on the side. You unlocked the front door, immediately dropping all the bags you had. You slumped on the couch, taking a breather.

“Can we have a snack?” Jemma asked.

“Oh, yeah, right,” you said, getting up. “You guys want some fruit snacks?” “Yeah!” Amy exclaimed.

You nodded, going to the pantry and getting two packs of fruit snacks for each of them. You led them back to the couch, turning on the tv.

“Watch TV with Franny, okay? Sissy has to do homework,” you said.

The twins nodded, looking at Paw Patrol, which was what was playing. You went to the kitchen table, unloading your backpack.

“You’re really good at taking care of them,” Carl said, sitting next to you.

You smiled, “Thanks. Mom and Dad do a lot, but since they are a little older and so am I, they let me have more responsibility. They have to work and stuff to make sure we can afford everything. I’d like to say I’m an expert at taking care of Amy and Jemma.”

Carl chuckled, “Yeah, I couldn’t imagine taking care of a kid.”

“Well, you have been taking care of Liam since he was born, right?” You asked.

Carl shrugged, “I guess.”

“Taking care of kids is easy if you like them,” you shrugged.

“Makes sense,” he said.

You hummed.

“So, are you waiting for another note?” Carl asked.

“Hm, kind of, yeah. I would be lying if I didn’t say I hoped this will turn into some cute, romantic love story with someone,” you chuckled.

Carl blushed a little, focusing on his own homework. “Yeah, that’d be nice.

————

“Yeah, Mom, I got it. No problem, see you later,” you said, hanging up the call. You sighed, walking slowly to your locker.

Your mom had just called you to come to the Alibi to help out since business was buzzing. Word was, Frank was up to one of his schemes again and got the Alibi full and drunk. You couldn’t wait to deal with perky, 50 year-old men catcalling you. You were wearing a sweatshirt, too, which you knew would make it worse since the men always would try to have you take it off, and never stopped pushing. Luckily, you had pepper spray with you at all times so if someone ever got too much, you wouldn’t hesitate to spray them.

You opened your locker, putting away a few binders when you noticed another note. You grabbed it, unfolding it with a hint of excitement. You would be lying if you said you hadn't been looking forward to this all day.

You opened the note, smiling widely as its contents.

Dear Y/n,

Your makeup looks amazing today. You’re really talented with the eyeliner and stuff. Oh, and your lipstick matches really well with your outfit, too.

From, Secret Admirer

“Another note, huh?” Debbie said, approaching you.

You smiled and nodded. “Yep.”

“What's that?” Carl asked.

“Another note from Y/n’s admirer,” Debbie smiled.

Carl flushed a little. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” you smiled. “I hope this is for real. I want to meet this person.”

“Maybe you will,” Carl said. You looked to him, a worried expression settling on your face.

“You okay, C-Dog?” You asked.

“Yeah. I’m gonna catch the bus. See you guys later,” he said, walking off quickly.

You furrowed your brows. “What's got his dick in a twist?”

“I have no idea. Maybe he likes you,” Debbie smirked.

Your heart fluttered a little at the thought of him liking you. Debbie knew you liked Carl, so maybe she was fucking with you, but you had to ask to be sure.

“Does he?”

“I think,” Debbie said.

“Oh,” you muttered. “Cool,” you smiled.

You weren’t going to confront him just yet, but you prayed to God your secret admirer was Carl.

————

“Hey, there’s something for you in the mail,” Veronica said.

You furrowed your brows. “Who’s it from?”

“It doesn’t have a name,” Veronica said, hanging you an envelope. “It just has your name on it.”

“Huh,” you said, taking the envelope. You tore it open, your eyes widening as you saw another note it in.

“What is it?” Kevin asked.

“A note,” you said. “From my secret admirer.”

“You have a secret admirer! Wow,” Kevin said.

“Yeah,” you chuckled. You sat on the couch, opening the note.

Dear Y/n,

I thought you looked really pretty today. I hope you don’t find it weird I mailed this to your house, I actually live close to you, so I saw you crossing the street today. Anyways, I just thought I would let you know you look pretty.

From,

Secret Admirer

You found yourself giggling, setting the note down. Even though you were flattered, you found it a little weird this person knew where you lived, even if they supposedly lived near. You didn’t know why they couldn’t just tell you all these things in person.

“What does it say?” Veronica asked.

“The note calls me pretty,” you said, putting it back in its envelope.

“Hm, well, whoever this is isn’t wrong,” Veronica grinned. “Do you have any idea who it is?”

You sighed, “Nope. It says they live close to me, though.”

“Maybe it’s one of the Gallagher’s,” Kevin suggested.

Your eyes went wide, remembering what Debbie had said to a few days ago when you got the second note. You shook your head, though. Carl was out with his friends right now, you had just left his house, too, and there was no sign of him.

“Nah, no offence to them, none of them are this romantic or anything. Well, except Ian, but he’s gay,” you said.

“Maybe ask about it, though? All of our other neighbours are old men, and that does not look like old man handwriting,” Veronica said.

“Maybe I will. I mean, Debbie said Carl liked me, and when I got the second note, Carl was acting all weird and shit,” you said.

Veronica eyes widened. “Carl?”

“Yeah,” you said. “I don’t care if it's him, though, it'd be kind of weird.”

Veronica sat down on the couch next to you. “You like him, don’t you?”

“Kind of,” you said sheepishly.

“Well, I think you should ask him about it. If he says no, then don’t mention your feelings for him. If he says yes the notes are from him, then confess,” Veronica said.

“Should I do that?” You asked.

“I think so, baby. Carl’s a good kid, especially with you around. I wouldn’t have a problem with you two dating.”

You smiled, “Thanks, Mom. I’ll go to his place tomorrow.”

“My baby is about to get a boyfriend!” Kevin whooped. “If he hurts you, I will kill him.”

You chuckled, “Thanks, Dad.”

————

You walked into the Gallagher’s house, spotting Fiona in the kitchen.

“Hey, Fi,” you smiled.

“Hey, Y/n! Are you here fo Debbie? She went out,” Fiona said.

“No, actually. I’m here for Carl,” you said.

“Oh, okay. Well, he’s upstairs,” Fiona said.

“Thanks, Fi,” you smiled and made your way up to Carl’s room. You saw that the door was wide open.

You went in, not seeing Carl anywhere.

Where is he? You thought.

You went around his room, walking around the room. His room was ridiculously messy. Clothes everywhere, food and plates all over the dresser, weird liquid on the floor. You chuckled to yourself as you had to step over the puddle.

“Boys are horrific,” you muttered to yourself.

You went to the desk, sitting down in the desk chair. You looked around on the desk, seeing court date papers, old homework, and cigarette boxes. As you looked more to your right, something had caught your eye. There was a paper with your name on it on the back.

You picked it up hesitantly, slowly unfolding it. Your eyes widened as you saw the words “Dear Y/n”. You knew you shouldn't, but you went ahead and read it anyways. You just wanted to make sure you were correct of your suspicions.

Dear Y/n,

After these few weeks, I have decided to try and be brave and go up to ask you out. I think you’re really pretty and you’re so funny and nice. I’ve liked you since I started high school, and even if I get rejected, I know I would regret not trying to ask you out. So, I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date?

From,

Secret Admirer, aka Carl (Gallagher)

“Y/n?” You snapped your head back, seeing Carl in a towel. Your eyes quickly ran past his chest, seeing the toned muscles in his arms and stomach. You eyes went up to his face, lingering on his lips. You then went up to his eyes, seeing them wide and filled with wonder.

“Sorry, I’ll, uh, go,” you muttered and stood up, leaving the note on the desk.

“What?” Carl asked. He was beyond confused, but when he saw you and the note, he put the pieces together. As you went to walk out of his room, he grabbed your arm, pulling you back gently so you two were face-to-face.

“Did read the note?” He asked.

You looked up at him sheepishly, “Yeah, I’m sorry for invading your privacy.”

Carl sighed, “It’s alright. I’m, uh, sorry if I wasn't who you were expecting or anything. I know I’m probably not the person you like or anything, but I just wanted to try and see if you liked me. Ian and Lip said that was a cute idea, the notes.”

Your eyes lit up with he voiced his concerns. Your lips upturned into a smile, your eyes staring into his.

“Carl, I like you, too,” you said.

Carl’s eyes widened. “Wha-what?”

You took his hands in yours. “It was a cute idea. And I’ve liked you for the last 3 years, too. I was hoping it was you, actually.”

Carl blushed, a big smile appearing on his face. “Really?” “Yep,” you nodded.

“Awesome!” Carl chuckled. “So, do you want to go on a date with me?”

“Yeah, I’d love to,” you smiled.

“Cool,” he smiled. “Well, I need to get dressed. You can stay and watch if you want,” he smirked.

You giggled at his words. “Don’t mind if I do.”

————

this was trash i am sorry

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writersrealmbts · 3 years

Text

If You Have Half a Brain

Description: Part of the summer #btswritingbingo, hosted by @bangtanwritingbingo! For the Pina Coladas prompt. You’ve been a bit down on your luck, until one of your customers, who is definitely drunk, strikes up a conversation with you and offers you a job.

Warnings: Mentions of death, drunken antics (mild), mild language, mentions of blood/injuries (very briefly)

Posted: 06/04/2021

Tags: Hoseok x reader, business au,

Slice of Life/Angst/moments of fluff: 11,698 words

A/N: I think it’s been over a month since I posted a story, so here’s over 10k words. Enjoy! Thanks to @kerikaaria for beta reading this

“Sir, you ordered a virgin.”

“Whoa, no! I didn’t even know that this was that kind of place, I mean, kudos on the confidence and I mean that in the best way because you shouldn’t be ashamed—“

“Your drink,” you interrupted, rolling your eyes. “It’s non-alcoholic. You ordered a virgin drink.”

“What? No I didn’t, I ordered a pina colada!”

“No, our menu doesn’t offer pina coladas. What you ordered was our Niño colada, which is from our non-alcoholic menu. I apologize for any inconvenience, but if this is you with a little bit of alcohol, then I think you should stick to sobriety.”

He stared at you, slack-jawed and blinking. “Why don’t you have pina coladas?”

You sighed. “We don’t stock rum.”

He made a choked sound. “The…rum…is gone?”

“Yes. The rum is gone.” You had a sinking feeling that you knew exactly what he was going to say.

“Why is the rum always gone?!” He exclaimed, flopping onto the table.

“From your behavior, I’m going to assume you’ve consumed every last drop of it, Captain Sparrow,” You replied dryly. Well, your boss was right. You were not cut out for this job. “Now, if you’re not going to order something else, I’m going to go turn in my apron and start job hunting again.”

“Wait! Wait! Do you like piña coladas?” He asked, catching the pocket of your apron.

“I swear to God, if the next words out of your mouth are anything along the lines of ‘and getting caught in the rain’ I will murder you without regret.”

His teeth clicked shut. His eyes darted over your face. “But do you?”

You took a deep breath. “I can’t stand coconut.”

“You…don’t like…coconut?” He looked horrified. “Then…coconut chicken?”

“Ew.”

“Coconut ice cream?”

“Waste of sugar and time, a lot like this conversation. I don’t like coconut. I hate it when people cook in coconut oil because saying it’s tasteless is Bull.” You crossed your arms. “New drink or what?”

He stared at you for a while, then smiled softly. “You’re too good for this job, anyway. You should work for me.”

“Excuse me?”

“Come work for me.”

“Repeating that doesn’t tell me what you’re saying.”

“I own a company. I need someone who can deal with trash like me and keep them away from me. You do not have to be polite to the trash either.” He leaned his chin on a propped-up fist. “Your job would quite honestly be saying what was on your mind and telling me and anyone else off.” He looked and sounded surprisingly sober compared to before.

“Please tell me you didn’t use piña coladas to test a potential hire.”

He grinned. “Not intentionally.”

I folded your arms, trying to gauge whether or not he was being serious. “You’re not saying this because you’re drunk, are you?”

“I’m not drunk!” He argued, eyes wide. “I’ve only had one glass of wine!”

You cringed. “At least tell me it was a large one.”

“N-not particularly.”

“Oh dude, either your acting is pretty on point, or you’re a serious lightweight and should stick to the non-alcoholic menu.” You shook your head.

His already flushed cheeks turned more red. “Wha—“ he huffed. “Do you want the job or not?”

You considered it, a little surprised you were even considering it, and shrugged. “Not sure I believe you still.”

He huffed and fumbled to pull out his wallet, fumbled more, then handed you a business card. “That’s me. Call or show up or anything. My personal cards are like golden tickets.”

You took the card warily.

The side of the cards facing you had a phone number in shimmering gold lettering, and the other side looked like a splash of summer colors—Bold black lettering spelling out his name and the name of the company.

“Hoseok Jung, CEO of HopeWorld Incorporated,” you read aloud, a little…skeptical. “If you are this person, what the heck do you want me for?”

“Honestly…I need someone sensible who won’t just try to stay on my good side. I need someone who will risk their job to threaten anyone that is being ridiculous with murder. I’m bad at that. I need a spiky person cause I’m just…I have things I’m strong on, but there are times when I just need someone to say things like they are. No bull.”

“And based on our interactions here, you think that’s me?”

He nodded. “I only played up the antics a bit.”

“Do you often hire your waitresses?”

He grinned. “No, but I have found most of my best people by chance. One other waiter, but I knew him before.”

“Your best people?”

“You’ve heard of my company?”

“Who hasn’t?”

“Then you’ve heard the names Suga, RM, and V.”

You paused. “Yes.”

“Suga and I met at a club. RM and I met in a museum, and I met V when I was at an animal shelter.” He shrugged. “We had a good rapport. I offered them jobs. My friends over there are also part of my inner circle. It would have been better if you liked piña coladas, but you should still be okay with them.”

You stared over to where his friends were goofing off in the pool. Those idiot men were part of the inner circle of one of the biggest companies ever? The company that….

Two screeched as they went into the water, losing the game of chicken.

“They are part of your brain trust? Is the one even old enough for alcohol?”

“Yeah, he just tends to pick people up when he’s buzzed.”

“So, scandal prone.”

“No, no, I mean physically lift them. Usually just us. He’s not really a social person. Just us.”

“Ah.” You weren’t sure what to make of that.

“Actually—“

“Y/n! I’m not paying you to stand around!”

“With all due respect, sir, I’m done after I finish discussing our menu with this gentleman, Sir.” You called back, then turned to Hoseok. “How much would I be paid?”

“To start...how about $16 an hour?”

You stared at him. “$16 an hour?”

“Plus benefits, we have an excellent benefits program.”

“$16 an hour?” You repeated, a little shocked and numb. Plus benefits, even if you only worked there for a week, you’d be able to cover all of your expenses.

“Alright, okay, fine, $18 an hour—but no more than that until we know if it will work out. Then we can discuss raises. Deal?” He stuck his hand out.

You considered it for a moment, then shook his hand. “Right. Okay. When do I start?”

“Tomorrow, 8 a.m.”

You nodded. “Business dress?”

He shrugged, “If you like. Just dress nicely.”

You nodded. “Fine. Okay. See you then. I have a job to quit.”

He nodded with a smile. “I look forward to working with you.”

———

If you had thought that your means of obtaining this job had been strange, nothing had prepared you for your first day working there.

You had dressed well, wearing your favorite interview outfit because it was the nicest outfit you owned and you would be shopping later today so you knew what you needed to buy.

You entered the sleek looking building, and went to the reception desk. “Hello, I was told to come in today.” You pulled out the business card and showed it to the secretary.

Her eyes widened. “Whoa. You met Mr. Jung?”

“Uhm, yes. Yes I did. And he told me to come in today, at eight.”

“Right, okay, um, let me get you a temporary I.D.so you can get around today, and you’ll have to talk to H.R. later about your permanent one. Take this, and then head up to the top floor, he’ll want you to report straight to his office. At least, that’s what protocol states.”

You nodded, absorbing the information easily. “Top floor, his office, report to HR later for a permanent ID. Return this at the end of the day?”

“Yes, thank you, and good luck on your first day!” She practically sang, going back to her computer.

You slid the ID necklace over your head and went straight for the elevator, hitting the button for the top floor.

The way she spoke was almost like she had never met the CEO, which seemed unlikely to you, but maybe you were just misreading it.

The top floor was as quiet as the rest of the building, and you had a feeling most employees didn’t start until 9. But there was faint music coming from the biggest office—the CEO’s office.

You took a breath to steady yourself and then knocked on the door.

“Come on in, y/n!”

You shook your head slightly and did as told, walking into the office.

Entering the building, you had been pleasantly surprised by the way everything seemed light and airy, with bright splashes of color in appropriate amounts in the appropriate places, making it feel less like an office and more of a...you weren’t sure what it felt like, but it felt nicer than an office.

Entering Hoseok Jung’s office had a similar effect. There were knickknacks, but they weren’t overwhelming, and splashes of color were all throughout the room, but was balanced by a sort of modern elegance of his sleek office furniture and the immense natural lighting.

“Do you like it?”

You considered it all. “It’s not to my taste, but it is well balanced and I can appreciate the aesthetic.”

He grinned. “See, you’re already doing better.”

“The receptionist acts like she’s never seen you before.”

“Oh, well, most people only see J-Hope, one of the senior workers who reports directly to Mr. Jung. That’s how I got into the business to take it over from my father.” He shrugged. “Eventually, they’ll find out that J-Hope is me, but for now, J-Hope is well-liked. My ‘brain trust’ as you called them, will be here in about half an hour, which gives us time. Come on, I’ll show you to your office. Remember, it’s not your job to make friends, it’s your job to call things as you see them.”

You shrugged. “And if that means holding my tongue?”

“Then I trust you to say something later, when you deem the time to be right.”

“You know this is crazy, right?”

He grinned. “I know that you think it’s crazy, but I’m glad you’re telling me.”

You shook your head as you followed him out, noting that he wasn’t wearing a full suit. More like slacks and a shirt that wasn’t a button-up, but also wasn’t a plain t-shirt? Very loose-fitting, possibly a few sizes too big. His slacks weren't even slack, not really. Just grey, loose-fitting pants.

“You don’t dress much like a CEO.”

He chuckled. “I know. Jimin tells me that all the time, trust me, I do when I have to. But J-Hope likes loose clothing.”

You shook your head a bit.

“This will be your office.”

“It’s right next to yours.”

“Well, you are going to be my left-hand person. Left hand office.”

You followed him into the office that was way too good to be true.

“Obviously you can decorate it as you like, outside of the desk. The desk chair you get to choose from a magazine that we use for office supplies. We also ask that you don’t break any walls or windows.”

“I have a balcony,” you breathed.

“Yeah. There’s actually a door out there that connects our balconies, my side is pretty much never locked, but you can lock your side as well.”

“Like in hotels.”

“Yes.”

“So, if I'm your left, who’s your right?”

“Suga. Yoongi. You’ll like him, I think.” He picked up a random sticky note, looking amused. “Last guy didn’t clean out very well, sorry.”

“Shouldn’t a janitor have made it in here since?”

He paused. “Oh. Yes.”

“Which makes me wonder when the last time anything up here has been cleaned.” You ran a finger over the desk, nose wrinkling in disgust at the dust on your fingers.

Hoseok’s eyes widened. “Oh no. Oh no no no.”

“I need to wash my hands,” You said, feeling a little contaminated. “Bathrooms.”

“This way.”

The bathrooms on the top floor were actual bathrooms, as in, one toilet and sink per room instead of the public bathroom style. There were three of them, mostly the same size, but one also had a larger vanity area with drawers under it.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to follow you in, but this bathroom is one that we usually keep locked, so if you want to keep makeup or other things in here, no one uses the third drawer over right now.” He tapped it. “You’ll be getting a key to it later today, so you can put it in later if you need to.”

You nodded, wrinkling your nose at the smell of the soap. “Oh, you’re kidding me. Piña colada soap?”

He chuckled, scratching his neck. “You can also bring in your own soap. Yoongi does. He just hasn’t replaced his yet.”

You shook your head. “Right.”

“If it helps, it’s only that during the summer.”

“What is it in winter? Eggnog?”

He shook his head. “Cinnamon rolls.”

“Are you all trying to psychologically torture yourselves?” You asked, drying your hands. “Piña coladas when you have to work, cinnamon rolls to make yourself hungry….”

Hoseok shrugged.

You sighed. “Alright. Where to now?”

“Morning meeting.” He waved for you to follow him, and led the way down to a conference room. “Jimin and Tae bring coffee and pastries and we go over our agendas and projects. Today that will include introducing you. I do have one thing to ask, and it might be inappropriate so if it is you can just hit me—“

“Or you could just not ask it.”

He hesitated, then nodded. “Right. Yeah.”

You helped straighten the chairs, seeing the frown on his face at how disheveled the room was. “So, what will I be doing today, besides accompanying you to fire the janitor.”

He cringed. “Well, tour the company. Stop by HR. Meet the security team. Talk to the janitorial staff and threaten firing them to improve their work ethic. Then if that doesn’t work, yes, you will be there to help me fire people.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be the bad guy. You keep your J-Hope persona.” You sighed. “Really? No one caught onto you being the CEO with the name J-Hope?”

He just grinned again. “Best disguise is right under your nose.”

“The best disguise is an effective one that actually exists.”

“I’m glad I met you,” He responded with a light laugh.

“I’ve been criticizing you since I arrived.” You actually felt guilty about that, but only slightly. You weren’t about to lose sleep over it.

He just smiled. “You’ve been honest. I…I really missed honesty.”

“Your inner circle aren’t honest?”

“They are…but they’re…it’s different. Sometimes you need to shake things up. I think we all need shaking up.”

You frowned. “Okay. Level with me: what happened?”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“What happened to make you think that things need to be shaken up?”

His face relaxed, eyes seeming to glaze as they shifted to the meeting table. “I…uh, I lost someone I cared about. You know that cruise ship disaster?”

You nodded. “HopeWorld donated a whole lot of money to cover the bills of those injured, and help cover funeral bills for others. Some people wondered if you guys had some sort of stock in the cruise ship or had been involved in the explosion, but you were just being kind. Plus by helping them out financially they could stand up to the cruise company.”

He shrugged, but also nodded. “And I needed a reason to be there. Looking.”

“Girlfriend or boyfriend?”

He choked out a laugh. “Yeah. And my sister and her husband. And my parents. I was supposed to join them at a different port.”

You felt like you’d been sucker-punched. “Oh my God.”

“Didn’t lose all of them. My dad is still in the hospital, Mom is home but she visits him everyday.” He rubbed his neck. “My sister's husband went back to work just a week ago, and he’s not having an easy time of it, but he’s pushing on. My sister hasn’t woken up yet, but we’re still hopeful. I hope she wakes up soon. She’s the other person I always relied on to be honest with me.”

You slowly nodded. “And your…significant other?”

“Idiot died. One of the lifeboats got stuck on release. Climbed out and cut the rope. Snapped back.” He shrugged again.

“Could have been worse,” You murmured, clenching a fist. You knew that description. You gave that description.

“Ok, this is one time when maybe you shouldn’t be honest.” He rubbed his forehead.

“Hey, my step-dad died because he thought he could swallow a golf ball and decided to try when no one was home. My younger brother tail-gated a semi. My father died from a sliver after saving eight school-age children.” You shrugged. “There are all sorts of ways to go out of this world. Doing the right thing…the heroic thing, that counts for a lot in my book. But there is such a thing as stupidly heroic.”

He stared at you wide-eyed. “A…golf ball?”

You shrugged. “I believe I implied that he wasn’t intelligent.”

Hoseok snorted and then started laughing. “I-I’m sorry!”

You smiled. “Good. Your brain trust will be here soon.”

“Did he…did he really…?”

“It was a little more complicated, and there was booze involved, but essentially, yes.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t sound so heartbroken.”

You shrugged. “Life goes on.”

“What does it go on from?” A new voice asked.

You turned to see one of the boys from the pool yesterday.

He looked you up and down, and offered a slight smile and his hand. “Hey. You must be the waitress that Hobi got so excited about hiring yesterday. I’m Taehyung, or, as the media knows me, V.”

You shook his hand. “Y/n. Nice to meet you.”

“Do you like Pina Coladas?” Taehyung asked, setting the box of what you assumed were pastries on the table.

“No.”

He froze a bit. “Really?”

“Really.”

“But...why? Wait...oh no...you don’t like them?” He stared at the box of pastries.

You looked at the box. “Let me guess, non-alcoholic pina colada donuts.”

“We don’t normally get them, I just saw them and I thought it’d be fun….” He looked completely dejected. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. I ate breakfast anyway. I had an omelet, and I have a chocolate muffin in my packed lunch in my office. So, if you would like, I can get that and you can pretend you got it specially for me because I got it from the same shop.”

He gasped. “Their chocolate muffins are amazing.”

“Do you want me to pretend?”

He considered it a moment.

“He doesn’t want everyone to be eating and not you,” Hoseok chuckled. “He’s sweet like that.”

You nodded. “Did the door to my office get locked?”

Hoseok shook his head. “I left it open so that you could get in and out without your keys, and so we could send a janitor in after the meeting. Maybe put your things in our breakroom for now.”

You nodded sharply.

“I’ll get it, if that’s okay with you?” Taehyung said.

You shrugged. “Whatever floats your boat.”

He bounced a bit as he raced out.

“Good job, offering to lie on your first day.” Hoseok looked amused.

“He looked like a kicked puppy. I’m honest, not abusive and heartless. Besides, it’s more to make him feel good. Most people would figure it out, right away.”

Hoseok nodded. “I guess so.”

“It doesn’t breach my not-yet-existing contract to lie, does it?”

He shook his head. “No. It doesn’t.”

Both of you fell quiet as Taehyung came back and slipped the muffin into the box of donuts (carefully).

Then several men arrived at about the same time.

“Hi, y/n! I’m Jimin, and I wasn’t sure what you liked so I got you a chocolate crème frappuccino. Is that okay?”

You nodded, smiling. “Sounds good. Thank you.” You took the cup and studied where they were sitting before taking a seat yourself--at the left hand of Hoseok--when he indicated for you to sit there.

“For the future, what do you normally drink?”

“This,” You answered, smiling. “I try to limit my caffeine intake.”

“Great, I’ll add it to my list and we can discuss alternatives later.” Jimin opened the donut box. “Tae, what have you done?”

“Pina colada donuts,” Tae answered, grinning. “And a muffin for y/n.”

Half of the boys had already grabbed a donut, or were in the process of doing so, but all seemed to freeze a bit.

“Why a muffin for y/n?”

“I don’t like coconut,” You answered, shrugging.

“Wait...at all?” One of them asked, eyes wide.

You sighed. “Nope. That is possible, you know. Just like I’m sure the odds are in my favor that at least one of you doesn’t like seafood. One of you probably doesn’t like coffee, one of you probably doesn’t like tea, and a few of you probably don’t like mint ice-cream.”

They all seemed to be surprised and yet also guilty.

“Well….”

One huffed. “Why did you hire her again? She doesn’t even like pina coladas.”

“Not everyone does,” Hoseok replied easily. “Shall we start our morning download?”

You studied the others as they dug into their donuts, wondering where the odd obsession with pina coladas came from--not for the first time. But they weren’t the only people you’d ever met with the obsession, and you doubted they would be the last.

“Besides, it can’t hurt us to look at things other than pina coladas.”

“Please,” One of them grumbled. “I don’t want to get sick of them.”

“Fine. Then let me ask this,” the huffy one asked. “Y/n, what is your beverage of choice?”

You met his gaze evenly, calculating all of the answers he could expect and all of the answers you could give him. But one stuck out as particularly perturbing for someone like him and a situation like this.

You leaned forward, smiled slightly, and answered, “Water.”

His eyes widened and he spluttered. “Water?”

“Water,” You confirmed cheerfully. “If I have to choose anything, I choose water.”

“Great, you can be the designated driver,” Taehyung joked, amusement sparkling in his eyes.

Huffy sat down, looking like he lost five years off of his life. “No way can we do a water theme….”

“If we could get back to what we’re being paid to be here for, that’d be great,” You said, in a tone that was too sweet to be honest.

Hoseok chuckled a little. “Right. Y/n is here to keep things...possible and practical. Her job is to be bluntly and brutally honest about things. After she gets a feel for this place, I’m sure she’ll feel more comfortable giving us all a piece of her mind. She’ll be shadowing me as J-Hope, and I’m not going to announce her job title for a while.”

“Because you don’t know what to call my job?”

“Pretty much. Anyway, as you guys know, we’re...running a little thin right now, and that’s on me. We’re going to be tightening up the ship, and making sure we’re running properly. Jimin, I need finances from across the company. Tae, I need all of the reports from HR. Jin and Jungkook, I want a list and summary of all of the projects we’re working on right now. Yoongi and Namjoon: keep working on that one project. Anything I need to know right now?”

“We have that event tomorrow, with the food trucks, and we need to decide on the judges.”

“Okay, so, we let everyone who wants to judge put their name on a list, then we’ll draw names from a hat. Jimin’s on the judgement panel as well.”

“I am?”

“You’ll eat anything, the rest of us are too picky. And Jungkook will be filming.” Hoseok made a couple of notes. “I have to talk to our janitorial staff, and y/n will be with me. They haven’t been cleaning up here like they’re supposed to. Y/n’s office was disgusting, and this room was a mess.”

“Uh oh. Firing anyone?”

“He wants to see if talking to them will fix the issue first,” You said dryly. “Which, in my experience, is a waste of time. There’s always someone dragging their feet and I bet if we looked through the HR reports, or even sent me in under cover for a few hours, we’d be able to pinpoint the weak link and remove it from the chain.”

“She’s got a point. I could take her down and tell them she’s doing some work in each department. We’ve done that before, for people who were actually working for one of the departments.” Jimin clicked his pen a couple of times.

Hoseok considered it a moment while he worked on a bite of his donut, then nodded. “Alright. Then we’ll do that. You might need different clothing. If it takes more than a couple of hours, don’t worry about it. If this works, we’ll put you in different departments as though you were experiencing everything. Because I think we need a spy in the HR department as well. Plus anything you find about employee welfare and happiness, that’s always a good thing. We’ll say you’re one of Jimin’s random hires. Get it done.”

Jimin nodded, then checked you over. “They’ll give her a uniform, so we don’t need to worry about her clothing. Maybe just fix your hair so that you look more like ‘random girl’ instead of ‘sophisticated lady’.”

“Did you just call me a lady?”

“Have you seen yourself?” Jimin shrugged.

“Anyway, finish things here, then y/n dress down and we’ll discuss your work later today. You’ll eat lunch with us, Jimin, make sure to mention that.” Hoseok wrote a couple more things down. “I’ll be in my office, reviewing things. I’ll let you know at lunch what the real plan is. We’re gonna change things.”

“Okay,” Huffy said firmly. “That’s that then. Donuts done, coffee drunk, work to do. Off we go. The sooner we work, the sooner we finish, the sooner we can get a drink.”

That seemed to be the signal for everyone to get up and get moving.

You followed Jimin out, letting him lead you to the bathroom. “Sophisticated lady?”

“Make your hair more casual, maybe remove some of your makeup. And lose the jacket.”

You sighed and did as you were told as he disappeared for a moment, returning with a different shirt and a sweater.

“Try these.”

You looked at them, a little concerned.

“They’re clean, trust me. And they’re more casual than what you’re wearing.”

You waved him out of the room again, changing into the new shirt and sweater, a little disturbed at how well they fit. “Where did you get these?” You asked, opening the door again.

“Someone left them behind. Can’t remember when, can’t remember who, just remember they didn’t work here.” He checked his own hair while you switched your hair from a bun to a nice-looking pony-tail. “Can’t even remember why her shirt and sweater were left behind. Think she borrowed one of mine?”

You stared at him. “Did you sleep with this girl?”

He turned back to you with a half-smile. “No. I was drunk, but no. My boyfriend at that time wouldn’t have been too thrilled.”

“Do you have baggage about said boyfriend as your friend does about the significant other that he lost?” You asked, studying the impish man in front of you.

Jimin’s smile died a bit. “Told you about that, did he?”

“More or less. Focused more on the ones that survived rather than the one that died. So, baggage: yes or no?”

Jimin came and stood right in front of you, then moved closer, reaching and closing the bathroom door, locking it.

You clenched a fist, just in case.

“Baggage...yes. Same ship. All of us, the whole board, everyone in there. My boyfriend...we were at the point of breaking up anyway, so I feel guilty about that, because he wouldn’t have been there if I had. Hoseok was going to propose. Namjoon’s childhood friend. Yoongi’s girlfriend was paralyzed, and her brain...she only recognizes her family and she’s...not doing well. Two of Taehyung’s friends. Jungkook’s brother. Seokjin’s whole family, except his nephew. He jokes about drinking, but he really just wants to get to the daycare at a decent time. If he knows he has to stay late, he has a babysitter that brings his nephew here. Hoseok feels a lot of responsibility because he was the one who suggested we have a board retreat and invite family and friends. Seokjin, Taehyung, Namjoon, and Jungkook were all there when it happened. Myself, Yoongi, and Hoseok were delayed because of an emergency on a project we were heading up.”

You nodded slowly. “Got it. So, this company is being run by seven people who have undergone a whole lot of trauma and grief in the past six months. That doesn’t sound at all like a recipe for disaster.” Eight, a little voice whispered, eight if you’re included.

Jimin nodded a bit. “Right. What did you lose in that accident?”

You held his gaze steadily. “The will to please others with false actions and honeyed words.”

Jimin’s head tilted slightly and his eyes narrowed just a bit.

“My older brother worked on that ship, one of the engineers. He’d been filing reports like a good little worker bee about some of the issues they were seeing, but the reports were being ignored. He was threatened, and told to keep quiet if he wanted to keep his job. He told me, I told him to fight, to make sure no one got on that damn ship.”

“But he didn’t,” Jimin whispered, gaze shifting away from you.

“But I gave the people suing that company everything they needed to win their case, especially with HopeWorld providing the financial means for everyone to fight. It was serious neglect on their part, but even I was too pliant to do anything about it. So I’m done. I’m done trying to please others and put up with their crap and if you don’t unlock that door, I’m sorry, but I might punch you.”

He unlocked it. “Right. Sorry.”

“I’ve been dealing with too many thugs from the cruise company. That’s why I was job hunting. That’s why I got that job at the bar. It was a favor that a friend called in from the owner, but they both thought I was a bad fit. I was just desperate. And then Hoseok came in drunk on one glass of wine and complaining about a virgin pina colada.”

“That’s why he wouldn’t stop talking about virgins,” Jimin muttered. “He kept saying something about virgins being confident, and that he wished he was that confident, and that he was joking about not ordering virgins and it was all weird.”

“He should not be allowed to drink.”

“Well, normally he’s a sober and sleepy drunk, so, yesterday was a bit of an outlier. Happiest I’d seen him in a while, though. Especially after he met you.” He was studying you again.

“If you have something to say, then say it. I told you, I’m not waiting around for BS.”

“You’re not like the person he lost, I can tell that right away. But you’re the first person he’s shown...interest in. I guess I’m just curious about what he saw that intrigued him so much.”

“My winning personality and barbed words,” You answered, then grabbed your wallet from your purse and tucked it into your pocket, shoving the purse into the empty drawer that Hoseok had pointed out earlier. “What was the person he lost like?”

“Soft, a little...out-there, artistic, wild dreamer, adventurous, spontaneous,” Jimin listed, then shrugged. “Different.”

You paused to look at Jimin again. “When you said he’s taken an interest in me, did you mean….”

“Possibly romantically. Not definite, but there’s always a few different paths interest in other people can take us, isn’t there. If you’re anything like I’m assuming you are, you’d actually be a good match for him.” Jimin walked out. “Now, come on. We’ve got work to do.”

-----

You were undercover in HopeWorld for a week before you finally were able to return and start moving into your office--having turned in a twenty-page report on your findings while working undercover.

And it was spotlessly clean this time, and there was a computer there. It was even sporting a nice, new plant in the one corner with a card that read it was from all of the other board members.

The winky-face said that Taehyung had been in charge of delivering it and writing the note.

So you set to unpacking the small box of office supplies that you were bringing in.

You were getting a corkboard and a whiteboard later, plus two more chairs so that anyone else in your office could sit down (or you could switch seats through the day if you needed to), and you definitely planned on bringing some more plants here since it got more sunlight than your tiny flat did.

So you unpacked a couple of empty binders, sheafs of paper, a few notebooks, your new pens and pencils, and your pen and pencil holders. You set a photo-frame on your desk. You pulled out a bottle of lotion and put it in one of your desk drawers.

And that’s where you found the photo of Hoseok with the person that had to be his lover.

“Of course,” You murmured, sighing, then you set the photo aside to return to him at your meeting later.

In the past week, you’d gotten a pretty good read on most of the boys, even Yoongi.

But Seokjin was distant, and kept you distant. He didn’t stick around on the days you were in what was technically his department, instead finding an excuse to be elsewhere.

Taehyung and Jimin had both shrugged when you told them that Seokjin was avoiding you.

“Don’t see why he would,” Jimin said, and you knew he was being honest.

It was fine. The boys weren’t your job anyway. Your job was to look at things practically, find problems or potential problems, and present them to people who could fix them. Your job was to question everything so that every eventuality is considered and the best product of the workers' time is produced.

“That’s not a very big box for such a big office.”

You jumped and dropped the stapler, but jumped back so that it wouldn’t staple you on accident (something that had, unfortunately, happened before). “You trying to give me a heart attack?”

Seokjin shrugged, strolling in casually and picking it up. “Not my intention.”

“Then what is your intention?” You asked, wondering what could have brought the illusive man to your office before the morning meeting. According to the others, and your own experiences, he was always just barely on time for the meeting.

He just looked at you carefully. “Can I ask you a question, and get an honest answer?”

“Fire away,” You replied, lifting an eyebrow curiously.

He moved closer so he was looking you in the eye. “Why did you take this job?”

You frowned a bit, stepping back and trying to figure out why he was asking that. But also, how to answer.

“Please answer honestly.”

“Jimin told you about my brother, the cruise ship?”

“Yes. He told all of us, Hoseok too. Hoseok had his suspicions. I don’t think they know that you were on the ship as well.”

You huffed out a laugh and leaned against your desk. “Good. I don’t need any of that nonsense.”

He nodded. “You were answering my question.”

You took a deep breath and then released it, looking at the ceiling. “Desperation. Have to pay the rent. And he seemed...optimistic.” There was something appealing to that optimism. Something familiar and comfortable. Refreshing.

“What did he tell you your job was going to be?”

“Dealing with trash that tried to get near him.”

“What’s on your resume?”

“Nothing to make me qualify for this office. And if you think I’m here because I’m taking advantage of his kindness...I can’t say that you’re wrong, but I’m also just curious about what he intends for me. Don’t think that I enjoy saying that someone is dead weight. They’re people, and they need to make a living somehow, but they need to make that living honestly. THere are people who want jobs, who need jobs, who are actually willing to put in the work.”

“So, going undercover…?”

“It was a solution that would alleviate the feelings of guilt that our boss might have felt if we hadn’t fully investigated and ended up firing someone. Besides, he strikes me as a bit of a neat freak, so I figure the janitorial staff should be top-notch. I did hear a rumor that J-Hope had liberated a cleaning cart and taken it to the top floor, though.”

Jin sighed, shaking his head. “He really hasn’t trusted the cleaning staff since your first day.”

“Lovely. Did he clean this office?”

“Gotta admire his work ethic.”

You shook your head. “So, I’m not the only person who’s almost completely in the dark about what my job actually is, am I?”

“I think he keeps rethinking what he wants for you.”

“And you’ve been avoiding me because…?”

He shrugged a bit. “I haven’t. It’s been a bad week for my nephew. I’ve been in and out of the office all week. Plus I’ve been working with Hobi.”

You both jumped as someone banged on your office door.

Hoseok threw it open with a grin, then halted, surprised. “Oh, hyung.”

“Hey, Hoseok-y. Y/n and I were just talking. I’ll leave you two to discuss y/n’s job. Because I think we’re all confused about it.” Seokjin took one of your paperclips and left.

Hoseok looked after him in confusion. “Did he ask if he could take that paperclip?”

“Um, no, but it’s just a paperclip. You read the report?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Good work on that. Sorry you were thrown into it so soon after starting.”

“You mean my first day.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. Your first day. So, I’ve figured out what your story is going to be.”

“My story?”

“Whenever a higher-up is brought in, they’re presented to the company. There are already rumors about a higher-up being brought into Mr. Jung’s board, and it’s extremely unorthodox for us to not present you within the first two weeks. So, we’ve got a couple days leeway to get you settled into your actual job.”

“I’m pretty sure that was part of my actual job.”

“Right. Anyway, I thought we might tell people that you’re the eyes and ears of Mr. Jung, and that one of your jobs is ensuring that we are at top potential.”

“Ok.”

“Which is basically what we already said, but I want to make it clear that you are in direct communication with HR and all reports go to you at the end of the day. I’m just having trouble coming up with your title.”

“Quality manager?”

He paused. “Ok, you’re really good. How have you not worked in a job like this before?”

“Hard times, big sacrifices. So, if I’m understanding things correctly, you want me to look through the reports on behaviors and such and make sure they’re looked into and that we’re paying attention, but also you want me to check in on projects and make sure we’re asking all the right questions.”

“Exactly. Quality manager is an excellent way of describing that job. But also, your job is to keep people from trying to see Mr. Jung. Mr. Jung has enough on his plate.”

You nodded. “I can do that. Shall we practice? I read through the notes on that memory core device.”

He grinned. “Sounds great. But first, the morning meeting.”

You nodded. “Thank you for cleaning my office, by the way.”

He just smiled back. “I can’t stand messes.”

“I gathered. You’ve got a pretty big one downstairs, though.”

“Yeah, I’m kind of dreading firing people though.”

“Then let me handle it. You can be there as a known authoritative figure and I’ll do the talking.”

“They might get mad at you for spying.”

“Then I trust you to handle their subsequent anger appropriately. I’ll try to keep things professional.”

“Thanks.”

“For?”

“Even offering to do any of this. I wasn’t really ready to take on the boss position. But I can’t sit by while people abuse their place in this company. I have to deal with the messes. My family didn’t build this legacy for me to let it fall apart.” His gaze was darker, but held determination to continue forward. A sternness to see things through.

The side of J-Hope that was the CEO of HopeWorld.

“I think once you get over the first trials you’ll be just fine.”

He looked at you in surprise. “You think?”

“I believe,” you amended. “I believe you are capable of being a great leader. I believe even though you are generous and compassionate, you will be able to handle the harder parts of this job for the good of the many employees who are doing their jobs to the best of their ability. Because that’s what it means when people are fired. The waste they accumulate is returned to the company and those that are still with it can benefit, or others who need the job take it and actually accomplish it. You’re improving efficiency, which makes the company prosper so you can do more for your employees.”

He slowly nodded. “That makes sense.”

You nodded. “Look at me: I could actually afford a new work outfit.”

He grinned, looking you over. “And it’s a great outfit.”

Okay. You hadn’t expected that.

“Are you implying something inappropriate?”

“Never. I just think it’s a very appropriate look and that it is very good at accentuating your good looks. You’re very good at shopping.”

You weren’t. Not really. Taehyung and Jimin had tagged along and helped you shop because you weren’t sure what would be best for the job and position. You had picked the items out, but Jimin and Taehyung had helped you style them together and decide on them.

“Sounds inappropriate to me.”

He chuckled. “Can’t you just take the compliment? It’s early.”

“If you compliment me, people might think that you’re showing favoritism.”

“Let them,” He answered easily, shrugging and holding the door open for you.

“Are you drunk again? I told you, you really shouldn’t drink.” You folded your arms.

He just laughed. “In. We’re late.”

“If we are, it’s your fault,” You replied, walking in and waving to the other men.

“Yes, of course. I wouldn’t dream of blaming you. Morning, everyone.” Hoseok took his seat. “What’s the day look like?”

“Same as yesterday, except whatever you and y/n are up to. My project is almost ready to present, Seokjin’s coming to help me today.”

“I do have my nephew today, he’s having a bad day,” Seokjin said quietly, making notes.

“That’s fine,” Hoseok said firmly, Namjoon merely nodding. “People like seeing him, and we’ve always said that kids are welcome as long as they don’t disturb others.”

“And he can come to my office anytime,” Taehyung said with a fond grin.

Seokjin nodded. “I have a meeting with my division just before lunch?”

Taehyung grinned. “We can color!”

Jimin rolled his eyes. “Work, Taehyung. He can color, you can design.”

“Right. Right. That.”

“I need Yoongi-hyung’s help on the memory-core project.”

Hoseok looked mildly intrigued, glancing at you.

“I can head down after I check on my project. Might be an hour or so.” Yoongi checked his watch.

Hoseok nodded. “And we’ll be there in about two hours so that Y/n can look things over as my second set of eyes.”

Jungkook looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “O-oh, o-o-okay.”

The others looked mildly surprised, but quickly moved on.

“I’ll be on phone meetings to organize that event most of the morning. Our employees really enjoyed the food truck war, and it’s summer, so I think it’s best to try and have enjoyable events as frequently as possible during the weeks we can’t give them 3-day weekends.” Jimin twirled his pen as he spoke, looking over something on his planner.

“I’ll leave it in your hands, just don’t go over budget.” Hoseok jotted a few things down. “Okay. Y/n and I have to deal with some unsatisfactory employees, then we’ll be down to see how things are going with the memory core. Not sure about our afternoon, but I might leave that for her to settle in. How does that sound to you?”

“If ‘settle in’ means looking over reports, then that sounds fine.”

He nodded, flipping his book closed. “Alright. Then off we go.”

You got up and followed him out, and into the elevator.

“It’ll be best to go to them since it would draw a lot of attention to bring them up. We need the head of janitorial service with us as well, and I want to apprise her of what’s going to happen before we do it. You were smart to record the conversation, I’ll present that to Chiseul.”

Chiseul had been in charge of sanitation at the company for eight years, she was kind, but firm and had no patience for slacking. When you’d worked under her, even for a day, you could tell she expected the best. She had put who she thought were her best people in charge of cleaning the top floor, but instead they had been doing very basic cleaning and actually stealing from the company.

Her reaction to finding out was silent fury. “Are you sure you don’t want me to fire them?”

“We believe that it’s best for us to handle it, that way others will know that they can’t pull anything. I’m sorry we deceived you,” You said respectfully, because you did respect her. You’d put in your report that she should get a raise.

Hoseok nodded. “We will be implementing a system to keep people accountable soon.”

She accepted that with a sharp nod and then went to call those who would be fired into her office.

Hoseok groaned as soon as the elevator doors closed. “That could have gone better.”

------

You held the ice to your face and shrugged. “Could have gone worse. Security stepped in at the appropriate time. And I didn’t fight back, which means I can’t be charged with assault should they try anything like that. There were also multiple witnesses.”

“But you got hurt,” He argued, rubbing his face. “You got hurt.”

“So, I’ll have a black eye. I walk to work, so it’s not like I’ll be driving while mildly impaired. We got ice on it pretty quickly, and I don’t think it will end up being too bad of a black eye.”

“You got hurt,” He whispered.

“And I’m fine. Hoseok, we’re on our way to look over a major project in your company. Pull yourself together.” You reached over and straightened his collar. “It’s a bruise, not a fatal wound.”

He caught your wrist, holding you in place so he could move the ice pack with his other hand and see, the whole time his expression holding worry and what might have been nausea. “Why would they attack you? I was there too. Why would they only attack you?”

He wasn’t asking. He wasn’t listening.

“Betrayal,” You answered anyway, sighing a little and forcing the ice-pack back to your face.

“Uh, you two coming out of there or do you need another moment?” Yoongi asked, an eyebrow raised as he looked between you, not seeming to care that he’d startled both of you since you’d been too busy looking at one another to realize the elevator was open. But his gaze stuck on the ice pack. “Shit, they hit you?”

“Don’t you start too,” You groaned, exiting the elevator.

Hoseok stopped you, pulling you back so he could look at your eye again. “Hyung, look at her eye.”

Yoongi frowned a bit more, but complied. His eyes widened a bit. “Uh…infirmary.”

“Thought so.” Hoseok pulled you back into the elevator.

“Oh, come on,” You groaned.

Yoongi just shushed you. “Your eye looks bloody.”

“Oh.” Well, that was special. It didn’t especially hurt, but that might be because you were numbing the area.

But Hoseok ended up taking you to the hospital for evaluation.

As the two of you walked out of the hospital, you sighed for the fortieth time. “Told you I was fine.”

“That’s not what he said.”

“He said that I should be fine and to come back in if my eye gets worse or I start having other issues. It was probably her ring that got me.” You glanced at your watch. “Man, I’m not going to experience a regular workday, am I?”

His head dropped. “Sorry.”

“Not your fault. I’d probably get bored if it got too quiet. And feeling sorry doesn’t do any good. You didn’t hurt me, so you’re wasting energy by being sorry.”

“I know, but I got you into this job—“

“Are you thirsty?” You asked, stopping.

“What?”

“Are you thirsty?” You asked slowly.

“Um, I guess?”

You nodded and pulled him into the restaurant, dragging him to the bar.

“I don’t think you should have alcohol—“

“Hi, can I get a water with lemon and a Piña colada?” You asked the bartender, ignoring Hoseok. You had no intention of drinking, but Hoseok was so tense it was making you tense.

He stared at the piña colada. “What?”

“Drink. You’re driving me crazy. You need to relax and I doubt you’re going to do it on your own. I’ll make sure you don’t end up in a back alley.” You patted his hand.

“So…if you could drink, what would it be?” He asked.

“Probably a gimlet, with extra lime. But like I said, my preferred drink is water. I like to keep my head clear. There’s less golf-ball swallowing.”

He snorted and choked on his second sip of his drink.

You patted his back as he tried to recover from choking, and he was laughing in between coughing which wasn’t helping at all.

The bartender was looking concerned.

“His wife left him for his sister and his brother in law confessed his love to him, it’s a royal mess,” you told him, rolling your eyes.

Hoseok died a little more. “Stop,” He gasped, finally just laughing.

“It’s not my fault he thinks your butt is cute.”

He collapsed off of the stool, thudding to the ground and laughing harder.

“Man, two sips and you’re already drunk. You better not ask me if I like that nastiness again.”

He got up with your help, starting to calm down. “I won’t ask that.”

“Good. But seriously, I’m cutting you off. You’re too much of a lightweight.” You settled the bill with some extra for the bartender, then guided him toward the door.

But both of you stopped at the door.

“It’s raining?” Hoseok asked, still a little breathless.

“It would appear so.” You looked up at the sky.

“Do you like getting caught in the rain?” He asked quietly, holding out his hand.

You laughed softly, taking his hand. “I actually really do.”

“Really?” He smiled as he laced his fingers with yours.

“Really,” You confirmed, looking out at the rain with a little excitement.

“You might ruin your clothing.”

“Clothing washes, as do I.” You tugged and pulled him out into the rain, giggling as the rain started soaking into you.

He laughed as well, looking less comfortable in the rain, but like he was willing to let you lead him through it.

No.

Like he would follow you into anything.

“Why did you offer me the job?” You asked.

He met your gaze with surprise.

“Why me?”

He smiled at you, stepping closer so he could be heard. “I couldn’t say goodbye.”

You tilted your head.

“I couldn’t say goodbye to you, not at that time, and I don’t know why, but I’m trying to figure it out.”

You could work with that.

Hoseok touched your cheek, then moved in.

You knew your eyes were a little wide.

He gave a slight smile and then leaned in to kiss you.

You allowed it, and you didn’t regret it as his lips met yours. It was…new. Different. Right.

Except for one tiny detail.

You pushed him away gently. “Okay. But you need a new go-to drink because I forgot to mention I’m actually allergic to coconut, so, I’m gonna take some allergy meds now.”

His eyes widened. “I like mimosas and daiquiri.”

You nodded, swallowing an allergy pill. “Great. We won’t kill me, then.”

“How allergic are you?”

You shrugged. “I should be fine now.”

“Okay.”

“So, if you want to kiss me, we can do that again.”

He met your gaze, smiling. “That sounds like a bad idea.”

You rolled your eyes, then pulled him in. “Kiss me.”

He grinned. “Man, I love your honesty.”

And in the rain, you kissed your piña colada man, ignoring what might happen in your future.

“Might not be a permanent job, my judgement might be clouded. I might show favoritism.”

“Then call me a consultant pending permanent employment and depending where this takes us we’ll…let the others decide my fate.”

“Works for me. Let me walk you home. Where do you live?”

You gestured vaguely. “That way. About fifteen minutes from your building. Work. Place.”

“When you said you were a virgin—”

“I never said I was a—walk. We’re getting soaked standing here like idiots and I hear thunder.” You started walking, keeping hold of his hand. “That or I start reevaluating what parts you really need.”

He laughed. “You know what’s funny?”

“No.”

“When you’re actually being honest, your hands relax, and when you’re bluffing, they get all tense.”

Huh.

“What is your biggest concern with the memory core?”

You considered it for a moment. “It could just be a matter of wording.”

“That’s still important.”

“The proposal suggests imprinting all of the memories of the player onto the memory core so that full immersion is more stimulating.”

“Right.”

“But it’s wording makes it sound like the game is replacing their memories. Imagine someone overwrites the data: what happens when the player tries to re-immerse themselves?”

He was quiet for a while. “That…could be….”

“Disastrous. This machine is supposed to work with your brain, but corrupted files could shut the brain down or damage it. It is incredibly dangerous if I’m understanding it correctly.”

“It could hurt people. We have to tick every box. And come up with fail safes.”

“To me, it’s not worth the risk. But that’s why I wanted to talk to them, to make sure I was understanding things.” You gestured to a building. “This is me.”

He nodded, only following when you tugged on his hand. “Are you sure you want me—”

“We’re soaked and the wind is picking up, and—” lightning flashed through the sky, “the storm is getting worse. We’ll call you a cab or something.”

“Right. Inside. Good idea.”

You ditched your shoes the moment you got in, rushing to the bathroom to grab towels so the two of you didn’t drip all over everything. “It’s a bit hot in here, sorry, my AC broke.”

“Just means we’re not going to get chilled,” He answered, taking the towel and looking around. “It’s nice.”

You glanced around as well. You’d opted for minimalism since that was the only way to make the place not feel claustrophobic. “It does the job.”

“So, you’re allergic to coconut?”

“Mostly the consumption, but I do have mild reactions externally as well.”

“How’d you find out?”

“Coconut hair treatment with my friend when I was fifteen. They had to cut my hair off because my scalp blistered and broke out and it was…traumatizing. But that was because it was coconut oil right against my skin for over an hour, undiluted. My daily allergy meds help if I happen to use, I don’t know, soap with coconut in it.” You put the kettle on the stove since you were feeling kind of chilled. “Tea?”

“Sure.” He started examining the photos on your wall (all three of them). “So, if I hadn’t been the last straw for that job, where do you think you’d be right now?”

“Dumping a scotch-neat on my boss’s head, if not down his pants, after quitting and looking for a job with less drunk people. My boss was drunk, my coworkers were drunk, everyone was drunk, except me. Do you know how surreal that feels?”

“And yet you accepted a job from me, someone who was drunk?”

“So you admit it,” You pointed out.

He rubbed his neck. “I usually only drink in the evenings, it generally makes me sleepy.”

“You had caffeine with your alcohol, then.”

“Accidentally.”

“That would explain the whole ‘why is the rum always gone’ debacle.”

He was very red looking in profile, but that could have been the lighting. “Yeah. I was embarrassed as I did it and yet I didn’t stop. Stupid.”

“If I hadn’t been having a terrible night, I probably would have enjoyed the reference, honestly. But, as you put it, you were the last straw. I would probably be applying to fast food right about now if it hadn’t been you.” You watched him studying your photos far longer than they were worth studying. “Are my photos that interesting?”

“These three were the ones you consciously decided to display, which means they mean something to you.”

You thought about that for a moment, thinking about all of the photos of families that the people you’d worked under while spying had shown you. Always the kids, always the wife, always the beloved pet.

But Hoseok had no photos in his office.

“You don’t keep any photos visible in your office, and office photos are, arguably, the ones that provide the most insight into people,” You countered, sitting on the floor with the tray of tea on the coffee table.

He joined you on the floor. “It’s a precaution. I keep the photos in J-Hope’s desk, the locked drawer. I’m surprised you noticed, though.”

“I wouldn’t have, but people kept shoving their photos in my face and if they weren’t, then I was redirecting their attention to their photos so I would get away with my snooping. People like to talk about themselves.”

He was watching you, a soft smile on his face. “You really are something else.”

You shrugged. “Don’t know what to tell you there.”

“We could hide it, you know. Us, whatever we are?”

“Professional flirtation,” You guessed, holding the mug and surprised at how cold your fingers had been. “Workday dalliance?”

“Wow, um, anyway, we could just not tell anyone about us.”

“9 to 5 lovers,” You quipped, trying to come up with more.

“Are you purposefully ignoring me?”

“Ye-es,” You dragged out, trying to think of another thing to call it.

“You don’t think we could?”

“I think the boys would figure it out before the morning meeting ended.”

“Oh, right, I didn’t mean from the boys.”

“Oh, ok, please continue.” You leaned on your hand and watched him.

“We stay away from anything unprofessional at work, with the exception of in private, and we make sure no one catches on. Then, when I officially take my position...we reevaluate where we are and adjust accordingly.”

“Officially take your position?”

“Technically, I’m not yet the CEO, my father is, but I’ve been acting CEO for about three years.”

He didn’t add that they had been the most prosperous three years of the company’s history, but maybe he was trying to stay humble.

“So, once he’s better and we finish a few things, he’ll hand over things to me officially. In front of the company.”

“Revealing that J-Hope is actually his son and everyone’s boss.”

He nodded. “Which would also be revealing that you have been working for me.”

“All of which could be potentially disastrous.”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “I bet you’d say I should have been open about it the whole time.”

“Not at all. I think this was the best course of action. Everyone respects J-Hope, they like him. They like his work ethic, they like how he listens, and they like how he cares. They like how bright and cheerful he is. They don’t know if they can trust their CEO, but they know that the board has been taking care of them and the CEO has been allowing it. They’re curious, and a little apprehensive.” You remembered all of the conversations you’d had over the week.

But one stuck out to you.

You’d been getting coffee with one of the employees in the marketing department, discussing the company and it’s leadership.

“I don’t know about the CEO. Or, well,” She flustered for a second. “I don’t know why he feels the need to hide from us. His father never did, but maybe there’s a plan. Every now and then, they have someone who sort of...scopes things out. They had me in project development for a couple of weeks so that I could tell them what I thought of the person that was testing the projects. That person was Mr. Jeon.”

You’d tilted your head, confused.

“Jeon Jungkook, he’s one of the board members, the youngest board member. He’s really good at catching on, which makes him a prime test subject for things that are about to be released. We can’t bring people in, not often, because information tends to get leaked. He’s been a godsend to the company. Mr. Jung found him, too, he’s found just about every top employee, and all of the board members--except J-Hope. He worked his way up through the company, and then impressed Mr. Jung Sr. and was given a job on the board. He looks after employee welfare and we’ve had an amazing increase in our benefits program ever since. It’s a shame Mr. Jung Jr. didn’t start out like J-Hope.”

“What’s that look for?”

You jumped a bit, refocusing on him. “All of the things that J-Hope has done are your accomplishments. You’ve improved the benefits program, upgraded the retirement package, made sure that everyone has received pay increases, and you worked your way up through the company. Your intellect lies in people, and your devotion to your job as their employer has inspired loyalty to you. I’m not saying you should go out tomorrow and reveal that you’re Mr. Jung Jr.”

“Do they really call me that?” He cringed.

“But you shouldn’t fear...telling them who you are. Yes, it could cause problems, but only momentarily. Until then, you want me to help you deal with trash and question everything so that the ship is running tightly when the official transfer happens. Right?” You asked, sitting up straight. “That way if anything happens with stocks, or the market, the company is running smoothly and will stay afloat.”

“You have a business degree, don’t you?”

“I never graduated,” You corrected easily. “But I did study some business, yes. This is what you want from me, correct?”

“Yes. I need you to tell me to suck it up when I hesitate.”

“Okay. Did you read my report on the other departments?”

He nodded slowly.

“Then I suggest you decide what should be done to those employees, and what you’re actually willing to do. Because I outlined my suggestions for each of them, but ultimately, it is up to you. You want to run a tight ship, you need to get rid of excess crew, which sounds terrible, but it’s true. If they’re not doing their job, they have no reason to be on deck. And some of them were on the wrong decks.”

He nodded. “I’ll review it once more, but we’ll probably go with your suggested actions.”

“Okay. Glad we understand each other.” You grabbed your phone, checking it. “Taehyung wants to know if I’m alive, and if I’m alive, is Hoseok alive as well.”

“Crap,” He went into his pocket. “Oh. They just wanted to go drinking. Taehyung is our usual designated driver. He’s not a big drinker like Jungkook and Jimin. I’m going to ask him to swing by and pick me up. If that’s okay.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t know how you felt about where you lived. You’re kind of hard to read.”

“I live here, I pay the rent, it’s small, but it’s mine. Or were you referring more to a bunch of men knowing where I, a single woman, lived?”

“The latter.”

“Ah, sweet of you to be concerned, but Jimin’s already seen my place.”

“He has?” Hoseok frowned.

“He dropped me off after we went shopping. None of the stores had bathrooms. Nature called.” You shrugged.

“I don’t like that,” Hoseok muttered, obviously more to himself.

“You don’t like that he had to use the bathroom? Or that we went shopping together? Because, technically, he was the only board member I was allowed to be seen with as one of his employment experiments.” You pointed out, waiting for him to pull himself together and continue texting Taehyung. “Also, you might want to text him before it’s too late.”

“That he saw your house.”

“Interesting. Text Taehyung,” You instructed carefully. “Before you have to pay for a cab.”

He did, but he was frowning the whole time.

You rolled your eyes. “Jimin was here for all of five minutes. I doubt he could even tell you what color the walls in the bathroom are.”

“Color,” He muttered, getting up and heading to the small hall.

“Um….”

“Purple. Walls are purple. Take that.”

“Oh my god, there is no way you’re even buzzed, why are you acting weird?”

“Purple. Blue. White. Three pictures.”

You rolled your eyes, and shook your head. “Weirdo. I mean, I knew that, only weird people like pina coladas--”

He caught you and kissed you again. “Don’t let Jimin in. He’s a minx. He’s a fox. That magic trickster fox that seduces you. A succubus.”

“Incubus,” you corrected. “Which is a sort of demon. Magical fox thing is a kitsune. You’re mixing your mythologies.”

“You’re so smart,” He said, but he said it in a sort of happy, sighing way while looking at you so softly and gently and adoringly….

You believed him.

He touched your cheek, then quickly pulled his hands away. “Alright. How about a rule?”

“Depends on the rule,” You replied.

“You have good judgement, and self control,” His gaze shifted to your eye, and his fingers brushed the edge of the bruising with a feather-light touch, “So, I want there to be a rule that at work, any...personal things between us are initiated by you. Which means you can shut me down at any time, anyway you feel necessary.”

“You mean, like asking you about your ex?”

“Ouch,” He muttered, looking down. “Yeah. Sure. What do you want to know?”

“Am I replacing your ex?”

He shook his head. “Not even remotely.”

“I’m in their office.”

He looked up, then shook his head. “No, you’re in my mom’s old office. Yesuel never worked at HopeWorld. Too much of a free-spirit.”

“But you loved them all the same.”

“I did. I thought I did. Love is...tricky.”

“Are you ready for another significant other?” You asked.

He met your gaze, holding it. “Do you like getting lost in the rain?”

You smiled. “You know I do.”

“Then you know I am,” He replied easily, fingers resting under your chin. “Are you going to be okay, with your eye like that? They did say it could get worse, and if it does….”

“Are you asking if you can stay? Because you’d have to borrow clothing, or live in a blanket until your clothing is dry. I don’t have much that would fit you.”

“I’m worried about you. I’ll stay on the couch.” He touched a strand of your still-damp hair. “Eye injuries are dangerous.”

“Didn’t you already tell Taehyung to come pick you up?”

He shook his head. “I was just going to walk down to work and get my car and pretend that Taehyung picked me up.”

You hit him lightly. “And if you got struck by lightning?”

“My company would be in good hands,” He answered, shrugging slightly. “But I would miss out on a few things. But you can get hit by lightning and live.”

“Not well,” You argued, frowning.

He gently ran a thumb over your eyebrow, as though to ease away your frown. “Besides, I was already struck by you. I don’t think anything could knock me off my feet like that, I don’t think anything ever has. You’re new and unique. And I want to know everything I can about you. Even if you don’t like pina coladas. Even if you are a virgin.”

You rolled your eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”

“And you’re addicted to it,” He replied easily, smirking at you.

And yes.

You were.

It was crazy, but you were completely addicted to the banter with him, the way he smiled while you were grumbling, the way he asked what you thought of things and actually listened. You liked his gentleness and compassion.

He brought hope back to your world.

“I agree to your rule,” You whispered.

Hoseok grinned and kissed you.

Your future was going to be crazy...but maybe the consistency of his smile was enough to get you through.

#btswritingbingo #hoseok x reader #jung hoseok x reader #jhope x reader #reader x jhope #reader x bts #bts fic #jung hoseok #jhope #jimin #taehyung #seokjin #yoongi #namjoon #business au #ceo!hoseok #ceo!jhope #one-shot

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theunconcernedembalmer · 3 years

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Toko! I was thinking of creating an ask the character blog for IDV or Genshin Impact and wanted a few tips on how to start off. Anything you can share?

ey yo my dude!! thank you so much for this question, now im lowkey tempted (again) to make a genshin ask blog sjadhlkshgkahshglsaj anyway my 1.5 cents is under the cut, yall know how much i talk here HAHAHAHAH

uhhhhhh so i guess we start with picking a character u really Vibe with tm? I KNOW THIS SOUNDS LIKE COMMON SENSE BUT LIKE ive been considering making a genshin ask blog for a while now but i never really got to it cos i couldnt really decide on a character (plus the fact that their outfits are. so intricate. is also a hmm since i try to follow details to a t) (at first i wanted to do zhongli, but i feel like to be able to muse him well u need to know the lore super super well, which i dont n im too lazy to research on that aha. n u know how much i respect characterizations, especially for such a complex character like him. i also considered xiangling for a period of time mostly for guoba but also like i have 2+1 blogs here n having one more might not be a very good idea aha) (as for aesop he was my Hyperfixation Character tm also cos i looked at his kit n went Yep i could work with this. probably)

so assuming ur not a dumbass like me n u kinda know who u wanna pick, id actually say to snoop around here for other ask blogs n kinda get a feel of the... scene? is that the word? or like u know, other blogs that u can potentially vibe with. ive run a couple of ask blogs before this current one (both that have died for different reasons) n from my experience interacting with other blogs (if theyre okay with it, i think most should be) is pretty fun. it also kinda helps get ur blog around to other ppl on other blogs so they can go Oh whats this cool shit n check u out, n its also a reason why we kinda reblog promo posts for other blogs (also cos we’re always excited when someone new comes on, its really the more the merrier. we see all :eyes:). interacting with other blogs is also an option when ur inbox is looking real roomy too

another reason why i havent exactly done a genshin blog is that idk i cant actually seem to find genshin ask blogs around (i have seen rp blogs, or those that answer asks with mostly text instead of art, but thats. not my thing since i hate my own writing aha) (i did find one aether blog some time ago, but for some reason i hardly see them around anymore??? idk man i might be wrong). its not like im trying super hard to find them ask blogs, so im sure they exist out there (hopefully?? im not sure but im being optimistic). i mean theres nothing wrong with just starting an ask blog without others around, but for me i do find a difference when i interact with other ask blogs n when i dont, n i prefer when theres others to have fun with (unfortunately i couldnt find any ask blogs to interact with in my previous fandom. i tried, but the blogs i approached seemed to go inactive shortly afterwards...) plus u get to meet friends that way too :D (i made a lot of friends via idv askblogs n its really been a joy vibing with others)

as for the idv scene. gestures around me. unfortunately there are a lot of ask blogs that arent that active anymore, but theres still some of us who are alive n kicking empty inboxes, n im sure everyone would love to see a new face around. winks at u. also there seems to be a lot more blogs popping up lately, which is really heartening to see.

then u kinda just. make ur blog? n a starting introduction post so ppl can reblog it n spread the word XD n yay u have a blog i guess??? XD

i gotta say tho. dont expect ur blog to take off immediately (especially for smaller fandoms like idv, tvbh i didnt think my blog would even get half this far when i started cos of how non existent idv tumblr seemed to be) n ur inbox will probably be looking pretty empty a lot of the time (or at least filled with some that u havent quite thought of how to reply to yet aha) (but also like empty inboxes happen pretty often, im sure most of us here have experienced this problem)

in the case of the first ask blog i ever started, it never really took off at all. ngl it was kind of demoralizing n depressing but to be fair i had picked one of the more obscure characters in the series, so obscure that many ppl in the fandom would have never heard of this character before. if u wanted to know, i took a character that only appeared in the 2nd musical of the series, who also made a very brief cameo in the manga to acknowledge his existence within that universe. thats how obscure my character was, but i went with him purely because he was my favourite character. i will say though i did enjoy it while it lasted n i learnt a lot from the experience, n i think thats whats important really.

i guess this kinda leads on (not really but let me digress) to the whole uhhhh thing where if u choose a more popular character, u get more attention. which is fine i guess? if u really vibe with the character, i mean theyre popular for a reason. n choosing a more popular fandom (like genshin) would objectively also get u more viewers n numbers. but like honestly i believe that ask blogs are meant for u to have fun with, n like trying to get popular gets tiring pretty fast (this shouldnt be like a main goal, but u know sometimes u subconsciously also want that gucci follower count n bomb ass notes or something. i used to be guilty of this until i realized it isnt worth it) especially if ur not enjoying yourself in the process. (case in point: my previous fandom was considerably larger n my blog got about 700 followers within a year or so, but it got very tiring n stressful to maintain after my interest in it died, n no one was really interacting with the blog even though i tried which kinda made it even more depressing despite the so called success n popularity of the blog)

anyway on a less serious note, theres a lot of fun stuff u can do with the ask blog, like some ask blogs have really fancy tags that i really like n try to do but also like not really HAHAHAHA. i kinda just channel what i want to see in an ask blog into my own ask blogs (good art is one, i try very hard for it to be good :,DD another is characterization, n others is just extra miscellaneous arts n stuffs like au ideas or memes. these are also somethings u could work on during ask box downtimes perhaps)

uhhh another side thing is like a posting schedule i guess? like ppl would be more likely to interact (i think) if ur blog is relatively active, n this is usually determined by the last post u made (i think XD). but like generally for blog maintenence id say try to kinda find a frequency that ur comfortable with?? cos i know my once a day posting is kinda insane if i wasnt so hyperfixated on all of this n fight the urge to dump all ur replies when u finish them XD (though ive seen some blogs do that n they do it pretty frequently so its pretty nice to know once u see their post u can spend some time going through the latest batch of posts XD) the queue function is pretty useful here even though i truthfully have never really used it, i kinda just post from my drafts really but it also helps to space out ur content to seem somewhat active especially when u dont have the time to be working on replies sometimes. i hope u know what im trying to say here aha

ANYWAY that was like my 1.5 cents cos i dont even think its worth 2 cents HAHAHAHAH these are just my thoughts from running all my blogs up till now, some that are still running n the others that have just died a natural death. i wouldnt actually delete them (theyre still around actually XD) cos theyre kinda like archives n i can look back at what i did last time. cos ngl i made some high quality stuff back then, n i dont even know how i managed to do that aldhflhdsgk. also ppl do look at archive blogs every now n then for the content thats there yknow

BUT YES anyway if u do decide to join the idv ask blogs hmu, ill be sure to give u a lil shoutout here. winks

#its me the mun #unconcerned ramblings #i know ive said that there are a lot of new blogs popping up #but uhhh i dont really dare to interact with them #considering they kinda did come in just when shit had hit the fan n idk i might have been known as The Problematic Blog tm #so i understand if ppl dont want to interact with me n im fine with it. so for now i wont be initiating anything #like dropping asks into inboxes unless i know the mun n theyre comfortable with me doing this #i will interact with everyone who drops by my inbox tho!!#i also tend to get to replies for other blogs faster than general replies cos i feel bad if i kept the other person waiting for too long #I DO forget about rp replies sometimes tho. sometimes #i try my best to get to every one of them tho. even when im kinda busy this period aha #also starting off is actually easy. its about maintaining thats difficult i feel #which is also why i havent done up a genshin ask blog yet HAHAHAHAHA #i really hate to give up on something ive already started when it comes to art projects so

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jokertrap-ran · 4 years

Photo

[Stand My Heroes] 挽夏のミステリーブライド (Late summer Mystery Bride) Event Story: Part ② Translations

*Sutamai Master-list *MC name is retained default Izumi Rei *Scenario Writer: @eno_bara (榎戸乃ばら)

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Special Stages

⋆⋅☆ Old Castle: Corridor ☆⋅⋆

Rei: Whoa…This is amazing. It’s really a Castle!

???: (――This girl! …Kiyo-san!?)

???: (…No, but that’s impossible!)

???: (Upon closer inspection, isn’t her face and body way thinner than Kiyo-san’s?)

???: (--But her aura does resemble her a little, somehow…)

Hinata: The air in here’s really cool.

???: (--What!? She’s bringing in one guy after another trailing after her!?)

Miyase: Ohh, so that’s why it feels as cool as a cooler in here!

???: (This man…the aura he gives off resembles that of a servant calling from the Kurodas, a family who I didn’t like even within our Social Circles.)

???: (They look as if they aren’t capable of hurting even a fly on the outside, but I hear that they’d do all sort of things in the shadows to protect their properties…)

Kirishima: …………

???: (…Hm?)

Kirishima: …………

???: (W-What’s with this guy with his odd hair colouring!?)

???: (Actually, is he— Is he looking at me?)

Miyase: …Kirishima-san? What’s wrong?

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Old Castle: Corridor ☆⋅⋆

Kirishima: …………

???: (…………)

Miyase: …Kirishima-san? What’s wrong?

Kirishima: Huh?

Miyase: You must be tired from driving. I apologise for leaving the wheel to you.

Kirishima: No, I’m not the least bit tired at all. Plus, I love driving!

???: (Am I just mistaken? Well, I suppose that there are always people out there with sharp senses.)

???: (So it’s not all that odd for there to be someone who can see me or feel my presence…)

Kujo: Don’t you all want to know more about this Castle before you wander off exploring?

???: (Hah? What would you know about me?)

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Old Castle: Study ☆⋅⋆

Kujo: His parents died early-on in his life and it seems like he, himself, died young, having taken his own life.

???: (Hey, hey…That’s really personal information right off the bat!)

Kirishima: …Did he die in this room?

???: (——！)

Kujo: How’d you guess that?

Kirishima: No, I just…had a feeling.

???: (I knew it. This guy…he can sense my presence!)

Kirishima: Please continue; tell us more.

Kujo: Apparently, the only thing he had written in his Suicide Note was “I’m bored”.

???: (It was something I wrote on a whim. But…it’s true.)

Kujo: For it he already had someone he had been enraptured with.

Shindo: But he had to let go of her— Was she the Wife of another?

???: (Urk! How dare you rub salt onto my wound like that!!)

Hinata: The person that held his interests might be the girl reflected in this Photo Album here.

???: (Wha-!? Hey, hands off! Don’t go casually opening my Kiyo-san Collection!!)

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Old Castle: Study ☆⋅⋆

Miyase: Wow, she’s pretty dazzling.

Kujo: She bears some resemblance to you.

???: (I know, right!?)

???: (--Wait, no! Now’s not the time for this! Don’t defile another’s treasure any further-!)

Shindo: It’s a little ironic that someone wealthy enough to own a Castle like this has to lower themselves down to the likes of a stalker who stockpiles photos of his target.

???: (Don’t defile it anymore!!)

Rei: Eek!

Kirishima: Rei!?

???: (Oh no! Kiyo-san- No, I’ve hurt her doppleganger!)

Rei: I’m fine.

???: (Thank goodness…)

Rei: Rather than that, what just happened just now?

Hinata: The Teacup moved on its own accord…?

???: (I unconsciously lost control of my emotions, but this works out just as well. I’ll chase these rude people out of here!)

???: (Maybe I should drop a tome or two?)

Rei: Eek-!!

Kaname: After the Teacup comes a book this time…?

Kujo: What’s going on in here?

???: (It was I who did it!)

Shindo: Perhaps it was due to the fault of the Construction Workers. The shelves could have been compromised by the renovations.

???: (I said I’m the one who did it!)

Kirishima: …………

Miyase: Anyway, wouldn’t it be better for you to change out of that, Rei-san?

Rei: Oh, right! I’ve brought a spare set of clothes, so I’ll just pop into the rooms to change.

???: (No, leave already…!)

Kujo: How about changing into an outfit fitting for a place like this if you’re going to have to change anyway?

Rei: Huh?

Kujo: I do think that it’s best to enjoy a trip to it’s fullest, no matter what twist and turns there may be along the way.

???: (Hah…!?)

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Old Castle: Corridor ☆⋅⋆

Rei: (I’ve ended up dressing in something pretty cute…)

Sliding my arms into the sleeves of a dress decorated with lace and ribbons with a retro-feel to it, I headed back out into the corridor.

Rei: (It feels as if I’m fitting right into the atmosphere of this castle, just by walking a little in this. I think I’m starting to feel it!)

Rei: (…Still, why did the Teacup move all of a sudden?)

???: --Oo? Now, doesn’t that suit you quite well?

Rei: What?

I turned around. Standing there was none other than—

Rei: Oh! Shindo-san! You changed too? That really suits you!

Shindo: You didn’t pin up your hair? There’s an accompanying flower peony pin to go along with this outfit, isn’t there?

Rei: Yes; there was one, but…I don’t know how to put it on. Wait, actually, how did you know?

Shindo: Because both that dress and the flower pin were both bought for her.

Rei: Her?

Shindo: …Although I didn’t manage to give them to her in the end.

Rei: Shindo-san?

Shindo: ……

Rei: ???

Shindo: --You do look alike afterall.

Rei: Huh? To whom?

Shindo: …………

Rei: (He seems to be acting a little odd…)

Shindo: …Let us proceed. I shall escort you back to the Study.

He extended out a hand in my direction, surprising me, for I never thought that he’d actually do something like that.

Rei: (Is he also trying to enjoy this entire experience too since it’s what’s “Happening” now?)

Rei: (Whatever the reason may be, it won’t do for me to turn down his kindness now that he has extended it.)

Rei: Thank you. Then, if you’d please.

Shindo: Your hand, if I may?

Rei: Okay.

Rei: (Eek……!)

I unwittingly flinched at the icy coldness of his skin as my fingers brushed against his. It caught me by surprise.

Shindo: What?

Rei: N-Nothing! I’ll be in your care!

I took his hand, as cold as ice, as we started walking.

Rei: (…Maybe the air-conditioning’s temperature was set too low?)

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Old Castle: Study ☆⋅⋆

Rei: I’ve returned. Sorry for making you all wait.

Kirishima: Oohh! You look real nice in that!

Kujo: It suits you really well.

Miyase: Truly. You do look utterly magnificent in a dress.

Hinata: …Cute.

Rei: !

Kaname: You really do say things like that as if it’s as natural as breathing.

Hinata: But you think so too, don’t you, Kana?

Kaname: Not really.

Kaname adverted his eyes from both Shion and I, decidedly lifting the teacup to his mouth.

Hinata: Are you hiding your mouth from sight because you just told a lie?

Kaname: Can you please not attach a reason to the actions of another as you please?

Hinata: You’re cute too, Kana. Just like Rei-san in a dress.

Kaname: Haa…Enough of that already.

Rei: Ahaha. It’s a little embarrassing, but I’ll take those words of praise in stride. Thank you.

Shindo: I don’t really care, but did you really lug that dress all that way here from the corridors?

Rei: !!

Shindo: ……? What? Don’t go making a face as if you’ve just seen a ghost.

Rei: S-Shindo-san?

Shindo: Do I look like someone else to you?

My breath hitched in my throat as I spun around to look behind me. Shindo should have been right behind me, having entered the room after he has escorted me here and opened the door for me.

Rei: …But he’s, not…

Shindo: Hey…?

Kaname: What’s wrong, big sis?

Rei: I came back here with Shindo-san, but…

Shindo: What?

Kirishima: He’s been here all this time, though.

Rei: He’s been here all along…?

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Old Castle: Study ☆⋅⋆

Goosebumps started to form on my skin. And I recalled how icy Shindo’s fingers had felt against my touch.

Rei: But I’m certain that I came back here together with Shindo-san and he had changed into another outfit as well…

Shindo: Did the heat get to you?

Kaname: I don’t think Kiyoshi-san would change outfits unless there’s a good reason for it.

Rei: (Come to think of it…)

I did think that he was “acting different from usual”.

Rei: (But then, that means that the person earlier was…)

Rei: A-Ahaha! Please don’t pull my leg like this, guys. I don’t like being scared like that.

Miyase: He’s really been here all along.

Kujo: I swear we’ve not schemed anything along the lines of remotely scaring you…

My nervous laugh quite literally froze on my face.

Rei: Then…Who was the Shindo-san who came here with me?

Kujo & Miyase: ……

Hinata & Kaname: ……

Kirishima: …………

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Old Castle: Corridor ☆⋅⋆

???: (It’s the first time I’ve assimilated the form of another, but now I see…)

???: (I couldn’t move the body as freely as I’d like when I escorted her, and my head was reverberating with a voice, buzzing around saying “money”.)

???: (Which means that there’s conflict between my will and the will of the person whose body I’ve assimilated since our thoughts and actions clash.)

???: But now I know, since I’ve gotten up-close to her. She’s…She really does resemble Kiyo-san.

???: …More, I wish to keep her by me.

???: I wish to know more about that girl.

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Old Castle: Study ☆⋅⋆

Rei: Then…Who was the Shindo-san who came here with me?

A heavy silence fell upon all of us as neither of us could come up with anything. –Just then, A sudden ringing sound pierced through the deathly silence.

Miyase: Is that someone’s phone?

Kirishima: Not mine.

Kaname: Not mine either.

Rei: Sorry…! It’s mine.

Checking my phone, I saw the Caller ID of “Yui Kotaro” flashing across it.

Rei: I’ll go pick it up. It might be a work-related call.

I placed my hand on the doorknob and pushed the door open.

Kirishima: Rei, wait a minu-

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Old Castle: Corridor ☆⋅⋆

Rei: (--Eh.)

I had only taken a single step outside. And I could see that night had already fallen from the corridors. The sound of the door shutting behind me echoed, but the sound of an incoming call had somehow died somewhere along the way.

I gulped and whirled around to re-open the door that I had just closed.

Rei: (It’s not opening! Why is it not opening…!?)

It didn’t budge an inch, no matter how much I pushed or pulled at it.

Rei: What’s going on…?

Rei: --Right, the phone call!

Rei: Yui-san…

I breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of the call connecting. It was almost as if it was my one connection to reality.

Yui: “—Izumi?”

Rei: (Thank the gods that he picked up…!)

Rei: Sorry for the sudden call, Yui-san! But I think I’m starting to hallucinate…

Yui: “You’re hallucinating…?”

Rei: Exactly! Like how I thought that I had been together with Shindo-san and how it’s suddenly night outside the moment I stepped out of the room and-!

Yui: “Calm down, Izumi…and……so,”

Rei: Yui-san?

Yui: “…Therefore………nd……ah…”

Rei: Um, you’re actually cutting off-

The line went flat with a beep.

Rei: ――!

I went into my contacts list and attempted to dial him again. What I heard on the other end of the line was-

“The phone number you’re dialling at this current moment in time is not in use”.

Rei: How is this possible!?

???: Izumi, don’t fear.

Rei: Eek…!

The voice that called out from behind sounded eerily familiar. Heart in my throat, I fearfully turned around…

Rei: Y-Yui-san…?

─────────────────────────⋅…⋆⋅☆

⋆⋅☆ Old Castle: Corridor ☆⋅⋆

Rei: (What’s Yui-san doing here? And dressed like that too…)

Yui: Izumi, I can’t stop myself from wishing to know more about you.

Saying as such, Yui(?) stepped a foot forwards and I, in turn, took a step backwards. My back met the door with an audible thud. He placed a hand on the side of my face, as if trying to ground my vision as my eyes darted left and right, seeking an escape path.

Rei: ……!

Yui: Tell me all about yourself.

Yui: Because for all sakes and purposes, I…

Yui: Because…I…

Yui: Ngh…

Rei: Yui…-san?

Yui: Ugh…Urk…Ngh—What’s with this guy’s mental state!?

Rei: Wha?

Yui: T-THIS GUY! HE WANTS TO KNOW YOUR BLOOD TYPE, HE WANT YOUR HAIR, YOUR CELLS, AMONG MANY OTHERS! HE’S TWISTED!!

Rei: Umm…?

Yui: Ugh…his thoughts are deafening!

Yui: The will of a living person is this strong!? All I want to do is to borrow this vessel for a little while!

Rei: Yui-san…?

Yui: Back up for a moment! This guy won’t work!

His pink hair wavered and then-- He disappeared from my sight in the blink of an eye; not a trace of him to be found.

Rei: ……Wha- what??

Rei: (This must be……a dream. I’m dreaming!)

Rei: (Maybe I collapsed the moment I exited the room back in the waking world?)

I pinched my arm, hard, to confirm my suspicions.

Rei: --Why? It hurts…

The ill-sinking feeling returned to my gut once more in full force as I heard a voice coming from the other side of the door that I had my back to.

???: Izumi-san? I wish to open these doors. May I?

Rei: (That’s Miyase-san’s voice!?)

Rei: F-Feel free!

I stepped backwards, putting enough space between myself and the door so that the door could open without issues. The heavy wooden doors creaked open slowly, revealing—

Miyase: Oh, I apologize. Please don’t look so frightened.

───⋅𝕿𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖓𝖊𝖝𝖙 𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖊…⋆⋅☆

#Stand My Heroes #スタンドマイヒーローズ #スタマイ #Sutamai #Translations #Otome #挽夏のミステリーブライド #Late summer Mystery Bride #Asagiri Tsukasa #Imaoji Shun #Kujo Soma #Yui Kotaro #Hinata Shion #Yamazaki Kaname #Miyase Go #Shindo Kiyoshi #Kirishima Koya

5 notes · View notes

kimjichim · 5 years

Text

Expectations | 01

Summary: One night out is all you need to get your heart snatched. You can call him a friend, a fuckbuddy or the guy you’re currently seeing. The label doesn’t matter. That’s what you both agreed on and you’re okay with that; until you realised you weren’t.

Genre: College! AU, fluff??? idk sis but soon to be hella fluff n later angst n meybe smutty idk (just letting yall know)

Pairing: Taehyung x Reader

Word Count: 1,334 (hella short srry)

Warnings: none atm apart from swearing~~

A/N: hi bitches im back after 3 years mwahahaaaa. honestly, idk if any of yall even remember me but like this time round i actually wanna properly start writing more (esp cos its gonna help with my HSC) and ill have a lot more time from now on cos im graduating hs soon!!!! this story is lowkey based on smth that happened to me a few months ago but obvs with tweaks here n there. my writing is hella rusty so sorry if it’s dry. its not really a full chapter but i really wanted to release it before i throw it away like always yeet. i promise to release the next one soon~~~. if yall got any feedback, it would be much appreciated TTTT would you like a 3-4 chapter piece? or a slow burn series? lemme knowww cos i havent fully thought about what i wanna do with this story yet. hope yall like the intro thoughjgghg <3 <3

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You’re still not used to it. The loud music blasting into your ear from every corner of the street and the hoards of people that walk past. It’s a Friday night and you wanna let loose this holidays, especially since you just recently turned the legal age. You’re just as excited and nervous as the first time you’ve ever walked into a bar. The nagging thought of the bouncers not letting you in persists at the back of your mind. You present your ID and give them a small smile, all the while fidgeting with your fingers behind you. However, your worries are immediately washed away as they smile back and step aside to let you in.

You walk in with Jinhee, one of your good friends who invited you out tonight to get you into the clubbing scene. Initially, you agreed in excitement and was looking forward to tonight for the whole week. But now that you’re here, you’re not so hyped anymore, especially now that you realise you have to introduce yourself to Jinhee’s friends. Meeting new people? While you’re sober? Nope, no thanks.

Regardless, you stick closely behind Jinhee as she struts over to the bar and orders a few drinks while you scan the area, appreciating the chill vibe in the bar. People are generally huddled in their groups all erupting in laughter and talks. The girls look stunning in their outfits and the guys look clean and fit.

“Y/N. Here,” You turn your head to Jinhee while she hands you two drinks, “Gin and tonic. That’s your favourite, right?”

You smirk and nod before you notice another two drinks in her hands. Why do we have so ma-

“We’re starting off strong tonight, I want to be wasted when we get into the club.” She smirks.

You scoff in disbelief, “You mean to say that these two will be all you need tonight, right? Lightweight.”

“Oh, shut up.” she retorts, “Come on, my friends are sitting on the other side.”

You follow her without a word and mentally prepare yourself for all the names you’re gonna have to remember for the night. Thankfully, the drinks kicked in faster than it usually did, allowing your social skills to skyrocket. The girls were all so nice and looked amazing in their outfits and the guys were really sweet as well. So many different conversations filled the circle and it was absolutely chaotic, but you didn’t mind it for some reason.

“Hey guys, we should head to the other bar in the next block for another round. Heard it was really nice there.” One of the guys shouted. Taejun, was it?

“You really want to see those dancers, huh?” one shouted back, throwing his arm over his shoulders, instantly going for the choke-hold, “Taehyung, you horny motherfucker.” Oh fuck, wrong name. I must be drunk.

You pay no mind to it as the need to freshen yourself suddenly overcomes you as you stand from the stool. You decide to sober up a bit before you leave and grab onto Jinhee while everyone starts heading off.

“Jinhee, I’ll be in the bathroom. Wait for me before we leave, okay?” You ask.

She throws the okay sign while stumbling towards the entrance to catch up to everyone else.

“That bitch better not ditch me like last time.” You mumble to yourself, doubtful of Jinhee due to her intolerance to alcohol.

Well, at least I’m having a good time. I haven’t had this much fun in awhile. You’re glad you came out and met some new people; you could really use some time to lighten yourself up from all that torture in the last semester.

You step out of the bar, expecting Jinhee to jump out at you, nagging you for being too slow but she’s nowhere to be seen. You sigh in disappointment. Figured. You pull out your phone to call Jinhee but is stopped by a sudden invasion of personal space.

“Y/N, right? Let’s go, Jinhee said that everyone will be waiting at the next place.”

You look up at his face in confusion before you realise that he was one of Jinhee’s friends.

“Oh shit, uhh, Taehyuk, right?” You ask while stumbling. Jesus, my tolerance must’ve gotten lower too, I can’t think straight.

“Hahaha, close. My name is Taehyung. Good try though.” He snickers.

Motherfu-

“God dammit, I’m so sorry. I’m really bad with names,” You stammer, “especially when I’m drunk.”

“Don’t sweat it,” he smiles, “We’re all like that when we’re a bit tipsy.”

Wow, cute smile.

“We should probably start heading over to where everyone else is.”

You nod in approval and begin walking through the busy streets. The two of you maintain a good conversation along the way, getting to know each other and finding similar interests. Throughout the ten minute walk. You couldn’t get over how good looking this guy was. His sharp, dark eyes were so mesmerising. There was a cute mole on his tall nose and his lips were of a pretty pink. Not to mention his freaking hair. It looked like black silk shining against the lights. It was luscious and so soft-looking. I would do anything to run my hand through his hair right now.

Unfortunately, your alone time with Taehyung came to an end as you finally met up with the rest of the group. You see Jinhee with her two bottles of soju, giving you the dirtiest look while being barely able to stand. You immediately walk over to her without much thought or any more exchange with Taehyung, feeling slightly embarrassed.

“This is for me, I assume?” You say with a glare, snatching the bottle out of her hand.

She ignores you and looks over your shoulder at Taehyung, which your eyes naturally follow.

“Already getting a hot one, huh?” She snickers.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t ditch me in the first place.” You grumble back.

“Your welcome.”

You sigh once again while downing a bit of the soju you stole from Jinhee and occasionally glance over to Taehyung. You two make eye contact from time to time and give a friendly smile but you don’t push for more. That small ten minute conversation was enough for you to constantly sneak glances at him. You’re not complaining though, he is really pleasing to look at. You feel like a child staring at a really expensive toy at the display window.

The night slowly moves on as you meet more and more people, all the while involuntarily having your eyes drawn to Taehyung, wherever he is; as if you have a radar on him this whole time. However, you don’t dwell on him for much longer than two seconds, allowing yourself to fully enjoy your night with your newly found friends.

The night was finally about to get started when Taehyung caught you glancing over at him once again. Reflexively, you smile but he doesn’t return the smile like he usually does. It throws you off guard and you freeze in shock before quickly turning your head back to the current conversation. You can feel your face and ears getting rapidly warmer. Shortly after, you feel a presence behind you and hear a deep voice call out your name.

“Y/N?” It’s Taehyung. You turn around. “We’re heading off to the club now, you wanna join us?”

“Uhh-” You immediately look towards Jinhee to ask if everyone was ready to leave before you get cut off by her loud voice.

“C’mon everyone! It’s time to hit the club, let’s go!!” Jinhee exclains to group while shuffling everyone towards the exit and gives you a small wink. That sly fox. You think in amusement.

“Alright, shall we head?” Taehyung asks while he cocks his head to the side.

You simply nod and follow him. Maybe it’s because of the alcohol in your system but you can’t seem to control your excitement at the possible opportunities that could follow tonight.

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bbyboybrock--archived · 5 years

Text

Serendipity (C.B) | Chapter 9

Summary: Serendipity: (n) the chance occurrence of events in a beneficial way

Popular youtuber Isabella Hart, known as Bella to her audience, bends over backwards to separate her youtube life from her private life. Known for her overall clean content and her bubbly attitude, Isabella has a wild side to her that only those inside the youtube community know about. When Bella meets Colby during one of the trap house parties she finally meets someone she can be her genuine self with. When trouble arises after their meeting, will Bella be able to hand the pressure or will she destroy her relationship with Colby as well as herself in the process. [This starts in 2018]

Written: 2019

Word Count: 2,771

Warnings: swearing

Serendipity Masterlist

I sit in the shopping cart surrounded by things while Colby pushes the cart. Both of us needed to do some shopping so we decided to make it a date. We've gone on a lot of dates that we think would keep us hidden from fans. It's starting to get a little boring. We mostly hang out at my apartment or Colby's house. If we do go out in public we go at night or to a party. I want to take us public just so our options for date night aren't as limited. But I still like the idea of privacy and I know that Colby wants to protect me for as long as he can from the fans that would send hate. We talked about when and how we would announce it the week after Gabby left, but we both kept trying to keep it a secret for a full year. I don't even know how we lasted nearly six months without one of our friends accidentally leaking it.

My thoughts are interrupted by my phone ringing. I dig it out of my pocket and look at the caller id. I stare at it puzzled for a second before answering it.

"JC? Why are you calling? Is everything okay?" I point Colby down an aisle while I see why JC is calling.

"Hey Bella, long time no talk. Listen, are you busy Friday?" I think for a second.

"We were literally texting last week. Anyway, no I'm not. Why?"

"Kian and I are having a party, want to come?"

"Can I bring someone?"

"Yeah, bring whoever. Just say yes."

"Sure, I'll come. Why didn't you just ask me over text? You calling actually made me nervous."

"Sorry, I just had to be sure you wouldn't pretend that you didn't see my text or have time to come up with an excuse."

"I'm not that bad. I'm busy right now but I'll text you later about the details. Bye!" I hang up the phone before JC could say anything else.

Colby slows the cart down and stops me in front of the school supplies. He walks in front of me with his mouth slightly open.

"I'm sorry, when you said, 'JC' did you mean JC Caylen?"

"Yeah! We go way back. Did I not tell you I was friends with all of the O2L guys? Kian and JC are like my brothers at this point." I grab a few notebooks and examine them before choosing a nice teal one.

"Dude! They're my dream collab. I can't believe you never told me you knew them."

"Well, you're in luck. They're having a party on Friday and JC said that I could bring someone." A small smile creeps on my face as I watch the corner of Colby's mouth twitch. He's trying not to show how excited he is but he's failing. I grab a few more school supplies that are in my reach and throw them in the cart.

"That's awesome! I can't wait." If we weren't in a store Colby might me jumping for joy.

"Let's go you goof. I'm starving and we can talk about the party."

****

Friday comes quicker than expected. Colby and I stand outside of Kian and JC's place. I can tell by the way Colby is shifting on his feet that he is nervous. Colby always seems so cool, so seeing him like this is kind of cute. He took even longer than normal to get ready. He's been planning the perfect outfit since Wednesday. I tried to invite Sam but he and Kat already had plans.

JC opens the door and I give him a huge hug. We haven't seen each other in months. I turn around to see Colby starstruck at the sight of JC. He quickly shakes his head and snaps out of it.

"Hey J, this is my boyfriend Colby. Colby, I think you know JC." They shake hands and greet each other.

"Nice to meet you man, I've seen your stuff. Welcome to the party. Drinks are in the kitchen. Don't worry Bella, I made sure to pick up some juice boxes just for you." JC takes a sip from his drink.

"Oh shut up, we both know that I can out drink you in a heartbeat. How's Kian? Did you tell him that I was coming?" Colby has gone back to being starstruck and kind of drooling at JC.

"Yeah, it's all good. Don't worry about a thing, chicken wing." I roll my eyes and look at Colby.

"You know what, why don't you two go find somewhere for us to chill together while I go get us some drinks. JC, do you need a refill?" I lightly hit Colby to bring him back to Earth. JC nods and puts his arm around Colby's neck and they walk off talking.

I walk around and try to find the kitchen. I decided to walk in the direction where there is a larger group of people. It's not nearly as crowded as the trap house parties so it's easier for me to walk around. When I reach the kitchen I luckily find three empty and clean solo cups. I make Colby's drink first. I just pour a cup of soda, he's driving us back home. He also told me that he didn't want to get drunk tonight because he didn't want to make a fool of himself. I mix two random drinks for JC and I. I grab all three cups and begin my search for JC and Colby. I quickly find them on the couch talking about God knows what. I plop myself in-between them and hand them their drinks. I greet Chelsea and join the conversation.

****

About an hour and two drinks later all four of us are still on the couch. Not much is going on around the party. It's really chill compared to how their old parties and the trap house parties. Colby is a lot more comfortable and being himself around everyone. I look around and see Kian awkwardly standing in a group. It looks like he's not even paying attention to the conversation happening. We make eye contact and he gives a small smile and gestures to the front door.

"Hey, I'm going to talk to Kian for a bit. You okay here by yourself?"

"Yeah, go have fun." I kiss Colby's cheek and untangle myself from him.

I head out the front door to find Kian sitting down. I sigh before taking a seat next to him. We both sit in silence and sip our drinks. I don't know what to say or what he's thinking. I don't even know what I'm thinking. Kian and I haven't talked in almost a year. Things between us weren't even the best.

"You don't talk to me in over a year and then you show up at my party?" Kian doesn't even look at me, he just keeps looking forward.

"If I remember correctly, and I do, us not talking was a mutual decision. Besides, JC invited me and told me that you knew. I'll leave if that makes you feel better." I finish what's in my cup and stand up.

"You're still the same."

"I was going to be nice and show you that I actually did change but someone decided to be a dick." I turn around to go back inside and get Colby but Kian's hand stops me from leaving.

"No, wait. I'm sorry. When I saw you I had a plan on how this was going to go but then I screwed it all up. Just, please sit down." His voice is soft.

"The minute you start being a jerk again I'm actually leaving." I sit back down and stare forward.

We sit in silence again. The air is tense between us. We know what needs to be said but neither of us knows how to say it or even start the conversation. We had a fight, things were said, and then we mutually ended our friendship. It made things awkward between Kian, JC, and I. Before Elijah helped me find my own place, I used to crash at Kian and JC's to get out of the house. They never questioned why a 16-year-old was sleeping on their couch at least once a week. We just hung out and went to parties together.

"So, uh, do you still have feelings for me?" I break the silence and make things even more awkward.

"Does it matter? I mean, if I confirm or deny that, then are things going to change?"

"You're right, things wouldn't change. I just didn't know what to say." I play with the empty cup in my hands.

"I'm sorry about what I said."

"It's okay, you were right. I was just too fucked up at the time to realize that you were just trying to help me. I got my shit together and now look at me." I turn to Kian and grin.

"Glad I could help. Was the, uh, the guy you were all cozy with—was that your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, his name is Colby. Don't tell him I told you this, but he's like a huge fan of you and JC."

"Happy looks good on you." Kian sheepishly smiles and blushes.

"Kian Lawny, that is the corniest thing you have ever said. And believe me, you've said some shit. But in all seriousness, I'm really happy right now. Not just because of Colby; you know how I feel about girls think that dating some guy will drastically change their lives. Dating Colby is an added plus the that I wouldn't have been able to appreciate if you didn't go off on me. I've been working things out and coming to terms with some things."

"Maybe I should go off on people I care about more often. Anyway, catch me up on what else is new with you."

Last year, Kian and I were at a party like this one. It was a bit more hectic, and so was I. I would go to most of the parties with Kian and sometimes JC too. And just like every party I would get completely shit-faced and go hook up with some random person. That day Kian got to me before I was too drunk and pulled me outside. He told me that he had feelings for me. He said that even though he had these feelings, he wasn't going to act on them because of how I was. He even went as far as to say that if I continued to live the way I was, nobody was ever going to love me. That nobody could love me if I didn't love myself. Naturally, and because I was about half drunk, I got defensive and called him a slew of names. The argument ended with Kian saying that he couldn't just stand by and watch me waste my life away. So we both agreed that we just wouldn't be in each other's lives anymore. That argument hurt and I responded by getting drunker than I've ever been and sleeping with a few guys before going home. A few days later I realized what Kian was talking about. So I stopped going to parties for a while. When I did start going to parties again I put myself on a four drink maximum limit and an absolutely no hookup policy. In my free time I worked on my mental health and made things better for myself. I'm not complete fine, but I'm better off than I was this time last year.

****

The rest of the conversation goes on normally. Eventually, I take Kian to meet Colby and we stay a bit longer so that they can get to know each other. Colby and I leave about an hour after that. We grab food from Taco Bell and take it back to the trap house. The whole time Colby is beaming about Kian and JC. I smile to myself as I listen to what they talked about every little detail Colby touches on. Colby only stops talking about just before we're about to go to bed.

Just like every time one of us spends the night at the other's, we spend a bit of time on our phones before bed. Colby is browsing music and working on something in his notes app. I'm taking the time to scroll through social media and replying to fans. After seeing Colby's reaction to meeting Kian and JC, I can't help but feel like I'm making someone else feel like that. Normally I just like edits or tweets, but now I'm actually commenting. My mentions are blowing up more than usual. I click to see what has everyone in a tizzy. When I see what I was tagged in I quickly sit up in bed.

"Oh fuck..." I keep checking all the mentions and most of them are the same.

"What happened? What wrong?" Colby places his hand on my back and rubs small circles.

"Someone at the party got footage of us together and uploaded it. Everyone's freaking out on Instagram. I don't even want to check Twitter. The fans even started digging through old posts." Colby sits up and looks over my shoulder at my phone.

"Don't read the comments. Not right now anyway. Let's just put our phones away and go to bed. We can deal with it in the morning." Colby yanks my phone out of my hand and puts both of our phones on our chargers. We lay back down but neither of us is going to sleep for a while.

"I mean, it was bound to happen one of these days." I lace our fingers together.

"What should we do?"

"Well, we only have two options. We can either deny it or confirm it."

"Let's just confirm it, Iz. We did say that we would announce our relationship sometime after six months. We can do things normal couples do instead of sneaking around like teenagers."

"Okay, technically I still am a teenager, thank you very much. Nineteen still has the word 'teen' in it. And you're right. I was also enjoying the outside world not having an opinion on our relationship. You know, like normal couples."

"Don't worry princess, everything will work out. Let's go to sleep and deal with it in the morning." I place my head on Colby's chest and for a moment we both just lay there listening to the sounds of the other just existing.

****

I wake up alone in bed. I sit up to see Colby sitting at his desk. I throw his stuff koala to get his attention instead of calling him like a normal human. Colby turns around and picks up the koala before jumping into bed with me.

"So I've been thinking while you were sleeping. We both have to upload today, so why don't we just do fun videos on our channels and go public that way? If mess up your video schedule then we can just do it on my channel." I think about the videos that I already have edited and ready to go. My manager isn't going to like it, but I'm going to do it anyway.

"No, I can post something else today and push everything else back a week. Just hand me my laptop. What video did you want to film for your channel?" Colby hands me my laptop and I post on all my social media that my video is going to be up late.

"Probably the eat it or wear it challenge. It's more on brand for my channel. What about you? Are we going to some sort of makeup video?"

"Cole Robert Brock, I am appalled that you would even suggest a video that I was already thinking about. Now I'm going to have to think of a different video. Oh! How about a fast food roulette video? We can do it like a mukbang and talk about our relationship." I sit up in bed happy. Is it because I'm happy about opening up about our relationship, or because I'm thinking about food? Probably both.

Colby and I quickly get ready and go to film our videos. After a few hours, Colby and I work in overtime to get our videos edited. We upload our videos at the exact same time and promote the shit out of them. After uploading we decided to stay off the internet the rest of the day and have our first big date out in public during the day.

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themoonwatchess-blog · 5 years

Text

Hiraeth - 2

Chapter 2 - Our Our Friend, Death

Word Count: 5320

Warnings: Minor gore, swearing

---

Etna, California, the interstate sign reads. Three hours we've been stuffed in this car. Three hours I've been itching to at least walk around... and I'm in desperate need to relieve my bladder. Chester's fingers drum against the leather of the steering wheel, he must be ready to stop for the day too. There's a certain... drowsiness you get after being in the car for so long, your body just begs to lie down after being stuck and crammed in this small car for so long.

"Do you think Etna'll be a nice city or a trashy one?" Chester asks me suddenly, my brain is half asleep and barely registers the question. All I can do is shrug and make the 'I dunno' sound.

"I just hope they have a motel we can stay at."

"Every place has a motel, Brad," He side eyes me from his seat, "We've stayed in abandoned ones before, too, remember?"

"I know," I look down at my feet, "Just forget I said anything."

His eyes glance over me, I can feel their stare. My cheeks burn from exhaustion and how humiliating it is to run away from ourselves like this. Our car stays to the right, merging off the interstate and on to a local highway. Nothing but farmland for miles to see, we're still a ways away from Etna, another good twenty-minute drive, maybe. Corn stalks dart along the highway, they're close to being ready for harvest. Either that or they're already prepping for a Halloween corn maze this year. Maybe it's the latter.

"I wish we had some red beans right now," Chester breaks the silence of the drive, "It is Monday, after all."

It's a tradition for him to eat red beans with a hunk of cornbread thrown in the middle every Monday. He said it was what everyone did down in Louisiana, you'd let the beans soak up some spices while you did laundry. Monday was laundry day too, he told me before. The beans would be nice and soft by the time the chores of the day would be done. I don't understand it, I'm not a Cajun man, but I know better than to break him of his culture.

"I doubt they'll have any," I respond, "Maybe... Maybe we should... go down South after we finish off Washington."

"Maybe," He flattens his lips together, "It's... it's different down there."

I don't ask what he means, he doesn't speak too much of his home. He always says something cryptic about it, said the swamp would swallow you whole if you get lost or how the people who live nearest the river were cursed, practicing voodoo to hex the nearby children. Weird, if our lives weren't so crazy ourselves, I would tell him he was being a fool for believing such fairytales.

Slowly, as we drive, more and more buildings begin to pop up. First, there are just a couple of farmhouses, then a service station, then comes to more residential areas. Next thing you know, we're here in Etna. There's not much to say for it, not the city. But the views are amazing, a mountain looms in the distance, visible from every section of the city. I can't take my eye off the white peak of the mountain and how the clouds mimic the shape of the snow that coats parts of the mountain. The rocks are dark, angry looking against the snow. Below the mountain peak is a dense forest, the trees stand tall and dark against the pristine colored snow. I'm lost in the feeling of homeyness that the surroundings give me, I don't even realize the vehicle had come to a stop until Chester opened up his car door.

"You're a weird one, Brad," He half-snorts while looking back at me. He bends down to look at me, still sitting dumbfounded in my car seat.

He doesn't understand the sense of nostalgia I get from being so close to nature. He was born in the deep south. No, not the type of South you're thinking, not the hill-billy tractor lovers, but the God-fearing people of the bayou; the real southerners. He grew up in the outskirts of New Orleans, his small city was entrenched by the swamp. The only trees he knew were the magnolias or the moss-covered cypresses whose roots were engulfed by the muddy waters of the bayou. His vision of nature will always be that of the swampy, musky bayou of his home, not the leaf daubed hearth of the northern forests.

"As weird as they come," I reply back tonelessly. I follow my boyfriend's footsteps and exit the vehicle, slamming the car door shut. Chester winces as I use a bit too much force in doing so, he reminds me suddenly of how much he loves this car.

A local walks by the hood of our car dressed dapperly in a suit and tie. The jacket of his suit reflects a cool, pastel blue, it mimics the color of the afternoon sky. He wears a fedora the color of a cloud, he lifts his hand to tip the front of his cap.

"Yer new around here?" He asks. I realize now that Etna must be a small city. I glance over at the streets, most people wave to one another as they walk down the sidewalk. Close knitted communities are the worst for me. You're an easy target in them. Everyone knows each other and we're the outsiders, if something bad happens, all fingers will be pointed at us.

"We just came in from Redding," Chester smiles warmly at the man, "We were hoping there was a place to stay—"

"Oh, no worries! No worries!" The man has a booming voice, a peal of half-hearted laughter follows his words, "There's 'n old inn down the road, two little ladies run it. Nef and Frankie. They'd be happy t' help sum folks like y'all."

I'm a little confused on why we're in Northern California and this guy speaks like he's from Texas. Maybe he's new in town too, maybe we're not that much of an outsider here.

"Oh," Chester's smile grows flaccid, he nods with the man's words. His outward personality is... disturbing for me. Extroverted people are too... too nosey, love to talk when all I want to do is leave, "Well, I guess we'll be headed that wa—"

"Before y'all leave," The holds his hands up to stop us from going back to the car, "I'd like t' welcome you officially to Etna. Hope ye two stay fer long."

Maybe he's the mayor, that's why he's greeting us as we entered the city.

"Thanks," I speak up, half-assedly. He catches wind of my reclusiveness and quirks a brow. Chester shoots me a glare for sounding so rude towards him, but nonetheless, we buckle back up in our car.

Chester breathes a sigh as we back out of a parking space and head towards the aforementioned hotel— motel, whatever the fuck that guy was saying. I'm already getting a weird vibe from this place, I have half the mind to tell Chester to drive off and we can find a bigger city to hide out in. We're too easy to... spot... Newcomers in this old town that has seen many generations come and go.

We pull into the parking lot of the building named 'Two Sister's Lodge', the sign is worn and faded of color, but the rest of the building seems to be pretty good, aesthetic wise. I'd consider it on the nicer side of hotels we have stayed at so far. Chester wraps his hand around mine, rubbing his thumb over the top of my hand. I look up at him, he's smiling innocently like he always does. I return the gesture and my cheeks dimple at him. We walk hand and hand to the entrance of the hotel and to the front desk. Sure enough, as the sign indicates, two sisters sit at the front desk greeted us with bright friendly smiles.

"Welcome to the Two Sisters Lodge," The lady nearest the desk speaks first. Her hair is dark, her skin is sunkissed and browned, but she wears the color well, "Would you like a room?"

Her name tag reads 'Nef,' her smile is soft and small, yet genuine at heart. She has an... herby smell to her. Pitching together her half-squinted eyes and the bubbly appearance of her attitude, I piece together that she's probably a pot smoker. Even if she were, I wouldn't care, she could be worse. One of our motel managers in a previous city ran a crack den in the back.

"How much do you charge?" Chester asks, not like it matters. Our credit cards get ditched every month, we leave and make new identities before anyone can catch up to us.

"Twenty bucks a night," The other lady says, she seems more... unwelcoming than the other lady. Her skin is pale, pale as the snow that sits atop the mountain, dark circles cover her eyes, "Maid comes in every day to clean the sheets, pick up dirty towels. We've got laundry in house, too."

She wears her hair in a loose, sloppy braid, it rests on her back and follows down her spine. She reminds me of how Chester used to be when I first met him. Unwelcoming on the outside but an actual cutie on the inside. Maybe she just needs someone to help crack her. I assume she must be Frankie, she doesn't wear a name tag, but her outfit fits the color scheme of the hotel and Nef's, so it's obvious she works here too.

"Oh," Chester mumbles, his gaze finds mine. We speak nonverbally, I nod ever slightly, "We'll take a room, then."

"Great," The first sister speaks, "We've got two Queen's beds or two twins--"

"We're sharing a bed," I speak up, her eyes widen at my response and she's left speechless for the moment. I curse myself for saying that, maybe this city is fucking homophobic like some we've stayed in. My worries are put to rest as she offers a kind smile, she writes down something on the nearby ledger before speaking to us again.

"No biggie," She ways it off, "We've got a Queen room, you can see the mountain from the window. Beautiful view."

"Yeah, that'll work," Chester purses his lips as he thumbs around in his pocket for that worn down leather wallet. He flips it open once it is in his hand and pulls out the red credit card. The card holder's name is some guy we made up, 'Chesney Bealleux', it matches our fake IDs for the month. He slides the plastic card across the desk towards Nef, she hands the card to Frankie over her shoulder. Frankie rings up a number on the cash register, dust settles across the keys and fly into the air as she presses the buttons. She hands Nef the credit card and then she slides it back to us, along with a key card.

"Your room is on the second floor, sweeties," Nef smiles, "Stairs are just down that hall. And You just call if you need anything, alright?"

"Wait—" Frankie calls out before Chester and I can walk over to the stairs, "I just wanted to let you know, there's a corn fest going on tonight. It's free and they got free food. You two look like you could benefit from it."

"Do we look that bad?" I tease her, a rose blush quickly fills out her cheeks at my remark. I feel bad, she looks unsettled by my joke, "I'm kidding, what time does it start?"

"It's no big deal," Her words are spoken lowly now, "It starts at six, ends a little before sunset. Somebody said they're having an afterparty when the sun sets though, lots of beer. Plus, uh, y'all been in a car for lord knows how long, it might help you unwind."

"We'll see," Chester intrudes, "We've had a long day, might wanna just sit and relax for tonight."

"Oh, well," She shrugs harshly, "Nef and I will be there, we'd hope to see you goons there."

"You don't even know our names," I speak barely audibly, but she picks up on the words.

"Well," She rolls her eyes, "Let's introduce ourselves— I'm Frankie, that's Nef."

"I'm Brad," I motion towards myself before pointing a finger to my lover, "That's Chaz."

"Nice to meet you." Chester waves with his child-like innocence.

They're... more hospitable than most people we've met in our travels. A welcomed change, for sure. Part of me screams to be elusive like always, but I lock that part away and give in to my human need to socialize.

"So," Nef joins the conversation once again, "Where you two from?"

"Los Angeles." Chaz answers.

That was the truth, it was in Los Angeles that this began. It was Los Angeles where we forged our love. It was Los Angeles that I was attacked by that creature and lay victim to its curse. It was a good home while it lasted, the city suckled and nursed my childhood. It adopted Chester many years ago too. At times I wonder if it will ever welcome us back.

"What're city folk like you two doing in a small town like this?" Frankie knits her brow at Chester's response.

"Got tired of the city life," I answer for Chester, "We don't like to be confined."

She mouths an 'oh' before giving a gentle nod of her head. Her lips tug upwards as another gentle smile warps her lips.

"Seems reasonable," She half-chuckles, "City life just isn't for everybody. That's why I like Etna, it's very calm and quiet. Nothin' bad ever happens here."

"Ever?" I quirk a brow. More guilt creeps in, I remember now that the full moon rises tonight, something wicked might happen tonight.

"Think the only fucked up thing that's happened here was a kidnappin' back in '82, but it all turned out fine."

"Oh," I murmur, "That's... not good—"

"Mmm," She shrugs, "It happens, I guess. But we're a quiet town. I hope y'all stay long."

I frown quietly, I know we will probably have to leave again tomorrow. That's just our fate now, every month is the same. Sometimes we have to leave more, barely staying a week in a city before people catch the drift of us.

"Yep," Chester pops the p, "Well it's starting to get a little late— I think Brad 'n' I are gonna head up to our rooms now if that's alright—"

"Of course, sure," She nods, "Y'all just call us if you need something."

We wave goodbye before we turn towards the hallways. Chester intertwines our fingers as we walk together, he squeezes my palm lightly like he's afraid to lose me. I look over at him with a loving gaze, he makes me forget the worries of the day.

The stairwell is eerie, dimly lit and the stairs creak as you walk up to them. Creepy, reminds me of some stupid 80's horror movie Chester would make me watch every month. He would always bicker at me to just sit and enjoy the movie, but they're always the same.

Chester looks over at me, a shit-eating grin pinned on his lips. He squeezes my hand again, forcing me to look up at him.

"You still owe me a fancy dinner, Brad." He chokes up.

"Whatever," I roll my eyes playfully, "Don't think they'll have any special restaurants here unless you consider Waffle House fancy."

"Waffle House is good, Brad, you wouldn't understand," He adds with a shake of his head, "That was fine dining when I was a kid—"

"That's 'cause all you guys had was a Waffle House—"

"Mmmm, yeah but— It was still very good."

I playfully shove him with my elbow as we reach the top of the stairwell. He opens the door that leads towards the rooms, he extends his arms to tell me to walk in first. The hallway is just as dim as the stairwell, reminds me again of those shitty horror movies. I grab on to Chester's hand again before we continue down the hall. After a moment or two of stumbling around, we finally come to our hotel room. Chester puts the key in the lock, the lock is a bit rusted and it takes a couple of jams to get it open.

Our room is... cleaner than expected. No dust, no bugs. Hell, not even a fucking cobweb. Chester sets our holdall down in the corner, his footsteps sound the empty room. Paper thin walls, fucking great. You can ever every little bump we make, every step and the slightest cough. Chester turns suddenly, facing me.

"Is this okay?" Concern fills his words, his skin pale of color. His eyes are gloss, red lines fill the white area of his eyes, showing the numberless sleepless nights. Tonight is going to be another sleepless night for him.

"This'll do," I force a smile but Chester knows me better, he can see right through me. His features drop and a feeling of guilt washes over, "Chester, it'll do. Don't worry."

"I always worry—"

"I know you do," I huff, blinking my eyes hard in response. I run into his arms, letting his worry wash away as I wrap him in my loving arms, "It's okay."

"What're we gonna do tonight?" He whispers into my ear, I feel his lip tremble against my earlobe. The full moon rises tonight, only a few hours of being human remains for me today.

"We do what we always do," I speak, "Lock yourself in the bathroom and... let me... let me change."

He sighs, though the energy he conveys is one of relief, not fear. We've done this long enough, he worries not about the other people, but instead, he worries about me. He worries I'll end up dead in a ditch, some hunter might come out and spray me with buckshot. He's even made theories of vampires eating me alive. Do vampires even exist?

"Okay," He breathes heavily again, "Okay... Just... Try and be safe tonight, yeah?"

I nod, though we both know I have no control over that outcome. He pulls away from my hold, I watch as he shrinks in his clothes.

"Let's just... Maybe we should— nap or something."

I pose the thought, Chester immediately shoots it down with a forcibly shake of his head. Too much anxiety and adrenaline drums in his blood, it would be hard for him to relax until tomorrow morning when he can wake me up from unconsciousness.

"I don't think I'll sleep," His head falls limp against his shoulders, "You should, though."

"I won't sleep unless you do, babe," I watch as his lips pull into a sneaky smile, he loves when I call him 'babe', "We could just—"

"We could cuddle."

"Oh?" He suddenly takes my hand and forcibly drags me to the bed, "I mean— I don't have anywhere to be... so—"

He doesn't really wait for me to give my verbal consent, he knows I always love to have sweet moments with him. I feel giddy, my heart throbs in my chest.

He gently pushes me down against the comforter. His body shifts on top of mine before he rolls over to the opposite side of the bed. He scoots close to me, our noses touch together, we Eskimo kiss. I bring my hand up and touch his thin cheek, I lean forward and let my lips grace against his. He pushes his lips out so they touch mine, our noses bump into each other. I curse our big noses.

"I love you, Chaz," I murmur into his lips, "More than anything."

"I love you too, Brad," Another kiss follows those words, "I wish we didn't have to live like this. Wish we could just be happy."

I smile though he pegs out the hints of guilt that hide behind my lips. He frowns suddenly, blaming himself for saying such a thing.

"I'm always happy when I'm with you," I touch our lips together once more, I linger near his mouth for a hint of a second, "As long as we're together, Chaz, then we're happy."

He beams towards me, his coffee-stained teeth shine in the dark hotel room. He gets even closer to me, our chests touch together, we can feel each other's heartbeats. They drum as one, finalizing just how much we love one another. I wrap my arms around his skinny figure, he feels brittle in my touch. His own arms stretch and his hands come to caress my cheek. His touch is holy, something that deserves worship. I am the saint in his temple, I cherish his every movement, every touch, every whisper that falls off his lips. All are like a heavenly dream. Perhaps he's the only thing that keeps me only a turn away from becoming a true monster.

He mouths the words 'I love you', a droopiness in his eyes tells me he's ready for a nap. Maybe our little affectionate moment gave him a moment of peace so he could slip into sleep. I reach forward and kiss his forehead and by the time I retract, his eyes are closed and his breathing slow.

"Love you, Chester."

A smile creeps on his lips as the words leave my tongue. A calm before the storm. He shows me his vulnerability, he trusts me with his life, he trusts me enough to see him at his weakest. It had been like this since the day we fell in love since he professed to me the feeling he had. I will never forget that day. I will never forget how our lips danced together that night.

The night approaches, an ache settles deep in my bones. The moon rises soon. I sit on the foot of the bed, my eyes watch over the sleeping figure of my lover. He sleeps in a fetal position, a shiver quivers through him from how cold it is. I hate having to wake him from his peaceful slumber, but I have no choice. He has to be somewhere safe. I lay back down on my spine, my body turns to face my lover. I bring my hand up and softly shake him, hoping he'd be easily awoken.

"Chester," I simper, "Chester, honey—"

He whines before rolling over in the bed, he takes a fist full of the comforter and pulls it over his head. He's like a child sometimes. I try and take the covers off him, but his grip on them is strong. With a sigh, I decide to take more drastic measures. I shake him with a little more force, chanting his name a number of times so he finally wakes.

"WHAT?" He cries out before immediately coming to his sense, "Oh—"

"It's almost time," I whisper. I watch as he rubs his weary eyes, a yawn leaps from his throat, "You've got to—"

"I know, I know," He smacks his lips together while stretching his arms out. He lets the appendage fall limp on top of the comforter, "Be safe."

I force a smile, my eyes turn glossy as the usual guilt from our situation hits me at full force. This is our life now. He chose to stay with me, a fucking freak. I suck on my teeth while I watch my boyfriend finally rise from the bed. He shambles over to my side of the bed, I rise from my spot and instinctively wrap my arms around him in a tight hug. I feel the pain that besets him, as I'm sure he can feel mine too. I let silent tears fall and coat his sleeping shirt. He pulls away from me, his hand caresses my cheek for only a second before he finally leaves to lock himself somewhere safe.

There was no use in trying to lock me up, I always escape. The last time we tried to secure me, it almost cost Chester his life. I broke down a door and trashed the whole room trying to claw at him. I couldn't fucking live with myself if I ever even laid a finger on him with the intention to harm him. So instead, Chester chooses to hide away so the beast won't sense him. It puts others at risk, but what else can we do?

And now, I sit alone in this dank hotel room, waiting for my body to take its unholy, primal form. Moonlight peaks through the paper-thin window shades, the pale light illuminates the room. My vision begins to fade as my mind starts to jumble and the unthinkable pain warps me.

~ ✦ ~

The forest knows death. From the dead leaves that paint the forest ground a musky, rotten brown, all the way to the carrion of freshly killed venison, not even stopping at the bare-boned carcass of a now unidentifiable animal. It never ends, the cycle of death, it continues and continues until we all are left as dust in the wind. Death perfumes the woods, the most primal scent in all of nature. The one thing that is certain in life, it is death.

Two bodies lay against the rotting leaves of the barren earth. Slash marks cover their bloodied bodies, throats torn and innards thrown askew. They weren't unfortunate victims to a starving wolf or bear. No, their meat remains untouched, uneaten. Killed for fun, killed for the thrill. A characteristic common within human nature, the need to feel superior and to give in to your dark urges. However, these markings are inhuman. No mortal man possesses the claws to tear this flesh, nor the strength to break these bones. No, these women were the victims of a supernatural creature, one that hunts when the full pale moon rises.

A tragedy, some would say, but this is just a normal part of life that the forest knows. The forest accepts death, it feeds generations of life. These women, though they lay dying and decaying, are ensuring the survival of many other creatures that call these woods their home. A crow drops down from a barren tree branch and perches down beside the carrion of the corpse. It takes a piece of flesh and eats, absorbing the energy that lays ready to be taken advantage of. The crow flies off suddenly, taking with it another pinch of carrion.

The moonlight has faded, the sky warms as the sun begins to tease along the skyline. Farmers are the first awake, they must tend their crops and slit the ground before another patch of rain comes through. The noise of farm machinery stirs some of the townsfolk who live on the outskirts of town, they are unhappily awoken. The day starts, as usual, children ready for school, parents prepare themselves for work. They are oblivious to the sin committed in the woods. That is until a duo of school children find one of the lady's bloodied jacket thrown far from the body. A metal name tag glistens in the sunlight, a blemish of a bloodstain rims the outer edge.

My lover, Chester, stirs me from my sleep. He gentles shakes my body until I wake, his eyes are glossy and filled with sympathy. No, no, I couldn't have done anything last night, but his eyes tell the whole story. I open my lips to say something, but no words fall out. I just sit there, staring up at my lover with a speechless expression.

"We have to leave," He drips the words into my ears, "I'm sorry."

"It happened again?" A rhetorical question, I know it will only keep happening until the day I die. Chester responds with a soft nod. He tries so desperately to mask his sorrow, he even forces the fakest smile I've ever seen him wear. Maybe he feels guilty for having to wake me up with this news, or he hates having to move so soon again.

"You should shower," He doesn't verbally respond to my question, only tries to change the subject, "You smell like a hound."

I ignore his little comment, only responding by raking him a glare. I stand from my spot on the hardwood floor, my bare body is covered in scar tissue. I wear the scars well, Chester has told me, but I hate every single one of them. I dig at myself during my time as a beast, these marks were from its-- my-- claws. I run my tongue across my teeth, the faint tang of the metallic liquid stings my tongue. I want to believe it is my own blood, but I know better.

I head for the shower, the metal from the showerhead is rusted and the whole bathroom smells like ammonia. I turn the nozzle to get some hot water, but it only gets as hot as lukewarm tap water. I step in, the water turns a pinkish hue as the blood that cascades my body joins with the water from the shower. Chester usually joins me in the shower, but I never let him in when the water runs red like a river of rubies. The water quickly turns cold, thankfully it gave me just enough time to wash the blood off my pale scarred skin. Chester waits outside the bathroom door, he jumps into my arms as I walk out.

"I'm sorry," He sniffles, "I know you hate leaving--"

"Don't be sorry," I move my hands up so I can hold his head, "The fault is mine."

He bottles up a whimper, but he quiets down. He grabs our holdall and we exit the hotel room. We travel down those same eerie steps, into the lobby-- only to find it completely empty. Chester looks over at me with that same look from this morning. It hits, it had to have been them. My lips tremble but I bite down on them to keep him from noticing their emotion. Chester stops walking, his arms wrap around my bone-thin body. He starts up with the mantra of words like 'it wasn't your fault,' 'I'm sorry,' and other white lies that'll keep me from tearing down myself for killing another innocent person.

"Let's just go," I huff. He releases my body and we continue to hurry down to the car before anyone suspects any foul play from us, "I'm ready to leave California."

Chester doesn't say anything as we reach the parking lot and enter our Camaro. A darkness hangs over him, he gets like this every time I kill. I wonder why he puts up with this, I wonder if he's just ready to end it all. He could be free from this right now if he wanted to, he could have me killed or he could just leave me stranded here. Either way, he'd never have to deal with this bullshit ever again. Yet, he loves me too much to leave.

Here we are again, the familiar interstate 5. She knows us well, we traveled her up and down for months now, it seems like every day we get closer and closer to meeting her end. The roads are empty, except for a few late stragglers on the work trail. We speed far away from Etna, it has become another city to feel our curse.

"Where to next?" I ask Chester.

"Ashland," He replies in a toneless way, "It's not too far."

We've traveled up and down California and finally, we have desecrated its entirety. Our next state is Oregon. I want to believe that this could be our last stop, that we won't have to keep running, but both Chester and I know that'll never happen because we can't escape ourselves that easily.

#hiraeth #our old friend death #werewolf #werewolves #runaways #mlm #fiction #story #second chapter #lgbt #supernatural #writers on tumblr #writing #original work #writeblr

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buckitybarnes · 6 years

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It’s His Nature [6.5]: Crow - Bucky x Reader

Summary:You learned through moments after meeting Bucky what his “animal” side was like. [Aka. Using metaphorical animal stereotypes to describe pieces of Bucky ]

in this chapter: The tables have turned. Two can play at this game. After bringing home a date of your own, you never realized how much of an asshole Barnes can be.

Series Warnings/Themes: I’ll always be cussin’ please close ur ears, kids. Slowburn. Angst. Fluff. Innuendos/Dirty Talk.

Author’s Note: Bit of a longer chapter so cozy up! I loooove when adults argue like children, so you can imagine how much fun it was writing this haha.

Y/N = Your Name

Crow: Troublesome, Cocky

Your argument with Bucky didn’t settle any tension whatsoever. In fact, it only egged him on into bringing home as many girls as he could. You were pretty sure that he lost count and has forgotten their names at this point.

While you didn’t stick around your room for very long, you could hear giggling and playful squeals from his every single night. That was funny because you decided to sleep in the common-room...2 floors down. Tony had begrudgingly agreed to make renovations in the near future so that the complex was much more sound-proof. Sleep wasn’t an option anymore and your comrades noticed how much of a lethargic grump you were in the mornings. They knew better than to get in your way.

“Bye, baby” a feminine (and rather nasally) voice calls out.

You groggily rub your eyes, peeking over the couch to see a girl walk out from the kitchen towards the elevator. Bucky smiles back and bites into a sandwich. You roll your eyes when he waves to her. How long were they there? Your eyes squint at the clock to see that it was practically three in the morning.

“What the fuck?” you mumble more towards yourself than to him. Who the hell fucks and then leaves so early in the morning? Bucky chuckles which makes your gaze snap up to meet his.

“Think her name was Naomi? Natalie?” he hums in contemplation.

“You’re a real asshole” you mutter back. Only Bucky Barnes would forget someone’s name and brag about it.

While he was preoccupied with his food, you give him a once-over, trying to wake up from your tired state. His hair is ruffled and his red Henley was carelessly thrown on. Your eyes stop at the purple mark on his neck and you feel jealousy start to boil in the pit of your stomach. Why the hickey bothered you so much? You had no clue. He notices you staring. The corner of his lips turns into a cocky smirk before he speaks. “She’s a pretty good kisser” he mumbles, pretending to talk to himself but it was obvious that you were meant to hear it.

Suddenly, an idea pops into your head and you can’t help but shoot him a smirk back. If he really wanted to mess with you like this, you weren’t going to back down.

Two can play this game, cheeky-bastard.

Your phone suddenly rings and your attention is pulled to the screen. You try your best not to laugh when you see the caller ID. Perfect timing, Mark. You glance up to see Bucky’s eyes light up with curiosity and you quickly answer the call, putting it on speaker for the soldier to hear.

“Mark, so good to hear from you!”

Bucky scoffs at your voice, which was obviously way too peppy for your taste. He can’t help but clench his sandwich harder when he hears the man’s name. Who the fuck was this guy? His attention was no longer on his food, which was crushed under his grasp.

“[Y/N], hey! Look, I know it’s really late- or...early, but I needed to talk to you. I’m sorry if I woke you up, you know how my job is.”

“It’s fine. Talk about what?” You knew exactly what this was about. Mark had been hounding you down for a date ever since you met him at a cafe. It wasn’t as if the guy was a bad person or anything, you just never had the time to go out with him. The poor man was going to be pulled into your plan.

“Tomorrow.” Your eyebrows knit together at his simple statement. “Tomorrow...?”

He breathes in, obviously nervous about asking you out even though he had been trying for at least a hundred times. “There’s this really nice restaurant downtown by the water. I know you’re busy, but I would love for you to have dinner with me.”

There’s a calamity of noises from where Bucky sits and you don’t have to look up to know that he tossed his plate into the sink in anger. You smirk. “I would love to come, Mark. Just text me the details, okay?” you answer, adding a flirty giggle for good measure. You can tell that your date was blushing as he stumbles over his words. “O-of course! Have a goodnight, sweetheart!”

“Alright, what are you doing?” you hear Bucky ask. You turn to him after hanging up, feigning innocence. “Whattya mean?” you blink a few times, trying to hold back a laugh. He looked furious. “I mean- You’re obviously not into this guy. Why go on a fucking date with him?” he growls.

You hold back the urge to call him a hypocrite. Instead, your eyes narrow and you smirk. “I’m sorry- why do you care? Last time I checked: I can do whatever the hell I want. I don’t belong to you, Bucky.” He knows you’re mocking him. He knows that you’re bringing up the fight from 3 weeks ago in the lobby. He knows because you bring a finger to your head and shoot him a daring look. “Get that drilled into your thick-fucking-skull” you snap.

He stands, knocking over a cereal box to the floor and storms off to the elevator. How childish. When he leaves, you can’t help but let loose a loud laugh. You won this round.

The next day rolls by slowly. It consisted of you and Bucky glaring at each other from across the meeting table while Tony blabbered on about an upcoming mission. At one point you kicked Bucky in the shin. Although it was actually just an accident, You couldn’t help but smirk when he throws you a death glare.

After the meeting, you went to the gym for training. Steve paired you up with Bucky and it was hell. He used his strength to constantly shove you into the mats and taunted you with juvenile insults. It angered you and caused you to swing at him in a blind rage, only to result in you face first onto the ground. It went on for about an hour until the both of you gave up from exhaustion.

It was 8:00 now and you were putting on the finishing touches to your outfit. A wolf-whistle is heard from your right and you laugh, looking into the mirror. “Damn, you tryin’ to get lucky tonight?” Natasha teases, nudging your side. She knows your plan and although she disapproved of it at first, she gives in at the thought of seeing a jealous Bucky. Keep that smug bastard in check? A wonderful idea.

Before you walk out the door, she touches your neck. “What’s this?” You shoot her a confused look before glancing at the mirror once again. A bruise was starting to form and you groan in annoyance. “Bucky.” When her eyebrows shoot up, you shake your head to stop her from teasing. “His metal hand dug into my throat when he slammed me down during training.” You shove her aside playfully when she snickers. You make haste and cover it up with makeup before following Natasha downstairs.

“Oooooh shit” Sam hollers from the lobby couch. You chuckle and walk towards the entrance, sending him a flirty wink. Beside him sat Tony and- you guessed it- Bucky.

You see his jaw practically drop and his eyes widen in surprise.

“No girl tonight, Bucky?” you inquire, walking towards the men. He clears his throat and closes his mouth before answering. “No. Uhm. No” he sputters. Tony and Sam laugh at him, knowing full well the game that was going on between the two of you. “Wash your sheets after tonight, young lady” Tony playfully scolds you, earning a glare from Bucky. You grin cheekily. “Dunno, he might take me back to his place so we won’t have to worry about that” you joke, noticing Bucky’s grip on the armrest tighten and his jaw twitch in irritation. A car’s honk causes Nat to nudge your shoulder. “Date’s here” she announces. You look up at the blue corvette and let out a wolf-whistle of your own, sauntering over towards the exit. “Bye guys!”

Tony, Sam, and Natasha wave you off but Bucky is too busy staring at the coffee table in front of him. “Guy’s got a nice taste in cars at least” Tony comments, nodding his head to agree with himself. He smirks when the metal-armed soldier rises off the couch and heads up to his room. “I knew it” he adds. Sam looks at him and smirks knowingly. He decides to say what was on everyone else’s minds.

“She’s got him wrapped around her finger.”

“I’m so glad that you came, [Y/N].”

The date was a success. Although you went in with low standards, you genuinely had fun with Mark. You smile, feeling a bit guilty about your intentions in leading him on. He was a really sweet guy. “Thank you for inviting me. I had a good time” you say, softly nudging his side with your own.

He walks you up to the Avengers complex after parking his car. His eyes roam your body and you know exactly what he wants. His cheeks are dusted with pink when you laugh at him, taking his hand and walking him into the elevator. “Hope you don’t have to work later” you tease and he chuckles in response. “Nah. I’m off tomorrow. No rush.”

The elevator opens to your floor and Mark picks you up, playfully growling. “Which way?” he hums, laughing when you hold onto him tighter. You point towards your room and he wastes no time in carrying you inside. When he sets you on the bed, he shivers. His smile falters and he starts to look unsure. “What’s wrong, Mark?” you mumble. “Sorry- I’m just a little...nervous. Never been with such a pretty woman” he admits, sheepishly grinning. You chuckle and pull him down. “Don’t worry, you’re doing fine” you smile warmly.

You have to admit that when he leans down, you aren’t anxious one bit. There aren’t butterflies in your stomach. There isn’t a skip in your heartbeat.

Not with him.

What really makes your heart flutter is the sound of another voice.

“[Y/N]....Is he gone yet, sweetheart?”

Mark halts his attempt to kiss you and looks just as confused as you are. Bucky had apparently called into your room through Friday. His voice is rough and he sounded needy. You can’t help but blush. That cheeky asshole.

“I’m still here” Mark answers for you aggressively.

Bucky doesn’t seem to listen, going off on his own. You knew exactly what he was doing and you were furious. “Why don’t you come to bed, baby girl?” he says softly. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t turned on by it, but your anger outweighs the feeling.

“Bucky...Shut the fuck up” you growl, trying to control yourself. You look at Mark apologetically but he gets off of you, glaring. “Wanna tell me what’s going on, [Y/N]?” His face is red. By the clenching of his jaw, you can tell that he was holding back his anger.

You open your mouth to speak but Bucky decides to interject by calling your name. You scramble to your feet. Mark watches incredulously as you pry open the control panel underneath your desk. You waste no time in shutting off the speakers, angry at yourself for not doing so earlier. As soon as the red light appears, you whip around to Mark, only to see him head out the door.

“Mark, wait! Please!” You beg, grabbing his arm. He looks down at you, frowning deeply before shaking you off. “I can’t do this,” he says firmly. He looks hurt and you know that there’s no way to convince him into staying. “I’m so sorry about this” you choke out, eyes tearing up. He shakes his head and smiles sadly, silently walking toward the elevator. You watch the numbers above it decrease as he descends, heartbroken.

When you turn, you see Bucky standing by his door, a shit-eating grin on his face. Your blood boils as you stomp towards him, a murderous look behind your gaze. “What. The. Ever-loving fuck. Barnes” you spit, throwing a hard punch at his chest. It doesn’t seem to inflict any damage, but his grin drops at your anger. “He wasn’t good enough for you, I was only doing you a favor” he scoffs. You stifle a scream, grabbing hold of his shirt collar and pulling him down to eye-level. “I get to be the judge of what is and isn’t good for me! It’s my life, dickwad! What the hell did I ever do to you?!” you shout. You’re sure that the whole complex can hear it.

He flinches. ‘You walked into my life and I fell for you, dumbass. How hard is it to understand?’ he wants to say, but he can’t. He can’t do it for your sake. He swallows thickly before shaking his head. “Whatever” is all he can say.

What could he say?

“Whatever? Whatever?! What was the point in doing all of that? Why do you insist on ruining everything for me?! Are you fucking happy with yourself?” You’re hysterical now, tears streaming down your face. He can bring home whoever he wants, but you had to have his blessing to do the same?

He forces himself to turn away towards his room.

You let him.

You watch as he slams the door shut and locks it.

You wake up the next morning, rolling over in bed and groaning as the sunlight blinds you. The events of last night rushed back.

“asshole” you growl, dragging yourself to brush your teeth. You were conflicted on facing the team at breakfast. There was no doubt that everyone heard what had gone down. The growl in your stomach betrays you and you grumble something under your breath. “Serves me right for not eating last night.” You were never one for fancy food, and when Mark introduced you to escargot, you hid it under your napkin during his trip to the restroom. Mark. Another wonderful thing in your life that walked out the door. Perfect.

The kitchen is dead silent when you walk in. The whole team sits, gazes either looking to the food on their plates or to the floor. Of course, the only open seat was right across Bucky’s. He watches as you sit, stabbing food onto your plate as if they insulted you personally. You aren’t bothered by the secretive glances or the whispers among the group (most likely about last night’s events), you’re just bothered by the fact that Bucky never apologized.

That fucking asswipe.

After finishing a waffle, you look him dead in the eyes. There’s resentment behind your gaze. If he wasn’t going to man up to his mistake, you decide that you won’t acknowledge his existence.

“Wanda, pass the salt please,” you ask bitterly. You’re fully aware that the salt shaker is right in front of Bucky. Nervously, Wanda glances at Bucky and back towards you. Out of everyone else at the table, she knew more about what had happened last night. Perks of having powers.

Before she can reach the salt, Bucky snatches it, almost breaking the glass with his strong grip. You glower at him before looking to Wanda for help. The poor girl flinches in her seat at the pressure. After a few seconds, Bucky decides to be a fucking gentleman and hands the shaker to her.

“Thank you, Wanda” you mutter through gritted teeth.

As soon as you turn the shaker upside down above your eggs, the cap drops and clatters against the plate. Everyone around you gasps, looking at the mountain of salt that covers your food. The attention is all on Bucky.

That fucker twisted the cap loose before giving it to Wanda.

You can hear Tony try his best to hold in a laugh, but when you stand up from your seat, your teammates go silent under the tension. The chair’s legs screech against the floor and the table wobbles as you slam your hands against it.

“How. Fucking. Petty” you growl.

He tries not to smirk at the predicament. Why he did such a stupid thing? He’s not quite sure. However, he fully regrets it when you snap and point an accusing finger in his direction.

“How fucking petty can you be, Barnes?!”

Did he just crack a smile? That smug asshole.

“Wasn’t me” he dares to say, holding his hands up in defense. “Guess someone else must’ve done it before it got left there.”

None of your comrades dared to move, too afraid of drawing attention to themselves. Despite being one of the largest men in the room, Thor shrinks in his seat. Steve’s face is red when he sends Bucky a look akin to a mother scolding her child. Bruce joins Rhodey in averting their gazes away from the scene. Sam, Clint, Natasha, and Tony all seem to purse their lips to keep their amusement hidden.

You face becomes hard to read, an unnerving calm painting your features. You walk towards the elevator, but on the way out, you turn.

You remember from last week that Bucky’s chair was unstable due to a loose leg. Everyone else sees it coming but he doesn’t. With the biggest smirk on your face, you forcefully kick it. The leg breaks off, sending the soldier falling back.

When you’re in the elevator, you’re satisfied with his shocked expression. His steel-blue eyes open wide and his mouth gapes.

“Fucking idiot” you grumble.

Tags:

@sebstanwassup

#bucky barnes #bucky x reader #james bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes #the winter soldier #x reader #reader insert #fanfic #slowburn #angst #fluff #romance #series #its his nature #writing #read #childish fools #humor #mcu

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foggyhoundbiscuitskeleton · 3 years

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I listened to the beating od Billie’s heart, as it helped calm me and made me fall in love even harder. I listened to her heart for about three hours, before finally drifting off to think about Billie in my dreams.

I woke up the next morning to see that Billie was gone, but her side of the bed was still warm, I cuddled with her pillow, before scrolling through Tik Tok. I was only two videos deep, when a video bashing me came up and I quickly swiped off the app, I got on Instagram next, that was a bad idea. All my comments on my photos were either hate comments or death threats, I let out a gasp reading them. “You should kill yourself,” “Billie could do better then you, your trash,” “I hope you and your family dies!” They went on and on, I felt hot tears come pouring down my cheeks the more I read them, and I had to throw my phone across the room to stop. I got up and paced the room, trying to decide what to do, my mind was racing too with every step I took. I finally decided that I would take a hot shower, as that seemed to help cure any issue I had. Once, I got out of the shower and put the nice hotel robe on, I walked out of the bathroom and saw Billie sitting on the bed.

“So, I have a surprise for you!”

“Ummmm....ok, what is it?” I asked curiously.

Billie pulls a thin red letter from behind her back and hands it to me. I take the letter and observe it, as I try to figure out what it is.

“Well, go on and open it!”

“I’m just trying to take a mental guess of what it is.” I reply.

“Screw a mental guess, just open it!”

I open the letter and before my eyes, I held two VIP backstage passes to Taylor Swift’s concert in Dallas, which was the next city we were going too. I stood standing still from shock as I processed getting to meet my second mother, I was speechless, I never had someone give such a nice gift.

“Do you like it?”

“Like it, I freaking love it, thank you, thank you, thank you!” I cheer.

I run over and wrap my arms around Billie in a big bear hug, while I preceded to pepper her face with kisses. She giggles as I kiss her cheek over and over, and a big smile spreads across my face.

“You really shouldn’t have!” I note.

“Well, I know how hard yesterday was for you and I wanted to do something nice and relaxing for you, because you deserve it.”

“Awwwww........I love and appreciate you....I also would love to go to that concert.” I reply nervously.

Billie hopped in the shower to get ready for her sound check, we wanted to cancel today’s show, but it would look really sus, and we couldn’t have that right now. I couldn’t risk going to the show and being attacked so I decided to stay at the hotel during the concert, but I would watch Billie do her soundcheck. I left my phone of the floor and turned on the t.v. and watched a Dave Chappelle comedy show on Netflix, as comedy shows always cheer me up. Billie got out of the shower lookin fine as fuk, she was dressed in a lime green Gucci track suit with red Jordan's, and these big boxy black sunglasses. She walked over to me and gave me a quick peck on the cheek.

“Are you coming to my soundcheck?”

“Yeah, I’m going to put some clothes and call my mom, then I’ll be down.” I answer.

“Ok, well I’m going to order some food what do you want?”

“Where are you ordering from?” I ask.

“Depends on what kind of food you want.”

“Can we get cheeseburgers? "I question.

“Of course, baby, I’ll go ahead and order them, so don’t take too long.”

“Ok, love you!” I say as I kiss her.

“Love you too!”

I quickly put some grey Nike sweatpants on and one of Billie’s oversized anime shirts, I think it was a Death Note character, but I wasn’t sure. I grab my phone from off the floor and call my mom, she picked up in a tired tone, I forgot there was a four-hour time difference and it was currently 12pm.

“Hello, Y/N.”

“Hey, mom what’s going on.” I smiled.

“It’s 8am, so not much I just woke up.”

“Sorry mom, I forgot about the time difference, but it’s nice to hear your voice!” I laughed.

“It’s nice to hear yours too, you need to call more, I miss you Y/N!”

“I know, I’ve been busy lately, also mom don’t get on social media ok?” I said.

“Why, what happened?”

“Well, I’m currently being bashed, because I’ve been romantically connected with Billie.” I hesitated.

“Romantically connected, did a sex tape get leaked or,”

“Jesus no mom!” I cut her off.

“It’s a long story that I don’t really feel like talking about, but another type of video got leaked and now people think Billie and I are together.” I huffed.

“First I’m your mother I need to know about the other things, second are you two......together?”

“Um....no....yesssss actually!” I mumbled.

“Ok, well this is a..... surprise... but a good one, well when do I get to meet her?”

“I’m not really sure yet, but she got me Taylor Swift concert tickets for Dallas, which is our next city.” I hummed.

“That sounds like fun, but I want to meet her, also I want to know what else you did!”

“Chill mom, you can meet her when we go to Florida, you can fly down and stay with Aunt Lizzy, also I’ll have to call you back and tell you all about my touring experience, I have to go and do work right now!” I rush.

“Ok, well I guess I’ll go ahead and take off for work then, and I’ll be expecting that call later.”

“Ok, love you, have nice day!” I replied.

“Love you too, stay out of trouble, ok Y/N, also tell Billie I said hi.”

“Will do bye!” I said.

After my call, I made my way to the arena to watch Billie practice. Lucky the arena was two blocks down from the hotel so I just walked. I showed my ID to the security guard and walked backstage and found Zoe sitting tweeting something.

“Hey, what’s up.” I asked.

“Oh, hey Y/N I didn’t see you sorry, I was just tweeting.”

“Yeah, what about?” I questioned.

“Nothing just bashing some Danielle fans, for talking shit, they deserve it!”

“Oh, sounds like fun, I got on Tik Tok this morning then cried, some people were bashing me.” I whispered.

“Aw Y/N, I’m sorry, I know that sucks the first time it happens, but after the third you stop giving a fuck, fuck them haters, they can suck your dick!”

“Thanks Zoe, that was really inspirational, I feel better, moved actually.” I grinned.

“Shut up before I go on Twitter and bash you, whore!”

I flipped Zoe off then ask, “Anyway, where’s Billie?”

She points, "Go down that hall, turn left, and that is the entrance to the stage, she’s warming up.”

“Thanks” I respond.

“No problem.”

Zoe goes back to staring at her phone and I speed walk down the hall to see my queen. I get the entrance and peek my head out, there I saw Billie looking beautiful as ever singing her heart out as she swayed on her feet. The stag lights gave her face a natural glow, along with making her eyes twinkle.

“What is it about him, he must be doing something.”

I listen to her finish her song, sneakily listening from the hall, she was the best singer I’ve ever heard live, that was of course until I go to see Taylor, but still she sounded angelic. She finishes her set and I walk out on stage to greet her.

“Hey baby, how is your mom?”

“She’s good, she said hi, is the food here I’m starving?” I ask as I wrap me arms around her waist and kiss her on the nose. Billie was a little bit shorter than me, with her being 5’3 and me at 5’6, even though I was taller I still felt like the baby of the relationship.

“It should be here, I got you extra fries too!”

“Thank you, well let’s go eat.”I said.

We devoured our food and chatted as the time grew closer for Billie to preform. I knew Billie was nervous about the meet and greet that was at 4, two hours before the concert that way she would have plenty of time to meet everyone. Once, 3 rolled around Billie put the final touches on her outfit, adding some gold chains and putting her hair in some space buns. I watched in aw as she got ready, she was so beautiful!

“Can I do your makeup?” I asked.

“What?”

“Can I do your makeup, if not it’s ok, your just so pretty and I want to highlight some of that!” I whisper.

“Of course, baby, make me look pretty!”

“Your already pretty, let me grab my makeup bag.” I respond.

I sat Billie down in a chair, I started off by adding some blush to her face to give her a flushed, cute look. Then I added some highlight to make her sparkle, and lastly, I added a little eyeshadow for some dramatic effect.

“Well, what do you think?” I question.

“Damn, I might have to hire you to do my makeup!”

“I don’t know I already do your behind-the-scenes work.” I joke.

“What’s one more thing then.”

Billie leans forward and kisses me, then she looks deep into my eyes and tells me, "So, I know it’s been a hard two days, and I know you don’t want to come to the concert, but I need you to be here for the last song ok?”

“I never said I wouldn’t come, I can stay backstage and listen to you, I just don’t wanna be anywhere near the crowd.” I replied.

“Ok, well I need you to be here for the last song.”

“Why?” I ask.

“You’ll see it’s a surprise!”

“Ok!” I laugh.

I decided while Billie was doing her meet and greet, I would go back to the hotel and nap, since I was still tired from all the traveling we’ve been doing. I give her one final kiss, and start my way back to the hotel. I wake up from my nap and feel a lot better, I decide to make myself look more presentable since I have a surprise waiting for me. I put on a purple flannel that I didn’t button but tie instead, along with a pair of tight black jeans, and checker boots. I curl my hair and put on some makeup, adding a little spray of perfume too. I was too scared to walk over and be recognized, so I called Zoe to come pick me up instead. She gets to the hotel, and we drive back to the arena.

“Soooo, are you excited for tonight, because you look super hot and you never look like this?”

“I mean, I’m a little nervous, but I’ll be ok, I would feel a lot better if you told me the surprise.” I smirk.

“No, I don’t even know what it is, only Fineas does, and good luck getting it out of him.”

“Fine!” I huffed.

I got backstage in time to give Billie a good luck kiss and see her walk on the stage.

“I’m excited for you to see your surprise!”

“I’m nervous now!” I gasp.

“Don’t be your gonna love it!”

Billie turned and ran onto the stage. I watched her give her opening speech then preform a couple of her songs before walking back to the lounge. Fineas and Zoe laid sprawled out, making little conversation with each other as they watched the screen that showed Billie’s performance. I sat doen beside Zoe picking her feet up to make room for me.

“God Zoe your feet sink!” I gag.

“Your stupid they do not, they literally spell delicious I’ve been told so.”

“You're fucking disgusting!” I sass.

Zoe sticks out her tongue as I make a gagging face.

“You two aren’t right man!”

Zoe and I die laughing! I chat with Zoe and Fineas as Billie pushes through her performance, absolutely killing it as always! That’s when she finally announces, “I have a special song I’d like to sing tonight it means a lot to me and someone else who’s in my life. I wrote this last night and finished it up this morning, it’s called Everything I Wanted.”

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fafnir-the-golden-dragon-blog · 7 years

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lil’ preview of a oneshot thing idk

Misa wasn't faring well in the aftermath of Light's death. She had been found after a suicide attempt and was promptly taken to a psychiatric ward until she was mentally healed. She had been in there for a rather long time, long enough even for her to lose count of the days. She could've been there for days, months, years even, and she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. But of coarse, eventually it was time for her to be released. She was rather surprised when a doctor came up to her and said that she was being sent home, and somebody was there to pick her up. Misa had briefly wondered who that could be, before grabbing her only possession-an odd little stuffed doll to which the origins were unknown to her-and following the same doctor out of the building. Misa was even more shocked to see Taro Matsu-no, Touta Matsuda standing there, waving to her with a smile on his face. "Hiya, Misa-Misa!" The man said with a cheerful expression. But something was off. Misa noticed that his smile didn't look as genuine as it used to. No, his smile looked strained, and there were visible bags under his eyes, as if he had been under horrible stress. He'd also seemed to have gained some weight, as he was a good bit larger in his cheeks and stomach. Adding to his unusually disheveled appearance, was his outfit.

He wore simple baggy jeans, worn out sneakers and a large mint green sweater, which had obnoxiously bright green stripes. Misa had never seen her previous manager look so......normal. He had always seemed unnaturally happy and cheerful, was this what had become of the once bright and cheery man? Upon noticing her staring, Matsuda shifted slightly under her gaze, before speaking. "I-I know you're probably kinda confused, but, my uh, roommate and I agreed to let you stay with us for a while," he said, scratching slightly at the back of his head. Misa couldn't help but notice that his wavy hair was a good bit longer than she'd remembered, as it covered his ears completely, and could most likely be easily put into a ponytail. Forcing herself to pay attention to what the man was saying, Misa shook her head slightly as she clutched the odd white doll in her hands. Matsuda looked at her with an expression of concern, before speaking. "I-is that okay with you Misa-Misa?" He asked softly. Misa sighed. He was still way too nice. At least that part of him had stayed intact. "No Matsu, it's okay. I don't have a problem with that." Matsuda visibly relaxed, a much more genuine smile spreading across his chubby cheeks. "Okay! Uh, my car's this way, if ya' wanna follow me," the man said, gesturing vaguely in no particular direction. Misa only nodded, and proceeded to follow him when he started leading the way.

It didn't take long before they reached the car she recognized as Matsuda's. He had used the exact same one when he was her manager. She hesitated, before climbing into the passenger's seat, and buckling her seatbelt. Matsuda fumbled around for a moment, clearly looking for his keys. Misa rested her chin in her palm, staring out the window for a solid five minutes before Matsuda finally found his keys, which he announced with a rather loud: "Aha! Found em'!" Misa couldn't help but smile. His childish nature had apparently stayed as well. Good. That was, after all, part of what had made him so much fun as a friend. Once Matsuda started driving, Misa decided to speak. "So, you have a roommate?" The question was casual enough, but Matsuda's face still flushed a light shade of pink. "Y-yeah, I do," he responded awkwardly. Misa raised an eyebrow in his general direction. It was a normal enough question, so why did he seem so bothered? He seemed to catch on to her suspicion however, because he said something in return. "You've changed quite a lot Misa-Misa, I almost didn't recognize you!" He said with a smile. Misa sighed softly. She could hardly even recognize herself. Between the fact that her hair had grown out, back to its natural brown, and the fact that she no longer followed a strict model's diet-and therefore had gained a decent amount of weight-she wasn't surprised that her former manager had trouble recognizing her.

She simply nodded, noticing how he kept glancing over at her with a concerned expression. She sighed. "I'm okay Matsu. Oh, and you don't have to call me Misa-Misa. I'm not a model anymore, just call me Misa, okay?" She asked, hoping that she didn't sound too harsh. Matsuda nodded. "A-alright. Sorry Misa." The small woman couldn't help but laugh slightly. He really was too nice for his own good. When neither of them said anything for a while, an awkward silence settled over the two. Misa decided to break it. "So, why did you look all flustered when I asked you about your roommate?" She asked as casually as she could manage. Matsuda's face went red again, causing Misa to smirk. "W-what? It's nothing," Matsuda said hurriedly. Misa snickered, deciding to tease him a bit more. "Aw, Matsu, do you have a girlfriend?" Matsuda's face went bright red. "N-not exactly," he said quietly. Even though he seemed nervous, he was still smiling. Still smiling that lovely genuine smile that reminded Misa of how much she'd missed his friendship. However, her memories were cut short when she noticed something she hadn't before. On Matsuda's left hand, was a wedding ring. Misa's eyes went wide, and by the intense blush on his face, Matsuda knew exactly what she saw. She stared at him in shock for a moment. "Wow Matsu, you got married?" She practically shouted, waving her hands in excitement. Matsuda didn't respond, opting instead to try and hide his smile in that hideous turtleneck sweater.

Misa smirked. "So, is she pretty?" Matsuda's eyes went wide. "W-what? Whaddaya' mean?" He asked, clearly flustered. Misa sighed. Still doesn't think. Another quality kept. "Your wife ya' dummy! Is she pretty?" Misa shouted with a smile. Matsuda sighed, chewing lightly in his lower lip. Yet another quality: shitty habits. He still wasn't answering her. "Aw c'mon, I'm gonna meet her anyway!" Matsuda sighed. "I don't....I don't have a wife," he said, putting extra emphasis on the word "wife." Misa's eyes went wide. "Woah, Matsu, do you have a husband?" Judging by the extreme blush covering his cheeks, Misa knew she'd hit the nail on the head. "Wow, really! That's so great Matsu! I can't believe you got married! Is he cute?" Matsuda sighed softly, looking tired. That small smile still remained. "Y-yeah, I'd say so." Misa smirked. He wasn't denying it. It had to be true. Her smirk grew into a full-on grin when Matsuda said that they were almost to his house. She still continued to ask questions. "So, is it someone I know?" She asked, hoping he'd actually respond. "Y-yeah, he is." Misa's brows furrowed in contemplation. Who could Matsuda have married that she knew? Aizawa? No, he was married. Ide? Ew, who would want to marry him? Light was dead, and had been married at the time of said death, so that only left one other person......

Matsuda pulled into the driveway belonging to the house that was apparently his, and Misa immediately recognized the other car parked in the driveway. 'No way,' she thought, a look of shock on her face. Matsuda's face was still red, making it pretty clear that he knew she'd worked it out.

A/N: just to make it clear, I am not shipping Matsu and Misa!!! In this fic, Misa is aromantic!!!! (She realizes that she never truly loved Light, and that she'd just admired Kira) so yeah, older Matsu and his ugly sweaters ;) I hope y’all like it :’)

#touta matsuda #matsuda touta #death note #misa amane #ohoho I wonder who it could be ;)?#tw mentions of suicide #aromantic misa #mentions of suicide attempts

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karma2u · 7 years

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just a lil’ story I wrote

I wrote like?? a story??? based on how Tygr and Charles met n stuff... I wrote it pretty late at night but I Cant be bothered to proofread rn. . .

A pub sat in the heart of the town. the black and blue colours both inside and outside of the worn down place gave the building a clam mood, yet anyone who had been inside knew most left with the same colours. someone approached the building, her hood covered her face, but the iconic jacket was easy to recognise at this point in her life. she wore black boots to her knees, which were covered with dark red knee pads- metal. she had grey trousers tucked into her boots, which has blue arrows either side of them. she wore a dark red crop top, despite the cold, snowy weather that would have told her to wrap up. there was a choker around her neck that had a blue bead at her throat, normally an uncomfortable accessory for others, but she had worn it so long she no longer felt it there. her hair was messy and only just went past her chin, and had been styled to cover her eyes. the colour was dark red, then faded down to light pink by the bottom, and her hidden eyes were green with black sclera. the black hood over her head was lead by black bars with gold hoops are the end, and a purple piece of cloth between each of them gave the look of wings. the sleeves ended with straps at her elbows, and on her left arm three gold bangles rested on her wrists. as she walked closer to the pub, she seemed to murmur to a black shape as it poked it's green-eyed head from her coat, orange horns glowing in the night. it floated out of the jacket, wrapping itself around her neck snugly, closing it's eyes to feign sleep. this was Tygr, and the shape was Kagayaku, her brother-like daemon. she walked into the pub, and took her seat on a stool by the bar. the bartender was a young man with long black hair. his bangs were neatly center parted, and the rest was tied in a ponytail with a white ribbon. his eyes were brown, and despite the rugged look of the bar, his face was friendly, cleanly shaved, but not quite handsome. his outfit consisted of a white shirt, neatly buttoned up, and a black tailcoat, the torn off sleeves contrasting the well-pressed look, and should someone look behind the bar his trousers were black, as were his shoes. he leaned against the shelves of bottles, cleaning a glass that was kept just to clean when no customers were being served. "oi. joss. i' here." Tygr said, her voice resembling a laugh. the bartender smiled, standing up straight only to lean on the counter, careful to keep his elbows off of the beer mats, swirling the clean glass like it has a liquid inside. "ID?" he asked, glancing to the side. Tygr reached into her jacket, only to flash her empty palm. Joss nodded, his eyes scanning as if reading, then stood up and reached behind the bar, taking out a clear bottle, pouring out a glass and handing it over. "back in town then? Aug' giving you a bad time?" he asked, rolling up his sleeves. "marc wanted ta see him. can't stand sight of 'is face, so here's forgetting where i am." she answered, raising the glass and brushing back her messy short hair while she sipped it, scuffing it up again when she put the glass down. she ran her fingertip around the rim of the glass, biting her tongue. "so do you know why he wants to see Aug'?" "never. marc knows i hate 'im too. but i guess it's nice bein' here again." Tygr shrugged, leaning back on her stool, holding the side of the bar to stabilise herself. "always a treat seeing you here as well. the regulars get boring." Joss smirked. "oh, speaking of which. Carl's been bailed out if you want a fight." he clicked his fingers, eyes flicking over to look at a rugged looking man in the back of the pub. Tygr played with the piercings in her lips, staring at the man. his eyes darted around, but nodded when he made eye contact. Tygr rolled her shoulders but turned back around to look at Joss, shaking her head "yeah, well. not in the mood for that." she sighed, taking a chug from her glass. Joss shrugged, and put his cleaning glass behind the counter, taking out a shot glass and pouring some of the bottled drink in it, sipping it lightly. a man at the end of the bar watched as he did so, standing up and pulling his stool to sit at Tygr's right hand side. he glanced at him, taking in his appearance- she'd come to recognise all of the regulars in the pub, and he certainly wasn't one. he wore a brown hat over his head, with a grey ribbon around the base. his hair was a dirty blond- the left side was cut short, and the right side of his bangs were shoulder-length and wrapped around his chin naturally. he had an eyepatch on his left eye- in fact, the left side of his face had a darker skin tone to th rest of his face- a burn scar, Tygr guessed. the eye she could see was dark green, and despite his youth seemed aged. he wore a double-breasted coat- the main body was blue, but the piece on the front was light blue, as were the sleeves and the rim of the coat. the sleeves were folded up to his elbows, and two gold shoulder pads rested at his sides. his forearms had what looked like brown guards on them, and his right hand had a bracelet with brown wooden beads on it. through the middle of his coat there were three card houses- diamond, spade, and at the bottom, club. between the spade and club was a brown belt at his waist, with a heart buckle. he had two necklaces- a long one with wooden beats in a similar style to his bracelet, and a shorter necklace decorated with a single yellow bead. his trousers were dark grey with a white circle on each of the knees, and two white smaller circles beneath it. his shoes were simple brown ones. Tygr looked back up to his face, and he was smirking... Tygr had the sudden urge to punch a wall. "done?" he asked with an accent she couldn't recognise. she reached back her fist and went in to punch him before she'd even realise what she was doing, but he quickly caught her fist before it could make contact with his face, still smirking "careful sweetie." 'great. he really is another Marcus.' Tygr thought, quickly pulling back her fist, making the man fall on the floor. he stood up and brushed himself off, sitting on his stood again. "I'll have a whisky." the man waved, turning back to Tygr as joss went to pour his drink "look, i dont want you to get the wrong idea. ah, restart. hi, I'm Charles, I'm new around here if you can't tell. and you are?" he asked, holding out a hand "Tygr. tie-gur. got it?" Tygr nodded, shaking his hand, then pulling him off his stool again "law one of Sochanara, shaking hands isn't a thing." "Sochanara? August just calls this place wales." Charles chuckled, sitting back down. "wow. ok, you never read a textbook. wales became Sochanara when the four rebirthed the land, just like how the rest of the land changed it's name." tygr explained. "you from Baurenku? Kalthurpa?" Tger asked, swirling her glass "Kalthurpa's the closest place. I'm American." Charles shrugged. Tygr jolted, crushing the glass in her fist, staring at Charles. he only laughed "what, you didn't hear?" "a-mer-ican..." she said slowly, then turned to joss as he put a glass of whisky in front of Charles, who nodded in thanks, taking a sip "yeah, i know right? 'guilds doing this whole program right now, apparently The One's heir is American, so they've sent potential heirs over to find out who The One's chosen." joss explained "i would have thought The Second would have told you." he laughed, getting a second glass from behind the counter, putting it on the counter "two doesn't tell me anything nowadays." Tygr sighed, grabbing the bottle itself and drinking straight from it, ignoring the glass and downing half of what was left "maybe he really has changed his heir to 'Aug." joss laughed, but Tygr seemed to ignore his comment. Charles just watched the two, finishing off his glass, then standing up "well, I'll be off." Charles smiled "put it on August's tab." he said, turning around, before Tygr snatched his hat, puling her hood down and putting it on her head instead "if it's Tin's tab, you're buying me drinks." Tygr smiled. Charles stared in shock for a moment, then smiled and sat back down again, ruffling his hair a little. "whatever you say sweetie." Charles smiled, resting his head in his hand, elbow on the bar "you got a partner?" "open relation. we're together, but we do what we want, with who we want. consenting, of course." Tygr explained "why?" "just saying, you're pretty hot." Charles smiled. Tygr laughed, then kicked his stool over. Charles stood up again and brushed himself off "say that again and you want be saying anything." Tygr growled. "sorry, sorry. just messing with you, i wanted to know how you'd react. knowing how people react to that is a good indication as to what kind of person they are." "and i am?" "stubborn, don't take anything from nobody, probably had a violent background. owns a high-maintenance pet. bi?" "pan." "close." the two were quiet for a minute, finishing their drinks. "so, you wanted to talk to me?" Charles murmured "yeah. how do you know augustine?" "how do you?" "i asked first." "fine. the guild, i believe you call it? they said we could stay with him, and he agreed. nice guy." Charles explained "and by we, i mean me, Winstone, and his daughter KT. adopted, she is." "alright then. I've known him a while. I'm a big deal in Sonekama and he want's my, place, so we're somewhat rivals." Tygr shrugged "... don't tell him this, but yeah, outside of his ego he's not a bad guy. he's helped Nikky a lot." Tygr whispered. "Nikky? you mean Niko, the inventor?" "yeah. used to have a thing for him, but i like Ari and i didn't want to get in their way. ever met Ari?" "she's been mentioned. what about bass?" "bass? she's sweet. spends a lot of time with some guy from the guild." Tygr shrugged, then glared at Charles "there seem to be a lot of questions coming from you right now." "throw on at me." "what's it like? where you live? what did you do?" Tygr asked "i wouldn't usually care, but in this case, you seem interesting." "not any better than here really, 'cept instead of trying to fight to survive, you earn to survive. i own a casino." Charles shrugged "you know what a casino is? you gamble there. huge building, just for that. you meet a lot of people, and those who you don't like you can make them lose. makes one feel in control." he explained, turning to look down at the counter. he shook his head, looking up again. Tygr stared at him a moment, somewhat confused at his expression, but shrugged it off. "joss! shots?" Tygr demanded. joss laughed "wondered how long it'll take you to ask." he said, taking out two glasses and two bottles from being the counter. he opened the bottles, then bowed "I'm going to the back. start a fight, i need the bet money." he smiled, taking out two boxes, one labelled 'Tygr' and another 'x' and putting them on the side, then followed his word and walked through a door in the back of the bar. Charles looked at the boxes and laughed "you have your own box?" "told you I'm a big deal." Tygr smiled, pouring herself a shot, and Charles did the same. "alright, shot one." Charles clapped his hands, then undid a button on his coat and reached inside, pulling out a pouch. he took out a few coins, putting them in the 'x' box "oh, I'm flattered. take me now." Tygr said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Charles laughed "well, maybe when I've seen you fight I'll put more money on you." he responded, blowing a kiss. Tygr leaned away from it's direction. "ok, so with every shot you're putting a quan in a box, then we each ask a question. sound fair?" Tygr asked "yeah, sure. sounds like a drinker's way of knowing each other, that's for sure. alright, what's with the bracelets?" Charles asked "not even Marcus knows that, let alone you. what's with the guards?" Tygr responded. "you've already asked if it sounded fair, sweetie." Charles smirked, before the two took their second shot. Charles put another quan in the 'x' box, then slammed the glass down. "alright. are you a human, mystic, or hybrid?" "mystic. Kagayaku’s my daemon." she answered, gesturing at the creature still wrapped around her neck. "and you?" "human. we dont have anything else in America. didn't even know people like that existed." shot three. box 'x'. "so do you know about the four? about madam death?" Tygr asked "now that I'm in Sonakama. have you met any of them?" "I'm two's heir, and my metaphorical sibling is madam death's kid." four 'x' "metaphorical?" Charles was the first to ask "Two and Madam death were together when they were human. and as Two's heir, I'm his adopted daughter. alright, here's my question. why did you stick around for drinks with me?" "you seem interesting. most girls are scared of a face like this in my town. and the men aren't interested." ... empty bottle. 'Tygr'. "you want another drink?" the two asked at once. "heck yeah." they answered, them sighed when the realised joss was already in the back. behind them, a man stood up, tapping Tygr on the shoulder. Tygr turned around, then smiled. "Charles! move the tables, get the bets." Tygr clapped, standing up. Kagayaku uncurled himself from her neck, saying something quietly, then floating and lying on the bar counter. Charles laughed and followed Tygr’s instructions as she took off her jacket, putting it onto the stool and stretching, Carl doing the same. ... with everything organised, Charles sat in his stool, folding his arms and smirking, then raised a hand "alright you two, UN DEUX TROIS go!" he shouted, and instantly Carl was knocked to the floor with a punch to the eye from Tygr. he kicked at Tygr's ankles, knocking at one of them but she hopped away on her other foot. Carl stood up and aimed a punch at her, but she easily leaned out of the way, so he tried another, and once again she dodged it, repeating several times, until out of frustration Tygr head-butted with carl. he staggered, the tried for one more punch. Tygr caught it, squeezing and crushing his hand. he yelled, then pulled back his fist before she could let go, kneeing her in the stomach when she was close enough. she yelped at the sudden pain, then wrapped her other arm around his waist and let herself fall on the floor, dragging him with her. she pushed him off, making sure to stand on him as she stood up. "given up yet?" Tygr asked, but in response carl tried to stand, making Tygr jump off so he could. this time, he tried to swing a kick. Tygr jumped back, and he lost his balance before Tygr grabbed his ankle. "oh. ok... you know what I'm bored now." Tygr sighed. she took a step to the side, then, holding onto his ankle with both hands, swung Carl around to slam him to the ground "one, two three, four, five!" she smiled, holding a hand out to Charles "... that was it?" he laughed, taking her hand, but she pulled it away "not your hand, the box." "... wha?" "the box. money in my box is for me, the 'x' for joss." Tygr smirked "oh." Charles laughed "anyways, we'd better go. I'm still pretty sober but i wanna surprise tin by bringing you back." she smirked.

#OC #writing #Charles #tygr

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