#anyway i don’t know that slapping the person who made the rude remark would be universally met with understanding and forgiveness

[thisisember]

i still feel like if a famous white woman from a beloved family in entertainment had lost her hair from chemotherapy for cancer, and at a big awards show viewed by huge numbers of people, the guy they got to host went on stage and cracked a joke about her being baldheaded, people would be fairly understanding if that woman and/or her husband were upset by it

#i Can’t say whether or not they would be understanding if her husband slapped the guy #but they would’ve gotten a much different reaction to their anger #people would have ​a more compassionate and sympathetic view of the situation #it’s not normally seen as tasteful to joke about women not having hair when it’s widely known that she lost her hair due to an illness #totally beyond her control #that couldn’t be prevented #and the white public I am referring to might not see this part of the picture but #many people know it is in poor taste it’s a joke about black women not having a lot of hair #they get mocked and judged and called baldheaded and if they wear wigs or extensions they’re laughed at or hated for that too #(please don’t try to tell me Black girls don’t get hate for wearing extensions they absolutely do) #my phone autocapitalized black for me lol that’s nice #anyway i don’t know that slapping the person who made the rude remark would be universally met with understanding and forgiveness #but i could totally see some white people being okay with it or making public statements in support of it were the races changed #this is ember

[withlovemark]

ii. happier

summary: gender neutral best friend! reader x best friend! mark lee

words: 4.5k

a/n: the second story in the SOUR series is here! i would like to quickly apologize for the late update as i had a family emergency. anyways, i hope you enjoy reading this one, it was fun to write.

contains lots of fluff + a hint of angst

- with love, c.

this story starts on a cold, winter day, when the canadian boy suddenly found himself in the middle of korea, not knowing a single person. he despised everything, hated that he had to leave the life he knew. hated that he came into this school at the middle of the semester where everyone already knew everyone. hated that he was alone.

until you. the sweet, cheerful soul that brought color into his gloomy world came along.

“do you want a candy?”

mark makes a disgusted face, “i don’t like jellybeans, they’re gross.”

“hm, okay!” you joyously chirped before skipping towards the other people in class and asking the same question, not at all bothered by the little boys’ negative attitude.

“do you want a candy?”

“i don’t like jolly ranchers. they’re too hard.” he grunted, waving you off, a frown evident on his lips.

“ok mark, just tell me if you change your mind!” you smiled as the boy rolled his eyes.

this continued on for a total of 5 days, with you asking the boy the same question and him completely rejecting your offer which was always followed by a rude remark. by the fifth day, mark was pretty over it.

could you not take a hint?

when you make your way towards him, he was ready to yell at you, to grab the candy out of your hands and finally tell you to leave him alone but the words that left your lips completely threw him off.

“i’m sorry mark, i don't have candy today, my dad forgot to pack me some,” you admit, a devastating expression on your face as you make your way towards your seat, head immediately resting on the desk while a quiet sigh escapes your lips. mark wonders why you, the ever-so-cheerful person who’s always bouncing around and singing in class, were in a sour mood. surely, it wasn’t just over some cavity inducing treats?

before he realized what he was doing, the young boy took something out of his backpack, stood up and made his way over to you.

“do you want candy?” he says with a soft smile, refusing to meet your eyes. your eyes widened not used to the warm expression that the boy was giving you but also because the mere mention of candy gets you excited.

“i don’t think i’ve ever had those,” you say, a smile slowly creeping onto your face as your eyes sparkle at the yellow bag in the boy's hand.

“they’re watermelon sour patch kids, they’re my favorite!” he exclaims, finally looking into your eyes and giving you a toothy grin before opening the bag and taking the seat next to you.

“i like them because it’s sour at first but once you get through the burn, they turn sweet!” mark adds, as the two of you continue to share his favorite candy. the rest of the day was filled with pranks and laughter.

before you knew it, those sour watermelons soon grew to be your favorite. always craving the sweetness that came afterwards. exactly like the boy that thrived next to you in the years to come.

mark lee has become your best friend and you didn’t want it any other way.

spring - present time

“guess who,” a familiar voice says by your ear, as hands made its way to your face, softly wrapping your eyes

“omygosh omygosh!! please!!! be cha eunwoo?!,” you teased obnoxiously, before the boy dropped his hands and flicked you right in the center of your head, your eyes fluttering as he did so.

“hey!” you squealed, about to slap your best friend of 5 years in the chest, but instead you were greeted with a huge gift bag, “happy birthday y/n!!!” mark yelled, catching everyone’s attention and soon resulting in everyone singing you a happy birthday. you burst into a wide smile, gums out and everything, as you listen to your best friend dramatically sing along.

“thanks guys!” you cheered.

as soon as everyone continued on with their day, mark pushed the gift bag towards you, “open it,” he cooed, eyebrows wiggling. you already knew the inside of this bag would look exactly like a piñata. at one point in your friendship, the two of you realized that maybe snacking on candy every minute of the day isn’t the smartest thing to do. especially when you were the top student and candy only puts you in a sugar high before completely crashing you down. and mark being the school’s star athlete can't really afford to put on unnecessary weight.

so, a tradition started. to enjoy sweets on 3 special occasions: one - your bday, two - mark’s bday and three - the day you met.

“ahh all my favorite candy!” you squealed, “how’d you know?” you gasp, continuing on with your dramatic antics as you joked around.

“shut uppp,” he says playfully patting your shoulder as the two of you giggled at how ridiculous you are.

“i added a little something inside,” he shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. you knew mark long enough to know when he was nervous and this was definitely one of those times.

“hmm,” you start as mark eyes widen, head nodding towards the bag as a way to say ‘hurry up and look,’

“could it be..??” you say, excitement bubbling up in your chest, “tickets to a cha eunwoo fan meeting!!?!” you burst, before letting out the loudest laugh.

“i hate you,” mark says jokingly, waiting for you to calm down.

“ok ok fine, i’m looking,”

after a few seconds, you were eye to eye with the most beautiful necklace you’ve ever seen. shocked, you looked at the boy, “mark…this was probably so expensive, i can't accept this!”

the boy shrugs, pushing the necklace back towards you “it belongs to no one else but you though...look at the back,” you turn the necklace and on it were yours and the boy’s initials carved in tiny cursive font, only for you and him to know.

“i-” you start but couldn’t seem to form any words.

“i just thought that i never really got you a present before and i mean candies don’t really last forever and i uhhh just wanted to give you something that was as strong as our friendship and i-i thought oh! maybe a necklace would be cool cause like one of my friends from canada gave me a bracelet once and i like still have it to this day and i-” the boy explains so quickly, you almost thought he was a rapper.

he was definitely getting nervous with each second that passed and so you finally let him breathe, “i love it mark, thank you,” you expressed, giving him a warm smile before going on your tippy toes and wrapping him into a hug.

“but why is it a sun though?” you ask

“well, uh, oh god, you’re going to think this is cheesy but uh, its just uhmm-”

“spit it out mark”

“okay uhm, the day i met you, y-you just brought so much energy and you uh-”

“brought the sunlight back into your life?” you teased as mark gulped, “aha, yeah.”

“fuck, that is cheesy,” you chuckled, putting on the necklace as you try to ignore the butterflies that were creeping in.

“ok but don’t get the wrong idea! i love you!.. but only as a best friend okay!” mark defends after seeing the necklace sit perfectly on your neck.

“got it mr. sunshine, let's go to class.”

nothing can remove the smile off your face, not even after his statement. but boy, how things can easily change.

summer.

“please please please y/n, just do this for me!” mark argues after dribbling the ball and running around the court. you were seated in the school’s bleachers watching mark practice for the upcoming game while also studying for your big test.

“i’m not going to fake date you so mina can notice you!,” you object for the umpteenth time. obviously uninterested with the topic at hand as you were nose deep in your history book.

“you didn’t even consider!,” mark grunts before grabbing the book out of your face, “hey!” you complained, “just hear my terms...please,” he said while giving you the puppy eyes that he uses to get whatever he wants.

“awee, markiee! of course!,” you start and mark claps, convinced that he finally got you to say yes, “...you should know that that doesn’t work on me,” you deadpanned, rolling your eyes as you hastily grab your book from his hand.

“ughhhhh!” he says, sinking into the bleachers next to you. ‘how dramatic,’ you thought to yourself.

“why does it have to be me?” you ask. mark could literally ask any other person and they would say yes. your best friend has a charm that is exceptionally hard to resist, one of the perks of being the most popular guy at school.

“you’re the only person i talk to outside of basketball! it only makes sense!” he reasons.

you roll your eyes. “mark, we both know that's not true.”

“ok fine, but mina is close to everyone else and i can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t just report back to her,” he sighs, hands going to his hair. clearly, the boy was frustrated. however, he was right.

mina - every guy wants her and every girl wanted to be her. not only was she the captain of the cheerleading team but she was also top in class, her name just a little below yours.

“here,” you say, changing the topic and handing him a small bag.

mark eyes the bag curiously, “what’s this?”

“you’ve been so busy with basketball and school and planning your ‘operation get mina to fall in love with me’” you air quoted, “that i think you forgot a little something,” you sang, dropping the bag onto his lap.

mark rolls his eyes at your last statement before opening the bag quickly, spotting his favorite sour gummies inside. “oh my gosh, is it my birthday?” he asks, eyes widening.

you giggle, “yeah it is, i just got you one bag though, i know how careful you’ve been with your diet.”

mark stares at you in awe, “you’re the only person who’s greeted me,” he whispers. you sympathize with your best friend, in the midst of his popularity, none of his friends were really genuine. of course there were a few who did care about him, like hyuck and jaemin, but even they were too busy to remember the small details about him.

“hmm, and i’ll always greet you,” you smile before playfully disheveling his hair, reassuring the boy that in this world, he will always have you.

mark pulls you into a huge, tight hug. head fitting perfectly onto your neck. and you swear you’d do anything to keep this boy happy.

“mark,” you start, still having the boy wrapped around you as one of your hands go straight to playing with his hair, “if i agree to your operation make mina fall in love with you, we have to have rules,” you whisper for only him to hear, completely regretting it as soon as you say it.

“psh, rules are for goody two shoes,” he says, finally breaking off the hug as he looked at you with a smile.

“fine then. i guess im out.” you retort, shrugging your shoulders and grabbing your history book to continue reading.

“no no no, okay, what are your rules?” mark whined, grabbing the textbook out of your hand once again.

“okay,” you start, “rule one, we can’t kiss each other.”

“what?? but no one’s ever going to believe it if we don’t kiss!” he argued, making a completely valid point.

“ugh, okay, fine, we can kiss but not on the lips,”

“ok deal, is that all?”

“two… hm, i’ve always wanted to say this,” you chuckle as marks eyebrows go up waiting for whatever dumb shit you have to say, “you can’t fall in love with me,” you try to say as seriously as you can before bursting out into laughter, mark quickly joining you as the sound of your laughs created a harmony that rang through the court.

“god, y/n that’s a good one,” mark says in between breaths, trying to calm himself down.

“hey! it could happen, i think im very lovable!” you joked.

“yes you are but don’t you think i would’ve fallen in love with you by now then,” mark smirks.

‘ouch, okay, that kind of hurt’ you thought to yourself before plastering on a smile. “deal or no deal?” you say imitating the voice of the game show host.

“deal!” mark says, pretending he was actually a contestant in the game. “is that all?” he asks.

you shake your head no, “there’s one last rule and it’s the most important of them all,”

“hit me,”

“you have to promise me that after all this, nothing changes between us. you’re still my best friend and i’m still yours,” you say softly, scared of what you’re about to risk.

“deal.” mark replies quickly, “that’s literally the easiest rule in the world,” he says giggling.

“mark im being serious,” you say.

“y/n what could possibly happen? its me and you always, you know that, not even this could change that fact!” mark vowed.

“ok then,” you sigh, not entirely convinced, “deal.”

the rest of spring, mark became your best friend turned fake boyfriend. well, the two of you never really announced that you were ‘dating,’ but you acted sweeter towards each other and so everyone just assumed. the two of you just never denied it.

you were in mark’s side more often, especially when it came to his basketball practices and games. besides that, nothing was that different. at least you tell yourself that. you tell yourself that your heart doesn’t skip a beat when he calls you the pet name he’s given you. you tell yourself that there isn’t a zoo in your damn stomach every time he reaches out for your hand or every time he makes eye contact with you while he’s at the court and you feel like his heart is yours and yours only. you tell yourself that you don’t love the way it feels when his lips touch your skin, that it doesn’t send electric sparks throughout your entire body.

one day, maybe you can finally accept the fact that you’ve broken your own rule.

but for now, the plan was doing its job -- catching the attention of the perfect, flawless girl that your best friend so badly wanted, which means the plan would continue until the task is done.

fall.

“tell me something i don’t know about you yet,” mark mumbles as he was laying on your bed.

“you know everything about me,” you reply, quickly taking your eyes off your computer to answer your best friend. it was just the two of you now, which meant there are no pretenders.

“oh c’mon, there has to be something you haven’t told me,” mark continues, sitting up now, directly facing your back.

‘ok, i may be a little bit in love with you,’ you think to yourself before turning around, facing the brown eyed boy.

“hmm…” the boy’s ears perk up, his attention solely on you.

“do you remember the day when we first became friends?”

“of course, how could i forget one of the most historical moments of my life,” he says dramatically, touching his heart, as you roll your eyes, playfully hitting his shoulder.

“well…,” you cough, clearing your throat, “the reason why i didn’t have candy that day is because my mom usually packed my lunch for me,”

“oh...” mark whispers, knowing exactly where this story was going, “you don’t have to say it out loud,” he says, giving you a sweet smile.

“it’s okay, it’s about time i talk about it” you assure him, “she,” you start, taking a deep breath, “she just left and my dad was heartbroken but he had me to look after so he was expected to carry the weight,” you continue, looking down at your lap as you could feel the tears starting to build up, “m-my dad didn’t really know how to pack my lunch so he forgot the candy,” you finish, letting out a sad laugh before wiping the tears that were about to fall, quickly shrugging and facing the boy.

mark looks at you like you're the most fragile thing in the world and his eyes held something else that you weren't quite familiar with. you swear at that moment, he could touch you and you’ll just break into him. “thank you for sharing that with me,” he says softly, never breaking eye contact with you.

you gave him a soft smile, so thankful for the boy in front of you. “you know, when you walked up to me, i realized something,”

“and what's that?” he asks, curiosity plastered on his face.

“that people leave in order to make room for others and those who come will bring in the same amount of love, happiness and sweetness into my life, ” you confess, breaking out in a tiny grin, trying to hold in your laughter at how cheesy that sounded.

mark giggles before pulling you onto the bed with him, tickling your sides, “mark, stop!!” you say, breaking into laughter.

“you’re so cheesy!!” mark says like he can read your thoughts. he continued lovingly poking your sides while you struggle to breathe, “mark please, i take it back!!,” you say in between laughter.

after a while mark finally stops and you notice the position you’re in. the boy hovering over you, staring right into your eyes and flickering down to your lips. “you’re beautiful,” he whispers and all you wanted to do was attach his lips onto yours. you imagine what it would be like. would fireworks explode in the background? or would it be like kissing a brother and you can finally get over the spell you were under?

mark starts leaning in and you panic. you can’t break another rule.

‘fuck’

you playfully shove him away, quickly heading back towards your computer chair as mark stares at the space you were once in.

“but in all honesty, thanks for being my best friend mark,” you say, breaking the air and acting like nothing happened.

“uh yeah, you too,” mark replies, finally snapping out of his thoughts, before sitting up once again. mark knows you well enough to know that you were changing the topic. and so he goes along with it. he also couldn't deny the fact that you emphasized the word best friend.

“by the way, mina asked me if we were dating”

“oh yeah? what did you say?”

“i told her the truth,”

your eyes widen, “what!!? you told her it was fake?!”

mark chuckles, “no silly, i told her that we’re just best friends and we don’t have feelings for each other but everyone else just assumed that we were together,”

“ah, right,” you nod, “well… that is the truth,” you slowly agree.

“yeah…”

you don’t know if it was just you but the air in this room was, well, awkward which was weird because not once have you had an awkward moment with the brown eyed boy.

“so… what did she say?” you continue the conversation.

“she asked me out,”

“and what did you say?”

“i said yes,” mark admitted.

if the tears didn’t burst out earlier, they definitely were about to now but you weren’t about to ruin your best friends chances just so you could be selfish and so you plaster on the biggest smile you could muster, “that’s great! so this means we can stop fake dating right?”

mark looks at you, eyebrows slightly furrowing, something that you didn’t notice as you were too busy trying to get your own feelings together. hesitating, he lets out a “uhm yeah”

“so when's the date?”

“uhh we didn’t set a time and place yet,”

“are you kidding me, we’ve been going around fake dating for almost 3 months just so you could get her and you don’t even have the perfect date planned for her,” you rambled, earning a giggle from mark.

“chill, i’ll think of something,” he says as you roll your eyes, “whatever mark, it was fun fake dating you,” you confess.

“it was?” he asked, one eyebrow going up.

“well, it wasn’t really that different from how we actually were,” you shrug, trying to be as nonchalant as you can.

“i knew you liked my cheek kisses!,” he joked, “did not!,” you interject.

“why did you kiss me so much anyways?” you ask teasingly

“i wanted to.”

with that, the boy has you speechless. how were you supposed to respond to that? and so you do what you always do, you laugh it off.

“ok loverboy, don’t you have a date to plan,” you reply, motioning towards your door.

“is that really your way of kicking me out of your house, do we not even get a dramatic break up?” he huffed dramatically, a smirk playing on his lips and you can’t help but reflect his expression before grabbing your heart and dramatically looking out your window.

“mark… we’re over,” you whispered, giving the boy what he wanted.

“but why?! you’re the only one i want!” he continues, dropping to his knees. and you wished that these words held even a figment of truth.

“i-i found someone else!”

mark gasps extra loudly, “i’ll never love again!!!,” he says before slamming your door and running out of your house. hearing your best friends laughter, you look out the window to see him walk away from you but not before giving you a ridiculously large smile while throwing you a thumbs up and mouthing the words “see you tomorrow.”

you giggle, copying his actions and you know that he has completed the last part of your deal. not even this situation will change the friendship that the two of you shared. but something settles weirdly in your stomach because you’re not quite sure if you could say the same about you.

winter.

seated in the middle of the basketball team's celebratory dinner, you felt nothing but left out. you’ve gone to two of these dinners before but you usually sat next to your best friend. that spot now being occupied by someone else. but she didn't just take your seat, she took everything else that came with it.

you see the way she has his arms wrapped around his shoulders as he tells a story you’ve heard too many times before. you see the way he jokes around with her, using lines that you though were only reserved for you. and then you hear the way his laughter mixes in with hers creating a melody that you absolutely hated.

sighing, you tune out, poking your food around, not at all interested in the conversations happening around you. you can't help but recall how it was before. how you were the one making him burst into laughter. how his eyes truly only sparkled around you. and you blame yourself for ever agreeing with his stupid plan.

“y/n, you okay?” hyuck says a little too loudly, breaking you out of your thoughts and also capturing the attention of others.

looking up, you make eye contact with mark and notice the flash of worry that made its way onto his face. you tell yourself you’re just imagining things before quickly looking away to answer your concerned friend. “yeah, im just a little tired, finals and all” you reply, giving hyuck a small smile.

“i actually think i’m gonna head out,” you continue, grabbing your bag as hyuck shoots you a sad smile. it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that you're hurting. “okay, get home safely.” hyuck says, handing you your jacket.

you make your way over to mark, patting his back to let you know that you were leaving as mina stood up and pulled you into a quick goodbye hug.

mark captures your hand before you could be out of his reach and you turn to him, glancing at your intertwined fingers before looking into his eyes. “hm?”

“let me know when you’re home okay?” he says, his eyes pleading and all you could do was nod as mark drops your hand and you continue your way out of the restaurant.

mark isn't sure why things have been off between the two of you lately. at first, he was certain it was because of mina but every time he tried to ask you about it, you would just wave him off, convincing him that you liked the girl for him and that you were ecstatic that he was finally happy with someone. he’ll tease you and say something really cheesy like, ‘i was already happy with you,’ but you always end up just shutting it down and walking the other way. to you, those words meant more than just a joke and you couldn’t keep going around doing that when your heart wanted more. and so, the playful banters that the two of you shared suddenly vanished and mark was left clueless.

breathing in the cold winter air, you decide you’ll walk home instead of taking the bus. the cold helped you shut your thoughts out, only focusing on the way your body was going numb. and it may sound sadistic but you liked it. you’ve been stuck in your thoughts for far too long and this felt like the break you needed. wrapping your jacket tightly around you, you start making your way home.

mark continues to watch you from the window inside the restaurant but as soon as you were out of his line of vision, he springs up from his chair, all eyes on him.

“babe, you okay?” mina questions him

“i uh,” he lets out a cough, clearing his throat, “yeah, i just uh, need to use the bathroom,” he excuses himself. swiftly running out of the restaurant, he looks around. he wants to tell you that it’s too cold out here, that it was too dark and it’s never fun to walk home alone. he wants to tell you that he’ll join you but all he was faced with was the cold, dark winter sky. your figure, long gone.

he makes his way back into the restaurant as he felt icicles forming around his knuckles.sulking back into his chair, he pretends nothing happened. casually slipping back into the conversations his friends were having.

you were inside the small convenience store a little across the street when you saw your best friend make his way into the cold air, clearly searching for something. you wanted to yell out for him, ask him what he was doing out here but before you could muster up the courage to do so, mark starts making his way back towards the restaurant.

you wanted to so badly believe that he was looking for you but you knew that that was far from the truth. i mean if he was, he could have called you. if it was really important, he has access to your number and could simply tell you to go back. but he didn’t. instead he went back into that restaurant, the smile on his face clear and evident even through the glass window.

“happy 6 years of friendship,” you whisper to no one but yourself. hoping that the boy could magically hear you.

your best friend was clearly happier and you were standing here as sour as the confectionary wrapped around your hand.

a/n: thank you for reading! feedback is always welcomed!

#mark lee #mark lee scenarios #mark lee au #mark lee angst #mark lee fluff #mark lee fanfic #mark lee blurbs #mark lee x y/n #mark lee x you #mark lee x reader #nct #nct x y/n #nct x you #nct scenarios #nct x reader #nct angst #nct imagines #nct fluff #superm mark #superm x reader #gender neutral reader #sour series

[angelicmark]

service call (m)

pairing: renjun x reader

genre: angst, fluff, smut

warnings: renjun pining for you, fingering, handjob, masturbation (male), unprotected sex

wc: 24.4k

summary: your job, in general, was to break other people up when someone in their relationship couldn’t do it themselves. it was an easy job for you. you had no emotional attachment to them, and it wasn’t your relationship anyway. until renjun’s girlfriend tells you to break up with him for her, and renjun makes his way into your life. developing a relationship with someone you tore apart is dangerous.

➣ apart of ‘right lover, wrong time’ series

↳ masterlist

“fuck.”

you cough loudly, the once silent room filling quickly with your aggressive coughs. you giggle a bit as people look at you with a stink eye. you knew people, in general, didn’t like you. you were the heartbreaker of many relationships. no, not yours. everyone else’s. not to say you were a homewrecker, you just did as you were paid to do. it was a quick and easy job compared to your job of waiting tables. speaking of, you were ready to get off shift soon. it was late, and very little people filled the diner because it was almost closing time. you lean your head on your hand as you watch your cowoker take the bill for the last customer, smiling sweetly at him as he rolls his eyes.

“you could help, you know,” he remarks, looking at you with a glare as he swipes the card.

you smile brighter, “but you’re really good at what you do. i’m still a bit clueless, jeno.”

jeno scowls at you, “shut up, flirt.”

you laugh lightly, about to say something before he waves you off and walks back to the customers, telling them to have a good day as they walk out after receiving the receipt. you huff, grabbing cleaning supplies as you wipe off the counter in front of you. jeno rolls his eyes again, a small smile playing on his lips helplessly.

“you do the bare minimum, dude.” jeno grabs a towel out of the bucket and slaps you with it on your back as you laugh again.

“hey, not true,” you pout after a small giggle, “i’m really good at my second job.” you smile again.

jeno rolls his eyes and snatches your towel out of your hands, “it’s not even a job. you just get paid to break other people up.”

“hey! only if i know they’re in the relationship,” you cross your arms, “i’m not going to do it just because someone tells me to.” you lean your head in your hand again, watching him cutely.

jeno scoffs, “i think it’s quite sadistic, but at least you get paid, i guess.”

you watch as jeno squirts the cleanser onto the table and cleans quickly, “it’s easy for me. i don’t find attachment to the relationships.”

“you don’t find attachment to anything.” jeno shoots back, looking at you with curt eyes.

you scowl at him this time, a pout etching your features, “not true. i have a strong attachment to my cat.”

jeno laughs, quickly cleaning the rest of the tables in the diner, “me too. but that doesn’t count. you don’t even live with your cat, he’s at home with your parents.”

you huff, “whatever, shut up. i’m doing a good job and that’s all that matters. it pays my bills and food.”

“how much do you even charge?” jeno quirks an eyebrow as he places the towel in a dirty hamper for it to be washed later. he stands beside you as you straighten up.

you lean your hip against the counter and shrug your shoulders, “depends on how hard they want me to break up with the person. if it’s too harsh, i charge more. it just seems fair, because sometimes i do feel a bit guilty after when they start crying.”

jeno nods his head, not saying anything after. you raise an eyebrow, silently asking him what’s wrong. jeno shakes his head, “is there anything you won’t do?”

“when they ask me to make them cheat or something,” you speak smoothly, “i won’t even think about touching the person or come close to it. i’m not a homewrecker and i never will be.”

“you’re still ruining relationships,” jeno furrows his eyebrows.

“it’s not like i’m coming between them,” you look at him with tired eyes and yawn. “that’s not what my job is for.”

jeno hums, “well, it doesn’t matter. we should head home now, i can see you’re getting tired there, cutie.”

you laugh at him, “shut up, flirt.” you retort back, repeating his previous words. jeno shakes his head with a light laugh, looking at you with crescent moon eyes.

“i’ll see you later,” jeno looks at you sweetly, and you nod your head.

“see you later.” you let out a sigh as you both walk out of the diner after shutting the lights off. the stars were out, and it made you smile a bit. you almost enjoyed walking home at night, even if it was a bit scary. your apartment wasn’t far from where you were, so you were gladly home safe in no time. when you walk inside, you’re greeted with the cold air of your apartment. you pout, realizing just how lonely it could feel in the remnants of the night when you’re alone and have no one to share the space with.

you stretch your limbs as you walk into your room, smiling at the sound of your bones softly cracking. it was a bit satisfying after a long day. changing into comfortable clothes, you yawn as you reach the comforts of your bed.

you jump slightly as you hear your phone ringing, a random number scanning the screen. you furrow your eyebrows, looking curiously. you decide to pick it up, a bit scattered at night.

“hello?” you sound groggy, but you don’t exactly care.

“is this y/n?” you hear a female voice on the other line, intriguing you.

“it is, who’s asking?” you don’t mean to sound rude, you were just a bit alarmed by the timing.

“i have a boyfriend-” oh, it was one of these calls.

you scoff, “who is this? and why the hell are you calling me at such a late hour and how did you even get my number?”

surely, you’ve gotten calls and texts from random people several times. but never this late and never without warning from someone else saying they were being passed over.

“i’m renjun’s girlfriend. yeri. have you heard of me?” the curious tone in her voice makes you feel a bit on edge.

you sit up on your mattress, “i have.” of course you have. everyone raves after her and praises her for being so damn pretty. renjun is quite the lucky man. or was, you guess.

“great,” you can hear her smile, “i need you to break up with renjun for me.”

you lean against your wall, a smile playing on your own lips, “you’re breaking up with renjun? he’s quite the gentleman.”

yeri pauses for a minute longer than usual, “yeah... he’s not my type though.” you only hum, and yeri continues. “will you do it?”

you let out another hum of acknowledgement, “sure. how do you want me to break up with him?”

another pause on yeri’s end, a small curse falling from her lips as she decides heavily on the question, “gently, please? he’s sweet and i hate to hurt him.”

you hate when people say that. you weren’t that big on empathy and feeling what others feel. you only knew how to break people up and call it a day. when people asked for you to be gentle, it made you a bit nervous. you didn’t understand why people would ask for you to be nice to them when they were quite literally breaking their partner’s heart. there was no true way to be gentle when breaking up with someone, you’ve discovered.

you agreed regardless, “sure. how will you pay?”

“do you have any like app i can send it through?” she asks nervously, you can hear the shake in her voice.

you nod before realizing she can’t see you, “i’ll send a link on message. bye, yeri.”

“bye,” she quickly speaks before hanging up the phone.

you scoff as you send the link and amount in the message, waiting for the money to be sent. when you get a ping from your phone, indicating you received it, you simply thanked her and told her you’d text her when you were finished with the job.

you hummed to yourself as you go to stalk her social media pages, seeing pictures of her and renjun together. renjun was quite pretty, and looked as handsome as ever. you began to wonder why she would want to break up with someone who was quite literally any girls dream. it was puzzling, but there was no going back now. she already paid, and you already agreed.

turning off your tableside lamp, you let out one last yawn before closing your eyes and preparing mentally for your next job.

break huang renjun’s heart in the nicest way possible.

“renjun?!” jeno looks at you with wide eyes as you both close together, once again. you rolls your eyes at his dramatic response, wiping down the counter while he freezes and eyes you suspiciously.

“yeah,” you shrug, “before you say anything negative, i already agreed and she already sent the money.”

“you can still return the money,” jeno glares, his eyes narrowing and judging you from where he was standing.

you raise an eyebrow at him, “why? are you friends with him or something?”

jeno scoffs, “kind of? we don’t hang out or anything but we always talk in lectures. he’s a really nice dude.” he crosses his arms while leaning against the counter as you finish wiping it down.

you sigh, dropping your head and closing your eyes to gather your thoughts before looking at him again, “he might be. but why should he be in a relationship based on lies? she can’t seem to do it, so she asked me. in a way, she’s lying to him and leading him on further by staying with him. if she wants me to break up with him, then i’m doing it.”

jeno’s shoulders drop as he realizes that you’re right. in a weird, sick way, you’re right. “yeah, i guess so.”

you nod curtly, “close up, i’m leaving.”

jeno looks at you with furrowed eyebrows, “what the hell?”

you wave him off while grabbing your jacket, “i’ll close next time, promise.” you smile one last time before walking out the door.

you barely have time to make it out before your body collides into another one, uttering out a quick apology, “shit, sorry-” your eyes connect with pretty brown ones that almost make you swoon. if it wasn’t the person it was, maybe you would have.

renjun let’s out an apology of his own, looking at you with wide eyes, “oh fuck, i’m so sorry.” renjun looks nervous as he stares into your eyes, making you tilt your head while inspecting him. he had an angelic appearance, and definitely had great manners. “i only realized this place was closed after looking at the time on the door. i was just about to leave before you opened the door,” he chuckles lightly, the cold air making his nose slightly red.

you look back and see jeno staring at you with wide eyes in shock, wondering what you’re going to say next. and you were starting to wonder if renjun knew of you, or your business. you licked your lips and looked back at the boy in front of you, closing the door to the diner and stepping out of jeno’s view. you can already feel the pout on his face from not being able to get to see the show.

“it’s alright,” you eye him a bit longer, making him shift where he stands. “i actually was, oddly enough, looking for you.” you smile charmingly, and renjun’s eyes go wide.

“me?” he points to himself, eyebrows raised which makes you laugh.

“yeah,” you nod, “do you know me?” and renjun sees the tilt in your head as your eyes glow under the street lamp lights. his heart seems to flutter in his chest, much against his own will.

“i..” he pauses, a sigh escaping his lips. he takes a minute to think, scanning your face and features as much as he could. he was trying hard to recognize you, eyebrows scrunched together. when he makes eye contact again, everything seems to click together in his head as he realizes just exactly who you are. almost everyone knew of you, you were quite the talk around campus. renjun grows tense being in your presence, his shoulders heightening and his stomach turning in nerves. “i do.” he was firm in his answer after the endless silence. of course renjun knew.

you smile again, “wanna get a milkshake from somewhere?” you look at him curiously.

“no.” and renjun means it.

you’re a bit taken aback by his blunt response, eyes wide and looking at him incredulously. renjun sighs, closing his eyes for a second or two before opening them back up and revealing tear sprung eyes. you feel a twinge in your heart at the sight. he knows. he knows all too well what this means, being in your presence. he knows what it means when you want to ‘talk’ to him. you sigh yourself this time, of course he knew.

“i understand,” you’re confident in the way you speak, not faltering. “yeri told me to be kind to you, if it helps. she said you were very sweet and hates to see you hurt. i just don’t think she sees a future with you, renjun.”

renjun nods quickly before turning away from you, and it felt like you were the one being dumped. it didn’t feel right to leave it like that. you huff, debating on chasing after him or not. you didn’t want to seem pushy, or remind him of the fact that he’s being broken up with, but you couldn’t leave the conversation so short. it’s never happened before with anyone.

you end up chasing after him, even though you probably shouldn’t have.

“renjun!” you run after him, and you see renjun start to walk in longer strides. “hey, fuck, wait!” you trip shortly before catching speed again and ending up next to him, much to his displeasure.

“i get it,” he spits out, “quit rubbing it in my face.” he looks at you with vile, and you feel stung. you shouldn’t have. you were just doing your job, and this was normal. why was it different coming from him? it’s not like you haven’t had this kind of reaction from people before.

you frown at him while fast walking beside him, “i’m not.. trying to.” you try to catch your breath, “fuck, slow down, renjun!” you grab at his shoulders and stop him in his tracks. he glares at you and shoves your hands off of him.

“why? so you can continue on with your pity speech? thanks, but i don’t fucking need it.” renjun’s voice was filled with anger, making you swallow at the tone he used. “leave me alone. it’s not your relationship, and it certainly isn’t your fucking business. you were just paid to do the job.”

you’re stunned at his words and reaction. it was true, and he was right. you stared at him with a shocked expression, and he scoffs. renjun didn’t seem like the person to have this much anger built inside of him, and he certainly didn’t seem like the type of person to lose it on someone like this. but you knew he had a good reason this time. why can’t you just stop pestering him already?

“right, i know.” you huff, your shoulders slouching as you look away from him for a minute before making eye contact again. his brown eyes were seeping with anger and frustration and hurt. “i’m not going to give you a pity speech.”

“then why do you keep stopping me from walking away? you did your job already,” he was still seething, but you can see him visibly relax.

“i..” you pause, and the air turns tense in the silence. you honestly had no idea. you should have just let him walk away in the first place and taken the hint that he didn’t want to even remotely look at you. “i’m not sure.” you defeat, looking at him nervously.

renjun feels himself loosening up at the sight of you, and he curses himself for finding you oddly cute as you play with the hems of your sleeves on your sweater. renjun wanted nothing more than to scoff at you again, and walk away from you to leave you in the dust. but he couldn’t bring himself to do that the longer he stared at you. his chest tightened as you straightened out your shoulders and tried to appear more confident than seconds prior.

“i’ll leave now.” and he wants to stop you from walking away this time, but he can’t. and he doesn’t. he drives home that night with tears in his eyes and anger sinking deep into his bones.

you heave out a breath as you walk home to your apartment, opening your front door and leaning against it when you reach inside. you close your eyes, sighing again. that had to be the weirdest break up you’ve ever done, and the most complicating one. you scratch the palm of your hand as you open your eyes, looking around the dimly lit room.

jumping, you hear the loud ring of your phone. yeri’s contact shows up, making you scowl but picking up anyway. “the job is done.” you state into the phone with a monotone voice.

“thanks,” yeri breathes into the other line, “i couldn’t have done it without you.”

you hear that often, but this time it makes you slightly sick to your stomach. “yeah. i’m aware.” you didn’t mean for your tone to sound harsh, but it did.

you can feel the embarrassment hanging off yeri’s shoulders as she quickly says bye and thanks once more before hanging up. you roll your eyes and scoff before checking the time on your phone and realizing it’s just slightly past eleven at night. you let out a yawn instinctively, stretching your limbs and releasing the tense feeling in your body.

you, oddly enough, sleep with a heavy mind that night.

the next day is more simple than the last. and you don’t feel as heavy or guilty as you did when you broke up with renjun for yeri. you’re almost sure renjun has a lot of questions bouncing in his mind, as any other person would after being broken up with. it was especially odd to send someone else to break up with you, and you can only imagine what everyone thought when they thought of you. you assumed negative things.

you huff as you walk out of your last lecture of the day, watching as the sun begins to set and your mind becomes muddled. you had an evening course today and you received a text from jeno saying he did too, prompting him to give you ride. you smile to yourself as you reach outside and see a familiar male standing next to his car, waiting for you. as you walk closer, though, your blood runs cold and you stop in your tracks. there was someone else standing next to him, and it wasn’t very convenient for you.

you swallow and put on a brave face as you walk up to jeno, renjun standing right beside him. renjun’s eyes scan the parking lot and land right on you as you start to head toward his direction. his stomach spikes up in nerves, and he quickly looks at jeno with confusion written on his face as you approach them both.

“hey, cutie,” jeno quickly greets you, ignoring the sharp glare sent his way as you reject his hug. he pouts, “what?”

you roll your eyes, your gaze landing right on renjun, “i wasn’t expecting you. jeno didn’t tell me.” you look at jeno with another pointed look.

“me neither,” renjun confirms, nodding his head curtly. “he offered me a ride.”

you cross your arms, “same for me.”

“i’m right here,” jeno waves his hand in front of the both of you, and you scowl in his direction.

“i’m painfully aware,” you shift awkwardly as your eyes land on renjun again. “i forgot you had the same classes as him. you have the same major.”

renjun nods again, “yeah.” his responses are short, and you completely understand why. you don’t push a conversation with him any further.

“i’ll take the bus or something,” you wave jeno off, making him pout and grab your wrist while tilting his head.

“i can drive you both home,” jeno gives you a small smile.

you look at renjun with worry. there’s no way he would ever want to be in the same car as you, let alone breathing the same air as you.

to your surprise, renjun nods, “it’s fine.”

you slump your shoulders down, removing the grip jeno has on your wrist with a small frown. “are you sure?” you’re not asking jeno, you’re asking renjun. “i can really take the bus, no problem.”

renjun looks at you, raising an eyebrow, “i said it was fine, so it’s fine. don’t take the bus.”

you finally slowly nod your head, “okay. you can sit in front, though.” you offer renjun, and he just nods his head back.

jeno grins at the both of you, “great! let’s go then.”

the car ride is awkward, and you feel your heart tighten every time you even remotely look at renjun. you weren’t used to feeling guilty for doing your job, but you also never had to interact with the person more than once. let alone be in the same damn car as them. tension felt high on your end, and probably renjun’s end too. but jeno didn’t really seem to notice as he continue to turn the wheel on his car. you sigh quietly, looking out the back window and letting your thoughts consume you. this was quite inconvenient, and you were definitely going to have a long talk with jeno about this. he knew about your job, and yet still offered him a ride while knowing you needed one too.

jerk.

you’ll never forget this one.

your eyes end up traveling to renjun in the passenger seat, you sitting behind jeno so you’re able to get a good view of him. renjun was beautiful. he has a pretty nose, nice lips, good jawline, beautiful eye shape and color. he was, quite literally, stunning. you never really noticed how truly handsome and pretty he was until you got a closer look. his face wasn’t filled with vile or anger, and he wasn’t spewing words at you that made you want to curl up. he was just himself, renjun, for the time being.

when the car suddenly comes to a stop, you look and see that you’re not at your apartment, but renjun’s. the building was excessively tall and large, and you gape at the size of it. renjun thanks jeno, before turning back to look at you with your mouth wide open in shock. renjun can’t stop the little chuckle that escapes his lips as he eyes you. you looked like a kid on christmas, and it warmed his heart. he coughed, wondering why the hell he found you to be so cute all of a sudden. it made him feel strange the longer he looked at you. he breaks his thoughts before they travel too far.

“bye, y/n.” renjun’s soft voice cut through the air, and you jump at the sound, looking at him with bright eyes. he adores you for a second longer before snapping out of it.

“bye, renjun.” you wave at him as he gets out the car, and the minute he shuts the door, you climb over the middle console to sit next to jeno in the passenger seat.

the first thing you do after buckling is punch jeno’s arm. “ow! what the fuck?!” jeno hisses, rubbing his arm and looking at you like you’re crazy.

you snarl at him, “why the hell would you offer him a fucking ride?! you saw me bump into him last night, idiot!” you slap him again, and jeno just rolls his eyes from the weak hit.

“he needed a ride,” jeno shrugs his shoulders, “i couldn’t say no to the dude. he just got broken up with.”

“why didn’t you say anything about him?! or me for that fact!” you squeal at jeno, looking at him with annoyance and confusion as he pulls away from the enormous building where renjun lives.

“i was in the middle of texting you, but then you popped up so it didn’t really matter anymore. i was going to mention you after i sent the text,” jeno claims, giving you a side eye as he continues driving in the direction of your place. you huff and press your back into the seat aggressively, a large pout on your lips.

“it was so awkward, jeno,” you mumble with a whine, making jeno laugh. you glare at him as he continues to laugh at your expense. “he had no idea! we both didn’t.” you cross your arms and look out the window, indicating you were annoyed and upset with jeno.

he pouts, “come on now,” jeno lightly pushes you at a red light, looking at you with apologetic eyes as you turn to look at him. “it was just bad timing, babe.”

“ew,” you scoff, “don’t call me that.”

jeno laughs and his eyes and nose scrunch up as he hits the gas pedal when it turns green, “i’m really sorry.” jeno speaks, a smile still on his face.

“shut up,” you roll your eyes. “i take back what i said the other night.”

“huh?”

“you’re closing next time, too.”

jeno grunts as you smile in victory.

your legs dangle over jeno’s lap as you sit in his apartment living room. he had a nicer place than yours, considering his parents were a little... wealthy. to say the least. they actually owned the diner the two of you work at, but they were never really around. you mostly hung around him when you were bored and had nothing else to do. jeno was your bordem savior. but, right now, you wanted to kick him in the balls from where he sat.

“you’re what?!” your eyes are wide, and jeno wants to laugh at how comical you look, but decides against it. he still wants to have kids in the future, and your feet were way too close to his crotch area.

“it just happened today!” jeno defends, looking at you with his own wide eyes. jeno’s hands raise in defeat, “hey, don’t blame me. blame my professor.”

you scoff, “you’re paired with renjun for a project?” you sound and look incredulous right now. but you were truly having a hard time believing this was real life. you were truly doomed.

“yeah, i mean, i knew we had a partner project soon but i didn’t know my partner. i guess it’s just very inconvenient,” he stiffles a laugh at the end and you can see the way he tries to stop himself.

your eyes narrow in his direction and he seels his lips tight, “so, no more rides from you without seeing renjun? is he going to visit our work? is he coming here more often?” your questions fly out your mouth before you could stop them, worry flashing your eyes.

jeno snorts, “probably.”

“i hate you.”

“hey! i’m just being honest!” jeno shoots you a surprised look.

you huff, leaning back in your seat as your back presses against the arm of his couch, “this sucks. of course this happens to me.”

jeno’s eyes travel to where you start to cross your arms and he laughs, “you’re such a child, babe.”

“my feet are very close to your prized jewels right now, jeno.” you warn, looking at him with narrowed eyes again.

jeno swallows, “but you’re cute?” he says it in a question, and you roll your eyes but you have a small smile playing at your lips. jeno smiles back. “it won’t be that bad. the project is only due in a month.”

“a month?! what the fuck? how big is this project?” your eyes turn wide and with worry.

jeno sinks further into his own seat, “i know, that’s what i was thinking, too. he just gave us an extended amount of time because he knew we were all lazy in the first place. he desperately wants us to pass,” he chuckles a bit, “but i’m already passing.”

you roll your eyes at the small boast, “what about renjun?”

jeno hums, “he takes school very seriously, from what i know. he’s always focused in class and never slacks off even the slightest. he’s a hard worker.”

you groan, “so, he’s going to be over a lot?”

“probably.” jeno repeats. “he doesn’t like the idea of even possibly failing.”

you fall further into your seat, your head now leaning against the arm of the couch as you sulk. jeno looks at you with a small smile, but it wasn’t comforting. he was mocking you.

“i will actually kick you in the nuts right now.” you threaten, your face serious and stern.

jeno goes pale for a moment, before he smiles again, “you said that a few minutes ago, but my nuts are still in tact.” you start to raise your leg, before jeno pushes your legs down with wide eyes, “alright, alright! i’m sorry.”

“you should be,” you say it softly but there’s a small smile on your face, and jeno returns it. “this is just too much for me.” you whine, your hands going to cover your face.

jeno rubs soothing circles into your calves with his thumbs, one hand on each leg, “sorry, cutie.”

“you didn’t try asking for anyone else?” you remove your hands and raise an eyebrow at him.

he snorts again, “no, i can’t stand everyone else in that class. they’re all very annoying and it’s no wonder professor gave us an extended deadline. renjun was the best option for anyone, i was just lucky...ish?” he says the last part with hesitance.

you groan again, making a pouty face and looking at jeno’s hands on your legs, “i’m just going to have to get over it and try to avoid him as best i can.”

“that’s not getting over it, that’s pushing it aside.” jeno points out.

you look at him again with a sour look, “you are really pushing it today, jeno.”

“don’t hurt my balls.”

you scoff as you lean back into your seat, a small laugh escaping your throat before you can stop it. you were lucky enough to have jeno as a friend, and the jokes the two of you would pull always made you feel better. it was just a natural thing between the two of you, and you were heavily grateful for him. not that that you would outwardly express that to him, but you knew that he knew this in some ways. he could probably see it in the way you smile after every joke. jeno really was your best friend.

you check the time on your phone, “i should go. i have to study for a test.”

jeno nods, pushing your legs off of him as you start to get up, “i’ll see you later, babe.”

“will you ever stop saying that?”

jeno smiles, “nope.”

you roll your eyes as you open his front door, “bye, idiot.”

“bye, cutie!” he shouts out as you close the door. you can’t stop the smile on your face as you walk out.

your mind subconsciously wanders towards a certain male. renjun.

you frown as you realize it was probably going to be a lot harder to avoid him if he came to your work. you hoped he wouldn’t, and he would just opt to go to jeno’s place or his to work on the project and not bother going to the diner. but renjun was a hard worker, from what you knew. and you assumed he would take any opportunity he could to talk to jeno about the project.

you conclude that you’re fucked by the time you reach your apartment that night.

you were tired, exhausted. jeno could see it in your eyes as you yawned once again, your eyes filling up with water. jeno looks at you with worry, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“are you okay?” his voice interupts your sleepy daze, and you let out a low sigh.

“just tired. i stayed up late again studying after i left your place,” you lean against the counter beside you and cross your arms. the diner was conveniently empty around this time, and you were grateful for the slow day for once.

“you should rest more, it’s not good to stay up that late.” jeno scolds you, giving you a look that a mother gives a child when they steal a cookie out of the jar.

you hum, “i know, i’ll rest tonight.”

“did you pass the test at least?” he questions, raising an eyebrow at you as he stands in front of you and leans against the counter as well.

“i-” you’re about to answer, before someone walks in and interupts your conversation. you go to greet them, before you realize it’s a familiar male. your eyes whip in jeno’s direction and his own eyes turn wide.

“i forgot,” he looks at you sheepishly, “he texted me saying he was going to come by on my break.”

you huff, running your hands over your face in frustration as renjun makes his way towards the front counter. “i’m going to actually castrate y-”

“renjun!” jeno shouts too enthusiastically, interupting you as he grins at renjun gratefully. you roll your eyes as you watch the two of them. jeno retreats from behind the counter to walk towards him, and renjun looks at him curiously.

“jeno?” he says it in a question, unsure as to why jeno was so happy to see him all of a sudden.

jeno pouts playfully, “y/n was about to beat me up.”

you scoff, “you would have deserved it.” a small smile plays on your lips as a playful glint dances through your eyes.

renjun stands a little awkwardly, not sure what to say or do. he had no idea how to respond, or what he should do in a situation even close to this. you could see that renjun was still cautious towards you, but thankfully jeno broke the silence.

“i have to run out to my car and get my books,” jeno grabs his keys out of his pocket before heading towards the back where his car was parked, “i’ll be right back.” you were going to curse jeno for leaving you alone with renjun. you didn’t even have time to whine about it to him as he rushes out the door. you only hoped he would be quick.

your previous sleepy daze seemed to be snapped right out of you as you looked at renjun to catch him looking at you already. his gaze was a little intense as he eyed you, and you were almost afraid to look away. he had a pretty brown pair of eyes, and they seemed to visibly darked as you switched your gaze from his eyes to his lips unconsciously. he had a pretty face, his features seemingly dainty.

he speaks into the silence, breaking you out of your trance, “is he always like that?”

“huh?” you tilt your head.

he laughs lightly, the sound ringing in your ears, “bubbly. he seems a bit scattered.”

you shake your head, “he’s actually quite shy around people he doesn’t know. he’s just comfortable around me, and i guess you too because you’re in his class.” you smile softly at renjun, and he returns it back, making your stomach churn.

renjun nods his head, “how long have you been dating?”

you cough, choking on your spit as you heave out a breath of air. did he really just ask that? renjun’s eyes go wide as he fears you’re having a hard time breathing and he’s now aware that he caught you off guard. the apology quickly flies out of his mouth before he can think.

“i’m sorry,” he rushes, “i didn’t mean to pry, or anything. that was quite sudden.” he speaks politely and you laugh out loud, the sound englufing renjun whole as he listens to the pretty noise. renjun curses his heart as it flutters in his chest.

“he’s not my boyfriend, not even close.” you let out after you catch your breath and you stabilize. “we’ve been friends since kids, it would be weird to think of him that way. i know he feels the same about me.”

“so you two work together too?” he asks curiously, suddenly invested.

“yeah,” you nod, “we’re coworkers and best friends. his parents actually own this diner. they offered both of us a job here once we were old enough.”

“where are they?” he looks around and finds it’s just you and him, and jeno who was taking too long in his car looking for his books.

you shrug, “they’re not the most humble of people.” you start, leaning on the counter as you begin to feel more comfortable around him. you place your elbows on the counter, your front half leaning on it as you put your head in your hands, “so they’re not always around, and sometimes even jeno isn’t sure where they are. they still regularly send money to him and check up on him, but i’m not sure that’s healthy parenting.”

renjun nods, suddenly feeling sorry for jeno, “where are your parents?”

you tense at the question but decide to answer anyway, “i moved out awhile ago. i was mostly around jeno to begin with, and my parents..” you pause, and he watches you patiently. your mind runs wild as you hesitate in answering. “they were never around either. while jeno’s parents still check on him, mine don’t. they’re more greedy than jeno’s parents.”

“so you’re both wealthy?” he asks, curiosity lingering in his gaze.

“my parents are, and jeno is. my parents don’t help me out much,” you get up from your leaning position and stand away from the counter, the stance becoming uncomfortable. “i do everything on my own, which i prefer anyway.”

renjun nods, ready to ask more questions before the back door opens and here comes jeno running in. renjun looks a little solemn that your moment with him is over, but you don’t dwell on it.

“finally found it,” jeno breathes, “my bag was hidden under my seat.”

you laugh at jeno, tearing away from renjun so soon. it leaves him a little empty, but he pushes the thought aside as he hears you speak, “you took way too long, dude.”

jeno huffs, “i know, i know. sorry for leaving you with her for so long.” jeno looks apologetically towards renjun, and you wack his shoulder as he winces.

“hey! i’m not that bad,” you interject, looking at him with a pout. you’re suddenly aware that you quite literally broke up renjun with his girlfriend, and you shrink where you stand as you look back towards him. renjun didn’t seem uncomfortable for once, and you let out a breath of relief.

renjun shakes his head, a smile playing on his lips, “she’s great at conversations, i wasn’t bored.” renjun unexpectedly compliments you, and your eyes go wide. you feel your hands start to tingle as you stand there, the compliment making your head spin.

jeno smiles brightly, his eyes squinting as he looks at you, wrapping an arm around your shoulder and pulling you close to him, “she can be great, can’t she?”

you push jeno away with a scoff, “you were just insulting me two seconds ago, get off me, idiot.”

jeno rolls his eyes, but a smile is still placed on his lips, “whatever, cutie. should we get to work now?” his question is directed towards renjun, and you look at the way renjun diverts his gaze from you to jeno.

“yeah,” renjun nods, before giving you a smile, “thank you for keeping me company while jeno looked for his books.”

you nod back, a smile on your own face, “anytime.”

renjun likes the feeling you give him for the small amount of time before he retreats to an empty table with jeno. renjun wants to hate you and look at you with a scowl on his face everytime he sees you, but his body always chooses against him and his feelings run high every time he comes close to you. he was unsure what he really felt when it came to you, but he realized it wasn’t bitterness or anger like he once felt the night of you breaking up with him for yeri. renjun had time to recollect his thoughts and reminisce in his past relationship since then. you gave him a different feeling from before, and he no longer felt uneasy around you.

as he looks at jeno while he speaks, renjun unknowingly starts to gain a small crush on you.

grabbing a coffee from your campus café, you let out a soft yawn and pay for your drink. the cold was approaching, and feeling the hot liquid run down your throat as you sip makes you smile just a bit. you had an early lecture today, and you could still feel sleep creeping in your bones. as you turn to walk out, you notice someone walk in. you curse beneath your breath. this was becoming a ridiculous recurrence nowadays.

renjun’s eyes scan the room, before landing on you. his eyes turn slightly wide, before softening and making way to approach you. he strides easily, a small smile playing on his lips while walking towards you.

“this is just becoming weird,” renjun laughs, “why do we always seem to meet?”

you huff, taking another sip of your drink, “it is weird,” you chuckle, “i’m not sure. maybe we’re meant to be?” you giggle, and he smiles at you gleefully.

“we just might be,” his grin was captivating, and you will yourself to tear away from his pretty eyes. “you have an early course today, too?”

you nod your head, “yeah, does jeno?”

“i assume so?” he tilts his head slightly, “he probably slept in late today, though.” renjun scoffs as he thinks of the boy’s reckless attitude.

“he does love his sleep,” you laugh lightly. renjun likes the way you sound when you laugh, and he finds your smile to be quite charming.

“he didn’t offer you a ride?” he asks, tilting his head as he stares curiously.

you shake your head, “nope, i didn’t even know he would have an early course.”

renjun nods, before an idea pops in his mind and he hesitantly asks you a question that makes your mind fuzzy. “i can take you to class from now on, if you want?” renjun desperately wanted to spend more time with you. he would be lying if he said he didn’t.

“oh, uh,” you look nervously, “i really don’t want to be a bother, or anything.” you shuffle on your feet, and you were really starting to wonder why renjun didn’t hate you.

“you won’t be,” he beams at you with a cute smile, “how do you normally get here?”

“the bus, or i call an uber,” you state nervously.

renjun pouts, “that’s expensive for a college student. i don’t mind taking you on days we have schedules close in time.” he pauses before continuing, “jeno sleeps in too late,” he lightly laughs.

you grip onto the coffee in your hand, your eyes meeting his, “he does,” you chuckle back. you stand in silence as you consider renjun’s offer. “if you don’t mind, then i’ll take up on your offer.”

renjun smiles brightly, “of course i don’t mind,” his voice is soft and reassuring, “can i have your number? i’ll text you my schedule.” he hands you his phone.

you nod your head and place your number into his contacts, “thank you, renjun.” you’re wafted with a grateful feeling for renjun as you watch him type into his phone.

“no problem,” he casually says. seconds later, you hear a ping come from your phone, “that’s my schedule. if you have the same hours, just let me know. my schedule sometimes varies.”

you nod again, “thank you, again. jeno never sends me his schedule,” you scoff.

renjun laughs, “i can tell.” renjun checks the time on his phone, “i have to go now, but i’ll see you later.”

you smile at him, “see you later.”

as he walks out, it suddenly deems on you that you just gave renjun your number. you really, truly just gave renjun your number, and he was planning on taking you to your classes any time the two of you had close enough schedules. you realize that renjun was too sweet and kind for his own good. if you were him, you would probably hate you. but renjun hasn’t exactly been rude to you the whole entire time, even when you broke him and yeri up, per yeri’s request. he was just angry, but definitely not spiteful towards you. it made you feel slightly more guilty the kinder and kinder he became.

you definitely had to get used to this.

“me and renjun literally have almost the same schedule, why is he offering you rides when i can give them?”

you roll your eyes at jeno’s words, “you wake up too late, idiot.” you pause as he chuckles, “he probably means when you can’t, or don’t want to.”

jeno takes a bite of his muffin before sipping his coffee and replying to you, “less driving for me then.” he grins at you, and you scoff at him.

“i’ll just ask renjun from now on then,” you stick your tongue out at him, and jeno only laughs again.

“you’re so cute,” he confesses, pinching your cheek after setting down his muffin and coffee. “renjun is probably more reliable anyway.” you watch as jeno slumps into his seat. “he’s actually supposed to be over soon,” he checks the time on his phone, surprised by the numbers shown.

“what?” you panic, unaware that renjun was supposed to be coming over to jeno’s anytime soon. you sat in his living room, a shirt of jeno’s embracing your body and a pair of shorts you threw on. “fuck, why do you never tell me these things prior?” you hurriedly start to gather your things, eagerly looking for your misplaced apartment key.

jeno shrugs, “i lost track of time.”

you roll your eyes, about to tell him off before you both hear a loud knock at his front door. you groan and look at jeno desperately, “i hate you so much, jeno.”

jeno laughs as he walks towards the door, “no you don’t!”

you huff as you sit back down on his couch, already knowing it was too late to go walking out the door like you were never there in the first place. as you hear jeno greet renjun, your mind floods with thoughts of him. you started to curse yourself for wearing one of jeno’s shirts, knowing he would think something was going on between the two of you when, in reality, nothing was. you were just extremely close with jeno, and that’s how it always would be. you weren’t sure why you were so worried about renjun seeing you in jeno’s clothes, but you were slightly freaking out in your seat. hopefully he wouldn’t notice it was one of jeno’s shirts.

“also,” you hear jeno approaching the room, “y/n’s here.” you can just hear the smile in his voice. cocky idiot.

as jeno and renjun walk in, you look dumbly at the both of them. you were unsure what to do at this point. you kept mindlessly running into renjun without meaning to, and it was becoming ridiculous. you really hoped he didn’t think you were stalking him and keeping tabs on him.

“hey, we meet again,” your voice wavers, and you’re not sure why you were so nervous. it wasn’t like renjun hadn’t talked to you before.

renjun takes in your appearance, and you shift in your spot on the couch. “i’m starting to think us meeting isn’t simply by chance anymore,” renjun smiles at you teasingly, and you groan.

“i promise it is,” you lightly laugh, before catching a glimpse at jeno, who is smirking to himself.

“do you want to stay here while we work?” jeno asks, looking at you curiously now. “you can stay the night.”

you hum, “i’ll stay.” in all honesty, you didn’t want to go home. your neighbors could be loud at night, and it could be quite the distraction. you had already brought all of your stuff with you, planning on staying the night in the first place. you couldn’t find a problem in waiting for jeno and renjun to get done with their work.

jeno nods, “where do you wanna work?” he asks renjun, and you tune out the rest as you unknowingly admire renjun once again.

he had such pure features, and he was so virtually kind. you wondered how renjun could have such a strong temper, and always look so heavenly. and, unknown to you, but renjun was quietly admiring you back. renjun felt a twist in his stomach the minute he heard you were here, and his heart stung when he saw you sat on the couch in a large t-shirt and some shorts. renjun shouldn’t be catching feelings for someone like you. or just you in general. but he was, and he found his heart playing strings on him at the sound of your voice, the way your lips moved, your eyes zeroed in on him. it was lethal for him.

he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what he felt when it came to you, but he knew it was developing the more and more he got to see you. he found you irresistible, and he was thanking the universe for not keeping you away from him. he didn’t want to consider you as a rebound, though. and he refused to make you think you were just a way to get over his ex. so he stayed extremely quiet, admiring you from where you were. he wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to gain the courage to have a one-on-one conversation with you, but he hoped he would sometime in the future. he would regret it for the rest of his life if he didn’t.

as renjun worked with jeno, you were laced in his brain most of the time, making it hard for him to focus and work on what he needed to. it was uncharted territory for him, considering he was a hard worker and constantly needed everything to be perfect. but you managed to take over his thoughts for most of the evening, and that was terrifying on his end.

“thanks for working with me,” jeno casually says as he walks towards the door with renjun.

renjun nods his head, “we did good. we got quite a bit done, we might have this done sooner than expected.” renjun smiles at him as kind as possible, and jeno chuckles, patting him on the back.

“maybe,” jeno pauses, before turning his gaze to you as he passes by the living room, “i expect my shirt to be returned to me this time.” jeno snarls at you, and renjun feels his whole heart sink into his stomach. you were wearing jeno’s shirt?

you hear jeno, and it makes you freeze from where you’re seated. surely, renjun heard him, too. fuck sake, renjun was right next to him. you want to slap jeno on the back of his head for saying something so careless. you start to panic again, your eyes wandering to the hallway connected to the living room as you see jeno stopped there to give you an accusing look. you lean over the back of the couch and scowl at him.

“oh shut up, you never wear this shirt anyway, idiot.” you grip onto the couch tighter as you look over the renjun. his expression is unreadable, and you mentally curse jeno for him and his loud mouth. “we’re friends, let me wear your shirt.” you quickly let out, eyes lingering on renjun for just a bit longer as you watch his eyebrow slightly twitch.

jeno huffs, “whatever, cutie.”

you watch as jeno starts to walk away, but renjun stands for a second longer, “i’ll see you later, y/n.” and he smiles at you, despite the sting of jealousy coating his bones. he wanted you to be close to him the way you were with jeno, but he understood that wasn’t exactly possible. renjun didn’t grow up with you the way jeno did.

“see you, renjun,” you smile back, and sigh to yourself as you sink back into the couch, watching renjun finally starting to walk away.

jeno says his goodbyes to renjun, before shutting the door and being greeted by a frown from you. “what?” he tilts his head innocently.

when he sits next to you, you thwack him behind his head and cross your arms, “you idiot!”

“ow! what the fuck?!” jeno exclaims, eyes widening as he stares in shock.

“you just had to mention me wearing your shirt,” you glare at him, and jeno really isn’t understanding where you’re coming from.

“yeah? and?” jeno looks incredulous, still confused and shaken up by your random outburst. “what? do you like him or something?”

you lean back into your seat further, “i’m..not sure.” your arms were still crossed, and you looked around the room with nervous eyes.

jeno smiles at you, “you do, don’t you?”

“fuck, just shut up, jeno.” you groan, lightly kicking him in the thigh, “i don’t know, i told you.”

jeno sits proudly in his seat, “whatever you say, cutie.”

“i really hate your attitude right now.”

jeno shrugs, “you’re still here, though, aren’t you?”

you kicked him again, and he lets out a loud laugh at the action.

you were seriously going to go crazy soon because of him.

your nerves were on edge. you had the same schedule as renjun today, and you tried asking jeno to get you but he was obviously sleeping, if his lack of response was anything to go by. you cursed jeno for sleeping so much. you really didn’t want to have to pay to get to campus, but you also didn’t want to bother renjun.

you stare at your phone screen as your typed out message asking him if he can pick you up sits there. you could feel your heart jump out of your chest as you hesitantly press send, deciding on not dragging it out any longer before you end up being too late. a few seconds later, you get a ping on your phone as he types out ‘sure’ with a smiley face next to it. you let out a long sigh, feeling your body start to relax.

when renjun asked for your address, you were suddenly aware of the fact that you would be alone with him in a car. a small, enclosed space. the thought made you dizzy as you sent your address quickly. you could handle being in the car with him when jeno was there, but you weren’t sure how you were going to react to being alone with him in a car. you started to wonder what he smelt like, and if you were going to be able to possibly smell him in the car.

you scoff at yourself for being so creepy, deciding on quickly getting ready as you see renjun saying he’s on the way.

as you slip your shirt over your head, you hear your phone ringing, blindly picking it up, “hello?”

“i’m here,” his voice was laced with sleep still, and you could audibly hear it.

you swallow, “i’ll be right out.”

renjun hangs up the phone with a small hum, and you softy smile to yourself as you swing your bag over your shoulder and lock the door behind you. you see his car in front of your apartment, considering the apartment you lived in was almost like a townhome. you can see him through the window shield, watching as he fixed his hair in the mirror before making eye contact with you. you looked pretty even in the mornings, and it truly blew him away. he could feel his heart flutter at the thought of finally being able to get a longer moment alone with you.

as you walk towards his car, he places a bright smile on his face when you open the door, “good morning.”

you laugh lightly, closing the door and placing your bag onto the floor, “good morning.” you pause, situating yourself as you buckle, “thank you, by the way.”

renjun waves you off, a small smile on his lips, “no problem.”

his hair was slightly out of place, but you liked it that way. he adorned a simple sweater and some jeans, making him look more cozy and inviting. when he shifted the car from park to reverse, you got a sudden whiff of his cologne. and oh, did he smell heavenly. your thoughts drown out the real world as you take in renjun’s appearance more and more. he smelled expensive, in a way, but you didn’t exactly mind it. not in the slightest.

“jeno didn’t answer i’m guessing?” renjun takes a quick glance at you before looking back at the road.

you nod your head, “yeah, he adores his sleep a little bit too much.” you snort in thought of jeno constantly sleeping in, and renjun laughs with you.

“i can tell.” renjun’s voice is deeper than usual, and you assume it’s because it’s so early in the morning. but you end up actually liking the sound of it.

renjun can feel his heart beating heavily inside his chest. he wasn’t sure how to go about talking to you, or simply being around you. he was causing himself danger being around you so much, that much he knew. but he couldn’t bring himself to stop surrounding himself in you. maybe it was the way you two constantly seemed to randomly bump into each other, but he was starting to really enjoy being in your company. he probably shouldn’t have. and he knows this. but he couldn’t help the fact that his heart quickens in pace, his hands grow tingly, and his body reacts to you in every way possible. you were becoming unbearably intoxicating to him so quickly, and the thought terrified him to no end. but he made no moves to stop it, and he continued to consume himself in you. he shouldn’t have. he knows. god, he knows.

but the second he glances over at you as he puts his car in park in the campus parking lot, he thinks he can endure being around you for just a little bit longer. he finds the way you search aimlessly into your bag for an item completely adoring. he thinks the way you pout when you can’t find it absolutely charming. he likes the small little smile on your face as you pull out your wallet from your bag, showing him that you found it.

renjun was really becoming fond of you way too quickly.

“i found it,” you say cutely, looking at him with bright eyes that made his heart swoon for you.

“good job,” renjun smiles sweetly, and you shyly turn away from his sincere gaze. you weren’t entirely sure what you felt when it came to renjun, but you didn’t find it to be negative in any way.

renjun turns his car off finally, taking his keys and placing them in his pocket, “i’ll drive you home after, too. if that’s okay?”

you nod your head, looking at him gratefully, “more than okay.”

renjun admires your pretty smile for just a bit longer, before nodding his head back and getting out of the car, you following suit. he finds himself watching you walk away when you give him a cute little wave, a big smile gracing your beautiful features. and renjun can’t seem to focus for most of his class, his mind fuzzy from thoughts of you. the image of your smile is engraved into his head, and he likes the way you make him feel, despite knowing how odd it may seem. it was almost as if he completely forgot about the whole yeri situation, and in all honesty, he kind of did. yeri was the last of his worries when it came to you, and he liked knowing that, too. although you did break him up with yeri for money, he couldn’t bring himself to feel bitter towards you. he knew he should have. considering the amount of pain he felt that night, and many nights after. but he really couldn’t. every time he tried, he would end up in a cycle of admiring your beauty and remembering just how charming and sweet your smile looked. how soft and angelic your voice would ring in his ears.

renjun should have hated you, but the hate always dissipated into stronger liking towards you.

“you drove y/n?” renjun hears a voice next to him, breaking him out of his thoughts. he looks up and finds jeno smiling at him, his hair messy as he undoubtedly rushed to get ready. jeno places himself next to renjun, waiting on an answer.

renjun nods his head in the end, “yeah, she said she texted you but you didn’t answer.”

jeno yawns before letting out a low chuckle, “yeah, sorry about that. i slept in again today.” jeno leans back into his seat, eyeing renjun, “thanks for taking her and offering her rides. i don’t mean to sleep in or anything, i tend to forget i have classes until last minute when i’m panicking to get ready.”

renjun laughs, shaking his head at jeno, “not a problem, really. she keeps great company, as always.”

jeno nods his head, “she does, yeah.” jeno pauses before letting out a laugh of his own, “a bit of a brat, but she’s a great friend.”

renjun nods this time, licking his lips in thought. he was suddenly aware again of you and jeno’s close friendship, making him slightly envious of jeno. “do you like her?” renjun couldn’t stop the question from flying out of his mouth, and renjun quickly becomes embarrassed, eyes going wide and his ears turning slightly pink.

jeno raises an eyebrow at the boy next to him, “what?”

“sorry,” renjun looks away from jeno, eagerly flipping through pages of the book in front of him.

jeno laughs again, and it’s boisterous, making others look at him weirdly as he throws his head back in humor, “oh god, no.” he shakes his head, and renjun whips his head in jeno’s direction. “no, i don’t like her. she’s my best friend, and i’d like to keep it that way.” jeno crosses his arms, yawning again like what he said wasn’t swimming in renjun’s head.

renjun couldn’t stop the feeling of excitement bubbling in his chest. he wasn’t sure why he was so happy to hear that, but he was. renjun wanted to believe he had a chance with you.

“oh,” renjun said quietly, not saying anything more and he boasted silently in his seat.

jeno was about to say something, before the professor began to talk and the lesson began finally. the whole hour, renjun’s mind was you, you, you.

as the course finished, renjun packs his things diligently, his thoughts still wrapped up in everything that you were. everything that made up who you were. renjun desperately wanted to get to know you better, know exactly who you were by the back of his hand the same way jeno did. he probably knew that wasn’t possible, but he could always dream.

“are you taking her home?” jeno breaks renjun away from his thoughts again.

renjun nods, “yeah, she said i could.”

jeno nods his own head this time, smiling at him, “that’s fine, tell her i said hey.” jeno waves as he walks towards his car when the two of them walk into the parking lot.

renjun makes his way towards his own car, patiently waiting by it as he searches around for you. his heart skips in his chest as he sees you bounce in a couple of your steps when you notice him standing there. he watches the smile stretch on your face, and he so wanted to kiss you at that very moment. renjun was surprised by his own thoughts, but shook them away as you approached him.

“hi,” you greeted him, “did you see jeno?”

renjun nods, “yeah, he sat next to me. we talked a bit before class started and after. he said i could take you home.”

you smile at him again, your grin making renjun feel light, “great, i like your driving a bit better anyway.”

renjun laughs at that, looking at you with kind eyes, “you do?”

“yeah,” you shrug, making way to the passenger side of the car, “it’s definitely safer. i mean, you saw him drive.”

“you just like picking on him,” renjun comments, but he’s smiling as the two of you climb into the car.

“maybe,” your smile reaches your eyes, and he takes in the sight in front of him. you seated in his car next to him, a beautiful grin taking over your features. you were so lovely in his eyes. he watches you buckle, him doing the same. as he places the keys in the ignition, he hears the car roar to life and he takes one last look at you before putting the car in reverse and pulling out.

“i figured,” renjun replies after a bit with a shake of his head. “jeno told me to tell you he said hey, by the way.”

you chuckle, “of course he did.”

“he really cares for you,” renjun looks over at you for just a split second, seeing your small smile.

you gaze over at renjun, seeing the way his jaw tightens when you stare for too long, “i know. he’s the closest thing i have to a brother.”

renjun nods, “your friendship seems strong.”

“it is,” you pause, “do you have any friends like that?”

renjun stops for a few, and the car falls silent. “not really.” he shifts in his seat as he stops at a light, “i only really had yeri and her friends. i’m not too outgoing, per-say, and i didn’t grow up with anyone close.”

you start to feel guilt fill your bones as you remember breaking up him and yeri for money. it was selfish, and you were unaware of the pain you truly brought on others, until now. were you starting to care more and more for renjun? you weren’t exactly sure, but you knew you felt bad for the actions you caused.

“oh,” you say quietly, and you feel so small in your seat. renjun presses on the gas as the light turns green.

renjun shakes his head, waving you off, “don’t feel bad, or anything. i kind of knew me and yeri wouldn’t last forever.. we just simply weren’t compatible enough.”

“do you miss her?” you find yourself asking, and you curse yourself for being so personal.

renjun pauses again, “sometimes.” he admits, and you feel the air turn tense. “but i think i don’t actually miss her. i miss the feeling she gave me.”

you nod, “i get that.”

“she was my first love, you know.” renjun looks at you with a small smile for just half a second, “i’m sure everyone knew about us. she was quite popular among everyone, but i wasn’t.” renjun unknowingly opens his heart to you, “she took me under her wing in the beginning of high school, and i fell in love with her over the years of knowing her.. she was the closest thing i’ve ever really had to a best friend, or anything.”

you feel your heart ache for him, and you can’t stop yourself from clutching onto the one hand that was resting on the gear shift. renjun jumps in his seat as he feels your warm hand enclose around his cold one. renjun’s hand was surprisingly larger than yours, despite it being dainty and frail. you liked the feel of his hand in yours, and he definitely thought the same thing. renjun could hear and feel his heart beating right out of his chest.

“well,” you gulp, looking at the side of his face he desperately tries to focus on the road in front of him, pulling into your apartment complex area, “you have me now. if you want to be friends.”

he wants to be more.

renjun feels his heart shatter as he has to let go of your hand to place the car in park. he immediately misses the feeling of your smaller hand in his own, and he curses his car for ruining such a special moment for him. all his frustrations seem to fade away, though, when he looks back into your eyes. you were so sincere, so soft. you were nothing how he imagined when he first met you. he figured you would be someone heartless, selfish, overbearing. but you were so much the opposite of that. maybe he was blinded by the feeling of trust in his heart, but he really didn’t care even if he was. you were so captivating to him, and he couldn’t seem to get enough just yet.

not quite yet.

“i want to be friends,” renjun confirms, looking at you hopefully. he wants to kiss you, show you he wants more, but he goes against it. and he doesn’t catch the way you stare at him for just a bit longer, or the way your eyes linger on his lips. he was too engrossed in his thoughts to notice.

you smile, and it’s so sweet and kind that it makes renjun almost shiver, “good, me too.” you gather your bag, shooting him a beautiful grin that has renjun swooning again in his seat, “thank you again for driving me. i can send gas money or-”

“no,” renjun interjects quickly, “no need. i’m glad to drive you.” and he really does mean it. any chance he can get to be around you, he’s sure he’ll take it.

you nod, pausing to look at him for a bit longer, before opening the door and going to step out, “you’re sweet. it means a lot.” renjun grins from ear to ear, and you find it quite cute. “i’ll talk to you later, alright?”

renjun nods his head, “alright.” he watches as you shut the door behind you as you climb out, and renjun doesn’t make a move to leave until he sees you made it in safe. when you walk into your apartment, renjun lets out a long breath of relief and slams his head onto his steering wheel.

he was so, so fucked.

renjun really isn’t sure how he came about this.

his thoughts were running mindlessly, and he ended up finding his hand around his cock, stroking slowly. at first, he wasn’t thinking of anything in particular, just enjoying the feeling his hand gave him as he feels his stomach tense up every now and then. it wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling, but what was unfamiliar was the fact that his mind ended up drifting towards you.

he started to see your smile and how pretty you looked in the mornings. he actually got to take you to college a few more times after the first, and each time he ended up admiring your beauty more and more. you were becoming ethereal to him. how could you possibly be real?

as renjun moves his hand quicker, he can hear the slick his precum created as he spread it along his tip and down his shaft. he gasped, imagining your tiny hand wrapped around his cock instead of his own. he tightened the grip on his base as he started pumping a bit faster, his thumb swiping over his head each time he reached to the top. his hand was becoming sloppier and sloppier, and he couldn’t stop the raise of his hips as he felt his release come closer and closer.

“fuck,” he shudders, imagining you possibly asking if you can take his cock in your mouth, suck him off prettily. he imagines the way spit would trail down the sides of your mouth and chin and down onto his cock, his hips raising up to gag you. he imagines his hand in your hair, easing you into it and telling you how good you’re being for him. he would ask if he can fuck your mouth, and he’d love the shine in your eyes as you nod and take what he gives you.

he just knows you’d be absolutely breathtaking and such a good girl for him.

renjun feels his balls tense up as the thought of having you so close and intimate with him. he wants to kiss you, feel your breath on his neck as he fucks into you, make you cum and see how you’d react to his touches. he’s never thought of anyone this way, not even yeri. he’s never touched himself to the thought of someone.

he sighs, a shaky breath of air leaving him as he sinks deeper into his mattress, his knees raising up as his heels dig into the sheets. “holy.. shit.” he moans helplessly as he starts to rapidly pump his cock, thoughts of you bouncing around his mind. he can’t stop himself from raising his hips again in time with his hand on his member. he feels hot and heavy, eyes closing shut and eyebrows furrowing.

“fuck fuck fuck,” he rushes out, trying so hard not to make much noise. it wasn’t like he had roommates or anything, he just didn’t exactly like being vocal. then he starts to imagine the sweet sounds he would be able to pull out of you, and he feels himself lose control of his impending orgasm. he feels his hot, white seed shoot out and onto his stomach. renjun pants heavily, trying hard to come down quickly but still shivering as he rides out his orgasm.

renjun feels weak and light as he plops back down into his bed, glowing from cumming so hard. he lays his legs back down, before groaning as he feels his cum start to stick to him. he rushes to get up, grabbing wipes that he kept in his drawer and easily cleans himself up, a hum leaving his throat as he throws away the dirty wipe.

when he’s done and fully dressed again, renjun sighs deep into the air of his quiet room. did he really just get off to the thought of you? he feels guilt sink into his bones, a sudden shyness overcoming him at the thought of having to face you again after literally jerking off while thinking of you.

renjun rolls over onto his side, grabbing his covers and bundling himself up.

if he thought he was in trouble before, he was really in hell now.

“are you alright?” your voice broke through the once silent air, and renjun jumps in surprise. you pout, looking at him curiously. “what’s wrong?”

renjun shakes his head, looking at you for only half a second. he can’t tell you he jerked off to the thought of you a couple nights ago, it would just be plain out weird. “nothing, just a bit tired, i guess.” renjun stretches his limbs out of nerves.

you nod your head, “wanna get coffee?” you ask, eyes glowing under the sun in the cold weather.

renjun nods, “sure.”

you weren’t actually going to class or anything. in fact, it was the weekend. renjun had actually asked to hang out, much to your surprise. you remember going wide eyed at the text, silently freaking out on the inside as you replied to him, telling him you would love to. you didn’t think it was like renjun to act so boldly, but you weren’t really complaining or thinking too much into it. you were starting to like his company anyway.

renjun starts the car back up again after sitting in your driveway for some time, trying to decide what to do. you had only giggled when he told you that he didn’t really have anything planned, and told him to turn the car off while the two of you figured it out. that was when you noticed him spacing out and asked if he was alright.

“have you been working at the diner?” renjun asks casually, sparking up a conversation.

you nod, “yeah, i had a shift yesterday with jeno. i always get shifts with him.”

“who plans the shifts?” renjun turns the wheel with one hand, and you watch him closely from where you sat.

“jeno normally if his parents don’t,” you look at his hand that’s resting on the gear shift, “which is typically always.”

renjun nods his head, thoughtfully processing your words, “do you help him?”

“sometimes,” you shrug, “i’m normally always around him, but he tends to do the hard work himself.”

he hums, “wasn’t expecting that from jeno, in all honesty.” renjun chuckles, and you laugh along with him. his laugh was too pretty to ignore.

“me neither,” you can’t seem to pry your eyes away from renjun. he was handsome, too good looking for his own good. “but he’s actually really smart.”

“he is,” renjun agrees, “i see the way he works in class and when we’re doing our project. he’s actually really intelligent.. just a bit lazy, maybe.”

you laugh again, “he can be.” you pause, “do you work?”

he shakes his head, “i don’t.” renjun hesitates on continuing, “my parents are.. wealthy, i guess. they make sure to look after me.”

you nod, “that’s good. i’m sure it’s less stressful then?”

renjun shrugs, “it’s a bit boring, but i know i’m lucky to have what i got.”

everyone where you live are at least a little bit wealthy, if not stinking rich. you used to envy everyone who has caring enough parents to share their money, but you found you actually prefer doing things on your own without the help of your parents. sometimes you did wish they cared, though.

“we’re here,” renjun puts your thoughts to a stop as he parks the car at the cafe. you watch as he removes the keys from the ignition, giving you a sweet smile. renjun couldn’t stop himself from thinking about kissing you when you smiled back.

when the two of you order, you find yourself standing just a bit closer to renjun. he pays for your drink before you can object, and you give him a pout and a frown. renjun just smiles again, grinning like he won a prize. to your surprise, renjun ruffles your head and gazes cutely at you.

“hey!” you exclaim, looking at him with surprise and fake anger.

renjun shakes his head, laughing sweetly, “you’re too cute.”

you feel your body heating up in embarrassment, the words flowing out of his mouth too easily. his tone was adoring, and you actually ended up liking it. renjun’s playful side was growing onto you.

as you grab your drinks, renjun leads you back out into the car, “this was a bit boring.. sorry.”

you shake your head, “don’t be sorry. i’m actually having fun.” and you weren’t lying. you were really enjoying his presence.

“we can go back to my place, or something?” renjun suggests, giving you a curious look. “hang out there.”

you feel your stomach twist, “sure.. yeah, we can do that.”

“it’s alright if-”

“i don’t mind,” you quickly interrupt, “i want to. i wanna see what the inside of your apartment looks like.”

renjun nods, before reversing and driving off. he drives with ease, and you wonder how he can look so good even while doing something so simple as driving. renjun could say the same thing about as you take a sip of your coffee. you were so stunning in renjun’s eyes, and he adored the way you blew on your hot coffee before taking a quick sip. it was endearing, and you barely did anything.

“do you live alone?” you ask.

“i do,” renjun confirms, “i have my own place.”

“do you live near your parents, or..?” you tilt your head in curiosity.

he shakes his head, “no, they don’t live around here. they’re about 4 hours northwest from here by car.”

“oh,” you aren’t sure of what to say, “do you see them often?” you felt as if you were prying too much, “sorry for all the questions, you don’t have to answer them all or anything.”

renjun laughs lightly, the sound a bit airy, “i don’t mind, and no, i don’t see them often. i get a call or text every now and then, though.”

you shift in your seat beside him, “at least they keep in touch, right?”

he nods, “yeah, i’m grateful for it.”

the car falls silent for a few minutes, and you’re not sure what else to talk about. but you find the silence to be more comfortable than not, and that relieves you. you take the time to admire the way his fingers tap against the steering wheel, the way his jaw ticks every so often to look around when he turns, the way he licks his lips every now and then. renjun was inviting, at the very least. and you liked the way he brought a soft touch of comfort around you. renjun could absolutely say the same about you.

renjun was consumed by you, once again. and he was suddenly aware of the fact that he was genuinely just hanging out with you, no professions in the way or jeno being there. as much as renjun liked jeno, he also really liked you. and he was truly happy to get to spend this kind of time with you. he was especially happy at the fact that you said you would hang out with him, and here you were. he wasn’t planning on wasting this time with you.

as renjun pulls into the parking garage of his apartment building, he sees the way you look around curiously. “this isn’t a normal apartment complex.” you hum in thought.

renjun chuckles out of embarrassment, “i live in a penthouse.”

your eyes go wide as you whip your head towards his direction, “what?!”

“yeah,” renjun says lowly, parking his car in his designated spot. “that’s why it’s excessively large.”

you sit back in your seat, whistling below your breath, “wow, that’s impressive.”

renjun rolls his eyes, “let’s go.” but there’s a small smile on his face, looking at you playfully.

your eyes beam as you eagerly jump out of the car, him following after you. he likes the excited look on your face as he leads you towards the inside, not without swiping his card key to get in, though. you watch in detail as he holds the door open for you, letting you go in first. you say a small ‘thank you’, and he simply smiles at you.

renjun finds his hand itching to hold yours as the two of you walk towards the elevators. but he stops himself from doing so, thinking it might be a bit too forward. you were just hanging out, and he really wasn’t expecting anything to come out of it.

“what floor are you on?” you ask while waiting for the elevator.

renjun messes with his hair a bit out of nerves, “twelfth.” he says gingerly, taking a look at you as your mouth flies open.

your eyes turn wide, “that’s so high.” you hear a ping as the elevator doors open and two people walk out with a sweet smile as you both walk in. you ease into the elevator as he presses his floor number, and inserts a key into the elevator. you hum in thought to yourself, remembering suddenly that he lives in an actual penthouse. how rich was he?

as renjun finally gets the key to work, leaning back with a satisfied smile. renjun finds himself admiring you as you both stand in the enclosed space. he may not have been just as close as he was to you in his car, but he was still close. you were looking curiously around the elevator, like you’ve never been in one before. and he actually found it quite endearing. your eyes were glossy and wide, the light reflecting onto them and making stars shine in your eyes. you were a sight for sore eyes.

as the elevator dings open again, you’re greeted with a large living space, making you lowly whistle, “wheww,” you start, “this is impressive as hell.” you look around, and find that his decorations are very minimal. his place doesn’t exactly have a home feeling, but you figured he just liked having a clean area.

renjun shuffles on his feet nervously, “thanks.” he sounded shy, almost, making you turn your head towards him.

“sorry,” you mutter out, looking around and walking towards the large windows that show the city below, “i’ve just never really been inside a penthouse before.”

renjun shakes his head, following after you and watching the people walk by, “don’t be sorry. i’m glad you like it.” he smiles.

you can’t stop the small grin that forms on your lips at the sight of him when you turn your head again to watch him look below, “i do like it.” you find yourself lingering your gaze on him, making his heart speed up as his eyes stare back into yours. it was a slow moment, maybe long awaited. but your eyes went down towards his lips for a brief second, and this time he caught you.

renjun feels his palms turning sweaty and his head becoming full. he’s not sure what to do, keeping his eyes on you and nervously scanning your expressions. you were breathtaking, and he couldn’t pry his eyes away from you. everything you did, he became enraptured by. you were captivating to him, and he couldn’t tear this moment to pieces. you were looking at him, and he found that to be enough.

“renjun,” you spoke his name, and he could feel his heart beating right out of his chest once again.

“yeah?” he gruffly asks, looking at you with expectant eyes.

you step closer to him, and renjun doesn’t move. he desperately wanted to know what you were thinking, what you were planning on doing. everything about this moment was overwhelming to him, and he found himself licking his lips unconsciously. your eyes flitter to his lips again, watching his tongue poke out to wet his lips. you weren’t exactly sure what you were thinking, or what he was thinking. but you had a sudden urge to kiss him. you shouldn’t feel this way, and maybe you shouldn’t even be at his place, but you kept playing with your heart instead of your head. renjun was doing the same.

when you stand in front of him, renjun can smell you and feel your warmth. you can feel the same, his cologne taking up your brain. you felt intoxicated, and renjun certainly felt the same.

“do you want to kiss me?” you tilt your head, refusing to close the distance between the two of you without asking first. you had to make sure you weren’t making this all up in your head. that he really wanted it, too.

renjun’s quick to nod his head, eager eyes looking into yours, “yeah, i really do.” his voice is low, barely above a whisper as he speaks into the silent air. you can both feel the tension pulling at one another.

you raise a hand, hesitantly pressing your palm to his cheek as your other hand goes to his hair. he can feel how cold your hands were, but he didn’t exactly care. you were so irresistibly close, and he had you alone for once. he had you to himself, and that was all he could really think about. you. you were his entire mind recently, and it drove him up the wall.

“you can put your hands on me,” you say softly, your nose almost touching his. renjun was suddenly aware of how close you were, looking into your eyes before flickering towards your lips. he could easily kiss you, close the distance and claim you for himself. but he doesn’t, waiting on you to give him the signal.

he places his hands on your waist, and you like the way his hands fit perfectly on you. you can’t find self control anymore, finally leaning in and crashing your lips onto his. renjun swears he’s in heaven, and your lips were so fucking soft. he kisses you slowly, trying not to seem too eager or rush into it too much. you can feel his fingertips dig into your skin with ease as you kiss him, and you like the way he fits so well against you. pressing your chest to his, tugging at the ends of his hair, holding his face in one of your palms. renjun could feel his world dissipate. you were turning into his world in a matter of seconds, in a matter of minutes.

kissing renjun was soft, caring, gentle. it wasn’t rough or aggressive or rushing. it was what every romantic wish they had. you eased into his hold more and more, the kiss turning a little more sloppy as you feel him swipe his tongue on your bottom lip. you grant him access, no doubt. renjun can feel your thumb stroking his cheek and your hands tighten in his hair as his tongue slides in your mouth. it wasn’t a clash of teeth and tongue, it was smooth and slow. renjun definitely knew how to kiss. he tasted of coffee, and you were sure you did, too. it wasn’t unpleasant, though. maybe it was because it was renjun, but you actually liked it.

renjun wraps his arms completely around your middle, tugging you closer and making you groan against his lips. renjun’s ears perk up at the sound, a smile making its way onto his face. you can feel the grin on his lips, making you pull apart and smile back at him. you giggle as he gives you a goofy look, his smile reaching his eyes. renjun found you so beautiful from where you stood, and he found you even more charming standing in his arms.

renjun’s lips were slightly puffy, a little bit pink and wet. you give him a quick peck, making renjun lean in further to kiss you again. you let him for the time being, before pulling apart and letting out a loud laugh, throwing your head back in glee. renjun admires you, feeling the vibrations in your chest rumble against his own from how close you were and how tight he was holding you. he liked being so close to you.

“i have to use the bathroom, renjun.” your voice was so pretty.

he nods his head, slowly letting you go and holding your hand, “i’ll show you where it is.”

you finally take the time to admire the whole entire place, eyes scanning around the rooms as he leads you up the stairs. it was plain, but beautiful. simplicity at its finest.

“down there, to the right,” renjun instructs, “i’ll be downstairs waiting.” renjun kisses you on the cheek, and you like the soft gesture.

as you finish using the bathroom, you feel a buzz in your back pocket. you frown as you see it’s jeno saying to call you quickly. “jeno?” you call him, and you hear him sigh on the other end.

“are you at renjun’s?” you can hear the hurried hush in his voice, making you furrow your eyebrows.

“yeah? i told you-”

“yeri placed a bet.” jeno pauses, and you can hear him rummaging around for something, “she placed a bet that renjun would fall in love with you within the next month after she broke up with him.”

you feel your heart sink, looking around and feeling your body tense up, “what the fuck?”

“not even the worst part,” you can hear jeno adjusting himself in his seat, “she said you would break his heart and he would come running back to her in the end.”

“so,” you clear your throat, trying your best to whisper, “she broke up with him for a bet?”

“seems that way.”

you don’t want renjun to find out. it would definitely shatter him, and take the both of you a million steps back. for fuck sake, you just finished eating his face. you huff, your head suddenly feeling full and heavy. how were you supposed to go about this? what the hell were you supposed to do?

“what the fuck am i gonna do?” you lean back against the sink, crossing one of your arms over your chest as you hold the phone close to your ear. “i just kissed him, jeno.”

“renjun?” jeno asks.

you roll your eyes, “no, jeno. someone else.” sarcasm drips from your tone, “yes, idiot! renjun!”

jeno scoffs, “don’t be rude.”

“how did you even find out?” you quickly look at the time, and realize you’ve been in the bathroom for way too long. “i have to go soon.”

jeno quickly answers, “heard her talking about it on campus the other day. i’ve been meaning to talk to you about it for a little while now, i just haven’t found the right time.”

“and right now was?” you ask incredulously, “look, i have to go. i’ll talk more after i leave.”

“okay, see you later.” jeno hangs up, and you run a hand over your face.

you quickly walk out, heading down the stairs and seeing renjun on the couch, phone in hand. you could feel your nerves run high again at the sight of him, and you were suddenly aware of how your friendship took a fast turn. you were happy of the situation not too long ago, and now you were cursing yourself for letting yeri start to win her little bet. it was unknown to you previously, but you hated that you unknowingly were letting her win. she doesn’t deserve renjun. but did you?

“hey, i was starting to get worried,” renjun greeted you, and you let out an airy laugh, faking it.

“i’m fine, i was just trying to make myself more presentable.” you watch as renjun gets up from his seat, walking towards you. you almost think he’s going to kiss you again, but he doesn’t. and you’re relieved, in an odd way. you really weren’t sure how to deal with all of this.

“you always look pretty,” he compliments.

you feel yourself melt, despite the circumstances that he was unaware of, “thank you, renjun.”

he nods, a bright smile on his face once again, “of course, i mean it.”

you’re suddenly aware of the time, shuffling on your feet, “i should probably head home now. i have another quiz i should be studying for.”

renjun nods his head, placing his hands in his pockets, “let’s get you home, then.”

you’re grateful for the ride back, but all you can really think of the whole time was there was a bet being placed over renjun’s head that he was terribly unaware of. but you knew. and you were incredibly unsure how you would even begin to explain something like that.

what the hell were you supposed to do?

your eyes were frantic, looking around the room as your eyes land onto a specific female. you could feel the anger in your bones as you approached where she sat at the cafe on campus. you desperately wanted to rip her a new one, but decided against it due to the public setting. you still cared about your education, despite being extremely upset.

you see as yeri’s eyes shoot up with a surprised look when you slam your hand onto the table in front of her. sliding the money towards her, you give her a sharp look, “take your fucking money back.”

yeri scoffs, “what are you on about?”

“i don’t need your dirty money, yeri.” you were seething, seeing red as you remove your hand from the table, the money now on her side.

yeri looks between you and the money, before raising an eyebrow, “i don’t need it either. you probably need it more than me anyway.”

you want to shout at her, call her a horrible person and give her all of your anger. but the longer you stood, the more you were wondering if she was even worth wasting your energy on. you take a deep breath, trying to cool down and civilly handle this. it wasn’t in your plans to have a calm conversation with her, but it also wasn’t your plan to slap her. why were you feeling so defensive over renjun? you shouldn’t have. you were the one to accept the deal in the first place.

“you placed a bet between me and renjun,” you start, eyes narrowing, “i don’t like when people have my name in their mouths without me knowing.”

yeri’s quiet for a few moments, gather the pieces as she eyes the money in front of her. she rolls her eyes in the end, “you really know how to ruin the fun, don’t you?”

you scoff at her this time, “you’re fucking sick.”

“it was a harmless bet-”

“one that made you break up with renjun. it’s not harmless if it hurts someone. that’s when it becomes harmful,” you had vile seeping through your voice, “who the hell breaks up with someone for a bet?”

yeri sips her drink, “it’s not like he’s your boyfriend or anything. is he not?”

you snarl, “no, he’s not. but it doesn’t matter. you don’t do that to a person. what are you going to do when he finds out?”

she raises an eyebrow, “you’re telling him?” she watches as you roll your eyes at her, “i’ll tell him you’re lying. who’s he going to believe? someone he’s known for years, or someone he just met?” she tilts her head, looking you with a sinister smile. it makes you sick to your stomach just looking at her.

you stand in defeat, unable to really think of a reason why he wouldn’t believe her over you. you would like to think he would believe you, but you see the reality out of the situation above all. it was disheartening, and you hated how she was able to get away with it.

“you’re going to lose your bet,” you mutter.

“we’ll see.” she checks the time, before getting up with a smile. “i have to go, but take care of renjun while you have him. he’s a sweet guy.”

you want to hit her. scream at her and call her a sick person. but you don’t. you stand still, and let the reality of the situation sink in. you felt hopeless and lost. you weren’t sure where to go with all of this, and you wondered what else she had up her sleeve.

this was an unexpected turn in events.

“what the fuck do i do, jeno?” you groan, head in hands as you sit at his dining table.

jeno sips on his drink, handing you your own tea to comfort you, “that sounds like a fucked situation.”

you scoff, “didn’t notice, thanks.”

jeno licks his lips and rolls his eyes, “i don’t know, dude. i wasn’t expecting this kind of result, in all honesty.” he pauses, “is she still on for the bet?”

“i think so,” you raise your head to look at him, and he has a concerned look on his face. “i told her she’d lose and she said ‘we’ll see’.” you mock her voice, making jeno let out a chuckle.

“she might have something to make sure she does win,” he leans his chin in his hand, elbow on the table, “don’t know what, though.”

“i thought so, too.” you take a sip of the tea jeno made you. “thank you, by the way. for comforting me.”

he nods his head, smiling sweetly at you, “of course, anytime. i have to be there for you, don’t i? i think you’d throw a fit if i wasn’t.”

you hum, agreeing with him, “yeah, you’re right.”

he laughs, “i knew it.” there’s a pause before he continues talking, “just keep everything like normal. you like him, don’t you?”

you slowly nod your head, “i think so, yeah.”

jeno nods back, “then see where it goes. yeri shouldn’t have to control your love life, or renjun’s. it’s unfair and sick, to be honest.”

you lean back into your seat, hands on your mug of tea to warm you up, “i’ll try.” you say in a quiet voice, and jeno notices your uncertainty.

he press a hand to your shoulder, giving you big comforting eyes, “it’ll be alright. i’ve got your back if it all goes wrong.”

you realize that, even if it does go downhill, you’ll always have jeno right there to help pick everything back up. “thank you.” you were sincere.

he smiles brightly, “wow, i’m fucking great at this whole friendship thing.” jeno boasts in his seat, whistling lowly as if to admire himself.

you roll your eyes, taking a large drink of your tea, “you’re so annoying.”

“you wouldn’t have me any other way,” he grins, eyes sparkling at you.

“mhm,” you hum, and jeno laughs loudly.

although you were in a messy situation, jeno always managed to help make it just a bit lighter and easier. you didn’t have as many worries as before, and you were completely grateful for it. you could get stuck in your head at times, and jeno knew this. it was a given that he knew everything about you, and especially knew how to comfort you in dire times.

you decided by the end of the night, you were going to continue like normal with renjun. you really did like him, and you were going to be damned if you let yeri get in the way.

you’re not sure how everything moved so quickly and easily with renjun.

over the next two weeks after confronting yeri, you became closer and closer to renjun. of course, there was that underlying fear of losing him over something yeri might do to tarnish your ‘relationship’ with renjun, but it all floats out of your head the minute he kisses you. you feel guilty every time you head home, though. every night, you have a strong urge to call him, tell him everything. but you were selfish. selfish, and you didn’t want to let go of him just yet. you were holding too tightly onto him, and it slowly ate you up along the way. you were in danger when it came to renjun, but you never felt so safe around anyone else the way you did with him. you were truly lost.

“are we..” renjun gasps when you bite into the flesh of his neck, leaving his skin just lightly marked with your kisses, “are we moving too.. fast?” his voice fades when you run your fingers through his hair, kissing him on the lips again to hush him.

maybe you were moving too fast, sitting in his lap and kissing him like he was your air. but you really liked how warm he felt against you, how close he was. you were cherishing these types of moments with him, and you weren’t going to let him out of your grasp just yet. you liked kissing him, tasting the warm coffee on his tongue as he silently asks for permission to enter your mouth. he was a sensual kisser, never taking it a step further. you wanted more, though. you desperately wanted more.

“are we?” you lean back, seeing how his ears were slightly tinged pink, his lips swollen and spit trailing along them. you lick your own lips, waiting for his answer. you can feel the hands on your hips tighten, his eyes looking up at you with shine in them. he was absolutely gorgeous.

renjun clears his throat, “i don’t know..” he trails off, looking out the window for a brief second, pondering in his head. “do you think we are?” renjun shudders when you drag your nails along his scalp, and you grin at him coyly.

you shake your head, “no, but we won’t do anything you don’t want to.”

“we won’t do anything you don’t want to, either.” so polite. he was so respectful of you and your boundaries, making your heart pick up speed the longer you looked at him. he was making you nervous, but in a good way.

you don’t say anything else, leaning back down to kiss him again. this was something the both of you were familiar with, but you were growing restless. the moment you start to roll your hips down into his, he lets out a quiet gasp, opening his mouth wider for you. you smile, trailing your kisses down his jaw and neck again. renjun runs one of his hands down to your thigh, squeezing tightly and making you lightly whine into the junction of his neck.

you can feel his lips against your ear, “you’re so cute.” his voice was comforting, soft. he squeezes your thigh again, trailing his hand up more towards the direction of your core. you were wearing comfortable and loose shorts. he could easily slip his hand into the leg of the shorts and touch you. you feel his hand inch closer and closer until it rests on the inner part of your thigh.

you lean back again, panting as your eyes glaze over, “please?” you sound breathless already, and it makes renjun’s head spin.

“you want me to touch you?”

you nod.

renjun’s mouth quirks into a smirk, a soft chuckle leaving him, “you’re too cute.” he pauses, his thumb rubbing circles into your skin, so close to your heat. “take your shorts off.”

you’re quick to oblige, getting off his lap and slipping them off. you’re about to straddle him again, but then he stops you, turning you around before sitting you between his legs. you can feel how warm his chest is against your back, and you sink into his hold. renjun rests his head on your shoulder, placing a kiss there. you let out a shaky sigh when you feel his hands return to your thighs. he spreads you open more, opening his own legs so you sit comfortably. you can feel slick running down into your panties, the cold air making you shiver.

although renjun would love to hear you beg, he decides to save it for another day. he trails his hand close to your panties, playing around with the band before slipping his fingers inside to feel just how wet you are.

“renjun,” you whine out, your hands going to grasp onto his own thighs.

“you’re soaked, baby.” he kisses behind your ear before resting his chin on your shoulder, looking down to where he was touching you. you were so wet and slick, his fingers playing around your clit and circling around your entrance.

the little sound you let out at the nickname makes renjun lose his mind. you sounded so heavenly, even better than his fantasies. this was so much fucking better than anything he could ever even dream of.

“for you,” you gasp when he presses his fingers against your clit, rubbing you just light enough so you could feel it. it sends tingles down your spine.

“hm?” renjun tilts his head, looking at your face and making out the slight crinkle in your brows.

“wet for you,” you squirm in his hold, “only for you.”

renjun feels goosebumps raise on his skin at your words, the tone in your voice sounding needy and out of touch. “fuck.” he groans, pressing harder into your clit and rubbing quicker, making you let out a surprised yelp, straightening your back up and dropping your mouth open at the feeling. “you’re good for me, aren’t you?”

you nod your head as quickly as you could, pleasing renjun, “good for you. i’m good for you.” you whine, “please finger me, wanna be filled.”

renjun feels enchanted by you, completely under your spell as he trails his fingers towards your entrance once again, but this time not leaving space for teasing. he shoves two of his long, thin fingers inside of you, making a long moan leave your pretty lips. the way he curls them up as he sets a sweet pace makes you roll your head back onto his shoulder, eyes shutting closed. renjun feels your thighs start to tremble a bit, and his other hand makes work to hold onto one of your thighs, making sure you keep your legs open for him. he can feel his cock starting to twitch inside his pants, begging to be released by now. the noises you were making and the way you would buck your hips up into his hand were making him impossibly hard by now.

when renjun speeds up the pace of his fingers, you feel yourself start to crumble in his close hold, “so good, feels so good.” your sounds go right in his ear and straight to his groin. “fuck, renjun.”

“you like my fingers inside your pretty pussy, don’t you, baby?” he moves his head so he’s kissing and licking along your neck, making your nails dig deeper into the meat of his thighs. “i can feel just how tight and warm you are. been thinking about this for awhile now.”

his words were making you wetter and wetter, indefinitely soaking his fingers as he worked you towards your orgasm, “r- renjun. ohh, fuck.” your voice was a bit broken, little whines escaping you and growing louder as he started to ram his fingers in and out of you. you could hear just how slick you were with every curl of his fingers. when he moves his other hand to press against your swollen clit, you lose yourself in the hold of him. “g- gonna..”

“already?” he taunts you, biting into the flesh of your skin and making you gasp again, “such a sensitive baby. you wanna cum on my fingers? coat them in your cum and make a mess?”

you nod, desperate to have a taste of euphoria, “please, please. wanna cum on your fingers, wanna cum for you.”

“you’ve been good, haven’t you, princess?” he asks, pressing harder into your clit as a warning when all he gets back is a long moan. “answer me.”

“yes, yes. i’ve been so good for you, renjun. please let me cum, please.” you sounded meek, small, cute. he couldn’t seem to deny you any longer, he was just too enamored by you.

“cum for me, baby. my messy, pretty girl.”

at his command, you arch your back away from his chest, your shirt sticking to your sweaty skin as you fall apart in his hold. he can feel the fluttering of your walls as you cum, the cries of his name slipping so beautifully from your throat and into the air. you smell so sweet, like apricots and honey and he can’t get enough of you, he decides. renjun rides out your high, watching the way you buck into his hand every now and then, trying to prolong the feeling for as long as you can. he finds you irresistible, absolutely stunning as you come down from your high.

“my good girl,” he leaves praising kisses and words into your skin, making your head feel light as you gasp for air. when he slips his fingers out of you, you grab his wrist quickly to place his fingers into your mouth, moaning at the taste of yourself. “holy fuck.” he breathes, watching as you swirl your tongue around his fingers. “you’re dirty, aren’t you, baby? you just love being filled whole.”

you nod, humming around his fingers. when he slides them out of your mouth, he’s quick to grab your face in his hands and kiss you eagerly. his tongue greedily invades your mouth, much to your pleasure. he can taste you on your own tongue, making him groan. you were as sweet as he imagined, maybe even sweeter.

“i really like you,” he mutters against your lips, making you giggle breathlessly.

“i really like you, too.” you stare into his eyes, before lightly biting your lip, “do you want me to jerk you off? i can feel your boner poking my ass.”

renjun lets out a loud laugh, throwing his head back, “if you want, but you don’t-”

you shake your head, already moving to sit beside him and unbuckling his pants, “i want to touch you. you made me feel good, i wanna make you feel good, too.”

renjun turns serious suddenly, reaching up to place a hand on your cheek and rubbing his thumb in circular motions, “you’re just too precious, too good for me.”

you shake your head, a smile gracing your lips as he drops his hand back to his side. he watches as you quickly pull him out of his pants and boxers, making you lick your lips. he was a lot thicker and a lot longer than you thought he would be. he looked so dainty, but he was definitely packing.

when your hand encases around his girth, renjun relaxes against the back of the couch, hands flat against the sofa. he watches your hand intently as you start to stroke him slowly. he sighs, mouth slightly agape. he likes the way your hand feels so small compared to his own, making you grasp him just a bit tighter. he shudders when you rub your thumb along his tip, collecting his precum that started to leak out. when you lean down and spit onto his length, he lets out a throaty groan at the action. it felt so messy, but so good. he could hear it become more slick along his dick, he could feel it.

when you sped up the pace of your hand, he gasps, “fuck.” he shifts in his seat, his fingers starting to dig into the fabric of the couch. even if it was just your hand, it still felt so good for him. everything you did in general set him off, so he wasn’t surprised by the sensitivity he got from just the jerk of your hand.

the groans he let out were so heavenly and rung in your ears, you desperately wanted to make him cum, watch him fall apart the same he did to you. with every stroke of your hand, you would thumb at his tip and swipe over it. you could hear the wetness on his cock, making you unconsciously press your thighs together in your seat. renjun caught the act, making him look over at you and tear his eyes away from your small hand on his member. his eyes were dark, eyeing you specifically and taking in your figure beside him. you were so close to him, he could almost feel your breath on his neck. when he raises his hips up in time with your hand, you let out a little whine. he smirks over at you, tilting his head mockingly.

“you like watching me fuck your fist?” he questions, watching you rub your thighs together again. he laughs breathily, thrusting up again and again until he created an easy pace. he could feel himself starting to build up to his orgasm, incredibly sensitive from being hard for a good bit of time before getting his own release. he could almost taste it for how close he was.

“wanna make you cum,” you look at him eagerly, licking your lips and leaning closer to his face.

renjun leans in, pressing his lips to yours hungrily, and it’s nothing like his previously soft kisses. this one is more aggressive, more demanding. and it makes you ache, desperately wanting him to fill you and feel close to him. you were so close to begging for him.

“wanna ride me, baby?” he asks, pulling apart from you and watching you closely. it wasn’t like you to immediately hook up with someone after only knowing them for a short amount of time, but you were trusting of renjun. too trusting, maybe.

“please?” you run your thumb along his slit, making him groan, “you can fill me up, too. fill me with your cum.”

renjun growls at that, shoving your hand away and eagerly pulling you on top of him. he’s quick to remove your shirt and snap your bra off, feeling it fall down your shoulders as he throws it onto the floor. he sees you bare, the only thing on you are your panties. you whine and tug at his shirt, making him chuckle with a shake of his head as he takes it off for you. you run your hands smoothly down his chest, before resting them on his shoulders and raising yourself up. renjun grabs hold of his dick, lining himself up with your entrance and pushing your panties to the side.

“are you sure?” he asks, looking at you cautiously, his lust driven eyes disappearing. you only let out a quiet whine and a nod of your head before sinking down on him without warning. he gasps, hands immediately clutching onto your hips as tightly as he could. “jesus fuck, you’re so.. tight.” he groans, your heat engulfing him whole. he can feel his whole entire body heating up, feeling as you take him.

you start to move almost instantly, “so.. so full. feel so full.” you stutter, nails digging into the skin of his shoulders, surely leaving marks there. “your cock feels so good inside me, renjun.”

“yeah?” he asks, looking at you with dark and heavy eyes, “you like my cock fucking you open?” he takes you by surprise when he thrusts his hips upwards, “you’re so wet and tight. i can feel your little cunt gripping me.”

you whimper and whine at his words, starting to claw at his skin as you ride him more eagerly, his cock dragging along your walls so deliciously, “renjun, fuck.. renjun.”

“i love the way you say my name, baby.” he stills your hips, making you whine again desperately, “don’t worry, princess. i’m gonna fuck you.”

and that he does. his fingers are digging so harshly into your skin as he starts to fuck into you with abandon, your mouth hanging open and your eyes rolling into the back of your head. he watches the way you throw your head back, his cock stretching you out and hitting just the right spot with each stroke. he feels pride swell in his chest from having you fall apart from just his cock alone. he quickly reaches a hand down to your clit, though, wanting you to feel as good as possible. he feels the way your walls flutter around his cock, tightening even more and making him hiss at the feeling.

“gonna cum on my cock, baby?” he licks his lips, watching as you nod your head and let out more stutters of his name. “i wanna feel you cum all over my dick, coat my cock in your cum. you deserve it, baby. you deserve to cum. you’ve been such a good girl, my good little princess.”

you cry out a choked sob, leaning down and resting your head in his neck, “g- gonna.. fuck.. gonna cum, renjun.” your walls were clamping so tightly around him, sputtering around his cock and making his thrusts start to stutter and become sloppier. he could feel the fabric of your panties rub against his cock with each thrust, making him groan. you could tell he was just as close as you, and you bite down onto his shoulder as your hands trail back to his hair. you tug at the strands, your nails digging into his scalp while his own dig into the flesh of your hips. it all feels so good, and you were so, so close.

“cum, baby. cum all over my cock. show me how good you are.”

with one last press of his fingers against your clit and one last hard thrust into your cunt, you fall apart. your pussy was sporadically clenching around him, triggering his release right after yours. the feeling of his cum filling you up makes you shudder, a shiver running down your spine as he trails a hand along your back, riding out your highs together. you buck your hips into him as you come down, letting out a soft whine. you feel so good, so light and comfortable in his arms. renjun holds you close, wrapping both of his arms around you and pressing your chest against his.

he found himself lucky that night, holding you as close as possible. when he cleaned the both of you up and gave you some of his clothes, he grins to himself. you were wearing his clothes this time.

“why are you staring like that?” you scrunch your nose up, looking at him weirdly.

he shakes his head, walking towards you where you lay on his bed and hovering above you. he presses his lips to yours, “you’re wearing my clothes. it’s cute.”

you can’t stop from placing your hands on his cheeks, watching as his hair falls and frames his face, “they’re cozy.”

renjun places himself next to you, quickly reaching out for you and holding you close to him, “you’re cozy.” he mutters tiredly, letting out a soft yawn.

you shake your head with a soft giggle, pressing a kiss to his nose before snuggling into him and letting him drift off to sleep. it was so nice being so close to renjun, and you were starting to become terrified of losing this feeling. you were unsure of what the future were to bring, but you only hoped it wasn’t bad.

if only you weren’t so naive.

you could feel your heart drop right down into your stomach as you stood there. in your work clothes, eyes wide, body temperature turning cold. you felt frustrations rise, and your mind started to run a million miles per hour. a lump formed in your throat as you watch renjun talk to yeri on the sidewalk in front of your work. he was quite a few feet away, so you assumed neither of them saw you. but you soon realized you were wrong. yeri knew you were looking, and the thought itself made you sick.

you stand at the entrance doors of your work, seeing the sickeningly sweet smile on yeri’s face as she exchanges words with renjun. you had no idea what she was saying to him, nor did you know why they both were there. but you hated the mere thought of him being near her now, and you especially hated that she possibly had a greater advantage to the situation.

“hey, you okay?” you hear a familiar voice, making you whip your head for a split second and see a certain dark haired boy.

“yeri’s talking to renjun,” you say simply, and you see the shock on jeno’s face before he looks in the direction you can’t seem to take your eyes off of.

“oh shit,” he mumbles under his breath, and the sound doesn’t ease your mind in the slightest. “do you know why?”

you shake your head, “no. i was just about to head inside before i saw them on the sidewalk talking.”

jeno shifts where he stands, “i don’t know what they’re talking about, and neither do you. but we can’t just assume it’s completely bad and what we think it’s about, alright?” jeno moves to unlock the diner doors, pulling out his key, “don’t mention it to him, or anything. not until if he’s ready.”

you reluctantly look away and start to head inside before renjun catches you staring, “right..”

“renjun didn’t seem to look very interested in what she had to say anyway,” jeno snorts out a laugh, and you appreciate the mood lightener he created.

you place a soft, small smile on your lips and try your hardest not to think of it. yeri could ruin everything between you and renjun so easily, and you’re starting to think she likes having that kind of power over you. you don’t think she would easily give that away, but you were also very unsure how she would play all of this out. it was only a matter of time before she came in and shattered the both of you and got her way, but you were hanging onto whatever you could. and maybe it was a toxic way of living, but you couldn’t seem to let go of him just yet. you were terrified of the ending, but you would do anything to keep him.

shaking your head, you start to organize the tables and wipe them down before customers start to roll in. and the shift went by quicker than you imagined, but your head still felt fuzzy and all over the place. jeno could obviously tell, but did his best to not bother you.

“if it’s bothering you this much, y/n,” he pauses, swallowing hard as he locks the diner doors behind the both of you, “maybe you should tell him everything. the bet, yeri, everything. i hate seeing you so stressed out, especially over a guy and some girl who is tearing you apart over some kind of blackmail bullshit.” he pauses, letting out a sigh, “i want what’s best for you. and i know that this,” he gestures with his hands, “isn’t what’s best for you.”

there’s a long, long pause after what he says. and you have nothing left in you to keep fighting, it seems. you want to make up excuse after excuse as to why you can’t tell him. and maybe you could come up with a few, but you knew for a fact that he was right. and it was earth shattering for you, having to come back down to reality after getting to spend so much time with renjun over the past month. you could feel your throat closing, eyes welling up under the soft streetlight.

“in the end,” he continues, “everything depends on you and how you handle it. i’m not you, and i can’t make your decisions for you. but i know i can be there for whatever you do choose. it’s obviously not an easy choice, and i won’t be able to blame you for whatever you do decide to do about this whole thing. it’s a huge shit show, if you ask me.” jeno scoffs bitterly. “but you’ll be alright. no matter what, you’ll be alright.”

you huff, unable to find it in yourself to respond as you start to consume yourself in your own thoughts. jeno bids you a soft and quick goodbye before heading his own way home and wishing you luck. you only nod your head and make your travels back to your apartment. it feels longer than usual, and you can hear your heart in beating in your head. nothing is how it used to be, and you start to realize you haven’t taken a break up job since renjun came into your life.

when you reach your apartment, you quickly change and sink into your bed. you were mixed in emotions. should you be angry? should you be crying? should you be frustrated? you weren’t sure. nothing was sure anymore, and the harsh reality of everything not being set in stone was crashing down on you. renjun wasn’t set in stone, and you could only have him for a certain amount of time before he leaves and yeri decides to take him away from you. there wasn’t exactly any winning here. even if he does believe you, he’s most likely to be hurt by the fact you kept everything from him for so long and never told him.

your heart sinks further, and you nuzzle deeper into your sheets.

“this is unfair, so fucking unfair.” you whisper in the night, in hopes someone is listening to your plea. but you know you’re alone, and you know this whole situation is all on you. you took the money, you agreed to yeri’s terms, you broke up renjun and yeri, you got closer and closer to him. you chose this. but it still didn’t mean it didn’t hurt any less than it did.

you were starting to believe in unforeseen karma.

you haven’t left your apartment in days, it seemed. you took off shifts even and stayed home, much to jeno’s worry. you assured him that you were just preparing for the upcoming exams, and you weren’t exactly lying. but you knew that he knew that wasn’t the only reason for your seclusion. jeno didn’t pester or involve himself, which you were grateful for. you really needed time alone to figure yourself and everything out in the meantime. everything was all a mess, and you weren’t sure how you were going to fix it.

in the time you’ve spent alone, you’ve also seemed to make it a mission to avoid renjun. and although it was tearing you apart, you’ve done your best to focus on your studies. you felt like you were just going through the motions at this point. nothing made sense to you anymore. you heard renjun and jeno got an astounding grade on their project after turning it in just a bit earlier, and you were proud. but you had a hard time expressing it at the time.

when you hear a knock on your door, you immediately assume it’s jeno on his daily checkup to make sure you’re well fed and taking care of yourself. but when you open the door and feel the soft breeze created and see renjun standing there with a confused expression, you feel your heart drop into your stomach. suddenly, you were brought out of your trance-like state of going through the motions and brought right back down to reality. full force. one movement.

you let out a puff of air after realizing you were holding your breath. it was silent. you standing in your apartment doorway, and renjun on the other side in front of you. you stared, and he stared back. it felt like a movie, like everything was standing still and you were stuck in time together. his eyes had bags under them, and you assumed yours did, too. his eyebrows were furrowed, and yours were shot up on your forehead in surprise. you were quick to wipe the shock off your face, and he cleared his throat seconds later.

“you’ve been avoiding me.” he states this with his whole chest, and his confused expression doesn’t leave his face. you feel guilt deep in your bones staring at him. and he feels it.

“i’m sorry,” you croak out, prompting you to clear your own throat this time, “i’ve been trying to study and prepare for exams recently.”

renjun nods, pausing before responding back, “hopefully it’s not stressing you out, or anything.” he can feel the tension in the air, “but i know that’s not the only reason you’re avoiding me.”

you feel a lump in your throat at the statement. you can’t seem to find it in yourself to reply to him. and he knows this. and he can feel you starting to slip away from him again, and it terrifies him like no other. you avoiding him has been complete torture for him, and he hates the thought of you distancing yourself from him so soon. but that’s what frustrates you the most. you hate the thought of hurting him, but you can’t seem to win no matter what path you choose at this point. he was going to inevitably get hurt. and the thought alone made you tense up as he stood in your doorway, the cold breeze hitting the back of his neck as it started to become late fall.

“it’s cold, renjun. you should head home, or something.” you push him away again, and it makes his chest tighten.

“no, not until you tell me why you’re avoiding me.” it’s confusing on his end, because he was really starting to take a strong liking towards you. and he assumed you felt the same way, and he really thought everything was finally turning up on his end. you pushing him away hurt, it really fucking hurt.

you feel the lump in your throat get bigger, and you can’t seem to hold yourself back anymore. your head hurts from the amount of thinking you’ve had to do the past few days. your heart is aching from the thought of hurting him for the second time, the first being breaking him up from yeri. you were overwhelmed, and you were really starting to hate everything at this point. it was unfair, everything was just so unfair.

you move out of the way for renjun to come in, unable to see him stand there shivering anymore. he accepts the invite silently, the warmth of your apartment consuming him. he realizes soon that the place smells exactly like you, and he likes it. it’s comforting, and feels completely safe.

“i saw you talking to yeri,” you start, and renjun whips his head in your direction from where you stand. he’s about to interject, before you raise a hand and continue, “and, no, that’s not why i was avoiding you.” you shift in your spot, starting to feel uncomfortable and heavy. “you don’t deserve the hurt you’ve been through, and you certainly don’t deserve anymore hurt.”

it felt like a breakup. all over again, this felt like a breakup.

“and i hate the thought of hurting you again, but i think i might be doing just that.” again. you said again. “i don’t know what you know, and what you don’t know. and i’m not even sure how to approach a situation like this, but i can’t keep acting like i don’t know. and i can’t keep holding things from you.” you pause, taking a breath, “i shouldn’t have kept anything from you in the first place.”

renjun feels like he’s being poured in cold water as his blood runs cold from where he stands.

“yeri placed a bet on you. and i was completely selfish in trying to keep it from you just to keep you to myself for a bit longer.”

renjun was the game, once again. he can’t seem to speak, or even move. he felt frozen. he wanted to ask you so many questions, he wanted to know so many things. but he couldn’t bring it in himself to just ask. he couldn’t bring it in himself to just move, to just speak, to just figure out what everything even meant at this point.

“the bet. you were supposed to fall in love with me within a month, and she bet that i would end up breaking your heart and you would go back running to her.”

how was any of this real? renjun could finally feel his body starting to feel again, and he could only really feel the anger bubbling in his chest and up his throat.

“why did you keep it from me?” he asks simply, but his mind was raging. he could feel his body turning hot.

“i wasn’t sure you would believe me. it was either her, or me. and i always assumed you would believe her over me.” you pause, throat starting to close up on you, “i wanted you for just a bit longer, and i realize just how selfish it all is now.”

he understands your reasoning, but he hates that you lied to him. he put so much effort into you, but he still feels betrayed. “how long did you know about it?”

the dreadful question, the one that was expected but was still disheartening to hear nonetheless. “three weeks now, almost four.”

everything sinks in for renjun, and he just wishes you would have told him sooner. he wishes he didn’t feel the way he did that very moment. he wishes he wasn’t as angered as he was, wishes he didn’t feel as betrayed as he did. he understands your reason, but it definitely didn’t seem to be enough to forgive you and let it all go. you had three previous weeks to tell him, but didn’t. and the thought alone made him feel sick. he could hear his heart in his head, a headache starting to form. he felt hurt. he was hurt.

renjun, once again, couldn’t find it in himself to talk. but he could move this time, and he chose to go rushing towards your front door. nothing made sense. he couldn’t seem to grasp exactly how he felt, but he knew he had to get out of there one way or another.

“i’m sorry won’t fix anything, but i am sorry. i shouldn’t have let her win.” you quickly let out as he reaches the handle.

“but she did, didn’t she?” and that was it, before renjun went rushing out of your door so abruptly. you didn’t blame him. you couldn’t blame him.

you shouldn’t be crying. you shouldn’t have cried as much as you did that night, but you did. you shouldn’t have kept it from him for so long, but you did. you shouldn’t have gotten so dangerously close to him, but you did.

you soon realize, developing a relationship with someone you tore apart is dangerous.

renjun hasn’t spoken to you in two weeks. and you hate that this is probably, most definitely the end. and you hate the way it all ended, and you soon realize there were so many things you could have done differently, but didn’t. the timing never seemed right with him, and the way he came into your life was so sudden. if in another universe where you played your cards right with him, you assume you’re living happily with him. in a universe where you didn’t meet him at such an odd time, under odd circumstances, you assume the two of you are happy. you hope so, at the very least.

jeno holds you on the nights you can barely stand, and he helps you through heartbreak. two weeks of crying didn’t go unnoticed by jeno, and he held you in the dark. he let you cry it out, he let you scream in his shoulder when you blamed yourself on the endless nights.

you shouldn’t have let yeri win, but you did.

even if renjun didn’t end up going back to her like she planned, she still got the satisfaction of you hurting him. and you were angered by the thought. but you weren’t only angry with her, you were definitely just as pissed with yourself as you were with her.

in the end, you quit your job of breaking other people up. it wasn’t ever supposed to be your responsibility to break other people up, and you know this now. you’ve gotten quite a few requests since renjun, but ignored them all and rejected them. the job quickly turned into hell after renjun, and you swore to never go back to it. fully burying it under was probably your best decision you’ve had in awhile.

jeno states that renjun hasn’t been in class for awhile, and on the days he does show up, he sits as far from everyone as he can. it breaks your heart all over again, and you once again start wishing you never hurt him in the first place.

you drowned yourself in studies as much as you could to distract yourself, but as exams come to an end, you find yourself right back in the empty hole you once were in before. the nights of overthinking and excessive crying never seemed to end, but you assumed you deserved it.

you lay in bed for the millionth time within those past two weeks, staring at your ceiling like usual. but, this time, you’re not crying. not as much, at least. it was edging on almost three weeks now since renjun left. and the pain didn’t lessen, but, in time, things did get easier. waking up didn’t feel as draining as it used to, crying became less and less frequent, and you were finally able to sleep a regular amount rather than sleeping too much or too little.

every night, everything about renjun seems to sink deep into your bones. he left an indent that was definitely not going to ever be forgotten. renjun gave you a lot before he left, and even after he left. and you wonder if renjun will ever forgive you along the way, but you know it’s not you choice. and you certainly don’t blame him if he never does.

you just hoped, one day, he would get his happy ending.

with you, or not, he deserved his happy ending.

as time goes on, you know you can’t turn back, no matter how much you may want to.

you hear a ringing from your phone, checking the caller and soon seeing it’s jeno, making a soft smile appear on your face. “hello?”

“hey, how’s my favorite person doing?” he says it sweetly, making you let out a quiet chuckle.

“getting by, how are you?” you get into a seating position, trying to focus more on the conversation. you appreciate the effort he puts into making sure you’re okay.

“i’m good, babe.” jeno pauses, before continuing, “i haven’t really had the chance to say it, but i’m sorry all of this happened to you and renjun.” you freeze in your spot, holding your breath as he hesitantly continues what he was saying, “i want you to know that, no matter what, i’ll be right by your side. i feel like i shouldn’t have mentioned the bet or anything. maybe things would be different.”

it’s true, maybe things would have been different. but would it have been a good different either way. you don’t think so. the timing was always going to be off, and it was in no way jeno’s fault. you were sure of that.

“i’m glad you told me. don’t think this is any of your fault, i made my own decisions. i did it all on my own.” you reply in a softer voice than usual, trying to reassure him.

“i shouldn’t have swayed you to keep it from hi-”

“jeno,” you interrupt, “i wouldn’t have told him, anyway. no matter what you may have said or done, i was definitely too scared to lose him either way. my actions bit myself in the ass in the end. it wasn’t your fault, and nothing you said swayed me.” you were being truthful, and you worried that he had been blaming himself for everything all this time. “i don’t think me and renjun were made to meet at the time we did.”

but you and renjun met by chance, and you made the decisions you did. there was no turning back. you don’t regret renjun, not by a long shot. time with him seemed to be too short. but you appreciate him and everything he gave you in time you got to be with him.

“i’m sorry anyway, y/n.” jeno says it softly, and hearing your name come from him felt so rare.

you smile sadly, even if he can’t see it, “i know, jeno. i know.” you look at the time, “we should get some rest now.”

“we should,” you imagine him nodding in agreement, “goodnight, babe.”

“goodnight, jeno.”

you hang up, but for once, you don’t feel completely empty. you can feel a small tear run down your cheek, but you’re unsure if it’s even because you’re sad anymore. you can’t keep spiraling yourself into self-pity. you may not have gotten the ending you wanted with renjun, but you needed to move on. one way or another, you needed to move on.

you sigh, laying back down and staring straight into your blank ceiling.

developing a relationship with someone you tore apart is dangerous. so dangerous.

but, not one second, do you regret growing close to renjun. you imagine that, under different circumstances, things would have ended differently. and you find that to be enough for you.

for the time being, this was enough for you.

with you, or without you, you hope renjun gets his happy ending.

with you. or without you.

a/n: IT’S FINISHEDDDD!!!!!!! OMFG wow can you believe it????? i can’t LOL uhhhh i hope you all liked it. i spent an extended amount of time on this one, and i hope it lived up to expectations. please send me positive feedback lol this one took forever and it’s my longest fic to ever exist as of now. thank you for reading if you did :] i really appreciate it and i hope everyone liked it :]

taglist: @peachjaem00​ , @mjlkau​

#renjun #renjun smut #renjun angst #renjun fluff #huang renjun #nct #nct renjun #nct smut #nct angst #nct fluff #renjun x reader #renjun scenarios #renjun scenario #renjun fic #00 line #00 line smut #nct 00 line #renjun imagines #renjun imagine #renjun drabble #renjun drabbles #huang renjun smut #huang renjun angst #huang renjun fluff #nct dream

[beccascribbles]

hi! can i ask for a scenario where ushijima, tsukki, kenma said something maybe out of the line that hurt your feelings and you just give them the silent treatment or become distant?? then like how they'd react to it and stuff :) thank you vm, have a good day 🙈

a/n - sorry this took me so long to write (and post). anyway, i hope you enjoy it. it was my first time writing for kenma so i'm not sure if i portrayed him right but let me know what you think!

"you're acting like a child," he sighs, pushing you away from him. your arms fall to your sides, missing the feeling of ushijima's warm body. "stop being so clingy. it's annoying"

you knew he was honest, but there is a time and a place for him to voice his opinion on your affection, and in front of his friends was not one of them

all you had wanted to do was give him a hug in greeting. yes, you may have stayed attached to him longer than was necessary but you had barely seen him all day

"okay," you say, turning on your heel and walking away. you don't even bother saying goodbye, too hurt and annoyed to bother

ushijima's brows furrow in confusion as he watches you walk away. tendou is watching the scene with wide eyes, fighting the urge to snicker

"did i do something wrong?" ushijima questions, staring after your receding figure. tendou finally does let out a snort, quickly slapping his hands over his mouth when ushijima turns to look at him

it is semi who gives ushijima's shoulder a squeeze in reassurance, though his eyes hold slight judgement as he says, "you hurt their feelings because you were being too blunt. you should probably apologise"

ushijima nods and then follows after your figure, his strides lengthening to catch up with you

his hand, warm and large, encloses around your own as he catches up to you, matching your pace

you remain silent, choosing to ignore his presence beside you

the silence settles between you, heavy and unwanted. though his mouth opens to form words, he can't bring himself to say anything. maybe it's his stubbornness, but he can't see how his words may have hurt you when they were the truth

"now who's being clingy?" you mumble angrily, yanking your hand from his grip and increasing your pace. your arms cross over your chest so he can't take your hand again. this increase in pace doesn't bother him and he easily matches it

he is persistent, irritatingly so. when he follows you into your room, you almost snap. instead, you silently fume, collapsing onto your bed and turning away from him. he watches your figure, expression holding slight confusion

"why are you ignoring me?"

you stay silent, stubbornly staring at the wall instead of him. when the mattress dips slightly under his weight, you scoot closer to the wall. his frown deepens

"what did i do wrong?" he questions, and you let out a sigh at how oblivious he is. "i was just being honest..."

your scowl deepens, especially when you feel him rest his hand on your back soothingly, rubbing circles into it. it is ushijima's turn to sigh as he looks at you

"i'm sorry if my words hurt you," he admits, the words causing you to turn slightly to look at him. his expression is as stoic as usual, though his eyes soften when they meet yours

"i just wish you had more of a filter sometimes, toshi," you explain, sitting up and leaning back against the headboard. you hug your knees to your chest, head tilting to look at him. "i know you tend to say what you're thinking but i sometimes wonder if you understand how what you say can effect other people. you called me a child, clingly, annoying. that's hurtful, toshi. you probably didn't mean it like that but you did hurt my feelings. i hadn't seen you all day and, when i hugged you, you told me that?"

"i'm sorry," he says again, a slight frown to his face as he considers your words. his arm wraps around your shoulders, pulling you into his body. "i'll try to think about my words before i say them from now on"

he hugs you tight, and you relax in his hold, savouring the closeness

it's normal for him to send a teasing remark your way, just as it's normal for you to return the favour

however, today, his words hit a little too close to home, targeting an insecurity he wasn't aware of

you were frowning down at the maths sheet in front of you, brows furrowed as you struggled to work out the problems

you never usually felt inferior in terms of academics, but, right now, as you struggled to work out what was relatively simple maths, it started to grate at you

tsukishima wasn't really helping the issue. he seemed oblivious to your stressing, leaning back in his chair as he nodded his head along to the music

his eyes slid over to you, to your figure scribbling away on the paper. he pulled his headphones off, shooting you a teasing grin (though this went unnoticed by you)

his voice, light and teasing, cut through your focus, the words immediately putting you on edge

"if you focus any harder, you're going to be even more stupid than you already are"

your lips pursed but he went on, oblivious to your discomfort

"i can actually see the last bits of your intelligence leaving yout skull." this was punctuated by his finger giving your forehead a poke

you flinched away from him, a scowl lining your features. mumbling under your breath a number of unflattering things, you gathered your work and shoved it into your bag

"where are you going?" he asked, sitting up straighter in his chair, eyes filled with confusion and a bit of concern

you ignored him, pushing open the classroom door, deciding to head to the library to get away from him

for the rest of the day, tsukishima's attempts to speak to you were met with stony silence

so, naturally, he got annoyed, pissed off, and decide to ignore you to

it got to the point where both of you were simply staring through the other as if they weren't there when in a group situation, which was awkward for everyone involved

it was kageyama who told you to get your shit together, while hinata and yamaguchi could only agree

"i will when he apologises for being a dick," you said to kageyama, while tsukishima's eyes narrowed into a glare

"what the fuck," he snapped. "you've been giving me the cold shoulder all day and it's somehow my fault? bullshit"

you spun to face him, arms crossing over your chest. you spat, "you called me stupid when i was stressing over my math work. was i supposed to say thanks? fine. thank you, kei, that was really fucking helpful"

"what?" he blinked, looking at you im confusion. yes, he had teased you. but, he assumed you would know that he had been joking. if he had thought you were struggling, he would of helped you

as this was happening, your friends had edged away to give you some privacy. this was why tsukishima felt fine in admitting this to you

"if i thought you were struggling, you know i would have helped you." his hand reached out to take your hand, finger stroking your knuckles as his eyes met yours

you let out a frustrated sigh, your resolve crumbling. "i know... sorry for being a bit of a brat about it. i should've just told you that you had hurt me"

"yeah, you should've," he teased, pulling you closer to him. his lips pressed against your forehead in apology for getting annoyed at you in. "but, it's fine"

when you came over that weekend, he was busy gaming, like he usually was

ordinarily, when you walked through the door, he would start to wrap up the game, saying goodbye to who he was in the call with

today, however, was slightly different

he was playing a particularly difficult story game, which he had been struggling to complete all week (his choices, much to his frustration, kept getting the character killed)

therefore, you could understand why he was engrossed enough to only give you a simple greeting, a nod of the head

expecting him to only take an hour at maximum (you were content to just be in his company), you relaxed on the bed and pulled out your phone. two hours later, he had still not said a word to you

you sat up on the bed, moving towards him to drape yourself over the back of his chair, resting your head on his shoulder

"kenma..." you said, drawing out his name slightly, "are you almost finished?"

"urgh, just fuck off," he sighed, shrugging your arms off of him. "can't you see i'm busy?"

"fine," you snapped, stepping away from him and heading towards the bedroom door. you pushed it open and let it slam shut behind him

for a moment, you paused, waiting to see if he would react, maybe realise what he said was wrong. instead, the room remained painfully still

when it became clear he was not coming out to find you, you straightened and walked out of the house

kenma didn't realise you were avoiding him for a couple days until he picked up his phone to see no messages from you

it became clear that you were making every effort to avoid him when you made no effort to see him in person

he got so confused as to why you were clearly distancing yourself from him that he went to kuroo

it was after talking with his friend that he realised he had been insensitive and rude

however, you were hard to get alone, using every excuse avaliable to you to get out of spending time with your boyfriend

the whole thing was frustrating, to say the least. he missed you (though don't expect him to openly admit it)

it took him saying 'i'm sorry' rather loudly in a public area for you to turn to face him

your pause gave him the chance to grab your hand, to keep you anchored to him in case you left again

"sorry, are you?" you asked, head cocked slightly. "not a nice feeling, being ignored, is it?"

you would admit you were being a bit bratty, but, to be fair, he deserved

naturally, kenma didn't bother to reply, but it was fine, the gentle way he squeezed your fingers and the quick kiss he brushed to the side of your head more than enough to convey his apology

#hq requests #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu hcs #haikyuu headcanons #hq x reader #hq headcanons #ushijima headcanons #ushijima x reader #tsukishima x reader #tsukishima headcanons #kenma x reader #kenma headcanons

[romioneficfest]

Just a Snog

Title: Just a Snog

Prompt/Day: 7 - Anything Goes

Tumblr Name: 

Rating: T

Brief Summary: 6th Year AU - Ron confronts Hermione immediately following his row with Ginny.

Triggers: language

***********

"Harry's snogged Cho Chang!" shouted Ginny, who sounded close to tears now. "And Hermione snogged Viktor Krum, it's only you who acts like it's something disgusting, Ron, and that's because you've got about as much experience as a twelve-year-old!"

 And with that, she stormed away. Harry quickly let go of Ron; the look on his face was murderous. They both stood there, breathing heavily, until Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, appeared around the corner, which broke the tension.

 "C'mon," said Harry, as the sound of Filch's shuffling feet reached their ears.

Ron tore off ahead of Harry, blinded by rage. He could faintly hear Harry calling after him but couldn’t be bothered to look back. How dare Ginny call him out like that? He was already in a shit mood from practice, and the last thing he wanted was to see his sister snogging his dorm-mate behind a bloody tapestry.

All he’d wanted was to go back up to Gryffindor tower, take a hot shower and go to bed. Sod his homework, he’d do it later. But now, he was too riled up to even think about settling down. Images of fucking Viktor Krum with his hands all over Hermione poured into his mind, and no matter how many times he tried to scrub the image away, it just came back ten times worse.

“Ron, wait up!” Harry panted behind him.

Ron stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of his voice as a blatant realization occurred. Harry hadn’t acted surprised when Ginny shared that bit of knowledge. Why wasn’t Harry surprised? He spun on his heel to face Harry, who’d stopped short of crashing into him.

“You knew.” Ron’s voice was low and murderous. A jealous rage simmered underneath his skin.

“Mate, you’ve got to calm down! You know as well as anyone how Ginny just says stuff when she’s angry,” Harry offered a weak explanation.

“You knew, didn’t you?” Ron wasn’t about to be deterred.

“About Cho? Well, yeah, I was there…”

“ABOUT HERMIONE, YOU TOSSER!” Ron roared.

“I—I heard them talking about it one night, but Hermione never said anything to me. I kind of suspected—”

“And you didn’t think to tell me?”

“It wasn’t my information to tell! Why does it matter?”

Those were the absolute wrong words to say, and Harry knew it, judging by the look on his face. Ron stormed off again, taking out his anger on a small first year in the corridor as he stalked past, but that wasn’t enough to even remotely subdue the beast within. He needed to find Hermione. Enraged as he was, he needed to hear that she’d snogged Krum from her own mouth.

He felt completely sucker-punched by the whole thing, like she’d betrayed everything about their friendship. Not that he had any claim to her or anything. That wasn’t what he meant, but still, some part of him thought that maybe—

It doesn’t matter now, does it?

As he approached the Fat Lady, Ron growled the password at her, only to receive a snide remark about politeness and a rude stare in return. He bit back the urge to tell her off for fear she wouldn’t permit his entry. Ron barely waited for the portrait to open completely before tumbling in. His eyes peered around the common room, but it didn’t take long to see Hermione working at one of the small tables in the corner.

“Ron, don’t do anything stupid,” Harry managed to mutter behind him.

Unable to make any guarantees, Ron left Harry in his wake as he marched over to Hermione. When she noticed him, her face lit up, and a wide smile graced her lips. It was enough to lessen his anger by a tick, even though his resolve didn’t break.

“Did you snog Krum?” he blurted out.

Hermione’s warm smile immediately turned to a frown. “What?”

“Just answer the question, Hermione. Did you snog Krum?”

He noticed how she looked down and began fidgeting with her quill as her teeth rolled over her bottom lip.

“I—I wouldn’t call it a snog exactly,” she said slowly, unable to meet his eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ron snapped, the anger returning to its original state as she spoke in bloody riddles.

That got her attention as she met his gaze.

“Why do you care?” she asked, her tone defensive.

“Why do I care? Because I thought we were best friends! Best friends don’t keep bloody secrets from each other! So, you snogged a sodding international quidditch star in fourth year. Now what? Are you seeing anyone else in secret?”

Ron was sure his whole face was burning crimson at his ridiculous accusations, but he didn’t care. He noticed Hermione’s nostrils flare as she stood quickly, knocking the chair over in her haste. It was comical, really, and Ron had to bite back a laugh as she attempted to size up to him.

“How dare you! What goes on in my personal life is none of your business! Last I checked, I didn’t need to disclose a few chaste kisses with my Yule Ball date to you! And even if it was a snog, I wouldn’t have told you anyway!”

Ron opened his mouth to speak but paused as her words hit him like a freight train. A few chaste kisses. So...not a snog? Why would Ginny lie? Harry’s words popped into his head next: You know how she gets when she’s angry.

This didn’t completely diminish the anger coursing through his veins. He still felt betrayed by Hermione, but the anger now mixed with a soft flutter in his chest knowing she hadn’t snogged Krum. Or anyone else, he hoped. But Ron couldn’t let her see that his anger had subsided so quickly. Not when they were just getting in the thick of it. He still had a point to prove.

“Well, then I guess we aren’t as close as I thought! Since you could tell Ginny and Harry, but not me!” Ron knew it was a low blow, especially because Harry had admitted she hadn’t told him, but he couldn’t help it.

Hermione let out a disgruntled sigh as Ron watched her begin to pack up her things and throw them in her bag. Was it just him, or were her eyes becoming redder? After she closed the flap on her bag and hoisted it onto her shoulder, she shot Ron a scathing look.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I needed to give you a play-by-play of every moment in my life! Let me make it up to you right now. I was having a perfectly enjoyable evening, but now it’s been ruined by a red-headed prat, so I’m heading up to bed. Is that alright with you?”

No, it’s not bloody alright with me! Ron shouted internally.

There was still one more question weighing on the back of his mind that he was desperate for her to answer. She was halfway across the common room before Ron found his voice.

“So, since your type seems to be famous quidditch stars, why invite me to Slughorn’s party? Out of pity?” Ron scoffed.

Ron walked closer to the boy’s staircase as he spoke, not wanting to be left alone in front of the rest of the common room like he’d lost the argument. He couldn’t help shooting one more dig at Krum and hoped he hadn’t taken it too far as he caught Hermione freezing with one foot on the first step of the girl’s staircase. A thrill shot through him as he thought he’d done it now.

Hermione made an abrupt turn and doubled back towards him, her face scarlet. Her voice was low and barely discernible as she tried her best to get in his face, despite being several inches shorter than him.

“If you must know, it was never a pity invite, nor was it meant to be as friends. I was asking you to be my date, but apparently you’re too thick to—”

Ron had no idea what came over him. Maybe it was her proximity as she was lifted up on tiptoe to match his stature or the brief wisps of the perfume he’d given her last Christmas that invaded his nostrils at the slightest of movements, but when the word date crossed her lips, he lost all self-control. He pulled her into him as his lips crashed onto hers in a possessive manner.

He had no idea what he was doing, but that didn’t stop him. Her stiff demeanor melted away as Hermione folded into his arms. Ron determined he must be doing something right since she hadn’t pulled away or slapped him across the face. She was kissing him back!

All too soon, he was jolted out of his reverie by a faint sound of whooping and cheering that erupted throughout the common room. As he pulled away, Ron suddenly became shy. He’d just kissed his best friend in the middle of a row in front of half of Gryffindor house.

The dazed look on Hermione’s face faded away as she said, “Should we, um, talk about this somewhere more private?”

“Er, yeah,” Ron agreed.

Talk, snog, whatever. Ron was so elated that he didn’t care. The anger had been replaced by full joy, and despite the fact that he was still angry with his sister, he chose to let that go...for now.

#hpfic #Romione FicFest 2021 #romione #Ron Weasley #Hermione Granger #Rated T #CW: #CW: Language #Ace Safe #Queue up for the Dragon

[starshine583]

New Girl on the Block (6)

(the next chapter is heeeeeeeeeeeere!!! hope you guys like it!! there’s also a mini series connected to this called Journal Entries, though I don’t know how long I’m going to be continuing it. Check it out if you feel like it!)

Ch.1 / Ch.5 / Ch.7

Chapter 6: Don’t Be Suspicious

Marinette tilted her head from side to side, doing a subtle dance to the music that played through her earbuds. She tapped her pencil on the desk with the beat and mouthed Jagged Stone’s lyrics as they came, thoroughly enjoying the electric guitar in the background. At Dupont, listening to music with earbuds was a ‘no-no’ despite her efforts. Principle Damocles, along with a few of the teachers, insisted that it hindered their drive to focus and work on school. The thought wasn’t entirely misguided- Marinette was already re-reading this textbook page for the third time with no hope of comprehension in sight -but she enjoyed the liberties that came with her new school nonetheless.

In all honesty, Rosemary didn’t allow headphones either, but the librarian wasn’t a snitch, and Marinette wasn’t a saint. So, during her assigned study halls, she would hop over to the school’s library and jam out to Jagged Stone. It was a nice reprieve from the strict guidelines that Rosemary held for their students and gave her time to unwind before her next round of overly-complicated classes. 

She was about ready to start banging her head to the song- the lyrics were just too good -when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Her gaze flicked upwards towards Claude, who was sitting beside her. He’d suggested that they study together during the one study hall they shared, and Marinette, being friends with him and genuinely enjoying his company, agreed. He was actually the one who told her about the lax librarian in the first place.

Once Claude was certain that he had her attention, he tapped a finger to his ear, silently requesting her to take out an earbud. Marinette gladly obliged and paused her Jagged Stone music to hear him better.

“What are you listening to? You look like you’re really jamming out.” He asked curiously.

Marinette held up her phone for him to see the song cover. “Just Jagged Stone. He normally helps me think, but I’m starting to wonder if that only works for design sketches.”

Claude gasped so hard that she thought he was going to choke, and an ear-splitting grin spread across his lips.

“You listen to Jagged Stone too? He’s one of my favorites!” The brunette said enthusiastically.

Marinette straightened with delight. “Seriously? He’s been a favorite of mine since I was twelve!”

“Ten!” Claude trilled.

Elation bubbled up in Marinette’s chest. Finally! Someone to talk to about Jagged Stone! She hadn’t found a kindred spirit since Luka and.. well.. She hasn’t met another Jagged Stone fan in a while. 

“Did you hear the new album that just came out?” She asked, folding her arms across the table and leaning onto them. When she first came to Rosemary, she’d naturally assumed that no one there listened to rock. Everyone was prepped and poised and rich. Their tastes were bound to be much ‘finer’ than hers.

Looking at it now, though, it made perfect sense for Claude to listen to Jagged Stone. He was an energetic and passionate person, and that’s what Rock n’ Roll was all about. She also had to remind herself that she was now a Rosemary student. If she listened to rock music, it was possible that her other classmates did as well. The school wasn’t a complete hive mind, after all. 

Claude scoffed playfully. “Did I? I was the first in line for the cd! The songs were a total masterpiece!”

Before Marinette could reply, another scoff interrupted their conversation, one that wasn’t nearly as playful. She glanced across the table to Felix, who had looked up from his book. He’d shared the same study hall hour that they did, and Claude, being who he was, coaxed the blond into joining them in the library.

Well.. ‘coax’ probably wasn’t the right word. It was more of Claude dragging Marinette to the table that Felix was already sitting at and convincing Felix to stay seated once they got there. 

Felix’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, and the corners of his lips twitched in a scowl, the same way they always did when he was about to criticize something. 

“No type of rock music could ever be considered a ‘masterpiece’,” He stated matter-of-factly, “especially not that man’s noise.”

Marinette gasped, slapping a hand to her chest in offense. “Jagged Stone’s music is not ‘noise’.”

“Forget it, Mari.” Claude cut in, putting a hand on her shoulder as he shot Felix a glare. “This guy will never understand Jagged’s art.”

Felix rolled his eyes. “I’d hardly call throwing a bunch of instruments together and screaming into the microphone ‘art’.”

Marinette crossed her arms and huffed. Jagged Stone didn’t scream. His voice was just rough, but even if he did scream, that shouldn’t give Felix the right to be rude. Everyone had their own tastes. Marinette didn’t go around bashing XY fans, now, did she?

“Have you even listened to him?” She asked indignantly. 

“I’ve had the unfortunate experience of listening to rock, yes. That’s how I know it’s in bad taste.” 

Marinette’s fingers dug into her skin. “But have you listened to Jagged Stone?”

The grated words caused Felix to pause. 

“..I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

Marinette sighed and tugged out one of her earbuds to hand it to him. “Here.”

Felix rose a brow, not moving an inch. “What do you expect me to do with that?”

“You’re going to listen to at least one of Jagged Stone’s songs.” She told him. “Then you can tell me what you think.”

Felix was an extremely opinionated person. He tended to say exactly what he thought without considering how it would affect others around him. At first, his snaps and snide remarks put her on edge. She would worry about angering him and making him dislike her from the things she’d say or do. But after spending more time around him, Marinette realized that he wasn’t angry as much as he was easily irritated. He would get annoyed at things that he viewed as out of place or illogical, then, after fixing the problem or telling someone else to fix it, he would move on. It just so happened that Allegra, Allan, and Claude were constantly doing things that were ‘illogical’, ‘unnecessary’, and- her personal favorite -‘downright preposterous’.

That being said, Marinette still didn’t enjoy challenging Felix when she disagreed with him. His words were sharp and blunt, whether he meant them to be or not, and arguing was never her strong suit, anyway. Therefore, she found it best to merely listen and watch as the rest of the group continued to push Felix’s buttons relentlessly.

Right now, however, was a different story. Right now he was denouncing an incredibly talented artist who he hadn’t even bothered to listen to before condemning, and Marinette wouldn’t stand for it.

Felix’s gaze shifted to the earbud. She could see the command turning in his mind, could see him deciding between being difficult and resisting or simply being nice for once. 

“..Fine,” He relented, taking the offered headphone, “but don’t be upset when my opinion doesn’t change.”

Marinette tried not to smile too much and quickly started scrolling through her playlist to choose a song. If she only had one shot to convince Felix of Jagged’s greatness, she needed to play one of his best works.

“Wow..” Claude remarked. “You actually got him to listen to a song. That’s farther than I’ve ever gotten.”

Felix rolled his eyes, but refrained from commenting. Marinette didn’t reply either. She didn’t want to waste the opportunity she’d been given by joking with Claude.

She found a song a few seconds later and eagerly set the phone between them as it began to play. This had been a song that she’d listened to for at least a week or two before moving on to the next one. She knew the lyrics inside out and could quite possibly sing them in her sleep. If anything was going to convince Felix that rock was also a musical art, it would be this song.

Felix’s expression twisted with annoyance as the drums kicked up to join the electric base. 

“See, this is what I’m talking about.” He sighed. “The notes are overbearing and chaotic. How can you enjoy it?”

“Because they’re not chaotic.” Marinette replied, gathering all the patience she could. “It might get loud sometimes, but the drums and guitar create a steady beat for Jagged Stone to sing to.”

Just then, Jagged Stone’s voice rang through the headphones, gruff and strong. Marinette’s lips quirked up into an involuntary smile, but Felix, unsurprisingly, wasn’t as thrilled as she was.

“He doesn’t even sing about anything important.” He said. “The words are completely random.”

Marinette resisted the urge to groan. How could someone be so smart yet so stupid at the same time? 

“The lyrics aren’t random. And they might not be important to you, but they are to him.” She tried to explain. “Jagged writes about the things he loves and tells it to the world through song. His music is full of passion, and it drives others to be more passionate too. Myself included.”

Felix glanced up at her for a moment, no doubt scrutinizing her claims, and tisked. He then put a hand over his borrowed earbud and closed his eyes to try to listen to the music better. 

Although it was a small, begrudging act, Marinette couldn’t help grinning. He didn’t like rock music, didn’t even want to entertain the idea of liking it, yet here he was, listening to Jagged Stone’s music because she asked him to. He was trying hard to understand something she enjoyed, and that meant a lot, especially when one considers how stubborn he can be.

“I suppose I can understand what you mean..” Felix mumbled a few seconds later. “The notes aren’t nearly as melodic as what I’m used to, but it must take some form of talent to mash banging instruments together and make it sound decent.”

Marinette beamed. It was a backhanded comment, but she could accept it. 

“Okay, my turn.” She said, extending her hand towards him.

Felix frowned. “Pardon?”

“You said that Jagged Stone isn’t what you’re used to, right? I wanna know what you’re used to.” She replied matter-of-factly. “Let me listen to one of your songs.” 

Felix’s frown deepened, but he pulled out his earbuds to hand one to her. 

“I suppose I could show you the one I’ve been listening to recently..” He muttered to himself. “Just be careful with these. They’re expensive.” 

Marinette happily plucked one of the earbuds out of Felix’s hands and put it on. The cord between the earbuds was shorter than hers, so they both had lean across the table to share. She didn’t mind the closeness, though. They’d only be there for a moment.

When the music finally began, all Marinette could really do was snort. Classical music. Of course Felix would listen to classical music. Each note had a purpose, place, and expression in the song. Yes, other music had that too, but most of the time, there were words that people sang to excuse repetitiveness of the beat. Classical music had to carry its own weight, and that made all the difference. 

“What?” Felix asked, referring to her laugh.

Marinette put a hand to her mouth with an apologetic smile. “Oh, nothing. It just makes sense for you to listen to classical music.”

Felix rose a brow, but she waved him off. There was no point explaining it.

“Anyway, I can see why you would like this, because it’s really pretty, but I, personally, find it a little boring.” She said honestly. “The notes are too slow. I would fall asleep before I could finish a song.”

“It’s not just a song, though.” Felix argued. “It’s a story. Listen closer.”

Marinette did as she was told and closed her eyes, putting a hand over her earbud like Felix had done earlier. The piano and violin mingled together in a soft symphony, lulling up and down as the symphony progressed. A lone guitar played a joyful tune in the background.

“The protagonist is admiring their lover.” Felix explained. “They’re making promises of being together always.”

Drums bubbled up behind the piano and violin as the guitar faded, causing the music to shift into a tense atmosphere.

“The father of the lover is coming between them, forcing a separation.” 

Violin strings shake with the drums, and the piano gradually grows louder to emphasize the ominous presence. Once the tension is drawn out to its absolute limit, the music breaks with bursts of violins and trumpets, signifying the beginning of a fight.

“The protagonist refuses to back down, and although they are worried, they stand up to fight for their love anyway.” 

Marinette cracked an eye open to look at Felix. His eyes were now closed as well, and a soft smile ghosted his lips. She hadn’t taken him to be a romantic, but he appeared to be deeply engrossed in the ‘story’. Did he read romance novels often? She assumed all of the books he carried around were about historical facts or intricate philosophies, not trials of love or daring confessions.

“Do you hear it?” Felix asked, his eyes abruptly opening. Their heads were already close from sharing headphones, but his looking up only brought them closer. It was a miracle their noses didn’t bump together.

Marinette froze, her eyes widening at being caught. Was it weird that she was staring at him before he opened his eyes? It shouldn’t be, right? Staring at your friend wasn’t a crime. 

Say something. Marinette’s mind screamed. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t say anything. She could hardly even think straight. She was too lost in the roundness of his eyes or how long his eyelashes were or whether she was too close to him and have his eyes always had those little specks of blue in them?

Marinette squeaked, finally gaining enough sense to lurch backwards. Felix’s earbud was tugged out of her ear, but she didn’t care. Right now she needed distance. 

“S-sorry!” She blurted out. “I-I mean- uhm -the music was fine, or- great. I-.. I could really hear the- the story.”

Her hands covered her face in a vain attempt to hide her blush. Her cheeks were absolutely burning from embarrassment. How could she get so flustered? Wasn’t it her idea to share the earbuds?

Felix was strangely quiet as he picked up the abandoned earbud and paused the song. Oh gosh, he probably thought she was a total weirdo now. (If he hadn’t thought that already.)

Marinette peeked through her fingers, searching his face for judgement, but he simply wrapped the cord of the earbuds around his phone. Although his eyebrows were furrowed slightly, the rest of his expression was neutral. Was that a good sign or no?

“Yes, that’s why I enjoy it.” He finally said once his phone was put away. His tone was graciously composed, not acknowledging her humiliating outburst. “The composers put real effort and work into their music. They carefully aligned each note to make sure it portrays their story and theme correctly. That’s what I consider to be a masterpiece.”

Marinette nodded. “Y-Yeah.. That makes sense.. I still think Jagged Stone’s music is also a work of art, though.”

She settled back into her original seat, as did Felix. 

“Agree to disagree, I suppose.” Felix shrugged.

An astounded laugh came from the left of them, and the two turned back to Claude. Marinette had admittedly forgotten that he was there.

“I, for one, am impressed.” The brunette announced. “You actually got Felix to entertain a different opinion. He never says ‘agree to disagree’! It’s always just ‘you’re wrong’.”

Felix scoffed. “Don’t act like I’m unreasonable. I’m stubborn in my opinions because they’re logical and sound, while your arguments against them are hardly either.”

Claude rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Do you think you guys can argue about cephalopods now? I’m supposed to be doing a report on them for science.”

Marinette chuckled, finally relaxing in her chair again. “Sorry, Claude. I don’t have any strong opinions about cephalopods.”

“Maybe if you read a book every once in a while, you’d find something to write about.” Felix added, being ever the supportive one.

“Hey! I do read!” Claude defended. “I just don’t know what to write about. Should I argue a random point about cephalopods or should I just write about a bunch of facts? Am I supposed to list my sources or can I say whatever I want? What does the school board want from me?”

“Claude, you’re a sophomore.” Felix stated bluntly. “If you don’t know how to write papers now, I can’t help you.”

Claude groaned and sunk into his chair, and Marinette offered a comforting pat on the shoulder.

“Anyway,” He grumbled, rubbing his hands over his face, “speaking of cephalopods, have you guys heard about the new aquarium exhibit that they just opened at Aquarium de Paris?”

Marinette perked up. “Wait, really? I didn’t know about that!”

“Yeah, I think it’s something to do with the sharks.” Claude smiled. “They’ve got this new tank and everything.”

Marinette wiggled in her seat with delight. She always loved aquariums. “That’s so cool! I’ll have to ask Maman and Papa about going to see it.”

“Oh, why don’t we all go together?” Claude suggested. “I wanna see the new exhibit too, and I’m sure Allegra and Allan will want to go.”

“Sure! When do you think you’ll be free to go see it?”

Claude leaned back in his chair as he thought about it. “Uh.. maybe this Sunday? I don’t think I have anything going on then. Does that work for you?”

“I’ll have to check with my parents, but that should be okay. Do you want me to tell Allan about it during our next class?”

Claude nodded. “Yeah, that sounds great. I’ll tell Allegra.”

Marinette smiled and turned to Felix. “Are you gonna come with us, Felix?” 

A part of her felt awkward asking, as Felix didn’t normally enjoy the group outings, but a bigger part of her would feel guilty if she didn’t invite him when they were inviting everyone else.

Felix glanced up from his book with a questioning gaze. He.. hadn’t been listening.

“We’re going to Aquarium de Paris this Sunday. Are you coming?” Claude asked again.

Felix shrugged. “I suppose Allegra will drag me along either way, so why not?”

Marinette bit her lip to hold back a giddy squeal. This was going to be great! Getting to see all of the new fish and getting to spend time with her new friends? What could be better than that?

~~~~~~

Felix drew in a deep breath as he made his way towards the school exit. Aside from the soft chattering and echoing footsteps of the students around him, it was quiet, and he reveled in the silence while he could. Leaving school alone was a rarity now, especially since Marinette joined their group. Allegra, Claude, and Allan had always been insistent on smothering him with activities, but with the new ‘recruit’, the time they spent together has doubled. The trio wanted everyone to be together constantly. That included Felix. 

He sighed, shifting the strap of his bag on his shoulder. The numerous study dates, get-togethers, and group lunches had pushed his social battery to its absolute limit. So the small reprieve was greatly appreciated. 

It did feel strange, though, not hearing Claude’s rambling or Allegra’s scolding or Marinette’s laughter. They’d become a steady background noise to the rest of his daily life, and now that they were absent, Felix found himself glancing over his shoulder, waiting for one of them to pop up.

Of course, no one came, and Felix forced his eyes forward to push away the growing anticipation. There was no need to mull over it. He would see them tomorrow at school, and on top of that, they had another outing scheduled for this Sunday to visit the aquarium. By the end of the week, Felix would certainly have his fill of seeing their faces or hearing their voices.

The sun beat down on Felix as he stepped outside, and he welcomed it whole-heartedly. The biting cold of January was never something he fancied, save for the fact that it kept everyone else indoors. 

He started down the front stairs, letting his mind wander back to the conversation he’d had with Marinette during their shared study hall. Her boldness during their discussion of musical preferences had surprised him, since she usually steered clear of any confrontations. He couldn’t blame her for her sudden tenacity, though. People tended to be extremely attached to their music, and Felix had criticized her tastes. It only made sense for her to defend herself.

On that note, Jagged Stone? Really? He’d assumed Claude was the only one to have such bizarre tastes. Nevertheless, if Marinette approved of the man, Felix wasn’t going to question too much. She still created those phenomenal designs, after all, meaning she must have a good eye for things.

Bits and pieces of the song that Marinette had requested him to listen to resurfaced in his mind. If he was being honest, it wasn’t as horrible as he’d claimed, but blaring drums and pounding beats simply didn’t help him relax like classical music did.

Felix closed his eyes briefly as he recalled the piano piece he’d shown Marinette a few minutes later. It was a favorite of his, one that he listened to often while reading alone in his room, and he did his best to explain the mastery of the artwork. The passion, the yearning, the love- it can be difficult to express, especially when he hadn’t experienced those things first hand. That’s the main reason he found the piece so interesting.

The image of Marinette’s delicate features flicked through his mind. He’d looked up at her to gawk her reaction, to see if she understood what he was trying to say, but he’d found her staring right back at him instead. Her almond-shaped eyes were round with shock, and he couldn’t help thinking about the first time they met, when he first realized how blue her irises were. They almost reminded him of tiny, swirling oceans, deep and mesmerizing. 

When she jerked back a few seconds later, something akin to disappointment had laced through Felix’s stomach, and even now, he wasn’t sure why that was. Perhaps he wanted to admire the color a tad longer. 

Either way, Marinette plopped into her seat, her cheeks flushing a dark scarlet, and it was only then that Felix noticed his own racing heartbeat. Again, he was at a loss for the cause. Was it because she startled him by lurching backwards? He didn’t remember flinching.

The screeching of tires pulled Felix from his thoughts, and his gaze turned to the road in front of him. A silver car had parked on the curb. 

A frown tugged at the corner of Felix’s lips. That was odd. Parking on the curbs near Rosemary wasn’t allowed unless someone was being picked up or dropped off, yet no students were waving the car down or exiting the vehicle.

The back door to the car swung open, causing Felix to raise a brow. Spoke too soon.

A boy jumped out of the car, his golden blonde hair shining in the sunlight as he ran towards the front steps. Something about him seemed familiar, but Felix couldn’t place his finger on what.

The boy slowed to a stop in front of him and offered a friendly smile. Yeah, Felix has definitely seen this guy before. But where?

“Hey!” The stranger greeted. “Sorry to bother you, but I’m looking for a girl. Her name is Marinette?”

Felix narrowed his eyes at the name. Marinette as in Marinette Dupain-Cheng? As in, the girl who was inside talking to Allegra right now? Why would he be looking for her?

“She’s about this tall.” The boy continued, holding his hand just above his shoulder for reference. “She’s got raven-colored hair that she normally puts into pigtails, and wears pink capris and a black jacket. She would have started attending this school about two weeks ago?”

The more he spoke, the more suspicious Felix became. This guy knew a lot about Marinette, but Felix didn’t know a thing about him. Was he a friend? An enemy? Marinette didn’t mention meeting someone after school. Not that she was obligated to share her personal connections and schedules, but what if this was the person that’s been wanting to ‘talk’ with her? The stalker?

Don’t overreact. Felix told himself. This could be a perfectly harmless visit from an old friend of hers. Just because I wasn’t aware of him coming doesn’t mean he has ill intentions. 

...but just in case..

“Apologies, but have we met?” Felix asked, dodging the blonde’s question. He didn’t want to disclose Marinette’s location unless he had her permission. There were too many cases where an unknowing co-worker blabbed about the victim’s schedule to the stalker, and he refused to be one of those idiots.

The boy pulled a sheepish expression and rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, no, we haven’t, but I can see why you would think that. My face is kind of everywhere with all of the ads Father’s had me model in recently.”

Felix blinked, the mix of familiarity and the boy’s words clicking together in his mind. Of course! This was that same, obnoxious face that Paris has been obsessed with for the better half of five years. The amount of billboards and posters of this guy that were plastered around the city was enough to make Felix gag. He couldn’t look in any direction without seeing him!

“You’re Adrien Agreste.” He stated, a hint of irritation accidentally rising to his tone. Not only has this ‘sunshine child’- or so Paris called him -been plaguing his eyes for at least two years since Gabriel upped his campaigning game, he also happens to have the same name that was scribbled on Marinette’s birthday cards, the ones she’d offered to give away. Was that a coincidence? 

Felix was leaning towards ‘no’.

“Yep.” Adrien chuckled. “That’s me. Anyway, is she here? I really need to talk with her.”

“He really just wants to ‘talk’.” 

Marinette’s bitter words resurfaced in his mind, and Felix narrowed his eyes. The chances of Adrien Agreste being an enemy were steadily rising.

“I’m afraid I don’t know a girl by that name or description,” he lied, “and there hasn’t been a new student here since last year.”

If Adrien turned out to truly be one of Marinette’s friends, he would apologize, but Felix wasn’t going to risk compromising her if his suspicions were correct. 

Confusion etched its way onto the blond’s features, and he glanced down at the ground as he muttered, “I could have sworn she said ‘Rosemary’..”

Felix rose a brow. Marinette told him which school she was attending? Or did another girl give him the information?

Before either could say anything more, a car horn sounded in front of them, and Adrien glanced over his shoulder to the driver of the silver car. 

“Ah, I gotta go. Thanks for your help!” 

Felix didn’t bother returning Adrien’s wave, instead watching him hop down the front steps. Although it would annoy him, he hoped that the blond actually was a friend of Marinette’s, for her sake. He can’t imagine her being happy with the news that someone had followed her to school.

“Oh, hey, Felix! I thought you were leaving.”

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear..

The silver car had just disappeared around the corner when the girl in question skipped down the front steps next to him. She flashed him a bright smile, making his insides churn with guilt. Should he tell her? She needed to know, right? 

“I was,” He said, choosing his next words carefully, “but I got held up.”

Marinette chuckled. “I know how that goes.”

Felix nodded, his gaze shifting to the side. He didn’t want to worry her, but he couldn’t let her be ignorant of a possibly dangerous situation either.

“.. Were you, by chance, expecting anyone at the school today?”

Marinette frowned and shook her head, unfortunately confirming Felix’s concerns. “No, why?”

“Well..” He hesitated. “Someone stopped by and asked for you. A man by the name Adrien Agreste.”

Marinette’s entire body went rigid, and the blood drained from her face. Felix held back a grimace at the sight. She looked more frightened than two weeks ago when she first ran into the school to hide.

“D-Did you-”

“No.” Felix cut her off, already knowing what she was going to ask. “I told him you didn’t attend this school.”

Her shoulders slumped with relief, but he could still see the nervousness in her eyes. “Oh, thank goodness.. Thank you so much, Felix.”

“Is he the one who wanted to talk to you two weeks ago?”

Marinette faltered at the question, but nodded. “He went to my old school..”

Felix frowned. If he remembered his mother’s ramblings correctly, Adrien Agreste started attending Dupont not too long ago. Was that Marinette’s old school then?

“His father’s a powerful man.” He said. “You need to be careful.”

Marinette’s eyes widened. “Oh no! I mean- Thank you for the warning.. But Adrien isn’t like that. He’s persistent, but he doesn’t threaten people.”

Felix wasn’t entirely sure that he believed that, but he wouldn’t argue. Marinette was dealing with enough already. “I believe he said something about a girl telling him that you’re attending Rosemary, but he didn’t mention the name of her.”

Marinette’s eyebrows knitted together. “A girl?”

“Yes, something like ‘I could have sworn she said Rosemary’.”

Marinette chewed on her bottom lip, obviously troubled by the news. Felix didn’t blame her. Stalking can be a serious matter. (even if she didn’t quite consider it stalking.)

“Would you like me to drive you home?” He offered, yet again. 

And again, Marinette refused by shaking her head. 

“Thanks, but it’s only two blocks. I’ll be fine.” She assured.

The decision didn’t sit well with him, but Felix nodded anyway. It wasn’t his place to tell her what she could or couldn’t do, or what precautions he personally thought she should take.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He said, finally continuing his descent down the stairs. 

“Yep, see you tomorrow.” Marinette smiled.

They parted ways after that, Marinette heading down the sidewalk and Felix going to find his driver, but the urge to watch her didn’t leave his mind until she completely vanished around the corner.

Felix sighed, tapping his finger against the car door as he settled into the backseat of his car. Why did he want to follow her so badly?

Tag List:  @artbyknigit @athena452 @nickristus-dreamer @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @arsaem @abrx2002 @neakco @pawsitivelymiraculous @too0bsessedformyowngood @nathleigh @lusicing @officiallydarkgeek @all-mights-asscheeks @tbehartoo @woe-is-me0 @raeuberprinzessin @lazuli-11 @miss-chaos27 @trippingovermyfeet @sadpotatoondrugs @ladybug-182 @jaggedheart11 @marinahrasauce @i-need-blog-ideas @thewheezingbubbledragon @crazylittlemunchkin @unabashedbookworm @moonystars14 @sunflowers-and-mooncakes @2confused-2doanything  @magnificentcrapposts  @moonnette

#Felix Culpa #Marinette #New Girl on the Block #Rosemary AU #Quantic Kids #felinette

[ibijau]

I guess the question I have for the nhs is a half demon au is: what reason are we going to give for lxc to marry him after he comes back from visiting his mom? Also is he going to save wwx?

wwx did well for himself while nhs was off to live his little demon life, but he is the first person nhs visits upon returning among humans, because he's heard some concerning rumours...

On AO3

Small feet ran to the entrance of the cave, only slowing down at the very last moment and stopping just shy of actually coming in.

“Xian-gege, there’s a person at the gate,” Wen Yuan announced, careful to not actually shout.

Wei Wuxian smiled to himself, proud as always of this most excellent young boy he was helping raise, who obeyed rules much better than Wei Wuxian himself had ever done in his life.

“What sort of person?” Wei Wuxian asked, still hunched over his latest prototype. He was getting somewhere with this, he knew it. He just had to figure out how to…

“It’s an odd person,” Wen Yuan announced. “He says he’s here to see you.”

That was hardly news. Most of the visitors they'd had these last five years had come to the Burial Mounds to see Wei Wuxian. Sometimes, Lan Xichen would also come to see his brother and give them money. And in recent months, some people from the area had started coming to see Wen Qing in hopes she might cure them. But still, people mostly came for Wei Wuxian, either because they wanted to kill him, or because they wanted to join him. Either way, they were usually rejected.

“Did that man give his name?”

“He didn’t,” Wen Yuan announced, sounding indignant that anyone would be so rude. “He says you have to come see him, and then you’ll know him, and you’ll let him in. He sounded very sure.”

That intrigued Wei Wuxian enough to make him look up from his work and walk up to join Wen Yuan. A lot of people knew him, but there weren’t that many he knew, few of which would be sure to be allowed on the Burial Mounds, fewer still who would wish to be there at all. Jiang Cheng was the only person that came to mind, but he’d been around a few times in the years since Wei Wuxian had left Yunmeng Jiang, and Wen Yuan knew him well. Who else, then?

“That man, did he have any trouble walking?”

Wen Yuan shook his head. So it couldn’t be Jin Zixuan then. With his wooden leg, the climb to the gate would have been difficult anyway, and he would not have come unannounced.

“What did he look like?” Wei Wuxian asked, growing puzzled enough to consider meeting the stranger.

“He has a nice face, but it’s weird because of his eyes,” Wen Yuan said. “And he’s dressed with very good fabric, even better than Jiang-gege. And there’s a lot of teeth when he smiles.”

Without a word, Wei Wuxian started walking, with Wen Yuan following him. He didn’t like that description at all. He had hardly met him personally, but he’d heard about that boy in the Jin sect, that Xue Yang who was apparently trying to reproduce some of Wei Wuxian’s creations, with some success. He had an odd smile, Lan Xichen had said once when talking about him, so maybe…

“Oh, and there’s one more thing,” Wen Yuan said, slapping the side of his head. “I should have said first! But he has a mark on his forehead, it’s very red and looks a bit like a flame.”

Wei Wuxian froze.

“Xian-gege?”

“Go get Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian ordered. “Tell him there’s an emergency and I need him at the gate immediately. Wen Ning too. And tell Wen Qing to take everyone else to the hideout. No matter what, none of you are coming out until we come to get you. Go! Now!”

Frightened to see him so serious, Wen Yuan didn’t ask any question and scampered away as fast as his legs would take him. Wei Wuxian for his part hurried toward the gate after having made sure he had everything he’d need for a fight, knowing thing might turn vicious if he was right. He cursed as he walked, and hoped to be wrong about the identity of their visitor.

When he reached the gate and saw the man standing there, Wei Wuxian almost believed for a second that he’d been wrong indeed. The stranger, who had his back to the gate, was too tall, his shoulders too broad. But then, hearing that someone was approaching, the man turned to look at Wei Wuxian, and there was no mistake possible.

“Wei-xiong, it’s been a while,” Nie Huaisang said, smiling as if they were old friends who hadn’t seen each other for a few years. “You look worse than I remembered, but better than I expected.”

“Nie-xiong, it’s pretty bold of you to come here after what you’ve done,” Wei Wuxian retorted. “Couldn’t you have made it easier for everyone and stayed dead?”

Nie Huaisang's smile got wider, showing just a little more teeth than a mortal's would have. He looked better than he'd done last time Wei Wuxian had seen him. Healthier and a lot more confident. And why not? Last they'd been around each other, Nie Huaisang had been terrified someone might try to kill him, but he'd now proved just how difficult that would be.

“I would have, but some news reached me that forced me to rejoin the human world after all these years. Wei-xiong, won’t you let me in?”

“I hope you understand why I’d rather not. You have a history of slaughtering people I’d rather not see repeated.”

Nie Huaisang frowned and pinched his lips, looking almost sincerely hurt by the reminder of his past deeds.

“I’ve been told your shijie recovered,” he said in a softer tone, sounding more like the boy Wei Wuxian had studied with in Gusu. “And that Jin Zixuan too is… well, he’s alive, right? Don’t they even have a son?”

“They’re both doing as well as they can, no thanks to you.”

Again, Nie Huaisang looked wounded by the accusation. Wei Wuxian remembered how his old friend had been after the reveal of his true nature, the way he’d desperately tried to hide what he was, the terror he’d expressed in every letter they had exchanged… Still, what had been done couldn’t be changed, and Wei Wuxian hadn’t survived this long by trusting just anyone.

If anything, it was Nie Huaisang’s example who had taught him to be wary.

“Wei-xiong, you remember when we were in the Cloud Recesses together, and we made realgar wine a little before you were kicked out?” Nie Huaisang suddenly asked and though surprised by the change of topic, Wei Wuxian nodded. “All the other Nie disciples with us were quite stunned,” Nie Huaisang reminisced with a sad smile. “They’d never seen me drunk before. It’s a skill I’ve always had, though nobody at home really knew why. I can eat anything, drink anything, and never get sick… anything but realgar, which affects me badly, I’ve found since.”

Without thinking, Wei Wuxian nodded again. Realgar was used to ward off evil, and it was said to have a particularly strong effect on demons. That particular time, Nie Huaisang had only had one small sip because he’d found the smell of realgar wine unpleasant, and just that single sip had made him violently sick, and so irritable he'd bitten Jiang Cheng who'd only wanted to check on him… though of course most people would be in a bad mood after vomiting that much. At the time, none of them had thought there was anything odd with that.

Yet if he’d had more wine than that, Nie Huaisang might have died, or attacked his friends.

“It wasn’t the time of year for realgar wine,” Wei Wuxian noted, feeling himself grow more curious than angry. “So find a better excuse.”

“It wasn’t the season for it, and I didn’t notice the difference in smell,” Nie Huaisang agreed. “But the person who helped me recover from my wounds assured me that my blood was tainted by realgar, and I’ve learned since that there are ways to cover the taste, or to increase the effect. And Jin Zixun was ever so insistent on making me drink that day. Funny, when we’d never been close. Or indeed when I had been promised that he wouldn’t be there, since I didn’t much care for him.”

It was something that had always puzzled them indeed. Not just Wei Wuxian, but Lan Wangji too, and even Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli when they’d had a chance to speak about that. As far as everyone had known, Jin Zixun had been in hiding at that time, terrified that Wei Wuxian might try to kill him for what he’d done to Wen Ning and his family. And Jin Zixun had been quite vocal regarding what he thought should be done to Nie Huaisang, too.

Odd that he’d come to a Night Hunt where were present not only Wei Wuxian’s beloved shijie, but also the terrifying demon that terrorized everyone.

It sounded a lot braver than Jin Zixun had ever been known to be.

“It’s easy to blame a dead man,” Wei Wuxian remarked.

“And it’s easy to blame a demon,” Nie Huaisang retorted. “Especially for someone who’d have the demon’s trust. Funny also how this incident ensured that Qinghe Nie became isolated and despised, just when it was considered the one sect which might have stood against Lanling Jin’s ambitions.”

Wei Wuxian shrugged. He’d personally also profited quite a bit from this conflict between the Nies and the Jins.

It had distracted everyone from what he was doing in Yiling. By the time the Jins had emerged fully victorious from that political battle, Wei Wuxian’s presence in the Burial Mound had been secure, while the Jins had been too busy securing their new power to think of attacking him. Besides, with him no longer part of Yunmeng Jiang and thus not involved in politics, and with his actions having made it clear that he wasn’t a threat, everyone had found it easier to leave him alone. Sometimes someone would still wonder if he should be annihilated, but a few words from Lan Xichen or Jiang Cheng seemed to usually be enough to put an end to that, at least for now.

Everyone might start thinking differently if he associated with a demon though.

“Supposing I believe you,” Wei Wuxian said, and he was ready enough to believe Nie Huaisang, demon or not. “I’m not sure what I can do for you.”

“Don’t think of it as you doing something for me, Wei-xiong. Think of it as the two of us teaming up to protect our families. You see, demons gossip just as much as mortals do, and I’ve been hearing a few worrying things while living with them. There’s a reason I know your shijie has a son, you see.”

Wei Wuxian shivered, but before he could ask for details, Wen Ning and Lan Wangji arrived at last. They were both stunned to see Nie Huaisang, though Lan Wangji had to be the more shocked of the two, since he would actually recognise the young man, while Wen Ning had never met him before.

Smiling faintly, Nie Huaisang bowed elegantly to the two newcomers, as if this were but an ordinary meeting between old friends.

“Lan gongzi, I did not expect you had really come to live here!” Nie Huaisang exclaimed with something like real joy. “I suppose gossip these days carries more truth than I’d have expected.”

“Fine, I’ll bite,” Wei Wuxian said. “What have you heard about my shijie and her son?”

“Let me come in,” Nie Huaisang replied. “And then we can talk.”

It felt like a trap, and maybe it was one.

Even after having disappeared for years, Nie Huaisang knew Wei Wuxian’s weaknesses. It had been a mistake perhaps to write to him back then, to confide in him, to stay his friend when the rest of the world shunned him… but Wei Wuxian too had needed a friend after the Sunshot Campaign, and Nie Huaisang had never judged him for what he’d done, not even before his demon blood was revealed.

This was a mistake.

And yet, Wei Wuxian opened the gate.

#nie huaisang #wei wuxian #demon nhs #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #jau writes #I am procrastinating on so much shit lol #so y'all get this

[justcourttee]

I love your sibling Jasonette so much!! If you don't mind, could you do Marinette's first meeting with the rest of the Batfam? Also, this is probably a stupid question but are the rest of the sibling Jasonette stories connected?

Not a stupid question at all! I wrote them so that if you read all of them, there are parallels so that they could be connected, but if people didn’t want to read all of them, they could also stand on their own :)

I also NEVER mind writing more sibling Jasonette ;) Hope you enjoy! @moonlitjiminie 

Family Game Night

“What if they don’t like me?”

Jason stopped in his tracks, shaking his head in disappointment.

“Is that even a real question that you’re asking me? I’m honestly offended right now that you would even think they had an option to not like you.”

He dramatically placed his hand over his heart as if her words had fatally wounded him earning a small giggle from the girl. Slinging his arm over her shoulder, she managed to breathe a small sigh of relief as they made their way up the long staircase.

Jason didn’t even bother knocking as he threw open the manor doors, effectively dragging her in with him.

“Master Jason, what a pleasure to see you attend family game night and with a guest in tow, how lovely.”

An older man stood in the foyer, his sly smile warming Marinette to the core instantly. Jason narrowed his eyes playfully at the man, a sly smile of his own tugging at his lips.

“Marinette, let me introduce you to the only sane person in this household. Mr. Alfred Pennyworth. He likes to pretend he’s just a humble butler, but we all know that he secretly runs the whole thing around here.”

Alfred bowed deeply to Marinette to which she could only curtsey in return.

“It’s a pleasure, sir. I am sorry for invading your family time. I was under the impression that my presence was a known factor tonight.” Her narrowed eyes shot to Jason who simply shrugged, his smirk as arrogant as ever.

“Nonsense, a friend of Master Jason is a friend to all. You are by far the most pleasant friend he has brought to this event.”

Marinette almost wanted to ask about the context of his remark, but something in her gut told her she really didn’t want to know.

“Please, follow me to the sitting room. The rest of the family has already arrived.”

They walked in a comfortable silence down the hall, Marinette nerves slightly frayed now knowing that nobody expected her appearance. Alfred pushed open two oak doors, revealing a brightly lit room filled with many laughing faces. When Jason said he had a lot of siblings, Marinette thought two or three. Nothing could have prepared her for this.

“Oh my god, Jason brought home a girl!”

Instantly all sounds in the room paused as many heads turned their attention to where Marinette stood in the doorway. Hesitantly, she raised her hand in greeting, a sheepish smile gracing her face.

“Everyone, this is Marinette, the legendary designer MDC, and my sister. She’s flown all the way from Paris to meet you losers for some reason so be nice.”

Marinette mumbled a quiet hello as a few smiles broke through the room welcoming her. Instantly, a blonde girl jumped up to drag her back to where she was previously sitting, ignoring Jason’s protests.

“You just have to play on my team tonight! Are you any good at Pictionary? I mean I’m not great, but I can say with utmost confidence that I can beat most of the people in this room.”

“That’s not true!” Marinette’s attention was split as one of the men started an argument with her as to who was the better pictionary-ist. She didn’t even notice when Jason had sat beside her, an amused smile tugging at his lips.

“The rude blonde is Stephanie Brown. She’s Timmy boys girlfriend, who would be the dead zombie looking kid over there.”

Marinette’s gaze followed to where Jason pointed, a small giggle escaping at his accurate description. The poor boy looked like he hasn’t gotten a good night's sleep a single day in his life. 

“The rude boy arguing with Stephanie would be Dick. He practically rivals your optimism except his happy go lucky actually disgusts me.”

The man paused from his argument, a horrified expression on his face.

“I like to think my optimism is a blessing.”

That earned a collective groan from the room to which he simply crossed his arms into a pout.

“Anyways, continuing, the redhead is Barbara Gordon-Grayson who unfortunately has trapped herself in the position of Dick’s wife. A tragedy really for such a beautiful woman, I mean she could’ve had me and instead she chose him? The world just isn’t right.”

Another protest came from Dick’s direction as he turned his pout into Barbara’s outstretched arms as her attempt to not laugh failed miserably.

“The one staring you down while trying to pretend he’s not interested at the same time would be your future husband Damian.”

Marinette felt her entire face flush red as she reached back slapping Jason in the stomach as hard as he could.

“Todd, I do not appreciate harassing this young woman. You are beneath her in status and beauty therefore you should not be allowed to get off with this insult to her self so easily.”

Damian stood from his spot, careful not to make eye contact with Marinette as he sped past her toward the room’s only exit. She wanted to call out and ask him to stay, but the pink on his cheeks caused her to pause. He probably was just as embarrassed as her and just needed some time to breathe.

“Jason, that was mean! Look at how flustered you made him!”

Jason simply laughed as he reached over to ruffle her hair.

“Trust me, he never gets ‘flustered’ that was all you.”

For the second time that night, Marinette felt her face flush.

“He’s right you know!” Her eyes turned back to the blonde from earlier who stared her down with a playful expression in her eyes. “Demon spawn definitely has a crush on you.”

The rest of the family took turns picking at her, taking jabs until she was sure there wasn’t one part of her that wasn’t bloodshot red.

“Alright, alright, give the girl some space. We want her to return eventually!”

Marinette smiled gratefully toward the dark-haired man.

“After all, I need to get to know my future daughter-in-law.”

She instantly regretted her friendly gesture as the room exploded once more, smiles and laughter filling the room. Why exactly had she let Jason talk her into this?

“Okay, okay, really though guys. It’s game night! Time to pick team captains.”

Stephanie’s devilish smile sent shivers through Marinette’s spine. It was purely chaotic, reminding her of another blonde that she had left behind.

“I vote Marinette and Jason, the ultimate sibling showdown!” Dick puffed out his chest as his voice mimicked what sounded suspiciously like a wrestling ref that her father loved to watch.

“I’m down, how about you princess?”

Marinette bit her lip as her eyes glanced around the room at their waiting faces. Her eyes caught sight of one brooding face that she couldn’t seem to pass by. He also seemed to be waiting, his eyes nervously glancing from her position to the door as if he might bolt at any moment.

“It’s game on Todd.”

They shook their hands defiantly, both wearing dangerous smirks. Maybe she could salvage her pride tonight; not just hers’ but Damian’s as well. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Ladies first.”

Marinette and Jason stood on opposite sides of the room, both watching each other with an intense look that came from their competitive natures. She scanned the eager faces of his family thoughtfully. She had no idea what any of them were good at, but she wanted to maintain appearance for the psych of it.

“Damian.”

Everybody broke out into smirks as they shared knowing looks. She didn’t bother to pay them any mind as the pink-cheeked boy rose to stand with her.

“Wrong move princess, demon spawn hates game night more than he likes to win. My first choice? Stephanie.”

The girl pumped her fist in the air as she joined Jason on his side. Marinette leaned toward where Damian stood, hiding half her face behind her hand.

“Time to strategize, who is my best bet?”

Damian stared at her with a bewildered expression.

“C’mon beau garçon, I need your help if we’re gonna kick Jason’s ass.”

He nodded slowly as if that were a perfectly reasonable excuse to kick into gear.

“Grayson is the leading contender if you wish to win tonight.”

Marinette nodded as she motioned for Dick to join them as well. Jason raised an eyebrow at her as he called over Tim, challenging her to pick from the remaining two.

“Okay Damian, Barbara or Bruce.”

He didn't bother responding as he pointed at his father, leaving the redhead to Jason’s team.

It was five hours of intense games, Alfred keeping score as an unaffiliated third party,( after all, they had all agreed that he was the fairest way to keep the games moving.) They all sat in anticipation while he tallied the scores. She couldn’t seem to calm her nerves as she stared at Jason’s cocky smirk.

Marinette felt a warmth brush by her kneecap. Instantly her head snapped to where a hand rested before her gaze reached back up to his face, a light red dusting across her cheeks. Immediately his hand retracted.

“I’m sorry if that was inappropriate, your knee was just bouncing anxiously from the corner of my eye and it was a slight bother.”

Marinette muttered out a small sorry before they both broke their gaze, the blush evident on both of their cheeks.

“And with a final score of 5-4, the winning team is… Miss Marinette!”

Her whole team jumped from the couch in excitement. Without thinking, she threw her arms around Damian’s neck. Realization crossed her face as she quickly retracted her hug, her entire face as red as could be. God, she hadn’t been this much of a blushing mess since she was thirteen.

They all chatted idly for a few minutes before Jason finally intercepted, insisting he had to get her back to her apartment before it got too late. The whole family waved her goodbye, minus one red-faced teen who instead handed her a small piece of paper as discreetly as he could, ignoring the taunts from his family behind his back.

As they drove back to her apartment, Marinette couldn’t hold her excitement anymore.

“I don’t know why you were warning me so much, I think I’m in love with your family Jason.”

His familiar smirk sat on his face as he turned into the apartment’s lot.

“I told you they were going to love you, and what do you know? I didn’t even have to give Damian your number, you two worked it out on your own. I truly believe they are planning out your wedding right now.”

Marinette shook her head as she reached over the console to hug Jason tightly before stepping out of the car. She wanted to deny accusations of what happened tonight, but she knew it would just fuel his picking.

Besides, even she couldn’t deny that she was excited for the next family game night and if she saw a certain Wayne there, well, that really wouldn’t be so bad.

Permanent Tag List:

@damianette-is-life @ash-amg @rebecarojas07 @heaven428 @long-lost-peace @thequeenofpotatoeunicornss @moongoddesskiana @nach0ava

#daminette #jasonette #maribat

[moonlit-mizukage]

Chapter twenty: The Dance

Summary: Y/l/n Y/n, a third year at Sakura High School, is just a girl with a bad attitude towards anyone outside her small circle. When y/n’s younger sister starts first year, she gains a lot of attention. Unfortunately for everyone in school, the Y/l/n household has one rule, No dating till y/n does. Some people become just desperate enough to pay the leader of the “Monsters”, the trouble making group on campus, to date y/n. What will happen when she finds out? (All characters aged up to third year unless otherwise stated)

TW: Swearing, mentions of pregnancy, mentions of abandonment, Oikawa being a complete ass, physical violence, angst 

______________________________________________________________

Third Person Pov 9:30pm 

Oikawa pulled into the y/l/n’s house. He exited his car as he approached the door. He did a quick reflection check and pushed his hair around and fixed his suit. 

“You’re a hottie, you got this, tonight IS the night.” He said to his reflection. He then knocked on the door. At first there was no answer. So he knocked again. He pulled out his phone and tried to call Mei on it, but just to his luck, no response. The door opened but the sisters father was left standing in front of him. 

“Can I help you?” 

“Yes, we met once,” 

“I remember, that teen boy who smells like a teen sex magnet.” He cut Oikawa off. 

“Umm okay… Is Mei home?” He asked, trying to ignore his previous comment on his smell. 

“No and if she was I still would not let her out with you again.” 

“Sir I assure you I am a good guy who just wants to treat her right.” 

“I see your kind everyday in the hospital I work at. The type to get someone pregnant and then run while they are giving birth and never look back.” 

“That is oddly specific, but I must assure you I am not interested in that stuff right n-” Before Oikawa could finish his sentence the door was slammed in his face. 

“Okay wow that was rude.” He said to himself walking down the front steps back to his car. He checked his phone for more time before leaving. Atsumu had sent him an image. Oikawa opened it only to see Mei and Yamaguchi dancing together, holding onto one another even. He felt himself get angry. He tossed his phone aside and pulled out of the driveway heading to the dance. 

At the dance already- Third person pov 

Tendou walked up to the door with his arm entangled with Y/n’s. He seemed to be a little nervous. Nothing anyone could see upon first glance, but definitely something the other monsters were aware of. Tendou swallowed a lump in his throat as they entered inside, to look over the dance floor. 

“Do you wanna dance?” Y/n said louder then she normally would speak to him. 

“Yeah let’s do it babe.” She seemed to not even notice the nerves he was dealing with. 

They made their way down to the dance floor and Tendou did the best he could to Oikawa and his goons at this time. Not seeing Oikawa yet he assumed it was safe for now, but seeing Yamaguchi dancing with Y/n’s younger sister, he could only guess Oikawa would be angry with them and him. Tendou was not afraid of Oikawa in any way, but he was afraid he would tell y/n before he got a chance to tell you himself. 

Just as y/n was laughing and staring up at Tendou with the utmost love, a slow song started to play.  

“I hate slow songs at dances,” She began to say, “They make me feel like I’m the main character of some cheesy ass romance movie.” 

“Well you are.” He said back as she leaned down, resting her head on his shoulder.  

“What do you mean?” She said just loud enough for him to hear.

“You are the main character in my romance story.” Her body stiffened with this remark as he leaned down leaving a kiss on her forehead. “You don’t have to worry, you know me Y/n. You can trust me, I promise.” Just as he was finished saying that the song ended and he saw Oikawa as he rushed through the crowd heading right up to her younger sister. 

Tendou pulled you away, 

“Can we go get some air in the room over there? It’s just a bit hot in here that's all.” Y/n nodded her head in agreement as she followed close behind. She never let go of his hand the whole way there.  

Still on the dance floor, Mei and Yamaguchi were having a wonderful time. Oikawa grabbed Yamaguchi harshly as he ripped him apart from Mei. 

“What the fuck Mei!” He shouted. People around them moved back to either give more space or witness the drama unfold. 

“Oikawa go away! I am not interested in you anymore!” 

“Did your bitch sister tell you more lies about me?” He asked as she reached up and slapped him as hard as she could. 

“YOU BITCH!” He shouted as Yamaguchi pushed her behind him. Tsukishima and Shirabu showed up in perfect time to stand next to Yamaguchi, knowing how intimidated Oikawa would become. He looked Mei directly in the eyes and yelled, 

“That's fine. You were an expensive whore anyways. You weren't worth my time or money. Have fun being a nobody the rest of your life bitch.” Before anyone knew what was happening, Yamaguchi threw a fist and connected it directly to Oikawa’s face. “What th FUCK!” He said as he tossed a punch right back into Yamaguchi’s stomach, knocking him onto the cold floor. 

“You dick!” Mei said. She then punched Oikawa hard in the eye. “That’s for Yamaguchi,” She then punched him again. “That’s for y/n.” Next she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him in a hunched over position, kneeing him in the balls, “And that’s for me asshole!” On that note he fell to the floor. Atsumu and Iwaizuimi came and helped him up and after a minute he was fine. He got the two guys to follow him on the hunt for Tendou. 

In the other room of the dance, Y/n and Tendou were doing your own thing and having a great time. The two of you laughed as you rested on the railing that looked down on the floor below. 

Oikawa entered the room, his two goons as Tendou called them, following right on his trail. He noticed the two about to kiss as he then spoke up. 

“What the absolute fuck Tendou!” 

“Who the hell do you think you are talking to?” Tendou said back, already in front of you as to protect you.  

“I didn’t pay you to take out this psycho bitch for her whore sister to come with someone else.” Y/n’s head snapped into Oikawa’s direction. 

“Fuck off Oikawa.” He said, noticeably angry at that point. 

“What the fuck does he mean pay you?” Y/n asked Tendou. 

“Oh you didn’t think this was real did you Y/n? You really think anyone would willingly go out with you without being paid did you?” Oikawa asked with full intent to hurt coming through his words adding a conniving laugh to the end of his words. 

“He’s lying right Satori?” You asked, voice on the verge of being broken then. 

“I-” Tendou stuttered, he took a deep breath before he carried on.”I wanted to tell you sooner, I really did Y/n.” 

“So it’s true?” She no longer attempted to hide her tears in that moment. She turned to run away as Tendou grabbed her wrist. 

“Please, let me explain first?” He asked her. 

“Go to hell Satori!” She said as she ripped her arm from him and ran down the stairs. 

Tendou turned to the three guys who had just remained still in front of him. 

“You three have just made some powerful enemies.” Tendou stated as he pulled out his phone. The other three fled as they knew the Monsters were now on their way there. 

As for y/n, she called Shirabu who had grabbed the other and took her home in Tsukishima’s car. They all sat around y/n’s room after they had just changed from their fancy clothes. Y/n sat in the windowcell, with her head rested upon the glass. She looked out upon the moonlight wondering how such a thing could come to be. 

Y/n felt a buzz on her phone as she picked it up. She didn’t recognize the number but the message read;

I know I messed up but I just want to talk to you, please.

________________________________________________________________

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An: I have been honestly so excited to write this part and the ones after for some time now UwU 

Taglist: @belongtothewcrld​ @elianetsantana @its-the-aerieljeane @london-quynh @vhskenma @denkithunder @swagdaddycam @ems1des @tendouispretty @senpaisbadass @elephantloser @smolbbgorl @mikeys-thighs @kuroolilchibichan @softesyoongi​ @ouijaeater15​ @xxsilverwingxx @prettyinblack231 @kookie-doughs  @mikesdeath @bruh-kill-me @skeet-skeet-double-fckn-yeet @d0llpie @0-hysteria-0 @katsumi-sumi @rintarawr​ @sirachano0dles  @satan-ruler-of-hells @himboos @maer-333 @pastel-prynce @tanakasimpcorner​ @atria-avior

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x y/n #haikyuu smau #haikyuu x you #haikyuu tendou #tendou x reader #tendou smau #tendou x you #tendou x y/n

[beetles-and-rock]

Mixology Gone Wrong

An X reader about pre-musical Dewey Finn.

As an aspiring Mixologist, you work in a run down dive bar where local bands come to play their music in attempts to get their names out there. You're pretty used to getting hit on by the many self proclaimed "musicians" that play there. You don't expect any different when Dewey Finn comes to flirt with you, but things start to go very differently indeed.

18+ ONLY, DON'T INTERACT IF YOUNGER

TW: Heavy Intoxication, Blood, Vomit, Attempted Sexual Assault (Not from Dewey though. He too believes consent is sexy), Mild Language, Suggestive Comments

As you can tell this is a very different fic for me. There is a lot of Angst to it.

Mixing drinks was still something you were new too, but you knew enough to work at a local bar. Evening shifts were long, and the music was always blaring super loud. You hadn't been working there long, but was pretty sure you'd gone a bit deaf already. The bands that came to play were mediocre. A lot of them were hopeless dreamers, waiting for their ship to come in. Many of them would drink themselves halfway to liver failure after their set, which made you super busy.

It was pretty sad really, to see so many of the ones who actually had decent voices order so many drinks you knew were going to ruin their vocal chords. Still they didn't care. They performed and now they were going to drink like the apocalypse was coming. As was a typical Friday or Saturday night.

It was also not unusual for the drunks to flirt with you or the other bar tenders, so when the lead guitarist for some local band called "No Vacancy" stepped up to the counter with that look in his eye after their set, his forwardness didn't phase you in the least. He had quite some character, that was for sure. Anyone could easily tell that from the way he performed, energetic, ecstatic, and all around sticking out like a sore thumb among the rest of the band. He was a little on the chubby side, wavy untamable hair ridden with grease. He smelled of sweat and beer, along with Axe body spray which he probably considered to be close enough to a shower, and a hint of BO. He may not have looked like a rockstar, but he certainly smelled like one.

"Hey there." He said with a cocky smirk as he reached the bar. It was and old approach, but at least it wasn't some dumb pickup line. he didn't cock an eyebrow or even try to smolder. Every expression that came upon his face was, in a word, lazy.

"Could I get a beer?" He asked. You held back a sigh knowing once again you weren't going to use the skills you'd learned as a mixologist, but by the looks of this guy you knew there was no way he was going to be able to afford a cocktail. You were pretty sure his band played for free here tonight, so that pretty much confirmed how broke he was. You poured the beer and handed him the mug.

It was both disgusting and impressive watching him guzzle the beer. He simultaneously patted the counter of the bar to the beat of the music as he drank.

"So did ya like the set?" He asked you after a long swig. Oh great, here came the flirting...

"It was. . . pretty interesting. You guys have a good sound." You searched for kind things to say about the performance, but in all honesty it really didn't particularly stick out to you among all the other groups of wannabe rock stars they played in this run down shack of a dive. Well that wasn't entirely true. He certainly stuck out. You did your best not to use the word obnoxious when describing his part of the set.

"Your harmonies were pretty good, and your ad libbing was. . . creative. You've got a lot of energy."

"Yeah!" He replied after taking another long swig. "You gotta have the energy when it comes to rock and roll. I've been trying to tell the other guys that for years now. They just kind of stand there."

"Uh-huh. . ."

"I mean I brought the band together. The least they could do is listen to me."

In that moment, it dawned on you how clueless he was. Anyone else could see that the other band members were not very big fans of his antics onstage. The audible sigh from the lead singer into his microphone was very

clear as the man who now sat in front of you had started jumping around and ad libbing perhaps a little too much. He was now polishing off his mug and set down the money for another one. You poured more beer into the mug, almost feeling sorry for him.

"Been thinking about changing my name. . . I don't know though. It's not really a rock-star name, but the thought of a crowd screaming the name Dewey Finn inspires me. Kinda like an underdog story." He said.

"Dewey Finn?“

"Yep! That's my name, and you'll want to remember it cause one day it'll be famous." He set down the mug pointing to it "More please."

You were unable to hide a slight look of disgust at his rudeness, but poured another glass anyway. Dewey took another long drink and belched.

"Y-yep! someday people are gonna be screaming that name, Dewey -hic- Finn." He held his belly momentarily after the hiccup looking like he may be sick for a minute. Unfortunately, he continued. "You ever thought about being a groupie? Maybe I could make you scream it too."

You raised an eyebrow. It wasn't an old crappy pick up line, but he was still one more stupid sentence from getting slapped. You had to admit you did think this guy was kind of cute, and some parts of him were even adorable, but not so cute or adorable that you wouldn't remind him he was talking to a human being.

You shook your head watching him become more and more drunk, and knew he was likely to keep making conversation. Since it was clear to you he was not going to stop speaking, you decided to change the subject instead of letting him dig his own grave.

"So who was your inspiration?" You asked thinking it would be an appropriate question. Little did you know you'd soon be enjoying yourself talking with him. His eyes lit up and he listed a number of musicians and bands that he had been inspired by. How he'd listened to all eras rock music from a young age, and had gotten his first guitar for his tenth birthday. That sparked his dreams to become a rockstar. He talked about how he would spend every moment of free time learning to play. How he played with a band called Maggot Death in Highschool and has been living with one of the members ever since his father kicked him out.

You found yourself laughing, smiling and even coming close to tears at some points as you watched him do so himself. Perhaps the most surprising thing though was that familiar warm tickle slowly spreading on your cheeks. He was certainly no gentleman, but at this point you knew there was some tenderness underneath all the cockiness. Still even in his near-stupor, you could tell he was definitely still keeping most of his walls up. Not that it was your duty to take them down. It was about that time one of his band members came over, and reminded you that you were just a bartender this wannabe rock star had been talking to for the first time.

"Excuse me, Is this guy bothering you?" The man asked. He was thinner, and had longer, straighter hair than Dewey. He wore a leather jacket that left his torso bare showing off a set of abs that clearly he was proud of.

The man's tone surprised you. He spoke as if Dewey had been trying to fondle you over the counter or had been relentlessly trying to pick you up.

"Uh-um. . ." Was all you could manage. Not only had you snapped out of the happy daze of the conversation, but you realized you hadn't been keeping track of just how much beer you'd been giving him. Now the poor guy was drunk out of his mind, you had no idea how much money he owed the bar, and you were pretty sure this could get you fired. The troubled look on your face must have given the guy the wrong idea, cause he smacked the back of Dewey's head.

"Heeeeeeeeeey!" Dewey uttered as he slowly rubbed the back of his head.

"They're not interested, Dewey. Leave them alone." Said the band member.

"I wassssssn -hic- bothering nobody."

The other man looked at you, and sighed. "How much does he owe?"

You just stared at him a full minute before gathering your thoughts.

"Oh. . . um, I think he drank the equivalent of a pitcher." You knew it was more likely two or more, but you didn't want to cause any more trouble. The man slapped several dollar bills down on the counter, before turning to Dewey.

"You owe me."

"Th-thanks -hic- buddy." Dewey said with a goofy smile.

"Come on. We're over here." The guy said, turning to lead him to the rest of the band. Dewey went to follow him stumbling as he got out of the chair. He fell clumsily to the ground. The band member turned and laughed at him, soon joined by the others as well as many people in the bar. Dewey looked up very dazed, but smiled seeing that everyone else was.

"Whoops!" He giggled.

You might have been the only one not laughing though. You felt sorry for him.

"I've changed my mind Dewey. You better call Ned." His bandmate told him.

"Wait!“ Dewey scrambled on the floor trying to stand or at least sit. It was obvious from the way he teetered on the support of his arms his judgement was way off. He managed to sit on his knees. "Wait! I-I -hic- can't! Patti will lose -hic- lose her crap if shhhheee finds out I. . . ca-called Ned to come -hic- come get me. . .

Another band member cut in.

"It's nothing personal, Dewey. There's just no telling what your fat ass is gonna vomit in his car."

Even though the remark wasn't even all that funny in your opinion, the band members laughed. Dewey laughed too, but it was an uncomfortable laugh. The laugh that comes from the person being joked about trying to seem unoffended. Still watching this all play out, you could tell Dewey was hurt and scared of whoever Patti was. Regardless of your sympathy toward him, you had a job to do.

You continued to pour people's drinks, almost too busy to watch as Dewey's band left him. You didn't see where Dewey himself went until after the evening rush had gone. It was about fifteen minutes to closing. He was sitting in a booth with his head down. There were a few tipsy stragglers at the bar, which was nothing the other bartenders couldn't handle. You decided to go over and check on him. You walked over and sat across from him.

"Hey, you okay?" You asked.

He lifted his head. His eyes were red, and his face puffy and tear streaked. He looked sick and exhausted. He made a sad attempt at a smile.

"Jussss fine." He slurred before another hiccup escaped him. An all too familiar panic flashed through his eyes and he clutched his stomach. He covered his mouth and sat back for a moment until a nasty sounding burp escaped him. He moaned and stared miserably at the wall above your head.

"Are you sure? Do you need a bucket?“

His eyes lowered back down to you. "Jusss go away. . ."

You wanted to do what he asked, but with it being so close to closing, you needed to make sure he had a way to get home.

"H-have you texted your friend to ask for a ride home yet?"

“No. . ."

"Why not?"

"My nightssss -hic- been b-bad enough without my roommate's -hic- girrrlfriend yelling at me. . . and threatening to kick me out."

You couldn't disagree. That would be a worse ending to an already ruined night. Still you had to close up soon. You had to get him out of here, and hopefully home somehow.

"W-What about earlier on stage? You were really good."

He looked up at you, a slight smirk had returned to his face. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, you looked like you were enjoying yourself up there."

"I alwaaaays enjoy my-myself -hic- onstage. Rock. . . isss what I wass meant fffor. The mussssic sp-speaks to me.

You smiled, seeing that little smirk gave you hope. Clearly he was very passionate about Rock. You decided to try to keep him on the subject.

"When did you first get into rock?" You asked.

"I've pretty much -hic- been Inta rock my whhhhhole life."

"Oh?"

"Y-yeah. I'vvve been singing -hic- since I can. . . m-member. . . It's great for expression. . . a-and sex appeal. . . You think so too, don't you." He was looking you in the eyes now. His expression made your heart skip a beat. You were having second thoughts about this now. Maybe you should have had one of the other bartenders come with you. You nervously backed up in your seat.

"W-what?" You stammered.

"Well yyyyou do keep talking about -hic- the way I looked on stage."

You blushed. It was a big misunderstanding. You just noticed how he stood out from the others.

"O-oh, no I wasn't meaning-"

Dewey chuckled. "Ssssure, you didn't. You even r-risked your job to -hic- over serve me.

You raised a brow. "Excuse me?"

"Speaking of -hic- whaddaya say . . . to another r-round?“

Your voice came a little more stern. "No I think you've had enough.'

"Come. . . Come on, baby. Jusss -hic- a few more?"

Baby!? Who the hell did he think he was? “No!“

"Wwwwann me to take my sh-shhhirt off?"

"No thanks!"

“Kiss you?" He grinned.

"Absolutely not!" You stood to get up from the table. He stood too, leaning forward. He absolutely reeked of alcohol. You could tell from the look on his face he wasn't done, but if he wasn't careful he was about to be.

"What if I sign a tit?" It was then that you noticed he was gawking at your breasts. That was it. You reared back your hand and sent it flying into the side of his face. He yelped, sitting back down in the booth. His eyes were wide with shock. He touched the red mark that was now forming on his cheek. His bottom lip quivered. For a moment, you thought he might burst into tears. Unfortunately, what came next was worse.

Once the look came over his face, you knew what was coming, and there was no stopping it this time. Dewey held his gut as vomit poured from his mouth all over the table, and even down your skirt. You were really pissed now.

"GET OUT!" You screamed at him. He sat there wide eyed, embarrassed, scared, and still pretty sickly.

"I-I'm so sorry-"

"OUT!" You pointed to the door.

He scrambled to get up from the booth, and stumbled across the floor. He stopped suddenly leaning over a booth retching again. He wasn't going to make it very far if he left now. You sighed handing him a bucket.

"Just sit down, and text your friend to come get you."

Dewey hugged the bucket and nodded. You watched making sure he texted his friend Ned, while thinking about quitting your job here. It wasn't bad money, but you certainly didn't sign up for babysitting sick, horny, drunks. Dewey retched into the bucket causing you to look away. It was then that you noticed another man walking towards you.

"You okay?" He asked.

You brushed your hair back out of your face looking up at him. You could tell your expression was still harsh, but had no interest in changing it. After all this, you figured you were justified in a little rudeness despite the bar's policy.

"I'm fine.“ You snapped.

The man chuckled and grinned. "Easy sweetheart, I'm just trying to help."

You rolled your eyes.

"Just leave me alone."

The man stepped closer. "That skirt is looking a little messy. Let me help with that."

Your eyes widened, but you didn't have time to react before the man attacked you yanking at your skirt. You screamed. You could barely register the next movements in your shocked state.

A fist flew into the man's face. He staggered backwards letting out a muffled scream from behind hands covering a bleeding nose. Dewey was now standing next to you staring at his blood soaked fist. You wanted to say something like "thank you" or "sorry for screaming at you earlier" but the man who tried to assault you had regained his composure, and grabbed Dewey.

The angry drunk slammed Dewey into the side of the booth, which backfired because instead of a scream of pain, Dewey regurgitated all over his attacker. The disgusted stranger screamed obscenities at him before throwing him to the ground and pinning him there. His messy knuckles slamming into Dewey's head again and again. You screamed for the man to stop it, almost certain from the blood he'd killed Dewey. Your assumption was confirmed false when a fist with a mug in it shot upward and was slammed against the attackers head. The mug shattered and the man fell to the ground unconscious.

"Oh my god!" You knelt next to Dewey, who now had bruises forming on his face and blood dripping from his nose.

"Are you okay?" You asked, looking him over for anything else. "Do you need me to call an ambulance?"

He just moaned in response, his eyes unfocused.

"Can you sit up? I can help you." With your help he was able to sit up. He leaned back against your arm limp and dazed. A tall thin man in glasses came running into the bar.

"Dewey!? Oh God! What did you do!?" He panicked rushing over to him.

"N-Nehhd. . ." Dewey managed.

"Are you alright?" Ned asked him. He looked at you. "What happened?

"It's a long story." You answered. "But, he helped me." You looked between the two of them. “I'll call an ambulance. He needs to get checked out."

"Wahnna. . . go home." Dewey whined.

"Not yet, Dewey. They're right, we gotta get you checked out first."

You pulled out your phone and dialed nine-one-one, and though Dewey really didn't feel like getting looked over, and was less than cooperative, he ended up being pretty lucky. His back was bruised the worst, and he had a minor concussion, but other than that he was mostly okay. The medic really seemed to prefer he get checked at a hospital, but since Dewey was likely to be less cooperative there he let Ned take home. He was given instruction to stay with Dewey to make sure nothing got worse, and to make sure he stayed in bed if he felt dizzy.

Before taking Dewey home Ned thanked you for taking care of him. You shook your head.

"Taking care of him was an occupational thing. I should be thanking him for taking care of me."

#dewey finn #school of rock broadway #beetlejuice musical #beetlejuice

[varyen]

as heavy as the snow falls (i fall for you)

„Hello Detective. I am Connor, the Android sent by CyberLife.“ The android sent to replace me, you think but it’s not what you say. Instead, you look up from your $1 instant noodles, and freeze. Oh god, you think. Oh god, fuck. They made it CUTE.

Chapter One;  It's just another day to pretend (I’m feeling okay)

Hank had warned you.

“They sent one of those plastic pricks to help investigate that deviant shit”, he had told you.

You just thought he was messing with you, a good old joke to welcome you back. That was until you were officially allowed to get back to work;

you had annoyed your doctor into releasing you from sick-leave and partly got what you wanted — except that you were stuck on desk-duty. But that was better than being stuck at home. You never thought you’d be sick of your apartment walls but there you were.

After almost two and a half months, you finally walked back into the precinct.

Gavin was the first one to give that face — an ugly smirk, splitting open his mouth and showing his teeth, like a warning, like a threat. He didn’t say anything — he didn’t have to. That smirk alone, creepy enough to give you goose bumps, told you everything you need to know.

Hank didn’t mess with you. They sent an Android to replace you in your own investigation.

“Glad to see you’re back”, Gavin greeted you, though, and you forced a smile at your desk-partner. “Were you getting bored without me?”, you asked and tried to forget the obnoxious smirk he had thrown at you just a second ago. “You know me, baby”, he laughed and slapped on your shoulder. He disappeared behind you and you were left unguarded without any distraction. Everybody was staring at you and you weren’t sure if those looks were painted in relief or pity.

Silently you sat down at your desk, towers of paper stacked everywhere, and started to work. A few of your colleagues stopped by, asking how you were doing, being shot multiple times and all, and that they were happy you were back safe and sound – they didn’t say anything about Hank, or the Android. Their eyes, though, their eyes betrayed them.

Fowler called you in an hour later or so, asking how you do — not that he’d really care, anyway — before sending you back to work. He didn’t say a word about Hank, or the Android. His eyes did.

Nothing has happened since.

Now, it’s almost one pm and desk duty is more boring that you anticipated — so boring, in fact, that you decide to take your break. Usually Gavin and you keep each other entertained and airdrop each other memes out of the nowhere but he’s nowhere to be seen. Also, you’re hungry as shit, as you skipped the breakfast this morning. Not only because you overslept but you’re also not really a breakfast person.

There is no sign of Hank or that infamous Android so you decide to shrug it off and bury your concerns under the $1 instant noodles you got stored in the lowest drawer of your desk; your emergency food and snack box, as you like to call it. Sometimes Gavin raids it when he feels like it but he has kept his promise about not telling anyone about your emergency food and snack box — so far.

And while it’s generally not too bad to have him right in front of you most of the time, he’s the person you want to avoid the most because, honestly, you don’t need his mockery and you are not in the mood to endure that stupid smirk one more time. There is a possibility that you just try to punch it off his face.

He did leave the precinct when you entered it, so he’s probably off at some crime-scene.

You glance towards the empty Break Room and see your chance. You take one of the spicy chicken instant noodles, your all-time favorite, and speed as fast into the Break Room as your body allows you to; it’s still heavy sometimes and your movements are slowed by pain and stiffness.

Nobody disturbs you while you prepare the kettle and get a can of coke out of the fridge. The only sound remarkable to you is the news channel and by now the threat of a war outbreak has become too old to still be shocking.

You take your phone and skip through your messages, ignoring most of them except the ones from your mom to which you reply yes mom, work is going great so far. I’m stuck at desk-duty until my doctor gives me the green light, before you switch to your social media.

Caught up in some memes, you only notice Hank when he’s standing right in front of you.

“Listen kid”, he says, shrugging. “I didn’t ask for this either.” His voice sounds grumpy and unhappy and he looks like he just got out of bed which wouldn’t be a surprise, actually, and he still reeks a bit of beer.

And with that said, he leaves you alone again and you stay behind, slightly dumbfounded and just unnecessarily more confused than you already are. Why do they all behave like you’re already fired because some stupid robot took your cases?! Fuck them. As if there isn’t enough shit going on in Detroit. You could go back to work on the Red Ice cases with Gavin; Red Ice cases have everything you want – adrenalin, excitement, relentless pursuits, the subtle threat of danger and you get to bust high wanted criminals. The only thing that makes you avoid Gavin’s Red Ice cases is, in fact, Gavin himself.

It’s not like you don’t like Gavin; he is your desk-partner so you’re kind of forced to like him and you know you can count on him, he did save your life after all, and you like discussing the latest gossip with him — nobody would ever think that he is such a gossip bitch — and not only did he message you multiple times during the last weeks to make sure you’re good, he also stayed in the hospital until you woke up.

It’s just … It’s Reed, he’s a dickhead most of the time, and is only relaxed after he got laid or had at least 3.5 beers.

“The fuck’s going on”, you mutter under your breath. You’re annoyed and by now a thick, gray thunder cloud has formed over your head. Frustrated you stare into the still half-filled cup in front of you; that’s a very you thing to do – looking for answers in ramen soup.

„Hello Detective. I am Connor, the Android sent by CyberLife.“

The android sent to replace me, you think but it’s not what you say. Instead, you look up from your $1 instant noodles, and freeze.

Oh god, you think. Oh god, fuck. They made it CUTE.

For a moment, all you can do is stare at the Android in front of you; his innocent, deep eyes with just the right amount of honesty and the sparkle for fair justice within them, the faint freckles on his nose and the friendly, but still kind of forced smile on his lips — it looks a smile you’d give to Gavin sometimes. His LED blinks yellow for a second and you realize that that son of a bitch scanned you; you bite down a sneaky comment on how rude that is — he probably doesn’t know any better, you decide and you swallow the mean comment down before it can escape your mouth.

“Hi, Connor”, you manage to blur out instead. “You probably heard of me.” As you took all my open cases, thank you very much.

“Yes, I have. I am sorry to hear that you were fatally shot eleven weeks and three days ago. I am glad to see you recovered.” He smiles that forced smile again — seriously, where the hell did he pick that one up?! — and you raise your eyebrows at the weirdly accurate time span.  “You are the Detective to have worked on the cases concerning Deviants before, correct?”

You take the still half-filled cup of instant noodles and throw them away, suddenly not hungry anymore.

“Correct”, you reply. “That was before I was shot. Seems like Hank and you took these cases.”

His LED flickers again, probably analyzing the darker tone hidden in your friendly voice and it seems like he wants to say something but Gavin interrupts him. “Seems like you have met your replacement, he?!”, he laughs in your face and slaps Connor hard on the back, way harder than necessary, and the Android is forced to move a step forwards.

“Fuck off Reed”, you mutter. You are absolutely not in the mood for his games. He laughs and the sound rings in your ears in an almost obnoxious way.

“I must correct you, Detective Reed. I am not anyone’s replacement”, Connor says, his voice neutral and even, like the voice of an Android is supposed to be. “Sure, you plastic fucker”, Gavin snorts. “Just stay the fuck away from me, got it?” — “For heaven’s sake, Gavin, leave it alone”, you sigh and shake your head. “It ain’t do anything to you personally. Take your issues out on someone else.”

Gavin throws a dark glare at you, one that says he’d wished you got shot with one more bullet, before releasing Connor from his hard grip and leaving the Break Room, cursing under his breath.

“Don’t mind him”, you say to Connor, shaking your head. “He likes to provoke.”

Connor tilts his head to the side. “Most humans are uncomfortable in the presence of Androids. Just as you, Detective.”

You cough. “Gavin isn’t uncomfortable, he’s just an asshole.”

You decide to ignore what he said about you — he’s partly right —but only partly, though you don’t feel like emphasizing this right now.

You yourself never had an Android, and you never saw why anyone would need one — that was until your parents had that car accident, your father died and your mother was left paralyzed and with only one arm. It was either giving up the job you love so much and not being able to afford literally anything, or getting an Android who would take care of her. You went for the latter option and it’s not like you regret it; the Android they recommend you at the CyberLife store is actually pretty sweet and sends you regular updates about your mother whenever she herself can’t find the strength to check on you. When you got shot and were in the hospital, it was the first time you felt truly thankful having that Android around — an AP something model, you don’t know jack shit about it. Your mother named her Hope. Thinking about it hurts you only a little.

You throw yourself back into reality and realize you have been just staring at Connor the past minute or so. You cough again, now being uncomfortable, and try to keep the red flash on your cheeks hidden.

“Do you already have a desk, Connor?”, you ask, changing the topic without even trying to be subtle.

“Yes, I use the one in front of Lieutenant Anderson.”

You stare over to Hank who is watching you with a certain glow in his eyes. “Of course”, you say, looking away from Hank and back at Connor. “Look”, you start, and shrug, “I’m on desk-duty for the next few weeks and officially off the cases anyway. They’re all yours, so I’ll transfer you all I have, evidence and personal notes I made. Maybe you’re luckier than me.” You shrug and leave the Break Room, leaving that Android, Connor, behind.

Obviously you are not happy to give up your open cases — you did work hard on them and all the evidence you collected wasn’t exactly easy to gather. Deviancy is a fresh and new thing and you were excited to be the Detective to figure it out. Then you got shot by some asshole because you grew too confident and thought you could take them on your own. You almost had to pay with your life for your cockiness, so maybe it’s better this way, you suppose.

Gavin doesn’t say anything to you when you sit down at your desk and stare blankly at the screen for a moment, not knowing what you’re supposed to do. Most paperwork is done and all your open cases have been reassigned. Seems like you’ll go back to investigate robberies.

You sigh deeply and send all the files and evidence you got saved on your terminal over to Hank before leaning back in your chair.

“Sorry for snapping at you earlier, Gav”, you say to Gavin who just rumbles something under his breath without looking at you. Without thinking about it, you open your emergency food and snack box, take the package of garlic bread and throw it at Gavin.

“Why don’t you have a piece of bread and maybe you’ll come down”, you laugh at him and now you at least get an annoyed grin. “Fuck you”, he says and you laugh.

“Hey”, he says then, “Tina told me about a series of robberies downtown. You should take those cases. It ain’t nothing too wild and it might get you back in shape.” He rips open the package.

You stare at him for a few seconds before realizing that you are indeed back on robberies. Great!

You sigh deeply.

“Sure”, is all you say and Gavin is smart enough to stay quiet, silently munching his garlic bread.

The excitement you felt this morning about going back to work has made room for nothing but frustration.

It’s eating you from the inside out, turns your lungs around and for a second you can feel the holes the bullets left in your body.

This week is starting great.

read on ao3.

#i am VERY much stuck in dbh hell again #cant blame me #detroit become meme #dbh #detroit become human fanfiction #detroit become human fanfic #detroit become human fic #dbh fanfic #dbh fic #dbh connor #connor rk800 #connor x reader #reader insert #my writing #hank anderson #hank detroit become human #gavin reed #gavin detroit become human

[angelicmark]

service call (m)

extended preview

pairing: renjun x reader

genre: angst, fluff, smut

warnings: NONE FOR PREVIEW ! actual fic has the following; renjun pining for you, fingering, handjob, masturbation (male), unprotected sex

full fic wc: 24.4K

summary: your job, in general, was to break other people up when someone in their relationship couldn’t do it themselves. it was an easy job for you. you had no emotional attachment to them, and it wasn’t your relationship anyway. until renjun’s girlfriend tells you to break up with him for her, and renjun makes his way into your life. developing a relationship with someone you tore apart is dangerous.

➣ apart of ‘right lover, wrong time’ series

↳ masterlist

“fuck.”

you cough loudly, the once silent room filling quickly with your aggressive coughs. you giggle a bit as people look at you with a stink eye. you knew people, in general, didn’t like you. you were the heartbreaker of many relationships. no, not yours. everyone else’s. not to say you were a homewrecker, you just did as you were paid to do. it was a quick and easy job compared to your job of waiting tables. speaking of, you were ready to get off shift soon. it was late, and very little people filled the restaurant because it was almost closing time. you lean your head on your hand as you watch your cowoker take the bill for the last customer, smiling sweetly at him as he rolls his eyes.

“you could help, you know,” he remarks, looking at you with a glare as he swipes the card.

you smile brighter, “but you’re really good at what you do. i’m still a bit clueless, jeno.”

jeno scowls at you, “shut up, flirt.”

you laugh lightly, about to say something before he waves you off and walks back to the customers, telling them to have a good day as they walk out after receiving the receipt. you huff, grabbing cleaning supplies as you wipe off the counter in front of you. jeno rolls his eyes again, a small smile playing on his lips helplessly.

“you do the bare minimum, dude.” jeno grabs a towel out of the bucket and slaps you with it on your back as you laugh again.

“hey, not true,” you pout after a small giggle, “i’m really good at my second job.” you smile again.

jeno rolls his eyes and snatches your towel out of your hands, “it’s not even a job. you just get paid to break other people up.”

“hey! only if i know they’re in the relationship,” you cross your arms, “i’m not going to do it just because someone tells me to.” you lean your head in your hand again, watching him cutely.

jeno scoffs, “i think it’s quite sadistic, but at least you get paid, i guess.”

you watch as jeno squirts the cleanser onto the table and cleans quickly, “it’s easy for me. i don’t find attachment to the relationships.”

“you don’t find attachment to anything.” jeno shoots back, looking at you with curt eyes.

you scowl at him this time, a pout etching your features, “not true. i have a strong attachment to my cat.”

jeno laughs, quickly cleaning the rest of the tables in the diner, “me too. but that doesn’t count. you don’t even live with your cat, he’s at home with your parents.”

you huff, “whatever, shut up. i’m doing a good job and that’s all that matters. it pays my bills and food.”

“how much do you even charge?” jeno quirks an eyebrow as he places the towel in a dirty hamper for it to be washed later. he stands beside you as you straighten up.

you lean your hip against the counter and shrug your shoulders, “depends on how hard they want me to break up with the person. if it’s too harsh, i charge more. it just seems fair, because sometimes i do feel a bit guilty after when they start crying.”

jeno nods his head, not saying anything after. you raise an eyebrow, silently asking him what’s wrong. jeno shakes his head, “is there anything you won’t do?”

“when they ask me to make them cheat or something,” you speak smoothly, “i won’t even think about touching the person or come close to it. i’m not a homewrecker and i never will be.”

“you’re still ruining relationships,” jeno furrows his eyebrows.

“it’s not like i’m coming between them,” you look at him with tired eyes and yawn. “that’s not what my job is for.”

jeno hums, “well, it doesn’t matter. we should head home now, i can see you’re getting tired there, cutie.”

you laugh at him, “shut up, flirt.” you retort back, repeating his previous words. jeno shakes his head with a light laugh, looking at you with crescent moon eyes.

“i’ll see you later,” jeno looks at you sweetly, and you nod your head.

“see you later.” you let out a sigh as you both walk out of the diner after shutting the lights off. the stars were out, and it made you smile a bit. you almost enjoyed walking home at night, even if it was a bit scary. your apartment wasn’t far from where you were, so you were gladly home safe in no time. when you walk inside, you’re greeted with the cold air of your apartment. you pout, realizing just how lonely it could feel in the remnants of the night when you’re alone and have no one to share the space with.

you stretch your limbs as you walk into your room, smiling at the sound of your bones softly cracking. it was a bit satisfying after a long day. changing into comfortable clothes, you yawn as you reach the comforts of your bed.

you jump slightly as you hear your phone ringing, a random number scanning the screen. you furrow your eyebrows, looking curiously. you decide to pick it up, a bit scattered at night.

“hello?” you sound groggy, but you don’t exactly care.

“is this y/n?” you hear a female voice on the other line, intriguing you.

“it is, who’s asking?” you don’t mean to sound rude, you were just a bit alarmed by the timing.

“i have a boyfriend-” oh, it was one of these calls.

you scoff, “who is this? and why the hell are you calling me at such a late hour and how did you even get my number?”

surely, you’ve gotten calls and texts from random people several times. but never this late and never without warning from someone else saying they were being passed over.

“i’m renjun’s girlfriend. yeri. have you heard of me?” the curious tone in her voice makes you feel a bit on edge.

you sit up on your mattress, “i have.” of course you have. everyone raves after her and praises her for being so damn pretty. renjun is quite the lucky man. or was, you guess.

“great,” you can hear her smile, “i need you to break up with renjun for me.”

you lean against your wall, a smile playing on your own lips, “you’re breaking up with renjun? he’s quite the gentleman.”

yeri pauses for a minute longer than usual, “yeah... he’s not my type though.” you only hum, and yeri continues. “will you do it?”

you let out another hum of acknowledgement, “sure. how do you want me to break up with him?”

another pause on yeri’s end, a small curse falling from her lips as she decides heavily on the question, “gently, please? he’s sweet and i hate to hurt him.”

you hate when people say that. you weren’t that big on empathy and feeling what others feel. you only knew how to break people up and call it a day. when people asked for you to be gentle, it made you a bit nervous. you didn’t understand why people would ask for you to be nice to them when they were quite literally breaking their partner’s heart. there was no true way to be gentle when breaking up with someone, you’ve discovered.

you agreed regardless, “sure. how will you pay?”

“do you have any like app i can send it through?” she asks nervously, you can hear the shake in her voice.

you nod before realizing she can’t see you, “i’ll send a link on message. bye, yeri.”

“bye,” she quickly speaks before hanging up the phone.

you scoff as you send the link and amount in the message, waiting for the money to be sent. when you get a ping from your phone, indicating you received it, you simply thanked her and told her you’d text her when you were finished with the job.

you hummed to yourself as you go to stalk her social media pages, seeing pictures of her and renjun together. renjun was quite pretty, and looked as handsome as ever. you began to wonder why she would want to break up with someone who was quite literally any girls dream. it was puzzling, but there was no going back now. she already paid, and you already agreed.

turning off your tableside lamp, you let out one last yawn before closing your eyes and preparing mentally for your next job.

break huang renjun’s heart in the nicest way possible.

COMING SOON DECEMBER 2020

© ANGELICMARK

#preview #huang renjun #renjun #renjun fluff #renjun smut #renjun angst #nct #nct dream

[brain-jarred]

Chapter one.  Marriage problems

In the dank bowels of New York, it was a normal day of extracting brains from dubiously consenting test subjects, and Dr. Hal was bored. Bored with his life, he knew he was smart, he knew he had a brilliant mind. In theory this job was in fact nurturing his mind, and putting it to good use in bettering mankind, and-

Yeah yeah whatever. He knew that this was for a good cause, as he carefully cut open the patient's skull, revealing the squishy and oozing brain. He sighed, and his colleague finally took notice of his dour mood. “Dr. Hal? What's wrong? You don't seem very enthusiastic about this.” Dr. Param asked, looking up from their clipboard which they were doodling in the margins of. Dr. Param was very much like Dr. Hal, in the sense that both of them had similar backgrounds. Though despite this similarity, the two were as different as could be. “Come on, Hal! Put some pep into that neuro-needle!” They said cheerfully, pumping their metal arm in the air, much like a cheerleader. In response, Dr. Hal just rolled his eyes and took the neuro-needle out of the tray, and did what you do with a needle.

Once he was done with it, he returned it to the tray, and the doctor began the process of removing the brain from the skull. He sighed again, and turned to Dr. Param. “Hey Dr. Param? Do you ever feel like… I don't know, that we could be doing literally anything else with our lives?” He questioned as he lifted the brain with one hand, and cut the spinal cord with the other. “Like, I know that this is to improve mankind and everything, but… this is just so…” He plopped the brain into a jar, staring at it for a bit. “Boring.” He said flatly. Dr. Param looked shocked. “What?! No way!” They retorted, limping their metal wrist joint in at Dr. Hal. They put down their clipboard and slid a pan containing a brain across the counter. Then, they sat their elbow where it had been. “Listen Hal, Dr. Hal. All jobs have their… their dips!” “Dips?” “Like low points on a graph!” Dr. Param said while walking around. Their six metal legs made clicking sounds as they moved on the metal floors. They had their arms behind their back. They circled around the now brainless body that was laying on the surgical table. They patted one of the legs to accentuate their point. “You just-” Another slap to the cadaver’s legs.”-Just gotta keep going!”

“Dr. Param, I appreciate the enthusiasm, as well as the attempts at motivation, but you should stop slapping the body.” “You aren't listening to me!” Dr. Param slapped the body. “No. I’m not.” The scientist sighed and walked over to the sink, removing his thick plastic gloves, placing them in the cleaning solution. His hands were… not human. Because neither Dr. Hal, nor Doctor Param, were human beings. Doctor Param was a centipede-esque cyborg, maybe even centaur-like in their design. They had one almost normal looking hand, if not for the sharp claws on the tips, and one needle like appendage on the other arm. The other legs, six of them, were simple, like a bug’s legs. They had huge red eyes that stared annoyed into the back of Dr. Hal’s head. Or rather, they were staring at Dr. Hal’s brain, that was visible through the translucent psychic aura that made up his body. He looked very much like a person, but without bones, skin, muscle, or even nerves. He looked like a person composed entirely of blue jelly. The only solid parts of him were his brain and his eyes. The two doctors both had human brains, greatly enhanced, yet still human, brains.

“I’m just saying-” “I know what you're saying.” Dr. Hal interjected. “You're saying I should just accept the life I've been given, and I shouldn't wish for anything more.” “Wow. Rude.” The cyborg huffed. ”That's your problem! You are rude. When people try to cheer you up, you just-” they waved their arms around. “You push them away! You push me away.” He huffed. “Why have you been so- what am I doing wrong!? You have been so on edge lately.” “I don't want to talk about this anymore.” Dr. Hal looked away and began to pad out of the room. “Don't walk away from me!” They said, raising their voice. “Please! Let's just talk!” They said, throwing their arms up in the air.They had been working with each other for sixteen years, and though Dr. Hal was walking away, and acting standoffish, he did care about his colleague. The two of them had been working together for sixteen years. The pair acted like a married couple when they argued. But really, they were both married to their jobs, not each other. Recently though, Dr. Hal’s marriage with work was failing. Like a marriage in which both of the participants were no longer in love with each other.

Dr. Param followed Dr. Hal for a bit, before sighing and going to sit down in one of the chairs outside the operating theatre. It was a bit awkward to sit in, considering they had a 5 foot long body. In reality, the bug-like cyborg laid on the chair rather than sat in it. They watched as Dr. Hal put his hands in his lab coat and power-walked away to his quarters. They hated when he got like this. Lately they had been noticing that his colleague's heart just wasn't in his work like it used to be. Dr. Param missed it, back when things were simple. Executing tests on subjects, researching, and all the other marvelous things- they weren't fun anymore. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be fun, maybe this work was supposed to be hard and laborious. But… Ugh. Dr. Param just sat there, trying to think of ways to reignite that fire that had been reduced to cinders within Dr. Hal. Meanwhile, Dr. Hal was in his quarters. The off-white walls surrounded him, it was a small room, only about 9 feet wide and long. The ceiling was low, and if he jumped, he would probably hit his head on the ceiling. Not that he was the type to just randomly jump. That was more of Dr. Param’s thing. Being all excited and enthusiastic about their job… Dr. Hal wondered how they did it. How they managed to be as passionate about their work as they were the day they both first woke up and did their first assignments. Part of him admired it, maybe even envied it. These walls. These floors. The lights, the blood, the smell of this lab. It was all the both of them knew. Their old lives were gone. Dr. Hal wasn't supposed to miss it. He had consented to this after all. He consented to having his body removed from his brain, and having his brain utterly transformed into something inhuman. Dr. Param consented to it too. So then why did he feel like something was missing? 

Why would he miss being a terminally ill cancer patient? This was a far more noble life than wasting away in a hospital bed with no family to be there as he died. Of course he did not remember being a terminally ill cancer patient, but that was what his bosses told him. They even showed him pictures of who he used to be. Birth records, I.D., photographs. All meaningless to him now. 

He had been thinking more about it lately. He hadn't told anyone though. He always got the feeling that the bosses didn't like it. It was an unspoken taboo to mention the past when the goal of the organization was to further the path into the future. He closed his eyes. Well, he didn't really have eyelids. He just shaped the ectoplasm that comprised his body to slide over his eyeballs.  And then there was a knock at his door, before he could tell them to come in, someone he didn't expect to see today walked into his room stiffly. The person that entered his room was a pale man, with wispy and wild white hair, and a ratty scarf worn over his lab coat. His face was round, it would have been almost friendly looking if not for the deep scowl that he wore on his face at all times. Dr. Hal sat up, and then got off his bed to stand respectfully towards the head scientist “Dr. Brian.” He remarked. “It's good to see you.” “You did good work on the last subject, but we have another assignment for you.” Doctor brian said, ignoring pleasantries and going straight for what was needed of Dr. Hal. “We have a subject coming in that is extremely high profile. Not only that, but it's going to be a vivisection. Further details will be given later.” He said in a monotone. “Oh. I see. But why are you telling me this in person? I feel like this could have been communicated in a memo.” He crossed his arms and tilted his head. “Because you haven't been confirming your memos.” He huffed. “You have been acting highly unprofessional lately. Now tell me why that is.” He asked pointedly, glaring up at Dr. Hal. “I apologize.” He began, taking in a breath. “I have just been feeling unwell lately. I was actually going to request a week’s vacation for-” “Denied.” The head scientist interrupted. “The high profile vivisection is tomorrow.” “Oh.” Dr. Hal folded his arms. “I assume my...talents will be needed?” he asked. “Both you and Dr. Param will be needed, yes.” “Alright.” he looked away. “Tell you what-” Dr Brian began. “You can have your week's vacation after the vivisection tomorrow. It's estimated to take six hours to complete.” Dr. Hal’s eyes widened. Wow. That was more than double the length of the longest vivisections he had done. This must be someone special that they were vivisecting. “Will it be a terminal one?” He asked. “Yes.” Damn it. Dr. Hal hated the terminal ones. Usually they were performed only on death row prisoners or terminally ill patients. So he didn't feel shame about most of them, despite technically being a murderer. Well, he wasn't really a murderer. They were going to die anyway, so who cares? He certainly didn't. But it was still unpleasant to be in the mind of a dying person. It was sometimes borderline nightmarish. Of course, he wouldn't voice these opinions out loud. But Dr. Brian’s scowl still deepened. “Do what you will for the rest of today.” He huffed, and exited the room. End of chapter one

#oc #oc story #mad scientist oc #robot oc #Brainjarred #medical horror #body horror

[hazbbyhaz]

sleepless || harry styles

fifteen

pairing: Harry Styles x OC

synopsis: beach things

disclaimer: the beach, cameras, minor injury, talk of childhood, mentions of death

Everything is different by the sea

“Look!” Avery lets her shoes drop as she runs towards the open sea. “We’re right on time!” The sun was just beginning to rise, painting the sky in a beautiful coral, as Harry met her at the shoreline.

“I told you this was a good idea. Quite frankly, I think that I only have good ideas.” Harry smirked, his eyes fixed on the horizon in front of them. The beach was relatively empty, only an elderly man and his dog passing them when they had first arrived. It was easy to imagine that this place belonged to them, and only them. Their safe space where nothing could hurt them.

Avery rolled her eyes at his remark and placed the blanket that she had brought down onto the sand, flattening the strawberry colored material. Finally settling, she laid with her legs stretched out and her arms bent behind her, supporting her weight. Soon Harry was sat by her side, legs crossed while he fiddled with the small stones in the sand. Neither of them felt the need to speak. The air around them was feather-light and enjoyable. Seagulls started to circle above them, their cries echoing over the beach.

“This is my second time at the beach,” Avery’s eyes fell shut as the sun rays illuminated her skin. “I shall come more often.”

Harry chuckles, now leaning back on his elbows next to her. “Sometimes you talk like you are from the Victorian age.”

She blushed at his words, but quickly caught herself, trying to not get embarrassed by the teasing. “Well, making a statement like that is awfully rude Mr…”

“Styles?” He suggests with a quirked brow.

“Styles. Mr Styles.” She let out a hearty laugh, allowing herself to blush. “I've never heard that name before… it suits you.”

“What does that mean?” He questions, joining in with her laughter.

“It fits your personality, I think so at least.”

“Well, thank you.” Their eyes meet for a moment before they both turn back to face the sea.

“Who took you to the ocean last?”

“My dad,” She said. “I was around five I think, I don’t really remember a lot of it. My parents are divorced, but he had insisted on spending this particular weekend with me. We flew a massive kite and had a bonfire on the beach later that night. Have you ever had a bonfire?”

He finds her question a peculiar one. A bonfire seemed, to him, to be a thing that people did often. It didn’t seem like some amazing thing that only a couple of people had the chance of experiencing. “Yes, quite a few.”

“Oh,” She frowns. “I've only ever had the one, but it was really nice.”

“Where is your dad now?”

“He’s dead. Car accident.”

He looked over at her, but she didn’t meet his gaze. “Oh Ave… I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“It's okay. It was a long time ago. I don't think about it much anymore, there isn't much to hold onto anyway.”

She shrugged. He tried to look for the slightest sign that would tell him that there indeed was something more. Trying to see if he had bothered her in any way. He found nothing.

“What about your mom?” He nearly jumps as Avery immediately stood up, brushing the access sand off of her clothes.

“Can you take a photo of me? Just one.” She said quietly, the request nearly a whisper, looking down at him with a troubled smile.

“My camera is in the car.” He continued, getting up. “But I can get it, one minute.” Hary made his way back to the car, leaving Avery by the sea. He could swear he saw a tear slip down her cheek, but, just like with Francis, he acted like he didn’t see it. Being blatantly ignorant to the problems he knows exist.

“What should I do?” Avery asks as Harry appears with his camera, the device hanging around his neck. At this moment, it was obvious to her that he was a photographer. It was the way that he looked at their surroundings, trying to give the best suggestions as to what she would do that showed her that he was passionate about the matter. He took a lot of care in the photos he produced, and it was nice to see someone so in love with what they did.

“Well, what are you offering me?” He holds up the camera, looking through the viewfinder to regulate the lens.

“Uhm… I can do a cartwheel!” She stretches her arm up high, her shirt riding up in the process. She shudders as the cold air hits her exposed stomach. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

She lifts her leg to gain some momentum, and before she can complete the trick, her shoulder connects with the ground. Avery sits up, rubbing her now aching shoulder and wiping the sand off of her pullover. “Fuck.” she sighs, Harry runs towards her, kneeling down by her side. His camera dangling loosely around his neck.

“Are you alright?” His eyes scanning over her frame in search of any injuries, bringing his hand up to gently rest on her shoulder. “Does your shoulder hurt?”

“Yeah, but it's fine. It's probably just going to bruise.” She grimaces but lets out a breath as she notices that she can move it without any major pain. “Did you get the shot?”

“No, sorry. I was more concerned about your health,” He gets up first, giving her his hand to help her from the ground. “Careful.” He murmurs lightly under his breath.

“Let's do another one.”

“But no cartwheel.”

“No cartwheel,” Avery promises, so Harry will get back into his previous position, adjusting the camera to the lighting. “Now that I don't have the cartwheel option I don't know what to do… what about a handstand?”

“No, Avery. You have the balance of Vincent Van Gogh.”

She rolls her eyes at his joke but agrees with his statement. A handstand is a bad idea. Instead, she turns her back to the camera, looking out at the ocean. “Take one like this.”

“But then I can see your face?” He begins to argue.

“I don't want my face to be in it.” She takes the scrunchie out of her hair, letting it flow freely in the wind. Harry sighs, but nevertheless, he takes the photo. A little bit after Avery hears the shutter sound, she turns back around to face him.

Harry is looking at his camera, presumably at the picture he had just taken. Out of nowhere, this worry overloads Avery. She had let herself go. She had been too bossy with her statements, she had been rude, and ungrateful. Was he mad at her? Is that why he sighed? Was this a warning sign for her to not take anything further?

“I'm sorry.” Avey grabs onto her hand, attempting to cease its incessant shaking as Harry raises his gaze.

“What? Sorry for what?”

She visibly swallows. “I was being rude and bossy towards you. I didn't mean it and I'm really sorry, Harry. I swear it won't happen again. I swear.”

“Avery, what are you talking about?” He lets go of his camera, letting it hang around his neck while he slowly makes his way to where she was standing.

“You aren't being rude. You were just talking about the picture. I'm not mad at you, why would you think that?”

Her eyes dropped from her own, now embarrassed at her assumption. “Because of your sigh, I thought you were annoyed with me…”

“I'm not annoyed with you, Ave. I just… it doesn't matter. We’re fine, we’re okay. I'm not mad or annoyed, okay?”

“No. Why did you sigh?” She asks, and she could slap herself for how she sounded. This is not how she was raised at all. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Just, please tell me.”

Harry's eyes drop for only a moment before he is staring directly into her irises. His green eyes meeting her blue ones. “It's just… there is no reason for you to look away from the camera, Ave… and I guess this is just a long-winded way of saying that I think you are beautiful.”

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Taglist: if you would like to be added, please tell me!

@serenametanoia @magicalmongerherringfan @caliqueenbed

#harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fic #one direction #one direction fanfiction #cute!harry #soft!harry #photographer!harry #harry edward styles #harry styles #solo harry #harry 1d #hs #hs1 #fine line #harry edits #stream fine line #harry styles edit #harry styles aesthetic #aesthetic harry styles #hes #haz #hazzah #hazza styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles x reader

[bellatrixobsessed1]

By The Fire

This ship is the hill I choose to die upon!

Summary: Seicho (cupholder chick) rescues a super awkward Azula from Chan’s rude party guests.

The girl had found her in the corner, jittery and anxious. Alone and pursued all at once. No one wants to talk to her, but everyone wants to stare at her. After several social blunders she has become the party’s central spectacle. She has become something of a party game herself.

Several comments in, she is inclined to say that Zuko had made the right call in leaving the party with the slam of a door. And Mai had made the right move in following him out nearly ten minutes after. She can’t find TyLee and she wishes that she had followed Mai out.

Their remarks aren’t exactly hushed; she knows now that she is a freak, a fuckin’ weirdo, and a creep with atrochious pickup lines among other things. She is nearly certain that, that last one had come from Chan himself.

She is damn sure that he has told everyone that she has been stalking around all night. That she can’t take rejection and had taken to following him all around the party after he was ‘generous’ enough to let her kiss him.

She has been tucked away into this corner since the kiss. She had thought to remain on the balcony until everyone else made their way back onto the beach. She should have. At least this way she wouldn’t have to hear them talking. She knows that she has made several mistakes tonight and the first of them had been letting everyone think that she is anything but above them.  She wishes that she could reassure herself that she is superior in most every way.  She thinks of pridefully reminding them of who she is but she doesn’t have much pride in her right now and she isn’t sure that she wants her impeccable image tarnished. And even if that weren’t the case, tonight she doesn’t particularly feel like a princess.

“Maybe you should leave Chan alone and go home.” Ruon Jian remarks. She knows what he is doing and he knows just as well. He is going to make a spectacle of the both of them and she is torn between standing her ground as she always does and making a retreat like Zuzu and Mai.

“Perhaps Chan should stop pining for me.” She mutters.

“You think that he’s pining for you?”

“He certainly can’t keep me off of his tongue.”

“Because you keep cramming it down his throat.” His remark earns approving laughter and a murmur of agreement.

She cringes and her grip on her cup tightens. She clears her throat, “I meant that he can’t seem to stop talking about me.”

“Yeah, because you’ve been making moves all night and he’s getting tired of it.” He sneers.

“He volunteered to give me a tour of the house. He extended the offer.” Her grip tightens further. She thinks of perhaps burning them all to ashes. At the very least she thinks of peeling herself away from the wall and finding Chan. She could make an example of him. Instead she finds herself sweeping the crowd for TyLee. She wonders if the girl had left too. Even TyLee has her limits as far as attention goes.

Ruon-Jian’s brow crinkles, “why would he do that.”

“Because he…” what? Thinks that she’s ‘pretty’.

“Or maybe it’s because you intruded on his real date. Right, Seicho.”

Heads turn from her to another girl. To Seicho. To the girl who she...passed her drink to. She is thankful for the lapse in attention, for her face is a very vivid shade of scarlet. She braces herself for another cutting remark and tries to come up with possible ways to rebuff it. But her sharp mind has gone blunt. She doesn’t have any experiences to draw upon. Not tools at her disposal.

“It wasn’t a date.” Seicho says. “I was trying to get him to leave. Your friend can’t take a hint and he can’t take rejection. I was relieved when she came along.” The girl nods towards Azula with a shrug. “Unfortunately things didn’t work out and Chan went back to stalking me.”

“Chan…”

“Has no room to call anyone a creep.” Seicho gives a dismissive wave as she makes her way across the now silent room.

“You’re lucky that I even invited you to this party, Sei! You’re a nobody. You wouldn’t have even had a chance if it weren’t for me.”  Chan declares.

Seicho makes a point of saying nothing at all. Instead she finds Azula in the corner. Azula wishes that she wouldn’t have. She had been nearly done with her unnoticed escape and now they are all staring at her again. At she and Seicho.

“You should be thankful that I’d hit on you even though I know what you looked like last year.”  Chan turns to the crowd. “Remember last year, guys.”  There is another rumble of laughter and now Seicho’s face is red.

“Come on, let’s go.” Her hand is on Azula’s shoulder.

“I have to find my...TyLee.”

“The cute one with the wide eyes and the braid?”

Azula nods.

“She left before ‘loser boy’ did.” She pauses. “Congrats, you’re the last one standing in your crew.”

Azula can only manage a sputter. The audacity they have to leave her here on her own! At least TyLee probably assumed that she’d have Zuko and Mai. Her anger dies away, Zuko and Mai probably assumed that TyLee is still here. But they haven’t come back for her yet. She permits Seicho to lead her to the front door.

“Later fatass!” Ruon remarks. Azula hears the slap of a high-five.

Seicho’s footfalls become plenty more purposeful.  “It was a stupid party anyways! I knew I shouldn’t have come. Rin told me that I should have just stayed home and played Pai Sho with she and her brother.” She laments. Azula doesn’t think that she is talking to her but she listens anyways. “I could have had a nice night. We could have got some ice cream and went for a walk on the beach. Instead I let Chan pester me all night…”

“Yes, it was a dreadful party. I have been to better ones.” This is a lie. Unless the formal palace dinners counted.

“I guess that I should thank you for rescuing me from him, even if it was only for an hour.”  She laughs.

Azula nods.

“Do you want to find your friends?”

“I know where they are.” She beckons for Seicho to follow.

.oOo.

She finds that the fire is much more pleasant than the party ever could be. If Zuzu, Mai, and TyLee have any qualms about Seicho being there, they don’t vocalize them. In fact, they seem to rather enjoy her company.

She is charming and witty and for every overly dramatic thing that any of them monologue, she has a sly remark. Azula isn’t sure that the other three care much for it, but she finds it quite amusing. Doubly so when the girl quips about her own story. She waits until each of them has said their piece to say anything truly profound.

Frankly, it takes the princess aback. She tells Zuko that it would do him will to forgive himself, that no one else will if he can’t. She tells TyLee that she is more than a pretty face--she must be if she was smart enough to get the hell out of Chan’s party as soon as she did. She tells Mai that it is more than okay to be more reserved, that the world can’t always be loud and spunky.

And where no one else has anything to offer her, Seicho tells her that she doesn’t think that she is a monster. “I don’t know anything about your mom or your family. I won’t pretend to. But I don’t think that you’re a monster.”

And somehow that is enough for Azula It might be because she knows that at least one person doesn’t think that she is. It might be because, for much of the night she has felt far less than human; a human can communicate with other humans where a monster can only make garbled and uncanny attempts to impersonate human speech.

Maybe she doesn’t look reassured enough because Seicho slings an arm around her and pulls her closer. For the first time that night, she does feel human. She feels like she is allowed to feel human. She swallows hard. She is allowed to be venerable and she is scared of vulnerability all the same.

Seicho rubs her arm.  

“What about you?” She inquiries. “What’s your sob story? You don’t get a free pass.”

Seicho shrugs, “there isn’t much to say really. Everyone on this beach knows that I’m a loser.”

Zuko scoffs, likely thinking of Ruon-Jian again.

“I don’t think that.” TyLee smiles.

“You would if you saw me last year.”

“Eh.” Mai waves her hand. “I wouldn’t mind, I’m surrounded by losers.”

Azula isn’t sure which of them exclaims, “hey!” first. Though it is nice to hear Mai chuckle, even if it is only a small one.

.oOo.

Mai and Zuko wander off first, keen on some alone time. Trekking along the beach. TyLee turns in soon after, declaring that she’d like to sort out her new shell collection before bed. So it is just she and Seicho once more.

Azula doesn't think that she minds this all too much. She finds it easier to settle into the woman’s arms. Dimly she thinks that she ought to be the one doing the holding. But for now she is content to be held.

Seicho doesn’t speak, she simply runs a hand through Azula’s locks. It feels infinitely better than Chan’s half hearted joke of a kiss. Seicho is soothing. Seicho is easy to be around. It doesn’t feel so fake.

“The fire is getting low.” Seicho remarks.

Azula moves to light it again. “Better.”

Seicho nods. “The crackling adds a little something, don’t cha think?”

Azula gives a nod of her own. It is nice amid the crashing of the waves and the rustling of palm fronds.

“This is relaxing. Honestly, it’s much better than that ridiculous party.”

She is setting the bar rather low, but Azula understands the point. “Indeed.”

She finds herself dozing off to the sensation of the woman’s fingers toying with her hair. Suddenly she is very glad that she still has four more days left of her vacation. Maybe she will bring the girl home with her.

#Avatar The Last Airbender #Azula #Azucho #Fanfiction

[salt-warrior]

WHEN EARTH TURNS TO ASHES

Masterlist

Chapter Eleven: Little Miss Independent

"Stop beating yourself up, Crown." Thorne shoved in another bite of waffles, boysenberry jam staining his lips purple as he did so. "It's not your fault that you're the nosiest person on the planet and she hates herself. Get over it."

Kai rolled his eyes. Thorne was a great friend; he was always there for Kai no matter what. But he was the worst at giving sane advice or motivational speeches. "It just wasn't my business."

"You really should have gone into journalism," Thorne said, his words slurred by the food in his mouth. Kai looked down, his heart heavy at the comment.

When Kai had been young, he had wanted to do nothing more than write, and his mother had encouraged that. His father had even been fine with the whole idea, even if it meant that Kai would not go into the family business. All of it had changed when Kai's mother had died. Kai stopped writing—stopped doing most things he loved. It was too painful.

"Yeah," Kai muttered. "I should have."

"Anyways," Thorne waved his fork erratically through the air, nearly spraying Kai with blue jam. "You need to just rip the bandaid off. Show her that you care— more than you should if you ask me–" Kai glared. Thorne sighed. "She really needs someone on her side, even if she thinks she's little-miss-independent."

Kai looked down into his mug, completely empty except for small flakes of chocolate. It wasn't that Kai didn't want to talk to Cinder—quite the opposite, really. He just didn't want to scare her away. He would never be able to forgive himself.

"It's just, there's something dark about her. She's hiding something," Kai remarked.

"Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious. I don't think I ever would have figured that one out on my own." Thorne threw his arms around his head in exasperation, before ticking off fingers. "I mean, she freaks every time someone calls her by her given name, she had a sister that died while they were alone together and no one will say how it happened, and everyone she once knew hated her. I wonder what that girl has to hide."

"Okay, okay!" Kai drummed his fingers anxiously across the square table. "I'm only thinking out loud, no need to go ballistic."

Scraping chunky jam out of a plastic container, Thorne rubbed it lovingly across the last of his waffles. Kai watched, nose scrunched in disgust. Kai hated berries. They were just too sour, too mushy, and left the back of your tongue scratchy. They were gross.

Thorne smothered whipped cream on top of his creation, practically drooling all over it. "Oh, hey, I almost forgot. Did you learn anything from the Principal or that Chris girl?"

"Cress," Kai said quickly, his palms growing sweaty.

"What?" Thorne looked up, confusion scrawled across his fair features.

"Her name is Cress, not Chris." Kai clarified, his cheeks heating up as he babbled. "And your incredible timing stopped me from learning anything really important, so thanks for that."

An impish grin came across Thorne's face, and Kai knew what he was thinking. If ultra-red was a color, then ‘Kaito Crown's face when talking about pretty girls’ could have been the crayon for it. "Yes, she was cute, but not my type, so please don't ask."

"Ah," Thorne slapped a hand dramatically across his heart. "I would never suggest anything of the sort. I know how attached you are to your hot angel." Thorne quirked an eyebrow devilishly.

"Well, what were you going to ask, then?" Kai grumbled, turning his blazing face down. He hadn't much thought about Cress, considering that she had a mysterious past with the girl he was fighting for. He didn't know if Cress had been a positive or negative factor in Cinder's life, which therefore made her hard to look at in any other way than a source of information.

Thorne played around with his fork before answering, "Well, you must have found out something new. Even the tiniest bit of news. I mean, unless you're hiding it from me." Thorne grinned wickedly, and Kai cursed himself mentally. "You're a terrible liar, Crown."

"Okay, fine. I just feel guilty about the whole thing." Kai rubbed his palms against his sleepless eyes. "When I went to talk with Cress, she told me that Selene—Cinder—kept a bunch of secrets." Kai paused, gauging Thorne's face. He looked almost bored, which send a stab of agitation through Kai.

"And?" Thorne pressed on impatiently.

Kai sighed. "And she told me that Cinder lied about what happened to her mom. Even her records don't have the truth; I would know. The nurses told me that Sel– Cinder's mother was put into prison when she was only six, but apparently that's not true."

Thorne motioned impatiently for Kai to continue, but Kai shrugged his shoulders. Thorne huffed. "What actually happened to her mother?"

"Well, I would know if it weren't for your incredible timing." Kai leaned forward in his seat, glaring at Thorne.

"Hey! You told me to call the second the girl woke up. You can't blame me for a job well done," said Thorne defensively.

Kai threw his body back in his seat, feeling exhausted. He was used to getting a solid eight hours of sleep, but that had gone out the window ever since the accident. It was starting to wear on him. "I know, Thorne. And thank you for being there, it meant a lot."

"It better have." Thorne folded his arms across his chest defensively. "That girl of yours is not an angel."

A chuckle escaped Kai, earning a glare from Thorne. "She's a piece of work!"

"She's not easy," Kai admitted, thinking back on his only encounter with a conscious Cinder. She was different than anyone Kai had ever met, one moment rageful and fiery, and in the next small and pitiable. It was hard for Kai to feel anything but compassion for someone who had clearly suffered much. She had fought her whole life, never leaving her enough time to feel peace or love.

There was something so terribly sad about the fact that Cinder couldn't understand why Kai would save her. She was just a girl—not a woman, but a girl—and she needed at least one person on her side. If that one person was Kai, then he would be one damn good cheerleader.

"Why was she so mad at you in the first place? What did you say to her?" Kai asked, recalling the phone call and Cinder's brief acknowledgment to Thorne's visit. "She seems to hate you even more than me."

Thorne waved his hand as if swatting a fly. "Oh, you know. Some women just can't take no for an answer is all."

"Carswell, please tell me you did not flirt with her the second she woke up. She nearly burned to death!" Kai exclaimed, imagining all of the terrible puns and flirtatious jokes Thorne could have made.

"Oh, don't get your panties in a wad." Thorne rolled his eyes. "I was perfectly pleasant as always."

"No wonder she hates me so much," Kai grumbled to himself. "I unleashed you on her, and now she's probably frightened to death! She's only nineteen, Thorne."

"And I'm only twenty-two." Thorne countered.

Kai put his head in his hands, his face flushing with embarrassment and... was that jealousy? How could Kai be jealous that Thorne had tormented a girl with his flirtations, or was it the fact that Thorne was able to flirt with her?

Thorne seemed to read Kai's face like a book. He leaned forward teasingly, his voice sing-songy. "Ooh, is Kaito jealous? But of what, may I wonder?" Thorne rested his cheek in his hand, looking like a gossiping school-girl. Kai had hardly ever wanted to hit him more.

"Not jealous." Kai got out through his teeth. "I just don't want you messing with her. She's been through enough."

"Sure, sure." Thorne tossed the words around teasingly. "Anyway, she's not my type. I've always had a thing for gingers. Those devil's wenches. I was thinking about asking out the other nurse."

Kai ignored this, knowing as well as anything that Thorne preferred blondes. Thorne had only ever been out with one redhead, and that date had not been his best.

"I just don't know what to do," Kai whined, getting back on track. Whenever Thorne was involved in a conversation things always got out of hand.

"Go talk to her. She's had a night to think things through and realize that she was rude and irrational. Appeal to your gentler side; women like that."

Kai wrinkled his nose, deciding that was enough advice for one day. It was true that Cinder had been given plenty of time to think things over and decide how she felt. It was unfair of Kai to shove so much information on her all at once. He would be slower, more patient and gentle this time.

"Thanks, Thorne," Kai said, standing from his seat and sliding his body into his coat.

"Anything for my brotha," Thorne winked, throwing out a fist.

Kai bumped Thorne's fist with his own, twisting it and then spinning his fingers before he walked away and out of the café.

***

"How are you doing today, Cinder?" A nurse with vibrant blue braids practically skipped into the room, carrying a tray with milk, chocolate pudding and something that resembled oatmeal. Cinder tried not to wrinkle her nose. At least this nurse had called her by her preferred name.

The first nurse that Cinder had met had been curvy and dark-haired. She had called Cinder 'Selene' so many times that Cinder had yelled for her to stop. The second nurse hadn't spoken at all to Cinder, except to ask her the rudimentary questions, though that may have been the night-shift speaking.

"Fine." Cinder commented, not in the mood for conversation. There was a TV going on in the background, but Cinder had only glanced at it for a few seconds before growing bored. She would much rather be reading a book. Those at least didn't make her eyes burn and head throb.

The room was plainly furnished, with the bed in the center of the room, the said TV across from the bed, and a small plastic chair beside the bed for visitors.

"I brought your breakfast, and your medicine. Now that you're awake, we want to start you on oral medication and ween you off your IV so you can go home." The nurse placed the tray on the over-bed table. "I'm Iko, by the way."

Cinder ignore the last part. "Wasn't I in a medically induced coma? Why didn't they just keep me awake and give me my medication like a normal person?" Cinder questioned, her words tinged with agitation.

"It's part of the treatment," Iko said, her voice cool but firm. She was not a woman to be messed with. "People heal better while sleeping, and this particular treatment can be tricky."

Iko moved around the bed to shift Cinder into an upright position. She fluffed the pillows, and smoothed down the blankets in an affectionate fashion. Cinder almost felt guilty for being so bitter toward such a kind person.

There was something reassuring about Iko's presence. Cinder relaxed her shoulders, not realizing how tense she had been. She had been putting up a mask for so many years; it was nice to let it down, even for a second.

"Take these," Iko handed Cinder a small cup with an assortment of colored pills. Cinder put them all in her mouth at once, washing them down with a chug of milk that made Cinder almost gag. She had never been fond of dairy products, but she didn't want to be a snob.

The nurse seemed to dance around Cinder's bed, fixing monitors and IV bags, changing the lighting, turning the volume down on the TV. She appeared to know exactly what Cinder needed the most to make her comfortable. It was an odd sensation, to be cared for. Cinder hadn't experienced anything of the sort in too many years.

After seeming to finish with her practicality, Iko settled down in the plastic chair next to Cinder's bed. She clasped her hands daintily in her lap and smiled at Cinder. Only then did Cinder begin to marvel at the ageless quality Iko possessed. Her dark skin was clear and unblemished, her golden eyes bright, yet wise, and her blue braids gave her spunk.

"So," Iko smiled teasingly. "You seem to have a couple of male admirers. I hope that I'm not stepping the line when I ask you which one would happen to be your lover."

That took Cinder aback. Her shoulders tensed, and while normally she would have been agitated, or even mad with such an assumption, all Cinder could manage was a laugh. And laugh she did; big, ugly, loud laughing that shook the bed and caused the heart monitor to race.

Iko stared at Cinder in astonishment, and looked nearly appalled when Cinder began to cough and choke. She stood from her seat, placing a hand over Cinder's chest and muttering about smoke inhalation.

"You thought–" Cinder coughed, unable to control her laughter, "–that I was–" A wheezing began at the back of Cinder's throat. "–with one of those stupid–"

"Hey, hey," Iko was practically yelling at Cinder. "Stop with that, or you'll stop breathing soon enough. Hey!" Iko grabbed Cinder by the shoulders, trying to calm her.

Cinder stopped laughing, though it was gradual. She coughed once more before regaining her composure and staring at her befuddled nurse. "I'm okay." Cinder wiped at her eyes, though no tears had escaped. That was odd.

"I'm sorry," Cinder whispered, her voice hoarse. "It's just, I've never met either of those men before. I only know Kai because he saved me and I'm guessing Thorne is the guy that dared him to do it."

Iko softened and looked as if she were about to say something, but someone else, hidden in the shadows, spoke before she could.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt, but I would like to speak with Miss Linh."

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