#recovered memory 16

[vynnyal]

A little something like this, right?

#From memory for the most part #I've drawn these characters more times than I expected 😂 #I cheated and fixed a few things when I went to pick colors (and then didn't even use them) #Idk I felt nostalgic and decided to crank out a few bugs #Lesse... What stories do I got. It's been a while so I have quite the selection #Oh jdbdjvskhff my dog died from cancer of all things. Like seriously what the heck #While we were recovering I jokingly mentioned something about getting another rescue dog #Within the WEEK we had a pomeranian in our house. A pomeranian. 16 pounds. Pomeranian. #See the reason I mentioned it at all was to give our other dog- Tiger the 11(?) yr old maltipoo- company in his twilight years. #You know. Maybe another old pooch like Lucky that was chill and kind #And now we have Rudy aka SPITFIRE #He's fun though! I like him. He's always smiling and it warms my heart. I swear I can walk out of the house for an hour #and he'll greet my like I've been gone for years every single time #What else. Oh lol so I'm taking care of my neighbor's house for two weeks #A wwwk in and the cat decides to RUN OFF. In the middle of a THUNDERSTORM. #36 hrs later and I'm like aight this isn't great #After posting notices online etc I was sitting around and thought to myself something kinda dumb #See he likes listening to me play on their grand piano. They never use it but I do and the cat always lays at my feet while I jam #So I thought... what if I pied piper the cat home. So I threw open all the doors #And played for oh idk 20 min? #CAT WALKS IN. SITS ON THE FLOOR BESIDES ME #Cats. I stg #Eh that's all for now I'm sleeby #hollow knight #art tag #See ya!

[cuntstable]

also btw i fully think the reason why pucci specifically became a prison priest was so he could keep a close eye on weather….. and i mean in the long run it really worked out for him in other ways too ie providing a good grounds for his plan to take out jotaro and giving him an easy supply of potential stand users to use as goons LOL but all of that could have easily been accomplished else where too. and conversely i do think that wes was incarserated for his entire life post-memory theft, especially since the way anasui talks about weather after he dies reads to me like he really was locked up for years and years, ever since he was 16…..its genuinely really sad i think

#also like weathers personality switch after he gets his memories back is extra unnerving and saddening because h #he (from how i see it) goes back to being what he was before losing his memories aka an angry traumatized 16 year old…… all those decades of #life in between dissapeared in that situation :( #makes me really wonder what would have happened if jolyne and emporio had gotten to him before he fought pucci….. since he was the closest #to them and had specifically made those bonds in his amnesiac state… could they have calmed him down? returned some of the personality he #learned and adopted in those lost years…… idk :( #like all that time he spent with out memory didnt mean nothing i think it just got pushed aside by how fresh the pain and anger felt once he #remembered it. like it was like it JUST happened….. so i wonder if he was in a less volatile scenario if he could have recovered #even if he planned to die after killing pucci. like it wouldnt have had to end like that had he succeeded maybe…. but ofc heavy weather #complicated all of it and also worked as a metaphor i think for how utterly destructive that trauma felt #pucci posting #jojo

[chimaerakitten]

if fantasy genre reincarnation were real (ie, the kind where everyone always reincarnates as human and can recover most if not all previous-life memories) humans would use it for such DUMB SHIT you guys. like every other week you’d get headlines like “20 year old cave diver vanishes down This One Fucking Cave for the 5th life in a row.” and the body of the article would be like “His last words were ‘This time I'm going to find out what’s at the bottom of that crevasse!’ We’ll see you when you get your memories back in 16 years Dylan, the scientific community can’t wait to find out what was at the bottom of that crevasse.”

#you know that 'man who loses arm to lava smugly refuses to say what lava feels like' meme? #everyone would be doing that all the time.

[chaoticace2005]

List of why the Radio Demon disappeared for 7 years:

1. His fight with Vox ended really badly and he needed to recover.

2. He went somewhere to acquire more power.

3. He had a mission to do because of his deal.

4. Vox confessed his love for Alastor. Alastor had no idea how to respond to this so he ghosted Vox for seven years. But Vox had access to cameras everywhere so the best way to ghost Vox is to ghost the city.

5. Met a wise old man who taught him the secrets to life, he had a training montage.

6. Took a gap year(s) to “find himself”

7. Extended tea party at Rosie’s

8. His shadow got pissed at him and decided to swallow him, sending him to a shadow dimension that he drifted in for seven years.

9. His friends from the other side finally caught up to him and he had to repay his debt

10. His tailor went on sabbatical and he couldn’t leave his place without the proper amount of drip so he had to wait for him to return.

11. There was a shortage of red hair dye, he had to wait for them to restock.

12. Someone took a photo of him with his tail out. He went on a mission to hunt them down and DESTROY them.

13. He went to the Hellmart to cause $50,000 in TV damages (Tomota vid reference)

14. He was busy making diss tracks for everyone he knows and lost track of time.

15. Susan beat him in a bake sale and he had to hide out of shame.

16. Honeymoon with his cane.

17. Fell into a coma

18. Found out about the Alastor-Body Pillow Vox had and then had to ensure they were never manufactured again.

19. He accidentally saw part of one of Angel’s pornos and was traumatized. He had to leave Pentagram City because everyone he went he saw his face.

20. Hung out with Lilith who dished tea about Lucifer.

21. Was told he was “outdated” so he took the time to educate himself on modern slang.

22. Tried to find an obedience trainer for cats.

23. He time traveled seven years into the future and just decided to run with it.

24. Alastor was killed. That’s not Alastor. That’s a shadow acting as him.

25. That’s not Alastor, that’s his twin brother.

26. Walked in on a role play session between a Vox and Valentino-Dressed-Up-Like-Alastor and needed to find a way to erase the memory.

27. Bonked his head. Woke up and thought his name was Bob, he lived a nice, happy life until he bonked his head again.

28. Fell through a portal and woke up in a dimension where his name was a bird named Crane who was a janitor in a world of King Fu and pandas.

29. Got access to the season 1 script so he could mentally prepare. He’s been rehearsing his lines and doing his best to make his performance as disturbing as possible.

30. Went to the dentist. When they tried to help him he ate them, so he had to find another dentist, who he also ate. This went on for a while.

31. Was run out of town by his dentist who got annoyed he kept dodging his appointments

32. Got relationship counseling for him and his shadow.

33. Was just out having a good time, partying, and consuming souls.

34. Went on a seven year long bender.

35. Rosie told him he was an “arrow” so he went to archery classes. Turns out she was wrong and archery really isn’t his forte.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel memes #stupid hazbin hotel lists #alastor hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel alastor #alastor #staticradio #radiostatic #one sided #(Aka vox is a simp) #aroace alastor #radio demon

[earthtooz]

x : POISON :*+ﾟ

in which: kaiser is undeniably in love with you. tonight, he makes it known. you accept.

warnings: 1.4k words, making out, reader is injured, gn!reader, SPY!AU, 16+ content!! sexual tension lol

context: this was originally a snippet of my 5k celebration where i planned a spy!au for kaiser. however, that idea ended up being scrapped so now i just have this makeout scene that i wrote one night and i don't want it to go to waste. there's more to this scene than just the making out, but, reader gets hurt on a mission gone awry and kaiser kinda lost his shit and went feral on the enemy and that's where we are now ! enjoy whatever this is !

“don’t overdo yourself. no intense training for a week. remember to do your breathwork and stretches everyday, five times a day,” the monotone voice of the nurse fills your ears as you try your best to stumble through the hallways to remain in pace with her. “come back in three days for a checkup. recover quickly, agent.”

“thank you,” you grit, dawdling out of the hospital wing with your bed at the forefront of your mind. goodness, you just needed to lie down and think about how you’re going to train back into top shape again.

because despite only being out of commission for five days, your senses are already failing you, unable to detect the looming figure behind you. hands abruptly grab you by your arms, pressing tightly into you as you both stumble into the darkness of your now unlocked room. 

you would fight back, but the assailant’s scent is nothing but familiar, and instead of fear, your heart begins to race in anticipation.

especially as kaiser smoothly spins you around in his grasp, forcing you to continue walking until you hit the edge of your bed, causing you to sit down. the door closes behind the two of you and the only light source were the lamps coming from outside your window, allowing you to see the outline of kaiser’s face.

“what’s your problem?” you ask, irritation brewing from how abrupt his entrance was. “seriously? do you know how reckless that was to just grab me and force me into a dark room? i’m recovering too, what if you pulled one of my stitches? jackass.”

he doesn’t reply. in fact, kaiser is uncharacteristically silent and you wonder if the man in front of you was kaiser at all.

it has to be, no other agent in this facility has blue hair like his, or such a recognisable tattoo, or an addictive aura like his. 

“kaiser?” you say, this time breathy, quiet, and cautious. “is everything okay?”

the sigh that escapes him causes his whole body to shudder and you’re caught off guard when two hands come to hold your face, followed by the press of lips against your forehead. your breath lodges itself in your throat, unused to this kind of intimacy and closeness from kaiser. 

he doesn’t speak but neither do you because you’ve never heard a more sadder, disappointed sigh from anyone… ever, not from noel when you failed an assessment, not when you were unable to shoot the dummy in the heart, not even from yourself when you failed to clear a skill stage for the umpteenth time. so you’re willing to wait for kaiser to come around, for the silence to naturally melt itself away, for his closeness to stop overwhelming you, for your heart to stop racing as fast as it is. 

his hands then move to begin playing with your hair.

“i hate that i can’t protect you,” he finally confesses; a breath of rushed words rather than an actual sentence that is easily decipherable. 

“i don’t need it-”

“-i know; you don’t need help, especially from me, but fuck, i can’t help it.” you bite back the urge to say ‘i know’, suddenly remembering the crazed look in his eyes from that night. the memory sends shivers down your spine. “i can’t help but want to hide you from the world, to be beside you all the time where you’ll be safe- where i’d kill to keep you safe.” 

his words are no louder than a breath. the weight of his words fall upon your shoulders with undeniable force, causing you to sink against him, surrendering to the pressure of his admission.

“kaiser-”

“-i know. i know you don’t need anyone’s protection, i fucking know. because you’re stupid and reckless but so brave and admirable in everything you do that i need to be selfish when it comes to you. if i’m not then you’ll go flying off to somewhere i can’t reach and my love-” 

he pauses, faltering a little as he leans away from you, tilting your head carefully to make you look up at him. “-i can’t let that happen.”

something within you crumbles. with your own ears, you hear your ruination come alive with his words. “kaiser, we can’t be doing this. you know that. we’re bad for each other.”

“why can’t you be selfish with me too?” 

stunned into silence, you can’t look him in the eye, fearful of what would become of you if you did. you’re already overflowing, the walls that you once made unbreakable finally beginning to reveal their first crack. kaiser is maddening; truly maddening.

“why can’t you be careful with me?” you ask, voice cracking against your will. “you say these things but you spin me around like a headless horse. one second you’re at my throat, ready to push me off a cliff then-”

“-my love.” 

“don’t call me that!” you plead. “don’t call me that when you don’t mean it. i’d rather bleed from a stab wound than from love, don’t you know? i can’t keep fighting against you and your cruel games.”

you quiver at the feeling of him kissing the side of your face. the crack widens. 

“you win. you’re the emperor, you’re the mastermind, whatever, i surrender.”

he breathes in, exhaling roughly too as he speaks against your skin: “you’re not understanding me. i’ll be anything you want me to be. tell me to leave and i will. i’ll never speak of this moment again and i’ll never speak of my love for you again, but accept my heart and it’ll be at your mercy.”

as if matching his promise, kaiser sinks to his knees between your legs so that you were now eye-level. his eyes gleam with heart wrenching genuinity, his expression serious like you’ve never seen him before. you’ve witnessed kaiser gone manic, gone crazed, gone rogue even, but you’ve never seen him like this. 

he’s terrifying but deliciously tempting. 

the first step is terrifying, your hands trembling when they go to cradle his jaw. he falters.

the second step is even more horrifying, as you lean closer to him, you try to unlearn the security protocols you’ve needed to put up to protect yourself. 

the third is nothing but liberating because you’re now falling, so utterly helpless as you meet your demise, landing in kaiser’s embrace.

“you’re insane,” you mutter, stopping just briefly before his lips. 

he keens, desire dripping off of him like honey as he wills himself to not close the gap. “so you’ve told me. countless times before, actually.”

“your insanity must be rubbing off on me,” you joke, “be my lover, kaiser. for the night or for eternity, i’ve picked my poison.”

“then i’ll so happily drink it for you.”

with that, you seal your lips against his and his touch shatters you from the inside, walls fully collapsing at his will when his hands go to hold your waist, grabbing your shirt as if anchoring himself into this reality. 

“shit,” he breathes against your lips. “i can’t believe this isn’t a dream.”

“what if i was?”

“then never wake me up, my love,” he grumbles before standing up, never going too far from you as he slowly pushes you down. using your elbow to support you before you could fully give in and kaiser uses his arm to hold his weight as the other goes to your hip. “i’m yours, i’m all yours.”

he sighs heavily. “i can’t believe you’re letting me do this to you.”

this time, his kiss consumes you, intent on committing all of you to memory as his hands roam, too antsy to be able to remain in one place. your hands tangle in his hair, a subtle way of telling him to not go too far; not that he wants to. how could he when he has everything he’s wanted for the past decade in his hands? 

rendered so helpless in your grasp, the only thing kaiser can think about is pleasing you.

pain shoots up your body, causing you to fall back onto your mattress, breaking away from kaiser who gazes at you with shining eyes. 

“you-” you cough. “you have to be nice. i can’t breathe very easily. everything hurts.”

kaiser laughs, the sound reverberating through the darkness. “i can make an exception for you,” he promises, hands caressing against you like glass as he connects your lips with his again, intent on fully becoming yours.

© EARTHTOOZ 2023, do not steal, translate, repost my fics and do not recommend my fics onto any other site.

#kaiser x reader #michael kaiser x reader #kaiser michael x reader #blue lock x reader #bllk x reader #blue lock #kaiser #michael kaiser #kaiser michael #kaiser fluff

[yelena-bellova]

Twenty Years Later: Joel Miller x F!Reader - Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen: The Great Sin

Plot: Joel and Y/n, separated once again, are told the truth about the cost that will come with creating a cure.

Word Count: 7.4k

Warnings: canon violence, drug abuse, language, blood, guns, needles, loss of a child, ptsd, (16+)

A/N: Well, we’re almost to the end 🥲 I can’t believe there’s only one chapter after this and then it’s over. Rather than think about that, I’m going to focus on letting y’all enjoy this one ❤️

As always, this series is 16+ and I will not be adding anyone to the taglist that does not have their age/range in their bio. This is also the last chance to be added to the list!

Alrighty, let’s finish it out strong, y’all ❤️❤️❤️

—————

Y/n woke with her head throbbing.

Before her eyes even opened, her brain splitting from the pain she couldn’t remember earning. In the darkness of her lids, she slowly drew on her last fuzzy memories.

Puns.

Flash bomb.

Ellie screaming.

Y/n’s eyes flew open, pushing up on her elbow and feeling a stab of pain through her abdomen.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Blinking until her vision was clear, Y/n looked across to room to see Marlene leant up against the wall.

“We gave you a shot for your ribs,” she continued, “But it’s not magic.”

“Yeah, well, maybe you should’ve put out a PSA,” Y/n replied groggily, the force of the flash bomb coming back to her.

Marlene smiled thinly, “Could’ve found a phone along the way.”

Y/n bristled at the joke, relieved to see her comrade alive.

“Gotta admit,” Marlene crossed her arms, “I didn’t expect to see you all in one piece. Figured you’d either run into raiders or you and Joel would go the double-homicide route.”

Y/n held her belly as she attempted to sit up. “Almost did,” she groaned, “A few times.”

“Well,” Marlene gestured to Y/n, watching her with honest eyes, “I underestimated you. You did good.”

Y/n wanted to accept the praise, having finally proven herself as a fighter, but was single-minded in her thoughts. “Where’s Joel?”

“Recovering in another room,” Marlene answered, “His vitals are good, just hasn’t woken up yet.”

Nodding, Y/n carefully swung her legs over the side of the bed, ”When he wakes up, tell him to come find me? Ellie’s probably worried sick…”

“Where are you going?” Marlene asked.

Y/n stopped to take a breath, whatever medicine they’d given her hadn’t kicked in yet. “To see Ellie,” she answered plainly, “She’s okay, right?”

Marlene sighed with dread, knowing whatever was about to happen wouldn’t be pleasant. But she also had a one-track mind, and it was humming a different tune than Y/n’s.

“She’s fine,” she replied, her tone having shifted to instill a false calm, “She’s being prepped for surgery.”

Y/n’s brow furrowed in confusion, “Surgery? I thought they were just taking her blood?”

“It’s…” Marlene said with a heaviness to her tone, “A little more complicated than that.”

Even though the ache in Y/n’s temples was dizzying, it didn’t take her long to connect the dots as to why it would require surgery to facilitate the vaccine.

And she felt the floor go out from under her when she did.

She looked up to Marlene, barely able to even shake her head, “No…”

Marlene bit her lip, turning her gaze from Y/n and to the floor.

“No…” Y/n repeated, her voice low, “N-no…you wouldn’t.”

Marlene’s painful silence sliced through her.

“Are you kidding me?” Y/n’s volume grew loud with anger, giving her the strength to stand, “You made me risk my life for that girl for three fucking months just so you can kill her?!”

“She wouldn’t have come here with anyone other than you,” Marlene replied calmly, “She trusts you.”

“So you used me,” Y/n’s eyes widened with rage, “You knew I cared about her, you knew I’d do it.”

“You’re not looking at the big picture,” Marlene interjected, taking a step forward but not moving any closer to Y/n, “We get the vaccince, we save millions. We save the millions to come. We can bring the world back to what-“

The rest of Marlene’s words died to the ringing in Y/n’s ears. She braced one of her hands against her bed, feeling as if her knees were going to buckle.

Throughout her time in the Fireflies, Marlene had never entrusted Y/n with as much information as other recruits. It wasn’t for doubt of Y/n’s interests, but rather Marlene thinking Y/n was incapable of handling it. She’d always been slow to pull the trigger, something that had in any other world would have made her merciful. Marlene had only ever seen it as weakness.

Marlene’s opinion of Y/n wasn’t lost on her, she felt it on a daily basis. But to make her travel from one side of the country to another, witholding the sickening truth of what she was doing from her, that was a new brand of cruel.

“She’s going to fix everything,” were the first words of Marlene’s that broke through Y/n’s spinning thoughts.

Her head shot up, staring daggers at Marlene, “You don’t get to make that decision for her.”

“And you do?” Marlene replied, “What gives you the right to choose her fate?”

“Did you ask her?” Y/n inquired, the building rage beginning to seep out of her, “No, y’know what? I can tell by your face that you didn’t.”

“She doesn’t know,” Marlene could feel control over the conversation slipping, she needed to deescalate it quickly, “She’s not going to feel anything.”

“YOU’RE KILLING,” Y/n yelled as loud as her lungs would let her, “A FUCKING CHILD!”

At the last word, two guards stationed outside Y/n’s door marched in, their rifles cocked downards, but ready to strike.

Y/n was quickly starting to understand the gravity of her situation.

Marlene held out a hand to Y/n, as if trying to ease a carnivorous animal. “Do you think I want to do this? Do you not think that I’ve looked for any other option-“

“No,” Y/n shook her head, “I don’t think you have.”

“I knew her mother, Y/n,” Marlene spoke a little louder, “I was there when she was born, and I had to put a bullet in my best friend’s head because she was infected. I promised to keep her child safe. I do not want to do this,” she paused, collecting herself, “But it’s my only choice.”

Three months prior, hearing such a personal story would have meant something to Y/n. Now, it only served to illuminate the true colors of her comrade. Marlene, so blinded by her determination to restore the earth, had allowed her drive to turn to ruthlessness and morph into heartlessness.

“No,” Y/n said, fighting back tears at the thought of Ellie lying unconscious somehwere in the hospital, “Look me in the eye and tell me her mother would want this,” she waited, until impatience won out, “LOOK AT ME!”

Marlene was a lot of things, blunt was one of them. She looked up to Y/n’s red face, unaware of the storm her words were about to trigger, “You’re not her mother.”

The waves in Y/n’s body both crashed and fell at the statement. It was twenty years all over again.

“Take me to Joel,” she swallowed her tears, “I want to see Joel.” When Marlene averted her gaze once again, Y/n could feel some other essential piece of truth shift into darkness. “Marlene,” she gritted out, “Where’s Joel?”

“He’s gone,” Marlene answered, “He left as soon as he knew that you and Ellie were okay.”

Y/n lip quivered with fury, the lies were so clear now. Joel and her hadn’t gone through all they had, made the promises they did only for him to abandon her and Ellie. “No. He wouldn’t do that.”

“I don’t know what you want to hear,” Marlene said, “But he’s gone.”

It was then that Y/n realized she was no longer a Firefly, but a prisoner.

With the last shred of her future slipping being ripped away from her, Y/n’s fury took over. She lunged towards Marlene, one of the soldiers surging forward and shoving her back onto the bed. Y/n cried out in pain, clutching her stomach as the barrel of the rifle was drawn on her.

“Don’t,” Marlene ordered the guard, “She’s already hurt.”

Y/n could no longer hold in her sobs. Ellie had been fooled into dying for a solution they didn’t even know was guaranteed, Joel was being forced to leave them behind, and she was essentially being held hostage by those she’d once trusted with her life.

“You keep her here,” Marlene continued speaking to the guards as if the pain was too incapacitating for Y/n to have any presence of mind, “Lock the doors. Don’t let her out until she calms down.”

Still weeping from both the ache in her ribs and the turn of events, Y/n nearly didn’t open her eyes when she heard Marlene’s boot steps come towards her.

“I know you care about her,” Marlene said softly, “She cares about you too. But there’s such a thing as caring too much…and I’m sorry.”

Through her tears, Y/n watched as her one-time friend walked out the door, washing her hands of the matter.

“You motherfucker,” Y/n growled, getting her feet as the guards exited the room, “You fucking murderer!”

As the door shut and locked on her, Y/n began to bang her fists against the 8x10 pane of glass, “YOU FUCKING MURDERER! YOU MOTHERFUCKING MURDERER!”

Y/n screamed at the top of her lungs, hot tears pouring down her face as three months of love and care wilted at her feet.

—————————

In reality, Joel was on the next floor down, fighting for his, Y/n and Ellie’s futures. He knew that the love of his life would never roll over and allow them to take Ellie’s life.

“Where’s Y/n?”

Marlene sighed at the question, contrary to what she was sure her reputation was, deception didn’t come easily to her. But she did what she had to for her cause.

There had always been a fire in Y/n, however tamed it was by her more virtuous qualities. Marlene had kept a careful eye on the blaze, never thinking it would spread too far. But there’d been a change in Y/n since they’d last seen each other in Boston, and she was certain her love for Ellie and time spent with Joel had brought it out in her. If they had survived three months in the ruins of civilization, they were dangerous. They needed to be kept apart if the surgery was to be a success.

“She’s decided to stay,” Marlene locked in her story, “She wants to see this through all the way.”

Joel didn’t believe for 1/8th of a second that Y/n would have lied to him. He’d looked in her eyes and watched twenty years of history dance across her irises. He could feel the weight of their future inside his chest, glowing gold with hope. There was no way after all they’d been through that she would walk away from him, just like that…

“No, you take me to ‘em,” he demanded, rising from the bed, “You take me to ‘em right now!”

One of Marlene’s guards came forward and used the butt of his rifle to knock him to the ground. Joel grunted and coughed on his hands and knees, his mind spinning with fear.

“Please,” he begged of Marlene, “You don’t understand.”

“I do,” Marlene said solemnly, reciting a less emotional variation of the story she’d told Y/n five minutes prior, “I was there when she was born, Joel. I promised her mom that I would save her child, I promised,” she paused to swallow back the lump rising in her throat, “So I do understand. I’m the only one who understands. I’m sorry,” she shook her head, “I have no other choice.”

Joel was a lot of things, but a coward wasn’t one of them. He glared up at Marlene, subtly threatening, “I do.”

Marlene looked exasperated, like his fight was some obstacle in her path to roll her eyes at. “Walk him out to the highway,” she ordered the soldiers, “Leave him there with his pack. Give him this,” she unclipped Ellie’s pocketknife from her belt, turning her stare to Joel, “He tries anything…shoot him.”

Joel, dazed from the knowledge that Ellie and Y/n were being held somewhere, was forced to his feet. The soldiers pushed him out of the room, picking his backpack up on the way out, and shoved him down the hall.

All the while, Joel was carefully constructing his plan.

—————————

Y/n sat with her back to the door, twisting her arm to hit the wood with what little energy she had left. She had sobbed and screamed to be let out until her voice was rendered raw.

She had failed. Failed Ellie. Failed Joel. Failed herself.

She wondered if this was her punishment for what she’d done to her family. If for each life she’d taken, she’d lose somebody in return.

She thought of Sarah, her death that seemed to be written in some fucked up universe’s stars, and how she ached for the future she’d never live. The proms, the graduations, coming home from college during holidays, getting engaged, getting married, having kids…all of it. Or none of it. Her choices would have determined her story and whichever path she’d have chosen, it would have been beautiful.

Ellie had been deprived of so many choices in life, and now she was being deprived of choosing whether she lived or died.

By deciding to let Ellie give her life for a cause that wasn’t even hers, the Fireflies were no better than FEDRA. Marlene was making the same calls that the government had made in the first few days of the outbreak. Who got to go to the QZs and who died in a ditch on the side of a road, whose life had lasting value and who was disposable. It sickened Y/n’s stomach and made her wish she had never joined at all.

Since meeting Ellie, Y/n had often contemplated the ghost of the girl’s mother. Having filled the role herself and feeling like Sarah had been carved from her own ribs, she couldn’t imagine what it was like to carry a child, birth her, and then lose her somewhere along the way…now, all she could think of was what Ellie’s mother would do if she were trapped as Y/n was. Would she fight? Would she break the glass with her fist and take on the guards? Or was she just cruel enough to sacrifice her daughter for the greater good? Could Y/n have left Sarah to die if, in some way, she’d held the key to the planet’s salvation?

Y/n took a deep breath, her mind the clearest it had been since waking up.

No parent would let their child die, no matter the circumstances.

And neither could she.

—————————

Joel paused in front of the hospital directory, eyes scanning over the levels and their corresponding departments. He was two floors away from pediatric surgery, and unknowingly, one floor away from where Y/n was being held.

“I didn’t hear anyone say ‘stop,’” one of the Fireflies behind him growled.

Joel glanced down the hall, “Which way?”

“Down the stairs,” the soldier answered, shoving Joel towards the stairwell.

With each flight Joel marched down, he was completing calculations in his mind. How quick did he have to move to take out both guardsmen? Which gun would be easier to reach? Did he rescue Ellie first or find Y/n and gain an extra pair of hands?

Once he decided, he let his steps slow until he came to a complete stop.

“The fuck are you doin’? Keep walking.”

Joel ignored the command.

“I said,” the Firefly grabbed Joel’s shoulder, “Keep walkin’-“

Lightning fast, Joel spun around, elbowing the man in the neck and knocking him to the floor. He nabbed his rifle as he fell, spinning around to shoot the second guard before he could even aim. Taking two steps back, he fired one shot into the first man’s leg.

“Fuck,” the soldier whimpered.

“Where are they?” Joel asked, his finger perfectly still against the trigger.

“Fuck you,” the Firefly growled.

Joel didn’t need his answer. Bill’s written words were etched in the caverns of his mind, about finding that one person to save. In Joel’s case, there were two people worth saving-

“I don’t have time for this,” he decided before planting a bullet in the man’s neck.

And he was doing it by any means necessary.

—————————

Y/n fiddled with her pocketknife in her hand, pacing the room as the pain in her ribs disappeared under the blanket of whatever medication Marlene had given her. She needed the guards outside her room to get pulled away so that she could pick the door’s lock. Once out, she had to steal a gun, find where Ellie was being held, figure out if Joel was still in the building and get them the hell out of dodge.

All she needed was a chance.

“Shots fired! Shots fired!”

The buzz of a radio caught Y/n’s ear, it pulled her to the door and she peered out the glass pane. The pencil stiff stance the soldiers had been maintaining was suddenly sharp with worry. One guard came running down the hall, shouting something Y/n couldn’t make out. Whatever it was caused her captors to charge down the hall as well. It was a threat that required every hand on deck.

Y/n nearly smiled, knowing exactly who could cause that kind of panic.

Slipping her blade into the lock, she fiddled with it until the door opened, freeing her. She threw her backpack over her shoulder, her eye catching on a tray balanced on the bedside table. It contained the used needle they’d already injected her with, plus one full syringe. Y/n picked up the two vials near the needles, one labeled ‘ibuprofen’ and one labeled ‘epinephrine.’

Y/n was weak, her body’s strength drained from trying to heal her ribs. There wasn’t any way she could fight her way out in her current state.

Without hesitation, she squeezed the flesh of her thigh and stabbed the needle through her jeans, discarding it on the floor after.

Drawing a deep breath, Y/n poked her head out the door, looking down each side of the hall before cutting across to the nurse’s station. She scanned the length of the counters for anything she could use as a weapon, finding only old papers and equipment. Distantly below her, she could hear gunfire.

“Hey,” a gruff voice shouted.

Y/n spun around, barely dropping to the floor before the Firefly soldier fired two shots at her. Crouched on the tile, she could feel the epinephrine beginning to kick in, bringing back the strength she’d lost in Silver Lake. She withdrew her knife once again, hiding behind the nurse’s station and listening to the footsteps of the Firefly come closer.

Y/n knew that to save what she loved, she would have to leave whatever was left of her humanity. The part of her that had hesitated to kill had to die by her own hands.

The soldier moved closer.

Closer…

The second his boot became visible, Y/n stabbed the knife through his foot, punching him in the chin when he bent down in pain. She got to her feet and ripped the rifle out of the Firefly’s hands, shooting him in the stomach after.

She stepped over his body, leaving him to bleed out.

—————————

Joel’s steps were inhumanly silent as he crept through the hospital. He fired each shot with machine-like precision, each Firefly falling to the floor, never to pick themselves back up.

Joel had killed countless times since the outbreak of Cordyceps and had felt a healthy dose of remorse. The innocent people he’d killed in his days as a Raider haunted him, much like they did Tommy, and he wasn’t sure he’d ever forget Y/n’s eyes as she’d watched him murder the FEDRA guard in Boston.

But as Joel stealthily made his way through the hospital, firing each bullet for the love of his life and the child they loved more than anything, he felt nothing.

—————————

Y/n had tried so hard to live as peacefully as the world would allow her. Despite joining the Fireflies, she never volunteered for first line of defense. If bombs were planted in the city, Y/n was the one counting them, not detonating them. As much as she’d hidden initially from Joel with bloody threats, she’d never committed any acts of violence unless they were absolutely necessary.

Marching down the hospital halls, tears pooled in her eyes with each kill she made until she was sobbing. Flashes of her parents, her siblings, her nephew, Sarah, played in her mind. Their innocence and their gruesome deaths she’d forever feel responsible for. Saving Ellie wouldn’t bring them back, but she couldn’t let another person she cared for die.

Red cheeked and puffy eyed, she murdered without hesitation, allowing love to turn her into a necessary monster.

—————————

Joel went from victim to victim, playing God and delivering their vicious, premature fates. Each time he ran out of ammo, he’d pick up the rifle of his last kill. It all flowed so sickeningly perfect.

He climbed the fourth floor stairwell, shooting the Fireflies attempting to sneak up on him before they knew what was going on. With his better ear, he could hear the gunfire on the floor he was approaching.

He wasn’t the only one putting up a fight.

As soon as Joel stepped onto the fifth floor, a barrage of bullets rained down around him. He ducked behind a wall, waiting for them to slow before running across to the other side of the hall. He let his ammo fly freely, taking down the Fireflies as sloppily as he needed to.

Just as he aimed at the final one, the soldier was kicked to the floor, Y/n stepping on his back and making a fatal shot.

Through his necessary numbness, Joel felt a rush of relief.

Y/n ignored every instinct she had to run into Joel’s arms and instead bent down, picking up the soldier’s rifle and the extra ammo off his belt. Joel did the same with a nearby body.

The two lovers met in the middle of the hall, their weapons resting against their chests, separating their bodies.

Twenty years ago, they were somewhere in a downtown bar, Joel trying to make her laugh and Y/n trying to pretend like she was perfectly capable of taking her eyes off of him. They were warm, they were happy, they were them.

Two decades later, they were stood in an abandoned hospital, rifles on their shoulders, blood on their clothes and vengeance in their eyes. They were bruised, they were broken, they were survivors.

They carried on the same way, shooting anyone who dared to get in their way as they climbed the building. Joel made the more gruesome kills, trying to spare Y/n what little pain he could, but Y/n was fearsome in her own right. The adrenaline from the epinephrine had heightened her senses, making her hyperaware of everything around her. If a Firefly so much as stepped an inch out from behind a wall, Y/n’s rifle was trained on him, not letting him live more than half a second.

Eventually, they made it.

The sixth floor.

With their sin all over them, Joel and Y/n walked down the hallway, passing the walls decorated with animal murals and creating a gruesome contrast. The glowing door at the end of the hall acted as their guiding light, the homing beacon they’d chased through the bloody battlefield they’d created.

Joel pushed the door open and they walked in, a window giving them a view into the operating room. Ellie was laid out on a table, a nurse was holding a gas mask to her face, drawing her into unconsciousness.

They were nearly too late.

Y/n, with adrenaline pumping through her veins, broke away from Joel and burst through the second set of doors. The doctor and nurses gasped in horror, jumping at the sudden sight.

“Unhook her,” Y/n growled, “Now.”

The doctor took a step towards Y/n, “How did you get in here?”

Joel was close behind her, Y/n’s speed drawing him out of his daze. “Unhook her,” he echoed.

The doctor nervously reached for a scalpel, holding it up to Joel and Y/n with shaking hands. “I won’t let you take her.”

He’d taken one step towards Y/n before Joel shot him, beating the epinephrine to protect her.

The nurses screamed and covered their ears, Y/n took it as her opportunity to move in on them.

“Un,” she enunciated, backing the women up towards Ellie’s bed, “Hook…her…now.”

“Move!” Joel shouted, keeping his gun drawn on them.

The nurses stepped to, unhooking Ellie’s various monitors and taking out her IV, a small stream of blood escaping the leftover hole. Joel couldn’t stand the sight of her bleeding.

“Cover her arm,” he ordered once again, “Fast.”

They obeyed and taped a piece of gauze to Ellie’s arm.

“Turn around,” Joel said as Y/n came back to stand beside him.

The nurses, shaking and whimpering in fear for their lives, did as they were told and turned their backs. Y/n kept her gun trained on them while Joel moved to Ellie, cupping the back of her neck and sitting her up. With the reassurance of her shallow breaths against his neck, his worst fear stayed buried twenty years in the past. He lifted Ellie into his arms delicately, his brutality melting to tenderness as soon as he’d touched her.

As Joel carried Ellie out of the room, Y/n stayed on his six and kept her gun aimed. She didn’t spare a glance at the doctor or the operating table as she left, unable to look at even one reminder of what could have been.

Joel and Y/n made it back down the hall, walking with the speed of criminals but the exhaustion of two people who had just laid waste to the world. Y/n tapped the elevator call button rapidly, the true effect of the epinephrine was starting to hit. She stumbled into the car behind Joel, smacking the button for the parking garage and leaned up against the wall. Her heart was slamming against her chest, sweat was pooling at her temples, her body was buzzing.

Joel peered over at her, concerned, and received a passive shake of the head.

“Is she okay?” Y/n whispered in between panting breaths.

“Yeah,” Joel mumbled, staring down at Ellie. The reality of the decision they’d made was beginning to hit them both.

They were dooming the world to save theirs.

The elevator gave them little time to think, dinging as it hit the bottom floor and opening its doors. Y/n stepped out ahead of Joel, her rifle pointed towards any threats lurking in the shadows. Joel spotted a parked and running car, the two of them made a beeline for the vehicle.

“You can’t keep her safe forever.”

Y/n spun around, Marlene stepped out from the darkness with her handgun drawn. Y/n didn’t hesitate to keep her rifle raised.

“No matter how hard you two try,” Marlene took slow, steady steps towards them, “No matter how many people you kill, she’s gonna grow up. And then you’ll die, she’ll leave. Then what? How long till she’s torn apart by Infected or murdered by raiders? Because she lives in a broken world that you could have saved.”

There was truth to what Marlene was saying, neither Joel nor Y/n could deny that.

“Maybe,” Joel answered, “But it isn’t for you to decide.”

“Or you two,” Marlene replied, her eyes flicking to Ellie, “So what would she decide, huh? ‘Cause I think she’d wanna do what’s right.”

Y/n nearly flinched, torn between Ellie’s fierce desire to protect and the plans she had for her future.

“And you know it,” Marlene’s gaze fell on Y/n, seeing the unsureness from her comrade. She slowly lowered her gun, “It’s not too late. Even now, even after what you two’ve done…we can still find a way.”

Y/n and Joel had lost everything to Cordyceps, one way or another. They’d lost their daughter, Y/n had lost her future with Joel and Tommy, her family, Joel had eventually lost Tommy, Tess, Bill and Frank…Cordyceps had taken anything and everything meaningful in their lives. They should have been first in line for advocating for a cure, and they would have been…

But nothing, not even the salvation of the world, was worth losing Ellie.

And that was what made it so easy for Y/n to shoot Marlene in the gut.

As soon as her former friend dropped to the floor, Y/n’s gun fell from her hands and her knees began to wobble. The room was spinning and her heartbeat was ramping up even further. The epinephrine was backfiring.

“No, no, no,” Joel mumbled, spinning around to put his back to Y/n as she fell forward, “Hold onto me.”

Y/n weakly reached around Joel’s neck and looped her arms around him.

Joel strained under the combination of Y/n and Ellie’s body weight, but his determination surpassed his body’s abilities. Carrying one and dragging the other, he fought his way to the truck. He shuffled Ellie in his arms to reach for the door, sliding her carefully into the backseat, before handling Y/n.

“What’s wrong?” Joel asked, twisting his body to take her into his arms, “What’s happening?”

Y/n, beginning to lose her grip on consciousness, shook her head once again and let her head loll against Joel’s shoulder.

“Hang on, hang on, honey,” Joel hurried, growing panicked that her injury had finally gotten to her and torn an organ, “Just hang on for me.”

Joel blindly reached for the passenger side door, he lifted Y/n with a grunt and placed her carefully in the seat. Brushing his hand against her cheek, he wiped the sweat off her skin.

“Rose,” Joel called in a rush as Y/n’s eyes began to flutter shut, slapping her face a few times, “Rose, honey, come on. Stay with me.”

A groan from behind them drew Joel’s attention and got Y/n to open her eyes. The two of them shared a knowing look, Joel swallowing harshly before dragging his fingers down Y/n’s perspiring cheek and unholstering his gun.

Y/n’s gaze followed him as he walked away from her, through the haze of the drugs, she felt some semblance of guilt. Not enough to make her call Joel’s name and ask he show mercy towards Marlene, but some little inkling of guilt that stood the chance at gnawing at her conscience if she ever came back to lucidity.

In the seconds before the bullet released from its chamber, Y/n memorialized her time with the Fireflies. She grieved their attempts to save Boston in the dark of night. The kids they’d lost in the fight, so eager to help, like Riley. All the battles that had seemed like part of something grander that now felt meaningless, now having seen the end goal. If death only bred death, and violence only bred violence, then perhaps there was truth to the old saying…the road to hell was paved with good intentions.

She tried, she thought, as a few tears escaped her eyes, she’d tried so hard to make a difference…

It had just been with the wrong people.

Joel fired one shot

Y/n was freed.

Joel hurried back to the truck and to Y/n’s side, her eyes were now shut and her pulse was slapping against her neck.

“Honey, come on,” Joel said softly, trying to calm both of them down, “I need you to take some deep breaths. Nice and slow.”

“Drive,” Y/n breathed, her heart practically beating out of her chest. Regardless of whether the epinephrine was going to kill her or not, they needed to escape.

Joel hesitated before pressing a kiss to Y/n’s forehead and shutting her door. He ran around the car, slamming its hood down and jumping in the driver’s seat. The keys were still in the ignition, there was nearly a full tank of gas. They were going to make it.

Joel looked over to Y/n, who had gone limp in her seat.

“Rose,” Joel practically shouted, reaching over to feel his love’s wrist, still feeling her pulse working overtime, “Honey, c’mon, wake up.”

“Drive, Joel,” Y/n slurred, her head slumped against her seat.

Joel did as requested and put the truck in drive, maneuvering them through the parking garage. All the while, he kept one trembling hand on Y/n’s knee, her rifle knocking against his knuckles each time they hit a speed bump. He didn’t know if by saving Ellie’s life, he was going to lose Y/n’s, and for once, Joel wanted a win. A full win. He didn’t want to sacrifice one more person.

The garage’s exit lay at the end of a long stretch of tunnel, the glow of daylight approaching faster and faster as Joel drove. Their three month journey would come to a close and his sins would see sunlight. And while anyone else would have said it had all been in vain, to risk one’s life to save humanity only to decide that humanity wasn’t worth the asking price, it wasn’t a waste. Not to Joel.

He glanced in the dashboard mirror, Ellie’s sleeping form in the backseat.

He looked over the glovebox, Y/n’s chest finally beginning to rise and fall at a steadier pace.

He would have done it all over again.

Every.

Single.

Part.

—————————

In a puddle of her own sweat, Y/n came to a few hours later, her head leaned up against the truck window. She blinked a few times, adjusting to the sunlight, and took stock of the rapidly moving landscape. There were forest trees and mountains in the distance.

“Hey,” Joel said, wrapping his hand around Y/n’s thigh.

“Hey,” she mumbled back, looking over to Joel, “Where are we?”

“Just outside of Wyoming,” he answered, rubbing his thumb across her jeans with a deep need to touch her, to assure himself she was okay. “Still a couple hours till we get to Tommy’s.”

Y/n hummed and nodded weakly, trying to look into the backseat at Ellie

“She’s been in and out,” Joel said, keeping his eyes focused on the road, “I told her about the raiders.”

Confusedly scrunching her brows, Y/n glanced back over at Joel.

“Attackin’ the hospital,” Joel continued, his pleading eyes drifting to his partner, “And about the tests they ran on her.”

“Yeah,” Y/n mumbled, reading Joel’s facial cues and coming to some understanding. She needed to be filled in on where she fit into the story.

Joel rubbed his hand over Y/n’s leg, “Get some sleep. I’ll wake ya when we’re close.”

There was so much she wanted to say, but her thoughts were too groggy to string more than two or three words together. With one scan of Joel’s clenched jaw and tired gaze, Y/n could tell he was feeling something similar. There’d be time for talking and setting their story straight, but for now, Y/n could close her eyes once more and settle into the knowledge that they were going home.

—————————

The next day, the car decided it had carried them far enough and the woods of Wyoming was where they’d part ways.

Joel examined the engine, a useless task considering they didn’t have the tools to repair anything, while Ellie and Y/n sat in the car.

“Well, she got us close enough,” Joel announced, coming around to the driver’s side, “We gotta walk the rest of the way. Probably about a five-hour hike,” he hung on the car door in front of Ellie, “But we can manage that. Remember?”

Ellie scanned her memories, bringing up their third day together, in the Massachusetts woods. She smiled, “Yeah.”

“Easy for you to say,” Y/n grunted as she used the backseat door to pull herself out of her seat, “You’re not walking around with two cracked fuckin’ ribs and a headache the size of Texas.”

“What happened to you back there anyway?” Ellie finally asked, Y/n had slept nearly the whole drive thus far. This was the longest she’d stayed awake.

“I did drugs,” Y/n replied honestly, having everything and nothing to hide.

“We’ll take it slow,” Joel promised, looping an arm around Y/n’s waist and kissing her forehead, “Take breaks.”

Y/n chuckled, “There’s a hot shower and a bed waiting on the other side of this fucking mountain,” she pointed up at the first hill they’d have to climb, “If anything, we’re shaving time off this thing.”

Joel smiled at the woman, who was already pulling Ellie to her feet and marching in the direction of their starting point.

As they hiked, Y/n’s energy started to go downhill again, and the painkillers she’d been given at the hospital had completely worn off. She leaned on Joel eventually, letting him brace some of her weight during the steeper portions.

Ellie, while concerned for Y/n’s wellbeing, was even more quiet than before they’d reached the hospital.

“Y’know, Sarah and I used to hike like this all the time,” Joel broke the silence and looked back to Ellie.

Y/n tilted her head towards Joel in surprise. It was the first time he’d brought up his daughter on his own accord…ever.

“I wouldn’t say it was her favorite thing. She wasn’t a fan of the mosquitos and such,” he continued, “But she was a big climber or…scampering. That’s probably the right word.”

“It is,” Y/n interjected, sharing a small smile with Joel.

“That girl…” Joel muttered, “She’d see a big rock and just…” he shot his free hand out, “Pew!”

Even at the mature age of thirteen, Y/n could remember Sarah and her running Texas’ nature trails and climbing the less dangerous rocks. Joel would follow behind, laughing and telling his girlfriend that if she broke his daughter, she was buying him a new one.

“She woulda liked you,” Joel told Ellie, it was one of the most honest things he’d ever said. “Not to say the two of you are the same. Definitely different kids.”

“How so?” Ellie softly asked from behind Joel and Y/n.

“Well, she was a lot more…” Joel trailed off, “I wanna say girly,” he quickly turned to Ellie, “And I’m not sayin’ that you’re not girly.”

“I’m not,” Ellie admitted, barely smiling up at Joel.

“Yeah, you’re not. So that,” Joel chuckled, tightening his hold on Y/n a little as he listed off Sarah’s attributes, “She was taller. She had a killer smile. Again, not sayin’ that you don’t.”

Y/n shook her head, withholding a laugh for the sake of her ribs. Three months prior, they’d all been threatening to kill each other. Now they were dancing around conversational landmines that weren’t even there, so afraid of hurting one another.

“But you know why I think she’d like you?” Joel addressed Ellie once more.

“Why?”

“‘Cause you’re funny,” Joel answered, “I think you would’ve made her laugh.”

Y/n nodded, “She also would have appreciated the well deserved crap you give her dad.”

Joel snorted at Y/n’s comment, knowing there was truth to it. Sarah had always enjoyed having someone to gang up on him with, but no fiercer duo had ever existed than the likes of his daughter and his girlfriend.

“Anyway,” Joel felt his emotions beginning to tighten around his throat, “I bet you would’ve liked her back.”

“Yeah,” Ellie said, still sounding distant, “Bet I would’ve.”

The weight of Sarah’s death had suffocated Joel and Y/n separately for two decades. It had been a blade, sticking out their chest, that they’d somehow learned to live with. But there was something, between their time with Ellie and their coming back together, that had caused the pain to…change. It would never hurt any less than it did now, but Sarah’s memory now seemed like one they could look back on with more than grief. There could be smiles and laughter as they thought back on their beautiful, brilliant girl.

Y/n rested her head on Joel’s shoulder as they walked, he pressed his cheek to her hair. They both felt it.

A little ways more and they’d reached the top of the hill. In the distance, the town of Jackson stretched within its walls. It was far bigger than any of them had realized.

“There ya go,” Joel said as they paused to take it in, “Not much further now.”

He helped Y/n on the decline with her keeping her weary eyes on what they’d now call home. She nearly cried when she realized that they’d never have to leave it again. The three of them could settle into life as close to what it should have been.

“Hey, wait,” Ellie called, bringing Joel and Y/n to a halt. She began to form words before abandoning them, “Fuck…”

Joel’s muscles tightened, worried that she’d taken the time to pick apart his lie.

“Back in Kansas City, you asked me about the first time I killed someone,” Ellie spoke to Joel.

He fidgeted a little as he held Y/n, relieved that it wasn’t about the hospital.

“When I got bit,” Ellie continued, “I-I wasn’t on my own. My best friend was there and she got bit too. We didn’t know what to do, and she says, ‘We can just wait it out…be all poetic and just lose our minds together.’”

Y/n bit her lip, her brief time of knowing Riley’s spirit flashed through her mind.

“And then she did,” Ellie went on with her story, “And I had to…her name was Riley, and she was the first to die. And then it was Tess. And then it was Sam-”

Joel shook his head, “That’s not on you.”

“No,” Y/n reenforced, “Not at all.”

“I know,” Ellie sighed, “But-“

“Look sometimes things don’t work out the way we hope,” Joel said, “You can feel like…like you’ve come to an end…and you don’t know what to do next,” he sighed, thinking back on all the choices in his life that had led him to this moment, “But if you just keep going…you find something new to fight for.”

Y/n looked downwards, feeling every one of Joel’s words ring true in her heart.

“And maybe that’s not what you want to hear-“ Joel tried to continue his speech.

“Swear to me,” Ellie interrupted.

Joel and Y/n paused, holding their breaths as their tale was challenged. Y/n’s exhaustion allowed her to lower her head as she fought to take a deeper breath.

“Swear to me that everything you said about the Fireflies is true,” Ellie continued, her eyes demanding yet still soft.

Lying was an essential part of survival. It was a skill to be honed and a craft that required complete dedication. Joel had lied his way through life, into black market deals and smuggling opportunities. Y/n had lied to aid the Fireflies and to save her own life. They’d been comfortable saying whatever they needed to to stay alive.

That feeling died on the Wyoming hilltop.

“I swear,” Joel replied.

Y/n inhaled as deep as she could, feeling the fullness of what she was about to say wash over her and possess her body.

“I swear.”

Ellie watched them, her mind working to process what they were saying, leaving her nearly unreadable. They waited with bated breath as she decided whether to accept their answers or not.

“Okay.”

Without another word, Ellie picked up her pace, moving past Joel and Y/n to head down the hill. Joel began their descend, but Y/n pulled her arm away from him and stayed frozen.

“Give me a minute,” she said, her eyes on the mountains.

Joel inhaled to argue the point that she couldn’t make it more than ten steps on her own, but the distance in her eyes advised him against it. He let her hand go and began to follow Ellie, turning back once to make sure she was okay.

Y/n let her eyes drift down to Jackson, tracing the outlines of the town and trying to find the house that would become theirs. The possibilities were overwhelming as to what they could do when they got there. If there was electricity, she could cook proper meals for Joel and Ellie. They could have game nights. Tommy could come over at random moments in the day. Ellie could attend a real school. Joel could get back to his roots and fix up the house. They could retire to their bedroom each night, calling out to Ellie to go to sleep before doing the same. It could be the domestic life she’d always wanted, simplistic in every sense.

Except it wouldn’t be real.

Y/n had seen the distrust in Ellie’s face, she knew that at some point, the girl would figure it out. And if she didn’t, she’d always be questioning if her and Joel were telling the God’s honest truth. What their relationship had been would never again be. By saving Ellie’s life, they had forever changed the dysfunctional little found family they’d created.

Y/n blinked once, took a deep breath, and headed down the hill, taking her first step into a life of lies.

——————

TYL Taglist: @bachiracore @stolenxkissess @kayleezra @the-wistful-reader @allthesesonsofbitches @goth-detectives365 @trippovert @rh1nestonecowg1rl @emiliaserpe @khaleesihavilliard @frietiemeloen @gracie7209 @dorck26 @thegirlnextdoorssister @alanis-altair @mariwinns16 @whosscruffylooking @endofthexline @alexiaricciardo @eonnyx @pedrosmexicangf @scarlettequinn @ao-sleepy @toinfinityandbeyonce2 @deanlovescassie @turmoil-ash @sorrowjunky @kpopslur @xxlilyxx90 @midgetpottermills @presidential-facts @scoopsnini @tubble-wubble @jamesdeerest @burninggracesandbridges @star-wars-lover @lucyhotchner @cococola-cocaine @witheringhqarts @fall-writes @alwaysdjarin @xxmoonn @emilia-the-artist @wand-erer5 @boneyarrd @lizard-zombie @themultifandomofmadness @cassidylea123 @paleepeaches @mxltifxnd0m @kettlekatie @ultimate-cinephile @gloryekaterina @caramelkatsukis-bitch @whovianayesha @memeorydotcom @deadunicorn159 @get0ut0fmyr00m @siriuslymooned @emmyeed @superbreadsoul @hellu-people1 @ourautumn86 @inas-thing @noraapple05 @givemylovetoall @luvwanda (tags cont. in comments)

#joel miller x reader #joel miller x female reader #joel miller x f!reader #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller fanfic #joel miller fic #joel miller imagine #the last of us imagine #the last of us fanfiction #the last of us fanfic #the last of us fic #twenty years later

[discordsmuse]

Discordsmuse Masterlist

❀•°❀°•❀

Hello friends! Finally putting together a masterlist to make it easier for you guys to find all my fanfics here since I only post to AO3!

These will be organized by fandom and character.

❀•°❀°•❀

Baldur's Gate 3

Halsin

dance me to the end of love, NSFW/18+: Fem!Tav and Halsin admit to their feelings post-Moonrise and fuck on a balcony.

Silence, NSFW/18+ : Fem!Tav and Halsin fuck in a closet

Do Unto Others, NSFW/18+ : Fem!Tav wants to give Halsin some attention and convinces him to let her be the giver for once.

Enver Gortash

body more than just a flesh, you can sell it for success, NSFW/18+: Fem!Tav is invited to dinner with the Archduke and things get a little heated.

i will give you all that you need, NSFW/18+: Sequel to the above, Fem!Tav and Gortash bathe together before Enver gets a little handsy.

gracious men are those who suffer, NSFW/18+: Fem!Tav and Enver w/ a free use kink.

legacy with no memory, NSFW/18+: Fem!Durge and Enver Gortash w/a pregnancy kink

I wanna know my god, At least enough to fear Her, NSFW/18+: Fem!Durge and Gortash have a lil bit of hate sex

Gale Dekarios

be my nightfire, NSFW/18+: Fem!Tav catches Gale mid-alone time. Feelings and sex ensue.

Abdirak

sanctify you bedsheets with the sweat along your hips, NSFW/18+: Fem!Tav is fascinated by Abdirak and nervously asks him to teach her about Loviatar.

Raphael

delightful little detour, NSFW/18+: Canon rewrite for what happens when Fem!Tav tells Raphael he's bad at sex.

Let the Dream Begin, NSFW/18+: Fem!Tav/Raphael Phantom of the Opera AU, slowburn

Office Hours, NSFW/18+: Fem!Tav/Raphael College AU

Rolan

i wanna have a home, i wanna share it, NSFW/18+: Fem!Tav and Rolan get together post-saving the tieflings from moonrise.

❀•°❀°•❀

Pirates of the Caribbean

Hector Barbossa

The Pirate Lord, NSFW/18+: Barbossa/Reader post-Elizabeth being kinged.

All That Glitters, NSFW/18+: Longform Barbossa/Reader canon rewrite pre-CotBP

Liar's Bet, NSFW/18+: Longform Barbossa/Reader canon rewrite during CotBP and DMC

feel the edges start to burn, NSFW/18+: Barbossa/Reader where reader is friends w/Carina

❀•°❀°•❀

Harry Potter

Severus Snape

isn't it lovely (all alone), NSFW/18+: Snape/Reader closet sex

no death in rebirth, NSFW/18+: Snape/Reader longform amnesia oneshot

Brought to Life, NSFW/18+: Snape/Reader marauder's era classmates to lovers lol

❀•°❀°•❀

Dead by Daylight

Canon/Canon

Contention, NSFW/18+: Ace/Meg against a tree hatesex

Breaking Point, NSFW/18+: Megmillan first time

It's Alright, Teen/16+: The survivors and killers recover post-entity

Anna/The Huntress

Not so much taming as growing accustomed, Mature/16+, Huntress/Reader friendship to lovers

Herman Carter/The Doctor

Untethered, NSFW/18+, The Doctor/Reader where reader annoying him but in the fun, bratty way

❀•°❀°•❀

Resident Evil Village

Karl Heisenberg

Business Partners with Benefits, NSFW/18+: Heisenberg/Reader where reader is Moreau's niece

❀•°❀°•❀

Spider Man

Dr. Otto Octavius/Doc Ock

Working Overtime, NSFW/18+: Otto/Reader where reader is his lab assistant

Bedside Manner, NSFW/18+: Otto/Reader where reader is Doc Ock's lover

❀•°❀°•❀

Labyrinth

Jareth the Goblin King

Midsummer, NSFW/18+: Jareth/Reader at the midsummer fae ball

don't leave me lonely, NSFW/18+: Jareth/Reader sequel to Midsummer

❀•°❀°•❀

The band Ghost

Papa Emeritus IV/Cardinal Copia

Better Than, NSFW/18+: Copia/Reader where he's a little insecure about Terzo being better than him

❀•°❀°•❀

Dracula

Dracula (lol)

Nice Costume, NSFW/18+: Dracula/Reader in a modern setting at a party

❀•°❀°•❀

Our Flag Means Death

Israel Hands

we do get desperate, now and again, Mature/16+: Fem!Reader/Izzy hurt/comfort unrequited love.

i wanna be yours, Mature/18+: Fem!Reader/Izzy first time together

❀•°❀°•❀

The Quarry (2022)

Travis Hackett/Laura Kearney

• fell in love with the fever, Explicit/18+: Travis and Laura are forced to spend some time together 6 months after the incident.

❀•°❀°•❀

This list will grow/change as I write more :D Thanks for reading!

#hector barbossa #pirates of the carribean #labyrinth #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #raphael #gortash #harry potter #snape #fanfiction #author #discordsmuse #masterlist #smut #otto octavius #dracula #ghost #writing #izzy hands #izzy hands x reader #the quarry #travis hackett #laura kearney

[locklyle1kanij]

I’m gonna make a list of my fav Lockwood and co fics in the hope that someone will see this list then reblog it and say “wow good choices! You should really check out this fic!”

(PLEASE I NEED FICS) (Warning these are basically all mainly Locklyle fics just letting you know)

(okay obviously we need Policy 8 on this list!)

“Policy 8” written by by: The_Biscuit_Agreement

Ongoing

Plot Summary :

Policy 8 was established in the hope of encouraging the birth of increasingly powerful agents. All agents 18 and over must accept the marriages DEPRAC assigns them. Agents between the ages of 16-18 can volunteer to enter the programme or else be forced into it due to minor illegal behaviour.
Lucy Carlyle volunteered. Anthony Lockwood was forced. In an effort to protect the two teenagers from being turned into pawns in the games of the rich and powerful, Barnes ensures Lucy and Lockwood are married. But just because they aren't stuck as pawns, doesn't mean the teenagers aren't forced into the same dangerous games.

“As London Burns” written by: ScienceFantasy93

Ongoing

Plot Summary:

An AU About locklyle in the middle of world war two with Lockwood fighting as a RAF pilot and with Lucy as a news reporter. (very angsty) (idk what else to say about it tbh… BUT I LOVE THIS FIC!)

“The bones of our past written” by: moon2pluto

Finished (but has a sequel that’s ongoing)

Plot Summary:

Just a few months after the destruction of the bone mirror, the team of Lockwood & Co. has another big case to tackle:
When Lucy gets a letter from her little sister, begging her to come back and help her with a haunting doomed to kill them, she doesn't need long to make a decision, and neither George nor Lockwood are going to let her face this alone. To not get any unwanted attention in her hometown, Lucy and Lockwood agree to take a closer look disguised as a couple while George is busy researching. But when the haunting turns out to run much deeper and wilder than any of them thought, and other players enter the game, one question arises: Will Lockwood & Co. also make it out of this case unscathed?

(This one’s my all time favourite)

“The hidden archive” written by: BrooklynBooks

Ongoing

Plot Summary:

Ghost possession doesn't happen often, but fatality rates are high. Even if an agent does survive, there are the aftereffects to worry about. After surviving a possession, Lucy Carlyle struggles with recovery, delving ever deeper into the memories of Visitors and, in the process, stumbling into the world of blackmarket Sources. Meanwhile, George Karim races to learn the truth behind ghost possession in order to protect Lucy and save future agents. And Anthony Lockwood must face his own past with the London underworld if he wants to save his friends and himself.

“Connections” written by: The_Biscuit_Agreement (I’m sorry i’m so obsessed with their fics lol)

Ongoing

Plot Summary:

Lockwood forms a psychic link with a dead young agent and the group try to use it to work out how the agent died with disastrous consequences.

“Crushed” written by: itripandfallalot, Salvoirfaire

Ongoing

Plot Summary:

A bad case and broken leg leave Lucy no choice but to return to Portland Row until she recovers. Lockwood is definitely not using this as an opportunity to persuade her to come back for good, because that would be unfair. And he never plays dirty.

“Because everything is the same until, very suddenly, it isn’t” written by: Netflixcapricorn

Finished

Plot Summary:

What happens when the only way out of this mess is a fake marriage?

(Here’s a warning, extremely angsty)

“Lucy takes the long way home” written by: agents_cxrter

Finished

Plot Summary:

Lucy might have left Lockwood and Co, but she can't get Lockwood out of her system.

(So many annoying emotions in this one like WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!!?!)

“This is going to end badly” written by: The_Biscuit_Agreement

Ongoing

Plot Summary:

When Fittes Agent Lucy Carlyle is cornered by relic-men alone in the woods, she is rescued by an unlikely source: Anthony Lockwood, run-away and relic-man. When Fittes gets tasked with trying to track the young man down, Lucy finds herself in an interesting position.

“Perfectly Incandescently Happy” written by: OceanSpray5

Finished

Plot Summary:

After the death of her best friend, Ms Lucy Carlyle is given the opportunity to be sponsored for the 1815 London season by Norrie's aunt. Instantly compared to the Diamond due to their astonishingly similar looks, she befriends Lord Lockwood quite unexpectedly yet is left wondering if she was a fool for believing he'd look twice at a mere country girl.

(This fic is literally the cutest thing to exist… if you exclude the angst lollll)

“No One Cares About The Nightwatch” Written by: Nomolosk

Ongoing

Plot Summary:

Lucy Carlyle is a Listener, a failed agent, a runaway, and now works the nightwatch in London. One might think her life a failure from start to last- but Lucy has goals. She will get a grade four certificate, and reapply to all the best agencies, and her life will get immeasurably better.

However, firsthand experience of the treatment most people give the nightwatch, and a chance encounter with Lockwood and Co. have her reevaluating those goals... maybe she can do some good before she moves on...

“The Injury of Finally Knowing You” written by: booknerds_unite

Ongoing

Plot Summary:

Anthony Lockwood, the only surviving male monarch from the Lockwood line, has six months to find a wife or Parliament will make a case to keep him from the throne. Lucy Carlyle has just arrived at the palace to work as a maid and to escape her horrific mother. They were never supposed to meet.
On the night of Lockwood's birthday celebration, their paths cross and nothing will ever be the same.

“What lies between the lines” written by: The_Biscuit_Agreement

Ongoing

Plot Summary

When she arrived in London, Lucy Carlyle took up a job at the British Archives, spending her days determining which love letters, suicide notes and other collected paperwork could one day produce a visitor. It's a taxing job, made easier by king archivists and the presence of young agents doing research nearby. As Lucy becomes close with some of these young agents, she starts to receive love letters herself and finds herself using her under-utilised talents to try to work out who might be behind the notes.

(at this point just go through all of The_Biscuit_Agreement fics tbh… There all perfection)

(okay i’ve read a ton more really good Lockwood and Co fics but i feel lazy now so maybe i’ll post a part two of fic recs later)

#lockwood and co #fic recs #locklyle #lucy carlyle #anthony lockwood #save lockwood and co #lockwood & co #lockwood and lucy #george cubbins #george karim #ao3 #part 2 soon? #please give me recs!! #i hope this helps someone

[chenfleur]

[16:31] “Oh, darling.”

Shivers run down your spine at Minghao's pitiful tone.

Your eyes are locked on the floor, running along each of its lines and discolourations, doing anything other than making eye contact. You tell yourself it's so he can't see the dreadful state you're in, when really, that was only half of the reason.

You know what expression he's wearing. Eyebrows furrowed, tongue poking his cheek, gaze flooded with in concern.

It's the one he wears when he's not quite satisfied with one of his paintings. The one he gave Mingyu when he was so close to caving and ringing up his ex.

The one he's undoubtedly giving you now.

"Ming- achoo! Minghao..." you whisper weakly.

You feel his slender hands slip into yours, soft, warm skin contrasting your frigid ones. The way he slightly shivers at the contact makes you cringe.

"Y/N... what happened?" he asks, eyes wide as he scans your figure.

Right before you left for Minghao's apartment complex, you'd taken one quick glance in the mirror. The sight left you groaning.

Your hair was astray, eyes puffy and red, body stiff and slouched. You almost forced yourself to sit in front of your vanity and attempt at making yourself look more presentable—but not a single fiber of your being could be bothered to pick up a hairbrush, let alone change clothes.

So, you closed your eyes, took a deep breath, and left despite feeling (and looking) like a mess. All you wanted was to fall into your boyfriend's care.

"I..." You wipe at your nose, nearly laughing as you recount the events that lead you to this point. "I went to a bar with Nayoung, Mieun, and Soonyoung yesterday. The new one, on the corner of Lanesfield and Stewart."

"I know that," Minghao deadpans, lacing his fingers with yours. "Y/N, there's no universe where this is just a hangover."

You scoff, swinging your intertwined hands back and forth. "You only say that because you have a high tolerance," you mumble, gaze cast aside.

"Are we going to stand here and argue forever, or are you going to just tell me what's wrong so I can help you?"

A sigh leaves your lips. "I just... got a little too drunk. Ran outside while it was raining. Played around for a while. It was a lot of fun. I haven't felt like that since I was a kid," you say, a ghost of a smile on your lips as memories of last night flash through your head.

Minghao's gaze softens. The image of you running around in the rain, wet hair and blinding smile, makes his heart swell in his chest.

"That sounds magical," he hums, bringing a hand up to stroke your hair. His touch makes you close your eyes.

"But... I don't think you should do it again, at least when you're drunk. Did you take a hot shower when you got home?"

You shake your head. "Passed out as soon as I unlocked the door."

A sigh. "I thought so."

Upon opening your eyes, you find that Minghao's expression has returned to the distressed one from before, his gaze boring into you. You frown, bringing your hand up and pressing your thumb against the area between his eyebrows to smooth out the crease. He eyes you curiously.

"Don't do that. You look like you're mad at me," you huff.

Bringing your hand up, he presses a feather-soft kiss to your knuckles. "I could never be mad at you."

You crack a smile, only for it to be immediately followed by a series of coughs. Recoiling ever so slightly, Minghao eyes you solemnly as you direct the coughing fit into the crook of your arm. Your voice is meek as you apologize after recovering.

Minghao shakes his head, his lips carefully pursed together. The sight of you so fragile pains him, especially when you're usually so strong and bright.

"Don't apologize," he whispers.

He presses the back of his hand to your forehead, gasping at the burning sensation.

"You're more sick than I thought," he mumbles, sliding his hand down the side of your face and letting it linger there.

"Let's go inside. Let me fix you, yeah?"

#seventeen scenarios #seventeen x reader #svt x reader #seventeen fluff #svt fluff #svt scenarios #minghao x reader #minghao imagines #minghao fluff #minghao scenarios #seventeen #svt #xu minghao #the8 #seventeen minghao #seventeen drabbles #seventeen imagines #the8 x reader #xu minghao x reader #svt imagines

[capricornsims]

Some headcanons featuring screenshots from my Sims 3 Strangetown game.

PT9 and Jenny met in 1985. Based on the Sims 2 memories, she found him drowning in the pool since he dived head-first into the shallow end. While everyone was running away in fear - she rescued him and fell in love at first sight. PT9 vowed loyalty to his savior and gifted her with knowledge about Sixam.

Jenny and Lyla were roommates until she married Buzz Grunt. She doesn't get Jenny's attraction to PT9 but she was supportive. Meanwhile, Jenny tried her hardest to break up Lyla and Buzz because she deserved so much better!

The Curious Brothers were forced to cut contact with Jenny since she 'betrayed' their father by marrying PT9 ( valid honestly - thinking about it makes my head hurt )

Pascal having Tycho brought the family back together.

5. Glarn was an emotionally absent father who paid no attention to his kids. Pascal was Glarn's favorite which was why he went to private school. He was also responsible for looking after his younger brothers when they moved out.

6. Pascal is " Well achually" incarnate. He loves to talk about theories and science. Aliens and Astro physics are his hyper fixation

7. Vidcund and Lazlo spend their time joking about how Pascal takes himself way too seriously. They were best friends throughout school and Vidcund was the one who helped Lazlo get his degree.

8. Lazlo is a genius, he passed school with no effort because he was just that smart. Glarn didn't see his genius because he was too busy scolding him for being messy.

9. Lazlo takes Vidcund out to hang out with his friends and works overtime trying to set him up on dates so he can get over Circe.

10. The Curious Brothers weren't that close - and often butted heads but since Tycho was born they are closer than ever. ( UNTIL VIDUND SOLD TYCHO)

11. I know Vidcund was mind-controlled, but imagine if he wasn't. He's in serious debt and these blue aliens offered him like a billion dollars if he sold his nephew. The Dudes in Black wanted to run experiments on him idk.

12. Pascal never really recovered after his kid was stolen and was overly protective of Tycho. Tycho grew up anxious because of the overarching threat of being kidnapped again.

13. Olive Specter is not a serial killer (allegedly) - she just has really bad luck, but she kept up the bit so people would leave her alone! She is really superstitious because she's connected to the supernatural. She makes good luck charms and ensures that Ophelia is really cautious and wears all her charms.

14. Ophelia has a serious anxiety disorder - partially because Olive raised her to be scared of everything for her own safety. She makes sure Johnny and Ripp don't go under ladders, cross poles, or step on cracks. She gets really stressed out when Ripp makes dark jokes.

15. Olive was a good mom until she was wrongly accused of being unstable which led to her baby being taken away. She tried to get him back but there were too many roadblocks and Nervous was already given away.

16. She loves the Grim Reaper and longs for the day she can see him again. Her partygoer job entails her going to funeral memorials.

17. Nervous met Annie Howell in foster care and they are really good friends to this day. He missed her because she was adopted by her older brother and left alone in the orphanage. 18. Nervous was a constant runaway and ended up in the Beaker's house as a teenager with the promise that he wouldn't have to go back to a group home. Unfortunate :(

19. I like how most people agree on how rude and not nice Nervous actually is. He's standoffish for good reason and gives Vidcund a lot of snark for being into Circe. He's chill with Lazlo though.

20. Nervous is the fun dad, and lets Tycho do whatever they want. Meanwhile, Pascal is pretty strict about his schooling ( which doesn't matter because Tycho has alien intelligence) and being safe. 21. Tycho grows up to follow in Pascal's astrophysics footsteps, mostly to build a ship and hunt down his Pollinator dad.

#headcannons #strangetown #pt9 smith #jenny smith #pascal curious #nervous subject #tycho curious #johnny smith #ophelia nigmos #olive specter #loki beaker #circe beaker #vidcund curious #lazlo curious #simblr #lyla grunt

[gay-disabled-characters-showdown]

LGBTQ+ Disabled Characters Showdown Round 1, Wave 1, Poll 16

A character being totally canon LGBTQ+ and disabled was not required to be in this competition. Please check qualifications and propaganda before asking why a character is included.

Check out the other polls in this wave here.

Xue Xian- Copper Coins / Tong Qian Kan Shi

Qualifications:

Protagonist of a danmei (Chinese BL) webnovel, in committed relationship with a man by the end of the story. Due to pre-canon injury, he is paraplegic for most of the story, though he slowly recovers his mobility during the course of it by returning his stolen body parts (it may make more sense in context: hes an immortal dragon).

Propaganda:

In short: paraplegic gay dragon :D Longer version: An immortal dragon paralyzed from waist down and stuck in the mortal world after someone attacked him and made off with half his body (dragon body parts all have uses in magic or medicine). Meets an amnesiac monk and they end up going on adventure together to recover lost memories (the monk) and lost body parts (the dragon). Their dynamic is significant annoyances to lovers <3 One interesting detail: though Xue Xian can change forms, his paraplegia remains in all of them, whether he is a paper doll, a human, a big noodle, a smol noodle... (yeah he has big & small dragon forms. that time he turned into a smol noodle and wrapped himself around his future bf's wrist lives in my brain rent-free tbh) Significant part of his drive to recover his stolen bones is to be able to fly again, btw, in his true (big dragon) form. ...To make sure I'm not misleading anyone: he does recover full mobility by the end of the story, BUT his disability is a very significant part of the novel.

Zuko-Avatar: The Last Airbender

Qualifications:

Zuko is sight impaired and has PTSD. Zuko is bisexual.

Propaganda:

Zuko is sight impaired and has PTSD. Zuko isn't queer in canon to my knowledge.

#polls #poll #disabled characters #lgbtq characters #disability #lgbtq #lgbtq dcs round 1 #lgbtq dcs wave 1 #xue xian #copper coins #tong qian kan shi #zuko #prince zuko #avatar the last airbender #atla

[whumpetywhump]

Are You Human, Too? (2018)

Nam Shin/Nam Shin III

01:

- Hit by a truck, unconscious, bleeding from the head

02:

- Still unconscious and bleeding on the ground from last episode, cradled, transported via ambulance with his head and leg bandaged, comatose in bed

- Has the skin torn off his back in a fire

03:

- Still comatose in bed, transported via ambulance

- Skin still shredded from last episode, shuts down and passes out, rushed to hospital, has his mechanics fixed, unconscious on an operating table after being stitched up, rebooted

04:

- Still comatose, transported via ambulance again

- Dragged behind a moving car, scratches on his face, skin torn off his back

05:

- Still comatose, bathed by his mother

- Face still scraped and back still shredded from last episode, has the skin repaired

06:

- Still comatose, treated with a device designed to wake him up

07:

- Still comatose and receiving the treatment

- Runs out of battery, shuts down

- Has his batteries ripped out, shuts down

08:

- Still comatose and receiving treatment

09:

- Still comatose

10:

- Still comatose, has the treatment withdrawn, twitching

11:

- Showing signs of waking from the coma

- Smashes a glass, cuts his hand, bleeding

12:

- Flashback: Wakes from the coma

- Still bleeding from the hand after last episode, collapses and passes out, recovering in bed with an oxygen mask and his hand bandaged

- Has his batteries removed, shuts down

- Has his batteries removed again, believed dead, given CPR

13:

- Hand still bandaged, still weak, helped into bed

- Easily exhausted, breathless, has to lean on things for support, using a wheelchair

- Hit in the face with a wrench, skin shredded from his cheek

14:

- Flashback: Face cut and bruised after a fight

- Stands up too quickly, dizzy, refusing help, stumbling, needs support to walk

- Face still shredded after last episode, has the damaged skin cut out and replaced

- Shut down after having his battery removed

15:

- Flashback: Smashes a glass, bloody hand, bandages it himself

- Punched in the face

- Has his batteries ripped out, shuts down, put on manual mode so that his every move is controlled by others

- Forced to hurt someone, tries to jump from a building so he can’t do the same again

- Has his memory wiped, forced to hurt someone, overrides the manual mode to save them

16:

- Punched in the face, bloody lip

17:

- Overwhelmed, migraine, stumbling, unable to walk without support, stumbles again, recovering in bed on an IV, feverish, refusing care

- Kill switch activated, falls to his knees, passes out and shuts down, reactivated

18:

- Grieving, sobbing

- Held hostage, tied to a chair, gagged, beaten in a hostage video, bruised face, bleeding from the mouth, held at gunpoint, rescued, unable to walk without support

- Grieving but unable to show emotion, “I want to cry”

- Running out of time before his kill switch is reactivated, starting to lose power, unstable on his feet, stumbling

- Removes his own batteries, shot repeatedly in the chest, falls into a river, shuts down underwater, magically resurrected in Kdrama style

TW: Contains themes of child abuse and suicide

#are you human too #kdrama #whump #kwhump #whump list #seo kang joon

[alexlovesfanfics]

Part 2 of changes I would have made to Heros of Olympus.

Obligatory disclaimer: I do not think I am better than Rick Riordan and what he has created is amazing but that doesn't mean we should not criticise it and it's important to be able to step back and see the issues or missed potential of a piece of writing

There would be at least 1 year gap b/w the PJO and HOO and both Percy and Annabeth would be 17, making them significantly older than most of the cast who all (with the exception of Jason for reasons I will get into) would be 13-15. This means Percy and Annabeth would be mentoring them.

Also as a benefit of the gap I would love to see Nico and Percy's relationship be slightly better though that's just because I love them

Grover would take the place of Coach Hedge and help Percy and Annabeth with mentoring the others. Also he and Nico would talk about Bianca as he was in the quest with her and her friend. Grover would help Nico with accepting that Bianca's death was mainly the fault of Talos.

Jason would still be 16 along with Reyna and Octavian. The three would have been friends pre-HOO (I have a whole trilogy planned for them that I will Inshallah write in the summer) and Octavian would start dating Jason shortly before TLH. He would also assume that Reyna would have assassinated Jason for political reasons (credit to @percabeth4life for this entire arc idea)

Jiper would become canon shortly before Mark Of Athena in the months after The Lost Hero. Octavian would be extremely upset about this and this would probably cause issues.

Percy would be called Perseus among the Romans

Percy would help Octavian search for Jason and get all the water life and Pegasi to look for Jason which would bring the 2 close and create a point of tension between Percy and Jason as Percy would be upset on Octavian's behalf that Jason went and dated Piper without even breaking up with Octavian (BC he didn't remember their relationship at first)

Percy also wouldn't sleep for months and instead wake up at the owl house (it was supposed to be wolf house but it's funny so I'm'n keeping it) at the same time as Jason showed up on the bus and he would be Praetor for several months slowly regaining his memory

Instead of just remembering Annabeth, he would also remember Grover because of the empathy link

Nico and Hazel's relationship would receive more focus. In the Cupid Scene, Hazel is there instead of Jason and Cupid instead of out right outting would instead subtly hint at him to do so. He'd talk about queer ppl in the myths and how being gay is okay and how you should accept yourself and not hide it and make Nico promise to try before giving them the staff. Hazel would ask and Nico would admit his crush on Percy. While surprised (40s kid) she would accept him unconditionally because that's her brother

Frank would be 14 and they wouldn't get together until a few years after the books

Hazel and Frank would have more focus and would have interest they still took part in like Hazel still drawing (maybe doodling in the corners of pages during meetings)

Percy and Annabeth wouldn't be as interested in moving to CJ. Like yeah Annabeth would immediately use it as a reference for New Athens but Percy hates strict rules and CHB is both Percy and Annabeth's home. It's also close to where a majority of their support system (Sally, Paul, Chiron, Annabeth's siblings, Clarisse bc you pry her friendship with them out of my cold dead hands, e.t.c). Also Annabeth is v ambitious and seems like someone who would eventually want to go to a very prestigious university. Emphasis on eventually as I think both she and Percy would take a break from school to recover from their trauma and get in a better headspace for dealing with all that

Tartarus would be far worse but while Annabeth would freak out at the Akhlys thing, she certainly would understand why Percy did it and wouldn't make him promise not to use those powers again

Piper and Annabeth would not get along at first. Annabeth enjoys girlie things and was friends with Silena so Piper insulting the Aphrodite cabin and looking down on girls for being feminine would not fly with her. While I do think this would change as Piper accepts her femininity (see previous post ABT changes I would make to HOO) I think Annabeth would be closer to Hazel and be like an older sister to her

Also Hazel would have dark hair and dark eyes like a normal black girl. No exotic bs. Same with Piper.

Frank would have dyslexia too because I am living proof that Asians can have learning disabilities too.

These are all for now. Will probably add more

#percy jackson #annabeth chase #heros of olympus #jason grace #nico di angelo #percy jackson and the heroes of olympus #rr crit #percy jackon and the olympians #anti hoo #hoo crit #piper mclean #hazel levesque #frank zhang #reyna avila ramirez arellano #octavian #shut up alex

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

Rockets continued to be fired into Israel from both the south (Hamas) and the north (Hezbollah). As of yesterday, 7,114 rockets have been fired into Israel, and the number of civilians being evacuated keeps increasing. Whole cities are being evacuated (for example, Sderot in the south and Kiryat Shmona in the north).

The British Prime Minister is currently in Israel, just a day after the American president had come and gone. Rishi Sunak has been asked to act on the BBC's refusal to refer to Hamas' massacre as terrorism.

I wrote about why for me (as for a lot of other Jews), the massacre is reminiscent of the cruel antisemitic violence of the Holocaust. Here's a reminder that there were Jews who survived the Nazis, but who didn't survive Hamas:

Ruth Peretz, a 16 years old Cerebral Palsy patient and paraplegic, and her father Arik who took her to a music festival, because of her love for music, were considered missing. Yesterday, family and friends' hopes were extinguished. Today would have been Arik's bday.

Someone please explain to me how murdering Ruth would liberate any Palestinian. Or how anyone can think about abled men killing a paralyzed teenage girl, and call them "militant" rather than "terrorist."

This is Aline. Her parents and brother were murdered. Yesterday, she was pronounced dead, too. Another entire family, completely gone.

In kibbutz Be'eri, they managed to clear enough rubble to recover another two bodies. I won't share the picture of the one foot sticking out from the ruins, I'll just tell you that this was the body of a young woman, she was found without any clothes on and with a metal wire wrapped around her ankle. Most likely she was restrained, beaten and raped, before she died. This is another part of why the number of dead keeps rising, they keep finding more bodies. Yet another is that some of the mortally injured succumb to their wounds.

On a personal note, the massacre has been sipping into my dreams (more like nightmares), and 12 days later, it's actually getting worse.

May their memories be a blessing.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

#israel #israeli #israel news #israel under attack #israel under fire #israelunderattack #terrorism #anti terrorism #antisemitism #hamas #antisemitic #antisemites #jews #jew #judaism #jumblr #frumblr #jewish

[streetlight11]

I Remember You

Summary: You grew up with your foster parents who found you at their doorstep when you were a newborn baby. They raised you up ever since and treated you like their own. When you turned 16, you started to keep getting the same recurring dream with the same scenes playing again and again. Until one day, it began to unveil more and more secrets to the dream which ends up showing you the bigger picture

Theme: supernatural au, strangers to lovers

Genre: slowburn, romance, fluff, a pinch of sadness(?)

Warnings: mentions of partial drowning, slight bullying, fights, injuries, cosmos, those paragraphs in italics are the dreams

W/C: 17.8k (sorry)

Pairing: Celestial!Jungkook x Human!FemReader

a/n: Hello hello! I'm back with a new fic✌🏼I wanted to try and write a theme I've never tried before so I honestly don't know if this is good or not. I'll let you decide :) *characters and storyline is completely fictional*

“Y/N, sweetie! Don’t go too near the lake!” Your foster mother said as she walked side by side with your foster father. Your 5 year old self was running around the park, trying to diligently catch the beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly. You ignored their calls of asking you to be careful because of course, kids will never listen. You got further and further away from your elders as you were so close to catching the butterfly when all of a sudden, your feet missed a step on the wooden bridge.

Within a split second, you plunged into the lake before your elders could chase after you. Water flushed down your nose and mouth, accidentally swallowing it in huge gulps while you were desperately crying for help. Since you were just a 5 year old kid, you didn’t know how to swim nor were you taught not to open your mouth and breathe underwater.

You were growing unconscious due to the large amount of water that had already started to fill your lungs. You were ready to just accept your fate that you were going to die right then and there. Except, luck has a different plan for you. Just when you were on the brink of completely drowning, a sudden new figure dives into the lake and swoops you into their arms before bringing you back up easily. Once you were on land, they began to do CPR on you until you finally managed to cough out a huge amount of water that had gotten into your lungs.

After you have recovered slightly, the voice of the person who had just saved your life, rings in your head like a lingering memory.

“Are you okay?”

It was a man. You glanced up but all you can see is a shadowy figure looming over you. Nothing about him or his appearance is clear and so it was pretty useless to even guess who or what he looked like.

Right after you’ve gotten a glimpse of his presence there with you, everything goes white. Even though this is just a dream, everything about this felt so entirely real. Almost as if this same exact scene happened before in your life.

And it did.

You just don’t remember it. Not yet.

And then you awoke.

You’ve been getting that same recurring dream ever since you turned 16. They’re all the same dream where it stops abruptly after your savior asks if you are okay. As much as you want to figure out the details of the dream, you couldn’t because you don’t have much to work with aside from it being what looks to be an old memory of what happened to you years ago. Nevertheless, you lived your days like every other normal teenager until you were now in your last year of university.

That’s where you met two of your current best friends and their names were Hwang Hyunjin and Han Jisung.

You were like three peas in a pod ever since college days. Everywhere one goes, the other two follow. Except the toilet of course. There isn’t anyone on this earth (aside from your foster parents) that you could trust more than you trust them. Only reason being you were an only child. Not to mention, adopted. So everyone in school used to make fun of you a lot. They called you all kinds of nicknames and said that your real parents never loved you enough to take care of you.

It hurts a lot, having to hear those words being thrown at you when you were barely a kid. However, you loved your foster parents so much, you tried so hard to ignore the bullies and carried on with your life just to make your elders happy. You couldn’t bear to see them sad so you made a promise to yourself that no matter what happens, they will always come first and you will do whatever it takes to give them a happy and successful life when you’re older.

It wasn’t easy of course but you made it through. Not only that, who knew college would let you cross paths with two of the most genuine individuals who actually cared for you and not expect anything in return. For that, you’re thankful you met Hyunjin and Jisung.

Everyday is such a blessing with them around and today was no different.

You were heading to the parking lot after your class ended when you saw a group of four guys gathered at the near entrance of the campus building. Both Hyunjin and Jisung still have yet to finish their lectures so you told them you’d wait for them by the car. You were about to walk down the stairs when one of the guys blocked your path intentionally.

“Hey, um… Y/N right?” He asked, to which you frowned. You don’t seem to recognize him so how did he know your name?

“Yeah? Sorry, do I know you?” Your voice was timid and almost inaudible.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve introduced myself. My name’s Changbin. This is Wooyoung, Yeonjun and Haknyeon. I’ve uh… been wanting to talk to you actually but I didn’t know how. So I kinda asked your friend about you…” He said while scratching the back of his neck nervously. Upon this revelation, you frowned as you tilted your head slightly in confusion.

“My friend?” You asked.

“Han Jisung?”

“Ah… Right, Mr Dumber…” You said casually, earning a few chuckles from them.

“So… I was wondering, if you’d wanna hangout with me tonight? I know this really awesome billiard place downtown.”

“Um… Sure. Yeah, I think that sounds good.” You said as he asked to exchange numbers with you and so you did. Once you were done, you bid them goodbye and soon walked over to your car. It didn’t feel weird or creepy talking to him but it did catch you off guard slightly considering you’ve never gotten someone to actually come up to you bravely like that and asked for your number. So for that, you kinda respected Changbin for that.

A few minutes later, your friends finally came and Jisung seemed happy as he was seen bouncing in his steps over to where you were standing.

“You look overly happy and satisfied. What’s up?” You asked, only for him to smirk.

“A little birdie told me that somebody’s got a date tonight…” Jisung teased you in front of Hyunjin who looks like he had absolutely no idea what’s going on.

“It’s not a date.”

“Really? What time is he picking you up?” He smirked at you, ignoring Hyunjin’s wide eyes staring back and forth between you and Jisung.

“We haven’t set a time yet, Ji. Now shut up and get in.” You said in annoyance as you unlocked your car doors and entered the driver seat easily while the other two followed suit.

“I’m sorry but what is going on? Can some kind soul please fill me in on what’s going on?” Hyunjin asked as he turned his body 90° to face you and turned his head back to glare at his same aged friend. Finally, Jisung explained the situation to Hyunjin and you were thankful that Hyunjin was just letting it slide without actually teasing the shit out of you.

A few hours went by, and you were finally done getting ready to meet up with Changbin. You opted for a simple crop top, skinny ripped jeans and a thick oversized jacket in case you got cold during the night. Changbin soon picked you up at your apartment with his black mustang, bringing you to the billiard place downtown. You were quite surprised with how easy your conversation turned out with him in the car. He was quite bubbly himself so it wasn’t difficult for him to start the conversation every time. And so far, you feel pretty comfortable with him.

Once you arrived at the location, the place was dimly lit to give off a relaxing vibe to the venue. There were many pool tables occupied so there were a few empty ones near the back. Changbin and you went to book a table for yourselves, only to get the last table at the very last corner of the room.

The other tables near you were empty so essentially, you had the space to yourselves. Changbin took the cue sticks for you and him while you carried the tray of billiard balls.

“Just so you know, I have no idea how to play this.” You said as a disclaimer, only for him to chuckle.

“It’s fine. I can teach you.” He said casually, making you smile.

After you had both settled down your things on the table, he began to prepare the balls into the triangle and soon called a start. He was the first to break it up. Right after that, he walks over to you and asks which colour you wanted to aim for, solids or stripes. You glanced around the table top to see which one was the easiest target and soon chose the stripes. He led you over to where the ball you were aiming for and began to guide you on where to stand, how to hold the cue, et cetera et cetera.

Apparently, you were holding it wrong and had completely no idea what to do so Changbin came over to stand behind you while he reached over to position your hand properly. His left hand was guiding your hand while the other hovered over your waist, knowing not to touch you without your permission.

So when you could feel his awkward hand beside your waist, you glanced down at it and laughed slightly before you turned to him and said, “Isn’t your hand tired from being in the air for that long?”

Changbin glanced over to your waist, only to laugh a little as he got shy.

“Sorry, I just… I don’t know where to put my hand.”

“Just hold my waist if you want. It’s fine.” You smiled at him, earning a little giggle from him.

“O-Okay.” He replied shyly before gently putting his hand on your waist. He resumed teaching you and once you got the shot, both of you cheered excitedly. The game continued with laughter and occasional lessons along the way but so far, you were enjoying it. After you were done playing, he offered to pay for the game so you told him you’d pay for the food afterwards and he said okay.

You were walking back to his car when you didn’t realise there was someone walking ahead of you. It wasn’t until the sudden crash against your shoulder made you turn around. A young guy locks eyes with you from under the brim of his baseball cap, black mask covering his nose and mouth.

“Sorry.” He said softly to which you simply smiled and shook your head.

“It’s okay.” You said as he then walked away. For some reason, your heart was starting to palpitate in your chest.

Soon after, Changbin drove you to a pretty cafe a few blocks down from where you were, only to gush over the cute decorations outside the cafe. It was decorated with pretty fairy lights and small strings of roses attached to it. So minimal yet so pretty at the same time. Both of you went inside to get your food first before sitting outside.

The night was young, people were seen walking about the streets in all ages. You were chatting about your hobbies and what you do when you’re bored. You realize that he is a gym-addict and that he does dance occasionally and rap most days when he feels like recording a song. He is multi-talented and yet, his hard work is not published anywhere. Nevertheless, you found him charming and an absolute sweetheart.

You just… don’t have any special feelings towards him. So when you were ready to call it a night, he sent you home all the way to your doorstep.

“If it’s not too much to ask, is it okay if we do this again? It doesn’t have to be a date if you don’t want it to. I just… kinda like spending time with you.”

“Of course. I’d love to. Anyways, I should go in. It’s getting pretty late… Drive safely. Goodnight Changbin.” You smiled, before entering your apartment once he said goodnight.

Looks like you’ve gained a new friend.

It was a bright Wednesday afternoon. You were seated at one of the wooden tables at the rooftop garden of the engineering building, waiting for the boys to finish their lecture. You had your headphones on so the world around you was just a blur to you. Mind focused on your assignment, you didn’t even realise the two individuals that had just entered the rooftop until one of them slams both hands on the table top to scare you. As expected, you didn’t flinch.

“Boohoo… You’re no fun.” Jisung pouts as he takes a seat opposite from you while Hyunjin slides into the bench beside you.

“What are you doing?” The long haired blondie asks.

“A research on Thomas Edison. I mean, come on. That man might have invented the light bulb, telephone and motion picture camera, sure. But did he figure out how many times the earth orbits around the sun? I’m pretty sure that’s more fascinating than inventing a device that most people would have come up with eventually.” You didn’t realise you were ranting until you finished talking, earning a soft scoff from Hyunjin.

“Relax, Miss Know-It-All… What’s with the ‘tude? It was just a simple question. Geez…” Hyunjin said as he flips his hair sassily before taking out his phone to text someone.

“Sorry… I’m just a little stressed from this stupid thing, I kinda need a break from it.” You sighed heavily with your head against the table. Jisung cooed softly as he suddenly clapped his hand together and suggested hanging out at the empty music room that nobody seems to use anymore.

“I don’t know, Ji… You tend to overlook some important details sometimes…” You said while packing your stuff, only for the male to huff at you.

“Trust me. I’ve done my research this time. It’s safe. Besides, if anything happens, you have two hot guys to protect you.” Jisung smirks at you cheekily, earning a roll of your eyes.

“More like two cowards.” You said quietly but still loud enough for them to hear, only for you to giggle right after. All three of you finally made it back to the ground floor and were soon walking towards the music production building on the other side of campus. Jisung was standing in the middle of you and Hyunjin. As usual, he was being chatty and bright like how he always was. You were just listening to the chatterbox called Han Jisung when you naturally looked forward to see where you were walking.

Almost instantly, you caught sight of two males walking in your direction, parallel to you.

One had striking neon blue hair while the other had bright purple hair. The purple haired one would be right next to you once you crossed paths with them too. You kept your eyes on them as they got closer and closer until they were about 3 feet away. As if on cue, the purple haired individual just happened to turn his head towards you, causing you to lock eyes with him.

Suddenly, a weird feeling washes over you while you felt as though your heartstrings were being tugged. It was as if there was an invisible thread being pulled.

The minute he had walked completely past you, a small sense of longing lingers in your veins. You frowned as you glanced over your shoulder to find that the two males were casually talking to one another like nothing happened.

You were confused. Yet, there was nothing to say or do so you turned back in front with the thought plastered onto the back of your mind. A few seconds later, the feeling of longing and heartstrings being tugged, suddenly evaporates. Almost as if it never existed.

What’s going on?

Who were those guys?

Why did you feel like you knew the purple haired one?

Days passed since you first saw the colourful haired duo on campus. And it was pretty noticeable that you’ve been seeing them more often than not now. Even if they were on the other side of campus, you’d still spot them thanks to their brightly coloured hairs. You aren’t even sure if that’s a pro or a con at this point. What’s pretty sure though is that whenever the purple haired one is anywhere close to your range, you would casually lock eyes with him and that feeling you encountered the first time you saw them would come back again.

You still have no idea why but you weren’t one to dwell on it for too long. So after he leaves your radius, you’d either forget about it or you would just pretend like maybe it was pure coincidence and that you didn’t in fact know this guy because if you did, you would’ve recognized him… Right?

And yet for some reason, the one with purple hair seemed to linger in your thoughts more often than you wanted him to.

It has been 8 weeks now and today is a bright Tuesday afternoon. You just remembered you have a Netball tournament this evening in the indoor sports hall. They promised to come down and support you, despite knowing they’ve never missed a single game of your to begin with. All three of you were currently seated in one of the wooden tables right outside the main campus building, just hanging out there while waiting for your break time to pass before you had to go for your respective lectures.

“Omg, you know what? We should really check out that new club downtown this weekend! I heard they sell some amazing booze there.” Hyunjin suggested with a cheeky smirk on his face, one that leaves you rolling your eyes at him and Jisung to fake a gag.

“Sure, let’s see who drops dead drunk in less than 5 drinks first.” Jisung said, giving you a silent high five while Hyunjin straightened his back to retaliate.

“In my defence, I was already pre-drunk with beer the other night. That doesn’t count.”

“Yeah… Sure. You can’t even walk straight after a bottle of soju.”

“Shut up Han.” Hyunjin scoffed as he slapped a packet of wet tissue to Jisung’s face, causing the latter to dramatically stumble backwards. You were quietly watching the two children banter back and forth while your curious eyes began to wander around the campus ground. It wasn’t until two very bright, very prominent blobs of hairs were seen crossing the parking lot from the music production building to the main building, caught your eye.

You had to mentally rip your gaze off them by turning to Hyunjin who was sitting next to you to avoid looking like a creep. About 3 seconds later give or take, you casually turned to pretend like you’re looking around again and that’s when you almost panicked.

When did they get so close?

The purple haired one locked eyes with you as they were just 6 or 7 metres away from your table. Before it got any more awkward, you quickly turned away in hopes that he didn’t think you’re a creepy stalker of some sort because that is the last thing you’d wanna be labelled as. With that being said, the three of you left the table about 10 minutes later to head to your respective classes. You were just listening to Jisung rant about his crush’s kissable lips when you noticed your bracelet was missing.

That was your birthday present from your foster mother a few years ago and you’ve been wearing it ever since. So to know that you’ve lost it, really wouldn’t sit right with you.

“Shit! My bracelet! Where is it? Oh shit, she’s gonna kill me!” You panicked as the two boys couldn’t help but mimic you.

“How could you not feel it dropping from your wrist?” Hyunjin asked while staring at the ground and taking a few steps back to try and retrace your steps.

“Because I was too busy listening to you two idiots trying to differentiate between lipstick and lip gloss, for god’s sake.” You said only to glance at the time and realize that you were almost late for your lecture. They told you to go to class while they try to find the bracelet for you. With a heavy heart, you ran off to your next lecture, leaving it all in the hands of dumb and dumber whom you call best friends.

Hours later, you were in the hall where your tournament would be taking place. Hyunjin and Jisung already tried to find your bracelet but to no avail. You were devastated but what’s done is done. Maybe someone took it. Maybe someone used it. Maybe someone even threw it away. Only God knows. However, that’s not your main concern right now. The golden trophy is waiting for you tonight and you’re determined to bring that trophy home for the team and that’s exactly what you’re gonna do.

You were just stretching by the bench, facing the crowded bleachers where students from Hankuk U came to support you girls. Of course, Hyunjin and Jisung were amongst the crowd. In fact, you saw them earlier and even gave them a wave to acknowledge their presence.

As much as you’re upset about the bracelet, you promised yourself you shouldn’t let it affect your performance today during the game. It was hard, but you can do it.

The game was about to start in just 5 minutes. Your coach had already briefed your team about the rules and regulations, standard procedure, techniques to use, etc. you were just cracking your knuckles when your eyes naturally found its way to a few rows above Hyunjin and Jisung, only to find the coloured hair duo just calmly seated there. What made you not notice them at first was the fact that the purple haired one was wearing a baseball cap while the blue haired one was wearing his cap backwards.

This essentially hides their coloured hair so you didn’t quite spot them first straight away. Nevertheless, you locked eyes with the purple haired one and suddenly, the feeling of your heartstrings being tugged was present. You had to look away to make the feeling stop but it left a lingering tug in your chest. You were distracted for a second but was quickly brought back to attention the minute the whistle was blown.

Immediately, you went into alert mode as your game attitude comes on. The game was intense as you tried your very best to guide your team. You did a pretty good job until the end, claiming the victory title for Hankuk University. After everything was done, you were just gulping down your bottle of water when Hyunjin and Jisung suddenly ran to you and lifted you up on Hyunjin’s shoulders. A scream left your lips as you gripped his hair for balance.

You yelled at him to put you down and once he did, you slapped his chest a few times for nearly giving you a heart attack. They both broke into hysterical laughter as you shoved them away and told them to just go home and not wait for you.

The boys apologized after they'd stopped laughing and soon told you to have a safe journey home before bidding you goodnight. You didn’t leave the hall without taking a quick shower like you always do after every practice. About half an hour later, you’ve already changed into your earlier outfit you wore to classes which were ripped skinny jeans, a fitted tank top, an oversized jacket and a pair of jordans.

Once everyone was done, you all started walking to the entrance to head home. You were just walking ahead slightly from everyone else when you saw a familiar figure leaning against one of the pillars outside. The closer you get, the clearer it is for you to recognize them. A few more steps and you were finally just 6 metres away from him when he pushed himself off the pillar and turned to face you.

“Hey? Um… A-Are you looking for someone?” You asked, hoping he was there for you and not anyone else.

“Actually, I was looking for you.” The purple haired male said with the most gentle smile on his face. His lips curled upwards, reminding you of a bunny. An odd sound leaves you unconsciously while your head tilts in confusion naturally. He couldn’t help but chuckle upon seeing your reaction before he continued from where he left off.

“I wanted to congratulate you on winning 1st place today… And also to return this…” He said as he reached into his front pocket and soon took out your bracelet which you lost a few hours ago.

This made you gasp softly whilst staring at the item in his hand in disbelief.

“How did you-”

“I was sitting at one of the tables when your bracelet fell. I was gonna return it to you but you were gone. I didn’t know how else to contact you until I saw a poster on the notice boards all over campus about the tournament today so I decided to meet you here instead. I hope this doesn’t come off as creepy or anything.” He explained to you in detail, making you shake your head eagerly.

“No! Absolutely not! You have no idea how devastated I was when I realized it was missing… Thank you so much…” You said as he gave you a smile. Both of you were silent as neither of you clearly knew how to keep a good conversation going. Nevertheless, you broke the ice after not wanting him to leave just yet.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you before on campus… Not until recently at least. Are you new here?”

“Yeah. Me and my friend just moved to this city two months ago.”

“Where were you guys from?”

He looked like he was hesitating a bit but was quick to compose himself.

“Far from here actually…” He chuckled and for some reason, you didn’t feel the need to interrogate more.

“Well, I hope you guys will have good memories here so you don’t have to move again.” It went silent for a few beats before you asked, “Pardon my rudeness… My name’s Y/N. What about you?”

“Just call me Jungkook.” He smiled.

“It’s nice talking to you Jungkook, and… thank you again for my bracelet.” You said, to which he brushed you off.

“Anytime… Hey, uh… do you have a ride home?” He asked in the most gentle tone possible.

“Yeah. I drive to school everyday. It’s okay.”

“Alright then. Drive safe. I’ll see you around.” He smiled again, making you do the same. He then walks off with his hands in his pockets and he couldn’t look any hotter than that. The entire drive home, you couldn’t stop thinking about him. How his smile could melt your heart in a flash, how your heartstrings tug whenever you lock eyes with him, how he makes you feel like you’ve known him for years, how he makes you feel comfortable, etc.

You just wished you'd known him sooner.

“Y/N, sweetie! Don’t go too near the lake!” Your foster mother said as she walked side by side with your foster father. Your 5 year old self was running around the park, trying to diligently catch the beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly. You ignored their calls of asking you to be careful because of course, kids will never listen. You got further and further away from your elders as you were so close to catching the butterfly when all of a sudden, your feet missed a step on the wooden bridge.

Within a split second, you plunged into the lake before your elders could chase after you. Water flushed down your nose and mouth, accidentally swallowing it in huge gulps while you were desperately crying for help. Since you were just a 5 year old kid, you didn’t know how to swim nor were you taught not to open your mouth and breathe underwater.

You were growing unconscious due to the large amount of water that had already started to fill your lungs. You were ready to just accept your fate that you were going to die right then and there. Except, luck has a different plan for you. Just when you were on the brink of completely drowning, a sudden new figure dives into the lake and swoops you into their arms before bringing you back up easily. Once you were on land, they began to do CPR on you until you finally managed to cough out a huge amount of water that had gotten into your lungs.

After you have recovered slightly, the voice of the person who had just saved your life, rings in your head like a lingering memory.

“Are you okay?”

It was a man. You glanced up and saw what looked to be a figure of a man looming over you. Though his overall appearance and face was somewhat a terrible blur, there was one thing you could easily make out. And that was the silver pendant necklace hanging around his neck. You couldn’t really see it that clearly but it was an oval shaped pendant, similar to the ones where you can open and close it.

This was new to your dream. All these while, you’ve always seen a shadowy figure, with unclear images of your dream. This time, things were slowly beginning to become clear.

Maybe this is a memory.

A recurring memory that your brain is trying so hard to remember every piece of detail that was left untouched at the very bottom part of your brain.

So you knew, this wasn’t just any ordinary dream.

And then you awoke.

It was a Friday afternoon, your two best friends wanted to go to the club that night for some drinks and just lay off some steam. You, of course, could never get away with whatever plan they had so you had no other choice but to go. You were all gathered to do your assignments at one of the tables where the study building was. Suddenly, a thought came to mind and you just couldn’t get your mind off it.

“Hey, do you remember the dream I keep having? The one where I fell into the lake?” You ask as Jisung stopped chewing his sushi while Hyunjin stops typing and slowly glances up from the top of his laptop screen.

“Yeah? What about it?” Jisung asked curiously before looking at Hyunjin to see if he knew something.

“You know how it always stops abruptly after the voice asks me if I’m okay and I see a shadow figure standing there?” You explained, earning nods from the two children.

“Well… It’s not really… a shadow figure anymore…”

“What do you mean?” Hyunjin asked, his laptop long closed to pay full attention to your story.

“I saw… a male figure. Everything about him was blurry but I could see that it’s a man. And… he had this silver pendant necklace around his neck. Those where you can open and close.”

“You mean the ones where our grandmothers would put a picture of us in it?” Jisung asked.

“Yes. That kind.” You said.

“Hmm, do you recognize it?” Hyunjin asked, earning a firm shake of your head. “How did you feel when you saw him?” Hyunjin asked again. You couldn’t bring yourself to answer right away as your mind began to recollect the feeling you had when you saw that part of the dream.

“I… felt safe.”

“Well, that’s a good start, right? I mean, if you feel scared then it’s probably a nightmare.”

“But that’s the thing! I-I don’t think it’s a dream.”

“What do you mean? Of course it’s a dream. You were sleeping when that happened, weren’t you?” Hyunjin asked with a confused tone in his voice.

“I mean yeah, technically but… I think that actually happened to me when I was young. If not, why else would I keep having the same dream over and over again?”

“You’ve got a point.” Jisung shrugs while Hyunjin still tries to process this. He brings both hands up in front of him after waving it in a circle, closes his eyes to let the information sink in before he speaks up.

“So… you’re telling me… that the universe is somehow trying to make you recall this memory of yours through a dream?”

“It’s possible isn't it?” You asked.

“Okay? And then what? You’re gonna go to the place where you almost died and somehow meet up with the person who helped you?”

“No? Yes? I don’t know! Look… I think I’ll just ask my parents about it and see if they remember anything about it. I mean… there must be something they can tell me?”

“Good luck babe. You’re gonna need it.” Jisung said, making you sigh.

That evening, you were having early dinner with your elders in the small living room of their one bedroom house. Everyone was quietly eating their food, she was peeling some roasted sweet potatoes while your he was just folding some banana leaves to sell tomorrow. You glanced over at them once or twice before taking a deep breath and dropped the bomb.

“Hey grandpa?” You call softly as the old man pauses his actions and turns to you with a smile on his adorable little face.

“Yes, darling?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Ask away…”

“When I was young… did I happen to… fall into a lake by any chance?” You asked as he frowned in thought. He couldn’t seem to remember anything of it until she spoke up.

“Oh dear, how could I not remember? You were so busy catching the butterflies that I couldn’t even stop you in time.” She giggled as you couldn’t help but smile. “But then this brave young man jumped into the water without a shadow of a doubt. We thanked him for his gratitude and tried to offer him a lunch treat but he rejected us so nicely… I wonder where he is now…” She continued, making you frown.

“Do you guys remember what he looked like?” You asked.

“I’m so sorry dear, I can barely remember anyone I met.” He said to which you let out a soft sigh. Just then, her eyes lit up only for her to raise her finger up in thought.

“Oh, the only thing I could remember was his name… If I’m not mistaken, I think he said his name to be JK like the letters… Yes, yes… That’s it.”

With that being said, you tilt your head to the side in confusion before you stare into the bowl of potatoes, “J… K?” The name sounded like there was a hint of familiarity in it but you can’t seem to point your fingers at where it’s focusing. Nevertheless, you took your attention off that topic and chose to think of what to wear for later instead.

A few hours had passed and you were finally waiting outside the club with Hyunjin and Jisung. The security checked all of your ID’s before letting you in. Hyunjin locked fingers with you just so that you wouldn’t be lost or separated from them as Jisung stayed close behind you. Once Hyunjin has managed to navigate his way around the place and finally save a booth for the 3 of you, he lets go of your hand and allows you to sit in the middle. Jisung went to the bar to order drinks for you all while you stayed with Hyunjin.

Not long after, Jisung came back with a tray of 2 shot glasses, a bottle of tequila, along with a small plate of lime slices and a glass of mocktail for you. The club was pretty much alive with the endless amount of young adults enjoying their drinks and dancing freely to the music.

You had just finished talking to Jisung about the hot girl dancing on the dancefloor when Hyunjin tapped your thigh and soon said aloud in your ear, “Don’t look now, but I think that dude is into you… 10 o’clock.” With that being said, you took a sip of your drink while you let your eyes wander over to where Hyunjin told you, only to find yourself locking eyes with a familiar pair of eyes. It was the purple haired guy from school. Jungkook was his name if you remember correctly.

“Jungkook…” His name rolled off your tongue naturally, sounding so right.

“You know him?!” Hyunjin asked, making you scoff.

“He returned my bracelet to me the other day after the tournament. He told me his name then.”

“And you didn’t tell us this, because…?” Jisung asked, sounding offended almost.

“Not everything in my life has to be told to either one of you.” With that being said, you stood up and soon made your way to Jungkook. Once you were behind him, you slipped into the empty space next to him, dropping an order to the bartender. Right after you were done, you glanced over to him who was just running his middle finger over the rim of his glass.

“Hey… Jungkook right?” You were the first to break the ice as he finally turned to you and smiled.

“Hey, yeah. Y/N, correct?”

“The one and only.” You giggled, earning a soft chuckle from him.

“Are those your friends?” He asked with a slight jerk of his head to the side, referring to the two boys in your booth. You hummed in response before asking if he was here alone or with his blue haired friend.

“Nah, he’s in here somewhere… I just told him I wanted to get a drink at the bar.” He explained, to which you frowned.

“Well, I’m pretty sure he’d be occupied by now.”

“Are you tryna say he’s hot?”

“Am I wrong?” You smiled, earning a chuckle from him.

“Absolutely not. Anyways, enough of him… Do you wanna dance with me?” He asked, turning his body to face you now on the stool. You glanced at the dancefloor, seeing the group of people dancing freely to the music like there’s no tomorrow. You knew you wanted to, especially since he was the one offering it so you easily accepted it. Jungkook got off the stool and held out his hand to you. Without having to think much, you gently place your hand in his as he leads you to the centre of the room.

Once you were with the crowd, he turned around to face you. You comfortably placed your hands around his neck, swaying your hips to the rhythm. Both of you were moving your bodies in sync to one another despite everyone else stumbling and crashing into you. At one point, he twirled you around but you lost your footing. Hence, crashing into him.

You started to burst out laughing and he did too when he realized you weren’t injured. You didn’t notice his hands on your waist until he gently squeezed it to gain your attention. That’s when you glanced up to meet his eyes, your laughter died down as your heart began to beat rapidly in your chest. Heartstrings started to tug everytime he looked at you and it’s unhealthy. For your heart at least despite loving it.

“Are you okay?” He asked softly, his face was just inches away from yours. Suddenly, a part of your dream flashed through your mind upon hearing his question. You frowned a little from the abrupt thought. However, before you could reply to him, a frantic voice to your left made you jump only to meet Jisung’s heavy frown.

“Y/N! You have to help me! Hyunjin got into a fight!” With that, you basically tear yourself out of Jungkook and rush over with Jisung to where the fight was happening. Hyunjin was in a fist fight with two guys who were not much taller than him but were definitely bulkier than he was. You yelled for them to stop but they of course couldn’t hear you. Jisung went in to help Hyunjin but he got punched in the jaw.

“Stop it! Please! Hyunjin stop!” You yelled as he fell in front of you. His lip was busted, his cheek was bruised and his knuckles were bleeding from having a cut. You kneeled down beside your friend as you watched the guy charging over to you and Hyunjin.

So you got up and pushed the guy away with whatever strength you had. But instead, you got slapped across the cheek.

You collapsed to the ground with a hand to your face. Everything happened so quickly because right before the guy could throw a punch to Hyunjin, Jungkook swooped in from the side and landed a hard punch to the guy’s jaw making him fall to the ground with a harsh thud.

“Enough! Get lost before I call security.” Jungkook warned as you watched the two guys who were in the fight with Hyunjin began to scramble away. You crawled over to Hyunjin who was holding his jaw with a hiss. You cupped his face worriedly while you scolded him.

“What were you thinking?! You could have gotten even more hurt…” You frowned, only for Jisung to come over. That’s when you cupped Jisung’s bruised face as well.

Just then, Jungkook kneeled down asking for all of you to leave before the security came. Soon enough, Jungkook’s blue haired friend appears as well and the five of you leave the club through the back door. Once you were in the back alley, Hyunjin used Jisung as support while you held onto his waist and allowed him to sling an arm over your shoulder.

“Come on, our apartment isn't too far from here. We’ll need to get those cuts treated.” Jungkook said, only for Jungkook’s friend to come and ask for you to switch with him. You asked for his name, in which he told you it was Taehyung, so you thanked him afterwards. While they were walking ahead of you, Jungkook stayed next to you as he took off his coat and placed it over your shoulders. Eventually drowning you in his big coat. He chuckled at your ridiculously swallowed body, only for him to speak up.

“You were really trying to be a hero back there, huh?” You glanced up to him, seeing the small smirk on his face but it didn’t annoy you at all.

“He was going to hurt my friend. I can’t just sit there and do nothing...” You pouted slightly, to which his smirk melted and he sighed.

“No matter how dangerous it may be?” He asked as you frowned upon him. Nevertheless, you gave him a firm nod which left him to sigh. Silence falls upon you two, your gaze settles on the three boys walking ahead of you. Just then, Jungkook’s voice is gentle and soft, as if he didn’t want the rest to hear him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t help you sooner… If I did, you probably wouldn’t get hurt…”

“No… No it’s okay… it’s not your fault.” You said softly, making him shake his head. He feels responsible for not jumping in to help Hyunjin when Jisung came to warn you earlier. He felt like he could’ve done better and for that, he couldn’t forgive himself. So when you noticed how quiet he got, you carefully reached for his hand that was just beside yours and soon locked fingers with him to give him some kind of support. And maybe more than that too but he doesn’t have to know.

He glanced down at your linked hands, only for him to lock eyes with you again and this time, a small smile grew back on his face. You gave his hand a little squeeze for reassurance and was about to let go, thinking he might feel that it’s weird considering you barely know him. However, he held your hand tighter and said, “Keep it there. At least until we’re back at my place.” With that being said, you nodded as a blush creeps up on your face.

Once you arrived at Jungkook and Taehyung’s shared apartment, Taehyung tended to Hyunjin while Jungkook tended to Jisung. You were just walking around the living room when you saw a necklace on the table top. It was a silver chain necklace with a round pendant on it. What was even more intriguing is the fact that it looked so familiar to you and it was one of those pendants where you could open and close.

The question is, why did it look so familiar?

Just when you were about to open it, Jisung’s voice called for you as he reappeared into the living room while Hyunjin was still in the bathroom with Taehyung.

“Y/N, hyung asked me to call you over. He’s in his room, the last door on the right.” You gave Jisung a nod as you placed the necklace down and went to the said room. When you arrived, you gave the door a few soft knocks before Jungkook looked up and smiled at you. He told you to sit down on his bed next to him.

“Are you okay? Does it still hurt?” Jungkook asked and there it is again, a weird tug to your heartstrings made your breath hitch. Jungkook stared at you quietly before he asked if there’s something wrong. When you denied it, he went ahead and took a cool pack as he then pressed it against your cheek where you got slapped. You couldn’t seem to bring the words out so you opted to just put your hand over his that was holding the ice pack to make him look at you.

“This is random… but have… have we met before? Like before all this… Before university. I don’t know why but I feel like- like I’ve met you before. I keep getting this same feeling everytime I’m near you.” You said as he stared at you deeply without faltering.

It was nearly impossible to read his expression and thoughts but a part of you was telling you that he’s hiding something from you.

“Maybe we’ve bumped into each other before on the street or something.” Jungkook said as a small smile creeps onto his face. A genuine one at that. So without prying further, you nodded and gave him a soft smile. You thanked him for helping your friends as you excused yourself to let him and Taehyung rest. Jungkook offered to send all three of you home but you refused his kindness politely, opting for a cab instead so as to not trouble him any more than you already had.

“Are you sure? It’s really late out and I don’t mind driving you and your friends back.” He said as you both stopped at the foot of the hallway only to find Hyunjin semi-passed out on the couch after swallowing two aspirins you assume. Jisung was talking to Taehyung, well, more like ranting to the blue haired male about what went down at the club earlier.

With that, you turned to Jungkook and gently reached for his arm, holding it to give him some reassurance, “We’ll be fine. I promise.” You smiled as his eyebrows began to connect in the middle.

You let go of his arm, walking over to Jisung and Taehyung to retrieve your drunk friend.

“Thanks Taehyung. So sorry to disturb your night.” You apologized as Taehyung simply shook his head and told you that it was okay. Once you’ve gotten the green light, you snapped your fingers at Jisung and soon pointed to Hyunjin’s distraught figure.

“You take right, I’ll take left.” You said to him as he nodded. Hyunjin began to stir awake slightly but was still groggy and drunk. You struggled to get his arm over your head so Taehyung helped you with that. After you were ready to leave, Jisung and you began to walk towards the door where Jungkook was patiently waiting. Hyunjin tiredly opened one of his eyelids and was starting to slur over his words.

“Where am I? What are you doing? Where are you taking me, you kidnapper!” You slapped his chest quite harshly before earning a loud groan from him.

“We’re at someone’s house because your stupid drunk ass just had to get into a fight with two bigger dudes. You should be ashamed of yourself, you dimwit.” Hyunjin lets out a weird sound as he leans himself more towards you.

“H-Hyun… H-Hyunjin! Hwang Hyunjin!” You yelled as you were about to fall and get squished by him when a firm arm wrapped around your waist while the other hand was pressed firmly against Hyunjin’s rib to support his heavy weight. In addition, your side crashes against someone’s chest. You glanced up to find Jungkook’s chin directly above your line of sight. Jungkook pushed Hyunjin’s body slightly to stabilize the said man as you managed to stand up straight again.

Except, his arm was still around your waist. Almost as if he didn’t wanna let go of you. Not that you were complaining anyway. However, when he noticed this, he slowly retracted his arm from your waist and apologized to you. You shook your head, to tell him that it’s okay. After you left, Jungkook closed the door behind him only for Taehyung to smile at him.

“Ready to admit yet?” Taehyung asked simply, earning a thick eye roll from Jungkook who began to walk over to his couch.

“Shut up, hyung.”

“What? It’s just me…”

“You’re not seeing my vulnerable side. Uh uh. No way.” Jungkook shook his head diligently, causing Taehyung to laugh as Jungkook continued, “Besides, they’re gonna kill me if they find out.” With that being said, Taehyung sighs at the younger male. Knowing that he had a point.

“No they won’t. I won’t let them.”

“How? Stopping them is nearly impossible, you know that.” Jungkook said firmly.

After a few seconds of silence, Jungkook finally took a deep breath and said, “Whatever. I don’t care.” Jungkook was about to leave the room when Taehyung’s words lingered in his memory like a broken record player.

“You and I both know that’s a lie.”

“Grandma! Grandpa! We’re here!” Your 5 year old self exclaims the minute the cab driver brings the vehicle to a stop right at the entrance of the park. You hurriedly got out of the cab whilst your foster father was busy paying the driver for the fare. You run to the end of the footpath as it separates into two directions, leading you to different parts of the park.

“Grandma! Hurry! I want to see the swans!” You yelled excitedly as the elderly couple began to walk slowly towards you. Since they were just a few metres away from you, it was the perfect chance for you to run off towards the path on the left where the lake would be. Occasionally taking breaks while waiting for your foster parents to catch up with you. People around you give you smiles whenever you pass by them and say hello.

You were walking down the footpath, trying to find a pair of swans when a beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly suddenly hovered in front of your face. You flinched back in surprise as it landed on the tip of your small nose. A soft giggle left your lips as you reached up to touch its wings when it began to flutter away. Being the child you are, you started to trail after it.

The butterfly flaps its wings delicately across the park, freely and happily while you try to not lose sight of it. Unfortunately, your carelessness has brought you closer to danger than you would’ve thought at the time.

“Y/N, sweetie! Don’t go too near the lake!” Your foster mother said as she walked side by side with your foster father. Your 5 year old self was running down the footpath, trying to diligently catch the beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly. You ignored their calls of asking you to be careful because of course, kids will never listen. You got further and further away from your elders as you were so close to catching the butterfly when all of a sudden, your feet missed a step on the wooden bridge.

Within a split second, you plunged into the lake before your elders could chase after you. Water flushed down your nose and mouth, accidentally swallowing it in huge gulps while you were desperately crying for help. Since you were just a 5 year old kid, you didn’t know how to swim nor were you taught not to open your mouth and breathe underwater.

You were growing unconscious due to the large amount of water that had already started to fill your lungs. You were ready to just accept your fate that you were going to die right then and there. Except, luck has a different plan for you. Just when you were on the brink of completely drowning, a sudden new figure dives into the lake and swoops you into their arms before bringing you back up easily. Once you were on land, they began to do CPR on you until you finally managed to cough out a huge amount of water that had gotten into your lungs.

After you have recovered slightly, the voice of the person who had just saved your life, rings in your head like a lingering memory.

“Are you okay?”

It was a man. You glanced up and saw what looked to be a figure of a man looming over you. Though his overall appearance and face was somewhat a terrible blur, there was one thing you could easily make out. And that was the silver pendant necklace hanging around his neck. You couldn’t really see it that clearly but it was an oval shaped pendant, similar to the ones where you can open and close it.

“Y-Yes… T-Thank you, M-Mister…” You stumbled over your words as you saw your elders rushing over to you. That’s when the man said something that wasn’t quite understandable to you.

“I promise to keep you safe from any harm.” He said over a whisper but you heard him.

This was new to your dream. All these while, you’ve always seen a shadowy figure, unclear images of your dream, missing details, unknown situation. This time, things were slowly beginning to become clear with more details given to you in the form of this dream.

At this point, you were confident that this is in fact, a memory.

A recurring memory that your brain is trying so hard to remember every piece of detail that was left untouched at the very bottom part of your brain.

You just have to let time do the magic and fill you in with what’s left of the missing dream.

And then you awoke.

Days passed gradually as both Taehyung and Jungkook started to become friends with you, Hyunjin and Jisung. Well, they were dragged by Jisung at least. That one just doesn’t know how to stop his bargains until he gets what he wants. So eventually, both the coloured hair friends decided to just accept the welcome to be part of the friend circle. Later on in the weeks, you began to have growing feelings for Jungkook. The butterflies in your stomach and tugging heartstring were still present whenever he was near but you’ve grown accustomed to it.

It was a nice, warm Friday afternoon. Taehyung and Jungkook were nowhere to be seen while Hyunjin and Jisung were seated at the wooden table with you near the garden. Your mind was somewhere else and the boys noticed this. It was easy to know that because your fingers were hovering over your keyboard but nothing was being typed and it’s been a good 10 minutes of you just staring at the pond. Just then, Hyunjin’s voice broke your train of thoughts.

“A penny for your thoughts?” He asked, to which you turned to him with a confused face.

“Huh?”

“You look like you’re grieving over there. What’s wrong?” Jisung was the one to ask this as silence falls over you for the next 5 seconds, give or take.

“Something… new appeared in my dreams. It doesn’t just start with my mom telling me to avoid the lake anymore.” You began to explain as both boys soon stopped whatever they were previously doing, just to listen and pay full attention to you.

“Then what does it start with now?” Hyunjin asks curiously as he and Jisung exchange looks before turning back to you.

“Me in the cab with my parents and getting excited once we arrived at the park… But that’s not the only change in my dream that’s new. The dream doesn’t just stop at the part where he asks if I’m okay… This time, the last thing he said to me was…” You paused for a second to try and remember the exact words. Once you got it on the tip of your tongue, you brought your gaze back up to meet theirs and told them what you remembered.

“I promise to keep you safe from any harm. And then I woke up.”

The two boys were shocked at how much details your dream was showing now but they just can’t decipher why these changes were happening so suddenly. What caused your dreams to be more clearer as if it wants you to slowly remember that day, that incident, that specific person.

None of it was making sense to them.

“I just… I don’t understand. Like, why now? Why after all these years, only now your conscience is showing you all this. Why didn’t it show you from the start? What is it hiding? I don’t get it.” Jisung said as he dramatically pulled at his hair.

You couldn’t help but giggle at his figure before speaking up, “It’s my dream but why are you the one stressed?”

“Aren’t you?! I mean come on. You’ve been having this dream for years, aren’t you even a tad bit curious as to why this is happening to you?” Jisung asked with his eyes wide open. He has a point.

“Maybe the universe just wants me to remember that tragic incident for the rest of my life.”

“Or it wants you to find the hidden clues in your dreams that might lead you to something big.” Hyunjin shrugged his shoulders at you, earning a shake of your head.

“What could possibly be bigger than my near-death experience?”

“I don’t know? Meeting your savior and thanking him for saving you that day?” Jisung said with his arms bent on either side as his palms faced upwards.

“That’s ridiculous. I don’t even know what he looks like. Besides, if he really was in his early 20s when that incident happened, he would be like what? Early 40s now? He probably doesn’t even remember me.”

“Fate works in mysterious ways.” Jisung smirks at you, earning a ball of tissue thrown to his face.

You thought his theory was a whole load of nonsense because theoretically, your savior would be in his 40s by now and it’s nearly impossible for him to remember who you are. It wouldn’t make sense. However, in other circumstances, the universe has different layers to it. So the chances of something out of the ordinary happening, would be a solid 1 out of 10 chance but it’s not completely impossible. It just depends on how you wanted to see it.

Your attention soon diverted past Jisung’s head only to see Taehyung and Jungkook walking over to your table so you warned the two, not to mention anything about your dream when they’re there. Nobody knows about your recurring dream except for Hyunjin and Jisung and you intend to keep it that way.

A few hours later, you were at the supermarket to get some groceries for the house when you stumbled upon Jungkook who was searching through the shelves for something so you spoke up first, “Jungkook? Hey. What are you doing here? I thought your apartment was like 20 minutes away from here?” You asked him casually, earning a smirk from him.

“Ah shit. Looks like I’m busted…” Jungkook said, knowing he was just fooling around. He soon laughed as he continued from where he left off, “I’m just kidding. I needed some stuff that my nearest supermarket didn’t have so I drove over to this one.”

“Well, at least that's better than you stalking me right?”

“Why should I stalk you when I already have you at one phone call away?”

Smooth.

“Maybe you’re just clingy and want to see me.” You teased him to see what he says. You didn’t really know what to expect until he gave you his answer.

“And if that’s true?”

You were quiet as you didn’t think he would be that bold and straightforward. Sure he can be confident and maybe just slightly cocky sometimes but he was never over doing it when he’s with you. For that reason alone, you found that side of him charming.

“Then… you need to see a therapist.” You joked but he took it lightly. A small laugh leaves his lips while he grabs the can of sweetcorn from the shelf. At the end of your shopping spree, he offered to send you home after seeing the amount of bags you had to carry after you told him your car was recently sent to the workshop and wouldn't be repaired anytime soon. Of course you told him you could make it home on your own the first time because you didn’t wanna trouble him. And of course, he brushed you off by saying he wouldn’t be able to sleep if he knew he didn’t help you tonight.

With that being said, he drove you back to your home while he chatted with you comfortably about a series on netflix. Once he finally pulled up in front of your home, he glanced down to where your home was and soon turned to you with a smile.

“You didn’t tell me you lived in a cute little house.” He said effortlessly but it made you frown slightly.

“Well, to many, it's a ‘tiny shack’.”

“Well, those people are assholes.” His words made you laugh softly. You knew he was trying to make you feel better about it so you secretly thanked him for that. Both of you fell silent for a few seconds before he turned off his ignition completely and clapped his hands together once to liven up the mood.

“Come on! I’ll help you carry the groceries!” He left the vehicle before you could stop him, finding it cute that he was eager to help when he really didn’t have to. After he stubbornly carried three bags in each arm, you were left with none despite wanting to help him. You rolled your eyes at his persistence even though your smile never lies. Jungkook walks with you to your front door, only for you to unlock it and is soon greeted by your foster mother.

“Oh hello dear, I was just about to see if you were making your way home yet.” She said as her gaze soon fell onto the male beside you.

“Oh? And who are you, young man?” She asked with a fond smile on her face.

“I’m Jungkook, Ma’am.”

“You seem like a handsome young man, Jungkook. And well mannered too. I think you’d be a great partner for her.”

With that, you gasped softly and scolded her politely. Jungkook simply laughed as he brushed her off saying that it’s okay. Just as he was keeping the groceries with you in the correct places, your father walked out of his room and greeted Jungkook warmly. They talked for a bit while you kept the last bag of celery into the fridge when you overheard your father ask, “You should stay for dinner, Jungkook. My wife and I would love to get to know you more, especially if you are someone special in Y/N’s life.”

Jungkook was too kind to reject their offer so he ended up staying, just like they asked. Thankfully, your elders were mainly focusing on Jungkook rather than trying to convince him into dating you or anything like that. At the end of the dinner, he excused himself so as to not disturb your parent’s privacy. He bid them goodbye whilst you told them you wanted to walk him back to his car.

Once you made it to the top of the steps, you glanced back at the house and naturally, a smile grew on your face. He noticed this and he couldn’t help but ask, “You seem a little happy.”

You turned around to find him staring at you fondly with a smile.

“I just… can’t imagine my life without them.” You whispered sadly to yourself, suddenly a whole series of emotions just got washed over you. It took you a while to come back to your senses with the help of Jungkook. Who gently cups your face in his hands, caressing your cheeks lovingly while he does. Jungkook’s sparkly eyes bore into yours but the connection feels stronger than ever tonight. Your usual tugging of heartstrings and feeling of longing just felt stronger tonight. As he was holding you, a small part of you was yearning for him.

You felt a sense of safety and comfort with him but you don’t seem to understand why. Jungkook could read you like an open book, it was fascinating. Just then, he said something that made you genuinely shocked.

“Your foster parents are really nice. I should’ve thanked them for taking care of you well.” This made you pull away from him slightly in shock.

How did he know they’re not your grandparents?

“How did you know they’re not my grandparents?” You asked as Jungkook visibly froze.

“What do you mean?”

“You said ‘foster parents’ instead of ‘grandparents’...”

“Uh… You must’ve told me before that they’re not your grandparents.” He chuckled softly while rubbing the back of his neck. You weren’t fully convinced by his answer because if you had told him that, you would’ve remembered. However, you weren’t in the mood to question him further so you simply stood there in thought. Jungkook didn’t want you to occupy your mind with it, leading him to take a step closer to you until his forehead gently pressed against yours. Both of you stayed like that for a second or two before he leaned over to the side and kissed your cheek.

“Goodnight Y/N.” He said with a small smile on his face that you couldn’t help but mimic. The minute he drove off into the distance, the thought remained stuck in your mind as you found it difficult to move on from it. And yet for some reason, a part of you knew that he might be hiding something from you. You just don’t know what it is.

Even so, the feeling of his soft lips on your cheek, lingered in your head. Feeling giddy at the thought of him kissing you even if it wasn’t on the lips. You felt like a little girl having a crush on a boy all over again.

But that night, you had the same recurring dream again. Except, a new change happened this time as your dream was slowly becoming clearer.

“Grandma! Grandpa! We’re here!” Your 5 year old self exclaims the minute the cab driver brings the vehicle to a stop right at the entrance of the park. You hurriedly got out of the cab whilst your foster father was busy paying the driver for the fare. You run to the end of the footpath as it separates into two directions, leading you to different parts of the park.

“Grandma! Hurry! I want to see the swans!” You yelled excitedly as the elderly couple began to walk slowly towards you. Since they were just a few metres away from you, it was the perfect chance for you to run off towards the path on the left where the lake would be. Occasionally taking breaks while waiting for your foster parents to catch up with you. People around you give you smiles whenever you pass by them and say hello.

You were walking down the footpath, trying to find a pair of swans when a beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly suddenly hovered in front of your face. You flinched back in surprise as it landed on the tip of your small nose. A soft giggle left your lips as you reached up to touch its wings when it began to flutter away. Being the child you are, you started to trail after it.

The butterfly flaps its wings delicately across the park, freely and happily while you try to not lose sight of it. Unfortunately, your carelessness has brought you closer to danger than you would’ve thought at the time.

“Y/N, sweetie! Don’t go too near the lake!” Your foster mother said as she walked side by side with your foster father. Your 5 year old self was running down the footpath, trying to diligently catch the beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly. You ignored their calls of asking you to be careful because of course, kids will never listen. You got further and further away from your elders as you were so close to catching the butterfly when all of a sudden, your feet missed a step on the wooden bridge.

Within a split second, you plunged into the lake before your elders could chase after you. Water flushed down your nose and mouth, accidentally swallowing it in huge gulps while you were desperately crying for help. Since you were just a 5 year old kid, you didn’t know how to swim nor were you taught not to open your mouth and breathe underwater.

You were growing unconscious due to the large amount of water that had already started to fill your lungs. You were ready to just accept your fate that you were going to die right then and there. Except, luck has a different plan for you. Just when you were on the brink of completely drowning, a sudden new figure dives into the lake and swoops you into their arms before bringing you back up easily. Once you were on land, they began to do CPR on you until you finally managed to cough out a huge amount of water that had gotten into your lungs.

After you have recovered slightly, the voice of the person who had just saved your life, rings in your head like a lingering memory.

“Are you okay?”

It was a man. You glanced up and saw a young man probably in his mid 20s looming over you. His facial features were a blur but you could somehow see how defined and sharp everything was. The bridge of his nose, his beautiful doe round eyes, the silver hair falling down his forehead. Except, there was one thing you could easily make out. And that was the silver pendant necklace hanging around his neck. You couldn’t really see it that clearly but it was an oval shaped pendant, similar to the ones where you can open and close it.

“Y-Yes… T-Thank you, M-Mister…” You stumbled over your words as you saw your elders rushing over to you. That’s when the man said something that wasn’t quite understandable to you.

“I promise to keep you safe from any harm.” He said over a whisper but you heard him.

This was new to your dream. All these while, you’ve always seen a shadowy figure, unclear images of your dream, missing details, unknown situation. This time, things were slowly beginning to become clear with more details given to you in the form of this dream.

At this point, you were confident that this is in fact, a memory.

A recurring memory that your brain is trying so hard to remember every piece of detail that was left untouched at the very bottom part of your brain.

You just have to let time do the magic and fill you in with what’s left of the missing dream.

And then you awoke.

A few days later, you were going to your next class when Hyunjin told you he forgot something in the other lecture hall. Leaving just you and Jisung. Your mind was swirling around the latest dream you had where the image of your savior was starting to get clearer as the days went by. Jisung could easily sense your distraction because you had not paid attention to any of the things he just said. He got his answer when he snapped his fingers in front of your face and saw you flinch.

“Earth to Y/N? Are you okay? You’re barely listening to me…” He pouted at you sadly, making you sigh.

“Sorry Ji… I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Like what?”

You took in a deep breath and exhaled right before explaining to him what was bothering you, “You know how my dreams are starting to get clear?”

“Mhm?” He hummed in response to which you continued.

“I can almost make out what the person looks like now.”

“Wait! Wait… You mean… The person who saved you?”

“Yeah.”

“Really? That’s great! I mean… Isn’t it? Didn’t your dad tell you the guy’s name the other day? Maybe you can try and find him to say thank you.” Jisung laid out the options you could take but somehow, a part of you still wasn’t sure if this was enough for you to go find the person.

“Ji… How am I supposed to find him?” You asked desperately, thinking his suggestion was insane.

“We have advanced technology now! It’s not that hard.”

“I don’t know, Ji… I don’t think we can find him.”

“Y/N, don’t give up before you even start. We’ll find him together and I’ll be here with you, okay? So will Hyunjin once we tell him…” Jisung said with a bright grin, his full cheeks on display for you. Hours later, you were walking to the parking lot with Hyunjin and Jisung when you bumped into Jungkook and Taehyung coming from the music production block. They were busy talking to each other, not realising the three of you were right there until Hyunjin called their names. They finally turned towards the front only for you to lock eyes with Jungkook.

“Hey guys, wanna go check out that new horror movie?” Hyunjin asked, making them both shrug their shoulders.

“Sure. We’re not doing anything anyways tonight.” Taehyung answered for both himself and Jungkook.

“Great! Shall we meet at the mall?” Jisung asked as he turned to you knowing everyone had their rides except for you. However, before Jisung could offer you a ride, Jungkook had offered it first which you of course, couldn’t reject.

Once you had all separated to go to your respective vehicles, you followed Jungkook to his. You walked along the front of the parked cars with Jungkook behind you. Just then, right when you were about to take a step forward past a tall jeep, Jungkook harshly tugged your waist back. Exactly 1 second before the sports car speeds out of the parking lot right next to the jeep where it was hiding from plain sight. If he hadn’t pulled you back to safety, you would’ve been run over.

A heavy breath left your lips after you gasped in shock. Your heart was racing in your chest, unable to calm down after your second near death experience. Suddenly, you could feel his hands run up and down your arms in attempts to calm your tense muscles in which it worked.

“Are you okay?” He asked as you slowly nodded.

Jungkook whispered a soft ‘okay’ before he guided you to his car safely. As soon as he drove out of the school compound, you felt a huge relief knowing you didn’t die in your school’s parking lot. He must’ve noticed your trembling hands at some point too. Hence the reason why he reached over with his free hand to hold yours softly to give you comfort. When you looked down to find him doing that, you couldn’t help but glance up at him to see his gaze focused on the road ahead of him while he had one hand on the top of his steering wheel.

The ride to the mall was peacefully quiet, with his hand never leaving yours except when he had to park and change the gear stick to reverse. The minute he finally brought the car to a stationary position, you took this opportunity to thank him for helping you earlier.

“Thank you for saving me earlier… A-And for calming me down on our way here.” You said softly to which he smiled.

“Of course. I wouldn’t wanna lose you.” He said easily, making you blush.

“How did you know the car was driving out?” You asked him a bonus question that made him freeze for a split second.

“I saw the tail lights turn on, red light flashing onto the tree behind it.” Jungkook said, which was pretty logical if you think about it. You decided to let the topic slide as you met up with the rest at the entrance. Upon buying the movie tickets, you were all going to get snacks to sneak it into the theatres. After a few debates, you have all agreed to buy some seasoned fries and popcorn chicken bites from FiveGuys. While Hyunjin was queuing to buy the food, the four of you wandered around the same level to see if there’s anything else you could buy.

You were just looking at some stuffed toys through the glass windows of a shop when someone wrapped an arm around your waist comfortably.

“Planning to sneak one in or what?” Jungkook asked teasingly, to which you couldn’t help but giggle.

“And use it to shield my vision from the horror movie? Yeah, why not.” You said, feeling your heartstrings tug upon hearing his laugh. You stood up straight to walk away, only for him to do the same with his arm still around your waist. None of you wanted the other to pull away and you could tell. When you saw Jisung and Taehyung at the other shop ahead of you, Jungkook was debating on whether he should pull his hand away from your waist.

Unfortunately, his thoughts were cut short when Jisung’s voice sounded from a few feet away.

“Hyung… Y/N… Is there something you’re hiding from us?” His voice sounded cheeky and you could tell. You looked at Jungkook and he did the same to you, not sure of what you should reply to your friend. Partly because neither of you declared anything of your status with each other. Upon realising this, Jungkook decided to answer for both of you.

“She got cold so I’m just offering her some warmth.” He said without a single hesitation, successfully convincing Jisung.

“Really? Do you want my jacket?” Jisung asked you as he unzipped his jacket and grabbed the hem, ready to tug them off his shoulders but you stopped him saying it’s okay.

After you had all managed to head into the theatre, you sat in between Jungkook and Hyunjin in the centre of the row. Halfway through the movie, you naturally snuggled closer towards Jungkook who easily noticed this. Your heart was beating so fast in your chest but you ignored it. At one point, Jungkook whispered something to you but you couldn’t hear him so you glanced to your right only to feel his lips brush over yours when you did that. You saw him glance down to your lips briefly as he smirks softly at you, causing your heartbeat to pick up its speed.

“I said… Do you wanna hold my arm? I’m sorry I don’t have a jacket to offer you.” He repeated his words to you, earning a soft nod of your head. You proceed to slide your arm behind his bicep, wrapping your hand over his forearm. Jungkook smiled as he leaned in softly only to feel him kiss your cheek so gently, you would barely feel it if you weren’t paying attention.

After the movie ended, the rest of them wanted to get ice cream before you went home. Once it was time to call it a day, Jungkook sent you home without being asked to do so.

When he finally arrives outside your house, he told you he’ll walk you to your door.

The minute he joins you by your side, he slips his hand into yours as you easily let him. He locked fingers with you, holding you close to his side as if he was afraid of losing you. When you made it to your front door, you turned around to face him. He had a bright smile on his face, eyes twinkling under the moonlight.

“Thank you for sending me home.” You said, earning a soft chuckle from him.

“No worries. Besides, how would I get my goodnight kiss if I didn’t send you home, right?” Jungkook teased you, making you blush hard.

“G-Goodnight kiss?” You repeated those two words in a whisper, catching his attention.

Jungkook laughed at you, not expecting to see you react so shyly like that. Jungkook reaches up with his free hand to cup your face, caressing your cheek softly with his thumb. You watched as he began to lean down, closing the gap until his lips were hovering over yours. Unfortunately, your fairytale thoughts were cut short because the minute you felt his soft lips brush against your own pair, your front door opened and there stood your mother with a bright smile on her face.

You jumped away from him in shock, clutching your chest where your heart is.

“Oh my! Goodness! Grandma! You shocked me…” You said with a heavy sigh, earning a soft giggle from her.

“I’m so sorry dear. I saw Jungkook’s car outside so I was wondering where you two were.” She said, making you sigh.

“You should go. It’s getting late. Goodnight Y/N… Goodnight Ma’am.” Jungkook said before he gave your hand a light squeeze before walking away. After he left, you entered the house with her only for her to ask you something you never expected.

“Are you finally dating the nice boy? What’s his name again? Jungkook, is it?”

“H-Huh? Oh… N-No, no. Jungkook, he… he’s just a friend.”

“Are you sure? I can see that he likes you a lot and I’m pretty sure you do too.”

For the first time in your life, you were speechless. You didn’t know what to answer. So you simply kept quiet as you guided her further inside before you head to your room.

It’s been a week since the ‘almost-kissing-him-goodnight’ incident which neither of you dared to acknowledge it outwardly. Just hugging and holding hands and occasionally kissing your cheek like he’s been doing all these while. It was a Saturday evening, you were in your bedroom when your mom came knocking on your door and said, “Dear, someone’s here to see you.”

With that, she pushed the door open to reveal Jungkook standing there with a shy smile on his face. He was wearing a white shirt, a black and white large flannel unbuttoned over it and a pair of slightly loose denim jeans. You ushered him in as you patted the mattress, asking to sit down.

After she had closed the door to give you two some privacy, that’s when you giggled softly. Clearly not expecting his arrival.

“What are you doing here?” You asked.

“I was passing by the neighbourhood so I decided to come and say hi. I hope I’m not a disturbance to you or your parents at this hour.” He apologised to you as his eyes began to wander around your bedroom.

It was small but really cosy to you. All there is, was a small desk for you to do your school work, a super single mattress laid on the floor at the corner of the room beside the window, a drawer to keep your clean clothes and a full length mirror. You smiled as you watched him quietly, finding his curious face pretty cute with how his eyes grew round and his lips were parted slightly to show his adorable bunny teeth.

Minutes ticked by so fast when you’re not paying attention. Both of you were just joking around at some point when you saw his necklace fall out of his shirt where he had hid it. It was the same necklace you saw that night on his tabletop but what was even more intriguing is that it was the exact same one that the guy in your dream was wearing.

You reached forward for his necklace but stopped halfway. Jungkook knew what you were going to do so he held the pendant in his fingers and asked why you were going to reach for it.

“I’m sorry, I just… I feel like… I’ve seen the necklace you’re wearing, somewhere before. It’s okay. I must be mistaken though.” You said as you let out a soft laugh. Jungkook remained quiet as he nodded. Suddenly, you watched as he took off the necklace and soon put it around your neck. You frowned as you glanced down at his lips where his face was just inches away from yours, only to meet his gaze after he’s successfully clasped the necklace hook in the loop.

“Why did you put it on me?” You asked in total confusion, having absolutely no idea as to why he did that.

“Keep it.” He said.

“B-But I can’t! It’s yours!”

“I mean it. It’s yours now.” He said as he gave you the softest smile you’ve ever seen. With that, you simply clutched onto it like your life depends on it. When you finally walked him out to his car, you suddenly felt like you didn’t want him to go just yet. Jungkook could sense your hesitation so he lightly chuckled.

“Do you really have to go?” You whispered shyly, earning a laugh from him.

“I have to, besides, it’s getting late. I don’t want to disturb your parents. They need their rest.”

“Hmm… Okay…” You hummed sadly, only for Jungkook to chuckle. Just then, Jungkook takes a step forward as he slides one hand over your waist while the other hand cups your cheek. He tugs you closer as you glance up to lock eyes with him. Jungkook’s eyes glistened under the moonlight as he caressed your cheek with his thumb while his eyes flickered down to your lips. Neither of you said anything as he closed the gap and soon kissed you. Your heart pounded against your chest while you snake your hands around his slim waist.

You felt him smile against your lips before he pulled away to leave barely any space between your faces only for him to whisper, “I love you.”

You were about to reply but he stopped you.

“Don’t… Don’t say it yet.”

“Why?”

“You’ll get to say it when the time is right…”

“When will that be?” You whispered to him, unsure of what was going on and you couldn’t help but feel like something’s wrong.

“You’ll know it… I promise.” Jungkook said as you frowned upon him. You didn’t understand why but you obeyed his words nonetheless. Jungkook breathes out through his nose before he kisses you again longingly, making your heart swell for him. When he finally pulled away, you could feel your whole world slowly begin to crumble.

Something’s not right.

With a heavy heart, you watched as he got into his car and drove off into the distance. There was a voice in the back of your mind telling you that there’s something off with his behaviour. You just don’t know exactly what it was.

That night, your questions were answered.

That night is when it all happened.

That night is when your dream finally became crystal clear to you and all the memories came flooding back like a tsunami.

“Grandma! Grandpa! We’re here!” Your 5 year old self exclaims the minute the cab driver brings the vehicle to a stop right at the entrance of the park. You hurriedly got out of the cab whilst your foster father was busy paying the driver for the fare. You run to the end of the footpath as it separates into two directions, leading you to different parts of the park.

“Grandma! Hurry! I want to see the swans!” You yelled excitedly as the elderly couple began to walk slowly towards you. Since they were just a few metres away from you, it was the perfect chance for you to run off towards the path on the left where the lake would be. Occasionally taking breaks while waiting for your foster parents to catch up with you. People around you give you smiles whenever you pass by them and say hello.

You were walking down the footpath, trying to find a pair of swans when a beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly suddenly hovered in front of your face. You flinched back in surprise as it landed on the tip of your small nose. A soft giggle left your lips as you reached up to touch its wings when it began to flutter away. Being the child you are, you started to trail after it.

The butterfly flaps its wings delicately across the park, freely and happily while you try to not lose sight of it. Unfortunately, your carelessness has brought you closer to danger than you would’ve thought at the time.

“Y/N, sweetie! Don’t go too near the lake!” Your foster mother said as she walked side by side with your foster father. Your 5 year old self was running down the footpath, trying to diligently catch the beautiful sky blue coloured butterfly. You ignored their calls of asking you to be careful because of course, kids will never listen. You got further and further away from your elders as you were so close to catching the butterfly when all of a sudden, your feet missed a step on the wooden bridge.

Within a split second, you plunged into the lake before your elders could chase after you. Water flushed down your nose and mouth, accidentally swallowing it in huge gulps while you were desperately crying for help. Since you were just a 5 year old kid, you didn’t know how to swim nor were you taught not to open your mouth and breathe underwater.

You were growing unconscious due to the large amount of water that had already started to fill your lungs. You were ready to just accept your fate that you were going to die right then and there. Except, luck has a different plan for you. Just when you were on the brink of completely drowning, a sudden new figure dives into the lake and swoops you into their arms before bringing you back up easily. Once you were on land, they began to do CPR on you until you finally managed to cough out a huge amount of water that had gotten into your lungs.

After you have recovered slightly, the voice of the person who had just saved your life, rings in your head like a lingering memory.

“Are you okay?”

It was a man. You glanced up and saw a young man probably in his mid 20s looming over you. His facial features were a blur but you could somehow see how defined and sharp everything was. The bridge of his nose, his beautiful doe round eyes, the silver hair falling down his forehead. Except, there was one thing you could easily make out. And that was the silver pendant necklace hanging around his neck. You couldn’t really see it that clearly but it was an oval shaped pendant, similar to the ones where you can open and close it.

“Y-Yes… T-Thank you, M-Mister…” You stumbled over your words as you saw your elders rushing over to you. That’s when the man said something that wasn’t quite understandable to you.

“I promise to keep you safe from any harm.” He said over a whisper but you heard him.

This time, when you glanced back up to meet the face of the man who saved your life, it was like the blur finally faded away and you could see clearly whoever was standing in front of you. That’s when you realised. The man who saved your life, the man that has been appearing in your dreams as nothing but a black shadow to begin with, the man who you owed your entire life to for giving you the opportunity of a second chance at life, was the same guy who you met a few months ago. The same guy who you became close to. The same guy who you eventually fell in love with.

It was him this entire time.

It was Jungkook.

But how? That’s impossible… right? How could he not age? How is he not in his early 40s by now if he really was in his early 20s when he saved you 20 years ago?

All these questions began to swirl around your head, filling you with a million different emotions.

And then you awoke.

It was 3 in the goddamn morning but sleep was no longer in your to-do list. You quickly changed out of your sleeping shorts to your sweatpants, putting your bra on and an oversized jacket as you rushed out of the house without waking your parents up and soon made your way to his place. You gave it a few knocks, hoping he was still awake. A few seconds later, the door swings open only for you to be greeted by a shirtless Taehyung. He seemed fully awake as he gave you a confused smile.

"Y/N? What are you doing here at a time like this?" He asked as politely as possible.

“I’m looking for Jungkook. Is he here?”

“Uh… He’s not home… He probably won’t be for the next few days…”

“Why? Where did he go?” You asked a little impatiently. Taehyung stared at you in worry as he wasn’t sure what to say to you.

“He, um… He has a very important business to handle somewhere else. I’ll update you once he’s back-”

“I really can’t wait that long, I need to see him now…” You partially begged as Taehyung pressed his lips into a straight line in defeat.

“He went back to the cosmos…”

Now it was your turn to get confused.

“Cosmos? What cosmos? What are you talking about?”

“Me and Jungkook… We’re not from this universe.” You stared at him in disbelief but for some reason, you knew he wasn’t lying.

“T-Then… Then does that mean you’re… immortal?”

“Correct. How did you find out?” Taehyung asked as he stepped aside for you to enter. Once you made it inside, he guided you over to the couch where you decided to come clean.

“When I was five, I almost died… But someone saved me from drowning. I never got to remember who it was. Right after my 16th birthday, I started getting these blurry, recurring dreams about my accident. The dream wasn’t clear but I kept seeing the same scenes happen again and again. A few months back, my dream slowly began to get clearer but I still couldn’t see who saved me that day… And just now… just now is when my dream finally became crystal clear and I saw everything. Now I remember.” You said. Taehyung smiled as his eyes travelled down to the necklace around your neck.

“He gave you his necklace, huh?” He asked softly. You held it in your hand as you reached forward with your other hand to hold Taehyung’s forearm gently.

“Taehyung, I need to see him. All these years, I’ve been trying to figure out who saved me that day but I have no idea who it was. Now that I know, I have to tell him.”

“There is something I have to tell you.” You remained quiet as you stared at him desperately so he took that as his cue to continue.

“Jungkook was never supposed to save you that day. His task was to simply watch over you. Sort of like a guardian angel. He can’t help you no matter how fatal the situation was for you because that’s just how it works for us. But that day, he couldn’t bear to see your parents cry. He didn’t have the heart to watch you drown in front of your parents…” Taehyung paused as you slowly began to piece this whole thing together.

“So that’s why he saved me…”

“Correct. However, because of that, the higher deities did not approve of his actions… So, he had to receive punishment. And his first punishment was that he has to watch over you from afar as you grow up without getting into close contact with you until your 16th birthday. The recurring dreams you had since you turned 16 was the second punishment. You were made to slowly remember that it was him who saved you that day. And once you fully remember that it was him…” Taehyung stopped abruptly as if he was afraid to continue.

“What happens if I remember it was him? Taehyung tell me! What happens if I remember?” You asked desperately as Taehyung frowned at you sadly.

“He will forget that you ever existed.”

“What…?” Your heart stopped as you couldn’t get this thought through your thick head.

“That’s his punishment.”

“N-No… No he… he can’t forget me. He’s been there for me my entire life, he can’t just forget me… No…” You began to get anxious as Taehyung felt bad for you. You were determined to not let Jungkook forget you so you begged Taehyung to bring you to the cosmos and see Jungkook. Taehyung didn’t want to risk it at first but after seeing how determined you were and knowing that Jungkook would not want to forget you, Taehyung decided to help.

Jungkook stood in the middle of the courtroom up in the cosmos, ready to receive his punishment. Though his heart was already shattered into a million pieces, he told himself he had to stay strong in order to have even the slightest bit of hope that he would somehow remember you after all this was done. He couldn’t bear to lose you. Not again. Not ever. He has loved you from the start. He fell in love with the little girl he was told to look after. The minute he laid eyes on you on the day you were born, he knew that he would look after you to the best of his abilities.

He made a promise to himself that he would do whatever it takes to protect you from any harm that may come in your way. Jungkook wouldn’t know what he would do if he just watched you get hurt no matter how little or fatal the accident may be. And on that unfortunate day where he was just watching over you from afar, running along the edge of the lake trying to catch the butterfly, he already saw it coming. He just wasn’t sure if he should obey the words of his deity or defy them by doing exactly what he was told not to do.

In which he ended up choosing the latter for he could not bear to see your parents crying and struggling to save you. Jungkook wasn’t heartless and he wasn’t planning on becoming one. Hence, why he decided to dive into the lake that day and save you. He knew his actions would result in a heavy consequence but he didn’t care at the time. All he wanted was for you to have a second chance at life and thanks to him, you got it.

So as he stood there, his mind was filled with memories of you. From when you were a kid to now. Every single memory he had of you, lingered in his mind like posters and pictures pinned to a bulletin board. Suddenly, all he could think of was kissing you. How soft your lips were. How good it felt to finally tell you how he feels about you. To be able to hold you in his arms and tell you he loves you because he wouldn’t get to say it to you again after tonight.

It broke him but he was satisfied.

“Jeon Jungkook. You were called upon the courthouse to receive your punishment for the offence you committed years ago. Are you aware that the girl has finally seen the truth in her dreams?” His deity asked, earning a scoff from Jungkook.

“If she hadn't, I wouldn’t be here.”

His deity leaned back in his seat feeling slightly furious with how Jungkook was showing lack of respect for them. Nonetheless, they continued with Jungkook’s sentencing.

“Very well then. By the power vested in me, thou shall have no memory of the said girl after tonight. Every single memory of her shall be erased, leaving no traces of her behind. In addition, thou shall not remember any mortal from the past 2 years and vice versa. It shall be as though they never existed in each other’s lives. If there are no objections-” As soon as this was said, a familiar voice catches Jungkook’s attention.

“I object!”

He whipped his head up in search of the owner of the voice. The minute he found it, his eyes grew wide as he stared in shock upon witnessing this discovery. There you stood, at the very top of the stairs in the courthouse right next to Taehyung. He knew he had to stop you but he didn’t. He wanted nothing more than for his best friend to be happy so he decided to let you do what’s right to get his best friend out of his misery.

“Who dares to go against our ruling?” The deity said, making you speak up bravely.

“I do.”

He whispered your name under his breath as he watched you descend the stairs while keeping your eyes locked on the higher authorities.

“And just who do you think you are? Strutting about and bravely make your call to stop this trial?”

“Someone that will stop you from carrying out his final punishment.”

“Ah… you must be the girl from the lake… You must be stupid enough to think that you could leave this place alive.”

“No! Please! I’m begging you, don’t hurt her please. Give me my final punishment, just leave her alone.” Jungkook said as he stood in front of you to shield you from them.

“What are you doing? Don’t you wanna remember who I am?” You asked in confusion as he turned to you with tears in his eyes.

“Of course I do. But I also want you to leave this place alive.”

“I don’t want you to forget me! I can’t lose you again. Jungkook please!”

“You won’t lose me. Because you remember me. Promise me that you’ll make me remember you.”

“I promise.”

With that, Jungkook cups your face with both hands as he pressed his forehead against yours softly. Your eyes were closed, feeling him caress your cheeks with his thumbs. Just then, you didn’t want to lose this chance so you pushed your head forward only to kiss him. You let your lips stay there for a while before pulling away. The minute you did, you wrapped your fingers around both of his wrists while you whispered against his lips, a sealed promise.

“I love you Jungkook and I promise I’ll make you remember me.”

Suddenly, everything happened so fast as a blinding white light began to fill your vision. The next thing you knew, you were in your bedroom. It all felt like a dream to you. Except, you remembered everything vividly.

The next day, you made your way to school, only to find Hyunjin and Jisung seated at the wooden table in the garden. You came over and soon asked them curiously about the other two. However, what they answered came as a surprise to you.

“Who’s Taehyung and Jungkook? Are they your friends?” Hyunjin asked, making you frown.

What the…

A few hours later, the three of you were walking to the CS building across the campus when you caught sight of two males walking in your direction, parallel to you. One had striking neon blue hair while the other had bright purple hair. The purple haired one would be right next to you once you crossed paths with them too. You kept your eyes on them as they got closer and closer until they were about 3 feet away. As if on cue, the purple haired individual just happened to turn his head towards you, causing you to lock eyes with him.

Your heart began to race in your chest the closer you got to them. The minute you walked past them, with the purple haired one being the closest to you, the same feeling you felt the first time this happened a few months back repeated again today. The feeling of a string being tugged at that was invisibly linked to your hand and his, a small sense of longing lingers in your veins. However, you continued walking despite sensing him turning back to look at you.

So when you felt like it was safe to turn, that’s when you glanced over your shoulder to see him tilt his head in confusion but nonetheless continued walking. You whispered something under your breath, feeling your heart shatter with every word you say.

“I remember you.”

You turned back in front, your mind was already somewhere far. There was absolutely no way in hell that you were going to let this slide.

Why? Because you were determined to make him remember you for you had made your promise to him.

#bts scenarios #bts imagines #bts fics #bts #bts jungkook #jeon jungkook #jeon jungkook fluff #jungkook imagines #jungkook x reader #jungkook scenarios #bts jungkook scenarios #bts jungkook imagines #bts jungkook fluff #bts jungkook x reader

[simply-whump]

Love You Seven Times (七时吉祥) - Whump List

Whumpee : Chu Kong played by Ding Yu Xi

Synopsis : Xiang Yun was originally a cloud, but was later transformed into a fairy by the Red Thread Master and worked in the Marriage Pavilion. Xiangyun volunteered to help her master to find Immortal Chu Kong, the God of War, a marriage partner but later got caught auctioning his marriage. The two quarrelled and accidentally messed up the red thread of fate, leading to an entanglement between the two that last for several lifetimes. However, their fate started way earlier, in a memory that both of them didn't have. (MDL)

Genres : Romance, Wuxia, Historical, Fantasy

Warning! Possible spoilers below!

Chu Kong

Ep 1 : None

Ep 2 : Staggering, holding his head, seeing some lost memories — Has a headache 

Ep 3 : Drunk

Ep 4 : Hit with a wooden bar, restrained, hit on his arm repeatedly, slashed by a sword while protecting someone, passes out, concern for him — Unconscious in bed, arm bandaged — Wakes up — Pretending to still be injured (comedic)

Ep 5 : None

Ep 6 : Holding his arm in pain (not fully recovered)

Ep 7 : Hot water spilled on his hand, concern for him

Ep 8 : Crying — Fighting, slashed by a sword, hit multiple times, crawling on the ground, watches his parents die in front of him, distressed, bleeding from the mouth, saved, half carried, unconscious

Ep 9 : Unconscious, looked after — Wakes up, crying — Struggling to walk, in pain, wound treated — Wound treated, wincing — Fighting while still injured, holding his shoulder

Ep 10-11 : None

Ep 12 : Fighting, shot, bleeding from the mouth, concern for him, cut, collapses to one knee, struggling to get up, crying — Crying, his loved one dies in his arm, screaming — Hair turned white

Ep 13 : (Flashback) Lying on the ground unconscious

Ep 14 : Crying

Ep 15 :In a wheelchair

Ep 16 : Sick after eating some mushrooms (comedic)

Ep 17 : Pretends to cough and to be weak (in a wheelchair) — Seems unwell, holding his chest, concern for him

Ep 18 : Coughing — Given medicine — Goes into a snowy mountain even though he is sick, struggling to walk, holding his chest, worried for someone, groaning in pain — Bitten (comedic)

Ep 19 : Bleeding slightly from the mouth — Coughing

Ep 20 : Fighting, spitting blood, concern for him, passes out — Unconscious in bed, pulse taken, bleeding from the mouth, concern for him, wakes up, weak — In a wheelchair, in pain, holding his chest, stabbed by someone he trusted, bleeding from the mouth — In a wheelchair, coughing — Fighting even though he is very weak, spitting blood

Ep 21 : Fighting, grabs a blade with his bare hand, hand bandaged, gives his heart to his loved one (literally), hair turned white, collapses, concern for him, dies 

Ep 22 : In bed with a stab wound, swapped soul with the female lead (comedic)

Ep 23 : Drugged, passes out, gets his soul back in his body

Ep 24 : Fighting while being injured by two arrows — Surrounded, dies 

Ep 25 : None

Ep 26 : Drunk — Attacked, struggling to get free from some dark magic, saved

Ep 27-29 : None

Ep 30 : Using a lot of power, bleeding from the mouth, passes out, concern for him — Unconscious in bed

Ep 31 : Wakes up — Struggling to resist against some powerful magic, bleeding from the mouth, worried for someone, collapses to one knee, magic used on him, groaning in pain, passes out 

Ep 32 : Hit with a very powerful magical arrow, disintegrates on the spot, concern for him

Ep 33 : Drugged with aphrodisiac, feeling hot 

Ep 34 : Briefly dizzy — Weak, holding his head

Ep 35-36 : None

Ep 37 : Enters a dangerous place, cuts on his face, spitting blood, struggling, in pain, hit by a magical whip, spitting blood — Primordial spirit destroyed, collapses to his knees, bleeding from the mouth, concern for him

Ep 38 : (Previous scene continues) Dying, concern for him, crying, dies, disintegrates 

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