#i honestly forget she follows me sometimes but she's awesome

[lillefromsiberia]

Leaving The Gaylor Community

When I started to listen to Taylor Swift, I was so excited. Her voice and her lyrics were a comfort to me. I would fall asleep to her music, I would do my chores to it, it was my obsession and for a person who usually just simply enjoys things it was new and exciting to be so bewitched by something.

I soon realised that some of her songs didn't make sense to me, and while I was researching on what could she mean by some of her lyrics I stumbled upon gaylor theory, and everything made sense. So much sense that I was speechless. All I could do was read countless posts and watch presentations over and over again, because the analysis of her lyrics was SO GOOD and it made SO MUCH SENSE.

I began to feel this spiritual bond with Taylor, as a closeted queer person. I felt like I knew her, and she knew me, even though we have never met and will never meet, but we understood each other. I didn't feel alone.

And, honestly, I also was invested in the drama and the secrets of it all. We all love to gossip, very human (and sometimes very useful) thing to do, so I wanted to talk about it with someone, I wanted to be up to date with gaylor lore, I wanted to read what people think, so I joined Tumblr. And I was not dissapointed.

The humor, the analysis, the theories - all of it was amazing.

And then the drama with the NYT article happened.

At first I was FUMING. I was so annoyed that I even deleted some of what I wrote because I posted some not so chill takes. It was intense. I was intense.

I calmed down in a day, of course, but the conversation was still going, and going... and I started to become curious about what people were saying. I mean, I knew what I agreed with, but what kind of points are they making against that article? Are they all slightly to moderate homophobic, or are there actual valid takes that I haven't seen yet? I wanted to know.

So, yesterday I watched a video by a queer person who was angry about the article. I've read some comments under that video.

I don't remember any arguments/points, but I saw how triggered people were, it stuck with me and I honestly felt bad. They were hurt, scared, angry, frustrated, they lashed out - I mean, everything I did. I know how that feels.

I fell asleep thinking about it all. Their perspective, my perspective, and the questionable importance of me holding on to something that at the end of the day doesn't change anything in my life.

And the truth is that I don't feel okay being a part of this community anymore when I saw how much pain it was causing to queer people. I can't ignore the truth of their emotional experience. Maybe it causes the same pain to Taylor. I don't know and will never know, but the thought of it haunts me and I feel bad.

Also, I realised that I lost control a little bit and started to become delusional at some point. I actually forgot that I don't know her. I grew too confident about my opinions and I began to view them as facts.

So, I choose to leave. This was a wonderful experience that I'll never forget, I've never been a part of a fandom like that. It was awesome.

I feel awkward right now. A lot of you followed me because I was active in the gaylor community. I don't know what I am going to do with this account.

But I know that I will not be a part of the swiftie fandom at all, starting now. If there's a chance that she's straight (and there is, because at the end of the day we don't know for sure) her behaviour during Lover era was not okay and I don't feel comfortable supporting her in this way.

Anyway, feel free to unfollow me, and I am sorry. I know that this post will upset some people who I like on here, and I hope they'll understand that it's just a decision that makes me feel comfortable and at peace. I don't want you to think that I am trying to make a point, I am just updating and explaining my decision because it felt weird and rude to just disappear.

I strongly believe that we all should always decide for ourselves and do what feels right. Keep doing what you think is right for you, babes, I fully support you.

Thank you for being so amazing, kind and smart. I wish you all the best, my darlings.

I loved being a part of this little world with you.

[astralis-is-typing]

5 reasons why I love @aakomii

hi hi! it was my twinny's special day a few days ago (well ex-twin bc she decided to age up😔✋) and this is a short appreciation post for the girl who kept me on this app, and can't maintain one theme for more than 3 weeks❤

1) mood maker: talking to ari really energizes me. her spirit is so positive, it's beautiful really. whenever we get time to chat she always leaves me in a better mood than she found me in. i'll never forget the day we were at it for like, 2 hours straight just sending felix memes back and forth💀💀 long story short, I'm so grateful for having her in my life. even if it's from half way across the globe yk😔 there's nothing like a 'bad day' when she's online ♥

2) great storyteller: there are aspects to ari's writing style that i just have to take this opportunity to commend. her stories are really well paced and it's almost impossible to get bored mid-read. ari's also AMAZING at smaus by the way. she manages to keep their cute appeal and at the same time make them intriguing by adding enough drama. in addition, the determination ari has towards her work, even when she's deep in writer's block or lack of motivation, is simply admirable.(can't spell admire without ari tho😻). i know it's all 'just fanfiction', but this trait speaks volumes about the awesome person she surely is even outside of tumblr.

3) AMAZING event host: any time user aakomii has an event, you just know it'll be a success. and she makes them so INTERESTING?? (i still remember the 1k followers one *sobs*) the way she builds on requests is so enticing to read, because she takes these ideas and goes crazy with them in the best way. my girl has a big brain and i'm saur proud of her for it.

4) random rants and life updates: ari's page is full of little adventures that give her blog so much personality :((( it warms my heart so much pls. sometimes i'll just search up her tag ('ari's talking') to catch up on what i missed. i think the current struggle is the insane prices for enha's concert tickets so pls keep her in your thoughts and prayers y'all💀✋

5) in love with choi beomgyu: this girl is chronically and irreversibly obsessed with beomgyu and i love how unapologetic she is about it💀💀 i honestly don't think she'd give a flying fuck if anyone tried to drag her for it bfjukslhkidi she'd probably just be like "and what about it?" and just keep living on w/ life yk😭 it's gotten to a point where i see gyu and immediately think of her lmfao

⚝⚝⚝⚝⚝

happy belated birthday ari★

thought i could make a fun tag game out of this bc she loves those ;) tagging @itz-yerin bc she's my only moot who knows ari too lmao. if you're reading this and you're her moot too pls feel free to join in on the fun and hopefully make her day ♥

#my chemical hype girl #<333

[popculturebuffet]

So looking at how much Hasbro has been trying to revitalize animated reboots since 2010, thoughts on modern Hasbro 2010s reboots MLP Friendship is Magic, Pound Puppies 2010, Transformers Prime, Littlest Pet Shop 2012, Equestria Girls, GI Joe Renegades, Transformers Rescue Bots, Transformers Robots in Disguise, Littlest Pet Shop A World of Our Own, Transformers Cyberverse, Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy, Pony Life, Transformers EarthSpark, MLP Tell Your Tale, and MLP Make Your Mark?

Who boy.. settle in folks this is going to be a while. Friendship is Magic: A show I honestly want to go back and finish once the streaming weirdness is cleared up. (It's currently weirdly bisected with the middle missing), as my discomfort with the more extreme side of the fandom (and a manipulative asshole getting into my head, very long story), I dropped it around late season 2. Granted how they intially brought discord back didn't really sell me on returning but I still at least kept tabs on everyone and honestly.. wanted to return at some point I just never did. I watched most of the discord episodes because he's my boy, but that's about it. Still a good show.

Dan Vs: Technically dosen't count.. but i'm throwing it in as the only other show on the hub and because I loved it and need to rewatch it. Dan VS is an awesome little adult sitcom that was weirdly on this hasbro based family network. It was one of the best shows of it's time and had a simple but hilarious premise of a very angry man trying to get revenge on some inconveince he's faced, sometimes justifably sometimes because he's a sad strange little man. With the dream trinity of curtis armstrong (who really shoudl do more va work besides this and american dad) dave foely and paget brester, it really worked and while i'm sad it only got three seasons the fact it did and you can still watch it today (it's on youtube, tubi and the roku channel for free baby!) I highly recommend it.

Pound Puppies: Since I had the hub around the time all this happened, I did see most of these early reboots. Pound Puppies.. is adorable. Not entirely my speed, but still a lot of fun... and not suprising given it was developed by the guys who created recess. Transformers Prime: Another show I need to watch more of. At the time I thought it was okay, but just didn't get into it, but I hear it only got better and better with age. I also think the animation wasn't for me and I still think it's not entirely, but it's not bad by any stretch. LIttlest Pet Shop: I really loved this one at the time and even now a bunch of animals at an animal daycare getting into slice of life shenanigans just hits the spot. I also had ships because of course I did, i ncluding sunil and that one cat. But it was a lot of fun. Russel was my easy faviorite. And even if I didn't really care for blythe as a charcter I respect that they had her wear a new outfit each episode and put care into the deisgns given she IS a designer. Solid show.

Equestria Girls, Rescue Bots, Rescue Bots Academy, Pony Life: Haven't seen any of it

GI Joe Renegades: ANOTHER ONE I regret not watching more of but in this case I was interested I just could never catch it and never thought to you know, dvr it, even more now i've read the truly awesome larry hama comics. Still really good.

Robots In DIsguise: I only saw an episode of this but I liked the premise, It was just clear if you hadn't seen prime, even as a soft reboot this was going to be hard to follow. Which is a shame as it had he, grimlock as a main character. Granted I didn't REALLY like painting him green but still dinosaur man!

A World of Our Own: Say it with me now "I wish i'd seen more of it", though in this case by this point I didn't have satalite tv anymore, so I watched it while babysitting a few times. It was neat though and I wa sintrested.

Cyberverse; About the same with me also forgetting it was on netflix. New Gen MLP: I've seen the movie, which was decent, and me and a friend PLANNED to watch the series, we just haven't yet. It looks good though.

EarthSpark: I REALLY fucking want to watch this one. It has a stacked voice cast a brilliant premise that FINALLY breaks away from autobot decepticon war for the first time since armada (Though Animated at least had a fresh take on it), by showing what comes after, I haven't seen it but I really want to I just keep forgetting.

(Phew) Okay next time maybe don't pack so many shows into one of these.

#my little pony #friendship is magic #make your mark #dan vs #littlest pet shop #gi joe renegades #pound puppies #transformers earthspark #transformers prime #transformers robots in disguise

[briarthorne]

I actually wanna share an unpopular opinion: Sometimes it's not that character that make people hate it. It's the fans.

I'll example Speedrick (no hate to you liking it, but I found it annoying) the fans depict him as misunderstood. Okay, maybe. Has a bad backstory. Yeah could be.

But to DISMISS what he DID is really annoying, I'm sorry. The fans that go "OMG! WhY aRe YoU hAtInG hIm, He Is A tOtAl AnGeL! sO mIsUnDeRsToOd!" is totally annoying. You all can make your own backstories and etc but if you use those as a reason why he did something and that he is an angel even when he did that, then I believe there is something really wrong with you.

Your art and that other person's (forgot their name) art about Speedrick are amazing btw. But the other girl is making him look innocent and like he didn't just attempted to stop/kill Blaze, and that made me really dislike the character up to this point 💀

Disclaimer: No hate to anyone who likes Crusher, Speedrick, or anyone who likes antagonistic characters in the show. This is just my personal opinion made from my time watching the show and observing the fandom.

Oh. I agree.

Since the show's interpretation of the characters is limited, it is up to the fan content creators to decide what traits a character has.

And, also, I haven't seen anyone say that Speedrick is an angel because of his backstories before. The person I followed has not stated a solid backstory for him nor do my other friends. And I agree, that his backstory doesn't excuse his actions, but it seems that a lot of people tend to forget this very fact. It gets annoying at times, but I bear with it. Most of the time.

Crusher is also an example of this. His actions in the show threaten Blaze's, AJ's, and others' safety multiple times because of his greed. And I like how he's getting better.

Another example is Lazard. He stole the powers of other animals because of his insecurities, but he was forgiven without any punishment, which, to me, was so infuriating. Another example is Treat Thief. She was gluttonous and stole so much from Axle City in such a short time, yet she was forgiven after she says sorry and even became Officer Anna's friend.

I love the villains, truly. Because without the villains, there would be no hero. But just because they are redeemed doesn't mean they do not have consequences.

If this show is for kids, then it sucks in terms of teaching kids the basic principle of karma. Because they could follow the villain's path, and once they think they changed, there wouldn't be any consequences for them. Just because they're sorry doesn't mean that they are immediately good. Villains with redemption still need to face some sort of consequence for their past actions, even though they regret it now. It would be awesome if the show taught kids that.

And the trope, "they're a sympathetic villain because of this and that" is greatly misused. They can't even do the trope RIGHT because there are formulas on how to make an effective sympathetic villain with a tragic backstory. Just look at Gabrielle Agrest/ Hawkmoth from Miraculous Ladybug. The show tries so hard to paint him in a sympathetic light and has the fans not blame him for everything, but from his actions in and out of the mask, he's just majorly abusive. I bet that Emily will file a divorce once she knows how badly Gabrielle treated her son, the creation she DIED for. Like, honestly. Fuck MLB.

Back to the main point. I agree. Just because you have a tragic backstory doesn't mean you deserve to be forgiven or be given a redemption arc and it certainly does not excuse your actions.

#briar answers

[thesearch-continues]

004: Turks, Toronto & Texas

It's been a while! I hope you ain’t forget the kid! Life has been life-ing but we still here and the search continues.

So after graduation I started off my travels with a long overdue family vacation. This was MOST of the fam so just imagine 30 Jamaican's trying to navigate a cruise. It was with Carnival, which wasn't the best but I was there for the drinks and laughs! My first cruise ever was with Royal Caribbean and my standards were up. The ship went from Ft Lauderdale to carnivals private island in Bahamas, Puerto Plata in Dominican Republic, and Grand Turk in Turks and Caicos.I enjoyed the time, but I honestly wished I did something like this with my friends I feel like family cruising has it's limits. But overall I had a great time and got to see a few things. 

More importantly I had PEOPLE TO SEE AND THINGS TO DO ON LAND!!! On my search I got an opportunity to work with an American heritage brand. they were looking for someone to shoot a visual campaign for a classic cent that was made specifically for a hotel in NYC that winter. So I went to work. I connected with my friend Vinny Seda, he was the perfect look for what the ad called for. the city was pretty cold and gloomy, so we tried to wrap filming on Lexington Ave early. Right before this shot Vinny says to me "bro you know it's supposed to snow tonight right? and it did. I hit roll and we film this walk on Lexington, and the snow falls on que! Still one of my favorite moments filming. Vinny and I have made some great stuff since. Give him a look that's my guy! So we finished the campaign the company loved it and I was off to my next adventure!

I arrive to Austin, Texas. The music festival season in the spring is always a great time. I'd visited Texas before, so as soon as I landed I grabbed me some Whataburger and connected with my guys Henny Retro and Prince-to get the adventure started. Austin during SXSW is always a place to see some of your future favorites and genuinely have run ins with some of your favorite people. From after parties to- smaller intimate shows. You never know what or where you'll end up. Now I was only there for three days before my next trip, so I had to make use of time. After sitting down with the guys and planning out a content capture schedule I sat down to think up some cool locations to film at. Years back A friend of mine and I had our car break down on the road when we went out for lunch and while we awaited the roadside, She brought me to a nearby Creek that was so beautiful, I promised I'd return. So I did! So now years later Here I am Trying to find my way back to this spot, honestly retracing my steps and I do find it. This time I save it in my index and we film a music video called "Hate or Shine" for Retroi$awesome. It looked like something out of Nat Geo haha! Following that we shot a nice Music Video for Henny Blanco. A memorable time with my brothas man I'm so glad that my last time in Texas was that much fun. But let's continue!

Before Heading home to Jersey I decided that I needed to Visit the six, a friend of mine was staying there and she invited me to come se the city! So hey why not? 

I arrive In Ontario sometime the next day and I'm excited, I haven't been in Canada for over 4 years and would love to see what they got going on. After getting in and settled I met with a old friend and I hit the town, we visit the Ripley's believe it or not aquarium, the Rec room in downtown Toronto. It was a lot of fun, tthe first time really exploring downtown Toronto with someone from home felt refreshing. I was only there for 2 days so She surprised me with a dinner at the CN tower. The restaurant is still one of the coolest experiences ever. You take a huge elevator to the top and then when you walk in you see the counterclockwise rotation of the restaurant. I was so lost when I first walked in. I had to look at the floor. To recalibrate ahaha! We had so much fun and it was a blast but it was now time for me to take that trip back to Newark international for a nice tall glass of EWR blues.

To finish up my mini north American tour I reconnect with Retro and some of the MENTIS homies to visit the Brooklyn museum. One of my favorite Music artists Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) was debuting a new album that could only be heard in an art exhibit, Once played all the way through. No phones where allowed just you other fans and art lovers. Heck there was even a newborn baby was there! Everyone listening to the album and viewing the artwork. As Bey touched on life, death, and time. in the center of the exhibit was a huge moral tribute to the late Nipsey Hustle. Where he was immortalized in paint and beautiful tapestry. One thing I loved about the entire experience was that when you leave you feel apart of something larger than yourself and if you want to re-listen to the album you must look inward and recall the memory of sound. A real spiritual journey accessed by memory. "Negus" 5/5 stars.

#thesearchcontinues #northamericantravel #filmlocations #musicvideobts #vibevlog #TSC #searchcontinues #demoie #demoiem #JourneyChronicles #LifeAfterGraduation #AdventureAwaits #TravelDiaries #CruiseLife #CityLights #SnowfallMagic #SXSWAdventures #TorontoNights #BrooklynVibes

[thatonespriteobsessedbitch]

1989 Taylor's Version Thoughts!!!

longggggg post lmao

Welcome To New York (Taylor's Version):

The intro sounds so clean

tho the synths sound really different

the vocals omg

is it just me or does her voice seem really far back???

it's kinda hard to hear her tbh

the bridge <3

damn, I always forget how short this song is

altogether sounds a little off???

Blank Space TV:

she sounds so different and it's so awesome

the way she says "I can make the bad guys good for a weekend"??????? flawless

the chorus feels less loud? if that makes sense

the anger in her voice in the second verse is *chef's kiss*

love that she kept the "oooh" in the second chorus, idk why I was worried she wouldn't

the bridge is still as awesome as always ofc

Style TV:

I don't think I'm ready for this lol

I think the reason they all sounds so different to me is that this is the stolen version I'm most familiar with

this album was my childhood and got me through a lot of really hard things

the "mmm yeah" after "taking off his coat", dear lord

dude I think this beats the rep tour version for me

which is like crazy high praise

Out of The Woods TV:

The distant piano (?) in the beginning is so fucking good

the amount of times I screamed this song at like 8 lmaooooo

I genuinely don't have words this is so good omg

All You Had To Do Was Stay TV:

my first track 5 🥹

I haven't listened to this one really in a while and I've since had a really rough friendship breakup with my bsf

it's hitting a lot harder rn

no but fr it's outing my abandonment issues rn

(I was like sobbing and aggressively lip-syncing while listening to this song lol)

Shake It Off TV:

my first Taylor song!

ngl I literally dansed for 3:39 minutes straight lmaooo

I Wish You Would TV:

it sounds so different but so similar at the same tine

tbh sometimes I forget how good some of these songs are

the "I wish I wish I"s are still as fun as they used to be

Bad Blood TV:

omg it's 3rd grade Sprite's jam!

the bass and drums hit so much harder holy shit

this goes so fucking hard

the echo on "ghosts"???? hello???

Wildest Dreams TV:

I've had this on repeat for 2 years

I just vibed for 4 minutes lmaoooo

How You Get The Girl TV:

honestly such a bop even nearly a decade later

how was she holding out on us with this chorus for so long???? it hits so much harder now

with the synths in the chorus, I'm surprised jack didn't produce this lol

This Love TV:

such a vibe

god I love this song

I kinda want this kind of love

I Know Places TV:

This is the one I'm most excited and most worried for

it's probably my favorite 1989 song

maybe even my favorite Taylor song

the way she says "and we run" has soothed my fears lmao

<- 2nd pre gave me chills holy fuck

Clean TV:

yk I'm actually starting to feel "clean" from my SA and this song is probably gonna make me cry because of it lol

to think that I was listening to the stolen version in the months following it and now I'm here about to celebrate 9yrs since I was last assaulted????

listening to some of these songs are crazy to me

Wonderland TV:

this and I Know Places are tied for my favourite 1989 song so I'm ridiculously excited lol

the prechorus has somehow managed to go harder

one of my favourite parts of the stolen version was always how pissed she sounds during the "oooh"s in the prechorus and I'm so glad she kept that in

I'm nearly to the vault songs and it still doesn't feel real that 1989TV is out

You Are In Love TV:

this is in my top 5 on 1989

I love this song so much

nevermind I want this kind of love

which is weird because I genuinely can't imagine myself having this kind of love but whatever lol

New Romantics TV:

last rerecording before the vault songs!

CAUSE BABY I COULD BUILD A CASTLE OUT OF ALL THE BRICK THEY THREW AT ME

"Slut!" (Taylor's Version) (From The Vault):

I claimed this vault song so I'm like so fucking excited right now

omg it sounds so fun

the tempo of the lyrics feels weird ngl

the chorus is fun but the verses are (hopefully) gonna grow on me

(it's my least favorite vault song, message in a bottle has officially been pushed out of its place 😭)

Say Don't Go TV FTV:

this is a fucking guy punch holy shit

my phone was dying during this one so I was trying to fix it for the most of it

musically, this was more what I was expecting from slut

Now That We Don't Talk TV FTV:

this fucking hurt so ow

it's cruel his shirt this song is

Suburban Legends TV FTV:

it's giving mastermind

no thoughts just wow

Is It Over Now TV FTV:

wtf it that intro?!?!

"only rumours bout my hips and thighs/and my whispered sighs" I fucking love how this is said

I love her your honour

#1989 tv #1989 (taylor's version) #sorry its late i procrastinated lmao #sprites taylor's version thoughts #taylor swift

[chipper-smol]

sisters are great

continuation of this post

#hollowknight #hollow knight #hornet #ghost #irl sister called me and gave me a motivational boost #after seeing that last post #i honestly forget she follows me sometimes but she's awesome

[animeomegas]

Omega!Naruto - Family Night

Now I’m so curious as to what a typical family night would entail with the boys! When the kids are pretty young and they finally have some time off and their alpha also has some time off to spend together? 👉🏻👈🏻with house husband itachi because that is the only way><

I assume you want the Naruto boys, I’m going to post them one at a time, so I can keep active this week. Up first is Naruto!

Warnings: Mpreg (implied)

Naruto:

As Hokage, it was rare for Naruto to get a full day off without some emergency calling him back to work, but today he had left Shikamaru in charge, (against his will), so that he could come home to spend the evening with you and his children.

And what better way to spend time together than with a board game!

Naruto picked up a simple board game (suitable for younger children) on his way home, knowing that you had sorted out the snacks last night.

“I’m home!” Naruto calls out, shuffling through the front door with the new game and a couple of stacks of paperwork in hand.

“Daddy!” He heard his eldest son shout, followed by the sound of little footsteps sprinting towards the door.

Naruto put the bags on the floor in preparation, crouching down and holding out his arms as his son flew around the corner with a huge grin on his face.

“Oof,” Naruto had the wind knocked out of him as his son barrelled straight into his chest. He stood up, holding his son tightly in his arms.

“You’re getting so big now!” Naruto exclaimed, over dramatically wheezing as his son giggled. “Can’t believe you’re already nine, soon I won’t be able to pick you up anymore!”

His son gasped and tightened his arms around Naruto’s neck.

“No, I always want daddy to pick me up.”

“Hmm,” Naruto hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose daddy’s just going to have to train more so he can keep doing it then, huh?”

His son nodded furiously. “Yes, daddy, I think that’s a good idea.” He then nuzzled his face into Naruto’s shoulder, taking a deep breath of his father’s scent and purring gently. Naruto purred back, pressing a kiss onto his son’s head.

At that moment, you rounded the corner, a one-year-old twin in each arm, smiling tiredly at him.

“Looks like someone is trying to get out of doing their homework again,” you teased your son. “You know we aren’t playing the board game until all homework is done.”

Your son huffed but wiggled his way out of Naruto’s embrace and made his way back to the kitchen table to join his sister to finish his homework.

You and Naruto both laughed gently at his antics, before moving to embrace each other, careful not to crush the twins.

“Missed you,” you murmured.

“Missed you, too,” he responded.

You stayed like that for a few seconds, just enjoying each other’s warmth, before one of the twins reached up and yanked Naruto’s hair.

Naruto swore lightly under his breath, before trying to remove the tiny hand clenched in his hair. Both twins were giggling at his struggle. You suppressed your own laughter.

“I told you these two are going to be trouble,” you laughed.

“Yeah,” Naruto grumbled, rubbing the sore spot on his head, “I can see what you mean.”

“Daddy!” came a voice from the kitchen, “Can you come here, please?”

“Oh,” you remembered. “She wants you to proofread her homework before she gives it in on Monday.”

Naruto nodded. “I can do that. Coming!”

Naruto headed into the kitchen, where his oldest children were working on homework. It looked like his son was working on maths homework from his civilian school, while his daughter was writing about the history of the Shinobi nations for the Academy.

“Can you read this please?” his daughter asked, shoving a piece of paper in his face.

Naruto slipped into the chair beside her and picked up the document to read. He felt his eyebrows raise up the more he read. It always astounded him how good his daughter was at history.

“How is it?” she asked, fidgeting with her fingers a little.

“Honestly?” he started, “Better than most of the mission reports I have to read. Good job!” He praised her, ruffling her hair.

She grinned at him, carefully rolling the paper up and slipping it into her school bag.

“How was your day at school today?”

“Great!” His daughter exclaimed. “Uncle Sasuke’s daughter beat up this boy in the playground for pulling her hair! It was awesome!”

Naruto snorted, not surprised in the slightest.

“Sounds like fun,” he laughed. “Why don’t you go and help set up for game night while I finish up the homework with your brother?”

Once all the homework was complete, everyone settled down on the living room floor, surrounded by plenty of snacks.

The twins had been put to bed, and now you, Naruto and your two oldest children were ready to play the game.

Your son had dragged half of his nest with him, laying blankets and pillows down next to Naruto before climbing onto his father’s lap and refusing to sit anywhere else.

 Seeing as they were sitting together, you decided to play in teams; Naruto and your son vs you and you daughter.

The game was fiercely competitive. Well, your son was a lot more focused on getting cuddles from Naruto, but everyone else was very invested!

In the end, you and you daughter won! Her excellent strategic skills coming in handy!

It was late by the time the game had finished, and everyone, stuffed with junk food, was starting to get sleepy.

You left to check in the twins in the nursery while Naruto tucked your other children into bed.

His daughter always wanted to talk more about her day before bed, so Naruto sat on her bed, gently stroking her hair while she talked about her day.

“-and then I said he was being stupid, and I got sent out into the hall! Which wasn’t fair because he was being an idiot.”

Naruto nodded, still listening with full attention. He always enjoyed the faces of his shinobi when they realised he knew every bit of academy gossip. Those with children in the academy could guarantee that Naruto knew more about what they did there, than they did.

“-and then you came home, so you know the rest.”

“Sounds like an eventful day,” Naruto laughed gently. “I’m very proud of you for working so hard on your homework today. Maybe try not to get kicked out of class again though.”

“Iruka sensei said that you didn’t even come to class most the time.”

Naruto choked on nothing, flushing pink. “Well… Iruka sensei is exaggerating a bit, but school is very important okay?”

“Okay, daddy,” she whispered, eyes already closing.

“Good girl, sweet dreams.”

Naruto left the room quietly, leaving her door open a crack, before heading to his son’s room. His son was already ready for bed, sitting patiently, waiting for him to come and tuck him in.

“Hey, buddy,” Naruto whispered, stepping fully into the room. “Ready for bed?”

“Yep, but,” he hesitated. “I don’t want to go to bed yet.”

Naruto frowned slightly, moving to sit on his bed with him.

“Why not? You not tired yet?”

His son shook his head, playing with one of the many blankets on his bed.

“Then why?” Naruto asked gently, stroking his son’s head.

His son didn’t answer but climbed onto Naruto’s lap.

“Will you be here when I wake up?” he asked, voice muffled into Naruto’s shoulder.

Naruto sighed sadly. “I have to go to work, my sweet boy, I’m sorry.”

His son started to cry and sniffle into Naruto’s shoulder. Naruto’s heart broke more and more with every sob/

“Shh, shh,” he hushed him, rocking him slightly and purring to try and calm him down. “Please don’t cry…”

“Don’t want you to go!” His son wailed, gripping tightly onto Naruto’s shirt.

“Shh, shh, calm down, I’m right here,” Naruto tried desperately to soothe his son. “You don’t have school tomorrow, right?”

His son nodded.

“How about you come and spend lunch with me, yes? You could go and grab some ramen and bring it to my office and we can have lunch?” Naruto offered, desperately hoping it was enough to calm him down.

His son considered the offer for a moment, before slowly nodding once again.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief.

“There we go,” Naruto settled his son back into bed. “I’ll see you tomorrow at lunch, okay, don’t forget!”

“I’ll never forget, daddy!”

Naruto smiled proudly at him. “I know you wouldn’t.”

Naruto leaned down for one last cuddle, scenting a cuddly toy for his son, before leaving his room with a soft ‘Goodnight’.

You were standing right outside the door, obviously having heard the previous conversation. You gestured for him to follow you back into the living room. Naruto slumped onto the sofa, head in his hands.

“It’s not your fault, Naruto,” you whispered to him, sitting beside him and taking him into your arms.

Naruto laughed bitterly. “It feels like it is. He shouldn’t have to miss his own father that much; I should be here.”

“You are here,” you disagreed, rubbing circles on his back. “You’re doing as much as you can, and as long as you keep joining us for family nights and having lunch together, no one can accuse you of not loving your family enough.”

Naruto let out a breath, sagging like a puppet with cut strings. “Sorry, it’s just hard sometimes. I can’t stand it when he cries for me, it makes me feel awful.”

“I know, baby, I know.”

“I don’t want him to grow up without me, he’s already so big, I feel like I’ve missed so much.”

“You haven’t, baby, I promise. They all look up to you and love you so much.”

“Yeah…” Naruto leaned back fully into your embrace, feeling a little better. “I guess…”

“Come on, I think we should both get some sleep before the twins decide it’s play time again.”

Naruto whined in disagreement. “Let’s cuddle here for a bit longer.”

You laughed at his dramatics, but agreed, pulling him firmly into your arms, and settling onto the sofa. Naruto pulled a blanket from the arm and laid it over you both.

“This is nice,” he purred, pressing a few kisses to your neck.

“Yeah, it is,” you tightened your grip around him slightly. “Relax as best as you can, baby, you deserve it.”

#naruto #naruto uzumaki #omega!naruto #alpha!reader #mpreg #abo #omegaverse #headcanons #imagines #family life #hokage!naruto #omega!Naruto Uzumaki #gn!reader #gn!alpha #reader insert #x reader

[bvidzsoo]

Late night Drifts

 Author: bvidzsoo

 Warning: physical abuse (nothing descriptive); swearing

 Pairing: Hansol Vernon Chwe x female reader

 Word count: 18, 157

 Summary:  Being top of your class was everything your parents have ever wanted. You were the perfect daughter, however, it was only them who were happy. Your life was stressful and filled with sleepless nights studying, just to please your parents. Until one day you discovered racing, and realized, it was the only way you could unwind all the accumulated stress. And it just so happened that one day you overheard your classmate, Vernon, talking about an illegal race taking place that night. You knew it was your cue, so with rolled up cash left on his desk, you made it clear you were challenging him. He wins = he gets a date / You win = he teaches you how to drift.

 A/N: Hello, hello lovelies! And off we go with the first part of this series! I tried out something different this time, I hope it’s not weird and it’s still good, I’m a little nervous about it tbh. All the sentences in italic are the reader’s direct thoughts! I’ve never written in second person before so uhm...I hope it’s still fine. I hope you’ll like it and please let me know your thoughts. If there are people interested, I could even start a Taglist, I guess! Enjoy now!

Series M.List ~ Next Part

           When younger, you’d quietly complain to yourself about having to wake up early in the morning, around 6 am, just to have breakfast with your parents; but as the years passed it just became a routine. You weren’t bothered by it anymore, sometimes, you’d even wake up earlier than you were supposed to. Like today, at 5:30 am, your eyes were wide open as you stared up at the platinum white ceiling of your huge bedroom. You knew it was the anxiety making you feel like this, the fear of having to face your father and mother today seemed to be more intense than usually, after all, you were getting your grading sheet at school. You hated days like today, you hated getting your grades. It was horror to sit through school, anxious, only to return home to get yelled at by your father, because once again, you failed to score higher at English than Vernon. Vernon Hansol Chwe. He was your nightmare at school. It wasn’t what he did directly to you, because there were almost little to no incidents, it’s what he indirectly made you go through. You hated him, but didn’t at the same time. It wasn’t his fault, and you were aware of that, but you couldn’t help the glare or sudden anger that engulfed you whenever you looked at him. If he only wasn’t as good at English as he was, all the torment from your parents would’ve been non-existent.

You were the perfect daughter, the one every parent wished to have and every parent praised whenever they met up with your parents and you. You were perfect, in their eyes, yes. You always listened to what your parents said, you didn’t talk back or disobeyed them, and most importantly, you always pleased them and got high grades. It would’ve been a shame if you didn’t, your father was a scientist and your mother a doctor. They wanted you to become either this or that, but you, you didn’t know. You had no idea what you actually liked doing, you never really had hobbies or free time to try out different things like any other normal kid did while growing up. That is, until, you stumbled upon some abandoned race tracks and saw a woman in her car going at a high speed, drifting around the curbs, and sporting the happiest and most careless expression you’ve ever seen on someone’s face. It struck you, you never felt like that before. You wanted to feel like that so badly. You just ran away from home, with the excuse that you joined a new study group to help you out with Chemistry, but the truth was that you just needed air and time away from your overwhelming parents. You weren’t even supposed to be in this part of the city, people could smell from miles away that you were rich and just by stealing your purse, they’d make millions. But you didn’t care, because in this part of the city, it seemed like people only stared at your for what you looked like, without too judgmental looks on their faces. It was weird, but refreshing. After the woman stopped, got out of the car and ruffled her long hair, you gathered all your courage and walked up to her, and asked her to take you on a round with herself. She was reluctant, but once she saw the desperate look in your eyes, she obliged and you were inside her car, screaming your lungs out at all the sharp and harsh turns she took. It was scary, but freaking awesome. You felt high on adrenaline and when she stopped the car, her name being Lexa, you begged her to teach to drive like that. Your driving instructor never taught you about speed, but this woman seemed to know it all. Lexa was reluctant, but she complied once again, when she saw the desperate look in your eyes. And that is how you became obsessed with racing, cars, and chasing that adrenaline that made you feel free and careless. It was the only hobby you had, the only thing your parents couldn’t control in your life, simply, because they didn’t know about it. And you preferred to keep it that way, knowing well the repercussions if they ever found out. But for you to be able to attend the events and races, you needed a good car. So, when you finished last year as first in your whole high school, your father granted your wish and bought you a Vaydor G37. The car was expensive, but freaking awesome. You knew you’d be better than half of the amateur racers, even though, you were one too. But for now, that didn’t matter, as you played with your fingers in your lap, waiting for the maid to place your breakfast in front of you. You could feel your father’s sharp gaze on you, but you ignored it as you glared at the table. Your mother hadn’t joined the table yet, that’s why you weren’t eating yet.

“John told me he had to change the tires to the Vaydor,” You looked up to meet your father’s gaze, knowing he hated it when you didn’t, “It’s the third time this month. Explain.”

You gulped, but kept your expression neutral, he can’t find out, “I didn’t pay attention when I got them changed and instead of the summer tires, they put on the winter ones. That was the first time. Second time, I got a puncture while I rode back home from school, a screw was left on the road from the new construction site and I didn’t know. And uhm…I’m not sure what was wrong the third time, but the vibrations coming from the tires felt wrong, I thought…it would be best to get them changed.” But the truth was that you raced too hard and burned out your tires, all adherence gone, which made it impossible for you to ride around the streets with them.

Your father didn’t say anything as he looked at you with a hard expression, tying to decipher if you were lying or saying the truth, “Safety comes first, Y/N, don’t forget that.”

“Yes, father.” You muttered and looked up at your mother as she walked in with a wide smile. Your father looked at her and his eyes instantly turned soft and he waited until she sat next to him, to press a kiss to her cheek. He was only ever like that to her, kind and lovely, never to you. You honestly thought your father hated you because you weren’t born to be a boy, like he so desperately wanted. Yet, he never tried to have another child with your mother, you figured he had enough of you and just didn’t want to bother with raising another kid. Your mother looked at you just as the maids finally walked in with your breakfast, placing the plates in front of you. Your stomach rumbled quietly and it made your mom chuckle as your father took the first bite, and then you both followed suit. It was the same old breakfast: toast with boiled eggs, a few slices of tomato and butter. Sometimes you’d get hot cocoa, if your father was in a good mood, but most of the time you were served with orange or apple juice. Today, water with lemon was served and as much as you were craving the taste of oranges, a little switch from your usually boring routine was nice, even if so small and almost insignificant.

“When will you know your grades?” Your father asked again, voice hard and you bit your lower lip as you lowered your knife and fork.

“Today, actually.” You answered, trying to hide the tremor in your voice, but it was pretty obvious.

“Great, I will make sure to come home early then.” He said and the grip on your knife tightened as you tried to hide the anger and fear mixing together in your stomach, hating the words your father said. But it made your mother squeal as she smiled at him brightly.

“That’s amazing news, honey! Let’s go have dinner, shall we?” She was the only excited one, your father actually started glaring at you, and you realized it was because you were glaring at him. Sometimes, your control over your body slipped and you did things subconsciously.

“Yes,” Your father spoke, turning his head away from you to look at his wife, “Let’s go have dinner, Y/N should—”

“I have a study group at 18:00 today, I won’t be able to join you, I’m sorry.” You interrupted your father, not caring right now that he hated being interrupted by you, as you let your parents know in a hurry that you weren’t available today. And actually, you weren’t even lying. You really did have to study for English, you hated to say it, but you were feeling uneasy after your last exam and thought you could work on it. A new guy from America showed up two weeks ago, DK, and when you heard he offered to help out those in need, you knew you needed to sign up. Vernon was from America too, that’s why you never could beat him, he was better as he was fluent. Your mother was American too, but she never bothered to teach you much English, either too busy with work or with your father. She wasn’t a bad mom, just neglectful sometimes.

“You study so hard, my dear.” Your mother’s arm extended over the mahogany table and you extended your own arm, letting her grip it, “How about this…if you get a good grade for your English exam, we go on a small vacation this weekend?”

That actually sounded wonderful, you couldn’t help but smile, warmness filling your insides. You missed spending time with your mom, but of course, your father had to ruin it all.

“We shouldn’t…I can’t this weekend.” Of course, he couldn’t. The only important things for him were work, antagonizing you, and taking your mother on expensive dates.

“Honey,” Your mother let go of your arm to cup her husband’s cheek, “It’s not a crime if the two of us spend a little time together, it’s been long since we had a mother-daughter get-away, right, Y/N?”

You quietly nodded your head, hopeful that your father would let it slide this time, but of course, he wouldn’t, “If Y/N scores a 10/10, you can go.”

You gulped, hating how trusting your mother’s gaze was, how happy she looked, “Of course, honey, she’ll definitely get the highest score. She’s our daughter after all…”

Yes, unfortunately, I’m your daughter.

           After breakfast you quickly got dressed for school, your uniform still warm from getting ironed a few minutes before you had to put it on. You hated wearing skirts to school, but you had no other choice as it was in the dress code. You fixed your hair and painted your lips a soft pink, smiling to yourself in the mirror. Not because you were happy, but because you didn’t want everyone to see how miserable you were. You didn’t have any friends; besides Yoona, you didn’t want any more rumors than the ones already circulating around you. They said all kinds of things about you, but neither was true. They weren’t necessarily bad, besides the one calling you a freak and saying you broke someone’s hand in your freshman year; you didn’t. But people weren’t very fond of you nonetheless and you didn’t want to add onto the list of why you should be more disliked than you already were. You knew the smile looked far from genuine, but it was better than nothing, it lessened the harsh expression of your face. It probably got like that due to your father’s constant pressure hanging over your shoulders.

The car ride was silent, John stirring up casual conversation with your father from time to time, as he drove you to school before driving your father to work. Your car was still in the car-service, actually, Jihoon got a new engine that you were more than happy to test out for him. He was the one who approached you, surprisingly, after your first won race. He said he liked your car and could smell the money from miles away; he offered to help out with your car if you raced on his behalf from time to time. You seriously didn’t need the money, but it sounded like fun and it was weird how impressed everyone was by Jihoon talking to you, so you accepted out of curiosity. It took you a month to realize he was part of the Lee family, being the eldest son actually, and that they owned the streets at night when racing. He truly was the best, both at racing and fixing cars. Sometimes you’d even drop off cash anonymously at his house, when you wouldn’t need it anymore, and you had a feeling he knew but stayed silent about it. Both of you knew that he needed the extra cash from time to time.

Your attention was brought to John when he stopped the car, unlocking the doors. You were parked at the front gates of your high school, you sighed as you grabbed the doorhandle of the car. Partially you were happy to be here just because you would be away from your father and mother.

“Y/N,” Your heart jumped to your stomach when your father called out your name, deep voice booming in the car, “If you don’t score 10/10, I will have to believe you are incompetent and unable to perform well in a private high school. If you don’t raise your score by the end of the semester, your name will be cut from the family tree and I will throw you out without a second thought.”

A cynical smirk appeared on your lips as you opened the door and turned to look at your father, “You can’t throw out a minor, father, unless you want me to go to the police and press magazines. I’m sure they are buzzing to know more about the mysteriously wealthy and handsome Mr. Seo, don’t you think?”

His jaw clenched and John gulped loudly, shaking his head as subtly as he could at you, as you hurriedly got out of the car. You never talked back to your father, you had no idea what came over you, but you felt so fed up with his threats. If only he knew cutting ties with him sounded like heaven to you. You didn’t care if you ended up on the streets as long as it was away from him, you were never hungry for money or greedy for it. You didn’t care about it, you just wanted love from the two figures who were supposed to raise you. Instead, one hated you and the other one was barely ever home.

“Have a good day at work, both of you.” You bowed deeply before closing the door of the vehicle, staring at the tinted window of the backseat. You waited until John drove away and you couldn’t see the car anymore. A strong gush of cold wind suddenly blew through the area and it made you realize that you were glaring at nothing, once again. You hated how little consideration he took of your feelings and how little he made you feel. Your father truly was the devil.

            Yoona’s schedule was rather packed on Monday’s and Wednesday’s, so you couldn’t meet up with her during classes. Which maybe was a good idea, poor girl, you hoped she didn’t think you only used her to have someone to complain to, but you seriously had no one else to talk to. You loved Yoona and how open she was and ignorant to the rumors about you, she was always quick to shut others up. She was only a year older, yet she felt like a mother to you sometimes.

The day passed by incredulously fast and you made sure to take notes in each class, until it was homeroom class time. Your legs were bouncing up and down nervously and loudly as you tried not to bite your nails, a bad habit you were trying to get rid of. Usually, you weren’t this nervous, but your father reminding you of his threat this morning and your reckless answer made you realize if you indeed didn’t score 10/10 at English, you were truly fucked, and you hated the sudden ache of your stomach. It seemed like you were the only one so stressed out as your classmates kept shouting around you, joking and chatting, making your ears ring. All you could do was stare at the door anxiously, waiting for your homeroom teacher to enter this damned classroom already. But the bell didn’t even ring yet, it’s still break time, you sighed and bit your lower lip, trying to calm your nerves. You didn’t mean to, but your eyes fell on a boy and your eyebrows instantly furrowed. His right arm was resting on his desk, his right cheek on it as he slept. He looked so peaceful and carefree that it angered you more. How could he just sit there, sleep there, when you were about to get your grades? You knew he didn’t give a shit about his grades, yet he was always top of your class, breathing down your neck all the time. When you started high school, you never thought you’d meet someone almost as smart as you, and that you’ll be challenged. But Vernon…he just wrecked your life and made it a bigger hell than it already was, and tears almost came to your eyes as you couldn’t look away from his peaceful form. You were jealous and angry, wishing that could be you right now. As your eyes lingered on him, you realized, his cheekbones were high and sharp, almost hollow looking like. You hardly ever paid attention to guys, you didn’t have the time nor energy to put into them, but sometimes you caught yourself dozing off and staring at the back of Vernon’s head. He wasn’t special, far from it, he looked quite normal yet his beauty felt a little foreign, compelling. That was another reason to hate him for, and you never thought more of it, content with the current thoughts of him. You didn’t like him, but you didn’t deny that he was somewhat attractive either. Yet, your heart still started thumping quickly when Vernon’s eyes opened abruptly and made eye contact with you almost instantly, as if he knew you were staring. You averted your eyes and straightened your stance, refusing to look back at the boy, even if he continued staring at you. You never really spoke to him, you didn’t have a reason to, only greeted him in the mornings if you arrived after him…but you did greet everyone, after all. Your legs started bouncing again as Vernon wouldn’t look away and it made the hairs on your arms raise, your anxiety doubling. Why is he staring now? Does he think I like him or something? Maybe he knows I don’t like him? But your attention was brought back to the door as it opened just as the bell rang, and your homeroom teacher in walked. The voices in the classroom started dying down and even Vernon looked away from you, siting up straight in his chair. You were glad, you didn’t think you’d be able to ignore him for longer if your teacher wouldn’t have walked in. You donned out every voice that was still speaking, you even ignored your teacher’s usual speech about how grades weren’t important and that they didn’t actually reflect your knowledge about life…if only he knew what he was speaking. So, you just sat there silently, anxiously waiting for your sheet.

Which turned out to be more and more difficult as you were amongst one of the last ones, for once, making you hate the fact that your family name was ‘Seo’. You have successfully eaten three nails by the time your teacher called out your name and you raised from your chair, legs feeling a bit like jelly, as you rigidly walked up to his desk to take the sheet from him. Your hands shook and you hoped no one noticed, but when you turned to walk back to your seat, you were surprised to see Vernon squinting his eyes at you as he was watching you, once again. Did I draw too much attention onto myself by looking at him? This wasn’t the first time though, why is he suddenly so attentive of me? You ignored his burning gaze as you finally started walking back to your seat, gripping the sheet tightly in your hands. You were curios but also afraid to look. Vernon got his sheet a while ago and you tried to read his expression, but he only shrugged and placed the sheet between his notebooks, seemingly unimpressed. You were hopeful it was because he scored lower this time, but you couldn’t be very sure, he reacted the same way each time.

Finally sitting in your own chair, you took in a deep breath and opened the sheet, staring at the names of the subjects and then the grade next to it.

“Don’t forget kids, I tell you this each time, but I feel like saying this again. Grades don’t define us and you can be whoever you want to be in life, or do whatever you want to do, despite the grades on that paper—”

Your whole body ran cold as your hands started shaking hard, chest constricting as if your lungs stopped getting enough air to be able to function. Your eyes ran over and over again the same row, your brain refusing to acknowledge the information. English: 9,55. You hated what you were seeing, you hated what your teacher was saying, you hated how carefree and light everyone around you seemed to be, you hated Vernon’s gaze burning into the side of your head. You suddenly couldn’t bear sitting in that classroom anymore, it seemed rowdy and hot, your head started pounding painfully as you jumped up from your chair, knocking two notebooks and your sheet off the table. All the eyes on you made your chest tighten further and your eyes snapped towards your teacher when you heard him calling out to you.

“Miss Seo, is everything alright?” You really wanted to answer him, but when you opened your mouth to say something, nothing came out. Embarrassed and unable to take the looks you were getting by your classmates, Vernon’s confused gaze, you stepped around your chair and took off, uncaring of the repercussions. Your teacher called out your name once again, sounding more worried this time, and you glared at Vernon when he still didn’t look away, knocking onto his table on purpose, which made his pencil case and notebook fall to the floor. And with that, you were out of the classroom and running towards the girls restroom, hearing footsteps following you hurriedly. You knew your teacher sent someone after you to make sure that you wouldn’t do anything reckless, and it made you want to cry that your own teacher was more worried about your wellbeing than your own parents. You hoped the person realized you ran out because you wanted to be alone, and that they wouldn’t follow you inside the restroom, and when they actually didn’t, you broke down crying in front of the mirror, turning on the faucet to silence your sobs a little bit. I don’t want to go home.

           You hated the looks your classmates were giving you after your breakdown, but some were nice enough to check up on you. You didn’t like the attention and the fact that you had to lie to them, but it warmed your heart a bit that not everyone was heartless and mean to you. You were surprised to see your things neatly placed in your bag after you returned from the restroom with a girl, Hanna, who your homeroom teacher sent after you to keep you company until you felt better. You wanted to ask who did that, because you wanted to thank them, but decided to stay quiet and just lay low for the rest of the day as rumors of you already spread through school like wildfire. You hated it, but you tried to ignore them…and Vernon too. He shot you a questioning gaze after you got back to class, but you acted like he wasn’t even there. Your gut was telling you that it was him who gathered your stuff from the floor and placed it back into your bag, but why would he do that? You were never very nice to him, and you even knocked his stuff off on purpose when you ran out. Fed up with your constant thoughts of Vernon and what others would say now about you, you blocked everything out and hurriedly gathered your things once the final bell rang, signaling that school was over for the day. You were glad that you could finally leave this place, but your stomach ached when you remembered you had to return home, to meet your father. Running away right now sounded like the smartest thing to do, but once you left your high school, you stopped and looked up towards the sky. The sun was high up and shinning down, creating a warm atmosphere and you looked around to observe that everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Kids were laughing and hanging onto their friends as they groaned about how hard school could get, others kids were excitedly talking about what homecooked meal their mothers made, and some were just hurriedly leaving through the gates. You smiled, but it was a sad smile, because you never experienced any of those feelings. You wished your mother would be at home, waiting for you with a homecooked meal, and that your father would arrive earlier from work and praise you for your grades, deciding to take the three of you out to the arcades. But those were dreams you’d never experience, and rather than continuing to hurt yourself with such fantasies, you took off with a sigh. You followed the path that lead to the iron gates of the high school and bowed your head a little to greet the gatekeeper, who was happy to see you. Not many kids were respectful toward the old man, but you didn’t think lower of him just because of his job, sometimes you’d sneak cookies from home and share them with him. As the weather was a lot warmer than in the morning, you took your scarf off and gasped when something hit your shoulder. You were expecting someone to be picking on you, but when you turned your head and looked at the girl leaning against the stone wall, you let a chuckle fall from your lips.

“I told you to throw your garbage in the trash cans, Yoona.” You scolded the older girl, picking up her cigarette butt to throw it into the nearest trash can later.

“Yeah, whatever,” Yoona rolled her eyes, lighting another cigarette, “What the hell happened today? Your crazy classmates wouldn’t stop talking about how you stormed out after you got your grades.”

You grimaced as you leaned against the stone wall next to your friend, “I didn’t get a 10/10.”

Your answer was direct and Yoona sighed, glancing at you as she puffed out the smoke of her cigar. She knew about your parents, but not the whole truth. She only knew about them being obsessed with your grades and that they were very controlling and harsh to you. You didn’t dare tell her the other things, afraid she’d do something about it, getting you in more trouble.

“Oh, Y/N…” Yoona’s expression was sad and you melted into her hug as she put her arms around you, on the verge of crying, “If it feels too much later on, call me…or come to the races with me, you don’t have to compete or anything. Just be there.”

You hummed and circled your arms around your friend, feeling a bit better as Yoona’s familiar perfume entered your nostrils, “It’s a Wednesday, you know I can’t go out…and I have an English tutor now, we are meeting later for our first session.”

“Oh, really?” Yoona’s interest peaked as she finally pulled herself away from you, patting your cheek, “Do I know him?”

“Maybe, it’s this new guy from America…calls himself DK.” You muttered, puckering your lips at the hilarious name he went by. Yoona’s expression hardened and she scoffed as she finished her cigar, not looking very pleased.

“You know him?” You asked curiously, Yoona not being one to dislike someone.

“Of course,” She rolled her eyes and pushed off the stone wall, dragging her leather jacket tightly around her body, “He’s in my class. He’s very annoying, tries hard to befriend everyone and won’t shut up. He’s not even smart, most of the time only says stupid things—”

“Okay,” You raised up one hand to stop Yoona from rambling, throwing her an amused smile, “What did he do to you that you don’t like him?”

Yoona just rolled her eyes, displeased by how much you knew her already, “He’s all up in my business, won’t leave me alone after he heard me talking to my friend from the U.S. Fucking idiot…”

You started giggling loudly, making Yoona glare at you, but your laughter was contagious and she ended up giggling too, “You’ll figure it out, Yoona.”

“Yeah…hopefully before Johnny decides to smash in his nose.” Her tone turned sour and you gave her a pitiful look, knowing her relationship with Johnny hadn’t been the best lately. Yoona just sighed and you patted her side, reassuring her that you were there for her if she needed someone to complain to. The sudden sound of engine roaring caught your attentions and Yoona turned stiff, looking to the road, where a black car pulled up. The window rolled down and Johnny’s face came in view.

“Speaking of the devil…” You muttered quietly, making Yoona smirk at you.

“Hello, ladies.” Johnny greeted the two of you with a charming smile and Yoona looked at him before back at you.

“Want us to give you a ride home?” You appreciated her offer, but you didn’t know if your dad was already at home. He didn’t mind Yoona very much, he knew her parents, but he hated Johnny and actually forbid you from meeting up with him or with them when they were together. You didn’t want to test the waters furthermore today; you had already done enough in the morning and now with your grade too.

“No, no,” You shook your head quickly, declining her offer nicely, “You can go. I have to pick up some books either way, you don’t have to bother with me…”

Yoona nodded and took off towards her boyfriend’s car, but when she opened the door, she turned back to look at you and mouthed, “Liar.”

You chuckled and waved at them as Johnny gave you a nod before pressing a strong kiss against your best friend’s lips, leaving her with a sour expression as he rolled the window up and took off, the engine of the car creating disturbance to the pedestrians. You looked down at the other cigarette butt Yoona dropped and picked it up with a sigh, dropping it into your pocket, where the other one was. She never listened to you when you told her to throw them away into a trash can, so it became by now a routine to pick them up and throw them away yourself. You took off once again, headed home for real this time, your stomach churned nervously as you played with the cigarette butts in your pocket. Your parents knew you didn’t smoke, they stopped checking up on that since you turned sixteen, so you weren’t afraid of smelling like it. Besides, they knew most kids your age smoked and that it could just easily get into your clothes and hair when you walked by. You sighed at the thought of your parents and tried to enjoy the sun on your skin, welcomed after the cold winter you had. It was hard to walk home, because you were anxious, but the pleasant weather made you slow your usual long strides as you passed the corner of the high school and turned onto the next street. You took the two cigarette butts between your fingers and threw them into the trash can on the side walk as you walked by it, your scalp feeling itchy. Sometimes you made your ponytail too tight and it left your scalp sore, so you quickly undid the tight hold, releasing your long black hair. You thought of cutting it, it was slowly nearing the middle of your back, but your mother said a feminine woman needs her long hair, that it’s precious, and you should never wear it too short. That’s why your hair always reached your scapulas or even longer. I always wondered how I’d look with short hair…it can’t be that bad, right? Your thoughts were interrupted when you suddenly became aware that someone was walking right next to you. You became stiff and ready to speed up, uncomfortable, but when you stole a glance at the person walking next to you, your feet came to an abrupt stop. So did the person, who was scratching his nape awkwardly, looking at your guiltily.

“Uh, sorry.” Vernon’s voice was loud here, the cars and people walking by you were being loud, “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t scare me.” You answered him too quickly, body stiff as your eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah, still…” He cleared his throat and you became curious, he never really spoke to you directly, unless you were paired up for a group project during class, “I just wanted to ask you…”

You raised your eyebrows, curiously looking at Vernon, a little annoyed that he was stalling, “What?”

“Are you alright?” Your eyebrows furrowed at his question and you glanced around, feeling uneasy. Why is he suddenly so curious about how I feel? It’s really not his business.

“I’m fine, why?” You snapped, crossing your arms in front of your chest in a way to show him you weren’t too fond of this conversation.

“Just wanted to check up on you.” Vernon muttered as he kept looking at you, the sunlight lighting his features. His skin had a warm glow and he was squinting as he was standing facing the sun, his brown eyes were lighter than you had anticipated them to be.

“Well…” You cleared you throat, feeling a bit flustered, “You didn’t have to.”

Vernon hummed and nodded his head a little, biting his lower lip, an action which caught your attention, “I know…you ran out of class and you didn’t look too good. Just wanted to make sure you’re better now—”

Your inhale was sharp and it alerted Vernon as your eyes snapped back up to look him in the eyes. Your heart was beating like crazy and you knew your face turned hard as Vernon gulped; you took a step to lessen the distance between the two of you, “Stay out of my business, Vernon, you already make my days a nightmare as they are.”

Vernon’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, clearly taken aback by your threatening tone and sentence, not having expected such hostility coming from you. After all, he never did anything wrong to you…directly. He looked lost for a second, you felt bad for being so mean to him, but before he could form a sentence, you turned and rushed away, willing yourself to catch the green cross light, which would turn red by the time Vernon realized you were running away and would stop him from following you. Your heart was beating fast as you turned to look back, to see him standing at the cross dumbfounded, his eyebrows furrowed as he raised one hand as if to ask you to wait for him. You were pretty good at reading people; you had anticipated his moves. You shook your head at him and took off, Vernon losing sight of you in the mass of people walking on the sidewalk.

           You were studying in your room when you heard the front door open and slam closed. Your hands suddenly started shaking as your mother’s laughter carried through the big apartment you lived in, your father’s voice next as he answered her question. You dreaded this moment, you knew it was coming, but you were hoping it would come later. You knew your father was expecting you in his study, so, you rose from your desk and pulled your hair in a low ponytail. You glanced at yourself in the mirror and hated your expression; anyone would be able to see how scared you looked. You started glaring at yourself, trying to stop this horrible feeling brewing inside you, as you pointed a finger at yourself in the mirror.

“Stop it!” You snapped at yourself quietly, “Whatever happens, happens. Walk out there with your head up and don’t say anything unnecessary!”

When you heard your mother’s heels clicking getting closer and closer, you quickly grabbed the sheet and hurried to your door, opening it just as your mother raised her knuckle to knock.

“Y/N!” She exclaimed with a wide smile and placed her palm on your cheek, “Looking pretty today, how do you feel?”

You remained expressionless as you looked at your mother, jealous of her good mood, “Fine, I’ll go see father now.”

“Oh, right!” She exclaimed again and stepped out of your way, shooing you away, “We are supposed to leave in thirteen minutes for our date, don’t keep him up! Also, we should look for some vacation cabins in the mountains for our get-away—”

“We are not going anywhere!” You snapped and turned your head to look at your mother, jaw clenched. How could she not pick up on my mental state? How could she not read my expression when I’ve been hers for seventeen years? When she was my mother?

“Oh…” She cleared her throat, eyebrows furrowing in confusion, “Why…”

“I didn’t get the grade.” You muttered and sighed, taking off towards your father’s office. It was on the other end of the apartment and you had time to even out your expression and calm your erratic heartbeat for at least a while. When you stopped in front of the big, black, door you took a deep breath and ignored your mother, who was headed to their shared bedroom, and knocked on your father’s office door. There was a grunt coming from inside and you knew it was your cue to walk in, so, you opened the door with more force than needed and walked in, leaving the door open. He hated it, but you felt like you’d need to escape tonight, it made you feel safer. Your father glanced at his door and then at you before leaning back in his chair with a sigh. You didn’t sit as you came to a stop in front of his desk, just reached your hand out for him to take the sheet. He nodded once and took it, eyes running over the paper. Your heart started beating quickly once again and you clasped your hands behind your back to stop yourself from biting your other nails you didn’t get to in school. Involuntarily, your left foot started tapping against the floorboards of the office and you gulped as you looked straight ahead when your father’s eyes fell on you.

“What did I say?” His voice was hard, sheet crumbled up in his hands. Don’t answer him, let him scream at you, “I thought I was clear.”

When he fell silent you didn’t know what to do or say, so you just let your head hang low, avoiding eye contact with your father, “You are telling me that you’re unable to get a 10/10 at English? When your mother is American?! Is your brain perhaps too little for you to comprehend what you have to learn?! Are you dumb, Y/N?!”

That felt like the last straw. I’m not dumb, I’m more competent than you once were! Your eyes snapped up to meet your father’s, your glare melting into his, “How am I dumb? I got a 9,55, father! And I got a 10/10 at everything else! I’m top of my class and high school! What more do you want?!”

Your voice broke at the end of the sentence, and your body shook, you have never raised your voice at your father. He looked shocked for a second, but in a second also, he was up and storming around his desk to reach you.

“You ungrateful scum!” He shouted loudly, his deep voice made you jump, “I feed you! I give you money! I buy you clothes! I put a roof over your head! And this is how you pay me back? By talking back and thinking you are better than me?!”

“When did I ever say that—” The words died in your throat as the back of your father’s palm slammed into your cheek harshly. Your eyes widened as your head snapped to the other side, tears instantly sprung to your eyes. You remained like that, unmoving and quiet, fighting with your tears. I’d rather die than cry right now. Your father scoffed and you felt the sheet hit your head as he threw that at you as well, as he turned away from you.

“You have three months to fix your mistakes, Y/N. After that, I will not see you anymore in this house.” You gulped at his words, straightening once he walked away and you knew he wouldn’t hit you again. You remained in front of his desk as he walked towards his door, about to get changed for his date with your mother. A broken chuckle left your lips as you looked up at the ceiling, one single tear rolling down your cheek. Better make his life hell in those three months!

“I can’t wait to leave this fucking hell!” You hissed, unaware that your father didn’t leave the room yet. He hesitated taking his next step as he looked back at you with furrowed eyebrows, taken aback by your words.

“I wish I was never born into this fucking family.” At this point, you didn’t even care if he was still standing in the doorway or not, it just felt good to speak your mind aloud. You wanted to shout at the top of your lungs for your parents to hear what you had to say. You wanted everyone to know. I hate them. Your father gulped as he took one final look at you, his jaw clenched, before he shook his head and walked away with a scoff. All he could think of was that you were a spoiled, ungrateful brat. Meanwhile, all you could think of was the day you’d finally be able to run away. In three months, you’d turn eighteen, school would finally end, and you’d leave this shithole you hated with your whole heart. Screw them both, who gives a fuck about them anyways?

           That night you went to bed crying, which resulted in having a puffy face once you woke up. Your study session with DK wasn’t very successful and once he realized you just weren’t in the right state of mind to study, he dismissed you and set another appointment for next week, saying your English was almost better than his and that you didn’t even need tutoring. You knew that, but you were hopeful that if DK helps you out, on your next exam you’ll get a 10/10 just to spite your father before you move out. While crying, you have decided, that no matter what, in three months you were out of that place. You didn’t want to stay there anymore, you’d rent out a small apartment downtown, find a job and finish your last year of high school. You knew your mother would secretly support you and give you enough money to survive for months, but you didn’t want anything that was theirs anymore…especially their money. When you looked in the mirror to get ready for a new day, all you could do was sigh. Your eyes were big and red and you knew you’d have to spend half an hour just pouring cold water on them to make the swell go away. But when you pulled your hair in a bun, you knew the greenish-bluish bruise on your right cheekbone wouldn’t go away with cold water, you had to put on makeup. This is why you didn’t tell Yoona exactly everything about your family, especially your father, she would’ve reported it without a second thought. You disliked your parents, yes, but they were still your parents. Right now, they were everything you’ve got and you could make them suffer in different, much more effective ways. You decided to let your hair rest freely today, knowing it would offer more cover for your cheek, even if the expensive foundation and color corrector did their jobs fairly well. At breakfast you didn’t speak at all to your parents and you refused to ride with John and your father to school, taking the bus instead as you were running late a bit to be walking. You were in a bad mood all day and everyone could see it, even Yoona, who was a lot more cheerful than yesterday. She promised to hang out with you at lunch break and you were thankful, you felt like you needed to be in her presence today. Vernon was becoming plain annoying with his constant staring and his attempt to talk to you in one of the short breaks you had between classes, which alerted everyone from your class. You threw him a harsh glare and he understood that you wanted nothing to do with him, so he went back to his desk and left you alone for the rest of the day.

You were fixing your makeup before the lunch break arrived, your geography teacher let you off early today, as you stared into your small pocket mirror. You pulled your hair behind your ear as you took out the little cushion and started tapping it lightly against your cheekbone, not much of the foundation had come off, but you wanted to be sure. Especially since you were having lunch with Yoona. As you stared at yourself, your eyes looking lifeless, your ears picked up a loud voice greeting someone from your classroom. You looked up, curious, and your eyes fell on Vernon’s table. A darker blonde-haired boy, quite scrawny looking with dirty clothes, was leaning against Vernon’s desk. He looked younger than the two of you, maybe he was your age, but his complex gave him a boyish look. Vernon looked panicked as he stared at the boy, pinching his ear and making the boy cry out. A few of your classmates glanced at them, but no one seemed as invested and curious as you were. Vernon looked like he got caught doing something illegal, it definitely picked your interest. In your mind, Vernon was this perfect boy, perfect student, whom never did anything bad. Seeing that look on his face, you placed your mirror down on your desk and sneakily continued to watch them.

“Hyung, I’m just here to tell you something important!” The young boy exclaimed annoyed, earning a few more confused looks as he wasn’t wearing your high school’s uniform…or any for that matter. Is he not in school? He seems very young however…maybe he just skipped classes today? Vernon’s eyes widened and accidentally connected with yours and you quickly looked down, absentmindedly flipping through your long-forgotten fashion magazine. You felt his gaze remain on you for a few more seconds before it was gone; you peaked up at them to see the younger boy hunched over Vernon’s desk as he was articulately whispering something. Now, that made you even more curious about what they were speaking, and you looked back down at your magazine. A model you didn’t like had their picture on the page, so, you gripped it and tore the page out, crumbling the paper up. There, this should do for a good excuse to pass by them. You cleared your throat, feeling like you were about to commit a felony, and checked if anyone was watching you, but no one was. You hummed to yourself and looked around, trying to look innocent as you started slowly walking towards Vernon’s desk. Your heart started beating faster as your grip tightened on the paper and you slowed down even more once you could hear the boy’s high-pitched voice.

“Hyung, I’m not kidding! They said they’ll pay really well!” Pay well for what? Your eyebrows furrowed as you became intrigued, eager to find out more.

“I’m not racing against Jun anymore, why can’t you understand that?!” Vernon snapped quietly; his eyebrows were furrowed as he was glaring at his desk. The young boy sighed loudly and you actually stopped walking, standing just two feet away from them. Jun? Vernon is racing? Is this what I think it is?

“Come on, hyung!” The young boy whined and you jumped when something crashed in the back, the paper falling from your grip, “It’s tomorrow night, on a Friday, your mom won’t be pissed if we go racing—”

“Shut up!” Vernon’s voice was hard as you made eye contact. Your face must have said it all because Vernon didn’t look pleased, you heard something you weren’t supposed to. You cleared your throat and walked to the trash bin, feeling the little smirk creep onto your lips. Vernon races? How come I’ve never seen him before? Your thoughts became a whirlwind as you turned to walk back to your desk, eyes falling onto Vernon. He was glaring at you and suddenly you felt powerful, like you were in control of this situation. Vernon was racing Jun? Last month I beat Jun…that means…I can finally beat Vernon at something. You were suddenly pleased and even your mood got better, something you weren’t expecting to happen anytime soon. You didn’t have to think twice as the bell rang signaling it was time for lunch break. The young boy hadn’t left yet and it looked like Vernon was scolding him as you reached inside your backpack and felt around it. You gripped your sandwich first and then the cold rolled up material. You took both items out and your lips widened into a big smirk as your eyes fell on Vernon, who was busy talking to the boy. This is it. I can finally show him he isn’t better at everything. He’s not rich, I have a Veyron, it doesn’t matter what car he has, I will beat him without a doubt. You took off, gripping your things tightly as you were headed straight towards Vernon’s table. Him and the boy stopped whispering when they felt your presence behind them and they turned both to look at you. You slammed the big roll of cash on Vernon’s table, making their jaws drop as the young boy looked back at you as if you grew two heads out. You felt powerful and proud, so, with a wink directed at the young boy you brushed past him to find Yoona and enjoy your lunch with her. You knew Vernon understood your message.

           Classes passed by quickly and you were buzzing to get out of school, for once not even having thought of your parents since the incident with Vernon. You wanted to talk to him, but not at school, you didn’t want your classmates to start more unwanted rumors about you or Vernon. You might dislike him, but you didn’t want to drag him into unnecessary drama. So, you told Yoona that tomorrow you were going to the races and she was excited, telling you she’d be there too with Johnny and his crew, and that she’d cheer for you. She was proud of you and amused at the same time, she knew you disliked Vernon, so she understood how much this meant to you. It was childish, but Yoona didn’t judge you for it, even cheered you on, she could see something was wrong today. So, when you left the school gates, you walked down the street after you promised Yoona that she could drive you home tomorrow, and you turned the corner. You knew Vernon walked this way to get home, so you leaned against the stone wall of the school fence and took a deep breath in, suddenly confused why your heart was beating so fast. Am I nervous because I’m about to see Vernon? No, that’s stupid, I don’t have a reason to feel this way around him. You stood up straight when Vernon rounded the corner and his eyes fell on you, narrowing dangerously as he approached you. When he stopped in front of you, he remained silent and you rolled your eyes, opening your mouth to speak.

“I’m sure you know what I meant by that…” You trailed off and Vernon nodded wordlessly, “I’m challenging you to race.”

“I know.” Vernon nodded again, his voice seemed to be a lot deeper right now, and you didn’t even realize it when you blushed.

“I heard some rumors…” You started, trying to remain confident under his sudden intimidating gaze, “About a guy called Vernon who drifts better than Lee Seungkwan, is that you?”

A smirk appeared on Vernon’s lips and your eyebrows furrowed when your heartbeat picked up again, suddenly you felt hot standing under the sun, “It is me.”

You didn’t like the look on Vernon’s face, you felt like he knew he was making you flustered, so you took a step to be closer, “Well then, here’s my proposal…I win, you teach me how to drift. You win, I’ll go on a date with you.”

I can’t believe this is the proposal I’m making, I sound stupid. How do I know he wants to go on a date with me? Now I’m just blindly assuming and insinuating that he might like me, oh no…Your cheeks warmed up again and you hated the way Vernon started laughing, his mouth opening and showing his teeth.

“How do you know if I want to go on a date with you?” Vernon raised one eyebrow and you rolled your eyes, trying to mask your initial panic.

“Call it a hunch,” You answered back with a smirk, trying to fake your confidence that suddenly decided to disappear, “are you in or not?”

Vernon remained silent for a few seconds as his eyes ran over your face, his features softening. You bit your lower lip, feeling nervous all of a sudden as no boy looked at you like that before.

“I’m in.” He extended his hand for you to shake and you looked down at it, hesitantly shaking his hand. His grip was strong and warm, his palm surprisingly soft as it caressed yours, it was so much bigger. Your cheeks burned again and your eyebrows furrowed as you became angry at yourself and pulled your hand away, throwing Vernon a small glare. He seemed amused as you turned and stormed off, completely missing the smitten look Vernon was giving you.

           You woke up feeling excited, which was a foreign feeling, as you usually dreaded having breakfast with your parents. Last night you tried to nurse the bruise on your cheek with ice and ointment, but the colors were still there and you had to cover it with foundation once again. You let your hair hang freely once again and once you were dressed; you went out to have breakfast. Your parents weren’t in the dining room, so you headed to the kitchen, surprising the maids, and asked them to let you have breakfast there. They were hesitant but didn’t try to argue with you when they saw the genuine smile on your face; they could see how your mood was strangely good today and decided not to ruin it. After that, you skillfully creeped around the apartment, making sure to avoid your parents as you headed for school, your long strides taking you to school quickly. Yoona and you got there at the same time so you asked her to take you to Jihoon’s car-service after school, she said she’d drive you home today after all, as your Veyron was ready to be picked up for tonight’s race. Vernon seemed to be smug as he offered you a few smirks here and there throughout the day, and when you returned from the restroom, you found a protein bar on your desk. Confused, you looked around and watched your classmates, who weren’t paying much attention to you. Vernon wasn’t in the classroom and you sighed, about to sit, when Hanna waved her hand at you. You raised your eyebrows at her in question and she just pointed at Vernon’s table before at the protein bar. You understood what she tried saying and with red cheeks you slumped into your chair, crossing your arms in front of your chest. Your gaze fell on the protein bar and just as you poked it annoyed, Vernon walked in with two of his friends and his eyes fell on you. You threw him a glare and hid behind your long hair, refusing to let him see the blush on your cheeks, I blushed enough yesterday. His ego didn’t need to be further fed. You found it amusing how sure he looked of himself, you knew he was convinced that he’d win tonight, but you also knew he’d be a sore loser. You haven’t seen many people with expensive cars at the races, even if the engine is the one that counts, your Veyron just naturally was faster and better than most cars they owned. It was why you were able to win so many races until now and why Jihoon approached you in the first place. He was excited to see the new engine he installed in action tonight, he would sell it for big money if you win.

           Your parents were still out on their date when you left the apartment, you didn’t have to worry about them seeing you dressed ‘like a hooker’, as they called this style. It wasn’t even anything bad, just leather pants and a strapless crop top and your leather jacket. You wore your thick, plain, platformed boots so that you’ll seem taller but be able to drive at the same time. Once you got to the garage you smiled pridefully at your car as you unlocked it. You really loved the car; it was your most prized possession as it brought you many victories so far. Once you turned the car on, goosebumps appeared on your arms at the roar of the engine. It was humming loudly and it shook your car in the best way possible as you carefully drove out of the garage. You turned on the radio and chuckled when Yoona’s favorite song came on, rolling down the windows to let the chilly air of the night fill your car. You pulled your hair in a low ponytail so that it wouldn’t accidentally get in your face and disturb you, you were aware of what you did was dangerous. You were careful as you drove down the illuminated streets of Seoul, making sure you wouldn’t exceed the speed limit. Wouldn’t want to make your father hate you more and take your car away. You’d get there at least fifteen minutes earlier, and you’d lie if you said your stomach wasn’t whirling around due to nervousness. You gripped the wheel tightly as you shook your head, passing by a green light, trying to clear your mind. This really isn’t the time to be nervous about something that I will most definitely win. The engine change wasn’t very obvious, your car was actually a bit slower, but it still flew down the streets if you pressed the gas pedal. Jihoon assured you you’d definitely win, even with the slight change, and you promised to give half of the profit to him. Tonight, he was making good money, people would flock to him to buy this new engine which to them seemed like it was as fast as an original Veyron engine, people were easy to fool. You drove through downtown and past some warehouses, music getting carried to where you were currently, even though the meeting point was one block away. You slowed as you turned the next corner and shut the lights of the car off as the street was illuminated well enough by the lampposts but the reflectors brought by the people here too. The street you were on was a very long streets, on both sides were abandoned buildings, and cars were parked close to those building to leave space for the circulating cars, and people, to pass by. You honked softly and the mass of people in front of you started fleeing out of your way, creating a straight path for you to the start line. You slowly rolled by them, the loud music coming from different car speakers could be felt even in your car, you picked up on the slight vibrations. People who knew you greeted you with grins and tapped your turquoise car, becoming excited when they saw you weren’t about to park anywhere. They knew you were racing tonight and as you arrived to the start line, people started cheering your name. You started laughing as you turned the engine off and got out of your car, grinning at the people surrounding you.

“There you are!” Yoona exclaimed as she leaned against the front of your car, arms crossed in front of her. You chuckled and approached her, draping an arm around her shoulders.

“Did you think I’d miss tonight?”

“Nothing’s ever sure with you…” She was right and you rolled your eyes, having missed races not once because of your parents being home. They didn’t know what you did in your free time, but sometimes they’d forbid you from spending your Fridays out, even though you always said you were sleeping over at Yoona’s.

“Did you see Vernon?” You asked as you looked around, unable to see anyone familiar in the huge crowd around you. Butterflies in your stomach made you rub your tummy as you pouted and Yoona started laughing loudly.

“Don’t tell me you’re nervous?” Her eyebrows raised and you decided not to look at her, “And no, I don’t even know if he’s here. Maybe he chickened out—”

A loud roar of an engine made Yoona’s words unable to be heard and you whipped your head around, eyes falling on a red Honda Civic Type R. The windows were tinted and you couldn’t see inside, but you knew it was Vernon, no one else was racing beside the two of you for the next twenty minutes. Yoona’s eyes widened just a bit as you both watched Vernon get out of the car and you were confused when two blondes ran up to him squealing.

“Oppa!” They chorused and your face distorted into disgust as Yoona burst out laughing, leaning back as her head was thrown back. You looked at her, expression still the same, and it made her laugh louder and harder. Your eyes fell on Johnny, who was smirking, as he started approaching you, his eyes falling on Vernon.

“Brought along your Barbie dolls, eh?” He tapped Yoona’s thigh as he walked past, headed for Vernon. The two blondes clung onto Vernon’s arms and you finally looked at him, taking in his attire. He wore ripped jeans and a form fitting navy green blouse, a leather jacket keeping him warm from the chilly air. A few chains hung around his neck and his dark hair was pushed back. You were surprised to see Vernon dressed like this; you didn’t think his style would be like that. You’ve only ever seen him in his uniform and some loose gym clothes. You gulped and Yoona nudged you, eyes squinted.

“Stop staring at him, you’re making it very obvious.” She muttered as she leaned down as if she was about to whisper something to you.

“What?” You asked confused as you turned your head, Vernon just shook hands with Johnny, and you then looked back at Yoona.

“That you like him.” Yoona’s words hit you like a truck and you couldn’t help the very loud scoff that left your lips. Is she crazy? I like Vernon? Where did she get that from?!

“Did you take something before you—”

Yoona threw you a warning glare and you didn’t finish your sentence as you knew better, but your attention was back on Johnny and Vernon, it looked like they’ve known each other for quite a while as they talked casually.

“Taking her out for a tour?” Johnny asked with a grin as he placed his hand on Vernon’s Honda. Vernon nodded and untangled himself from the two blondes, a smirk appearing on his lips. Your stomach did a somersault and you gasped quietly, confused as to what that feeling meant and why you only ever felt so flustered around Vernon. Yoona can’t be right…

“Nah, I’m here to claim my prize.” Vernon’s eyes fell on you and your back straightened as you quickly smoothed your expression into a neutral one. You knew your cheeks were still burning, but it was so chilly outside, one could blame it on that. You chuckled as Johnny looked at you too, seemingly having realized Vernon was racing you tonight.

“I don’t know man,” He said with an amused smirk, patting Vernon’s back forcefully, “I’ve never seen Y/N lose before in that car.”

You couldn’t help but notice the slight envy that slipped into Johnny’s tone and it made you smirk; you always knew he wanted your car. He was pretty pissed when you refused to let him drive it, you weren’t about to let a lunatic wreck your precious car. If something happened to it and you’d had to tell your parents it was Johnny’s fault, you were sure you’d never get to see the daylight ever again.

“You’re still in, right, Chwe?” You raised your eyebrows mockingly and Vernon scoffed, opening his door.

“Why don’t you sit inside your car so that we get over with this?” You chuckled and pushed off your car, Yoona following suit as Johnny walked up to the two of you, grabbing Yoona’s nape. You watched as he stared her in the eyes, eyes narrowing the slightest at her, and Yoona’s jaw clenched as she waited patiently for Johnny to stop. You hated when he did that, tried dominating Yoona or got possessive to the point of hurting her, so you ripped your car door open and pressed down on the honk harshly. Both of them jumped and Johnny looked at you with a glare.

“Move along, dickhead, I haven’t got all night.” You snapped at him and he chuckled, releasing Yoona, who looked thankful as she pushed Johnny slightly back and walked away while shooting you a finger heart.

“Don’t crash.” You rolled your eyes at Johnny’s words and got in as he walked to the side where Yoona stood, circling his arms around your best friend’s waist. Out of nowhere, Jun showed up, holding a checkered flag. You closed your door shut and put on your seatbelt, melting into your seat. Vernon’s engine roared to life and you were quick to do the same, Jun having come to a stop between the two cars.

“You know the drill,” Jun shouted over everyone’s voice, “You’ve got 400 meters, whichever finishes first wins and gets the money.”

Vernon reeled his engine and you just smirked; eyes fixed on the checkered flag as Jun raised it. You always concentrated, how you start, is the most important thing. You can’t lose seconds and you have to be faster than the other one, it gives you already a very small but significant advantage. You gripped the gearstick and the wheel with your other hand, ready to shift it into drive. You hated how your eyes had to take a glance at Vernon and it annoyed you even more when you realized his eyes were on you. What if Yoona is right and I do like him? I do feel flustered around him. Isn’t it just because he makes me angry? A few days ago, I was convinced I hated him with all my heart. What is it that I truly feel for him then? Jun’s hand with the flag dropped and you shifted the gearstick just in a second, your foot pressing down the gas pedal. You didn’t look anywhere else as your car came to an abrupt start, the safety belt cutting into the exposed skin of your collarbones and your eyebrows furrowed as your car picked up speed in just seconds. Everything became a blur around you, all you saw was the finish line that was still far away, but you were getting closer and closer. You didn’t know where Vernon was, but having not seen him pass you, you believed he was still behind somewhere. Your stiff body almost felt relaxed, despite the contraction of your muscles to keep the car going in a straight line at such high speed, and your mind was silent. You didn’t hear anything, the radio was always off when you raced because you wanted to hear the engine, and your labored breathing felt almost relaxing. You felt in control and free, a small smile slipped onto your lips when you noticed Seungkwan standing on the side with a big checkered flag, flapping it around above him. You were close, just a few more meters. Your engine cried loudly as you pushed the gas pedal for another boost of energy, your car crossing the finish line before Vernon’s could. You let go of the gas pedal and hit the brakes, your car coming to a stop slowly but surely. People flooded around your car and your head rested on the head rest as you closed your eyes, surprised by how fast your heart was beating. Adrenaline always flooded your veins, but never this much. You opened one eye and glanced to your left, but Vernon’s car was nowhere. It confused you as you turned the engine off, undoing your seatbelt. People were cheering for you, your name leaving their lips as they tapped your car in congratulations, and you gripped the door handle to open it. Just as you pushed it open, it was pushed back closed and your eyebrows furrowed, until Vernon’s face popped up. He motioned with his finger to roll down your window and you did, still looking at him confused.

“What are you doing?” You asked, your voice loud, as Vernon threw the cash back at you, making it land in your lap.

“I lost,” His tone was hard and he looked displeased, “but you knew I would, so take your money back.”

You rolled your eyes and gripped the cash, raising it up between your faces, “I gave it to you regardless of the outcome, our deal was about something else—”

“I’m not your charity case!” Vernon’s voice turned harsh and you raised your eyebrows at him, finding it weird how pissed he suddenly was, “I’ll meet you tomorrow at noon at the abandoned sandy tracks half an hour from here. Don’t come with the Veyron, it’s not a car for beginners.”

You opened your mouth to snap at him that you weren’t a beginner, but Vernon turned around and stormed away, pushing people out of his way. You turned your head to see where he was headed, and you found his car just a few meters away from the finish line, 100 meter between yours and his car. What a dick.

           The revving of the engine was a sign that you were doing something wrong and out of anger, you hit the brakes harshly, sending yourself and the person sitting in the passenger seat forward. Your heart was beating fast as you gripped the steering wheel with both hands, your skin melting into the material of the wheel. The seatbelt was cutting into your skin too and your jaw clenched when a chuckle came from your right. You knew Vernon was smirking in amusement, very pleased to see you fail once again. You thought you’d learn how to drift quickly and easily, but here you were, almost two hours later, barely being able to make one right turn. You didn’t know what it was that made it so hard, it couldn’t have been Vernon’s Honda, you’ve driven cars like his before thanks to Jihoon; you really didn’t understand what was the matter. I can’t believe I’ve been embarrassing myself for the past two hours. A sigh left your mouth and you glanced at Vernon, who’s right arm was perched on the windowsill and he had his smirk still on.

“You suck at teaching,” You had to say something to save yourself from further embarrassment, “That’s why I still can’t do it.”

It was so amusing to Vernon that he started laughing, his mouth widening and his teeth showed. Your heart only seemed to pick up its rhythm and your eyebrows furrowed as you harshly shifted the gear to start doing another round.

“Hey, hey—” Vernon was quick to notice your change of demeanor and your fingers tightened around the shift stick when he gripped your hand, “I think we had enough for today, Y/N…especially my car. I can’t have you burning down my brakes, sorry.”

“If you’d let me come with my Veyron you wouldn’t be here complaining—”

“And risk wrecking that car?” Vernon’s eyebrows shoot up and you looked at him, his hand was still on top of yours as if he forgot it there, “Hell, I bet your parents don’t even know you race…I for sure would bite my kid’s head off if I found out they raced with a car like yours—”

“Yeah,” You snapped, eyes blazing as you glared at Vernon, what does he know about me, “That’s why they don’t know. Let go of my hand now and tell me where to drive.”

Vernon gulped and if you weren’t so angry, you probably would have blushed at his reaction. He looked down at your hands as if he realized due to your words it was still on top of yours and he quickly placed it in his lap, clearing his throat as you looked away, “I’m quite hungry, let’s have lunch.”

“Just tell me where you live and I’ll call John to pick me up—”

“No!” Vernon’s voice rose a bit and you looked at him surprised as you were driving away from the abandoned race tracks, “I mean…come have lunch with us. My mom knows where we are and she’d be really pissed if I didn’t invite you for lunch…”

Your heart started beating fast again and you bit your lower lip, trying to ignore his words and the temptation to say yes, “I can’t stay.”

“Please—”

“No.” Vernon knew it was final and that he couldn’t try convincing you anymore, but he really wanted you to stay. He was amazed by you, truth be told. He didn’t know what was so attractive about you, because you might have been beautiful, but he never really cared much about looks. Something about the way you would always look at him, he felt some hidden feelings that you desperately tried to hide from him and yourself as well. He knew you had something with him personally, he didn’t understand why, but he hoped one day you’d have enough courage to tell him. It was the only reason why he never tried getting close to you, he was afraid honestly, that you’d reject him in a very unpleasant way and he wanted to save himself from the heartbreak. He didn’t even know you raced, he never heard of your name being gossiped at the races, however, he did hear something from Chan, who worked for Lee Jihoon. But you weren’t the only girl who’s name was Y/N, he couldn’t just assume so boldly. As you focused on the road, on driving back towards the main roads, you failed to notice Vernon’s intense gaze analyzing your every movement, expression. Your bruise had faded nicely, after icing it non-stop when you were home, but you could still faintly see it. So faintly, that one would have to be really close next to you to see it, or so you thought. Vernon clearly saw it and just as he opened his mouth to question what it was, you sighed.

“Yesterday…” You started quietly, your muscles having eased now that you were just driving around casually and Vernon wasn’t touching you, “I feel like I insulted you…”

Vernon’s eyebrows furrowed as he watched you, pointing towards a street, to which you turned, “Insulted me?”

“With the money…I didn’t want to make it seem like I was—”

But Vernon didn’t want to hear it, because quite frankly, he wasn’t insulted at all last night. He was pissed, because you won. And that was only because he really wanted to go on that date with you. However, now that you’ve been alone in his car for almost two hours, he didn’t seem to mind it that much, “I wasn’t insulted, Y/N. I know you are rich and that I have less than you, but it didn’t mean anything to me.”

Your eyebrows furrowed and once again followed Vernon’s instructions, which lead to a quiet side of the city, “Why were you so angry then?”

“I was frustrated, not necessarily angry.” Your lips pulled up into a smile and you glanced at Vernon.

“I probably should have warned you I drive a Veyron—”

“I heard Jihoon sold your engine.”

“It wasn’t mine. He bought it and wanted me to show it off so that he could sell it for more.”

“Smart.”

“I know.” You found yourself glancing at Vernon with a smile, which he returned, as he pointed towards a house at the end of the street. It was a dead end, and theirs was the last house. It looked normal size, white, and had a nice front lawn. You didn’t think Vernon was poor, but the quality of the house surprised you. It had a refreshing look and definitely looked cozy just from the outside. You parked the car in the driveway, like Vernon instructed, and turned the engine off. You both undid your seatbelts and got out of the car; your eyes glanced towards the house. The window on the second floor was opened and loud music was blasting through it. A smile had pulled onto your lips without realizing and Vernon cleared his throat to get your attention.

“That’s my sister…she’s a bit loud sometimes.” You nodded as your eyes fell on Vernon, who’s hands were in the pockets of his baggy jeans, it weirdly looked good on him. Vernon’s style surprised you. It looked really cool and was actually very fitting for him, now you realized. It would be weird seeing him now in his uniform, knowing his preference in clothes.

“I’ll call John—" But just as you grabbed your phone from your jacket, the front door opened and a middle-aged lady walked out, hands on her waist.

“Look at you two!” She exclaimed in English and your lips instantly pulled into a smile, her accent sounding an awful lot like Vernon’s, “I thought you’d never come home. Come on!”

Vernon grinned at his mother and took off, but you remained put, “Uh, ma’am I’ll be calling my father’s driver to pick me up.”

“Non-sense!” Vernon’s mother’s eyebrows furrowed as she stepped down a few steps, “Hurry up inside, I just finished the soup.”

“Ma’am, I really can’t stay for lunch—”

“Vernon, go get her!” And before you could disagree more, his mother walked inside, leaving the door open for you. Your eyes fell on Vernon and you shook your head, about to dial John’s number. I really don’t want to be here right now. My father is already pissed enough at me, I shouldn’t miss lunch today…especially since we are meeting with his business partners.

“If you don’t have lunch with us, mom won’t let me help you tomorrow or next week.” Your eyebrows furrowed at Vernon’s words and you looked down at your cellphone, hesitant to put it away. Would it really be so bad if I stayed? It’s just one lunch. Besides, I most definitely don’t want to meet Mr. Kim’s son, he’s too rude for my liking. You rolled your eyes and put your phone on ‘do not disturb’, putting it back inside your jacket’s pocket as you followed Vernon inside the house.

The house on the inside was exactly how you imagined it to be. Walls white with big windows to let the natural light inside and everywhere you looked, you saw family pictures. It seemed like Vernon’s mother really liked flowers too as you could find them in every corner of the house. There was a scent of homecooked meal and it smelled so much better than the one coming from your maids at home. It was a lot warmer inside than outside, so you decided to get rid of your jacket too after you left your shoes in the doorway. You’d usually wear flip flops at home, but when Vernon gave you none and instructed to just go straight ahead while he went upstairs, you didn’t say anything about it. You watched Vernon hurry up the stairs as you walked down the hallway, humming coming from where Vernon instructed you to head towards.

“Oh, good!” It was his mom, once you stepped inside the kitchen, the scent of homecooked food was stronger. The kitchen wasn’t very big, just enough for a few people to be inside, but when you looked to your left you noticed there was a dining room, the young boy from school was there actually. He was sitting on a chair, one foot up on the chair next to him as he watched something on his phone, picking his nose in the process. It was a sight you weren’t expecting, such a normal sight you never got to see at home, that it made you laugh. You actually started laughing so hard it alerted the young boy, who’s cheeks became pink and he shoot you a glare.

“Chan,” Vernon’s mom sighed as she glanced back to see what was so funny, “He was picking his nose again, wasn’t he?”

You only nodded as you tried to stop laughing, the boy actually got up and walked towards you with a small glare. You weren’t aware that Vernon had a brother, besides, this Chan boy looked nothing like Vernon or his mother.

“I’m Y/L/N Y/N by the way,” You spoke up as Chan stopped beside you, squaring you up with his eyes, as you watched Vernon’s mother.

“Yes, Vernon told me who he was going with. Wasn’t expecting a girl to want to learn how to drift.” Chan scoffed next to you as he offered you his hand once he was done taking your form in.

“Lee Chan.” You shook his hand and narrowed your eyes at him, “And Mrs. Chwe, I told you women like to race. Sometimes there’s more of them at the race tracks than men.”

“He’s not wrong.” You approved of his words, looking back at him, “You’re not related to the Lee family, right?”

“Do I look like I am?” Chan had a sharp tongue and you scoffed, watching him brush past you, “Let me put the plates, Mrs. Chwe.”

“You should be studying, Chan, dear.” Chan just rolled his eyes as he opened a drawer and pointed at the cutlery and motioned for you to take them. You grimaced at him but proceeded to help him out, it was better than standing awkwardly in the kitchen and doing nothing.

“Studying is a luxury that I can’t benefit of.” Your eyebrows furrowed as you walked alongside Chan to the dining room, setting the plates and cutlery on the long table.

“What do you mean?” You asked quietly, noticing one plate missing.

“I don’t have enough money to go to school, Y/N.” Chan answered with an impassive voice, but you couldn’t help and notice the yearning behind his words.

“How old are you?” You found yourself asking again, something tugging at your heartstrings. Am I feeling bad for him? He deserves to have part of education like everyone else. He seems like a quick-witted boy.

“Sixteen.” Chan muttered and brushed past you as he headed for the door of the kitchen. You looked at Mrs. Chwe as she brought the pot of soup to the table, still steaming as it had been recently finished. She had a sad expression as she heard your little exchange with Chan and it suddenly all made sense. He’s here because they are taking care of him. I don’t know his home situation, but if Mrs. Chwe took him in, it must mean that he wasn’t living well before at all.

“Vernon! Sofia!” You jumped at Chan’s shrill voice and Mrs. Chwe chuckled, taking a seat at the head of the table.

“Sit wherever you want,” She offered you a smile and you chose to sit on her left, the cushion was soft underneath your bum, “Can’t believe my son just left you to yourself, where are his manners.”

“It’s alright, Mrs. Chwe.” You reassured her, sitting patiently as Chan chose to sit across from you. You internally cursed and hoped that Sofia would take the seat next to you, but you didn’t have that much luck. As the girl came into view, she raced Vernon and jumped into the seat next to Chan, leaving Vernon with a glare directed at her. You looked at Vernon and tried to keep a neutral expression, knowing all eyes were basically on the two of you. His black hair was dripping still and he had changed from the clothes he was wearing earlier today. He wore black sweatpants and a tight white t-shirt, which made your heart beat faster. You never noticed that Vernon had muscles before and you were praying to all Gods that you wouldn’t blush upon seeing the way his t-shirt sat tightly against his chest.

“Finally,” His mother said with a sour expression and Vernon chuckled awkwardly, taking his seat next to you. You tensed up when Vernon’s knee knocked into yours underneath the table and Chan just randomly chuckled, making everyone look at him.

“Nothing, sorry!” He quickly dismissed it and greedily grabbed for the ladle to pour soup into his bowl. Vernon kept his eyes on Chan and the younger boy tried to mask his chuckle with a scoff. It was weird but you said nothing as this seemed to be normal for the other people sitting at the table.

“I’m Sofia!” Your eyes fell on the girl sitting next to Chan and you offered her a genuine smile.

“I’m Y/N.” She grinned back at you and stole the ladle from Chan, elbowing him when he filled his bowl to the brim.

“I love this soup, stop it!” He exclaimed loudly and scooted his chair away from the girl, throwing daggers at her.

“You won’t leave anything for us!” Sofia fired back and you sat quietly, your body once again relaxed. Vernon’s hands on the table kept clenching and unclenching and you stole a glance at him, he was watching his sister and friend’s banter with a glare.

“Stop it, kids,” Mrs. Chwe intervened and took the ladle from Sofia once she was done, “You always serve the guest first.”

“It’s alright, don’t worry!” You quickly dismissed her words, offering her your bowl when she raised her hand, “You don’t have to change your habits just because I’m here.”

Vernon’s mother smiled as she handed you back the bowl, “You seem to be the most well behaved here, my dear.”

Your cheeks became hot and before you could dismiss her words, Chan erupted into giggles, “Of course, Mrs. Chwe! Can’t you smell the richness? I could, even from miles away—” Before Chan could finish his sentence, he cried out and jumped a bit, glaring at Vernon, who was glaring at him back. You looked at Vernon and saw how his jaw was clenched and his mother sighed, taking her son’s bowl to pour some soup for him too.

“Rich or poor, Chan, in this house it doesn’t matter, yes?” Her voice was scolding and Chan grew smaller in his seat, as if he realized he wasn’t at his real home here and apologized quietly. Once you started eating your soup, you remained quiet and listened to the casual conversations from around. It wasn’t because you had nothing to say, it’s just that habits are hard to change, and at your house no one spoke while you ate…well, sometimes your mother would, until your father would reprimand her for it. You smiled softly when Sofia talked about her recent trip with her friends to a resort not far from the city and felt a bit bad when Chan confessed that he wouldn’t be going home this month either. You didn’t know his story, but it was obvious how much it bothered him that he couldn’t be there. Vernon answered his mom when he was asked something, but otherwise remained silent like you, stealing glances that you obviously noticed but ignored in order to stop yourself from blushing.

“Did Vernon manage to teach you something today, Y/N?” Mrs. Chwe asked you just as you finished eating and your eyebrows furrowed.

“He tried to…” You muttered and subconsciously threw a glare at Vernon, “But I didn’t do much.”

“You aren’t bad though.” You scoffed and whipped your head towards Vernon, for a second forgetting that it wasn’t just the two of you there.

“Saying that now to seem nice, huh? Who are you trying to impress?” Everyone remained silent at your snappy tone and you grew embarrassed, realizing you were acting out again. It was just getting to you. The atmosphere at the table, how nice everyone was to everyone, how Mrs. Chwe seemed to know her kids and didn’t even have to ask them because she already knew what bothered them. Even Chan was treated well and Mrs. Chwe was babying him, offering him more soup once he was done even though he probably couldn’t eat more. It was obvious that everyone was cared of and loved. Hearing Mrs. Chwe calling you ‘my dear’ wasn’t helping with the void you felt in your chest. It was making your stomach ache when you thought of going home after this, after the picture of a loving family was now forever imprinted into your mind. How were you not supposed to hate Vernon now? He isn’t just perfect at school; his whole life seems to be perfect. Everyone loves him and Chan even looks up at him, Sofia seems to love to tease him and no one seems to be always pressuring him. How am I supposed to look at him without envy?

“I’m sorry, that was rude.” You apologized quickly, realizing you’ve stayed quiet for too long.

“Don’t worry, my son isn’t perfect.” Mrs. Chwe’s words were so contradicting towards your thoughts about him, “Whatever misunderstanding you have going on, I understand. Just solve it quickly so that you don’t stay with a grudge.”

“A misunderstanding even I don’t understand.” Vernon mumbled underneath his breath and you looked at him, eyes widening just a little bit. Now you felt worse and you sighed, pushing your hair behind your back.

“Oh, dear!” Everyone looked at Mrs. Chwe surprised, she was looking at you with her eyebrows furrowed, “What happened to your face?”

Your eyebrows furrowed as you touched your face with both hands, looking at Vernon out of reflex since you knew him best from the table, to see if he could see something wrong. His eyes looked into yours for a second before they fell on your cheek. Your heart seemed to come to a stop before it sped up dangerously and you just cleared your throat.

“I’m clumsy sometimes,” It was a script you memorized a long time ago, “I have a cabinet in my bathroom that’s around my height and sometimes when I wake up, I’m dizzy and happen to run into it. That’s what happened.”

Everyone but Vernon seemed to buy it, Sofia even laughed, “You should be more carefully, why did you even put the cabinet there?”

“I wasn’t the designer of the apartment.” You joked with her, throwing Vernon a confused glance as his right leg was moving up and down fast, like when you were anxious. Chan and Sofia giggled as Mrs. Chwe stood to gather the bowls.

“Put some ice on it, it’ll go away.” Her voice was soothing and you felt like her, too, knew your story was a lie; but you decided to ignore it and thank her for lunch once again.

“When is Mr. Chwe coming home?” Chan asked as he stood to help Mrs. Chwe take the bowls to the sink. He saved your curiosity and you were happy that he asked before you could.

“I don’t know,” Vernon answered with a shrug, leaning back in his chair, “He took some extra shifts.”

“Yes, because you just had to buy that expensive car to race with.” Mrs. Chwe snapped from the kitchen and you looked at Vernon.

“I’ve been earning more money ever since, mom. You can’t say I’m not trying to help you.” Vernon got defensive, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Your eyes fell on the contracting muscles and you gulped, reaching for your glass to drink some water. Sofia smirked but looked at her phone when she saw you throwing her a questioning glance.

“As if we weren’t in debt before.” The woman sighed to herself, but everyone heard it, and the cash that Vernon threw back at you yesterday felt heavy in your back-pocket. He wasn’t a charity case, he said it himself, but why not give it to him when you seriously didn’t need it? You looked at Vernon and his eyebrows were furrowed as he sighed quietly.

“Thank you for having me for lunch, but I really have to go home now.” You spoke up and stood up, Vernon following your actions. Sofia shot you a pout but she waved as you walked to the kitchen, Vernon behind you.

“You should come more often.” Mrs. Chwe gave you a pat on the head and you bowed your head, waving at Chan, but as you went to step outside of the kitchen, you stopped. Vernon walked into you and your skin tingled as he grabbed onto your arms, steadying himself. You wanted to curse but focused on what you were about to say as you glanced back, having to look over Vernon’s shoulder. He was taller than you.

“Chan, ask Vernon to give you my phone number and whenever you have free time, call me if you feel like studying a little.” Chan’s mouth fell open and you winked at him, taking off again.

“For free?” Chan shouted after you and you chuckled, weirdly not bothered that Vernon was still holding onto you.

“For free!” You called back and Chan started loudly cheering, making Vernon sigh, “You should do the same, Vernon, the poor kid makes it obvious that he’d like to study.”

“You think I didn’t try doing that?” Vernon scoffed and finally released you as you went to pull on your shoes, “He’s stubborn and refuses to listen to me.”

“I guess my beauty is enough to give him motivation then.” You said cutely and Vernon could have sworn his heart stopped beating. You didn’t notice his sudden freeze up as you grabbed your jacket and phone from your pocket.

“Your beauty…” He muttered to himself as you sent a message to John to pick you up, his answer was immediate.

“So…” You looked back at Vernon, sneakily taking the roll of cash from your back-pocket, “We are meeting tomorrow too?”

“That’s the plan, right?” He asked, his voice sounding a bit chocked up and you ignored it as you nodded. Your eyes fell on the table behind him and your heart picked up when you realized what you’d have to do. You wouldn’t have done it, not in a million years, if it wasn’t your only chance to leave the money at him. Your heart started beating fast and Vernon frowned when he saw you closing the gap between you two. You grimaced to yourself as you let your left arm circle his torso, hugging him briefly. Your right arm extended and just as you managed to drop the cash onto the table, Vernon pulled you into himself. You gasped quietly and noticed how refreshing his scent was and the back of his t-shirt was still wet from his dripping hair that seemed only damp now. The hug didn’t last for long but when you pulled back, both of your cheeks were warm and you couldn’t look at Vernon.

“Uhm, see you tomorrow!” Not wanting to hear his voice and feel more flustered, you quickly opened the door and ran down his driveway, refusing to turn back around to watch him close the door. You could still feel his arms around you and how soft his clothes were despite his body being so firm. I think Yoona is right, I might like Vernon.

           You couldn’t help the satisfied cry that left your lips as you took your forth successful turn, drifting just like Vernon taught you. You still couldn’t do it each time you tried, but this was the best you’ve done since you’ve been here so far. Vernon was proud as he gripped onto the board of the car, lips in a wide grin. He wasn’t bothered by how sharp your turns were, throwing him around in his seat even though he was buckled up, he was happy that you were happy. He’s never seen you with such wide smile before, and he was mesmerized. He never thought you could become more beautiful than you already were. Your heart was beating fast again as you decided this was satisfying enough to take a break, Vernon’s been complaining for half an hour now. You slowed the car down and stopped the engine when it finally came to a stop. You let out a breath and relaxed in the driver’s seat, feeling accomplished. You could finally do it; you were sure you needed more practice but you actually did it this time.

“That was pretty cool, Y/N.” You forgot you were with Vernon in the car and you became embarrassed as you looked at him, “Am I still a bad teacher?”

“It took me five hours in total to catch the hang of it, I wouldn’t tell anyone you’re very bright at teaching.” It made Vernon chuckle and you realized what he acted like in school was his real personality, he wasn’t faking anything like some people were. It felt nice to be around someone authentic and you found yourself staring at him. His black hair seemed to have wax on as it was twirled in locks and paired with the red sunglasses he wore it made him look very attractive. He had on some black ripped jeans and underneath his neon green oversized jumper he wore a white t-shirt, you could see the collar of it. When Vernon locked eyes with you, you quickly looked away and picked at the ends of your turtleneck; your knee-length skirt had ridden up a bit and was around your thighs, you’d have to pull it lower soon.

“I gave Chan your phone number,” You looked back at Vernon surprised, you didn’t expect Chan to actually accept your offer, “He said he’ll give you a call next week.”

“That’s fine,” You hummed and brushed your long hair behind your back, “The less time I spend at home, the better.”

You wished you didn’t say that, because it seemed like Vernon just remembered something and his eyebrows furrowed as his eyes searched your face. You did not forget to put on foundation today, so he couldn’t see anything wrong with your skin, but suddenly the area felt on fire. You hoped Vernon wouldn’t bring it up now that he couldn’t see it, but you were wrong.

“Why hide the bruise if I have already seen it?”

“I thought it wasn’t visible anymore, good you told me.”

“Wouldn’t want more people getting suspicious?” Your eyebrows furrowed and Vernon rolled his eyes, looking a little irritated.

“What happened?” You shrugged and sighed, trying to remain neutral.

“I told you yesterday, Vernon—”

“But it’s not the truth.” You rolled your eyes but Vernon’s burning gaze made you want to tell him everything. You didn’t know anymore which feeling was stronger: hatred or liking. But you wanted to tell someone and Vernon was willing to listen, maybe you felt like this because you knew Vernon wouldn’t directly go to the police like Yoona would.

“Everyone at school is jealous of me for being rich, for having everything I want and need. But I don’t have everything, Vernon. My parents don’t love, at least my father doesn’t, my mother barely spends time with me nowadays and the bruise—" You hated thinking of how you got certain bruises, your chest ached. You blocked the memories away and you didn’t think it would be this hard to say it. You were scared of how Vernon would react and what he’d think, would he see you differently? Vernon grabbed your hand and you became stiff, wanting to pull your hand away but keep it there at the same time. It was oddly offering you comfort.

“The truth is that—my father—he—hits me.” You muttered quietly and looked down at your hands, unable to look at Vernon. You didn’t want him to see the tears in your eyes, you hated being vulnerable in front of others. And now you were confused about what you actually felt for Vernon, it wasn’t helping. Vernon’s silence was making you uncomfortable and you glanced up at him, his jaw was clenched. He seemed fine, but his jaw gave him away. You knew he was angry and you sighed, pulling your hand away from his.

“Go to the police, tell on him.”

“No, I can’t do that. He’s still my father.”

“Do you even hear yourself?!” Vernon’s sudden raise of voice made you jump as you looked back at him surprised, “This isn’t a little disciplinary spank a parent does from time to time, Y/N. He’s abusing you!”

You didn’t need someone to tell you, you were well aware of that. You threw Vernon a glare and crossed your arms in front of your chest, “Thanks for stating the obvious—”

“No, don’t do that!” He snapped, undoing his seatbelt in his anger, to be able to turn towards you better, “This isn’t something that can be treated lightly, Y/N! You need to tell someone; he has to stop. He has no rights laying his hands on you, do you understand me?”

“Do you understand that I know but I won’t do anything?” You raised your voice as well, your glare becoming harsh, “If I want my life to be ruined forever, sure, I’ll go tell the authorities.”

“He can’t ruin your life for something he did knowingly that it’s wrong—” His words became white noise as you closed your eyes, trying to calm yourself. Vernon was the last person you needed lecturing from, especially since you were getting this treatment because he was better than you at one fucking subject. Your anger went through the roof and you snaped, unable to take his words.

“Shut up, it’s all because of you!” Vernon’s eyes went wide and he looked so confused, you felt bad for telling him that, “You’re better at English than I am, my father can’t stand that. I have to be best at everything. It’s why I could never stand you, unknowingly you made me hurt. And it’s a shit reason, I know, but it’s true…”

Vernon looked speechless until he started looking regretful and he grabbed your hand again, despite your glare, “I’m sorry—”

“Don’t apologize,” You scoffed, throwing him a look, “It’s not your fault. Don’t worry, I only have to put up with his shit for three more months. I’ll be moving out.”

“Does he know?” Vernon’s eyebrows rose and you scoffed again.

“Of course not. Why would I tell him? He keeps threatening me so I don’t see why I shouldn’t make his threats reality before he gets to proceed with them.” Vernon’s eyebrows furrowed as he thought and you raised your eyebrows at him.

“Come move in with us.” You weren’t expecting that at all and your eyes grew wide as you stared at Vernon. Move in with him and his family? That sounded weird, you could manage on your own too. It wasn’t that hard, right?

“I can’t, that house is already packed with you four and Chan spending his time there too.”

“Sofia would love to have another girl around the house, please?”

“Vernon, this isn’t something you get to decide. That house is your parents’ and I can’t show up unannounced, okay?” Your eyebrows rose at him and he sighed, knowing what you were saying was right.

“Fine, but think about it…” You nodded once and he took his hand off from yours, you uncrossed your arms, “Do you really hate me?”

You thought for a second as you watched him, not knowing how to answer him, because you didn’t know how you felt for him. You didn’t actually hate him, but you did envy him.

“I’m not sure how I feel about you…” You muttered and Vernon sighed, leaning back in the seat, “But I don’t think I hate you. I thought you sucked, but maybe you aren’t that bad.”

It made Vernon chuckle and when he looked over at you, your heart started beating quickly again and you blushed. If you constantly kept reacting like that it meant that you actually felt something more for him, right? Yoona must have been right, she never joked around with things like this one, and you bit your lower lip as the two of you watched each other quietly. You were always bold with others and merciless, not really caring if they got hurt by your words or not. You felt like you gave Vernon the wrong idea and now he might have been convinced that you hated him, which wasn’t true at all. You thought maybe you should be bold for once with your actions too and you cleared your throat, which made Vernon glance at you. He wasn’t making it easier but maybe if he saw you leaning in, he wouldn’t pull away in surprise. So, you leaned over the middle console and with your eyes on his lips, you tried closing the gap but Vernon was too far away. It would have been embarrassing if Vernon had not leaned in as well, pressing his lips against yours. It wasn’t as bad as you thought your first kiss would be, his lips were soft and you found that cute. It didn’t last for long either because Vernon seemed to be flustered as he stiffly pulled his head back, looking into your eyes.

“You might not be my favorite person in the world, but I think I like you.” You found yourself saying and Vernon chuckled, scratching the back of his nape as his ears and neck were red.

“Go on a date with me? Even if I lost the bet….” Vernon asked with a cheeky grin, looking just as flustered as moments ago and it made you chuckle.

“I made that bet because I knew you would lose, but sure.” It was time things took a better turn in your life and maybe Vernon was the starting point.

#bvidzsoo #seventeen scenarios #seventeen oneshot #seventeen series #seventeen fluff #seventeen angst #seventeen smut #choi seungcheol #yoon jeonghan #joshua hong #wen junhui #kwon soonyoung #jeon wonwoo #lee jihoon #lee seokmin #kim mingyu #xu minghao #boo seungkwan #hansol vernon chwe #lee chan #seventeen ot13 #seventeen vernon #vernon pairing #vernon oneshot #vernon angst #vernon fluff #seventeen racing au #seventeen high school au #seventeen illegal racing au #seventeen racer au

[mercurytrinemoon]

On houses, house rulerships & how ya'll should stop associating them with signs + a rant on the meaning of the 8th house

This is one of those moments where I'm going to say (read: rant, so heads up, I may sound pretentious) that modern times keep distorting astrology. I’m talking about associating houses with signs/planets (aka the “12 letter alphabet”, briefly mentioned by William Lilly in the 17th century but ultimately it became a product of modern astrologers: first attempted by Alan Leo and decades later popularized and named by Zip Dobyns). Can we just... use a neuralyzer and make people forget that method? It's ingrained in people's minds because, seemingly, it's easier to learn that way - search astro basics in google and you'll see things like "9th house=Sagittarius=Jupiter". This compressed version of astrology seems more accessible and easily digestible for a casual reader and not many newbies try to even question that approach. But there's a reason reputable astrologers these days are trying to erase it from everyone's minds. Signs are traits, planets are vessels, houses are areas of life. Houses are a completely different thing + every person has their own chart with their own house rulers. You can't say Mars is the “natural” ruler of the 1st... well unless, of course, you're an Aries rising, then yeah, your 1st is ruled by Mars, 2nd by Venus and so on.

Sure, some houses share accidental similarities with planets that have been assigned to them by modern *cough*lazy*cought* approach. Example, the 3rd rules communication... oh and so does Mercury. But then again, Mercury has nothing to do with health, injuries, work - all things 6th house. 7th is relationships and 2nd is money & values... and it so happens that Venus shows our attitude towards these things. I would sometimes find myself loosely refer houses to planets, like “oh the 3rd mercurial house” just because SOME of them do fit with the characteristics... and because it's a language that is well-understood (I won't do that anymore). BUT even when I started learning astrology, I had a red light go on in my head when people would straight up go "Moon in Virgo or Moon in the 6th". It never made sense to me. These are completely different things. And I've seen some awesome astrologers who would state things like "oh Aquarius Sun is basically the same as Sun in the 11th", like nah, dude. Because why? Aquarius is the friendly type and the 11th rules friends? Because Aquarius is the big innovator and 11th stands for hopes and dreams? But Aquarius is also a rebel who's stiff in their beliefs. Aquarius is a weirdo, is the 11th house the house of weirdos? No. Aquarius likes to be independent and usually has issues with feeling of not belonging anywhere, while 11th rules communities. THAT'S CONTRADICTORY. Because they're not the same.

Want more examples? Having Venus in Aries is completely different than Venus in the 1st. What do people usually say about Venus in the 1st? That it makes the native charming, lovely, well-put together, with great manners, maybe beautiful, graceful, maybe a bit shallow. When in Aries? None of these characteristics fit, on top of that, it's in its detriment. Our poor gal Venus is uncomfortable and confused in Aries. She's like, "conquer? Swords? Selfishness? Obnoxiousness? Sparring? You're telling me to fight people? What am I doing here???" 

I think it most shows in the 8th house, which... *deep breath* has gone through so much (ironically since it rules transformation), like, there's a lot to unpack here. "tHe sCorPioNic HoUse": tell me in what way does Scorpio have to do with inheritance, death, taxes, other people's stuff? These are the og topics associated with the 8th house. And by the way, it doesn't have to be a material inheritance, because I saw people being confused by that. You can have your 10th house ruler in the 8th so maybe you'll inherit that job as a chairman in your father's corporation, along with its renowned name. Or your 6th house ruler is in the 8th so you'll inherit a genetic health condition from your parent. 

Now, modern astrology, as per usual, tried to turn it into something positive (and psychological because apparently according to modern notion, astrology can’t predict anything so it’s only psychological *eye roll*) and put its rose-colored glasses on it so they'll say things like: transformation or taboo topics - like okay, makes sense, it's an intense house after all. Like a near-death experience or a metaphorical death will be transformative and maybe hard to talk about. And Scorpios do have the tendency to go through drastic situations in their lives and to dig deep & not being afraid to uncover secrets and all that's unknown and scary for others. There you have it, some convergence. But still, Scorpio and the 8th house are two different things.

Then there's the topic of the 8th house and sex. Actually, side note, a quick history bit, the 2nd century astrologer, Vettius Valens saw sex in the 7th house - because that was the thing that happened after marriage - it represented two people coming together. In medieval times it then moved to 5th house of kids - because children-making requires intercourse, duh. Listen, I get that the 8th, as the follow-up to the 7th, is seen as joined resources; and joined everything, including bodies... or bodily fluids... (tmi?) after you get married or whatever. I don't think that makes sense in the modern times. I mean, go ahead if you want to associate the 8th with sex but after some time of studying astrology, I see it almost exclusively in the 5th as it's the house of pleasures. Simply. Besides, technically you can get yourself off and don’t need anyone else to assist you. My issue, again, comes from the root of the association with the 8th. Modern astrologers started linking 8th with Pluto and Scorpio in medical astrology rules reproductive system and so Scorpio is seen as the fReAky sEx dEMon blAh blaH (honestly, try asking Scorpios about their intimate life and they'll run for the hills abashed). So it turned out that 8th house is the "plutonian one" (I had a moment today wondering if it's plutonian or plutonic and idk anymore) so therefore it must rule sex. Well that logic doesn't make sense because everyone knows that the first and most important planet in the matters of sex is Mars but none of ya'll go and say "1st house is the house of sex because it's ruled by Aries". So no, houses are not the same as signs/planets.

12th house has a similar issue. This one has literally nothing to do with Pisces. Like, I feel bad for Pisces honestly, you guys don’t deserve being dumped into the 12th. It's a rather gloomy house and the most positive thing you could come up with it is being the house of imagination and intuition - because it rules the subconscious and partially your mind. And Pisces is usually characterized by those two. Or you could say that they're both kinda foggy in nature - 12th is the unattainable. But that is literally the closest you can get with them correlating. Other than that, 12th is hidden enemies, succlusion, illness (but mental or chronic, it's a bit different than 6th). There's nothing piscean about it really.

But I get it, open most of the astrology books and you'll see chapters called that way. Why? Because it's easier to publish something that's shorter aka simpler for the reader (actually that was one of Dobyns' reasoning behind spreading that approach). That’s why I said it’s lazy. And someone would argue that it’s easier to learn this way - because the information is compressed into 12 sections (signs) instead of 24 (signs+houses) or even more if you include delineations of every house ruled by each sign. Like, “well if I memorize the meaning of Cancer and Moon then automatically I’ll also memorize the 4th house”. But in fact, it’s so limiting in the long run and then forces you to unlearn what you have learnt, which is actually harder than taking the time and grasping the proper meaning right away. And again, with time it warps the meaning of everything.

Saying house=sign completely discredits the purpose of even having houses. And then on top of that it leads to people not understanding their own charts because they don't know the core meanings of the houses and instead look at them through the lens of signs. "I have planets in Gemini but I'm not that talkative and extroverted". Well okay, where are those planets? Are they in the 7th? Then maybe they're not talking about you but about people you come in contact with? Are they in the 4th? Well maybe it's your fam that has those qualities? The 11th? Are your friends like that? Houses are areas of your life, you can't say "Moon in the 3rd or Moon in Gemini" - Moon is "how", house is "where" - these are not the same things, even if they have a few traits in common. 

Ok, rant over, bye.

#wELL tHaT LoGic dOesN'T MaKe sEnSe #why do i sound like hermione granger #anyways #you can hate me now #and you bet i'm going to reblog this post regularly #just to annoy you #astrology #house rulers #astrology houses #8th house #mercurytrinemoon

[nbrook29]

Kiss or Slap

Sander doesn’t remember when exactly their group made the riverside near the Scheldt their new hangout spot, but he couldn’t be more grateful for it as a cold breeze washes over his overheated body, providing a momentary relief against the scorching heat falling from the sky. It’s probably why the park is fuller than it usually is on Thursday afternoons, packed with people spread on their picnic blankets, searching for a bit of shadow under the big trees and desperately craving a bit of wind. 

It’s so hot he doesn’t even feel like sketching, preferring to just lie on the grass without moving a single muscle, and dying in peace. Even the enticing smell of cinnamon rolls that Noor brought with her isn’t enough for him to reach out and take one from the basket, the action requiring too much movement on his part.

“Guys, come on, we have to start or we’ll never get it done! Sander, get your lazy ass up.” He grunts when he feels Leon’s merciless fingers jabbing him in the ribs.

“Can’t we wait until it gets a little less hot?”

“No, cause that’s not happening in the nearest future and we need new content,” Nathan butts in, followed by Noor, which makes Sander officially outvoted. So he heaves a deep sigh, puts his shirt back on and ruffles his hair to make himself more presentable, rolling his eyes at Noor’s appreciative whistling.

“Someone’s gonna snatch himself a bunch of kisses today with that smoldering look,” she teases, pretending to give him a once over.

“Is that your way of telling me you want one for yourself, sweetheart?” He’s immensely proud of himself when her entire face scrunches up in disgust.

“Eww, no, feels like incest at this point.” Which is kinda true given the fact they’ve known each other since kindergarten and became best friends making sand castles. He fires an obnoxious wink at her, fully anticipating a shove which comes as expected within seconds, with Noor calling him a creep in between laughter.

“Who should we start with? Senne? Wanna go first?” Sander watches as Leon takes out his camera equipment and checks the settings as the rest collects their things.

“I guess, yeah. And then Nathan after me?”

“I’m not doing it, man, you know Britt, she’s gonna flip out.”

“Be a good reason to break up with her,” Sander mutters under his breath, not really feeling apologetic when Nathan shoots him a glare. It would be a long time coming, and honestly, Sander can’t wait for that moment to come. Just being in her presence gives him chills, she’s that much of a horrible person. A few years ago, he read something about alternate universes and sometimes when he looks at her he can’t help but think there’s a history there with the two of them, in a past life or something. At least it would explain that weird energy between them.

If it’s true, he feels very sorry for that Sander. 

He roots for him to run far away from said devil’s spawn.

“I can go next, I don’t have the ball and chain,” Noor says innocently, but she’s smirking over Nathan’s shoulder at Sander who pretends to high five her in their shared hatred for Britt.

“Yeah, us lonely birds will sacrifice ourselves and take the hit for the wellbeing of our channel,” Sander laments playfully, making Senne snort.

“Dude, you’re on your own by your own choice.”

“And pickiness. Don’t forget pickiness,” Noor adds smugly.

Sander huffs in protest. “I’m not picky! I just...” He cuts off because he’s not about to just explain it all now.

“Just what?”

“Specific about what I want.”

Brown curls, brown eyes, shortish, lean, pierced ear, cute giggle, elegant hands and a smile brighter than the sun. 

To be exact.

“Yeah. That’s picky.”

“Whatever,” he replies grumpily, and decides to ignore Noor’s knowing look. Sometimes he feels like she has a sixth sense and can read him like a book. Or she’s just less oblivious than the boys in their friend group. That’s a totally possible option too.

Thankfully, she doesn’t push him further (she’s awesome like that), though Sander has a feeling she’s gonna grill him later when they’re alone. For now, she checks her lipstick in her phone as they all briefly plan the video.

Not like there’s that much to plan; a few days ago, they decided to shoot a kiss or slap challenge for their YouTube channel because it had been wildly requested by their viewers.

Sander still doesn’t quite know how he became a part of a YouTube channel in the first place, always considering himself to be a bit more, well, sophisticated than that? But Leon was into it from the beginning and made them all participate in exchange for free beer, until one day one of their videos blew up.

If you can call getting 100k views on one video blowing up. 

Anyway, they got semi-popular amongst Flemish teens and even managed to snatch a sponsorship with Mentos (however small the offer was) that paid actual money. And he had just managed to move out of his family house so any money coming his way he welcomed with no questions asked. 

So they’ve kept shooting silly challenges slash anything else that’s a trend at a given time and have been able to cover their art supply needs with what little they earned. And, though Sander refused to admit it in the beginning, it’s actually kinda fun. It’s definitely better than his part time job at Pull&Bear where he has to deal with obnoxious customers on an almost daily basis.

They record a short introduction near the river, quickly going over the rules and explaining that the three of them will be competing in who gets more kisses versus slaps. 

“Hey, you know what, this is actually unfair cause you both can kiss anybody,” Senne points out all of a sudden, receiving four pairs of unimpressed glances.

“No one’s stopping you from getting kisses from boys too, dude,” Sander is quick to shut him up, shit-eating grin on his face as he gives him his first (light) slap to the cheek. 

They follow Senne around the park with a camera as he turns on his charm and smiles sweetly at the girls he chooses for the challenge, doing surprisingly well on the first few attempts. But when they venture deeper into the park and he tries his luck with college girls, he gets 5 slaps in the row to the rest of the group’s utter delight. In the end, his results are a blow to his pride and even Sander feels sorry for him, giving him a pat on the back while trying to hold his laughter in at Senne’s grumpy face.

Noor does much better, naturally, as her upbeat personality and a wide smile have always made boys and girls turn their heads. She gets a kiss after kiss, blush after blush, and two phone numbers in the process. Senne argues again that it’s unfair because no one’s gonna slap a girl anyway, but Leon just calls him a sore loser while Noor shamelessly flirts in French with another girl right in front of the camera.

Sander’s very proud.

Taking a quick sip of water, he gives Leon a thumbs up and starts his round, coming over to three blond girls chilling near the skateboarding ramps, trying very hard not to come off as creepy and clarifying the kiss part being only a cheek kiss. The girls erupt in giggles, but they all grant him a light kiss. One of them tries to flirt with him after, but he shoots her down before she can get too into it.

“Such a heartbreaker, you,” Noor coos at Sander’s pained face when they all walk away.

“That’s you, and you actually enjoy it,” he quips back, sticking his tongue at her.

“I do not, shut up!”

Fifteen minutes and fourteen kisses later he’s officially in the lead, sealing his victory with a kiss number fifteen he receives from a cute redhead. He’s gloating in Senne’s bemused face about nobody choosing to slap him when he stops in his tracks.

It’s the proof of his hopeless infatuation that he’d recognize that laugh everywhere.

He looks around for its source, but he comes up short. Then, his eyes focus on the skatepark area and his heart starts beating faster.

Because it feels like a sign. Like the universe is giving him a chance to finally do something. Make a move.

“Hey, can we shoot one more try?” He asks the guys, trying to sound casual while glancing furtively in the direction of brown curls.

“You’ve already won, but I guess?”

Nobody questions him about his reasons, they just follow him to the ramp.

And he’s so fucking nervous. 

It’s incredible, really, how he generally has no problems talking to people he’s interested in, conversation flowing without him even trying, gaining easy smiles and appreciative looks wherever he goes, some natural confidence to him. 

But that boy. That boy is something else.

He makes him question everything he says, makes his palms sweat and makes his deep hidden shyness come onto the surface.

Sander saw him for the first time during Open Day at the Academie in may, strolling casually through the hallway with his friend, completely oblivious to the turmoil he was causing to Sander’s heart.

That was the day Sander saw an angel. 

Fate placed him on his path again sooner than he could’ve hoped, the boy participating in a 2 week film course at his school only several days after he saw him for the first time. And he tried so hard to convince himself to talk to him over that time, but he only managed a few smiles while passing him by in the hallway. 

That and that one stupid joke he said to him while they were waiting in line at the cafeteria that makes him cringe in despair just thinking about it. Seriously, it’s like his entire cool evaporates when he’s near him.

But, the boy laughed at it. So maybe it wasn’t as horrible as Sander is making it to be. Or he was just being nice. 

Robbe. 

Robbe, who he’s been crushing on ever since that fateful day in may.

Robbe, who was at the same party he was last weekend.

Robbe, who he talked to at that party and managed to calm his nerves enough to be charming and funny.

Robbe, who giggled, blushed and bit his lip at Sander’s dumb jokes that evening.

Robbe, who slipped through his fingers because Sander blacked out soon after.

He almost never drinks, but that one night he did, celebrating the beginning of summer break, and not realizing his usual abstinence meant he was now officially a lightweight. What an awful timing.

Robbe doesn’t notice him right away, having his back turned to him while talking animatedly to his friends. Taking a deep breath and plastering a smile to his face to hide his nervousness, he approaches them.

“Hey guys, got a second?”

He notices the recognition in Robbe’s face right away, and Sander shoots him a quiet “hi” when his eyes meet his, an unsure smile blooming on his face.

“Hey, what’s up?” One of the boys nods at the camera.

“I’m Sander, and we’re shooting a video for our YouTube channel, the kiss or slap challenge,” he quickly explains, the boys’ faces lighting up.

“Hey, we have a channel too! I’m Moyo, this is Jens, Aaron, and Robbe.” Moyo reaches out to bump his fist with him and damn, Sander has to find that channel if Robbe is a part of it.

Jens levels him with a look. “So, you want us to kiss you or slap you?” 

“Pretty much, yeah?” Sander chuckles because he’s aware it’s ridiculous, but he’s a man on a mission here, give him a break.

“I think Robbe should represent all of us, don’t you think so?” Moyo proposes, tongue in his cheek as he checks with the rest of his friends. Sander catches the death glare Robbe sends the boy before looking back at him and crossing his arms, looking a bit out of place. And, fuck, the last thing Sander wants is to make him uncomfortable.

So he asks softly, “you’re in?” and waits for agonizing five seconds as Robbe watches him, eyes narrowed, before his features smooth out and he smiles at him.

“Sure, why not.”

Relieved, Sander lets out a chuckle and tries to keep his cool. “Okay then - kiss or slap?”

Robbe squints against the sun and makes him wait another few seconds before he answers, but Sander’s not worried because there’s a soft smile on his face and obviously his angel wouldn’t-

“Slap.”

Wait, what.

He can hear his friends bursting in laughter at this unexpected turn of events while Sander can only stare in shock because how could he miscalculate the situation this much?

Gulping, confused and heartbroken, he asks, “you’re sure?”, to which Robbe nods with a poorly hidden glee.

“But you have to close your eyes cause I can’t hit you while you're looking at me.”

Heaving a deep sigh and trying to save a face despite the humiliation flooding his body, he nods and closes his eyes, steeling himself for it.

But it never comes.

Suddenly, he feels a hand cupping his cheek and he flinches a little, but then soft lips touch his in a kiss so gentle he blinks his eyes open, not knowing what’s happening.

“That was payback for you promising to call me and not keeping your word,” Robbe whispers against his lips before leaning away, something sad and wistful passing through his face. Sander is left completely dumbfounded, ignoring the hollering from the two groups as his eyes fleet all over Robbe’s face.

It’s difficult for him to collect his thoughts because holy fuck, Robbe has just kissed him and he’s internally freaking out. He finally manages to get his bearings when the remnants of a smile slip off Robbe’s lips.

“I-, Robbe, you have no idea how much I wanted to call you, but I don’t have your number.”

“I gave it to you. At the party?” He doesn’t look like he believes a word Sander is saying.

“Um, I kinda blacked out and don’t remember much after like one-ish?”

“You saved it though, I saw you typing it in,” Robbe argues again, but this time he doesn’t look so sure. “Wait, what’s your number?”

Sander watches him entering digit after digit before hitting call. He fully expects a plain number to appear on his screen, eyes widening when he sees what pops up instead.

zk bambieys 🥺🦌👁️💘🧡💖💞 calling

“Fuck, you did give me your number.” He’s not fast enough to hide his screen from Robbe, but he can't even feel embarrassment once he notices the frown disappeared from his face.

“Bambi eyes?” There's a teasing note in his voice, but his pink cheeks sell him out.

Sander scratches his head. "I was very drunk, you can't hold it against me. Also, your eyes are really beautiful," he clarifies, winking when Robbe laughs at his shameless flirting. "Hey, I tried to find you on instagram, but nothing came up. I was really hoping we're gonna bump into each other again. Sorry for being a dumbass and not realizing I had your number this entire time?”

“It’s okay.” Robbe shoves his hand into the pockets of his jeans, swaying on his heels. Sander decides to put them both out of their misery and take the initiative.

“So if I asked you out, would you say yes?”

It looks like Robbe’s about to nod, but then he bites his lip, an almost cheeky smile directed at him. “I guess you have to call me to find out.” And then he gets on his skateboard and casually skates away to the nearest ramp, pulling a surprised laugh out of Sander.

If he was intrigued before, now he’s totally smitten with this wonder of a boy, because damn. 

Their friends finally seem to regain their voices and speak over each other at what just happened, but Sander doesn’t pay them any attention, just takes out his phone again and pressing the call button. 

Watching as Robbe comes to a full stop at the top of the ramp, he cocks his head with a grin and waits until he picks up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Sander.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Robbe laughs into the speaker.

“Will you go out with me?”

He meets his eyes across the skatepark as Robbe makes him wait again.

Then, with a smile so radiant it overshadows the sun, the boy finally gives him his answer.

“Yes.”

#wtfock #my fics #i think i prefer writing sobbe in canon #i kinda struggle with the AU versions of them #😫

[cha-melodius]

Okay so this might be a weird ask... But I recently fell back in love with tmfu and I am just bursting with the need to find more people in the fandom but I suck at navigating tumblr and social media in general and was wondering if you have any recomendations of who to follow who's active in the fandom. Also, I really love your fics!! you're an awesome writer!!

Hey anon! Thank you so much, I'm so happy to hear you love my fics! And I totally get it, tumblr still turns me around sometimes lol. As I'm sure you've noticed this fandom is, well, pretty quiet these days. It's certainly not dead, there are still people around and interacting with content, just a little sleepy.

I feel like I haven't necessarily done the best job at keeping up with who is particularly active, especially if there are newer folks getting involved. The person who immediately comes to mind is @heytheredeann; I don't think that anyone does better at unearthing tmfu art and gifsets from years ago and reblogging them, plus she is an author and gif-maker herself! There aren't a ton of people who post new content, but @ecude does adorable napollya sketches, @atanau makes beautiful mood boards, and @dddddddn does amazing napollya art. Of the people I follow, I feel like the ones that reblog the most tmfu content are @penntoxide, @therogueheart, @coaldustcanary, @deducitetemporacarmen, @mykaijusizefeels, and @eavos (sorry for the tag spam).

I'm honestly not sure who else to tag because I don't know how many people really consider themselves "active in the fandom" (apologies if I'm forgetting anyone, I know I am!), and I'm sure I'm missing all kinds of blogs, including a bunch of people I should probably be following myself, lol. So people can feel free to use this post as a gathering place of sorts, if anyone considers themselves active in the fandom, or just reblogs a lot of tmfu content, and wants to connect with other fans, you can reblog or comment or just like this post so others can find you!

Also there is a TMFU (movie) discord server, invite link here, and we're always happy to have new members!

#tmfu #the man from u.n.c.l.e. #the man from uncle #the man from uncle (2015)

[luvreyn]

My Manhwa List (2021) Part 7

I sometimes put those that are considered as webtoons in my list ‘cause technically they’re also manhwas >.> hope everyone’s doing okay and get vaccinated when it’s available to you!

The Demonic Contract

Source: https://copincomics.com/?c=toon&k=185

Description:

Yurisina, the daughter of the demon king, has always wanted to become a full-fledged demon by making her first contract with a human. That's when Princess Marianne of the Pedin Kingdom summoned her to take revenge on Queen Orphelius who poisoned her, and asks Yurisina to live in her place...

THOUGHTS & WHY YOU SHOULD READ

- art = 5/5 top-tier

- plot = ..../5

- the demon contract thing is interesting but I guess that’s exactly why I was like uhmm ??? the following chaps

- it has potential so I'm sticking around though

- ML is a sword maniac literally lmao

- the MC is cute 

- the comedy feels force sometimes or idk if it’s just me 

- the demon kind is awesome that’s all

- and the 2nd ML (?) steals me from the ML every time he appears like how could someone be that beautiful!! Dibs!

- verdict: I got a mixed emotions about it and I’m tempted to just drop and forget it ever existed but the potential is there and it’s getting interesting with the recent chaps. You be the judge!

Like Wind on a Dry Branch

Source: https://www.webtoons.com/en/fantasy/like-wind-on-a-dry-branch/list?title_no=2405

Description:

As plague and turmoil afflicts the empire, enchanting widow Rieta Tristi finds herself at the mercy of a malicious nobleman and his dying wish to have her buried alive beside his corpse. The plague has taken her husband, slave traders have taken her young child, and now her own life is at risk -- until an unexpected visit from the empire's outcast prince changes everything.

THOUGHTS & WHY YOU SHOULD READ

- art = 5/5 gorgeous!!

- plot = 5/5

- basically this story is a blessing

- the dialogue, the monologue, the characters, everything everything is perfect

- a gem

- GIRL POWER!!

- ML is a feminist no doubt

- I love him and I love the MC and I love them all

- the villain/s is/are top-tier! they’re not dumby and they’re just e.v.i.l that it makes you want to crush them so they’re effective

- the MC’s development is a must watch!

- I just love this honestly. It’s a gem.

- Verdict: one of the best reads of my 2021!

The Evil Princess Dreams of a Gingerbread House  

Description:

Following her reincarnation into the body of a storybook princess, little Asya only wants one thing: to bake lots of sweet and delectable desserts! Of course, her family is the poorest of the poor, but she’s willing to do whatever it takes to protect her dream and live a peaceful life surrounded by cookies. Unfortunately for her, Asya realizes that she is actually the malevolent Princess Anastasia, a girl who was blessed by a great and powerful spirit, whose hubris brings about her own miserable destruction. But where there’s a will, there’s a way, and Asya isn’t above using her childish charms and excellent baking skills to secure her safety! Plus, what could possibly go wrong when she has the mighty Spirit of Sensation at her side?

THOUGHTS & WHY YOU SHOULD READ

- adorkable

- art = 4/5

- plot = 3.5/5

- so very cute!! 

- reincarnation/isekai

- light read (hopefully until the end) for your hearts~

- fam bond!

- S P I R I T S

- verdict, just the right amount of cuteness to my angst filled fam manhwa reads looks at wmmp >.>

Precious Daughter of the Greatest Martial Arts Villain 

Description:

I’ve become a part of this Wuxia novel as Lihwa, the thoughtful and gentle daughter of Cheon Ma… who’s also the ultimate villain! Known as the Demon King and ruthless leader of the Demonic Sect, he resorts to kidnapping and other nefarious deeds to make sure a boy named Ak Wuryeon never reaches his full potential. Wuryeon doesn’t seem THAT bad, but I know he’ll one day exact his revenge on my father and that includes me! Can I escape the clutches of my father’s enemies and my doomed destiny before it’s too late?

THOUGHTS & WHY YOU SHOULD READ

- art = 4/5

- plot = 3.5/5

- adorkable!

- she’s so cute!

- father-daughter moments are gold!!

- grandpas who will you the world? check

- her power is cool!

- my only errr moments is the pacing >.>

- conclusion, a cute read!

Little Rabbit and the Big Bad Leopard

Description:

Vivi is a... wererabbit?! As a creature that’s supposed to transform into a human, Vivi is a failure, demonized as cursed and sent off to her doom. Luckily, her demise is cut short as Ahin of the Black Leopard Clan saves her. But with every threat and command this temperamental heir tosses at Vivi, she’s questioning her safety (and sanity). Surrounded by carnivores and their strong pheromones, she'll try to survive the chaos while stuck in her rabbit form. Will she figure out how to transform and tap into the power within her cute, furry self?

THOUGHTS & WHY YOU SHOULD READ

- art = 5/5 I cry it’s so pretty

- plot = 4.5/5

- they’re so beautiful seriously

- mom in law is the best!

- lmao ML is a sadist and a masochist 

- the pacing is great!

- C O M E D Y

- C U T E N E S S 

- you might be weirded by some scenes tho

- MC’s fam is trash

- everybody adores my lil babie (it’s the mc/fl btw)

- except for the villains

- a good concept!!

- verdict, a new fav!

#The Demonic Contract #Like Wind on a Dry Branch #shoujo #josei #manhwa #webtoon #manhwa recommendation #reynlist #reyn.manhwarecs #The Evil Princess Dreams of a Gingerbread House #Precious Daughter of the Greatest Martial Arts Villain #Little Rabbit and the Big Bad Leopard

[elliesguitarstrings]

The New Girl ~ The Date

Peter Parker x Stark!Reader

Masterlist || Series Masterlist

Warnings: a few swears, fluff ig lol

A/N: ITS FINALLY HERE!!! so the series is technically done but i thought it would be cute to do a one shot of the date since it would be hard to describe just in texts lmao. i’m so so so sorry this took me so long to write i had absolutely no free time on spring break and then i had exams so i wrote this extremely fast pls don’t judge if this is bad but i hope you enjoy anyways 🥰

this can be read without reading the series first but it might make a little more sense if you have read all the parts :)

~~~~~~~~

The last bell rings in your 7th period class, signaling the end of the school day, and you immediately jump out of your seat and make your way over to Peter's desk.

"You ready to go Parker?" you ask excitedly.

"Yeah, I have to grab some books from my locker first before we leave though," he replies, packing up his stuff.

"Okay, but this time I'm coming with you. I'm not letting you leave me waiting again."

"You're never gonna let me live that one down are you?" he smirks.

"Nope," you giggle, "now hurry up, we've got a date."

After you stop at Peter's locker you take the short walk down to Delmar’s. It isn’t awkward per se, but you can tell that Peter is nervous. So in an attempt to ease his nervousness, you take his hand and intertwine your fingers with his as you walk. Unfortunately, this only results in him completely forgetting how to function and his face turning as red as a tomato. Nonetheless, you continue to drag him to the sandwich shop and Peter quickly regains composure for the rest of the walk.

When you arrive, Peter walks up to the counter, greeting Mr. Delmar.

“Hey, Mr. Parker! The usual I presume?” the man smiles.

“Yup, and a bag of chips with that please.”

“You got it!” Mr. Delmar turns to you, “And who might this young lady be? You got a date kid?”

Peter immediately blushes, his eyes widening. Saving him from embarrassing himself, you speak up. “I’m y/n, and yes, this is a date. Peter said this is the best sandwich shop in Queens, so I thought I’d give it a try.”

“Well he’s not wrong, this is the best sandwich shop in Queens. So what’ll it be for you?”

“Oh, um, I’ll just have the same thing as Peter. Chips too please.”

“Coming right up. And don’t worry about the cost, it’s on the house today.” he winks at Peter.

“Oh, thanks.” Peter says with a sheepish smile.

After a few minutes and some small talk between you and Peter, your food is ready. Mr. Delmar hands Peter two bags and gives you both a knowing smirk. “Alright, you kids have fun on your date. Try your best not to weird her out too much Parker.”

Peter laughs, clearly embarrassed. “Yeah, um, I’ll try. Thanks Mr. Delmar.”

As you walk out of the shop, Peter hesitantly turns to you. “So, um, I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my place to eat our food? It’s not too far from here and my aunt is at work right now so we’ll have the place to ourselves.” His eyes widen, “Not that we’d be doing anything! Just because she can be a bit overbearing sometimes and I don’t want her to like, ask a bunch of questions or anything weird like that. We can just eat at a park somewhere if that’s better though. I just thought since last time we hung out at your house this time we could hang out at mine-”

You cut him off, smiling, “Peter, calm down, that would be great! Let’s go to your place.”

He lets out a relieved sigh. “Awesome, okay! Um, it’s only like ten minutes away so just follow me.”

You arrive at his apartment a few minutes later, out of breath from trying to catch up with Peter who was practically running the whole way home. He unlocks the door and you follow him inside. His apartment is quite small, but it's homely and welcoming, filled with lots of pictures and decorations.

"So, uh, this is it. Do you just want to eat on the couch? Maybe we could watch a movie or something?" Peter asks.

"Sure! Sounds good." You settle on the couch in the living room, taking out your sandwich and chips while Peter turns on the TV. He grabs the remote and makes his way back to the couch, sitting on the opposite side as you. He considers sitting right next to you, but he's afraid that it would make you uncomfortable, so he decides against it.

"What do you wanna watch?" he asks as you hand him his food.

"How about a Star Wars movie? Those are always good." you suggest.

Peter turns to you excitedly, "You like Star Wars?"

You smile, "Of course I like Star Wars! It's like, the best movie franchise ever."

Peter just stares at you, looking completely astonished. He can't believe that you, a beautiful, rich, confident girl, could like Star Wars as much as an awkward geek like him. "You good?" you giggle.

"Yeah, um, I'm fine. Does Empire Strikes Back sound good to you?"

"Sounds great! Now let's eat, I'm fucking hungry." you comment, making Peter chuckle.

You're only about twenty minutes into the movie when you both finish your food, and Peter seems tense. He's anxiously tapping his foot on the floor, seemingly too focused on the movie whenever you look his way. You can tell that he's thinking about something, but you aren't sure what. For the first time today, you start to get nervous, worried that he isn't enjoying the date. He's barely talked to you since the movie started, and he's sitting on the complete opposite end of the couch as you.

"Is everything okay Peter?" you finally speak up, your curiosity getting the best of you.

Still avoiding your gaze and staring at the TV, Peter answers, "Yeah, um, I'm good."

He's obviously lying, but you choose to ignore it for now, "Okay, just checking." Maybe he's not feeling well from his food?

After five more minutes of silence, you finally break. You reach over and grab the remote, pausing the movie, causing Peter to finally look at you. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Peter, something's obviously wrong with you, you've been glued to the TV this whole time and you haven't said a single word to me."

"I'm, uh, I just really like the movie. That's all." he responds, still avoiding your gaze.

"Come on, I know that's not true. Something's up with you Peter. If you aren't enjoying the date just tell me and I'll leave. We can just pretend this never happened and we'll be friends." you deadpan. While you seem completely indifferent on the outside, you're desperately hoping that he doesn't end the date like this. You really like Peter, and even though you just met him, you don't know if you'll ever see him as just a friend.

Peter looks up at you, frantically shaking his head. "Nonononono, that's not it at all! I'm having a great time!"

"Are you sure? Because it really doesn't seem like it to me."

"No, trust me, I am. It's just, um-" he pauses.

"It's just what?"

He looks down. "Nothing, nothing. Nevermind."

"Peter, just tell me. Please?"

"I, uhm, I'm just nervous, that's all." he whispers, feeling ashamed.

You let out a sigh of relief, your own nervousness fading. "What would you have to be nervous about Peter? We're just watching a movie," you giggle.

He begins to ramble, "Well, its just, you're really pretty and I really like you a lot and I don't want to do anything wrong since I already fucked it up the first time and I wanted to sit next to you and cuddle while we watch the movie but then I didn't want to make you uncomfortable because this is only the first date and I didn't want you to hate me because you thought I was some weird perv who just wanted to touch you and I now feel stupid because now you think I'm not having a good time even though I am having a good time so I still fucked it up even though I was trying really hard not to."

You raise your eyebrows, trying to process everything that he just threw at you. "Woah, that was a lot," you start. "But you don't have to be nervous, I don't think you fucked anything up... And also, I wouldn't think you're a perv if you came and cuddled with me while we watch the movie." you smile slightly.

Peter catches on. "Oh... so, um, do you want to cuddle now then?" he asks timidly.

"I thought you'd never ask," you laugh, crawling over to his side of the couch and sliding under his arm to snuggle into his chest. You can feel his heart practically beating out of his chest, and you look up at him. “Peter, relax. You really don’t need to be so nervous,” you giggle.

“S-sorry, I’ve just never cuddled with a girl before.” With the way he was acting, you would think you and Peter were about to have sex, or that you were at least doing something a little more dirty than just cuddling. You don’t mind though, it's actually kind of cute. Plus, to be completely honest you haven’t had much experience either, so you feel better knowing that Peter is just as nervous as you are, probably more.

You smile, cuddling closer to him. “Just turn the movie back on idiot.”

For the rest of the film, you and Peter snuggle close on the couch. He absentmindedly plays with your hair as you lay on his chest, making your heart swoon. You two could honestly stay like this forever, and neither of you would mind. But your phone dings with a notification. You groan, not wanting to get up, and slowly reach to the other side of the couch to grab it.

“It’s my dad, he wants me to come home for dinner.” you frown.

“Oh, well, um, okay. Then I guess you should probably get going. I really don’t want you to leave though.” Peter blushes.

“Neither do I, but you know how my dad gets.”

“Yeah,” he chuckles, “I’ll walk you out then.” You and Peter both get up from the couch and walk to his front door.

“I had a really good time today.” Peter grins.

“Me too.” you step closer to him and pull him into a tight hug. You pull back after a few seconds, your arms hanging around his neck and his still on your waist. You smile, “I really like you Peter.”

“I really like you too Y/N. So much.”

Without hesitation, you both lean in and close the small gap between you. The kiss is short, but it’s not awkward like everyone says first kisses are. Peter’s lips are soft against yours, and it makes you warm inside, like hot chocolate on a cold day. It’s perfect.

You pull away only when you hear the door unlock and open. “Hey Peter, what do you want for dinner- oh?”

“MAY!” Peter yells, embarrassed.

May smirks, “You didn’t tell me you had a girl over!” she turns to you, gasping “You must be Y/N! Peter has told me so much about you. Oh my god, am I interrupting something? Is this a date? You guys are using protection right-“

“May, please stop!” Peter pleads as you giggle, both of you blushing profusely.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’ll leave you two alone. I have to go to the grocery store anyway, so just pretend I was never here.” May winks.

You shake your head, “Oh, no worries, I was just leaving actually, my dad wants me home for dinner.”

“Oh, well alright then, goodbye Y/N I hope you two had fun! And I also hope I’ll be seeing you again soon!” she smiles

“I think you will.” you smile, “Bye Peter, see you at school tomorrow.”

“Bye Y/N, see you tomorrow!” he grins, still blushing.

You walk out the door, giddy and reminiscing over the kiss that you and Peter shared mere minutes ago. As you leave, you can hear May questioning Peter about the date, and you can’t help but smile knowing that May is already in support of your relationship. Although you and Peter haven't explicitly talked about it, you're almost positive that Peter would want to be your boyfriend, and you know for a fact that you want to be his girlfriend. But you don't want to pressure him into anything, so you decide to wait for him to ask you, whenever that will be. You just hope it'll be soon.

~~~~~~~~

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#peter parker #tom holland #peter parker fluff #peter parker x reader #tom holland fluff #tom holland smut #peter parker smut #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland x reader #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker x stark!daughter #peter parker x stark!reader #spiderman x stark!reader #spiderman x reader #peter parker x fem!reader #smau #social media au #peter parker social media au #soph writes #the new girl

[jekde04]

There’s Something About Juvia

For Gruvia Week 2021: Day 1 - Beguile

Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

Pairing: Gruvia (Gray Fullbuster & Juvia Lockser)

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Genre: Romance/Humor/Friendship

Word Count: 1,562 words

Summary: His memories were still hazy at best, but Gray swore that damn potion did something weird to him. (Based on the aftermath of Episode 50, "Special Request: Watch Out for the Guy You Like!")

You may also read it on FanFiction.net and AO3! Check out my master list for other Gruvia fics.

Seriously, what did that woman do to him?

His memories of the incident were still hazy at best, only pieced together by bits and pieces he heard from his guildmates.

Apparently, Juvia unwittingly used a potion that made rivals out of each other. He ended up facing off with Happy of all people – err, cats. That probably explained why he kept seeing different versions of a terrified Happy in his mind.

But what he didn't understand was while everyone else stayed inside the guildhall (hence its dilapidated state), he ended up all the way to Galuna Island, where he finally came to his senses.

Just what the hell happened to him?

The door to Master Makarov's office closed with a thud, and Gray watched Juvia as she made her way to one of the guild's tables, eyes guilt-ridden and downcast. It didn't seem that bad, though, as he saw the Master wave her off with a grin on his face as if he were more amused than mortified of the whole situation. That was a big deal, considering that any form of guild renovation angers the tight-pursed old man.

And he wasn't the only one who seemed to be uncharacteristically taking things in stride. He watched Cana as she sat beside the water mage, draping an arm over her shoulders (the other wrapped around a keg, what else?) and whispering something that made the blunette turn bright pink. On Juvia's other side sat Erza, who pressed the timid girl close to her breastplate in what appeared to be a bone-crushing hug.

Gray scoffed at the unfairness of it all. If it were him or Natsu who destroyed the guild, Erza wouldn't be that merciful. He shivered as he imagined all the scary things she would've done to them.

But everything was back to normal now – all the damages repaired and the effects of that damn potion having worn off. At least, for most of them.

Gray couldn't say the same thing for himself because truth be told, there was a funny feeling at the pit of his stomach that would show up now and then. Though he didn't remember much about what happened, that feeling often surfaced with the memory of floating in the warm sea, the rays of the sun hitting his face...

... and a blushing Juvia cradling him in her arms, a soft, almost loving look shining in her dark blue eyes.

The thought of it made blood rush to his cheeks. If he didn't know any better...

Something clicked in his mind.

A love potion.

But no, she wouldn't dare.

... Would she?

Gray sighed audibly, raking his hands over his face. Ever so slightly, he snuck a peek at Juvia and saw her still uncomfortably sandwiched between Cana and Erza, both of whom looked to be teasing her about something.

Sure, she hung out with him a lot, but it was no big deal. She was still quite new to the guild, and he was one of the first ones she met, though the circumstances could have been better. Still, he was probably one of the few people she easily grew accustomed to, as he had gone with her on missions until she got used to being part of Fairy Tail.

In other words, they were friends. And friends did not give love potions to each other. Besides, why would he be the only one affected when almost the entire guild took that potion?

He dismissed the ridiculous thought.

Gray hadn't realized he had been staring at Juvia for quite a while until she looked up and locked eyes with him. He quickly looked away, but the sight of those big doe eyes brought back a rush of fragmented memories that made something in his chest flutter.

Juvia holding him in her arms. Juvia looking affectionately at him. Juvia's voice calling his name.

Really, what the hell was wrong with him?

"Gray-sama?"

He was so distracted that he hadn't noticed Juvia come up to him. She seemed to be a little on edge, her hands clasped tightly in front of her and her eyes looking everywhere but him.

But if there were anyone who could finally answer all those goddamn questions running through his mind, it would be her.

Gray cleared his throat. "Hey, Juvia. That was some wild potion stuff you did, huh," he said, followed by a tiny smirk.

It was meant to be a joke, but the way Juvia flinched as if burned made him immediately regret what he said. Honestly, he was just trying to make small talk! He really had a knack for making things awkward.

He was about to say sorry when Juvia beat him to it. "Juvia's sorry, Gray-sama! She didn't mean to cause so much trouble. She didn't know it would affect everyone that way!"

Her eyes started to water, and Gray felt panic rising in his throat. He could not deal with crying girls, let alone Juvia, who had the ability to flood the guild with her tears.

He quickly shook his head and said, "Hey now, don't worry about it! Worse things have happened here. And no one's blaming you for anything, see?" He gestured towards their guildmates, each one minding their own business as if the guild were not in total shambles just the day before.

Juvia looked around her, then returned her eyes to him. She didn't seem pacified at all. "But you're not mad at Juvia, are you?"

Gray's lips curved into a tiny smile. "Why would I be mad?" It amused him how Juvia looked more concerned about his opinion than the rest of their guildmates. It even filled him with a certain pride that she would have such high regard for his feelings.

Plus, she really looked cute with that bit of crease on her brow and that tiny tremble on her lips.

Wait, what?

Gray narrowed his eyes. "Unless... you did something different with me?" After all, he still didn't have the tiniest idea how he ended up on an island, for goodness' sake.

Juvia looked taken aback. A blush bloomed on her pale cheeks as she started to fiddle with the hem of her top. "Umm, well, Juvia... sort of made you drink the whole potion."

"What?!" Gray asked incredulously. Well, that definitely answered how he made it to Galuna Island. And why he kept on seeing the image of Juvia holding him in her arms. "But why did you do that?"

Juvia quickly turned as red as a tomato. "U-uh... Ju-Juvia... Uhm..."

Suddenly, it all made sense. Why Juvia was always so shy around him. Why she spent a lot of time with him. Why she always invited him on missions. And why she made him gulp a whole potion and not someone else.

A smirk crossed his face. "Oh, I know now."

"Y-you do?" He didn't know it was possible, but Juvia's face got even redder. He was definitely spot on.

"It's because..."

Juvia gulped.

"... you want me to be your rival! Right, Juvia?"

He grinned at her. Juvia might look sweet and innocent, but he would never forget the fact that behind that timid exterior lies a badass mage. Not only had he struggled to battle against her before, but he also fought beside her several times during missions, giving him a pretty good idea of how strong and awesome she really was. He felt a sense of pride swell within him that such a powerful and accomplished mage would choose him to be her rival.

"Err... does Gray-sama want Juvia to be her rival?" she asked him. He chuckled at how she looked so unsure of herself.

Gray was about to answer, "Of course!" but stopped himself. Yes, he was honored that Juvia wanted him to be her rival, but...

"Well, I was thinking more of partners, you know," Gray started. "Don't get me wrong, Juvia. I think you'd be a great rival, but our powers are so alike, so it might be a better idea if we team up instead of –"

Gray wasn't able to finish what he was saying as an ecstatic Juvia suddenly lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his torso. He froze at the sudden contact as he was not expecting such a reaction from her.

Juvia looked up at him and asked, "Gray-sama really wants Juvia to be his partner?" Her eyes were so bright, it looked like a ray of sunlight cracking open a piece of blue sky.

That funny feeling stirred in his stomach again.

"Why not?"

Juvia let out a squeal, hugging him tighter. He wondered how this sometimes shy, always excitable girl could be the same gloomy rain woman he first met months ago. Though he didn't have anything against the past Juvia, he decided that he liked this version better.

Even if she was squeezing the heck out of him.

"Uh, Juvia, could you –?" he asked as he tried to push her away. She relented, smoothed her dress over, and gave him a sweet, loving smile.

There goes that weird, fluttery feeling again.

At that moment, Gray concluded two things: One, that those odd stirrings were probably due to his potion overdose. And two, that they were going to fade over time.

He had never been so wrong in his life.

A/N: I entered the Gruvia fandom during the 100YQ, so it’s challenging to write Gray not yet having strong feelings for Juvia. But their wild ride from enemies to lovers is what endeared me to them the most, so hopefully I get more inspiration to write fics encapsulating their journey. I hope I somehow captured their early friendship here (and Juvia’s little crush on Gray, obvious to everyone except him, lol).

#gruvia week #gruvia #gruvia fanfic #gruvia fanfiction #Gray X Juvia #gray fullbuster #juvia lockser #fairy tail