#it just all feels so. overwhelming. the idea of messaging anyone even a little

[bloodystray]

.

#i havent talked to any of my friends in so long... #original friend group all kinda drifted away. the smaller more recent circle of friends i made i had to leave for my own sanity #havent talked to the girl i met before i moved in months. i remember telling her we'd stay in contact. i'm kind of a joke #rose... #i miss you too if you see this i'm sorry. it's just been impossible to do anything besides go to work #it just all feels so. overwhelming. the idea of messaging anyone even a little #ive barely even been talking to faenix #havent seen any of my irl friends in months #i dont even know if i want to.... i just want to curl up in bed and stop existing outside of my immediate responsibilities #it's easier to be a non-person. just ignore the outside world. all i really need is to work so i can survive #as long as i have games and i can order good food thats all i need i guess #its not as though ill ever feel comfortable in my own skin #or around people #i just need to rot

[rafesapologist]

the set up — rafe cameron

𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: you've been one of the pogues since childhood, and your loyalty has always lied within your friend group, who is practically your family. when a threat by the name of rafe cameron begins to threaten the pogue's plans, they assign you to gain the trust of the dubious kook and keep an eye on what he's up to. however, now it's been six months since your friends set you up to spy on the kook prince himself, but what you didn't anticipate was to fall head over heels for the boy. your relationship had soon become inviolable shortly after your guys' first exchanges, much to your friends' dismay, and you two became practically inseperable. that was, until rafe discovers the truth.

𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴(𝘀): angst, cussing, mentions of alcohol use, some mentions of violence

𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲: she's a bit of a long one so bare with me. there will likely be a part two!

It was 9 o'clock at night and your phone was abnormally barren and noiseless. Nightfall was creeping up on you before you knew it, distracted by the long day of galavanting at the chateau with your best friends'. On a typical day, by the time the sun was setting your boyfriend, Rafe, was eager to call you and maunder about his day. It never mattered what his schedule consisted of, whether it was golfing with topper and kelce, or working with his dad, he made it a part of his routine just to call you and hear your voice before the day was over.

However, this night was different. It was unusual for Rafe to not at least shoot you a text letting you know he wouldn't be calling for a bit, something he usually did when he was busy. Perhaps he was caught up in family matters with his dad and couldn't get to the phone? You thought. But it was still out of character for him not to find a way to contact you, even if it costed him being scorned by his dad.

You sat cross-legged at the foot of your bed, pondering. You began to feel an itching urge to text him and ask if everything was okay, but you hated feeling pushy and your pride was always one to get the best of you in most situations. The idea of texting Sarah soon came to mind and seemed like the best route to take without disturbing your boyfriend in the chance that he genuinely was extremely busy and couldn't get to the phone. You unlocked your phone and went straight to the iMessage app, immediately finding Sarah's contact and beginning to type out a quick message. But, before you hit send, your body began to feel hot and your hands went clammy. Your mind was beginning to get the best of you as it started to race with unnerving thoughts that clouded over your prior hopefulness. Despite how close you were with Sarah, you feared that if you were to ask her what Rafe was up to, she'd become aggravated at your nosiness. But by the growing hour, the urge to find out became overwhelming.

Your fingers shakily typed out a short, to-the-point message followed by them instantly hitting send.

*Y/N: hey, i haven't heard from rafe all day and i'm getting a little worried tbh. is everything okay??*

Your eyes flickered over the delivered message for what felt like a million times as you found it harder to sit still with the nimiety of anxiety coursing through your veins. Your foot tapped vigorously while you bit at your brittle nails. You couldn't seemed to get past the thought of something bad happening to the boy you loved so deeply, and the mere cogitation of the scenario made you feel sick to your stomach.

*SARAH: hey! that's odd. i have no idea, i haven't heard from anyone. maybe stop by my house and see what he's doing? i know wheezie is there, she'll let you in :)*

You breathed out a sigh of relief at her response, thanking the girl mentally for providing you some sort of response, although clarity was not fully provided and the answer as to what was up with Rafe still remained undetermined. But Sarah's message was enough solace to muster up the strength to head over to the Cameron's household, hoping with everything inside of you that your boyfriend was in there. Enough time had passed to where you didn't even care if it was just him ignoring your texts, you just needed to know if he was alright.

After a brief interval of stalling out of pure apprehension, you finally coaxed yourself into driving over to the Cameron's estate. Your legs sped down the stairs hurriedly, making your way passed the coat rack as you snatched the car keys off of it before sprinting out the front door without acknowledging your parents who watched you exit the house with an alarming haste. Their attempts to call out to you and ask where you were going went ignored as you were too focused on one specific thing - Rafe. You wanted to get to him, you needed to get to him.

The fifteen minute drive felt like two hours as you sped to your boyfriend's house, so eager to locate him that you barely realized the speed that you were going down residential areas. But you couldn't care less about anything else than the boy that was prominent in your mind, the one that you spent nearly every single day and night with over the last six months; some of the best in your life so far. Tears begin to prick at your eyes as you gave attention to the thought of losing Rafe, hating how vulnerable and manic you felt in that moment during the drive. Memories of the boy flooded through your thoughts, ones of him holding you as close as he possibly could while you two fell asleep entangled in one another, peppering soft kisses on your face and neck during early mornings just to wake you up because he knew how much you despised getting up before noon, and all the times he would go out of way just to make you happy. Everything about your relationship with Rafe was perfect, regardless of how much your friends' hated the fact that you were together, considering he was at the top of their enemy list.

Once the visual of the enormous white mansion came into view, your heart began to feel as if it was going to pop right out of your chest. Your foot nearly slammed into the floorboard as you raced onto the property's driveway, wasting no time to put the car in park and scurry up the steps that led to the front porch. With three swifts knocks at the door, you were quickly met with the familiar face of the beloved youngest Cameron sibling, Wheezie.

"Y/n! What are you doing here?" Wheezie questioned, a vaunting smile present on her freckled face.

"Hey Wheeze, have you seen Rafe anywhere? I haven't heard from him all day." You confessed timidly while you attempted to keep a calm composure around the adolescent girl, fearing that you'd alarm her if you expressed your true state of distress.

A noticeable frown grew on Wheezie's face in response to your inquiry, which automatically planted a nauseous feeling at the pit of your stomach. Her eyes averted from your gaze and fell to the ground in avoidance to your burning gaze of worry, "Rafe is.. In the kitchen. He got home a few minutes ago, but I feel like I should warn you before you go see him." She admitted diffidently with her stare still pinned at the ground just before your feet.

"What is it, Wheezie?" You catechized due to her visible hesitancy, a state you had only seen the young girl in once when she witnessed Rafe in a yelling match with is dad, one that nearly resulted in him hitting Ward straight in the face.

"He doesn't look very good, Y/n. When he came home he.. He looked like he was on something and he had blood on him. His eyes were all bloodshot, too. I've never seen him this angry before, I think something happened. I don't know what's gotten into him." Wheezie admitted hastily, displaying a sense of urgency that sent goosebumps across your chilled body.

"Okay, okay, it's alright, Wheeze. Just listen to me," you crouched down to meet her height, gripping onto her shoulders with a light squeeze, "go upstairs and close your door. Turn a movie on or play some music, yeah? Just promise me you'll stay in there until I come get you, okay?" You asserted earnestly with your first priority to remove the innocent girl who had fear plastered all over her face. She simply nodded in reply to your request, wasting no time before turning around and heading up the stairs. You waited until you heard the sound of a door closing before stepping foot into the household, your feet feeling like a ton of bricks as you approached the kitchen with caution.

Upon entrance, you were met with the sight of an extremely disheveled Rafe, worse than you had ever seen him before. His eyes were glossy and accompanied with a bloody red appearance over his scleras. Your eyes trailed down to the noticeable blood splatters stained onto his grey polo, an observtion that took the air out of your lungs and your mouth go dry.

"Rafe?" You mousily called out to the fretful boy that was pacing the kitchen while he ran his fingers through his hair in distress. The sound of your soft voice cause his body to come to a halt, freezing in place with his back still turned to you. The sound of a dry, menacing laugh erupted from your boyfriend's throat that broke the defeaning silence in the air. Your eyebrows furrowed, sensing that his hostility may be aimed at you.

"What do you want?" Rafe subtly scoffed in response, still refusing to turn around and look at you.

"I came to make sure you were okay," you spoke up with a timorous voice, "I was worried cause I haven't heard from you." You folded your arms as you stood in place, displaying an evidence lack of confidence in your body language.

"As if you care." He spun around which took you by surprise, getting a better look at the state of disarray he was truly in. The bags under his eyes painted a deep shade of bluish-purple as though he hadn't slept in the last 24 hours. To make matters worse, dried blood was present on his mouth and chin, seemingly from the laceration of an open wound on his bottom lip. You shivered once you noticed how his normally soft features were replaced with a look of anger and resentment.

"What are you talking about? You know how much I care about you, Rafe." You stated, defending your point as he seemed to question your fidelity towards him.

"Cut the bullshit, Y/n! Haven't you lied to me enough? Aren't you tired of keeping up with all these lies?" Rafe squinted his eyes down at you, pointing at you in an accusatory manner that made you flinch. He had never been aggressive with you, far from it. Truth be told, it frightened you to see him like this, especially with the stench of alcohol exuding from him potently.

"Rafe.." you squeaked, feeling small and powerless under his tall stature, "You're scaring me. I don't know what you're talking about. You need to calm-"

"Our whole relationship has been a fucking lie, Y/n! Even down to the moment we met, you and your little piece of shit Pogue friends had this all planned out. I bet you've told them every single thing I've told you, I fucking trusted you! I should've known you Pogues were no good. All you guys do is stick your noses in places they don't belong." Rafe spat at you causing you to stumble back from him some, your back hitting the wall as he cornered you against the wall.

"You can thank your beloved 'friend' JJ for telling me. Boy's got a mouth on him," Rafe snickered as he shook his head in disbelief as he recounted his interaction with the blond Pogue, "ran into him at the golf course and he was running his mouth as usual. Guess I pissed him off so much that he blurted your guys' whole plan out, trying to get a reaction out of me or whatever. Got the shit beat out of him instead." He snarled.

Tears formed in your eyes at the revelation of Rafe finding out about the foolish plan you and your friends came up with months ago. They were always suspicious of the unpredictable Kook, rightfully so, but their mistake was setting you up to gain the rapport of the unknowing boy, who couldn't help but to melt at the sight of you. It was an easy operation, with Rafe falling under your spell within the first three weeks of meeting. But, what they didn't anticipate was you falling for him just as much.

He scoffed again, interrupting your fit of choking sobs, "No, don't cry. Do not stand here with that look on your face like you're the victim in this. You have no idea, y/n, no idea what it did to me when I heard that, and from all people, JJ fucking Maybank."

"Rafe, please-"

"Stop! Stop," Rafe's voice began to break as his words trembled in sorrow, tears escaping his azure eyes, "I loved you, y/n. So much. Never in my life have I opened up to someone, gave someone so much, as I have to you. Every damn day I woke up, only wanting to talk to you. You were always the first thing on my mind, first thing in the morning, last thing at night. You.. You were everything to me, and to think this whole time it's been some fucking sick game to you. Running back to your worthless Pogue friends that are nothing but trouble. How could I be so stupid? Trusting a fucking Pogue like you." His words put wounds in your chest and tore at your heart from the pure hatred for you that exuded from them. You never imagined you'd be at the other end of Rafe's spiteful outbursts at the end of it all, but there you were, looking up at him with a cold look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Rafe. I'm sorry, okay? I know that doesn't fix this but I didn't plan for this to happen. I told them it would only be a month and I would be done, but then I fell in love with you. I didn't spend all that time with you because of them. Our agreement was only-"

"Our agreement," he scoffed at your words, "do you hear yourself? You're unbelievable. You think that makes me feel better? Oh, you were only supposed to manipulate me for a month? How generous of you." Rafe mocked back at you, the high levels of alcohol in his system causing him to slur his words some.

"I-I know, I know that nothing I say will make this better. I know that you'll never trust me and you'll hate me forever after this, but I'm so sorry, Rafe. I didn't mean for this to happen." You looked up at him with sincerity, a pleading look in your eyes.

"I don't hate you. That's the fucking problem." He muttered.

"What?" You questioned, confused at his admission.

"I don't hate you, y/n. Believe me, I wish I could right now, but I don't. You think after everything we've been through that I could just hate you like that? That easy? Y/n, you're the love of my life. Don't you get that? I wouldn't be in the state I'm in right now if I didn't love you. I don't know what to do, and I'm at a war with myself because one part of me needs you, and the other can't even stand to look you in the eyes right now." Rafe sighed as he combed a hand through his dirty blond hair. His harsh demeanor was beginning to slip as his features softened and was replaced with an appearance of sadness and void. It was clear that the boy was completely shattered, and it broke your heart. Your mind began racing in that moment, unsure of really what to do in order to comfort the heartbroken boy. Do you leave him be and rip the bandaid off? Was that too cold of you to do? Or were you supposed to hold him and tell him that everything was going to be alright, despite the uncertainty that things would be.

"Rafe.." Your words trailed off as you watched Rafe's bloody lip begin to tremble. He closed his glossy eyes at the sweet sound of your voice, only hurting him more to realize that he'd miss that beautiful noise. He hated how much he craved you, how much he needed you, because he told himself a million times than he could never trust you again after JJ's confession. But he couldn't bring himself to push you away, although you put him in the position he was in. Hurting him worse than anyone has in his entire life.

"I don't wanna think about it right now, okay? I can't.. I can't stand the thought of waking up without you, y/n. I mean call me fucking crazy, but fucking hell, I still love you. I don't know what's wrong with me." Your boyfriend broke down in sobs, tears streaming down his bruised face.

"There's nothing wrong with you, Rafe. You didn't deserve this." You shook your head at his insecurity, assuring him that none of this was on him.

"Please stay with me tonight, we can talk about this in the morning or whatever, but please." Rafe pleaded, looking down at you with a pitiful look on his face that made your heart swell. His hand was placed at your waist, with a fistful of your shirt in his grip, pleading to your with full sincerity.

"Of course I will."

#rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron #rafe obx #obx #drew starkey #rafe cameron x pogue!reader #rafe imagine #rafe cameron imagine #rafe angst #angst #rafe cameron fanfiction #rafe outer banks #outer banks #rafe x reader #rafe

[stardew-shitposterino]

The Bachelors and how they’d react if you asked them to start a family

Same old same old. This post is inspired by @babiebom 's post about the bachelor/ettes and how many kids they’d have :3 I’m not really a person who is too keen on children and being a housewife, but I can’t deny that the thought of a picture perfect family does warm my heart, girlies. Enjoy 💅🏻🍼

Some answers are gender specific. I hope to anyone playing the game as a same sex couple that you can look past that 🙏🏻

Sam:

-he’d be boots the house down in total shock

-don’t get it twisted, he is ecstatic, but damn he didn’t expect it to be this soon

-of course he is excited about every life stage of his potential little ones, but he can’t wait to have someone he can teach how to skate

-„really? A-and you’re not joking or anything? RAD!“

-maybe he is a bit too excited as he‘s definitely ripping his pants off his body as soon as the message sunk in

-„Oh you didn’t mean we should start it right now? Sorry my bad 😅“

Sebastian:

-he is happy but can’t really show it

-anxiety is kicking hard rn

-it’s not that he doesn’t want this, but he has so many worries, after all he had lived through himself

-he definitely needs some time to think about this

-„Y/N, I’d really love to have this with you one day, but please give me time to adjust to this. It’s a lot for me to process.“

-he will eventually open up about it and you agree on not rushing things. If you’re an opposite sex couple, you agree on starting a family once you’re pregnant. No planning, just living and if it happens, it happens (it probably happened after like 2 months after you had the talk lol)

Elliott:

-„Heavens, Love! What wonderful news. I’ve been waiting for this moment. This will be the start of our legacy!“ (excuse me bruuuhh this is how I imagine him talk lol)

-he had heart-shaped eyes if you haven’t noticed

-as much as he loves the romance and allure of being a childless couple with a world to their feet, he can’t kick the idea of being a wholesome dad raising a curious child with his wonderful partner

-he emphasises on not rushing things as he doesn’t want you to feel pressure. He knows how stressful your job is so he doesn’t want you to feel overwhelmed though you proposed that idea first

-you can bet your ass you went to bed after that talk 👀 WHO SAID THAT 🤨

Harvey:

-he is a blushy mess thank you and amen

-he‘s so anxious but also so excited

-no way you actually proposed this to him. He actually accepted his fate as a childless bachelor

-but here he is, finally getting the happy little family he always wanted

-but it isn’t smooth sailing with him, oh no. You can bet your ass he has to calculate everything through before he feels comfortable enough starting to bring this wish to reality

-you know, you earn a shit ton of money but he is anxious ok. He needs to KNOW the child won’t end up homeless with nothing to wear once it’s here

-“Oh this is all so new and, I-I don’t even know how to say it without it sounding wrong. I just can’t grasp that this is happening. Pinch me so I know I’m not dreaming”

-you didn’t sleep with each other that day but a make-out sess was in it. A wholesome one to say the least. This man is wholesome in my books 📕

Shane:

-the only thing missing here is that he fainted and fell to the floor after you popped the question

-say WHAT NOW?!

-no way. He probably heard it wrong. You didn’t just ask HIM to have YOUR children… no wait the other way around. This is what that question did to his brain lol

-or generally having kids together. He isn’t opposed to adopting because he fears the kids will inherit his messed up brain so taking in kids that are in need of a nice, welcoming home doesn’t sound bad either

-but no wait wait back to the topic; he’s a MESS

-he always wanted children and a family in general, the very boring ass white picket fence fantasy is what he longed for but kind of accepted that it’s something he cannot have. Well guess what…HE CAN

-“wait…did you- and you mean with me? Or is there someone else I should know about? Ok sorry bad joke. But you mean it?! Really? A little sibling for Jas🥹”

-just know this burly man started crying a river of joy tears. But once the tears dried and it kicked in 👀

-“ok if we want this to work out we gotta get to business 😎”

Alex:

-like Shane, he waited for this moment

-just he isn’t anxious like some of the others, he straight up jumps for joy lol

-“BABE NO WAY! I’ve been waiting for this!”

-he is a happy crier tho. Expect him to cry a little but in a good way

-but also expect him to propose the question of having a lot more kids in the future. He wants a football team of kids. But the amount is still negotiable of course (you gave him the “spouse stare” which made him go down a notch lol)

- he will babble about what gender the first kid might be, what he’d do with them depending on it and how he’d get them the smallest grid ball jerseys you’ll ever see because “LOOK THEY ARE SO TINY”

-like some of the others, he might be a bit too eager to start the baby project. Even if you can’t conceive yourself, he will live out that fantasy. You prepared yourself for this because it was very much predictable lol

#stardew valley #sdv #sdv shane #sdv bachelors #sdv elliott #sdv Sam #sdv Alex #sdv Harvey #sdv sebastian #Stardew valley Sam #Stardew Valley Alex #Stardew valley Shane #Stardew valley Harvey #stardew valley sebastian #Stardew valley Elliott #sdv bachelor hcs #Stardew valley headcanons #sdv headcanons

[hanasnx]

(the executive dysfunction monster hit me too, i fear. was stuck between babydaddy!red hood and babydaddy!arkham knight, but i settled on red hood bc i'm choosing to gatekeep my ak thoughts)

baby daddy!jason, who you co-parent with in a very civilized way. no joke, the picture of camaraderie between exes. he takes your daughter on the days he's supposed to (which isn't that often, given his occupation) and brings her back on time, always with a little gift for you as well. flowers, chocolates, a little knick-knack reminiscent of when you were together. it's not because he's in love with you or anything; it's just the principle of the matter. "happy wife, happy life," not that you were married or even dating, but he figures the mother of his child should get love sometimes. 

baby daddy!jason, who, the next time he sees you, it's to drop off something your daughter forgot with him, and as he's handing you the bag, he casually asks why you haven't been asking him to take her more often. you had been for a while when you were going on dates weekly, but for some reason, the relationships never went anywhere, so you just gave up. "oh, you know, it just wasn't working out." you say off-handedly, "kept getting ghosted." you sound only marginally disappointed, moreso annoyed. "hm, what a shame, they're really missing out," he says, getting real close to you and taking up your entire field of vision.

baby daddy!jason, who's got your entire calendar memorized and knows that his daughter's not home tonight, and you've got no plans other than watching movies in solitude. he knows you're too stubborn to call him over for company even though you've been giving him fuck me eyes in passing for the past few months, so he figures he just has to take matters into his own hands and corner you until you give in like he knows you want to.

baby daddy!jason who fucks you on damn near every surface in the house, telling you he's just christening the place like he would've already done if you lived together. whispers apologies in your ears about scaring off all of your dates while he's splitting you open, bullying his cock into you while your eyes roll to the back of your head because you haven't been fucked this good in years, not since the last time you'd been with him. your face is deep in some pillows when you realize the memories you had of his dick pale in comparison to the real thing, and you weren't sure you could go back to using your imagination to get off after tonight.

baby daddy!jason, who keeps you up all night until your pussy's red and puffy from how many times it'd come in contact with his hips while he was fucking you. fat tip kissing your cervix until you were clawing at his biceps, begging him to give you some reprieve, tears in your eyes while you babble incoherently, too lost in the feeling of him to make any sense. he admits in the midst of sex that he tried to get over you, he really did, but he just couldn't; just couldn't picture you with another man in any capacity. the thought of someone else touching you, fucking you, loving you, made his stomach turn, filling him with rage and an overwhelming need to claim you as his. 

baby daddy!jason, who's a level-headed, non-fragile ego'd man until it comes to his family, which, contrary to what some would say, did not only consist of his daughter but you too, and any guy who tried to get with you was a threat. he didn't know the intentions of other men, but he knew his own, which was to keep his little family happy as long as he was alive. if that meant putting a gun to the head of anyone who made a move on you and consoling you by stretching you out the way he knew you liked until you just said "fuck it" and let him put another baby in you, then so be it.

-🍃

i have a hard time responding to long inbox messages but i wanted to tell you thank you for indulging me in my idea i loved reading this :)

#indy shoots the shit #thanks for the msg!! #anon: 🍃 #ch: baby daddy!jason #jason todd prompt

[saythenametotheworld]

Message in a Bottle [2]

Genre: strangers to lovers; fluff; slow burn Pairing: Choi Seungcheol x Reader Warnings: mature themes, suggestive Notes: 14k words, song prompt was Message in a Bottle by Taylor Swift. The love this received was overwhelming. thanks sm. Synopsis: What's next for you and Seungcheol? You have no idea yet, but boy you're so eager to find out. Taglist: @brownsugarbaybee, @shuamorollss, @kpopficenjoyer

[Part 1]

Dinner was just okay. For you, at least. Everyone else seems to be having a good time. You’re not trying to be a spoilsport, but you can’t help but space out whenever you remember the encounter with Seungcheol earlier that night. It excites and enrages you at the same time. Part of you wanted to drag Seungcheol out so you could talk properly. Another part wants him to disappear and never show himself again. 

“He’s in the market. A little older, but he’s a great man. You can try shooting your shot,” the professor joked after one student asked if Seungcheol was married.

“Tell us, Seungcheol-nim; are you seeing anyone right now?” Sua chimed.

Seungcheol chuckled nervously, rubbing his hands over his thighs. “No, I’m not.”

His response was met with squeals from all the girls except you. When your gazes met, you raised an eyebrow at him as if to ask him what he was looking at you for.

“But I already have someone I like,” he added, not tearing his eyes away from you.

The girls squealed again, giddy and taken by the conversation. You, on the other hand, were looking away, trying to calm your heart. Seungcheol saw you get flustered but you rolled your eyes at him and started drinking with the others.

It was about 9pm when everyone decided it was time to go. The professor had to leave early, so Seungcheol—despite not wanting to do it, had to drive his uncle to his house. He couldn’t even say goodbye to you because he didn’t want to raise suspicions.

When your classmates suggested that you go for drinks in a nearby pub, you joined them intending to loosen up. But then your male classmates began hitting on you which was annoying, especially since one of them can't seem to take 'no' for an answer.

“I said,” you barked at the guy who kept badgering you with annoying questions, “LEAVE. ME. ALONE.” 

You turned to finish your conversation with Haeyoon but your jerk of a classmate jeered. “Why are you being such a snob? Do you think you’re so pretty because I’m flirting with you? Bitch, you’re just another girl in a pool or hundreds. I can find others way prettier than you’ll ever dream to be.”

“I can find others bleh bleh bleh,” you mocked, rolling your eyes. "Then go find them and leave me alone."

"Crude ass bitch."

"Why this little—" You stood up from your seat and looked around in search of any security personnel. When you spotted one, you pointed at him and shouted, “Excuse me! This guy is harassing us!”

“What? Me?”

The security quickly came over holding a baton and being followed by service staff. Your classmate was escorted out and while you felt proud of yourself, your other classmates seemed unimpressed.

“Damn it, y/n. You’re such a bore.”

“He was just joking around. No need to be so sensitive.”

These people are so wrong to contest with you when your liquid courage is in effect. “If you can’t stand it, then leave,” you countered, smirking.

“Yeah! Get your enabler asses out of here,” some of your female friends jeered.

“Go to a club or something!” Dahee, another close friend of yours, hollered.

Several of them started leaving but most of the girls stayed behind, drinking the night away and looking to get wasted. Your table was rowdy with laughter, giggles, games, and occasional gossip. By midnight, you were starting to feel numb so you stayed seated, barely participating in the games anymore.

“Y/n?” You looked up when you heard someone call your name. Squinting a little, you tried to recognize the man before you. “You’re pretty drunk. Do you need me to take you home?”

“What the hell? I thought you were him,” you pouted, rolling your eyes at Jinwoo. He just laughed.

“Who do you mean?” he questioned, holding your hand. “Come on now before you get completely wasted.”

“Jinwoo,” one of your friends called. “What are you doing here?”

Jinwoo scratched his nape. “Someone told me you guys were here so I came over.”

Haeyoon tilted her head. “Really? Come join us, then. It looks like y/n isn’t ready to leave yet.”

You grinned and raised your hand. “Absolutely not, love,” you chimed, taking the glass she was handing to you.

Jinwoo gave up trying to convince you and stayed to join you instead. At first, he was fun to have around. He was funny and joined in on the games. But a few drinks later, you noticed he was getting handsy so you tried to move away.

“What’s wrong?” he asked after you scooted away from him for the third time.

“Go away, Jinwoo,” you told him before standing up. You steadied your pace, keeping your eyes locked on the bathroom sign across the room. Just as you were about to reach it, Jinwoo caught up to you and helped you stand steadily.

“Let me help you,” he offered, placing his hand on your waist and the other on your shoulder. The contact made you shudder so you pushed him back.

“I’m fine, Jinwoo.”

He chuckled. “No, you’re not. Come on, just let me help.”

This time, he grabbed your waist with both hands. You squirmed, trying to get away but you couldn’t because the alcohol had weakened your limbs.

“Get off me, you–” You punched his face but it was too weak to do anything. He trapped your hands in his and pulled you in a tight hug.

“It’s okay, y/n. I got you,” he whispered in your ear, giving you goosebumps all over. He then grabbed a handful of your ass and you were so horrified that you gathered every energy in your body to push him away.

“Go away you asshole!” you hollered, nearly sobbing.

“Hey!” said Seungcheol, landing a heavy punch on Jinwoo’s face that sent him staggering backward. You fell on the floor, knees weakened as you watched Seungcheol being restrained and other people helping Jinwoo up. Your friends heard the commotion and they rushed over to help you up.

“What the fuck is your problem?” Jinwoo fumed, the corner of his mouth bleeding where Seungcheol punched him.

“You stay away from her!” Seungcheol hollered back, trying to attack but he was being restrained. “How dare you touch her, you fucking prick!”

“Fuck you!”

Seungcheol hissed. “No, fuck you!”

Everything else happened abruptly. Police were called and they were both taken to the station for questioning. As you sat with your friends in the waiting area, you listened to Jinwoo's rant about how Seungcheol attacked him and how he was the victim and Seungcheol should be locked up.

“Sir, no one here is getting locked up except you,” the police officer deadpanned. “This isn’t about physical assault. It’s a sexual harassment complaint.”

“Sexual harassment?” he repeated mockingly. “Who? Her?” he pointed at you. “I never harassed her. She was drunk and she was being clingy to me.”

“That’s not what the witnesses said.”

“Well, they’re all lying.”

The police officer rolled his eyes as if he was getting bored. “Are you sure you want to do this? My colleagues are obtaining CCTV footage from the establishment as we speak. I wonder what that video will tell us.”

Jinwoo closed his mouth and glared at you. You glared back, disgusted. He then looked at Seungcheol and then faced the officer. “What about me? I was assaulted. He attacked me.”

The officer shook his head as he toggled to his computer. “If you want, you can file a complaint against him. But if I were you, I wouldn’t dream of it. He was in the wrong but he acted out of protection for Miss y/n here. Plus he’s a lawyer. Don’t push your luck.”

Jinwoo swallowed upon hearing that Seungcheol was a lawyer. Seungcheol, on the other hand, looked at him with an arrogant expression, enjoying the sight of Jinwoo crumbling beside him.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Seungcheol asked for the nth time tonight. You pulled his coat tighter around your body and nodded. “That asshole.”

“Thanks for coming, Cheol,” you told him, smiling sheepishly.

“Yeah, thanks for coming Seungcheol-nim,” Haeyoon added. “How did you know where we were though?”

Seungcheol smiled. “I heard from someone.”

“Gosh, I still can’t believe Jinwoo did that,” Dahee mused. “I know he had a huge crush on you but I didn’t think he’d harass you like that.”

“Right? He didn’t look like someone who would do that. Was he just pretending to be a nice guy all this time?” Haeyoon sighed.

Dahee gasped in horror. “Guys, I think he did well hiding his true self.”

While your friends shuddered at Jinwoo pretending to be a good guy, Seungcheol tugged your elbow. “Should I drive you back to your apartment? Yoori and Seolhee must be worried.”

“Yeah, they’d probably freak out if they found out,” you chuckled, sighing. “Should I just keep it a secret?”

“You can, but for now, you should get some rest,” he suggested and you nodded in approval.

Your friend heard your conversation and interjected. “I’m sorry, Seungcheol-nim but we can’t let you take her home.”

“No, we can’t. No offense but we won’t feel at ease if we leave her with you. Especially after tonight.”

You chuckled. “Girls, I’m fine. I know him personally.”

“Are you sure? You personally knew Jinwoo too.”

Seungcheol cut in. “How about I drive everyone home?”

And he did. He drove you and your friends to your homes, all while keeping up with your friends’ questions. He told them you were a close friend of his when they asked how you knew each other. At some point, you tried to mediate and get them to stop being inquisitive but they kept going. You were able to relax only after Seungcheol had dropped everyone else and it was only just the two of you in the car.

You leaned your head on the backrest of your seat, closing your eyes to help alleviate your ringing headache. Seeing your tired expression, Seungcheol reached to touch your shoulder.

"Are you alright? Don't worry, we're almost at your apartment."

You hummed. "Thanks for coming, Cheol. But how did you know we were there?"

Seungcheol chuckled shyly. "I, uh... I went back to the restaurant and asked around until someone told me they heard you were going to that pub."

"You asked around? I thought you were a lawyer, not a detective?" you quipped and he laughed.

“You did well protecting yourself back there,” he told you, smiling as he squeezed your shoulder before letting go. “I’ll make sure to put that guy on the record.”

You scoffed, thinking that was too much of a punishment considering nothing major happened. But you didn’t try to change his mind because you too, want to make sure Jinwoo regrets his actions.

“I always believed I was a good judge of character,” you chuckled, shaking your head. “Damn him.”

Seungcheol just scoffed as he pulled over by the sidewalk in front of your apartment. “Can we talk tomorrow?”

You opened your eyes, peeked outside the window, and then looked at Seungcheol with a smile. Nodding your head, you said, “Okay. Let’s do that.”

Seungcheol smiled back, reaching for your hand and squeezing it gently. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”

You were half-asleep as you entered the apartment complex. For a while, the house was filled with questions and worried expressions from Seolhee and Yoori. You’re not sure what Seungcheol told them but they eventually stopped nagging and brought you in to get some rest.

When you woke up the next morning, your head was so painful that you feared it would break. As you tried to rise out of bed, you found yourself sniffing and realized you had caught a cold.

“Argh,” you groaned, falling back into bed when you couldn’t find the strength to get up.

Luckily, it was the weekend and you had no classes so you stayed in bed all day, watching a romance flick and eating your sickness away. Seolhee took good care of you, although she never stopped nagging and scolding you. You took it all in stride, happy to receive her help without asking for it. You have yet to tell them about the incident with Jinwoo and while you have no intention to keep it a secret, you decided to put it off for later. As impulsive as they are, you feared Seungcheol would end up lawyering them both out of jail for physical assault.

It was almost dinnertime when Yoori arrived with some news. "You have a guest," she announced as soon as she walked into the apartment. You craned your neck to look in the foyer and found Seungcheol towing behind Yoori. Then you remembered that you made plans with him last night. 

“Cheol?” you called out, surprised. He smiled sheepishly, showing a small wave. You then noticed the paper bag in his hand as you strode over to greet him. “What are you doing here?”

“Me?” He pointed to himself. “Oh, I heard you were sick so I thought I’d drop by. Here.”

“How did you know?” you asked as you took the paper bag of food and another bag from a drugstore from his hands.

“Yoori told me. I asked her because I was worried after you wouldn’t respond to my texts so… yeah,” he explained, flattening his lips into a shy smile.

“Well, don’t just stand there,” Yoori called out. “Come in and join us for dinner.”

“No, I’m fine. I have dinner plans with my parents.”

“Are you sure? You should just eat since you’re already here.”

Seungcheol beamed. “I’d love to, Yoori, but I have to go.”

Yoori shrugged. “Alright, then. Maybe next time,” she said before heading to the kitchen.

You walked Seungcheol out of the door and bade him goodbye. “You didn’t have to come, you know.”

“I know,” he chimed, his face stricken with worry. “I just wanted to see how you’re doing.”

You looked down at your feet, attempting to hide your flaring cheeks. “Well, you’ve seen me. I’m fine. It’s just a cold.”

“Get some rest, okay? Let’s talk soon.”

You nodded, only glancing at him ever so briefly. “I’ll text you back.”

“Alright, y/n.”

“Alright, Cheol.”

“Alright…”

When you went back inside, you pouted at Yoori and said, “Don’t you care about my heart at all?”

“Why do you think I told him you were sick?”

“Why?”

Yoori snickered. “To see how he would react about it, why else?”

You rolled your eyes at her before sitting on your place at the table. Then you caught Seolhee's gaze and realized she'd been staring at you. "What?"

Seolhee tutted and shook her head in disappointment. "You forgave him too quickly."

"So what if she did? They both like each other."

"He made her ugly cry," Seolhee reminded. "You don't easily forgive someone who makes you ugly cry."

Yoori was shaking her head as she placed a plate on the table. "As long as he's willing to make up for it, he's fine."

"Wasn't it you who said you'll kill him?"

"Guys," you interjected. Your roommates fell quiet and you were able to eat in peace.

A whole month. That was how much time you had to get over Seungcheol. Although you didn’t completely erase your feelings for him, you were doing a good job getting over him. Just as you were about to move on, he had to come back and do this. He had to show up and ask you to try again. How many times has it been? Each time you find a reason to stop, he always comes strutting back in like he rightfully belonged in your life. You thought this time would be the last, but then he does it again. 

“I guess the universe wants to see us together,” you mumbled while you sat on your bed, scrolling through your phone gallery and looking at the pictures you took with Seungcheol. “Did it have to be this complicated, though?”

You tapped on his face on the screen, aggressively thumbing his head so the photo zoomed in and out several times. You were doing that when your phone rang and you accidentally tapped the End button to Seungcheol’s call. You gasped, shrieked, and dropped your phone in panic.

Steps thundered on the floor from outside before Yoori’s head peeked through your door. “What happened?”

You pouted at your friend. “Cheol called and I declined by accident.”

Worry left Yoori’s face almost immediately, replaced with that of deadpanned annoyance. “This bitch.”

Yoori left your room just as your phone started ringing again. You picked it up quickly and checked to see if it was Seungcheol. When you confirmed it, you cleared your throat and waited a few seconds before answering.

“Hello?”

“Hi,” he greeted back, his voice reverberating beautifully in your ears. You had no idea you missed it until you heard it again.

“Hi, Cheol. What’s up?” you replied, hoping nonchalance would hide your excitement. “Sorry I hung up on your first call. I tapped the wrong button,” you told him, hoping he wouldn’t ask why. You’re not about to tell him you pressed the wrong button because you were giddily tapping on his picture!

“It’s alright. I figured that much,” he chimed. There’s a lilt in his voice, making you assume he was in good spirits at the moment. “What are you doing?”

“Me? I just finished getting ready for bed.” You tucked yourself under your blanket, basking in the warmth.

Seungcheol hummed. “Your meds?”

“Done.”

“With lots of water?”

You rolled your eyes, but you were smiling from ear to ear. “Yes, Doctor Cheol.”

He chuckled from the other line. “Alright. Good girl.”

Your heart leaped. “What am I, a child?” He just laughed. You could hear faint music from his line. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing much. I’m at home on my laptop,” he replied and then chuckled. "Million Dollar Smile, huh? Who came up with that?" he added.

Your brows creased, confused. "A million what?"

"A Million Dollar Smile."

"I don't get it."

"That's your title. Apparently, your peers call you the Beauty with a Million-Dollar Smile."

"Me? They call me that?" 

"Oh, you didn't know?"

You shuddered, the hairs on your arms raising. "That's so creepy."

Seungcheol's laughter filled your ears. "I think they meant it as a compliment."

You shook your shoulders and head to get rid of the cringe feeling. "Well, they're creepy."

"You seriously didn't know? There are plenty of articles about you in the university forum. Most of them mentioned your title."

You laughed incredulously. "I don't hop on the forum and look up articles about me. That sounds so narcissis— wait are you reading about me? Right now?"

"I am," he replied nonchalantly. "They write about you a lot, you know. All good things. I didn't know you were an athlete. Tennis?"

"I'm not," you chuckled, rolling on the other side of your bed. "I only played for the sports meet because no one in my department wanted to."

“We should play sometimes.”

You rolled your eyes, albeit he couldn’t see it. “Do you even know how many plans you’ve made with me already?”

He chuckled. “Have they all piled up? We should probably do something about it soon.”

“There. Another plan.”

Seungcheol laughed from the other line and you couldn’t help smiling at the image of him in your head, laughing wholeheartedly. “Get well soon, y/n. Let’s catch up on everything we missed.”

“Alright.”

“I missed you.”

You froze, dumbfounded by his unexpected confession. For a minute, there was nothing but silence between the two of you, as you were carefully considering the correct approach to his statement.

“I’m sorry, y/n. I was…” he paused, sighing. “I was wrong. So wrong. I was clueless. I had no idea what I wanted. I ended up pushing you away. For that, I’m very sorry.”

“It’s okay, Cheol,” you told him softly. It’s not, obviously. But you didn’t want to dwell on it anymore. You only want to focus on the now and see where it takes you. Finally, Seungcheol was clear with his intentions. What else should stop you from doing the same?

There’s no reason to decline his affection, especially when you know you want it too. You wished for this day to come, you craved it, prayed for it, and hoped it would happen despite the impossibility of it. Now that it’s here, on a silver platter, willingly being served to you, why should you decline it? Your heart is fragile, it breaks so easily but it heals as quickly. The best thing about this heartbreak is that it was Seungcheol himself who was trying to mend the broken pieces back together.

You welcomed Monday with a bad headache. No, you're not sick anymore but rumors are going around about you and that was what’s making your head throb terribly. People at school had been talking about you dating an older guy, and allegedly breaking off his previous relationship. It was posted by The Gossiper, a notorious gossip monger in your university who operates on anonymity. You have no idea where or who tipped them but the boys at school who used to try every means to sweep you off your feet are now calling you a hoe in the online university forum, while some girls are now considering you an enemy for not being a "girl's girl". Of course, rumors are only rumors, and you don't give a damn about the people talking crap behind your back, but it was still a terrible situation to deal with on the first day of the week.

"By older guy, are they referring to Seungcheol-nim?" Haeyoon asked during lunch. You placed your chopsticks back on your tray and started massaging your temples. 

"Really, Haeyoon? Right in front of my special jajjangmyeon?" you groaned, pretending to be offended. "You couldn't wait till we get a taste before spoiling everything?"

Haeyoon pressed her hands together and bowed. "I'm so sorry, special jajjangmyeon."

You and your friends laughed as you started eating. Sua, however, wants to know more about the rumors.

"Seungcheol-nim? Is he the older guy from the Gossiper's post?" asked Sua, looking curious.

Dahee sniggered. "If y/n is seeing anyone, we'd be the first to know. Right, y/n?"

At that moment, Yoori appeared next to Dahee, placing her tray on the table as she shook her head. "Wrong. We'll find out first because we're flatmates."

"Ugh, what a show-off," Dahee sneered, nudging Yoori's arm as the latter sat next to her.

Sua tapped on the table to get your attention. "The anonymous post said they saw you with the older guy though. They also said they knew him and he broke up with his girlfriend because of you."

"Don't believe everything you see online, Sua," Dahee chided gently, giving Sua a stern gaze.

"So it's not true, then? The rumor?" Sua questioned so you shook your head in response.

"No," you replied curtly. If people you barely know are curious about the truthfulness of the rumors, of course, your friends would be too. Still, you don't see the need to explain to anyone why and how the gossip in the hallways is false. Saying it isn't true should be enough. Sure you can divulge details if you want to, but you won't because you are entitled to your privacy and so is Seungcheol. You don't want everything that went down between the two of you to become a topic for other people's mouths to feast on.

"Then what’s going on between you and Seungcheol-nim?" Sua pressed on, earning her a few annoyed looks from your other friends.

"None of your business, girl," said Yoori, placing a piece of sliced orange on Sua's tray. "Stop asking and just eat."

There are reasons why Sua seemed like she was being alienated from your friend group. First, you weren't friends with her in the first place. She just started following Dahee around and casually joined your circle. Second, you have a feeling Sua is spilling private details about you and your friends to other people. No one was able to prove it yet, but ever since she joined your circle, you've been hearing other people talk about things that only you and your friends were supposed to know. It might all be just an assumption and you could be wrong about her, but she's a writer for the school paper which also handles the gossip account in the university's online forum.

“Hey.” Yoori nudged you. “We’re going to a concert tonight, me and Seolhee. Would you like to come?”

You shook your head. “I am…” you trailed off, hesitating. “...going out tonight. I made plans. Have fun though.”

Yoori flashed a menacing smile, making you laugh and say, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

She shrugged, still sporting the smile. “When was the last time you made plans with a guy?”

“How do you even know it’s a guy?”

“Roommates for three years, friends for five. I know you inside and out, y/n,” she teased and it made you giggle, shyly looking away and touching your blushing cheeks. Yoori cooed at you, “Don’t you think you forgave him too quickly?”

“Did I?” you asked, pondering on the question. Indeed, it was such a quick forgiveness. He didn’t even need to put in too much effort to win you back. But then again, you know what you want: him. Why would you prolong the process when you can just open your arms and welcome him wholeheartedly? It may be foolish, and there’s a chance that you may be making wrong decisions. But weirdly enough, you were willing to take the gamble and bet your whole heart on it.

Seungcheol’s smile was ear-to-ear when he saw you outside the CoffeeHouse. You couldn’t hide your delight either, waving at him as you walked to where he was waiting for you.

“How were your classes?” was the first thing he asked you and it made you roll your eyes and groan.

“Ugh, really? That’s what you want to talk about? I should have gone to the concert,” you retorted, chucking your phone into your bag.

“What concert?” he asked as he opened the car door for you. You got into the car and waited until he was in the driver’s seat before answering.

“It’s by a band we like. Seolhee and Yoori are going.” You pulled the seatbelt over your body and tried to lock it but your backpack on your lap is making it hard for you to reach the lock.

Seungcheol leaned over, surprising you with his sudden movement and how close he had gotten to you in a split second. He locked the seatbelt with ease, withdrawing to sit properly like he didn’t just give you a minor heart attack.

“Did you want to go? You should’ve told me. We could’ve just rescheduled,” he stated, eyes focused on the road the moment he turned his engine on.

You cleared your throat. “It would be fun, but I didn’t feel like it. Besides, we had plans.”

“Right,” he replied, gleaming. “So, what’s the plan?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what’s on your mind? What should we do tonight?”

You scoffed, eyeing him with furrowed brows. “Are you telling me you don’t have a real plan?”

Seungcheol chuckled nervously.

“Why did you ask me out if you didn’t know what we should do?”

“To be honest, I didn’t think you’d accept the invitation. So, right now, I’m just improvising.”

“Improvising?” you repeated, chuckling. “Doesn’t seem like you at all.”

“I know,” he gave up. “You’ll have to forgive me, this is kind of a new territory because I’ve only known spontaneity when I met you.”

Your jaw dropped but you closed it again before he could catch you. Then you glanced outside the car, your hands over your mouth out of sheer shock. You don’t know why he said it like it was an embarrassing thing to say because the effect on you was entirely different. You’re realizing right then that Choi Seungcheol can sweep you off your feet so easily without even trying too hard.

You exhaled and snickered at him. “Your rizz is quite something, Choi Seungcheol.”

“Rizz?” he questioned, briefly glancing at you.

You gawked at him and then remembered that he’s the technologically challenged lawyer who’s almost thirty. “It’s nothing. You won’t get it.”

Seungcheol shrugged. “I’m pretty smart if you explain it properly.”

“It’s slang,” you began but then hesitated. “You know what, don’t worry about it. I meant it as a compliment.”

He chuckled. “Well, thank you very much. Your rizz is quite something too.”

His reply made you laugh and from then on, you two have never stopped laughing in the car on your way to nowhere.

Your first date with Seungcheol went like that, driving around the city and eating takeout in the car. As the night grew later and the streets stretched longer, you noticed that you’d reached the outskirts of the city, so you rolled the window down, pushing your hand out to feel the cool air. Seungcheol noticed this and smiled.

“What time is your bedtime today?” he asked so you glanced at the time on the dashboard. 11:45 pm.

“It’s a little early, but we should probably head back,” you told him. You didn’t want to go home just yet, but you have class tomorrow and you were certain Seungcheol has to go to work early too.

“Alright,” he replied, slowing down as he prepared to turn back.

You spotted a cafe up ahead so you tapped on his arm. “Later, after we go to that cafe.”

And you did. You went inside the cafe, admired the warm ambiance, and took a few pictures to commemorate it. Seungcheol was reluctant, but you managed to convince him to pose for one picture only.

“Old people are spoilsports,” you complained jokingly, feigning disappointment as you checked how the photo came out. While you were looking down at your phone, you felt an arm around your shoulder, making you glance at it only to find Seungcheol raising his phone camera as he pulled you closer to him.

“Smile, y/n,” he lilted. You panicked at the proximity, but you managed to squeeze out a big grin for the photo. As quickly as it took to capture the photo, Seungcheol parted from you, smiling as he stared at his phone screen for a minute.

You turned away, touching your warm cheeks and hoping you were not blushing too much. Then you cleared your throat and side-eyed him. “I thought you didn’t know how to use a phone?” you quipped, hoping humor would hide your glee.

“I never said that,” he insisted. “And, hey, come on. It’s a selfie. Even babies know how to take one.”

You snickered, pleased to have riled him up even jokingly. He approached the counter with you behind him. After telling the barista his order, he turned to you to ask, “Spanish latte with oat milk?”

“Yeah,” you replied, nodding with a smile. He gave the barista your order too and since there were only a handful of customers, Seungcheol was told he could just wait by the counter for your orders. 

Seungcheol was all smiles when he approached your table with a tray. As he pushed your coffee towards you on the table, you eyed his iced coffee that was so dark you could barely see the ice in it.

“Aren’t you cold?” you asked.

Seungcheol understood what you meant by the question. “I am but I like cold coffee.”

“I can see that,” you chuckled, blowing the steam from your hot mug. “But why?”

“I haven’t told you yet?” he wondered and you shrugged in response. “Hmmh, I thought I told you everything.”

“Not nearly,” you jeered. “You rarely shared anything about yourself.”

“I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure I told you things I haven’t told other people.”

You nodded. “Yeah, but you haven’t told me the most basic things about you. You know, things people usually talk about when getting to know someone. Your favorite color or food. Your family, your workplace, and things like that. You never even told me you had a pet. And,” you paused, pointed at his coffee, and added, “why you like your coffee like that.”

He looked at his coffee and then back to you. “I didn’t realize that.”

“It’s alright. You don’t have to tell me anything. I was just under the impression that whenever you’re with me, you tend to detach yourself from your life outside our friendship. Like you’re just Cheol, not the Lawyer Choi Seungcheol from a very wealthy family and works in a very big law firm and has a pet he calls Kkuma.”

“I do, don’t I?” he gleamed, like he was only now realizing that fact. “I think you’re right.”

“About everything?”

“Yeah, about everything.”

You chuckled, passing it all off as a joke. But Seungcheol was serious, and so for the entire time that you sat in that cafe, he talked about himself and everything you needed to know about him.

Friday.

“Can’t we sue them for defamation? Maybe cyber-bullying or something like that?”

You walked in on Yoori and Seolhee scrolling through a laptop in the living room. As you watched their concerned expressions, you went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. Seolhee spotted you then.

“There you are!” she sighed, looking like she just had the most stressful day of her life so far. “The Gossiper is at it again.”

“What is it this time?” you deadpanned. For the entire week, every single day, The Gossiper always had ‘something new’ to write about you. First, it was about your rumored beau. Second, your past relationships were brought up. And then they started doubting your good grades and good relationship with your professors, calling it unusual and suspicious after revealing that your parents were legacies—as if a good half of the student body aren’t legacies themselves. Just yesterday, they claimed that your mother’s cram school isn’t inclusive and accepts only the rich kids. At this point, nothing they write can surprise you anymore with its incredulousness.

“I can’t even bring myself to read it again,” Seolhee replied, pushing the laptop towards you when you sat with them.

What’s the truth about Miss Million-Dollar-Smile’s tutoring jobs?

According to the article, a close confidant of yours told them that your part-time tutoring gigs during your sophomore year were actually escort jobs, adding that your clients aren’t middle schoolers but their rich fathers. You were so appalled that your jaw hung open the entire time you were reading the article. Yoori had to prompt you because you were staring at the screen with such an expression.

“Crazy, isn’t it?” Seolhee commented.

“Crazy? It’s not just crazy,” Yoori scoffed, exasperated. “They’ve gone too far! This Gossiper, whoever this is, they need jail time.”

People are now calling you two-faced, claiming you had been pretending to be a decent girl all this time. Some were saying you were hiding behind a righteous, goody-two-shoes persona. Not to mention the amount of people calling your slurs like a hoe, a social climber, homewrecker, the list just goes on.

“Why are they so obsessed with you all of a sudden? Honestly, where is this aggression coming from?” Yoori added. Truth be told, you don't care. You're about to graduate anyway. As long as they don’t do any real damage to you, you don’t care what they say.

“Let them be,” you told your friends, smiling meekly. “Who knows, maybe if we ignore them, they’ll leave me alone.”

“What about all these people commenting about you and calling you names?”

You shrugged. “Let them talk. I’ll see it as a form of charity. Their lives are boring and so unhappy that they’d rather talk shit about someone they barely know. At least I get to help make their days interesting.”

“You’re nuts,” Yoori exhaled. “Seriously, you’re so unbelievably optimistic. That’s not normal.”

You grinned at her. “You know what they say, there’s a silver lining in every difficult situation. You just need to find it.”

“And who said that exactly?” Seolhee asked so you turned to her and shrugged.

“Me.” You snickered. “I made it up based on a very common thought that’s been cited hundreds or thousands of times already by probably millions of people. My mind is so impressive.”

Your friends laughed and seeing their smiling faces eased your heart. To be completely honest, the backlash you were getting scared you. You tried your best to not care but little by little, it has started to get to you. Before walking down the halls, you first need to take a minute to think, calm your nerves, and condition your mind to ignore the murmurs and the looks you keep getting from people you barely even know. As much as you look forward to another day, a small part of you is afraid that there might be new gossip about you being discussed online. Even outside the campus, sometimes you are overcome by an eerie feeling that people are staring at you judgmentally. Of course, you are more confident than scared, but the little girl inside you who’s cowering in fear of the people talking about you is slowly growing to take up a larger space.

“Hi!” Seungcheol greeted into your ear, making you jolt in your seat at the cafe. Your reaction made him chuckle. But when he saw that you weren’t laughing, he cleared his throat and said, “Am I late?”

“No, I’m just early,” you replied, sighing quietly.

“I see. I came here as quickly as I could,” he told you as he took off his coat and placed it on the backrest of his chair.

You hummed. “Have you ordered?”

“I have, yes,” he beamed and you tried your best to smile back but couldn’t. It really couldn’t be helped that you were feeling down today. 

Mingyu came at that moment, the tray in his hand told you he was carrying Seungcheol’s order with him. He smiled at each of you and greeted you with a jovial, “Good evening!”

“Evening, Gyu,” you replied, flattening your lips together in a smile that didn’t reach your eyes.

“Oh, wow, the vibe is so weird here,” he noted, shifting eyes from you to Seungcheol. “Did you guys fight?”

“Did you make my order right?” Seungcheol retorted but Mingyu ignored him as he placed the coffee and pastry on the table.

“What did the Landlord do?” he asked you. On a normal day, you would have had a witty response to that, and then you would bicker with Mingyu for a bit. But today as much as you would enjoy a regular battle of wits with this giant himbo, your energy to socialize is at an all-time low.

“I didn’t do anything,” Seungcheol insisted, but then he did a double take to look at you. “Or… did I?”

Mingyu chortled. “Crush him up, y/n. He might be bigger than you are, but you can pulverize him just fine with that snarky—”

“Just go away, man,” Seungcheol scolded, playfully hitting Mingyu’s abdomen with the back of his hand. “Go entertain your fans or something.”

“Aha!” Mingyu exclaimed, pointing a finger at Seungcheol. “You’re picking up a thing or two from y/n!”

You smirked and then rolled your eyes. “Yeah, go away, Gyu. Your fanmeet is starting.”

Mingyu was pouting when he left your table and Seungcheol snickered at him as he did. He always found it entertaining to watch you bicker, even calling it a real-time UFC without the physical fighting. You stared at Seungcheol, examining his features as if you hadn’t already memorized them by heart. Still, you always find something new to admire about him. Today, it was his hair which has grown a little longer than when you first met him. Your hand on the table twitched, overcome by an urge to reach forward and run your fingers through his head of soft-looking brown hair.

“What are you reading?” he questioned, motioning at the Kindle tablet in your hand.

“Nothing that would be interesting to you,” you said sheepishly, putting the device face-down on the table. You hadn’t meant for your response to be off-putting, but it came out that way and you kinda regretted it.

“How do you know that?” he asked so you shrugged unsurely. Then he added, “Anything you do is interesting to me, y/n,”

A smile crept up on your lips before you could even think of hiding it, and Seungcheol’s face lit up when he saw it. His smile gradually became bigger and there was even a faint tint of blushing on his cheek.

“God,” he muttered, looking down and covering his face with his hands. You scowled, wondering what was wrong with him. He was mumbling incoherently and you tried to listen but you didn’t catch a single word.

“What’s that?” you questioned, so he looked up at you looking utterly defeated.

“Nothing. You’re cute, that’s all.”

You scoffed loudly, so much so that you choked a little. You had to clear your throat but you declined when Seungcheol offered you water. “I’m fine. Stop flirting with me, Cheol.”

He just shrugged. “I beg your pardon. But what else should I be doing if not to flirt with you?”

“I don’t know. Just be normal. You know? Like you used to be?”

He still had a clueless look on his face. “I can’t.”

“Of course, you can.” 

“I know, but I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t? That’s dumb.”

“I wasn’t in love with you then. Now that I am, I can’t.”

“Why you—” You stopped, looked away, and laughed derisively. When you looked back at him, he had a proud look on his face. “Since when were you so smooth?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he grinned, sipping from his straw as he looked away from you.

You just chuckled, shaking your head as you took your fork and started eating your cake. “This is so good.”

“Is it? Can I have a bite?”

You hummed as you nodded, and then pushed the plate towards him. He grabbed his fork and took a slice. And so you sat there, eating pastry, drinking coffee, and just letting the time pass by without caring about it.

On the weekend he took you to play tennis in a posh neighborhood, where you met some of his friends. He had brought it up the last time you hung out and asked if you would like to join them.

“You might find them a little boring, but they’re nice people,” he had told you at the time.

Since you had no plans and you were also curious about his friends, you agreed. You realized as soon as you were introduced that Seungcheol hung out with people who were just like him. Not only did they seem more mature than you were, but they were also evidently wealthy. Nevertheless, they were nice to you and acknowledged you with respect. And contrary to what Seungcheol said, they were fun to hang out with and you were convinced Seungcheol was the Designated Serious Friend™ in their trio dynamic.

Through a round of Flip-a-Coin, you got paired up with Seungcheol’s friend for the game who made you promise not to show them any mercy. In the end, you massacred your opponents and won free coffee and food at the clubhouse restaurant.

“I’m guessing you’re over that other girl?” your game partner asked Seungcheol over coffee after the game.

The other one protested. “Hey, Hyunwoo! Why would you ruin the mood like that?”

“It’s an important conversation to have!” Hyunwoo contested. “He was so smitten by her that he blamed himself for the breakup. In his eyes, that girl can do no wrong.”

“Wait, you’re right. He downright worshipped her. He even said he would wait until she’s ready to come back to him,” Suhwan added, shaking his head. “Man, those were troubled times.”

“Yeah, troubled times,” Hyunwoo affirmed.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you guys,” Seungcheol told his friends. To you, he said, “Ignore them.”

You nodded with a smile, taking a sip of your juice to look away. Honestly, you were curious about Seungcheol and Mina—about how it ended, and the reason why. But you were too shy to ask and while you were hoping his friends would let it slip, they only made comments here and there and never said anything explanatory. All that you got was that the breakup was bad, and they disliked her from then on.

Hyunwoo nudged your shoulder, and seeing your proximity made Seungcheol tut at him. Hyunwoo just laughed at him before asking you, “Has he told you about Mina yet?”

You shrugged. “Only that he was trying to get back with her.”

The chorus of a baffled “What?!” from Hyunwoo and Suhwan was loud and comical. 

“You’re still trying to get back with her?” Suhwan asked Seungcheol who looked perplexed.

“I’m not!” Seungcheol insisted, giving you a bewildered glance as his friends bombarded him with questions. You snickered quietly, watching him defend himself from your seat. When their overlapping questions became too rowdy, Seungcheol stood up in an attempt to silence them.

“I like y/n so much!” he shouted, silencing his friends and grabbing the attention of everyone else in the restaurant. He gawked at your dumbstruck expression, and then looked around at the people in the hall. Embarrassed, he sat back on his chair, playfully hitting his two friends before sinking low in his seat.

“What was that?” Hyunwoo teased.

Seungcheol mumbled in his seat, looking away to avoid your gaze and everyone else’s. He quietly sipped on his coffee while the guys continued talking to you. You were shocked at Seungcheol’s admission, but you had no time to process it because his friends are full of energy and are very talkative. So the only thing you can do was watch Seungcheol wallow in embarrassment, stealing glances at you and looking away each time you caught his eyes.

After coffee, you trekked back to the court to collect your belongings and head home. On your way there, both Suhwan and Hyunwoo were on either side of you, while Seungcheol was towing behind like a loner.

“So what I’m saying is, whatever happened between them is not our dirty laundry to air out,” Hyunwoo stated. “But, if it’s true what Seungcheol said that he’s serious about you, you can trust him.”

“Yeah, you can,” Suhwan affirmed. “He has changed a lot these days, you know. He’s less sullen and more talkative than before. He also smiles a whole lot more. I’m sure you have something to do with that.

“He’s funny now too,” Hyunwoo sniggered. “That man can’t crack a joke. But now, he has become the wittiest out of the three of us.”

“I am flattered,” you replied shyly. “But I take no credit. He’s funny in his own little way.”

Suhwan laughed a little too loudly as if he heard the most ridiculous thing ever. Meanwhile, Hyunwoo was shaking his head in disappointment.

“Damn, you must really like him,” Hyunwoo sighed. “The only way you’d willingly say something like that is if you like him.”

“I’d say, she’s head over heels in love with him.”

Hyunwoo nodded. “Yeah, that’s the perfect definition.”

You chuckled, your cheeks hot and red. “I’m serious. I mean, obviously, his humor is not his defining trait, but he’s not that bad.”

“Ah,” Suhwan deadpanned, then looked at Hyunwoo. “Head-over-heels.”

“Head-over-heels,” Hyunwoo affirmed and it made you holler with laughter.

“Hey, what are you guys telling her this time?” Seungcheol called from behind you, catching up to shove Suhwan and take his place next to you.

Seungcheol glared at his friends who were grinning as they enjoyed getting a rise out of him. While Hyunwoo and Suhwan lagged behind to give you privacy, you nudged Seungcheol’s arm, making him look at you.

“Ignore them,” he told you.

You just smiled as you linked his arm with yours. Seungcheol saw that and it made him smile. And so you walked holding his arm, while he held your hand in place with his big palm. For the rest of the day, the massive grin on Seungcheol’s lips never left his face.

On Monday afternoon, you sat in a burger joint with your friends for lunch, talking about the upcoming school event and the things that would take place on that day. It was quiet and peaceful until Yoori suddenly stood up and slammed her hands on the table, startling all of you. 

"That backstabbing tramp!" she fumed.

You blinked a few times, wondering what was up. Your friends must be wondering the same thing too but you all remained quiet, waiting for her to explain what's going on. She glanced at you and then pushed her laptop towards you. Without asking, you and your friends squeezed together to look at whatever Yoori was trying to show you on the laptop. The first thing you saw was the image of you stepping into a car that you recognized right away. It was the day you went to the bridge with Seungcheol. Shocked to find out you were photographed, you held the edges of the laptop to read the gossip.

Dahee started reading it aloud. "CAUGHT IN THE ACT! The university's sweetheart on a rendezvous! Looks like y/n's older man is not only older but also loaded. Thanks to an anonymous tipper, we managed to take the mask off of this mysterious older man. Turns out he's an alumnus who graduated from Law School at our university: Choi Seungcheol."

"It's Sua," Yoori declared, pointing at the laptop while gritting her teeth. "I swear to god that girl— gosh, I'm so annoyed right now."

"We don't know for sure if it was her," you sighed. Of course, you're thinking it was Sua. As far as you know, no one else in your friend group would blab about Seungcheol. But now that you're staring at Seungcheol's face in the article, you realize you've been out and about with him these past few months. Anyone could have seen you. Heck, that day when you got into his car, someone from school must have seen you too. You can't single out Sua anymore.

"It was her! I just know!" Yoori insisted. "The picture doesn't even show Seungcheo-nim at all so I'm sure whoever took this picture didn’t know him. Unless one of you went telling other people about Seungcheol-nim, the anonymous tipper is Sua! She told the Gossiper about him!"

You heaved a sigh and stood up, grabbing your belongings and then stuffing them in your bag. "Let's just leave it. There's no point in fighting any of that. The Gossiper can say anything about me to the world for all I care."

"But y/n. She's gone too far. Last time it was about your family. Just the other day there was one about your tutoring job! Now this?" Haeyoon ranted.

You gave them a reassuring smile. "It's fine, girls. We know none of it was true. As long as you believe my words over theirs, I'll be fine."

"I hate you," Yoori sneered. "You're too kind." No, you’re not, but you just had to be for the sake of your peace.

You tried your best to ignore the articles online as you were busy preparing for the school event. As a senior, you were tasked with an important role in your department’s fundraising booth. Food is where there is money, so you decided to set up a pastry booth. All planning and facilitating were done by you and a group of students from your department while the rest were responsible for the food production. Aside from that, you had to play for your department in the games as well. This time, it wasn’t tennis, but a game of scavenger hunt against other departments.

You got busy for the next few days, so much so that you kept declining Seungcheol’s invitation to go out. He was understanding and kept cheering you on the whole time. He made sure you were getting some rest, eating well, and taking care of your health despite being busy. He did so by texting you reminders and sending food to you from time to time. It was endearing and it surely helped make days bearable for you.

“Are you ready?” your department head asked you and your teammate for the scavenger hunt.

“Yes, sir!” you replied in unison, both excited and nervous about the games.

The game began after a quick briefing on the rules and mechanics. The game was easy, you just needed to follow the map and search the designated area for treasure chests. The first group to collect a certain amount of treasure within the given time limit wins the hunt. Half an hour in and your teammate already found one for your team. You were feeling fired up.

“I’m confused about this part of the map,” you told your teammate halfway through the four-hour hunt. “There are two pathways here but the map only showed one.”

“You’re right. I was just about to tell you about that too.”

You were in the Culinary building, as it was the venue of the hunt. At this point, you only need two more treasures to win the game but you’re on a roadblock because of the map.

“Should we split up?” you suggested.

“Can we do that?”

You shrugged. “There wasn’t anything in the rules against splitting up.”

“I know, but what if something happens to either of us?” she asked, looking sheepish.

“Like anything would happen to us in the school,” you chuckled at her, but you knew she had a point. “How about this, we split up for a bit, figure out the map issue, and convene as soon as we can. I’ll call you after twenty minutes for updates.”

“Okay. Let’s do that.”

You high-fived before you each picked a path to follow. You found yourself walking to the deserted kitchen, which you assumed was the place where Culinary students hold practicals or something like that. Since there was no hint that the area was part of the hunt, you continued walking. As you did, you heard a loud thud coming from the pantry. That caught your attention but you chose to ignore it and continued following your map. But then someone called your name from the pantry, making you glance back in curiosity.

“Who’s there?” you called out, slowly making your way to the area. You reached the pantry room and looked around for any signs of a person but there was no one there. So you walked further into the room, and as you did, the air grew colder and colder until you found that the door to the cold storage was left open. Exhaling sharply in your attempt to quell the cold, you concluded that someone had left it open by accident.

“I know you’re here,” you called out, looking around as you reached for the cold storage door. “Come out or I’ll leave.”

There was no response from anywhere, so you just sighed and shook your head in disappointment. This is no time to be scared of ghosts or whatever. It’s broad daylight and whoever called you there is a living person. What for? Probably to pull a prank or something. Ridiculous.

That was your line of thought before a sudden sharp spike of pain on the back of your head silenced your brain. It slowly faded into a ringing ache as you fell on the cold floor with a thud, your eyesight blurring into nothingness before you completely blacked out.

Next thing you know, you were on a stretcher, being hauled into an ambulance. You’re lightheaded and weak, and you can barely make out the figures of people around the stretcher, calling your name in fading voices. Your entire body is numb, so much so that you feel like your limbs are gone. Terrified, you let out a slow exhale before falling back into a stupor.

When you woke up, you were greeted by Seungcheol’s worry-stricken face, talking to someone from across the room. He was holding your hand, and only when you moved it did he notice that you’d woken up. He leaped from his seat, staring at you with widened eyes.

“Are you alright?” he asked repeatedly, and you could only respond with a weak smile. Your other friends surrounded you, the doctor was called, and your parents arrived in the room looking extremely worried.

By the time everyone calmed down, you were sitting on the bed, feeling warm and cozy in your clothes. Your mother was peeling an orange for you while continuously nagging. Yoori and Seolhee are across the room on a couch, quietly chatting with Seungcheol. You watched as your father told him something that made him stand up and follow him to the door.

“Where are they going?” you asked Yoori and Seolhee.

Seolhee glanced at you. “Oh, they’re heading out to get your medical certificate.”

“What for?” you asked.

“Your father is adamant that someone must be held accountable for what happened to you,” your mother stated, exhaling sharply. “Especially since it’s an assault.”

And then you remembered. Someone had hit your head that day. Someone deliberately locked you in there and left you to die. This wasn’t an accident. Someone out there has it out on you and was prepared to commit a crime just to hurt you.

“What have they got so far?” you asked and your mother tutted sternly.

“Don’t worry yourself about it, dear,” she chided softly, tucking away stray strands of hair on your face. “For now, you should focus on getting well.”

You saw your friends nodding in agreement. Yoori said, “I’m sure they will figure it out. Your well-being is more important.”

“And that man,” your mom trailed off, placing the orange in your hand before giving you a teasing smile. “Seungcheol, was it? Is he your boyfriend?”

“Mom! No!” you hollered, hotness building up on your face. “He’s not.”

“Why not?” she exclaimed, flabbergasted. “He’s a good guy!”

“That’s what you said about Yeol too.”

She shook her head. “No, I was wrong about Yeol. This time, I’m sure of it. He cares for you.”

You looked down, feeling shy to admit something. “I know he does.”

“You know? Good. So, why aren’t you dating him?”

Yoori cut in at that moment. “Wait, hold up. You guys aren’t dating yet?”

You shook your head at her. “You know we’re not, Yoori.”

“That’s what I thought too but he didn’t act like it.”

You wanted to ask what she meant, giddy to hear anything about Seungcheol that you had missed in the last two days that you were passed out in bed. But before you could ask, your father came back with Seungcheol.

“We’re going up to the station,” your father told you as he approached you to give you a kiss on your forehead. “We’ll talk to the police and sort things out. They might drop by later to talk to you. You don’t have to worry about anything, alright? Just tell them what you remember.”

“Okay, Dad,” you beamed, nodding. You turned to Seungcheol who approached your bed as soon as your mom and dad gave him the space. “Thanks, Cheol. For being here and for helping my dad.”

He smiled sweetly, reaching for your hand and squeezing it affectionately. “Anything for you, y/n.” He placed a hand on your head, patting your hair down gently. “Get some rest. I’ll see you later, alright?”

“Alright.”

“Alright, good girl,” he chimed.

He then left with your father, and your mother went to send them out. Yoori and Seolhee were quick to come near you and squealed as quietly as they could.

“What was that? Did he just call you a good girl?”

Yoori teased. “My god, y/n. I didn’t know you had that kind of kink.”

“What the hell are you even talking about?” you scolded, scandalized, but then you covered your face, too shy to admit that you did like it when he said what he said.

Both your father and Seungcheol refused to tell you anything new about the case, but they assured you that they’re taking immediate action about it. You went back to school after a week, despite your mother’s disagreement. You’re alright now and you didn’t want to waste time at home when you should be catching up on your lessons.

People congratulated you for getting out of the hospital, while others expressed their sorrow about the accident. You were the subject of their pity for a whole day, but they eventually went back to talking about your romantic exploits the very next day, especially after The Gossiper posted another ‘exclusive’ about you. At this point, you truly, genuinely don’t care anymore. You’ve gone through a near-death experience, nothing the Gossiper can say will scare you anymore.

“Miss y/n?” the professor called as soon as he entered the classroom. You raised your hand in response. “You’re being called up at the dean’s office.”

The office was five floors up and the walk there took about five minutes, and your heart hasn’t stopped beating wildly ever since you left your classroom. When you pushed the door open, you found your friends there–Yoori, Dahee, and Haeyoon. All three of them were present in the scavenger hunt during the incident; Yoori as a facilitator, Dahee and Haeyoon as fellow participants. Yoori tapped the space next to her, inviting you to sit there. 

“What’s going on? Is this about the incident?”

Yoori shrugged. “That’s what we thought too. Seungcheol-nim is inside with the dean.”

“Seungcheol is?” you repeated, glancing at the inner office. As you did, its door opened and the dean came out with Seungcheol towing behind her.

He spotted you and flashed a small smile. He looked rather professional today, in a complete set of suits with a briefcase and an envelope in his hand that the dean just handed back to him.

“All four of you are here. We just need to wait for Miss Min Sua.”

Alas, you knew this would happen. The school has to do something about the incident, and this must be the day it all unfolds. Although you were impatiently waiting for this, you were clueless as to how things would pan out.

The office door opened, revealing Sua. Her face contorted to annoyance when she saw who else was inside. It seemed like she was thinking about turning back but the dean told her to come in and sit down.

“This here is Lawyer Choi Seungcheol. He’s here as Miss y/n’s legal counsel,” the dean introduced and you all made a slight bow as a greeting. “It has come to my attention that the recent incident in the Culinary building wasn’t an accident but a premeditated attack on y/n by Min Sua.”

“I beg your pardon?” Sua interjected.

“And it is not a baseless accusation as Lawyer Choi here has provided ample evidence to prove the matter,” the dean continued, placing a stack of photographs on the table. Your friends picked them up to check and you saw that those were screenshots of CCTV footage showing how Sua deliberately locked you in the cold storage.

“That’s bullshit!” Sua bellowed.

Calmly, the dean said, “Correction, that is evidence and you will do well to remember that profanity is not to be spoken in my office, Miss Min Sua.”

Sua sat back, annoyed. She caught your gaze and glared at you.

“Given the gravity of the situation, they have decided to push through with the investigation and you will be taken in for questioning,” the Dean continued and Sua looked horrified. “We would like to avoid a scene, so some school staff with escort you to the gate where the police will be waiting for you. You will go away quietly, without causing a ruckus.”

You clenched your fists, steadying your breathing as you listened some more.

“And I, as the dean, demand that you apologize to Miss Y/n before you leave.”

Sua scoffed arrogantly. “Y/N can go kill herself and drop dead.”

“Min Sua!” Yoori scolded but the dean showed her palm to tell everyone to be quiet.

“Miss Min, this is a serious offense,” the dean said sternly. “Your actions were rash and dangerous. You assaulted a student and left her to die. It’s attempted murder. Whatever was y/n’s fault, if she had one, that is not enough justification to attempt murder.”

“I wasn’t gonna murder her,” she clapped back. “It was just to teach her a lesson. You see, she’s fine and healthy. And she’s very alive… unfortunately.”

“Min Sua, you sick bitch!” Haeyoon blurted, standing up to attack Sua but you and Yoori held her back. “You sociopathic bitch! How dare you?!”

“Everybody calm down! Let’s all calm down for a second,” the dean declared, knocking on the wooden table with her knuckles.

“Miss Min, I’m afraid we’ll have to sort this out in a criminal court. We tried to be civil and give you a chance to apologize with sincerity. Since you’ve shown no remorse for your actions, the police will be here in a minute.”

“I don’t think that necessary,” you told Seungcheol but your voice was drowned by Sua maniacal laughter.

“You can’t send me to jail. Who do you think you are? He can’t do that. Right, Dahee? Haeyoon?” Dahee just looked away while Haeyoon glared at Sua. “Fucking traitors.”

“What was that?” Haeyoon exclaimed, walking up to Sua but Dahee was quick to stop her. “What did you just call us?”

“Traitors!” Sua screamed at the top of her lungs, veins almost popping from her forehead and neck. “You call yourselves my friends but you’re siding with her? You’re both traitors! You all are!”

“You’re the traitor, Sua!” Haeyoon hollered back, struggling to get out of Dahee’s grasp as she tried to approach Sua. “You’re the snake! You kept hanging out with us, you ate at our table, and we treated you like a friend but you kept backstabbing us! And you know what? We all thought that was the worst you could do, but no. You tried to murder someone! You’re a sick sociopath with zero remorse and accountability!”

Sua shrieked. “You never made me feel welcome! You didn’t care about me and only focused on yourselves! Is that how you treat a friend?”

“That’s not a good reason to take someone’s life, Sua! What you did was sick. And if you don’t realize that you’re in the wrong, then you seriously need help,” Yoori argued.

“Guys, that’s enough,” you tried to mediate, hoping to end the argument and continue talking in a civil manner. “We didn’t come here to fight.”

“Oh please, y/n,” Sua spat, giving you a disgusted look. “Always the rational one. Always the smartest. Always the bigger person in the room. Don’t you get tired of keeping that facade?”

“I don’t want to argue with you, Sua.”

“Fine, Miss Beautiful and Kind. You shouldn’t bother yourself with someone like me, pathetic, pitiful, a sick criminal,” she scorned, laughing derisively. It was also at that moment that three police officers entered the room. Sua scoffed at them. “You want to send me to jail? That’s fine. I’ll beat it out of there and come back to kill every single one of you. When that happens, I’ll make sure to do it right!”

She tried to push the officers away but she was restrained with ease and put in handcuffs. She kept cursing everyone—you, the dean, your friends, Seungcheol, and even the police. Slurs were spoken and her manic laughter filled the room.

“Min Sua,” you called sternly, making Sua stop squirming.

She had a smug smile on her face. “Are you happy now? Everyone hates me. My friends have turned their backs on me. I’m ruined and I’m going to jail. Everyone’s on your side. Are you satisfied?”

“The only one who finds happiness in other people’s misery is you, Min Sua.”

“You’re right. I’d love to see you miserable. But why won’t you fucking weep? You won’t even fucking die!” The frigid, cold-blooded smile Sua flashed sent chills down your spine. 

For a second, your heart faltered with fear but it was soon replaced with pity. Pity for Sua and the life she was willing to throw away just because she was overcome by envy and spite. She needed help and you hoped you could give it to her, but all you can afford is to hope she finds that help somewhere. You don’t want anything to do with her anymore. You want to completely cut ties with her and forget this ugly phase in your life. You want it over and you want it to be over now.

“From the bottom of my heart, I wish you all the best, Min Sua,” you told her. She just scoffed as she was being taken away by the police, her laughter echoing down the halls. 

You watched her leave with her shoulder rocking as she laughed. Her manic laughter will surely haunt you for the next few days. You will surely be wary of everyone around you, suspicious that someone might harm you or that one of them is Sua getting ready to attack you. Try as you might to appear calm and collected, not too deep inside, you are scared–terrified to the bone. You are shaken and nervous. Will this event let you sleep? You’re not so sure. It has given you a few sleepless nights already. It might get worse now that you’ve found out that the person responsible for your near-death is not even slightly remorseful. 

The deep, but soothing voice of Choi Seungcheol as he called your name pulled you out of your musings, quieting your brain and calming your heart. He placed a hand on your shoulder, squeezing it gently as if to comfort you. “Are you okay?”

“No,” you confessed, but you gave him a smile. “But I’ll be fine.”

He held your hand, massaged it in his hand, and gave you a comforting smile. “I got you.”

“Thank you,” you beamed. Behind him, the office door opened and your friends came out. You took your hand from Seungcheol’s hold and approached your friends with an embrace. For a while, you stayed in their arms, finding solace in their warmth. “Thanks, guys.”

“Everything’s gonna be fine, love,” Yoori assured you.

“I know. Thank you.”

The last few days were crazy. While the school and Seungcheol tried their best not to cause a stir, Sua was the one who made a spectacle of herself; shouting down the halls as she was being taken away and laughing like she was unhinged. For days, it was the talk of the school, with most of them saying she was a psychopath and would probably be sent to an asylum instead of jail.

Two days later, you were called to court for her arraignment, which didn’t even take long because Sua pleaded guilty–despite the discouragement of her lawyer. She also admitted to spreading rumors and gossip about you and confessed that she’s running the gossip blog in the school portal. Everything she said, you already knew, but it still shocked you to hear it directly from her.

Seungcheol told you there would be no need for you to attend any trial because the judge accepted her plea and offered her a deal. You were both saddened and relieved by that news. Saddened because Sua was still a part of your life, and at one point you were genuinely friends with her. Relieved because you never had to deal with it again, or see her in person anymore.

After that, the next several days were an ecstatic blur. Your grades were good. Your friends are great, And your relationship with Seungcheol is progressing steadily. You went out on dates, tried new and old things together, and got to know each other very well. He introduced you to his parents too, this time, as someone he was trying to date. It was also worth noting that he had been spending time with your father. Whatever it is that they bond about, you honestly have no idea but you’re happy that they get along.

You could swear you’re already dating, but no words have been spoken yet to confirm this. And during the routine dinner date that you do once a week, you were so in awe of his entire being that you suddenly thought to ask him the question.

“When will you ask me to be your girlfriend?” you asked and it made him choke on his food. You watch him cough for a while, rubbing his chest as soon as he can breathe properly. With a smile, you pushed the glass of water towards him so he could drink.

“Thanks,” he mumbled before taking a long sip.

“So?” you inquired after he had put the glass back down. “Whennnn?”

“This is not the place or situation that I envisioned in my head whenever I think about asking you to be my girlfriend,” he confessed, clearing his throat out of shyness. “Can I ask you today, though?” he asked with uncertainty in his tone but you still nodded enthusiastically. Seungcheol chuckled fondly, reaching for your face to squeeze your cheek. “You’re so adorable.”

“I knooow! Ask me now!”

Seungcheol scrunched his nose. “I don’t think I should. It’s not that I don’t want to, but it wouldn’t be special if I didn’t do it properly. You know, with proper preparation, a proper setup, and whatnot.”

“Does it matter? We like each other, don’t we?”

“Yeah, we do.”

“And we’re pretty much dating already. Just ask me so we could make it official,” you suggested and again, Seungcheol laughed at your cute eagerness. “If you don’t ask me, I’ll ask you.”

“Okay, alright. I’ll ask you,” he blurted, giving up. You smiled widely, giving him your hands when he reached for them on the table. You straightened up in your seat, waiting for him to say the words. With a smile, Seungcheol said, “Let’s date officially, y/n.”

You scowled. “Are you serious? That sounds so unromantic.”

He laughed heartily. “What do you mean? How?”

“Will you be my girlfriend, y/n? Just like that,” you coached, Seungcheol shook his head. “Ah, come on! Just do it!”

“Okay. Y/n, will you be my girlfriend?”

You smiled, contented. Seungcheol smiled back and for a while, you stayed smiling at each other, the happiness and love in your eyes were so evident. One would look at you and envy how much you adored each other. 

“I’ll think about it,” you said briskly, retracting your hand swiftly and taking a swig of your beer.

Seungcheol just exhaled and shook his head, a fond smile still on his lips. You then held his hand just as he was about to pick up his glass. 

He gawked at you and you told him, “Okay. I will be your girlfriend.”

He couldn’t help laughing, eyes gleaming as he grinned. He squeezed your hand and kissed the back of it. “Y/n, you have no idea how much I adore you.”

After dinner, you went down the beach and sat next to him on the sand, leaning your body on his chest while his arm was over your shoulder. His thumb is rubbing your shoulder, occasionally squeezing it as he talks.

“You know, I have thought of at least a dozen scenarios in my head about the day we’d finally start dating,” he continued. “This was not how I imagined it would play out.”

You giggled, nuzzling closer to him. His body is warm, combatting the cool wind that’s blowing against your skin. “Please don’t be cheesy and say you think about me all the time.”

“As a matter of fact, I do think about you all the time,” he confessed, making you laugh heartily.

“No, you don’t,” you insisted and Seungcheol laughed, making his body vibrate against your ear.

“You’re right, I don’t. But I do think about you 80 percent of the time.”

You hummed, contented. The sound of the sea harmonized with the sound of his beating heart. It feels like you could just stay here forever and that would be enough for you. The road to this wasn’t a smooth one, but when you finally arrived, it was most fulfilling and beautiful. Your heart is at ease; happy, content, and over the moon.

“So,” he prompted after a few minutes of silence. “Do you wanna go back to the car and kiss?”

You pulled away from him, throwing your head back as you laughed. Seungcheol watched you with fondness in his eyes, enamored and totally taken by you.

“You can’t be naughty on your first day of being in a relationship.”

Seungcheol shrugged. “It’s just a kiss.”

You scoffed and mocked him. “Just a kiss.”

“I swear,” he insisted. “But we can make out too. You decide.”

You playfully hit his chest. Then you scoot closer to him and leaned forward to press a soft kiss on his cheek. And then on his forehead, his nose, the corner of his lips, and then the other corner. You showered his face with chaste little kisses, and he seemed to enjoy it until he realized you were purposely avoiding his lips despite him offering it each time. He eventually dodged your kisses and tutted, and you sniggered at his annoyed expression. He cupped your cheeks, pulling you so he could kiss your lips, ever so gently, like the gentleman that he is.

When he pulled away, he stared at you and exhaled contently. “You’re everything I want, y/n. Everything, and more.”

You smiled back, loving how his eyes were gleaming and beautiful. “Took you long enough to realize that.”

Seungcheol laughed, forever amused by your wit and adorable tendency to ruin a heartfelt moment with banter. Maybe, that’s what made him fall for you in the first place.

“My god, I could kiss you forever,” he blurted.

“Well. don’t be shy now,” you quipped so he kissed you again.

Dating Seungcheol turned out to be more adorable than surreal. He was adorable, often stumbling on his words and feeling shy around you. It was ridiculous, considering he never acted this way before, and also endearing since you knew he liked you so much that he kept making a fool of himself. An adorable fool, if you do say so yourself.

“Are you sure you want to come over?” he would ask whenever you made plans to sleep together in his flat. “You don’t have to if you’re uncomfortable.”

“Cheol, I was there last night,” you would remind him.

“I know, but still? What if you change your mind?”

And you would assure him. “Then you’ll send me home if I did. Although, I’m sure that won’t be necessary.”

He often acted all flustered and shy, but when you’re alone with him, he gets so comfortable that he forgets personal space. He would be all over you, wrapping his arms around you while you make food in the kitchen or something. When you’re watching TV, he’d have you lay on his lap, playing with your hair throughout the movie. Even when he’s working on his laptop and you’re on your phone, he’d be beside you, your shoulders pressed together or your back leaning on his chest while he locks you in one arm. And your favorite thing to do with him was to read. He had a huge window balcony in his apartment and when you started dating, you turned it into a reading nook. There, you would read for hours, quietly basking in the sun while Seungcheol sat with his back on the wall and you’re prostrated on the balcony floor with your Kindle. 

You can’t even begin to talk about the intimacy that you share under the sheets. Long story short, he was intense—the good kind of intense, but still intense. Yoori must be right after all.

“That reminds me,” Seungcheol said over dinner with your friends where the case with Sua was discussed. A few months have passed since then and today, you were told that she had been convicted. “I looked up The Gossiper.”

You looked up at him, curious. “You did?”

“Yes and it’s an awful page,” he replied, shaking his head. “The school must not care about ethical journalism.”

You chuckled. “It’s not a big deal anymore. They’ve stopped posting since Sua left.”

“The articles stopped, but people still talk about you, you know,” Seolhee sneered.

“I know,” you snorted. “They’ll get tired of it.”

Yoori turned to Seungcheol. “They keep saying she’s got a sugar daddy.”

“Funny thing is,” Haeyoon chuckled. “The sugar daddy is you, Seungcheol-nim.”

The table laughed at that and so the night went on with more laughter, good food, and good conversations.

You and Seungcheol stumbled into his apartment, both drunk and giggling when he bumped his forehead against yours as he tried to kiss you. He groaned for a minute, rubbing his forehead and yours before swooping in for another kiss. You inhaled his scent, along with the fiery hotness engulfing your whole being. His arms were strong and muscular around your body, and his lips were urgent against yours; sucking, nipping, smooching.

“Let’s take this inside, shall we?” he asked, although you knew it was a statement and not a question.

With a swift movement, Seungcheol lifted you off your feet, his lips finding the supple skin of your neck. The moan you let out was ecstatic and he kept going until he had brought you across the room, then placed you on the long couch.

“I thought you wanted the bed?” you asked, grinning as you helped him strip off his coat.

“I don’t think I can wait,” he breathed before leaning to ravage your neck once again. Your head automatically tilted back, your lips parting, as you closed your eyes in ecstasy. 

“Cheol,” you whispered.

Seungcheol stopped to take off his shirt and then yours when you lifted your hands up. He marveled at your beauty, taking in your shape, your curves, your skin, your moles, everything. “God, you’re beautiful.”

“Take me, Cheol,” you begged.

You didn’t need to tell him twice because that’s exactly what he planned on doing.

“It’s her.”

“Who?”

“Her. Over there. Y/n from Arts and Sciences.”

“Oh! The one with the sugar daddy?”

“Shh, she’s passing this way.”

Haeyoon glared at the gossiping girls as you passed them, while you continued walking without paying them any attention.

“These people think you’re deaf,” Haeyoon spat, annoyed.

“I thought we agreed to leave them alone?” Dahee reminded and Haeyoon groaned.

“I can’t stand them.”

You beamed at your friend as you snaked your hands around her arms and leaned on her shoulder while you walked. “Your aggression towards my haters is making me feel loved and special.”

Haeyoon rolled her eyes. “What do I do to convert your optimism into passive-aggressive rage towards those gossiping skanks?”

You ignored her questions, giving her your sweetest smile instead. Haeyoon was laughing on your other side. 

“Seriously, if I was in your situation, I would be in jail by now,” Haeyoon added.

You released her from your embrace and shrugged. “You can consider yourself lucky. Jail doesn’t look good you, love.”

“Speaking of love,” Dahee interjected as you neared the steps of the main university building. “Mr. Lover Boy decided to show up today.”

You followed the direction of her gaze and your mouth hung open at the sight before you. Waiting below the steps was Seungcheol, looking handsome and chic as he leaned against his equally chic car. He’s looking down at his phone, typing away while several students take notice of his stylish appearance. There are murmurs around, all of them sounding impressed and curious.

Your phone buzzed in your pocket so you fished it out to see Seungcheol’s name on your screen, calling. Instead of answering, you locked your screen and walked up to him. The sounds of amazement from onlookers as they watched you approach your boyfriend gave you pride.

“Isn’t that y/n?”

“It is. OMG, the rumors must be true that his boyfriend is loaded.”

“Doesn’t he look too young to be a sugar daddy though?”

“Sugar daddy or not, that guy is hot!”

Seungcheol’s face lit up as soon as he saw you. “Hi, baby,” he greeted. “I was just calling you.”

“I know,” you beamed. Seungcheol tucked his phone away before leaning to kiss your cheek. His arms around your waist were for everybody to see.

“Shall we?” he asked, opening the car door for you.

“Thanks.”

As if to further stoke the fire, Seungcheol didn’t drive away as soon as he got into the car. Instead, he gently pulled you by the nape and gave you a sweet kiss on the lips. In the corner of your eye, you can see people swooning outside. You smiled into the kiss.

“I must say, your showmanship is top-tier,” you commented and it made him chuckle.

“I did good, didn’t I?”

“You did amazing, babe,” you replied, caressing his cheek and then giving him a quick kiss.

“Let’s go. The wakepark will close soon!”

You rolled your eyes. “Relax. It’s 10 am.”

Seungcheol shook his head, his face bright with excitement. “The earlier we get there, the more time we’ll have to enjoy it.”

You laughed heartily, adoring your giddy boyfriend even more than you already do.

[fin]

#seungcheol x reader #seventeen x reader #seventeen fanfic #scoups x y/n #scoups x you #scoups x reader #svt scoups #seventeen fluff #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #seventeen au #svt au #svt seungcheol #svt x reader #svt fluff #svt fanfic #scoups #scoups fic #scoups fluff #calcali

[weebsinstash]

Wouldn't it be funny if reader is aware abt the spiderverse being yandere and stuff but still continues to act blissfully unaware and when they found abt the youtwo situation and stuff they used that to their advantage to basically escape the obsessive grasps the yandere spiderverse has. and basically readers all giddy abt it

YouTwo: wow, it sure would be a shame if I started stealing all of this excessive attention you seem to get. I wonder if all your little spider society friends would even be able to tell :)

You: oh my sweet summer child. Oh my little tiny baby still on its mother's milk. Oh my naive ignorant little newborn

You: y'all can fucking HAVE THEM, my guy

You: once I thought I was being nice by offering Miguel some of the extra snacks I was eating while I was delivering a message in-person from another Spiderman and I got close enough that I accidentally saw the holograms he was looking at and this man had been watching another dimension where we were having our wedding

You: Pavitr who has never done anything wrong in his life ever once invited me to a family member's wedding and I was stupid enough to say yes because then I had him and his girlfriend babbling in my ear while I got literal actual personally customized henna, do you have any idea how time consuming and intricate and personal henna is, I felt like I was naked. Beautiful wedding, literally did not have privacy almost that entire day

You: the other week Peter B somehow got the access code from Miguel to have the security clearance to broadcast across the Spider Society and I was in the middle of the cafeteria when literally everyone in the room had their watches light up with his face, "hey I can't find them myself so if anyone sees my other kid let them know how cool they are and how much I love them and how Uncle Pete misses em 🥰" and to this day I can't enter the food court without a literal army of Peter Parkers obnoxiously teasing me, "We LoOOoOooOooVE YoU SwEEtiE"

You: Jess got overwhelmed with the pregnancy hormones once and she asked me how my day was going and I made the mistake of being honest and said I was a little sad and she burst into tears begging me to move into the spare bedroom of her house and asking when I ate last and insisted I join her and her husband for "a family dinner"

You: that Morales kid was feeling kind of depressed so I gave him my perspective on adulthood and how sometimes the only expectations you need to meet are your own dreams for yourself and i told him all these good qualities i saw in him to cheer him up, and now he and Gwen Stacy keep showing up unannounced in my universe to hang out. Do you know how hard it is to avoid someone who can turn invisible. My knees crack when I stand up from sitting down for too long, I can't outrun two parkouring teenagers!

You: the other day i had an earbud fall into the back of my hoodie so I just took it off and shook it out trying to find it and like three different goobers fell out and I pick one of them up and it literally looks like a piece of plastic and I must've accidentally hit something because it said "beep boop boop" in an IRL person's voice and I'm like "hello???" And someone replies "YEAH, LEGO SPIDERMAN HERE"

#yandere spiderverse #but nah ive thought of you letting youtwo take over cause youre like ykw fuck these fuck bitches #yandere stuff #sinprompts

[dearestvante]

wrong number; kth.

in which your boyfriend is ignoring you, so you have to get creative.

pairing: taehyung x reader genre: non idol au, established relationship, fluff, lilbit of angst warnings: mild swearing word count: 873

a/n. just a little something before valentine's ends <3 enjoy!

the pounding on your front door got louder with every second you left it unanswered. you had a faint idea who might be behind it, so you weren’t exactly rushing to open it up.

“alright, i’m coming!” you yelled, then after fiddling with your keys for a few more seconds, you finally opened it. your senses didn’t fail, behind the door it was taehyung, your noticeably pissed off boyfriend. you can’t get a word out, he’s already barged in, standing in front of you with both hands on his waist.

“sure, come right in.” you close the front door and face him, arms crossed in front of your chest.

“what the fuck was that text y/n?!”

oh, yes. the text. the two of you had quite a big fight a few days ago, which resulted in him storming out of your apartment in the middle of the night. he has been ignoring all your calls and messages ever since, therefore in order to get his attention, you had to get a little creative. so you had the genius idea to send him a text, which suggests that you had fun with someone last night and you would like to do it again, and make it look like it was meant for someone else. and after half an hour of sitting around, staring at the message, you hit send eventually. your efforts didn’t go in vain, cause he replied within minutes. gotcha, you thought before hitting him with the “oh, sorry, wrong number.” that sentence definitely set your plan in motion, cause he’s here, and he’s talking to you, although it’s not about making up. not yet, at least.

“it was nothing, forget it.” you reply, trying so hard not to smile.

“nothing?! do you, perhaps, need a reminder that we’re still together?” his eyebrows raise in confusion as he takes a small step towards you. he is a bit intimidating, but good god, he looks so attractive.

“no, but you might!” you quickly shake away your wondering thoughts and focus on settling this conflict, cause it’s been bothering you. and you were hoping that he feels the same, he’s just too stubborn to make the first step.

“me? i’m not the one “having fun” with others.”

his words hit you so hard, you drop your act almost immediately. “did you really think that i— oh my god, taehyung!”

“what the fuck was i supposed to think after that text, huh?!” you bury your face in your hands, realizing just how stupid this whole plan was. now you have to come clean, and he might not even believe you. you take a deep breath and raise your gaze to meet his, that’s eagerly waiting for an explanation.

“it wasn’t meant for anyone else, it was meant for you, all along.” he doesn’t seem to understand, so you continue. “i sent that text to get your attention.”

you break the eye contact, looking down at your feet. you feel ashamed and pathetic and his piercing gaze is not exactly helping. the few second of silence that falls on the room feels never-ending and suffocating. you want to say something but you can’t even bring yourself to lift your head, let alone talk. he breaks the overwhelming quiet with a relieved sigh. you can feel him get closer to you, one hand grabs your waist, the other slips under your chin, forcing you to look at him.

“it worked, i guess.” he smiles, faintly.

“why were you ignoring me?”

“cause.. uncertainty was better than accepting the fact that you might want to end this… and then you sent me that text today, and i just… i thought you moved on.”

“oh, tae..” you almost break down crying when you realize what you did. he wasn’t mad, like you thought, he was just scared of losing you, and you just fueled his concern.

“i would never do that to you.”

you bring your arms up to cup his face but he precedes you with the act and before you would even realize it, his lips are crashing against yours. you don’t waste so much time either and kiss him back immediately, one hand running through his soft, dark hair, while the other wraps around his shoulders so you can pull him closer. seconds turn into minutes like this and you get so lost in the moment that you forget why did he came here in the first place. after slowly separating, you are standing there, with both hands intertwined, foreheads still touched together.

“i don’t even remember what we were fighting about.” taehyung says, raising his head a little so he can look at you.

“probably something stupid.”

“and you sent me that text to get my attention? that was the only reason?” he changes the subject, you can tell that it’s still bothering him.

“well.. not really.” you reply, but seeing that look on his face makes you regret it a little, so you quickly add, “you look hot when you’re pissed off.”

he sighs in relief, shaking his head, then looks back at you with the most beautiful smile you’ve ever seen. “you make me crazy, you brat.”

“i love you.”

“i love you more.”

#taehyung ff #kim taehyung #bts x reader #taehyung x reader #taehyung x y/n #taehyung x you

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for leaving my friend groups Discord server?

💐💐💐 So I can find this later. For context, I was in 2 servers that were friend groups, where my friends would all interact with each other, play & stream games, etc. However, recently we had a situation where someone, let's call her Sasha, would send many vent messages in the general channel, then delete said message before we could respond or even look at the messages, & get mad at us for not responding. She'd also complain about everything that happened in her life, school, in games, & she'd always repeat the same things, over & over again. In the end, we got tired of how she was forcing everyone to stop being as active in the server because of her behavior & actions, so we all made another server, without Sasha, so we could interact with peace without her interrupting conversations. This all happened 3-4 months ago. Then 3 of the people in our new server got a game on Roblox, Deepwoken. Another person, let's call him Kevin, already had the game for a while, so they all got the game & started playing all together. They were incredibly passionate about it, it would be the only thing talked about. One of them got me the currency to get Deepwoken, so I could play with them all. A while later, I got a hang of the game, then when I asked if any of them could play with me, one of them, let's call him Tim, would keep telling me that "Oh, you have to play the game alone to get the real experience, & to learn things better." every time I would ask. Sometimes, rarely, they'd answer some questions I had about the game that I didn't quite grasp yet, & a lot of the time i'd just, not receive any answer. After a while, I got tired of how they didn't respond to me at all, so I just stopped playing. Keep in mind, I don't have any other friends that have the game, so I didn't have anyone else to talk to about it. I love my friends but I felt ignored & was hurt, so I passed ownership to another friend of mine, & left. About a day after leaving, I ended up feeling extremely depressed & overwhelmed with schoolwork, eye appointments, a random limb & joint pain that I had no idea why I was having, & I accidentally unfriended Tim. With my being extremely overwhelmed, thinking it was a good idea at the time, I sent him a message saying "accidentally unfriended u mb. u could also not accep, that works too" Then another message after that one, "okay well um, im gonna assume that you arent going to accept it again so thank you for all youve done for me before you say that im making it sound like i gave up; i have given up i gave up a little while ago" After that, I got a message from him saying that I needed to calm down, that my friend request wasn't the most important thing in his mind right now, & that he's allowed to put it on hold for at least a day before I start telling him some "nvm shit". I sincerely apologized & told him that I needed to take a break, that I hope he's doing okay, & that I hope college goes well for him. I did indeed, take a break, for only 2 weeks because I felt extremely guilty, stupid & reckless. Those weeks felt like forever because that whole thing was on my mind 24/7. It was eating me alive. & No, I am not saying to gain pity. Just trying to explain what I felt. Tim answered, told me that I should grow & change as a person, & that he doesn't mean it in a condescending way, that the server was meant to be a safe space, that in order to make everyone comfortable, there's some things we need to just not say or some things we need to think about a lot before saying them. It's the reason Sasha got booted, & that we give as much as we get. I'm reading back on his messages, & I didn't say anything in the server to make everyone uncomfortable. Am I the asshole?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

[roycevelvet]

Darkness at the heart of my love

Pairings: Noah Sebastian x reader Warnings: none Notes: again, don't know where this is going, many ideas, never an ending hihi. Also, listen to this song, it was my muse for this thing/chapter whatever you wanna call it lol.

You traced the faded design on your chipped nail polish, lost in memories of a summer filled with his laughter and stolen kisses. It seemed like ages ago, those sunny days when his voice was always there, comforting and familiar. Now, as you waited for him to answer the phone, you couldn't help but feel the weight of all that had shifted.

"Hey, babe" Noah's voice finally rasped through the phone, heavy with sleep. It was the first time you'd heard from him in days.

"Hey" you forced a smile. "I was starting to think you'd forgotten about me."

He chuckled, but it lacked its usual warmth. "Sorry, busy week. Soundchecks, interviews, you know...”

You bit your lip, pushing down the familiar pang of loneliness. "Yeah, I figured," you mumbled. You weren't sure if you were more hurt by the missed calls or the casual dismissal of your absence, like he hadn't missed you at all.

The silence stretched, thick with unspoken emotions. Finally, you gathered your courage. "So, when do you think we can have a proper talk? It’s been a while since, you know, we’ve had an actual conversation that lasted longer than 5 minutes.”

"Honestly, (Y/N), it's been crazy. I don't know when things will settle down."

The truth stung. You knew it wasn't just the tour schedule anymore. He wasn't making the effort, and your once vibrant connection felt like a fading radio signal, distorted and barely there.

"Okay," you said, your voice cracking slightly. "I understand."

You ended the call quickly as you didn't want him to hear you cry. The quiet in your small apartment felt overwhelming, tears welled in your eyes. It made it hard to see as you scrolled through X.

Among the bright lights and pictures of concerts, there he was. Noah, laughing with a bunch of fans, his arm around a pretty blonde girl, her smile big and happy.

A wave of nausea washed over you. You knew, logically, that he was a celebrity, bound to interact with fans. But the sight of him so close to another woman, the intimacy of his touch, ignited a jealousy you hadn't anticipated.

It wasn't just jealousy, though. It was a deeper feeling of insecurity that had been bothering you for weeks. It ate away at your confidence, leaving you feeling empty inside. You started to wonder if you were just a temporary fix in his glamorous world when he came back home.

Every time Noah didn't respond to your messages or calls, it felt like a punch in the gut. You felt completely alone, like you were drowning in a sea of uncertainty, desperately clinging to the hope that Noah would throw you a lifeline.

But he never did. Instead, he brushed aside your attempts to share your feelings, making empty promises and offering half-hearted apologies. It felt like he didn't really care about you anymore, as if you didn't matter in the grand scheme of his busy life.

When you called, he was always laughing with someone in the background, always busy, always talking. Other times, he was tired, his voice heavy with exhaustion, or sleepy, his words slurred as he struggled to stay awake. But his attention was never one hundred percent on you. It was as if he existed in a world that never slowed down, a whirlwind that left little room for anything else, for anyone else.

One evening, as you sat alone, feeling sad and listening to music, how poetic. The lyrics of "Darkness at the Heart of My Love," the song you and Noah shared, echoed around the room. Now, the lyrics felt hollow, a cruel reminder of a love that couldn't survive the distance.

A bitter smile twisted your lips. The summer had died, taking your love with it. You finally understood Noah's silence. It wasn't just about the tour schedule; it was about him choosing a different path, a path that didn't include you.

The anger that had been simmering beneath finally boiled over. You grabbed your phone and dialed his number, your fingers trembling slightly. He answered after the first ring, his voice laced with surprise.

"Is that it, Noah?" you began, your voice surprisingly steady despite the storm raging within you. "Is this how it ends? With unanswered calls and texts and photos with girls who look like they stepped out of a magazine?"

The silence on the other end was heavy and suffocating. Noah was surprised by your sudden outburst, his usually quick response delayed as he struggled with your words. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Noah spoke.”I… I don't know what to say, (Y/N). It's not like that."

He sighed. Did he just fucking sigh at your words? This making you even angrier than you already were.

"Then what is it like, Noah?" you asked, raging. "Why do I feel like I'm always waiting for you, but you don’t seem to need me?”

There was a pause, a long silence again. And then, Noah's voice said “I’m sorry, (Y/N). I've been so caught up in everything... I didn't mean to make you feel this way."

His words made you feel hopeful at first. But then doubt crept in, whispering that maybe he did mean it to make you feel this way. After all, he had been practically ignoring you for weeks, so why would things suddenly change now?

"Tell me, Noah," you continued, your voice shaking slightly as you recite the lyrics of your shared song. "Does your love have a darkness? Does it run cold, deep, like the lyrics you so readily quote all the time?"

Noah's answer came quickly, his words rushing out. "No, (Y/N), it's not like that. I love you, I really do. But... I've been struggling with everything."

You listened, feeling a tug on your heart with each word he said. But even as he opened up about his struggles, you couldn't shake the lingering question: why hadn't he reached out to you sooner? Why had he left you feeling lost and alone, without any explanation?

"Goodbye, Noah," you said, the weight of the word crushing you as much as it crushed him.

You didn't wait for a response. You didn't need one. You ended the call, the silence on the other end told you everything you needed to know.

—

But the silence wouldn't last forever. Occasionally, you'd be brought back to reality by the harsh ringtone cutting through silence. Your heart would skip a beat, hoping it was Noah finally reaching out, but it was never Noah.

Everything seemed to remind you of him, yet you never felt lonelier. You couldn't help but wonder why Noah never bothered to reach out, not even once. Did you really mean that little to him? Were you really that disposable?

In the days after, you kept busy with work or watching Netflix late into the night, trying to avoid thinking about Noah. But he was always there, like a ghost in your thoughts.

You tried to find comfort in your usual daily routine, but it couldn't fill the emptiness. The coffee tasted bitter, hanging out with friends felt empty, and the nights felt long and lonely.

You tried to move on, exploring new things and even going on a few dates. But every new situationship felt like a weak copy of what you had with Noah. He had made a big impression on your heart, and no matter how much time passed or how far you went, you couldn't forget it.

Despite the hurt, there was a small shimmer of hope. You wished, deep down, that someday he would return, willing to fight for you. Though you felt really silly and stupid for even dare to think this way.

But even as you struggled with everything, life kept marching on. You started to find joy again in unexpected places, glimpses of happiness.

And slowly, ever so slowly, the ache in your heart began to simmer down. It didn't disappear entirely – you doubted it ever would – but it became more bearable, a constant companion rather than an overwhelming force.

You threw yourself into your passions, rediscovering the things that brought you joy before Noah had come crashing into your life. Music became your refuge once more, the melodies and lyrics you hadn't realized you'd been missing.

—

One evening, a couple of months later, you had a small gig at a nearby bar. It was a simple chance to share your songs with a small crowd which you really appreciated. 

The concert was fantastic, but you did feel kinda relieved when it ended. As you left the stage, still buzzing with adrenaline, you were met with cheers and applause from the small but enthusiastic crowd. Lottie and Taylor, your ever-supportive best friends, beaming with excitement.

“(Y/N), you were absolutely stunning out there!" Lottie exclaimed, pulling you into a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Seriously, (Y/N), that was incredible," Taylor chimed in, her voice filled with genuine admiration. "You absolutely smashed it!"

You smiled at your friends, feeling grateful for their constant support. Together, you moved through the crowd, settling into a cozy booth.

The air was filled with the scent of beer and the sound of people chatting and clinking glasses. Laughter and shared memories filled the air, recalling inside jokes and cherished memories.

They skillfully avoided mentioning Noah though, as they were fuming with him for how he had broken their best friend down to a shadow of herself. 

You were thankful for them, as they had been there since the start, helping you through the heartbreak.

As the night went on and the drinks kept coming, you got lost in the fun with your friends, forgetting about time and how much you had to drink. But just when you were starting to relax and enjoy the moment, you felt someone looking at you.

You turned around and saw Noah, his expression hard to figure out but somehow familiar. And in that quick moment, it was just the two of you, silently looking at each other. Everything else around you disappearing.

To be continued.

#noah sebastian #nick folio #nicholas ruffilo #jolly karlsson #bad omens #angst #light angst #fluff #bad omens fan fic #bad omens fic #fan fic #fan fiction #fanfic #fandom

[ashessonfire]

if you’re still looking for headcanon requests: what about kaz and reader who is disabled/suffers from chronic pain? i don’t often see x reader fics include things like disabilities, and it’s really quite nice to have found a character like kaz whose struggles i can relate to - ty <33

Kaz Brekker x (Chronically ill) Reader - Headcanons <3

- Paring : Kaz Brekker x Chronically ill! Reader A/N - Thank you so much for this request, and absolutely this is important, and i suffer from multiple chronic illnesses and pains too! I am basing it off my own experiences, which is chronic illness, but i hope it's general enough for anyone to relate to :) ════ ∘◦ᵒ 𓅓 ᵒ◦∘ ════

Kaz Brekker's image is one that permeates throughout the whole city, not a soul is unaware of the leader of the Crows

His limp only adds to the terrifying image, broken and twisted in every element of his being, yet completely unrelenting.

However, privately, his leg causes Kaz excruciating pain, a constant ache that never seems to cease, fatigue from stumbling around for too long, or the cold inducing agonizing flares of pain.

As a result, Kaz has become familiar with the aches and troubles, so when his partner reveals they experience something similar? Kaz suffers from a great mixture of hurt and relief

Why is he relieved you may ask?

Well, the bastard of the barrel can finally offer someone a sense of comfort and support, which in most things he finds practically impossible to do.

Sharing the experience with Kaz would offer the both of you solace, although at first it may come across as if he doesn't notice your constant pain.

However, very swiftly small pots of expensive medicines would arrive neatly wrapped on your bed, his cane would conveniently be placed close by during a flare up, and your favourite foods would mysteriously make their way to you, helping to brighten the tougher days.

Kaz is not a man of words, at all, however he would work on verbalizing his concerns, reading you easily and offering clipped but gentle check in's, like :

"How is the pain compared to yesterday?"

"I'm not going out soon, take my cane just in case"

"The painkillers are already in your drawer, I had Inej replace them this morning"

In terms of severe pain, both chronic + caused by a disability, please expect to never move a muscle - he will 100% get someone else to run around and do everything for you, especially when he himself is struggling.

If you care for him in return, you may even get a few faint smiles - he would be so deeply grateful for your attentiveness and devotion (but obviously it's Kaz, he won't show it freely)

Another reason i believe Kaz would be relieved, is that someone would finally understand his own disability and pains

You would be able to return his gestures, offering him the same sense of security and compassion, without overbearing sympathy or pity - something Kaz detests

Just after he broke his leg, I can vividly picture the pigeons of the barrel dramatically cooing at the young boys limp, explaining their sorrows for him with overwhelming pity

After this, he would undoubtedly threaten any sorrow for his condition with an excruciating death

Let's just say word spread quickly, and few dared to repeat this offence...

Kaz would also have little diaries tucked away in his office and at the slat, detailing each symptom of yours during flare ups - allowing him to prepare anything you could possibly need when the next one arrives

Kaz would feel more at ease with you than anyone else, and would likely share his own hardships with you - knowing that the pair of you can relate on a level few others could match

Honestly i just know that he would be in a strange way very relieved for you to understand his own struggles - allowing for him to be more comfortable with you overall <3

════ ∘◦ᵒ 𓅓 ᵒ◦∘ ════

P.S : As a chronically ill person myself, I just wanted to say that my requests will always be open for ideas like this, and my private messages are open for anything. If anyone is experiencing any form of chronic illness and needs someone to talk to, I am here for you!! It can be super isolating and difficult, especially when those around you cannot understand your struggles, even if they try to. Hopefully this post can find all my spoonie crow fans!! <333

#kaz brekker x reader #six of crows #six of crows x reader #shadow and bone #six of crows imagine #kaz brekker #kaz brekker imagine #shadow and bone season 2 #kaz brekker x reader imagines #kaz brekker x you #kaz brekker x y/n #kaz brekker headcanons #ashessonfire #requests open

[licially]

Frepper - Follow Suit

// I got no idea how this came into fruition, I've only completely wrote this out before I realised what I was doing. Anyways enjoy this tiny fic I wrote for myself and/or anyone else who are enjoying the awkward dynamic between these two.

The evening flaunted itself with a merrier than usual crowd down at Lackadaisy, and most opted to swing by the stage and dance to their heart’s content between stanzas, sung by a backup singer for the night as the jazz band winds down for the week ahead. Within the crowded mess, only messier given the fact that it is littered with alcoholics, some more drunk than others, and the music proved exacerbating to both him and his mental state. It was overwhelming, yet he had to persevere, as he waddled his way through everyone. 

He wanted to find Ivy here, after she invited him back to another night at Lackadaisy just a few weeks after she gave him the pin of clubs. A message, written in a note, found Calvin on the day just before the night. It sat in the mailbox in front of his house, and it stood out to him since most mail that was directed to the household doesn't normally have a daisy flower pinned onto it. Reluctantly, he picked up the letter for himself, yet he’d never want to explain the true meaning of this letter to his mother.

He took a precarious approach into the household; he didn’t want to be perceived by his mother after the incident down Route 94, which essentially made him in even more trouble than his cousin. Through the front door, he quickly ran down towards the bench near the kitchen. Nina had been upstairs, but even she heard Calvin’s attempt thanks to the creaky wooden floor from their house. 

“Calvin! Is ever’thin’ alright?” She screamed, from atop the stairs.

“Yes mom- everything is fine!” He replied, with a shrill in his voice from the initial jump scare of his mother’s scream. After he’s done putting his mother’s mail on the kitchen bench, he quickly ran upstairs and into his room where he gently tore off the envelope of the letter that was meant for him. It wasn’t entirely heavy, save for the daisy, and the message inside also proved to be even tinier on his paws: 

McMurray,

I hope this note finds you before your mother does, but you should come back to Lackadaisy, I need to talk to you about something just between the two of us privately. Rocky won’t be there, I promise.  Bring the pin I gave you, just in case. Horatio tends to check for the pins for the newcomers, but for the most part he knows you well enough. to let you in.

See you there!

Ivy Pepper

Surprised, he set out for any fancy suits in his closet. When he first stepped into the speakeasy, there were patrons with more grandeur and complicated suits than the simple bow tie that he was so accustomed to wearing. Rarely had he put together an actual tuxedo for the occasion, given his last one was just Sunday church service, yet he feels that any suit would do fine for this place. After all, he wasn’t bound for formalities, but fitted himself with whatever was necessary. Albeit it made him uncomfortable at times, he squeaked through.

Usually, tuxedos are worn by combining a waistcoat, laid over a bright white shirt, with a jacket’s lapel distinguishing the features of someone who would wear such an outfit, but he didn’t know any better. Fact of the matter is that he hid himself trying to get the note towards his room, and now he had to justify the choice of clothing he chooses to wear on a Wednesday night to go somewhere even more discreet. This time, his cousin won’t back him out into the wilderness.

As the day soon turned into the afternoon, and into night, Calvin mustered up little to no courage to talk to Nina about the night that was ahead. His chores really put him out of commission from even talking, from mowing the lawn again to trimming the hedges to spring cleaning the household. Every task was grueling, not just towards his physical health but his mental. Every moment he had the chance to talk to her about the night, it was instead interrupted by the workload that each of his jobs offered, or she was too busy minding her own business, and that he didn’t want to interrupt given her temperament.

At the dinner table that night, they both slowly enjoyed a pork roast, with baked potatoes and carrots and peas, a mishmash of gravy, and a glass of water on the side. During the silent clash of silverware, they both chewed silently with Calvin dwelling on his thoughts just as much as he did with his food. Chewing through his thoughts, again, was that letter’s contents; What did she want from him so much that it needed his attention? And why Lackadaisy specifically, instead of anywhere else? Why did she mention the fact that Rocky will not be there? What happened to him? Is he hurt that badly again, to the point where he’s not able to be there? Questions, comments, and possible theories demonized and dominated his headspace, since he had worried Rocky would end up hurt again. He may have been kicked out of the house, but still doesn’t mean that he could entirely dismiss him.

His thoughts soon kind of took him out of his headspace, as Nina quietly catched on. She hoped that this was just poor Freckle being burned out by today, but her realization struck as much as the gravy did, as the food on his fork slid off and onto his shirt, staining it with… that lukewarm gross stuff. Surprised, she called out for his name, with no answer to boot. As Calvin dangerously, and mindlessly, and slowly, raised his empty fork towards his mouth, Nina raised her voice at him.

“...Calvin. CALVIN.” Nina’s screaming proved effective, as he immediately snapped away from his mindless acting, and set down the fork towards the table of food. The lukewarm sensation down his shirt finally reached him, as he stood up to let the food fall towards the floor, he stood there in absolute disgust, and faced that same disgust from his mother, who now stood up with a revolting and confused look on her face. It reflected in her words too, mixed in with anger after all of the cleaning that she didn’t even do.

“You’re going to clean that up, finish your food, and go to sleep immediately. Understood?” She hissed out, strutting past him and into a closet with all of their cleaning equipment. He stood there, still wondering if he should really tell her about it or just not go. He heaved a sigh, as Nina came back with brooms and mops, to a slightly more distraught Calvin, who reluctantly cleaned up his mess. With that, he ended the night on a sour note. The dinner was the thing he did look forward to, after the day went from bad to worse, with nothing in between that made him any better about himself.

That night, as he laid on his bed, he had a final decision. Either he sat at home, and explained to Ivy later that he couldn’t commit himself because of his strict mother. Or he needed to find a way to sneak out of the household, and finally meet up with her without the other interruption that was always in his ears. He had always wanted to get back at Ivy for her sudden moves with him, especially secretive and behind Rocky’s back. He figured this was a good reason to confront her about it.

So, he set out that night. Being the same as the last time he did it the first time to get to Lackadaisy, this time carrying a suit on him to be extra cautious about: the jacket has wide satin peaked lapels with the point of the lapel pointing upward, with large and rather solid shoulder pads and curved sleeves, a single button closure and four button cuffs. 

The jacket has a breast pocket and a jetted pocket at either side and is lined in black satin fabric on the body and white satin in the sleeves, and a black bowtie to finish off. To him, this had been the first time this suit had ever been worn outside of formal events, and it still had some dust on it as he silently creeped out of the room and down the stairs. Finally, as he stepped outside towards greener grass, he walked slowly towards the city center, and soon caught a taxi towards the Little Daisy Cafe.

The slow, yet endearing tune whistled its way to his lover, as he weaved towards Ivy in the distance. It didn’t seem like he knew about this whole place being this packed, as he did hope for the place to be less packed as it was, but it seemed all the more busy than usual. Horatio even mentioned briefly that “Wick’s party showed up again. Pardon the loud noise.” He quietly, yet deeply regrets not heeding to his advice, holding his hand towards his ears as he found himself surrounded by the constant loud music, the equally as loud chatter from everyone, and the-

“Found you!” A familiar voice caught him off guard, as he felt a hand on his shoulders that complimented the voice of surprise.

Behind him stood Ivy Pepper, who was dressed for the occasion from head to tail. A feather that was essentially in her hair, a necklace of pearls that accompanied the orange-ish dress that covered itself scarlet form the lighting of the place. Ivy smiled at Freckle, now holding his hands as she got closer and closer, Ivy being the most energetic to the confusion of Calvin.

“Uhh- hi?” He said, a slight smile across his face.

“You finally made it!” Ivy heartily said, her smile full of glitz and glamor as her dress. “Oh wait- the music’s about to start!” 

As the two held each other, hand to hand, shoulder to shoulder, they danced onwards and to the slow lover’s tune that resonated with most. Calvin steered himself quietly towards a  slow dance, something Ivy taught Calvin before. To Calvin, it felt more new and oftentimes he’d stumble between steps, accidentally hold Ivy’s hands a little too hard and/or soft, but Ivy withstood the clumsiness. She’s been used to more stubborn people, one of such notoriety is Rocky, yet Calvin’s case is different. He had put in efforts to do whatever she had asked him to do, albeit nervously, but he was capable of doing so with determination. 

The two kept at it, often exchanging positions, and occasionally twirling one another around with an added awkwardness to it. To him, this felt like traversing through this unknown terrain, but to her it’s improv practice. It makes sense, only to her, that he was just playing around with Ivy to get her to come up with newer ideas. As the music faded, the two hastily finished up the last movement to the dance, before mellowing it out towards a standstill.

Face to face, where the two suits of clubs met, they stood at the wooden floor of the dance floor in front. They didn’t wanna move from the spot, at least for a bit, because the night’s sting finally caught up to them. Maybe the dancer’s reprise could bring them both back, but for now they held each other, a moment in time where they exchanged both looks and smiles.

“I… have been meaning to ask you something.” Freckle stuttered, finally wanting to address the elephant in the room.

“What is it, McMurray?” She curiously asked, in a fit of tiredness.

“Why did you bring me here? Alongside Rocky… I mean. Why did you give me the pin?”

“Well… I’ve already told you, have I not? It’s for your own sake.” Ivy replied, seemingly covering something up. “You wanted to get away from your mom, right?”

“I–” He stuttered, a bit confused. On how exactly she read his mind like that.

Ivy giggled, slightly gesturing towards Calvin’s face. “That’s my guess, I might be wrong, you know?”

As the three of clubs brought himself forwards at the request of Ivy, soon one away from the four of clubs. Ivy sighed. She didn’t have an ounce of clue on how he felt, but judging from his soon flustered face, she hit a soft spot in Calvin somehow. Some way. She leaned closer and closer towards him as well, as they spoke to each other, almost following suit of what they had said before.

“My hands aren’t shaky anymore.” She teased, even though it was just shaky, but not enough for Calvin to notice.

“I… I mean, now I know how to kiss.” He laughed back, awkwardly.

“And you still have that mortal terror on that face of yours, McMurray.” She smiled, now they were only an inch away from each other.

Soon, they converged on each other, and finally delivered the kiss on the dance floor.A kiss that left the fourth mark on his suit, as they both embraced it like the last time around, in much better conditions than that pig truck, and in a much better place than that confrontation with Fish and Wes. Slowly, they pulled themselves a tad bit apart, as they both shared one more look between each other. 

“This is when you should say ‘I love you’, Calvin. I’d thought I’d let you know.” 

#calvin mcmurray #freckle lackadaisy #lackadaisy #ivy pepper #lackadaisycats

[qqueenofhades]

thank you for your post i’m doing my best to stay informed on the conflict and i’m very young. i feel guilty being quiet as i understand to uplift voices helps prevent their silencing but this has lead me to not critically think about what i’m spreading

it’s been a long month. i’m only a kid and watching the world go to shit like this has been awful, I always wondered how millennials who lived through post nine eleven imperialism coped and god i’m still not sure how.

I am as a white gentile in a position of privilege and mostly my own person is unaffected by the uptick in violence and evil in the world right now. But my friends who i see every day are in more danger due to this conflict and i feel awful that i cannot ever fully understand or fix the deaths of people.

Right now I’m being a bit too reactionary. I’m doing my best but in the end I am not immune to fearmongering and propoganda, especially in these last couple sleepless weeks.

So thank you and everyone who is keeping level heads and desconstructing what’s happening. I’m sorry and i strive to be better. Thank you.

To anyone living in fear right now i’m so sorry. I will listen when you speak.

Once again I just want to say that I am a busy and uninformed student, and I wish that i had more teachers and authority figures that had objective facts to tell me. It’s suffocating to have fake news everywhere but feel powerless if you don’t know anything

it’s ok if you don’t respond to this

Thank you for your post

Thanks for this message and for taking the time to put it into words and to reflect on your own actions and rhetoric. It takes a lot of courage and self-awareness to admit that you were wrong and that you want to do better, and I'm not going to rip into you or blame you or otherwise shame you for it. So I hope this gives you the confidence to read on without feeling like you'll be raked over the coals for it, and open you to hear some ideas for doing things differently.

First, I do have a ton of sympathy for you as a young person who feels overwhelmed and exhausted by all the evil in the world, and is wondering how to get through it, react to it, or otherwise make some kind of moral response in the face of this soul-crushing trauma. I will say here that I am a little bit older than your average Tumblr user (the majority of this site is in their early-mid twenties), I do personally remember 9/11 and its aftermath when a lot of people here weren't even born yet, and I am an academic historian with a doctorate. That does not mean I am better or smarter or More Perfect or whatever at what I say, but it means that I do have a considerable amount of institutional, formal, and professional practice at analyzing a lot of complex information, putting it into words, breaking it down for less-specialist audiences, pointing out logical fallacies, and so forth.

That is not a skill that everyone has, and in the face of nonstop 24-hour news-cycle social media information overload, it can be incredibly difficult to parse it or understand how you're supposed to respond to it or what your moral obligation in response to this knowledge might be. I wrote this ask the other day in response to someone else asking how to improve their critical thinking skills and be more discerning about what they understood, shared, and analyzed. I strongly encourage you to read it, as it addresses a lot of what you're saying about feeling negative, depressed, panicked, angry, and all the other emotions that are naturally evoked in you from reading this stuff nonstop and feeling like the only thing you can (or should) do is immerse your brain in it at all times. In short, that is absolutely the worst environment to do actual substantial analysis or critical thinking, and it is designed so on purpose.

It has been said before, but it bears repeating: the human brain simply is not designed to be constantly aware of all the atrocities in the world and thus (thanks to social media) feeling as if the only way they can do anything about it is to then post the Correct Opinions on social media (regardless of whether these are informed or relevant or otherwise useful). Especially now, the rush to demonstrate Correct Thinking has warped a lot of otherwise well-meaning young people into becoming eager disinformation mouthpieces. There are a TON of explicitly bad-faith actors and far-right fascists who are posting pro-Palestine content (factual or uh, otherwise) because they know that's an instant way to get an audience of said young left-leaning people who will then be suckered into and exposed to their far more dangerous content and mindset, because that is how radicalization works. Even in the support of an obviously worthy cause, you and everyone else ARE NOT IMMUNE to fearmongering, disinformation, and virulently anti-Semitic propaganda, especially when it's being eagerly and constantly offered in a deliberate attempt to radicalize you further into violence and conspiracy theories, turn you against other vulnerable groups and people, and explicitly disengage you from the electoral/political process, which will harm the Democrats and other liberal establishment parties in favor of more far-right radical fascist theocrats and otherwise make everything, everywhere, many orders of magnitude worse.

I know the feeling that you need to do something, and since you're a long way from the conflict, it seems as if posting on social media is the best and/or the only way to go about it. In that environment, and especially right now, you will make mistakes. I know it is difficult in an online environment where popularity or acceptance by your peers often rests on never being wrong about anything (i.e. saying the same thing everyone else is saying), but it always helps to think about what you're doing, what you're saying, and if you actually need the approval of people who are conditioning you, implicitly or explicitly, into negative and violent ideological nihilism.

The hardest thing to understand is that yes, there is a lot of terrible shit going on in the world; no, you cannot personally fix it and you have to accept that as a limitation; yes, there are many multiple and complex causes and reasons for its existence and there is almost never a black-and-white simplistic moral solution that just hasn't been magically implemented yet; yes, it is always worth it to take the time to inform yourself and consider what you're saying, where it comes from, who it helps and who it hurts, and why you feel the need to say it in the first place. Of course you want to help. Of course you want to stop the needless suffering and death that has gone on in the world for millennia and unfortunately, as long as humans are humans, will continue to do so. But even so, take it away Gandalf:

#anonymous #ask

[artzee-bee]

Jealousy

Fandom: My babysitter's a vampire; Ethan Morgan x reader

Request: "basically, reader acts like she hates ethan because she thinks he has a big crush on Sarah, but eth hears her talking about him to Erica or smth??? I just think it would be sooo cute tysm"

Genre: fluff

Warnings: cussing

A/n: anyone wanna come up with titles for me? I'm done.

~~~

“Is she still staring at me?”

“Yep” Ethan went to adjust the hood of his hoodie again.

“Can you be any more obvious than that?” Benny remarks and Ethan’s hands go down slowly

“What’s her deal anyways? What did I even do wrong?”

“Why are you asking me? How would I know?”

“Hey guys!” a certain blonde boy appears , with a tray of food in hand

“Rory, sit down and eat your food!”

“Well someone’s in a bad mood today, damn Benny.”

Ethan is still staring down at his lunch. The mere thought of putting something in his mouth feels overwhelming. Anxiety runs through his body and he can’t stop his leg from shaking under the table. He’s trying not to make it obvious that he can feel your gaze on the back of his head from the other side of the room but that’s very difficult.

“What’s wrong with you E? What's wrong with everyone today?” Rory, the ever-so-oblivious, picked up on him acting weird. That’s definitely a bad sign.

“Y/n has been tearing him limb for limb with her eyes for the last 5 days and he has no idea why.” Benny answers

“Why?”

“...didn’t I just say…” and the normal banter starts again

Ethan does the same thing he’s been doing every night for the last 3 days: think. Think back to the day you stopped talking. Where was he? Well at school, it was monday. What did he do? Nothing unusual. Just classes and then lunch with the guys. He’s gone through his routine a dozen times by now, there was nothing to point out new and the more time passed, the more blurry his memories got.

The most frustrating part was how sudden it had all been. You two were so close, in fact you were the closest you had ever been. Ethan met you around 3 years ago now, when you joined their little friend group but in the past month, it was like you and him were growing so much closer within your own relationship. There was a lot more time spent between just the two of you, a lot more messages exchanged. Late night video game competitions and sometimes study sessions, although those would more than definitely turn into a regular hangout session with no work done. Ethan was enjoying how much more time you would spend at his house everyday and how happy you seemed to always be. He felt so comfortable with you. There was a sense of never having to worry about being anything other than himself, because he knew, without a doubt, that you liked him just as he was. He didn’t need to show off, and that was nice!

And then suddenly you’re not wishing him good morning when you walk past his locker. You take a seat at a different table in your shared classes. When Ethan approached you to see what’s up, you quickly made some lame excuse and got out of there, every time! You stopped replying to messages, let alone come over like you used to. At first he thought you were going through something and needed your space, so he tried to respect that. But the more time passed, the less ignored he felt and much more resented. The nasty glares, purposeful ignorance of him. You didn’t even make the effort to reply to him when he approached you at school anymore, instead walking right on ahead without eye contact. Now you were sitting at a different table for lunch, staring arrows at the back of his head. It was really aggravating how what he considered to be a nice, open and honest friendship was now turning into what felt like a rivalry. He didn’t like accepting it but your behavior was growing aggravating. It was getting on his nerves and even he could tolerate it any longer. He couldn’t stand the thought he did something wrong. He was perfectly innocent! None of the people he asked could think of something he did wrong. HE couldn’t think of something he did wrong. You were so absurd for this! You were so absurd in your behavior for no reason at all!!

The days passed on like that. One week turned into 2 and you still weren’t talking. In fact Ethan had resolved to send you his own nasty glances. When he catches you staring at him again, with the same aggravated frown, he simply raises his eyebrows in a challenge instead of pretending not to notice. It sure didn’t help mend things but he was exhausted of you. If you were looking for attention you’d have to find it elsewhere!

And things kept getting worse! Ethan was still upset and could not get over you. Could not go back to being his old, cheery self knowing you were mad at him. He tried to push his questioning thoughts away but sometimes they were just too much. One positive thing came out of that though: he created a mechanism. When he felt his head too heavy with thoughts, he would go out for a walk. It’s not anything he generally did, but it helped now and it was probably good for him to get some fresh air so it’s ok. That’s how he found himself hearing your laugh. At first he thought he was imagining but no, it was definitely you. Even tho he wasn’t sure where the noise was coming from, it was definitely you!

He tried following the sound, which led him down the street to a convenience store. He didn’t have to pass the corner of the building to know you would be there. He could now clearly hear you and Erica talking.

“It’s not my fault!” your annoyed voice was somehow comforting after so long of no contact

“Listen, I’m never gonna be the one to blame you. If anything, boys are always at fault!”

that got a laugh out of you. So sweet and innocent, it made Ethan feel weak. He knew he shouldn’t be listening into your private conversations but God, it was too interesting to back out now.

“Whatever. I mean he can like who he likes, it’s not my problem to deal with but also, I don’t wanna just sit on the sidelines and watch that happening. Gross!”

“Do you think she would say yes to him?”

“Erica I seriously don’t wanna think about it”

“I mean Sarah is way out of his league in the first place. And definitely uninterested. I mean could you actually imagine them together?”

“Ethan and Sarah? Yeah, I’ve done my fair share of imagining, thanks!”

This made E’s heart drop to his stomach. Him and Sarah? What the hell was this about? There was nothing going on between them. Yes, she was a pretty girl and he used to have a crush on her but that was a long while ago now. He’s swiftly moved on since she made it very clear that she was uninterested. Plus, the closer they got, the more he grew to understand that they would really not work, so it was all fine. So why were they the subject of conversation?

“Of all the girls in the world, you were the closest to him. Honestly, if he was gonna fall for someone, it should have been you!” and you scoff at this

“Well it wasn’t. I heard them talk. He’s into Sarah and all the guys are supportive of that. They are good friends and I wish them all the best but he made his decision and it was not me so I’m moving on in the only way I know how. Creating distance.” “Whatever you say girlie!” Erica’s voice seemed uninterested

Ethan left after that. He had heard too much. ```

He couldn’t find the courage to approach you about what he’d heard immediately after. A part of him was worried you would get mad for listening in on your conversations, the other part of him kept questioning what he’d heard and if it was really true. Did you want him to choose you? Because he will. He already has damn it, just didn’t have the courage to express it. Is that why you were so cold all of a sudden? Would this count as jealousy? He blushed anytime he thought about it. You were jealous because you wanted to be with him! How much luckier can a guy get?

At first he wanted to talk to Benny about it, get some advice but on second thought, decided not to. For a small second he considered asking his mom but quickly changed his mind. He had never really had ‘girl problems’ if you can even call it that, he wasn’t sure who to go to for advice. 

It took about a week for him to build up the courage to talk to you. He had pondered the idea back and forth basically every waking moment and was never sure what to do really. When he saw you waiting at the bus station one day after school, all alone and scrolling on his phone, he pushed back every thought and insecurity he felt and approached you, almost mechanically.

“Hey!” his voice cracked a little, giving away the nerves swirling in his head. You barely spared him a second of your time to look at him before going back to scrolling 

“How have you been?” he tried, admittedly lacking the old confidence he had around you

“Just peachy. You need something or what?”

“Just making conversation.”

“yeah…don’t really feel like it. Long day, y’know?” but when you caught his eye, the boredom was so clear in your eyes. It hurt him more to see you didn’t even care about hiding your distaste for him anymore

“Yep, got it.” Ethan laughed in response. All his courage, gone! Within seconds!! That irritated him so much. He had prepared for this. Went through every possible scenario, even tried acting out some speeches in his room in preparation and you still had him at your feet with a glance. He felt pathetic and for the first time ever, genuinely enraged by this whole situation. You used to be best fucking friends and look at you now! All within a matter of weeks and from a misunderstanding at that too!!! He knew how to fix this, he just had to say it so why couldn’t he? 

“I don’t even like Sarah like that…'' he snarled, under his breath and frankly it was a miracle that you heard him over the white noise of the busy town.

“Like shit you don’t.” 

That’s what you had to say? Of all fucking things that was your first reaction?!

“How would you even know how I feel?”

“Clear as day on your face and actions! I don’t need to be a mind reader to crack into that big head of yours!”

“You have no idea what you are even talking about! I act with her the same way I act with all my friends!” Ethan’s voice failed to hide the anger surging through his body. Now, as he faced you completely, head tall and fists clenched in frustration, you seemed just as uninterested. Your gaze didn’t shift from the cracked screen of your phone, shoulders hunched, totally disengaged. It just fueled E more.

“ You don’t even have a problem with Sarah!” he started again, throwing all logic to the wind and speaking whatever came to him “ You just hate that she’s a girl! You would have made this shit up regardless of who it was I got close to!”

Finally, your attention was on him!

“What the fuck makes you think I care enough for that?” you stood up, looking him in the eye

“You mean to tell me we’ve been friends for years with no problems but the second a new girl enters my life and I start spending time with her, you act all crazy and throw a fit? What am I supposed to make of that?” “This has nothing to do with Sarah to begin with! See? There you go making false assumptions again and acting all smart about them, like you actually did something!” “I’m not the one making unbased theories and running with them! You never even asked me about my feelings for Sarah! You just draw a conclusion yourself and then go complain about me to Erica, don’t you?” Anyone would have been able to see the dots connecting in your head at that time. You didn’t spend that much time with Erica anyways.

“You were there?”

“I was behind the corner of the store”

“You were hiding?! What the hell?”

“I wasn’t doing anything! I was out on a walk, I happened to hear your voice!” but his explanation gains him nothing but an irritated scoff. You go back to your phone, seemingly ready to ignore him again, but that just won’t be enough

“So now that all the cards are on the table, can we address the elephant in the room?”

“As I said, you like Sarah. It’s very clear. And that’s fine and you can do whatever you want!” your voice didn’t carry the same rage as before, much more mellow and distant. 

Detached.

“I liked Sarah! A long time ago. I don’t now!”

“Okay” said with absolute indifference. Ethan, couldn’t help a roll of the eyes

“You’re unbelievable!” “What do you honestly want me to do right now?!”

“Just say that you like me, if you do!” “I fucking like you Ethan! God damn, I’d think you’d be smart enough to piece it together yourself but clearly you’re just-”

The grasp Ethan had on the back of your head felt strangely powerful and as he pulled you into him, locking your lips together, you genuinely felt yourself considering if this was the same man you knew! Truth be told, Ethan thought about this moment forever! About kissing you, about confessing to you! When he heard your conversation with Erica however, perspectives changed. Now all his thoughts were clouded by you confessing to him, admitting that what his speculations were, in fact, true. He thought about what he would say, how he would react to receiving that confirmation. He practiced the soft smile he’d give you in return, the quiet but tender confession of his own feelings. One thing he never expected himself to do is to aggressively pull you by the back of your neck and kiss you powerfully. He never thought himself the kind to have enough confidence to just go in for such a shameless kiss, but in that moment he wanted nothing more than to just shut you up!

It took a little bit to register, to wrap your head around the sharp pull of your hair and the sloppy moves of his lips on yours. Every conceivable thought in your head told you to pull away, slap him, tell him to leave you alone but your body had a mind of its own and you found yourself tugging him closer by the collar. Your lips moved on his with just as much intensity and fervor as his! The build up of emotion, frustration, anger, all of it boiled down to this moment. Ethan’s hand sneaked around your waist, pulling you impossibly closer and finally, as if satisfied with this outcome, his grip on you loosened. His kisses turned progressively softer. The hand in your hair moved to cup your cheek and almost instinctively, you followed his lead, letting go of the tight grip you had on his shirt, resting your hand of his chest instead.

It felt like a real kiss. Like all the kisses you dreamed about every time you thought of him. You knew your cheeks were burning up and that now, after your anger had subsided, the reality of your situation, the confession, Ethan’s fingers pressing into the plush of your waist, all of it made you shy. When he finally pulled away, bruised lips and breathing heavily, you couldn’t look at him. All this time, you used your anger to cover for just how weak in the knees this man had you but now, somehow, even that had been stripped away.

“I…um..sorry about that! I...should have asked” Ethan was blushing just as much. He was starting to second guess his actions. He took 2 steps back, giving you room again, the feeling of your ragged breaths so close to his lips made his head spin

“It’s ok” you whispered. This was an unusual situation. In one move, all your cards had been turned upside down and now there was no point in even trying to deny the truth.

“So are we good?” Despite trying to sound confident, you could hear the edge of nervousness in Ethan’s voice. It’s the kind of knowledge that comes with many years spent together, and the thought makes you smile.

“Yeah. We’re good.” “Can we possibly be more than good?” Ethan’s chuckles, as if he already knows the answer, if the blush on your cheeks is anything to go by anyways. You giggle in return and nod.

#mbav #mbav x reader #ethan morgan x reader #ethan morgan #ethan morgan imagine #ethan morgan fluff #my babysitters a vampire

[choicesfandomappreciation]

Be Kind to HumanKind Week

Be Kind to Humankind Week is an annual worldwide celebration of kindness from August 25th-31st.

A lot of you expressed interest, but since no one gave me any ideas of how they'd like to see it celebrated in the fandom this year, I'm going to keep it simple!

I challenge you (yes, you) to send at least ONE kind message every day during the last week of August. You can send it anon or not. (I personally sometimes like getting anon positive messages because the mystery of behind it means it can be from anyone.) They do not have to be long messages, short and sweet is just as good. You just want to let the person know you are thinking about them. I do challenge you to try to message someone you haven't talked to in a while, or perhaps someone you've never talked to but have seen on your dash. Let's try to spread kindness to as many people as we can during this week!

If you get anon hate this week, delete it. Don't reply. Don't let it get to you. The only thing that matters this week (and always) is kindness! And to everyone who is sending anon hate, I challenge you to take the week off and think about what you're doing. I'm sure you can find something else to do with your time. Maybe even try sending a kind anon message!

You don't need to tag me or anything, this event is really just about spreading kindness, not keep track of anything.

Want to participate, but aren't sure what to send?

Here are some messages that I've written for this as well as ones written as part of my Sunday Positive Messages. Feel free to use and edit them as you like 💛 [I didn't include it, but feel free to add my PS about drinking water to any of the messages if you'd like to put it back😊🫶💛]

★Just stopping by to say hi! 👋 I hope your week is going well!

★ Hey! Hope you're doing well. Remember that you're awesome, and I'm here cheering you on. Have a wonderful week!

★ Hi! This week, may you find inspiration in the everyday moments and discover new reasons to smile and be proud of all you accomplished.

★You are amazing and you matter. Remember that. No matter how your day is going, I hope this makes you smile. You deserve to have a good day. Sending sunshine and sunflowers just for you: ☀️ 🌻🌻🌻 💛

★ I'm so proud of you and everything you have endured and achieved. I hope you know how worthy you are and how much you bring to the world. We are so lucky to have you in our fandom! (Share if you'd like to spread the encouragement, but no pressure) 💛

★ You are incredible and if no one told you this today, I want to wish you the best with whatever you want to do today even if you just want to rest.

★ Just a quick reminder that you are important! You are appreciated! You matter! You are doing a great job! You will get through this. Keep going!

★ You can do it. Even when you may doubt yourself. Even when things may feel overwhelming. Pause and breathe. Remember how far you've come. Trust yourself. You are so very capable and you're going to do amazing! 💛

★ Hi! I know we don't talk much, but I wanted to send a little positivity your way. Remember, even small steps can lead to big moments of joy. Keep going! 💛

★ Hello!Just wanted to drop a quick note to brighten your day. Your happiness matters, and I hope today brings you joy!

★ Somebody thinks you're amazing (It's me, I'm the somebody). Never forget your worth! You are more than enough! 💛

★ You don't need to spend your time proving yourself to others. If someone doesn't appreciate you, it's not your job to convince them. you are enough and you are doing AMAZING! (and I appreciate you!!!)

If you have encouraging quotes or song lyrics or messages of your own, you are more than welcome to send those as well. I just wanted to give people a place to start, hoping it might encourage more to participate!

#choices #playchoices #choices game #choices fandom appreciation #choices fandom #choices events #playchoices fandom

[coldfanbou]

Decisions Decisions (ICSM pt2)

So this is a continuation of the storyline from the Jihyo piece, I wanted to put in more story, so this is an attempt at that. It's slightly angsty. It hurt me to make Nayeon villainous because she's my bias. I hope everyone has a good day. Oh, also, I have no idea what I could title this series; if anyone has a good idea, please say it

Length 2.2K

Nayeon x M reader featuring voyeur Dahyun

Previous Part

Next Part

It had been a few days since you got caught having sex with Jihyo in Twice’s locker room. Those three words that Nayeon said are stuck in your head “We want in.” In any other situation, it might have been a dream to hear those words considering that Twice had some of the most beautiful women, but it was difficult for you to enjoy that. Following those words, an argument short started between Jihyo and Nayeon. Jihyo and Nayeon would say some pretty harsh things before Jihyo would stop arguing and escort you to the exit of the building, telling you that she would talk to you later. Your relationship with Jihyo was a "friends with benefit" one, but at the same time, you had spent a long time just being her friend. Being there for her when she needed you, hearing all the problems that she went through. A sense of worry overwhelmed you; you had messaged her asking if everything was okay, but there was no response. You started to think that maybe your actions were a huge mistake. Maybe you ruined everything for the two of you. There was no use in overthinking it now; you’d just have to hope everything would be fine. Getting ready for bed, you hear a knock on the door; looking through the peephole, you see a group of people. They wore oversized clothes, masks, and sunglasses to blend in, but it only made them stand out more.

At that moment, Jihyo’s voice rings out, “Hey, it’s me; let us in.” Opening the door, it’s evident that Twice had all come together. Making their way inside, you tell them to take a seat anywhere. Nayeon makes her way to the center of the room, taking a seat on the couch. The rest of the members sat around her. Jihyo herself stands in the corner glaring at them. It’s difficult to tell what exactly they might’ve talked about before, but with the tension in the air, you can tell they didn’t come to any sort of agreement. 

“Take a seat,” Nayeon tells you, pointing right in front of her. Glancing at Jihyo, she nods, never taking an eye off Nayeon. Sitting in front of Nayeon and the rest of Twice sends a shiver down your spine. A feeling in the back of your head is telling you that this can’t possibly be good. “Jihyo’s been telling us that you two have had this sort of relationship for a while, is that right?” You nod along, unsure of how you should be answering. “Well, you see, idols like us have a lot of unfulfilled desire, as I’m sure you can tell” Nayeon’s eyes shifted between you and Jihyo as she said that. “If you were able to hide your relationship with Jihyo from even us for so long, I think you would be a great person to have. So I’m here to offer you a position. Why don’t you become our little sex slave? Jihyo’s already agreed to share you with us; all we need is for you to agree.” A large grin forming over Nayeon’s face sends more chills down your spine

You’re completely overwhelmed by what Nayeon’s just said; she’s entirely unlike what you would have imagined by her on-screen personality. Even though she hasn’t threatened you in any way, the tone in her voice holds such power that it feels like one. Stuttering, you ask, “H-has Jihyo really agreed to this?” The power dynamics of your relationship have made themselves apparent at this point.

“Yes, she has, isn’t that right, Jihyo?”

“That’s right,” Jihyo responds with a muted voice. You can’t believe what you just heard; Jihyo agreed to this. 

“I’m not sure; I’ll need time to think about this.” It feels like agreeing to this is betraying Jihyo. You turn to look at her; she’s not meeting your gaze. She’s turned away from you.

“Let me help you make up your mind.” As you turn back to face Nayeon, she’s leaned in, pressing her lips against yours, her tongue trying to access your mouth. She pushes you onto your back. She’s straddling you now. “ Why don’t you all go back to the dorms? I’ll stay here and convince him.” The girls start to make their way out; in the corner of your eye, you see Jihyo’s face, a tear falling as she turns and walks out. 

As everyone leaves, Dahyun stops at the door before turning around and asking, “Unnie can’t I stay and watch?” 

“Sure you can. You can use this as an opportunity to learn.” Whispering into your ear Nayeon says, “You know she’s very curious about sex. She’s our pure little girl. Don’t you just want to ruin her, turn her into your very own cumdump” Nayeon’s words have a profound effect as you grow harder hearing her talk about Dahyun in that way. “Oh, I can feel you love that idea about pumping our little Dubu full of your cum. Let me show you what your life as our sex slave will be like if you agree” Nayeon starts grinding against you, slowly stripping down. Her smooth skin is fully revealed to you now, her shapely breasts with her small pink nipples, her toned midriff, it was impossible to look away from Nayeon’s body. Your focus was entirely dedicated to Nayeon, as you soon forgot Dahyun was watching just feet away. Nayeon’s smile grew wider as she noticed you staring. Without saying a word, she takes your clothes off, your shirt going first, before she strips you of your shorts and boxers in a single fluid movement. “Wow, I can see why Jihyo kept you hidden from us. She wanted to keep this all to herself,” Nayeon says while slapping her face with your cock. Nayeon’s hand glides over your length as she starts to stroke your cock methodically. Her pace would shift from a quick 5-second burst of energy to a painfully slow movement, occasionally stopping to rub the head of your cock with her thumb in small circular motions. Nayeon seemed to be a master at this; it hadn’t been more than a minute before you felt yourself on the verge of cumming. Nayeon then releases her grip, distracted by all the pleasure she had been giving you; you failed to notice Nayeon had taken the rest of her clothes off. As she straddles you again, she hovers above your cock. “So what do you say, are you in?” 

“I-I don’t-” You can’t finish your sentence; you moan out in pleasure as Nayeon takes your cock and begins to tease you. She’s grabbed hold of your cock, angling it towards the entrance of her pussy, having the head run along her wet folds. Your cock becomes slicker as her juices run down it.

“What was that?” Nayeon asks in a teasing voice, a laugh following it. You can feel yourself reaching your limit.

“Please” That’s all you can get out; you don’t even mean to say it. It just comes out of your mouth.

“Please, what? You have to be clear and tell me what you want.”

At the moment, everything else around you vanishes, nothing matters, your focus entirely on Nayeon. 

“Please, I want you.” With those words, you had just agreed to be Twice’s shared boy toy for the foreseeable future. Nayeon’s laugh echoes through your head; you lose control; grabbing her hips, you bring her down. Impaling her on your cock, going into the depths of Nayeon's warm slick pussy you cum inside her. It’s a shock to her system, the feeling of being filled. She collapses on top of you. 

Her head on your shoulder turns to you, a laugh coming out first. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist.” Nayeon goes in for a kiss, one that you don’t refuse. As you try to lift Nayeon, she quickly plants herself back down on your cock. “You don’t get to control me, lover boy; you are my slave remember?” A devious smile forms on her face as she grinds on your now sensitive cock. She bends down, kissing your chest, eventually reaching your nipple and licking around it. As moans escape you, you’re able to glance over, only to see Dahyun fingering herself under the skirt she had worn. She bit her bottom lip, and her eyes were full of lust as she watched you and Nayeon fuck. Nayeon slaps you, “You’re supposed to focus on me.” She raises and drops her hips, sending waves of pleasure up your spine. “Tonight, you’re all mine, and I’m going to make sure to drain you of everything you have.”

As she continues to throw herself at you, she demands that you match her. “I want you to reach my womb and fill me up with your cum; I want every last drop.” You follow her lead; Nayeon’s moans become louder and louder with each thrust. As you’re about to reach your climax again, you feel Nayeon’s pussy tighten its grip around you; with one more thrust, you unleash another wave of cum into Nayeon. Her back arching and the piercing scream she lets out are signs that she came too. Despite that, she doesn’t stop moving her hips. “Fuck, that’s what I needed; you better not give out on me now. I want to get at least another round out of you. You did great for your first round, though; just this once, I’ll give you a little treat.” Nayeon takes your cock out of her, moving so that your cock now lines up with her asshole. As slick as your cock now was with your cum and Nayeon’s juice, there was no way it would go inside her in one smooth motion. You would have to deal with the pressure of lasting until you were fully inside her ass. Nayeon, not showing any hesitation, pushes the head of your cock in, her moans louder than before. “Fuck, you’re so big” She slowly lowers herself down more to your length “Fuck Fuck Fuck” Her moans are coming out of her faster now. Nayeon was two-thirds down your shaft when she decided to drop herself. The sudden movement causes you both to let out a huge moan. Nayeon’s asshole was much tighter; she let out another laugh, her tongue hanging out of her mouth Nayeon is thoroughly enjoying having your cock deep inside her. 

“Nayeon, please wait.” 

“You’re not the one in control here; I am.” As she says that, she begins her movements, wild and erratic, Nayeon is going to drive you both crazy. Her tight ass causes you to reach your limit early; all you can do is try and hold on. Her quick movements made her slick, allowing her to go as fast as she’d like. You would have to try and get her to cum quickly. Just then, you manage to have an idea. Nayeon’s ego might be your ticket out if you can feed it with praise. “Fuck, your dick is so big; I bet you fuck Jihyo like this all the time, don’t you?” Nayeon moans out; as you thrust deep into her ass, you reach out and grab her tits. 

“I do, but you’re so much better; she’s never let me fuck her ass.”

“That’s right, I’m so much better than her,” Nayeon’s moans start coming faster and faster. 

“Nayeon, you’re so much better; why don’t you let me be your personal fuckstick.” 

“Fuck, that’s right, I'll make you my own; you’ll never want to be with her again.”  Nayeon begins dropping herself at an even faster pace, “Fuck, I’m cumming, cum inside me; cum inside my ass.” 

At that moment, you release all your pent-up tension, cumming inside of Nayeon. Both of you released screams of pleasure, a third voice joining you as Dahyun reached her climax. In all the action, you had forgotten that Dahyun was here again. You see, she has removed her blouse when you look over at her. Her skirt was now wet with her juices. Looking back at Nayeon, she was recovering from her last orgasm. As she lifts herself off you, some of your cum leaks. As you both get up, Nayeon says, “You can clean that up later. You made a smart decision today; you won’t regret it.” One last smile formed across her face. “Dahyun, come on, we have to get back to the dorms.” After making themselves presentable, they begin to take their leave. 

Dahyun turns around as she reaches the door; with a big smile, she says. “I can’t wait until it’s my turn with you; we’re going to have a great time” As she walks out, you're all alone. A sense of guilt is overcoming you. You feel empty. You hear your phone go off when you go over and check it; you see a group chat message. 

“I hope we can all have lots of fun together.” It was coming from Nayeon. You disregard the message and instead send a private message to Jihyo.

“Jihyo, you can’t really be okay with this, right? Please talk to me.”  

“I don't want to talk right now. Just give me some space. Please.” It’s heartbreaking, but what can you do now? All you can do right now is clean your apartment.

#twice smut #nayeon smut #male reader #kpop smut

[deejadabbles]

Forbidden Blossom (Kix x Fem!Reader, Fantasy AU Part 2)

Part One || Part Two || Part Three Coming Soon

Summary: The tyrant king had never claimed to love you and you certainly held no affection for him. Thankfully, there was someone else who captured your heart. Rating: Gen (but minors DNI!) A.N: Listen....I'm just really obsessed with fantasy AUs right now, so I just had to continue what I created back during Halloween! As always, this got way out of hand and the continuation got too long, so this will be a 3 parter. Part 3 will be posted next week so I don't overwhelm anyone Word Count: 3,409 Warnings: Forced engagement, abusive relationships, implied physical abuse, life threats, and forbidden love. If you are concerned that this chapter's content might be triggering, please feel free to send me a message! I will do my best to answer any questions (without triggering language). That goes for all of my fics, I want everyone reading to be safe.

Masterlist /// Tag List Sign Up  /// AO3

The sheets felt like sandpaper, despite their silken weave, the air cold and stifling regardless of the fire and windows ajar. A prison, even though the doors were not locked.

You didn’t know what time of day it was, but the chamber maids had cleared out recently marking that it was some time before lunch, probably. That wouldn’t matter, you had barely eaten anything since you’d been dragged to the palace of the tyrant.

So, it almost surprised you when you heard voices outside your door. One voice was the captain of your guard, the man who, at least once a day, insisted that you eat something. The other voice was not one you recognized and that alone made you stir just a little under your duvet. Not just anyone was permitted into your chambers, let alone this close to your bedroom door.

“Oh gods, please- please don’t let it be him!”

But even as the heartstopping thought came to you, it was wiped away by the gentleness of the stranger's voice. There was no way the King you had met could sound so…

“There has to be something you can do, Kix.” That was Fox, a good man despite his stern frown.

There was a sigh from the stranger “I can try but….” a thought mulled over, carefully considered, “brother, I can’t heal a broken heart.”

“And why would you think- actually, never mind just…just do something, before he does something.”

The sound of retreating boots followed, along with another sigh a moment later. A heartbeat went by and you hoped the stranger had abandoned his assignment, that he would just leave you to your gilded cage, but then the doors to your bedroom opened.

You retreated further under your blankets, sinking into their plush warmth that still seemed so abrasive to your skin. Maybe if he thought you were asleep he would try again later. Yet again though, this mystery man surprised you. His steps towards your lavish bed were slow and careful, as if approaching a dragon’s nest.

“Your Highness?” he asked, voice quiet and soft. Highness, not Majesty, because you were not yet married to that evil man- thank the gods. “My Lady, I’m a doctor, I’ve been asked to see to your health.” His voice was closer now, right beside the head of your bed.

“I’m not sure there’s anything you can do, Doctor,” came your voice from under the fabric.

Another beat of silence, then, “Would you be willing to let me try, at least?”

You had no idea what or why, but something in his tone made you pull back the covers and peer up at him. He was handsome, devastatingly so, with finely styled hair, but the thing that drew you in most were his eyes. A rich brown color and holding a look that…it wasn’t pity. This was the first time a member of the palace had looked at you softly without pity and that alone kept you from ordering him out of your room.

He smiled then, as soft and kindly as his eyes when he reached out to your hand. “May I?”

Soft and considerate, this man was impressing you more by the minute. You nodded and held your palm up to him. Gently, he took your wrist and pressed his fingers to the soft skin there.

“Alright, your pulse is fine,” he hummed then, again slowly so you had time to stop him, he reached that hand to your forehead. His fingers were cool, like a refreshing damp cloth on a hot day, and it was all you could do not to lean into his touch. “No fever, either,” he continued thoughtfully. Then, after a moment he took his hand away, “May I ask you some questions?”

You nodded numbly, silently.

Instead of immediately asking this and that about your medical history, he instead walked over to your fireplace and grabbed one of the chairs. He brought it over to the bedside and sat with a little satisfied sigh.

“Tell me about your home.”

That caused you to blink, “Wh-what?”

His knowing smile didn’t falter, “Talk to me, My Lady. Tell me about where you grew up. What you loved most about it. The things that made you happy there.”

Your brows came together in confusion and you finally sat upright to meet his handsome eyes better. He didn’t repeat himself, just waited patiently. Despite the fact that his gaze never left your face, you were suddenly very aware of the fact that you were in nothing but your thin night clothes. He was a doctor, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen exposed bodies before, but your sudden shyness prompted you to lift the blanket over your chest as you settled your back against the pillows.

“Well…” you started after clearing your throat. 

Where would you even start with his question? You missed everything about home, every tiny detail that stood in stark contrast to this place. You missed the sun coming in to shine over a room you decorated and filled yourself. You missed visiting the village and all who greeted you with a smile and a wave. Missed the late nights with friends and people you loved. And the people who loved you back.

That and so much more came to mind, but, you only had to think for a moment longer before a memory two weeks old came back to you. 

Nothing about this arranged marriage had pleased you, but you had at least tried to find some enjoyment in your first days here. Then you had taken a walk through the gardens and when even they did not spark joy, your emotions spiraled, landing you here, in your current state.

“I miss my gardens,” you said finally, staring off at nothing in particular. “They were so beautiful. So colorful and vibrant…. Not like the bare, minimal flower beds here.” You trailed off for a moment, pulling up fond memories from the depths of your mind and, for maybe the first time since you started your journey here, you smiled. A real, genuine smile. “There was one section where our gardener would let things get just a little overgrown,” a ghost of a laugh escaped you as you met the Doctor’s eyes again, “he said that it represented ‘wild beauty’ and somehow convinced my father to keep it. My loved ones and I set up a little tea area there and every afternoon we would go walking through the gardens and…just talk and laugh. Simple pleasures.”

The Doctor’s smile turned encouraging and your body turned to him fully. Before you knew it you were telling him stories, stories of you and your best friends racing through the flowers, of begging the bakers to let you help prepare the treats you’d stuff into baskets and carry out there. Stories of reenacting scenes from your favorite books like children playing pretend. He listened to it all, laughing along with you, asking questions here and there and encouraging you all the way.

You weren’t even sure how much time had passed before you realized that the weight that had been pressing on your chest for weeks felt…lighter now. Suddenly, the room wasn’t quite as suffocating as before. Maker, you even had the urge to pull back the curtains to let a little sunlight in.

The good doctor must have noticed your sudden silence, because he pulled his chair just a little closer to you. “Thank you, for sharing those stories with me, Your Highness.” He paused for a moment, seeming to think something over. “I know I’ve already asked a lot of you, but, could I ask one more thing?”

You couldn’t find it in yourself to even hesitate, you nodded silently.

“I would love to show you something, it’s a beautiful day and I think a walk would do you some good. Will you get dressed and meet with me?”

And there it was, he was still asking you, considering you, taking your wants into account. No one here had ever done that. Not truly.

“Yes, yes, I think that sounds nice.”

Those eyes of his brightened “Excellent! Take your time, I’ll tell Fox where to escort you.”

With that, he got up, pulled the chair back to its original spot and made for the door. Only now it was time for your own question, “Wait- Doctor! What’s your name? You didn’t give it earlier.”

For the first time, he looked surprised, “Kix, My Lady. You may call Kix.” He looked back at you with his hand on the doorknob. “I look forward to our walk, Your Highness.”

And with that, he- Kix, slipped out of the room. It was only then that you realized there was a small fluttering sensation in your stomach, something light and almost uneasy. Well, you hadn’t eaten much in so long, it must be that. You thought about indulging in one of the snack trays the maids left at your bedside, but the thought still didn’t quite appeal to you. 

Still, the fact that you could pull yourself out of bed and start putting thought into what you wanted to wear was a good improvement.

You did not call on your handmaids, the idea of being surrounded by people, of hands on your skin and in your hair, did not sit well at the moment. Despite that, and the fact that it was the first time in days you had come out of your room, It did not take that long to get ready and ask Fox to escort you to this mysterious location.

At first when you stepped outside the east wing, your heart dropped slightly, knowing that this was the way to the gardens that were a stark, depressing imitation of your lavish grounds back home. But, the gentle doctor was not waiting for you there. Yes, you had to walk through those almost sterile flowerbeds, but obviously this was not the intended meeting spot. 

You kept your eyes forward, not wanting to see the roses cut down to their stems so the thorns prickled in the sunlight, or how the lilies were cut free of any diverse or colorful petals, robbing them of unique beauty. At the edge of the overly pruned yard was a line of tall hedges and Fox led you past them. 

What lay beyond took your breath away.

It was an orchard teeming with life. Countless trees bearing fragrant fruit and vine covered trellises blooming with even more. All of them were well tended, cared for, but not overly cut like the flowers before. No, these were how nature should be, respected and loved and free to grow.

And there among it all, looking fondly at a patch of strawberries, was Kix. His smile rivaled the warmth of the sun as he noticed you standing there and he bowed his head slightly. “Your Highness, thank you for joining me.” Then he turned to Fox, “You can leave the Princess to me, Commander.”

In answer, the leader of your personal guard sighed, but turned to stand sentry by the hedge archway without protest. Kix waved his hand down the humble pathway between the trees, an invitation to walk with him. You did, gladly, and didn’t try to hide how in wonder you were of the orchard as you two began your walk.

“Hardly anyone but the gardeners come here,” Kix explained, “It took a long time for them to convince the King that over pruning is bad for the harvest, and that’s the only reason these plants and trees aren’t cut down to their stems. When you told those stories about your garden back home, I thought you might like it here.”

“It’s beautiful,” your tone was breathless, which obviously pleased him to no end, if that look in his eyes was any indication. “Thank you, Kix, this is wonderful.”

He opened his mouth, a response on the tip of his tongue, but then he hesitated. Instead, he walked over to the nearest tree, which just so happened to be bearing one of your favorite fruits, and plucked a ripe specimen from the branch. 

“I know that your situation isn’t an easy one, Princess,” he started as he walked back to you, “but if you ever need an ear to listen,” he took your hand and placed the fruit in your palm, “you just have to ask, and I’m yours.”

Your breath caught in your throat as you nearly gasped at his words and that’s when he suddenly looked a little flustered.

“My ear- my ear is yours, I mean.” He laughed nervously, then closed your fingers over the fruit, “What I’m trying to say is that, if you ever need a friend, I would be honored if you considered me one.”

It was hard to meet his gaze, not because you were embarrassed by his misstep in words, but because his promise made that fluttering sensation move to your chest as well as your stomach. This man, so full of kindness and care, he was making your heart feel light and heavy all at the same time. Maybe there was some joy to be found in this cage. You would take any you could get, so, you thanked the Doctor for his kind words.

“I would be the one honored to call you my friend, Kix.”

Something akin to surprise colored his eyes at that, surprise and something… tender. 

“Then, whenever you need to talk, or want a reminder of home, just call on me.” Then, Kix closed his eyes and lifted your clasped hand to his lips, pressing a light kiss to your fingers. 

It was that moment that your heart took flight. 

It was no wonder that, over the next months, the Princess and the Doctor would fall madly and deeply in love.

Your room had never quite felt like a home, always a golden cell, always a sign of your lost freedom, or the way you were chained to him. But it had never felt as cold and unforgiving as it did now. The fire was out, leaving you in icy darkness, all while the fiance you never chose towered over you.

“I asked you a question, girl: do you think I am a fool?” The tyrant king’s tone was flat and cold, even as you tried to choke back the tears from your spot on the floor. 

Even if you tried to get up, he would just force you back down again, so you answered him through gritted teeth. “No. You are no fool, Your Majesty.”

“Then why did you think I wouldn’t find out about this?” It was the first time something besides cold fury colored his tone. He was seething now. “Did you truly think I was so blind? That I wouldn’t see the longing stares or hear about your romantic walks?!”

You yelped when he grabbed your collar and yanked you onto your back.

“Did you truly think you could get away with making a fool of me?”

For all his cruelty, you had never seen him like this, his brutality had always been a cold and unfeeling blade, not this burning fire of rage. It was all there in his eye and bared teeth as he glared down at you and it made you wish the floor would open up and swallow you whole.

Then, the harsh curl of his lips eased, teeth no longer bared, as he leaned back and stepped away from your prone form. He was regaining his composure before your eyes as he straightened and clasped his hands behind his back.

“Get up,” he commanded, tone like cold steel once again. “I want you to have a better seat when my men bring in the good doctor.”

That caused your heart to freeze in your chest. “No- no!” The desperate plea left you as you scrambled to your feet.

The King smiled in that cruel curl of his lips. “Yes, my dear. You will watch while I make an example of him. While I show him what happens to men who touch what’s mine.”

“Please!” Your voice cracked with the force of your words, “Please- I’m to blame, not him!”

His smile only grew with more you pleaded, “Which is exactly why I will hurt him instead.”

That vicious mirth in his eyes is what made you lose any last shred of resolve. Of course this was his plan, cold and calculated. Bruises could heal, but the memories of this? They would haunt you forever, and in the end he still got his meek pet for a queen.

“I gave you an order,” he went on, “I said get up-”

He was interrupted by the doors to your chambers being thrown open. In marched a company of the King’s most trusted guards, with Commander Fox, who had been ordered to wait outside, hot on their heels.

“Your Majesty,” the head of this company said with a bow, “my men are still searching the grounds, but it would appear that the traitor Kix has…escaped.”

Oh, the king did not like that. 

The fabric of his gloves strained as he clenched his fists, the knuckles surely white beneath. He drew in a harsh breath through his nose as he turned away from you without a second glance. 

“Find him. Search the whole kingdom if needed,” all the guards, save for Fox, followed their king as he stormed towards the doors, “if you have to bring him back here in pieces, do it!”

With that threat ringing in your ears, doors were slammed shut again, the sound echoing through the room like glass shattering on marble.

Silence swelled, filling the void the King’s rage left behind. Leaving you in the cold and the dark. In your cage draped in finery.

Gone. Kix was gone. He had escaped somehow. The thought sent a myriad of emotions washing through you, tearing and shredding your body in a confusing whirlwind. Before you knew it, you were curling in on yourself, fists clutching the fabric over your heart and tears staining your cheeks.

Harsh sobs wracked your body and you couldn’t say whether they were from the relief of knowing he was safe or the sorrow of knowing you would never see the love of your life again. Deep down, they were likely both, you supposed.

You jumped when something warm and heavy was draped around your shoulders. You hadn’t even noticed Fox kneeling beside you, blanket in hand. Somewhere, in the back of your mind you remembered telling him that the blanket was your favorite from home, but at the moment all you could do was pull it tighter around yourself as you tried to steady the painful breaths you were taking.

Fox, possibly the only other man who had ever shown you any care in this hellish castle, didn’t say a word as he waited for your body to tire itself out with its mourning. When it did, he silently helped you to your feet. You don’t remember walking to your bed, just that the blankets had been placed over you and the fireplace nearby had been stoked back to life.

Finally, your trusted guard spoke, a firm if still cautious call of your name. Your actual name, not a title. “Please,” he said in a whisper, “don’t do anything drastic. Things won’t be like this for much longer. I promise.”

Confused, you blinked up at him, but he didn’t say anything more, just bowed his head respectfully and closed the curtains of your bed slowly. If there had been any strength left in you, you might have called for him, asked him to stay close. To not leave you. You didn’t need to ask, however, you heard his boots stop just outside your bedroom. Standing sentry, acting as your shield, as much as he could in any case.

The patterns of the curtains danced from the crackling fire on the other side, but it was just a blank canvas to stare at as your mind ran the same thoughts in your head over and over again. He’s gone, Kix is gone. At best, you’ll never know true love’s touch again, at worst, you’ll see that love slaughtered for the crime of existing.

Still, even in your spiraling despair, one other mantra crept in here and there. 

“Things won’t be like this for much longer”

Divider by the amazing @dystopicjumpsuit

#kix x reader #clone medic kix x reader #fantasy au #clone wars fantasy au #deeja writes #reader insert #clone wars reader insert