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#sans tab crimes
fictionkinfessions · 1 year
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i wonder if that other grillby knew about the sans tab debacle or if all grillbys independantly have it occur to them that sans never paid his tab, like a rite of passage. - original 'pay your tab' grillby
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n0v4t33z · 7 days
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The Syndicate - Chapter 8 : Complications & Whiskey
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Pairings: Choi San X Female Reader, Park Seonghwa X Female Reader, Ateez X Female Reader
Genre: Lots of angst, Romance, Crime Fiction, Psychological Drama
Word Count: 15.9k
Tags/Warnings: For Mature Audiences, Mentions of Illegal activities (i.e Kidnapping, extortion, assassination etc.), flirting, kissing (yk that cheesy stuff couples do) Mentions of San's past lover being not so cool. (Not edited properly, I'll come back to it when I can)
Nets: @newworldnet
MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!!
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Author's Note 💌: Hi! It's been a while since I updated this story, unfortunately I had really bad burnout and kind of struggled writing this chapter. Luckily one of my readers reached out to me which really motivated me to finish this chapter. The beginning is a little bumpy but it gets better! Like always I hope whoever reads this enjoys this chapter and if you didn't keep it to yourself! Again, thank you for remaining patient! (It's 2 am and I'm tired but I still wanna post this rn because I need to get it off my hands asap so I can work on the next chapter) - N🌙
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How did this happen? How did he get my number? Did he bug the hospital room somehow? Maybe Chris’ phone? Fuck. There was a long silence of me trying to process what just happened then Captain Lee continues “I was just calling to let you know you’re more than welcome to come back to the police force.” My blood runs cold causing me to slightly stutter “So how’d you get my number?” He chuckles which gives me a horrible case of my whole body feeling cold “Ah, don’t worry about it Detective I have my methods.”
I nervously laugh and my grip becomes increasingly tight on my phone while I carefully look around making sure no one was watching. Making sure "he" wasn't watching. “Ah well, I’ll think about it Captain but I was just hoping you keep my anonymity since Aurora Syndicate is currently out looking for me.” I’m hoping he doesn’t suspect anything “Oh yes, Detective Bang told me earlier and don’t get me wrong I’ll grant it for you but I’ll let you know that I’m also aware that you know I worked with The Obsidian Dragon. So naturally, if you tell anyone I’m afraid I’ll have to get rid of you. So to keep tabs on you, you’re coming back to the police force whether you like it or not.”
I put my hand on my forehead and push my bangs back and hold back tears “What do you mean Captain? Why am I being forced into this? This is why I disappeared, to distance myself from this. I can't go back.” Captain Lee clicks his tongue a few times and says “Well, I’m sure you do know investigating these Mob bosses will get you killed so you should know that once you step into the world of corruption and ghost money your only way out is death whether you’re involved or you’re investigating it.”
He isn’t wrong, every single word he’s saying is right. I got myself into this mess and now I’m stuck. The only words that manage to leave my mouth are “Okay then, when do I go back?” I’m going to regret this. I could hear the smile in his voice “Anytime you want, preferably on Monday but don’t worry you’ll be doing desk jobs until you’re cleared. or until I feel you're good to go” I silently nod then I say in a very hushed tone “Alright, see you then Captain Lee.”
I hang up and clench my phone in my hand trying to blink back tears. I can’t cry here. I wipe away the stray tears before I buy the groceries. Once I've paid for them I put my phone on factory reset and throw it away into a trash bin outside the grocery store and head back to the tattoo shop. This is not good, I'm worried as to how he got a hold of my phone number. I didn't even give it to Chris. I'm terrified he probably knows more than what he leads on.
 When I arrive to the hideout I notice everyone was still asleep so I stand in the dark kitchen and silently cry for a few minutes. I know everything will change after this. They’re all going to stop trusting me, not that they trusted me much anyway but what worries me the most is San. I might as well enjoy the calm before the storm.
Once I start cooking I notice Seonghwa sleepily rubbing his eyes and says “Hey, good morning no wonder I smelled sauteed meat and garlic, you’re in the kitchen.” I smile and nod “Yes, you’re spot on. I decided to cook for you guys since your cook isn’t here. I’m afraid it won’t be as good though.” Seonghwa raises his hand and shakes his head “Nah, it can’t can’t be worse than Hongjoong’s cooking. At least what you're cooking smells edible so I’m sure it'll taste just as good as it smells.”
He washes his hands and walks over to me “Need a hand?” I shake my head “Oh no you don’t have to, I was hoping you guys wouldn’t wake up until I was finished” He pats my head “Hm, I’ll help you. I’m awake so I might as well make myself useful” I giggle “Alright, please peel the potatoes?” He nods “Yes, ma’am” after we prepped and cooked everything I exhaustedly sit on the couch then I space out.
I want to tell Seonghwa but I’m scared he’s going to get upset. How do I tell him? Seonghwa soon follows and sits next to me and looks over at me waiting for me to say something. Worriedly he says “y/n? Are you okay?” I look over at him “Hm? Oh nothing I just have alot on my mind as of recently. A Lot has happened.” He nods “I agree, that attack from the feds hit us hard but don’t worry. Everything will fix itself eventually.”
I sigh and reach over to nudge Seonghwa’s arm “Hwa, I need to tell you something. I know I need to tell San right away but I’m scared.” He furrows his eyebrows and looks at me with a huge concern “Did something happen?” I hide my hands under my thighs “Captain Lee called me out of nowhere when I was grocery shopping this morning and he told me I have to go back to the police station again to keep tabs on me or else he says he’s going to take me out. I honestly have no idea how he even got a hold of my phone number, I had no choice but to say yes. I fucked up. I’m so sorry.”
I bite my lip to keep myself from bursting into tears while he silently stares at the ground for a moment then he cautiously looks back at me “No, no. This isn’t your fault, but you do have to tell San. This isn’t good at all. ” I nod  “You’re right, this can’t wait can’t it? I was going to wait until everyone finished eating. Forgive me please don’t tell anyone else about this I’ll tell San myself.” I get up trying my best not to start crying in front of Seonghwa. Before I even have the chance to walk away he stops me tugging on my hand so that I turn to face him. He looks up at me from his seat "Remember, everything is going to be okay even if it seems like there's no way out of it." I force a smile and nod "Right, thank you for being such an amazing friend Hwa." Seonghwa slowly lets go of my hand and nods. "Always." I'm grateful to have a friend as caring as Seonghwa, someone who will comfort me and reassure me when i'm in doubt. I just hope one day i'll be able to return the favor.
When I open the door to San’s room and slowly close the door behind me. I carefully sit down on his bed and gently shake him “San, I have something to tell you.” He quietly hums and sleepily turns to face me trying to blink away his sleepiness  “y/n? What’s wrong? Are you okay? You’re awake?” I shake my head trying to hold back tears. I’m so scared. He sits up and grabs my hand and gently kisses my knuckles “What’s wrong?” My lip slightly quivers “I have to tell you something. It’s something kind of serious.” He sits up and gently rubs the back of my hand with his thumb “Well, whenever you’re ready angel eyes.” I tighten my grip on his hand and put my other hand over his and take a deep breath then silently exhale “Well, Captain Lee called me and said I have to go back to the police station again or he’s going to kill me and whoever else knows about him working for The Obsidian Dragon and that he was the true reason why The Phantom died.”
San stays silent for a few seconds then in a low tone he responds “Why?” I stare at his hand then I look over at his body language and I could feel how angry he is right now which is what scares me the most because I know how impulsive he is. As much as I don’t want to look at how angry he is I look up at him meeting his eyes “He wants to keep tabs on me.” He lets out a long sigh and gently kisses my forehead “I promise you’ll be safe.” I look into his hypnotizing dark brown eyes “So you’re not mad at me?” His demeanor quickly changes and gives me his cute dimpled smile “Hey, why would I be? This isn’t your fault at all.” Part of me felt like it was, I feel like a burden now that I know Captain Lee is unknowingly threatening San with me.
“I don’t know, I just feel like somehow it was my fault because I told Chris about Captain Lee being corrupt. Despite that I know deep in my heart that Chris would never say anything.” San’s smile disappears and raises his eyebrow “Are you sure? How do you know it wasn’t him?” I bite the inside of my lip second guessing my previous statement now because of his serious demeanor. “Well, because I know him and he always keeps his word no matter what. That includes secrets. He'd never put me in harm’s way, he’s always protected me so it can’t be him.” He lets out a quiet sigh “Babe he’s a cop what do you expect? He’s going to open his mouth if it benefits him. Especially now since you no longer work at the police station that lead is probably a huge opportunity for a promotion.” I shake my head “No, he’d never do that especially not if it ended up hurting someone.”
He looks at me with a straight face almost like what I was saying is a bunch of nonsense  “I’m sorry, I love you but I don’t trust that partner of yours.” I frustratedly put my hands on my forehead “Hear me out, when I told Chris I specifically told him to ask Captain Lee not to release the news of me being alive and to grant me anonymity. Which yes, Captain Lee acknowledged and said he’d agree too if I went back to the station but another thing I told Chris was that Aurora Syndicate was after me and that I needed my anonymity because of that. Captain Lee didn’t know that and he never once mentioned it until I said something about it so if Chris did tell him he would have known that and would have mentioned it first.”
San's eyes slightly narrow “But what if he didn’t mention it on purpose? He’s a cop so he’s great at being able to convince someone with words by conveniently leaving things out.” Okay, as a cop this is embarrassing how I’m forgetting my own methods now. I sigh and lay back onto the bed “Ok you know what?" I frustratedly run my fingers through my hair. "Fine who cares how he found out, the problem is that he found out and now I’m fucking scared to go back knowing I’m only there because he’s going to wait until I fuck up so he could kill me. Even then I still don't want to lose you either.” A big knot grows in my throat, feeling the tears begin to sting my eyes “This is why I'm telling you, because I need your help. I don’t know what to do, and I didn’t want to leave without a word and leave you wondering whether I’m okay or not.”
San lays next to me and wipes the tears away then gently pulls me close to him “You won’t be alone I promise, Seonghwa will be my eyes. I have a plan but that will be all up to you if you want to do this.” I nod “Of course, anything.” He smiles and kisses my forehead “Good girl, the plan is you will be my informant on what the police department is up to regarding Aurora Syndicate. Of course you’ll be under observation so evreytime you do have Information I’ll have Seonghwa send over the information via burner phone and dispose of it after each use to lower the chance of us getting caught.” San gives me the most gentle gaze and gently kisses the side of my head “This is going to end soon I promise, even if you’ll be someone else’s temporarily.”
I furrow my eyebrows and give him a confused stare “Uh what?” He smirks and lifts up my chin “You’ll have to pretend you and Seonghwa are in a relationship because he’s going to be living with you, even though it pains me. I have no choice at this point than to fool Lee for a little while longer while we gather up a plan.” What is this? Again with the fake boyfriend? I look up in disappointment while massaging my temples lightly “Really? How can you be so comfortable sharing me with another man like that? Can't we just be roommates or something?” He shrugs “The thing is if he's not related to you in anyway at all people will start looking into him a lot more, your supposed relationship to him might be a good distraction for them and much more convincing.”
He's really trying to sell me this, it's not a horrible idea but I don't know.. Kind of awkward after what happened between me and Seonghwa last night. “Besides when you went to your funeral with him and he brought you back home safely didn’t he?” I roll my eyes and jokingly retort “Yeah, what if I fall in love with him? Then what?” He smiles and takes my face in his hand “Hm, well then I’ll try to win you back no matter how many times it takes because like I said in the end you and I both know you’re mine. I know my place in your heart and you know mine, we are one. So, no. I’m not worried I'll lose you to him because I know it’s not going to happen. You’ll always be mine in one way or another.” Never have I seen a man so sure about how he feels towards me. How... Nice.
“You really feel that way?” I ask while I gently run my hand along his white t shirt clad chest. “I mean, do you? Because, I do.” he chuckles and raises an eyebrow giving me a dimpled smirk while I try to keep myself composed and nod “Of course I do.” he pulls me in a little closer and kisses me while he gently tucks a lock of hair behind my ear. “No one will hurt you.” I poke his small dimple “I know, I believe you. I’ve seen what you can do.” San smirks devilishly hovering his lips over mine “I can do that and much more, just for you.” I giggle and clear the few stray pieces of hair from his face. His cat like eyes making me dizzy, for a second I forget how lost in his gaze I am until he leans in and kisses my forehead "My angel."
In response I rest my forehead on his shoulder and sigh "I'm tired of all of this San. I want this to stop." He gently presses his lips on the top of my head whilst he holds me close "I know you do baby. I want it to stop too, I want to be happy with you. Soon, okay?" Feeling a tinge of guilt, I bite my lip trying my hardest not to cry despite the huge uncomfortable knot in my throat.
San rolls onto his back and pulls me onto his chest "Let's lay here for a bit." I look up at him "So that's it?" San raises his eyebrow and hums "What do you mean? Was I supposed to say something else?" I shrug "I don't know, you don't seem shaken up over Lee's threat towards me." San runs his fingers through my hair "Well, how do you know I'm not scared?" He's right, maybe he's trying to keep me from freaking out. "Well, for one we moved on from this conversation way too quickly." He quietly stares up at the ceiling for a few moments his fingers now gently massaging my scalp until he finally speaks again. "Hm, well I am scared. I'm also angry and bloodthirsty, but I can't show you that part of myself. I don't want to scare you, I don't want to fuel your brain with ideas of me that might make you not trust me at all."
Okay so I guess I was right, he knows he still scares me to some degree despite loving him so much. I hate how conflicting this is. "I see, so you're trying to spare me from freaking out then?" He smiles gently booping my nose "You got it." I rest my head on his chest and sigh.I hate how my "fake" death ended up becoming pointless, and unfortunately it's probably something Captain Lee will end up blackmailing me with. I thought I was going to catch him by surprise but no, now I'm hoping I can find a way for Captain Lee to get blindsided while still under his observation.
I look up and notice San staring up at the ceiling again then I bury my face in the crook of his neck holding onto him tightly. He turns to me and gently plants a kiss on my temple then rests his head onto mine. “I really am going to miss you.” I lace his fingers between mine “I am too honestly. I wish we could stay like this forever.” Letting him go now seems like a crime, why is it that he terrifies me but yet makes me so happy? “I got so used to having you at my side for so long that I forgot what it felt like to not feel so- I don’t know, alone?” I giggle “That’s a nice way of putting it because I feel the same way.” He pushes a strand of hair behind my ear and shows me his dimpled smile “Yeah?” My ears get hot and I bury my face in his chest causing him to quietly laugh “I swear you’re so cute when you get shy. I’ll miss that too.” I peek and look up at him “Hey, don’t be sad. I did a surprise for you and the guys this morning but I think maybe the food has gotten cold by now.” HIs eyes light up “Wait, wow. I get to try your food?” I nod and awkwardly smile “Yeah but if you don’t like it it’s okay. I honestly hate my cooking but my family strangely seemed to love it so I just wanted to cook for you guys because I trust my family’s opinion on it despite personally not really being a fan of what I make.”
San gives me a dimpled smile “I’m sure it’s delicious angel eyes, I know I’m going to love it so don’t worry. Also, I think we should go eat. I’m sure after everything this morning you’re probably really hungry.” He smirks and winks at me causing me to cover my eyes. Why is he always making my heart feel like it's going to jump out of my throat? “Stop it. Stop doing that thing with your face again!” He removes my hand from my face and chuckles "Wait, what's wrong with my face?" I shyly look in the other direction avoiding eye contact while my voice slowly trails "Um, nothing. You just.." San turns my face back in his direction "You what?" Stunned, I simply blink back in response until he chuckles and pulls me into a chaste kiss. Once he pulls away he gently runs his thumb along my bottom lip and for a few moments I recalibrate my brain until I finally respond "You're handsome...That's what I wanted to say." San hums and pulls my hand up to his lips gently pressing it onto his lips. "So sweet aren't we baby?"
When we walk to the kitchen we notice most of the guys were in the living room except Hongjoong, Jongho and Wooyoung who were in their respective rooms. I look over at San awkwardly knowing full well that some of them aren't too keen on me. I clear my throat trying to lightly bring their attention “So uh, is anyone hungry?” Yunho looks up from the game he’s playing “Hm? There’s food?” I nod “Yeah, I woke up early this morning to make it mostly because I couldn’t go back to sleep. Do you mind getting the others? I’ll bring Wooyoung’s breakfast later when he’s woken up.”
Yunho nods and walks over to go fetch the 2 others while everyone else takes their seat at the table meanwhile Seonghwa and I set the table while evreyone talks amongst themselves waiting for the others to come. Eventually Jongho, Hongjoong and Yunho sit down at the table with the only person missing being Wooyoung. Seeing everyone here except Wooyoung felt odd considering he was always very much present in the conversations but now that he wasn’t here the table was more at peace or so we thought. Seonghwa looks over at me and San “So uh, why are we here all together?”
San laces his fingers together “Well, something happened this morning.” Hongjoong narrows his eyes "The feds know where we are?" Jongho glances at San "Did they?" San shakes his head then pushes his glasses up "No. Captain Lee contacted y/n about going back to the police station. Of course he knows she’s alive now but blatantly threatened her to come back to the police force because he knows that she knows about his involvement with The Black Obsidian. He says he wants her working there to keep tabs on her which comes to my next statement. We’re starting a very important assignment regarding this issue. Of course the person who’s going to actually be joining y/n will be Seonghwa.”
Everyone is silent then Mingi slowly raises his hand “So it’s just him? What are we supposed to do then?” San nods “yeah, the reason why he’s going is because he’s the only one that that has no file under his name in the NIS data base” Hongjoong looks at San “Neither does Yeosang though.” San looks over at Hongjoong and smirks “That’s the thing, I’m sure Yeosang is not going to want to pretend he’s y/n’s lover. I also know y/n is definitely not comfortable with him either.” Yunho looks over at Seonghwa whose ears were a bright pink hue then back at San “Wait so are you saying Seonghwa is going to go with y/n and pretend he’s her boyfriend? Why though? Is it to keep an eye on her?” San nods then Seonghwa uncomfortably shifts in his seat “Yep, Seonghwa is also going to be the one communicating to us what’s going on at the station since I’m sure y/n won’t even have the chance to since she’ll be under a microscope with Lee.” 
Yeosang frowns “So what does that have to do with us? Isn’t it just going to be a mission just for them?” San takes a sip of his warm tea and continues “No, it’ll involve you guys as well but that means you’ll have to lay low. Some will be tailing Lee and other officials working for him that includes y/n’s partner Detective Chris Bang, some of you will also be keeping watch the security cameras at the police station and the cameras near and around where y/n will reside in case anyone is sent by Captain Lee.” Everyone stays silent for a while then Jongho says “Wooyung isn’t part of any of this right? He’s still recovering from that punctured lung.” San bites the inside of his cheek “Yeah, he’s not. I just want him to get better and that means he can’t strain himself so please no one speak to him about this. Obviously I don’t know how long this will take but until he gets better please don’t say anything you all know how he is.” Hongjoong cocks an eyebrow “What about when he asks about y/n? You know how he is with his questions.” Yeosang then says “Just tell him she voluntarily left on her own because Lee found out she was alive.”
San leans back onto his chair “There’s your answer, with Seonghwa just say he went on an assignment abroad. Everyone understand? ” Everyone agrees and say in an untimed unison “Yes boss.” Meanwhile Seonghwa silently stares at the table then he looks at San “So you trust me enough let me pass off as y/n’s lover?” I look over at Seonghwa and can tell he’s probably not comfortable going through with this. San gives him a smile clearly showing him how much he trusts him “Of course, you’ve taken such great care of her when I wasn’t able to. Besides this is all fake anyway.” He understandably nods and says “Alright, I’ll do my best to make you proud again.” Seonghwa catches me staring at him and gives me a sweet smile “I promise I won’t let anything to happen to you.” I nod and try to act as nonchalant as I can “Thank you, I appreciate it.” Meanwhile San pats my head and says “Alright everyone can resume eating now, I heard y/n cooked this for us so let’s not leave anything on our plates.”
Everyone begins to eat and after a few moments I notice a few of the guys nodding in approval. Yeosang then looks over at me and says “Thank you for the food y/n.” Shocked he even complimented me I vigorously nod “Thank you so much but it wasn’t just me, Seonghwa helped me as well. I’m sure if he didn’t help the food wouldn’t have been as good as it was.” Could it be that a way to get to a cold man's heart is food? It's starting to ring true now. Seonghwa chuckles “I only peeled the potatoes and made the rice, it was all you y/n.” With his cheeks stuffed with food mid chew Mingi says “You’d honestly make a great wife, your cooking is immaculate and reminds me of my mother’s” San gives Mingi a stare and I nervously laugh “I’m sure your mother’s cooking is way more delicious Mingi” Jongho gives me a comforting smile “Honestly your cooking is amazing, even if you don’t feel that way. I’m saying that because these guys are so picky that the in house chef we had back at HQ quit after about a month of being there.”
I cover my mouth trying to cover up the big smile on my face then I say “Well, I guess I’m lucky to have such picky eaters like my food.” San puts his hand on my thigh and gently squeezes “See? Don’t forget to give yourself some credit sometimes.” I give him a small smile and nod then I look in the direction of the rest of the table “I know this is random but I just wanted to let you guys know I won’t be outing any information regarding the Syndicate if that’s what some of you are worried about, I’ll take that to the grave.” Jongho sets down his coffee mug onto the table “Don’t worry, I trust you. I’m sure the others do as well to an extent they just don’t want to admit it but I believe you y/n.” Yunho and Seonghwa both nod then Yunho responds while looking directly at Yeosang and Hongjoong “Even then for the ones who still don’t trust you they’ll see you’re not a bad person and you’re worth trusting.” Hongjoong tilts his head “You must be talking about Yeosang and not me. If I didn’t trust y/n I wouldn’t have let her touch a computer and much less suggest to San to let her have her own.”
My lips slightly part looking at the table then I look back and notice Hongjoong’s usual annoyed look replaced with one of a small smile “But also how could I not trust someone who likes Spongebob?” I giggle then I turn to Yunho “He’s right, he’s actually been very nice to me so no worries about that.” He continues looking in Yeosang’s direction “I’m glad to hear, although I was mostly referring to Yeosang here considering how many rude and tasteless things he’s said to you and that doesn’t even include the things he’s said while Wooyoung instigated.” I shake my head “Ah, no that’s okay don’t worry. I respect his reasons.”
He silently nods for a few seconds as if he was unconsciously doing it to calm himself down “You’ll see she’s not a horrible person, and when Wooyoung comes back he’s going to see for himself too.” Yeosang sits there staring at Yunho for a few seconds then stands up silently and walks to his room leaving everyone in shock. Why do I always cause these things, if someone isn’t getting upset over something I did someone else is getting upset over something someone did to me. I wish this wasn’t the case, it only comes off that I’m the one causing problems.
San glances at Yeosang’s empty seat then back at me “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine he just can’t stand being wrong.” I silently nod then San smiles and says “Everyone is dismissed for now, we’ll talk about everything in detail later…” A few moments later San’s cellphone rings and hurriedly gets up and says “I’ll be back, I’ve got to take this call..” Eventually evreyone finishes eating but San never comes back so once everyone leaves, I stay behind to clean the dishes while Seonghwa clears the table. He silently walks over to me holding a few plates gently setting them down onto the sink and walks back to the table to retrieve more. He’s awfully quiet.
Should I say something? I stare down at the bubbly water in the sink until I finally speak “Why’d you stay? I would have cleaned up, it’s fine.” Without turning in his direction I could hear the slight clinking of the glasses as he steps in my direction again. “I wanted to, besides it didn’t sit right for me not to clean up after myself.” I dryly laugh “You mean after your friends?”  I turn to Seonghwa who walks up next to me and sets down the glasses next to the sink and gives me a smirk “Exactly, you need my help. Scoot over.” I roll my eyes and scoot over, giving Seonghwa room to stand next to me and begin to dry off the plates I've already washed. For a while he and I clean together in silence until unexpectedly I hear “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting the call to be this long but something came up.” Both Seonghwa and I turn to San and he continues “I know this is very short notice but do you mind coming to something with me tomorrow night angel eyes?” I glance at Seonghwa who looked just as confused as I then back at San who was standing at the entrance of the kitchen waiting for a response “Aren’t we supposed to lay low?”
I ask slightly unsure, San gives me a reassuring smile “We’ll be okay. I just wanted you to meet my mother and sister, you know since Seonghwa here knows them I think it’s a good idea you meet them as well. I’m almost positive you three will get along.” I can’t meet his family, what if they don’t like me and they send for me to get killed? Especially if they find out I’m a former cop. Seonghwa glances at me slightly concerned “What if she just stays home and rests? She’s been through alot these past days.” San lets out a sigh and pats Seonghwa's back turning his attention back to himself. “Jongho, you, and the rest are coming so we’ll be fine. Besides, if she doesn’t want to go she's more than welcome to stay home.” Well, I guess I have a social affair to attend to now. At least now I'll get to do a little familiarization with San's family.
"I'll go..I don't mind sounds fun. I'm kind of tired of being couped up." San gives me a small smile "There you go, you heard the lady. She's going." Seonghwa quietly washes a glass under the warm running water while I dry off my hands on the hand towel next to the sink “What exactly is this thing we’re going to?” San walks over to me holding back a big smile “It’s my sister’s birthday” He gently rests his hand on my uninjured shoulder “I wanted you to join us. I know you’re supposed to be resting right now but Jongho will be there, so I promise you’ll be okay. Besides I figured you'd like to know who works for us and how deep our business runs. ” I slowly nod “Okay sure, but what am I supposed to wear? I didn't bring anything with me, much less anything that covers up what happened on my shoulder..”
San shakes his head “Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of everything.” He glances over at Seonghwa and says “Make sure my mother doesn’t find out about the specifics with the police, I don’t want her to worry. There’s also a small job I need you to do for me. Mingi will be joining you.” Seonghwa nods obediently “Noted, but what happens if she asks why Wooyoung isn’t there? She knows he’d never miss anything like this..” San stares off into the distance for a moment “He had a family emergency and he wasn’t available.” San seemed to have become a bit haste to which Seonghwa seemed to pick up on and responds “Oh, okay that seems plausible.” San motions him in the direction of the living room “Mingi’s waiting.” Seonghwa sets down the dishes, wipes his hands dry on the hand towel next to the sink and excuses himself.
I notice there’s this weird tension between them but I can’t put my finger on why they feel that way towards each other or if it’s mutual. “You remember Nari? She’s coming over to get you ready for tomorrow.” Oh, it’s the same woman that did my hair and got me dolled up for my funeral. I guess it makes sense, she’ll probably know what the family approves of. “Sounds nice, she was nice..” I look down at the ground not wanting to meet his eyes. San gently turns my face in his direction with his eyebrows softly furrowed “What’s wrong angel eyes? Are you okay?” I sigh and lean into his touch “I’m scared. What if they hate me?” San gently caresses my cheek with his thumb “Babe, I promise they won’t hate you. I’ll just tell them you’re not involved in the business so they won’t ask you any questions over who you're affiliated with and who you work for.” Wait, does that mean he’s going to tell his mom about us? “Wait, why would you tell your mom that? Are you going to tell her about us?”
He nods and takes both my hands gently bringing them up to his lips “Of course, but I’m still going to tell her not to speak on it to anyone and to pretend you and I are simply colleagues in the eyes of others but she’ll know.” San lies alot, which worries me. If he easily lies over the smallest things like this does that mean he’ll easily lie to me? “You’re lying again.” He dryly laughs and pulls me closer to him “My mother won’t speak I promise, if she was able to keep my dad’s deepest darkest secrets I’m sure she can keep our relationship a secret. I felt like it’s something we should do before you’re gone, I want at least someone to know about us..” if only he knew that someone does know, just not who he thinks it is. He leans in and gives me a quick peck making sure no one was around then gently pushes a strand of my hair behind my ear “You trust me right?” Stupidly enough, like always my brain decides to completely betray me and respond without thinking “I do.” He gently kisses my forehead and softly says in a low voice “My beautiful angel.” Everytime he calls me that it makes me melt, and I think he knows that.
“I’m going to give you a more dramatic look today, obviously still within the likes of Mrs. Choi” Nari gently works in some sort of eye primer on my eyes using a soft brush and begins to work on my eye makeup. After a few minutes of her working her magic I have a sudden urge to ask her a question “Nari, I have a question..” She softly hums and I clasp my hands together  “Do you know Mrs. Choi and San’s sister?” I concentrate on the gentle brush strokes to calm me down for some reason slightly afraid of her answers “I do, they’re very sweet. I work with them quite often actually. I just saw them this morning.” I quietly hum then Nari continues “How come? Are you worried about something?” I let out a soft sigh “Well, I’m scared they might not like me. I heard what the mother did to one of San’s exes and ordered for her assassination.”
The older woman clicks her tongue “Well, do you know what happened?” What happened? What does she mean? Does she mean that woman did something to upset San’s mother? “Uh, I mean no. Not really that’s honestly all I could dig up, besides San’s never mentioned any of his exes so I genuinely don’t know the full situation” Nari pops her gum followed by the smile in her voice “I can tell you, I’ve been working for the Choi family for years…” I softly gasp and open my eyes “Wait, for how long?” Nari gives me a soft smile “ I was hired personally by Mrs. Choi ten years ago, ever since then I’ve been doing her and her daughter’s makeup for public events..”
Nari gently has me close my eyes again and continues “Anyway, as you know her name was Hae Jihye she and San dated for a few years. I believe it was about 5 or so years but they eventually became engaged, both were pretty young but since the Choi family was so well off Mrs. Choi encouraged them to get married. She was very fond of Jihye up until San found out she was secretly seeing another man and stealing money from him and ordering shady dealings without double checking these were allies and not possible undercover cops. Up until her death she always said it was because San never gave her attention and because she felt lonely but everyone close to the Choi’s know he treated her like his princess. He would have brought her the moon if she so wanted, he gave her everything. Open.”
I open my eyes and see Nari begins to fill in my eyebrows and continues “Anyway, it so just happened the real reason was that she thought San was a huge pushover and was only planning on marrying him for his money and the Choi’s heavy influence. She wanted to be someone important since she came from a poor background.” Poor San, he gave his heart to this woman and she stomped all over it… “So when Mrs. Choi caught wind of it thanks to San’s best friend Wooyoung she began to conspire against Jihye. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned..” Nari smooths out some sort of face primer on my skin, her hands being gentle against my skin then quickly begins to work on my base “She got Kang Yeosang, one of San’s associates to carry out the assasination and right as she was exiting the beauty salon she was shot and killed. Just to add insult to injury Mrs. Choi sent the hand of Jihye’s secret lover to her grieving family along with a note that read “Hope you enjoy this small gift!” and that was that. ”
I look at Nari giving her a very unnerved expression “Wow that's…heavy.” Nari nods while gently powdering my face “So lesson of the story is don't be an opportunist and Mrs. Choi will be kind.”  I know Nari and San said Mrs. Choi is nice but I can't keep myself from thinking she's going to find something she doesn't like. What a great time to overthink. “Actually, San doesn't want to tell her about me being a cop..” Nari begins to gently apply my lipstick with small gentle strokes “Sweetheart I think you should just be honest, I mean you've been all over the news recently. I'm sure Mrs. Choi knows exactly who you are.” Oh my gosh how could I forget about that?! She's right, it's going to be a horrible look if I lie to her right from the start.
“I should let San know, you know like about me not wanting to lie to his mom not what happened with Jihye. I'll definitely never mention her ever.” Nari then raises her eyebrows “So, are you going to tell his mom you two are thing?” Her question catching me off guard I almost choke on my own saliva causing me to swallow quite hard. For a moment, I struggle how to answer until I finally but hesitantly respond “Well honestly, I think it’s a bad idea that I tell her we’re together especially if she knows I'm a cop. Despite how nice she is, she has too much history between my previous boss and her family, not the good kind either. Knowing she’s willing to kill I think I’m going to steer clear from her radar as cowardly as it seems.” Nari rests her hand on her hip “So, what do you plan to do?” I sigh “Well, continue to keep it a secret.”
Nari furrows her eyebrows and crosses her arms in front of her chest “But for how much longer? You know, Mrs. Choi isn’t getting any younger and eventually she’s going to ask San to marry again. You do understand right?” She’s right, Mrs. Choi is definitely going to ask San to marry only it makes sense for him to marry of someone of his status and the same lifestyle as his. As much as I love and I’m in love with him, we’re too different to be in each other's life in the long run and only confirms what I've been thinking this whole time which is to just enjoy it while it lasts. “I do, which is why I'm going to backtrack telling her about our relationship but not who I am. That I can't lie about, as scary as It is.” gives me a soft smile “Well, it's settled.. Also, we should get started on your hair. Your dress should be arriving sometime soon!” I nod and let out a nervous sigh. I have to brace myself for everything. I will try my best to look like a good person.
Later after Nari is done with my hair, makeup and dressing me I look in the mirror and honestly just like the first time I'm not disappointed in what I’m seeing just a little weirded out that I can look this good. My hair was loosely curled, like those gorgeous movie stars on tv, the makeup was light (For my taste at least) so that it complimented my features. Meanwhile the dress that was picked out for me was a satin strapless asymmetric neckline dress with a high slit on the right side of the dress luckily it was a long dress so it covered my legs really nicely and it wasn’t as showy as I thought it’d be considering how high the slit is. Finally to cover up my wound Nari carefully drapes a gorgeous white fur wrap over my shoulders. Nari steps behind me and hands me a black pair of designer high heels. It’s those shoes that movie stars wear, the ones with the red soles. I let out a gasp and carefully take the shoes as if they were made of glass “Nari, are you sure?” Nari smirks “Of course I’m sure, you’re wearing vintage Mugler.. You can’t just wear any old pair of shoes.” I give her a nervous smile and carefully put on my black high heeled shoes. Nari then steps back and gives me a proud smile “You look amazing y/n, I hope you feel as pretty as you look. “ I smooth out the soft fabric beneath my fingers and nod “I do, thank you for everything..” The older woman smiles and shakes her head “Thank San, he asked me to do this for you.”
Of course he did, this man is all about the details. Now it was about that time I look for San so that I could talk to him about what to say to his mother. Right after exiting my room I'm soon greeted by a dressed up Jongho who’s jaw immediately drops “Wow, you look amazing y/n. I uh- San is waiting up front, he asked me to guide you into the car.” I give Jongho a smile and tease him “You might want to pick your jaw up from the floor or a fly will go in there.” Jongho chuckles and leads the way while I silently walk behind him. Awkwardly enough I had to walk into that tattoo shop dressed like this but unlike before all eyes were on me which made me alot more nervous so I gently hold onto Jongho’s arm so that I wouldn’t risk embarrassing myself in case I trip over my dress. Once outside I realize it was beginning to get dark out that’s when Jongho opens the door to the expensive looking car and lo and behold San was there.
His hair was now cut shorter than before with a small strand of hair framing his face, whilst he wore a white dress shirt with a few buttons undone and a buttoned up black vest, a back blazer, with matching slacks and shoes. He looked so immaculate and perfect, that In the moment I think I almost forgot why I was even there to begin with until San gently grabs my hand and gently tugs on it. I blink a few times and it’s like I rebooted remembering where and why I was there. San gives me a small dimpled smile and I get into the car sitting next to him. His cologne slowly bringing me back to reality “You look gorgeous angel eyes.” I glance over at him, his eyes looking at me like he was devouring me with his gaze which was making me painfully shy, that is until I remember I needed to tell him something. San gently reaches for my exposed thigh and gently squeezes causing my ears to begin to burn and I mindlessly respond “And you look handsome Sannie..”
San leans in and gently kisses me whilst his hand squeezes my thigh a little harder leaving me to let out a soft sigh whilst he deepens the kiss. I only allow myself to indulge in the kiss for a few more seconds until I gently pull away while gently pushing him away. He gives me a confused look then furrows his brows “Angel eyes are you okay?” I nod and gently smooth out my dress “Yes, I just wanted to talk to you about something before we arrive at your sister’s party.” He gently takes my hand and nods “Sure, what is it?” I glance over at San whose eyes were soft again, a complete one eighty from a few seconds ago “We should just tell your mom that I’m a cop, you know it’ll be much easier than lying” San looks at me slightly worried and looks down gently rubbing his thumb on the back of my hand “Um, I don’t know about that..” I tilt my head “How come? Is it because I’m going back to the station next week? You know she’s probably seen the news..”
San lets out a sigh and stares down at my hand for a few moments before he briefly glances back up at me me then says in a lower almost worried tone “That’s why, because I’m sure she’ll like you but once she realizes you’re a cop she’s going to bombard you with questions..Assumptions.” I reach over and take San’s handsome face in my hands gently caressing his soft skin “And that’s okay, it’s valid on her part considering the previous history between cops and your family. I understand.” He gently takes my hand in his lovingly squeezing it “Are you positive you’re going to be okay with the questions?” I nod giving him a reassuring smile “Of course Sannie, let’s just be honest for once. This is something so important to me that I want to be honest out of respect to your mother and our relationship, please. Just this once I don’t want to lie about something I can’t hide. I don’t want to pretend to be someone I’m not even if your mother ends up hating me for it, it’s the risk i’m willing to take.”
San gives me a dimpled smile, takes my hands from his face and gently kisses them “You really do have a heart of gold angel eyes.. No matter how hard things get your intentions are always well intentioned.” I look down and press my lips into a curt smile “One more thing.” San gently turns my face to face him "What’s that?” Not wanting to meet his eyes I look down at the collar of his shirt “I thought about it and I don’t want your mother to find out about us.” San gives me a confused look “Wait- but..” I nod “I know, I just said that I didn’t want us to lie but I was talking about things I can’t hide.. Besides we’re technically not lying if you just don’t mention it.” slightly upset San takes my arm and tightly squeezes it but only enough to get my attention “But you agreed with me yesterday, why the sudden change of mind?” I shrug “I don’t know I just did a lot of thinking and it doesn’t make sense to come clean right now, it’s too soon.”
San lifts up my chin to meet his eyes while holding on to my arm, they were sad with a hint of anger. He looked genuinely hurt, but now it’s complicated. I need to see how his mom will react to the news of me being a cop, then I’ll know my answer. I need to tread lightly with this family because I truly don’t know their intentions. For all I know this is all a part of San’s plan to get me to trust him then get me killed once I do. Even then I doubt San will hold on much longer, Nari is right his mom is probably looking for someone he could marry right this moment which is why he wants to tell his mother. “As much as I strongly feel the complete opposite, I'll respect your wishes. I understand you’re nervous.” I sigh “I’m sorry but can you blame me? Any regular person would be terrified considering how powerful your family is. I don’t want to fuck up.”
San loosens his grip on my arm “I’m sorry I’m forcing you to do all these things so fast. It’s just-” He shuts his eyes and rests his head on my shoulder and lets out a long sigh “It’s my mom, she’s been looking into having me marry the Iceman’s daughter, Jisu.” I furrow my eyebrows “Why?..” He stares down at himself gently squeezing and holding onto my forearm “Business.. And because she’s close friends with Iceman’s wife.” Wow, yeah. I think involving myself even more will be a death sentence. What if she has me killed because she wants San to marry into her friend’s family? “Ah, I see.” I stiffly nod. I knew it, his mom already has eyes for someone. San raises his gaze and looks at me with concern painting his features “You’re upset aren’t you?” I shake my head and fake a laugh “No, I mean I saw it coming. I understand.”
San gives me a very unamused look  then the driver driving our vehicle clears his throat and says  “Sorry for the interruption boss, but we’re here.” San nods slightly detached still fixated on my expression “Yeah, okay. Thanks Woosik.” I feel horrible pissing him off but I think this is it. I’m so cowardly. Almost as if a switch went off he gently takes my hand and kisses the back of it “I’ll introduce you as a colleague okay? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable let alone feel like i’m forcing you to do things you don’t want to..” I nod and lean in to gently kiss his cheek then I give him a soft smile “Thank you..”
San’s expression brightens up a bit and gives me a small dimpled smile “Are you ready angel?” I nod and he gives me a sweet smile. Next to me the door opens and a very well dressed man helps me out of the car and soon after San steps out right behind me. He then gently rests his hand on the small of my waist and gently guides me to the big mansion, that house.. It’s huge. The Choi family is loaded. It’s everything you would have imagined in a mansion: the fountain, the gates, the two sculptures near the entrance, the beautiful decorative trees adorning the front of the house.
The times I’ve been to houses like this is usually when we’re going to arrest someone or when we’re investigating the murder of a high profile person which isn’t very often so to see this gorgeous house and being dressed in designer from head to toe, it makes me feel like I'm in some sort of movie. Once we’re inside the faint sound of classical music fills the air along with the high class ambience immediately making me straighten up my posture. All the people here look expensive, it also kind of freaks me out knowing that 90 percent of the people here are more than likely white collar criminals. I look over in San’s direction slightly worried only for him to give me a small reassuring smile. ”Follow me.” I grab onto the sleeve of his blazer following behind him quietly whilst he makes his way to presumably his mother. 
We approach a gorgeous older woman who obviously didn’t look her age but could tell her age based off of what she was wearing, which was a long semi fitted dark blue dress with a high neck “Mother, I’m here.” The woman turns her attention away from the woman she was speaking to and gasps “Sannie, you made it..” San pulls the shorter woman in his arms and hugs her tightly “You know I’d never miss my sister’s birthday.” She pulls back gently cupping her hands on his face with a smile. “My son, my strong handsome son.” Both him and his mother chuckle then she pulls away and looks around us “Where’s Wooyoungie sweetie? Last time I talked to him he said he’d come..”
San takes Mrs. Choi’s hand “Ah, yeah about that. Wooyoung couldn’t make it tonight he had a personal emergency.” Mrs. Choi worriedly furrows her brows “Oh my- Is he okay?” San nods giving his mother a reassuring pat “He is he’s fine, he’s just dealing with a few private matters that couldn’t be postponed and were very last minute.” Wow, he’s good at lying to his own mother too that’s actually scary. He’s not even hesitating. The mother understandably nods “Well I hope whatever it is I hope he sorts it out soon..” Mrs. Choi then turns  in my direction, for a few seconds she examines my face then she says “Oh hello, wow who is this gorgeous girl Sannie?”
I reach out and shake his mother’s hand politely smiling “Hello Mrs. Choi I am Detective y/n y/ln, I’m one of Mr. Choi’s current colleagues. His connection to the Ulwood PD. ” His mother’s eyes widen slightly then quickly composes herself before San says “She’s been a great help helping me track Lee and his other people..” For a few moments San’s mother stares at me “Are you really working for the Aurora Syndicate? Are you sure you don’t secretly work for the police to turn my son in?” San chuckles gently patting his mother’s back “She’s fine mother, I made sure of it. Besides she has her own grudges against Lee, I promise you she won’t betray us.” Mrs. Choi nods “You’re that detective that was found dead aren’t you?” I nod and lightheartedly chuckle “Yeah, that’s me. So you have no worries about me turning on anyone.” Mrs. Choi looks over at San and smiles “Look at you, giving that old bastard a taste of his own medicine. You’re definitely your father’s son.” San nervously laughs “Mom..” 
A gorgeous long dark brown haired woman approaches us, her eyes were sultry and had a very mysterious and intimidating energy surrounding her. Her gaze looking straight at San, almost like he was some sort of target to her. “Hello, how are you on this lovely evening?” Mrs. Choi turns in said woman’s direction and smiles “Jisu sweetheart, hello how are you? I’m glad you could make it!” Jisu smiles and reaches for Mrs. Choi’s hand and gently pats it “Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I’m glad I could be here for Haneul’s big day.” Mrs. Choi smiles “Thank you” Jisu looks back at San and smiles in his direction “Is this the infamous Choi San?” Mrs. Choi chuckles and gently pats San’s shoulder then San responds slightly hesitant “Yeah, you must be Jisu. My mother’s mentioned you before.” Jisu reaches over to shake San’s hand and for a moment her hand shake lingers.
A bit shocked she’s holding onto his hand and not letting go until he pulls away his hand and puts it in his pocket. Mrs. Choi looks at both San and Jisu “I did, did I also mention you’re both the same age? I’m sure you two would get along very well.” Jisu looks in San’s direction tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear “Of course we will, San seems like a person I’d get along with perfectly. He’s so hardworking and it shows.” Jisu smirks then shifts her gaze over to me where her smirk slowly disappears then she softly laughs “Oh my- I’m sorry hello, who are you?” I give Jisu curt smile and extend my hand “Detective y/n y/l, I’m currently working for Mr. Choi.” She raises her eyebrow “My, my I didn’t know San was willing to be risky, you feds are hard to trust. Nine times out of ten you have ulterior motives.” I chuckle feeling the venomous intent behind her words. “Well then I guess I’m the 1 out of 10 who has no ulterior motives. Mr. Choi knows he’s in good hands trusting me. Am I right Mr. Choi?”
I turn to him giving him a small smile. San immediately picks up on what I was trying to do and responds “Of course, she’s shown me her loyalty multiple times. At the end of the day we both have the same goal so why not team up with someone like minded.” Jisu hums then shrugs “Well, as long as you’re confident that’s all that matters.” Mrs. Choi gently takes my arm and says “San, I need to have a word with Detective y/ln. Do you mind keeping Jisu company?” San looks at me sympathetically then back at his mother “Ah, yes mother.” Jisu looks in my direction, smirking almost like she knew this was something I couldn’t get myself out of. Almost like she expected the worst. I’m worried. Did I say something wrong? 
Mrs. Choi quietly walks me out of the room the party was being held in and once outside in the hallway she lets go of my arm. Expecting her to maybe say something she continues walking in silence unnerving me even more as the seconds go by. I walk behind her until we enter the big marbled floor living room, she motions me to sit down on the expensive looking velvet couch which I oblige. She walks over to the small cocktail table and serves us both drinks, I'm presuming whiskey. At this point I’m beginning to get very impatient. What exactly was the reason I was pulled away from everyone else. What is she going to tell me? She sets my drink on the coffee table then sits across from me while she holds her whiskey in her hand. I clear my throat running my fingers along the soft fabric of my dress “So, uh what did you want to talk about Mrs Choi?” She takes a small sip of her drink the gently rests it on her lap ”So you said you work for the Ulwood police department correct?” I nod carefully clasping my hands together and gently resting them on my knees “Yes, correct ma’am” She swirls her drink in the heavy crystal glass whilst I carefully reach for my drink on the table “In the police department? I work under Captain Steven Lee Ma’am.”
She’s not going to like this..I know it. She slightly raises her eyebrow “Very interesting…You do know your Captain killed my husband right?” I nod looking down at my drink slightly bowing my head “Ah, yes Mrs. Choi I was the one in charge of the case. We arrested the people who were involved in the murder.” Like San, his mother has a very intense stare only this time making me very more nervous knowing the lengths his mother is willing to go for her son so I can only imagine what she'd do for her husband. “That you did. Unfortunately you missed the main culprit.” Her words felt like swords stabbing right through me. Words that immediately make my stomach drop.
“I’m aware Mrs. Choi, unfortunately when San showed me what Captain Lee was really up to everything finally made sense. He purposely would steer things away from anything that he thought would get him caught, at the time my partner and I didn’t really understand why he wanted to be so heavily involved in the case since usually he’d be the one to usually just assign them and just stick to focusing on the department’s strategy. So I assure you I didn’t know anything until I met San.” Mrs. Choi stares at me unmoved, a complete 180 from when she was with San and Minia. “I understand, I'm sure that bastard has everyone back at the station fooled..” I nod respectfully agreeing “Yes, unfortunately even the best one among us got fooled. Which is why I’m working with San to put that man down.”
God, I sound so pathetic saying it like that. “So what’s your reason for helping my son? What did Steven do to you?” There’s the question I was waiting for. I let out a long sigh then I meet Mrs. Choi’s eyes finally lifting my gaze to meet hers “Well, San kidnapped me to get Captain Lee back but unfortunately he gave up trying to get me back once he realized he was going to have to expose his crimes to everyone so instead he left me for dead in hopes San gave up threatening him and I’d get killed. Luckily San did the opposite and instead had me pretend I was dead, which unfortunately caused me to lose everything I had; friends, family, career, my home..” With the last words quietly being trailed off from my throat growing a huge knot. Is she going to sympathize with a cop? Someone who works under the man who killed her husband?
Mrs. Choi’s gaze grows a bit soft and sets down her half filled glass on the arm rest of her seat “I am so sorry this happened to you. I can only imagine how many more people are suffering at the hands of Steven.” She’s right there are probably quite a few people getting blackmailed to do his dirty work for him. No doubt. “I just want to make sure you mean well working with my son, because if your intentions are not pure- and please do not take offense but a mother will do everything in her power to protect her son no matter who it’s against.” Ah, just what I was dreading. Nice. “ I understand Mrs. Choi, you have my promise there will be no moves on my part against San. I’m fully on the Aurora Syndicate’s side, you have my word.” Mrs. Choi Smiles “ I have one last question for you y/n.” I nod, taking a sip of my drink, the warmth slowly trickling down my throat and to my stomach. Yep, definitely whiskey. “Sure Mrs. Choi go ahead.”
She gives me a mischievous smile her finger tracing along the rim of her drink “So y/n what do you really think about my son?” I run my finger under the crystal glass trying my hardest to stay calm “Hm, like as a person?” Mrs. Choi warmly smiles clearly trying her best to get me to open up “As a man sweetheart.” My throat tightens causing me to clear my throat. “Oh, uh I mean he’s very handsome, and of course very kind.” Wait, why is she asking me this? “He definitely is, he takes a lot from his father…” Wait that’s all she was going to ask? I mean yeah it’s kinda weird but that’s it? “There’s one thing I will tell you is that my son tends to be quite flirty sometimes and I want you to pay no mind to him” No mind to him? Like ignore him? “Uh- Could you elaborate Mrs. Choi?” She sighs “To be frank, I don’t want you to get involved with my son. I understand you’re working with him but just leave it at that. Nothing more.” Is she really starting to pin this on me? Like I know it's true but oh my gosh how does she know? What gave it away…I need to convince her otherwise or I'll be in big trouble.
“My apologies for asking Mrs. Choi but why?” Mrs. Choi scoffs then retorts in a venomous tone “Because I don’t trust you. No matter what Steven Lee did to you, you’re still working under him. I don’t want San to fall for the same bullshit my husband fell for with Steven. That tragedy is not going to repeat itself again.” I carefully set my glass back onto the glass coffee table and I shake my head “I assure you that’s not going to happen Mrs. Choi. San and I have grown to be very close friends from sharing the same hatred for one person and the last thing I'd ever do is betray him. If anything I owe him my life.” Mrs. Choi seems unconvinced from my plea. “Then know that your place here which is only to help my son get rid of the man who killed my husband and not being romantically involved with him.” I drink the remaining whiskey in my glass in one go to prepare myself “Again, my apologies but I never explicitly stated my feelings towards Mr. Choi. I only really said he’s good looking and has a great heart.”
The woman rolls her eyes at me like just told her the stupidest thing on Earth “You were the one my son was shopping for. I asked you if you were the deceased detective because my son was telling me he was shopping for someone special. The problem is one of his associates let it slip that the girl he was shopping for was “the detective” After a bit of pondering I put two and two together. The last time my son went out of his way to spoil someone like that he was engaged to his former sweetheart.” I’m guessing San is not the type to gift just anyone, they have to be special to him. In that case, I'm special to him.. Wow. “You’re not wrong about your son getting me things, that’s true. That’s only because I needed them. What’s not true is my relationship with him. We’re simply friends.”
Without hesitation Mrs. Choi throws her drink at my face and gets up looking down at me “Don’t get smart with me, stay away from my son.” Her heels clack away little by little becoming more faint while I blankly stare down at the marbled floor in disbelief, my eyes blinking rapidly from the alcohol burning my eyes. She really knows. It's like she stays out of San’s business in front of him but behind his back she gets rid of people she deems useless for her son.. It’s probably why San is insisting of only a few people knowing his true plans. Unfortunately I understand her fear of trusting a cop, it’s completely validated. The thing is I’m not liking how this played out, we’re off to a bad start. Judging from the small things San would tell me about his mother, she seemed nice but now not so much. At least not when you get on her bad side. 
Eventually I manage to clear my eyes, my face and ears are burning out of embarrassment. My lap and chest wet from the whiskey, once I manage to stand up I walk back into the party.  I let out a long sigh and look around, trying to ignore the wet dress against my skin and my hair and makeup feeling gross. Maybe I should get San out of talking to that girl. He didn’t seem too comfortable with her. I walk around looking for San not really paying attention ahead of me until I accidentally bump into someone with my shoulder causing me to hiss in pain tightly clutching onto my wounded shoulder. “I’m sorry, are you okay? y/n?”
I look up and notice a worried Seonghwa staring down at me whilst the other people he was talking to just silently stare at me. Gosh, I’m so glad to have found someone I recognize. Walking around with a bunch of people I don’t know was starting to make me really uncomfortable considering how horrid I probably look. “I’m fine, sorry I was looking for San. He was with a girl.” Seonghwa raises his eyebrow then he excuses himself from the people he was talking to and walks a few steps away from them pulling me aside “A girl?” I nod looking around trying to see if maybe San was anywhere close by. “Yeah, her name is Jisu, really pretty, looks like a model.” Seonghwa slowly nods “Ah, yes. His mother is trying to set them up..” He looks around and steers me in the opposite direction I was walking “I think for now it’s best you don’t interrupt them, you don’t want to upset Mrs. Choi.”
I glance over at Seonghwa and scoff looking away, feeling the tears in my eyes making them sting “I already did that, can’t you see my makeup is all runny?” Seonghwa turns my face in his direction and slightly squints, gently pushes a lock of my hair behind my ear inspecting my face “Your makeup is fine surprisingly, your hair though. It’s a bit-” I look down clearly embarrassed “I know, ugly..” Seonghwa warmly smiles and takes out the handkerchief in his breast pocket gently patting my face and hair dry “No- I mean your hair looks wet.. What happened?” I close my eyes for a bit to force my tears back into my eyes when I open them I pull his hand towards the exit “I can’t say it here.. Can we go outside?” Seonghwa gently rests his hand on my uninjured shoulder “Before we go, are you hurt? Do we need to get Jongho?”
I look under the fur wrap at my wound and shake my head “No, I’m fine. I just bumped it a little.”  He reaches over and links my arm around his “Alright good, this is so you don’t fall by the way. Those shoes look like an accident waiting to happen.” I roll my eyes and laugh “You do know I wear heeled shoes to work sometimes, I have no issues walking on high heels.” He shrugs stifling a laugh “So? What if you fall? In front of all these people..”
Well he’s right, that would be embarrassing and I’ve been embarrassed enough tonight “Okay fine..” Seonghwa starts to guide me out the door until we step outside the chilly evening. “Geez, it’s kind of cold.” I slightly shiver and hug myself standing behind one of the statues at the top of the stairs leading to the door. Seonghwa unbuttons his blazer about to take it off before I panickily mumble “No please, it’s okay…” Seonghwa looks at me for a moment and asks “Are you sure? I don’t want you to catch a cold..” I shake my head forcing a smile “I won’t I promise.” He stands next to me clearing his throat “So, what happened?” I look down and let out a soft sigh and for the first time tonight I begin to really process what happened making my throat grow a knot again. For a few moments I struggle to get the words out until I finally blurt out “San’s mother, she hates me.” Seonghwa gives me a very concerned look “What? Mrs. Choi? How?..” Slightly frustrated I hug myself tighter, tears now rolling down my cheeks “ She found out about me and San, she doesn’t want me to be romantically involved with him because she thinks I’m going to get into his head and basically be the downfall for their business..”
Seonghwa lets out a sigh and pulls me into a hug “I’m so sorry y/n. Did she find out through you or-” I sniffle and pull away looking up at an uneasy Seonghwa “I tried to deny it, but she found out through a slip up with one of the associates, not sure who it was but they referred to me as “the detective” when talking to his mother over who San was shopping for..” Seonghwa lets out a long sigh and rubs his forehead slightly frustrated “San’s going to get pissed..” Once he lets out his small frustration he gently pats my head gently pushing it back onto his chest “Do you want to leave? We don’t have to stay here if you’re uncomfortable.” While my head gently rests on Seonghwa’s chest I look at the entrance for a few long seconds “I don’t know, I feel like maybe I need to go tell San over what happened with his mother. He seemed pretty worried when she asked me to talk.”
Seonghwa gently clears the stray hairs on my face “San will understand, don't worry. I can call him and let him know that I’m taking you home.” I worriedly look at Seonghwa “Are you sure? You don’t have to, you can just give me the keys and I can drive myself.” He chuckles and gently pats my head “It doesn’t bother me, I promise. Besides I can’t let a girl looking as pretty as you drive herself home alone.” Seonghwa pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and scrolls on his phone for a bit then puts his cellphone to his ear, where you can faintly hear the dial tone until you hear San’s voice “Hey, y/n isn’t feeling too well. I’m taking her home.” San’s voice responds but I can’t make out what he’s saying, only that he sounded a bit annoyed. Seonghwa then responds “She’s not feeling too well being here-” Suddenly Seonghwa stops talking while San says something to which Seonghwa tensely responds “Ah, okay then we’ll be out in the front waiting.”
San curtly responds then the call ends rendering Seonghwa to awkwardly let out a sigh putting his cell phone away then slowly pulls back and looks at me forcing a smile “Change of plans, San’s going to take you instead. He asked me to stay and talk to some investors.” I raise an eyebrow “What? I thought he was busy.” Seonghwa gently pats my head and chuckles “Well, I guess he’s not too busy for you. Which is good, maybe he’ll learn to take time to himself instead of working all the time.” Seonghwa looked kind of upset now, although he’s really good at hiding it; his tense body language and his faint darkened mood replaces his usual warm and caring demeanor which is what gave it away. “I’m sorry, for bothering you Hwa.” Seonghwa gives me a faint smile then turns to look at the horizon.
The sky being painted a beautiful shade of sparkly dark blue now as opposed to earlier. “You don't need to, if anything I'm glad we bumped into each other. You needed someone after that encounter with Mrs. Choi, I know right now you’re holding back trying not to cry as much as you’d like.” Unfortunately he’s right, I can’t bawl my eyes out like a child here. Not only would that be embarrassing for me but I know it’ll be embarrassing for San as well. “Yeah, considering what my job is, I kind of have to keep it together even if I am a crybaby when I’m alone.” Seonghwa glances over at me “Just know with me you never have to hold back, I know we still don’t know each other very well but I’m here.” Seonghwa has always been very kind, although I feel weird confiding in him now considering how we’ve gone through the unfortunate situation of him seeing my true relationship with San. I guess it’s nice knowing I have a friend in these situations “Thank you, it means a lot.” Seonghwa gently nudges my arm “So are you going to tell San what happened with his mother?”
I stare at the ground for a few good seconds, before I’m even able to say anything the front door opens followed by “y/n are you okay?” I glance up and it’s a worried San hurriedly walking in my direction, Seonghwa steps aside letting him stand next to me where he reaches over for my arm. “Uh..” Seonghwa looks at the both of us then slightly bows in San’s direction “I’m off, I hope you make it home safely y/n” I give him a reassuring smile then Seonghwa looks in San’s direction  “I was keeping y/n company but now that you’re here-” San pats Seonghwa’s back turns him towards the door “Yeah I’ll call you if I need anything, thanks for keeping an eye on her.” Seonghwa forces a smile and excuses himself without saying anything else. What was that? 
“Why didn’t you let Seonghwa just take me home? Weren’t you on a date?” San dryly chuckles “What? No.. I mean I was with Jisu but I promise you it wasn’t a date. I was just appeasing my mother since I really didn’t want to upset her here.” San takes my hand gently pressing his lips onto the back of my hand  “Enough of me though, what happened?” I let out a long sigh and start walking down the stairs “We have to get out of here, I’m not risking anyone overhearing us no matter how “Safe” it is here. “ San follows behind not letting go of my arm “Wait, is it really that bad? Was it some asshole that said something to you or was it my mother?” San’s last words render me to make the knot in my throat break knowing damn well I wasn’t going to make it without crying. “Baby?” San stands still causing me to be pulled into a complete halt “Look at me, it’s okay. I’m here, I'm not going anywhere.” He pulls me into his arms where he gently presses his lips on my shoulder “Don’t cry, please. We’ll go into the car and talk about this okay?”
San digs into his pocket where after a few moments I hear the sound of his car beeping which was luckily nearby. He pulls back cupping my face looking into my eyes, his usual intimidating gaze is now soft trying his hardest to comfort me “Come on baby, car’s over there.” He grabs my hand and we walk to the car whilst I quietly sniffle behind him. When we finally get to his car he opens the door to his expensive looking car and lets me in.  Surprisingly it wasn’t a sports car but a luxury car that looked like it cost more than the average person’s yearly income. I better not let any tears fall onto the seat if that’s the case. Once San enters the car and closes the door behind him he turns in my direction and reaches for my hand “Okay, now tell me what happened?” Still teary eyes and without even letting silence run by that long I blurt out “Your mother knows about us San, the thing is she’s not happy about it.” San furrows his eyebrows “Wait? What? How?” I shrug blinking back my tears “From what she told me is that one of your associates let it slip.” San’s gaze darkens which is the look I was most afraid of seeing. “Who was it, I need names y/n..”
I shake my head my tears running down my cheeks while I slightly stumble. “I don’t know that’s just what she told me, she specifically said he referred to me as “the detective” and of course she pieced it together saying that you don’t usually go out of your way to gift anyone anything especially if it’s a woman. She said that when you asked her for advice on how find a dress she asked you who you were shopping for to which you simply responded “Someone special” which gave her a hint of what type of relationship it was” San stays silent gently rubbing his thumb on my hand whilst he listens. “She also said she didn’t want anything between us because she doesn’t want a repeat of what happened to your father which I understand and I guess to explain my wet hair she kind of threw her drink at me.” The air changed, he’s upset. I can feel it. 
He clenches his jaw while he bounces his leg trying to dissipate the anger. He sits there in silence for a few seconds before he finally gets up and exits the car angrily. Terrified of making it worse I get out of the car and speed walk behind him “Please, don’t tell her anything..” He silently walks in the direction of his home most. I speed walk a little faster finally catching up to him immediately reaching for his hand with tears blurring my vision. “San! Please!” He comes to a halt once those words leave my lips and halts glaring at the Choi’s property, his eyes seething with anger. I stand in front of him and tighten my grip on his hand. “Please, let’s just go. It’s okay, I just need you to be with me that’s all..” San’s gaze stays fixed to the house in silence until he finally utters  “I really am sorry y/n, I’m so sorry my mother treated you like this. You didn’t deserve this at all, you have no idea how much it pisses me off. I could have avoided this happening to you had I gone with you instead of obeying my mother. I trusted she wouldn’t pull something like this..” I walk into his arms, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head on his chest. “Don’t worry about it, we’ll figure it out. We don’t want to ruin your sister’s day do we?” San’s eyes remain angry and cold while holding onto me.
Once I manage to get him to get back in the car San practically glares ahead of him then turns on his car anger seething through him. “Put your seatbelt on we’re getting the fuck out of here.” Obeying him I immediately pull the seatbelt over myself clicking it into place “Where are we going?” He grumbles “Somewhere that’s not here.” He pulls out of the driveway and the tires screech as we drive through the gates and back to the long pathway leading out of the Choi’s property. I notice San’s tight grip on the shift gear making the veins in his arms pop out that’s when I reach over and rest my hand over his  “I’ll be fine, it hurt but I’ll be okay. I’ve been treated much worse.” San looks ahead keeping his eyes on the road but still very clearly upset “You don’t understand y/n , all my life my mother’s been like a saint to me. In my eyes she could do no wrong because that’s how much respect I have towards her. The thing is this time she’s wrong, you’re nothing like Lee, you’re a godsend, someone I was so happy to have met even if they were all under the wrong circumstances. My angel.” I gently hug San’s arm whilst holding onto his hand “See? All it matters is that you recognize it.” I still hate that his mom ended up hating me, but I saw it coming. “I know, I just wish she saw what I see in you, the sweet, hardworking and strong woman that I fell for.” I gently squeeze his hand on the gear shift and kiss his cheek “She will.” She won’t, and I know that because I know you’ll go on to marry someone who fits your lifestyle. 
“So Mr. Choi, where are we going?” He gives me a dimpled smile while keeping his eyes on the road “Hm, is there anywhere in particular you want to go angel?” I hum watching the cars ahead of us pass by “I’ll go wherever you go Sannie, just being with you makes me happy.” He quickly leans in and kisses my forehead before he says “Take a nap baby, you had a long day. I’ll wake you up when we get there hm?” I adjust in my seat resting my head against the head rest and cross my arms in front of my chest. As soon as I close my eyes close San lets out a groan “Why’d you let go of my hand?” I open my eyes and look over at a pouty San “What? I was going to leave you alone so you drive comfortably”
He lets go of the gear shift and takes my hand lacing his fingers between mine “Who said I wasn’t comfortable?” I giggle “Okay fine, my mistake my pouty boy.” He feigns a pout trying not to smile but completely fails. “Ah, look it’s your dimples! Look, you're smiling!” San chuckles “No I’m not!” I reach over with my free hand and poke his dimple “Oh but Mr. Choi you are look I just poked your dimple..” San keeps his eyes on the road then gently brings my hand up to his lips and kisses my hand “Go to sleep detective or I'm afraid I’ll end up crashing this car if you keep distracting me with your antics.” I slowly nod stifling a laugh “Fair enough I’ll sleep, it better be good.. ” I close my eyes and pull San’s hand onto my lap, until the car’s movement lulls me to sleep.
“Wake up angel, we’re here.” San gently strokes my arm while I slowly stir awake, the distant sounds of the ocean waves crashing against the shore. I open my eyes and see a smiling San by now he had removed his blazer now leaving him with his vest and dress shirt, his sleeves rolled up like usual while resting his forearm at the top of the car door way “Ah, look at you. Such a beauty..” He looks over at the sand then back down at my shoes “Hm, I think you might want to take those off.” I kick off my high heels and throw my fur cover up in the back seat. “You’re right high heels in sand aren’t fun.” He gently leans in and and kisses my forehead before he helps me step out of the car. “We came to the beach..” He nods gently squeezing my hand in his “We did, do you like it? I know it’s dark right now but you can still see pretty well from the lights” I look at the waves being delicately illuminated by the soft glow of the moon.
“I love it, but why exactly are we here?” San brings my hand up to his lips and kisses my hand while we both walk towards the beautiful ocean “I wanted to cheer you up, what happened tonight was my fault. I shouldn’t have let you go alone with my mother so I wanted to make up for it somehow even though it doesn’t undo everything that happened.” I stop us a few feet before the shore and I turn to face San, he looks down at me gently running his thumb along my cheek. I lean into his touch and hold his hand onto my face “Don’t worry. Whatever happens, happens. I’m used to hatred coming my way.” His brows inch together “You shouldn’t say that though. You should always have love coming your way because you deserve to be loved.”
I look up at him and examine his face, he’s so beautiful, just like his words. “Your words are so pretty Mr. Choi, you always manage to remind me why I love you so much.” San nervously chuckles then cups my face with one hand and pulls me close with the other “My words are only pretty to resemble the one who receives them.” He leans in and kisses me, his soft lips very tenderly latching onto mine whilst he holds me close to him. My hands slowly run up his chest while my feet slowly sink into the sand below me so I tip toe to reach around his neck, San notices this and breaks the kiss. “Having trouble baby?” I pout feeling a bit embarrassed “No..” San chuckles planting a kiss on my cheek “You’re so cute..” I pull the front of my dress up “I bet you can’t catch me..” He raises his eyebrow and smirks “I think I can.. Go ahead and get a head start..”
I stick my tongue out at him and run ahead along the beach as fast as I can while giggling knowing he was dumb enough to give me a head start. Just as quickly as I ran a gap between us he quickly catches up to me and carefully throws me over his shoulder as to not hurt my injured shoulder and slaps my butt. I loudly gasp playfully smacking his arm “San, stop!” He chuckles and slaps my butt again and defiantly squeezes it “This is fun actually. So soft.” Catching me off guard I squeal and cover my mouth embarrassed that someone might see us and pat his back. He gently lays me down on the sand the crawls on top of me and places his soft lips on mine.
We kiss for a few moments before he lays next to me and lets out a soft groan. I reach over to hold his hand and we both look up at the beautiful glittery sky where he says “Are you happy with me y/n?” I turn to look at San who was looking up at the sky his lips pressed together anticipating my answer. “Of course I am. You have no idea how happy I am every time I see you. Although we can’t really hang out like a normal couple I still really like being around you.” He holds back a smile and nods, kissing my hand for the nth time today.
“Good, because I wish you were with me a little longer. I don’t want you to go.. You’re the only one who doesn’t force me to wear the mask I have to keep on every single day since my father died.” I bite the inside of my lip and silently stare up at the sky, for a moment I don’t know how to answer. How can I? So I stay silent for a bit trying to figure out what to say, maybe.. “So, are you finally admitting that San likes to be San and not an evil criminal?” San chuckles and lets out a soft exhale “Yeah, I do like being San even if I try to hide it most of the time, it’s better than having enemies you didn’t know you had and having to keep your guard up every time you meet someone new.” I’m surprised he’s not a paranoid mess all the time with the amount of people constantly going after him.
“I’ll be your safe space. Always, just find me when you need me.” He lays down on his side propping his head on his hand “Be careful, I might kidnap you from the station and this time I won’t return you..” I boop his nose and giggle “You have to return me silly, or we won’t get rid of our mutual enemy.” He pulls my face close to his and before he pulls me in for a kiss he says “Screw that man, I want my girl by my side..” He kisses down to my neck burying his face and letting out a soft sigh. I gently stroke his now shorter dark hair without messing it up too much “You know what’s funny?” San lets out a soft hum and I continue “This dress is a vintage Mugler and I got whiskey on it and now a bunch of sand is all over it..”
San lifts his head and looks up at me “So?” I scoff and a dryly laugh “It’s ruined..” San gives me a dimpled smile “Don’t worry about it, I’ll buy it. As long as my angel is happy I don’t mind.” I blink in confusion and shock “But it’s expensive-” He gently covers my mouth “It’s fine, I promise. Besides it got ruined because of me so don’t feel bad.” He kisses my neck one last time before he lays his head back down on his arm “So, do you want to go home?” I exhaustedly hum and he gets up “Come on, I’ll carry you to the car.” I shake my head “No wait, it’s okay. I want to hold your hand again.” San helps me up raising his eyebrow “You really are a softie Detective..” I roll my eyes and lace my fingers between his. “You like it though.” San sucks his teeth “I do. Alot. Do it more often.” I glance up at him, the moonlight hitting his features at just the right angle making my heart skip a beat. “Yes Mr.Choi..” I got whiskey thrown in my face today but somehow San made me feel better. 
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hi hi! if you could be kind enough to let us know ur future fics plans (u don't have to) that would be great. literally cant get enough of ur fics they're so good 🤭👏
you know me i'm all for dropping a bomb of a fic out of nowhere but since you asked nicely, i'll have to indulge you with what i have planned so far!
mingi x reader, summer camp au where they're both teachers (bulletpoint format, fluff, just a little sth for mingles)
a hongjoong fic (again no spoilers but it's gonna be ✨hawt✨ kind of like guerrilla)
yet another san fic that i have all planned, waiting to be written (again, no spoilers but it's fantasy medieval au and he's gonna be the best boi)
mafia series (i'm not spilling anything about this) in progress, will start posting when i finish- could be in a few months, longer
the yunho crime fic i have been crying about for months now but like with all of this idk when i'll write it ;-;
while we're at it i should also write some wooyoung and seonghwa i know no one's keeping tabs but it's been a while since i've written them. if you have some prompts, please share 👏
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filmnoirfoundation · 5 months
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We are proud to be co-presenting Victor Schertzinger’s "Forgotten Faces" (1928) at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival’s Day of Silents, Saturday, December 2 at San Francisco’s Castro Theatre. FNF prez Eddie Muller will be introducing the film.
Heliotrope Harry (Clive Brook) and Froggy (William Powell) are partners in crime—genteel armed robbery—at least until the cuckolded Harry commits an even bigger offense. Before Harry goes to prison, he leaves his baby girl on the doorstep of a wealthy couple to keep her out of the clutches of his no-good wife Lilly (Olga Baclanova) and tasks Froggy with keeping close tabs. But Froggy is no match for Lill. Live musical accompaniment will be performed by the Sascha Jacobsen Ensemble. Tickets are available at the SFSFF’s website https://silentfilm.org/ados-2023-schedule/
Please use promocode NOIR to receive $2 off the cost of your ticket. While you’re there be sure to check out the other five screenings on the schedule.
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mi-rae07 · 1 year
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Choi San : Guns And Diamonds (Part 3/3)
Pairing : Choi San (Ateez) and named character (Jung Sona)
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Sehun sighed as he stared at the stars through his room's window, wishing he could reverse time. It had been a week since the night he had that nightmare and his father was practically non-existent in his life now. No matter how hard sehun would try to talk to san, he would walk off before sehun could even open his mouth. Every morning when sehun sat in his breakfast table he would ask his mother whether san was going to eat with them today and her answers had always remained negative. It seems his father was scared of him now, and was avoiding him at all costs. And it hurt sehun in ways he did not expect to, he hated that he saw so less of san now.
Sehun reached for his tab in his bedside table, thinking that if he watched some of his dramas, he could go to sleep better.
It was a bad choice, because out of everything, the episode he was watching had to have an emotional father-son moment. And that just caused tears to appear in sehun's eyes, wishing he could live through a moment like this too. He had so many wishes, making friends, going out with them, finding love like how his father had found his mother, being able to be free and satisfy both his parents in the future when they got older. Turns out, none of this was going to happen if it went the way it was going right now.
Sehun kept his tab away, not having it in him to watch even one more second of this episode right now. He looked at his left hand, missing the ring he had always worn when he was much younger. But then again, he was the one who had thrown it away, wasn't he?
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Sehun was now sitting in the main balcony, looking out into the estate his house was located in with immersed eyes. It was something he had always liked, staring at the wild and all the creatures in it. He paused as he felt voices underneath the floor he was in right now, his father's voice.
San : who's come here?
??? : an old lady, boss.
San : and how does this old lady know my house?
??? : she said you told her of it's location, sir.
Sehun frowned and stood up from his seat, bending over the railing and looking down. And the man was right, there was a somewhat old lady standing at the entrance of their house, looking eagerly for someone, probably his dad. Sehun watched as san walked out of the house through the main door, his eyes slightly widening at the sight of the lady
San : ahjumma!
The old lady smiled as san walked closer to her, holding her hand with a smile. Sehun's eyes slightly widened, never having expected his father to be so kind with an old lady.
San : oh? I didn't know you'd come up till here today. Do you want some coffee-
Ahjumma : ah no mr choi, it's alright.
San : I've told you to just call me san, ahjumma. Do you want to sit down somewhere and talk, then?
??? : uh, sir you have an important meeting within 15 minutes-
San : that can wait. I'm talking to someone right now, aren't I?
??? : yes boss, I'll alert the staff.
San nodded and turned back to face the old lady as she smiled and shook her head before saying
Ahjumma : aigoo, all that isn't required. I only came here to thank you personally.
San : thank me?
Ahjumma : for giving my daughter her justice when the law couldn't, mr choi. It had been a year since she was being stalked and touched inappropriately by that man, and despite all the evidences the courts let that man go, didn't they?
San : ah, him. He won't ever come back ahjumma, ask miss kim not to worry anymore.
Ahjumma : I know, and for that I wish to thank you with all my heart. You've given my daughter a new life, mr choi. And I can't even repay you for that.
Sehun frowned, his father didn't ask for money for the job he had done?
San : oh god, I did not do that to get any money. I did it because that man truly deserved to be put in hell for the crimes he committed against an innocent lady. I don't need anything at all from you for any of this. Your happiness is more than enough.
Sehun blinked his eyes, his grip on the railing tightening at his father's words. He never realized his father did deeds such as this, and that too for free. Was this what his mother meant by "you don't know the whole story"?. And when his father said "I only hurt the bad guys, sehun-ah", sehun hadn't actually believed that. But now hearing this from one of the victims, and his father refusing to take any money from her, he felt himself finally understanding what exactly his father's work was.
Sehun was wrong after all, his father wasn't a terrible human being.
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Sehun waited until it was 1am, even having to pretend to be asleep when his mother came to check on him an hour ago. He was now walking quietly towards his father's office, knowing this was the time san would be alone, going through papers. Sehun remembered going to his father sometimes at night after his mother fell asleep when he was younger, begging his father to take the ice-cream that was located at the top of the fridge, where sehun couldn't usually reach. Now he was taller and he could reach it if he jumped, but he wanted to talk to his dad and this was his only excuse.
Sehun knocked on the door before opening it slightly, san's eyes widening as he stood up from his chair at the sight of his son. Sehun entered the room with unsure steps as he kept looking at the floor
San : why are you here?
Sehun looked up at his dad, fiddling with his fingers as he said
Sehun : I uh…wanted ice-cream.
San : right now?
Sehun : mhmm.
San : why would you ask me for it, though? I thought you were scared of me?
Sehun : a-appa, that…I was just having a nightmare-
San : it still doesn't matter. You should stay away from me.
Sehun : appa, I'm not scared of you.
San stared at Sehun for a few seconds before letting out a breath as he said
San : you just want some ice-cream, right? Come along.
San walked past sehun with a blank face, sehun following right behind him to the kitchen. The both of them soon reached the kitchen, san opening the top level of the fridge as he took out the tub of mint chocholate ice-cream from it. He placed it on the table before closing the fridge and was about to walk away when sehun gripped the edge of san's hoodie. San paused, turning around to face sehun with a frown
San : what is it?
Sehun : won't you eat with me like you always do?
San : well we're not like we always were anymore, are we?
Sehun : but I want us to be like that again.
San : like what, seeing each other only for eating ice-creams? You told me I wasn't a good father even before the night you had a nightmare, sehun.
Sehun looked on the floor, feeling his heart break at his own words.
San : you told me you only wanted me to fix the problem I had with sona and now it's fixed. So then what else do you want me to do now?
Sehun bit his lips, feeling his eyes tear up as he whispered
Sehun : I want an appa too…
San paused, staring at his son.
Sehun : I don't wanna go out in crowded places, or have any friends or even…attend some proper school until I'm a proper adult. I don't want any of those things anymore because I know I can't really have them. I can always just watch those through dramas and…imagine myself in it, I have a good imagination. But I can't imagine a father, appa. I don't want to when I have one.
San looked away, feeling tears in his eyes once again. He was having to face this again.
Sehun : you don't have to spend your entire day with me, you can just…have ice-creams with me at night and I'd be content with that. Can't we do that?
San let out a breath as he asked
San : so what, you've forgotten about the fact that I'm a mafia? Someone who does terrible things?
Sehun : I know you're a mafia, but I also know you don't do terrible things.
San : suddenly you have a realization, choi sehun?
Sehun : no I…overheard your conversation with the ahjumma this morning.
San : and if you hadn't, you'd still have continued pushing me away for the rest of your life? Until I died?
Sehun : you're being cruel, appa-
San : well then that's the world for you, son. You ask for something, you don't always get that. I asked for a peaceful life, but am I getting it? No. I asked for a happy family. And did I get that? No. you said it was because of me your life was cursed, didn't you? And it's true, because if you'd have had a different father, you wouldn't have had to sacrifice a lot of these things.
Sehun looked at his father with teary eyes, clenching his hand on the tub of ice-cream in his hand
San : so just continue hating me like you used to, sehun. That would be the best for you and I both. Less complications, less unhappiness.
San turned and left, leaving a heartbroken Sehun behind as he felt tears fall down his eyes. This wasn't what he intended to happen, this wasn't the san he so desperately wished for. He had just made it all worse now.
San climbed up the stairs weakly, feeling his eyes tear up as well. Lord, how desperately he wished to have a good relationship with his son. But he knew he could never be someone like that to his son, he knew he could never be a good father. And back when san was younger, he had always thought it would've been better for him if he didn't have a father rather than have one that was just terrible. He thought the same now. It would be better for Sehun to have no father at all than have a terrible one. And san couldn't leave completely from sehun's life, so this was the only way.
Even if it hurt san, it would be the better option for Sehun. And he was the only one that mattered in this case.
___________________________
San was in his home office at an unusual time today. Because during the afternoons he was usually in his office tower back in the city, not here. But he left early from the tower today, because he had received a mission from an important government authority. It was as every government mission was, kill. Except this would require time and planning, since this particular person was at a pretty top position and was also only visiting Korea for a few days for business. Which meant san had to come up with his own plan this time, instead of assigning this mission to someone else. And san always preffered to be alone when he was trying to come up with some sort of a plan, hence why he was in his house, where there'd be minimal disturbances. Especially now since sona was still at work.
San had been halfway through it when a knock was heard on his door, the door opening a few seconds later as it revealed one of the maids. San leaned back against his chair as he asked
San : what is it?
Maid : uh, the young master hurt himself while he was playing in the garden-
The maid cut herself off as san quickly stood up from his chair, rushing towards the door as he asked impatiently
San : where is he?
Maid : his room, sir.
San didn't say anything further as he ran towards his sehun's room, his heart beating hard against his chest. God, he hated whenever sehun got hurt. He was going to fire the person who was with sehun this afternoon. San quickly opened the door to sehun's room as sehun looked up at his father with confused eyes. San's eyes fell to sehun's knee, that had a pretty deep cut on it. The maid that had been bandaging it stood up at the sight of san, bowing as she said
Maid : sir-
San : leave.
Maid : but the bandage-
San : I'll do it, leave.
The maid nodded and quickly left the room, leaving san and sehun alone in the room. San sighed and kneeled down to face sehun's knee, picking up the bandage as he asked
San : did she apply the antiseptic, sehun?
Sehun : she did.
San nodded as he continued bandaging the wound, his jaw clenched every time he felt sehun wincing.
Sehun : please don't fire the maid that was with me while I was playing, appa.
San : she failed at her one job, sehun. Give me one reason why I shouldn't fire her.
Sehun : she has a family to take care of, she's only a single mother, appa. And this is her only source of income.
San : well then you are my only son, and your safety matters more to me than her children.
Sehun : I-I know. But-
San : I'll shift her duties from taking care of you to something else. Her salary will remain the same, but she cannot take care of you any longer.
Sehun sighed and nodded, thinking that was fair enough. San looked up at his son as he asked
San : does it not hurt?
Sehun : the wound?
San : mm, it's pretty deep.
Sehun : well, I can bear the pain. It is only my pain after all, it's bearable.
San finished bandaging the wound, keeping the bandage away as he said
San : you're a child, sehun. Act like one.
Sehun : okay then.
San flinched as sehun suddenly started screaming, faking a cry as well before saying
Sehun : AAH IT HURTS SO BAD! I WANT A LOLLIPOP!!
San : I-
Sehun : LOLLIPOPS! RIGHT NOW!
San laughed at his son's acting, shaking his head as he said
San : god, that was terrible. Please don't pursue acting as your career in the future, son.
Sehun giggled as he said
Sehun : oh cuz I was totally planning to audition for the main lead in some rom-com.
San smiled as he shut the medicine box, keeping it away. Sehun looked at his dad, thinking of how beautiful he looked when he smiled. It was just like my own, sehun thought. Maybe he should audition for some main lead after all.
Sehun : you look beautiful when you smile, appa.
San looked up at his son with partly shocked eyes, not having expected him to say that.
Sehun : it almost made my wound heal itself~
Sehun giggled at his own cheesiness, making san chuckle once again. He was just like his mother, with all those cheesy dialogues and what not, san thought.
_____________________________
2 weeks later :
Sona tapped her fingers against the couch as she felt nervousness build up in her stomach, not understanding why san still wasn't back from his mission. He had told her all about it the night before, and every time san went on such missions, sona couldn't help being scared to the core. She didn't know what to expect when san came back home, and she didn't even want to think about if san didn't come back home at all.
Her head shot up as she heard the sound of a car outside their mansion, sona quickly standing up and rushing outside into the main entrance. Her eyes widened as one of san's men emerged from the driving side of the car, clearly indicating that san was wounded. Sona ran up to them as the man slowly lifted san up from the passenger seat, sona's heart dropping at the sight of her husband.
Sona : no.
San : love, it's a-alright.
Except it wasn't. san had a stab wound on his arm, his face covered in blood and the top of his forehead having a deep scratch to it as well. And he was limping, which meant it definitely hurt. Sona quickly ran to san's side, holding onto him as she helped in carrying san to the inside of their house.
Sona : god, I've told you so many times to be careful, san!
San was glad this was the only wound he received. Not to say he wasn't quite shocked that the other man was able to wound him this bad. No one had ever really been able to wound san before.
San : it's just a small wound, sona-ya, it'll heal.
Sona let out an exasperated breath as she pulled out her phone from her pocket, dialing their personal doctor's number as she called him up.
___
Sehun heard it too, the car's sound as the large gates opened up for his father's car. And as he ran towards his balcony and looked down, he noticed his father sitting in the passenger seat, his head rested against the seat. Which only meant one thing, his father was hurt. Because san hated sitting in the passenger seat, he had always preffered to be the one driving the car instead.
Sehun ran down the stairs, not bothering about the scoldings he might receive from his mother for still not being asleep yet despite it being 1am. He couldn't care to be asleep when he knew his father had gone out for something dangerous, he had overheard some conversations again.
Sehun reached the living room the same time sona laid san down on the couch, san letting out a small groan from the pain.
Sehun : appa!
San's eyes widened as he looked up at sona, her eyes alarmed as well. Neither of them had expected sehun to come down at this time of the night.
Sona : sehun?
San : sona, take him away from here. He mustn't see all this.
Sona quickly stood up, trying to take sehun back to his room. The last thing she wanted was her son to see his father covered in his own blood. Sehun shook his head as he tried taking his mother's hands off his own.
Sehun : no, let me go! I want to see appa.
Sona : not right now, please. Go back to your room, sehun-ah.
Sehun : why do I have to go back to my room? Will you be able to do the same when he's hurt like this? I don't wanna sleep, eomma. Let me see him.
Sona : hun-ah, it's not a pretty sight-
Sehun : I've seen worse in those photos, I can manage.
Sehun finally took sona's hands off him as he ran up to san, his eyes widening at his father's state. San shut his eyes and whispered weakly
San : why the hell won't you ever listen, choi sehun.
Sehun kneeled right in front of san, holding his wrist as he looked at the stab wound with attentive eyes.
San : sehun-
San cut himself off as sehun grabbed a pillow behind san, placing it under his arm before placing san's arm over it.
San : what are you doing, son.
Sehun : elevating the bleeding area above the level of the heart to slow down the bleeding. We can't lose too much blood, it's hard to find someone with O negative blood.
San blinked his eyes in confusion as he looked at sona, who had a small proud smile on her face.
Sehun : and pressure, I need to put pressure.
San : that-
San cut himself off once again with a sound of shock as sehun tore off a part of his own shirt, scrunching it before pressing it against the wound, hard enough to make san groan in pain.
Sehun : eomma, we need to take him to the hospital.
Sona sighed and shook her head before saying
Sona : we can't, I've called the personal doctor. He'll come here soon enough.
Sehun : but the hospital has better facilities-
Sona : but they would also ask us where san got these wounds from in the first place. And what would we tell them?
Sehun let out an exasperated breath, looking back at the wound. Sona leaned down and kissed san's forehead before whispering
Sona : I'll check where doctor bae has reached and be right back, hmm?
San gave his wife a small smile and nodded as sona walked away from them, calling up the doctor. San turned to look at his son before asking
San : where did you learn all this, sehun-ah?
Sehun : I like medicine, as a matter of fact I wish to be a surgeon when I grow up. So I've been doing my own little studies.
San felt a feeling of pride swell in his chest, feeling happy that his son wanted to save lives rather then cut them off as san and his father, and his grandfather had done before them. Sehun was breaking the chain, and san could only feel happy about it.
Sehun : does it hurt a lot, appa?
San : it's only my own pain, it's bearable.
Sehun chuckled as san repeated the same thing sehun had said when he fell down a few weeks ago, making san smile.
Sehun : I hate seeing you hurt.
San : I hate seeing you hurt too.
Sehun looked at san, feeling his eyes burn. San smiled and held sehun's cheek with one of his hand, whispering to him
San : I'm sorry.
Sehun shook his head, holding san's hand
Sehun : why should you be sorry.
San : because I've broken the promise I made to you when you were born. To protect you, to be with you, to make you happy.
Sehun : you haven't broken any of that, appa. You still protect me, and you still make me happy. As for being with me, I understand your circumstances. It's quite respectable if you think of it.
San : really?
Sehun : yes, really. I told you earlier, didn't I? I don't mind your work anymore, appa.
San smiled at sehun, running his hand along sehun's hair. Jet black, just as his was.
San : so…you don't hate me anymore?
Sehun : I couldn't even if I tried.
San pressed his lips and nodded before putting his unharmed hand onto the pocket of his jeans, making sehun frown. San soon pulled out sehun’s ring that he had thrown at him a while ago, making sehun tear up from the harsh memory. 
Sehun : you’ve been...carrying this around? 
San : it was my only physical reminder of you when I was away and you were still angry at me. I needed it. 
Tears fell from sehun’s eyes, wishing once again he could reverse time. San chuckled and wiped sehun’s tears before whispering
San : don’t cry. Why would you cry like that. 
Sehun sniffled and shook his head before holding out his left hand as he said
Sehun : I wanna be your son again. Until I die, this time. 
San smiled and put the ring back on sehun’s index finger, making sehun smile at it, feeling complete. 
San : gimme a hug now.
Sehun : you're hurt!
San : I don't care, come here.
Sehun sighed and wrapped his arms around his father, trying not to touch any of his cuts. San smiled and whispered
San : my prince.
Sehun smiled widely at being called by his favorite nickname, feeling his heart fill up with happiness as he whispered
Sehun : I love you.
San smiled cheekily as he said
San : I love me too.
Sehun frowned and pressed san's wound harder, making san yelp as he said
San : okay! I love you too.
Sehun smiled, finally feeling all his wishes come true. All that watching father-son dramas on the internet and he'd finally gotten one himself. And damn did he prefer his over everything else.
Sona : okay well! I'd hate to break up such an amazing heartfelt moment but the doctor's about to reach soon.
Sehun giggled as san smiled, making grabby hands to his wife as he said
San : come here, you.
Sona rolled her eyes playfully before walking up to san as she said
Sona : aish, such cheesiness, I cannot.
San : learnt it from the best, my love.
Sona chuckled as she leaned down as well, wrapping her arms around her husband and son with a smile.
San : guess who's going on vacation.
Sehun gasped as he asked, already excited
Sehun : wait…where!
San : anywhere, everywhere.
Sehun : AYAYAYAYA, FINALLY!
Sona chuckled as she asked
Sona : who's gonna fund the trip?
San : me of course. I don't work this hard for nothing, I have ten bank accounts with 10 figures in all of them. And that's just one-fourth of what I have.
Sehun : not the best time to flex your riches, appa.
San smiled as he inhaled deeply, finally feeling complete despite being wounded across his entire body.
So his father was wrong after all, san thought. It wasn't guns and diamonds that made one's life complete and happy. It was family.
___________________________
17 years later :
Sehun was walking through his hospital corridors, going through the papers of his patient's conditions when he felt someone grab his arm, pushing him against the wall in a corner. The papers fell from his hands as sehun gasped, looking up as the sight of a lady came to his view. Dark red lips, blue almond eyes and hair as blonde as the sand in his favorite beach. 
??? : Dr choi, how good to finally meet you.
Sehun felt his heart race at the close proximity between the lady and him, her lips dangerously close to his. None of this seemed to affect the lady, though she smirked as she understood the effect she had on sehun.
Sehun : who…am I supposed to know you, miss?
??? : I'm Iris Cortez, CEO of Archer co.
Sehun's eyes widened as realization dawned upon him. Archer co was one of the wealthiest companies in the world right now. They practically manufactured and ran every thing, fashion, architecture, books, food. And of course she was a CEO, she dressed like one. With the black suit, white tie, sleek high ponytail and black heels, she couldn't be anything else.
Sehun opened his mouth and was about to say something when Iris moved closer to his ears and whispered against it
Iris : and the daughter of a man your father murdered.
Except no one was supposed to know sehun's father.
____________________________
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tenta-cute · 2 years
Text
Billy Lore From 'Runaway Max': Chapter 10
I live... Sorta. Not gonna lie, friends, it's difficult to make myself read this book when I have like thirty tabs of red hot Harringrove romance open on my tablet.
This chapter has quite a bit of stuff. It very briefly touches upon the racism thing. Also, some domestic abuse in this chapter. It's mostly Hawkins with some San Diego flashbacks mixed in.
Spoilers and lore under the cut!
The chapter starts with Max leaving Lucas behind and approaching Billy, who is leaning against his car. We get this scene where Billy grabs Max's wrists and tells her there are people out there that should be avoided.
He wants to know who Max talked with, what Lucas wanted, and also asks if he's causing problems for Max.
Max knows that Neil has many things to say about anyone who is not a white male Lutheran and assumes (emphasis mine) that Billy is the same.
Neil is not "openly" racist. He always claims it's about property value or crime rates or a million other keywords thanks to which he doesn't have to openly state who he is really talking about.
Billy has a history of making fun of Max's friends or interests and insulting her.
What she finds even worse is that sometimes Billy acts as if he and Max were in on some big secret together, as if they understand one another. As if he is actually concerned for her. Max believes he doesn't care for her and only acts that way sometimes to piss her off.
Ever since the Halloween night, the atmosphere in the house is very tense. While they used to be pretty angry at one another back in San Diego, they haven't been as openly hostile there.
Max realizes it's because Billy used to almost never be home back in San Diego, but in Hawkins he has a lot of free time. He started to fill it with parties, girls, and the baseball team, but all girls have curfews and the parties are rare.
Neil acts according to his routine: he leaves house in the morning and returns after 5PM. He ruffles Max's hair and buys Susan flowers. Underneath it all he's clearly ready to explode, though.
Max is hypervigilant around them, because if Billy fights with Neil he will take it out on her.
One morning Billy and Neil have a weird-ass confrontation during breakfast, lol. Billy picks up a carton of orange juice from the table and a moment later Neil reaches for it too. Billy doesn't let go. They end up quietly wrestling over it? And then Neil pulls hard enough that his elbow knocks Susan's sugar bowl to the ground, chipping it in the process.
Max finds this somewhat symbolic. She also mentions that she's been collecting signs of danger for the past seven months.
Max is not afraid of blood. She's played street hockey and tends to be pretty accident-prone with her skateboard, not to mention she loves slasher movies.
The first time she sees Neil assault Billy was in San Diego. Billy was driving in Mission Valley and was pulled over by cops.
Once Neil learns of this he goes all quiet, cold, and calm.
The scene starts with Max, Susan and Billy in the house. Max is cleaning parts of her skateboard. Billy is standing in front of the fridge and drinking milk straight from the carton, which he does because Susan hates it.
Billy is generally rude and disrespectful towards Susan.
Neil arrives, crumples up the ticket, and throws it at Billy, claims Billy is being irresponsible.
Max notes that the atmosphere in the house has been tense since that day Billy offered her a cigarette.
Max is initially shocked when Neil punches Billy.
Susan doesn't give a fuck. When Max looks to her, expecting her to step in, Susan reacts like she didn't see anything and keeps reading her magazine.
Another punch makes Billy stumble and hit a shelf. A mug falls off and shatters on the ground. Susan doesn't even look up.
Max suddenly realizes that Susan is not surprised at all by what's going on. She's horrified by the fact that her mother doesn't consider Neil's physical abuse a reason enough to leave him.
Billy manages to stand up, but he's unsteady on his feet. His lip is bleeding and his face is starting to swell. Neil tells him he's gonna teach him about responsibility and respect.
Susan leaves the room.
Neil beats Billy with a belt. When he does so, his eyes lose focus and it's like he doesn't even see Billy anymore.
Max is horrified and keeps expecting Neil to realize she's there and stop beating Billy up, but Neil doesn't care. He doesn't even seem to register she's there.
Billy is completely resigned to his fate. He doesn't make a sound and doesn't try to avoid the belt. In his eyes anger is mixed with fear and helplessness. He reminds Max of a stray dog she once saw in a dogcatcher's truck.
Right before Neil is about to start, Max tries to intervene and yells at him to stop. Neil just looks at her, smiles, and turns back to Billy to ask if this is how he raised him, to be a loser who needs a little girl to protect him. His tone is so full of disgust that it almost makes Max tear up.
Neil is not in a hurry. As he's beating Billy up, Max feels completely helpless. After he's done, Neil leaves the kitchen without a word.
Billy stays on the ground, kneeling on the floor. He doesn't say anything. After the silence becomes too much to bear, Max kneels down on the floor next to Billy and asks him if he's okay.
Billy seems completely empty when he tells Max to leave him alone. When she offers to bring him some ice, he looks up at her with hatred in his eyes that Max believes is directed at her. He snaps his teeth at her like a dog and snarls at her, once telling her to leave him alone. His voice is horrible, like a wild animals, and this time Max listens to him.
Impressions:
Oh man...
So, right off the bat we have confirmation that Neil is hella racist. Billy being racist is an assumption Max makes based on what kind of person his dad is, as well as the way he reacts to Lucas. Honestly, personally I think internalized bigotry is totally flavor of the month for Billy (alas, this might be a bit of a projection of my own experiences with extremely racist parents). That said, I think this part can definitely also support the popular theory that Billy wanted to keep Lucas away from Max because of Neil's bullshit? It was mentioned in earlier chapters that when it comes to politics and ideology Neil fully demands his household to follow his opinions and does not tolerate differing views. It's pretty clear that Billy is nothing like his father and doesn't want anything to do with him. It doesn't sound unreasonable to assume that his own views might be different than those of his father, even if he still enforces them for the sake of his own safety.
There is no doubt whatsoever about whether or not Max and Susan were aware of the abuse. They both know. Apparently Neil doesn't care about the audience.
This chapter was pretty heartbreaking when it comes to showcasing just how absolutely isolated Billy is in his situation and how strongly conditioned he is to believe that nobody can help him. First there's Susan driving the point home entirely on her own by completely ignoring physical abuse that is happening literally in front of her, but what's even worse is the way Neil instantly uses Max's attempt to help against Billy, in this case by trying to make him feel pathetic and ashamed for being defended by a little girl. Billy is literally taught that people trying to help him are only going to make it worse.
Like... damn, no wonder that kid is messed up. He's sad, he's scared, he's lonely, and he has no hope for things ever getting better. The fact that he didn't get his redemption arc is a crime. I once again reject canon and aggressively embrace fanfiction which gives Billy a happy ending.
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thelexinomicon · 2 years
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BirdTale: Tempest - Teine(Grillby)
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Teine/Grillby actually has some established Lore already! They were actually in a relationship with Gaster and the two of them had been planning to bond and have children together... ... then the War happened. In the course of the war Gaster created an alchemical poison that he knew neither the King nor Queen would approve of... but deployed it anyways hoping it might end the war then and there. (It didn't) This basically constituted a horrifying war crime and Teine immediately broke off their relationship, unable to look Gaster in the face without thinking about what he had done.  Their prior relationship became and uncomfortable subject that was  'not to be spoken of', and eventually forgotten by all but the oldest boss monster that still remained from the war. It is one of the reason he allows Sans and Papyrus to have a near unlimited open tab at his tavern.  It's not just that they are close friends... but in Teine's eyes they are the children that might have been if Gaster and himself had not separated. Neither Sans nor Papyrus are aware of this prior relationship of Teine's with their 'father', though Sans suspects they must have had a close friendship at least! Note: While Teine did fight during the war he preferred (and felt more useful) functioning as a medic.
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chibitantei · 1 year
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Anonymous asks: Naoto, what is your opinion about Phantom Thieves of the Heart? Cops really seem to want to hunt them down due to their “heart stealing” and their actions are definitely questionable from a moral standpoint.
It was only a matter of time before she’d be asked this question. Even at the station, the Phantom Thieves have become the newest rage, knocking the mental shutdowns from its throne.
“About the Phantom Thieves...” She clicks her pen once, then sets it down. “I can see why they’ve become popular with people around my age.” Wouldn’t any average citizen feel inspired to know that someone is taking a stand against the adults who have committed grievous acts? They represent and mean something to the populace, that much she can respect.
“I’m not fond of the methods they are using, though.” This is a different story altogether.
“You can’t say for certain if they’ll continue to use this power for good. Anything could happen between now and the future, including a change in their ideology. For now, at least, they seem to have good intentions.”
What’s to say they wouldn’t change the hearts of those who disagree in the future? There is a fan-site for them. She’s noticed a few of the people who have sent requests have reported that the thieves have granted their wish. If someone posts a request to change the heart someone whose only crime is disagreeing with them, would they be drunk on their power and accept?
The police aren’t any better in this regard. About half are drunk off of the authority and power that comes with their position. She’s not blind to the nothingness they’ve contributed. It’s why a small part of her sympathizes with the Thieves’ objective, or their supposed one.
“Furthermore, if they continue to do this, I feel as if they will end up going against their message. They are trying to inspire others to take a stand against the injustices present in our society. Once the populace see they don’t need to do anything since the Thieves are here, they may stop trying.”
She picks up her pen again and twirls it once. “Now, as for the method itself, it feels more like brainwashing than anything.” They’ve become empty husks with no personality, left to stagnate than truly make amends. “As Akechi-san would pose, could you call that justice?”
Peculiar.
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“As of now, I don’t hate or like them. I’ll continue to keep tabs on them and react accordingly if they cross more lines than they’ve already done.” As for which lines those are, Naoto doesn’t clarify.
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eisiramdeus · 2 years
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CLLSGNSLIDER, IN HIS LETTERS TO THE CAP’N    ❛   you’re  wonderful   ,   let  me  fuck  you  in  front  of  a  mirror.   ❜
✯ YOU KNOW YOU CAN GET HURT THAT WAY,     RONALD? EPITOME OF A TEENAGE DIRTBAG.     DOES YOUR WIFE KNOW YOU’RE PICKING     PRETTY BLOND BOYS AT THE POOL, NOW?     ... yeah, THAT’S RIGHT; WHAT WIFE, you whore.     GET THEE TO A NUNNERY, RIGHT QUICK.
CALIFORNIA GOLD SCALDING SUN, feet stings on white concrete and stone slabs around the large pool. PARTY’S GOOD, PARTY’S LIVELY, beer cans overflowing in the green trash bins around the property, the poolside snacks are good, the bitches are hot, the men fall under the same category of the bitches too (bisexuality is a skillset, and a threat), and there’s some vaguely obnoxious latest-hit-of-the-summer by Calvin Harris or whatever booming from the far end of the club. CARAMEL CURLS GLEAM AGAINST THE SUNLIGHT WITH DEW DROPS of Heaven (it’s pool water) upon his chest, arms, and bare thighs. Speedo’s heavy and form fitting, Navy blue fabric darkened by water drenching it. He’s making way through the just-right sized crowd with ease back to his ‘older friend’ and professional bachelor, of arts. The art of being a total tool, but hey, it’s so wrong yet it works so right. He approaches their high bar table, perpendicular/adjacent to where Ron was standing at finishing a beer. Head cracking side to side to shake off the old age after an invigorating swim, soaked elbows rest on the table, torso leans in, and invariably, his ass sticks out. Blame the height of the table, of course: he needs to lower & bend into it to be able to rest his arms. If you’re looking, that’s a lack of moral character on your part.
... are you looking? Yeah? Good. Just in case you thought you had any game, old bird. No, he chose you first. Setting the record straight. It’s a big social event, thankfully not military in nature, but by nature of who-knows-who, there’s plenty of servicemen type and their proud San Diego supporters. He’s gesturing to one of the servers nearby who takes a detour to their table, he asks for a basil mint lemonade in vodka. It’s not actually on the menu, it’s just his Greek tastes, and he’s a shameless fuck who will ask for it anyway. He is granted his request not long after, immediately sipping through a straw to occupy his mouth & thirst, thumb points at Slider and he nods confidently at the server, who’ll put it on Ron’s tab—they’re together on same table, after all, it’s practical and believable. The server walks away before anyone has the chance to defend themselves here against the many crimes and financial sabotages of Spymaster El Sid. Head turns, resting on the knuckles of his right hand, palest blue eyes smugly facing Slider but from well below his companion’s eye level. ❝I think the mojito’s seventeen dollars here. Fuckin’ crazy, ah?❞ A mocking complaint of the price he won’t pay. Not in money, at least. Oh, but he’s paying stingingly dearly for this. Gambles that fall through. Or that’s just what he wants you to think. Can never know with these intelligence types. Laughter, alcohol, body language, and hard bodies in the sun. The topic of work doesn’t come up once, make love this, make war that; fuck love and fuck war, I just wanna get laid.
BOLD, BRAZEN SPANISH BULL:             ❛   you’re  wonderful   ,   let  me  fuck  you  in  front  of  a  mirror.   ❜ 
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FEARLESS, SAINT MERCURIUS:             ❝...❞ he slowly uprights, becoming less exposed. Eyebrows raise in unison, arms cross just under his the height of his chest, puffing them up, valiant pectorals to stand his ground. There’s a hard fucking swallow that you can see in the apple of his throat, lips twitch almost imperceptibly trying to stifle a grin. No, don’t go asking what did you say, now, you heard him right. ❝Ah.❞ Eyes are darting left to right without decentralizing his head from facing Slider, looking around to see if anyone heard, if anyone cared. If anyone would remembering him this way, a little lacking, perhaps. SPYMASTER, YOU ARE CLEAR TO ENGAGE. HOOK ON TARGET SUCCESSFUL. Well, he’s afraid, someone come pick him up, but, it’s not that simple, and that $17 vodka-exception-made drink is telling him them are fightin’ words. ❝I am right down wonderful, yes, thank ya.❞ Recouping stance, charming fluidity returns to his body language where he’d been a little petrified, it wasn’t the right look for him. Head tilts, arms uncross, hands are resting at his hips, themselves pushing forward, accentuating his Imperial title claims to manhood. ❝Maybe; maybe, yeah, Slidey.❞ Damnit, how the fuck did he know about the fucking mirror thing... ❝You got a mirror in mind?❞ He’s not settling for a bathroom vanity one, by the way. Strictly a bedroom mirror, for the sake of his comfort. You figure out how.
@cllsgnslider​​
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fictionkinfessions · 1 year
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... (I'm a bit shocked. Spoilers for out-of-the loop UT/DR fans, but the newsletter came out the night I'm writing this. Surprisingly, there was information on me. Even more surprising--everything there was what I remembered from my timeline. I feel a bit lucky, yet a bit odd since this kintype wasn't one I thought I would have until just a few weeks ago. I wish those of me who are far less adherent to this new canon well. Oh, and my daughter. Please take care. Pay your tab.) - Grillby (#🏮🧨)
🛏️
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vegosatipoc · 2 years
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absolvedallegiance · 2 years
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"...proposed the police and backed by Mayor London Breed and the new DA’s office, cops would be able to watch residents in real time... The cameras available for access would include... everything from commercial to private doorbell cameras could ultimately be employed to keep tabs on possible crimes.
Pay attention. Everything will be used. That no doubt includes access to your other outdoor and indoor devices video and audio feeds because you don't think they'll not tap everything they can, do you?
What's watching and listening to you in your house? Your cell phones and your Alexa and Google smart home devices are only the tip of the iceberg. Your "smart" appliances are also listening; televisions, refrigerators, ovens, thermostats, lightbulbs, coffee makers, etc.. Guess who's listening to the listeners?
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starglow-xx · 3 years
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(About the brother!atsushi) aRE YOU READING MY MIND MISS?! Because that has been on my mind for MONTHS. TYSM For writing it was amazing!! If you don't mind, may I request (if requests are open) atsushi, still an older brother, but with a sister that's 10-13 yrs old? It's totally fine if you don't wanna do it. Keep up the good stories, ily mwuah!
*sobs* you’re so kind thank youu 🤧🤧
i wrote this a bit differently i hope that’s okay anon! at first i planned for this to be mainly abt atsushi and the reader, but i decided to add in relationship hcs with the agency bc i ran out of ideas
if you guys liked this don’t worry! im planning a special part two for this one so be the look out for it hehe
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atsushi with a tween! sister
ft. the armed detective agency
like in my baby sister hcs, you’re still the most important thing to him period
the two of you got picked up by dazai and kunikida when he was 18 (obviously) and when you were 12
for a 12 year old, you were a bit small bc of malnourishment (which makes atsushi feel so bad) so both dazai and kunikida thought you were a bit younger than you actually were
they assumed you were about 9-10ish
you and atsushi both share a favorite food !! chazuke :)
so when kunikida treated the two of you, he made sure you got more bowls bc like i mentioned above, he feels really bad that you were malnourished and under weight
(don’t bring this up but kunikida felt bad too hehe)
when dazai went with your brother to the warehouse, you were with kunikida
imagine the surprise of the other ada members when kunikida came in with a little girl dressed in rags that popped out from behind him
kenji was the one who vocalized his thoughts 
“kunikida-san you have a daughter?! wow! i didn’t know that! :D”
when you found out your brother was a tiger, you were a bit concerned but you were actually kind of excited
you were even more excited when you found out the two of you were going to be taken in by the agency
anything was better than the stupid orphanage
and besides!
you got a tiger for an older brother and a bunch of other super powered agents to take care of you! who could want anything else?
at your age, you’re very impressionable and can be influenced easily so atsushi makes sure to teach you more in depth of good morals and the importance of kindness
his heart swells with pride and relief when he catches you being kind to others
pride bc he’s proud that even after all the two of you have gone through, you still ended up being a good kid and having a bright view of the world
and relief bc he hasn’t failed as a big brother
pfftt like he could ever fail
but please, from time to time reassure him that he’s perfect and the only big brother that you’d ever want bc he rlly needs that kind of validation
with his salary and savings, he tries to buy nice things for you
what a sweetheart 🥺
he saw you eyeing that one dress at a store window? fast forward abt a week and half and it’s inside a pretty gift bag for you
you wanted to try that dessert from the nice bakery? that’s dessert after dinner at one point
but other than buying you things, he sets money aside for you
like all the time
(y/n), here have this, you might need it”
“but nii-san you just gave me—”
“take it”
#1 spoiler
also your #1 confidant and source of physical affection
you tell him anything and everything (except crushies and those kinds of things)
atsushi loves it when you talk abt your day and he can see the big smile on your face and the sparkle in your eyes
it gives him the strength to keep going 😖😖
the two of you aren’t as touch starved as you’d probably think, but that’s only bc the two of you had each other
in your opinion, no one can match the hugs of your big brother
and it got even better bc YAYY he has tiger arms now ٩(◕‿◕)۶
if you ask, he’d carry you around too hehe
you also get nightmares quite often so he’ll always be there ready to calm you down, talk if you need to, and rock you back to sleep
god i love him 🤧🤧
atsushi will do everything in his power to protect you and make sure you get to grow up happy, supported, and loved
port mafia attack? oop he’s already taking you to the nearest escape route
someone is starting to harass you? they just got suckered punched into the next week
you want to go out to have some fun? he’ll go ask the president for a day off
you’re not feeling well? he’ll take another day off and take care of you
whatever you want to do, he’ll do it with you! (as long as it’s within reason)
will always be your #1 supporter! and he’s the president of your fan club hehe
he loves you so so much and will do anything for you; your life and happiness will always be more important to him
you are his reason to keep going
agency head canons !!
atsushi is your big brother, but kunikida is most definitely some sort of father figure
everyone can see it
except kunikida of course
kunikida scolds you lightly if he thinks your manners need work or if you make a mess in the agency
you listen to him of course and in turn as some sort of a reward, he’ll give you pieces of stationary
he always gives you the nice, good quality kind and you’re over the moon
atsushi adores it when you come running to him showing your new notebook or fountain pen and blabbering what you’re going to do with it
sometimes it isn’t even as a reward for being a good child; he’ll just give it to you and he’ll say smth like “i noticed you’ve used up your last notebook quite quickly, so here’s another one” or “did you run out of ink? here have this then”
he usually has a soft spot for children in general, but he most definitely has a soft spot (or a thousand) for you
yosano is kind of like a motherly figure to you
she gives you the guidance a mother should and goes on shopping trips with you!
atsushi always gets dragged along by you, but he thinks it’s worth it seeing you look so happy
yosano being a doctor also tries to teach the things you should know, or things that would be helpful to you
she’ll teach you the basics of cooking, sewing, how to treat a cold/fever, etc
also gives you excellent advice 1000% of the time
“remember (y/n)-chan if someone hurts you come tell me and then i’ll chop them into—”
“yOSANO-SENSEI DONT TELL HER THAT—”
fukuzawa is like a father to most in the agency but you see him more as a grandfather figure
bi weekly tea and gossip sessions hehe
along with cat talk!
most of the time though, it’s just you talking and him listening to you, but the two of you enjoy it nonetheless
“and then kunikida-san ended up crashing into a pole and dazai-san started to laugh at him and i did too because it was really funny but we ended up getting scolded—”
“hmm i see...”
he’ll let you stay in his office as he fills out paperwork; you’re usually doodling or drawing in your notebooks
sometimes he’ll meditate and you’ll join him, but 4/7 times you’d fall asleep
you always wake up with a blanket over you
dazai is like a cool but a highly concerning and kind of high maintenance uncle
frequently takes you out with him when he ditches work
walks in the park, eating at uzumaki so he has the excuse of treating you so he doesn’t have to pay his tab avoiding kunikida and sometimes chuuya and akutagawa, all that fun stuff
also tries to not talk abt suicide in front of you especially if it’s just the two of you alone
he knows that you mean the world to his pupil and that said pupil would probably hate him for putting suicide inside your brain
he teaches you random but useful things like how to pick a lock, how to steal kunikida’s notebook if you’re looking for some information, how to sweet talk your way out of things, etc.
is also the one to tell you that if you ever get a significant other to introduce them to the agency first
he always wants all of your gossip; some of them work pretty well for blackmail
“dazai-san! dazai-san! did you know that kunikida-san lost his glasses and he was looking for them for nearly an hour when he was just holding them the entire time??”
“woah really (y/n)-chan?! hey hey can you say it again into this recording device so kunikida-kun would believe me when i tell him—”
always ends up giving kunikida a heart attack when he says that you’ve been with him all day
ranpo is also like a cool but a highly concerning and kind of high maintenance uncle
will share some of his snacks, but don’t push it or you might not get anything at all
loves it when you compliment him
if you tagged along with him and your brother on a case, he will show off to impress you
“...and that’s how the crime happened”
“UWAHH RANPO-SAN YOU’RE SO COOL”
atsushi is lowkey and kunikida is highkey stressed that ranpo’s eating habits will rub off on you
“ne (y/n)-chan do you wanna try this highly caffeinated drink and this concerning amount of sugar filled snack?”
“can i really?!”
“rANPO-SAN NO—”
ranpo definitely does stuff like that on purpose 
the tanizakis are like siblings to you!
a weird set of siblings but siblings nonetheless
the two of them adore you and think you’re precious
atsushi definitely knows how to do your hair whether it’s long or short but he got even better at it when he asked the two
hehe braid trains are definitely a thing + kyouka and kenji (and maybe even dazai)
sometimes you have sibling swap days
you’re with junichiro for most of the day and atsushi is with naomi
strange i know
each of the tanizaki siblings try to make it fun bc they know that the two of you did not at all have a happy upbringing
junichiro likes spending time with you by taking you out to different places that naomi likes to frequent
like the mall, different stores and restaurants, the park, places like those
naomi does the same thing with atsushi so if you ever bump into them, you go out and eat together :)
besides atsushi, the next one in line who spoils you the most would be junichiro (and yosano & kunikida both coming in at a close third)
he honestly can’t help it; you remind him of how naomi was when she was younger
and besides
he’s always been a sucker when it came to the happiness of a little sister
“would you really buy this for me junichiro-san?!”
“of course! don’t worry about it” :)
wanna talk abt boys/girls/celebrity crushes things like that? naomi is your girl
you feel a bit embarrassed to go talking to yosano or your brother abt that and kyouka does not know a thing abt them either
“uwahh naomi-san look at all these people in this magazine! they look so good!”
“right?! but of course onii-sama is still the best—”
you get along with kenji and kyouka quite nicely being roughly the same age as them; they’re also like siblings!
just pure, wholesome vibes from the three of you
you’re over the moon when she finds out that kyouka is staying with you and your brother
atsushi is twice as happy seeing you talk your mouth off and finally having a girl around your age to talk to
“do you think demon snow can change how she looks?”
“hmm... im not sure...”
you and kenji talk abt anything and everything
he even teaches you how to take care of plants!
sometimes the two of you are kind of in the same boat bc you don’t know much abt yokohoma being stuck in the orphanage and kenji doesn’t know much abt cities in general
“wait where are we again kenji-san?”
“ah we’re close to the ports! but im not really sure how close because i don’t know what the symbols on this sign mean”
“don’t worry! neither do i!”
bonus things!
yosano was kind of too late teaching you abt you know what
“NII-SAN IM BLEEDING IN BETWEEN MY LEGS”
you’re sobbing in the agency’s bathroom and atsushi is panicking trying to get you to open the door
“Y/N?! H-HOLD ON LET ME GET YOSANO SENSEI”
ranpo overhears and cackles making everyone around him confused
suddenly atsushi bursts in the agency basically on the verge of tears rambling incoherent sentences abt the bathroom, you, and blood
it just clicked for everybody in the room
(im going to pretend that kenji has sisters back home so that atsushi is the only one who remain oblivious here hehe)
atsushi is genuinely confused and sort of concerned that no one is freaking out with him
yosano waves her hand saying smth like that she’d take care of it and junichiro pulls atsushi to the side to talk to him
fast forward like half and hour and dazai and ranpo are cackling on the looks of both of your faces
honestly not sure who’s more traumatized, you or your brother
“why does this have to happen” :(
“ne ne (y/n)-chan!~ you’re too young but at some point you’re not going to have it!”
“uwahh really dazai-san?” :D
“yeah! but first you have to have ANFK—”
next thing you know your ears are being covered by your brother and dazai is thrown across the room by kunikida
you know
the normal
you’re twelve and have never gone to school, but the agency takes care of that
it’s too dangerous to go to school so they teach you what’s necessary and whatever else they can
kunikida takes care of math (obviously)
yosano takes care of science/biology/anatomy/health (whatever you wanna call it)
ranpo even dragged poe to help you with english
atsushi even got lucy to help you out with english too!
as tanizaki and naomi used to be students, they give you their old work books and they try to teach you all the other subjects
sometimes kyouka and kenji are there learing with you too!
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sorry if there’s some errors! i’ll read through it again later :)
and as always, reblogs and shares are appreciated! i hope you all stay safe! and just in case nobody told you they loved you today, i love you! you are enough! <3
writing belongs to me! please do not plagiarize! the reblog button is there for a reason
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723 notes · View notes
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soriel, 1 (chocolate) for the ask game?
Like a Box of Chocolates
Rating: G Word Count: 2734 Read on AO3: here
---
"Ok. I brought a few choices," Sans said while sitting with his back to the door. He pulled a plastic sack full of chocolate and chocolate-adjacent treats out from under his shirt.
"Oh, you did not have to do that." The voice behind the door sounded embarrassed.
"It's no big deal." He shrugged instinctively, though she wouldn't be able to see it. "Not like I candy things like this for you very often."
The lady laughed, even though the pun was a stretch. She was a great audience like that.
"I cannot argue with that. After all, it is the choco-thought that counts."
Sans let out a wheeze. Man, she had him beat in the bad jokes department. He needed to up his game.
"What can I say, I'm a sweet guy." That joke would work better if she could see his wink.
"You certainly are, my friend."
Sans blinked. He hadn't been prepared for the genuine warmth in her voice. Now he felt something like a melted chocolate himself.
"Uh. You'd better wait and make sure I didn't pick out garbage before you say that." He chuckled nervously and spread out the chocolates in the snow.
"Alright. Hit me with your best choco-shot."
He laughed out loud at that one too. She could really squeeze some mileage out of chocolate puns.
"First off we have the MTT-Brand Chocolate Mettaton. Which is exactly what it sounds like. Chocolate in the shape of everyone's favorite robot superstar." He scanned the back of the wrapper. "Contains sequins and glitter, but it's still monster food, so probably won't cause any more indigestion than Temmie Flakes. Still, wouldn't blame ya if you passed on that."
The lady laughed. "I do not know this 'Mettaton,' but he sounds like someone…"
Her voice trailed off, the way it always did when she neared a personal topic. It seemed to be happening more and more often lately. Sans didn't know if that was a good sign, or if he needed to do a better job of distracting her.
"Someone I know would have liked that," she finished clumsily.
"Welp. It's yours, then." He attempted to slide it under the door.
Attempted. The thick block of chocolate wouldn't fit through the narrow space.
"What are my other options?" The lady asked, not seeming to hear his failure.
(Or just ignoring it. The way they always ignored things they didn't want to acknowledge.)
Oh well. He'd deal with that later, if she wanted to.
He picked up the next box and rattled it. It looked thin enough to fit under the door.
"I think this one's called, uh, pocket?” He couldn’t tell for sure, since the box was labeled in a language he didn’t recognize. Where did Alphys get this stuff? “A pal gave it to me. They’re like chocolate-covered sticks, I think."
"Not precisely what I was looking for, but I would love to try it regardless," she said. "If I am allowed to have both options, I mean. If not, I should probably stick with the Em-Tee-Tee."
Sans bit back a snort. So she hadn't heard after all. That made this a lot more awkward.
"Do you wanna hear the other options first? Wouldn't want ya to have any regrets."
"Oh! There are more?"
She sounded as surprised as a kid finding an extra fry in the bottom of their Grillby's bag. He couldn't help grinning.
"Yup. Next up is a chocolate spider donut—”
“Made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders?” The voice seemed on the verge of laughter again.
His eyesockets widened. “Uh… welp. Guess you don’t need the whole spiel, huh?”
“There is a spider bakesale right around the corner from my home,” the lady explained. “I believe they are saving for a… ‘heated limo’? To travel safely through Snowdin. I wish I could help them, but I did not think to take much gold when I…”
Another dead end. That was fine, Sans could piece together enough. Not that her personal life was any of his business, anyway.
“If it makes ya feel any better, they really raked me over the coals for this one.”
“It does not!” came her quick reply. “I only asked for a chocolate bar. Not for you to spend money that you need on me.”
Geez, this lady was too good for him. As if Sans ever really went out of his way for anyone.
Except Papyrus, but he was family. And sometimes Grillby, if he felt bad about failing to pay his tab for too long. And Alphys, but he owed her for screwing off after space-time blew up in their faces.
And now, the lady behind the door. The lady he didn’t owe anything to, except a few good laughs.
Who was he kidding? Those laughs were more important to him than anything.
“Eh, it just cost me one day of selling ‘dogs. Donut worry about it.”
“Very well. Since it was for a good cause, I will not grill you any further. But please tell me that was the last chocolate you purchased for me.”
“It’s the last one I purchased.” He grinned. While she couldn’t see his expression, she must have heard the but in his voice.
“Please tell me you did not steal any chocolate for me.”
“Geez, lady, what do you take me for? I’d never commit petty thievery.”
“Well, that is reassuring.”
“Yep. Gotta save room for the real high-dollar crimes. Like the illegal hot dog stand.”
The voice behind the door went silent. He wished he could see her face now more than ever. His own grin slowly slid from his skull.
“Everyone knows about it,” he reassured her. “If the King really wanted to shut me down, he’d have done it a long time ago.”
“Oh, I am not judging you for that. I am sure the law is rigged against you if the King has any say in it.” Her voice was surprisingly bitter.
His real problem was that he couldn’t ever find the necessary documents to get licensed in food preparation. His birth certificate was presumably in whatever alternate dimension his old man had blasted them out of.
“You are judging me for something, though,” he realized. The chill of the snow seeped into his bones, but he didn’t dare adjust his position. Somehow he felt that if he moved, she would disappear.
“I am not. I was only thinking about…” She sighed. “It is complicated. There was a time when I could have helped you, but it is long past.”
“Help me? Look, lady, the ‘dog stand is fine. Promise. Better than fine, since I don’t gotta pay taxes on it.”
She chuckled at that.
“Very well. Forgive a silly old lady for worrying.”
“Done.” He smiled, settling back against the door more comfortably.
He should’ve known she’d have a problem with his illegal activities, though. She was a classy lady, and he was… him. Why had he even brought it up? It wasn’t a great joke. Did he really just want her to know?
Eh, whatever. She wasn’t mad, so no harm done, right?
“I would like to know how you acquired this other chocolate, if it was not through your sticky fingers.” She sounded like she was grinning.
“Huh? Oh.” He blinked and dug out the last chocolate of the bunch. Blue dusted his cheeks. “QC—that’s the lady who runs the shop in town—gave ‘em to me for free. They’re called, uh, kisses.”
QC had a knowing look in her eyes when she’d offered the bag of chocolates to him. It was his own fault for implying they were for a girl. Everyone already thought he screwed around in the woods on his shifts, and with the way gossip travelled in a small town, everyone at Grillby’s would be asking about his girlfriend tonight.
“Kisses,” the lady behind the door echoed. “This is not one of your jokes, is it?”
“Not this time. Sorry to disappoint.” His grin felt too tight. “They’re, uh, tiny chocolates. Kinda cone-shaped? QC makes ‘em herself, so they’ve gotta be good.”
“Oh.” Oddly, the voice did sound disappointed. Sans couldn’t imagine why. Not like he could kiss her through the door, even if he had lips. And even if there was some unlikely timeline where she wanted a kiss from him.
He wanted to thump his skull back against the door, but there was no point in worrying her like that.
“In that case, I will take the kisses. They will be perfect for…”
He was sure she would leave it at that. Cover up with some non sequitur.
So his eyesockets went wide when she said, “for the anniversary of my child’s passing.”
“Oh.” He let out a strangled little laugh. “I—geez, I’m sorry. If I’d known—”
“You would have what? Spent even more money on this silly old lady, who cannot even leave to buy her child’s favorite chocolate?” Her voice was firm. “No. I thought you deserved to know, after the trouble you went to, and because you shared your own secret with me today.”
“My ‘dog stand is hardly a secret,” he said, still feeling a little shaky. She had a kid? A dead kid?
Well, who in the Underground didn’t have skeletons in their closet? Metaphorically or literally. She was still his best friend. If she wanted his pity, she would’ve said something sooner.
“Regardless,” she said. “It is in the past. Forget it, if you wish. But please do not treat me any differently.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said sincerely. If there was one thing he was good at, it was maintaining the status quo. “So, uh. These chocolates. I kind of wanted you to have all of ‘em, if that’s alright with you.”
“It would be rude to refuse a gift, would it not?” She sounded like she was smiling again, to his relief.
“There’s just one problem. Uh. Don’t think they’re all gonna fit under the door.” He rapped on the stone surface with his knuckle for emphasis.
“I did not assume they would. The recipe I gave you before hardly passed through.”
Sans blinked. “Then you—huh?”
“I will open the door just a fraction. It can only be done from the inside.” She paused, like she was gathering a breath. “I would ask that you do not look. I promise I will not peek, either.”
Sans’s ribcage tightened. She was going to open the door. She would be right there, with no stone between them.
The thought opened a desperate floodgate within him. He hadn’t realized just how badly he wanted to see her, to know her, to live off of more than just scraps and unfinished sentences.
She once had a child. She had some kind of beef against the King. She wanted to give charity to spiders, but didn’t have enough money. All these facts he filed away, tucking them into the grooves in his ribcage.
It would be enough. He’d duct tape those gates shut again, if he had to. He wasn’t going to betray the trust she’d shown him.
“Got it. You don’t wanna be smitten by my good looks, I understand,” he joked.
(He had a feeling it would be the other way around, if anything. Not that quality of jokes translated to quality of appearance—he would know. If it did, he’d have biceps like his brother.)
“It would be tragic. Much too high a price for you to handsome chocolate to me.”
“Heh, I’m sure you’re a door-able too. But I’ll keep my sockets shut, since our friendship hinges on it.”
That got a raucous laugh out of her, the kind that started off high-pitched and quickly became something of a snorting bleat. That sound was sweeter than chocolate to him.
...Man, his pals at Grilby’s would be right to dunk on him. He was a massive dork.
“Alright,” she said once she caught her breath, “if you are ready, my friend…”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Better choco-late than never, huh?”
That one only got a snort, but he wasn’t sure if that was because the pun fell flat, or because she was nervous. As far as he knew, she hadn’t been outside of the Ruins in years. And here she was, trusting a sentry—someone whose job it was to keep a look out—to turn a blind eye.
It was a good thing he’d never been good at his job.
Stone ground against stone with a dramatic rumble. His eyesockets stayed shut. Warmth emanated from somewhere near his shoulder, and he lifted the bag of chocolates.
His small hand brushed a large fur-covered one. A shiver trailed down his spine. One small touch shouldn’t have done so much to him, but—but she was real. She was more than just a voice behind a door. Which he knew, but knowing and feeling could be worlds apart at times.
She took the bag, and the moment was over. But the door didn’t close.
“My dear friend,” she whispered, her voice sounding closer than ever. “Would it be presumptuous to ask another favor of you?”
“‘Course not. Glad to do a favor for my favor-ite person.” He kept his tone light, unaffected by the swirling emotions inside him.
“If I could… oh, dear, this is embarrassing.”
He resisted the urge to open his eyes, to see what look might be on her face.
“It has simply been so long… may I hold your hand a moment longer?”
He felt the marrow heating within his bones.
“That all? I gotta hand it to ya, you made me think you needed an arm and a leg.”
She chuckled before awkwardly fumbling to grasp his hand again.
Heat poured from her palm into his phalanges. Aside from the fur, there were several spots of soft skin—probably paw pads. Was she a dog monster, like the Canine Unit in town? She didn’t make nearly enough dog jokes for that to be the case. Her laugh sounded more like a goat’s, but she obviously didn’t have hooves. Maybe she was some kind of chimera? You didn’t see those often nowadays, but then again, no one saw monsters from the Ruins, either.
“Thank you,” she said, her voice as soft as the snow that began to drift around him.
“Not disappointed?” He asked, only half-joking. “My hand can’t be as comfy as yours.”
“Ah, but it is all your bone. And that is wonderful to me.”
“Geez, old lady.” He was grateful she couldn’t see his blush. “You’re pretty fur-fect yourself.”
When she laughed, her body shook all the way down to her hand. The feeling more than made up for all the G he’d spent on chocolate and donuts.
Suddenly his hand was being lifted up, and then something soft pressed against his knuckles. His soul flared erratically, and his eyes nearly flew open. If they had, he was sure his left eyelight would have been blue from shock.
“A kiss for a kiss,” she said slyly. “It is only fair.”
“Heh heh…” His voice shook with more than laughter. “Technically, that was one kiss for a bag of kisses. Pretty sure that math doesn’t square up.”
“Oh, you are quite right! One day we will have to circle back and rectify that.”
He practically had to cast gravity magic on himself to keep his eyes from flying open.
“You—huh?” He said intelligently.
“Perhaps not soon,” she clarified. “This has all been… a lot, for me. But thanks to you, my dear friend, this day has not been so bitter as I am used to.”
“Uh, no problem, then. With all that chocolate, I hope it’s sweet.”
Sweet as the anniversary of a death could be, anyway. He grimaced. Maybe that joke was too soon, but she just squeezed his hand before finally letting go.
“I do think it will be,” she said softly. “I will look forward to hearing more of your punny jokes tomorrow.”
The door scraped shut, and he hesitantly opened his eyes. He couldn't help inspecting the door to see if anything changed. Pressing his still-warm hand against the smooth stone.
“Heh. Good luck getting rid of me now.” He grinned.
Then he tucked his hands in his pockets, where her kiss remained like a tattoo on his bone.
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ichigopanhpff · 2 years
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Ch. 1 Preview of "Sonata"
I started this story out with something else in mind, but it took a twisty turn and now I'm like "Welp. I've dug myself into a fine mess."
Anyway, here's the preview!
“How much more do I have, Kokonoi-san?”
“Always straight to business with you, huh,” the man chuckled and crossed his arms. “N’ didn’t I tell you to just call me Koko?”
It’d been two years since (Y/N) started working at La Reverie, but her relationship with Kokonoi Hajime spanned longer thanks to her mother. Having worked several dead end jobs, her mother piled on debt through pachinko parlors, visiting host clubs, borrowing money from loan sharks and running high tabs in bars all over Kabuki-cho.
When it came time to collect, Kokonoi Hajime paid a visit to her place in Shinjuku with some Bonten grunts, only to find nothing. (Y/N) came home to see her place ransacked with them waiting for her in the dark, one-room rundown apartment. She was unaware of her mother’s spending habits as they had a terrible relationship.
And honestly? She wasn’t surprised at all.
However, the moment she asked the amount her mother owed, all the blood drained from her face.
50 million yen.
And that was with the interest already added in.
Out of all the people she could’ve borrowed and fucked with, it had to be Bonten, the most vicious and cold-blooded crime syndicate in Japan.
And now here she was, working in a hostess club owned by the very organization she was practically sold to the moment she disappeared without a trace.
Her very own daughter was left holding the back to pay for her financial fuck ups.
“How much more, Kokonoi-san?” she repeated with a flat tone of voice.
The silver haired man stared and huffed a breath, immediately sensing her mood. “You’re down close to half. Depending on how much you earn, you should be debt free in another three to four years. Unless…”
“Unless…?” she repeated with an arched brow at Bonten’s finance admin. Kokonoi placed a firm hand on her vanity and leaned in close to her face, his dark gaze leering deep into hers.
“Be my girl and I’ll make that debt disappear immediately,” he proposed with a slight bass in his voice, accompanied with a smirk. (Y/N)’s expression remain dead and unresponsive.
“As I’ve said the last nine times you suggested this: no.”
“And I’ve given you this offer as an easy way out,” he reasoned back with a dry chuckle. “Why continue to work a job you hate when you can just be my woman? We both benefit.”
“Your side piece, you mean,” she corrected and packed up her belongings. “Who is it tonight? Yuko? Sakura? One of the girls from the other clubs you own, I presume?”
“No one, actually," he revealed. "Contrary of what you think of me, I have other business to attend to tonight.”
“Don’t let me keep you then,” she coldly noted with a bitter smile and grabbed her purse and phone.
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thenixkat · 3 years
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HCs and OCs for a fic
Toyomitsu family: Descended from one of the first giant mutants in Japan. Tend to have monster or animal related transformation quirks in addition to being huge. Own farmland and forested areas all over the Kansai region. The family founded the Devil’s Market yakuza group which has been extremely long-running and focused on buying and selling illicit goods, general goods, and general supplies and labor for larger people. A Toyomitsu has been either the boss or first lieutenant of the Devil’s Market for as long as it’s existed. They had to move out of their Osaka base when All For One set up shop, their current main base of operations is in Esuha city. The family also runs a franchise of butcher shops across most of Japan under the name of Oni Meats which carries a vast selection of animal protein from around the world. Nearly all members of the family have prey drives from their monstrous transformations.
Ma- Manami- (Quirk) Bugbear- transformation quirk. If the user is sufficiently fat then they can transform into a hybrid bear/reptile monster. Has great senses and night vision as well as enhanced strength. Can induce fear by staring someone directly in the eyes. -->Prefers not to be involved with the less legal dealings of the family and Devil’s Market. She’s more than capable of being as much of if not more a terrifying mob boss than her little brother. She just likes farming better. -->Generally doesn’t look people in the eyes unless she doesn’t like them b/c her terror-inducing power stays active regardless of her form. She prefers not to scare folks who don’t deserve it. -->Gets on very well with her sister-in-law, if she wasn’t married she’d steal her brother’s wife. -->Met her husband in a fighting ring. She eviscerated him with her claws and he broke one of her arms and several of her ribs. They started talking while getting patched up. -->Is about 7’10” and built like a well-padded brick house. -->Is the one who judges new recruits into the gang. Tends to have them do farm work for at least a month to get a bead on their personalities.
Pa- Noel ‘Blue Devil’ Diablo nee Toyomitsu- (Quirk) Energy absorption- emitter quirk. Can absorb, temporarily store, and redirect kinetic/thermal/electric energy. Too much energy kept in the body for too long causes reckless and impulsive behavior and hyperactivity. Devil- mutant quirk. Has devil-like horns and a tail. -->Used to be a nomad b4 settling down with his strong beautiful wife. Supported himself on his travels with fighting, gambling, handyman skills, and musical skills. -->Brings nothing to the table in his household other than his good looks, good nature, and knack for fixing things and a broad range of skills. -->Holding in excess energy makes him glow blue, especially his horns. -->Loves his family just so much. Is the goofy dad and great flirty husband. -->Loved to carry his kids until they got waaaay too big for him to pick up. Stands on a char to talk to his kids and wife on their level. B/c they are just so damn tall. -->Is 6 ft tall with a strong build with very little body fat b/c of a side effect of his quirk. He gets cold easily b/c of this and it bothers his joints.
Grandpa- Ryuji ‘The Dragon/ Dread Emperor of Giants’ - (Quirk) Dragon- transformation quirk. Can transform into an eastern dragon or humanoid eastern dragon with the severity of the transformation depending on percentage of body fat. Can also control the weather. -->Controlling the weather means that his farms never have a bad year. He does sell this service on the black market through the Devil’s Market. -->Wanted to be a hero when he was young and stopped when his mom got sent to jail for vigilantism and murder for stopping a serial killer from preying on women in the community -->Retired after a betrayal from some too ambitious underlings lead to a crippling knee injury. Still acts as a source of wisdom for the family and the gang. -->Is the go-to babysitter. -->Prefers to be in his transformed state and hates the anti-public quirk use laws with a passion. -->His full dragon form is as long as a bus and can fly. His humanoid dragon form/human form (sans antlers) is 8’5”
Grandma- Akane- (Quirk) None. -->An ex-mercenary who beat Ryuji in his prime AND in his full dragon form with nothing but some rope and her bare hands. -->Very good with guns and knives -->Takes advantage of the fact that as a plump quirkless woman she tends to get overlooked by people with powers to end fuckers. -->Was the one who got rid of the over-ambitious underlings who attempted a coup against her husband. -->Is about 5’10”, very chubby, wears glasses, and is rather soft-spoken. -->Is an icon to the quirkless members of the Devil’s Market and teaches them how to fight people with powers.
Uncle- Wani ‘The Butcher’- (Quirk) Crocodilian- transformation quirk. Similar to grandpa but crocodile instead of dragon. Has a great sense of smell and hearing as well as night vision. Is bulletproof at full strength. -->A strong proponent of community defense to the point where more people came to him about community issues than go to police or heroes. He gets problems handled permanently. -->Also heavily invested in technology and occult studies to see if there was a way to make life easier for people -->Also prefers to be in his transformed state -->Caught and ate 3 quirk diagnosing doctors in the area who were trafficking children into human experimentation. Managed to rescue most of the kids. -->Was arrested and sent to Tartarus for a string of killing corrupt cops and heroes fucking around in his neighborhood. His family often visits him. -->Fell for his wife when she bet him she could drink him under the table with the loser paying the tab. She won. -->Is about 8 ft tall and at least half as wide b4 going to jail. In prison he rapidly lost weight, the family is planning a jailbreak.
Auntie- Jay ‘Jaybird/Hummingbird’ Johnson nee Toyomitsu- (Quirk) Fast Twitch- emitter quirk. A speedster type. Can move and think at superhuman speeds for a few minutes at a time every hour. Has a very high metabolism and needs to consume large amounts of food in general. -->Was a villain before settling down. Still pulls off a robbery every now and then and has a fondness for gems. -->A Black American who came to Japan to hide from law enforcement after a heist gone wrong. -->Thinks that the way people throw the word villain around to just about any fucker committing any kind of crime while using a quirk really dilutes the word. Thinks that villains need fun costumes and proper themes and intent. -->Her sister-in-law was one of the first women she’s ever met who never criticized her eating habits and she would kill for the other woman. Ride or die friendship. -->Is constantly hungry due to her speedster metabolism and has to eat a lot. -->About 5’8” and leggy with plenty of visible muscle.
Sister- Onini ‘Oni/Gargoyle’- (Quirk) Gargoyle- transformation quirk. Can transform into a stone-skinned gargoyle with the severity of the transformation being dependant on amount of body fat. Heat Sink- emitter quirk. Can absorb, store, and release thermal energy. -->Tried to become a hero but was bullied out of school -->Named after one of her mom’s friends -->Considers cousin Kenji to be effectively one of her brothers -->Became a firefighter and uses her quirks on the job even tho it’s illegal. Not like the people she’s saving are gonna complain. -->Tends to flirt with strong women. -->Actually tends to stay partially transformed b/c she likes having a tail and passes herself off as a mutant -->If she gets too hungry and loses control she can become a heat vampire and freeze things to death while feeding on their body heat. -->Spends a lot of time helping out on the farm and her mother is most likely to pass ownership of the family land to her once she retires. -->The most likely person in her generation of the family to have biological kids. --->Keeps teasing Fatgum about when he’s gonna officially adopt his interns. -->Is about 7’5” and technically is too heavy to fly but she glides pretty well.
Cousin- Kenjiro ‘Kenji/Ken/Shuten’- (Quirk) Fast Oni- transformation quirk. Can transform into an oni with enhanced speed and strength. Transforming causes his metabolism to speed up and he burns fat to stay in oni form. Has a speedster metabolism in regular form, if he doesn’t eat a substantial meal every 5 hours he starts losing weight (fat and muscle) rapidly and is consequently always hungry. -->Would love to stay in his transformed form but can’t due to the timer. -->Is jealous of Taishiro’s height and metabolism so he makes fun of the way Tai’s face looks when he’s transformed. Also jealous of Onini’s ability to not be constantly hungry. -->Is constantly hungry from the day his quirk came in and had to take appetite suppressants during puberty to keep from losing his head and chowing down on anything and anyone in reach during his growth spurts. -->Has been mistaken for Fatgum more than once due to their similar-ish size and clothing choices. It frustrates him to no end b/c he’s way darker than Tai and prefers wearing blue or white. -->Has intentionally eaten people. Most notable example being him ending a war with a rival yakuza group by capturing, butchering, and cooking the rival leader and openly serving him for dinner at the peace treaty/gang merger. -->Strongly supports Fatgum as a hero and the two combine resources to help the community whether that is through funding housing for the homeless or getting a very good tailor the resources to make clothing for specific clientele or sending the other to deal with a situation appropriately. -->Brings a knife to a gunfight b/c he’s a superstrong speedster and a gun ain’t go do shit if you ain’t got no hands. -->Thinks Overhaul is a stupid asshole b/c it’s not that hard to get blood out of a kid or train a kid to be ok with it. -->Is about 7’10” and has heard every short joke under the sun from Tai
Fatgum-Taishiro ‘Tai’- (Quirk) Fat Absorption- Transformation quirk into an uncanny valley cartoony blob man that is as strong as the amount of body fat he has. Can absorb, neutralize, or release kinetic energy. Eyes glow in the dark like a cartoon when his quirk is active. Has a great sense of taste and is incapable of feeling sated/is always hungry. Also has an extremely efficient digestive system that breaks food down in seconds. Can also convert fat into muscle as well as generally having enhanced strength and speed while transformed. -->Was a late bloomer. His quirk didn’t start coming in till he was 8 and it took a while b4 he was fat enough for it to have notable effects. -->Preferred being in his skinnier form during middle and high school due to bullying and self-esteem issues that he didn’t work through until his early twenties. -->Started high school at 5’7” (170 cm) at 14 yrs old and was 8’2 (250 cm) when he graduated at 18 yrs old. Puberty was hell and pants were his enemy. -->Had a friend in hero support who took it as a personal challenge to make him clothing that he couldn’t destroy, that would grow and shrink with him, and that he couldn’t outgrow heightwise either. Ended up inventing ‘indestructible pants’ and making bank. -->Does not have canine teeth due to a mutation related to his quirk. Does have several rows of teeth that can replace themselves like a shark’s due to the same mutation. The fuckery of his mouth is only really noticeable if he’s ‘stretching’/pushing his transformation to its fullest extent or if someone’s feeling around inside of his mouth for whatever reason. -->Does not have a gag reflex -->Has been constantly hungry since his quirk emerged and like Kenji had to take appetite suppressants during his growth spurts to keep control of himself. An asshole classmate once replaced his appetite suppressants with appetite stimulants to see what happens. Several people ended up hospitalized, Taishiro still has nightmares about it and said asshole student actually managed to get expelled. Has a restraining order against said asshole classmate who fucked off to England to be a hero there. -->Is so glad he’s done growing. Went through clothes like water when he was a teen. -->Going several days without getting enough calories in tends to activate his prey drive and he really doesn’t like that b/c heroes shouldn’t murder or maul people. Figured out this aspect when he mauled a bully after his quirk just came in and later during a survival training exercise in hero school in which he ended up eating a live bear after several days of living on trail rations (scared his teammates for life with that one). -->A lot of aspects of his costume with the bright colors and friendly mannerisms is to reduce the intimidation factor/terrifying aspects of his appearance. He is aware that in his transformed state he’s a giant uncanny valley cartoony egg man monster that can fucking absorb people into his body. -->While transformed his limb, mouth, and eye proportions are extremely fluid and change nearly at will. If he wants to his face can be entirely mouth, which he knows is terrifying to other people. His arms and legs can rubber hose it though they aren’t as strong when he does that, does mean he can grab from angles that shouldn’t be possible. -->Was bullied as a kid for being ‘quirkless’ b4 his quirk manifested and then he was bullied for being fat. It did a number on his self-esteem as a teen leading him to prefer using his thinner form as his default. -->His thinner form was considered a heartthrob in school to his frustration. Didn’t mean he didn’t take advantage of the fact people found him hot to make money or flirt a free lunch off of someone. Was in a hot guy calendar made and distributed by one of his classmates. -->It absolutely gets on his nerves when people only find his skinny form attractive. -->After graduation, he lost muscle b/c that starter hero paycheck ain’t shit and the Hero Commission refused to let him write off food costs as business expenses. Had to save his food money for patrols leading to him losing weight. -->Participated in underground fighting rings to both make some money on the side and get better at using his quirk -->Has tried Trigger b4 and carries a small vial of the good version of it just in case he really needs it one day. (Listen, you ain’t finding shit trying to pat down fucking Fatgum) -->While transformed the absorbing things into him thing is automatic, put too much pressure on the flabbier parts of his body and you’ll just sink in. It takes effort to release things and took him a while to learn how to do this as a kid. Before he learned how to release things, he’d just turn off his quirk to get things out of him. -->Was blackmailed into working for the cops after getting caught during a raid of one of the fighting rings he was participating in. Decided to be a double agent and give away info on cases to the Devil’s Market to help them stay ahead of the cops. Also blew a decent chunk of the Osaka police force’s budget on his feeding since they wanted to use him. Ultimately this is what caused the police to break their partnership with him b/c he was too damn expensive to keep on the payroll. -->Once he became decently popular he and the Devil’s Market started funding a superhero trade school to get people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get into hero schools for various reasons trained up and educated enough to get a hero license. -->As a hero he just doesn’t enforce the dumber laws like anti-public quirk use laws b/c who cares if people use their quirks if they aren’t hurting anyone. Also prefers not to label criminals as villains unless they’ve done some truly heinous shit b/c he knows that villains get harsher punishments in the justice system. Is also a strong proponent for rehabilitation for criminals. -->Once got caught in a scandal where he and a close friend and classmate managed to get a quirkless friend of theirs enrolled in their hero school with the help of a hacker. It took months for the school to catch on, during which said quirkless friend excelled in the hero classes. Fatgum and his friend nearly got expelled when caught. Later he helps that quirkless friend get a provisional hero license to become Japan’s first quirkless hero. -->From his family history, to his accent, to his size, to his ancestry Fatgum got torn apart by the media when he first started making waves. It took years but his image as a fun friendly beloved hero won out over ‘loose canon with criminal ties who’ll probably turn villain any day now’ -->Most of his sidekicks are folks he knew in his underground fighting days or rehabilitated criminals. Sidekicks and interns from actual hero schools are picked based on both potential as well as ‘how well can you bend the law/see in shades of grey instead of black and white?’. Essentially interning with Fatgum is a long process of unlearning propaganda and a practical application of morality on a case by case basis. -->Is aware of the hornier corners of his fandom and doesn’t know how to get them to understand that death via snusnu is not a way they want to go out (“How do you know this?” “...No comment.”) and telling them that they would def either die or require medical attention only makes them hornier. He finds it distressing and tries to avoid these people. -->Only found out that his name and birthday were puns when he was in middle school. He was not pleased. His parents had a blast since they were waiting for him to figure it out. -->When transformed his face, hands, feet, knees, and elbows are the most vulnerable parts of his body. Hence the leg armor (and occasionally arm armor). -->Due to his size, he’s got a few glaring blind spots, the main one being that he simply can’t see past his belly when looking down. He has tripped over short people b4 b/c of this. At least one of his friends from school would take advantage of this when he was in his larger form to sneak up on him.
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