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bkdk-art · 2 years

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No matter when

Chapter 1 - An unexpected guest

Summary: Katsuki’s and Izuku’s daily life at UA is disturbed by a younger Bakugou Katsuki suddenly showing up in their common room. While they’re trying to figure out what happened and how to return him to his own time, the younger blond’s behavior towards Izuku reminds them of their dark middle school-years. Both of them – older Katsuki and Izuku – are confronted with different feelings and are handling the middle schooler their own way.

Fandom: My Hero Academia / Boku no hero academia

Characters: Bakugou Katsuki, Midoriya Izuku, Class A, Aizawa Shouta, President Mic

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku

Word Count: 4,000

Rating: General / Teen

AO3-Link

Notes: Takes place after current events / Senior year at UA / I wanted to write a short one shot but it ended up to be a multi-chapter monster :D (:

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

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Katsuki was listening to Izuku who was asking Glasses a thousand questions per minute – Glasses’ older brother was apparently able to walk again and Izuku was excited for his friend. And even if that much excitement tended to unnerve Katsuki so early in the morning, while eating his breakfast, the genuine beaming on Izuku’s face and the high-pitched tone in his voice somehow calmed him.

It meant the nerd was doing okay. More than okay, good even.

But while Katsuki was thinking about that a sudden bang disrupted the usual morning chatter in their common room, causing the whole class to jump to their feet - ready to fight.

Katsuki eyed Izuku, who was already surrounded by green lightning, ready to throw himself into whatever danger was waiting for them. Katsuki let out a growl, glancing back at the cloud of dust, slowly clearing up.

“Who is there?”, Iida said with his matter-of-fact-voice.

“Who the fuck are you?”, an angry voice shot back and the sound of that voice gave Katsuki an instant headache. He felt dizzy. What the-

“Kacchan?!”, Izuku asked, a baffled expression on his face.

“What?”, Katsuki said but his voice was overturned with the intruder screaming: “Huh?! Shitty Deku?”

“What on earth…”, Katsuki heard Kirishima say. The redhead stood next to Katsuki, flashing him a confused look. But Katsuki could only stare at the figure that was finally becoming visible.

“Dude”, Kaminari whispered, “Blasty, is that you?”

The atmosphere in the common room was so tense, no one moved.

A younger Bakugou Katsuki was standing in front them, wearing his black middle school uniform, a fair amount smaller and thinner than the older Katsuki and was cussing his soul out, asking, where in fuck’s name he had landed.

“Kacchan!”, Izuku took a few quick steps towards Katsuki’s younger self, but Katsuki reached over the table, grabbing the nerd by the arm.

“What?”, Izuku looked at him.

“Don’t go near him”, Katsuki just said, his voice sounding like a threat.

“But-“

“Don’t!”, Katsuki said with so much determination that everyone shot him a look.

“Is anyone going to answer to me any time soon?!”, the middle school-Katsuki barked.

Katsuki walked up to him. “Yeah. Me.”

Middle school-Katsuki was looking at him, a weird mixture of confusion and anger and a feigned indifference on his face. “What are you supposed to be? An extra future version of me?”

Katsuki heard Mina and Kaminari giggle in the background.

“Nah”, Katsuki said, looking down on his younger self, “You’re my past extra.”

“Pah!”, the other stretched his hand to the side, little explosions dancing on the palm of his hand.

“Don’t try that on me, I will blow your head off”, Katsuki was unimpressed and showed this brat his own explosions, much bigger and louder.

They stared each other down.

Katsuki was about to win when a hand reached out for his shoulder.

“Don’t start a fight with him!”, Izuku was dragging him back, giving him a dismissive look, “This has to be a quirk’s doing and we have to find out what happened. Are you hurt?”, Izuku turned to the middle schooler and reached out his hand. Before Katsuki could stop him, that middle school fucker slapped Izuku’s hand away. The sound echoed through the whole room.

“What do you want, Deku?!”

Katsuki could sense Izuku stiffen at that. It had been a long time since Katsuki had called him that. By now he was only referring to Izuku by that name when they were in battle – it was Izuku’s hero name after all – but even then, Katsuki hated it. And that full stock rage in his younger self’s voice gave all of it the last shimmer.

“Listen”, Izuku tried again, ignoring Katsuki telling him to leave his younger version alone, “I know you’re confused! Let’s just start with your questions.”

“Think you know more than me, huh?!”

Katsuki could feel everyone around them grow uncomfortable. They had known Katsuki when he was still this angry kid at the beginning of their first year at UA. But now they were close to graduation and Katsuki had changed a great deal – and secretly Katsuki hoped they all had just kind of forgotten his rude manners.

But no matter which side they had come to know back then – they were in no means prepared for this shitty kid right in front of them. By how he looked he must be in the last year of middle school, somewhere at the beginning. Meaning this was Katsuki’s worst self.

Katsuki didn’t want anyone to see him in that state, not even – no, especially not Izuku. He would get hurt again because middle school-Katsuki was a fucking asshole.

“Of course not”, Izuku tried relentlessly, always so patient with Katsuki, even then, “You’re at UA right now. This is our dorm and you seem to-“

“At UA?”, his younger self raised his eyebrows, looking around but then he seemed to remember something: “Then why the absolute fuck are you here, quirkless Deku?”

“You better watch your tone”, Katsuki said, again activating his small explosions. He would beat his ass if he didn’t behave, Katsuki didn’t care.

“Like what?”, the middle schooler said, barking out a laugh, “Are you defending Deku of all people?”

“I told you to watch it!”, Katsuki hissed, stepping closer.

“Don’t!”, Izuku was again grabbing him by the shoulder, “Just calm down, we will work through it.”

Katsuki wanted to snap at him, telling him that his guy in front of them was a hopeless case. But he knew that Izuku wouldn’t agree. And… that’s why they were here in the first place, right? Because that damn nerd never gave up on him.

Katsuki let out a deep, annoyed sigh, letting his arm sink to his side.

Middle school-Katsuki huffed at that, disbelief on his face.

“Did you just listen to that nerd?”, he shook his head, “To that useless, worthless-“

Okay, no more peacemaking!

Katsuki heated his hand up, reaching back to throw a punch at this prick. He could feel himself smirk when he saw fear spreading in his other self’s eyes. That sucker would burn for what he just said and Katsuki would make sure that he would for other things too.

Katsuki was about to release his explosion, ready to sting his younger self but then green locks and scarred arms appeared in front of him and before Katsuki could stop himself, he threw his explosion right at Izuku.

Katsuki’s stomach folded into a small tissue.

All the others gasped, shouting out for Izuku.

Katsuki didn’t dare to breath.

“Midoriya, are you alright?”, Todoroki was right behind Katsuki, while Round-face was calling for their First Aid kid.

“I’m alright”, Izuku called out, coughing at the smoke around him.

At the sound of his voice Katsuki inhaled a deep breath.

He could just stare at the nerd, waving the smoke away, rubbing his arms where Katsuki had just hit him. He then looked at Katsuki, a mad expression on his face.

“Kacchan! I told you not to figh-“

“And I”, Katsuki cut him off, furious, finally being able to speak again, “told you to not go near him! Are you freaking insane?”, he let out a loud groan, reaching out for Izuku’s face, inspecting it for any burns or cuts, “I could have blown your arms off if I hadn’t weakened the blast in the last second.”

“That’s exactly my point”, Izuku argued back, “You would have actually hurt your younger self! Stop picking a fight!”

“Tch”, Katsuki couldn’t believe it, “The fucker is the one picking the fight!”, he turned Izuku’s head around to see if his explosion had hurt his neck.

“Yeah, with me. I can handle him. I actually already did, remember?”

That made Katsuki stop for a moment.

“I know”, Katsuki let out a long breath, “That’s exactly why. That was enough for a lifetime.”

Izuku gave him a heartwarming smile, shaking his head. “Don’t say that.”

“What?”, Katsuki joked, examining Izuku’s arm that had blocked his punch, “You want that old version of me back?”

Izuku laughed at that. “I didn’t say that. But”, he shrugged, “Every version of Kacchan is important to me.”

At that simple statement Katsuki’s stomach ached even more. And even worse: He could also feel himself blush.

“Shut up”, he huffed, releasing the nerd after he was done checking for any injuries. Izuku closed his eyes while smiling at him and Katsuki pushed him away, jokingly, too flustered by now.

That’s when he realized his younger self was staring at him. Katsuki stared right back.

Something on the brat’s face was off.

Katsuki pointed at him: “Count your shitty blessings. If Izuku wouldn’t”, he stopped when he saw the middle schooler’s face twist.

Katsuki wanted to ask what his problem was, when he heard ponytail say: “Aizawa-sensei!”

Katsuki looked over his shoulder, meeting eyes with a sleepy Eraserhead.

“Two of you, huh?”, he said, standing next to Katsuki.

“What do you want?”, middle school-Katsuki glared at Aizawa.

“How old are you?”, Aizawa asked him.

“14”, he crossed his arms, holding his nose up.

Gosh, Katsuki couldn’t believe this was happening right now. This was a nightmare. As if he would want to be confronted with how he actually acted back then, his memory was working just fine on its own, he didn’t need a real-life performance. Especially not in front of anyone. Not around Izuku.

Katsuki looked over his shoulder.

Izuku was talking to his nerd group, gesturing around, smiling. But he looked worn out. After just a few minutes with his past self.

Fucking fantastic.

“How do we get him back?”, Katsuki asked Aizawa, “Like asap!”

Middle school-Katsuki clicked his tongue. “Don’t worry, I don’t wanna stay either. Here with you and your Izuku!”, he spat out Izuku’s name and Katsuki was about to punch him right in the face, hadn’t Aizawa grabbed young Katsuki by the arm, dragging him away.

“We will find out what happened, try to identify the quirk and then search for the person here in our time. They will know how their quirk works best.”

Katsuki grumbled. “Fine.”

“Can I help?”, Izuku looked at Aizawa, “If it was someone from our middle school, I would probably know them. I-“

“Of fucking course, you would”, young Katsuki rolled his eyes, “Stalker”, he added quietly.

Izuku didn’t mind him, just explaining to Eraser that if they didn’t figure out who that person was on their own, they should call him in.

“Alright, we will”, Aizawa said to him, then to everyone else: “Okay, the show is over. You all get ready for class, you still have enough time left. No excuses later at President Mic’s English class, you hear me?”

“Yes”, most of them answered in a sing-song and then Aizawa left, middle school-Katsuki trailing after him.

“Finally, damn it”, Katsuki rubbed his eyes.

What a shitshow.

~~~

Izuku didn’t know how to feel.

He was excited that there was apparently a time travel quirk at work but he was also sad about how younger Katsuki was treating him, reminding him of many, many wounds from back then. At the same time it made him happy. His current relationship with Katsuki had changed so much, with Katsuki even trying to protect him. He couldn’t lie though, it also made him worry a lot, since Katsuki’s protection came with the price of threating the smaller blond. Katsuki had looked at him as if he was ready to kill him.

And judging from that blow earlier – that might be a real concern.

Izuku wanted to protect the younger Katsuki. Wanted him to get home safely, to not have burns or anything like that, just to feel and be alright.

“Kacchan”, he whispered.

Katsuki who was sitting in front of him just looked over his shoulder, his brows raised.

“What?”, Katsuki asked after Izuku was just looking at Katsuki’s face without saying a word.

Izuku smiled. “Nothing”, he said, waving it off.

Katsuki clicked his tongue, no real heat behind it and turned around again.

Izuku wanted to tell Katsuki a ton of things. But that had to wait until later. Now they were in the middle of the class and he didn’t want to miss anything and he didn’t want Katsuki to miss anything because of him.

But 5 minutes later the door flew open and a very annoyed Aizawa was standing there, looking at Izuku.

“Oh”, Izuku understood from his look and stood right up, “I’ll excuse myself”, he said to President Mic and hustled towards the door.

“You stay put, Bakugou”, Aizawa said when Izuku reached him.

“Huh?”, Izuku turned around and saw that Katsuki was standing right behind him.

“I’m tagging along”, he said unimpressed, his hands buried in his pockets.

“No, you’re not”, Aizawa said, pinching the bridge of his nose, “You two will end up biting each other’s heads of and I’m not interested in witnessing that.”

The class chuckled at that and Izuku flashed a smile at Katsuki.

“It’s alright, Kacchan.”

Crimson eyes were looking back at him, not wavering once.

“No”, he eventually said, “If I’m not going, you’re not going”, he grabbed Izuku by the wrist and pulled him to his side.

Instantly the others were cooing at them and Izuku felt his face heat up. Katsuki wasn’t usually up to dramatic gestures, so that only showed how much he cared.

Izuku’s heart swelled up, making it hard to breathe.

When this is over, Izuku thought to himself, like he had done many times before, I will tell Kacchan how I feel. But for now…

“I’m fine”, he said to his childhood friend, detangling the fingers around his wrist, which was pretty hard since Katsuki’s grip was locked, “I was alone with him before”, he tried to joke.

The other just huffed and bit his lips, looking away. He was earnestly distressed.

“Come on, Midoriya”, Aizawa waved at him and when Izuku followed, Katsuki let his arm slip out of his hand.

When Aizawa and Izuku were a few steps down the hallway, they heard Katsuki calling out for Aizawa.

They stopped and waited until Katsuki caught up. He looked briefly at Izuku and then at Aizawa.

“If”, he exhaled, “If he talks shit, like… you know. Mean things to Izuku, then just”, he grunted, running his hands through his hair.

Izuku was just staring at Katsuki, too afraid to move. It hurt to look at him. It hurt because the sight made him happy and sad at the same time. Sad because he was obviously torn und happy because he worried for Izuku.

“Just stop him. Cover his mouth with your scarf or whatever, knock him out, I don’t care.”

That shook Izuku awake. “Well, I care!”, Izuku protested.

“Not talking to you, nerd.”

Before Izuku could respond to that, Aizawa had put one hand on Izuku’s shoulder, saying to Katsuki: “I get it. I won’t let him hurt our problem child.”

“Hey!”, Izuku pouted, “I haven’t made any trouble since the last fight with Shigaraki.”

“Yeah”, Katsuki scoffed, “Everything before that makes up for a few years anyways.”

Aizawa turned around, leading Izuku with him. “You’re one to talk!”, he said, “Now go back to class.”

Izuku looked over his shoulder, wanting to give Katsuki a last reassuring smile but when he met his eyes and saw his serious look, his smile died on his lips.

He sighed, turning his head.

Katsuki was overreacting.

~~~

Middle school-Katsuki gritted his teeth when he saw that the longhaired teacher had brought Deku with him. That this weak dweeb would make it into UA – unbelievable.

“That good-for-nothing-Deku won’t be any help”, Katsuki growled before they could say anything. They were in a room with a small couch, an even smaller table in front of it and a stool opposite from the couch. Obviously, Katsuki had made himself comfortable on the couch, occupying it.

“Aizawa-sensei”, Deku started to say, sitting down on the stool after the teacher had pointed towards it, “told me that you remember what happened before you landed here and that you remember the person you last saw. I’ll help figure out who they are.”

That smile. That rotten smile like Katsuki was a dumb shit who needed this nerd for the smallest things.

“Don’t need help from a-”

Suddenly something was covering his mouth, almost strangling him.

“Aizawa-sensei!”, Deku said, “I think this isn’t necessary.”

Katsuki followed Deku’s gaze and realized that the weird scarf the teacher was wearing, was actually some kind of shitty weapon.

“Please”, Deku added and at that the teacher sighed and let go of Katsuki.

Katsuki fixed his uniform, looking furious at the greenhead. “I don’t need your help! And I didn’t need it this morning either! That explosion would have done absolutely nothing to me, I would have blown this extra away like-“

“That’s weird”, Deku was pondering, “I would have expected you to be more confident about your older self, being sure that you would have only gotten stronger.”

“Tch”, Katsuki clicked his tongue, looking away from Deku.

Yeah, normally he would have smirked triumphally at the sight of his older self – ribbed, taller, stronger – hadn’t he sided with Deku of all people. Katsuki had wanted to tell Deku off the second after he had thrown himself in front of him but then his older self had caught his attention. Inspecting the nerd, touching him gently – like a total softie. Even calling him Izuku.

Katsuki wasn’t sure if he really traveled in time or rather switched a whole dimension. Coming to think of…

“Tell me again how you got into UA, Deku!”, he demanded, interrupting the teacher who updated Deku on what Katsuki had told him about the person he saw last.

“Well…”, Deku eyed the sleepy teacher, who just shrugged and said: “My suspicion is that he will forget everything once he gets back, taking into account that our explosive blond doesn’t remember anything like this ever happening to him.”

Deku pinched his lips with his fingers, nodding to himself. “That makes sense. Everything that happened has already happened. Well then”, he looked at Katsuki, “I actually got a quirk now. Seven actually”, he rubbed the back of his head, smiling innocently.

“Huh?!”, Katsuki sat up, “What was that? Seven quirks – you?!”

His fists were clenched so tight it actually hurt, but Katsuki was one inch away from blowing this nerd into a thousand shreds!

“This is actually a long story”, Deku held up his hands in peace, “I got it from All Might. His quirk is actually one that is handed over, throughout generations.”

Katsuki jumped to his feet, ready to throw hands with Deku.

“Stop with the lies, Deku! Never would the No. 1 hero acknowledge some weak, hopeless-“

“One more word and I will shut you up again”, the teacher threatened, already gripping his scarf.

“Pff”, Katsuki fell back on the couch, crossing his arms, “Whatever. I don’t want to hear any of this shitty lies anymore anyways. So! Why the hell are you here?!”

Deku gave him a small smile but it didn’t come from the heart, Katsuki could see it. The damn nerd was forcing himself like Katsuki was dumb enough to fall for it.

“Aizawa-sensei said you were in school when all of this happened?”

“Yeah.”

“And who did you see last? A student?”

Katsuki rolled his eyes, tired of telling this story once again. “As I already said”, he stressed, “I saw a weird girl, she bumped into me when I was walking through the hallways. When she bumped into me, she squeaked and the next thing I know is that I was standing in front of you extras.”

Deku hummed and was just looking at Katsuki, without actually seeing him. Even the future version of that nerd was a daydreaming. Great.

“Which floor?”

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “First.”

“Then the student most likely was a year younger than us. Second year.”

The teacher made some notes, asking Katsuki to describe the girl.

Katsuki shrugged. As if he minded how other people looked.

“Hair color?”, Deku tried.

Katsuki thought of it. “Purple.”

“Length?”

“Don’t know. Was in a messy ponytail, looking like she just stumbled straight out of bed. But”, he added, remembering something, “she was wearing a big bow on the top of her head. Like a moron.”

“Don’t be mean, Kacchan”, Deku said and before Katsuki could snap at him to not tell him what to do, Deku stood up, a bright smile on his face, “I think I know who you bumped into.”

“She bumped into me, are you not listening?!”, Katsuki hissed but Deku really wasn’t listening. He turned to the teacher, telling him a name and that the person had once told him on which school she had planned to go.

Katsuki rolled his eyes.

This dweeb and his ridiculous memory.

But Katsuki couldn’t stop himself from studying him. He talked back to Katsuki – to himself and to his older self – without any hesitation, totally different from the Deku back at home who was a stuttering mess at times, avoiding Katsuki’s gaze. The one in front of him was also built differently. Without the freckles and the green hair and that voice he probably wouldn’t have recognized the nerd. He didn’t like to admit it, but with those broad shoulders he was more massive than his older self.

Katsuki held back a growl. What was his older self doing?!

“Okay”, the teacher turned towards the door, “I’ll go look up some information about that girl, trying to reach out to her. Bakugou, you come with me and Midoriya, you go back to class.”

“Yes”, Deku stood up, “If it helps, I can search for her on social media.”

The teacher nodded. “I’ll tell you if that is necessary. I’ll see you in an hour, we’ll have hero training anyway.”

“Okay”, Deku’s voice was way too cheery.

Katsuki got on his feet, burying his hands in his pockets. This was all a nuisance.

“See you, Kacchan”, Deku waved at him and that’s when Katsuki realized another difference about this Deku.

He was plastered with scars.

Somehow Katsuki was suddenly lost for words, still staring at Deku’s hand.

“You should thank Midoriya”, the teacher said, “Without him we would still be wondering about that ‘weird girl’.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Deku, get your shitty tie right, you look like an idiot.”

With that he walked out of the door the teacher was holding for him.

“Don’t mind him”, Katsuki could hear the teacher say.

“It’s alright”, Deku answered and Katsuki scoffed at the obvious lie in his voice.

#bkdk #bkdk fanfic #bkdk fluff #bakudeku #bakugou x deku #decchan #katsuki x izuku #katsuizu #katsudeku #bnha #bnha fanfiction #fluff and angst

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jjaelly · 1 year

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X-Change Project

Episode Watch Time: ~10 minutes

Watch Now?

Content Warning: Alcohol, Mention of Food

NOTE: THE ALCOHOL LAW USED IN THIS STORY IS THAT OF AUSTRALIA: ‘CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES IS LEGAL AS OF THE AGE OF 18’

I apologise for the lateness on the episode, I was almost kidnapped, enjoy!

<- Previous Episode

🦋🦋🦋🦋

Previously on X-Change Project:

“He really said ‘ring ding don’t’.”

***

“Your first activity will be to play games together while drunk.”

***

“Park Jin-young!”

***

Now:

“I definitely heard ‘Mic Drop’, ‘Future Perfect’, and ‘Thanxx’, but there are 4?” Heeseungs questions. Bang Chan nods simply.

“Wait, can we know the artist of the last song?” V questions.

“No, that defeats the purpose. If you give up, just drink.” Bang Chan reminds.

The group of idols sigh as a few of them take sips of their drinks.

“Can I listen again?” Seonghwa asks, picking up his glass from the coffee table, ready to give up, but wanting another try first.

Bang Chan plays the recording of the 4 songs overlapping each other. “It’s your own fault for picking the hard version,” he smiles at the idols.

Seonghwa finally takes a sip of his drink, being the final idol to give up on the question.

“You almost had it. ‘Mic Drop’, ‘Future Perfect’, ‘Thanxx’, and ‘Super Tuna’,” Bang Chan retakes his place on the couch, after standing for the round, and Y/n takes his place.

“Okay, let's go for an easy round this time,” they say as they grab a small card from the pile of cards labeled ‘easy’.

The card reads: “Butterfly - The Boyz, Nabi - Nymph, Dancing Like Butterfly Wings - ATEEZ, Butterfly - BTS. Context clue: All songs have similar titles. Play mp ‘E.32’.”

“Oh this is so easy. Okay, there are 4 songs and the context clue is that once you know know one of the titles, you’ll be very close to the rest of them,” Y/n presses the file named ‘E.32’ on the laptop connected to the speakers and the 4 songs overlap each other, playing loudly.

“Oh okay! Dancing like butterfly wings!” Jongho says as he recognises his voice playing in one of the songs.

“I heard Nabi as well,” Soobin says.

“Okay, there’s 2, there are 2 more, and you still have 5 minutes left,” Y/n says to the idols, who ask for another listen.

The idols strain their ears as they listen to the chaotic noise coming from the speakers.

“I heard butterfly,” Jimin says, hearing the quieter vocals in the background of the noise.

“I’m going to take a guess, based off the context clues going on that there is ‘Dancing like butterfly wings’, ‘Nabi’, ‘Butterfly’ and ‘Butterfly’?” Juyeon takes a guess at the last song from the noise.

“Tell me the artists and I’ll give it to you,” Y/n laughs as he gets the songs right.

“ATEEZ, Nymph, BTS and The Boyz,” Younghoon speaks up confidently.

Y/n grabs her drink, sipping it in defeat, and the boys cheer in victory.

***

“What is the most random talent you have?” Taemin reads from the paper he picked from the jar. Suddenly, he pulls his hand to his face, covering one of his nostrils with his thumb, and a whistling noise is heard from him.

“You can whistle with your nose?” Jelly asks incredulously, raising her voice in disbelief.

Taemin just laughs in his spot on the couch, nodding his head.

“Don’t do that at night. It’s bad to whistle at night,” Jelly mutters to him.

He looks confused, but understands the different beliefs she has, and quickly apologises.

Jelly takes the jar from the coffee table, picking a piece of paper out of it before returning it to the table.

“What is the weirdest memory you had as a child,” she reads.

She ponders for a moment before asking “Does it count as weird if I say my brother cooked a goldfish’?”

“That depends, is there more to the story?” San asks from his seat on the carpet beside the coffee table.

Jelly lets out a light chuckle, taking a sip of her drink before beginning the story.

“So when I was younger, I lived with my mum, I was about 3 or 4 years old. We had just moved houses and there were boxes of random stuff everywhere. My mum used to have 2 goldfish as pets, and she had put the fish tank in the lounge room. My brother always woke up really early for some reason, and I’m talking 4am sort of wake up time, everyone was convinced he was a crazy child. Because of this, he wasn’t allowed out of his room in the morning time, so mum tied his door handle to mine, which was always closed when I was asleep.

So one morning, my brother woke up around his usual time, looked around his room for something to do because he was bored and he couldn’t get back to sleep, and he found a small barbecue. Like I said, we had just moved and everything was everywhere.

My brother, being him, saw the barbecue and thought in his tiny little brain, ‘I’m going to make mum breakfast in bed.’ So, He jumped out of his bedroom window, went through the front door—after having his own snack of ants from the driveway, because he was one of those children that ate ants and drank his own blood when he was bleeding—and he saw the fish tank with the 2 fat goldfish in it, swimming around. He had obviously heard that you can eat fish, so he went to the fish tank after taking the rope tie off his bedroom door, and caught both of the goldfish. After he caught them, he took them back to his room and turned on the barbecue, and both of the goldfish were still alive, just flopping around on the plate he had put them on. Once the barbecue was heated up a little bit, he put the fish—who were just flopping around in their own puddles of water on the plate—onto the barbecue and literally cooked the goldfish alive. End of story, right? Wrong. He burnt them. He burnt the fish that he cooked alive and threw them out the window before mum woke up to the smell of burning and the fire alarm going off. That was the last time I remember my mother owning goldfish,” Jelly finishes her story with a light chuckle as she drinks the rest of her drink. The other idols stare in disbelief and shock at the story, a few letting out light laughs.

“Okay, I’m bored of questions, let’s do the listening music game that they made,” Seungmin says, standing from his position on the couch.

“Wait- Let me put on my Dorito socks first,” Jelly rushes past the kitchen and back to her room. The other idols look at each other quizzically, chickling at the girl.

On her way back to the living room, Jelly spots Kyungjun in the kitchen with a tray of snacks in front of him. She makes her way towards him, looking over his shoulder, and seeing the sprinkles on the bread in front of him, she squeals, yelling for the third Australian on the team.

“There's fairy bread? Jake, look there’s fairy bread!”

She reaches over Kyungjuns arm, leaning on the bench, grabbing a perfectly cut triangle piece of bread, putting it in her mouth, holding it with her teeth as she goes to the fridge behind them, looking for another drink.

Suga comes up behind her, grabbing the soft drink from the door of the fridge, taking it to the bench. “What do you want to drink? I can probably make it for you,” he says.

“Raspberry vodka please,” she says, finishing the slice of fairy bread.

“I was thinking of more cocktails or something, but that will do,” he laughs at her.

He grabs the cordial from the pantry in the corner of the kitchen, pouring a shot of raspberry cordial into her cup and a shot of vodka, before going to the freezer and putting 3 cubes of ice into her cup and filling it with soft drink.

She thanks him, before walking back to the living room.

A sudden crashing sound makes a few of the idols jump in fear.

“Was that the neighbours taking the bins out or is it going to storm?” Jake jokes, making the idols roll their eyes, chuckling.

***

Fawn’s laughter pierces the air as she looks at her phone, 3 messages from Jelly sent to their band group chat.

“Is it another cat or is it actually something funny?” Sunoo asks the very tipsy girl, hoping to know what she was laughing at.

“It's funny! Look,” She shows Sunoo her phone.

‘Jelly sent a photo’, ‘Jelly: mans needs to calm down before i lose my mind’, ‘Jelly: why did my autocomplete suggest ‘virginity’ instead of mind?’.

“It’s not that funny. Can I reply though?” He asks.

Fawn shrugs and nods her head.

‘Fawn: foreshadowing, probably’

“It’s about to rain, should we play dance charades in the rain?” Wooyoung suggests.

A chorus of ‘yes’es are heard from the idols and Jin and Key put a hand over their eyes, rubbing the bridge of their noses, muttering to themselves.

Taehyun and Fawn walk back to the kitchen to grab another bottle of alcohol each. Fawn grabs a bottle of strawberry soju and a straw, shaking the bottle as she walks back to her room.

She soon returns to the living room without her phone, sipping on her bottle of soju that is already half empty as the first few drops of rain are heard on the roof.

Felix is quick to turn the outside light on as the idols make their way out the front door, onto the empty street, with their alcohol in hands.

“Don’t get sick, I won’t look after you,” Key calls to the idols as he walks through the door.

“No, I’ll have to,” Jin sighs, chucking at the idols dancing in the pouring rain without any music.

After a few minutes, everyone is drenched from head to toe, and they are finally ready to play the game.

Jin is assigned to be the cards, telling the idols the song they have to dance the choreography to for everyone else to guess, and the line of 13 idols stands across the street facing the driveway, where Jin and Yunho are standing.

Jin whispers something to Yunho and he nods, getting into position.

Yunho suddenly does the ‘Stay pose’—both of his arms straight, pointing to the ground, his legs a metre apart with his knees bent.

“Thunderous, Thunderous!” Changbin repeats excitedly, pointing at Yunho.

Yunho points back at him and walks to the end of the line of idols, the idol in front of everyone else, Q, taking Yunho’s previous place.

Jin whispers to Q the name of a song, and Q takes his position and begins the choreography from the very beginning of the song Jin chose, making Jin laugh.

Slowly, Q moves his hands around his body, interlacing them in front of him, before quickly lifting his head from facing the ground and turning to face the house. He then moves his body to face the left, snapping his fingers, and lifting his heel as he snaps.

“Sherlock!” Key and Hyunsoo shout in unison.

Q walks to the back of the line and Fawn replaces his spot on the driveway.

“Everyone looks like Pedro Pascal,” she giggles as she whispers to Jin, who stares at her in a jokingly judgemental way, but still whispers a song to her.

She nods her head as she hears the song, putting a hand to her eyebrow in salute, “Got it, Pedro.”

Taking her position in the driveway, she begins humming quietly to herself the melody of the song.

Coming to the chorus melody, she begins dancing, putting out her right hand in front of her in a zombie-like manner, moving her right leg as she moves her hand, mirroring the action a second later with the right side of her body. She then jumps, her hands reaching for her feet as they bend behind her body, making a few of the idols yell out “drunk-dazed” in recognition of the choreography. As she lands the jump, the water on the driveway takes the friction from her shoes, making her slip and fall to the ground. She begins laughing uncontrollably, laying her back onto the ground closing her eyes as to not get any rain in them.

“I guess there goes my idol image. Selling feet pics, here I come,” She giggles.

“Okay, that’s enough dance charades, inside, out of the rain, shower, get changed, we’ll play Guess Who after,” Jin says, walking towards Fawn who had now stopped laughing.

Her hair stuck to her face and her clothes stuck to her body as Jin helped her inside.

“I’m going to get another drink, okay, Pedro?” She says to Jin as they walk through the front door of the house.

***

“Ni-Ki, you’re up first,” Sky says to the boy, who is holding his glass of soft drink in his hand.

He puts his glass onto the coffee table, and steps to the open area between the kitchen and the living room. As the sound of the rain pellets onto the roof, Mingi flips the paper of song titles to the next one.

Ni-Ki reads the song title, and immediately begins dancing.

He turns to the kitchen, rolling his right arm in a circle twice, holding his left in an angle facing the ground. He then spins clockwise, facing the living room again, then back to face the kitchen in an anticlockwise spin.

“Hype boy!” Kevin's voice is heard loudly over the other idols shouting the same answer.

Ni-Ki takes his place on the couch again, and I.N takes his place, standing between the kitchen and the living room.

Mingi flips the page again and I.N gets into his position to begin dancing.

He holds his left hand out behind him, with his fingers spread as he pushes his left foot along the floor away from his body, repeating with his right foot and repeating the move again. He then holds his right hand in the air in front of him, in the same shape as his other hand.

“Roar!” Kevin and Eric yell at the same time, before Kevin begins singing the melody of the song.

***

“Okay, I think it’s bedtime for you,” RM says to Jelly after she falls onto the floor, breaking the bottle of soju that was in her hand.

“No, I’ve got to clean this up,” she slurs.

“I’ve got it, you just go to sleep, okay?” Taemin says to the girl, who is crawling on the floor picking up pieces of the green glass.

“No, no, I can clean it.”

Lee Know walks towards the girl, being careful not to have glass pierce his feet, and grabs her arm, gently pulling her up.

Seungmin brings a plastic bag from the kitchen to put the broken glass into and holds it open for Jelly.

As she puts the broken glass into the bag, RM repeats that she should go to bed.

“I don’t want to go to bed yet, let's play the whisper game,” the girl giggles as she gets back to the floor to help Taemin clean the rest of the glass.

“What is she talking about?” New asks Yeosang.

“‘Whisper game’? Do you think she means Shouting in Silence or Telephone?” Yeosang replies. New just shrugs in response.

“What whisper game? We can play one more game but you can’t drink anymore and you go straight to bed after, okay?” Taemin asks the girl, slightly scolding her for how drunk she is.

“The shouting whisper game. And okay, I’ll stop drinking and I’ll go straight to bed after I brush my teeth after the game,” she smiles as Taemin finishes cleaning up the small pieces of glass with the dustpan and brush.

A few moments later, Beomgyu is standing in front of the stairs, with Jungwon sitting in front of him and Sunwoo sitting opposite him, both with headphones on, everyone else sitting on the couch. Beomgyu holds a large book, similar to the Dance Charades book, and flips the first page, showing Sunwoo the word.

“The capital of South Korea!” Sunwoo shouts.

“The chapter of Judge Judy?” Jungwon shouts back in question.

“The capital of South Korea!” Sunwoo shouts again, quickly.

“Slowly! Slowly!” Jungwon shouts.

“The capital…”

“The Captain,” Jungwon guesses.

“Of South…”

“Of South.”

“Korea!”

“Caution.”

“The capital of South Korea!” Sunwoo shouts the full sentence.

Jungwon just stares in confusion, shaking his head slowly.

“The capital of South Korea!”

“The capital of South Korea?” Jungwon guesses.

Sunwoo nods quickly seeing Jungwon’s mouth move in the shape of the words.

“Seoul!”

Beomgyu flips the page again to show the next word.

“The CEO of Hybe!” Sunwoo yells to Jungwon, as time starts running low.

“The seal of lime?”

“The CEO… Of Hybe!”

“The CEO of Hybe? Bang Si-Hyuk!”

“Time,” San yells.

Beomgyu shows Sunwoo a motion of taking off headphones to indicate that time is up and Sunwoo removes his headphones. Jungwon, who is looking at Sunwoo, copies the movement.

***

Jin holds Fawn up as he helps her to her bedroom, walking her to the ensuite to brush her teeth.

She holds out a bottle to him.

“What are you doing?” He asks, confused.

“I’m going to brush my teeth. Just put it on my hands and I’ll rub it in,” she says, holding her hands in front of her.

“No, you need to brush your teeth with a toothbrush and toothpaste. This is moisturiser.”

“Oh.”

Jin sighs as he grabs the toothpaste from the bench and Fawns toothbrush from the cup in the corner of the bench, putting a small amount of toothpaste on the toothbrush, before handing it to her.

She takes it from him and begins brushing her teeth.

After brushing her teeth, Jin leads her back to her bed, turning the light off in the bathroom.

“I’ll get you some painkillers in the morning, go to sleep,” he says as he walks towards the door. He puts his hand on the light switch as he walks, when Fawn’s voice makes him freeze.

“No, don’t turn off the light,” she slurs from the bed.

Jin nods lightly, leaving the light on, but closing her door on his way out.

***

Next time on X-Change Project:

“Why did we all get cards?”

***

“I didn’t fall. I decided that the ground is a fan, so I hugged it. It just happened to be aggressive.”

***

“Oh hell no.”

***

“You’re crying?!”

***

“Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you- AHHH!”

***

Stay tuned!

🦋🦋🦋🦋

Next episode ->

Series Masterlist

Credits:

Created, Written and Produced by: jjaelly of jjaellynet

Edited by: “Big Daddy” (That’s what she wanted to be called)

Taglist: @layzfeelit

(Feel free to send a dm or ask to be added)

#shinee #ateez #theboyz #tnx #bts #enhypen #tomorrow by together #stray kids #idolverse #fanfic #platonic #jjaellynet #xreader #x change project

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kokomochi · 2 years

Text

𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐖𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐃 | 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐲𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐳𝐮

"𝙞 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙮 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚."

SOULMATE AU! BONTEN TIMELINE! they say that soulmates were typically connected through the red string of fate- some believe that they are connected through tattoos appearing on their skin, or even a timer on their wrist. in this story, however, is through glowing hair. bonten's executive, haruchiyo sanzu, never thought that he would be soulmates with the youngest sibling of the notorious haitani brothers.

04. dinner with the haitani's

"can someone tell me why we have to cook our dinner?" rindou sighed as he and y/n were seated down on their island, munching on pieces of food they were able to get from ran.

"not my fault ran decided to shoot our old chef." y/n shrugged, reaching out to grab another piece of noodle when ran slapped her hand away.

"first of all, that chef served you uncooked chicken. second of all- will you guys stop sneaking noodles away?" the younger siblings sighed in synch, laying their head on the cold marble tabletop as ran went back to cooking.

"why are you preparing such big portions anyway? it's only the three of us here." the youngest asked, walking behind her brother to peek at what he was cooking- and sneaking some food as well.

"can you just sit down for a moment?"

she obeyed, not while she sneaked a piece of ham to rindou who ate it quickly.

"we're going to have a normal meal. like a normal family." ran explained to them, pointing a spatula at their stuffed faces.

"and you better be in your best behaviors. the executives are coming over for dinner."

the youngest siblings looked at each other and nodded.

"10,000 ¥ that someone is gonna get murdered tonight." y/n bargained, making rindou scoff.

"100,000 ¥ that you won't be able to act normal in front of our co-workers." y/n sneered at him.

"200,000 ¥ that you're going to pass out with just one shot."

"500,000 ¥ that you'll-"

"i swear to the two of you, if you don't shut up i will serve your heads instead." ran irked, slamming a random atm card on the table.

"everything in that. i bet y/n's meeting her soulmate tonight." the oldest had a smirk on his face as he looked at the shocked faces of his siblings.

he wasn't as dumb as rindou, and actually has an idea of who his sister's soulmate is. it was obvious, but he wanted to see it for himself if it really was him.

"how much is in here- who's haruko?" y/n read the name on the card, squinting as she wiped dried blood off it.

"dead." rindou deadpanned, looking at the card as well.

"you're betting an entire atm- to my soulmate?" y/n stared blankly at her brother's back as he went back to cooking.

"unlike rindou, i actually have an idea who it is." was all he said, making the middle child irk in his seat and stood up.

"what 'ya mean by that?!" he said, not receiving a response from ran.

"wait, so you know who my soulmate may be and didn't tell me?" y/n narrowed her eyes at ran, who simply smiled at her.

"it was just a deduction. though i really hope he isn't." to this, rindou suddenly banged his head on the table which scared y/n.

"please don't tell me-"

"shut up rindou."

"thank you for coming, kakucho." ran greeted one of his co-workers who seemed to be the first one to arrive. the male bowed at the oldest sibling as he took a bottle of sake from the shopping bag he was holding

"i figured that we'd be needing a drink tonight." kakucho said, making ran bow at his thoughtfulness.

"you really didn't have to you know." he said, inspecting the sake bottle.

"i heard that mikey's gonna bring in the traitors here tonight." the two were seated in the parlor, waiting for the rest to arrive.

"anyways, where's rindou?"

"he's upstairs with our sister. i had them clean up after spilling tomato paste on their clothes." kakucho laughed at his statement.

"that dude's thirty and still acts like a child sometimes." he wiped the imaginary tear off the corner of his eyes.

"i also heard that your sister's turning 20 in 4 days?"

ran hummed in response, getting up to put the sake bottle in a nearby refrigerator.

"yeah. she wanted me to invite the entire executives for some reason." his co-worker patted him in the back.

"it's fine man. give the little girl a chance." ran just sighed as a knock resounded throughout the house.

"i'll get it."

as he got up from the sofa, he noticed rindou and y/n having a race to the door. he mentally slapped himself at the antics of his siblings as he followed them.

"back off!"

"no you!"

"what did i tell you two?" ran glared at them from behind, making the two stop and quickly compose themselves.

"nevermind that. stand behind me."

he opened the door and kokonoi hajime was seen- along with sanzu haruchiyo.

"hey y/n, when did you have a lightbulb in your hair?" rindou asked, making y/n look at the different colored lock on her hair- sure enough it was indeed glowing.

ran heard their conversation as he contemplated whether to bring sanzu in or not.

"hey old man, are you bringing us in or what?" sanzu sighed, brushing his hair back while koko just stared at him.

"hey, did you attach a flashlight in your hair just now?" the silver-haired male asked, causing sanzu to stop his actions and look at his bangs.

"holy shit dude-"

"shut up and come in." ran said, still glaring at sanzu.

as the two came in, they were greeted by the sight of the younger siblings fawning over the glowing strawberry-haired lock.

"rindou look! i'm like an angel fish!" y/n giggled as rindou took her glowing hair and made it imitate that of an angel fish.

ahem.

their attention went back to their brother and two other people behind him.

"y/n, i think it's time for you to meet him." he stepped aside, and a man with a mullet the same as her brother was seen.

he had the most beautiful strawberry-colored hair she had ever seen yet looked familiar as well. his blue eyes adding to the look- not forgetting the scars on either side of his mouth.

her eyes quickly landed on the glowing (h/c) hair on his bangs.

"oh-"

sanzu was in the same situation as her.

never in his entire life did he imagine that his soulmate was going to be the sister of his co-worker.

he studied her for as long as he could. he noticed how well his strawberry-colored lock went well with her (h/c) hair. her sharp yet gentle (e/c) eyes looking back at him with emotions he couldn't decipher.

it was as if it was his first time seeing a woman as beautiful as ever.

sure he had his fair share of hookups and all- but they were mostly just to satisfy his needs, he didn't have any sort of connection nor emotions attached to them. they may have been pretty, but the young woman in front of him looked more ethereal than what he expected.

ran coughed again, snapping the two out of their daydreaming at rindou and kokonoi just watched in amazement.

"y/n, this is sanzu haruchiyo, your soulmate."

"sanzu, this is haitani y/n, my sister and your soulmate."

TAGLIST (OPEN): @minnieminnie00-got7

#kokonoi hajime #sanzu haruchiyo #haruhciyo sanzu #akashi haruchiyo #haruchiyo akashi #sanzu haruchiyo x reader #haruchiyo sanzu x reader #tokyo revengers #sanzu haruchiyo angst #tokyo revengers angst

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themusesof75 · 1 year

Text

Long Ago, chp 4

Wolf, there it is.

Back when I shipped the subtext of Clawdeen/Draculaura.

As a pup, Clawdeen would get her hair braided by her older sister. Clawdeen would watch her sister tighten and braid their other siblings' manes, it was very boring but very helpful to many monsters. The regular charge of Clawdeen was her younger sister, Howleen's hair every waxing moon. Howleen was less than grateful and yipped in complaints the entire time, Clawdeen couldn't help but twist extra hard at the scalp. The two wolves barked unkindly words until Clawdeen gave up half-way. Howleen said she was fine with the unfinished look, and she would make it a trend.

The night was early, Howleen banged her sister's door as she left. The tween werewolf walked the streets. She had planned to meet a friend in the shadows. The stranger in the shadows didn't let her go despite the mauling her big paws left on his arm.

The next morning, Princess Cleo pushed open the door to the Wolf's Needle.

"Draculaura! Ghoulia and I experimented with a potion, in which a single drop of her undead blood became a full liter. Tell us if it's rich enough for the head Night-Walkers, would you?" Princess Cleo announced as she sat in her usual chair and waited for her friends to praise her.

Ghoulia saw the mood was grim. Draculaura held Clawdeen as the wolf held her face in her claws.

"Tel me what's wrong." Princess Cleo said, uncomfortable asking about other creature's undead existences but concerned with the werewolf's mysterious pain.

Clawdeen growled then turned her tear-streamed face up, "My sister is missing."

The princess and Ghoulia knelt down at the wolf-woman's side. "Tell us more."

"The little mutt left last night and didn't come home. She's not answering our howls and my brothers have looked everywhere in the city." Clawdeen said, her voice raw and low.

"We'll find her, my Heart." Draculaura said, stroking behind Clawdeen's pointed ears.

"Have you told Lady Medusa? She has extra foot-monsters to help the search." Princess Cleo stated.

"My brother Clawd told his friends in her group and they're looking but they don't really care. That over-stuffed griffin said it's for morale and not likely they'll find one lost pup." Clawdeen said, "I want to maul him because I know it's probably true."

"I swear to Ra, I will have that bird chopped over my salad." Princess Cleo stated, "I can send the guard out to search."

"Cleo, they'd put her down before bringing her home." Clawdeen stated, "I'm not making you a dress today so you might as well beat it."

Princess Cleo stood up, "You might as well take a long flea-bath, you filthy mongrel!"

"Cleo, please-" Ghoulia started to moan.

"Get out, you spoiled, diamonds for brains, all-bark-no-bite mirage!"

Draculaura grabbed her ghoulfriend's arm, "Sweet-fang, before you say something you regret-"

The princess wheezed, " You are ashier than the Night-Walkers on mid-day and your table-manners are closer to an animal! You have lost me as a customer! Run off a cliff!"

"There are no cliffs in the desert!"

"Stupid mutt, there are just find one!" Princess Cleo said as she slammed the door. Ghoulia ran after the princess, gave a look of apology to her friends, then left out the door.

"Oh my fangs. I'm shaking." Draculaura said, "Clawdeen, are you alright?"

Clawdeen sighed, "She's a good friend. I needed that."

In the DeNile palace, Princess Cleo went into her sister's personal room. Princess Nefera was absent, so the room was welcoming. Standing in the corner, her nose to the wall, was the genie.

"Gigi, you’ve got to hate your captor." Princess Cleo stated with a hand on her hip.

The genie’s voice was very high, "Your Highness, I am forever loyal to my Finder, and we really have much fun tog-"

"I am plotting to bring her down from her pedestal and bury her beneath our pyramid's tunnels." Princess Cleo said, a thrill deep down in her heart.

Gigi turned from the wall; her large eyes had tears of hope. "Praise the stars! She is literally the meanest Finder I've ever had in, like, three thousand years!"

"No surprise here." Princess Cleo gestured to her face, "Join me in dismantling her."

Gigi began to agree but then closed her lips. "I live by rules to never harm my Finder. Or trade to another until the present Finder's thirteen-wishes are done."

"That would be too easy, wouldn't it." Princess Cleo said warily, "Tell me what do you know about her. Seen any weaknesses? Any secrets?"

"Everything horrible she has done everyone is privy to watch and view. I am sorry, Princess Cleo."

"Fine for now. Keep a watch. Are you certain you can't shift to another Finder? My friend needs a wish." Princess Cleo said.

"My rules have bound me, but I am curious to your, err, friend wants." Gigi said in genuine concern.

"Her sister, a mere child, has been lost. Or stolen more likely, and my influence cannot help in the slightest. Truthfully it would hurt the child since she is of wolf blood."

Gigi put an armored hand to her mouth. Princess Cleo noticed the flesh of the monster was layered in shiny, tough scales of sort. The princess thought of the scarab beetle's back.

The genie sighed, "I would like to grant such a mercy, but it is not in my power. All the magic in the cosmos and I cannot even leave this room. That was your sister's first wish."

"Dear Ra, that sounds like a dull life." The princess said.

"Hmm. After many centuries of solitude, I do know how to amuse myself." Gigi shily said. She then perked up, her long ears twisted, "Oh! Princess, I do have one friend in this room. She could assist."

The genie pointed to her shadow. Princess Cleo felt fear and slight pity for the genie's slipping sanity.

"There is a monster that lurks in the shadows, she's quite sweet, and I could ask her for help."

"Uh huh, in what exactly?"

"The search! She can go into places others don't think twice about."

A candle went off in Princess Cleo's mind. "Fine idea, Gigi, you do that. Dear thing, I will keep you in mind when releasing the other prisoners."

The genie waved as the princess left the room. Princess Cleo smiled until she was out of sight. She met with Ghoulia in her own personal quarters. The undead lady-in-waiting asked how the genie visit went.

"The worse crime of Nefera's yet. Poor thing is cracking like a snake's skin on a midday rock." Princess Cleo said, "Though she did give me an idea. Ghoulia, how often do werewolves get arrested for walking by the palace's gate?"

Ghoulia took a torch as she stepped down into the DeNile tunnels. Under the palace the royal family kept treasures and bizarre interests. Ghoulia didn't want to learn more than necessary so she stuck to Princess Cleo's drawn map. The idea was the royal guards grabbed the wolf-child to put into the family's secret menagerie. The undead girl opened the door the princess marked as XII. Inside Ghoulia found a room of tiny humans on shelves. Ghoulia examined them closer and discovered they were clay-made toys; their glass eyes still chilled the zombie's veins.

Ghoulia reread the map and considered the XII may have been XV. She retraced her steps and made her way to the next, presumably correct door. Behind that door were jars as tall as Ghoulia herself and small as her palm. A peak inside and Ghoulia found bits of brain, the smell was fresh and rather floral. Through a reed, Ghoulia slurped from the jar as she walked deeper into the tunnels. She was becoming unsatisfied with the mission because her mission had too many chances with less and less possibility of finding Howleen Wolf.

Ghoulia sat down and thought about what she could tell Princess Cleo. Telling her it was a big waste of time, and a dumb idea, would only hurt her friend's feelings. And lead to screaming which hurt Ghoulia's ears.

"Umm, excuse me?"

A whisper from the pitch black had Ghoulia look around. She lightly hoped there were other undead humanoid-creatures in the tunnels. She'd have a proper conversation, finally. Ghoulia met with a child-ghoul stepping out under the torch's glow.

"Hi. Gigi sent me."

"Hello. Are you a ghost of some kind?" Ghoulia asked.

"My kind aren't undead. We're connected to the supernatural in-between of dreams and reality. My name is Twyla." The ghoul had deep rings under her violet eyes, as if she was in desperate need of sleep. Yet her health seemed prim and fine.

"The princess's lady-in-waiting. Ghoulia." The zombie said with a polite nod, "Have you seen a young wolf girl? She looks about your age. She has sand-red fur and yellow eyes."

"I have. She isn't here." Twyla said, looking down the narrow, drippy tunnels. "I do like coming here. A lush snack-spot for fresh nightmares."

Twyla told Ghoulia what she saw. Ghoulia told Princess Cleo, who then told Draculaura and Clawdeen. Dracualura left the seamstress shop and went to the wing of the palace where her coven took residence.

"Draculaura, pet! Try this new concoction! The twang is divine." Lady Gory said as she held up a goblet of blood.

The vampire smiled and took a sip. The taste was too familiar, and she wanted to sob. "Oh! Fangtastic, are those notes of beasties I taste?"

"Dearest, we don't ask from where gifts come from! Not when I wish to keep this flowing." Lady Gory said as she took a long gulp. "I swear on this life, this batch gives me ten-times the energy I need."

"You glow in the moonlight, Gory darling. Where would I get my own fill?" Draculaura asked with a big, fake grin.

Behind a locked door, Howleen Wolf laid drained on a pillow. Draculaura bit the leash around her neck and took the ghoul in her arms. The sight broke the Night-walker's heart, but she kept her will strong as Howleen whispered swears on all vampires' heads. Princess Cleo's guards placed Howleen in a sarcophagus and carried her out of the palace.

In the Gorgon camp site, Lady Medusa tended to Howleen's dehydrated condition. The seasoned Lieutenant knew some rough wolves in her day. This young ghoul was tougher than any of them before. The wolf pack hovered around with plates of food. Lady Medusa told them Howleen wouldn't be able to eat until later, they each said it was for when she was ready.

"You said your kind avoided hunting us." Clawdeen said to Draculaura, not looking at her love's face.

"My kind states they can't stand the smell of you but, in actuality, your kind have the most delicious blood. No sweet words from me, Clawdeen. The wolf's blood has nutrition to keep us up for days, it's almost too strong to take without crashing."

"Don't touch me." Clawdeen said, pulling her furry arm from Draculaura's embrace.

Draculaura sighed, "I'll have to do something special to make this up to her."

"Is there jewelry big to bribe back her trust?" Princess Cleo asked, they sat in a tent separate from the recovering Wolf pack.

"There must be." Draculaura said, looking at her long fingers.

Princess Cleo rarely saw her Night-walker friend without the layers of protective clothing. Bared to the world, Draculaura was a thin, pretty, and very small creature. Beside the fangs and air of regal breeding, she was too precious to be considered threatening.

Princess Cleo leaned down to her friend, "So your kind has a secret kink for wolf's blood."

Draculaura’s pale face blushed blue, "Inapprops, Cleo! Can we talk about that later?"

"Oh sure, let the wolf children we haven't found get sucked dried. We could speak of that or, you could help me in taste-testing my new invention."

The Night-Walker put her foot on the wall and walked up the side until she was eye to eye with the princess.

“You yell and stomp and you haven’t helped any of us yet! What are we suppose to follow those windy words?” Draculaura said, her fangs grew as her eyes became black beads.

“You won’t even promise anything because we all know you’re too weak to try.” Princess Cleo said, wishing for a real bite. “You are a waste of good breeding and supernatural powers!”

Draculaura’s ears folded inward at the princess’ attack.

“You don’t resist biting me for the backlash, you resist because I would swat you like a gnat. But thank you, Dracualura, for this very stimulating pep-talk!” The princess yelled. She watched the Night-Walker morph into a bat and fly away. There was squeaking that may have been animalistic or may have been sobbing.

“Stupid ghoul can’t even protect her ghoulfriend’s litter.” Princess Cleo stated to Ghoulia, the undead ghoul shrinking in the corner.

Princess Cleo grabbed a Greek helmet and threw it the tent. “They think I can just buy an uprising like shoes? No, it takes planning, it takes reinforcements, I’m not Nefera I-“

Behind a bronze shield, Ghoulia waited for the princess’s continuing rampage to strike her. By accident, of course. Ghoulia looked over the protection and saw a twisted smile on her gold-painted lips.

“I’m not Nefera. Thank Ra for that.” Princess Cleo said joyfully. “Ghoulia, grab my bag. Let’s get home.”

That night, orders from the crowned princess said to release all prisoners in the jail and in the Night-Walkers’ private rooms. The people and creatures were told to wait as the council re-evaluated their individual punishments, until then they could walk and fly the streets free as a cat.

“Why under Ra’s sun would Nefera cause such a disaster? It’s not as if we keep a record of all the rats that enter our first-rate prisons.” A council-member inquired at a meeting.

“I’m sure her highness has her reasons. Your grace, could you please explain your probably brilliant reasons behind this possibly terrible turn in judgement?” The other council-member asked.

“Ugghh, I told you not to speak before I have my coffee.” Princess Nefera said as she watched the coffee-maker-servant grind the beans. “You’re too sweaty. Start over.”

From the balcony of Princess Cleo’s private room, one could see crowds of creatures and humans running from the palace’s open walls. The second-born princess was fed grapes by her servants as her friends watched over the scene.

“There’s going to be a party-riot tonight.” Deuce said with a grin, “Babe, this was a great idea. Too many dudes get thrown in for small, dumb reasons.”

“Glad to see you taking initiative but, Cleo, some of those people were dangers to society.” Ghoulia groaned with worry for the innocent.

“If they’re stupid enough to cause trouble against the guards will grab them no question. One improvement is Nefera,” Princess Cleo curled her fingers as she spoke her sister’s name, “edited the rules of what qualifies as trouble. Walking as a monster doesn’t count as trouble anymore.”

“I like.” Deuce said, thumbs pointing up.

“I’d like more if I could believe the prejudice guards would be checked before being sent out.” Ghoulia said, and then wrote down her ideas and proclamations for such reforms in the systems.

“One fix at a time, Ghoulia dear. We’ll clean this up. And have some fun on the way.” Princess Cleo said, a wicked smile as a servant fed her a grape.

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streetlight11 · 3 years

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Neighbour's Fate

Summary: He was your neighbour growing up but he has always been distant. You didn't know for what reasons he chose not to mingle with you or your younger brother. It's been 6 years since you saw him. One day, you best friend asks for a favour from you that would eventually lead you to meeting his close friends. Who would've thought your old neighbour was now one of your best friend's close friends.

Theme: university au, old neighbours to lovers

Genre: fluff, a tad bit of jealousy, a little suggestive

Warning: mentions of anxiety, one or two curse words, very mild harassment (grabbing of wrist, that's all)

WC: 6.5k

Pairing: Seo Changbin x Fem!Reader

a/n: This was just a spur of the moment kind of idea I had the other day, and so this was the work I created... Hope you guys like it :)

Growing up, you lived beside the Seo family. They were a family of four and so were you. Their oldest child was a girl and her name was Seo Jiwoo. Their youngest child was a boy and his name was Seo Changbin. You were pretty close to the girl, to the point where you would always go to school together but the boy had always avoided you for unknown reasons.

He wouldn’t even play with your younger brother. It used to upset you but as you grew up, you realized that you can never force anyone to like someone or do something they didn’t want to do. And for that reason, you ended up letting him be.

However, despite not talking to you as much as his sister did, he was very attentive on small little things and he noticed that you tend to get anxiety attacks whenever you are in front of a huge crowd or the centre of attraction. And he knows this.

You had just entered senior year when you heard news from your parents that the Seo family were moving.

You were sad considering you’re already so close to Jiwoo. But you couldn’t force them to stay there anyways. You accepted the fact that you probably wouldn’t see them anytime soon, maybe not ever. You bid them goodbye, not forgetting to glance at Changbin one last time before they drove off with their boxes loaded into a van.

Two years passed since they moved and you were finally going to college.

You decided to move to Seoul alone and your parents allowed it. Your heart was heavy to leave them behind but they understood that you were doing it because you wanted to further your studies. For that, they willingly let you go.

After graduation, you enrolled yourself into a college with your favourite course, not forgetting to find an affordable apartment for yourself. And that was the start to a new chapter in your life.

4 years passed by in a flash and you had managed to further your studies by going to university. You were currently a Computer Science major in Hankuk University, together with your best friend whom you met in college and have been friends ever since. He was two years younger than you but he was pretty mature for his age, and his name is Hwang Hyunjin.

It was a bright Thursday morning and you were just strolling to your lecture class when someone swung their arm over your shoulder. Right when you were about to curse, the familiar voice warned you.

“Relax, stop being too defensive will you?”

You clicked your tongue at him, seeing him shake his head a little to get his long beautiful blonde bangs away from his eyes.

“Then announce who you are first before putting your arm around me next time, will you?” You scoffed, earning a roll of his eyes. “You’re unbelievable sometimes, you know that?” Hyunjin sighed.

“I appreciate that compliment.”

“Whatever…” Hyunjin could only laugh as the two of you continued to walk to class.

Hours went by, it was currently lunch hour. You made it to the cafeteria in time when there still weren’t many students yet. Hyunjin was walking beside you, telling you stories about his ex-girlfriend whom he caught cheating on him last month when you spotted an empty table a few rows down from you.

With that, you grabbed his shirt and began to drag him to the table before anyone else occupies it. A few minutes later, you were just munching on your smoked squid when someone came to give Hyunjin a handshake.

You looked up to see two guys whom you knew to be in Hyunjin’s dance crew team that represented the campus.

One of them had pretty freckles all over his face while the other one had a cute gummy smile with doe round eyes. They simply acknowledged you with a friendly smile and a nod before walking away.

You’ve never really met Hyunjin’s friends before properly because you were shy.

Even with those two guys, you knew they were part of Hyunjin’s close circle of friends that had other guys from other campuses but you’ve never met them before. You weren’t sure if you even wanted to, if they’re all just going to be as equally good looking as the two dancers from your campus.

A few days later, you were lounging in your living room on a Friday night watching your favourite TV show on Netflix. You were in nothing but panties and a big hoodie that you remembered to be Hyunjin’s but you stole it one night when you slept over at his place after he broke things off with his ex-girlfriend when he found her cheating on him with a friend of his but not from his circle.

You were just seated on your couch with a chocolate almond drink in your hand when you got a text from Hyunjin.

With that, he told you to pick him up at his apartment so that you could go meet his friends at the mall and discuss his plan. It sounds ridiculously dramatic to you but then again, it’s Hyunjin. Nothing’s ever not ridiculously dramatic when it comes to him.

You texted him you’ll pick him up at around 2, in which he said okay. You were scheming through your closet to see what you could wear. You didn’t want his friends to have a bad first impression on you so you opted to wear a little feminine. After rummaging your closet for a good few minutes, you ended up pulling out a baby blue off shoulder, floral print dress.

You’ve worn this out with Hyunjin before once but mostly with your girl friends. You kept your hair simple with a messy low bun, leaving your fringe to frame your face as it parts nicely in the centre.

Once it was time to pick him up, you left your apartment. Not forgetting to bring your purse along to keep your important belongings.

You wore your favourite white Nike air force 1s to pair it with your outfit.

After you’ve managed to pick him up from his apartment, he tells you which mall they promised to meet. The drive there was filled with him complaining to you saying his ex kept bothering him on kakao talk and also social media.

He said he’s had enough so he wants to get back at her to show her that he’s moved on. He told you that she invited him and his friends to her birthday party at her house next weekend.

So he wants to use this chance for his payback.

You simply listened to his plan as you focused on the road ahead of you. Once you’ve found yourself a parking space, you park your vehicle and leave.

He walked with you to the restaurant, all the while talking to you about your dreadful assignment. You arrived at the restaurant, only for a waiter to approach you two.

“Uhh, hi. My friends are here actually. Table reserved under Chan I think?” Hyunjin said as the waiter went ahead and checked the booking list, only for him to nod when his eyes met the name that was mentioned.

“Ah, yes. Right this way.” He led you deeper into the restaurant as you followed behind Hyunjin.

You were too busy focusing on the crying child across the room, not realizing you were already at the table until Hyunjin’s arms wrapped around your waist to stop you from walking. You whipped your head around to lock eyes with him as he chuckled at you for being clumsy.

Just then, you turned towards the table and you saw a whole table filled with really handsome guys. You also noticed that the two dancers from campus whom you recognized pretty well by now.

“Oh, hey!” The one with freckles said as he waved to you and so did the other one. You smiled shyly to them as you rested your right hand on your left elbow.

You schemed through the different pairs of eyes, smiling to them as a way of saying hello.

Just when you thought you were done, you didn’t notice the one who got blocked by Hyunjin’s tall and lean body. It wasn’t until Hyunjin turned around to call for the waiter, that you finally locked eyes with the individual seated at the edge of the bench.

He was absolutely breath-taking.

He was wearing a grey shirt that hugged his upper body a little too perfectly.

His muscles were in full view. His broad chest puffing out against the soft material of his shirt. The sleeves of his shirt doing the bare minimum in giving his muscular arms air to breath. His shirt tucked into his black cargo pants that had a chain attached to the belt hooks.

He wore a silver chain necklace as his accessory and a few chain bracelets as well. His hair was styled to show his forehead despite it not being slick back. However, his eyes were cold at first but the minute he looked at you, you could’ve sworn his eyes went wide for a split second before it softened.

Your smile slowly disappeared as Hyunjin spoke up to get your attention, “Noona? You okay? You look like you just saw a ghost.”

With that, he chuckled as he turned to his friends and continued talking, “Friends, this is my best friend since college, Y/N. Noona, these are my friends, Felix, Minho hyung, Seungmin, Jeongin, Jisung, Chan hyung and Changbin hyung.”

At the mention of that last name, a sudden rush of adrenaline flowed through your veins as you turned to look at the said individual. Letting his name roll off your tongue.

“Chang… bin?”

The table fell quiet as your eyes diverted from his to the plate in front of him. The boys didn’t miss the frown that soon appeared on your face.

“Do you know him?” Hyunjin asked, genuinely intrigued by your reaction.

Why is the name making your heart flutter?

Just then, you looked back into Changbin’s soft eyes only to ask, “Seo… Changbin?” You heard a few light gasps from the guys but they weren’t your main focus right now.

You watched as Changbin shifted in his seat, making him ask, “How did you know my name?”

His question made you confused.

Was he not your neighbour? Was he not the same Seo Changbin you used to grow up next to? Was he a different Seo Changbin?

This made you feel slightly embarrassed thinking you mistook him for someone else. So you apologized, “I… sorry, maybe I mistook you for someone else.” With that being said, he didn’t say anything else as Hyunjin brought you to the empty space beside Jisung and Seungmin. During lunch, Hyunjin explains what his plan was to everyone.

You listened to him as well, occasionally giving him scoffs or a click of your tongue if you felt that he might be a bit too sassy about the things he wanted to do.

After lunch was over, they wanted to walk around the mall for a bit so you followed.

You had all just entered the lift to go down to level 1 from level 6. There were a few strangers who came in as well. You were the last to enter after the boys while the other shoppers came rushing in behind you.

You had just turned around when a rowdy bunch of people pushed you in further. You were about to lose balance when you felt a firm hold on your waist. What you also felt was your upper back accidentally crashing into a firm chest. You were secretly hoping your guess was wrong but it wasn’t.

“It’s okay. I got you.” His raspy voice said quietly in your ear over the noisy lift, making you turn your head slightly.

That was your first mistake.

The minute you turned, his lips accidentally brushed against your cheek as it was now inches away from your own lips. You were caught off guard by the close proximity so you softly gasped and were going to pull away from him when you accidentally bumped into the person in front of you.

That was your second mistake.

Because the minute you slightly bumped into them, the person turned around to give you a disapproving look, making you apologize quietly as you felt the hands on your waist wrap itself around you and tugged you against him as a way to comfort you.

Changbin simply hid his smile against your hair on his left where his face was between your head and the lift walls so none of his friends saw this.

Your heart was pounding against your chest as you unconsciously rested your hands on top of his forearms. After the crowd left the lift at level 3, you could finally breathe as Changbin let go of you before his friends saw him hold you.

You went home that day feeling lost and confused.

Does that mean he knows you, that he was simply acting as if he doesn’t remember you? Why else would he act that way, unless he’s that type of guy who knows his way around girls?

As far as you remember, Hyunjin has never mentioned being friends with fuckboys and that he says that his friends were all very sweet and humble guys.

Either way, you decided not to think much of Changbin and just carry out Hyunjin’s favour and you’d call it done with being around his friends. But of course luck wasn’t on your side and that it always has it’s way of turning things around in your life. This time, it was with Hyunjin’s friends.

More specifically, Changbin.

The day finally came, you were going to be Hyunjin’s fake girlfriend for the night. You weren’t really nervous considering you don’t have any special feelings for him. You were more anxious that you will be seeing his friends tonight. And that means you’ll be seeing Changbin too.

Hyunjin came to pick you up this time, coming earlier to pick out the perfect outfit for you to wear so that his ex would feel jealous when he sees you with him.

Hyunjin ended up choosing a pink satin dress with quite a deep neckline that essentially shows your cleavage. You were against wearing it at first but Hyunjin insists on you wearing it.

“Dude, you do realise I might get guys staring at me the whole night if I wore this right?” You asked, your tone was serious as he knows how you feel about being a centre of attraction. It gives you major anxiety. With that being said, Hyunjin gave in and chose a different dress that was also satin but with a decent neck line and a thin strap to rest on your shoulders.

It hugs your figure perfectly, with the hem stopping right on your mid thighs.

Hyunjin gave you the privacy to change as he waited for you in your living room. After you were done, you came back out with your purse and heels from your shoe closet.

Hyunjin almost choked on his own spit as he scanned you from head to toe.

“Woah! You are looking hot as hell!” He praised you, earning a roll of your eyes. You slapped his chest with your purse, telling him to get up so you can both leave.

The drive to his ex’s house took about 40 minutes, filling the drive with singing your favourite songs with Hyunjin and just laughing about random things. His friends were going to meet you two there, hence the reason why you were now leaning against Hyunjin’s car door with him towering over you.

He trapped you by resting both hands on top of his car roof on either side of your body.

“So, let me make myself clear. You can hold my hand, hold my waist, kiss my cheek, wherever you want up here…” You said as you pointed from your shoulder to your face before continuing your speech, “But, not my lips.”

Hyunjin pouted as he got a gentle slap from you to his chest, making him chuckle.

“Okay, but what if she wants proof of us dating and she asks us to kiss?” He asked, making you think through your potential actions.

“Fine, only if she asks. If not, don’t even think about tricking me into kissing you.” You warned as he scoffed, telling you that you were ‘no fun’. You rolled your eyes at him but the smile on your lips betrayed you.

Right when you wanted to look away from him, instead you saw a group of guys walking up to you and Hyunjin. Only to realize it was his friends.

Your eyes just naturally travelled over to the one walking near the curb.

Changbin wore a black skinny cargo pants, a black button down formal shirt tucked in, leaving the first few buttons undone. It definitely was low enough to expose a slight amount of his chest. He accessorized with his favourite silver necklace and a chain bracelet with a watch. He had a pair of black combat boots on to go with his outfit.

His hair was styled nicely to partially show his forehead and his undercut. You would be lying if you said he didn’t look good. But you decided to keep the comment to yourself as Chan smirked at you and Hyunjin.

“Damn, you’re not even inside and you guys already started the act?” Hyunjin wriggled his eyebrows as he pushed himself off his car only to snake one arm around your waist and pulled you against his side gently.

“By the way, you look really pretty Y/N.” Chan smiled at you genuinely, making you feel shy. But nonetheless thanked him for his compliment.

The rest of them agreed to their friend’s comment as well, saying that you look good with this dress.

The 9 of you soon walked to the house as Hyunjin slid his hands into yours swiftly when you were reaching the door. However, Changbin couldn’t help but feel jealous when he saw this. Yes he knows it was all an act. Yes he knows that it was only for a day. But why did he wish that was him instead of Hyunjin?

You arrived at the house, only for Hyunjin’s ex to open the door. Her smile immediately dropped when she looked down at your locked fingers with Hyunjin.

“Hey, you guys made it… And, with a friend…” She said through her clenched teeth.

“Oh my goodness, where’s my manners? This is Y/N, my girlfriend. Baby, this is my... friend, Yuna.” Hyunjin said as he slid his arm around your waist, making you smile at the girl and proceeded to shake her hand.

She was clearly uncomfortable but she just pressed on a smile as she welcomed the 9 of you in.

The birthday party was definitely leaning more towards a party which includes alcohol and random hooking ups with strangers. But since some of them drove, they made sure not to drink, including yourself because you don’t drink alcohol.

It has been almost an hour since you reached here and there were already a whole bunch of drunk university students everywhere in this house.

You were just seated on the couch next to Hyunjin and Minho with some of the guys. The only ones who were tipsy amongst the 9 of you were Jisung, Jeongin, Felix and Seungmin. You were just leaning your head against Hyunjin’s shoulder, feeling tired from having been surrounded by drunk students when you felt the need to get a refill of your non alcoholic drink.

You rested your hand on Hyunjin’s lap to gain his attention, who was busy talking to the other four guys, as all four pairs of eyes soon turned to you. “I’m gonna get a refill. I’ll be back.” You said as you got up after receiving a nod from him.

A few minutes later, you were just walking back to where the guys were sitting when a warm hand on your waist made you jump.

You turned around to see a guy whom you didn’t recognize, smiling down at you drunkenly.

“Wanna dance, baby girl?” He slurred over his words, making you excuse yourself. But when you turned to walk, he gripped your wrist so tightly that it made you drop your cup to the floor. You winced as he began tugging you towards the stairs.

But then a firm grip around your waist made you stop walking as someone ripped his hand away from yours only to throw a solid punch to his jaw.

“Fucking touch her again and I’ll break your nose.” Hyunjin growled as the guy began to stumble away. This has caught the eyes of those around you, making your anxiety grow. You didn’t realize this but you began to shake, something you always did when your anxiety was kicking in.

You were about to panic when the soft voice behind you managed to calm you down.

“Hey? Hey, calm down. Breathe. It’s okay.” Changbin whispered in your ear. It confused you on how he seemed to know that this was due to your anxiety but your mind couldn’t properly function right now.

So when Changbin called Hyunjin and told him you were shaking, the minute he passed you over to Hyunjin who immediately hugged you, that’s when it hit you.

This Changbin knows about your anxiety.

You allowed yourself to calm down in Hyunjin’s arms as he caressed your back soothingly and it worked.

A few minutes later, you finally stopped shaking as he pulled away from you only to cup your face gently. “Are you okay?” He asked, genuinely concerned for you. All you could do was smile at him and thank him, in which he told you it was fine and that he should’ve been more alert when leaving you alone in this kind of atmosphere.

You were just walking back to where his three friends were sitting, when a familiar voice called Hyunjin’s name behind you. The pair turned around as Yuna came to a stop behind Hyunjin.

She awkwardly glanced at you before focusing back at him.

“Hey, I need to talk to you… in private?” Yuna said.

“Why? We can just speak here.” Hyunjin said.

“I want to talk about something important… it’s about… us.” She paused. Hyunjin sighed as he stared at her with nothing but lingering pain in his eyes.

“There’s nothing else to talk about Yuna. You cheated on me when I told you I loved you. Was I not enough for you?”

“I’m sorry Hyunjin… I… I wasn’t thinking. Please… can we talk in private?” She said desperately, making you glance up to him who had an obvious frown on his face. You knew he wanted to talk to her to clear things between them. But you could also see that he was already tired of her bullshit and that he wanted nothing but to move on from her.

So you opted to give them space by holding his forearm gently and told him, “I think there’s some things you guys need to settle. Go. I’ll wait with the guys.”

You flashed him and Yuna a smile as you let go of his hand, turning around to walk towards where Minho, Changbin and Chan were sitting. The three of them were already looking at your direction, seeing the situation unravel in front of their eyes.

Hyunjin was at a cross road as he wasn’t sure if he should follow his heart or mind.

After what felt like forever, he decided to follow his heart and that was to completely end ties with Yuna. With that being said, he turned back to her only to speak up.

“I’m sorry Yuna. But all of that was in the past. I’ve already moved on and you should too.” Hyunjin said as he then turned on his heels and left.

He re-joined you and the guys, where you were sitting on the arm rest beside Minho since the other end of the couch was already occupied by drunk couples. Hyunjin was just standing beside you when Yuna placed her hand on his shoulder and roughly turned him around.

“That’s it? It was just that one time. You can’t tell me you’ve moved on that fast.” She scoffed as he raised his eyebrows at her in disbelief.

“With what you did to me, it only makes sense for me to move on this fast. Besides, I’m already dating someone now. You’re too late.” Hyunjin taunts but it seems like Yuna had a different plan as she scoffed at you.

“As if. I’ve noticed you two acting quite distant when I’m not near you. Just tell me you guys are friends and leave. I don’t need fakers at my party.” Yuna said, her tone visibly angered.

Hyunjin smirks, knowing that she was just trying to bite his tail.

“What do I need to do then to prove to you that I’ve really moved on from you?”

“Kiss her. If you’re really dating her and you guys aren’t just friends, then kiss her.”

There it is.

That was probably the last thing you’d wanna hear tonight. Especially not in front of Changbin. With that being said, Hyunjin smirks as he accepted the challenge easily. Since you both agreed on this before you entered the house just now, you knew you couldn’t really say no to it.

“Oh, sure thing sweetheart.” Hyunjin said as he turned to you and immediately leaned down to kiss you on the lips, hands reaching up to cup your face.

You swiftly moved your lips against his to make it seem legit. You could feel Hyunjin’s lips curving into a smile against your lips as you heard Yuna scoff and soon stormed off. Hyunjin pulled back the minute she left, only to apologize to you.

“I’m really sorry noona…”

“It’s okay.” You smiled as Minho and Chan began to tease you two for executing the perfect kiss, saying that it looks too legit. They even mentioned saying you two looked like a nice couple.

In which you responded with a fake gag, earning a soft punch to your arm by Hyunjin himself. You giggled but you completely missed the way Changbin’s eyes were burning with jealousy from seeing you kiss Hyunjin.

He knows this was just an act but why was he so pressed by the simple kiss?

A few days later, you were in class when Hyunjin told you he was meeting his friends this weekend and asked if you wanted to join them. You weren’t sure if you wanted to but you decided to go along with it. He said they planned to watch a movie and maybe go to the pier. You nodded, agreeing to tag along since he offered you to come.

Weekend finally came and you had just left your apartment. You wore your denim skinny ripped jeans, a white cropped fitted tank top and a black oversized jacket.

Hyunjin told you he was going to pick you up so you met him at the roadside in front of your apartment building.

You both made it to the mall to queue for the movie tickets. Chan was queueing with Hyunjin so you were left with the others. You were just scrolling through your Instagram when someone fed you popcorn. You looked up to see Changbin holding two popped kernels in front of your lips. You unconsciously blushed as you opened your mouth to let him feed you.

Changbin chuckled after feeding you, only to pop some in his own mouth. You stood in between Changbin and Jeongin against the wall while Seungmin, Jisung, Felix and Minho were standing in front of you three.

They were just talking amongst themselves when you glanced over to the full bucket filled with caramel popcorn that Changbin was hugging.

He saw you looking so he took some out and held it up to your mouth.

“Ahh, it’s okay, I can take myself.” You said softly, gently pushing his hand away but instead, he said something that made your stomach churn in a good way.

“Don’t worry, I like feeding people.”

You stared at him for a second as he teasingly tapped the popcorns on your lips, making you giggle. Changbin fed you a few times, even after you’ve entered the cinema theatre. After the movie ended, all of you made your way to the pier.

Once there, you were walking past the game booths which had some very cute prizes. Just then, your eyes caught a glimpse of your favourite cartoon character as a prize for one of the booths.

It was Stitch.

You gasped as you eagerly reached out for whoever’s arm that was nearest to you, only to grab both Changbin’s and Seungmin’s forearms on either side of you before pointing to the booth with the Stitch soft toy.

“Guys look! It’s stitch! It’s so cute! Omg!” You giggled, hearing both of them chuckle as you jogged over to the booth. It was a game of shooting which you clearly weren’t good at. Just as you were pondering over the game, a familiar voice spoke up from behind you causing you to turn.

“One round please.” Changbin said as he handed the man his bill before the man gave him a loaded nerf gun.

“What are you doing?” You asked as Changbin simply smiled at you.

“Playing the game?”

“Of course I know that… but why?”

“For fun…” He smiled as he began to aim for the targets. He was getting the shots perfect so far. Barely missing any target. After a stressful close round, you watched as he won a prize. You didn’t know why but you thought he was going to choose something that was for himself.

But instead, the next thing you see was the man reaching up to grab the exact one that you’ve been eyeing all these while.

Changbin smiled as he thanked the man for the prize. But when he turned away from the man, you expected him to walk back to his friends. You didn’t expect him to give you the Stitch soft toy and then proceed to say innocently, “Take it.”

You raised your eyebrows at him softly, clearly taken aback by his offer.

“W-What?”

“It’s for you… You looked like you wanted it so bad.” Changbin chuckled as he gently took your hands and wrapped it around the toy to make you hug it.

“Changbin… thank you…” You whispered as he could only smile, guiding you back to where the guys were. The minute you came back to where some of them were, you excitedly showed off your prize.

“Jin ah! Look!” You exclaimed as Hyunjin gasped at the size of the soft toy.

“Woah! Where did you get this?”

“From that shooting booth! Isn’t he cute!”

“You won the shooting game?!” Hyunjin asked in shock, making you blush as you turned to Changbin. He had a soft smile on his face before he spoke up for you.

“I did. So I gave the prize to her.”

The guys began to tease as Changbin rolled his eyes thickly at them.

“Oh? Was that a gift to her?” Minho smirked.

“Never thought I’d see the day Seo Changbin goes out of his way to win a prize for a girl…” Jisung teased. Changbin simply brushed all their comments off as you all continued walking. You have been hugging the soft toy for the past hour wherever you went, earning soft laughs from the guys. Just then, Hyunjin wanted to take pictures at the pier.

Felix was helping to take Hyunjin’s pictures while Chan was helping to take Minho, Jisung, Seungmin and Jeongin’s picture.

You were just burying your face in the soft toy when Changbin’s voice softly spoke up from beside you, “Do you like it that much?” With that, you turned to him and a bright smile decorated your face, warming his heart even more.

“I’ve loved it since I was young! He’s so cute! Don’t you remember? I used to bring my small stuffed-” You were rambling excited until you stopped yourself when you realized what you were doing. “Oh! Sorry! Sorry… I got a little carried away there…” You apologized as you avoided his gaze but you missed the little smile growing on his face.

But what he said next made your heart stop for a split second, almost not believing your ears.

“I remember…” He whispered so softly, you could’ve missed it if you weren’t properly listening. You whipped your head around as you stared at him in shock.

“You… do?” Your voice was quiet as his eyes held the galaxy.

But your little moment gets cut when Felix calls you over to take a picture with Hyunjin who deliberately drags you away from Changbin. He could only smile as he nods at Hyunjin’s figure behind you, signalling you to just go follow him.

You frowned as you stood beside Hyunjin and proceeded to take a few memorable pictures with him. After everyone was almost done taking pictures, you didn’t want the memory to go to waste so you turned to Hyunjin and quietly asked when the rest of the guys were already walking away.

“Jinie, can you take one picture of me with Changbin?”

“Why?”

“Just for memories…” You smiled and you definitely saw the confused look on his face but nonetheless, he smiled and called the boy over. When Changbin was standing in front of you, Hyunjin told him what you wanted. Changbin looks at you and a smile creeps onto his face before he agrees to it.

You soon reached down to slide your hand in his and brought him to the edge of the pier. You stood beside him with the huge soft toy in your arms. Right when Hyunjin was just trying to find the right angle, you felt Changbin snake his arm around your waist and pulled you closer into his side.

Your heart was palpitating against your chest as he turned to you and whispered softly in your ear, “I’m sorry for being distant back then. I hope you can forgive me and we can start fresh? Properly this time?”

You turned to him, only to find his face just inches away from you. At this moment, neither of you dared to move an inch.

Just then, you heard Hyunjin’s voice counting down from 3.

You turned to Hyunjin and back to Changbin, wanting to ask what pose you two should do. But the moment you turned to Changbin, he gave you no warning whatsoever as he simply pressed his lips against yours sweetly. You closed your eyes in bliss, enjoying the feeling when you heard the click of the camera followed by Hyunjin screaming excitedly.

Changbin was the one to pull away as his lips lingered over your for a second. You struggled to look at him, feeling your cheeks burn from embarrassment. “Was that okay?” He whispered, making you nod.

“Hey! Since when are you two a thing?! And secretly behind my back too?! Pfft…” Hyunjin scoffed but his cheeky smirk didn’t go unnoticed.

“Yeah… about that, we still have a lot to clear between us…” Changbin said as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously but you helped him clear the air before Hyunjin got more confused with the situation.

“Let’s just say we have an unfinished history between us and we’re going to settle it once and for all, okay?” With that, Hyunjin nods as he wished you and Changbin good luck. The 3 of you rejoined the group, only for them to ask where you three were. Hyunjin simply said taking pictures, completely hiding the fact that he just witnessed his best friend kiss his close friend.

On the way to all your vehicles, Hyunjin asks if you wanted to ride home with Changbin instead and that he could send Jisung home. You turned to Changbin who overheard your conversation with Hyunjin.

You saw him smile as he shrugged his shoulders, so you turned to Hyunjin and felt your lips curving upwards into a soft expression, “I’d love that.”

With that, Changbin told Jisung the plan and the younger could only nod happily despite not knowing the true intentions of the car swap. After all of you had said your goodbyes, you followed Changbin to his car and he soon drove off after you told him your address.

The car ride was filled with jokes and laughter, purposely avoiding the main talks first until you got to your apartment.

You let him in, telling him to take a seat while you went to make him a drink. After you came back with his iced chocolate, you sat down with him on the couch. He took a few sips of it before he finally spoke up.

“Is it okay if we start over? I know I wasn’t the warmest when I was young… I barely socialize with you and your brother… I guess I was just too shy and a little antisocial back then.”

You smiled as you reached up to cup his face gently in your hand. “It’s okay Binie. I didn’t understand why back then but now I know.” You whispered, feeling him lean into your touch.

You didn’t know who leaned in first but the next thing you knew, you were kissing him.

On the lips.

Changbin wraps his arms around your waist as he pulls you onto his lap. Your heart was racing rapidly in your chest. He kisses you passionately, rubbing soft circles into your skin. Just then, your breath hitched in your throat when his lips left yours only to make his way down your neck.

“Changbin…” You whispered breathily, making him smirk against your skin.

You swiftly took off his shirt, pulling it over his head before doing the same for you. Changbin took a second to admire your body, seeing this much skin on you for the first time.

“Wow…” His voice soft, feeling yourself get shy all of a sudden. He chuckled as he kissed your lips to distract you.

He took his time with you, making sure he wasn’t hurting you in any way. He brought you to your room after a good amount of time on the couch. He had been so respectful of you that he would always ask for your permission to touch you anywhere. He left you wanting more.

He made sure to clean you after spending your time together before pulling you against him to cuddle. You couldn’t help but prop yourself on your elbow as you rested one hand on his bare chest, softly caressing it before sliding your hand up to cup his face.

“I’m so happy I found you again.” You whispered as he giggled. His eyes crinkled into two crescent moons that disappeared as soon as he smiled.

“I could say the same for you too.” Changbin said as he kissed you sweetly. Both of you fell into a deep slumber a few minutes later, waking up the next day feeling so warm and full in your hearts. You were happy that you met him again after all these years. Who knew you would end up with the boy whom you used to live next door to.

~~~

#stray kids scenarios #stray kids imagines #skz x reader #seo changbin fluff #stray kids changbin #skz changbin fluff #skz scenarios #skz changbin scenarios #skz seo changbin #stray kids x reader

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dancingazaleas · 3 years

Text

zeke yeager | my baby

this is bc of the new episode; i’ve known his backstory for a while but i didn’t come up with the idea until now LFMAOOAOA

anyways zeke supremacy

edit: this is so bad but enjoy LMFOAOAOA

warnings/notes: this is strictly platonic, takes place in canonverse during zeke’s childhood then to the beginning of season 4, cursing, mentions of mental abuse from family, murder, fem!reader(feel free to change if u want), yeah i’m unoriginal and the reader is the female titan before annie, angst,

when you first met zeke, zeke was extremely hesitant towards you.

grisha and dina had brought you into the house, a 17 year old girl who had soft and gentle eyes along with a nice smile. zeke had recognized you from the warrior program. you hadn’t inherited your titan just yet, you still had a few more years before they would allow it to be given to you. your predecessor gained the titan around your age, no one really knows why. zeke assumes that it must be a similar case with mr. ksaver and himself.

it shocked zeke in all honesty. they’re letting a warrior watch over him? one that isn’t in cahoots with his mother and father?

it wasn’t until grisha and dina pulled him into a different room and told him to get information on your views that he understood why. they wanted to use you, just like they wanted to use zeke. the worst of it all was that zeke knows you. he looks up to you, you graduated third out of all of your peers, you express love with the younger candidates such as zeke.

he felt like curling up in his bed and crying, he didn’t want you to babysit him just so his parents could use you.

but whenever the couple left, your arms encased him in warmth. you were hugging him tightly to you, fingernails surely digging into the fabric of his shirt. he felt his eyes widen whenever he felt a drop of a liquid on his shoulder. you were crying.

you pulled away and put a hand on his cheek, looking at him with endearment. zeke started crying at this, not once had dina touched him like this. not once had grisha looked at him like this.

“it’s okay, my boy,” you pull him close again, “i’m here.”

for the first time, zeke wasn’t cowering in a corner while he sobbed. he sobbed in the arms of a person, one that loved him dearly whether he knew it or not. you were even crying for him.

“my mother and father were apart of the same group,” you whispered as you stroked his hair, “they pushed me so far to my limits.”

“so, i did something i regret,” you sob, “something i hope you’re never forced to do.”

your whimper gave him chills, “i murdered my mother with a butcher knife and pinned the crime onto my father. all at the age of ten. to this day, i don’t know how i got away with it. maybe the police pitied me or found it excusable because of their affiliations with the group.”

“you hurt someone,” he sniffles, eyes widened in fear.

it gave you a frown, however you couldn’t blame him, “i did. it was mistake and i wish i had never done it. i just wished for my mother and father to love me, not to use me. after that, i found myself in the warrior program. maybe with this power, i could do some good. to show marley that us eldians are not devils.”

you rid him of his snot and tears with your shirt, “when i saw your father the time he came to observe you, i was immediately able to tell. your reaction had said it all. i can’t allow myself to witness you go through what i did without doing something. even if it’s small.”

he blinks at you after you softly kiss him on his forehead.

“now, is there anything you want to do?”

————

that afternoon, you played catch and volleyball with zeke. after that, you bought him whatever meal he wanted from the market and ate with him at the table. he told you about his stuffed monkey, who he named jerry, and his adventures.

he was sad when you had to leave, to which dina and grisha informed him you would come to their home sparingly. although he was delighted, he was also sad.

the next day, you doted on him during the short breaks between his training. patting his head, shaking him by his shoulders, and giving him a hug. when lunch came around, you pulled out a home cooked lunch for him as you sat on a bench. you would give him advice with training and his health while he ate.

he even shared some of his food with her.

after that was his time with ksaver. he didn’t see you during that time, obviously, but that didn’t mean you didn’t come during their conversations.

zeke was surprised to hear the praising from ksaver. ksaver said that you were a good figure for him and that you had a genuine heart. it made him feel at ease.

when the day was over, you walked zeke home and even ate dinner with him and his parents. it was a surprise that made you slightly bitter, but you accepted nonetheless.

they talked to you excitedly, asking about your duties as a warrior. you exceptionally avoided answering the questions, instead prodding at their own occupations and duties.

in the end, it felt like a game of tag. avoiding and then charging.

the night you were on your way to watch zeke, you felt your heart drop at the feral screeching of grisha and the reassurance of dina. you banged your fist against the door worriedly, sweat forming at your hairline.

the yelling stopped and you heard the patter of footsteps against the floor. dina looked flustered as she opened the door, face tear stained and eyebrows knitted up in concern.

“oh, (name), we don’t need you to watch over him anymore.”

“no, please, allow me,” you put on a fake smile that made her relax.

“you can take him out for a bit,” she, surprisingly, compromised and stepped aside to let you inside.

you bolted to zeke’s dark room. he was in a corner with his knees pushed against his chest and his hands covering his ears. his tears were making puddles on his knees as he stared blankly at the wall. you rush to him, pulling his head into your chest and picking him up.

“it’s alright,” you whispered, “you’ll be with me for a little bit.”

he didn’t respond but just wiped his eyes when he realized he would pass by his mom. you gave dina a brisk goodbye before leaving and taking him to a nearby park.

“it’s alright, my boy, it’s alright,” you coo and stroke his sweaty back.

for once, he felt okay.

————

the day zeke reported his parents, you held him in your arms. from then, he stayed with his grandparents and often found himself spending time with you after training when his schedule allowed it.

now, zeke is 16 and you’re 29. zeke was often seen with you or ksaver during his free time, now having the power of the best titan secured when ksaver’s term is up.

you mentor a girl named annie leonhardt, the next inheritor of the female titan. zeke occasionally sees you and annie catching some bugs in the grass during your mentoring. other days, you talk to her or just look at the sky. once at the beginning of the year, he once saw you take annie ice skating over a lake.

when he spends his time with you, you’re often doting on him and taking care of him. one time, you convinced the kids and some of the older soldiers to all play a game of baseball after your training was over.

you walked the extra mile for zeke no matter what. zeke was in trouble during a war and you swatted him into the trenches with your hand before attacking the enemy a year ago. whenever zeke would get hurt, you’d be his nurse.

if zeke’s being honest, you’re the maternal figure in his life. you act as if he’s your son, love him like he’s your son, and sometimes you even let it slip and call him that. sometimes zeke messes up and calls you mom.

in your eyes, he is your son.

in his eyes, you’re his mom.

but with being a parental figure came with fighting. it didn’t happen often, but whenever it did it was bad. zeke would become more irritable and angry while you would become reserved and melancholy.

when zeke was 14, you got into a fight so bad that it ended up getting you bedridden. you’d been sick from stress and it lasted for weeks until zeke swallowed his pride and apologized.

it almost made bertholdt, annie, reiner, porco, pieck, and marcel laugh at how domestic the two of you are when together. but as soon as you left zeke’s side, he would revert back to his quiet and receptive personality.

“zeke, my boy,” you call as you walk towards all the warrior candidates, “i’ve got your favorite.”

“thanks,” he hums when you stand beside him.

“i also brought some food for you all too. since we didn’t have training today, i thought you all could enjoy a nice break by having a picnic,” you clap your hands with a smile and they all feel like they’re seeing an angel.

they all agree and follow behind you when you start leading them towards a grassy field. you set the basket down and rummage through it, pulling out a nice thick blanket so the blades of the grass wouldn’t poke through.

“help me lay this out,” zeke sighs but obliges.

with zeke’s help, everyone is sitting on the blanket and eating and conversing. you listen quietly as you chew on the sandwich you made.

“miss (name),” pieck’s soft voice said beside you, “thank you for the picnic.”

you smile and shake your head, cheeks puffing out from the food that’s still in your mouth.

“can we do this again,” shyly asks reiner.

you gulp down your food and choke a bit, “y-yes! of course!”

you turn to zeke and speak quietly, “how was training yesterday?”

“it was fine. my calves are kind of sore though, it’s been a while since we did squats,” he shrugs and looks up, “ksaver let me pitch to him again.”

“i’m assuming it was at least enjoyable?”

“yeah...,” he trails off, “could you massage my calves for me in a little while?”

you pinch his cheek as you laugh, “of course! anything for you, my child.”

he chuckles while he swats at your hand, “quit that. it hurts.”

before you could pinch him even harder, porco’s loud voice interrupted.

“miss (name), are you zeke’s mom?”

his brother and annie hit him, scolding him in whispers.

“i-i’m so sorry miss (name)..! my brother means no harm,” marcel stutters nervously.

“it’s alright, i don’t mind,” zeke’s slightly flustered, “but no, i’m not zeke’s mother.”

“so why do you act so friendly?”

“i met zeke when i was 17 and he was just a little boy. i would watch him while his grandparents were away,” you lie like it’s nothing.

“i’ve always seen zeke as my little boy though even if i’m only 13 years older,” it has them all gaping and zeke staring at his food.

“why’d you become a warrior then,” reiner blurts out, slapping a hand over his mouth in shame, “sorry... but with all due respect, you have a family you love and who love you... why would you let your life end so short?”

for just a second the smile on your face cracks into a frown as you feel your throat tighten up, “why are you asking such disrespectful questions? i understand you have no malicious intent, however it sounds as if you are seeing my decision as an ignorant one. are you calling me ignorant for becoming a warrior?”

zeke just looks away sadly. you never really had to put on this demanding ploy too much since no one dared to ask a question such as reiner did. not to mention that you had to in order to keep your position. reiner scrambles to pledge his loyalty to marley with your eyes burning holes into his head.

the others slightly cower in fear, they’d only ever heard that you could be like this from their mentors. but when they all looked in your, now, sad eyes, they relaxed.

“but, to answer your question,” you say reluctantly, “i was already selected to inherit the female titan.”

“now,” you cough and zeke knows it’s because you want to cry, “i need to go.”

they all help you get everything together, fidgeting anxious as they watch you walk back to the dorm. when you were far enough away, porco shouts at reiner for asking such questions and ruining the picnic. it ends up with annie joining in with the berating and marcel slapping porco upside the head.

zeke just leaves and follows you. he can’t be bothered to listen to them argue while you’re probably crying.

zeke knew it was about your 13 years coming to an end, meaning you wouldn’t be with him anymore. the first time he brought it up, you sobbed out apologies while holding his head to your chest. zeke knows not to bring it up again.

however, reiner didn’t. although he was slightly frustrated with reiner, he understood that he meant no harm to you. sometimes reiner just doesn’t think before he speaks.

zeke finds you with your head in your hands as you cry on your bed. the creaking of the door opening has you looking up and making eye contact and your eyes fill up with tears. zeke shut the door behind him and sat next to you after you pat the spot beside you.

zeke knows what’s going to happen, but allows it anyways because it puts you both at ease.

you cradle his head to your chest, stroking his hair with one hand and his back with another. zeke feels himself starting to cry when you cry out apologies and exclamations of love.

“zeke, my boy, i love you,” you whimper, “i’m so sorry i cannot be by your side until i grow old.”

zeke’s fingers curl into the fabric of your shirt and let’s out a broken sob.

“you’re the light of my life, zeke,” you whisper, “my beautiful boy, my beautiful baby.”

his shoulders shake and he wanted to tell you to stop and to pull away. but he won’t.

“you’re the son i never had, zeke, did you know that,” you sob and squeeze him tight.

it has him wailing and holding you tight. though zeke knew this, you never said it out loud.

“my baby, my baby,” you croak, “i love you so much, zeke.”

“love you too,” he chokes out, muffled by your shirt.

“zeke, my boy, my son, my zeke.”

“please don’t leave me,” it makes you sob even louder.

“i’m so sorry, zeke, i’m so sorry.”

————

zeke couldn’t look in annie’s direction after your term ended and her’s started. even at 29 years of age, he still curls up in a ball and cries himself to sleep. he carries a photograph of the two of you, he remembers taking the picture on your 26th birthday.

back on marley, whenever you were brought up in conversations, reiner, porco, and pieck stared at him with sympathy.

after zeke’s arms grow back on the blimp, he pulls out the folded photograph from his pocket. he stares at your beaming smile.

“who’s the girl,” eren asks, ignoring how yelena looks at him fiercely, “when’d you get a girlfriend?”

zeke shakes his head, “not a girlfriend.”

“who is she then,” eren gestures with his hand, the clinking of the metal chains echoing in the small room on the blimp.

“my mother,” he murmurs while he hands it to eren.

“dina doesn’t look like that.”

“eren, did you ever see a memory of a woman being introduced as a babysitter?”

“now that it’s being mentioned, yea.”

“that’s her,” the memory has him chuckling, “she treated me like her son before she died.”

eren transfers his gaze to yelena, a silent request for her to give more information.

“(name) (last name) was the inheritor of the female titan before annie leonhardt. she inherited the titan a few months after she turned 17, her predecessor, flora, was unexpectedly injured during war and was not able to regenerate. although disorganized and unexpected, (name) managed to eat flora. she died at the age of 30 when annie ate her as a pure titan,” yelena elaborates hesitantly as zeke’s small smile fades, “she was often recognized for her kind personality and optimistic attitude.”

“i see,” he said.

“were you her beautiful boy,” eren taunts.

“yes. i was.”

he sounds sad while he folds it back up and puts it in his pocket.

maybe he could be the same to eren.

#attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #snk #aot fanfiction #zeke yeager #zeke yeager x reader #snk zeke #zeke x reader #attack on titan zeke #zeke jaeger #shingeki no kyojin zeke #zeke x you #snk angst

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latte-fairytaekwoon · 3 years

Text

𝑀𝑎𝑓𝑖𝑎! 𝐴𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑧: 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝐾𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑂𝑓 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑅𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑓𝑡. 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑦 𝐾𝑖𝑑𝑠

Disclaimer: In no way am I condoning, encouraging, supporting, justifying, or promoting mafia behavior or lifestyle. This is all a work of fiction and not meant to represent real life scenarios.

Warning: Brief scenes of violence. Reader discretion advised.

「𝑲𝒊𝒎 𝑯𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒋𝒐𝒐𝒏𝒈」

When Hongjoong escorted you through the hall for your uncle's wedding, the last person he expected to be seated at the same table you two were in was none other than Bang Chan, who was also surprised to see him.

"You?!" They both exclaimed, already getting into a fighting position.

The people around you guys stared in shock, afraid of some shoot out about to happen. You however calmed Hongjoong down while explaining that Chan was your cousin's boyfriend.

"And you couldn't have mentioned this before?" He crossed his arms in front of you.

"Can you both just not cause a scene here? It's my uncle's special day." You begged them.

"Yeah, 5th special day in the last 4 years." Chan teased earning him a smack from his girlfriend beside him.

They just sat quietly during the entire reception, refusing to acknowledge each other, although occasionally they couldn't help but throw slight jabs at each other. It all culminated though when it was time for the bride to throw the bouquet which was caught by none other than you. Chan actually laughed at that.

"What's so funny?" Hongjoong asked.

"The fact that of all people, Y/N caught the bouquet when we both know you don't have the guts to make her walk down the aisle."

Hongjoong slammed his fists down and stood up.

"That's it! I've had it with you. You want to take this outside? Cause I'm ready."

「𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝑺𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒉𝒘𝒂」

Seonghwa and you happily strolled through the park, enjoying each other's affection, when you were startled by an all too familiar voice and face behind Seonghwa, one you had not seen in over 2 years.

"Y/N! Long time no see. How have you been gorgeous?"

Seonghwa noticed how you seemed to sunk your shoulders down, your eyes not wanting to directly look at the man in front of you. And Seonghwa was not at all amused by the way this man talked to you.

"I... I'm fine.... Lee Know..." You responded, your voice slightly trembling.

At hearing the name, Seonghwa turned around and indeed, it was none other than the infamous play boy Lee Minho himself, smirking right at you. He looked at Seonghwa and let out a tiny scoff.

"I take it....he's your new boo?" Lee Know asked, cocking his head to the side.

Seonghwa merely wrapped an arm around you protectively, clearly signaling an affirmative answer. Lee Know smiled.

"Well.....then good for you. If you ever get bored of him....you know you can always call me." He shamelessly said as he walked away.

Seonghwa looked down at you, the way you were holding back tears was enough to know Lee Know was your ex, the one who had torn your heart apart years ago, the one who made it difficult for you to accept Seonghwa because you were so heartbroken and scared about starting a new relationship.

Seonghwa kissed your forehead and held you close to him.

"You know I love you and I'd never hurt you like he did right?"

「𝑱𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒀𝒖𝒏𝒉𝒐」

Yunho slowly walked through the city's streets, casually listening to music and overall trying to relax a little. He thought he spotted a familiar sweater on a rather familiar frame, but it couldn't have been you right? Especially when the figure seemed to be lovey dovey with none other than....

Seo Changbin?!

Yunho ripped his earbuds out, tearing them off when he noticed it was definitely you and you were definitely hugging one of his arch nemesis.

"Get the fuck away from her!" Yunho declared as he ripped you away from Changbin's embrace.

"Yunho! What are you?-"

Grabbing the smaller man by the collar, he easily hoisted him up.

"I'm warning you right now, don't ever come near my girlfriend or so help me your gang will be short by one member." He warned him.

"Yunho! Stop! Put my brother down!" You cried out as you tugged at his jacket.

Yunho widened his eyes and looked back at you, immediately turning soft when he stared at your panicked stricken face.

"Bro...brother?" He asked incredulous.

"Yes! Her brother now do you mind putting me down?" Changbin asked as he tried to pry Yunho's fingers off him.

Yunho put him down and you immediately checked on him to make sure he was ok. You only got a scoff from him as he warned you:

"Careful with him and his gang Y/N. I'm only holding back for your sake."

Changbin began walking away, not wanting anymore confrontation in front of you. Yunho sheepishly looked at you while you merely rolled your eyes.

"I'm sorry.....but you never told me you had a brother."

「𝑲𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒀𝒆𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒈」

The young man calmly stepped inside the room, looking around, trying to figure out if it really was a set up or not.

"Hello?" He called out, not seeing anybody.

Suddenly the lights turned on and from the shadows, Yeosang emerged, hands in his pockets as he calmly looked at the man in front of him.

"Hwang Hyunjin, thank you for accepting my invitation." He spoke out, voice laced with sarcasm.

"Get to the point Yeosang. The fuck you want." Hyunjin didn't want to waste his time.

Yeosang hummed. "I simply want you to stay away from Y/N."

Hyunjin actually let out a chuckle at that.

"Of course the overbearing boyfriend would pull out this mediocre shit. Listen, Y/N and I have been longtime friends and you can't change that. She's my friend. "

"I know. And I also know you have the hots for her and more than once you've shit talked me to her in order to get her to leave me." Yeosang raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to contradict him.

Hyunjin's smile faltered for a moment, but then he smirked.

"You're not gonna do shit Yeosang. And you can't stop me from seeing Y/N."

"What makes you think-"

"Suppose I accidentally let it slip out to Y/N what you actually do for a living, let her find out who you really are?" Hyunjin threatened him.

Yeosang stayed quiet, clenching his fists, resisting the urge to break Hyunjin's skull against the floor.

"I think it's in your best interest to not try me Kang Yeosang. You'll end up losing."

Yeosang just stood there, unable to do anything but watch his rival leave victorious...

"For now..."

「𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒊 𝑺𝒂𝒏」

"Well well well.....look what the cat dragged in."

San let out an evil laughter as he picked up the blonde haired boy up and slammed him against the wall.

"I thought I told you never to show your ugly rat face around here Jisung." San reminded him.

Jisung got up from the floor, refusing to back down at the taller and obviously stronger male.

"I'm actually a squirrel, thank you." He replied with a smug grin.

San didn't hesitate to throw a punch at his face, knocking him down once again. San picked him up again, this time with his hands wrapped around his neck as he choked him.

"Wrong move to try and be brave with me punk." He sneered at him.

"San! Don't! Let him go!"

Your voice made San look over at you. You ran over to them, fear and panic written all over your face.

"Stay out of this Y/N." San warned you, inadvertently pushing you away rather roughly, making you fall to the floor.

Seeing you get hurt triggered something in Jisung. Using whatever strength he had, he swung his leg and kicked San hard enough to loosen the grip he had on him. He got to land one solid punch to his cheek, knocking him to the ground before he proceeded to take out a switchblade from his jacket.

"No Jisung! Please don't!" You begged him, your arms encapsulating his waist, trying to get him to stop.

San just stood looking at you in disbelief.

"Y/N....what on earth-?" He asked, his voice somewhat breaking.

"Jisung! Please don't! I'm begging you! Don't kill him!" You begged.

"Give me one good reason!" Jisung exclaimed.

You looked up at him with tears falling down.

"I love him..."

Jisung's face dropped as he realized what you meant. He looked back at San who had confusion written all over his face, which then turned to shock when he asked:

"So you're my sister's boyfriend?"

「𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊」

Mingi stormed into a room, watching as the younger male was strapped to the chair in front of him.

"Felix....." Mingi said, walking around and watching as the feline looking man remained quiet.

"Do you have any idea why you're here?" Mingi asked him.

"I can tell you the reasons I'm not here for." Felix scoffed.

"Stop acting you little shit! You know damn well why I brought you here!" Mingi's deep voice boomed throughout the room.

Felix wasn't intimidated though, he simply leaned his face closer to Mingi's.

"Try me."

Mingi huffed before taking a picture out of his wallet and holding it up.

"You see her?"

Felix squinted his eyes at the picture before realizing that it was none other than you.

"I want to know why you've been hanging around her place more often. Are you stalking her? Planning to kidnap her to get back at me? Was that your plan? Use my own girlfriend against me? You think I'd let you get the chance?" Mingi questioned him.

Felix rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Yes Mingi, I was totally going to kidnap my own sibling and possibly torture her in order to get under your skin." He replied sarcastically.

Mingi's face dropped. "What?"

"You dumbass. Y/N is my sister and I've been hanging around her place for protection. In case you don't know, there's another gang that's been recently rising up. They call themselves Oneus. About a week ago, they sent all of us pictures of our closed ones to taunt us, and so we've been on guard over them."

Mingi now froze as Felix said those words. He realized now you were in danger. He quickly cut Felix loose from the ropes before ordering:

"Tell me everything you know about these bastards."

「𝑱𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝑾𝒐𝒐𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈」

"I love you so much." Wooyoung whispered, kissing your nose, making you giggle.

"Do you?" You teased him.

"I do. I love you more than-"

"Y/N! What are you doing with him?"

Your oldest friend, Seungmin promptly pushed Wooyoung away from you, placing himself in front of you.

"Kim Seungmin, do you want to die?" Wooyoung glared at him.

"You're the one that's going to die if you keep playing with my best friend." Seungmin warned.

"Playing?" You asked.

"Best friend?" Wooyoung was in utter confusion.

"Don't give me that. Everyone in the mafia world knows you're the biggest fuck boi there is. Only making girls fall in love with you so you can get in their pants and then dump them, you sick pervert." Seungmin cringed in disgust.

Wooyoung let out a dry chuckle at his words.

"Play with whoever the fuck you want but leave Y/N out of this. She deserves better than trash like you."

Wooyoung bit the side of his cheek, finally understanding where this was going.

"Like who? You perhaps?"

Seungmin gulped slightly, confirming what Wooyoung was thinking.

"How long have you been in love with her Kim Seungmin? Wait don't answer me, it honestly doesn't matter..."

Wooyoung snaked an arm around you and pressed you to him.

"Cause she chose me and she's mine."

Wooyoung couldn't hid the smirk on his face as Seungmin looked at you in disbelief.

"Y/N.....please don't tell me.."

Your words broke Seungmin as you replied:

"I'm sorry Seungmin.... I'm in love with Wooyoung..

「𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒊 𝑱𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒉𝒐」

You pulled your face away from your ex, getting disgusted when he dared touch your cheek.

"Come on Y/N. Don't deny you still have feelings for me." He chuckled darkly.

You could only glare at him.

"I don't love you anymore Jeongin. So why don't you just let me go before it gets ugly?"

He got up and began laughing.

"Seriously? You really think your boy toy is going to come for you?" He asked.

"I don't think.... I know he will." You stated proudly.

"Really? You really think the Choi Jongho gives 2 fucks about you princess?" Jeongin cooed at you, his hands petting your hair softly.

Right at that moment there was a loud commotion heard outside, guns firing, and the sound of running feet could be distinguished. In less than 15 seconds, the door burst open and none other than Jongho himself came in, eyes full of rage when he saw the close proximity of your ex.

"I'm giving you 3 seconds to get your filthy hands off my girl or I'll split your head open." Jongho warned, coming closer to him.

Jeongin quickly pulled out a gun and held it to your head, prompting Jongho to halt his steps in fear of you getting hurt.

"That's what I thought Jongho. Y/N was mine first and I'm taking her back." Jeongin declared.

Jongho clenched his fists.

"Over my dead body."

Swiftly, he lunged at Jeongin, knocking the gun out of his hand. Jongho tried to punch him in the face, but Jeongin caught his fist with his hand before it collided with his face, giving him a cold stare, refusing to go down without a fight.

"That could easily be arranged..."

Gifs not mine. Credit goes to their respective owners.

#ateez #ateez reactions #ateez scenarios #ateez imagines #ateez mafia au #mafia!au #mafia!ateez #ateez hongjoong #ateez seonghwa #ateez yunho #ateez yeosang #ateez san #ateez mingi #ateez wooyoung #ateez jongho

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wordsnwhiskey · 3 years

Text

As It Should Be Verse: Hold Onto The Sunset Drabble/Oneshot

A/N: This is my go at Writer Wednesday, hosted by the amazing @autumnleaves1991-blog . I've got this set in the future of the As It Should Be verse. I figured since Chapter 3: Statesmen & Demons left off on a bit of a sad note I'd give you guys some fluff to tide you over until Ch 4!

It's 03:30 here and this is unedited so I might come back and see if something is egregiously wrong but otherwise this is going to stand.

Warnings: None? Aside from a polyam MMF relationship that's all fluff (with PDA) here!

Pairing: Agent Whiskey x F!Reader x Frankie Morales [AO3]

The sand was warm beneath your toes as you shifted in your decidedly uneven folding chair. A few crushed beer cans littered the table but you were all too enthralled in your game of Hold ‘Em to care. The smell of charcoal and grilled food floats teasingly in the air. Santiago had abandoned your game to go and start grilling otherwise we won’t eat until the sun’s long gone. Yeah, that was it. It had nothing to do with the fact that he had handedly lost his last hand and consequently the rest of his money, to Frankie.

It was Jack’s turn to deal and you watch his large hands palm and manipulate the well-worn deck. The whirring sound of the cards folding together followed by the sharp tap against the table as he shuffled was calming and sounded as natural as the ocean waves licking at the beach did. You paused a moment before looking at your cards to try to gauge everyone else's reactions only to find three pairs of brown eyes and one pair of green eyes staring back at you. Laughter rang out across the table, that’s just what happens when you play poker with Statesmen agents and Delta Force vets. Schooling your facial expressions, you peel back the corners of your cards to see your hand: a Jack and 10 of spades.

“Call.” Came Tequila’s cheery drawl.

“Fold.” Ginger sighed and tossed her cards back to the center of the glass table.

“I’m getting another beer from the cooler. Does anyone else want one?”

Her question was met with chorus of ‘pleases’ and ‘thank yous’. She smiled then rolled her eyes and went about collecting the cold, wet cans from the cooler.

“Call.” Continues Jack with his trademark smirk.

“Call.” Frankie’s voice is a bit rough from having just downed the remainder of his beer.

You called wordlessly, your chips following the others’ as they clinked on the glass table top, then Jack dealt the flop: 9 of hearts, 8 of spades and Ace of diamonds.

Jack’s gaze was on you, gauging your reaction and wondering if you had an Ace to match the one on the table. The betting went around, Jack raised, a classic aggressive opening move from him, but you were all somewhat surprised when Frankie re-raised him. All eyes narrowed at Frankie. The man had a scary good poker face, keeping the tension out of his jaw and meeting everyone’s gaze with those brown puppy eyes of his. It was how he had trounced Santi earlier.

Ginger came back with your beers and set them down on the table before taking back her seat, watching in amusement. You called and Jack dealt the turn card: a Queen of spades.

“You waitin’ on a Jack there darlin’?”

Jack challenged and raised, his voice was rough honey as he tried to get a rise out of you.

You let a laugh spill from your lips and your own mischievous smirk lights a spark in your eye.

“Oh no, I’ve already got a Jack and you’re more than enough. I don’t think I could handle another.”

Frankie’s neutral face breaks into a wide grin and Jack’s mind starts spinning, trying to assess all of the possible meanings behind what you just said. The three of you call and Jack throws down the river: a 7 of spades. What were the fucking odds?

Tequila frowned then checked, Jack raised, Frankie called and you re-raised. A collection of groans were uttered across the table but they all ponied up anyways.

“Straight Flush. Pay up boys!”

You don’t even bother to hide the smugness in your voice. Tequila huffed and cracked his beer open.

“Santiago! Is the food done yet? I thought you said we’d be eating before the sun went down?”

He was exaggerating of course, it wasn’t nearly that late and the summer sun was slow to set over the water. Tequila got up to go and lick his wounds with Santiago around the grill. You got up as well, walking around and pressing a kiss to Frankie’s lips before Jack unceremoniously tugged you into his lap for a kiss as well and smiled.

“C’mere, darlin’ I want one too.”

His smile is good natured, your boys were rarely ever jealous of each other. Something cold and wet makes you jump, your eyes darting to the offending object only to see Frankie’s wide grin and mischievous eyes as he holds your cold beer to your arm. You playfully smack Frankie’s arm then take your beer with a thank you. You’re pleasantly surprised when Frankie lifts your legs to rest in his lap, his fingers grazing over them as he sips his own beer.

Frankie deals the next hand and you can’t help but giggle at how ridiculous it is being in Jack’s lap and trying to keep your cards from each other. Ginger wipes the floor with all of you that hand.

Hooting and hollering, draws your group’s attention across the beach and you see Benny and Will ambling across the sand, each with a six pack in their hands. Benny practically tackles Santiago as he brings him in for a hug.

“Hey! Watch it Benny, I’m grilling here!”

Will shakes his head and pulls Santi in for a decidedly calmer hug and Benny is already waltzing over to the table where you, Frankie, Whiskey, Ginger and Tequila are. Frankie lets your feet down and stands to give Benny a hug.

“Fish! Good to see ya man!”

“Good to see you too, Benny.”

You’re out of Jack’s lap, to his slight dismay, and hugging Benny, it had been years since you had last seen the lovable younger Miller brother.

“Benny, this is Whiskey, Ginger and Tequila, we all work together.”

Benny didn’t even bat an eye and just greeted everyone with a large smile.

“Whiskey, Ginger and Tequila! Well, don’t you all sound like fun!”

Laughter rang out amongst everyone and Santiago called out that the food was done.

“Why don’t you stay here, honey. Benny and I will get plates for you and Whiskey.”

Frankie wasn’t really asking a question and it wasn’t much of a choice since you found yourself once again back in Jack’s lap, his mustache tickling your skin as his lips pressed to your cheek then temple.

Benny clapped Frankie on the back as they walked over to where Santiago had set out their food.

“So you and Hawk and… ?”

“Yeah, and Whiskey, the three of us, together.”

Benny eyed Frankie for a moment, more out of concern than any judgement.

“Well right on, Fish. It’s good to see you happy. About time with Hawk too, huh?”

Frankie fought and lost against his blush, playfully shoving Benny. They brought their plates back to where you and Whiskey were sitting. Frankie put Whiskey’s plate down, inched his chair closer then sat down. Benny handed you your plate with a flourish.

“Here you go, baby.”

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head and smiling at him even as Jack’s grip on your hip tightened slightly.

“Thanks, Benny.”

He left the three of you then and went to mingle with Ginger and Tequila.

The three of you ate in easy silence. Your feet were draped across Frankie’s lap, your back cradled by Jack’s arm and head resting on his shoulder. Frankie’s fingers alternated between tracing patterns over your skin and resting on Jack’s free hand.

Laughter played off of the sand and air around you, mixing with the sound of the waves. A light, content smile played across your lips as you watched your friends together. It was getting darker now and the sky was painted varying shades of pink, purple, and orange.

“Wow.”

The word slipped from your mouth in awe. Frankie and Jack hummed their agreement in unison and you swear sometimes they were on the same wavelength. You let out a long sigh then take a sip of your beer and settle in further against Jack.

“Whatcha thinking, honey?”

Frankie’s voice is just above a whisper, as if talking any louder would break the spell of perfection that had settled around your group and mother nature.

“I wish I could just hold onto this moment, hold onto this sunset. I’m with the loves of my life, for the first time my family is all together, they’re all having fun and I can’t think of a place I’d rather be than right here watching this sunset.”

Jack held you tighter and kissed your shoulder while Frankie brought your knuckles to his lips.

“We love you too, honey. Couldn’t imagine being anywhere else either.”

Frankie murmurs against your skin and you feel Jack’s hum through his chest. You take in the sight before you, memorizing it so you can paint the canvas in your mind and hold this moment with you, your own slice of heaven. Breathing in, you hold onto the remnants of charcoal from the grill and the salt from the ocean. You hold onto the feeling of the warmth radiating from the last rays of the fading light. It gives way to the heat emanating from Jack and Frankie, which envelops not just your body but your soul as well. You let out a sigh as Frankie leans in closer to you and Jack.

You were going to hold onto this sunset for the rest of your days.

Thanks for reading y'all!

Taglist: @danniburgh @pascalslittlebrat @yespolkadotkitty @mothandpidgeon @mouthymandalorianalso @phoenixhalliwell @itsme-aj467 @kesskirata @rosiefridayrogersunday-reads @driedgreentomatoes @pintsizemama @neganwifey25-blog @wheresarizona @absurdthirst @sarahjkl82-blog @duchesschameleon @sherala007 @beautyagegoodnesssize @all-hallows-evie @a-bang-for-your-bucky

#As It Should Be #writer wednesday #agent whiskey #agent whiskey x f!reader #agent whiskey x reader #Frankie Morales #Frankie Morales x f!reader #Frankie Morales x reader #Agent Whiskey x f!reader x Frankie Morales

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smellyfootboy · 3 years

Text

SMELLY ENCOUNTERS WITH ETHAN PT. 4: A Grand Finale.

It had been about 4 days after I started staying with Ethan at his house while my floors were getting done in my own house. Each night, Ethan has used my mouth as his own personal masturbation toy at least twice a day. Which I certainly did not mind, but I think I’ve eaten more of his cum than I have real food. We did not sleep together in the same bed… He would make me sleep on the couch. Honestly I kind of loved this friendship the way we had it going. What shocked me though, is that he hasn’t made me smell his feet or do anything foot related for a few days. Just yesterday I checked his laundry bin and couldn’t see any used socks, which brought me to the conclusion that after the last time he did laundry, and must have been wearing the same socks since… and he was probably waiting for the perfect stink to “torture” me with… and he had to be on at least day 4 or 5 by now. The dirtiest I’ve ever smelled his socks was my very first foot encounter with him. He had worn them for 4 days back then and basically made me put them in my mouth. That was about 7 months ago.

Ethan came into the living room while I was playing on my phone sitting on his couch.

“Hey man- I’m going to have a couple of the guys come over tonight for some beer pong. You down?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah, sounds good to me… anyone I know?” I asked.

“Joe from my college that you met before and my brother, Riley.” Ethan said. Joe was a quiet, skinnier guy, but really cute, and Riley I had not met.

Later that night, after Ethan came back with beer and snacks, I helped him put up the pong table, which we placed next to his dining room table. We set up all the snacks and cups.

Joe was the first to show up. He wore a white button up shirt, jeans, and white adidas shoes. We talked for a little while before Riley showed up. I was shocked to see how much he looked like Ethan. He wasn’t as built, but they definitely could almost be twins. Riley was wearing a black t shirt, black shorts, black crew socks, and a very similar pair of converse as Ethan was wearing. He looked about the same age as Ethan as well. Maybe a little younger, mid 20’s possibly.

We made some drinks, talked about our jobs, and got a little buzz before we started on the pong. Ethan and Riley were on one side and me and Joe were on the other. I was pretty terrible at beer pong so I hoped Joe was a little better than me.

We started the game.

“Hold up… we should make this more interesting. Make some bets and shit.” Riley said. Oh God, here we go, I thought.

“What like money? I don’t have any cash on me.” Joe said. I saw Ethan’s eyes light up. I knew what was coming.

“Losing team has to sniff the winning team’s feet for 2 minutes.” Ethan said proudly.

Joe made a grossed out face. Riley kind of laughed.

“Bitch- I grew up with you, I know how rank your feet are… do you still wear the same socks for multiple days.” Riley asked.

“Depends…. I think these bad boys are on day 4.” Ethan said. I wasn’t going to bring up that I’m pretty sure they were day 5.

“Dude, I’ll throw up.” Joe said.

“Then… don’t lose…” Ethan laughed.

“Whatever… man- I went running today so I might be pretty ripe myself.” Riley said. We all continued to play. I may have purposely missed the cup a few times and Joe was not very good. So things we looking pretty grim for us.

“My feet feel really hot and sweaty, how about you bro?” Riley said to Ethan jokingly as Joe missed another shot.

“Fuck man, I can smell both of our feet through the shoes.” Ethan said back.

“Oh God…” Joe said.

We only had one cup left. Riley was taking the shot.

“You think I’ll make it?” Riley asked

“No way…” I said

“If he makes it, yall gotta add some tongue to our feet…” Ethan added.

“And if he doesn’t, we skip all the foot crap.” Joe said nervously.

“Deal.” Riley said.

It seemed like time went in slow motion for that shot. And sure enough… he made it in the cup.

Riley and Ethan high fived each other. Me and Joe looked at each other and he kind of shook his head.

Ethan walked over to the dining room table and kicked his feet up.

“Joey, get over here and take my shoes off.” Ethan said. Joe sighed and walked over and sat across from Ethan.

“Just two minutes right? Someone time it please.” Joe said sadly.

Riley nodded and we both just watched what was unfolding. I’m sure it was my turn next.

Joe pulled off Ethan’s shoes one by one. The smell hit the air so fast. Ethan was wearing black socks with white heel and toe. I actually felt bad for Joe… He had no tolerance to Ethan’s feet.

“Oh man… it’s so bad.” Joe said as his eyes began to water. Riley was laughing pretty hard.

“Come on, nose in the foot.” Ethan said.

“Dude why… I could smell this even if I was standing across the house!” Joe said.

“Joe don’t be a bitch!” Riley yelled to him. Joe shook his head again before burying his face in Ethan’s socked foot.

Ethan used his toes to pull off his sock on one foot, and then the other.

“Tongue…” Ethan said as he wiggled his pudgy toes. Joe hesitantly stuck his tongue out. Ethan slid his toes across Joe’s tongue. Joe gagged.

“How’s that taste Joe!” Ethan yelled.

“Ok… that’s enough.” Joe said as he stood up.

“Yeah that’s good… you were sniffing for about 4 minutes.” Riley laughed.

“Are you fucking kidding me man.” Joe said. He ran to the bathroom and we could hear him spitting and rinsing his mouth out.

“Alright buddy- your turn” Riley said as a looked to me. He went and sat in the corner and pulled off his converse. I followed him over there.

“Lay on your stomach.” Riley said. I did what he asked trying not to come off so willing. His black socks were kind of shiny and almost looked greasy. He stuck his feet side by side on my nose. His stink was definitely not as strong as Ethan’s where it would fill the room, but I could 100% tell he went running that day, his odor was almost cheesier than Ethan’s. He kind of cupped them around my nose. I was getting an erection, taking in Riley’s stink, I’m glad I was laying on my stomach so no one could tell. Ethan was watching from across the room, smiling. Riley took his sock off.

“This is what happens to bitches that lose. How’s that fuckin smell man?” Riley said, only turning me on even more.

“It smells like a greasy cheese…” I said muffled by his foot.

“Cheese? Good, maybe you’d like a taste then… tongue out.” Riley demanded. I slid my tongue across the bottom of his toes. They taste just like they smelled.

“How’s my foot taste? Ethan I think he likes this…” Riley said laughing. Ethan walked over and placed his rank foot on top of my head, pressing my nose and mouth even harder into Rileys foot.

“He’s just used to it, I make him worship my feet sometimes.” Ethan said. Riley laughed. I was slightly embarrassed but I felt almost hypnotized at the scent of Riley and Ethan’s feet mixed together.

A few more moments passed and Riley stood up and Ethan took his foot off my head. Joe finally came back in the room.

“Alright guys, I gotta work early… Thanks for a gross night.” Joe said, still looking a bit ill from licking Ethan’s foot.

We said goodbye and Joe left. Shortly after Riley took off as well. It was just me and Ethan on the couch.

“What a night…” I said. I could still smell Ethan and Riley’s foot stink on my face.

“Yeah it was…” Ethan said. He reached his hand down and started feeling his bulge in his pants.

“Hey, take your pants off. I wanna try something.” Ethan said. I stood up and took my shoes off and my pants.

“Now face the other direction.” Ethan said. I turned around. I could feel Ethan start to touch my butt. We had never done any butt stuff before, so this was new. He pulled my underwear down and put his finger in his mouth. Then into my shaved hole. It hurt a little at first and I was a little tense. It slowly started to feel very nice. He then switched to two fingers and I moaned.

“Fuck boy, you are so tight.” Ethan said as he thrust his fingers in and out.

Suddenly to both of our surprises, Riley popped out of the corner.

“Guys, I don’t think I can drive yet… that beer…” Riley started before he noticed what was going on. He kind of stood there in awe for a few moments. Ethan and I didn’t say anything. We just looked at him, his fingers half way up my hole.

“Uhhh. Some kind of bet I didn’t know about?” Riley said, confused. I noticed he was starting to get hard as the crotch of his shorts started to rise.

“Just a condition of him staying with me… I get to use him as my cum rag…” Ethan said with confidence.

“Huh…” Riley said, still taking in what he was seeing. Riley started to inch closer and ended up sitting next to Ethan. I was shocked to feel that Ethan continued to finger me. I could see Riley out of the corner of my eye on the couch. He had pulled out his cock and was stroking it while watching Ethan finger me!

“I aint gay. But hey, a hole is a hole right? And this boys got a whole other one not in use.” Riley said. He stood up and came around to me. He pulled my head down so his dick was right in my face. He was cut unlike Ethan. He was a bit hairier too.

“Lick my balls.” He said. What was it with this family and always wanted their balls licked first? Not that I minded. I started licking his smelly musty hairy balls. The texture of the hair on his nuts was something I wasn’t used to but I totally got into it. I could feel Ethan push me forward a little and bend me down a bit more. I heard him spit into his hand. It was finally happening. I felt Ethan’s cock start to go into me. It was easier since he used his fingers first. After he got the head in, I felt him slam the rest in behind it. I moaned in pleasure. He felt so good. Meanwhile, I started sucking Riley.

“Yeah suck my fat sweaty fucking dick, bitch.” Riley said, incredibly drunk. He was a lot bigger and thicker than Ethan in that department. Every time Riley tried to push in down my throat I would choke. I could see Riley and Ethan fistbump each other as they destroyed me. Ethan was banging me so hard that I could feel his huge nuts slapping my ass.

“Yeah boy, take my cock.” Ethan demanded. Riley grabbed my head and shoved his cock down my throat all the way to his nuts. My eyes watered .

“I’m gonna paint your fucking face…” Riley said. He abruptly pulled his dick out and jerked it aggressively and blew his load all over my face. I could feel it all dripping down my lips and chin.

"Fuck bitch. You like my hot nut dripping off your face don't ya" he said as he reached down and used his thumb to move a big blob of his cum into my mouth. I cleaned his thumb off. Riley backed up a little bit. Ethan suddenly pushed me down to the ground face first and planted his stinky foot on my face so that his toes were right over my nose. Im not sure how he had it readily available but he shoved one of his disgusting black and white socks from earlier into my mouth. Riley took his shoe and sock off and put his foot on my head next to Ethans. Ethan was still inside of me and banging me while they had me pinned with their feet. He started to go harder and harder. My hole was so sore. But it felt so good.

“Fuck boy… You like that dick wrecking your tight fuckin pussy.” Ethan said as he just kept going harder and faster.

“You gonna take my load while you taste that nasty sock and smell our feet? ” Ethan said.

“Fuck yeah…” I said.

“He loves the cock, taking both our loads…” Riley said.

I suddenly felt Ethan empty himself inside of me. He was out of breath and covered in sweat. He took his foot, now covered with his brothers cum from my face, off my head.

“Now clean my foot off.” Ethan said. I began to lick the cum off his foot, making sure to get it all.

“Damn Ethan, I need a house slut like that.” Riley laughed.

As Ethan’s hot load leaked out of my hole, and I continued cleaning his brothers cum off of his stinky foot, I couldn’t think of anything else I would rather do.

“Yeah… I think he should move in permanently.” Ethan said.

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maatryoshkaa · 4 years

Text

young god | chapter 15

chapters: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | epilogue |

word count: 12.0k

warnings: descriptions of violence, sexual assault, mental illness. dark themes and foul language. all information regarding psychiatric conditions or courtroom procedures are to be taken with a fat grain of salt.

description: As Han Jisung’s trial steadily approaches, Hwang Hyunjin struggles to decide where his loyalties lie. Prosecutor Kang is as ruthless as he is greedy, and a startling confession from Yang Jeongin reveals that the ugliest pasts often lie behind the brightest of smiles. Old scars run deep, and all wounds are finally reopened on the day of the trial.

watch the trailer here!

ryu says: “holy h*cking shit.”

15| the devil’s advocate.

“Is Miroh Heights rallying for the death of a 20-year-old orphan? Is justice always this heartless?

“The only existing psychological analysis of alleged serial killer Han Jisung has now been revealed to the public eye, painting a stark contrast with the image of the stone-cold murderer we were all introduced to before. What else is the prosecution hiding? Is Han Jisung at the mercy of a system that has failed him once — and will it fail him again? More on this complex case, next week.”

You set the school paper down on the diner table. Across from you, Bang Chan gave a low whistle. “Lee Felix, is it? You really outdid yourself, kid.”

Felix grinned. He was glowing, not just from the detective’s praise, but with a light sheen of sweat — you two had woken up at the crack of dawn to deliver the newspapers around town, Felix on Jeongin’s bike, and you and Chan in Woojin’s police cruiser. The delivery boy had even drawn out a map of all the shortcuts he knew, and so you had all made it back to Glow Cafe — where Hyunjin was waiting with fresh mugs of coffee — before noon.

Jeongin scanned the front-page article again, nodding excitedly. “I read the local press’ papers every day while I was in the hospital — this basically goes directly against everything they’ve been saying.” He still had weeks before he was allowed to be discharged from the hospital, but had managed to bribe a nurse into letting him take ‘short walks for fresh air’ during the day.

“Why’re we fighting against the local media, though?” Hyunjin asked. The barista looked much better now that Jeongin was awake — the colour had returned to his once-pale cheeks, and he had opened the cafe back up for business again. “I mean, what does the news have to do with the trial? Knowing the prosecutor, he probably doesn’t even care.”

Chan shook his head. “The media plays a huge role in cases like these — mass murder allegations, things that’ll implicate the entire town. In smaller cases, yeah, no one would look twice at the news. But for cases like Jisung’s, they’re going to bring in a jury for the trial — and most times, what the jury agrees on ends up being the final verdict.”

“But the jury isn’t supposed to have heard of the case beforehand.”

Woojin grimaced. “In theory. Miroh Heights is a big town, but it’s old — not to mention it’s a campus area.” When Hyunjin still looked confused, Woojin continued, “That all makes it a close-knit community. There’s only so many people who qualify for jury duty — and I’m willing to bet that there’s not a single person in Miroh Heights who isn’t keeping up with Jisung’s case by now.”

“Kang’s a top-tier scumbag, but he’s far from stupid,” Chan mused, reaching for his mug and frowning when there was no more coffee left. “It definitely wouldn’t be beyond him to pull some strings to make sure he gets to choose the people on the jury: the ones exposed to the case — the news — the most—”

You finished his thought for him. “Students. Professors. Citizens.”

“Exactly.”

There was a brief silence. Chan began a side conversation with Felix, and you snuck a look at Hyunjin. He had disappeared behind the counter, and was fiddling with the cash register with his head down.

You glanced back at the table. Woojin and Jeongin were sitting in a strangely awkward silence — the delivery boy’s expression was oddly closed off, you thought to yourself. It was almost...cold, a side of Jeongin you had never seen before. Shrugging, you excused yourself from your seat and retreated behind the bar to where Hyunjin was standing quietly. The barista was idly unrolling packets of coins to refill the cash register, and didn’t look up at you.

You nudged him gently. “Hey, ‘jinnie.” Nothing. “Hwang Hyunjin, talk to me.”

The long silence was broken only by the clinking of coins, until Hyunjin finally mumbled, “What d’you mean?”

You sighed, fiddling with an empty coin tube and trying to find the right words. “It’s— it’s a lot to ask for, I know.” You didn’t have to mention Jisung’s name for him to know what you were referring to — your boyfriend’s case hung over all of your heads like a guillotine every second of the day.

Still, your mind flashed back to his sudden outburst months ago, when he had first met Jisung face-to-face in the cafe. His cold, guarded wariness towards the other boy, and how he’d spent the next two months practically soulless by Jeongin’s bedside. You tried to meet his eyes. “You’ve been through a lot.”

The coins were trembling in Hyunjin’s long fingers. “You’ve been through more,” he muttered back. You didn’t have to follow his gaze to know he was looking at the site of your stab wound, hidden under the layers of your sweater. “How’d they let you out so early, anyways?”

“Hey, I was in there for nearly a month — they said I slept for three weeks straight, you know?” You laughed lightly, trying to ease the tension, but Hyunjin didn’t return the smile. “I’m okay, ‘jin.”

Your eyes searched his face for a response. Despite everything, Hyunjin still looked weary — like he had gotten older, more tired. He had seen things in the past few months that could never be erased — you all had. And you knew Hyunjin like the back of your hand — he had been one of the first faces you’d met when you’d moved to Miroh Heights, the unlikely first close friend you’d made. With absent parents who ran businesses abroad, Hyunjin had been on his own for most of his life. You knew how he always kept his worries and doubts to himself, how his polite, casual demeanor hid a heart full of emotions he didn’t know how to deal with or express.

“Are you okay, though?” Hyunjin asked, finally lifting his eyes to meet yours, and you felt your heart pang at how helpless he looked. “Every time you see something wrong — someone in trouble, you stop at nothing until you can help them. And I love that about you, y/n. I really do—but—” Hyunjin gestured his hands wildly, voice wavering as if he was struggling to get the words out, “You can’t save everyone, y/n.” The familiar words made you shrink back as Hyunjin kept talking. “The last time you tried, you nearly ended up— d-dead. I’m worried like hell, okay?. Worried that if you keep trying to save others, you’ll just be the one hurt in the end.”

“Hyunjin—” You reached out to grab his shaking hands, to calm him down, but your elbow knocked over a roll of coins. They spilled across the floor, making everyone jump and look up.

“Everything okay back there?” Chan called, and you nodded, waving him away distractedly as Hyunjin dropped down to pick the change up. As you knelt down to help him, you heard footsteps approach the counter, and looked up to see Jeongin behind you. Back at the table, Chan and Felix were still talking like newfound frat brothers, but Woojin was fiddling with his mug silently.

“Can I talk to him for a moment?” Jeongin asked you quietly, and you glanced back down at Hyunjin. Jeongin had been sitting the closest to the bar counter, you realised — he had probably heard a good chunk of your conversation. You nodded, placing the change on the countertop, and headed back to the table.

Hyunjin watched Jeongin dive for a quarter that was rolling away. Underneath Jeongin’s sleeves, Hyunjin could see fading scratches peeking out — where the skin had scraped away when he’d fallen to the ground, bloody and unconscious, the night of the attacks. They were nearly healed, but the memory alone still made Hyunjin’s gut twist, and he tore his gaze away.

“Do you still think about that night?”

Both Jeongin’s quiet voice and his question took Hyunjin by surprise, and he couldn’t help but look up. The younger boy’s eyes were soft, gentle — a contradiction to his naturally fox-like features — and it was as if he’d spoken Hyunjin’s thoughts out loud. You never had to explain anything to Jeongin, Hyunjin thought. Growing up with no one but his sickly grandmother, Hyunjin had never truly opened up to anyone before — but Jeongin always seemed to understand exactly how Hyunjin was feeling, and there was something about the younger boy that could always calm Hyunjin down.

He’d always looked at Jeongin like a younger brother, a bright presence Hyunjin wanted to protect and take care of at all costs.

Now, Hyunjin found himself wondering if Jeongin had been the one taking care of him, all along.

“I see it every time I close my eyes,” Jeongin finally continued, and the question repeated itself in Hyunjin’s head — that night. The night Han Jisung had killed another student, and sent Jeongin into a two-month coma. The night Hyunjin had woken up to find his closest friend bleeding out on his storefront. No matter how many times the memory crept up on Hyunjin, it still made his blood run cold.

Hyunjin could only nod, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat.

“Sometimes...I think about how things might’ve been different. If I hadn’t stopped — no, if I hadn’t even taken that shortcut through the Yellow Wood. Or...if I didn’t have to work the night shift in the first place.” Jeongin huffed a soft laugh, then drew quiet. “But we don’t really get to decide what happens to us, huh? One thing leads to another, and the next thing you know, the world’s turned upside down.” He paused. Something in the younger boy’s voice made Hyunjin think he wasn’t just talking about the Yellow Wood anymore.

“I wonder if he...if Jisung thinks about that, too.” Jeongin continued. “How things would have changed if he hadn’t taken that path that night. Or, if he never had to do the things he did...” Jeongin trailed off, and a question was left hanging in the air.

Where did it all go wrong?

It wasn’t like Hyunjin had never seen Jisung in passing — the kid whose bright smile and boisterous laugh masked his strangely wide, dark eyes. Who seemed to linger alone on the streets and in the shadows of murky alleyways after curfew, just wandering. As if the boy was constantly looking for something he’d lost — but had long since forgotten what it was.

“I just...” Hyunjin’s own voice surprised him, but as soon as he got the words out, he could no longer stop them. “I just want everything to go back to normal. The way things used to be. I—” Hyunjin looked around the cafe, letting out a shaky sigh. “I’ve grown up in this town all my life. Maybe I’ve grown scared of change — scared of how it could make me lose everything. Scared of how it could make me lose you guys.” He put his throbbing head in his hands. “Maybe that’s what makes me a coward. I don’t know Jisung. But I’ve seen the things he’s done, and I can’t — I can’t watch it happen again. I don’t think I could take it.” He looked at Jeongin helplessly. “How do you...forgive someone who could have killed you?”

Jeongin was silent, pensive. He picked up the last coin and slid it into the cash register before saying quietly, “Did I ever tell you about my dad?”

Hyunjin frowned in confusion. “You don’t...talk about your family often.”

“Most of the time, I’d rather not.” Jeongin gave a small smile. “But these days, I keep thinking about them. I know people talk about them behind my back — why a freshman has to work delivery jobs all day, and study all night. Why no one came to visit me in the hospital, except for you.” The younger boy shifted his feet, gaze dropping to his hands. “My dad’s in prison. Third-degree murder.”

Hyunjin’s hands stilled, and Jeongin continued talking. “My mum was your typical office worker — real big company, too. We were never that well off to begin with — maybe that’s why she stayed silent about the...the abuse for so long. About the stuff her higher-ups would do to her behind locked doors, when they’d make her stay overtime in their offices.” Jeongin’s voice wavered, and he cleared his throat shakily.

“I don’t know how my dad finally found out, I...I could never bring myself to ask.” Jeongin was gripping the count[er, knuckles white and voice barely audible. “I’ve never seen my dad angry before. He doesn’t get angry. He’d always take the short end of the stick with a smile, you know? This was the first time he’d ever...picked a fight with anyone.” Jeongin paused, eyes glazed over in memory. “That night, Mum was staying late again. But this time...my dad showed up at her workplace. Burst in after-hours, like a madman. And that night, neither of them came home.

“The police came knocking on our door the next morning. And they told me my father killed three men in a fight. A fight.” Jeongin looked up at Hyunjin now, smiling, but his crescent eyes were filled with tears. “No one cares about an office woman’s sexual abuse story. Not when you have the families of three rich businessmen bribing law enforcement any way they can to keep their reputations clean. You can guess who the lead prosecutor of the trial was.”

“Prosecutor Kang,” Hyunjin breathed, not daring to believe it, but Jeongin nodded.

“The trial was easy. My dad would spend the rest of his life in prison.”

“That’s not fair,” Hyunjin blurted, voice barely a whisper. “They can’t—it’s not—”

“The system isn’t fair,” Jeongin replied. It sounded like he was quoting someone. “It’s been a long time since the system’s chosen morals over money.”

Hyunjin’s gaze wandered back towards the table, where Woojin was sitting, and thought back to the tense atmosphere between Jeongin and the young police captain earlier. “Is that why you and Captain Kim…”

“His parents put mine in prison. It’s more than a little awkward, really.” Jeongin laughed, but the sound didn’t quite reach his eyes. The younger boy always tried to put on a bright face, Hyunjin realised with a pang, no matter the pain he might be hiding underneath.

“I’m not trying to compare my dad to Jisung. Jisung, everything he’s done…” Jeongin shook his head. “He has too much to make up for, I wouldn’t even know where to start. We all knew that going into this.” He glanced over his shoulder at the table where his friends were seated. “y/n more than anyone. If we make Han Jisung out to be innocent, if we try to get him pardoned...that makes us just as bad as Kang.” Jeongin sighed. “But I can’t just watch them treat him like they did my dad. Make him out to be a psychopath, until even he starts to believe it.

“My mum can’t find work anywhere. She doesn’t sleep, barely eats, never leaves the bed because she’s so sick. The doctors all say she has lifelong trama. I don’t want to watch the system...end another life that doesn’t deserve it.” Jeongin glanced behind him. Hyunjin followed his line of sight towards the table, where everyone was chatting. Jisung’s friends — Felix, Chan, maybe even Woojin; and his girlfriend, you. “I don’t want to see what it does to the people that love him.”

Hyunjin was silent for a long moment. The chatter at the table and the clinking of the coffee mugs seemed like background noise as Jeongin watched the older boy take in everything he had said. Outside, students and citizens were beginning to fill the streets as rush hour approached — it was the end of the school term, and the bustle of summer life was humming beyond the glass windows of Glow Cafe.

Before Hyunjin could respond, though, the cafe doors swung open, the CLOSED sign clattering against the glass in protest and making everyone look up at the sudden commotion. A middle-aged woman in a tweed blazer and pencil skirt was marching straight towards the table you were seated at, a younger woman with a notebook stumbling after her.

Hyunjin straightened up, tone professional despite the weary look on his face. “I’m sorry, but we’re closed today under special circumstances—”

She cut him off impatiently. “Where is Felix Lee?”

Bewildered, Felix stood, holding out his hand to attempt a handshake. Instead, the woman reached into her bag and slammed down a newspaper identical to the one you already had on the table — the school paper.

“What is the meaning of this?” Her voice was high and reedy as she jabbed a red-nailed finger onto the front page, where Jisung’s article had been printed. “Who do you think you are to publish these—these baseless stories?”

“With all due respect, ma’am,” you responded tensely, “I think you’ll find that this article contains more truth in it than all the articles the local press has published, combined.”

She turned on you, sneering in disbelief. “Do you know who I am?” You glanced outside uneasily, where a sleek black car was parked.

“Why do rich people always assume we know who they are? Listen, lady, we don’t care—” Chan began, but was interrupted by a sputtering sound Felix made.

“I think we should care,” your best friend choked out. In his hands was a business card that the woman’s assistant had handed him, and the blood had drained from his freckled face. “She’s the head of the local press.”

Everyone fell silent, and the woman smiled slyly. “Precisely. Publishing articles like these…” she glanced down at the school newspapers on the table, clicking her tongue. “Your school should be ashamed of you. An amateur school newsletter, overstepping their boundaries.”

You saw Felix’s expression darken at her words, ears red. “A good newspaper reports on all sides of the story. We publish the truth here, and nothing but the truth—”

“Why? So you can all bail your psychopath friend out of prison? Do you even care about the implications? Your truth is hindering the investigation of a convicted murderer. People like him should not get their story told. Your truth will put this town in danger if he walks free, you understand? It will get more people killed.” She fixed Felix with a withering look of contempt. “Let me give you a word of advice, young man, if you even think of surviving in this industry—sometimes, you need to know when to keep your mouth shut.”

Your mouth was burning with countless words to bite back with but your tongue stayed stubbornly tied, mind racing. The woman had spoken out loud what you had all thought of at one point, what you had been most afraid of the public believing. You stole a look at Hyunjin behind the counter. The barista was avoiding eye contact, but you knew he had been thinking the same thing. His stormy, unreadable expression made your stomach churn — you knew he had been the most hesitant and unsure of Jisung’s case out of everyone, but seeing it written on his face now made you feel even worse.

Sensing that things were beginning to get out of control, Woojin cleared his throat. “Ma’am, if you’re finished, I would kindly ask you to leave—”

“I have every right to stay here,” the woman interrupted viciously, snatching up the campus newspaper again, “until your journalist friend revokes these articles—and promises not to interfere with the investigation until the trial has concluded.”

You started in protest. “You—”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” Hyunjin’s calm voice cutting through the growing chaos made everyone freeze and turn towards the barista. He pushed the cash register shut with a bit too much force, and leaned down to rest his forearms on the bar counter. “I told you we were closed, yes? You have no more business here. If you choose to continue infringing on my property, we can bring this to the police.” His eyes were still stormy as he stared the stunned woman down — but the words coming from his mouth were the complete opposite from what you had been expecting. “Now get out of my cafe.”

“I—why, you—” The woman could only sputter for several seconds as you all stared at Hyunjin in awe, the most self-assured expression you had seen on the barista in ages — as if he had finally made up his mind about something. Behind him, Jeongin had a small smile on his face.

“Preposterous,” the head of the press stammered, taken aback by Hyunjin’s bluntness. Her mouth opened and closed like a puppet’s, but no words came out. Finally, glaring daggers at all of you, she snatched her bag and stormed out in a whirlwind of nauseating perfume, her poor assistant barely keeping up behind her.

The silence lasted for several more moments. Hyunjin was still staring after her with a reserved expression, his shaking hazel pupils the only indication of how nervous he was.

Felix was the one who finally spoke first, the wide grin in his voice breaking the tension. “Hwang Hyunjin. You are the man.”

━━━━━━━━

Opening the door to Bang Chan’s office sent clouds of dust into the stale air, and the detective into a coughing fit. Chan moved to snap the blinds open, letting evening sunlight warm the musty room.

“Bloody hell, Chan,” Woojin groaned as he patted the dust from the coffee table in the corner. “I was joking about your office being a coffin before, but—how did you let it get this bad?”

You, Hyunjin, and Jeongin followed the police captain into the room, taking tentative seats around the coffee table as the detective tried in vain to open a window and clear the stuffy air.

“I haven’t had any new clients since this case was taken from me by that damn prosecutor,” Chan protested indignantly, grabbing a notebook and pen. “I’m taking a well-deserved hiatus. B’sides,” he added, sighing, “I don’t exactly have the heart to focus on anything else right now.”

Woojin grimaced, and looked around the room. “We’re waiting on Felix?”

You nodded. It had been nearly a month since the first article had been released — a whole month since the head of the press herself had come storming into Glow Cafe, demanding for the publication to be stopped. You weren’t sure if it had been the woman’s biting remarks or the newfound support from Hyunjin, but Felix seemed to have hit the ground running, publishing story after story and going head-to-head with every article the local press put out.

The articles were beginning to pick up steam, too — as soon as the school year had ended, the entire town had begun buzzing with talk about the contradicting stories. You should have felt relieved that your last-resort plan had even stood a chance — but the longer the fight and investigation went on, the more you could feel the stress weighing down on your shoulders. Though removed from the investigation, Chan and Woojin came to you with more and more bad news they were able to overhear with each passing day. The trial was scheduled for next week, and you hadn’t heard from Jisung since...well, since you had found him, bloody and broken, in the back lot of Mia’s Diner.

“Things aren’t looking too good,” Woojin began, expression grim. “The prosecution’s claimed custody of the camcorder footage and Jeongin’s Walkman tapes. Seungmin’s legally not allowed to touch them anymore—not without Kang’s permission.”

Your heart plummeted to your stomach at the police captain’s words. You, Chan, and Seungmin had all been warned separately to stay out of the investigation by legal officials, but that hadn’t stopped you from gathering what information you could. You should have known Kang would find a way to get ahold of all the evidence, but nothing could have prepared you for the sick feeling the confirmation stirred in your gut.

Chan sighed, tapping his pen on his cheek. “Far as I know, Jisung still isn’t taking a lawyer. The kid won’t even talk to me now.”

“How’s the trial going to work, then?” Hyunjin asked. “If the kid doesn’t take an attorney…”

“It’ll be his word against Kang’s,” Chan nodded glumly. “It’s a trial held under special circumstances. The prosecution will present all the evidence they choose, the judge and jury’ll listen to all the witnesses who decide to come forward, and then they’ll use that to form the final verdict.” He paused, then added, “And if Jisung chooses to defend himself, he has the right to speak, too.”

“Except he won’t,” you interjected, heart heavy, remembering Jisung’s face when he had told you about his parents’ deaths. Jisung had spent his entire life living in the shadow of guilt his childhood cast over him, a self-induced hell he forced himself to relive every day.

“Kang has the jury, the witnesses, and the evidence,” Jeongin thought aloud, the sentence alone making the air feel heavy.

“We’ve all been called to attend the trial, yeah?” Chan nodded at you, Woojin, and Hyunjin. “Us, Felix, and Seungmin can only come as spectators. Jeongin’s been called in as an eyewitness.” He frowned, counting off his fingers. “The only other type of witness Kang can bring in would be an expert witness. Medics, psychologists, that sort of thing.”

“Kang’s clever — he’ll probably bring in child psychologists or medical specialists,” Woojin noted, frowning. “It’d be easy for them to cherry-pick the evidence to use it against Jisung — especially since he refuses to speak to anyone right now.”

“Haven’t they found anyone for Jisung?” You asked desperately. “His old social workers, foster families —”

“He was abandoned over a decade ago. None of his social workers have come forward.” Woojin sighed. “But you’re right — they have found a forensics specialist to come testify.”

Jeongin perked up. “Who?”

Chan looked grim. “Head coroner Lee Minho.”

Your heart sank. Lee Minho. No one was willing to address the elephant in the room: that Minho admitting to his own crimes would be one of the easiest ways to avoid a death penalty. Except…

“No one on the prosecution knows what Minho’s done, and we don’t have any incriminating evidence against him, either. They won’t believe us, and there’s no way he would confess,” you muttered, remembering the uneasy conversation you had had with the coroner on the rooftop. Minho had been hiding in the shadows of Jisung’s self-destructive crossfire his entire life. From the coroner’s unreadable eyes to his strange, reserved attitude, you had no idea how to guess his next move.

There was a knock on the door, and everyone looked up as Felix walked into the office, backpack sliding off one shoulder. “I have good news and bad news,” your best friend announced, taking a seat on the edge of the sofa.

“Bad news first,” you answered immediately, groaning. Good news was rare these days. “I want to get it over with.” Hyunjin nodded in agreement, looking at Felix expectantly.

“The head of the press is still up our asses, believe it or not. She’s changed her strategy — they’re making bribes now.” Felix fished a slip of paper from his bag. “Someone came in today — dressed real proper and business-like — and told me that if I halted publications, they’d be willing to pay a pretty hefty sum.” He flipped the slip over onto the coffee table.

It was a cheque, you realised. Chan whistled as he read out the amount. You looked back up at Felix, holding your breath.

“I took the bribe,” Felix admitted, tone apologetic, and your shoulders slumped. Your last connection to the investigation, gone — but Felix kept talking, a glint of mischief in his eyes. “I took the bribe, and we used the money to buy everyone in our department the most expensive coffee on campus. Actually, thanks to them, we pulled an all-nighter and published the last part of your case study this morni—oof!”

Your best friend was cut off when you tackled him into a hug, nearly tumbling backwards as Felix laughed and patted your back. “Felix,” you declared, voice still shaking from how scared you had been, “You are ruthless.”

“One of my many charms,” he grinned, Hyunjin clapping him on the shoulder. Felix pulled away from you, and his hazel eyes suddenly grew serious as he scanned your face.

Out of everyone at Miroh Heights, Felix had known you the longest — if anything was wrong with the other person, you were always able to pick up on it. Despite your relieved smile, Felix could see how overworked you were — you had been reading up on past cases nonstop, making phone calls, and making notes on the camcorder footage, no matter how much rewatching it traumatised you to the core. From your bloodshot eyes to your pale lips, anyone could see that the upcoming trial had taken the worst toll on you. “y/n,” he said worriedly, “you need to take it easy.”

You sighed, scrabbling a hand through your dishevelled hair. “How can I? I need to keep working on this — I need to be strong.”

“You’ve always been strong.” Surprisingly, it was Hyunjin who spoke up this time. For the first time in weeks, there was no more anger or bitterness in his voice — only sincerity. “You’re incredible, you know that?”

You tried to give him a small, grateful smile, but even that couldn’t staunch the bubbling anxiety in your gut. “The trial’s in a week. We can’t let up now.”

You could sense the boys looking at you anxiously until Chan finally clapped his hands, breaking the grim silence. “Well, you heard the boss lady.” The detective winked at you. “Let’s get back to work, boys.”

━━━━━━━━

The courthouse lobby was already overflowing with chaos and reporters by the time Prosecutor Kim Seungmin arrived at its doors.

This wasn’t his first time attending a trial, of course, but the scale of it all was what made him uneasy. Citizens of Miroh Heights were huddled outside the gates, catching whatever glimpses of the trial and snippets of information they could. When Seungmin had elbowed his way into the building, he spotted security guards flanking all the entrances.

There was a sign for the bathroom on his left hand side. Seungmin made a beeline for it, pushing open the doors and allowing himself to escape the pandemonium for a couple of moments. As his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, he saw a familiar figure standing by the sink.

Prosecutor Kang’s eyes met Seungmin’s through the mirror and the older man straightened up, snakelike mouth curving into a smile. “Ah, Prosecutor Kim. Good to see you.”

Seungmin nodded stiffly as he tried to muster up the courage to walk past his colleague. He could feel Kang’s beady eyes watching him contemplatively.

“Are you still beat-up about the case? You must be,” Kang mused, turning back towards the sink and flicking on the tap. “Don’t get yourself too down about losing it. It was only a matter of time.” If Seungmin didn’t look at him, Kang’s tone sounded almost kind.

Almost.

Kang was here on behalf of the prosecution, with his team of carefully selected witnesses and—Seungmin was willing to bet—jurors. Seungmin had barely landed a spot as a spectator in the trial, alongside Felix, the school journalist. If things went Kang’s way, anything and everything that happened in today’s trial would be completely out of Seungmin’s control.

“Rookie mistakes,” Kang continued, wiping his spectacles. “It’s to be expected at your age, really—”

Seungmin ignored his passive insult and turned back towards Kang, tone pleading as he tried one last time. “Mr. Kang, you don’t have to do this. Han Jisung—”

Kang barked a laugh, cutting him off. Behind his spectacles, his eyes were filled with equal parts amusement and resentment. “I’m not sure why you young people always have such blinded judgement,” he seethed. “He’s a monster.”

“He’s just a boy,” Seungmin shot back, heart pounding at the way surprise flashed on Kang’s face. He had never dared to challenge his colleagues before — especially not Prosecutor Kang — but he forced himself to stand his ground as Kang finally turned around to face Seungmin. He was silent for several tense moments, slowly drying his hands before picking up his briefcase. Then, Kang’s expression smoothed over as he raised an eyebrow at the younger prosecutor.

“Not in my court of law, he isn’t.”

He had walked briskly out the door before Seungmin could muster a reply. The commotion outside grew louder before it was muffled again by the closing doors, and the younger male was left in the dark, empty washroom, filled with an increasing feeling of dread.

━━━━━━━━

Jisung jerked forward when the prison bus came to an abrupt halt, nearly slamming his head against the front seat. He tried to shake himself out of his daze and turned towards the window, tired eyes adjusting to the morning sunlight. Outside was the town he had grown up in, and yet everything felt so...different.

As soon as the bus doors swung open, swarms of reporters surrounded its sides. Two policemen roughly escorted him through the crowd, and he could vaguely register the questions being screamed at him from every angle.

“Han Jisung, is it true?”

“Did you kill all those people? Did you set fire to your own home?”

“Will you plead guilty? Will you plead insanity?”

Insanity? Jisung’s mind flashed to the memory lapses every time he...killed, the gaping black spots in his thoughts, the endless throbbing in his temples that never quite went away. His head was swimming, but his body felt numb. Have I gone insane?

Once they were inside, he was ushered further down the hallway into a side room. A stone-faced clerk in a grey suit nodded at the policemen, then fixed his hawk-like eyes on Jisung’s unfocused face.

“This is him?” He asked dubiously, then cleared his throat. He didn’t move to shake Jisung’s hand. “Well, then. You refused to take an attorney or public defender, so, uh...your trial will be held under special circumstances. The judge will hear the witnesses, the evidence, and anything you have to say. Got it, kid?”

Jisung couldn’t will himself to form any words. Everything sounded as if he were underwater.

The man coughed nervously. “As long as you cooperate, things shouldn’t be too bad, eh? Although from what I’ve heard about you, I wouldn’t keep my hopes up.”

Jisung could sense the official’s eyes raking him up and down in slight distaste at his silence. As Jisung quietly took a seat in the corner, he could hear the man muttering irritatedly to the guard by the door and chuckling.

“It’s always the messed-up kids, huh?”

━━━━━━━━

You watched as the courtroom slowly filled with people — reporters and spectators huddling around you, clerks and attorneys taking their places in their respective boxes. You were sitting with Bang Chan, Felix, Woojin, Hyunjin, and Seungmin near the bar, watching the members of the jury shuffle in. They were all somewhat familiar faces — students, professors, and citizens, as Bang Chan had guessed — and you felt a small glimmer of hope every time you recognised someone.

The prosecution’s witnesses were beginning to file in on the opposite side of the room, as well: A stocky boy with a swollen, bandaged nose, and a scrawnier one, also heavily bandaged — the only survivors, you realised, shuddering — from that terrible night at Mia’s Diner. Then there was Jeongin, whose face made you relax slightly. Next to him, though, there was a nervous old woman who you didn’t recognise, and an unfamiliar middle-aged man. And of course, pacing back and forth behind them, like a panther on the prowl, was Prosecutor Kang.

Every time the doors swung open you couldn’t help but look up, heart hammering in your chest.

You were really only looking for one person, after all.

Sure enough, the heavy oak door in the corner creaked open, and a familiar flash of golden hair made your breath catch in your throat. Flanked by two stone-faced officers, Jisung entered the courtroom.

You immediately leapt to your feet, and heard Chan whisper in warning. “y/n.”. The detective’s tone was gentle, but you didn’t have to turn back around to imagine the alarmed look on his face. Your eyes were glued on Jisung, and it took every fibre of your being not to sprint up to him, push past the guards, and pull him into your arms. You were shaking with equal parts relief and horror as you took in the sight of him.

He’d lost weight, his skin was pale and bruised, but his eyes — you felt your mouth go dry. The eyes you had seen fill with both laughter and sadness, light and darkness, were now completely lifeless. As if he wasn’t really seeing anything at all. You felt hot tears prick at the back of your throat and you clapped a hand over your mouth to keep from calling out his name. You had thought you were prepared, that you would force yourself to stay calm at all costs — but now, as the weight of the situation was finally beginning to sink down on your shoulders, you weren’t so sure you would be able to.

You felt Felix’s hand gently tug at yours, the only thing anchoring you to reality, and slowly sat back down, your hands grabbing fistfuls of your cardigan to keep from shaking.

Jisung found you in the crowded courtroom before you did, and the split second he caught your face soothed an ache in his chest he’d been trying to ignore, like a long-neglected wound. Seeing you alive and breathing — when the last memory he had of you had been one where you were bleeding out in his own hands — sent a bittersweet pang through him, the sheer relief overwhelming him to the point that he felt his own knees buckle. To anyone else, you looked almost normal, he thought — but he would have been a fool not to catch the dark circles under your eyes, your shaking hands, the raw worry that had etched itself into your weary features.

As soon as your eyes flickered up to him, Jisung immediately looked away, a voice in the back of his head seething. Coward.

His gaze wandered around the room and he was instantly met with a mix of hostile glares and fascinated stares — like an animal that had been chained down. Wherever he looked, dozens of eyes were on him, dozens of blazing lights searing through him and pinning him to the spot. It was almost as if he could hear the spectators’ thoughts, the countless names that the local press had called him ringing through his head. The youngest mass murderer of Miroh Heights. A walking psychopath. The soon-to-be-convicted serial killer.

“Order in the court,” you heard a man next to the judge call out, and a hush swept across the room. The judge — a middle-aged woman in sombre black robes — nodded. “The trial is now in session. The case of Han Jisung, and the Miroh Heights Murders, Your Honour.”

Kang moved forward and cleared his throat.

“Your Honour, today I intend to prove the defendant guilty of nineteen counts of first degree murder, as well as a history of crimes spanning over a period of thirteen years. This includes eight counts of arson, including the defendant’s own home, and five counts of aggravated assault, including the attack of Yang Jeongin three months prior. The numbers are based on the images of the victims we showed him that he recognised.” Kang gave a deliberate pause, flashing a look of disdain over where Jisung was seated. “He has violated Sections 235 and 435 of the Criminal Code, and the prosecution intends to prove him fit to receive capital punishment.”

Capital punishment — the death penalty. Kang was doing exactly what you all had feared, and his words and self-assured attitude made you feel sick.

“Does the defendant have any opening statements?”

Your eyes flickered to Jisung’s face — had his expression darkened? His features had stiffened into a cold mask — lifeless eyes, sickly pallor, clenched jaw. It was almost as if he was trying to fit into Kang’s description of him, you realised with a sinking feeling. To your dismay, Jisung stayed silent, and the judge cleared her throat.

“Please call upon your first witness.”

You watched the nervous old woman from earlier wobble forward and introduce herself.

Kang had pulled out images of a familiar crime scene — the burnt-down flat on the outskirts of town, where the remains of a woman identified as a local sex worker had been found. The night of your first date, you thought, grimacing. “Where were you, the night of this fire?”

“I was making my rounds through this neighbourhood,” the old woman began, fingers trembling as she pointed at the images. “I happen to live ‘round there, and I own some of these flats myself. This woman is—was—a tenant of mine.”

“Did you see anything suspicious prior to the fire?”

The old lady paused. “I thought I saw a boy lingering ‘round the alleyways. Holding his head and stumbling around real bad, pacing back ‘n forth like he couldn’t see clearly. ‘twas near the red-light district, so I thought he was just another drunkard.”

“Could you point to the boy you saw, stumbling through the alleyways?”

The old woman slowly pointed at Jisung.

“And what did you see, at around 10 o’clock, sundown?”

“I-I saw the roofs in my neighbourhood go up in flames. Ran as quick as I could, but the blaze was already too big to stop —” She shuddered. “But through the smoke, I could see the figure of a boy in the fire, escapin’ from the house.”

“Could you point to the boy you saw escaping the burning building?”

You watched in muted dread as she lifted another quivering finger in Jisung’s direction.

“There’s no way she could have seen clearly through all that smoke and fire,” you heard Woojin mutter behind you.

“Your tenant had no prior connection to him — no negative relations beforehand, correct?”

The old woman nodded. “Not that I know of.”

Prosecutor Kang hummed. “We have no reasons to believe this murder was provoked by the victim. And yet, that night, Han Jisung set fire to an innocent woman’s home — in cold blood. She was an outcast, no family or friends — he likely chose a victim that wouldn’t be missed.” He smiled, turning towards the judge. “That is all for the eyewitness, Your Honour.”

You grit your teeth as the old woman sat back down. Kang had called on his next witness — a chubby, red-nosed man who introduced himself as a child psychiatrist.

“The defendant refused to answer questions during the psychological evaluation,” Kang informed the judge smoothly. “We researched his past thoroughly—”

“Bullshit,” Felix muttered.

“—and reached our conclusions by analyzing the nature of his criminal history during his adolescence. We will also be consulting—” Kang motioned for the two boys to step forward, “His former classmates, who will testify on Mr. Han’s character.”

“He’s insane,” Chan whispered in horror, “He’s letting the kids from the diner attack testify on Jisung’s mental condition?”

“Please state your affiliation with the defendant.”

“We grew up in the same orphanage,” the boy in the buzzcut answered, his voice thick from his swollen nose. “Kid always stuck out like a sore thumb.”

“Did the defendant ever exhibit any strange behaviours during his adolescence?” Kang asked.

“He’d be missing from classes for days,” the scrawny boy piped up. “Always hoverin’ in the corner like a little creep. Sometimes even lightin’ things on fire. Never got in trouble though — always real charming towards the teachers.”

“Changed his expressions like masks,” the boy in the buzzcut added quickly.

Kang turned towards the child psychiatrist. “How would you describe the mental condition of a patient like Mr. Han, taking these testimonies and the defendant’s criminal history into account?”

“W-well,” the red-faced man began, sweaty brow furrowing. “Starting with his unexplained history of pyromanic tendencies — this destructive behaviour indicates the patient harboured violent habits from a young age. That’s often a strong indicator of various conduct disorders in young children.”

“But isn’t it normal for children to be curious, to cause a little trouble?” Kang smiled — he was playing the devil’s advocate, you realised uneasily. “You surely can’t sum up his fascination with fire as a dangerous condition.”

The psychiatrist nodded. “Of course not. But the patient was able to shift between personas from a very young age — like his classmates have said, he could be cold and reserved to them, but charming and cunning towards authority figures. This constant deception in young children, along with the destructive tendencies, is what often leads to sociopathic behaviour.”

“Sociopathy,” Kang repeated, and turned towards the judge. “Oh, dear.”

You looked on in dismay as Kang kept twisting the case like the strings of an ugly puppet, clearly aware of the way the jury and spectators were beginning to lean towards the prosecution’s arguments. With Kang’s carefully crafted questions directed at nervous, unsuspecting witnesses, everything seemed to point to one obvious answer. Han Jisung was a guilty serial murderer, there could be no question of it. Even the testimonies were beginning to blur together:

He went all psycho on us.

Laughing like some maniac, like he enjoyed it.

Murdered my friends for no reason.

At this rate, you didn’t stand a chance.

Kang needed one more witness — one more witness was all it would take for the trial to shift completely in his favour, and for you to finally lose hope. You looked around the room in desperation and spotted Minho seated on the prosecution’s side, the coroner’s smooth and mask-like expression doing nothing to calm your frazzled nerves. His words from the rooftop rang in your head, sending chills down your spine.

There is little you can do with people who don’t want to be helped, y/n. You’re just like how I was.

Was that why Minho had cooperated with the prosecution? Because he thought that Jisung was already beyond saving? As if he could feel your gaze burning into him, Minho’s eyes darted upwards to meet yours. You were startled to find that there was something unfamiliar in his expression; something that hadn’t been there the last time you’d met him — like a crack in a mask, a ripple in smooth water. Before you could decipher what it was, you heard Kang’s haughty voice calling Minho up to the stand, and the coroner turned away.

“Please state your name and status.”

“Lee Minho, forensic pathologist and head coroner of the Miroh Heights murder cases.”

“Could you describe the autopsy results of the confirmed victims?” Kang held up a remote and projected images of various crime scenes onto a screen. An uneasy murmur rippled through the jury and spectators at the graphic images — some, like the burned body of the woman, and caved-in skull of the man at the Yellow Wood, you recognized, but there were several more you never had the courage to look at before.

Minho glanced at the photos Kang had projected onto the screen, expression unchanging. You remembered his oddly empty smile when you had first met him, when you had asked him if the endless rows of corpses ever made him uncomfortable.

“I’m sure it did, at some point. Sooner or later, they all start to look the same.”

“Yes. Well, as you can see, the victims’ bodies almost always showed signs of excessive force and trauma. Victim #1, Na Jangmin, was pronounced dead on scene from smoke inhalation and respiratory burns from the combustion of various chemicals found in the science laboratory.” Minho pointed to a gruesome image of a peeling, shrivelled corpse that made your skin crawl.

“Victim #2, Park Beomsoo. Died from asphyxiation. The victim had a high dosage of flunitrazepam — Rohypnol — in his system prior to his death.”

“And what is Rohypnol, Mr. Lee?” Kang interjected.

“It’s a powerful tranquilizer drug. Small amounts are sold as sleeping pills, but high concentrations can cause paralysis, or even loss of consciousness. It’s a common date rape drug.”

“Did the victim consume the drug of their own accord?”

“The concentration is too high to have been used as a sleeping pill dosage. The victim’s time of death was around noon, on campus, so there would have been no reason to for him to consume the drug. We detected traces of food in Park’s body along with the drug, but we don’t know where the drug came from.”

Kang turned towards the judge triumphantly. “Shortly after the drug took effect, the victim was pronounced dead. This was a premeditated crime. The defendant drugged the victim’s food, and slowly suffocated Park Beomsoo to death. Taking the defendant’s mental condition into consideration, Your Honour—” Kang gave a meaningful nod, a dark glint in his hawklike eyes, “I would argue that the defendant may have enjoyed the process of committing the murder.”

It took the last ounce of your self-control not to leap up from your chair at his words. Seemingly unfazed, Minho kept talking. “You can also find strange correlations between the victims. We always deduce signs of brute force exerted, and a pattern of victims: people with a history of abuse, adultery, and harassment. You could say that this killer...hunted killers.”

“The defendant’s M.O., Your Honour,” Kang added, nodding. “The constant pattern of victims and killing styles confirm that these were premeditated murders, habitual murders.”

You felt your heart sink, feeling sick. Beside you, Woojin had his head in his hands. Your last hope had gone down the drain. You should have known the coroner would play along, that he would never give himself in; that Lee Minho was the type to always save his own skin before saving others’—

“However,” Minho spoke up again, “I’d like to add that all the crime scenes are also always impeccably clean. We observed minimal blood spattering, DNA evidence, and even fingerprints. Some wounds on the victims’ corpses didn’t match the hypothesised murder weapons, and were ready to become cold cases.”

“Evidence that the perpetrator of these murders was also able to plan their clean-up afterwards,” Kang flashed the coroner a strange look. “Ladies and gentlemen, this only shows that the killer is meticulous and calculated in his attacks. As I’ve said, this is an insidious, long-seasoned killer we have on our hands—”

“You might be wondering why the evidence for this case is so scattered,” Minho’s mild voice cut him off, and Kang looked irritated at the sudden interruption but let the coroner continue. “Why the killings are so sporadic, always occurring at irregular intervals.” He paused, thinking. “Why nothing seems to fit together.”

It took several moments for his words to hit you, and you lifted your head in disbelief.

What? You turned to your friends, who all looked equally confused.

What is he trying to say?

“I remember recording that the deduced weapon at the Yellow Wood attacks was a hammer, or crowbar.” Minho nodded at the papers in the Judge’s hands. “That’s not true.”

All the heads in the room seemed to snap up in shock at the coroner’s blunt words. You felt your breath stop, and looked over at Chan, whose expression was just as stunned.

“The weapon of choice was actually a stone from the Yellow Wood,” Minho shrugged. The coroner set down the papers Prosecutor Kang had handed him, turning to face the jury. “If you dig around in the lake outside Miroh Heights Hospital, you might be able to find it. Then there’s the vodka from the fire, the knocked-over chemicals in the science laboratory, a janitor’s rope from the rooftop. They were all impulsive weapon choices,” Minho nodded at the judge, “all from the scene of the crime. As if the perpetrator had chosen it on the spot, in a fleeting moment of impulsive judgment.”

You saw Kang sputtering behind him, mouth opening and closing uselessly. The Judge was evidently taken aback, too, peering at Minho from over her half-moon glasses. “What are you trying to say, Mr. Lee?”

“That it should be obvious that these crimes were almost never premeditated.” Minho glanced at the pictures of the crime scene. His voice was quiet — nearly inaudible — but exasperated, as if he were surprised at the words coming out of his own mouth. The entire room seemed to be leaning forward, listening to his words with bated breath. “They were done in the heat of the moment, and someone else had to tamper with the evidence afterwards.”

“How could you possibly know—”

“Because I’m the one who’s been cleaning up after Han Jisung for the past thirteen years.”

Your mouth dropped open in shock as a hush fell over the room, reporters gasping and scribbling in their notepads. Minho had a small smile on his face as he took in the entire room’s response — how everyone had fallen quiet, speechless at the sudden turn the trial had taken. The smile wasn’t gloating or cruel, you realised slowly. It was filled with a simple curiosity and wonder, like a child who had finally tried something new for the first time.

Even Jisung had looked up, his eyes widened in surprise. “Minho—” His voice was raw from disuse as he called out to his first friend, his oldest friend — but Minho only smiled at him and shook his head slightly.

The room was shifting uneasily around him. He should have been scared, Minho thought. He could already feel lies instinctively forming on his tongue, a thousand ways he could backpedal and take back what he had just said. It had become second nature to him, he realised — covering up murders first, and his own emotions second; the two things he had always feared the most. He could hear Kang angrily stammering and calling his name behind him, but Minho ignored him.

The judge cleared her throat unsteadily, fixing her piercing gaze on him. “Why are you doing this? You are aware that a confession like this will lose you much more than your job? That it may very well condemn you to a lifetime in prison?”

“I’m aware,” Minho replied softly, eyes wandering across the room and landing on Jisung’s distraught face. The boy he had clung onto as his only family, the boy who he had both loved and feared for thirteen years. There was nothing left for him to lose. “I thought for the longest time that covering the murders were my own twisted way of...saving the boy. I don’t think I had the courage in me to do much else.” He looked around the courtroom, and his eyes finally landed on you. The girl who wore her heart on her sleeve, but was strong enough to challenge him with a steady voice and blazing eyes. The girl who was an unapologetic contradiction, he remembered, almost fondly. The girl who had reminded him what it was like to be brave, to finally start living for himself.

Yes, he thought. This was the least he could do.

“Han Jisung had nothing to do with the cover-ups of the crime scenes,” Minho raised his voice, surprised at the strength in it. Behind him, he could hear the prosecution stirring, and felt two security guards seize his arms to remove him from the podium. “He is not the depraved killer the prosecution wants you to think—”

“Your Honour, this must be a set-up between the coroner and the defendant,” Kang cut him off furiously, shooting Minho a death glare behind his spectacles. The murmuring of the jury and reporters drowned out the coroner’s last words as he was dragged from the room. “Your Honour, do not be deceived—”

“Order in the court!” The judge banged the gavel repeatedly, holding her head in her hand as if she had a migraine. “The—the coroner’s statements will be deemed faulty, and Lee Minho will be dealt with separately. The trial will continue.”

The silence that settled over the room after the coroner’s outburst was eerie. You could feel your heart still pounding, mind racing over the words Minho had shouted over Kang’s, the almost wistful smile on his face as he let the guards drag him from the room. The coroner had been a wildcard, you thought uneasily, your gut churning with a cocktail of anticipation and anxiety. There was no telling which way the trial would go from here.

“Does the prosecution have any other witnesses?” The judge called out, and you saw Jeongin finally stand up. Words and whispers began flying as he made his way forward to the witness box, the citizens recognising the delivery boy immediately. You glanced over at Kang, who looked more relaxed than ever — and you knew why. Everything from Jisung’s camcorder footage to Jeongin’s salvaged Walkman tapes had either been confiscated by the prosecution, or were in Seungmin’s hands. Kang had been meticulous making sure that the younger prosecutor had no power over the case, banning him from interfering with the investigation for good.

Which meant that all Jeongin had to sway the jury was his own verbal testimony. One young boy’s word against Prosecutor Kang’s.

“State your name and status.”

“Yang Jeongin. Um, student at Miroh Heights University.”

Kang looked down at his papers, then back up at the judge. “On the night of the Yellow Wood attacks, Yang Jeongin was biking home after closing shift before he was brutally attacked by the defendant with a blow to the skull. He is the only living witness that has come forward to testify, and the only person who witnessed the defendant’s attack firsthand. Luckily, he was able to regain consciousness after the horrific attack.” He turned towards Jeongin, smiling triumphantly. “What he has to say may well turn the entire case upside down.”

He was clearly expecting Jeongin to give away evidence against Jisung, you realised. After they had told Jeongin that his tapes had been withdrawn from the investigation, the delivery boy had hit a dead end in his testimony. No matter what he said, Kang would be able to find a way to use it against Jisung. Sure enough, he was watching the young boy now like a vulture, ready to pick him apart.

But Jeongin only smiled back at Kang. “Actually, it’s not what I have to say, sir.” When the prosecutor’s face contorted in confusion, Jeongin continued, “It’s the things that you’ve said.”

Before Kang could reply, Jeongin reached into his pocket and pulled out something silver. The guards instantly moved forward, but Jeongin set it onto the clerk’s table, motioning for him to take it. After several moments, the low crackle of speakers connecting began filling the tense silence, and you realised what it was that Jeongin had brought with him.

A voice recorder.

“He didn’t tell anyone to make sure it wouldn’t get confiscated, too,” Chan realised, eyes widening. “Smart kid. But what could he have possibly recor—”

The detective’s awed voice was drowned out by a recording of another very familiar voice.

“Kim Seungmin. As you may have heard, the serial killer — ah, the Han Jisung case, I could say — has been transferred to me.”

Prosecutor Kang.

The room froze. When you looked at Kang, you saw that all the blood had drained from his face.

“Now, now — don’t feel too ashamed, Kim. Everyone makes rookie mistakes. They may have assigned the wrong case to you, but rest assured — it’s in proper hands now.”

“Is it?”

You winced, peeking at Seungmin beside you when you heard his voice on the recording as well. Seungmin had never mentioned the way Kang treated him to anyone, and the younger prosecutor’s jaw was clenched, but his eyes were blazing.

Still, you weren’t exactly sure why Jeongin was playing a recording of Kang and Seungmin’s conversation. What could he have possibly overheard, that made him look so confident now?

“Have something to say to me, Kim?”

“I’ve just — never understood the way you handled cases, sir.”

“Seungmin.” You could almost see the condescending look on Kang’s face. “Allow me to share a word of advice. They won’t teach you this in law school.”

Seungmin watched realisation flash across Kang’s face like he had been struck by lightning, but it was too late.

“Your job as a prosecutor is not to judge the defendant fairly.”

“Wh—”

“If you want a smooth career...all you need to do is make sure you’re appealing to the right people. In other words, listen to what the public wants. Please the public; don’t waste a single damn about the defendant. You spent all your precious time worrying your little head over the killer’s motives, and now that we finally have him, you’re still worrying over the severity of his sentence? Murder is murder, Kim Seungmin, and actions speak louder than motives. You can show lenience towards a mass-murderer, or you can sweep his sorry past under the rug and bring closure to dozens of families. Which would make you a richer, more popular man?”

“Your Honour,” Kang stammered, face white, “This is—improper use of evidence, this shouldn’t—” The recording cut him off again, the judge’s face stony as she motioned for the clerk to keep going.

“Is that how you got to where you are?”

“Think, boy. As far as anyone needs to be concerned, the cold-blooded killer is caught, peace is re-established, families are soothed, justice is served once again — and I come out the hero. You saw that boy’s wretched past. Even he can’t handle it. So why poke at wounds that aren’t meant to be re-opened?”

You didn’t realise how hard you were clenching your fists until you felt your palms sting from your nails. The entire room seemed to be holding its breath. Kang looked stricken, pale mouth opening and closing frantically like a fish out of water, but no words were coming out.

“You think you’re being kind? Justice isn’t meant to be kind, Kim. Make up the easiest case to solve, and do everyone a favour.”

The judge stopped the tape, her face livid. The room had gone deadly silent, your own heartbeat pounding in your ears. ““Your job as a prosector is not to judge the defendant fairly?””

Kang could only shake his head wildly as she continued, raising her voice, ““Make up the easiest case to solve, and do everyone a favour?” From a faulty forensics expert to this — Prosecutor Kang, what do you have to say for yourself?”

“Your Honour, I—” Kang sputtered out, beady eyes darting around furiously — at Jisung, and at Jeongin. “L-lies! It’s all lies, this is absurd!” He laughed, trying to make himself sound nonchalant, but his voice was weak. “This must be a—a fabrication perpetrated by the defendant—” The room was erupting in chaos now, the jury and reporters bickering amongst themselves.

You had never seen the prosecutor so worked up before as he continued to protest frantically, “Your Honour, the defendant must have coerced the victim to do this, to—to frame me. Please listen to me, we must conduct another investigation—”

There was a deafening bang as the Judge slammed the gavel down, making the room jump. “There will be no investigation,” she thundered. “Prosecutor Kang, you are hereby removed from the Han Jisung case.”

Kang leapt up from his seat as officers appeared on either side of the prosecutor, seizing his thrashing arms. “Let go of me! Your Honour! Your Honour, you cannot do this. Han Jisung must be condemned — you cannot let this murderer walk free—”

“Silence!” The judge bellowed, and the last of Kang’s words were drowned out, the heavy oak doors banging shut as he was thrown from the room. Jeongin looked evidently shaken. He had been right. His last existing recording — the unlikely trump card — had flipped the case on its head. You heard frenzied whispers all around you as your heartbeat pounded erratically in your chest.

“Does this mean the prosecutor’s been fabricating all the evidence? Who can we trust now?”

“I’ve never seen a case like this before.”

“What’s going to happen to the trial now that the lead prosecutor’s been detained?”

The banging of the gavel eventually brought the restless audience to a strained silence. The Judge looked weary. “We need to take an emergency intermission. The trial...will recommence shortly.”

━━━━━━━━

You let the sea of people push you through the courtroom’s double doors, your legs threatening to collapse at any moment. Outside was hardly a breath of fresh air — all around you, cameras were flashing, reporters were gossiping, and officials were arguing. You tried to focus — to process what had happened, but the incessant buzzing of people chattering around you made your head pound so hard you swore your skull was splitting.

A firm hand on your shoulder yanked you out of your migraine, and you whipped around to see Hyunjin. You let out a small sigh of relief.

“Hey, it might be good to get out of this crowd for a bit,” Hyunjin said, taking in your exhausted expression worriedly. “I, uh, lost everyone, but if we step outside—”

Before he could finish, you both caught sight a blond head bobbing towards you in the sea of people. Felix pushed through, cradling his camera for dear life. His freckled face was sweaty and breathless.

“Kang—Kang’s lost all power,” he gasped out when he reached you. “Detective Bang’s managed to convince the guards to let him talk to Jisung for a few minutes—”

You had already seized your best friend by the shoulders and spun him around. He instantly got the message and the three of you began elbowing through the hordes of people, Felix leading the way.

The clamour died down to a quiet hum as you reached the hallways, Felix ushering you past an OFF-LIMITS sign. The corridors were nearly empty now, and the three of you sprinted to the end until you reached a heavy oak door. It was slightly ajar. You caught a glimpse of Jisung’s expressionless face through the dim crack, and your hand hesitated on the door handle.

“I told you and Woojin I wouldn’t give you any counter evidence.” Jisung’s voice was cold and lifeless.

“And you didn’t.” You could hear the growing agitation in Chan’s voice as the detective pleaded. “But you’ve got to listen to me. More people want you — need you — to keep living, more than you give yourself credit for.”

“Stop, Chan. You don’t have to do this anymore—”

“Han Jisung.” You couldn’t help his name falling from your lips, voice louder than you’d intended as you threw open the heavy door. The guards rushed to block you before you could get any closer, but you pushed back, forcing Jisung to meet your eyes. His were flat, dark, horribly cold.

“y/n,” he replied softly, and you felt your heart break.

“Why are you doing this?” You fought to keep your voice steady. “You have the right to speak for yourself. Defend yourself. You know what they’re saying isn’t true. So why are you letting them keep accusing you?”

“How do you know it isn’t true?” Jisung laughed humourlessly, shaking his head. “Don’t lie to yourself. I did kill all those people, and you know that.”

“I do. But you’re not the psychopath Kang is making you out to be,” you protested. “I know you.”

“You don’t.” Jisung’s voice was bitter. “You don’t, actually. I’ve always — always hidden parts of myself from you. What you’re hearing from Kang is the closest you’ll ever get. He — he knows me better than I know myself.” He smiled weakly, but it fell flat. “I’ve always been like this, drawn to murder and blood and fire. It can’t be fixed.”

Each one of his words pierced through you like bullets, and you searched his face frantically for a sign, anything left of the rain-drenched, smiling boy from the diner; the wounded, soft-hearted boy you had fallen in love with. Your heart was hammering in your throat as a horrible question echoed through your head.

Did he mean it?

It was as if Jisung had pulled on a mask, you thought. His face was absolutely still — but for a fleeting moment, you could swear you saw a flash of pain

No.

You had grown to know him, grown to know that he was the kind of boy who was willing to play the part of a depraved monster, just so you would push him away first.

Jisung stared back at you, and for once, the darkness in his wide eyes no longer scared you. Instead, endless memories were flashing through your mind.

Jisung making you laugh until you choked on Chinese food, and apologising profusely for hours afterwards.

Jisung spilling pancake batter all over your kitchen counter, and feeding you blueberries to make sure you didn’t notice.

Jisung, holding you in his arms until you fell asleep, hands as gentle as if he thought you were made of glass.

“You need to go,” Jisung broke your long silence. “Stop hurting yourself. You need to let me go.”

You looked up, taking in his slumped shoulders, the note of defeat in his voice, the facade he had pulled on during the trial, and everything hit you all at once. Maybe it was the stress of the weeks leading up to trial or your hatred towards Kang had finally reached its breaking point. Either way, an overwhelming feeling of sheer frustration was washing away the anxiety that had been thrumming in your veins for weeks, and it left in its place an unbearable, burning anger.

You felt yourself push past the guards as if in slow motion, a voice in your head telling you that maybe this wasn’t the best idea — and slapped your boyfriend across the face.

The slap wasn’t hard, but the sound that rang through the room felt deafening.

“Han Jisung, you are such an idiot,” you yelled. Guards immediately surrounded you, dragging you backwards, but you didn’t take your eyes off Jisung. He was staring at you, stunned, the stone-cold facade he had put on earlier now cracked wide open. “What do you think you’re solving this way? Do you know how many people have been working nonstop to make sure you don’t get yourself killed?” You could feel hot tears of frustration spilling onto your cheeks. “Your friends want you to stay alive. Your mother wanted you to stay alive. I need you to stay alive.” Your voice was hoarse as you screamed over the guards pushing you out of the room, and the heavy door swung shut with a deafening bang.

The silence in the hallway seemed to swallow you up, the weight of what you had just said and done crashing down on you like a ton of bricks. You felt your knees finally buckle as you sank to the ground, burying your face in your arms and finally letting all your pent-up tears fall freely.

Hyunjin and Felix were by your side, exchanging worried looks as they patted your back gingerly. You weren’t sure exactly how long the three of you stayed like that, your exhausted body racking with frustrated, mortified sobs, until you heard footsteps running down the corridor towards you.

“There you are— I’ve been looking for you guys for—” Kim Woojin’s breathless voice made you look up, and the captain did a double take. “Bloody hell, what happened?”

You wiped your reddened eyes furiously as Felix shook his head at the police captain, who was kind enough to take the hint.

“The thing is —” Woojin began again, tripping over his words. It was the first time you had seen the police captain so frantic. “It’s — it’s an emergency situation right now. A mistrial. The head prosecutor’s been thrown off the case, people are rioting—”

“This is a fucking mess,” Hyunjin muttered, but Woojin shook his head.

“No, it’s not,” the police captain exclaimed excitedly, “Not for us. They’re calling for a prosecutor who’s familiar with Jisung’s case to step up, asap. If there’s any prosecutor who was also working on the case—”

As if on cue, the intercom buzzed above you, making you jolt. “The court hearing for Han Jisung and Miroh Heights Murders will be resuming in five minutes. All attorneys, jurors, and participants of the trial, please report to the courtroom immediately—”

“Seungmin,” you, Felix, and Hyunjin all said simultaneously, and Woojin nodded. Felix was already pulling you to your feet, and the four of you broke into a run towards the courtroom.

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adultswim2021 · 3 years

Text

Ephemera Week (2002)

Mission Hill (originally aired on WB, 1999-2000)

Mission Hill was a perfectly good animated series from former Simpsons show-runners Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein. It was a sitcom about cool young people in a cool young people city. Andy French is an aspiring cartoonist, intended to be a Matt Groening type who would (over the course of many many seasons) eventually find success and get his own super-successful animated series called THE SIMPSONS: SEASONS 1-8.

The premise of the show was that Andy’s parents retire and sell the childhood home, displacing his nerdy high-school aged younger brother Kevin. Kevin moves in with Andy and learns how to be a cool city style guy, you know, the kind that’s always “walkin here!” and sucking off Bob Balaban in the men’s room and whatnot.

The show is at least better than the bad seasons of the Simpsons, and has a cool alt-comics style that suits the show really well. Not to damn it with faint praise, it’s a good show. There are a handful of GREAT episodes and plenty of strong jokes. There's news of a revival in the works focusing on Gus and Wally, the older gay couple in the show. It's supposed to take place in the same era the show originally aired in, which is just great.

Like Baby Blues and Home Movies before it, I did catch this show randomly on it's network of origin. I saw one or two of the final episodes to air on WB. I liked it! I was glad to see it get revived for a run on Adult Swim. I've wanted more episodes ever since.

I don't think the show is available for streaming anywhere, which is too bad. It came out on DVD with special features. That DVD set was reissued on DVD-R without special features, so... buyer? be wary. There's also a number of music replacements that ruin some of the scenes. At one point I had a bootleg set where somebody took the DVD video and replaced the audio with the as-broadcast version of of the show. Good luck finding it.

Here's an episode guide showing their debuts on Adult Swim. Bold episodes were originally unaired, making their debut on the channel. Also note: episodes had an innocuous title and a spicier in-house title in parentheses. It’s real Police Squad! shit.

12AM Monday Morning:

May 20: Pilot (or The Douchebag Aspect) May 27: Andy Joins the PTA (or Great Sexpectations) June 3: Kevin's Problem (or Porno for Pyro) June 10: Andy vs. The Real World (or The Big-Ass Viacom Lawsuit) June 17: Andy and Kevin Make a Friend (or One Bang for Two Brothers) June 24: Andy Gets a Promotion (or How to Get Head in Business Without Really Trying) July 1: Kevin vs. the SAT (or Nocturnal Admissions) July 8: Unemployment Part 1 (or Brother's Big Boner) July 15: Unemployment Part 2 (or Theory of the Leisure Ass) July 22: Kevin Finds Love (or Hot for Weirdie) July 29: Stories of Hope and Forgiveness (or Day of the Jackass)

11PM Sunday Night:

August 4: Happy Birthday, Kevin (or Happy Birthday, Douchebag) August 11: Plan 9 from Mission Hill (or I Married a Gay Man from Outer Space)

ALSO NOTE: There are about five episodes that were in early-stages of production and if you poke around you can find scripts for these episodes ( here as of this writing). A full animatic and table read for “Crap Gets In Your Eyes” exists if you search for it.

MAIL BAG

London Arbuckle ASKS! or, states! sorry I’m writing this lead-in without having read the whole message yet.

Another confusing Baffler Meal thing: the deleted cold open that's on the DVD. It gets called back to in the actual episode ("Between two steamed buns", "Nine dollars!? For what?") and provides crucial context, BUT it also gets contradicted in the actual episode (SG sells out for "one serious speaker" instead of owing a restaurant money). Also I remember all the ads for this episode used a clip from the cold open! It always kinda bothered me that they cut it but boys (matt & dave) will be boys!

I do think the cold open is nice and I always make a point to watch it with the episode. In my mind they are as essential as watching that boring Terry Gilliam short before Meaning of Life. The next step is pointlessly editing them together using Nero. Yeah, that’s the ticket

Here’s ANONYMOUS, baby!

It's summertime and we are talking about Adult Swim and I gotta ask when's the last time you've been to a pool. Have you ever in your adult life enjoyed the benefits of an adult swim. Tell us just how much you like splash around. Yes, that would be quite illuminating I'm sure (rolleyes).

Man, when was the last time I went into a pool? It’s been literally years. I think the last time I swam I did a bad job. I am definitely am getting “bad job” vibes off my hazy memories. Man, my memories used to be precious. Damn!

do you think theyll ever work with george lowe again in any major capacity or do you think he's just bad news.

I was about to say “isn’t he on American Dad” based on him name-checking American Dad as one of his many credits but I just looked it up and he was only in one episode. Damn. Somebody give George work he seems nice.

beakman's world, anyone? The wild and wacky world of Paul Zaloom? Hmm? Anyone?

lol you wish...

Baby Blues really was my everything back in the early 2000s, it may not have head the punk rock cred you clearly seem to crave it was a soothing balm for myself as a new father in a scary world (9/11 and all that, terrible stuff).

you raise a good point, that you’re a huge dork “with child” and I’m cool and laughed at 9/11 because it was funny to me, actually

Just read your Baby Blues "take down" and I gotta say: In the immortal words of Mike Francesca, "You're a fool. ho-kay? A total fool."

Uh huh. Yeah okay. Mike Francesca hordes pot bellied pigs in his apartment and lives in filth. He stinks, and so do youd

Baby Blue is like every animation nerd's wet dream. What if they made the rugrats with only the parents part. And here it is. Be careful what you wish for, chunky.

Yeah and it’s too bad because judging from the previous mail bags my audience is primarily made up of BABIES.

#adult swim #mission hill #adultswim2021 #ephemera

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swatheford · 3 years

Text

melody

(swatheford short #4) it’s only 10:56 PM where i am so it’s technically still mercado’s birthday! i got really carried away writing this one because i’m filipino so a lot of this came from personal experience and just hit really close to home! there’s a version for both eli and ella, hope y’all enjoy! (wc: 1k)

translations: anak - child / tita - aunt / lolo - grandfather / lola - grandmother

Eli

A bright yellow dress shirt and black dress pants laid on the edge of a small bed. There was chatter downstairs but the little boy paid no attention. His raven locks were gelled into a formal hairstyle, framing his round face. He puffed his cheeks, brows drawn into petulance. He sat in the green beanbag, swinging his legs while staring at the outfit with disdain.

“Eli? Are you ready?” Jennifer called out, the door clicked open and appeared a very disappointed woman. After a glance at her son who was still clad in pajamas, she clicked her tongue and lifted the fabric. “Elijah, put it on. They’re going to arrive any second now.”

“I don’t want to,” he huffed as his mom took a seat next to him.

“Why not? Tita Michelle made this for you!”

“It’s itchy,” he pushes away the shirt with a stubborn frown.

“Only for a few hours, anak. It’s your birthday, you have to dress up.” She pleaded with her child, desperation in her eyes.

“If it’s my birthday, why can’t I wear what I want?” Eli quipped back with a toothless smile.

“You’ve been spending too much time with your Lolo,” Jennifer sighs and gets back on her feet. The shirt is intentionally left behind and she gives one more warning.

“Come to the living room in five minutes unless you want Dad on your case too, hm?” The door shuts and the child knew he had no choice.

Eli reluctantly made his way to the living room and saw guests piled upon couches and trailing into the small kitchen. The dining table was packed with plates stacked with food from noodles, fried rice, to beef. His lips pulled into a grin and he turned to the table against the wall where purple cake sat upon a stand. Ube, his favorite flavor. He looked around at the crowd, friends and family alike, and debated his options. The frosting looked rather tempting…surely no one would notice.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Maybe next time. Eli looked up to see his brother, David, in a simple shirt and jeans but a proud look on his face.

“Go away.”

“I’m telling mom,” he boasted as if it were a prize but he clutched his arm. David swatted away his hand.

“I didn’t touch it!” “I saw you touch it!” Eli frowned and began to tear up to which David groaned.

“Fine, but you can’t do that every time!” Immediately, he wipes his eyes with a triumphant giggle. Youngest sibling privilege. David walks away, refilling his cup with soda. “By the way, your outfit is ugly.” “Your face is ugly!” He stuck out his tongue, catching his father’s stern glance.

“The celebration just started and you’re already fighting with David?” A man chuckled. His Lolo welcomed him with a warm hug and brushed the hair out of his face. He held a warm glint in his eyes as he watched him with admiration.

“He started it!”

“Sure he did,” Lolo takes his small hand into his and leads him towards the dishes. He grabs a plate and begins to get him food. “You’re getting so big now! Nine years old, next thing you know you’ll be helping mom and dad at work.”

He laughs, tip toeing to get a peek at the meal. Lolo stops by the leche flan before his son in law calls out, “Not too much, you’ll get hyper.”

The moment he’s out of earshot, Lolo adds a little bit more and passes the plate to his grandson.

The crowd claps politely as Eli jumps off the piano bench, returning to sit by his dad. David pushes in the bench and places a foot on the pedal before playing. His younger brother winces as his fingers run away from the melody and notes that shouldn’t belong together clash.

But the crowd fails to hear it. After three excruciatingly long minutes, the piano goes silent and everyone cheers as if he were Mozart. They begin to shower him with compliments which he takes too eagerly and Eli rolls his eyes. “You messed up.” “Whatever, you couldn’t play it if you tried.” David taunted and his mind had been made up. Even at the age of nine, he would never pass up a competition; especially if he knew he’d win. Eli swings off the sofa and returns to the bench, lowering its height.

“You don’t even have the music!” David sneers, but he knew he didn’t need it. Despite being five years younger than him, Eli had a knack for music and was seemingly an expert.

He quietly hummed the melody, swaying his head to the rhythm before reciting the piece from memory and with additional stylistic flair to the notes.

The crowd claps again, not nearly as loud as they were for David, but the shellshocked expression on his face was all the validation he needed.

The party winds down well into the night and his eyes felt heavy from the sugar crash. Eli stood by the doorway with his parents, wishing farewell to the guests. Lolo and Lola were the last ones to leave, lingering by the door and slipping on their shoes. Lola presses a lipstick stained kiss to both of her grandchild’s cheeks and Lolo kneels down to his height, “I hope you like the gift.”

The minute their car drives away, he rushes towards the pile of presents and hurriedly tears away the gift wrap. He gasped at the sight of the new music book, packed to the brim with sheet music for the piano. There’s a sticky note on one of the pages, undoubtedly his Lolo’s writing- ‘Play this one for me next time I visit.’

Eli runs to the piano, songbook in hand before getting swept up by his dad for bedtime.

Ella

A bright yellow dress laid on the edge of a small bed. There was chatter downstairs but the little girl paid no attention. Her thin, raven locks were pulled into two braids on both sides of her round face. She puffed her cheeks, brows drawn into petulance. She sat in the green beanbag, swinging her legs while staring at the dress with disdain.

“Ella? Are you ready?” Jennifer called out, the door clicked open and appeared a very disappointed woman. After a glance at her daughter who was still clad in pajamas, she clicked her tongue and lifted the shiny fabric. “Eleanor, put on the dress. They’re going to arrive any second now.”

“I don’t want to,” she huffed as her mom took a seat next to her.

“Why not? Tita Michelle made this for you!”

“It’s itchy,” she pushes away the skirt with a stubborn frown.

“Only for a few hours, anak. It’s your birthday, you have to dress up.” She pleaded with her child, desperation in her eyes.

“If it’s my birthday, why can’t I wear what I want?” Ella quipped back with a toothless smile.

“You’ve been spending too much time with your Lolo,” Jennifer sighs and gets back on her feet. The dress is intentionally left behind and she gives one more warning.

“Come to the living room in five minutes unless you want Dad on your case too, hm?” The door shuts and the child knew she had no choice.

Ella reluctantly made her way to the living room and saw guests piled upon couches and trailing into the small kitchen. The dining table was packed with plates stacked with food from noodles, fried rice, to beef. Her lips pulled into a grin and she turned to the table against the wall where purple cake sat upon a stand. Ube, her favorite flavor. She looked around at the crowd, friends and family alike, and debated her options. The frosting looked rather tempting…surely no one would notice.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Maybe next time. Ella looked up to see her brother, David, in a simple shirt and jeans but a proud look on his face.

“Go away.”

“I’m telling mom,” he boasted as if it were a prize but she clutched his arm. David swatted away her hand.

“I didn’t touch it!” “I saw you touch it!” Ella frowned and began to tear up to which David groaned.

“Fine, but you can’t do that every time!” Immediately, she wipes her eyes with a triumphant giggle. Youngest sibling privilege. David walks away, refilling his cup with soda. “By the way, your dress is ugly.” “Your face is ugly!” She stuck out her tongue, catching her father’s stern glance.

“The celebration just started and you’re already fighting with David?” A man chuckled. Her Lolo welcomed her with a warm hug and brushed the bangs out of her face. He held a warm glint in his eyes as she watched him with admiration.

“He started it!”

“Sure he did,” Lolo takes her small hand into his and leads her towards the dishes. He grabs a plate and begins to get her food. “You’re getting so big now! Nine years old, next thing you know you’ll be helping mom and dad at work.”

She laughs, tip toeing to get a peek at the meal. Lolo stops by the leche flan before his son in law calls out, “Not too much, you’ll get hyper.”

The moment he’s out of earshot, Lolo adds a little bit more and passes the plate to his granddaughter.

The crowd claps politely as Ella jumps off the piano bench, returning to sit by her dad. David pushes in the bench and places a foot on the pedal before playing. His younger sister winces as his fingers run away from the melody and notes that shouldn’t belong together clash.

But the crowd fails to hear it. After three excruciatingly long minutes, the piano goes silent and everyone cheers as if he were Mozart. They begin to shower him with compliments which he takes too eagerly and Ella rolls her eyes. “You messed up.” “Whatever, you couldn’t play it if you tried.” David taunted and her mind had been made up. Even at the age of nine, she would never pass up a competition; especially if she knew she’d win. Ella swings off the sofa and returns to the bench, lowering its height.

“You don’t even have the music!” David sneers, but he knew she didn’t need it. Despite being five years younger than him, Ella had a knack for music and was seemingly an expert.

She quietly hummed the melody, swaying her head to the rhythm before reciting the piece from memory and with additional stylistic flair to the notes.

The crowd claps again, not nearly as loud as they were for David, but the shellshocked expression on his face was all the validation she needed.

The party winds down well into the night and her eyes felt heavy from the sugar crash. Ella stood by the doorway with her parents, wishing farewell to the guests. Lolo and Lola were the last ones to leave, lingering by the door and slipping on their shoes. Lola presses a lipstick stained kiss to both of her grandchild’s cheeks and Lolo kneels down to her height, “I hope you like the gift.”

The minute their car drives away, she rushes towards the pile of presents and hurriedly tears away the gift wrap. She gasped at the sight of the new music book, packed to the brim with sheet music for the piano. There’s a sticky note on one of the pages, undoubtedly her Lolo’s writing- ‘Play this one for me next time I visit.’

Ella runs to the piano, songbook in hand before getting swept up by her dad for bedtime.

i adore little mercado so much, this was such a fun one for me to write! hopefully it was a fun read and y’all enjoyed it! thanks for reading! :)

#eli mercado #ella mercado #secrets of swatheford #stf #swatheford shorts #mercado's birthday celebration '21

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marshmallow-phd · 4 years

Text

Catching Rain

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Wolf!AU

Pairing: Minseok x Reader

Summary: You were more than satisfied with your life. You attended a nice college, had nice friends, a nice boyfriend. That’s what your life was: nice. You weren’t looking for anything more, so what were you to do when this seemingly harmless boy walked into your life and turned your nice little world into one much more dangerous?

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I Epilogue

Cheerful mess was the understated way of putting the current scene. Tonight was the first evening of a long sleepover at the farmhouse. It was a holiday weekend which meant you had unlimited access to Minseok for three whole days.

The two of you had been "together" for about a few weeks but it felt more like a lifetime. You and him fit together like puzzle pieces, like that Greek myth of the origins of people and soulmates. Both of you had walked the earth for years, not even realizing what you could have been missing. You didn't feel complete, necessarily, but… more.

"You're going to run out of battery here soon," Minseok teased.

You were sitting up on your knees clicking picture after picture of your favorite subject. How could you stop when nearly every angle of his face was so fascinating? He looked sharp then soft then older then younger. You wanted to capture every possibility.

"It's not going to die," you said as you checked the focus. "It's still on full battery. You're stuck with this for a while."

"I'll endure it. Only because it's you."

"Are you camera shy, wolf boy?"

Minseok's answer was a low growl. He reached out and pulled you down for a kiss, careful to not crush your camera. Somehow he managed to pry the device from your hand and place it on the floor while keeping you occupied.

"(Y/n)?"

"Hm?"

With soft eyes, he caressed your cheek. His lips were taunt, tension creating the tiniest lines around his pink mouth.

You propped yourself up on your elbows. "What is it?"

"There's… something we need to talk about."

"Okay?" Sitting up all the way, you braced yourself for whatever he was about to expose.

Minseok kept his eyes down, fidgeting with the sheets between his fingers. "I'm sure you've noticed how… protective I've been lately?"

Protective was probably the soft way of putting it. Since you and Minseok officially accepted the bond between the two of you, you'd spent nearly every day up here at the house, soaking all the time with him that you could. It was impossible to ignore the way he shifted closer to you when one of his brothers walked into the room or the subtle growls if they said something cheeky. While it took time to get used to, you'd shrugged it aside, owing it up to his supernatural nature. It had never gotten too much out of hand or uncomfortable for you. Apparently, there was much more to it than a simple instinct.

"The reason I've been like that is because you're my mate."

You snorted. "Yeah, I kind of figured that."

"But not just my mate." He let out an elongated sigh. "My unmarked mate."

You held up a hand, palm facing out. "Okay, hold up. Unmarked? Like… I have to get a tattoo?"

Minseok snickered. "No. There's no ink involved." He sat up. Fingers soft and tender, he traced the outline of your neck and shoulder. "When a wolf finds their mate, they are protective. And… we need a way to tell other wolves that their mate is under that protection and not to… touch them… for a lack of a better explanation. So, we mark our mates. Once that happens, our instincts calm down a bit. Or so I've been told."

"Okay." You clicked your tongue a few times, processing this new information. "You're asking to mark me? Is that it?"

Minseok chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I am."

"Okay," you said. Nerves were brewing in your stomach. Though the answer seemed obvious once ink was ruled out, you still asked, "What does that entail?"

Scooting closer to you, Minseok kept eye contact. "I have to…." Blush exploded on his cheeks. He scratched the hairline behind his ear.

"To do what?"

"I have to bite you."

"BITE ME!"

"Shshshsh." Minseok pounced on you, covering your mouth as he pinned you to the bed. He cocked his head to the side as if listening for additional noise. Right. Supernatural hearing. The house was full of extraordinary ears. When no one came, he eased off. "It won't hurt. I'd make sure of it."

"But you have to bite hard enough to leave a scar," you said.

Minseok nodded. "I'd… distract you."

You started to imagine what he meant by that. You cleared your throat. "I guess I can go along with that."

Those were the magic words, apparently. He grabbed your face like he did that night downtown and kissed you deeply. A rush of giggles bubbled in your throat. They grew louder and louder until-

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Can you guys keep it down? Its getting annoying!"

Minseok half-groaned, half-sighed. "Jongdae."

"Just let him be," you said, though you were feeling a little embarrassed yourself. "Some people just don't like being around couples."

"You're right." A mischievous smirk pulled at his lips. "But I still hope that he's next. It would help loosen him up."

"Maybe."

"Until then, we'll just wait until the house is empty."

You smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

On the morning of the last day of the holiday weekend, you were a little sad. The nonstop Minseok time was coming to an end. But alas, it was inevitable so you rolled with the punches.

Minseok was already downstairs when you woke up. You freshened up before deciding to join him.

Several of the boys were sitting around the table eating breakfast as they chatted happily. Minseok had a full plate in front of him waiting for you before the others could shovel it down. When he saw you enter the kitchen, he waved you over. You took the empty seat next to him.

"Hungry?" he asked. You nodded. He slid the plate over to you along with eating utensils.

Junmyeon walked in then, a newspaper in his hand. He must have run to town early this morning. Tossing the newspaper down on the table, he sighed.

"What is it?" Sehun asked.

"There was another death on Saturday," Junmyeon announced.

"What? Why are we just hearing about it?" Minseok asked.

"The police kept it quiet. Its just now hitting the newspapers. I got an email last night from the university."

Baekhyun frowned. "Why did you get an email?"

"The hiker was a pre-med professor from the University. The board wanted to prepare the rest of us."

Yixing reached for the newspaper and scanned through the article.

“We need to find this guy and stop him," Chanyeol said worriedly.

Kyungsoo nodded in agreement. “He’s bringing too much attention.”

“The last thing we need is for some vigilante hunter coming into the woods,” Jongin added.

You swallowed, unable to keep eating. The image of a hunter with a gun was making your stomach churn. “That won’t happen, right? Minseok?”

“Everything will be alright.” Minseok reached over and squeezed your hand reassuringly. Rolling his eyes, Jongdae stood up and left the room.

“He just doesn’t like me, does he?” you asked quietly. Though the two of you would joke about Jongdae needing a mate of his own to loosen him up, you couldn’t help but feel it was more personal than that.

“Jongdae takes a long time to warm up to anyone," Junmyeon said. "Don’t stress about it.”

You pursed your lips. “Easy for you to say.”

“Don’t worry, the rest of us like you.” Baekhyun said happily as he munched on a cookie. “Especially if you keep making goodies like this.”

You had gotten a little bored last night while the pack went on a run, so you went through the cabinets and found ingredients to bake a few… dozen cookies. There were approximately three left at this point and you were worried that it might become an outright war for the morsels.

Minseok starred at Yixing, who was lost deep in thought, reading the article over and over again. “Yixing? Is something wrong?”

“This hiker was my professor," he explained. "I’m just worried about what the consequences of another death could be.”

“You sound so morbid,” Sehun complained.

“Campus will be in an uproar tomorrow when we get back,” Minseok commented. To Yixing, he asked, “Do you think they’ll cancel your class?”

Junmyeon answered instead. “No. In the memo we got they said they would combine her classes with others.”

“Seems a bit weird,” Baekhyun said.

Junmyeon shrugged. “It's the option they went with. Yixing, you should be getting an updated schedule and syllabus in a day or so. As for us, we're going to up our presence in the woods. Take shifts running perimeters."

"Is that safe?" you asked. The last thing you wanted was for Minseok to get hurt. Or any of them, really. You were growing attached to the pack as a whole.

"We're supernatural creatures," Minseok smirked. "There's more of us than of him. If anything, its him to be worried about."

You nodded, but your concern didn't ease up. Your own instincts told you this wouldn't be as cut and dry as the pack was making it sound. They may know what they were capable of, but they weren’t invincible. You had to agree with Yixing. There were to be consequences of this new death. But that was the thing about consequences: they could be either good or bad. Only time would tell what they would be.

#exo #exo wolf au #exo wolf!au #minseok x reader #kim minseok #xiumin #exo werewolf au #exo werewolf!au #exo supernatural au #exo fanfic #exo fanfiction #exo series #The Untamed Universe #Catching Rain

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fumiko-matsubara · 3 years

Text

A long ass list ー All of my Chiba headcanons that I brainrot a lot about (Part 3)

Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 4

When he was just 4 years old, his aunt once commented that he has a small head and he ran crying to his mom.

He used to be afraid of mall Santas when he was young. His mom once had him take a photo with one and you can clearly see him teary-eyed in the photo.

The corners of Chiba's lips are naturally curled upwards that even when he's not smiling, it almost look like he still is.

Except when he purposely frowns, of course.

Because he is an older brother, Chiba's instincts of being one is very strong. It almost feels natural for him to be obligated to take care of others, especially when they're younger than them.

Even with Nakamura and Maehara, who are admittedly the very two who manage to bring out his childish-ness, his brotherly instincts still come out once in a while.

A prime example was when they paired up for an science project once. They made a pretty big mess in the end and Chiba nearly didn't stop nagging at the two while cleaning said mess himself at the same time.

Nakamura: Geez you sound like my brother every time I went home past 8.

And with Okajima, someone he used to claim as someone he doesn't have anything to do with. Even though he still doesn't support whatever odd adventures the guy does, his instincts would shoot up when Okajima is clearly in the face of danger.

He probably wouldn't bat an eye if any of the girls punches Okajima out of revenge, but the great panic will be evident if things like attempt drowning is involved.

When it comes to genuine compliments, Chiba is not the type to blatantly deny every phrase said to him. But he will sometimes question one's intentions as to why they are praising him out of the blue.

Nakamura pretty much ruined the purpose of compliments for him, as hers were usually done with the intention of riling him up (and they worked most of the time 😭).

Chiba is quite the storyteller. Whenever his relatives visit for a family reunion, like during Christmas for example, he would usually end up looking after his younger cousins.

As his questionable hairstyle of choice tends to be a topic in a gathering once in a while, he had prepared a lot of creative takes of why he chose to have it that he would tell the younger kids.

Sometimes, he switches the storyline up when he feels like it to keep the kids invested. And he finds it endearing when he sees them discussing about the different takes and trying to figure out which is the real one.

His personal favourite was the one where a curse was placed on him long ago so that anyone who sees his eyes will turn into stone and that he is currently finding a way to break the curse once and for all.

It saves him the trouble from always having to explain why he chose to have that hairstyle, why he doesn't want to show his eyes, and why he changed it the time he finally finds the courage to do so.

Chiba wakes up very early in the morning, mostly because it takes a lot of time for him to do his hair in its usual fashion.

His hair routine includes drying his hair from a morning shower using a blowout technique to straighten it down immediately. Then followed by flattening it even more using a hair straightener (which was lend to him by his older sister after she got herself a new one). The last and important step is a lot of hair spray near the roots of where his bangs are until it's stiff enough.

This was why his bangs barely moved that much despite the strong wind from Koro's speed whenever he zooms past the class.

But no amount of hairspray can save him from exposing himself to the whole class when he fell down from a table from laughing too much.

Without all that heat and hairspray, Chiba's natural hair is more voluminous and even had the ends slightly curled inwards.

Despite its thickness, his hair is also very light. That's why even though he doesn't necessarily move his bangs away when at home even if he's wearing it loose, it's still easy to see his eyes since his hair moves so much when in its natural form.

Chiba grew the habit of brushing his fingers through his hair when he's alone mostly because it feels nice since his hair is very soft.

He nearly did this during class and thankfully managed to stop himself midway only because he felt the ridiculous stiffness near his roots 😭

He stopped with the hairspray somewhere around early July. He saw no point in having that extra security anymore now that his classmates knew what his eyes look like and showed no problems with it. So what's a few glimpses of his eyes here and there gonna do anyways? He can also easily avoid running into any student from the main campus.

Chiba only uses his bangs as a makeshift crosshair when he's aiming without a scope. But since he mostly equips a sniper rifle, which uses a scope, during trainings and actual assassination attempts, he was starting to see the significance of keeping his bangs even less. (Keep in mind this was later in the school year)

If he still haven't made up his mind of what he wants to do, Chiba can easily be swayed by other people's suggestions or opinions.

A great example of this was him struggling to stick with a new hairstyle after getting rid of his old one. His mother's mere suggestion had him make a last minute decision to have his bangs trimmed literally the night before his first day of high school.

Miki once suggested to him to try growing his hair out and see if he'll like it or not, which he had multiple failed attempts to do so as he was easily swayed by other suggestions (as in, he actually tried them).

The longest Chiba's hair had probably been was to be able to tie it in a low ponytail... only for a while, that is, because Kaho's not so serious suggestion about having an undercut during the summer was sounding a little bit too interesting 😭

For the sake of Koro-sensei's emotional well-being, he never said this outloud the whole time but the idea of having a tattoo entertains Chiba a lot, especially after seeing Sugaya's henna sleeve.

As Sugaya was offering everyone a henna tattoo of their choice, Chiba specifically asked him to do a dragon themed design on his whole left sleeve. One, because dragons are perfect to make tattoo designs from and two, it's in his name.

By college, Chiba actually had thought of getting an actual dragon themed design tattooed on him. Something that can easily be hidden but still big enough to add a lot of significant details.

Although he has plans and had thoroughly thought of its design and location, any attempts of actually getting said tattoo hasn't been made yet. Not even once.

Chiba especially fears that he might give his mother a heart attack if he came back home from the city, tatted, since some of his decisions in regards to his appearance have been pretty concerning (reminder that he is currently blonde during this time 😭).

Another self-indulgent post by yours truly. This is probably a lot more self-indulgent than the previous two lists but I badly needed to let these all out, please spare me 😭

Yeah plenty of these were influenced by my recent posts but that's just me having it really bad right now lol.

#assassination classroom #ansatsu kyoushitsu #assclass #assclass headcanons #chiba ryuunosuke #ryuunosuke chiba #my headcanons #my ideas #target on #target on college timeline #meta

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mybrothershands · 3 years

Text

MBH/Dumpling Crossover 4/4

By myself and @diddlesanddoodles , edited by @thundering-susurrus

Saen was making quick work of his remaining peeled pumpkin, and Yale was pleased to have the whole pan filled and sizzling. The earthenware dish was stacked high enough, he felt, to warrant bringing it down to Kol and Quinn so they could get the first couple of the pies baking. Bart and Avery would have gotten the first few of the rocs onto the spits, and he was sure a few more would be chucked into one of the other ovens. If they timed it just right, just as one pie was finished baking, the next would be ready to put in, the goal being that all of the pies would be baked just as the last of the rocs finished off.

But the timing would be tight.

Ka did not seem to notice the change in pace, as he was focusing on the little stone he had brought up to his face to inspect. It looked much like a grain of rice between his fingers, but he lauded the girl's find nonetheless. "Kind of marbled and sparkly, isn't it?" he said, offering it back to Nenani.

Anything she might have said was drowned out by Cairo. From his vantage point on the table, he could very nearly bark directly into Ka's ear when he was bent down. So he did. "Ka!"

The giant flinched and looked up. "What is it now?"

Cairo simply pointed at the two pies Yale had brought over earlier. "Eat," he ordered.

"I have to get this done--"

"Don't argue with me! It could be hours before you get done," he said, still pointing.

Ka sighed and, making sure Nenani had taken the stone, reached for his satchel and rummaged around. Upon finding a spoon, he set the pack aside and reached to take one of the meat pies. "Demanding," he grumbled.

Yale turned to Saen, holding out the dish filled with cooked pumpkin. “Go run this to Quinn will ye?”

Wiping his hands on his apron, Saen rounded the table and claimed the dish from Yale before turning to hurry towards the archway.

“You’ve already got half of them done,” Nenani said, looking at the largely reduced pile of gourds. “How many pies do you need to make?”

“I think Quinn’s aimin’ fer about six,” Yale replied. “They’re pretty large ones, so they’ll be enough fer the top table, but the main attraction is sure to be the roasts.”

Just as Saen made it to the bottom of the stairs and into the kitchen proper, a loud voice bellowed from within. “IS THAT ALL YE THREE HAVE MANAGED?”

Yale froze, sighed, and mentally prepared himself for a tongue lashing. Even before Farris reached the top of the steps, he was continuing on with his tirade. “YE TELLIN’ ME THIS LOT CAN GET ALL THESE DAMN BIRDS DISPATCHED, PLUCKED, AND ROASTIN’ IN THE SAME TIME IT TAKES THREE OF YE TO PEEL AND FRY A SINGLE PLATE OF FUCKIN’ PUMPKIN?”

When he reached the landing, he stood with his arms akimbo and glowered fiercely at Yale and Ka. His face was already turning red, a single vein in his forehead throbbing with ire.

Ka nearly choked on his spoon, he jumped so hard. He pushed the pie back onto the table, a single scoop taken from it. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” he mumbled to himself as he tried to cut the pumpkin with the handle of the knife. The giant quickly spun the knife around. Within seconds he had gutted and broken down the pumpkin in his lap, and was reaching for another when another voice started barking commands.

"What did I just say? You need to eat something," Cairo said. In response, Ka shook his head, but did not speak. "Boy, you're twice his size. Stand up for yourself."

Still, the giant did not speak and kept his focus on peeling the next pumpkin.

Farris marched with purposeful strides towards them, his gaze set upon Ka. But at the last moments, as he reached them, he turned to Yale. “What in the seven hells are ye all doin’ out here that it takes ye thing long to get me some damn fried gourds, boy?”

“Sorry boss,” Yale replied mechanically. “We’re nearly done.”

“What’s the holdup then? Did ye forget we’re in a bit of a crisis here? Or ye feel like explainin’ to Master Donal why luncheon is late?” Farris demanded and shifted his ire towards Ka. He made note of the human man on the table, looking as irritable as Farris felt. He paid him no mind and focused instead on the giant peeling a pumpkin. And at a surprising speed, too. Farris would have been tempted to be impressed if the situation was different. Then he noted the still-uneaten pies and glowered at Ka.

“Well no wonder yer slower than the fuckin’ solstice,” Farris barked. “Ye still haven’t finished off them pies? The Dumplin’ eats faster than you. Scarf ‘em down and get to it!”

Sat down, Ka was no taller than Farris, and he felt the full heat of his angry rant. He slouched and physically shrank back from the shouts. Try as he might, he could not gather his wits against this man, especially when he was right in his face. "I'm trying, sir," Ka said. It was a moment before the words really sank in, and he understood. "O-oh," he said a bit stupidly.

"Told you," Cairo jeered. His hackles were still pricked, however, and he never took his gaze off of Farris. He stood tense, as if he thought he could do something.

Ka used this as a cue to peel his attention from the angry giant. He returned his hands to the table and took up the pie. Setting the edge of the dish against his mouth, he scooped a quarter of its contents into one cheek. He repeated this action until he looked a bit like a squirrel, then bobbed his head in thanks. "It's good!" Ka said, or at least tried to.

Farris huffed and regarded Ka with an unimpressed frown. “Good, he says. Boy, this is the king’s kitchen. Of course it’s good. We don’t serve the pig shit doled out at common taverns.”

His eyes turned to Cairo, and he noted the tensed muscles and the near battle stance the human man took. Farris matched the man’s glare. “Ye have somethin’ to say to me?”

The human stood there a moment, as if reconsidering, but did not give up his ground. He glanced at Ka, who was still choking down the other half of the first pie, and then back to the smaller giant. He at last smoothed his brow and calmed his stance exactly two notches. "No," he decided. "As long as you keep your paws off him."

Farris snorted a short humorless laugh. “So long as he does the work I’m payin’ for, I ain’t have any reason to lay a finger on him.”

Yale suppressed a look that might have made it seemed as though he would like to contradict his boss’s assertion. But with his self-preservation instinct well-honed after years of working under Farris, Yale turned his back and concentrated his frying pan.

“But I will say this,” Farris continued, the muscles in his shoulders pulling tightly. He leaned down closer to Cairo, pressing further into the human’s space and narrowing his eyes minutely. “First rule of my kitchens, little man: my word is law. So if I say ye need a smack to the head, yer gonna get a smack to the head. Don’t care whose brother ye are or ain’t.”

Ka glanced from the fuming giant to Cairo and back again, his worry mounting. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "H-he's not really going to--I mean, he won't hurt him...will he?" he said to whoever could hear.

"Oh, is that so?" Cairo jeered, "think yourself a tough boy? Well do ye?" He could feel the giant's breath on his face now, yet glared up undeterred. He glanced down to where Nenani was milling around. He did not see her rock, but was fairly certain she still had it on her.

"Y'know what I think?" Cairo said. "I think you're a soft little bastard, that's what!"

And with that, Farris spun on his heels and marched back across the yard and down into the kitchen. Yale was left a little speechless and turned to look back between Cairo and Ka and then to Nenani. She was the only one of the three to share Yale’s shock. He opened his mouth to say something, but paused when he saw Farris emerge again from the kitchen with a familiar cocotte tucked under one arm. Yale dutifully turned his back to his boss and concentrated on the frying pumpkin. He tried very hard not to snicker.

Farris did not acknowledge anyone as he calmly sat the cocotte down onto the table and pulled off the lid. Down near his feet, Nenani was looking between Farris and Yale and when the younger cook caught her eye, he winked at her. But she only looked more confused.

And then it happened.

With a swiftness and speed few people would have assumed Farris capable of, he reached out and grabbed Cairo, pinning the man’s arms to his sides, and swiftly plopping him down into the open pot. The lid was clapped on with a bang and Farris leaned his arm on top, turning to level a calm stare at Ka.

“This mouthy brother ‘a yer’s just earned himself ten minutes,” he said. He turned to Yale. “Hand me that rock there. Not the hot one. Don’t wanna cook 'im.”

Yale bent down to retrieve one of rocks that had been used to create a barrier for the fire pit, choosing the one farthest from the flames. It was barely warm. He handed it to Farris, shooting a slightly apologetic glance at Ka. Farris placed it on the lid and turned back to Ka.

“Ten minutes.”

Ka sat there for a short while, shoulders tense and eyes glued on the pot. Only after Farris backed away did he begin to relax. He seemed to find some kind of solace in Nenani's presence as well, and how comparatively calm she looked.

Still, his brother was in a pot.

Slowly, he reached across the table, his long arm easily closing the distance, and pulled it towards himself. Inside, Cairo was pounding against the side like a swarm of angry bees, to the point that even Ka did not want to open the lid. With the crock safely within his embrace, he went back to his pie. "Ka!" came a muffled voice. "Can you even hear me, you dumb oaf?"

"I can hear you," he mumbled.

"Well get me out of here! What are you waiting for, you useless giant?"

"Don't call me that," he muttered. "And Mister Farris said not to." He stole a glance at the man in question before turning to Yale--a seemingly safer option. "Does he usually do this?"

There was a part of Yale that felt very badly for Ka. For someone so tall, he very much looked like a kicked puppy. Farris eyed him for a moment, a silent command, and though he tried to keep his composure, the mask slipped and Yale snorted an undignified laugh.

“He’s been known to do it from time to time,” he chuckled. “Bit of a last resort sort ‘a thing.”

Yale wasn’t the only one to pick up on Ka’s morose expression and posture. Nenani walked over to his leg and patted it reassuringly. “Don’t worry. It’s like time out.”

Yale laughed properly. “Mostly it’s the brat in there though.”

Farris snorted.

“Nah. Had to use the bigger one. That one there wouldn’t have fit in the one I use with Jae,” he said. Seeming satisfied enough that Ka would not spring his brother from the cocotte before his time was served, Farris gestured to the rest of the pumpkins. “I expect the rest done up quick and brought down. I won’t have luncheon be late and I certainly ain’t sendin’ up sub-par pies to the top tables. I’d have Donal so far up my ass over it, I’d be able to smell his damn cologne.”

Ka seemed a bit distracted by Yale's laugh, but Farris's voice was loud enough to break the spell. "O-Oh. Yessir. We'll get it done. Not to fear." Switching his pie to the other hand, Ka reached down towards Nenani. His hand was still hesitant, but not nearly as much as when he had first tried. "Thank you, little one," he whispered, scratching her upper back with two fingers.

In the next half hour, they had all the pumpkins peeled and fried with spices mixed in. Pie crusts were brought from the ovens inside, filled with the hot mixture, then spirited away. Once Cairo was allowed free, he seemed a bit somber and even bitter. Maybe time-out did not work as well on adults. Ka tucked him into the hood of his overcoat, leaving his hands free to set to work.

When the pies were all squared away, he got back to his feet rather slowly, as if afraid he might bump his head, but there was nothing above him but grey skies. He more or less followed Yale around like an oversized duckling until he found something else to do. That "something else" happened to be helping someone hang decorations. One of the little giants was on a ladder trying to hang an autumn wreath, but the ladder was not cooperating. When Ka came up behind him to hold it steady, he met the man nearly eye-to-eye. He had not meant to scare him so badly, honest he hadn't, but he soon found himself left alone with the decorations.

"How...do I do this?" he mumbled to himself. It had been a while since he had last seen Yale, and from what he could tell, he had better things to do than babysit a tenderfoot.

"It doesn't matter," came a coarse voice behind him. Cairo was nearly asleep in his makeshift hammock. "Just hang em any old place. Your guess is as good as theirs."

"But I want to make it look nice," Ka said, unraveling a leafy garland. "They probably have a place where they normally put everything."

"Put a wreath on your head, it should fit," said the human as he picked his teeth.

"No, Cairo."

Farris emerged from the kitchens tired, but satisfied. The food had gone up on time and without issue and so he would have one more day without another one of Donal’s reprimands. Not that Farris put much weight in them. He was simply sick of hearing them.

In his hand, he carried a small but weighted purse and strode across the courtyard towards Ka. But he paused when he saw the boy hanging a garland, a task given specifically to Gjerk. He turned on his heels to holler down into the kitchens.

“Gjerk, ye twig-armed ninny!” he bellowed. “What kind of lame legged lizard are ye to be pawnin’ off yer duties, eh?”

The bushel of bright orange hair peeked warily out from the stairwell. “Nothing sir! It’s just…well, he’s so much taller and…”

“And too polite tell ye to fuck off,” he barked. “Go see Bart and tell him ye just volunteered to scrub the privies.”

The younger giant’s face fell, and he looked as though he wished to protest, but the seething glare from Farris burnt up any objections and the tenderfoot sullenly turned away.

Farris huffed and turned back to where Ka was finishing up the decorations.

“Ye did good work today, lad. Much appreciated,” he said and held out the purse. “This is fer you.”

The giant paused in his work, hurriedly hooked the garland over the corner of the roof, and pulled his arms close to his body. "I'm sorry?" He avoided the man's eyes, glancing instead to where he had seen the boy called "Yerk" disappear. His brow worried as he clenched his jaw. He felt so bad for causing the boy such trouble. "This?" he asked when the pouch was impatiently placed in his right palm. It sounded like coin. "You...want me to take this somewhere? To get more groceries or something?" He felt Cairo shifting in the hood on his back and silently hoped he would keep his mouth shut, but it was not to be.

"What is it." he demanded.

"Coin," Ka murmured.

"I wasn't asking you," he said, tugging on a lock of his brother's hair.

At the human’s tone, Farris snorted. The urge to reintroduce the human back into the cocotte was strong. However, the trade of effort and reward was too far skewed from his favor, and so he allowed it to pass without further comment, except to answer Cairo’s initial question.

“Yer pay,” he said to the human before turning his eyes upwards to Ka. “Honest pay fer an honest day’s work. And my thanks.”

He had been perhaps a little more generous than he would have been normally, but if there was one thing his mother had instilled within him more than anything, it was to make sure no one under his roof ever went hungry. Ka had done the job of two men, and clearly he had not been getting enough to eat to sustain his considerable height. For all his mass, the boy was not much more than an overgrown sapling. A decent wind could blow him over.

The boy needed more than just food for the moment. He needed the coin to get more down the road.Farris only hoped that whichever road Ka was going down, they accepted Vhasshalan minted coins.

Shaking his head, the giant opened the purse and prodded the coins. They were strange to him, and small, but he didn't need a scale to tell this was a decent amount of money. He frowned at it, confused. Was there something he'd misunderstood? "But...you fed me." He met the man's eyes and instantly wished he had not--they were the kind that could cut. He returned his gaze to the sack in his palm. "It was good food, too. You don't have to do this," he offered the sack back.

Something thumped him in the back of his neck. "Just accept it, you stupid dog," Cairo growled fiercely. "I'll not have you go hungry over your own--mrrph!" he sputtered as an enormous hand clamped over his head and chest. It only took about three seconds before he bit down on his brother's finger, which was answered with a yelp."--your own sheepishness," he finished.

Farris eyed the pouch sitting in Ka’s open palm, appearing laughably small, and growled. His favor was a hard-won thing, and perhaps he had grown a little too used to folks understanding just what it meant for him to bestow it upon them. Ka was a stranger, though, and did not have a full grasp of the minutiae of the Vhasshalan kitchens or the way in which Farris ran them. If he ever put any real meat on his bones, the lad would be a right mountain. He had an honest spirit about him but was as meek and timid as a beaten pup.

“Yer gonna stash that purse in yer damn pocket, boy,” he told the much taller giant with a forceful jab of his finger. “And yer gonna heed that one’s words. Or so help me I’ll kick yer sorry arse from here to Garrish Hills.”

Ka felt a light tap on the back of his neck "Toldja so," Cairo barked almost immediately.

"Oh..." he backed away from the upheld finger and tucked the coin purse against his body. This man came only up to his waist, and yet his strength of person made him take a step back.

Farris's words were softer this time, though. He was used to judging Cairo's levels of harshness, and somehow this tone worked at the corners of his mouth. Someone was being kind to him, he realized after a time, and it made him feel warm inside. "Thank you sir," he smiled and, without thinking, got down on his knees in the grass and wrapped his arms around the little man. "Thank you."

As Ka’s long arms encased him tightly--Gods the boy was stronger than he looked--hot indignation roiled up from Farris’s chest, and his first instinct was to fling his arms out and push him away. But as he heard Ka’s words of thanks, he paused. Begrudgingly. And then he heard a telltale sound of his cooks snickering from the doorway.

“Alright,” Farris mumbled, wiggling experimentally to prompt the other to release him. But when it was obvious that Ka had either not heard him or chose to ignore him, he pushed against the taller giant’s chest and stepped back, effectively yanking himself from Ka’s grip. “Alright I said!”

Ka backed away hurriedly, nearly falling on his haunches. The only thing that kept him from doing so was the fact that Cairo was still resting in his hood, and if he fell all the way back...

"S-sorry, sir. Thank you." Ka said as he steadied himself. The man scared him more than he'd like to admit. Yet in the back of his mind, Farris reminded him a lot of Cairo, and Cairo would not want him to be skittish of him. Ka frowned. For once in his life, he was glad his brother was no bigger than he was.

"Get up and dust your pants off," the human grumbled, pulling a ringlet of Ka's hair. "We've gotta get a move on. Come on, he's not gonna bite you." To this, the giant shook his head to free his hair but did as he was told.

Ka did his best to meet Farris's eye but could only manage such for a single second. "Thank you again, sir," he said as he backed away a few paces, then seemed to falter in place. "Wait, I almost forgot." He reached in his pocket and extracted a single coin the size of a human’s head, with a diamond hole cut in the center. "I wanted to give this to the girl, but...I forgot. It isn't worth much, but she likes collecting stones so I thought..." he shook his head and placed it in the man's hand as he had done for him. "Sorry, I've got to go, erm. Tell her goodbye for me if I don't see her on my way out...uhm thank you," he said for the fifth time, finally waving before turning heel.

"Real smooth, bud," Cairo sniped. Ka shrugged and grumbled as he made his way to the gatehouse. They were good people and, he realized, he may miss them. Maybe they would have him back someday, if he could find his way. The giant looked down to his chest-pocket and the coin purse that rested there and resolved to save at least one as a keepsake.

#crossover with doobdles

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