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#quick ramen stops (not the instant ones) after class with a few friends is something he enjoys too
someiicecube · 21 days
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Do you think Solomon likes soup? If so what kind?
idk what prompted this ask, but it's so out of left field I had to answer.
Lots of soup mentioned below the cut.
Firstly, we have to establish whether or not Solomon would eat soup.
The simple answer? Yes, of course he would. If it was served to him at a fancy dinner as a side— yes, he would eat it. If you made it for him whilst he was sickly and bedridden? He would give the world back to you… or most likely he'd want to return the favor one day— huh, what do you mean you don't want him making anything? He feels better now! Hey, why are you pushing him out of the kitchen? :(
One cannot simply ask whether or not Solomon has a favorite soup or not.
Like any person, he has his preferences and whatnot. Solomon prefers the classic savory kinds of soup, as he sees the dish as more of a side or something simple you make when feeling under the weather. Sour and overtly spicy flavors are things he tends to avoid. And with his dislike of the ocean, he reads to me as someone who wouldn't be privy to having any fish or seafood in his soup. Meat or vegetable-based soups are preferred.
Though, the soup he's most caught eating would be those instant noodle packets (with an egg mixed in) that he's totally not making at three am cause he forgot to eat a while ago. Oops—
But what kind of soup specifically?
Something that reminds you of home, is a common answer. But, frankly speaking, that guy has a fucky memory, so what can he remember of home? Sure, he does remember that he did have a favorite soup in his youth, but the flavor of which was something that has been lost to time and his old man brain.
So, if Solomon no longer (or has since forgotten) a soup that reminds him of home, what could be put in place of that?
That would be something made by someone he loves dearly— now if you read that as being you or someone else in universe, I'll leave it up to reader interpretation.
Hey, if that man's childhood home is lost to time, that's life. Sure, it's a sad thing to witness, but it was bound to happen— that's just how human civilizations work, they're built up, people flourish, centuries pass by, and then a new one takes its place.
But back on the soup and Solomon calling you his new home— home is not always a place, it can be a person (actually it can be a place if you consider 'your heart' a valid location).
Something made by you (whether under duress; looking at Solomon's cooking here) is always something Solomon would like. Of course, he still takes in his own preferences, but he's lucky that you do as well.
Yes, he does tend to delegate soup to be a side dish, but at home he doesn't mind making it the main course. Perhaps it's just him, but there's just something about sharing a warm bowl of soup on a cold night and sharing that with your beloved that… strikes him, makes him feel soft in side, and has a smile spreading across his lips as he takes in the moment.
Maybe it's the homemade soup making him feel all warm inside. Maybe it's the private company he's sharing with meal with. He'll never know. What Solomon does know, however, is that, he doesn't mind having soup if it's made by you.
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rixsjwb · 3 months
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ೋ◦❀◦ BIKER AUೋ◦❀◦
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gojo x reader
summary: the 3 times you've met gojo as an unknown biker and 1 time you finally see his face.
inspired by this tiktok
reader wears prescribed glasses
also, might have grammar errors. I just didn't care to reread this and go over it, so make sense of it😋
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FIRST TIME:
the first time you met gojo satoru was when you were in a nightly run to the convience story, grabbing a couple of food like instant ramen, your energy favorite drink to keep you up while studying for a big upcoming exam for your nursing course and many other items.
making your way up to the counter to pay you notice a biker boy, 2 of them one with a hint of blue to his viser and the other completely black.
they seem to follow behind you also making there way to the counter to pay for there stuff.
"next costumer!" the cashier says, you walk up to the counter gently placing your items on the counter as she grabbed them, scanned them, and put them in a small bag.
"your total is 8.50$" as your pulling out cash you relise your a dollar short, now in a dilemma you think on which item to put back till one of the biker boys from behind you walks in front gesturing to pay with card. you were quick to tell the biker boy he didn't have to pay but he worldly tapped his card and the machine accepts it.
she hands you your items thanking you for coming then asking for the next costumer to come up.
you were left there awkwardly, it didn't seem right to just leave after a random just payed for your food, but you knew if you stayed back and offered him your money there's a high chance he's rejecting it. you rap his friend that was behind him giving him the remainder of your money and pointing towards his friend oaying at the front, he also attempts to reject the money but you forcefully not enough to hurt him grab his hand and stuff the money in his hand and make a quick break to the exit.
as your passing the big window still getting a video of the biker boys the one who payed for your food sent you a heart sign with his fingers before blowing a kiss to you, you smile softly sending one back to match the energy.
it was a small interaction but it made your day and took all the stress away.
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SECOND MEET:
your second meet was mid day.
it was a nice Summer day, you wore something causal and simple.
tight fitted top that sat snuggly at your waist and low-rise pants that matched your grey top, hugging your hips perfectly.
you held a sweater in your hand and your bag sagged behind your back with a couple school supplies as you just went to a Cafe after a class.
as you drank a refreshing beverage, some chunks of dragonflies and mango in the drink with a nice cold lemonade mixed was cooling face down.
on your way to the intersection as you waited for the lights to switch, loud noises erupt from behind you, catching your attention. as you look back a familiar viser comes into view the same one from a couple of weeks ago. you don't mindnit too much probably think they wouldn't rememeber you, but when you hear the loud reving of their bikes your pretty sure their trying to get your attention.
you turn to look behind you finding that same black and blue viser helmet looking in your direction, more of looking at you.
they eagerly wave at you almost like a little child wanting to rev a bike when they see one, you ajust your glasses sliding of the bridge of your nose waving back at the biker with a timid smile.
he bickers you to come closer to him, with a come closer motion of his hand.
when you got closer he sticks his hand out to caresses it his gloved hands playing with your fingers, it was a little weird because you've only met him very few times but he stops and he's quick to eat to play rock paper scissors with you.
"you want to play rock paper scissors?" you ask, seeing his head nod up and down, you don't notice how his near by friend was watching the entire interaction take place.
after playing 2 rounds of rock paper scissors, you winning them. the lights turn green signaling you can walk while the mysterious biker boy and his buddie can drive. causing him to get settled back on his bike as he's about to drive off he looks back at you waving a goodbye.
when you got near campus you notice familiar bikes parked just outside campus. could these boys possibility go to your university?
who knows.
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THIRD MEET:
was when you were personally getting driven by a friend.
you guys decided to treat yourself to a fancy restaurant as a celebration for finishing your exam, now the worrying to hadto do was think whether you passed or not.
you were just scrolling on social media, answering a couple of messages you haven't open in 2 weeks as you highly dedicate your learning over slacking.
you got a text from acouple friends like shoko, utahime, maki, yuta and inumaki.
shoko sent you the most recent message, but aside from that, you'd gotten an unknown message from an account named gojo_sato.
shokoirieri: girl it's been awhile answer ur dam phone🙄🙄
shokoirieri: omgg your online answer my message!!
y/npopo: Yes, I am!!! whats good gang😋
shokoirieri: everything great, I have some friends who'd like to meet you come to campus asap!!!
y/npopo: whattttt who are these buddies you'd like me to meet, also do you know who jojo sato is they randomly followed me
shokoirieri: that's one of my friends, but not the one who's meeting you yet, come to campus asap meet at the entrance we waiting okay🤞
y/npopo: why do they wanna meet me
shokoirieiri: because you4 such a angel
shokoirieiri: who wouldn't wanna be friends with a gentle soul like you💋 now I'm waiting!
byebye!!
as your at a intersection you look up from your phone powering it off " omg look hot biker boys!!" your friend driving squeals keeping her eyes on them "where?" you turn to look out the window sticking your head out.
you feel your friend slaps your thigh jokingly in a way for you to not embraress her by poking your head out like that.
but when the same blue black viser starts to come closer to the car, your friend freaks out more, but you gently wave to them as this wasn't your first rodeo meeting them.
as they're now beside the car you reach your hand out pointing to the handle motioning to rev it, he leans forward starting to rev the engine then leaning back you stretch out your hand to reach the handle giving it a twist and her the loud sounds of the engine roaring.
you laugh a little at how the little turn made such a loud noise, but something about this traffic. light made the lights switch quicker, your friend stepped on the gas pedal, moving with the flow of cars. the bikers attempting to catch up to you, but you eventually take a different path, losing sight of each other.
an unknowing smile on your face, seeing both always seem to make your day.
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FOURTH MEET:
the first time you actually saw his face was when you had a second hangout session with shoko. She said her friend "satoru" and his bestie surguru were arriving pretty late, but you didn't mind.
you and shoko were in the middle of a nice conversation when you heard reving from just outside the nice restaurant.
as you looked through the window, you saw 2 familiar bikes park just I the side of the sidewalk. they looked familiar. " hey shoko those bikers look familiar. Did I ever tell you about these same bikers I kept seeing around the area?" " ya that's gojo satoru and the fully black one is suguru the reason we're hanging out was because satoru forced me to make you both meet, he's very annoying so I was against you both meeting but he wouldn't stop bitching and whining about it, not sure why he didn't just get your number the day you met." she rolled her eyes, eyes still on them making thereway to the entrance visers still on.
when they get near you look up making eye contact with cerulean eyes that seem to crinkle under hiw viser probably hum smiling under the mask, you were quick to greet them and be polite as there both getting settled down in there seats. as they take off there visers your met with the gojo satoru, messy whipe mop of hair on his head, face sculpted like a God, and overall features of his face complementing his entire face along with his nicely toned body. along with his other God looking friend with long black wolf cut couple of pericings and a small tattoo located just behind the thick lushous hair he had.
" So, your gojo satoru?" You look at the mysterious bikers' face who was now identified. "iam indeed!" he said with confidence you move to greet his other friend." im y/n l-" "everyone knows you silly your an angel who wouldn't know you?" satoru, cut you off before you can get another word in.
" whatttt???" you say confused "your pretty famous around campus y/n I thought you knew?" shoko said
but after that, you guys got along pretty well. Having a good laugh eating great food, you get a notification from shoko who tagged you satoru and suguru in her post.
when it was time to go back to campus, shoko said she needed to make a stop somewhere else, while suguru had to also go somewhere else, leaving just you and satoru.
" you'wanna get a ride home on m'bike?"
"sure" you smile
to say he took a couple of wrong turns, even going on the highway speeding it made you feel great.
putting his hand on your thighs to check up on you, readjusting your hand placement on him to make sure you're on securely, it gave you butterflies.
when you finally got home, you had a big smile on your face.
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seita · 4 years
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— don’t ask | hitoshi shinsou (m.)
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pairing: hitoshi shinsou/f!reader
genre: angst, fluff, smut
wordcount: 𝟷𝟹𝟻𝟿𝟶
cw: roommate!au, sugar baby!au
tags: heavy pining, arguments, briefly ft.kaminari, rejection, possessiveness, jealousy, crying, dirty talk, pet names, dom!shinsou, fingering, riding, cunnilingus, multiple orgasms, praise (?), marking, creampie, angst with a happy ending.
note: this is a thank you for 5k followers! i can’t believe i hit such a milestone in only like a month and a half! i appreciate the love and support everyone has given me and i promise to put out more quality content going forwarad!
— you thought it was strange a guy your age made such good money by seemingly doing nothing. whenever you would question him about his income, he’d grow defensive. once a month, a left the house for a few days; leaving to perform a mysterious job he didn’t want you to know about.
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© all content belongs to seita 2020. do not modify or repost.  
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When you saw the flier for someone looking for a new roommate, you honestly thought it was one big scam. You assumed that the second you set up a meeting, you would be kidnapped and never seen again. 
Being a lowly college kid meant you didn’t have your sea legs in the adult world quite yet. Swamped with studies, horrible at managing your time and your stress levels, you were left a constant mess. So, your solution was to stick to studying for the most part and work part-time so the job didn’t take up too much of your time. 
Another genius idea you had was the age-old roommate situation. You started out looking for listings online for preferably Musutafu or Tokyo. Alas, you came up with nothing after a handful of weeks and were intending to give up. 
However, a stop by the grocery store changed everything. It was a flyer for someone looking for a roommate in an area of Tokyo that you knew to be pretty pricey. 
It was close enough to your college campus so you wouldn’t have to worry about a stupid commute. You thought it was too good to be true as you looked at the information stating you wouldn’t even need to pay rent. You’d simply have to split some bills and buy your own groceries. 
The idea of not having to shell out hundreds of dollars a month was appealing on its own; you’d definitely be able to save with a living situation like that. 
The logical side of you was weary, however. The entire thing could be a ploy to trick some unsuspecting victim, like yourself, into who knows what. 
Still, it probably wouldn’t hurt to contact the person just in case it wasn’t a trick. No harm in checking, you supposed. 
Tugging the flyer down from where it was pinned up on the bulletin board, you folded it up and tucked it away in the front pocket of your purse to take care of when you got home from classes. 
All of that led you to meeting one Hitoshi Shinsou. He was a tall, tired looking guy around your age. His most prominent feature was the fluffy mess of purple hair that was atop his head. When you first met him, he fixed you with a cold gaze ― his purple irises burning holes into you. And for a second you were sure that you were right on your hunch and you were never going to return home. 
Nothing of consequence happened, naturally, and instead he showed you the bedroom you would be using and handed you a key before sitting down on the couch to watch TV. The whole exchange was unlike anything you expected. When you questioned him he simply told you he’d get everything straight for you and that you could begin to move in whenever. 
So you did.
As expected of such an expensive apartment, the room you were given was great. It was roomy and nothing like you assumed you would wind up with. Most college students wind up with a shitty roommate, a one-bedroom apartment, and instant ramen for dinner every night. 
Instead you got the chillest roommate known to mankind. Shinsou barely even made a peep. Most of the time you found him relaxing in front of the TV watching murder documentaries. You did learn that the poor guy had insomnia and as a result was up almost every night. Sometimes you would catch him snoozing on the couch but that rarely lasted more than 2 or 3 hours before he was up and about once again. 
You did learn that the man was a lousy cook so he mostly lived on instant ramen before you moved in. Luckily for him, you enjoyed cooking and decided to be the one to make meals for the two of you. To say Shinsou was appreciative was an understatement. 
Simply put, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. 
And so bloomed an easy friendship with him. Shinsou made it easy to befriend, although he was a quiet guy he was funny and charismatic; the type of guy who probably had a lot of friends. 
You lived there for about a month when you noticed the first weird disappearance. 
You had been laying in bed, eyes closed as you slowly began to drift off to the white noise of your overhead fan. 
What lulled you from your daze was the beep of the alarm at the front door. Sitting up, you listened carefully only to hear a couple beeps and the click of the door shutting. 
Frowning, you got out of the bed and wrapped your blanket around your shoulders to shield yourself from the chilled apartment air. Your footsteps were silent as you padded your way to the entryway. You immediately noticed that Shinsou’s shoes were gone from where they should have been sitting beside the front door. 
You checked his bedroom to find that he was, indeed, not there. You simply assumed he had gone for a walk or to a convenience store or something since he couldn’t sleep and went back to bed. That was certainly not something uncommon for the insomniac you called a roommate. 
When you got up in the morning, however, you noticed he was still gone. 
You wandered into the kitchen, intending to open the fridge to start something for breakfast only to find a cute cat-themed sticky note plastered to the front of it. Written in your roommates sloppy handwriting was “I won’t be home for a few days.”
Short and to the point but still causing questions to arise in response. 
You had no choice but to carry on. You could text him and question him but you had a feeling you wouldn’t actually get any information. 
Two days was how long he was gone for. He turned on the second night, looking as tired as usual. 
“I’m home,” he called with a heavy sigh, kicking his shoes off before dropping the heavy duffle bag he carried to the floor. 
“Hey,” you greeted over the back of the couch, “I uh...made dinner but I didn’t make any for you. I didn’t know when you’d be home.”
“It’s fine, I already ate anyway,” he hummed, dropping his full weight onto the empty cushion beside you. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. 
You eyed him and decided to simply not ask about the hickey on his pale skin. 
The time ticked past midnight and you stood up, yawning as you stretched, “I’m heading to bed.”
“Alright,” he mumbled, finally stealing the remote from you, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Hey…” you paused at the entrance to the hallway, deciding to chance it, “Where did you go anyway?”
“...To work,” he replied, simply. 
His tone held a sense of finality to it, leaving no room for you to inquire exactly what that meant. So, with a final bid, you went to your bedroom. 
It was almost like deja vu, laying in bed as you fell asleep only to hear the beeping of that alarm. You sat up and climbed out of bed, intending to catch Shinsou before he was gone but as you reached the living room, you heard the front door click shut and he was gone. 
Sighing, you wandered to the kitchen to find another note like you’d seen last time stuck to the fridge. 
As you glanced at the calendar on the wall, you realized it was almost exactly a month since the last time he did this ― you remembered because he left on the 23rd and it was currently the 22nd. You could practically feel the dots forming but you had absolutely no way of connecting them. 
Deciding to retire to bed, you attempted to sleep but found yourself thinking of Shinsou. 
Two months in a row he vanished around the same time, in the middle of the night leaving only a note. Now that you thought about it, he didn’t seem to have a job ― he only said his disappearance was part of his job. But he came back with a hickey. 
Sighing, you rolled over and attempted to fall asleep. 
Two days later, he came home. 
“I’m back,” he grumbled. 
Immediately, you noted the aggravated tone to his voice. Sitting up from where you were sprawled out on the couch, you eyed him. Instead of just dropping his duffle bag like he had last time, he took it straight to the laundry room. 
As he disappeared into the kitchen, you got up and followed him. He was squatting on the floor, rummaging through the bag as he tossed out pieces of clothing. You leaned on the door jam with your arms folded on your chest. Whether or not he knew you were there, you didn’t know. 
“There’s some dinner left for you,” you said softly, watching him pause and look over his shoulder at you.
“I already ate,” he replied, voice cold. 
You frowned, standing up straight, “Alright, well…” you sighed, “I’ll wrap it up and put it in the fridge in case you get hungry tonight.”
He didn’t reply but you kept watching him. He moved to fully sit on the floor, stretching his legs out in front of him with a grunt. You noticed that he was separating the clothes into two piles. Closer inspection brought your attention to the price tags attached to the clothes in one pile. 
You found yourself wondering where he got those clothes from but you decided not to ask. He seemed to be in a rather sour mood. 
He left the new clothes on the floor and dumped the others into the washing machine. With quick efficiency, he started the cycle and stuffed the remaining clothes back into his bag. 
You backed up to allow him to leave the laundry room. His shoulders were stiff and his posture was tense. It was a complete 180 from how you usually saw him. 
“You um...you alright?”  you finally asked when he sat down on the couch. 
He barely spared you a glance before propping his feet up on the coffee table, turning the TV on. Realizing you weren’t getting a response, you attempted to brush off the brief anger that flashed through you and instead went to the kitchen to clean everything up. 
You didn’t know why he was being so rude to you ― it’s not like you did anything to him. Deciding to just head to your bedroom to study, you shut off the kitchen light and skirted behind the couch to avoid getting in his way of the TV. 
He didn’t say a word as you disappeared down the hallway. 
As opposed to last time, his ‘work’ seemed to have not gone too well this time around. At least the last time, he was just tired and feeling lazy. 
You could still hear the TV going when you put all your stuff away and crawled into bed. 
The next morning, you awoke with a sigh. Sitting up, you stretched until you felt your joints pop.
As you wandered out of your bedroom, you heard the shower going, indicating Shinsou was still around. Not that you were expecting any different. 
You fixed a quick, simple breakfast for you and Shinsou, hearing the shower turn off as you finished. Wiping your washed hands on your pants, you made your way to the bathroom.
You only got to knock on the door once before it was yanked open. Suddenly, your mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. 
He stood there, his usual fluffy hair flattened and hanging haphazardly around his face. He wore his usual bored expression despite the fact he was standing there, dripping wet with only a towel around his waist. Immediately, you got a whiff of his body wash and shampoo, making you swallow thickly. 
Fuck, he smelled really good. You always thought so, when he sat on the couch beside you, you could always smell that delicious, musky scent of his body wash mixed with the spice of his cologne. But freshly washed with it, you were nearly salivating at the smell. 
“Um…” you swallowed thickly, tearing your gaze away from the well built muscles under those baggy clothes he always wore, “B-Breakfast is ready…”
“Okay,” he mumbled, moving to skirt around you. 
You sighed, assuming he was still in a shit mood again. Running a hand through your hair, you shook the delectable sight of him fresh out of the shower from your mind. As you went to go back to the kitchen, a large hand grappled around your wrist. 
“Hey,” he mumbled. You looked over your shoulder to see him nervously rubbing the back of his neck, a habit you’d seen numerous times before, “I’m sorry...about yesterday.”
“Huh?” you raised a brow, trying to ignore how big his hand was around your wrist. 
“I was in a shit mood and I took it out on you,” he explained, “So I’m sorry about that.”
“Oh,” you relaxed slightly and smiled, realizing he was actually in a decent mood today, “It’s okay.”
He gave you his own relieved smile, making your heart lurch in your chest at the sight. It was rare to see any other expression beyond that tired, bored look he always wore. Finally releasing his hold on your wrist, he spoke again, “Let me get dressed and I’ll come eat.”
“Alright,” you nodded, biting your lip as he turned his back to you. As he walked you could see the way the muscles flexed under the skin. 
When he finally vanished through his bedroom door, you let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. Shaking your head you moved back to the kitchen intending to stuff your face to forget about how hot Hitoshi Shinsou really was. 
Before, you thought he was good looking. Usually dark circles were unbecoming but they looked almost at home on his face. His skin was nearly flawless and looked soft to the touch ― you’d seen the skincare products housed in his cabinet. It was expensive shit too. Seriously, what was the guy's job?
That thought had your mind wandering back to the monthly disappearances. 
The chair scraped against the floor as he came back ― wearing a baggy t-shirt and black sweats. He immediately dug in and began to eat. 
“So...I have to ask,” he paused, brows coming together in a scowl as you uttered those words.
“Don’t ask,” he mumbled, shaking his head.
“I just wanted to ask...if this is a monthly thing. I’ve only been here for 2 so...I just wanted to make sure,” you clarified, watching his shoulder relax. He seemed extremely defensive over any questions related to his ‘job’, you noted. 
“Yeah. Once at the end of the month I leave for two days to work,” he answered simply, obviously avoiding giving any more information that you could feed off of. 
He was smart at least. 
The sun finally dipped below the horizon and the two of you were sitting on the couch watching TV. He had some documentary on but truthfully you weren’t paying a whole lot of attention to it. 
For some reason, your mind kept bringing you back to the sight that morning of Shinsou. As you looked at him sitting beside you, arm tossed casually over the back of the couch as he slouched with his legs spread, you found yourself admiring him. 
He had a sharp jaw and pretty lips. A look lower, your eyes landed on his hands ― long, pretty fingers with prominent veins beneath the pale skin. 
Suddenly, his sharp gaze cut from the TV to you and you found yourself locked in a gaze with him for a split second before you broke away to look at the TV once more. In your peripheral, you swear you saw a smirk crossing his face. 
But he didn’t comment and for that, you were thankful. 
You bid him goodnight and as usual, he stayed up. You began to wonder if the man even tried to sleep anymore. 
You stepped into the bathroom, warning your roommate that you were taking a shower. He shouted back a simple ‘okay’ before you shut the door. 
You stepped under the stream of water after stripping, the steam of the hot water filling the bathroom and relaxing your muscles. You tipped your head back to wet your hair, humming to yourself. 
You eyed Shinsou’s body wash sitting in the purple caddy handing on a hook on the wall. It brought you back to how nice he smelled when he was close to you. When you could feel his body warmth radiating off of him. You would look at him, his shoulders broad and his body warm and inviting. It was nearly impossible to resist the urge to cuddle yourself into his chest. 
You wondered what it would be like to lay against him, his arms wrapped around you as he softly stroked your skin. Maybe he would press a soft kiss to your forehead ― the idea alone made you melt. 
Realizing you had lost yourself in thought, you hurried to finish your shower and get to bed. 
You fell asleep with Shinsou on your mind that night. 
Shinsou’s third monthly work time finally rolled around once again. This time, you stayed up late so Shinsou had no choice but the interact before he left. You were hoping to maybe get more hints about what it is he did. 
He shut his bedroom door, hoisting his duffle bag over his shoulder with a grunt. You were surprised to see him in actual clothes ― rather nice ones as well. 
His jeans fit him perfectly and the button down shirt he wore was tucked in, showing off his lean figure. The belt buckle on his jeans indicated it was name brand and you found yourself wondering how much his job even paid. 
“I’ll be home same as usual,” he mumbled, bending down to slide his shoes on at the door. He looked so good doing just a simple task and you found your heart racing in your chest. His shoulders were accented so well by his shirt. The sleeves were rolled up halfway on his forearms and there was an expensive looking watch on one of his wrists. 
Butterflies erupted in your stomach as he opened the door ― suddenly finding that you didn’t want him to leave. 
“Um…” you called, making him pause in the open door, looking over his shoulder with a brow raised in question, “You...uh…” you struggled to find something to say but he waited patiently for you to form your next words, “Have a nice time...come home soon.”
Your heart thudded painfully as you watched his gaze soften, a smile forming on his lips as he nodded, “I’ll see you later, ______.”
Your ears were ringing as he shut the door, the sound of your name coming from his lips echoing in your head. You sunk down onto the couch, hand on your chest as you came to a startling realization. 
You had a crush on your roommate. 
Living with Shinsou after coming to terms that you had a crush on him was...difficult to say the least. Simple things he did that you used to pay no mind to, you now found yourself getting jittery at the sight. 
Like the way he rubbed his eyes with a fist when he woke up from a nap on the couch, a sound you could only describe as a whine coming from his throat as he sat up. 
The day your kitchen sink stopped working and he had to fix it was one you wouldn’t ever forget. He was leaning beneath the sink, in the cabinet on his back as he fiddled with some tools on the pipes. His white t-shirt became see-through as he sweat from the hard work, his biceps flexing with every movement he made. His shirt rode up a bit over his stomach, exposing his abs that moved and rippled with every movement. His sweats were riding low on his hips, exposing that delicious v-line and happy trail that vanished beneath the band.
The worst part was the way you could see everything in those gray sweatpants he wore. You were pretty sure he wasn’t wearing any underwear. 
You had to leave the room and hide in your bedroom with the window open until he finally finished fixing it. 
You definitely didn’t let your hand slide down your panties to the mental image of him that night. 
Despite living together for nearly four months, you knew close to nothing personal about Shinsou. Putting aside his weird, shady two-day job once a month, you didn’t have anything else to go off of on who he was. 
He was a quiet guy who liked documentaries, video games, and had insomnia. He really loved to eat breakfast foods and cats. Although you hadn’t been in his room even once, only had a couple peeks inside, you knew he owned some cat-themed stationary at the very least. 
Despite his cold appearance, he was actually quite kindhearted and gentle but seemed to have no desire to show it unless necessary. One time, you cut your finger while cooking and you swear you’d never seen him run faster to get a bandaid from the bathroom ― one with a cat on it, no less. 
You still remember the feeling of his hand holding yours and how close his face was as he inspected the cut. You could have leaned in and kissed him so easily then. 
And god was that tempting. 
So lost in your thoughts, you didn’t realize the glass you were holding in your hand slipped free until it shattered in a million pieces across the linoleum floor. You gasped, startled as you looked around for a way to escape but a single step in an area you thought was clear brought a cry from your lips as you stepped on the tiny shards. 
You heard a loud thump from the living room where he had been playing a video game before the thundering footsteps raced into the kitchen. Shinsou’s eyes were wide, like he was terrified of what he would find. 
“Don’t move,” he snapped, noting the way you leaned against the counter to take your injured foot off of the ground. He opened the storage cabinet and pulled out the broom and dust pan. 
It took only a few minutes for him to clean it up enough to get to you safely on his own bare feet. Instead of you limping your way to the living room however, you found yourself swept off your feet. 
Your heart raced so hard, you could hear it pounding in your ears. You were cradled against his chest, so warm and firm with his strong arms beneath your knees and shoulders. His heavenly scent surrounded you ― more intense than you’d even smelt it before. As you finally got a close look, you took notice of how his long lashes framed his pretty eyes. 
All too soon, you were placed on the couch and he was disappearing down the hall with quick efficiency. You were still stunned from being in his arms that you barely noticed he had returned until he was on his knees in front of you. 
Immediately, your cheeks bloomed hot with a blush. The image of him on his knees like that immediately sent your mind to a wicked place. 
Luckily your dirty mind was stopped in its tracks when he began pulling glass from your foot.
You gasped in pain, attempting to pull away on reflex but he held strong, sharp gaze burning holes into you.
“Sit still,” he growled, sending a shiver down your spine. 
His voice was so low, so commanding that you found yourself immediately doing what he said. You always were weak to a dominant man. 
Soon enough, your foot was cleaned and he deemed that the bleeding had stopped.
“It’ll probably hurt like hell for a little while when you walk on it,” he warned, packing the first aid away. 
“Thanks Hitoshi,” you smiled, earning a soft nod of acknowledgement from the man. 
The memory of being in his arms, even for that brief moment, was imprinted in your mind. As you laid in bed, you thought about it. It made your stomach flutter in excitement as you fell asleep. 
The fourth monthly job for Shinsou came and unfortunately, you missed him leaving. You had stayed up studying and as a result fell asleep earlier than usual. When you woke up he was already gone and you were left with a painful throb in your heart. 
You missed him. 
As you lazed on the couch, you found your mind wandering to him again. Like always. It was like your mind was cursed. 
You wondered if he thought about you at all. The idea made you feel giddy and you had to bite back a smile. You felt like a silly schoolgirl with your crush ― the way he made your stomach flutter, your heart race, and your cheeks burn was getting ridiculous. It wasn’t like you could confess, he hadn’t given much of a hint that he even thought of you as a friend. Plus, you weren’t sure if you were willing to give up the killer apartment and perfect roommate gig you currently had with a foolish confession. 
You heaved a sigh, sitting up with a new idea in mind. 
A way that you could learn more about him.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the...most noble means. 
Standing outside his bedroom door, you bit your lip. It felt wrong to go into his room without permission. It wasn’t like he went into your room ― as far as you knew, who knows what he did while you were at school or working. 
The metal doorknob was cold in your palm as you turned it and pushed it open with a soft click.
You’d seen his room in quick glances before when he opened it but you’d never gotten to fully inspect it. He had a large bed that took up the most space in his room. Situated on a dresser at the end of the bed was a TV, a Playstation set up beside it. Against the opposite wall was a desk with a gaming computer setup and a red and black gaming chair pushed in neatly. 
There were a few articles of clothing littering the floor around his laundry basket and his closet was partly open to reveal his primarily monochromatic wardrobe choices. 
Walking into the bedroom, you immediately got a whiff of his cologne, making you smile at the addictive scent. You took a seat on the edge of his bed, the black comforter incredibly soft beneath your hands. 
You leaned forward and opened his nightstand drawer, finding nothing too interesting ― a picture of him standing with a smiling boy with crazy green hair, a pink-skinned girl, and a beaming red-haired guy. 
You hadn’t really given it much thought ― that he had friends. He didn’t really talk about anyone, in fact you never heard him mention anyone in his life besides his mom a few times. You did note that he texted on his phone quite a lot and sometimes you could hear him laughing and cursing from his bedroom as he played a video game. You wondered what his friends' names were, what they were like ― what it was like to be friends with Shinsou. 
What you wouldn’t give to be someone...important in his life. 
Sighing, you closed the drawer and moved to his dresser. Your own thoughts caused your heart to ache and you tried to brush it off by looking through the drawers for something interesting. 
Fortunately, you got what you wished for. 
The last drawer to the right contained a little black metal box buried beneath some clothes. You pulled it out and took a seat on the floor, pressing the button to open it. It popped open and you gaped at what you saw. 
It was filled with money. More money than you’d probably ever seen in your whole life. The bills were wrapped together with rubber bands ― there had to be thousands of dollars in even a single stack. As you pulled out the bundles, you found that there were things located beneath them. 
Jewels; all types. Diamond rings, necklaces, bracelets, ruby and emerald gems decorating them. You pulled out a ring and held it up, watching as he gleamed under the light. 
You tucked everything back inside the box and hid it back the way you found it, shutting the drawer before standing up. 
You had no idea what to think as you shut his door once again, moving to your own room. How could he have all that money hidden away like that? It was certainly shady. 
Perhaps it was counterfeit? Or maybe he stole it! 
And what about those jewels? Did he steal those too? Why were they hidden instead of sold off somewhere?
You had so many questions and absolutely no answers. 
Suddenly you were regretting going snooping in his room. 
The fifth month of living with him would have to be where things started to go downhill. 
He came home from his weekend away, tired and grumpy, just wanting a relaxing shower. However, you hadn’t realized he was home so in your tired, sleep-filled daze you stumbled to the bathroom with the urgent need to pee. 
You pushed the bathroom door open and halted in your tracks, heart stopping in your chest at the sight of shirtless Shinsou. 
He had his back to you, displaying the angry red scratch marks that raked down the pale skin of his back, making them stand out even more. He realized you were there and spun around, eyes narrowed in a glare. With his chest in view, you could see all the hickeys and bites that trailed down  his body, disappearing in the hem of his jeans that he had yet to shed.
“Get the hell out,” he snapped, ripping the door from your hand before slamming in shut in your face. 
You stared at the wood for several, long seconds, stunned. You heard the shower start and snapped out of your daze. Forgetting your once desperate need to pee, you trudged back to your  bedroom and quietly shut the door. 
You weren’t a fool ― you knew exactly what those marks meant. You crawled under the covers and found yourself wondering what kind of woman got Hitoshi Shinsou’s attention enough to get him into bed. 
And what did she have that you didn’t?
Truth be told, you couldn’t even imagine him as the type to sleep around. He wasn’t exactly sociable and he rarely seemed to go out of his way to interact even with his friends.
You could hear the shower turn off and you were suddenly reminded of the way he slammed the door in your face ― the ache from realizing he’d been with someone else only exacerbated by the knife of his shouting at you. 
You closed your eyes and attempted to sleep, ignoring the sting behind your eyes. 
The next morning, you found yourself not wanting to get out of bed. You could hear Shinsou shuffling around the house, doing god knows what. You heard him walk down the hallway, heart freezing as he stopped in front of your bedroom door. 
You closed your eyes, willing him to go away. 
Luck was not on your side, however, as he knocked thrice on your door. It was loud enough that you knew you wouldn’t be able to feign sleeping through it. 
You sighed and crawled out of bed and trudged over to the door, pulling it open just a bit to get a look at him. 
He had his head down, hand clasped around the nape of his neck with his other hand shoved in his pocket. He looked up when he heard the door open, brows drawn together as he gazed at you partially hiding behind the door. 
“I uh…” he cleared his throat, “I went out and picked us up some breakfast.”
“Oh…” you shifted on your feet awkwardly, nodding your head, “Thanks...I’ll eat later.”
You were about to close the door, desperate to escape the burning in your eyes as you remembered last night. Before it could close, however, he shoved his hand in the crack. You paused, not wanting to crush his hand in the door. You let him push it open to show more of you ― clad in shorts and an oversized t-shirt that you loved to sleep in. Thankfully the shirt was big enough that he wouldn’t be able to tell you weren’t wearing a bra. 
“I have to apologize,” he grunted, meeting your gaze, “I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that last night. I was just ticked off…” he trailed off.
You bit your lip, “I uh...I didn’t know you were home...so that’s why I just...walked in…” 
He shook his head, “No I understand, really. Y-You just surprised me and I reacted. I really need to stop taking my shit out on you, I’ll work on that, really. I shouldn’t have slammed the door like that either. It was a shit night but it wasn’t your fault you didn’t know I came home.”
“I-It’s alright, Hitoshi, really,” you smiled, though it faltered a bit at the memory of those scratches and hickeys.
“I...hope you’re not hiding away in here because I upset you,” he muttered, making you frown once more.
“What do you mean?” you questioned.
He bit his lip, looking away awkwardly, “you’re usually up around 10 and it’s...getting close to noon. You don’t do that normally so...I can only think you were trying to avoid me and that’s the last thing I want. This is your home too and I never want you to feel like you can’t be comfortable here.”
You gaped at him, processing what he was telling you. First, he paid close enough attention to you that he knew what time you got up ― that thought made happiness bloom in your chest and second, that was probably the most you’d heard him say in one sitting.
“It’s okay now, Hitoshi,” you smiled, “let me get dressed and I’ll be out to eat, okay?”
He smiled, making your cheeks burn at the sight as he nodded, turning away from you to move back to the living room. You closed your door and sighed. 
It was crazy how just a simple smile from him had your heart fluttering. However, it was quickly halted by the memory that he had someone ― maybe it was a girlfriend. That made your chest ache and you bit your lip to halt those negative feelings as you stripped and changed out of your pajamas. 
You had no idea how you were going to get past the painful clench in your chest every time you looked at him now. 
Month six rolled around and nothing very interesting happened. Shinsou moved his playstation into the living room so the two of you could play some games together. It was a fun bonding experience and you got to watch the way his eyes would light up whenever he beat you. The sound of his laugh still rang in your ears and you couldn’t help but smile every time you thought back to that pretty smile of his. 
It became a weekly thing for the two of you, every Friday night you would sit down on the couch together and play into the early hours of the morning. You got to know more about Shinsou than you had ever before. 
Sometimes he would jerk his body and brush against yours, sending goosebumps across your skin. He was always so warm and inviting ― just having him near you sent your poor heart into palpitations. 
You almost forgot about what happened the previous month when he came back ― those hickeys and scratches on his back finally having been cast out of your mind. 
Your heart did ache when you bid him goodbye the night he left again, wondering if he was going to see her or not. 
The seventh month was when that already precariously balanced life came crumbling down all at once. 
Shinsou was in the shower as you played on his Playstation, sitting in front of the TV with a frown on your face. You could hear the shower running and in the back of your mind you pictured what he might look like ― water running down his flawless skin, his hands caressing. You felt an almost pitiful clench in your core at the mental image. 
Your perversions were cut short by the sharp ring of the doorbell. You paused your game and groaned as you stood up, your knees popping from being sat in the same position for too long. Unlocking the door, you pulled it open and paused. 
A woman stood on the other side of the door, a well-fitting black dress and fur coat wrapped around her shoulders. Her ears, neck, and wrists were adorned with sparkling jewelry and you could see the red bottoms of her expensive heels. She wore vibrant red lipstick across pretty, smiling lips as she acknowledged you. However, you could see the cold gleam in her eyes that made the smile all too fake. 
“Can I help you?” you asked, leaning against the door jam. 
She hummed, tucking some hair behind her ear with perfectly manicured nails, “Is Toshi here?”
“Toshi?” you raised a brow at the nickname, “He’s in the shower. What do you need?”
“Just to talk,” she replied, stepping forward like she wanted to come in. When you didn’t budge she raised a brow, “You don’t mind if I come in, right? I’m sure Toshi would love to see me.”
“Uh…” you didn’t get a chance to reply as she brushed past you, her shoes clicking on the hardwood floor as she made her way towards the living room, “Sure...come on in…” you whispered sarcastically, rolling your eyes as you shut the door. 
You could hear the shower was turned off, indicating Shinsou would be returning in a minute. You looked at the woman as she glanced around the apartment, feeling a sting of jealousy burning within you. 
Was she the girl he was dating?
“So...how do you know Hitoshi?” you asked, making her smile. 
“I’m his girlfriend, of course!” she beamed, voice far too peppy for your liking.
The words sent an arrow through your heart and you looked away with a hum, ignoring the need to flee to your room and cry into the pillow like a stupid middle schooler. 
As if on cue, the bathroom door opened and Shinsou strolled down the hall, towling his hair as he moved. 
Any other time you would have drooled over the sight of a shirtless Shinsou, gym shorts hanging loose on his hips as he walked.
“Uh...Hitoshi…” you mumbled, getting his attention. 
He looked up from beneath his towel, meeting your gaze before his eyes moved to the woman beside you. Immediately his eyes went wide and he stood up straight. 
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he snapped, startling you with how aggressive those words came out. 
The girl didn’t seem too affected, merely pouting as she spoke, “I wanted to talk to you.”
“You have no business being here,” he growled, jerking his head to the door, “Get out.”
“No!” she argued, walking right up to him, “I deserve answers before you throw me away like trash, Hitoshi!”
“I don’t owe you anything,” he replied coldly, breezing past both you and her to go to the kitchen. She followed him but you remained in the kitchen, listening as they argued.
“Why won’t you see me anymore?!” she cried, petulantly stomping her heeled foot. 
“Because you got too damn attached,” he spat, opening the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water before walking into the living room again. 
“Attached?!” she gasped, grabbing his arm to force him to look at her, “I have given you so much. How can you just break it off without a real reason! Come on, Toshi, just...be with me, you won’t have to work anymore.”
He tensed, glancing over at you at the mention of her job, jaw set, “Just get out, Kana.”
She looked over at you, a sly smile forming on her lips, “She doesn’t know what you do, does she? Is that why you’re avoiding this?”
He didn’t reply, simply glared at her. Kana scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest, “After all I spent on you, you have no right to just run away. You know I can treat you better than anyone else can, Hitoshi. You’re making a mistake.”
“I have plenty of other clients lined up, Kana,” he shot back, making her frown. He chuckled at the sign of weakness she showed, “What? Did you think you were the only one? No, sweetheart, I have plenty of girls waiting to spend even just one night with me. You’re not special. You’re certainly not the highest paying one either. There’s nothing of importance tying me to you. You have nothing special to offer. You got too attached, starting having feelings for me...you know it would never work with my job. So just leave before you get your feelings hurt.”
Both of you were stunned silent. You because you had never heard him speak so coldly and harshly to someone before ― even when he was having a bad day and accidentally took it out on you. Her because the words he spat out with such venom wrecked her pride and made her burn with anger. 
She clenched her fists and snapped her head towards you, “Best not to get close to this prick,” she warned, her voice watery with unshed tears, “A man who makes money being a sugar baby isn’t one you want to get attached too.”
With those last words, she stormed out. The slam of the door made both you and Shinsou flinch. The silence that followed was even more deafening, however. 
Shinsou cursed under his breath, running a hand through his half-dry hair.
“So...she wasn’t your girlfriend?” you asked, making him look over at you. 
He was quiet for a second before chuckling under his breath, “You learn what my job is and that's the first thing you wonder?”
“Well!” you defended yourself quickly, “She introduced herself as your girlfriend!”
He shook his head, moving around the couch to take a seat, “No, she was just...a client I spent time with for a while. She started catching feelings so I cut it off and referred her to a friend of mine. Apparently...she didn’t like that.”
“How’d she know you lived here?” you asked, sitting beside him.
He shrugged, “She could have looked through my shit at some point, I suppose.”
You hummed, not wanting to push him to reveal more than he wanted to. After all, it wasn’t even his choice to expose his line of work anyway. 
Well, at least you had answers on why he had all those expensive clothes, cash, and jewelry. It was good to know he wasn’t some type of shady thief in the end. 
“It’s...just a really bad idea to get involved with clients,” he explained suddenly, “It’s not a relationship that’s built up on anything real. Having to pay for the company of someone is not a good foundation,” he sighed, running his hand through his hair again before looking at you, “I hope you...don’t think differently of me because of my job.”
You shrugged your shoulders and shook your head, “It’s not really my place to judge you, you know?”
“Thanks,” he smiled, “It’s not really something that’s as bad as people think. It gets a bad rep for having sex for money and shit but...truthfully majority of my job is just...being company to rich women. Sometimes they want to take me around to some fancy parties to show me off or go on dates because they’re lonely. Sex isn’t the majority of what I do. I mean...I will but...it’s not the most common occurrence.”
Once again, the vision of those hickeys and sex-scratches crossed your mind and you found yourself wondering what kind of woman gave him those. At least you could be assured he wasn’t going out to see his girlfriend when he went to work ― they were strictly clients.
Which meant...he was probably single. 
Your heart stuttered in your chest at the hopeful idea. 
“How about I order some take out?” you asked, standing up to retrieve your phone. 
“Get some pizza,” he called as you disappeared down the hall. 
After his occupation was revealed to you, things began to look up. He became more open and carefree around you ― as he no longer had a big secret to hide. He didn’t really talk about his work but he wasn’t hiding it from you either. 
You decided not to ask too many questions, knowing you’d only burn up in jealousy at the idea. You knew you didn’t really have a right to be jealous since you weren’t his girlfriend or anything but you couldn’t help it either. 
The peaceful feeling didn’t last long, however. Once the fire started burning, it had no other choice but to rage. 
“You should really just tell him, _____!” your friend, Uraraka whined, head against the table.
“It’s seriously painful,” Momo agreed, “All this pining is making me sick.”
“Oh real nice,” you rolled your eyes, taking a sip of your coffee. 
It felt nice to hang around with your friends for once ― it wasn’t something you frequently got the opportunity to do. 
Just as Uraraka was about to open her mouth and reply, a looming shadow dropped over the table. You all looked over to find the familiar blonde hair and wide grin.
“Kaminari,” you greeted with a smile.
“Hey _____,” he waved before tucking his hands in his pockets, “Listen, I’ve been wanting to ask for a while but...would you like to go out with me sometime?”
The question left you stunned. 
You weren’t super close to Denki Kaminari, you shared a few general studies classes. He was a goofy, excitable guy who always seemed to know how to light up a room. Everyone around him was always in a good mood, in general he was just a very positive person. 
Not just that but he wasn’t too bad to look at either; with his pretty, wide eyes and sharp jawline. The black lightning bolt streak through his hair just made him look even more charming. 
But you hesitated, your mind drifting to Shinsou. 
Sighing, you bit your lip, “Can I get back to you on that?”
He smiled, nodding his head, obviously relieved you didn’t tell him a flat out no, “No problem. I’ll see you later!”
Once he was gone, a sharp smack landed on your back making you cry out.
“Why didn’t you give him an answer?!” Momo cried.
“Denki’s a great guy, _____! You should do it!” Uraraka added.
You shrugged, “It’s just…”
“If you’re holding out hoping something will miraculously happen with stupid Shinsou, it’s a stupid idea,” Momo said, making you pout that she had read you so easily.
“Just tell him how you feel, _____,” Uraraka sighed, “If he rejects you, you can accept Denki’s date!”
You sighed but didn’t reply. Your two friends shared a look before changing the topic, drawing the attention away from your hopeless crush on your roommate. 
When you got home, you were filled with a sense of urgency. Shinsou wasn’t in the living room so you went to his bedroom, knocking a few times on the door before he opened it. 
“Hey,” he greeted, a tired smile on his face, “Welcome home.”
“Hitoshi,” you swallowed thickly, steeling yourself.
He frowned, “What is it?”
“I need to talk to you,” you breathed.
“Okay,” he stepped aside, waving you into his room.
You hesitated for a second, realizing that there would be no turning back once you walked inside. The door shutting behind you echoed in your head. He moved past you to take a seat on his computer chair. The screen was lit up behind him, indicating he had probably been playing something before you interrupted. 
“I’m all ears,” he said softly, relaxing back in his seat.
“I…” you shifted on your feet, biting your lip, “I got asked out on a date.”
He raised his brow, cocking his head to the side. Part of you had hoped you would see some hint of jealousy from him at your words but his face remained as steely as ever.
“And...you want advice or something?” he chuckled.
You shook your head, “I want to know if…” you took in a deep breath, “If you like me before I accept him.”
He was silent for what felt like an eternity, just staring at you. Shinsou was always the type of man to think before he spoke, running through all possibilities before opening his mouth. His throat moved as he swallowed, a soft sigh coming from his nose.
“You...have a crush on me, or something?” he asked, making you deflate slightly.
“Yes,” you admitted, “And...if you don’t like me back then I’ll accept this boy’s date. There’s no reason for me to wait around and hope you’ll like me back when I could be out meeting someone new.”
He nodded his head, quieting once more. You watched as he stood up, taking a few steps towards you, “_____…” you heart clenched at his tone, knowing what was coming, “My job...it doesn’t leave me room for personal relationships.”
Despite how much you prepared yourself for it, hearing him reject you hurt. You nodded, forcing yourself not to cry as you backed up towards the door.
“Alright then,” you gave him a tight-lipped smile, turning your back to him, “I guess I’ll accept Kaminari’s date then.”
As you walked out his door, you didn’t see the pained look in his eyes. Your name lingered on the tip of his tongue but he didn’t dare speak out. The click of his door was deafening in his ears and when you were gone he sighed, hanging his head as he sat on the edge of his bed, feeling like an idiot. 
The next day, you hunted down Kaminari, telling him you’d love to go out on a date with him. He was thrilled, going off excitedly about how he couldn’t believe you actually accepted him and that he would make it the best date ever. 
And truth be told, the date was a blast. You had told him you’d never been to laser tag before and immediately he said that was exactly what you do then. The sound of Denki’s laughter still echoed in your ears as he lost to you, accusing you of cheating in a lighthearted tone. 
You didn’t see much of Shinsou after you started seeing Kaminari. Although it was casual, you spent a good bit of time hanging out with him ― he began eating with you, Uraraka, and Momo on campus and the two of you texted often. 
It seemed that Shinsou wasn’t making a big effort to hang out with you anyway. As much as that hurt, you knew it was for the best. It spared you a lot of hurt and him of the awkwardness of living with a girl who had a crush on him. 
It was fair enough, you mused. 
But when you laid in bed at night, your phone on silent and the faint sound of Shinsou’s voice floating through the walls as he gamed with his friends, you felt the now familiar tug on your heart. You longed to be with him. 
But you knew it was pointless now. 
You’d been seeing Kaminari for a month when he showed up on your doorstep to pick you up. Usually you would leave and meet him but due to the rain, he opted to pick you up and save you both from the hassle. 
You were in your room, putting the final touches on your makeup when the doorbell rang. Before you could react, you heard Shinsou open the door. 
You quickly grabbed your purse, tossing the strap over your shoulder as you opened your door. You could hear their voices carrying down the hallway.
“Holy shit!” Kaminari laughed, “What a small world ― it’s been a while Hitoshi!”
“Denki,” Shinsou greeted curtly. 
“You ______’s roommate?” Kaminari asked, tucking his hands in his pockets as he waited for you, “She’s talked about you a bit. Didn’t know it was you, though, man!”
“Denki―” Shinsou was about to say something more but was cut off by your entrance.
“Hey there babydoll!” Kaminari greeted with a grin, holding his hand out for you to take, “See you later, Hitoshi!”
Shinsou didn’t respond as he watched the two of you leave, his jaw set tight as he held himself back from calling out. 
-
You felt like you’d never been more angry in your life as you stormed home. Things had been going so well between you and Kaminari, you felt like you could genuinely start to like him. You enjoyed his company and began to think less and less about one purple haired roommate of yours. 
You slammed the front door, startling poor Shinsou on the couch. He turned around, eyes wide at the blazing anger visible on your face.
“What the hell is your problem, Shinsou?!” you cried, kicking your shoes off and tossing your backpack to the floor.
“Huh?” he raised a brow dumbly, only fanning the flames of your rage. 
“You…” you heaved, fists clenched, “Who do you think you are?! Telling Denki to break it off with me?!”
Realization quickly flashed over his face and he groaned, standing up, “I didn’t tell him to break up with you!” he argued. You opened your mouth to retort but he put his hand up to stop you, “I just told him to think it over. Do you know how we know each other, ____?”
“No,” you shook your head, tossing your hands up, “What does it matter? You still have no right to interfere in my relationship!”
“He’s in the same line of work I am!” he snapped, rounding the couch, “He does the same exact thing I do.”
You paused, letting the information sink in, “Why does that matter?”
He shook his head, “Do you really want to be with a guy who spends his nights in bed with women, _____? That’s not exactly the easiest job to trust a man with.”
You didn’t have a retort, “I thought...the majority of the job was just being a companion.”
Shinsou sighed, taking a seat once more, “It really depends on the guy. Denki is pretty popular because he loves to get his dick wet.”
You thought those words would make you feel jealous. The idea of the guy you were seeing fucking other women should make you feel something but instead...you felt almost relieved. Still, it didn’t simmer the anger you felt towards Shinsou at putting his nose in your business.
“You should have come to me and told me your concerns, Shinsou,” you snapped, narrowing your eyes at him, “Instead of going behind my back for me to be dumped.”
“You’re right,” he admitted, biting his lip, “I just...wanted to see if Denki was still the same as he was when I last knew him. It’s just how it happened. I am sorry.”
Sensing his apology was sincere, you relaxed and nodded, “I’ve got to study.”
With that, you hid away in your room. 
You couldn’t deny you still felt a bit ticked off with him but at least you were able to move past it. You realized you weren’t truly attached to Kaminari, you were just using him to shove your feelings for Shinsou away ― a pretty dick move on your part. So you were relieved to be out of the relationship.
Unfortunately, this left you with Shinsou once more. Where he once was pushed from your mind for the most part, he now resumed plaguing your thoughts. 
You couldn’t deny how tired you were. 
It was emotionally exhausting feeling your heart race at the mere sight of him only for it to ache when you remembered there was no chance in hell he’d even give you the time of day. 
Things reached a head when he returned from work. Eleven months in and all the negative feelings and tension finally culminated. 
“Hey Shinsou,” you called, finding him leaning against the kitchen island with a cereal bar in his hands. 
He looked over his shoulder, an unusually cold look in his eyes as he regarded you, “What?”
You tried not to flinch at the tone, frowning, “Is everything okay?”
“Fine,” he snapped and you sighed, realizing he was in one of his moods, “What do you want?”
“I...nevermind,” you shrugged, “We’ll talk when you’re in a better mood.”
You hadn’t meant for it to be something to piss him off further. You truly meant that you would wait until he felt better to talk. For some reason, however, he took it wrong.
“The hell is that supposed to mean?” he growled, pushing himself off of the counter to storm up to you.
“Nothing!” you defended, “I don’t want to get into anything with you, okay?”
“If you have something to say then just say it!” he snapped, making you shake your head.
“No!” you argued, turning on your heel to storm into your bedroom. 
Before you could get very far, however, a tight hand was wrapped around your elbow, pulling you back.
“Don’t fucking run from me!” his tone sent shivers down your spine, the angry fire burning in his eyes finally snapping something inside you.
“I am so fucking tired of this!” you tore your arm from his grip, not missing the frustrated grunt he gave in response, “This shit isn’t working anymore, Shinsou! You clearly don’t know what the hell to do with yourself; you come home from working and you’re in a shit mood and you take it out on me. Then you act like everything is perfectly fine. You know how I feel about you, so you can’t even pretend that doesn’t have anything to do with your behavior. In fact, I know it affects you because why else would you have convinced the only guy I’ve seen in the past like two years to dump me like trash! All over this stupid fucking job of yours. I don’t want to deal with the shitty way you make me feel, Shinsou!”
“So?” he snapped, teeth bared.
“So I’m gonna fucking move out!” you threatened, standing nose to nose with him.
His eyes narrowed and he let out a humourless laugh, “Fine! The sooner the better!”
With those last words he stormed past you, slamming his bedroom door with deafening finality. 
You were left alone in the living room, fists clenched as tears you’d held back so long finally broke free. 
A stupid purple haired idiot was not worth being hurt so much over. That you were sure of. 
It’s not like he even cared, apparently. 
With that thought finally pushing you into action, you returned to your own room to begin looking for new housing. 
In all your time living with him, the longest you went without seeing him was two days. Once a month when he went to work ― that was the only length of time you didn’t see him every day. 
Now, however, the two of you were avoiding each other like the plague. You had been busting your ass finding a new apartment, going to school, and working as usual. Shinsou had been hiding in his room the majority of the time. 
You even stopped cooking. 
Part of you wondered if he even noticed. Deep down, however, you knew he probably didn’t care. 
He would just get a new roommate and go on like usual. Like you had never existed. 
At least you’d be able to get over him then. 
It took a month before you found a decent place. It was nowhere near as nice as your current one but there was nothing you could do about that. Your situation with Shinsou was unique and you knew you were never gonna have an opportunity like this again. 
You came to terms with that. 
Wandering out of your room, you were surprised to find him sitting on the couch. His nose was buried in his phone but the TV played his usual shows. 
“Hey,” you greeted, keeping your voice even. He grunted in response, not looking up, “I found a place. I’ll be out by the end of the week.”
He didn’t say anything and you sighed, feeling your eyes burn. 
How you wished he would say something to stop you ― to show you that the past year wasn’t a huge waste of time and that you really meant nothing to him. You felt you could have at least called yourselves friends but...apparently that was one sided. 
The thought hurt so you escaped to your room once again to hide. 
The night before your move, you were laying in bed playing a game on your phone. Laying on your back, you held the screen up and tapped your thumbs aggressive against the screen. Your momentum was lost by three sharp knocks on your door. You cried out as your phone fell from your hand and dropped on your face. 
“Shit,” you groaned, tossing it away and getting up from bed. 
Opening the door, your words caught in your throat at the sight of Hitoshi Shinsou’s sleepy gaze fixated on you. His hand was clasped around the nape of his neck and he was looking away nervously. 
“What the fuck are you doing here?” his head snapped towards you, eyes wide before you realized how that sounded, “I-I mean I thought you were supposed to be gone! You know...to work.”
His shoulders relaxed slightly and he shrugged, “I cancelled. I...wanted...no, I needed to talk to you. Can I come in?”
You stood there for a few seconds, thinking it over before stepping aside to let him in. He gave you a tight lipped smile before you shut the door behind him. Turning to face him, you took note of the way his free hand was shoved into his sweats pocket. The tension was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. 
“What...what did you need?” you asked, sitting on the edge of your bed. 
He remained standing, obviously thinking over his words carefully. His back was to you, his figure hunched slightly in his usual posture. But you couldn’t miss the tension his form held. 
“I never intended this to become a long-term thing,” for a moment you thought he was talking about your living arrangement but before you could refute, he was turning to you, “This sugar baby thing, that is. I had a friend who did it and made some good money from it and eventually I got into the scene and realized just how good it could pay. It’s been like 2 or 3 years now since I’ve been at it.”
He dropped his hand from around his neck, beginning to pace around your room to gaze at your various knick-knacks. He paused at the few boxes you had packed up already, a frown marring his face.
“I make even more money by selling the presents I get. Sometimes the clients will give me jewelry or clothes, I always sell them,” he sighed, picking up a snow globe that sat atop your dresser, shaking it mindlessly to watch the fake snow float around the glass. 
“Why are you telling me this?” you asked softly.
“The truth is, I hate the majority of my job,” he confessed, ignoring your question, “Most of the people are pretentious assholes who think they’re better than me because they pay me. I don’t mind being arm candy, it doesn’t really bother me. And not gonna lie sometimes the sex is bomb,” he chuckled almost lifelessly and you ignored the pang in your chest at his words, “But the position I’m in forces me to basically do whatever they want me to. Naturally, I have limits and shit but if they want to dominate me I let them and that sucks.”
“Hitoshi,” you grumbled, making him look at you, “Why are you telling me about your sexual preferences?”
“Oh right…” he shook his head, “I hate doing it because I don’t have much control in my life because of it,” he looked at you with fierce eyes, “That’s why...I want to say fuck it.”
Before you could respond, he was walking up to you, cupping your cheek in a warm hand. Your eyes were wide, staring up at him as he moved close to you, his lips brushing yours. 
“It’s been so fucking painful letting you go,” he whispered, “Having to reject you and let you go out with fucking Denki nearly broke me down, not gonna lie. I didn’t want him to hurt you, that’s why I interfered...but I also...didn’t want to let him have you when I wanted you so damn bad myself.”
Your heartbeat stuttered as you stared up at him, wide eyed, “D-Does that mean you…”
He nodded, “Shit, I’ve liked you for so long, _____. It’s been so hard not telling you how I feel every single day.”
“Hitoshi,” you likced your lips, reaching up to fist the front of his shirt. He hummed before you spoke again, “Please kiss me.”
There was a quick flash of his smile before his lips met yours ― every bit as soft as you expected them to be. You could faintly taste toothpaste on his lips but you didn’t mind one bit, he probably tasted the same from you. 
His hand moved from your cheek to your jaw, angling your head to deepen the kiss. Your own hands moved around his shoulders, pulling him closer. 
You quickly found yourself on your back, his hand wandering up the hem of your shirt, touching the bare skin of your stomach. You whimpered, fisting his hair as you kept him locked in a kiss. He didn’t seem to mind, simply sighing against your lips. 
You still had questions but you couldn’t bear the thought of stopping this so you tucked them into the back of your mind, devoting yourself to what was right in front of you. 
Shinsou sat up just slightly, breaking the kiss. You almost whined but the feeling of his hand creeping upwards towards your bare breast stopped you.
“Is this okay?” he asked for your consent, pausing before he actually touched you.
“Very,” you breathed, tugging him back down for another kiss. 
Immediately, he cupped your breast, thumbing your already erected nipple. You gasped into his mouth, earning an amused chuckle from him.
“Sensitive?” he asked, pecking your lips before suddenly sitting back. 
This time you did whine at the loss. He flashed you a fond smile before pushing the hem of your shirt up to your neck, revealing your chest to his greedy eyes. 
“D-Don’t just stare,” you complained, feeling your cheeks burn as he admired your body. 
“Sorry,” he replied insincerely, cupping your breast once more, “You have such pretty tits, you know? I couldn’t help it.”
You scoffed but it turned into a choked gasp as he enveloped your pert bud in his hot mouth, wet tongue lashing against it before he pulled away with a firm suck. You wrapped your hands in those soft, purple tresses and whined. His other hand came up to pinch your other nipple, making sure to give it just as much attention. 
“Toshi…” you whined, tugging his hair until he pulled away, his lips swollen. 
“What is it, baby?” he hummed, nosing at your neck to press soft kisses there.
“T-Take your shirt off,” you breathed, tugging at the hem until you were able to pull it over his head with a bit of assistance. 
Once he was as shirtless as you, your hands began to wander to touch every bit of skin you had long to for so long. He let you explore, letting out a soft sigh when you brushed over one of his hardened nipples. You didn’t linger in one place for long, quickly growing too curious at the sight of his member straining against those damn sweatpants he always wore. 
His head tipped back as you palmed him through the fabric, quickly noticing that he wasn’t wearing any underwear. Eagerly, you dipped your fingers beneath the hem and pulled his cock free, your fingers not even able to touch once wrapped around. 
He was thick, a curve to his length that you just knew would hit a certain spot inside of you that would make you lose your mind. The head was a flushed red color, leaking precum that you used to give him a couple easy strokes. 
He reached down, grabbing your wrist to stop you before slipping his own hand down the hem of your shorts and panties. 
Your hips bucked the second his fingers made contact with your folds ― already dripping wet and coating his digits generously. He gave a few soft circles to your clit, testing your sensitivity before finding the pressure that had you cunt clenching around nothing. 
You whined, grinding your hips against his touch in hopes he’d slip at least one of those long fingers into you. Thankfully, you were granted your wish and more as he easily slid his middle and ring fingers in. 
He groaned as you walls tightly clenched around him, trying to desperately pull him back in whenever he pulled them out slightly. 
“Feel good?” he breathed, already knowing the answer but craving your praise.
“So good,” you whimpered, biting your lip. He curled his fingers suddenly, nailing that sweet, spongy spot on your upper wall, “Right there!” you gasped. 
He grinned, massaging that one pleasure-point with vigor, “Yeah? Right there, kitten?”
You keened at the name, walls clenching. He groaned at the feeling, suddenly pulling his hand free from your shorts. You didn’t have time to complain before he was tugging the remaining articles down your legs to toss away. 
He moved with practice expertise, grabbing you beneath the thighs to pin them open. Your wet cunt was exposed to his all too greedy eyes. He licked his lips at the sight, making your cheeks burn. 
Before you knew it, he was kneeling on the floor beside the bed, tugging you down just a bit so your ass was almost hanging off the edge. The position left you completely at his mercy. He knew it too. 
You watched with bated breath as he spread your folds open ― revealing the shiny, pink hole that continuously dripped your arousal. It clenched beneath his leering gaze and he groaned. 
“Fuck!” you squealed when he dove forward to wrap his lips around your hardened clit. 
He hummed at your taste, sending vibrations through the little bud. He quickly abandoned that in favor of getting a full taste of your juices. Tonguing your entrance, he reveled in how tight you were around his tongue. 
You reached down, tanging your fingers in his hair as he ate you with all he had. His tongue worked expertly to circle your clit before dipping back down to your hole once again. 
“Please, put your fingers in,” you begged, desperate to be filled. 
He quickly obliged, slipping two long digits into your clenched pussy before mouthing over your clit eagerly. He could already feel you clenching sporadically around him and he couldn’t resist setting a quick pace, hammering against your sweet spot with every movement. 
Your muscles were taught as you felt that glorious high building up. Soft pleas left your lips as your back arched. 
“Gonna cum, kitten?” he tasted, flicking his tongue against your clit.
“Y-Yeah!” you sobbed, abandoning your hold on his hair to tear at your blankets ― not wanting to hurt him in your throes of pleasure. 
“Cum then,” the casual way he said those words flicked a switch and you were cumming. 
He groaned through your high, feeling your cunt spasm around him. He felt your cum gush from around his digits, soaking them as you clit throbbed beneath the pad of his tongue. Once your body began to relax, he pulled away. 
Your thighs slammed shut once he was out of the way, your muscles trembling through the intense aftershocks. While you were coming down, he stripped himself of his sweats, popping his cum-soaked fingers into his mouth with a groan as he fisted his cock to the sight of you trembling. 
The fact he made you cum so hard was a boost to his ego and he didn’t bother fighting the prideful grin on his face. Sweat coated your skin and made your hair stick to your neck. 
After several seconds, he climbed onto the bed and maneuvered you so your head was in the pillows. You bit your lip and grinned slyly at him as he climbed onto the bed. 
“Shit uh…” he looked around your room quickly, a frown on his lips. You looked up at him curiously before he explained, “Condom?”
You bit your lip and shook your head, “D-Don’t worry about it.”
“Huh?” he gaped down at you.
You shrugged, “I’m on the pill and well...I’m sure you use condoms with you...job, right?”
“Always,” he blinked.
“Then…” you wiggled your hips at him with a cheeky grin. 
He chuckled, leaning down to press a kiss to your lips. Reaching between the two of you, he gripped his cock and tapped the head of it against your folds. Your thighs jumped as he slapped lightly against your sensitive clit. 
Finally, he began to press into you and your mouth fell open at the delicious stretch his cock gave you. He clenched his teeth, letting you soft groans as he sunk more of his length into you. Your walls gripped him so tightly, spasming and clenching as he was fully seated within you. 
The two of you had to pause before continuing, the feeling of him filling you up too much. His cock was thick, making you feel like he was stuffing you full. 
“Please,” you begged, fisting the pillows on either side of your head as he sat back on his heels. 
Gazing between your thighs, he nearly lost it at the sight of your cunt stretched tight to accommodate him. He thumbed over your clit, receiving a sharp cry from your lips. 
“Fuck...you’re so fucking tight,” he growled, circling his hips against yours with a groan, “I can feel you clenching so tight around me. Bet you wanna cum again, huh?”
“Yes!” you cried quickly, mouth agape as he gave a sudden thrust, “Please make me cum!”
He shushed you, rubbing his thumbs over your hips, “Don’t worry, kitten, I got you...I’ll get you there.”
Before you could respond, he was setting an almost brutal pace. You always imagined what Shinsou would be like in bed ― you pictured it too many times at night. Sometimes you imagined he would take it slow with deep, intense thrusts. Other times you’d picture exactly this; rough, harsh thrusts that you were sure were going to leave you sore when the morning came. 
You had no complaints though. 
Hitoshi gripped you beneath your knees, pinning your legs to your chest as he fucked you. Your cunt gushed around him, making lewd, wet noises reverberate around the room and mingle with your mixed moans. He let out groans of pleasure, strands of purple hair sticking to his forehead. 
You couldn’t help but admire the sight of him ― muscles rippling and moving with the force of his thrusts. Reaching up, you pulled him closer against you, dragging your nails across his shoulder blades. 
He winced but you felt his cock twitch at the pinch of pain inflicted as a result. You thought back to what you saw that one night ― the marks some random woman left on his body. Suddenly, you were overcome with the need to mark him as yours. 
Catching him by surprise, you managed to flip him over, straddling his waist, using his strong chest as leverage to fuck yourself on his thick cock. The new angle allowed him to reach even deeper, almost hitting your cervix every time you sunk down on him. He gripped your hips, assisting your movements as he tossed his head back into the pillows. 
“Shit, that’s it, kitten,” he praised, reaching up to pinch one of your nipples.
You keened at the praise, leaning down to deliver a sharp bite against his shoulder, sucking at the skin until a bright red mark bloomed. You eyed it proudly, biting your lip as you ground against his cock, making sure your clit got the attention it needed. 
Shinsou bucked into you, making you whine as he started a steady pace of bouncing. Your thighs burned but it was worth the sight of having him beneath you. The way he stared up at you, as if you were a goddess made your heart race. 
“Toshi…” you whined, leaning back to steady yourself on his thighs as he started to thrust up into you. 
“What is it, babygirl?” he grunted, gripping your hips tightly as he fucked his thick cock into your gushing cunt. 
“Make me cum, please!” you begged, biting your lip. 
He grinned, bringing his thumb to his lips to lick the pad of it, “I got you, baby.”
Before you could think of a response, he was circling his thumb around your clit, the bud desperate for attention. Your body tensed with just a few quick circles of his thumb, his cock angled against your g-spot so perfectly that you immediately reached your high. 
Through your own cries of pleasure, you heard him moaning alongside you before he froze, his cock buried deep inside you as he came. His cock throbbed and pulsed with every jet of hot cum he released into your clenching walls. 
All at once, things stilled. You both relaxed against each other. His cock was still stuffed inside you, softening as his cum leaked out around him to make a mess between the two of you. You laid your head against his chest, his large hand cupping the back of it, pressing soft kisses against your forehead until your heartbeats finally slowed to a reasonable pace. 
“Let’s take a bath, baby,” he groaned as he sat up, keeping you secure in his lap.
You were surprised he could carry you so easily after he nearly fucked the very life out of you. 
Soon enough, you found yourself surrounded by sweet-smelling water with a fucked-out Shinsou cuddling against your back.
“Not to...ruin this afterglow bliss,” you hummed, leaning back against him as the warm water ripped around you, “But what brought this confession on suddenly? I thought you said your job doesn’t allow room for relationships.”
He was quiet for several, long seconds before he leaned forward to press a kiss to your shoulder, “I didn’t think it was fair to let myself be with you when I was going out once a month to hang around with a bunch of women. It isn’t something I want to put you through.”
“So you’re going to quit?” you asked. 
He nodded, “I probably won’t be able to make enough money to keep this place but...if it means I can have you without feeling like shit about hurting you, then yeah. It’ll be worth it, I’m sure.”
“Why don’t you just…” you bit your lip, pausing.
“What?” you questioned, gripping your chin to make you look at him, “Talk to me.”
You hummed, “Just stop with the sex and kissing stuff...just be arm candy, like you said. Hang out with them. They’ll still pay for that, right?”
He raised a brow, shifting so he could look better at your face, “You’d be okay with me going to hang out with a bunch of women who want nothing more than to sit on my dick?”
“Well…” you cleared your throat, your cheeks burning, “As long as only I get to sit on your dick then it’ll be fine. I trust you, Hitoshi.”
He was quiet once again before a smile fell across his lips, leaning forward to press a kiss to your lips, “We’ll talk more about it later. Let’s just relax.”
He tucked you against his chest, leaning back against the porcelain of the tub. With his fingers caressing across your skin, you allowed yourself to drift off ― finally wrapped up in those damn arms you dreamed of.
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let-them-read-fics · 3 years
Text
Yours Truly (Pt. 2)
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Requested By: Some of you!
Pairing: Jisoo x Fem!Reader
AU: College
Word Count: Part 1 -> 9,786 // Part 2 -> 7,433
Warnings / Misc. -- Angst, Pining, Fluff
Disclaimer: This writing is a work of fiction, and no disrespect is meant for those mentioned herein.
A/N: Here's the second and final part of the imagine, gang. I hope you enjoy the adventures I wrote for you! Let me know about your fav part(s)!
♡ Happy Reading ♡
Part 1 -- Click Here
🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
5.) Epiphanies
A Week Later
"Yuqi, why the hell did you drag me here? I'd so much rather be writing…" you shove your hands further into the pockets of your hoodie and look at her with a scowl. Rows of people fill the bleachers around you, everyone excited for the football game that's scheduled to start soon. Happy couples sit together all around the stadium, and the sight only works to remind you of how weird things are with Jisoo right now.
"One: it's a Friday night and you need to let loose, and two: I wanted to come, so you have to tag along by default. The rules of friendship are very simple, Y/N," she trails off, tilting her head at you with a smile. 
"Well I am gonna go get some food," you imitate her, "Do you want anything?" You stand from the bench and look down at her, noticing how her permed hair sticks up in a few different places. You smooth it out for her as she answers, "Nachos, please." 
"Alright, dork. I'm sure the line's kinda long, but come look for me if I'm not back in 20." She pats your butt as you leave, and you just shake your head with a smile. 
"--I know! Did you hear about Lee's new girlfriend? I heard she got in a fight with his ex last ni--"
"I'm fucking starving bro."
"Yeah, they totally hooked up at Jackson's party!"
Various conversations work their way to your ears as you walk towards the back of the line, but you attempt to not get too invested in the gossip. As welcoming as your school tends to be, even it has its fair share of scandals and drama. You've never been one to care about rumors though, and you don't plan to start now.
"I heard that Jisoo likes someone." 
Funny how plans can change in an instant, don't you think? 
You can't find it in yourself to ignore the childish desire to eavesdrop, so you listen in as the line slowly shifts forward with each new customer served, doing your best to be inconspicuous. 
"Supposedly she's been into them for a while but they don't know about it. I guess Lisa is planning to get them together tonight or something, I don't know." You recognize the brunette speaking as Seulgi, a dance major that you share a couple classes with. She's talking to Yeri, whom you've seen a few times in passing. 
That must be why she was defensive about the kiss; she has feelings for someone else. 
"Ooh, that'll be interesting. I can't say that I'm not disappointed, though; now Jisoo's gonna be off the market." The shorter girl frowns, basically reading your mind with her statement. You've never fooled yourself into believing you have a chance with Jisoo, but knowing that she'll be whisked away by some lucky classmate of yours definitely isn't an easy pill to swallow. 
You pass the remaining wait time by imagining who that person may be. Jisoo has a lot of friends, but you've never seen her around campus with any particular love interest; she always puts her studies first, deciding that her education is far more important than any potential relationship.
You remain lost in your thoughts until it's your turn to order.
"Hey Y/N, what can I get for you?" The cashier greets, resetting the register as she grins at you. 
"Hi Yeji," you smile back, happy to see your old friend again after what feels like forever. Your busy schedules have kept you from hanging out much lately, but seeing her now is something you're grateful for. "I'll take two waters, a medium nacho, and 1 hot dog, please." 
"You want everything on it?" She asks in reference to your last request, assuming you still stick with the order you used to go with in your childhood. 
"You know it. And make sure to--"
"--spread the toppings out well. I remember, girl." She says with a wink, turning around to get started on your order. The familiar interaction warms your heart, aided by the idea that some things never change. After she packages your things up in a convenient little container, you thank her and pay, walking away with a promise to meet up at the school's café next week.
About halfway back to your seat, something unexpected happens.
"Rosie, we can't buy out the whole place. This is the 4th trip we've taken back here and the game hasn't even started yet!" You freeze as you round the corner, almost dropping your food as Jisoo's low voice sounds off nearby. 
"Unnie, I didn't even get to eat much of the other stuff at all! Lisa and Jennie stole it and shared it with everyone else," the artist pouts, rolling her hands into fists at her sides like a toddler. 
"Fine. But this is the last trip I'm taking." She warns, rolling her eyes when the Australian attacks her with a flurry of kisses. "Yah! Let's go before we miss something." She says, pushing her off of her with a smile on her face. 
Even her voice makes your heart ache, and it reminds you of what her kiss felt like against your lips. It was short, no doubt, and barely there; but the sparks remain, waiting to be reignited anytime she's around. Maybe you're just destined to pine.
----
"There you are! I was literally about to go steal some food from Shuhua because you were taking so long." 
"Yeah, yeah," you say, sitting down beside Yuqi with the cardboard box in your hands. "You're lucky I love you enough to pay for this. Now I'll have to survive on 3 grains of rice and ramen for the next few weeks." 
"Oh, the struggles of being a broke college student." She says woefully, clutching her hands together in front of her chest to add to the effect. 
"Precisely," you agree, scooting closer to offer her some nachos. When she tries to greedily take the whole tray of them, you're quick to stop her. 
"Ah, ah, ah," you warn, pulling her wrist back down. "We're sharing, chica." She huffs, but eventually settles down and decides to shove her face full instead of protesting anymore. 
Now, with your best friend happily eating, you relax and begin to prepare yourself for the match. 
--
"LET'S GO!" You shout with Yuqi, chanting together as your school's anthem echoes throughout the stadium. The rival team has been behind the entire game, but they closed the gap in the last few minutes and now it's neck and neck. Your band plays loudly to encourage your team, and it seems to be working; they manage to repeatedly hold the others off and keep them from scoring. 
It's the start of the fourth quarter now -- the home stretch. With their spirits still high, your team continues to keep victory out of their opponents hands. The black paint underneath their eyes is really streaked now, showing all the effort and sweat that they've put into the game so far. A beautiful sunset just previously gave way to a rapidly darkening evening sky, allowing some stars to peek out now.
"My high school team sucked; this is epic!" Yuqi says, making you laugh. You tear your eyes away from the heated game to say something to her, but all thoughts soon disappear from your mind and you stop mid-sentence. 
She notices your sudden silence and looks at you, only realizing what's happening once she follows your line of sight. Jeong is standing against the metal fence that borders the track, mingling with everyone at the bottom of the bleachers. That doesn't bother you, but what you see next certainly does; you spot Jisoo beside him, giggling at something he said as he tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. 
"Oh shit," Yuqi breathes out, fully grasping the weight of the situation now. She doesn't even attempt to give him the benefit of the doubt, because he knows how in love you are with Jisoo and yet there he is, flirting away. He's the only other person besides Yuqi who knows of your feelings for the brunette, and you really trusted him with it. Clearly that was a mistake. You blink a few times and set your jaw, quickly looking away as he moves closer to whisper something in her ear over the noise of the crowd. 
"I'm gonna head out to the car. Just let me know who wins," you mumble, brushing past her on your way toward the exit. You know there's no way you'd be able to focus on the game anymore after seeing that, so going is your best option. She catches your arm before you can slip away, and says, "Wait, I'm coming with you. And don't even try to tell me no; I can always watch highlights later. I'm not gonna let you be alone right now." 
Knowing it's pointless to argue anymore, you nod once and wait for her to gather up her trash and coat. "Let's go," she says, taking your hand after tossing her garbage in the can conveniently placed at the end of your row. She squeezes it a few times for reassurance, and a bittersweet smile works onto your lips at the gesture. 
You don't notice how Jisoo's eyes follow you, every fiber of her being yelling at her to go after you. She hates seeing you sad, and although she isn't 100% sure of the reason for it now, all she wants is to cheer you up. 
"So, Jisoo. Do you have any plans after the game?" Jeong smirks, quirking a brow suggestively at his own question. Jisoo grimaces, saying, "Yeah, I do. I have to study." She tries to find you in the crowd again, but it seems that you've already slipped away. 
"We're throwing a party tonight, you should come." He leans a little closer to her, but she takes a step back. The only reason she's even talking to him right now is because Lisa introduced them, and it would be impolite not to. She turns him down, yet again sneaking a glance around the stadium. 
"No wonder Y/N's too chicken to ask you out; you're hard to get, but I don't mind a challenge." Her head whips around at his statement, heart regaining that familiar uptick at the mention of you. "What?" She blinks, not believing her ears. Surely she was just hearing things. 
"I said I don't mind a challenge," his words come out slightly slurred, and the effects of the alcohol he's been drinking are beginning to show themselves in all the wrong ways. The more he talks, the less Jisoo can stand him. "Look, Jeong -- I'm not interested. I'm sure there are other girls here that would love to get to know you, but I'm not one of them. Now, if you'll excuse me," she says, turning her body to the side to maneuver around him and get to the stairs. He lets her go without another word, his pride too bruised to come up with a more fitting response than a muttered insult. 
She makes quick work of getting to the parking lot, where she spots you approaching Yuqi's car, head hanging a bit. Seeing you upset saddens her, and she's determined to find out what's wrong. 
"Y/N! Wait up!" The shout catches your attention, and you slowly spin around. Jisoo begins to jog out to you, and a scoff slips past your lips (though you don't put much effort into stopping it). You're hurt, and half of the reason for your pain is staring right back at you like nothing happened. 
"What do you want, Jisoo?" You sigh, not looking forward to where this conversation will most certainly go.
"I want to talk, Y/N." She's in front of you now, scanning her eyes between yours to gauge your reaction. 
"What is there to say? Just go back to talking to Jeong; you looked like you were enjoying yourself." She can hear the jealousy laced in your tone, and things finally -- finally -- begin to click for her. 
"Is that what this is about?" She asks in reference to your sadness. The question isn't accusatory at all; she's genuinely trying to piece things together. 
A disbelieving laugh leaves you at that. How is she still so oblivious? "Yes, Jisoo, it is. I just had to witness someone who I thought was my friend flirt with my crush. So yeah, that's what this is about." Sensing that she doesn't know what to say, you decide to conclude things for her. This is already pitiful enough, and you'd rather spare the both of you from having the "it's not you, it's me" talk. 
"Look, I get it. You don't like me back, and you were only trying to be friendly by inviting me to the rehearsal that night. Just please, for the both of us, forget it even happened. Forget all of this. It was a mistake, and I won't do it again."
Jisoo hates that you're jumping to conclusions without even knowing her true feelings; you automatically think that she couldn't possibly feel the same, and you use her moment of silence as a form of evidence to prove that. The complete opposite is true, though you'd never give her enough time to straighten out her jumbled thoughts and tell you that. 
She finds her voice when you turn away, and she reaches out to touch your hand. "Stop, you've got it all wrong." Your eyes glance down to your intertwined hands, but you wiggle out of her grip with a heavy sigh. Over your shoulder, you shakily say, "You don't have to pretend for me, Jisoo. I'll be alright. If he makes you happy, then so be it." 
With that, you get in Yuqi's car and tell her to drive away, leaving Jisoo to deal with the sinking feeling in her chest that worsens as the car's tail lights grow dimmer and dimmer in the distance. You're gone, and she really has no idea how to come back from this. 
6.) Broken Hearted
The next few weeks were hell. You avoided Jisoo as much as possible, too embarrassed to face her after what happened and too weak to be close to her again. You'd surely fall even harder if you allowed yourself to grow any closer, so you didn't take the risk. How could you? Falling alone isn't an enjoyable experience, and you've been teetering on the edge of no return ever since that afternoon at the daycare. 
It was hard enough to escape her hold -- her face was everywhere, plastered on ads and bulletin boards all throughout campus, on reminders and sign ups for student council. You used your sick days in order to hide away in your dorm and block out the world, only being comforted by Ryujin when she wasn't busy with her own life or Yuqi when she could spare a few hours. They always made sure to care for you as much as they could, knowing first hand how tough heartbreak can be -- especially with the added stress of schoolwork. 
One person you thought about often was Jeong. Every time he'd cross your mind, dirtying up your brainwaves with the mere notion of himself, you'd grimace. He didn't deserve the attention, and yet you couldn't help but question why he did that to you. He hadn't reached out since that night, likely due to Yuqi giving him a piece of her mind after the game. He made it clear that he wasn't sorry, and that if given the chance, he'd play his cards even better and hopefully score a date with Jisoo. 
Maybe that was the worst part of it all. Hearing that it hadn't just been a stupid thing he did because he was drunk; he realized the weight of his actions, and he'd do it again, over and over, without caring about how you fit into the equation. That football game was simply a turning point, hidden in plain sight as an unassuming night for you to hang out with Yuqi. But you learned more then than you had ever intended to; Jeong's selfish, and he probably never even cared for you in the first place. The idea of that makes you feel dirty -- like you wasted so much of your time with such a horrible person, sticking up for him and defending his name when he wasn't around when he never even deserved that in the first place. You wish you would've known who he really was back then; you would've stayed away. 
Unbeknownst to you, Jisoo was struggling much like you -- minus the whole "betrayed by a best friend" situation. Every time that she showed up in class, she hoped with every piece of herself that you'd walk through the door and grace the room with your presence. You seldom ever did, though -- but when you ran out of free days of absence and were forced to attend class in order to keep your grades up, you never even uttered a word to her. She'd make it a point to ask questions in class, hoping that hearing her voice would bring something out of you, as yours did to her. She longed to talk to you again, if only for a minute; but your resolve remained strong, and her determination grew weaker as the days went by. 
Being the person she is, though, she knew giving up wasn't an option. After a few weeks of that cycle, greeting stands were placed at the front doors of each complex on campus, manned by different members of the council. She came up with a story for the administration on the fly, using her people skills to convince them that it would be good for student morale and getting more people to join clubs. It was a great effort, but she underestimated your avoidance skills; you thwarted her plans again, slipping right through her strategically linked fingers. 
Eventually, she lost hope. She exhausted every option she knew to try, and the girls ran out of new ones as well. Seeing their unnie so upset saddened them, and they did all they could to cheer her up in any and every way they knew how. 
7.) Premiere Night
"Y/N, get up. You're gonna shower and get dressed if I have to force you to do it myself." Yuqi commands, blasting into your room and flipping on the overhead light that shines far too bright for your liking. 
"Mmm," you groan in protest, not even bothering to roll over. 
"I mean it; don't test me, you know I'm true to my word."
"Why, Yuqi?"
"Because we're going to the performance tonight. The big show that everyone has been going on about is premiering, and you're coming with me to see it."
"I can't do that." You say, her words sobering you up from your sleepy stupor.
"I know who the lead is," she informs, already knowing about your reasons for being hesitant, "and that's precisely why we're going. You can't keep living like this, so either go get your girl, or agree to be friends with her and work past what you're dealing with." 
"You sound like a mom at the end of an 80s movie."
"80s movie moms are valid, so I'll take that as a compliment. Now go!" She shouts, shoving you off the bed. You tumble to the floor in a heap of blankets and pillows, still managing to hit your funny bone as you let out a pained groan. 
"Remind me to slap her later, Ryujin." 
"Will do." She salutes, reaching a hand down to help you up. With one last glare at an annoyingly bubbly Yuqi, you head to the bathroom to shower. 
----
"How do I look?" You ask, looking yourself up and down in the skinny mirror attached to the wall. 
"Is it gay if I say I'd ask you out?" Yuqi asks with a smile, fanning herself animatedly when you strike a pose. 
"Very much so, yes." 
"Well, hand me the rainbow suspenders, then." 
You push her over with a laugh -- the first real one you've shared in a while -- and wrap her in a hug. 
"Thank you, for real. I don't know where I'd be if I didn't have you." You say against her shoulder, pulling back to look at your roommate and add, "Either of you." The three of you settle in for a group hug and tell a few more jokes before Yuqi finally drags you out of the dorm. 
----
"How does it feel to be back in society?" Yuqi whispers, leaning in close to you to read the seat numbers printed on your tickets. 
"As lame as ever." You add, amusingly unenthused. 
"You're never gonna convince Jisoo to date your dumbass with that attitude." She retorts, feeling a little guilty when she sees your expression change upon hearing her name. You're afraid to see where the two of you will stand at the end of the night, so saying it's still a sore subject is the understatement of the year. 
"I'm messing with you, dude. If she doesn't want to be with you, then it's her loss; but I highly doubt that's the case. I've heard she misses you a lot." For once, Yuqi's words are halfway encouraging to hear, and you let out a light smile. 
"Well I'm prepared to worry about that whole situation later. For now, let's find our seats and enjoy the show." Your best friend quickly agrees, and the two of you squeeze through the crowds in the aisles to get to your row. 
----
"Jisoo, I promise you'll do well. You've been practicing for months; you've got this," Soo-hyun says, rubbing his co-lead's back in reassuring circles. The certainty in his deep voice gives Jisoo some semblance of security, and she stands to look at him with one final, nervous sigh. Stage fright has never been this big of an issue for her, but the size of the crowd and the idea that you might be out there scare the hell out of her. She wants you to be there with all of her heart, but she doesn't know if she'll be able to handle watching you walk away again. The past few weeks have been torture, and she misses your presence and witty remarks more than she ever thought possible. 
"Thank you, Soo-hyun. I'll meet you out there in a couple minutes, just let me collect myself."
He nods and says, "Take your time. I'll let Mrs. Choi know," before leaving and shutting the door behind himself. Now alone again, Jisoo digs through her personal bag that lays neatly on the small futon of the dressing room. When her fingers come in contact with that familiar material she's spent hours staring at, she bites the inside of her cheek and unfolds it for the millionth time. Multiple poems and blurbs litter the page, accompanied by cute doodles and cartoons here and there that give it a personal feel. She's spent the time away from you methodically working through the different writings, restraining herself from reading all of them in one setting so that she can have new content from time to time. 
She's down to the last one, now, and a surprising sort of realization hits her when she reads it. It instills within her a sense of determination -- determination to get you back and set things right, one way or another. She makes a plan to find you after the performance.
-- After The Performance -- 
It was even more spectacular than you ever imagined it could be. The school spared no expense in getting the best props, employing the most skilled technicians on hand, and recruiting the best artists that the school had to paint the backdrops. Everyone behind the scenes worked tirelessly to produce the best show possible, and their efforts really paid off. 
And, of course, you can't forget the actors. 
The entire cast was incredible, their talent matching some of the world's most sought-after stars. Every part was played to perfection; even the smaller, supporting roles were acted with passion, really bringing the piece together as a whole. The production left you wanting more, too inspired and awestruck by the amazing performances to be content with just seeing it once. So, after numerous calls for an encore, the cast returned to run through a few of their key scenes. 
---
As the cast takes their final bow, large cannons placed on either side of the stage shoot out bursts of colorful confetti, and you watch it flutter down around them. Some try to catch a piece or two to add to their scrapbooks, wanting to have a trinket from their college years, while others just hug each other and twirl around with content smiles on their faces. The crowd continues its loud cheering, and eventually you find the courage to sneak a glance at Jisoo.
To your surprise, she's looking right back. 
Her eyes hold a mixed softness; she's proud of herself and glad that you came to support her on such a big night, but part of her wants to escape the busyness of it all and tell you everything she's been feeling. She'd be content with looking at you forever, she realizes, as she studies you. You're the true star in her eyes, always shining so bright and making everyone feel at home whenever they're around you. She hopes you know how special you are. 
Mrs. Choi approaches the cast from stage right, gathering their attention to congratulate them and commend them for their performances. Jisoo reluctantly looks away from you, unsure if it's the last time she'll be seeing you tonight. The thought upsets her, but there isn't much she can do about it right now; so, she gives her attention to her professor and flashes that smile that makes everyone weak in the knees. 
You knew it was just a matter of time before she'd be pulled away and immersed in some conversation about the show, but the selfish side of you never wanted her to look away. No matter how confusing things may be because of all of your unresolved issues, she still looks at you like she always had before -- her gaze is kind, albeit bittersweet, but it's full of care. Seeing her like that makes you feel like even more of an asshole than you already do -- maybe you should have just listened to her at the game. Running away was an immature choice, rooted entirely in your own sadness in that moment as you deprived yourself of any explanation she could've offered, though you can't judge yourself too harshly. The situation is complicated, and you still don't know whether to hate yourself for running or go easy on yourself in light of what happened. 
When Yuqi sees you stand up and shuffle towards the end of your row, she sends you a warning look. 
"Dude, I'm not gonna run away. I'm literally just gonna step outside for some fresh air, I promise." She visibly relaxes, no longer having to prepare herself to wrangle you back into the seat. 
"Fine. But if you aren't back in 15 minutes I'm coming to track you down. You really need to talk to her." 
You sigh, nodding in agreement. "I know, trust me. Just let me get my thoughts together first." She sends you off to do just that, but not until the two of you complete the special handshake you made up all those months ago. 
---
Brisk air rushes over your skin in waves the moment you exit the side door of the building, automatically sending goosebumps to raise in its wake. It feels nice, though; it grounds you, and works to cool off your heated skin. The atmosphere inside was thick with the tension you've been feeling ever since what happened that night at the game, and its effects were only heightened by the raw performances of the evening. Passion and longing were the driving factors of the play, ironically, and many of the scenes drew eerie parallels to your current situation. So, it's no wonder that you're thankful to step away from it all for a bit.
You greet a few stray audience members that're puttering around outside as well, opting to walk down a little further away from them and lean against the building. The wall's brick material feels rough against your back, lightly scratching it whenever you shift your weight from one foot to the other. You don't mind it, though; it's oddly nostalgic, somehow. 
When you hear the door open again, you think nothing of it. The metal hinges latch just the same as they had for you, so there's really no reason for you to even look up. However, that all changes when you feel someone's eyes on you.
Unprepared is leaps and bounds away from being a fitting statement to describe how you feel in that moment; Jisoo stands merely 10 feet away from you at most, right next to the stage door that she just came out of. Her hands fiddle with the drawstrings of her costume, seemingly always needing to be occupied when she's nervous or unsure of herself; it's a habit you've picked up on after seeing it so many times. 
The longer you look at her, the more you want to look away; she's so beautiful it hurts, and the silence is eating away at you. You can't blame her, though; neither of you know what to say or do, and the only thing you seem capable of is staring at each other. When you break the intense eye contact you were sharing to turn away, only intending to take a minute to collect yourself, Jisoo is suddenly set in motion. 
She's afraid you'll leave again, and she's prepared to fight even harder for you this time.
I love you as the stars love the night sky
A fateful, cyclic romance
A game of eager greetings and reluctant goodbyes
Those words -- ones that you remember penning one day in class while completely entranced by Jisoo -- roll from her lips effortlessly, as if she had spent time committing them to memory. She had, in fact; whenever days passed without her even catching a glimpse of you, she always found herself unfolding that note again, tracing a finger over the curve of your unique letters as she reread the poem. It always brought her comfort to think that you were in just as deep as her, and a similar sense of hope blossoms in her chest now when she spots an unbelieving smile tug at the corner of your lips as you slowly turn to face her again. 
You're still into her, and she's falling even deeper at the realization. Maybe she didn't lose you after all. 
She takes calculated steps towards you and breathes a sigh of relief when you stay put, not showing any signs of running. The wheels in your head are going into overdrive now, turning and churning as you process her little recital, and she prays with all of her heart that you won't be upset once you put two and two together. 
"How did you…"
"You dropped it one day, and I picked it up. I meant to give it back to you, but I guess I just never got around to it." She feels a little guilty for keeping it as long as she has, but it's served as a way of keeping you close during your time apart. Those bits and pieces of you, scattered around on that page, encapsulated by the annotations and doodles you so kindly left behind, have stayed in her heart. Ever since she discovered it all that time ago, it's never been very far from her; she cherishes it more than you'll ever know. 
"You didn't show it to anyone, right?" Your voice is laced with worry, lowered a bit to keep others from overhearing. 
"No, no! Of course not. I just… kept it for myself. You're really talented; I couldn't stop reading your stuff." 
"Thank, I guess?" You awkwardly chuckle, still a bit rusty on how to interact with her after everything. Plus, to be fair, having your crush read one of the love letters you wrote about her is a bit unheard of. Newfound territory, you think to yourself.
"How long?" You ask after a minute of silence, only realizing how loaded your question is after it slips past your lips, turning into a puff of steam in the chilly atmosphere. "How long have you… felt that way about me?" You quickly add, "Assuming that you feel what the poem says, of course." 
An amused smile tweaks her lips at how cute you are. "I do, Y/N. I always have; ever since that afternoon at the daycare." 
"Really?" The question is quiet, full of childlike disbelief. 
"Really. It was always you." She says it freely now: unafraid.
The sentiment is sweet, but memories of the football game come flooding back and you're reminded that as much as you want to skip this next part, you still have things to discuss. 
"What about Jeong?" 
"What about him?"
"Did you ever like him?"
"No. The girls thought so, but it was just a misunderstanding. That's why Lisa introduced us at the game; she thought I had a crush on him, but I told her that you were always the one I was looking at. I told all of the girls that, after that night." 
Her confession renders you speechless -- only capable of listening and nodding every now and then. She takes advantage of your silence to finally explain herself and tell you everything she's been dying to. 
"I didn't know you felt the same until our talk in the parking lot. I mean, I was hopeful after some of the moments we had, but I didn't know for sure until then. I wanted to beg you to stay and hear me out, but you left before I had the chance."
You blink a few times as the reality of her words begin to sink in. "I had no idea…"
"Yeah, well…" she trails off, unsure of what to say next. She's forgiven you for walking away, knowing you were just hurt, but the whole situation still left a bad taste in her mouth. So much pain could've been avoided for the both of you if you had just listened.
"How did they take it?"
"They yelled at me for waiting so long to tell them, but then they tried to help me get you back. Remember those student council booths?" She leans in a little closer to ask that last line, her lips pulling to the side in that iconic smirk of hers. 
You audibly gasp and point at her animatedly. "I knew that was you!"
"Mhm, pulled some fancy-sounding excuse out of my ass to convince the board, and boom; 20 brand new tables set up the next day. I still can't believe you managed to slip past them, though. I mean, c'mon, have you seen how talkative those kids can be?" 
"Trust me, it wasn't easy," you laugh with her. "I had to sneak to the back entrances like a drug dealer." 
"I can totally see that." 
"I'm dedicated, what can I say?" The stupid hair flip you do makes her laugh even harder, clutching her stomach as those beautiful sounds slip past her lips. 
As your shared laughter eventually turns into soft chuckles, she smiles at you, saying, "I really missed this. I missed you, so so much." 
"I've been a wreck without you, Jisoo. It's honestly embarrassing." 
She looks at you with something new shining in her eyes, and she carefully contemplates what she's about to admit. "Can I tell you a secret?"
"Of course." 
"I rarely cry, Y/N, but I did over you. So you have no reason to be embarrassed. It seems like both of us were pretty bad off." She looks down after saying that, scuffing her foot against the concrete of the sidewalk. Being vulnerable isn't usually easy for her, and she never really lets people see that side of her -- not even the girls. She feels like she has to stay strong for them to keep things running smoothly, but she fails to realize how important her own feelings are. You're different, though; she feels like her entire collection of secrets would be safe with you, and you make her feel secure enough to be open like that. 
When she feels you step closer and hook two fingers underneath her chin, her eyes dart up to yours and her heart speeds up. Your other arm hesitantly wraps around her waist, giving her plenty of time to step away and deny you. You've spent so much time convincing yourself that she couldn't possibly want someone like you that you're genuinely surprised when she steps further into your embrace, pulling your arm tighter around herself. 
Her right arm comes to rest loosely on your shoulder as her other hand caresses your forearm, rubbing various patterns against your smooth skin. "I tried so hard to get you to pick up on my flirting," she starts, playing with the baby hairs at the nape of your neck as she holds you close. "Every touch," she runs a finger down your arm, leaving a trail of electricity in its wake. "Every look," she moves her hand from your neck to your cheek, cupping it sweetly as she gazes into your eyes. She strokes your skin with the pad of her thumb, smiling beautifully when she feels you nuzzle into her hold even more. 
"And that kiss…" she says, sounding breathless at the mere thought of it. "I wanted it to last forever." 
"Why didn't you tell me that, then?" You ask, not even a trace of anger in your tone. You're determined to let go of all the hurt and fear that your misunderstandings have caused, opting instead to finally get the answers you've wanted for so long. "After I came back from putting Aera to bed you were just… different. And then when you said it was just a part of the script--"
"I know. I was afraid that if I let myself have you like that -- if I let you in all the way -- there'd be no going back." When she sees the confusion building in your eyes, she continues on. "I don't usually let myself get distracted; I can't afford it. You know how seriously I take my studies." You nod, recalling the numerous times you've found her in the library until it closed, studying hard for the exams everyone knew she'd ace. "But you wiggled your way past every line of defense I ever put up. You became my favorite distraction." A dopey grin tugs at your lips at receiving that title, and you subconsciously hold your head a little higher.
"But I wasn't prepared for that. You make me feel things that I've never felt before, and I really didn't think I could afford to let myself have you. Not fully, anyway. I could deal with a crush; I told myself I could keep you close enough that I wouldn't miss you, but far enough that I could keep myself protected."
"What changed?" You ask, smoothing your hands over the small of her back, feeling the heat radiate from her skin. They've worked their way under the hem of her shirt during your conversation, subconsciously seeking to share her warmth, and Jisoo has been acutely aware of it the entire time. 
"When I saw you walk away like that I didn't know what to do with myself. I've had people leave before, so it's not a new thing; but I never missed them like I've missed you."
A bittersweet, melancholic look settles on your face at that; she deserves every good thing that the world has to offer, so knowing that you played a part in her sadness -- whether it be direct or indirect -- disheartens you a bit. 
"But you're here now, and that's all that matters." She says, leaning her forehead against yours. 
"And I'm not going anywhere," you affirm, holding her even closer than before. She brushes her nose against yours with a quiet sigh, relieved to be in your arms, caught safely in your warm embrace. If falling feels like this, she's more than okay with it. 
"Can I?" You ask, glancing down to the heart shaped pillows you've dreamt of having against yours again. 
She nods, uttering a soft, "Please", as she tilts her head to the side in expectancy. You close the remaining distance, bending your knees slightly to tighten your hold on her waist and pull her flush up against yourself. Both of her arms wrap around your neck now, occasionally coming down to tilt your head and allow her better access, or run her fingers through your hair. It's sensual and meaningful, but an air of urgency hangs in the air, thickening it the longer her lips are on you. Both of you are making up for lost time, so it's no wonder you're so eager. 
She takes your bottom lip between her teeth as she backs you up, pressing you against the brick wall that you had migrated a few steps away from during your conversation. If she were kissing anyone else, perhaps she'd care about the strangers staring, or what they might say; but as she stands here, feeling your hands explore her body in the ways that she's dreamed of and your lips kiss her senseless, that's the furthest thought from her mind. Her hands grab at the collar of your shirt, balling the material up in her palms as she pushes her lips against yours from a new angle. 
When you eventually pull back for air, you can't help but say the phrase that's been sitting on your mind for weeks. "I love you." 
Her heart speeds up to match yours, both of them racing as you look at each other with giant smiles on your faces. "I love you, too. If you hadn't already guessed that," she chuckles, leaning up to kiss you again. This one's more innocent, though -- full of giddiness as you replay each other's declaration in your minds. 
"Y/N L/N IF YOU AREN'T OUT HERE--"
Yuqi bellows loudly, blasting through the side door and out into the chilly night air. The metal smacks against the wall from the force she exerted, and you physically cringe at the sound. Jisoo does the same, quickly pulling away to find out what's going on. 
When Yuqi's line of sight settles on the two of you, her eyebrows raise and a smirk lands on her lips. "Well, well, well. Looks like my work here is done," she says, cocking her head to the side self-assuredly when she sees how swollen both of your lips are and how mussed your clothing is. You send her a look that she registers as "Get lost", and she retreats back into the performance hall with her hands raised in surrender.
"Idiot," you mutter under your breath, shaking your head as you watch the door close behind her, its poor hinges still recovering from her assault. Jisoo's giggle makes you turn back to her, finding a breathtaking smile forming on her lips. "You're so cute," she coos, poking your cheek, "especially when you blush like that." 
You fight the bashfulness that attempts to take over, managing to cock a brow at her and say, "Hey, watch it -- I might not be so kind in my next poem if you don't stop teasing me." 
"Aww, don't be like that, baby." 
She tenses up after realizing she let that pet name slip out at the end, but your smile only widens. 
"Say that again."
"Baby," she drawls in her signature sultry tone, stepping closer to you again. 
"Mmm, I could get used to that." You hum against her lips, pressing yours to them at the end of your statement. 
"Good, because there's more where that came from." 
"Oh yeah?"
"Mhm," she settles into your arms again, looking into your eyes with so much love you nearly swoon. "This is only the beginning for us." 
196 notes · View notes
chaeiimimi · 3 years
Text
How I Met Your Mother
Tumblr media
Timeskip!Kuroo x Fem!Reader
Fluff
Warnings: None 
it was a fine afternoon, the sunlight illuminated your whole house, the noise from the tv in the background and  Kuroo was on the coffee table catching up with some of his paper works he failed to finish during the weekend, he casted a quick glance at your five- year-old son who was reading a science encyclopedia, Tetsuya was basically his carbon copy, from his feline eyes, to his raven black bed hair not to mention the same love for science and hyena laugh, they would pass as twins. You were out with your friends (Yaku’s and Kai’s wife), therefore he was in charge of the house for the day.
Kuroo went back to his task when he saw his son immersed in his encyclopedia. Not even five minutes have gone by and his son was walking towards him dragging along his Brontosaurus plushie his Uncle Kei got him, his son tugged on his shirt and he tears his eyes away from his computer to look at his son
“hey buddy, you want a snack?” he lovingly ruffled his son’s hair
Tetsuya nod “want dino nuggies daddy” man literally had to bite the inside of his cheeks to stop himself from screeching at how adorable his son is
“alright, daddy’s gonna make you dino nuggies” he says taking off his reading glasses and going to the kitchen while his son trailed behind him like a lost puppy
He sat Tatsuya on the counter’s chair while he brings out the dino nuggies and some ingredients for a sandwich and lemonade as well
“daddy?” his son called out to him and he answered with a hum while taking the nuggets out of their container
“how did you and mom meet?” he looked at his son who was looking at him with the most curious eyes
There was an instant tug on the corner of his lips as he remembered that day, internally slapping his face for feeling like a giddy teenager again
He went back with his work on the chicken nuggets and started
 “well…”
Aside from the sound of the chalk screeching against the board and the voice of his Literature teacher, it was a rather quiet afternoon.
Time seems to be going by slowly for Kuroo, he was uncontrollably tapping his feet and drumming his fingers on his desk, he was eager to get out of this class which was the last class for the day, he was eager to practice, the pressure of the upcoming nationals weighed heavy on his shoulders, his mind was filled with volleyball and classes and college applications that he was barely eating and sleeping
When the resounding bell that marked the end of the class, he immediately got out of his seat and hurriedly walked towards the door only to be blocked by the class president
“where do you think you’re going Kuroo-san? You’re on plant duty today”
He inwardly groaned, how could he forget? Today was Friday
He dragged his feet back inside, placed his bag on his chair and proceeded to look for the water can
He found it on its usual place and walked outside to fill it up, once done, he went to the classroom’s backyard and saw you with gloves on, your hair on a clip as you patiently pull out weeds
Kuroo swears his heart skipped a beat when you looked at his way and gave him a small awkward smile
He walked over beside you, took the gloves in his pocket, put it on, and started pulling some of the weeds as well
“so, which class are you from?” he asked nervously trying to strike up a conversation
“the same class as you, see?” he looked up and saw that you were pointing at the sign with your class on it
A million thoughts were running in his head like, “how come I never saw her before?” “Has she always been in our class?”  “Did I come out as rude?”
Until he heard a chuckle coming from you
“don’t worry, I get that a lot” you say as you continue to pull out weed
“I’m L/N Y/N by the way, Ayumi-chan is sick that’s why you’re stuck with me for now” you said and gave him another smile
‘I don’t mind’ he wanted to say that but he decided to just nod
“the nationals, it’s next week right?” you asked still not looking at him
“yeah” he answers
“well, good luck to you and your team, I’m the only one in the class who hasn’t wished you luck yet” you said as you started digging some holes to put your new seeds in
“thanks, I need a whole lot of that stuff” he chuckled nervously 
“well, I never thought I’d see the great Kuroo Tetsuro get nervous” it was true, Kuroo always appeared composed and confident, the total opposite of you who was shy and demure
“I’m still human you know?” you watch him as he pulls out a particularly large weed
You chuckled and nodded
“you look like you need a break” you say and went back to your own work
It was now his turn to look at you and tilt his head in confusion
You looked at him and pointed your finger to his face
“the bags under your eyes are telling me you haven’t had a goodnight sleep in these past few weeks, your cheeks has slightly deflated implying that you haven’t been eating much, plus you don’t laugh at Tadashi-Sensei’s stupid science jokes anymore, meaning you’re not really having fun or something’s wrong”
You put your finger down after voicing out your long observation and went back to your task
Kuroo was stunned to say the least, he thought he was putting up a good façade, boy was he wrong
While realization was just hitting you and your eyes widen
“PLEASE  DON’T TAKE THAT IN A CREEPY WAY, PEOPLE RARELY TALK TO ME SO I LIKE OBSERVING THEM FROM AFAR!” you immediately blurted out
There was a long deafening silence before a hyena-laugh broke out
“its fine its fine” he said in between laughter while you stood there with a flushed face
“It’s just that you were the last person I expected to hear that from” he said after laughing
You gave him a small shrug
“I just don’t like to see people losing interest in something they’re passionate about” you look at him and smiled
“if you envision the ideal outcome of what you’re doing and it doesn’t spark you joy, then there’s no point of doing it” your words dug its way into Kuroo
You went back to your work and continued “I think that you are very passionate about volleyball and I can see that school is important for you as well, you just need to take a step back, look at the bigger picture and tackle every situation one by one, you can’t experience the dream you had for three years with that depressed look in your eyes”
He freezes on the spot, everything you said digging its way to his system, a flash of relief spreading throughout his body, he felt his vision slowly widening, and for the first time in two weeks he felt tired and hungry
The birds chirping, and the sound of water trickling from the water can were the only things that were heard, the setting sun illuminated your skin as it perfectly glowed and you happily planting the new seeds into the dirt will always be engraved in his mind and heart as one of his most peaceful memory 
“hey, I’m getting food after this, do you wanna come?” he asked his eyes pleading you to say yes
You were taken aback but you eventually nodded with a small “sure”
and so you spent the rest of the day eating at a ramen store with Kuroo (man was hungry he literally finished three bowls) and went to an ice cream parlor for dessert 
After walking you home, Kuroo laid in his bed his hair wet from the shower as he sends a chat to the volleyball team apologizing for skipping practice
           “good thing you did, you looked like you were falling apart”- Yaku
           “you looked like a zombie from the house of the dead”- Kenma
           “you badly needed it man”- Kai
He shook his head as he opens another chat box, his bright smile turning into a soft one
           “hey, thanks for today, I had fun”- Kuroo
      “i don’t even know what I did but you’re welcome? Thanks for the treat”- Y/N
 “… and that’s how I met your mother, we went hung out very often after that and I asked her out after the Nationals” he said as he placed the food in front of Tetsuya, the giddy smile still plastered across his face
“Mom talked a lot to cheer you up even though she’s shy” he says as he takes a bite of his dino nuggies
“well she did confess to me that she liked me since the first year of junior high on our wedding night” he says with a smug look on his face
“you could’ve just leave that part out” both of the boys turn their heads toward you
your son immediately got off his chair and ran towards you as you lift him up and hugged him tight, he started talking to talk about everything he discovered while reading and you listening to every word he says, with a mother smile plastered on  your face.
your husband stood there, staring at you, eyes filled with love and adoration. He was pretty sure he was a hero who died for his country in his past life. There was no other explanation on how he got this lucky, how he managed to get the most perfect wife the world could offer and how he was given the most perfect son he could ever ask for. 
staring at you as you smile gently to your son, he didn’t know it was still possible to fall even harder even after being together for fourteen years.
omg this is my first ever post, It’s kind of a mess but please bare with me I am still learning.
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kominum · 3 years
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semoto (corpse x fem!reader)
4 times you think tuxedo mask!corpse could be yours + 1 time you learn to stop feeding your own delusions 
pt. 1 + background info can be found here! please read for context. 
basic rundown of classic!sailor moon (anime) lore ‘creatively’ used in this two-part:
sailor moon and tuxedo mask are star-crossed lovers/soulmates that faced tragedy in a previous life. 
sailor mars (aka you/reader) had a crush on tuxedo mask’s non-hero persona, darien/mamoru, for a while 
sailor moon is the moon princess and tuxedo mask is the earth prince.  
sailor moon’s non-hero persona, usagi/serena, bickered a lot with darien/mamoru.
fem!reader // tw: death mentions, bodily injury, unrequited love to the very end, some unresolved tension. 
1. “Whaddup, baby?” 
Without much reason, you and Corpse trade off calling each other whenever a new monster is defeated. You’re figuring out all of this as much as he is, but he doesn’t have much guidance besides some supernatural force within him. He’s not taking instructions from a black cat and white cat like you and the other girls are who can help fill you in on the gaps -- all he knows is that he’s pivotal to maintaining Earth’s existence, and he’s not exactly thrilled about it.
But the calls are never about the fights, never about your secret identities. In fact, you’d be willing to bet half your grocery funds that he still hasn’t made the connection between you and your Sailor Mars persona and part of you wants to keep it that way. Sometimes you’re mentally exhausted and just want to forget about the events for the day or night, which is why you usually end up calling him soon after everyone disperses or vice versa. It’s almost instinctual these days, and you wonder how long it’ll be before you accidentally crack. 
Right now, the rule of thumb seems to be, “Never trust new flashy shops that open with no warning and have too-good-to-be-true grand opening offers.” This time, some luxurious salon opened up by a famous local hairdresser had been the said attraction. All of you weren’t ignorant enough to believe the sham, but the star of the show had taken the chance to say, “Let’s go scope it out!” when really, she wanted that free haircut. You had called her out on it, but she argued that if anything happened, then perfect, you all could take care of it right then and there. Needless to say, you do not want to be attacked by a monstrous version of Edward Scissorhands ever again. Corpse had made a dark, humorous entrance, a style he’s really adapted to because he knows it pisses Sailor Moon off, 
About an hour later, you’re home and bandaging up some cuts and rubbing salve on bruises, phone on speaker and dial tone blaring through the bathroom. You’re addressing the scrape on your knee when he picks up, a low drawl of, “Whaddup, baby?” comes through and your heart stutters.
The girls call you a number of terms of endearment: sweetie, honey, love, dear, babe, queen, but the last person to address you as ‘baby’ with any amount of affection was your ex-boyfriend.
You scoff to hide how flustered you actually are, quietly hissing as you attempt to put some Neosporin on the scrape and catch onto some stray skin. “Are you drunk?” You ask jokingly, knowing full well he wasn’t. 
“Drunk? Nah. Tired? Yeah. But that’s always.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“It’s old news. But uh, what’s up? Been a while since we last talked.”
“We talked like...three days ago. You called me, remember?”
“Feels like forever. I like talking to you.” 
You wonder if it’s irony or plain, cruel fate that this man will probably be the death of you.
2. “Don’t lay a fucking hand on her.”
It’d been a bad day overall. Lack of sleep compiled on by a growing pile of assignments in addition to having to get your tires checked out for an air leak because your car said, “Not today, honey,” -- everything came together in torrential hurricane and the last thing you needed was to be caught fighting another force of evil.
You’re so tired.
Sailor Moon seems to have all the energy in the world as she dodges attacks left and right, but your muscles are screaming in agony. You’re constantly hunched over and panting, but looking for the right openings to weaken the monster. Luckily, the creature has its back towards you when it dashes over to Venus and you muster everything you have to summon a bow and arrow made of fire, pulling back and making sure your arms don’t quiver. 
But at the last second, your lack of oxygen gets the best of you and your flame sniper barely manages to graze the monster’s side and narrowly avoid Jupiter. It’s enough to cause a distraction, but the anger in its glare as it’s directed at you elicits surrender in your heart. There’s nothing left in your bones to help you run or hide, and your knees buckle painfully onto the concrete. Everything else hurts so bad that you’re not bothered by the sediments digging through your skin. Venus is running towards you but she’s not quick enough, and you feel your eyes begin to slip. If this is what death feels like, then so be it. You hope that the girls’ mourning will be short, that they can still complete the ultimate mission, and--
“Don’t lay a fucking hand on her,” an angered, frustrated baritone spits out and you’re torn between laughing or crying. In a separate romantic context, you’d like the idea of wholeheartedly leaving your life in his hands. But in this reality when either of you could die at any moment and the world be consumed in darkness, it’s something you would never wish upon anyone. It’s a different situation than your bonds with the girls. 
The pain is enough to send you in and out of consciousness for the next few minutes. But strong, warm arms sit you up, though they’re slightly trembling and keeping you awake. “Hey, you okay? What happened to you? You’re stronger than this.” 
“G-great way of telling me, fuckthathurts, that I was...shit today,” you joke, but hiss when you try to move your legs and the deep scrapes scream in agony. 
“Take it easy, ‘kay? Or your princess is gonna have my head--”
“Thanks man, but we got it from here,” said princess interjects, hoisting you up with the help of the other girls. “You can go.”
“Speak of the devil,” Corpse chuckles and helps make the transfer less painful, a lot less awkward jostling around. “Look, I saved her--”
“And I said thank you. We’ll see you around,” your stubborn friend dismisses. 
“You’re welcome, baby.”
“Not your baby, piss off!”
3. “I’m always gonna be there for you, no matter what.”
It’s soft yet sonorous, deep yet light. Twilight hours are cast high above you both, separated by walls and buildings connected over wires and unseen forces. Technology is the sharpest, double-edged sword you’ve seen and used on this planet, because Corpse has never felt so close yet so far than in this moment. Your mind deludes you further by indulging in believing he’s right there next to you, strong arms holding you much like he did when you were on the brink of unconsciousness just two weeks ago.
Wishing, hoping, wanting. Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous.
The one year anniversary of your ex-lover’s death looms over you on another sleepless, caffeine-fueled night. It’s no surprise when his custom ringtone chimes softly throughout your room during these graveyard hours, but it certainly raises your eyebrows when after a minute or two, he asks tentatively, “Are you gonna go visit him?”
There’s no question as to who or where “him” is. You haven’t been since the funeral, if you’re honest, swept up by work, classes, and your new side job. But Corpse doesn’t know that, and you know it’d be the right thing to do. Maybe it’d help settle the storm of anxiety (or guilt?) that swirls in your gut on a daily basis. 
“I think so,” you reply quietly after a moment of silent contemplation, already thinking ahead to what the drive might be like. “He deserves better.”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
Charming, compassionate, thoughtful, absolutely too good for this world -- the three-letter affirmation nearly slips off your tongue without a second thought. You can’t risk him seeing you, putting two and two together, and potentially forever losing him to his long-lost princess. Selfish delusion creeps through your veins and you fight back the shiver of guilt that runs down your spine. 
“I think I’ll be okay. Might be a visit made best alone, but I really appreciate you even asking.”
“Let me know if you change your mind. You know I’m always gonna be there for you, no matter what. Right?”
Warmth. Strength. Oblivion. 
“I know. Thank you.”
4. “I don’t have anyone else but you.”
“Why are we doing this again?”
“Because we can’t sleep and have nothing better to do.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it,” you chuckle into your phone, free hand swirling a pot of instant ramen. “I have better things to do at 3 in the morning than watch The Poltergeist with you.” 
“Then go fucking do it,” Corpse laughs teasingly. 
“And leave you high and dry? I don’t have the heart.”
“I mean, you really don’t have to--”
“Seriously, I was awake anyways. Just giving you shit.”
“One of these days, you’re gonna fucking regret it.”
Ramen done and lamp on, you snuggle beneath your blanket and start the traditional countdown to pressing ‘play’ on the movie. Neither of you really had the technology to screen share on this Discord call (your laptop is almost on its last leg and your apartment WiFi can be spotty at times), so it seemed better this way. 
The next roughly 2 hours are filled with laughter, small jump scare yelps, and quiet yelling at the ignorance and twisted logic of horror movie characters. But towards the end of the movie (and arguably the climax), your eyelids start to droop, body succumbing to the warmth of your bed. The screaming and cheesy, orchestrated music are all background noise as your breathing evens out, shifting in and out of consciousness. Ending credits roll on screen before you know it, and the only think that rips you awake is Corpse’s gentle calling of your name. 
“Sorry, fell asleep,” you murmur tiredly and squint at your screen, languidly closing out the window and letting the Discord window take precedence. “Tells you how riveting I found this movie.”
“Should’ve just let you sleep, my bad,” he chuckles. “Thanks for staying up with me.” 
“Yeah of course -- I wanted to, just got a little sleepy. Wanna watch another one?”
“ ‘m actually gonna try to sleep. Don’t wanna bother you too much. You got work tomorrow?”
“Not ‘til noon so it’s okay. You sure?” 
“Yeah...yeah. I’ve only had like...3 hours of sleep lately. Fucking awful.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
“You do enough by just letting me call at the fucking crack of dawn, seriously.”
“I’m your only option, let’s be real,” and your voice is a mix of fatigue, humor, and some bitter sardonicism. There’s no malice intended, and you really hope it’s conveyed accurately. 
“...I don’t have anyone else but you,” he all but murmurs. Your heart clenches painfully, anxiety and fear and love surging through your lungs. Those words don’t hold the connotation you desperately wish for, but what matters most is that he knows he’s not alone and you’re not the only one he’s got. You verbalize as such and he only hums back in a façade of agreement before wishing you a good night. 
And sometimes, while you do know that your girls have your back and that you love them to death and would take a bullet for them any day, there are nights where you really do feel the same.
That you have no one else but Corpse. 
5. “He was never yours.”
There’s nothing you hate more than psychological monsters. You’d probably take physical pain over mind games any day because at least, it’d heal faster to some degree, or there would be a more surefire way of minimizing symptoms. But sometimes, there are days when the egotistical chess players of hell come to wreck havoc on the world, and you get lost in their trap. It’s annoying, a pain in the ass, and affects you a lot more than it should at times. 
This particular instance makes you want to quit. It makes you, Sailor fucking Mars, guardian of the planet of fire and passion and perseverance, leave all of this behind right here and now. You’ve never hated yourself more for feeling so weak. 
You’re not sure what to call it -- altered dimension, distorted reality -- but all you know is that you and the princess are kept in separate cages hanging from an endless ceiling, labelled as baits for tuxedo mask/Corpse to come. The enemy lets you both stew in the confines of the metal, watching with glee as your partner attempts to cut through the rails with her tiara and ultimately fail. It seems they’ve thought of everything because you’re not their #1 enemy today. Or maybe you are. You’re not sure anymore, even as they launch into villainous speech. 
“Nothing brings me more joy than watching you lose all your energy to fight, both physically and mentally. I’ve seen all your dreams and wishes. Nothing’s more fickle and double-edged than love, no? We shall see who the prince really belongs to.”
Mention of the prince has you snapping your head to meet the enemy’s eyes, slowing squinting as they catch yours and begin cackling like your demise is racing at the speed of an oncoming train. Your princess looks confused, but dread is heavy mercury filling your veins because you know, you know, your best held secret is coming to fruition. 
“What the fuck are they talking about?” She hisses across the void. 
“I don’t know,” you lie through your teeth, eyes flicking toward every corner of the cage now to find a way out. This isn’t how you wanted it to happen, much less happen at all. 
“Are they talking about Corpse?”
“Is there any other prince they’re referring to?”
“Do you always have to be a smartass with me?”
“Somebody’s got to,” you allow yourself a slight reprieve of laughter. It’d be dumb to try to set fire to this thing, knowing you’d only burn yourself in the process. Your exorcism tags also have no use and you can hear the clock ticking down in your mind. 
“Think it’s pretty fucking rude to keep a couple of girls in cages, not gonna lie,” a baritone voice cuts through. It sends temporary sparks of relieve down your spine. Perhaps you’ll have a fighting chance to get out of here. 
“Welcome, welcome! I’d like to get straight to the point, but maybe we’ll up the stakes a little bit before you answer my question,” they tease cartoonishly and you want to roll your eyes.
“Is this a fucking test--”
Both you and sailor moon yelp as the cages drop into a miraculously (or not) appearing large body of water, but still hanging just above the surface so you have enough air to breathe. You look out and down to see how deep this pit is, and though it might be some elaborate illusion seemingly defying all laws of physics, you see nothing but descending darkness. You don’t even have to hear the question to know what the enemy is going for, to know that they’re trying to hit you where it hurts the most, and you loathe how cliché and goddamn unfair this whole situation has turned out to be. 
“So, dear prince. Pretend that the fate of the world depends on the princess. Before you are just two girls you know and care for, stuck, captured, and on the brink of drowning. You may only save one. Who would it be?”
It’s fucked up. Corpse seems stunned, perplexed by the question. “What the absolute fuck is this? Just let them go if you had an issue with me.”
“Quite frankly, I have an issue with allof you, so this is only fair. Now, what’s your answer?”
Corpse catches your eyes first. Is it from the water that your eyes seem to be brimming with unshed tears? Is it stubbornness or defeat in the way your hands clench around the cage bars?
And this is why, once again, you hate enemies who strictly play mind games. Confirmation that Corpse would never love you the way you do him, knowledge to the princess that she’s the source of your deepest unhappiness despite the bickering friendship, realization to Corpse that the girl he’s treasured so dearly and maybe unknowingly kept as a bit of a placeholder was doomed to love him -- pain on all of you, lashes and scars on what was once believed to be unbreakable bonds, as soon as the villain explains it all with sick glee. 
“Do I have to give you an answer?”
“If you don’t, I’ll really consider drowning them since I honestly wasn’t before.”
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
“Ah, just to make things a little more interesting -- I’m aware you and the princess speak regularly outside of all this.”
They what? This was certainly news to you. 
“And?” Corpse asks somewhat defensively. 
Don’t say it. Don’t tell him. Please don’t--
“Say Mars, don’t you enjoy those late night calls with him, too? Though I must say, meeting in a hospital while your ex-boyfriend is having life-altering emergency surgery seems rather morbid in its own respect.”
You don’t have to look at him to know and hear the gears turning in his brain, the villain allowing this brief silence to let everything sink in. There’s a disbelieving whisper of your name, your real name, but he’s cut off from saying anything more. 
“You have 10 seconds.” 
You know the stories. You know the couple’s tragic end in their previous lifetime. You know that as much as the princess denies feeling anything but annoyance towards Corpse, she looks forward to seeing him. There’s a certain softness that he treats her with, different from the platonic affection that he showers you in. You’ve lied to yourself for too long. 
The countdown has no chance to finish when Corpse spits out a name that’s not yours, your eyes squeezing shut to fight back the tears that threaten to flood over. Everything disappears and you land on your butt -- a quick sweep of your surroundings registers two things: Corpse running over to your princess and the villain standing proudly at the chaos they’ve created. It’s instinct that has brings your powers to surface, arms and fingers quickly notching a fiery arrow with pinpoint aim at the imaginary target on their head. “Move!” You yell at the two and they scramble to gather their bearings and avoid your rage. 
They don’t run or cower. The maniacal grin only grows wider and more sinister and you’re this close to screaming expletives. 
“Hurts, doesn’t it, to know that he was never yours?”
It’s the last thing they say before you release the arrow, watching with no remorse as they burn and disintegrate. When the dust disappears and the dimension shifts back to some abandoned building with an exit, you run. 
You run until your lungs burst, until they scream over the aching of your heart, until your costume dissolves and you’re finally buried under the blankets. You turn on ‘Do Not Disturb’ and only allow notifications from a select few important numbers.
And maybe you’ll keep running. Maybe you’ll go off the grid. Maybe you’ll let your voicemail inbox fill up with unheard messages, apologies that you don’t and never will deserve. 
But the love you feel and cherish will never fade. It’ll run alongside you; a bright, burning star, forever bittersweet--
Forever out of reach. 
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1a-imagines · 4 years
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No excuses
》 Bakugo x reader
》 Word count: 5k
》 Overview: You were childhood enemies who always ended up stuck together, you were neighbours, got put in all the same classes, ended up living together in the UA dorms. Overtime you grew to accept each others company, maybe even enjoy it. So what happens when your new work lives separate you for the first time?
Every day was lacklustre.
You weren't sure what; but something was missing. Ever since you went pro and moved into your own apartment you felt as though your life lacked something. There was an empty hole but you just weren't sure what used to be there.
Perhaps you just missed those simple UA days? Being surrounded with your friends day and night and not having to worry about all the things pro heroes had to worry about? There was no doubt it was a much less stressful time.
Or maybe it was the fact you no longer had your family breathing down your neck every second of the day? You were an adult now and that came with a whole new sense of freedom. Maybe what you were missing was being surrounded by your loved ones all the time? You lived alone in your new apartment and it was a big difference in contrast to the UA dorms you lived in for three years.
You thought you'd enjoy the quiet but it turns out you found the silence painful. It was more peircing to your ears than any yelling or screaming you had in the dorms.
No matter how much you wondered what was missing you just couldn't seem to place your finger on it. It's not like you weren't  keeping in touch with your friends and family. They called everyday, you certainly weren't lonely. So why was your heart still yearned for something... maybe even for someone?
With a sigh, you dried the last plate of the bunch and put it away. Finally done with your chores for the day. You dried your hands and went over to check your phone that had been thrown onto the couch. You saw a text notification pop up.
Blastard: (1 new message)
Oi! Idiot! Are you dead yet? I haven't heard from you in weeks!
You couldn't help but chuckle at his unique way of showing worry, though it would be a lie to say you weren't used to it by now. It was such a typical Bakugo move. You shook your head before typing out a reply.
Bad news for you, I live!
You hit send before throwing your phone back down. You felt awfully giddy about him texting you, which was a strange feeling, usually you annoyed the hell out of each other. As weird as it was; it had been awhile since you'd last spoken to him.
Maybe you were just happy he hadn't completely forgotten you exsisted, you figured once you went your seperate ways that you'd probably never talk again; unless it was work related.
You had grown up together, always forced to be around each other no matter how much you despised it. You were neighbours, you didn't go to the same schools, but you'd always hear him yelling through the walls whenever he was home, you'd always pass each other when leaving your houses on the morning, and to your 10 year old self? There was no worse way to start off your day than his stupid face being the first thing you see when leaving your home.
It was like you couldn't get through a day without running into him at least once.
Then you both ended up in the same highschool, UA, which meant you walked the same route everyday as well as being in all the same classes. Then you lived in dorms together for three years, which meant you were around your childhood enemy almost every minute of everyday.
It was like the universe was trying to torture you both.
You hated each other as kids, always getting into scrapes and arguments, but as you got older the hate died down into more of a friendly rivalry. You bickered non stop but you also grew to enjoy all those comebacks and quick retorts, it was like a never ending game of 'who can make the best comeback/insult'. It even made you laugh at times.
Eventually, somewhere during your UA days, you both got to a point where you could actually admit you were friends.
But after being stuck together for so long? You'd think you would be happy to have some peace and quiet around here. You no longer had to deal with explosions going off or yelling every 5 seconds. No yelling from downstairs or next door, no insults or smartmouthed comments.
Though, even you had to admit he had matured a lot since you were kids, he still kept true to his grouchy self, but he was no where near as violent or bad tempered. He'd calmed down a lot as you grew into adults and you were proud of him for coming so far.
You were about to go take a bath to relax after cleaning all day, but when you saw your phone light up again you couldn't stop yourself from diving for it.
Blastard: (1 new message)
The fuck do you mean? That's not bad news for me dumbass.
It was a little weird for him not to give a snarky reply but it's possible hero work was tiring him out as much as it had been tiring you out. You were about to tell him it was just a joke but then another message came through,
Blastard: (1 new message)
Have you been eating alright? I know you can't cook for shit and you're living alone now.
Your eyes softened at the message, a goofy smile spreading across your lips. Not only had he made an effort to message you first, something he rarely did, but he also was showing care for you? Your cheeks heated up and you took a second to press your face into a pillow, a way to collect yourself before you replied.
Aw, you care about me?~
I've been eating fine! Instant ramen exists for a reason! It's for people like me who "can't cook for shit" :P
His next reply was almost instant, it scared you how quick your phone was to sound with another notification.
Blastard: (1 new message)
Don't fucking tell me you've been living off of instant ramen this whole time-
You felt too shy to admit to the truth. It was true you hadn't been eating great since you had been living alone. Your job was so demanding you didn't have time to cook. Choosing fast options over home cooked meals had been your way of living for the past few weeks and admitting to it felt like a punch to your pride.
Blastard: (1 new message)
That's it, I'm coming over to make you an actual meal tonight. See you at 6.
You did a double take at the response.  There was clearly no room to argue.
"He's coming over!?" You jumped up in a panic at your sudden self invited guest. Lucky for him you had a rare night off work, and lucky for you, you had spent the day cleaning up. Maybe it'll look like you have this whole "adulting" thing down.
After glancing at the time and seeing it was only 4pm you threw your phone down. You needed to freshen up before he came over.
For some reason you felt this pressure to look good in front of him? But you had known him since you were little kids! He wouldn't care, he's seen you look much worse, so why did you care about looking good this time around? You shook your head, sick of all this over thinking and went to take a quick bath. Once you were done you dried your hair and threw on a fresh pair of clothes.
You felt excited to see him again and almost-... Nervous? It was a strange sensation, you shouldn't be feeling nervous to see him, you used to see him everyday. Maybe it was because this would be the first time you'd be spending time alone in your new home? Yeah, that must be it!
Glancing up at the time you still had half an hour until he arrived. You decided to take your mind off of all your swirling thoughts by mindlessly scrolling through your phone until your door bell finally rang.
You pushed yourself up with a small groan. You walked to your front door, your heart raced in your chest knowing who was on the otherside of the door. You took a deep breath through your nose before opening the door to see your familiar, scowling, friend. He stood there, a bag in his right hand and foot tapping on the floor as if he had been waiting ages for you to open the door for him.
"Kat! Long time no see!" You beamed up at him only for him to roll his eyes and brush past you. "Shut up and show me where your kitchen is, you need a proper meal."
You couldn't help but smile as you noticed the bag he carried was filled with fresh groceries. He was alway so bad with words but it was actions like this that made you see how much he really cared about you.
"Through there." You nodded your head toward an opening and followed him through after shutting the door. He put all the ingredients down and you leaned back against the counter watching him prepare the food. "What? No 'Hi Y/n, how have you been?' You cut right to the chase as always." You chuckled softly to yourself earning a glare from the blond as you attempted to imitate his voice.
"First of all! I don't sound like that! Second of all, I'm only here because you can't take care of yourself." He scoffed before adding. "Still annoying as always."
'Why was I missing him again?' You huffed, blowing some hair from your face in the process. "So! Chef! What are we having?"
"Curry." Was his quick reply as he began to lay out and cut up the ingredients. You hummed in delight at the thought of homemade curry. It had been a while since you had a good home cooked meal. Your family sometimes brought you leftover foods knowing how busy you were with work, but they couldn't come feed you everyday. You were an adult now and you needed to learn to cope on your own! Even with a busy career life.
"You remember what I like?" You asked, your eyes glimmering with an emotion he couldn't quite tell, in order to avoid looking at your face he kept himself busy with making dinner.
"I've known you for over 10 years, just because I haven't seen you for a few months doesn't mean I'm going to forget everything about you, idiot." He tutted, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. You leaned back against the counter beside him, your lips twisted into a soft frown.
"A few months huh? It feels like longer..."
You did not intend for him to hear that but he did, and honestly? He agreed.
Without you around to annoy him every hour of the day, things just seemed to go by painstakingly slow. Without you his days were boring, and as much as he hated to admit it, your stubbornness, your quick remarks and sarcastic comebacks, as much as they annoyed him, they added a certain spice to his life.
They kept him on his toes, he liked the challenges you gave him, whether it was getting the last word, winning against you in training or just coming up with the best insulting nickname. He couldn't believe he actually missed it all, but he did, and honestly? This whole dinner thing had just been an excuse to see you again.
He missed you.
"Tch, feels like not long enough." He grumbled as he moved over to the stove to turn it on. You sent him a cocky grin, shifting your weight onto your other foot. "Oh yeah? Then why were you so quick to come over here?" You hummed, tilting your head. He knew you were teasing him, he could tell by the way the words melted from your lips like butter, you were practically purring as you grinned at him. It reminded him of a cat.
He decided not to dignify you with a repsonce and you took that as a sign of victory. You giggled before turning to grab a drink from the fridge. You cracked open a can of soda and upon hearing the unmistakable fizzing noise Bakugo's head shot around to you, his eyebrows creased together in distaste. "You shouldn't be drinking that shit!" He barked at you.
"Oh come on! I've cut right back on the junk food. Look!" You threw the fridge door open to display the variety of fruits and vegetables in front of him. "I've been really healthy! I've even been doing a lot more weight training! Soon I'll be as strong as you! Maybe even more so!" You smirked, he wanted nothing more than to wipe the smug look from your face. You shut the fridge door with your foot before taking another swig of your soda.
Bakugo scoffed, "You wish! You'll have to work a lot harder before you can even dream of matching up to my strength!" He sent you a toothy grin as he watched your shoulders deflate, eyes narrowing up at him.
Bakugo continued to put the chopped up ingredients into the pan, "Why have you been eating instant ramen this whole time if you have all that shit anyway?"
You turned your head away, cheeks flushing red with embarrassment. It took a lot to swallow down your pride enough to mutter the next words. "You know I can't cook very well." It was painful to admit you were an adult with the cooking capabilities of a child. Between school and work placements you just never found the time to practise new recipes. Not to mention the fact your family usually cooked a lot of meals for you.
You had contemplated practising some recipes in the past but something always manages to come up! You knew working as a pro was going to be hard, that you'd be busy every day, but you didn't know it would consume your life to this extent.
Without another word you walked towards the living room. "Let me know when dinner is ready!" You sent him a cheeky grin as you left. Bakugo turned back to the food, grumbling something about how he wasn't a damn slave, despite being the one who offered his services in the first place.
Looking around, he finally had time to take in the room, he hadn't seen it since you first moved in and bugged him and kirishima to help move boxes. The room was well decorated, not a thing out of place. Despite the apartment being pretty small you had done well to make it homely.
As he made the curry, he added in some spices and when he picked up the shaker labelled "Extremely hot", He smirked. He recalled the good ol' days in the UA dorms. He sometimes went out of his way to spike your food with hot spices. Your face was always priceless! The thought crossed his mind to do it again. After all, it wouldn't affect him, he loved spices and, unlike you, they didn't turn his face red.
He sighed before shaking his head. You were both grown up now, and you needed to eat a proper meal. He hated to even think about it but he did care for you. More than he would like to admit. He always thought once he went pro and finally got away from you, this "curse" you two shared of always being stuck together wherever you went would disappear, and he would be happy.
But he wasn't, somewhere down the damn line he has gotten used to your annoying presence, he had grown to like your quick remarks, how you never backed down from him, you weren't afraid to speak you mind or put him in his place, and as much as all those qualities used to bug the shit out of him as a kid, he had grown to respect them, even-... love them?
He clenched his teeth when he felt his cheeks heating up. God, he hated this. He wasn't cut out for this lifestyle! Why was he even here!? He could be out training! Not pining over his childhood enemy! The curry sauce started to bubble over in the pan and he cursed to himself, once again he was so distracted with thoughts of you that he couldn't concentrate on the task at hand!
He finished making the food, doing everything he could not to let his mind wander back to thoughts of you. He grabbed a few plates before putting the rice and curry onto them. He yelled through to you that the food was done, "I'm only in the next room! You don't have to yell so loud!" He huffed in amusement, your words were ironic considering your volume matched his. He smiled at your never ending bite, you always had something to say.
Such a smartass. He shouldn't enjoy it as much as he did.
You came through, throwing the empty soda can into the trash as you passed and sat down in the seat beside him. You hummed in delight, "Smells so good!!"
"Of course it does! I made it!" He grinned, taking a bite. While the lack of extreme spice was underwhelming for him, he knew you would like it. Your face twisted into distaste at his smugness, "I forgot to never stroke your fat ego."
He growled, ready to yell at you for the remark but when he saw you take the first bite of food his anger was forgotten.
Your eyes lit up like fireworks on a cold winter night. "I also forgot how crazy good of a cook you are!" You beamed, happily digging into the curry. His features softened, something about seeing you enjoy his food so much felt really good. He almost forgot to eat himself as he watched you stuff your face. You had gotten some rice stuck to your cheek as you shoveled the dish into your mouth. It was so stupidly cute, a soft smile graced his lips.
You caught him staring, it was rare to see him smile, no cocky grin or smirk, it was a real smile. Soft, relaxed, happy. You thought your heart was going to jump out of mouth. You did not expect that sight when you looked up from your food.
You gulped, not because there was food in your mouth, but because the atmosphere had suddenly changed. There was an invisible weight ontop of you both, crushing you.
"What…?" You asked quietly, hiding your face behind your hair. He snapped out of it, realising he'd been caught he froze, his heart skipped a beat. However, there was no time for him to get embarrassed because next thing he knew he was throwing a towel at you "You got rice all over your face, idiot! Wipe it off! You look stupid!"
You grumbled as the fabric hit your face, yet complied and wiped your lips clean. You went back to eating, this time more carefully so you didn't make a mess. You noted the mild spices but didn't comment on them. It was unusual for Bakugo to not fire up his dishes with spice. The decision to make the curry mild definately wasnt for his own benifit. He'd done it for you.
It made you smile, and as much as you wanted to thank him for it you figured he wouldn't want you bringing up his strangely nice gesture since he had been so silent about it.
During the dinner you talked about your new work lives, how you'd been coping living alone, anything that came to mind. Of course, that came with a variety of witty comments and snarky comebacks, but it was just how you liked it. It was how it had always been, how you always wanted it to be.
Once the plates were clean you stood up, reaching over to grab his plate so you could clean up but his hand shot out and grabbed your wrist. You paused, looking up to meet his eyes. "I'll help clean." He said, picking up his plate and taking it to the sink. You smiled, following him with your own plate.
"Wow, cooking and cleaning? Has anyone ever told you that you'd be a perfect house wife?" You smirked at him as he filled up the sink with soap and water.
"At least I can cook." He shot back without missing a beat. You laughed st the remark, nudging his side as you pushed your wasy in front of the sink. You continued to chat as you cleaned up, you washed as he dried.
As you finished up scrubbing the last dish Bakugo made a comment about you eating like a pig at dinner which, in return, made you splashed his face using soapy dish water.
He growled when he felt the droplets soaking his face and hair, but hearing your laughter made it hard to stay his usual, grumpy self. Instead he settled for dipping his fingers into the water and flicking you back.
Your face scrunched up, eyes closing to avoid any soap suds getting in your eyes.
You took his reciprocation as a declaration of war and it soon turned into a mini, kitchen water fight. Laughter filled the once quiet apartment as you fought each other.
For a moment it didn't feel like you lived alone, for the first time in months you felt like that empty space in your life had been filled again.
You had to stop the water fight before you soaked the kitchen as well as each other. As fun as it was you didn't want to have to clean up for the third time today.
Once all the dishes were put away and you dried yoursleved using a spare towel; Bakugo narrowed his eyes at the front door.
He wasn't sure if he should go, a part of him didn't want to. He only came over to make you dinner, now that was over he had no reason to stay. Should he make up some bullshit excuse to stay? He didn't want you teasing him again.
Despite taking a few minutes to think up an excuse to stay, he came up with nothing. Grumbling to himself he kicked his foot against the ground and turned around to you, ready to say goodbye.
His eyes widened upon landing on you, you held up two gaming controllers, a grin on your lips as you pushed one towards him. "Wanna try finally beating me at mario kart?"
"What are you talking about! I win all the time!" He rolled his eyes and snatched a controller from your hands, taking on your challenge. He felt the weight lift from his shoulders, you were giving him a reason to stay longer and he wasn't about to turn that down.
"You beat me at super smash bros! But never mario kart!" You backfired, plopping down onto the couch as the console fired up.
"Then let's play super smash bros!"
"We do not play that in this household!" You stomped your foot at the thought of the game you could never beat him at. Bakugo scoffed and sat next to you. "You're such a fucking sore loser!"
You forced a laugh before sending him a glare, leaning closer to him. You reaction must have amused him as he smirked at you. "I do not want to hear that from you!"
"Shut up and let's play!" The first round started up, the familiar countdown sound ringing in your ears. You'd like to say things started pretty civil, but It didn't take long for you to start shoving each other as you battled for first place. There was a lot of yelling, combined with a lot of laughter and cheering. It was the most lively your apartment had ever felt, in just one night Bakugo was able to change all of that.
A few rounds turned into hours. You didn't even notice how high up the moon was in the sky. You were too busy enjoying each other's company, having more fun than either of you had experienced in months.
You shot out of your seat pumping your fist into the air as you passed the finish line in first place once again.
"HAH! You still can't beat me!” You boasted.
The blond threw the controller down, his teeth clenched tight as he grumbled. “Next time I’m bringing super smash bros!” You sat back down, giggling as you poked his side. “Who's the sore loser now huh? Big baby.” You teased, poking a finger into his side, much like poking a bear with a stick, it was a recipe for disaster.
He growled and jumped to you grabbing your hands to keep them away from prodding him. You started laughing again, squirming and battling with him, determined to keep attacking but your giggle fit made it hard to fight back.
As you were laughing you missed yet another rare smile on his face. He didn't know what was going on with him, maybe he was just in a good mood today? He had taken down a group of robbers earlier when he was on patrol, and taking down villains always felt good.
All he knew was that he never wanted the moment to end, it was nice to hear your stupid laughter again, to see you smiling as you tried to match his strength and fight back. He hadn't even realised that some point during your play fight he had knocked you down onto your back and was hovering over you.
He had always been the stronger of the pair so you lost fairly quickly. His hands pinned yours beside your head. "That was a good fight you put up, but it's still not good enough to match up to me." He smirked down at you
You stuck out her tongue at him, panting as you tried to kick your legs at him. Turns out he had thought ahead and pinned those down too. You huffed through your nose, tasting defeat was bitter.
You stared at each other, as the laughter died down so did the playfulness. The atmosphere became serious. He wasn't sure what it was, but there was some sort of unspoken feeling between you both. He gulped, noting the way your hair was sprawled out on the couch beneath you, creating a halo of hair around your head. Your eyes shone as they stared into his, he had never noticed what a nice colour they were, and your lips- they looked so soft..
There was a pull, an invisible red string tugging you closer to each other and connecting your hearts.
But, you both ignored it. He got off of you and sat back. He ran a hand through his hair, you both avoided eye contact.
Looking out the window Bakugo finally noticed that the moon had long ascended into the night sky. Had he been here that long? God, it must be passed midnight but he felt like he had only been here for an hour. He shook his head and stood up, You watched him with parted lips, your heart racing at the tension.
What was that feeling between you two? It was so strong. Did he feel it too? It was sending your head into a spin.
"I should go." He muttered, he didn't want to go, he really didn't but the words were leaving his mouth before he had time to process them.
He had felt it too, and he didn't know how to react. He hadn't felt anything like it before, it made his heart race, he felt weak and he didn't like it. He knew he felt- something for you? But was it enough to call it love?
You looked up at him, giving him a nod, not like he could see since his back was already turned. You stood up, arms wrapping around yourself as you walked him to the door.
There were so many unspoken words between you. So many feelings left unexpressed. You bit your lip, voice caught in your throat as you watched him silently slip on his shoes. He opened the front door, pausing for a second, hesitating... "See ya."
"Bye." You replied as he closed the door behind him.
The appartment suddenly ran cold, silent, a chill running across your skin. The silence cut through your ears like a sharp blade.
You pulled your arms tighter around yourself. How could you deny it? Having him around again had been amazing, even if just for one afternoon. You despised him as a child, but over time, throughout highschool, through building a silent trust, a friendship had formed, and then-… and then somewhere down the line it turned into more.
No matter how much you tried to convince yourself otherwise, you loved being around him, you had a strong bond, you had watched him grow and become a better person, you had seen each other at your best and at your worst. You had fought each other but also fought with each other. You cared for each other, you annoyed the hell out of each other, you had been through so much together.
He had always been there, even if you didn't want him to be. You had hated him and you had loved him...
You… loved him…
Your eyes widened, "I.. love him." You muttered, saying it out loud made it all the more real. A feeling of wanting to slap yourself silly for being so blind overcame you.
You loved him! Of course you loved him!!You had always been so focused on school and work that you hadn't even noticed you were growing feelings for your childhood rival?
You couldn't let him go again! How many more months until you got to see each other again? You had always somehow ended up stuck together, it felt like he would always be there but now you had witnessed what life was like without him around… you hated it! For the first time in your life, you wanted him around.
You couldn't sit around in your lonely apartment each day now you knew you were in love with that jerk!
"God damnit! Why did it have to be him." You ran to the door and flung it open, not even thinking of shoes as you ran out into the cold night air. "Maybe he didn't get far-"
You rounded the corner before colliding with what you could only assume was a brick wall. You winced, pulling back and rubbing your nose. You looked up, coming face to face with none other than the man himself.
You stared at each other in shock, he came back for you too? This whole scene, these feelings, neither of you could have ever imagined this is where you would've end up.
"I need to tell you something!" You spoke in unison, making you both cringe.
"You first." He crossed his arms stubbornly, wanting to know you were on the same wave as he was and hadn't just ran after him because he left something.
You sighed, rubbing your arm, glancing away for a second to collect yourself. You hadn't thought this far ahead so you had no idea what to say. You sighed, looking up to meet his eyes, the best way would be to face your feelings head on. No going back! Even if he rejects you, at least he would respect you being blunt with it, he hated when people beat around the bush.
"I love you." You said, your head lifted high. His eyes widened at your bold declaration, his tense demeanour dropping. "I wanted to tell you before you disappear for months again. So there you have it, I'm in love with you. Believe me or not I don't care. I just- mmph!" Hands yanked you forward by your hips, smooth lips molded against your own when he head dipped down.
It took a few seconds to reciprocate, but when you did he pulled you closer. Your hands went to his shoulders to steady yourself, your legs felt weak, but that didn't stop you from kissing back.
You smiled into the kiss, you couldn't help it. Not only did the kiss feel great but the way he had pulled you in for it without wasting time with words was just such a Bakugo thing to do.
"I love you too, dumbass." He muttered when he pulled away, You let out a breathy laugh and shook your head. "You have such a way with words~"
"Shut up." You giggled at him before you went back in for another kiss, longer, holding more passion as your years of pent up feelings finally reached the surface. Your heads tilted and turned, hands roaming each other's bodies, his arms wrapped around you, his body heat protecting your bare skin from the chill of the night.
He backed you up agaisnt the wall. His tongue ran across your bottom lip, you weren't sure how long you had been standing there but it felt like you were the only two people in the world.
It was so late not another soul was to be see. It was just you, him and the city lights.
His hand ran down towards your thigh, only for you both to jump back when the distance sound of a car honking ripped through your serentity.
Panting as you stared at each other, almost not believing you had just msde out with each other. You pressed your fingers to your tingling lips. A smile on your face, "So- uh, wanna come inside for a bit?” the mischief in your eyes did not match the innocent smile on your face. He knew exactly what you were planning, "Fuck yes."
And there was no way he was going to turn it down.
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leejungchans · 3 years
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— reunited.
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🆕 ask juliet anything!! | juliet’s masterlist
word count: 1.3k
warning(s): none!!
note: words in bold are spoken in english!!
set in early 2017
summary: in which juliet bumps into someone very, very familiar and dear to her heart.
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Juliet nods her head along to the music playing from her earphones as she peruses the snack aisle in the supermarket. Her classes ended a bit earlier today, giving her more time before she has to be at the company for training. What better way to spend that time than getting snacks to share with the others during their breaks?
Definitely chocolate, she thinks as she grabs a bar from one of the shelves, pausing for a few seconds before grabbing two more. Who am I kidding? We’ll inhale it within thirty seconds if I get just one. What if I also got chips? Or is that too much if we’re going to get tteokbokki after training?
Sighing, Juliet looks wistfully at the assortment of snacks before lowering her head and speed-walking through the aisle. If I can’t see it, I won’t be tempted.
Stopping by the dairy section, she reaches for a bottle of banana milk after much deliberation between it and the strawberry milk. This specific brand of flavoured milk was the first thing she had after landing in South Korea, and since then she’d always try to have either before practice or evaluations as a good luck charm whenever possible.
Juliet is about to head to the cashier when she spies a boy around her age standing only a few feet away from her looking at the selection of bottled tea. Her heart skips a beat when she catches the side profile of the boy. It can’t be him... can it? But he looks so awfully similar to...
Before she can be sure, the boy makes his choice and disappears behind the aisle she was just in. Juliet finds herself following after him. She wanted—no, needed—to confirm she hadn’t been seeing things, that he is indeed who she thinks he is. It’s been so long since she’s seen him, she can’t just leave without being sure.
Doing her best to act natural, she walks back to the snack aisle and grabs a bag of spicy chips, pretending to read the label when she’s really trying to get a better look at the boy out of the corner of her eye. Unfortunately, the boy isn’t near enough for her to be sure, and before Juliet can inch closer to him, he leaves the aisle.
Damn it, I knew I should’ve put on my glasses.
Hastily shoving the bag of chips back into its original place, Juliet hurries to catch up with him, carefully peeking behind the shelves to see which section he went into.
Wait... do I look suspicious right now? What if someone’s watching me through the CCTV and thinks I’m trying to steal something? The thought causes her to shudder, hoping she’ll get her answer as quickly as possible so she won’t have to act like this anymore.
Passing through the aisles, Juliet finally finds the boy looking at the instant ramen before casually slipping in and grabbing a random one from the shelf, once again watching him using her peripheral vision. Is this weird? This is so weird. Man, if he’s not who I think he is, I would’ve done all this for nothing... Fuck! He’s looking this way! Don’t look at him, don’t look at him, don’t look at him... 1790mg of Sodium... interesting... what riveting information...
So deep in thought, Juliet doesn’t realises that he’s approaching her until she feels him trying to squeeze past her in the narrow corridor in an effort to leave. Jumping in surprise from the sudden contact, the bowl of ramen slips from Juliet’s hold and falls to the ground with a clatter.
“Sorry!” they both squeak in unison, the boy crouching down to pick up the ramen before she can do so herself. When he looks up to hand it back to her, they freeze upon getting a good look at the other’s face, eyes widening with realisation.
“Felix?”
“Juliet?”
Huge smiles slowly spread across their faces after getting over the initial shock before they pull each other in a hug.
“It’s so good to see you!” Juliet squeals. “What are you doing here?”
“I live here now!” Felix explains once they separate, laughing when her eyes widen comically at his revelation.
“Shut the front door. Really?”
“Yeah! I auditioned for JYP a while ago and got accepted, and they told me to move here immediately. I wanted to contact you, but I think you changed your phone number...”
“Oh, I did,” Juliet says sheepishly. “But I’m glad we ran into each other here! Well, not really ran into... I was kinda following you around the store like a creep because I was trying to make sure if you were really... you.”
Felix giggles. “Were you? I didn’t notice. I just thought you were another student trying to buy snacks after school.”
“I mean... that part’s true,” Juliet says with a grin as they walk back to the cashier to pay. “But anyways, it’s so great that you’re with JYP now! Are you doing okay with settling in and stuff?”
He nods slowly. “I think so, I’m still adjusting to the culture shock and practising my Korean, but the boys there are helping me a lot! One of them is also from Sydney, can you believe it?”
“You’ll have to introduce us sometime then,” she says as she hands the cashier some money while he scans her items. “Plus, you found me now! So if you need anything or just someone to talk to, you can reach me! You have a Korean number now, right?”
He nods again, rummaging for his wallet and phone in his bag before handing the latter to Juliet so she can enter her number in while he pays. The two leave the supermarket with a quick “thank you!” to the cashier as she returns his phone.
“‘Aussie sister’?” Felix laughs, reading the contact name she saved for herself.
“Yeah! You can change it if you want, or if you already met another Aussie sister at JYP,” she pouts. “In that case, I can be ‘Aussie sister #2’ or ‘Julie’ or whatever.”
“Nah, I don’t know any other Aussies here other than you and the boy I mentioned earlier. His name’s Chan, by the way! Where are you going now? To SM?”
Juliet smiles melancholically. “I’m not with SM anymore, Lix,” she says softly, watching his eyebrows crease with worry. “I’m with another company now called KQ. It’s much smaller compared to SM, but I’m happy there and they treat me well, so don’t worry.”
“Well, if you’re happy, then it’s all that matters!” Felix says brightly. “I have to go back to JYP too, but we’ll meet up more now that I’m here, right?” he adds the last part hopefully.
“Definitely! When we have time, I’ll take you to all my favourite food places in this area,” Juliet promises.
Felix beams. “I can’t wait! Take care, okay? And good luck with training.”
“You too. Again, it’s really, really nice seeing you again.”
“Likewise... so, this is goodbye?” he asks when they come to a intersection, being able to tell that Juliet has to go the other route from the direction her feet are pointing at.
“Yeah... but only for now! Remember to text me later so I’ll have your number!”
Felix nods. “I will. I’ll see you around?”
“You bet. I still have so much to tell you,” Juliet tells him before they hesitantly go their separate ways, knowing they both have to be at their companies soon but still wanting to catch up more.
It doesn’t take long for her to turn around to watch Felix’s retreating figure, though she immediately bursts into laughter when he does the same, and the two friends give each other one last exaggerated wave before disappearing into the crowds of people.
Despite the freezing temperature, Juliet feels warm and fuzzy on the inside, overjoyed from seeing her childhood friend for the first time in years while also knowing that there will be more to come now that Felix also lives in Seoul.
Things really are starting to look up.
She walks into KQ’s building with a spring in her step, arms clutching her banana milk and chocolate securely when her phone chimes from a notification. Clumsily fumbling with her uniform skirt’s pocket, Juliet fishes out her phone, instantly grinning at the message that pops up on the lockscreen.
[Unknown Number] [16:03] your aussie bro right here!!! 🐨 fighting today!!!!!!
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— bonus!!
juliet following felix around the supermarket trying not to look sus like:
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a/n: i can’t believe it took me this long to write a scenario with felix but here it is 🥺🥺 bc they were both in a hurry, they didn’t exactly have time for an emotional reunion but rest assured they were very, very happy to see each other :3 especially for juliet, she was still adjusting to everything and everyone at kq, so when felix came into her life again it made her so happy 🥺💕
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Headcanon: Omegaverse
Warning: little language and sexual moments
Problem: I don't push others away and label genders, I hate it. This is for any and all to read not just fem readers.
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Rin x Reader 🔖
🔖Rin as a omega just think about it, soooo kawaii 😍
🔖But seriously he'll try and keep his second gender a secret, he doesn't want to be looked down on by anyone.
🔖You can't tell me otherwise!
🔖But when he met you his omega senses clicked right in. Your strong, brave, a little mean but also bit of a temper bitch.
🔖But perfect
🔖Taking suppressments, acting all high and mighty not letting anyone press him down
🔖Being a fake alpha
🔖Your alpha like status made your profile shine, not just that your one hell of a knight and tamer. Best in the class
🔖He wanted you to take him as your mate then and there. But he had to ignore his instincts and use his head.
🔖What made things difficult was his doubts and uncertaint thoughts. That wasn't all that held him back you both had things to do, important things to focus on and dreams to achieve.
🔖Fuck no! That's not what holds him back!
🔖Your freaking last name is holding him back!!!
🔖Pheles, bloody hell you had to be the clown's kid.
🔖He wanted nothing to do with Mephisto anymore the clown was enough, but you were nothing like that guy completely different that what he fell for
🔖Your personality, the way you are, he didn't just desire your body for sexual use or his heat. He wanted you as a person to love and care for, making you happy is all he wants.
🔖But it'll never happen. His a demon and his afraid to tell you that.
🔖Later on something kept running on his mind, if your Mephisto's kid and his a demon are you one two
🔖Have he not seen it or something?
🔖So he went straight to the source and ask Mephisto himself it was irritating talking to the clown but what piss him off more was that Mephisto answered him with a question
🔖"Why is it that you wanna know?. Mr okumura."
🔖"Come on man just tell me, stop beating around the bushes and tell me!"
🔖"So rude. Yes (Y/n) is indeed blood related to me, so what do you think?"
🔖He was lost for words he was happy and worried at the same time.
🔖Could you be together if you know about him
🔖Your already great friends have a lot of fun together enjoying time doing stupid shit when you two are chilling together both your IQ's drops to one, but being near one and other just felt right to him.
🔖Finally working up the courage to ask you out.
🔖This guy went all out! brought roses dressed in the nicest hoodie he owns did his hair even wrote a speech that took a week to finish
🔖It all flopped, he got nervous suttering not making sense at all, the words that left his mouth came out as wrong as if his chatterbox broke. His palms all sweaty smudging the ink on them making it hard to tell what he wrote.
🔖You just stood there with a smirk trying not to burst into laughter, the second he came to you with roses dress like a slop you already know that he wants to ask you out.
🔖You just sat back enjoying the show.
🔖It was cute, but started getting annoying.
🔖You had to sush him placing your hands on his cheeks, "it's okay chill, Rin. Yes I will go out with you." Those few words made him the happiest omega alive, he couldn't ask for more. Maybe ask your dad to fuck off cause Mephisto was peaking his out from a corner behind you.
🔖But his happy.
🔖When you two started dating it was a little confusing all the couple stuff not knowing what to do or what's right or wrong, what your partner wants or likes.
🔖You where all cool and relax about it figuring things out along the way... on the other hand Rin was dumb as fuck, he didn't know shit he even took exstra time Googling what couples does?
🔖When he finally found the perfect blog that shoot his taste, he started experimenting. With hugs
🔖He loves hugging you from behind pressing his chest against your back and hocking his arms around your waist, rubbing his cheek against yours.
🔖But you prefer, embarrassing him making him blush. You hug him normally wrapping your arms around his waist pressing your bodies against each other his face in your neck and your in his, but your hands though goes straight down to his buttcheeks giving them a squeeze
🔖He blushes fifty shades of red!!! No end becoming all defensive and making no sense, but secretly he likes it.
🔖With hugs comes cuddling, but your form of cuddling is a bit different whenever he is busy or chilling you just lazily get on him.
🔖In cram school you sometime lean on his side wrapping your arms around him protective, when his studies you sit on his lap facing him as your bodies press together he rests his chin on you shoulder looking at his work, when he lays on the bed you just flop on him no matter what position just fall on him
🔖Holding hands, no big deal you two use to do it a lot before dating, just taking each other's hand in the mall or in public making sure not to lose each other in big open places
🔖It came naturally to you two not one of you are embarrassed or nervous. It was okay
🔖Next's was kissing, he expected a normal peck on the lips, but from you he got the best make out session of his life, but what he hates the most is when your angry that you found a new way to cool yourself down.
🔖Yes you kiss him just a normal average kiss, but to get to the kiss you suddenly without any warning whatsoever grab a hand full of his hair forcefully pull his face near yours.
🔖At least his happy you don't curse or kick random things around you or break whatever is in your hand if your holding something that is, as much as you used to before.
🔖When eating together you and Rin started sharing food without knowing, at times making each other taste your food or genuinely splitting a milkshake.
🔖Rin is actually very simple, pretty much gullible and naive at times, so taking him on a date is pretty easy you once took him too the aquarium and he had a blast like a 5 year old kid, so next time just take him to the zoo, he'd run around pointing silly things out and do all the things mention for kids.
🔖You guys take naps together all the time, just shows how much you enjoy each other company but it's best to find a different napping place other than during class.
🔖Rin is good at cooking we all know that, he loves to bake but you not so much. Your father is freaking Mephisto Pheles ofcourse your going to love junk food just as much as the clown does. You rather have instant ramen than eat a full course meal Rin took hours to make just cause you hate homemade meals.
🔖One thing that Rin will never stop is wearing your oversized hoodies it has you scent all over it making it feel like home to him, not just that he likes getting you two matching outfits or secretly pick out your outfit for the day. He even brought matching bracelets which you love thinking it's cute your omega wants to show his love
🔖You love reading and it makes you relax jumping into a new world, while Rin lays on your chest between your thighs sometime taking short naps or not, while you run your fingers through his hair letting him enjoy the little massage
🔖But.. You suddenly get pissed and either through the book or literally take a lighter wanting to burn the book which he has to stop you.
🔖 When the others found out about your relationship they where actually suprised it took them this long, especially Yukio.
🔖in all honesty Yukio tried giving Rin the talk, which ended awkward.
🔖Mephisto knew from the beginning, he really didn't care as long as your okay that's that.
🔖Suguro was beyond furious, jealous by how Rin got a lover before him which turned into a big mess of teasing and yelling between the two
🔖The others congrat you guys happy for the newly formed couple.
🔖You love Rin but sometimes you can't tolerate the people he hangs out with, you hate Shiemi and Yukio.
🔖Shiemi once tried to take your omega. Which result in you giving her a rude attitude and telling her to shove off. But Rin was quick to defend her... it turned into a full blown argument.
🔖And Yukio, tried separateding you two by secretly getting you mad at each other, you where able to catch on fast and exspose Yukio, Rin turned to your side on this getting angry at his brother.
🔖Sometimes he gets jealous that you hang out with Suguro and Shima the most. He get all whiny about it which you reinsurer him your only his alpha.
🔖When you get jealous you immediately turn violent, you once tried to kill Shiemi for wrapping her arms around Rin's arm, or when Shura hugged him to her chest, even when Izumo wore Rin's jacket.
🔖Ready to tear off their heads. But you have to contain yourself.
🔖At some point you did stumble upon Rin's nest, it wasn't in his room but in one of the many rooms in the dormitory he and Yukio lives in alone, it was like any other nest filled with blankets pillows you could find one or two suff animals in there and clothes... your missing clothes.
🔖But you just left it not wanting to do anything to it, it is his save place after all you have to wait till he willingly allows you in on his own terms it is privacy after all.
🔖Scenting is something you guys do regularly, Rin just wants your scent to feel comfortable he got so use to it, makes him feel uneasy if he doesn't get to rub on you. You enjoy it equally if he doesn't scent a stuff animal or two that is yours you might get angry and punch a hole through the wall
🔖Rin loves you dearly but he didn't bonded with you in the way he thought he would.
🔖Somehow you came down in a rut affecting him aswell, falling into an early heat.
🔖Your will power was long gone force yourself on him giving him the most lovable night he'd never forget you where so gentle and caring taking care of him before yourself. It took everything in you not to fuck his brains out.
🔖But with that it came with you slipping for a second, biting on nape so hard making him bleed, made him scream in pain mixed pleasure.
🔖it took you awhile to have Rin bite you in return cause he didn't what to hurt you and was nervous about it.
🔖But afterwards you showed off the mark wearing it with pride, pinning your hair up (if you don't have long hair just ignore it.) And wearing shirts that exspose more of you neck and shoulders.
🔖After bonding you two stayed near each other having issues with separating for more than half an hour, this result in you leaving your dad's home moving into the dormitory Rin lives in both of you claimed a different room.
🔖Rin rebuilt his nest in both of yours room giving you full access.
🔖Others seem to keep asking you what it like in a alpha x alpha relationship, which confused you.
🔖But you simply answer with either ignoring them or "Just like any other relationship?"
🔖After becoming intimate, you love walking around him shirtless and pantsless. You can either get a blush or a horny moan out of him.
🔖Something more intimate is taking a bath with each other you can't keep your hands to yourself at times like these.
🔖giving each other pet names are normal and cute.
🔖Rin mostly prefers calling you- Babe, sweetheart or handsome/beautiful.
🔖You on the other hand call him- Baby cakes, love, Darling or idiot
🔖But in bed he once accidentally let a Daddy/mommy kink slip his mouth, it turned you on more than ever.
🔖But in bed you call his name mixed with a lot of dirty talk. Which gets him all rile up.
🔖Studying together is not a good option anymore you both can't concentrate, can't keep your hands off your lover, randomly start goofing off or get horny.
🔖You regularly get more piss off at Yukio more than Rin does, When mission come around your either stuck on a lame team or with Rin not allowed in the action.
🔖During the camping trip or exercise, instead of bringing back a lantern you kinda got lost in the forest.
🔖And only reunited with the others when Rin went viral, blue flames every where the trees burning and mist of the students were injured.
🔖Yes Amiomon did think about using you before Shiemi but it wasn't a good idea since Mephisto refused for obvious reasons.
🔖Number one the would have not been able to control you much less get underneath your skin though to your superior abilities.
🔖Number two you would've beating the shit out of Aniomon even if he wasn't your uncle.
🔖And lastly number 3 Your a demon with a class near Mephisto, he could've exspose it if you fought Amiomon but keeping you a secret from the order is more important than Rin.
🔖After all that crazy shit, Rin couldn't look you in the eye now you know he's a demon there could've been hope if he was just any other demon but his the span of satan himself.
🔖He doubt you would want to have him as your omega anymore.
🔖It sadden him and made him depress losing the cheerful happy attitude. Not just his behavior that changed as well as his scent it started becoming displeasing and disgusting.
🔖You treated him the same as you always do, you already knew everything since Mephisto opened his big mouth and blab to you long before you and Rin got together
🔖your also the first to feel the change in your omega, but thought it was cause of the way the others treat him.
🔖But it wasn't the same when he avoided you and didn't let you in him nest.
🔖At some point you had enough, doing something that an alpha shouldn't, you drag Rin straight out his nest to confront him
🔖It started in a argument leading of to crying and yelling, it ended with you mostly trashed the room, and the words never spoken once from you
🔖"I love you!" It made Rin extremely happy knowing you love him dearly.
🔖"I love you too"
🔖You two were finally on the same page again, continuing your relationship. Loving and cuddling.
🔖When the others treated Rin bad you where the one to comfort him and give him a not of ice cream.
🔖That's till Izumo birthday came aroun, You don't celebrate birthdays since your a demon and all much older than you look.
🔖You even helped Rin decorate the cake that was clearly Christmas themed, which confused you but you just brushed it off.
🔖Until Suguro yelled at you two claiming it was clearly not a birthday cake.
🔖They could understand Rin's explanation being that his birthday is really close to Christmas it is natural to celebrate the two on the same day not using up much money.
🔖You on the other hand were a different case, they where honestly worried, who would tell someone
🔖"I don't celebrate my birthday, I really don't care and truthfully I don't know the date to my birth?"
🔖What?
🔖Yes, you read it Mephisto never told you, and you really don't care about minor stuff like that.
🔖You suggest to them to just give the cake to Mephisto, your old man isn't much of a Christmas fan after all
🔖It was fun. And so where the rest of your days with Rin.
🔖Really happy.
***
Thanks sis for the request... I'm blocking you🤗❤
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ggukcangetit · 4 years
Text
Chocolates & Laundry Do Not Mix - JJK fic
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title: Chocolates & Laundry Do Not Mix [Prequel to Crime & Punishment]
pairing: jungkook x reader
rating: PG 13
warnings: language, y/n uses a pillow to deal with her frustration, not much else?
word count: 3.5k
summary: when your best friend, Namjoon, asks if a junior from his business ventures class can live with you till his lease comes through, you don’t think much about it. But one month with Jeon Jungkook proves to be extremely difficult because of how little the boy says but how much he seems to topple over without much effort.
a/n: this is the first fic for jungkook’s birthday! happy birthday to the bestest, most lovely, wonderful, soft-hearted boy out there. we love you, koo! wishing you happiness always <3
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Before Jungkook
Namjoon is a great guy. He’s smart, funny, considerate, thoughtful, kind, and definitely one of the best looking guys out there. You love him, you really do. But there are times when you wish you could roundhouse kick his dimpled ass out of the window. And this would be one of those moments. 
“It’ll only be for a couple of months, y/n.” Namjoon sat down on the grass, his long legs stretching out in front of him. Seokjin reached over you and handed him the last neatly packed chicken wrap he had brought. “The lease at his old place ran out last week, and the place he’s going to move to doesn’t allow tenants before August. You’re the only one of us who currently doesn’t have a roommate.”
You frowned, the wonderfully seasoned chicken inside Seokjin’s wrap not really registering in your system. “Seokjin can’t?”
“You do know that I just graduated and will be moving to a different city in a couple of days, right?” He shot you a look and promptly flopped onto the grass dramatically.
“What about Yoongi?” 
“He’s moved in with his girlfriend.” Namjoon quirked an eyebrow. “Do you not read any of the messages in the group chat?”
“Jimin? Hobi?” You were desperate at this point.
“Hobi lives with me. And Jimin lives with Taehyung right now. But the two of them are planning to move into a new apartment before classes start in the fall and Jungkook will be staying with them after that! So what do you say?” Namjoon stared at you expectantly. “Can Jungkook crash at your place for the summer?”
If it were up to you, some random junior from Namjoon’s business class would not be crashing at your modest apartment while you slaved your ass off working part-time so that your job prospects would be minutely better at the time of graduation. But then - you stared at Namjoon’s inquiring gaze and Seokjin’s knowing eyebrow raise - it was never really up to you, was it? No. Somehow, all decisions in your friend group had become a matter of collective responsibility. Yoongi wants to buy a new sound system? Well, it must be compatible with the latest AR gaming technology so that Seokjin can come over and use it whenever he wants. Hobi’s ordering a designer jacket for his birthday? It can’t be orange because Jimin wouldn’t be caught dead wearing orange. 
And the list goes on…
What it ultimately came down to was that Jungkook would be staying at your place over the summer. If you said no, your friends would definitely understand… But you would feel like a piece of shit for the rest of the year. So-
“Thanks for letting me stay here, y/n.” Jungkook wasn’t what you had expected. Although you had received very contrasting, even conflicting, descriptions of him from your friends.
“He’s a shy guy,” Namjoon said while walking his bike out of the university courtyard. “Doesn’t speak to a lot of people easily.”
Seokjin, naturally, had said something completely different. “He’s the toughest guy I know. Dude could easily bench press us all at the same time.”
That had left you a little worried so, of course, you decided to speak to Hobi. “Jungkook? Haha! That guy’s really something else! He barely sleeps at night because he’s playing video games! And he’s a snack monster!”
Your mind immediately went to the basket of snacks you kept at your apartment. There was no way this guy would touch your stuff, right?
“Jungkook’s a total prankster!” Jimin giggled while sipping his iced tea. “You should see the stuff he and Tae get up to sometimes!”
“It’s no big deal.” Your reply lacked the minimal amount of enthusiasm required to not be considered a big deal, though. If Jungkook picked up on that, he didn’t say anything.
Week 1 with Jungkook
The first couple of days went by without any issues. He seemed like a quiet guy who kept to himself - so far Namjoon’s description had been the most accurate - and you supposed two months with him around wouldn’t be terrible.
That’s where you were sorely mistaken. Suddenly, you found the fridge full of banana milk cartons - not a few bottles, mind you, but a few cartons of banana milk. Every single cupboard in the kitchen was now stuffed with protein supplements, low carb snacks, and the entire country’s supply of instant ramen. Now, you didn’t have anything against instant ramen per se - heck, you really enjoyed the beauty of a quick delicious meal at the end of a long day - but this was pushing things a little. Because for every single instant ramen packet placed in the kitchen, something of yours had to be displaced rather dramatically.
For instance, you had woken up early one Tuesday morning, craving chocolate chip pancakes like nobody’s business. The chocolate chips were kept on the middle shelf of the third cupboard from the left - as they had been since you had moved in a year ago. You knew exactly where your things were placed and, having the unassailable confidence of an only child who has never had to share their space and now lives on their own as well, you opened the cupboard door without looking up. This was clearly not as smart a decision as you had imagined because a ton of instant ramen packets came cascading down on your head. 
Jungkook came rushing out of his bedroom, alarmed by the sound of loud and colourful cursing coming from the kitchen. “Is everything okay?!”
The look on your face was probably one Seokjin would have laughed at until he had tears in his eyes. But Jungkook, completely unacquainted with your temper and the peculiar things that set you off, looked like he had just found out that he was allergic to both banana and dairy. Actually, he looked more like Hobi the day he had come home to find Jimin and Taehyung working on the latter’s art project which had resulted in the most tragic paint spill on the most beautiful white carpet in the history of college roommate sagas. 
“Oh shit! The ramen- I’m so sorry, y/n!” Jungkook ran towards you to try and help. Unfortunately, he was both hesitant to physically check if you were okay and eager in his desire to make things alright, resulting in a collision which sent you hurtling towards the ground in what would have been an extremely nasty fall. To Jungkook’s credit, he had some insanely rapid reflexes and managed to catch you before you hit the tiled floor and cracked your skull open. 
There was a brief moment between when he wrapped his arm around your waist and when your brows furrowed in annoyance, where you caught a whiff of his apple-scented shampoo and noticed the tiny mole on the bridge of his nose. 
Cute.
You wriggled out of his hold and fixed him with a look that, hopefully, conveyed that you were supremely displeased with his ramen placement without actually having to tell him off. 
“S-sorry about that.” The look had done its job. Jungkook quickly gathered up the fallen ramen packets and stuffed them into the nearest drawer - which then could not be closed.
“How much ramen do you have…?” Your annoyance was replaced with sheer curiosity at this point.
“Oh, uh… I won a gaming contest and the first prize was a year’s worth of instant ramen.” He scratched the back of his neck self-consciously, cheeks turning pink in embarrassment.
You sighed. “Come on, let me show you the extra storage space behind the shoe cupboard.”
Week 2 with Jungkook
Jungkook wasn’t a loud and inconsiderate roommate. In fact, after the ramen debacle of the first week, he had been coexisting with you quite beautifully. Sometimes you would cook dinner, curse at the fact that you had to cook dinner, and then secretly cherish the absolute delight on Jungkook’s face as he ate the dinner you had cooked. Other times, he would tap into his self-proclaimed noodle know-how and whip up some sort of deluxe instant ramen dish, which always turned out to be heavenly and it was all you could do to stop yourself from moaning in pleasure while you both slurped the noodles.
Then, of course, were the times when you ordered takeout, and somehow attracted all the ravenous souls present on the group chat. It didn’t matter whether it was sushi or tacos or fried chicken or pizza or chinese or even a batch of mini donuts from the tiny shop opposite your apartment - all six of them invariably came knocking a few minutes before the food was delivered.
“Gguk, how’s the summer internship going?” Yoongi was holding his third slice of pizza, sitting on the floor with his legs spread haphazardly. This was one of the rare times when he had dropped by for a random friday hangout - his friday nights were usually reserved for his girlfriend. 
Jungkook looked up from the game he had been playing with Taehyung and Seokjin. “Oh, it’s fine. The usual internship bullshit.” He let out a small winner as his car flew past the others just before the finish line.
“This damn game is rigged,” muttered Seokjin. “How come nobody but Jungkook ever wins?”
“That’s because you suck, Jin!” Jungkook ducked out of the way as Seokjin reached out to punch him. “Face it, racing games aren’t your thing.”
At the other end of the room, Hobi was dozing off at the dining table while Jimin and Namjoon played their 9th game of Go Fish. Yoongi bit into the pizza and motioned Taehyung to get him a beer from the fridge. 
“We should go clubbing.” Taehyung’s impulsive and, frankly, terrible ideas were usually a result of a three-game losing streak. If there was anyone who hated losing more than Seokjin, it was the raven haired guy with soft curls falling on his forehead, staring at all of you with his piercing gaze.
“I’m exhausted. I had classes from 9-7 today,” said Namjoon, waving his hand dismissively.
“I work on Saturdays, Tae. You know that.” Seokjin got up and stretched his arms above his head. “I’m going to head out now.”
“The rest of us can go then.” Taehyung was nothing if not persistent. 
“Hobi’s passed out already. And Soya’s waiting for me at home. So I’m going to drop him and Joon at their place, and then head back myself.”
These negative responses did nothing to deter Taehyung’s determination to go clubbing, which meant that you found yourself smooshed into the back of an uber with Taehyung and Jungkook as Jimin sat shotgun. Not only did you absolutely hate clubbing, but the fact that both Jungkook and Taehyung were very well-built, muscular guys, meant that you basically had one butt cheek of space to sit on.
“You okay?” asked Jungkook, before the four of you walked into the club.
“My left butt cheek is asleep, but otherwise all good.” He giggled at your response, gently laying a hand on your back so that you wouldn’t be separated from the group.
An hour later, you were completely certain of three things.
First off, there was nothing in the world that could make you enjoy clubbing. Not the location, not the music, and not the people you were with. Secondly, the three boys you were with not only had devastating good looks, but also managed to shake up the club with their crowd-pulling dances. Jimin’s style relied heavily on his seductive hip movements while Taehyung was destroying everyone with his smoldering expressions. Jungkook, meanwhile, was running completely on an adrenaline rush, and matched Jimin and Taehyung move for move, adding a sexy amount of aggression to the dances as well.
And finally, Jungkook, despite his muscles and dancing and adrenaline, liked to cuddle when he was extremely exhausted and had someone in his vicinity. That someone happened to be you that night as you came back to the sofa to find him curled up into a ball, his mouth slightly open as he slept peacefully. Your mistake was trying to place a blanket on top of him because you soon found yourself being pulled into his embrace as you became Jungkook’s personal cuddle pillow. You could say that you struggled for a long time, trying to break out of his grasp but he was just too strong for you, so you eventually gave up and fell asleep while cuddling with him on the sofa.
But then you would be lying. 
Week 3 with Jungkook 
Not that you would ever admit it, but Jungkook had a very pert bottom. As bottoms go, his was definitely somewhere in the top tier. The general consensus on campus was that Jimin and Taehyung were the usual contestants in the battle of the first-rate bottoms. But those of the general consensus had clearly never seen Jungkook in skin-tight jeans, kneeling on the floor while trying to reach for the remote that had fallen under the sofa. 
“You’re zoning out again!” Seokjin was seated opposite you and snapped his fingers in front of your face. “You know I hate being ignored, y/n.”
“Sorry, I wasn’t ignoring you…” Your cheeks colored as you tried to rid your mind of the images of Jungkook from that morning, reaching for the highest shelf and flashing a beautiful strip of impeccably shaped abs.
“Tell me you aren’t daydreaming about Jungkook’s ass.”
“I am not daydreaming about Jungkook’s a-” You closed your mouth quickly, slapping Seokjin’s arm for good measure. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”
“Work’s so boring and you’re so predictably entertaining, y/n,” he grinned and bit into the chocolate cupcake in front of him. “I miss seeing you everyday.”
“You have a funny way of showing it,” you grumbled.
“Nah, but seriously, Jungkook’s a solid guy - pun completely intended.” You rolled your eyes as he snickered at his joke. “You two would be good together.”
“You’re well aware of my stance on people setting me up, right?” You raised an eyebrow at him.
“No one’s setting you up. I’m just saying -” Seokjin popped the remaining half of the cupcake into his mouth - “if there’s potential, you shouldn’t stop yourself.”
Unfortunately, any potential that may have been present, completely fizzled out when you got home that afternoon. You had made one thing perfectly clear the day that Jungkook had moved in with his stuff - your snack supply was completely off-limits. Yet here you were, staring at a near empty basket while Jungkook lounged on the sofa with chocolatey fingers and an empty chips packet lying on the table. 
Pert bottoms definitely did not trump snack supplies - as Jungkook found out the hard way when a pillow came crashing down on him with the wrath of all your ancestors combined.
“Y/n! What the fuck?!” he yelped, ducking from your well-aimed blows.
“My snacks! They’re off limits! Asshole!” You punctuated each word with a smack of your pillow.
“Stop! Stop!” He grabbed the pillow from your hands and threw it as far as he could. “I’m sorry! I was really hungry and there wasn’t anything else at home!”
His stupid big doe eyes were just too damn sincere and you felt yourself deflating and sinking into the sofa. After making sure that you wouldn’t attack him again, Jungkook sat down beside you, nudging you softly with his shoulder. “I was going to go to the asian store once they open in the evening. Do you want to come with and help me replenish the snack supply?”
You huffed in annoyance but gradually rested your head on his shoulder. Jungkook had lived with you long enough to know that that was a yes.
Week 4 with Jungkook
Choosing movies to watch over dinner was always something you struggled with. Not when you were alone. No, you knew exactly what you wanted to watch. Your Netflix suggestions were appropriately lined up with crime dramas and sci-fi thrillers. It was only when there was someone else watching with you that the situation became contentious. Namjoon had a penchant for documentaries, and Hobi and Jimin liked watching musicals. Seokjin refused to watch anything even remotely close to a horror film, and Yoongi and Taehyung always voted for heavy art films. And Jungkook-
“I am not watching Titanic.” You settled into the sofa with your bowl of pasta, reaching forward to grab the soda can on the table.
“Come on, y/n! It’s a classic!” Jungkook whined. You had realised that the boy whined a lot over little things like movie selections and waking up before 8 am. “A tragic tale of true love.”
You snorted into your food. “True love would’ve been if they’d both survived.”
“You’re so cold.” There it was, the infamous Jeon Jungkook pout. It didn’t make an appearance often, but when it did, you found yourself growing weaker and much more likely to give in to whatever stupid thing he wanted.
“Fine. Put it on. But don’t blame me when I end up scrolling through Instagram the entire time.”
“I won’t,” he grinned and sat down next to you. The sofa dipped considerably and you found yourself sliding towards him involuntarily. It wasn’t that this position was uncomfortable - you were actually really fond of unwitting physical contact with your friends. The only problem was the way your heartbeat quickened every time the unwitting contact was with Jungkook. 
By the time the movie was over, Jungkook’s nose was running. It was no secret that he cried during sad movies but you still loved teasing him about how easily characters brought him to tears.
“Damn, look at you crying over Jack and Rose. They’re just fictional characters and Rose didn’t even die! What would you do if I was in their place? Would you cry over me too, Gguk?” You nudged his shoulder playfully.
“No.” His reply was firm and you wondered if he had been offended this time.
“No? Why not?”
“I’d never let that happen to you.”
You could safely say that you had never bolted to the bathroom as quickly as that moment, splashing your cheeks with cold water to bring down the flush.
This wasn’t the only time Jungkook had left you completely speechless, however. He ordered takeout much more than you did, not having time to cook much because of his internship. And his takeout orders usually consisted of either pizza or fried chicken. On most days, you were done with dinner by the time he got home and ordered takeout.
On one such day, you looked up from the spreadsheet you had been working on, your stomach clearly unsatisfied with the grilled cheese sandwich you had eaten a couple of hours ago. Making your way to the kitchen, you rummaged through the contents of the fridge, huffing in annoyance as you found nothing suitable for your current hunger-related dilemma.
“Do you want pizza? I’ve finished but there are a couple of slices left.” Jungkook pushed the box towards you and turned his attention back to his phone. It was a veggie supreme - something that Jungkook always ordered.
“How come there aren’t any olives?” you asked, knowing that that particular pizza store always put olives on their veggie pizzas.
“I asked them to take out the olives.”
“Why? I thought you loved olives.”
“I do. But you don’t eat olives.”
Your mouth hung open for a moment. “But you ordered the pizza for yourself…”
“Yeah, but I didn’t want the olives to stop you in case you wanted to have a slice.”
He hadn’t looked up during the entire conversation but you could see the way his cheeks turned pink and how he kept tugging at his ear. You, yourself, felt your heart soar and bit into a slice of pizza - trying to stop the shit-eating grin from spreading on your face.
After Jungkook
It turned out that Jungkook didn’t need to stay at your place for more than a month. Jimin and Taehyung had somehow convinced their landlord to allow them to move in a month ahead of the designated move-in date, which meant that you were once again living alone. 
It was weird. There was a lot of space in your cupboards once again and the fridge didn’t always smell of chocolate shakes and overripe bananas. You were also free to choose whatever movie you wanted to watch with dinner. But something still felt amiss…
You sighed and reached for your basket of snacks, frowning as your fingers swiped at thin air. Your eyes widened as you glanced at your previously well-stocked supply of snacks, noting the distinct lack of at least 75% percent of its contents.
“JEON JUNGKOOK!”
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please leave a comment if you enjoyed this story!  tagging @holynamtiddies​ , @hauntedlilies​
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redeadepression · 3 years
Text
Never Be | John Marston Fic | Arthur’s POV
~~
I’ve decided to make this a small series. John’s inner monologue of all his failures (set in my Modern AU) and interactions with his friends and family/their reactions to his situation. This one is different because it’s written from Arthur’s POV! Let me know if you want to hear John’s!
Jumbled timeline because I write what I feel like lately. This is the earliest story in the series so far.
~~
Characters: Arthur Morgan, John Marston. Hosea Matthews, Dutch Van der Linde Setting: My Modern AU  Words: 2849 Tags: Angst, Family, Adoption, Modern AU, Teen John No Trigger warnings Summery: Arthur returns home to visit his parents and receives some disturbing news.
~~
The scratching sound of Arthur’s hand-brake was always a concern to him. But even at the age of twenty-eight he was still struggling to have enough money to take the concern too seriously.
Instead, he ignored it as he always did. Making sure to let it click at least three times and silently praying that his car would not roll back down the drive once he left it.
He sat back in his chair for a moment. Letting his head fall back against the rest and sighing deeply as he prepared himself for the next few hours.
He loved his parents deeply. He would be forever grateful for the way they took him in. Not just as a Foster family but for adopting him officially as well.
But hell, they were exhausting sometimes. Dutch more so than Hosea. Always wanting to talk shop and try and convince Arthur to go another way in life. Stop trying to get his art out there and take on a trade instead.
Hosea was more supportive of his life choices. But the way he fussed over Arthur’s eating and the way he lived was its own form of exhausting. Always having to assure the older man that his apartment was clean and he had eaten three meals in a day.
Instant ramen was a meal. He didn’t care how hard others argued against that.
He missed being a carefree teen like John was at the moment. Not having to worry about mundane things like bills and whether or not his car would break down on the way to work for the third time in a week.
Steeling himself against the wave of questions as to why it had been so long since he visited, he pushed open his door and exited the vehicle.
Locking his car and checking to make sure his wallet was in his back pocket. He turned, jogging up the front steps and knocking on the screen door. It rattled under his knuckles, wobbling in its frame. Arthur had always mused just how easy it would be to push it off it’s hinges and walk inside. He was always on their asses to lock the wooden door as well but they refused. The screen let in the cool breeze and stopped them from having to pay for air conditioning.
Not that the cool breeze ever did anything to alleviate how sweltering their house was in summer.
Air conditioning was something Arthur had looked forward to the most when he left home. Turning it on and letting it run 24/7.
Until he’d gotten his first power bill.
“$600 a year is a bit steep for power isn’t it?” He’d asked Hosea bitterly.
Hosea had laughed heartily at his son’s naivety.
“Electric bills are not yearly son.” He’d corrected. “Every three months.”
“Every three months?” Arthur had asked incredulously, the other man smiling to himself knowingly.
“Not so fun being an adult now is it?” He’d chuckled simply.
Arthur still bristled at the memory. They could have warned him.
Although he knew deep down there was no way he would have listened anyway.
Arthur drummed his fingers absently against his thigh as he waited to be let inside. Frowning when no one came to the door and flicking through his keys to look for his old one.
He let himself inside, closing and relocking the door behind him as he yelled out that he had entered.
He checked the time on his watch as he walked down the hallway and turned into the living room. They did say lunch was at 2pm. He was only fifteen minutes early.
No one was in the kitchen.
Placing his hands on his hips, he looked around the room, clicking his tongue as he decided they must still be on their way home.
“Alright.” He whispered under his breath, leaving the living room and continuing on down the hallway towards his old room. He had wanted to grab some of his book he’d left here years before anyway.
As he sidled down the hallway he stopped in his tracks, movement catching his eye as he backtracked a few steps and peered into John’s bedroom through the open door.
“Hey?” He asked in surprise, realising the teen was home.
John startled at Arthur’s voice. Turning to stare at the older man, equally surprised from his place atop his bed.
“Hey.” He said back croakily, arms crossed across his chest moving to rest by his side as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
He had been staring despondently at the ceiling. Arthur wondered if he hadn’t heard him or if he was ignoring him purposefully.
“I called out.” Arthur stated simply, shrugging as he moved into the room without invitation and slumped himself down into John’s desk chair.
“Thought you were Dutch.” John said wearily, head hanging low as he sat on the edge of his bed and refused to make eye contact with the older man.
Arthur frowned, something about the teen seeming off. He was never the most enthusiastic teenager but he usually made a little more of an effort to engage with Arthur than he was at the moment. Despite his emo phase ending a few years earlier he seemed withdrawn and sullen.
Arthur took in the younger’s pale appearance. Dark circles underlining his youthful eyes and discolouration mottling his cheeks and brow.
He seemed ill or at the very least, extremely tired.
Arthur knew he had been working hard at his trade lately. He’d earned himself an apprenticeship in some form of construction work. Hosea had been fuzzy on the details. Even hazier on whether or not John actually enjoyed or wanted the job.
Deep down Arthur felt perhaps John had just bowed to the pressure of setting himself up in life that his parents had always instilled on them. He had to choose something to get them off his back.
He felt bad for the kid. He didn’t really have any ambitions. None that he ever liked to talk about anyway.
“You alright?” Arthur asked earnestly, leaning down to try and catch John’s eye as the other nodded softly.
“Yeah.” He lied, unable to truly force the deceit.
Arthur heard the statement for what it was, pursing his lips as he rested his forearms on his knees and leaned closer to the younger man.
“Wanna talk about it?” He asked, already knowing what the answer would be as John shook his head.
Arthur inhaled deeply, sitting back in his chair and wincing as he leaned forwards again to pull his wallet from his back pocket. Placing that and his keys on the desk next to him before pausing and returning for his wallet. Slipping a 20 out of it and placing it between a stack of books.
He was broke as shit but he always had money for little John. The boy never asked anyone for a Goddamn cent and Arthur knew firsthand how cruel teenage life could be growing up with no cash. Although his parents had been generous with him, they were still less than wealthy compared to a lot of other kids in Arthur’s class.
Arthur turned back to John, clasping his hands together in between his knees and thinking on something to say to try and get the kid to talk to him. He had been feeling bad for not visiting as often lately. He wondered subconsciously if John was annoyed about that. Feeling neglected.
He had been meaning to drop by. Especially as John closed in on his eighteenth birthday. Only a week away now. Arthur had wanted to have a quick chat with him about drinking responsibly.
Although he knew of course the kid would never listen to him as he had not listened in the past. He wanted him to know he could always call if he needed him. That Arthur would be his designated driver no questions asked if he needed it.
Hosea had offered that to him just shy of his own eighteenth birthday. That and adoption papers. Arthur had never been so happy in his life.
“Your birthday’s coming up.” Arthur said after another moment of silence. “Eighteen, that’s exciting.” He baited, waiting for the other to perk up at the mention. What kind of teen wasn’t excited about hitting adulthood and all the disappointing realities that came along with it?
John’s hands tightened against his mattress, frown deepening at the mention of his birthday as Arthur watched on in confusion.
“Uh…” Arthur began, unsure what exactly had upset the kid. “Not excited then?” He asked, regretting his choice of words as he caught sight of John’s eyes watering. The younger’s hand shot to his face, wiping at the wetness before it could fall. Turning his face away from Arthur and trying his hardest to hide his tears and compose himself. “John?” Arthur said softly, feeling guilt well in his chest for causing such a strong reaction in the teen. It had been a long time since he’d seen him cry.
“Don’t.” John choked, shaking his head as he silently begged the older man to leave it alone. “Just, don’t.” He repeated, voice thick with emotion as Arthur watched on sadly.
“Arthur!” Hosea called suddenly, excited voice echoing down the hall as they both heard the old screen door rattle. Arthur turned away from John, looking out the doorway as the scrape of boots on the front mat and footsteps on the floorboards could be heard. The clunking steps drawing closer as the older couple returned home. “You’re early!” Dutch chided as the footsteps took a turn and Arthur knew without having to look that they had walked through the living room and into the kitchen.
“Fifteen minutes!” He shouted back. “Ya’ll haven’t even started cooking yet.” He complained half-heartedly before turning back to John and frowning once more. The younger was wiping at his face frantically, looking panicked as he tried to usher Arthur from the room.
The older man nodded, grabbing for his wallet and keys before leaving John’s room and closing the door behind him. He stood in the hallway for a minute, reflecting on the strangeness of John’s behaviour before heading back towards the living room.
He supposed he would not have wanted them to see him crying at that age either. He still had trouble crying in front of his romantic partner, let alone his parents. He would feel like a right fool if they caught him in that state.
Arthur’s parents looked up to greet him as he entered the living room, walking through and towards the kitchen bench as they both fluffed around putting groceries away.
“And here’s one we prepared earlier.” Hosea joked as he lifted a large bag of KFC into view and dumped it onto the bench in front of Arthur. The younger man laughed. He hadn’t been sure what he was expecting but it certainly wasn’t take away food. Not that he was complaining. But he sure did miss a home cooked meal.
He didn’t let the irony fly over his head at that fact. He had complained many times as a teen that he wanted fast food instead of the roast that had been prepared. Now he would kill for a juicy roast instead of the same greasy burger over and over again.
Arthur watched as the older couple shuffled around the small kitchen, gathering the plates and utensils they would need to eat.
He took the plates as they were handed to him, moving the short walk to the dining room table and placing them down in their respective places.
He moved back towards the bench and took handful of cutlery from Hosea.
“Hey?” Arthur asked softly, grabbing the older man’s attention as he leant against the counter and chewed over his words. “Everything alright with John?” He asked after a moment, keeping his voice low as he was aware the kid could enter the room any minute.
“Is he here?” Hosea asked in surprise, making Arthur frown.
“Yeah.” Arthur replied simply. Taking a moment to let Hosea speak again before adding. “In his room.”
“Oh.” Hosea said softly, un-bagging the food and passing the items to Dutch to place onto plates. Arthur waited for one of them to speak again. Feeling impatient as they continued to ready lunch rather than answering his question.
“Is he alright?” Arthur asked again, a little firmer as Dutch finally turned his attention to the younger and Hosea ignored him, walking past with platefuls of food.
“He’ll be fine.” Dutch assured, picking up his own plates and walking towards the table as Arthur followed suspiciously.
Hosea placed his food down in the middle of the table. Turning to face Dutch with his arms across his chest and a sour face.
“Go on.” He snapped as Dutch approached. “Tell him.”
Arthur looked between them with furrowed brows as Dutch let out a long sigh. He had rarely seen them fight in his time with them and if they did it was usually Dutch that held a grudge.
Arthur felt something unsettling turn his stomach as he watched Dutch place his own plates down on the table.
He turned to Arthur, shrugging.
“We’ve decided not to adopt John.” He explained, shaking his head if he was talking about keeping a puppy or a kitten and not a human child.
Arthur felt his mouth open in shock as he looked between the two of them in disbelief.
“What?” He asked softly, eyes lingering on Hosea as he waited for the other man to argue.
“Dutch feels…” Hosea began, stopping himself quickly and correcting his words. “We feel…” He began again. “That it’s not in our best interest to take on another child permanently.” He explained eloquently as Arthur scoffed at the excuse.
He had always assumed that John would be adopted just as he had. As soon as the agency had confirmed that they had no plans to send him elsewhere, he had become a permanent fixture in their lives. Or Arthur’s life at least. He had let himself actually get to know the kid.
He loved him like a real brother. He had always thought that one day they would really be brothers, tied together by their parents.
“What about John’s best interest?” He asked flatly. Shock stopping him from expressing himself properly as he waited for a better answer than ‘it’s not in our best interests’.
That was a load of bullshit. There was something else going on and it made Arthur feel uneasy.
“We don’t have time to get into it now Arthur.” Dutch said gently, holding a hand out in front of him to signal that Arthur needed to drop the subject. The younger man glared at him, jaw clenched as he held back a rebuttal.
His parents were good people and he trusted them to make good decision for himself and the other children.
Well, John.
John had not been the last child they’d taken in. He was just the only one that didn’t have parents to go back to.
He was alone in this world, just like Arthur. John didn’t have any family and the family he did have before they passed had left him with nothing. Which is why Arthur had always assumed Dutch and Hosea would take him in too.
Give the poor kid the family he so desperately craved.
He knew deep down that they must have a good reason for what they were doing to John. But in that moment, he was blinded by a simmering rage as he remembered the boy’s tears earlier and how hard that kid had fought his whole life to feel accepted by anyone, especially their family.
Arthur turned his attention to Hosea once more, their eyes locking as Arthur registered a deep sadness in the older man. Stood a few steps behind Dutch, the older man shook his head slowly, telling Arthur to let it go before this situation turned ugly.
Arthur swallowed audibly, licking at his lips and turning to look at the dining room table full of food.
He felt sick to his stomach. His appetite gone.
“Have you told him?” He asked after a long moment, sucking on his teeth as he waited for an answer. The silence in the room deafening as the seconds ticked on without a reply.
“Not yet.” Dutch answered eventually. The scrape of a chair breaking the tension in the air as the older man pulled it out from under the table and slumped down into it.
Hosea followed suit, gesturing for Arthur to do the same.
He did as instructed, walking around the table and pulling out the chair from his favourite spot. Slinking down into it and looking to his right at the empty place he had set for John.
He supposed that they were all aware the kid would not be joining them.
“Well, he knows.” Arthur replied, venom in his tone as he snatched at the bucket of chicken in front of him and pulled it closer.
End.
~~~~~
Poor John. :(  If you’ve read my other works you guys can probably see where this is heading. 
I got my electric bill today.. Also had KFC for dinner because I couldn’t stop thinking about chicken after writing this. 
Please let me know if you read this and liked it! I love hearing from my awesome readers! Let me know if you want more backstory and what you’re hoping to see in future stories! ❤
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allsassnoclass · 3 years
Text
i blame it on the weather (can you make it better)
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Pairing: Michael Clifford/Calum Hood
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Key Tag(s): College AU, Cold, Angst with a Happy Ending
Word Count: 6,177
Read on AO3
A/N: this was tailor-made for @michaelownsmyheart​. I hope you like it darling <3 also big shout out to @clumsyclifford​ for looking this over and giving me Good Advice
Michael doesn’t remember the dorm being this cold when he left in December.  He doesn’t know how the space between him and Calum got that cold, either.
The drive back to campus feels shorter than normal, songs on the radio flying by with other cars on the highway the further Michael gets from his family and the closer he gets to the loneliness of an empty dorm.  Normally he wouldn’t mind having the place to himself, especially because that means he can blast music as loud as he wants and no one else is going to take the shower with the good water pressure, but there’s something foreboding about it now.
His phone is still empty of messages from the one person he’s been waiting to hear from.  Two weeks alone in the dorms wouldn’t be so bad if he had Calum on the other end of the line to keep him company.
He pulls into his parking spot right as snow begins to fall, a little earlier than predicted.  He sends a quick text to his parents to let them know he made it safe, then grabs his bags and makes the trek to his dorm.  It’s an older building elegantly nestled between the newer residence halls with better air conditioning or elevators that don’t break down every month, but there’s more character to it.  The other dorms are boxy and made of dark brick, but this one is lighter with turrets at the top and heavy wooden doors.  It looks more like a fantasy castle than a dorm building, and Michael’s mum had fallen in love with it immediately on their campus tour a few years ago.  Now that Michael is living here it’s lost some of its luster, but it’s also the only building to have single rooms, and while having Luke as a roommate turned out alright in the end last year, he likes being able to have the room to himself all of the time.
Michael fumbles for his key card to swipe himself in, biting off one of his gloves so he can get it out of his wallet.  Thick flakes land on his coat and hands, the kind that would probably be good for making snowmen if he still did stuff like that but that will be hell to drive in later.  Hopefully the roads will be clear enough by tomorrow, and he probably has some ramen that he never made from last semester that he can heat up for dinner tonight.
Inside doesn’t feel much warmer than outside, but there’s no snow or wind.  Michael stomps his feet in an attempt to get all of the snow off his boots, but freezes as soon as he glances up.
Nestled amongst the armchairs, big windows, fireplace, piano, and little side tables that make up the front lounge, Calum Hood stares back at him like a deer in headlights.  He’s got a notebook and pencil in his hand and a textbook open in front of him, blanket wrapped around his shoulders in a way that Michael wishes he were.  He looks exactly the same as he did when Michael last saw him a few weeks ago, except he’s fully clothed this time.  He looks good.  He looks cozy.
He looks like Michael is the last person he wants to see.
Michael clears his throat.
“I didn’t know you were back on campus,” he says.
“I’m taking a j-term and thought it’d be easier to focus here,” Calum replies, lifting the notebook halfheartedly.  “It’s a prereq for my chem class this semester.  It turns out that switching majors put me a bit behind this time.”
Michael nods.  Calum started as a music education major, then switched to an elementary education major before realizing he didn’t want to deal with little kids.  Now he’s studying to be a high school science teacher, which means he has a few freshman science classes he needs to squeeze into his schedule.  He hadn’t said anything about a j-term to Michael when he registered, but they also haven’t exactly been communicating much since before finals.
“I didn’t expect anyone back yet,” Calum says eventually.
“I got permission to come back early so I can take a few more shifts.  Gotta pay for college somehow, you know…”
Michael trails off, unbalanced and uncomfortable.  It feels wrong to be reacting like this around Calum, just like it felt wrong to not hear from him during finals or break, but after a few more moments of uncomfortable silence and chewing his lip he hefts his bag higher on his shoulder and makes an excuse about wanting to get his room back to rights.  He feels Calum’s eyes on him as he leaves, the weight of his gaze lingering even after Michael has entered the stairwell, dug out his key, and entered his room.  When he takes off his jacket he immediately reaches for a blanket, wrapping himself up and trying to suppress the shivers threatening to erupt throughout his body.
He doesn’t remember the dorm being this cold when he left in December.  He doesn’t know how the space between him and Calum got that cold, either.
-/-
Once he has a bowl of instant ramen in front of him and his stuff more or less put away, Michael calls Luke.
“Good morning,” Luke answers, a leftover joke gone stale from when they were roommates with opposite sleep schedules.  It almost makes him wish for a simpler time when Luke was forcing him to go places like Welcome Week events and they were literally running into people like Calum and Luke was forcing them all to be friends even though Michael’s smoothie got spilled and Calum dropped his nachos.  Michael would take being newly flustered over a hot guy who got a strawberry drink all over his favorite sweatshirt rather than having Calum not fucking talk to him.
“Did you know that Calum’s doing a j-term?”
Luke sighs on the other end of the line.
“I’m doing fine, Michael, thank you for asking.  How are you?”
“I’m bad.  Calum is here and no one warned me.”
“If it makes you feel better, I didn’t tell him that you would be back early, either.”
“That much was obvious.”  Michael stirs his noodles, suddenly feeling like he doesn’t have the right appetite for this.  “He looked like me showing up was the worst thing in the world.”
“Don’t exaggerate.”
“I’m not,” he says.  “You should’ve seen him.  He hates me now, and I still don’t know what I did wrong.”
“He doesn’t hate you,” Luke says.  “He misses you, too.”
“If he misses me so much, he should respond to my texts.”
Luke hums on the other end of the line.
“You’re both in the same place now.  Maybe you can corner him in person.”
“I wouldn’t have to do that if someone would just tell me what happened.”
“What happened is that you two slept together and then Calum ghosted you,” Luke sighs.  “If you want his reasoning, you have to ask him.  I will not be a messenger pigeon for you two.”
“I feel like that metaphor works best only if he’s been asking about me, too,” Michael says.  Luke doesn’t respond right away, a drawn out pause that makes Michael look up from his noodles.  He wishes they were video chatting so he could see what sort of expression Luke is wearing. “Luke, has he asked about me?”
“I’m not doing this with you right now,” Luke says.
“You fucker, he has talked about me!  Do you know why he ghosted me?”
“Stop using me as a go-between!  If you want to know why Calum hasn’t replied to your messages, ask him yourself.  You both need to get your heads out of your asses and communicate.  I can’t believe I’m the one who has to say that.”
Silence descends and Michael pulls his phone away from his ear to see that Luke hung up on him.  Michael huffs.  A second later his phone lights up with an incoming call, a very unattractive picture of Luke staring at him from his screen.  He considers letting it ring out and go to voicemail, but in the end he decides to take the high ground and answer.
“What,” he says flatly.
“Sorry I hung up on you,” Luke says.  “I don’t like being caught between you both.”
“Yeah,” he sighs.  “I don’t like it, either.”
“Will you try to talk to him?  He’ll let you if it’s in person.”
“I guess.”
Luke hums.  They stay on the phone a little longer, small talk filling the silence so Michael doesn’t have to be alone while he eats, but he knows he’s being a bad conversation partner, too distracted by what Calum may or may not have been saying about him to Luke.  When they finally hang up Michael flops back on his bed and groans, wondering if he should just move to Antarctica and change his name rather than put himself through this.
-/-
He manages to go the rest of the night without any indication that Calum is there.  They miss each other in the bathroom, but every sound in the hallway has the hair on his arms standing on end, wondering if it could be Calum or just the settling of the near-empty building.  He sleeps fitfully, tossing and turning on the sub-par dorm mattress, cuddling deeper into his blanket in an attempt to find some much-needed warmth.
The last night he spent with Calum, and the first night they’d spent together in that way, Michael fell asleep warm.  It was almost too hot, sticky under the covers and burning wherever their skin touched, but he loved it.  He’d take the heat over the cold any day, and he hasn’t felt warm since he woke up alone, bed feeling too big without the other boy in it to act as his personal space heater.
That morning the sheets had still smelled like him, but they were cold.  He’d left long before Michael woke up.  Michael’s first morning back feels like a mirror of that day.  Right before he fully wakes up he catches himself reaching for Calum and coming up empty.  When he realizes what he had been doing, he forces himself to get up rather than stay in bed and wallow only because he can’t afford to be late to work on his first day back and he doesn’t trust the roads to be cleared yet.  The college is situated on the outskirts of town, an odd placement that puts a woodsy area to one side and only a few smaller shops next to it.  Michael hadn’t managed to land a job in one of those places, but the family-owned restaurant he works at pays enough to be worth the gas it takes to get there.  He throws on a hoodie and slippers and shuffles to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
Calum is already at one of the sinks when he enters.  Michael doesn’t let his eyes stray from his face, refusing to take in the tan shoulders and torso or the drops of water glistening against him, leading down to the towel wrapped around his hips.  He has a toothbrush in his mouth, foam gathering at the corners of his lips, lips that Michael has--
No.  He can’t think about this now.
“Morning,” he says, clearing his throat to get it to work properly.
“Morning,” Calum replies around his toothbrush, consonants muffled.  He spits into the sink and Michael makes himself focus on his own morning routine, meticulously putting toothpaste on his own brush and hoping it’s not obvious that even glancing at Calum is dangerous for him right now.
Neither of them try to say anything more, and Michael wonders if the silence is hanging as heavily in the air for Calum as it is for him.  Before break, silences between them were the only types of silences Michael could stand.  He’s fidgety by nature and gets uncomfortable without background noise, but Calum always managed to temper that a bit.  Being around him settles something inside, something that right now makes Michael want to scream.
He’s about to try to break the silence when Calum picks up his bathroom caddy and leaves without so much as a glance his way.  Michael tries not to let it bother him, but he misses the weight of his gaze.  Calum used to look at him fondly, filled with enough affection that Michael could feel it in his heart.  He doesn’t understand why that would have to change now.
By the time Michael goes to start his car for work, Calum has set himself up in the lounge again, laptop open in front of him.  He’s turned on the fireplace, something that Michael thinks they're not technically supposed to do but that he’s certainly not going to call him on, and he doesn’t look up when Michael comes down the stairs.  Michael lingers by the doorway longer than he should.
They’ve spent a lot of time in this room, whether doing homework on the couch, trying to play duets on the piano in the corner, or hogging the chess set by the window, figuring out how to play and passing the time.
The chess board is set up for a fresh game.  In a naive fit of hope Michael walks over to it and moves one of the pawns forward.  Calum doesn’t glance up from his computer, but he’s still in a way that means he knows what Michael is doing.
On his way out he thinks he hears someone say drive safe, but the howling of the wind is already filling his ears and he can’t be sure.
-/-
Michael gets sent home early because of the snow.  He fights it all the way there, pulling in late because he had to move so slow, and halfway through his shift the manager calls it, deciding to close up for the day.  Right after he clocks out Michael gets a notification on his phone for a severe blizzard alert, and he steels himself to face it before leaving behind the warmth of the restaurant.  Outside the world is covered in a thick sheet of white, plows not able to keep up with the large flakes still falling from the sky, and Michael wills his car to survive the drive, windshield wipers going furiously in an attempt to keep him seeing as much as he can.  The drive takes three times longer than usual, and when he finally spots his dorm through the snow it comes with a sigh of relief.
Calum is still in the lounge when he comes inside and stomps his feet to get some feeling back into them.  With the snow came a biting wind, and even after barely being outside he feels frozen.
“I was getting worried,” Calum says, startling him.  “It looks like it’s bad out there.”
“It is,” Michael says, taking off his hat and shaking snow off of it.  He squints at Calum, in a different position and bundled in a blanket now, the big blue one that Mali got him as a grad present.  Michael once again has to push away the urge to cuddle up to him.
“It’s fucking cold,” he says instead, because it’s true and if he doesn’t make small talk he’s going to blurt something embarrassing like I’ve been thinking about you all the time or why did you leave me or I love you I love you I love you I’m sorry please can we be friends again?
“Going to be a cold night for us, then,” Calum says.  “The heating’s been shit this break.  I don’t think they keep it up as high when there’s only one student here.”
“I’ve had a few cold nights,” Michael snorts before he thinks about it.  “I mean--I’ll use some extra blankets.”
Calum nods once.  He opens his mouth like he’s about to say something, then snaps it shut again, looking down at his computer.  It feels like a dismissal, like Michael isn’t worth his time anymore, and it stings.
He should go upstairs, anyway.  He needs to find some blankets of his own.  He glances over the piano and the fireplace, eyes landing on the chess game by the window.
Someone has moved a pawn on the other side.  He glances at Calum, then moves a knight, continuing the game.  He wants to ask Calum to sit down and play a proper round with him, but one glance at Calum’s posture has him biting his tongue.  He’s closed off, blanket wrapped around him securely and face tense, and Michael can’t bring himself to bother him, not when interacting with Michael seems to be the last thing he wants to do.
Michael looks back at the chess set, three pieces out of place, and heads to his room.
-/-
The night comes simultaneously fast and slow in the way that all boring winter nights do.  Michael sits in his room scrolling through social media while the sun sets around him, and when he does eventually get up it’s only so he can make more ramen to eat.  He had lunch at the restaurant and never did get to the grocery store, but he has a few snacks to munch on and if things get really bad he can always see if Calum has anything he’s willing to share.
Calum initiated conversation earlier, so things can’t be too bad between them, right?  It’s still terribly stiff and uncomfortable, but at least he’s not getting the silent treatment anymore.  At least Calum looked at him for a little bit.
He plays video games until he’s too bored to continue, then showers and crawls into bed.  It’s still cold, just like Calum said it would be, but they haven’t lost power yet.  Michael piles on the blankets and pillows, but his sheets are frigid, not yet warmed by his body heat and making him shiver.  After a few minutes of tossing and turning he considers boiling water just to have a warm mug to hold in his hands.
Maybe it’ll be better in the lounge with the fireplace on.  No one’s here to get mad at him for falling asleep on the couch, but then he’d have to haul all of his blankets down there, something that he doesn’t think he has the energy for right now.
He wishes Calum were here.  It feels like all he’s done since getting back to campus is think about Calum, his presence in the building affecting him more than it would have if he was fully alone, but in a pragmatic sense he also really wants a warm body next to him right now.  Two people under the covers are warmer than one, and he’s already put on socks and a hoodie.  Wrapping himself in Calum would keep him warm on a physical level, and maybe it’ll settle him enough that he’ll actually be able to sleep without having weird dreams or waking up every few hours.
He hasn’t even gotten close enough to touch him since getting here.  Before break, he and Calum were always handsy with each other, personal space a myth with the two of them.  It feels wrong to have seen him and not immediately gone in for a hug.
He flops onto his stomach, trying to get comfortable without disturbing the blankets too much, but sleep isn’t coming easy.  When a knock comes on his door, he’s immediately awake and alert.  He wonders if it was a piece of a dream instead, given that there’s only one other person in the building and late night visits did not seem to be an option on the table, but after a few moments someone knocks again.
The light of the hallway is bright after the dark of his room, making him squint at the silhouette of Calum standing before him, wrapped in a blanket like he always seems to be right now.  His hair is messy, no doubt from his own fitful attempt to sleep, and Michael wants to run his fingers through it and put it back to rights.
“Hi,” Michael says.
“I called maintenance about the heat,” Calum says.  “They said they’re having a bit of issue with it and will send someone out, but with the road conditions it could be a little while.  I think they forgot that there were people here.”
“Oh,” Michael says.  “Okay.”
He stares at Calum again, cataloguing how tightly he’s wrapped up and the way he’s chewing on his lips.  Michael waits for him to say what he really came here to.
“It’s really fucking cold, Michael,” Calum blurts finally, a little desperate.
“I know,” Michael says, not sure how to tell Calum that he’d set the world on fire for him if it would help.
“It’d be warmer if we were together.  Like, scientifically speaking.  If we cuddled, it would warm us up a bit.”
“Well, you are the scientist in this duo.  You would know.”  Calum finally meets his eyes, looking up through his eyelashes a little in a way that’s completely unfair.  He’s already got Michael wrapped around his finger, heart skipping a beat at the simple occasion of having his attention again.
He has it so bad that it’s pathetic.
“Is that all?” Michael asks, trying to scrape together some of his dignity.  Calum has been ghosting him for weeks, and a conversation about the bad heating isn’t exactly what Michael wanted from a real conversation with him.  He’s too tired for small talk and much too cold to be standing here when he could be under the covers.
“You’re shivering,” Calum says.  Michael hadn’t noticed the small tremors, but now that Calum pointed them out he can’t ignore them.
“Come on, Mikey,” Calum says, stepping closer.  Michael wants to lean into him and the warmth he promises.  “I promise it’ll be warmer if we cuddle.”
“Do you want to come in?” he asks.  Calum nods, so he steps aside.
Having Calum in his room again when the last time included one of the best and most overwhelming experiences of Michael’s life is weird, to say the least.  It’s like Michael can see two versions of him: the current Calum, wrapped in a blanket and closed off in every conceivable way, and the Calum from that night, laughing at all of Michael’s jokes and spouting off facts about gravity to explain how they kept getting closer and closer.
“See, everything with mass exerts gravity on everything else, except typically it’s not enough to be noticeable compared to the gravity of the Earth.  Your gravitational field must be really strong today.”
“Are you calling me fat?”
“No, Michael, you idiot.  Stop misinterpreting what I’m saying!”
Calum surveys the room, the safety light reflecting off the snow outside just enough to give him silhouettes to work with.  Michael wonders what he’s remembering.
“How do you want to do this?” Michael asks when the silence has stretched on for too long.  Calum shrugs, so Michael climbs up onto his bed, sliding under the covers and leaving a corner flipped up in invitation.  Calum hesitates, and for a moment Michael thinks he’s going to turn tail and run, but he throws his blanket on top of the covers and joins.  The bed is too small to avoid some awkward elbows and involuntary brushes of clothing, barely big enough for one person, let alone two.  Michael holds his breath while Calum gets somewhat settled, pressed against the wall to give him as much room as possible.
“It’ll be warmer if we’re touching,” Calum whispers, words hitting Michael like a shout with the close proximity and otherwise silence of the room.  If the lights were on, Michael would probably be able to count his eyelashes, but now his face is a combination of different shadows.
“How do you…” Michael trails off.  Calum reaches out first, a cold hand wrapping around his own and pulling him closer.  They end up with Calum on his back and Michael’s head on his shoulder, legs tangled together.  Michael’s sure that Calum can hear how loud his heart is beating, but he can feel Calum’s own beating in a similar pattern so he can’t be too upset about it.  He can hear every inhale and rustle of clothing, can feel the soft cotton of Calum’s shirt against his cheek and smell the faint remains of his soap.
He’s warm.  It’s not the burning heat from their last night together, but it’s almost worse with the gradual way that Michael can feel himself unthaw in his presence, slow enough that he could forget it’s happening only to wake up as an irreparable puddle.
“Okay?” Michael asks, sending flashbacks to the last few times he had asked that question and Calum’s answers: always positive, whether a verbal yes or a nod or a fierce kiss and wandering hands.
“Yeah,” Calum says.  Michael swallows.
Calum starts tracing a design on his back with his finger, barely-felt with Michael still bundled up.  Michael wills himself to stay in the moment rather than slipping into the past or wishing for a different future.
It’s not bad like this.  He gets Calum close at least, receiving that little piece of contact from him that he’s been craving.  If this is the last time they’re like this, he wants to enjoy it if he can.
He shifts, Calum freezing under him for a moment until they both exhale and relax a little more.
Michael closes his eyes and wills himself to sleep.
“Michael?” Calum whispers after a few minutes.  For a moment he considers not answering, sure that anything Calum might think to say in the dark of the night will be something he doesn’t want to hear, but all he’s been asking for the past few weeks is his attention, and it seems vindictive to reject it now.
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.”
Michael should ask for clarification on what, exactly, Calum is apologizing about.  He’s opened the door to this conversation, and Michael should take the opportunity to finally walk through and get their wires straightened out, but he can’t bring himself to do any of that, not like this.  Not when Michael is breathing him in and stealing his warmth and there’s absolutely nothing between them to act as a buffer.
In the dark cuddled up together, Michael can keep pretending that Calum isn’t about to crush him.  As long as he doesn’t ask for clarification, it’s like Schrodinger’s heartbreak: Michael can be both loved and lonely at the same time.
“Can we talk about it tomorrow?” he asks.  “We need to talk about it, but I’m tired.  And cold.  Not tonight.”
“Okay,” Calum says.  Michael waits to see if there’s anything else, but Calum just resumes tracing his secret design on Michael’s back.
Michael closes his eyes and hopes they don’t freeze to death in the night, twin skeletons found tangled together by some unsuspecting third party when the thaw comes.  He’s not sure when he falls asleep and begins to dream, but in his mind Calum presses a kiss to his hair and Michael tries not to let such a simple action break him.
-/-
When he wakes up the bed is cold and empty again.  It shouldn’t be surprising, certainly not after last time.  There was less expectation to stay here, but everything is ugly in the cold light, shattering the fragile balance of the night before.  Michael feels a pit in his stomach, but also a hot flare of anger.
Calum is the one who came begging for his company yesterday after completely ignoring him for weeks.  Calum is the one who left without a trace after Michael showed him he loves him the best way he knows how.  Calum is the one who keeps running away from this, but Michael is the one who keeps getting hurt and that’s not fair.
It’s a little warmer in the building now, the heaters likely getting sorted while they were sleeping, but Michael still grabs a blanket.  No one answers Calum’s door and the bathroom seems to be empty.  He heads downstairs to see if he has set himself up in the lounge again and knows he’s on the right track when he starts to hear piano music drifting softly towards him the more he descends the stairs.
Calum is one of the only people who ever uses the grand piano in the lounge.  It’s slightly out of tune, just enough for Michael himself to notice but for Calum to complain about a lot.  Michael has spent a lot of later nights in the lounge listening to him play, whether he was practicing back when he used to be a music major and take lessons or just playing for fun.  Calum curses a lot when he practices, but Michael has also caught him with his eyes closed and a content smile on his face, letting the music take him away.  Watching him like that, Michael sometimes wonders why Calum switched from music to science, but the rarity of the moments makes them all the more special.
He’s playing a piece that he’s been working on for a while.  Michael tries not to disturb him, walking slowly towards the chess set where another piece has been moved in a continuation of the game.  Calum must have pulled the curtains by the windows up, deep drifts of snow piled against them and sunlight reflecting off the white to set the entire room aglow.  In this setting and with this soundtrack, the morning feels less frosty.
The last note hangs suspended in the air and Michael holds his breath until it dissipates.  Calum sighs, breaking his posture to slump down, and turns to face Michael.
“You’ve gotten better at that one,” Michael says.
“Easier to practice when I don’t have to go to the music hall and no one’s here to use the piano.”
Michael studies him, taking in his rumpled appearance.  He doesn’t look like he’s been up that long, still in the same pants he went to bed in and already folding the sleeves of his hoodie over his hands to keep them warm.
The sweatshirt he’s wearing is one of Michael’s.  His heart flip-flops.
“Did you want to talk now?” Calum asks.
“Yeah,” Michael sighs.  Calum nods once.  He scoots over on the piano bench, making room, and Michael gingerly sits next to him.  After a moment’s hesitation, he offers part of his blanket, nearly sighing in relief when Calum accepts it.
“I’m sorry for how I left, and for not replying to any of your messages,” Calum begins.  “That was a jerk move.”
“It was,” Michael says.  “You’re my best friend, Calum.  If I had known that’s how you’d react, I wouldn’t have--”  He stops, because he doesn’t want to say he regrets sleeping with Calum unless he has to.  It would be a lie.  He’d rather have Calum as a friend than nothing, but the will-we-won’t-we would’ve killed him eventually, and the night itself was amazing right up until Calum left.
“I don’t want to jeopardize that,” he says instead.  “You mean a lot to me.”
Calum presses his lips together.
“Why did you leave?” Michael asks.  “I thought we were on the same page.  I mean… you wanted it, right?  You said you did.  I thought you did.  I didn’t--”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Calum interrupts.  “I did want it.  I really wanted it.  Too much, probably.”
“What does that mean?”
Calum sighs, looking down at his lap and fidgeting with his sleeves again.  Michael wants to know why he’s so nervous.  He wants to grab his hands and hold him steady the way that Calum does for him when he’s freaking out, but that wouldn’t be welcome right now.
“Michael, I can’t do something casual with you.  You’ve said before that you’re not looking for anything serious, but I can’t be friends with benefits, not with you.  Not when I’m in love with you.  It’d tear me apart.”
“What made you think I wanted something casual?” Michael asks.  “Apparently you couldn’t tell, but that night was kind of a big deal for me.  I’m not exactly known for sleeping around.”
“Michael--”
“I’ve been crushing on you since we met, okay?” Michael says, turning to face him more fully.  “I wasn’t looking for something serious with anyone else because I’ve been hung up on you.  That night was one of the best nights of my life, and then you weren’t there in the morning.  I thought I had fucked up.  I thought I had ruined one of the most important relationships in my life.”
“You didn’t,” Calum says, grabbing his hand.  “I should have talked to you instead of running away.  That’s on me.”
“Yeah it is,” Michael sulks.  “Why didn’t you?  Why’d you just assume what I wanted instead of bothering to ask me?  That hurt, Cal.”
“I know.”  Calum grimaces, then shrugs.  “I don’t know.  I thought I knew what you wanted.  Or didn’t want, I guess.  I didn’t consider that you could like me until you kissed me, and you’ve never shown interest in an actual relationship.  I wasn’t ready for you to reject me.”
“But I wasn’t going to,” Michael says.  “You’re you.  You’re the exception.”
“I didn’t know that, though.  We didn’t exactly sit down for a conversation.  Our mouths were otherwise occupied that night, if I remember correctly.”  Michael opens his mouth to protest, then snaps it shut.
He doesn’t remember exactly what he said in the heat of it, but he remembers biting back I love you, knowing it was too early to be throwing that phrase around, no matter how true it was.  Maybe he ended up hiding the sentiment a bit more than he anticipated.
“You still should’ve talked to me,” he says.
“I know,” Calum replies, squeezing his hand.  “I’m sorry.  I’ll do better with that.”
Michael squeezes his hand back.
“So,” he says, “you like me?”
“Yeah,” Calum says.  “A lot.”
“You got that I like you, too, right?  I said that.  I’ve had it bad for you since we met.”  Calum frowns.
“You took a while to warm up to me.  I thought you were still holding a grudge because I spilled your smoothie.”
“No, you had me tongue-tied,” Michael says.  “I had to figure out how to function around you.  You’re really hot and it made me flustered.”
“Shut up,” Calum says.  He’s blushing, crimson staining his cheeks enough for Michael to see, sending a strong thrill of satisfaction through him.
“I’m serious,” he needles.  “You’re ridiculously attractive, dude.  You’re not going to hear the end of it from me now.  I’ve said it once and now there’s nothing to stop me from saying it five times a day.”
Calum laughs and tucks his face into Michael’s shoulder.  Michael feels his own happiness bubble up inside him, threatening to burst.  He brings Calum’s hand up to his lips and kisses the back of it in an attempt to release some of the pressure.
“Are we boyfriends now?” Calum asks.
“Fuck yeah,” Michael says.  “Unless you don’t want to be, but that’d be lame.”
“I want to be,” Calum says quickly.
“Good,” Michael says.  “Then we are.”
“Good.”
They sit for a while, and this silence feels comfortable again, like their old ones.  Michal could stay suspended in this moment like the final note of Calum’s piano song and feel content with it rather than uncomfortable.  That more than anything lets him know they’ll be okay.
“I’m cold,” Calum says eventually.
“We should move by the fire.”
“We should eat breakfast,” Calum counters.  Michael hums and gives Calum’s neck an exaggerated sniff, making him squirm and giggle again.
“You should shower,” he says.
“Fuck you.  That’s rude.”
“I could join you?” Michael offers.
“These showers are not big enough for two people,” Calum says.  “Nice try, though.”
He stands and kisses Michael on the forehead, tucking the blanket back around him.
“Can I kiss you properly?” Michael asks.  Calum nods and leans down again, the gentle press of his lips both familiar and thrilling, sweeter in the morning light.
“Breakfast, then I’m going to shower alone, then I think we have a chess game to finish.”
“Or we could make out all day while we have the lounge to ourselves.”  Calum considers him, tilting his head and giving a wry smile.
“We can do that if you win the chess match.”
“Deal,” Michael says.  It’s an easy bargain, because Michael is better at chess than Calum is, and with that prize on the line nothing’s going to distract him.
“Breakfast,” Calum repeats, tugging on his hands until he’s standing, too.  Michael leans forward and kisses him again, just because he can now.  Calum beams and leads him to the stairs, Michael tripping over his blanket and Calum’s laugh filling the room.
It could just be the heating kicking in more, but Michael isn’t sure he needs the blanket right now, not when Calum is here warming him from the inside out.
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everydayanth · 4 years
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Academic Elitism: an institutional issue
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Sorry for being so rant-y lately, but the elitism of university has been a problem for me from the exact moment I accepted my scholarship with a signature and a handshake in high school. (The scholarship was later revoked due to state up-fuckery, but that’s another story, and I was already in too deep by the time they told me).
My parent’s house was only an hour north, my younger sister had already claimed my room, but I was excited. I was in the furthest dorm building, because that’s where the scholarship kids went, it was like a poor kid diversity hall, every few doors was someone from a completely different background, but we were all poor except our Swedish RA, and there was an odd pride in that. We all had various scholarships: robotics, dance team, nerds like me, etc. (not the football or hockey athletes though, they had their own dorm next to the library for... reasons, lol).
But being the last hall, it wasn’t actually full, most of us had entire rooms to ourselves, often whole suites; our hall was co-ed, but rooms were only occupied at every-other, staggered down the corridor. Only the front two halls were used, the back two closed off for construction or codes or something. We had to hike up the hill for dining halls, which was fine until snowdays that shut the whole campus down (and I mean west Michigan ones, with 4+ feet of powder and ice underneath). I had an old computer my dad got me for graduation and I didn’t know it was old until my peers started calling it a dinosaur. I had to use the library computers to write and print papers, and most places I went, I ran into the other scholarship kids. We didn’t talk much, just a head bob here and there, awareness at our similarities and an annoyed spite at being thrown together this way. It was lonely for everyone.
I had a purple flip phone I’d gotten only that calendar year (2009) and was still learning to text with (abbreviations? instant messaging? what?). My roommate had come down from Alaska to live near her dad, we’d talked in the summer, but I never saw her. I moved my things in and her stuff was on her side, I texted her about going to turn in paperwork and when I came back, there was a note on my bed and all her things were gone, she couldn’t do it, had never been away from home for even a night. She left a few mismatched socks and a bag of junk pens that I resented for years. 
Social media was mostly a way to talk to people across campus and exchange homework and party times/locations. We posted over-edited photos of our food and still jogged with our mp3 players and ipods. But within two years, I had to trade in my computer three times and upgrade to a smartphone to keep up with the expectations of communication. Professors would cancel classes by emails an hour out, and if I was on campus, I simply didn’t get the message, running between classes with 19 credit hours and three jobs. Work would call in or cancel my appointments (tutoring) and I needed to be able to communicate at the rate of my peers, so though it wasn’t something we could easily afford, my parents let me get the smartphone and my dad helped me find computers that could keep up with writing papers and researching without having to go to the lab, which saved so much time. 
There was little understanding for my suffering. I didn’t have a car, I had to call my parents and organize a time to get home or take the train which was more expensive than waiting around on an empty campus. They were often things that even the wealthiest students had to deal with, but there were so much more of them for us, more stress, more problems, more solutions, more consequences, and in some ways, more determination.
I spent plenty of breaks holed up in my room, but when the swine flu/H1N1 outbreak happened, guess where they quarantined students?
In our hall. 
Not the back one that was closed. In the room attached to my suite. 
After half a semester alone, suddenly strangers shared my bathroom. I never saw them, I would just hear the formidable click of the bathroom lock followed by the shower. A week later I got a blue half-sheet note in my mailbox about quarantines. The other kids were as pissed off, as we watched kids escorted in with blue masks and were told to just get cleaning wipes from the front desk –they ran out in a week. 
We were the recyclable students, brought in to trade scholarships for university grade averages. Many of my friends were struggling with scholarship qualifications and gpas (which only encouraged my continual obsessive perfectionism and involvement). 
We were expendable. 
I didn’t understand the elitism then, or I did, but I’d twisted it in my head from years tossed between private and public schools. I was an invader, I wasn’t supposed to be there, but I wanted to be. I understood that I didn’t deserve it, that I had to work harder to stay. I completed Master’s coursework for my Bachelor’s degree, finishing two BA programs (anthropology and English: creative writing) and 2 minor programs in philosophy and world lit, lead several campus groups and volunteered with honor’s societies. I spent hours on campus every day, running home just to go to one job or the other. I slept about four hours a night and I still romanticize it because I loved it. And I was good at it. It was a closed system, easy to infiltrate, easy to watch and observe and follow, to feel protected from the world, but there were always ways that I came up short. 
I didn’t have leggings or Northface fleeces or Ugg boots or name brand anything (except a pair of converse I got in 8th grade from my Babcia). I had old high school sweats and soccer shirts, hand-me-down clothes from sisters and cousins that mix-matched a style I thought was unique but I now understand screamed I don’t really belong here. Example: I went to propose an independent study to a professor I really admired and I panicked about what to wear. I still cringe at the memory, gahhhhhh, but I pulled on what I thought was a decent dress because it had no rips or stains or tears and though I’d picked it up from a clearance rack, it was the newest thing and therefore the best. But in retrospect, it was definitely a “party” dress, I grabbed a sweater, hoop earrings that had always been beautiful in my neighborhood, and heels I never wore otherwise, and presented my idea. This old professor was just like “um...did you dress up for me?” Clearly spooked by red flags and I realized my mistake. Saved by quick thinking I clarified “no, I have a presentation later,” and being a familiar face in the social sciences department, I let him assume I was dressed up as something. I just went in my sweats and t-shirts after that, got a haircut that tamed the wavy frizz and learned the importance of muted tones, cardigans, and flats.
I made a lot of interesting friends in the process, people who also stuck out from the American Academic culture: exchange students, older (non-traditional) students, rebels, and other poor kids. But that also meant that we all evolved during our time there, so friendship was quick and fleeting as we adapted or dropped out or remained oblivious, lost in our studies and dreams of changing the world or our lives. 
I had no idea how to approach the dining halls because I could only afford the bronze plan that was included with my room+board scholarship. I could enter the hall ten times per week, with four included passes to the after-hours carry-out (this was an upgrade from the free high school lunch I was coming from). I met other kids on this plan and their dorm rooms had fridges and microwaves and shelves of ramen and mac’n’cheese. Mine was sparse, my fridge had jugs of water from the filtered tap in the common room, and though it had a shared kitchenette, it always smelled bad or was being used and the nearest grocery store was Meijers which was a 15-20 minute drive from campus. I used so much energy dividing up my meals and figuring out how to sneak food from the hall for later or just learn to not eat, which is another story involving malnutrition, broken bones, and the American Healthcare System.
We like to summarize the college experience with fond struggles. I went back to my old high school to watch my younger sisters’ marching band competition that first year (it’s MI, and they were good). My old art teacher (not much older than we were but she felt so much older at the time, also her maiden name was Erickson and so was her fiance’s so she didn’t “change” her name and that blows my mind to this day), anyway, she stopped me to ask how school was going, and I was not prepared to be recognized in anyway and stammered out something like “oh, yeah, stressful. Fun, cool, yeah,” like the eloquent well-educated student I was. And she said, “oh, I loved it, don’t you love it? Everything’s so charming, and being poor? Oh man, it’s hard for a while, but it’s so good to go through.” 
I was dumbfounded at her reference to poverty as a thing to go through when you’re a student. I again had to remember that I was infiltrating places where people weren’t just marginally more well-off than I was, but far beyond, in a place where they couldn’t comprehend an alternative, couldn’t conceive of surviving poverty, of not having a reliable place to fall if you mess up, parents who couldn’t support you if things went wrong, who couldn’t save you from having to drop out if scholarships were canceled because the money just wasn’t there.
Talking with my parents never worked, and I recently found this video by The Financial Diet about Boomer shame in being poor, where many Millennials were united by it and it was #relatable. But all this is to say that there are so many layers and ways we develop in higher education that are often overlooked by the romantic nostalgia of the elite expectation. What we demand from education vs. what it offers us in return is rarely equal for students coming from poverty, and it starts with that first sacrifice of looking at money and deciding it has to be worth it to do something bigger, and that education is a necessary piece of that goal.
Now I live near Brown University, I’ve been to Harvard when we lived in Boston and recently took a trip to Yale with bold expectations. I am friends with several people who work at these places and I hear the same things: so many students are in a place where their obsessions are considered more important than the larger world, an argument that Shakespeare is a woman is more important to prove than the greater issues of sexism in society as a whole, while others are trained to look at data and the world as a pocketable fact-book, going to conferences and  week-long summits and then off to D.C. to make important decisions about places they’ve never been to, for people they’ve never met, about problems they’ve never experienced.  
It’s not new. It’s not romantic. It’s not nostalgic. It’s just sick. 
I was horrified at New Haven. I have read so many social science reports and papers and experiments and academic bullshit that has come from professors at Yale with a big badge of ivy-league validation. So much of this research was focused on homelessness and culture clash and socio-economics in America, as that was my “dissertation” that got me discounted master’s classes for my BA in Anthropology. Anyway, my point was that I thought this noble, proud university that put out so much research was going to be situated in something of a utopia, where their research is put into practice. Obviously, I was wrong, but I didn’t expect how wrong. (I had also started reading Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House, so... there’s another thing).
My observations were validated by employees of ivy-league schools, who have watched over the past 2 decades as they grow more and more reclusive, hiding away from the public except through a few, probably well-intentioned, outstretched hands that do little to contribute to the world outside the university itself. These ivory towers are built by poaching: environments, observations, resources, research, and yeah, even students.
I love academia. I will sit in a library for hours just pulling down tomes (and putting them back in their proper locations like a dork) and drawing connections just for fun. But right now, I’m a bit bitter and spiteful and angry. 
When something like Coronavirus sneaks up on us, we have a tendency to throw the most expendable people under the bus as quickly as we can, and all I can think about is my shadow of a suite-mate sneezing and coughing with swine flu for two weeks, at how I refused to use my own bathroom and listened to my hall-mates’ advice about showering at the rec center a mile away as we all collectively locked our bathroom doors and were left there by the university to get sick without insurance to help with any foreseeable costs.
It’s not the same now, they’ve rebuilt the entire section of the campus, it’s odd to see it, I wonder where they put the expendable kids. Or maybe they don’t accept them anymore. I’ve worked in college admissions since then, and it is a scary industry of politics and preference and hidden quotas and image-agendas. Not all schools are industry monsters, but when you’re expendable, they sure do feel like it, whether you graduate summa cum laude with two degrees, six awards, and five tasseled ropes around your neck or not. 
I wish I had a positive message. I wish I was in a place to help people who feel expendable or like they can’t keep up with communications because of technology or language or network or environment. But I don’t have much right now. For all its posturing and linear progression, academia needs to create profit. All I can do is yell about this existing.
If you are feeling expandable in university, I can tell you you’re not alone. I can let you rant about all the small ways your peers don’t get it, whether its an accent they shit on or ceremonies you don’t have the right clothes for or textbooks you share with a friend to cut costs but then they hoard them. I can relate to you about guilt and that sneaking panic that fills you with anxiety at night as you question yourself and wonder if it’s worth it at all, if it’s necessary, if it’s okay to be expendable to follow something that feels bigger. I can validate your doubt and tell you that you’re not actually expendable, you’re a bridge. 
I’m sorry it still works like this. I wish we figured out how to change it by now, I wish I had secret shortcuts to tell you about, that there was more accountability or hope, but I’m not seeing it lately. I hope you do. <3
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lastoneout · 4 years
Text
Comfort Food
Fandom: Persona 5
Rating: PG
Summary: 
Akechi has a food blog, Futaba thinks that's hilarious, Akira is a good friend, and Sojiro needs a drink.
Notes:
This was supposed to just be me projecting my issues on to Akechi because he's my emotional support bastard boi but somehow it turned into nearly 2500 words of tooth-rotting slice of life fluff. Whoops.
A03
Goro learned the hard way that hiding things from Futaba was impossible.
To be fair it wasn’t like he was trying to hide his food blog, he mentioned it in passing a few times and he knew that most of his followers were his fans, but he never really expected any of the Thieves to actually read it, let alone read it out loud, in front of him...while laughing at it.
“What are you, a high school girl?” Futaba said with a snicker after she finished reading his latest post aloud, “I’ve seen little girl’s diaries with more class.”
“Oh my god.” Akira choked out from beside Futaba behind Leblanc’s bar, desperately trying to muffle his laughs as Goro floundered.
He knew he shouldn’t care. The Thieves always poked fun at each other. ‘It’s what friends do,’ Akira had said. If anything he figured he should be grateful that Futaba considered him enough of a friend to playfully mock his hobby. But Goro was never good at regulating his inner emotions, and so as much as he tried to not let it get to him, it did.
Truthfully, he never meant to get into food. For the longest time, he considered it a pointless expense. In the various foster homes that he was tossed between food was almost a luxury. And to someone who often wondered where his next meal would come from it was hard to justify the cost of a fancy dinner when the same money could get him a month's worth of instant ramen and convenience store bento lunches.
But when he got into high school and wormed his way into the police force he suddenly was financially stable enough to justify luxury spending. Nijima-san was kind enough to pull some strings to get the agency to act as a guarantor so he could move out of the foster home and into a small apartment, and after he paid his bills and rent he was left staring at the remaining sum in his bank app, trying to wrap his head around how that money was his, and he could do whatever he wanted with it.
He tried to keep a level head and decided to go to a nearby department store to pick up things to furnish his new home, but on the way there he passed a diner and was stopped dead by the incredible smells drifting out the door. His stomach growled, and he found himself trying to remember the last time he had eaten something that hadn’t come wrapped in plastic and styrofoam.
His stomach growled again, and before he had time to think about it, knowing that if he did he would decide against it, he hurried into the restaurant. He was seated quickly, and despite feeling weirdly giddy and anxious he smiled at the kind waitress who took his order. The simple latte and plate of pancakes were probably the most delicious things he had ever tasted, and he couldn’t help how his eyes watered after the first bite, the food filling some empty part of himself he hadn’t even known existed.
Looking back on that day he’s grateful that he wasn’t famous yet, as no one cared to pay attention to the skinny teenager in the booth by the wall trying not to get tears in his dinner.
After that, he ate out at least once a week. He spent little on necessities, picking up most of the things he needed at the ¥100 store and buying used clothes, saving every extra bit that didn’t go into bills for food. Eventually, he started looking up new places to eat, and after finding a few food blogs he decided on a whim to start his own. It didn’t take off until after his big break, but he didn’t mind. The simple pictures and reviews he posted weren’t really for anyone else, and on days when he felt empty and angry, he would scroll back through them and feel a little bit better. Almost happy at the little niche he had carved out for himself.
Shortly after that Akechi’s entire life quickly became a delicate web of lies. He was a double, even triple agent, under so many layers of falsehoods even he struggled to keep it straight sometimes. If anyone ever bothered to break him down to his bare parts there really wasn’t much he actually did for himself. Every single facet of his life and personality had been carefully crafted to ensure he would be able to get the revenge he so desperately craved. He hardly ever did anything just for himself. Every interest he shared in interviews or mentioned around his ‘friends’ was for show, not something he honestly cared all that much about. It was annoying sometimes, having to pretend to care for things he felt apathetic towards, but it was necessary.
But food? Food stayed safe. It helped his Detective Prince facade once he got popular, after all the only thing teenage girls seemed to like more than cute boys was trendy food. And cute boys who love trendy food? That’s a check that writes itself. It made him look soft, approachable, and normal. So he indulged. Actually enjoying sharing the one part of himself that wasn’t fake.
Maybe that’s why Futaba’s mockery stung so much. He wouldn’t care if people made fun of his fake interests, but when it was the real him? It hurt.
He tried to laugh it off, blushing and begging her to stop. He insisted it’s just for his fans, he’s not really that immature or girly, it’s just for show! But each plea seemed to only make the situation worse, so he gave up and silently begged for her to get bored soon, his face an unnatural shade of red.
Akira, ever perceptive, seemed to notice something change in his demeanor, and without a second thought, the teen reached forward and plucked Futaba's phone right out of her hands.
"Hey!" She shouted, grabbing for it.
"Alright, alright, that's enough." He chided, holding the phone just out of Futaba's reach, "We all have our hobbies. But since we're in a sharing mood how about I tell Akechi-kun all about your Featherman shipping blog?"
A chill came over the room. "You wouldn't dare."
"Oh, I would." He turned to Goro with a devilish smirk, "See she loves the red and blue rangers together-"
"Akira I'll end you!" Futaba yelled, diving forward and attempting to tackle him. Akira, however, was taller, and easily deflected her blows.
"She was telling me about this doujinshi she read the other day-"
"I'll spread rumors about you on websites you've never even heard of!"
"It was so romantic-"
"I'll leak your bank info on the dark web!”
"It's by her favorite author too, she buys everything they release-"
"I'll destroy you with malware, you won't be able to BREATHE near a circuit board without getting a virus!"
"Tell me, Akechi-kun, do you know what smut is?"
"AKIRA!!!" Futaba shrieked, and it was quickly followed by the sound of clanging pots and Sojiro swearing loudly from the kitchen.
“Would you two cut it out?” He shouted, poking his head around the corner.
“Sorry Boss, just giving Futaba a lesson on being a good friend,” Akira replied with an apologetic smile.
“Well next time can you do it outside? You’re lucky I don’t have any customers in here right now.”
“You never have any customers...” Futaba mumbled.
“I heard that. And Futaba, I thought I asked you to tie up your hair when you’re behind the counter.”
“On it...” She grumbled, pulling her hair back into a lazy bun with the scrunchie on her wrist.
“We’ll keep the noise and health code violations to a minimum, Boss,” Akira said, shooting a lazy salute Sojiro’s way. The older man eyed them for another second before sighing and mumbling something about herding cats as he turned back to the curry.
With the situation defused, Akira and Futaba stared at each other, having a silent yet very animated conversation, but eventually, Akira seemed to win and Futaba sighed heavily, "Okay, okay,” She turned to Goro and gave him a bow, “I'm sorry for making fun of your blog Akechi-kun."
Goro hardly knew what to make of the display, let alone her apology, but it made him feel a bit better, so he relaxed and gave her a genuine smile, “It’s alright, Futaba-chan, I forgive you.”
“Can I have my phone back now, please?”
“You may,” Akira replied amicably, handing the hostage technology back to Futaba.
She smiled triumphantly before another dark look crossed her face. She eyed Goro, suspiciously, before blushing and tapping her fingers together “A-and Akechi-kun...you won’t tell anyone else about the...shipping thing, right?”
“To be honest...I’m not sure I fully understand what you were talking about,” He replied, “But your secret is safe with me.”
“I’m so proud of both of you,” Akira said with a fake teary-eyed sniff, “My two little introverts, making friends.”
Goro and Futaba broke out in protests, but a quick glare from Sojiro shut them both up.
“Wow, you’ve really got that ‘disappointed dad’ look down, Sojiro.” Akira quipped.
“Don’t you have anything better to do than raise hell in my cafe?”
“As much as it breaks my heart, yes.” Akira said, untying his apron and heading around the counter, “I’ve got a date with a pile of dirty dishes in Shinjuku.”
“You’re not taking Morgana?” Futaba asked as he grabbed his bag and jacket.
“Nah, he hates The Crossroads, says the alcohol smell makes his nose itch. When he wakes up from his nap just let him know where I went.”
“Roger that.”
“Thanks,” He said, “See you guys later! Oh, and try not to get into too much trouble while I’m away.”
Futaba rolled her eyes dramatically, and Goro, still feeling a bit lost, simply shrugged.
“Akira, text me when you get there! You know I don’t like you going to that part of town so late.” Sojiro called, and Goro had to suppress a smirk. Akira had faced down far worse threats than the red light district at night. But it must be nice, he figured, to have someone worry about you.
“Got it!” Akira replied, the bell jingling as the door closed behind him.
Futaba seemed to deflate in his absence, looking anxious. She had explained once that Akira was something called a ‘key item’ that gave her ‘a plus ten confidence boost’, and he assumed that just meant she was shy when he wasn’t around. Goro turned back to his discarded coffee, grimacing a bit when a sip revealed it to be lukewarm.
“Uh, I can make you another cup...it’s my fault that one went cold anyway.” She said, clearly trying to make things up to him, “Sojiro’s been teaching me. It probably won’t be as good as his though. I’m still totally stuck on tutorial mode.”
“Oh, um, that would be lovely.” He replied, “Thank you.”
She started the process, carefully measuring grounds as the kettle heated, “You know, you should write about Leblanc on your blog. You like the food here, right?”
“I-”
“Absolutely not.” Sojiro interrupted, joining Futaba behind the bar to supervise the brewing.
“But Sojirooo! Akechi-kun is popular, you might actually get some business for once!”
“I don’t want that kind of business. Sorry Akechi-kun, but hundreds of fangirls in here every day ordering fancy drinks and asking when their beloved Detective Prince is coming back? I can feel my blood pressure skyrocketing just thinking about it.” He replied with a chuckle, “A man my age can only handle so many loud teenagers at once, and Akira’s band of hooligans already pushes the limit.”
“Don’t worry, Saku...uh, sorry, Boss. I understand.” Goro clarified, “There have actually been several cases of popular food writers unwittingly causing small restaurants to close due to their articles increasing interest to an unmanageable level. I wouldn’t dream of doing that to Leblanc.”
“Glad we’re on the same page then.”
Futaba finished making the coffee, grinning when Sojiro complimented her technique. She eagerly pushed a fresh cup to him, practically vibrating while she watched him take a sip. It was true that it wasn’t as amazing as her father’s, but it was still good and had its own charm.
“You did well.” He said, and he couldn’t help chuckle when she broke out in a wide smile, a warm feeling blossoming in his chest at the sight.
“Yes! I leveled up! Plus five coffee making exp!”
“We’ll make a barista of you yet.” Sojiro said fondly, “Now, it’s getting late. Akechi-kun, do you have dinner plans? I’ve got enough curry back here to feed an army, you’re welcome to stay.”
“I wouldn’t want to impose...”
“Just say yes.” Futaba whispered to him with a smirk, “Sojiro put all of his stat points into feeding wayward teens.”
“Then...yes, I’d be honored.” Akechi said, too confused to be offended by being called ‘wayward’.
“The honor is ours,” Futaba replied solemnly, giving an overly formal bow before breaking out laughing.
Sojiro wasted no time serving up three plates of curry, chatting idly with Futaba as she went to flip the open sign to closed. The two of them managed to herd Goro into a booth just as Morgana trotted downstairs, asking about Akira and demanding food. Futaba poked the poor not-cat a few times while Sojiro retrieved Morgana’s food bowl and popped open a fresh can of cat food.
“Sorry,” Sojiro said, pulling up a chair and making room on the table for Morgana’s dish, “He throws a tantrum if he doesn’t get to eat with us.”
“I do not!” Morgana shouted indignantly, “I’m just too civilized to eat on the floor.”
“Chatty cat,” Sojiro replied, giving Morgana a few chin scritches.
“Morgana is family,” Futaba said sagely, “And a family that eats together, stays together.”
‘...Family, huh...’ Goro thought to himself.
“What’s up Akechi-kun?” Futaba asked, and he blushed lightly as he realized he was staring off into space.
“Oh, I’m sorry, it’s nothing,” He deflected, “The food looks delicious, Boss. Thank you.”
“Thank you for the food!” Futaba yelled before digging into her plate, and the rest of them quickly followed suit.
As the four of them shared the meal, Goro felt the warm feeling from before grow and spread through his chest. Futaba was using her fork to flick small bits of meat at Morgana despite Sojiro’s half-hearted complaints, cheering as Morgana somehow managed to catch every single one. The smell of curry and coffee and cat food mingled in the air with laughter and shouts, giving the whole room a feeling not unlike a comforting hug.
Goro allowed himself a small smile, sure that the only reason he felt so happy was the food.
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a-n-conrad · 4 years
Text
Fighting and Flirting (Bakugo x Reader)
Chapter 18: Back to School
[Summary: It’s time for you to head back to class after your internships. The only catch is that you forgot to study for finals, and now you only have a week]
Masterlist
The internships ended a lot faster than you thought. After the first couple of days of your time with Bakugo and Best Jeanist, things actually started to go a lot better. Bakugo still wasn’t listening to Best Jeanist, really, but he was behaving, and the two of you were getting along pretty well. He hadn’t made any more children cry in the least.
Shoto had already updated you on what happened on his internships. Obviously you were worried for all of them, especially Iida, but from what you heard, they’d all be alright, and they avoided any major punishment. It just bothered you that Endeavor was getting the credit for beating Stain. And you hoped that Iida was doing a little better emotionally, after learning that he had friends that were willing to help him like that. 
As you walked into the school building with Shoto, lecturing about not doing anything stupid like that again, as any good friend would it finally hit you. It’s almost the end of the term. Which meant finals. And you had totally forgotten to study during the week.
“Alright, what’s the face all of a sudden,” Shoto asked, raising an eyebrow at you.
“I just remembered that I need to study for finals. How long do I have again?”
“A week.”
“Shit,” That wasn’t enough for you to study, especially if you’re going to be on your own,” Study with me?”
“I would, but there’s no way my dad’s letting you over after that thing with Stain.”
“See, this is why you’re not allowed to do stupid stuff without me,” You ranted, pouting a little, “Now I have to study alone.”
“Did you really forget about studying for finals?” You hear a very familiar voice behind you.
When you turn around, you’re honestly surprised to find Bakugo’s hair still in the style that Best Jeanist had insisted it stay in.
“Oh, um,” You start, a little flustered.
“Bakugo, bro, what’s up with your hair?” Kirishima interrupts, obviously confused at the lack of spikes in Bakugo’s hair.
“Shut up, it’s stuck like this and now I can’t get it back to normal,” Bakugo shouted, getting so worked up, that it fluffed his hair up back to normal. You couldn’t help but laugh a little, “Shut up!”
“Hey, (Y/N), didn’t you intern at the same place,” Kirishima asks, as you recover from the laughter, and you nod in response, “Did they make you change your hair at all?”
“Not really, Best Jeanist just lectured me about what to look for in high-quality fabrics.”
“So it was just Bakugo?”
“Shut up, shitty hair,” Bakugo snaps.
The two continue to bicker for a little before Kaminari calls Kirishima over. Shoto had gone to sit down already, which meant that you were left with Bakugo.
“You know, I’ll study with you,” He says out of nowhere.
“Wait, really?” 
“Yeah, dumbass.”
“Seriously? Thank you, Bakugo,” You jump in excitement a little, stopping yourself from hugging him out of excitement. Instead, you pull a pin and paper out of your bag and write down your number, “Here, text me when and where we can study.”
“Uh, sure,” He takes the paper, folding it neatly before putting it in his pocket. You could’ve sworn he blushed a little. 
- - - - -
You had gotten home after that school day, exhausted. Your parents had left for a month-long trip about three days into your internship. You were starting to wonder if they thought that you being in high school meant that they didn’t have to come home anymore. But, to be honest, you didn’t mind it all that much. It was easier for you to study when they were gone, and they were gone so much that you really didn’t know how to handle them being around anymore. The only problem was that instead of going grocery shopping for you before they left, they just left you some money. And you really didn’t have the time or energy to walk to the store and buy yourself food.
Just as you sat down at the kitchen table, hoping to finally get a break, your phone buzzed all of a sudden.
?: Hey (Y/N), it’s Bakugo
Baku: Are you still up to study?
(Y/N): Oh, yeah!
(Y/N): When and where?
Baku: Tonight? And can we study at your house?
(Y/N): For sure! You still remember where that is?
Baku: Yep.
Baku: See you in an hour?
(Y/N): See you!
So much for your break, but you honestly couldn’t complain. At least you’d get some time with Bakugo. Alone. Alone with Bakugo. Oh shit.
Ok, ok, pull yourself together. Maybe you could make a good impression? Should you clean? Or maybe you should shower and change. Did you have time for both? Which one should you do first? Would he even care or notice?
Either way, an hour gave you just enough time to take a quick shower, change out of your school uniform, do your hair, and tidy up your kitchen a little. It wasn’t the cleanest or the nicest looking room, but hopefully, it would be good enough.
Just as you put a few bowls that were sitting on the counter away, you hear a knock on your door. It was quieter than you’d expect from Bakugo. You made your way into the door, opening it to find Bakugo somehow looking even better than usual.
He was wearing a black t-shirt, black jeans, and had a light denim jacket thrown over the entire thing. Though honestly, the outfit didn’t look all that special, he had the same calm look on his face that he had when you were walking home together. He really did look good.
“Hey, thanks for coming over,” You say, moving to the side a little to let him in. 
“Yeah, no problem. I need to study, too, anyway.”
You shut the door behind him, before leading him into the kitchen and sitting at the table. You already had all of your books out, not really sure exactly what to study first. You were getting ready to study, waiting for Bakugo to pull his books and notes out of his bag, your stomach suddenly growled loudly.
Bakugo froze, “Have you eaten dinner yet?”
“Huh,” Honestly, you had forgotten, “No, I guess, I haven’t.”
“Jesus, dumbass,” He stood up all of a sudden, “What do you have around here to make?”
“Honestly,” You stood up, too, making your way to the cabinet, “I have no idea.”
You hoped you had something. You really didn’t want to hear Bakugo’s comments if you pulled that door open to find nothing in there, but as you pulled it open that’s exactly what you found. Basically, all there was in there, was a handful of canned vegetables, a few packages of instant ramen, and a box of granola bars.
“Damn,” is all Bakugo says at first, and you tense, waiting for the judging that always came in middle school when you’d invite someone over. But instead of that, he just asks, “Where’s the grocery store around here?”
“What?” You honestly weren’t expecting that. Even when you looked at him, it didn’t seem like he had any intention of mocking you.
“Where’s the grocery store? Let’s go get something. You can’t stay focused on studying if you don’t eat.”
“Oh, um,” You sort of reset your brain, trying to hide how worried you were, “Here, I’ll show you, just let me lead the way.”
- - - - -
Bakugo had insisted on paying. If it wasn’t Bakugo, you’d think it was out of pity, but Bakugo didn’t pity people. So you had to wonder why he insisted. Maybe it was because he had picked out all of the ingredients and refused to tell you what he was making. He just asked if there was anything you specifically didn’t like.
You wondered what exactly he was planning on making. You honestly didn’t know that Bakugo could cook, but as you watched him confidently chop the vegetables, you knew that he knew what he was doing.
It took him about an hour to finish what he was making, and the whole time he was quizzing you on different topics that you had learned during class. By the time he was done, the entire house smelled like roasted garlic and spices for the first time in years, and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t starving.
“Here,” He set a bowl in front of you. He had made soup. It looked good, but the steam coming off of it signaled that you probably shouldn’t down it as quickly as you wanted to.
“Thank you, Bakugo, you really didn’t have to make me dinner,” You said, taking your first spoonful, and holding it up to your lips to blow on.
“And deal with you not being able to focus the entire time we’re studying? Not a chance.”
You take your first spoonful, and you aren’t sure if it’s just because you’re hungry or what, but it’s honestly the best food you’d had in a while, “God, Bakugo, why didn’t you tell me you were so good at cooking!”
“It’s not that great,” Bakugo said, rolling his eyes as he ate his own bowl of soup in front of him, “This isn’t really a big deal. It’s one of the more simple recipes I have. There are leftovers, though, so you have something to eat for later, too.”
“Bakugo, you’re literally my favorite person ever,” You were almost crying. Not only is he an amazing cook, but he’s also leaving you leftovers for later in the week.
“Don’t say stupid stuff like that, your boyfriend’s going to get jealous.”
“Boyfriend?”
“Yeah, you know, Icyhot.”
You really couldn’t hold back a laugh. You almost bumped the table laughing so hard, and as you finally calmed down, you could tell Bakugo was pretty confused, “Shoto and I aren’t dating, Bakugo. I’ve known him since I was five. He’s basically my brother at this point.”
“Wait, shit, really?”
“Yeah, did you really think we were dating just because we hang out all the time?”
“I mean, yeah. And he’s the only guy who you call by his given name, and you’ve met his dad, and you walk to school and walk home every day. Can you really blame me?”
The more you thought about it, the more you realized that it really must seem like you and Shoto were dating, “I guess that makes sense. But, like, Shoto’s the only one I call by a given name because none of the other guys have said I can call them by theirs.”
“You can call me by mine.”
“What?”
“You can call me Katsuki.”
“Wait, really?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, Katsuki, let’s get back to studying.”
- - - - -
The two of you studied for a little while longer before he had to go home. It was honestly the longest you had seen him so calm. He was still teasing and calling you names, but you knew that it was just how he interacted with people. He didn’t even tease you when you got a question wrong like you kind of expected him to do. It was honestly nice to be around him.
You studied with him every night that week as you got ready for the finals. You really liked spending time with him like that, and since he continued to come, you assumed he didn’t mind either. 
It was nice to spend time with him, especially when he wasn’t trying to keep up the appearance of not caring about anyone. He was really smart and the two of you managed to get through most of the material together. He was pretty good at explaining things to you, too, though he got frustrated easily when you got to topics he didn’t fully understand.
Really, though, all you had to do was figure out a way to help him through things without letting him realize that you were helping him. He was usually able to figure things out pretty easily if you just framed it more as you needing help than you helping him.
By the time it was time for the final exam, you were pretty confident that both of you knew what you were doing. Even as you stared down at the test in front of you.
Taglist: @thatpersonwithissues @ohnosiren
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thedivinescorpio · 4 years
Text
Not so Sweet Wonwoo x Reader Part 3
Summary: The familiar friend turns out to be her “ex- crush’s” best friend. She planned to go out on a friendly date and hoped it turned out to be something a bit more to help her forget about the guy who hurt her. Yet, the one who hurt her came back to her life and tried to do something to get her back. Will he be the one to get hurt in the end? Genre: Angst to Fluff
Characters: Y/N, Wonwoo, Mingyu
IMPORTANT A/N: So it’s actually been a few years since I’ve written due to certain circumstances and this one has been in the drafts so I figured that I should just finish it. It seems rushed but I feel bad for never finishing it. IM SO SO SO SO SORRY GUYS AHH!! It gets cheesy real quick. Sorry for making yall wait so long I feel so bad. But please enjoy uwu ;-;
Part 1 Part 2
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 There he was. In Japan. In front of her dorm. Why?
“Y/N...”
~~
The boy hasn’t slept since Mingyu had left. All he thought about was finding a way to see Y/N soon. He originally planned to beg Y/N’s mom to ask her daughter to come back home.
Wonwoo got all his savings and chaotically packed his suitcase. This was incompletely and recklessly thought of. He. Needed.To. Apologize.
Two days before he did talk to Y/N’s mom and explained his situation to her. Her mom accepted what he was saying and tried to call Y/N at the time but she had one of her classes. It was the class where she met Mingyu. 
It’s only been a week since Mingyu left. A week; Wonwoo has been thinking a lot about what could have possibly happened while Mingyu was there. 
Maybe he did find Y/N. Maybe they got together. What if they..
No. They couldn’t have. 
He needs to go. Now.
~~~
“ Hello. This is an announcement for gate B5. The airplane to Tokyo is ready to departure in 5 minutes.” The loud speakers echoed through the somewhat busy airport. 
It was 5 AM.
Wonwoo was sitting in his assigned seat that was next to the window giving him a wonderful view of dawn. Though there was only a glimpse of the rising sun. 
Nobody was seated next to him nor was the plane full. 
Soon enough the plane took off.. 
Mid Flight, an attendant came and asked if he wanted anything to drink with an escort of crackers.
“Coffee please. Can I have two of them?” Wonwoo asked with a very tired voice. He needed energy to think about how he was going to approach the situation once he arrives in tokyo. 
Luckily Mingyu was there. He might be able to help him. Hopefully...
~~~ Wonwoo has been wandering the streets of Tokyo. He decided to go on feet instead of taking a taxi or the bullet train. Even then it would’ve been difficult for him to communicate not knowing the language. 
It was a quarter to 6 and he is still searching for the school, but he knew he was getting there. 
Suddenly his phone started ringing. He looked to see who it was and saw Mingyu’s name pop up. 
“Min-”
“Wonwoo, I found her.” 
“I’m here...in Tokyo...” Wonwoo announced taking a break from walking and sitting down on the edge of the sidewalk. His voice was course from the rough night.
“ You’re what?! How?!” Mingyu yelled over the phone. 
“Listen... I took a flight at 5 this morning. I didn’t plan coming. I just did it.” 
“Wonwoo do you even have a place to stay? Where are you?” Mingyu started speaking to his roommate in a rushed tone. 
Wonwoo sighed. He knew how stupid this was to just suddenly go to Japan without planning a thing. Not planning where to sleep, where to eat. He only wanted to see Y/N. 
The boy sighed and told Mingyu his location. His feet were aching from the several hours of walking. 
“Just wait there you idiot” Mingyu said slightly annoyed at his friend and hung up. Mingyu right away headed to where Wonwoo told him he was with the help of his roommate. He’s surprised at Wonwoo’s actions. What his friend was doing right now is far from the cool calm collected person he usually was. 
25 Minutes Later a taxi stopped in front of where Wonwoo was waiting. 
Out came Mingyu who looked dressed up but his hair wasn’t done. 
Wonwoo looked up at his friend with tired eyes with dark eye bags. 
Mingyu sighed at Wonwoo’s messed up state and helped the poor guy up. 
“Come on Buddy.” Mingyu whispered helping Wonwoo into the Taxi. 
“Where’s Y/N?” Wonwoo asked. His voice was rather low and dim. 
“Just wait Wonwoo.. I’ll take you to her, but we need to clean you up first.” Mingyu said sitting next to Wonwoo. Mingyu’s friend, who was sitting in the front, told the driver to go back to the apartment. 
~~~
After a relaxing hot shower Wonwoo refreshed himself and Mingyu made him some instant ramen for energy. 
7:25
Mingyu sighed and sat with Wonwoo watching his friend silently eat. 
“I was supposed to go on a friendly date with her tonight. I’m sure you could tell by the way I dressed. I felt guilty so I decided to call you instead when I was about to do my hair,” Mingyu explained. 
Wonwoo paused as he was about to eat his noodles. 
“A date?” Wonwoo said surprised yet calmly. 
“Yes.. but like I said I couldn’t do this to you so I called you up. How about this? You go instead of me. I’ll bring you to her dorm. It’s best if you guys talk to each other and resolve everything.” Mingyu said placing a hand on Wonwoo’s shoulder and grabbed his house key. “Let’s go.” 
~~
“W-why are you here?” Y/N stuttered taken aback by the presence standing right in front of her. The one she wanted to let go of. Right then and there her heart felt uneasy, yet there was still a sense of comfort seeing him there.
“I need to talk to you” Wonwoo said with a pleasing look in his eyes. He stood there staring at Y/N who looked so different but the same. 
He sees the pain in her innocent eyes. Maybe coming here was a mistake. Maybe he should’ve left her be- No. He came here to repair what he broke. 
“Who’s that Y/N?” Hyejin asked from her bed trying to catch a glimpse of her roommates date. 
A small sigh left Y/N’s lips, “Fine. Let’s go Wonwoo...” 
She grabbed her purse and closed the door behind her as Wonwoo took a few steps back. 
Wonwoo followed her silently as she lead the way. Soon they arrived at a small park located barely a quarter mile away from Y/N’s dorm. 
Awkward tension danced in the air as they sat down on a vacant bench. 
“Listen. I’m sorry-” Wonwoo blurted breaking the silence.
“Sorry? Sorry doesn’t fix things like this.” Y/N interrupted with visible despair in her voice. On their way to the park, she held in her tears, yet now they didn’t dare to fall. She stared at her legs.
“Y/N.. Just listen please. I’m stupid. I’m an Idiot. I fucked up.” He stood up continuing mumbling self deprecating words to describe himself.
He took a deep breath in, “You did a lot for me. You were there when nobody was. What I did was absolutely stupid...I understand if you don’t want to forgive me for what I did..” Tears fell from his face and onto the pavement.
“I was being a self-centered ignorant asshole with a stupid ego, but after you disappeared I realized that it was stupid to hurt you like that. You don’t deserve it. Hearing Mingyu say that you guys were going on a date hurt me. But if that means you’re happy then it’s okay. You deserve joy. Sometime I wish I could’ve gave you but never did-”
“Wonwoo, stop.” Y/N mumbled. 
“ The things you did for me. The sweet and kind things you did for me... I even started baking because that’s what you did-”
“Stop!” She said a little louder. He halted his speech right then and there anxiously watching her next actions. 
 Y/N stood from the bench and the tears finally filled the brim of her eyes and raced down her face. She looked up at him face still pallor from his tiresome journey. Lifting her hand to his cheek she wiped away the tears that fell from his face. 
He stared deeply into her eyes. Her mascara left a black stream on her cheek, yet she still looked pretty. 
“You are a stupid dumb idiot and and ignorant asshole.” A smile formed on her pink lips. “And I did do a lot for you to make you happy yet you rejected it all” 
What was it she was trying to say? Wonwoo searched her eyes for an answer but she looked back down. 
“But I forgive you...I just- I’ve always loved you Wonwoo...” She wiped her face with her hand and sniffled.
“I love you too...” He said taking on step closer to her taking her hand in his big ones. “I never want to lose you again. We never dated but I want to change that. We can start anew- we can start all over Y/N as long as it means I can be with you to the end.” 
She knew his words were true. More than it hurt her to be rejected by him, it hurt to see him that way. She thought going on a date with Mingyu would’ve changed everything but it would’ve never changed the way she felt being around Wonwoo. 
"I’m sorry” He choked out once more.
“Shh.. I know” Y/N wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his long arms around her waist. They held each other tightly and softly cried out their pain.
A few moments later, Wonwoo released her from his grip and wiped away her tears with his thumb while observing her features. 
“You look beautiful tonight.. too bad it wasn’t for me” He chuckled. 
A light giggle came out of Y/N, “Even after all my mascara stained my face?” she covered her face with her hands.
“What mascara?” He joked making her giggle again. 
“Oh shut up Wonwoo.”
“I’m serious!” He uncovered her face and leaned in closer. “You’re beautiful Y/N especially with that precious smile on your face”
A blush appeared on her cheeks. “ You’re too corny. It’s not like y-”
He interrupted her with a deep kiss and pulled her in closely. Once he let go he smirked.
“What’s that grin for?” She asked with a concerned look on her face. 
“Your lips taste sweet. It reminds me, let me bake for you.” He said grabbing her hand and started to walk.
“I- Wonwoo! Do you even know where you’re going?” Y/N followed.
“No but I’ll find a place we can bake together. Let’s make something and I’ll make sure I add enough sugar” He wrapped an arm around her.
“Enough sugar?”
“Hehe- I put salt last time instea-”
“What!?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The end~ It’s been years since I’ve written so I’m sorry it’s so bad and corny. I’m sure the person I was back then could’ve done better with the ending. My writers block has been active all this time ;-;. Yet, I still hope you enjoyed. Thank you so much for reading. I hope I can do better next time :) Thank you for your patience.
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