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lxvejohnny · 1 year

Text

The endless beginning

part five

scream VI fanfiction with implied ethan x oc!

find the masterlist for this fic here. a little shorter than usual, but i had to leave this one on a lil cliffhanger hehe. enjoy!

The seven friends sit on some benches on campus and look in front of them where Mindy stands, ready to give her monologue. Amelie sits at the end of the bench with Sam pressed against her and Chad on the other side. She picks at her nails anxiously as she waits for Mindy to begin talking, gathering them for a needed mandatory meeting. Amelie glances up quickly at Ethan before looking down at her nails again. They haven’t spoken since last night and her heart races at the thought of them together last night, being so close to him. The way he held her so softly and would trace at her scar, listen so intently to her as she talked about her dad, the way his lips just touched hers before their moment was interrupted.

“Okay nerds, listen up. As terrifying as this all is, I’m actually glad I get a chance to redeem myself for not calling the killers last time,” Mindy swallows and straightens up her posture. She shakes her head at the thought that she got it all wrong last time, intended to get it right this time around. “It’s fine.”

“Okay, the way I see it, someone is out to make a sequel to the requel,” Mindy begins again. And the monologue, begins.

“Uhm, what’s a requel?” Anika says raising her hand, interrupting Mindy. Amelie, along with the rest of the crew look confused at the new word.

“You’re beautiful sweetie, lets hold questions until the end,” Mindy points towards Anika and her girlfriend gives her a smile back.

“Stab one took place in Woodsboro,” Sam states, going along with Mindy’s idea. “Stab two took place in college.”

“So, do we think that the killer is trying to copy the movies?” Tara questions and looks towards Mindy.

“That is one possibility. Heroes now in college, check-“ Mindy points to Tara and Amelie “-suspicious new characters brought in to run up the suspect list and or body count. Check, check, and check” Mindy then points to Anika, Quinn, and Ethan.

“I don’t like this,” Ethan shakes his head. Amelie looks at him when he does, of course he doesn’t like this, he was just announced a suspect by Mindy. Mindy of all people, so it can't be good.

“But it can’t just be about Stab two,” Mindy ignores Ethan and continues.

“Why not?” Amelie asks Mindy quizzically.

“It would make sense if this were just a sequel, but we’re not in a sequel because nobody juts makes sequels anymore!” Chad nods his head as if understanding what Mindy is implying about, while Amelie still looks confused. Mindy opens her arms as if she is about to announce a revolutionary idea. “We are in a franchise! And there are certain rules to a continuing franchise.”

“I had a feeling,” Sam says sarcastically and looks down towards her shoes.

“Rule one: everything is bigger than last time. Bigger budget, bigger cast, bigger body count, longer chases, shoot outs, beheadings, you’ve got to top what came before to keep the people coming back,” Mindy ignores Sam as she did Ethan and excitedly lists out the new prospects of a continuing franchise.

“Beheadings?” Chad pauses writing in his notebook and looks at his twin.

“Beheadings!” Mindy says back pointing at Chad.

"Are you writing this down?" Amelie furrows his eyebrow at Chad, her head turns quizzically to the side to look at the boy.

"Of course I am," Chad reciprocates the action and smiles at the girl. He points his pencil at Amelie as he talks. "Gotta be prepared, you know? Mindy talks a lot."

Mindy rolls her eyes at her two before continuing. “Rule two: whatever happened last time, expect the opposite. Franchises only survive by subverting the expectations. If the killers last time were whiny, snowflake, film nerds with letter boxed accounts instead of personalities, you can bet the opposite will be true here.

And rule three: no one is safe. Legacy characters, cannon fodder at this point. Usually brought back, only to be killed off in some cheap, bit for nostalgia. It’s not looking too good for Gale and Kirby,” Amelie looks at Mindy in concern. Gale? She knows that Mindy is an expert when it comes to her horror movie theories, but this one is wrong. It has to be. Mindy looks at Amelie with a grimace and mouths a ‘sorry’. She makes a dramatic groan and continues, “Ughh, and that’s not even the worst part.”

Chad looks down at his notebook and sarcastically says, “oh! This is the part where she tells us the worst part.”

“The worst part is the franchises are just continuing episodic instalments designed to boost an IP,” Mindy has been very expressive this whole conversation and continues to hold her arms out as she talks, “which means main characters are completely expendable now, too.

Laurie Strodd, Nancy Thompson, Ellen Ripley, Sally Hardesty, Jigsaw, Tony Stark, James Bond, I mean even Luke Skywalker, all die so that their franchise can live on. That means it’s not just the friend group, any of us can go at any time,” With a grimace she looks over at Tara, Sam, and Amelie, and adds, “especially you three.”

“Wait-wait any of us?” Ethan interrupts once more and looks concerned at the rest of his friends. “Does-am-am I in the friend group? Am I like one of the targets? Am I gonna die a virgin?”

Everyone looks either confused or taken aback from his words. Amelie tilts her head at him and squints her eyes, also confused on his choice of words. She thinks the whole group could have gone without knowing his personal information. She was bound to experience an ick at one point.

“That was a weird overshare,” Mindy practically speaks Amelie’s mind. “But it brings us to our current suspect, Ethan! The shy, dorky guy who no one suspects because he’s so shy and dorky.”

“Okay why-why am I on the suspect list? Because I’m randomly Chad’s roommate?” Ethan almost looks offended by Mindy’s accusation and directs his hand over to Chad at the mention of the guy.

“Roommate lotteries can be juked, you could have fixed it to get next to us,” Mindy says pointedly to which Ethan just rolls his eyes and stays quiet. "Plus...you may now have a conflict of interest, being a potential love interest and all."

Mindy gestures to Amelie and the girl sits up straight, both her and Ethan widen their eyes. Tara and Chad smirk at the panic that ensued on their friends faces and Chad teasingly nudges Amelie with his elbow. Mindy doesn't dwell on the conversation longer and moves on to Amelie’s redheaded roommate, beginning again.

“Quinn. The slutty roommate, a horror movie-“ Mindy puts her fingers together with one hand and makes a kiss sound, “-classic.”

“Sex positive, but thank you?” Quinn replies with a confused look on her face, not quite sure how to interpret the comment.

“Mhm, uhm, how did you come to live with these three ladies?” Mindy doesn’t take her eyes off Quinn’s face as she poses the question.

“I answered their ad online-“ the three girls nod in agreement. Mindy raises her hand to Quinn’s face, “-okay! Say no more, you’ve already implicated yourself enough.”

“It was an anonymous ad, Mindy-” Amelie butts in. She wasn’t going to rule Quinn out completely, but she also wasn’t going to necessarily agree with Mindy’s assumption.

“-yeah, and you know we vetted her. Plus, her dad is a cop.” Tara adds to Amelie’s defense of their roommate.

“And that makes it more likely that she’s the killer because having a cop dad is a great coverage. Do you not remember how these movies work, ladies?” She says enthusiastically and looks directly at Tara and Amelie. The latter widens her eyes and looks over at Tara who turned to her at the same time where they shared a look of surprise.

“Is she always like this?” Quinn quips.

“My dad was a cop, too, Mindy,” Amelie turns back to Mindy pointedly and continues to defend her friend. Sure, she wasn’t as close to Quinn as she was with Sam or Tara, but they did get along very well. Some nights they stayed up in the living room and would watch re-runs of Friends while chatting about Quinn’s latest guy. Besides her having faith that her roommate was not the killer, Mindy’s point about Quinn’s dad being cop does not make all that much sense when she, the daughter of Dewey Riley, is still alive and can be trusted. Quinn looks around the two sitting in between her and Amelie and gives the girl a grateful smile.

“Oh, sweetie," Mindy almost tuts at the girl. Mindy tones down her enthusiasm as she talks about her best friend’s dead dad. "Your dad was a cop, yes, but he also was an original."

Was an original, the words replay in Amelie’s head, and she frowns. “Plus, you and Dewey could always be trusted, Amie. It is a completely different circumstance.”

Mindy smiles at the girl and Amelie nods, deciding that she guesses Mindy is right and decides not to add more.

“And finally, Anika,” Anika blows a kiss where Mindy purses her lips back, “Never trust the love interest.”

Both their smiles fall from their face and Anika looks away.

“Okay, so, we have our rules and we have our suspects-“ Sam pipes in, about to ask Mindy what is next once they have all their bases laid out.

“-Woah, wait, wait. What about you guys?” Ethan gestures to the survivors from the last killings. His eyes glaze over the five of them but his focus passes Amelie faster than the other four. He felt bad for bringing this up, especially against Amelie, but he knew he had to get the attention off of him and his sister.

Amelie looks at him confused, puzzled by his suggestion. “What about us?”

“I mean, I think it’s pretty safe to rule out the five of us who went through this last year in Woodsboro,” Mindy says crossing her arms over her chest.

“Agreed,” Chad says smiling and points his pencil at his sister

“Uhm, not agreed. What if the trauma you all went through caused one or more of you to snap?” Quinn says. Amelie looks especially looks offended, along with the rest of the crew. She just defended Quinn from Mindy when she was ruled a suspect but then accuses her and the rest to also be suspects?

"What?" Amelie lets out a breathy laugh of disbelief, no humor laced in it.

“Yeah, or the fame you got from the killings made you thirsty for more?” Ethan jumps back in to agree with Quinn. He glances around the friend group but misses Amelie’s eyes as he continues, “I mean, to be honest here some of the theories online about Sam are-“

“-don’t you fucking dare,” Tara stops his sentence, threateningly. Ethan’s eyes widen in response, and he stops talking.

“Okay, she’s right though. Face facts, if we are all suspects, you are all suspects,” Anika gestures to the five. They all share looks, and Amelie shakes her head in disbelief. Guess it’s only fair, huh?

"Well," Amelie breaks the awkward silence, standing up. "I have a class to get to, so I'm gonna go."

Frankly, she was a little annoyed. She defended Quinn and really liked Ethan, for the both of them to produce ideas of how her and her friends may be the killers. She also knows how enthusiastic Mindy is about her knowledge when it comes to horror related things, especially when it is her turn to redeem herself for last years events. But, she really wasn't too keen on the idea that Gale could be at risk again, that her and her friends may not live, and that it could very possibly be one of her friends that is doing this again.

Amelie grabs her bag from off the ground and slings it over her shoulder, she gives her friends a tight lipped smile before walking to her class. Her friends were fast to catch on to Amelie's sour attitude and figured that this whole conversation may have been too much for her.

"Someone should probably..." Chad points to the girl walking away.

"She may just need space," Mindy says, watching her go before placing herself down on the bench. Ethan looks back and watches Amelie's figure get smaller as the distance gets larger. He wants to go after her, but he knows that he was also probably one of the reasons why her mood got brought down.

"I'll go check on-" Ethan begins, about to stand up from his spot on the bench.

"I got it, Romeo," Anika cuts him off. She stands up and grabs her bag from behind her. She heads over to give Mindy a kiss and then pats Ethan's shoulder as she stands next to him. "I have the same class as her anyways."

Ethan's shoulders deflate as he watches Anika go after Amelie, internally angry at getting his chance to be alone with the girl again, ruined. Chad gives him a pitiful smile, and Ethan wants nothing more than to just punch his face.

"Hey, Amie!" Anika calls out to the girl and Amelie stops in her tracks upon hearing her name being called. Anika is quick to catch up to her and links arms with the girl. They continue walking, getting closer to the building they have to enter. "You know what usually cheers me up?"

"What?" Amelie peers to her left where Anika stands.

"Coffee," Anika grins at her. Amelie can't help but let a smile creep up on her face at Anika's attitude.

"You know, I don't actually think it's you or any of you guys, in fact," Anika starts again, guiding them in the direction of the coffee shop that the two girls stop at every time they are together on campus.

"Yeah, I know," Amelie sighs. She knows that Anika doesn't think so, and she knows that Anika is definitely not the one who could be doing this. But, some of her friends did, specifically that one curly haired boy, and it upset her.

"Actually, I think that if this fucker ever tries anything with us, I can distract them with my good looks and you can take the opportunity to beat their ass."

"Anika, this isn't a joke," Amelie looks at her cheesy smile and wants to laugh along, but can't with the severity of the situation.

"No, I know," Anika nods at the girl, but doesn't let the smile let up from her face. If anyone was going to put Amelie in a better mood, it would be Anika and they both knew that. "I am being so serious."

Amelie lets out a laugh, finally, and rests her head against Anika's as they continue walking.

"Also, you have got to tell me what the hell is happening with you and Ethan," Anika lifts her head, prompting Amelie to lift hers as well and look at Anika. A blush rises on her cheeks and her smile never wavers.

"Oh, my god."

The sun was now setting and the sky was filled with hues of orange and yellow. Amelie was finally done with her classes today, and was thankful that she was finally able to head home after todays events. Her urge to sleep grew stronger the longer she stayed at school, already getting only a couple of hours in this morning. Anika was already gone to her place where they were all going to meet up and sleepover tonight, offering to stay in campus and wait until Amelie was done but the girl declined. Letting her know that she would be okay on her own. But now, as she walks outside of campus by herself and the light outside is dimming, she wasn't so sure of that anymore. Now that Ghostface is back and someone was out there, intending to kill her and her friends, maybe it wasn't the best idea to be by herself.

Normally she would have her earbuds in, listening to her music or a podcast as she walks alone, but she figured that having all of her senses not obstructed may be the best idea.

The girl flinches when she hears her phone ring and pulls it out of her pocket. Unknown Caller is the ID that comes up on her phone and her heart drops. She knows by now what that means and who it is. She takes a look around to see if she can see the familiar mask standing nearby, but she sees nothing suspicious. But she is also not dumb, she knows that they have to be somewhere near her, knowing that she was alone right now. Her finger hovers over the green button, about to pick up the call when she feels a hand on her shoulder and flinches. Spinning around in panic, she comes face to face with Dean and not Ghostface. Her shoulders still tense, and she takes a weary step back from Dean.

"Dean, hi," Her voice is small and shaky. Her heart is still pounding in her chest, and she looks down to see her phone ring two more times before the call ends.

"Hey, I just saw you walking and decided to come say hi," Dean smiles at the girl and notices her rigid stance and the way her eyes were looking around them. "Are-are you okay? Were you waiting for someone?"

"What?" Amelie stops looking around the two for the killer and back at Dean's concerned face. "No, no! You just scared me, is all."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Dean apologizes to the girl. Her nerves are still heavy, but she has since calmed down a bit. "Like I said, just wanted to come say hi. I didn't get to see you again at the party."

"I know, I am really sorry about that," Her face cringes at the thought of her just leaving Dean by himself. "My friend just had an emergency, needed to go help out."

"It's all good, I'm just glad I could catch you again," Dean shakes his head in dismissal and smiles. "Uh, are you heading home?"

"Yeah, I just finished up."

"By yourself?" Dean questions the girl. "Just, have you heard the news? There might be a killer on the loose, maybe you should be careful to not go out by yourself."

"Yeah, I've heard," Of course she has heard, she has lived it. "I was just-"

Her phone rings for a second time, the same Unknown Caller ID flashes on her screen and her hand tightens around the device. She watches as it rings and looks back up at Dean who is furrowing his eyebrows at the girl.

"Are you gonna get that?"

Dean probably thinks I am crazy, the girl thinks. She is so fidgety, flinching at everything, and is looking around her like there are ghosts speaking to her from every direction.

"Uh, no," Amelie mutters and clicks the power button on the side of her phone, silencing the ringing. She is sure that will only piss the killer off more, but if she answers then Dean may be put more at risk and he will start questioning her when he hears her speak to a voice about killing her and her friends. "Actually, if you're not busy, do you think you can walk with me? For a bit?"

If the killer was calling her, then the chances of Dean being in on it was slim. Though, they usually work in pairs. She wasn't going to let him walk her all the way to her apartment, so he at least won't find out where she lives. But, close enough where she can walk alone for only a short amount of time and make it back safe and sound.

"Yeah, of course. I was going to offer, anyways," Dean nods his head with a small smile, and they head off.

For the next couple of minutes, Amelie explains why she had to leave the party so suddenly, to which Dean explains that it is totally okay, though he was a little disappointed that he didn't get to see her again that night. They also got to know each other a little more, to continue their conversation.

"If it's okay, would it be possible if i got your number?" Dean bites the bullet and asks her. He swears he has never been so nervous to ask a girl out before, but he was sweating right now. Amelie looks taken a back and the two stop in place.

"Oh," Amelie can't say she has had many guys ask her for her number, so she naturally is quite surprised. Though, they have already touched tongues so maybe they were finally catching up to the courteous actions that usually take place before kissing. Dean notices the hesitance on her face and is about to apologize, but Amelie beats him to it. "Yeah, sure."

She pulls her phone out again and opens it, getting to her contacts to pull up an empty one. She gets this weird feeling like she is almost...guilty. Cheating, almost, on Ethan. But they aren't official, they have only almost kissed and know that there is a mutual feeling shared between the two. So, she figures that there is no harm in swapping numbers with Dean. It is not like she was intending on pursuing him, she already had eyes on Ethan and him only.

As Amelie hands her hand to Dean for him to put his number in her phone, it rings again. Her heart starts pumping, thinking that it was going to be the killer again.

"Uh, Ethan is calling you," Dean hands her phone back to her and tries to gauge her reaction at the mention of his name. Amelie's heart returns to a normal pace upon hearing that it was Ethan calling her and not Ghostface.

"Oh, yeah, he's my...friend," Amelie gives Dean a smile. "I should probably get this, just one second."

"Hey," Amelie steps back to have a little bit of privacy.

"Hey, Amie! I was just wondering if you got home okay, I know you're done later today at school," Ethan's soft voice comes through the phone and she smiles upon hearing it.

"Yeah, I was just headed home now actually."

"Oh okay, good. Wait, are you walking alone?" She can hear the concern laced in his voice, feeling herself go soft at his worry for her.

"Uh, I was," Amelie bites her lip, contemplating on if she should tell Ethan that she was no longer alone, and now with the boy she was making out with at the party. Again, they weren't dating, but why does she feel so guilty about being with another boy? "I'm not anymore, though."

"Who is with you?"

Ethan doesn't need her to answer, he knows. He can see Dean stand a couple of feet away from her, watching her pace back and forth as she was on the phone with him. His blood boils watching the boy even be so close to the girl, his girl. He was possessive and jealous when they weren't even official, he knows that, but fuck. He is the one who loves Amelie, he is the one who she got to kiss sober, and he is the one who she thought about when her lips were on Dean's.

"Uh, Dean, the uh-the guy from the party," Amelie grimaces, back turned to Dean so he couldn't see the expression on her face when she said his name.

The urge to take his knife and stab it right into his stomach, watch that stupid smirk fall off his face was so intense. He tried his best to not let his voice waver while on the phone, but his patience was running thin the longer he had to look at that guy and he hadn't even done anything. Besides ask for her number. He knew it was the perfect time to call her, again, but with his name this time around right as she was going to let him slip his number into her phone. Hopefully, fast enough to not give him enough time to do so.

"Oh."

"But, it's not like that. Don't worry," Amelie was quick to reassure him when she heard his short response.

Ethan chuckles through the phone, kind of glad that she was fast to let him know that it wasn't like that; like he had thought. "Just be careful around him, please. Call me if anything happens."

He then tells her to text him when she gets home, and that he was sorry for what he said with their friends. She reassures him that she is over it and to not worry, along with wishing him to enjoy his late class tonight, and that she will see him tomorrow.

Ethan stays where he is standing, watching the two walk off and thinks of ways he could get to Dean after he drops Amelie off. He would do something now, approach the two with his mask and cloak on but he doesn't want to scare Amelie. Nor does he want to hurt her, which will be suspicious if he only attacks Dean and not her. So, he stays in the shadows for now, thinking of having Amelie in his arms again and the satisfaction that will come from watching the blood flow out of Dean's body.

The night has now fallen, darkness surrounding the sky and only the lights of the lamp posts and the city to light it up. Amelie and Dean walk further for a couple of more minutes, Amelie checking behind her again every now and then to make sure no one was following them. Once they got close enough to where Amelie should be able to walk by herself, she stops them and thanks Dean for walking her home.

"Uh, my number saved, right?" Dean asks. He may sound desperate, and he knows it, but something about Amelie stuck out to him and he couldn't let it go.

"Yeah, it did," Amelie smiled at him. She looks behind him and her smile drops when she notices a tall figure watch them in the distance, the familiar face of the ghost mask staring back at her.

"We have to go, now," Amelie is quick to grab his hand and take them down a different route.

"What? What the hell is going on?" Dean notices the panic that fell upon Amelie's face when she looked behind him. She stays quiet and quickly pulls him along, wondering what the fuck she was going to do now with Ghostface following her.

"Amelie! What did you see?" Dean tugs at her hand and she looks back at him.

"You know the news you were talking about earlier? With the deaths of the students and the Ghostface masks?"

"Uh, yeah. Yes, I remember."

"I saw him, just now."

"What? That could have just been some rando dressing up as him."

"Dean," Amelie says his name so stern, it reminded him of the way a mother would scold her child. "Trust me, I just know."

"Yeah, okay, okay. I trust you, let's go around then," Dean nods his head at her, eyes wide at how quick paced this whole situation was. He could barely even register what was happening, only the pure panic and fear that Amelie reeked of.

Dean and Amelie manage to take a massive detour, thirty minutes later than what was expected and Amelie was starting to get texts and calls from her friends wondering where the hell she is. Dean ended up walking running with Amelie to her apartment building, taking the odd street or alleyway to ensure Ghostface wasn't following them. The two were panting as they stopped, and said their goodbyes.

"Hey, thanks again," Amelie says one last time. "And, be careful, please. Just look out for anyone being weird or following you."

"We live in New York, Amelie, there are many of weird-acting people," Dean tries and chuckles but stops when he sees her expression still hard and scared. "I will be careful, I promise."

"Thank you." Amelie sends him a tight lipped smile and heads inside her building, sprinting up the stairs and to her apartment door. What a long fucking day.

By the time Amelie gets home, she fills her friends in on what happened back at campus. From the phone calls, to Dean finding her, Ethan calling her, and then to them being stalked. They grew concerned as soon as she walked through her front door, panting with sweat covering her forehead. Anika even apologized profusely for listening to Amelie and leaving her by herself. Of course, Amelie tells her that it is not her fault and that she made it out okay, after all.

Sam suggest that they tell Detective Bailey about what happened, just to let him know that the killer was there with Amelie on campus, to which they do. She then gives him a rundown on what happened, who she was with, and where. He reassures her that he will try and see if there were any security cameras on campus where she was, to see if they can find anything with it. They hangup shortly after, which leads them to now, where Mindy and her get put in charge of setting the table together.

Mindy and Amelie start setting up the table by Amelie putting the plates down and Mindy following along with the cutlery.

“I’m glad you have Anika, you know,” Amelie breaks the peaceful silence and looks at Mindy. She is glad that they have moved past talking about what happened earlier, and decides to change the subject to something a bit more lively. “You can tell she makes you happy.”

“Thank you, Amie,” Mindy smiles bashfully at Amelie. “I know I ruled her as a suspect, but she has helped me, a lot. With everything after moving.”

Amelie nods her head in understanding. Her mind begins to wander as silence consumes the two again. With a new killer on the loose, she just hopes that the lives of her friends remain unharmed through it all. She thinks about Mindy and Anika’s relationship and the hope there is for the two of them. Along with her own friendship with the girl, and how she treasures Anika so dearly to her. “It can’t be Anika; I am sure of it.”

“I don’t want to lose her,” Mindy states to Amelie. For the first time, Mindy shows her weariness in this whole thing. Amelie thinks about Wes when Mindy talks about Anika. If there is anything that Amelie could do to go back and save him, and her dad, she would. She also doesn’t want her best friend to end up going through the same grief that she once did. Amelie shakes her head at Mindy and pulls the girl to look at her, “You won’t. I will do anything i can to make sure she stays alive.”

Amelie looks back to Anika on the couch, then to her friends to the kitchen and back at Mindy before letting out a laugh, “To keep you all alive, actually.”

Mindy shares a grateful smile with Amelie. The girl quickly became one of her best friends from the day she met her back at in Woodsboro and it hasn’t changed since. The two turn to the kitchen once they hear the conversation between Chad and Tara. They share a look of disgust before Amelie pretends to gag as Mindy holds her hair while cringing. It catches the attention of the couple, and they turn to see the two girls make a scene.

“Will you two just make out already?” Mindy says before letting go of Amelie’s hair. The shorter girl laughs while Chad pauses stirring the pasta and calls them inappropriate.

“Ugh, whatever,” Mindy replies and throws her hands up. “Get it over with.”

The two walk into the kitchen looking at one another with a sly smile and join Tara, Chad, and Sam.

“Sam, we do not have to stay here,” Mindy tells Sam. The older girl recruited them all back to their apartment to stay together after the small intervention Mindy had with them all. She figured that it would be better if they all stuck together, since they all know that the killer usually takes them out one by one when they are all alone. She also suggested that they make dinner and have a fun family night on, which of course, they couldn’t pass up the idea.

“Well, too bad. I insist,” Sam reaches for a bottle of red wine from on top of the fridge. “Safety in numbers.”

“This will be so fun, a little slumber party with the Force of Five,” Chad smiles and says excitedly, matching the expression of a small child.

“Force of Five?” Amelie questions him with a smirk.

“Did you just give us a nickname?” Tara adds in, looking at Chad.

“I sure did. I mean we’ve been through a lot together and, it’s a pretty cool nickname,” He smiles and nods.

“That’s debatable-” Sam mutters.

“-that’s extremely debatable” Tara adds to Sam’s comment.

“You can’t just give yourself a nickname, dingus.” Mindy says looking at her brother with sass.

“Oh, of course I can, dingus, because I just did.” He replies with attitude.

“Force of Five up top,” Her puts his hand up for Mindy to hit. “No.”

“Down below,” He moves to Tara. “Get that away from me.”

“Just one high-five, please, Amie,” He turns to Amelie, pleading with his eyes. She laughs and shakes her head at him.

“Please for the love of god,” He ends at Sam, with his hand still up.

“Don’t do it,” Mindy says looking at Sam. They all start to chuckle at the situation.

“You know, I would actually like a little more respect and support from the fellow members of the Force of Five-”

“Guys!” They hear Anika yell from the next room. “What the hell?”

As they all pile into the room, they hear the TV reporter start talking about how the prime suspect for the murders is Samantha Carpenter. The news channel shows the video of Sam pushing the girl, the same video they were showed down at the police station. As the reporter speaks about last year’s Woodsboro killings and Richie, Sam grabs the remote from Anika and turns the TV off then makes her way to the kitchen table and takes a seat. Tara soon follows her and takes a seat before engaging in a conversation. Amelie stands back with the other three to let the sisters have their space.

“These people are so full of shit,” Amelie shakes her head. Chad comes up behind Amelie and places his hand on her shoulder. “Yeah, yeah they are.”

From the kitchen table they overhear Sam talking about how she hates being so hated by everyone and they start walking towards the sisters.

“Hey, hey,” Chad starts, announcing their arrival. “Just a reminder, not a single person in this room hates you, okay? We have all been through some fucked up stuff and we are coping with it differently. But I mean we moved here together for one very specific reason; we are a team.”

Sam lets a smile through as her brimming eyes don’t release another tear.

“We are-“ Mindy speaks up “-the Force of the fucking Five.”

“Thank you very much,” Chad leans in to give her a high five and Amelie lets out a breathy laugh.

“I hate myself,” Mindy says as her hand connects with her brothers. They all share a chuckle and smile at each other before they speak at once, trying to get the rest of the girls to say the silly name Chad came up with.

“Say it.”

“No, I am not going to say it. I mean yes we’re a team but-“

“It doesn’t even rhyme that well-“

“I’ve been sleeping with cute boy from across the hall,” Sam confesses amidst the voices of her friends. She looks up, worried what her friends’ reactions may be until they all release themselves into a group of noise once more.

“Boom!”

“I knew it!”

“I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!”

“Called it!”

From just the other side of the hall, Sam’s newly revealed rendezvous man glances at the window that connects to their apartment, specifically into Quinn’s room. He makes an effort to call out, catching the attention of Ghostface, and tries his best to get someone’s attention from inside the apartment. While he waves his hands and yells out to gain their attention, the five friends put their hands in the middle to connect while laughing at the moment. Almost speaking him into existence, Sam’s phone rings as Danny’s contact brightens up the screen. Tara snatches the phone and shows the group of friends where they all start giggling and reach for it.

“No, Tara, no,” Sam says smiling.

“Hey, so, what are your intentions?” Tara jokingly answers the phone, and they laugh again.

“I’ll-I’ll call him back,” Sam says before declining the call. She just wants to enjoy the moment with her family around her. They all quiet down as they hear noises coming from Quinn’s room. The sound of moans and grunts exude past the barriers of the wall and the group smirks at each other.

“Oh, my god, Quinn and her gentleman caller are back at it again,” Tara says slyly.

“Hey, at least she is having a good time,” Amelie says with a smile.

"Just like you were at that party with Mr. Dreamy," Tara giggles at the girl, causing them all to smile and tease Amelie. Chad mentioning the smudged lipstick he caught on the boys lips.

“Get into it, okay,” Mindy also adds, looking towards the direction of Quinn’s door and then at Amelie, nudging her hand on the table.

Their giggles make another round but at a quieter volume this time around. Suddenly all of their phones make a noise as they presumably receive a text. Sharing a weird glance between the five, they all pick up their phones to take a look; an airdrop request from Danny pops up with a picture of Ghostface attacking Quinn from inside her room. The five and Anika all get up and rush to the outside of Quinn’s door where a blood curling scream erupts from behind the slab of wood, followed by the sound of thuds and crashes. They all pause and look towards the door. Amelie’s hand grabs onto Sam’s as they look straight ahead.

Silence ensues before Mindy calls out “run”, and nothing would quite prepare Amelie or her friends for the experience they would have to endure.

#ethan landry #scream #scream vi #scream six #jack champion #ethan kirsch #dewey riley #ethan landry x reader #scream imagine #scream fanfic #ethan landry imagine #scream vi spoilers #scream vi x reader #scream ethan #ethan landry scream #scream 6 #scream x reader

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midnightsunnyday · 1 year

Text

A Grand Admiral's Job Is Never Done (Part Two)

Part One Masterlist

********

*Leviathan, walking and reading over his papers*

Leviathan: budgeting meetings, emails *sighs* and that was just from this morning. Formalities aside, being here just reminds me of what a total loser I am. I used to be important, you know? Like, I actually led fleets and planned wars and...blew things up! Now I'm just some worthless otaku that not even Vepar takes seriously. "Oh, Grand Admiral Leviathan, to what do we owe the pleasure? I assume your consoles and...animu weren't an adequate substitute for actual naval combat?" Uncultured asshole.

Petty Officer Halphas: ah, good morning, Grand Admiral Leviathan.

Leviathan: (great, not him again. Seriously, I may be a shut-in, but this guy needs to seriously touch grass. I mean, he may look like your typical normie. Could probably make a few friends, get invited to parties, model a few products, and maybe even have a lover if he wanted, but he's so...uncanny. That and he's always talking! To me! Seriously, why is he coming closer? Would it be weird if I just ran away? Made an excuse? Dammit, I've been in my own mind too long! Now I have no choice. Must...force...self...into...social...interaction...) Petty Officer Halphas. Good to see you. Tell me, how are the new recruits this year?

Petty Officer Halphas: *smiles like a creep* do you really want me to answer that question, sir?

Leviathan: I...uh--

Petty Officer Halphas: --because JESUS FUCKING FIRE PISSING CHRIST just what kind of demons are they sending me these days anyway? Just yesterday I had 13 RECRUITS pass out after only spending THREE MINUTES in the GOD DAMN lava pool! THREE MINUTES! And the NEXT DEMON that CRIES to me about having to spend a night in the OBLIVION CHAMBER is getting their legs snapped off and beaten with them! Of course, staring into the face of death is terrifying. THAT'S THE POINT OF THE DAMN CHAMBER.

Leviathan: is...that right? *laughs nervously* Honestly, out of all the POs, I expected you to have the least trouble with...motivation (seriously, why was he promoted)?

Petty Officer Halphas: you would think so. Yet apparently, my training tactics are too "intensive" and "barbaric." Please. You want to talk about hell? My entire division had to trudge through the primordial forests--

Leviathan: --with no water, no food. Just our wits and the beads of sweat between our folds for 30 days, as you've told me more than once (more like 30 times! I can't believe I'm missing the 24-hour TSL movie marathon for this. Life is so unfair).

Petty Officer Halphas: I just don't get it, sir. A thousand years ago, the average demon sailor could kill a man in cold blood and snap off an angel's wings with their bare hands. Now Lord Diavolo is calling for peace and creating an exchange program with ANGELS of all beings and forcing demons to adopt these things called...MORALS. I mean, what are we, HUMANS?

Leviathan: one doesn't need to be human to have a code of honor, Halphas. It does one no favors to spread needless chaos and violence (had to channel my inner Lord Diavolo on that one).

Petty Officer Halphas: no offense, sir, but that's pretty much what demons are. Why go against nature?

Leviathan: maybe Lord Diavolo wants us to know that we're more than just our nature. Maybe all beings, regardless of where and how they came to be, have the ability to change (even if we don't believe it ourselves...).

Petty Officer Halphas: *scoffs* you know, I thought joining Hell's Navy and rising through the ranks would be fun. But everything is so boring now. And since I can't use them to harass the guppies anymore, my beautiful armory full of weapons is doing nothing but gathering dust *sighs* I was definitely born in the wrong era.

Leviathan: (yeah, this dude is definitely warped. Though I can sympathize with the being bored part). Tell me, what is it about war that fascinates you so much?

Petty Officer Halphas: *with an unnerving look in his eyes* everything! The tactics, the artillery, the smell of fear and chaos. The power of being able to control every single piece upon the field, knowing that one wrong move could destroy your entire fleet. The feeling of holding someone's life in your hands and watching it drain from their eyes...

Leviathan: (maybe I should talk to Lord Diavolo about implementing some kind of psychological evaluation checks...)

Petty Officer Halphas: ...mock fights and training sessions just aren't enough. I NEED to experience the real thing! You understand, right, Grand Admiral? After all, you were there! You know what it feels like! What it looks like! You and Captain Vepar. His stories about fighting in the Great War are exhilarating. I only wish I was there to see him during his prime! I bet it was amazing.

Leviathan: ...tell me, Petty Officer Halphas, are you really this much of a heartless moron?

Petty Officer Halphas: what? Grand Admiral--

Leviathan: you have the potential of doing great things, Halphas, yet you're wasting them by being nothing more than an uncaring bastard. Do you really think showing so little value and regard for life including your own is something to aspire to? Is killing and death all you really care for?

Petty Officer Halphas: it's...kind of all I know, sir. Unlike the Devildom, living in one of the nine circles isn't exactly...pleasant.

Leviathan: war isn't a game and your men's lives aren't NPCs. Real war is horrifying, even more than the nine circles. There is no limit to the acts of cruelty one can enact and it comes with heavy sacrifices. More importantly, your men have to trust you to lead them. Tell me, Halphas, do you think anyone would trust you with anything as you are now?

Petty Officer Helphas: ...I'm sorry, Grand Admiral Leviathan. It was never my intention to offend.

Leviathan: I know you look up to Captain Vepar, after all, he's a formidable leader, yet don't let his stories of glory and triumph fool you. There were also many unmentioned failures. I should know...considering I caused most of them.

Petty Officer Halphas: you...you went to battle with Captain Vepar? And lived?

Leviathan: well, you don't have to look THAT shocked. How about this? The next time you meet Captain Vepar, ask him about the battle of Cocytus and the reason why I allowed him to sail away alive (lololol. That one always pisses him off).

Petty Officer Halphas: wow, Grand Admiral Leviathan, I mean...to be honest, I kind of just assumed you were some otaku streaming games on Deviltube all day, but you're way more hardcore than I thought! By the way, did you get my friend request yet? I'm not accusing you of anything, it's just that you probably get so many you didn't see mine. Oh, and my username is DoveofDeath--

Leviathan: --regardless (you little shit) of how you or any of the officers feel about my status, I didn't get this title by playing games all day. I've been leading operations and conducting strategies centuries before you were even a thought. My track record is highly consistent, whether it's taught as part of history or not, there's a reason why I stand as your superior. Do well to remember that.

Petty Officer Halphas: woah. Uh, I mean, yes sir, Grand Admiral Leviathan, sir!

Leviathan: and also...JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM ANYWAY, THE FRIEND YOU DON'T HAVE? SERIOUSLY, DOES EVERY ASSHOLE ON THIS SHIT STAIN OF A BASE HAVE NOTHING TO DO BUT TALK OUT OF THEIR ASS ABOUT GLORY'S PAST AND JERK THEMSELVES OFF TO EVERY HOMICIDAL PSYCHOPATHIC FANTASY THEY HAVE? FOR FUCKS SAKE, JUST GET A HOBBY.

Petty Officer Halphas: um...am I the homicidal psychopath in this situation, sir?

Leviathan: just...go do your job, Halphas. At least prove why you deserve to keep your position here.

Petty Officer Halphas: right, of course, sir. But before that, are you still going to accept my friend request or...

Leviathan: *groans loudly and pulls out his DDD* so it's DoveofDeath, right?

Petty Officer Halphas: *grins* actually, it's DoveofDeath38, sir.

Leviathan: ah, right. There you are. Oh...so you do have a friend's list. A pretty active one, too.

Petty Officer Halphas: oh, yeah. I'm kind of a big deal in the Strings of Battle community, but not as big as you, of course. My girlfriend also watches your channel, too, by the way. You're her favorite Deviltuber!

Leviathan: *grins through the pain* is that so?

*MC and Diavolo, still hiding*

MC: that officer guy is kind of intense, but also kind of lame.

Diavolo: *laughs* Petty Officer Halphas has always had an interesting aura about him, even as a recruit. Though I think it may be time to have a bit of a talk about his...current psychological state.

MC: agreed. But Levi just seems so...assured *pouts* I can't believe that nerd! He's been holding out on me!

Diavolo: let's follow him further, shall we?

******

Petty Officer Halphas

Halphas rose through the ranks quickly, as he's shown quite the competency for battle due to his uncanny ability to identify, equip, and accurately use any and every weapon imaginable (though especially firearms). Even the things that aren't weapons become them in Halphas's grasp.

Yet like Vepar, Halphas is bored with peace, and with no wars to fight, has lost most of his motivation to go any further than his current rank. After hearing and reading stories from wars' past, he waits (impatiently) for the day he can test his skills on the battlefield for real, instead of on his fellow sailors (who are thankfully immortal) and in his favorite war games. Despite having never been in one, Halphas is certain he'd be amazing during battle.

Tends to speak in a hoarse voice due to his smoking habit (though the fact that he's always yelling doesn't help either). In charge of torturing training junior sailors. Really wants to be Leviathan's friend.

Sin: sloth

Likes: quality cigars, architecture, playing video games, bird watching.

Dislikes: boredom, disorganization, cats, sweet things, showing weakness.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me leviathan #obey me mc #obey me diavolo #obey me oc

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moewashere · 9 months

Text

ive watched digimon adventure 2020 like 7 times and i think i deserve to infodump about it >:)

‼️SPOILER WARNING‼️

first of all - whats with all the taichi/yamato parallels?? like- i get ith they were present in DA (1999) and a bit in DA 02 but not as much as in the reboot. (BUT WHERE IS THE VENOMVAMDEMON SCENE WHERE THEY HOLD HANDS HUH??? TOEI EXPLAIN YOURSELF—)

second - I. LOVE. THE. ANIMATION. especially in the fighting scenes?? like holy shit- istg toei looked at their budget and put it all into the fighting sequences.

third - i was a bit skeptical going into this because we get omegamon immediately (2nd/3rd episode) which is weird since for DA we get it in the movie (not even in the series!!!) but it was scripted and played well (the episode where he appears is titled "war game" hehe) plus omegamon being a sort of otherworldly digimon that can pass through time and space was really cool :)

fourth - negamon is a bitch, like- algomon did *everything* from gathering data to helping with milleniumon's rebirth and all- AND THE BITCH IS THE FINAL BOSS?? mf is a fat spoiled mommy's boy that grew up thinking everithing was his (he did get his ass handed to him so i can respect that)

fifth - etemon and volcamon are married you can't change my mind

fifth 2.0 - OGREMON MY BABY WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE :((( (he did come back as rebellimon but still) him and leomon were deffo married in DA

sixth - i really love the fact that devimon (once he died) wasn't a 100% jerk, he helped takeru and patamon by giving them a hit on negamon and helped seraphimon not to lose himself during the last fight :)

seventh - the fact that digiworld itself called the digidestined is>>>

seventh 1.2 - i loved the fact that during the crest hunt they didn't have to find the ultimate level or smth like that but had to find themselves (i am mad at the digevolutions' order was but still-) i think that the main reason why taichi's compass was all wonky like that was because he had to connect with everyone by seeing them being the best themselves.

eight - i didnt really like how they prioritized taichi over everyine else- like i get it- hes the leader and all but still i wanted more episodes focousing on the other members of the group like DA did :( (he is my fav charavter so im not complaining lol-)

ninth - THE COLOURS!!!!!! IM AN ARTIST AND THE COLOUR REP AND PLACEMENT WAS 🔝🔝🔝 everytime we got a zoomed out view of the current fight and each of thrm became like a colored star i screamed

tenth - i think that's it for now?? bc nothing comes to my mind anymore lol- ANYHOW this show was very different from its 1999 original but still absolutely enjoyable 9.5/10 i took .5 off because there were A LOT of fillers (especially between wargreymon amd metalgarurumon) and for a series titled "digimon adventure" i expect every episode to be a bit more adventurous? i guess?? (the most unnecessary one imo was mimi-chan wars (ep 37) for me mimi behaved in avery annoying and bossy/demanding way that i generally didn't like :(

other than that i really hope that they make DA 02's reboot too because it would be so fun :)

#homoeostasis help these blue and orange gays #i want what toei was on while making DA 2020 #etemon/volcamon are the new ogremon/leomon #ogremom died beacuse leomon didn't #devimon is a homie i would let hold my drink at a party #i literally love them all sm :(#give yamato and koushiro their own episode PLEASE i deserve it #MY COLOURED BABIES I LOVE TJEM SM #mimi was annoying in episode 37 and that's it #taichi is the youngest child in a family of 8 #taichi behaves like everyone's mother 2023 #thats my headcanon but still-#i need DA 02 reboot toei WORK ON IT #2020's title is literally “digimon adventure: omegamon” and that's on the gays #they also made a brand new symbol for omegamon and i love it sm #digimon #digimon adventure 2020 #digimon adventure #yagami taichi #yamato ishida #the gays #i finished all 67 episodes in 4 days #izumi koushiro #mimi tachikawa #agumon #gabumon #omegamon

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terastalungrad · 8 months

Text

BB20: Sunday 15 October

No episode of Big Brother on Saturday. Strange! That's how it was in early Channel 4 days. No use being interesting on eviction day, housemates. Very unlikely to be broadcast.

Noky is bothered by eviction etiquette. When Farida was evicted, too many people flocked to Kerry who survived eviction.

Noky confronts Olivia about this - a terrible idea, since Olivia doesn't compromise or hide her feelings, no matter how tactless. Olivia was relieved that Farida was evicted, and she was never going to pretend otherwise.

Trish and Yinrun bond over fashion.

Trish: I'm understanding your style more now. You're quite classy.

Yinrun: Yes I am.

They both laugh.

Trish: You've got classy style. I like slutty stuff.

Yinrun: I know.

Scandalised laughter!

Yinrun: Your style suits you.

More scandalised laughter!

Trish: Yours doesn't.

I LOVE THEM.

Matty talking positively about being in an open relationship. It's not about preventing cheating, he says, but about being open to experiences.

Olivia finds this unbelievable, especially that Matty's mother knows.

Henry and Jordan gather around Farida's bed.

Henry: Shall we say a few words?

Jordan: No. She wouldn't have listened to them.

Henry laughs the Toriest laugh ever laughed.

Yinrun and Jordan bonding over clothing. I think eviction night has encouraged the housemates to think about fashion.

Hehe, Dylan's realised the shopping was done badly.

Paul perceives that groups are forming in the house. The shopping will be a touchy subject, because the two broad groups have different values and priorities.

Kerry speculates with Hallie about Paul. Kerry reckons Olivia fancies him, but won't let herself "go there".

Jenkin's shocked that there's such argument over the food even though they had a luxury shopping budget this week.

Jenkin: All I asked for was a Kinder Bueno. And I didn't even get it.

Trish ordered lamb chops, and occasionally cooks them for herself. She's shocked that she's gained a reputation over snacking.

Hallie: Your snacking is fucking lamb chops and pasta, bruv.

Trish takes this in very good humour. She's happy to change her habits.

Later, Trish worries she and Olivia could be in line to replace Farida as a public enemy.

Kerry was a lifelong Tory voter, but was put off by Boris Johnson. Don't get too excited, though, she thinks Rishi Sunak is the best of a bad bunch.

Zak questions why politicians are paid so much. "They don't," says Kerry. Henry believes the reason there aren't good people in politics is because they don't get paid enough.

I really wish it was more well-known how much money MPs are able to make through their positions. Boris Johnson is going to be so much richer as a former Prime Minister than he was before. And he was already extremely wealthy.

Oh, Zak, you legend!

Zak: How much does the average MP make a year?

Henry: Between 60 and 70 -

Zak: The average person in the UK earns £20,000 a year. 80% earns £20,000 per year.

I did NOT expect accurate anyone in this conversation to be this informed!

The figures are out of date, and presumably he means 80% earn £20k or less - but still. Henry struggled to remember Liz Truss's name earlier, despite being a die-hard Tory supporter.

"I need to stop moaning about being in the highest tax bracket," says Kerry.

She says she was on just over £7k a year when she started in the NHS, and Zak points out that that money would've gone a lot further back then.

I keep thinking of Kerry as being older and a bit out of touch. She is ... two years older than me. But hey, voting Tory ages you.

Jenkin's really hurt by Kerry mentioning being in the highest tax bracket.

Trish builds bridges with Olivia. But ooh, they send Kerry away because they're having a big chat. In the bedroom! You can't hog the bedroom! This house has so many spaces for deep chat.

Chanelle given a secret mission - give housemates backhanded compliments to earn a big jar of sweets for the house. The more brutal, the more sweets.

Chanelle slags off:

Kerry's jumper. Says it looks like something from a circus. Kerry happily agrees.

Matty's hat. Says it looks like the ugly rabbit from Wallace and Gromit. Dylan tries on the hat to show that it's equally unflattering on everyone. "I think you look alright," Chanelle tells him.

Jenkin's accent. We don't do backhanded compliments in Wales, so to Jenkin she says, "As much as I like being Welsh, when I listen to you it makes my ears bleed. ... Do you want this tea or what?"

Jordan's style. Slags off his shirt, making Jordan want to go and change. Big Brother clarifies she was meant to criticise his SMILE.

Dylan's hairdressing skills. Dylan's trimming Zak's hair. "Have you done it with your eyes shut?" This inspires Dylan to ... try harder.

The house is delighted to get the sweets. Matty is delighted because his lovely rabbit hat is off the hook.

"I was ragin'," says Jenkin about his accent. "I was going to pull you aside and be like: BUTT!"

Jordan has changed his shirt.

Biggest reveal from this task: the housemates were provided with clothes from this year's sponsor.

Noky comes to collect photos of the housemates' family from the diary room.

Oh, she does a fun thing of pretending she's gathering people for a bad reason. Zak is DELIGHTED by her prank.

They talk about their families. They all cry. Except for Jordan, whose photo is of a lovely plaza he likes.

Henry is properly head over heels with Jordan. Gazing at him with stars in his eyes.

Trish and Zak bond over having list their fathers.

Chanelle in the diary room is given the final word of the episode. I think we're seeing the production team making sure everyone gets a chance to stand out.

#bbuk

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yumichikah · 9 months

Note

"Ayasegawa-kun." His first response to the Eleventh Squadron's Fifth Seat.

"I wish I had more time and a much better organized schedule." A couple of his fingers tilted his straw hat down just enough to hide his eyes, smirking.

However, the Captain Commander smiled and finally, he handed him a small gift between those velvet hands. "I must apologize for this delayed salutation, it was not my intention. I hope you understand."

If things were easier for him, the story would be different.

"I hope you had a wonderful day with the ones you respect, love and admire. And wishing you a prosperous year." Inside the package, a generous paycheck.

"You arrived at the squadron a few months ago with a budget issue. I tried to solve that inconvenience, and I have failed. But here is my contribution.

I am aware of your hard work to rebuild your squadron. You are making a lot of sacrifices, and I appreciate that. Your loyalty to your squadron and your Captain, it is something that I do not see often."

Birthday Peacock 2023!

The whole birthday celebration had already died down and work resumed as normal when the head-captain had approached with a generous gift. Yumichika had not expected Kyoraku himself to drop by, seeing as the man was busy all the time nowadays and there really wasn’t any work-related reasons for them to be in contact that often, seeing as even their respective divisions’ barracks were situated pretty far from each other. But then again this sudden visitation definitely was quite a pleasant surprise – it always felt like such an honor when someone of this caliber had spared a moment to think about the former Fifth seat, not to mention them remembering about his birthday.

”Ah, Kyoraku-sotaicho, you shouldn’t have--” the bird exclaimed as he heard what the envelope handed to him was concealing. The purple eyes were widening as manicured hands took in the weight of this gift since it seemed to be much more than what just about any acquaintance would be willing to let go of for someone they weren’t incredibly close with. This act of generosity meant budget reliefs for the whole Eleventh division as it didn’t even cross the beauty’s mind to keep it all to himself(though he rarely got gifted bigger sums of money in the first place). Family came first, that was how it had always been after finding his best friend and joining the squad back in the day. Any little bits of change helped in the current situation that they had been wrestling against ever since the war for sure. So many men ended up as casualties so building up and repairing things was definitely taking way longer than usual.

”Thank you, sir!” the excited exclamation was soon heard before a gesture of gratitude was shown, the lower ranked shinigami bowing deeply in front of the older soul and feeling oddly emotional. Usually nothing that was said really got through to the peacock’s tough, sparkly exterior, but the financial help combined with such praising words kind of pushed his buttons in a right way that resulted in him squeezing those pretty eyes shut to keep them from watering. Gosh, it had been a way tougher year than he had ever admitted even to himself. Not that he had had much time to stop and think about it anyway, seeing as him and Ikkaku were promoted to higher seats now which resulted in them both working on lieutenant level responsibilities. The paperwork still fell on Yumichika’s shoulders as always, but at least he didn’t have to partake in all the lieutenant gatherings and whatnots since that was the baldy’s job.

”I promise I’ll use your contribution to improve our situation at the Eleventh!” the continuation sounded soon after, envelope being held tightly against that lean chest that was still facing downwards in that bowing gesture. Holding the position was partly thanks to the immense amount of gratitude wanting to be expressed, yet mostly to keep the emotional reaction out of sight for now until everything would be back under control. Showing such a weakened facial expression to a higher up wasn’t something this proud and stubborn man was about to do any time soon, after all.

#aegisdux #asks #Birthday Peacock 2023!#//You made Yumi emotional! It was fun to write it out!#//Thanks for the ask fren!

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matthewbernard · 1 year

Text

Investing in My Future

Today I met with a financial advisor. While this was something I have considered from time to time, it was not a meeting that I sought out. Basically I got a random phone call from an old friend two weeks ago, and the short version of the story is that he is getting into the finance game and he wanted to meet with me. Like I said, I have thought about this thing in the past, but with the upcoming crossroads, it is not necessarily the best time for it. Still, I agreed to the meeting out of respect for my friend, and I put it two weeks out since I had to be in Colorado for work last week.

So today was the day and I was quite anxious for the meeting, partially because I didn’t know what to expect, and partially because of what I assumed I should expect. I hate feeling like I am being given a sales pitch, and I have come to realize that in our capitalistic society, everyone is trying to sell you something. You’re forced to question everything. You take your kid for a consult with an orthodontist and they are most likely going to tell you that your kid needs braces. You want to believe that they are being honest, and that they are trying to help; that they have your best interest at heart. The truth is, however, that they are running a business and they need to make sales to keep that business going.

What’s worse is that since being a salesman was something I had to do at Lowe’s for many years, I can usually spot when they are selling me something, but I am not always good at resisting it. For that reason, I have developed a rule that I don’t say yes to anything at the first meeting. I will find some way to delay. With things related to the kids this is usually easy because I can tell them that all decisions have to be made jointly with their mother. It can be more difficult when I am making a decision for myself.

So I went to this meeting with plenty of anxiety, but also with a couple of exit strategies. At the very least I knew it would be good to see my friend; which it was. The meeting itself wasn’t so bad. There was another gentleman in the room with us as my friend is not fully licensed yet. There was definitely a lot going on that was certainly a sales pitch, and at one point I put it out there that I have a rule against saying yes to anything in the first meeting. They both said that they respected that, and that it wasn’t the plan anyway. This meeting was to gather some info so that they could present a plan to me at the next meeting. Which means that my rule will have to be amended in this instance to being that I don’t say yes at the second meeting.

The thing is that I could really use some help in the financial planning department. I’m good at budgeting and saving and all that stuff, but my investments are lacking. I definitely had some setbacks after the divorce and the various periods of unemployment in the last five years. For a time I could not afford to save much of anything, let alone for retirement. It is a regular source of anxiety whenever I think about it. So like I said, I could use some help, but at the same time, I have trained myself to be weary of these sorts of things. No one does anything for free, and the potential costs involved in it all is also a source of anxiety. The classic damned if I do, and damned if I don’t.

Truthfully, it likely doesn’t matter much right now because with the upcoming crossroads, I am not in a position to say yes to anything of this nature. I will need to wait until my path is set, and even then I may not be able to afford it. However, if I can, and this turns out to be as beneficial as it sounds, it would go a long way to bring some peace of mind to those aspects of my life. I have attempted to do this stuff on my own for many years now, and while I have had some success, I know that it is nowhere near the potential for success that is out there. I fucking hate capitalism, but it is not going away, so I need to do what I can to survive in it. I certainly don’t want to work for the rest of my life.

One last interesting thing from the meeting was the point that he asked me to picture myself in three years time and consider what I would need to feel happy and content. I told him that as a person with anxiety and depression, I found that incredibly difficult to picture, and that it was likely not possible. That being said, maybe this would help move the needle. For now, it requires more thought and reflection.

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adventuretime2022 · 2 years

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ERASMUS+ IN DENMARK

Hello, person probably interested in free travel ! This will be a big post about my Erasmus+ project in Denmark.

I made a small description on the idea behind Erasmus+ projects on my post about the youth exchange in Portugal so you can check it out after you finish reading this. Basically, Erasmus plus is 10 day project with anything between 2 and 10 countries in countries *mostly* in Europe. You receive your money for the flights after the project and food + accommodation during the project. When you are on Erasmus+ you are considered a Youth worker and you receive a Youth certificate after to put on your CV and advance in certain fields and career paths.

Now that this is out of the way, lets talk about this particular project.

It was called YE ''Promoting gender equality and social dialogue''. ( YE = Youth exchange )

It was organised my KKW and CYN. KKW stands for Kurdish Women Union Denmark , they work with women ,children and young people, especially those who immigrated to Europe in search of improvised living standards. KKF focuses a lot on social inclusion, and their mission is to break stereotypes and foster solidarity, intercultural awareness. CYN is a non-governmental organization established in Denmark, it stands for Copenhagen Youth Work. They arrange EU funded Erasmus+ youth mobility projects.

My sending organisation was Walk together Bulgaria. They are learning organization that gathers trainers, youth and social workers, youth policy makers, experts, and volunteers with different levels of competences to actively be involved in the creation of civic activities with European dimension and with benefits for their local communities.

The project was on 22.06 - 30. 06. 2022. The venue was Store Klaus, Ganløse Denmark. The transportation on this project was arranged from train/metro station Værløse which is around 10 min by car from the venue itself. So we had to fly to Copenhagen and then catch a train ( also reimbursable ). The budget for bulgarian participants was 275 euro which several members of the BG team exceeded. The venue was very simplistic in its nature. In an area with a lot of villas /summer houses , we enjoyed both the flora and the fauna of the countryside. ( mostly family Culicidae for the ones studying biology. ) Little thing about the preparation for this project that was different from others was that we had to take care of the bedding. The food was , as per usual , on schedule . The girls were divided by country in rooms, however all of the boys were in one room together. Safe to say the bathroom situation was difficult for both sexes. Also, there was no laundry options besides hand washing and air drying. The working space, the dining area and the sleeping rooms were all in one house ,behind which there were hidden tire swings and a big, beautiful field perfect for watching the sunset. We had a groceries store 10 min away from the venue that got pretty much everything you would expect in a supermarket ,but it was around 20 to 40 percent more expensive compared to Eastern and Western Europe.

The project itself however introduced me to so many new activities , I am still reminiscing about it. I have been on 1 other YE , the one in Portugal. There we had arranged and fixed activities, we had to make presentations on fixed topics, posters on fixed subjects. We had freedom on the way of presenting and the making of the papers themselves but apart from that, it was more or less organised.

In this project I got the opportunity to organise and arrange activities myself with my team. We had a few things organised by them on the topic of discrimination and human rights etc. Per example we had one activity in which we got a list by people , we were give the age, a few words or their living situation and if they can have kids and we were supposed to chose 10 people out of those 30 that can go to Mars before an apocalypse. I’d say that this one of the most challenging activities i have had so far in Erasmus+. It was seriously mentally exhausting first choosing even in a made up scenario who to live and who to die but also getting in groups and arguing about it with people who chose different. The after up when we had to present was even more engaging cause of course other groups made different choices. Overall , great activity .

After the arranged program was done the scene was ours. They gave us little direction on the topic ( being the topic of the project - human rights and gender equality, social dialogue ) and some help with the organisation and general idea of the activity but apart from that we could do everything that we wanted. And so we did. It was so colourful ! We made roleplays, puppet show, musical, etc. while discussing the big issues our societies faces.

It was all oriented around the notion that we - the group - were the project.

In total we were 36 people, I believe. We had people from Italy, Ukraine, Poland , Greece , Bulgaria , Turkey and of course - Denmark also had a big part of the project. Not with participants , but with a cultural night.

We started the project officially on the 23rd with games and little tasks like make a logo for the project, a dance, find items with all the letters from the alphabet and the youngest and oldest person on the group ( 16 and 30 ). I’d say that even from the beginning we had a good vibe going on. Even though we had a lot of ‘first timers’ almost everyone tried to connect and contribute from the start.

Each country had in total 3 activities to plan - an energiser, a group activity on the topic and cultural night ‘presentation’.

During the duration of the project we had a few games going on such as Secret Friend ( organised by the turkish team , great people ) and Kiss and Kill ( that one was organised by me )

Ukraine per example was represented by 4 charming smart girls , each of them different in her own way. They did a great job at educating us during the project of the reality of their country right now. I learned a great deal from them and I am extremely grateful for it.. We discussed the issues that women face in military, such as lack of proper uniform, feminine products, gynaecologist and other. On a positive note it turns out that the ukraininan LGBT+ people in the army have united themselves under a sign that they openly wear on their uniforms. We discussed the life of the ukraininan refugees in Poland, Hungary etc. Team Ukraine took initiative several times to make activities such as cultural heritage activity which included choosing 2 female examples from national literature to compare women representation throughout centuries in different parts of Europe. I really enjoyed this because it puts a personal, kind of patriotic contribution to the whole conversation on women’s stand in society now and before. I was surprised by how many different examples we could think for Bulgaria and was extremely interested by the tales of the polish and the italian. Team Ukraine also developed also an activity to educate us on mediation ( the art of conflict resolution ) and manipulation tactics. Again , had a great time roleplaying confrontations and evaluating them ( shout out to the greeks for the absolute one of a kind performance of a student showing up with piercings and a conservative university professor )

As for the BG team, we also had our fair share of planning. Non of us had any experience with facilitating so it was a rollercoaster . Our energiser was ‘Simon says’ As for the activity itself in the end we went with the idea for organising a debate on several topics such as ‘Religion does more harm than good : Yes or no ‘ ,’For or against Death penalty ‘ , ‘For or against euthanasia’ . We created the notion that we, as already representatives of our countries , have to represent them in a new state called Store Klaus and we have to make new legislation in a democratic manner. We divided the people in 6 groups with fixed theme and fixed position meaning that even if per example their personal believes were against religion they had to defend it. The idea was to develop critical thinking, to help people come up and break down arguments, maybe even explore the other side of the argument . Within their groups they had some time to explore the topic, come up with arguments and choose 2 people to represent them. After the time went up , the 2 teams with the same topic had to debate infront of the group, then we allowed time for the whole *voting force* ( probably not the way to say it ) of the new country to discuss and lastly make a vote. Then we continued with the next topic. If i have to be honest it was poorly organised. At the time i felt like everything that could have went wrong did. I was anxious during the planning and the activity itself .But upon reflection and consideration i am happy about the opportunity and the experience to organise such a thing and it definitely made me appreciate a facilitators, organisers and team leaders on a whole new level.

Another interesting activity was designed by the polish boys. The polish team was a high school friend group. They made an roleplaying activity to highlight stereotypes for each of our countries and creating a space to elaborate on those stereotypes. ( this is where i convinced my group to make a musical for ukrainian love for potatos and gorilka ; we also had a puppet show then .The other activity they made which was super cool was on communication .We had to find a partner, sit back to back and the one had to give instructions to the other on how to draw a specific picture ( plane, ship etc ) To be honest, when i received the picture i was supposed to describe i could feel 13 years of learning english useless before this bizzare little space ship. Joke aside, amazing activity . It showed us that the subtle details of communication can mean a great deal in the big picture, also how difficult it is really to explain something that the other person haven’t experienced or understand something you haven’t experienced for that matter.

The cultural nights is usually when the real party begins. Everyone brings something from his/her country that everyone can enjoy , sometimes they cook on spot , make a presentation of some sort and sometimes teach dances. After the cultural part is done, we play music, dance, talk and sit by the fire that was present every night.. On this project we were very strong on tongue twisters and dancing. Each country chose several tongue twisters and we took turns trying to say them and after we went to dance traditional dances. The greek and turkish dances which were very easy for me as they are similar to bulgarian dances ,but out of all of them i loved best the polish one ( you dance in couples and switch partners, it was super fun )

On the Bulgarian cultural night we shared the scene with the other slavic country in the project - the ukrainians. We went into the kitchen together, sharing the same space to make our own cultural food . Bulgarians were making banitsa ( with ingredients from the bulgarian store in copenhagen ),pogacha ( bread ) and tarator ( cold soup made with bulgarian yougurt, cucumbers and other ingredients), ukrainins made borshch and bread from scratch. Each one of the bulgarian team was in a white t-shirt and the girls had braided hair. We gave each participant a bulgarian muscalche ( meaning a little flask with rose oil in a wooden painted box ,as rose oil production is emblematic for bulgarians ) When the time came the bulgarians opened the night with an educational video one of us had already prepared, google interview type of presentation about Bulgaria for which the audience could guess the answers to the questions and get halva ( a little sweet ) and for grand finale we organised a traditional bulgarian ritual performed on a wedding by the happy couple . They turn back to back, take the pogacha and hold it above their heads together. Then, they break it. Whoever has the bigger piece is going to be taking more decisions in the future. Then, me and my bulgarian teammate went through the group and gave each ‘guest’ a piece of the bread to dip in honey. Even though it was a big bread, it didn’t have a long life. We had a few tounge twisters and dances as well and then the ukraininans got the stage. They went with a classic for erasmus projects Kahoot and then taught us dances. ( 2 of the girls had in total 13 years of practice. ) After this , all laughing and happy we went to eat banitsa and borshch. And of course горілка ( aka vodka )

On some days we did your activities faster and we had free time. They got us into cars and drove us to a magnificent lake to take walks and swim in a sunny, warm afternoon. I can’t tell if this was my favourite moment or the musical. I still want to go back to jump into the cold, clean water on the sunny day.

We also had a free day in Copenhagen with organised bus from and to the venue in which we went to Christiania ( it has a big weed business and great artworks on a little island ), Nyhavn , we went on a boat tour, saw the ‘least known statue in Copenhagen ’( there is a story about a woman who falls in love with a merman, they have children but she cannot breathe under water so she has to leave her children who will always wait for her as statues under the water, check out ‘ Agnete and the Merman’) For the nerds, you gotta go to Faraos. You just have to. They have several stores litteraly one next to the other in the very city center and have huge collection on... everything. Costumes , games, LARP equipment , comics etc. For the insta lovers, go to the Botanical gardens. Unlike everything in Copenhagen this one is free and you get great views in the gardens and outside in the park with the lake. There is also a Butterfly house that is paid i think 40 krona for students, great experience.

So that was kinda it.

Shout out to the greeks, the italians , the turkish ,and ukrainians and the polish for the good vibes. Thank you for the great time.

If you read all of this, thanks and if you have any questions hit me up here or on my instagram @_notickz_

As per usual, read carefully the info pack and go.

Cheers, Iliana XO

#erasmusplus #europetravel #bulgaria #greece #ukraine #turkey #poland #denmark #freetravel #youthexchange #EU #youthwork

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bbangsoonie · 3 years

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goal: your heart

member: sunwoo genre: fluff word count: 5,423 synopsis: due to a budget cut, you have to follow the soccer team around for both the school newspaper and yearbook despite knowing nothing about sports. before you know it, you find yourself warming up to the team’s star player, who you swore was the most annoying and arrogant person ever.

a/n: this is a part of the star player collab with @atbzkingdom for sunwoo’s birthday! (also, this will be written with the american academic calander in mind)

You knew exactly what you were doing. You were the top student of both your class and school and the leader of many clubs. Your college application was full of achievements and your essay exquisitely written. The only problem? You had no idea what to do after graduation. You didn’t know where you wanted to go or what you wanted to study.

Growing up, everyone told you that you’d eventually find something you love. By senior year, you thought you would at least have an idea by now.

But nope, you were even more lost if anything. Dream job? That was just a capitalistic lie meant to make people happy to slave away for money.

Grumbling, you listened as your friends rambled on about the campuses they visited. It was only the first day back and everyone was already obsessing over one thing and one thing only.

“Y/n, you’re so lucky,” Juyeon pouted. “You don’t have to worry about getting into a university. Your stats are literally perfect.”

“I have other things to stress over,” you groaned. “At least you know what you wanna pursue.”

“Y/n has other things to worry about. She’s about to graduate without ever finding love,” Younghoon teased.

“It’s all our fault,” Jaehyun squinted as he pinched his nose bridge. “We raised her standards too high. I’m sorry, Y/n, that I can’t take responsibility.”

The notebook in your hand threatened to fly over to his seat. Luckily for him, he was saved by Juyeon’s very unnatural attempt at changing the subject. He inquired about the school newspaper that was barely spared in a major budget cut last year.

Thinking about it made you sigh. You had poured in so much effort over the years for the paper and it was almost taken from you. The school was cutting funds for a lot of clubs and diverting the money to the many sports teams that brought home trophies.

A part of the negotiations to save the newspaper club was to feature more sports events and student athletes in order to garner support for the teams. You weren’t pleased with the decision. Your plate was already full without trying to inflate the ego of players who had a god superiority complex. Jaehyun was a great example of the type of jock you didn’t want to raise on a high pedestal.

You had also promised Kevin, the president of the yearbook committee, to help out with photographing games since you had to attend them anyway. Despite the many tasks assigned to you, you were relieved that you could spend your last year continuing to write articles.

“Does that mean you’ll get to come to practice with us? The basketball team is always on my ass about introducing them to you. Now I can finally stop being pestered to be the middleman,” Jaehyun grinned.

“No shot,” Younghoon shook his head. “My swim team has already tried but Y/n puts up a cold front.”

“Hey, I’m a delicately guarded rose with sharp thorns,” you joked, making Jaehyun pretend to gag. This time, the notebook hit his arm.

“No one is good enough for our Y/n,” Juyeon defended. You turned around to coo at him and said something about him being the only nice one as Younghoon guffawed.

The first day of soccer practice meant you had to stay behind after dismissal to meet the team. The coach introduced you to the players and beamed when he got to the last one.

“This is our ace, Sunwoo. Although I’m sure you know that already,” he said proudly.

To be honest, you had no idea who he was. The school was too big to know everyone and you had absolutely no interest in sports. You rarely even went to Juyeon and Jaehyun’s basketball games and Younghoon’s swim meets.

Not wanting to offend anyone, you simply smiled. Sunwoo, catching your hesitance, raised a brow. However, he kept quiet until he approached you during one of his breaks.

“Do you really not know me?” he asked as he took a seat next to you on the bleachers.

Surprised by his sudden question, you blankly stared at the boy in front of you. Sweat was dripping from his hair but he paid it no attention as he chugged an entire water bottle.

“How cocky are you?” you scoffed.

“You really don’t know our soccer team’s star player, Kim Sunwoo?” he gaped.

“Sorry to disappoint but I really don’t care or know much about soccer. Or any other sports for that matter,” you shrugged.

“You’re going to write about the soccer team… when you don’t even know who we are or what we’re doing?” he asked incredulously.

“That’s why I’m here to observe,” you snapped back.

Finding you amusing, he finally wiped away his sweat as the coach blew his whistle to gather the players again.

Sunwoo always gave it his best but for some reason he found himself practicing extra hard that day. Knowing your eyes were on him motivated him to show off his skills by annoying his teammates and stealing the spotlight. After his third goal in a row, he looked at you to see your reaction but was baffled to see you busy writing something down.

Frustrated and peeved, he kicked at the grass with a huff.

When practice came to an end, he snuck up behind you to see what you were so intently focused on. Reading the notes on your notebook, he hummed.

“So that’s what you were doing instead of watching me,” he mused.

You were listing physical traits and personality attributes of each player. He scanned the paper for his name and frowned when he saw what you wrote about him.

“Arrogant and conceited? That’s all you have to say about me?” he whined.

“What? It’s true,” you deadpanned.

“Haknyeon gets “tall, bubbly, and extroverted” but I get “arrogant and conceited”? That’s not fair. This is biased journalism!” he exclaimed.

Realizing that practice was over, you gathered your belongings and stood up to leave. With his cheeks puffed, he watched as you left the field. You were unlike any person he had ever encountered.

“Sunwoo? Kim Sunwoo?” Younghoon repeated with his eyes wide. “The soccer caption Kim Sunwoo?”

Jaehyun and Juyeon’s chopsticks froze midair in shock. Finding their reactions odd, you nodded as you took another bite of your lunch.

“I can’t believe the lady killer got rejected by the man hater,” Jaehyun broke out into a fit of laughter.

“Now that’s a title I’d like to see on the school newspaper,” Younghoon snickered.

“Okay, first of all, I did not reject him because he did not come on to me,” you rolled your eyes. “Secondly, who the hell is he anyway? Why do you all know him?”

“He’s notorious for his fuckboy image. Although I think that’s an exaggerated reputation,” Juyeon said you picked out all the vegetables from your plate. He willingly moved them to his own and you smiled gratefully in response.

“So my first impression of him was correct,” you said.

“He’s not that bad. He’s actually pretty cool. Rumors don’t do the sweet guy justice,” Juyeon explained.

“Our lovely Juyeon sees the good in everyone,” Younghoon gushed as he pet his friend, earning him a smack on the back of his head.

“We were partners for a history project,” Juyeon clarified. “I got to know him a bit and he’s a good guy. Just enjoys attention a little too much. Like Jaehyun.”

Weirdly offended, Jaehyun scowled. You shrugged it off, returning your attention back to your food. You had no intentions of getting to know Sunwoo anyway. At least, that was the plan until he bombarded you in the hallway while you were walking to class.

He blocked your path with that irritating smirk on his face. Exasperated, you asked him what he wanted.

“So I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday,” he started.

“Oh, so you do think?”

“Hey!”

“Do you think you can move and get out of my way?”

“Anyway, as the president of the newspaper club who’s in charge of covering the soccer team, I think you lack way too much information about the sport. And our school’s players.”

“How do you know I’m the president?”

“I asked around.”

You look at his eyes, trying to peer through any ulterior motives. He was being suspiciously generous. But he wasn’t entirely wrong. Even you thought it was ridiculous that a person who didn’t know a thing about soccer had to write articles about it.

You were also aware that any interviews with the athletes would be surface level stuff that all the students probably already knew. You were the only one out of the loop.

You pursed your lips, annoyed that he was right. Realizing that you were in agreeance, Sunwoo grinned.

“I am offering you the very special privilege to follow me around and learn everything there is to know about the team. For the paper of course,” he quickly added the last part after seeing the look on your face. “I can teach you about both soccer and my teammates.”

After pondering his proposal, you finally nodded.

“Deal,” you eyed his happy expression. “What do you want in return?”

He was taken aback by your question. He hadn’t expected you to assume that he would demand compensation. Your presence and attention were what he was after in the first place. However, he couldn’t let the opportunity pass by.

“Bubble tea,” he declared after some thought. “You can treat me to bubble tea after practice and I can tutor you then.”

“Fine,” you sighed before pushing him aside to make it to class before the bell rang. He was left behind with a stupid smile on his face.

The first tutoring session was extremely awkward for you. You weren’t used to hanging out with guys other than Juyeon, Younghoon, and Jaehyun. They were the only members of the male species you didn’t despise. This riled up Sunwoo’s competitive side. He was determined to get close to you.

He couldn’t stand having someone not like him. He was used to being on friendly terms with everyone—including teachers and even wallflowers. He had a strong desire to receive acknowledgement from everyone.

Perhaps that was why so many girls fell for him.

Nevertheless, the wall around you remained thick and high. Just as he was well known for his playboy persona, you were infamous for never letting guys in. You cold heartedly turned down any and every guy who asked you out. And there had been a lot.

Sunwoo, on the other hand, was excited to spend time with you. Bubble tea was just an excuse to meet you outside of school grounds.

His phone dinged, notifying him of a text. Haknyeon had sent him a screenshot of a post made on the school’s gossip page and wrote “this you?”. He snorted at the content speculating his relationship status after supposedly receiving another confession and rolled his eyes. Curious, you asked him what he was looking at.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” he shook his head as he put the device away. “Just the stupid tea account.”

“Oh you mean that anonymously run social media page that popped up over summer break?” you frowned.

You hated everything about it. It spread rumors, without fact-checking, and started drama. It resulted in both a breakup and the end of a friendship in the span of two months. It was exactly what you and the school newspaper stood against.

Nothing could be done to stop the false information and invasion of privacy because it wasn’t officially affiliated with the school and the students continued to feed into it. People even sent in stories to be posted.

“So tell me what you do know about soccer,” he leaned in and propped his chin on the palms of his hands.

“I know the very basics from catching glimpses of the World Cup,” you leaned back on your chair, making him pout.

“Well, to be honest, explaining the rules is a lot easier to do when directly pointing things out during a game. There’s a match airing tonight. Do you want to come over and watch it with me?” he asked expectantly.

“We can watch the replay tomorrow during study hall,” you said.

“Then we can start by talking about me today,” he chirped. “My squad number is 19 because 9 is usually worn by centre forwards but I wanted to be special and added a 1 in front of it. I’m the centre forward, which is the main striker. That means playing offensive is my main objective. Which is why I’m the highest scorer on the team.”

You wanted to wipe the smug look off his face. It irked you how he so easily bragged about himself.

“I also really like movies and can play the guitar. A true all-rounder and romanticist,” he smiled.

He continued to reveal fun facts about himself for another half an hour. It was only at the end that you realized most of it was useless when writing for the paper. You groaned, realizing you had fallen for his trap.

Still, you learned some things about soccer and his position in the team. Following him to the cafe hadn’t been a complete waste of your time.

The next day, Sunwoo hunted you down to make sure you kept your promise about watching the game together. He dragged you to the computer room during study hall and pulled out the earbuds he prepared. He had purposely rummaged through his drawers the night before to the share wired ones with you.

You had to admit he was extremely helpful when explaining the rules and strategies of soccer. Despite being uncomfortable with the proximity of his body to yours, he was a great teacher. He made everything sound so simple. After you began to understand the game, you even found yourself enjoying the match.

After spending a week with him, you hated that you couldn’t say you still disliked him. After all, you two met almost every day for hours.

You had a gut feeling that you would come to regret it and were proven right. You had a bad feeling the moment you saw Jaehyun run up to you as if his life depended on it. Panting, he barely pulled himself together to show you the post that made him immediately report to you.

“KSW and Y/INITIALS seen cozily spending time together. Will he be the one to finally break through her?” you read aloud.

A photo of your backs from the computer room and a mosaicked side shot of you two at the cafe were attached to the title. The comments under the post were even more ridiculous.

“A challenge to be anticipated.”

“Poor girl will only end up as one of his many heartbroken playthings.”

“I know who KSW is. Who’s Y/INITIALS??”

“The legendary man hater? With a guy?? Wow how good must he be 👀”

“Damn so she rejected me for him?”

Your blood boiled and you shoved the phone away. Trying to calm yourself down, you closed your eyes and took a deep breath. And failed.

“What is this, fucking Dispatch?” you exploded. A few students passing by stared at your outburst and widened their eyes when they saw that it was you. You sighed, knowing that the whole school saw the post.

“I’m not a celebrity! Why are people so invested in fake rumors about me?” you yelled, trying to keep your voice to a whisper as you pulled Jaehyun into an empty classroom.

“I’m sure it’ll blow over,” he assured.

“If I ever find out who the admin of this page is, I will ruin them,” you glowered.

You almost didn’t go to the soccer practice that day. But you knew that avoiding him would only add fuel to the fire so you sucked it up and went to the field after school as usual. You heard the hushed murmurs that stirred among the team when you arrived and you wanted to turn back around and leave.

Before you could, however, Sunwoo appeared and shut everyone up with a warning glare. He announced that the coach would be late and to start by running laps.

You were more annoyed than upset about the post. It just stupefied you that people really had nothing better to do than gossip about you. You didn’t think you were that interesting.

You were so close to escaping after practice but Sunwoo caught you trying to sneak away. He stood in front of you, crossing his arms as if to ask where you were going. Giving up, you muttered a “fine” and waited for him to change out of his uniform.

This time, you two wordlessly agreed to go to a different cafe. With the bubble teas on the table in front of you, you sat in silence until Sunwoo finally spoke up.

“Don’t mind what the post or others say,” he huffed.

“I’m not too bothered by it,” you shrugged.

“Good. Because I want to get to know you as just Y/n and Sunwoo. Through whatever you wish to tell and show me. I feel like we’re always just talking about me.”

His words left you speechless. Juyeon hadn’t been kidding when he mentioned how thoughtful Sunwoo was. You felt your heart warm as you smiled.

“Well what do you want to know about me?” you asked.

“Anything. Everything.”

So you spilled about your interests, hobbies, and goals. It was strange. Although it hadn’t been long since you met him, you felt comfortable around him. He made you feel at ease and you didn’t think twice about opening up to him.

You told him about your struggles as a high achieving student. About the pressure you felt and how embarrassing it was to tell people that you didn’t have any dreams.

With your grades, all the teachers expected you to apply to medical school. On the other hand, your parents encouraged you to work towards a high paying and stable salary as a corporation employee. Your friends suggested that you go for something in journalism because of your passion and commitment to the school newspaper.

But the club was just something you did for fun. You didn’t know if you liked it enough to pursue it as a career.

Sunwoo listened attentively as you went on about your concerns. From the outside, you looked like you had your life together. You were the perfect student and the girl that many guys chased after. But as he spent more time with you, it became clear that you were very uncomfortable with boys.

“Can I ask how you got so close with the Bermuda line?” he asked.

“The Bermuda line? What’s that?”

“You’ve never heard of the term? Juyeon, Jaehyun, and Younghoon are called the Bermuda line because they’re the most popular athletes out of all the sports teams. The girls say that once you fall for them, you’re stuck in between them forever because you can’t get out.”

You hadn’t laughed that hard in so long. You knew they had fans but found it hilarious how the trio even had a nickname.

“Oh man, I can’t wait to make fun of them for this,” you laughed, nearly in tears.

When he told you that they actually took great pride in the title, you bursted out in laughter again. Their self love truly was on another level.

“So how’d you end up friends?” he asked again.

“Juyeon, I’ve known since middle school. We were in the same class for all three years. Jaehyun didn’t go to the same school as us but he was friends with Juyeon because they played basketball together. I met him and Younghoon at the end of freshman year. They kinda crash landed into my life but we really clicked so that’s why I still bless them with my friendship.”

Sunwoo giggled at your own overwhelming confidence. He loved that you never sold yourself short. He didn’t notice he had been staring at you until you pointed it out. Blushing, he insisted that it was nothing and took another sip of his bubble tea.

Two months passed by and you eventually came to call Sunwoo a friend. Younghoon teased you about him being more than a friend and at first, you thought he was crazy. But with him planting the idea in your head, you began to question your own feelings. Cursing Younghoon, you blamed him for confusing you.

As the designated photographer, you tagged along to the soccer team’s last match. The entire team was nervous as it would determine the winner of the tournament. Even Sunwoo was anxious.

Before the game started, you offered him a supportive smile and he felt all worries lifted off his shoulders. He erased all thoughts of winning and losing and just concentrated on the ball. He wanted to enjoy the last match of the season and look cool in front of you. That was all that mattered to him.

Fortunately, he got both plus the win. The crowd erupted into cheers as he scored the winning goal just seconds before the whistle was blown to signal the end of the game. His knees fell to the ground and his teammates rushed to surround him.

Seeing how happy he looked brought a smile to your lips. He jumped up and scanned the bleachers for your face. When he finally spotted you, he broke away from his team to run up to you and embrace you in a giant hug.

Caught off guard, you froze as his teammates hooted and applauded. You felt your cheeks heat up at the attention.

“Congratulations,” you chuckled, patting his back. “You did well.”

“Did you get a lot of pretty pictures of me?” he grinned, pulling away to look at you.

“No, I only took pictures of Haknyeon,” you joked. By now, he was used to your teasing and simply ruffled your hair in response.

“There’s gonna be an after party tonight,” he brought up carefully. “I’d really like it if you came. Only if you’re okay with that type of scene though.”

Surprised, you nodded before you fully thought it through.

That was how you ended up moping at Jaehyun’s house. The invitation was extended to the Bermuda line as well and they were all planning on dragging you there. Younghoon was excited at the thought of finally going to a party with the whole group and Juyeon was picking out an outfit for you from Jaehyun’s sister’s closet.

“I don’t know if I trust your fashion sense,” she made a face at the top he held up.

This was your first party and you weren’t sure how you felt about it. There was a reason you hadn’t gone to one throughout your high school years.

Nonetheless, you were dressed up in an outfit that definitely reflected Jaehyun’s sister’s style more than yours. She fawned over how pretty you were and urged you to go with the boys.

So you walked through the doors and into the house vibrating with music. Everyone who recognized you was shocked to see you there. Feeling awkward, you stuck by Jaehyun’s side as you maneuvered around the throng of people. When he finally caught sight of Sunwoo, he dipped and left you alone with him.

“Thanks for coming,” he shouted over the loud music.

“Thanks for inviting me,” you shouted back.

Sunwoo offered you a drink, which you declined. Following your choice, he opted for a soda instead as well. You weren’t much of a dancer so you enjoyed people watching instead. It was fascinating to see your classmates have so much fun.

You giggled when you saw Juyeon be so painfully oblivious to a girl’s advances and walked away to dance with Younghoon. Meanwhile, Jaehyun was having the time of his life flirting with girls. You blocked your eyesight when you saw him leaning in to kiss one of them.

“Ugh, gross,” you cringed. “I do not need to know this side of my best friend’s love life.”

Laughing, Sunwoo offered to take you outside for some fresh air and a change of scenery. You gladly agreed and let him guide you to the backyard.

The night sky was full of tranquility that contrasted the chaos that ensued indoors. You sat on the grass and Sunwoo joined next to you.

“You look beautiful today,” he commented.

“Only today?” you laughed.

“Especially today,” he answered in a serious manner. His sincerity made you clear your throat and look away. He stunned you by cupping your face with his hands.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked.

“Are you drunk?” you blinked.

“I haven’t had a single sip of alcohol.”

His voice was slow and raspy. Your heart was beating faster than you wanted it to and you knew the corners of your lips were betraying you.

“You can either lean in or pull away,” he said as he brought his lips closer to yours.

Your heart now felt like it was about to jump out of your chest. Red alarms were going off in your head and you didn’t know what to do. All you knew was what you were only a few centimeters away from kissing Sunwoo.

So you did what any insane person would do and closed the gap between your lips. You wanted to punch him when you felt him smirk but he pulled you closer and held onto you tightly.

The weekend passed without much changes in your relationship with Sunwoo. You were worried that you had either ruined your friendship or that he was sick of you but Juyeon reassured you that he probably wanted to talk about it in person. Anxiously, you overthought things until Monday finally arrived.

Wanting to keep yourself busy until you met Sunwoo, you stopped by the club room early in the morning to import the photos from the last game. Shortly after you connected the camera to the computer, you heard a knock on the door.

Startled, you looked at the door and saw Jacob sheepishly poking his head through the door. You told him to come in and he took a seat next to you.

“Kevin told me to drop by before class for an interview,” he said. You nearly facepalmed. You had completely forgotten about that. You were supposed to interview him for the paper.

“Oh yeah! Hold on, let me go get my notebook,” you searched through your backpack to find it.

The volleyball player was this month’s star of the month and you had to write a piece on his past achievements. He was extremely kind and was careful not to use any advanced sports terminology to make sure anyone could easily read the interview, which you were grateful for.

Before you parted, he gave you a side hug out of habit and apologized when he realized that it was only his first time meeting you. You laughed it off and insisted that now you could be friends since you two hugged already. Relieved that you weren’t disturbed, he happily waved goodbye to you as he walked away.

Being in a different class than Sunwoo meant that you had to wait until lunch period to see him. You honestly didn’t even know if you wanted to see him. You weren’t ready to face him yet.

When the bell finally rang and it was time for lunch, Juyeon forced you to go to the cafeteria instead of hiding out in an empty classroom. The moment you sat down with your tray, however, you felt all eyes on you. Your stomach dropped, knowing it couldn’t be good news.

“Y/n, is this true..?” Jaehyun asked, showing you the new post on the gossip page. You hated that you were always right about bad intuitions.

KSW and Y/INITIALS caught making out at last night’s party… is BJY a side hoe?

You had no idea when a photo was taken in the brief second you and Jacob hugged that morning. When you scrolled and saw the next part, your heart dropped.

A shocking revelation of history: Y/INITIALS and SYJ used to date in freshman year. Does this have anything to do with the swimmer and basketball players always next to her?

You felt your breath caught in your throat as you read through the comments.

“Isn’t BJY on the volleyball team and SYJ on the baseball team?”

“Wow she clearly has a type.”

“I guess athletes just hit it well 👀”

“And here I thought KSW was the hoe… who’s playing with who?”

“Aye so KSW finally managed to break through her. Thanks for my $10 bro.”

“Aren’t the basketball players LJY and LJH? And the swimmer KYH? The Bermuda line, right?? I always thought she had a thing with one of them.”

“So much for the icy Y/INITIALS. She was acting all pretentious when she was already having all her fun.”

Juyeon grabbed the phone out of your hands and glared at Jaehyun. You never thought your past relationship would ever get exposed. There were only a handful of people who knew about it and it had stayed hidden under the rug up until now. It was something you wanted to bury and never think about ever again.

Shakily, you got up and ran out of the cafeteria with Younghoon calling out after you. You ran as fast as you could. You didn’t stop until you busted through the doors and collapsed on the rooftop. Your lungs were on fire and you closed your eyes to stop the ringing in your ears.

Meanwhile, Sunwoo was running across the school to find you. When he didn’t see you in the club room, he changed his target and sought out Eric.

“Is it true?” he demanded when he finally saw his friend.

“I can’t believe people already figured out that it’s me,” Eric sighed.

“Is it true?” Sunwoo repeated.

“Yes, yes, it’s true,” he answered with his hands up in defeat. “She never wanted anyone to find out. We didn’t exactly end on good terms. It’s something I’m not proud of.”

“What happened?” he asked, trying to contain his anger. “What did you do to her?”

“I…” Eric trailed off. “I cheated on her.”

“What the hell, Eric?” Sunwoo yelled.

“I-I was stupid! And young. It’s the biggest mistake I made in my life,” he admitted.

Frustrated, Sunwoo left and ran off in search of you again. When you weren’t anywhere to be found, he checked the rooftop as a last resort. He didn’t expect to actually see you there.

“Y/n,” he breathed. You felt a lump form in your throat. It was the first time he had addressed you by your name.

“Get away from me,” you glared. “Was I nothing but a bet to you? Was I just a challenge for you to win?”

“Y/n, I never placed bets on you. I don’t know what other people have been betting on but I have always been genuine with you,” he affirmed.

You refused to let your tears fall. There was no way Kim Sunwoo was going to see you cry.

“I like you,” he confessed. “I like you a lot. I meant to say this that night but got too flustered. So I wanted to tell you today. Whenever I see you, the butterflies in my stomach won’t go away. When I don’t see you, I miss you like crazy. You inspire me to become a better person and all I want to do is hold you and call you mine.”

And now Kim Sunwoo has officially seen you cry. He bent down to wrap his arms around you as you sobbed into his shoulder.

“You’re an asshole,” you mumbled after you calmed down.

“I think you mean the opposite,” he chuckled. “Whatever barriers you put up to protect yourself, I’m going to take them down one by one. With you. Together.”

“Who said I’m helping?” you muttered.

“Then I guess I have to work twice as hard to prove myself,” he softly smiled.

“This is embarrassing,” you groaned.

“This will only be embarrassing for me if you reject me,” his hand reached out to the nape of his neck. “So what do you say? Will you go out with me?”

“I’ll think about it,” you huffed, prompting a chuckle from him.

#deobiwritersnet #the boyz #sunwoo #the boyz sunwoo #the boyz fluff #sunwoo fluff #the boyz sunwoo fluff #the boyz imagines #sunwoo imagines #tbz fluff #tbz imagines #the boyz fic #sunwoo fic #tbz fic #the boyz scenarios #sunwoo scenarios #tbz scenarios #star player collab

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 3 years

Note

Miss Raven, may I have some reader platonic friendship headcanons with Idia, Riddle, Ruggie, Floyd, and Kalim? I really want to know what it generally would be like to be friends with them!

Curiouser and Curiouser...

A lot of your hang-outs are done remotely. It gives Idia more confidence to speak to you without showing his face. Usually you hold voice calls while you talk about random things, or playing an online multiplayer game while raging outloud to one another.

You have weekly anime binge or movie nights! To keep it fair, you take turns picking something new to watch every time you finish with the last thing.

Idia’s very opinionated about the media he consumes. When he gets in the mood to gush and/or rant, expect to be up listening to him until 3 am (with barely any pauses to allow for you to comment).

The few times you’ve met in person, Idia really struggles to make conversation. More often than not, he hunches over in his hoodie and frantically texts you what he wants to say... even though he’s already standing right next to you.

Of course, you attend geeky cons together, like all otaku do! You stay up together for hours the night before, mapping out the quickest routes between panels, which artists and vendors you want to buy from, and which guests you want to sign your faces.

Riddle’s like your personal alarm clock. He somehow always remembers important dates and deadlines, and makes sure you never forget them, either!

Riddle is the friend that’s responsible for arranging hang-outs. Everyone else gets too lazy to coordinate schedules or to find a location everyone would have no problems reaching, but Riddle does so with ease. He has spreadsheets, polls, and maps primed for this very purpose!

He can be naggy and a worrywort at times. Riddle brings along everything and anything you could possibly need on an outing (umbrella, water bottle, bug spray, first aid kit...), because you can never be too prepared!

He follows the rules, and makes sure that you do, too. Riddle’s the type of person to hold his arm out in front of you to prevent you from jaywalking (even when there are clearly no vehicles coming your way).

You know you can count on Riddle when you need advice! He may not be knowledgeable on everything, but he has a good head on his shoulders and can talk some sense into you while you’re having an emotional moment.

Ruggie’s hard to pin down. He always has his hands full of part-time jobs, so finding a time when he’s free to hang out is a challenge.

He prefers to do things that won’t cost him money (or, if they cost money, only when someone else is footing the bill for him). His favorite things to do with you? Just running around in a park or playing a team sport.

Ruggie shows up to any gathering with food, siphons as much as he can (even bringing containers to take food home with him), and then peaces out. Whenever you eat at a restaurant with him, the most Ruggie will do is drink the free water and eat the free bread, or ask to taste “a little” of what you ordered.

He’s one of the most loyal friends you’ll ever have! Ruggie sticks with you through thick and through thin, and he’s definitely willing to lend a helping hand to whatever problem you might be facing (... but he’ll also hand you an IOU later).

Ruggie’s the moodmaker of your friend group. He doesn’t necessarily always have a joke, funny story, or a bad pun on hand, but he’s always smiling or laughing, and encouraging you to do the same!

Floyd’s the flaky friend! You could spend an eternity arranging a date and time for a hang-out, but there’s a 50% change he won’t show up, even if he agreed to it beforehand.

He’s always causing trouble, which, by association, also gets you in trouble, too! You might be chasing after Floyd to convince him to attend class, only to realize that now you’re late for class, too! He also tends to bait you into doing stupid things with him by annoying you or hurting your pride until you cave.

It’s not uncommon for him to tease you. Unfortunately, the teasing goes a bit too far sometimes and ends up actually hurting you. At times like that, you give him a little scolding (though he might not listen anyway). It can be infuriating at times to be his friend, since he has his very high highs and very low lows.

Floyd likes to roughhouse He’ll greet you with a noogie or tackle you without any regard for his surroundings, or for your safety--he just wants to hug you hard!

He shows up at gatherings with unexpected guests (it could be his brother, it could be people he just picked a fight with--) or unexpected “gifts” (here’s a whipped cream pie for your face~). It’s always a mixed bag with him.

Kalim’s your (overly) enthusiastic, extroverted friend that’s always inviting you to out! He’ll walk with you to and from class, and invite you to hang with him afterwards. The arcade? Let’s go! A restaurant? Sure! Throwing a party this weekend? Heck yeah!!

He’s so rich that he’s a little out of touch with “normal” people’s budgets (like yours). Kalim will get you all these crazy expensive gifts for your birthday and not understand why your jaw drops, or he’ll ask if you want to join his family for a luxurious trip to a Pyroxene ski resort without first considering how taxing the cost may be for you.

Kalim’s super generous and hospitable! He offers you tons of food when you hang out, lets you pet his (many) pets, and lets take as many flowers as you want from his garden... He really spoils you!

Since he has had servants taking care of him his whole life, Kalim can’t do a lot of common things like wash rice or clean his room--so even though he’s almost an adult, he’s really considered the “baby” of your friends group. It’s up to you to stop Kalim from adding dish soap to wash his rice!

He’s always looking on the bright side of things! When the chips are down, you can turn to Kalim’s optimism to shine a ray of sunshine onto you. He may not have advice on how to make your situation better, but he can offer a smile and a dance to lift your spirits so you can think more clearly!

#twst #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland headcanons #Floyd Leech #Riddle Rosehearts #Idia Shroud #Kalim Al-Asim #Ruggie Bucchi #Reader #self insert #curiouser and curiouser #disney twisted wonderland

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wishesunderthestars · 4 years

Text

Eunoia // Ch. 12

eunoia (noun): beautiful thinking, the possession of a well-balanced mind, which exhibits goodwill and kindness

Pairings: Hybrid! BTS x reader

Summary: You are a world famous director and you have dedicated your life to your job.You have everything you could ever dream of; wealth, recognition, talent, your friends and family. But loneliness ins’t cured by success. So what happens when you somehow rescue seven hybrids? Can they fill the void?

Genre: Angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, eventual smut

Word Count: 18.1k+

Warnings: Abuse and violence, mentions of past sexual abuse, mentions of putting down hybrids, discussion of insomnia caused by a traumatic event, panic attacks, derogetory language

Masterlist

Chapter 1, Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11

Phew, that was long one. Please comment and reblog it really motivates me to keep writing. And I always love receiving asks so don’t be shy ;)

"I can't believe this is happening! Why can't I receive good news for once?" After the initial shock, you were fuming. "Work of months has been destroyed and for what? Because someone decided not to take the proper safety measures to save some money. People could have been hurt in there! Seriously hurt. And it would have been on our heads!"

Namjoon was holding your phone, the email you had received opened on the screen. "You didn't know they hadn't taken the necessary precautions. It wouldn't have been on your head."

"Can you imagine what would have happened if we had been filming? If the actors and the crew were inside and the building collapsed on us?" The chair scraped against the floor as you raised to your feet. You couldn't stay sitting anymore. "I don't even want to think about that. How many people... If we would even get out of there alive. And it isn't only us. What if the earthquake hadn't hit at night? And the workers were still inside? What then? This is wrong on so many levels I can't even begin to count."

Five point six Richter. That was the magnitude of the earthquake that had hit Virginia. It had been felt in Washington. They said it had affected a radius of two hundred kilometers around the center of the earthquake. No one had expected it and no one had been prepared. In the email there was a detailed description of how the earthquake had caused the sets for The Raven Cycle to collapse in on themselves, because the respective protection measures hadn't been taken. The earthquake had hit at night, waking up everyone in the area and causing panic as people flooded the streets. They had discovered the ruined sets in the morning.

Protection measures were of utmost important in every environment and you were baffled that a film studio with such prestige would disregard them so easily. You had half a mind to storm into the building you had just returned from and make a scene in front of everyone. They had put everyone in danger, not only the actors and the crew and all the people working there but also the passersby who could have had metal rods falling on their heads.

How could they allow this? How could they be so careless? It wasn't a building made for only a couple of days of use with light materials. Filming would take place there for the better part of the summer. In a few months you would have been there. You could have been there.

"And now you have to leave?" Namjoon asked, jaw tense. "Can't you wait a few days and go later?" You knew what he was thinking. You didn't want to leave either. It was the worst time possible for you to leave. The two hybrids in the guestroom, the injuries you had to tend to, Jimin and Jungkook, Jimin's past. But it wasn't your decision to make.

"I can't, they have already planned the whole trip. It isn't like I have a choice. The message is clear, I will be flying to Virginia in two days. As the director and showrunner, I have to be there. They have called everyone important in the project and I am one of the lucky ones. And it isn't like I can refuse unless I have a very important reason. And I can't exactly tell them I am nursing to health a stray hybrid until he and his friend can live on their own again, instead of reporting them to the hybrid services."

Namjoon's face scrunched up at the mention of the services. They were anything but kind to hybrids. They thought they could do anything to them if they were strays before they had to give them to a center. The times he and his small pack had to run away from them weren't few. It disgusted you, the way some people behaved.

You landed back on your chair with a huff, tired of pacing. Namjoon must have got a headache from the way his eyes were following you. "This is just what I didn't need. I thought we wouldn't have to go to Virginia until summer!"

You felt like banging your head on the wall but you settled for laying you head on the desk. It collided with a dull thud.

It wasn't only the destroyed set and what that meant for the show. Slowing down of the production, a larger budget needed (oh, the irony) and the bad press you would get if it got out.

People in the area must have suffered. Flashes of collapsed buildings, shattered windows and cracks in the streets ran through your mind. No, it couldn't be that bad. You prayed it wasn't that bad.

Namjoon frowned. "What are you supposed to do there? You aren't going to help rebuild the sets. What do they need you for?" You could see the worry in his eyes. His instincts calling him to protect you, to not let you leave. You appreciated the fact he was fighting it.

With your cheek squished against the desk you said, "No, I'm not going to rebuild the sets, but they need me there nonetheless. There is a legal part of this whole thing I have to be there for. And me being there might help the ones doing the rebuilding."

Namjoon sighed, giving up on trying to keep you here. "Will John come with you?"

"Most likely," you said, raising your head from the desk and sitting back on the chair. Your back hurt from the awkward angle you had bent your body in. "I will ask him but I'm pretty sure he will say yes. He always comes with me when I'm working out of California. He has toured half of the world being my bodyguard. And this time.... This time I don't think he would let me go without him."

"It seems you do tend to travel a lot," Namjoon noted. There wasn't any judgment or disdain in his voice, he was simply stating a fact. If anything he looked at the cream and gold world globe on your desk with longing. He had told you he had never left California, created and bred in Los Angeles. You didn't like how he said "created" but you couldn't correct him. "It must be nice seeing all those places."

The gold of the globe caught the light, distorted figures moving on the polished surface. "It's nice when it's properly planned and when I actually want to go. And there aren't any natural disasters involved. I can't say that's true this time. It's the furthest it could be from the truth." You groaned. "What am I going to do now? I can't leave like this. There are so many things going on."

Namjoon was too close to what he looked like talking to you about the ending of the Book Thief. "How long will you be gone?"

"A week?" The email didn't specify. A week was how long most work trips that didn't include filming lasted, but this wasn't a normal work trip. This had never happened to you or to anyone you knew before. You had heard of disasters but nothing like this.

Your fingers had subconsciously started drumming a tune on the desk. A tune that had comforted you once. A tune he used to hum long before he turned it into a song. You stilled your hand.

An earthquake. Five point six Richter. Shaking buildings, rattling shelves, trembling chandeliers, cupboards opening and dishes and glasses falling to the floor. The kind of thing you see on the TV. The kind of thing you don't ever expect to witness. No one expects a disaster like that to strike out of the blue, but that's the way it is. There is no one to warn you, no one who can.

You didn't go to dinner. You told Namjoon not to wait for you, you would eat later. Climbing down the stairs, you stopped in front of the door and knocked. The reply was the same and Yoongi opened the door like every time.

Every room had a medical kit in the bathroom, the one in this had to be restocked twice in the past few days.

Hoseok gave you a small smile and extended his broken arm. Sitting on the edge of the bed, you started telling him of the time you had spent in the Caribbean Sea. You had stayed there for a few months and had spent most of that time in Jamaica and Puerto Rico. The sandy beaches, the endless turquoise sea and the colorful houses didn't fail to bring a smile to your face. The people had been welcoming and kind, eager to help with any problems production faced. They invited you to nights full of dancing and music and included you in everything like you belonged there.

The movie you had filmed wasn't one of your biggest hits. It wasn't nominated for an Oscar and although it did earn much recognition and was played at multiple international film festivals, it wasn't as successful as your other films. But it was the most fun you had had filming. The actors were incredible both at their job and out of it. You had spent some of the best nights of your life there.

As you fastened the splint in place around Hoseok's arm, you told him of the night they had lit large bonfires along the beach and all the people in the area had gathered around to have a few drinks and dance. Your mind, however, wasn't on the story. A fractured arm and a rib wasn't something you should be treating at home. It didn't matter how many first aid classes you had attended, a lot of things could go wrong. But it was either this or nothing. When you had suggested taking Hoseok to the hospital, Yoongi had almost bitten your head off.

Hoseok was laying back against the pillows with his eyes clothes when you were done. He was doing better. Having regular meals and being able to wash made the improvement more evident. He didn't complain when you were treating him but you could see his eyes clenching shut when you were applying salve to the most tender spots. The stories helped. They distracted him and you could work easier. He rarely spoke but lately he had been brave enough to voice any questions he had and you had readily answered him. Progress. Progress you hoped wouldn't halt now.

"This is it for today," you said, rubbing your hands together and getting up. "In a few days you won't have any trouble moving around on your own. Not anything too strenuous, though, no running or jumping around."

"Thank you." Hoseok spoke softly, like being any louder would break an unspoken rule. Like it would get him punished.

Yoongi was sitting on the chaise lounge by the glass wall, facing away from you. The fire pits were lit all the way along the balconies, flames licking up the darkness of the night. He didn't look at you while you were there, only stealing glances when he thought you weren't looking. When his eyes met yours he would scowl and look away.

"There is something I wanted to tell you," you started. You didn't know how else to say it so you jumped in head first. "I was called to Virginia for work. I'll be leaving the day after tomorrow." Yoongi's back stiffened, his tail stilling in the air. Hoseok's eyes turned impossibly wide. "I don't know yet how long I will stay there but it will be some time before I can come back. I thought you should know because I won't be able to treat you."

Yoongi huffed. "Who will be our caretaker then?"

You paused by the door. "Do you think you need one?"

"Is this a joke?" Yoongi's fists clenched. There was no blood on them anymore.

It wasn’t a secret that hybrids were treated like pets, that included having someone babysit them when the owner was gone. You had been through it before when you had left for New York shortly after you had adopted Namjoon, Jimin and Jungkook. Everyone had expected you to ask someone to take care of them. You hadn’t. They could take care of themselves and each other just fine.

It was the same now.

“If you think you need a caretaker I can hire one for you, but I doubt you do,” you said. “I think you can survive in the Castle without me for a few days. If I’m gone for longer than a week, Helen my housekeeper will come over to do some cleaning. She usually comes over a few times a week. And the gardener comes by quite often. ”

Yoongi looked stunned but schooled his features quickly. Hoseok’s ears were pinned against his head. You closed the door behind you.

Why did your work’s timing had to always be that bad?

An earthquake. A fucking earthquake.

In the kitchen, the table was served. The mouthwatering smell of the food drifted in the air. Jimin, Namjoon and Jin were sitting around the table, Jungkook absent once again. No one had touched their plates.

“You didn’t have to wait for me,” you said taking your seat. Your plate was filled with a generous slice of meat pie and fresh salad. Your stomach grumbled. You hadn’t noticed you were that hungry.

“We wanted to wait for you.” Jimin’s smile didn’t reach his eyes, it hadn’t since the day he had come running to you, begging you to take him with you to work. Jungkook spent most of his time at the atelier and he slept in Jin’s room at night. Every time he didn’t show up for meals, the light in Jimin’s eyes dimmed further.

You picked up your fork and knife and cut into the pie. The taste was heavenly, not that you had expected anything else from Jin. You told him so and delighted in the way he got flushed and tried to cover it by a terrible joke he must have come up with on the spot. While you ate, you didn’t speak much, thinking about the best way to bring up the news crawling up your throat. Namjoon squeezed your hand under the table.

When your plates were empty and Jimin was laying his head on Jin’s shoulder, you decided it was time. You put your fork aside. You started by the email, the email that had looked so inconspicuous at first because you received emails like that all the time. An email labeled “important” was often not as important as the people sending it thought it was. You couldn’t have guessed what it contained inside. You hadn’t been prepared.

Your leg was moving up and down on the metal foothold of the stool, mimicking your racing heartbeat. An earthquake had struck Virginia at night. You repeated the dry words of the email, of someone who hadn’t felt the terror of the earth shaking underneath their feet. Five point six Richter, strong enough to knock down the sets they had been building for months. You were required to be there in two days.

Jimin’s bottom lip was trembling. “How long will you stay?”

You shook your head. It was the same question you were asking and had no answers for. Even if you called someone in the company they wouldn’t have anything but speculations for you. “I hope no more than a week.”

“Isn’t it dangerous?” Jin asked. “What if there are aftershocks, or if it was a warning for a larger one coming?”

Jin’s question brought an dreadful shine to Jimin’s eyes. You had thought of that as well but your mind was troubled already as it was. Questions of your safety would take this too far. For once, you didn’t trust the company you were working with to keep you safe. You would have to do research before you left and take all the necessary precautions. You wouldn’t risk it like they had.

Namjoon wrapped his hand around his glass but didn’t bring it to his lips. “John will be with her. They will be alright.” It didn’t calm down Jimin who hugged himself tightly, dropping his head to his chest.

You couldn’t watch him suffering anymore. Getting up, you walked to him and hugged his from behind, prying his hands away so they were over yours instead. “I promise I’ll call you every day and we will text. It’s like when I was in New York and you texted me every day about what you got up to and what you were thinking. Your texts made me forget all about work and how tired I was.” Jimin sniffled but his cheeks remained dry. “It’s only a few days. They’ll be over soon. You won’t be alone here.”

Jin ruffled Jimin’s hair and the cat hybrid wrapped one arm around the oldest, pulling him into the hug. You placed a kiss on both their head, making Jin flush again. He wasn’t used to physical attention the way Jimin was but he craved it too and you were trying to make sure he felt as loved as he was.

Namjoon held Jimin while you and Jin cleaned the table. He grabbed Jimin’s thighs lifting him up and carried him to the living room. The younger laughed all the way there, telling him to put him down. His tight hold around Namjoon’s neck told him a very different thing.

But you weren’t done yet. You had one more person to tell.

The atelier’s door was half open. You knocked once on the wood before opening it all the way. The room could be described as an organized mess. Two canvases were set up in the middle of the room and three half-finished ones stood against the cabinets. The floor was covered in newspapers splattered with all the colors of the rainbow and paint tubes were lined on the tables in no particular order.

“I finished dinner, you can take it,” he said, gesturing to the tray on one of the tables with the hand not holding a brush.

“That isn’t why I’m here.” One of his ears perked up as you walked closer. The canvas he was working on now was a blend of shades of purple, orange and yellow with no definitive details. “What are you painting.”

He shrugged. “Don’t know yet.” Moving forward with no destination. You knew how that felt.

Jungkook hadn’t distanced himself just from Jimin but from everyone. He didn’t run to you to hug you and scent you when you came back like he used to do. He didn’t come up to the living room to watch TV and talk until you were too exhausted to keep your eyes open. He didn’t show you his progress on the paintings. He didn’t annoy Jin while he cooked (the oldest liked it even if complained). He didn’t come to meals. Meals were family time.

Being in the atelier now was different to any other time. It was the stifling feeling of an empty page, which used to be ecstasy. It was wrong, something missing.

“I have to leave for Virginia the day after tomorrow,” you said, ripping the band-aid off. The times you had said it today were too many. Surprised doe eyes turned to you. You explained the story once again and waited.

Jungkook seemed to be bracing himself for something. “Can you take me with you?”

“Take you with me?” you repeated, dumbfounded.

He nodded. The brush he had been holding had fallen to the floor at some point painting the newspapers in a shock of deep purple. Neither of you had noticed. “I won’t bother you. I’ll listen to everything you say. You can leave me at the hotel. I won’t cause any trouble, no one will know I’m there.” He lowered his head. “I need to be away from here.”

“Jungkook…” Your hand touched his cheek and you felt the way he clenched his jaw under the touch. “If this is-”

“Don’t,” he begged, pulling away. A pained desperation coloring his voice. “You don’t know what I did. If you did-” He took a sharp breath. “Can I come with you? Please.”

Stifling. You hadn’t considered taking any of the hybrids with you now. You had planned on inviting them along when you would go there for filming, a much more fun part of your job. This would be a busy trip and most likely far from enjoyable. It could be dangerous. But Jungkook’s eyes were begging you. He was fading away locked up in the atelier avoiding everyone.

“Okay. If you really want to, you can come with me. I’ll help you pack the essentials,” you said. Jungkook visibly relaxed. Maybe you should have pressed more. Insisted on him speaking with Jimin before you left or after you came back. But you were exhausted and a headache was brewing behind your temples.

Jungkook glanced at a canvas covered with a white sheet at a corner. You’d let it go for now.

When Jimin sneaked into your room late into the night, you didn’t say anything pulling up the covers in a silent invitation. Jimin crawled underneath and hid in your arms. Against every expectation you fell asleep. Orange bottle untouched in the bathroom cabinet.

The days leading up to your departure were every kind of hectic. Panic had taken over the studios and the atmosphere was tense in every meeting. No one wanted to admit the colossal mistake that could have cost the lives of so many people. The press was another matter entirely. The project could get a bad reputation before it was aired. It was emotionally exhausting, your brain working in overdrive, coming up with solutions to problems that may or may not arise. You had to be prepared for the worst.

At home it wasn’t much better. You had started packing for the weird end-of-spring weather in Virginia. The Raven Cycle books and a little research had provided you with enough information about what to expect. Dry, warm and with a possibility of thunderstorms. It could also get cold at night so you made sure to pack a few sweatshirts.

You helped Jungkook pack his things in a similar way. He had a habit of wearing long sleeves even when it was hot so you packed a few more sweatshirts and hoodies for him. He continued not talking much but he looked calmer now that you were leaving. All you wanted to do was hug him and tell him everything was going to be alright. But you didn’t think that would be welcome.

Jimin had timidly offered to take care of Hoseok’s injuries while you were gone. You hesitated at first. While they had been here Jimin and Yoongi hadn’t interacted much. You had expected they would talk, figure out the strange tension between them, but they had kept to themselves. You gave in in the end. The worst had come and passed and you trusted Jimin to provide the basic care Hoseok needed.

He came with you to their room before dinner and you explained to him what you were doing. Hoseok was a little more withdrawn than usual but he didn’t protest, smiling at Jimin.

You had a long talk with Namjoon in your office the night before the day you were scheduled to leave. There were a lot of things to talk about and you tried to get everything out. All your worries and all the things you thought he should know. When you were spent and his reassurances were buried deep in your chest, he brought you close to him, rubbing his face in your neck. He places light kissed on your skin, his lips trailing up until they were touching yours.

The house was silent. You opened your eyes blearily, staring at your phone. The ringing of the alarm had stopped, leaving large numbers reading the time on the screen. The blinds were closed hiding the morning from you.

There was a weight on your chest. You looked down to find tired eyes staring up at you. Jimin made a small sound in the back of his throat and nuzzled against you. His blond hair was soft against your fingers as you combed through it. A loud purr escaped him as you scratched the base of his cat ears. He held on to you tighter but the alarm was clear, you needed to get up and get ready. You had a flight to catch.

“No, don’t go,” Jimin whined.

You massaged his head down to his neck. “I have to get up. I’ll miss the plane if I’m late.”

In the shadows of the room you could see the pout on his full lips. “What if you miss it?”

“If I miss it, I’ll get in trouble. And I’d rather not get in trouble.” Jimin snuggled closer to you and you could smell the vanilla shampoo he loved. Mia had said in the early days that she had smelt vanilla and muffins on you and you had guessed that was Jimin’s scent. The shampoo must serve to accentuate his natural scent.

His cat ears lowered as his tail wrapped around your bare leg. You suppressed a shudder at the feeling of the soft fur against your skin. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“I know, that’s why I have to go.” You untangled yourself from the hybrid and pressed the button for the blinds to retreat. The morning light spilled into the room. It caught on Jimin’s curls painting them golden. You had an urge to capture the moment with your camera, the way he looked so soft, hair mussed and eyes still dreaming. Carving the image in your memory, you walked to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the day.

Getting dressed for a flight was different than getting dressed for any other work day. You liked to wear something comfortable that wouldn’t look too bad on camera. You weren’t the kind of celebrity to get mobbed every time you went out but sometimes paparazzi could get wind of where you were going and show up at the airport. When you were traveling for premieres or events, fans and paparazzi would fill the place.

The previous night you had set aside a pair of loose black pants and a red top. You would also take your leather jacket with you because it could get chilly on the plane.

Jimin, wearing his stripped white and blue pajamas with the little pink hearts, clung to you like a koala all the way to breakfast. He only let go of you when you placed your large black bag on the floor and took a seat at the kitchen island. Jin was finishing up with cooking, taking the pots off the stove. Breakfast was almost ready.

John would be coming later to drive you to the airport. The black SUV had turned into a sign you would be traveling. Because of the sheer volume of the luggage you always ended up with, a large car was needed to drive you to and from the airport. This time you had packed two suitcases and your handbag. You had been tempted to fill a sac-voyage as well but you quickly abandoned the thought.

Namjoon arrived, looking wide awake. The opposite of Jimin and his drooping eyes. Only one was missing. And you weren’t compromising today.

“Jungkook?” you asked. The others exchanged a glance. It told you enough. “I’m going to go get him. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Their gazes followed you as you left. They probably didn’t believe you could get him to come up. And any other day that could have been the case.

The door of the atelier was closed but you were sure Jungkook was inside. The amount of time he had been spending in there was unhealthy but you were the last person who could judge him, having spent the majority of your so called break in your office. You knocked three times before opening the door.

Jungkook was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, lost in a place that used to scream comfort. Did it still? You couldn’t feel it anymore. The canvases were all in their places and the paints and brushes had been tidied up. Sitting on the paint splattered newspapers in his completely black clothes, Jungkook looked lost.

“We’re having breakfast upstairs,” you said.

Jungkook’s eyes cleared, just enough for most of the fog to disappear. One bunny ear drooped down and he swiped it away from his face. “Can’t Jin bring it to me?”

You shook your head. “Jin isn’t bringing anything to you. You will be coming to breakfast and eat with us like you used to.”

He lowered his head, both ears falling in his face. “I can’t.”

“You very much can and you will.” You tried to be gentle but you were firm on this. “You will come up and we will all eat breakfast together. We are leaving in a few hours for the other side of the United States and I have no idea when we will be back. You aren’t doing anything here and everyone wants to see you and spend some time together.”

“Not everyone.” It was so low he probably hadn’t meant for you to hear.

“Everyone,” you said, kneeling by his side. “Everyone wants to see you.” You brushed his bangs off his face, petting his ears in the process. He didn’t relax the way he usually did, melting in your hands, but he did lean into the touch. “One breakfast. That’s all I’m asking for. You said you’d listen to me if I took you with me to Virginia.”

He couldn’t disagree with that and when you offered him your hand he took it.

Jungkook and Jimin had had a special bond. That first night you had seen it in the way Jimin cried begging you to help Jungkook, to heal him. You had seen it in the way Jungkook, beat up and having trouble breathing, was asking Jimin if he was injured, if he needed to be treated first and Jimin had cried every time Jungkook flinched but smiled and squeezed his hand to ease the pain. Nothing had changed the longer you spent with them, the way they loved and cared for each other only becoming more apparent.

Jungkook had gone to Namjoon crying, saying he had hurt Jimin but you couldn’t imagine him doing anything but loving him. Misunderstandings preyed on everyone and they were hungry for those who loved each other. They would get through it, you assured yourself. They were strong and they cared too much to continue hurting each other like this. You cared too much too, you wouldn’t let this get out of hand.

They needed a break, that’s what it was. Jungkook had been right, the trip would help put some distance between them to think clearer. You would make sure when you returned they would be ready to face whatever had happened between them.

Jimin lit up at seeing Jungkook but the light dimmed when the younger didn’t even glance his way. You sighed into your orange juice.

After breakfast Jungkook carried up his suitcase while you went to another room. Three knocks and a question of who it was. It had become routine. Hoseok smiled at you, he had been doing that more and more.

You sat down at the side of the bed, Yoongi watching you from the chaise lounge, his ears standing alert. “I’m just here to check on you one last time before I go. Jimin will take over after this.”

Hoseok was sitting with his back against the headboard. He hadn’t been able to do that without hurting the first days. “When will you be leaving?”

Touching his arm to inspect it, you said, “John will be here in about thirty minutes but the flight isn’t for another two hours. We have to be early at the airport because the process to get on the plane takes a long time. Do you want to hear about the first time I got on a plane? That’s a funny story.”

Hoseok nodded enthusiastically so you started recounting the time you were sixteen and you had to take a plane to get to the film festival that was held in France. The short film you had directed would be played there. The only problem was that you had never been on a plane before and the prospect of flying wasn’t appealing to you in the least. It just happened that the flight was far from calm.

The check up was finished halfway through the story but Hoseok touched your arm, wordlessly asking you to finish it. At your arrival in France Hoseok’s smile dissolved.

“I have to get going, John will be here soon,” you said getting up. Hoseok had met John only after you had told him of the time both of you had gotten lost in London. John had been insisting he knew what he was doing leading you deeper into the maze of streets. Because of that a few more stories the bodyguard had guest-starred in, the fox hybrid hadn’t looked as terrified as some people did at the side of the giant of a bodyguard.

“Thank you for,” he gestured to himself “this. And the stories. Thank you for the stories.”

You stopped by the door. “It was my pleasure.”

John was at the Castle right on time, parking the SUV close to the front door. He helped you carry everything to the car, which meant he carried the three suitcases while Jungkook insisted he could help. The bunny hybrid did help but only because John took pity on him and let him help with putting the suitcases in the trunk.

You lowered your sunglasses. No wind and no cloud in sight. You would have a calm trip.

You hugged all the hybrids, letting them scent you. Jimin’s eyes were growing misty and you hugged him extra hard assuring him you would be back soon. You rubbed your forehead against Jin’s and kissed his cheek in goodbye, his skin warming up under your lips. Goodbyes were hard and you’d thought you’d gotten used to them. Saying goodbye to Taylor and Zayn before tours, to your aunt the rare times you could visit her, to your friends, to the actors and the crew.

And yet your chest was tight.

Namjoon was talking with John by the car and you heard him asking John to take care of you and Jungkook. John replied he would protect you with his life. John was your bodyguard but this had been more than a job to him for a long time.

From the corner of your eye you saw Jimin approach Jungkook. He reached to touch him, hug him. Jungkook flinched. Jimin’s hand hovered in the air before going limp. He backed away, his chin dropping to his chest and jaw trembling.

You bit the inside of your cheek. A hand landed on your shoulder and you turned to find Namjoon standing next to you. You weren’t the only one who had watched the youngests’ exchange. You hid in his arms, forgetting about the world for a moment. The two hybrids who loved each other too much, the trip you had to take, production being halted, that godforsaken earthquake. He nosed along your neck, his warm breath tingling your skin.

Jungkook got into the car first, an escape, and you followed soon after, a necessity. The house got smaller and smaller behind you as the car drove away. The Castle fading in the distance. Another trip. Different reasons, a different disaster, but familiar territory. Once you used to be excited about these trips, exploring a new place and living new experiences. Where had that part of yourself gone?

But you weren’t alone this time. Jungkook was looking out of the window, his head laying against the glass. You would take him to that yogurt shop you had liked so much and you would show him the park you wanted to film at and take him to that endearing small cinema. Yeah, you would do that.

♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩

The hotel towered over the rest of the buildings in the area. It wasn’t the same one you had stayed on your first visit last year, more grand and definitely more expensive. The company had gone all out. An admirable attempt to quell your anger, yet it continued simmering underbeath your skin. A young man was waiting for you outside, taking the suitcases from the car and leading you to the lobby.

Jungkook looked around with wide eyes and an open mouth. There was so much glass and marble, almost everything was made using these two materials.

The receptionist smiled at you wide, her teeth white and straight like her uniform. She welcomed you to the hotel and handed you two key cards, white with a gold line on front and the room numbers in cursive. Two cards.

“I was sure I’d forgotten something,” you muttered.

The receptionist’s smile faltered. “Is something not to your liking, miss?”

Two cards. One for your room and one for John’s. You had notified the company about Jungkook accompanying you but you hadn’t requested another room. Granted, you had thought they would come to the conclusion on their own. One more room would have cost them a lot, though. Easy way out. But you couldn’t exactly blame them. At hotels, owners rarely bothered to spend money on a room for their hybrids.

You held the cards like a magician ready to do a trick, showing them to John.

“Shouldn’t there be one more?” he asked.

The woman behind the desk blinked a few times. “More? Two rooms were booked in the name Y/N Y/L/N. Is there a problem?”

You sighed. “No, I guess there isn’t. Or there wasn’t supposed to be.” Jungkook watched the exchange shifting from foot to foot. His black hoodie was a size too big and he was drowning in it. “Do you have any available rooms in the same floor.”

“I’m afraid we don’t, miss. The rooms on the top floor are all booked for the night.”

“Great.” You couldn’t think of another solution, you would have to make do. “Thank you. We’ll be going now.”

“Have a nice stay,” the receptionist said.

The elevator was as luxurious as the lobby, a glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling. John had your black bag slung over his shoulder. The man with your suitcases was already gone, you would find them in your rooms when you arrived. There was a mirror to your left and leaning your back against the wall your gazed at your reflection. With your black circles hidden with concealer and carefully applied makeup, you looked just a little tired from the flight. You had brushed your hair on the plane and it fell in waves over your shoulders, curling at the tips.

Jungkook hadn’t been to a hotel before and it showed as he tried to take everything in. The lights that were on even in the afternoon, the golds and whites, the mirrors and glass and the velvet seats. It was wonderful but still it wasn’t the best hotel you had stayed at.

The elevator’s doors opened with a ding and you walked into the well-lit corridors. Doors were on either side with a sitting area at the front. You had stayed in many hotels over the years but they were nothing more than a place for rest. Sleep and shower, that’s all you did in your room. And sometimes breakfast or dinner if you didn’t feel like going out.

Stopping in front of a white door, you checked the numbers on the cards again. The two rooms were very close, only a few meters distance from each other.

Two rooms. Right.

You handed John his key card. “So, we’ve got two rooms…” Jungkook looked at you curiously. “I hope you don’t mind staying in my room with me for now. Unless you would prefer staying with John and his snoring.”

John pointed a finger at you. “Hey, I don’t snore.”

You hummed. “Sure you don’t. What I have been hearing all those years must be the pigs outside.”

Jungkook was trying to hide his laughter behind his hand and doing a poor job of it.

John dropped your bag by your feet. “Do you hear her? No respect for me. That’s what I get for listening to your every whim for years. I’ll go to my room now and snore in peace.”

You giggled as John struggled to swipe the key card right. With an ‘aha’, he managed to open the door and get inside. You swiped your own card, the door clicking open at the first try. Both of you had been doing it for years but John was more of a fan of traditional keys.

The company had booked a suite for you, which you guessed was one of the best in the hotel. The door opened to a grand living room with white velvet couches and armchairs and a 75 inch TV. You took off your sneakers before stepping on the wool carpet, it was white with veins of gold running through it.

You fell on the couch, taking off your backpack and placing it on the floor. “I’m sorry for this, I thought they would book three rooms for us.”

Jungkook looked at you from where he was still standing by the door, his hands pulling at the straps of his backpack. “Why would they book three rooms?” There was a gap here. Hybrids stayed with their owners, that was the norm. You realized that was what he had expected.

“We are three people. I thought you would want your own room. I told them you would be coming with me for the tickets but they didn’t change the rooms they had booked.” You threw your head back and closed your eyes. “Everything is going so well already.”

There a shuffling of feet from the door. “I thought… I can stay with John if he doesn’t mind or… I can…”

You opened your eyes. Jungkook was looking at the floor, his ears drooped at the sides of his head. “What are you talking about?”

Jungkook hugged himself. “I don’t want to bother you.”

And it clicked. You got up from the couch. “Oh, bunny. You aren’t bothering me. I only wanted one more room because I thought that’s what you wanted, that you wanted your own space.” You didn’t touch him, remembering him flinching and pulling away, but you stayed close to show him you were there for him.

“Oh, I-” He flushed, not knowing what to say. You had been past that stage and it was unfortunate to see the shyness and hesitance come back.

“Come on, take off your shoes,” you said, motioning for him to come further into the room. “I desperately need a shower. Then we can rest. I don’t have to do anything until late tonight. Do you want to go in first?”

Jungkook sat down gingerly on the couch. “No, no, you can go in first. I think I’ll sleep a little.”

You stopped him before he could lay down. “Here?”

Confused, he looked around at the furniture. “Should I take the smaller couch?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” you said. “But there is a huge bed in the bedroom. If you feel uncomfortable though, I could take the couch.”

Jungkook shot up at that. “No, no way. You have work, you should sleep in the bed.” The redness creeped into his cheeks again. “I would like… I would like to share, if that’s alright.”

You gave him a smile. “That’s more than alright. Come in, then.”

You were planning to make the most out of this trip.

♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩

Jimin had memorized everything you had said about checking and treating Hoseok’s injuries. He had memorized the pills he was taking, the salves you used and the times you checked on him during the day. Before you left, he had even looked up all the injuries Hoseok had on Google and read all the information he could find. You had told him Hoseok was well on his way to recovery and he didn’t have to worry much. But he was worried. He was very worried.

He had thought he had been ready, that he could do this. But standing outside their door, second thoughts were smothering him.

What if he did something wrong and he hurt him? What if he made everything worse? If he pressed too hard, if he used the wrong cream, if he wrapped the bandages wrong…

Seokjin would have been much better at this. He took care of them like a parent, he would have been a better choice than Jimin. But Seokjin was the one to cook all their meals, he had enough on his plate. Yoongi could have done it but… He had only glared at you and sneered something that sounded very much like a refusal.

Yoongi…

He hadn’t talked to him since the day he had chased him to the alleyway. The older didn’t leave the room he shared with Hoseok unless it was absolutely necessary. Jimin didn’t know what he had expected, but it wasn’t this… This stasis they were trapped in. He had expected someone yelling, accusing. Sharp words, that didn’t match the soft voice he had been used to. There had been none of that. Nothing at all. He wasn’t sure what he preferred.

Hoseok smiled a little at him when he walked into the room. He was sitting up in his bed with his reddish tail in his lap. Yoongi, laying in his own bed, didn’t acknowledge him but his dark eyes were burning Jimin’s skin when he wasn’t looking.

Hoseok patted the bed with the hand that wasn’t in a cast. His smile was smaller than it had been in the morning. Your absence wasn’t affecting only them. Jimin had heard you telling stories to Hoseok, you had done the same with Jungkook. But he had no stories to tell, nothing worth sharing. He hadn’t traveled the world, he didn’t have interesting and famous friends, he didn’t have a job or childhood memories by the beach.

Silence spread, only broken by his apologies every time Hoseok winced. He was holding back for his sake and it made his stomach clench. He left the room like there were hell-hounds on his heels.

The second day you were gone everyone woke up early in the morning, like all the days they had to be up early to see you before leaving for work. You might not be there but his body demanded he wake up and drag his feet upstairs for breakfast. A book was laying cover up on the table. One of the leather-bound classics you kept on the top shelves of the library. Namjoon read it at night before going to sleep.

Seokjin placed a plate of pancakes in front of Jimin. Pancakes were his favorite.

Belly full, he trudged to the second level.

“Good morning,” he greeted, coming through the door.

Hoseok’s fox ears twitched. “Good morning,” he said with a small smile. Yoongi remained silent, standing by the glass wall.

Jimin fetched the medical kit from the bathroom. Everything he would need was in there. “Did you sleep well?” He tried to make conversation. It wasn’t easy when he felt like he could erupt at any moment with Yoongi’s gaze on him. If he hurt Hoseok, Yoongi would never look at him again. Or he could do so much worse. But Jimin had already lost him years ago.

“Yeah,” Hoseok replied, fumbling with the blanket he was sitting on. “I had a weird dream. About being at the lake. There was a statue there and he was talking… It was good, though.”

There was a small Greek style statue on the half-empty shelves of the room, a Kouros you had explained to him. “It must be because of that.” Jimin motioned to the shelves. “There are pieces of ancient Greece all over the house. The first show Y/N directed was about Persephone and Hades, the Greek god of the dead. Greek mythology has a special place for her.”

“She talked to me about Greece a little but she didn’t say anything about the show,” Hoseok said.

Jimin opened the medical kit, remembering watching the episodes one after the next, hanging from every word the characters said. “The show is so good! I couldn’t stop watching it, I didn’t want to get out of the cinema room for anything. The characters were perfect, Persephone was so sweet and kind but she-” He stopped himself, cutting off his rambling. The cream in his hand was getting warm.

Hoseok sat up straighter to help his work. “But what? Why did you stop?”

Jimin startled. He could at least do this, he could speak about the show. He had watched the episodes multiple times and he had asked you so many questions, some of which you hadn’t talked your way around. Hoseok didn’t wince as much as the first time and maybe Jimin go a little carried away, but he didn’t make any mistakes and Hoseok even asked questions and talked with him.

The cat hybrid had to suppress the shivers the eyes on his back sent down his spine.

♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩

Greek gods, fantasy, romance and mysteries. That’s what made you rich. That’s what got you this huge house and more money than anyone would ever see in their lives. The Castle. Yoongi scoffed. What a pretentious name for an even more pretentious house, but that was the way it worked.

Yoongi disliked rich people on principle. Privileged, arrogant and self-entitled were only a few of the adjectives he would use to describe them. They thought they could control anyone because they had money and money made the world go round. Money could get you everything and that’s what they wanted. Everything. In long coats and designer sunglasses looking for entertainment in the most dubious places, feeding off the struggle of the others. Watching enraptured as others fought for their lives.

All of them were the same. It didn’t matter if they were hiding behind smiling masks or surface philanthropic acts. They were the same. And you were just like them. He refused to believe anything else. Despite how hard it was getting. But every time he was slipping, he would remember the pleads and rough hands. His resolve didn’t crack.

He heard all the stories you told Hoseok. Not that he wanted to but there wasn’t a chance he would leave him alone with you. Most of them were funny and although he didn’t want to admit, there were parts the corners of his mouth had lifted up without his permission. He was grateful for those stories, they made Hoseok forget. One rare time, when you were telling him about a disaster on set that involved three spoons, a maraca and a lost script, Hoseok had giggled and Yoongi’s heart had come close to bursting out.

Every morning and every night you would have a different story for him and it made Yoongi wonder if they were all true or if you were coming up with them on the spot. Not that it mattered, it made Hoseok smile and that was enough. Yoongi had found himself waiting for the times you would come into their room and start talking. You had a way with words.

And now you were gone, leaving them alone in the house, alone with no one watching over them like a guard dog (except that damned wolf hybrid, but that was another case entirely). There were a few things he knew about the world and one of them was that hybrids weren’t left alone in a house that cost more than his handlers would make in their whole lives. He didn’t like surprises and he hated how full of them you were.

Jimin had been the one to take over and you must have been somewhere in Virginia laughing at Yoongi’s expense. The younger looked good, his cheeks were full and there was a certain glow on his soft skin. Jimin had always looked beautiful but now he was ethereal. He couldn’t keep his eyes away.

Hoseok pressed a few buttons on the TV remote and groaned. After Jimin’s excitement about the show in the morning, he had decided he would watch the show. Jimin had showed him how to put it on but Hoseok was having some trouble.

“Give that to me,” Yoongi grumbled, taking the remote. He searched for the title among the options (there were too many of them).

Hoseok pointed at one of the pictures. “That’s it! That’s it! “Land of the Gods”.”

A girl wearing a flower crown was gazing at him from the screen. He clicked on the picture and the synopsis and the episode list appeared. “Are you seriously going to watch that?”

“It must be good if Jimin was so excited about it. He was so excited he got me excited.” A smile stretched his lips. Yoongi was weak.

“What do you know about Greek mythology?”

Hoseok shrugged. “Not much but I don’t think I need to. The show has to be good if it got her where she is now. I’m sure she must have been great at her job to be this successful.”

If anything, there was no doubt you were successful. He could see it everywhere he looked. One night he had been watching the news, Hoseok long asleep, and they had talked about your newest project set to start filming in May. One of the greatest directors of our generation, they had called you, predicting high ratings and large audiences. But success didn’t necessarily mean talent and Yoongi told himself he didn’t care enough to see if you had it.

Contemplating, he sat on the bed by Hoseok’s side. “We should discuss when we are leaving.”

Hoseok’s eyes widened, his tail fluffing up. “Leaving?”

“Yeah, leaving. You’re better, aren’t you? We should be gone before she comes back.” Yoongi threw the remote on the bed.

“Oh.” Hoseok’s fox ears lowered. “I wanted to thank her, it feels wrong to leave like this.”

Yoongi sighed. He could understand Hoseok, he didn’t want to leave either. He wasn’t stupid. Having a warm meal three times a day was more than they could dream of in the streets. It was more than they could dream of when they had a roof over their heads and murky water on their tongues. These few days Yoongi had eaten and slept more than he had in three years but it had to end. It was nothing more than a polished dream. He didn’t want your pity and he wouldn’t have accepted to come here if it hadn’t been for Hoseok.

“I think she would appreciate us leaving more than a thank you,” Yoongi said. “We don’t know how long she will be gone and we have already overstayed our welcome.”

“We… yeah.” Hoseok gave in. “But you should talk to Jimin before we go.” Yoongi stiffened. “I have seen the way you look at him, you know. I heard you that first day. He is the only reason we are here now. I can connect the dots. I don’t ask you about your past because I know it hurts you but I ask you this. Talk to him before we go. Jimin… Jimin looks like a part of your past that shouldn’t hurt this much.”

Yoongi clenched his jaw. Because Jimin was the most painful part of his past. Everything that had happened to him, everything he had been through didn’t hold anything to the pain he felt when thinking about Jimin and his delicate features. Nothing hurt more than the images of that night ingrained in his brain. He didn’t deserve to forget, he didn’t even try.

“I can’t talk to him.”

Hoseok scooted closer and Yoongi reached to steady him. The fox hybrid would laugh at him, he had the all clear to move on his own and he didn’t need help with something as simple as this, but he didn’t push him away. “Why not?

“I just can’t.” Hoseok raised his eyebrows at him. “Hobi, just let it go. Jimin wouldn’t want to talk to me, there is too much you don’t know.”

Hoseok turned his head away. “Yes, because you don’t tell me.”

“Hobi…” Yoongi placed a hand on his shoulder, rubbing comforting circles, there were no bruises there. “What happened, it’s better if you don’t know. I don’t want any more people being haunted by what I did.”

Hoseok’s eyes softened, taking Yoongi’s hands in his own. Every touch from Hoseok was like a brush with the sun. “If you think anything you say could change my opinion of you, you don’t know me at all. You saved me, Yoongi. You saved me when I thought I was done for, when I thought I wouldn’t live to see another day. If you weren’t there, if I didn’t have you…” A shaky breath fell past his lips. He squeezed Yoongi’s hands in his and Yoongi squeezed back. “I would have never gotten out without you. You are all I have.”

Yoongi touched Hoseok’s cheek, nosing against his neck and breathing in the scent of cinnamon. “And you’re all I have.”

The first episode of “Land of the Gods” played as Yoongi laid next to Hoseok with the younger’s head on his chest.

♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩

The workers kept looking at you like children who had been caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar and it wasn’t even their fault. They had been following instructions and using the materials the company had sent. The one who had decided to forgo the safety measures because they were too expensive had yet to admit to anything, but a storm was brewing and you would watch until the end. They could say whatever they wanted about you but no one’s life was at risk on your watch.

You hadn’t been alone in the sentiment, most of your co-workers siding with you and calling meetings after meetings on the matter. You had taken it up to yourself to send a lengthy email to the president and were waiting for a reply that wouldn’t take long to come.

In the meantime, you were stuck with damage control. The meticulously designed sets had turned into ruins and rubble. A lot of expensive equipment had been destroyed and the replacements had yet to arrive. The first night you had a short meeting at a building the company was renting and then drove to the set to survey the damage. You had gritted your teeth at the sight of broken blocks like legos. There was nothing more to see.

You came back with heavy limbs and dust on your jeans. The air-conditioning was on and Jungkook was sitting on the couch watching a superhero movie. It wasn’t one you recognized, an older one than those you usually watched. You changed into your pajamas after taking a shower for the third time in a day (your skin barrier was set to be destroyed soon) and joined him in the living room. Neither of you had had dinner so you ordered food from the first place you found on the web. The delivery was fast and you settled on the couch, eating pizza and watching an old Samuel L. Jackson film.

Fortunately, the earthquake hadn’t caused any major disasters but you had heard that a couple of people had been injured. The most damage in the area had been to the TV show sets. That was alright, you could work on that.

Your schedule wasn’t much different from usual. You woke up early, the sun peaking over the horizon and showering the room in its morning glow through the thin curtains. Reaching for your phone, you turned off the alarm before it could start ringing. You woke up earlier but you scheduled it every night regardless of that. Jungkook blinked his eyes open as soon as you moved a little, he was used to waking up early too.

At breakfast it was only the two of you, John and the hotel staff. It was way too early for anyone else. Jungkook didn’t leave the hotel and you spent most of the day outside. The first days were the most crucial and therefore the most busy. Go there, take this, fill this out, talk to him/her. An endless task list. And there were a lot of things you had to figure out yourself.

“You should come with me today,” you said, digging your spoon into the bowl of yogurt. You ate a generous breakfast to propel through the morning.

“T-to work?” Jungkook stuttered, his hand loosening around the spoon. He was eating pancakes with maple syrup and you had a feeling about who he was thinking of.

You rolled the spoon between your fingers. “Well, you don’t have to come to work with me. We could drop you off at a coffee shop or a park if you want to. You can’t stay cooped up in the hotel room all day.”

John nodded in agreement. “I think it’s a good idea. You need some fresh air, staying in three rooms can’t be good for you.”

Jungkook dropped his head to hide his flushed cheeks. “I’m alright here, you don’t have to worry about me. Really.”

“But that’s what I’ll do at work if you stay in here for one more day,” you said. “You can go anywhere, there is a whole city to explore. And if I have any breaks I can call and I’ll come find you.”

Jungkook looked down at the pancakes. “I don’t think I should be out alone.”

“Of course you can. You can wear a collar and no one will say anything. We packed a few didn’t-?” Wearing a collar would protect him from the hybrid services, especially with your name and number engraved in the back of a charm. But you realized it wasn’t hybrid services he was afraid of. A hybrid alone in the streets could be an easy target, Jimin and Jungkook had been together that night and still… But it was broad daylight. “John could come with you,” you offered.

“No, no, he should be with you,” Jungkook protested weakly.

You exchanged a look with John, after years you were perfect at reading each other. “I actually think John would have a much better time with you. The only thing he does with me is follow me around and wait for the day to end. And it’s not like I’m in any danger there, I’m surrounded by a lot of people and some of the places have security so…”

“Or she’s trying to get rid of me,” John said, taking a bite of his sandwich. “Not that I’m complaining, waiting outside of those meetings gets very boring very quickly. Who will drive you?”

“It won’t be hard to find someone. I’ll catch a ride with Will, he has plenty of space in his car.” Will was the assistant director and he had been dragged to Virginia with you. When you worked it was rare to find one without the other. He had been with you for a few years and he was your right hand on set, he could get everything you asked done in a matter of seconds and often better than you could have done them yourself.

Satisfied, John finished his sandwich. “It’s settled then, I’ll go with the guy while you run around like a mad woman.”

“It isn’t so much running around today,” you mumbled. In comparison to other days, that was.

Jungkook picked up his fork again, his nose twitching. “Thank you, but I really don’t know where to go.”

You smiled. “That’s the most exciting part. There are so many places you can choose from. John knows the area a little, he knows a few places worth visiting.” John saluted with two fingers on his temple. “Is there something you want to do?”

Jungkook shrugged. “The park maybe? I would like to walk a little if that’s alright.”

“Fine by me,” John said. “Let’s reconnect with Mother Nature a little.”

You shook your head. “As if the sets aren’t in the middle of nowhere. They’re like thirty to forty minutes from the city, I spend most of my day in a car.”

“Stop complaining. It’s partly your fault,” John reminded you, which only caused you to complain more.

Jungkook let out a cute giggle at your bickering. He looked small in his oversized hoodie, it was a gray one this time with design of black swirls interwining and forming a heart. He would have to change before going out. He would melt otherwise.

They dropped you off at the set, having spent most of the thirty minute drive (John was a fast driver, always following the speed limit though) listening to music and talking about whatever came to mind. Jungkook had insisted on coming with when John dropped you off instead of waiting at the hotel for John to come back. He didn’t care that the drive would be more than an hour for him. You stepped out of the car, adjusted your backpack with all the papers and files inside and sent flying kisses to them while John rolled his eyes.

It was one of the good days, everyone was in a relatively good mood, they were listening to you and the conversations about the problems you were facing rolled smoothly. Will had taken over some of the most tiring tasks ignoring your protests so you were left to do most of the talking and the moral support part.

They worked quickly but there was no doubt that the sets wouldn’t be ready for filming to start on the initial date you had set, you would have to rely more on the sets in Los Angeles and film some scenes earlier than planned. Time was precious and you couldn’t waste it sitting around doing nothing.

Will was more than happy to give you a ride back to the city, you had many things to discuss on the way. You hadn’t been at this park before. It wasn’t the one you were considering for filming but it was just as nice. John had texted you where they were and you had typed the address in Will’s GPS. It was way past lunch and you wondered if they hadn’t left the park since the morning. That was a lot of hours spent in a park.

You followed the cobblestone path, tall trees framing the way adorned with green leaves and tiny flowers. Sending a quick message to John asking him about more specific directions, you stopped at a bridge arching over a small river and rested your elbows on the railing waiting for the reply.

You missed home in a way you hadn’t before. Home hadn’t always been Los Angeles, it had taken a long time for you to see it that way. It had been your hometown at first and that would always remain a part of you but it had been years since you had stayed there for more than two weeks. Home had been a suitcase and a vague idea of belonging for the most of your adult life. Being at a new place every few months, often more than that, you traveled and met people, you explored new places and learnt their secrets and culture. Los Angeles was just the base you returned to before you were gone again.

And then you had met Taylor and Zayn and suddenly you had a reason to come back other than necessity. They had become your closest friends and you held a new appreciation for the city because that’s where you spent time with them, strolling through the streets and going to the beach or staying inside watching movies or baking.

And through Zayn you had met Jacob and Los Angeles became more and more to you. The two of you had decided to build your life there together. That was gone now but the City of Angels had sneaked into your heart and made a home for itself there. Yet you hadn’t missed it like this before.

Texts and calls were fine for some time but not nearly enough. Jungkook was withdrawn while you talked to the other hybrids and Jimin’s voice got smaller and smaller every time the youngest refused to speak with him until he stopped trying. Namjoon and Jin tried to comfort him but the only person who could help was the one shutting him out. On top of that, Jimin tended to Hoseok’s wounds, the two hybrids were still at the Castle and you hoped they wouldn’t leave until you got back. You wanted to check in with Hoseok one more time before they were gone, back to the streets.

The streets… Those damn streets. Where Hoseok had been beat up, where Jimin and Jungkook had been attacked, where they didn’t know which day would be their last, starving or being beaten to death. You had done all you could, when they refused any more help, but it wasn’t enough. It couldn’t be enough.

A whistle made you turn around.

“Are you going to stand there all day?” John called to you.

“Me?” you called back. “How long have you been here? Did you eat lunch?”

“We went to a restaurant nearby, John ordered the best from the menu. I told him to wait for you but he said you would be late,” Jungkook said.

You ruffled his hair and he shuffled closer to you. “Late… I’m not late, I didn’t say I would be back for lunch.”

Jungkook chuckled. “When are you back for lunch?”

You gasped. “You have been spending too much time with John. He’s corrupting you!”

On the other side of the bridge, the path opened up to a large expanse of grass with a few trees sprinkled in. Jungkook had his sketchpad with him and sat down against a tree with pieces of black charcoal, a method he had been experimenting with.

Next to him, you pulled out a notebook from your backpack, it was your personal space where you could write anything and everything. Drawing faint thick lines on the paper, Jungkook told you excitedly about his day with John, who was sitting at a bench talking on the phone with his family.

A shine you hadn’t seen in a while was back in Jungkook’s eyes. You took photos and sent them to the hybrids at home and rolled around in the grass. He pointed at the clouds and what each of them looked like. There was turtle, an elephant and a vase, although you insisted it looked more like an Egyptian cat.

Jungkook came with you to work later and although he was shy and stayed away from everyone else, trailing behind you like a lost puppy, he was smiling. Fascinated, he listened to your conversations about the show and the sets and admired the designs. Your co-workers cooed at the cute bunny hybrid and he flushed hiding behind you.

When the day was over and you were back at the hotel, you realized it was the most fun you’d had since coming to Virginia. Freshly showered with his wet hair sticking to his forehead, Jungkook slipped into the bed next to you.

“Did you have a good time?” you asked. In the quiet of the night it felt wrong for your voice to be louder than a whisper. “You can be honest with me. I won’t take it personally.”

A small smile simmered on Jungkook’s lips as he turned on his side to look at you. In the lights of the city coming through the window, his chocolate brown eyes seemed black. “I had the best of times. Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me. It was nice having you there, it was… different. A good different. You should come again tomorrow, to the sets outside the city this time.”

“I would like that,” he whispered.

“Okay.”

“Okay,” Jungkook repeated in a breath.

It would be nice to have him with you. He wasn’t distracting you, on the contrary you were more focused because you knew he was there watching you, you wanted to show him the best of you. This was far from the most exciting part of the process of making a film but it was necessary. Well, it wouldn’t have been necessary if someone hadn’t decided to purposely forget all about the safety measures but you had already dedicated too much of your energy being angry about it.

Once the actual filming had started you would take Jungkook with you and show him the behind the scenes of how a TV show was made. If he was fascinated with this part then he would love filming. The actors were incredible and they had found their connections to the characters, channeling them at the table readings, it would be even better when they were in the costumes on set.

“I liked it,” Jungkook said. “I really liked seeing you work.”

You smiled at the bunny. “You used to see me work every day at the Castle.”

“But it wasn’t the same.” Jungkook laid his head on his hand. “You looked different there,” he said. “You looked powerful, like you could do anything. Everyone looked at you like you had all the answers.”

“It was a good day, I guess. It isn’t always like that. I might look confident and like I have everything under control all the time but that’s far from the truth.”

For all of your fame and the praise you received, you did make mistakes, you got stuck and felt helpless against some problems. Not everyone listened to you and you got into arguments with the executive producers sometimes. And you weren’t always the one who was right.

“Looking confident is half of the job, even when you don’t feel like it. It’s one of those situations where ‘fake it till you make it’ is a requirement. When you want to be heard you have to look and act like you are sure of what you’re doing, especially when you are a young woman at an important position. If you don’t, people begin to doubt you and if they doubt you, they will begin to talk over you and disregard your opinions. That was the first lesson I learnt on this job.”

At seventeen, you had been in charge of directing “Land of the Gods” and it wasn’t all smooth sailing, much less at the beginning. You were young, too young for most of them. You couldn’t direct such a project they said. They questioned your every move and decision, every correction you made and everything you said to the actors during a scene. They didn’t take you seriously until halfway through filming and even then they didn’t hesitate to question your authority. A constant battle of wills.

But it had gotten you here. You couldn’t complain.

“You’ve done so many things,” Jungkook said as if in awe. “All those shows and movies. And they are all so good. You are so talented. I could have never achieved what you have even if I wasn’t…” He left the sentence hanging.

You adjusted your position, laying on your forearm. “I don’t believe that, I think you would be marvelous at whatever you did. You have the dedication and that’s half of the job done. About me…” You let out a small chuckle. “I was very young when I started, I’m still young considering my profession, and I had so many ideas. I still have so many of them.” Or you used to, before the buzz in your brain became just noise. “And I don’t want to wait so long the industry gets tired of me, I have to take advantage of the light as long as it’s on me.”

“I don’t think they can get tired of you, not when your movies and shows are… like that. I couldn’t get tired of them,” Jungkook said. “It’s just- I’m not-” Frustrated, he cut himself off. “You work too much. I’m just… When was the last time you had a break? An actual break without working in any form.”

You opened your mouth to answer and closed it again. It certainly wasn’t this year and it wasn’t last year either. When you had taken a break to buy and decorate the house, you had been answering calls about work when you had been choosing the paints for the walls and writing scripts while you discussed floor plans. Break for you wasn’t a time you didn’t work but rather a time they couldn’t call you to the offices or the set.

“It’s been a while,” you said in the end. “I’ve got a lot of things going on, I don’t really have the time to take a break. I can’t leave them hanging, they rely on me.”

“Maybe they shouldn’t. Not so much.”

But that’s how it has always been for as long as you could remember. You were involved in every single part of the process, in every decision, from the scripts, to casting, to the set and costume design, to the actual filming, the post-production and the editing. Supervising and making sure that everything was right. That was your charm, that was one of the reasons you were one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood. Each project was a part of yourself. If you let those responsibilities go, what would that mean for you? What would they say about you?

The air-conditioning made a small sound as the room reached the desired temperature. The setting wasn’t too low, a pleasant coolness replacing the stifling heat. The thick walls of the hotel kept the heat of the day trapped inside, something that would be very beneficial in winter but a lot less so in spring nearing summer.

“Anyway, I think we’ll be done in a few days,” you said. “We’ll probably be home by the end of the week. The new plans have been drawn and there is only one more meeting I have to attend and that’s more for appearances’ sake than anything else. The rest is up to the crew here.”

Jungkook’s smile wavered. “So soon? Don’t you have any more work? The people here seemed to need you.”

“They don’t need me, there is nothing more I can offer them. My place right now is in Los Angeles, that’s where they need me.” You nudged his foot with yours, your knees were close enough to touch every time you moved. “But that’s not what you’re nervous about, is it?”

Jungkook shook his head, hiding half of his face in the pillow. “I don’t want to go back.”

“Kookie…” You nudged his foot again until your legs were intertwined underneath the thin sheets. “Staying here won’t help anyone. You have to talk to him.”

Jungkook closed his eyes as if the conversation pained him. “He shouldn’t want to talk to me.”

“But he does. You know he has been asking for you,” you said.

“He stopped.”

“Because you never replied. Doing this, pulling away and ignoring him, you’re hurting him more than whatever you feel guilty for. You didn’t see how sad he was every time you didn’t show up for a meal or when he called for you and you ignored him. You’re hurting him and I know that isn’t what you want so why do you keep doing it?”

A sob clawed out of Jungkook’s throat and he tried to muffle it with his fist. Your eyes widened at the sound, instinctively pulling the younger boy into your arms. He didn’t fight you, holding on to you like you were the only thing keeping his afloat, hiding his face in your neck as the sobs he couldn’t suppress fell from his lips.

“What… What I did to him was h-horibble. I-I took adva-advantage of him,” Jungkook chocked out as his tears dampened your skin. “And I know, I know he’s going to forgive me. But I don’t want him to. He shouldn’t. He shouldn’t forgive-” A sob cut him off. “I don’t deserve forgiveness.”

You run your hands through his hair, scratching gently at the base of his bunny ears, something that used to calm him down. “Baby… You should let him have that choice, you can’t take it away from him.”

“I can’t forgive myself,” he muttered, desperation and heartbreak seeping into his voice like water through the cracks of a dam until it breaks.

“If Jimin can forgive you then you can work towards forgiving yourself. All I know is that you love each other too much to continue like this.”

♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩

It was the fifth day you were gone. Seokjin had been keeping track, the equivalent of another line engraved on the wall of a cell. He had been going to sleep and waking up alone in a bed that felt too large for one person. He had added more blankets and stuffed animals decorating embellishing his nest but it did nothing for the feeling of emptiness covering it like a veil.

You called every day and texted them religiously, it was more than he could have expected but much less than what he craved. Jungkook sent photos of the hotel suite and of every place he visited with short captions. Seokjin smiled as his heart constricted.

It was the fifth day you were gone and he was sitting at the large table in the back garden, drinking tea at the time he would have been bringing yours before you had to go back to work. Jin didn’t consider himself a clingy person. He was loyal and protective of the people he loved, he obeyed his past owners and he took care of them. But this was new. It had been five days, the number didn’t change but Jin felt like it had been much longer than that. When his past owners left it wasn’t for long, less than two weeks, he didn’t have the time to miss them. He hadn’t missed them. Two weeks. Five days.

Jungkook would be nagging at him by now, tugging his arm or foot or whatever part of him he could get and if Jin didn’t give in the bunny hybrid would sprawl himself next to the older with his head in his lap. Despite Seokjin warnings about getting splashed with tea or coffee in the face, Jungkook stayed there.

If you were back from work, a rare occurrence, you would insist you all spent that time together. Like a family.

Family. Such a peculiar word. It was one of those words Seokjin couldn’t grasp the real meaning of. He was a hybrid, he didn’t have parents, the one who had given birth to him had delivered him to the scientists earning a large amount of money for her services. His first owners had trained him harsher than a pet and treated him like a servant or a living piece of decor. It didn’t matter if he’d thought of them as his family to feel better for himself, they owned him and they didn’t let him forget.

He didn’t know what having a family felt like. But he guessed it felt a lot like the mornings before you left for work and Jungkook was bickering with Jimin about how much he could eat while Namjoon was smirking into his coffee.

“A penny for your thoughts?”

Seokjin startled, the mug trembling dangerously in his hands. Another hand enveloped his to steady it. “How do you do that? I almost had a heart attack.”

Namjoon smiled sheepishly. “You aren’t the first one to say that, about the heart attack. I’ll try to make more noise next time.”

There was only a tiny bit of tea left at the bottom of the mug so Seokjin placed it on the table to avoid any more surprises that could threaten its survival. “Are you going somewhere?” he asked, looking at the black backpack Namjoon was wearing.

“I’m going for a walk in the forest. Would you like to join me?”

“Like this?” he gestured to his casual attire.

“Maybe you should wear different shoes,” he said referring to the slippers he was wearing.

Seokjin was tempted to say no, sugar gliders might be native to forests but he didn’t have the same ease among trees. But he was tired of being in his own company and something inside him was screaming to go and be with his pack. After all, it was impossible to not give into Namjoon’s dimples.

“Okay, I’ll come with you. Just don’t lead us so far away we won’t be able to come back.”

Namjoon’s smile widened as Jin left to change his shoes. His sneakers were in a box under his bed. He had worn them only once because he preferred wearing his slippers in the house or the gardens. These sneakers were the ones he had on when you had gone to the lake before you had to go back to work and be away for most of the day.

The wolf hybrid was waiting in the back garden for him by the curtain of vines with the purple blooms. The mug was nowhere in sight.

“Ready?” Namjoon asked him.

“Ready,” Seokjin said, not paying any mind to the fluttering in his stomach.

Namjoon pulled the curtain of vines aside, the path stretching ahead. The forest was alive in spring, trees green and tall, creating shade for the small creatures roaming around to hide from the sun. And when a few sun-rays slipped through the spaces between the branches and the leaves, they looked like a touch from the gods.

Namjoon navigated the forest with practiced ease and Seokjin had a feeling the wolf hybrid knew exactly where they were going. He just hoped Jimin wouldn’t look for them while they were gone, but knowing Namjoon he had probably already told Jimin. Or Jimin could call them. Seokjin wasn’t used to having his own phone and often he forgot he had the device.

Staying close to Namjoon, he kept his eyes on the ground. A poor attempt to keep his tripping to the minimal. But the forest was conspiring against him. Roots, stones, sticks, everything he could trip over was in his path.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

Namjoon stopped, turning to look at him. He smirked. “It’s a surprise.”

“No, I prefer no surprises,” Jin said. Rock. He stepped over it, avoiding a possible humiliating fall. “Tell me where we’re going. Is it far?”

“Not too far.” Not too far for Namjoon could be totally different from Seokjin’s idea of not too far. “I swear to you we aren’t getting lost today. I know this part of the forest like the back of hand and I have a good sense of direction. See?” He pointed to the direction of a large tree on his right. “That’s north,” he pointed to the opposite direction, “and that-”

Before he could finish, Seokjin had tripped over a protruding root. He hadn’t seen it, being too focused on Namjoon. He let a shriek as he tumbled to the ground, scratching his hands as they came in contact with the ground fist.

Namjoon called his name but he hadn’t been fast enough. He grasped Seokjin’s elbows pulling him up so he was sitting instead of laying face down on the dirt.

“Are you alright?” Namjoon asked, kneeling next to him, and Seokjin felt heat travel to his face and his chest tightening. He had an urge to flee and forget that had happened. Namjoon didn’t give him the chance though. He took his hands in his, turning them over and inspecting the damage. Dirt was clinging on the flesh and Namjoon blew on them to make some it go away. “We need to clean this.” He pulled out a water bottle from his backpack and poured water on his hands. It did sting a little but Seokjin was used to much worse than this.

Thin lines were etched on his palm, none of them bleeding. His hands had taken most of the burnt of the fall. The pride he had been piecing back together hurt more than his body did.

“We should go back,” Namjoon said, letting his hands go. Seokjin mourned the loss then reprimanded himself for it. “Maybe coming here wasn’t a good idea.”

“I’m fine,” he said. He didn’t like the frown on Namjoon’s face. “We don’t have to go back. I don’t want to go back.” He cleared his throat. His face, neck and ears felt impossibly hot.

Namjoon regarded him with careful eyes. “Are you sure? Does it hurt anywhere?”

“Really, I’m fine,” he repeated. He put one hand on the ground to steady himself and get back on his feet. It didn’t work very well because as soon as Namjoon saw him moving he was helping him up supporting most of his weight. “It wasn’t painful, more embarrassing than anything else,” Seokjin muttered. Despite the low tone, Namjoon heard him and his face smoothed. “Let’s go. We will never get to that place you want before nightfall at this rate.”

Namjoon chuckled shaking his head. “If you say so.” Seokjin expected him to start walking but instead he laced their fingers together. “Is this okay? I don’t want you falling again. If you trip again I’ll keep you up or at least we’ll fall together.”

Seokjin huffed out a laugh, lightheaded. Namjoon wasn’t distant but he wasn’t open with his affection like Jimin or Jungkook or even you and feeling his hand in his had ignited something inside him he was struggling to bury.

They held hands all the way to the secret destination. Seokjin tripped a couple more times, the rocks and the roots were still there and Namjoon was too distracting, but he kept his balance. Namjoon held on his hand tighter whenever he lost his footing and he allowed himself to consider it for a moment before banishing the idea.

The walk wasn’t too long and as the trees thinned out a little, a few large rocks emerged from the ground. They had climbed higher than the level of the house, the forest and the lake stretching under them. On the side the Castle peeked between the trees and the road leading to the city.

Namjoon helped him up the rock while he complained for the sake of it. They sat down to rest and Namjoon offered him the bottle of water he had used before, plenty of water was left inside. Seokjin insisted they shared it, he had already used half of it on him anyway.

“You like being outside so much, you have walked through most of the forest. You go on walks every day. Why don’t you go out with Y/N? Or around the neighborhood?” he asked. Namjoon wasn’t someone who could be contained in a house, he needed to be outside, and the forest looked too small for him.

Namjoon crossed his hands over his bent knee. “Being in the forest is easier. I can’t explain it but it’s familiar territory. Outside the forest, outside the house, that’s different. I know the streets of Los Angeles, I’ve spent more time on them than I would have liked. And now things are different but those streets are the same. I don’t think I’m ready to go back there alone.”

Seokjin’s heart constricted at the reminder of what the three hybrids he held so dearly had been through. He was spoiled, he couldn’t have survived a life in the streets. But if he was with them… If he was with them maybe it would would have been worth it.

It was a dangerous world for lone hybrids, people were eager to take advantage of them and hybrid services were always lurking in large cities like Los Angeles. Going outside alone could be an invitation for harassment from a few sick people who thought they were entitled to hybrids’ lives because humans created them, who thought they were lesser. Seokjin hadn’t been allowed to be alone outside, his owners believed it was indecent and disrespectful for hybrids to walk alone or stay alone.

“Do you want to go outside in the city?” Namjoon asked.

Seokjin hugged his knees. “I wouldn’t know where to go or what to do. I’ve never been out alone.”

Namjoon nodded. “That’s alright. It was nice being out for Spring Cleaning, I saw the city in a different light.”

Seokjin smiled, for him it hadn’t been only the city he had seen in a different light. “I would like to go out one day.”

“I would like that too,” Namjoon said softly.

But Seokjin didn’t think of going alone. He thought of being with Namjoon holding his hand so they wouldn’t lose each other or an excited Jungkook hopping around with Jimin chasing him.

Namjoon’s phone beeped with a message and he pulled it out of his backpack to read it. A smile spread on his face at whatever he was seeing. Seokjin wanted to lean closer and look at what was making him smile but he held himself back. There were only three people it could be from.

“Jungkook is playing her assistant,” Namjoon said, turning the screen so Seokjin could take a look at the photo. Jungkook was looking to the side, probably at someone talking to him, carrying two folders and a few loose papers. Seokjin’s heart softened at the sight, Jungkook looked content there. Excited and a little confused.

Seokjin took the phone in his hands. “I’m sure he insisted on carrying them for her. Doesn’t she have an assistant?”

Namjoon nodded. “Yeah, Will. But I’m not sure he’s that kind of assistant.”

“Maybe she should keep Jungkook on set, he could carry anything she wanted,” he joked. Their bunny could pick up all of them without getting tired, Seokjin had been his victim enough times to know that.

Jungkook had been doing better, his messages were more frequent and he talked more on the phone. He had been doing better but Seokjin was missing him a lot. But he couldn’t be selfish with this, going away had been good for him and if it hurt a little that he needed to be away from them, Seokjin didn’t utter a word. He had heard him sniffling at night, covering his mouth to muffle the sounds. Seokjin didn’t know how to comfort him so he just held him tighter.

Namjoon sighed, taking his phone back and hiding it in the backpack. He sighed. “Jimin is hiding away again. He barely spoke to me before locking himself in the cinema room. I don’t understand what is going on between them. Jungkook had to travel to the other side of the States to get away. I can’t get a word about what happened from either of them. Jungkook says he did something horrible to him and Jimin doesn’t want to say anything about it. And every time Jungkook pulls back from him I can see how much it hurts them both and I can’t do anything about it.”

“They don’t want us to do anything about it but they need us next to them,” Seokjin said, looking ahead at the sun slowly descending in the sky.

Namjoon let the silence stretch before speaking, “I’m grateful you’re with us, that you chose to stay. I don’t like to think about how it would have been without you.”

Seokjin turned his head away. “I didn’t do anything special. I am not that important.”

A hand touched his cheek, leading him gently until he was face to face with Namjoon looking into his hazel, almost golden, eyes. “Listen to me when I say this; you are important to us. You are pack and your place is with us here. I’ll be honest, I was weary at first but you fit right in like you were always meant to be with us. You belong with us and we’ll never let you go or get tired of you. You give so much without even realizing it.” His thumb rubbed small circles on his skin leaving burning trails behind. A heavy cloud had covered everything around him and all he could see was hazel eyes. “All I ask you is to let us take care of you, too.”

And before his doubts could stop him he surged forward. Namjoon caught him in his arms, cradling the oldest’s neck as he hid his face in his neck breathing in his scent. Time was meaningless there.

♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩

You were taking a short break. John had delivered your second cup of coffee for the day and a smoothie for Jungkook who disliked the bitter taste of coffee with passion. It was a mostly practical day that didn’t require a lot of moving around. You had been meeting up with people since the crack of dawn and discussing the best ways to cover up the disaster in a way that wouldn’t turn the public against the show or the studios. So far, you had been holding off any reporters from including the overlooked safety measures when publishing the news about the collapsed sets.

After being inside all day, you had decided to take a stroll around the block. Jungkook was walking next to you sipping his smoothie. He was wearing a simple black chocker with a silver charm.

He was telling you about a video he had seen on YouTube when your phone started ringing. Your nickname for Taylor was displayed across the screen with a photo of her pulling out a tray of cookies from the over.

“Hey, Tay,” you said.

“I called at the right time, didn’t I?”

“Just the perfect time, I have around twenty minutes before I have to go back. Work has been kicking my ass.”

Taylor laughed. “I’m sure you’ve been kicking its ass too. And better.”

You had told her around what time you would be taking your break. You hadn’t talked on the phone since coming to Virginia and you had missed her voice.

You stopped at a bench and Jungkook pulled out his phone. You felt a little bad for talking on the phone when it was the two of you but you had really missed Taylor and it wouldn’t take long anyway. She had been busy with Astrid, getting to know her better and helping her adapt to the new environment. When you had visited the hybrid had looked enamored with Taylor, you knew your friend would be amazing at taking care of a hybrid.

The conversation soon turned to you but you didn’t have much to share. Work was the same regardless the disaster but Taylor was more interested in other things.

“It has been almost a year since you and Jacob broke up. Don’t you have your sight on anyone? Any flirts? It isn’t like you lost the one and only,” she said.

Jacob had been far from the one and only. And when she asked, your mind went to dangerous places.

“Just because you found your man doesn’t mean we are all that lucky,” you said. “And how am I supposed to find anyone? I’m too busy.” From the corner of your eye you saw Jungkook turning to look at you with an unreadable expression.

Taylor continued, “Aren’t there any cute boys on set? At work? There has to be someone. Don’t bury yourself in work and forget to live. I’m not saying you need a man to be happy or complete, but don’t you miss going on dates? Getting to know someone like that?”

The answer came to you unbidden but it wasn’t something you were ready to say. “Maybe after the TV show, for now I really have to focus. After that is done and I don’t have to worry about anymore earthquakes, I’ll see where I’ll end up.”

You knew Taylor cared for you and she worried about how deep you threw yourself into work. Maybe there was also a small part that was still uncertain about the way you and Jacob had broken off things and the way you had avoided the topic like the plague for the first months. Like you and Jacob had never happened. But looking at boys and dating had been the last thing on your mind.

Ending the call with Taylor promising to text her when you got off work, you patted the small of Jungkook’s back. It was time to walk back. The smoothie was half-finished, the way it had been before, like he hadn’t taken a sip since sitting down.

You asked him if there was something wrong but he replied that everything was alright. It didn’t look like that was the case. He stayed close to you all day, more clingy than he had been the whole time you had been in Virginia, wary of the men who talked to you.

♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩ ♩♪♩♬♬♩♪♩

The blue sky and fluffy clouds reflected on the lake, a huge mirror creating another sky on its surface, a more vibrant but precise copy. No boats cut through the water, it was like there was a part of the sky that had made its home on the ground. Trees extended on every side of the lake, so many of them one next to the other with no end in sight.

The grass tickled Jimin’s palms swaying in the gentle wind. He breathed in the fresh morning.

“One day we’ll go on a boat ride.” Jungkook was sitting next to him, his long bangs falling at the sides of his face. “We’ll see every part of the lake, not just this. We’ll go everywhere.”

Flowers bloomed all around them, white and blue petunias, chrysanthemums and lilies. Jimin wanted to cut the most beautiful one and tuck it behind Jungkook’s ear. He turned to tell him but hands were holding the back of his neck and lips devouring his. He gripped Jungkook’s arms to steady himself from the force of the kiss. The sweet aroma of the flowers filled him up, engulfing every part of his being, the deepest crevices and the smallest of cracks.

Jungkook pushed him back so he was laying on the grass and Jimin let him, too drunk off the flowers and soft lips. Touches on his cheeks and his sides, caresses under his shirt. He was burning.

It didn’t take long for the panic to set in. With weak arms, he pushed Jungkook away. The air wouldn’t reach his lungs. The scent of the flowers turned stale and bitter.

“We can’t,” he tried to say but his voice wasn’t coming out right, sticking in his throat and refusing to flow.

Jungkook pulled back. His eyes were darker than before. “Is this it? Am I too common for his highness? You didn’t have any reservations about the panther hybrid, did you? Are you attracted to power, Jiminie? Or do you open your legs only for him?”

There were sharp blades piercing Jimin’s chest. How did he know? Who had told him? No one was supposed to know.

Two figures were hiding between the trees in the darkness the day couldn’t chase away. Your hands were crossed in front of your chest and Yoongi was standing right behind you.

Jimin took a step back colliding with the fountain at the entrance of the Castle. The house was looming over him, ominous and tall as if it could touch the sky. His clothes were torn, dirt and blood staining them. They were the clothes he had been wearing the day you had found them.

“I’m sorry but you can’t stay here anymore,” you said. You knew what he had done, you knew his dirty secret and he was paying for it again. He would be paying for it his whole life. A pain so powerful he felt like he was dying bloomed in his chest as rivers of tears rolled down his cheeks. His knees were weak. He couldn’t stand.

He searched in the faces of his pack, of the people he loved so much he thought his heart would burst. Nothing but sneers and gazes of pity. Whore, they whispered. Slut. Worthless.

Jimin crumbled to his knees. He was dying. He was sure he was dying. Spasms wrecked his body as he sobbed. He had nowhere to go, he had no one but them. He couldn’t live without them.

And when he thought it was over, that it was the last breath he was taking. He opened his eyes. His chest was heaving, his heart beating like a wild animal scratching at the bars of its cage. He was in their room, the glass wall looking out at the forest. Only the moonlight fought the darkness.

The sheets were restricting him and pushing him down, tangled around his body. Frantic movements born out of desperation took over his body and he stumbled over the edge of the bed, falling hard on the floor with the sheets wrapped around his legs.

And it overflowed.

The sobs and tears. He pulled at his hair and scratched his skin. They couldn’t know. No, they could never know. You would never look at him the same way. He would lose the only home he has ever known.

He wanted to scream. Scream until his lungs were empty and his body stopped shaking. Scream until he didn’t feel worthless and used like an old toy forgotten in a corner of the attic.

There were arms around him, prying his hands away from his hair and skin. He tried to pull away but they only held tighter until he gave in and sunk into their warmth. Blood was rushing to his ears and he only made out his name falling from the other person’s lips. He rocked in his arms, cursing himself and the world. Weak. He was so weak.

Fucking pathetic.

He gripped the hands holding him. He focused on the voice speaking although he couldn’t understand what it was saying. He choked on the bile in his throat, his body shaking with his sobs.

“Jiminie, breath. Just breath,” the voice said and Jimin tried to listen to it. He did. But it felt like he hadn’t been able to breath for a while. “Just like this. Breath with me. That’s right, like this. Breath. You’re doing so well, Minie.”

Spent, Jimin fell on the chest behind him, shaky breaths leaving his lips. One of the hands rubbed his stomach over his nightshirt.

“There. You’re alright. You’re alright.”

Jimin swallowed with difficulty down his scratchy throat. “Joonie?”

“I’m here. I’m here, Minie,” the other said. Jimin didn’t have the energy to look at him, laying his head on the older’s shoulder. “I’m right here.”

His breathing stuttered. Another tear escaping from his eyes, he thought he’d run out of them. “I’m sorry.”

“Shhh, don’t say that. Please don’t say that.” Namjoon’s voice was unsteady and it hurt Jimin knowing he had been the cause of it. “You’re alright. I’m always here for you but I can’t protect you from your head.”

Jimin’s tail wrapped around one of Namjoon’s arms as Jimin sniffled. “I don’t want to be alone. Please, please don’t let me go. Don’t make me leave.”

“Never. I’ll never leave you. We’ll never leave you. I’d do anything in this world to keep you safe.” Namjoon caressed his arm, moving upwards and pressing his fingers against Jimin’s left scent gland. Jimin’s whole body trembled, shivers overtaking him. Namjoon rubbed his nose against the other side of his neck, leaving kisses behind. Purring, Jimin arched his neck.

“I love you,” Jimin whispered, unable to stop the tears from falling.

Namjoon kissed over his scent gland and Jimin felt it everywhere. “I love you, Minie. So much.”

#bts #bts hybrid au #btscreatorscorner #bts x reader #jungkook x reader #jimin x reader #namjoon x reader #seokjin x reader #yoongi x reader #hoseok x reader #taehyung x reader #poly!bts x reader #poly!bts #bts fanfic #jikook #sope #bts scenarios #bts angst #bts fluff

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teasty · 3 years

Text

kiss yourself (02) |h.js (m)

● pairing: han jisung x (female) reader

● genre: angst, smut, (kinda) fluff || fwb to lovers au

● words: 7.0k

→ summary: It all started when you and your best friend for life, Han Jisung, got a little bit too tipsy at a party and ended up waking up naked in the same bed. After that unfortunate night, you and Jisung confirmed there be a distinguished “friends with benefits” relationship between the two of you, with a few rules.

Number One: No one else is supposed to know about this relationship.

Number Two: The minute one of the two of you starts a serious relationship with someone, the benefits are cut off immediately.

Number Three: Have to respect the other’s wishes, if one doesn’t want to do it, then there’s no argument.

Number Four: No falling in love.

But, when Jisung starts crushing over your classmate, you start to break the rules. One by one.

● taglist: @itzgabz22

Chapter One | CHAPTER TWO | Chapter Three

“Oh, baby, I’m going to fuck you so good…”

You debated arson the next morning.

You woke up to the sound of screaming over the phone before the sun even came up, and realized that Jeongja was screaming her head off at some poor sap that probably didn’t deserve it. Well, who knows, you’re just mad that she didn’t even bother to leave the dorm room and go scream out in the hallway to give you your peace and another two hours of sleep. She didn’t even bother to apologize to you, only giving you a wave before she gathered some things and dashed out the door.

So, of course, you weren’t really the most happy - go - lucky person today. You decided to be lazy today and just wore an oversized gray tee shirt underneath a black jacket and a pair of denim blue ripped jeans. You didn’t even bother to do your hair, deciding to just let it flow around your shoulders and do it’s thing.

You didn’t see Jeongja again that day. You expected to see her somewhere on campus since you wanted to speak, no, yell at her why she should never, ever scream at three fifty in the morning and not even bother to apologize about it and then go running off. You debated calling her, but you didn’t want to deal with it, especially when you have better things to worry about.

It wasn’t really supposed to be a busy day, but it turned out to be just that. You’re a member of a specific team mostly meant for the organization and well being of the school. It could be considered something like a student council, but you’re not really in charge of the students, just more planning for future events and other things as well as budgeting. You’re only on this team because you were specifically chosen by a group of professors choosing students by their major. So, you, a political science major, got specially chosen for the job. Whether or not you wanted to be a part of the team, you were persuaded into it by professors, saying it’ll be beneficial for future decisions in your career as a politician.

There were only another seven students on the team. One of which, thankfully, is someone you know and trust, Christopher Bang. You both became good friends after you met him that one night months ago. Especially being on this team together made you both closer, and he was a lot friendlier than you had first imagined.

There’s another girl you know on the team, but you couldn’t call her your friend. Sure, you two talked often and never had any reason to dislike each other, but something about her just wasn't right with you. Her name is Jun Chunae. A beautiful young woman in your year, as well as your same major. She’s quite refined and civilized, if anything a little bit too proper for your liking. Whenever you tried to talk about parties, drinking or even just going out with friends for fun, she always liked to lecture you on how it’s disrespectful to the education system to ignore it’s attempt to educate us by going out and partying at night.

Other than that, she’s alright.

But, another thing about Chunae that never really sparked you right was how she acted when she was with Jisung. You had only learned recently that they’re quite touchy - feely with each other. You didn’t think they were friends, but it was obvious that Chunae had the hots for Jisung. But, with Jisung, you couldn’t really tell if he was attracted to her or not. He kind of treated her the way he treats every other girl, including you. And, that fact kind of made you upset. You know that you’re only his friend, but you have benefits that no other girl, to your knowledge, has. No, you don’t want to be treated like his girlfriend, but you didn’t just want to be treated like the only girl in the world one night only to watch him kissing up to someone else the next.

Were you jealous? Yeah, you were. You weren’t too fond of a girl you don’t exactly trust being too intimate with Jisung, your best friend. But, you’d never, ever, admit that to Jisung.

He’d cut things off the minute he hears that you’re jealous. He’d think you’re falling for him, and then try everything in his power to make sure nothing happens between the two of you. And that you’ll only stay his friend, with or without those stupid benefits.

But, back to the point at hand, you were pulled early out of your last class to attend a meeting for the team. You had met up with Christopher on your way to the conference room, since he had a class nearby your own.

“What could they want this time? And, here I thought we finally got out of these dumb meetings,” you whined, and Christopher laughed, nodding along as he agrees.

“I’m not sure,” Christopher sighs, shoving his hands into his pockets, “I think Chunae would be sure to know,” Christopher rolls his eyes. Chunae was always the smart one of the group. She usually knew things before the rest of the team would know, which, in your eyes, was completely unfair. “Nothing against the girl, I just don’t like how she gets all these benefits just ‘cause she kisses the professor’s asses.”

“Right. I get what you mean,” you nod slowly, “But, it must be important if they pulled us out early without notifying us beforehand. It must be for some kind of event going on. No clue, though. We haven’t had a festival yet, so they might start one since winter’s coming soon.”

“Maybe a festival for the first snow?” Christopher suggests.

You shrug a shoulder, “Who knows. I don’t bother checking the weather, so snow could be falling any day, really. But you would think they would at least shoot us an email, right?”

“Who am I kidding, they don’t really care too much to ask if we’re free for a meeting. I was planning on going out with some friends tonight, but if this meeting is just like any other, then I might have to cancel.” Christopher looks down, obviously upset about the situation.

“Hey, don’t be so down about it. We might end early. And, if they do try to keep us in late, then just say you had plans and leave. It’s not like they’re going to kick out or anything. Besides, we’re already only eight people, we need more members, anyways.” You reassure, giving Christopher a friendly pat on the shoulder. You let your hands rest in your pocket, “Were you going to go with Jisung?’

“No, he said he had things to do,” Christopher shakes his head, not minding how you asked about Jisung, since you usually did to keep tabs on him, “No clue what, since that boy complains twenty - four seven about how boring it is in his dorm and how his roomie is usually doing his own thing. So it was just going to be Hyunjin, Changbin, Felix, Minho, Seungmin and I. We were gonna go to a bar. I’d invite you, but I don’t know how comfortable you would be around a bunch of guys without Jisung.”

“Yeah… Thanks for the consideration, though. I haven’t gone out drinking in a while. It might’ve been fun, but I think I would have had things to do tonight, anyways,” You give him a half - hearted smile, and Christopher bothers you a glance before his eyes shoot forward again. “Oh, hey, we’re here already.” You laugh to yourself as you stand in front of a wooden door with the word ‘CONFERENCE’ on it. Christopher opens the door for you, and you walk in. It’s dimly lit, and you weren’t surprised to see Chunae sitting at the head of the table, scrolling through her laptop as a professor sat next to her, mumbling about who knows what.

Her eyes shoot up the moment she hears the door open, and she shoots both you and Christopher a well practiced business smile before she takes her hands off her laptop and bows her head in welcome. Both you and Christopher bow back in respect, especially since a professor is present, and you both take a seat next to each other. “Hello (Y/N), Christopher. Good to see you guys made it. You have our apologies for pulling you out of class at random, but it’s quite important. Let's wait for the others before we start.”

“How important is it?” You ask, leaning back in the comfortable chair, raising a suspicious brow at Chunae, who closes her laptop.

“We’re holding an event, (Y/N),” Chunae says matter - of - factly, as if you should have known this by now, “It’s for the start of winter for the first snow. We’re going to do things a bit differently, a bit more western. It’s going to be… something like a dance. Except, we will have a performer and activities present, but for the majority of it, it’s a dance for the start of winter.”

“Called it,” Christopher raises a hand, and Chunae raises a thin, neatly trimmed brow at Christopher.

“Barely. It’s not like it’s a festival,” you hold back laughter as Christopher shrugs, still proud of his semi - correct assumption.

“Well, it can either be considered a festival or dance. Doesn’t really matter,” Chunae says, and Christopher snorts, and you glare at him. You fold your arms over your chest, making Chunae smile at your stubbornness, “Oh, come on, (Y/N). This will be fun. First, we must figure out budgeting and organization, as well as fitting everything into the school’s schedule. Other than that, it should mostly be advertising and preparation.”

After Chunae’s short description of what’s going to happen, the other team members glide in one by one. They all wave or bow to you, Christopher, the professor and to Chunae. All taking their respective seats and waiting for Chunae to begin the meeting. The professor left shortly after, not without bidding us good luck.

“Oh, and Chunae?” Christopher pipes up, and Chunae raises her brows at Christopher, giving him her attention, “How long are you going to keep up here. I originally had plans to go out with friends, so I don’t want to stay here until eleven like last time, if you can help it.”

“This is a very vital meeting, Christopher,” Chunae says, and Christopher rolls his eyes, looking away, “I don’t care if you want to go out with friends or not, this meeting might be long and that’s alright. You may choose to leave when you feel like it, but you might be absent for important information. It’s your choice.”

“Then why can’t you just e - mail me the information I missed?” Christopher shrugs a shoulder, and you nod in agreement.

“Because it’s better to discuss in person, is it not?” Chunae stands up, picking up her laptop, “We will debate on different things, as well as discuss things. It’s difficult to discuss in real time over e - mail.”

“Then call me. I’ve got things planned, Chunae, you can’t just pull us out of nowhere and expect us to keep our mouths shut when you don’t even warn us beforehand that there’s going to be a meeting. Sorry, Chunae, but you’re not in charge,” Christopher sighs, obviously irritated. Chunae waits with a stoic expression.

“I’m sorry, Christopher. I really am. I know I’m not in charge, but the professors have trusted me with the information I’m about to share. If you take this role responsibly, you’ll stay without argument. If you don’t, then leave. You won’t be kicked from your spot, but, as said before, you will miss a lot of vital information. It’s your choice in the end,” Chunae responds, and Christopher sighs, deciding not to argue further.

And after that little dispute, Chunae started the meeting by explaining what’s going on. And, as said before, the school is hosting a dance, which is not something ordinary for Korean colleges, since festivals usually took place in spring and usually was just with an invited idol to perform for a few hours. Chunae explained that this dance is mainly supposed to mark the end of fall and a new quarter, as well as the first seeing of snow. It was obvious, even though she never directly said it, that it’s mostly meant for couples and friends.

Each team member was given a specific task to do. Before Christopher left to go out with friends, he was given the task of budgeting. You were in charge of consulting, which was mostly just getting people to fund as well as finding performers, DJs, hosts and other people. It’s a lot of social work you weren’t too excited for, but you knew you had to take responsibility and do the job whether or not you wanted to do it.

Though it was quite boring, you had gotten a text midway through it. Chunae gave you a subtle glare, but didn’t care for how you responded to the text and carried on with the meeting.

It was Jisung.

heard you were pulled into a meeting. how long will u be there?

You responded quickly, keeping your phone under the table as you typed, your hands somewhat trembling, and you had to calm yourself as you typed.

wont be leaving for another hour or two. its pretty big. ill let you know when im leaving

He responded to you, but you didn’t bother to look at it as you shoved your phone back in your pocket.

“And who was that?” Chunae asks after a moment, staring down at you.

“Why do you wanna know?” Your brows furrow, and Chunae sighs.

“Because I’m talking about something important and you’re texting.”

“It’s my friend. Calm down, he’s just wondering when I’m getting off,” you raise your hands in a mocking surrender, and Chunae’s chin lifts higher.

“Hmm. Is it Jisung? Han Jisung? He’s your friend, is he not?” Chunae asks, and you begin to feel annoyance pile through you.

“Yeah, he is. What about it?” You ask, and Chunae shrugs her shoulders.

“I was just wondering,” Chunae sits back down in her seat, the others watching the conversation between the two of you with curious eyes. Chunae stuffs a lock of hair behind her ear, “He’s quite the looker. I hope I have your blessing if anything were to happen between us.”

“I don’t care what happens between the two of you guys,” you spit out, lying straight through your teeth. You do care. You care a lot. A part of you would be happy for Jisung, but another part doesn’t want him to leave you hanging for a girl like Chunae. You know she would treat him well and that Jisung might be better off with a girl like Chunae, but that jealous part of you doesn’t want to let him go. You love the sneaking around, the overnight sessions and even the semi - public ones. You’re not really ready to let that go, yet. It’s only been a few months. You didn’t expect for someone to be kissing up to Jisung this soon, but you should have expected it. “He’s my best friend. As long as you treat him well, then I might not consider punching your teeth in if you do end up with him.”

Chunae laughs, and you tensely chuckle through your nose along with her, “Well, I’m sure Jisung is happy to have a friend like you, (Y/N). So protective. Sometimes I’ve gone to wonder if you two are really in a relationship or not.”

“Yeah. You two basically hang off of each other, you’re around each other all of the time,” says another team member who you recognized as Naeyeon. Someone you didn’t bother to get to know. She didn’t seem to like you that much, anyways.

“It’s none of your business in the first place, if we were in a relationship. Which, we’re not,” you snap, not really in the mood to talk about Jisung right now, “Can we get back to the main focus?”

“Yes, my apologies, (Y/N). I shouldn’t invade your personal life like that in a professional environment like this,” Chunae stands up again, and you sigh. Already tired of this meeting.

At the end, you’re given loads of papers to go through considering consultation, and you weren’t ready to study them just yet. Your backpack got ten times heavier as you stuffed them in there, and you were the first one to leave when Chunae called the meeting to an end. You didn’t even bother to wave goodbye as you slammed through the door, basically speed - walking to get out of the main building and to the dorm rooms.

As said before, you had nothing against Chunae. In fact, you’d like to get to know her past her proper and all - to civilized self. If she were to let loose, she might be really fun, in your eyes. Her whole aura just sets you off, sometimes. Sometimes, she can get pretty stuck up, and you’re not sure how Jisung could handle her if he continuously complains about your stubbornness.

Speaking of Jisung, one of the first things you did when you basically ran out of the conference room was text Jisung that the meeting’s finally over and if you should start heading there.

He never answered faster.

He said you should head there, but to be careful of security since it’s so late. You were cautious, but thankfully no officer was out this late, even though it was only ten - thirty at night and curfew was thirty minutes ago. It’s a pretty long walk to Jisung’s dorm, though, since it’s on the top floor of the (decently huge) building. Since it’s past curfew, the elevators weren’t in working order anymore, and you had to take the stairs to the top floor, which absolutely killed your feet. But, once you made it to the familiar dorm door, you rested against the doorframe before knocking softly.

It takes Jisung a minute to open the door. You take that time to relax your weight against the doorframe, but your peace is short-lived when the door swings open so fast you almost lose balance of yourself by how fast Jisung opens the door. So, it takes you a short moment to actually take in Jisung’s appearance. His hair is messy and damp, and it’s obvious he has just showered most likely not too long ago. He wears a pair of gray sweatpants and no shirt, and you try not to gawk at his well built and defined body. He stares down at you silently, a small smirk playing at his lips as his half - lidded eyes scan over your body.

But, after that moment, he grabs you by the wrist and pulls you inside. The moment the door is slammed shut and locked behind you, he presses you against the door. Your heart beats rapidly against your chest as Jisung’s hands grip your wrists and pin you to the door. His face mere centimeters away from yours, and you can feel his warm breath against your lips. Your backpack falls to the floor. No matter how many times you’ve had sex with Jisung, he’s never been one for intimate kissing in your relationship with him. Which, to you, was weird since he always tried to get playful kissing from you out of sex or even from his other friends. Sure, you’ve both kissed before, but usually it’s not very intimate.

But, he kisses you before you could say anything. His hands firmly, yet gently gripping your wrists and pinning them to the door as his lips find themselves planted against yours. His soft lips move with yours in a passionate sync, and you don’t hesitate when you kiss him back. Your hands balled into fists as Jisung presses his body against yours, both of your eyes fluttering shut in pleasure. Chills shoot through your body as Jisung’s lips capture yours in a slow, yet lust filled kiss. It’s not rushed nor sloppy, but filled with desire and crave. You let yourself melt into his kiss, his experienced lips having you succumb to him, and you could already feel yourself dripping wet from just this simple kiss.

To you, however, it wasn't so simple. You never usually get this chance to have Jisung kiss you so passionately. You never bothered to ask why, and mostly thought he didn’t want to do it because, during sex, it’s something mostly only real couples would do. Not friends with benefits. So, when his tongue meets with yours in a euphoric, blissful way, you try to savor the feeling. Knowing this might be one of few chances you’ll get to actually enjoy such a kiss, you try to make it last as long as you can.

Jisung’s lips eventually lift off of yours, but he leads a trail of firm, wet kisses down your jawline and over your neck. His tongue licking stripes up your neck as he sucks on the delicate skin. Your womanhood throbs from the feeling, and your legs press together. Jisung’s hands let go of your wrists, and you let your hands grip onto Jisung’s hair. His hands creep underneath your shirt and hoodie, lifting them up as his cold hands meet with your warm skin. His hands feel up your waist, and your head falls back, your kiss - bruised mouth opening from the bliss.

“What… What’s gotten into you tonight?” You mumble out, your arms wrapping around Jisung’s neck, pressing him further against you as his hands firmly brush over your ass and up your back.

Jisung’s lips brush against the lobe of your ear and he chuckles deeply, sending chills through you and you let out a pathetic whimper because of it, “Can’t I do something for a friend?” He says this in just above a whisper, his voice deeper and huskier than normal. And then he goes back to pressing kisses underneath your ear, trailing down your neck, moving one hand up to move your hair out of the way.

You don’t argue with him, and you let him dominate you.

Jisung pulls off your hoodie along with your tee shirt. Pulling you away from the door as he throws the articles of clothing to the side. He guides you to his bed, having you lay down on your back as Jisung pulls himself over you. Trapping you underneath him, and your hands fly to the sides of your head, succumbing to him. Jisung pushes himself down, now pressing kisses to your collarbone and over your chest. One hand fumbling with the straps of your bra, pushing them down your shoulders before they tamper with the clip.

Jisung doesn’t even hesitate to rip off your bra, and throw it alongside the other articles of clothing (most of which landed on Jeongin’s bed, and you would do something about it if you weren’t so caught up in the moment with Jisung). You let in a deep, sharp inhale when your warm breasts make contact with the cool air. Jisung looks down at you, examining your exposed breasts before his eyes flicker up to meet yours. Your face is flushed a beautiful pink, and Jisung stares at your face, loving the flustered expression you’re making before his head dips down. One hand flying up to cup one breast, his hands moving efficiently and swiftly as he firmly massages it. His lips kissing down your other breast before his tongue makes contact with your erect bud.

You emit a breathy moan as chills run through your body as Jisung suckles on one breast while his hand plays with the other. His thumb running over and pressing against the hard bud as he firmly massages your breast in circles. His tongue working wonders over your sensitive nipple, and your teeth capture your bottom lip in between them as your hands run through his hair, letting out soft whimpers here and there when he sucks harshly on your breast or pinches your nipple.

“Jisung… Oh, you’re gonna make me pay you back for this, aren’t you?” You breathe out, and Jisung chuckles against you. His tongue pressing against your nipple, and his eyes look up to meet yours.

Once he lets go, your back arches when your breast, which was once warm in the cavern of Jisung’s mouth and tongue, meets the cold air. “You think so lowly of me, baby.” Jisung presses kisses along your chest, going lower and lower, and you watch him with dark, lust filled eyes.

“I’m usually the one blowing you off, Jisung - ah,” you state, “It’s not like you to - mmh…! - do things like this.” The back of your hand presses against your lips as they press into a firm line, trying to hold back whimpers as Jisung’s fingers start to undo the buttons of your jeans. His lips pressing kisses to the bottom of your abdomen; a sensitive area, and it sends sparks of chills up your spine.

“I want to make you feel good, baby,” Jisung breathes out, lips still pressed against your skin as he speaks, his dark eyes flickering up to meet with yours, “Don’t think too much into it. Just let me make you feel good, alright?” You nod quickly, your mouth closing and your hips lift with Jisung’s hands as he slowly pulls off your jeans. “That’s my good girl. My good little (Y/N).” He chuckles darkly, and you whimper softly at both the feeling of your soaked panties meeting the cold air and from Jisung’s praise.

Your thighs are on either side of his head, and Jisung’s hands guide them apart, spreading you out for him. And, boy, is it a sight for sore eyes. Jisung occasionally looking up at you, the eye contact making you even wetter from just the intensity of his eyes. His breath fans your clothed cunt, and your hips jitter and twitch just from that. Jisung cooes at your sensitivity. He knows you’re sensitive, but since things are usually rushed, he’s never really taken the chance to slowly edge you on. “My baby girl is so sensitive and I haven’t even touched her pussy…”

Jisung’s finger makes contact with your clothed cunt, pressing against your labia and firmly pressing up and over your clit. Your hips stutter at the feeling, and Jisung watches you as your eyes squeeze shut and your head falls back. Your mouth opening to let out a beautiful, breathy moan.

But, you weren’t prepared for when Jisung pulls off your panties, his hands having to fly up to stop your thighs from slamming against either side of his head. “Ah - ah - ah… keep your legs spread for me.” He guides your legs back, spread apart and resting against the sheets. A slight burn on your inner thighs from the stretch. You watch Jisung as one arm wraps around one of your thighs, his other hand caressing your other thigh, and he presses a wet kiss on your inner thigh. Dangerously close to your exposed pussy. And, oh, how exposed you feel. Usually, you both do quickies in bathrooms or the car or somewhere where you have to put your clothes back on quickly. You’re never, usually, completely nude in front of him. So you couldn’t deny that you were a bit embarrassed by how exposed you were to him.

Your head flies back, and you finally let out your first vocal moan when Jisung’s mouth comes in contact with your pussy. His tongue pressing against your wet cunt and his lips kissing your folds. Jisung smirks against you, his tongue working wonders on your throbbing cunt. His warm mouth engulfing your cunt, and your hands brush through his hair. Gripping onto either his hair or the sheets by you as Jisung’s tongue lickes stripes up your labia, occasionally teasing your sensitive, aching clit.

Your moans get even louder when one of Jisung’s fingers begins to tease your entrance, his mouth now more focused on your clit. His middle finger slowly enters you, and you clench around him. “Oh, fuck, Jisunggie… That feels so good.” You whimper out as Jisung’s knuckles meet with you, as his finger is fully flush inside of you. Your warmth engulfing his finger, clenching around him, looking for something more. He chuckles against you, his tongue still licking up your clit, sometimes pressing sloppy kisses to it. His finger slowly begins to thrust in and out of you. More of a slow drag than a thrust.

Your mind fogs as Jisung slowly begins to add more and more fingers, his pace still slow, but fast enough to make you whimper delicately when his fingers hit a certain spot deep inside your wet, warm walls. His other hand gripping your thigh firmly, but not firm enough to leave a mark of any kind. You gently moan out his name, and it only seems to give him more and more confidence to be just a little bit rougher, but still being euphorically slow and steady.

However, it’s when he sucks gently on your clit and roughly drags three fingers out, stretching you out, before letting them roughly ram back into you, hitting your G - Spot, when you feel your climax nearing. Your back arches, and your hands grip the sheet by your head tightly as you let out a moan, “Ji… Baby, oh fuck, I’m gonna cum.” Your bottom lip becomes captured in between your teeth as your hips begin to stutter and twitch, bucking up into Jisung, but his free hand tries to hold you down. He didn’t respond. In fact, he didn’t even look up at you. His brows furrow, focused solely on your climax. He doesn’t slow down either. He only speeds up. Sucking on your clit while his fingers thrust into you.

When your climax hits, you let out a string of loud moans, both incoherent curse words and Jisung’s name. Your eyes roll into the back of your head and your mouth opens. Your back arching off of the bed as you cum on Jisung’s fingers. His fingers rut slowly into you, twisting and pressing against your G - Spot. His tongue presses against your clit to helpL: you ride out your high.

His lips detach from your throbbing pussy, and his fingers slowly pull out of you. His fingers coated in your cum. Jisung takes a moment to catch his breath. He looks up at you, and you're still coming back from your orgasm, the sense of overwhelming bliss. Jisung climbs up, trapping you under him once more. Your legs still spread for him, and Jisung pulls you into another kiss.

You can taste yourself on his tongue. It’s bitter, but you don’t care. You don’t care for how gross it may be, you just want to kiss him. You just want all of him.

Your arms wrap around his neck, and Jisung’s hands caress your thighs, “Oh, baby, I’m going to fuck you so good… You want that? Want me to fuck you, baby girl?”

Your head leans back and Jisung’s lips graze over your neck, “Yes, Jisung. I want you to fuck me hard… Want you to fill me, please. Please, Jisung, I need you so bad.”

Jisung smirks, already pulling down his sweats, “I fucking love how you beg for me. Only for me.” You moan out in response. Jisung finally lets his hard cock free, and it presses to his abdomen. Leaking with precum, just from eating you out. The tip is a pretty pink, and you bask in the thought how you, alone, can make him so hard. Jisung gets on his knees, and you watch how he takes a condom from his nightstand drawer and rips it open. Preparing his cock into it before his tip presses against your cunt, still sensitive from your last orgasm.

“You ready for me, baby?” Jisung asks, moving your hips up to align with his cock, which is barely pressing against your entrance. You nod frantically, the only thing coursing through your mind being how badly you want Jisung’s cock inside you. How ready you are for him. “Use your words, (Y/N).”

“Yes… Goddamn it, Jisung, just fuck me already, please. I need it so bad,” You whimper out, irritated by the emptiness inside you.

Jisung laughs darkly, “Feisty, now are we? I like your pride, (Y/N), but I’ll be sure to shut you up, got it?” And, without warning, Jisung presses into you. Your hand flies up to cover your mouth as Jisung’s hard cock slowly drags deeper and deeper into you. Filling you to the brim, and stretching you out more than his fingers ever could. Jisung’s hand grips your wrist, pinning it to the bed, “No, no. I want to hear your voice. Wanna hear your pretty moans as I break you.”

Jisung is slow, painfully slow at first. You’re wondering how he could hold back, since he usually tends to fuck you like no tomorrow. Jisung slowly drags himself out, feeling your walls clench around him, before pushing himself back in. His head dips down to watch his cock disappear into your soaking pussy, and he lets out small groans as you let out breathy moans with each thrust. “Ji… Jisung - ah… Faster, please.” Jisung looks up at you, a smirk edging on his lips before he presses a kiss to your forehead.

“As you wish, (Y/N),” and so he followed through with your plea, and slowly started to pick up speed. His forehead presses against the side of your head as your legs wrap around his waist, allowing him to get even deeper inside you. With every thrust, you can feel his tip meet your cervix, and it’s such an intense feeling, you could cum right there with just enough force. But, you want this to last. You want to savor this moment for as long as you can.

Soon enough, Jisung flips you over, pressing the side of your face into the mattress as he gets on his knees. He leans over you, pressing his chest against your back and moves your hair to the side to give himself the access he needs to press wet kisses to the back of your neck, sending chills down your spine as he enters you once more. His hands grip your wrists as he groans into your neck, your loud moans muffled by the pillow below you as Jisung rams into you. His cock moving fast against your walls, giving such a blissful, burning sensation inside you that you want even more of. His hips meet over and over again with your ass as he thrusts into you. Your moans echo through the room, and at this point, you don’t care if anyone overheard you.

“Oh, fuck, baby. God, I love your pussy so much,” Jisung moans out next to your ear, and you don’t have the stability to respond to him, only with pathetic moans falling out of your lips. “Drivin’ me goddamn crazy…” Jisung grumbles as he sits himself up. His hands gripping your hips firmly to move you with him, sending you back with his thrusts as he fucks himself into you.

You can tell when Jisung is nearing his climax, because instead of his usual rhythmic thrusts, his hips begin to stagger and twitch, and his moans rise in pitch and get louder in volume. When he nears his climax, you can feel another one climbing up for you, mostly from the pure oversensitivity from your last orgasm. “Oh my fucking god… Oh fuck, cum with me, (Y/N). Cum with me.” He moans out his words, and your voice gets higher as your back arches once more, meeting your climax. Jisung leans over you again, his forehead resting on the back of your neck as his hands tightly grip your hips as he cums at last into the condom.

“Fucking hell… that was so good,” you breath out, trying to catch your breath. Jisung takes his time to relax his overworked muscles by leaning over you. He takes a minute before he pulls himself up and out of you. Your hips fall, and you wipe off the sweat as Jisung ties off the condom and gets up, tossing it into the bin.

He gets up, going over to his dresser to grab a towel. He cleans you up silently, and you watch him with curious eyes.

The moment he turns away to toss the towel into a hamper, you get up and walk over to Jeongin’s bed to grab the clothes Jisung had thrown onto it. You pick up your bra and shirt, and you barely even notice Jisung behind you before he speaks, “Are you leaving?”

“Don’t you want me to?” You look over to Jisung, who’s now wearing a pair of boxers and nothing more. He’s standing close behind you. You don’t mind the close proximity.

Jisung shakes his head, “No… Stay here tonight. Jeongin won't be back till the weekend.” Your mouth falls ajar slightly, surprised by his words. You pull your shirt over your head and put it on, and Jisung watches you.

“Alright… I’ll stay,” you sigh, and Jisung smiles down at you softly. You turn to face him, your brows furrowed, “But, seriously, what has gotten into you? You’re a bit more… intimate tonight. Didn’t really expect that.”

“What? Can’t I do something for you?” Jisung teasingly smirks at you.

“Well… yeah, but I just didn’t expect you… to do that.” You mumble out, and Jisung laughs.

“Kiss you like that?”

“Yeah.” You shrug a shoulder, “You know what, let’s not think too much into it. I’m tired.” You sigh, and Jisung laughs softly, shaking his head. You climb into his bed, pulling his blanket over you as Jisung turns off the lights and climbs in right next to you. Pressing his chest against your back, and one of his arms wraps around your waist. His chin resting on top of your head. Your heart hammers against your chest, and you try to calm yourself so he wouldn’t hear it. But, it seems impossible. Jisung’s acting weird today, and you want to find out why.

But, the answer comes sooner than you imagined.

“I don’t think we’ll be doing this much longer.”

Your eyes snap open, and your brows furrow. “What… did you say?”

“I said… I don’t think we’ll be doing this much longer,” Jisung repeats, a bit louder than before. You had heard him loud and clear the first time, but it shocked you, “I… I dunno, (Y/N). There’s this girl. And… I really… really like her. God, I sound like a middle schooler, don’t I?” He chuckles, but you don’t respond to him. You stare at the darkness, and Jisung clears his throat awkwardly when he realizes that you’re not responding. His arm squeezes you tightly. “If things work out, we can’t do this anymore.”

“Who is it?”

“Huh?”

“Who is it.”

Jisung chuckles again, and you can tell he’s getting nervous. Whatever the reason is, you don’t know. Maybe he can tell that you’re irritated with this news, “You know that one girl in your political science class? Jun Chunae. It’s her.” You hold back a groan, and roll your eyes. Of course it’s Chunae, “She and I have been hanging out recently. And, god, I think I really like her, (Y/N).”

“Of course,” you scoff, and Jisung props himself up to look at you through the darkness, “Of fuckin’ course it’s Chunae. Always Jun Chunae. That’s why you invited me over, wasn’t it? That’s why you treated me so well tonight, because it’s one of the last times, huh?”

“No, that’s not… that’s not what I’m saying,” Jisung says slowly, as if dipping toes in dangerous waters.

“Don’t lie to me, Jisung,” you snap, “I know you. You don’t like to kiss me before, during or even after sex. You just don’t. You don’t take it slow and you don’t even usually bother to pleasure me. I get it now. It’s not a problem, I’m just a bit upset that you lied to me.”

“And how the fuck did I lie to you,” Jisung doesn’t even ask it, it’s more of a demand. You can hear how he’s getting angry right back at you.

“You said you wanted to do something special for me. You said that this was supposed to be special. But, it’s not. Just for you to cut things off.” You sit up and push Jisung’s arm off of you. You scramble off of the bed, and Jisung laughs bitterly.

“Oh, come on, (Y/N). You’re overreacting,” you can hear Jisung’s smile in his voice, but you don’t smile. You don’t even bother with your underwear and just throw your jeans on. You turn on the light and slip on your shoes. Jisung’s expression falls, “Wait, (Y/N), don’t leave.” You turn back to give him a dead glare, and Jisung brows crease in desperation.

“I don’t think it’s necessary for me to be here if you’re going to start chasing after Chunae, don’t you think?” You say and sling your backpack over your shoulders.

“But, if you just wait a little bit longer… I can…”

“You can what, Jisung?” You turn to face him.

“I…” Jisung trails off.

“Goodnight, Jisung. I’ll see you tomorrow.” You unlock the door and open it, “Thanks for the special night.”

Jisung gives up, and plops back onto the bed as you slam the door behind you.

Now you were really considering arson. And not just for the school, but to just burn down Jun Chunae.

You weren’t in love with Han Jisung. But a part of you was beginning to debate that.