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mostlycompetentwriter · 4 years

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Road Not Taken (one-shot)

Part of the Stray Wolves Series

F/M Pairing: Y/N x Bang Chan (SKZ)

Warnings: Smut, Explicit Language, Lots of dirty talk, breeding kink, mentions of knotting, heavy degradation...basically, this is pure filth (but only at the end)

Word Count: 5.5 K

Genre: Werewolf AU; Marriage AU

Summary: It’s true that Bang Chan, the legendary pack alpha of the Stray Wolves, had never felt the need to take a mate until he met Y/N, the much-younger she-wolf who stole his heart. As the pack alpha’s mate, there are certain expectations that she must meet in her position, but she’s still learning while also getting into trouble with her close friends Seungmin and Jeongin.

Honestly speaking, the concept of mates and mating had never held any influence over me until the day I officially presented as an Omega. Suddenly, the idea of growing old with someone while taking care of our pups seemed like a scenario that I desperately needed in my life. Consequently, it consumed all of my dreams involving the future, but I still didn’t expect a proposal from my pack alpha whose dimpled smile made me feel incredibly special.

For starters, Chan was much older than me, and he was friends with my older brother, Jisung, who was caught off-guard by our sudden romance. You see, Chan became pack alpha after our last leader formally retired, and he had been serving in his place for many years. It was always customary for the pack alpha to find a mate, but Chan didn’t seem to favor the traditional approach. In fact, many of my pack members thought that he would never find a mate.

At least, until Chan approached me one morning after the two of us spent the day hunting together, which wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Despite being Jisung’s friend, Chan and I were fairly close, and I liked spending time with him because he never saw me as a younger member who still needed time to mature. And maybe I was young and reckless, but Chan never treated me like I was something to coddle, even if his overprotective instincts occasionally intervened.

When I officially mated with Chan, the entire pack was shocked. It seemed somewhat scandalous considering our age-gap and the numerous women who Chan had passed on throughout his tenure as alpha. But Chan had never concerned himself with the opinions of others, and he simply brought me into his life like I had always belonged next to his side.

It was an enormous responsibility, and I was still learning how to properly navigate the complexities of my responsibilities as pack Luna, especially in consideration of my age. But I wanted to do my best for Chan since he was giving me everything that I wanted, and, for the most part, I stayed on my best behavior for him, even if it was sometimes hard to resist the occasional moment of mischief. Especially when my friends Seungmin and Jeongin were involved, and they were a big part of the reason why our little trio had been deemed the pack’s troublemakers.

Maybe that’s why Chan always hesitated whenever I brought them up in conversation, and I carefully studied my mate from the warmth of our bed as dressed himself in regular clothes. “What are your plans, love?” he asked while busying himself with the buttons on his shirt.

“I don’t know,” I answered mindlessly. “I’ll probably just spend the day with Seungmin and Jeongin.”

Chan grimaced at the mention of their names, adjusting the leather strap of his belt as he considered me with dark eyes. “Just be careful,” he said, approaching the bedside to lean down and inhale deeply against my neck.

“I’m not a kid,” I grumbled against his touch, squirming around on the mattress.

“I know you’re not,” Chan said, smirking when he pulled back. “But it’s my job to worry about you.”

“You don’t have to worry all the time,” I protested, but Chan’s smile was still warm as he left our shared bedroom, and I waited until I could hear the sound of the front door closing before jumping out of bed.

When I was barely of age to leave my mother’s side, I met Seungmin and Jeongin by accident. Apparently, the younger two pups had formed a formiddable alliance, and they always did their best to push the limits of their mother’s patience. They were brothers by blood, but they were also best friends, and I never thought that I would find a place in their dynamic.

However, when we met for the very first time, I found out that Seungmin and Jeongin shared a lot of the same mischievous nature that often resulted in my mother apologizing to the older wolves who complained when I disrupted their frequent slumber. Because of our natural inclinations for mischief, I found myself joining the brothers as we wrecked havoc and mayhem on our other pack members who were certainly not impressed by our hijinks.

I’m sure my past behavior contributed to my pack’s hesitance when Chan accepted me as his mate. After all, they would be expected to show the pack Luna respect, but that was hardly feasible considering who I liked to keep in close company. Initially, Chan had tried to discourage our meetings by forcing Jeongin and Seungmin to join as many hunting and border patrols as he could manage. But we still found ways to see one another, and I think Chan gradually decided that he couldn’t stop the inevitable, even if his most recent warning to the brothers had forced them to reconsider some of our more impressive pranks...

“Are you sure about this?”

There was a slight note of trepidation in Seungmin’s tone, and it matched the look of insecurity on his face as we stood outside of the abandoned house in the woods. It was fabled among our pack’s younger members to be haunted, and some of the elder had warned us that it was strictly off-limits which, of course, stoked my curiosity. So, I scoffed at his hesitation because both Seungmin and Jeongin had been excited to talk about visiting the house last night. Yet, confronted with the real thing, they were both suddenly the world’s biggest cowards.

“Come on, guys, we all want to know what’s inside,” I said, reaching back for Seungmin’s hand.

“Yeah, but if it’s something bad...” Jeongin trailed off, and his eyes widened with a sudden realization. “What if Chan finds out?”

“He’ll never know,” I assured him. “Let’s just go inside and look around.”

I started forward without an ounce of hesitation, walking up the front steps of the house’s porch with confidence. I could also hear Seungmin and Jeongin following me from behind, and I took that as a good sign that my friends has refused to feel intimidated by my alpha’s attempts to ruin our fun. After all, what’s the worst that could happen in an abandoned house?

With this in mind, I reached out to open the front door, and it was unsurprising when I found it unlocked, allowing it to fall back against the hinges. The inside of the house was musty and old, and there was a foul smell in the air like the house was hiding something that was slowly rotting away. Whatever it was, I nearly gagged around the smell as it assaulted by sensitive nose, looking back over at Seungmin and Jeongin who both wore matching expressions of disgust.

“Where is that coming from?” Seungmin asked, and I allowed him to take the lead as we walked into the first room.

It appeared to be some form of kitchen, and I could identify dozens of places that might generate such a foul-smelling stench. “This place is disgusting,” Jeongin said.

“What did you expect?” I snorted.

“It’s really cold too,” Jeongin remarked, and I startled when I realized that he was right, and that was a bit strange considering the weather outside.

Nevertheless, I continued my exploration of the house, leaving the kitchen and approaching some of the rooms at the back of the house. I heard Jeongin and Seungmin laughing at something in the kitchen, but I paid them no mind as I opened the door to the first room.

It wasn’t anything special, but there was a bed in the middle of the floor and a closet near the heavily boarded-up window. I exhaled slowly, walking across the creaking floorboards as I noticed something strangely familiar tickling my senses. My wolf was suddenly on high-alert, and I was trying to look for anything that might be triggering the hair-raising response to whatever I was smelling that was right on the edge of my consciousness...

“Y/N!”

I nearly jumped out of my skin, spinning around on my heel at the sound of Jeongin’s high-pitched shrill. “Hey!” I shouted, leaving the bedroom door wide open as I retraced my steps to the kitchen. “What’s going on?”

“Y/N.” Seungmin’s voice was hushed, and the two boys were standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a defensive posture. I stood on my toes to look over them, and I felt my breath hitch at the back of my throat because standing at the entrance to the kitchen was a man. But I knew immediately that he wasn’t just an ordinary human who happened upon the house...

“Vampire,” I whispered, but not like our neighbors who lived in the mountains. These were rogue vampires who had been cast aside, and they were left without the necessary vampire bonds and fresh sources of blood required to sustain them. It certainly explained the metallic smell that had been all over that bedroom, and it provided justification for the lack of sunlight penetrating the inside.

This vampire was in the late stages of decay, and his blood-red eyes revealed that he was in no mood for our playful adventure. In fact, I could detect the hunger in his gaze, and I reached for Seungmin’s arm because I knew that we were in trouble.

“We need to get outside,” Jeongin said, and I nodded in response.

Because this vampire would not last in the sun, and it was our only possible form of salvation since there was no fighting a desperate vampire.

“Start walking the other way,” Seungmin said, and the three of us started to back up carefully, keeping the vampire in our line of sight as we tried for another means of escape.

However, I had taken no more than a couple of steps backwards when I felt another cold blast hit me from behind. I immediately stopped, and it caught Seungmin’s attention. He turned around to confront me, but his eyes widened and I knew that he had found the source of that chilly presence.

There was more than one vampire in this house.

“We’ll have to fight,” I said, and Jeongin whimpered at the idea.

“Stay close,” Seungmin said, and we formed a protective circle as the Vampires started to approach, fangs bared and with sinister snarls interrupting the quiet of the kitchen.

I held my breath, waiting for the right opportunity to shift, when I heard Seungmin let out a warning growl, and I realized too late that the first vampire had launched himself at my friends. Our circle was broken, and I nearly lost my balance at the force thrown against me from behind. Yet, it also created the perfect opportunity for the second Vampire who quickly took advantage of the distraction.

I fell to the ground hard, groaning at the pain jolting through my shoulder from the impact. But I was given no time to consider my injuries as my adrenaline kicked in and affected all of my concentration. It was enough to take my mind away from the fall, but not enough to muster an offensive strike. I was left playing defense with a rabid Vampire who knew that I was much weaker on my own.

I whimpered as the Vampire stood over me, teeth glinting menacingly as he hissed in my direction. I closed my eyes at the harsh sound, ready to accept my fate at the hands of the cruel Vampire, when a familiar howl broke through the haze of fear and confusion. And I realized with a barely-restrained gasp that an enormous jet-black wolf had suddenly attacked the Vampire, saving my life. I took a moment to catch my breath before using the counter to help myself stand up again, looking around the room at my pack members fighting the Vampires who had almost successful in their campaign.

I winced when I realized that the familiar jet-black wolf was my mate, and he was savage in his assault. Yet, at the same time, I realized that Chan was not inflicting much damage to the Vampire - almost like he didn’t want to harm it. I was puzzled by the consideration, but a quick tug on my arm alerted me to Changbin, our pack Beta, who was yelling at me to join the others outside.

I immediately obeyed his order, trying to avoid the Vampires and Werewolves engaged in heavy conflict, noticing that more Vampires had somehow joined the attack. But the escalating situation was left behind for the much-needed sunlight, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I found Seungmin and Jeongin unharmed. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” I said, allowing them to wrap their arms around me in familiar embrace.

“Y/N,” Seungmin said, looking at me with concerned eyes. “The house is protected by King Felix. It’s meant to provide a place for rogue Vampires to die in peace.”

I swallowed hard at the mention of the Vampire King who Chan had tried so hard to maintain good relations. “What have we done?” I asked, turning around at the sound of an all-too familiar voice.

Of course it was Chan, walking with our pack members as they diligently followed their alpha. He was talking to an older Vampire, one who I had never noticed before, and she was positively enraged as she practically screamed in my mate’s face. Apparently, the situation had evolved into something that held far more consequences, and I had never felt so ashamed.

When Chan came closer, I shivered at the rage in his eyes, and I refused to meet his gaze when he pulled me behind him. “We’ll talk later,” he growled, reminding me of the intimidating alpha who was feared throughout the neighboring packs.

“King Felix marked these lands as neutral,” the older Vampire said. “And you agreed.”

Chan stepped forward, keeping his hands behind his back as he addressed the elderly woman who sneered at my pack mates. “I’m sorry for their intrusion,” Chan said, bowing low at the waist. “It won’t happen again.”

“I hope not,” the old woman said. “You should train your pups to behave.”

I could feel myself blushing at being categorized as a pup when, as the pack alpha’s mate, I was expected to be one of the most mature members. It had a chastening effect, and I cowered behind Chan with my wolf’s tail metaphorically caught between my legs. Surely, everyone else in the pack would find out about our misadventure, and if they thought the same thing as this older vampire...

I shivered, resisting the urge to whine and lean into Chan’s familiar weight.

“They’ll be disciplined,” Chan reassured the vampire, glancing at me from the corner of his eye with a look that screamed punishment.

“I’ll let this go since it’s your first infraction and my vampires weren’t harmed,” she said. “But if I catch any of your wolves out here again...”

She closed her eyes as if she wanted to control her latent rage. But Chan understood the inherent warning. “The agreement was made for everyone’s protection,” Chan said. “This is the last time you will see wolves here.”

The older vampire snorted before retreating inside the house, and I tried not to whine when Chan took a firm hold of my arm, pulling me along next to him as we returned to camp for the evening.

The pack alpha’s cabin was located strategically at the back of our defined camp where Chan and I could find privacy together. I usually savored the distance from my pack mates, but I was feeling increasingly wary following my embarrassing blunder with the rogue vampires. The idea of spending unsolicited time alone with Chan was suddenly an intimidating prospect.

Still, it wasn’t in my nature to avoid my mistakes, and I followed Chan inside our shared cabin. He paused at the entrance to remove his shoes before heading in the direction of our bedroom, and I quickly followed his lead. Even as my wolf cautioned us to approach carefully, I didn’t want to exhibit that kind of behavior around Chan because it would only contribute to my immature image.

“Hey,” Chan finally addressed me, standing in front of our dresser. “Sit down.”

I held my tongue, eliminating the few steps to the edge of our bed where I deposited myself on top of the mattress. My weight sunk down into the foamy material, and I supported myself back on my arms, waiting for Chan to speak again. In the meantime, I fought the desire to try and explain myself since I knew that speaking out of term would only infuriate my older mate.

“What did your mother teach you about Vampires?” Chan asked. “Or, did you not pay attention?”

I flinched at his cruel tone. “She told me they were our enemies and that I should avoid them.”

“Did she?” Chan questioned. “Because your actions suggest that you ignored that lesson.”

“I’m sorry, Chan,” I said, deciding that, instead of justifying my bad behavior, I should try and appeal to him instead.

“I don’t really think you are,” Chan scoffed, looking at me from over his shoulder. “In fact, I’m wondering if you were even serious when you agreed to be my mate.”

I shuddered at his claim. “How can you say that? I love you, Chan.”

“You can love me and still be unprepared for the responsibilities of pack Luna,” Chan said. “Otherwise, you would think twice before putting yourself in situations where you could send a bad example to the rest of our pack.”

“I’m ready,” I insisted. “I want to be a good mate for you.”

“Then you better start proving that those aren’t just empty promises,” Chan growled, and I was thoroughly unprepared for his sharp tone. “What if you had gotten hurt? Those rogues weren’t able to control themselves, and you put yourself and your friends in danger.”

“I didn’t want anyone to get hurt,” I said. “It was a mistake.”

“I’m so glad you realize that,” Chan said with heavy sarcasm. “Why didn’t that cross your mind before taunting a group of vampires?”

“We didn’t know that there were vampires in the house!”

“Have you lost the ability to smell?” Chan snapped. “Why didn’t you take precautions?”

“I-I guess we weren’t thinking about that,” I said, stumbling over my answers to his difficult questions.

Chan sighed, turning around to look at me before his eyes grew darker, and I found myself on the receiving end of an approaching alpha with malicious intent. Instinctively, I crawled backwards on the bed, colliding against the headboard while Chan closed the distance between us, looming over top of me with one hand wrapping itself around my throat. It wasn’t enough to cause harm, but to send a message: “One second,” Chan said. “That’s all they need to snap this pretty neck.”

I swallowed hard, and I could feel my throat constricting from his powerful grip. “Channie,” I whispered. “You don’t know how sorry I am.”

He closed his eyes, leaning in closer to inhale sharply against my scent gland. “What if I had lost you?”

The words sent shivers down my spine because I could feel the heavy and warm humidity of his breath coating my skin. I stiffened from my position underneath him, suddenly realizing that Chan’s concerns went beyond potential conflict with the vampires. Those rogues would likely never attack an entire pack of wolves unprovoked, but the delicate balance of life and death hung on a narrow precipice when it involved younger wolves playing foolish games. “I’m still here,” I assured him, releasing calming pheromones to alleviate the ripe smell of fear masking his usual scent.

“You can’t do these things anymore,” Chan said, lifting his head to look at me. “Do you understand?”

I nodded in response, keeping steady contact with his stormy gaze. “I’ll be better for you, Chan.”

He sighed, and there was a sudden change taking hold of his demeanor, hardening the corners of his eyes and the harsh upturn to his upper lip. The transformation was subtle, but his scent was becoming thicker, a reminder of something dominant lurking beneath Chan’s soft, curly hair and dimpled smile. I knew better than to push him in this state, so I simply bared my throat, relaxing my arms across the bed.

“Such a good bitch when she wants to be,” Chan growled, and I swallowed hard, eyelids fluttering closed when his nose pressed into my swollen scent gland. His teeth nipped the delicate flesh, and I could feel his tongue tracing the ridges of his faded mark. Chan released another warning snarl, telling me to keep still for him while he examined my body with wide, studious eyes. Under any other circumstances, I would’ve considered it intimate, but there was something that Chan wanted to prove, and he was waiting for the right opportunity.

I watched as he explored my smaller figure, hands gliding along my waist while his nose inhaled along his journey south, exciting my senses and the wolf inside of me who was impressed by her mate’s display of alpha dominance. However, I couldn’t help but think that it was embarrassing to feel his nose press into the private junction between my thighs, and I squeezed my legs around his head when his tongue attempted to lap at me through the fabric of my pants. Chan growled, lifting his head to send me a warning look, pushing open my legs to continue his exploration of the place where my scent was most prominent.

I had no idea what Chan’s motivations were, and this unfamiliar territory was making my inner wolf increasingly desperate. However, I knew better than to question him, and perhaps it was nothing more than a display of strength meant to send me a warning against disobeying him. Whatever it was, I certainly liked the attention, even if it was difficult to fight the temptation to run my hands through his hair.

Eventually, Chan sat back on his heels, watching me through narrowed eyes. “Take off your clothes,” he said.

I squirmed on top of the mattress in pure delight, eager to please Chan since I knew that our argument was, more or less, finished, and he was clearly waiting to re-stake his claim. “Okay,” I replied, complying with his order as I unbuttoned my shirt and jeans, removing them with careful movements. Then, I let the bundle of clothes fall into the floor before I adjusted my position again, keeping my arms splayed out across the sheets.

Meanwhile, his eyes swept across my naked form before Chan’s evaluation continued, but this time he was undeterred by the barrier of my clothing, and everything felt heightened without them in place to stop him from attacking smooth flesh with his teeth. Nipping at the sensitive skin and leaving marks that would remain visible for days.

His hands also made themselves comfortable on my hips, holding me in place while his mouth did most of the work, tasting my scent gland until I was light-headed from his efforts. When he pulled away to catch his breath, I recognized the oily residue from my scent gland painting his lips. It was an erotic sight, and my wolf howled in delight when she could smell our intermingling scents permeating the air around us.

And I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Chan’s mouth until he reached down for the hem of his shirt, tossing it aside to reveal his sculpted torso - nothing but defined planes of hardened muscles. It was a beautiful distraction, and I didn’t even notice when his jeans disappeared next, leaving him in nothing but the boxer shorts that did very little to hide the evidence of his arousal. My mouth immediately started to water, and I could feel myself practically salivating at the prospect of his thick cock hiding beneath a layer of fabric.

“You have a beautiful body,” Chan said, and I beamed at his compliment. My smile didn’t last, however, when he ghosted his tongue over one of my nipples, staring up at me from a curtain of long lashes. I watched his hands as they reached out to squeeze my breasts, testing their weight with a heavy groan. “They’ll be even bigger full of milk for our pups.”

I inhaled sharply at the mention of pups because every instinct desired nothing more than to breed with my mate. It was a result of centuries of survival genes embedded within our DNA, and our inner wolves wanted to pass them onto our children for the next generation. For most werewolf couples, they always wanted the same thing, and Chan had only spoken to me briefly about having pups in the future. But Chan was responding to his alpha’s natural inclination to breed his mate, and he growled at the back of his throat, tugging on my nipple with his fingers while his tongue prodded at the hardened peak.

“It hurts,” I whined, even though I was aroused by his practiced tongue attempting to soothe the harsh sting of his sharpened canines.

Chan glanced up at me before pulling away to survey his work, nodding in satisfaction before moving down my body once again. I could never predict his next movement, and I gasped when he started to nose against my pubic bone, warm breath tickling the sensitive skin. This time, he could inhale my scent straight from the source, and it didn’t take long for his tongue to lick a long stripe against my slit.

Immediately, I arched my back in response to the pleasurable sensation, closing my eyes as his hands tightened their grip on my hips and forced his tongue inside my pussy, eating me out like he couldn’t get enough of my taste. I whined at his aggression, and more of my juices collected down the inside of my thighs. Chan purred when he realized, and he slurped loudly around my clitoris, bringing the engorged bud between his teeth.

I wrapped my fingers through his hair, making a mess of whatever style he had attempted. But it only made Chan look even more appealing, and he rumbled deep in his chest as he chased after my taste, lapping at my juices as if trying to consume every last drop. “Y/N,” Chan said, and his voice was husky and guttural.

“It feels so good,” I said, and Chan hummed around me, supporting himself higher on his arms so that I could moan at the sight of the wetness surrounding his mouth.

“Get on your hands and knees for me,” Chan requested.

I nodded, turning onto my side and trying my best to support my upper body on thin arms and trembling legs. I wasn’t surprised by Chan’s request because the position was the ultimate sign of submission, and it was most often used during heats and ruts since it was best for breeding. The thought had me shivering, dropping my head against the pillows as I felt one of Chan’s hands run down the smooth expanse of my back.

I jerked forward when he landed a quick slap to my ass, and I let him mount me, legs caging my thighs between his stronger ones, moaning when the fat head of his cock brushed against my ass. His actions were incredibly rough, and I could smell his thick alpha scent as it clouded the air with a cloying mixture of fresh pine and something much darker. But I was also surprised by my body’s compliance, allowing Chan to press against my lower back and force me into an arch.

“Are you ready?” he asked, and I hummed in acknowledgment, groaning when he slid in without resistance, and my pussy swallowed his cock greedily, desperate to milk him of everything that he had to offer me. “What a tight pussy,” he commented, forcing himself inside the rest of the way with a slight hint of desperation.

I moaned when I realized that he was completely buried inside my wet heat, and I could practically feel the tip of his cock against the head of my cervix. There was nothing comparable to the feeling of fullness weighing heavily on my lower body, and I curled my fingers into the sheets to stop myself from rutting back against his cock. “Chan,” I said, shaking my head as tears started to form.

“Be patient, Y/N,” Chan said, and he pulled his hips back so that just the tip of his cock remained before slamming back inside with an unprecedented amount of force. I was completely unprepared because my legs weren’t strong enough to hold me up against his vicious thrust, and I fell forward against the bed - turning my head to the side to breath as Chan continued his rapid thrusts inside of my pussy.

“Is this what you want?” Chan growled, nipping at the back of my neck. “Do you want me to stuff you full of pups?” I whined at his words, even if I knew that it was impossible outside of my regular heats. “You’d look so good after I bred you,” Chan said, pumping his hips faster as if he was trying to make that idea a reality. “Like a good little bitch.”

I cried at his filthy language, burying my face further into the mattress as I let Chan do whatever he wanted to me, moving me along his cock like I was just a warm hole for him to use whenever the moment was convenient. “Oh god,” I whispered as he switched angles, hitting my g-spot perfectly on every upward thrust.

“Maybe if you’re swollen with my pups, you won’t get into any more trouble,” Chan snarled, and I whimpered when his hand smoothed across my lower body as if imagining the swell of my bloated stomach.

“Please,” I said, reaching down for his hand to move it closer to my clitoris, encouraging Chan to touch me while he continued to pound into me over and over again, pushing his cock deep inside to the point where I could imagine feeling him at the back of my throat.

It was an abrupt descent from there, and he continued to stimulate my g-spot and clitoris perfectly because he knew my body so well after all this time together. Still, my orgasm hit me like a freight train, and I nearly screamed at the intensity, noticing stars along the edges of my vision. There was no strength left in my body, and I collapsed into a pile of heavy limbs while Chan continued to chase his own orgasm, growling when his knot started to swell in place. I whimpered, closing my eyes because it was starting to overstimulate my exhausted body, but Chan held me in place and sighed as he filled me with his cum.

For a moment thereafter, I was convinced that I would pass out, but I was able to control my breathing and steady my accelerating heart rate, feeling Chan fall onto the bed next to me. “Hold still,” Chan rumbled, adjusting my leg over his hip as he pulled me tighter against his chest, fingers petting over the place where his knot was securely stuffed inside my sore cunt.

“Channie,” I whined, and it was a pathetic sound resulting from the steady feeling of his cum pulsing from his engorged length and the harsh way that he handled me, like he could fix me into any position that he desired.

“Are you gonna cause me any more trouble?” Chan growled directly into my ear, and my inner wolf howled at our predicament. There was no better way for Chan to assert his dominance - locking me onto his knot in submission, and lowering the regular pitch of his voice.

“No,” I managed, stuttering around a broken moan when Chan started to grind his hips, stimulating my throbbing clitoris to the point where it actually began to feel painful.

“Maybe I should just knot you all the time like this,” Chan said. “Then you can’t wander off without telling me.”

I gasped at the suggestion, turning my head to the side to expose my neck to him. It was a vulnerable position, but it pleased Chan who started heavily scenting the mark he had left on me - a permanent reminder that I belonged to him.

It was also a visible reminder of my place in the pack, and I was determined to stand proudly next to Chan’s side.

#stray kids #skz #stray kids fanfic #skz fanfic #stray kids chan #stray kids chan fanfic #stray kids smut #stray kids imagines #stray kids scenarios #stray kids writer #stray kids werewolf au #bang chan fanfic #bang chan smut #bang chan werewolf #mostlycompetent

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neo-shitty · 3 years

Text

checkmate — ot8

description. in which a group of friends played a realistic game of mafia where it was all fun in games until one of them goes missing.

pairings. (though not focused) han jisung x female!reader, bang chan x byun taehee (oc), seo changbin x jeon saeyeon (oc)

genre. mystery, thriller, mafia!au (*wink)

warnings. swearing, usage of weapons, character death/s

word count. 19.3k

notes. i finished writing this fic way back in november but i was torn between chopping this fic into chapters (the way it was written) or posting it the way it appears in my google docs (as one long ass file). i hope you’ll enjoy reading this as much as i had enjoyed conceptualizing it in the shower.

about checkmate. Here are a few things you need to know about this AU before proceeding: Stray Kids and the three other characters (you and the two other OCs) are in one big friend group and are in the same graduating class. And because they’re all from the same batch, I’ve aged down Chan and Lee Know to ‘99. Hence, the ‘99s are Chan, Minho, Changbin and Taehee (OC), the ‘00s are Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix, Seungmin and you, and the ‘01s are Jeongin and Saeyeon.

i. night one.

High school had always seemed like a grey area in life. Maybe it was because of the sweet mix of innocence and corruption in the minds of everyone you got to interact with that made it seem like it was neutral. The halls were littered with people with various upbringings and influences of their own. No one was either good or bad yet—there was no way to tell which among you would make it in life or not. Just a bunch of angsty young adults torn between being worried with what the future held and making the most of the present.

In high school, people were bound to make friends that either lasted until graduation or the remainder of their respective lifetimes. There was no way to tell where their lots belonged but sometimes they wished it belonged in the latter. It had only been you and the two other girls until the eight boys took you under their wing in sophomore year—an unspoken rule the boys had with people who sat at the back row along with them.

2 school years and a shit ton of bickering later, you were all inseparable whenever together. God help the teachers that had all 11 of you in the same class together throughout high school. Thankfully, this academic year, it only happened once a week and all you could do was wish your homeroom teacher well.

The crew met at lunch everyday, another unspoken rule that was never decided but followed throughout the entirety of your high school days. It was impressive how two whole lunch tables were vacated the day Hyunjin cracked a height joke to Changbin which sparked a food fight in the middle of junior year. After that day, the whole gang set out to search for a new spot to eat lunch because according to Chan, staying together weighed more than eating conveniently at the cafeteria. Some of the kids disagreed with it but no one ever bothered to be vocal about it.

And this is how you all ended up eating lunch on the bleachers of the school gym for the remaining two years of high school.

Eating in the gym meant that you didn’t have to compete with the voices of the preps from the other table or the lunch lady whose patience had worn thin from the lunch rush. Which also meant that you didn’t have to keep your voices down whenever you played Mafia. The game never failed to be entertaining despite being played for roughly two years now. Anyone in the crew could even say they’d improved their own deducing skills as they cracked down the Mafia more easily with every round played.

All of you except Jisung anyway, who either got voted out of suspicion for being the Mafia or being killed by the Mafia themselves.

So when Lee Minho walks into the gym one day with a tempting offer in hand, Jisung is the first to say yes.

The hoverboard Minho is riding halts right by the bleachers before he picks it up. The other boys stop their game of basketball and gather round. Hoverboard in one hand and flyer in the other, he raises it up for everyone to see.

“What do you guys think?” he asks, watching everyone’s eyes skim over the flyer he’d picked up from the school bulletin board.

“I think it’s a great idea.”

“I think it’s pretty stupid.”

The voices come in unison, creating a rift in the decision of the crew in an instant. A bubble of laughter escapes out of one person's lips and the others follow. Jisung stands up from his seat on the bleachers, eyeing the smirking purple haired boy who was staring right back at him.

When the laughter dies down he finally speaks, “Do you have a problem?”

“What’s the point?” Seungmin answers, “You always lose anyway.”

Laughter fills the empty hall again, echoing off the walls in a seemingly mocking way that makes Jisung ball his fists. Chan purses his lips in annoyance, tracing the creases on his forehead before standing up to stall the fight threatening to happen at any given moment.

You watch as the tension between the two 00’s intensifies. When you catch a glimpse of Chan’s stressed face, you take it upon yourself to reign Jisung down. “Jisung, just sit down please.”

“Oh,” he turns to you, eyes wide in disbelief, “so you’re siding with them too? Fine.”

You wanted to argue but it’d only cause more ruckus. At least, even when he had his back turned to you, Jisung obliged to sit down. You let out a sigh and leave him alone.

Chan jumps down from the bleachers before taking the flyer from Minho, “If it isn’t clear to any of you yet, the flyer offers the most realistic Mafia game ever. All free. We just need to give them our names, show up at the address and we play.”

“Seems sketchy,” Taehee remarks.

“You doubt everything,” Changbin rebuts, to which the girl just shrugs.

Jeongin jumps down from the bleachers, taking the flyer from Chan to read it for himself. He turns to the awaiting crowd before him, “What could go wrong? It was posted on the school bulletin board after all.” Chan points in agreement before turning to see the reactions of the rest of the people there.

“It’s just a game of Mafia,” Felix finally says, “and we’re graduating so we might not get this opportunity again.”

Jisung finally turns around and faces everyone else, “I know right. I feel like this is going to be the best idea ever.”

“Yeah, best idea ever.”

Is the first thing Saeyeon says upon arriving at the designated address. The warehouse looming before you was illuminated by nothing but the lightbulb at the front. There were no streetlights leading up to the alleyway that led to the building and there were no signs indicating where to go.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Hyunjin asks, eyeing the building skeptically. Minho double checks the address on the flyer and his phone before nodding.

Before he could answer, someone else speaks. “Yes, this is the right place.”

Everyone turns to the direction of the voice. Around the corner of the warehouse was a door held open by a woman in a Vendetta mask that matched the one on the flyer. She gestures for the crew to follow and doesn’t bother waiting. There’s a fair exchange of confused expressions before someone leads the rest to follow the woman in.

You fall behind, along with the once enthusiastic Han Jisung. You watch as his eyes scan the surroundings nervously before he finally looks at you.

“I thought you were excited about this?” you tease, making Jisung pout.

“I am,” he answers, “it’s just a bit creepy.”

You got what he meant, feeling your own goosebumps make themselves evident on your skin. “Don’t worry, I got you.”

Upon entering the warehouse, you were asked to sign your names in a log book. You eyed the staff by the entrance, analyzing the details of the worn out mask she was wearing. It catches you off guard when a metal bracelet is snapped unto your wrist.

“What’s this for?” you asked, feeling the weight of the metal band on your arm.

“It’s a part of the game,” another staff member answers. “Shall we?”

You are then led through a maze of crates. The warehouse was just like any other. Everywhere you looked, there were piled wooden cargo boxes and miscellaneous objects you’d normally find in storage places. Overhead, there were dangling lamps but they were all left off. Save for the one in the middle of the room.

In the middle of the room stood a wide round table. Half of the crew were already seated, chatting about how cool the venue seemed. You thought it was overrated, but you had to admit it made the whole game more thrilling.

Once everyone was seated, the organizers took their leave, leaving the eleven of you alone in the warehouse with nothing but the table and the dangling light overhead to accompany you.

“Welcome to Mafia 2020.”

The voice catches everyone off guard and the whole room falls silent in anticipation. The voice comes from the speakers, loud enough to echo the warehouse but not loud enough to cause a disturbance in the vicinity.

“For every night following the start of the game, you’re given one hour to deliberate who you think the Mafia may be. You are given the option to skip a night or vote someone suspicious out. Upon making your decision, you are asked to speak into the intercom the name of the person you wish to vote out. If you have any inquiries, you are welcome to speak into the intercom and we’ll respond as soon as we can. Before you leave the premises, you are required to write a name on the signature pad by the booth near the main exit. The member whose name is written by the Mafia will be eliminated and will no longer be allowed to attend the warehouse meetings. If one’s name is written by the Police, they will be investigated and their role in the game will be revealed. If written by the Doctor, they will be saved.”

“Just like the usual,” Changbin says and the others nod in agreement.

“The only rule we have is that you are not allowed to say the name of the person you wrote down. We will be monitoring you closely. Your one hour begins now.”

“Wait, the game already started?” Jeongin asks, eyes-wide just like everyone else’s. “But they haven’t given us our roles yet.”

The voice comes again, for the last time that night, “That’s for all of you to figure out as the game progresses. Good luck and have fun.”

And the line goes dead. The questions they uttered to the microphones mounted on the round table remained unresponded.

“Now what?” Felix inquires and Saeyeon just shrugs beside him.

Rational as he always is, Chan is the first to respond, “We could always skip the night.”

“Or we could vote Jisung off like we always do,” Seungmin answers from across the room, with a cheeky smile plastered on his lips. He earns the laughs from the others in the room.

Jisung’s chair rattles as he stands, “Why do you always pick on me, huh?”

“Your misfortune is my happiness.”

“Alright, everyone. It’s decided then. We’re voting Seungmin off,” Hyunjin stands from his seat, walking towards the main exit as if he were to cast his vote already and Seungmin runs off to catch up to him.

Laughter and applause erupts from the crew again with Jisung basking at the way the tables have turned so quickly. You could only laugh at how chaotic the ‘00s were.

Seungmin drags Hyunjin back to the center table in a tight grip but the latter still insisted, “I’m not kidding, we’re voting him off tonight.”

“Or we could always skip the night,” Jeongin says in agreement with the eldest.

“Yeah,” Taehee agrees, “we can skip the night and write Seungmin’s name on the pad and hope the Mafia gets him.”

“I like the way you’re thinking,” Changbin agrees, tipping the ‘99s scale of rationality in favor of being mischievous rather than mature for tonight. Minho spots the disappointment etched on Chan’s face but tries not to let his conscience waver. Jisung could not stop applauding at how he regained the upper hand without much effort.

Saeyeon speaks up to draw attention back to the game, seeing as the others have started getting distracted, “I agree with Chan, though. We can skip the night since nothing’s happened yet. No one’s suspicious yet and since we don’t know what roles we play either, there’s not much to work with.”

“Unless the Mafia makes a move, anyway,” Felix backs her up and the others nod in agreement.

“Right. So let’s drag this game out as long as we can. It’s not everyday we get to play real-time Mafia,” Minho says and it concludes tonight’s meeting.

Like earlier, you and Jisung are the last to exit the building. The others have gone ahead to the main street.

“So their element of ‘realistic’ is playing the game in real time?” Jisung asks, kicking an empty tin can lying on the walkway back to a pile of trash bags.

“Most probably,” you answer, just as unsure with what to expect from the game as Jisung was.

“What happens when people are voted out or killed by the Mafia?”

You eye someone in the crew. Something in the back of your mind tells you that unlike the rest of the players, the Mafia was told of their role, making the game a monopoly. But it was way too early to speculate anything, so you only shrug at Jisung’s question before you go separate ways.

ii. night two.

With the game on-going, you thought you might as well live together. At school the next day, you’ve talked of nothing but the possible Mafia. Only this time, it was a lot harder to figure out with the Mafia not knowing who they were themselves. Lunch was filled with baseless accusations thrown from one person to another that would end in fits of laughter. You had long stopped trying to mediate the quarrels of the ‘00 boys, knowing well there was no point in doing so when they’d get back to bickering in no time.

As much as you tried to dismiss the game throughout the day, your mind wouldn’t stop bugging you—paying attention to any possible move the Mafia could make. You’d thought of every person in the crew as a potential one, but no one acted any different than they would on other days. But you couldn’t help keep a watchful eye. Even more so now that you were all together for more hours than the usual.

Not only were you together for lunch but you spent after school together too—eating an early dinner at a local barbecue before heading to the warehouse after sundown. This time, you walked with the other girls, letting the boys fall behind them.

“Any guesses on who the Mafia may be? I have one, but I’m not quite sure yet,” you inquired to the two girls on either side of you.

“I really think it’s Seungmin,” Taehee answers with a serious look on her face, made clear by the single lightbulb as you passed the front of the warehouse.

Saeyeon elbows her side, “Is that why you wanted to eliminate him first thing yesterday?”

“‘Dunno, actually. Just instinct,” the other girl says, tapping her temple with a finger before wrenching the warehouse door open.

“I don’t think Seungmin is the Mafia this time, but I think it’s one of the boys too,” you say before slipping into the warehouse after the two of them.

Like the night before, the warehouse was dimly lit, with only the light over the table left on. None of the staff were around this time, but the equipment set up around made it feel like they were. Cameras at the corner posts followed you as you crossed the room, focusing at the center table as everyone took their respective places. The speakers were silent until you were all settled in.

“Good evening, players,” the same voice as yesterday booms through the speakers, hushing all of your conversations in an instant. “On the first night, both Mafias have written the same name.”

“Probably Seungmin’s,” you heard Felix mumble beneath his breath.

Jisung eyes Seungmin, “But he’s still here.”

“However,” the voice continued, “the Doctor has also written the same name, therefore saving that person’s life from the two Mafias.”

The room is a mix of astonished expressions and poker faces. You were one of the latter, seeing it as a predictable outcome of yesterday’s meeting.

“The Police, on the other hand, have uncovered a Mafia and a Citizen. With that, your one hour begins now. Good luck.”

“So, there are two Mafias?” Jeongin stated, arms crossed on top of each other on the round table.

Changbin straightened his stance, “Just like the usual, I tell you.”

“I think it’s safe to assume that both Mafias wrote Seungmin’s name down,” Hyunjin announced, “along with the doctor.”

“Mafia, ‘Eliminate Seungmin’ challenge: failed,” Jisung says, snapping his fingers in disappointment. Seungmin sticks his tongue out at Jisung childishly before smiling to himself, having survived the first night of the game.

Chan taps the microphone before him, pressing the button by the stand before proceeding to speak into it, “Are we allowed to ask who didn’t write Seungmin’s name without getting disqualified?” Shortly after, a ‘No’ comes through the speakers. “Alright then. If you didn’t write ‘Minnie’s name, there’s a possibility you may be one of the Police.”

“You seem so worked up on this, Chan,” Minho asked, eyeing the eldest almost skeptically. “You didn’t write Seungmin’s name did you?”

The overhead light powers down for a split second before gleaming in a bright red color that coats everyone in a scarlet filter, “I think I can’t answer that.”

“Are you assuming that you might be one of the Police?” you asked, shifting your gaze from the table to the eldest across you.

“Maybe,” Chan answered, “The possibility is there since the Mafias wrote Seungmin down. I’m giving Seungmin the benefit of the doubt that he may not be the Mafia, because why would anyone write their own name down in a game that’s unsure as this? Also, Seungmin can’t be both the Mafia and the Citizen at the same time. And those who haven’t written his name, could be one of the Police themselves.”

“And if the Mafias targets you next?” Taehee asks, a brow raised at the man sitting beside her.

“I’m assuming the Mafias don’t know they’re the Mafia yet, so I’d like not to think about it.”

Jeongin tinkers with the microphone on top of his side of the table, something he usually did when he was deep in thought, “The possibility of Seungmin being a Mafia is still there though. If one of the Police wrote his name down, we still aren’t sure whether he was the Citizen or the Mafia.”

Seungmin frowns but it makes him think too. This time, he isn’t thinking of himself as entirely innocent with the situation at hand. Come to think of it, above everyone in the room, the possibility of him being a Mafia was higher than everybody else.

“What if Seungmin’s the Mafia and he wrote himself?” Felix suggested, narrowing his eyes on Seungmin jokingly.

Hyunjin did the same, “Sus.”

“This is impossible,” Changbin leaned back on his seat in exasperation, “The first people to figure out their roles are the Mafias themselves. And if these two are smart enough they could vote out two people every night and win immediately.”

“If the Police are smart enough, they could figure out that they’re the Police themselves too,” Saeyeon answered, tapping a pen on the table to a rhythm to keep herself from overthinking the game too much.

Minutes of debating possibilities only made everyone even more confused than you initially were. Suspicions towards other people in the group have arised and have been shut down—both on baseless accounts because they could only draw so many conclusions with the information revealed earlier.

“Okay,” Minho raised his voice enough to shut everyone’s arguing. “Fine, since you all don’t want to skip votes tonight. But I am telling you, we don’t have enough evidence to prove anything right or wrong at this point.”

“So when are we going to start guessing for potential Mafias, smartass?” you rebutted. “When there are 5 players left?”

The room falls silent as the tension grows more intense with every second you spent on the argument.

“This game is harder than we think, remember that. And as Jeongin said, the Mafias would be the first to figure out who they are. If they realize it, it’s over and they win,” Saeyeon said, trying to keep her sassy tone at bay despite the bottled up frustration built up by the exchanges from early on.

“And what do we say to that?” Chan asked, voice stern and laced with annoyance.

“Mafias never win.” Everyone says in unison. It’s something you’ve proved time and time again with every game you all played together.. Every time, the Mafia would only come close to winning and every time, they never succeed.

“Then that settles it. Who’s the most suspicious among us?” Felix inquires.

Taehee points from across the room, “Seungmin, duh. The possibility of him being the Mafia is slightly larger than everyone else’s.”

“Or I could be a Citizen,” Seungmin answered, trying his best to defend himself. “You’ve been picking on me since yesterday, it’s unfair.” This time, he’s at the receiving end of the mocking tongue out.

“Deserve,” Jisung remarked, earning a few snickers from those close to him.

“Alright,” Chan held his thumb up, taking it upon himself to be the moderator of the game. “We’ll vote out Seungmin in 3, 2, 1.”

Though not everyone’s thumb is facing down, the majority of them are, resulting to Seungmin’s eviction from the game. And no one is more glad to see the man leave than Han Jisung who, for the first time in a while, isn’t the first to be eliminated from the game.

“Seungmin out the building!” Jisung teased as the other boy walked past him on the way out. He flinches when Seungmin comes back, arm-raised and ready to hit him. But Seungmin doesn’t push through with the playful hit and instead finds his way out. He turns back one last time, pouting at everyone who just bid him farewell.

When the warehouse door shuts close again everyone turns their attention back to the center table.

“God, it’s the first time I haven’t been eliminated early. I don’t know how to play beyond this,” Jisung says, slumping down on the chair he was sitting on.

Changbin clicked his tongue, “Yeah, we should’ve voted you out instead.”

“2 Mafias remain. Your one hour is nearly over. Please cast your votes now and leave the premises immediately. Good night, players. ”

The voice goes as quickly as it came, stopping everyone in mid-conversation.

“What?” Hyunjin asks confusedly.

“Told you so,” Minho says to you before kicking himself off his seat and heading toward the main exit. You don’t bother acknowledging him.

You all slowly file out of the building watching the remaining light shut off as Chan shuts the warehouse door behind everyone. He lets everyone walk ahead but Taehee stays behind to wait for him.

“A penny for your thoughts?” she asks, catching the faint outline of Chan’s furrowed brows in the dark.

Chan sighs, “Maybe I was right that he was the citizen.”

“Or maybe he was the Doctor and wrote himself down to save himself.”

“That’s possible too. But he wasn’t the Mafia, unlike what someone kept on insisting earlier.”

Taehee halts and turns to look behind her. There, the dimpled boy stood still in the middle of the dark alleyway—hands tucked in his pockets, catching the girl’s irritated glare with a nonchalant expression.

“Okay.”

“I’m kidding!” Chan catches up to her, draping his arm over her shoulder before giving her a squeeze as they made their way out the alleyway.

The others wait for them by the main street. Chan does a headcount of everyone right as they met on the sidewalk, only to notice that someone was still missing.

He looks around, “Where’s Seungmin?”

The purple-haired boy was nowhere to be seen.

iii. night three.

Jeongin could only shrug when his call was once again left unanswered. He shoves his phone back into his back pocket before staring up at the house before them. Saeyeon figured it would be rude to just barge into the Kim's residence without giving them a heads up. But with their calls left on voicemail and their friend disappearing without a trace the night before, the pair didn’t have much of a choice.

Jeongin climbs up the fence of the residence to open the gate up for Saeyeon who waited by the entrance. Unlike most days when they’d pass by, the house was awfully silent and completely devoid of any ruckus that would normally be present. They walk up to the front porch. Their footsteps would have alerted anyone in the house by now but there’s still nothing but silence. Jeongin reaches out to knock on the wooden door. When it’s still left unanswered, he turns the door knob slowly only for it to click locked.

“They might’ve left for a trip again or something,” Jeongin concluded.

“Without notice?”

“Don’t they do that all the time to visit his older sister?”

They don’t, Saeyeon thought but at the time, they couldn’t conjure any other logical explanation behind Seungmin’s sudden disappearance. They get back on the road and continue walking to their high school instead.

Today, the walk is quiet. And though Jeongin attempted to make small talk, their conversation would fall back into dead ends. He figured they were both bothered by the same thought but no one dares to speak about it further. As much as Saeyeon used to wish that Seungmin would just vanish for once because he wouldn’t stop cracking jokes all the way to the school, in the silence she finds herself missing his antics. Jeongin wasn’t any different, just quietly sipping on his tetra pack with eyes glinting at every interesting thing that passes them by, but not bothering to say a word.

“Only the two of you?” Changbin says almost bitterly when they run into each other by the school entrance.

“Yeah, just us,” Saeyeon answers, lips pursing into a smile when she catches Changbin’s eye.

“Weird,” the boy says, “but maybe he’ll show up at lunch?”

He doesn’t and that’s the first time in a while that not all eleven of them showed up at the school gym. Unlike the other day where they were boisterously accusing one another, today they were quiet enough that a pin drop could be heard throughout the entire gymnasium. A bento box prepared by Felix sat in Seungmin’s place on the empty bleacher chair where he usually sat and no one dared to take it away. Saeyeon notices the expectant gazes they all would cast at the gym’s entrance throughout the whole hour.

But the break passes and they take their leave and Seungmin was still a no show.

“I’ll call you after class and we’ll go to the warehouse together, okay?” Jeongin says and Saeyeon only nods in response. “Ya, don’t think about it too much. I’m sure Seungmin is fine. Maybe it’s just a part of the game like Hyunjin said. See you later?” Jeongin ruffled her hair before leaving her at the gym’s front steps.

Later never comes.

It was getting late and it was nearly sundown, which meant they needed to meet at the warehouse soon. Saeyeon checks the time, he should’ve been done by now. The campus was nearly empty with only a few students passing by every now and then—all of which making their way to the exit.

“Just you, this time?” Changbin asks when she sees her sitting alone by the waiting area.

Saeyeon turned to the direction of the voice. The invoice playing through her phone speaker was still telling her that the number she dialled was unattended. She gives up on trying to call, smiling back sadly at the guy before her.

“Jeongin stood you up?” the boy asked.

“I think so,” she answered, trying to hide the disappointment in her tone.

Changbin sighs, “I haven’t seen Chan or the others the whole afternoon either. This Wednesday’s been kind of weird.” There’s a small pause before he continued, “Let’s get something to eat and head to the warehouse together? Sounds good?”

Saeyeon’s eyes glint at the suggestion, staring up at Changbin who was already munching on something, “But you’re already eating.”

“But you aren’t,” he answered, grabbing the girl’s outstretched hand that was pointing at the sandwich he was eating. “Let’s go.”

Surely, they’ve been around each other for the past few years because they were in the same friend group but there was still a tinge of awkwardness whenever they were left alone together. There had always been clear, but unspoken, divisions within the group and the awkward silence between them at the moment was living evidence of it.

“Thank you,” Saeyeon whispers, bowing her head slightly before proceeding to eat.

Thankfully, the whole meal isn’t spent in silence. Somewhere along the way, Changbin started talking about his suspicions. He pinpoints faults in their friends’ actions, noticing how some of them were more unnerved than others after Seungmin’s disappearance. Some of these, Saeyeon looked over earlier. As the sun sets slowly at the west and the sky starts to darken overhead, they set out and head for the warehouse.

The 00s are gathered outside of the perimeter fence, listening closely to whatever Hyunjin had to say—probably another theory as to who the Mafia might be. The others make space for the duo that had just arrived; an odd pairing, they think, but they let them off with only a few teases.

“Jeongin isn’t with you today?” Felix asks Saeyeon. To which she only shook her head. “Then I guess he’s with the 99s?”

But the 99s arrive and Jeongin isn’t there either. Taehee had a phone pressed up against her ear while Minho kept his eyes trained on the ground. Seconds pass and the girl shakes her head, tapping her phone a few times before pressing it to her ear again impatiently. Chan wasn’t with them too and it’s what makes everyone more baffled. Changbin specifically.

“Where have you been?” He asks, standing faster than the others when he sees the pair come into the alleyway, looking both pissed and worn out.

“No, where have you been?” Minho raised his voice back, “We’ve been looking all over for Chan. Bastard isn’t answering any of our calls.”

Saeyeon takes her place beside Changbin, eyeing the duo as they stopped at the front of the warehouse. “Jeongin isn’t answering his phone either. I thought he was out with you.” The pair shake their heads, the aura of the group shifting with their mood.

“Now that’s just fucking weird,” Felix says upon overhearing the conversation.

“No kidding,” you added, a hint of worry in your tone.

Everybody turns when the warehouse door is pried open by a staff member. “Everyone’s already here,” the staff says in a statement-like manner rather than a question. “You may proceed inside.”

“No, we’re still missing 3 people.” Hyunjin said, doing the headcount in Chan’s place as the tallest person around. “2 if we aren’t including Seungmin anymore.”

The staff member only turns to the group’s direction, whispering the word precisely before disappearing into the warehouse.

Today, the chairs around the table are a lot more spaced out. When everybody files in and fills every seat available, they finally notice the number of seats have been reduced. Not only by one, but by three. The same greeting comes through the speakers but there weren’t any conversations to hush this time around.

“On the second night, both Bang Chan and Yang Jeongin were killed off by the Mafias. The Doctor, unfortunately, saved the life of an unharmed citizen. The Police have uncovered a fellow Officer and a Citizen. With that, your one hour begins now. Good luck.”

“If you wrote either Chan or Jeongin, you’re a Mafia. Confirmed,” Hyunjin announced once the voice stopped speaking.

Saeyeon tried finding the blinking cameras around the warehouse, “So if the Mafias wrote two different names, two people are eliminated from the game?”

“I think so,” you answered.

“It’s really realistic, isn’t it?” Changbin spoke, breaking the silence at the 99s part of the table. “We can’t contact them at all when they’re out of the game.”

“I think that’ll go on for the rest of the game,” Minho adds.

“What if,” Felix says in a deeper tone, “it isn’t only for the duration of the game, but they’re actually killed for real?”

Hyunjin eyed him, “You’re scaring yourself, idiot.”

“Hey, goosebumps,” Jisung commented, rubbing his arms, “What if that’s what’s happening?”

You turned to the wide-eyed boy beside you, “You’ve got to be kidding me right now?”

A metal chair rattles when Taehee pushes herself up to get to the microphone in front of her. “Where do the eliminated slash voted out people disappear off to?” she said into the mic, but she gets nothing but static feedback. “Nothing?”

“Got any texts from Chan?” you asked her.

The girl only shook her head, “The minute he replies, I’m breaking up with him.”

“Can’t break up with him if you aren’t even together,” Jisung answered from across the room, earning a glare from the girl to which he just dismisses with two raised fingers as a white flag. “How about you,” he turned to Saeyeon, “heard anything from Jeongin yet?” Again, the response is the same.

Hyunjin narrowed his eyes on the speakers, “What if the Mafias already know each other and they’re discussing who to get rid of next?”

Changbin let out a frustrated groan. “I can’t stand this. I feel like we’re losing to the Mafias. That’s never supposed to happen.”

“I still think the Police are pointless because they don’t even know they’re the Police,” Minho commented, “don’t know which person’s role is which, and don’t even know each other.”

“For real though,” Hyunjin cut the other off, “I think the Mafias know they’re Mafias by now,” Hyunjin continued, voicing out the hunch he’d been keeping to himself. Watchful eyes turned to him and he tried to pinpoint which among them seemed more nervous than the rest but he couldn’t.

“Why?” Saeyeon asked.

“Because the people going missing match the people they’re writing. By tomorrow, they’ll be sure as to who they are. The day Seungmin was voted was confusing, today’s results could seem like a coincidence, but by tomorrow they’ll be entirely sure.”

You leaned your head back, struggling to process the information handed to you, “It’s so complicated it’s making my head ache.”

“Blame it on Minho for dragging us into this,” Jisung said.

“You all agreed to it?” Minho countered defensively.

Changbin looked at him from two chairs away, “And when we find out that you set us up and you’re one of the Mafia?”

Minho stared back confusedly, “Why me?”

“You’re usually quiet,” Hyunjin says.

“I always am.”

“Exactly, but you’re so noisy today.” Felix backed them up. A few glares are exchanged among them but an argument doesn’t ensue.

Hyunjin cleared his throat, “On the other hand, someone else had been a lot more quiet today than on most days,” he adds to his hunch. It was a bold move to be daring enough to be vocal of suspicions especially when the Mafia had the upper hand.

The room fell silent.

“Who?” you asked curiously.

“They know who they are,” Hyunjin answered. “If I’m eliminated tomorrow then my hunch is right.”

“Then tell us who it is then?” Minho asked, impatience evident in his tone.

The other boy shook his head, “I can’t.”

“You don’t know anything, do you?” Saeyeon asks, glaring at the blonde from where she sat.

All eyes trained on Hyunjin, everyone’s at the edge of their seats. For a second, it seemed as if the Mafias were on the brink of being uncovered. But Hyunjin’s serious face falters and he breaks into fits of laughter.

Felix groaned, “I hate you.”

“God, I miss Chan already,” Changbin says to the 99s beside him. “Stop me, I want to strangle someone.”

“You know neither of us would stop you, right? Go ahead,” Taehee answered, pointing her hand at Hyunjin’s general direction.

They pass the hour with senseless conversations, no longer bothering to figure out who the Mafias are because they’re still left with dead ends. It was hard to be in their group. Everyone was competitive when it came to the game, maybe it was the reason why the Mafias were so hard to pinpoint. Maybe the others were right, maybe the Mafias already knew who they were. Or maybe they didn’t.

“So who are we eliminating this time?” Jisung asks everyone after they were warned that they had 5 minutes left for the meeting.

“I think I’ll pass,” you say, slumping into your seat, frowning at another unproductive meeting—the thought of losing to the Mafia weighing on you. “This is stressing me out.”

“Are we trying to drag this out as long as we can?” Minho asked, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Felix turned to him with furrowed brows, “Why do you enjoy dragging this game out? It’s tiring.”

“Yeah, Minho?” Jisung narrowed his eyes, “Why?”

Minho only stares back at them, a smirk still playing at the corner of his lips but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he’s the first to stand and cast his vote at the booth.

“Sus,” Hyunjin whispered after discussing his suspicions with Jisung by the booth.

“Sus indeed.” Jisung repeats before he heads inside the booth to cast his vote.

There, he sees that his hand is still shaking and he tried his best to keep it still as he wrote a name down. He wishes the blonde didn’t notice.

iv. night four.

Nothing changes in the world beyond the game, which was off considering there were three vacant seats in the back row during Homeroom and nobody seemed to notice. There were no missing case files for Seungmin, even when it’s been over 24 hours since he disappeared. Chan’s and Jeongin’s apartment were yet to be checked but there was little to no hope they’d be there too.

No one seemed to care about their disappearances. Nobody except the people within your circle anyway.

Jisung tore his eyes away from the window and scanned the back row. The 3 vacant seats rendered the classroom silent. Besides their adviser discussing graduation matters up front, it was all silent. The usual white noise of hushed chitchats from the back was missing.

He watched as everyone moved in a calculated manner, startled by the smallest things and seemingly on edge throughout the entire period. Everyone observed one another with sharp eyes, as if they didn’t trust anyone else in the group but themselves. Or maybe it’s how it seemed to him.

You and the girls didn’t join them for lunch today and it ticked Jisung off. He never liked the idea of change and he despised it even more now with three of his friends vanishing in a span of two days and the thinning trust towards you had with one another. Though he tried to convince himself that it was all a part of the game, something in the back of his mind told him it wasn’t.

Above else, he thought it was all his fault.

“Where are you going?” Hyunjin asked when the boy stopped in the middle of the hallway. Jisung only looked back at him apologetically before turning on his heel and heading to the other direction—away from the gym and hopefully, away from everything. He was thankful the boys didn't bother following him.

He stumbled into the quadrangle but even the open space wasn’t relieving to him anymore unlike it used to. Being outside the campus wasn’t any different either. The suffocating feeling, it’s just there, like someone had a hand wrapped around his neck throughout the entire day.

He didn’t return to school in the afternoon.

Instead, he headed downtown to the place that could possibly silence all his thoughts and convince himself that he had nothing to worry about. It wasn’t me, it was just a coincidence, he told himself but he found it so hard to believe. Not with the weight of his conscience and the piling evidence on his shoulder. The apartment was his last hope.

He punched the four digits that made up the door’s code. It beeps open but the apartment isn’t empty when he enters.

Two heads turn as soon as he walked in. “Jisung’s here,” Saeyeon says once she catches sight of the boy.

You find his eyes staring back at you and as if on cue, you put back the disk you were holding and walk over. “Didn’t think you’d follow us here but here you are.”

“I didn’t,” Jisung whispered, “I just wanted to check—”

Jisung doesn’t get to finish his sentence. “If Chan and Jeongin are really gone?” Taehee asked, walking into the central room of the apartment after rummaging through Chan’s room. “They are. But everything else is here.”

Jisung nodded at the confirmation, right as the last of his hope fizzled into nothing.

You noticed the blank look on the boy’s face, which was unusual considering he always had a positive outlook on things. Today, he looked numb and lifeless. “Hey, what’s bothering you?” you asked, grabbing Jisung’s arm when he attempted to turn and leave. “You want to go somewhere?”

The boy only mustered a nod in response. You turned back to the girls, mumbling a quick goodbye before leading Jisung out of the apartment. The hallway was empty when you exited the room but you waited until you’re in the elevator before you started talking.

“What really brought you here, Jisung?” you asked, less concerned and more inquisitive—suspicious.

Jisung frowned, feeling the distrust through your tone, “As I said I just wanted to check if they were really gone. I didn’t believe Jeongin when he said Seungmin was gone without a trace. Now he’s gone too.”

You turned to face him, “Why are you beating yourself up about it?”

He sighed, “Because I was excited for this and now my friends are going missing one by one. When everything turns back to normal, I think I don’t even want to play this game again.”

You cupped his face in your hands, forcing him to look into your eyes instead of the elevator floor. He blinked, eyes glossy and threatening to spill tears at any given moment. “If anyone should be beating themselves up for this, it should be Minho and not you. This was a collective decision. We all basically signed up for this and got exactly what we asked for.” Then, you slowly drew back your hands, “But I think you have something else in mind.”

Jisung stared at your retreating hands and then at the expression on your face.

“Perhaps,” you whispered, right as the elevator dings to let you know you’ve reached the ground floor, “you’re thinking you’re the Mafia?”

The sky darkened outside as seen from the window of Chan’s apartment. After a homemade dinner they managed to make out of the contents of Chan’s cupboards, all four of them headed to the warehouse together and found the others already waiting for them by the entrance. Changbin stood by the warehouse door, counting the members as they walked past him. He made it to 6 when he realized that yet another one had gone missing.

“You’re the last one?” Changbin asked and Jisung only nodded apologetically. “That means 7 left. This game’s going fast.”

For the first time since the game started, the center table has been replaced today. It was less wide compared to the previous one and resembled a dining table. Only 7 chairs remained today. The warehouse seemed more spacious with the narrowed table and Jisung couldn’t help but wonder what the place looked like when it was illuminated in the morning. Because at night it felt haunted and it sends a chill up his spine.

“Greetings, players,” the speakers blared. “It has come to our attention that the Mafia have killed off two players last night. First person to be eliminated is Hwang Hyunjin. However, the second person is safe. The second player, who also happened to be the game’s Doctor, saved themselves.”

“Now that Doctor is just amazing. First, they save Seungmin and now they save themselves from the Mafia?” Felix said with his jaw still left hanging from the announcement.

“On the other hand,” the voice continued, “one Police wrote their fellow Police and the other investigated a Citizen. Your one hour begins now.”

Minho crossed his arms over his chest, “Why would someone write themselves down?”

“To find out what role they’re playing perhaps?” Changbin answered. “If they wrote themselves and nothing happened, they’re just a Citizen. If it’s announced that a Police was discovered, or a Doctor healed themselves then it’s immediately them. Or, at least, the possibility is there. What a clever strategy.”

“And if you’re a Mafia?” Taehee asked.

“Then you end up killing yourself.”

“Isn’t it creepy though?” Felix uttered, straightening himself before leaning against the table. “How Hyunjin just said, I mean I’m not sure if he really was just kidding or not, that he knew something about the Mafia and then disappeared the next day. I think he really knew something and the Mafia or Mafias,” he emphasized, “silenced him.”

Saeyeon pursed her lips, “Sounds like real life to me.”

“We got so much more than we asked for with this game,” you commented. “It’s amazing.”

“Yeah,” Taehee agreed, “so much more stress.”

Jisung played with his fingers before raising his hand up, “Question. Who among us already voted for themselves?”

Surprisingly, the overhead light doesn’t turn red at the question and two other hands are raised in reply to his query—Saeyeon’s and yours.

Taehee raised an eyebrow, “Great. Now, I feel dumb for not thinking of the same strategy.”

“So, one Mafia wrote Hyunjin and the other wrote either of these two,” Minho said, pointing at the two girls adjacent to him. “Who among you wrote their name last night?” But before anyone could answer, the light flickered red, “Well shit, we can’t ask that. Whoever you are, you’re the doctor.”

Saeyeon scooted over and asked into the microphone, “May we ask what the remaining roles are? Like how many Police are left?” But the answer to her question never comes.

“We can always take our chances and vote one person out and find out how many Mafias remain,” Changbin suggested.

“We can’t risk it,” Taehee countered, “There’s 7 of us left.”

You tapped your fingers on the table, “If we make a mistake and eliminate someone who isn’t a Mafia, the Mafias finish the game in 2 days time. I’m sure they already know who they are by now.” Your eyes wandered to a person in the room but your gaze doesn’t linger, careful to not get caught.

“What if this whole thing is a prank and the Mafias have already been eliminated and they’re just playing games with us?” Felix asked, pointing at the cameras. The idea made some of the people in the room chuckle and shake their heads while the others were unamused.

A frail silence fills the room shortly, right before Jisung speaks again. “We,” he stuttered, “we aren’t eliminating anyone tonight?”

Everyone exchanges skeptical gazes—each look lacking genuinity. They all have narrowed eyes at one another, untrusting and watchful. “God,” Taehee groaned, “I can’t even trust anyone anymore.”

The staring contest is broken when Changbin spoke, “I have a feeling one of the Mafias is certain as to who he is. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Hyunjin said that someone’s more quiet than usual.”

“Who?” Saeyeon asked.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice how quiet he has been lately?” Changbin answered, forefinger pointing at the person directly across him—Jisung.

The room fell silent at the first real accusation of the game. It was something they always anticipated whenever they played. Knowing something and being vocal about it made you more susceptible to the Mafia. It was a risky move, knowing well that if they weren’t right, the Mafia could target them next for being capable of putting two and two together.

But he was Seo Changbin, the most observant of the eleven and it wasn’t the first time he was bold at exposing who the Mafia was.

“What if we eliminate Jisung?” Taehee suggested, finally seeing the Mafia flags in Jisung’s movements when Changbin mentioned it. Her hunch is further solidified when Jisung flinches instead of answering back like he normally does.

“He doesn’t seem like a Mafia.” The voice comes from you and they all turn to look at you, brows raised in disbelief.

Minho shook his head, “Wow, I’m having flashbacks.”

Taehee sat on the edge of her seat, “Remember that time you saw him vent while we played Among Us and you still didn’t tell us shit?”

The seriousness of the atmosphere shatters when you’re reminded of the memory. A laugh bubbles from Jisung’s lips which causes everyone else to erupt in laughter, leaving you with red-stained cheeks and resurfaced embarrassment.

Changbin is the last to stop laughing, “Love really is blind.”

You faltered when you first tried to speak again, a laugh escaping your mouth and sending everyone into a second wave of laughter. You thought it was the first time you had heard them laugh genuinely in the past few days. “The evidence,” you finally managed to say without giggling, “isn’t enough though.”

Minho raises both his arms in exasperation. “Okay, so now, you’re saying that?”

Wasting no more time, Taehee presses down on the microphone too hard when she finally says, “We wish to vote out Han Jisung.”

Jisung sighed, “You all pick on me too much.”

“It’s for our own safety,” Felix answered, hand-outstretched and ready to cast his vote.

Saeyeon took it upon herself to lead the votation, “Vote out Jisung in 3, 2, 1.”

And by the Mafia Lord’s grace, the votes are split exactly in two. The 99’s all had their thumbs down, while Saeyeon, Lia and Felix didn’t.

“Han Jisung is safe,” a voice announced through the speakers and Jisung shot out of his seat in triumph.

“The fuck, you two?” Minho asked, eyes-wide and furious.

“______ was right,” Saeyeon dismissed, “evidence isn’t enough.”

“And if Changbin’s gone tomorrow?” Taehee asked.

Changbin narrowed his eyes, remembering that you and Saeyeon—who both voted for Jisung’s stay—have all skipped lunch and arrived together with the suspected Mafia at the warehouse today.

The three others only shrugged. Han Jisung smirked, glaring at the 99s before he says, “I won’t let you forget this.”

v. night five.

The uncertainty of being the Mafia follows him into his dreams.

He was sitting on the bleachers opposite to the group. All ten people across him were smiling, something he hasn’t seen them do for a while now. Someone had cracked a joke that left everyone holding back their laughter. For the first few moments, it was as if they didn't notice he was there at all until Seungmin turned in his direction. The mop of purple hair smiled and he couldn’t help but do the same. The boy raised a hand and waved him to come over.

He nodded, getting up on his feet before hopping his way down the bleachers. He nearly misses a step when he hears a voice speak—loud and clear in his mind, “Who did you write down?”

He froze on his tracks. The next time he glimpsed at the group in front of him, there were only six people left. The group’s laughter had died down into hushed whispers and their faces were devoid of the emotions they had earlier. All six people were hunched over together but were never really present. Their eyes stared at empty spaces in the gymnasium and their minds seemed to wander further.

The voice asked the same question again, the same way it did before.

He shifts his view and he finds that he was no longer at the school gym. Instead, he’s back at the alleyway leading up to the warehouse. The owner of the voice catches up—his blonde hair being the only thing visible in the darkness of the alleyway. For the third time that night, Hyunjin repeats the same question.

The other boy doesn’t say anything. In fact, he couldn’t say anything at all. Not when he felt the tingle of the metal bracelet against his wrist. Not when he saw someone in the back, pressing their forefinger over the lips of their Vendetta mask. Not when the name he’d written was the name of the boy who asked him the question. Not when the same boy disappeared the next day, the same way the other people he wrote down did.

Jisung woke up with a start. He could still hear Hyunjin’s voice in his head, asking him the same question over and over again. His heart thumps rapidly in his ribcage and his breathing was heavy. He shakes his head, willing himself to calm down. He recalls the conversation he had with you the day before.

“Perhaps, you’re thinking you’re the Mafia?”

For a moment, Jisung freezes right as the elevator opens. The bracelet on his wrist warms as he grows nervous. The both of you are forced into the busy lobby of the apartment complex. Everyone else seemed to mind their own business but Jisung couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that someone was still watching you. He eyes a recently vacated couch and leads the way there. Your eyes automatically scanned the surroundings, like how you’ve accustomed to whenever they started talking about the game.

Jisung sighs but right as he was about to reply, you opened your mouth to speak, “I’m here to tell you that you aren’t. Or at least that’s what I think.”

From the corner of your eye, you see Jisung turn in your direction. For a moment, you hesitate looking back at him but you end up doing so anyway. In his eyes, you could see the fear he hadn’t been doing such a good job in hiding. His eyes were glossy with tears threatening to slip but they don’t. Then he blinked and his eyes seemed more confused now than the former.

“Look,” you started, “I know this is hard to understand but I think I know what role I’m playing in the game and if I’m right, then you aren’t the Mafia.”

Jisung raised a brow, “What makes you so sure?”

You eyed a familiar stranger from the lobby’s window and Jisung’s gaze followed. The man was walking on the opposite side of the road, looking over his shoulder every now and then as if he was being followed. Then, he disappeared into the alleyway.

When the man was completely out of sight, you finally spoke. “The Mafias never show themselves that easily.” The sound that left Jisung’s lips is the first genuine chuckle he’d had today. “Seriously, Jisung, 9 times out of 10 the Mafia is usually someone we don’t suspect at all.”

“And what if this is the one time that the Mafia’s actually someone you already suspected?” Jisung countered.

“Then we’re fucked,” you answered, a light laugh leaving your lips. “But what a good last game that would be? The Mafias winning and all that.”

You both fall silent as you think of the possibility. It wasn’t far from becoming reality with all of you falling on dead ends with your suspicions and the Mafias having no slip-ups in this game so far. While you thought of your possible reaction when you finally find out who the Mafias are, Jisung’s mind wandered over to different things.

“If you don’t trust yourself, write a random name tonight. If they’re still around by tomorrow night,” you say in a comforting manner, patting Jisung’s knee in a steady pace before standing up, “then you’re not one of the Mafia. I’m hoping that would ease you at least. You’ve been looking worried all day.”

“And if they disappear?” Jisung asked, following behind you as you walked back to the elevator.

“I have some hope that they won’t.”

“What happens if—”

The question died on his lips as he felt the metal bracelet heat up against his wrist again. He bites his tongue, holding back the scream threatening to leave his lips due to the searing pain. He felt his fingertips dig deep into his balled fists as the burn is engraved on his wrist. As he calms down, the metal bracelet cools.

“Are you alright? You seem pale,” you asked from inside the elevator, holding the doors open as you patiently waited for Jisung to come in. “I’m serious, you aren’t the Mafia. The game can’t be that easy.”

Little do you know that being the Mafia isn’t the worst of Jisung’s worries.

It was the knowledge of being aware that there was something else beyond the game of finding Mafias and building suspicions on each other. It was the lack of assurance that their friends were truly okay when all evidence (or the lack of it) seemed to point that they weren’t. It was the crippling anxiety of other people seemingly knowing what he was thinking—evident in the burn on his wrist and further cultivated by the memory of the girl in the Vendetta mask seemingly telling him to keep his mouth shut.

He knew there was something off with the game. He was just hoping that someone else besides him had noticed.

Felix notices an oddity in the way everyone else around them moved.

He’s unsure where the suspicion started. Sure, he wasn’t as observant as Changbin was, but he didn’t need to be that smart to notice that some things changed ever since the game started. It wasn’t something he intentionally wondered about, he just felt that something was off. While everyone was busy trying to figure out who was who in the game, he was busy trying to put a finger on what felt different.

“I still don’t get how they still haven’t noticed anything at all.”

His voice came in the form of a whisper to the group. Everyone else had nodded in agreement as they walked down the cemented paths of the campus leading up to the exit. The 00s, along with Saeyeon, had after-school club meetings together on Friday afternoons. Today, as they left the room, they remember that they lacked two people which should’ve been, at the very least, noticeable in the 20-member club.

“Hey,” Saeyeon waved at a fellow member who passed by, “have you seen Hyunjin?”

The other girl took a second to think, “No, I haven’t seen him today. Isn’t he supposed to be with you?” Saeyeon only shook her head before turning her attention back to the group.

“I think if you looked at it from another person’s perspective, it seems normal that they’re absent,” Jisung says to which you only nod in agreement.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.” Felix says as he catches the eyes of a few juniors that seemed to wander in their direction.

It’s in that moment that he figured that maybe it was the other way around. Maybe it wasn’t the others who didn’t notice anything, maybe it was their group. He notices that the people around them moved in an eerily robotic manner that would pass off as natural if you didn’t look hard enough—the same way people outside of the main characters of a dream would act. It only adds into his list of speculations about the game. Where the voted off members go. Why the metal bracelet wrapped around his wrist burned his skin whenever he was thinking of the game from an outsider’s perspective. Why he felt like their group were holograms in the real world—present, but not entirely there either.

Something in the back of his mind tells him that there was so much more to this game than figuring out who the Mafias were and he figures it’s about time he told the others about it.

They skip dinner today, considering they were already a little late because of their club meeting and sundown would be in minutes. They take a shortcut on their way there, making it in half the time than it normally did. And when they arrive, only two people are waiting for them.

Minho’s eyes scan the four people when they emerge from the alleyway. Felix does the same and he falls quiet upon realizing that there should’ve been one more person around.

“Taehee, this time?” you asked as you filed into the warehouse.

Changbin sighs before he speaks, “Went to the bathroom and never came back.”

“At least the Mafia didn’t eliminate two right?” Jisung says to Felix but the latter doesn’t reply.

The table had been changed once again. The room’s centerpiece stood in strong contrast to its dim surroundings. The white marble thing shined elegantly beneath the only light source in the room and imprinted in its center was an empty chessboard with a few misplaced pieces. Nobody takes an interest in it, thinking the thing might have just been another prop the staff must’ve put to set the vibe.

Tonight’s announcement passes like it normally does and their one hour of deliberation begins. Suspicions are laid out on the table again but Felix is barely listening. He was up all night the previous night—not used to the silence of the apartment he shared with Hyunjin. Maybe it really was all a part of the game and he wanted to praise the game organizers for doing a great job for making the whole thing convincing.

But the camera resting on Hyunjin’s bed told him otherwise. He knew that Hyunjin wouldn’t go anywhere without it. But there weren’t any signs of forced entry in their apartment. Almost as if Hyunjin had just vanished in midair.

For the entire day, he’d been trying to open up the topic to everyone but the searing pain emanating from the metal band on his wrist made his words fall dead on his lips. But he was desperate to know what really happens to those who got killed off or eliminated; knowing well that if he spent another night in that empty apartment that he’d be haunted with the same thoughts again. He needed answers and he needed them now.

Even just by thinking about it, the metal bracelet starts to heat up on his wrist. “God, every time I get the urge to tell you guys anything this bracelet starts making me feel jittery,” Felix complained in frustration.

All heads turn in his direction and the previous conversation is abruptly halted. Their eyes then wander to the metal bands on each of their wrists.

“Yeah, the bracelets. I still wonder what they’re for,” you wondered as you lifted your arm to feel the weight of the metal band.

Felix opens his mouth to say something—feeling the band burn against his skin, growing hotter with every passing second.

“Don’t,” Jisung whispered subtly beside him. Felix turned to him but the other boy just looked back as if he hadn’t said a word—completely unaware of the other pair of eyes staring in their direction.

“Why?” Saeyeon asked, “What are you trying to tell us?”

Felix still had his gaze on Jisung. And though the latter seemed like his usual jolly self, his eyes were etched with worry. Confused, Felix turns his attention back to the center of the circle. The burning sensation on his wrist is still there but more tolerable now. “It’s the truth about the game.”

Minho groaned, he hated talking about it more than anything. “Here we go again.”

“No, listen,” Felix says as he tries to keep a straight face as he feels the metal band warm again.

“I’m telling you, Felix,” Minho says sternly, “this is nothing but a game and you’re taking this too seriously.”

“And I’m telling you that it isn’t. Have you ever looked at everyone else besides us long enough that they start seeming more like robots than humans? I only noticed that when the game started.”

While the others contemplated on Felix’ words, Minho wasn’t having any of it. “Who the hell stares at people long enough to notice that? You’re just being a fucking kill joy again.”

“It’s called being observant. I’ve been thinking about it. I know I joke a lot about it but we’re never really sure what’s happening to our friends. We just collectively decided that they’re just being kept hidden because that’s what makes the game realistic. Well, what if they aren’t safe? What if something bad happens to them whenever they’re voted out?” His voice is loud enough that it echoes off the walls of the warehouse. He ignores the way the bracelet had probably burned beyond his skin already. If he wasn’t going to speak up now, then when?

“Felix, calm down. I think you’re overthinking,” Changbin says from across him.

“Yeah, maybe. But with the others going missing without a trace? Right under our noses? Maybe I really should be overthinking. It’s baffling why nobody else is as worried as I am.”

“If you want to find out what’s happening to them so bad then get out.”

Felix turns in Minho’s direction, finding the other’s eyes locked on him with a tinge of annoyance that made the younger boy scream at how ignorant the other boy was being.

“Minho, stop that. He’s just telling us what he thinks,” you say in an equally annoyed tone.

“I know, but he’s just thinking too much over something so simple. This is just a fucking game. With the cameras they have around, I’m thinking they’re documenting all this to show the world how the first realistic game of Mafia went. I’m sure they have our friends. We signed up for this and we’re chickening out when things get realistic when that’s exactly what we wanted in the first place?”

The room falls silent at the exchange of opinions and everyone is left torn. A part of them believed that everything was just a part of the game but Felix’ words made them think twice about it.

After a few more moments in silence, Felix finally speaks, “Can a player quit without getting voted out?” he asks into the intercom and a ‘No’ comes through the speakers shortly after. “Fine. Vote me out then.”

“Felix,” Jisung says from beside him.

“No, I want to see what really happens just so I could prove him wrong. Go ahead, vote me out.”

“Vote out Felix,” Minho says, being the first to raise his thumb up while glaring at the younger boy. Others debate whether wasting a vote on someone who wasn’t even subject to being the Mafia was worth it. “Come on, we don’t have all day.”

When a unanimous decision is reached with only Jisung having his thumb down, Felix ups and heads out of the warehouse. Jisung rises from his seat, catching up to Felix before he gets the chance to leave.

“Why’d you do that?” Jisung grabbed Felix' arms right before he reached the exit. ��We could’ve talked about what we both knew.”

“Not with these things burning our wrists.” Felix answers, raising his left arm where the band was frying the skin on his wrist.

Jisung purses his lips before he speaks. “Tell me what happens out there. Send me some sort of sign, anything if you can.”

“I don’t think they’ll let me, but I’ll try,” Felix says, taking Jisung’s hand off his arm before he shuts the warehouse door behind him.

“One Mafia remains.”

Everyone is stunned at the announcement; some jaws drop open while Minho just raises a brow at it.

“No way,” you say in disbelief. “There’s one left? Was the other one Felix?”

“He’d always been so good at playing Mafia. I didn’t even think that it could possibly be him,” Saeyeon commented.

“We can’t be sure though,” Changbin uttered skeptically. “When did we last get an update with the amount of Mafias around? The night Seungmin was voted out?”

“But the night Hyunjin was killed off by one Mafia, the other killed off the Doctor and didn’t succeed, so there were still two Mafias at the time,” you answered, narrowing the Mafia’s elimination day down to today only.

Minho shrugged, “Either Taehee or Felix then.”

“What if Taehee voted herself out after finding out you two voted yourselves?” Changbin says, pointing at you and Saeyeon.

“Yeah, she did mention that,” you agreed.

Saeyeon furrowed her brows, “Sounds like something she’d do on a normal day but not something she’d do as a Mafia. She would’ve known she was one of the Mafia by then.”

“What if Hyunjin was the other Mafia who voted the Doctor off and the remaining Mafia voted off Hyunjin?” Jisung asked.

“Possible,” Minho replied, “but you haven’t been voted off. If he was a Mafia, you would’ve been gone the first night.”

Jisung scoffed, “What if you’re the other Mafia and targeted him that night because you’re still pissed over him calling you when we played Mario Kart?”

“I’m not that shallow,” Minho says but Jisung doesn’t believe him and neither did anyone else in the room who was listening to their exchange.

A few moments pass before someone speaks again, “I think the Mafias knew they were Mafias but they didn’t know each other,” Changbin says tapping a pen on the table as the gears in his mind turned.

“Or maybe the remaining Mafia knew the other but wanted to win this thing solo,” Jisung concluded/

“You’re noisy again today. Feeling confident you aren’t the Mafia, Jisung?” Minho calls him out.

Jisung turns, feeling rather irritated with the constant pestering of the older boy. “Because I’m really not the Mafia.”

“The way you acted yesterday didn’t seem like it.”

“That was yesterday,” Jisung says in exasperation. Being defensive didn’t help his case at all. “Today is different.”

You clear your throat before another endless quarrel sparks between the two, “At this point, everyone has a fair chance of being the Mafia.”

“The Citizens are at an advantage though. There’s only one Mafia left,” Saeyeon points out, eyeing everyone in the room to see some sort of slip up but there’s none.

“Plot twist, even at that advantage, we lose and the Mafia wins,” Jisung says jokingly.

Minho leans back on his chair, arms tucked and eyeing everyone skeptically, “Mafias never win.”

“And in the case that they do, how do they even do it?” Saeyeon asks.

Changbin stops tapping the table, the entire warehouse falling silent before he speaks, “By putting the blame on someone else.”

The overhead light flashes red, signalling the end of their meeting for the day. A huge sense of relief fills them, knowing there’s only one more person to go. For the first time since the game started, things were looking up for them.

Or at least, that’s how it seemed.

“Your one hour is nearly over. Please cast your votes now and leave the premises immediately. Good night, players.”

When Felix is out of the warehouse, nothing seems out of the ordinary. Instead it just felt eerie, walking out of the dark alleyway alone for the first time. But then he reaches the sidewalk and he’s unsure why everyone had their eyes on him—seemingly hyper aware of his presence like the juniors in school were but this time, they don’t look away.

Felix soons discovers that maybe they weren’t looking at him but at whoever was behind him. He freezes, feeling something cold pressed up to the back of his head. He wonders why no one around him is reacting the way normal people would when they’d come across a scene like this.

That’s all he thinks about before everything goes dark and quiet.

vi. night six.

“Death of Seoul Mayor—Park Jaejin—marred with controversy.

SEOUL — Thousands continued to mourn the death of former Seoul Mayor Park Jaejin on Wednesday, but the somber mood was disrupted by controversy over his unquestioned death.

Park, who was serving his second term as mayor of the capital, was found dead at a prairie in Seoul early Saturday, However, no investigations regarding his death were made due to the assumption that his death was “self-inflicted”.

A conservative group filed for an injunction Tuesday against acting Mayor Seo In-yeop, who assumed office after Park’s death, in an attempt to stop the five-day funeral service. Seo In-yeop, first vice mayor for administrative affairs, will serve as mayor until an election is held next year.”

The first news about their friends’ disappearance is announced on the morning news the next day.

Saeyeon was eating breakfast when the news anchor laid out the details of the missing case files of all six students. She stills at the sight of her six friends smiling in what seemed to be their ID photos on the screen. There, she realizes that they’ve only been missing for a few days but things have changed so drastically that it felt like she hadn’t seen them for a long time. An interview of their homeroom adviser is aired in which she appears to be distressed over the disappearances but Saeyeon thought the woman cared more about her reputation than the disappearing students themselves.

When she finishes her meal, she heads out and starts her daily walk to school and like the past few days, she’s alone again.. She still hasn’t gotten used to the silence but she tells herself the game would be over soon and everything would be back to normal. Or at least she hoped it would.

But she walks into the campus and notices that everyone’s eyes lingered on her much longer than they normally would. And that’s when she knew that things have taken a turn for the worse. She tries to feign ignorance as she walks past a hallway full of people who’s loud chattering hushes into quiet whispers the minute they see her at the end of the corridor.

“Secret’s out,” a voice whispers from behind her and she flinches for a moment. “Where are the two boys you always came with?”

Saeyeon doesn’t bother to answer and walks past everyone. She couldn’t wait for lunch time. Being in a separate class from the rest of her friends, especially now that Jeongin was no longer around to accompany her was taking a toll on her. There was something with the way that everyone was staring that made her more conscious of her every move.

She couldn’t wait for lunch time, even if it meant that she needed to face whoever was responsible for everything that was happening. For now, she just had to pretend that the earphones plugged in her ear blared music until she reached her classroom at the end of the hallway.

Saeyeon didn’t know which she hated more: the lunch crowd when they were loud and rowdy or the lunch crowd masked in this eerie silence. It was the same as earlier—hushed whispers and judging gazes. However, faking ignorance was no longer an option when someone blocked her way before she managed to reach the stairwell.

“So, where are they?” The boy who’d blocked her way stares down at her with a brow-raised in anticipation. She looked up to him before taking a careful look around and seeing everyone watching them from where they stood.

She swallows the lump in her throat, “I don’t know either.”

A low chuckle leaves the boy’s mouth, “You can lie all you want. It’s impossible that you don’t know your own friends' whereabouts.”

“I’m telling you the truth,” Saeyeon replies honestly but it was clear that the other party didn’t want to believe in anything unless it was the answer he wanted to hear. “If I knew anything, they wouldn’t be reported missing.”

She stumbles back when the boy takes a step forward before bending to meet her eye. “Or maybe you know something,” he taunted, “and if you told anyone about it, one of your friends would come and get you next. Is that it?”

Before Saeyeon could come up with some kind of retort, a voice came from the platform below them.

“If I were you, I’d shut up.” They both turn their heads to the boy standing at the foot of the steps. For a moment, Changbin looks up to meet their glances before he walks up the stairs and past the boys blocking Saeyeon’s way. “Let’s go,” he says, reaching out for Saeyeon to take his hand.

But his hand is slapped away by the arrogant boy, “And what are you gonna do about it, shortcake?”

Saeyeon shakes her head, taking Changbin’s hand and attempting to steer him away from the fight that was threatening to start at any given moment. “Changbin, he’s not worth it,” she whispers but the reminder falls short when another remark is thrown in their direction.

“That’s right, freak. Walk away. I can’t believe this school would risk it’s reputation just to get the son of the mayor in.” Boisterous laughter echoes the hallway upon the mention. Saeyeon feels Changbin tense beside her, unsure if it was from anger or from sheer embarrassment. He never liked it when anyone mentioned his background, even more so after the incident last July. “Seo Changbin-ah, mind telling us where Park Jaejin went too?”

Saeyeon turns to them, “We all know that was a suicide.”

“No, that’s what his father’s minions said. Can’t believe that fucker would kill just to get a higher position. Don’t you think Changbin’s following his own dad’s tracks?”

Slipping out of Saeyeon’s grasp, Changbin’s mind goes blank.

Changbin watches as the nurse’s eyes glances momentarily at his school ID laid on the table and back to the computer screen. She inputs a few more things before she finally returns the card. She says a few more remarks about picking fights and injuries that Changbin didn’t like listening to. Then, she finally dismissed him.

The hallways were, once again, devoid of people. The emptiness was much more comforting as opposed to earlier. If there was anything he hated in the world, it was being watched and that was what everyone was doing throughout the entire morning. It made him glad that he was being sent home. But he catches sight of a familiar mop of curly brown hair sitting on a bench by the quadrangle outside of the school clinic and he feels the obligation to approach.

“Lunch is over, you need to get going,” Changbin says when he’s right in front of the girl.

Saeyeon looks up from her phone, wide-eyed and unexpecting. It takes her a moment to fully internalize that it was—finally, after nearly an hour of waiting—Changbin standing before her. She shakes her head, “I don’t want to. Let me see it.”

She reaches to grab Changbin’s hand but the boy flinches upon contact and hides his hand deep in his hoodie’s pocket. “It’s just a bruised knuckle, I’ll be fine. Besides, I was sent home.”

“So, you’re leaving?” Saeyeon says as she rises off the bench, “Can I come with you?”

“Saeyeon, no,” Changbin shakes his head.

But she doesn’t listen. Instead she stands in front of him to block his way, which was ironic considering it was the exact same thing the arrogant guy did to get Changbin in trouble. “But I don’t trust anyone else in the game anymore. Besides you, anyway. And I’m thinking about what’s happening to our friends. And the way people won’t stop staring at us as if it’s really our fault even if it isn’t. Well, I think it isn’t. But I’m not entirely sure either. Do you think it’s—”

All of Saeyeon’s rambles fall silent when she feels a pair of arms wrap around her, enclosing her in a hug—something she desperately needed since the day started but never got the chance to ask for as she was unsure of who to ask it from too. But here she was, wrapped in Changbin’s embrace—feeling the first inkling of peace in a long while. And for a moment, she felt safe and she felt her thoughts slowly dwindle into nothing with every passing second.

A chuckle leaves Changbin’s lips, “You’re overthinking again. There’s a chance that they’re fine,” he says reassuringly, tracing circles on the girl’s back in an attempt to comfort her. “Little, as of today, but the possibility is always there. And we’ll figure it out once the game’s over.”

“If we’re both still here when the game’s over,” Saeyeon answers, breaking away from the boy’s embrace before flashing him a half-hearted smile.

The boy smiles, “We will be. Trust me. Get going already, you’re running late.”

He ruffled her hair, like he always does, before watching the girl trace her steps back to the building. Once she was out of sight, he eyes his knuckle—unsure how someone could put so much trust in himself when he isn’t even sure if he trusts himself.

“No one got eliminated?” Jisung’s eyes widen as he sees Changbin walk into the alleyway at sundown.

The rest were already up and ready to enter right as the boy approached. They all file into the warehouse when he’s finally with the rest of them. There’s a tinge of distrust in the air, evident in the way everyone’s oddly spaced out from each other today compared to most days.

“Funny how no one vanishes after the world finds out about it. It’s like they’re setting us up,” Changbin comments, pulling the warehouse door open before slipping in.

“You know what, the sooner we finish the game, the sooner they’ll be back and the sooner our names will be cleared. Now move, let’s get this over with,” you say impatiently, waiting for the rest to file in before you shut the door behind you.

The table in the middle of the room was the smallest it had been since the game started. The round thing seemed more like a fun-sized casino table now. The chessboard on the center table remained, only this time a bronze circle circumferenced it. The circle was divided into five with each division directly in line with one of the five chairs around the table.

A signature pad rested on each of the five divisions along with the special pen it came with which was used to scribble on the matte surface. In the middle of the chessboard sat a compass whose hand would occasionally steer from side to side, illuminating whichever division it pointed to.

“Good evening, players. On the previous night, a citizen was targeted by the Mafia. Thankfully, the doctor was there to save them. Congratulations on making it into the Last 5. Since the number of players have been narrowed down, we have also shortened your time of deliberation from 1 hour to 30 minutes. 10 minutes before the time is consumed, you will be asked to input the name of the person you wish to eliminate on the pad before you.

“From now on, we will no longer be allowing skips. Lastly, the booth is no longer available but the same mechanic applies. In the last 5 minutes of the meeting, you are obligated to write another name on the pad and determine that person’s fate for the remainder of the game—of course, depending on your role. Good luck and have fun, players!”

There’s a mixture of reactions from the remaining players; half were thinking the citizen would’ve been better off dead so they’d be able to at least narrow down the list of suspected Mafias while the other half thought they were thankful they had extra manpower to solve the case.

“Was Saeyeon the only one who got those stares from everyone?” Jisung asks and when he sees everyone else shake their heads he continues, “No? I guess we all had a rough day then.”

“Mafia, whoever the fuck you are, step up. Imagine how tired we all are. They’re looking at us like we’re fugitives and we’re officially prime suspects of our own friends’ disappearances. We can’t have that now, can we?” The exhaustion in Saeyeon’s voice is evident as she spoke.

A muffled whisper from Minho is overheard by Changbin, resulting in the latter to get off his seat in disbelief. “What do you mean by simulation?! Are you kidding me? Minho, our friends have been reported missing on national news. Why the fuck do you still think this is a simulation?”

“Lee Minho,” Saeyeon’s voice calls out from directly across Minho and he turns his head away from Changbin to stare at her. “What’s the real reason you want this game to keep going?”

The boy takes a second to reply. “As I said, just to make the most out of it.”

“Now, with our friends officially recorded missing, do you still want to make the most out of this game?” Saeyeon asks, a brow raised at the boy who only stared back blankly—he doesn’t reply. “Thought so. Then what’s stopping you from admitting you’re the Mafia?”

A smirk tugs at the corner of Minho’s lips, “The fact that I’m not the Mafia.”

“You’re shaking,” Jisung points out.

“I’m not.”

“You are,” Changbin raises his voice, catching everyone else’s attention. “Why didn’t you have the slightest doubt when our friends were disappearing? Why did you just shrug it off like you were sure they were alright?”

Minho stands up from his seat, the metal thing clattering behind him, “I still think that they might be alright.”

“Who the fuck would file a missing case report if they were fine?” Saeyeon asks, a hand raised in exasperation at the man.

Changbin looks up to meet his glare, “Why were you so sure? Is it because the organizers, whoever the fuck they are, told you what happened to our friends when they got removed because you are the Mafia?”

“They didn’t tell me anything because I have never talked to any of them. Why are you so insistent in putting the blame on me?!” Minho shouts back furiously.

“I saw you that day.” The voice calls from across the table. Your whisper was a head turner. Now, everyone had their eyes on you. “The day Hyunjin disappeared? What were you doing at that alleyway across the apartment complex Chan lived in?”

Jisung’s eyes widened upon realizing that the man they’d been looking at that day had been Minho all along.

“We were at Chan’s to check out if he really was gone and Jisung and I saw Minho from where we were sitting in the lobby. What were you doing there?” you asked again and the boy in question could only stare back at you with furrowed eyebrows.

“That same alleyway leads back here,” Changbin whispers, “to the warehouse.”

The entire warehouse falls silent at the revelation. Everyone had the same look of disbelief plastered on their faces. They’ve never had evidence this strong since the start of the game, or it had always been there from the start, on the day he showed them the flyer, and they were just too oblivious to notice anything. They’ve mistaken Minho’s enthusiasm to keep the game going as his own skeptic, arrogant behavior and assumed his unusual disappearances from class were due to his own mischievous ways. They all think it was stupid that they never bothered thinking outside the box and never questioned what role he might possibly be playing in the game. But that was everyone’s mistake. They’re all glad they figured it out before it was too late.

“You’re the Mafia aren’t you?” Changbin asked, staring at the older boy’s eyes

Minho mumbles something beneath his breath but says nothing else, pulls his chair back and sits quietly. The last few minutes are spent in silence. No one dared to speak until they heard the 10-minute mark announcement blare through the speakers. The signature pad’s light flickers open shortly after. Once they’re all through with the votation, the overhead light dims.

The needle inside the compass starts spinning, lighting up each division on the table as it goes. Everyone waits in anticipation for it to slow down, even when everyone’s sure where it would end up pointing. A minute passes and the needle finally drifts into Minho’s direction before finally stopping.

“Lee Minho has been eliminated from the game.”

From where Saeyeon was, she could see the way Minho clenched his jaw before acknowledging the announcement.

“Minho,” Jisung calls out to him but the former doesn’t bother replying. Instead he wordlessly stands up and heads for the warehouse exit.

Instead of feeling relieved that the Mafia had been caught, Saeyeon felt her heart sink at the sight of Minho walking out the door. After the heated argument earlier, she doubted if the boy would even want to hang out with them in the next few days. She couldn’t help but think that the game brought them further apart than closer. It was the last thought that crossed her mind as Minho shut the door behind him, leaving them in the silence of the empty warehouse.

“Noticed something?” Changbin asked, pushing himself up and off the chair and taking his bag with him. “No announcement.”

You nodded, “Right, they usually announce something when a Mafia remains.”

“So, that’s it?” Saeyeon asks as she follows the others on their way out the warehouse. “The game’s over?”

“That was anticlimactic.” Jisung commented, “But maybe there’s an award waiting for us outside?”

Jisung had barely touched the warehouse door when an alarm went off, startling everyone. Red blaring lights illuminate the empty warehouse and it only falls silent again once they’re all far away from the door.

Through the speakers mounted on the wall, a voice says, “Please write a name before you leave.”

vii. night seven.

Sleep doesn’t come easy for you that night.

There’s an uncertainty settling in the back of you mind telling you that the game wasn’t really over yet. Half of your mind is betting on the possibility that the organizers are only prolonging the game even when there were no Mafias left behind, yet a part of you still thought one Mafia was still around due to the lack of an announcement both in confirming if a Mafia did remain or didn’t.

But you had to wait until tomorrow morning to find out which among your hunches was right.

You drifted in and out of sleep endlessly throughout the night and finally settled in your awakened state when the sun started to rise. Nothing’s changed when you arrived at school that morning. At the gate of your campus stood the other three people in the game—your own friends that felt more like strangers than people you spent your years in high school with. Once you reached them, you headed in together.

Everyone side-eyed the group as you all walked by but you couldn’t care less of their judgmental stares anymore. All you wanted was to get the game over and done with. Even if it meant saying things that hurt to admit out loud.

You only snap back to reality when you hear the faucet running. “You keep spacing out lately, _____? Is something bothering you?” Saeyeon asks, rubbing her hands together beneath the running water.

You just shake your head, turning around and disappearing into a cubicle—like you initially planned to. You admit you’ve been an airhead the past few days, probably due to the lack of sleep from overthinking the game through. Or maybe it was because Jisung hasn’t spoken a word to you since the night you defended him from their friends’ accusations.

Which you thought, finally—after thinking it through the past two days—might have been a wrong move.

If you looked at it now, Jisung seemed less suspicious now compared to a few days ago. The boy has gone from being the most boisterous one in the group, to the least and then somewhere in between throughout the past week and something about the sudden shifting throws you off. From your perspective, he started seeming more controlled.

Or maybe he’d just become a lot better in pretending he wasn’t the Mafia. Or maybe he wasn’t even the Mafia at all. You weren’t so sure anymore.

You sighed once you finished your business, “It’s just I think I know who the Mafia is. God, I just hate having to admit this out loud.”

You were left unanswered but you figured Saeyeon just didn’t know how to react.

“Saeyeon?” you called out again.

You pushed the cubicle door open and stepped out. The comfort room is empty and you feel your heart drop to your stomach, standing frozen in the middle of the tiled room. It was still too early for anything to happen but things always came when you least expect it.

The faucet was still running, yet there was no trace of Saeyeon anywhere.

You met the boys outside of the gym at lunch time and filled them in with the details. Hearing your own words, you were finding your own testimony hard to believe. But you swear you were telling them the truth to the best of your ability but the look on the boys’ faces made it clear that they doubted you. Changbin had his jaw clenched, unconsciously gritting his teeth in utter frustration while Jisung on the other hand seemed numb and apologetic—almost uncaring.

The pain-staking reality of your situation stills all of you and you feel chills run up your spine even when you were bathing beneath the brutal rays of the midday sun. You could tell by the look on each of their faces that each of their minds were churning in their own accord, solidifying each speculation with the laid out evidence before them. Your own thoughts start ringing in your mind—how could I let that happen, how did she disappear right under my nose.

You refuse to say another word, heaving a breath in before walking off in the opposite direction—unsure of what to think, what to believe in and who to trust.

You all arrived separately that night—keeping a respectful distance from one another even as you filed into the warehouse.

2 of the 5 chairs were removed, leaving 3 seats that were in line with the 3 divisions of the bronze table. Finally, the chessboard started making sense to you. At first sight, one would assume it was nothing but an unfinished game of chess. But if one were to take into context the game of Mafia they were playing, it would seem more like a miniature representation of the events that took place.

Eleven pieces were on the board—as opposed to the 32 pieces each game of chess should supposedly contain. The remaining pieces were nowhere to be seen. All pieces on the board were white save for two, a toppled queen and a king. Two knights were on either side of the king and alongside the fallen queen were 6 toppled pawns and a bishop.

“The Doctor has been eliminated from the game,” a voice says through the speakers and it’s the only words spoken for the first five minutes of the supposed deliberation.

You kept both of your elbows on the table, hands clasped together while you rested your face against it. Your eyes panned between the two boys before you. You could tell by the silence that you’re all having speculations with one another. Funny how the game was supposed to better your bond as friends but you don’t trust a single person in the room with you. Not anymore, at least.

“Han Jisung,” you called out and it’s the first time the boy laid his eyes on you since that night. His eyes are devoid of any light emotion—the glint of happiness in them was long gone. “How does it feel like playing the game this long?”

Jisung doesn’t answer the question. Instead he chuckles half-heartedly, letting only a twinge of emotion escape through his lips before reverting back to his emotionless state. Your heart sinks.

“How could I be so stupid?” Jisung mumbled beneath his breath, “You told me you knew what role you played that night. Who else could figure out their roles on the fourth night besides the Mafia?”

It’s the look of doubt mixed with hurt and skepticism that pains you the most. It explains why he’d been acting off lately. He’d either excuse himself from a conversation that included you or ignored you altogether. At least now, you know the reason why.

When you didn’t react, Jisung continued, “And now you tell us Saeyeon disappeared without a trace? Really? How could she disappear without you even noticing?”

You sighed, this was something you feared would happen. You bit your tongue, regretting that you said anything in the first place. You thought things would have fared better had the boys only found out about Saeyeon’s disappearance when she doesn’t show up at the warehouse at sundown, rather than hearing it from you. Your attempt at being honest seemed more like you were digging your own grave.

“As I said earlier, I was in the cubicle and couldn’t see anything outside. And I promise you that I’m telling the truth,” But the look on the boys’ faces made it clear that they didn’t believe a word you said.

Changbin cleared his throat, “It’s your word against the circumstances, ______,”

You leaned back on your chair, feeling no need to stay in the game any longer, “Fine, vote me out and let the Mafia win, I don’t care anymore. Either way, whether I’m the Mafia or not, the game ends and we’re all done with this.”

You don’t argue any further, feeling too exhausted and drained from the past week to even defend herself. Why would you bother, anyway? There was no point explaining if their ears were deaf to whatever you had to say. You were all tired and the game would still end regardless of who they voted off.

Besides, you knew to yourself that you weren’t the Mafia.

So, who is it?

Your mind starts to wander and you let it, reviewing the events of the past week in your mind and paying heed to every detail you might’ve missed out. You recall how the game started, how every speculation of yours blossomed from the little actions of your friends that seemed out of the ordinary. You’d always been a hidden wildcard even when your friends always accused you of being biased whenever it came to Jisung. You always picked up the details that seemed to go unnoticed—like the instance you caught Minho at that alleyway when Jisung didn’t.

This game was a bit different. You’d peered off your rose-colored glasses for this one and strived at being a more competitive player this round. Maybe that’s how you noticed Jisung was off right off the bat. You noticed his eyes scanned your group of friends every time you’d gather outside the warehouse before the meetings at sundown—as if frantically checking if the person he’d written down made it or not. And it happened everyday leading up to today. And you thought the only reason Jisung was turning on you now was to keep his own identity as Mafia covered.

However, what baffles you the most is how Changbin was just seemingly playing along with whoever the majority suspected as the Mafia like he wasn’t the first person to make an accusation. On most Mafia games, he’d target a suspicious person and stick to accusing them until they eventually get voted off. But he wasn’t doing that now, almost as if he’d been feigning ignorance just to let the Mafia win on purpose.

Unless...

It’s not Changbin now, is it?

Funny how a single change in perspective made everything finally make sense. Your eyes pan to the boy to your right. Seo Changbin sat there with furrowed brows and pursed lips. He was everyone’s first bet at being the reliable one whenever you played a game of Mafia. The first to always crack the case, the first to point a finger, the one who always figured it out.

No wonder they’d all been thrown off the Mafia’s trail right from the start. Maybe it was because the Mafia threw them off himself.

Finally, you understood the importance of planting an idea inside a person’s mind. It was manipulation in the most subtle way and Changbin was maximizing his use of it throughout the entire game. He was a clever one and you were sure that Jisung’s actions the first few days didn’t escape his eye. Maybe that’s why he chose the latter as the person to cover his tracks—throwing the first accusation at Jisung and subconsciously tricking everyone else into seeing what he wanted everyone else to see. He is the Mafia, it isn’t me.

Anyone else could be the Mafia but it isn’t him.

His trick worked; no one bothered speculating him. Maybe because everyone viewed him as some kind of hero, being the first person to seemingly steer the game into the Citizen’s favor. Or that was what everyone thought.

Minutes pass and an announcement comes through the speakers, signalling the 10-minute mark before the deliberation ends. The lights from the signature pad before you flicker brightly and you pick up the pen to write your vote.

A conversation from a few days ago replayed in the back of your mind.

“Mafias never win,” you recalled what Minho said—feeling a tad bit guilty for securing his elimination from the night before. You should’ve known.

Saeyeon shuffled on her seat before sitting erectly then asking, “And in the case that they do, how do they even do it?”

At the other side of the room, Changbin stops tapping the table with his pen before speaking, “By putting the blame on someone else.”

And that’s exactly what Changbin was doing all this time. Everyone else had just been too oblivious to notice.

viii. endgame.

endgame. the part of the game where the King should come out and fight (with fewer pieces left on the board); the ending phase of chess.

“__________ has been eliminated from the game.”

The announcement echoes in Changbin’s head in a never ending loop. Etched along with it was the look on your face right as you exited the warehouse, seeming as if you finally caught on to what he had been doing all this time but figured it out a little too late.

To say he was proud of himself for technically winning the game would be an understatement. But the feeling of proudness doesn’t come at all. Instead, he feels a wave of exhaustion after being on edge for hours on end in the past 7 days. A gentle reminder surfaces in his mind and tells him that there was no way in hell he was playing a damn Mafia game again.

“Did we win?” Jisung asked with his eyes wide in anticipation. The boy looks around for any sort of indication that they’d won the game but there was nothing but the emptiness of the warehouse around them.

Guilt settled in Changbin’s chest and he wills himself to look away from the enthusiastic boy, giving him nothing but a shrug in reply.

Another announcement comes through the speakers, this time telling them they still needed to write a name down unto the signature pad. Jisung could only oblige, despite no longer feeling the need to do so. On the other hand, Changbin knew it was the last thing he needed to do to win the game.

“Bracelet can’t heat up now when it’s obvious who I’m writing down,” Jisung says, chuckling as he finishes writing the other boy’s name down on the signature pad.

Changbin lets out a nervous laugh. He never knew what truly happened to the people he wrote down. They just disappeared. A funny thought crosses his mind, Jisung just vanishing right before his eyes. This game was all sorts of weird right from the start. The disappearing friends, the dangerous metal bracelets and the weird way everyone around them moved. He figured that he wouldn’t even be shocked anymore if Jisung disappeared in front of him.

When he finishes scribbling Jisung’s name, the compass starts spinning. Changbin stares at the chess pieces around it, finally taking notice that the only remaining pieces were a white knight and a black king. As a player himself, he was quick to catch on that the pieces represented the players in the Mafia game. It was his way of keeping track of which roles the remaining players played. Pawns were Citizens, the Bishop was the Doctor and the two Knights were the Police who both should’ve caught on by now.

The needle of the compass lands idly on Jisung and he stares at it with furrowed brows.

A voice comes out of nowhere, startling the daylights out of them both, “The Police have uncovered the Mafia.”

“We’re still playing?” The already confused look on Jisung’s face contorts into a further confused one.

Changbin couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction, “Jisung, I’m the Mafia.”

The other boy’s eyes widened at the confession, jaw-dropping in disbelief. The expression on his face shifts a few more times, as if replaying the past week in his mind—trying to pinpoint any slip up the older boy possibly made that would arouse any sort of suspicion. There were none.

“No wonder you won,” Jisung says, nodding upon realizing.

He was about to say something else, another remark at how good Changbin was as a Mafia when he heard footsteps approach him from behind.

Jisung’s worst mistake was to turn around.

Changbin stares up at the masked woman who was walking up to Jisung but he never thought ill of it. He only assumed she’d escort Jisung outside. But she drew something from her belt and Changbin wasn’t sure what it was until he heard a click, right before a gunshot echoed across the room.

“Seo Changbin,”

Changbin heard a voice call out and he turned his head. The voice is faint, as if calling from the depths of his mind. Behind him, there’s nothing but the grey walls of the voting booth. When he turns his attention back to the front he sees himself sitting before the signature pad he needed to write on and the digital clock that told him the date.

The date was from 7 days ago—the Monday they started playing the game. He watched as the traces of Seungmin’s name slowly disappeared from the pad as the vote was taken in by the system.

“Can I leave now?” the other Changbin asks into empty air.

When his question is left unanswered he doesn’t bother waiting any longer and helps himself out. Changbin follows himself through the door. Unlike what he expected, he wasn’t met by the darkness of the warehouse. Instead, he’s met by the noisy hallway of their high school. Behind him, where the voting booth was supposed to be, was the men’s comfort room. The shift in environment leaves him disoriented.

From the corner of his eye, he sees himself pass by, following a girl into a classroom before shutting the door behind him. The girl pulls a chair from the back row and Changbin does the same, sitting opposite to her. Peeking through the window of the classroom, Changbin recognizes that the girl his past self was talking to was Taehee. For a moment the girl’s gaze lingers on him, as if she actually saw him standing outside. But it turned out she was only on the look out for anyone possibly following them.

“You’re one of the Mafia, aren’t you?” he hears himself say and the girl stills at the confrontation.

But even when she was fazed, Taehee shakes her head, “I don’t know.”

“But you think you are,” Changbin cuts her off, lowering his head in an attempt to meet the girl’s gaze. “I know you. You can’t stop worrying about Chan.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she raises a brow, “We’re in the same friend group.”

Changbin leans back on his seat, “In the same friend group or you wrote his name the other night and he actually ended up missing?”

Taehee’s eyes snap upward in an instant, eyebrows furrowed before retorting, “If this is your way of getting me to admit that I’m the Mafia, you’re stupid.” She leans forwards, hand pressed against the armchair of the seat she was sitting on to push herself up. Changbin raises a hand, attempting to stop her from standing.

“What if I tell you I’m the other Mafia and we can win this thing?” a playful smirk tugs at the corner of his lips and Taehee’s face contorts further. “Imagine winning as Mafias. We’ve always planned this back in junior year.”

At first, the offer seems tempting. Remembering a memory in the past where they’ve been picked as Mafias of the game—the only time the Mafias came close to winning the game together. But Taehee is reminded of the absence of their friends again. “You’re fucked in the head. You do realize that our friends are going missing?”

“I’m sure they’re doing fine. It’s a realistic game of Mafia. They’re supposed to be gone.”

The girl rolls her eyes, “I know, I know. But I have a bad feeling about it.”

“You’re thinking too much,” Changbin replies, “They told us it’s just a game.”

“Easy for you to say,” Taehee says through gritted teeth, slapping Changbin’s hand away and standing from where she was sitting. “If Saeyeon disappears out of nowhere, how would you feel? No texts, no calls, nothing.” The tension in the room rises as she holds his gaze, her fists clenched beside her, “Win this game by yourself. I’m going to find Chan. For fuck’s sake, write my name tonight if you want to.”

Changbin watches the Taehee walk past his past self, heading straight for the door and slamming it behind her. His gaze follows her as she walks by and he notices his surroundings changed, taking him to a different hallway—one that overlooked the quadrangle where he seems himself hugging Saeyeon; the last concrete memory he had with the girl.

Of all the names he’d written down throughout the game, her’s was the hardest. He’d contemplated it the moment he watched her walk away that day. He thinks eliminating her now would be better than ending the game with the both of them being the last players and having her slowly realize the Mafia had been him the whole time.

And besides that, it made him momentarily think the game was real—it wasn’t or at least he tried to remember that it wasn’t. He clears his mind, recalling the memory of being sedated and hooked unto the dream machine—the warehouse and their circle of friends; all smiley yet nervous with what they were getting themselves into. Changbin remembers this was nothing but a simulation.

Just a simulation.

He’s unsure why no one else noticed how the weekdays looped when they were supposed to have a weekend two days ago. How their actions affected everyone else’s in a way that seemed like everything revolved around them. But he figures that not everyone was observant as he was.

It’s just a dream, he reminds himself. As bad as it gets, it isn’t real.

Or is it?

“Seo Changbin,” the voice calls again and this time, it comes clearer.

Changbin opens his eyes and comes face to face with a woman in a Vendetta mask. His body still felt numb and his back hurt from sitting erectly for so long. The woman moves, removing the needle buried into his arm with one swift move. He looks around him and finds himself in a warehouse—the same warehouse they held their meetings in. He tried to move but his body still felt heavy, feeling his head throb and his muscles aching.

“Congratulations on winning the game, Seo Changbin,” the woman with the mask says in a calm tone which didn’t make Changbin feel that his win was worth celebrating. “Remembering you were sedated, huh? That was a good strategy to stay sane.”

Changbin mumbles a thank you before he shifts on the seat, “How long were we out?”

“Just 10 hours,” the woman answers.

“7 days in the dream was just 10 hours in real time?” he asks before he sees the streaks of sunlight peering in through the cracks on the warehouse windows, indicating that it was morning. “You seem to be packing up. Going somewhere?”

“Game’s over. What do we need to stay for?” the woman asks this time around.

“I don’t know? Other people who want to try this game out.”

The woman sighs, “It was just a trial and obviously we failed.”

“Failed?” Changbin asks, an eyebrow perking up in confusion. “The game was ridiculously realistic. Even my friends thought it was real throughout the game. Right, everyone?” Changbin turns to look around and only then does he notice that none of his friends were awakened yet. “Shouldn’t they be awake?”

The woman stares at him through the mask, “Oh, Changbin. Don’t you remember what happens when you die in a dream?”

“You wake up,” he answers.

“On regular circumstances, you do,” the woman walks away from Changbin, heading to the boy nearest to him. She raises Jisung’s arm, removing the needle out his arm too harshly and letting his body fall on the table with a loud thud, “But when you’re heavily sedated, you don’t.”

All color drains from Changbin's face. It takes him a moment before he turns his head and takes a good look around. Around him, his friends were all positioned in different manners but they all shared a common denominator—they were all lifeless.

“An eye for an eye, kid. Send your father my regards,” Changbin’s eyes return back to the woman standing at the warehouse’s entrance. Only then does he realize why the voice of the woman sounded too familiar.

She removes the mask and Changbin catches the eerie similarity the girl shared with her father—the previous mayor whose death hasn’t been investigated any further due to the new administration seated.

“Your family messed with the wrong people, Changbin. I would start running if I were you,” she says shutting the warehouse door behind her—leaving Changbin in the dark with nothing but the thoughts inside his head and the corpses of his friends.

"Reporting live from Seoul, we are at the Ilkyeong Warehouse that has recently been turned into a crime scene. Earlier today, workers from a nearby construction site discovered ten bodies seated around a round table in the middle of the warehouse. These bodies were identified to be the ten missing students from Seoul School of Arts. Initial investigations believe that the group participated in the usage of the now-illegal PASIV or the Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous Device. This device, once attached with a powerful sedative, allows dream-sharing between two or more people. Made known in the 1900s and early 2000s, it has been banned for use due to the occurrence of similar tragedies where people have never woken up from their dreams after taking the heavy sedatives.

“Seo Changbin, son of current Seoul mayor, Seo Inyeop, who was said to be a part of the circle of friends, remains missing and is the prime suspect of the case. There are currently no clues as to where his whereabouts may be. Citizens are advised to keep watch and stay vigilant. On the screen are the numbers you can contact if you happen to have any information that could possibly aid the authorities in any way. Lee Sojeong, Seoul."

#kpopscape #kwritersworldnet #stayhavennet #stray kids fic #stray kids x reader #jisung x reader #skz x reader #stray kids #stray kids fics #skz fics #stayracha #toff.writes

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tavern-aa · 4 years

Text

Haikyuu Captains as Boyfreinds

Includes: Daichi, Kuroo, Bokuto, Oikawa, Ushijima

Warnings: slight cursing, bokuto emo-mode, slight nsfw

A/N: Leviathan reporting!! This is the first headcannons/anything we’ve got up so if you want to make requests, go for it. <3<3<3

Male! Reader

Daichi Sawamura

When you first got together, he was extremely awkward. It wasn’t his first relationship, but it was his first time dating a guy.

He was very shy about pda.

You started going out in the middle of your second year in highschool

Now, nearing the end of your third year he is a lot more confident is your relationship.

He loves to show off whenever you’re at his games. Whether it be flexing or literally throwing himself across the court for a receive, this man is doing it for you and only you.

Third year comes around and you are so proud to be dating the captain. He won't say it often but he PREENS when you call him by his title.

If he wins a game, you better believe he’s waiting anxiously for you to appear before him so he can squeeze the life out of you with a bear hug. He’s so happy and he loves that you’re here with him to share in the happiness.

If he loses he doesn’t have to wait. You’re down by the court already, running over to him to console him after his loss. He’s the captain, his team can’t see him cry, but you know better and as soon as everyone is settled you sweep him away and hold him close, brushing away the small tears that might fall down his face.

On a regular school day, being in different classes makes it slightly difficult to see each other, but lunch time is always a blessing for the two of you. You’ll sit with him, Sugawara and Asahi and have the time of your life.

He likes to buy small presents for you whenever he can. If he sees something and it reminds him of you, he buys it.

Whenever you come over, he likes to cuddle with you, whether it be on the couch, on the floor, or on either of your beds. He just loves feeling you wrapped up in his arms. And you love it too, it makes you feel safe and secure.

In public, he keeps the pda to a minimum, but he loves to place his hand on the small of your back or have your hands intertwined together to signal that you are in fact, together.

If someone decides to stare at you two or make rude comments about being two men, he’ll immediately pull you away to somewhere else, but he’ll definitely make a mental note of how this person looked so he could hunt them down later on.

He doesn’t really mind your being friends with the other volleyball club third years, but as soon as the second years come into the mix, he has his hesitations. He just doesn’t want his little bird to be influenced by the ruffians Tanaka and Nishinoya.

At the end of the day, this man is the most loving and caring boyfriend you could ask for. He’s understanding and even if you end up fighting he’s going to be the one to apologize first. He loves you too much for him to allow you to stay mad at him.

This man loves you with all his heart and even if your being a man drives away all the people in his life due to their bigoted opinions, he will stay by your side and love you forever.

Tetsurou Kuroo

Okay so, this guy, mmph.

I love him so much.

As a boyfriend though, he’s kinda silly.

This man is a big volleyball nut as we all know, but sometimes he finds it hard to separate volleyball from his personal life.

The way you started dating was strange. You confessed to him, which is normal, but he didn’t really respond, he just kissed you out of nowhere, pulled back and made a face as if he were mulling over how it was. He then shrugged and said okay to your confession.

He’s not exactly romantic but he tries his best, he really does.

When you come to his games, he is already showing off, knowing you’re watching him.

He likes to tease you a lot, if you’re shorter than him he’ll rest his elbow on your head and lean on you, usually in the middle of conversation with other people. If you’re taller than him, he likes to call you silly names like “beanpole” or “giant”.

If the teasing ever gets to you, he isn’t very empathetic. He’ll just scoff and say he was playing and not really take your feelings into account. He knows he’s being mean and that his response is wrong, but he doesn’t care, he’s trying to think about next weeks game.

You’ve known each other since you were kids so that also plays a big role in your relationship. You and Kenma are best friends and whenever Kuroo upsets you, he’s the first person you’re going to.

Kuroo doesn’t like to admit that he’s the jealous type, but whenever he sees you crying to Kenma instead of him it pisses him off. Like, he’s the one you confessed to so why aren’t you crying to him? Boy doesn’t realize that you’re crying about him.

This is how it is goes for most of your high school dating years.

After highschool he calms down a lot and he starts to realize how he’s been treating you. One day, once you both have started college, he sits you down and just starts apologizing for how he's been treating you and all the things he’s said and done to you and not taken into account your feelings.

He’s much better now and he definitely likes to show you off to his friends. When you met Bokuto for the first time, Kuroo was immediately very protective of you. He knew Bokuto was a good guy but he was very touchy with his friends and new people and Kuroo just didn’t want him touching you.

Kuroo likes to give you small gifts and treat you to dinner whenever he can because he really does love you, he just has a hard time expressing it.

You two share a dorm during college, one of the lucky things with you both being guys.

The room is almost always messy because of Kuroo’s inability to keep things clean but you live with it...mostly. You make him clean and even if he whines you pay him with kisses for doing little things like picking up his clothes, or throwing the instant ramen cups away.

You only use one of the beds in the room because of his constant need for cuddles and affection.

He wasn’t a good boyfriend in highschool but in college he is truly trying to make up for it. He’s showing you how much you mean to him and treating you like a king, no, like a god. He worships you.

Koutarou Bokuto

He’s a big cuddle bug btw, his beefy arms make great pillows if you ever want to hug him.

He loves to hold you in his arms, no matter where or when or what the situation he is in.

You are in different classes, but that does not stop this man from spending as much time with you as possible.

He’s actually the one who confessed to you which shocked his entire team, especially when he introduced you to them and they didn’t see a small petite girl but a full fledged dude.

Akaashi and you get along well enough to the point where when you hang out with him it makes the captain slightly jealous.

“Y/N-chan, do you not love me anymore? Do you like Akaaaaashi better than me?”

Big cry baby if he doesn’t get his daily kisses and hugs from his cute little boyfriend. “It’s kissy time Y/N-chan~.”

He constantly needs help fixing his hair and he always asks for your help because now he has you to depend on.

He isn’t really one to buy small gifts for you by himself, but if you want something he will either immediately buy it for you or will later go back to the shop by himself and purchase whatever it is you wanted.

Big food nut, so if you know how to cook, he will love you forever (not that he doesn’t already).

When he introduced you to his parents, he was very nervous because not only were you a guy, but you were also the first person he had ever introduced to his family. His parents were a little skeptical at first but once they got to know you they treat you like their own son and constantly invite you over for dinner.

He’s bad with numbers so don’t expect him to remember important dates like anniversaries, but he remembers birthdays really well. In fact, he likes to go all out with a surprise party and gifts galore just to spoil his baby.

Whenever he goes into his emo-mode during games, the team will tell him that you’re in the stands watching him and cheering him on. He’ll immediately perk up and search for you knowing you’re always in the front row for him and lock eyes with you. Give him a little wave and a loud cheer and he’ll give his signature “HEY HEY HEY” and win the game just for you.

Tooru Oikawa

Tooru is another one of those guys who has a hard time separating their personal life from volleyball and that puts a huge strain on your relationship.

He is a big volleyball nut but fun fact, so are you!! being on the team together at first seemed like a great idea, but as soon as you realized that this man’s life seriously revolves around volleyball day and night, the actual romantic portion of your relationship started to lack.

Whenever you made plans to meet up or go on a date, he would spontaneously either forget or something would “come up”. Truth be told, this nerd seriously lost track of time with practice.

Don’t get him wrong, he loves you to the moon and back, but it’s hard to maintain a relationship with him because of his inability to change.

You have gone through many breaks with him but each time he comes back swearing that he’ll change and that he will try to be better and hang out with you more.

That doesn’t last very long. He always falls back onto his bad habits.

He especially does NOT like it when you worry about him over working himself and over working his knee. You see him during practice every day, sometimes struggling only a little, and other times struggling a lot. It’s difficult to watch him destroy himself for such an unforgiving sport.

When he IS able to make time for you, it’s usually later at night. He likes to take you to the park or by the river and lay on the grass to stargaze with you *cough* alien watch *cough*.

Even though he has his quirks, everyone does and he loves that you accept him for who he is with all his flaws. He might not be the best boyfriend all the time, and it might seem like he is neglecting you, but he really is trying his best to be good for you.

Volleyball matches are a trip with Tooru. He wants to make sure before every match that you know he loves you by giving you a bone crushing hug. He’ll shout during the drills that he loves you, even at the price of Iwaizumi giving him a hit to the head. It’s worth it every time.

He loves when he’s on the sidelines and he gets to watch you play, no matter what position you play.

He also loves to show you off to your team, like he loves PDA at practice. If the opportunity arises, he will be hugging you, kissing you, or touching you in some way shape or form.

Wakatoshi Ushijima

Ushiwaka is an enigma honestly. How anyone is able to date him is a mystery, one of the great wonders of the world.

Not that he’s a bad boyfriend, it’s just surprising he agreed to date anyone when he’s so focused on volleyball and school.

He’s a very stoic person so sometimes it’s hard to know what he’s thinking and even if you ask him, he sounds so monotone that you aren’t sure if he means what he’s saying.

His expressions are hard to read and that makes understanding him that much harder.

He’s not big on PDA in public or in private but if you really want to, when you two are hanging out in either of your rooms, he’ll let you sit in his lap and cuddle with him.

He likes it when you pet his hair while cuddling together. It calms his thoughts and soothes his muscles. You are a big stress reliever for him.

Your size difference is one of Ushi’s favorite things about you. Whenever you put your head on his chest, he makes this face of absolute bliss, though it’s not actually noticeable unless you’re someone extremely close to him.

Ushi likes to attempt to teach you how to play volleyball, if you are a slow learned he takes his time teaching you how to do things. He’s very patient with you and makes you feel good about yourself by constantly reassuring you. If you’re a fast learner or already know how to play he likes to make things a little competitive between the two of you by making bets and saying things like, “If you can manage to receive my serve, I’ll buy you bread for a week,” or “if I can block your spike, then you have to give me 100 kisses.”

He’s a lot softer than people really expect of him, especially for his baby boy. When it’s just the two of you, he will talk to you in a soft, gentle voice that truly sends shivers up your spine. It’s so soothing.

Satori can be kind of a cockblock sometimes when it comes to things getting even remotely intimate between the two of you. He randomly will come into the room at the worst times.

Ushi seems like a stoic machine but he is human just like everyone else and he loves you so damn much. You are his baby, his cinnamon apple, the love of his life, even if he not great at expressing himself. You light up his day by just existing, his baby boy.

#haikyuu x male reader #haikyuu!!#haikyuu #haikyuu captiains #haikyuu!! x male reader #ushijima #daichi #oikawa #kuroo #bokuto #ushijima x male reader #daichi x male reader #oikawa x male reader #kuroo x male reader #bokuto x male reader

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kitty0boy · 3 years

Text

So it’s like 2 am rn and I’m tired but can’t sleep so I wrote this down quickly. It’s a little Marichat fic that probably won’t be very good because I’m running on like 5 hours of sleep. I’ll probably fix spelling mistakes tomorrow or even just delete this but for now, enjoy.

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The class decided to have a picnic to celebrate their last year at Francois DuPont high school. They were about 17 now, some were 18. Everyone lounged around, eating pastries, talking about their first day back from summer and just genuinely having a good time. Unfortunately Adrien’s father had instructed him to go home so while he packed his belongings, he listened to his friends conversations. That was when he saw a younger girl run up to Lila.

Now Adrien knew he had a lot of fans, as Chat and as himself. The older and more, how you say, well defined he became, the more fans he acquired. Though when it came to Chat, being a fangirl was much more dangerous. At one point it got so bad that Ladybug had to schedule an interview with the Ladyblog telling them to stay away during akuma attacks. They would quite literally, chase after Chat while he was being chased after by an akuma. He even saw one of them pretend to be hurt so he would swoop in and save them. Yeah very dangerous stuff. Which is why it was quite a scared to hear that Lila was a fan.

“Of course I’m a fan of his, in fact, I’m quite close with one of Paris’s superheroes.” She spoke, hiding the lying tone to her voice. As irritating as she was, he had to admit she was good. “Really?” The girl squealed. She was on the younger side, maybe 13 or 14, about his age when he first got his Miraculous. “Oh leaving so soon Adrien?” She said in a sickeningly sweet voice. “Yeah, my father again.” He replied, trying to sound friendly. “I can walk you home if you like! I wanted to speak with Mr. Agreste anyways. About our up coming photo shoot.” Damn it, he’d almost forgotten about that. He hated shoots with Lila. Adrien had always liked physical affection, but with her it was almost unbearable. “No that’s ok, I can walk him.” Marinette offered, stepping in to shield him from the object of his discomfort. And what a beautiful shield she was.

Her days of pigtails were over, instead she would wear her hair in different styles everyday. Today was a half up half down style with space buns, very reminiscent of her fight as Multimouse. She has also settled for a mint green t-shirt and a black skirt which clearly paid homage to his superhero self. It was nearly impossible to wipe the Cheshire grin off his face as she strode over, picnic basket in hand. He was visiting her while she finished the little paw prints along the hem of the skirt, but of course she wouldn’t know that. “Wow miss, I really like your outfit! Where’d you get it?” The girl squeaked rushing over. Her eyes shining with pure joy. “Oh why thank you, I actually made it myself.” She curtsied, very adorably in his opinion. “Wow that’s so cool! Could you make me one?” If she got anymore excited she would float into space. “You know, I can get Chat to stop by if you wanted.” Lila chimed in, drawing the girls attention back to her. “Really?” She turned and ran towards her new favourite person. “Of course I can, my boyfriend always seems to find me.” She faked a gasp and quickly covered her mouth with her hand. “Whoops.” She exhaled. The class gasped. That was what she was looking for.

“You’re dating Chat Noir Lila?” Marinette snickered, silencing them. It was clear that Lila had more influence over the class now. As much as they all loved Marinette, Lila had successfully made herself more interesting. “Yes I am, but I wasn’t supposed to say that. Oh no, I’m going to get into so much trouble.” She delicately placed her fists over her chest for added effect. Marinette burst out laughing and that’s when Adrien slowly started to back away unnoticed by his friends.

He ran and ducked into an alley way making sure he wasn’t followed. “Oh come on kid, I didn’t even get anything from the picnic. You should have at least slipped me something.” Plagg groaned. “I will after I go sort this mess out, it’s dangerous if people think Lila is dating me, she could be targeted by Hawkmoth.” He rationalized. “Big deal, if she gets akumatized we can just purify her no problem.” “Uh yeah Plagg it is a big deal. What if Hawkmoth kidnaps her instead, as much as I don’t like her I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me.” “Well kid if she gets kidnapped because she lied about dating you it’s not your fault is it? Now can I at least finished eating?” He sighed, Plagg was right. If she got kidnapped now she only had herself to blame. An idea did pop into his head. Maybe if she was proven wrong, she might stop saying things like that, and he knew the purrfect purrincess to help him achieve his goal. “Later, Plagg Claws Out!” A flash of green later and there’s stood Chat Noir, in all his leather-clad glory. Hopping onto the roof, he made to move towards them when the sound of shouting caught his attention.

“Do you realized how dangerous it is to even say things like that!” Marinette squeaked, really living up to her super identity and the mysterious multimouse. “You can’t just tell people you’re dating superheroes for attention Lila, you’re safety could be at risk.” She pointed, Lila seemed to be unphased but there was something about her posture that showed she was guilty and ticked off. “I already told you I didn’t mean to let it slip, I have a rare condition c-“ “called Liars Luny or something like that right?” Marinette interrupted. He had to hold back a laugh at her clever remark. “Marinette that was incredibly rude.” Rose intervened, and one by one everyone turned their faces to Marinette, a glared placed on almost all of them. All but Nino and Alya, who had long discovered Lila’s manipulative ways. Though they were still afraid to say anything about it, they didn’t want her to get akumatized after all.

“Look Marinette, if you’re jealous just say so, I won’t be mad. I’m sure a lot of other women would love to get their hands on my sweet kitten. I mean, considering your outfit it’s pretty obvious you have a crush on him.” You know, for a compulsive liar, Lila seemed to be good at getting the truth out of others. Marinette’s face turned pink and her fists began to clench. Her back stiffened up too, was she really jealous? Or was it just his imagination. Maybe he hoped she was, he had fancied her for a while now but he never made a move. Suddenly his classmates were surrounding her and she looked like she was on the verge of tears.

His anger from earlier started to rise to his chest as he let out a low growl and leapt off the roof. Thankfully, his years as a model made him a fairly decent actor as well.

“Fancy seeing you here my purrincess.” He purred walking over to the group. “You look radiant as always.” Lila stiffened but quickly tried to look relaxed as she confidently strode towards him. “It’s nice to see you here too kitten, couldn’t stay away from me I see.” She smiled, it almost looked genuine. It didn’t take long for her possi of classmates to follow behind, leaving Marinette standing there clearly distraught, he growled again as a tear slid down her cheek. Keeping it cool, he cooked up a response. “Umm, I’m sorry but do I know you?” He said in mock confusion. The class gasped slightly, “Of course you know me, didn’t you just call me your princess?” Lila chimed, placing a hand on his shoulder. “No. I have no idea who you are, I was talking to the lovely lady in green and black. She is radiant isn’t she, and she looks fantastic in my colours.” He replied cooly. Before anyone had time to react he ran through the crowd and picked up Marinette, twirling her in a circle. She giggled slightly, her throat a little strained. She placed her forearms on his shoulders, intertwining her fingers behind his head as he slowly lowered her to the ground. “What’s wrong love?” He reached up, gently brushing a tear from her cheek. She got the hint to play along. “Nothing I’m all good kitty.” She smiled genuinely and he smiled back. Ignoring the eyes of everyone around them. He held up his arm and gestures to her skirt. “Do you see all of these little paw prints? She sewed them all herself! It took her 4 hours too, I almost couldn’t draw her attention away from the stitching.” She blushed and buried her face in his shoulder, oh mon dieu she was so cute. “And these shoes,” he scooped her up bridal style and she laughed. “See the little toe beans, how adorable.” The girls squealed and ran over to admire her craftsman ship while the boys kept glaring daggers at Ms. Lie-la. “Ok now stand back everyone! We have to show you how it spins.” Marinette cocked and eyebrow at him. “How it spins? Excuse me sir but my pronouns are she/her.” He chuckled before pinching the black fabric of her skirt. “No I mean this, you did wear shorts today did you not?” “I did.” She confirmed. “Good,” he subtly winked at her before continuing, a little louder than necessary, “Wouldn’t want everyone else seeing what’s mine now would we.” Before she could register his words he held a hand above her head and gave her a little twirl, her skirt flowing beautifully in the wind. “See what’d I tell you? Absolutely beautiful.” He turned and smiled down at her, she blushed back up at him. Dieu, he could happily die drowning in her eyes. The two of them seemed to be in a world of their own, just looking at each other.

Until a voice snapped them back to reality. “I can’t believe you! You filthy cheater!” As well as a liar, Lila was a good actor. Tears streaming down her cheeks, arms straighten and hands curled into fists. He rolled his eyes before forcing them to look at a more revolting sight. “Like I said miss, I have no idea who-“ he paused “Oh wait I remember you! You were the liar that nearly got Marinette expelled weren’t you! The one who tried to intervene when Onii-chan was akumatized just because you disliked Ladybug.” He didn’t mean to get so angry but he couldn’t hide it anymore. His hand gripped Marinette’s shoulder a little more tightly than he would have liked but she wasn’t hurt by it. Everyone gasped on cue and turned to Lila who stood there pale. Karma is a bitch isn’t it? In his fury he barely registered Marinette’s hand on his arms. “Come on Chat, let’s get out of here.” She whispered. Coaxing him back to the present. “Yeah ok, I’m sure your friends will deal with her.” She smiled at her classmates who had turned towards Lila with furious looks on their faces. “Did you have a place in mind mousinette.” She giggled at that. “Well there’s always that spot you took me to the first time you came to visit, remember where it is?” She smiled. “I don’t think I would forget that.” He turned towards the crowd. “Welp, me and the princess will be taking our leave now, though I did enjoy seeing you all again.” Then he stooped down to pick her up bridal style as she giggled. For good measure he placed a light kiss to her temple before racing off towards that lovely spot they had just discussed.

“WHAT THE F***.” The fangirl screamed after all the confusion.

———————————

So it’s been a month or two since I first posted this and I decided to clean it up a bit and add a few more details to it. Not that this is suddenly going to blow up but I do like the impurrovement (hehe I have puns for days). So yes, if by some miracle you are reading this, I hope you enjoyed!

#marichat #multichat #miraculous lady tales of ladybug and cat noir #miraculous adrien #miraculous marinette #miraculous ladybug

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anambermusicbox · 3 years

Text

September 29 Day Countdown (26/29): 2016-2018 Radio Interviews on 动感101《小畅翻牌》

2016/12/20

(2:00) Interviewer, knowing Ukraine has renowned music schools, thought Zhou Shen went to Ukraine specifically to study music before she found out he actually was in dentistry and then switched to music; she asks why he went to Ukraine to study.

Zhou Shen: Simple! Because it’s cheap. (T/N: it’s extremely extremely cheap compared to studying abroad in other countries, and Zhou Shen’s family was quite poor)

(3:00) How did you win your parents over?

ZS: I didn’t. I told them, “Hey, I don’t think I can do this” and they were like “What?” I said, “I really can’t do this.” At first, they didn’t really understand what I was going through at the time. They said, even if I had to retake a year or two, they wanted me to keep going. They said, then take some time to improve in the language. I said, “I really can’t do this anymore,” they said no, and later I went against their wishes and applied to the music conservatory anyways.

(7:30) ZS talks about how he didn’t talk to his parents for months after switching schools, until finally his parents told him, “Then in the future, whatever you do is no longer our concern” and then hung up on him.

ZS: (8:10) They said, okay we’re not giving you money for school, you figure it out yourself. But parents are like this: they say things but don’t go through with it. So they gave me money for tuition but nothing to cover living expenses. (*laughs*) (Interviewer: They said, whether you eat or not is no longer our concern) Yup. (*laughs*) They said they’d give me money for living expenses only if I studied medicine or language. So I had to borrow money from a classmate for food. I held out for 2 months, starved for 2 months before they said, okay since you’re this persistent, even though we’re still against this- (Interviewer: They still don’t want their son to starve to death) Right, they didn’t want to lose a kid. (*laughs*)

Interviewer: (9:00) When did their attitude finally soften towards your decision?

ZS: After the Voice. (T/N: ZS didn’t tell his parents before he competed on the show; they found out along with the rest of the public when it aired) [...] They thought, ah okay he’ll be able to take care of himself now, he knows what he’s doing.

Interviewer: (9:50) Are they proud of you?

ZS: Oh yeah, they’re absolutely embarrassing. (*laughs*) After the episode aired, my parents- they run a small business, and customers who came by, my parents would be like, “Look :) who this is :)” and the customer would be like “…??…uuhh who is-“ “ITS HUAN YAN, OUR SON SANG IT!!!” (*laughs*) and then the customer is like “uuhhh ehhrmm….” I wanted to die from the embarrassment oh my gOD, it was so awkward. So awkward. Afterwards, I started avoiding being with them when they were with people. (*laughs*) They- they’re parents; they were happy, and then they started to worry. (*laughs*) This career... how long would I be able to do it for...

(11:50) ZS talks about how surprised he was by how popular Big Fish was; after only a few days, a lot of covers started appearing online. The singers for Big Fish and Begonia’s other OSTs were very big names, Eason Chan and Lala Hsu.

ZS: At first, they planned to have another very big name singer to sing Big Fish (T/N: it was supposed to be Faye Wong!), but because of reasons, their plan never came to fruition. The song’s lyricist, Yin Yue, she’s really too good to me. She kept insisting to the director, “Zhou Shen can sing this song, you should let him try,” but the director honestly didn’t care. The production company and the director, they wanted someone had enough influence to promote the film. (Interviewer: But congratulations to them, they ended up choosing the right person for the song! :D)

(19:30) ZS: “[After Masked Singer], my parents, they posted a WeChat moment they was quite touching—they said “Our son sang so well and seeing him work so hard—we want him to continue singing.” (Interviewer: Oh so they go online often?”) Yeah, only because I spent years teaching them.” (*laughs*)

(19:45) ZS: “Every time I come home, my parents play my songs non-stop. I asked them, aren’t you sick of listening to it? Later I asked my sister, and she told me they play my songs all the time everyday. I felt like, wah (Interviewer: “All these years of being a host, and my own parents are the most avid viewers of my program.”) Wow… auntie uncle, I’m very sorry… (T/N: LKJNASFDFA THIS MADE ME SPIT OUT MY FOOD I WAS EATING HAHAHA) they’re gonna hate me. [...] I think, being a parent is really such hard work.”

2016/12/17

(5:30) ZS talks about how he didn’t sing at all during in his middle school years. Interviewer asks whether he ever tried to conceal his being different from everyone else.

ZS: Actually, when you listen to me talk, I- all these years I’ve already gotten accustomed to making my voice lower, it’s a force of habit. I’ve forgotten what my regular voice is supposed to be like. If I relaxed my throat while speaking it would sound like this—thinner, higher. But now I can’t go back.

(7:50) Interviewer asks whether he’ll try out different styles of music:

ZS: I think right now, people don’t know me well yet. I want people to first know who Zhou Shen is, what kind of songs he sings, and then try other genres, and only then will people want to listen. If release a song, people will be like, who’s Zhou Shen and won’t try listening to it—and if they listen and it’s a genre I’m not good at? Wow, no one’s going to listen.

2018/02/03

(1:50) ZS: “Well for one thing, I really hate my voice. (Interviewer: Why?) A male with this kind of voice is really weird. (Interviewer: It’s unique! It’s memorable. Can you find other people with this kind of voice?) Yup. My dad. (*laughs*) One time, my manager called my dad and he- “Hello?” “Oh hello auntie-” I was like “wAIT WAIT WAIT that’s my dad” (*laughs*) (Interviewer: Can he sing too?) No way, he scares people to death when he sings, he can’t sing. (*laughs*)

(7:45) After Big Fish was released:

ZS: Everyone seemed to like it, it felt- Eh? This is great. After about two weeks though, comments started to appear like: “just found out a man sang this and I feel like vomiting, I deleted this song immediately.” And it wasn’t just this one, there were many comments like it. It was extremely upsetting. I felt like, one of those characters in a sad drama, the kind that gets abandoned and they’re crying like “what did I do to you to make you treat me like this? TT^TT”

Interviewer: It’s like, even if there’s a whole pile of positive comments, if there’s one negative, that’s the one you pay attention to. Even if there are 100 nice comments—

ZS: —if there’s one hurtful comment, that’s the one that sticks with you, exactly! Everyone has this tendency.

(7:20) ZS talks about his duet with Guo Qin again (see translation from another interview talking about it here), how he was just as nervous as he was in his own blind audition and how he would’ve blamed himself if she had lost: “She’s 17—super young, makes me so mad—and she was sitting so calmly; meanwhile, I was standing there, all my limbs trembling—like, who’s supposed to be helping who here?” (*laughs*)

(14:45) About how he’s grateful that he didn’t get popular overnight:

ZS: If I got popular overnight, I think it would’ve been over for me. Because my singing really did need improvement. Also, I think my album is really important in that in helped me get through a bottleneck period. At that time, I felt like, no matter how I sang it didn’t sound good. I felt like, can I even sing? But the process of recording this album helped me to see where I needed to improve.

So if I got popular overnight, it really would’ve been over for me, because my singing wouldn’t have improved. It would’ve stopped there. (Interviewer: And you would still believe that you’re really good.) Everyone around you is praising you like (*rapid clapping*) “You sing so well!! You sing so well!! Look at how everyone wants to hire you to sing, you sing super well!!” It’s over- it would really be over. […] I quite like progressing one step at a time.

(18:10) Zhou Shen talks about how, when he got eliminated on the Voice, he wasn’t crying because he lost, but because suddenly going from spending so much time together as a team and having such camaraderie to all but four eliminated was too heartbreaking.

ZS: (20:20) When I got eliminated, I was actually really happy. I don’t like competing, and I felt I didn’t have any pressure on me anymore. I felt bad for Li Wei because I knew there would definitely be a lot more pressure on him now, because now he has to represent our entire team in the future competition.

After our PK, he—because we both cried so hard—he said (*shrill crying voice*) “Zhou Shen I’ll carry your name and compete to the end!! TT^TT” (*Interviewer laughs*) and I replied, (*shrill crying voice*) “You shouldn’t give yourself so much pressure, don’t carry my name just sing TT^TT” (*laughs*)

You don’t understand how hard we were crying. After the PK, there had to be a 25-minute intermission because Na-jie had to cry too. So she’s there crying in the mentor area and I’m crying in the eliminated area and Li Wei’s crying in the advancement area. [...] During the blind auditions, every single person earned their place in the team one by one, and now all of them are being taken out one by one—it was quite brutal.

2018/02/10

(1:30) Zhou Shen talks about how he has a longer process to be accepted compared to other singers, because they first have to get over the fact that a man has this type of voice before they truly listen to him sing. Some people react like, WOW amazing!! while others are on the other end of the spectrum:

ZS: Once, I was at a restaurant and at that time, they were broadcasting the blind auditions of the Voice. The restaurant owner just happened to be watching it, and when I appeared, he was like “Eh? Who’s this- WAH-“ and immediately changed the channel. I was like ??? D’: ????? “…can I have some water?” (*laughs*) He changed the channel right in front of me, you know? He didn’t recognize me. It was- (*makes disgruntled noises*) It was really upsetting.

(2:20) ZS, about being on Masked Singer: “That was the first time I felt acknowledged by the sentence ‘wow this girl sings so well!’”

(20:30) In the three years since your debut, have you ever seen a fan who, because of your songs or your voice, their life changed?

ZS: Have I seen that personally? That would be impossible, but I have read about it in letters and comments. There was one comment, this person—they had depression, the kind that they were being prescribed medication for—but they started listening to my music and slowly started to become happier, their mental health improved. I was so astonished—music is really so powerful.

Another one was- to be honest, men with this type of voice are actually not uncommon. It’s really not just me. Once, I was at karaoke with an old schoolmate—middle school or high school, I forget—and he said, “because of you, Zhou Shen, because you sang in that competition [the Voice], I’m now brave enough to sing at karaoke. It feels like, even with this kind of voice, I can sing too.” That moment—I was so moved.

2018/05/19

(3:45) ZS talks about how Gao Xiaosong was really satisfied with how the album turned out, and how Gao Xiaosong is actually really thin.

Interviewer: Why do you always have to mention that? No one is asking about whether he’s fat or thin.

ZS, joking: How else do you think I got this album—I kept complimenting him as thin (T/N: HAHAHAHAHA)

#zhou shen #周深 #my translations #zs 29 #mine #puts this in the queue at 4 am 2 hours before the scheduled time.......#so much for fixing my sleep schedule OTL #so tired... i'll check for typos later asdfaADFAS #im just *chucks this at u*#this is why im only translating highlights LMAO #this interviewer is actually a host with shenshen as a guest on her show but im just using the same terminology to be consistent LOL #its definitely an interview anyways #check notes later for bilibili link!#edit: OKAY TYPOES SHOULD BE FIXED NOW HAHAHA THANKS EVERYONE

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wherevermyway · 4 years

Text

step out! do what you want (chapter two)

pairing: reader/bang chan  side pairings: established changbin/minho, past jisung/reader, a moment of changbin/chan flirting but it’s brief and not serious rating: explicit | 18+ warnings: alcohol, party drug use, violence (fist fights), a little angst because everyone loves drama, lots of profanity, smut, unprotected sex, a bit of exhibitionism, minho is definitely a bit of a hoe and a bad influence word count: about 11,100! also on my AO3 here! chapter/series navigation

chapter two: hello stranger, who the hell are you?

recommended tracks: just disappear by takayan, the last by agust d, phobia by stray kids, fairy of shampoo by tomorrow x together, dynamite by bts, dumb litty by kard. playlist can be found here!

note: this chapter is much longer than chapter one and it’s a wild ride. I hope you enjoy it as much as I loved writing it!

disclaimer: any reference to persons in this work of fiction are purely coincidental. the characters referenced from Stray Kids are interpretations loosely based on their personalities in the group and do not represent the real people behind the personas. if this, or any of the content included in the warnings above make you uncomfortable, please stop reading now.

side note: for the love of minho’s cats, don’t mix party drugs or drugs with alcohol.

The soft light of dawn comes through the window behind you, gently causing you to wake up. For a brief moment, you forgot where you were, but last night comes crashing down on you like the slight headache you have from your body being mad at you for having a bit too much fun with drugs last night.

The bed shifts next to you as Christopher starts to wake up. He reaches his hand over your abdomen and pulls you back into his chest. “Morning,” he sleepily grumbles, half-awake, “how’d you sleep?” You smile, enjoying the warmth of his embrace.

“This bed is really nice.” You run your hand across the sheets, then slowly turn to face Christopher. “I think our escapade last night helped me sleep pretty well. What about you?”

He grumbles and ducks his head under your chin. “You absolutely wore me out last night. I feel like I slept like the dead. What time is it, anyway?”

“I’m not really sure, let me check.” You say, starting to roll over when Christopher stops you, his grip tightening on your waist.

“I thought we agreed to have a repeat of last night this morning?”

“Yeah, yeah, but maybe we should eat something first,” you manage to squeeze out of Christopher’s grip as he groans dramatically with feigned despair, pulling yourself to the side of the bed and reaching down to your jeans. It takes some skilled fumbling to get your phone out of your back pocket with only one hand, but you manage to get it. Miraculously, when you press the side button, your phone comes to life - there’s still some semblance of battery left.

‘Holy shit,’ you think to yourself as you see your screen. Eight missed text messages from Minji and three missed calls. You expected the mass of texts, but she must have had a really good time last night if she called you.

As you open your texts, you briefly scan through them and your stomach falls to the floor.

What?! No way!

Eonni, you seriously can NOT be hanging with THE Bang Chan?

Babe, he is dangerous, you need to get out of there.

Oh my god. Why aren’t you answering my texts?

Chan’s a kkangpae, like, he sells a lot of drugs and shit. Why do you think I broke up with Hyunjin last year? He got involved in that and I wasn’t gonna deal with it anymore.

Oh, I never told you I dated Hyunjin, did I? Oops.

Eonniiiiiiiii I swear you better not be dead. I’m going to bring you back and kill you if you’re dead.

Seriously, I thought after you were done with Jisung you swore off music producers?? Girl, you have bad taste lol.

“Well?” Christopher’s voice scares you and you involuntarily drop your phone to the floor in surprise. “What time is it? Hey, are you okay?”

You shake your head in disbelief, but somehow compose yourself enough to nervously laugh it off. “It’s, uh, like 10:30.”

Your answer doesn’t really convince Christopher that you’re actually fine. He places a hand on your shoulder, gently giving you a squeeze, and you flinch in response. “Are you sure you’re okay? You dropped your phone and you look like you’re gonna be sick.”

Chan’s a kkangpae. It feels like Minji’s text is burned in your head; it’s all you can think about. A bout of nausea washes over you - the red flags you had pop up last night were right. The nice apartment, the drugs, the cool demeanour, hell, even the way he looked - everything clicked into place. This man wasn’t just a music producer, he was something way more serious.

Christopher gets up out of bed and walks to the kitchen. He shuffles around for a minute before he comes back with a bottled beverage in his hand, kneeling down in front of you. “Babe, you look terrible. Drink this, it’ll help you feel better.” He takes his other hand and gently rubs his thumb over your knee. The look on his face is deceptively calm and inviting. How was he so dangerous?

You shake your head and grab the drink, briefly glancing over the label. Some cold ginger tea blend that you’ve had a thousand times before. The thought of drinking something right now was really off-putting, not due to nausea, but this crippling, suffocating feeling in your stomach.

“The washroom’s through that door back there,” Christopher says as he points behind his shoulder. “I’ve gotta check on something, but I’ll be back in a minute. If you need anything, just yell for me, okay?”

You still can’t manage to look him in the eyes, but you will yourself to nod your head weakly. He pushes himself up onto his toes, kissing your forehead softly before he walks over to his closet, ruffling through the clothes hanging up. It’s a good moment to take off to the washroom, if anything just to wash your face and get your bearings straight.

Time seems to stand still. You’re not sure how long you stand with your head hanging over the sink, water starting to dry on your face. The fact that Christopher was a kkangpae seemed foreign and odd, like the word didn’t actually exist anymore, the more you mulled over it in your head. You came to the conclusion that he himself couldn’t have been that dangerous, but that the people he involved himself with were probably really dangerous. Right?

Knowing that you had slept with someone with dangerous connections didn’t bother you as much as the fact that you liked sleeping with him, that he was arguably one of the best guys you’d fucked. If the circumstances were different, you would probably try and keep whatever you had going. The thought of dating someone like him didn’t seem so terrible, except for the fact that he was a goddamn drug dealer.

“Fuck,” you groan as you look at yourself in the mirror. You decided you had to get dressed, come up with some excuse and get out of there. “Right.” Instilling a fake air of confidence, you straightened up and opened the door back to the bedroom. As you walked through the doorway, you could see Christopher in the kitchen through the corner of your eye. In the time it took you to get your head on straight, he had dressed himself back up in a nice button up shirt and some dark blue jeans.

“Oh!” He calls after you from the doorway, “I grabbed a shirt of mine and a pair of pants that I think will fit you? They’re on the bed.”

‘Great,’ you sarcastically thought to yourself, ‘I’ve always wanted to wear a drug dealer’s clothes. Very cool.’

You grab your underwear and bra from last night and slip them on, feeling gross and like you needed to get back home now, if anything, so you could shower and wear fresh clothes. Since you were already pretty deep in, you decide to just wear Christopher’s clothing and hope that he didn’t want it back. It was kind of cute, an obviously worn band t-shirt, and comfortable, yet somehow flattering black joggers. If this were another lifetime, you could see yourself stealing Christopher’s clothes more often.

Alright, you were nearly ready to go. However, when you went to grab your phone to respond to Minji and let her know you were okay, you were foiled by fate and it was dead. “Motherfucker,” you grumble as you grind the heel of your foot into the ground in frustration. Life was not on your side today.

You decide to suck up your pride for a bit, after all, shit was already bad enough, how could it get worse? With a bit of a lazy shuffle in your step, you make your way out to the kitchen, weakly shaking your phone. “Hey,” you squeak out, “I don’t suppose you have a charger, do you?”

“Wow!” Christopher’s eyes light up at seeing you in his old clothes, “You look really cute in that. Yeah, I’ve got a charger in there, come here,” he walks over towards you, grabbing your hand and guiding you towards the far side of the bed in the bedroom. “Here,” he says as he bends down and hands you the end of the cord. “I think this will work? Looks like you’ve got an iPhone too.”

“Thanks,” you say, plugging your phone in. The way that he looks at you so softly warms your heart a bit - it’s been a long time since you felt so cared for, and you felt guilty that you were going to try to dash out of here as soon as possible and leave all this behind. “Of course,” Christopher smiles and kisses your forehead again. “I’m gonna make something for breakfast real quick. It’ll be ready in a bit, so try not to fall asleep again, alright?”

The pit of regret in your stomach grows a bit. “Yeah, sure thing,” you say with fake enthusiasm.

Christopher’s footsteps fade from your ears and you have a moment’s reprieve before you hear a ringtone that isn’t yours. “Oh shit,” you hear him exclaim from the kitchen, “What happened now?”

“Changbin,” his voice turns dark as you hear him answer his phone. “Shit, yeah, no, I got your text messages. Wait,” he sounds slightly panicked, “you’re here? Goddammit, this is that bad, isn’t it?” There’s a lengthy pause. “Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. Whatever. You know where I am.” You hear his phone hit the countertop as Christopher sighs heavily and shouts, “Fuck!”

‘This is bad,’ you think, unconsciously gripping the sheets beneath you. The silence in the apartment is deafening; you swear you could hear your heartbeat beating out of your chest. Then, suddenly, footsteps come back into the bedroom as Christopher says your name, firmly and seriously, before sitting down next to you on the bed.

“I’m so sorry for this, but,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair, “someone I work with is coming over and it’s serious. Can you stay in here for a bit? After he’s gone, I’ll order us something for breakfast, something nice. Okay?” As you space off, lazily gazing towards Chris, you notice that he’s staring down at your right hand, gently placing his atop yours and softly wrapping his fingers around your hand. You noncommittally nod your head yes in reassurance, too distracted to really answer.

He’s a kkangpae, the reminder pops up in your head again. You swear that you can hear it in Minji’s voice. You know should get out of here, just bolt up and leave, but you can’t bring yourself to leave quite yet.

A pounding on the front door rips you from your thoughts. As Christopher bolts up to his feet, a chime comes from his phone. He pulls it from his back pocket, glancing at it briefly before relaxing the tense look from his face for a second. “Don’t worry, he’s friendly,” he says, getting up and walking out of the bedroom. “Well, friendly enough, at least. Stay here, I’ll deal with him.”

A moment passes, and you hear some light shuffling.

“You dense motherfucker,” an unfamiliar voice comes from the entryway, immediately followed by the door slamming. “The Chan I remember was never this stupid.”

“Changbin,” Christopher’s interjects, his voice terse.

“You went out after I explicitly told you not to and you brought a complete stranger back to your apartment? You absolute moron.” The voice, you assume belongs to Changbin, sounds more irritated than angry. “Hyunjin was spotted at that party last night. I don’t know who took it, but that photo of you and that woman is making the rounds in the group. Who only knows who all saw that? I thought I told you both to stay away from all of Itaewon-dong this week?”

The name Hyunjin causes your breath to hitch in your throat, piquing your interest. You pull yourself up to your feet, quietly walking towards the bedroom door. Cautiously, you poke your head over the doorframe, glancing into the kitchen. Christopher is standing behind a barstool, his hands ruffling through his hair before he casually tucks them in his pockets. A shorter, lean man with dark brown hair walks on the opposite side of the countertop, nervously pacing back and forth.

“Changbin, look, it was a mistake,” Christopher tiredly pleads, “I admit that I fucked up, yeah, but-”

“You fucked up?” Changbin cuts him off, punctuating his sentence a sarcastic laugh. He turns back to face the fridge and you hear the door opening, the sound of items shuffling echoing through the quiet apartment. “Yeah, you definitely fucked up. I’m drinking some of your beer. Gonna fucking need it. You know,” he slams the door shut, “you’d better hope you weren’t tailed. If they find out where you live, well, I can’t protect you from that.”

A soft tss comes from what you assume is Changbin opening a can of beer. Christopher catches your eye as he reaches down to the can that Changbin placed in front of him. He looks down, then looks back up, his eyes meeting yours for a brief second, lips parting and his eyes widening in surprise. You quickly hide behind the wall, knowing you shouldn’t have spied on their conversation.

“What?” Changbin’s voice perks up for a second. “Oh my god. She’s still here?” He somehow sounds more annoyed at this and lets out an exasperated groan. “Goddammit, Chan, what happened to you? Oi,” he stresses, footsteps coming closer to the bedroom, “Get out here, this involves you too.”

“What, you thought the high heels were mine?” Chris sarcastically scoffs as you walk out of the bedroom. “Changbin, this is-“

“Yeah, I know.” Changbin cuts Christopher off, throwing his free hand up in frustration, as if he was dismissing Christopher, “trust me, I fucking know.” He grumbles out your full name and adds, “Some model from northern Japan, Korean mom, Japanese dad, right? Graduated from Todai a couple years ago; bachelor’s in economics.” He glares at you as he takes a swig of beer from his can, clicking his tongue in disapproval and muttering something under his breath. “Typical, just your fuckin’ type.”

“W-what?” You stutter out, completely floored that he knows so much about you. “Chris, how does he know all of that?” Panic starts to overtake you and your hands start to tremble.

“Babe,” he whispers, a look of pity painted on his face. Christopher stands up and walks over toward you, but you step back into the wall, waving your hands in a frenzy.

“No, no, no, don’t do that. You don’t get to do that until I know what’s happening.”

Changbin sarcastically chuckles and crushes his can. “Here we go,” he says, digging in the fridge once again. He pulls out two cans of beer and puts one of them on the corner of the counter closest to you. “You’re gonna need one of these, too.”

Your head is spinning, from the window, the skyline of Seoul seems to blur together as you try to make sense of everything that’s happening. If you understood it correctly, Christopher was indeed a drug dealer, just under Changbin in their group’s hierarchy. Hyunjin was also involved, but sold trafficked guns and other weapons in and out of the group.

Christopher went out to that house party in Itaewon last night when Changbin ordered him not to (he stressed that point several times), someone from a rival drug dealing gang saw both him and Hyunjin, snapping photos of them both, as well as a photo of you sitting next to Christopher, his arm around your shoulders, clearly enjoying yourselves.

What made it worse was that someone mistakenly spread a rumour that you and Christopher were an item, that you were a close girlfriend of his, and it put a target on your head so that they could specifically shake up Christopher. Changbin had said that he was unsure exactly how much danger you were in, but it would be best if no one knew where you were. Neither of you were to leave this apartment without someone escorting you.

A nervous laugh came bubbling up from your stomach, erupting into a full-blown, wild cackling fit. There was no way that any of this was real - you were just out with a friend last night, you left with someone else to have a one night stand, and now you were having some sort of crazy fever dream thanks to the drugs you took last night.

“This is crazy,” you say in between laughs, “Christopher, you can’t be serious. This is a joke, right?” You calm yourself, no longer laughing as you look at both Changbin and Christopher, their faces stone cold and free from expression. “Oh my god,” the realization hits you and you sink further into the couch, hoping that it will eat you alive so you don’t have to deal with this mess. “What about Minji? She ran off with Hyunjin last night. Is she okay?”

The men looked at each other with confusion. “I only heard about one woman, and that was you,” Changbin says, leaning back in his chair, throwing his arm over the back of it. “If there was someone with Hyunjin, this is the first time I’m hearing of it. What’s her family name? I’ll have one of my guys keep an eye on her.”

“Moon. Moon Minji. She models with me. Lives in the apartment across from me.” You were somewhat relieved, shaking your head in disbelief. Naturally, you were happy that Minji was safe - for now - but you couldn’t believe this was happening to you.

Changbin stands up, pulling his phone from his back pocket, “Alright. I’m gonna make a call. Don’t go anywhere, either of you.” He starts tapping on his phone and ducks off into a room on the opposite side of the kitchen.

Christopher gets up and sits next to you on the couch. He cautiously reaches his hand out to your thigh. You want to swat his hand away, but you don’t have the energy to do it. “I am so sorry,” he says in a soft tone, his voice sounding like it’ll break at any second, “If I had known, I wouldn’t have brought you here, wouldn’t have risked this.” He sounds genuinely apologetic, but you don’t really register it. He takes his free hand to brush your hair back behind your ear, rubbing his thumb soothingly on your cheek.

Honestly, this conversation had exhausted you. Your life was turned upside down because of this man, this dangerous, but wonderful man. Part of you resented him, but the way he tried to calm you by stroking your face made you less angry at him. For all the shit he put you through, his genuineness did make you forgive him - at least somewhat.

“Chris,” you start to say, looking up at him, before Changbin opens the door and loudly walks back into the room.

“Your friend’s going to be fine. I’ve got one of my best guys following her,” he interjects, walking to the fridge, grabbing another can of beer, “she’s gonna be tracked until we get this shit sorted out. Hyunjin texted me and apologized, for whatever the hell that’s worth. You two are idiots.”

Christopher sighs heavily, furrowing his brows in frustration as he looks up at Changbin. “Oh, yeah? That time we were in Shanghai? Want me to bring that up?” He drops his hand from your face and stands up.

Changbin closes the fridge door and loudly slams his unopened can of beer on the counter. “You bastard, that was entirely-” Christopher cuts him off, advancing towards him.

“Entirely what, different? You easily lost us, what, a hundred million won? Or was it three hundred?” You swivel your head around to see the two of them get in each other’s faces. “And for what, Minho?”

Whatever that meant, it snapped something inside Changbin. “You motherfucker,” he gritted, taking fistfuls of Christopher’s shirt into his hands before shoving him backwards. “I’m gonna fucking kill you. Don’t you dare bring him up like that again.”

A growl came from Christopher as he rolled up his sleeves, “It’s your fault that he got shot and you know it. You’re lucky he didn’t die.”

Changbin managed to take his elbow and ram it into the side of Christopher’s face, causing him to collide with the kitchen cabinet. He wound his arm back and threw a fist towards Christopher’s face, trying to get him one more time. He ducked, running his shoulder into the shorter man’s chest, pushing him back a few steps before he fell to the floor with an audible thud. Christopher towered over Changbin, fists tightly clenched. He knelt down and drew his right arm back, ready to deck the smaller man.

“Fuck you!” Changbin shouted as he flailed underneath Christopher, grabbing a fistful of his shirt with one of his hands, pulling his right arm to the side, winding up another punch.

You started to panic, yelling at them to stop. You did not need this happening on top of everything else. However, your words fell on deaf ears as the guys kept yelling at each other, thrashing around on the floor.

Suddenly, the movement stops, and you hear Changbin pound on Christopher’s chest. “I’m never going to forgive myself,” he chokes out, his voice laden with regret, and it almost sounds like he’s holding back tears. “I can’t even look at him without seeing him lying there, dying. And I know it’s my fault. You don’t have to fucking remind me. Knowing I almost got Minho killed haunts me. I’d give anything to trade places with him so he didn’t have to experience that pain.”

Christopher sits back on his heels, offering Changbin a hand to sit up. “I know, I know, I’m sorry. That was a low blow, I’m just fucking panicking.” The brunette accepts his hand and sits up, his face red and slightly puffy. His eyes were red and glossy as he rolls them in your general direction.

“I’ll make sure nothing happens to either of you. I know you barely know her, but if she got hurt or killed, I know you’d never forgive yourself either.”

“Thanks,” Christopher says, pulling Changbin to his chest. “I’ll make it up to you somehow. Not by blood, by the code, yeah?” Changbin grunts in agreement, slapping his hand against Christopher’s back.

“Not by blood, by the code.” Changbin repeats back to Christopher, who is offering his hand to help Changbin stand. You could tell there was an exhaustive history between them and you were only scratching the surface of it.

“Alright,” Changbin says, setting a couple of bags down on the coffee table. “I grabbed some jjajangmyeon from that place you like and some more alcohol since I’ve been drinking all of your beer.”

“You didn’t need to do that, we have plenty in fridge in the studio,” Christopher sighs and rolls his eyes.

“Whatever, I didn’t say it was for you anyways,” Changbin continues, looking at you, “Minho’s gonna swing by in a bit. I asked him to go out and get you some clothes since you’re gonna be here for a while. I’d have done it myself, but I don’t know shit about clothes. He always goes shopping for the two of us.”

You’ve been sitting on the couch for a few hours now, barely moving. The sun was behind the building now, so you assumed it was probably some time in the early evening. Christopher was nice enough to bring you your phone so you could tell Minji that you were fine, but you were sick so you wouldn’t be around for a while. Thankfully, you didn’t have any gigs planned for about a month and a half, but you knew you’d have to get a hold of your boss eventually.

Christopher was on the couch next to you, an awkward gap apparent between the two of you. Neither of you had spoken much to each other today, conversations mostly happening between Christopher and Changbin. He has, however, kept his hand on top of yours the entire time. Before Changbin returned from his errand run, Christopher apologized to you several times, genuinely upset that he brought an innocent person into this. You were thankful that Changbin returned when he did, because if you had to listen to Christopher apologize one more time, you were ready to lose it.

“Here you go,” Changbin says as he starts emptying a paper bag, placing a couple takeout boxes of jjajangmyeon and side dishes in front of you. “I grabbed some soju and beer for us, think we could use it.”

“Haven’t you had enough beer today?” Christopher sarcastically says, reaching over to grab a pair of chopsticks and a box of food, putting both in your lap before he reaches for his own food.

“Look, man,” Changbin started, bringing a few bottles to the table, “after the day we’ve had, there ain’t enough beer in the world to deal with what’s happened. Might as well have fun for now, yeah?”

You don’t say anything and just reach for the closest bottle of soju, tilting it back and forth a couple times before opening it, lifting the bottle to your lips and taking a hearty chug. The aroma of strawberry perfumes your mouth as the alcohol burns all the way down. You didn’t really like strawberry soju, but tonight was gonna be different. You slam the bottle down on the table and smile widely. “Let’s do it.”

Christopher and Changbin are staring at you with their mouths hanging open. This is the most active you’ve been in over an hour, and it had taken them by surprise. “Alright, that’s my gal,” Changbin says with a smirk, grabbing his own bottle of soju and downing an equally long swig. He shakes his head, scrunching up his nose in disgust, and coughs, “Oh shit, that’s a terrible idea. Why the hell did I get flavoured shit?”

You grab a bottle and put it in Christopher’s hands. “Your turn,” you say before turning to open the takeout box in front of you. The warming smell of the black bean sauce brightens your mood a bit, excited to eat one of your favourite meals.

Christopher’s pensive, although he decides to suck it up as he reaches down to a fresh bottle of soju, shaking it, “Yeah, fine, whatever,” he says, cracking open the bottle and sucking down a couple of hearty gulps. “Fuck, Changbin, blueberry?” He coughs before reorienting himself, “Really? The fuck is wrong with you?”

You stifle back a laugh, taking a bite of your jjajangmyeon. “You’ll be fine, you can do it,” you say, reaching back down to the bottle of strawberry soju in front of you. “This will help make things a bit more bearable, yeah?” You look at Christopher with a toothy smile, hoping he’ll lighten up at least a bit.

There’s a soft knock at the door, and Changbin perks up. “That’s probably Minho.” He stifles a smirk, looking down at his phone as it chirps. He gets up, walking to the door with purpose. It takes a minute, but he eventually opens the door. You casually look over your shoulder, trying not to obviously stare, noticing the small man embrace the dark-haired man that walks in. The man isn’t much taller than Changbin, maybe only a couple of inches taller. Their embrace is soft, warming, like you can tell that they care about each other.

“Hey there,” he says softly, and you catch him plant a soft kiss on Changbin’s cheek. His voice is low and calm, “I grabbed the things you asked me to grab, but are you sure you’re alright?”

“Aish,” you hear Changbin shush him, “I’m fine, don’t worry about me, baby. Come in and hang with us. I got some soju for you.”

The shorter, black-haired man comes up in front of you, “Hi, I’m Lee Minho. Changbin’s probably talked about me by now.” He bows slightly before dropping the bags he has behind the table, taking a seat across from you, opposite from the chair Changbin’s was occupying. The man grabs a bottle of soju off the table, shaking it up and down twice before cracking it open and drinking a quick swig from the bottle.

“Oh, ew,” he groans, a clear wince on his face, “Peach? Binnie, what the hell’s wrong with you?” He whines, looking at Changbin as he grimaces.

“Yeah, yeah,” Changbin waves a hand in the air dismissively as he sits back down, “I know, I wasn’t looking when I grabbed the alcohol, okay? I was a bit distracted. Fuck you guys,” he grumbles, reaching down to his soju bottle. “If you don’t like it, go to CU and get your…. oh.” He stops in his tracks, bottle halfway to his mouth. “Shit, my bad. Want me to go get something different?”

You’re about to dismiss it, but Christopher looks at Changbin, “Yeah, go get something better, especially if Minho’s gonna be here for a while. We’re gonna need it.” He sounds cold, taking a quick drink from his bottle. “We’re gonna need to stay entertained tonight somehow, yeah?” He turns to look at you, reaching out to grab your thigh again, a sly smirk on his face.

You can’t help but blush. You turn down towards your lap, grabbing a large amount of food with your chopsticks and shove it in your mouth. “Mmmpfh,” you manage to grumble out, in a seeming sense of agreement.

All of the guys share a soft chuckle, then Changbin excuses himself with a grumble before walking up to the front door. “I’ll be back in a bit, alright? Don’t go anywhere.” The door closes with a soft thud, and a few moments pass as the three of you sit there quietly.

“So,” Minho smiles, looking at both you and Christopher with purpose, “Changbin told me that you two seem to have taken a liking to each other already.”

You swear you hear Christopher choke on a mouthful of food before looking at you through the corner of his eyes. “Um,” he manages to squeak out, swallowing the food in his mouth, “I suppose you could say that? It’s only been a day, though.”

“Well, I guess you’re going to get to know each other really well here soon.” Minho shrugs his shoulders, grabbing the peach soju he was drinking earlier. “Oh,” he exclaims, beaming with a smile, “when Binnie gets back, we should play a drinking game. That’s a good way to get to know someone, isn’t it?” Admittedly, it did sound fun at the beginning. However, when you were on your third bottle of soju and Changbin and Minho were getting flirty and handsy with each other, you were a bit jealous. You and Christopher were starting to get closer and you were really feeling good, but it would be weird to be that playfully touchy-feely with someone you’ve known for less than 24 hours.

“I have an idea,” Minho turns to look at both of you, “you know what’ll help you even get closer?” He gets up, walks towards the kitchen counter and starts rifling through Changbin’s bag.

“Oi! That’s my stuff!” Changbin proclaims from his seat.

“Relax, babe, not like you don’t go through my stuff,” Minho quips, waving his hand dismissively in the air. “Ah,” he exclaims, “found ‘em.” He comes back to the coffee table and puts a film canister on the table, the container rattling the entire time. Changbin sighs and rolls his eyes, realizing what’s in it.

“Aish,” he groans, “what is with you and this stuff when you drink?”

“Oh, shut up. You still love me, especially after one of these.” Minho says, with a laugh, suggestively looking at Changbin for a moment. He pops the lid of the canister and pours out the contents on to the table. Out comes a few baby blue tablets, similar to the ones you took last night.

A memory of you sitting on Christopher’s face, struggling to stay upright, shouting his name, flashes through your head. Your face gets hot and you look down, visibly flustered. He must have noticed, because Christopher squeezes your thigh, then moves his hand up to your shoulder. “What’s up?” He asks.

“Oh,” you look up at him, then back down to your lap. “The pills just reminded me of something.”

Christopher looks at the table, letting his thoughts register for a moment. It must have hit him, because he sucks in a breath through his teeth and giggles a bit. “Ah, yeah, last night, right?”

“Oh my god,” you groan with frustration and put your head into your hands.

“Hold up,” Minho perks up, a giddy smile on his face, “What happened last night?”

“That’s a bit rude, Min.” Changbin says in a disappointed tone, playfully shoving Minho’s shoulder.

“You both know that I’m nosy. So, what happened last night?”

Christopher rolls his eyes, then sits back on his hands. “We took some ecstasy and had a couple lines last night, so we were rolling pretty hard. We felt pretty good, one thing led to another, you know.” You feel eyes bore into the back of your head, and turn to look at Christopher. He’s got a big grin on his face, clearly happy with himself. “Any time I can make someone shout my name at the top of their lungs is a good time.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” you groan and drop your forehead to the top of the coffee table, sighing in embarrassment. You sit back up and glare at Christopher, ready to be mad at him, but the way he smiles melts any anger you had towards him.

“Nice,” Minho hums as Changbin nods his head in approval. He grabs the pills on the table, and gives one to everyone. The guys immediately pop theirs into their mouths, and you sit there, pill in hand, just staring at it.

“You alright?” Christopher asks, rubbing a hand on your back. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, baby.” The word ‘baby’ slipped from his lips naturally; he clearly didn’t mean to say it, it just happened. “Uh, um, sorry.”

The next thing you know, the pill is halfway down your throat and you’re finishing up your third bottle of soju. “It’s all good, baby,” you say, jokingly mocking Christopher. You turn to look at him, and give him a wink. He smiles back to you, scooting himself up next to you and wrapping his arm around your shoulder.

“Ugh,” Changbin grumbles, rolling his head back, “you’re already insufferable.”

Christopher picks up a lid from an empty soju bottle and tosses it at the brunette. “Oh, shut up. You and Minho were all over each other just a few minutes ago. Not to mention, you’re going to be even worse once the E kicks in. The last time we were down in Busan and we all were tripping and you started fucking each other in front of me, remember that?”

“You enjoyed watching it, though, quite a bit from what I recall, “Changbin quips, “I very clearly remember you whipping out your dick and taking things into your own hands while we were putting on a show.” Hearing this makes your eyes widen in surprise, spinning your head to the side to look at Christopher, who’s blushing and covering his face with his hand.

Minho starts laughing really hard, and it causes the frown on Changbin’s face to crack into a smile. “Aish, you’re so cute when you laugh.” He leans over and gives the dark-haired man a peck on the cheek. “And I don’t care who knows how I feel about it,” he smirks as he turns to look at Christopher, raising his eyebrow in jest.

“Yeah?” Christopher taunts, slipping his hand down your shoulder to your waist and pulling you closer. “You should hear her when I -“ Before he can finish his sentence, you take your elbow and dig it into his ribs.

“They don’t need to know everything,” you whine.

“Yeah,” Christopher smirks, “They’ll probably get an earful of it tonight, anyways.”

Both of the men across the table groan in feigned disgust. “Anyway,” Minho stresses, trying to change the subject, “Why don’t we bust out a couple beers and play some truth or dare?” Changbin stands up, walking to the fridge. “Sounds like we’ve already opened up quite a bit, yeah?”

“I’m on it, I’ll grab a couple for everyone. Don’t say I don’t do anything nice for you,” he scoffs as he enters the kitchen. Minho starts putting all of the emptied soju bottles, except for one, in a bag. The last bottle, he takes and lays it on its side, putting it in the middle of the table. You look at the bottle, then turn to look up at Christopher.

“Hey,” you whisper in his ear, “was that story actually true?”

Christopher blushes again and stifles a laugh, “Yeah, yeah it was true. Not my proudest moment, but have you looked at them? Anyone would’ve done it, too.”

His honesty makes you laugh a bit, and you lean up next to him, nuzzling your head up against his shoulder. He’s warm, and comfortable, and he rests his head on top of yours, reaching down to grab your hand. Even if you were stuck here in this near-stranger’s house for longer than you’d like to be stuck, the little moments of comfort like this were helpful.

“Alright,” Changbin chirps up, setting down a couple cans of beer in front of you and Christopher. “Perk up, lovebirds, let’s party.”

“Okay!” Minho excitedly claps his hands together before cracking open his beer. “We’ll spin the bottle, and whomever it lands on gets to choose between telling the truth about something or a dare. If you back out, you’ve gotta take a drink of your beer. Got it?”

The game started off innocent enough, all of you were sticking to truths, and the questions were relatively mild. However, things started to take a turn when the drugs started to kick in. Minho wouldn’t stop touching Changbin, his fingers constantly trailing over the brunette’s chest. When it’s his turn, he spins the bottle, landing on Changbin.

“Dare,” Changbin says, confidently looking directly into Minho’s eyes.

“You’re gonna regret that,” Minho says, smirking as he turns to Christopher. “I dare you to make out with Christopher, if he’s okay with it, of course.”

“What?” Christopher spits out in shock.

“Aish, baby,” Changbin groans, “Why do you get like this every time we roll? You just want to watch me make out with other men and make them miserable.”

Minho grins, leaning over to Changbin to kiss his cheek. “It’s because you’re hot and you know it.”

You can feel a look of complete bewilderment being plastered on your face. Your mind couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Was this seriously about to happen? Have they done this before?’ Almost as if it was on cue, Christopher turns to look at you.

“Are you okay with it? I know we’re not, like, dating or anything, but,” his voice trails off and he bites his bottom lip in, darting his eyes down to the floor.

“Yeah,” the word slips from your mouth before you have a chance to actually think about it. You were admittedly curious, thinking it would be kind of interesting to watch Christopher be a bit physical with someone else.

Christopher gives you a quick peck on your cheek before he turns to Changbin, “Do your worst.”

Without saying a word, Changbin crawls over towards Christopher, straddling his lap and taking his hands to Christopher’s face. The smaller man presses his lips to the blond’s lips, almost timidly at first, until Christopher takes his hands and grabs Changbin’s hips, pulling him in. “You can do better than that,” he whispers.

“Oh shit,” Minho says, leaning onto the table with a grin. “Binnie hates being teased, Channie.”

Changbin grumbles under his breath, reaching his hands up to Christopher’s hair, pulling his head back as he grinds down into his lap. Christopher lets out a small whimper from the pain and looks up at Changbin with half-lidded eyes. “Don’t talk back to me, hyung,” the brunette warns with a serious tone.

Changbin licks Christopher’s bottom lip before taking it in between his teeth. He bites it somewhat firmly, eliciting a gasp out of the man beneath him, then goes to let his tongue explore his mouth. The men let their hands travel on each other while kissing with a burning passion.

Admittedly, this was one of the hottest things you’d ever seen, all of this was causing you to feel warm and tingly as you watched it. This is what Christopher looked like when the two of you were rolling around in bed last night, and it was hot. You made a mental note to take control of your makeout session and to pull his hair the next time you were able to.

“Oh my god,” Minho groans, “Okay, that’s enough, I can’t watch anymore, it’s too good.” He sits back and takes a drink of beer from his can, dramatically fanning himself with his free hand. Changbin pulls away from Christopher and smirks, and Christopher has a blissed out smile on his face.

“You’re not my type, but I’ll admit you’re good,” Christopher says, wiping his lips with the back side of his hand.

“Yeah, I know,” Changbin says with a laugh as he gets up and walks back to his spot. He sits down, a wide grin on his face, before he takes a hearty drink from his beer. “Minho tells me all the time.”

Christopher turns to you, gets a bit closer, and pulls your face to his, kissing you passionately for a good few seconds. He breaks away from the kiss and moves to your ear. “I want you,” he whispers quietly, so Minho and Changbin can’t hear, “I’m going to make you mine again tonight.”

His words make you blush and smile. He pulls away from you and takes a drink from his beer. “That was something else,” you say, looking at Changbin, then Minho, then Christopher. “You’re all… close?”

Minho laughs, “Nah, we’re not normally like this. When we’ve been partying a little hard, though, things get interesting between us. Nothing more than this, though. I don’t wanna share my Binnie that much, just enough to make him squirm and come crawling back to me.”

Changbin rolls his eyes and scoffs. “Yeah, you’re insufferable when we party hard like this. It’s always, ‘Binnie, make out with me, Binnie, make out with that hot guy over there, Binnie, Binnie, Binnie’ with you.” Minho playfully shoves Changbin’s shoulder and laughs.

“I wouldn’t do it if you didn’t like it, or me, so much,” he says, taking another drink of his beer. “Alright, Channie, it’s your turn.”

“Okay,” Christopher says, reaching out to spin the bottle. It takes a couple rotations, then it slows, and stops, pointing at you.

“Oh,” you say, looking at the bottle, then looking at Christopher. You weren’t feeling brave enough to do a dare, so you say “truth” with an upward inflection, almost like you were asking a question.

“You’re no fun,” Minho pouts. “Make it a good question, Channie.”

“Hmm,” Christopher brings his index finger to his chin, thinking for a moment. “I’ve got it, what’s the most embarrassing sex story you’ve got?”

Your face flushes and you look down to the floor in embarrassment. You begrudgingly admit there was the time a couple years ago with your last boyfriend, Jisung, that you had gotten a bit too eager and a bit too drunk, sneaking off to the nightclub’s washroom. Your boyfriend had propped you up on the sink, one of your legs was up in the air and over his shoulder. Right when you two were in the middle of having the fuck of your lives, some guy had walked in and immediately walked back out, since neither of you had remembered to lock the door. There was a definite walk of shame as both of you immediately got dressed and left as soon as possible.

Christopher busts up laughing, because apparently he’s walked in on something similar to that before. “I mean, it’s kinda hot to see something like that in public, but if it happened to me, I’d be mortified. I’d never show my face in public again.”

Changbin looks at Minho and grins, “Yeah, sounds like that one time I came back from Taiwan and you were too excited to see me that you couldn’t wait until we got home and demanded that I take you in the airport parking lot.”

Minho laughs in response, playfully slapping Changbin’s shoulder, then moving to spin the soju bottle. “You had a good time, so you don’t get to complain.” The bottle spins, eventually landing on Christopher. “What’s it gonna be, Mr. Voyeur?”

“Get bent,” Christopher scoffs, “let’s do a dare this time.”

“Ooh, fun,” Minho says. He opens his mouth to speak, but Changbin leans over to whisper something in his ear, slyly looking at you as he whispers. “Oh, good idea,” Minho chirps, grinning deviously at the both of you. “Go into the studio and record the vocals of you both having sex, then play it back for us when you’re done.”

“What?” You yell out in surprise, your face turning beet red.

“Challenge accepted,” Christopher says cooly, grabbing your hand and pulling you up before you can wrap your head around it.

“Wait, I don’t get to say anything about this?” You shriek out, slightly panicked, as you stand up and follow Christopher.

“C’mon, baby,” he says soothingly, “I’ve got you.” He stops in front of the door that Changbin was in earlier, opening it and turning the lights on. He guides you through the door, closing the door behind you. “Just sit in that chair right there,” he points to the chair in front of the control panel. “I’m gonna get some stuff set up behind the mic and then we can get started, okay?”

If you hadn’t taken the ecstasy tablet earlier and had a few drinks, you definitely would’ve said no to being recorded, but you figured it would be funny to see the reaction on Minho and Changbin’s faces when they heard both of you. Something about it really got you excited. Christopher adjusted some things in the recording booth, then came back out to the control panel, opening his laptop and flipping some switches on.

“Okay,” he says as he turns back to you, reaching his hands out to yours. “Let’s go.”

You let Christopher pull you up and lead you into the recording booth. Your stomach was doing backflips as you entered the room, taking in the atmosphere. It was calm and relaxing; the spotlights were dim and it made everything seem comforting. The foam padded on the walls absorbed most of the ambient noise, making everything seem abnormally quiet.

Christopher sat down on the padded chair and pulled you into his lap. You crawled on top of him, straddling his hips. The positioning was probably going to be uncomfortable, but you didn’t mind. He takes his hands and slides them up your shirt, pulling you closer to him. “Let’s give them a show, baby,” he says in a low whisper before he brings his lips to yours, kissing you with an intense need.

You decided to not waste any time, reaching down to pull the shirt you were wearing off, tossing it behind Christopher. Your bra follows in succession, and the man beneath you sighs as he stares at you, slowly looking you up from your torso to your eyes, “Fuck, you’re beautiful.” He kisses you again, this time in short pecks, before he moves his fingers to grab the waistband of your pants. You get up on to your feet, helping him pull your joggers and panties off, then go to undo his jeans, slipping them along with his boxers down to his ankles.

Christopher sucks in a breath as his cock springs up, free from his clothing. “I’ve been sitting out there so hard since Changbin wrecked me. I can’t wait to have you ride me, baby.” He looks down at you, his eyes completely glazed over as he bites his lip.

“I’m gonna make you feel amazing,” you say in a breathy voice, kneeling down in front of Christopher, your face right up next to his cock. He looks at you, eyes widening, about to say something, but you take him into your mouth before he can say anything. You slowly work him completely into your mouth, and he lets out a primal groan as he throws his head back, gripping the sides of his chair with a vise grip.

“Fucking hell,” he moans out, “that’s incredible, baby, don’t stop.”

You come back up, sucking your cheeks in and letting his cock leave your mouth with an audible pop. “I want to feel you, too. I’m just getting you prepped.” you whisper in a sultry voice as you crawl back over him. Christopher looks up at you with a pleading face, upset that you stopped giving him head. “Don’t worry, baby, I’ll give you all the attention you need later. I want you right now.” As you say that, you reach down and guide him inside of you.

Christopher grabs your hips, helping get himself into you. As you slide down onto him, there’s a warmth that spreads throughout you, making you feel like your nerves are on overdrive. A breathy, shaky moan unintentionally escapes your lips. You open your eyes and look down at Christopher; the blissed out look on his face is something you could drink in for days. He looked like only wanted you, that you two were meant to be together, at least for now.

He breathes out your name as you slowly grind your hips down into his, then take them up, almost removing yourself from him completely. You bite your lip, smiling at Christopher, before you thrust yourself right back down on him.

“Fuck,” he groans, digging his fingernails into your hips as his chin falls to his chest. “Baby, you’re gonna be the death of me,” he says as he looks back up at you, taking one of his hands to the back of your head, pulling you in for a sloppy kiss. It’s passionate and messy and you can’t get enough of it; the way his tongue rolls around in your mouth as you ride him up and down causes your nerves to tingle from head to toe.

Just when you think you have enough stimulation to start building you up to your orgasm, Christopher removes his hand from your head, interrupts your kiss to lick his thumb, and he starts rubbing it up against your clit. Your eyes snap open and roll backwards as you groan into his mouth, your entire body starting to feel like a supernova with all of the stimulation.

“I’m gonna make sure you come with me,” he breathes out, continuing to roll his thumb in circles against you. “You’re mine and only mine. Fuck,” he moans as you grind up on him, “Tell me who you belong to.”

Your mind is reeling from all of the stimulation, the ecstasy and the alcohol causing everything to feel magnified, like you would never feel something so good in your entire life again. “You, Christopher, you,” you breathe out, panting heavily, “I belong to you.”

“Yeah,” he groans, taking control and thrusting in and out of you faster, “You’re mine. Now come for me, baby.”

Something about the way he demanded you to come made all the tension inside of you release, caused all of your nerves to sing in harmony for a moment. Christopher did one more rotation of his thumb against your clit, and that was it, it was enough. Your orgasm completely took control of your body, making you arch your back and writhe against him. You shouted his name so loud, you were sure that Changbin and Minho could hear it through all of the soundproofing in the studio.

“Good girl,” Christopher praises, breathing heavily, “I’m gonna come inside you, baby, I want you to take it all for me.” His voice seems like it’s across the room, like you’re so far away from him that it’s difficult to hear. Everything, even the air, feels soft against you. You manage to mumble out something, although you’re not quite sure what it was, as you collapse into Christopher. His breathing speeds up as he digs his fingernails into your back as he grinds up into you one last time, and you feel his cum fill you up.

It takes a few minutes for both of you to come back to reality. When you do, you notice how sore and sticky you both are, like you could use a shower right now. You nuzzle up to Christopher’s neck, giving it a few light kisses before you sit up and look at him. “Wow,” you say, “that was mind-blowing.”

“Yeah,” he sighs, looking at you with a silly grin on his face, “that was somehow better than last night. But I definitely need a shower. Who would’ve thought that this studio got so hot?” Both of you laugh in agreement, and peel yourselves off of each other. You both get dressed and walk out into the control room; Christopher fumbles with his laptop and turns off some of the switches on the panelling.

“Shall we?” He says, walking up to the door. “We can make them listen to it in here.” He opens the door for you, and you both see Minho kneeling on the floor in front of Changbin, his head bobbing up and down in a familiar motion.

“Shit! Minho, stop!” Changbin exclaims with a whine, trying to get Minho off of him. They fumble around a bit as you turn around in secondhand embarrassment.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Christopher groans, “Really? You couldn’t wait until we went to bed?”

“You two are loud,” Minho whines in protest, “And with you and Binnie earlier I couldn’t help it!”

“Oh my god,” you groan, bringing your hands to rub your temples.

“Well, the recording’s saved to my laptop, so we fulfilled the dare,” Christopher says before grabbing your hand and walking you both towards his room, “We’re gonna shower and go to bed. Have fun, lovebirds.”

“Fuck off,” you hear Changbin groan as you both walk into Christopher’s bedroom.

“Well, that was,” your voice trails off, still in disbelief from what you had seen, “unexpected?”

Christopher groans again, removing his clothes, “Nah, they do this all the time. If it’s just the three of us and we’ve been drinking or taking drugs, Minho can’t control himself around Changbin. It doesn’t bother me, but I’m sorry you had to witness it firsthand. C’mon, let’s go shower.” He wiggles his fingers in a come-hither motion before he slips off into the washroom.

“It’s fine,” you say, disrobing as you make your way to the washroom. Christopher is already in the walk-in shower, setting the temperature to something tolerable. “It was unexpected, but it didn’t bother me. They obviously care about each other and I respect that.”

Christopher laughs, motioning for you to get in. “Yeah, they’re really good for each other.” You step in the shower behind him, enjoying the warm water as it splashes on your skin. “Changbin was an absolute asshole before he met Minho, though. You might think he’s abrasive now, but he was completely cold and closed off back then.”

You stick your head under the shower head, wetting your hair down, then turn to look up at Christopher. “I’ve known Changbin since we were in middle school. He was always quiet and nobody really wanted to be friends with him because he was so standoffish. Always rubbed people the wrong way.

“We didn’t mean to become kkangpae, it was just a matter of survival. Producing music got us nowhere financially, but one of the connections we had said we could make enough money to live if we just sold some stuff now and then. Turns out, we were really good at it. But the bigger you grow, the harder you fall.” Christopher sighs, sticking his head under the water for a minute before he leans up against the wall.

“A couple years ago, we were in Shanghai. Changbin and I were ordered to secure this big deal with the Triad, worth a couple hundred million won. It was a big fucking deal, and incredibly dangerous. Shit went south really fast. One of the new guys, Minho, was ordered to come with us to learn the ropes. He wasn’t supposed to come with us when we met with the Triad’s higher ups, but Changbin was angry that shit wasn’t going right and he ordered Minho to come with as a ‘learning experience’.”

You listened attentively with bated breath, watching the water bounce off of Christopher’s skin as you focused on his story. Based on what you heard earlier between the argument between Christopher and Changbin, you knew this wasn’t going to go well.

“It was horrible,” Christopher sighed, looking up at the ceiling. “The Triads were pulling out of the deal and Changbin got pissed. I’d never seen him so angry in my life. We were working on leaving, trying to get away before things got violent, but one of the guys on their side was trigger happy - must’ve been new too. He pulled out a pistol and aimed it directly at Changbin. Fucking Minho…”

Christopher sucked in some air through his gritted teeth, and you could tell that reliving this experience was painful for him. He was biting back tears and his eyes were turning red. “Minho pushed him out of the way, which is what you’re supposed to be willing to do for your superior, but he got shot in the lung and in the leg because of it. Changbin was furious, he wasn’t gonna let them kill one of his men. He had his gun in his hand, ready to shoot at them, before I intervened, somehow getting us out of there. Honestly, I don’t know how we made it out of there alive. Minho was in the hospital in Shanghai for a couple of months, then was sent to a rehabilitation facility here in Seoul when he was stable enough to travel.”

Christopher looks over at you, seeing the look of concern on your face. “He’s fine now, but he doesn’t work in the field anymore. Changbin helped nurse him back to health once he was back home in Seoul, visiting him at the rehabilitation centre every day for three months straight. I think there was something going on between them before Shanghai, but after they spent all of that time with each other, they really fell hard. They’ve been living together ever since. Changbin doesn’t want Minho out of his sight, understandably.”

“Holy shit,” you say, shaking your head, “that’s horrible. I never would have guessed.”

“Yeah,” Christopher says, standing back upright and wiping under his eyes, “this life isn’t for the weak-willed. A couple of brothers have died just in the past two years. Most of us have gotten shot or stabbed or had the shit beaten out of us. We’ve got enough money to bribe the cops to stay off our backs, but it’s exhausting to never have the comfort of security. I’m so sorry to have brought you into this. I never wanted to drag another civilian into this.”

You reach up to his face, stroking his cheek with your thumbs. “It’s alright, Christopher. We couldn’t have predicted this. Now, we just need to get through it one day at a time.”

He looks up to you and smiles weakly. “Well, in that case, I hope I can make you happy during the time we’re stuck here. I’m here for you.”

“I’m here for you, too. How about we finish up showering and go to bed? It’s gotta be late.”

“That sounds like a plan,” he says, leaning down to give you a short, soft kiss.

You wake up in Christopher’s bed, wearing an oversized, well worn t-shirt of his. The voices of Changbin and Christopher float in from under the closed door, but you can’t really make out exactly what they’re saying. After a minute of slowly waking up, you slip on the pair of joggers Christopher loaned to you yesterday and head out to the kitchen.

“Morning,” you groggily say as you make your way to the countertop.

“Oh, morning. Did we wake you?” Christopher says in a hushed voice, standing between the island counter and the refrigerator. Changbin is sitting on a barstool on the opposite side for Christopher. You look around for Minho and see that he’s still passed out on the couch, softly snoring away.

“No, no, I needed to get up.”

“Ah, alright. I’ve got some stuff in the fridge. Changbin was nice enough to grab some groceries and prepped food for us, so I’ll make something nice for lunch in a bit. There’s some mugs up here and I have coffee pods for the maker right here,” he pulls open a drawer and there’s an array of various different types of coffee, which is just what you needed.

The idea of a home-cooked meal sounded really nice. You wondered if Christopher was a good cook or not; judging by the fact that his fridge was pretty empty yesterday, you assume that he’s probably too busy to cook, and likely eats a lot of takeout, you weren’t confident that he was good at cooking.

You fumble a coffee pod into the maker and grab a mug from one of the cupboards. Christopher gives you a soft peck on the top of your head and turns back to Changbin.

“Anyway, it wasn’t a big deal,” Changbin continues their conversation, taking a swig of coffee from his cup. “After your call with Xiaojian the night before last, Han reached out to me and said he’d come here later today to take care of the deal you’d been working on. He just got back from Beijing last night.”

Han. Hearing that family name made you do a quick double take. It had been a year since you and Han Jisung had split, coming to a mutual agreement that your relationship wasn’t going anywhere. You were busy travelling thanks to your career, and he had just taken up a big job that he didn’t like to talk about. The way he acted over it, you assumed he was probably having an affair and just used his new job as a cover.

The coffee maker made a gentle ting noise as it finished brewing your cup. You take the mug and immediately bring it up to your lips, grateful for the warm beverage to help wake you up.

“Han?” Christopher questions, shifting his weight on to one foot. “You really trusted Han Jisung with that?”

Holy shit. You spit out your coffee as soon as it touches your lips and haphazardly slam the mug on to the counter. “I’m sorry,” you exclaim, “Did you say Han Jisung?” There was absolutely no way that they were talking about your ex-boyfriend. No way. He had a relatively common name, but hearing it still shocked you.

Changbin and Christopher turn to look at you, surprised by your question. “Yeah, Christopher says, an alarmed tone to his voice, “You probably don’t know him, though. He’s quiet, introverted, and doesn’t get attached to people.”

Oh shit.

“The Jisung I knew was introverted but he would bleach his hair every month or so; he likes to stick out a bit from everyone else. Looks cute when he eats because his cheeks puff up like a squirrel. He also produces music and he’s about your height.” You ramble off random facts you remembered about him, but the more you divulged, the wider Changbin’s eyes got.

“Fucking squirrel,” Changbin sighs. “How do you know him?”

Your heart sinks into your stomach as you look at Changbin, the look on his face making you uneasy. “We dated for a few years before he left me for a new job. I thought he was just saying that because he was having an affair and felt guilty, though.”

“Shit,” Changbin sighs, and lets his head fall into his hands. “He said he had broken up with his girlfriend when he joined up with us. She was a model, too.”

Christopher looks mortified. “What?” He shakes his head and looks at you, wide-eyed and taken aback. “You dated Han?”

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse this week, it seems like your expectations had been lowered yet again.

#stray kids smut #bang chan smut #chris bang smut #skz smut #stray kids fic #stray kids imagines #bang chan x reader #chris bang x reader #drug dealer au #i am so emotional over this chapter holy shit #putting the bang in bang chan lol #changbin x minho #seo changbin x lee minho #step out do what you want #skzsmutnet #skzsmutnetwork #wherevermyway

106 notes · View notes

cookie-gal · 3 years

Text

Ranma 1/2 modern au

Part 2 : Electric Boogaloo

Link to Part 1 -

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

• Ukyo was Ranma's childhood friend and their "engagement" was a similar case to Goku and Chichi, Ranma promised to marry Ukyo as a kid and didn't fully understand the concept of marriage

• Essentially Ukyo hasn't let that promise go along with the other promise Ranma made involving her Okonomiyaki sauce.

• They kept in touch throughout the years but lost touch around their teen years, probably around age 14, since Ranma started going ham with all the tournaments and training and Ukyo going to culinary school and running her Okonomiyaki business.

• So it was a bit of a shock for each other after all these years. Especially with Ranma and his curse.

• Ukyo just laughs at him "I don't know if I should feel bad for you or laugh." And Ranma just goes "stop" 👁👄👁

• Ranma acts like he doesn't remember his promises to Ukyo, but he actually remembers them and is a problem since he's now engaged to Akane. And also Shampoo.

• But Ukyo isn't going to back down from marrying Ranma. Girl is here to get her man and Ranma isn't stopping her really either. He really can't say no to most things she does since he got a soft spot for Ukyo, she was his first true friend growing up. Saying no to her makes him feel bad.

• She probably uses that to advantage to screw over Shampoo or Kodachi. She will literally go, "Hey Ranma, I heard you were hungry, let's go to my shop, I'll make you your favorite okonomiyaki" while he's dealing with Shampoo who insists they are on a date. He just shrugs and goes, "I guess I'm getting okonomiyaki" and leaves

• Ukyo, when she moved into town, she didn't really need to go to college. After all, she graduated early from culinary school since she is a cooking prodigy. But she decided to attend the same college as Ranma to at least get some sort of degree in Business Management to help her expand her business.

• Ukyo herself can relate to Akane to the struggles of femininity and masculinity. And this helps establish a friendship between them, much to everyone's surprise. Though their friendship doesn't stop their rivalry for Ranma, they are just more tame and aren't purposely trying to sabotage each other.

• P-chan is not Ryoga. (Personally I found it creepy that he relied on his pig form to get close to Akane which as resulted in their one sided romance) P-chan is Akane's pet pig that Dr. Tofu gifted to her.

• Ryoga, sometimes when he's in his pig form gets mixed up with P-chan but he GTFO once he gets the chance because he feels like he's invading on her personal life without her consent.

• Nabiki is still a trickster and trying to make coin anyway she can.

• Absolutely tries to become Red's manager, when she finds out that Ranma uses his female form to be a twitch streamer. She is the one running his online merch store and managing his social media accounts of Red.

• Though the easiest person for her to swindle is Kuno. She can easily be like, "Hey, you wanted a a shirt owned by Red. I will let you touch and look at it for 21,000 yen (roughly $200 usd) If you want to own it Kuno baby, it's 52,000 yen (roughly $500 usd)" Anything, from a hairbrush owned by Akane, photos, doing small favors like delivering gifts to Red or Akane, she charges a lot.

• This is why she's out her flexing by wearing only designer clothes and has all the latest tech. Akane over hear still using wired headphones while Naniki laughs in airpods with custom charging case. She probably walks up to the dinner table wearing designer clothes, with her airpods in, and holding onto her new phone, going "Sorry, I don't speak poor" Kasumi or Mr. Tendo scold her and she drops the attitude.

• She's in her early 20s, probably 21, and majors in Business Economics. She doesn't really have a set career in mind, she just goes with a flow.

• Her and Kuno's relationship is odd to everyone. She isn't flat out repulsed by him and doesn't fight him like Akane does. She just messes with him. But it seems like they have a deeper relationship underneath Nabiki swindling him. No one knows whether they secretly actually have a thing for each other, their just business partners, or just friends. But from the looks of it, Nabiki will continue to swindle him to make some fast cash.

• Kasumi had to grow up quickly since her mother passed away when she was a teen. Being the oldest, she helped her dad with raising Nabiki and Akane.

• This definitely influenced her to persue a career as a school teacher when she reached college. Currently she works at a local elementary school as a kindergarten teacher.

• Since she had two help raise two girls and now is a teacher, and is essentially raising several children, she is like in full mom mode most of the time. You know she probably has the cabinets in the Tendo house full of kid snacks or normal snacks cut down to size. Absolutely no alcohol, she got that locked up somewhere. Absolutely decorated the house with bright little colors. No one wants to tell her to tone it down since they are either used to it or just can't help but find it cute and or hard to say something to Kasumi.

• Dr. Tofu, although he is good friends with Kasumi, still gets flustered around her. He is hopelessly in love with her while Kasumi is as dense as a rock when it comes to her love life.

• Honestky it's like she and Dr. Tofu are talking about Ranma and Akane's relationship and goes, "Don't you hate it when two people clearly like each other but are as dense of rocks. It's so frustrating. It much be really frustrating too to be in love with someone when they don't notice you." And he's in the background screaming in pain.

• 100% they were friends in high school. And since high school, Dr. Tofu got that fat crush on Kasumi.

• Though something to note, Kasumi might not have any desire to run the dojo, but the queen is fit. She and Dr. Tofu have been work out buddies for years. Kasumi isn't staying fit for attention, rather she does it for herself and to stay in good health. So during high school, she and Dr. Tofu became work out buddies to help each other stay healthy.

• Kodachi is a gymnastics prodigy. From a young age she started training and completing in gymnastics competition. So she did online school for a good chunk of her life.

• This resulted not only in her big ego, but also her competing in the Olympics for Japan from a young age, 17 years old.

• She knows she can be set for life as a professional gymnast, however she needs a back up plan in case she has to retire early from that career. This is why she is currently studying in college to be a theatre teacher. She loves performing so she's okay with becoming some sort of teacher that involves performing.

• However she's not going to the same college as the rest, she goes to another one, a prestigious school, and she's on their gymnastics team as the team leader. The only time the gang sees her is when she has to compete against their college's team, or around town

• Kodachi growing up knew if she were to marry, she wanted to marry someone who was confident, can kick ass, and is genuine. Well Ranma falls into those categories for her and she started to fall for him when she saw him compete in a martial arts tournament that was happening in the same town where she was competing for a gymnastics tournament. They were about 18, Kodachi remembers him but he doesn't remember her.

• She sees him in town expecting to run into his arms and go on a date but Ranma is out her going "I got a smooth brain, who are you?" Then he proceeds to go to Ukyo's restaurant to eat okonomiyaki with Akane.

• Rip Akane, she's frustrated that Ranma has 3 girls after him along with Kuno trying to hook up with her and Red. So technically Ranma has 4 people after him when he's supposed to be engaged to her.

#ranma 1/2 au #ranma au #ranma #ranma 1/2 #au #modern au #nabiki tendo #kasumi tendo #dr. tofu #kodachi kuno #kuno #p chan #ukyo kuonji

27 notes · View notes

hkshirayuki · 4 years

Text

MYTHICAL CREATURE 3

Marco x Reader

Genre : Fluff

Art is not mine credits to the rightful owner.

They just greet and welcome y/n. Y/n just thanked them. Marco was the last one to welcome y/n. As soon he walk towards you. He can feel everybody's gaze on his back.

" Welcome to our loud chaotic family, y/n, yoi" Marco said with a smile.

Y/n just blush, as it was her first time to hear him call her name.

"Thank you" y/n replied and Thatch couldn't miss the opportunity to butt in.

"Are you blushing, y/n-chan?!"

Marco just roll his eyes at how much of a gossiper his siblings is, when it comes to love life. Well he can't blame them as he did the same thing to Oden and Toki. Well they did the same thing as he did.

"Oh, I was just surprised" y/n stutter said as she touch her face. It was warm, she is indeed blushing.

Thatch just suggestive wiggle his eyebrows at Marco. The other soon joined him, doing the same gesture.

Marco just glare at them, before smacking there heads and the rumble of the siblings begin. They both share the same blow, others cheer and bet who will win.

Y/n just asked 'what's going on' Whitebeard just chuckled at how immature they can be, but he love seeing them like this.

Timeskip 5 years later

It's been a 5 years, since the day y/n joined the Whitebeard pirates. She always remember the faithful meet she had with Marco. She didn't regret her decision as she found a very supportive family.

When she talked about her dream to meet every each Mythical Creatures she had met. They all support her to it. The adventure to the sea with them was never been boring, it was full of excitement. Y/n was best pals with Marco, as for the others they blame marco for being a bad influence to y/n and y/n could fully heartily laughed at what they say about marco.

Marco and y/n understand each other, through the years they spend, They have notice the similarities of each other. They will always have there own private talk at night together. Marco will always asked how is her day and she will asked the same thing.

The Whole crew know, how sneaky the two are. Y/n mostly tease Marco when there only alone. She will keep asking him about the reason, he stay in her boat as a phoenix. Marco will only frown when she asked as he learn she love to rub salt to his past wound, Marco will only tease her back only to backfired. And both of them are embarrassed and promised to keep it a secret together.

After getting embarrassed the two soon talk about something they find interesting that Marco sometimes joke and y/n laugh. Thatch, Izo and along with jozu, vista and haruta were only spying at marco and y/n. Whitebeard only scold them for spying there brother and there sister. but soon join them.

"Just when will Marco, will tell y/n" Whitebeard asked to his sons.

They only shrugged there shoulder and still watching and listening to whatever marco and y/n talking about.

Whitebeard again asked them again and they only said "Shh" to there Dad who just frown. Whitebeard just thought of leaving when he got cramps making him groan loud. It was loud enough for the two to hear him.

"What the! Are you serious yoi!?" Marco asked angrily as he know that they were spying on them.

Y/n just blushed as she experienced them teasing her to no end. When she was hug by Marco the time she was away for a month. Well she was hug by all of her family member. It's just they tease her and Marco when they are seen together.

Marco just angrily March towards the noise come from. And Thatch, Izo, Jozu, Vista and haruta just hide. While Whitebeard have no choice but to stay there as he have a terrible cramps.

"Oyaji! What are you doing?!" Marco unamused said.

Y/n just follow Marco and surprised to see. There Dad was spying them.

She only give Whitebeard a face of displeasure. Marco just scold him while y/n notice the other tip toeing but y/n shouted said "And where do you think you guys going?"

The five shadow flinch and Marco just name them. "Thatch, Vista, Jozu, Haruta, and Izo come out already" They only did and tried to act dumb.

Thatch just tried spoke with a feminine voice. "Ahahaha, There is no Thatch here, it's me Whitey~"

It was pretty obvious that it was him. Only an idiot will believe that kind of lie. Izo was only embarrassed as he was too curious that's why he tag along with them. Marco was disappointed to see Izo with them.

Marco just scold them, Y/n leave the scolding to marco, when it's them. They only apologize for spying them.

"We promise not to do it"

"Let me and the others do the seppuku as my apology for intruding your two privacy" Izo said while there in there knees and low his head at Marco, y/n.

but when he said that y/n just panic.

"What!? no! Izo!" y/n said. Marco just smack his head.

"Stop it, Idiot!" Marco said to Izo.

The other that is present that time only just shut there mouth as they can see, Izo wasn't kidding about it. They only gulp in terror.

Y/n just scold him for scaring her like that. Marco just sigh as he have a stressful night. Because of his siblings.

Thatch, Vista, Jozu and Haruta just curse there dad in the back cause he was only scolded and he returned to his room. While they were punished to kneel down overnight as an apology. Izo, Of course accepted it. They couldn't leave nor stand up as they were threatened by Izo either they stay or they all Commit Seppuku.

The next morning, The other member just Question why there are sleeping outside and kneeling down.

Marco and y/n were only greeted by the sight of the five. Y/n feel guilty while marco hope they learn there lesson.

One week passed,Thatch just implanted an idea inside y/n head.

He just asked what does y/n think about marco.

"You know, Marco is always kind"

"Well yeah he is, but notice this

y/n-chan, he is extra kind only to you" Thatch point it out. Y/n just thought one of the reasons 'why' Thatch just whisper in her ear in a low voice.

"Marco have a crush on you" Thatch keep on whispering while y/n is focused when she hear him. She couldn't help but blushed.

"Thatch!!!"

Thatch just look at her, like he didn't do anything "What?"

"Stop whispering something like that"

Thatch just laugh at how adorable y/n is but he wasn't sorry. At the same time Marco was doing check up on Whitebeard. When he asked Marco the same thing.

Marco just sigh as he answered "If your asking me, if I like y/n? I do"

Whitebeard were delighted to hear it. So he asked what's preventing him to confess. He tried to say something reasonable. Only he sigh and felt embarrassed.

"I'm trying to, okay! I'm just waiting for a good timing...yoi"

Whitebeard just laughed at the flustered look Marco had.

"Your not a teenager boy, Your already 30, Same as her... Man up"

Marco just frown but his dad have a point. "I know that... Yoi"

"Marco, you should do it sooner, before someone confess first" Whitebeard said.

"shit" Marco said to himself. Well he can't blame them, You were such a natural charmer, they might be blind if you couldn't charm them. But sorry for them cause he decided to make a move.

Tonight as usual, Marco and y/n met for some other reasons. The two had an awkward atmosphere. Well y/n suddenly remembered what Thatch whisper to her ear. Marco just thought of confessing his feelings.

It took a 5 minutes before Marco finally decided to break the awkward silence they both had.

"Were having a lovely night yoi" Marco said and y/n just look at him for a second and look away soon. Though she just agreed to it.

She didn't look at him anymore. She was looking somewhere else.

"What's wrong with you, yoi?" Marco asked with a hint of concerned.

"Oh, umm, nothing just have an odd day" y/n replied still avoiding his gaze.

For some reasons what thatch said to her that time keep on repeating inside her head. Y/n doesn't like to assume. So she shakes her head trying to focus.

"The moon is beautiful isn't it?" y/n said. Marco then sudden smirk.

Looking at y/n admiring the moon.

"Did you just said, I love you to me, yoi" Marco said with a smirk in his face.

"Yeah... I mean, wha?!" y/n replied but soon becomes a stuttering mess after it finally sink to her mind.

"Well I love you too, y/n" Marco bashfully replied. Y/n then look at him. The smirk he wear a while ago just melt and she can see the red tint in his face.

"Really?" Y/n said, but she know that it was sincere but couldn't help to tease him. Marco just frown.

Why do you inherit this habit from the others. But he got an idea to make it fair.

Y/n is still teasing him, She were still asking him even she know it already.

"really? Really?"

Marco just thought a great revenge so he just scoot down and stare her directly in the eye. Inch slowly, y/n wasn't ready for it. But she close her eyes but she only felt Marco lips on her cheek.

He just stick out his tongue when she open her eyes." Sorry, Were you expecting me to kiss you in the lips,

y/n,yoi"

Marco swear he never seen so flustered y/n is. As he hum for victory. Y/n just covered her face with her hand.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Dedicated to Owner-san from One piece fam, tumblr.

#marco the pineapple #marco the phoenix #marco x reader #one piece x reader #One piece Marco #Whitebeard pirates #Whitebeard

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mintymiknow · 4 years

Text

[5:30]

This drabble is part of the 50 Kisses Drabble Challenge! [ Requested: Number 15 + 21 + Chan ]

Number 15: A fierce kiss that ends with a bite on the lip, soothing it with a lick

Number 21: A chaste kiss given to each other because they are in mixed company

A/N: I’m not exactly and completely back, but I wrote this to de-stress from all the assignments that are overwhelming me right now :) It’s more of a very self-indulgent Chan piece because I am whipped for the man. It’s a bit sloppy and messy as I haven’t written in so long, but I enjoyed putting these into writing to relieve stress. Also, it might be suggestive for some, so I’m putting this out here to warn just in case! Enjoy!

This year had been a good one for your group, and it certainly has been for your fellow labelmates. The other artists under JYP Entertainment also had several accomplishments and achieved goals throughout the year, but there were still some unfinished tasks.

The other artists were busy with comebacks and promotions, but your group and Stray Kids met at the company building’s practice room to polish certain things. The idea came from one of the managers of the company, suggesting that Stray Kids and your group should have a collaboration stage for an upcoming award show. Everyone thought it was a good idea as the dynamics and chemistry between the groups was pretty good.

And there was the fact that you, your group’s leader, and Bang Chan, Stray Kids’ leader, were dating.

No one knew. The public didn’t know. Only your respective members, managers, and a handful of people at the company knew, but that was it. The relationship was a secret, as usual, and despite being in the same company, you and Chan rarely got to spend time with each other due to schedules.

Perhaps this collab stage would be a means for the two of you to bond even more.

Minho, Hyunjin and your group’s main dancer were busy discussing how a certain portion of the choreography should go. The other members were either exhausted and sprawled on the floor, or sitting on the leather couch to cool themselves while eating ice cream.

You were next to Chan on the leather couch, legs cutely tucked to your chest as you leaned on his shoulder. Chan was showing you various videos to get inspiration from, and the exchange of ideas was just a natural thing between the two of you. You’d joke around from time to time, laughing and playfully swatting each other from time to time.

��Chan,” you point at his phone, “let’s play with the Snow filters.”

Chan laughs,‌ “Did Minho influence you to start using his cute filters as well?”

“They are cute.” you say in a matter-of-fact tone.

With a light chuckle, Chan opens the app, handing the phone over to you so you can browse through the various filters and effects. You take a few random shots of yourself with various animal ears and little doodles on your face. Afterwards, you select a wacky and weird one and tell Chan to join you.

The finished product prompts the two of you to burst in laughter, tears threatening to spill from your eyes. “Please don’t ever show me that filter ever again!” Chan says in between giggles.

You mimic his actions, clutching your stomach from laughing too much, “Ok, but you have to admit it was really funny.”

Once you both have calmed down from the giggly fits, the main dancers call everyone’s attention and explain how the formations and choreo was going to work. Minutes turned into a few hours, and eventually, both your groups got the basic gist of everything.

Later on, you and Chan sat on the couch, monitoring the routine from where you sat. When you were both satisfied, you called for another break. Some members went out to buy drinks at Soul Cup while others opted to take a quick nap to energize. You, Chan, Changbin, Felix, and your group’s main rapper were seated on the floor, discussing random things like possible costumes, styling, and makeup for this stage.

“I’d pay with my whole bank account to see the stylists put shiny red lip gloss on Lix.” your rapper points out with a grin.

Felix laughs, shrugging cutely, “I don’t think that actually sounds bad. It sounds great, actually!”

Changbin smirks, turning to face you, “What do you want the stylists to do with Chan?”

“Please don’t say rip my shirt or something like that.” Chan laughs, shaking his head.

You laugh with him, humming for a few seconds as you rummage through your brain archives. You have thought of particular stylings you wanted to see on your boyfriend. “I’m not too sure. Chan pulls everything off, but I guess I want to see him wear stuff inspired by the whole vampire concept or the like.” you muse.

“Vamp Chan!” Felix jokes before proceeding to make an impersonation of Dracula.

Your rapper laughs, nodding enthusiastically, “That would really suit Chan, honestly. He has the looks and vibe for it.”

“Then we should tell Minho to add a part in the choreo where Chan bites y/n’s neck or something.” Changbin wiggles his eyebrows, the colors in his eyes displaying a cheeky nature.

You playfully swat his leg, “Hey, the performance isn’t supposed to be kinky!”

“Who says?” Chan plays along, copying the way Changbin wiggled his eyebrows.

“I actually think it would add a nice touch!” your rapper notes, her eyes serious, “Think about it. The song you and Chan made has a very dark and sexy vibe, and the choreo our dancers came up with is very sultry and pretty cinematic. It would make a beautiful touch!”

Felix nods, “It could be included in the ending. Like as the whole song and routine ends, Chan comes up from behind and proceeds to ‘bite’ y/n, and then the lights go out so it’s up to the audiences’ interpretation.”

“Mysterious, sexy, and intriguing.” Chan pouts his lips, nodding slowly, “It’s really artistic, and I don’t think it sounds bad. What do you think, y/n?”

You hum, the thought of doing such an action with your boyfriend buzzing your nerves with excitement. Surely, intimacy was something you and Chan weren’t foreign to as you both have done things in private, but to do something that “sensual” on a stage for millions to see, you were a bit embarrassed. Willing but embarrassed.

In the end, you gave in to the thought. The others were right; it would be a nice touch to the performance, and since you were most comfortable with Chan, there shouldn’t be any problems. You nodded and offered a small smile, “Yeah, sure. I think it’s going to be great.”

Once the practice resumes, you and Chan bring the dancers aside to share the idea with them. Amused, they immediately agree and change the routine just a little to accommodate the additional idea.

With the new addition sorted out, your groups run through the whole routine a few more times. During the final run-through, you deliver your final line as the members slowly and gracefully fall to the ground. You end your line by standing in the middle of the formation, bringing your arms out as if longing to reach for someone. Chan then creeps up behind, wrapping his arms around you seductively, head leaning in and burying his face by the crook of your neck.

You both remain in that position for a few seconds until Minho says it’s done. A bunch of yay’s and claps ring through the room, and for some reason, you feel your cheeks heating up with a pink tint. Chan keeps his arms around you, gently swaying your bodies. “How was it?” the leader asks.

Minho smirks, giving a thumbs up, “You guys were right. It added some spice to the whole thing. I like it.”

Hyunjin nods, his plump lips curling into a giddy smile, “I know it’s ‘cause you’re both dating, but you and y/n make a really great pair. The chemistry is off the charts!”

You giggle shyly, biting your lip at the dancer’s words. Chan smirks proudly, craning his head so he can lean in and place a chaste kiss onto your lips. A few of the members whistle and hoot, causing you to shyly smile against your boyfriend’s lips. You peck him once more before pulling away to smile at him, “You’re really going to do this in front of the kids?”

Chan looks at you innocently, “Do what?”

You playfully scoff, squirming away from his arms. You miss the feel of his skin on yours, so you end up just holding his hand. “The routine is perfect, but I think Chan and I should do some final check up on the song itself. See if it needs to be tweaked.”

“Hmm, that’s true.” Jisung nods.

“Do you and Changbin want to work with us, or will you take it easy?” you ask with a smile.

Changbin shakes his head, “It’s fine! You and Chan can do it. I have to go to the gym in a while anyway.”

Chan nods, squeezing your hand, “Alright, we’ll go now.”

With that, you and Chan exit the practice room and head for this studio. Once you’re both out of reach, Minho turns to everyone else, “Pretty sure they aren’t going to work on the song.”

“Please.” your rapper laughs with a naughty smirk, “The song is perfect already. They’re working on something else.”

“Please stop.” Jeongin and Seungmin pretend to gag, laughing afterwards.

Meanwhile, you and Chan go inside his studio, shutting the door. You sit on one of the black couches there, tilting your head, “What if we make the song sound more intense?‌ Like, the beat itself. The lyrics and flow are perfect already.”

“Hmmm,” Chan hums, spinning around on his chair, “I think it’s perfect as it is, honestly. You added the final touches yesterday, and I think that sealed it.”

“Really?” you muse, biting your lip, “You’re the better producer, so I’ll trust you on that.”

Chan shakes his head, smiling cutely, “You’re just as good, y/n. The girls are lucky to have you as their leader.”

“And Stray Kids is lucky to have you.” you chuckle, playfully giving him finger-hearts.

Chan playfully wiggles his eyebrows, giving you a funny face, “Do you want to hear me say something cheesy?”

“Don’t you always say stuff like that?” you joke, “But go ahead. I’d like to hear this.”

Chan tries his best to look seductive, but he ends up cracking up in laughter. With a goofier grin, he says, “I’m lucky to have you.”

You know he’s joking around and being his playful self, but you take the words to heart and feel like a melting pool of fluff. With a gentle smile, you stand up and walk over to him, situating yourself between his legs. Your hands go up to rest on his shoulders, eyes warmly staring at the male, “I’d say the same thing, but we’re just going to argue over who’s the luckier one.”

Chan laughs airily, hands gently perched on your waist, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

With that, one of Chan’s hands travel up your back, resting at your nape to bring your faces closer to each other. He captures your lips with is own, kissing you much deeper than back at the practice room. His soft and plump lips feel glorious on your own, moving with a fluidity and fire that has your knees going week. You end up straddling your boyfriend, moving your arms to coil around his neck.

Chan’s hands return to your waist, gently squeezing the area as he elicits a sigh from you. His kisses grow hungrier by the second, tongues mingling in a sultry dance as neither of you pull back to breathe. Your fingers begin to gingerly rake through his messy blond hair, tugging at the curls each time his tongue brushes against yours.

One particular tug has him biting your lip, which in turn causes you to release another sigh. Chan realizes what he had just done, afraid that he may have gone too far and hurt your lip. He pulls away slightly, your lips still ghosting above each other’s as his tongue darts out to soothingly lick the bitten area.

But then his kisses traverse lower, ending up on the slope of your neck. His supple lips send shivers down your spine and buzz every inch of your nerves as he gingerly presses his kisses. The way you’re stroking his hair encourages him as he begins to lightly nibble and suckle on the exposed skin there. You can’t help but smile and giggle softly at how it tickles.

The male drags his lips up to your jaw, peppering it with more kisses until he returns to your lips. With one more chaste kiss to your red, swollen lips, you both pull away completely. You giggle, playing with the hairs on Chan’s nape, “You’re really taking your vampire role seriously, Bang Chan.”

“Am not.” he laughs, pecking your lips once more, “I just really love you.”

You giggle giddily, pressing your forehead against his, “And I just really love you too.”

#stray kids #chan #bang chan #chan scenario #chan imagine #bang chan scenario #bang chan imagine #stray kids scenario #stray kids imagine #skz #skz scenario #skz imagine #skz chan #chan x reader #bang chan x reader

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neo-shitty · 3 years

Text

TEASER — CHECKMATE (OT8, SKZ)

checkmate — an ot8 stray kids mafia!au

description. in which a group of friends play a realistic game of mafia where it’s all fun in games until one of them goes missing.

pairings. han jisung x female!reader, bang chan x byun taehee (oc), seo changbin x jeon saeyeon (oc)

genre. mystery, thriller.

warnings. swearing, character deaths (nothing too graphic)

word count. 19k

tags and other notes. i finished writing this fic way back in november but i was torn between chopping this fic into chapters (the way it was written) or posting it the way it appears in my google docs (as one long ass file). i have finally reached the decision (with the help of a few people from kpopscape, ily) to settle with the latter.

i hope you’ll enjoy reading this as much as i had enjoyed conceptualizing it in the shower 2 months ago.

tags: @skzflix , i’m not sure if you remember me talking about a jisung fic a few months ago (or if you even remember me at all) but here it is. finally free from my google docs.

let me know if anyone wants to be tagged when i finally drop this. :)

to be posted on. january 23, 00:00 KST.

And this is how you all ended up eating lunch on the bleachers of the school gym for the remaining two years of high school.

All of you except Jisung anyway, who either got voted out of suspicion for being the Mafia or being killed by the Mafia themselves.

So when Lee Minho walks into the gym one day with a tempting offer in hand, Jisung is the first to say yes.

“What do you guys think?” he asks, watching everyone’s eyes skim over the flyer he’d picked up from the school bulletin board.

“I think it’s a great idea.”

“I think it’s pretty stupid.”

When the laughter dies down he finally speaks, “Do you have a problem?”

“What’s the point?” Seungmin answers, “You always lose anyway.”

You watch as the tension between the two 00’s intensifies. When you catch a glimpse of Chan’s stressed face, you take it upon yourself to reign Jisung down. “Jisung, just sit down please.”

“Oh,” he turns to you, eyes wide in disbelief, “so you’re siding with them too? Fine.”

You wanted to argue but it’d only cause more ruckus. At least, even when he had his back turned to you, Jisung obliged to sit down. You let out a sigh and leave him alone.

“Seems sketchy,” Taehee remarks.

“You doubt everything,” Changbin rebuts, to which the girl just shrugs.

“It’s just a game of Mafia,” Felix finally says, “and we’re graduating so we might not get this opportunity again.”

Jisung finally turns around and faces everyone else, “I know right. I feel like this is going to be the best idea ever.”

#stray kids #stray kids fic #stray kids fics #skz #skz imagines #skz fics #stray kids angst #stray kids fluff #stray kids thriller #idk what tags to put so

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mostlycompetentwriter · 4 years

Text

Side Effects- Part 2

M/F Pairing: Y/N X Stray Kids (Multiple Pairings)

Word Count: 4K

Genre: Yandere Stray Kids AU, Vampire AU, Fantasy AU

Warnings: graphic depictions of blood, violence, mentions of smut, and language...Oh, and 3racha are kinda rude...

Summary: Sometimes, we can’t escape the past.

“You look beautiful today, Y/N.”

I blushed, of course, from Mark’s tender compliment. “Thank you,” I managed sheepishly, watching as my boss offered me a cheeky smile before entering his office.

Ever since I left the Miroh Coven, I had been working a part-time position as the Secretary to a wealthy CEO. I didn’t mind my job, enjoying the menial tasks I was usually instructed to obey. It was quite mind-numbing, a worthy distraction when I first started working here hollowing the horrors I had endured from the Miroh Coven. The pay was excellent and I was able to help my roommate afford rent while reliably buying myself luxuries like a new mattress or a fresh wardrobe since my old clothes reminded me too much of the past.

The hours were also minimal, and I often found myself sitting down at my desk only to look up at the clock and realize my day had already concluded. Subsequently, I was able to leave the office on time every day to join the steady stream of afternoon traffic. Afterward, I might stop by a restaurant to pick up something for dinner, or occasionally drive through the downtown marketplace because I enjoyed shopping for fresh produce. It was all quite nice and I enjoyed settling into my new life with a deep sigh of relief.

It had almost been nine months since I last saw any of the boys and other than the unfortunate encounter with Chan’s necklace, I was sure that I would never have to experience anything so unattractive ever again. I was slowly regaining my confidence, joining my roommate several times when she wanted to see a movie or shop at one of the outdoor malls. Everything was starting to work out for me, which meant that I was also starting to comfortably take more risks.

“Please have fun tonight,” my roommate said, practically dragging me along with her as we entered one of her favorite clubs. After much convincing, I had finally given in and allowed my roommate to take me out late at night for drinks and dancing. “This is a nice place,” she said, leading me to the bar. “I’ll buy you a drink.”

I nodded my head, looking around the relaxed atmosphere. It was certainly a much tamer club than what I was used to visiting, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Of course, the influence of alcohol had a way of making a person far more willing to lower their defenses. “One glass,” I said, accepting the fruity beverage from the bartender before my roommate and I found a table near the edge of the dancefloor.

“So many handsome faces,” my roommate remarked. “Interested in anyone?”

I scoffed at her question because I seriously doubted that I would willingly jump into a new relationship anytime soon. “Really?”

“Just wondering,” my roommate shrugged, drinking down the remainder of her scotch. “Wanna dance?”

I waved her off, deciding that I was okay with enjoying my drink at our table. My roommate let out a giggle, locking eyes with a suave businessman who looked ready to devour her whole. “I’ll check on you soon,” she promised and I quickly lost her in the mass of bodies occupying the dance floor.

I rolled my eyes because I knew better than to expect my roommate’s return. Instead, I sipped at my drink while admiring the friendly atmosphere of the bar, neon colors dazzling in my peripheral vision. It reminded me of my younger college days when I was swept away by the illusion of freedom which independent adulthood offered, attending every frat party I could find.

I grinned at the memories, feeling way too old to try anything like that ever again. It was fun once, being so irresponsible, but now it was time to start paying bills and scratch my head when I attempted to do my taxes. Freedom was addicting, and I could see why so many younger people were enamored with the idea of moving away from home and conquering the world.

Wistfully, I must digress because I often lose myself in my thoughts, and I can’t afford a break in concentration. Instead, I sipped tentatively at my drink, watching the moving sea of bodies. I was entirely focused, which allowed me to raise my guard at the approach of an unfamiliar figure.

“Excuse me? Do you have the time?”

I shrugged loosely because it was an innocent request from someone who clearly wasn’t looking for anything ill-intended. On instinct, I reached into my bag to grab my phone. “It’s almost midnight,” I said, thinking that our interaction would be short-lived.

Instead, the man was insistent, a cold hand digging harshly against my shoulder. “Don’t you know that it’s dangerous to stay up so late, sweetheart?”

The accent had been disguised, but now I recognized it thick and heavy in my ear. I couldn’t even remember to scream before his hand was enclosed over my mouth, teeth nipping at my jaw. Another body slipped into my roommate’s chair, brows raised as he reached for her discarded glass. “Is there room for some company, Y/N?” Jisung asked, blonde hair hanging low in his eyes.

I shook my head desperately, fresh tears clouding my vision. “Where are your manners, sweetheart?” Chan asked with a harsh tone and I was suddenly jerked to the side, a strong hand holding my chin into place.

“What a coincidence, Y/N,” Changbin growled. “We have unfinished business in this little town of yours.”

“You’re coming with us,” Chan said, ignoring the way I fought against him as he practically forced me out of my chair. “Look at me,” he snarled, eyes trained on mine as I started to drift out of consciousness.

I was slowly starting to realize that the implications of being a sire went far beyond just simply turning someone immortal. For example, I knew how cruel Changbin could be, turning violent on a whim, especially if you disobeyed him. He was the one who liked to punish me when he thought I was being bad, dragging out all sorts of special toys to use against my body. Paddles and lashes, whips and spikes, everything Changbin needed was lined perfectly along the walls of the special room he had decorated for himself whenever he wanted to play with someone. He was a sadist in every sense of the word, enjoying the sensation of watching someone suffer for his own pleasure. When he had first brought me into the room, I had immediately protested, close to tears when Changbin had cooed at me and insisted that I would never be forced to do anything outside of my comfort zone. He spoke with a wicked tongue, dark eyes revealing the truth if I had been so willing to look for it, but I eventually allowed him to have his way with me. Tears streaming freely down the side of my face while Changbin’s tongue traced the salty rivulets with a groan.

But Changbin wasn’t the only one with a fiery temper and desire for pain and suffering. His fledgling vampires, Felix and Hyunjin, had decisively taken on his more brutal aspects. Felix lost control whenever I said something to offend him, growling out insults while I tried to avoid his hands. Hyunjin had special permission to use Changbin’s secret room to explore his own masochism, and I had accidentally wandered into one of his sessions at the beginning of our arrangement before things had turned sexual between us. I remember the look of existential terror on the girl’s face that I had foolishly misplaced as pleasure, crying out not in ecstasy but in pain.

On the other hand, Jisung was the manipulative and cunning brother who thought out everything instead of living on a whim according to his pleasures. It was this same trait that I discovered in Minho who also shared Jisung’s tendency to plan out his movements. The only difference between them was that Minho was silent in his execution while Jisung was loud in letting everyone know that he had gotten his way.

Finally, there was Bang Chan, the legal leader of the Miroh Coven. Chan was the last of the brothers to attempt a siring bond because he had never found the right person. I would never know for sure why Seungmin and Jeongin were “the right people,” but Chan doted on them in every sense of the word. He treasured them like they were his possessions, buying them expensive clothes and allowing them leeway when their bloodlust tended to get the best of them. It was up to the sire to teach their fledglings how to properly drink blood from a source, but Chan had decided not to blink an eye when Seungmin or Jeongin accidentally took things a step too far.

Just like Chan, Seungmin and Jeongin were also extremely possessive, especially when they considered something to belong exclusively to them. I can only wish that I had noticed sooner, the way the three of them liked to leave their marks on me in various ways, whether it be through a harsh bite or buying me something nice and insisting that I wear it at all times. Seungmin and Jeongin were also dangerous because there had been times when I felt like I was on death’s door, feeling them drink my blood like they would never stop.

Sadly, I thought I had escaped all of that, so imagine the utter sense of dread crippling my entire body when I woke up to see Chan, Changbin, and Jisung standing over me as they watched me slowly awaken. Chan was the first to react, sitting down on the edge of the bed as he appraised me. “Sweetheart,” he said and a shiver ran down my spine. “Don’t you know how worried we were when you ran away from us like that?”

My lower lip trembled and I bit down on it hard. “I couldn’t stay.”

“Why not?” Chan asked, looking every bit as patient as I remembered.

“You hurt people,” I whispered. “And you hurt me too.”

“Hurt you?” Chan huffed, a look of annoyance masking his features. “We protected you and cared for you, sweetheart.”

“You belong to us,” Jisung said, gaze cold as he watched me from afar.

I sniffled, slowly losing my last shred of pride as I tried not to cry in front of these horrible vampires. His words reminded me of the night I left, rushing out into the streets with blood covering my body. “I don’t have to work for you anymore,” I said.

Changbin growled. “The arrangement meant more than that, Y/N.”

“We love you,” Chan said, reaching for my hands and I didn’t have the strength to fight him. “Remember? We can be together forever.”

I was crying now, triggered by the all-too-familiar words spoken 9 months ago when I entered the Miroh Mansion for the final time.

Jeongin was still young enough to celebrate his birthday, and the rest of the Clan had decided that nothing was too good for their precious youngest member. I remember going shopping with Chan, buying party decorations without any consideration for how much it would cost them. Earlier that week, Jisung and I had visited the bakery to order Jeongin a custom-made birthday cake, including a cheesy message at the bottom to commemorate the occasion. Everyone was in good spirits and I had finally stopped thinking about the bodies in their basement, believing Jisung when he told me that they had been donated to the Miroh Clan to use as a source of fresh blood. “It sometimes happens,” Jisung said. “Whenever there’s an accident and nobody claims the bodies, they send them here for us to use.”

It was an extremely unreasonable explanation but I refused to believe anything else in an attempt to protect myself from the truth. I was determined to move past it, forcing myself to smile at Jisung’s cheesy jokes or Chan’s attempts to make me laugh. I must have been a good actor because they stopped hovering around me at every possible opportunity, watching me like they were waiting for me to bolt out the door and never return.

“Y/N!” Jeongin had said, jumping into my bed to wake me up that morning. “Guess what?” he giggled, adorable face mere inches from my own.

“Hmmm?” I wondered, smirking as he practically beamed with excitement.

“It’s my birthday,” Jeongin said. “I’m supposed to be 40-years-old today!”

“Congratulations,” I snickered, deciding that it wasn’t the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard.

“Will you come play with me and Felix?” Jeongin asked. “We can do whatever we want until Chan gets home.”

That’s another thing I had noticed about the fledglings. They never really liked to talk about anyone except for their sired master. In fact, if I didn’t know any better, I would think that Jeongin had no idea that Jisung and Changbin even existed. “Okay,” I said. “Let me take a shower first.”

Jeongin allowed me to get ready in peace and quiet, and I enjoyed the feeling of the water scalding my skin as I stood under the faucet for far longer than normal. Afterward, I pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, finding Felix, Jeongin, and Seungmin in Minho’s room, arguing over who would join teams. I yawned when I entered, wary of the way Minho was watching me from his bed, legs stretched out in front of him as his eyes followed me all the way to where Felix was holding out my controller.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon with the younger boys, ignoring Minho completely as I let Jeongin win several times even though I was much better at Street Fighter. “Finally,” Jeongin exclaimed, racing for the door before I could question him.

“Chan’s home,” Minho informed me, holding out a hand which I reluctantly accepted, trying not to react when Minho leaned in to press his lips against my delicate pulse point.

Downstairs, all of the vampires were busy setting up Jeongin’s party. Streamers hung from the overhead banisters and balloons floated mindlessly through the room as Chan hugged Jeongin tightly against his chest. “Were you a good boy today?” he asked the youngest who nodded enthusiastically in response.

“Y/N,” Jisung called my name. “Help me in the kitchen.”

I obeyed immediately, finding Jisung situating candles on top of the cake we had purchased earlier that week. I was struck by the normalcy of the situation, standing next to Jisung as he instructed me to start boiling a pot of water. Apparently, despite their delicate diets, on special occasions, the Vampires could enjoy human food and Jeongin’s favorite was being prepared for him.

It was chaotic in the Mansion as everyone attended to their various responsibilities, amusing little Jeongin who flitted from person to person. Although, more often than not, Jeongin stuck close to Chan’s side, talking to his sire about all the nuances of his day. Chan listened patiently, nodding along as he finished the elaborate ribbon around one of Jeongin’s birthday presents. “Is everyone ready?”

We all stood together in the kitchen, singing for Jeongin who was vibrating from head to toe. He blew out the candles and beamed at the accompanying applause. “Happy birthday, Jeongin,” I said, allowing him to pull me into an impossibly strong grip.

Meanwhile, the other vampires slowly congregated into the living room where Jeongin’s presents were waiting for him. “Y/N,” Chan said, holding me back as Jeongin raced out of the kitchen. “Help me carry these drinks.”

I wrinkled my nose because they were obviously filled with blood. Nonetheless, I obeyed diligently, accepting one of the trays before following Chan into the crowded foyer. “Channie!” Jeongin said, holding up a delicate pocket watch. “It’s so nice!”

Chan smiled warmly at Jeongin, ruffling his hair playfully as he started handing out the glasses. Changbin grabbed me by the hips as I passed in front of him, pulling me into his lap as he took a sip from his glass. “It’s not as good as yours,” he teased, lips scarlet from the liquid.

I chose not to respond to his comment, trying to relax against his body. “Y/N,” Chan said before handing me a glass. I studied it cautiously while I gingerly took the glass from him.

“What is it?”

“Just some wine,” Chan shrugged indifferently and I nodded before trying a sip of the beverage. Almost immediately, I winced at the taste and Changbin chuckled at my obvious aversion.

“It was very expensive,” he lightly chastised me and I tried not to notice the smell as I forced more of the wine down my throat.

Meanwhile, Jeongin continued to open more of his gifts, expressing his gratitude towards each of his older members as he tried on various pieces of clothing and jewelry. When he finally got to my present, he shot me a mischievous smirk. “Y/N...”

“Open it,” I encouraged him.

Jeongin needed no further encouragement, ripping through the wrapping paper before discovering the portable gaming system tucked neatly in the box it once came in. “For you to practice,” I said, pleased at his grateful expression. It was an older system that once belonged to my brother, but I didn’t have a need for it, and Jeongin talked relentlessly about how cool it would be to play the older versions of the games he loved.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely.

I was warmed by his genuine reaction, feeling nothing but affection for the boy. “You’re welcome.”

“What a good girl,” Changbin said, tipping my glass back against my lips. “You shouldn’t waste it.”

I narrowed my eyes, wondering why he really cared about how expensive the wine cost. After all, these were the same men who brought new things into the house every day after flashing their shiny credit cards at whichever cashier had the privilege of accomodating their requests. Still, I knew better than to upset Changbin, especially on poor Jeongin’s birthday, so I downed the rest of the nasty drink before placing the glass down on the side table. “Shall we watch a movie?” Jisung asked, eyes glinting rather maniacally as he studied my discarded drink.

“Please!” Jeongin chirped. “Something scary.”

I hated the idea of watching a horror movie, but I couldn’t protest when everyone else was in total agreement for once. Instead, I followed the rest of the boys into the main living room, resisting a sigh when Chan drug me down next to him on the sectional. “Whatever you want, Jeongin,” Jisung said, tossing the younger the remote control.

“Dracula!” Jeongin declared, an amusing pick perhaps if these Vampires were less violent.

But my opinion held no weight and the film began while Felix turned off the lights. Bathed in darkness, I resisted the urge to curl in tighter against Chan as I tried not to think about the film playing on-screen. Everyone else was comfortable, settled in their usual pairs which meant Minho was sitting between Jisung’s legs while Felix and Hyunjin flanked Changbin on either side. Seungmin and Jeongin sat close to me and Chan as they watched the television with wide, eager eyes.

I tried to turn off my mind, focusing on a distant spot beyond the edge of the screen. It worked for a while, keeping my mind occupied away from the movie playing in the background. In fact, I might have managed to survive the rest of the evening had it not been for Chan whose lips were suddenly brushing along the length of my neck.

I immediately flinched away. “What are you doing?” I whispered, unrelenting when his hand wrapped around the back of my head to force me into place.

“I’m hungry,” he smirked against my exposed skin, teeth sharp against my delicate flesh.

“Why now?” I said, looking over at the others because there was no way they couldn’t hear the two of us.

“Just one bite,” Chan said and I rolled my eyes but bared my neck for him, hoping he would be fast about the unexpected ordeal. He was quick to adjust me on his lap, fixing our positions to his liking. Chan’s teeth penetrated my skin gently and I could feel his mouth latch on tightly as he started to drink from me. I tried not to react, glancing away at the other members who were still watching the movie. With the exception of Changbin, who was looking at me with a dangerous smirk that immediately alerted me to the fact that something was terribly wrong.

As the seconds ticked away, I realized that Chan had no intention of stopping and my instincts kicked in as the storm of anxiety registered throughout my slowly weakening body. I jerked away from Chan who must have been caught off-guard, blood spraying into the air around us as the wound had not been properly closed. But my decision proved to be a necessary distraction because Jeongin and Seungmin both immediately reacted to the intense smell, teeth bared as they sought the source of the blood coating the furniture and my clothes. I managed to dodge Jeongin as he lept at me first, colliding into Chan to send them both falling back into the floor.

With my hand pressed against my neck, I started for the front door, aware of Changbin closing in behind me. But the older boy was unprepared for Seungmin’s attack whose instincts probably insisted that someone was trying to steal his fresh supply of blood. Changbin let out a grunt as he wrestled with a feral Seungmin, receiving help from Felix and Hyunjin who were trying to protect their sire. Through the haze clouding my eyes, I could see Jisung holding back Minho whose sharpened incisors were cutting deeply into the thin skin of his lips. “You belong to us!” Jisung snarled.

“We can be together forever,” Chan said, still distracted by a wild Jeongin whose dark eyes were starting to look very unfamiliar. It was only then that I realized I had been tricked. They had been trying to turn me without my permission. The expensive wine Changbin insisted I drink must have been someone’s blood because when a human died with vampire blood in their system...

I forced those thoughts away, deciding it was far more important to focus on escaping, and the feral vampires provided the perfect distraction. I managed to make it out onto the street, finding my car parked at the sidewalk. I started the ignition, blasting cold air through the vents to keep me conscious as I pulled out onto the main road. Blood was still pouring steadily from my wound when I stopped next to the Emergency room entrance, ignoring a nearby policeman who was clearly displeased that I was blocking the road before I finally succumbed to the darkness with a grateful sigh.

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